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Weve used EIZO displays on every Pixar film since Finding Dory and applaud the Academy for bestowing this recognition - congratulations!- Pixar Animation Studios EIZO Inc. announced that it has been awarded a Scientific and Technical Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its ColorEdge CG Series monitors with integrated self-calibration sensors. The Academys Scientific and Technical Awards honor individuals and companies whose innovations have contributed in significant and lasting ways to motion pictures. The Academy will honor 17 scientific and technical achievements in a virtual Scientific and Technical Awards presentation on Saturday, February 13, 2021. The ceremony will be available on the Oscars website starting at 1 p.m. PT. EIZO is honored to receive the esteemed award for the development of the ColorEdge CG Series hardware calibration monitors with built-in calibration sensors. The lead innovators behind the technology and direct recipients of the award are Senior Product Manager Masato Nakashima, Senior Engineer Junji Sakuda, Principal Engineer Koichi Ueno, and Principal Engineer Junro Yonemitsu. EIZOs modern integrated calibration sensor technology is the result of extensive research and investment in imaging solutions for a range of markets, including healthcare. In 2005, EIZO introduced a medical monitor with a built-in sensor that calibrates the screen as well as stabilizes brightness for precise display of monochrome radiology images. EIZO build upon the technology, becoming the first manufacturer in the world to bring a self-calibrating color precision solution to market with the ColorEdge CG245W in 2010. EIZOs modern built-in sensor technology can be set to calibrate automatically, eliminating the need for a third-party calibration device while ensuring the screen stays color accurate. The sensor is developed and manufactured in-house at EIZOs own facilities a testament to EIZOs passion and dedication to precise imaging. Having a screen that users can trust is indispensable in many industries in healthcare where lives depend on accurate imaging to diagnose and treat, and in creative fields such as film production where technology facilitates efficiency and provides peace of mind so editors and artists can focus more on the story they are trying to tell. EIZO's ColorEdge monitors are relied on by major studios worldwide to bring some of the most inspiring and exciting stories and experiences to audiences everywhere. Industrial Light & Magic has been delighted with the imaging performance and feature set of the self-calibrating EIZO monitors since their introduction. The journey together with our friends at EIZO has been a pleasure and we are thrilled to see them receive this much-deserved recognition by the Academy Sci-Tech Awards council. Industrial Light & Magic Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), The Mandalorian (2019), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) In order to deliver our award-winning work, we rely on our award-winning technology partners! Congratulations to our friends at EIZO on this well-deserved honor from the Academy. DNEG is proud to use EIZO's auto-calibrating ColorEdge monitors across our global VFX facilities to ensure we always deliver the highest possible quality movie experience. DNEG Dune (2021), No Time To Die (2021), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Tenet (2020) We could not be more excited for & proud of our colleagues at EIZO on this exceptional accomplishment - well deserved. Weve used EIZO displays on every Pixar film since Finding Dory and applaud the Academy for bestowing this recognition - congratulations! Pixar Animation Studios Soul (2020), Toy Story 4 (2019), Coco (2017) The best part about the EIZO hardware is that it self-calibrates. And as a supervisor, thats critical because you want to know that what you are looking at is perfect, is color accurate, and is sharp and consistent. Skydance Media Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) And the award goes to, EIZO!! Congratulations on your Sci-Tech Award. Your monitors have helped us contribute incredible imagery to the biggest films and television in Hollywood: Dune, Terminator: Dark Fate, Beastie Boys Story, and The Stand just to name a few. Your achievement is well deserved! Wylie VFX Dune (2021), Beastie Boys Story (2020), The Stand (2020), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Yoshitaka Jitsumori, President & CEO of EIZO Corporation commented, At EIZO, we believe that continued investment in our employees growth through a corporate culture that facilitates creativity, problem-solving, and passion is the key to success. EIZO is proud to recognize the accomplishments of every employee whose dedication, ingenuity and teamwork brought this influential solution to the creative industry, even going back to those who started the journey with our calibration solution for healthcare. Every innovation is a building block for the next and I am proud to see that our employees' diverse experience in a range of industries continues to contribute to truly innovative technologies for the next. This achievement will serve as another steppingstone to even greater things in the future, as we continue our mission to provide highly precise and sophisticated imaging solutions made with dedication and care. Read more About EIZO EIZO Inc., which means image in Japanese, is a visual technology company that develops and manufactures high-end display solutions. EIZO integrates hardware and software technologies with consulting, web hosting, and other services to help customers in business, graphics, gaming, medicine, maritime, and other fields work more comfortably, efficiently, and creatively. For more information, please visit http://www.eizo.com. THE time is 08h30 and 15-year-old Bertha Hanghombe is preparing breakfast close to the tiny shack she erected at the Oshamukweni Combined School premises, when The Namibian arrived. Hanghombe is one of the 47 pupils living in makeshift accommodation they put up inside the school premises. Located 34km east of Okongo in Ohangwena region, Oshamukweni school lacks proper infrastructure with some pupils being taught inside shacks. Narrating her daily struggles, Hanghombe said she hails from Okakango village in the Ohangwena region. She says she decided to stay at the school due to the long distance from her village. "If I leave home at 05h00, I will reach school at 09h00," she told The Namibian with a timid look. She added that her parents cannot afford to build her proper accommodation because they are both unemployed. The principal, Werner Nangolo, said the school hostel, which is a combination of traditional huts and shacks, only accommodates pupils from far-away villages. Nangolo said pupils, including Grade 1s, sleep on crude beds made from sticks. Their ages range from seven and 11 years. He said some pupils cannot afford to buy food, and the school and teachers assist. The school also does not have access to clean water and electricity. Nangolo came to the school in March 2020 from Kunene region. He said the situation is not new to the school which mostly caters for San and other vulnerable children. "The education director and inspector know about our situation. In 2009, pupils camped in tents outside the school yard but after the director visited, he decided they should be accommodated inside the school. "The director thought it was dangerous for them to be outside," Nangolo said. Nangolo, however, said he does not blame the government or the parents for the deplorable conditions in which the children live. "The initiative for pupils to live on the school premises came from the parents and we thank them for that," he added. "We want to put up better structures for the children but there is nothing in our account. We only have N$2 000 or N$3 000 for ink cartridges. "Our children sleep on stick beds. Those [past teachers] who have been here say this is better. We are planning to fix 50 beds that Oshela Secondary School donated to us so that our children could start using them. They also gave us 100 old mattresses," he said. Nangolo said that Namsov also came to their aid in July 2020 with a 30 mattress donation. He added that Swapo Party Youth League secretary for education Hofni Ipinge had promised to assist the school with better accommodation but he has not been able to honour that obligation. He said although the school gets a grant from the government every year, it is not allowed to use it to construct classrooms or hostels. "There are rules and regulations on how to spend the money," he said. He expressed a wish that money allegedly paid to former cabinet ministers Bernard Esau and Sacky Shanghala and their co-accused in the Fishrot scandal was used to build a hostel at the school. For Ndapewoshali Kandjungu, sending her children to school at Oshamukweni is an ever-present grim reminder of how hard life at the village is. Kandjungu is one of the many parents with children attending Oshamukweni school. Seven of her children have attended the school while four moved on to other schools. During an interview with The Namibian, she said although the education at the school is 'good', she fails to understand how the government allows children to attend classes in such a deplorable environment, 30 years after independence. "The school has no hostel, and we come from Omanha village, which is very far from the school. To make it easy for my children, I erected two shacks for them - one for the boys and another for the girls. I made them beds from sticks and I also assist them to fetch firewood." Kandjungu urged the government to build a proper hostel to give children a conducive learning environment. Ipinge told The Namibian on Monday that he has learnt of the school's predicament in June last year and he had forwarded the principal's letter and supporting documents to the education ministry and to the Office of the Prime Minister. "Still, no one came back to me and we are still waiting," he said. Ipinge also said he had approached several companies to help the school but nothing materialised. "These things take time. We are still waiting," he said. WATER SITUATION The struggles at Oshamukweni Combined School do not end there. Pupils and teachers also experience a shortage of water, as the school borehole is unreliable, forcing them to go to unprotected wells, risking their health. They use the water for drinking, cooking and washing. "We use donkeys to get water from a nearby well, but when the borehole at the nearby village is broken or when they don't have diesel for the pump, teachers and pupils can go for a week without water," Nangolo said. The village headman wants the school to stop drawing water from the borehole, saying it belongs to the community only. The school pays N$500 to draw water from the borehole per year, while teachers pay N$15 per month. "The borehole is unreliable. Sometimes it goes up to a week without water because there is no fuel. Then pupils use donkeys to get water from a well," he said. In order to address this challenge, Nangolo said the school needs its own borehole. Despite all these challenges, Nangolo said he is happy with the pupils' performances. UNDERFUNDED Information from the education ministry shows that Oshamukweni Combined School is in a dire state despite millions allocated for upgrading basic education facilities in the Ohangwena region. In the 2018/19 financial year, the region received N$81 million from the developmental budget. At least N$22 million of that amount, was allocated for upgrades. In 2019/20 financial year, the region received N$106 million with at least N$18 million for upgrading facilities at schools. In the current financial year, the region received N$81 million with N$17 million to upgrade school facilities. However, despite the allocation of these funds to the region, Nangolo insists that the school's account remains empty. While pupils make do with make-shift homes and beds, at least N$8 million has been used to construct teachers' houses in the Ohangwena region over the past two years. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Education Namibia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Another N$43 million was spent on the construction of Ohangwena education directorate offices. DENIAL On Wednesday, the ministry of education said the situation at the school was exaggerated. The ministry's reaction came after social media went abuzz on the situation at the school with pictures of pupils carrying sticks to make beds. "The ministry strongly condemns the post on social media spreading false and damaging news, regarding a certain school in Ohangwena region," the ministry said in a statement that also denied that the structures were on school premises. "The structures depicted in the circulating photos are not in the school yard, but are rather informal structures put up by parents whose children travel about 26 kilometres to and from school. "In light of the above, the ministry would like to implore all of us to be sensitive and truthful in our reporting, as Oshamukweni Combined School had scored a 100% pass rate in the phased-out junior secondary certificate exams for three consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019) but we have not seen or read any positive reviews to that effect," the ministry said. Education executive director Sanet Steenkamp declined to comment and referred The Namibian to the regional director. Ohangwena education director Isak Hamatwi said more than 200 schools in Ohangwena are in that state. "We cannot afford to build hostels. You know the economic situation in the country...if we had money we would have built hostels. You are just pressuring us for nothing," he said. Gautam Adani-led reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 297 crore in the December quarter, down 30 per cent from same period last year on the back of increased expense that ate into the profits even as revenues were marginally up. The companys topline in the period under review stood at Rs 11,620 crore, up 6.1 percent from December quarter last year. Within the revenue segments, integrated resources management was the highest contributor at Rs 7,470 crore in the quarter gone but was marginally down 1.6 percent from same period last year. Mining and solar manufacturing revenues were up 13 percent and 29 percent respectively. In the period under review, the companys expenses went up 6.2 percent from same period last year, which hit bottomline. Alongside, in the other comprehensive income category, a loss of Rs 225 crore further hit the bottomline, bringing it 30 percent down from previous period. The earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and ammortisation (EBIDTA) for the quarter increased by 6 percent from last year at Rs 939 crore owing to increased sales in domestic content requirement segment in solar manufacturing business, leading to better margin, said the company release. ALSO READ: City Union Bank Q3 net drops 11% to Rs 170 cr, huge spike in provisions continued its journey towards laying the foundation for several new businesses that the Group is venturing into. These include Airports, Data Centers, Roads, and Water. The fact that was able to grow its Revenue and EBIDTA through a year of crisis is a reflection of the resilience of Indias economy as well as our confidence and commitment to continue to invest to build our nations infrastructure," Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group was quoted as saying. In the airport services, of the bids won for operation, maintenance and development of six airports the company took over Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports during the quarter. It also signed concession agreements for Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati airports in January 2021. In roads business, out of the five concession agreements signed with NHAI under Hybrid Annuity Model for the company's construction of roads aggregating to 200+ KMs, the project completion status in Bilaspur Pathrapali project at Chhattisgarh is about 58 percent, while Suryapet Khammam project at Telangana is about 20 percent. In food business, the company said it continues to lead the refined edible oil market with more than 20 percent market share. Total revenue from this segment for Q3 FY21 increased by 31 percent at 10,257 crore, while EBIDTA for the quarter remained constant at Rs 323 crore. Moscow: The wife of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny told his supporters on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) they would still triumph despite his jailing, thanking them for protesting in a case she said had made her life a stream of police stations, home searches and court hearings. A court on Tuesday sentenced Navalny, a prominent opponent of Vladimir Putin, to three and a half years for parole violations, which he said were trumped up to sideline him, ignoring calls from the West and protesters at home to release him. Alexei Navalny and his wife, Yulia, on board their flight to Moscow, before he was detained. Credit:AP Navalnys supporters gathered to show support during the ruling and protested afterwards, prompting authorities to shut down some metro stations in Moscow and detain more than 1400 people, according to a protest monitor. Most of Navalnys prominent allies are under house arrest or in custody. Some of his supporters have suggested his wife Yulia Navalnaya take up his mantle as in Belarus last summer where Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was thrust to the fore of national politics after her husband was jailed. (CNN) Angelina Jolie is selling the only painting created by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II, with the work expected to fetch up to 2.5 million ($3.4 million) at auction. Churchill painted "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque" in Marrakech, Morocco, after attending the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, during which he and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt formulated the next stage of their strategy to defeat Nazi Germany. Churchill gave the painting to Roosevelt, and it ultimately found its way into Jolie's own collection of artworks. The actress is putting the piece up for sale, with the estimate on its price ranging from 1.5 million to 2.5 million ($2 million to $3.4 million). "It is the only work that Churchill painted during the war, perhaps encouraged by the recent progress made by the Allies in what he considered to be one of the most beautiful countries he had encountered," Nick Orchard, head of modern British art at auction house Christie's, said in a statement. The painting was made after the two leaders agreed to only accept an "unconditional surrender" from the Axis powers, a strategically significant statement of intent from the two wartime figures. It is being offered by the Jolie Family Collection, having been acquired by the actress in 2011, Christie's said. The auction house did not provide more details on how Jolie came to own the painting. Though Churchill painted several scenes in Morocco before the war began, this is the only known work he made between 1939 and 1945. "'Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque' is therefore arguably the best painting by Winston Churchill due to the significance of the subject matter to him, and the fact that it highlights the importance of the friendship between the two leaders," Orchard said. "The gifting of the work to Roosevelt underlines the fact that Churchill held the American President in such high regard and points to their joint efforts in guiding the Allied powers to the outcome of the Second World War." The artwork is due to go on sale on March 1. This story was first published on CNN.com Angelina Jolie is selling Winston Churchill's only painting created during World War II Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 A juvenile who was kidnapped for losing a drug load escaped from his captor through the back window of an apartment, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Monday. Authorities identified the suspect as Hector Jose Lopez, 30. He was charged with knowingly and intentionally transmitting communication containing any demand or request for a ransom or reward for the release of any kidnapped person, and knowingly and intentionally transmitting communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another. The case unfolded when a friend of the juvenile picked him up in a black sedan with paper license plates at about 8 p.m. on Jan. 26. At about midnight, the mother received a phone call from a man using a Mexican phone number stating that they had kidnapped her son because he had stolen drugs from them, according to court documents. They wanted $30,000 for the juveniles release, states the affidavit. Moments later, the mother got a short video clip on her cellphone from her sons Facebook messenger showing the juvenile with cuts and bruises, court documents state. The kidnappers last made contact at about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 27. It was at that time that she spoke to her son on the phone. She was told that her son would be killed if she did not come up with the money soon, according to court documents. The mother showed FBI special agents photos she had received on her Facebook Messenger showing her son face down and eyes closed. He also had evident injuries to the back of his head. A caption stated in Spanish, This isnt a game, according to the affidavit. A second photo showed the conversation the mother had with an unknown person along with the caption in Spanish: Dumbaes, you all left him abandoned and you all also took five bundles, but he is fed, states the affidavit. The mother perceived that her sons life was threatened. The mother returned to the FBI office on Jan. 28 and continued negotiations with the extortionists. At about 5 p.m., the juvenile called his mother saying that he had escaped. FBI special agents and Laredo police picked up the juvenile in the 2300 block of Seymour Avenue. The juvenile stated he was able to escape through a window in the back of the apartment where he was being held, according to court documents. The juvenile told authorities that the suspect was covered in tattoos and wore a blue, white and red striped short sleeve shirt, and an ankle monitor, states the affidavit. The juvenile was taken to a local hospital to be treated for various injuries. Authorities learned that the apartment complex where the juvenile was held was in the 1400 block of Okane Street. FBI special agents obtained surveillance video from the area that showed a man matching the description of the suspect. At about 7 p.m. on Jan. 28, special agents observed the man attempting to enter an apartment. Special agents detained him and noticed that he had an ankle monitor. Authorities identified him as Lopez. He was taken to the FBI office for questioning. Lopez allegedly admitted to receiving the juvenile at the premises. He stated that on Jan. 26, a woman known as Nancy brought the juvenile with his hands bound, a hood over his head with duct tape over his eyes and told Lopez he needed to watch the juvenile, according to court documents. Lopez allegedly held the juvenile in a bedroom closet and fed him sandwiches and water. He made the juvenile urinate into water bottles, according to court documents. A consensual search of Lopezs phone revealed a text message sent to Nancy asking her to bring duct tape, states the affidavit. The DMPT held its 59th Meeting in virtual mode from 25 to 29 January 2021. The Meeting included Focus Groups (FG) breakout meetings of the Implementation Support Focus Group (ISFG) and Data Modelling Focus Group (DMFG) that met in parallel on 27 and 28 January 2021. There were 141 participants registered for the Meeting from Members, representative of International Organizations, and the private sector. The Meeting re-elected Ms Louritha Green of United States (US) as the Chair of the DMPT. Mr Pranab Kumar Das, Director of Compliance and Facilitation, welcome all of the delegates. In his opening remarks, Mr Das congratulated the DMPT for completing the new version of the WCO DM (i.e., version 3.10.0 1 ) timely, enabling the Secretariat to publish the new release on time. Mr Das highlighted, in-line with the Council decision, the need for prioritizing DMPTs activities based on their relevance with the response to and recovery from COVID-19. The DMPT received and processed 31 Data Maintenance Requests (DMR) from the European Union, the Netherlands, Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) and the United Nation Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Due to the high number DMRs, the plenary sessions, the sessions where the DMRs were discussed, were extended from two to three days. The DMPT accepted 27 DMRs, and 4 were withdrawn. The EUs DMR was submitted to ensure the alignment of the WCO DM with the recent changes in EU Customs data requirements (including formats and codes) based on the changes in EU Customs legislation. The Netherlandss DMRs focused on adding the WCO DMs capabilities to conduct the Waste Receipt process2 in accordance with the EU Directive on port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships. The CBSAs DMRs were submitted to align its Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD), a part of CBSAs Assessment and Revenue Management project, by enabling the WCO DM to accommodate CADs business functionalities. Meanwhile, the UNECEs DMR aimed at enabling the WCO DM to accommodate a business requirement of the TIR convention to indicate if goods could be transported in a sealable equipment. In connection to its ongoing work in preparing version 4 of the WCO DM, the DMPT was briefed by the product manager of the WCO DM version 4.0.0, Mr William Slusher of the US, on the progress of the preparation of version 4 and its mission, namely, to significantly increase implementation of the WCO Data Model by Members by improving the quality of the product and making it easier to obtain, understand, and implement. The DMPT agreed to establish a structured approach to determine the features of the WCO DM v.4. Under this topic, the DMPT also expressed its support to continue exploring support for Open API 3.0 as a new prominent data exchange method and simplifying the Base Information Package (BIP). In the Focus Group breakouts, the ISFG developed a strategy to enhance the level adoption of the WCO DM. The ISFG examined some of the challenges facing Members when adopting the WCO DM and raised the need to address the senior managers of Customs administrations and private sector stakeholders as part of WCO DM related capacity-building strategy. The DMFG continued reviewing the WCO-UPU Join Message Standard and examined the dataset of the WCO-UPU Joint Message Standards. The DMPT agreed to invite relevant domain experts to complete the alignment of the dataset with the WCO DM. In addition, the DMFG also examined the potential reuse of commercial data used in railway processes (i.e., Railway Consignment Note) to fulfil Customs railway transit requirements. The Meeting was closed by Mr Brendan OHearn, Deputy Director of Procedures and Facilitation. In his remarks, Mr OHearn cited the Council decision to phase out the Information Management Sub Committee (IMSC), the WCO Working Body to which the DMPT reports, noting that the DMPT Terms of Reference (ToR) would have to be adapted reflect the new arrangement. To this end, he invited DMPT to consider discussing such governance issues in its next Meeting. Officials in Rochester, N.Y., said Tuesday that they expect to release additional police body camera footage involving the officers who handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old girl, a case that is sparking outrage over how law enforcement agencies respond to people who might be having an emotional or mental health episode. Two videos of the incident were released over the weekend, followed by the suspension of three officers. City spokesman Justin Roj said police officials are in custody of other footage that it hopes to release in the "coming days." "We are in the process of redacting the other footage and hope to release it as soon as possible," Roj said, adding that the girl's mother has requested that "identifiable" characteristics be removed from the footage before it is made public. The footage that was released Monday shows officers chasing and restraining the girl after her mother, who is Black but has not been identified, told them the girl was suicidal and threatened to harm her mother, as well. The girl was sobbing as officers tried to force her into a patrol car. The video then shows an officer pepper-spraying the girl, who was handcuffed. On Tuesday, lawmakers, child-welfare experts and social justice advocates said the video highlights the need for major changes to police departments' training and standards for responding to calls involving mental illness, especially in Rochester. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren had committed to overhaul the department this summer in the aftermath of the death of Daniel Prude, who died last year after officers fitted him with a "spit hood," used to protect police from detainees' bodily fluids. Prude, who was Black, was also suffering a mental health crisis at the time. The seven officers at the scene of Prude's arrest remain suspended with pay pending the outcome of multiple investigations. The city's police chief and several top deputies also resigned in September after video of Prude's arrest was released. "I view this incident as a direct result of the officers in the Prude case never really being held responsible," said Ashley Gantt, founder of Free the People Roc, a Rochester-based social justice organization. "We did get a new police chief, but if we don't change the culture of policing, and we just change the front of policing, we are going to end up with the same problems as we saw in this case." After Prude's death, Warren and other city leaders unveiled a series of changes that included a "People in Crisis" team that police dispatchers are supposed to deploy to calls involving a person suspected of suffering from mental illness. But Rochester said the team was not deployed in the case of the 9-year-old girl because her mother's initial call was related to a stolen car. It remains unclear why officers did not later request that the crisis team or other mental health experts respond to the scene. Donna Lieberman, the president of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said her office also had requested in October that Rochester leaders invest in the creation of a "crisis call center staffed by behavioral health experts" as an alternative to 911 and expand its use of mobile crisis response teams. But Lieberman said the suggested overhauls have still not been implemented, which she blames on a lack of funding from state leaders, as well as Rochester leaders' failure to sustain the push for change in wake of Prude's death. "What we have seen time and time again, in response to police wrongdoing, is half-measures," Lieberman said. "Right now, in Rochester, as in too many places around the nation, the police remain the go-to first responders for so many issues, and that is just outside their expertise and their purview." Roj, the mayor's spokesman, noted that the city was transparent by quickly telling the public about the incident involving the girl but added that "reform is a difficult process" that requires "persistent efforts to make the necessary changes." "You are dealing with institutions and systematic issues," Roj said. "I think we all want it to happen faster, but I think the mayor has worked toward that." But national experts on policing said they are baffled by the officers' actions in Friday's incident. Ron Bruno, a 25-year police veteran and executive director of Crisis Intervention Training International, said he has placed large male suspects in the back of his patrol car using less force than the Rochester officers used on the 9-year-old. "There were three officers; could they not have contained the child? I don't see what the urgency was," said Bruno, whose organization provides training to officers in ways to help people in mental distress. "I watched some of the videos and I don't see them using any de-escalation techniques." Debbie Plotnick, a vice president at Mental Health America, added the tactics the officers used were the opposite of how law enforcement should approach someone in mental distress - particularly a child. Plotnick, who has worked with police departments for decades, said that once the officers were able to get the girl outside of the house and saw she was unarmed, they should have called for help from the newly formed PIC team. "They didn't. They didn't call for proper backup," she said. "That's why six police cars ended up coming and it ended the way it did." Plotnick says she is impressed with the new programs the department has created and wants to credit them for these efforts. However, she said the Friday incident illustrates why every police officer needs specialized training to help people in crisis. Sometimes they are the first to arrive. Sometimes the unit of mental health experts are not readily available. "They are trained on how to talk to them, how to calm them down. The main thing they learn is to take as much time as needed," Plotnik said. "It is not about hurrying up and getting them transported." Plotnik added she doubts Prude's death and the pepper-spraying of 9-year-old were "isolated instances, especially with regard to race." "These are not disparate anecdotes," Plotnik said. "The bias is that Black people, including children, are dangerous. The outcome is that they end up severely injured if not dead." Last week, a disturbing video showing a White, male school resource police officer body slamming a Black female student in Kissimmee, Fla., surfaced. The student's family is pushing for the officer to be fired and have hired veteran civil rights attorney Ben Crump. A Washington Post database shows that the mentally ill people who died by police gunfire since 2015 were largely White, accounting for 58% of the deaths, with Blacks at 16% and Latinos at 13%. Men with mental health problems were far more likely to be fatally shot by police than women, accounting for 94% of the deaths. In Rochester, where allegations of racial injustice have plagued the police department for decades, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum in 2019 to create a citizen Police Accountability Board. The board was officially empaneled last year, but a key piece of its authority - where it can directly discipline police officers - is tied up in court after the local police sought an injunction. Shani Wilson, the board chairwoman, said she nonetheless expects that the board will investigate the conduct of the officers involved in the 9-year-old girl's case. "We need to be looking at the policies that allowed this to happen," Wilson said. "And I think it's fair to say we will not be recommending the use of any chemical weapon of any kind on any minor, at all, ever." - - - The Washington Post's Reis Thebault contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 00:32:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Somali leaders kicked off the fifth round of talks in the central town of Dhusamareb on Wednesday to resolve the current electoral impasse that has delayed elections in the Horn of Africa nation. President Mohamed Farmajo chaired the opening session of the forum which brought together leaders of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland, Jubaland and South West states. Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Roble and the Governor of Benadir region are also in attendance. "The leaders discussed efforts at the federal and state levels to implement the electoral process, ensure political stability and security in the country," President Farmajo's office said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. Farmajo highlighted the importance of the unity of the Somali people and also emphasized the rebuilding of the country amid difficult times. Somalia is facing multiple threats to its stability from continued terrorist attacks, increased political polarization, the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst desert locust invasion in decades and floods. The consultative meeting is expected to arrive at a way forward for the delayed elections, considered critical for the sake of entrenching the federal system of governance, which is required to appease communities and regions claiming systematic exclusion and marginalization for decades. Regional leaders from Jubbaland and Puntland had proposed talks with leadership from Mogadishu to help strike a middle ground on the politically negotiated electoral model that will allow the nation to hold elections. Somalia was due to hold parliamentary elections by December 2020 while the presidential poll was to take place in February. Parliamentary and presidential elections took place in late 2016 and early 2017 through a system of indirect suffrage. Enditem Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Its official now. America has lost its collective mind. In the newly-adopted House Rules for the incoming 117th Congress, gender-neutral language has been mandated, with gendered pronouns being banished, along with (fasten your seat belt) titles such as father, son, mother, and daughter. The innate absurdity of such political correctness was quickly exposed when Nancy Pelosi, herself, resorted to common sense in her impassioned plea for a second impeachment of, well, you know who he (sorry) IT is. I stand before you as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, said Pelosi, a daughter whose father proudly served in this Congress. If gendered terms are sufficiently offensive as to require removal from the House Rules, themselves, how can it be acceptable to use those same terms when speaking on the House floor? (My house, my rules?) Then again, how long can it be before that, too, is banned? By now, of course, weve been conditioned into accepting gender-neutral terms along a broad front. More menacing is the ever-changing racial wokeness that leaves us breathlessly trying to keep pace with what words are offensive, or demanded. Dare I let slip that we have plantation shutters in our master bedroom? Hyper-sensitive people of color are now objecting to anything having even a whiff of anything slavery-related. Nor are some blacks happy any longer with references to people of color once a term of pride, but now too inclusive of other minorities and not exclusive to blacks. As if to underscore that exclusivity, only Black is to be capitalized, not brown. And did I say minorities? In the eyes of racial zealots, even that word is discriminatory now! Why all the fuss over terminology? Apart from changing language to rectify some perceived social injustice, weaponizing words is the easiest shortcut to changing culture, from which official action quickly follows. Best example? The brilliantly orchestrated shift from homosexual to gay, instantly destigmatizing once-unacceptable conduct by substituting a benign even celebratory word. If only all the language wars were as legitimate as with the N word. Having grown up in the South, I know how that was used. It needed to go! Theres nothing new about weaponizing words. In the civil war between Gilead and Ephraim (Judges 12:4-6), the men of Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim. If someone from Ephraim asked to cross over, he was forced to say the word Shibboleth, a word that Ephraimites could only pronounce as Sibboleth. Say Sibboleth, and you were dead! (As was said to Peter, Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.) So, how do you say it: A womans choice, or Killing a baby? How do you say it: Republicans, or Far-right racists? Language so easily betrays and divides us, and not just Gershwins You like tomato, and I like tomahto, leading (momentarily) to Lets call the whole thing off! In the language wars, there are no winners. Those indulgently trying to please militant wordmongers can never keep up with constantly-moving goal posts. And the language bullies themselves are never satisfied. If the cowering masses quit using todays offensive trigger words, how can one continue to be victimized without finding something new to be offended by? Yet, I have to confess that I, too, am offended by certain trigger words, like the swearing version of Jesus Christ! (or even more vulgar variants), and the ubiquitous Oh, my God! (OMG!), now thoughtlessly uttered even by believers. And then theres the problem of perfectly good words being rejected, none more consequential than rejection of the very first Word the One in the beginning (Jn. 1:1) who was not an It, but the Son of his divine Father. When culture takes offense at that Father and Son, how can language be anything but divisive, chaotic babble? Independence would hit the Scottish economy harder than Brexit, and rejoining the EU would make little difference, a team of academics has said. The economic damage from leaving both unions would be the equivalent of an income loss of between 2,000 and 2,800 per person, according to an analysis of trade by the London School of Economics (LSE). Academics from the LSEs Centre for Economic Performance say the economic costs of independence are two or three times greater than Brexit due to the volume of Scotlands trade with the rest of the UK. The report concludes the losses from independence are similar regardless of whether an independent Scotland rejoins the EU or maintains a common market with the UK. They found that together, Brexit and independence (without rejoining the EU) are estimated to reduce long-run Scottish income per capita by around 6.5% in an optimistic scenario and 8.7% in a pessimistic scenario. However, they said these were both likely to be underestimates as there could also be impacts on productivity. Expand Close Graphic from LSEs Disunited Kingdom study on economic impacts of Scottish independnence (LSE/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Graphic from LSEs Disunited Kingdom study on economic impacts of Scottish independnence (LSE/PA) The LSE team did not consider other effects of independence such as changes in investment flows, fiscal arrangements or Scotlands currency. As the rest of the UK accounts for more than 60% of Scotlands imports and exports, they noted, the impact of any trade barriers would be far greater than those between Scotland and the EU. The rest of the UK would be likely to remain Scotlands largest trading partner for decades after independence, they said, meaning that rejoining the EU would only become attractive if independence damaged trade south of the border to a sufficient degree. Authors Hanwei Huang, Thomas Sampson and Patrick Schneider said the economic impact of Brexit would become clear after 10 to 15 years, but the economic impact of Scottish independence could take even longer to gauge. Their report said: Adjustment to Scottish independence is likely to be even slower and may take a generation or more, as border costs gradually increase due to divergence between economic policy and regulations in the two countries and the erosion of existing cultural, social and business ties. This slow adjustment means that in the initial decades after independence the rest of the UK will continue to be Scotlands most important trade partner. Consequently, even if in the long run there is an economic case for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU, we conclude that Scotlands medium-run priority following independence should be keeping border costs with the rest of the UK as low as possible. Voters need to know what the likely costs and benefits of each course will be Hanwei Huang Prof Huang said: This analysis shows that, at least from a trade perspective, independence would leave Scotland considerably poorer than staying in the United Kingdom. While many considerations will play a role in shaping the outcome of a second referendum, voters need to know what the likely costs and benefits of each course will be. This briefing contributes to that knowledge. Prof Sampson said: We find that the costs of independence to the Scottish economy are likely to be two to three times greater than the costs of Brexit. Moreover, rejoining the EU following independence would do little to mitigate these costs, and in the short run would probably lead to greater economic losses than maintaining a common economic market with the rest of the UK. Expand Close Fiona Hyslop responded to the report (Andrew Milligan/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fiona Hyslop responded to the report (Andrew Milligan/PA) The Scottish Governments Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop responded to the report, saying: As an independent member of the EU, free from the damage of Brexit, Scotland would be part of the huge Single Market which is seven times the size of the UK. There is no reason whatsoever that Scotland could not emulate the success of independent countries of our size which are far wealthier per head than the UK. Denmarks GDP per head is around 20% higher than the UKs and Norways is nearly 40% higher. In the real world, through membership of the EU, independent Ireland has dramatically reduced its trade dependence on the UK, diversifying into Europe and in the process its national income per head has overtaken the UKs. She continued: The study is also clear that it takes no account of any changes in migration policy, inward investment or any economic levers the Scottish Government would have control of in an independent Scotland to do things better and boost the economy. With our economic resources and advantages, control of economic policy and membership of the EU Scotland would be very well placed to grow the economy. It is still too early to calculate the long-term damage that Brexit will do to Scotlands economy, but the disruption it is already causing is deeply concerning. THE search continues for the 2020 Offaly Person of the Year while the presentation of the 2019 Offaly Person of the Year and the Offaly Unsung Hero awards will take place when Government Covid-19 allow, the organisers have pointed out. The gala presentation ceremony of the prestigious awards had to be cancelled on a number of occasions last year due to Covid-19 restrictions. The awards organisers, a sub-committee of the Offaly Association (Dublin), launched the search for the 2020 awards' recipients last November. Readers are invited to submit their nominees for the awards which are sponsored by Coolderry native, Noel Tynan of the Le Bon Crubeen restaurant in Dublin. Speaking as the search for the 2020 winners was launched last November, Jennifer Guinan, chairperson of the Offaly Association, said 2020 has been a year with a difference to say the least. Rewind back to March, we were in our final stages of preparations for the 2019 Offaly Person of the Year Gala, when it all had to be put on hold. Id like to congratulate last years Offaly Person of the Year winner, Brendan Martin and the winner of the Unsung Hero Award, Pat Minnock, outlined Jennifer, a native of Rath. She continued: We are back again this year, and we are looking for your nominations for the 2020 Offaly Person of the Year and the Unsung Hero of the Year. Before and during this global pandemic, there have been people in Offaly who have gone above and beyond for their communities. Think about the people who made a difference in your life, who helped others and their communities, and who have made the people of Offaly proud to call them one of our own. We want to acknowledge these Offaly people, she outlined. Added Jennifer: This is a prestigious award, which is presented to the winner having being nominated by the people of the county. Last year was the first time I had the privilege of informing the recipients of this accolade - it was wonderful seeing how honoured (and surprised) they were to receive the award. Nominations will be in local newspapers over the coming weeks, and we encourage everyone to nominate who they think is deserving of the award. The completed nomination forms can be sent to organising sub-committee secretary Ger Scully, Convent View, Tullamore. With regards to the Offaly Association in Dublin, Jennifer said they are very much looking forward to the resumption of some form of normal life, when members can meet again, and organise some social events. Regardless of get togethers, we are still here if anyone in Dublin would like to reach out to us. And of course we are always delighted to welcome new members to the association, she outlined. Concluded Jennifer: We would like to thank Offaly people for their support over the years and the local media for their coverage of the award. A huge thank you goes to Noel Tynan who sponsors the event and to the Bridge House Hotelfor their continued support for the event. The Offaly Person of the Year award is now in its 33nd year. The past year saw three past recipients of the award pass to their heavenly reward Pat Smullen, Fr Tom Scully and Paddy Fenning and the Association would like to extend the deepest sympathy to their families. The United States supports Ukraine's efforts to counter the malign influence of Russia in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the United States embassy has said. "The United States supports Ukraine's efforts yesterday to counter Russia's malign influence, in line with Ukrainian law, in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We must all work together to prevent disinformation from being deployed as a weapon in an information war against sovereign states," the embassy said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday. As reported, on February 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky put into effect the NSDC decision to impose sanctions on individuals and legal entities. [February 03, 2021] Simeio Appoints Jeff Multz as Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing ATLANTA, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Simeio (Simeio or the Company), a global leader in Identity and Access Management (IAM), today announced the appointment of Jeff Multz as Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing. A cybersecurity veteran with more than 30 years of team leadership and successful client engagements, Jeff will help drive sales and demand generation worldwide, reporting to Simeios CEO, Chris Schueler. Jeff is a seasoned cybersecurity expert and experienced sales leader with a successful track record of driving growth, cultivating teams, and achieving goals, states Chris Schueler. Jeffs extensive experience in building high-performing sales teams and developing lasting customer relationships are critical to our future growth. With Jeffs veteran sales leadership, we will have greater alignment and collaboration, as we expand globally. I am truly excited to join Simeio, a company with a profound reputation as the leader in the IAM industry, shares Multz. Im looking forward to applying my decades of experience and deep security knowledge to continue Simeios astonishing growth, by leading client retention initiatives and driving new client acquisitions. Jeff has built successful teams over his career that have spanned North America, Japan/APAC and EMEA. A strategic technologist, Multz utilizes his vast experience to translate complicated technologies into relevant customer solutions. Prior to joining Simeio, Jeff was Chief Revenue Officer at Digital Hands. Previously, Jeff spent 6 years at SecureWorks, Inc. with roles including Vice President of Sales North America, General Manager/Representative Director SecureWorks Japan K.K., and pioneer of Global Strategic Alliances and OEMs. Jeff has also held key leadership positions at FirstWave Technologies, ZLand.com, and was the founder of Emerging Market Technologies, Inc. About Simeio Simeio provides the industrys most complete Identity and Access Management solution delivered as a service and interoperable with leading IAM tools. We protect over 150 million identities globally for enterprises, institutions, and government entities of all sizes. Our platform and services provide the following set of enterprise-grade security and identity capabilities: Access Management and Federation, Access Request, Directory Services, Identity Governance and Administration, Identity Management and Administration, Privileged Access Management, Security & Risk Intelligence, Data Security & Loss Prevention, and Cloud Security. Simeio IDaaSwhich consists of Simeio Identity Orchestrator (IO), Simeio Identity Intelligence Center (IIC), and managed identity servicesbrings together best-in-class processes, professionals, and technologies focused entirely on management and protection of identities and related access controls. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and with Security Operations Centers worldwide, Simeio provides services to Global 2000 companies across all industries, and government entities. For more information, please visit http://www.simeio.com/. Follow Us on Twitter: @Simeio Follow us on LinkedIn: Simeio Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: Simeio Like Us on Facebook: Simeio Media Contact: Danya Harper info@simeio.com 770-282-4442 Mike Bradshaw Connect Marketing mikeb@connectmarketing.com 801-373-7888 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ea546a81-057a-4dc5-a064-5d4e55195d62 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] On behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and in accordance with the plan for monitoring the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations of the country in 2021, the President's Office started an inspection of the state of readiness to fulfill the tasks of military command units, formations and military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine running mission in the Joint Force Operation (JFO) on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to the presidential press service, the relevant inspection was approved by presidential decree No. 12 dated February 1, 2021. The main purpose of the inspection is to check the state of readiness of the forces and means involved in the JFO to run mission as intended, as well as to determine the effectiveness of measures taken by the leadership of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military command and control units for the comprehensive support of forces from means performing tasks in the east countries. In addition, the inspection is aimed at identifying factors that affect the state of readiness of forces and means to perform tasks. Representatives of the President's Office of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces of Ukraine were involved in the inspection. Based on the results of the check, a report will be prepared to the president, as well as proposals for further building up the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and solving existing problems in the public defense sector. Born out of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity (DHF), in Abu Dhabi, in 2019, and aligned to the humanitarian values shared by the UAE's founder, the late Sheikh Zayed, this global award recognizes individuals who are committed to fostering conditions for peaceful co-existence. In recognition of that historic meeting, the honorary recipients of the first Zayed Award for Human Fraternity were the co-signees of the Document: His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and the Head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis. As Secretary-General of the UN, since 2017, Antonio Guterres has embarked on a dedicated mandate to address issues relating to world peace and security. Among some of the key initiatives he has spearheaded, during his time in office, Guterres has addressed a number of impactful initiatives, including: countering hate speech and violence; modernizing UN peacekeeping practices; to his Global Cease Fire Appeal and Initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in 170 member and observer states heeding that call to sign up. 2021 honoree, Latifa Ibn Ziaten, is a mother and Moroccan-French activist, dedicated to raising awareness against escalating religious extremism, following her own personal tragedy of losing her son, Imad, to a terrorist attack, in 2012. Since then, Latifa has become a well-known civil society activist, in France and beyond; working with families and communities to prevent youth radicalization and spreading the message of peace, dialogue, and mutual respect. Ahead of receiving his award on Thursday, Guterres, said: "It is with humility and deep gratitude that I feel honored to receive the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. I see it also as recognition of the work the United Nation is doing every day, everywhere, to promote peace and human dignity. "We live in challenging times. We see the threats coming from the pandemic, from the climate, threats from war and conflict in different parts of the world. Therefore, it is fantastic to see the enormous leadership of His Holiness the Pope and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, pushing humankind to come together, in unity, in dialogue, to promote peace, to promote fraternity, and to promote the unity that is necessary to address all the challenges to defeat hate and ensure that human solidarity wins the battles we are facing." In accepting her award, Ms. Latifa said: "It is a great honor, and indeed humbling, to have been recognized by the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity for the work I and many others do, each day, in addressing extremism though dialogue, mutual respect, and peaceful co-existence. Most importantly, I hope this award helps raise awareness among a wider audience about the need to continue these efforts. "The situation in France and Europe has often presented many challenges due to a sense of exclusion and marginalization that affects so many young hearts. That said, I feel progress is being made, and we continue to work with families and communities to prevent youth radicalization and to understand how we can create opportunities for more open dialogue and advocacy; making co-operation and mutual understanding the norm not the exception," Latifa concluded. Speaking ahead of Thursday's ceremony, the Secretary-General of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity (HCHF), and co-author of the Document on Human Fraternity, Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, said: "As head of the UN, Mr. Guterres has been responsible for launching many individual and joint initiatives aimed at ending humanity's violence against itself and violations against nature. His commitment and dedication in this role has shown that he is a true endorser of the approach and values advocated for by the Document on Human Fraternity. "In recognizing Latifa Ibn Ziaten as a 2021 honoree, it is a bitter-sweet realization of how circumstances born out of such grievous and personal sorrow have been turned into a fitting tribute to her son, and all other victims of terrorist violence. Mrs. Latifa's great work in advocating for the values of human fraternity as a way to end violence is truly inspiring. "This independent, global award was conceived to encourage and recognize those who inspire us all to play our part in creating a more understanding, inclusive and peaceful world. By examining the work and impact of both 2021 honorees, it is clear that they are both role models for the next generation, world leaders, and all those engaged in similarly noble pursuits for peace," he continued. "Honoring Mr. Guterres and Mrs. Latifa with the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity in its first edition after the Grand Imam and Pope Francis were honored, in 2019, is a tribute to all those who love peace and an invitation to humanity to continue on this path," Abdelsalam added. "The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity will continue its efforts to achieve the goals of the Document on Human Fraternity, with the sincere support and care of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the patron of human fraternity who sponsors the committee and its projects, and is keen to ensure that the award continues on its path to achieve human fraternity with complete independence and impartiality, and this indicates the sincerity of the message and the greatness of the goal," he concluded. To watch the two honorees receive their award from His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al-Tayeb, viewers can go to www.zayedaward.org. The 30-minute broadcast will air from 17:30-18:00 GST/13:30-14:00 GMT/08:30-09:00 EST, Thursday evening. The February 4th awards ceremony also coincides with the first International Day of Human Fraternity, which was adopted by a UN General Assembly resolution, in December 2020. This date is now an official day dedicated to raising awareness and recognising the efforts of those who promote peace, harmony, and intercultural dialogue, around the world. The date was chosen to coincide with the 2019 signing of the Document on Human Fraternity. This year's award is the first time that nominees from all over the world could be submitted to be assessed by an independent judging committee, formed by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity (HCHF) and made up of international experts. The 2021 Judging Committee for this year's Zayed Award for Human Fraternity was: Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam , Secretary-General of HCHF , Secretary-General of HCHF Adama Dieng , former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide , former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Rt. Hon. Michaelle Jean , 27 th Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada , 27 Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of H.E. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla , former Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia , former Vice-President of the Republic of Cardinal Dominique Mamberti , Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. , Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. H.E. Catherine Samba-Panza, former President of the Central African Republic The nominations process for the 2022 awards will open on in May 2021 and close in October 2021. To find out if you qualify as a nominator or to nominate a candidate for next year's award, go to: www.zayedaward.org. About ZAHF The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity seeks to honor the legacy of the founder of the United Arab Emirates by celebrating people everywhere who embody through their work his lifelong commitment to human fraternity. It is awarded by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity and includes a financial prize of one million dollars. It was created in February, 2019, to mark the historic meeting in Abu Dhabi of the head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis, and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmad al-Tayeb, to co-sign the historic Document of Human Fraternity. Pope Francis and Grand Imam al-Tayeb were the first honorary co-recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. About HCHF Formed in 2019, the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity is an independent committee dedicated to achieving the aspirations of the Document for Human Fraternity by bringing people across the world together, in the spirit of peaceful co-existence. The committee comprises a diverse group of international religious leaders, scholars and cultural leaders. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432391/Zayed_Award_for_Human_Fraternity_Trophy.mp4 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432389/Antonio_Guterres.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432390/Latifa_Ibn_Ziaten.jpg SOURCE The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity [February 02, 2021] Facedrive Closes Private Placement Including Participation From Members of First Nations ** NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES ** Facedrive Inc. ("Facedrive") (TSXV:FD) (OTCQX:FDVRF) announces that, further to its press release dated January 18, 2021, it has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of common shares (the "Offered Shares") with participation from members of the First Nations community. Pursuant to the Offering, the Company issued a total of 1,518,518 Offered Shares at a price of $13.50 per Offered Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,499,993. There were no warrants issued as part of the Offering. All Offered Shares issued are subject to a hold period expiring four months and a day from their date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities laws. Proceeds of the Offering will be used to service pent-up demand for its TraceSCAN products and services (including for its work with First Nations communities), further grow its Facedrive Foods vertical, continue expansion of its Transportation-as-a-Service business throughout North America (including Steer EV, its electric vehicle subscription business currently operating in Washington DC), and general working capital purposes. About Facedrive Facedrive is a multi-faceted "people-and-planet first" tech ecosystem offering socially-responsible services to local communities with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. As part of this commitment, Facedrive's vision is to fulfil its mandate through a number of verticals that either leverage existing technologies of the Company or project synergies with existing lines of business (the "Facedrive Verticals"). The Facedrive Verticals include its rideshare business ("Facedrive Rideshare"), sustainable e-commerce platform ("Facedrive Marketplace"), food-delivery service ("Facedrive Foods"), e-social platform ("Facedrive Social") and its contact-tracing and sustainable health services business ("Facedrive Health"). Facedrive Rideshare was among the first to offer a wide variety of environmentally andsocially responsible solutions in the Transportation as a Service (TaaS) space, planting thousands of trees based on user consumption and offering choices between electric, hybrid and conventional vehicles (including, more recently, electric and hybrid vehicles on a subscription basis through Steer). Facedrive Marketplace offers curated merchandise created from sustainably sourced materials. Facedrive Foods offers contactless delivery of a wide variety of foods right to consumers' doorsteps, with a focus on doing so in a socially and environmentally-conscious manner. Facedrive Social strives to keep people connected in a physically-distanced world through its HiQ and other e-socialization platforms that invite users to interact based on common interests and by offering gamification and mutual community support features. Facedrive Health strives to develop and offer innovative technological solutions to the most acute health challenges including its proprietary TraceSCAN wearable technology for contact tracing. Facedrive envisions changing the ridesharing, food delivery, e-commerce, social and health tech narratives for the better, for everyone, and is currently operational in Canada and the United States. For more about Facedrive, visit www.facedrive.com. Facedrive Inc. 100 Consilium Pl, Unit 400, Scarborough, ON (News - Alert) , Canada M1H 3E3 www.facedrive.com Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release contains forward-looking information. This information is based on management's reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to us and are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including the allocation and eventual productivity derived from the uses of proceeds. Information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. See "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" in Facedrive's Filing Statement dated August 28, 2019 for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements. Readers are urged to consider the uncertainties, risks and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. We have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006240/en/ [ 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. Saudi Arabia has suspended the entry of people from as many as 20 countries, including India, to curb rising coronavirus tally in the country. The Kingdom's interior ministry has announced temporary suspension of flights effective from 9 am (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, its official press agency said. The countries in the ban list are Britain, Italy, Portugal, France, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland. Other countries in the list include India, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa. The Kingdom's citizens, diplomats, and health workers will, however, be allowed to enter the country. The country has reported 368,000 Covid-19 cases and 6,400 deaths, the latest figures suggest. The daily cases, however, have dipped from 5,000 in June 2020 to 100 in early January. But the cases have risen again, with 310 reported on Tuesday alone. Saudi Arabia has also launched a vaccination programme on December 17. It has received the first vaccine shipment delivery from Pfizer-BioNTech. India has also extended the suspension of scheduled commercial international flights till 11.59 pm on February 28, 2021. This restriction, however, will not apply to international cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA. Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May, and under bilateral "air bubble" arrangements with selected countries since July. India has formed air bubble pacts with 24 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Also read: DGCA extends ban on international flights till Feb 28; cargo operations exempted Local connection to better journalism and a glimpse at the sketchy economy of the pandemic. Read more . . . KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- The CBS News program 60 Minutes revealed last night that a Chinese company, BGI, recently offered to help with Covid-19 testing and processing. Six states turned them down, but some of those tests came to the Kansas City area. Expedia first launched the annual study more than two decades ago to illustrate the benefits of vacation and encourage working adults to regularly unplug. In recent years, the benefits of vacation are well-known and undisputed, yet Vacation Deprivation is on the rise in most nations. This year's findings point to yet another shift, one in which workers agree they will never take their vacation days for granted again. In fact, many Americans are optimistic about travel in 2021, with 36 percent planning to resume taking regular vacations this year, and another third (32%) vowing to take more vacations than usual to make up for lost time in 2020. Americans are optimistic about travel in 2021 - report reveals many plan to take an extra week of vacation this year. U.S. Vacation Deprivation at-a-glance The study found that the U.S. reported the fewest number of vacation days taken in 2020 out of the 16 countries surveyed. Considering the impact of the pandemic on travel, feelings of vacation deprivation were unsurprisingly higher than in years' past, with 64 percent of U.S. respondents reporting they felt vacation deprived, a three percent increase from 2020 and 11 percent increase compared to five years ago. The study also found: Fewest Days Received, Most Days Left on the Table: Not only did U.S. employees take the fewest vacation days (8) in 2020, along with Thailand the U.S. also received the fewest vacation days (13) when compared to other countries surveyed. Not only did U.S. employees take the fewest vacation days (8) in 2020, along with the U.S. also the fewest vacation days (13) when compared to other countries surveyed. Time Between Vacations Has Grown : One in four (26%) U.S. respondents noted they haven't taken a vacation in over a year, compared to 16 percent in 2019. : One in four (26%) U.S. respondents noted they haven't taken a vacation in over a year, compared to 16 percent in 2019. Using Vacation Time, but Not for Vacation: 47 percent used at least one vacation day in 2020 to care for a sick family member or in lieu of childcare. 47 percent used at least one vacation day in 2020 to care for a sick family member or in lieu of childcare. More Cancelled Trips: 42 percent cancelled one or more trips last year due to COVID-19. It's not all bad news, however. With Americans planning to take 13 vacation days this year, up from just 8 days taken in 2020, work-life balance is bound to improve. Queue the bucket lists Though the pandemic put a damper on vacation plans, the study results show that the desire for travel has not diminished. In fact, 66 percent of people globally were inspired to create a travel bucket list, and the longer the pandemic has waged on, the longer bucket lists have become 60 percent of respondents said they continue to add to their lists. Expedia's study also found that people are willing to put more budget into their bucket list vacations in 2021 than originally planned (61%). Whether it's trying a new activity, seeking out a place untraveled, reuniting with loved ones separated by distance (64 percent find vacation time more valuable when spending quality time with family), or simply having time to recharge (54 percent think having the time to relax and do nothing is what makes them happiest on vacation), travelers want to make the most of their time. 2021 is on track to be the year people take back their days As the hope for future travel in 2021 grows, Expedia is already seeing an uptick in people searching for their next bucket list location. For spring getaways, Expedia.com data shows that Americans are searching for warm weather and beaches. These are the destinations garnering the most interest for March and April escapes: Top-searched*: Riviera Maya/Playa del Carmen/ Tulum ; Cancun ; Isla Mujeres ; Las Vegas, NV ; Orlando, FL ; Puerto Vallarta /Riviera Nayarit, Los Cabos , Miami, FL ; Oahu, HI ; Maui, HI Meanwhile, the trending destinations for spring show similar themes to destinations highlighted in the 2021 Trends Report, primarily outdoorsy, small towns or off the beaten path: Trending**: North Georgia Mountains, GA; The Hamptons, NY; Front Royal, VA ; Southwest Colorado , CO; Hagerstown, MD ; Upper Peninsula, MI ; South Shore, MA; Boone, NC ; Lake Placid, NY ; Dahlonega, GA "The longer the pandemic, the larger the vacation bucket list and the greater the yearning to travel," said Shiv Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Brand Expedia. "Globally, 81% of working adults are placing more value on vacation and 66% of them have been inspired to create a bucket list. Whether it's inspiring memorable experiences to add to the bucket list, sharing helpful travel tips or spotlighting flexible deals, Expedia will be here to help travelers discover new destinations - smartly and confidently." About the Vacation Deprivation Study Expedia first commissioned Vacation Deprivation in 2000 to examine the work-life balance of Americans. The annual study is currently in its 21st year and was conducted online among 9,200 respondents across North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Commissioned from November 18-December 9, 2020 on behalf of Expedia by Northstar Research Partners, a global strategic research firm, responses were gathered using an amalgamated group of best-in-class panels. Looking at the margin of error for the global average, a 1% difference is statistically significant at 90% confidence. About Expedia.com Expedia.com is one of the world's largest full-service travel sites, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (https://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of top vacation destinations, affordable airfare, hotel deals, car rentals, destination weddings, cruise deals and in-destination activities, attractions, services and travel apps. 2021 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Expedia and the Airplane logo are trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CST# 2029030-50. Visit our web site https://www.expedia.com/ or use our mobile app to book flights and hotels. Notes to Editor: Traveler wellbeing is our priority. Expedia understands how the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect travelers everywhere, as well as the importance of abiding by government restrictions and practicing social distancing. Travelers can visit the Expedia COVID-19 travel resource page for information to make informed travel decisions. *Top destinations based on Expedia.com lodging searches as of January 8, 2021 for stays taking place in March and April 2021. **Trending destinations are those showing the biggest lift in lodging searches for March and April stays on Expedia.com compared to the same travel window in 2020. SOURCE Expedia.com Related Links www.expedia.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Amid the reported crackdown on a fake vaccine ring in China, a lawmaker urged the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine National Police to be vigilant and ensure that no smuggled, counterfeit product enters the country. We need to keep watch of our borders like bloodhounds. Ni isang pekeng bakuna ay hindi dapat makalusot (not one fake vaccine should be able to enter the country), Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement on Wednesday, citing reports that Chinese authorities recently confiscated over 3,000 doses of fake COVID-19 vaccines. Our own authorities need to bust any plan to bring those fake vaccines onto our shores. Anyone willing to put other people in danger for quick profit should be apprehended and put behind bars," she added. More than 80 people involved in the production of fake coronavirus vaccine doses in China have been arrested, CNN reported earlier this week, citing state media Xinhua News Agency. Those involved in the crime ring, which Chinese officials said has been running since September last year, "have been making huge profits by fulfilling saline solution into injectors to process and make fake coronavirus vaccines and selling them at a higher price, the agency noted. Meanwhile, Hontiveros also warned the public against getting inoculated through the so-called black market and urged them to trust in the national COVID-19 vaccination plan. Concerns over a possible presence of a vaccine black market in the country were raised following the revelation that a number of military men, including President Rodrigo Duterte's security personnel, received shots of the China-made Sinopharm vaccine. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the vaccines were smuggled into the country. Government agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the Bureau of Customs, and the National Bureau of Investigation have launched probes into the issue. Sinopharms local distributor earlier told CNN Philippines that not a lot of vials were brought in, adding it was possible that the doses were obtained from clinical trials in Abu Dhabi. New Delhi: The retirement fund body EPFOs investment in stocks through exchange traded funds (ETFs) would cross the Rs 45,000-crore mark by the end of this fiscal, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Thursday. In the exchange traded funds, we have increased (investment) from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. With this, this year alone, it may go in totality to Rs 45,000 crore, and I feel (that) the rate of return last year was 13.3 per cent (from ETFs), Dattatreya said on the sidelines of an Assocham event in New Delhi. The markets are good and lets see the situation, but it is an encouraging one. Thats why we have increased (investment), he said. As of April 21 this year, the stock investment stood at Rs 21,559 crore. The EPFO invested Rs 6,577 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 14,982 crore in 2016-17. Dattatreya also said the ministry is working on consolidating 44 labour codes into four in order to simplify them. The four codes pertain to labour, industrial relations, social security and welfare and safety and working conditions. Besides, he said the government plans to create 65 million jobs by 2026 in the auto sector alone. Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Girish Shankar said there is a huge gap the auto industry must address to ensure Make in India delivers. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need to make substantial investment in engineering R&D for designing and developing in India so that India graduates to a truly auto engineering hub. We request the auto majors to consider this seriously and fast enough. Also, suggest to us as to how to support this through an appropriate policy framework. We are already working towards this direction, he said. The ministry has finalised the net automotive mission plan (AMP) 2016-26, he said, adding that AMP 2026 is a combined effort of the central government and the industry. It also seeks to define the trajectory of the evolution of the automotive ecosystem in India including the glide path of specific regulations and policies that govern a wide range of parameters affecting the industry. As an outcome of the AMP 2026, we are planning that the Indian automotive industry will grow 3.5-4 times in value from its current output of around Rs 4,64,000 crore in 2015 to about Rs 16,16,000-18,89,500 crore by 2026, considering an average GDP growth ranging between 5.8 per cent and 7.5 per cent during the period, he said. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Maputo Young Mozambicans recruited by the terrorist groups operating in the northern province of Cabo Delgado will not be harmed if they defect and turn themselves in to the authorities, President Filipe Nyusi pledged on Wednesday. He was speaking at Maputo's Monument to the Mozambican Heroes, on Heroes' Day, which commemorates the assassination of the founder and First President of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), Eduardo Mondlane, on 3 February 1969. He told the ceremony that the country faces a range of "challenges and constraints", including terrorism in Cabo Delgado, the armed attacks perpetrated by the self-styled "Renamo Military Junta" in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the threats posed by climate change. He believed that, in Cabo Delgado, teenage recruits to the ranks of the islamist terrorists want to return to their families and communities, but are afraid to do so, because they fear retaliation. But he guaranteed that the defence and security forces have instructions to guarantee their safety and their reinsertion into society. Nyusi said that those deceived into joining the terrorists "should not hesitate" to defect and come back to their families. As for the attacks by the Renamo Military Junta, Nyusi described these as "an affront to our desire to live in peace and harmony". He urged the Junta's men to lay down their arms and join the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) procedures, which he had agreed with Renamo leader Ossufo Momade, under the peace agreement the two men signed in August 2019. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Mozambique Conflict Children By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The government, Nyusi added, takes seriously its responsibility to continue demobilizing and disarming Renamo former guerillas "alongside the Renamo leadership, and with the support of the international community. The President added that, in recent years, Mozambique has been frequently battered by storms and cyclones resulting from climate change. The latest such event was Cyclone Eloise which struck central Mozambique on 23 January, interrupting the normal operation of health, education, electricity, water and communication services. The torrential rains and flooding brought by the cyclone had damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, cut key roads, and swamped thousands of hectares of crops. Nyusi declared that Heroes' Day "is a solemn occasion for us to remember and celebrate the life and work of those who, at all stages of our history, gave the best of themselves in the resistance and in the victorious struggle against colonial rule". New Delhi, Feb 3 : The government must direct the banned Chinese apps to hand over the entire data of Indian users, former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue K.N. Govindacharya has urged. In a letter addressed to the Union Home Secretary, Govindacharya said that the government should also pave the way for cybersecurity audit of these apps by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) so that senstive and valuable Indian data are not further compromised. Last year, India had banned over 200 apps citing various reasons, including national security concerns and reports of stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. "This data theft is akin to a usual theft, where the police not only catch the thieves, but also try to recover the stolen goods. However, sans any grievance redressal mechanism of these apps, the users are left stranded with no remedy to act on their complaints," Govindacharya wrote in the letter seen by IANS. Therefore, the government must ensure the data which have already been collected are not misused by these Chinese companies, argued Govindacharya, a patron of Rashtriya Swabhimaan Aandolan. "The government ought to ensure that these companies do not generate undue commercial gains from data already accumulated of crores of Indians," read the letter dated January 30. The Chinese apps under interim ban include Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, BIGO LIVE, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community. Media reports also suggest that the Union government has decided to permanently ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok. Moreover, the Central Bureau of Investigation on January 19 had registered a case against UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research Limited in a case of alleged "illegal harvest" of personal data of 5.62 lakh Indian Facebook users. "Whereas, in Cambridge Analytica, the data of about 5 lakh Indians were compromised, the quantum of number of users in relation to Chinese apps in crores. Therefore, there is more urgent and greater need for safeguarding this precious data, and also initiating prosecution of those responsible for criminal actions," Govindacharya wrote in the letter. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Affordable housing finance company Home First share price surged 19 percent in the opening over issue price on February 3, following positive mood at Dalal Street post Budget and amid strong fundamentals with asset quality performance. Shares started off the day at Rs 612.15 on the BSE, against issue price of Rs 518 per share. On the National Stock Exchange, the stock opened with a 19.46 percent premium at Rs 618.80. On the NSE, it was quoting 21.62 percent higher at Rs 630,at 10:02 hours IST. Bengaluru-based Home First Finance Company India, which is primarily engaged in the business of lending of housing loans to first time home buyers in low and middle-income groups, launched its Rs 1,154 crore public issue for subscription on January 21 and closed the same with 27 times subscription on January 25. The company will utilise net proceeds from its fresh issue (out of Rs 265 crore) to augment capital base to meet future requirements. It has posted strong growth in net interest income of 58.6 percent CAGR between FY18-20 while net profits have grown at a CAGR of 122.6 percent during the same period. Despite the COVID-19 crisis the company's asset quality has remained largely stable with gross non-performing assets (NPA) and net NPA largely stable at 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent respectively at the end of first half of FY21. The fast growing home financier had a capital adequacy ratio of 51.7 percent at the end of first half of FY21 which provides comfort, said Angel Broking which expects the company to post strong growth driven by strong demand for affordable housing. Angel Broking, which also provides loans for the purpose of purchasing commercial property, and loans against property and construction finance, has a strong network of 70 branches covering over 60 districts in 11 states and is strategically placed in geographies with high economic growth and substantial demand for affordable housing finance. Its loans for purchase or construction of property comprised 92.1 percent of its gross loan assets at the end of September 2020. Salaried customers accounted for 73.1 percent and self-employed customers 25 percent of gross loan assets. Its gross loan assets have registered a growth at a CAGR of 63.4 percent in FY18-FY20. February 03, 2021 Open Thread 2021-010 News & views ... Posted by b on February 3, 2021 at 16:19 UTC | Permalink Comments next page Cosmetic oil market size from palm oil is pegged to record 5.2 percent CAGR over the next few years, considering their robust use in the formulation of creams and soaps. Palm oil can be considered a chief cosmetic oil source as it offers health benefiting attributes. As per the latest research report by Global Market Insights, the global cosmetic oil market size exceeded over $5.5 billion in 2019 and is likely to surpass more than $7.5 billion by 2026. Cosmetic oil market size from palm oil is pegged to record 5.2 percent CAGR over the next few years, considering their robust use in the formulation of creams and soaps. Palm oil can be considered a chief cosmetic oil source as it offers health benefiting attributes like skin smoothening, hydration, as well as protection against UV radiations. Annual revenue of the cosmetic oil market in the hair conditioning segment exceeded over $1.5 billion in 2019 and the value is anticipated to register a 3.9 percent CAGR through 2026. This can be owed to the rising demand for these oil products to counter hair loss. Application of the cosmetic oils in the hair care department contributed to more than $1,616.1 million in 2019. The market is estimated to strike a 3.9 percent CAGR through the coming years due to the prevalence of hair fall issues in consumers across the world. This trend has led to an awareness of the advantages offered by cosmetic oils. Furthermore, cosmetic oils derived from coconut and almond are extensively employed as carriers in cosmetic formulations. On the other hand, the baby cosmetic oil industry will gain traction over the coming years due to the inclining use of oil for baby health and hygiene. There is also a high consumer willingness to spend on baby care products. The Asia Pacific cosmetic oil market comprises contributors like China, Japan, India, and South Korea who collectively make up for 80 percent of this regional landscape. The industry was responsible for close to $2,254.6 million in annual remuneration in 2019. This can be attributed to the expansion of the residing population as well as rapid economic developments and urbanization in the region. A surge in production activities related to personal care as well as cosmetic products in China and India will further add impetus to the regional cosmetic oil consumption. Growing utilization of cosmetic oil in numerous personal care products such as body lotions, creams, make-up, serum, shower-gels, exfoliating agents, and shampoos will foster market size in the forthcoming years. The utilization of cosmetic oil provides soothing and smoothing action on the skin and grooming effects on the beard and head hair. Increasing awareness among the population in North America regarding aesthetic appearance and growing personal and health care spending will complement cosmetic oil industry expansion in the region. As per the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA), the US health care spending rose by 4.6 percent and valued at $3.8 trillion in 2019. The presence of stringent FDA norms regarding cosmetic adulterations and controlled utilization of oils and chemicals in personal care products will positively influence the North America industry landscape. Get detailed analysis on the Cosmetic Oil Market: https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3982 Contact Us Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a futuristic budget focussing on reviving growth during the challenging times of COVID-19. The priority of the Narendra Modi government is long-term sustainable growth through capital expenditure and structural reforms, rather than short-term fixes to an ailing economy. The industry captains and markets have cheered the Budget announcements with the Sensex closing 5 percent up on February 1 and by 2.4 percent on February 2 even surpassing the critical 50,000 mark. The Budget relies on big government spending to come out of the economic crisis with the fiscal deficit expected to touch 9.5 percent in FY20-21. There are three levers of growth: consumption, investment, and government expenditure. Private consumption is down due to low incomes, job losses and reduction in pay. Private investments have not picked up due to due to low demand. The current capacity utilisation of the industry is 75-80 percent only. The capital expenditure for FY 21-22 is budgeted to increase by 35 percent. The creation of long-term assets and new infrastructure will lead to job creation, kicking in a multiplier effect, which, in turn, will boost consumption and private investments. The Prime Minister hailed the Budget saying it has the vision of 'Aatmanirbharta' (self-reliance) and addresses all sections of the society. The Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states made a beeline praising the Budget. The opposition parties, on the other hand, severely criticised the Budget. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted his disapproval of the Budget and alluded to it being a means of furthering what he feels will help crony capitalism. Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram attacked Sitharaman for paying little attention to the poor, working class, migrants and agricultural labourers. He termed the Budget a 'cruel blow' to federalism, because the states do not get a share from the cess introduced on fuel. The Trinamool Congress, which is facing a serious threat from BJP in West Bengal in the upcoming elections, termed India's first paperless budget as a 100 percent visionless budget whose theme is Sell India. CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said, This Budget is not for the common people but for big industrialists. This Budget will help those who seek to make profit. The communist parties have been opposing market reforms and privatisation when the world has been slowly moving towards a global economic system. The context in which the Budget was presented has been ignored by many opposition leaders. Tax collections are down 18 percent this year due to the lockdown, while expenditure has increased by 13 percent. During challenges around revenue realisation, markets were expecting a COVID-19 cess on income. The minister didnt fall prey to these demands which could have dampened sentiments. This point is not being appreciated by the Opposition. Many leaders, including Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray criticised Sitharaman for paying special attention to election-bound states. The Budget proposes large capital outlays for Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam, which face elections in Q2 2021. However, such measures have been adopted by the Congress and United Front governments in the past. These are mere proposals for infrastructure creation and the actual expenditure will happen over the next several years only after the schemes are approved. Almost nothing is likely to be spent by April-May, which could majorly influence the voting pattern in these states. According to Choi Young-il, a political commentator and adjunct professor at Kyung Hee Cyber University, there are three points to be a successful Opposition. The first is criticising the governments shortcomings. The second is providing an alternative to it, and the third is co-operating with the government when it is doing a good job. Many opposition leaders had criticised the Rs 20 lakh-crore package announced last year for offering little through budgetary allocation. A fiscal deficit of 9.5 percent versus 3.5 percent budgeted for FY 20-21 negates this criticism, the additional 6 percent coming through higher spending. Clearly opposition parties in India are failing in their duty and hence not being able to engage in constructive criticism of the government. Budget 2021, which sets clear goal paths, proves this point again. Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas says that Ukraine will start receiving coronavirus vaccines under the COVAX Facility in February. He said this at a meeting of the Commission for Coordination of the Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement on February 3, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "The issue of vaccination against coronavirus has come to the fore. Vaccines under the EU-supported COVAX Facility will begin to arrive in February. Ukraine and other neighboring countries are a priority for the European Union," Maasikas said. He reminded that the EU promptly responded to the challenges related to the pandemic and provided Ukraine with EUR 190 million in assistance and EUR 1.2 billion in financial support. "These are unprecedented volumes for a crisis year," the diplomat stressed. On February 2, Deputy Health Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said that Ukraine has a clear phased plan for vaccination against COVID-19, and that Ukraine will receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February. Ukraine expects to receive from 8 to 16 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine free of charge as part of the global COVAX initiative. The Health Ministry plans to vaccinate 50% of the population of Ukraine in 2021-2022. ish 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! Advertisement Officer Brian Sicknick's grief-stricken parents looked on as their son's ashes were carried out of the Capitol to be taken to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. Dozens of Capitol Police officers saluted their slain colleague as an honor guard descended the steps on the East Front of the Capitol with a wooden urn holding Sicknick's remains and placed it in a hearse. The emotional procession took place following a Congressional memorial ceremony as Sicknick's remains laid in honor inside the Rotunda at the Capitol - the same building where he was killed while defending the seat of American democracy from attack by a mob of MAGA rioters on January 6. The solemn ceremony was attended by Sicknick's parents Charles and Gladys, his Capitol Police colleagues and members of Congress including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Schumer delivered remarks, telling of how he met with Sicknick's family and condemning the violence that led to the officer's death, calling him a peacemaker who was 'caught in the wrong place at the wrong time on a day peace was shattered'. A choir from the Air Force, in which Sicknick served, sang America the Beautiful before Pelosi took the podium, heralding Sicknick's heroism and service to his country. Earlier in the day Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff passed through the Rotunda to pay their respects. The couple placed their hands over their hearts and took a moment of silence before touching the wooden urn with Sicknick's ashes. The officer died January 7 after he was reportedly struck over the head with a fire extinguisher during the violent insurrection on the Capitol the day before. A federal murder investigation was launched following his death but, almost one month on, no arrests have been made. Joe and Jill Biden paid their respects to Sicknick on Tuesday night after a his urn was carried into the Rotunda while dozens of Capitol police officers stood at attention. Dozens of Capitol Police officers lined up to salute their slain colleague Brian Sicknick as his ashes were carried out of the Capitol to be taken to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday Family members look on as Sicknick's body is carried down the East Front steps of the Capitol on Wednesday An honor guard carries an urn with Sicknick's cremated remains down the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday Family members, including Sicknick's mother Gladys (circled left) and father Charles (circled right), watched as an honor guard to carries an urn with the slain officer's remains down the steps of the Capitol Sicknick's parents Gladys (center) and Charles (right) sat front row during a Congressional ceremony in their son's honor Sicknick was memorialized in a Congressional ceremony on Wednesday morning as his remains laid in honor at the US Capitol - the same building where he was killed while defending it from attack by a mob of MAGA rioters Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (left) delivered remarks condemning the violence that led to the officer's death. 'He was a peacemaker in the wrong place at the wrong time,' Schumer said of Sicknick (right) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also spoke heralding Sicknick's heroism and service to his country The solemn ceremony in the Rotunda was attended by Sicknick's parents, his Capitol Police colleagues and members of Congress including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (center) Capitol Police officers salute Sicknick's urn after the Congressional ceremony concluded on Wednesday Earlier in the day Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff passed through the Rotunda to pay respects The couple placed their hands over their hearts and took a moment of silence before touching the urn with Sicknick's ashes Harris reaches out to touch the urn with Sicknick's ashes inside the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday morning Joe and Jill Biden paid their respects to Sicknick on Tuesday night McConnell gave a short speech on the Senate floor before the ceremony began at 10.30am on Wednesday. The Republican minority leader said Sicknick 'lies in honor under the dome of the institution he swore to defend and died defending'. 'Four weeks ago the Rotunda was strewn with the debris of an insurrectionist mob,' McConnell said. 'Today it is adorned in solemn thanksgiving to the sacrifice of a hero.' Schumer opened his remarks at the ceremony with a quote from the Bible's Book of Matthew: 'Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they will be called the children of God.' He spoke of how he learned that Sicknick's mother and aunt both graduated from the same high school in Brooklyn that he did when he met with the family after the officer died. 'That Brian and his family were made to pay such a high price for his devoted service in the Capitol was a senseless tragedy, one that we are still grappling with,' Schumer said. 'It's left deep scars in this building, as have the tragic deaths of two of Brians fellow officers in the days since his passing.' In her speech, Pelosi said it was fitting that the Air Force choir chose the song 'America the Beautiful' to honor Sicknick. 'Through the heroism of Officer Sicknick and those who serve our country, God has truly shed his grace on us, on America, from sea brotherhood from sea to shining sea,' Pelosi said, quoting the song. 'May it be a comfort to Officer Sicknick's family that so many mourn with them and pray for them during this sad time.' Three members of Sicknick's family sat front row at the ceremony, where attendees were spaced out in chairs spaced six feet apart, centered around a table with the officer's ashes and a folded American flag. At the conclusion of the ceremony, attendees including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser processed past the urn in silence before leaving the Rotunda. Last to leave were Capitol Police leaders, who stepped up one by one to salute Sicknick's ashes. Pelosi, Schumer and McConnell pause to pay their respects to Sicknick during the Congressional ceremony on Wednesday Pelosi greets Sicknick's family members during Wednesday's ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda Schumer speaks to Sicknick's family members as he heads to the podium to give his speech on Wednesday McConnell, Schumer and Pelosi process out of the Rotunda following Wednesday's tribute ceremony An attendee cries during a Congressional tribute to Sicknick inside the Rotunda on Wednesday A crying woman is comforted by a fellow ceremony attendee on Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda A Capitol Police Officer holds a program during a ceremony memorializing Sicknick on Wednesday Rep Louie Gohmert (R - Texas) salutes Sicknick's remains during the Congressional ceremony on Wednesday Rep Liz Cheney (R - Wyoming) walks by a table with Sicknick's ashes following Wednesday's ceremony After the ceremony Sicknick's remains were carried out of the Capitol by an honor guard Police officers saluted a hearse as it departed from the Capitol for Arlington National Cemetery A photo taken inside the Capitol building shows police officers saluting the hearse with Sicknick's remains From left, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi watch as Sicknick's ashes left the Capitol The hearse was followed by a truck carrying the bicycle that Sicknick rode when he was on duty The funeral procession for Sicknick approaches Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday A motorcade procession brought the remains of Sicknick to the Capitol around 9.30pm Tuesday night. An honor guard then carried the urn and a folded American flag up the steps, while Sicknick's fellow officers stood to attention to watch their comrade be carried into the building he had spent more than a decade working to protect. Sicknick is pictured with his girlfriend of 11 years Sandra Garza The wooden urn, which was inscribed with his full name and date of birth and death, was placed in the heart of the rotunda next to the flag which had been flown the day the officer died. 'This flag was flown over the United States Capitol by The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, honoring the distinguished life and service of Officer Brian D. Sicknick. January 7, 2021,' read a plaque on the flag. Sicknick's family visited his urn in a private ceremony first and were seen being comforted by Sicknick's colleagues on the steps of the Capitol. Pelosi and Schumer then arrived to pay honor to the cop with other lawmakers including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Pete Aguilar following close behind. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, who replaced Chief Steven Sund after he resigned in the wake of the Capitol riot, paid tribute to Sicknick next, raising her hand to salute the urn. The President and First Lady walking into the Capitol to pay their resects to the fallen officer Tuesday night The president took a solemn moment of silence in front of the urn carrying the cremated remains of the fallen cop, reaching out and touching the wooden box before holding his hand to his heart Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pay their respects Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer come together to pay their respects An honor guard carried the urn and a folded American flag up the steps of the Capitol and into the rotunda US Capitol Police Officers place on a stand the urn holding the remains of their fellow officer Brian Sicknick A fellow law enforcement officer breaks down in tears as he visits the urn of his colleague Tuesday night Police officers line the rotunda to see the urn with Sicknick's remains placed under the dome for people to pay their respects An aerial view of the rotunda as people gather to pay tribute to the officer who died in the line of duty last month Lawmakers including Nancy Pelosi, Kevin MCarthy and Chuck Schumer were among those gathered on the steps of the Capitol as Sicknick's remains were carried into the rotunda on Tuesday night Biden said a prayer, marking the sign of the cross, before he walked over to a trio of wreaths next to the US and Capitol Police flags on Tuesday night A stream of Capitol Police officers all followed to say goodbye to their colleague who died in the line of duty. Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement ahead of the night's procession that the nation was 'united in grief'. 'The U.S. Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick,' they said. 'The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. 'His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.' Hundreds of President Trump's supporters stormed into the Capitol attacking police, smashing windows and sending lawmakers into hiding, after a fiery speech in which Trump urged them to 'fight' his election loss to President Joe Biden. The incident led to Trump's second impeachment; he will face trial in the Senate on a charge of inciting insurrection next week. Since the 1852, the caskets of just three dozen distinguished Americans have been honored at the Capitol. The urn inscribed with 'Brian David Sicknick' was placed next to the folded flag in the heart of the Capitol rotunda An honor guard salutes after placing an urn with the cremated remains and folded flag on a black-draped table in the rotunda The president and First Lady hold their hands to their hearts as they take a moment in front of the urn on Tuesday The 42-year-old's family visited his urn in a private ceremony and were seen being comforted by Sicknick's colleagues on the steps of the Capitol Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi waits to pay her respects on Tuesday night A placard with Sicknick's photo was displayed outside the Rotunda The honor guard carries his remains in the urn into the Capitol on Tuesday night The family of US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick watch as his remains are carried up the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday A motorcade procession brought the remains of Sicknick to the Capitol around 9.30pm Tuesday An honor guard carries an urn with Sicknick's remains from the motorcade as it reached the Capitol on Tuesday An honor guard carries the remains of Sicknick toward the Capitol on Tuesday night Two of Sicknick's colleagues carry his remains into the Capitol as lawmakers and fellow officers look on on Tuesday night The signs of the January 6 insurrection that cost Sicknick his life were still visible in this smashed window Officers line the steps to watch the procession as Sicknick's remains are carried into the Capitol to lie in honor on Tuesday Officers pay their respects to their fallen comrade who died protecting the Capitol in the January 6 riot on Tuesday night Members of then Capitol Police force stand in line to await the arrival of their fallen colleague on Tuesday The rotunda wascovered in darkness as family members, lawmakers and law enforcement paid tribute to Sicknick on Tuesday A total of 30 government officials, judges and military leaders have 'lay in state' at the Capitol, including Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. The most recent politician to lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda was John Lewis, whose casket was placed there in July of last year. The category of 'laying in honor' was created in 1998 in order to recognize distinguished Americans outside of the political realm. Sicknick, who died at 42, is the fifth American and third Captiitol police officer to lie in honor. His heartbroken family said they wanted to thank lawmakers for 'bestowing this historic honor on our fallen American hero.' 'We also wish to express our appreciation to the millions of people who have offered their support and sympathies during this difficult time,' they said in a statement. 'Knowing our personal tragedy and loss is shared by our nation brings hope for healing.' The first two citizens to lay in honor in the rotunda were Capitol Police officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John M. Gibson, who were fatally wounded in 1998 by a gunman who ran to the offices of then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay. The other two were civil rights leader Rosa Parks in 2005 and the Reverend Billy Graham in 2018. Hundreds of President Trump's supporters stormed into the Capitol attacking police, smashing windows and sending lawmakers into hiding on January 6 During the siege of the Capitol, Sicknick was pepper-sprayed and hit in the head, according to his father. An ambulance crew resuscitated him twice as he was rushed to a nearby hospital. He died the following day. Pictured: police and protesters clashing outside the building on January 6 Members of the Capitol Police pay their respects to late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick Tuesday night Members of the National Guard salute Sicknick as he lies in honor in the Capitol on Tuesday before he is laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery In the past 200 years, the caskets of only about three dozen distinguished Americans have been honored at the Capitol Sicknick's body will arrive at the rotunda on Tuesday evening and his fellow officers will begin viewing him at 10 pm The Capitol building is pictured on Tuesday afternoon following preparations for the arrival of Sicknick's casket During the siege of the Capitol, Sicknick was pepper-sprayed and hit in the head, according to his father. An ambulance crew resuscitated him twice as he was rushed to a nearby hospital. He died the following day. Last week, New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman introduced legislation to award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Sicknick 'for giving his life to protect the Capitol and the Members and staff of Congress on January 6'. Sicknick is survived by his parents, Charles and Gladys, his brothers Ken and Craig, and his longtime girlfriend, Sandra Garza. From his early days growing up in a New Jersey hamlet, Sicknick wanted to be a police officer. He enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997 They released a statement following his death, paying tribute to the late cop, which read: 'There really aren't enough kind words in any language to describe how sweet Brian was. 'He was truly a lovely, humble soul. We are missing him terribly. 'He was sweet natured through and through. Everyone who met him adored him. 'He also loved his dachshunds dearly, spoiling them, and ensuring they got the best care possible.' From his early days growing up in a New Jersey hamlet, Sicknick wanted to be a police officer. He enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, deploying to Saudi Arabia and then Kyrgyzstan. Joining the Guard was his means to joining law enforcement, his family said. Sicknick joined the Capitol Police in 2008, serving until his death. He was one of five people who died at the Capitol, or from complications sustained in the aftermath. More than 100 people who stormed into the building have now been arrested and are facing federal charges. The FBI is said to be investigating more than 30 people in relation to Sicknick's murder, but no one has yet been charged. Politicians remain shaken by the events, which have led to the erection of eight-foot-high fence around the complex as a temporary measure. Acting Capitol Police chief Pittman called last week for permanent fencing and back-up security forces near the building. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is pictured looking at the coffin of her slain husband President John F. Kennedy as his casket lays in state at the US Capitol in 1963 The first two citizens to lay in honor in the rotunda were Capitol Police officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John M. Gibson, who were fatally wounded in 1998 by a gunman who ran to the offices of then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay gettyimagesbank Christian Sealey, Morrow Sodali Asia Pacific CEO USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and managing general agency (MGA), has hired Edwin Tejada as a producer/broker for commercial lines in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, branch. Tejada joins the USG team with eight years of experience in the insurance industry, most recently with Bass Underwriters in Jersey City, New Jersey. As a producer/broker for commercial lines at USG, Tejada will focus on building his book of business, developing agency relationships and expanding USGs East coast footprint. This move is the most recent change that USG has implemented in its plan to expand operations nationwide and continue to provide solutions for the risk management industry. Source: USG Insurance Services Inc. A man apparently deliberately crashed his car into the front of a Massachusetts hobby store early Tuesday, knocked over displays, and then drove from the scene, police said. This was not a case where a foot slipped off the brake and hit and gas, Attleboro police Chief Kyle Heagney told The Sun Chronicle. A worker spreading salt in the Hobby Lobby stores parking lot at about 5 a.m. saw the car spinning around in the lot before it accelerated straight for the building, Heagney said. Workers repair an entryway door at the Hobby Lobby store at Bristol Plaza in South Attleboro, Mass. Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Police say a man apparently deliberately crashed his car into the front of the Massachusetts hobby store, knocked over displays, and then drove from the scene. A witness told police the driver struck the front door, backed up and then plowed inside. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle via AP)AP The witness told police the driver struck the front door, backed up and then plowed inside. The store was not open and no one was hurt. There was no structural damage to the building. Responding officers found a license plate inside and a vehicle with heavy front-end damage and no front license plate was stopped nearby. The driver, Rick Woodruff, 36, from Somerville, was taken to the hospital for an evaluation, the chief said. He will be summoned to court at a future date to face charges including malicious destruction of property. It was not clear if he had an attorney. The drivers motive remains under investigation, Lt. Jeffrey Rogers said. An email seeking comment was left with Hobby Lobbys corporate headquarters. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Nana AddoDankwa Akufo-Addo has been urged to consider the Member of Parliament(NPP MP) for Upper DenkyiraEast in the Central Region, Dr Festus AwuahKwofie, for a ministerial appointment. o a group calling itself Concerned Citizens of Upper Denkyira East Constituency, the DenkyiraState played a crucial role in the history of Gold Coast hence its commitment should be appreciated in this manner. A statement issued by Justice Nana Banful, the Chairman of the group in Accra on Saturday said the constituency had also been a committed part of the Danquah-Busia-Dombofamily since its inception in 1969 and deserved the honour. President Akufo-Addo on January 21, 2021 submitted to Parliament, for the approval, the names of 46 nominees for appointment as ministers in his new government. According to the group aside from the ministerial appointment ofthe late Charles Nyarnor, who died while an MP of the area in 2004,no indigene of the area had been part of the government. Your Excellency, the time is not late, we have now had a vibrant and hardworkingMPin the person of Dr Festus AwuahKwofie who had to be convinced before contesting as a member of parliament. [He] had for many years embarked on a lot of developmental projects including the giving of loans to constituency members in Accra. Your Excellency, the name of the Denkyira state in Gold Coast history was paramount and we hope you will appreciate our commitment with a ministerial appointment, it said. 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 lifelong nomad, an eccentric bon vivant, and a relentless optimist: This is the story of Frantz Seimetz, Luxembourg's first professional artist. His bohemian lifestyle took him from the shores of the Baltic Sea all the way to the United States of America, and to this day, he is remembered not only as a talented painter, but also as an immensely fascinating character. In his hometown Grevenmacher, Seimetz is among the most prominent of the town's many historical and mythical figures. A street is named after him, a whole song about his life was written and performed during the 2002 "Maacher Fraiheet" festival, and his likeness is regularly used on posters and flyers advertising cultural events in the town. Looking at the artist's life, it quickly becomes clear why Seimetz continues to intrigue people long after his death. In order to dissect the legend, this article will look at three main aspects of Seimetz' biography: His life in the light of his many travels, his art and how it allowed him to become the country's first professional artist, and finally the legacy of Frantz Seimetz and his place in the Grand Duchy's cultural history. I. The globetrotter Beside his work as a painter, Seimetz is famous for being a life-long globetrotter. The artist, who is also known as "Korriesch Rouden" in his hometown Grevenmacher, was born on 21 April 1858. His talent was recognised at a young age by the industrialist and MP Dominique-Antoine Pescatore from Mertert. Pescatore became the young men's patron and encouraged Seimetz to go abroad to study his craft advice which the Grevenmacher local would follow for the rest of his life. At first, his travels did not take him too far as he started his artistic training in Trier. However, he would soon move on to Brussels, where he worked for a local painter, before eventually concluding his education at the Academy of Fine Arts (Kunstakademie) in Munich and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Seimetz briefly returned to Luxembourg and settled in the capital, where he would soon be offered a unique opportunity. The honorary consul of the United States of America had his portrait painted by the emerging artist and offered the latter a ticket to New York as payment. Having caught an incurable case of the travel bug, Seimetz did not think twice and left the Old Continent for the US in late 1887. The artist from the Grand Duchy lived in Dubuque, IA for around two years, five months of which he spent on a houseboat travelling down the Mississippi. Doing justice to his taste for exploration, the painter's time in North America also included trips to the Antilles, Mexico, and Canada. A Mexican landscape. / Frantz Seimetz (1848-1934) He returned to Luxembourg in 1896 and just a year later, he met and married his wife Marie-Antoinette Bourger from Arlon. Bourger shared her husband's nomadic lifestyle and together the couple travelled across Europe, including trips to, among other places, the Baltic Sea, the Alsace, Munich, and Italy, specifically the island of Capri. In her piece on Seimetz in issue 64 of the cultural magazine. "Ons Stad", journalist and art critic Georgette Bisdorff also notes that he crossed the St. Gotthard Pass in Switzerland on foot. Painting depicting the island of Capri in Italy. / Frantz Seimetz (1848-1934) II. Luxembourg's first professional artist Contrary to many other artists at the time, Seimetz did know success during his own lifetime. While he was not necessarily "wealthy", he was able to live from his art alone and can thus be considered the country's first professional artist. His first artwork was a still life showing some flowers, and his first portrait depicted the local dean. Besides landscape paintings, portraits were Seimetz' other "speciality". Many of them show people he met during his many travels, but he also eternalised a lot of his personal friends, which included other famous Luxembourgers of the time, e.g. Michel Rodange, the author of the Renert. Seimetz was known for his eccentric, but jovial personality. / Frantz Seimetz (1848-1934) At the beginning of his career, Seimetz' main influences included the Dutch Masters Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer, and Hobbema. From them, the young Luxembourger learned to play around with bright and dark colours. His mastery in displaying light and shadow can be seen in many of his paintings. Another potential reason for his success was that he was the first Luxembourgish painter to embrace Impressionism, an art movement which originated in Paris and swept across Europe in the 19th Century. It is believed that especially his time at the prestigious art schools in Munich and Paris shaped the way he intended to use his artistic talent. During his stay in Paris, Seimetz also visited the prestigious Salon, the official art exhibition of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, in 1884 where he met the famous Hungarian painter Mihaly Munkacsy. Looking at Seimetz' life, which was the natural result of the artist's optimistic, happy-go-lucky attitude towards everything, it seems only fitting that he would be drawn to an art style which emphasised painting outdoors and capturing the feeling and movement of a scene. Somewhat ironically, the innovator Seimetz later on in his life rejected the emerging art styles of expressionism, cubism, and abstractionism, being unable to understand the evolution art movements were taking in the early years of the 20th Century. Seimetz, alongside painter Dominique Lang, was awarded the Grand-Duke Adolphe Prize in 1904 and many of Luxembourg's biggest newspapers published obituaries and tributes following his death in 1934. III. The legacy of Frantz Seimetz In more than one way, the name of Frantz Seimetz should always come up when discussing the Grand Duchy's greatest artists. From a cultural point of view, he proved to be an innovator by delving into Impressionism and depicting the Grand Duchy and the many, many places he visited in completely new ways. His rather irregular painting style differentiates him from his friend and contemporary Jean-Pierre Beckius, who is often regarded as the official "Painter of the Moselle". As Luxembourg's first professional artist, he achieved something which is difficult even for today's artists and is only further proof of his exceptional talent. However, especially in his hometown Grevenmacher Seimetz is also remembered for his eccentric, but immensely likeable character. While his art may have made him famous, it is very apparent that Seimetz' true love and passion was for the experience of life itself. He had a taste for adventure which accompanied him his whole life and a genuine curiosity about the world - and the people - surrounding him. Batty Weber, one of Luxembourg's most popular authors and a personal friend of Seimetz, described the painter's residence in Luxembourg City as a "small museum" filled with artworks and ancient furniture. Seimetz took chances, dove headfirst into the deep end again and again, and set out into the unknown while always carrying the memories of his upbringing with him. His memoire, which he wrote towards the end of his life, is a testimony to a sarcastic, witty, and intelligent man, who lived life on his own terms and ended up becoming one of the truly fascinating personalities of Luxembourg's history. 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. New Delhi/ Feb 3 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to visit Rampur in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday to meet the family of the late Navreet Singh to offer her condolences. The visit gains significance since the Congress has come out in open support of farmers. Navreet lost his life during the tractor rally on January 26 when his tractor collided with a police barricade. The Delhi Police had released a video showing a protester speeding and running over barricades with his tractor near ITO, resulting in the vehicle overturning. A post-mortem report revealed that the protester died due to the accident. The incident happened on January 26,when hundreds of farmers riding tractors thronged the ITO area in New Delhi after breaking through police barricades and faced tear-gas shells fired by police which tried to prevent them from moving towards India Gate and Rajpath in central Delhi. Clashes between police and protesting farmers were also witnessed as a section of farmers tried to break through the security arrangements made by Delhi Police. Medical staff are striking in defiance of the Myanmar coup - Lynn Bo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Myanmar police have filed charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for illegally importing walkie talkie radios, as a civil disobedience movement gathers pace across the Southeast Asian nation in protest at Mondays military coup against the democratically-elected government. The obscure charges under the Export and Import Law mean Ms Suu Kyi, 75, who has been under house arrest since early Monday morning, will be detained until February 15 for investigations, according to a police document filed in a court in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday. The document revealed the claim that at least ten walkie talkies had been found in the possession of her security team during a search of her home. It said the communications devices were imported illegally and used without permission, and requested her detention in order to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant. A separate document showed police filed charges against ousted President Win Myint for offences under the Natural Disaster Management Law, linked to an incident in September when allegedly waved to a passing convoy of party supporters from outside the Presidential Palace. Armoured vehicles are patrolling the streets of major cities in Myanmar - AFP He has been accused of violated Covid-19 prevention rules issued by the ministry of health for the election campaign, and has also been remanded in custody. The charges against both leaders could see them jailed for up to three years and require their National League of Democracy party to revoke their membership. Myanmar's army seized power on Monday, cutting short a transition to democracy in a takeover that has drawn condemnation from the international community and stoked widespread public anger and defiance across the country. Staff at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 towns stopped work on Wednesday in protest at the militarys actions. A Facebook statement issued by the Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement on Wednesday morning said the military had put their own interests above our vulnerable population, who have been facing medical, economic and social hardships during this global pandemic. Story continues It made a direct appeal to the international medical community to pressure foreign governments not to recognise the illegitimate military regime. The 15-member United Nations Security Council held an emergency teleconference on Tuesday to discuss Myanmars security but has so far stopped short of issuing a statement condemning the military's actions. Talks among Security Council members, which includes China one of Myanmars biggest trading partners - are said to be continuing to seek agreement on a statement urging the restoration of democracy. The UN missions for China and Russia have sent it to their capitals for review. Medical staff in a Yangon hospital show red ribbons as a sign of resistance against the military takeover - Lynn Bo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Christine Schraner Burgener, the UNs ambassador to Myanmar, has called the militarys declaration of a one-year state of emergency unconstitutional and illegal and said its proposal to hold elections again should be discouraged. "At this point in time, we must ensure the protection of people of Myanmar and their fundamental rights. We must do everything to prevent violence from breaking out," she added. Barbara Woodward, Britains UN ambassador, the current council president, told reporters after the meeting that ambassadors echoed widespread international concerns about the militarys action at the virtual session. And we welcome the role of regional partners to resolve this crisis, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, she said. The United States on Tuesday determined that the militarys seizure of power amounts to a coup, which will trigger restrictions on American aid to the Southeast Asian nations government. Joe Biden, the US president, had already warned that the military leadership faces new sanctions for its takeover. Protests from Myanmar rally in Japan - Issei Kato/Reuters The move has sparked concerns about a rise in internal instability that could impact Myanmars immediate neighbours. Myanmars fragile ceasefire with several armed ethnic insurgent movements operating in borderzones is in danger of unraveling, a senior representative of a coalition of rebel groups told Reuters on Wednesday. General Yawd Serk of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), who is also acting chairman of a group representing 10 groups in a National Ceasefire Agreement, said the military has put its self-interest first, and this caused a loss of trust. Signs of dissent have also begun to emerge among the general population after citizens were initially stunned by the coup in the early hours of Monday the day its new parliament should have begun sitting. On Tuesday night, people began banging pots and honking car horns in the main commercial city of Yangon, chanting evil be gone in the biggest public display of anger so far. Protesters have so far not taken to the streets en masse in a country with a recent history of violent suppression of pro-democracy movements, but military supporters have been spotted celebrating, some brandishing knives. Reports emerged overnight that youth activists had gone into hiding as the army widened its crackdown and raided their homes and university hostels. On Tuesday, the Yangon Youth Network activist group, one of Myanmars biggest, and the federation of student unions launched their own civil disobedience campaigns, echoing the open defiance of the medical profession, which has been dubbed the "red ribbon movement." Soldiers guard the road to the parliament in the capital, Naypyitaw - Maung Longlan/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Doctors, who have been bearing the brunt of the raging pandemic in an already overburdened healthcare system, have said they will only return to work for the government that was democratically elected in a November poll, under the leadership of the widely popular Aung San Suu Kyi. We will care for the patients, but we wont do anything related to the military government, Dr Yin May Aung, an assistant surgeon at a Yangon hospital, told the Telegraph. Our red ribbon campaign doesnt mean we will neglect patients..our motive is to show we do not accept the military coup at all. We will fight back until we die, and we will keep doing civil disobedience campaigns on social media. The doctors protest presents a powerful challenge to the military chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has declared fighting the coronavirus as one of his main priorities. Myanmar was hit badly by a surge in cases late last year which has killed over 3,100 people and infected more than 140,000. Resistance to the military takeover has also spread across social media, where many Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to Ms Suu Kyi, or the red colour of her National League for Democracy party. Some have pictured themselves making a three-fingered salute popularised by the Hollywood movie, The Hunger Games, and adopted by Thai pro-democracy protesters as a sign of defiance. Others announced boycotts of beer and other products from companies with links to the army's extensive business holdings. Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 7:30PM by Claudio Alves Last time, our voyage through the Best International Feature Oscar submissions took us to the entries from some of the biggest film industries in the world. Today's countries may not be as prolific in terms of cinematic production, but they are gigantic when it comes to population and landmass. Furthermore, their submissions are united by a common theme the relationship between mothers and daughters, familial bonds in distress. Without further ado, let's explore the maternal meditations of Argentina, Canada, and Russia THE SLEEPWALKERS (Argentina) During a summery New Year's celebration, the many members of a wealthy Argentinean family congregate at the clan's old holiday home. Paula Hernandez's wavering camera isn't too concerned with the majority of these people, preferring to focus on a mother and daughter pair, Erica Rivas' Luisa and Ornella D'Elia's young Ana. Through measured observation, the director unravels the women's relationship, the crumbling nature of their blood bonds, the tensions that run through the family. Between unexpected bouts of sexual innuendo, warm nights lit up by bonfires, and somnambulistic reveries, the film's naturalism slowly works itself up to heightened emotion. By the end, it explodes in a flurry of pain and tears that feel laceratingly earnest, earned too. There's masterful patience to this style of filmmaking, how it allows conflict to bloom from what, at first, feels like lethargic inaction. One should also praise the modest precision of the form, intuitive editing marrying well with hazy cinematography, as well as the lived-in weariness of the performances. The actors' work, especially Rivas' commanding presence, illuminate the lives outside the limited scope of the narrative, breathing complex sentiment into the unseen drama that's been going on off-screen. B 14 DAYS, 12 NIGHTS (Canada) Jean-Philippe Duval's latest feature is a ghost story in more ways than one. Death looms over the mournful tale, memories of a lost life weighing down on the characters, reminiscence shocking with as much force as a violent apparition. Historical phantasmagoria also works its way into the proceedings, Vietnam's colonial past bringing along its cadre of hauntings. Such ghosts live in the hearts of two mothers, a Canadian oceanographer named Isabelle who, many decades ago, adopted a Vietnamese girl, and that baby's biological progenitor, Thuy. They also inhabit the landscape, both natural and man-made. Hanoi vibrates with collective trauma and rich history, each surface made up of palimpsestic layers of hidden meaning. As for the great lakes of Vietnam, they act like ritual mirrors, their reflective surfaces powerful enough to invoke monstrous guilt, debilitating regret, bruised love, and even the miracles of redemption, forgiveness, the strength to move on. Myriam Poirier's elliptic editing does a great job at infusing the non-linear storytelling with emotional pathos, while the sets of Andre-Line Beauparlant and Yves Belanger's lensing make the spaces as important as the characters. Since this is The Film Experience, it would be irresponsible not to mention that 14 Days, 12 Nights is quite the actressexual delight. Anne Dorval is the biggest name in the cast, and she does a remarkable job, but I was even more impressed by Leanna Chea. Their duets of motherly reflection are some of the flick's best moments. B DEAR COMRADES! (Russia) In 1962, the town of Novocherkassk was the stage for a massacre when a workers' strike motivated by increased food prices was met by Soviet authority with mercilessness, bullets, and bloodshed. Veteran Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky restages history with harrowing virtuosity, framing the events in silvery 4:3 monochrome whose lack of sanguine reds does nothing to hide the savagery of the slaughter. The friction between the cold presentation and the messiness of the film's real-life story results in an experience of contrasts. Colliding ideologies are embedded into the very fabric of the film's formalistic idiom. Fittingly, the characters' beliefs and allegiances are themselves a web of contradictions and compromises, communist fealty and socialist values fighting with each other within the cast's souls as much as they do in the pages of Soviet history. Despite never reducing the community's pain to an individual's singular experience, Konchalovsky is wise enough to structure his panoramic analysis of past crimes around a fleshed-out person. Dear Comrades! is a character study on the dilemma of a stoic Stalinist partisan, observing how her worldview is challenged once her daughter's life is on the line. In the main role, the director's regular collaborator Yuliya Vysotskaya delivers an astounding characterization of gradual disillusionment, faith corroded by fear, motherly abrasiveness melting into a wave of despair. The bumbling state cover-up that takes over most of the picture's second half is so inept that it could be comical if its consequences weren't so perfectly embodied in Vysotskaya's galvanizing performance. This feature represents a cinematic triumph of complicated history crystalized on the big screen, an epic sweep balanced by the inane details of day-to-day existence, the closely observed gradations of family strife, the horror of being silent, impotent in the face of systemic evil. A- Considering the Oscar chances of these three, while The Sleepwalkers and 14 Days, 12 Nights are very accessible and worthy pictures, they feel too low-profile to make it to the shortlist. When it comes to Dear Comrades!, I expect it to do well with AMPAS and am almost sure it will feature among the list of 15 finalists set to be announced later this month. It may make it to the five-wide lineup too, and NEON's campaign could perchance result in a second consecutive win for the distributor of Parasite. Comply! Govt to Twitter on farmer protest hashtag India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: The government today put Twitter on notice for unblocking of over 250 accounts and posts that talked about farmer genocide. The government also issued notice to Twitter saying that the social media company was violating the Information Technology Act's Section 69 that provides for 7 years imprisonment. The notice read, " this is a motivated campaign to abuse, inflame and create tension in society on unsubstantiated grounds. Incitement to Genocide is not Freedom of Speech. It is a threat to law and order." Having considered in totality the contents of the interim order, the oral submissions of the advocate/representative of Twitter at the Committee meeting, and also the mail from Twitter expressing its disobedience of legal blocking orders, the competent authority is satisfied that it is necessary and also expedient in the interest of public order and also for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to public order that Twitter as an intermediary under Section 2(1)(w) of the act is once again directed to block access by the public, the said Twitter handles and also the said hashtag with immediate effect. "You are aware of the prevailing situation, which not only has the potential, but has in fact, resulted into a major public order issue [violence] on 26.01.2021. The statutory authorities are doing everything possible to ensure that no adverse public order situation takes place and no cognizable offences are committed," the notice said. The notice also said Twitter has no constitutional, statutory or legal basis whatsoever to comment upon the interplay of statutory provisions with constitutional principles or to unilaterally read down the scope of statutory provisions as per its own limited private understanding of the constitutional and statutory laws of India. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News Government officials said that Twitter had been asked to block over 250 accounts or tweets that were using a specific hashtag. The IT Ministry has blocked around 250 tweets and Twitter accounts which were being using #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag and making fake, intimidatory and provocative tweets. 's ( ) Matt Shackleton speaks to Proactive's Andrew Scott following the news they've received a Ministerial Statement from the Minister for Environment conveying that a proposal may be implemented for the Lake Wells Sulphate of Potash (SOP) project. All decision-making authorities have been advised that they may now proceed to the issuing of the requisite, standard licenses and permits to commence development. (CNN) -- For years, the Kremlin has publicly dismissed Alexey Navalny as an irrelevant blogger with little popular support. But the geographical spread of mass protests over two weekends in support of Navalny, with thousands turning out in dozens of cities across Russia, underlines how much of a challenge he and his anti-corruption message have now become for the Kremlin. A recent expose on an extravagant secret palace on Russia's Black Sea coast, which an investigation by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) said had been built for President Vladimir Putin, has more than 105 million views on YouTube, and helped fuel public outrage at what the FBK describes as official excess. CNN is not independently able to verify the FBK's claims. Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has denied the Russian leader was linked to the estate. But it's the harsh treatment of Navalny, 44, and his bravery in the face of it, which really seems to have struck a chord. Many Russians are outraged by Navalny's horrific nerve agent poisoning in Siberia last year, which Navalny says was ordered by Putin and carried out by agents of Russia's security service, the FSB. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the allegations. The fact that Navalny flew back to Russia from Germany after he recovered, only to face immediate detention by the Russian authorities -- and possibly a long prison term -- further galvanized sympathy, united Russia's often splintered opposition and cemented his status as a serious threat to the Kremlin. Just how serious is unclear. The latest nationwide protest Sunday drew thousands of Navalny supporters on to the streets across Russia. More than 5,000 people were detained by police determined to thwart the unsanctioned demonstrations, according to OVD-Info, an independent site that monitors arrests. Kremlin opponents Putin has faced mass street protests in the past, notably between 2011 and 2012, when tens of thousands protested against parliamentary elections which critics say were flawed, and against Putin's decision to return to the presidency after a brief spell as prime minister, circumventing a constitutional bar of more than two consecutive presidential terms. Calls for Putin to step down were ignored, and the Russian government last year pushed through constitutional amendments -- ratified by a referendum -- that potentially allow Putin to stay in office until 2036. In the past, Kremlin opponents have been gunned down, poisoned or discredited in a bid to silence them. The Kremlin has always denied involvement. Boris Nemtsov, a leading Russian opposition figure, was shot near the Kremlin in 2015 to international condemnation. He was then considered the most visible leader of the Russian opposition. Putin quickly condemned the killing, the Kremlin said at the time. Five Chechen men were found guilty by a Russian military court and were handed prison sentences for his shooting in 2017. In 2006, Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building. Five men were convicted over her murder but her former colleagues have said there is little hope that whoever who ordered the killing will be held to account. The Kremlin denied any connection to the killing. Russia's former richest oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, served more than a decade in jail. Convicted of tax evasion and fraud -- charges he has argued were politically motivated -- Khodorkovsky saw the dismantling of his oil company after he backed opposition groups and spoke out about official corruption. Former Russian agent turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko died in Britain in 2006 after being poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope, polonium-210. A UK inquiry concluded in 2016 that Putin probably approved the operation by two Russian agents to kill Litvinenko. Russia's Foreign Ministry at the time dismissed the UK inquiry as politically motivated. Navalny is only the latest in a line of challengers to Putin's power. Court hearing An early test will come on Tuesday, when a Moscow court is scheduled to decide if Navalny broke the terms of a suspended sentence for an embezzlement conviction, dismissed as politically motivated by critics. If the court decides against Navalny, he may be ordered to serve the 3.5-year term behind bars. Much will also depend on actions of the international community in general, and US President Joe Biden's new administration in particular. There have been strong words of condemnation from the Biden administration and from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, even a direct telephone call between the US and Russian Presidents in which Navalny's treatment was raised. But so far there's been no action. After years of relentless criticism in the media and in Washington of how former US President Donald Trump was soft on Putin, all eyes are watching whether Biden will get tough. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Putin dismissed Navalny for years, but outrage over his jailing is now a big problem for the Kremlin" Aside from the uncertainty of hosting the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, doubts continuously grow on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's administration over the rolling out of vaccines. This prompted him to declare Japan a state of Emergency concerning COVID-19 through March 7, on Tuesday. The prime minister's announcement did not only extended the imposed coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo but also to nine other locations in the country. State of Emergency Extended for at least a Month The Japanese prime minister also shared that he will expedite the plans regarding vaccination, as he will start inoculating the first group of medical workers in the middle of February, instead of the earlier proposal of doing it at the end of the month. Based on the guidelines mentioned under the state of emergency, the Japanese government has issued non-binding requests for individuals to avoid crowded places and have their meals in groups. While for bars and restaurants, aside from the safety protocols imposed, they were also limited to closing at 8 p.m. Based on some experts, despite the decline in new cases in Tokyo and in the whole nation from the start of 2021, there is still a need to continue implementing the preventive measures as the medical facilities remain flooded with severe cases. As of the latest tally, Japan has recorded 400,000 COVID-19 cases, wherein 5,800 of them resulted in death, Reuters reported. Moreover, prime minister Suga also asked for the cooperation of his countrymen in enduring the safety protocols a little bit longer. He also explained that it is the only way to make sure that the infections will continuously decline its numbers. Read also:COVID-19 Has Lesser Penetration to Veteran Smokers a New Case Study Proves in India According to the Associated Press, the initial Japan State of Emergency will end on Sunday in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, as the local situation in the area has improved. At the same time, it will continue in places like Tokyo, and its neighboring prefectures, which include China, Saitama, and Kanagawa, along with Hyogo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka in the western part and Gifu and Aichi in the central area of the country. Japan's health minister Norihisa Tamura stated earlier Tuesday that around 80% of the individuals who tested positive with coronavirus in Japan are in the 10 prefectures placed under the Japan State of Emergency. He also added that these highlighted areas need to be watched closely. Aside from the early closing time imposed on the restaurants and bars, employers were also asked to arrange additional employees to be shifted on work from home options. The government official also stated that there would be an expansion regarding the testings conducted for coronavirus. He also compared the current state of emergency to their first experience last year wherein he shared that during the first emergency of Japan in April and May of last year, theaters, gyms, schools, and shops remained open and continued their operations. Still, many stores voluntarily closed their businesses as they fear acquiring the virus, NPR reported. He also added that the measures are Japanese style that focuses on narrow targets such as dining and the service hours, aside from the basics wearing masks, avoiding crowds, and handwashing. Related article: Japan PM Firm in Lighting Tokyo Olympics' Flames, Denies Cancellation Report @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TORONTO and PHOENIX, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Gatestone & Co. (www.gatestonebpo.com), an industry leader providing Business Process Outsourcing, Omnichannel Contact Center and Customer Experience Services across sectors, has begun 2021 by assisting Government Departments and Agencies in rolling out a number of critical COVID-19 related initiatives. As part of Gatestone Health, a health-focused business unit within Gatestone, these initiatives include the operation of Vaccination Coordination Centers, helping support the needs of tens of millions of citizens, residents and visitors. Gatestone Health assists various levels of Government and Healthcare providers to deliver timely, flexible and comprehensive solutions to managing public inquiries regarding COVID-19. Gatestone has diligently served the healthcare industry since 1989. We understand the confidential and sensitive nature of the work and, as is true across all of Gatestone, we deliver our services with the skill, respect and professionalism that should never be taken for granted. Gatestone's continued growth and success rests in our ability to bring people, process, technology and data together, thoughtfully and rapidly. This expertise is particularly critical in helping our customers overcome the myriad challenges they face as they seek to launch effective COVID-19 programs in a short period of time. The especially high visibility and urgency of this work demands engaging a proven service provider with the rare combination of organizational excellence and an unwavering commitment to innovation. Gatestone Health's work spans requirements directly related to COVID-19 and vaccination programs including, enquiries, registration, directions, forwarding and advice, appointment setting and scheduling, reminder services, online application management, technical troubleshooting, referrals from domestic or international sources and reporting, whether organizational, public or regulatory. Our capabilities also allow us to support provider sites related to vaccine delivery including, operations, provisioning, training and cold chain management. Delivering services 7 days a week and in multiple languages, Gatestone brings an ability to quickly scale, implement and respond to complex emergency and surge requirements. In appreciation of frontline healthcare workers, Gatestone has also continued to provide financial support to Hospitals and Healthcare providers as part of the Gatestone Gives Community Initiative. This funding will go towards new medical equipment and PPE to help our frontline workers. "During this unprecedented pandemic, it is incredibly important for us to support those who are putting themselves at risk for the greater good. As we see the COVID-19 situation evolve, we need to provide as much support as we can. We believe our Gatestone Gives Community Initiative will continue to have a positive impact for our frontline workers and encourage others to do the same." said Nicholas Wilson, Gatestone Chairman & CEO. Since 1926, Gatestone & Co has been providing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Contact Center solutions to a variety of markets globally. Gatestone offers fully-integrated multilingual facilities, speaking over 53 languages and dialects, operating 24 x 7 x 365, located in North America, Central America and Asia. Gatestone continues to make large investments in the latest technologies, processes, facilities and talent. This channeled investment helps ensure the delivery of quality service and value to clients, while elevating customer satisfaction and experience. Gatestone & Co is The Heartbeat of the Digital Experience. For more information on how Gatestone can help serve your customers or constituents better, or help overcome operational challenges you may be facing, learn more at www.gatestonebpo.com SOURCE Gatestone The re-arraignment of former governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Kalu was yesterday stalled at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. The court had last year scheduled Kalu's re-arraignment on charges of corruption, misappropriation, fraud amongst others for February 2, 2021. His re-arraignment was sequel to the order of the Supreme Court, which had nullified his conviction and subsequent sentencing on corruption charges. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had first arraigned Kalu in 2007 before the Federal High Court in Abuja on alleged fraud to the tune of N7. 1billion. The case was later transferred to the Lagos Division of the Court where Justice Mohammed Idris at the end of trial handed down a 12-year jail term for the Senator representing Abia North senatorial district at the National Assembly. However, after spending about six months in custody, the Supreme Court in a judgment set aside his imprisonment on the grounds that it was illegal because the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Idris was no longer a judge of the lower court when he passed judgment on Kalu. The apex court consequently ordered a fresh trial of the case. When the matter was called on yesterday, prosecution counsel, Mr. Chile Okoroma, informed the court of a letter to the Chief Judge seeking the transfer of the case to the Lagos Division of the Court. He said that the request is predicated on previous decision of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which held that "no element of defence in the charge took place in Abuja". Okoroma, accordingly urged the court to adjourned the matter indefinitely pending the decision of the Chief Judge. However, trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo declined adjourning indefinitely and fixed June 7 for report on the decision of the Chief Judge. Meanwhile, the former governor has asked a Federal High Court to prohibit the EFCC from retrying him on the same alleged money laundering charges against him. Kalu in an exparte application through his lawyer, Prof. Awa Kalu (SAN), submitted that having been tried, convicted and sentenced in suit number: FHC/ABJ/CR/56/ 2007, by the court, it will amount to double jeopardy if he is subjected to a fresh trial on same charge. Kalu, in the motion is also seeking for an order prohibiting the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the EFCC (her agent), her officers, servants, others, agents, privies and any other person or bodies deriving authority from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from retrying him on charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/56/2007 between FRN vs Orji Kalu & 2 ors or any other charge based on the same facts de novo, there being no extant judgment and ruling of a competent court in Nigeria mandating same. An order prohibiting the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the EFCC (her agent), her officers, servants, others, agents, privies and any other person or bodies driving authority from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from retrying, harrassing and intimidating him with respect to the charge as concerns charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/56/2007 between FRN vs Orji Kalu & 2 ors or any other charge based on same facts as he need not suffer double jeopardy. Kalu further asked that his application if granted should operate as a stay of proceedings until the determination of the application or until the Judge otherwise orders. In a 21 paragraph affidavit deposed in support of his motion, the applicant chronicled the historical background of the trial from his first arraingment and re-arraignment in 2016 and 2017, before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court after the initial charges were amended by the EFCC. He also recalled that following an application by the EFCC, to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, the charge was transferred to the Lagos division of the court and was assigned to Justice Idris (now a Justice of the Court of Appeal). That upon the transfer of the charge to Lagos, he bore the cost of movement of his entire legal team from Abuja to Lagos, including the cost of accommodation up till judgment. Senator Kalu disclosed that at the trial, the prosecution called a total of 19 witnesses and thereafter, closed its case, necessitating him together with other defendants to enter individually and respectively a no case submission. He stated that Justice Idris in his judgment on December 5, 2019, convicted and sentenced him with respect to the extant charge. "That following his conviction and sentence, he was incarcerated at the Kuje Correctional Centre where he served part of his term having first spent a few days in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Legal Affairs Corruption By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "That on May 8, 2020, the Supreme Court in judgment in appeal No: SC.62C/2019, Udeh Jones Udeogu vs FRN & 2 ors, held that the trial of the appellant at the trial court was conducted without jurisdiction and thereby ordered the retrial of the appellant (Udeh Jones Udeogu) without reference to him", he said. He argued that there is no extant ruling or judgment of a competent court in Nigeria ordering his trial having regard to the fact that the Supreme Court excluded him from the explicit order for retrial arising from charge No: FHC/ABJ/56/2007. He added that the unassailable position of the law is that no person who shows that he has been tried by any court of competent jurisdiction or tribunal for a criminal and either convicted or acquitted shall again be tried for that offence having the same ingredients as that offence serve upon the order of a competent court. That his trial having been pronounced a nulity by the Supreme Court in it's judgment of May 8, 2020 and without more cannot entitle the EFCC to institute the same charge against him. After listening to Awa Kalu (SAN), Justice Ekwo then announced that ruling in the application would be delivered reserved on Monday, February 8, 2021. A sortied planned by the U.S. Air Force with B-1s flying to Norway anytime soon will be underway. One of the goals is to nudge the Russians and see what they do. American B-1 type bombers will do a presence mission in Norway; it will be the type's first deployments. B-1 Bones are coming A big operation to kick off 2021 has the U.S. Air Force heading a sortie involving four long-range bombers. This mission will have the participation of airmen heading to Norway in the weeks to come. Overall this mission for the fast swing-wing is under wraps but will be a first for the group involved, reported Forbes. The four bombers from the Dyess Air Force Base in Texas will depart for Orland airfield located in central Norway. The same airfield is where 5th generation F-35 stealth fighters of the Norwegian air force is based. All the bombers and fighters' crews will be together as training will last several weeks to get used to each other. Besides, this mission will include working with navy ships, planes, and ground troops from all over NATO. Many will come from the NATO allies from the northern countries. All forces with America's allies should be able to coordinate effectively and efficiently. According to Gen. Jeff Harrigian, Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa commander, all NATO members should be able to work with each other with B-1s flying to Norway. Also read: U.S. Air Force Displays Cruise Missile, Fired by B-1 Bomber That Pounded Isis Why is the mission in the far north? Flying these missions in the north has been done last fall with the deployment of older B-52s flying to the U.K. One feature of this mission is flying vast expanses to Europe and working with U.S. allies in tandem. One of the objectives is to ping Russian defenses and get electronic info via reconnaissance craft. These intelligence traps were able to get the information that the Kremlin did not anticipate. American bomber was the bait, and the Russian forces obliged the intel planes just enough. Flying the B-1 Bones is clear, and just like the B-52 flights, they are a presence mission. Letting U.S. allies know that they are still supported and put pressure on Russia as well. In Northern Europe, where bombers are operating in this part of the globe, Russian regularly trains its bomber forces in the North Sea waters and pokes into NATO and Sweden's air space. Like the American B-52s, the Tu-160s will fly from Europe to go all the way to the Middle East to bomb Syrian targets. Both the U.S. and Russian can fly around in the North Atlantic and the U.K., make an impact without unloading any bombs. Norway is strategic for NATO and the U.S. The location of Norway lies near the North Sea and Arctic Ocean that is a body of water covering Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom (GIUK Gap). The GIUK forms a barrier to stop Russian subs from the open sea. This is why B-1s flying to Norway will be part of a plan by the U.S. and NATO to push back against Russian activities to remind the Kremlin that B-1 bones are a threat to the Russians. Related article: US Air Force Bombers Setting Up Another Intel Trap with Five NATO Spy Planes . @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Olympic gold-winning rower James Cracknell has stepped out for the first time since proposing to his new fiancee, Jordan Connell, as she flashed her stunning ring. The former Strictly star, 48, confirmed last week that he had proposed to the American financier, 35, after meeting her at Cambridge in 2018, where he was studying human evolution and she was training for an MBA. Matching in black as they walked his new pug dog in West London, Jordan, who will be James second wife following his 16-year marriage to TV host Beverley Turner, was clad in a low-key look but was showcasing her dazzling ring. Happy days: Olympic gold-winning rower James Cracknell has stepped out for the first time since proposing to his new fiancee, Jordan Connell, as she flashed her stunning ring Jordan said: James has an amazing personality. Hes funny and kind. Its the little things like going out to track down a bar of Hersheys chocolate for me. James and Beverley, the mother of his three children, divorced in 2019, a year after they split. Beverley is dating eco-property developer James Pritchett. Father-of-three James' exciting news comes nearly two years after he split from presenter Beverley Turner following 17 years of marriage. The former couple broke up after a nine-year struggle following a crippling brain injury, which the TV host, 47, nursed him back to health from. Yay! The former Strictly star, 48, confirmed last week that he had proposed to the American financier, 35, after meeting her at Cambridge in 2018, where he was studying human evolution and she was training for an MBA Wedding bells: James Cracknell has revealed he's engaged to his girlfriend of 17 months, Jordan Connell (pictured in 2019) Popping out: They were grabbing the newspapers and walking their dog during the stroll The Olympian's new fiancee, who is believed to divide her time between London and the US, spent 12 months training for an MBA at Cambridge Judge Business School while James studied for a masters in human evolution at Peterhouse College. At 46, the former Strictly star became the oldest student to compete in the Boat Race at the prestigious university. The pair started dating after finishing their degrees and have been living together in west London throughout the coronavirus pandemic. James previously credited Jordan for his newfound confidence after his terrifying accident, and the former student cheerleader enthused she's 'ridiculously happy' to have met her partner. Bling bling! She was proudly showing off her ring Special announcement: The sportsman confirmed the couple are set to wed in an announcement in The Times on Monday Former spouse: His news comes nearly two years after he split from presenter Beverley Turner following 17 years of marriage (pictured in 2016) In an interview with Daily Mail in 2019, the blonde gushed: 'I like to think I make him happy, too. 'When internet trolls were making cruel comments about his dancing and 'wooden personality' on Strictly I thought, ''How can you put that? You don't know him.'' I know he feels things very deeply. 'I feel so strongly about bullying online. Try sitting down with the person you love when they're upset by what's being said because their children will read it. James does have an amazing personality. He's funny and kind. 'It's the little things he does like going out to track down a bar of Hershey's chocolate for me, which is special because it's so hard to find in the UK.' Love story: The financial consultant spent a year training for an MBA while the Olympian studied for a masters in human evolution (pictured in 2019) Going strong: The pair started dating after finishing their degrees and have been living together in west London throughout the coronavirus pandemic (pictured last July) James added: 'One of the best things about going to Cambridge was, let's face it, a lot of the students weren't born when I won the Olympics. I really enjoyed meeting people who took me as I am. 'To be honest, with Jordan the conversation was so easy and it was so nice to hang out with someone who had no preconceptions of who you were before.' A source previously told MailOnline of their relationship: 'They have become very close and since his marriage break up there are few people who would deny him the support of an attractive young woman. 'The end of James' marriage to Bev has been amicable and friendly but there's always going to be regret and maybe loneliness when something like that happens so it's great he's going his own way.' Trauma: The former couple split after a nine-year struggle following a crippling brain injury (pictured), which the TV host, 47, nursed him back to health from The sportsman was left in a coma and sustained damage to the part of the brain that governs memory, personality, and speech after he was knocked off his bike by the wing mirror of a petrol tanker in Arizona. Following his separation, Beverley reflected on how she helped him recover in an interview with The Times. The Happy Birth Book author said at the time: 'A formerly quiet man, he couldn't stop talking, but certainly stopped listening. I had my silent screams in the shower so the children wouldn't hear. 'Acquired brain injury is contagious the whole family catches it and soon everyone is snapping, sighing, arguing and slamming doors. After a brain injury a couple's dynamic typically becomes one of parent and child, complete with nagging, resistance, resentment and sulking. 'The 'adult' wants to nurture and protect the 'child' who they have almost lost once. Yet it's crushing and stultifying for the survivor who just wants their independence.' James also expressed his gratitude towards his first spouse for her help as he said: 'I wouldn't have made the recovery I have without her fire. 'It's not so nice when it's not in your corner, but you can't fall in love with an opinionated woman and then moan when she has an opinion. It hurts but it's on me as well. 'I wasn't the best husband in the world. I wanted to go to Cambridge to get academic credibility for the work I was doing in public health. Beverley didn't share my desire for me to go into politics. I don't think she liked the idea of being a politician's wife.' Family first: Beverley and James are parents to three children; Croyde, 15, Kiki, 11, and Trixie, nine (pictured) This Morning star Beverley petitioned for a divorce in March 2019 on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour, which he did not oppose. They went their separate ways eight months after James moved to Cambridge and Beverley felt he was abandoning the family. The athlete later claimed the 'complex' separation was 'a long time coming' and was nothing to do with the Boat Race or the 2010 brain injury that almost killed him. The media personality told the Daily Telegraph at the time: 'It wasn't going to university or competing in the Boat Race that ended the marriage. And it wasn't even the accident, although our marriage was dealt a bad hand with that. 'As anybody who is married or has been married will know, break-ups are far more complex than anybody else [outside the marriage] really knows. 'There's this perception that I've left my family to go off to Cambridge, selfishly, but that's a little exaggerated. And while, yes, it may seem selfish, it also pays the bills.' Beverley recently admitted she would have 'resented' James if she had taken his surname when when they got married in 2002. The mother-of three said it was 'really important' to her not to take his name after first deciding her 'feminist' principles when she was studying English and the 'stigma of language' at university. Her happy place: The TV and radio star has been dating eco-property developer James Pritchett, 32, for nearly a year (pictured last year) In a new podcast with Ben Fogle's wife Marina, called As Good As It Gets, Beverley, said: 'I didn't [change my name]. It was really important to me. 'I probably cemented the idea [that I was going to stay Turner] when I was doing English at uni and talking about the stigma of language. 'And over the years, if we raided a country, in terms of colonialism, the first thing we do is try to take someone's language and disempower them by taking it away. 'For me, I was always conscious of words and the importance of words and what that means to you. Sweet: 'I had such judgment about age-gap relationships before this, but I cannot see any disadvantage to it', the loved-up star previously shared (pictured last year) 'I felt like I was a Turner. I am a Turner and I will always be a Turner. I think it was also a feminist thing. 'I felt like it was in the Victorian era that you should change your name. In fact, when I got married, 20 years ago, James said, 'I wouldn't change my name for Bev, so why should she change her name for me?'' The TV and radio star has been dating eco-property developer James Pritchett, 32, for nearly a year. Beverley previously said of her romance: 'I had such judgment about age-gap relationships before this.' The writer added to the Daily Mail: 'I would look at an older man with a younger woman and roll my eyes, but now I can completely see what they were doing. I cannot see any disadvantage to it.' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Five alleged rebels were killed in an encounter with soldiers between Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur provinces, the military reported on Wednesday. Maj. Alex Mindalano, Eastern Mindanao Command public information officer, said two clashes took place at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Tuesday in the boundary between Talakag town, Bukidnon and Tagoloan II, Lanao del Sur. He said soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Battalion saw about 30 armed civilians believed to be members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army north central Mindanao committee. Mindalano said the military said they received reports from locals about the presence of armed men. He added the military assured the victims' families that their loved ones will be given a decent burial. The CPP-NPA has yet to issue a statement about the military report. President Joe Biden signs executive orders related to immigration in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, 2021. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Signs Orders on Immigration, Asylum, Family Separation WASHINGTONAfter a flurry of executive actions on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden signed three more orders related to immigration on Feb. 2. Im not making new law, Im eliminating bad policy, Biden said. The new orders seek to loosen the criteria for asylum, reverse the Trump administrations public charge rule, create a task force for new Americans, develop a strategy to address irregular migration across the southern border, and create a task force to reunify any remaining families that were separated during the previous administration. Bidens strategy is centered on the basic premise that our country is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with a fair, safe and orderly immigration system that welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and allows peopleboth newly arrived immigrants and people who have lived here for generationsto more fully contribute to our country, a fact sheet issued by the White House states. Family Reunification Biden started a task force to reunite families that remain separated after an adult was charged with illegally entering the United States. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Feb. 2 that 600 to 700 children are currently separated from their parents. Part of what the task force needs to do in the early stages is determine what the accurate number is and where these kids are and then determine case-by-case what the best process and approach is for reuniting them with their family members, Psaki said. She said a report will be forthcoming in 120 days. The Epoch Times has requested more detailed information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the department said it would be provided within two days. President Biden believes that families belong together, the fact sheet states. He has made clear that reversing the Trump Administrations immigration policies that separated thousands of families at the border is a top priority. Biden also ordered a review of the Migrant Protection Protocol program, which requires illegal border-crossers to await the adjudication of their immigration case in Mexico, rather than be released into the United States. Family Separations Background In April 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy of prosecuting all adults who cross the border illegally, as required under 8 U.S.C. Section 1325(a). That meant that parents and children who crossed the border illegally were separated, while the parent was held by the U.S. Marshals Service pending charges. Any accompanying child was transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services and reclassified as an unaccompanied minor, in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. About 5,000 families were affected in the ensuing six weeks. Both the Obama and Bush administrations separated families at the border for the same reasons. Families are rarely separated if they enter at a port of entry and seek asylum, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a statement on July 9, 2019. Its only done under exigent circumstances in order to protect the child and to ensure the well-being of the child, said Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner of CBPs Office of Field Operations, in a statement at the time. Prior to the zero tolerance policy, Border Patrol agents were discovering that illegal immigrants were renting children south of the border in order to get a quick release from custody into the interior of the United States. Single adults could easily be turned back or placed into custody, but those with children were quickly released, due to legal loopholes. After a backlash, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order to halt family separations on June 20, 2018, and catch-and-release became the default again until the Migrant Protection Protocol program, also known as Remain in Mexico, was introduced at the beginning of 2020. The Department of Health and Human Services, tasked with reuniting families, subsequently identified almost 13 percent of the initial batch of parents as serious criminals, or that they had lied about being the actual parents. During the reunification process, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen was accused of deporting adults back to their home country without their children. I would also just note that consistent with longstanding practice in the law, before we deport any alien after they have gone through the process and receive a final order of removal, we do ask them if theyd like to take their children with them, Nielsen said while appearing before the House Homeland Security Committee on March 6, 2019. At that same time, their consulate or embassyfor purposes of issuing them travel papersalso asks them would you like to be removed with your children as youre removed. The judge also asked us to go back and ask the parents again, in conjunction with [American Civil Liberties Union]. Which we did. So there was no parent who has been deported, to my knowledge, without multiple opportunities to take their children with them. Widening Asylum Criteria Bidens actions also loosen the criteria for asylum, likely back to the Obama-eras 2014 interpretation. In July 2018, Sessions made a ruling that essentially reverted the asylum criteria to what it was before 2014, when the Obama administration opened it up to include private criminal cases, including domestic violence. The definition of asylum hasnt changed. Asylum-seekers have always needed to prove that they have suffered past persecution or have a well-founded fear of future persecution in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. But persecution is generally considered state-sanctioned or condoned, which means the government of the aliens home country is the sponsor of the persecution. For example, in North Korea, the regime itself persecutes Christians. In the case of domestic violence, where the persecutor is a private actor, applicants must show that their home government either condoned the private behavior or demonstrated a complete helplessness to protect them, according to a DHS statement at the time. It is not enough to simply show that the government has difficulty controlling the behavior or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, the statement reads. Before 2013, and before the Obama administration widened the criteria, approximately one out of every 100 arriving aliens claimed credible fear and sought asylum in the United States, according to DHS. By 2018, one out of every 10 claimed credible fear. Other Actions Other executive actions taken by Biden include the reversal of the Trump administrations public charge rule, which required family sponsors to repay the government if non-citizen relatives receive public benefits. He also launched a task force on new Americans, which is charged with promoting immigrant integration and inclusion. The order requires agencies to conduct a top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to our legal immigration system. In Central America, the Biden administration plans to implement a three-pronged approach to irregular migration. Without going into detail, the White House fact sheet states that the administration will address the underlying causes of migration through a strategy to confront the instability, violence, and economic insecurity that currently drives migrants from their homes. It also promises to collaborate with other countries and NGOs to provide opportunities to asylum-seekers and migrants closer to home. Finally, the Administration will ensure that Central American refugees and asylum-seekers have access to legal avenues to the United States, the fact sheet states. The Supreme Court today will hear a batch of pleas pertaining to tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day. Th farmers protests has been gaining support on an international level, as Rihanna and Greta Thunberg tweet in support of the farmers. Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has extended her support to the farmers protesting on the borders of New Delhi against the three farm laws saying that she stands in solidarity with the farmers. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India, Thunberg wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. The teen activists post on the micro-blogging site came after Rihanna shared a news article highlighting the Centres crackdown on the farmers by cutting off internet services in many regions. Why arent we talking about this?!, wrote Rihanna, as she added the hashtag #FarmersProtest along with the post on the micro-blogging site. The protest which has now entered Day 70, is gaining many reactions from celebrities and international politicians who are expressing their solidarity. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital, Delhi, since November 26 last year 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. Also read: Aero India kickstarts today: US offers 3 frontline fighter planes to the Indian Air Force Meanwhile, internet continues to remain suspended at protest sites on Delhis borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, disconnecting protestors from accessing social media and other services. Continued internet suspension in areas on Delhis outskirts, barricading, installation of barbed wires and nails around protest sites by the Centre will not create a conducive atmosphere for talks over contentious new laws, Joginder Singh Ugraha of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha said. The Supreme Court today will hear a batch of pleas pertaining to tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day, including the one which has sought setting up of a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident. Also read: Amid protests against privatisation, Sri Lanka scraps strategic East Container Terminal deal with India A Northern Ireland teenager who sang the Fields of Athenry to the PSNI has been fined 610 and told to learn the entire song. Thomas Martin (19) of Parkhead Crescent also pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing police on June 5, 2020. The defendant appeared at Newry magistrates on Wednesday via video link. The court heard that the PSNI observed a number of males walking with open bottles of beer and consuming them. Officers approached them on Edward Street in breach of council regulations on street drinking. The police spoke with the males with the defendant beginning to sing the Fields of Athenry loudly and being obnoxious to the constables. He was warned about his behaviour, but continued. When the details of the males were being noted, Martin became further physical and verbally abusive towards police. He was then arrested. Defence solicitor, Ciaran Downey said his client has been keeping bad company of older males. I have seen the body warn camera footage (PSNI), said Mr Downey. He became involved in something that had nothing to do with him. A bit of bravado, showing his youth. The incident was more of a drunken struggle rather than any real intent. He has one similar record from last year. He had previously moved to Portstewart to take up some work. He was then held on remand in another matter. Bail has been difficult as he has no family and has spent his life in care since he was a child, added the solicitor. District judge Eamonn King enquired to what song the accused had been singing, which was then revealed to be the well-known Irish ballad song of being held in prison during famine times in Ireland. Does he know it well? asked Mr King. He might in Hydebank (youth offenders) learn the entire lyrics to the song. He can then sing it with the correct reflection of the sentiments contained in the song, added the judge. Martin was further fined an offenders levy. 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. Gen. Jay Raymond (R), Chief of Space Operations, and CMSgt Roger Towberman (L), with Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett present President Donald Trump with the official flag of the United States Space Force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on May 15, 2020. (Samuel Corum-Pool/Getty Images) Space Force to Continue, White House Confirms Republican leaders demand apology following press secretary's earlier remarks White House press secretary Jen Psaki said late Tuesday that the White House will continue the work of the U.S. Space Force, after Republican leaders demanded an apology over her remarks earlier in the day that referenced the sixth military branch in a trivial manner. We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work, Psaki wrote on Twitter late Tuesday. The announcement marks the first time the Biden administration has said that the military branch established under former President Donald Trump will continue its work. Undoing the Space Force would require congressional approval. Psakis Twitter announcement comes after Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the House Armed Services Committees top Republican, demanded that she apologize over her remarks earlier on Tuesday over a reporters question on the Space Force. Psaki was asked at a White House press briefing whether President Joe Biden has decided whether to maintain or maintain the scope of the Space Force. Wow, Space Force. Its the plane of today, Psaki responded with a jokey expression, to which the reporter was heard trying to reply, before Psaki added: It is an interesting question. I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact. Im not sure who that is. I will find out and see if they have any update on that. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answers reporters questions during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington on Feb. 2, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The plane of today comment appeared to refer to a question that Psaki received at the very first briefing of the administration, where she was asked about whether Biden would keep former President Donald Trumps Air Force One paint job. In response to Psakis remarks, Rogers said in a statement, according to Politico, Its concerning to see the Biden administrations press secretary blatantly diminish an entire branch of our military as the punchline of a joke, which Im sure China would find funny. The Space Force was passed with near unanimous support in Congress, the same type of unity President Biden is supposedly working towards, he added. Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a founding member of the House Space Force Caucus, also criticized the remarks. In a statement to the outlet, he said, This is just another example of the Biden administration not taking China seriously while demeaning the incredible work of Space Force personnel. Waltz wrote later on Twitter, While the Biden Administration continues to think about whether or not the #CCP is a threat, China is working overtime to become the dominant force in space. We need the professionals, @SpaceForceDoD, to keep Americans safe. Trump signed an executive order in 2018 directing the Department of Defense to create the Space Force, and signed a defense bill in 2019 that established it as a sixth branch of the military to deal with national space security and developing threats. It marked the first time a new military service had been created in more than 60 years. In 2020, the Department of Defense released a strategy for how to maintain U.S. superiority in space. The Pentagon identified China and Russia as its most immediate threats. 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. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Hatcher was Garys first Black mayor. He was mayor for 20 years after winning the seat in 1967 as the nation grappled with the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Hatcher, along with Carl Stokes who was elected mayor in Cleveland the same day, is considered to be the first African American mayor elected to a major U.S. city. THOMPSON FALLS, MT / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / United States Antimony Corporation (NYSE American:UAMY), today announced that it closed its previously announced registered direct offering and concurrent private placement with certain institutional investors to purchase a total of approximately $10.7 million of its common stock and warrants. Roth Capital Partners served as sole placement agent. After the placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses payable by the company, the company received net proceeds of approximately $9.9 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and working capital, including to improve infrastructure at its Mexico and Montana antimony installations, to fund a geochemical, geological and geophysical program at its Los Juarez property, to fund corporate governance expenses, and to retire certain indebtedness. A shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-252193) relating to the shares of common stock issued in the registered direct offering was previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on January 19, 2021 and declared effective by the SEC on January 27, 2021. A prospectus supplement relating to and describing the terms of the registered direct offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The unregistered warrants described above were offered in a private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and, along with the shares of common stock underlying the warrants, have not been registered under the Act or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the warrants and underlying shares of common stock may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Act and such applicable state securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, 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. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from Roth Capital Partners, 888 San Clemente Drive, Suite 400, Newport Beach, CA 92660, (800) 678-9147 or by accessing the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. About United States Antimony Corporation US Antimony is a growing, vertically-integrated natural resource company that has production and diversified operations in precious metals, zeolite and antimony. Safe Harbor / Forward-Looking Statements This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, including matters related to the Company's operations, pending contracts and future revenues, ability to execute on its increased production and installation schedules for planned capital expenditures and the size of forecasted deposits. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties. In addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are discussed in the Company's most recent filings, including Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: United States Antimony Corp. PO Box 643 Thompson Falls, MT 59873 406.827.3523 SOURCE: United States Antimony Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627687/United-States-Antimony-Corporation-Announces-Closing-of-107-Million-Registered-Direct-Offering 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. (@FahadShabbir) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2021) The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) has appointed Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva as the alliance's special envoy for consultations with the African participants in the oil cuts agreement, OPEC said in a statement on Wednesday. "In line with the principles of fairness, transparency and equity that underpin the [OPEC+], the JMMC has mandated the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria, HE Timipre Sylva, to undertake a mission as Special Envoy to the following Participating Countries: Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and South Sudan," OPEC said. As the African countries participating in the OPEC+ agreement tend to have low levels of compliance with the oil cuts, the Nigerian minister would be responsible for discussing with them the compensation mechanism, introduced by the alliance to allow the underperformers to offset shortcomings in terms of slashing the oil output, according to the statement. "The purpose of this mission is to hold consultations with the respective leaders of these countries on the [OPEC+] market rebalancing efforts. In particular, the Special Envoy will discuss matters pertaining to conformity levels with the voluntary production adjustments and explore how Participating Countries can collectively support and assist each other in achieving full conformity with their supply adjustments," OPEC noted. Nigeria, itself struggling sometimes to comply with the oil cuts, is the largest oil producer in Africa. This year, the country will celebrate its 50th anniversary of being an OPEC member. According to the latest International Energy Agency estimates, Nigeria's compliance with the OPEC+ oil cuts in December stood at 173 percent as it was compensating for the shortcomings in the previous months. At the same time, Equatorial Guinea complied by 74 percent, Congo by 76 percent, while Gabon failed to comply with the oil cuts as its conformity turned negative in December. On Tuesday, India invited Pakistan's diplomats for the phase-wise COVID-19 vaccination drive that is currently underway across the country. The government offered entire foreign diplomatic community-based in Delhi to get inoculated. However, Pakistan is yet to decide if its diplomats will take part in Indias vaccination drive. The Indian government has reached out to several foreign diplomats in the past over its vaccination drive and discussed their way of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. In December, last year, over 50 foreign envoys had travelled to Hyderabad to showcase Indias vaccine production centres at two biotech companiesBharat Biotech and Biological E. During the one-day visit, the foreign envoys were briefed on Indias indigenous efforts for developing the COVID-19 vaccines, conducting its clinical trials and manufacturing the shots. READ | Pakistan Minister Warns People To Get Vaccinated At Own Risk Amid Imran's Sourcing Dilemma The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reportedly said in a release that Indias R&D facilities, manufacturing capacity, foreign collaborations, etc. in the fields of pharmaceuticals, including vaccine production, were highlightedIndia is committed to partnering with all interested countries in vaccine-related efforts, in the service of humanity. READ | US In Touch With 'like-minded Allies' India & Japan On Myanmar Military Coup: Official India's COVID Vaccination Rollout to Neighbours After two successful vaccine 'dry run', India began its nationwide vaccination drive on January 16 and in the first phase over 41 lakh healthcare workers have been vaccinated. The country has gifted India-manufactured vaccines to its foreign counterparts and still continue to do so. Some of the countries who recently received the vaccines are Dubai, Algeria, Mauritius, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc. Countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka have already begun their vaccination drive from last two weeks using India gifted vaccines. READ | Pakistan To Receive 17 Million COVISHIELD Doses Via COVAX Route Amid 2nd COVID-19 Wave Pakistan to Receive 17 Million doses of COVISHIELD Pakistan will receive 17 million doses of COVISHIELD through the COVAX route after it refused to directly procure Indian-made novel coronavirus vaccines. India has reportedly committed 100 lakh doses of vaccines to COVAX, a global initiative which aims at ensuring that middle and lower-income countries get timely access to COVID-19 vaccines. In a statement, Dr Faisal Sultan- the Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister mentioned that 35-40% of these doses will be available in the first quarter of 2021 itself, while the rest will be supplied in the second half. Happy to share that in addition to the 500,000 doses of Sinopharm, almost 7 million does of AstraZeneca to be made available in Q1 and given to the public free of cost! Pakistans vaccine drive starts next week, beginning with frontline healthcare workers. pic.twitter.com/6nJACx9aL7 Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) January 30, 2021 READ | Pakistan Minister Warns People To Get Vaccinated At Own Risk Amid Imran's Sourcing Dilemma 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. HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An", the "Company" or the "Group", HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The year 2020 was extraordinary. We were challenged by COVID-19 and the economic fallout from the pandemic. Ping An went all out in three fields, namely financial services, technology, and community support, to prevent and contain COVID-19, as well as help resume work and production. The Group provided more than RMB18 billion in financial support to enterprises, customers and front-line medical institutions affected by the epidemic, donated over RMB180 million in money and materials, provided approximately 8 million healthcare workers and 15,000 front-line workers with free exclusive insurance with a total insured amount of over RMB13.5 trillion. In addition, the year 2020 witnessed the endgame of China's battle against poverty. The Company further advanced Ping An Rural Communities Support by capitalizing on its "finance + technology" capabilities and advantages. The Group increased industrial poverty alleviation loans by over RMB14 billion year on year in poverty-stricken areas in the Three Regions and Three Prefectures. In 2020, Ping An actively responded to the state's call to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services for the real economy. As of December 31, 2020, the Company invested a cumulative total of over RMB5 trillion of financial resources, including insurance funds and bank credit, to support the real economy and China's "dual circulation" strategy. In 2020, facing the challenges of COVID-19, Ping An achieved sustained and steady business growth for the year. The Group continued to further pursue its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies and continued to enhance its data-driven operational capabilities. In 2020, the Group achieved a 19.5% operating ROE with operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rising by 4.9% year on year to RMB 139,470 million. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company declined 4.2% year on year to RMB143,099 million. Despite the short-term adverse impact of COVID-19, Ping An continued to reward its shareholders. The annual cash dividend per share for 2020 grew by 7.3% year on year to RMB2.20. In addition, The Board held a meeting on February 3, 2021, reviewing and resolving the Resolutions regarding Considering Director Candidates for the 12th Session of the Board. In order to continuously improve corporate governance and adopt the best practices of global corporate governance, and to ensure that the number of Independent Non-executive Directors represent more than one-third of the Board, it is proposed that one Independent Non-executive Director seat will be added to the 12th session of the Board and one Executive Director seat will correspondingly be reduced. As such, the total number of Directors will remain at 15. These changes are intended to ensure the decision-making professionalism and independence of the Board of Directors is further enhanced and is in line with the best standards of international corporate governance. Ten business highlights in 2020: 1. Profit grew steadily. The Group achieved a 19.5% operating ROE with operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rising by 4.9% year on year to RMB139,470 million. 2. Cash dividends continued to increase. Despite the short-term adverse impact of COVID-19, Ping An continued to reward its shareholders. The annual cash dividend per share for 2020 grew by 7.3% year on year to RMB2.20. 3. Retail customer development yielded strong results. As of December 31, 2020, the Group's retail customers increased to over 218 million, up 9.0% from the beginning of 2020. In total 37.02 million new customers were acquired, 36.0% of whom were sourced from internet users of the Group's ecosystems. Contracts per customer rose by 4.5% from the beginning of 2020 to 2.76. The number of internet users grew 16.0% from the beginning of 2020 to over 598 million. 4. The corporate business cross-selling model achieved steady growth. Ping An continued to extend its "1+N" integrated financial business model to the corporate business, and took a segmented approach to customer development. Ping An provided national strategic customers and regional key customers with integrated "commercial banking + investment banking + investment" services, while serving small and micro-business customers online. In 2020, the new financing scale achieved through corporate business cross-selling rose 69.7% year on year. The written premium of the corporate channel achieved through cross-selling grew by 84.8% year on year. 5. Insurance business grew steadily. In quick response to COVID-19, Life & Health established an industry-leading online operations model, and increased operating profit after tax by 5.3% year on year to RMB93,666 million. Against the backdrop of auto insurance pricing reform and a complex business environment, Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year and maintained better-than-industry business quality, with a combined ratio of 99.1%. 6. Ping An Bank maintained stable business operations and strengthened provisions. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Ping An Bank quickly responded by advancing online digital operations. In 2020, revenue grew by 11.3% year on year to RMB153,542 million and net profit rose by 2.6% year on year to RMB28,928 million. As of December 31, 2020, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.18%, down 0.47 pps from the beginning of 2020. The provision coverage ratio rose by 18.28 pps from the beginning of 2020 to 201.4%. In addition, Ping An Bank actively responded to the new regulatory requirements regards asset management and became the first in the industry to fully move non-standard wealth management assets back onto the balance sheet one year ahead of schedule with sufficient provisions and write-offs, thus significantly increasing the capability to prevent and withstand risks. 7. Ping An continued to develop its technological capabilities. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's technology patent applications increased by 10,029 from the beginning of 2020 to 31,412. In global patent application rankings, Ping An ranked first for fintech and digital healthcare, and third for AI and blockchain. 8. Ping An's innovative businesses grew rapidly. Ping An Good Doctor's online medical services registered strong growth, with revenue up 82.4% year on year. Autohome's revenue from the online marketplace and other business grew by 34.4% year on year against the backdrop of a weak auto market. OneConnect's revenue grew rapidly by 42.3% year on year to RMB 3,312 million in 2020. 9. Ping An developed new China ESG benchmarks and diligently fulfilled its social responsibilities. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) upgraded Ping An's ESG rating to A in June 2020. Ping An rolled out its AI-ESG smart management platform to support responsible investments. Meanwhile, Ping An launched the "Xinhua CN-ESG Evaluation System", together with Xinhua News Agency's China Economic Information Service, to set new national ESG evaluation standards with Chinese characteristics. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's responsible investments exceeded RMB1.03 trillion. Moreover, Ping An provided RMB 29,834 million for targeted industrial poverty alleviation through Ping An Rural Communities Support. 10. Ping An's brand value continued to increase. In 2020, the Company ranked 21st in the Fortune Global 500 list, 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list, and 38th in the BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list (1st among global insurance brands for the fifth consecutive year). Customer development: with its deepened integrated financial services strategy, the Company's retail business and corporate business continued to grow. In 2020, the Group's retail operating profit grew by 0.1% year on year to RMB 122,977 million, reversing the negative growth in the first half of 2020 despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Retail business accounted for 88.2% of the Group's operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company. Under the Company "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategy, the Group's retail business grew steadily. Ping An retail customers reached over 218 million as of December 31, 2020, up 9.0% from the beginning of 2020. Of the 37 million new retail customers Ping An acquired in 2020, 36.0% were sourced from the Group's internet user base. Contracts per customer rose by 4.5% from the beginning of 2020 to 2.76. As the Group's retail cross-selling continued to deepen, retail customers holding multiple contracts with different subsidiaries accounted for 38.0% of total customers, up by 1.2 pps from the beginning of 2020. The Group's internet users increased by 16.0% from the beginning of 2020 to over 598 million, of which 404 million had not yet become its retail customers, indicating future growth potential ahead for Ping An. Five of Ping An's portfolio of apps have each accumulated more than 100 million registered users. In the last 5 years, the Company doubled the size of the retail customer base and also doubled the proportion of retail customers holding multiple contracts of the Group. Corporate business grew steadily under the philosophy of integrated financial services, namely "one customer, multiple products and services." In 2020, the written premium of the corporate channel achieved through cross-selling rose by 84.8% year on year and new financing scale achieved through corporate business cross-selling increased by 69.7% year on year. As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding balance of retail assets referred by corporate business was RMB1.21 trillion, while the underlying assets invested by insurance funds sourced from corporate business amounted to RMB519,022 million, with an increment of RMB147,906 million in 2020. Financial services businesses: Ping An life and health insurance business's operating profit after tax increased by 5.3% year on year. Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year. Banking business maintained stable and healthy business growth. Ping An's life and health insurance business continued to solidify its business foundation for long-term sustainable growth. In 2020, life and health insurance business delivered a 35.0% operating ROE with operating profit after tax rising 5.3% year on year to RMB93,666 million. In 2020, COVID-19 hindered Ping An's traditional offline operations and temporarily tempered consumer spending on long-term protection products amid uncertainties over macroeconomic growth and personal income. As a result, NBV of Life & Health dropped by 34.7% year on year to RMB49,575 million. The Company responded by optimizing product strategies to attract and maintain customer stickiness to prepare for the anticipated market recovery. In 2020, Ping An Life completed the top-level design of its reform and implemented and promoted key projects. Going forward, Ping An Life will continue to advance and promote its reform to develop into a world-leading life insurer. Ping An Property & Casualty maintained stable growth by applying technologies and improving the services system. In 2020, Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year. Ping An Property & Casualty maintained better-than-industry business quality, despite its combined ratio rising by 2.7 pps year on year to 99.1%. In the year, Ping An Property & Casualty continued to apply technologies. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An Property & Casualty's "Ping An Auto Owner" app had over 126 million registered users, who had linked over 81 million vehicles with the app, and 90% of insurance claims for family cars were settled via "One-click Claims Services". Ping An Bank maintained stable business growth and upgraded its retail business transformation. In 2020, revenue grew by 11.3% year on year to RMB153,542 million and net profit rose by 2.6% year on year to RMB28,928 million. Retail banking revenue grew by 10.8% year on year. The number of registered users of the "Ping An Pocket Bank" app exceeded 100 million in the period. Retail assets under management (AUM) rose by 32.4% from the beginning of 2020 to RMB2,624,762 million. As of December 31, 2020, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.18%, down 0.47 pps from the beginning of 2020. The provision coverage ratio rose by 18.28 pps from the beginning of 2020 to 201.40%. The Company's investment portfolio of insurance funds grew 16.6% from the beginning of 2020 to RMB3.74 trillion as of December 31, 2020 with 18.9% of the financial assets carried at fair value through profit or loss under IFRS 9. The Company continued to increase the efficiency of insurance fund investment as well as ensure the safety and soundness of the investment portfolio. In 2020, the net investment yield was 5.1%, and the total investment yield was 6.2%. For the past ten years, the average total investment yield and the average comprehensive investment yield of the Company's investment portfolio of insurance funds were 5.3% and 5.5%, respectively; both are above the 5% long-term investment return assumption. Technology business: Ping An continued to develop its technological capabilities and the innovative businesses grew rapidly. In 2020, Ping An further developed the financial services ecosystem, healthcare ecosystem, auto services ecosystem, and smart city ecosystem and promoted the rapid development of innovative businesses. As of December 31, 2020, four technology companies have gone public, with a total market cap of USD68.4 billion. The total operating profit of the technology business for 2020 increased by 76.4% year on year to RMB8,221 million. Ping An continued to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) and made significant progress in ecosystem development. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's technology patent applications increased by 10,029 from the beginning of 2020 to 31,412. In global patent application rankings, Ping An ranked first for fintech and digital healthcare. The Company made significant progress in its ecosystem development, providing comprehensive scenarios, services and synergies for its over 598 million internet users as of December 31, 2020. Lufax Holding saw stable business growth. As of December 31, 2020, Lufax Holding achieved a 17.9% increase in the balance of retail credit facilitated from the beginning of 2020. The ratio of loans more than 30 days overdue was 2.0%, down sharply from June 30, 2020. The online wealth management business grew steadily, with client assets up by 23.0% from the beginning of 2020. OneConnect's revenue grew rapidly and loss narrowed. In 2020, OneConnect' s revenue grew by 42.3% year on year to RMB3,312 million. As of December 31, 2020, OneConnect served a total of 642 banks and 106 insurance institutions, of which premium customers grew from 473 to 594. Ping An Good Doctor initiated a comprehensive strategic upgrade in channels, services and capabilities to capture the long-term growth opportunity of the Chinese online medical services market. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An Good Doctor achieved a total of 373 million registered users. In 2020, Ping An Good Doctor's revenue rose by 35.5% year on year to RMB6,866 million, driven by a strong year-on-year increase of 82.4% in the revenue from online medical services. Ping An HealthKonnect continues to develop as a smart technology company that fully empowers the healthcare ecosystem. In 2020, Ping An HealthKonnect won bids to construct ten provincial-level social health insurance (SHI) platforms in provinces including Qinghai, Guangdong and Hainan. In response to COVID-19, Ping An applied advanced healthcare technology to prevent and contain COVID-19. Ping An Good Doctor launched a 24-hour free online consultation service, receiving 1.11 billion visits during the peak of the epidemic. Ping An HealthKonnect dispatched to Wuhan a vehicle equipped with a mobile CT scanner, assisted diagnosis through remote online image reading, and became one of the first institutions designated to conduct nucleic acid tests for COVID-19. Autohome responded to the impact of COVID-19 to realize business growth against the weakened market backdrop. In 2020, despite a 6% year-on-year decline in domestic passenger vehicle sales, Autohome's revenue increased by 2.8% year on year to RMB8,659 million and net profit rose by 6.2% year on year to RMB3,621 million. Revenue of the online marketplace and other businesses grew by 34.4% year on year to RMB2,005 million, driven by automakers' and auto dealers' increased demand for online marketing services. Centering on government services, business development, and citizen services, Ping An's smart city business offers comprehensive solutions, and served 151 cities, 1.6 million companies, and 104 million citizens in the period. In respect of government services, Ping An's smart fiscal system served more than 10,000 administrative units, businesses and public institutions, and enabled the management of over RMB20 trillion in assets. In respect of business development, Ping An's smart market supervision platform has an accuracy rate of over 92% in enterprise supervisory risk warning and an accuracy rate of 90% in enterprise risk identification. In respect of people's livelihoods, Ping An's citizen services platform was accessed by 31 million users in 21 cities and supported the online processing of nearly 8,000 service items on mobile devices. In addition, Ping An Smart City provided relevant state ministries and commissions and local governments with technology platforms to predict the epidemic development to help resume work and production. The accuracy of prediction made 24 hours in advance reached above 98%. Ping An diligently fulfilled its social responsibilities and built China's ESG benchmarks. During the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the Company donated over RMB180 million in money and materials. Through the Ping An Rural Communities Support program, Ping An provided a total of over RMB29,834 million in poverty alleviation funds, benefiting an impoverished population of 730,000. The Company helped build or upgrade 1,228 rural clinics and 1,054 rural schools, and trained 11,843 village doctors and 14,110 village teachers. Ping An invested a cumulative total of over RMB5 trillion of financial resources, including insurance funds and bank credit, to support the real economy. The Company rolled out its AI-ESG smart management platform to support and enable responsible investments. It also launched the "Xinhua CN-ESG Evaluation System", together with Xinhua News Agency's China Economic Information Service, to set national ESG evaluation standards with Chinese characteristics. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's responsible investments exceeded RMB1.03 trillion. Looking ahead, Ma Mingzhe, Chairman of Ping An, said, "The year 2020 was extraordinary. We were challenged by COVID-19. In this challenging year, we remained true to our original aspiration of serving the national economy and people's livelihoods and supporting the real economy. We furthered the ecosystem-based strategic transformation, conducted research and development in technologies, and continued to build a healthcare ecosystem to create a new engine for future value growth. The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of China's 14th Five-Year Plan. In 2021, Ping An will continue to seek steady growth, optimize our structure, and plan for the future, aiming to drive the steady development of the Group's businesses. We will continue promoting smart data-driven operations. While growing our core financial businesses, we will empower industries and smart city development, and advance the healthcare ecosystem strategy. By consolidating and developing the results of poverty alleviation, we will engage deeply in China's rural vitalization strategy. We will remain true to our original aspirations and keep in mind our mission, and work together to contribute to the Chinese nation's great rejuvenation." SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. Related Links www.pingan.cn Gov. Kate Brown knew it would be a tough sell to justify her decision to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to Oregons teachers before its elderly. But Brown and Patrick Allen, director of the state health authority, said they hoped to soon pave the way for Oregon to reopen schools if day care, preschool and K-12 employees quickly received inoculations against COVID-19 starting Jan. 25. Its a relatively small population, Brown said in a news conference last month. As Director Allen mentioned, roughly 100,000 folks that we can vaccinate in a period of two weeks. Allen tried to temper that expectation by saying he hoped most educators would be vaccinated in two weeks. But that timeline has turned out to be misleading at best, flat out wrong at worst. Documents generated by the Oregon Health Authority show the state has far more early learning and K-12 employees than the governor estimated 152,000, roughly 50% higher than the governor and Allen said. As a result, it could take four weeks to provide only a first shot to early learning and K-12 workers and that schedule assumes virtually no vaccinations for seniors 80 and older who will soon qualify, according to state documents. Administering required second doses to educators and early learning employees could double the timeline to just before spring break. The governors two-week assertion is the latest example of overpromises, shifting numbers and largely optimistic thinking that appears to be hindering the vaccine rollout as the state moves to the second wave of eligible residents. Frustrations are high coast to coast as many states have struggled to meet demand amid limited vaccine shipments from the federal government. But unlike some, Oregons problem appears to be exacerbated by its own troubled planning. The reality is poised to disappoint leagues of Oregonians -- health care workers and residents with disabilities still waiting for shots since December; educators eagerly anticipating inoculations before they return to their schools; preteens and teens who are the least likely to make it back into the classroom this school year; and elderly residents waiting longer in Oregon to be eligible for vaccines than in almost any other state. The governors staff this week did not directly address questions about Browns initial comments about a two-week timeline for vaccinating educators and instead estimated a majority of the group probably would receive first and second doses by March 1. But state officials said they do not track the occupation of people who receive doses and therefore cannot quantify progress. They also declined to specify how many educators and early learning staff they estimate will be vaccinated by March 1 or explain the assumptions that went into the timeline. Although Brown previously couched her decision to prioritize teachers for vaccines as a way to reopen classrooms, her spokesman, Charles Boyle, said the governors plan isnt contingent on getting teachers vaccinated before their return to school. Brown is opening a pathway for restarting schools, he said, by providing vaccinations and revising guidelines with the hope some students could return as soon as Feb. 15. What is clear is that if we do not take action now, many school districts will miss the opportunity to reopen this school year, Boyle said in an email. Thats unacceptable. Dozens of parents and students rallied at Revolution Hall in Southeast Portland on Dec. 6, pushing for Gov. Kate Brown to order the state's public schools to offer in-person education for families and educators who feel safe returning to classrooms amid the coronavirus. Miscommunication and chaos It isnt surprising that Oregons top politician and state health director provided an inaccurate estimate of educators and early learning staff in line for vaccines and the timeline for inoculating them. State officials provided shifting numbers before, oscillating between saying 400,000 or 500,000 Oregonians who would be eligible in the first phase of vaccinations. They still cant explain that discrepancy, even though local officials told the federal government in November they would identify and estimate the volume of each critical population for phase 1 vaccination in Oregon. Entering the eighth week of vaccinations, only 273,000 Oregonians had received their first of two shots and just 87,000 had been fully immunized. Most are likely health care workers, long-term care workers and residents, and others who became eligible in the first wave that started Dec. 16. Oregon has yet to fully reach everyone who is eligible in phase 1a and now the field has suddenly grown jam-packed with the arrival of educators. Were not as far along along in 1a as we thought, said Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, adding that she doesnt believe health care workers should be denied vaccines because the state diverted their doses to educators. They should not be turned away. Competition will increase again with the eligibility of as many as 767,000 seniors. Oregonians ages 80 and older will be eligible Feb. 8, lowering in five-year increments weekly until everyone 65 and older is eligible by early March. Oregon has yet to launch a detailed information campaign laying out a plan for the elderly, however. That includes establishing an 800-number seniors can call for information on how to book appointments and where they should go, said Mary Rita Hurley, chairwoman of the Governors Commission on Senior Services, which wrote a letter last month criticizing Browns decision to prioritize teachers. One of the things the state said is Weve never done this before. Its unprecedented, Hurley said. But its like OK, we knew this was coming. Why didnt we have a plan in place? Hurley is unsure if seniors will actually be able to secure appointments starting Feb. 8. The states projections show only about 25,000 doses available that week for seniors 80 and older, or just 15% of that population. The miscommunication and the chaos is just increasing older adults anxiety level, Hurley said. As it stands, Oregon expects to have enough vaccine to provide a first dose to 78% of the combined pool of educators and seniors by the first week of May, according to state documents. Theres no breakdown between the projected first-dose rates for the two groups. The timeline assumes the state consistently receives about 50,000 first doses each week, which may be an underestimate as federal officials work to release more doses. It also assumes no other Oregonians become eligible for vaccination, something that may prove difficult as pressure builds to open vaccinations to more groups including a judges ruling Tuesday that the state must now begin offering vaccines to more than 10,000 prisoners much earlier than planned. Sending school employees back into classrooms without two shots each is likely to encounter fierce resistance from employees unions. Reopening classrooms also will depend heavily on the coronavirus spread in the next few months. Although cases have been falling or held relatively steady for the past few weeks, they remain too high to meet the governors advisory metrics for restarting at all grade levels in many places. In most Oregon counties, the governors metrics say elementary schools shouldnt reopen for in-person learning unless new cases drop below 350 per 100,000 county residents over the previous two-week period. The threshold is set at 200 or fewer cases for middle and high schools. Across 36 counties, elementary schools in 13 and middle and high schools in 25 dont meet the governors recommendations for reopening as of last week. While all of the Portland areas elementary schools currently qualify, middle and high schools in Multnomah and Clackamas counties dont. Some rural counties are far above the threshold. That means tens of thousands of educators slated for vaccinations or whove already received their shots might not return to their schools this academic year. Kelly Beckley, R.N., preps vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to teachers and educators at The Oregon Convention Center on January 27, 2021, in Portland.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian School plans Nationwide, many educators have been working without vaccinations. According to the Center on Reinventing Public Education , 57% of students were attending some sort of in-person schooling for at least part of the week as of December. In Oregon, its only about 13% -- or roughly 85,000 of the 638,000 public and private K-12 students. Boyle, the governors spokesman, said even without vaccinations for Oregon school employees, the CDC has said schools can reopen safely by following stringent safety precautions, including mandatory mask usage and physical distancing that could result in classrooms with half to one-third the number of students. Reopening schools is not an on-off switch, its a dial that needs to be calibrated with appropriate health and safety measures based on levels of COVID-19 spread, Boyle said in an email. Portland, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego and West Linn-Wilsonvilles public schools have announced their hope theyll be able to get most, if not all, schools open for in-person learning this spring. Hillsboro spokeswoman Beth Graser, however, acknowledged the plan to reopen all schools by the last week of April will depend on the number of cases in Washington County. After weeks of elevated cases, the county slipped just below the threshold this week meaning middle and high schools currently qualify to reopen. But more contagious variants that are spreading worry some. We have no way of knowing right now whether or not we will be able to meet that threshold mid-April, Graser said in an email. If we do, however, we will figure out how to get students back in school physically at least a portion of each week. Portland Public Schools said last week itll try to reopen its youngest grades by early April, but restarting high schools is much more complicated and its still sorting out the possibilities. The Beaverton School District was more decisive, announcing last week it wont restart in-person academic coursework at middle and high schools specifically because of the governors 100-person limit on the number of people one student can come across during a single week. Beaverton spokeswoman Shellie Bailey-Shah said that alone makes bringing secondary students back to campus challenging. But smaller groups of sudents might return to campus for some activities and clubs. The North Clackamas School District, the fourth largest in the Portland area, said it is working to reopen for young students but does not have plans for fourth grade and higher. The Gresham-Barlow School District hasnt announced any reopening dates, with leaders saying theyre still trying to work through the difficult logistics that could include requiring some elementary students to change teachers. Nurses, medical assistants and patient representatives are trained to register and administer the COVID-19 vaccine to teachers and educators at The Oregon Convention Center on January 27, 2021, in Portland.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian Uncertainty for teachers Heidi Esbensen, a paraeducator who works with middle schoolers at Arleta School in Southeast Portland, said she plans to get vaccinated soon because she has an underlying condition and worries shell have no choice but to go back to the classroom in April. But Esbensen disagrees with the governors decision to prioritize educators and thinks vaccines should go first to seniors or vulnerable populations who have no work-from-home options. The reopenings, she said, feel rushed. She worries that students could carry the virus home to unvaccinated adults in their families. Or they could suffer unforeseen side effects in the future, even if theyre highly unlikely to get severely sick now. I will not send my kids back this year, said Esbensen, a mother of an elementary schooler and a high schooler. Some educators, however, want schools to reopen now even without vaccines. Gretchen Dean, a high-school substitute teacher who in normal times works two or three days a week for the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, said schools should restart and other people need the vaccines more than she does. My parents live 10 miles down the road from me and theyre both 73 and 74, said Dean, a healthy 47-year-old. Im not going to get the shot before they can. Thats ridiculous. She also said it feels wrong for her to get vaccinated with such uncertainty over whether schools, especially secondary schools, will reopen. She knows the supply of vaccines is limited. Theyre running out of shots, and I dont want to take a shot from my parents, she said, or any elderly Oregonians. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT Two people are in custody after officers pursued a suspicious vehicle on Hollister Avenue Wednesday morning, according to police. Around 9:15 a.m., officers engaged in a pursuit after responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle in the 200 block of Hollister Avenue. Police said the vehicle was stolen and used in an armed robbery in Stratford. An Israeli drone blew up in the sky above south Lebanon on Wednesday, local broadcaster NBN and a security source said. The source said the drone was shot down. Witnesses said they heard an explosion. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Lebanon regularly complains to the United Nations against Israel for violating its airspace with drones and jets. Short link: MADISON, Wis., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitka Salmon Shares , a community supported fishery (CSF) delivering wild Alaska seafood to members across the United States, expands its team in its mission to build a more responsible, transparent, and ethical seafood system. The company brings on Michael Kohan as fisheries science and policy director, Steve Ricci as fisheries and fleet director, and Lauren Mitchell as Sitka fleet manager. "Against the backdrop of the growing threat of climate change, we are striving to create a more just seafood system that focuses on stability for small-scale fishermen, environmental stewardship and better-tasting fish that our members can trust," said Nic Mink, co-founder, CEO and chief fishmonger at Sitka Salmon Shares. "By expanding our team with these proven leaders in Alaska fisheries, we are investing in the company's commitment to building a values-driven supply chain that benefits fishermen, communities, food systems and our oceans." The new hires include: With a deep background in fisheries and wildlife science, Michael Kohan will drive innovation and ensure that the company is responsive to the growing impact of climate change on fisheries in Alaska , working closely with supply chain leadership and the growing fleet of small-boat fishermen-owners. Previously, Kohan served as seafood technical director for Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and as a wildlife biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. will drive innovation and ensure that the company is responsive to the growing impact of climate change on fisheries in , working closely with supply chain leadership and the growing fleet of small-boat fishermen-owners. Previously, Kohan served as seafood technical director for Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and as a wildlife biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A seasoned policy leader in Alaska , Steve Ricci will actively support the growth of Sitka Salmon Shares' fleet of small-boat fishermen-owners with the goal of improving their livelihoods and well-being. Ricci spent more than a decade serving in the legislative and executive branches of Alaska state government, working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on key budget, policy and legislation. Formerly a skipper himself, Ricci was previously quota manager for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association. , Steve will actively support the growth of Sitka Salmon Shares' fleet of small-boat fishermen-owners with the goal of improving their livelihoods and well-being. Ricci spent more than a decade serving in the legislative and executive branches of state government, working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on key budget, policy and legislation. Formerly a skipper himself, Ricci was previously quota manager for the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association. Taking the mantle of Sitka fleet manager, Lauren Mitchell comes to Sitka Salmon Shares with an extensive maritime background. Mitchell will develop and support the company's expanding fleet to ensure its focus on the highest environmental, social, and quality standards across its supply chain. Previously, Mitchell served as staff member to Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association and as captain and deckhand of the F/V Northwind in Sitka . About Sitka Salmon Shares Sitka Salmon Shares is a community supported fishery delivering traceable, wild-caught Alaska seafood from small-boat fishermen to home cooks across the United States. An innovator in the responsible seafood movement, Sitka Salmon Shares is working to build a more just seafood system from the ground up. For more information, please visit www.sitkasalmonshares.com and stay in touch on Facebook , Instagram and YouTube . Media Contact Leslie Mayer 43PR for Sitka Salmon Shares [email protected] 831.401.3175 SOURCE Sitka Salmon Shares Related Links http://www.sitkasalmonshares.com Aero India 2021: B-1B makes its debut, here is a complete fact-sheet of the heavy bomber from US India is vigilant, prepared to counter any misadventure: Rajnath Singh India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh said that India has witnessed attempts by its neighbour to employ force to alter the status quo along the unresolved borders. Singh was referring to the year long border row with China in eastern Ladakh. Aero show 2021: Watch IAF's Surya Kiran team perform | Oneindia News In his inaugural speech during the Aero India 2021, Singh said that India is vigilant and prepared to counter and defeat any misadventure to defend our people and territorial integrity at all cost. Our resolve towards this end is shown by our growing defence capabilities. The Aero India 2021 will showcase this commitment, Singh also said. India offers unlimited potential in defence, aerospace: PM Modi During the ninth round of the military commander level talks, China had agreed to push for an early disengagement. "They also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, and hold the 10th round of the corps commander-level meeting at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation," a joint statement said the following day. Earlier Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that despite the constraints caused by the global pandemic, I am pleased to see such a large number of participants in this year's event. It is coming from the world's leading nations in the field of military and aviation.'' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on the international community to respond to the "lawlessness of the Russian authorities" regarding the mass arrests of protesters, against the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. "Russian authorities hit a new lawlessness record by poisoning, then imprisoning Navalny, mass detentions of peaceful protestors in Russian cities. Clearly, Russia isn't willing to respect human rights & freedoms. Must be forced then. This is the task for international community," Kuleba wrote on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday. RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today announced that its newly-formed subsidiary has acquired all shares and interests of the various entities comprising the Kaschke Group with its headquarters in Gottingen, Germany. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Kaschke is a market leader in the field of customized magnetic components and ferrite cores. The company was founded by Kurt Kaschke in 1955 and became known for its high competence in the development and production of application specific magnetic products. The Kaschke mission to use their ferrite core knowledge base for the development of solutions tailored to specific customer requirements matches Bourns' culture of innovative design. "As one of the few companies that has the capability to design and build ferrite core materials as well as manufacture complex inductive components, Kaschke will bring to Bourns the experience and creativity needed to solve customers' complex application challenges," said Gordon Bourns, Chairman and CEO of Bourns. "We are excited to welcome Kaschke to the Bourns organization to combine our capabilities and build stronger customer relationships." Al Yost, President and Chief Operating Officer at Bourns, said "This acquisition is an important element in Bourns' strategy to strengthen our inductive technology capability and broaden our portfolio of innovative magnetic products." "The combination of Kaschke and Bourns will enable the development of a full portfolio of products that will help our customers meet the challenging EMI filtering requirements of the next generation power supplies in the automotive, industrial and new energy markets," said Silke Baumgartner, President of Kaschke Components. "I'm delighted to form an alliance with Bourns, a company with a history and core values that are fully aligned with Kaschke's." About Kaschke Components Kaschke is a European market leader in the field of customized inductive components and ferrites. The company's headquarters and ferrite production facilities are located in Germany. In addition, Kaschke has had local manufacturing operations in Tunisia for over 40 years. Additional company and product information is available at www.kaschke.de. About Bourns Bourns, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and supplier of position and speed sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic components, microelectronic modules, panel controls and resistive products. Headquartered in Riverside, California, USA, Bourns serves a broad range of markets, including automotive, industrial, consumer, communications, low to medium risk medical***, audio and various other market segments. Additional company and product information is available at www.bourns.com. Bourns and the Bourns logo are registered trademarks of Bourns, Inc. and may be used only with the permission of Bourns and proper acknowledgement. Other listed names and brands are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ***Bourns products have not been designed for and are not intended for use in "lifesaving," "life-critical" or "life-sustaining" applications nor any other applications where failure or malfunction of the Bourns product may result in personal injury or death. See Legal Disclaimer Notice http://www.bourns.com/docs/legal/disclaimer.pdf. Agency Contact: Annette Keller - Keller Communication (707) 947-7232, [email protected] Company Contact: David Scofield - Bourns, Inc. (951) 781-5054, [email protected] SOURCE Bourns, 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. Vietnam clears path for influx of 5G-ready products Local smartphone maker Bkav is planning to launch its 5G Bphone devices this year, with research on the new items have been taking place for a few months. The new phone may use the 865 Snapdragon chip mainly geared towards 5G smartphones. The main market of the products is likely to continue to be outside Vietnam, however. To date, Bphones are mainly exported to Myanmar and are planned to penetrate other regional markets soon. We entered Myanmar to prepare the new market for Bphone and build a national smartphone brand there, said Le Quang Hiep, general director of Bkav Myanmar. Therefore, we have focused on developing our brand first and step-by-step enhanced the foothold in Myanmar. Through a collaboration with Qualcomm, Bkav has organised talks with large distributors from the United States and regional telecom companies to figure out effective export methods to markets like Indonesia, Thailand, India, and others. However, in Vietnam the phones market share remains tiny as overseas players dominate. According to data published last November by GfK, Germanys largest market research institute, Bphone has completely evaporated from the list of leading smartphones brands in Vietnam. Moreover, over the years, there was no information about the companys shares or annual sales. To date, the country sees Vingroup as the only local company successfully developing 5G smartphones, with its flagship Vsmart Aris 5G. Similar to Bkav, the conglomerate also focuses on exporting the phones to the US market. GfKs data also stated that overseas players including Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Apple, and Realme occupy nearly 80 per cent of the local market share, in which Samsung and Oppo lead with 31 and 18.6 per cent, respectively. Recognising the issue, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) last December issued Circular No.43/2020/TT-BTTTT outlining national technical criteria for terminal equipment, which will take effect from July 1. According to the regulation, 2G and 3G devices will not be allowed to be imported to Vietnam. Mobile phones manufactured or imported from other markets will have to integrate E-UTRA or 4G technology. The circular is applied to Vietnamese individuals, organisations, and also overseas organisations that have mobile manufacturing activities in Vietnam. The overall goal of the legislation is to accelerate use of 4G and 5G technologies, and from there to popularise smartphone usage by 2025 to comply with the National Digital Transformation Programme with a vision to 2030. Moreover, the MIC is also stimulating the use of low-cost smartphones produced in Vietnam. As such, local telecom companies and smartphone makers have jointly launched pilots that support mobile phone subscribers to shift from 2G phones to 4G smartphones. Last year, Bkav and Viettel officially offered 4G mobiles worth VND600,000 ($26) in the market. A Nokia representative told VIR that such regulations that allow 5G to be easily deployable are an essential precondition to kick-start the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Vietnamese government is strongly supporting the deployment of new technologies, especially 5G, and is promoting Industry 4.0 use-cases and trials. Accelerated investments in 5G infrastructure and 5G-ready policy frameworks are critical priorities to reap the benefits of digitalisation, the representative said. Moreover, to enable a high adoption rate, regulators should ensure that a sufficient and affordable spectrum of devices is available promptly. Nikolai Dobberstein, managing partner for Malaysia at US-based consulting firm Kearney, said that the high-end smartphone market is led by well-known brands like Samsung and Apple, and it will be hard to penetrate for newcomers. In markets like India, local smartphone brands can establish a position in the lower and mid-end segments, though they struggle to maintain their positions. More often than not, they lose the battle to Chinese brands, Dobberstein explained. Hence, the question for local phone makers is whether they will be able to sustain and demonstrate the required marketing skills, feature-rich products, aggressive pricing, and distribution of online sales efforts. According to Jen Vu Huong, community programme manager at technology developer BK Holdings, the first thing to focus on is the interest of consumers. Although we already have low-cost 4G phones, their recognition has been largely limited. Businesses should constantly research market demand before deciding to offer any products to consumers, said Huong. SANDUSKY, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PAO Group, Inc. (USOTC: PAOG) today highlighted its own proprietary, U.S. Patent backed, cannabis pharmaceutical technology in light of the announcement today that Jazz Pharmaceuticals plans to purchase GW Pharmaceuticals for $7.2 billion. 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." PAOG recently announced an engagement with Veristat, Inc., a contract research organization headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts. PAOG has engaged Veristat to assist in advancing PAOG with its proprietary Cannabidiol (CBD) extract for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) toward initiating an Investigational New Drug application (IND) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). PAOG management anticipates a pharmaceutical development process to be a long-term endeavor. Management is committed to pursuing complimentary initiatives that have the potential to deliver revenue and profit in a shorter time frame. PAOG has also recently engaged with the Puerto Rico Consortium for Clinical Investigation 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). Earlier today, PAOG announced the company anticipates reporting an estimated $50,000 in revenue for Q4 2020. The revenue is anticipated from a $300,000 sales agreement executed by PAOG's cannabis cultivation subsidiary. Last summer, PAOG acquired a cannabis cultivation business from Puration, Inc. (USOTC: PURA). The acquisition was made in conjunction with PAOG's overall cannabis pharmaceuticals strategy. 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 https://www.paogroupinc.com Jubilee and ODM parties have launched a twin attack on nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura over disloyalty to his party and alleged incitement of the public to violence. The Jubilee disciplinary committee has summoned the senator to appear before it for violating the party's constitution by "pledging allegiance to another party, acting in a manner that is disloyal to Jubilee party and contravening the Jubilee party code of conduct". On the other hand, the ODM party has written a formal complaint to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) over Mr Mwaura's utterances, which it says border on incitement to violence. Jubilee disciplinary committee chairman Lumatete Muchai confirmed that Mr Mwaura had been summoned following a complaint lodged by party chairman Nelson Dzuya. Mr Mwaura is accused that on December 31, 2020, in Msambweni Constituency, he acted contrary to conduct expected of a Jubilee member when he publicly announced his allegiance to the United Democratic Alliance party during the homecoming party of the newly elected Msambweni MP Feisal Bader. Another party's branding material He is also accused of wearing another party's branding material other than that of Jubilee; proclaiming that the Jubilee party is dead through the Kenya Diaspora Media USA on April 22, 2020; and "...stating on Citizen TV on January 14, 2020, that Jubilee party is dead, it is not a party but a name, a song and two or three colours." The nominated senator, according to the charge sheet dated February 1, 2021, is also targeted for stating on his Twitter handle on April 16, 2020, that "Jubilee is ... comatose and therefore functionally dead." ODM also wants action taken on the senator. "Just a week ago, nominated senator Isaac Mwaura was captured on video inciting violence ahead of a visit by the Rt Hon Raila Odinga to Githurai," says the letter, partly authored by ODM Disability League chairperson Nickson Kakiri and dated February 1. "He had both a tribal and class message; that people of Hon Odinga's tribe were not welcome to Githurai and that the so-called hustlers should rise up (sic) and defeat the dynasties ..." Bloodshed The letter to the boss of DCI, Mr George Kinoti and the NCIC chairman, Dr Samuel Kobia, adds: "Predictably, radicalised youths appeared at Hon Odinga's rally to disrupt it and it is only the discipline of our own (sic) supporters and Hon Odinga's perennial preaching of peace that saved the day from being one of bloodshed." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The silence and inaction of your two institutions thus far in the face of the divisive narrative by Tangatanga generally, and specifically, to Hon Mwaura's words and conduct send three key messages -- that you lack the capacity to investigate and prosecute even crimes whose evidence is splashed on TV, that you are complicit by your actions and silence and that there are now divided loyalties within your institutions, making you unable to sustain your oath to defend the Constitution of this great republic." Mr Kakiri also describes Mr Mwaura as a "thankless human being who will burn this country at the slightest opportunity." The ODM's terse letter adds that Mr Mwaura's ability to "incite ethnic violence and actually visit the ground to conduct it, negates the principle for which affirmative action gives the (senate nomination) slot to people with disabilities (PWDs). The violence he instigates indeed has the potential to produce new PWDs." "Act now or throw the country to the dogs," ODM tells the DCI and NCIC in the letter. The unique design of Nation.Africa has been selected as a finalist at the prestigious International Forum (iF) Design Award 2021. The Nation Media Group (NMG) is also battling for top honours in the iF awards' video campaign category against global brands such as Siemens, Virgin Galactic, Primera Beauty Products and Planet World. Both entries have been judged by online jury members and received good reviews, landing them on the shortlist. Submissions are subject to comprehensive evaluation for design, innovativeness, functionality and seven additional features-- including product, packaging, communication and professional concepts. From January 18 to 22, the design experts evaluated nearly 10,000 submissions from 52 nations and selected the best 50 percent. This shortlist qualifies for the second round of judging due in March 2021, and the competitors stand a chance to win the iF Design Award 2021 or the iF gold award. The Nation.Africa logo, which features a font that was specifically designed for NMG, has different colour palettes which change based on different segments. The "Lifestyle" segment, for instance, is purple, "Sports" (green), "Counties" (red), "News" (yellow) and "Business" (blue). According to Morrow BV, the people behind the Nation video campaign, the concept was to fuse current audiences and strong legacies with younger audiences and a new promise -- to empower all Africans. High standards "We created a strategy and identity rooted in African culture and tradition that allows for a lot of flexibility. It caters to everything from news to a children's show or fashion podcast," Morrow said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Media By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "Allowing each and every outing to be unique while still part of the same family. An identity needed on an iterative journey into the future." Organisers of the awards said NMG's campaign video creatively sent the message that Nation.Africa was there for every African; relayed through its imagery, music and conclusion. "This video marks the continuation of change that Nation and its rebranding represents. Their goal, best explained by the chairman of directors, 'to decolonise the African mindset that keeps Africa poor despite the abundant natural resources and talent'," they said. The recognition comes just days after Nation.Africa, Nation Media Group's flagship news and digital content website, crossed the 200,000 mark in registered users in just under five months -- a major milestone in the group's digital transformation journey. Mr Mutuma Mathiu, the Group Editorial Director, said that the company is "delighted by the recognition of the high standards we have set for Nation.Africa" and promised that NMG "will strive to maintain those standards". Perth has rallied to support victims of the Wooroloo bushfire with restaurants sending food to the front, hotels offering free accommodation and other people and businesses chipping everything from the practical to the weird and wonderful. Cottesloe Beach Chalets is full with more than 100 evacuees. Its our family business and because of the lockdown we had all our guests leave by Sunday ... we had 25 empty motel rooms, said Harry Davies. Seeing the news yesterday I saw a friend displaced by the fire so I rang Dad to see if we had any free rooms to offer. Luckily they had found accommodation by then but we had a chat and thought maybe we could help other families. Kansas City small biz is desperate as the threat of ongoing pandemic restrictions until May will leave many of them absolutely penniless. Accordingly, here's a glimpse at more push back and another legal fight on the horizon . . . Country Club Plaza bar and restaurant sues Kansas City mayor over COVID-19 restrictions Deets: The suit was filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Jackson County by Kansas City attorney Michael Gunter, who previously filed another COVID-19 suit against the city. The owners of ODowds, at 4742 Pennsylvania Ave., said they are well aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused death and pain to millions and will continue to do so, but it also is creating a vast economic loss of great proportions. Remember that the "gastrobar" was forced to close under the mayor's recent restrictions. In the lawsuit, ODowds says large companies, such as casinos, have not had the same restrictions. They also have access to more capital than small, locally owned businesses. ODowds argues that other Kansas City operations are allowed to stay open later to serve food and drink, such as convenience stores. And it says the mayor doesnt have the legal authority to issue the orders. Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/cityscape/article248929239.html#storylink=cpy Developing . . . Business-to-business custom manufacturing startup Zetwerk February 3 said it has raised $120 million (Rs 880 crore) in a Series D funding round led by its existing investors, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greenoaks Capital. Other existing backers Sequoia Capital and Kae Capital also participated in the round. Founded in 2018 by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras alumni Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk procures manufacturing services such as fabrication, machining, casting and forging from small and medium companies and connects them to mid-to-large OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and engineering, procurement and construction firms- earlier in India and South-East Asia and now in North America as well. The buyers include Jindal, BGR Energy, Embassy Group, Sterling & Wilson and Fidelity Contracts, who want to procure custom products and machine parts that are not available off-the-shelf. The round more than doubled Zetwerks valuation to $600 million, said a person aware of the matter, requesting anonymity. It has raised $193 million so far including the current round. The global manufacturing industry has had to swiftly adjust to the new normal, and digital solutions have become essential. Zetwerk accelerates this digital transformation with state-of-the-art productivity tools and remote project management. 2021 will see a further pace of growth as companies seek to diversify their procurement to minimise disruptions and become more agile and resilient, said Amrit Acharya, Co-founder & CEO, Zetwerk. Zetwerk currently has over 250 customers and 2,000 supplies across North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Precision parts, capital goods and consumer goods are its biggest sectors, with consumer goods already contributing 15 percent of its revenue. The company did not disclose its revenue. Zetwerk's operating system for manufacturing has digitised multiple supply chains end-to-end, ensuring on-time delivery and high-quality standards. This has led to rapid growth in India and internationally, with the potential to quickly become one of the most important manufacturing platforms globally, said Neil Shah, partner at Greenoaks Capital. People participate in a demonstration after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to three and a half years in jail, in Moscow, Russia. (Image: Reuters) A Moscow court sent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison for more than two and a half years on February 2, ignoring the West in a ruling the opposition politician blamed on President Vladimir Putins personal hatred and fear of him. The court handed Navalny a three-and-a-half-year sentence, but his lawyer said the anti-corruption blogger would actually serve two years and eight months in jail because of time already spent under house arrest. His lawyers said they would appeal. The decision followed nationwide protests calling for Navalnys release. After the courts ruling, his supporters encouraged people to gather in central Moscow to protest. According to Reuters' reporters, hundreds of protesters and the police detain some of them. Some of them chanted, Putin is a thief! and Putin is a poisoner! The Russian police arrested more than 1,050 people during the rallies, according to the NGO OVD-Info. The organisation, which specialises in monitoring protests, said most of the arrests were in Moscow, where rallies were held in the evening after the court handed Navalny in jail. Earlier in the day, riot police detained around 70 of Navalnys supporters outside the court. The OVD-Info monitoring group later reported 503 arrests across Moscow. Navalny, one of Putins most prominent critics, was arrested on January 17 for alleged parole violations after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny said Russian state security agents had put the poison in his underpants, something the Kremlin denied. Navalny, in a fiery speech to the court, alleged he was going to be jailed because of Putins concerns about him as a political rival, a suggestion the Kremlin has laughed off, referring to Navalny as a marginal figure without wide popular support. Putin, 68, has dominated Russian politics since 2000 and could rule until 2036 under constitutional changes approved in a referendum in 2020. After Navalnys verdict was read out, Yulia, his wife, removed the mask she was wearing because of the coronavirus pandemic and waved to her husband before giving him a shrug. Navalny shouted: Dont worry. Everything will be ok. (With inputs from agencies) Dublin: Ireland does not currently plan to give the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca to people over the age of 65, the countrys health service said on Wednesday. France, Belgium and Germany are among other European Union countries that have recommended against using the shot on people over 65 years old because of a lack of sufficient data for that age group. Ireland will instead give rival mRNA vaccines by Pfizer , BioNTech and Moderna to those over 65, the Chief Clinical Officer of Irelands Health Service Executive Colm Henry told RTE radio. The decision is based on evidence received from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Irelands National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), but could change as more evidence emerges, Henry said. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. WILMINGTON, N.C., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovo Research, a nationwide clinical research network, has announced a partnership with agilon health, an organization that champions the role of independent physicians through a total care partnership model representing a network of more than 1,400 primary care physicians in 11 geographies across seven states. In addition, four of agilon health's value-based care practice partners are multispecialty practices. The Innovo Research partnership is designed to significantly increase the number of independent physicians participating in clinical trials nationally, which today is estimated at only 3%. The new collaboration with agilon health will expand Innovo's nationwide reach with independent physician groups, many of which are positioned as the leading practices in their community. The primary care physicians and specialists on the agilon health platform have embraced value-based care for their senior populations and provide a network that spans across the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest and Northeast regions of the country. Innovo Research will provide these prominent practices with new resources to further engage, educate and support patients in their care through innovative clinical studies. According to the National Institute on Aging, the benefits to patients who participate in clinical trials include playing a more active role in their health care, receiving more frequent health check-ups and having more information on support groups and other resources. Another upside is a higher medication adherence rate and potential cost savings to patients for what can often be expensive pharmaceutical therapies. "agilon health and our physician partners are excited about this new collaboration with Innovo Research because we understand the value clinical trials can bring to our patients and physicians," says Ben Kornitzer, Chief Medical Officer of agilon health. "Clinical trials move the medical community forward and offer an overwhelmingly positive experience for patients by providing access to cutting edge medical care, personalized services and support, and greater efficiency in care delivery. Our partners are drawn to the agilon health model because innovation and exceptional patient care is part of their DNA. Through our care platform that is 100% focused on value across the entire care continuum, our partners are in a unique position to lead and innovate." Innovo Research provides healthcare organizations with a comprehensive and integrated clinical research infrastructure that enables clinical trials to be conducted at the point of patient care. agilon health's physician practices will now be able to offer their patients access to clinical trials that are appropriate and help enhance patient experience and outcomes. Innovo Research is the only clinical research network to offer a high-tech precision data finding program that can be integrated into most EMR systems. The user-friendly analytics tool can be customized for each clinical trial and allows for tracking patients based on age, health conditions, blood type, comorbities, etc. This helps narrow down patients to fit the profile for the study -- removing that time intensive burden from physicians and their staff. Many clinical trials for pharmaceuticals and medical devices don't get off the ground because of a lack of efficacy; limited funding; the FDA approval process; and problems with recruiting the right patient population. But one of the primary issues affecting the success of clinical trials is physician engagement. Research America reports that 72% of the US population would participate in a clinical trial if their physician recommended it. However, many patients are not informed by their physicians about clinical research opportunities and the benefits of involvement. This results in delayed development of promising new treatments for the millions of patients waiting for much needed medical intervention. Since Innovo Research's inception three years ago, the number of partnering physicians who participate in clinical trials has grown significantly. In fact, physician participation rates in the company's clinical trials are more than six times the national average. And management expects those numbers to grow with the advent of an agilon health partnership. "We are delighted about this new collaboration with agilon health and its partner physician groups," says Innovo Research Founder Jeff James. "Our goal is to provide physicians with the access to cutting-edge treatments and expand their knowledge of new medications that will help improve the lives of their patients and millions of others. We also want the experience to be stress-free and seamless for physicians since they are the gatekeepers to patient participation." To learn more about our new partnership with agilon health, as well as our access and capabilities contact: Jeff James ( [email protected] ) About Innovo Research Innovo Research is a provider-sponsored, provider-led network of high-performing Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that utilize clinical research as part of their population health strategy. Our integrated approach supports both the triple aim aspirations of our partner ACOs as well as their research interests. Our fully integrated EMR platform allows for quick and reliable feasibility analysis, leading to quicker enrollment. Our depth and breadth of investigators cover nearly every therapeutic area across several geographic regions. About agilon health agilon health is transforming healthcare by empowering community-based physicians with the resources and expertise they need to innovate the payment and delivery of care for seniors. agilon health enables physicians to create their own Medicare-centric globally capitated line of business. The agilon Total Care Model is powered by our purpose-built platform and enabled through a growing national network of like-minded physician partners. With agilon, physicians are freed from the constraints of the transactional fee-for-service reimbursement model and are able to practice team-based, coordinated care to serve the individual needs of their senior patients and to transition to a sustainable and predictable, long-term business model. The rapidly growing appeal of the agilon platform, partnership model and network of leading community-based physicians has allowed us to expand to 11 local communities with 11 anchor physician groups, as well as a network of physicians across Hawaii, in fewer than five years. Visit www.agilonhealth.com SOURCE agilon health HONG KONG Some days, Cathy Yau wanders down dark alleys looking for rats to poison. Other days, she helps food banks deliver meals to older people. Often her phone rings with calls from constituents: neighbors asking about their rights during a police stop-and-frisk, or how to best navigate the citys welfare bureaucracy. Such is life for a Hong Kong district councilor. I do things that nobodys directed you to do, but which no one else would do if I didnt, she said. Ms. Yau, a 37-year-old former police officer, is among the hundreds of pro-democracy candidates who were elected to local government offices in Hong Kong in November 2019 on a wave of anti-establishment sentiment that followed months of street protests. As the political climate in Hong Kong has rapidly changed, the councilors advocacy for the Chinese territorys fragile democratic institutions has made them the latest target of Communist Party officials in Beijing. In recent months, about 50 of the citys 392 opposition councilors have been arrested on charges related to the 2019 protests, campaign finances and violations of a contentious anti-sedition law. (Natural News) Next week, the Ames, Iowa public school district is sponsoring a Black Lives Matter week of action that includes teaching transgenderism to children as young as four years old, Young Americas Foundation reports. (Article by Joy Pullmann republished from TheFederalist.com) On the school districts webpage about this week of action slated for Feb. 1-5, it reprints the Black Lives Matter at School Guiding Principles, which include the following: 6. Queer Affirming We are committed to fostering a queer?affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking or, rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual unless s/he or they disclose otherwise. 7. Trans Affirming We are committed to embracing and making space for trans siblings to participate and lead. We are committed to being self-reflexive and doing the work required to dismantle cis-gender privilege 11. Black Villages We are committed to disrupting the Western prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and villages that collectively care for one another, and especially our children to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable. Besides being anti-family and adamant about teaching sexual information to children as young as four, the curriculum is overtly racist. Here are just a few examples. The school districts recommended lessons for middle and high school students during this week include a Justice for Trayvon Martin Tool Kit that includes the following statement for class discussion: Discuss George Zimmerman and his Internalized Racism [sic] how even though he is Latino, why he is labeled as white. Ex. George Zimmerman is ethnically latino[sic]however, [sic] he has the same racial privilege as white person, living in a gated community. He has a light skin color, and he holds [sic] no spanish [sic] name. So Zimmerman is so white-washed, and consumed by white supremacy that [sic] is why he is white. A Latino man is judged by the color of his skin and then dehumanized in racial terms because of where he lives. This is okay to teach children in America using public tax dollars and public institutions. The grammatically embarrassing tool kit also says: THIS CAMPAIGN DIRECTLY TARGETS A PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX THAT SUPPORTS DRACONIAN DRUG POLICIES, IMMIGRANT DETENTION, AND THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE. It also encourages students to organize in their schools and communities with activities such as hosting a school assembly about police violence, starting a student organization dedicated to discussing and working on issues around police violence and racial profiling A coloring page for young children linked in the school districts curriculum folder for this week includes the following super-awkward, stereotyped image: We want children to be encouraged to think of black people as drummers wearing ragged jungle clothes and bare feet? Its probably way too uncomfortable for me to make any commentary about the physical features of this cartoon man, but suffice it to say that in other contexts they would also be seen as evidence of racist stereotyping. If The New York Times published this picture as an editorial cartoon or article illustration, street agitators would lose their minds. This same district plan for early childhood instruction links to a lesson from the blog Raising Race-Conscious Children. That site states: A key premise of this blog is that naming race (and other social realities) can support people to be race conscious (as opposed to color blind). Ladies and gentlemen, we are no longer in Martin Luther King Jr.s vicinity with race issues. We are in a much, much darker place. The population of Ames is approximately 62,000. Ames Community School district manages about 5,000 students and spends $13,000 per student per year, according to federal data. Also according to federal data, 80 percent of Ames prek-12 students are white, 10 percent are Asian, 4 percent are Hispanic, and 3 percent are black. The local media household income is $44,000, significantly below the national average. But the local median household income of parents of school children is $88,000, and 72 percent of parents of local school children have college degrees, approximately twice the national average on both counts. What accounts for the difference? Ames is the home of Iowa State University and several federal agency outposts, such as an energy lab and U.S. Department of Agriculture locations. It appears the parents of most of the school-age children in the community are white professionals with college degrees the typical woke profile. Seventy-nine percent of them are married, drastically more than the national average of U.S. parents of school children. Marriage has undeniably contributed to these parents professional success. Children without it are at risk for almost every terrible thing possible, including poverty, physical and sexual abuse, poor health, and economic insecurity. These comfortable parents have their children in public schools that are hypocritically endorsing the kind of family and social structure that, if realized, would ensure greater material and emotional poverty in their own children and in all children. While claiming to seek equality and justice, these parents school district is helping increase inequality and injustice. Ames, Iowa is represented in the U.S. Congress by Republican Randy Feenstra. It is represented in the Iowa House by Democrat Ross Wilburn, a diversity officer for Iowa State University, and by Democrat Beth Wessel-Kroeschell. It is represented in the state Senate by Democrat Herman Quirmbach, a ranking member on the Senate Education Committee. The Iowa legislature is currently considering a proposal to let parents decide where to take their childs public education dollars rather than preserving public schools complete monopoly on children and funds. Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. Sign up here to get early access to her next book, How To Control The Internet So It Doesnt Control You. Her bestselling ebook is Classic Books for Young Children. A Hillsdale College honors graduate, @JoyPullmann is also the author of The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids, from Encounter Books. Read more at: TheFederalist.com and Indoctrination.news. Georgian Parliament refuses to annul 51 mandates of opposition MPs By Veronika Malinboym On February 2, the Parliamentary majority refused to satisfy the request of 51 opposition MPs, who wished to have their seats annulled in defiance to the October 2020 Parliamentary Elections. The vote was held at the first spring session of the 10th convocation of Georgian Parliament, said the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze.The 10th convocation that consists of 90 out of 150 MPs unanimously refused to vote for the annulment of the opposition seats. The ruling Georgian Dream party stated that at this moment they will not support the decision of the opposition MPs. Chairman of the Georgian Dream also announced that 20 members of the opposition parties have already expressed their intention to claim their seats. He said that the only reason why those MPs have not yet come forward to join the Parliament is the bullying and blackmailing that they are faced with from within the countrys opposition bloc, however, by refusing to vote in favor of the suspension of mandates, the Georgian Dream is offering them a chance to do so.Kobakhidze also cited the assessment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in which the oppositions decision to boycott the seats in Parliament was referred to as an action undermining the countrys democracy. According to Kobakhidze, the ruling party has taken the view of the international partners into consideration, which is why the Parliament decided to refuse the suspension of the seats.One of the members of the United National Movement, Salome Samadashvili accused Kobakhidze of lying about the 20 MPs wishing to enter the Parliament and claimed that the Parliaments final vote is merely an attempt of the ruling party to escape responsibility for the ongoing political crisis. Similarly, another UNM member Roman Gotsiridze stated that the refusal to suspend the seats derived from the fear of the reaction from the countrys international partners. He added that the political crisis in the country can only be resolved if the ruling party allows snap elections.Head of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party and a former member of the United National Movement Giorgi Vashadze said that the ruling party will now have to make an offer to the opposition bloc.As of now, the 10th convocation of the Georgian Parliament is mostly made up of the MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party; the ongoing crisis is yet to be resolved. The UK plans to introduce a statutory code of conduct for the countrys dairy industry following consultations launched last year to ensure a fair playing field across the supply chain. Led by the UKs Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the consultations were farmed out in June and included England and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the aim to establish whether future regulation could be used to strengthen fairness and transparency. At the time, proposals included an option to introduce a mandatory pricing mechanism within all contracts between dairy farmers and processors to ensure the price paid for milk produced by the farmer is formally agreed within the contract, and that contract negotiations take place in a clear and transparent way. As a result, Defra has announced this morning (3 February) it will develop a code of conduct under the 2020 Agriculture Act, with a pledge to increase fairness in the supply chain and help farmers become more competitive. Imbalances of power within the dairy supply chain were believed to be causing instability for dairy farmers, such as where milk buyers have the ability to set and modify the terms of a contract at short notice, Defra noted in its statement. While acknowledging that further talks with industry players are needed to develop set standards, Defra said the statutory code will seek to establish at least minimum standards, which will also provide businesses with the flexibility to adapt contracts to their individual circumstances. Farming minister Victoria Prentis said: It is only right that any contracts drawn up between farmers and processors deliver fair conditions across the board, for an industry that works hard year-round to provide the dairy products for which we are world-renowned. This new code of conduct will crack down on unfair practices within the supply chain, supporting the dairy sector and ensuring that our dairy farmers remain competitive as they look to the future. Dairy UK, a body representing the countrys dairy cooperatives and private dairy companies, which was part of the consultation process, has welcomed the move. Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more We welcome the commitment made today, particularly the need for flexibility and transparency within the supply chain. We look forward to seeing more detail on the code and to working closely and constructively with Defra and the devolved administrations on how the code will translate into contract working for the industry, and to play our part in helping to ensure its successful implementation into the market, Dr. Judith Bryans, Dairy UKs CEO, said. The National Farmers Union (NFU) provided a joint statement from dairy representatives of the four UK regions, saying: For too long, dairy farmers have borne far too much of the risk in the dairy supply chain and inappropriate contract terms are often at the root of the problems. The UK farming unions have been fighting for years to change the structure of how the dairy sector operates. We want more sustainable, progressive and equitable relationships between farmers and processors, so we can collectively tackle the issues we face. This is all the more crucial as we build back from the impacts of Covid-19 and work towards new trading arrangements outside the EU. Defra noted passed evidence had suggested, in some cases, milk buyers had the power to set prices and modify contracts terms, often to the detriment of the dairy farmer. The consultation also revealed that the distinctive circumstances in Northern Ireland may need to be reflected in regulations, and this will be considered, the statement continued. The NFU added: Even within the UK, there are clearly markets operating in different ways, such as Northern Ireland, and this will need to be taken in to account when designing the new code. Gordon Lyons, the agriculture, environment and rural affairs minister for Northern Ireland, said the consultations in his part of the world revealed there was a need for legislation, despite differences with the rest of the UK where dairy cooperatives are more prevalent. "Given the differences between the NI and GB dairy sectors, further stakeholder engagement will be required to ensure any potential legislation would be appropriate in Northern Ireland," Lyons said. "I wish to explore the relevant issues further to inform my position on this matter. I welcome the plans for further consultation and I encourage local stakeholders to participate in this next phase of engagement." Meanwhile, Scotland's rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said: "We will now work to put together a new code of conduct which will increase transparency within the supply chain moving forward and enable Scottish farmers to compete more fairly in the dairy supply chain." And the Welsh minister for the environment, energy and rural affairs, Lesley Griffiths, added: "The Welsh government has been clear if the voluntary code of best practice did not address the imbalance of power in the dairy supply chain, a legislative solution would be an alternative to ensure our dairy farmers are able to secure fair deals for their produce. "Those within the sector have reported many contracts do not adhere to the voluntary code, and the resulting imbalance of power leads to reduced profitability for our hard-working dairy farmers, and unsustainable distribution of profits along supply chains." Hal Holbrook, a legendary Emmy and Tony Award winning actor, died January 23 at his California home, his daughter Victoria told CNN on Tuesday. He was 95. Holbrook portrayed iconic author Mark Twain in one-man shows for more than six decades, winning a Tony Award for best actor in 1966 for his role in 'Mark Twain Tonight!' which he also directed. He performed the show across the country and in Europe, becoming synonymous with the famed humorist. Born in Cleveland to a vaudeville performer mother and shoe salesman father, Holbrook and his siblings were raised by his grandparents in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. Sent to boarding school as a youngster, and later military school, he found solace in the costumes and characters he portrayed in drama club. Holbrook first got the idea to do the Twain show after portraying the author as part of an honors project as a drama major at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. While serving in the Army during WWII, he performed in amateur theater productions, including 'Madam Precious' while stationed in Newfoundland. It was there he met his first wife, actress Ruby Johnston, whom he married in 1945. Back home, Holbrook landed a steady acting gig on the daytime soap opera 'The Brighter Day' and continued to perform his Twain show. Ed Sullivan later caught a performance of it and invited Holbrook to appear on his variety show in 1956. Holbrook's career on stage and screen was prodigious. He made his Broadway debut in 1961 in 'Do You Know the Milky Way?' and the Great White Way would become a familiar home for him as he appeared in numerous productions over the years, including 'Man of La Mancha,' 'An American Daughter' and -- of course -- 'Mark Twain Tonight.' He broke ground on the small screen with the 1972 television movie 'That Certain Summer' in which he played a divorced father who comes out as a gay man. Holbrook appeared in various other TV productions, including the NBC miniseries 'Lincoln,' which won him an Emmy in 1976, and the 1980s sitcom 'Designing Women,' which starred his then-wife, Dixie Carter. His marriage to his first wife ended in divorce in 1965. The following year, he married actress Carol Eve Rossen. They divorced in 1983, and in 1984 he married Carter and remained married to her until her death due to complications from endometrial cancer in 2010. He found success in films as well. In 1973's 'Magnum Force,' Holbrook played corrupt police Lt. Briggs going up against Clint Eastwood's Inspector Harry Callahan. After Briggs dies when a bomb goes off in his moving car, Callahan famously uttered, 'A man's got to know his limitations.' Holbrook's role as 'Deep Throat' in the 1976 political film 'All the President's Men' gave the public something to hang their hat on as the actual source who advised Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford in the film) in what would become the Watergate scandal. In 2008, his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role as a retired widower in 'Into the Wild' made the then 82-year-old Holbrook the oldest performer to ever be nominated in that category at the time. But it was Twain who Holbrook returned to time and time again. 'I'm an actor, and that's all I've ever been,' Holbrook told the San Luis Obispo Tribune In 2016. ' But I'll tell you one thing: Mark Twain has been my education. He has taught me more than I ever learned in college.' New Delhi, Feb 3 : The government is determined to table six Standing Committee Reports from Finance to Climate Change to Tourism even as much action is expected from the opposition on farm issues like it had the day before. Nine Cabinet Ministers handling Ministry of Law; Railways; Mines; Defence; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space; Commerce and Industry; and Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Communications will lay papers on the table listed against their names after the House assembles at 4 p.m. The Lower House then will take reports of Stading Committees on Finance; Labour; Industry; Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change; and Transport, Tourism and Culture. In the Wednesday's revised List of Business, the Lok Sabha has reserved time for Motion for Election to Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBC). Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi is set to move the Motion for election to the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (2021-2022) containing the Motion adopted by the House on June 24, 2019. He will request the members of the House to proceed to elect in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. Twenty members from amongst themselves to serve as members of the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes for the term of one year beginning from the date of the first sitting of the Committee. Motion of thanks on the President's address is also expected to be resumed by BJP's MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee. The opposition disrupted her speech on Tuesday while staging protest against government on three farm laws, leading to three adjournments of the House with almost no business. The opposition was demanding repeal of these laws terming them "black laws" and "anti-farmer". It's a tradition that members move motion of thanks on President's speech he delivers to both Houses of Parliament assembled together at the beginning of the Budget session. BJP leader Virendra Kumar, an MP from Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh constituency, is next. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A health worker takes swab sample of a member of the press to test for COVID-19 in the venue of Vietnam Communist party congress in Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Vietnams national COVID-19 task force on Wednesday ordered citizens to publicly declare their health status or risk losing access to telecommunications, state media reported as the communist country of 95 million people grappled with new outbreaks in several regions. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who heads the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, ordered all citizens to submit the mandatory health declarations. Those from areas most affected by the disease who fail to submit their declarations after the first reminder will be disconnected from telecommunications services. The committee also recommended people continue to wear face masks and use sanitizer, while exercising social distancing practices and avoiding public gatherings. Also Wednesday, the health department in the northern province of Hai Duong announced two more outbreaks in the Ninh Giang And Cam Giang districts, but they have not yet clarified the source of transmission. Authorities on Jan. 27 identified a new outbreak centered on Hai Duong caused by the variant of the virus first detected in the UK. As of Wednesday, the province reported 226 confirmed cases in 7 districts and cities. Authorities are preparing a new field hospital with 200 beds, set to open on Feb. 6, joining two others already in operation. Since the start of the Hai Duong outbreak the country has reported 329 new cases including 13 local transmissions in Gia Lai province in the central highlands region, and four in Binh Duong province in the south. The ministry of health on Wednesday set up a mission in Gia Lai to prevent and control the spread of the disease. It will be led by Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen and other medical officials. The province is keeping a close eye on COVID-19 patients at two hospitals and a district-level medical center. In Binh Duong, local authorities locked down two areas of the province, home to about 10,000 residents. Vietnam has been among the most successful countries in tackling COVID-19, reporting no deaths among its 95 million people through late Julya record that was attributed to effective contact tracing, strict quarantines, and early testing. An outbreak in July and August centered on Danang threatened to bring the daily confirmed case total into the high double digits, but daily cases returned to single digits by the end of August. The 329 new cases since Jan. 27 bring the countrys total confirmed cases to 1,911, 1,022 of which resulted from local infections. Recoveries from COVID-19 totaled 1,461 and deaths remained at 35. The country is currently quarantining 48,829 people who were found to have had close contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients or who arrived from areas affected by the pandemic. Most are quarantining in their homes, but more than 22,000 are in state-run facilities and close to 400 are in hospitals, according to the steering committee. Migrants Return Meanwhile in the countrys southernmost Ca Mau province, authorities found a fishing vessel carrying 34 Vietnamese migrants who were illegally returning home from Malaysia. The vessel, owned by Captain Pham Van Chin, a resident of the province, provided passage to nine men and 25 women who said they were returning to their hometowns for Tet, also known as the Lunar New Year holiday. Though they had traveled to Malaysia by air, they had to return by boat due to a suspension of flights on coronavirus concerns. Malaysia to date has confirmed 222,628 cases with 791 deaths. Daily case totals have steadily increased from the single to low-double digits in early September to more than 5,000 in late January. The 34 Vietnamese migrants and the captain were sent to local quarantine centers, where they will join 38 other migrants and another captain who authorities discovered trying to return to Ca Mau from Malaysia on Jan. 22. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong. [February 03, 2021] Blackfoot Communications Is Expanding Its Home and Business Service Coverage Blackfoot Communications today announced plans for bringing fiber-based broadband internet services to portions of Western Montana, including areas around Georgetown Lake, the far southern portions of the Bitterroot Valley, the Highway 12 corridor west of Lolo and the Swan Valley. "We are thrilled to be bringing fast, reliable, high-speed internet access to portions of Montana that have never had it before," said Jason Williams, Blackfoot's CEO. "This project will ensure that schools and communities to homes and businesses in these areas will have the fastest and most reliable internet service for decades to come." Blackfoot was a successful bidder in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund ("RDOF") auction administered by the Federal Communications Commission (" FCC (News - Alert) ") late last year. The RDOF program awarded billions of dollars to hundreds of companies across the country who have committed to provide broadband internet access services to customers that are currently unserved or have poor, low-speed internet service. The reverse auction allowed broadband carriers to bid for these funds, with winning bidders promising to deliver broadband and voice services to abandoned service areas. Blackfoot's receipt of RDOF-related funds is contingent upon the FCC approving Blackfoot's final network build-out plan proposal. Blackfoot's current plans include: Providing gigabit speed broadband service in the Georgetown Lake area beginning in late 2022 Areas of the southern Bitterroot Valley will see lackfoot services beginning in late 2023 The Highway 12 corridor west of Lolo and the Swan Valley will have services beginning in 2025 and 2026 In 2016, Blackfoot began an extensive multi-year network upgrade project to replace portions of its network with fiber optics across its cooperative service areas. To date, Blackfoot has plowed thousands of fiber drops to customer locations and has converted hundreds of customers to its fiber-based broadband services. "Broadband plays a critical role in each of our lives, and nowhere is that truer than here in Montana," said Laura Maedche, Blackfoot's Customer Operations Manager. "Our construction teams have been hard at work over the past 4 years installing new fiber across Northwestern Montana, allowing our communities to benefit from reliable and fast broadband services. We can't wait for even more Montanans to experience our Home WiFi (News - Alert) and Business services." Where to find additional information: Blackfoot Communications, Network Upgrade Program: https://blackfootcommunications.com/networkupgrades/ FCC, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund: www.fcc.gov/implementing-rural-digital-opportunity-fund-rdof-auction FCC, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase 1 results: www.fcc.gov/reports-research/maps/rdof-phase-i-dec-2020/ Blackfoot Communications: www.blackfootcommunications.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005721/en/ [ 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. In January 2021, we featured two First Families of Midland, Henry White and his descendants and Samuel Hubbell and his descendants. For February, we are featuring Joseph Townsend, Sr. and his descendants in Part I and Part II will be a short history of names who made The Forks into the City of Midland. In 1842, Joseph Townsend, Sr. with his wife, Polly Cronkright, and children, settled in The Forks in the Midland Territory. Born in Genesee County, New York State, in 1788, Joseph Townsend, Sr. married Polly Cronkright in 1820. They had 11 children. A cryptic note in the genealogy reads: Three survived. Thomas K. Townsend was born in 1824 in New York. Henry Townsend was born in 1832 in New York. A total of 10 children were born in New York and shortly after Henrys birth, Joseph Townsend and family members left New York state for the Midwest. Teams of oxen pulled wagons loaded with people and belongings. They traveled north to Lake Erie and then turned west and traveled until they reached the village of Saginaw. Camping there, they purchased supplies for their trip to what was called The Forks. Now they had to cut their own trail through the forests until they reached the area later known as LaPorte. Log cabins were built as well as a flat-bottomed scow to be used for traveling on the river to get supplies. The scow could float down the river in one day, but the return upstream took two or three days with the men pushing the scow with long poles. It was here in 1834 that Joseph and Polly had their last child, a son they named Joseph Townsend Jr. Joseph Townsend Sr. next decided to leave the LaPorte area and settle at The Forks. It was 1842 when the Townsend family reached the area that would soon become the Village of Midland City. Since there were no bridges in the area, wagons pulled by oxen had to ford the streams, hoping that the wagons wouldnt tip over and dump everything in the water. Once The Forks was reached, the building of log cabins and another scow for getting supplies began again. Joseph Townsend Jr. is credited with building the first frame house in the Village of Midland City in 1856. He was 22 years old at the time. He married Evaline Patterson Feb. 26, 1856. She was the daughter of Henry and Harriet Patterson. Charles Fitzhugh Esquire performed the ceremony. In 1868, Joseph Jr. built a second frame house near the first house. Joseph and Evaline had 11 children: Cora, Emoline, Harriet, Jacob, Angelina, Ethel, Chester, Cornelia, Ianthia, Sophronia and Geneva. Out of the 11 children, five died: Cora, Emoline, Jacob, Ethel and Cornelia. They were buried in the cemetery on West Main. A record of the Townsend family burials is listed in the genealogy. The first cemetery in the Village of Midland City was on West Main, and Charles Fitzhugh donated the property. Later the Midland Municipal Cemetery was established on Orchard Drive in 1883. The bodies in the West Main cemetery were moved to the new cemetery, and Mr. Fitzhugh donated the plot of land to the city of Midland, and it was named Revere Park. Section H, Lot 52 in the first Midland cemetery on West Main: 1. Grave Joseph Townsend, Sr. 1788-1865 (body moved) 2. Grave Jacob E. Townsend 1864 1865 (body moved) 3. Grave Polly Townsend 1789 1881 4. Grave Joseph C Townsend, Jr. 1834 1890 5. Grave Evaline Townsend 1834 - 1916 Joseph Townsend Jr. had a reputation for stories about bears and deer he had met and vanquished, but his list of accomplishments exceeds his prowess as a hunter. He was proud to be a radical Republican, a notary public, and the county coroner. The position of Superintendent of The Poor was held for 14 years. He was a member of the Board of Charities, a member of the Masons and acting Constable. He also owned and operated a dray business, hauling and delivering goods throughout the area, including supplies for Herbert Henry Dow to a grist mill where Dow began his first experiments with brine. Chester Townsend, the surviving son of Joseph and Evaline, was born on March 16, 1869. On Nov. 11, 1889, he married Hannah Reynolds. Their first two children were Joseph born in 1890 and Beatrice born in 1893. Joseph died in 1892. Looking for work, Chester and Hannah followed her folks, Benjamin and Elizabeth Reynolds, to Whiting, Indiana where he got a job with Standard Oil. They had Arthur (1896), Lloyd (1900) and Leo (1903) while in Whiting. In 1905, the Chester Townsend family moved back to Midland, and he worked for The Dow Chemical Company until his death in 1909. Once back in Midland, Chester and Hannah had two more children, Leila born in 1906 and Lester (Roy) born on April 12, 1909. Hannah had been a semi-invalid for several years suffering from congestive heart failure, but it would be Chesters death in 1909 that came first. He contracted typhoid fever which weakened him, and he then fell ill with pneumonia and passed away on Sept. 24, 1909. Hannah found herself a widow with six children to care for. Beatrice was 16. Arthur was 13. Lloyd was 9. Leo was 6, Leila was 3. Their last child, Lester (Roy), was just 5 months old. Leo contracted typhoid fever from his father and later had pneumonia and other childhood diseases. He went to live with his mothers parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth Reynolds. Leos grandmothers, Evaline Townsend and Elizabeth Reynolds, kept him occupied during his long convalescence with stories about his ancestors. He grew up in his grandparents home and as a young man, he found a job enabling him to support himself and his grandmother Elizabeth Reynolds. In 1926, he married Hester Wolfley, and they had four children. Leo retired from The Dow Chemical Company in 1962 and passed away in 1983. It was Leo Norman Townsend who researched the rich Townsend genealogy, giving his family the proud distinction of being one of the First Families of Midland County. Midland Remembers, penned by Midland writer Virginia Florey, is published on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the Midland Daily News. By Dave Larsen University of Dayton sophomore Sarah Yaroma plans to pursue a job, internship or service opportunity this year, but she wasnt sure how to prepare for an interview with a potential employer. She found the information she needed at Career Camp 2021 a free, intensive professional skills training program for sophomores and juniors in the College of Arts and Sciences. Now in its second year, Career Camp offered two half-day virtual workshops, Jan. 11-12, that included discussions and networking opportunities with faculty, staff, alumni and recruiters from lead corporate sponsor Reynolds and Reynolds, as well as CareSource and Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. Nearly 40 students dedicated personal time near the end of winter break to learn about interviewing, writing resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and translating their arts and sciences experiences to the professional world. I thought I needed a little bit of guidance in starting my professional career, said Yaroma, a biology major from Charlotte, North Carolina. I already had a LinkedIn page, but I wanted to understand what an interview might be like and what I would need to be prepared for one. Getting an outside perspective was what I really needed to get out of my comfort zone and accept the help. A partnership between the College and the Office of Career Services, Career Camp is intended to provide students with skills and experiences to make them competitive to future employers, graduate schools and service programs. The great thing about an arts and sciences degree is that it equips you with a wide array of skills and abilities, said College Dean Jason Pierce during his welcome address. I want you to come out of Career Camp with a new perspective on who you are and where your vocational journey might take you. Typically an in-person program that includes an etiquette dinner with alumni and tours of local businesses that recruit University graduates, this years event shifted to a virtual format because of COVID-19 safety protocols. Many of the sessions reflected the pandemic situation, offering advice on preparing for both in-person and virtual interviews, proper business dress and professional backgrounds for video calls, and working or interning remotely from home. Internships this spring and summer might be a little bit different as we are still with the pandemic, said Jason Eckert, Career Services executive director. Im hopeful that when we get to summer there will be more hybrid opportunities and face-to-face employment opportunities. Nonetheless, a lot of employers are asking the question: What did you do during the pandemic to improve your learning and better develop your skills? Jacob Mantle, a sophomore communication major from Cincinnati, attended Career Camp to improve his resume writing and networking skills. He also found the sessions about creating your personal brand statement and the STAR (situation, task, action and result) method of responding to behavioral-based interview questions to be especially helpful.I really enjoyed learning about the STAR method and I plan to use it in future interviews, Mantle said. Sierra Johnson, a junior criminal justice studies major from Chicago, enjoyed learning about the types of careers she might pursue with her degree, based on a Strong Interest Inventory assessment that helped identify her work personality. Johnson also engaged with an online panel of young alumni that included Andrea Nichwitz 17, corporate recruiter at Reynolds and Reynolds; Darius Beckham 19, legislative aide at the City of Dayton; and Lauren Vanderhorst 19, senior technical recruiter at Brooksource. She asked them how to navigate your identities, such as being underrepresented in the workforce, during a job search. I didnt think it was going to be as inclusive and holistic as it was, but I feel like I got a lot more out of it than I expected, Johnson said. Yaroma said Career Camp helped her acknowledge her current skills and also recognize those that she needs to improve. She advises eligible students to take advantage of the opportunity when it is offered again in January 2022. Although you may not have a particular skill coming into Career Camp, you have recruiters and UD professionals at your disposal to answer your questions and help you find a starting point to develop that skill or accomplish a specific goal, she said. It was information that I could not get through meeting with professors or talking with my parents. I had to hear it directly from UD and the professionals. This experience was something that I will never forget and will be grateful for because of the new relationships and networking connections that have been built professionally as well as within our Flyer family. I think this is something every student should consider. For more information, visit the Career Camp website. Top image: Sophomore Sarah Yaroma discusses the interviewing process with presenters during the 2021 Career Camp. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. A 25 year-old Zaka man paid a heavy price for violating lockdown regulations and joining two friends on a drinking binge late into the night after the friends turned on him and allegedly killed him for stealing a mobile phone. Cyril Chitumba died after he was allegedly assaulted using bricks, broken bottles and a log outside a night club at Jerera Growth Point around 2am on Tuesday. Simba Mukaka Nightclub at Jerera was allegedly selling beer to patrons despite the ongoing lockdown which bars bottle stores and nightclubs from opening. Kudzai Siyawareva (24) and Gladman Marufu (35) both of Chinoda village under Chief Nhema have since been arrested for allegedly killing Chitumba. The third accomplice Amstrong Marava (age not given),who was the first to attack Chitumba but fled from the scene before the latter's death. Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said investigations are continuing. "The suspects (two) have been arrested and investigations are ongoing.The dispute started over a missing mobile A30 Samsung phone," he said. Inspector Dhewa said the duo were expected to appear in court facing murder charges. Chitumba's body was taken to Masvingo General Hospital for a post-mortem. Police also called for people to amicably resolve their disputes and adhere to lockdown regulations. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced on Tuesday that he will step down as CEO later this year and become executive chairman of the companys board. He described the move in a letter to employees as an opportunity for him to focus on new products and early initiatives and his various pet projects like his spaceflight company Blue Origin and the Washington Post. In Bezos stead, longtime Amazon executive Andy Jassy will become the new CEO. So, who exactly is that guy? Advertisement Jassy joined Amazon in 1997, three years after its founding. He worked on expanding the booksellers business at the time by adding CDs to its offerings and then was Bezos technical assistant, which was similar to a chief of staff position. Until he was tapped to become the next CEO, Jassy was best known for heading Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing service that accounts for more than half the companys operating revenue. According to the Wall Street Journal, he helped to come up with the business model during a 2003 brainstorming session in Bezos living room. The idea was to allow other companies to develop code and store data using the data center infrastructure that Amazon had built to run its retail operations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AWS launched three years later. The Post reported that Jassy has run the platform without much interference from Bezos, who tends to micromanage most every other division of Amazon. Under Jassys watch, AWS has grown into a multibillion-dollar business that captured a 34 percent market share in the most recent quarter. Its closest rival, Microsoft, only accounts for about half as much. AWS provides cloud computing services to multinational corporations like Capital One and government entities like the CIA.* Jassy has recently led AWS through some high-profile trials, such as losing a $10 billion contract to build the Pentagons Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, to Microsoft in 2019an episode that was seen as stemming from former President Donald Trumps antipathy toward Bezos for owning the Post. Amazon has filed a legal challenge against the decision, alleging that Trump inappropriately interfered in the selection process; a federal judge will decide in the coming weeks whether the suit will go forward. We have a sitting president who is willing to share openly his disdain for a company and the leader of that company, Jassy said a couple of months after Microsofts bid won. It makes it really difficult for government agencies including the DoD to make an objective decision without a fear of reprisal. Advertisement Advertisement In terms of temperament and leadership style, employees have described Jassy as a Bezos loyalist who is similarly laser-focused on the customer experience. Like Bezos, Jassy is highly involved in every aspect of AWS, to the point where he reviews every press release and approves most every branding decision. According to Business Insider, one of his most well-known management techniques is to hold high-intensity meetings in a conference room called the Chop. AWS teams revise presentations for Chop meetings for weeks because Jassy has been known to call out people who show up unprepared and has high expectations for his employees attention to detail. The Chop was initially a single room that featured a poster of Jassys favorite band, Dave Matthews Band, but it has grown to encompass two conference rooms over the past year. It was in a January Chop meeting following the U.S. Capitol riot that Jassy made the call to deplatform Parler, a Twitter competitor with lax moderation policies that is popular among the far-right, and which used AWS for hosting its data. Advertisement Following the news of his appointment as Amazons CEO, Jassys role in some of the companys more controversial business practices has come into the spotlight. Under Jassy, AWS helped host the technology that Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses to track down undocumented immigrants, something it has continued to do in the face of criticisms from employees. AWS activities also include selling its facial recognition tool, Rekognition, to police departments. Rekognition has come under fire for being biased against people of color and women, as studies have found, and Amazon eventually put a one-year moratorium on use of the software by law enforcement in June 2020. Jassy had defended Rekognition in a 2019 interview with Recode, arguing, Just because tech could be misused doesnt mean we should ban it and condemn it. AWS has also allegedly engaged in anti-competitive behavior by reportedly copying pieces of open-source software that other companies created and integrating them into its own services. The company has denied such allegations, claiming, AWS has not copied anybodys software or services. 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. Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:15 am Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler is set to host a live telephone town hall at 5:25 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8. The town hall will feature Clark County Public Health Officer Alan Melnick, who will provide an update on resources and information related to COVID-19. Herrera Beutler will also be answering questions and hear feedback from Southwest Washington residents about whatever is on their mind. Any Southwest Washington resident can call in to join the live telephone town hall at any point during the event by calling (877) 229-8493 and using the passcode 116365. Residents unable to participate in the event can send comments and questions at JHB.house.gov/contact. Residents can also find a variety of COVID-19-related resources by visiting JHB.house.gov/coronavirus. analysis People's experiences of conflict and violence are shaped in part by sex and gender. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to the threat of sexual violence, owing to cultural practices of gender inequality. Gender norms also have an impact on the roles that both sexes play in conflict contexts. In Nigeria, women and girls make up at least 79% of approximately 2.5 million people displaced across the country's northeast as a result of the 11-year conflict between the armed group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. This population is dispersed in camps and host communities in six states in the region and in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Inaccurate data and other logistical challenges mean that these figures are probably even higher. This situation has numerous protection and humanitarian implications for women. Yet women's experiences of this displacement have received scant scholarly attention. I conducted a study to look more closely at the assumptions underlying much of the scholarship on women and displacement. I argue that women's experiences of conflict and displacement derive foremost from their unequal status in Nigerian society, where violence against women has been seen as normal. And yet, in spite of their low socio-cultural status, displaced women are using their agency. Through peacebuilding and political mobilisation and engagement, they are compensating for the shortfalls in policy and humanitarian responses. They are not necessarily helpless victims. Some have even chosen to return to Boko Haram, though 'choice' is paradoxical given their circumstances. Evidence suggests that thinking about displaced women in new ways can change their experience of displacement for the better. My study highlights the need for policy and humanitarian interventions to take more notice of women's specific and multi-sectional experiences and priorities. Reconciling needs, context and experiences I interviewed 71 people in Abuja and Maiduguri in 2018. Some were women who had been displaced inside the country. Others were human rights and humanitarian personnel, female members of the civilian joint task force, police, activists, politicians, security experts and journalists. In their own words, safety and security are of prime concern for women and girls. Both before and during displacement, they routinely face sexual and gender-based violence from Boko Haram, as well as camp officials and security actors. The Nigerian government has repeatedly denied such misconduct by its forces. So far, there is only one documented case of disciplinary action against an air force officer who raped a 14-year-old girl in September 2018 -- he was dismissed. In camps for displaced people, women face mental and sexual health challenges in a context of limited access to quality healthcare and justice. Inconsistent humanitarian support has led to a cycle of food and nutrition insecurity, economic deprivation and dependence. The euphemism "transactional sex" barely disguises the desperation that drives women and girls to exchange their bodies for food and survival, nor the exploitation and abuse of power that it entails. The protracted and ongoing violence means that the displacement crisis will not likely end soon. And those worst affected by it will continue to suffer inhumane living conditions. Policy and practical responses to the displacement crisis, from the national to the international, have not been very gender-responsive. To cite one example, a Tripartite Agreement for the Voluntary Repatriation of Nigerian refugees signed in March 2017 between the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees makes no provisions for the special needs of women and girl refugees. Skills training, monetary handouts and other interventions aimed at empowering women are not taking their context into consideration. There is a mismatch between some women's new found "power" as heads of households and a patriarchal context that sees them as subordinate. Also, women have had experiences as direct and indirect agents of violence - including as spies, smugglers and suicide bombers. Failure to recognise women's diverse experiences leads to misaligned responses that either do not transform their circumstances or catapult them back into the situations they were rescued from. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Women Conflict Nigeria By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Way forward Until the conflict ends, a rethinking of approaches to current interventions could create opportunities for empowering women. First, it must be recognised that context matters. Nigerian women's experiences of conflict are a mirror of their unequal status and the normalisation of gender violence. Effective empowerment cannot happen without addressing gender inequality norms. And some approaches to empowerment create more problems than they solve. For example, giving women money can fuel domestic violence because it makes some men feel disempowered. Second, women have agency in situations of conflict and violence and they do not always use it for peace. Some have demonstrated this by returning to Boko Haram as a way of coping with the difficulties of displacement. Consultation with women displaced by Boko Haram is critical to understanding their needs and how best to achieve them. Titilope F Ajayi, Researcher, University of Ghana EUGENE, Ore. -- While some private schools in the area have had students in the classroom since September, others have opted not to reopen yet at all. Two schools that have been open in part since the beginning of the school year are O'Hara Catholic School and Eugene Waldorf School. Both started the year with their youngest students through third grade back in the classroom full-time. O'Hara welcomed back fourth and fifth graders in mid-January, and just this week, sixth through eighth grades returned. Eugene Waldorf said they may begin welcoming back older students toward the end of the month. Tammy Conway, principal at O'Hara, said the precautions put in place by the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority really work to keep everyone safe and healthy. We have hand-washing protocols in place, and you know kids can only walk on certain sides of the hallway and they can only use certain bathrooms and theyre all in cohorts," she said. There are currently 512 kids enrolled at O'Hara. Eugene Waldorf is taking a different approach and having class for second and third graders take place mostly outside. "We think that's one of the big factors that has led to our success in not having to close any of the cohorts," said Marlen Tomblin, spokesperson for the school. Other schools in the area such as Oak Hill School have decided not to go back at all. James Pearson runs admissions at the school, and he said it was the right decision for their school to stay distanced. He said they didn't want to be changing families' expectations every time the metrics changed. "Families and students were looking for some sort of stability -- some sort of idea of what the next month was going to hold," he said. He said as COVID-19 cases continue to go down and teachers get vaccinated, students could potentially return to the school in some form after spring break. AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators 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. Franklin Templeton MF: SC Asks Rs9,122 Crore Be Paid within 20 Days to Unit-holders In a relief to lakhs of unit-holders of six debt schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF), the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked FTMF to return Rs9,122 crore to investors within 20 days through SBI Mutual Fund. In an order, the bench of justices Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, said, "We have heard and concluded arguments on validity of e-voting. The counsels are at ad idem that Rs9,122 crore, the figure as on 15 January 2021, and subject to provisions on expenses in ordinary cost, should be distributed amongst the unit-holders under the six mutual fund schemes in proportion to the respective interest in the assets of the scheme. The exercise will be carried on by SBI Mutual Fund. Counsels for Franklin Templeton Trust Services Pvt Ltd and counsels of SEBI agree." "Parties are to move the court through an application in case of any difficulty. Such distribution would be carried out expeditiously and preferably within a period of 20 days from the period of the copy of the order," the bench said. Justice Khanna observed during the hearing that FTMF has Rs9,122 crore in cash from proceeds which is distributable as these securities are liquidated. FTMF counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed that securities of about to Rs14,000 to Rs15,000 crore are not yet liquidated. Responding on the time-frame to refund money to investors, Mr Singhvi told the SC that around 80% to 85% of the job can be wrapped up in six months. After hearing arguments from all sides, the bench noted that the counsels appearing for others do not have any objection to distribution of funds by SBI Mutual Fund. "Franklin Templeton Trusts Services Ltd and asset management company would fully cooperate with SBI Mutual Funds in this regard and would furnish to him entire details," the SC said. Earlier in November, Franklin Templeton Trustee Services, which initially had argued that mutual funds are empowered to wind up schemes without unit-holders' consent, sought permission from SEBI to hold a vote on the issue on 8th November. The Karnataka High Court, in its judgement in October 2020, had said the decision of FTMF to wind up the six schemes cannot be implemented unless the consent of the unit-holders is obtained. On January 26, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin announced the launch of the construction of a high-speed railway connecting two southern regions of Kazakhstan, Shymkent, and Turkistan, with the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. The purpose of the project is presented as the joint development of the tourism industry traversing the two countries and connecting history-rich Turkistan with the historical sights of Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan. The Diplomat reports that the infrastructure plan, however, has implications beyond just physical connection between both countries, serving as another affirmation of strong relations and the two countries desire to work together. Kazakhstan views the project as an economic boon, that will increase tourisms share of the countrys GDP to an estimated 5.2 percent. As Mamin detailed, the project would create 22,000 new jobs in the tourism industry, an increase of 50 percent, as well as 100,000 new jobs in related sectors of the economy. He added that the domestic tourist flow would be about 4.5 million people, an increase of 22 percent. The project did not take long to materialize from the time it was first proposed. The initial decision on the construction of the railroad was taken during the 18th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Bilateral Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, held in 2019. This timeline is in stark comparison to a railroad project between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that has been in the works for a couple of decades already. The railroad project is just another element in a warm bilateral relationship. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are each others largest trade partners in the region and the closest strategic partners. Several recent decisions between the countries indicate how these relations are growing even stronger. One of them is the Central Asian Investment Partnership, announced on January 7 of this year between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the United States. The partnership is one-of-a-kind and plans to attract a billion U.S. dollars for regional economic projects in the next five years. Activities and cooperation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan go beyond economic projects, extending into a role as joint guarantors of regional stability. This was exemplified in a joint statement calling for stability and peace following the toppling of the government of ex-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov in Kyrgyzstan last October. Although the statement was made on behalf of Kyrgyzstans four Central Asian neighbors, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were almost certainly the initiators. Similarly, as further fallout from the political situation resulted in a high debt crisis in Kyrgyzstan, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan pledged economic and humanitarian assistance to Kyrgyzstan. In addition, 2020 was a year of frequent bilateral meetings between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, despite the restrictions imposed by the global pandemic. That level of intensity was not observed with other countries in the region. In total, four high level in-person bilateral meetings took place between the countries: in February, a forum on economic cooperation; a meeting between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev in September to discuss strategic relation between their countries; and two meetings in November (November 3 and November 21) on expanding trade relations. The joint railroad project between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in light of strong economic and political cooperation, represents a further deepening of relations between the countries. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as the two largest countries in the region create the basis of stability in Central Asia. Both countries are aware of the significance of the other in the region and thus are willing to assist each other in their endeavors. BOLOGNA, FEB 3 - The Bologna doctors guild on Wednesday called for sanctions to be levied against doctors who refuse to give the COVID-19 vaccine because of anti-vax views. In a statement, the guild urges disciplinary measures for any members who come out publicly against anti-COVID vaccinations. "It would not be correct from the standpoint of professional ethics, nor respectful of COVID-19 victims, especially at this historic moment, if voices were raised against vaccination, not backed by any evidence and solely based on unverified news, or worse still, arbitrarily interpreted news," said the guild's vaccine commission. The call was backed by several personalities in the Bolognese healthcare sector. A Genoese hospital infectious disease chief, Matteo Bassetti, was subjected to death threats from anti-vaxxers earlier this week. In Lombardy, the Italian region worst hit by COVID, some 11% of health operators have not joined the vaccination rollout. Vaccine skeptics are hurting the rollout in several countries including the US and France. The Bologna guild said all doctors who come out against the COVID jab should be sanctioned. (ANSA). The Bamenda, Buea and Mora Regional Centres of the National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) are transformed into multipurpose vocational centres. After two years of creation following Decree No. 2018/719 of 30 November 2018, the National Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) is making frantic efforts to live up to its duties. In conformity with Article 2 (1) of the decree, "The Committee shall be responsible for organising, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the North West and South West Regions willing to respond favourably to the Head of State's peace appeal by laying down their arms." By January 18, 2021 when the NDDRC had its coordination meeting in Yaounde chaired by the National Coordinator, Fai Yengo Francis, there were about 600 ex-fighters in the Bamenda, Buea and Mora Regional Centres. The various NDDRC Centres are now devoting much efforts in fulfilling its mission of reintegration. The decree creating the Committee in Article 2 with regard to the reintegration pillar calls for the, " taking of all necessary steps to de-radicalise ex-fighters, sensitising and providing multifaceted assistance to home communities to facilitate the reintegration of ex-fighters and helping to reintegrate the ex-fighters into civil life, particularly by organising, training and providing them with tools and means of production and assistance for the creation of income-generating activities." Reports from the three NDDRC Regional Centres talk of focus on equipping the ex-fighters with vocational training in many professions that will enable their reintegration into society. Professions such as pig farming, poultry keeping, tailoring, computer sciences, entrepreneurship, business management cut across all the centres. The North West Regional Centre in Bamenda according to its Coordinator, Gabsa Nyugha Sixtus has already graduated 32 ex-fighters who are gainfully employed in a State corporation. He said reports from the field following their follow up talk of the proper behaviour of the ex-fighters. A modern multipurpose vocational training Centre has been constructed within the vicinity of the Bamenda Airport with a capacity of 1,000 ex-fighters that is awaiting inauguration. According to the National Coordinator of the NDDRC, Fai Yengo Francis, the construction of the Buea multipurpose vocational centre will start soon to be followed by that of Mora. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Cameroon Conflict By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. We are therefore interested in presenting the vocational training activities in the Buea and Mora Centres. The Coordinator of the North West Regional Centre will share practical experiences on the training and the follow up of ex-fighters who have graduated from the Centre. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 02:34:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Jan. 20, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) The extension of the New START might be a bright spot for the U.S.-Russia relations, but the overall tensions between Washington and Moscow are unlikely to decrease given their differences on issues of human rights, Ukraine, cybersecurity as well as their mutual accusation of interference in the domestic politics. WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Wednesday extended the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia for five years, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "Extending the New START Treaty ensures we have verifiable limits on Russian ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers until February 5, 2026," said Blinken, adding that the extension "makes the United States, U.S. allies and partners, and the world safer." "Especially during times of tension, verifiable limits on Russia's intercontinental-range nuclear weapons are vitally important," he said. Blinken noted that Washington would use the five-year extension period to seek arms control with Moscow that addresses all of the Russian nuclear weapons. The New START, which limits the numbers of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 and delivery systems to 700 for each, is the last remaining nuclear arms control pact in force between the two nuclear superpowers. The treaty can be extended by a maximum of five years with the consent of the two countries. The former Trump administration tried to conclude a shorter extension of the treaty last year after rounds of negotiation with Russia, but the two sides failed to finalize a formal agreement. Immediately after taking office, President Joe Biden proposed a full five-year extension of the treaty that expires on Feb. 5, a move welcomed by the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday signed a bill into law ratifying a five-year extension of the New START with the United States. The extension of the New START might be a bright spot for the U.S.-Russia relations, but the overall tensions between Washington and Moscow are unlikely to decrease given their differences on issues of human rights, Ukraine, cybersecurity as well as their mutual accusation of interference in the domestic politics. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Cell Banking Outsourcing 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 Cell Banking Outsourcing 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Cell Banking Outsourcing Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31805 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Cell Banking Outsourcing will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Cell Banking Outsourcing market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Cell Banking Outsourcing market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Cell Banking Outsourcing 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 Cell Banking Outsourcing market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Lonza CCBC Vcanbio AMAG Pharmaceuticals ViaCord Thermo Fisher Wuxi Apptec CordLife Esperite Reliance Life Sciences Lifecell Cryo-Cell Toxikon Goodwin Biotechnology Texel Cryo Stemcell Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31805 This study considers the Cell Banking Outsourcing value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Stem Cell Banking Non-Stem Cell Banking Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Cell Bank Storage Bank Characterization and Testing Cell Bank Preparation 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 Cell Banking Outsourcing Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31805 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Cell Banking Outsourcing consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Cell Banking Outsourcing market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Cell Banking Outsourcing 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 Cell Banking Outsourcing 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 Cell Banking Outsourcing 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-cell-banking-outsourcing-market-research-report-highlights-on-future-development-2026/ CityJet would be delighted to talk to Aer Lingus again about flying its regional service after failing in a bid last year to clinch a contract to run the operation from late 2022, according to its chief executive Pat Byrne. Aer Lingus, which is part of IAG, selected Conor McCarthys fledgling Emerald Airlines last year as the preferred bidder to operate the Aer Lingus Regional contract when the current contract held by Dublin-based Stobart Air expires in December 2022. CityJet, which is owned by aircraft lessor Falko, exited examinership last year and subsequently submitted a tender in conjunction with Spains Air Nostrum, a company with which CityJet had previously planned to merge, to operate the Air Lingus Regional service when the current contract expires. CityJet currently operates services on behalf of Scandinavian carrier SAS. Read More Falko had previously been in talks with the UKs Stobart Group to buy Stobart Air. That deal had been contingent on Stobart Air securing a new contract to operate Aer Lingus Regional beyond the end of 2022, however. Stobart Group chief executive Warwick Brady has committed to shareholders to selling Stobart Air by the end of the groups current financial year, which is the end of this month. Mr Byrne said in a recent interview with aviation research group CAPA that Mr McCarthy, who also founded and owns aircraft maintenance firm Dublin Aerospace, secured a period of exclusivity as preferred bidder for the Aer Lingus Regional contract for four to six weeks, a period which he said had been extended. So I would presume that will lead to the awarding of a contract to Emerald, said Mr Byrne. I can just imagine that Aer Lingus have made a decision that Emerald as the preferred bidder, that they will prosecute that to contract stage. If they want to come back and talk to us any time they have my phone number, he told CAPA. Wed be delighted. Neither Mr Byrne nor Mr McCarthy were contactable yesterday. Mr McCarthy told the Irish Independent in December that Emerald Airlines is negotiating the lease of ATR-72 aircraft on a so-called power-by-the-hour basis before moving to a full lease. He said the airline also has its senior management team in place and has secured office accommodation for Emerald. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times 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. A batch of officers and other military personnel have been demobilized by the Ministry of Defense, reports Al-Watan. On Monday, the Ministry of Defense started implementing a decision to dismiss a batch of reserve officers, class officers, and reserve personnel. The Ministry of Defense had issued two administrative orders last November, to be implemented as of February 1, along with a series of conditions including demobilizations. The decision affects: Retained officers and those enrolled in reserve service, who have served for two years or more until Jan. 1, 2021. Physicians specialized in medical services management, who have served for two years or more, were released and their services have been dispensed with. Retained officers and individuals enrolled in reserve service, whose actual reserve service is at least seven and a half years as Jan. 1, 2021. Officers and individuals enrolled in reserve service who were born in 1982 and who served for two years or more. Those who were born in 1982 will be released as soon as they complete two years of reserve service. 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. A union that represents around 350 Public Works staffers in San Francisco has filed a complaint with state safety regulators, blaming the city for a coronavirus outbreak. Nine workers were infected and one is ill with COVID-19 and on a ventilator in a hospital, the union said. The filing is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between the Laborers Union Local 261 and the department, which designs and maintains city streets and buildings. The union said it filed a complaint last year over workers access to bathrooms on the job. It also supported a ballot measure to break up the department, which is facing ongoing federal corruption probes involving former head Mohammed Nuru and other officials. A Public Works spokesperson said the department had improved its health and safety protocols since the onset of the pandemic, efforts that include conducting daily health screenings for all employees and requiring masks. The department has also staggered shifts to cut down on crowding, sent crews outdoors, and stepped up cleaning and disinfection of common areas, spokesperson Rachel Gordon said in an email. The department has also given employees cleaning supplies and access to restrooms and hand sanitizer, she added. A copy of the the complaint filed with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, and reviewed by The Chronicle alleges an outbreak occurred among workers based at a maintenance yard located at 2323 Cesar Chavez St. in San Francisco. It identified street cleaners, general laborers and truck drivers as among those infected. The complaint says the city has failed to adequately clean and disinfect areas where sick workers were present throughout the facility and hasnt provided required testing, allegedly ignoring directives from Cal/OSHA and a new state law on preventing and containing the spread of the virus in the workplace. The union is also demanding the state levy monetary penalties against the city for the alleged violations and force it to comply with the law. Gordon said the department has a workforce of 1,463 employees and has seen a recent surge of virus cases in line with those roiling the Bay Area, California and the U.S. There have been 29 reported cases among employees since Nov. 25, of which one was likely transmitted between employees based on contact tracing, Gordon added. Each case is investigated and contact tracing is performed, Gordon said. Employees who had close contact with an infected person are notified individually and sent home to quarantine, she said. Notices apparently sent by the city about the infections and seen by The Chronicle said that a contact tracing investigation had been completed and that cleaning of areas where infected employees worked was under way. The Cal/OSHA standards board passed stricter rules last year requiring employers to notify workers and public officials whenever an outbreak occurred, along with performing cleaning, contact tracing and testing, among other requirements. A law passed last year, AB685, took effect Jan. 1 and creates similar requirements. Theresa Foglio-Ramirez, the union locals business agent, said that it had received notice about the infections, but that the city was not doing enough to prevent future cases. Once we have the outbreak, they are supposed to notify employees and have them tested and do mitigation and deep cleaning, she said. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. While workplaces are required to notify employees and public health authorities about outbreaks under the new rules, most Bay Area counties including San Francisco do not release information about outbreaks at businesses and other locations to the general public. The union has also requested handwashing stations and restrooms for workers since the beginning of the pandemic, Foglio-Ramirez said. Managers did not enforce mask wearing or prevent workers from riding together in vehicles, putting them at risk, she added. Public Works previously told The Chronicle that designated toilets for employees working across the city are available in four out of the six work zones, along with restrooms at city parks and public toilets. As of September, around 100 restrooms or other facilities were available for workers in the field despite some being closed during the pandemic. Foglio-Ramirez said that it was difficult to tell where someone had gotten the highly infectious virus, and that it was not clear if there was a connection between sanitation stations and bathrooms and the outbreak. Four of the workers who had been infected had returned to work and some were receiving workers compensation benefits, she said. Executive orders and a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year expanded a presumption for certain jobs that workers infected with the coronavirus got it on the job for workers compensation cases. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice Selena Herrera's political awakening began last summer when, horrified by the police killing of George Floyd, she organized a protest for racial justice in Tifton, Ga. "It was a big thing for a lot of people to know that even here in the Deep South that we hear everyone and they know that they have somebody there that can support them," Herrera said, adding that the need to be seen and heard was especially important for the Black and Latino communities in her rural hometown of 16,000, about 180 miles south of Atlanta. Herrera, 22, became more attuned to injustices around her and wanted to fight for the rights of LGBTQ individuals and undocumented immigrants, some of whom are in her own family. She started knocking on doors as a paid community organizer to get out the vote during last year's general election season as part of a grass-roots effort by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), a nonprofit that supports immigrant rights. Herrera, who had never voted before the 2020 election, said she felt especially motivated to get involved after Georgia's Senate races headed to a runoff. If Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their respective elections against Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, Democrats would control the Senate and support President Joe Biden's pledge to enact comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. "My reaction was just like, 'We've got to get on it, we've got to move,' " said Herrera, who said she led a team of 21 young Latino and Black canvassers during the runoffs. "I felt like it gave us a chance to do what we had to do for change." Although Hispanics like Herrera make up a small share of voters in the state - about 5% - exit polling from the Jan. 5 Senate runoff found that nearly two-thirds of Latino voters supported each Democratic candidate, up from the 52% who supported Ossoff and the 31% who supported Warnock in November's election. Warnock, who was running in a special election, received the highest percentage of votes from Latinos overall in a field of 20 candidates. In the tight general election, President Biden won Georgia by 12,000 votes. "No doubt the Latino vote could have made the difference, potentially the difference between winning and losing," said Adelina Nicholls, the executive director for GLAHR, which partnered with Mijente, a national organization that advocates for Latinos. The number of eligible Hispanic voters in the Atlanta metro area is expanding. There were 60% more Hispanic registered voters in 2020 compared with 2016, up from 106,000 to 170,000, according to the Pew Research Center. Organizers are tapping into demographic changes that are transforming the state. The median age of Latinos in Georgia is 27, according to census data, with many of them born in the United States to parents who are undocumented. While foreign-born Latinos first immigrated to the Atlanta metro in the 1980s in search of work in construction and other industries, most of the new growth in the Latino population in the city in the past 15 years has been driven by U.S.-born Latinos, according to a report from the Atlanta Regional Commission. Atlanta projects its Latino population will grow from about 12 percent in 2015 to 21 percent by 2050. GLAHR canvassed more than 300,000 doors in the time between the general election and the Senate runoff. Nicholls said that while most of their efforts were concentrated in the Atlanta metro area, where much of the state's Latinos live, they also reached out to other parts of the state. "We began to mobilize our roots in south, southeast and as well southwest of Georgia to outreach to rural communities where there are many Latino citizens that have never been in contact with someone asking them to get out to vote," Nicholls said. Although GLAHR has been advocating for immigrants for nearly 20 years, the organization became active in the electoral process only in 2018, Nicholls said, as it looked to strengthen the culture of voting among immigrant communities. "I think that the work that we have been doing for a long time is paying off," Nicholls said. GLAHR helped elect Keybo Taylor as the first Black sheriff of Gwinnett County in November. In one of his first acts as sheriff, Taylor fulfilled his campaign promise to eliminate the 287(g) immigration program, which allowed the county jail to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The organization also tapped into a population that may seem counterintuitive: ineligible voters. Undocumented immigrant parents can urge their children to vote, and their children, born in the United States and constitutionally granted citizenship from birth, can then do so with their family's interests in mind, Nicholls said. Nationally, more than 8 million U.S. citizens live with at least one family member who is undocumented, according to a 2017 report from the Center for American Progress. In Georgia, 503,155 U.S. citizens live with at least one undocumented family member, the report found. "So many of these kids all these years have been witnesses to ICE outside of their door, or they have been witnesses of the arrest of their parents, or they have been stopped by the police several times," Nicholls said. And that "has had deep repercussions in our communities, very, very, very deep." Voto Latino, a national organization that focuses on voter registration, tapped into the 18- to 39-year-old demographic and partnered with Stacey Abrams's Fair Fight Action initiative. Ahead of the general election, Voto Latino registered 36,000 voters over the course of the year, said Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino's founding president. They registered 11,528 more between Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 for the Senate runoffs. "You are seeing a shift in young people of color aging into the population, and engaging them in the process early is critical," Kumar said. "You can say that that was the reason why Arizona flipped this year as well. . . . That was why Virginia flipped four years ago, that was why Nevada flipped, and Georgia is part of that trend." "When we started Voto Latino [in 2014], 30,000 Latinos were turning 18 every single year. A Latino turns 18 every 30 seconds now, and that will be the case for the next 10 years," Kumar said. Herrera, from Tifton, says that she is hopeful young voters of color like herself will stay engagedandbecome more influential in upcoming elections. "Now we know why it's so important, and we'll have a big impact on future elections," Herrera said. "Black and Brown solidarity is huge, and I think our young generation knows that." AI/ML- Security Infrastructure Lead, Siri Search, Knowledge & Platform Seattle , Washington , United States Software and Services Summary Posted: Feb 2, 2021 Role Number: 200219795 Play a meaningful role in securing the most sophisticated and scalable consumer-facing virtual assistant and AI systems in existence! Be an advocate for security standard methodologies across the latest groundbreaking technology for algorithmic search, machine learning, natural language processing and artificial intelligence. Key Qualifications Shown aptitude to design and perform hybrid cloud penetration tests and produce reports on findings. Strong expertise in all layers of network communications protocols. Ability to assess and find security weaknesses in software, data handling, and hardware and virtual platforms. Sophisticated knowledge of Linux, containerization systems, and public cloud infrastructure. Working understanding of Kubernetes operations, administration, securing, and troubleshooting. Proven track record to use languages like Go, Python, or similar to simplify sophisticated problems. Experience in evaluating and/or implementing security analysis tools. Additional Qualifications Superb interpersonal skills, project prioritization, and ability to discern signal from noise. Proactive demeanor, thorough leadership, and continuous learning on finding security issues in novel ways. Description Description As a member of the AI/ML Production Engineering Team, you will uphold and improve Apple users' security by ensuring our global hybrid cloud infrastructure is unassailable. Working with the rest of the Apple ecosystem, you will be responsible for proactively identifying vulnerabilities as well as playing a leading role in remediating any security related issues and findings. You will also be enhancing and establishing security standard methodologies, training staff, and guiding that result in scalable and protected services for millions of Apple's customers! Education & Experience Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science or related field, or equivalent work experience. Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos will step aside later this year to become executive chairman, making way for Andy Jassy, who currently heads up its cloud computing division, AWS, to replace him in the role. The ecommerce groups founder, 57, on Tuesday said it was an optimal time to make the move, which will happen in the third quarter. In a letter to staff, Mr Bezos said he would stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives, but would turn much of his attention to his personal climate change initiatives, the space exploration company Blue Origin and The Washington Post newspaper that he owns. Mr Bezos has been chief executive of Amazon since its founding in 1994, during which time he became one of the worlds wealthiest people, with a current net worth of almost $200bn, according to Forbes. Ive never had more energy, and this isnt about retiring, he wrote in the letter. Amazon declined to share further details on the leadership reshuffle, including who may be positioned to take over AWS. Mr Jassy, 53, is an Amazon veteran who joined the company in 1997. He has run AWS since its inception in 2003. In this latest quarter, AWS generated $12.67bn in sales, with an operating income of $3.6bn the most profitable part of Amazons business. The announcement comes as the company as a whole posted record quarterly revenues of $125.6bn, up more than 40 per cent in the same period in the previous year, and comfortably beating Wall Streets expectations. When you look at our financial results, what youre actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention, Mr Bezos said. Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition. Andy Jassy is an Amazon veteran who joined the company in 1997 REUTERS Unlike previous years, the quarter included the companys Prime Day sales event, which was pushed back into the holiday period from the summer. Wall Street had expected quarterly revenue of $119.7bn, according to FactSet. Operating income for the period was $6.9bn, well above Amazons previous guidance and analyst consensus. The company had expected between $1bn and $4.5bn in quarterly operating income, the wide range attributed to continued uncertainty over the costs of managing the coronavirus pandemic. Wall Street expected Amazon to hit the high end of that estimate, but analysts are wary of mounting costs, whether from specific Covid-19 measures or the Herculean effort to hire more than 400,000 workers since the onset of the pandemic. Analysts at Jefferies said the rapid growth of Amazons own delivery network would have given it an additional edge over competitors, however. Other retailers have been held back by limited shipping capacity and delays. Logistics consultant Marc Wulfraat estimated that Amazon delivered 5bn of its own packages to customers in the US 67 per cent of all its orders versus 2.5bn in 2019. US regulators on Tuesday announced a $61.7m settlement with the group to repay drivers for tips allegedly wrongfully withheld. As well as reducing shipping costs for Amazon, the companys own network helps it shorten delivery times the key driver of membership to its Prime programme, revenue from which hit $7.1bn in the quarter, an increase of 34 per cent.* Looking ahead, the company said it had expected to post revenue of between $100bn and $106bn in the current quarter. That would represent an increase of up to 40 per cent from the previous year. Amazon again gave broad guidance on operating income because of Covid-19 unpredictability. It said it expected it to fall somewhere between $3bn and $6.5bn, taking into account $2bn in pandemic-related expenditure. Financial Times Prisca Korein, a 62-year-old traditional surgeon, holds razor blades before carrying out female genital mutilation on teenage girls from the Sebei tribe in Bukwa district, about 357 kms (214 miles) northeast of Kampala, December 15, 2008. The ceremony was to initiate the teenagers into womanhood acc to Sebei traditional rights. In a world where power and choice are determined by gender, millions of girls are robbed of their childhoods, education, health and aspirations every day by the harmful practices of child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). In many communities, early marriage and FGM go hand-in-hand because they believe that cutting a girl increases her marriageability. Over 200 million women and girls alive today in 31 countries have undergone genital mutilation, although small-scale studies, media reports and anecdotal evidence suggest FGM may be present in more than 90 countries. In 2021, 4.16 million girls and women around the world are at risk of genital mutilation. What's more, because of COVID-19 disruptions, there could be as many as 2 million additional cases of FGM by 2030 that would otherwise have been averted. FGM entails the 'partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons' and is normally carried out between infancy and age 15. It has no health benefits, but immediate and long-term health consequences are numerous: including infections and abnormal scarring, debilitating pain, or death. On International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, 6 February, here are just five survivors and activists demanding voice, choice and control for every girl and woman over their own lives and bodies. A survivor protecting her daughter and educating her sons in Egypt Amal Ahmed* - a wife and mother of an 11-year-old girl and three boys aged 15, 18 and 19 - lives in Cairo Governorate, Egypt. When Amal was 10 years old, she and her sister were tricked by their family into undergoing FGM. Since that experience, their lives have never been the same. "I was only 10 years old, but I can still remember every single moment. Without anesthesia, I was forced to go through a traumatic experience that left not only physical scars but psychological ones too. I cannot explain the unbearable pain and fear that I felt. I was screaming so hard, but no-one seemed to hear. My life turned upside down. I was never able to live a normal life," says Amal. The psychological scars of FGM runs even deeper. "I now have four children, for whom I decided to move on. I educate my boys that respecting women is a must and that we shouldn't keep on adopting [harmful] cultural habits without thinking. My sons understand the repercussions of FGM. They refuse it." "When my husband and mother told me that my daughter should undergo FGM, I refused. I told my mother: 'I'm not going to destroy my girl's life and kill her.'" "I wish that everyone around the world would realize the terrible physical and psychological repercussions of FGM so that it can end - now." For more on Amal's experience, read her full story. *The name has been changed to protect her identity. A community-based organization in rural Kenya empowering girls Natalie Robi Tingo, 28, is the Founder and Executive Director of Msichana Empowerment Kuria, a women-led community-based organization in rural Kenya that has since 2015 worked to end FGM by tackling its root causes and empowering women and girls. "Why are we being told that as girls, when we get cut, we bring honour?" asks Natalie. "That is not the truth. It is very painful, some girls die. Or, we get married. Our lives are basically taken away from us." Natalie was born in the Kuria community, southwest Kenya. Growing up, she faced the same challenges as other girls in her community. "FGM is a social norm in Kuria, similar to having to knock when you go to someone's home. Being the first-born girl in my family, it was expected that I would get cut. [Because] both my parents were educated, my sister and I were spared," she says. She believes that young girls should be empowered to change their communities. "From a young age many girls are made to believe FGM is an obligation they have to their parents and community. Once girls understand that what's happening to them is wrong, they are able to fight for themselves and rescue others. I have seen this happen. We must therefore continue to centre the voices of girls." Read Natalie's full interview here. Trained paralegals in Uganda are moving the needle Christine Awori is the Head of Legal Aid at the Uganda Law Society (ULS), which runs media outreaches and campaigns, as well as mobile legal aid clinics for women and girls at risk of FGM in Amudat District in northeastern Uganda. ULS is supported by UN Women, under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. "The clinics aim to enhance access to quality essential legal aid and referral services for women and girls who experience violence and promote their sexual reproductive health rights," explains Christine. "We encourage women and girls to reject the practice of FGM and report those performing it to the authorities. Our interventions also include training community-based paralegals, who are front-line responders, on legal and human rights issues. In 2019, one of our trained paralegals approached an FGM perpetrator who had been active for 20 years and talked her out of the practice." "The main law criminalizing FGM in Uganda is the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (2010), however, implementation remains weak mainly because of the lack of public awareness and limited financial and technical resource allocation by government to enforce the law," adds Christine. Working at community levels, with perpetrators, parents and girls at risk, along with survivors, has shown promising result. "The International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM reminds us that we are not alone in this work and that we need to coordinate [among each other] for a stronger movement against FGM," says Christine. Read Christine's full interview here. A Tanzanian chief on a mission to change cultural norms Chief Girihuida Gegasa Shulumbu, 55, is a traditional leader from the Mara Region, one of the strongholds of FGM in northern Tanzania. Following the launch of the joint FGM elimination project, "Tokomeza Ukeketaji", by UN Women and the African Medical Research Foundation in 2016, he took up the fight to save girls from FGM and ensure they stay in school. "The Tokomeza Ukeketaji project made me realize that as a traditional leader and custodian of culture, I have the power to influence the changing of norms and practices that harm others, especially women and girls," says Chief Girihuida. "I also have three daughters and would like to ensure that they have a brighter future. Many women in Mara are poor because they were deprived of the opportunity to go to school. [FGM] is pushing back development in our community and Tanzania as a whole." "I am working with other men to advocate for alternative rites of passage initiation that is freeing girls from genital mutilation. In the last three years, 96 traditional leaders have abandoned the practice in my region. Although the Tokomeza Ukeketaji project ended in 2018, we are still working to convince all people to abandon the practice, and have saved more than 1,500 girls between the ages of 9 and 19 from FGM. UN Women is helping us to sustain our campaigns." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Legal Affairs Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Read more about his journey here and check out a video about how UN Women is working with traditional and religious leaders across Africa to end FGM and child marriage. Former FGM practitioners becoming part of the solution in Liberia Until last year, Yatta Fahnbulleh, 65, owned one of the largest 'bush schools' (where girls underwent a series of rituals, including FGM, to initiate them into adulthood) in Tienni, a community in Grand Cape Mount County in northwestern Liberia. She is one of 300 former FGM practitioners in Liberia that participated in the Alternative Economic Livelihood programme launched by UN Women in collaboration with Plan International under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative in December 2019. "The time has come for me to change after 35 years in the business of bush activities. Many people had asked me to leave bush business but my question has always been, 'What will I do next to help my family?' Now that [this programme has] answered my question, I will join you to raise awareness of the vocational and livelihood projects," says Yatta. Yatta is now working as a caterer, and she says that seeing everyone enjoying the food she cooks and getting paid for cooking has been "life changing" for her. "I see the new project as a good opportunity that all the traditional practitioners across Liberia should be proud to accept." Read the full story here. Because of the onslaught of new daily information in the earlier days of the pandemic, Gray started holding Zoom meetings with the custodial staff every morning so he could relay news from the district. Its something he hopes will continue even after the pandemic ends because it eases some of the isolation of their jobs. Foreigners accuse Pattaya banker of fraud CHON BURI: A group of foreigners and their Thai wives in Pattaya have filed a complaint against an assistant branch manager of a commercial bank on fraud charges after he had allegedly taken money from their accounts. crime By Bangkok Post Wednesday 3 February 2021, 09:53AM Foreigners and their Thai wives file a complaint with Pattaya police chief Pol Col Phisit Phoolsap against an assistant bank manager for allegedly withdrawing their money and investment fraud. Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong / Bangkok Post Around a dozen foreigners and their wives on Tuesday (Feb 2) filed the complaint with Pol Col Phisit Phoolsap chief of Pattaya police station against Mr Chaisit Sappermphool, a former assistant manager of a bank branch in Pattaya. Some of them also accused him of allegedly duping them into investing in some funds, causing them to lose money, reported the Bangkok Post. The complainants said they had deposited their retirement funds at the Pattaya branch and Mr Chasit had helped them with deposits, withdrawals and passbook updates for several years. The irregularities were found when some of them updated their passbooks at other branches. They found the balances did not match what was shown in their passbooks. When they showed the passbooks and the transfer slips as evidence, they were told the documents were not the versions currently used by the bank. Some of them were also persuaded by the man to invest in mutual funds, which he claimed had given high returns. The victims did not suspect anything since the man held a high position of assistant branch manager at the time. The damage was estimated at tens of millions of baht, according to the complainants. Pol Col Phisit said the bank had already filed a lawsuit against Mr Chaisit on theft charges after it found he had used the outdated versions of passbooks and documents to serve customers instead of destroying them as required by bank procedures. He is now being detained at Pattaya court after a bail request was rejected, according to the Pattaya police chief. Pol Col Phisit urged other people who suspected they might have been duped by the man to report to them so they could gather more evidence for further legal action. Marjorie Taylor Greene was given a standing ovation by dozens of House Republicans Wednesday after refusing to apologize for her conspiracy theories - and escaping any censure from the party's leadership as she openly mocked them. About half the Republican caucus got to their feet, as she spoke briefly at a private meeting of the House conference, to applaud her. It capped a wild day in which she saw off GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's demands she say sorry for a string of bizarre claims - then said he was 'all talk and no action' and called Mitch McConnell 'Mr. Big Turtle.' McCarthy said he would take no action against Greene after the two spent hours in talks on Tuesday night. Instead he tried to see off a civil war in his own caucus over Greene by declaring war on Democrats on their attempts to remove her from committee assignments. McCarthy acknowledged that the Georgia rep had peddled false claims on 'school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories' but said that she had acknowledged that her words as a member of Congress had 'greater meaning' and that he would 'hold her to her word.' But Greene public offered no apology or commitment to give up her claims - which McConnell called 'loony' and 'cancer' to the Republican Party. Instead she instead tweeted defiantly about the donations she was receiving, told the Washington Examiner that McCarthy was 'all talk and no action,' called McConnell 'Mr. Turtle' and told a podcast that when she denied a plane had hit the Pentagon on 9/11, she was 'just asking questions.' Democrats had demanded that Republicans remove Greene from her assignments to two powerful committees - the Education and Labor Committee, and the Budget Committee - for her bizarre conspiracy claims and calls for violence against their leaders. McCarthy offered a compromise to move her off both committees and put her on the Small Business Committee, on the basis that she owns a gym - an offer which Democratic number two Steny Hoyer turned down on Wednesday at lunchtime. Calls for Republicans to punish Greene emerged after it was revealed she pushed QAnon conspiracies and backed calls for violence against Democratic lawmakers before she was elected to Congress House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured second from right with other congressional leadership) released a statement Wednesday lashing out at Democrats for moving forward with attempting to remove Majorie Taylor Greene from her Committee assignments Greene also said if Pelosi was in McCarthy's position she would 'pull every identity political trick in the book to defend her member' In her statement, Pelosi identified McCarthy with a 'Q' next to his name rather than an 'R' for Republican McCarthy also released a statement, where he said Democrats should look within their own Party at lawmakers on committees that conflict with their words and actions, like Rep. Ilhan Omar sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee despite outwardly anti-Semitic tropes and comments GOP TARGETS ILHAN OMAR IN REVENGE A group of House Republicans is seeking to fend off the push to expel QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from committees by moving to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar off her own committee assignments. GOP Reps. Brian Babin of Texas, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Jody Hice of Georgia, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Ronny Jackson of Texas are behind the effort. The group members themselves pushed baseless theories about election fraud, and there are moves to try to expel Biggs for his alleged role planning the 'stop the steal' rally that preceded the Capitol riot. Biggs promoted the move on Fox News. 'You have statements from Ilhan Omar, actually from Nancy Pelosi, or Maxine Waters, Representative Pressley, a whole plethora of folks, that while they're sitting here made offensive or dangerous statements as well,' he said. He was referring to the House speaker, senior black caucus member and finance chair Waters, fellow 'squad' member Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. 'Look, if it's good for the goose it's good for the gander. Maybe what should happen is you let Republicans take care of our own and you Democrats take care of your own,' he said. Omar has made a series of controversial comments since joining Congress, although notably after her infamous 'it's all about the Benjamins baby' comment that many colleagues in both parties called out as antisemitic, she apologized. Omar, a longtime critic of Israel, received bipartisan criticism in 2019 when she suggested that pro-Israel politicians were being paid by the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby. She had been responding to a McCarthy statement on punishing her for statements critical of Israel. She sits on the Foreign Affairs panel. She tweeted after the uproar: 'Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.' She added: 'My intention was never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole.' Advertisement McCarthy responded by refusing to do anything and instead attacked Democrats for allowing Ilhan Omar to hold committee roles, accusing her of 'anti-Semitic tropes' and having Eric Swalwell on the Intelligence Committee despite the FBI warning him to stop associating with a Chinese spy. 'I understand that Marjorie's comments have caused deep wounds to many and as a result, I offered Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns,' McCarthy said in a statement detailing his proposed compromise. 'Instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party.' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded with her own statement which referred to McCarty as Q-CA and said: 'As No 2. Senate Republican John Thune warned Tuesday, McCarthy has chosen to make House Republicans 'the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon' and Rep. Greene is in the driver's seat.' 'After several conversations and literally running away from reporters, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Q-CA) made clear that he is refusing to take action against conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene,' the House speaker wrote in a scathing statement against her Republican colleague on Wednesday afternoon. 'As a result, the House will continue with a vote to strip Greene of her seat on the esteemed House Committee on Education & Labor and House Committee on Budget,' she continued. 'McCarthy's failure to lead his party effectively hands the keys over to Greene an anti-Semite, QAnon adherent and 9/11 Truther.' Greene herself showed no signs of being cowed by McCarthy saying he 'unequivocally condemned' her claims. Instead she attended the meeting of the House Republican conference and delivered a short speech. CNN reported that she told the almost 200 Republicans present that the social media posts which have put her at the center of a storm did 'not reflect' who she was 'as a person,' offered no apology - and was applauded. The meeting instead focused on attacking Liz Cheney, the number three in Republican leadership, for voting to impeach Donald Trump. Shortly before his statement was published, she gave an interview to the Washington Examiner letting loose on him and Republican leaders and swearing fealty to Donald Trump. 'Kevin McCarthy and all these leaders, the leadership, and everyone is proving that they are all talk and not about action, and they're just all about doing business as usual in Washington. And so, what's the difference between them and the Democrats?' she said. 'The Republicans have been promising a lot of things for a long time, and they haven't delivered. 'And, you know, we're at $28 trillion in debt. Now, we have Joe Biden in the White House and Nancy Pelosi at 80 million years old as speaker, and we've got a Senate that we don't control anymore, with, you know, Mr. Big Turtle in charge up there just just losing gracefully, losing gracefully.' She also suggested she would welcome being thrown off committees and use it as a chance to push the party 'to the right.' The war of words erupted as Democrats pushed a motion through committee to strip Greene of her committee assignments in the teeth of Republican opposition. Democrats could vote as early as Thursday on removing Greene from both her committee positions in a blow to McCarthy's attempt to keep the issue off the House floor. As the House Rules Committee meeting kicked off on Wednesday afternoon, however, Chairman James McGovern said it was necessary for Democrats to take action because 'internal' issues within the GOP are causing Republicans to drag their feet on doing anything to respond to Greene's conduct and comments. 'We're here today because, to be honest with you, the Republican leadership has not dealt with this,' McGovern said during the Zoom meeting. 'And it is unclear whether they're able to deal with it based on internal political strife.' New Ethics Ranking Member Jackie Walorski said during a meeting to discuss the resolution removing Greene that the comments a fall outside Congress' jurisdiction since they were made before Greene was elected to Congress. She also said Democrats should let Republicans deal with the issue in their caucus Rules Committee Chair James McGovern (left) and Ethics Chair Ted Deutch (right) both said they needed to take against against Greene because Republicans have too much turmoil within the Party to do so themselves right now During the Rules meeting on Wednesday, one Republican lawmaker brought up that progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar has also made anti-Semitic comments and downplayed the 9/11 terrorist attacks during her tenure in Congress, but has not faced the same scrutiny from Democrats Ethics Committee Chairman Ted Deutch notably who represents the Florida district where the Parkland school shooting occurred agreed with McGovern's stance. 'We wouldn't be here, in this position today and before we start it, I'm sorry that we're here but we wouldn't be here if Republican leadership hadn't rewarded Representative Greene with seats on the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee despite her behavior, despite her actions,' Deutch said. 'We wouldn't be here if Leader McCarthy had been responsive to, what I am quite confident in describing as the nation's collective outrage at Representative Greene's behavior,' he continued. Hoyer and McCarthy spoke earlier Wednesday to try to strike a deal. But with the Republican minority leader dealing with pressures from within two branches of his Party to both embrace Greene and condemn her, McCarthy was only able to plead with Hoyer for Democrats to accept him booting Greene from her post on the Education Committee as punishment. Hoyer told reporters at the Capitol of the call: 'He made a decision and we're going to move forward.' The Maryland Democrat added that he isn't sure if McCarthy does plan to take any separate action against Greene. It appeared some Democrats are attempting to deflect from Greene's past comments instead bringing up issues with progressive Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota during the meeting Wednesday. Hoyer said in a statement following a call with McCarthy Wednesday that Democrats will hold a floor vote Thursday on removing Greene from both her committee assignments Greene posted a tweet claiming whatever McCarthy does it will 'never be enough for the hate America Democrats (sic)' have She also said Democrats are 'set out to destroy Republicans' and claimed the 'bloodthirsty media are their henchmen' Greene, wearing a mask with 'Free Speech' written across it, arrived to Capitol Hill Wednesday morning as she prepares to receive her fate regarding committee positions McCarthy proposed booting Greene from the Education and Labor Committee but allowing her to remain on the Budget Committee 'We will never back down!' Greene posted in a Twitter tirade on Wednesday Representative Brian Babin of Texas brought up during his time speaking Omar's 'some people did something' comments when talking about 9/11, which was seen by many as her downplaying the severity of the terrorist attacks. 'Unfortunately, I could go on with the near-constant litany of wildly offensive anti-Semitic, 'America is a bad guy' rhetoric that Representative Omar has exposed both before and during her time in Congress,' Babin said of his Democratic colleague. 'The majority is seeking to hold Representative Greene to the standards of the House rules for her conduct and words while she was a private citizen, but they have said nothing and will do nothing about Representative Omar's conduct and words while she's been in office,' he continued. Babin is one of five Republican representatives sponsoring a resolution to Omar from her posts on the House Budget Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The move is obviously in response to Democrat taking the same against against Greene while both lawmakers have spewed anti-Semitic views in the past and have both come under fire for the comments related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A nearly two-hour meeting between McCarthy and Greene Tuesday evening evidently did not go as well as McCarthy was hoping with the Georgia Republican representative refusing to denounce QAnon conspiracies or apologize for backing calls for violence against Democrats. McCarthy gave Greene a blunt offer during their discussion, a person familiar with their talks told Politico: apologize or resign from at least one of her committee roles voluntarily - or Republicans would get rid of her themselves. The California Republican told Greene she could denounce QAnon and apologize for pushing conspiracy theories and calling for violence against Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or she could voluntarily step down from the House Education and Labor Committee. If she did not or else face removal from her GOP House colleagues, he told her. But Greene refused to take the deal on offer - then spent Wednesday morning tweeting defiantly that McCarthy was bowing to Democrats who she accused of cheering on 'thugs who riot, burn, loot, attack police, murder, & occupy federal property.' Following the sit-down, McCarthy called an impromptu late-night meeting with the House GOP Steering Committee, which is the panel that designates committee assignments and is able to remove people from their posts. The panel was scheduled to meet again on Wednesday to try to reach a decision on what to do about Greene. But on Wednesday Morning, Punchbowl reported that there were no longer plans for the panel to convene with McCarthy. Republicans are desperate to avoid a public vote on Greene. Instead, the House minority leader said he would try to broker a deal with House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to prevent Democrats forcing her off the committees in a floor vote. McCarthy would offer booting Greene from the Education and Labor Committee in return for her staying on the Budget Committee. But it was unclear if Hoyer will go for the deal with McCarthy, according to sources. Greene responded to reports of McCarthy's impending proposal and suggestions Hoyer will not take the deal, claiming Republicans will never be able to do enough to please Democrats. 'No matter what @GOPLeader does it would never be enough for the hate America Democrats,' she tweeted Wednesday morning before arriving at the Capitol for the day. 'As much as he genuinely tries to work with @SpeakerPelosi for the good of this country, she refuses to see the hypocrisy of her own conference.' Greene attached to her tweet an image of the Politico report indicating Hoyer would not be open to the compromise proposed by McCarthy to strop Greene of just one of her committee positions. TAYLOR GREENE'S BIZARRE CLAIMS The California Camp Fire which killed at least 85 was caused by a space laser linked to the Rothschilds and the state's high-speed rail. PG&E admitted it was caused by a faulty power line and went into bankruptcy to fund a $13.5bn settlement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin cut off a child's face while she was alive, Clinton wore it as a mask so the terrified child would produce 'adrenachrome' and then organized the killing of a cop who knew about it. The Las Vegas massacre was organized by Democrats to help them ban guns and shooter Stephen Paddock was not a lone wolf. There's no evidence of a plane hitting the Pentagon on 9/11. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre which cost the lives of 17 students was a 'false flag planned shooting.' ' 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.' Seth Rich leaked Hillary Clinton's emails and was murdered in revenge by her aide John Podesta because the emails revealed that a D.C. pizza restaurant had a child-smuggling operation in its basement. It does not even have a basement. The world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and the Q in QAnon exists and is the 'best chance to take them out.' Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett are Muslims. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. She wasn't the person who posted a call to assassinate Nancy Pelosi to her own Facebook page. Advertisement Democrats are only increasing their demands for a drastic punishment for the Georgia Republican including expelling her from the House, censoring her and removing her from both her committee assignments. The actions against Greene are coming to a head finally after reports emerged last week of her supporting and pushing QAnon conspiracies more fervently than previously known. This includes subscribing to the thoughts that the Sandy Hook and Parkland shooting were a 'hoax.' She also supported online calls, before being elected to Congress, for violence and even execution against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats. Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota and a member of GOP leadership, said on Tuesday that the party's identity crisis is a 'big distraction for them right now.' 'Do they want to be the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, free markets, peace through strength and pro-life or do they want to be the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon,' he said. Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a former presidential candidate, have issued firm criticism of Greene. 'Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country,' McConnell said in a statement. Romney said: 'I think our party has to make it very clear that she does not represent us in any way.' House Republicans, however, are instead pushed for action against progressive 'Squad' member Ilhan Omar. A proposed GOP-backed amendment seeking to remove Omar from House Budget Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee assignments may be moved by Republicans Thursday. Reps. Brian Babin, Jeff Duncan, Jody Hice, Andy Biggs, and Ronny Jackson - Trump's former doctor - have reportedly sponsored the resolution 'in light of conduct she has exhibited,' Fox News reported. The Republicans allege that Omar has made anti-Semitic comments in the past that mark a grounds for dismissal. Omar, a longtime critic of Israel, received bipartisan criticism in 2019 when she suggested that pro-Israel politicians were being paid by the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby. 'It's all about the Benjamins baby,' Omar had previously tweeted, referencing McCarthy's pledge to take 'action' against her for her Israel criticism. Republican representative Guy Reschenthaler, from Pennsylvania, sought to remove fellow 'Squad' member Rashida Tlaib from her committee assignments last year for her own alleged 'anti-Semitic' comments. Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog,' in a clip that surfaced Tuesday as Democrats are poised to remove her from committee assignments over controversial statements. Greene, however, has made far reaching conspiracy theory claims including that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, could be hoaxes. The families of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown previously have sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for making similar claims. In a clip that surfaced on Tuesday, Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog.' 'So he is very trained, he's like a dog, he's completely trained,' Greene said in an 2019 interview with Georgia Gun Owners executive director Patrick Parsons, who's now her chief of staff. The video, which remains on Facebook, was first unearthed by NBC News. An unearthed video from 2019 shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (left) speaking to Georgia Gun Owners head Patrick Parsons (right), who's now her chief of staff, about her encounter with gun control activist David Hogg. In the new clip she says he's 'trained like a dog' On Wednesday, a video went viral that showed now Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (back left and right) following Parkland survivor and gun control activist David Hogg (left) around Capitol Hill's campus, chiding him for his support of gun control measures In it, Greene is speaking about following Hogg around on Capitol Hill, a clip that went viral last week in the aftermath of CNN breaking a story about how the Georgia Republican had indicated support for executing Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Facebook posts. The original video shows Greene following Hogg on Capitol Hill, at one point calling him a 'coward,' and asking the school shooting victim if he realized his classmates wouldn't been killed if the school's guard had been armed. 'Good guys with guns hurt bad guys with guns, they'll kill them, and it will reduce the number of deaths,' she noted. Describing the encounter to Parsons, Greene said Hogg 'does not talk.' 'He only talks when he's scripted,' she said. Greene said Hogg was being followed around Capitol Hill with a 'gaggle of girls' and also female 'handlers' in their 20s and 30s. 'Here they are, they are so naive and they are being so brainwashed into fighting to take away something that protects them as women,' she said of Hogg's female companions. 'I was heartbroken, literally heartbroken. I'm so thankful for my Second Amendment rights.' 'They're fighting to get rid of the right to protect themselves from getting raped,' Greene continued in the 2019 interview. 'I'm looking at this idiot, David Hogg, leading these girls who are clueless, absolutely clueless, into giving up the greatest thing that protects them,' the future congresswoman added. While Greene has expressed beliefs in a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon, that a plane didn't hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and that California's Camp Fire was caused by space lasers, which she connected to the Rothschilds in an anti-Semitic dog whistle, Pelosi's biggest complaint was that the congresswoman expressed doubt that Parkland and Sandy Hook actually happened. Last week, Pelosi went on a tirade because Greene had been placed by Republican leadership on the House's Education committee after saying the massacres had been 'staged.' 'What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing. It's absolutely appalling and I think that the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children,' Pelosi said Thursday. Pelosi said top Republicans were willing to 'overlook' Greene's comments 'when she has mocked the killing of little children,' pointing specifically to the massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the latter of which Hogg attended. Since video of Hogg and Greene's encounter went viral, the now 20-year-old gun control activist has also called for Greene to be stripped of her committee assignments. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The COVID-19 pandemic is a great example of the importance of access to the Internet and to digital health information. Unfortunately, historical disparities in health care appear to be reflected in computer ownership, access to the Internet and use of digital health information. However, few studies have qualitatively explored reasons for digital health information disparity, especially in older adults. A study led by Florida Atlantic University's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing in collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, examined the extent of computer ownership, Internet access, and digital health information use in older (ages 60 and above) African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanic Americans and European Americans. They quantitatively identified factors related to electronic device ownership, Internet access, and digital health information in 562 study participants and explored the reasons for any differences using a series of focus groups. Results of the study, published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, revealed a deep digital health divide within the older population, which was evident in both the community sample and focus groups. Participants who were older, less educated, economically disadvantaged and from ethnic groups (African American, Afro-Caribbean or Hispanic American) were up to five times less likely to have access to digital health information than were those who were younger and more highly educated, had a higher income, or were European Americans. The odds of owning a computer or having access to the Internet were one-fifth as likely in the African American group as it was for European Americans and one-fourth as likely for the Afro-Caribbean group. The odds of Hispanic Americans owning a computer were one-third as likely and for having access to the Internet less than one-half as great as for the European Americans. Those who received Medicaid assistance were less than one-half as likely to use either the Internet or digital health information as were those who did not receive Medicaid and a little more than half as likely to own a computer. "Currently, digital health technology development is outpacing parallel efforts to conquer the digital health divide, which also has important implications for helping older adults get registered for the COVID-19 vaccine," said Ruth Tappen, Ed.D., R.N., F.A.A.N, lead author and Christine E. Lynn Eminent Scholar, FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. "Portals that allow patients access to their electronic health records, decision aids that prepare patients to discuss options with their providers, making telehealth appointments with providers and so forth, needlessly, though unintentionally, excludes, marginalizes, and disenfranchises those who are older, have low incomes, have low health literacy, and/or are members of minority groups." The results of the focus group sessions shed some light on the effects of this disparity and highlight differences in response across the minority groups represented. Interest in obtaining Internet health-related information was highest in the African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and European Americans, and moderate at best in the Hispanic American group. Ability to afford a device that allows Internet access differed greatly across groups, and participants' expressed preferences for provider-patient information or more independent searches, and involvement in decision-making also varied considerably. Participants in the African American/Afro-Caribbean group expressed frustration with lack of access to digital health information but appreciation for alternative sources of information. Hispanic Americans critiqued information received from providers and drug inserts, some suggesting that a positive attitude and trust in God also contributed to getting well. European American participants evaluated various digital health information websites, looking to providers for help in applying information to their personal situation. The researchers stress that addressing this digital health divide in the older population requires attention at several levels. At the policy level, national connectivity plans are needed, and greater effort to provide universal Internet access needs to be made. Municipal broadband networks can achieve this at the local level. Eventually Internet service needs to be redefined as a necessity, not a luxury, a necessary utility like electricity and water or to become a free service supported by advertisements as are broadcast radio and television. Not only does it need to be affordable but also adequate for the job. "Until Internet access is universal, creative use of printed materials, telephone calls, in-person groups, family assistance, individual meetings, and mailings are needed for those disadvantaged and minority older adults who remain affected by this digital health information disparity," said Tappen. More information: Ruth M. Tappen et al, Digital Health Information Disparities in Older Adults: a Mixed Methods Study, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2021). Ruth M. Tappen et al, Digital Health Information Disparities in Older Adults: a Mixed Methods Study,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s40615-020-00931-3 WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a telephone call with her Mexican counterpart discussed the need to continue cooperation on bilateral economic and security matters, the Treasury Department said in a press release. "Earlier today, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen spoke with Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera Gutierrez. Secretary Yellen expressed her desire to continue the tradition of close U.S.-Mexico coordination on economic and security issues," the release said on Tuesday. Yellen said Mexico can be a strong US partner in combating illicit finance and facilitating economic development in Central America, the release said. Yellen laid out her priorities to Herrera, which include containing the coronavirus pandemic, spurring economic recovery, and addressing climate change, the release said. The failure to protect the U.S. Capitol from an insurrectionist attack on January 6 is understandably dominating headlines. Leaders and investigators are right to ask how such a horrible breach of security happenedand what must be done to ensure it never happens again. There are also serious concerns about the role of veterans in the attack last month. But as vital investigations and reforms proceed, Americans should not miss the other lessons on display. Foremost among them is the extraordinary role the U.S. National Guard played in securing the constitutional transfer of power and how properly positioned ground forces can provide powerful deterrence. Most Americans appreciate that governors lean heavily on their Guard units to deal with both natural and man-made crises in their respective states. Many may also know the Department of Defense could not have completed its missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere over the last two decades without the National Guard's essential contributions. Until last month, however, many Americans may not have fully appreciated the importance of the Guard here at home. Following the January 6 attack, Americans should consider the role the National Guard played, once it was called upon, in standing between insurrectionists and our Constitution. It is worth remembering that members of the armed forces swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. For this commitment and the sacrifices associated with military life, members of the National Guard deserve our respect and admiration. At the same time, members of the military, including the Guard, are not super-humans. They are us. They come from every county in our country. Their backgrounds are diverse, and they struggle with the same challenges and maladies as those who do not serve in uniform. That is what makes what transpired in Washington after January 6 so impressive. Once assistance from the National Guard was finally requested, the D.C. Guard arrived at the Capitol Hill complex within hours, followed quickly thereafter by units from Maryland and Virginia. Guard units from other states followed, ultimately creating a force of 25,671 troops. That is essentially a force the size of an Army corps. To put that number in perspective, the United States currently has fewer than 6,000 service members in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syriacombined. In addition to deployments in Washington, governors used an additional 7,102 activated Guard members to protect 26 state capitals. All 54 state and territory governors mobilized their National Guards in support of state or national requirements. These mobilizations included Army and Air Guard members, for example, from military police, engineer, infantry, transportation, explosive ordnance disposal, chemical, and civil support units. Out of the 25,671 troops who deployed to D.C., the Pentagon, as a precaution, proactively pulled 12 Guard members out of duty12 out of 25,671. Our nation was tested, and members of the National Guard honored their oaths, maintained the peace, and enabled the constitutional transfer of power. But it is not surprising to those who understand the American militarys deep institutional commitment to country and Constitution. The coup this week in Burma demonstrates what can happen when a military puts power over democratic principles. Of course, that is not to say that there are no problems within the ranks of the American military. But as we seek to address those problems, we should take a moment to appreciate the Guards performance in defending the seat of our democracy and the constitutional transfer of power. And what was the result of that Guard deployment in Washington, DC.? With only a few exceptions, the insurrectionists did not even show up in D.C. once the National Guard arrived. That brings us to the second lesson on displaythe role of ground forces in deterrence. Our nation is currently engaged in a debate about what military forces the United States must deploy abroad to secure our homeland and our interests. Within that discussion, there is also a lively policy debatewith important budgetary implicationsregarding the role of the U.S. Army relative to the other services. America certainly needs a larger Navy and Air Force. But the role of the U.S. Army remains vital in Europe, the Middle East, and yes, in the Indo-Pacific. If America comes to blows with China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, we will certainly need modernized air and naval forces with sufficient capabilities and capacities. But it would be better if those conflicts never happen in the first place. The Guard's role last month in D.C. vividly demonstrates the potentially decisive deterrent value of American ground forces when properly equipped, trained, and positioned. While there is certainly a difference between armed domestic violent extremists and nation-state adversaries abroad, Americans have seen the same deterrent benefits of forward-positioned forces abroad. In 1997, a high-ranking North Korean defector stated that U.S. military forces in South Korea were the only thing deterring North Korean aggression. In Europe, Moscow has invaded non-NATO countries such as Ukraine and Georgia in recent years. But after more than seven decades, the Kremlin has never invaded a NATO member country. The presence of joint U.S. combat forces, including ground forces, in Europe, makes clear to Moscow that America and its NATO allies have the military capability to defend against an attack. The events last month in D.C. demonstrate the National Guard's value and suggest decision makers should think twice before withdrawing U.S. ground forces abroad from key locations at the frontiers of freedom. Bradley Bowman is senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. ADVERTISEMENT An Abeokuta High Court on Wednesday sentenced a 33-year-old Toyin Ibrahim, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of her handbag at gunpoint. Mr Ibrahim, who was arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery, had pleaded not guilty to the offences. However, delivering her judgment, Justice Ayokunle Rotimi-Balogun, said that all the evidence tendered had convinced the court beyond a reasonable doubt that the convict committed the offences as charged. She subsequently sentenced Mr Ibrahim to death by hanging. At the trial, the prosecution counsel, Magaret Sodeke, had told the court that the convict committed the offences on August 25, 2012, at about 10 p.m. at Power line junction, Sabo area of Sagamu. She said the convict and others still at large, conspired and robbed Titilayo Eniola of her handbag containing valuables. Mrs Sodeke explained that while the complainant was coming from her shop at around 10 p.m., the convict with others now at large stopped her and pointed a locally made pistol at her. She explained that the convict collected and carted away with the complainants handbag containing N15,000 cash, ATM card and other valuables. The prosecution counsel said the convict was arrested by members of the Oduduwa peoples Congress (OPC) and on his arrest, he was found with a locally-made gun and two cartridges. Mrs Sodeke said the offences contravened Section 6(b) and 1(2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap Rll, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. (NAN) In his search for grazing for his cattle in south-western Niger, Djouba Fedou, 60, repeatedly came into conflict with farmers. UNHCR/Boubacar Younoussa Siddo UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), are calling on states to strengthen the protection and assistance of people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change, ahead of a virtual conference co-hosted today, 4 February, with PDD, the state-led Platform on Disaster Displacement, currently chaired by the Government of Fiji, with the Government of France as vice-chair. The virtual event is held to commemorate the five years since states established three key frameworks to find solutions for people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This commemoration also comes on the heels of two bilateral Memoranda of Understanding signed by IOM and UNHCR with PPD on 9 December, to renew their commitments on disaster displacement. The memoranda formalize the long-standing partnership between IOM, UNHCR, and PDD and come as the climate emergency has converged with the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflict, record numbers of forcibly displaced, economic turmoil, and growing social upheaval. "From South Sudan, to the Sahel, to the Dry Corridor in Central America, refugees, internally displaced and stateless people are often among the first to be affected by the climate emergency," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "We need to invest now in preparedness to mitigate future protection needs and prevent further climate caused displacement. Waiting for disaster to strike is not an option." UNHCR, IOM, and PDD, together with partners, are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Nansen Initiative Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change, the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. At the event, participants will take stock of achievements and share effective practices regarding disaster displacement in the implementation of the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement and the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda. They will also identify opportunities and conditions for scaling up advocacy and action and ensure policy coherence across relevant policy and action areas. The Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda, endorsed by 109 states in 2015, offers states a toolbox to better prevent and prepare for displacement before a disasters strike. When displacement cannot be avoided, it helps states improve their responses to situations when people are forced to find refuge, either within their own country or across an international border. With the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees in 2018, the measures endorsed in the Agenda, were taken forward by States in committing action for migrants and refugees in the context of disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. The historical adoption of the Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015 at the 21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, France, was also an unprecedented breakthrough for integrating migration and displacement concerns in a climate change treaty. COP21 mandated the creation of a Task Force on Displacement (TFD) to develop recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change. IOM, UNHCR and PDD are founding members of the TFD since 2017 and are currently implementing its second mandate. "Five years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the UN Network on Migration, established to support the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration, has determined climate change and migration issues as a key priority for 2021," said Antonio Vitorino, IOM Director General. "It represents a significant opportunity to enhance our collective action, especially ahead of the COP26. As the Coordinator of the Network, IOM is fully committed to enhance a UN-wide action on this topic." The Global Compact on Refugees, adopted by an overwhelming majority in the UN General Assembly in December 2018, also directly addresses these growing challenges and is another opportunity to strengthen our collective action in this area. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 represents the global blueprint for all efforts aiming to reduce the impacts of hazards on people, communities, and societies over the following 15 years, and has significantly advanced the discourse on migration and displacement linked to disaster risk reduction. In particular, UNHCR and IOM supported the development of the Words into Action guidelines on disaster displacement. The virtual conference is a reminder of the strong connections among these three frameworks in the larger context of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015. It also highlights that five years on, we are in the moment of regional and national action to implement these frameworks for a stronger resilience and protection of people in the face of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. The virtual conference begins at 0845 CET. It is open to the public and participation can be registered for the high-level panel session here: http://bit.ly/3ciEG5P and for the technical panel sessions here: http://bit.ly/3c8RCLr More information is available at www.disasterdisplacement.org About PDD The Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) was established as a follow-up mechanism to the Nansen Initiative, and aims at supporting advocacy, partnerships and concrete action on disaster displacement. IOM and UNHCR work closely together with PDD as standing invitees to its Steering Group. About IOM The International Organization for Migration (IOM), as the leading intergovernmental migration agency, has been at the forefront of operational, research, policy and advocacy efforts seeking to bring environmental migration to the heart of international, regional and national concerns, in collaboration with its Member States, Observers and partners. About UNHCR UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for displaced and stateless people as well as the communities who host them, has an important contribution to make to global climate action, particularly when displacement occurs in the context of the adverse effects of climate change and disasters. For more information on this topic, please contact: For UNHCR: For IOM: For PDD: document The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has rejected a recommendation from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure that suggests the Beitbridge Border Fence can be repaired. The Acting Director-General, Mr Imtiaz Fazel, told Scopa today that the technical condition report is being finalised and the team has recommended that the fence can be repaired. "The department has commissioned a technical report and that is being finalised. The team recommended that the fence can be repaired under certain conditions. The repairs will consist of replacing the structural supports that were removed, where the fence has not collapsed," he said. Members of Scopa made it clear that repairing that fence would be a waste of taxpayers' money. Scopa member, Ms Veronica Mente, said the fence they saw when the committee conducted an oversight visit to Beitbridge was a residential fence and not a fence meant for a border. "Are they repairing the same fence that can be easily breached? Are they installing the same type of a fence? If that is the case, how different is it going to be from what we have seen? It is a pity that the National Treasury did not give us a conclusive report in terms of its own findings on the Beitbridge expenditure. Because if that is the case, I don't think there is a comparison of the department's findings to what the National Treasury's regulations are saying," she said. Mr Bheki Hadebe also echoed Ms Mente's concerns on the recommendation to repair the fence. "I am also concerned about the recommendation that seeks to suggest, in terms of the technical condition report, that this fence can be repaired. When we were there, we were told that the specification used for that fence was meant to protect the buildings at Beitbridge, not for the border fence. Any suggestion or recommendation that seeks to suggest that this thing can be repaired, we are going to oppose it. If the department is going to consider using its budget to allocate more funds towards that fence, that will be tantamount to fruitless and wasteful expenditure," he said. Another member of the committee, Mr Sakhumzi Somyo, said in the current situation, there is no way that Scopa can justify that the department would do justice by only repairing the existing fence. Something else needs to be done there. "The Minister of Home Affairs has indicated that the rest of his problems, in as far as border management is concerned, come from the Beitbridge border post. This means that the quality, size, capability, the strength of any infrastructure which seeks to support the management of that border, needs to be solidified." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Ms Patricia de Lille, agreed with Scopa and has assured the committee that repairing and replacing the current poor-quality border fence would be an irregular expenditure. "I certainly share the anxiety of the committee. I have also expressed to the department that I do not accept the proposal that we repair and replace. We have learnt lessons out of this. One of the lessons for us going forward is the transversal management of all borderline fences of our country and therefore, the engagement at ministerial level," said Minister Patricia de Lille "I have had an engagement with the Department of Defence (DOD) and we agreed with the DOD, like the minister of that department said to Scopa the last time, that fence is not fit for purpose. Any replacement, any repair to fix the mess at Beitbridge, will not be decided by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure alone. The DOD is the user department and therefore plays a major role in agreeing or advising us on solutions and specifications to the fence. Those consultations are ongoing," said Minister Patricia de Lille. Scopa Chairperson, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa, urged the department to move with speed when addressing the issues at Beitbridge. "I get a sense that there is no urgency in dealing with these matters. Given the gravity of the situation and also the extent to which this is one of the most glaring glitches of the Public Finance Management Act among other things, and instances of corruption which came about because of the pandemic, I would imagine that we have to move with a particular speed," he said. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Initiating the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address in the ongoing Budget Session, BJP MP from Assam Bhubaneswar Kalita on Wednesday attacked the opposition in the Rajya Sabha over the farmers' protest and the anti-CAA agitation. "The farm laws were passed by both the Houses of the Parliament, so don't try to turn the farmers' ptotest into another Shaheen Bagh. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was part of the BJP manifesto and the people elected the government with a decisive majority," Kalita said. The MP from Assam later said over phone that "the opposition is politicising the issue of the farmers". He said those supporting the anti-CAA movement will loose in the Assembly elections in Assam, scheduled later this year. Scores of farmers are protesting on the borders of Delhi for more than two months now, demanding that the three farm laws enacted in September last year be repealed. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dis-service-providers Public Sector Banks To bookmark you need to sign in For the third day in a row, the coin-dispensing machine at Canara Bank (a public sector bank or PSB) had a notice stuck on it saying 'Out of order'. Some customers made a wry face and went away. I decided to march into the managers cabin and ask why the machine hadnt been repaired. He gave me a bored, exasperated look and said, It is not working. Sure, I can see that. Why? I asked again. Because it is out of order, he explains. Why? I persisted (like a pesky kid). He said The repairman has to come from Pune to Bengaluru. That costs money. A lot of money. So what was the point in installing a fancy machine, at taxpayers expense, if it couldnt be repaired locally (even in IT city)? He dismissed me by turning towards an employee, who was hovering near the cabin door with a ledger. This is how government departments work. Why bestir oneself, when it is the public that pays? * * * Taxpayers had to file their annual self-assessment dues in December. I usually pay at the Canara Bank branch behind the income-tax office. This year, I was told that this branch would not accept my cheque and that I had to go to my own branch. Why? A shrug was the only answer. So off I went, to my branch in south Bengaluruonly to find that they had moved. I am 80 years old and walk with a stick; in theory, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rules about 'door-step banking' for elders. My email query to the manager again, brought no response. No autorickshaw would come for short distances (800 metres, to the Banks new premises) so I walked , clutching my stickand had to climb steps (with difficulty) to get into the branch at its new location. There was a cabin marked 'assistance to senior citizens' but it was unmanned. "You have to go get the challan from counter 4 I was told, but the woman at counter 4 said I should go to counter 1. By the time I returned home with my counterfoil confirming payment, I was exhausted. At least you got your work done, I had to go three times, said a friend. Government of the people, for the people? Not quite. Banks are now connected via internet, so why do customers have to go to a particular branch, to get a challan or pay in tax? Why do PSBs make senior citizens run around, when the RBI issued guidelines over a year ago, for 'doorstep banking'? Questions without answers. I was once in an autorickshaw when the drivers mobile rang; he stopped and answered the call, and kept saying sorry sir, sorry sir, I promise sir etc, in a cringing tone. Turned out that he had taken a small loan of Rs1 lakh from a PSB for buying his vehicle, and the bank was harassing him for defaulting on two instalment payments, and threatening to confiscate his auto. If he were Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi, he could fly abroad and escape but for the aam aadmi, the rules are different, right? He can be threatened, even if the amount he owes is a miniscule fraction of what the liquor baron and diamond merchant and others owe. PSBs have total NPAs (non-performing assets) reportedly exceeding Rs6.78 lakh crore as on March 2020 (how many digits is that?) A generation ago, one never spoke of lakhs of crores. Now we do thats progress, right? I have a small savings account at the State Bank of India (SBI) which I wanted to close when the branch moved away. The Bank wouldnt let me. Irli, (let it be) they said, clinging onto a paltry few thousands that I had in my account. As a patriotic citizen, perhaps I ought to let SBI (which has had to write off Rs9,000 crore, owed by Mr Mallya) use my money, to help it to tackle its horrendous NPA dues.My pleas that after the bank moved I find it difficult to attend to my account and want to close it, fell on deaf ears. * * * The latest is Bank of India (BoI), another PSB, asking my husband and me to fill in KYC forms afresh (why, when there has been no change in details?) We duly filled up the forms, and enclosed passport photos, now they want us both to go personally to the bank and produce the originals of our Aadhaar card, although we have sent in photocopies of our documents. To prove that we are not cheating? Are customers assumed to be crooks unless proved otherwise? We entrust our hard-earned savings to the bank and receive harassment in return? My husband is an 88-year-old patient undergoing prolonged treatment. And we have had our bank accounts for at least 40 years Earlier, whenever I complained to the banking ombudsman, I used to get a response, but the last two times I sent in my grievances, there has not even been an acknowledgement. So much for 'customer being king'. Where would banks be, without customers? How many thousands of other citizens have the same experience as we have had? Why do we take this lying down? It is our money, right? HANOVER, Md., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aston Carter, a global provider of recruiting and staffing services, announced today it has been honored with ClearlyRated's 2021 Best of Staffing Client and Talent Diamond Awards for providing superior service to clients and talent. This is the sixth year that Aston Carter was acknowledged by clients and the tenth year by talent, thereby earning the Diamond Award designation in both categories, a distinction only given to companies that have been recognized as Best in Staffing for at least five consecutive years. "Despite the uncertainties we all faced over the last year, our team remained vigilant in continuing to deliver the quality and impactful services Aston Carter is known for," said Aston Carter President Stuart Ferguson. "We are honored to be recognized by our clients and contractors who put their trust in our knowledge and expertise to lead them to success. As we set our sights on the future, we will remain agile in order to continue meeting our clients and contractors with the same high level of service for years to come." The Best of Staffing Awards recognize companies that have proven to be industry leaders in service and are based entirely on ratings provided by clients and contract employees. Over 46 percent of contract employees and more than 27 percent of clients gave Aston Carter industry-leading satisfaction ratings. In addition, 85 percent of clients and 78 percent of talent ranked their experience a nine or 10 out of 10, significantly higher than the industry's average of 38 percent and 40 percent, respectively. "After one of the most turbulent years in modern history, winners of the 2021 Best of Staffing award have proven their commitment to go above and beyond in support of their clients and placed talent," said ClearlyRated's CEO and Founder, Eric Gregg. "These service leaders have demonstrated their capacity to be agile, to be precise, and to prioritize the client and talent experience above all else. It is my honor to celebrate and showcase the 2021 Best of Staffing winners alongside feedback from their actual clients and placed talent on ClearlyRated.com!" To learn more about Aston Carter, please visit AstonCarter.com. About Aston Carter Aston Carter is a distinguished global provider of recruitment and staffing services to companies requiring highly specialized business professionals. We have an unrivalled commitment to delivering first class service to clients and business professionals across a variety of disciplines, including Accounting and Finance, as well as Risk and Compliance. With more than 90 offices across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, Aston Carter provides local, regional and global expertise to drive value and meet our customers' unique needs. Aston Carter is a division of Aerotek. Aerotek is an Allegis Group company, a global leader in talent solutions. About ClearlyRated Rooted in satisfaction research for professional service firms, ClearlyRated utilizes a Net Promoter Score survey program to help professional service firms measure their service experience, build online reputation, and differentiate on service quality. Learn more at https://www.clearlyrated.com/solutions/ . About Best of Staffing ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and placed talent. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on ClearlyRated.coman online business directory that helps buyers of professional services find service leaders and vet prospective firms with the help of validated ratings and testimonials. SOURCE Aston Carter Work initially will be to evaluate previously identified areas of interest within all tenements. PLC ( ) said its Australian joint venture (RRAL) has started ground work on its tenements near Ballarat in the Victoria Goldfields. RRAL was granted exploration permits at three licences earlier this week covering 215 sq km in its central to south Ballarat project area. These tenements (along with current applications) surround and overlie the existing Ballarat West and Ballarat East mineralized lode systems, Power Metal said. Work initially will be to evaluate previously identified areas of interest within all tenements. Paul Johnson, Power Metals chief executive, said: "As promised with the grant of licences as announced yesterday RRAL has moved quickly to launch ground exploration. Given over 12 million ounces of mined gold in the Ballarat West and Ballarat East mining camp, we are particularly eager to expedite exploration as RRAL targets a major gold discovery in the Victoria Goldfields, Australia." Power Metal has a 49.9% interest in RRAL, with Red Rock Resources ( ) holding a 50.1% interest. Dodoma MEMBERS of Parliament have commended President John Magufuli's set of priorities to be executed in the next five years, asking for proper implementation and timely accomplishment of all the projects. Also, the lawmakers are asking the government to increase the development budget for the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (Tarura) to allow the construction of more roads in the local government councils, for improved transportation especially in the hard to reach areas. The legislators yesterday started debating President Magufuli's inaugural speech in the 12th Parliament delivered on November 13th last year. The MPs were optimistic that proper execution of President Magufuli's priorities would take Tanzania to a next level, since the country's economy would grow higher together with the continued improvement in social services delivery. Speaking in the debating chamber, the Muleba North MP on CCM ticket Charles Mwijage, commended Dr Magufuli's decision to transfer to the President's Office the Investment portfolio, saying the move would definitely improve the contribution of the docket to national development. "By placing an investment docket under his office, it means he will be closely monitoring it, and this will improve investment and boost the national economy at large," he said. He noted that, all the efforts of making Tanzania a higher middle income country depends much on the level of investment in the production sector and this is what the Head of State has been insisting on several times. Mr Mwijage went on to suggest the importance of Blueprint Reforms to be put under the President's Office for the Head of State to have a closer eye on its implementation. For his part, Itilima MP, Mr Njalu Silanga suggested the importance of the government to continue investing in the agriculture sector, by ensuring accessibility to all the needs for the betterment of the sector and farmers at large. He said, by investing more in the agricultural sector that has employed about 75 per cent of Tanzanians, and then chances are high for Tanzanian to produce more billionaires since the sector serves as the backbone of the country's economy. In the education sector, Mr Silanga asked the government to start building capacity for university students for them to engage in selfemployment upon completing their studies. "This will help to end unemployment challenges, improve living standards, as well as play a role in building the country's economy," he suggested. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The major investment and reforms in the industrial and infrastructural sector also grabbed the attention of the Same East MP Anne-Kilango Malecela (CCM), who noted that the move has enabled Tanzania to lead in the list of countries with better road networks in East Africa. She expressed her excitement with the improvement of roads networks in the cities of Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, nodding to President Magufuli's determination to upgrade the country in all sectors. "Our president walks the talk in everything, but I have a request to the government to increase the budget for Tarura from the current ratio of 30 per cent against 70 per cent that goes to Tanroads. Tarura has a lot to do in our councils but it has a little budget, let's advocate for the increment," she said, in a note that was supported by the majority of the lawmakers. Chalinze MP, Ridhiwani Kikwete (CCM), apart from hailing the government's ongoing flagship projects, asked for timely completion for Tanzanians to enjoy fruits OF investment that has been done. "Projects like Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHP) and Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) have a lot to contribute in the country's economy as they would stimulate industrial investment and the transport sector respectively," he said. However, he asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to fast-track in solving disputes between villagers and Tanzania National Parks Authorities (TANAPA), in a way that benefits both parties. IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Keller/Anderle LLP is pleased to announce the selection of Jennifer Keller, Kay Anderle and Reuben Camper Cahn to the 2021 "Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America." The naming of 3 out of 14 Keller/Anderle attorneys for the Lawdragon 500 list, one of the most coveted awards nationwide, is an outstanding achievement for the firm. According to Lawdragon, "the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America is the most elite distinction in the profession, covering all practices." Jennifer Keller is one of America's most successful trial attorneys. In 2020, Keller was selected as a "Lawdragon Legend," one of only 30 attorneys chosen nationwide in 2020 by Lawdragon. Per Lawdragon, "Keller is hands-down one of the nation's best trial lawyers - equally adept at litigating a plaintiff's cause and defending companies against high-stakes claims." A "Lawdragon Legend" is an attorney who has been selected to the Lawdragon 500 list for 10 years. Ms. Keller represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of high-stakes commercial litigation and white collar cases. With over two decades of experience and 100 cases to jury verdict, Kay Anderle, managing partner, is among the region's leading trial attorneys. She is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only organization limited to the top one-half of one percent of the nation's attorneys. Ms. Anderle is listed in the elite "The Best Lawyers in America" in both white collar and general practice criminal defense. Reuben Camper Cahn has defended a wide range of matters, involving tax, public corruption, fraud, money laundering, RICO, Continuing Criminal Enterprise charges and virtually every other type of white collar case. He has tried over 100 cases to jury verdict and has argued twice before the Supreme Court. Mr. Cahn is a Fellow of the invitation-only American College of Trial Lawyers, considered to be among the highest honors a North American trial attorney can receive. He is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (by invitation only, limited to top 1/2 of 1 percent of lawyers nationally). Contact: Kay Anderle Managing Partner Address: 18300 Von Karman Ave., Suite 930 Irvine, California 92612-1057 Ph. 949.476.8700 Fax 949.476.0900 [email protected] www.kelleranderle.com SOURCE Keller/Anderle LLP The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. 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 Department of Health said 3,991 new coronavirus cases brought the states total cases in the pandemic to 906,727 on Wednesday. Wednesday also marked the day when the number of coronavirus vaccine doses that have been administered exceeded case numbers: 25,586 doses were reported as having been administered between 6 a.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the total doses to 908,096. Doses dont mean total vaccinations completed because people need two doses to be considered fully vaccinated. On Tuesday evening, the Ohio Department of Health began reporting the number of second doses. It was 217,058 on Wednesday. However Kate Warren, a research fellow at the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions, called the higher number of doses compared to cases good news. We are really glad to see the number of people who have been vaccinated exceeds the number of cases, she said. Its not a magic number but it is hopeful. Vaccines just became available Dec. 14 and to see those vaccination numbers rise to meet the case numbers so quickly is just a hopeful piece of news in a time when theres not much hopeful news. I think its important to note theres still al lot of work ahead for Ohio to stop this virus, she added. The number of people who have died in the coronavirus outbreak in Ohio increased by 94 to 11,430 Wednesday. The state follows the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preventions definition of a case, which includes those diagnosed through genetic PCR or antigen tests, or people diagnosed in a clinical setting -- experiencing symptoms who are linked to a confirmed COVID-19 case, among other criteria. Other figures Wednesday: -The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ohio decreased by 107 to 2,379. -11.3% of PCR and molecular coronavirus tests came back positive on Monday, the most recent day for positivity data. The seven-day rolling average positivity from Monday is 8%. More coverage: Ohio senator leaves committee meeting, after unmasked members of public change the socially distant seating arrangement Residents of 5 Northeast Ohio nursing homes to be revaccinated for coronavirus due to potential temperature issues in storage 3,657 new coronavirus cases reported, 106 more deaths: Tuesday update Gov. Mike DeWine recognizes Black History Month by incorrectly recycling proclamation from 2020 Read the Ohio coronavirus public health order reducing the overnight curfew by 1 hour 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. Passengers wait at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi to board a flight to Japan's Tokyo, September 19, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. Vietnam has overtaken China as the nation with the highest number of workers in Japan despite pandemic impacts. The number of Vietnamese workers in Japan last year reached 443,998, accounting for the largest number of foreign employees, according to 2020 statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. They were followed by the Chinese with 419,431 and the Filipinos with 184,750. Despite the travel restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 crisis, Japan also reported a record 1.72 million foreign nationals working in the country last year, up 4 percent year-on-year. In March last year, Japan stopped accepting Vietnamese guest workers as the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out. In October it eased travel restrictions on Vietnamese and some other nationals in a bid to revive its battered economy, allowing non-tourist arrivals. Its embassy in Vietnam started to issue visas in late November for short-term commercial purposes such as market research, negotiations and signing contracts, cultural exchanges, training programs, and long-term stays. But on December 28, Japan stopped new entries to halt the spread of new coronavirus variants that were spreading in the U.K., South Africa and other regions. The number of Vietnamese workers going abroad last year was around 78,000, two times lower than in 2019, according to Vietnam's Overseas Labor Department. While a lot of peoples attention will be focused on Tampa, Florida this weekend for the Super Bowl, there will be a host of fun activities to do before the big game around Central New York. The Delicious Downtown Deals program is underway and Syracuse Stage has a new play dealing with the Los Angeles riots of 1992. There are also virtual events from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, the Erie Canal Museum and the Syracuse City Ballet. Know of an event you would like to see on this list? Email us at features@syracuse.com. - "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992" will be streaming from Syracuse Stage from Feb. 3-14, 2021. Courtesy of Syracuse StageCourtesy of Syracuse Stage Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 Presented by Syracuse Stage, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 used 350 interviews which allowed writer Anna Deavere Smith to create a mosaic of four dozen characters which tell the story around the riots which affected South Central Los Angeles in 1992 following the acquittal of police officers accused of the beating of Rodney King. First performed in 1994, Twilight remains a stunning, insightful, and relevant piece of work. The production will be available to be streamed from home, from Feb. 3 through the 14th. You can watch it multiple times over a 48-hour period. Tickets can be purchased at syracusestage.org. Where: Virtual play from Syracuse Stage When: Feb. 3-14 How much: Individual ticket costs $30, $60 for households. Pita Dream, Syracuse, N.Y. (Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gmail.com)Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gma Delicious Downtown Deals Syracuse Downtown Dining Week this year will last all month! Running now through Feb. 28, this years event, Delicious Downtown Deals, coordinated by the Downtown Committee of Syracuse and Visions Federal Credit Union will allow each restaurant to make their own specials. There will 43 local restaurants participating, including those at the new Salt City Market. Visit https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/cu/p5TZB28 for a list of who is participating and what they are offering. Where: Downtown dining event When: Now through Feb. 28 How much: Each participating restaurant will be offering their own specials. Galentines Celebrations The Wildflowers Armory and the McCarthy Mercantile will be celebrating the platonic love that exists among lady-friends this weekend and next. This Galentines Day celebration will feature pop-up vendors, photo-booths, special sales, and samples. It will be the like the Lilith Fair minus the angst the events Facebook page reads. Where: 217 South Salina Street, Syracuse When: Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 6-7 and 13-14, from noon to 5 p.m. How much: Free On Friday, Feb. 5, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum's "Back History Matters" virtual courses study the abolition of slavery in New York State in 1827. Black History Matters Black History Month began this week and to celebrate the occasion The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro launched a new series of virtual daily crash courses. Entitled, Black History Matters, the series includes 28 short videos which address various aspects of Black American history and culture and provide critical context for the ongoing racial justice movements and the persistence of racism in America. The videos will be released on the Hall of Fame and Museums YouTube channel daily and will be shared on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Where: Virtual videos for Black History Month When: A new video will be posted every day in February How much: Free Virtual Sake Tasting Explore art and sake in the warmth and comfort of your own home thanks to the Everson Museum of Art. Join Jim Beckman, Regional Vice President of the American Wine Society, and Garth Johnson the Everson Museum of Arts Curator of Ceramics as they pair sake selections from Japan and ceramics. To maximize your enjoyment, it is suggested that purchase some recommended brands of sake (Tozai Junmai Nigori, Shiokawa Yamahai Junmai Ginjo Genshu, and Hakutsura Junmai Daiginjo) to sip during the lively conversation. Event is free but you must register for this virtual event at everson.org. A Zoom link will be emailed. Where: Virtual sake tasting from Everson Museum When: Thursday, Feb. 4 from 6 p.m. How much: Free CNY SPCA auction Please join the CNY SPCA on its Facebook page for an amazing online auction. If interested in an item please select the picture and comment your bid below, highest bidder at the end wins. Simple as that! Bids begin on Thursday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Monday. Where: Online auction on Facebook When: Feb. 4-8 How much: Free Peter and the Wolf Gather around your favorite screen for the first offering in 2021 by the Syracuse City Ballet. The timeless family fairy tale, Peter and the Wolf, will be available for free from now until March 29, streaming from the ballets website. Dont miss this film choreographed by Aldo Santiago with cinematography by Felipe Panama. Visit syracusecityballet.com for the video. Where: Virtual film from the Syracuse City Ballet When: Anytime through March 29. How much: Free The Fertile Ground, Home of the Seneca The first in a series of talks hosted by the Erie Canal Museum which explores the impact of the canal on the Haudenosaunee and their foodways. Peter Jemison, Seneca artist, educator and advocate, will discuss the Senecas and their ancestral homeland in Western New York and the issue of food sovereignty. The virtual program is on Saturday, Feb. 6, from 1 p.m. Visit eriecanalmuseum.org for tickets and more information. Where: Virtual talk from Erie Canal Museum When: Saturday, Feb. 6, from 1-2 p.m. How much: $5 for members of the museum or Onondaga Historical Association, $10 for everyone else. Juvenile red pandas Ravi and Amiya frolick in the two feet of snow in their enclosure at Rosamond Gifford Zoo after a massive snowstorm buried much of Central New York. Photo by N. Scott Trimble | Post-Standard SYRSYR Virtual Family Twilight: Making Tracks Join the folks of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo virtually for an exploration of the clues left behind by the animals as they go about their daily lives. The program includes digital activities and additional suggestions which will make the experience come alive at home. The program is Friday, and you must preregister at reservations.rosamondgiffordzoo.org. Where: Virtual nature program When: Friday, Feb. 5, from 6-7:30 p.m. How much: $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Only one ticket per family is needed. Frank and Ali return Musicians Frank and Ali return to Sharkeys on Friday for a great evening of live music. State guidelines will be followed, and it is recommended that you call ahead ASAP, at (315) 214-4116, for a reservation. Once tables are gone, who will have to sit at the bar. No standing! Where: 7240 Oswego Road, Liverpool When: Friday, Feb. 5 from 6-9 p.m. How much: Free Lupercalia Virtual Craft Show This weekend watch crafters of a witchy kind, present their wares in a special Lupercalia event taking place on Facebook. Each local vendor, including Julies Cauldron and Silver Dove Creations, show off for 30 minutes about what makes them great, the services they offer, or do readings. Support small business and maybe win some cool giveaways. Where: Virtual craft show When: Saturday, Feb. 6 at 11 a.m. and Sunday, Feb. 7 from 3 p.m. How much: Free Fritzs Polka Band Fritzs Polka Band and special guest Al Piatkowski will perform be performing this Saturday at the Lafayette Optimist Club Winterfest. The event starts at noon and will be held outdoors at Stafford Park. Dress for the weather! Where: 2931 US Route 11, Lafayette When: Saturday, Feb. 6 from noon to 3 p.m. How much: Free Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 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. Food, Wine, & Dining, Local News, Business & Finance By Long Island Published: February 03 2021 With Valentines Day approaching Long Island-based Bobble Boss is shining its love light and trying to help save the only Grateful Dead bar on Long Island. With Valentines Day approaching Long Island-based Bobble Boss is shining its love light and trying to help save Beau's Bar, the only Grateful Dead bar on Long Island located at 54 Broadway in Greenlawn. Bobble Boss, a licensee of the Grateful Dead since 2017, will be donating $5 with each purchase of a Grateful Dead Bobblehead from its websites GratefulDeadGifts.com and BobbleheadBoss.com. In these uncertain times, one thing is certain and that is deadheads help each other when we can. says Andrew Hazen, CEO of Bobble Boss. Weve got to keep Beaus wheels turning and to help Beaus Bar, we are donating $5 with each Grateful Dead product we sell on our websites from now until the end of February. There is a GoFundMe page for Beaus Bar and my goal is to fill the remaining goal; lets do this! says Hazen. Bobble Boss design & manufacturers bobbleheads, figurines, ornaments and other collectibles. Its licenses include the Grateful Dead, NHL, Jimi Hendrix, Discovery Channel, Mario Andretti, Hulk Hogan, and more with the rights to create hundreds of characters. For more product info information please visit www.GratefulDeadGifts.com and www.BobbleheadBoss.com New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking to declare as illegal certain sections of the Representation of the People Act which disqualify candidates only in cases of criminal conviction and not under certain laws governing corruption. A bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud dismissed the writ petition to declare Sections 8 (1) and (e) of the Act as illegal and unconstitutional in so far as restricting disqualification of only to the extent of conviction.This petition cannot be entertained, the bench said. The special leave petition filed by petitioner PA Joseph, a Chennai resident, claimed that these provisions of the R P Act do not include punishments or penalties levied under laws like the Customs Act, 1962 and Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973. He referred to cases against AIADMK (Amma) faction leader TTV Dinakaran under FERA, including one in which a Rs 28 crore penalty has been slapped on him, questioning the provision in the Act which does not disqualify him from contesting elections. Parliament has no power to restrict the disqualification only to a criminal conviction and cannot defer disqualification of a person found guilty of the charge of contravention of FERA provisions, he submitted in the plea. Disposing of the petition, the Madras High Court had opined that the court cannot interfere with the policy matters of the government which were fully under the domain of the Executive. The plea sought interim injunction to restrain the Election Commission from accepting the candidature of persons against whom punishment or penalty under the Customs Act and FERA were imposed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Guwahati, Feb 3 : All government-run madrassas in Assam will be abolished and over 620 such institutions will be converted into general schools from April 1 onwards after a law passed to this effect by the state Assembly on December 30 got the Governors assent, Assam Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. An official of the Education Department said that Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi has given his assent to 'The Assam Repealing Act 2020' and with the enforcement of the said act, over 620 madrassas would be converted into general schools from April 1. However, the state government is yet to take any specific decision about hundreds of privately-run madrassas across Assam. Terming the development as "historic" and "progressive", Sarma said in a tweet: "Glad that The Assam Repealing Act 2020 has recieved the assent of Hon Governor & has come into effect. Madrassa Edu Provincialisation Act, 1995 and Assam Madrassa Education Act, 2018 stand repealed. All govt Madrassas will run as general education inst." Amid protests by the opposition parties, including the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front, the state Assembly had passed the Assam Repealing Bill 2020 on Decembr 30 last year, seeking to abolish the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018. Education department officials said that with the enforcement of the act, the State Madrassa Education Board in Assam would also be disbanded. The Education Minister had earlier said that the 97 government-run Sanskrit tols (centres of Vedic education) would also be shut as the government cannot fund religious education because it is a "secular entity". He had said that these 97 Sanskrit tols would be handed over to the Kumar Bhaskarvarma Sanskrit University. The tols will be converted into centres of learning and research where Indian culture, civilisation and nationalism will be studied. "Irrespective of religion, Indian culture, civilisation and nationalism will be taught in these converted educational institutions, making Assam the first Indian state to teach on these themes," Sarma told the media. Sarma had said that the state government had been spending Rs 260 crore annually for running the madrassas and "the government cannot spend public money for religious teaching". A survey conducted by a Gauhati University professor, who happens to be a Muslim, found that the parents and guardians of most madrassa students are not aware that their children are not taught regular subjects but imparted lessons mostly in theology. Sarma claimed that most Islamic scholars are also not in favour of madrassas run by the government, and added that these were a legacy of the Muslim League. The Education Minister had said that madrassa education had started in Assam in 1934 when Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla was the Prime Minister of Assam during the British regime. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg officially launched his bid for re-election Wednesday touting strides over the last two years toward combating the citys pervasive poverty as well as climate change against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a virtual event livestreamed on Facebook on Wednesday morning, Nirenberg acknowledged the pandemic has been a challenging time for all of us but implored voters to share his optimism about the citys future and to let him continue the work of his past two terms. I know were going to get San Antonio back on its feet, and its going to take all of us to do that, Nirenberg said while speaking in front of campaign signs at his headquarters. On ExpressNews.com: In mayoral rematch between Nirenberg and Brockhouse, San Antonios pandemic recovery and police reform will take center stage Nirenberg seeks a third term amid the health and economic woes wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic and a reckoning on the role of police after a summer of protests over racism and police brutality. So far, seven other candidates have formally thrown their hat into the ring to challenge the mayor. But ultimately, the race is expected to be a rematch between Nirenberg and former City Councilman Greg Brockhouse, who forced the mayor to a runoff in 2019 and nearly ousted him. Brockhouse hasnt filed for the seat but plans to hold his own virtual campaign launch on Saturday, per his Facebook page. On Wednesday, Nirenberg called on Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff as well an array of leaders in business, labor and faith to help him make the case for a third term. In a notable move, Wolff for the first time threw his weight behind Nirenberg with an endorsement. Wolff backed then-Mayor Ivy Taylor when Nirenberg challenged her in 2017 and stayed out of the 2019 matchup between Nirenberg and Brockhouse. The county judge took issue with key decisions in Nirenbergs first term, including the citys decision not to bid on the 2020 Republican National Convention. But the two men have grown closer in Nirenbergs second term first on a planned sales tax initiative to boost public transit, then on the city and countys response to the pandemic. For months, Nirenberg and Wolff have appeared side-by-side in nightly television briefings to give residents the latest on the local state of the virus. Hes actually provided dramatic leadership in this last year, Wolff said. Also making an appearance was Gordon Hartman, the philanthropist and real estate developer who founded Morgans Wonderland. Hartman had periodically been rumored as a potential challenger to Nirenberg from the business community, which has had a rocky relationship with the mayor. Now, Hartman is Nirenbergs finance chair overseeing the campaigns fundraising. Ron has been the calm, steady, and thoughtful leader that has brought the right amount of balance between the business community and all citizens, Hartman said. The mayor pointed to efforts to provide short-term economic relief to residents, including $255 million in city, state and federal money city leaders have put toward programs like housing assistance and business aid since the pandemic began last March. But much of Nirenbergs pitch to voters Wednesday focused on long-term initiatives to boost the citys economic viability. Among those initiatives was the launch of the Alamo Promise program, a plan to offer free community college to all seniors graduating from traditional public high schools in Bexar County. He also pointed to VIA Metropolitan Transits successful sales tax push for greater bus service which will begin in earnest five years from now. Nirenberg spotlighted what is perhaps his signature economic achievement over the past two years: the victory of a $154 million sales tax initiative at the November ballot box to pay for job training and college degrees for tens of thousands of residents over the next four years. That is Ron Nirenberg, Linda Chavez-Thompson, former executive vice president of the national AFL-CIO and an ally on the workforce initiative, said in pre-recorded remarks. That is what he helped to do in San Antonio. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio mayors race off to slow start as campaign dollars trickle in amid coronavirus pandemic The mayor also touted achievements on the environmental front, though activists have warned neither goes far enough to protect the environment or fight climate change. Before the pandemic, the City Council passed a set of goals aimed at reducing the citys carbon emissions a move that riled business groups who said it would harm companies bottom line. Nirenberg also cited a vote to continue the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, which buys land to prevent development over the aquifer recharge zone, for another 10 years using city dollars rather than the 1/8-cent sales that currently pays for aquifer protection but will soon pay for the workforce initiative. The aquifer program will continue at about half of its current funding a fact that has irritated the programs advocates, who say the $100 million envisioned over 10 years isnt enough. If my goals can be summed up with one word, it is to be healthy: to have a healthy city with healthy people, a healthy economy, healthy opportunities and a healthy future, Nirenberg said. Absent from the mayors remarks was any mention of police reform. Nirenberg has faced pressure from activists to move more swiftly to make changes to the citys policing, progress the mayor has argued the city has so far delivered. The accused U.S. Capitol rioter known as the QAnon Shaman whined to jail officials that he hasnt eaten in days because the food behind bars isnt organic, federal court papers show. Jacob Chansley, 33 who wore a pelt and horns in the halls of Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection, and later said he was betrayed by President Trump for not pardoning him claims he cant consume genetically modified organisms because of his religious beliefs. I have eaten only organic food for the past 8 years because of my being a shamanic practitioner ... this means no GMOs, Chansley wrote to the Washington, D.C. Department of Corrections on Jan. 27, court documents show. As a spiritual man I dont mind fasting for a few days, but five days is the longest I have ever gone without food, the Arizona man continued. I am hungry requesting a few organic canned vegetables ... If I have to go a week [without] food then so be it. Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, is seen at the Capital riots. Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, is seen at the Capital riots. (brent stirton/) Chansleys lawyer, Albert Watkins, filed an Emergency Motion for Sustenance in Washington D.C. federal court on Wednesday saying his client still hasnt taken a bite since being locked up. Based on Mr. Jacob Chansleys shamanic belief system and way of life, non-organic food, which contains unnatural chemicals, would act as an object intrusion onto his body and cause serious illness if he were to eat it, wrote the lawyer. Watkins also wrote that Mahatma Ghandi is Chansleys hero and role model, adding that his client admires the Indian lawyer and social activist for his peaceful, non-violent [approach] to achieve societal [often political] goals. FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 6 photo, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Jacob Chansley, center with fur hat, are confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 6 photo, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Jacob Chansley, center with fur hat, are confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/) Chansley was photographed sitting in the Senate chamber seat of Vice President Mike Pence while rioters stormed the Capitol. He was slapped with several charges, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and entering and remaining in a restricted area. EVINS rebrands Schaller & Weber, a purveyor of traditional German sausages and cuts. The agency will be responsible for developing the outreach strategy for the rebrand, as well as conducting all outward-facing communications efforts relating to the new packaging and brand identity being introduced. Founded in 1937, Schaller & Weber sells its products from a store in Manhattans Yorkville neighborhood, as well as online. Lou Hammond Group adds imaware, Russell Lands On Lake Martin and The Alida to its client roster. LHG will be providing public relations/corporate communications, strategic planning, branding and digital marketing for each of the clients. Imaware is a Texas-based digital health platform that gives users access to remote screening and monitoring of such conditions as COVID-19, cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer and autoimmune disorders. Russell Lands On Lake Martin operates numerous real estate entities and businesses that serve the Lake Martin, Alabama, area. The Alida is a 173-room hotel situated on River Street in Savannah, Georgias Warehouse District. TURNER signs up wellness brands Nuun and STEEZY Studio. For Nuun, which offers electrolyte tablets and powders, the agency will lead national PR, expanding the brands reach and highlighting its mission, values and product. STEEZY Studio, a dance technology company that provides curated virtual classes, has engaged TURNER to create and implement media and influencer strategy for the brand. In addition, the agency has grown its roster of hotel clients with the addition of Denvers The Rally Hotel as well as Tampas JW Marriott Tampa Water Street and its sister property, Tampa Marriott Water Street. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. 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. WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI Additional cases of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant within the University of Michigan community, Washtenaw County Health Department officials said. The variant strain, first found in a Washtenaw County woman who had traveled to the United Kingdom, where the virus originated, has now been identified in 21 people within the UM community, Washtenaw County Health Department Spokeswoman Susan Ringler-Cerniglia said. Since MDHHS announced the first case of the variant in Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 16, four variant cases also have been found in individuals living in Wayne County, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The B.1.1.7 variant appears to be more contagious but not necessarily more serious than the primary strain of COVID-19, health officials said. Based on current evidence, health officials also said the current COVID-19 vaccine is effective against this variant. Health officials are encouraging the public to double down on the same mitigation strategies that have been in use since the start of the pandemic. The new B.1.1.7 strain is still transmitted by droplets and aerosols, but experts say it seems to latch on tighter which makes it easier to cause infection. Wearing masks, avoiding crowds and maintaining social distancing must be used to prevent the spread of the variant, officials said. Health officials have always urged testing, but said its especially important now because of the way this variant spreads. While presence of this variant is detected with current testing methods, additional sequencing is needed to distinguish it from other more common COVID-19 variants circulating in the community, officials said. The Washtenaw County Health Department, MDHHS and the University of Michigan are working closely to implement additional containment strategies to slow the spread of the variant, officials said. READ MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: What Michiganders should know about new coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 Three more COVID-19 variant cases identified in Michigan, health leaders urge testing Washtenaw County Health Department offering no-cost COVID-19 testing at Pioneer High School Sunday A woman arrested for breaching Covid-19 travel restrictions told the court that she had no address and she travelled the country for special work. After hearing from the defendant, Judge Kevin Kilrane said he could not release her. She is travelling up and down the country, he said. She has no address. I can only conclude that she intends to continue her present line of business. Czechian national Zdenka Weisshauptova, 50, of no fixed abode was arrested on Tuesday at Sligo Bus Station from where she intended to travel to Bundoran. She was brought before Wednesdays sitting of Donegal District Court. As well as being charged with breaching Covid-19 travel restrictions having left her place of residence without reasonable excuse, Weisshauptova was also charged with failing to state her name and address. Both charges occurred at Sligo Bus Station, Great Edward Street, Sligo on February 2. Garda Joe Evans gave evidence of having found the woman at the bus station while she was en route to Bundoran. He said that the previous day, she had been in Dundalk and Enniskillen. She goes from town to town, said the garda, adding: She is not an essential worker. The court heard that the defendant had been in Ireland for around six years and had lived in Cork and Omagh. Judge Kilrane asked the defendant: What is all this about, travelling around the country? Weisshauptova replied: I am working. When pressed on the nature of her work, all she would say was: Special work. The judge said: Well, you had better take your special work elsewhere. Inspector David Durkin told the court that gardai had no objection to bail in principle, but were concerned about the lack of address. When asked what her most recent address was, Weisshauptova said she had rented a room in Manorhamilton for two months because of the Covid, but she had to leave. It didnt work well for the second person in the house, she said. Judge Kilrane sentenced the defendant to four months in prison for breach of the travel convictions. He said: It is clear that this lady is working in the state for the last number of years and the nature of her work takes her from room to room and house to house. She had on her person 275 so it appears that her work sustains her. The problem is that she is travelling all over the country. This defies all rules. The country is suffering economically and in human terms and in health terms because of the pandemic. I can only assume that if this lady is allowed to continue her trade, she is endangering people all over the country. The judge said he would wait two days before signing the warrant for Weisshauptovas imprisonment. He had earlier indicated that with a guilty plea and an address, he would consider releasing her. Anthony Pastore is presented the Veteran of the Year plaque on Veterans Day last November. Pittsfield Community Remembers Life of Veteran Anthony Pastore Anthony Pastore PITTSFIELD, Mass. World War II veteran Anthony Pastore could always be counted on to sing the "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Memorial and Veterans Day events, and anytime his services were called on for his fellow veterans. Now a recording of his voice singing the national anthem will be used to memorialize his own passing on Friday at the age of 96. "He never turned us down," said VFW Post 448 Commander Arnold Perras. "Even if he didn't feel good or it was cold, it was 10-below zero, sometimes on Pearl Harbor Day." Pastore is remembered by the community for his dedication, kind disposition, and musical talents, particularly in singing the national anthem at so many public events for more than four decades. "Every time I saw him and right up to the last time I saw him in November, he would pull me in tight and remind me of conversations we had through the years," state Sen. Adam Hinds said. "This year, he reminded me of a conversation we had six years earlier on his porch. He was just capable of making everyone feel special and cared for. Such a loss for the community." Pastore was very active in veteran organizations as a life member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 448, a 50-year member of American Legion Post 68, and vice commander and then commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 15. On Veterans Day in November, Pastore was honored as Veteran of the Year on behalf of the Berkshire Veterans Coalition for serving his country in the highest military tradition and continuing to serve the community long after taking off his uniform. He was presented with a plaque and his name will be engraved on a bench of honor in the Veterans Memorial Park on South Street. "I attend as many veteran events as possible and as always, Mr. Pastore is singing the national anthem," former City Councilor Melissa Mazzeo said. "As he got up in age, I would call to check up on him and left my cell number with him. One day my phone rang and my daughter happened to answer, he told her that he was calling to check in on me. My daughter Mia and I drove over to his house for a visit and it was amazing. He just wanted company and we were so honored that he called us. He was such a gentleman and his service to the country and community are a true testament to his character. I will never hear our national anthem again without thinking of him." Known lovingly as "Tony" by friends, family, and community members, Pastore had an honorable military career. His awards include the European Africa Middle East Ribbon with five battle stars, the Presidential Unit Citation with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Fourragere American Theater Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal with one silver battle star, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. Pastore was born and raised in Pittsfield, attending local schools. He enlisted in the Army on March 24, 1943, at the age of 18, following his brothers Chief Petty Officer Michele Pastore and Sgt. Joseph A. Pastore of the 16th Medical Regiment to active duty at Fort Devens. From there he went to Miami Beach, Fla., for basic training and attended Aircraft Mechanic School in Boston. He eventually found himself in the middle of World War II, during which he saw action in North Africa, Italy, Germany, and France. Following the Allies' victory in Europe, Pastore was preparing for action in the Pacific Theater. "A short time later, I was sent to Marseille to join a bunch of soldiers from ground and air units to get ready to go to Japan as reinforcements for our boys and girls in Pacific ...," Pastore wrote in an autobiography for the acceptance of Veteran of the Year. "But President Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs to persuade the Japanese to quit and end the war ... it worked... we did not go to Japan and after a trip home on a Victory Ship, Pastore was discharged on 8 Dec. 1945. Amen." But after a few years of civilian life, he joined the Air Force on Jan. 17, 1948, and trained in radio repairs and guided missile systems. He was discharged on Jul. 7, 1949. Following his final discharge, he was employed in General Electric's Naval Department as a test man in the Torpedo Division and later transferred to the Transformer Department. He was employed as a truck driver for Sam Carr Hardware, as a laborer in Pittsfield's Water Department and then in 1960 started his own business, Pastore Service Center, a gas station and variety store that also specialized in TV and auto repair. The business ran for 12 years, closing in 1977 and Pastore became parts manager for the Battery Mart in Troy, N.Y., and then returned to Pittsfield in 1981 to work in the parts department at the former Arace Auto. Petricca Construction was Pastore's final employer before his retirement in 1992, though retirement did not slow him down. In addition to his memberships at the American Legion and VFW, he was a communicant of St. Mark's Church and a former member of the Sons of Italy ITAM Lodge 564. He also completed a wide array of educational endeavors. In addition to his diploma from the New England Aircraft Radio and Transmitter School, Pastore completed business college courses and graduated from the Phil Saltman Music School in Boston and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied classical voice. Pastore was a cantor and sang in the St. Mark's Choir and also cantor at the former St. Mary's Church on Tyler Street and the former St. Theresa's on South Street. Since 1980, Pastore has honored his fellow veterans by singing the national anthem at military functions. In his biographical note, he told of leaving one of the jobs he held in between enlistments because of the employer's lack of appreciation for his musical stylings, telling him, "this wasn't a night club so please don't sing." "I've known Tony for about four years, I wish it was longer, but they were great years," Joseph Difilippo of the VFW Post 448 said. Pastore's life will be celebrated by via a livestream of his funeral service on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 11 a.m. on Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Home's Facebook page. Perras said a recording of Pastore singing the national anthem at the 9/11 observances last year will be played and veterans attending the graveside service will march by one by one and do a final salute. Alabama currently has three confirmed cases of the UK coronavirus variant in both Montgomery and Jefferson County. So far, none have been confirmed in North Alabama, but Huntsville Hospital said they are not screening patients for any variants. Down in Birmingham, the Director of UAB's Division of Infectious diseases, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, said she would not be shocked if the South African and Brazil variants also made their way into our state. "Whether these variants are a concern for the people of Alabama, absolutely," Marrazzo said. "I think anybody who is walking on the Earth should be concerned about these variants." She said the reason why we have not had more confirmed cases of COVID variants is because of the lack of sampling. Right now, the CDC does not have a set method for screening variants since it's focused on vaccine distribution. Marrazzo said she does believe it is planning on creating a system in the near future. "The UK as you know, has a fantastic system of sampling virus in the community and doing sequencing to genetically characterize these viruses," Marrazzo said. "We're not doing that in the United States, by and large, and we're only doing that here because our laboratory at UAB selected patients to take a look." UAB chose to look at patients that were immunocompromised, failing treatments, or got infected right after receiving the COVID vaccine. That is when scientists discovered at least three cases last week. Marrazzo believes it was inevitable even with travel restrictions in place. "You know, at this point, the horse is out of the farm," Marrazzo said. On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci added the only way to stop these mutations of the virus is to stop the spread. "Which means that we need to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we possibly can," Fauci said. With Alabama falling behind on vaccine rollout, Marrazzo encourages people to stay vigilant until you are able to get the vaccine. "The implications are the same as for every American, you got to be concerned about it, you gotta do what you can to not get COVID period and you gotta vaccinate as soon as you can," Marrazzo said. Fortunately, as of right now, it seems COVID treatments are still effective for treating the UK variant, according to Marrazzo. Early research also shows the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are effective against the variants. Both companies are working to create booster shots for these variants and could start trials as early as March. Ukraine is interested in cooperation with Finland in combating hybrid threats in order to increase resilience to information and military challenges. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar said this at a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Finland to Ukraine Paivi Laine, the Foreign Ministrys press service reported. "Vasyl Bodnar expressed the interest of the Ukrainian side in intensifying cooperation with the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki and exchanging experience in this area. The parties agreed that this cooperation would promote better resilience to information and military threats," the statement reads. The parties discussed the ways to step up political dialogue between Ukraine and Finland, in particular holding in the near future of bilateral political consultations between the two foreign ministries, as well as cooperation in the framework of the international organizations. ish New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Delhi Police on Wednesday announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for information on Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh, and Rs 50,000 each on Jajbir Singh, Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Iqbal Singh for their alleged involvement in the January 26 violence. The Punjabi actor turned activist Deep Sidhu earlier uploaded a video on his verified Facebook account even as teams of Delhi Police were conducting raids in Punjab to track him down. In the video he is seen talking in Punjabi and claims he has not done anything wrong. Sidhu is wanted in the Red fort violence case that broke out on January 26. In a 15 minute-long video message on January 31, titled 'straight from my soul' on his verified Facebook page, he is seen giving an emotional statement: "Despite leaving my whole life behind, I came to join the Punjabis in their protest. But nobody saw anything but I was labelled a traitor. "All I did was raise a voice for your rights. For so many months, I've been meeting everyone on roads, in tents. Now a single man is being made a traitor," he was heard saying. Within two hours of uploading, it was viewed 19,000 times and received 11,000 comments. After the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on January 26, the Delhi Police have arrested 122 persons in various cases of rioting and causing damage to public property, besides registering 44 cases at different police stations. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Centre on February 3 came heavily upon the international artists and activists who have commented on the Farmers protest going on in the country since last few months. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its statement asked foreign individuals and entities to ascertain facts and undertake a proper understanding of the farmers protest before rushing to comment on it. Emphasizing that these protests must be seen in the context of Indias democratic ethos and polity. The ministry said it would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of Indias democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible, the ministry said. The statement was released after international pop star Rihanna and teen climate activist Greta Thunberg come out in support of the farmers' protest against the Centre's new agriculture reform laws. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Rihanna has shared a news article highlighting the Centre's crackdown on the farmers by cutting off internet services in many regions. "Why aren't we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest Rihanna has tweeted. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Thunberg has tweeted. The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming, the MEAs statement said. It further said that a very small section of farmers in parts of India have some reservations about these reforms. Respecting the sentiments of the protestors, the Government of India has initiated a series of talks with their representatives, it said. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the farmers' protest Yet, it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them, said the statement. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various Delhi border points for over two months against the agri reform laws. Two women who were held captive, raped, and tortured by a sadistic preacher who fed them the remains of one of his victims have opened up about the horrors they endured in his home. Gary Heidnik, the man who partly inspired the character of serial killer Buffalo Bill in 1991 movie The Silence of the Lambs, kidnapped a total of six women Josefina Rivera, 25, Sandra Lindsay, 24, Lisa Thomas, 19, Deborah Dudley, 23, Jacqueline Askins, 18, and Agnes Adams, 24 between November 1986 and March 1987. Now in a new Oxygen special 'Monster Preacher,' two of his surviving victims, Rivera and Askins, have detailed how they were manipulated, pitted against each other, and viciously abused by Heidnik before escaping his 'house of horrors.' Scroll down for video Monster: Gary Heidnik, a self-ordained preacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, kidnapped a total of six black women from November 1986 to March 1987 Victims: He kept Josefina Rivera, Agnes Adams, Sandra Lindsay (top), Jacqueline Askins, Deborah Dudley, and Lisa Thomas (bottom) chained in a hole in his basement Rivera, who was working as a prostitute at the time, was the first woman Heidnik had abducted. On November 25, 1986, he asked her to go back to his home, where he choked her and put her in handcuffs. Heidnik then led her down to the hole he had dug in his basement under the concrete floor, chaining her to a sewer pipe. He covered the hole with plywood and put filled plastic bags on top. Jerry L. Jennings, a psychologist and author of Breaking the Silence of the Lambs, explained in the special that Heidnik's 'idea was to kidnap women and create this harem off sexual slaves that he would impregnate them and have all these children.' Heidnik, who self-ordained himself a bishop and started the United Church of the Ministers of God, portrayed himself as a religious man in the local community. 'He would actually have church services on the first floor of his house while girls were in his basement chained together,' Charles Peruto Jr., the preacher's defense attorney, told producers. Heidnik would rape and beat the women daily. By January 1987, he had kidnapped a total of five women, with Askins becoming his youngest and most recent captive. Askins, who was a prostitute at the time, recalled how Heidnik took her out to dinner and tricked her into letting her guard down before he took her back to his home. She was playing a video game when he came up from behind her and grabbed her neck. Looking back: Rivera (left) and Askins (right) detailed how Heidnik raped and tortured daily during Oxygen's new special 'Monster Preacher' She said he handcuffed her and brought her to the basement where she saw the other women, recalling how one was crying. Rivera told her to stop screaming, promising that she would get her out eventually, but Askins didn't want to wait. After Heidnik beat her and ignored her pleas to go home, she realized he was never going to let her leave. 'Everybody had a chain that was separated, like, 30 paces apart so that it was big enough where he can get between us to have sex and we could walk around,' Askins recalled. After Lindsay's family knocked on his door, he forced her to write a letter to them saying she was safe and headed to York, Pennsylvania, to throw them off the scent. 'He had on these rubber gloves and he had this pen, paper, and envelope and he told Sandra, "OK, you're going to sit down and write this letter,' Rivera recalled. 'He told Sandra to make sure she touched the whole paper so her prints would be on it. Then he made her do the envelope the same way and he made her lick the envelope himself.' Heidnik drove to New York to mail the letter to deter Lindsay's family from trying to come back to his house looking for her. Facade: Heidnik, who self-ordained himself as a bishop and started the United Church of the Ministers of God, portrayed himself as a religious man in the local community Brazen: Heindik would hold church services on the first floor of his home while his victims were locked in the basement 'He was gone for a long time, like hours. We heard the car when it left and then we heard the car when it came back,' Rivera said. 'There were times where we were in the hole for hours, and the thing was, what if something happened to him while he was out? Who was going to find us then?' When he came back, she told him that she knew how long he was gone for, which made him realize that they were aware when he was coming in and out of the house. 'I remember him saying, "Well, I have a solution for that." He went back upstairs and then he came downstairs to the basement. He had a Phillips screwdriver. He said, "I'm just going to dig everybody's eardrums out."' Heidnik proceeded to jab their ears with the screwdriver to try to puncture their eardrums to prevent them from hearing him. He didn't just physically torture the women, but he also manipulated them and pit them against each other, with Rivera ingratiating herself as his favorite. 'Josefina was the only victim who was clever enough to know that he was constantly gonna be watching her,' Peruto explained. 'So Josefina would discipline the girls when Gary wasn't there. She convinced Gary Heidnik that she was his ally, that she would help him.' On Rivera's birthday, Heidnik surprised her with cake and slippers as a gift. She recalled how they all had Chinese food and cake together, admitting she hasn't had a birthday party since. Horrific: Heidnik had dug a hole in his basement that he covered with plywood. When he ran out of room, he chained some of the women around the basement Criminal: Neighbors complained of a horrible smell after Lindsay died in Heidnik's basement, but he told police officers he burned a roast It was at that moment that she realized that he liked her, and she could use that to her advantage, but the other women felt she was on his side. Lindsay was the first of the women to die from a combination of starvation, torture, and untreated fever at the hands of their captor. Both Rivera and Askins recalled how Heidnik thought Lindsay was pregnant and was angry that she wouldn't eat. He had handcuffed her wrist to a ceiling rafter near the hole in the basement for days while he beat her and tried to get her to eat. When she started choking, he ran upstairs to get the keys and once he released her handcuffs, her body dropped to the ground. 'She was gone,' Rivera said. Heidnik chopped up Lindsay's body and started cooking it. At one point, he brought Dudley upstairs to show her Lindsay's head in a pot and her ribs in a roasting pan, warning her that if she didn't get in line, she would be next. The smell was horrible and led to neighbors complaining, but when police officers stopped by the house, he claimed he had burned a roast and they left him alone without further question. Heidnik blended Lindsay's remains with dog food in a food processor and then fed it to the women in his basement. 'Next thing I know, he came into the basement with some rice and dog food,' Askins recounted. 'That big piece of meat on there, I didn't know what it was, and then I realized that the whole time he was upstairs burning Sandy, cooking her so he can dismember her body. 'If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here,' she admitted. ''Cause I ate her.' Under duress: Heidnik didn't just physically torture the women, but he also manipulated them and pit them against each other, with Rivera (pictured) ingratiating herself as his favorite Torture: Rivera recalled how Heidnik jabbed their ears with a screwdriver to try to puncture their eardrums to prevent them from hearing him leave the house Still angry: Askins said she thought Rivera was in cahoots with Heidnik, saying she was just as bad as he was Askins said Rivera would side with Heidnik and report that the other women were yelling and screaming to ensure he would beat them instead of her. Rivera was allowed to go upstairs and take a bath at this point. The women wanted her to grab a knife and bring it to the basement so they could attack Heidnik, but she ended up telling him what was going on. She explained that the plan was 'ridiculous' because he never brought the keys down to the basement, and they would just end up stuck downstairs with a dead body. She said she had a plan of her own, but she didn't confide in the other women because she didn't want them telling Heidnik. Two months after Lindsay's death, Heidnik filled the hole in the basement with water and had Dudley stand in it. He gave Rivera live wire and had her touch Dudley's chains to electrocute her while she was in the pit. 'His thing was, it would give them an electric jolt, which would make them behave, like some kind of shock therapy. Then he had me do it,' Rivera said, recalling how she screamed for Heidnik when Dudley died shortly after. 'Rivera, she killed Debbie,' Askins said. 'We all could have gotten out of there alive. There was a lot of stuff she did that she didn't have to do. I just thought she took on her serial killer ideal too. Heidnik made Rivera sign a letter saying they had electrocuted Dudley together, which led him to release her from her shackles. He felt that she wouldn't turn on him because they would both go to jail. Cannibalism: Askins said Heidnik cooked Lindsay's dead body and blended it with dog food before feeding it to her and his other captives Ending it: Rivera convinced Heidnik that she was on his side, and he allowed her to visit her family, giving her the opportunity to call the cops Caught: After Rivera escaped, Heidnik was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of kidnapping and torture Askins said Rivera 'got to walk around the house freely' because she 'had killed Debbie,' but that's now how she saw it. 'I was free, but I wasn't free because these other girls were still in the basement,' Rivera explained. 'Even if I get away, the first thing he's gonna do is get rid of them. 'Cause that's all the evidence.' Heidnik took Rivera to the woods to bury Dudley's body, thinking they were now on the same side. When they returned, he told her he wanted her to help him find another woman to replace Dudley. Rivera said she agreed on the condition that he would take her to see her family after and he went for it. She helped him kidnap Adams, a prostitute he knew. 'Rivera went and got her and brought her in that basement,' Askins said, recalling how her fellow captive was rewarded with gifts and Heidnik's trust. Askins insisted she could never do that to another woman, but Rivera said it was all part of her plan to get them out of the basement together. 'I remember I came down them couple steps and leaned over the banister, and they all looked up at me,' she said. 'The expression on their faces...it was breaking my heart that I couldn't say to them that the only reason I didn't run was the fact that they were still there.' Peruta noted that Rivera 'did whatever was necessary for survival.' Killer: Dudley's body was found int he woods in March 1987 after Heidnik buried her there Case: Heidnik pleaded insanity, and his lawyer tried to convince the jury that Rivera was the mastermind feeding into his delusions Over: Heidnik was convicted and give the death sentence in 1988, becoming the last person in Pennsylvania to be executed In April 1987, Rivera convinced Heidnik to let her go see her family and wait at a gas station until she returned. She called the police instead. They didn't believe her until they saw the marks and bruises on her ankles where she was chained. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of kidnapping and torture. Peruta tried convincing the jury that Heidnik was insane and that Rivera was the mastermind feeding into his delusions. 'It really baffles me because I risked my life to save yours,' Rivera said of the other women seeing her as culpable as Heidnik. In 1988, Heidnik was given the death sentence and became the last person in Pennsylvania to be executed as Askins and others watched him die by lethal injection. 'It didn't bring no closure,' Askins said, while Rivera noted: 'I would have preferred for him to stay in jail because that would have been more of a suffering.' The special ended with Rivera and Askins reuniting for the first time in 30 years to clear the air. Askins admitted she thought Rivera was in cahoots with Heidnik and recalled how she was fed misinformation about her involvement in the crimes. Rivera insisted that she was a victim; her goal was always to get all of them out of the basement together. 'I wish we could've said this 30 years ago,' Askins said. 'It would've probably made a lot of difference,' Rivera agreed. State Track: Arrows' Mack and Heesch among six area event winners on opening day Watertown seniors Cooper Mack and Maggie Heesch and four other area athletes notched event wins Friday during the opening day of the 2021 State High School Track and Field Meet. OTTAWA - The Trudeau government has added the Proud Boys and three other extreme right-wing groups to its list of terrorist organizations as it seeks to tackle the sort of neo-fascism and white nationalism that boiled over in the U.S. last month. In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, people march with those who say they are members of the Proud Boys as they attend a rally in Washington in support of President Donald Trump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Carolyn Kaster, OTTAWA - The Trudeau government has added the Proud Boys and three other extreme right-wing groups to its list of terrorist organizations as it seeks to tackle the sort of neo-fascism and white nationalism that boiled over in the U.S. last month. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Wednesday that the four right-wing groups are among 13 additions to the list along with three groups linked to al-Qaida, four associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and one Kashmiri organization. Groups on Canada's roster of terrorist entities, created after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, may have their assets seized, and there are serious criminal penalties for helping listed organizations carry out extremist activities. The decision to add the Proud Boys had been anticipated after the storming of Capitol Hill in Washington last month focused a spotlight on the group and Blair confirmed Canadian authorities were looking into its activities. The House of Commons then passed an NDP motion calling on the government to use all available tools to address the proliferation of white supremacists and hate groups, starting with designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity. Blair on Wednesday repeatedly denied any political influence in the decision to list the Proud Boys and three other right-wing extremist organizations, which officials have lumped under the catch-all term ideologically motivated violent extremist groups. This process of listing a terrorist entity cannot be political, Blair said during a news conference. It has to be based entirely on evidence, intelligence and the law. And that's why Ive tried very carefully to articulate the depth of gathering that evidence and intelligence that has been taking place over several months and even years. Canadas decision to list the Proud Boys resonated in Washington, where White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. would await the results of an ongoing intelligence assessment of domestic terror threats before deciding whether to follow suit. "We of course have a review underway, a domestic violent extremism review thats underway by our national security team to take a look at violence and this type of concerning group activity across the country, Psaki told the daily media briefing. "I expect we will wait for that review to conclude before we make any determinations." The other three right-wing extremist groups added Wednesday were The Base, the Atomwaffen Division and the Russian Imperial Movement, all of which are described as neo-Nazi and white-supremacy organizations. The listing process begins with intelligence reports that provide reason to believe an organization has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity. If the public safety minister believes the threshold is met, the minister may recommend to the federal cabinet that the organization be added to the list. The listing is then published if the cabinet agrees with the recommendation. A listed group is not banned, nor is it a crime to be on the roster. However, the group's assets and property are effectively frozen and subject to seizure or forfeiture. Canada previously placed two right-wing extremist groups on the list in 2019: Blood and Honour, which is an international neo-Nazi network, and its armed branch, Combat 18. They joined more than 50 other listed organizations including al-Qaida, the Islamic State militant group, Boko Haram and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Senior officials speaking on background ahead of Blairs announcement said authorities had been monitoring and collecting evidence about the Proud Boys and other right-wing extremist groups before the Capitol Hill attack on Jan. 6. But both they and the minister confirmed that the event provided information that helped with the decision to list the Proud Boys, which first rose to prominence in Canada when several members interrupted an Indigenous protest in Halifax in 2017. They said Canada is the first country to put the Proud Boys on such a list. Blair went on to list a number of other incidents in the United States in recent years when right-wing extremists and white supremacists participated in violent demonstrations or other incidents. "On several different occasions we have seen the tragic results that this type of extremism can bring to Canadian soil," he added, giving the shooting deaths of six Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City in January 2017 as an example. "The threat of ideologically motivated extremism has been identified as the most significant threat to domestic security in Canada." The National Council of Canadian Muslims as well as the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs were among those welcoming the addition of the four right-wing extremist groups on Wednesday. Yet the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group urged officials to find more democratic and transparent means to deal with such organizations, saying the terror list threatens the basic principles of justice. This law and others have been decried by legal experts, civil liberties organizations, and racial justice advocates as threatening the fundamental rights of Canadians and people in Canada, and perpetuating the racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia inherent to the War on Terror, the ICLMG wrote in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who had been pushing for the Proud Boys to be designated a terrorist group, welcomed the new listings while acknowledging concerns about Canadas terror laws. "They have been historically used to marginalize, unjustly, some of the people that are most marginalized, and that is a real critique that's been raised by a number of human rights groups and civil rights groups," he said. "Moving forward, we need to change our approach with the outcome of dismantling these (extremist) groups, and the best tools to achieve that should be used." Blair similarly acknowledged concerns around the terror laws, but added: I want to assure those who very much care about civil liberties that our government does too. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021. with files from James McCarten in Washington, D.C. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version suggested the riots on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., took place earlier this month instead of in January. There are three cases of COVID-19 in managed isolation to report in New Zealand. In today's Ministry of Health media statement, a spokesperson says one of these cases is classified as historical and deemed not infectious. There are no new cases in the community. "Two cases which were reported yesterday have been reclassified as Under Investigation, as they are likely to be historical cases which may have previously been reported overseas." New border case details Arrival date From Via Positive test day/reason Managed isolation/quarantine location 29 Jan TBC Singapore Around day 3 / routine testing Auckland 1 Feb USA Around day 0/1 routine testing Christchurch 24 Jan *Indonesia Shore leave / departure swab On Ship The above case from Indonesia is a historical case. This person did not leave the ship prior to being tested. They were tested to be able to depart this ship, says the MOH. "Twelve previously reported cases have now recovered. "The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 61. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1952." The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,541,701. On Tuesday, 4106 tests were processed. The seven-day rolling average up to yesterday is 5342 tests processed. NZ COVID Tracer NZ COVID Tracer now has 2,549,183 registered users, says the MOH. "Poster scans have reached 168,916,758 and users have created 6,933,029 manual diary entries. "Since midday yesterday New Zealanders have scanned 692,042 times. The seven day rolling average number of scans is 1,052,430. "We thank all New Zealanders for their efforts to scan, scan, scan." (@FahadShabbir) SYDNEY, Feb. 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :The bushfire at east of Perth, capital of the state of Western Australia (WA), destroyed more than 70 homes but there was no evidence of any life loss so far, local authorities said on Wednesday. Although an approaching cyclone might bring heavy rain to Perth, the relief was believed to be still days away and the adverse conditions were expected to worsen before that and might threaten more homes and lives. "That is a concern ahead of some difficult conditions today where we're going to see the wind shift to the southeast and that'll bring that northern flank under pressure," WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) Commissioner Darren Klemm said. "We're into day three in this fire. And it is going to continue to be a challenging fire for at least the next three, four or five days," he said. The bushfire aggravated the predicament Perth was facing as the city just plunged into a strict 5-day COVID-19 lockdown triggered by a local case of the mutated virus found in Britain. Over 200 firefighters were working in the field day and night trying to contain the blaze, which had already burned through more than 9,400 hectares of land. Vinton On February 2, 2021, shortly before 9:00 p.m., Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop D responded to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 about 3 miles east of the Texas state line in Calcasieu Parish. The crash claimed the life of 3-year-old toddler. The preliminary investigation revealed a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, driven by 41-year-old Blaine Keith Lecompte of Lake Charles, was traveling west on I-10 in the right lane. For reasons still under investigation, Lecompte failed to reduce his speed and struck the rear of a 1993 Peterbilt 18-wheeler in front of him that was slowing to a stop due to traffic congestion. The impact caused the Jeep to become lodged underneath the trailer of the 18-wheeler. The toddler, who was not properly restrained, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, front seat passenger, and another juvenile passenger in the Jeep were all properly restrained and sustained minor to moderate injuries. The driver of the 18-wheeler was properly restrained and not injured. Lecompte was charged with DWI with child endangerment, first degree negligent injuring, no child restraint, suspended drivers license, and careless operation. Additional charges are possible. Toxicology samples were obtained from Lecompte and submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Up to 30 mph winds could lash the midstate on an already below-freezing Wednesday, but, hey, at least its not snowing for once. Nearly every other day in the National Weather Services seven-day forecast shows snow or rain. Although Wednesday will be quite windy, forecasters said itll also be sunny with temperatures just breaking into the 30s. More sunshine is in the forecast Thursday before a chance of freezing rain overnight, followed by rain and snow, according to the NWS. Rain and snow showers are likely to continue through Friday morning, forecasters said. Little to no snow accumulation is expected. Exactly how much snow could accumulate in central Pennsylvania this weekend remains to be seen. The NWS told PennLive it does not make snowfall predictions more than 72 hours away from a potential storm. As of Wednesday morning, there is a 40% chance of snow on Sunday. However, forecasters said residents should brace themselves for bitter cold thats worsened by more than 20 mph winds early next week. Overnight Saturday temperatures range from about 10 to 20 degrees. Sundays wind chill could be around 15, and Mondays near zero, the NWS said. Up to 25 mph winds are possible Monday. The weekends forecast is subject to change, and the NWS is encouraging residents to monitor the situation throughout the week. CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blighter Surveillance Systems ('Blighter', www.blighter.com), the British designer and manufacturer of electronic-scanning radars and surveillance solutions, has announced the appointment of the consulting firm JGW Group (www.jgwgroup.com) as its US in-country strategic partner to support the company's expansion into the US defense and security market. Blighter has built its industry-leading expertise in electronic-scanning radars for wide area surveillance solutions and counter-UAS systems, over many years, and has a strong reputation, track record and customer base. As a world-leader in the development and manufacture of electronic-scanning radar and surveillance solutions, Blighter will be exploring further opportunities to support the US Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security in the ongoing fight against rapidly developing adversaries. This will build on Blighter's proven successes having already become a valuable partner of the US Department of Defense with the delivery of their A400 series radars as part of the AUDS CUAS platform for deployment to military and CNI bases over the last three years. The increasing need for border security, perimeter protection and surveillance systems to address the threat caused by drones, has resulted in record growth for the company with opportunities for expansion into the US market. This builds on the existing expertise of Blighter which has seen them providing advanced border security in high-risk regions for decades, including providing surveillance systems for the South Korean Army to monitor the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). "The demand in the US market for radar surveillance capabilities in defense and critical national infrastructure protection is increasing rapidly and is a key platform for Blighter's strategic international growth," said Angus Hone, chief executive officer, Blighter Surveillance Systems. "This appointment will be important for our success in the US and will enable us to build brand awareness, broaden our stakeholder engagement with customers and industry partners, and to identify new business opportunities in this key market. We are delighted to be taking this proactive step in expanding our presence in the US." Blighter continues to develop and extend its product range to keep at the forefront of radar capability and to meet the growing global need for effective technical solutions to counter the malicious use of drones. In Q4 2020, Blighter launched the latest in its range of market-leading radars, the A800 3D drone detection radar for land, air and sea surveillance. Andrew Wilson, President, JGW Group said: "The JGW Group is honored to be appointed by Blighter Surveillance Systems Limited to represent them in the US Defense and Civilian sectors. Our tag line of "Taking Technology to Market" is very much representative of what Blighter brings to these US market sectors. They have developed technically advanced radar modules that will support missions on land, sea and air at competitive rates. We at JGW see a bright future for Blighter with many of the top OEM's who are integrating these systems for government programs of record." About Blighter (www.blighter.com): Blighter Surveillance Systems employs 40 people and is located near Cambridge, UK. Blighter designs and manufactures world-beating 2D and 3D electronic-scanning ground-based radars, which can accurately detect drones, people, vehicles and boats at large distances. Its radars are key sensors in surveillance and counter-drone applications and are used in more than 35 countries around the world, delivering 24/7 security protection along national borders and coastlines, at military bases, and to protect maneuver force missions when deployed on military land vehicles and trailers. Blighter's radars also play a key role in guarding critical national infrastructure (CNI) sites such as airports, power plants and oil and gas facilities. SOURCE Blighter Surveillance Systems Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The first thing you spot on the home page of subreddit r/WallStreetBets is a banner featuring a cartoon character in a suit riding on a yacht, with a street sign reading "Wall St" sitting on top. While the Reddit community might not look serious, its collaborative investing strategy has captured the attention of Wall Street. The subreddit has played a key role in the shares of struggling video retailer GameStop surging by more than 1,000% at times this week. The Reddit revolt focused on a strategy called short selling, where hedge funds make money by betting that share prices will fall.These investors earn by identifying a stock expected to drop in value, then borrowing shares from another investor and immediately selling them. By the time they have to return the shares, they hope they're able to buy the stock at a lower price, to profitfrom the difference. In this case, smaller investors banded together through Reddit to help drive GameStop shares higher. The result could hurt hedge funds that had planned on shares falling, instead, they have to buy back the stock at much higher prices. "It's quite remarkable and myself, my colleagues and professional traders, we've never seen anything like it," said Matthew Lyle, an associate professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "There's some risks for some people, that's for sure, but it's just very curious this has been pulled off." Jaime Rogozinski, who started the subreddit nine years ago, told U.S. TODAY, "It's absolutely fascinating to have this collective group of people that have managed to find organization out of chaos." How WallStreetBets started The WallStreetBets subreddit started in 2012 by Rogozinski while he was working at a large multinational bank in Washington, D.C. Rogozinski said he was looking at a "high-risk high-return" strategy of using the market as opposed to having a long-term, diversified portfolio. "I had personal interest in it, and when I went to learn more about it and was unable to find any place online that wanted to do what I was looking to do and learn, I just created this forum and attracted people that were in my same mindset," said Rogozinski during an interview with U.S. TODAY. Interest in WallStreetBets grew as more people wanted to cash in on the market in the same way. It also coincided with the rise in individual investing sparked by apps including Robinhood and Acorns, which allow people to invest smaller amounts of money. "It's a combination between people finding out about thisand it turns out there were lots of people with that same mindsetas well as an industry that allowed easy access to this type of activity," said Rogozinski, who has not been involved with the subreddit since April of last year. The use of apps like Robinhood has surged during GameStop's wild stock ride. On Apple's App Store, Robinhood is currently the most popular free app, while another trading app called WeBull is fifth, ahead of popular services like Facebook and Instagram. As of Thursday morning, WallStreetBets has 4.9 million followerswith more than 1 million joining over the last day or somany of whom have viewed this effort as a way to push back against the giants of Wall Street. Who belongs to WallStreetBets? There's not one typical profile of a member of the forum. "WallStreetBets is really a loose affiliation of traders," Derek Horstmeyer, an associate finance professor at George Mason University's School of Business, told U.S. TODAY. "They often take directly different positions from each othersome long a stock and some short. It just so happened this time they all went the same direction on GME (GameStop)." But don't confuse the Reddit trading group with amateurs. "These are not basement-dweller trolls, these are smart people. Yes, they have their own vernacular that may be different than you are used to hearing," Dan McComas, former senior vice president for product at Reddit, told CNBC Thursday. Ryan Zamo, 31, owns two businesses in Los Angeles and first found the WallStreetBets subreddit last summer. Zamo said he had been trading stocks for several years and stumbled upon the community when searching how to do options trading. Zamo said members of the subreddit are well aware of the risks involved in stock trading. "Literally it's called WallStreetBets, and it's just a lot of gambling," said Zamo. "But when I found it and why I stuck with it and why I love it is because it's actually really educational." What is the Reddit group's mission? McComas, who is now the vice president of product for video company Metal.tv, told CNBC that he is a member of the WallStreetBets forum. "With a movement behind them and their community growing, they are starting to spread out and look at organizations like (CNBC and) like other people involved in the institution of stock market trading and realizing that they have power," he said. With this "huge influx of people rallying around their mission," McComas said, and many "actually willing to put money behind their words, I think it is like a perfect storm of all things coming together." To succeed, the group has to depend on fellow forum members who they likely don't know, Lyle said. Some may feel the urge to sell shares when they've got a hefty profit. "To hold this group together or at least get enough new people coming to keep it going is also remarkable," he said. This "gutsy" effort appears aimed to "screw the hedge funds, for lack of a better word," says Lyle. "People are rooting for wsb because it's not a big institution, organization, or even a hive mind," reads a tweet from the subreddit's Twitter account. "It's a gathering place of millions of unique individuals who are tired of being run over by the big guys and are each fighting back in their own way." But the repercussions for the market remain to be seen. "This will definitely clear out all short sellers of thinly traded stocks for a while," Horstmeyer said. "And in all, this is really bad for U.S. markets since it will just make our markets less efficientshort sellers are needed to correct prices and this is getting all short sellers out of the market." As the stock fell below $200 on Thursday, Lyle, the Northwestern professor, said he thought the end might be happening. But shares rose back up to $250and were at $215 midday. "My belief is that this is going to end with a pretty sharp price correction," he said. "I'm often wrong, but that's my belief. I think it has got to end sometime soon, maybe in the next week or so. But I just don't know when." While those supporting the Reddit group's mission have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #HoldTheLine, there's an inevitable ending when the music stops. That's because the strategy the group is using to increase stock prices is akin to a pyramid scheme, says Michael Pachter, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities. "There won't be fundamental investors buying the stock at $200 and then $300 and $400," he said. "The only way the stock goes higher is if the Reddit Army believes it can keep up squeezing the shorts and if the shorts keep shorting. ... that continued share price appreciation requires more investors to come in at ever higher prices." Explore further Reddit users say GameStop rocket is revenge of the masses (c)2021 U.S. Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Citadel cadets in a history class tour the International African American Museum on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021 in Charleston. Their history course offers Citadel students the unique opportunity to learn African American history through the establishment of the International African American Museum Close The government on Tuesday, February 2, extended the lockdown in Kigali until next week, Monday, February 8, a move that aims to further contain the spread of the pandemic in the country. The meeting also resolved that the rest of the country will continue to observe existing measures until the same date next week. According to the Minister of Health, Dr Daniel Ngamije, the previous lockdown had been effective, hence the need to maintain the pace. "Since the day the lockdown was instated in Kigali, a positive impact was observed in terms of reduction in new Covid-19 infections and fatalities," said He added; "We have on many occasions seen the number of Covid-19 recoveries exceeding the number of new cases during the lockdown, which was not the case before the directive was issued." The Minister said this in an interview with the public broadcaster, alongside the Minister of Local Government and the Spokesperson of Rwanda National Police. Ngamije said that during the lockdown, there was a 36 per cent reduction in the number of Covid-19 deaths as compared to before January 18 when the lockdown became effective, "thanks to improved treatment and the lockdown among others." Concerning new infections, he explained that before the lockdown, Kigali used to report many daily cases compared to the total number of infections confirmed in the other four provinces. However, he said, the trend is being reversed. "Considering the positive gains, an additional one-week lockdown was needed to maintain the achievement as we wait for the first doses of vaccine and more improved drugs to arrive in the country," he explained. The Minister highlighted that Rwanda is among four African countries - along with Tunisia, Cape Verde and South Africa - that are set to receive Pfizer vaccines this month. The country is also expected to receive additional 996,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the same month. Ngamije explained that frontline health and security workers, old people and those with incurable diseases will be among the first people to receive jabs. He also reassured that Rwanda is well-prepared to receive these vaccines. In a recent interview with the New Times, the Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre said that the vaccination exercise will not take long to kick-off once the vaccines arrive in the country. A call for vigilance Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. According to Anastase Shyaka, Minister of Local Government, intentionally adhering to set measures is key in avoiding strict and unpleasing measures. He said: "It is certain that the lockdown will not please people. Noting that it was the only effective solution to the raging Covid-19 pandemic, we had to take a bitter pill in order to save lives." "We urge the public to be responsible and avoid any behaviours that may force the authorities to instate another lockdown. Preventing this can only be done if we all observe Covid-19 guidelines in place," he underscored. Shyaka also noted that the government will continue to assist vulnerable households with their basic needs, such as food, during the remaining days of lockdown in Kigali. Rwanda has hitherto recorded 15,688 Covid-19 cases since March, while 205 people have succumbed to the virus. HMD Global today started teasing the launch of Nokia 3.4 smartphone that was introduced back in September last year. The company was expected to launch the phone along with the Nokia 2.4 back in November last year, but it didnt happen. The teaser just says the phone is coming soon, but we can expect the launch sometime later this February. Nokia 3.4 specifications 6.39-inch (720 x 1560 pixels) HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio 2.5D curved glass display, 400 nits (typ.) / 300 nits (min.) brightness, 70% NTSC color gamut Octa Core Snapdragon 460nm 11nm Mobile Platform (1.8GHz x 4+1.6GHz x 4 Kryo 240 CPUs) with 600MHz Adreno 610 GPU 3GB RAM with 32GB / 64GB storage, 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD) Android 10, upgradable to Android 11 and 12 13MP rear camera with LED flash, 5MP ultra-wide camera, 2MP depth sensor 8MP front-facing camera 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM Radio Dimensions: 160.97 x 75.99 x 8.7mm; Weight: 180g Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C 4000mAh battery The Nokia 2.4 was launched at Rs. 10,399, so we can expect the Nokia 3.4 should be priced more than that in India. A tiny, wealthy Litchfield County town, known to many as the place Marilyn Monroe once got married, has vaccinated almost all of its 75-and-older population by far the highest rate in Connecticut, according to state data. Roxbury is the only town in the state that has vaccinated over 90 percent of its oldest residents, according to the data but since the state calculates the percentage of residents according to 2010 Census figures, its estimate that 99.3 percent of those residents have been vaccinated could be inflated. Nevertheless, of the Roxbury residents who were eligible to be vaccinated in this category, 58 of them received their first shots between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1, according to the data. An analysis of vaccine doses administered in the state during those six days shows that many of the communities that qualify as socially vulnerable, according to the Centers for Disease Control meaning they are most likely to need assistance in a public health emergency are still lagging behind, while smaller communities such as Roxbury are quickly vaccinating their smaller populations. During that period, the socially vulnerable town with the largest percentage-point increase in shots administered among the 75-and-older age group was Griswold, which saw its percentage go from slightly over 20 percent to 47 percent. Other towns that qualify that had marked increases include Killingly, Groton, Montville and Waterford all mid-sized communities. There were five other towns that reached the 80 percent level of vaccinations, but all are smaller towns with few minority residents. At his Monday press conference, Gov. Ned Lamont gave a shoutout to many of them, acknowledging the milestone. This is not a competition, but it is worth noting that Oxford and Wilton and Roxbury and Hebron and Essex and Marlborough are champs so far over 80 percent of their folks 75 and above have had at least their first vaccination, Lamont said. Lamont went on to say theyd be working with some of the communities towards the bottom of the scale - many of them major cities, such as Bridgeport and New Britain. Were going to work with you to help you do better. These are some of the towns that have less than 25 percent, while the winners are over 80 percent New Britain, Winchester, Thomaston, Bridgeport, all at less than 25 percent, Lamont said. So were going to help catch up there, make sure this incredibly vulnerable population gets their dose. Many bigger cities remain near the bottom even as their numbers are improving. For example, Bridgeport did nearly 600 vaccinations over the past six days, raising its percentage of 75-and-older residents that have been vaccinated from barely 14 percent to 23 percent, according to the data. But that still leaves the states largest city towards the bottom of the vaccination chart. Other larger communities that were towards the bottom over the past six days were New London, Meriden and New Britain, which is among the towns that have the lowest percentage of vaccinations among their oldest residents. Many of the towns that are doing better, whether they are small or large, are ones with active local health departments that are running weekly vaccination clinics. The state is adding vaccinators almost daily, trying to reach areas that lack coverage, and Lamont said they will be running more mobile clinics to try and reach the city populations similar to what the state did with COVID-19 testing in the spring. Busing to clinics Roxbury First Selectwoman Barbara Henry is proud that her town tops the list, even if she doesnt quite agree with the states totals that all but one of the 144 elderly residents in her town has gotten vaccinated. I dont know how they came up with that, because I know five people personally who havent been vaccinated, Henry said Tuesday. Any discrepancy between 2010 Census data, which the state uses to estimate the number of 75-and-older residents, and the actual population in 2021 could explain it. Henry said when the state announced that anyone 75 and older could be vaccinated, she sent an e-mail blast to all Roxbury residents explaining how to sign up using the federal vaccine system known as VAMS. Almost immediately, her office was inundated with calls from people who couldnt get an appointment or couldnt register. So Henry, along with her Agent for the Elderly Jerrilynn Skene-Tiso and her Senior Center Director Linda Wahlers, started helping people find appointments. She said many ended up skipping VAMS altogether and just calling Griffin Hospital, which runs an almost daily vaccination clinic in Shelton. To help people get to Shelton, they used the senior center bus to transport small numbers of elderly residents at a time. Henry said others signed up for a clinic at Post University in Waterbury, only to have their appointments canceled because they didnt get enough vaccine. Roxbury is part of a health district with Newtown and Bridgewater, and Henry said the health district held its first vaccine clinic in Newtown last weekend. Roxbury filled its 10 slots out of the 100 vaccinations that were administered. We are a small town, so we are used to being at the bottom of the food chain for health services, Henry said. So we just took it upon ourselves to help people get signed up, and Im proud that we have done well. Henry did use the VAMS system to sign up her own 95-year-old mother. She drove her to Waterbury to get her first vaccine at the Della Pietra Pharmacy on Highland Avenue. It went very quickly. She actually got vaccinated before her appointment time, because there were only a few people there, Henry said. Waterbury is one of the cities that has been lagging behind in vaccinating its elderly population. By Monday morning, it had vaccinated only 24 percent of the 1,770 people eligible. The worn wood of a rural classroom. The lush greens of a row crop and trees surrounding a quartet of people walking through a field. The fringe of twilight gloom around a walk-up ice-cream stand. The play of brightness and dark amid the clouds as sunlight blazes off a tin roof. The skin tones. The light. The light in these photos is what does it. If you have lived here, on Alabamas slice of the central Gulf Coast, you know this light. It hits you in a non-abstract way, that these photographs are from here, are of here. That sensation alone explains how significant it is to have this collection of Gordon Parks photos being shown, in Mobile, more than 60 years after he shot them while on assignment for Life Magazine. But theres more. In the most famous of the photos, a Black woman named Joanne Thornton Wilson stands with her niece on a downtown Mobile sidewalk under a neon sign marking the Colored Entrance to the Mobile Saenger Theatre. Like many of the artifacts of the Jim Crow era, it was designed on some level to reinforce a sense of shame; but Wilsons bearing highlights the shamefulness of the sign. Its amazing, Wilsons son Michael Wilson said in a 2014 AL.com interview, remember similar visits downtown during his boyhood. Because I look at her, one, the elegance in her. I asked her, Why are we dressing up? She would say, We dont want people to think were servants. The photograph hangs on the wall. The very sign sits in the center of the room. Not a replica, the thing itself, its neon tubes broken but its paint intact. This has never happened before, in the cities where this exhibition has been shown since the Gordon Parks Foundation assembled it a few years ago. Maybe itll never happen again. But now the sign sits here in plain view, another reminder that all this could happen here, that it did happen here. It took some doing to bring this all together. To start at the beginning, Parks came to Alabama in 1956 to shoot photos for a Life Magazine article on segregation. Many of his images features members of an extended family living in Mobile and the Grove Hill area. These were different from many other images of the civil rights era: Firstly, they were in color. Secondly, they showed images of daily life: Black people at home, out window shopping, going about their lives. There were segregated water fountains and colored entrances, but no fire hoses, no state troopers, no police dogs. Robert Wallaces Life Magazine articles came and went, not without a stir. Hearing reports that some of the people featured in his reporting had suffered backlash, a Life editor traveled to Choctaw County to investigate. There he found leading white citizens willing to express unabashed scorn for Blacks who had dared to speak ill of segregation. The photos received little to no formal display thereafter, until the originals were discovered by archivists with the Gordon Parks Foundation half a century later. But some, including that image of Wilson outside the Saenger, had become iconic. In 2020, some of them were used as elaborate visual references in the hit HBO? Series Lovecraft Country. In early 2015, after the photos were exhibited in Atlanta, an effort was mounted to bring them to the History Museum of Mobile. That fell through, but six years later a selection of them has come to the Mobile Museum of Art thanks to an effort backed by the city of Mobile, the Mobile City Council and Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. A representative of the museum said that the possibility of including the historic sign first emerged thanks to a tip from longtime city employee Greg Cyprian, whose duties over the years had included a stint managing the Saenger. A placard on the display says that the sign was taken down in the 1970s and placed in storage until 1995, and that it is owned by the University of South Alabama, which owned the Saenger for a period. It has been on long-term loan to the Mobile History Museum, according to the placard, which generously agreed to loan the sign to this exhibition. A sign that once marked the "Colored Entrance" to the Mobile Saenger Theatre sits amid a display of Gordon Parks photographs at the Mobile Museum of Art. The sign figures prominently in one of the images from 1956.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com The restrictions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic did away with much of the fanfare planned for the recent exhibition opening and prompted some workarounds. A virtual presentation is in the works, for example, to showcase it for area students who cant go on field trips right now. While the virtual one will have to suffice until we can do better, hopefully by September the lie of the lay will be safer for in-person trips, said Ludgood, who was instrumental not only in bringing in the exhibition but in packaging it with some key context. Those who do come out to the museum will hear her voice as she moderates a video conversation about the days of segregation with several panelists. Theyll also have the opportunity to browse an extensive timeline of local civil rights history compiled by Ludgood and historian Scotty Kirkland. Like the photos, the timeline quietly illustrates that Jim Crow could and did rule in Mobile. It shows the city wasnt a land apart, and that challenges a common perception. Circumstances in Mobile, including accommodations negotiated by leaders such as Joseph Langan and John L. LeFlore, did help avert the violent clashes seen elsewhere. But that fed a myth that things were copacetic. In my manuscript I call that phenomenon the Mobile by comparison trap, said Kirkland, who is a chapter or two from completing a work on the 20th-century civil rights struggle in Mobile. You fall into this trap of comparing yourself to Montgomery or Birmingham or Selma. Three of our Alabama sister cities loom very large on the civil rights landscape. City boosters have played up Mobile exceptionalism, he said, but its a view that glosses over a lot. It can be a little ahistorical, said Kirkland. Compare Mobiles civil rights movement to Huntsville or Dothan or Athens, Alabama. It depends on what you look at. The timeline drives home the point that even in Mobile, a lot of people had to fight hard for things they ought not to have had to fight for at all. Kirkland, who refined and expanded a timeline started by Ludgood, said that in his manuscript he works to set aside the Mobile by comparison outlook and focus on the citys peculiarly local movement. You find some truly amazing people that way, he said. And truly important things, not only for Mobiles story, but for the story Alabama and the nation as well. There are multiple state laws and multiple federal court decisions that come out of Mobile that have a nationwide effect. Thats the whole point, said Ludgood. I know a lot of people had to make great sacrifices and have a lot of loss. This is lived experience for a lot of people still alive today, said Kirkland. Hes known since he saw the photos in Atlanta that they have a different impact in person. Partly its the vivid color, he said. Partly its the artfulness of the composition. Like a lot of Gordon Parks photos, theyre just very elegant in their simplicity, Kirkland said. Mainly its the way they capture the enormity of the subject, piece by subtle piece. Life in a daily segregated society, it does not let up, it does not have a cheat day, it is always focused on an exclusion, Kirkland said. To see, that, I think, in color, it sort of, it goes against our mindset that this is something that happened long ago. Im sure seeing them in the city where many of them were photographed compounds that aspect of it. The sign itself is a reminder of the ceaseless effort it took to maintain the system. Someone had to design the thing. Someone had to paint it. Someone had to bend those glass tubes to fit the letters Colored Entrance. Its a reminder of the architecture of segregation, said Kirkland. So many of these buildings have remnants of that. The old side entrances, the back-of-the-hallway restrooms, the back hallway entrances that were reserved for African-Americans at one point or another. Ludgood said the exhibition also looks forward. Its a basis for some important dialogue, she said. One of the reasons I think its important we have this look back is because, I think we need a context when people look at how our communities have developed, as some communities are thriving and some are not, she said. Part of that has to do with the lack of investment in those communities, and the fact that there were laws and practices that said, you can treat these communities differently, that its okay to do that. Its one of the reasons we have the kind of patchwork we have in Mobile. And I want people to see so that they can understand that when people come in and complain about the conditions in their community, theyre not complaining about something they created, she said. What theyre complaining about is something that has been institutional neglect. And now theyre just asking for the investment that, but for these intervening circumstances around inequality and demonstration, they would have had. So its not just people whining. This is how this developed. Such insights, and others as broad, may well come from the photos. But the images themselves remain human, quiet, finite in their focus on small intimate moments. Many of them can be see elsewhere -- on the Internet, in the archival pages of Life Magazines -- but its hard to overestimate the surprising vibrancy they have in real life. You can sense the ways these people were moving, or were about to move. You can almost hear their voices. If you go into this exhibit and if it makes you feel uncomfortable, thats part of the point, said Kirkland. Life in 1950s Mobile would have been uncomfortable to people of a certain color, of a certain background. Yet they also showcase something else, he said. Many of the images dont include any obvious reference to segregation. They simply show people living their lives. In the midst of all the restraints, theres this incredible fortitude, said Kirkland. There was incredible determination, not just to carry on but to push back against it, to make the lives of their young people better. Ludgood said a photo that stands out for her is one taken in Prichard, picturing three young playmates. Two of the boys have toy six-shooters, and one of them is pointing his straight at the photographer. The caption labels this image troubling, though to many onlookers it may be the least troubling of the bunch: One of the boys is white. Setting aside the modern connotations attached to children and guns, taking it simply as a trio of cap-gun cowboys at play, its a reminder that it might not be so very hard to get things right, if people would quit working so hard to make them wrong. They were innocent, Ludgood said. No one had told them yet that they werent supposed to play together. Gordon Parks: Segregations Story in Mobile, 1956 is on display at the Mobile Museum of Art, 4850 Museum Drive. For hours, information and COVID-19 safety measures, visit www.mobilemuseumofart.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. By Jessica Laus I grew up in a dilapidated old house with my extended family in Detroit during the 1990s, down the street from a brass foundry and a few blocks away from both a Chrysler factory and the Detroit River. I skipped pre-school and kindergarten, and although my mother read to me every night before bedtime, my reading skills were not up to par when I entered first grade. I remember joining my grandmothers on their trips to the local food pantries and rummage sales, and bringing home leftovers from church functions. Looking back, I was exposed to a number of adverse childhood experiences due to the cyclical nature of unaddressed trauma and violence within families and communities. Apart from the steadfast kindness of my maternal grandmother, as well as the resiliency and hard work of my mother, it was a small Quaker school in Detroit, which utilized practices of restorative justice, that kept me grounded in a community of supportive adults dedicated to my educational success, emotional growth and psychological safety within the schools walls and beyond. If it werent for restorative justice, I could have easily become just another statistic. Rooted in practices of Indigenous societies, restorative justice addresses not just the wrongdoing of an action, but the harm it causes. It resolves conflict through dialogue instead of punishment, and emphasizes the opportunity for those who have been harmed or those who have caused it to communicate and achieve a space of healing and sometimes forgiveness. The focus is not one of control, dominance, and punishment but empathy, growth, and understanding. When I acted out in school, I documented my actions or was pulled aside by a teacher to create an immediate space for accountability. Incidents of bullying were met with conversations rather than suspensions, and the one or two punitive disciplinary actions that I remember were utilized only as a last resort. I witnessed firsthand how these practices created a safe environment where each student was allowed space to learn and grow and develop a shared sense of belonging and understanding and potentially become less likely to commit harmful acts in the future. My experiences should not be unique. Restorative justice practices can be beneficial not only within schools but in the justice system and the larger community, before or after an act of violence. Thats why, alongside the New Jersey Restorative Justice Network an organization that educates and advocates for restorative justice in New Jersey I urge Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jerseys legislature to invest in community-based restorative justice approaches for youth, including our Black and brown kids that are disproportionately impacted by the youth justice system, by passing the Restorative and Transformative Justice for Youths and Communities Pilot Program bill (A4663/S2924). This bill is particularly necessary in New Jersey where Black youth are 21 times, and Latina/Latino youth four times, more likely to be locked up than white youth, even though they commit most offenses at similar rates some of the highest disparities in the country. Yet while New Jersey will spend $300,000 to incarcerate each youth this year, it is reducing funding for community-based programs that would help keep youth out of the system in the first place. We are moving in the wrong direction. The pending Restorative and Transformative Justice bill would help steer us back toward progress by appropriating $8.4 million about 20% of the youth prison budget for a two-year pilot program that would establish enhanced reentry services, as well as restorative justice hubs, in four target New Jersey cities: Camden, Newark, Paterson and Trenton. The hubs would be physical spaces where youth and families can resolve conflict, heal, reconnect and build healthy relationships. There will also be funding to provide supportive reentry services for the young people who, under a new law, are currently being released from youth prisons due to their vulnerability to COVID-19. As of January 31 of this year, 75 youth and 186 staff members have tested positive for the virus across the states juvenile justice facilities As the population in youth prisons declines, surplus funding should follow young people back to their communities and be reallocated to fund programs that facilitate relationship building, support healing, strengthen communities and divert youth away from the justice system. This bill can be the beginning of a new trend in New Jersey to build up our kids instead of tearing them down. It would be a win-win for youth and our communities overall. I regularly thank my mother for having the foresight to send me to a school that utilized practices of restorative justice. Please go here to help us pass A4663/S2924 so that New Jersey kids can have the same opportunity to heal, learn, and grow in a community that I did. Jessica Laus is a development professional and community advocate based in Newark. She is a co-chair of the New Jersey Restorative Justice Network (NJ-RJN), an organization working to expand the practices of restorative justice across the state through advocacy, education, and by connecting organizations and practitioners. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A 37-year-old man who was arrested in the Crumlin area of the capital this morning is suspected of being one of the main players in a 6 million international invoice redirect fraud being directed from Ireland. The Nigerian national is being questioned under anti-gangland legislation as is a 37-year-old woman who is originally from Ghana who was arrested in the Santry area of Dublins northside. They are being held at Pearse Street and Kevin Street Garda stations. The arrest of the duo by detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) is considered highly significant and brings to 10 the amount of people arrested as part of the fraud squads Operation SKEIN. The arrests happened after detectives followed the money trail after two companies one based in Dubai and the other in Hong Kongwere duped out of 55,000 due to separate invoice redirect frauds. Invoice redirection fraud happens when a person or a business fall prey to requests, purporting to emanate from trusted suppliers or service providers, into believing that a beneficiarys bank account details have been changed. As a result, funds that are due to be paid out are transferred to a fraudulent account. Officers from the GNECB established that the 55,000 had ended up in the bank account of a Co Monaghan based woman who is closely associated to the man who was arrested yesterday. Further investigations showed that 33,000 of this money was used to make high end purchases in the Grafton Street area of the capital between St Stephens Day and December 31st last. This included designer clothes, perfumes, alcohol, laptop, mobile phones and other products. Following a detailed surveillance operation and the analysis of CCTV in the city centre, detectives were able to identify the37-year-old Nigerian and raid his Crumlin home this morning where they recovered virtually all the goods he had bought in his spending splurge. Gardai are satisfied that he is high up on the food chain in terms of this organised criminal gang and what proves that really is that he was freely able to spend the money that came from those two latest thefts, a senior source pointed out. The fact he was using a bank card to buy all those products shows that he was no mere money mule for the organisation, the source added. While 10 arrests have now been made so far as part of Operation SKEIN, the GNECB have identified 90 suspects resident in Ireland and are satisfied that 5 million of the stolen 6 million has been laundered through Irish bank accounts. Gardai announced details of the arrest operation today. The property seized is believed to have been purchased via the proceeds of Business Email Compromise (BEC) / Invoice Re-Direct Frauds which occurred in Asia during December 2020. The purchases were made in Dublinover the Christmas period in 2020, a spokesman said. He said the two suspects were being held in Kevin Street and Pearse Street Garda Stations where they can be held for up to a week. These two arrests mark the 9th and 10th arrest as part of Operation SKEIN. Operation SKEIN is an investigation into international BEC/Invoice re-direct fraud being committed from Ireland and the laundering of the proceeds through accounts here. To date, this investigation has identified that over 6,000,000 has been stolen worldwide with about 5,000,000 laundered through accounts in Ireland. Over 90 suspects have been identified throughout the country. International Business Times (IBTimes), the global business news leader, is pleased to announce a new franchise ranking Executive MBA (eMBA) programs in the United States. The rankings show the top schools for Executive MBA programs that business leaders can attend while still working full-time. This list represents the best programs in the country, with the unique benefit of being ranked for real-world value, said Johnathan Davis, CEO of IBT Media which publishes IBTimes. We commend these schools and are pleased to present them to our readers. Students invest considerable money and time into these programs. Nearly 120 universities and colleges offer EMBA programs in the U.S., at an average fee of $110,00; and 74 offer Global EMBA programs at an average fee of $125,000. Partnering with Ken Research, a leading market intelligence company, IBT's list of U.S. B-schools offering EMBA programs reflect the values integral for business leaders to succeed in a globalized economy. Even acknowledging the unfolding trends and the zeitgeist in our rankings, said Melanie Gray, Editor at IBTimes, we also ensure that this value proposition is captured adequately by looking at the popularity of schools among the people who matter the most: its consumers the students. The list examines over 120 full-time programs in the U.S, and takes into account the traditional elements of college ratings, as well as incorporating the broader trends of geographic and industry diversity, digital offerings and other factors that ensure relevancy and real-world value. A complete ranking, including methodology and other information on the IBTimes eMBA rankings visit https://www.ibtimes.com/featured/best-emba-courses-2021 For licensing inquires please send an email to licensing@ibt.com About IBT Media is a global digital news organization delivering news and insight to more than 30 million monthly readers across the world. IBT Media engages a new generation of readers with content that speaks to their interests, analysis that serves their businesses and makes sense of a globally connected world. Ken Research is a Global aggregator and publisher of Market intelligence, equity and economy reports. Ken Research provides business intelligence and operational advisory in 300+ verticals underscoring disruptive technologies, emerging business models with precedent analysis and success case studies. Ana Draxin, more commonly known as Baba Anujka, was a perfect Victorian-era villain: An old woman perennially dressed in black who sold "love potions" to women in troubled marriages to give to their husbands who may or may not have realized it was just poison. That makes it even weirder that she went unnoticed for so long. She even had the perfect origin story: She claimed to have been seduced at age 20 by a dashing Austrian officer who left her with nothing but syphilis, after which she dedicated her life to the study of chemistry and revenge. Draxin was distracted by an arranged marriage for a while, but after her husband of 20 years died, she set herself up a little evil laboratory in her home and went to work. Wiki Commons Continue Reading Below Advertisement Her primary business was the word of mouth of women who were sent to Baba after complaining about their abusive, neglectful, or otherwise shitty husbands. The old woman asked them, "How big is the problem?" which was code for "How much does your husband weigh?" and calculated a dose of arsenic that would kill him after eight days, after which, she told the women, "You will no longer have a problem." She also sometimes provided young men with just enough poison to keep them just sick enough to be excused from fighting wars and sometimes killed randomly for fun, like when a pair of newlywed teenagers made the mistake of *check notes* uh, happily walking past her house. Still, it was mostly the shitty husbands. She managed to kill between 50 and 150 people before she was caught since her victims' spouses always refused autopsies, and it just wasn't all that uncommon for a middle-aged man to drop dead for no apparent reason back then. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Her fatal mistake was expanding her business. She hired an assistant who messed up the dosage for one dude who managed to get himself to a doctor before he died, and the assistant immediately copped to it. Around the same time, a woman confessed to poisoning her husband with Baba's help, who Baba openly and iconically accused of being a "lying, evil snake bitch" in court. Delaying second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine so that as many Americans as possible can get the first dose is 'not necessarily' what Dr. Anthony Fauci recommends, he said Wednesday. Fauci told ABC's George Stephanopoulos it looks like there will be a much steadier supply of vaccines coming in through February and into March. 'Certainly you don't want vaccines sitting around in the refrigerator or in a freezer if they're ready to go. You want to give them to people,' said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci added he believes there is a way to accelerate vaccine distribution without delaying a second dose. 'If you miss it by a few days to a week or two, I don't think that's a big problem, as the CDC says, but I'd be concerned about delaying it for three months or so,' he said. 'You got to be careful because you're dealing with different vaccine platforms,' he said, adding that the data that is available for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines 'are solid' about getting a second shot 28 days and 21 days later, respectively. About 70% to 85% of the US population should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before the country can begin to return to a sense of normalcy, Fauci told CNN on Tuesday night. So far, less than 2% of Americans have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the US, nearly 34 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with more than 27 million people having received at least one dose -- or just over 8% of the population. About 6.4 million people have received both doses, the CDC data shows. Fauci said he's hopeful the country can get to that high level of vaccinations by the end of the summer to the beginning of fall. 'Having said that,' he added, 'there is an absolute 'but' in that. And the 'but' is that we have to address the variants.' Experts have sounded the alarm about the new Covid-19 variants that have been detected in the US, warning the country is now in a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible before the variants spread too far and possibly trigger another surge of infections. Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm said earlier this week that a surge fueled by the variant first detected in the UK -- the B.1.1.7 strain -- is likely to occur 'in the next six to 14 weeks.' And there are also concerns around what the variants will mean for vaccine efficacy. Studies have suggested a variant from South Africa could pose a problem for vaccines, while a new report this week said a mutation that could impact vaccines has also been detected in samples of the B.1.1.7 strain. States begin to identify deaths believed linked to UK variant Health officials in three states -- New Jersey, California and Alabama -- have begun to identify deaths believed to be linked to the variant first identified in the UK. While the B.1.1.7 variant may be more transmissible, it is not known to be more deadly or cause more severe disease. Seeing deaths caused by the new variants would be no surprise -- there's no evidence they are more deadly than than older variants of the virus, but there is also no evidence they are any less deadly, and more than 3,000 people are dying from Covid-19 every day in the US. The University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital told CNN on Wednesday that a man identified as Alfonzia Jackson died February 2 from myocarditis and cardiogenic shock after he contracted the B.1.1.7 variant. Jackson's wife, Ashley, told CNN it was 'very scary' when doctors said her husband was infected with a new variant of the virus. 'My first thought was, how, when did he get that? Where? And then also, how many others have that same variant that are unaware?' she told CNN's Brianna Keilar. On January 27, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a news conference that one person who had died had the coronavirus variant. The patient, who was not identified, had underlying health conditions. Health officials in San Diego County announced January 28 a 'probable' variant case in a 71-year-old man who had died. Dr. Eric McDonald, San Diego County's medical director of epidemiology, told reporters 'this is a household contact of a confirmed case, who unfortunately, we didn't have that sample available to prove that it was whole genome sequence B.1.1.7. 'But because there is an intimate member of the household who did have that variant, and that individual was pretty much exposed to that 71-year-old, we are confident in assigning that as a probable case,' McDonald added. The US has been averaging more than 140,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 3,000 reported deaths per day lately, but very few Covid-19 tests are sequenced to find out whether the virus is a variant. The limited amount of sequencing has found more than 500 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in 33 states, according to the CDC. Study: Younger adults are biggest spreaders of virus in US A group of researchers reported Tuesday that the biggest spreaders of Covid-19 in the US are adults aged 20 to 49 -- and efforts to control the spread, including vaccinations, should probably focus on that age group. The team of researchers at Imperial College London used cell phone location data covering more than 10 million people and publicly available information on the spread of the virus to calculate which age groups were most responsible for the spread of the virus across most of the United States. They estimated that people 35 to 49 accounted for 41% of the new transmissions through mid-August, and adults 20 to 34 were responsible for another 35%. Children and teens accounted for just 6% of spread while people 50 to 64 made up 15% of transmission. Experts have previously warned that the surges were largely driven by younger groups, Fauci said, but that doesn't mean those groups should get the vaccine 'at the expense of getting the older people who have the underlying conditions, get vaccinated.' 'You don't want to deprive them to get the younger ones, because they're the ones that are going to wind up in the hospital and have a higher rate of death,' Fauci said. More than 450,000 Americans have already died from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University -- and more than 100,000 have died this year alone. Teachers don't need vaccines for schools to reopen, study says A growing number of studies show that students should be able to go back to school safely, even if all teachers have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, according to CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. 'There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen,' Walensky said at a White House news briefing Wednesday. 'Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.' The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has put teachers in the 1B priority category for vaccination, along with other essential workers, but not all states are vaccinating this group. Walensky said it is important for states to make the decisions on which groups get vaccinated when, depending on supply and local circumstances. Saturday, Walensky said on NBC's 'Today' that in most states, if not all states, teachers should be eligible for vaccination now or in the near future. States will see an increase in vaccine supply Hoping to slow the pandemic as soon as possible, states have been pushing for more supply and ramping up their capabilities to get more shots into arms faster. As of Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had provided more than $1.7 billion to 27 states, localities, tribes and territories to aid the vaccination effort, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said. FEMA has assigned more than 600 staff to the effort -- with more than half of that staff deployed directly to the vaccination sites across the country. In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday the state has now vaccinated all teachers and school staff older than 50 who wanted the Covid-19 vaccine. West Virginia began inoculating teachers and staff January 5. 'As soon as we get an ample supply of vaccines, we'll double back through and get all the people that are under 50,' Justice said. The Biden administration said Wednesday the federal government will partner with California to launch two new vaccination centers in hard-hit communities. One center will be in East Oakland and another on the east side of Los Angeles. Both are predominantly Latino communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The administration said it has increased vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories by more than 20%, including more than 1.3 million shots per day between January 27 and Tuesday. Despite efforts to administer more vaccine doses to communities, a new national poll from Monmouth University found 24% of respondents said it is likely they will never get the vaccine if they can avoid it. 'Reluctance to get the vaccine is driven more by partisanship than any single demographic factor,' said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. 'It says a lot about the depth of our partisanship divide that it could impact public health like this.' Among Republicans polled, 42% said they will avoid getting the vaccine if they can, while 25% of Independents and 10% of Democrats also plan to avoid the vaccine if possible. The poll also looked at race as a factor for vaccine hesitancy and found no racial difference in vaccine reluctance among Republicans, but it did find one among Democrats. The poll found that 79% of White Democrats versus 62% of Democrats of color have either received the vaccine or want to get it as soon as possible. TIRUPATI: The well-educated couple from Chittoors Madanapalle, Dr Valleru Purushotham Naidu and Valleru Padmaja, who have been remanded at the local sub-jail for allegedly killing their two daughters, were shifted to the government mental care facility in Vizag on Wednesday, for a complete psychiatric evaluation and treatment, if necessary. The couple is accused of murdering their daughters Alekhya (27) and Sai Divya (22) in their house at Madanapalle on January 24. They were produced before the Judicial magistrate on January 26 and placed under remand at the Madanapalli sub-jail, where the authorities have lodged Padmaja in a special cell and Purushottam Naidu in a common cell. Padmaja was said to still be in a state of trance and chanting the name of Lord Shiva the whole night. On the request of jail authorities, the couple was evaluated by a team of psychiatrists on January 27. They confirmed that the couple was suffering from delusions and needed a complete psychiatric evaluation in the presence of a psychologist. The jail authorities presented the recommendation of psychiatrists to the local magistrate and obtained permission to shift the couple to Ruia Hospital Tirupati. There a team of doctors at the psychiatry ward completed basic assessment of the couples mental state. Doctors at Ruia hospital felt that the couple has to undergo a complete psychiatric evaluation in the presence of a psychologist. They also advised that the couple need custodian care as they are appearing highly delusional. Since the Ruia Hospital lacks a full-time psychologist, and the psychiatric cell being able to accommodate one patient at a time, the doctors advised the jail authorities to get the couple admitted to the government hospital for mental care at Vizag. The sub-jail authorities, last week, requested the armed reserve wing for security arrangements to shift the couple to Vizag. However, after a brief delay, arrangements were finally made to shift the couple in a police vehicle, guarded by the armed reserve police on Wednesday. CLEVELAND, Ohio A 16-year-old boy is accused of fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy during a drug deal that turned into a robbery. The 16-year-old is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and other charges in connection with the Dec. 14 fatal shooting of JaMari Jones. Police arrested the boy Monday and he pleaded not guilty Tuesday during his initial appearance in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. A magistrate judge ordered him held in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center while the case is pending. The shooting happened about 6:40 p.m. on Loop Drive in the Ohio City neighborhood. Jones was in a car with two other teens who drove to the area to meet up with a group during a drug deal, according to police. The other group robbed the teens, according to police. As Jones and the two others drove away, one of the robbers fired a shot at their car. The bullet ripped through the back windshield and hit Jones in the head, killing him, according to police. The teens drove along West 25th Street and stopped in the parking lot of Kan Zaman restaurant near Franklin Avenue. One of the teens went inside and asked someone inside to call 911. Police found a gun in the car, according to police. Read more from cleveland.com: 13-year-old Cleveland boy killed in drug deal turned robbery, police say Death of 1-month-old Cleveland boy ruled homicide Euclid home invasion suspect found shot to death in Cleveland, police say The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:06:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Tunisian President Kais Saied (1st L) attends a funeral of the late soldiers who were killed by the explosion of a landmine in Tunis, Tunisia, Feb. 4, 2021. Four soldiers were killed by the explosion of a landmine in Tunisia's western province of Kasserine, local private radio MosaiqueFm said on Wednesday. Tunisian security authorities have warned for years against the armed extremist groups in Kasserine, as mountain ranges there serve as a suitable shelter for terrorists. (Tunisian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) TUNIS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Four soldiers were killed by the explosion of a landmine in Tunisia's western province of Kasserine, local private radio MosaiqueFm said on Wednesday. "The explosion took place in Mghila mountain when a military unit was on routine patrol as part of the fight against terrorist threats," Mohamed Zekri, the Defence ministry spokesman, told Xinhua Tunisian security authorities have warned for years against the armed extremist groups in Kasserine, as mountain ranges there serve as a suitable shelter for terrorists. NEW DELHI : The interest of Air India employees will be safeguarded in accordance with the guidance of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. The disinvestment process of Air India, which had a total debt of over 38,366 crore in the last fiscal -- is in progress. "The interest of the employees of Air India will be safeguarded in accordance with the guidance of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Ministry of Finance and same will be reflected in the Share Purchase Agreement to be signed with new owner post disinvestment," Puri said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The civil aviation minister was responding to a query on whether current employees of Air India will remain employed with the airline post its strategic disinvestment. The Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) for strategic disinvestment of the government's 100% stakes in Air India and Air India Express and 50% shareholding in Air India SATS was issued on January 27, 2020. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the EoI deadline was extended from time to time and the last date was December 14, 2020. As per audited accounts of FY 2019-20 (provisional), the airline's total debt was 38,366.39 crore. "The above amount is after the transfer of debt amounting to 22,064 crore during the FY 2019-20 to Air India Assets Holding Limited being a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)," Puri said. In another written reply, the minister said that as on December 31, 2020, the airline's total dues against various government departments on accounts of airfare, "including dues towards VVIP Operations were 498.17 crore". "Usually, the credit period for Government of India Departments varies from 15 to 30 days from the receipt of invoice and no interest is paid to Air India in case of non-payment within the credit period," he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. ANN ARBOR, MI -- A skincare and beauty retailer closed its store in Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall. LOccitane, known for its fragrances, skin and hair products, is yet another store leaving the mall. Godiva and H&M also announced they will close, and Williams-Sonoma officially closed its store at the end of January. Related: Godiva chocolate store to close in Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall Williams-Sonoma store at Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall closes H&M to close store in Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall I confirm that the LOccitane boutique at Briarwood Mall has indeed closed, spokesperson Ashley Arbuckle Nadon said in an email. LOccitane on Tuesday, Jan. 26 filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey. The companys online sales are growing but its business has been affected by high store rent obligations that are no longer tenable, according to a company statement. Filing for bankruptcy was the necessary path to right-size its brick-and-mortar presence after attempting to negotiate lease terms with landlords, the company continued. Over the past year, we have moved aggressively to address COVID-related challenges head on, developing innovative new ways to connect with our community and continue to deliver the extraordinary LOccitane beauty experience that our customers know and love, all while accelerating the essential transformation of our store footprint already underway, said Yann Tanini, managing director of LOccitane North America, in a statement. We look forward to working collaboratively with our landlords to achieve partnerships that make economic sense in this current retail environment and best position our marquee brands boutique offering for years to come. Tanini added. The Year 2042 Podcast: What will Biden do for Michigan? Congresswoman Debbie Dingell shares her thoughts Ann Arbor proposes $83k traffic calming devices on local road Those cute chalk characters you see all over Ann Arbor sidewalks, walls come from this artist Oakwood University, with its partners, started the Mobile Market. Anyone in Huntsville can get fresh produce for reduced cost. The healthy campus initiative launched in 2015 at Oakwood University. Tuesday morning began phase two, "healthy campus, healthy community." The mobile market was created to be a produce market on wheels. The Health Action Center and Clinic is under construction. Soon, that will be both a food bank and a health clinic, in partnership with Huntsville Hospital. Students at Oakwood University have volunteered as health ambassadors. They volunteer to help with the food market. Vice President of Oakwood University, Prudence Pollard, said there are three things that many people suffer from in the community. Pollard named them as, "job insecurity, health problems and food insecurity." "We're bringing pesticide-free foods to our communities," said Pollard. She said there are six areas in Huntsville that need affordable produce. The produce is all 30% to 60% off the price you'd see in the grocery store. Delres Mastin, Executive Director of Community Action Partnership, said, "Our mission is to assist low income people to self sufficiency, and Oakwood identified many schools as having food deserts." Oakwood has partnered with multiple sponsors, including the American Heart Association. One North Alabama shopper said, "It's at a reasonable cost and so this is going to be not just beneficial for one's purses or wallets, but it's going to be beneficial for your overall health." The mobile market will run bi-weekly, on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will be open from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 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 Caseville and Unionville-Sebewaing Area school districts received grants from the Michigan College Access Network this past year, helping students stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The USA school district had received a $10,000 grant in the late winter/early spring of 2020 for acquiring Wi-Fi hotspots, which were given out to students who were at home during the lockdown of spring 2020. George Rierson, the superintendent of USA Schools, said the district ended up with 75 hotspots total, with some of them purchased through another grant the district received. He said the hotspots have been helpful for seniors who were transitioning into becoming college students. Some of them dont have internet connectivity in their homes, Rierson said. They use this to provide a connection to the internet to complete their applications, do virtual orientations, and scheduling. All the things they have to do to have a successful launch for college. Caseville Public Schools received $550 to go toward purchasing technology and equipment for the Explore My Options initiative. It supports hosting virtual college representative visits throughout the school year and encourages seniors to apply to at least one college. MCAN has awarded a total of 108 COVID-19 response grants across the state totaling $619,187 throughout 2020. The grants were announced in April and awarded in 15 rounds through December. Many of the grants addressed technology gaps, helping organizations purchase wireless internet hotspots, computers or tablets to distribute to students for online learning. Others helped convert in-person resources, like mentorship programs or SAT preparation classes, to online formats. In March, when high schools and colleges started moving classes online, we knew there were going to be huge implications for postsecondary access, said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, the executive director for MCAN, in a statement. We diverted as much funding as we could to address this crisis. It was important to us that high school students stayed on track to go to college, and that college students stayed on track to finish their degrees and certificates. Funding for these grants came from MCAN and its philanthropic partners. [February 03, 2021] Tencent Cloud Elevates Bravesoft's Event Platform "Eventos" in Japan with High-Quality Livestreaming Solutions TOKYO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent Cloud today announced its support for "Eventos", a one-stop event platform for customized event operation in Japan. A brand-new feature called "Easy Live" was added to the platform through the technology provided by Tencent Cloud, allowing event planners to do livestreaming within the platform. With the whole world seeing an increasingly upward trend in virtual events, the new feature is geared towards helping "Eventos" take event management to the next level. Developed by Bravesoft, "Eventos" users are currently able to use this event platform to manage events with all-rounded support including ticketing function, business matching chat, and data analysis, among others. Now supported by Tencent Cloud's Live Video Broadcasting (LVB) and Tencent Real-Time Communication (TRTC) solutions, "Easy Live" is a new function that allows users to easily perform live broadcasting online without using external tools that are difficult to manage, letting them start livestreaming on the spot. Backed by Tencent's well-established audio-visual platforms, globally deployed cache nodes and leading AI technologies, Tencent Cloud's LVB and TRTC solutions elevate the platform users' experience: Live Video Broadcasting - an ultra-low latency, high quality and high performance live video broadcasting service Supports presentations, panel discussion, competition and live shows , enabling "Eventos" to better address the needs of event planners, especially during the pandemic. , enabling "Eventos" to better address the needs of event planners, especially during the pandemic. The ability for the host to easily create a live program and broadcast the event , whie viewers could subscribe, watch, comment and playback . and , whie viewers could . Offers a complete set of features such as beauty filter, audio processing, instant broadcasting on splash screen, low lag, live screencap broadcasting and seamless video definition changing . and . Supports other customized functions such as blacklist/ whitelist for open/close-door viewing, interactions that allow comments with backend control. Tencent Real-Time Communication - a low-latency interactive live streaming solution Key highlights such as multi-person audio/video calls, HD videos with AI-enabled beauty filters, background blur, HD audio with high-fidelity processing algorithms to minimize ambient noise, anti-packet loss disruptions that could maintain smooth audio delivery even with excess packet loss, and low latency thanks to robust network support by Tencent Cloud, offering high-quality customer experience. with AI-enabled beauty filters, background blur, with high-fidelity processing algorithms to minimize ambient noise, that could maintain smooth audio delivery even with excess packet loss, and thanks to robust network support by Cloud, offering high-quality customer experience. Supports on-cloud recording and relayed live streaming . and . Offers secure, stable, and highly accessible instant messaging service , which is supported by Tencent's IM technologies that sustain hundreds of millions of users. , which is supported by Tencent's IM technologies that sustain hundreds of millions of users. Supports other supplementary features such as AI-driven speech enhancement, which enables users to ensure audio quality. Poshu Yeung, Senior Vice President, Tencent Cloud International, said, "With the demand for digital transformation growing, aimed at improving the efficiency of businesses and allowing them to thrive in these challenging times, Tencent is helping businesses in Japan transform and elevate user experience. Through our innovative technologies and well-established platforms, Tencent has been a strong player in delivering high-quality LVB and TRTC solutions like no other and offering reliable solutions for more flexibility that allows businesses to sustain development, as well as keep up with the ever-changing customer needs." KIYOTA Koichiro, Board Member & General Director of eventech unit, Bravesoft, said, "The pandemic has shaken up the event management industry, where livestreaming and online events have become the new norm. Addressing the demand growth in livestreaming services, 'Eventos' has now given its users the ability to easily host live events online, as well as foster business communication within this event platform through the support of Tencent Cloud. Our collaboration with Tencent Cloud enabled us to install a function that helps prevent broadcasting challenges and hurdles and also highlight the value of 'Eventos' for our users. We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration in the future." Tencent Cloud is a secure, reliable and high-performance public cloud service provider with advanced infrastructure, with a wide range of market applicability and experience. Among Tencent Cloud's recent achievements in virtual conferences and events content delivery are its participation in the UNESCO Global Education Coalition, the United Nations 75th anniversary, the 4th World Intelligence Congress, the 127th China Import and Export Fair, Paris Fashion Week, Global Tourism Economy Forum, and Melon Music Awards 2020, among others. About Tencent Cloud Tencent Cloud is Tencent's cloud services brand, providing industry-leading cloud products and services to organizations and enterprises across the world. Leveraging its robust data center infrastructures around the world, Tencent integrates cloud computing, big data analytics, AI, Internet of Things, security and other advanced technologies with smart enterprise scenarios. At the same time, we provide a holistic smart enterprise solution for sectors including finance, education, healthcare, retail, industry, transport, energy and radio & television. SOURCE Tencent Cloud [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Colum Eastwood MP, commenting on the ill-judged decision by the European Commission to trigger Article 16, aptly described it as disproportionate and a grave error of judgment. Former Secretary of State Julian Smith MP bluntly declared that it was a cock- up. Both politicians realised the dangers inherent in this woeful blunder. The responsibility for this huge political shambles lies with Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission, whose own collective incompetence in not properly managing the supply and distribution of the Astra Zeneca, anti-Covid vaccine, sparked this highly damaging political U-turn. President Von der Leyens own political competence and insight on the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol must be seriously questioned. Her mismanagement of the whole Covid vaccine contracts programme calls into question her political capacity to continue as President of the European Commission, such is the magnitude of her mistakes. Only but for the strong and immediate intervention of the Irish government, in particular the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney, together with former EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, this disastrous initiative by Brussels would have gone ahead. If it had gone ahead and Article 16 fully enacted, it would have seriously undermined the raison detre of the NI Protocol, that is the safeguarding and guaranteeing of an open land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This political error has unhappily played into the hands of the Brexiteers in Britain and on this side of the Irish Sea, all shades of unionism, who have been furious at the way the whole Irish Sea border trade has been in their eyes, mismanaged. The Irish Sea border has become a totemic issue for unionists. It has taken on an importance as great as the Anglo-Irish Agreement, or Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. Last night we saw the indignant reaction of Arlene Foster and the DUP, who have said that they want to send a strong signal to the Irish government over the Protocol by stopping north-south activities. In practical terms this will mean a DUP boycott of the North-South Ministerial Council. This, and much of the rest of their five-point plan, chimes with what the TUV leader, Jim Allister MLA, has been persistently saying for past few weeks. He has been most critical of the DUP in the Assembly automatically supporting subordinate legislation, that supports the Protocols implementation. Arlene Foster, whose leadership is clearly under severe pressure given the sharp drop in support for her party, as seen in the recent LucidTalk poll, is set to be more demanding of the British Government, who now will be more inclined to accommodate her wishes. Her statement that the EU move was an incredible act of hostility, was typically over-the-top. Nonetheless, she has correctly identified the political significance of the EUs blunder and the dangers for the DUP. The angry reaction of her MPs at Westminster was in sharp contrast to her hitherto more pragmatic stance. Now however, Von der Leyen has unintentionally revitalised unionist opposition. They see Europes blunder as another chance to derail the whole scheme. The Commissions big mistake has naturally emboldened the irate DUP leader to demand that Boris Johnson use robust measures including Article 16, to advance the interests of NI and the rest of the UK. That is short for getting rid of the Protocol altogether. With Von der Leyen undermining the arguments put forward to establish the Protocol in the first place, unionists have a fresh opportunity to get London to ditch the Protocol. Arlene Foster could well persuade Boris Johnson in relation to Article 16, and he is more than capable of tearing up essential parts of Treaties, as we have seen with his Internal Market Bill. Despite DUP protestations, Simon Hoare, Chair of the NI Affairs Committee explained: There is no appetite at Westminster to ditch the Protocol. But even if Boris Johnson invokes Article 16, he cannot remove the very institution of the Irish Sea border. He might be able to vary some aspects of the regulatory system, but the Irish Sea border will remain intact, that is until 2024, when the Assembly by way of a majority vote will be asked to renew the NI Protocol. But given the current state of the parties in the Assembly, where unionists are in a numerical minority, it is improbable that such a vote would go against the renewal of the Protocol. The likelihood is that there will be a further marginal decline in unionist representation at the next elections in June 2022, thereby guaranteeing an Assembly vote in favour of the Protocol. Unionists will have to learn to live with the Irish Sea border. 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 STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani authorities have barred a planned search operation for bodies of the war victims, including MIAs that was supposed to take place today in two directions, the Artsakh authorities in charge of the retrieval operations said. During the past day, one body was found during search operations for the remains of the casualties of the 2020 Artsakh War, bringing the total number of bodies retrieved since the conflict ended to 1355, which includes both servicemen and civilians. Artsakh State Service of Emergency Situations spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan said they were unable to identify the latest retrieved body and a medical examination is underway. Tadevosyan says they planned to resume the search operations on February 3 in Varanda (Fizuli) and Jrakan (Jabrayil). But the Azerbaijani side, without giving any reason, did not allow it, he said. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 21:35:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Wednesday that it was closely monitoring the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines in other countries before commencing administering them in the country. Minister of Health Jonas Chanda said the government wanted to draw lessons on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine while carrying out local assessments and the necessary groundwork. "The Ministry of Health is also actively participating in COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and deployment discussions and I wish to reiterate our highest assurance to the Zambian people that we will only recommend to cabinet a vaccine that is efficacious and safe as guided by the World Health Organization and other international health experts from the array of vaccines available," he said in a release. The minister said last month that the administration of the vaccine was expected to start later this month although this will depend on cabinet decision. Meanwhile, the country recorded 1,256 new cases in the last 24 hours. This was out of 10,730 tests done bringing the cumulative cases to 57,489. A total of 783 patients were discharged during the period, bringing the total recoveries to 50,479 while 10 people died bringing the total deaths to 804. Enditem The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 94 additional deaths related to COVID-19. 47 of these deaths occurred in February, 44 occurred in January, 2 in December and 1 in November, sadly bringing the total of COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland to 3,512. As of midnight, Tuesday February 2, the HPSC has been notified of 1,013 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 199,430* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today: 465 are men / 543 are women 56% are under 45 years of age The median age is 41 years old 337 in Dublin, 96 in Galway, 65 in Cork, 60 in Kildare, 48 in Louth and the remaining 407 cases are spread across all other counties. ** The number of confirmed cases in Limerick was just 15. Limerick's 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (to 02Feb2021) is now 379.7, below the national average of 424.1 However, the number of 'New Cases during last 14 days (to 02Feb2021)' is now at 740 for Limerick. As of 2pm today, 1,334 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 203 are in ICU. 66 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: At the outset of this pandemic, as a global community we knew much less about COVID-19 than we do now. We did not know then that today we would have a portfolio of approved vaccines to mitigate the worst effects of COVID-19, adding to our toolkit of public health measures such as social distancing, reducing contacts, mask-wearing, cough/sneeze hygiene and washing our hands. Now more than ever, as we are continuing to see the tragic effects of the recent surge of COVID-19 infection in the form of mortality, hospitalisation and ICU admission, we should remember the public health advice that has carried us so far in this pandemic, and helped us to suppress COVID-19 together successfully in the past. It is the collective hard work and ongoing sacrifice of people across Ireland in following these public health measures that will keep us all safe at this time, as we look ahead to the increased rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon. Keep it up, and encourage others to do the same. In short: the present is the time to protect yourself and stay safe, in order to receive your vaccine in the future. The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. Health minister, Zweli Mkhize Registration guidelines At the launch of the portal on Wednesday, health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said more than 34,000 frontline workers have already registered. Those who have so far registered include clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers from both the public and private sectors. Medical students and traditional workers have been added to the list as well.If youre working in a professional healthcare setting, you need to be registered. Anyone who touches patients, whether you are a porter, security guard or cleaner and everyone whos at risk, must register," he said.The electronic vaccine data system (EVDS) will verify a persons medical care worker status by checking against the employment data or other organisations that hire or regulate healthcare workers.Therefore, while its possible to register on the site if one is not a healthcare worker, the system will automatically prioritise verified healthcare workers for the period of phase one, Mkhize said.Mkhize said it is very easy to register, takes less than one megabyte and about two minutes to complete the registration process.Any frontline worker who cannot register online must seek assistance from the Occupational Health and Safety representatives in their municipalities.However, Mkhize said if a health frontline worker has not registered, they will not be denied vaccination.You'll be registered at the vaccination site. It will just take a few minutes longer. However, we encourage healthcare workers to register because it will help us to know how to refine our current allocations and get enough vaccines to the right centres at the right time, the minister said.The Health Departments acting chief operating officer (COO), Milani Wolmarans, said workers can register with either their ID or passport number.The portal will collect general personal details, including name and surname, and the system will automatically calculate the date of birth.The system also requires an email address and cell phone number.A cell phone number is important because it will be used to communicate with the healthcare worker. This is the only personal information communicated through the portal.Thereafter, the healthcare workers will be asked to fill in their information about employment and medical aid scheme.The COO assured workers their data will be protected when they register for the vaccine, and that system has undergone penetration testing.Wolmarans said the portal is managed through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and is owned by the National Department of Health.The system will not crash after a million people have been registered and the EVDS is built on the health patient registration system, which is already managing 59-million records.While there may be delays, Wolmarans said the system will not stop working.Digital health information systemsMkhize said this is the beginning of the complete vaccination health information system - from registration to certification.The system has been developed with the purpose of ensuring we lay a solid foundation for digital health information systems that inform the right national policies and interventions.Mkhize said government is making strides by capitalising on the departments existing health patient registration platform, which will feed into the EVDS.The system can capture the relevant metrics of all South Africans that will be vaccinated and ensure they are contactable, and complete the certification process, such that theyre easy to obtain.Mkhize said government is proud to offer a service that ensures healthcare workers are inoculated efficiently.Weve reached a significant milestone in our fight against Covid-19, he said. Mumbai, Feb 3 : Bollywood celebrities Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar and Suniel Shetty on Wednesday came out and spoken about the ongoing protest by farmers. The actors have urged people not to fall for false propaganda against India. Their tweets come after international personalities such as Rihanna, Mia Khalifa and Greta Thunberg tweeted in favour of the farmers' protest in the country. Indian celebrities have reacted to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about the issue, and celebrities commenting about the issue. Superstar Akshay Kumar took to Twitter and shared the statement by MEA. He then wrote that efforts are being taken to resolve the issue. "Farmers constitute an extremely important part of our country. And the efforts being undertaken to resolve their issues are evident. Let's support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Akshay wrote. Farmers constitute an extremely important part of our country. And the efforts being undertaken to resolve their issues are evident. Lets support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/LgAn6tIwWp Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) February 3, 2021 Actor Ajay Devgn urged everyone to not fall for false propaganda. "Don't fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. Its important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," he tweeted. Dont fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. Its important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) February 3, 2021 Filmmaker Karan Johar called the farmers the backbone of India. "We live in turbulent times and the need of the hour is prudence and patience at every turn. Let us together, make every effort we can to find solutions that work for everyone-our farmers are the backbone of India. Let us not let anyone divide us. #IndiaTogether," Johar wrote. We live in turbulent times and the need of the hour is prudence and patience at every turn. Let us together, make every effort we can to find solutions that work for everyoneour farmers are the backbone of India. Let us not let anyone divide us. #IndiaTogether Karan Johar (@karanjohar) February 3, 2021 Actor Suniel Shetty said that nothing is more dangerous than half truth. "We must always take a comprehensive view of things, as there is nothing more dangerous than half truth. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda @hiteshjain33," he wrote. We must always take a comprehensive view of things, as there is nothing more dangerous than half truth. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda @hiteshjain33 https://t.co/7rNZ683ZAU Suniel Shetty (@SunielVShetty) February 3, 2021 -- Syndicated from IANS The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, has urged Nigerians to disregard conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccines. This is coming as the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari has condcemned the non-challant attitude of the residents of his home state, Kwara, to the pandemic. Speaking yesterday during the inauguration of the state house clinic COVID-19 isolation centre, the SGF said the COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and beneficial. Mustapha, who is the chairman of the presidential task force on COVID-19, said the federal government will continue to encourage Nigerians to get vaccinated when the time comes. The Cable quoted the SGF as saying that the state house clinic will soon get a COVID-19 testing laboratory We will appeal and explain to our people that if you do not take the vaccine, the danger of falling terribly sick and eventually dying is there," the SGF said. "We will be blunt to them that if you don't take the COVID-19 vaccine, you may not be able to go anywhere in the world, very soon. Even when you want to go and perform your spiritual obligation, that will be subjected to your COVID-19 status. "I don't believe anyone will spend billions of dollars in manufacturing vaccines in order to kill us in Africa "From just two molecular laboratories for the testing of COVID-19 in Nigeria, we now have over 100 molecular laboratories, public and private, across the 36 States of the federation Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Nigeria Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "I want to commend the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, the Permanent Secretary, Mr Tijjani Umar and the State House management under whose leadership this beautiful edifice is being commissioned. Also speaking, Gambari condemned the non-adherence to the COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical intervention by the residents of Kwara State. He said:"It may interest you to know that since my appointment into this position in May 2020, I have not been to Ilorin, Kwara State, my hometown. "Unfortunately, the non-pharmaceutical intervention is not being taken seriously there. The people in Ilorin and upwards think COVID-19 is a rich-man and powerful-people disease. "But as Mr. President often says, COVID-19 is not a respecter of nobody. Rich and poor, powerful or weak, all of us must respond to this very effectively. "For me who sees the President many times in a day, I have to take responsibility and if that involves giving up going to the town of my birth, so be it." Gambari also urged Nigerians to embrace the COVID-19 vaccine, adding that Nigerians must do whatever it takes to protect themselves. "The Latin says mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body. To keep your body healthy, you have to have a healthy mind and a healthy mind is what is necessary to keep you and your family safe," he said. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio House met again on Wednesday without acting to remove former speaker Larry Householder from office, something his successor has said hes been trying to do since Householder was arrested and charged last summer as part of a federal corruption probe. Republican House Speaker Bob Cupp had been waiting until after the election to remove Householder, since under Ohio law someone can only be removed from the legislature once for the same misconduct. Householder, a Perry County Republican, was overwhelmingly re-elected to his House seat in November for a new term running through 2022. The House met again on Wednesday, the first since it swore in 20 new members at a pro-forma session in January. The Republican caucus, which controls the House, has been getting to know the new members, elected in November, holding a retreat late last week and orienting them this week, including showing them how to use the voting devices in House chambers. But the session came and went Wednesday with no action on Householder. Cupp, a Lima Republican, said afterward that talks continue about what to do. Theres still ongoing discussion in the caucus to find out where theyre at, said Cupp, who has said Householder should voluntarily resign. My personal position is clear, but well have to see where it goes from here. Cupp didnt elaborate much in response to a follow-up question: There isnt any timetable. Were still consulting with members. House members unanimously voted to remove Householder from the speakership following his arrest, but he remains in the legislature. He has been attending House sessions, voting on Wednesday to approve a set of House rules for the current General Assembly. He has not been assigned to any House committees, a highly unusual move. Federal prosecutors say Householder and his allies accepted $61 million in bribes from FirstEnergy and its affiliates in exchange for helping pass House Bill 6, which bailed out two Ohio nuclear plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary. The money was funneled through political groups that first helped Householder get elected speaker by backing legislative candidates who supported him, and then was spent to help pressure lawmakers to pass HB6 and defend it against a repeal effort, prosecutors have said. Prosecutors also say Householder personally benefitted from $400,000, using the money to settle legal debt, pay for costs associated with a House in Florida and pay off personal credit card debt. Two others arrested as part of the HB6 probe, former Householder aide Jeff Longstreth and Juan Cespedes, a lobbyist for the former FirstEnergy subsidiary that owns the nuclear plants, have pleaded guilty to federal charges. Two other lobbyists, Matt Borges and Neil Clark, have denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty. Householder has declared his innocence, and has spent nearly $1 million in campaign funds to pay lawyers helping him mount his criminal defense, which Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has said is against state law. If Householder eventually is convicted, he will be ineligible to hold office under state law. Prof. Waldmann recognized early on the interdisciplinarity of chemistry and biology as an emerging and fruitful research field. He has set new standards in the fields of lipidated proteins, biology-oriented synthesis, solid-phase methods, drug and protein microarrays, and most recently in the development of so-called pseudo-natural products. In this novel approach, different natural substances are first reduced to their fragments which are then combined with each other in unprecedented ways. By this means, it was possible to develop completely new active substances that can, for example, stop the uptake of glucose in cancer cells. Since his appointment as Director at the MPI of Molecular Physiology and as Chair of Organic Chemistry at the TU Dortmund in 1999, Waldmann has contributed significantly to the development of Dortmund as an internationally renowned centre for chemical biology. He is the initiator of the Chemical Genomics Centre founded in 2005 in Dortmund, which the Max Planck Society runs together with research-driven pharmaceutical companies. As an author, Herbert Waldmann has published so far over 500 articles in renowned scientific journals. For his work in the field of chemical biology, he has been awarded numerous prizes and honors, such as the Otto Bayer Prize, the Emil Fischer Medal of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and an Honorary Doctorate from Leiden University in the Netherlands. ### The Richard Willstatter Prize for Chemical Biology The Richard Willstatter Prize for Chemical Biology honors interdisciplinary research, gaining knowledge of chemical-biological interrelations, and outstanding commitment to the discipline, e.g. in the form of supporting young scientists or the organization of degree programs. The Richard Willstatter Prize for Chemical Biology is awarded by the DECHEMA Gesellschaft fur Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V. , the Deutschen Pharmazeutischen Gesellschaft e.V. (DPhG), the Gesellschaft fur Biochemie und Molekularbiologie e.V. (GBM) and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker e.V. (GDCh) in equal shares. WASHINGTON - It was silent except for the sound of the cold wind and the gentle clicks of camera shutters that captured the ceremony for a public that could only watch from afar. On Tuesday night, dozens of police officers stood at attention in rows, creating a protective wall of grief and respect as the cremated remains of Officer Brian Sicknick were carried up the stone steps of the U.S. Capitol, through its open, welcoming doors and into the warm light of the Rotunda where he would lie in honor alongside a trifolded American flag. The moment was solemn and breathtaking. And wretchedly sad. Not merely because Sicknick had died at 42 years old in the line of duty, which is already more than any family should have to bear, but also because it had happened while he was defending that building, our lawmakers and our democracy from his fellow Americans who stormed it on Jan. 6. The Capitol dome was aglow and looking more beautiful than ever when Sicknick was brought back to this revered place. A lone officer stood on the plaza at the back of Sicknick's hearse. Awaiting him. The officer was silhouetted against the Capitol's pristine stone steps, the site where so much trauma and history had unfolded in a few short weeks. There was blood on that broad stairway, perhaps not visible to the naked eye, perhaps not visible to those who refused to see it. But it was there nonetheless, just as anger, hate and lies were so evident during the prelude to Sicknick's death. His remains were carried in quiet dignity. And the shadows of his bearers and guardians multiplied and converged on the Capitol steps in poetic chiaroscuro as if to remind those watching that the multitudes were with this man and all that he symbolized. The ghosts of the ages walked with him. President Joe Biden and the first lady came to honor Sicknick on Tuesday night. They came in quietly in their dark overcoats, and the president made the sign of the cross as he stood in front of the remains. He and Jill Biden placed their hand over their hearts. The vice president and the second gentleman came, too. They paused and reflected. For both couples, their presence is their power because there's little that can be said to a family in a time of grief that can change the trajectory of their emotions. Even the most public people still must grieve alone. Sicknick lay in honor, but the public could not come to pay its respects. And so our representatives did so in our stead. On Wednesday morning, at a formal memorial, members of Congress, law enforcement officials, Democratic District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and the newly confirmed defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, all passed through the recently installed nonscalable fencing, the razor wire and the watchful gaze of National Guard troops to offer condolences to the officer's family on behalf of "we, the people," who were held back by the barricades because so many of us can no longer be trusted to keep the peace. "Blessed are the peacekeepers," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in his remarks at the memorial. And what about the rest? Pray for them, one supposes. The morning ceremony was dominated by the men and women in uniform who vow to serve and protect but who, we have often been reminded, are also flawed and human. Many lowered their heads in prayer before they raised their arms in a slow, graceful salute. One after another they came and stood before Sicknick's remains, and one wondered how they were sorting through the heroism, heartache and darkness in their own ranks. Republican Senate leaders including Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and congressional Representatives Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Steve Scalise, R-La., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., silently paid their respects. In her remarks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised Sicknick's parents that "we will never forget." And one hopes that pledge can be kept, as there seems to be an urgent desire in some quarters to move on, let go and get on with it. This is, after all, a forgetful country. As the Rotunda slowly emptied, as each person paid their final respects by simply being present and standing close to the bier displaying Sicknick's remains, the end was much like the beginning. Members of law enforcement stood at attention on the East Front of the Capitol, the side that looks off into the surrounding neighborhoods in the city, the side that was once opened up to just regular folks. One officer carried the folded American flag; the other carried the small polished box of ashes. They placed both in the waiting hearse. Bagpipers played "Amazing Grace," with the wind whipping the plaintive melody, the one that always sounds drenched in tears, into the air. There is, perhaps, no other hymn that expresses the capacity of humans to be so individually flawed and yet collectively worth salvaging. The hearse passed through a phalanx of officers and ferried Sicknick to Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony ended. Not with the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," not with a drumbeat of might or even resiliency. But with a melancholy plea for forgiveness. Dr. Terry Rogers, Medical Director of Lakeside Milam Recovery Centers, announced today he will be retiring in 2021 after 19 successful years of Medical Leadership at the preeminent Addiction Treatment Center in the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rogers, the longest-serving medical leader in the organization's 36-year history, says he will step down when his successor is hired. Until then, he will continue to lead the medical department through the pandemic, and advance the innovation, collaboration and outstanding medical care that have defined his tenure. "While I'm excited about the next chapter in my life, I'm equally excited about the future of Lakeside Milam and know that our mission is more important than ever before," Dr. Rogers said. "In this extraordinary time, I remain 100% focused on those we serve, and the hope and healing that so many individuals and families need right now." Lakeside Milam has been fortunate to have had the medical leadership of Dr. Rogers over the last two decades said CEO Carl Kester. He has been everything one could want from a medical leader, deeply committed to patient care, a tireless advocate for those we serve, and a creative, collaborative thinker about the issues facing the organization and our field. Lakeside Milam Recovery Centers, Newsweek Magazines #1 ranked Addiction Treatment Center in the State Of Washington will immediately begin their search for Dr. Rogers successor. As we begin our search for Lakeside Milams next Medical Director said President JP Liddle. We will be looking for those qualities that have made Dr. Rogers so successful an unyielding belief in the ability of every patient to enter into recovery from addiction, a pervasive empathy for the pain that each patient has suffered and the ability to communicate warmth and hope each day at work. Lakeside-Milam has provided effective, affordable alcohol and drug treatment in the Pacific Northwest since 1983. After helping over 100,000 alcoholics and addicts, we are the largest addiction treatment facility in the PNW, with thousands of clean and sober alumni. Over 90% of those who have attended Lakeside-Milam would refer a friend or family member to us for treatment. Were proud to provide individualized care tailored to the needs of each person; our decades of experience make Lakeside-Milam uniquely equipped to identify the most effective treatment plan for each patient. The protests, held across numerous cities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including the capital Caracas, were spontaneously organized through social media. The protestors, numbering over 200,000, were reacting to remarks made by Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia in Parliament last week. Correia suggested that Cape Verde "did well" by arresting Alex Saab following a request from the United States. Among the protestors interviewed, Eloy Sulbaran, Congressman and President of the National Tourism Fund, FONTUR, said that Venezuelans see these remarks as an extension of a long-running politically motivated judicial overreach by the United States against Venezuela and demand that Cape Verde, not only respects Ambassador Saab's immunity, but release him immediately. Protesters also claimed for the United States to cease their the facto economic embargo on Venezuela. SOURCE Miami Press Agency The Texas Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee calls on teachers, school workers, parents and their families in New Mexico to build committees in your districts to defend the lives, livelihoods and rights of educators, students and communities. The actions of governors and governments throughout the Southwest region during the COVID-19 pandemic have prioritized profit over the lives of residents, and New Mexico is no exception. Kindergarten teacher at Southside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas on August 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Near the end of the spring of 2020, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham decided to end her shelter-in-place order so as to begin priming the pump for her fall economic reopening plans. Another Democratic Party politician, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, proclaimed a May 15 summer school reopening as the city reached 5,500 COVID-19 cases and 242 deaths. Grisham announced during a May 28 press conference that, As businesses did their part to protect New Mexicans, we have to protect businesses that we continue to expand in terms of opening the economy. That is to say, the back-to-work campaign was needed in order for businesses to keep making money. In June, indoor venues were reopened and public safety measures rolled back. In other words, the measures that had led to a fall in infections and deaths were scrapped. Two months later, the worsening COVID-19 data graph showed the devastating consequences of this policy, which would continue to worsen. New Mexico public schools reopened in the fall with the promise that they would only be at 50 percent capacity, and that private schools would be no more than a quarter full. By late November, the state was experiencing upwards of 2,000 new infections each day. In a December 18 press release, New Mexico Education Secretary Ryan Stewart let pre-kindergarten to third grade special education students be brought on campus between the weeks of January 2 and January 18, 2021, as the winter break came to a close, explaining that his choice conformed to their needs. He continued, After much discussion, we now feel we can manage those safely, so we made that change. Similar actions were being taken in all the surrounding states. The New Mexico Department of Education has set guidelines that all school districts are required to follow in their school reopening plans, including using a hybrid model whereby only some students attend each day. But this has not stopped the spread of the virus. On January 25, four Rio Rancho (population 87,521) schoolsMartin Luther King Elementary, Puerta Del Sol Elementary, Rio Rancho Middle School and Shining Stars Preschoolreported COVID-19 infections. Cases were also discovered in Enchanted Hills Elementary Schools and along a school bus route on January 26. The former involved a first grade student, while the latter was an employee. Shining Stars Preschool warned on the district website of a confirmed case on January 27, stating that a prekindergarten student had caught the virus. The school put 15 students and eight contractors in quarantine to clean the classroom, restroom and school bus used. Vista Grande Elementary School then confirmed another case on January 29. Forty-two students from the school are in a 14-day quarantine along with three school employees. New Mexicos middle and high schools do not yet conduct in-person general education classes. However, the governor has declared that schools will open to every grade level in the month of February. Hobbes Municipal Schools intends to revert to face-to-face classes on February 8, in addition to Santa Fe Public Schools on February 22, which has been given the green light by the National Education Association (NEA)-Santa Fe. If this is allowed to go forward, many more children, educators and their family members will become infected and possibly die. These actions call for an immediate response. Educators must unite with the broader working class and demand the shutdown of all schools and nonessential production, with full compensation for workers and small-business owners. Resourcesincluding free high-quality computers, internet, special training, online support and moremust be provided to educators, students and their families to make online education effective and sustainable. The gargantuan wealth of the corporate financial oligarchy, which has only grown with the massive funneling of government money into the coffers of big business through the CARES Act bailouts, must be expropriated and used to fund these measures. The US Congress delivered to the financial elite $2 trillion through the CARES Act in March and an additional $900 billion in December, both enjoying bipartisan support. The Federal Reserve, on the assignment of the legislation, offered essentially limitless money to these same elites, including $4 trillion in cheap loans to major corporations and banks. These policies led to the further massive enrichment of the oligarchs, with the total wealth of US billionaires soaring by over $1 trillion in the first nine months of 2020 alone. Over 457,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19 because of government negligence and the deliberate implementation of the murderous herd immunity policy based on letting the virus rip through the population. To put an end to these homicidal policies and coordinate their response, education workers in New Mexico must organize independently of the unions and Democrats and form a New Mexico Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, joining a network of such committees that have been formed across the country. These committees fight to unify educators with the struggles of other action committees among autoworkers, health care workers, Amazon and logistics workers, meatpackers, transport workers and all sections of the working class. The struggle that educators face in New Mexico cannot be solved solely by educators or in your state alone. Battling the unions, the Democrats, the Republicans and all the myriad representatives of the capitalist class is a political struggle that requires the broadest possible mobilization of the entire working class across district and state lines. The spontaneous inclination of workers to look toward trade unions for support is insufficient to conduct a successful nationwide general strike in defense of workers lives and against the agenda of the capitalist class. The trade union bureaucracy only serves as a conduit for the subordination of the working class to the stifling influence of the right-wing Democratic Party faction of the ruling elite. The union apparatus constitutes a privileged petty-bourgeois base drawn by the capitalists into what are effectively managerial cabinet positions in workplaces. Their interests stand in direct opposition to those of the workers, which is why, regardless of how they dress it up, the unions are pushing to get their members and students back into the schools. No constructive headway can be made by workers while in their clutches. We urge New Mexico educators to read and carefully consider the numerous statements that have been published by the network of rank-and-file committees across the US and globally, and join the fight to build these democratic organizations in every school and workplace, fighting for the interests of masses of working people, not the profit interests of the corporations. MEMBERS of the Defence Forces have been drafted in to provide round-the-clock cover at a Limerick nursing home following a number of Covid-19 related deaths. It comes as Siptu union official Mark Quinn says care facilities across the region are facing mass staff shortages and urged better rates of pay in the sector. Staff working in private nursing homes are going above and beyond the call of duty. We want the government to clearly recognise their worth. They should be paid the exact same money as any public healthcare worker going forward, he said. Due to the pay disparity, he said many care workers are leaving for a career in the HSE instead. The Limerick Leader understands there has been approximately 15 deaths of residents of a nursing home in the county in the last fortnight. And with a number of staff out sick with coronavirus, this has led the defence forces to be called in. A spokesperson for the Defence Forces confirmed that upon a request from the HSE, at least six personnel a day are on site providing help. The assistance we are providing is to support the running of regional care home facilities and our personnel have no direct contact with patients or residents, the service confirmed. A number of supports are provided including cleaning, cooking or catering, waste removal, and transportation. Meanwhile, new figures from the Central Statistics Office have revealed that 107 people in Limerick had passed away from Covid-19 as of January 22 a sharp increase of 49 in just two weeks. As lockdown continues, it appears that it is having an impact in terms of the numbers of figures. The incidence rate of Covid-19 in Limerick has declined to the level it was at before the current Level 5 restrictions were imposed on New Year's Eve. The number of daily confirmed cases reported across the city and county has been in double digits for the past ten days and the incidence rate dropped below the overall national rate at the weekend, for the first time in more than two months. According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, 27 cases of the disease were reported in Limerick last Friday - the lowest daily figure since December 16, 2020. Earlier this Wednesday, 15 additional cases were reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team. The decline in daily cases in Limerick and across the Mid West is also continuing to have a positive impact on patient numbers at University Hospital Limerick. According to HSE figures, the number of Covid-19 patients has been below 100 for a number of days and the numbers in critical care has also stabilised. While caution is still being urged by public health experts, the overall decline in daily case numbers is broadly reflected within each of Limerick's six Local Electoral Areas. As of January 25, the Cappamore/Kilmallock Municipal District had the highest 14-day incidence rate in Limerick (982.2 per 100,000 population) while the Newcastle West Municipal District had the lowest rate (448.6). Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the HSEs Mid West community healthcare has confirmed a total of 396 second dose Pfizer vaccinations have now been completed in Limerick. A total of 4,434 first doses have been administered to the priority groups. Patients of St Itas Community Hospital in Newcastle West will receive their second doses on Thursday and Friday. British Army medics are to deploy to help speed up Scotland's vaccine rollout for the first time, it was announced today - as Nicola Sturgeon insisted she did not need 'a favour' from Boris Johnson. The Ministry of Defence said 57 medics and management would start work on Thursday to assist health boards across the nation boost the number of jabs in arms. They will make up a 'vaccine quick reaction force' which will see five teams of 10 able to deploy across Scotland at short notice. It came as Ms Sturgeon launched a furious attack on offers of help from Westminster, as she claimed the Covid vaccination programme was 'going well'. She has been under pressure to improve the numbers after they hit a record low on Sunday, before rebounding on Monday and Tuesday. Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Mr Johnson said they offer of assistance remained if the SNP 'were they to decide that was necessary'. However, an agitated Ms Sturgeon lashed out this afternoon at the Scottish Tory leader in Holyrood, Ruth Davidson, when pressed on military help. Taking First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Any help that the Armed Forces give to Scotland, whether it is on vaccines, whether, as in an earlier stage, it was on PPE or the logistics associated with setting up the NHS Louisa Jordan (hospital), it's not a favour from the Secretary of State for Scotland. 'It's our Armed Forces that the people of Scotland pay for through their taxes. So let's forget the suggestion that it is somehow the UK government doing Scotland a favour.' Mr Johnson became the latest UK politician to offer Government help as well as that of the Army - which is already working in Scotland - to speed up the process north of the border. Ms Sturgeon has been under pressure to improve the vaccination programme after it hit a record low on Sunday, before rebounding on Monday. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded Mr Johnson's visit to Glasgow an 'irresponsible PR stunt' amid claims that there was a Covid outbreak at one site before the PM visited. The latest personnel is in addition to the 98 members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards who are already supporting the vaccine effort. NHS Lothian is among the health boards to receive immediate military assistance, with personnel administering vaccinations at the Royal Highland Showground near Edinburgh. Up to 24 logistic support staff, mostly from Edinburgh-based 3rd Battalion The Rifles, will also assist with the running of vaccination centres in Grampian, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. It brings the number of military personnel supporting the rollout in Scotland to more than 200. Mr Johnson visited vaccination sites in Scotland last Thursday amid a campaign to bolster support for the Union in independence-minded Scotland. And his offer of aid came at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons today as the nationalists sought to attack him for the trip to Glasgow. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded it an 'irresponsible PR stunt' amid claims that there was a Covid outbreak at one site before the PM visited. But that prompted a furious response from the Prime Minister, who told him: 'I had a fantastic time and nobody raised that issue with me before or since. 'It is my job to visit every part of this country, nothing and no-one is going to stop me and I am very very proud of the record of the government in rolling out the vaccine.' Ms Sturgeon was also accused of threatening the UK's long-term escape from lockdown today. She told MSPs the number of vaccinations given yesterday was the highest daily total so far, and was 59 per cent higher than the number of jabs given last Tuesday. She went on to say 98 per cent of older people living in care homes had had their first injection as well as 87 per cent of those aged over 80 who are living in the community. But only just over a quarter (28 per cent) of those aged between 75 and 79 and also now had the initial dose. In comparison more than half of those in their 70s have received a jab in England so far. Tory MP Karl McCartney said there was a 'danger' the slow rollout in Scotland could undermine the effectiveness of the wider UK effort. Tory MP Karl McCartney said there was a 'danger' the slow rollout in Scotland could undermine the effectiveness of the wider UK effort. 'It is symptomatic of many mess ups by the SNP and Sturgeon. Education and the NHS in Scotland immediately spring to mind,' he said. 'The Empress, as she sees herself, has long ''had no clothes''.' Scotland has recorded 88 deaths of coronavirus patients and 978 new cases in the past 24 hours, Ms Sturgeon announced today. The death toll under this measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - is now 6,269. Speaking at the Scottish Government coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said the daily test positivity rate is 5.1 per cent, down from 7.4 per cent on Wednesday when 758 new cases were recorded. There are 1,871 people in hospital confirmed to have Covid-19, down 63 in 24 hours. Of these, the number of patients in intensive care was 128, down 12. She said a 649,262 people have been given a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, up 38,484 from the previous day. Michael Gove made a similar pitch to Mr Johnson this morning. He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'We want to make sure that that vaccine is available to citizens across the UK' Michael Gove made a similar pitch to Mr Johnson this morning. He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'We want to make sure that that vaccine is available to citizens across the UK, and Jason Leitch was saying yesterday that the vaccine roll-out in Scotland had perhaps not been as quick as it might have been.' 'I'm not critical of anyone - I'm just stressing that it's important that we all work together.' Scotland's top medic Professor Leitch yesterday said that Scotland's slow vaccine rollout had been hindered by GPs whose surgeries are closed on Sundays. The national clinical director said 'Sundays are a little bit tricky' and that the vaccination team has been asked to 'have a look at that'. On Sunday, just 9,628 vaccinations were completed in Scotland, out of a UK-wide total of 322,000. But that figure rose to more than 35,000 on Monday. Prof Leitch added that the reason for the drop on Sunday was because of where the jabs are being administered, with most being delivered in GP practices which 'didn't all work (on) Sunday'. 'We decided to do the over-80s in their own practices, where they would know their nurses, where they would know their GPs, where they would be close to home,' he said. The situation is believed to be different in England where, under an agreement between the British Medical Association and NHS England 'practices will need to be prepared to offer vaccinations seven days a week so that the vaccine is delivered within its short shelf-life and so patients receive it as soon as possible'. ADVERTISEMENT The chairman of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Abubakar Gotomo, said he believes the right thing must have been done by appointing Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim as the agencys director-general. When asked if he was aware Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim is unqualified for the position she occupies, he said: I do not know she is not qualified. The government must have made the right decision. The recommendation is made by the honourable minister, and I want to believe that the right thing must have been done, he told PREMIUM TIMES when asked if he was worried about the director-general not being qualified for the top job. Upon Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahims appointment as the new director-general, PREMIUM TIMES revealed how her qualification does not match the prerequisite for the job as requested by the law. The law establishing the anti-trafficking agency mandates whoever would be appointed as its director-general to be from the directorate cadre of the public service. However, prior to her appointment and subsequent resumption to work, Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim was a politician cum businesswoman. At other times, she was a political appointee to the minister of state on education whose appointment ended upon the expiration of her stint with her former principal. Despite these revelations, and amidst repeated calls by Nigerians on President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse his decision, the president has refused to reverse the appointment. Meanwhile, her predecessor, Julie Okah-Donli, was not also qualified for the job before she was axed last December. This, according to PREMIUM TIMES review, follows a pattern peculiar to the Buhari-administration as, under previous administrations, no unqualified person had landed the foremost job in NAPTIP since its establishment in 2003. As the chief executive officer of the anti-trafficking agency, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim acts as the secretary to the agencys governing board which is made up of eleven members, all of whom are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the supervising minister. Aside the secretary and the chairman, members of the board, according to the NAPTIP Act, are to include two representatives from civil society organizations involved in matters relating to trafficking in persons; an official in the directorate cadre in each of the ministries of justice, women affairs, labour and productivity, the Nigeria Police Force, National Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Immigration Service, and National Planning Commission. Other members of the current board include Anne Akwiwu, Idris Mohammed, Dorcas Ajiboye, Adebola Longe, Ntia Thompson, Joshua Akor, Sani Ismail, Wunti Sule, and I. A. Nworgu. 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. SAVANNAH, Ga., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Red One Medical, a proven government contractor providing best-in-class medical supplies to the VA and DoD, has exclusively partnered with ALG Health one of the few face mask manufacturers in America. In 2020, Americans faced pandemic-related healthcare supply shortages unlike ever before. While retailers and distributors did their best to supply citizens with masks, 95 percent of surgical masks and 70 percent of respirators like N95 masks are made overseas, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.* Red One Medical ALG Health ALG Health rose to the challenge, determined to shift manufacturing back to the US to meet rising demand. The company made a significant investment in their state-of-the art facility in Ohio, which is making N95 masks that are "100% Made in the USA" from start to finish and approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The company recently received FDA-approval for their foldable N95 to be used as a surgical mask. They're scaling rapidlyand at full capacitywill be able to produce 1 million masks/day. Red One Medical will provide these masks, which meet Buy American and Berry Amendment mandates, to America's veterans and military service members. "We're proud to partner with Red Onea leading government contractor," said Adam Harmon, ALG Health's President and CEO. "Together, we're committed to providing better access to N95 NIOSH-approved respirators that are 100% US-made and Berry Amendment-compliant." ALG Health is creating much-needed manufacturing jobs in NW Ohio that "help local residents rebuild their families and future," said Doug Soper, ALG Health's VP of Sales and Distribution. The company is committed to serving underserved and at-risk local communities. "Red One is excited to team with a company whose vision of 'protecting those who protect us' aligns with our core values," said Red One's CEO Charles Pollak. "ALG Health is a reliable, scalable source of American-made masks for the VA healthcare workers who need them." In 2020, Red One Medical donated 10,000 KN95 face masks to VA hospitals to support healthcare workers, veterans and their families. The company also partnered with Maersk to deliver mission critical medical supplies to help combat COVID-19, including delivering 29 million masks to the government of Alberta, Canada, which distributed the masks to its citizens for free. About ALG Health ALG Health's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Bryan, Ohio makes 100% Made in the USA NIOSH-approved N95 masks. In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic exposed a huge shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the US, especially high quality, American-made PPE. We saw the need and rose to the challenge, determined to change the future of PPE manufacturing in America. We're proud to serve the American medical community, first responders, military, government, schools, volunteers, and fellow US manufacturers. About Red One Medical Red One Medical identifies and delivers advanced medical and pharmaceutical technologies that transform care for America's veterans and military service members. Located in Savannah, GA, Red One Medical is a CVE-certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB). It donates a portion of profits to charities that support veterans, military families and their communities. *Source: How Decades of Offshoring Led to a Mask Shortage in a Pandemic by Tim Simonite, Wired. March 29, 2020. https://www.wired.com/story/decades-offshoring-led-mask-shortage-pandemic/ Contact: Rachael Post, Red One Medical [email protected] 917-757-5841 SOURCE Red One Medical Related Links https://redonemedical.com Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Datametrex AI Limited (TSXV: DM) (FSE: D4G) (OTC Pink: DTMXF) (the "Company" or "Datametrex") is pleased to announce that it has secured exclusive rights to sell and distribute COVID-19 saliva kit manufactured by WIZCHEM CO., LTD. ("WIZCHEM") in Canada and Saudi Arabia, and non-exclusive rights for the United States of America, United Kingdom, and European Unions. The Company signed the distribution agreement on January 28, 2021, to sell the COVICHEK Saliva DNA/RNA Collection Kit and COVICHEK Viral Transport Medium (together "COVICHEK") in Canada, United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Saud Arabia. The Company did not pay any consideration to the manufacturer to obtain sales rights. COVICHEK Saliva Kit is a convenient DNA and RNA saliva collection device that stabilizes DNA and RNA long term in saliva sample. The saliva collection tube clearly indicates the volume of saliva required after which the funnel is removed, and cap replaced. The device is fully specified for sample transport and storage. WIZCHEM has secured U.S. FDA EUA, CE mark certification, and is Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities compliant. These tests are manufactured the with permission from the Korean FDA based on ISO 13485, and sold globally. Each of the manufacturers' medical devices will be submitted to Health Canada ("HC") for approval on a fast track basis and, until such approval is granted, these tests may not be sold or used in Canada at this time. Each of the manufacturers' medical devices will be submitted to Saudi Food & Drug Authority ("SFDA") for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for approval on a fast track basis. "Datametrex has been awarded another incredible opportunity to secure an additional medical testing device supplier from South Korea with WIZCHEM. With the second wave of COVID-19 in the United States and throughout the world, we at Datametrex believes an increase in testing capacity is critical to test, track and protect populations," said Marshall Gunter, CEO of Datametrex AI Limited. The Company's ability to fulfill any purchase order for the COVICHEK test kits is subject to the availability of inventory at the time of order. Due to the extraordinarily high demand for COVID-19 test, there is volatility in the supply chain and available supply may fluctuate on a daily basis. The following certifications have been awarded for the COVICHEK: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration ( "FDA" ) approved under Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency Use Authorizations for Medical Devices ( "EUA" ) for the United States. ) approved under Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency Use Authorizations for Medical Devices ( ) for the United States. CE marking certification for European Economic Area ("EEA") countries, which covers the 26 member states of the EU, the 3 members of EFTA, plus Turkey and the United Kingdom under Brexit. Benefit of Saliva Collection Kits Saliva collection is easier to perform and less discomfort than taking a sample with a swab deep into the nasal cavity or throat. Because Medical workers do not need to collect samples separately, they can reduce their risk of disease infection. Saliva collection is faster and more scalable than swab collection, which can increase the number of people inspected each day. Also, saliva collection is painless and easy for use in remote areas, suitable for on-site, home and clinic based sampling. About WIZCHEM Since its establishment in 2008, WIZCHEM has been researching, developing, and producing products with global competitiveness to meet customer needs in various fields such as functional chemical materials, biomedical cosmetics, hydrogel wound dressing and medical care. Based on these accumulated technologies, for testing various viruses such as coronavirus, we have recently developed and produced in vitro diagnostic products such as viral transport medium (VTM) and swabs that collect and transport infectious virus samples, also viral DNA/RNA extraction kit and saliva collection kit for rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases. For additional information on WIZCHEM and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at www.wizchem.com. About CE Marking CE marking is a certification mark that indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area (EEA). The CE marking is also found on products sold outside the EEA that have been manufactured to EEA standards. This makes the CE marking recognizable worldwide even to people who are not familiar with the European Economic Area (the 26 member states of the EU, the 3 members of European Free Trade Association ("EFTA"), plus Turkey and United Kingdom). CE marking also supports fair competition by holding all companies accountable to the same rules. For more information, please consult the European Commission website at: CE marking About Food and Drug Administration EUA On February 4, 2020, pursuant to Section 564(b)(1)(C) of the Act, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that there is a public health emergency that has a significant potential to affect national security or the health and security of United States citizens living abroad, and that involves the virus that causes COVID-19. Pursuant to Section 564 of the Act, and on the basis of such determination, the Secretary of HHS then declared that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of the virus that causes COVID-19 subject to the terms of any authorization issued under Section 564(a) of the Act. About Datametrex Datametrex AI Limited is a technology-focused with exposure to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexalogy (www.nexalogy.com). Datametrex's mission is to provide tools that support companies in fulfilling their operational goals, including Health and Safety, with predictive and preventive technologies. By working with companies to set a new standard of protocols through Artificial Intelligence and health diagnostics, Company provides progressive solutions to support the supply chain. For additional information on Datametrex and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at www.datametrex.com. For further information, please contact: Marshall Gunter - CEO Phone: (514) 295-2300 Email: mgunter@datametrex.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements: All statements included in this press release that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects, believes, or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. In particular, there is no guarantee that the parties will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement on mutually acceptable terms or complete the Transaction in the manner contemplated herein, if at all, that the due diligence of any of the parties will be satisfactory, or that the parties will obtain any required board, shareholder, third-party and/or regulatory or other governmental approvals, if any. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events. CovichekTM Saliva Collection Kit To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1778/73341_ada0134e1476d92c_002full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73341 New Delhi, Feb 3 : The farmers' unions protesting at the Singhu border against the three Central farm laws will hold a meeting on February 5 to decide the next course of action for the ongoing agitation, Satnam Singh Pannu, President (Punjab), Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Committee, told IANS on Wednesday. The meeting will be held under the banner of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. "Leaders of all farmers' unions (approx 40-45) will take part in the meeting and discuss on various issues," said Pannu. The meeting will be held a day before a nationwide a 'Chakka Jam' for three hours on February 6. "The meeting on February 5 has been scheduled to discuss how to streanthen this protest. We will discuss some new strategies aiming to show our strength. The government is trying a lot to send us back, but we are not going back until the farm laws are repealed," said Pannu. He also confirmed that the proposed meeting has nothing to do with the February 6 protest across the country. "The February 6 protest is fixed and we will not cancel it. We are getting support from all the states," he added. Farm leaders at the protest site in Singhu said that the incidents of Janurary 26 have angered the people of Haryana and Punjab angry. "People who were earlier hesitating to join the protest are now full of anger," said a farm leader. Sabelo Nxele is a sales executive at Alpine Motors in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. He is affectionately known as the 'The Car Guy' and has a massive following on Twitter because of his dedication to helping consumers make better decisions when it comes to buying cars. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects to US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick as an urn with his cremated remains lies in honour (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AP) Slain US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick was lying in honour in the famed domed building on Tuesday evening, allowing his colleagues and the politicians he protected to pay their respects and to remember the violent attack on Congress that took his life. Mr Sicknick died after defending the Capitol on January 6 against the mob that stormed the building and interrupted the electoral count after then-President Donald Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to fight like hell to overturn his defeat. The US Capitol Police said in a statement that Mr Sicknick, who died the next day, was injured while physically engaging with protesters, though a final cause of death has not yet been determined. Expand Close An honour guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of Brian Sicknick and a folded US flag into the Capitol (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Pool/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An honour guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of Brian Sicknick and a folded US flag into the Capitol (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Pool/AP) The arrival of Mr Sicknicks remains on Tuesday evening was solemn, with dozens of Capitol Police standing at attention as his urn was carried up the Capitol steps. A viewing period was reserved for Capitol police overnight, with legislators to pay tribute at a ceremony on Wednesday morning. A ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery was planned for later in the day. Members of Congress remain shaken by the attack and are grappling with what it means not only for the future of the country, but for their own security as elected representatives. While politicians were united in denouncing the riots and Mr Trumps role in them, the parties are now largely split on how to move forward. Expand Close An honour guard stands at attention around Mr Sicknicks urn (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An honour guard stands at attention around Mr Sicknicks urn (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AP) House Democrats impeached Mr Trump a week after the attack, sending a charge of incitement of insurrection to the Senate, where Republicans are unlikely to provide the votes necessary to convict him. At the same time, the building has been cut off from the public, surrounded by large metal fences and defended by the National Guard. Mr Sicknick, 42, of South River, New Jersey, enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating from high school in 1997, then deployed to Saudi Arabia and later Kyrgyzstan. He joined the Capitol Police in 2008. Like many Capitol Police officers, he often worked on security in the Capitol itself and was known to politicians, staff and others who passed through the buildings doors each morning. Search the Class Schedule Most Classes Are Fully Online Until Further Notice Summer 2021 Credit Classes: Most classes will be fully online. Students in certain programs may come to campus for some face-to-face classes. Summer classes are available in five-week, six-week, 10-week, and 12-week formats. Fall 2021 Credit Classes: Most classes will remain fully online, but classes that focus on hands-on skills and learning experiences will meet on campus (see Student Guidance for more information). Fall classes are available in 15-week, 7-week, and 13-week formats. Most noncredit classes are fully online until further notice. Noncredit courses run year-round with classes starting weekly. See noncredit course offerings. Search the class schedules below and register now. Meet with a counselor or advisor for help selecting classes. How to Search for Different Length Classes Summer 2021 We offer five-week, six-week, 10-week, and 12-week classes. Search both the Summer I and Summer II terms to find classes. Look for the start and end dates to determine class length. Fall 2021 We offer 15-week (full-term), seven-week (half-term), and 13-week (late-starting) classes. To search for classes by length: In the class search form below, select "Credit" for the course level. Under Attribute Type, you will see several options, including different course lengths (15-week Classes, 1st 7-week Classes, 2nd 7-week Classes, and 13-week Classes). Choose the length(s) you would like. A list of course subjects will display. Choose a subject to see all available courses. Check each section's start and end dates to confirm the class length. How to Search for Distance Learning, Structured Remote, and On-Campus Classes Distance Learning courses: In the campus field, select Distance Learning. The location in the schedule will be "DL WEB." Remote courses: In the campus field, select Germantown, Rockville, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, or Off Campus. The location in the schedule will be "REMOTE." These classes will not meet on campus. Instead, they will meet remotely at the scheduled times. On-Campus courses: In the campus field, select Germantown, Rockville, Takoma Park/Silver Spring, or Off Campus. On-campus classes are listed in the course schedule with specific times and on-campus class locations. Some meetings will happen online and some on-campus. Instructors will contact students to provide details about course meeting times. Learn more about distance learning, structured remote, and on-campus courses. How to Search for Classes with Co-Requisites Examples of Co-Requisites: ENGL 101 + ENGL 011 BIOL 150 + BIOL 150L MATH 020 + MATH 120 Go to Advanced Search new window . Choose the term and click Submit. On the next screen, search for one of the segments of the course (e.g., support course or lecture). Look at the course note below your preferred section to find the CRNs for linked sections. Register for all linked sections (CRNs) at the same time. Learn more about registering for courses with co-requisites (PDF, ) . Help Cape Flats communities have little faith in the ability of the police to combat rampant gangsterism (file photo). analysis In December 2020, police announced they had arrested three suspects - Mark Lifman, Jerome 'Donkie' Booysen and William 'Red' Stevens - in connection with an August 2017 murder. Days later Booysen reportedly survived a possible attempted hit and on Tuesday evening Stevens was murdered. William "Red" Stevens was murdered on Tuesday night, shot at his home in the Cape Town suburb of Kraaifontein. He was the second of three suspects, arrested recently in connection with the 2017 murder of a global steroid smuggler, to have been involved in shootings. Stevens was reputed to have been one of the most seasoned 27s gangsters in the Western Cape. Shortly after the incident on Tuesday, Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirmed: "The circumstances surrounding the death of a 56-year-old man are being investigated after he was shot and killed at his residence in Rembrandt Street Kraaifontein this evening at around 18:35. Three unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested." Traut said it was too early to divulge the identity of the victim, but Daily Maverick understands it was Stevens. Three sources pointed to the murdered man as Stevens. Stevens, Jerome "Donkie" Booysen and Mark Lifman were arrested... The 'higher echelons of the state' including MI5 were involved in the making of a 'deeply prejudicial' programme broadcast during the first trial of the Shrewsbury 24, the Court of Appeal has heard. Two dozen trade unionists who picketed in Shrewsbury during the 1972 national builders' strike were charged with offences including unlawful assembly, conspiracy to intimidate and affray and faced three trials. Lawyers representing 14 members of the so-called 'Shrewsbury 24', including Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson, argue that their convictions are unsafe because of the 1973 broadcast of documentary Red Under The Bed during the first trial of three trials. A live panel discussion which followed the programme featured a Conservative MP describing the strike as an example of 'blatant communist influence', a statement the 14's lawyers argue 'would have been deeply prejudicial, provoking panic in the mind of this Shrewsbury jury'. They also argue that the destruction of original witness statements by the police, which the defence were not told about at trial, means the convictions are unsafe. At a hearing in London on Wednesday, senior judges were told that a 'covert Foreign Office agency' known as the Information Research Department (IRD) provided 'considerable assistance' in making Red Under The Bed. Legal team for Shrewsbury 24 will tell Court of Appeal their convictions were unsafe in a bid to get them quashed. Pictured: members of the group outside The Royal Courts Of Justice Actor Ricky Tomlinson (left) joins a protest by trade union members outside the Houses of Parliament, Westminster in 2009, calling for an inquiry into the case of the Shrewsbury 24 The Shrewsbury 24: Who are they and what is Red Under the Bed? The Shrewsbury 24 are a group of 24 construction workers who picketed building sites in Shrewsbury during the first ever national builders' strike in 1972. The group of men were arrested and charged with various offences including unlawful assembly, affray and conspiracy to intimidate and were each convicted in a series of trials in 1973 and 1974. The men received a wide range of punishments ranging from three years in prison to suspended sentences. Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson was sentenced to two years in jail for conspiracy to intimidate and affray. During the first trial, in 1973, a TV documentary called Red under the Bed was broadcast and was covered in the local newspaper. The programme was made and presented by a former Labour MP, Woodrow Wyatt and featured footage of picketing during the building workers strike and other disputes. After the programme, a studio discussion was chaired by Richard Whiteley with a panel of four including Wyatt, Alan Fisher of NUPE, Barbara Castle MP and Geoffrey Johnson Smith MP. The day after it was broadcast the pickets lawyers applied for Anglia TV and Woodrow Wyatt to be held in contempt of court but Judge Mais refused and the trial continued. Advertisement Danny Friedman QC, representing 12 of the trade unionists , said in written submissions that the head of the IRD had told a senior Foreign Office official that 'we had a discreet but considerable hand in the programme'. He added that the IRD 'had consulted the Security Service' - also known as MI5 - about the programme, which was also praised by then prime minister Edward Heath, who said: 'We want as much as possible of this.' Mr Friedman told the court: 'It is obvious ... a covert executive agency played a part in deliberately propagandising against the core subject matter of the proceedings.' He added: 'It is clear now that the higher echelons of the state bore responsibility for deliberate covert involvement in the production of the programme. 'In all the circumstances, the approach taken to broadcasting this programme has rendered the convictions unsafe.' Mr Friedman also argued that the destruction of original witness statements meant the pickets were 'manifestly prejudiced by not being able to seek to investigate these matters before the jury'. He told the court that the prosecution were aware that original statements had been destroyed two weeks before the beginning of the first of the three trials. In a note of a meeting between investigating officers and the prosecution, the police said the original statements had been taken 'before officers knew what they were trying to prove', Mr Friedman said. He added that no arrests were made on the day of the pickets, but that police took action after 'a period of concerted lobbying by the National Federation of Building Trades Employers', which compiled an 'intimidation dossier' that was sent to the then home secretary, Robert Carr. Mr Friedman concluded that 'there has undoubtedly been material non-disclosure of the fact that statements were destroyed' which he argued rendered the convictions unsafe. John Price QC, representing the CPS, said the appellants' 'fresh evidence' on the making of Red Under The Bed was 'wholly irrelevant'. People at a demonstration near Euston Station in London against the jailing of the 'Shrewsbury Two', Des Warren and Ricky Tomlinson after the first of three trials, on January 15, 1975 Ricky Tomlinson (centre) with his wife Marlene, after being freed from Leicester Prison on parole having served 15 months of a two year sentence for his role in the 1972 building strike He also said in the CPS's written response to the appeals that the new evidence 'does not and is not alleged to show any link at all between the scheduling of the broadcast and the trial'. Mr Price added that the judge in the first trial 'had already directed the jury in strong terms that political considerations of any kind were irrelevant'. He also argued that there was 'no destruction of evidence, only of form', saying that, while the destruction of original statement 'was deliberate, it was not done for an improper purpose'. He concluded that there was, therefore, no 'material non-disclosure' which could render the convictions unsafe. In a statement before the hearing, Mr Tomlinson - who was sentenced to two years in jail for conspiracy to intimidate and affray - said: 'It will have taken nearly 50 years for us to have our day in court, and for the truth to come out. 'People will be shocked to know the lengths the establishment went to in order to punish the working class for trying to improve their working and health and safety conditions. The building sites were, at the time, known as the killing fields. Transformation: Ricky Tomlinson (left) makes himself heard at TUC conference in Blackpool in 1975 after being stopped from speaking - and later as Jim Royle in the Royle Family (right) Pictured: Two of the Shrewsbury 24 Harry Chadwick (L-R) and Terry Renshaw with campaigner Eileen Turnbull and lawyer Jamie Potter outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, today 'Years after my release I was surprised and shocked to receive a handwritten letter from Maurice Drake QC, the prosecuting counsel, saying he had followed my career and would rather have had a pint with me than send me to jail. 'We now have evidence of political interference during the trial that I think will concern the general public who believe in our justice system.' Terry Renshaw, one of the pickets who was given a four-month suspended sentence for unlawful assembly, said before the hearing that he was 'very optimistic that we will win'. Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Renshaw, 72, said it was 'unreal' to finally have the chance to clear his name, saying: 'I will no longer be called a criminal ... it's the lifting of the word 'criminal' that hangs over you.' He added that, if the pickets win, it will be 'a win for the whole trade union movement because, without the trade union movement, we would not be here now'. The hearing - before Lord Justice Fulford, Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Goose - is due to conclude on Thursday and it is expected that the court will reserve its judgement. A lack of information about New Zealand oceanic shark populations is making it difficult to assess how well they are doing, says a NIWA researcher. New research published in science journal Nature last week, with input from NIWA, showed the global population of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by more than 70 per cent in the past 50 years, with ongoing decline likely to lead to the extinction of some species. NIWA fisheries scientist Dr Brit Finucci says New Zealand waters are home to about 113 shark species and their relatives, of which 20 are considered oceanic, meaning they spend most of their time in the open ocean. While most of these species are not considered threatened in New Zealand, Dr Finucci says there is a rapidly growing body of research linking shark movements to environmental changes. "We dont have that information for New Zealand, and this is something we should start investigating. It is very hard to assess the status of many sharks in our waters because we dont have shark-specific monitoring programmes." Some data is opportunistically collected either by other research surveys or reported by commercial fishers and fisheries observers. "For some species we have noted possible declines in recent years, but we are unsure if these trends are a real decline in abundance, a change in the fishery, or a change in animal behaviour." The Nature paper noted that in the Pacific Ocean, abundances decreased steeply before 1990, and then declined at a slower rate recording an overall decline of 67 per cent. The global decline of oceanic shark numbers is mostly attributed to a huge increase in fishing since 1970, with half the worlds 31 oceanic shark species now listed as endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Recently retired NIWA scientist Dr Malcolm Francis was a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group for more than 20 years and was a co-author of the Nature paper, contributing analysis of the blue, mako and porbeagle sharks. These species are managed under New Zealands Quota Management System while another nine oceanic species are protected or managed under the Wildlife Act and Fisheries Act. The eight remaining New Zealand oceanic species have no specific species management. "New Zealand not only has globally threatened oceanic species, but also some globally highly threatened deep-water species as well. We know these species are very susceptible to population declines because of their biology," Dr Finucci says. "NIWA has taken on a wide variety of shark research projects in the past including indicator analyses and stock assessments - these are important for monitoring shark populations. However, in order to do this modelling work, and do it well, we still need a lot of fundamental research of species biology and ecology. " Dr Finucci says research that needed to be done included mapping critical habitats for populations, particularly nursery areas and pupping grounds, and determining movement patterns of sharks within New Zealand and beyond to inform the best timing of potential closed areas or seasons. "Sharks have been part of our oceans for millions of years and if they disappear it is likely to be noticed in ways we havent yet measured." The Nature paper said that action was needed immediately to prevent shark population collapses and "myriad negative consequences for associated economic and ecological systems". "There is an urgent need for governments to adopt science-based catch limits for oceanic sharks that are capable of supporting sustainable fisheries, along with bycatch mitigation." Oceanic sharks found in New Zealand waters: Oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus Globally Critically Endangered. New Zealand protected species Basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus Globally Endangered. New Zealand protected species Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus Globally Endangered. Managed under the QMS Common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus Globally Vulnerable. No species-specific management in New Zealand Smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena Globally Vulnerable. Managed under Schedule 4C of the Fisheries Act 1996 IT was known as the graveyard for police vehicles. But it has been about two years since the Vehicle Management Corporation of T&T (VMCOTT) has actually serviced a police vehicle. Natasha Prince, the State companys chief executive since 2018, told Express Business last week that the TTPS just stopped sending their vehicles to service and no reason was given. The head of the U.S. Space Force said it hasn't been easy to get the American public to understand what the military's newest branch does, but vowed to keep working on getting its message across. "Space doesn't have a mother. You can't reach out and hug a satellite. You can't see it; you can't touch it. It's hard to have that connection," Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations for the service, told reporters Wednesday during a Defense Writers Group virtual event. Since former President Donald Trump left office, many have speculated on the Space Force's future. Space Force has a public relations crisis, Defense News reported, and is often seen as the Pentagon's stepchild branch. Read Next: The Air Force's New F-15EX Jet Just Took Its First Flight When White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked Tuesday about President Joe Biden's plans for the service, critics argued she came off as dismissive. Lawmakers such as Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., condemned her response and asked her to apologize to the men and women of Space Force. "We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work," Psaki tweeted hours after the briefing. Raymond said Wednesday that he would "welcome the opportunity." In a separate briefing, Psaki said the Space Force "has the full support" of the Biden administration, confirming the president has no intention of undoing the labor already done to form the branch. "Were not revisiting the decision," she said. The Space Force has tried to explain its role to the public. Leaders have talked about overseeing everyday tasks like providing GPS capabilities on cellphones and enabling connections for ATM transactions, as well as more sophisticated missions such as early detection of incoming ballistic missiles -- something the service accomplished during the Iranian attack on American forces in Iraq last year. "I really believe we are communicating really well in a number of areas," Raymond said, citing efforts to deter adversaries such as Russia and China in space, and collaborating with partners, allies and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. "I think it's also hard to understand because it's been severely classified what the threats are out there," he added. "I think we've been doing a lot of work to be able to talk about those threats, and to talk about the value of space to every single American. But I think there still is a challenge that it's hard to understand that connection to space. And we'll keep working at it." Lawmakers have taken note, and congressional support for the Space Force is growing, Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said in November. He pointed out that the Space Force started out as a bipartisan effort. Rogers and Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., proposed in 2017 that the Air Force should create an internal "U.S. Space Corps" in hopes of taking adversarial threats in space more seriously. (The Air Force, which considered itself the leader of space operations, opposed the idea at the time.) But the Trump administration took hold of the messaging surrounding the Space Force early on -- with Trump surprising Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in 2018 with his push to form the new branch. It has been seen as "Trump's Space Force" for that reason, experts including Harrison say. Trump made the Space Force a reality when he signed the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 20, 2019. The move temporarily reassigned 16,000 airmen and civilians to the new branch and dissolved the Air Force's leading major command overseeing space, Air Force Space Command. Some still believe space operations should fall under the Air Force, and the Space Force continues to be criticized and mocked even after a year of existence. Actor Steve Carell based his new comedy show on the Space Force; it premiered on Netflix last year. And the service continues to get a bad rap on social media, from users posting that it "stole" the Star Trek logo; to ridiculing Guardians, the name for Space Force members; to denouncing its existence because of its association with Trump. "It doesn't help that [the service's] recruitment [ad] shows astronauts and fictional space stations," another user posted Wednesday on Twitter, referring to how Space Force and NASA's commercial missions often get misconstrued. Others fail to see the difference between U.S. Space Command -- reactivated in August 2019, before the establishment of the Space Force -- and the military's sixth branch. SPACECOM is responsible for military operations related to space, while the Space Force organizes and trains space personnel. Inside the Pentagon, messaging to the force has been "spectacular," Raymond said, adding that there is an excitement for the mission, which supports the joint force. But there was mockery once again Wednesday as Raymond's words made it on Twitter, with users asking someone to manufacture a satellite plush toy to hug at night. Others called for an "adopt a satellite" program akin to sponsoring an endangered animal in the wild or blamed Trump for the service's creation, claiming it wasted taxpayer dollars or complaining about the militarization of space operations. "Communication is only fantastic if we understand the message," tweeted Maggie Feldman-Piltch, head of NatSecGirlSquad. "We don't need a mother, we need an origin story and a value statement." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Space Force Poised to See Major Growth, New Uniforms in 2021 The 13th National Party Congress has adopted the Party Central Committees draft wrap-up report of the 10-year Socioeconomic Development Strategy for 2011-2020 and building of the next Socioeconomic Development Strategy until 2030, shaping the countrys future over the decade. Under the new strategy, Vietnam is set to grow about 7 per cent a year in the 2021-2030 period, with numerous solutions to be taken for the rate to be hit. Among the solutions, the country will ensure full rights for businesses and investors to conduct business and investment, and will also effectively use all resources based on the market principles - meaning private firms will have bigger spaces to play and the state will reduce its role as a trader and increase its role as a facilitator for the market to operate. Efforts are to be made to continue improving the quality of institution and laws in a synchronous, specific, modern, and transparent manner. There will be full and synchronous development of markets for production factors, especially the market for land use, science, and technology, the draft report stated. Businesses rights and safety will be ensured in business, while all resources will be effectively mobilised, allocated, and used based on the market principles. Legal frameworks must be improved and piloted, firstly the law on enterprises, startups, intellectual property, trade, and investment in order to facilitate the national digital transformation and development of new products, services, economic models, and digital economy under the market principles, the draft report continued. The state will well perform its function as the builder of strategy planning, mechanisms, and policies, and distributor of resources under the market mechanism. Businesses and peoples rights to possess legal assets and their freedom in business and contract implementation must be ensured under the law. Ensuring freedom and safety Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently appealed to the consolidation of confidence among people and enterprises, especially privately-owned enterprises (POEs) via a healthy, fair and transparent business climate. We will continue creating the best conditions, space, resources, and opportunities to the private sector to develop further through the key means of creating equality, being protected, being encouraged, and offering opportunities, he stressed. According to PM Phuc, creating equality refers to the private sector being equally treated before the law and in competition and allocation of resources with other economic sectors. POEs assets will be protected, with freedom in business given to them under the law. Those POEs with social responsibility especially are extolled and encouraged by the state, while they will also be given opportunities in access to resources, technologies, and markets with lower costs. As per the Party Central Committee, the country will see in the time to come drastic and effective reform of administrative procedures, with the removal of all impediments against the freedom to conduct business, and healthy, fair, and transparent competition will be ensured. It is expected that by 2030, Vietnams business climate will be ranked in the list of the worlds top 30 nations, stated the Party Central Committees draft report. Vietnams private sector will be strongly developed quantitatively and qualitatively into an important impetus for national economic development. All obstructions and prejudice must be removed to facilitate the sector. According to the draft Political Report which the Party Central Committee adopted last week, the private economic sector is encouraged for development in all fields not banned by the law, especially in the fields of production, business, and service. It is supported in developing private-owned big companies and groups with high competitiveness. Dinh Ngoc Lam, director of a cocoa production company and a cocoa farm in the Central Highlands region, told VIR that he hopes the government and the Partys fresh move will soon become true. It took his company several years to get hundreds of signatures from so many state officers, from ministries, agencies, localities, districts, and communes for a plot of land used for planting cocoa trees. Thats a waste of time and money. I had lost a lot of money before being able to put our company into operation, with our investment certificate granted after months though I could meet all necessary conditions, Lam said. Despite the governments efforts to cut down and simplify admin, enterprises like ours are still suffering from these complicated procedures. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the number of active POEs rose from 324,700 in 2011 to 477,800 in 2016 at the start of the latest 5-year development period, and then jumped again to nearly 800,000 by late last year. Last year saw the establishment of 135,000 enterprises registered at $97.2 billion, down 2.3 per cent in the number of enterprises but up 29.2 per cent in capital, as compared to 2019. Besides that, operating enterprises increased their capital by an additional $145.3 billion. Also, over 44,000 enterprises resumed operation, up 11.9 per cent on-year. Allocation of resources The draft Political Report pointed out that over past years, the domestic investment and business climate has yet to become really open and transparent. No breakthrough has been made in effectively mobilising, allocating, and using development resources. According to Nguyen Dinh Cung, member of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Group, the main cause of the ineffectiveness of the economy is the non-market resources allocation system, which does not rely on factors of efficiency. The allocation of investment resources into sectors, fields or localities is not based on the level of development or efficiency but mainly on administrative factors. In his view, the cornerstones of economic restructuring are to reallocate resources and encourage initiatives of the public and enterprises. The restructuring of the economy will be successful if the market is free to allocate resources, especially manpower, capital, and land use rights, he said. How should resources be allocated? Cung wondered. We should let the market determine its demand, rather than making the distribution based on the current administrative ask-and-give mechanism. He noted that almost all resources are being allocated under such a mechanism. Raymond Mallon, a senior economist, told VIR, If state agencies act as both the referee and player on one team (state-owned enterprises or SOEs), it is unfair for the other competing teams (POEs). Thus, it is important for state ownership rights in commercial enterprises to be transferred from line agencies to an institution with no line responsibilities for policy making and regulation, he stressed. The core focus of such an institution should be on exercising state ownership rights, to ensure that state investments generate the intended benefits. According to the landmark Vietnam 2035 report, a joint Vietnam-World Bank Group study which features a path for Vietnam to reach an upper-middle-income status in two decades, Vietnams state has been strongly engaging in economic activity directly through SOEs, particularly through large state economic groups, and indirectly through close links between the state and an exclusive segment of the domestic private sector. Currently Vietnam has about 500 SOEs operating in nearly 20 key sectors of the economy. They are also dominating many important sectors, like electricity, gas, oil, minerals, telecommunication services, domestic air transportation, credit financing, and railways. However, many of them are suffering with big losses. Vietnam is not alone in having influential vested interests, but the degree to which relationships to the state are integral to economic success appears to be unusually high, stated the report. According to the Central Institute for Economic Management, many SOEs are monopolising various economic sectors, with chemical fertilisers (99 per cent), coal (97 per cent) and electricity (76 per cent), telecommunications (90 per cent), finance (56 per cent) and rice production (70 per cent), while the total number of SOEs occupies less than 1 per cent of Vietnams total number of enterprises. Beyond its costs to the economy, commercialisation of state institutions weakens the effectiveness of the state itself. It creates powerful incentives for public officials to exploit their regulatory powers and allocations of property rights to lock in long-term benefits for themselves, their families, or their networks. Such abuses of public authority undermine the legitimacy of state institutions, noted the Vietnam 2035 report. The government could reduce its SOE portfolio to a manageable size of about 20 parent SOEs for 2035, it added, with a focus on strategic sectors, but even strategic entities should face competition. Amid a slow build of reckoning on race and racism within the past decade, Houston area colleges have emphasized the need for African and African American Studies programs. Universities such as Rice and Prairie View A&M have made strides to establish a program like that of the University of Houston, which hosts the states oldest Black Studies program and one of only two in the state. Now, academics across Houston are looking to pool their resources and talent, creating an academic organization committed to elevating and expanding African and African American Studies scholarship across their campuses. Just ahead of Black History Month, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Texas Southern University and UH announced the creation of the Southeastern Texas African and African American Studies Consortium a partnership that will aim to expand such studies during a time of growing interest in the field. It allows us to come together and amplify the work were all doing so were not working in silos anymore, said Melanye Price, endowed professor of political science at Prairie View A&M, in a written statement. And I think what that will allow us to do is to bring really interesting programs, conferences, lectures and all of those things to our community both our campus communities and the Greater Houston community. Anthony Pinn, founding director of Rices recently established Center for African and African American Studies, said the consortium will capitalize on the untapped potential of the four colleges and allow for more dialogue across the campuses. If you go The Southeastern Texas African and African American Studies Consortium, composed of Prairie View A&M University, Rice University, Texas Southern University, will host its first virtual event "The History of African and African American Studies in Southeastern Texas" on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. To register for the event, visit Rice's website. See More Collapse It seemed to be things that we could do together for African American Studies that we could not do isolated at our individual campuses, said Pinn, who also serves as Rices Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities. The group has already discussed creating a curriculum that cuts across campuses, teaching students what is happening at other institutions and giving additional perspectives on program material, Pinn said. Shared benefits Price, who is also director of Prairie View A&Ms planned Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, said the pairing of predominantly white institutions such as UH and Rice with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) such as Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern can be beneficial all around. Students at mostly white colleges can increase their experience or knowledge on multicultural and racial issues, and students at HBCUs, which have been historically active in fights against inequality, can have more exposure to other campuses, Price said. Securing grants that will enable the universities to generate research projects bigger than any one institution is also a major priority, Pinn said. The timing is also crucial, Pinn notes. With social justice and race issues at the forefront of a national policy debate following events such as the police killing of George Floyd last year, its a unique historical moment, he says. People are realizing the need to address issues of race in ways that are creative and productive, Pinn said. For us at Rice, its only now that we have an institutional development that really allows us to participate in this conversation. Rice two years ago launched its Center for African and African American Studies, which has since expanded its African Studies minor and developed an introduction course and a new graduate certificate program. UH recently lost its director James L. Conyers, who died on Jan. 25. Conyers began teaching at UH in 2002, and served as one of the founding members of the consortium, which he described as an exciting opportunity to share research, pedagogy and institutional developments, according to a university release. On HoustonChronicle.com: James Conyers, director of UH's African American Studies program, dies at 59 Being around smart people who are doing good work thats always a perk, Conyers said. Virtual talk planned Prairie View A&M, one of two public historically Black universities in Texas, has taken steps toward establishing its own African American Studies program first launching its African American Studies Initiatives with a speaker series in 2019. The program, which is backed by a $1 million grant, will be housed in the future Simmons Center, which has received at least $1 million in personal donations and will launch virtually Feb. 10. It will allow us to participate in national and international conversations on the development of African and African American Studies, Pinn added. The consortium will hold its first event a virtual panel discussion on The History of African and African American Studies in Southeastern Texas on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Panelists will include Nicole Waligora-Davis, associate professor of English at Rice, UH historian Gerald Horne, and Cary Wintz, a distinguished professor of history at Texas Southern who also directs TSUs masters program in history. Wintz recently returned to TSU from a yearlong stint with the Air Force Academy, where he taught the academys first African American history class. Pinn said the consortium will likely convene and host events virtually or remotely for the remainder of the semester and summer, with hopes of offering a blend of in-person and online events in the fall all of which will depend on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. But the schools have taken some positives from educating students during the pandemic. One thing we learned is that we can harness a much larger audience with virtual or online services, Pinn said. Geography is not an issue and we dont want to lose that, but we also recognize theres a deep value of allowing people to come together. Our goal is to blend the two. brittany.britto@chron.com Former Vice President Mike Pence has opened a transition office in Northern Virginia and is living in the Washington D.C. suburb before returning to Indiana this summer. Pence made his first post-White House announcement on Wednesday, two weeks after Joe Biden took office and amid speculation over what's next for the former vice president. 'Mr. and Mrs. Pence are residing in Northern Virginia and plan to move back to Indiana this summer,' the statement said. And it indicated a possible return to public life for Pence, who served as governor of Indiana before joining Donald Trump on the 2016 presidential ticket. 'The Vice President and Mrs. Pence look forward to continuing to elevate causes that are near and dear to their hearts and serving the American people when called upon,' the statement said. The office is located in Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington. Pence, like Donald Trump, receives federal funds to set up a transition office to complete any outstanding work. Trump set up his office in Palm Beach, Fla. Pence also still has Secret Service protection. The statement comes after reports that Pence was homeless and jobless with some speculation he was couch surfing. Pence sold his Indiana home after he became governor and lived in the state gubernatorial mansion. As vice president, he was provided as house in the Naval Observatory. Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are living in Northern Virginia before returning to Indiana this summer, the Pences are seen in Columbus, Ind., on January 20th Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff share a light moment as they send-off former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence Pence is seen as a 2024 presidential candidate although he's said nothing about making his own White House bid. He will form a policy-focused fundraising committee that would help him maintain a relationship with donors, NBC News reported, and it would give him a measure of influence in the 2022 midterm election. Pence has made no public appearances since Inauguration Day. He's only sent one tweet - on January 29th - praising the March for Life that took place that day. Pence, unlike Donald Trump, attended Biden's inauguration ceremony, sitting in the stands as Biden took the oath of office. He had defied Trump and certified Biden's win, coming out of a secure location in the Capitol on January 6th, after rioters attacked the building and interrupted the process. Pence denounced the attackers and returned to presiding over the certification ceremony, gaveling it to a close in the early morning hours. Trump had called on Pence to block the certification, which Pence did not have the constitutional authority to do and said he would not carry out. Some of the mob could be heard chanting 'Hang Mike Pence.' The Washington Post reported they got within 100 feet of the vice president. Mike Pence watches Kamala Harris take the oath of office on Inauguration Day Mike Pence waves goodbye to Vice President Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff on Inauguration Day Former Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence walk off their government ride to Columbus, Indiana, on Inauguration Day The incident fractured the relationship between the two men. And it angered many rank-and-file Republicans who didn't like Trump's demands of Pence, who was famously loyal to the president. In the closing days of the Trump administration, Pence filled a leadership void left by the outgoing president. He spoke with incoming-Vice President Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her victory. Trump never called Biden. Pence also took over many duties traditionally done by an outgoing president, including receiving a briefing at FEMA on inauguration security, stopping at a federal office building to thank executive operators for their work, final photo-ops with staff and their families, handing out challenge coins, and thanking the troops for their service. Pence stopped at the U.S. Capitol in his final week in office to thank National Guardsmen ahead of the inauguration ceremony. 'Thank you for stepping forward for your country,' the vice president told the guardsmen, who huddled up around him as the Capitol Dome stood, lit up in the background. On Inauguration Day, Pence was greeted warmly by former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton at Biden's swearing-in. He skipped President Trump's departure ceremony to be at the Capitol for the peaceful transfer of power. After the ceremony ended, Pence and his wife Karen flew to Columbus, Indiana, where they thanked supporters who turned out to greet them. 'There's no place like home,' Pence told them. PARIS A French court ruled on Wednesday that France had caused ecological damage by insufficiently reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, a landmark decision that environmentalists said they hoped would be more than merely symbolic as such cases are increasingly brought to courts internationally. The court said it would give the French government two months to take action before issuing any order to reduce emissions and repair the damage, a decision that the four groups that brought the case described as a a victory for the truth. We hope that the court will not limit itself to acknowledging the states fault, the groups, which included the French branches of Greenpeace and Oxfam, said in a statement, but will also compel it to finally take concrete measures to at least meet its climate commitments. For now, the ruling by a Paris administrative court was more modest, ordering the French state to pay 1 euro ($1.20) each to the environmental groups, in compensation for the moral damage resulting from its failure to meet its commitments in the fight against climate change. U.S Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are asking the Biden administration to take action against the government of Saudi Arabia for its suspected role in whisking its citizens out of the United States to escape criminal prosecution, renewing their years-long effort that the presidents predecessor rebuffed. We urge you to do what the Trump administration would not: impose consequences on the Saudis for their indefensible behavior, the Oregon Democrats wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a letter dated Wednesday. President Biden has stated his intent to take a harder line with Saudi Arabia and taking action against the Kingdom for their subversion of the rule of law would be a good way to demonstrate that. Wyden and Merkleys continued push comes in response to a 2019 investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive that found more than two dozen cases in which Saudi students studying in the U.S. vanished while facing manslaughter, sex crimes and other felony charges. [Read The Oregonian/OregonLive series Fleeing Justice here] While these flights from justice occurred under several U.S. administrations, the newsrooms revelation of the shocking pattern came as President Donald Trump began his third year in office. Seven of the cases were in Oregon, including some involving Saudis who had surrendered their passports to authorities. One of the suspects, 21-year-old Portland Community College student Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, disappeared weeks before his 2017 trial in the hit-and-run death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart and later resurfaced in Saudi Arabia. Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service told The Oregonian/OregonLive that they believed Noorah was driven out of his Southeast Portland neighborhood in a black SUV and later used an illicit passport and private plane both likely provided by the Saudi government to flee. The news publication later revealed a pattern of similar cases around the U.S. that spanned states and a 30-year period, suggesting the Saudi government may have spent decades subverting the U.S. criminal justice system and leaving untold numbers of victims without recourse. We need a wholesale rethinking of our relationship with Saudi Arabia and we should all be able to agree that any nation that helps its citizens escape from the law needs to be held fully accountable, Merkley told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The United States and Saudi Arabia dont share an extradition treaty. That makes the return of any Saudi suspect who has left the U.S. unlikely, if not impossible, without diplomatic or political pressure. A story co-published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica in April 2019 showed how the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have been aware of the Saudi intervention since at least 2008 yet never tried to stop it. Intelligence officials also believe the Saudi flights from justice will continue without action by American authorities, according to declassified FBI documents released last year by Wydens office. In December, 60 Minutes featured a segment on the Saudi disappearances that focused on the Fallon Smart case. Despite the mounting number of such cases and evidence that Saudi officials played a role in orchestrating some of them, the Trump White House showed little interest in intervening, according to the Oregon senators. We made these points to the Trump administration, repeatedly, and were shocked when agency after agency refused to do anything to hold the Saudi government accountable or prevent future abuses, the lawmakers said in their letter to Blinken. Wyden and Merkley also wrote they planned to reintroduce bills that would require federal agents to probe the series of disappearances and to impose sanctions against any Saudi diplomat or official found to have assisted fugitives. Prior efforts to advance the measures came up short in the Senate, which switched from Republican to Democratic control in January. The new Biden administration presents a fresh and welcome opportunity after its predecessors coddling of Saudi Arabia for the United States to hold the Saudis accountable for helping their nationals flee justice in Oregon and our entire country, Wyden said in a statement. The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., has said that, as a policy, the Saudi government will cover the cost of bail for any citizen jailed in the U.S. who asks for assistance. The kingdom has also denied playing any role in helping Saudi citizens escape. -- 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. In a Jan. 27 email, Disneyland said anyone who had an active Annual Passport when the parks closed on March 20, 2020, has now become a legacy passholder and gets magical extras that celebrate you. The current extra: a 30% discount on select merchandise during the week at some Downtown Disney locations, through February. Says Julie Tremaine, "This whole thing feels a little too much like Disney broke up with us by saying they still want to be friends." More: Disney is finally updating its problematic Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. As silly and overly pun-filled as the Jungle Cruise may be, it has long been criticized as viewing adventure through an imperialist lens." Read more. Why Disneyland will get Avengers Campus, but Disney World won't. You'll have to look outside of Disney for answers. Read more. Walt Disney World just quietly opened a new part of Remy's Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot. From the new expansion, guests can see the sign over Remy's Ratatouille Adventure for Gusteau's Restaurant. Read more. 'We're going to liberate Minnie Mouse': The day Yippies invaded Disneyland, and shut down the park. The Yippies were described as political pranksters who used over-the-top ploys to make headlines. Read more. Dispatches from Disneyland is curated by Jasmine Garnett and Disneyland editor Julie Tremaine. Contact Garnett at Jasmine.Garnett@sfgate.com or Tremaine at Julie.Tremaine@sfgate.com. The Biden administration and California will set up a mass coronavirus vaccination site at the Oakland Coliseum, officials announced Wednesday, an effort intended to deliver thousands of daily inoculations to underserved communities. The site one of the first mass vaccination locations in the nation set up through the federal government is expected to open Feb. 16. It will be able to deliver about 6,000 doses a day, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference outside the Coliseum. Equity is the call of this moment, Newsom said. The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities that are often left behind are not left behind, theyre prioritized in terms of the administration of these vaccines. The site will be open to people who are eligible to get vaccinated under Alameda County rules, but there will no restrictions based on residence and the goal is to make it a regional resource, according to Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Office of Emergency Services. The stadium, located in a lower-income area of East Oakland, is just off Interstate 880 and is connected to BART and Capitol Corridor train stations. Officials are planning to reserve blocks of time at the Coliseum for people served by community clinics and other organizations that work with populations who may not be getting vaccinated elsewhere. Those include low-income people, communities of color and the elderly. The Coliseum is among the first of 100 new mass vaccination sites that the Biden administration aims to establish nationwide in its first 100 days. Another site announced Wednesday was at California State University Los Angeles, located in East Los Angeles. Jeff Zients, President Bidens COVID-19 response coordinator, said both sites were chosen because they were in communities severely affected by the pandemic. These sites in California are just the beginning, Zients said. In addition to the permanent locations, officials announced two mobile vaccination clinics linked to the sites that will be able to go into the community. The state previously announced mass-vaccination locations at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego and the Cal Expo fairgrounds in Sacramento. Federal employees will mostly staff the site, from agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Defense Department and Health and Human Services. Newsom said the Governors Office of Emergency Services would also provide workers for the site and we will be hiring local people, he said. The state has cleared vaccine providers to inoculate health and other frontline workers, nursing home residents and people over 65, though many counties are still focused on people 75 and older because of vaccine shortages. Alameda County has said that starting next week, it will begin offering vaccines to people who are at least 65 years old, as well as emergency services workers, teachers and child care providers, and workers in the food and agriculture industry. The Coliseum remains the home of the Oakland As. The teams scheduled home opener is April 1, though its unclear whether any fans will be allowed to attend games in California. People can register for the vaccine on the states MyTurn scheduling system, though appointments may not be available yet locally. Newsom said widespread vaccinations could start when we move away from the pilot to a full-scale operation. The states vaccine rollout has been sluggish since doses became available in December, though the pace has recently improved. Newsom said that California is now averaging more than 1 million vaccinations per week, tripling the rate of a month ago, and that its biggest constraint is the limited supply of doses coming from the federal government. We recognize what you recognize there are parts of this state that are running out of vaccines, where theyre throttling back in terms of their dose allocation, the governor said. The federal government doesnt have the doses to support states like ours at the scale we all would like to see. California is set to receive 1,060,000 doses of the vaccine this week, which Newsom called encouraging. But he added that no one is satisfied with the pace of distribution of these vaccines. Of course, we have more work to do. Alameda County, he said, had done particularly well with vaccine distribution, administering over 90% of vaccines delivered. It is unclear whether that figure includes private health care systems, which get their own supply of vaccine. The Newsom administration said last week that the state would give the job of managing the vaccine distribution to Blue Shield of California, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente, though it has shared few details. Newsom said Wednesday that more information about the arrangement would be released Feb. 15. He dismissed concerns that the deal, which was negotiated without a competitive bidding process, had been influenced by the longstanding political support Blue Shield and Kaiser have provided to the governor and his preferred causes. Their capacity to do data analytics, their capacity to hold providers accountable, to do some payment processing and incentives, is second to none, he said. They have the kind of scale, they have the capacity, they have the allocation distribution mind-set that we were looking for. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report. Tal Kopan and Alexei Koseff are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan, @akoseff Plans up to 50,000 metres of drilling Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: VLC) ("Velocity" or the "Company") announces an expanded 2021 exploration drill program of up to 50,000m at its projects in Bulgaria following up on positive 2020 results and extensive targeting in preparation for 2021. Highlights of 2020 include: Positive Rozino prefeasibility study completed returning an after-tax IRR of 27.4%. 22,500m of drilling completed in 2020 Total of $14.7 million raised, including a $8.9 million premium financing in Q4 Dundee Precious Metals invested to become a 9.99% shareholder with a right to nominate one Board member on future increase to 15% ownership Artemis Gold maintains 22% issued and outstanding shareholding and Steven Dean, Artemis' founder, founder, Chairman and CEO, joined Velocity Board of Directors Entered into option agreement to acquire 100% of 105 km2 Iglika gold project "2020 was our most productive year since the Company began its first exploration program at the Rozino gold project in 2017," stated Keith Henderson, President and CEO. "In addition to completing a prefeasibility study at Rozino, drilling more than 22,500m and discovering new zones of gold mineralization, the Company attracted almost $15 million of investment. Artemis Gold maintained its 22% issued and outstanding position while Dundee Precious Metals became a new corporate investor holding 9.99%." The Company is actively drilling at Rozino, Obichnik and Makedontsi. From early February, 5 rigs will be operating across various projects. Rozino Project In 2020, approximately 9,400m of exploration drilling was completed within 4km of Rozino resulting in the discovery of two promising zones of mineralization at Rozino South and Kazak (see news releases July 21, 2020 and September 17, 2020, respectively). Additional exploration drilling of these targets, and additional targets in the area, is in progress. Any resource additions near Rozino have the potential to utilize common infrastructure planned to be built at Rozino. Obichinik Project Near surface potential was tested in 2020 by completing approximately 8,800m of exploration drilling with notable exploration success at the Durusu gold target and discovery of new mineralized zones at Sivri Tepe and Premka targets (see news releases June 2, 2020 and November 3, 2020, respectively). Additional exploration drilling is currently in progress. Makedontsi Project During 2020, a program of integrated exploration including geochemical sampling and geophysics was undertaken to assess potential for 'blind' mineralization amenable to open pit mining under a thin post mineralization limestone cover sequence. Exploration drilling for 2021 has begun. Iglika Project During 2020 the Company entered into an option to acquire a 100% interest in the 105 km2 Iglika gold-copper property. The project is located in the westernmost portion of the prolific Tethyan belt that transects Bulgaria and hosts a number of epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold mineral deposits and operating mines. Velocity is focused on targets with potential for discovery of gold mineralization. In 2020, the company completed extensive rock and soil sampling as well as ground magnetic and induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveys with results and interpretation pending. Additional surface exploration is planned with exploration drilling expected to begin in Q2. Appointment of Corporate Secretary The Company announces that it has appointed Arie Page as Corporate Secretary. Ms. Page obtained her law degree in 2004 and was called to the Bar of British Columbia in 2005. She has been working with public resource companies in the minerals sector for over 14 years and currently also serves as corporate secretary to several issuers. Marla Ritchie has resigned as corporate Secretary and the Company wishes to thank Ms. Ritchie for her work over the past three years. Qualified Person The technical content of this release has been approved for disclosure by Stuart A. Mills, BSc, MSc, CGeol, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and the Company's Vice President Exploration. Mr. Mills is not independent of the Company. About Velocity Minerals Ltd. Velocity is a gold exploration and development company focused on southeastern Bulgaria. Velocity's strategy is to develop a low cost centralized 'Hub & Spoke' operation whereby multiple projects within this emerging gold district produce gold concentrates for trucking to a central processing plant for production of dore. The Company envisions staged open pit mining of satellite deposits and processing in a currently operating carbon-in-leach plant. Velocity has a 70% interest in the Tintyava prospecting licence, which includes the Rozino gold project, option agreements to earn a 70% interest in the Obichnik and Makedontsi gold projects, and an option agreement to earn a 100% interest in the Iglika project. Velocity's management and board includes mining industry professionals with combined experience spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas as employees of major mining companies as well as founders and senior executives of junior to mid-tier public companies. The team's experience includes all aspects of mineral exploration, resource definition, feasibility, finance, mine construction and mine operation as well as a track record in managing publicly listed companies. On Behalf of the Board of Directors "Keith Henderson" President & CEO For further information, please contact: Keith Henderson Phone: +1-604-484-1233 E-mail: info@velocityminerals.com Web: www.velocityminerals.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "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"). Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Financing and the expected use of proceeds therefrom, the Company's anticipated exploration plans and the timing of future activities of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various 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. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions including, without limitation, that 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 Financing and the future exploration and development of the Company's projects, 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. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, changes in the financial markets, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, changes of regulations or laws, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including the final approval of the Financing by the TSX Venture Exchange), unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, risks related to mining activities and joint venture operations, the integration of acquisitions and the mining industry generally, as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. -30- To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73489 To evaluate the chemical composition of food from a physiological point of view, it is important to know the functions of the receptors that interact with food ingredients. These include receptors for bitter compounds, which first evolved during evolution in bony fishes such as the coelacanth. What 400 million years of evolutionary history reveal about the function of both fish and human bitter receptors was recently published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution by a team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Cologne. Evolutionarily, bitter receptors are a relatively recent invention of nature compared to other chemoreceptors, such as olfactory receptors. Their function of protecting vertebrates from consuming potentially toxic substances has long been scientifically recognized. More recent are observations that bitter receptors have other functions beyond taste perception. These include roles in defense against pathogenic bacteria, in metabolic regulation, and possibly also functions as sensors for endogenous metabolites and hormones. Coelacanth and zebrafish in comparison The team of scientists led by biologists Sigrun Korsching of the University of Cologne and Maik Behrens of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology now provides further evidence to support this hypothesis. In their current study, the team compared two original bitter receptor types from the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) with four others from the zebrafish (Danio rerio) phylogenetically, functionally and structurally. To this end, the research team conducted, among other experiments, extensive functional studies using an established cell-based test system as well as a computer-based modeling approach. The goal was to gain a deep insight into the evolutionary history of bitter receptors in order to learn more about their functions. As the study results show, both fish species possess, amongst others, a pair of homologous bitter receptor genes that presumably arose from a primordial gene. In this regard, the bitter recognition spectra of these fish receptors were largely identical despite 400 million years of separate evolution, according to the results of the functional studies. "What is particularly exciting about our results is that the original fish receptors recognized substances in the cellular test system which are still detected by human bitter receptors to date. These include bile acids," says co-author Antonella Di Pizio of the Leibniz Institute. Over 400 million years of selection pressure "So there must have been selective pressure at least until humans evolved, that means human bitter receptors can still detect the same bitter substances as a bony fish did over 400 million years ago," concludes taste researcher Maik Behrens. This speaks for one or more important functions of bitter receptors, even during human evolution." Sigrun Korsching, University of Cologne "Coelacanths are carnivores. Therefore, one could speculate that the existence of a bitter receptor variant that mainly recognizes steroid hormones and bile acids protects against the consumption of poisonous fish, which can contain not only bile acids but also highly potent neurotoxins in their liver and gallbladder. For example, the poisonous puffer fish Arothron hispidus lives in the same waters as the coelacanth," says Maik Behrens. "In humans and also in zebrafish, however, it is questionable whether such a receptor variant would have been preserved from an evolutionary point of view if it did not have other functions inside the body. Another argument in favor of such extraoral functions is that bitter receptors are also found on human organs such as the heart, brain or thyroid gland," Behrens added. One goal of his research is to help understand the effects of bitter substances on a systems biological level, regardless of whether they entered the body through food or whether they belong to the body's own substances. 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. There is a story I've heard about a professor in a college of business. As I recall, he was teaching students who were on track to become top-tier managers in major corporations. On the final examination for his course, there were ten essay questions. Nine of them were difficult but fair. The tenth question, however, stymied all of the students, and they complained that it was not only unfair, but irrelevant to the course material. The question was, what is the name of the woman who has been cleaning this classroom every day throughout this semester? For extra credit, what are the names of her two children? There is an old adage that says, on your way to the top, be nice to the people you meet, because you will meet them again on your way to the bottom. President Trump was elected to the presidency by those whom he referred to as the forgotten men and women of America. He did not forget us. According to those close to him, his empathetic character became evident many years before he contemplated running for the presidency. As a magnate in the construction industry, he was loved and respected, perhaps not so much by the architects and engineers and accountants in his employ, but by the laborers and tradesmen who sweated in the trenches. These, Trump knew, are the people who matter the most. They do the work. They drive the nails. They weld the first and final joint. It is they who can tell you how the project is really going. They are the ones who make the difference between mediocrity and excellence. Donald Trump spent a great deal of time with these folks. He knew their names and asked about their children. Sadly, this is also why he was driven from office by the hordes of infiltrators and saboteurs, and the outright criminals, who wanted him gone. They still want to punish everyone associated with him, as an object lesson, a warning, to any future upstarts who might fill the gap he has left. For now, the hedge fund managers think they have won. They profit not from building, as Trump did, but from tearing down. For a brief moment, recently, it seemed that the short-sellers had managed, once again, to rob the poor but then there was an upstart rebellion, and the robber barons found themselves on the short end of their scheme. Not to worry, they tell us: they will regulate themselves back into the catbird seat, and the powerless will rue the day that they disturbed "the way things ought to be." Will capitalism finally become accessible to the ordinary man and woman? Will the economy serve us all, or will it remain rigged? Will a government of the left, a government allied with the wealthy manipulators, and with the dark state, solidify its power forever? Is there any hope? There are rumors that President Trump is not yet done. It would not be like him to yield to evil. Furthermore, there are state legislatures that are continuing to investigate whether Biden legally won their electors. It is they, the representatives of the people, who may yet uncover a scandal so momentous as to shake the system to its foundations. Whatever the outcome, the basic fact remains. The forgotten people have been roused from their complacence and fatalism. We have had a taste of what it is like to be led by one who cares about us, and who suffers the slings and arrows of the corrupt on our behalf. As arrogant leftists tell us to retrain and find new jobs, it is up to us to see to it that soon, it will be they who must find new jobs. President Trump is meeting, once again, the people he met on the way up to the presidency, including the cleaning lady and her two children. We stand ready to lift him once again. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. A statement released last week by Rutgers University, announced the unexpected death of research professor, Andrew Brooks. Brooks, who died on Saturday, January 23, at the age of 51, led the development of the first approved coronavirus saliva-based test for home use, the statement read. The rapid response test received FDA emergency approval last spring, and since March, more than four million of them have been performed, Rutgers revealed, earning recognition for Brooks and his labs pioneering work, in The New York Times, CNN and other national media outlets. He saved lives. In his coronavirus press briefing last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Brooks one of our states unsung heroes,' as he recognized Brooks and his contribution to help stem the spread of COVID-19 - in not only the state but also around the country. Murphy added that the Rutgers COVID-19 test has undoubtedly saved lives, the Rutgers statement cited. Gov. Murphy added, We cannot thank Andy enough for all he did across his career. He will be sorely missed by many.' Rutgers cited Jay Tischfield, founder and CEO of RUCDR, who said in a statement that Brooks, will be fondly remembered by the large cohort of scientists whose research he facilitated across many years. Brooks was a research professor in Rutgers-New Brunswicks School of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Genetics, an academic member of the Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, a research faculty member in Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and a member of its NIHS Center of Excellence, as well as a member of the graduate faculty in Rutgers Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology. the statement said. His was a life of service. Brooks, who was born and raised in New Jersey, received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Rochester and later became its director of Medical Center Core Facilities. He returned to New Jersey four years later to direct the joint Rutgers/UMDNJ EOHSI Bionomics Research and Technology Center, and in 2009, he became chief operating officer and director of technology development of RUCDR, according to Rutgers. Brooks co-authored more than 70 publications and played a key role in providing consultation, biobanking and analytical services to many large research projects that have yielded insights into the genomic etiology of human diseases and the effects of environmental exposures, the statement said. Brooks was an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration for 17 years, serving as director of the Harlan (now Envigo) GeneScreen Laboratory and as co-founding director of the BioProcessing Solutions Alliance, Rutgers said. In addition to his wife, Jil, Brooks is survived by his three daughters, Lauren, Hannah and Danielle; his mother, Phyllis Brooks, his sister Janet Green and a niece and nephew, Rutgers said. READ MORE: PORT RICHEY, Fla., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dixie Belle Paint Company is thrilled to announce the Grow Together Grant 2021. The goal of this campaign is to give a $2021 grant to five small businesses in the United States and Canada. Grow Together Grant is a campaign hosted on Dixie Belle Paint Company's website and promoted on its social media platforms. The campaign launched on February 1st, 2021 and applications are being accepted until March 15th, 2021. Five winners will be selected to win a $2021 grant for their business. Winners will be announced on April 1st, 2021. This grant is open to all small businesses in any industry. To apply, small business owners can navigate to the Dixie Belle Paint Company website, answer a few questions, and provide a 250-word essay on how you will utilize the grant. ABOUT DIXIE BELLE PAINT COMPANY Dixie Belle Paint Company supports small businesses around the world by supplying high-quality Chalk Mineral Paint and Silk Paint lines as well as other painting products to small boutiques globally. Website: https://dixiebellepaint.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DixieBellePaint/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dixiebellepaint LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dixie-belle/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DixieBellePaintCompanyOfficial/featured This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Dixie Belle Paint Company Related Links https://dixiebellepaint.com/ The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has lost an appeal to stop former employees from seizing its assets over Sh136 million in unpaid terminal dues. Three Court of Appeal judges said the bank's petition lacked merit as it was seeking "to stay negative orders". NBK, which is now owned by KCB Group, was appealing an Employment and Labour Relations Court ruling, issued last year, that had dismissed its case against the Retirements and Benefits Authority (RBA) and ordered it to the 134 ex-staff their dues. In 2012, the RBA tribunal had order NBK to pay the former workers the difference of the amounts, plus interest, they had received when they left the bank. But the bank's pension scheme moved to court seeking a judicial review challenging the directive, claiming that RBA had acted in excess of its legal mandate. Lady Justice Maureen Onyango, however, upheld the ruling saying NBK was not entitled to the review orders it sought for flouting the trust schemes rules. The court established that it had under-calculated the workers' pensions when they left employment. The appellant judges Daniel Musinga, Gatembu Kairu and Jan Mohammed said NBK had failed to seek a stay of execution of the RBA directive where the lender was directed to pay the claimants. "The orders issued by Labour court cannot be executed as they are negative orders," ruled the judges. They said a stay of execution cannot be granted when the intended appeal is against a negative order. "The judge did not grant a positive order which was capable of execution. If the stay order is granted, it will have an indirect effect of reviving the dismissed application. This court cannot undo at this stage what the court has done," the appellate judges said. Following the dismissal, the 134 former bankers can now instruct auctioneers to sell the bank's property in order to get their dues. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a cage during his hearing at Moscow City Court on Tuesday (Moscow City Court via AP) Russian authorities have shrugged off the massive rallies against the jailing of top Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny and rejected Western criticism as hysterics. A Moscow court ordered Mr Navalny to prison for two years and eight months, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from a nerve-agent poisoning. The ruling immediately ignited new protests in Moscow and St Petersburg which followed massive rallies over the past two weekends. Activists have reported more than 1,400 new arrests in the crackdown on protesters. Speaking in court, Mr Navalny denounced the accusations against him as fabricated and driven by President Vladimir Putins fear and hatred, saying the Russian leader would go down in history as a poisoner. Asked to comment on Mr Navalnys speech, which was shared widely on Russian social media platforms, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was not up to him to determine Mr Putins place in history. Like Mr Putin, Mr Peskov avoided mentioning Mr Navalny by name. Mr Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner who is Mr Putins most determined political foe, was arrested on January 17 on his return from a five-month convalescence in Germany from the poisoning which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement and claim they have no proof he was poisoned despite tests by several European labs. Expand Close Mr Navalny gestures to his wife Yulia during the hearing (Moscow City Court via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Navalny gestures to his wife Yulia during the hearing (Moscow City Court via AP) As the court ruling was read, Mr Navalny smiled at his wife Yulia, who attended the hearing, and traced the outline of a heart on the glass cage where he was being held. Everything will be fine, he told her as guards led him away. She thanked supporters on Instagram, saying: There are so many good, strong and fair people who support Alexei and myself that there is no way to step back and there is nothing to fear. We will win anyway. The prison sentence for Mr Navalny and Russias tough police response to peaceful protests drew harsh criticism from the United States and European Union nations. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Moscow to immediately free Mr Navalny and those who were detained during protests. Even as we work with Russia to advance US interests, we will co-ordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens, he said. Expand Close Mr Navalnys wife Yulia, centre, at the court hearing (Moscow City Court via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Navalnys wife Yulia, centre, at the court hearing (Moscow City Court via AP) French president Emmanuel Macron called Mr Navalnys conviction unacceptable and called for his immediate release. A political disagreement is never a crime, Mr Macron said. The respect of human rights, like that of democratic freedom, is not negotiable. Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated the German leaders call for Mr Navalnys immediate release on Wednesday and an end to the police crackdown against anti-government protesters. Mr Seibert told reporters that the Moscow courts ruling was far from the principles of rule of law, noting that it was based on Mr Navalnys earlier conviction, which the European Court of Human Rights had deemed arbitrary and a breach of Mr Navalnys rights to a fair trial. The German government condemns this systematic use of violence against peaceful protesters, he said. Expand Close Police officers detain a Navalny supporter during a protest in St Petersburg on Tuesday (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police officers detain a Navalny supporter during a protest in St Petersburg on Tuesday (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP) Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the Western demands as arrogant and improper, saying that Moscow would not be moved by Western hysterics. He defended the Russian police response to protests as much milder than some police action against demonstrators in Western countries. Mr Lavrov said he would present EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell with relevant videos to prove that point when he visited Moscow later this week. More than 1,400 people were detained late Tuesday and overnight, including 1,170 in Moscow and more than 250 in St Petersburg, when demonstrators took to the streets to protest the courts order to send Mr Navalny to prison, according to the independent OVD-INFO group that documents arrests. Police brutally beat scores of peaceful protesters and used Tasers against some in a show of force apparently intended to intimidate the opposition. Asked about the police violence, Mr Putins spokesman Mr Peskov told reporters that unsanctioned protests warranted tough police action. CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), an education equity-focused nonprofit, which trains and places teachers in Chicago's underserved teaching environments, is pleased to announce Cardelle B. Spangler and Mike Zafirovski as Co-Chairs, and new board members Cheri Carter and Steve Pemberton. Ms. Spangler, a Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, will serve as AUSL's Co-Chair. Mike Zafirovski, AUSL board member since 2010, will remain as Co-Chair with Ms. Spangler. Cheri Carter, Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement (BGE), will serve as a board member. Steve Pemberton, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Workhuman, will serve as a board member. Don Feinstein, Ph.D., AUSL's Executive Director, stated: "Cardelle is a strong advocate for all students to receive a high-quality education and brings courageous leadership experience to the board. Cardelle and Mike's leadership, combined with Cheri's and Steve's experience, will help AUSL continue the fight to close the opportunity gap that many of our students face." Ms. Spangler is a Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, a premier international law firm founded more than 160 years ago in Chicago, Illinois. During her nearly 25 years at Winston, Ms. Spangler has specialized in complex, high- profile employment litigation, investigations and counseling; consistently has been recognized by legal publications and her peers as a leading lawyer; and has held many leadership positions within the firm. Cardelle has been a member of the AUSL board since a B.A. from Washington University and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law. Ms. Spangler stated, "I am truly honored to have been chosen as Co-Chair of AUSL. This is an exciting time in our organization's history. I look forward to working closely with my fellow Board members, AUSL management, the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools to continue AUSL's unwavering mission of enhancing the educational outcomes of students on Chicago's South and West Side." Mike Zafirovski, AUSL board member since 2010, will remain as Co-Chair with Ms. Spangler. Mr. Zafirovski said "I am thrilled Cardelle accepted the invitation to be a co-chair of AUSL. "She has been a tireless, articulate and highly impactful colleague on the board and I am looking forward to an even closer collaboration in our mission of delivering education and racial equity for our students. Cardelle and I are also energized with the additions of Cheri and Steve to the board. Their unique experiences, broad perspectives, and passionate human rights championing fit well with what we do at AUSL." Story continues Mr. Zafirovski is the founder and president of The Zaf Group LLC, a management consulting and investment firm. He is also an executive advisor to The Blackstone Group and is on the Stericycle board of directors. Previously, in a 34-year corporate career he was the CEO or President at Nortel, Motorola, and five GE businesses in the high tech, industrial, consumer, and financial services industries. Mr. Zafirovski is a former board member of The Boeing Company and is a visiting lecturer at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Mike received a B.A. from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Cheri Carter, joining AUSL as a board member, is the Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement (BGE), a position she assumed in October 2019. Cheri is responsible for developing and executing The Boeing Company's charitable giving and employee community engagement strategies. Before her current role, Carter had a lengthy career as a top-level public and private sector executive and political advisor. Ms. Carter worked in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Business Outreach and served as Chief of Staff in the Office of Public Liaison. Ms. Carter also served as Director of External Affairs for the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cheri received her degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Georgia. Ms. Carter stated, "In my role leading Boeing's Global Engagement team, I understand the importance of a quality education. Now, as we grapple with the ongoing impacts of a global pandemic, it is clear to me that equal access to education is more important than ever. This is particularly true in technical areas such as STEM. AUSL has done tremendous work to ensure that students, regardless of their zip code, receive a high-quality, equitable education. I am thrilled to be part of this board and am excited to help continue the great work of this organization." Steve Pemberton, also joining the AUSL board, is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), of Workhuman, a position he has held since December of 2017. Before joining Workhuman, Steve served in senior executive roles for Walgreens Boots Alliance and Monster.com. A frequent presenter on Capitol Hill, in 2015, Mr. Pemberton was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities. Steve is an author and nationally known motivational speaker. Stated Mr. Pemberton, "I am truly excited to join the AUSL board. Their mission-to create neighborhood schools of excellence and to develop highly effective teachers-resonates with me personally and professionally. I've always been invested in matters of education and equality and how the two come together to create opportunity for all. Teachers are lighthouses for many underserved communities. Children need these individuals to be guides and mentors as they seek greater opportunities for themselves. About AUSL The Academy for Urban School Leadership is a nonprofit school management organization that manages three service lines: School management, the Chicago Teacher Residency, and Advisory Services. AUSL's school management team partners with Chicago Public Schools to manage 31 neighborhood Schools of Excellence. The Chicago Teacher Residency was developed in partnership with CPS in 2001, with its first class of residents graduating in 2002/2003. With over 1,100 graduates, the Chicago Teacher Residency is one of the country's early residency programs. AUSL offers advisory services to school districts across the country. Media Contact: Christopher Childers, cchilders@auslchicago.org Related Links https://www.auslchicago.org (PRNewsfoto/Academy for Urban School Leader) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nonprofit-the-academy-for-urban-school-leadership-ausl-elects-new-co-chair-and-strengthens-its-board-with-new-members-301220710.html SOURCE Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) A vocal anti-vaxxer has recorded himself visiting a Melbourne nursing home at night to drop off pamphlets containing misinformation about the Covid-19 jab. Matt Lawson, a member of radical anti-vaxx group United Collective, held an Instagram live session with his followers on Tuesday evening to discuss his recent work for their cause. Lawson announced he had spent the day handing out 'information' sheets to aged care facilities across the city and intended to go to another one later that evening. 'We are not calling it a vaccine anymore. We are calling it the Pfizer experimental biological injection,' he said in the video posted online. Matt Lawson (pictured) dropped of anti-vaxxer information pamphlets to a Melbourne nursing home on Tuesday night 'People are saying it is not going to be made mandatory, the Nuremberg Code says they can't force you, but the problem is they will use coercion. 'They'll say ''if you don't get the jab, you won't have job, you won't be able to fly, or you won't be able to go to the pub''.' Reading out the document, titled 'TGA's roadmap of approval', Mr Lawson listed various explanations as to why the jab is not safe and how it could be 'fatal'. After encouragement from fans, the inoculation protester continued the live session as he made his way to a nursing home near his home. 'It looks like they have turned off their lights and everyone has gone to bed, but at least we can say we tried,' he says. 'I don't know if they are going to answer their doorbell, but I'll just say I'm a doctor.' Mr Lawson rings the doorbell and connects with a staff member over the intercom, telling her he has 'information to give the residents'. Mr Lawson said his anti-vaxxer organisation is now calling the vaccine 'the Pfizer experimental biological injection' The confused aged-care worker asks him to clarify what 'information' he had, with Mr Lawson stating they were papers about 'informed consent' regarding the upcoming Covid vaccination. 'I've been asked by the company I work for, United Collective, to hand the papers out over this side of town. I am just running late because I haven't gone back to the office.' The woman asks if he had spoken to someone at the centre earlier that day for approval, with Mr Lawson saying he did but 'could not remember' their name. The staff member then instructs him to leave it at the door and she will collect it later. Walking away, Mr Lawson put up a peace sign to his followers, urging them to champion their agenda before ending the session. 'Boom. That is what it is all about,' he says. United Collective is ' a group of people who have come together to help with issues that are affecting our country, our world'. according to their website. Their causes include fighting against the roll-out of the 5G network, mandated medical treatments and 'the removal of our constitutional rights'. Mr Lawson continued to live stream as he jogged to a nearby nursing home (pictured) to drop off the pamphlets The Australian government has supply agreements in place for the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines and will start rolling out the Pfizer jab on February 20. Mr Lawson said he has been dropping of an information sheet (pictured) to nursing homes in Victoria Vaccines must go through rigourous testing and must pass the Therapeutic Goods Administrations (TGA) approval process before they can be used in Australia. In December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed anti-vaxxers for seeking medical advice online and urged Australians to get properly medically informed. 'I don't suggest that people take their medical advice from Facebook or Twitter,' he said. 'I think that would be pretty stupid to do that, and I know Australians aren't stupid. 'Always go to the official voice, always go to your doctor, always go to the medical advice, not to social media.' The injection will be optional in Australia and the government has no plans to apply the 'no jab, no pay' rule that stops parents getting some welfare payments if they refuse to vaccinate their child against other illnesses. [February 03, 2021] Phylloceuticals to Deliver Affordable Medicine to Underserved Areas DENVER, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Phylloceuticals, a privately-held, global technology company dedicated to providing medicine to underserved areas of the world, announced its formation today. The privately held company released details on their PhAAST platform, which uses plant-made pharmaceuticals to enable regions and countries to quickly ramp up production of much-needed biologics with public/private and private investment. Phylloceuticals to Deliver Affordable Medicine to Underserved Areas PhAAST, or Pharmaceuticals As A Service Technology, is a unique concept that uses a plant-made technology which offers rapid development of biopharmaceutical products at lower capital expense and operating cost. Drug development and manufacturing can happen fast (PhAAST), enabling countries and regions to quickly develop reliable supply chains for needed biologics medicines. Rather than relying upon the traditional engineering and construction or CDMO models to deliver manufactured drugs, Phylloceuticals' model helps nucleate teams to produce independently, with a proven production system and ongoing support from the Phylloceuticals team. Phyllo, which is a Greek work meaning 'leaf,' signifies the plant-made technology which fuels the PhAAST delivery. For more than three decades, the founding partners of Phylloceuticals have worked across the pharmaceutical industry. Their separate career paths have brought them together on a variety of award-winning projects. The strength and deep experience of the cross-functional team lies at the heart of the Phylloceuticals model. The company has a complete portfolio of skillsets, including drug development, regulatory strategy and enablement, full scale manufacturing and marketing support for company and product launch. PhAAST also includes groundbreaking data analytics, and top-level AI-enabled process control. This platform fosters continuous improvement and can be monitored from anywhere for a reproducible model that can be replicated across regions and markets underserved currently by large pharma. Phylloceuticals CEO Bill Brydges says: "In regions such as Vietnam, Africa, the MENA region and even Australia and Singapore, commonly prescribed biologics like rituximab for lymphoma and inflammatory diseases may currently be in short supply, or even unavailable to all but the wealthiest. COVID-19 highlighted supplychain difficulties for these regions. The need to rapidly ramp up and supply needed drugs for their own populations was the inspiration behind the formation of Phylloceuticals." The rising demand for high-quality recombinant therapeutics has driven development of cell-based manufacturing systems for improved production yields. Yet cell-based systems require much higher capital investments and operating costs to finance. Protein therapies now treat a vast number of indications including cancer, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases, and provide a rapid response vaccine platform. Monoclonal antibodies represent the largest market segment at 40% of global market. Other categories include vaccines, antibody drug conjugates, enzyme replacement, diabetes treatments including recombinant insulin, interferons and blood factors. Phylloceutical CSO Barry Holtz, PhD says: "When you bring us an opportunity, feasibility data will be available for you very rapidly. Using our plant-made pharmaceutical (PMP) platform, scale-up is rapid and predictable from early stage process development. The upstream process is always the same and much more cost effective than traditional bioreactor based systems. We have designed a next-gen PMP system incorporating newer plant culture automation, real time AI analytics and the latest in downstream improvements for biologics manufacturing. The time to market is greatly reduced using these new systems and as a result of our years of experience in full-scale manufacturing." "Prepare for some exciting news in the near future," - Phylloceutical spokesperson Susan Stipa. The individuals on the Phylloceuticals team have been improving lives for forty years with a variety of skill sets, providing creative therapeutic solutions to difficult medical problems and solving complex challenges for biologics manufacturers. "The experience, expertise, and intellectual property that each of the Phylloceutical partners bring to the table is unsurpassed and highly complementary and their dedication to doing good, by helping underserved areas of the world gain access to the drugs they need, is truly admirable," says Stipa. The news on the formation of Phylloceuticals was welcomed throughout the industry. "We believe the formation of such a novel new company to address the current weaknesses in the pharmaceutical supply chain couldn't come at a better moment, says Dr. Sancha Salgueiro, CEO of Chart Bio in Denmark. "I know all of the partners personally, from their prior careers, and to see them collaboratively establish this new method of effectively delivering medicine to those with major unmet drug supply needs, is a tremendous step forward for our industry," says Dr.Bernard Guay of BGC Pharma Consulting. Phylloceuticals will establish joint development agreements with investors, regions and clients. Other terms of the company formation were not disclosed. About Phylloceuticals Phylloceuticals is a global technology company dedicated to providing affordable medicine to underserved areas of the world. Founded in 2021, Phylloceuticals is rapidly building a reputation for solving complex technical challenges in the most demanding environments and allowing needed drugs to be produced locally, with ongoing support from our team. Phylloceuticals uses a plant-made technology which offers lower overall investment and a much quicker response time for drug development. Drug development and manufacturing happen fast (PhAAST), empowering underserved areas of the world to gain access to biologics medicines that other areas of the world take for granted. Phylloceuticals is not a CDMO. We are not a biologics or pharma company. Our mission is to nucleate, enable, and help construct companies in these traditionally underserved regions and underserved markets to manufacture biologics with our plant-made technology. We call it PhAAST - Pharmaceuticals as a Service Technology. About PhAAST PhAAST (Pharmaceuticals as a Service Technology) means: Lower cost facilities and operations Continuous improvements in plant-made pharmaceutical manufacturing systems Rapid process and product development of new pharmaceutical candidates Continuously optimized product vectors for an expanding product pipeline and increased production yield. Management and staff recruitment and training Centralized expert data management by automated quality control systems and data security through block chain technology Regulatory support and clinical trial structure and management Definition of geographic regions for marketing products, with a special emphasis on bringing biologics manufacturing to underserved areas Assistance with obtaining capital Marketing launch assistance for new companies For more information on Phylloceuticals, please visit http://phylloceuticals.com and connect with Phylloceuticals on LinkedIn. Media Contact: Susan Stipa, 484.883.8808, McDay|CGLife, mc-day.com Technical Contact: Barry Holtz, Ph.D., +1.281.794.1436, info@phylloceuticals.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phylloceuticals-to-deliver-affordable-medicine-to-underserved-areas-301221246.html SOURCE Phylloceuticals [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline and German biotech firm CureVac on Wednesday announced plans to jointly develop a coronavirus vaccine with the potential to counter multi-variants of COVID-19. "The development programme will begin immediately, with the target of introducing the vaccine in 2022, subject to regulatory approval," a joint statement said. GSK will also support the manufacture this year of up to 100 million doses of CureVac's first generation COVID-19 vaccine, it added. The collaboration, building on an existing relationship, is to develop next generation COVID-19 vaccines "with the potential for a multi-valent approach to address multiple emerging variants in one vaccine". The pair noted that "the increase in emerging variants with the potential to reduce the efficacy of first generation COVID-19 vaccines requires acceleration of efforts to develop vaccines against new variants to keep one step ahead of the pandemic". GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley said "next generation vaccines will be crucial in the continued fight against COVID-19". The value of the new collaboration was put at 150 million euros ($181 million). "We are very pleased to build on our existing relationship with GSK with a new agreement," said CureVac chief executive Franz-Werner Haas. "With the help of GSK's proven vaccine expertise, we are equipping ourselves to tackle future health challenges with novel vaccines." A more contagious COVID-19 variant first spotted in Britain has spread across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Another variant, detected initially in South Africa, has raised greater alarm among researchers over its possible impact on immunity. The coronavirus has killed more than 2.2 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources. More than 100 million vaccines have meanwhile been given around the world but none of the world's 29 poorest countries has formally started mass inoculations. Separately on Wednesday, GSK revealed that net profits soared by almost a quarter last year on the back of divestments. Profit after taxation jumped 24 percent to 5.7 billion ($7.8 billion, 6.5 billion euros) in 2020 from a year earlier, GSK said in a results statement. Revenues however rose by just one percent to 34 billion, with vaccine sales hit as governments prioritised COVID-19 vaccinesand more disruption expected in 2021. "For our vaccines business, we now anticipate further disruption during the first half of the year, given governments' prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccination programmes and the resurgence in late 2020 of the pandemic," GSK noted. "This is expected to impact adult and adolescent immunisations, including (shingles vaccine) Shingrix, notably in the United States." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP On Tuesday, scenes from the film "The Great Debaters" made their way around social media. The film, based on a true story, is about Melvin B. Tolson and his students on the debate team at Wiley College. A short clip on Twitter shows Denzel Washington making a speech to his students. OTHER MOVIES BASED IN TEXAS: Here are some of the most iconic scenes from 'Jason's Lyric' "The Great Debaters" is set in 1935, in Marshall, Texas. The city is known to be the last to surrender after the Civil War. In 1935, Tolson inspired his students to form Wiley College's first debate team, which went on to defeat the reigning national champions at University of Southern California (depicted in the film as the Harvard debate team). The team of four depicted in the film includes a female student, Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollett) and a very young James Farmer (played by Denzel Whitaker). The team faces adversity in the form of Jim Crow-era racism, sexism, lynching and arrests. David Lee/The Weinstein Company The film was released in 2007, and the cast included Denzel Washington, who plays Tolson. Other notable cast members include Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker and Kimberly Elise. While the movie was based on a historically Black college in Texas, the film was actually shot in Shreveport, Louisiana. But that didn't stop the cast from getting in touch with "The Great Debaters" roots here in Texas. To get a better sense of her character, Smollett paid several visits to Houston to get to know Henrietta Bell Wells, a retired 95-year-old social worker who was the debate team's only female member. Washington, who also doubled as director of the film, brought the young actors to Houston to train with Texas Southern University's debate team in a two-day debate camp. While the film was set in early 1900s Texas, the university still holds on strong to the moniker, "Home of The Great Debaters." The new U.S. administration is looking into the possibility of returning to the Open Skies Treaty, but believes that Russia is not fully compliant with the agreement, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said. "Were studying the issue. Well take a decision in due course," he said, when asked whether the U.S. return to the treaty was possible. "To the best of our knowledge, Russia is still not in full compliance with the treaty," TASS cited him as saying. Washington for several years accused Moscow of selective compliance with the Open Skies Treaty and of violating a number of clauses of that multilateral agreement. Russia came out with counterclaims regarding the U.S. implementation of the treaty. The United States quit the Open Skies Treaty on November 22, 2020. The Russian Foreign Ministry on January 15 issued a statement to the effect intra-state procedures for withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty had been launched. The Foreign Ministry said such a move was due to the lack of progress in eliminating obstructions for the further operation of the treaty in the new conditions following the U.S. pullout. Once the procedures are over, a corresponding notification will be sent to the treatys depositaries. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Online to Offline Commerce 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 Online to Offline Commerce 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Online to Offline Commerce Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31820 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Online to Offline Commerce will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Online to Offline Commerce market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of XX% in 2020, from US$ 153150 million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Online to Offline Commerce market will register a 14.4% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ 262490 million by 2025. This Online to Offline Commerce 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 Online to Offline Commerce market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Expedia Uber Didi Chuxing Airbnb Ctrip Suning.com Meituan Dianping 58.com Tuniu Corporation Fang Holdings Limited Leju Holding Limited Alibaba Health Ping An Good Doctor Grab Holdings Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31820 This study considers the Online to Offline Commerce value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Group-Buying Platform Online Shopping Platform Business Circle Platform Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Travel & Tourism Hotel Booking Ridesharing Restaurant 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 Online to Offline Commerce Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31820 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Online to Offline Commerce consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Online to Offline Commerce market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Online to Offline Commerce 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 Online to Offline Commerce 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 Online to Offline Commerce 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-online-to-offline-commerce-market-research-report-highlights-on-future-development-2026/ The Federal Bureau of Investigation seal is seen at FBI headquarters in Washington, on June 14, 2018. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Ex-FBI Lawyer Who Forged Email in FISA Process Temporarily Suspended by DC Bar Ex-FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who was recently sentenced to 12 months of probation, has been temporarily suspended from practicing law in Washington. The D.C. Bar, the official organization responsible for licensing and disciplining attorneys in the area, indicated on its website that Clinesmith received a suspension on an interim basis based upon his conviction of a serious crime in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Clinesmith was sentenced on Jan. 29 to 12 months of probation after he pleaded guilty to falsifying an email that FBI agents relied on to obtain a secret court warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The misconduct occurred at a time when Clinesmith served as the primary FBI attorney assigned to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. He was tasked to probe into whether Page was a source of the CIA before the FBI applied for another warrant against the Trump associate. Court documents alleged that the lawyer inserted the words and not a source into an email from a CIA liaison that described the relationship between Page and the CIA. The forgery was discovered by the Justice Department inspector general, who last year, said Clinesmiths conduct was one of the most egregious faults among the 17 serious errors and omissions contained in the applications the FBI used to surveil Page. Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence for Clinesmith arguing that the forgery was akin to identity theft since Clinesmith effectively impersonated the CIA liaison by changing the message. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in his order called Clinesmiths conduct an inappropriate shortcut, but said he was convinced that the FBI attorney did not intend to lie when he added the words not a source to the email. The judge added Clinesmiths forgery damages the reputation of the court. He also ordered the lawyer to serve 400 hours of community service. The sentence attracted widespread scrutiny for its perceived leniency. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement that the punishment trivializes what I believe to be a stunning breach of duty to the Court and to the American people. Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, who previously served as a federal prosecutor, told Fox News he also did not agree with the sentence. I cannot think of anything more unjust than manufacturing evidence to hurt a political opponent and then lying about it, Gowdy said, adding that he found it concerning that Clinesmith was not sentenced a single day in prison. The National Legal and Policy Center, a nonprofit public interest organization that promotes ethics in public life, had previously requested Clinesmiths disbarment in a complaint filed in September last year. Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. A Russian court on Tuesday opened a new and fateful stage in the gripping power struggle between Aleksei Navalny, Russias tough-talking and internet-savvy opposition leader, and President Vladimir Putin, by sentencing Mr. Navalny to his first serious stint in prison. On the face of it, this would appear to be a clear victory for Mr. Putin, who has effectively proclaimed himself president for life. With his total control of the courts, the police, the official media and all sorts of sophisticated tools including lethal chemical agents Mr. Putin can keep Mr. Navalny in prison forever or arrange a fatal accident if he chooses to. But in this David v. Goliath saga, the 44-year-old Mr. Navalny has succeeded through raw courage and perseverance in putting Mr. Putin on the defensive. The imprisonment was Mr. Navalnys move. Mr. Putin had tried for years to give him only brief sentences to avoid making him a martyr. But by voluntarily returning from convalescence in Germany, and then releasing a devastating YouTube video showing the obscenely opulent palace Mr. Putin was building himself on the Black Sea, Mr. Navalny left the president little choice but to dispatch him to a labor camp, and thus transform him into a powerful symbol of resistance. The Kremlin attempted to give the court proceedings a veneer of legitimacy by moving them to a large courtroom in central Moscow and allowing Mr. Navalny to do all the talking he wanted to. But the outcome was preordained: Mr. Navalny was accused of violating parole from a 2014 conviction that the European Court of Human Rights had debunked as arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. The accusation served to underscore the main reason Mr. Navalny couldnt make the requisite visits to the authorities: Evidence suggests he was nearly poisoned to death in August by the secret police. He was subsequently evacuated to Germany. The member of Parliament for Kade constituency, Alex Kwadwo Agyare says he will see the rightful authorities and lobby for roads in his constituencies to be reconstructed. This follows a highway robbery incident at Pramkese in the Kwaebibirim municipality on Monday evening which caused the life of a police officer. The officer, Lance Corporal Moses Nartey had been dispatched with one other colleague to avert a robbery incident on the Akyem Pramkese- Takyiman road following a distress call. The armed policemen drove in a hired taxi to the robbery scene since the station had no official vehicle to be used for the operation. According to the Chief of Akyem-Pramkese, Barimah Ofori Frimpong II, the robbers who had laid an ambush in a nearby bush opened fire on the police team when the lead officer, Lance Corporal Nartey alighted from the Taxi. He explained that his other colleague who attempted to retaliate was also shot in the process. The armed men, the chief said escaped after sensing the residents had got wind of the attack and were on their way to cause their arrest. Residents in the area say bad roads in the area have exposed them to a series of highway robberies. However, their new Member of Parliament, Alex Kwadwo Agyare has assured to fix the problem and equipped the police to combat such crime. We deserve better roads that are safe for everyone. So, I will talk to the authorities to fix our roads after years of neglect. That means resurfacing the worst roads and fixing problem potholes. Just like the government is doing across the country, there will be an improvement here. He said in an interview Adding that, I believe in the police and I know the criminals will be brought to book. There shouldnt be any fear and panic. I assure the people of my support and I will do whatever I can to support the police and the people. Alex Kwadwo Agyare also expressed his condolences to the deceased family and the police fraternity in the area. Source: 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 India: Fisheries Policy: Will Fight Against Privatisation Tooth and Nail, Say Fisherfolk Groups by Sumedha Pal February 03,2021 | Source: News Click The Union Budgets proposals seek to push big time privatisation across sectors, from railways to the national ports. One sector, where privatisation is sure to impact livelihoods in a big way is fisheries and marine farming, wherein the Centre proposes to develop five major fishing harbours Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat -- as hubs of economic activity. We will also develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget speech. Inland fisheries include all rivers, canals, floodplain lakes, high altitude lakes, ponds, wetlands, tanks, reservoirs, brackish water, all saline and alkaline affected areas of the country. However, not only the Budget proposals but the draft Fisheries Policy 2021, for which the window of suggestions invited closes this week, have not gone down well with fisherfolk who fear that all resources of inland fisheries, like rivers, canals, or ponds, would eventually be leased out to private parties, hitting the livelihoods of lakhs of people dependent on the marine sector. Across India, fisheries associations have, therefore, been protesting the Budget proposals as well as the proposed reforms in the draft Fisheries Policy 2021.' Fishermens unions and associations have been highlighting that the Central governments proposed policy has looked at the industry only from a profit-making commercial point of view, aimed at generating corporate interest in the seas, pushing fisherfolk to the brink of poverty. They fear that the policy would pave the way for the collapse of traditional fishing methods and reduce state autonomy as well. According to the notification, the government will take control of all resources of inland fisheries like rivers, canals, or ponds, which will be leased out to private parties. As a result, these common resources will no longer be will have limited rights and control over natural resources, pushing them further into doing migrant labour, say some experts. The draft policy aims to enhance fishing in all these areas, including high-altitude lakes in the north and north-eastern parts of India, and wetlands and reservoirs in protected areas. The policy also proposed to reduce the jurisdiction of states to 12 nautical miles, beyond which control will lie with the Centre, said critics of the policy, hinting at yet another move toward centralisation of power. The proposed policy document states, Government of India is responsible for the development, management and regulation of fisheries in the EEZ waters beyond 12 nautical miles and up to 200 nautical miles (370 km). Therefore, it is imperative that the Center effectively manages and regulates this common property resource for its sustainable and responsible utilization in close collaboration with States. Critics hold that this will lead to diversion of power in the hands of the Centre, which will further enable activity in this region by private players as the draft policy states that, states will develop comprehensive leasing and licensing policy for all public water bodies with due priority to local fishing communities and their cooperatives, fisheries professionals /trained entrepreneurs while respective agencies may continue to retain trusteeship/custodial rights of these resources. Traditional and small-scale fishers will be restricted to these territorial waters, with new licencing laws and heavy capital limiting their reach. Speaking with NewsClick, Olencio Simoes, of Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott, a Goa-based traditional fishermens association, said: This is a betrayal of what has been asked of the government from the past 20 years and we shall fight it to the nail. Marine and inland fishing is being clubbed together, to show that there are no fishermen in the marine sector, the privatisation attempts are ignoring the traditional fishermen. They are focusing on deep sea fishing, motherboard fishing, It looks like an attempt to displace this fishing community of India to promote mechanised fishing. The draft policy further combines all components of the Indian fisheries sector into a single document, which the government claims will lead to an environment for increasing sectoral investment, double exports, and incomes of fishermen. However, Jackson Pollayil of Kerala Swathanthra Malsyathozhiali Federation, said: If we go deep into the draft policy, we have objections. We are against promoting commercial ports. We are against corporate culture since it would affect traditional fishermen. Trawling ban is used to impose as per the monsoon timing. Now the government has decided to impose a trawling ban at the same time across the states. This is unscientific. It affects traditional fishermen, it is about giving an upper hand to players, who do not understand our communities or our work. In recent years, fish production in India has had an average annual growth rate of 7%. The share of the fisheries sector was 1.03% of Indias gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017-18, and the sector has been one of the major contributors of foreign exchange. The fight over reopening San Franciscos public schools will take a dramatic, heated turn on Wednesday as the city becomes the first in the state and possibly the entire country to sue its own school district to force classroom doors open. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with the blessing of Mayor London Breed, plans to sue the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District for violating a state law compelling districts to adopt a clear plan during the COVID-19 pandemic describing actions they will take to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible. The law says such a plan must be in place particularly for students whove experienced significant learning loss due to school closures. But not a single student in the San Francisco public schools including students with severe disabilities, homeless students and those learning English has seen the inside of their classroom in nearly 11 months, and district data shows learning loss has hit students of color and low-income students particularly hard. Even with that glaring inequity, the districts plan for welcoming any of its 52,000 students back remains full of ambiguous, empty rhetoric, Herrera said. San Francisco is among a handful of large cities including New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. where mayors and districts have been fighting with teachers unions over reopening. But whether this novel approach will work isnt clear. School Board President Gabriela Lopez said Wednesday that she doesnt believe the lawsuit will get students in classrooms more quickly. I think filing a lawsuit will most likely slow us down, she said. I dont see how this is helpful right now when we are making progress and the county has failed to provide the necessary support with the testing and vaccines we need. The city attorney will file a motion Feb. 11 asking the San Francisco Superior Court to issue an emergency order compelling the district to formulate a reopening plan with the aim, he said in an interview, of getting kids back in school as quickly as possible. He must file Wednesdays lawsuit before requesting the preliminary injunction seeking immediate action. Its a shame it has come to this, Herrera said. The Board of Education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get these kids back in school. So far they have earned an F. Having a plan to make a plan doesnt cut it. The school district did have a plan to gradually open schools for severely disabled children and its youngest learners on Jan. 25 with more kids heading back to school through March. After district officials failed to reach an agreement with the United Educators of San Francisco, however, the district canceled that plan and has not announced a new one. The city attorney doesnt represent the school district, which is overseen by the state and has its own general counsel. Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2020 Six unions representing workers in the San Francisco Unified School District are circulating a petition among their members calling for a dozen requirements that go far beyond the Department of Public Healths requirements. For example, theyre requesting reliable transportation for students and staff even though Muni service has been slashed due to the pandemic. United Educators is very disappointed that the City has chosen to attack rather than support the school district, the union said in a statement. UESF has been calling for the City to help with resources, such as COVID testing and vaccines, but this has not happened. Separately, a group of union educators have formed a committee called Strike Ready that is urging a strike if reopening proceeds without all school employees having access to the COVID-19 vaccine, adequate personal protective equipment, ventilation, purifiers and training. Asked about the practical effect of his lawsuit if teachers refuse to return to reopened schools, Herrera said, Whatever the relationship the district is having with its union, thats for them to sort out. Superintendent Vince Matthews, named along with the school board as defendants in the lawsuit, said in a Jan. 27 newsletter to families that the district continues to prepare for a return to in-person learning as well as to improve the experience of students while in distance learning. Paul Chinn / The Chronicle He said staff with the citys Department of Public Health had begun inspecting school sites to ensure the campuses are ready to open as soon as the conditions on his dashboard are met. Thats a public chart showing how far along the district is in completing tasks needed to reopen. The dashboard for the first wave of students to return shows preparing school campuses and instructional plans, and negotiating labor agreements are only about half-finished. Matthews acknowledged its unlikely students in middle school and high school will return to their campuses this academic year and many parents of elementary school students assume theyll suffer the same fate. Its also not clear whether and how school will resume in August. Mayor Breed has contributed $15 million in city money to the reopening effort and partnered with the school district to offer coronavirus testing for teachers. She has pushed for schools to reopen repeatedly and expressed frustration the school board has spent time on other issues, like renaming 44 schools. She said she supports Herreras lawsuit, largely because school district data shows Black, Latino, Asian and low-income students have lost significant academic ground during distance learning. This is not the path we would have chosen, but nothing matters more right now than getting our kids back in school, Breed said in a statement. This is hurting the mental health of our kids and our families. Our teachers have done an incredible job of trying to support our kids through distance learning, but this isnt working for anyone. More than 15,000 San Francisco school children are back in their classrooms at 113 private and parochial schools, and many more are in community hubs for public school students to distance learn in supervised groups. With proper precautions including masking, distancing and washing hands there havent been any known outbreaks. There have been coronavirus cases brought to school from the community, but according to Herrera, there have been only five reports of somebody catching the virus at school in San Francisco. Various public school districts around the Bay Area are open, also with few reports of virus transmission at school. All the uncertainty has weighed heavily on public school families with many parents reporting their children cry often, get angry, are bored and lonely and have lost any interest in school. Vaneni Vardanyan said her 8-year-old daughter, a second-grader in the Spanish immersion program at Marshall Elementary in the Mission, used to be the epitome of a great student: self-motivated, organized, responsible and excited to learn. Thats all changed in the past 11 months, though. Now she doesnt want to get out of bed in the morning, surfs YouTube when shes supposed to be paying attention to her teacher and has lost her Spanish skills. I guess you reach a point where you cannot do it anymore, Vardanyan said. We have reached that point. Vardanyan, who was not aware of the lawsuit, said shed send her daughter back to school immediately if she could. Some people are arguing about whether its safe to open the school or not, she said. If its not safe to open then why are the private and charter schools open? Its not a debate about whether its safe or not. Its just we dont pay for education, and we dont get to go to school. Herrera isnt the first official to try to force the reopening issue. Gov. Gavin Newsom dangled $2 billion for schools that could open this month, but many superintendents, including Matthews, said it wasnt possible. Assembly member Phil Ting proposed requiring schools to reopen within two weeks of the state allowing it. Breed has repeatedly pressured the district. Asked if he thinks hell have better luck, Herrera said yes. Our lawsuit is based on the law. Its not based on a political calculation or a policy initiative that other folks have tried. This is really simple, and its focused, he said. Its in everybodys interest to have kids back in school. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Lecrae says Charlie Kirk's call to ban him from church is racist rhetoric Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hip-hop artist and Christian speaker Lecrae recently responded to Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, who said the rapper "should never be allowed" to perform in Christian churches because he campaigned for Raphael Warnock, a pro-choice Democrat. "I don't think people see the amount of racist rhetoric that comes out they mouth when they try to cancel, the Reach Records founder said on the Higher Learning Podcast with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay. Referring to Kirk, he continued, "You represent one of the largest majority white institutions and organizations out there and you're saying, 'Don't invite this black man into another church again?' All the white supremacy wrapped up in that is crazy that they don't even see it. That's wild to me." Lecrae was a featured performer at a December 2020 event in Atlanta called "Get Out the Early Vote Rally & Concert," which was hosted by Democrats Warnock and Jon Ossoff before Georgia's runoff elections. While there, the artist stressed the importance of ones freedom to vote. During an appearance at Pastor Jack Hibbs Calvary Chapel Chino the week of the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Kirk, author of The MAGA Doctrine, said, In my personal opinion, [Lecrae] should never be allowed to perform at another church after advocating for Raphael Warnock. Stressing the issue of abortion, Kirk further commented to The Christian Post, "While I hold no personal animosity toward Lecraeand would be happy to discuss the issue with him privatelythe scriptures are incredibly clear that we are 'fearfully and wonderfully made' and that God 'formed us in our inmost being' and 'knit us together in our mothers womb.' "Senator Warnock calls himself a 'pro-choice pastor' and that makes him complicit in the genocide of nearly 400,000 black babies that are killed every year in America alone. Lecrae nevertheless decided to publicly campaign for this man and I find that morally incompatible with our Christian faith. I stand by what I said." Lecrae called Kirk's comments "sad." "First of all, sad that you so connect the church to a political party, that a person who votes opposite of you, or you perceive that they voted opposite of you, is now some sort of heretic or the Antichrist," the artist said. He further noted that 96% of black people vote progressive while 86% of white people vote conservative because of their different worldviews and experiences. That's just America, he stated. "What it tells me is you haven't done the research to understand why black people vote in the way they do and you taking this higher moral ground as it pertains to pro-life as if babies in a womb are more important than Tamir Rice outside the womb, he added, referring to a 12-year-old boy who was shot by a Cleveland police officer in 2014. You got the higher moral ground? How about we care about it all and we'll make the decisions in the midst of everything going on that we feel like best suits our situation and our circumstances. Give people the freedom to do that. The I Am Restored author said ultimately, Kirk cannot cancel God's call on his life. Even on a spiritual level, it's like bro, who are you? You can't cancel God's plans. If God wants to use me, Hes gonna use me. What are you talking about? You can't stop the hand of God. If God don't want to use me, then cool. But if He do, He do, he said. 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. Nestle Vietnam presenting donations to Hai Duong province at the headquarters of the Hai Duong Womens Union Under the close guidance of the Central Committee of Vietnam Womens Union, the Womens Union of Hai Duong province, and relevant government agencies, Nestles drink and nutritional products will be delivered to quarantine centres, field hospitals, and residential areas that are being temporarily isolated for pandemic control purposes in Hai Duong province the epicentre of the current COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, including Chi Linh city (Chi Linh district), Nam Sach district, Kim Thanh district, and Kinh Mon district. In pandemic times, we want to accompany partners and government agencies in supporting the frontliners in fighting COVID-19. More than ever, we want to spread this active message as well as encourage the consumers and the community to protect their health and join hands with the frontliners to overcome the challenges stemming from the current pandemic, said Binu Jacob, managing director of Nestle Vietnam. Representatives of Nestle Vietnam giving presents to Hai Duong province at Kim Thanh District People's Committee Right after the pandemic erupted in March 2020, Nestle Vietnam set out five priorities to steer through challenging times, including ensuring safety and employees benefits and optimising supply sources; optimising distribution channels and dynamically approaching consumers; and supporting the government and the community to mitigate pandemic implications. In the past year, Nestle Vietnam and La Vie, a member of Nestle Vietnam, donated nearly VND40 billion ($1.73 million) in kind and in cash, and 88,000 medical face masks to the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam. The company also made efforts to support its small trading partners affected by the pandemic like small eateries or school canteens with a total gift value reaching VND22 billion ($956,520). The company has closely followed regulations on pandemic prevention in light of the governments guidance, and disseminated these regulations to all employees. Measures like measuring the body temperature of workers before entering the factory areas, giving priority to online meetings, and increasing distancing in production areas, among others, have been observed meticulously. Photo: The Canadian Press A Vancouver Police Department patch is seen on an officer's uniform as she makes a phone call after responding to an unknown incident in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on January 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Police say an elderly woman has died and two people are under arrest following a violent home invasion on Vancouver's west side. A statement from police says 78-year-old Usha Singh died Tuesday. Investigators believe she was attacked early Sunday by two men who entered her home posing as police officers. The statement says a 47-year-old man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for unrelated offences was arrested in east Vancouver Tuesday, suffering a serious bite wound from a police service dog in the process. A 41-year-old man was taken into custody a few hours later near the city's Downtown Eastside. Charges have not yet been laid and police say they continue to gather evidence and have served numerous search warrants including at least one in Strathcona Park, where a large tent encampment is located. Sgt. Steve Addison says the home invasion that led to Singh's death "struck fear and anxiety in the community." "We hope these arrests begin to restore a sense of calm and safety, Addison says in the statement. Police also say the Independent Investigations Office, which examines all cases of police-involved death or serious injury, has been informed of the dog-bite injury suffered by the 47-year-old suspect, who was treated and released from hospital. Irish corporations, banks and semi-state companies remain vulnerable to the economic effects of the pandemic despite weathering the difficulties so far, according to ratings agency S&P Global. Credit ratings for Irish debt issuers remained relatively stable in the second half of 2020 despite the pandemic, but a similar performance in 2021 depends on vaccine roll out and a quick global recovery, the agency said. Currently a quarter of the 86 Irish-incorporated debt issuers rated by S&P are on a negative outlook, meaning they are at risk of a credit downgrade that would make it more difficult and expensive for them to raise finance. "While ongoing COVID-19-related risks are not the only challenge for Irish issuers, resolution of many--but not all--of the negative outlooks and overall rating performance during 2021 will likely depend on the shape and speed of the global recovery, which will be heavily influenced by the rollout, take-up, and efficacy of vaccines and the evolution of the virus in the year ahead," S&P analyst Patrick Drury Byrne said in research note. However, the 73pc of issuers with a stable outlook at the end of 2020 indicates that the majority have managed the Covid crisis relatively well. S&P said that Ireland was in a good position for a strong recovery in 2021 and 2022 due to high productivity, flexible labour markets and monetary support from the European Central Bank. The agency said it was keeping a stable outlook on the State's credit rating based on its view that the adverse economic and budgetary impact of Covid-19 would not cause lasting damage to the country's ability to meet its debt obligations. S&P was less bullish on Irish banks, though, noting that the sector is facing "structural and cyclical headwinds". The agency noted that the operating environment for banks was weak even before the pandemic and that profitability was now under even greater threat due to the economic slowdown. The latest report noted greater investment by banks in digital capability, but expressed uncertainty that such initiatives would make a "material difference" to the banks' prospects given compressed margins and high costs. S&P said it was keeping a close watch on the direction of mortgage arrears as an indicator for residential backed mortgage securities, which were responsible for an increase in issuance last year with five new transactions in 2020. Two Rhode Island men have received prison terms for their role in a scheme to sell guns to people who were prohibited from legally possessing firearms, authorities said Tuesday. Theodore Braxton, 31, was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison, with 12 to serve and the remainder suspended with probation, after pleading no contest to charges including conspiracy to sell concealable weapons illegally, according to the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha. Ralph Gbaie, 31, was sentenced to nine years in prison, with four to serve and the remainder suspended with probation, after pleading no contest to similar charges, authorities said. The two men participated in a scheme along with at least two accomplices to purchase firearms from a Warwick gun dealer, and sell them to people not allowed to possess them, prosecutors said. Straw purchases like these have only one purpose to avoid the federal and state background checks designed to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals precluded by law from buying them themselves, Neronha said in a statement. Cases against the other two people are pending. Out of jail, Lalu holds first 'virtual' interaction with party workers 71 bodies fished out from the Ganges in Bihar amid COVID-19 fear List of states, UTs that have extended lockdown-like Covid curbs in India: Check here No government jobs, contracts for those found staging protests, blocking roads: Bihar Police India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Patna, Feb 03: In a recent development, the Bihar Police has issued a controversial circular, warning people against staging violent protests or blocking roads, provoking the opposition to accuse Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of acting like dictators Hitler and Mussolini. The police said that those found staging protest or blocking roads will not get government jobs or any kind of government contract. Aero India 2021: 14 Countries to participate in World's first hybrid air show The directive approved by Bihar DGP SK Singhal, says that if anyone takes part in a protest that could turn violent, the police can mention the same in his certificate of conduct or character certificate. Police verification is necessary for applying for a state-owned liquor outlet, a government job, a license for a firearm and a passport, stated the directive. Meanwhile, the new circular drew a sharp reaction from RJD leader Tejshwi Yadav who hit out at Kumar, saying he is giving tough competition to Mussolini and Hitler. After Rihanna, Greta Thunberg voices support to farmers protest "If a person is involved in any criminal activity by involving in any law and order situation, protests, roadblocks etc. and is charged by the police for this, then specific mention of this will be made in the character verification report by the police," the directive cleared by the Bihar DGP said. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News The Bihar Police recently came under sharp criticism from the opposition over a circular that said offensive social media posts against the government, ministers, MPs, legislators and state officials will now be treated as cyber crime and invite penal action. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 10:19 [IST] The Government knew the troublesome South African Covid variant was spreading in England in December but did not launch a mass testing drive to find cases until this week. On December 22, the first two people with the variant in the UK were discovered by Public Health England and neither of them had been to South Africa but contracted the virus from someone who had. Another case without travel links was then discovered on January 5, which PHE now admits needed 'further investigation'. Eight more were found on January 26. During this time the total number of people known to be infected with the variant in the UK rose to at least 105, most of them international travellers, and it's now at 143. Experts say cases discovered through random testing are the 'tip of the iceberg'. No10's frantic door-to-door testing campaign began properly yesterday one week after the discovery of those eight to try to thwart the spread of the virus in at least eight areas across the country. But critics have claimed it is too late to try to contain the variant now and that it was 'astonishing' that a greater effort hadn't been made earlier. The dates provided by Public Health England are the ones marking when the virus was sequenced, meaning the 11 people were actually infected days or possibly even weeks earlier. By the time community testing had begun, scientists said the virus could already have spread to multiple other people in every area. Another expert added: 'The variant genie is well and truly out of the bottle.' Walsall in the West Midlands is one of the places included in the mass testing drive but the public health director in the borough said the only case without a travel link they had found was in December, five weeks ago. Matt Hancock urged people living in the affected areas not to leave home unless it was 'essential'. The Health Secretary said people in areas hit by outbreaks of the new South African variant should eat out of their freezer and store cupboards before considering leaving the house to shop for fresh food. The Department of Health and PHE did not respond to requests for comment. Public Health England confirmed that the 11 cases of the South African variant in people who hadn't travelled to the country were found on December 22, January 5 and January 26 the mass community testing began on February 2 Surge testing is now taking place at a variety of locations in England amid concerns about the mutant strains of the virus. Walsall is included in the list despite it not having recorded a case of the variant without travel links since December, a local official said 'If it's true that the Government knew about cases of the South African variant without links to travel to South Africa circulating in the community since the 22nd of December, it's astonishing that it's taken them until February to do something about it,' Dr Kit Yates, a mathematical biologist at the University of Bath, and member of Independent SAGE, told MailOnline. 'If there's one lesson we should have learned from dealing with this virus, it's that early action always pays dividends and delays always make things worse.' Dr Yates said it was promising that the cases had all emerged during lockdowns so their spread might have been limited, but said testing now was likely too late. He added: 'I suspect at this stage that it is very unlikely to make a difference.' The door-to-door testing blitz began as Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced 11 cases of the variant were found in people who had not travelled to South Africa. He said in a Downing Street press conference on Monday: 'Eleven of those cases dont appear to have any links to international travel. SURGE TESTING STARTS IN EIGHT AREAS TO CONTAIN SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT No10 on Monday launched a mass-testing drive to swab 80,000 people in eight areas of England where cases of the South African variant were discovered in people who hadnt been to the country. The testing started in parts of London, Walsall, Maidstone, Broxbourne, Woking and Southport, and was then expanded to parts of Bristol and Liverpool when other versions of the virus with the same mutation as South Africa's were announced. And Downing Street delivered a tough message that people in the affected areas should only leave home if it is unavoidable suggesting that means using tinned food at home if possible rather than going to the shops. But amid the frantic bid to try and stop the mutated variants spreading in Britain, scientists said the cases identified so far are likely just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Mr Hancock said on Monday: 'In those areas where this [South African] variant has been found parts of Broxbourne, London, Maidstone and Southport, Walsall and Woking we're putting in extra testing and sequencing every positive test. 'Working with local authorities we're going door to door to test everyone in those areas and mobile testing units will be deployed offering PCR tests to people who have to leave their home for work or other essential reasons. 'We have also seen 11 cases of mutations of concern in Bristol and 32 in Liverpool, and are taking the same approach. In all these areas it is imperative that people must stay at home and only leave home where it is absolutely essential.' Public Health England discovered the cases through random spot-checks on the swabs that people testing positive have submitted through the official testing scheme. This means that only a small proportion of the cases are sampled and, if they can be picked up randomly, it is likely there are large numbers of them. Professor Andrew Hayward, an infectious disease expert at University College London and a member of SAGE, said that the 11 cases are the 'tip of the iceberg'. He told Sky News: 'We sequence between five and 10 per cent of cases so you can immediately tell from that that we have a big under-estimation of the number of cases.' Advertisement 'Theres currently no evidence to suggest this variant is any more severe, but we need to come down on it hard and we will. Weve already made sure that all these cases are isolating and that weve done enhanced contact tracing of all of their close contacts. 'We are surging extra testing into the areas where this variant has been found and sequencing every single positive case.' Public Health England confirmed that 94 out of the 105 people infected with the South Africa variant by Monday had all personally been to the country. The total has since risen to 143. Ministers and experts are worried about the variant because it carries a mutation that appears to help the virus get past immunity developed from a vaccine or a past infection with Covid-19. But it now transpires that the 11 cases used by Matt Hancock to trigger the testing scheme had been known about for at least a week and over a month in two cases. The Government has already come under repeated fire for being too slow to act on stopping infected people coming into the country and bringing new variants, as well as for implementing mass testing and lockdown rules. And this suggests that the efforts being made now to stop the South African variant are too little, too late. Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said today: 'In the Commons we asked for these timelines as ministers must be fully transparent. 'These cases identified across eight different areas suggest wide community transmission and there are serious questions as to why extra testing has only been put in now. 'The lessons of previous mass testing initiatives is that without financial support to help people isolate, were fighting the virus with one hand tied behind our backs.' In Walsall, in the West Midlands, the 'surge testing' has come six weeks after the community transmission case was known about. Public health director for the borough, Stephen Gunther, said yesterday that the only case of the variant without travel links was found in December, the BBC reported. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'I would like to think that theyve done a really thorough job of trying to find the connection between travel to South Africa but I dont know that. 'I am surprised that it's taken that long thats quite a long time and in that five weeks the virus could have been circulating in those parts of the country.' People were banned from travelling into the UK from South Africa on December 24 in a bid to contain the variant, but cases have been found all over the world. The variant has sprung up in countries that didn't have travel bans until recently, including the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, the US and other European, African and Asian nations. Ministers have been ramping up the fear factor of the new coronavirus variants in past weeks with surprise announcements and concerning data. Sir Patrick Vallance said in January that the Kent variant appeared to be up to 30 per cent more deadly than its predecessor. PHE has said that it had found 11 cases in Bristol where the Kent variant had also gathered a worrying mutation normally found in the South African strain. And there are also fears that vaccines will be less effective against that mutation named E484K because it changes the shape of the virus's spike protein. The Heath Secretary repeated warnings that the highly transmissible strain was the main problem now facing Britain and required people to take a more strict attitude to staying at home HANCOCK TELLS PEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT AREAS THEY MUST USE UP STOCKS IN THEIR CUPBOARDS BEFORE GOING TO THE SHOP People in areas hit by outbreaks of the new South African variant of coronavirus should eat out of their freezer and store cupboards before considering leaving the house to shop for fresh food, Matt Hancock said today. The Heath Secretary repeated warnings that the highly transmissible strain was the main problem now facing Britain and required people to take a more strict attitude to staying at home. New Data from Oxford University showing its vaccine cuts transmission 'will help us all to get out of this pandemic', he said this morning as hopes were raised over the lifting of lockdown. But he also warned that new variants of coronavirus - which reduce the effectiveness of vaccines - could slow things down. Another 33 cases of the troublesome South African Covid variant have been spotted in Britain, health chiefs revealed last night amid growing fears over mutant strains that experts say could make vaccines less effective. Public Health England claimed 143 people have now been struck down with the variant since it was first discovered on British soil in December including five in Scotland and nine in Wales. None have been found in Northern Ireland. The senior Government minister told BBC Breakfast: 'We're in a national lockdown so there is not a stronger law we can bring in place that says ''Really stay at home'' but the critical point is that everybody should be staying at home unless they have to. 'If you are in one of those postcodes, it is absolutely imperative that you minimise all social contact outside of your house. 'So this means, for instance, whereas the Government guidance to most of us is ''Do go to the shops if you need to'', in those areas, in the immediate term, we are saying ''If you have food in the house, please use that''. Advertisement Critics have slammed the Government for failing to act in time. Labour MP for Sefton in Merseyside said in a tweet yesterday: 'Boris Johnson has ignored scientific advice again. This time over the South African variant. 'He was warned 2 weeks ago to shut the borders completely or to quarantine travellers to the UK. So far he has done neither. Yet again he has delayed and failed to protect lives.' Bath's Dr Yates added: 'Without mandated quarantining of arrivals from all destinations, cases were always likely to slip through the net and head into the community to unknowingly infect others. 'Banning direct travel from South Africa on the 24th of December was never likely to make much of a difference. 'We know that people don't always take the most direct route when they travel from A to B. There were, and still are, plenty of ways in which people carrying the South African variant could enter the country. It's another half measure. 'Either we should be instituting managed isolation for everyone who comes into the country or no-one, there's no point in doing half the job.' There are also concerns that the door-to-door testing programme could actually even spread the disease while it's trying to stop it. In some local authorities, police, council and NHS workers are dropping off swab kits to people's homes so they can test themselves and send it in the post. But Professor Brendan Wren, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, wrote in the Daily Mail: 'Im afraid the surge testing of people in eight particular postcodes where cases have been identified is likely to be futile. 'Colleagues tell me there were at least 50 cases across the country two weeks ago. 'Given that only a fraction of new Covid strains have been fully DNA-sequenced in the lab, the variant genie is well and truly out of the bottle. 'The door-to-door testing is a highly visible way to encourage people to stay indoors, but I fear it could come at a cost. 'During a pandemic, it seems unwise (to say the least) to employ people to go from one house to the next, potentially spreading the very disease they are trying to constrain.' Dr Simon Clarke said there was a small risk of this but it wasn't particularly worrying, adding: 'If people are socially distanced and observe good hygiene and are trained in how to handle the swab properly, then the risk should be minimal. 'But, having done a Covid test myself in a drive-through centre, it wont be like doing it sealed in your own car, where they literally throw things at you through the passenger window.' [February 02, 2021] Pulse iD unveils strategic partnership with Visa to launch intelligent loyalty and merchant offers in Asia Pacific SINGAPORE, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pulse iD, a leading Asia Pacific fintech, today unveiled a strategic partnership agreement with Visa, the world's leader in digital payments. The partnership will see Pulse iD leveraging its Catalyst platform to power Visa Offers Exchange (VOX), a marketplace of merchant offers that intelligently targets Visa cardholders based on their spend behaviour. VOX is the latest offering in Visa's portfolio of consumer engagement solutions that enables merchants to grow their reach and sales through targeted promotions while enabling consumers to receive relevant and timely offers, and financial institutions to enhance their offering to Visa cardholders. Merchants onboarded to VOX can leverage Visa's extensive pool of insights derived from its global leadership position in digital payments to inform market segmentation and develop customised offers relevant to their specific business objectives, be it capturing new customers or rewarding loyal customers. Financial institutions then select from these merchant offers, which are curated for its Visa cardholders based on spend behaviour using VisaNet data and analytical models. Consumers will be able to link their Visa card and start receiving personalised offers and promotions. When an offer is redeemed and paid for with the Visa card, a cashback will be directly awarded to the Visa card, providing a seamless experience for the consumer. VOX will be progressively rolled out across all Visa's markets in Asia Pacific. Alex Topalosi, founder and CEO of Pulse iD, commented, "The strategic partnership with Visa is a step change for Pulse iD. It gets us closer to achieving our mission of helping merchants and banks digitise their customer experiences. At Pulse iD, we're passionate about creating solutions that generate value for all parts of the payments ecosystem. VOX delivers on that by providing businesses with smarter, data-driven ways to build revenue at this critical time of change. On the consumer side, we look forward to taking the friction out of redeeming offers and coupons, enabled via a seamless bank app experience." As fintechs continue to be a key enabler in driving new payment experiences for consumers, the Pulse iD and Visa partnership speaks to Visa's commitment in partnering fintechs to scale their payment innovations around the world, with increased safety and speed. Conor Lynch, head of Consumer Solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa noted, "The solution we've built with our partners at Pulse iD is a great example of how we are extending value to the payments ecosystem. Issuers can provide compelling offers to their customers at a manageable cost, merchants get an easy way of targeting consumers to drive sales growth, and shoppers benefit by getting access to exciting offers online and face-to-face!" About Pulse iD Pulse iD is a leading Asia Pacific Fintech with a presence in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The company provides merchants a revenue-acceleration platform allowing businesses to develop and distribute intelligent offers across a rapidly growing financial services network. Pulse iD is servicing multiple AP markets via its Catalyst platform in partnership with payment networks, merchant acquirers and financial institutions. For more information, visit https://www.pulseid.com/catalyst About Visa Inc. Visa Inc. (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 connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future 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. SOURCE Visa [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HOUSTON, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: VTOL) today reported net loss attributable to the Company of $57.1 million, or $1.97 per diluted share, for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2020 ("current quarter") on operating revenues of $300.3 million compared to net loss attributable to the Company of $27.9 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 ("preceding quarter") on operating revenues of $295.7 million. The primary driver of the net loss in the current quarter was the impairment of our investment in Cougar Helicopters Inc. ("Cougar") in Canada. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") was $(12.7) million in the current quarter compared to $12.6 million in the preceding quarter. EBITDA adjusted to exclude special items and gains or losses on asset dispositions was $47.4 million in the current quarter compared to $54.2 million in the preceding quarter. The following table provides a bridge between EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA excluding gains or losses on asset dispositions. See Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics for a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. Three Months Ended, September 30, 2020 December 31, 2020 Successor EBITDA $ 12,568 $ (12,679) Special items: Loss on impairment 17,596 53,249 PBH intangible amortization 5,644 5,641 Merger-related costs 4,497 4,450 Organizational restructuring costs 13,326 1,547 Loss on early extinguishment of debt 229 Government grants (2,201) (1,075) Bankruptcy related costs (1,984) Bargain purchase gain (5,660) $ 33,202 $ 62,057 Adjusted EBITDA $ 45,770 $ 49,378 (Gains) losses on asset dispositions, net 8,473 (1,951) Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 54,243 $ 47,427 "The Company continues to make significant integration progress following the merger of Era and Bristow in June 2020," said Chris Bradshaw, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bristow. "We are pleased to announce a further increase in the amount of identified synergies to at least $50 million of annualized cost savings, of which projects representing $27 million of annualized synergies have already been completed." Sequential Quarter Results Operating revenues were $4.6 million higher in the current quarter compared to the preceding quarter. Operating revenues from oil and gas operations were $1.5 million higher than the preceding quarter. Higher utilization in the Americas, Africa and Asia Pacific regions was partially offset by lower utilization in the Europe Caspian region. Operating revenues from U.K. SAR services were $0.5 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to fewer flight hours, partially offset by the strengthening of the British pound sterling ("GBP") relative to the U.S. dollar. Operating revenues from fixed wing services were $0.3 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to decreased activity, partially offset by the strengthening of the Australian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar. Operating revenues from other services were $3.8 million higher primarily due to increased part sales. Operating expenses were $3.7 million lower in the current quarter. Lower personnel costs, due to the recognition of severance expense in the preceding quarter related to the merger of Era Group Inc. and Bristow Group Inc. (the "Merger"), were partially offset by higher maintenance costs. General and administrative expenses were $1.3 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to decreased professional services fees. During the current quarter, the Company recognized a loss on impairment of $51.9 million related to its investment in Cougar and a loss on impairment of $1.4 million related to helicopters held for sale. During the preceding quarter, the Company recognized a loss on impairment of $12.4 million related to the write down of inventory and a loss on impairment of $5.2 million related to helicopters that were transferred to held for sale assets. During the current quarter, the Company sold five S-76C++ medium, two B412 medium, seven B407 single engine helicopters, and one H225 simulator for cash proceeds of $14.4 million resulting in gains of $2.0 million. During the preceding quarter, the Company sold ten H225 heavy, nine S-76C++ medium and twelve B407 single engine helicopters for cash proceeds of $40.5 million resulting in losses of $8.5 million. During the current quarter, the Company recognized earnings of $0.9 million from equity investments compared to $1.9 million in the preceding quarter due to higher earnings from Cougar in the preceding quarter. During the current quarter, the Company recognized a reorganization item gain of $2.0 million related to the Company's non-qualified deferred compensation plan for the Company's former senior executives. During the preceding quarter, the Company recognized a bargain purchase gain of $5.7 million related to the Merger. Other income, net of $5.6 million in the current quarter was primarily due to other income related to Airnorth (government grants) of $3.4 million, a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $1.1 million and net foreign exchange gains of $0.9 million. Other income, net of $10.6 million in the preceding quarter was primarily due to net foreign exchange gains of $6.9 million, other income related to Airnorth (government grants) of $2.7 million and a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $0.9 million. Income tax expense was $13.4 million in the current quarter and $8.6 million in the preceding quarter. The expense in the current quarter was primarily due to nondeductible expenses related to impairment and the Merger, variability of earnings in different jurisdictions and the impact of valuation allowances. Calendar Quarter Results Operating revenues were $5.3 million higher in the current quarter compared to the three months ended December 31, 2019 (the "prior year quarter"). Operating revenues from oil and gas operations were $2.9 million higher in the current quarter. Operating revenues in the Americas were $36.3 million higher primarily due to the impact of the Merger. Operating revenues in the Asia Pacific and Africa regions were $0.5 million and $16.2 million lower, respectively, primarily due to lower utilization. Operating revenues in the Europe Caspian region were $16.7 million lower primarily due to lower utilization, partially offset by the strengthening of the GBP relative to the U.S. dollar. Operating revenues from U.K. SAR services were $1.8 million higher in the current quarter primarily due to the strengthening of the GBP relative to the U.S. dollar and an increase in flight hours. Operating revenues from fixed wing services were $5.7 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to lower utilization. Operating revenues from other services were $6.2 million higher due to higher part sales and the benefit of the Merger. Operating expenses were $10.4 million lower in the current quarter. Maintenance costs were $5.4 million lower primarily due to lower activity in the current quarter and betterment-detriment expenses incurred in the prior year quarter, partially offset by the impact of the Merger. Lease costs were $2.7 million lower primarily due to fewer aircraft on lease. Fuel, training and other costs decreased $5.3 million, $1.9 million and $2.0 million, respectively, primarily due to lower activity. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in insurance costs of $3.9 million primarily due to higher premiums and the impact of the Merger and an increase in personnel costs of $3.1 million primarily due to the impact of the Merger. General and administrative expenses were $3.4 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to decreased professional services fees. Merger-related costs of $4.5 million in the current quarter primarily consist of professional services fees and severance costs related to the Merger. Depreciation and amortization expenses were $2.2 million lower in the current quarter primarily due to fewer helicopters and the revaluation of assets in connection with the adoption of fresh-start accounting. During the current quarter, the Company recognized a loss on impairment of $51.9 million related to its investment in Cougar and a loss on impairment of $1.4 million related to helicopters held for sale. During the current quarter, the Company sold five S-76C++ medium, two B412 medium, seven B407 single engine helicopters, and one H225 simulator for cash proceeds of $14.4 million resulting in gains of $2.0 million. During the current quarter, the Company recognized earnings of $0.9 million from its equity investments compared to $5.1 million in the prior year quarter. The prior year quarter included earnings from Lider Taxi Aereo S.A. ("Lider"), which the Company has subsequently initiated a partial dissolution process to exit its equity investment, and from Cougar, which was impaired during the current quarter. Interest expense was $75.7 million lower in the current quarter. During the prior year quarter, the Company incurred a $56.9 million expense related to Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the U.S. Code ("Chapter 11") activities. Excluding this, interest expense was lower in the current quarter due to lower debt balances. During the current quarter, the Company recognized a reorganization item gain of $2.0 million related to the Company's non-qualified deferred compensation plan for the Company's former senior executives. Reorganization items incurred in the prior year quarter related to Chapter 11. Other income, net of $5.6 million in the current quarter was primarily due to other income related to Airnorth (government grants) of $3.4 million, a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $1.1 million and net foreign exchange gains of $0.9 million. Other income, net of $10.7 million in the prior year quarter was primarily due to net foreign exchange gains of $10.6 million and a favorable interest adjustment to the Company's pension liability of $0.1 million. Income tax expense was $13.4 million in the current quarter compared to a benefit of $2.3 million in the prior year quarter. The expense in the current quarter was primarily due to nondeductible expenses related to impairment and the Merger, variability of earnings in different jurisdictions and the impact of valuation allowances. Liquidity and Capital Allocation As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $293.5 million of unrestricted cash and $51.5 million of remaining availability under its amended asset-based revolving credit facility (the "ABL Facility") for total liquidity of $345.0 million. Borrowings under the amended ABL Facility are subject to certain conditions and requirements. During the current quarter, the Company repurchased 102,925 shares of common stock in open market transactions for gross consideration of $2.4 million, which is an average purchase price per share of $23.49. During the preceding quarter, the Company repurchased 345,327 shares for gross consideration of $7.6 million, representing an average purchase price of $21.93 per share. During the current quarter, the Company repurchased $12.1 million face value of the 7.750% Senior Notes at 97.5% for total cash of $12.2 million, including accrued interest of $0.4 million, and recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $0.2 million. The Company also made final payments of $12.7 million and $4.0 million, inclusive of interest, upon maturity of two promissory notes. In the current quarter, cash proceeds from dispositions of property and equipment were $14.4 million and purchases of property and equipment were $3.9 million, resulting in net (proceeds from)/purchases of property and equipment ("Net Capex") of $(10.5) million. In the preceding quarter, cash proceeds from dispositions of property and equipment were $40.5 million and purchases of property and equipment were $4.5 million, resulting in Net Capex of $(36.0) million. See Adjusted Free Cash Flow Reconciliation for a reconciliation of Net Capex and Adjusted Free Cash Flow. Conference Call Management will conduct a conference call starting at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT) on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, to review the results for the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2020. The conference call can be accessed as follows: All callers will need to reference the access code 6114092 Within the U.S.: Operator Assisted Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (800) 458-4121 Outside the U.S.: Operator Assisted International Dial-In Number: (323) 794-2597 Replay A telephone replay will be available through February 17, 2021 by dialing 888-203-1112 and utilizing the access code above. An audio replay will also be available on the Company's website at www.bristowgroup.com shortly after the call and will be accessible through February 17, 2021. The accompanying investor presentation will be available on February 3, 2021 on Bristow's website at www.bristowgroup.com . About Bristow Group Bristow Group Inc. is the leading global provider of vertical flight solutions. Bristow primarily provides aviation services to a broad base of major integrated, national and independent offshore energy companies. Bristow provides commercial search and rescue ("SAR") services in several countries and public sector SAR services in the United Kingdom ("U.K.") on behalf of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency ("MCA"). Additionally, the Company also offers ad hoc helicopter and fixed wing transportation services. Bristow currently has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the U.K. and the U.S. Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements give Bristow Group Inc.'s (the "Company") current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "project," or "continue," or other similar words. These statements are made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflect management's current views with respect to future events and therefore are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown. The Company's actual results may vary materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are made. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to provide any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which the forward-looking statement is based that occur after the date hereof. Risks that may affect forward-looking statements include, but are not necessarily limited to, those relating to: the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic repercussions have resulted, and may continue to result, in a decrease in the price of and demand for oil, which has caused, and may continue to cause, a decrease in the demand for our services; expected cost synergies and other benefits of the merger (the "Merger") of the entity formerly known as Bristow Group Inc. ("Old Bristow") and Era Group Inc.("Era") might not be realized within the expected time frames, might be less than projected or may not be realized at all; the ability to successfully integrate the operations, accounting and administrative functions of Era and Old Bristow; managing a significantly larger company than before the completion of the Merger; diversion of management time on issues related to integration of the companies; the increase in indebtedness as a result of the Merger; operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the Merger, including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees and customers, may be greater than expected; our reliance on a limited number of customers and the reduction of our customer base as a result of bankruptcies or consolidation; the possibility that we may be unable to maintain compliance with covenants in our financing agreements; fluctuations in worldwide prices of and demand for oil and natural gas; fluctuations in levels of oil and natural gas exploration, development and production activities; fluctuations in the demand for our services; the possibility that we may impair our long-lived assets, including goodwill, inventory, property and equipment and investments in unconsolidated affiliates; our ability to implement operational improvement efficiencies with the objective of rightsizing our global footprint and further reducing our cost structure; the possibility of significant changes in foreign exchange rates and controls, including as a result of the U.K. having exited from the European Union ("E.U.") ("Brexit"); the impact of continued uncertainty surrounding the affects Brexit will have on the British, EU and global economies and demand for oil and natural gas; potential effects of increased competition; the inability to remediate the material weaknesses identified in internal controls over financial reporting relating to our monitoring control processes; the possibility that we may be unable to re-deploy our aircraft to regions with greater demand; the possibility of changes in tax and other laws and regulations and policies, including, without limitation, action of the Biden Administration that impact oil and gas operations or favor renewable energy projects in the U.S.; the possibility that we may be unable to dispose of older aircraft through sales into the aftermarket; general economic conditions, including the capital and credit markets; the possibility that segments of our fleet may be grounded for extended periods of time or indefinitely; the existence of operating risks inherent in our business, including the possibility of declining safety performance; the possibility of political instability, war or acts of terrorism in any of the countries where we operate; the possibility that reductions in spending on aviation services by governmental agencies could lead to modifications of our search and rescue ("SAR") contract terms with the UK government, our contracts with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ("BSEE") or delays in receiving payments under such contracts; and our reliance on a limited number of helicopter manufacturers and suppliers. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date hereof. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these matters or how they may affect us. We have included important factors in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's joint proxy and consent solicitation statement/prospectus (File No. 333-237557), filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 5, 2020 and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Quarter ended December 31, 2020, which we believe over time, could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. You should consider all risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Proxy Statement and in our filings with the SEC, all of which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov . BRISTOW GROUP INC CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited, in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Favorable/ (Unfavorable) Successor Revenue: Operating revenue $ 295,722 $ 300,275 $ 4,553 Reimbursable revenue 8,918 9,622 704 Total revenues 304,640 309,897 5,257 Costs and expenses: Operating expense 231,953 228,246 3,707 Reimbursable expense 8,919 9,525 (606) General and administrative 39,268 37,931 1,337 Merger-related costs 4,497 4,450 47 Depreciation and amortization 18,537 17,931 606 Total costs and expenses 303,174 298,083 5,091 Loss on impairment (17,596) (53,249) (35,653) Gain (loss) on asset dispositions (8,473) 1,951 10,424 Earnings from unconsolidated affiliates, net 1,948 896 (1,052) Operating loss (22,655) (38,588) (15,933) Interest income 434 359 (75) Interest expense (13,445) (13,203) 242 Reorganization items, net 1,984 1,984 Bargain purchase gain 5,660 (5,660) Other, net 10,592 5,635 (4,957) Total other income (expense) 3,241 (5,225) (8,466) Loss before income taxes (19,414) (43,813) (24,399) Provision for income taxes (8,578) (13,447) (4,869) Net loss (27,992) (57,260) (29,268) Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 131 139 8 Net loss attributable to Bristow Group Inc $ (27,861) $ (57,121) $ (29,260) Basic loss per common share $ (0.95) $ (1.97) Diluted loss per common share $ (0.95) $ (1.97) Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic 29,357,959 28,944,908 Weighted average common shares outstanding, diluted 29,357,959 28,944,908 EBITDA $ 12,568 $ (12,679) Adjusted EBITDA $ 45,770 $ 49,378 Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 54,243 $ 47,427 BRISTOW GROUP INC CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited, in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 One Month Ended October 31, 2019 Two Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Predecessor Successor Combined Successor Revenue: Operating revenue $ 101,659 $ 193,322 $ 294,981 $ 300,275 Reimbursable revenue 4,168 7,602 11,770 9,622 Total revenues 105,827 200,924 306,751 309,897 Costs and expenses: Operating expense 79,802 158,845 238,647 228,246 Reimbursable expense 4,049 7,707 11,756 9,525 General and administrative 15,965 25,358 41,323 37,931 Merger-related costs 318 318 4,450 Depreciation and amortization 8,222 11,926 20,148 17,931 Total costs and expenses 108,038 204,154 312,192 298,083 Loss on impairment (53,249) Gain (loss) on asset dispositions 249 (154) 95 1,951 Earnings from unconsolidated affiliates, net 3,609 1,499 5,108 896 Operating income (loss) 1,647 (1,885) (238) (38,588) Interest income 165 202 367 359 Interest expense (79,235) (9,674) (88,909) (13,203) Reorganization items, net (447,674) (447,674) 1,984 Change in fair value of preferred stock derivative liability (133,315) (133,315) Other, net 7,009 3,729 10,738 5,635 Total other income (expense) (519,735) (139,058) (658,793) (5,225) Loss before income taxes (518,088) (140,943) (659,031) (43,813) Benefit (provision) for income taxes 13,889 (11,600) 2,289 (13,447) Net loss (504,199) (152,543) (656,742) (57,260) Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests 5 31 36 139 Net loss attributable to Bristow Group Inc $ (504,194) $ (152,512) $ (656,706) $ (57,121) Basic loss per common share $ (14.04) $ (14.49) N/A(1) $ (1.97) Diluted loss per common share $ (14.04) $ (14.49) N/A(1) $ (1.97) Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic 35,918,916 11,235,535 N/A(1) 28,944,908 Weighted average common shares outstanding, diluted 35,918,916 11,235,535 N/A(1) 28,944,908 EBITDA $ (430,631) $ (119,343) $ (549,974) $ (12,679) Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,431 $ 24,337 $ 41,768 $ 49,378 Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 17,182 $ 24,491 $ 41,673 $ 47,427 ___________________________ (1) Weighted average common shares outstanding and loss per common share unavailable for "Combined" period due to the emergence from Chapter 11 Cases during this period. BRISTOW GROUP INC REVENUES BY LINE OF SERVICE (unaudited, in thousands) Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 One Month Ended October 31, 2019 Two Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Predecessor Successor Combined Successor Oil and gas: Europe Caspian $ 38,200 $ 71,888 $ 110,088 $ 98,495 $ 93,383 Americas 21,416 39,758 61,174 93,102 97,435 Africa 12,924 26,286 39,210 21,237 23,055 Asia Pacific 1,745 2,090 3,835 2,920 3,383 Total oil and gas 74,285 140,022 214,307 215,754 217,256 UK SAR Services 17,858 36,822 54,680 56,978 56,470 Fixed Wing Services 9,397 16,333 25,730 20,310 20,054 Other 119 145 264 2,680 6,495 $ 101,659 $ 193,322 $ 294,981 $ 295,722 $ 300,275 FLIGHT HOURS BY LINE OF SERVICE (unaudited) Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 One Month Ended October 31, 2019 Two Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Predecessor Successor Combined Successor Oil and gas: Europe Caspian 5,146 9,215 14,361 12,330 11,956 Americas 3,119 5,296 8,415 10,891 10,990 Africa 1,398 2,770 4,168 1,743 2,353 Asia Pacific 83 141 224 62 241 Total oil and gas 9,746 17,422 27,168 25,026 25,540 UK SAR Services 779 1,530 2,309 2,797 2,321 Fixed Wing Services 1,187 2,147 3,334 3,391 3,494 11,712 21,099 32,811 31,214 31,355 BRISTOW GROUP INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands) Successor December 31, 2020 March 31, 2020 ASSETS (unaudited) Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 297,833 $ 199,121 Accounts receivable 231,587 180,683 Inventories 97,422 82,419 Assets held for sale 17,531 32,401 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 31,516 29,527 Total current assets 675,889 524,151 Investment in unconsolidated affiliates 38,368 110,058 Property and equipment 1,099,878 901,314 Accumulated depreciation (71,249) (24,560) Net property and equipment 1,028,629 876,754 Right-of-use assets 266,651 305,962 Other assets 126,245 128,336 Total assets $ 2,135,782 $ 1,945,261 LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 63,161 $ 52,110 Accrued liabilities 214,661 200,129 Short-term borrowings and current maturities of long-term debt 48,069 45,739 Total current liabilities 325,891 297,978 Long-term debt, less current maturities 568,368 515,385 Preferred stock embedded derivative 286,182 Deferred taxes 65,355 22,775 Long-term operating lease liabilities 183,994 224,595 Deferred credits and other liabilities 11,670 22,345 Total liabilities 1,155,278 1,369,260 Redeemable noncontrolling interests 1,453 Mezzanine equity 149,785 Stockholders' investment Common stock 303 1 Additional paid-in capital 685,575 295,897 Retained earnings 269,600 139,228 Treasury shares, at cost (10,007) Accumulated other comprehensive income 34,153 (8,641) Total Bristow Group Inc. stockholders' investment 979,624 426,485 Noncontrolling interests (573) (269) Total stockholders' investment 979,051 426,216 Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and stockholders' investment $ 2,135,782 $ 1,945,261 Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Metrics The Company's management uses EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to assess the performance and operating results of its business. EBITDA is defined as Earnings before Interest expense, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA further adjusted for certain special items that occurred during the reported period, as noted below. The Company includes EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to provide investors with a supplemental measure of its operating performance. Neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA is a recognized term under generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. ("GAAP"). Accordingly, they should not be used as an indicator of, or an alternative to, net income as a measure of operating performance. In addition, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not intended to be measures of free cash flow available for management's discretionary use, as they do not consider certain cash requirements, such as debt service requirements. Because the definitions of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (or similar measures) may vary among companies and industries, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. The following tables provide a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands). Sequential Quarter Results Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Successor Net loss $ (27,992) $ (57,260) Depreciation and amortization 18,537 17,931 Interest expense 13,445 13,203 Income tax (benefit) expense 8,578 13,447 EBITDA $ 12,568 $ (12,679) Special items (1) 33,202 62,057 Adjusted EBITDA $ 45,770 $ 49,378 (Gains) losses on asset dispositions, net 8,473 (1,951) Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 54,243 $ 47,427 (1) Special items include the following: Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Successor Loss on impairment $ 17,596 $ 53,249 PBH intangible amortization 5,644 5,641 Merger-related costs 4,497 4,450 Organizational restructuring costs 13,326 1,547 Loss on early extinguishment of debt 229 Government grants(2) (2,201) (1,075) Bankruptcy related costs (1,984) Bargain purchase gain (5,660) $ 33,202 $ 62,057 ___________________________ (2) COVID-19 related government relief grants Calendar Quarter Results Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 One Month Ended October 31, 2019 Two Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Predecessor Successor Combined Successor Net loss $ (504,199) $ (152,543) $ (656,742) $ (57,260) Depreciation and amortization 8,222 11,926 20,148 17,931 Interest expense 79,235 9,674 88,909 13,203 Income tax (benefit) expense (13,889) 11,600 (2,289) 13,447 EBITDA $ (430,631) $ (119,343) $ (549,974) $ (12,679) Special items (1) 448,062 143,680 591,742 62,057 Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,431 $ 24,337 $ 41,768 $ 49,378 (Gains) losses on asset dispositions, net (249) 154 (95) (1,951) Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 17,182 $ 24,491 $ 41,673 $ 47,427 (1) Special items include the following: Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 One Month Ended October 31, 2019 Two Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2019 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Predecessor Successor Combined Successor Loss on impairment $ $ $ $ 53,249 PBH intangible amortization 10,024 10,024 5,641 Merger-related costs 318 318 4,450 Organizational restructuring costs 388 23 411 1,547 Loss on early extinguishment of debt 229 Government grants(2) (1,075) Bankruptcy related costs 447,674 447,674 (1,984) Change in fair value of preferred stock derivative liability 133,315 133,315 $ 448,062 $ 143,680 $ 591,742 $ 62,057 ___________________________ (2) COVID-19 related government relief grants Pro Forma Q3 FY20 Reconciliation Pro Forma EBITDA and Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA reflect EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA of Old Bristow and Era Group Inc. before the Merger. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to Pro Forma EBITDA and Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended December 31, 2019 (in thousands). Old Bristow Era Group Inc. Pro Forma Net loss $ (656,742) $ (811) $ (657,553) Depreciation and amortization 20,148 9,337 29,485 Interest expense 88,909 3,517 92,426 Income tax benefit (2,289) (1,052) (3,341) EBITDA $ (549,974) $ 10,991 $ (538,983) Special items (1) 591,742 3,730 595,472 Adjusted EBITDA $ 41,768 $ 14,721 $ 56,489 Gains on asset dispositions, net (95) (3,095) (3,190) Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 41,673 $ 11,626 $ 53,299 (1) Special items include the following: Old Bristow Era Group Inc. Pro Forma Bankruptcy related costs $ 447,674 $ $ 447,674 Change in fair value of preferred stock derivative liability 133,315 133,315 PBH intangible amortization 10,024 214 10,238 Involuntary separation programs 411 411 Merger-related costs 318 965 1,283 Loss on impairments 2,551 2,551 $ 591,742 $ 3,730 $ 595,472 Pro Forma LTM Reconciliation Pro Forma EBITDA and Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA reflect EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA of Old Bristow and Era Group Inc. before the Merger for the period beginning January 1, 2020 through June 11, 2020, plus EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the post-Merger period through December 31, 2020. The following table provides a reconciliation of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to Pro Forma EBITDA and Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 (in thousands). Old Bristow Era Group Inc. Legacy Era Bristow Group Inc. Pro Forma January 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020 January 1, 2020 - June 11, 2020 June 12 - 30, 2020 July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020 LTM December 31, 2020 Net income (loss) $ 367,326 $ (25,348) $ (4,305) $ (85,252) $ 252,421 Depreciation and amortization 32,226 17,325 443 36,468 86,462 Interest expense 25,045 6,089 749 26,648 58,531 Income tax (benefit) expense (14,915) (3,298) 508 22,025 4,320 EBITDA $ 409,682 $ (5,232) $ (2,605) $ (111) $ 401,734 Special items (1) (338,633) 18,168 2,502 95,259 (222,704) Adjusted EBITDA $ 71,049 $ 12,936 $ (103) $ 95,148 $ 179,030 (Gains) losses on asset dispositions, net (5,230) 175 5 6,522 1,472 Adjusted EBITDA excluding asset dispositions $ 65,819 $ 13,111 $ (98) $ 101,670 $ 180,502 (1) Special items include the following: Old Bristow Era Group Inc. Legacy Era Bristow Group Inc. Pro Forma January 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020 January 1, 2020 - June 11, 2020 June 12 - 30, 2020 July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020 LTM December 31, 2020 Loss on impairments $ 28,824 $ (182) $ $ 70,845 $ 99,487 Merger-related costs 21,115 17,968 2,317 8,947 50,347 PBH intangible amortization 10,429 382 185 11,285 22,281 Bankruptcy related costs 7,232 (1,984) 5,248 Organizational restructuring costs 3,216 14,873 18,089 Loss on early extinguishment of debt 615 229 844 Government grants(2) (1,760) (3,276) (5,036) Bargain purchase gain (75,433) (5,660) (81,093) Change in fair value of preferred stock derivative liability (332,871) (332,871) $ (338,633) $ 18,168 $ 2,502 $ 95,259 $ (222,704) ___________________________ (2) COVID-19 related government relief grants Adjusted Free Cash Flow Reconciliation Free Cash Flow represents the Company's net cash provided by operating activities plus proceeds from disposition of property and equipment, less expenditures related to purchases of property and equipment. Adjusted Free Cash Flow is Free Cash Flow adjusted to exclude professional services fees and other costs paid in relation to the Merger, fresh-start accounting and the Chapter 11 Cases. Management believes that the use of Adjusted Free Cash Flow is meaningful as it measures the Company's ability to generate cash from its business after excluding cash payments for special items. Management uses this information as an analytical indicator to assess the Company's liquidity and performance. However, investors should note numerous methods may exist for calculating a company's free cash flow. As a result, the method used by management to calculate Adjusted Free Cash Flow may differ from the methods used by other companies to calculate their free cash flow. The following table provides a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow (in thousands). Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 Successor Net cash provided by operating activities $ 41,857 $ 25,078 Plus: Proceeds from disposition of property and equipment 40,475 14,361 Less: Purchases of property and equipment (4,523) (3,860) Free Cash Flow $ 77,809 $ 35,579 Plus: Organizational restructuring costs 13,326 1,547 Plus: Merger-related costs 4,026 1,247 Less: Government grants (2,201) (1,075) Adjusted Free Cash Flow $ 92,960 $ 37,298 Net (proceeds from)/purchases of property and equipment ("Net Capex") (35,952) (10,501) Adjusted Free Cash Flow excluding Net Capex $ 57,008 $ 26,797 BRISTOW GROUP INC FLEET COUNT (unaudited) Number of Aircraft Operating Aircraft Type Owned Aircraft Leased Aircraft Aircraft Held For Sale Consolidated Aircraft Max Pass. Capacity Average Age (years)(1) Heavy Helicopters: S-92A 35 28 63 19 11 S-92A U.K. SAR 3 7 10 19 6 H225 2 2 19 10 AW189 6 1 7 16 5 AW189 U.K. SAR 11 11 16 4 55 36 2 93 Medium Helicopters: AW139 53 7 60 12 10 S-76 C+/C++ 26 26 12 13 S-76D 8 2 10 12 6 B212 3 3 12 39 90 7 2 99 LightTwin Engine Helicopters: AW109 6 6 7 14 EC135 10 10 6 12 BO105 2 2 4 35 18 18 LightSingle Engine Helicopters: AS350 17 17 4 23 AW119 13 13 7 14 30 30 Total Helicopters 193 43 4 240 12 Fixed wing 7 4 3 14 UAV 2 2 Total Fleet 200 49 7 256 _____________ (1) Reflects the average age of helicopters that are owned. The chart below presents the number of aircraft in our fleet and their distribution among the regions in which we operate as of December 31, 2020 and the percentage of operating revenue that each of our regions provided during the current quarter. Percentage of Current Quarter Operating Revenue UAV Fixed Wing Heavy Medium Light Twin Light Single Total Europe Caspian 55 % 63 12 4 2 81 Americas 30 % 23 65 18 26 132 Africa 9 % 7 20 2 29 Asia Pacific 6 % 2 12 14 Total 100 % 93 99 18 30 2 14 256 SOURCE Bristow Group Related Links http://www.bristowgroup.com press release The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was founded as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980. It was transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on 17th August, 1992 and consists of 16 Member States, namely; Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The SADC vision is one of a common future, within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standard of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice, peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa. This shared vision is anchored on common values and principles and the historical and cultural affinities that exist amongst the peoples of Southern Africa. In 1995 the SADC Council of Ministers approved the establishment of the SADC Media Awards to recognise best media work in the region. Since 1996 the SADC Secretariat has been coordinating the Media Awards to encourage the media in the Region to play a leading role in disseminating information on SADC in order to support the process of regional co-operation and integration. The SADC Secretariat now is pleased to announce the 2020 SADC Media Awards Competition. The Awards are in the fields of Print Journalism, Radio Journalism, Television Journalism and Photo journalism. Prospective entrants are invited to submit their entries accompanied by proof of their nationality to the National Adjudication Committee (NAC) in their respective Member States. Rules of the competition a) The entries should have been published/broadcast between January and December the year preceding the awards (2020) by a registered and/or authorized media house or agency or carried on a website of a registered and/or authorized media house or agency in any of the SADC Member States; b) The themes of the entries to be submitted for the competition must be on issues and activities promoting Regional Integration in the SADC region, i.e. infrastructure, economy, water, culture, sports, agriculture, etc. c) All media practitioners who are SADC nationals may enter the competition, except those in institutions contracted by SADC and the SADC Secretariat staff; d) All works entering the competition should be in one of the SADC working languages, i.e. English, Portuguese, French and any national indigenous language of the SADC Region and should be submitted together with the transcript in one of the three SADC working languages, i.e. English, French and Portuguese. These should be published/broadcast (newspaper cutting, websites, magazines, audio CDs, USB and newsletters; e) Entries are invited from the following categories: i) Print Journalism: comprising features/articles published in newspapers, newsletters, websites, magazines; - Print Journalism submissions should have a minimum of 100 (one hundred words and a maximum of 2000 (two thousand) words. ii) Radio Journalism: comprising broadcast material; - Radio Journalism broadcast material should have a minimum duration of 1 (one) minute and a maximum of 30 (thirty) minutes. All broadcast material should be submitted on a CD or USB. The entries should be accompanied by electronic transcript in word format for translation purposes. iii)Television Journalism: comprising televised material; - Broadcast material should have a minimum duration of 1 (one) minute and a maximum of forty-five (45) minutes. All broadcast material should be submitted on a CD or USB. The entries should be accompanied by electronic transcript in word format for translation purposes. iv) Photojournalism: comprising published pictures with a caption; - Photographic entries should have one (1) photo, or a pictorial spread of not more than twenty (20) photos published in one issue/edition. Each entry must be accompanied by an original newspaper in which photo (s) were published. f) All entries must be submitted to the National Adjudication Committee not later than February 28, 2021. g) All submissions must be made strictly on the SADC Media Award Entry Form and should contain full contact details of the entrant, including, passport-sized photograph, physical address, telephone and, where applicable, fax number and email address; h) Entries will be initially screened and judged by the National Adjudication Committee in each Member State, which will select the best entry in each of the four categories to be forwarded to the Regional Adjudication Committee (RAC), through the SADC Secretariat. i) Selection of the best regional entries will be decided upon by the RAC; j) The decision of the RAC shall be final; k) The first prize winners will be announced and receive their prizes during the 39th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government; Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Media By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. l) The Awards will include Print, Radio, Television and Photo journalism. Each category carries a first prize of US$2,500; m) The runner-ups in each category will receive a second prize of US$1000 and will receive the prize money and certificates in their respective countries through their National Contact Point; n) The monetary prizes will be accompanied by a certificate signed by the SADC Chairperson; o) The prizes will be paid directly to the winner. In the case of a winner being unable to attend the ceremony, SADC will make arrangements to give the prize in his/her home country; p) The RAC reserves the right not to award a prize in any of the categories if the entries do not satisfactorily meet the competition requirements. Further information and entry forms are obtainable from the National Adjudication Committees, SADC Media Coordinators (NMCs) in each Member State and SADC Website (www.sadc.int) . The list of NMCs can be found on https://www.sadc.int/media-centre/media-contacts Entry form: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/filefield_paths/SADC%20Entry%20fo... But nursing parents who are now working from home told me that the pandemic has offered the opposite experience: no more pumping in the office, and lots more time with their babies. Before the pandemic hit, Amy Hallett, a mother of three near Chapel Hill, N.C., was preparing for pumping sessions in her car. As a wine sales representative, she traveled 30 to 100 miles a day to restaurants and retailers. She dreaded thinking about the number of times she would need to pump, and how to keep that milk cool without a refrigerator. Now, she just walks into an adjacent room, takes her baby from her nanny, and breastfeeds. Lea Solimine, a tech worker in San Francisco, used to take two to three hours to get ready and travel to work. Now, she nurses her 5-month-old son in the middle of the night, but can sleep in, not waking again until its time for the baby to nurse around 7 a.m. More sleep, she said, makes her a better and more productive worker. The home office for all its chaos and disruptions has also given new parents (nursing or otherwise) the chance to witness the special moments they might have missed. Our family is all in St. Lucia, and we have no one to help us with the baby, said Kristal Garia-Augier, a graduate student in Miami. But at the same time, my husband and I have actually seen all our daughters milestones, including rolling over and laughing loudly for the first time. Repeatedly, the parents who worked from home talked about the flexibility and comfort of nursing from home. Some continue to use a pump when they want to work on the computer instead of holding their baby. But those women too extolled the benefits of having the freedom to pick what was best for their schedules and their baby each day. Americas parental leave policies are dismal compared to other wealthy nations. But working from home has at least helped ease the pressure many nursers feel to choose between working and parenthood. Many of the people I spoke to hoped that even after the pandemic, their companies would adopt hybrid work models or extended work-from-home opportunities, making it possible for all parents (nursing or otherwise) to have more options for their families. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has condemned the Cable News Network (CNN) over its coverage of the riot at Capitol Hill on the United States and the Lekki Toll Gate shooting in Lagos. Mohammed told THISDAY in an interview that CNN created division and concocted lies against Nigeria when the federal government insisted on regulating social media. He said when a scenario similar to the Lekki incident occurred in the US on January 6, CNN categorised the US Congress attackers as "insurrectionists" while describing the EndSARS crowd at Lekki on October 22, last year as "peaceful" and "harmless" protesters. The minister said CNN's objection to the federal government's attempt to regulate the social media ran against logic given that Twitter and Instagram also suspended the account of former US President Donald Trump for allegedly using the platform to spread fake news and make inciting remarks. He said: "But when we said we must regulate the social media, the world took up arms against us. How come that the same CNN that invented lies against us is suddenly championing the crusade in America that social media must not be used for fake news and disinformation?" He accused the EndSARS protesters of spreading fake news that incited anger which led to the killing of 37 policemen nationwide, adding it was fake news reported by the media, using social media, that led to the looting, killing and arson by hoodlums who hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protest. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Mohammed said until the night of October 22, the EndSARS protest was peaceful until it became violent when hoodlums hijacked it. He also described Amnesty International as an irritant and a purveyor of disinformation and fake news for castigating the federal government on its handling of the EndSARS protest. Mohammed challenged the human rights group that said 12 protesters were shot at Lekki to appear before a judicial panel of inquiry with evidence. "Give the names and addresses. Three months or 100 days after the Lekki shooting, if anybody has lost a relation, a son, a daughter or a ward, won't she or he have come forward? Amnesty International is not a respecter of our judicial system. What it ought to do, if there is any judicial evidence, is to go before the judicial panel of enquiry or at least wait for the outcome of the judicial enquiry. "Amnesty International is reproving the federal government, but as we speak, the American government is arresting and prosecuting every person that took part in the invasion of the Capitol Hill. They are also investigating the source of funding of those people. When Nigeria started it they went to court, forgetting that it is because Nigeria exists as a country that we are here. When one policeman was killed at the Capitol, it was an insurrection. If not because we were proactive, they were coming to the National Assembly and CNN did not see anything wrong in that. Amnesty is guilty of double standards. When the US refused a visa to ICC investigators, Amnesty did not find its voice. It should respect us as a sovereign nation and should stop vending lies, disinformation. Their purpose we don't know, but this is very clear when it is Nigeria they find their voices when it is America, they keep mute," the minister added. The three alleged drug dealers were arrested in Rodange and Esch-sur-Alzette. On 29 January, police officers from Rodange surprised a suspected deal between two individuals in rue de l'Industrie. The two men were arrested by the officers, who found a package of cocaine on the alleged dealer. A bag containing six other packets was discovered in a hiding place nearby. Another suspected dealer was arrested on Saturday afternoon in Rodange, near the railway station, after police officers observed a deal. They ended up seizing one package during the deal as well as five others, which had been hidden. A phone and some cash were also confiscated. Further reading: Three dealers detained in Luxembourg City within a week On Sunday evening in Esch, an individual attracted the attention of the police due to his suspicious behaviour, abruptly changing direction when he saw them. During the check, the man appeared nervous. Rightly so, as nine cocaine packages were found on him and seized. A telephone and some cash were also confiscated in this incident. The three alleged drug dealers were detained on the orders of the public prosecutor's office. They were all brought before an examining magistrate the day after their arrest. In America, the college dorm room has a special place in business lore. Facebook, Google, Reddit, Dell, and Snapchat were all invented by students in cramped quarters, their big dreams sharing precious space with bags of Doritos and overflowing laundry baskets. Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing senior living in the campus Lauder College House, hopes to follow iconic tradition and become a dormitory-launched capitalist. He and his cofounder have created what Jeffrey Babin, associate director of Penn Engineering Entrepreneurship, lauded as a simple but elegant solution to the problem of hospital personnel disturbing patients during nighttime interactions: a nurses wearable night-light. Scarpone-Lamberts company is called Lumify Care. While Penn scholar-entrepreneurs have hatched some notable ventures within the last decade alone (Warby Parker eyeglasses, Harrys shaving and grooming products, Harper Wilde bras), its pretty rare that a nursing student is doing what Anthony is doing, said Marion Leary, director of innovation at Penn Nursing. Hes been out front of where we are in nursing education right now. And he will be as successful as he wants to be. Scarpone-Lambert, whos from a working-class family in Chalfont, is also rare among the 2,457 undergraduates who entered Penn in 2017: Hes one of just 300 who were the first in their families to attend college in the group, and was among five of those so-called first-generation students featured in Inquirer stories in 2017 and 2018. It wasnt easy at first, being first-generation at Penn, said Scarpone-Lambert, whos also executive vice president of the senior class of 2021. Everyone at school seemed so successful, like they all had it together. And I had impostor syndrome, like I didnt belong. But incredible Penn people supported me, and I made it my personal mission to prove that no matter if I am a first-gen student, I can overcome challenges and reach goals for myself. READ MORE: The 'impostor' syndrome of first-generation Penn students: Uneasy among privileged, distanced from family Currently, the goal is to start selling the $20 uNight Light, billed as the first-ever wearable LED light designed for nurses, by nurses, next month. As part of his academic schedule, Scarpone-Lambert has to participate in clinical work. In the emergency department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, hes seen the crush of patients during the pandemic, and he knows firsthand how nurses do their jobs under great stress. That wisdom is augmented by Scarpone-Lamberts cofounder, Jennifferre Mancillas, 36, a registered nurse at Valley Childrens Hospital in Madera, Calif. The two met at a collaborative entrepreneurial conference and competition cosponsored by Johnson & Johnson in central New Jersey in 2019. Together, they researched the difficulty of patients getting enough sleep in hospitals when nurses are turning on lights, especially at night, to administer care. After interviewing 250 nurses, Scarpone-Lambert and Mancillas discovered that 87% struggled to see while providing patient care at night. When nurses cant see, we put our patient and ourselves at risk, Mancillas said. This leads us to turn on intrusive overhead room lights that disrupt our patients. The Lumify pairs data found that during a single night shift, nurses may turn on their patients room light an average of nine times, leading to disrupted sleep and potentially worsened health outcomes. Scarpone-Lambert and Mancillas came up with the 2-by-1-inch LED light that they believe is a game changer. Nurses are wonderful innovators, often unappreciated, said Bobbi Martin, president and CEO of the Global Nurse Foundation, a nonprofit in Floridas Tampa Bay area that supports nurses in places like Uganda. She met Scarpone-Lambert at the Johnson & Johnson event. Nurses will do 25 work-arounds in a shift, finding innovative ways to care for patients. Scarpone-Lambert is taking that outside-the-box thinking to a new level, Martin said. He just doesnt quit, and never stops at no, she said. He gets people excited. Martin added that Scarpone-Lambert has a well-developed social conscience and will donate lights to health-care facilities in Uganda, where the electricity is unreliable. This light will impact how I will practice nursing, she said. Aside from its practical uses, the light is a symbol of sorts to nurses, said Rebecca Love, president of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders (SONSIEL), a Boston nonprofit working to elevate nurses into the forefront of health-care innovation. In hospitals, nurses are meant to sit at the bedside and are not acknowledged for the expertise they have with improving patient lives, Love said. We are disempowered as a profession. But stories like Anthonys focus on entrepreneurship, and creating something that makes a difference. It has everything to do with his drive, character, and passion. And Anthony operates at a different speed, thinking six steps ahead. He is one of the individuals with the potential to be a moonshot in the nursing profession, and I dont say that lightly. What also helps Scarpone-Lambert, his admirers say, is his background in big-time theater. As a child, he was in two Broadway plays: The Miracle Worker and Mary Poppins. That helps him tell the story of his business, said Penn Nursings Leary. Hes just so comfortable pitching ideas, more than a lot of nursing students are. As he looks toward graduation in May, Scarpone-Lambert credits his first-generation student status as a help in getting through the grind of creating a start-up, not to mention the heavy load of Penn studies. Being first-generation provides you with a kind of grittiness, he said. Its knowing how to work hard, and itll help me be a better entrepreneur. First-gen students are very resourceful. [February 02, 2021] MBC Broadcasts COVID-19 Special with TVU Networks' Live Contribution Technology SHANGHAI, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- South Korea's Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. (MBC), the nation's second largest broadcaster, relied on three integrated remote production technologies from TVU Networks, the market and technology leader in cloud and IP-based live video solutions, to bring in 64 guests via remotes for a special COVID-19 broadcast. With new cases spiking last fall, the government funded production of a live broadcast special to address the disease. However, the ambitious plan involved a multitude of guests participating live, which exceeded the technical capabilities of MBC. While its headquarters is a state-of-art, modern broadcast facility, it did not have the ability to bring in 64 guests via live remotes. "We're quite familiar with TVU Networks and the capabilities of their technology," said Mr. Kim Sang Dong, Production Engineering Department Manager. "They were extremely helpful with MBC's "The Paik Father" live cooking show and several other projects. That gave us the confidence to call on TVU to help us get so many remote shots on air." Not only was bringing in high-quality, low-latency live video of 64 guests a significant hurdle, but MBC needed to ensure its video contributions would be flawless despite so many different smartphones in use and relying on the public internet. Contribution and Communications MBC relied upon the TVU Anywhere mobile broadcasting app, TVU Partyline clud-based videoconferencing platform, and TVU Receivers to support remote contribution; integration of live shots into the program; and real-time, interactive communication among hosts and guests. Guests on the program used the TVU Anywhere app on their smartphones and other digital devices from their remote locations, while MBC producers used the broadcaster's TVU Receivers to take in and manage those shots. At the MBC studio, TVU Receivers decoded all incoming TVU Anywhere streams. The receivers gave the studio complete control over the TVU Anywhere transmissions and made it possible to integrate them into the show. Located in an MBC sub-control room, the receivers fed their SDI output into the inputs of the broadcaster's routing switcher. Producers in the production control room accessed those sources from their production switcher to take guests to air as required. Real-time Interaction TVU Partyline delivers real-time, broadcast-quality interactive HD video and audio conferencing. MBC used TVU Partyline so hosts and guests could interact with one another more naturally during the show. As a cloud-based solution that leverages patented TVU Networks' technology, TVU Partyline ensures the real-time give-and-take interaction between remotely located guests and hosts that viewers expect to see during in-studio interviews. TVU Partyline leverages TVU's Real-Time Interactive Layer (RTIL) to enable this natural discourse regardless of the distance between guests. It integrates seamlessly with other TVU products like TVU Anywhere, making it easy to access and use. Show Prep and Execution Using a TVU Anywhere feature called Return Video Feedback, a picture-inpicture video giving guests a way to see return video of the program and other show guests, made it easier for everyone to participate in a more conversational manner. Further enabling the natural back-and-forth among guests and hosts was TVU Partyline, which allowed everyone to talk to each other in real time without confusing delays. Sang Dong, Kim, a Production engineering Dept Manager working with MBC on the special, selected TVU Partyline for the program. "TVU Partyline was an elegant solution to a difficult problem," he said. "Enabling so many guests to participate in the special from their homes and offices isn't within the realm of what we could do using conventional remote technology. "However, TVU Partyline along with TVU Anywhere and TVU Receivers made it possible to overcome the distance separating everyone and the delays that you'd normally expect. All of the guests and hosts could interact as if they were together in the studio, and viewers were spared the distraction of endless pauses due to technical limitations, so they could focus on the important information being conveyed about COVID-19. "Without this technology, it's hard to imagine how we would have been able to produce such a live show with the so many participants, each offering their unique viewpoints on such an important topic. I am confident TVU Partyline will become a regularly used tool in our production toolbox, especially when remote guests need to participate live in our shows," he added. "We're honored to have had MBC select TVU to help them produce this very important public health event. Like many broadcasters around the world, MBC has had to rely on new remote production solutions such as our TVU Partyline to assist with overcoming COVID-19 restrictions," explained Liming Fu, Vice President of Sales for APAC, TVU Networks. "We look forward to continuing to serve MBC and other leading broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific region on their IP and cloud production needs." For more information, please go to https://www.tvunetworks.com SOURCE TVU Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 78 percent of students arrived below grade level in reading. Sixty-two percent of children now are at or above grade level. 93 percent of children arrived below grade level in math. All students are now working on material that is at least at grade level. Nearly 75 percent were reading below grade level, while 42 percent are now at grade level and 28 percent are above grade level. Over 70 percent of third-graders entered the academy testing below grade level in math. Fifty-seven percent are currently working at grade level and 43 percent are working above grade level. Parents in North Las Vegas are now looking to microschools as a viable alternative to remote learning as public schools keep their doors closed nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic.When Clark County School District officials decided against offering in-person options in the spring of 2020, the city of North Las Vegas began looking for a new way to educate students struggling with virtual learning due to a lack of technology or inability to stay on task without guidance.Enter the Southern Nevada Urban Micro Academy (SNUMA), a free microschool for children in grades 1-8 that teaches a state-aligned curriculum led by licensed educators.Don Soifer, president of Nevada Action for School Options, said his nonprofit worked with the city to provide a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership for micro-schooling designed to mitigate learning loss during the public health crisis.The program, launched in the fall of 2020 using existing municipal facilities, opened a third location last week at Neighborhood Recreation Center to support its growing enrollment. The academy now provides more than 100 students with IT support, curriculum guidance and classroom technologies through assistance from Cadence Learning , a virtual learning platform company that provided content free of charge."North Las Vegas historically has been underserved, and there is an achievement gap. When we started the academy, we wanted to provide a solution for our kids that would allow them to overcome a number of challenges and close that gap, Soifer said. We knew we were working with the children who needed us most. North Las Vegas is Nevadas largest city with the highest concentration of students of color , many of whom are considered economically disadvantaged . For some students, the remote model simply was not conducive to learning, even with access to a device and Internet.Absences immediately increased when the district switched to distance learning last spring, according to the academy. Nearly 40 percent of students who never logged in were from North Las Vegas zip codes. On the first day of the fall semester, a quarter of those absences were from North Las Vegas, which makes up roughly 10 percent of the county population.Local leaders feared that many of the citys students would fall through the cracks, widening an existing achievement gap. Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown, a champion of the program and retired educator, said she knew the city needed to explore other options.It was just important to us that we did something to ensure that our kids are getting some kind of normalcy in their life, and the micro-school just fell upon us, she said. It worked well, and its still working well.Soifer said the program was able to provide some the most effective teaching and learning our learners and their families have ever experienced for a small fraction of the cost of the per-pupil funding in the district. So far, the project has cost the city a little over $320,000 in CARES Act funding.We spent that money on our constituents. It was to help them so that we do have a society that can function even during the pandemic, Goynes-Brown added.According to the academy, small class sizes capped at 15 students per pod enable social distancing and individualized guidance. The school is free for students in North Las Vegas and children of essential workers and first responders throughout the county.Children must temporarily leave the public school system and be designated as homeschooled students to enroll.I think the biggest obstacle we faced was gaining the trust of our parents because it wasnt an easy decision..., Goynes-Brown noted.Dawn Kearney, a mother of twins Brooklyn and Breeana, decided to send her kids to one of the schools located in the Silver Mesa Rec Center earlier this semester after they struggled with remote learning in the fall. She said her only regret was not sending them sooner.Students like Brooklyn and Breeana had trouble navigating ed-tech programs without consistent support. Even with access to technology, Kearney said many adults find virtual platforms cumbersome. Kearney wondered, How can you expect a fourth-grader to maneuver through this?She has already noticed an improvement in the two fourth-graders, most notably with writing assignments.Honestly, theyve been doing more there than they did with Clark County from August to December, she said. For me, its peace of mind knowing theres an actual teacher there helping them.Students are assessed for their strengths and weaknesses upon enrolling. The academy claims students like Kearneys have made significant academic strides since opening in the fall of 2020. The Centre on Wednesday told the Parliament that no foreign government supported the farmers' protest against the Centre's agricultural laws. However, it said that protests related to the laws by a "few motivated" persons of Indian origins (PIOs) had been reported in Canada, the UK, the US, and some European countries. AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel Syed had put forth a list of questions to the Ministry of External Affairs over the PIOs and countries, if any, that had given their support to the agitation. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made a comment on issues related to the farmers and it was conveyed to Canada that such remarks pertaining to the internal affairs of India are "unwarranted" and "unacceptable". The minister's response in Parliament came on a day when pop star Rihanna and global environmentalist Greta Thunberg lent support to the agitation. Later, several ministers claimed it was a part of 'international propaganda' meant to deface India and its government. The MEA had earlier released a statement saying celebrities tweeting on the farmers' protests were neither accurate nor responsible. "No foreign government has given support to the agitation of Indian farmers against three bills passed by Indian Parliament. In Canada, UK, USA, and in few European countries, protests by a few motivated PIOs on issues related to the Indian farm bill have been reported," he said. The matter was taken up with the Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and New Delhi and conveyed that such comments pertaining to the "internal affairs of India are unwarranted, unacceptable and would damage India-Canada bilateral relations," the minister said on Trudeau's remarks. In early December, Trudeau, backing the agitating farmers in India, had said that Canada will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protests, and expressed concern over the situation. "Government of Canada has welcomed the Government of India's commitment to ongoing dialogue with the farmers to discuss issues of concern," Muraleedharan added. Tens of thousands of farmers have been protesting for more than two months at three border points on the outskirts of Delhi demanding a complete repeal of the contentious farm laws. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has urged caution in the face of a new case of COVID-19 in a hotel quarantine worker and asked anyone who has visited exposure sites to self-isolate for 14 days. Public health teams are continuing to identify a list of exposure sites linked to the new case. Premier Daniel Andrews at the emergency press conference on Thursday night. The case a 26-year-old man who last worked at the Grand Hyatt on January 29 brings an end to the states 28-day run of zero community transmission. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Exford Hotel in Melbournes CBD and Kebab Kingz in West Melbourne were added to a growing list of high-risk places. A jailed Melbourne tradie who killed a beloved couple on holiday while high on a cocktail of drugs has sobbed in court as he heard the impact of the crash he caused. Plasterer Baramee Janorat, 22, killed Robert and Lynette Anderson, aged 69 and 68, in a head-on car crash in Melbourne's northwest in October 2019. Janorat broke down when he heard the Anderson's family members describe the pain of losing the 'loving nanny and poppy' when he appeared by video link from Barwon prison. Robert and Lynette Anderson, aged 69 and 68, died in a head on smash in Melbourne's northwest in October 2019 when tradie Baramee Janorat drove onto the wrong side of the road 'The loss of both my parents as the result of such a carless and selfish act has left me devastated and angry,' son Craig Anderson said in court, the Herald-Sun reported. 'It has not only taken my mum and dad from me but my also my best friends. It's also taken a loving nanny and poppy from their grandchildren.' Emma, the couple's daughter, told the court she cried every day. 'I cry most nights on my way home after work, as that was when I would call my Mum.' The court heard that Janorat 'cannot resist the allure of drugs' and was found to have a mix of meth, fentanyl and ketamine in his system after the crash. He has written the family a letter of apology, his lawyer said, adding that: 'He thinks about his actions every day'. But the court also heard he could not remember the incident. The accident happened when Janorat lost control of his vehicle after witnesses described him as driving recklessly and screaming out of his car window at a woman. He ploughed into the path of the Andersons' car, killing them both. The court heard that Janorat, 22, was found to have a mix of meth, fentanyl and ketamine in his system after the fatal crash Dashcam footage, recorded by another driver, showed Janorat veering onto the wrong side of the road before the fatal head-on smash. Witnesses at the scene described finding a syringe in Janorat's car and that the 22 year old did not appear to understand what had happened. Janorat, who was born in Thailand, pleaded guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing death. He is due to be sentenced on February 16. India has its own set of challenges given insurgency in North-eastern states and its closer engagement with Myanmars military. by Vandana Mishra Myanmar underwent a serious political crisis on the wee hours of February 01, 2021 (Monday), when it was scheduled to have its first session of Parliament after the November 2020 elections. Myanmars military took over the reins of power in its own hand arresting de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and other senior leaders of the National League of Democracy (NLD). Subsequently, the Military announced one-year state of emergency in the country and that 24 ministers and deputies have been removed and 11 replacements had been named including finance, health, interior and foreign affairs. A former General, Myint Swe, who was earlier Vice President is now an acting President. However, responsibility related to legislature, administration and judiciary stands transferred to Commander-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing. Thus, military which has ruled the country for nearly five decades once again throttled democracy within five years of its existence and has grabbed power in a coup. Reason behind the Crisis: Myanmar underwent general elections on November 08, 2020 to elect the members of the Assembly of the Union. It consists of 440-member House of Representatives (Lower House) and 224-member House of Nationalities (Upper House). One quarter of the seats in both the Houses are reserved for the Military as per 2008 Constitutions of Myanmar. It also controls most of the powerful ministries like Home, Defence and Border affairs. NLD got landslide victory in the elections which was rejected by the military demanding a re-run of the elections as it was unfree, full of fraud, voter-list irregularities, and widespread violations of laws and procedures. Militarys allegations were though not backed by the Electoral Commission. NLD bagged 80% of the popular votes and 315 seats in the Lower House and 161 seats in the Upper House. Interestingly 70% of the voters defied the COVID-19 driven pandemic and exercised their franchise. More than 6,900 candidates were in fray belonging to 92 political parties and independents for 1,171 seats including the provincial legislatures. Military backed Union and Solidarity and Democratic Party (USDP) could gain only a fraction of the vote. Hence, it was near rout of the military that prompted it to tighten its grip over governance making it a pretext. Second reason could be that Myanmars growing profile of international trade were perturbing for many inside Myanmar as they viewed outsiders as strangers and danger, owing to long-spell of closed economy during military rule earlier. Many such elements are pro-military and are celebrating now. Third, reason must be the submissiveness of Suu Kyi to military pressure, rather than being accommodative in power sharing. Many experts call it as political jujitsu, which is different from appeasement. She was not communicating with the Army Chief for last one year as reported. It seems she failed to manage her relations with the Army. However, she was the last hope to strengthen democratic institutions in the country and she proved a failure, in her political knack. The Impact of the Crisis: First, this is the first test of President Biden outside US as to how he is going to manage this crisis for democracy. Many have asked for stiff economic sanctions against Junta. Second, the military takeover has sent a shiver down the spine of most pro-democracy population in the country. Myanmar endured almost 50 years of rule under oppressive military regime before the move towards democratic rule in 2011. Thus, democracy-lovers are stunned with the development. Third, Military takeover of power did not witness any violence in the immediate aftermath but as reported the mood of the democracy-lovers were aghast. Internet and phone services were disrupted. International and domestics TV channels were off air. All major roads in the capital were blocked by army, which also overtook all the major cities of the country. Fourth, there indeed is democracy deficit in Myanmar for now, with international powers criticizing the coup. UN has condemned the coup in strictest terms. US, UK and EU and others were quick to condemn the coup. China asked all sides to resolve the differences and opposed any outside interference. Military has promised a free and fair elections once the state of emergency is over. For now lip service seems more prominent than quick actions. Last and most important, Suu Kyi and her Party members have urged people to protest and must not accept the coup. Implications for India: Indian Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern over the development and reiterated that it stands to help towards democratic transition in Myanmar and thus is closely monitoring the development. India has its own set of challenges given insurgency in North-eastern states and its closer engagement with Myanmars military. Therefore, given Indias security and strategic imperatives India has no choice but to continue engaging with Myanmars Junta, in spite of the fact that Indian citizens have greater faith, trust and liking for Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi also has a strong constituency within Buddhist monks and followers of Myanmar, which are in great majority with strong conviction against military. Though, they are also against Rohingyas. This creates a complex situation. However, Indian Buddhist would be more than willing to stand in support of Suu Kyi and democracy in Myanmar. India thus shares a cultural linkage with Myanmar which may raise expectations of Buddhists in Myanmar from India to make decisive interventions. Myanmar is Indias Gateway to South East Asia. It is of tremendous importance for its Act East Policy, India-ASEAN Free Trade evolution, India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, Kaladan-Multi Model Transit Transport Agreement, Indias inclusion in East-West Economic Corridor are some of the major projects that would discourage India to take a tough stand on Myanmars military regime, something on the lines of US. Conclusion: Military actions undoubtedly are reckless and would take the country on a perilous path leading once again in isolation from outside world. It will have long term impact towards consolidation of fledgeling democracy in Myanmar. Undoubtedly, common citizens stand betrayed by the USDP and military. Military will continue to prevail over government and would have tight grip over the polity till the controversial 2008 Constitution continue to exist, which was prepared and promulgated by Military. Amendment requires more than 75% support which is impossible given the fact that military has constitutional mandate of 25% in all legislatures. This dynamic needs to be changed in favour of democracy. Myanmar is country where Army considers itself as Father of the nation, whereas media addresses Suu Kyi as Mother of the country. Democracy and Suu Kyi has created a space for itself in the minds and spirit of Myanmars population. Present step of Military, thus may be contrary to itself: it had complete command and autonomy; sizeable international investment in its commercial interests; and political cover from civilians for war crimes. Moreover, the step will discourage non-Chinese investment and economic engagement with Myanmar. It will also invite resistance from millions of Suu Kyi supporters. Under such circumstances it is bound to bring greater harm to Military regime as well as polity and people of Myanmar, with tremendous loss of face before the international community. Major powers and stakeholders must rise to the occasion and make judicious and benign interventions, for the cause of democracy. Germany has become an unlikely champion of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, offering support and possible production sites in the hopes of speeding up the European Union's troubled inoculation drive. The unexpected news that the Russian jab is safe and effective marks a rare political win for President Vladimir Putin, forcing a delicate balancing act in European capitals mulling sanctions against Moscow over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Leading medical journal The Lancet announced on Tuesday that the Sputnik jab was 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic Covid-19 cases, defying international scepticism. German Chancellor Angela Merkel promptly declared that "every vaccine is welcome in the European Union" once it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). She said she had already spoken to Putin last month about how Germany could assist Russia's vaccine efforts, offering the help of Germany's Paul Ehrlich Institute with the EMA application process. - Anger growing over vaccine rollout - German Health Minister Jens Spahn on Wednesday confirmed that talks were ongoing with Moscow to explore production capacities for the Sputnik jab in Germany or elsewhere in Europe. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said talks were ongoing with Moscow to explore production capacities for the Sputnik jab in Germany or elsewhere in Europe / POOL/AFP Speaking at an online forum, Spahn described the cooperation with Moscow as "constructive and critical", and stressed that the only way out the pandemic was for the world community to work together. A health ministry spokeswoman told AFP that Russia had already reached out to German biotechnology firm IDT Biologika to discuss jointly making the Sputnik vaccine. The possibility of another jab coming within reach has been warmly welcomed in the EU, where anger is growing over the slow pace of vaccinations in comparison with countries such as the United States, Israel and ex-EU member Britain. Three vaccines have been approved for use in the bloc so far, the BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs, but their rollout has been hampered by delivery delays, production bottlenecks and political blunders. The criticism has been especially loud in Germany which, despite being home to the BioNTech company whose jab became the first to be approved in the West, has no preferential access to the shot. Merkel has repeatedly defended Germany's decision to opt for an EU-wide approach on procuring and rolling out vaccines, saying the bloc's admittedly "slower" pace meant no corners were being cut on safety. But with many European nations struggling to bring down infection numbers and concerns growing about new, more infectious virus variants, leaders are under pressure to accelerate the vaccine push. - The Navalny factor - But the Sputnik shot -- named after the Soviet-era satellite -- comes at an awkward time for Russia-EU relations. European leaders have lined up to condemn Moscow in recent weeks for a police crackdown on mass protests triggered by the arrest of leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny means further sanctions against Moscow 'cannot be ruled out' / Moscow City Court press service/AFP Navalny returned to Moscow last month after spending several months in a Berlin hospital recovering from a poisoning he believes was ordered by the Kremlin. Germany and other Western allies have confirmed that the poison used was Soviet-designed Novichok -- something that can only be deployed by Russian authorities. Navalny was detained upon arrival back home and a court on Tuesday sentenced him to almost three years in jail for violating probation terms while in Germany. Merkel joined a string of EU leaders in calling for his immediate release, and condemned the violence against pro-Navalny demonstrators. "After this ruling, there will now also be talks among EU partners. Further sanctions cannot be ruled out," her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters on Wednesday. Some fellow EU nations may be hoping that could include abandoning the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The nearly-completed pipeline is set to double Russia's natural gas shipments to Germany, Europe's top economy, but it has long been opposed by the United States and other allies for increasing reliance on Russian energy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel prides herself on maintaining a pragmatic relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin / AFP France this week joined calls for Germany to ditch the project, but Berlin has so far stood firm. Veteran leader Merkel -- who speaks Russian herself -- has always prided herself on a pragmatic relationship with Putin. "Beyond all the political differences that are currently large, we can nevertheless work together in a pandemic, in a humanitarian area," Merkel has said. NASA on February 2 shared breathtaking imagery of a mystical spinning star dubbed as pulsar SXP 1062. Taking to its official Instagram account, the Space administration shared the bright galactic entitys photograph captured by NASAs Hubble, born out of a star that nearly exploded nearly 40,000 years ago. The image shows a rotating, super-dense core of SXP 1062 spinning slowly, emitting vibrant X-ray outbursts. The star, according to NASA, was found to be associated with supernova remnant MCSNR J0127-7332 after it was observed on RSS/SALT telescope. Pulsars are roughly 20 kilometers in diameter. The bright source on the right-hand side of this image is pulsar SXP 1062 and it rotates surprisingly slowly about once every 18 minutes, NASA explained, sharing the mesmeric photograph. What's the fastest pulsar known? That's PSR J1748-2446ad and it rotates 716 times per second, furthermore, the agency informed. According to a release by ESA, Pulsar SXP 1062 is embedded in the remnant of the supernova that created it. It accretes mass from its stellar companion, a massive, hot, blue 'Be' star, the two objects forming a Be/X-ray binary, as per the European agency. The star, known to be a cosmic mystery for scientists, has a colourful bubble-shaped signature of the supernova remnant wherein the protons and electrons are merged together to form the neutrons. NASA explained in a release, that the Pulsars neutrons, as humungous as a city, rotate rapidly making the vibrant light emission pulse at regular intervals, which is why the star is known as Pulsar. Read: Elon Musk Reveals Ambitious Plans To Get Humans To Mars Seven Years Ahead Of NASA Read: NASA Says Asteroid Bigger Than Eiffel Tower Will Pass Earth; All You Need To Know Combines the X-ray view "Not many pulsars have been observed within their supernova remnant, and this is the first clear example of such a pair in the [Small Magellanic Cloud]," study leader Vincent Henault-Brunet, of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, said in a statement to NASA. The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory had spotted the X-rays emitted by SXP 1062 that were making hundreds of revolutions per second. Internet was intrigued with the galactic entity and its interesting cosmic effect. ESA explained in a release that the false-colour image combines the X-ray view, based on data from XMM-Newton with optical data from NOAO's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). It furthermore explained that the image was obtained using two special filters that revealed Pulsars glow of oxygen. Read: NASA Shares Picture Of Dazzling Nebula Helping In Formation Of Next Generation Of Stars Read: NASA Appoints Indian-American Bhavya Lal As Acting Chief Of Staff Activist Buchenkov loses appeal against sentence in 2012 Bolotnaya riots case Lyudmila Klenko, RAPSI 10:52 03/02/2021 MOSCOW, February 3 (RAPSI) The Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction has dismissed an appeal against the 2.5-year prison sentence given in absentia to Dmitry Buchenkov, a defendant in the 2012 Bolotnaya riots case, RAPSI has learnt in the courts press service. In December 2019, Buchenkov was convicted and sentenced in absentia. Moscows Zamoskvoretsky District Cour also included the term spent in detention and under house arrest in the sentence, considered the term served and closed the search case. On December 18, a prosecutor demanded an 8-year term in penal colony for Buchenkov. In February 2018, the Moscow City Court upheld suspension of proceedings against Buchenkov because of his disappearance. In November 2019, the trial was resumed. As reported earlier, the defendant, who was under house arrest, once failed to appear at the Bolotnaya case hearing. He was put on the international wanted list, and his house arrest was replaced with detention. The case was suspended. Prosecutors believed that Buchenkov fled to Europe. Buchenko was charged with participating in mass riots and attacking persons in a position of authority. He pleaded not guilty. His attorneys insisted that he was out of Moscow on the day of riots. According to defense lawyers, Buchenkov had an alibi. Over 400 people were arrested, and scores were injured in the authorized Bolotnaya Square protest that turned violent in May 2012. Dozens were later charged with inciting mass riots and battery against law enforcement officers. Riot organizers Leonid Razvozzhayev and Sergey Udaltsov were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison each. Other defendants in the case received prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to four years. Several defendants were pardoned; two activists were sent to compulsory mental treatment. The convicts supporters believe that the riots were provoked by police. The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday ordered immediate release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, from his death cell, notifying authorities to move him to a government rest house within two days. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by the Sindh provincial government, appealing against the Sindh High Court (SHC) decision of December 24 to release the prime accused Omar Saeed Sheikh. As per the court's order, authorities have been told to keep Sheikh at a better location in the jail in an open room for two days before being transferred to the government rest house. The court has also ordered to ensure deployment of security around the rest house. However, the court has not allowed Sheikh to have access to a mobile phone or internet facility. The court has allowed the family of Sheikh to stay with him at the rest house from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. "Sheikh should not have access to the outside world from the rest house. He should be allowed to spend the 'Kashmir Day' with his family members", read the court's order. The decision came after Pakistan's top court again rejected the government's appeal to suspend the SHC's verdict on the acquittal of the accused, stating that the federal government could file an appeal against the SHC's decision. "How can the federal government object to the decision of the Sindh High Court?" questioned the Sindh Advocate General. However, the judges maintained "Ahmed Omar Sheikh and other detainees cannot be called as accused". The case of Daniel Pearl's murder has become a testing assessment for Pakistan as the United States has raised serious reservations on the court's decision to acquit the suspects and later to retain the SHC's decision by Pakistan's top court. The US has already shared its serious concerns over the legal proceedings in the case with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi through a telephone conversation. The US has also stated that it is ready to bring Sheikh to the US and put him to trial in the US courts, hinting at its distrust over the legal proceedings of the case in Pakistan. Qureshi, however, has maintained that the case is being taken forward as per the legal justice system of Pakistan. Analysts on the other hand, have criticised the Pakistan government for not rejecting the US' call of extradition of the accused from Pakistan and the trial to be held in US courts. 'Screams echoed throughout the building': Women raped, tortured in China's 're-education' camps Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Women imprisoned in Chinas network of internment camps in Xinjiang are subject to horrific torture, systematic rape, and sexual abuse as the country's Communist leadership seeks to "destroy" those it sees as a threat, a graphic new report has revealed. A report from the BBC highlights interviews from several former detainees and a guard who shared firsthand accounts of their horrific experiences in China's internment camps in the Xinjiang region. Estimates suggest that over 1 million to as many as 3 million Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups in Western China have been subject to these internment camps, which are intended to strip Uyghurs and other minorities of their culture, language and religion, and indoctrinate them into mainstream Chinese culture. Tursunay Ziawudun, a woman who spent nine months inside one of these camps before fleeing to the U.S., told the BBC that women were removed from the cells "every night" and raped by one or more masked Chinese men. She said she was tortured and later gang-raped on three occasions, each time by two or three men. She also recalled how police tortured her with electric shocks and, in one instance, violently abused her when she was unsure of her husbands whereabouts, kicking her with their heavy boots. Because of the severity of the abuse, rape, and torture, Ziawudun said that there were many people in those cells who lost their minds." "Their goal is to destroy everyone," she said. "And everybody knows it." Gulzira Auelkhan, a Kazakh woman from Xinjiang who was detained for 18 months in the camp system, recounted how she was forced to strip Uyghur women naked and handcuff them before leaving them alone with Chinese men. "My job was to remove their clothes above the waist and handcuff them so they cannot move," she recalled. "Then I would leave the women in the room and a man would enter some Chinese man from outside or policeman. I sat silently next to the door, and when the man left the room I took the woman for a shower." The Chinese men "would pay money to have their pick of the prettiest young inmates," she said, stressing that the physical violence she witnessed amounted to rape. Qelbinur Sedik, an Uzbek woman from Xinjiang, who was forced to give language lessons to the detainees, said the womens camp was "tightly controlled. She said there were four kinds of electric shock women would be subjected to the chair, the glove, the helmet, and anal rape with a stick. The screams echoed throughout the building, she told the BBC. I could hear them during lunch and sometimes when I was in class. Sedik said that one time, she asked a Chinese camp policewoman about the rumors of rape. The women replied, "Yes, the rape has become a culture. It is gang rape and the Chinese police not only rape them but also electrocute them. They are subject to horrific torture." Interviewees also shared how they were required to watch propaganda videos praising Chinese President Xi Jinping and sing patriotic songs. They were also forced to undergo medical tests, take pills, and were forcibly injected every 15 days with a "vaccine" that brought on nausea and numbness. Women were also forcibly injected with IUDs or sterilized. One former prison guard shared how women were forced to memorize books about Xi Jinping. Those who failed to complete the task were punished with food deprivation and beatings. "I entered those camps. I took detainees into those camps," he said. "I saw those sick, miserable people. They definitely experienced various types of torture. I am sure about that." China has repeatedly denied that it is persecuting ethnic groups in Xinjiang; however, reports reveal it is actually expanding its network of detention facilities. An earlier report documented how hospitals in Xinjiang were ordered to abort and kill all babies born in excess of Chinas mandated family planning limits including newborns born after being carried to full term. The orders were part of strict family-planning policies intended to restrict Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities to three children. In January, the former Trump administration officially designated China's persecution of minorities in western Xinjiang Province as "genocide" and "crimes against humanity." I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time, adding that the Chinese Communist Party which he described as a Marxist-Leninist regime that exerts power over the long-suffering Chinese people through brainwashing and brute force is "engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group." The Biden administration has not stated whether it would maintain the previous administration's declaration that China is committing genocide against its Uyghur population. White House Press Secretary Psaki told reporters at a press briefing that Biden has "spoken before to the horrific treatment" of Uyghurs, but she will "check" what the Biden administration's policy will be, RCP previously reported. However, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he believes genocide had been committed against the Uyghurs. Christian leaders have urged Christians in the West to care about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities. In September, Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore said that the crimes being perpetrated against religious minorities in China and elsewhere rely on invisibility where the rest of the world doesn't pay attention and tribalism. The way of Jesus Christ says that we pay attention to our neighbor on the side of the road who is persecuted, who is being beaten, he said. So let's pray for the Uyghur [and] for other persecuted peoples. Let's pray not just individually, but together, and pray for them by name. Let's be the people who stand up for whoever is being made invisible, whoever is being intimidated and bullied in our own neighborhoods and in our own communities because we're the people of Jesus Christ. LONDON, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 29th, 2021, the Commonwealth of Dominica held an opening ceremony for St Nicholas University School of Veterinary Studies. The President of the university, Dr Golnaz Naderkhani, is a Canadian doctor who moved to Dominica following Hurricane Maria. She spoke during the ceremony and underlined that unlike other medical schools that provide a branch for veterinary education, St Nicholas is entirely dedicated to providing training in that discipline. Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Hon. Octavia Alfred also spoke at the opening ceremony and emphasised the celebration of the milestone. "For the government and people of Dominica, this presents an avenue to assist our young people who may be seeking advancement in this field to acquire a degree at home while opening up new opportunities for economic activities due to the presence of the university here," she stated. Dominica has spent $26 million to sponsor its youth studying abroad; placed 169 extracurricular tutors for students that need them; and rehabilitated 15 schools damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Over the past few years, this has been happening with funding sourced entirely from Citizenship by Investment (CBI), a Programme that lets vetted global investors gain Dominica's citizenship after they make a financial contribution to the country. According to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Dominica's strategy on CBI funds expenditure focuses on investing in the public sector, including education, youth prospects and skillsets. During a webinar last year, he said "We use [CBI Funds] mainly for public sector investment programs, the building of schools, [] hospitals, health centres, roads, bridges, the education of [] our children, our youth." Dominican locals and economic citizens benefit from high-quality education, modern healthcare, and visa-free and visa-on-arrival access to 75 percent of the world. This is one of the reasons why the CBI Index by FT's PWM magazine classes Dominica as the best country for citizenship by investment. Applicants can either make a one-off contribution to the Economic Diversification Fund or invest in pre-approved luxury and sustainable hotels and resorts. All must first pass Dominica's thorough due diligence checks. Citizenship can then be retained for life and passed on to future generations. pr@csglobalpartners.com www.csglobalpartners.com The U.S. spent $2.2 million on a cybersecurity system that wasnt implemented and might have stopped a major hack This article was first posted on ProPublica. As America struggles to assess the damage from the devastating SolarWinds cyberattack discovered in December, ProPublica has learned of a promising defense that could shore up the vulnerability the hackers exploited: a system the federal government funded but has never required its vendors to use. The massive breach, which U.S. intelligence agencies say was likely Russian in origin, penetrated the computer systems of critical federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Treasury Department, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Justice, as well as a number of Fortune 500 corporations. The hackers remained undetected, free to forage, for months. The hackers infiltrated the systems by inserting malware into routine software updates that SolarWinds sent to customers to install on its products, which are used to monitor internal computer networks. Software updates customarily add new features, remove bugs and boost security. But in this instance, the hackers commandeered the process by slipping in malicious code, creating secret portals (called back doors) that granted them access to an untold bounty of government and company secrets. The incursion became the latest and, it appears, by far the worst in a string of hacks targeting the software supply chain. Cybersecurity experts have voiced concern for years that existing defenses, which focus on attacks against individual end users, fail to spot malware planted in downloads from trusted software suppliers. Such attacks are especially worrisome because of their ability to rapidly distribute malicious computer code to tens of thousands of unwitting customers. This problem spurred development of a new approach, backed by $2.2 million in federal grants and available for free, aimed at providing end-to-end protection for the entire software supply pipeline. Named in-toto (Latin for as a whole), it is the work of a team of academics led by Justin Cappos, an associate computer science and engineering professor at New York University. Cappos, 43, has made securing the software supply chain his lifes work. In 2013, Popular Science named him as one of its Brilliant Ten scientists under 40. Cappos and his colleagues believe that the in-toto system, if widely deployed, could have blocked or minimized the damage from the SolarWinds attack. But that didnt happen: The federal government has taken no steps to require its software vendors, such as SolarWinds, to adopt it. Indeed, no government agency has even inquired about it, according to Cappos. In security, you almost never go from making something possible to impossible, Cappos told ProPublica, during two video interviews from Shanghai, where he is teaching. You go from making it easy to making it hard. We would have made it much harder for the [SolarWinds] attackers, and most likely would have stopped the attack. Although the SolarWinds breach was a really sneaky approach, Cappos said, in-toto definitely can protect against this. Its very possible to catch it. In-totos system has supporters among experts in the government and corporations. When ProPublica asked Robert Beverly, who oversees in-totos federal grant as a program director at the National Science Foundation, whether using in-toto could have saved the government from the hack, he replied, Absolutely. There seems to be some strong evidence that had some of the, or all of the, in-toto technologies been in place, this would have been mitigated to some extent. Beverly, whose NSF responsibilities include cybersecurity innovation for cyberinfrastructure and who is on leave from his post as a computer science professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, added that its impossible to know for sure what impact in-toto would have had, and that the system remains at an early stage of adoption. Unfortunately, said Beverly, it often takes some of these kinds of events to convince people to use these kinds of technologies. Some companies have embraced in-toto, and others, like Microsoft, have expressed interest. I am a big fan of in-toto, Kay Williams, head of Microsofts initiatives in open source and supply-chain security, said in an email to ProPublica. A second Microsoft program manager, Ralph Squillace, praised in-toto in a recent NYU press release for applying precisely to the problems of supply chain confidence the community expects distributed applications to have in the real world. (After Williams initial response, Microsoft declined to comment further.) One senator blasted the governments failure to use a system it paid for. The U.S. government invested millions of dollars in developing technology that can protect against this threat, and while several large technology companies have already adopted it, they are the exception, said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The government can speed up industry adoption of this best practice by requiring every government contractor to implement the best available technology to protect their supply chains. The in-toto system requires software vendors to map out their process for assembling computer code that will be sent to customers, and it records whats done at each step along the way. It then verifies electronically that no hacker has inserted something in between steps. Immediately before installation, a pre-installed tool automatically runs a final check to make sure that what the customer received matches the final product the software vendor generated for delivery, confirming that it wasnt tampered with in transit. Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. Reviewing Budget 2021-22 from an up-close lens, Mr Aggarwal shared his key takeaway and expressed his confidence in Indias post-Covid economic recovery. Highlighting his key takeaways from Budget 2021-22, Mr Sanjay said, I think the main takeaway from Budget 2021-22 is the absolute focus and unwavering focus on infrastructure. I think this is what PHD chamber had been insisting on from the past nearly one year, especially since the onset of Covid. This is what the government has decided to do, which is I think the need of the hour. We cannot be bothered about fiscal deficits or borrowings. The government is reconciled to 6.8% of fiscal deficit. The government is reconciled to 15 lakh crore of borrowings, which will not be something out of the ordinary for any other economy or comparable economy. I think we have done the right thing and I agree with the statement made in economic survey that, You cant put one foot on the accelerator and another on the break. We as a trader industry have been rather hoping that the cap would be opened early. I think to an extent, in hindsight, it seems to be the right approach that now when we are confident that we are in a comparatively comfortable situation as far as the pandemic is concerned, our numbers seem good and the curve seems to have flattened, this is the right time to open up and push money into the economy. I think the best thing that the government has done is that when you spend money in infrastructure and building long-term assets, you invest money into the economy, your multiplier is very huge. The economic survey says that in circumstances we are facing today, probably the multiplier one should be considering is 2.5. Even otherwise, ofcourse, the government has done and should continue to do its bit wherever it is needed in terms of direct benefit transfers to the vulnerable sections, whether it is in cash or food grains. This 35,000 crore of allocation for Covid vaccine is again something that shows the intent of the government to not try and save on the health expenditure. This time, the health expenditure is actually more than double. These are some very positive aspects. Expressing his confidence on Indias post-Covid economic recovery, Mr Sanjay pointed out, The 5 mini budgets as it is called, or the Atmanirbhar Bharat announcements, the major impact of those was to preserve the supply side of the economy. I think a lot was done. The actual cash expenditure was not too high, but, at the same time, a lot of non-budgetary measures were also there, which ensure good flow of credit to MSMEs. Although again, a 3 lakh crore of emergency credit guarantee scheme, we still have a disbursal of less than 2 lakh crore, but even that is a pretty big amount, considering the state of difficulty that the MSMEs were facing. I think all those measures were on supply side and now that the situation has improved, the government is looking very strongly at the demand side and what they need to do. We are going to have expenses where required and invest where required. The decision to disinvest, make announcements of the specific PSUs that we hope to disinvest this year, the decision to disinvest two PSU banks and one general insurance company again is a solemn intent. In addition to this, the government is also looking to form an SPV through which all the excess lad could be transferred. Commenting on the markets positive reaction, Mr Sanjay said, The markets have taken a lot of liking for the budget and it is very evident. It is one of the rare market jumps that have happened in the aftermath of the budget. The market also appreciates the sort of buoyancy that one should expect. I think one aspect that the chamber pointed out in an report on Sunday was that we have analyzed various parameters on which economies are being rated. When you look at 10 largest economies and rate them on various parameters, what we found was that only Germany is ranking higher than India. All of these numbers are being raised on the IMF numbers and this is called the international economic resilience. Our economy has shown that much resilience in the International Funds and international organisations are recognizing that. When asked if he feels something was missing from Budget, he shared, There would be hundreds of things that would be missing. There is such a long wishlist, which everybody has. Even on my wishlist, it was infrastructure. From PHD Chamber side, we had been rather hoping that we would be looking at one fifth of our hundred eleven lakh national infrastructure pipeline that is supposed to be completed in five years. Last year was lost, we start counting our first year from now. Even for this, we need 22 lakh crore minimum. We have made some very good strives and good arrangements. The chamber has also requested filling up the judicial vacancies, something which is holding up both law and order and also the ease of enforcement. The foreign investors are also looking at that. On a parting note, Mr Sanjay called upon the corporates and India Inc to rise up to the occasion and added, Let us also still be clear that the first bout of vitality has to be introduced by government expenditure into the infrastructure. As that builds up the basic demand and as the industries find their capacities, which were lying idle instead of being filled up, they will be anxious to go out, invest and create more capacities. The government has taken the first step. Hopefully, as the industries seize the market scope, they will also be doing its bit. 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 last time his brothers and sister saw him outside of his locked room in a cold basement was Christmas Day, 2019, according to court documents. He got no presents. Instead, the 11-year-old boy got a letter from Santa saying he was on the naughty list for peeing and pooping, and maybe, if he behaved, hed get some presents next year, authorities say. It was all part of years of abuse abuse that included being locked in a room, sleeping on a cold basement floor and wearing only a diaper that authorities say were inflicted upon the boy and the four other adopted children of Robert and Stephanie Duncan. Stephanie and Robert Duncan, of North Annville Township, are charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiring with one another. (Lebanon County District Attorney's Office) Charging documents filed by Detective Sgt. Michael Dipalo and Detective Stephen Liefer of the Lebanon County Detectives Bureau outline a strict set of rules authorities say the Duncans had for their five children, and the often-violent consequences of breaking those rules, at their small home on the windy, rural roads of North Annville Township. Its abuse that does not at all surprise neighbor Jerry Getz. Theyd leave him out in the hot sun, crying for a long time, Getz recalled. In the wintertime, when it was cold like this, theyd sit outside, crying. Shed punish them by putting them out in the cold. Getz said Wednesday morning that he has seen Stephanie Duncan force one of the kids to run outside, shouting exercise is good for you. And hes heard the Duncans yelling at the children from inside the house, as well. Getz said he and other neighbors have called child protective services numerous times over the years to report the suspected abuse in the small home on the 2700 block of Cedar Run Road, consisting of one story and a basement. And the basement is where some of the children ranging in age from 6 to 15 -- spent much of their time, authorities say. As parents, the defendants had the duty to protect, care for, and unconditionally love their children. They violated every aspect of their duties and instead created a household of unspeakable fear, violence, torment, and abuse. (The 11-year-old boy) slept every night alone, in an empty room, on an ice-cold concrete floor. He received no parental love or comfort, Lebanon County District Attorney Piers Hess Graf said in a press release Wednesday morning. All of our victims suffered at their hands for years with no hope or end in sight. Unable to escape or rescue one another, they each at young ages resigned themselves to merely survive. According to the DAs office, authorities became involved Jan. 13 when the 11-year-old boy was brought to the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and was hypothermic, with a core body temperature of 85 degrees. He had unusually low blood pressure and bruises on his neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, hip and genitals. Investigators said doctors told them he did not have a pre-existing condition and the injuries did not appear to be accidental. The boy showed signs of serious bodily injury resulting from exposure to cold, significant fluid restriction, possible ingestion of a sodium-containing liquid such as diluted bleach, and physical abuse, according to prosecutors. He nearly died several times while being treated, records state. Stephanie Duncan told authorities he went to bed the night before with only a headache and she could not explain his weakened state or low blood pressure, records state. But an investigation soon revealed what authorities say was going on in that house. The Duncans had a vast litany of strict rules for the children, and consequences for failing to comply resulted in abuse, ranging from physical assaults to the removal of basic items from their bedrooms, like bedding, records state. In separate interviews with the children after were taken out of the Duncans custody Jan. 15, the children said they were subjected to hours of difficult chores, and the rules they had to adhere to dictated their lives down to the manner in which they consumed their food and water, the position in which they sleep and when they could speak to each other or the Duncans. Each child told investigators of deplorable treatment and violent abuse, much of it directed at the 11-year-old. According to court records, the abuse included: The 11-year-old boy spent the majority of his time locked in his room for about two years. He was rarely allowed out of his room, and he often had to urinate there, which Stephanie Duncan forced him to clean with bleach, which she would pour on his head when he complained. Though investigators saw a mattress and space heater in the boys basement bedroom, the other children said those items had been pulled from his room before his hospitalization, and he had to sleep on the cold concrete with no heat source, often naked, as a punishment, records state. The children saw the Duncans smack the 11-year-old, slam his head into a counter, and Stephanie Duncan punched him in the face before Christmas, resulting in a swollen, black eye, the children told investigators. Robert Duncan threatened to kill the 11-year-old, holding his head really far back so he could not move, investigators say. Stephanie Duncan would hit him with books and pour soap into his mouth, as well, records state. The children told investigators the 11-year-old was given very little food, mostly peanut butter, oatmeal and carrots. He was given less than a bottle of water per day and sometimes had to drink the cats water. He was even punished once for stealing water from the sink, the children recalled. The children say he was forced to eat hot peppers as a punishment, and when he vomited, he was forced to eat that, as well. The 11-year-old was also rarely around people and was not permitted to play with other children. While he seemed to receive most of the abuse in what investigators called a caste system within the family, all of the children were targets. The four sons were beaten and strangled and the Duncans also slapped their 6-year-old daughter in the mouth. The children also had alarms on their doors, security cameras in their bedrooms and in a playroom, authorities say. Robert and Stephanie Duncan are charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiring with one another. They remain in Lebanon County Prison on monetary bail while they await preliminary hearings. They are set for preliminary hearings Feb. 11. Retired homicide stenographer, Leslie Socolov (pictured), 64, was arrested Saturday for public intoxication after she was captured on video yelling anti-Semitic slurs at a 78-year-old man A retired police employee was arrested over the weekend for public intoxication after she was captured on video yelling anti-Semitic slurs at a driver who had her blocked in a parking space outside a restaurant in Florida. At the start of the video, Leslie Socolov, 64, a retired homicide stenographer, was seen yelling at the driver of an SUV that had blocked her in at Pho Boca in Boca Raton on Saturday around 7.30pm. 'Move your f**king car, you stupid Jew!' While wearing a Miami-Dade Police Department sweatshirt, Socolov is seen banging on the passenger's side window of the SUV and at one point she attempts to push it. 'Just because you're Jewish and a Democrat doesn't give you the right to stay there. Move it,' she's heard screaming at the driver. According to The Washington Post, the driver told police that Socolov, who is a Republican, then got into her Toyota Prius and rammed into the SUV with her car. The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) released a statement about the video in a tweet on Tuesday. 'There is a video circulating on social media. The person depicted is a retired MDPD civilian employee. This hateful speech is appalling and does not represent the values of the MDPD,' the department tweeted. 'Move your f**king car, you stupid Jew!'Socolov is heard saying. She is seen wearing a Miami-Dade Police Department sweatshirt as she bangs on the passenger's side window of the SUV and at one point attempts to push it Socolov was arrested for driving under the influence and disorderly intoxication. According to a police report, after she allegedly rammed the man's car, he called 911 and was told to stay in his vehicle and lock the doors. When police arrived to the scene, they conducted several sobriety tests before determining that she was under the influence. The affidavit says Socolov had 'slurred speech and could not maintain her balance without holding on to her vehicle'. She reportedly told police that she had four ginger beers, which are usually considered non-alcoholic beverages. But her blood alcohol content was 0.157 per cent, police said, which is nearly twice the legal limit. This wasn't the first time Socolov made headlines. In 2015, she hit and killed a 70-year-old military veteran and war hero with her vehicle. After she hit Richard James Flaherty, she kept driving, but turned herself in to Aventura police Socolov spent nearly 20 years working for the MDPD, according to her LinkedIn profile. The MDPD stated that their Homeland Security Bureau is investigating the Saturday night incident In an interview with the Miami Herald, Socolov claimed that she's the one being 'persecuted' instead of the 78-year-old man who had blocked her in with his Mercedes-Benz SUV 'I'm not anti-Semitic. I'm getting persecuted. Look at these Democrats getting away with bullsh*t,' she told the Herald, adding that she's also Jewish. She continued: 'They made their own f**king parking space! They wouldnt move because theyre holier than thou. Oh well, f**k them. Democrats.' According to the Herald, this isn't Socolov's first time making headlines. In 2015, she hit and killed a 70-year-old military veteran and war hero with her vehicle. After she hit Richard James Flaherty, she kept driving, but turned herself in to Aventura police the next day. The Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office declined to charge Socolov. Socolov spent nearly 20 years working for the MDPD, according to her LinkedIn profile. The MDPD stated that their Homeland Security Bureau is investigating the Saturday night incident and anyone with information is urged to contact (305) 471-8477. A WOMAN who kicked a garda in the eye after she was arrested at a Dublin hospital has been given a six-month suspended sentence. Edel Stirling (41) struck the female officer in the face when she kicked out after she was arrested on suspicion of public order offences, a court heard. Stirling had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the garda at the Mater Hospital on December 19, 2019, as well as other charges. The case came back before Judge Bryan Smyth for a victim impact statement and probation report. Dublin District Court heard the injured party did not wish to make a victim impact statement. Read More After reading the probation report, Judge Smyth suspended the sentence for a year. The accused was also put on a probation bond, with a condition that she engages in offence and victim awareness work. Previously, the court heard the accused was arrested at a hospital and was being transported to Mountjoy garda station when she kicked out at an officer, making contact with her left eye. The garda was examined by a doctor and there was swelling and grazing around the eye but no scarring or follow-up treatment, the court heard. The accused also admitted public drunkenness and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Bridgefoot Street, Dublin 8, last August 22. It was claimed Stirling had substance difficulties in the past and was now in stable accommodation. Ukrainian govt will soon take decision on returning to adaptive quarantine PM The Cabinet of Ministers will soon decide to return to the model of adaptive quarantine, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said. "The epidemiological situation allows to return to the model of adaptive quarantine, when different levels of epidemiological security will be established in the regions: 'green,' 'yellow,' 'orange' or 'red,'" Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Wednesday. The prime minister added that the government will take an appropriate decision in the near future. Police are stumped as to what happened to a Pasadena-area liquor store owner found shot to death in his car after failing to return home from errands. Imtiyazali Manasyia, 54, was last seen alive the afternoon of Jan. 13 gassing up his car along U.S 59 in the Sharpstown area, surveillance footage shows. His family, worried when he never showed up to work or returned home in Sugar Land that evening, lodged a missing persons report with the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office, authorities said. The familys repeated phone calls to Manasyia went unanswered, sheriffs officials said. Investigators tried pinging his phone but the device was apparently turned off. Police in Houston found his bullet-riddled body in the drivers seat of his car in the 6000 block of Rookin Street the next morning. The manner and cause of death remains pending, according to medical examiner records. Houston police investigators are considering the possibility that he had been there for several hours and perhaps killed soon after leaving the gas station. Less than a mile separated the gas station and where his body was found. From the gas station to where he was found theres no surveillance of him, homicide detective Ken Fregia said Wednesday during a news conference. Investigators said they believe Manasyia also stopped at a wholesaler to buy bottles of water and other items all of which were found in his car for his store. By all accounts, Manasyia was an upstanding guy, another detective, David Higgs, said. He wasnt known to have any beef with anyone in the area, Higgs said. Fort Bend County officials said in a separate statement, citing information from Houston police, that Manasyia may have been a robbery victim. nicole.hensley@chron.com SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Residential Mortgage Services Inc. (RMS), a leading independent retail, purchase-focused mortgage lender, serving primarily the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Eastern Seaboard markets, today announced the company generated record mortgage loan volume of $8.5 billion in 2020, a 70% increase compared to $5 billion in 2019 and a 118% increase versus $3.9 billion in 2018. "Our team members remain the driving force behind RMS' record-breaking production volume of $8.5 billion," said James Seely, President and Chief Executive Officer of RMS. "Despite numerous challenges caused by the pandemic, we quickly transitioned nearly all team members to a remote work environment for their safety and embraced our digital tools, including RMS Ready, to deliver a customer experience that features both automation and human interaction. Throughout 2020, our loan officers were fully supported by an integrated operations team that is committed to the highest level of customer service and delivering value to customers throughout the mortgage process. I am extremely proud of the amazing collaboration, adaptability and effort demonstrated by all of our team members in 2020." Mr. Seely added, "In 2021, we remain focused on achieving our mission of helping guide our customers home by offering a frictionless origination experience and giving back to the communities in which we operate." 2020 Highlights Generated record origination volume of $8.5 billion compared to $5 billion in 2019 and $3.9 billion in 2018. compared to in 2019 and in 2018. Closed nearly 31,000 loans compared to 19,500 loans in 2019 and 17,000 loans in 2018. Purchase loans represented 58% of total volume, significantly higher than estimated 40% purchase industry average. Average production per loan officer was $34 million, significantly above industry averages. Customer satisfaction ratings continue to surpass industry-level national benchmarks: RMS Customer Satisfaction Rating: 94% Likely to Use Again RMS Customer Rating: 95% Likely to Recommend RMS Customer Rating: 95% Achieved one-month funding record of $943 million in August. in August. Added 119 new employees and 44 college students for an intern program, resulting in nine interns becoming full-time employees in an effort to develop the next generation of mortgage industry employees and leaders. Successfully transitioned almost all 863 employees to remote work. All Operations employees, including Underwriting, doubled their productivity from 2019, shattering industry benchmarks. Named a Top Mortgage Employer by National Mortgage Professional and Home Possible RISE Award recipient. #1 Purchase Market Share in ME and NH; #2 Purchase Market Share in RI; #3 Purchase Market Share in MA. Named MassHousing #1 Lender; PA USDA-RD Top Lender Award. Contributed more than $75,000 to local charities focused on housing, hunger and well-being, amounting to more than 30,000 meals to those in need, and rewarded 40 employees with $100 each to give to a charity of their choice in November. to local charities focused on housing, hunger and well-being, amounting to more than 30,000 meals to those in need, and rewarded 40 employees with each to give to a charity of their choice in November. Welcomed nearly 60 loan officers to the President's Club, meaning they closed more than 100 purchase loans or achieved the top 25 in units or volume. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, RMS leveraged its RMS Ready mobile app and web portal, which allows homebuyers to easily apply for a home loan, securely upload documents and stay up to date on their loan status. The app is paired with an experienced local loan officer, providing all the conveniences of cutting-edge technology along with a personal touch. The combination of the app with the local loan officer offers a simplified prequalification process and provides customers with a quick way to connect with their mortgage teams, apply for a mortgage, and receive active, timely updates throughout the process. "Our success this year is a testament to the strong partnership between our sales and operations teams," said Robin Hawley, Senior Vice President of Business Operations of RMS. "Throughout the year, our leadership team across various departments had daily interactions to ensure open lines of communication for quick answers on questions and real-time course-correcting to deploy additional resources where needed. This process allowed RMS employees to work cross-functionally and serve the needs of our customers in the most efficient manner. We also placed a priority on recognizing and rewarding the incredible extra efforts of our employees, all of whom really appreciated periodically receiving gift packages at home ranging from cookies to gift cards to iPads." About Residential Mortgage Services Residential Mortgage Services, headquartered in South Portland, Maine, was founded in 1991. Currently, RMS employs more than 850 employees companywide, with approximately 247 loan officers and is a licensed lender in 23 states and the District of Columbia, with brick-and-mortar retail branch offices throughout 14 states. RMS offers a wide range of mortgage products including conventional purchase and refinance home loans, as well as VA, FHA, USDA-RD and many state-sponsored loan programs. For more information on RMS visit the company's website at www.rmsmortgage.com. SOURCE Residential Mortgage Services Related Links http://www.rmsmortgage.com Shares of mortgage financier Home First Finance listed at a 19% premium to its issue price on Wednesday. The stock made its market debut at Rs 612.15 against issue price of Rs 518 on BSE amid a Budget-driven bullish market. The stock hit the day's high at Rs 639.50 on BSE and at Rs 640 on NSE. The share later fell on profit-booking and touched day's low at Rs 565 on BSE and NSE. The initial public offer of Home First Finance Company India, with a price band of Rs 517 to Rs 518 per equity share was fully subscribed on the first day itself on January 21. The issue was subscribed 26.57 times during the three-day share sale that ended on January 23. Market capitalisation of Home First Finance stood at Rs 5,104.70 crore today. The Bengaluru-based technology-driven affordable housing finance company is backed by marque private equity players like Warburg Pincus, Aether Mauritius and Bessemer India. The initial public offer (IPO) of Rs 1,153.71 crore, comprised a fresh issue of up to Rs 265 crore and an offer for sale of up to Rs 888.7 crore. Ahead of the IPO, the housing finance company had raised Rs 346 crore from anchor investors. The company will utilise net proceeds from its fresh issue (out of Rs 265 crore) to augment capital base to meet future requirements. Oscillating market adds 8 lakh investors in 8 trading sessions This Tata Group stock delivered 400% returns in 10 months; should you subscribe? Sensex hits all-time high of 50,321, Nifty crosses 14,800; IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid top gainers The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) says all foreign registered vehicles are now required to pay toll fees in foreign currency in line with Statutory Instrument 32 of 2021 promulgated on Friday last week. The move is expected to raise more funds for road refurbishment across the country. Most of the country's roads especially in towns and cities are now in a bad shape following heavy rains received this season. Zinara public relations and marketing manager Mr Tendai Mugabe confirmed that it was now mandatory for all foreign registered vehicles plying on Zimbabwe's roads to pay toll fees in foreign currency. "Yes, I can confirm that following the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 32 of 2021 all foreign registered vehicles are now required by the law to pay toll fees in foreign currency," he said. "This is a statutory obligation that all motorists have to abide by, and it is also going to help us raise the much-needed funds to disburse to our road authorities. Most of our roads are now in a bad state after they were neglected for a long time and we hope these interventions by the Government to raise road funds will go a long way in making sure that we make meaningful disbursements to road authorities." Mr Mugabe said Zinara had embarked on a rebranding exercise where it would now restrict itself to its core mandate as enshrined in the Roads Act. "It can be recalled that at some point Zinara overstepped its mandate and engaged in road development projects and that ended up being an audit issue," said Mr Mugabe. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Currencies Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The new management at Zinara is realigning the organisation's operations in a massive rebranding exercise that will see the institution focusing solely on its legislative mandate. "Our mandate as Zinara is to fix, collect and disburse road user fees to road authorities". Road development works are done by the four road authorities that we disburse to and these are the department of roads in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, the District Development, urban and rural councils. "We have seen on social media people blaming Zinara for the deterioration of the road infrastructure in a clear indication that they are fully aware of Zinara's mandate. It is important for the public to know and understand that Zinara is a road fund administrator." Mr Mugabe said their disbursements to road authorities were tied to the collections they do. "We cannot disburse what we have not collected and at some point, the tariffs had become sub-economic for us to make meaningful disbursements. "We are optimistic that the introduction of dual pricing is going to have a significant impact on the disbursements that we do towards road authorities," Mr Mugabe said. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund), Professor Suleiman Bogoro, has said that Nigeria needs to invest about $2 billion yearly in Research and Development (R&D) to improve its current economic outlook. Speaking at the 9th convocation ceremony of Veritas University, Abuja, Bogoro expressed concern that the country is suffering from low economic growth, due to inadequate investment and commitment to research. According to him: "The yearly budget of an Agric institute in Brazil is about the same as TETfund's yearly budget. The reason why research has not taken its rightful place and not contributing to the economy is because there is no fund and there is adequate commitment of funds. That is why at TETfund, we decided that one of the main recommendations is the emergence of a national R&D foundation for Nigeria. "Presently, TETfund has been increasing its funding volume for research. It was N3 billion, but two years ago, it moved to N5 billion and last year, we increased it to N7.5 billion. Hopefully, we will raise it to N8.5 billion and yet, it is the largest research grant in Nigeria, but it is inadequate." He noted that the research grants, which would be used to support bachelors, masters and post-graduate studies, would also assist in helping poor undergraduate students. "If that happens, it is the only way Nigeria can be seen to be competitive on a sustainable basis," he said. Bogoro observed that most of the challenges confronting the nation today were due to the inability to inject science and technology for value addition. The TETfund boss noted that Nigerian tertiary institutions only conduct research for awarding degrees, saying, "If outcome of those researches are not problem-solving, we have failed our generation." The Vice-Chancellor, Veritas University, Abuja, Professor Hyacinth Ichaku, who disclosed that 32 out of the 421 graduates were awarded first class certificates, urged them to be good ambassadors of the institution. Religious student faces disciplinary hearing for skipping school sex-ed program, lawyers say Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A high school student in Illinois will face a disciplinary hearing this week over her refusal to participate in the schools gender and sexuality program after her parents requested that she be exempt from the requirement. A national religious freedom legal nonprofit sent a demand letter to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora on Tuesday, arguing that the three-year residential public school unlawfully denied religious accommodations to Marcail McBride to excuse her from attending the schools Student Gender and Sexuality Program. According to the letter sent by two First Liberty Institute lawyers, the McBrides have repeatedly communicated to the school that the required program violates Marcails religious beliefs. [Y]et the school continues to pressure Marcail, demanding that she complete the program or face punishment, the letter states. The legal group reports that the student was informed on Monday that she will have a disciplinary hearing this week. Tami Armstrong, the head of the schools public affairs office, told CP on Tuesday that school President Jose Torres has not received the letter via email or mail. However, she clarified that the school has reached out to the student's parents and offered an "alternative solution that will resolve this matter." "IMSA embraces an inclusive environment where all students feel supported and are extended a sense of belonging regardless of race, class, gender, religion, accessibility, and socioeconomic status identity," the school stressed in a formal statement. "We are especially committed to a community enriched and enhanced by diverse perspectives which are recognized, respected and seen as a source of strength." In November, the family submitted a formal written request to the school's leadership, saying the program forces Marcail to participate in activities and discussions regarding human sexuality that require, pressure, or coerce her to violate her religious principles. According to the letter, students who participate in the program use sexual language to identify sexual preferences and gender identity. In identifying the stages of allyship, the program classifies anyone who believes homosexuality is sinful or immoral as being in the same category as those who are repulsed by it or think it is crazy, the letter, written by First Liberty Director of Litigation David Hacker and legal counsel Keisha Russell, asserts. The program offers students the opportunity to become an ally, recording the students who agree and rewarding them for their affirmation with a SafeZone sticker and pin. The program thus does not respect differing religious beliefs about gender and sexuality and pressures students to affirmatively signal their agreement with the curriculum. The First Liberty Institute accused school leadership of denying the familys request and going as far as to threaten to punish the student if she did not complete it. Last week, Associate Director of Student Affairs, Chief Hearing Officer Dana Ginnett, sent an email ordering McBride to complete the program by Jan. 30 or face disciplinary action. Ginnett reportedly cited a school policy that states: In addition to academic classes, students are expected to attend all required assemblies and meetings of a non-academic nature. If a student does not attend required meetings and assemblies (and does not have an excused absence approved by a Student Affairs staff member), disciplinary action will be taken, the policy is quoted as saying. On Monday, Ginnett again emailed McBride to inform her that IMSA's Student Affairs Department would conduct a disciplinary hearing this week, the lawyers noted. The First Liberty Institute, which describes itself as the nations largest law firm dedicated exclusively to defending and restoring religious liberty, argues that Illinois law orders the state not to discriminate against people based on their religion. The Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires IMSA to refrain from placing a substantial burden on the religious exercise of its students, the letter contends. A substantial burden exists when an individual is required to act contrary to her religious beliefs to avoid facing penalties. The lawyers also stated that the schools actions violate Illinois law. They cited a statute on sex education which states that No pupil shall be required to take or participate in any class or course in comprehensive sex education if his parent or guardian submits written objection. The regulation goes on to state that refusal to take or participate in such course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of such pupil. Additionally, the First Liberty Institute cited the U.S. Supreme Court case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which revolved around the Christian-owned craft store chains objection to the Obamacare birth control mandate. Since IMSAs requirement places a substantial burden on Marcails religious exercise, she is entitled to an exemption from the requirement unless IMSA can prove that forcing Marcail to participate in the program is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling interest, the letter explains. By IMSAs own admission, students may miss meetings and assemblies if they have an excused absence. As IMSA can offer such an accommodation, it must offer one to Marcail. In its statement to CP, ISMA assured that it spends "a great deal of time and effort to balance respect for all students identities." "We take these matters seriously, and will use this as an opportunity to review all of our practices and ensure that our students feel safe and welcomed at IMSA," the statement adds. "In the spirit of valuing all voices, we have already reached out directly to the parents and offered an alternative solution that will resolve this matter. We look forward to moving ahead and working together as an IMSA community." [February 03, 2021] Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation Announces Tax Characteristics of 2020 Dividends Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE: WMC) announced today the tax treatment of its common stock dividends declared in 2020. The below information is provided to assist the Company's stockholders with tax reporting requirements related to dividend distribution of taxable income by the Company. Stockholders should receive IRS Form 1099-DIV containing this information from their brokers, transfer agents or other institutions. These tax statements should be reviewed to ensure that they agree with the information provided below. Tax Treatment of Distributions The Federal Income Tax classification of the 2020 dividend distributions on the Company's common stock, as it is expected to be reported on Form 1099-DIV, is set forth in the following table: Record Date Payment Date Distribution Rate per Share Total Ordinary Dividends Qualified Dividends Total Capital Gains Distributions Section 199A Dividends(3) Total Return of Capital(4) 12/28/2020 1/26/2021 $0.06(1) - - - - - 10/2/2020 10/26/2020 $0.05 - - - - $0.05 12/31/2019 1/24/2020 $0.31(2) $0.155(2) - - $0.155 $0.155 Total $0.42 $0.155 - - $0.155 $0.205 (1) The cash distributions made on January 26, 2021 with a record date of December 28, 2020 are treated as received by stockholders on January 26, 2021 and taxable in calendar year 2021. The taxable characteristics of these distributions will be determined in January of 2022. (2) The cash distributions made on January 24, 2020 with a record date of December 31, 2019 had only 50% treated as received by stockholders on December 31, 2019 and taxable in calendar year 2019 as ordinary income with the remaining 50% taxable in calendar year 2020 and treated as "Return of Capital". (3) Section 199A dividends are a subset of, and included in, the ordinary dividends amount. (4) The cash distributions made in the calendar year 2020 are considered "Return of Capital" due the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's operations. The Company estimated taxable losses for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. Consult Your Tax Advisor Stockholders may have additional reporting obligations to the Internal Revenue Service and/or other tax authorities. The U.S. federal income tax treatment of holding The Company's common stock to any particular stockholder will depend on the stockholder's particular tax circumstances. You are urged to consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income and other tax consequences to you, in light of your particular investment or tax circumstances, of acquiring, holding and disposing of the Company's common stock. The Company does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Any tax statements contained herein were not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding U.S., federal, state or local tax penalties. Please consult your advisor as to any tax, accounting or legal statements made herein. ABOUT WESTERN ASSET MORTGAGE CAPITAL CORPORATION Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diverse portfolio of assets consisting of Residential Whole Loans, Commercial Loans, Non-Agency CMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, GSE Risk Transfer Securities and to a lesser extent Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS and ABS (News - Alert) . The Company's investment strategy may change, subject to the Company's stated investment guidelines, and is based on its manager Western Asset Management Company, LLC's perspective of which mix of portfolio assets it believes provide the Company with the best risk-reward opportunities at any given time. The Company is externally managed and advised by Western Asset Management Company, LLC, an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. Please visit the Company's website at www.westernassetmcc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005882/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Selbyville, Delaware, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to credible estimates, worldwide enterprise network security market was remunerated at USD 19123.01 million in 2019 and is expected to amass massive returns by the year 2025. The growth can be ascribed to growing demand of Internet and soaring popularity of artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, rising cases of cyber-attacks and increasing proliferation of smartphones are also contributing to the overall market outlook. As per the report, global enterprise network security market is assessed based on service type, deployment model, industry spectrum, and geographical scope. In addition, the document also demonstrates the level of competition in this business sphere, expounding the plans adopted by companies to maintain their foothold. Moreover, it considers the impact of COVID-19 on this domain and suggest strategies to uphold the business trajectory. Request Sample copy of this Report @ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/3208025/ Analyzing the market segmentations Based on service types, the market is split into network access control, antivirus & antimalware software, firewalls, and others. Global enterprise network security market share from firewall segment is projected to witness a tremendous growth through 2025, attributable to its high demand and popularity. With respect to deployment model, the industry is bifurcated into cloud, and on-premise. The on-premise segment is slated to grow substantially over the predicted timeline, owing to large-scale incorporation among enterprises for network security. Meanwhile, worldwide enterprise network security industry share from cloud segment is reckoned to amass high profits by 2025, as it is flexible, scalable, and opens the prospects for future. Speaking of industry spectrum, the market is categorized into healthcare, IT & telecommunication, BFSI, and others. The BFSI segment held a major portion of global enterprise network security market share in the recent past and is anticipated to expand further, due to emphasis on data security. Analyzing the regional landscape As per credible estimates, the Americas is projected to account for a major portion of worldwide enterprise network security industry share by the year 2025, accountable to rising cognizance about cyber threats, and swift adoption of new technologies in the region. Moreover, America is home to leading network security companies, which is likely to infuse business expansion tremendously. To access a sample copy or view this report in detail along with the table of contents, please click the link below: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/global-enterprise-network-security-market-analysis-by-service-types-firewalls-antivirus-and-antimalware-software-network-access-control-others-deployment-types-by-industry-by-region-by-country-2021-edition-market-insights-covid-19-impact-competition-and-forecast-2020-2025 Highlighting the competitive arena: The competitive landscape of worldwide enterprise network security market sphere is defined by Arista Networks, Juniper Networks Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE), Extreme Networks, NortonLifeLock Inc., Fortinet, FireEye, Palo Alto Networks Inc., Check Point Software Technologies, and Cisco Systems Inc. Global Enterprise Network Security Market by Service Type (Revenue, USD Million, 2015-2025) Firewalls Network Access Control Antivirus & Antimalware Software Others Global Enterprise Network Security Market by Deployment Model (Revenue, USD Million, 2015-2025) Cloud On- Premise Global Enterprise Network Security Market by Industry Scope (Revenue, USD Million, 2015-2025) Healthcare IT & Telecommunication BFSI Others Global Enterprise Network Security Market Regional Landscape (Revenue, USD Million, 2015-2025) Americas Brazil Canada United States Europe United Kingdom Germany France Asia Pacific South Korea Japan China India Global Enterprise Network Security Market Top Players (Revenue, USD Million, 2015-2025) Arista Networks Juniper Networks Inc. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) Extreme Networks NortonLifeLock Inc. Fortinet FireEye Palo Alto Networks Inc. Check Point Software Technologies Cisco Systems Inc. Table of Contents 1. Research Methodology and Executive Summary 1.1 Research Methodology 1.2 Executive Summary 2. Strategic Recommendations 3. Global Enterprise Network Security Market: Product Outlook 4. Global Enterprise Network Security Market: Sizing and Forecast 4.1 Market Size, By Value, Year 2015-2025 4.2 Impact of COVID-19 on Global Enterprise Network Security Market 4.3 Global Economic and Industrial Statistics 5. Global Enterprise Network Security Market Segmentation - By Service Types, Deployment Types, By Industry (2015-2025) 5.1 Competitive Scenario of Enterprise Network Security Market: By Service Types 5.1.1 Firewalls - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.1.2 Antivirus and antimalware software - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.1.3 Network Access Control - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.1.4 Others - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.2 Competitive Scenario of Enterprise Network Security Market: by Deployment Types 5.2.1 on- Premises - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.2.2 Cloud- Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.3 Competitive Scenario of Enterprise Network Security Market: by Industry 5.3.1 BFSI - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.3.2 IT and Telecommunication - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.3.3 Healthcare - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 5.3.4 Others - Market Size and Forecast (2015-2025) 6. Global Enterprise Network Security Market: Regional Analysis Related Report: Endpoint Security Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2020 - 2026 Global Endpoint security market is poised to grow at a strong rate over the coming time period owing to the increasing instances of cyberattacks and data breaches. An endpoint is any device which is physically an end point on a network. For instance, tablets, mobile phones, servers, desktops, laptops, and virtual environments can all be considered endpoints. From a regional frame of reference, APAC endpoint security market will witness a CAGR of more than 10% over the forecast time period due to growing digitalization across India and China. Additionally, the region, which is home to nearly 60% of the globes population, is emerging as a prominent digital hub, creating more opportunities for growth and innovation. These factors are expected to further lead to regional market growth. About US: Market Study Report, LLC. is a hub for market intelligence products and services. We streamline the purchase of your market research reports and services through a single integrated platform by bringing all the major publishers and their services at one place. Our customers partner with Market Study Report, LLC. to ease their search and evaluation of market intelligence products and services and in turn focus on their company's core activities. If you are looking for research reports on global or regional markets, competitive information, emerging markets and trends or just looking to stay on top of the curve then Market Study Report, LLC. is the platform that can help you in achieving any of these objectives. On Tuesday, Donald Trumps attorneys filed the former presidents answer to his second impeachment. Responding to the charge of incitement of insurrection was always going to be difficult, but it became much more complicated over the weekend when Trumps entire legal team left after reports that he had wanted them to argue his indefensible position that the election was stolenthe very claim that led to the Jan. 6 insurrection which the House of Representatives alleges that Trump incited. Advertisement Fortunately, after his squad of low-profile but highly qualified South Carolina election attorneys and he parted ways, Trump was able to make last-minute hires of two readily available lawyers in need of workthe guy who lost his job after failing to prosecute Bill Cosby for rape and then sued Cosbys rape victim, and a former Roger Stone attorney who says Jeffrey Epstein was murdered. Advertisement Advertisement How did the first big test for this dynamic duo go? The Unites States Senate - the worlds greatest deliberative body. pic.twitter.com/rHaUQlzI9P Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 2, 2021 Advertisement OK, so spelling the name of the country of which their client was president isnt their strong suit. What about the rest of their arguments? Lets just say: If this is the legal case that Trump is demanding his lawyers make, its easy to see why his first team bailed and why he hasnt been able to get any members of the crew that defended him in his first impeachment trial to participate the second time around. Advertisement Heres a look at Trumps eight-part impeachment defense, ranked from most relatively sane to least. Eighth Craziest Defense: The Jurisdictional Argument Trumps most-plausible defensethe one that any legal team would have made, which already seems to have the support of the vast majority of the Republican Senate conference, and which right now appears likely to lead to his acquittalis that Trump is a former president and so he cannot be tried for impeachable offenses under the Constitution. This is the first bullet point in the Trump legal teams defense. It claims that since conviction for impeachment requires removal from office, and since Trump cant be removed from an office he no longer holds, he cant even be tried. Advertisement They argue: Since the 45th President is no longer President, the clause shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for is impossible for the Senate to accomplish, and thus the current proceeding before the Senate is a legal nullity that runs patently contrary to the plain language of the Constitution. This sounds like a reasonable argument, but its actually risible, designed to appeal to Republican senators desire for an easy way out. As impeachment scholar Frank Bowman recently told me, Theyre going to explain their votes on this semi-plausible but largely specious jurisdictional ground. Advertisement The reality is that there is precedent for trying officials once they are out of office and that the historical record demonstrates that the Founders intended for impeachment to be possible after an official had left office. Advertisement And as the House of Representatives impeachment managers noted in a statement accompanying their own impeachment legal brief issued on Tuesday, it defies common sense to allow a president to commit impeachable offenses as hes exiting office and to get away with it: There is no January exception to the Constitution that allows a President to organize a coup or incite an armed insurrection in his final weeks in office. Still, this is Trumps best, least insane case. Seventh Craziest Defense: I Didnt Do It Weirdly, Trumps second best defense might come from Bart Simpson. We all saw Trump instruct a violent and angry mob to go to the Capitol and fight like hell or youre not going to have a country anymore and to try and give [the weak Republicans] the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. We all saw the angry mob storm the Capitol and call for the death of Trumps vice president Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Yet Trumps second least-weak defense will be that he didnt technically incite the mob by some criminal definition of the term. To wit, his lawyers argue: It is denied that the 45th President engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Later in the brief, they claim his words were meant to be figurative: It is denied that the phrase if you dont fight like hell youre not going to have a country anymore had anything to do with the action at the Capitol as it was clearly about the need to fight for election security in general, as evidenced by the recording of the speech. Theyll need more than that at trial, presumably, but I didnt do it is Trumps second-best bet. Sixth Craziest Defense: The Free Speech Case Trumps third-best argument would be that because his speech to the Jan. 6 crowd was not technically incitement, it was protected speech under the First Amendment. Trumps brief is full of high-minded rhetoric to that effect: Advertisement Like all Americans, the 45th President is protected by the First Amendment. Indeed, he believes, and therefore avers, that the United States is unique on Earth in that its governing documents, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, specifically and intentionally protect unpopular speech from government retaliation. If the First Amendment protected only speech the government deemed popular in current American culture, it would be no protection at all. Advertisement Advertisement The argument is essentially that Trump was merely making protected political statements and not actively trying to overturn the government. As Rep. Liz Cheneythe third-ranking Republican in the House of Representativesput it, though, this argument is nonsense. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. Advertisement Its clear enough that Trumps words and actions caused the insurrection, which renders his free speech defense a poor one. Liz Cheney was absolutely right, Donald Trumps was the greatest betrayal of the American constitutional values and his own oath as any president in American history, Bowman told me. The guys a monster. Fifth Craziest Defense: No Chief Justice Roberts On top of its argument that the trial itself is unconstitutional because Trump is out of office, his attorneys argue that his due process rights are being violated because Chief Justice John Roberts, who the Constitution mandates must preside over impeachment trials of presidents, decided not to preside over the trial of an ex-president. Indeed, his attorneys accuse the House of maneuvering to replace Roberts with Senate President Pro Tempore Pat Leahy as the presiding officer in order to ensure a biased outcome: Advertisement Advertisement The House actions thus were designed to ensure that Chief Justice John Roberts would not preside over the proceedings, which effectively creates the additional appearance of bias with the proceedings now being supervised by a partisan member of the Senate with a long history of public remarks adverse to the 45th President. There is no evidence whatsoever that the House sought for Leahy to preside instead of Roberts, nor that Leahy will not lawfully fulfill his responsibility as the presiding officer. Indeed, according to the Constitution, the Senate has the sole Power to try all Impeachments and the Supreme Court has previously unanimously ruled that this means the Senate sets its own rules without judicial oversight. As Bowman told me, the Senate running an impeachment trial can do anything it pleases if its got the votes to do it. Advertisement Fourth Craziest Defense: Stacked Charges Trumps attorneys argue that because the House managers allege that Trumps incitement was part of an overarching campaign to overturn the election, it is overly broad. The article, they argue, is constitutionally flawed in that it charges multiple instances of allegedly impeachable conduct in a single article. This defense is flawed for a number of reasons, the first of which is thatas with the Senates responsibility over impeachment trialsthe House has the sole Power of Impeachment. It can lay out its accusation of high crimes and misdemeanors however it chooses. Advertisement Further, the argument that Trump did so many bad things but that the House didnt describe them in the right format isnt particularly strong. Indeed, it should hurt Trumps case that the act of attempting to overturn the election through insurrection encompassed so many efforts over such a lengthy time, starting with his Election Night victory claim. His behavior in that time was impeachable in itself. He didnt have to incite anybody, Bowman said of Trumps actions in the days after the election. Trying to overturn the results of an entirely honest election and trying to do it by coercing, bribing, strong-arming people to do things they didnt have the constitutional power to do. Its all part of the story. Advertisement Third Craziest Defense: The Process Was Rushed for No Apparent Reason Trumps attorneys argue that the Houses impeachment process is invalid because it was rushed without the normal committee proceedings and hearings. It further argues that there was no reason for this rush to judgment: None of the traditional reasons permitting the government to act in such haste (i.e exigent circumstances) were present. The House had no reason to rush its proceedings, disregard its own precedents and procedures, engage in zero committee or other investigation, and fail to grant the accused his opportunity to be heard in person or through counselall basic tenets of due process of law. Political hatred has no place in the administration of justice anywhere in America, especially in the Congress of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement This ignores that House members were responding to an active attempt to overthrow the U.S. governmentincluding ongoing public threats to the Capitol itself and their own lives which led to more than 10,000 National Guard member protecting Washington. There was an active, evidence-based fear at that time that Trump might continue to try to overthrow the government and that his minions might be plotting further attacks. Indeed, it is likely the threat of an immediate impeachment trial and conviction that deterred him from continuing his attacks on the peaceful transfer of power. Second Craziest Defense: Donald Trump Is the Real Victim Trumps attorneys argue that the Houses illegal process means that Trump is being uniquely persecuted: Advertisement The House of Representatives action, in depriving the 45th President of due process of law, created a special category of citizenship for a single individual: the 45th President of the United States. Should this body not act in favor of the 45th President, the precedent set by the House of Representatives would become that such persons as the 45th President similarly situated no longer enjoy the rights of all American citizens guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The actions by the House make clear that in their opinion the 45th President does not enjoy the protections of liberty upon which this great Nation was founded, where free speech, and indeed, free political speech form the backbone of all American liberties. In short, Donald Trumpand not the legislators and their staff who were threatened, not the five people who died, not the city that was locked down in the aftermath of this messis the real victim here. The No. 1 Craziest Defense: Trump Thinks He Won, So Hes Innocent Finally, the least sane defense Trumps attorneys put forward is that he thinks the election was stolen and nobody else can prove otherwise: Insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th Presidents statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they were false. Note, the attorneys themselves dont argue that they believe the election was stolen, or that they will present proof that the election was stolen. They just say that Trump believes it and claim that it hasnt been disproven (it has dozens of times) and so that should be good enough for the rest of us. Well see how far they get with that one! Hundreds of Marine grunts have been assigned to new units after their celebrated regiment was deactivated as the Corps continues a forcewide reorganization. The North Carolina-based 8th Marine Regiment deactivated last week. The regiment's history dates to 1917, with its most recent activation lasting more than 70 years. Over the last seven decades, 8th Marines operated in Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Cuba, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places. The regiment was also involved in the Banana Wars in the early 1900s and major campaigns during World War II. Read Next: Army Investigates How Soldiers Drank Antifreeze Chemical as 2 Remain in ICU The deactivation is part of a 10-year reorganization plan as the Marine Corps prepares to take on future threats. The service is cutting its number of infantry regimental headquarters from eight to seven, and is going from two dozen active grunt battalions down to 21. Maj. Gen. Frank Donovan, commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, said the deactivation of 8th Marines signifies a transition for the Marine Corps. "Losing a regiment, we lose some flexibility," Donovan said, according to a Marine Corps news release on the deactivation ceremony. "But the reality is we also spread some of that talent and that capability to our other regiments." About 200 Marines and sailors were affected by the headquarters deactivation, said 2nd Lt. Paul Ortiz, a 2nd Marine Division spokesman. "The future for each of these Marines and sailors strongly depends on their own individual career tracks," he said, adding that most of the personnel have been reassigned to other units in North Carolina or elsewhere in the Marine Corps. Others, Ortiz said, have reached their end-of-active-service dates and are leaving the Marine Corps. Two of the infantry battalions that fell under 8th Marines are moving to new 2nd Marine Division regiments. Members of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, currently serving as the battalion landing team for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, will now fall under 6th Marine Regiment, according to the Marine Corps. Members of 2/8 have been reassigned to 2nd Marines. The last remaining battalion, 3/8, will be deactivated following the unit's deployment to Okinawa, Japan. There are about 900 Marines and sailors with that battalion. Ortiz said it would be inappropriate to go into specifics about 3/8's future deactivation since there are "operational security considerations when talking about future operations that relate to our force's structure." Sgt. Maj. Keith Hoge, 8th Marines' top enlisted leader, said during last week's deactivation ceremony that he hoped members of the regiment, past and present, were proud of their accomplishments. Marines moving into new units "can take with them the 8th Marine Regiment fighting spirit and go on and do good things in the Marine Corps," he said. Several other Marine Corps units have been deactivated as part of Force Design 2030. Combat Logistics Regiment 25, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and CLR-15, out of Camp Pendleton, California, were both deactivated in July. CLR-35 in Japan deactivated in May, and the California-based Bridge Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion shut down in June. Several tank battalions have also shut down as the Marine Corps gets rid of the vehicles. This is at least the fourth time 8th Marine Regiment has been deactivated, according to its lineage. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Marine Corps Begins Shutdown of All Tank Battalions It is unlikely that the annual Arab summit, still scheduled for the last week of March, will be held this year.Algeria is the incoming chair of the Arab League, and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been overseas for medical treatment for the best part of the last three months. It is not clear that when he is back he will be ready to host Arab leaders. Nor is there any sign that Arab leaders particularly want an Arab summit.The last summit took place in 2019. The 2020 gathering was scrapped following the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to one Arab League source, even after the first wave receded, there was no appetite on the part of Arab leaders to meet either face to face or via a Zoom conference.The same Arab League source is sceptical about this years chances for an Arab summit.It is not official yet that it will not convene, but so far it does not seem that it will. We are having an Arab foreign ministers meeting next week, and in early March meetings of the social-economic council are scheduled. Sometime during the first week of March we are also planning to have the regular spring foreign council meeting, he said.This years Arab summit was supposed to see nominations for the top job at the pan-Arab organisation given Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul-Gheits first five-year term ends in mid-May. Earlier this week, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announced that Cairo will re-nominate Abul-Gheit, a former foreign minister, for a second term that should last until 2026, ending a bout of fevered speculation over the fate of the organisation.In the words of one Arab League diplomat: This means that things will continue to float as they have done for the past five years.During that time Arab League diplomats have regularly complained that the Arab League has been systematically marginalised by its members.In the summer of 2017, when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain decided to impose a boycott on Qatar, the Arab League was not party to the decision. No Arab League mediation was offered to resolve the problem and earlier this year, when the four countries did decide to end the boycott, once again the Arab organisation was not involved.In the view of Arab diplomats, including at the Arab League, the 2017 boycott was perceived as an internal Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issue.According to former senior diplomats from North Africa and the Levant, the GCC has long viewed the Arab League as a venue to discuss common Arab interests rather than those that pertain to the GCC. This has been the case since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Among the few exceptions when the GCC brought the Arab League on board was its pursuit of support for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.The Arab League has, however, continued to play a role in supporting Palestinian rights, essentially at the behest of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority. It also played a part, pushed for by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in seeking a political deal to help Lebanon escape a new civil war following the 2006 Israel aggression, and worked to promote political talks to end Iraqs post-invasion civil war.In the years that followed, the Arab League has served as a venue for the back and forth manoeuvrings of Qatar and Saudi Arabia as they each vied for a bigger regional role and, in the wake of the Arab Spring, a similar ping-pong between Qatar, which supported the Arab demonstrations, and the UAE, which opposed them.Following the Arab Spring, the UAE and Saudi Arabia took the lead in reformulating the Arab regime. Under the new dispensation, say Arab League diplomats, the Arab League became a place for Arab countries to make statements intended for local consumption, mostly about the threats of terrorism and the need to prioritise socio-economic development over democratisation.According to a former Arab League diplomat, the pan-Arab organisation was never blamed for failing to block the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, or for failing to halt the humanitarian tragedy that is still unfolding in Syria. It is telling, he adds, that the organisation has been heavily criticised for supporting international intervention to end the brutal attacks that Libyas former dictator Muammar Gaddafi launched against democracy protesters in the spring of 2011.The same diplomats note that no major decision in the past five years, including the Arab-Israeli normalisation scheme jointly introduced in the autumn of 2020 by the Donald Trump administration and the Mohamed bin Zayed-led UAE, was run past the Arab League.According to a Palestinian Authority source, when Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the Arab organisation to act to halt the normalisation drive, his request fell on deaf ears at the Arab League.They basically told us that the UAE had threatened to walk out of the Arab League and to stop paying its annual share of the budget if the issue was even discussed, he said.Today, it would be hard to name a single member state that expects much of the Arab League. The rule now, in the assessment of several Arab diplomatic sources, is that Arab relations are ordered on a strict basis of non-intervention.As a concept, they say, non-interventionism is broad enough for the UAE to consider any criticism of its relations with Israel an intervention, and to allow Egypt to denounce Al-Jazeera reports on political opposition as the same.The Arab foreign ministers meeting scheduled for 8 February is being held as a result of a joint initiative by Egypt and Jordan who both want to see the Palestinian cause brought back to the table and fear the Gulf-dominated normalisation agenda might deal a final blow to the possibility of Palestinian statehood.It will also offer an opportunity for Egypt to raise its nomination of Abul-Gheit for a second term in office, and for Arab states to send a message to the new US administration about the one thing they all agree on, that democracy is not a priority.The Monday meeting will be the first Arab meeting since the end of the Qatar boycott so it is likely to see a lot of rhetoric about the need for Arab countries to steer clear from intervening in each others affairs, a euphemism used to signal Qatari support for Islamist groups.Arab and Cairo-based foreign diplomats agree that the Abraham Accords the recent spate of normalisation agreements between Arab states and Israel sounded the death knell to any remaining concept of pan-Arabism. Indeed, one Cairo-based European diplomat asked rhetorically: Is Ahmed Abul-Gheit going to be the last secretary-general of the Arab League? And will the Arab League be replaced by a Middle East organisation to which Arabs, Israel and maybe Turkey, will be parties? *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly 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. KENT COUNTY, MI -- The state has suspended the license of a Wyoming in-home day care over allegations she argued and fought with a man in front of children, as well as allowed another person to watch children without a background check. A license held by Brittany Brown, who ran a day care called Little Mittens in the 2200 block of Avon Avenue SW, was suspended in late January. The day care was allowed to have up to six children. According to allegations in a complaint filed with the Child Care Licensing Division, Brown left four children alone in the home with another person on at least one occasion. One of the children had a medical incident and another child called 911. The person caring for the children, a male, took the phone from the child and told the 911 operator the other child did not need medical help. Police went to the house but no one answered the door. Child care licensing investigators also said there was evidence of more than one incident of a woman and man fighting in the home, including one involving a physical incident. Brown could not immediately be reached for comment. A phone number listed on the states child care licensing page was disconnected. More from MLive Man killed in Kent County crash Spectrum Health starting antibody infusion clinic to treat at-risk group diagnosed with coronavirus LANSING, MI - The Michigan Senate blocked another five of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers appointees Wednesday in an ongoing protest of her COVID-19 restrictions. Thats at least the general rationale from Senate Republicans. There is no specific order Whitmer could rescind that would satisfy GOP lawmakers, according to Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkeys office. The Majority Leader has not identified any specific compromise or goal, said Shirkey spokeswoman Amber McCann to MLive. The Senate voted 20-14 along party lines to reject an appointment to the state Board of Cosmetology and four trustee spots on the boards of three state universities. Those appointments were: Andrea Dickson to the Michigan Technological University Board of Trustees Jason Morgan to the Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees Mikyia Aaron and Noreen Myers to the Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees Gabriella Abel to the Board of Cosmetology It was the second time in a week that the Republican majority rejected routine appointments by the governor. During a Jan. 27 session, the Senate blocked 13 appointments, including including Childrens Ombudsman appointee Suzanna Shkreli. Read more: Michigan Senate rejects 13 Whitmer appointments in show of disapproval over coronavirus response Shirkey, R-Clarklake, on Jan. 28 characterized the denials as political gestures pressing Whitmer to generally stop acting unilaterally on her COVID-19 restrictions. Yesterdays action on appointments was a purposeful political gesture, Shirkey said. Not a gesture to score points, but a gesture to make a point. Until this governor stops acting unilaterally and invests in and encourages and invites in the Legislature to be a part of some of these decisions, not all of them, then were relegated to using the tools given to us in our Constitution and our statutes. Read more: Michigan Republican leaders will continue political gestures to lift COVID-19 restrictions Messages were left with multiple Republican senators asking what COVID-19 order needs to be lifted to stop the blocking of appointments. During Wednesdays session, Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, said Whitmer has emasculated the Legislature with her veto power. He proposed Whitmer relinquish some of her executive authority, hinting at attempts by the Legislature to limit Michigan Department of Health and Human Service orders to a maximum of 28 days. Whitmer vetoed legislation to that effect Dec. 30. After 11 months of rejecting the qualified voices of our citizens, these same voices demand some effort to rebalance the scales, he said. But the actual authority we have to do anything in a world where the executive has nearly all the avenues is very small. She can move money to nearly any place in the state government she wants without us. She can suspend what people wear, where they go, what they buy, where they can work, when they can work, where they can eat. She even strove to limit who we could have in our own homes... and all this is done without any debate. McBroom was referring to Whitmers previous executive orders, and emergency orders now issued by MDHHS, mandating masks indoors and limiting public gatherings by shutting down various business activities over the last year. Nearly all industries are now open in Michigan after Whitmer reopened indoor dining on Feb. 1, but with restrictions including 25% capacity limits and a 10 p.m. closing time for bars and restaurants. Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, echoed previous arguments about reopening high school sports. He has been an active supporter of the Let Them Play movement. Other states have seen the data and with it, they have made the responsible choices that allowed their kids to play and still keep them safe, he said. Yes, other states have made responsible decisions, but for some reason, Michigan stands alone in its remorseless lockdown of sports. The appointment blocking drew ire from a number of Senate Democrats. Notably, Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, said his Republican colleagues are worse than hostage takers, since hostage takers have the decency to give a list of demands. Is this all a fight to make sure water parks and strip clubs are open in the state, he said. Is it about us adopting your plan to protect the public? Well, that cant be, because quite frankly the plan doesnt exist. If youre willing to put on the table what you are for, and not what youre against, then maybe that would be a reasonable thing. Elizabeth Hertel, who is married to the senator, is Whitmers appointment to direct MDHHS after she served as the senior chief deputy director for administration in the department. The Senate will vote on her appointment by Feb. 25. Before then, more college board appointments will see votes next week. Read more from MLive: House Republican plan for federal coronavirus response money clears committee Democrats introduce Whitmers $5.6 billion pandemic spending plan in House Read Whitmers $5.6B plan to fund coronavirus recovery for Michigan schools, economy House Republicans unveil $3.5B COVID-19 plan to counter Whitmer proposal Michigan Republican leaders will continue political gestures to lift COVID-19 restrictions Whitmer calls for bipartisan COVID-19, economic progress in State of the State address 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. The social and humanitarian issues in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have already been resolved. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelyan said this at Wednesdays special session of the National Assembly of Armenia. The minister, in particular, assured the parliamentarians that at present, there were no social and humanitarian problems in post-war Karabakh. "The most important confirmation of that is the fact that there were several hundred inhabitants in Karabakh on November 10, whereas today the population of Karabakh is more than 100 thousand people," Arakelyan said. According to the minister, all those who have a permanent residence in Karabakh, as well as some residentsabout 5,000who lost their homes due to a number of territories coming under the control of Azerbaijan, have returned to Artsakh. He also reminded that all civilian infrastructures in Karabakh were destroyed as a result of the recent war, but now the natural gas and electricity supplies have been fully restored, and communication has been partially restored. In addition, the government of Armenia has provided 15 billion drams in direct assistance to the people of Artsakh; and this assistance, according to the minister, enables the people of Karabakh to meet their needs. According to Arakelyan, the Karabakh authorities are implementing a number of programs that will significantly change the quality of life of the local residents. At the same time, the minister announced that the budget revenues of Artsakh have decreased by 50 billion drams, but added that this amount will be covered by the state budget of Armenia. He also recalled that despite the difficulties, the payment of pensions and salaries of state officials does not stop in Artsakh. "Armenia continues to be the guarantor of Karabakh's social security; and there is no difference between the citizens of Karabakh and Armenia in this issue," Mesrop Arakelyan emphasized. Editor's note: This article was updated to include a statement from Yelp and for clarity. As tech companies continue to reassess operations amid the ongoing pandemic, Yelp has become the latest business to pivot. Yelp's San Francisco headquarters at 140 New Montgomery St. is up for lease, the San Francisco Business Times reported Wednesday. Yelp, which occupies floors 2 to 14 of the historic 1925 building, is listed for lease by CRBE in addition to more than four other retail businesses inside. According to the San Francisco Business Times, a Yelp spokesperson confirmed the company was reducing its real estate presence but would remain in San Francisco. With more employees working remotely were reducing some of our footprint in San Francisco, but we will still maintain our HQ office there, the spokesperson told the San Francisco Business Times. SFGATE reached out to Yelp for comment and was told that the company plans to remain in San Francisco but did not comment on whether it would operate within 140 New Montgomery or move to another office space in the city. "We plan to continue to maintain our presence in the locations where we currently have offices, including our headquarters in San Francisco," a Yelp spokesperson said via email. "Once its safe to return to our offices, we plan to continue to operate with a significant portion of our team working remotely on a full-time basis, or for part of the week. This enables us to reduce our real estate footprint and expand our presence in lower-cost markets across the United States, Canada and Europe." The online reviewing platform moved into the New Montgomery St., location in 2012. According to builtinsf.com, the building was Yelps third headquarter space in San Francisco. The news comes as numerous tech companies have packed their bags and moved to out of state. Just last month Digital Realty, a big tech company that supports businesses with data center and interconnection strategies, announced its move to Austin. Press Release 3 February 2021 LAUSANNE - The Berceau des Sens, the educational restaurant of Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, retains its Michelin star for the third consecutive year. A recognition that EHL Group dedicates to all in the hospitality industry. Advertisements The Michelin Guide 2021 honors the Berceau des Sens, which maintains its top position amongst the best following an extraordinary year with its share of surprises, difficulties and uncertainties. EHL's educational restaurant was awarded a Michelin star for the third consecutive year, even though this year no ceremony was held due to the pandemic and sanitary restrictions. "I am of course honored and flattered by this recognition. Our team was able to find solutions, and our entire community mobilized itself to enable students to continue to learn excellence in a gastronomic setting," said Cedric Bourassin, Chef at Berceau des Sens. "But at the same time, it is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge this award. More than anything else, I hope that our fellow restaurateurs here and elsewhere can put on their apron, put on their chef's hat and be able to have a positive restart. The hospitality industry has suffered tremendously this past year. I dedicate this star to all the restaurant owners who were unable to live their passion this year," he added. "I would like to thank the entire team at the Berceau des Sens, who has perfectly illustrated the dedication and determination of our staff during these uncertain times. The students who have trained at our educational restaurant during the pandemic will have an unprecedented view of crisis management, and I am convinced that they will come out of it all better prepared to face a world that never ceases to surprise us," concludes Michel Rochat, CEO of EHL Group. The Berceau des Sens, and the entire EHL community, are looking forward to being able to reopen the doors of the EHL Lausanne Campus to the public and share together many flavors, experiences and goodwill. May 2021 bring us closer and unite us in the love of gastronomy. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro will make a decision on the future of his political career next month but has ruled out running for the Senate at the next federal election. Mr Barilaro has repeatedly said he would reveal his plans for his future in the first quarter of this year, after indicating he was considering quitting state politics. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has ruled out running for the Senate at the next federal election. Credit:Rhett Wyman Nine News reported on Wednesday that party figures in the Nationals were looking at whether the NSW leader had the numbers to run for a Senate spot at the next federal election. However, Mr Barilaro told the Herald that it was nothing more than a rumour. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) arrives to the Hyatt Regency hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 12, 2020. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) House Democrats Seek to Strip GOP Rep. Greene From Committees The House of Representatives plans a floor vote for Feb. 4 about whether to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) of her committee assignments because of the freshman congresswomans apparent online embrace of conspiracy theories and other statements, a top Democrat says. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement on Feb. 3, I spoke to [House Republican Leader Kevin] McCarthy this morning, and it is clear there is no alternative to holding a Floor vote on the resolution to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments. The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), would remove Greene from her assignments on the House Education and Labor and House Budget committees for the remainder of the congressional session. Hoyer told reporters at the Capitol in Washington that McCarthy (R-Calif.) made a decision and were going to move forward. I dont know specifically what hes going to do, Hoyer said. Spokespeople in McCarthys office and Greenes office didnt immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. Greene, on Feb. 3, said Democrats are engaging in a mob cancel campaign and said mainstream media outlets are refusing to share her rebuttals. They are only set out to destroy Republicans, your jobs, our economy, your childrens education and lives, steal our freedoms, and erase Gods creation, she wrote. This week, several Republican leaders took aim at Greeneincluding Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who accused her of trafficking in loony lies and conspiracy theories, saying its a cancer for the Republican Party. Since everyone is talking about me, here are the statements that the Fake News Media refuses to share with the American public during this Democrat mob cancel campaign: 8/14/20 https://t.co/ZaQtyColpH 1/16/21 https://t.co/j2BlZBpAD1 1/19/21 https://t.co/EOn0IUxVre Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) February 3, 2021 Somebody whos suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.s airplane is not living in reality, McConnell said. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party. But Greene said the real cancer is McConnell and the weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully, adding, This is why we are losing our country. On Jan. 30, Greene said she has the support of former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, a number of Republicans in the House, including prominent members such as Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), have supported Greene. I had a GREAT call with my all time favorite POTUS, President Trump! she wrote in a series of Twitter posts. Im so grateful for his support and more importantly, the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America First. The former presidents office didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. I wont back down. Ill never apologize. And Ill always keep fighting for the people. For me, its America First!!! she wrote over the past weekend. America Last policies are policies for sell outs and losers. The contours in color show the intensities of the radiation belts. Grey lines show the trajectories of the relativistic electrons in the radiation belts. Concentric circular lines show the trajectory of scientific satellites traversing this dangerous region in space. CREDIT Ingo Michaelis and Yuri Shprits, GFZ New study found that electrons can reach ultra-relativistic energies for very special conditions in the magnetosphere when space is devoid of plasma. Recent measurements from NASA's Van Allen Probes spacecraft showed that electrons can reach ultra-relativistic energies flying at almost the speed of light. Hayley Allison, Yuri Shprits and collaborators from the German Research Centre for Geosciences have revealed under which conditions such strong accelerations occur. They had already demonstrated in 2020 that during solar storm plasma waves play a crucial role for that. However, it was previously unclear why such high electron energies are not achieved in all solar storms. In the journal Science Advances, Allison, Shprits and colleagues now show that extreme depletions of the background plasma density are crucial. Ultra-relativistic electrons in space At ultra-relativistic energies, electrons move at almost the speed of light. Then the laws of relativity become most important. The mass of the particles increases by a factor ten, time is slowing down, and distance decreases. With such high energies, charged particles become most dangerous to even the best protected satellites. As almost no shielding can stop them, their charge can destroy sensitive electronics. Predicting their occurrence - for example, as part of the observations of space weather practised at the GFZ - is therefore very important for modern infrastructure. To investigate the conditions for the enormous accelerations of the electrons, Allison and Shprits used data from a twin mission, the "Van Allen Probes", which the US space agency NASA had launched in 2012. The aim was to make detailed measurements in the radiation belt, the so-called Van Allen belt, which surrounds the Earth in a donut shape in terrestrial space. Here - as in the rest of space - a mixture of positively and negatively charged particles forms a so-called plasma. Plasma waves can be understood as fluctuations of the electric and magnetic field, excited by solar storms. They are an important driving force for the acceleration of electrons. Data analysis with machine learning During the mission, both solar storms that produced ultra-relativistic electrons and storms without this effect were observed. The density of the background plasma turned out to be a decisive factor for the strong acceleration: electrons with the ultra-relativistic energies were only observed to increase when the plasma density dropped to very low values of only about ten particles per cubic centimetre, while normally such density is five to ten times higher. Using a numerical model that incorporated such extreme plasma depletion, the authors showed that periods of low density create preferential conditions for the acceleration of electrons - from an initial few hundred thousand to more than seven million electron volts. To analyse the data from the Van Allen probes, the researchers used machine learning methods, the development of which was funded by the GEO.X network. They enabled the authors to infer the total plasma density from the measured fluctuations of electric and magnetic field. The crucial role of plasma "This study shows that electrons in the Earth's radiation belt can be promptly accelerated locally to ultra-relativistic energies, if the conditions of the plasma environment - plasma waves and temporarily low plasma density - are right. The particles can be regarded as surfing on plasma waves. In regions of extremely low plasma density they can just take a lot of energy from plasma waves. Similar mechanisms may be at work in the magnetospheres of the outer planets such as Jupiter or Saturn and in other astrophysical objects", says Yuri Shprits, head of the GFZ section Space physics and space weather and Professor at University of Potsdam. "Thus, to reach such extreme energies, a two-stage acceleration process is not needed, as long assumed - first from the outer region of the magnetosphere into the belt and then inside. This also supports our research results from last year," adds Hayley Allison, PostDoc in the Section Space physics and space weather. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. An employee works at a billing counter inside a Bharti Airtel store in New Delhi (File Photo) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Data of around 25 lakh Bharti Airtel subscribers of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) circle, including Aadhaar numbers, address and date of birth, has reportedly been leaked by hackers, even as the telecom operator denied any breach in its servers. A sample of the leaked database was shared on Twitter by cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia which shows masked details of the subscribers. Rajaharia also shared a video of an email conversation between Bharti Airtel and the hackers with the name of 'Red Rabbit Team'. The video shows that the hackers informed Bharti Airtel about the breach in December and demanded money. "Hackers have claimed that they have access to pan-India data of Airtel subscribers and they only uploaded a sample of subscribers data from J&K. "It may be possible that the hacker may have uploaded a shell (malicious software code) in Airtel servers. During the COVID-19 peak period several companies could not focus on security and their data was breached," Rajaharia said. The hackers also uploaded the subscriber data on a website, but it was not accessible later. When contacted, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson denied any breach of the company's servers. "Airtel takes great pride in deploying various measures to safeguard the privacy of its customers. In this specific case, we confirm that there is no data breach at our end. "In fact, the claims made by this group reveal glaring inaccuracies and a large proportion of the data records do not even belong to Airtel. We have already apprised the relevant authorities of the matter," the spokesperson said. New Delhi, Feb 3 : A day-long meeting of BJP office-bearers will be held in the national capital on February 14, which will be the first meeting of the party's office-bearers after the appointment of state in-charges and co-incharges in September last year. BJP state unit presidents and general secretaries (organisation) have also been invited to attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by BJP national President J.P. Nadda and it will be held at the party headquarters in the national capital. One meeting of national office-bearers was held last year before the appointments of state in-charges and co-incharges were made. A party leader said that the organisational strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be discussed in the meeting. "Strengthening the organisation in other states apart from the poll-bound states will be also discussed during the meeting. The farmers' agitation and other relevant issues will also be discussed in the day-long meeting," he said. Another senior party leader said that plans will be drawn to highlight the benefits of the Union Budget and other government initiative among the masses across the country. "It will be the first meeting post Budget and the Union government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced several steps towards strengthening the economy and for the welfare of the people. These initiatives must be told to the people and in the meeting plans will be drawn to spread the message among the people," he said. The state units have been asked to come prepared with detailed reports of the activities carried out in recent times. 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. GREENWICH The coronavirus pandemic is once again making it impossible for the Greenwich International Film Festival to roll out the red carpet and hold public movie screenings and celebrations. Instead, the organization is moving forward with an all-virtual event this month. The GIFF will hold its Social Impact Film Showcase from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21, showing 10 films from filmmakers in the U.S. and from around the world. The showcase will also offer a variety of panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions with actors and filmmakers, and an award ceremony to honor the winner of the festivals Best Social Impact Film Award. And viewers can enjoy the entire showcase from the comfort of their own homes. The slate of films will highlight themes relating to human rights, education, health care and maternal issues. Colleen deVeer, a co-founder of the festival and the director of programming, said the slate features wonderful and inspiring films from 10 different countries. With the pandemic in full force, mounting racial tensions globally and a large part of our audience spending more time at home with their families, film has the power to help us reclaim our common humanity, deVeer said. Additionally, as an all female-founded and -run festival, we are thrilled that six of our 10 films showcased this year are directed by women. The lineup includes narrative films and documentaries, including the U.S. premieres of Edouard Bergeons In the Name of the Land, the saga of a family farm, and Srdan Golubovics Father (Otac), a film from Serbia about a fathers fight for his children. In the showcase, the GIFF is partnering with town resident Renee Amory Ketcham from the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich for the screening of Bergeons film. Ketcham has been the driving force behind the Focus on French Cinema festival in town. The GIFF is also partnering with the Simon and Eve Colin Foundation for a screening of Asia, the debut feature from Israeli filmmaker Ruthy Pribar about Asia and Vika, who are more like sisters than mother and daughter. The story focuses on a pair of Russian immigrants in Israel, candidly exploring the challenges of motherhood and the desires of the differently-abled This is the second year in a row that the festival has been forced to go all-digital because of the COVID-19 pandemic. GIFF is planning to maintain its virtual programming until it is safe to hold large public events in the future, festival Executive Director Ginger Stickel said. We look forward to the day when we can celebrate in-person with the community, honor our change-makers at the gala, network with filmmakers after Q&As and attend film premieres in the theater. The award for the Best Social Impact Film will be presented virtually at 5 p.m. Feb. 20 with $10,000 from Ann Bresnan Young given to the winner. The panel of jurors includes Young, president of the Bill and Ann Bresnan Foundation; Ryan Harrington, vice president of National Geographic Documentary Films; and filmmaker Eric Heimbold, owner of Marabou Pictures & Eric Heimbold Studio. For a full list of competing films and to buy a $75 pass to view the films, visit www.greenwichfilm.org. Community awards and honors The GIFF also recently announced that six Fairfield County-based organizations will receive its Community Impact Award and share the award of $100,000. They will be honored at a virtual ceremony Feb. 6. Social Impact Film Showcase The Greenwich International Film Festival will host the virtual showcase from Feb. 18 to 21 with access to 10 social impact films; invitations to Q&As with directors, actors and producers; and an invitation to the Award Ceremony at 5 p.m. Feb. 20, when the Best Social Impact Film Award will be announced. The featured films in the showcase are: "Asia." A drama from Israel in Hebrew about Asia and Vika, who are more like sisters than mother and daughter. In her debut feature film, Israeli filmmaker Ruthy Pribar focuses on a pair of Russian immigrants in Israel, candidly exploring the challenges of motherhood and the desires of the differently-abled. "The Boy From Medellin." A documentary from the U.S. in Spanish and English follows J Balvin as he prepares for the most important concert of his career - a sold-out stadium show in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia - as he wrestles with his responsibility as an artist to his country and his legions of fans around the globe. "Chocolate Road." The world premiere of a documentary in English, Japanese and Spanish on the the process of craft chocolate-making, starting from the plantations and all the way to the final chocolate piece, with an emphasis on the cacao bean, and the social impact of the people involved in the chocolate production chain. "In the Name of the Land" (Au Nom de la Terre). The U.S. premiere of the drama from France in French. Built like a family saga, and according to the director Edouard Bergeon's own story, the film takes a human perspective on the evolution of the agricultural world over the past 40 years. "Father" (Otac). The U.S. premiere of a drama from Serbia in Serbian. Against all odds and driven by love and despair, this father refuses to give up on justice and his right to raise his children. "Marvelous and the Black Hole." A comedy from the U.S. in which a teenage delinquent befriends a surly children's party magician who helps her navigate her dysfunctional family and inner demons with sleight of hand magic. A coming of age comedy that touches on unlikely friendships, grief, and finding hope in the darkest moments. "Rose Plays Julie." A thriller from Ireland and the United Kingdom tells the story of a young woman searching for her biological mother. Set against a backdrop of misogyny, revenge and longing, Rose undertakes a journey that leads her to revelations that are both devastating and dangerous. "Shiva Baby." A comedy from the U.S. A near college graduate, Danielle rushes to meet her neurotic parents at a family shiva. As the day unfolds, she struggles to keep up different versions of herself, fend off pressures from her family and confront her insecurities without completely losing it. "There Is No Evil" (Sheytan Vojud Nadarad). (Farsi) Working in defiance of a lifelong ban on filmmaking, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof delivers a drama about a subject he knows well: the costs of living under a repressive, brutal government. Winner of the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, "There Is No Evil" is a film in four chapters, each telling a different story related to the death penalty in contemporary Iran. "Through the Night." A verite documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a childcare provider - whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center. Over the span of two years, the film reveals the personal cost of rising wealth inequality in the U.S. and the close bonds forged between parents, children and caregivers. See More Collapse The organizations are Abilis and Family Centers Inc. in Greenwich; Building One Community and the Rowan Center in Stamford; and the Norwalk-based Filling in the Blanks and Food Rescue US. These organizations provide critical aid and support individuals with special needs, victims of sexual violence and those facing immigration issues, food insecurity, and mental health challenges, GIFF said in a statement. Usually GIFF awards the grant to only one organization each year, but organizers said they were inspired by the overwhelming number of submissions from deserving organizations in Fairfield County and increased the winners to six. In addition, the GIFF is highlighting 15 area organizations that engage and empower the local community through its new Make An Impact campaign. The honored organizations are the Alzheimers Association Connecticut Chapter, Avon Theatre Film Center Inc., Circle of Care for Families of Children with Cancer, Clothes To Kids Fairfield, Greenwich Center for Hope & Renewal, Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich Scholarship Association, Greenwich United Way, Kids In Crisis, Partnership To End Human Trafficking, REACH Prep, Special Education Legal Fund, The Connecticut Invention Convention, The Open Door Shelter and YWCA Greenwich; The ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. on Feb. 6 with Amy Freeze, meteorologist for WABC-TVs Eyewitness News, serving as emcee. For information on how to RSVP, visit www.greenwichfilm.org. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Steve Clemens Executive Vice President Clemens, a veteran in the life insurance market, has been promoted to Executive Vice President. Clemens who also heads the Life Markets Division and began his insurance career as an independent life insurance agent in 2000 and became Life Markets Vice President in 2007. Steve will oversee new market development in the Life Markets department and work with the newly-formed Leadership Team to expand referral and employee benefit divisions. Clemens is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), where he served on the NAIFA Greater Harrisburg Board of Directors (2018-2020) and currently as the NAIFA Greater Harrisburg President. Deborah Wilkinson, CBC Senior Vice President Wilkinson, a recognized leader in the health insurance industry, has been promoted to Senior Vice President. As part of URLs Leadership Team, she will oversee an expansion of their individual and group health markets, while working closely with Pennsylvania state government regulators to voice the concerns of the insurance agent and brokerage community. Wilkinson holds the designation of Certified Benefits Consultant (CBC) and represents the interests of agents and brokerages as the Vice President of Central PA Association of Health Underwriters (CPAHU), and member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters (PAHU). Wilkinson was chosen in 2020 to be the chairperson of the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority (PHIEA) Advisory Council (representing PAHU), a role she uses to continue to support and educate agents. Jim McDaniel Vice President McDaniel, a marketing, and technology specialist has been promoted to Vice President. As part of his new role on URLs Leadership Team, he will continue to bring cutting edge insurance technology and marketing programs to the company and their customers. Since 2005, McDaniel has overseen print and web advertising campaigns, company branding, web development, information security and infrastructure management and in 2009 was promoted to Marketing and Technology Director. McDaniel also leads the Marketing and Technology Division that plans and executes campaigns focusing on an omni-channel approach. He is also responsible for adopting, upgrading, and maintaining computer systems and resources. He has been a licensed insurance producer since 2012. Christy Wilbert, PLCS, AINS Vice President Wilbert, with experience in multiple lines of insurance and agency relations, has been promoted to Vice President. She will spearhead an expansion of the Medicare Offerings footprint, and as a member of URLs Leadership Team will focus on key company initiatives and employee development. Since joining URL in 2015 as Medicare Marketing Director, Wilbert has been instrumental in positioning their Medicare Offerings department to become one of the leading field marketing organizations for agents and agencies nationwide. Wilbert has worked in the insurance industry since 2004 as an independent agent. She began working at Donegal Insurance Group as a Call Center Representative before obtaining promotions to General Casualty Claims and then Personal Lines Underwriter. Wilbert holds a designation of Personal Lines Coverage Specialist (PLCS), an Associate in General Insurance (AINS), and is actively pursuing an Associate in Management. She holds insurance licenses for property and casualty, and health and accident. Thomas Purcell Apollo Employee Benefits Services Director Purcell has been promoted to Apollo Employee Benefits Services Director. Since 2015, Purcell has been an important part of URLs Health Plan Options team. He quickly rose to the position of Health Sales Manager. He also holds a designation as a Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC). Purcell will help spearhead the Apollo Employee Benefit Services division, providing employee benefits packages and payroll services for HR professionals. Purcell is also the Legislative Chair for Central PA Association of Health Underwriters (CPAHU), where he manages and coordinates legislative and regulatory activities. Serving as the link between PA and the national Government Affairs staff, the Legislative Council, and the national and state boards regarding legislative and regulatory issues. Kelly Lucas Orion Client Services Manager Lucas has been promoted to Orion Client Services Manager. Lucas joined URL as a Medicare Specialist in 2018. In her new role Lucas will work to expand URLs referral services to more agencies and organizations in all of URLs insurance lines. Rosanne Eastman Office Manager Eastman has been promoted to Office Manager. Eastman joined URL as a receptionist in 2018. In her new role Eastman will be handling the daily operations of the office, as well as managing the mailroom and receptionist. About URL Insurance Group URL is a multi-faceted insurance products and services company, serving business owners and leaders, insurance agents, and professional advisors since 1986. They work in the lines of annuities, employee benefits, life insurance and Medicare. URL employees 44 staff, and partners with agents in all 50 states. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Swiss regulators said Wednesday that data submitted by AstraZeneca were not yet sufficient for it to authorise use of the Anglo-Swedish firm's COVID-19 vaccine and "new studies" were needed. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had been examining information from AstraZeneca but that it was "not yet sufficient to permit authorisation". "To obtain more information about safety, efficacy and quality, additional data from new studies are needed," it said in a statement. Switzerland has so far given the green light to COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It had been expected to authorise the AstraZeneca jab soon, after the neighbouring European Union last week gave the vaccine the go-ahead. But while the EU granted approval for use in all people over the age of 18, several European countries have advised against giving the jabs to people over 65, citing lack of evidence that it was effective among the elderly. Swissmedic said a meeting of its external advisory body on Tuesday had confirmed its interim assessment of the AstraZeneca vaccine data. "The data currently available do not point to a positive decision regarding benefits and risks," it said. "To obtain a conclusive assessment, the applicant will among other things have to submit additional efficacy data from a Phase 3 trial under way in North and South America, and these will have to be analysed. "As soon as the results have been received, a temporary authorisation according to the rolling procedure could be issued at very short notice," it added. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca meanwhile stressed in an email that the company's jab had already been granted emergency use authorisation "in close to 50 countries, spanning four continents, including most recently in the European Union." "We are confident that our vaccine is effective, well-tolerated, and can have a real impact on the pandemic." The spokesperson said the company would "continue to share new data as it becomes available and work with Swissmedic to make COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca available in Switzerland as soon as possible." 17 mn more doses Switzerland, which kicked off vaccination against the coronavirus in late December, meanwhile announced Wednesday that it had signed three more contracts to acquire another 17 million vaccine doses. The country of 8.5 million people said it had reached an agreement with Germany's Curevac, whose vaccine is in Phase 3 trials, and the Swedish government for the delivery of five million doses. It said it had also signed a preliminary agreement with US firm Novavax for six million doses. These will add two new vaccines to the Swiss portfolio, if they are approved by regulators. At the same time, the Swiss government had also signed a deal to acquire an additional six million doses of the Moderna vaccine, bringing the total number of those jabs available in Switzerland to 13.5 million. In addition, the government has signed deals for access to around three million Pfizer-BioNTech doses and 5.3 million AstraZeneca doses. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP MINNEAPOLIS - Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) may not be at a higher risk of pregnancy complications like gestational diabetes, emergency cesarean section or stillbirth than women who do not have the disease, according to a study in the February 3, 2021, online issue of Neurology Clinical Practice, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the study did find that babies born to mothers with MS had a higher chance of being delivered by elective cesarean section (c-section) or induced delivery, and being small for their age compared to babies of women who did not have the disease. "Women with multiple sclerosis may be understandably concerned about the risks of pregnancy," said study author Melinda Magyari, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. "While previous research has shown there is no higher risk of birth defects for babies born to women with MS, there are still a lot of unknowns around pregnancy and MS. We wanted to find out if women with MS are at risk for a variety of pregnancy complications. We found overall their pregnancies were just as healthy as those of the moms without MS." The study involved 2,930 pregnant women with MS who were compared to 56,958 pregnant women without MS. All women gave birth between 1997 and 2016. Researchers found no difference in risk of several pregnancy complications between women with MS and women without it. No differences were found in risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placenta complications, emergency c-section, instrumental delivery, stillbirth, preterm birth, congenital malformations or low Apgar score. Apgar score is a test of a newborn's health, including measures like heart rate, reflexes and muscle tone immediately after birth. Researchers did find that 401 of the 2,930 women with MS, or 14%, had an elective c-section, compared to 4,402 of the 56, 958 women without MS, or 8%, who had an elective c-section. After adjusting for other factors that could increase the likelihood of having an elective c-section, such as prior c-section and mother's age, women with MS were 89% more likely to have an elective c-section. Researchers also found women with MS were 15% more likely to have an induced delivery than women without the disease. Also, women with MS were found to be 29% more likely to have babies that were born small for their gestational age compared to women without MS. Overall, 3.4% of women with MS had babies small for their gestational age, compared to 2.8% of women without MS. "We think the reason more women with MS have babies by elective c-section or induced delivery may have to do with MS-related symptoms such as muscle weakness, spasticity or fatigue that might affect the birth," Magyari said. "Any of these could make a mom more tired and lead to delivery complications that could prompt the clinician and woman to take extra precautions." Researchers also found that mothers with MS were 13% less likely to give birth to babies with signs of being deprived of oxygen, or asphyxia. Magyari said the higher prevalence of elective c-sections among women with MS most likely explains the corresponding lower odds of asphyxia. A limitation of the study is the lack of data on the mothers' smoking, which could cause babies to be born small for their gestational age. ### The study was supported by the Danish MS Society. Additional Media Contact: Renee Tessman, rtessman@aan.com, (612) 928-6137 Learn more about multiple sclerosis at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology's free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience. The American Academy of Neurology is the world's largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 36,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. All of Our Favorite Bedding From Parachute Is 20 Percent Off See All In Sale Army chaplain under investigation over Facebook posts critical of transgender troops Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A U.S. Army chaplain based in Texas faces an investigation after he made a social media post suggesting that transgender individuals are mentally unfit to serve in the military. In a Jan. 26 tweet, the Armys Security Force Assistance Command announced that the recent comments posted to the Army Times Facebook page by Maj. Andrew Calvert regarding President Joe Biden's policy on transgender service members are under investigation. How is rejecting reality (biology) not evidence that a person is mentally unfit (ill), and thus making that person unqualified to serve? asked Calvert as he commented on a Facebook post from the Army Times. A Twitter user flagged Calvert's posts and argued that Calvert "cannot be trusted to support soldiers for another minute." In his post, Calvert argued that there is "little difference" between those who believe in transgenderism and "those who believe and argue for a flat earth' despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary." "The motivation is different, but the argument is the same," the chaplain stated. This person is a MedBoard for Mental Wellness waiting to happen. What a waste of military resources and funding! In his Facebook profile, Calvert describes himself as a Christian, Husband, Father, Pastor, Army Chaplain. His profile also notes that he is employed as a brigade chaplain at the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade, located in Fort Hood, Texas. In a subsequent Facebook comment, Calvert argued that his position was not extreme in the slightest. The most nurturing counsel I can give to someone who is under the delusion of transgenderism (gender dysphoria) is to recommend professional counseling to assist in the healing process," Calvert reportedly wrote in the post. "To not do so, and merely pander to make-believe social whims of the moment, is not only damaging but idiocy. Calverts Facebook posts came after Biden, who took office on Jan. 20, announced the reversal of President Donald Trumps ban on transgender troops serving in the military. The former president cited the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail as the justification for his decision. By doing so, Trump reversed an Obama-era policy allowing openly transgender individuals to serve in the Armed Forces. Additionally, the Security Force Assistance Command's post instructed members of the Army to Always remember to Think, Type, Post when it comes to engaging in conversation on social media platforms." "We are soldiers 24/7 and that means always treating people with dignity and respect," the tweet reads. A Christian professor has also faced consequences for his criticism of Bidens reversal of Trump's military transgender policy. Professor Robert Gagnon of Houston Baptist University was locked out of his Facebook account for 24 hours after referring to transgender ideology as a religious cult and a pseudo-science in a comment defending a friends satirical commentary about Bidens reversal of the transgender military ban. In addition to Calvert and Gagnon, prominent conservative organizations were also quick to criticize Bidens executive order. Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative activist organization Family Research Council, asserted that by signing the executive order, Biden was diverting precious dollars from mission-critical training to something as controversial as gender reassignment surgery. Perkins added that 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 agenda. After considerable study, the previous administration found gender dysphoric people attempt suicide at about nine times the rate of the general population," said Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, the director of the conservative Heritage Foundations Center for National Defense. "Service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria are also nine times more likely to have mental health encounters with a professional." Spoehr contends that it would be "immoral" to place individuals at higher risk from mental injury in situations "where they are likely to experience extraordinary stress." Calvert is hardly the first Army chaplain to face the prospect of punishment for holding to biblical Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Scott Squires, who served as an Army chaplain at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, faced the possibility of career-ending punishment in 2018 after telling a lesbian couple that they could not participate in a marriage retreat he was hosting because his religious beliefs taught him that marriage was a union between a man and a woman. Ultimately, the couple was allowed to attend the retreat after another chaplain was tapped to host the event. While the U.S. Army initially recommended that Squires be charged with dereliction of duty, the chaplain was cleared of all charges a year later. In a nutshell: Amazon's design proposal for its next major campus consists of three 22-story buildings that surround a unique-looking spiraling glass tower called The Helix. In addition to providing office space, this 350-ft (~106 meters) tall structure is meant to connect people with nature and will feature a vertical forest with walkways swirling up to the top. Amazon is also planning green spaces and publicly accessible areas throughout the 2.8 million square ft site and will be giving public tours of The Helix on occasional weekends. Although work from home has increasingly become the new normal for many people, Amazon employees living in Arlington County might be tempted to commute to PenPlace, the site where the company looks forward to building its second headquarters. Among the conventional-looking buildings is the standout spiraling glass structure, whose design is probably many things to many people. Amazon notes that the inspiration for it comes from the natural beauty of a double helix shape whose pattern can be observed in things like our DNA, spiral galaxies, pinecones, and seashells. The Helix is a continuation of Amazon's nature-inspired Spheres in Seattle that opened back in 2018. Like the three glass domes, this new twisty tower will also be open to weekend visits from the general public and will normally be occupied by some of the 25,000 employees Amazon eventually plans to station at HQ2. It'll have a 1,500-person meeting center inside and an artist-in-residence program, while the outside will have two walkways surrounded by a vertical forest featuring Virginia's native plantings swirling their way to the top. Led by architecture firm NBBJ, Amazon says the campus layout is designed to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists, with an underground road system that will be used by vehicles for docking and deliveries. In addition to The Helix and three other buildings, the site will have 2.5 acres of green space that will be open to the public, alongside retail stores, restaurants, and an amphitheater for communal activities. Virginia's HQ2 is a long-term investment for Amazon, which plans to invest $2.5 billion in the project over the next decade. The company initiated the first phase of construction in January last year, where two of the three 22-story buildings are set for completion by 2023. With development plans for the second phase now submitted to Arlington County for approval, construction of The Helix and other remaining buildings is expected to begin in 2022 and take three years to complete. By Lee Ann Waldron | January 25, 2021 One of the new areas of concentration for the ISU Family Medicine Residency is continuing to train and serve the community through the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Wilderness Medicine Area of Concentration (WMAOC) began in 2019, and partnered with the Pebble Creek Ski Patrol to provide additional training for resident physicians. In 2020, two more residents, along with five community members completed the Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) Challenge Course co-taught by ISU faculty. Now that there is enough snow for the Pebble Creek Ski Area to open, the two residents trained this year will join the ranks of ski patrollers able to serve Pebble Creek in various shifts. Layer on top of that the anticipated toll of sick days or quarantine on the usual patrolling schedule and one can understand that the patrol is anticipating that there may be some days this year when it may be hard to find enough patrollers to fill the shift, said AJ Weinhold, Associate Program Director and co-developer of the training course. So, understanding the impacts of COVID on the patrol, its particularly wonderful to see seven new medical professionals joining the patrol this year. Pebble Creek is just 19 miles from ISUs main campus in Pocatello, ID. Predominantly, patrollers at Pebble Creek are volunteers from all walks of life (teachers, tractors salesmen, professors, retirees) who have completed OEC training, Weinhold said. Patrollers expressed that they appreciated enriching the patrol with more medical professionals. The successful completion of the training by two resident physicians and five community members is a noteworthy accomplishment in a year as turbulent as 2020, considering the National Ski Patrol cancelled all traditional OEC courses due to the pandemic. At the same time, the National Ski Patrol has, understanding the personal risk that ski patrollers may be taking to treat others during a pandemic, made it an option for patrollers to take a year off if they feel their personal risk of contracting COVID-19 is significant, Weinhold said. Soma is generating positive cash flow from its operations The Antioquia district of Colombia, in modern times, has produced over 18 million ounces of gold Experienced management What does: Soma Gold Corp ( ) is a producing gold miner, generating precious metal from two mines, La Ye and Los Mangos, at its El Bagre project in the Antioquia district of Colombia, an area, the company says, has generated over 18 million ounces of the yellow metal in modern times. Average monthly production is between 1,400 ounces and 1,500 ounces of AuEq (gold-equivalent), which the company aims to grow to between 1,800 and 2,000 ounces by the second half of 2021, with a third portal at Cordero-Balvina currently being built. Last year, the group produced 17,170 ounces of gold and it is forecasting 22,500 ounces for 2021. Soma closed its acquisition of Operador Mineras (which owned the Bagre underground gold operation) in summer, 2020. The company aims to commission and begin to produce from its El Limon mine and mill (10 kilometres from the El Bagre mill) in the district in the first quarter of this year. The combined current capacity for both mills would be 675 tonnes per day (tpd). It also owns 100% of the Nechi project in the district, where first production is planned for 2022. Soma is focused on scaling up production and increasing the size of its resources in Colombia, and currently has 221,000 ounces of gold at the El Bagre and Nechi projects, with a reserve of 60,800 proven and probable ounces. Recent additional drilling indicates a northern extension at the Cordero-Balvina deposit. In terms of exploration, Soma has identified targets for a potential further 750,000 ounces of gold at its 29,000 hectare ground position and has a fully funded US$2.6 million drilling program for 26,000 metres (m) targeting 240,000 ounces of gold at 8.2 grames per ton (g/t). It has plans for a four-year US$10 million program to be funded out of cash flow using in house rigs, at under US$100 per metre. How is it doing: On February 3, Soma announced that January 2021 gold production at the company's Operadora subsidiary exceeded the planned 1,361 ounces by 22.2%, with a total production of 1,663 ounces of gold In addition, Soma said the Fenix Portal, which will give the company access to the Cordero-Balvina deposit, is approximately 35% of the way to reaching the ore body at Level 3. This first phase of the decline totals 890 meters. The decline will then continue for an additional 610 meters to provide access to lower mine levels. The company anticipates commencing mining on Level 3 in the second quarter of 2021. The average grade in Cordero-Balvina is 6.2 grams per ton (g/t) versus the 3.6 g/t the company has been mining at the Los Mangos and La Ye deposits. The group said mining will be fully ramped up in the third quarter when it expects monthly gold production to increase proportionately. Soma reported its first quarterly net profit - for the three months to September 30, 2020, - in November last year. Income for the period came in at C$667,691, on revenue of around C$11 million. In the statement, the company said Operadora had "performed better than anticipated". In December, the group had updated on its 2020 drilling and construction programs at the Cordero-Balvina project, saying the new portal for accessing the deposit had been completed, and the decline had advanced 118 metres (m), including 72m in bedrock In January this year, the company released its 2020 production figures, showing output of 17,179 gold-equivalent ounces for the year, ahead of a budgeted 15,479 gold - equivalent ounces - a near 11% improvement. Milled was 146,738 tonnes of ore. The year saw the company complete 16,850 meters of exploration and resource expansion drilling, expanding to the north and down-dip of the Cordero-Balvina deposit and testing theories on the underexplored, on-trend portion of the companys property. Inflection points: More progress on the new Cordero-Balvina mine Next financial results Precious metals moves What the boss says: In January this year, Javier Cordova, Somas CEO, said in a statement about last year's gold output: "2020 was an excellent year for Soma Gold Corp. The acquisition of Operadora Minera in June has been a 'game changer'. "We closed the year with gold production, revenue and exploration drilling ahead of plan, access to a new deposit at Cordero-Balvina underway and good insight into the geology of our 29,000 Ha property where there has been extensive artisanal mining, indicating additional resources. We now have a number of high priority targets for further drilling in 2021." Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com An Illinois nurse who promised a dying patient that she would be there when the ailing woman's daughter graduated from nursing school kept her word by attending the ceremony four years later. Nurse Sanja Josipovic cared for Sevala Habibovic during the last six months of her life, before she succumbed to breast cancer on December 24, 2017 at age 46. In her last moments, Sevala shared her dying with with Sanja: That the nurse take her place when her daughter Edina Habibovic, 22, graduated from nursing school, a vow Sanja was only too happy to fulfill. Heartwarming: An Illinois nurse promised a dying patient that she would be there when the patient's daughter graduated from nursing school and last month, she kept her word They did it! Sanja Josipovic cared for Sevala Habibovic until she died of cancer. In January, she attended a pinning ceremony for Sevala's 22-year-old daughter Edina Habibovic Love: Sevala, who succumbed to breast cancer on December 24, 2017 at age 46, is pictured with her daughters Edina (left) and Emina (right) Sevala battled breast cancer for two years, and in the final months of her life, Sanja then a home health nurse with Northwestern Medicine in Winfield, Illinois cared for her in her house. The women were both mothers and Bosnian refugees, who bonded during their time together. 'We developed a close bond, like sisters really. She was a powerful woman, strong-minded,' Sanja told Good Morning America. Meanwhile, Sevala's daughter Edina also developed a relationship with Sanja, and ultimately decided that she wanted to be a nurse as well. 'I thought the medical field wasn't for me,' she said. 'Then, my mom got sick and I had all the experience going in and out of the hospital. Vow: Sevala (pictured) grew close with her home nurse, Sanja, and asked her to take her place at her daughter's graduation 'I thought the medical field wasn't for me,' Edina (right) said. 'Then, my mom got sick and I had all the experience going in and out of the hospital' 'When my mom passed away I thought, "Well, I want to do this. I want to make the same impression on somebody else's life,"' Edina, pictured with her mother, said 'When my mom passed away I thought, "Well, I want to do this. I want to make the same impression on somebody else's life,"' she said. Little did she know that her mother, realizing she wouldn't be there for Edina's graduation, had enlisted a replacement. Sanja explained: 'She was most worried about Edina because she was young and hadn't finished school yet. 'She wasn't scared to die, she was just worried about her kids and husband.' So on her death bed on Christmas Eve 2017, Sevala asked Sanja to attend Edina's nursing graduation and pinning ceremony in her place Christmas Eve 2017. 'That was the only thing that she was going to miss, Edina's graduation,' said Sanja. 'So, I said, "I will be there."" Connection: Edina now works at the same hospital as Sanja Comfort: Last month, Sanja attended a pinning ceremony for Edina at the hospital Over the years, Sanja and Edina have kept in touch, and Sanja even got her a job at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital, where she also works. Finally, in December, after years of schooling, Edina graduated from Chamberlain University's College of Nursing & Public Health in Chicago. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the school had to cancel both the graduation and the traditional pinning ceremony for nurses. But Edina's manager at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital was kind enough to stage a small pinning ceremony, where Sanja could be on hand to fulfill the promise she made to Edina's mother. At the ceremony, she told Edina of the promise she'd made. 'Thats something. Its hard to describe. My heart is full,' she told WGN9. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and SADC's Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) recently signed an agreement, to work together on accelerating the deployment renewable energy solutions, including decentralised technologies, in Southern African countries. The two organisations will also cooperate on policy development, capacity building programmes and regional events aimed at attracting investments to the region. Southern Africa has seen remarkable improvement in electricity access over the past decade. This is largely due to a strong commitment from SADC member states to take advantage of the region's vast renewable energy potential to improve energy security and meet rising energy demand. As a result, the total share of renewables in power generation rose from 23 per cent in 2015 to almost 39 per cent in 2018. However, despite significant progress, electricity access remains a challenge. "The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasised the importance of a reliable, affordable, clean energy," said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. "It has served as a stark reminder that the new energy age must be inclusive, just and low-carbon if we are to achieve sustainable development in Southern Africa and around the world. Africa can seize the moment for meaningful change, and dramatically improve socioeconomic outcomes by moving decisively towards the energy transformation. This agreement will bolster regional progress," concluded Mr. La Camera. By building capacity in the SADC region, two organisations aim to accelerate renewable energy deployment and achieve universal energy access by creating environments more conducive to renewable energy investments. They will conduct joint activities under the Africa Clean Energy Corridor in the areas of renewable energy resource assessment, long-term planning, as well as investments, policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks. Implementation of these activities provides a comprehensive opportunity to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the objectives of Paris Agreement. "The renewal of this MoU will expand and strengthen our collaboration in areas of mutual interest and given mandates. We therefore appreciate the continued partnership and support from IRENA towards the fulfilment of our mandate towards an energy secure and resilient society through clean, affordable and sustainable energy solutions," said SACREEE Executive Director, Kudakwashe Ndhlukula. A course on the history of Chinese music kicked off for the first time at a Ukrainian university on Monday. Maksym Tymoshenko, president of the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music, the first Ukrainian university to include such a subject in its curriculum, said at the launch event that the new course "is a great breakthrough at the national level, a great achievement for our countries." The academy pays special attention to cooperation with China in all areas, Tymoshenko told Xinhua, adding that it has been a lasting and fruitful process to deepen the cultural ties between the two countries. Valeriia Zharkova, head of the academy's World Music History Department, said exchanges between the West and the East through such courses are beneficial for students. "Starting from this semester, a completely new course of Chinese music history is available in our academy, which has no analogs in Ukraine. You can see that such a course is taught in some Chinese universities, but also not everywhere. Our department of world music history believes that it is necessary to expand the material that we give to our students," Zharkova said. More and more Chinese students have enrolled with the academy in recent years, Zharkova noted. "Not only the East comes to us to study, but we also want to know more about this ancient and very interesting culture." Li Qing, a lecturer at the department, said the new course will introduce to the students the main historical stages in the development of Chinese music and its most striking examples, and help them better understand the development of culture in the modern world. According to Tymoshenko, the academy has also launched a cooperation project with the city of Hengshui, in north China's Hebei Province, where Chinese students learn the Ukrainian language and music history. "We are planning to visit China, Beijing, Hengshui, do concerts both online and live. We have just talked with our Chinese partners, and we plan to visit China this year," he added. BELLFLOWER, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Inanna Manufacturing, offering top-of-the-line white label and co-packing services to cannabis brands throughout California, today announced its official launch with expanded services and capabilities following the company's inception in 2020. The company boasts a highly experienced team, a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and rapid onset emulsion technology. Inanna is led by CEO and Founder Raquel Origel , who self-funded and grew Inanna from scratch with a social impact frame of mind and zero outside funding. "When I founded Inanna Manufacturing in 2020, I sought to transform the way people see cannabis," said Origel. "I have to fight to change people's perceptions of female leaders in the space. I am proud to launch Inanna to help brands create quality products in the cannabis sector while ensuring we are a partner they can trust as they take their vision from concept to creation," says Origel. Inanna Offerings Based in Bellflower, CA in Southeast Los Angeles County, Inanna's services fulfill the cannabis industry's demand for a manufacturer that works closely with brands, forming a personal, transparent, and service-oriented relationship while also providing cost-effective pricing. The company offers a full suite of services to brands, taking them through the processes of ideation, flavor formulation, research and development, packaging, and market launch with ease. Inanna has the capability to manufacture a wide range of cannabis and cannabis-infused products using THC distillate, water-soluble rapid onset THC, CBD and an array of minor cannabinoids such as CBN, CBG, Delta 8, THCa and THCv. Products the company can white-label include: Gummies : Curated pectin, gelatin and agar gummy recipes designed in a variety of exotic flavors, shapes and sizes with potencies ranging from 5mg-20mg per piece. Inanna also works with clients to create gummies according to their existing recipes and formulations. : Curated pectin, gelatin and agar gummy recipes designed in a variety of exotic flavors, shapes and sizes with potencies ranging from 5mg-20mg per piece. Inanna also works with clients to create gummies according to their existing recipes and formulations. Topicals : Salves, lotions and creams with a wide spectrum of cannabinoids; THC, THCA, CBD, CBN and others, formulated with essential oils, herbs and other beneficial ingredients. : Salves, lotions and creams with a wide spectrum of cannabinoids; THC, THCA, CBD, CBN and others, formulated with essential oils, herbs and other beneficial ingredients. Tinctures : Distillate, full spectrum or nano THC formulas in both water soluble and oil soluble bases, with cannabinoid combinations of THC and/or CBD ratios available in a variety of unique flavors. : Distillate, full spectrum or nano THC formulas in both water soluble and oil soluble bases, with cannabinoid combinations of THC and/or CBD ratios available in a variety of unique flavors. Pre-rolls : Cost-effective, high volume pre-rolls in cones and "cigarette rolls" ranging from .3g to 1g, to be packaged in single tubes and boxes of multiple pre-rolls. : Cost-effective, high volume pre-rolls in cones and "cigarette rolls" ranging from .3g to 1g, to be packaged in single tubes and boxes of multiple pre-rolls. Baked goods: Pet treats, cookies and customized treats, both sweet and savory, infused with the highest quality THC and minor cannabinoids. Recipes are made in house by award-winning chefs and food scientists. Raquel's Story Raquel sought a fulfilling career in a sector with the potential to touch lives and help people. With her experience as a business leader, CEO Raquel Origel is a single mother to two children and fighter for social justice, frequently working with nonprofits including Feed A Billion, that feed hungry families in order to end child exploitation and trafficking. She is passionate about the wellness and medicinal potential of cannabis as well as the expansion of the legal market. One of the few women CEOs in the white labeling space, she continues to break barriers and achieve her goal of empowering other women in the cannabis industry while providing quality and trusted service to Inanna's partners. "Inanna is producing the most innovative products in the regulated cannabis market today. You have my promise that nothing is more important to Inanna than ensuring exceptional service, transparency, quality and cost-effective pricing for your brand. We are in this together and you can count on our relentless drive for excellence," added Origel. For more information on Inanna, please visit inannamfg.com . About Inanna Manufacturing Inanna Manufacturing offers white label and co-packing services to cannabis brands in the world's largest and most mature legal market in the world, California. As cannabis legalization expands nationally and globally, brands in this rapidly emerging CPG space need reliable and professional manufacturing services. With licensed, state-of-the-art facilities, and a seasoned staff with extensive experience in cannabis and analogous industries, Inanna Manufacturing takes products from creation to production, ensuring they meet tight regulatory requirements and high-quality assurance. Inanna Manufacturing offers a turnkey solution for brands looking to enter California's burgeoning cannabis market. Follow them on LinkedIn . PRESS CONTACT Alex Rush 718.664.3517 [email protected] SOURCE Inanna Related Links http://www.inannamfg.com Those agents may have gotten a lift in the waning days of Mr. Trumps administration, when Trump loyalists tried to codify the influence of those unions. The day before Mr. Bidens inauguration, union leaders signed a labor agreement with Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, an immigration hard-liner and the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, that requires ICEs political leadership to consult with the union on policy decisions. Under federal law, an agency chief has 30 days to cancel such an agreement once it is signed, after which it goes into effect. If the agreement stands, it could undercut Mr. Bidens directives to the enforcement agency, including guidance that took effect on Monday requiring ICE officers to focus arrests on violent offenders. Arizona became the second state to sue Mr. Bidens deportation suspension on Wednesday, after the states Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, went to court citing another agreement that Mr. Cuccinelli signed requiring the department to provide notice before issuing immigration policies. They are not going to be able to get people to change their deeply held convictions, Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trumps anti-immigration agenda, said of many career officials at the Homeland Security Department. They are going to make painfully clear to the politicals what the consequences are going to be if their advice is not followed. Mr. Miller, a staunch defender of Mr. Trump, has publicly criticized Mr. Bidens policies even before the inauguration. The emergence of an emboldened resistance inside the Biden administration is not limited to the homeland security agencies. Pockets of government employees loyal to Mr. Trump and his agenda remain ensconced in other parts of the bureaucracy. Andrew Veprek, an ally of Mr. Millers and once the deputy assistant secretary of state for refugees and migration, has been succeeded by a veteran of President Barack Obamas administration. But Mr. Veprek, a career Foreign Service officer, has returned to the State Department. Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist, was named as the top lawyer for the National Security Agency in the days before Mr. Biden took office. He has been put on administrative leave while his appointment is investigated, but he remains an employee of the agency. And at the Justice Department, there are still career lawyers who defended many of Mr. Trumps policies, including the separation of families at the border. Lilongwe-based Prophet Favour has denied making a prophesy on the four-year-old boy who went missing and only to be found dead along the banks of Lingadzi River. On Monday morning, people surrounding Midland in Area 23 in Lilongwe had running battles with the police as the latter tried to demolish the house of a lady suspected to have 'abducted' and killed the boy through alleged satanic means. And in his Facebook and WhatsApp posts, Benson Hodges of Watty Investments alleged that the commotion was a result of the prophesy that prophet Favour made at one of his church services earlier before the body of the child was found by the police. But Favour has denied making such a prophesy and has since instructed Chipiliro SMwale of Lameck and Co law firm to institute legal proceedings on defamation charges against Benson Hodges and Watty Investments. "It's very unfortunate that someone would want to use the social media to damage my name and reputation. I have never made such a prophesy at my church," Favour told Nyasa Times on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the law firm has written Benson Hodges of Watty Investments, demanding that Benson Hodges and Watty Investments retract the post in its entirety and make an apology for defaming the man of God. "Our client informs us that you posted false allegations about our client that he has made a prophesy about a missing child in Area 23, Lilongwe, which prophesy you said has caused commotion among people, leading to loss of life and properties. Our client denies to have ever prophesied in anywhere at his church services such prophesy or let alone made utterance to such prophesy. If at all such a prophesy was made, then it was made by other people and not our client," reads the letter the law firm has written to Benson Hodges of Watty Investments. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Malawi Legal Affairs Religion By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The firm stresses that the allegations made against its client are not only false, but also malicious and defamatory in nature. "Your conduct is not only regrettable, but also unfair to our client. The said false allegations are unfortunate in the circumstances and they unnecessarily cause misunderstanding and mistrust," adds Mwale. The lawyers warnsthat should Benson Hodges of Watty Investments fail to comply with the demand within 48 hours from today, the firm will be compelled to proceed with legal action against the social media fan. "Our client therefore demands that within 48 hours from today, you should retract your post and make an apology in written form and post the same on Facebook and WhatsApp forum you defamed him. Please be informed that our strictest instructions are that we should institute High Court proceedings against yourselves in the event that you choose not to comply with our client's demands. Our client will be claiming against you damages for defamation and we have no doubt that you will incur more expenses," warns the firm. Benson Hodges of Watty Investments could not be immediately comment. WINOOSKI, Vt., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Physician's Computer Company (PCC), the leading Electronic Health Records (EHR) vendor for independent pediatricians nationwide, today announced their designation of Best in KLAS in the Ambulatory Speciality EMR segment in the 2021 KLAS: Software and Services Report. PCC received an overall score of 94.0 in six major categories. The win marks the first top-rank award for PCC, improving upon 2 previous consecutive Category Leader awards and fulfilling their goal to meet the needs of pediatricians. According to KLAS President Adam Gale, "Each year, thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe take the time to share their voice with KLAS. They know that sharing their perspective helps vendors to improve and helps their peers make better decisions. These conversations are a constant reminder to me of how necessary accurate, honest, and impartial reporting is in the healthcare industry. The Best in KLAS award serves as a signal to provider and payer organizations that they should expect excellence from the winning vendors." "2020 was a challenging year, but I couldn't be more proud of our team's continued dedication to keeping independent pediatric practices healthy and viable," said PCC President John Canning. "The work pediatricians do is vital to our society, especially as we work towards reopening the country. Although we prefer to do our work in the background, we appreciate this spotlight of recognition." On what differentiates PCC from other EHR vendors, Director of Pediatric Solution Chip Hart continued, "As a specialty-focused vendor, especially for the often overlooked pediatricians, we have to be better than everyone in order to compete. Otherwise, an independent practice would just make the easy choice and go with one of the big vendors. Like pediatricians, we value the personal relationships we develop with our clients." In 2021, PCC continues to focus on massive extensions in interoperability and features for the shifting needs of pediatricians responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, they implemented features enabling practices to communicate and treat their patients safely: broadcast email and text messages to communicate key announcements; features for scheduling, tracking, and billing telemedicine as the need for it increased; finally, instant messaging and a COVID-19 financial report, measures intended to reduce the barriers that prevent pediatricians from practicing medicine. They are pleased to see the investment and effort made to their software continue to pay off in the success of their clients. Having KLAS perform the important role of trustworthy analysis is vital to the pediatricians researching for a solution that fits their practice of medicine. --- About PCC PCC (Physician's Computer Company) is a privately held, independent software solutions firm with nearly 40 years of industry experience working exclusively to meet the needs of independent pediatricians. Since 1983, we have built tools, provided consulting, and offered support to pediatric practices who seek to improve the health of their patients and improve their bottom lines. As a Benefit Corporation, we align our business practices with our values, and put the needs of our clients, employees and community first. PCC knows the value of having control over our own future, and our commitment to helping pediatricians stay independent is the driving force behind everything we do. About KLAS KLAS is a data-driven company on a mission to improve the world's healthcare by enabling provider and payer voices to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals, KLAS collects insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver reports, trending data and statistical overviews. KLAS data is accurate, honest and impartial. The research directly reflects the voice of healthcare professionals and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. To learn more about KLAS, visit www.KLASresearch.com. SOURCE Physician's Computer Company Related Links http://www.pcc.com Economy Minister Diane Dodds has called for urgent action from the UK Government on parcel deliveries to Northern Ireland. The Minister said: We are seeing significant confusion in the e-commerce market, both from businesses and consumers. This can be detrimental for consumers and mean that they may be more vulnerable to scams or have less choice in price and range of goods. To date, my officials and The Consumer Council have been responding to queries on this. The Consumer Council has also published helpful frequently asked questions for consumers. I now want to see action from UK Government aimed at businesses in GB to clarify the position as there is currently little understanding of this. I wrote to Cabinet Office Secretary Michael Gove on the issue last month and will continue to call for this to be addressed urgently. The UK government had announced a grace period for three months for deliveries to Northern Ireland. This means that until 1 April online retailers in GB will not have to make customs declarations when sending parcels to consumers. However, it is currently unclear what will happen after 1 April. The Minister continued: In terms of protecting consumers, I also want to see longer term solutions. The UK Internal Market Bill was passed at the end of last year to ensure that there was a functioning framework for the UK Internal Market. For most people the functioning of a UK Internal Market is most visible in e-commerce. The issues that impact NI consumers in this regard are reserved, I am thinking not only here of customs but of the responsibility for post and parcel markets. We now need to see action from UK Government on this. Despite widespread protests like this one in June 2020, Belgium has been slow to address its colonial past. Months after Belgium's Black Lives Matter protests, the country's reckoning with its past has come under scrutiny. But some Belgian activists feel that tackling race and colonialism-related issues needs a bigger push. Ibrahima, a 23-year-old Black Belgian man, died in police custody in Brussels on January 9. Riots broke out a few days later. Angry citizens clashed with police officers and even attacked the Belgian king's car with the monarch inside. Local media reported around 150 arrests related to the night's incidents. Fearing the unrest would continue, Brussels' security forces were placed on high alert throughout January. Cruel history A few months earlier, Belgium had revived efforts to reckon with its colonial past, following the global Black Lives Matter protests. Belgian authorities made a number of decisions aimed at tackling the country's long-standing race-related issues: the history of cruel colonialism and the present systemic racism that continues to affect its Black citizens. Belgium's economy was immeasurably improved by the takeover of Congo, starting in the late 19th century. Leopold II ruled the land as his personal fiefdom, looting ivory and rubber, and murdering millions. Still, a 2020 survey showed that half of Belgians thought colonialism did more good than harm in Congo. Reconciling the past The unrest that followed Ibrahima's death showed that Belgian authorities have yet to gain society's trust on the issue of combating racism and addressing its historical causes. Weary of the elite's reluctance to push for fundamental changes, local activists and diaspora groups have taken it upon themselves to do so. Last summer, after widespread anti-racist and decolonization protests in Belgium, the country's federal parliament set up a commission to study its colonial past. In July, King Philippe sent a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo expressing his "deepest regrets" for the "acts of violence" committed by Belgium, and linked that to racism today. Having rejected the calls for a long time, Flemish schools finally announced that lessons in colonialism, neo-colonialism and decolonization will be included in their school curricula. For many, the small steps Belgium took were necessary, yet insufficient to bring about fundamental changes. One example was the very commission set up to examine Belgium's colonial past. Once it was launched, criticism rained down: Not one historian or expert of Congolese, Rwandan, or Burundian origins was included. But perhaps even more remarkable remains the protracted and unresolved story surrounding the murder of Congo's first democratically elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, one of the challenges Belgium needs to surmount in order to deal with its past and face what it did in Congo. Unresolved case of Lumumba On a rainy January 13, dozens of people gathered to honor the memory of Patrice Lumumba. In 1961, the US and Belgian governments plotted his assassination and threw his body into acid after he was killed. There is a direct link between Belgium's nonchalant attitude toward Lumumba's murder and "the colonial mentality" that continues to prevail in Belgian society to the present day, according to Branda Audima, who heads the Congo department of Intal Solidarity, an NGO working to raise awareness about the ongoing aspects and impacts of colonialism. "What led to the assassination of Patrice Lumumba was the perception of supremacy -- the mentality of 'we are better than you, we can come to your countries, take your resources and kill your leaders,'" Audima said. In September 2020, Belgium agreed to facilitate the repatriation to Congo of the only part of Lumumba's body that was left and had secretly been kept by former police officer Gerard Soete: his tooth. Sixty years after his assassination, Lumumba's family still seeks justice. In 2000, the Belgian Parliament established a commission to "determine the exact circumstances of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the possible involvement of Belgian politicians." Still, nobody has been tried yet. Most of those suspected of being involved in Lumumba's death have died of old age. Etienne Davignon is one of the only remaining suspects. The 88-year-old is chairman of the Brussels' Bozar Museum. A collective of Belgian rights groups and cultural and academic figures has released a statement refering to Davignon's presidency as the imposition of a Eurocentric and colonial cultural orientation that leads to a censoring of the truth. Launching an online petition, the collective has demanded that the authorities replace him with a "person who would allow artists to tell everyone's story, not just those of the ruling classes." "It was clear for me that [Davignon] was a collaborator of the powers in place at the time in Belgium," said Christophe Lacroix, Belgian parliamentarian and member of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination. "This issue has to be addressed at some point," he said. "We need to take responsibility for that dark period of Belgium's history ... [when] certain members of the Belgian government wanted to keep control of this colony [Congo] even though it had been granted independence," he added. Branda Audima believes the efforts to even up the past should primarily focus on preventing similar brutalities from happening. "There should be consequences [for colonial crimes]; it is not enough to say what happened was bad," she said. Audima points out the fact that none of the companies that extracted Congo's resources for decades have agreed to pay reparation yet, despite the fact that historians -- and Belgian authorities -- have confirmed their engagement in the destabilization of the country and crimes such as violent repression and using forced labor. Glimmers of hope In Brussels, Lumumba Square -- and the small sign there that recounts his story -- are among the few monuments that showcase the brutality of Belgium's colonial rule in Africa. The little square that hosts the murdered leader's memorial was named after him only in 2018. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Congo-Kinshasa Europe and Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The rest of the city is adorned with statues and memorials meant to glorify Belgium's past. For example, figures of and references to the controversial King Leopold II -- whose ruthless conquests in the Congo ultimately killed an estimated 10 million people -- are plentiful. "I remember the extensive investigations into Lumumba's murder ... despite prolonged debates and clamor nothing actually happened," said Dr. Karel Arnaut from the University of Leuven. "That makes people skeptical about the decisions that the authorities make." For Arnaut, who teaches and researches interculturalism, migration and minorities, the picture is not all grim, however. "What we can see these days in Belgium is the emergence of plenty of local and grassroots initiatives aimed at combating the legacies of colonialism," Arnaut said. He sees a renewed wave of intellectual struggle organized by researchers in Belgian universities. These researchers intend to bring to light what has been left out of the official history of colonialism so far. "In addition to them, there are young and vibrant African diaspora groups who have recognized sustained activism as the only way to claim their rights," Arnaut said. Just last month, Ghent City Council positively responded to an initiative that called for renaming Leopold II Street. The Belgian tourist hotspot had already gotten rid of a Leopold II statue following a local campaign. "This keeps me hopeful," Arnaut said. Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan and designer Natasha Dalal sealed their longtime love in the holy bond of matrimony on January 24. Much like their romance, the celebrity couple kept the public eye away from their affairs until after the official ceremonies were over and they posed as husband and wife for the photographers. Keeping in mind their special bond, the high profile event had to be put together in the most unique and magical way, best suited to the couple's wishes, while also creating intimate and personalised experiences for the numbered attendees on the guestlist, who arrived to partake in the merrymaking despite the coronavirus scare. Tina Tharwani, Saurabh Malhotra and Manoj Mittra of Shaadi Squad stepped up to the occasion and now, in an interaction with News18, have shared giving this otherwise traditional Punjabi family affair a distinct flavour as they delivered lifetime memories to the newlyweds in a limited time frame of just two weeks. They also shed light on catering to the clients with celebrity background. Q. What logistics go behind organising a celebrity wedding ceremony like Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal's or Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' roka? A. Generally, there is not too much of a difference in planning a regular wedding or a big, celebrity wedding. The pressures differ from client to client. Some may want to go all out, be in the news, and have a larger than life wedding. Some might be more concerned about the security, want it to be more intimate, and make it just a family affair and some might want it to be a smaller affair with unique experiences. Of course, in high profile weddings, there is definitely a lot more security and maybe more celebrities in attendance as either guests or vendors, or celebrity performances. Hence, you would need to even more meticulous while dealing with them, apart from the couple and their families. Q. How did Shaadi Squad come on board as planners for Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal's wedding ceremony? How did Alibaug come about as the location? A. Given our film production background, we have worked with the families in the past. Having known us for a few years and being familiar with our working style, Varun and Natasha trusted us for the wedding. The families wanted to avoid any destination with a flight travel or a destination away from Mumbai as such. Surprisingly, even with its proximity to Mumbai, Alibaug is a relatively untouched destination for weddings. There are numerous properties that can cater to 60-80 guests. And with the speedboats, ferry and now the RoRo, it is very convenient for guests and vendors. Q. Tell us about the time when Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal first approached Shaadi Squad for their wedding. Did they have any ideas of their own as to the look and feel of their ceremonies? What were your inputs? A. The wedding was honestly planned in two weeks. Both Varun and Natasha were quite clear about it being an intimate affair with only the closest of friends and family present. While they did not have any idea of the look and feel for the functions, they were sure of making it a very family affair or ghar ki shaadi ambience. We heard them out and aimed to deliver the same. Given the time frame, there was no time to meet as such and most of the decisions were taken virtually or in real time. Q. What about Varun Dhawan's entry on quad bike as the groom at the wedding which went viral on social media? A. Even though in a traditional Punjabi wedding, the groom enters on a horse, Varun was clear that he wanted to do something different. The idea of a quad bike appealed to him the most, and we made it happen. Q. How were foolproof arrangements made so that pictures from Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal's pre-wedding and wedding ceremonies did not leak on social media? A. There were a number of protocols we had to put in place to ensure photos were not leaked. For instance, we had Non-disclosure Agreements (NDAs) signed with numerous vendors. Plus, all those who had to be present at the main venue had tamper proof stickers put on the front and back of their mobile phone cameras to ensure they couldnt click any photos. We had put up a high masking around the venue to ensure no one could climb the walls or peep through either. For the guests, we requested all to not put up any images on social media till the wedding ceremonies were over since that was what the couple wanted. Being only close friends and family, all of them respected their wishes and refrained from doing so. Q. How was the newlywed couple's and the families' reaction to your efforts after the event had concluded? A. Both the families, the couple and even their guests have been very pleased with our efforts and have dropped us messages and calls stating the same. We are delighted to see that our hard work not only paid, but was also appreciated. (For Shaadi Squad team, Tina Tharwani - Co-Founder, Head of Business Development & Client Servicing; Saurabh Malhotra - Co-Founder, Head of Ground Operations & Execution and Manoj Mittra - Co-Founder have shared their views for this story) India is likely to receive 97.16 million doses of Covishield from Serum Institute of India (SII) as an advance market commitment (AMC) through the Covax facility supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), a document published on Wednesday showed. Countries that are eligible for AMC are low- and middle-income countries whose vaccines are funded directly by the Covax facility using donations it has received, which means that India will not be required to pay for them. The WHO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, had jointly set up the Covax facility for equitable access to vaccines. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat Serum Institute has signed a pact with Gavi and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to supply around 200 million doses of Covishield vaccines at $3 per dose. In return, the company received $300 million in funding from the two organizations. Gavi was co-founded by The Gates Foundation in 2000, and the foundation is also one of the biggest financial donors to WHO. However, these are just an interim distribution forecast, and final allocations will be published later, WHO said. Serum Institute is scheduled to supply 240 million doses of Covishield, with the deliveries expected to start later this month, if the company receives emergency use listing (EUL) from WHO. Covishield is a version of a vaccine originally developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc that is being contract manufactured by Serum Institute. It is important to note that WHO EUL has not yet been granted for the AstraZeneca vaccine, though evaluation processes are underway," the document said. About 35-40% of Covishield doses will be available in January-March and the rest will be supplied by June, the WHO document said. Serum Institute has received regulatory authorization in India and has already supplied 11 million doses that have been paid for by the Indian government. AstraZeneca has received authorizations in the UK, the EU, Argentina, and a few other countries. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) A lawmaker has filed a resolution calling for an inquiry into the inspection centers tasked to evaluate the roadworthiness of private vehicles. Senator Grace Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 634, which seeks to look into issues surrounding Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers or PMVICs. Motorists have been required by the Land Transportation Office to make their vehicles undergo regular tests with accredited PMVICs as part of their registration renewal process. RELATED: DOTr, LTO defend vehicle inspection policy, roadworthiness checks Inspection fees range from 600 to 1,800, with advocacy groups flagging the hefty amounts. Meanwhile, reinspection fees for vehicles that failed their tests run from 300 to 900. The intention behind the law is noble, but the fees following its implementation cannot come at a worse time in the middle of a pandemic where people are barely getting by and now have to add another item in their list of expenses," said Poe, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services. Poe likewise raised how the new inspection procedure, which is supposed to be more thorough as it uses advanced technology in checking vehicles, had been accompanied with several complaints from motorists. Its hard to ignore the accounts from motorists who have experienced glitches in the PMVIC test results that incurred additional costs on their part for reinspection, said the senator. The unreliability of the test results is problematic and burdensome, to say the least. Another issue, she added, was the alleged lack of interconnectivity with the PMVICs information technology (IT) system and the LTO. This means owners of vehicles might still need to avail of another testing in a different center, Poe explained. LTO chief Edgar Galvante earlier told CNN Philippines problems related to connectivity are already being addressed, and motorists will still be issued certificates in case issues in the electronic transmission of results arise following the testing. These certificates can then be presented to the agency, he added. The Transportation Department is eyeing 200 more sites for PMVICs in addition to the current 138 nationwide. Two Sydney women have been charged after another woman was found with stab wounds in the boot of a car they were driving through the Southern Highlands on Wednesday. Latia Henderson, 18, and Kayley Lee Ketley, 24, will appear in court on Thursday after the car was reported to police by a truck driver, who spotted the woman in the boot waving her hand through a hole created by a missing tail-light. Latia Henderson, top right, and Kayley Ketley. NSW police stopped a white Holden sedan on the Hume Highway at Berrima after receiving reports of a hand waving from its tail light section. Credit:Nine News/Facebook Both women are from the Campbelltown area and police were on Wednesday investigating why they were in the Southern Highlands and if the alleged abduction was related to drug crime. But on Thursday morning, Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie from the Hume Police District said the incident appeared to have been motivated by personal grievances. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Journalists and security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo) WHO Team Visits Wuhan Virus Lab at Center of Speculation WUHAN, ChinaWorld Health Organization investigators on Wednesday visited a research center in the Chinese city of Wuhan that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus, with one member saying theyd intended to meet key staff and press them on critical issues. The WHO teams visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology was a highlight of their mission to gather data and search for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread. Were looking forward to meeting with all the key people here and asking all the important questions that need to be asked, zoologist and team member Peter Daszak said, according to footage run by Japanese broadcaster TBS. Reporters followed the team to the high-security facility, but as with past visits, there was little direct access to team members, who have given scant details of their discussions and visits thus far. Uniformed and plainclothes security guards stood watch along the facilitys gated front entrance, but there was no sign of the protective suits team members had donned Tuesday during a visit to an animal disease research center. It wasnt clear what protective gear was worn inside the institute. The team left after around three hours without speaking to waiting journalists. Peter Daszak makes a call on a foggy day before leaving his hotel with other members of a World Health Organization team for another day of field visit in Wuhan in central Chinas Hubei province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo) At a daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the experts also held talks Wednesday with experts from Huazhong Agricultural University. It should be noted that virus traceability is a complex scientific issue, and we need to provide sufficient space for experts to conduct scientific research, Wang said. China will continue to cooperate with WHO in an open, transparent, and responsible manner, and make its contribution to better prevent future risks and protect the lives and health of people in all countries. Following two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team that includes experts in veterinary medicine, virology, food safety, and epidemiology from 10 nations has over the past six days visited hospitals, research institutes, and a traditional wet market linked to many of the first cases. Their visit followed months of negotiations as China seeks to retain tight control over information about the outbreak and the investigation into its origins, in what some have seen as an attempt to avoid blame for any missteps in its early response. Security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team in Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo) One of Chinas top virus research labs, the Wuhan Institute of Virology built an archive of genetic information about bat coronaviruses after the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. That has led to unproven allegations that it may have a link to the original outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in late 2019. China has strongly denied that possibility and has promoted also unproven theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought into the country from overseas with imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion roundly rejected by international scientists and agencies. The institutes deputy director is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Daszak to track down the origins of SARS that originated in China and led to the 2003 outbreak. A security person moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a World Health Organization team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo) Confirmation of the origins of the virus is likely to take years. Pinning down an outbreaks animal reservoir typically requires exhaustive research, including taking animal samples, genetic analysis, and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a wildlife poacher might have passed the virus to traders who carried it to Wuhan. The first clusters of COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan in late 2019, eventually prompting the government to put the city of 11 million under a strict 76-day lockdown. China has since reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases largely concentrated in its northeast and local lockdowns and travel restrictions being imposed to contain the outbreaks. New cases of local transmission continue to fall with just 15 reported on Wednesday as Chinese heed government calls not to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month. By Emily Wang Fujiyama New Delhi: Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader like no other and is highlighting the importance of happiness and world peace every minute of the day. On the occassion of his 82nd Birthday here are some beautiful and inspiring quotes which gives positive values such as, forgiveness,self-discipline, tolerance, compassion and contentment. Check out 10 inspiring quotes here: -Smile if you want a smile from another face. -The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation. -The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness. -A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering. -Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. -Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. -Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. -Open your arms to change but dont let go of your values. -Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. -Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Boris Johnson is resisting renewed Tory pressure to speed up lockdown easing today after a crucial study found the AstraZeneca vaccine cuts coronavirus transmission. Fresh analysis from Oxford University showed the jab offers 76 per cent protection up to three months after the first dose, and can dramatically reduce the potential for passing on the disease. Matt Hancock hailed the findings as proof the rollout 'will help us all to get out of this pandemic', with hopes that infections and deaths could fall faster as more of the public are covered. The government passed the milestone of 10million doses administered yesterday. Senior Conservatives seized on the news to demand the country gets back up and running faster, with huge damage being wreaked on children's education and the economy. Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of MPs pointed out that Nicola Sturgeon is bringing back schools from February 22, whereas Mr Johnson has said March 8 is the earliest possible date in England. 'The PM said last week that reopening schools was a ''national priority''. Now that Scotland has indicated that schools are likely to return from February 22, there needs to be a very good reason for keeping English schools shut for so much longer,' the former chief whip said. However, government sources played down the idea that the timetable can be brought forward, with case levels still high and fears over mutant strains. 'It's March 8, no change,' one said. 'It's good reassuring news about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but steady as she goes.' Boris Johnson (pictured at PMQs today) is resisting renewed Tory pressure to speed up lockdown easing today after a crucial study found the AstraZeneca vaccine cuts coronavirus transmission Cutting transmission is the key to lifting the most severe restrictions of lockdown more quickly and means infection levels could come down faster than they would otherwise. However, there is still concern that new variants of coronavirus which reduce the effectiveness of vaccines could slow things down. Mr Johnson has insisted he will take a cautious approach, promising to publish a plan for easing England's rules later the month, with March 8 earmarked for the first relaxation - a wider reopening of schools. Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'We know from earlier trials that the vaccines are safe and effective at protecting the individual. 'We now know that the Oxford vaccine also reduces transmission and that will help us all to get out of this pandemic, frankly, which is why it is such good news that we should welcome.' He told Times Radio the numbers of people in hospital was coming down and deaths would drop. Mr Hancock added the Oxford data suggested 'we can have a high degree of confidence that that will come down quickly'. Mr Hancock also said the data showing that delaying the second dose of the vaccine by up to 12 weeks could increase its efficacy 'categorically' supported the Government's strategy of stretching the time limit between doses. 'This Oxford report is very good news, it backs the strategy that we've taken and it shows the world that the Oxford vaccine works effectively,' he told Sky News. Professor Adam Finn, from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), also praised the Oxford results, saying the finding on transmission was 'very, very good news'. He said he thought 'it points to the fact that all of these vaccines to some extent will be able to reduce transmission', but said there were still issues around new variants of coronavirus. Asked if the new strains showed signs of being vaccine resistant, he told Times Radio: 'Yes, they do and that's something that I guess we've expected all along. 'So it is going to be a game of catch-up going forward the vaccines will continue to work, but as the virus mutates they will work less well and we'll have to adjust them to bring them back up to top-level protection. 'But that's what we do with flu all the time. It's not something that's that alarming or unexpected really, but it is a reality. 'There isn't a silver bullet, we're not going to solve this problem overnight, it's going to take time.' Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said his team was working hard to look at how effective the jab was against the Kent variant of coronavirus that has been spreading through the UK, adding that data should be available soon. He said scientists were confident that vaccines will have a good impact against that variant, but that others showing more worrying mutations 'are going to be much more difficult to block from transmission'. However, he told BBC Breakfast that vaccines in general should still protect against severe disease and could be adapted to mutant strains. He said: 'I think one of the things that we know about these new variants is that they are making changes that allow them to avoid human immune responses so that they can still transmit. 'So that does mean that it's likely over time that the virus will find ways of adapting and continue to pass between people despite natural infection and immunity after that or from the vaccines. 'That doesn't mean that we won't still have protection against severe disease, because there's lots of different ways in which our immune system fights the virus it is much more about the virus being able to continue to survive, rather than for it to cause harm to us. 'If we do need to update the vaccines, then it is actually a relatively straightforward process it only takes a matter of months, rather than the huge efforts that everyone went through last year, to get the very large-scale trials run and read out.' Regarding the people who were vaccinated in the Oxford trial but may still be able to transmit the virus, Prof Pollard added: 'There's two questions that need to be asked one is, how much virus are they shedding? And the other is, for how long? 'We're looking at that and we should have an answer to that really important question very soon.' Mr Harper said in a statement issued by the CRG: 'With better and better news by the day on the vaccination rollout and its effectiveness, the Government has got to start addressing its mind to the harms caused by the measures we're putting in place to control Covid, as well as to the harms caused by Covid itself. 'Covid is a deadly disease, however lockdowns and restrictions cause immense damage to people's health and livelihoods and we need to lift them as soon as it is safe to do so.' He added: 'Every hour of classroom learning lost is a tragedy for the nation's children and the schools shutdown is having a huge impact on children's health and welfare. 'Once the top four risk groups have been vaccinated by 15 February, and protected by 8 March, the Government must start easing the restrictions. We've got to demonstrate to the public how the good news about the vaccination rollout translates into a return to normal life. 'The top four at-risk groups account for about 88% of deaths and about 55% of hospitalisations from Covid, and in early January the Health Secretary said to MPs that he would be watching hospitalisation and death rates ''like a hawk''.' Mr Hancock also spoke about vaccine centres being open 24 hours a day, saying pilot studies showed that recipients and those giving the jabs preferred to work during the day. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Some hospitals did do 24-hour jabbing and they did that in order to ensure their night shifts got the protection. 'But we have discovered, perhaps to nobody's surprise, that people tend to want to have the jab during the day, and those who are doing the vaccinations prefer to do it during the day, so, since what you need to do is you need a vaccinator and the vaccine and the person being vaccinated, getting those three together during the day is more convenient than overnight. Matt Hancock hailed the findings as proof the rollout 'will help us all to get out of this pandemic', with hopes that infections and deaths could fall faster as more of the public are covered 'So we have done 24-hour vaccinations. The rate-limiting factor is not the ability for the NHS to get this delivered, the rate-limiting factor is supply. 'We will do anything to make sure that the supply is delivered into people's arms as fast as safely possible, including 24-hour supply.' Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) is continuing to investigate strains of coronavirus in the UK which have developed a mutation that has been worrying scientists. Eleven cases in the Bristol area have been identified as the variant that originally arose in Kent but are now showing the E484K mutation. A cluster of 32 cases in Liverpool have the same mutation, but relate to the original strain of coronavirus that has been around since the start of the pandemic. The South African variant which also shows the mutation is under investigation in at least eight postcode areas of England where cases not linked to travel have been found. The E484K mutation has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing people contracting Covid-19. Elsewhere, new infection data from the Office for National Statistics shows around one in seven people in England would have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies by mid-January, a rise on previous months. Passengers queue to board a bus at Nyabugogo Taxi Park in Kigali (file photo). The cabinet on Tuesday, February 2, extended the lockdown in Kigali until next week, Monday, February 8, a move that aims to further contain the spread of the pandemic. The meeting, chaired virtually by President Paul Kagame, also resolved that the rest of the country will continue to observe existing measures until the same date next week. "To further contain the spread of the pandemic, the cabinet extended existing measures countrywide including the current lockdown in the City of Kigali from February 3rd through 7th," reads part of the statement released by the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Kigali City was put under a total lockdown in a bid to gain a handle on a spike in new Covid-19 infections. At the time, health authorities reported that the country accounted for over 60 per cent of confirmed cases since the start of the year. While the capital continues as a leading hotspot Covid-19 new infections, numbers from the rest of the country have reportedly slowed down. As of Tuesday, February 2, the country's positive rate stood at 5.4 per cent of the tests carried out so far while the recovery rate is 68.4 per cent. Rwanda has hitherto recorded 15,688 Covid-19 cases since March, while 205 people have succumbed to the virus. Starting from January 8, the cabinet resolved that among others curfew time is extended to 7:00 pm through 4:00 am from the previous 8:00 pm through 4:00 am. According to the statement, public offices will remain closed, with employees requested to work from home except those who offer essential services. Meanwhile, private businesses will resume with essential staff at not more than 30 per cent capacity. "Businesses resuming operations must close by 5:00 pm", the statement reads in part. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Also to remain closed are all schools both private and public in Kigali, while movement from Kigali to other districts remains prohibited. The government also lifted the ban on public transport in the capital, allowing the facilities to operate at 50 per cent. Similarly, taxi motos that had been temporarily banned for the past two weeks will resume operations with strict adherence to Covid-19 containment measures. Upcountry measures The cabinet resolved that the rest of the country will observe curfew hours from 7:00 pm to 4:00 am. As it has been, movement from one district to another will continue to be prohibited. However, schools will continue to operate, according to the communique. Also banned are all forms of social gatherings and events including religious wedding ceremonies, meetings and conferences. Photos from different distances of the bone. Credit Dr. Yossi Zaidner While scientists and historians have long surmised that etchings on stones and bones have been used as a form of symbolism dating back as early as the Middle Paleolithic period (250,000-45,000 BCE), findings to support that theory are extremely rare. A recent discovery by archeologists from the Hebrew University and the University of Haifa alongside a team from the Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France have uncovered evidence of what may be the earliest-known use of symbols. The symbols were found on a bone fragment in the Ramle region in central Israel and are believed to be approximately 120,000 years old. Remarkably the fragment remained largely intact and the researchers were able to detect six similar etchings on one side of the bone, leading them to believe that they were in the possession of something which held symbolic or spiritual significance. The find, which was recently published in the scientific journal Quaternary International, was discovered in a trove of flint tools and animal bones exposed at a site during archaeological excavations. Dr. Yossi Zaidner of the Institute of Archeology at Hebrew University says that the site was likely used as a camp or a meeting place for Paleolithic hunters who would then slaughter the animals they caught at that location. The identified bone is believed to have come from an extinct large wild cattle, a species which was very common in the Middle East at that time. Using three-dimensional imaging, microscopic methods of analysis and experimental reproduction of engravings in the laboratory, the team was able to identify six different engravings ranging from 38 to 42 millimeters in length. Dr. Iris Groman-Yaroslavski from the University of Haifa explained, "Based on our laboratory analysis and discovery of microscopic elements, we were able to surmise that people in prehistoric times used a sharp tool fashioned from flint rock to make the engravings." Photograph of the bone and the engravings. Credit Marion Prevost The paper's authors stress that their analysis makes it very clear that the engravings were definitely intentionally man made and could not have been the result of animal butchering activities or natural processes over the millennia. They pointed to the fact that the grooves of the engravings discovered are in a clear U-shape and wide and deep enough that they could not have been made by anything other than humans intent on carving lines into the bone. The analysis was also able to determine that the work was performed by a right-handed craftsman in a single working session. Ms. Marion Prevost from the Institute of Archeology at Hebrew University says that every indication was that there was a definite message behind what was carved into the bone. "We reject any assumption that these grooves were some sort of inadvertent doodling. That type of artwork wouldn't have seen this level of attention to detail." So what was the message behind the six lines in the bone? The authors write, "This engraving is very likely an example of symbolic activity and is the oldest known example of this form of messaging that was used in the Levant. We hypothesize that the choice of this particular bone was related to the status of that animal in that hunting community and is indicative of the spiritual connection that the hunters had with the animals they killed." Dr. Zaidner said, "It is fair to say that we have discovered one of the oldest symbolic engraving ever found on earth- and certainly the oldest in the Levant. This discovery has very important implications for understanding of how symbolic expression developed in humans. At the same time, while it is still not possible to determine the exact meaning of these symbols we hope that continued research will unveil those key details." Explore further Human bones may have been engraved as part of a cannibalistic ritual More information: Marion Prevost et al. Early evidence for symbolic behavior in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: A 120 ka old engraved aurochs bone shaft from the open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel, Quaternary International (2021). Journal information: Quaternary International Marion Prevost et al. Early evidence for symbolic behavior in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: A 120 ka old engraved aurochs bone shaft from the open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2021.01.002 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. KYODO NEWS - Feb 3, 2021 - 21:54 | World, All A Myanmar court has granted a police request to detain ousted leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi until Feb. 15 for illegally importing and using communications equipment, members of her National League for Democracy said Wednesday. A leaked police document circulating among local journalists showed the police seeking remand for Suu Kyi to be detained at home until then, after private security staff at her Naypyitaw residence were found to be holding unlicensed walkie-talkies following Monday's military coup. The document shows police seeking charges for offense under the export-import law that is punishable by up to three years in prison. The court also granted permission for police to detain ousted President Win Myint for two weeks for having violated coronavirus restrictions last September when he observed an NLD election rally in front of his Naypyitaw home involving over 200 cars. The Myanmar military has released about 400 people, including lawmakers of the formerly ruling party, and has ordered them to go home, lawmakers from the party said Wednesday. When the military seized power, many NLD lawmakers were in the capital Naypyitaw ahead of a new session of the 664-seat bicameral parliament that was to convene later in the day. The NLD won 396 seats in a November general election. The military said late Tuesday that it has established a "State Administration Council" headed by its commander in chief, which will serve as the nation's highest decision-making body during a one-year state of emergency imposed after the coup. With coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing serving as its chairman, the 11-member council is tasked with launching a new election commission and other undertakings. The move signaled military rule has begun in earnest. The military disputes the results of the November general election, which was won decisively by the NLD, and says a new "free and fair" election will be held, with power handed over to the winning party. The newly created council includes three civilian members, who are all critical of Suu Kyi, who was Myanmar's civilian leader since 2016. Earlier Tuesday, the military held its first government meeting in Naypyitaw since taking power. At the meeting, Min Aung Hlaing said he took over power because he "had no other choice," according to an official statement from the military's information service. The statement quoted the general as saying that despite making repeated requests to avoid this situation, "the takeover was inevitable," adding that "until a government is formed after the next election, the military needs to steer the country." Participants in the meeting included 11 newly appointed Cabinet ministers as well as acting President Myint Swe. The Japanese government said Wednesday that it has determined that developments in Myanmar amounted to a military coup. But its top spokesman, Katsunobu Kato, did not address what would happen to Japanese aid to the Southeast Asian country. Kato's remarks came hours after the U.S. government said it has determined the military takeover constitutes a coup, an assessment triggering certain restrictions on foreign assistance, as well as a "broader review" of aid programs to the country. Also Wednesday, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries issued a joint statement condemning the coup and calling for the release of all people "unjustly detained." "We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint," the G-7 said in the statement. Members of the U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, held a closed-door online meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Myanmar situation but failed to come up with a collective response after China and Russia requested more time to assess the matter, according to a diplomatic source. Related coverage: U.N. Security Council discusses military coup in Myanmar FOCUS: Myanmar's unrest may benefit China, make regional security fragile U.S. determines Myanmar military takeover a coup, to review aid ADVERTISEMENT Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has warned indigenes and residents against violent attacks on people of other tribes residing in the state. Mr Abiodun gave this warning in Abeokuta, the states capital, on Wednesday during the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the state. Let us also use the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of our dear State to appeal to the rest of Nigerians. We must eschew all forms of violence and learn to live together. We must also appreciate that there can be no development in an atmosphere of insecurity. We must learn to manage our diversity and turn it into our strength. There can never be a better lesson in the management of diversity as a source of strength than from us in Ogun State. With over 10 sub-ethnic groups, this diversity has been one of the major forces propelling the development of our dear State. We keep harnessing the strengths and potentials of these sub-ethnic groups for the general good of everyone. The governor further said that Ogun State is for all Nigerians and as such, folks from other tribes and every part of Nigeria should be accommodated by indigenes in the spirit of oneness. Today, Ogun State is the home to not just indigenes of our dear State, but people from diverse backgrounds all over the country and even to a lot of foreigners. Yes, I agree there may be reasons for us to disagree on certain issues of our essentials. But, we will only disagree to agree and move forward. We must not encourage those stoking the embers of violence for the disintegration of our great nation. A country where tribes and tongues may differ but stands in brotherhood is where unity in our diversity thrives. We all have duties, responsibilities and obligations to aid better understanding of our local and national realities. All we need to do is manage our differences effectively and efficiently and Nigeria will be greater, the governor said. Background Mr Abioduns warning is coming days after an acclaimed activist, Sunday Igboho, led some youths to Yewa North Local Government Area of the state where herdsmen were said to be terrorising farmers and residents. The government immediately disowned Mr Igboho, saying his help is not needed to tackle insecurity in the state. PREMIUM TIMES also reported how Mr Igboho issued a seven-day quit notice to herders in a community in Oyo and upon the expiration of the ultimatum, he led youth to the community and destroyed properties worth millions of naira. Under the nations laws, it is illegal for any citizen to issue an eviction notice to other Nigerian residents. NEW DELHI: Ahead of the proposed Bharat Bandh on February 6, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait has warned that the farmers protesting against the Centres farm laws will hold a massive tractor rally if the government does not concede to their key demands by October We have given the government time till October. If they do not listen to us, we will go on a pan-country tractor rally of 40 lakh tractors, Rakesh Tikait, BKU leader, said. He said this after meeting Agriculture Minister of Jharkhand, Badal Patralekh, at the Ghazipur border. We have given the govt time till October. If they do not listen to us, we will go on a pan-country tractor rally of 40 lakh tractors: Rakesh Tikait, BKU leader https://t.co/NFt3m5yrwa pic.twitter.com/VA0v9HC6CB ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2021 After his meeting with Tikait, Badal Patralekh said, We support the farmers' movement from the beginning. I'm here to convey my moral support. Delhi Police are puppets of the central govt." Delhi: Agriculture Minister of Jharkhand, Badal Patralekh, visits Ghazipur border and meets BKU leader Rakesh Tikait "We support the farmers' movement from the beginning. I'm here to convey my moral support. Delhi police are puppets of the central govt," he(Badal Patralekh) says pic.twitter.com/87OVfvEK4x ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2021 Continued internet suspension in areas on Delhi's outskirts, barricading and installation of barbed wires around protest sites by the Centre will not create a conducive atmosphere for talks over contentious new laws, a farmer leader had warned on Tuesday. Joginder Singh Ugraha of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers unions protesting farm laws, said this at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border where he reached with hundreds of supporters to meet Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait. On the other hand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said there should not be disruption in proceedings during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Presidents Address and asserted that the government is ready to give all answers on issues concerning farmers. He said a lot of issues can be taken up during the motion of thanks to the Presidents address and opposition parties can raise the issues of farmers there."I said this at the floor of the House as well. When the (debate) on the motion of thanks to the President's Address is going on, disruption should not happen. It has never happened till now. After the Presidents address, the House should first have a discussion of the motion of thanks to the Presidents address. The next thing can be taken up after that," Joshi said. Urging opposition parties, especially Congress, to not disrupt question hour and proceedings of the House, he said a variety of issues can be taken up during the motion of thanks to the President's address. Opposition can raise the issues of farmers there. We are ready to give more time for discussion. Government is ready to give answers, but have a discussion," the Minister said. "No government has worked for farmers as the present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi," he added. The minister said Question Hour was not taken up during the monsoon session because it was a new experience in the conditions created by COVID-19. "In September it was our first experience of holding a session in the aftermath of COVID-19. We did not keep the Question Hour after talking to everyone but they said that the suspension of Question Hour is the murder of democracy. This time we have Question Hour and they are not letting that happen from day one," he said. Lok Sabha witnessed three adjournments today following the opposition`s protests against the new farm laws as the House briefly took up discussion on the motion of thanks to the President`s address. Live TV While Snyders attorneys argue that the proper way to count the delay is from the date of his indictment, November 2016, to the present. But, given the trial held in January and February 2019 and a new trial was granted after that, it would defy logic and common sense to count from the indictment and pretend the earlier trial never happened, according to court documents. A man was shot while shoveling snow from a sidewalk in Philadelphia Tuesday night. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. outside of a laundromat on the 400 block of West Allegheny Avenue in the citys West Kensington section, Action News 6 ABC is reporting. According to reports, the 23-year-old man was shoveling snow when another man approached him and an argument broke out. The suspect pulled out a gun and fired at least eight shots, striking the 23-year-old in the right arm and in the right leg, reports indicate. The suspect, who police say was wearing dark-colored clothing and a mask, then ran away. When police got to the scene, they found the 23-year-old inside the laundromat. He was rushed to the hospital and is in stable condition. Police say the incident was caught on surveillance cameras, according to reports. No arrests have been made, and details have not been released on what may have sparked the shooting, reports indicate. A new coronavirus symptom has floated among the strange symptoms that come with the virus - the "COVID tongue." The world has been fighting off the pandemic for over a year, and while there have been downward trends in COVID-19 cases, doctors are still finding new symptoms of the disease. Recent months have had a plethora of reports about the loss of sense of smell and taste among COVID-19 patients, but now, anecdotal reports found a new one called "COVID tongue," reported Yahoo! Life. CDC recently noted that, as can be seen in the discovery of the COVID tongue, its current list of COVID-19 symptoms does not cover all possible symptoms, reported Market Watch. Given that this is a relatively new virus, researchers continue their investigations to understand how it spreads correctly. What is COVID Tongue? NBC News reported that a British researcher, who was tracking COVID-19 warning signs, found more cases of the "COVID tongue." People who have this symptom complained of tongue discoloration, enlargement, and other mouth problems. Tim Spector, a genetic epidemiology professor at King's College London, warned people to look out for any strange symptoms in a tweet this month. He said, "If you have a strange symptom or even just headache and fatigue stay at home!" Read also: Biden Administration Scrambles to Find 20 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Unaccounted For Spector believed that there might be fewer than 1 in 500 patients who have "COVID tongue." According to reports, COVID tongue means someone has a swollen tongue with a scalloped appearance or a "furry surface." The "furry surface" is often described as the presence of white or yellow coloring that can't be brushed away. This condition can also be painful. Spector estimated that more than a third of COVID-19 patients have unusual symptoms of the disease in the first three days. He added that it was important to watch out for any of these strange symptoms like skin rashes or "COVID toes" (pseudo-frostbite lesions called pernio or chilblains). Rashes that could be linked to the coronavirus could range from patches in a person's skin to presenting as blisters that look like chickenpox. Research on COVID Tongue Still Limited Yahoo! Life added in its report that while two studies have analyzed COVID-19 and oral symptoms like the "COVID tongue," neither of them is conclusive. One came from a group of researchers in Madrid who received 600 COVID-19 patient records and found that one in four of them had some type of reaction in the tongue. Dr. Almudena Nuno Gonzalez acknowledged in a press release that their research is still limited. "We found changes in the tongue that until then had not been linked to COVID," Dr. Nuno said. Related story: Health Care Worker Dies After Second Vaccine Dose, But Family Tells Others to Get Vaccinated "The tongue is enlarged, it appears swollen, the teeth marks can be seen and ... with small indentations in the back where the taste buds are flattened," she added. The other report was published in The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology last month. But it did not provide much detail about the potential oral symptoms. Researchers also warned that people should not overlook these kinds of symptoms, and they should see physicians to look into it. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 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. [February 03, 2021] Distribution Management Standardizes on Aruba Network Infrastructure to Speed Warehouse Digital Transformation Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today announced that Distribution Management, a leading fulfillment and supplies network, is standardizing on Aruba wireless, switching, and security solutions across all of its locations to enable digital transformation initiatives to support the company's rapid growth and increasing customer demand. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005061/en/ Distribution Management uses robots, which rely on secure wireless connectivity powered by Aruba, to assist with inventory management. Photo: Distribution Management With headquarters in St. Charles, Missouri, and five distribution centers across the U.S., Distribution Management operates a supplies and order fulfillment network that can reach 99 percent of the country within one-to-two days. The company also operates a Foreign Trade Zone that services international needs, and offers managed services for printer fleets, dispatching technicians for troubleshooting and repair, as well as supplying printer repair parts. As Distribution Management has grown and seen increased demand from customers, modernizing and streamlining operations, and improving efficiencies and employee productivity, have become key objectives. According to Tom Huck, Distribution Management's Director of Infrastructure Technologies, the company realized it needed to upgrade its network infrastructure to achieve these objectives. "We knew that the underlying network foundation would be critical to advancing all of the modernization and expansion efforts we had in mind," Huck said. "It was pretty clear our existing network couldn't accommodate our growing needs." As the company planned for expansion into larger warehouse spaces, with an increasing number of IoT devices on the network, and new distribution models that would include replacing traditional conveyor equipment with robots, it realized their legacy Cisco (News - Alert) network had to be replaced. After evaluating new solutions from both Cisco and Aruba, Distribution Management chose to standardize on Aruba across all of its sites. Working with partners Insight and InterVision, Distribution Management began installing Aruba access points, mobility controllers, and access switches, as well as ClearPass, so the organization can authenticate every wired and wireless device that accesses the network and begin implementing consistent role-based policies. According to Jim Adelmann, network administrator for Distribution Management, the new Aruba network is accelerating the organization's warehouse digital transformation, allowing the IT team to connect a variety of crucial devices including robots to the network for automated inventory management. The robots use the wireless network to check in and "call home" for real-time order details that indicate where to go within the warehouse and how to process orders. Other devices and applications benefiting from the Aruba network include Zebra barcode printers and wrist-mounted TC52 devices, which warehouse employees use to scan, pick and pack inventory, QubeVu hardware which is essential in viewing and analyzing the dimensions of packages coming through their warehouse so they can be processed properly, and RingCentral (News - Alert) softphones for videoconferencing and employee laptops and mobile devices. From an IT perspective, Adelmann said the Aruba network is providing the kind of reliability, redundancy and always-on connectivity that Distribution Management needed to move forward with their expansion and modernization efforts confidently. "Had we stuck with Cisco, we would have spent twice the amount of time getting the network up and running. With Aruba, network management is so easy - we had everything rolling within a week," Adelmann said. Adelmann also noted that the modularity of the Aruba solutions allowed the IT team to stage everything ahead of time and that the uptime has been "through the roof," freeing up the IT team to focus on more strategic initiatives. Added Huck, "Lost productivity translates into lost revenue. That's why having a solid network foundation was so vital to supporting our digital initiatives and meeting our growth and expansion needs." To date, Distribution Management has installed the Aruba infrastructure in three of its five distribution centers and plans to continue its roll-out to its additional two centers in the near future. In 2021, the company also plans to continue its move to role-based access control with ClearPass, and will evaluate Aruba Central for management, as well as Aruba User Experience Insight sensors to provide additional troubleshooting and diagnostic capabilities. Said Huck, "We now feel confident that as our business grows and evolves, our network can grow with it, supporting whatever initiatives we undertake." About Distribution Management Distribution Management is a national technology, fulfillment and distribution provider specializing in automated order handling, fulfillment and shipping of small package goods. DM is able to reach 99% of the U.S. within one to two days and international shipments within three days from its five strategically located distribution centers. DM's order accuracy rate of 99.9% is reflective of the operational excellence and efficiencies that have resulted from significant investment in technology and a dedicated IT development staff specializing in integration, automation and real-time reporting. The company operates Supplies Network, a wholesale distributor offering IT consumables, equipment and an award-winning Managed Print Services program, as well as DM Fulfillment, an Omni-channel, value-add fulfillment provider. Visit www.suppliesnetwork.com or www.dmfulfillment.com to learn more. About Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is the global leader in secure, intelligent edge-to-cloud networking solutions that use AI to automate the network, while harnessing data to drive powerful business outcomes. With Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform) and as-a-service options, Aruba takes a cloud-native approach to helping customers meet their connectivity, security, and financial requirements across campus, branch, data center, and remote worker environments, covering all aspects of wired, wireless LAN, and wide area networking (WAN). To learn more, visit Aruba at www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates, follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook, and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products, visit the Airheads Community at community.arubanetworks.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005061/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] And the state created a website and data portal that officials have said will not only notify Californians when they are eligible for a vaccine and help them make appointments, but also would help collect and share data with federal agencies or others who may be working to allocate vaccines. [Visit the site, myturn.ca.gov, to sign up for notifications.] On Tuesday, Dr. Ghaly declined to share details of the partnerships, but said any transitions to new systems would not disrupt existing appointments. Experts have said that enlisting bigger, more experienced health care providers could help accelerate a vaccine rollout that has been hampered by its being implemented by already overwhelmed local public health departments. In at least one place, though, simply having a smaller, more nimble agency in charge has made a significant difference, officials there have said. A Look at Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia of Long Beach told me that the fact that the city has its own health department, separate from Los Angeles Countys, had helped make its vaccine rollout a model within the state, hailed by Mr. Newsom. We can move fast and make decisions quickly, Mr. Garcia said. Its been very beneficial. The city of about 467,000 people Los Angeles Countys second largest was the first jurisdiction to move from vaccinating health care workers and nursing home staff and residents to inoculating grocery store workers and critical public schoolteachers and staff. Anyone 65 and older has also been eligible, as directed by the state. And it is also set to begin vaccinating crucial workers at California State University, Long Beach. [See how the vaccine rollout is going in California and other states.] SELBYVILLE, Del., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on the system integration market which estimates the market valuation for system integration will cross US$ 575 billion by 2027. Rapid adoption of cloud computing and increasing demand for data virtualization among enterprises are propelling the system integration industry growth. System Integration Market size is likely to cross USD 575 billion by 2027, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. The infrastructure integration segment is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR over the during 2021 to 2027. Several major companies are developing the software to provide asset management solutions for IT infrastructure management. For instance, in September 2020, Automated Logic, a building automation system provider, partnered with Nlyte Software, a DCIM software provider, to introduce an Integrated Data Center Management (IDCM) solution. The integration between Nlyte's software and Automated Logic WebCTRL building automation system helps data center customers to enable additional energy savings, improve uptime, and reduce costs. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1819 Integrated security software offers several benefits including monitoring of infrastructure, such as OpenStack, VMware, and Docker, and receiving alerts for unexpected changes to files, configurations, and settings. It facilitates rapid identification and assessment of policy violations and suspicious activity. Businesses must incorporate both virtual and physical security measures to protect commercial and residential infrastructure and equipment. Network security integration secures facility from malware and other threats that can reach critical infrastructure through the network. MEA system integration market size is expected to expand during the forecast timespan due to the flourishing IT & telecom sector in the region. The demand for cloud computing has encouraged service providers to expand their IT facility in the region. Several telecom operators are engaged in constructing large-scale facilities to improve their data transmission rate and compete in the market. The increasing number of facilities is anticipated to drive the market demand. Some major findings of the system integration market report are: System integration allows organizations to monitor critical power and reach their energy consumption management goals. The system integration industry is highly competitive due to the presence of various market participants, who are actively investing in R&D and developing technologically advanced products to sustain in the industry. Growing number of telecom subscribers using smartphones and other handheld devices globally is anticipated to positively influence the DCIM segment growth, in turn, propelling the market growth. Application integration enables applications and systems that were built separately to work together, resulting in new capabilities and efficiencies that reduce operational cost and enhance workflow and efficiency. It helps bridge the gap between existing on-premises systems and fast-evolving cloud-based enterprise applications. In November 2019 , Vertiv Co. launched the Vertiv Geist Universal Power Distribution Unit (UPDU). It allows a single unit to cater to the power requirement of colocation, hyperscale, edge, and enterprise data centers regardless of the existing power infrastructure. , Vertiv Co. launched the Vertiv Geist Universal Power Distribution Unit (UPDU). It allows a single unit to cater to the power requirement of colocation, hyperscale, edge, and enterprise data centers regardless of the existing power infrastructure. Major system integration market players include IBM Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Hitachi Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, HCL Technologies Limited, Fujitsu Ltd, Dell Technologies Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc. Request for customization of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/roc/1819 Partial chapters of report table of contents (TOC): Chapter 3 System Integration Industry Insights 3.1 Industry segmentation 3.2 Impact analysis 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 3.2.4 Competitive analysis 3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis 3.3.1 Technology/software providers 3.3.2 Cloud service providers 3.3.3 System integrators 3.3.4 Distributors 3.3.5 Vendor matrix 3.4 Technology & innovation landscape 3.5 Regulatory landscape 3.5.1 North America 3.5.2 Europe 3.5.3 Asia Pacific 3.5.4 Latin America 3.5.5 MEA 3.6 Industry impact forces 3.6.1 Growth drivers 3.6.1.1 High adoption rate of cloud computing across North America & Europe 3.6.1.2 Increase in organizational and consumer data in Europe & Asia Pacific 3.6.1.3 Growing demand for software defined computing & networking in the U.S. and UK 3.6.1.4 Large shift towards automation technologies in the manufacturing industry in Asia Pacific 3.6.1.5 Rapid growth of SMEs and industrialization in South East Asia 3.6.1.6 Ongoing technological advancements in Latin American region driving the demand for professional services 3.6.1.7 Increasing IT spend in MEA 3.6.2 Industry pitfalls and challenges 3.6.2.1 High cost of system integration 3.6.2.2 Legacy infrastructure in emerging economies 3.7 Growth potential analysis 3.8 Porter's analysis 3.8.1 Threat of new entrants 3.8.2 Buyer power 3.8.3 Supplier power 3.8.4 Threat of substitutes 3.8.5 Industry rivalry 3.9 PESTEL analysis Chapter 4 Competitive Landscape 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Company market share 4.3 Competitive analysis of major market players 4.3.1 Accenture PLC 4.3.2 Cisco Systems, Inc 4.3.3 Capgemini 4.3.4 Dell Technologies Inc 4.4 Competitive analysis of other major market players 4.4.1 Fujitsu Ltd 4.4.2 Huawei Technologies Co Ltd 4.4.3 NTT Data Corporation 4.4.4 Oracle Corporation 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. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: [email protected] Related Images system-integration-market-size.jpg System Integration Market size worth over $575 Bn by 2027 System Integration Market size is likely to cross USD 575 billion by 2027, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Related Links Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Retail Market Automation Testing Market SOURCE Global Market Insights Inc. MBABANE Politicians will no longer form part of the first group of people to benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine as government has removed them from the priority list. Following the Eswatini COVID-19 Vaccine Update issued on January 20, 2021, that Cabinet and parliamentarians will be the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in April this year, government has since eliminated politicians from the first phase of the vaccination process. The update highlighted that the politicians, together with frontline workers, formed three per cent of the population that would get the vaccine during the first phase. It was further mentioned that they (politicians) would be joined by 17 per cent of the population comprising the elderly and some people living with comorbidities. Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula later in the week clarified that this was a proposal that was yet to be endorsed by Cabinet. As such, it would seem Cabinet was not entirely convinced that politicians should form part of the priority list. Healthcare During a media COVID-19 vaccine update hosted by Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi yesterday at Cabinet, she revealed that only healthcare workers would be vaccinated in the first phase. The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has been working tirelessly to access COVID-19 vaccines for all emaSwati. We believe that the vaccination of the population must be handled with urgency and we have been utilising all avenues available to us to expedite the availability of vaccines for all as soon as practically possible. The COVID-19 vaccine must be made available to all emaSwati, starting with frontline health care workers and the most vulnerable to ensure that there is protection for them first as they are the most exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, said Nkosi. According to Nkosi, Phase One, which will comprise three per cent of the population, will be rolled out to healthcare providers in the public and private sectors. She said the remaining numbers would be moved to the Phase II group. The minister further highlighted that Phase II, which will cover 17 per cent of the population would comprise the elderly from 60 years and above and people living with comorbidities, which makes them more vulnerable to virus. Phase III which is 60 per cent of the population, will be given to essential workers outside the health sector, said Nkosi. She elaborated that these would include essential workers outside the health sector such as security forces, fire department workers, teachers, immigration officers, as well as customs. She added that communities that could not practise social distancing and travellers would be added to that catergory. Reacting to the news of the COVID-19 vaccine, Swaziland National Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) President Bheki Mamba said this did not mean that the Health Ministry prioritised healthcare workers. This is a global discussion and resolution. The WHO resolved that this is a pandemic that has affected the entire nation and the pandemic should be eliminated, Mamba said. He went on to say one way to end the pandemic was for all countries to vaccinate its people. The president stated that the organisation also committed to securing vaccines, of which 20 per cent would be given to countries. The vaccine which will be received by healthcare workers is the donation from WHO, Mamba said. He added that the conditions to the donations were that the first to be vaccinated should be healthcare workers, since they were part of the building blocks of a strong healthcare system. However, Mamba said they were worried about the country not saying anything about securing vaccines for the entire populace. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. The Canadian government designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity on Wednesday, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys have faced increased scrutiny after seizing on the former Trump administrations policies and was a major agitator during earlier protests and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys, which has been active in Oregon, is a far-right, male chauvinist extremist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. Canada is the first country to designate them as a terrorist entity. During a September presidential debate, Donald Trump had urged the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by when asked to condemn them by a moderator. Senior officials speaking on a technical briefing said authorities had been monitoring and collecting evidence about the Proud Boys before the Capitol Hill insurrection, but confirmed that the event provided information that helped with the decision to list the organization. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said they revealed themselves. Their intent and their escalation toward violence became quite clear, Blair said. Asked whether the US will follow Canada and designate Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. has a domestic extremism review underway. We will wait for that review to conclude before we make any determinations, Psaki said. Most recently, members of the Proud Boys turned out for a rally in Portlands Delta Park. Organizers advertised the rally as a response to the death of a Patriot Prayer member who was shot in downtown Portland by a self-avowed member of antifa after far-right and far-left protesters clashed. At the September rally, hundreds of law enforcement officers were largely able to keep the politically opposed groups apart. Proud Boys have also demonstrated at the Oregon Capitol in Salem. FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2020, file photo, a protester carries a Proud Boys banner, a right-wing group, while other members start to unfurl a large U.S. flag in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore. The Canadian government designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)AP The terrorist designation in Canada means the group may have assets seized and face harsher terrorism-related criminal penalties. A government official said just because they are a member doesnt mean they will be charged with a crime, but if they do engage in violent acts they could be charged with terrorist crimes. Sending money to the organization or buying Proud Boys paraphernalia would also be a crime. The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs, the Canadian government said in briefing materials. The group regularly attends Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests as counter-protesters, often engaging in violence targeting BLM supporters. On January 6, 2021, the Proud Boys played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The government calls the Proud Boys a neo-fascist organization with semiautonomous chapters located in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It said it engages in political violence and that members espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist ideologies. Since 2018 we have seen an escalation towards violence for this group, Blair said. In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, we have seen signals of escalation towards violence from a number of different groups including the Proud Boys. Blair said four right-wing groups are among 13 additions to the list, which include three groups linked to al-Qaida, four associated with the Islamic State group and one Kashmiri organization. Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence, Blair said. The Proud Boys were formed in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McInnes, who co-founded Vice Media. In 2018, police arrested several Proud Boys members and associates who brawled with antifascists after McInnes, delivered a speech at New Yorks Metropolitan Republican Club. McInnes has described the group as a politically incorrect mens club for Western chauvinists and denies affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views. McInnes sued the Southern Poverty Law Center, claiming it defamed him when it designated the Proud Boys as a hate group. In response to the federal suit, which is still pending in Alabama, the law center said McInnes has acknowledged an overlap between the Proud Boys and white nationalist groups. Indeed, Proud Boys members have posted social media pictures of themselves with prominent Holocaust deniers, white nationalists, and known neo-Nazis, law center lawyers wrote in a court filing. Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberal government is trying to attach their star to the anti-Trump sentiment prevalent in Canada. Since the Proud Boys are identified with Trump, they are an easy target. Had Trump won the election, Im confident the Liberals would not have gone after the Proud Boys, Wiseman said. There is right-wing extremism in Canada but much, much less than in the U.S. CHANGSHA, Feb. 3 -- The garrison office of Hunan Provincial Military Command handled a crimie of impersonating military member recently. The 66-years-old suspect Yang feigned as a PLA major general. With a fake offier's ID card and fake military uniforms, Yang has committed several frauds since May last year. For now, local public security organ has carried out investigation against him. Article 372 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that Whoever impersonates a military member to deceive people shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years. According to an official at the political work bureau of Hunan Provincial Military Command, the repeated success of pretending to be military members, in large part, is due to the lack of discernment of some people. In response, the bureau proposed several methods to help local people tell and expose the imposters, including identifying their certificates, garments, and observing their words and deeds. Besides, multiple measures have also been taken to improve local people's awareness and ability to identify and report such illegal activities, through newspapers, TV and national defense education activities. Novel research from the Smidt Heart Institute suggests clinicians should be cautious when prescribing certain medications to high-risk, female patients LOS ANGELES - New research from the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention in the Smidt Heart Institute has found for the first time that during nighttime hours, women are more likely than men to suffer sudden death due to cardiac arrest. Findings were published in the journal Heart Rhythm. "Dying suddenly during nighttime hours is a perplexing and devastating phenomenon," said Sumeet Chugh, MD, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention. "We were surprised to discover that being female is an independent predictor of these events." Medical experts are mystified, Chugh says, because during these late hours, most patients are in a resting state, with reduced metabolism, heart rate and blood pressure. Sudden cardiac arrest-also called sudden cardiac death-is an electrical disturbance of the heart rhythm that causes the heart to stop beating. People often confuse sudden cardiac arrest with heart attack. However, a heart attack is caused by a buildup of cholesterol plaque that creates a blockage in the coronary arteries. And unlike a heart attack, when most have symptoms, sudden cardiac death can present in the absence of warning signs. Another major difference: Most people survive heart attacks, with only 10% of patients surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Of the approximately 350,000 people affected by the condition each year in the U.S., roughly 17% to 41% of cases occur during the nighttime hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. In the study, Chugh and his team of investigators looked at records of 4,126 patients, with 3,208 daytime cases of sudden cardiac arrest and 918 nighttime cases. Compared with daytime cases, patients who suffered from nighttime cardiac arrest were more likely to be female. While further work is needed, the researchers suggest there may be a respiratory component causing this increased risk at night for women. Chugh's research also shows: 25.4% of females studied suffered cardiac arrest at night versus 20.6% of their male counterparts. The prevalence of lung disease was significantly higher in those who had a cardiac arrest at night compared with those who had cardiac arrest during the daytime. Those who had cardiac arrests in the nighttime had a higher prevalence of prior or current smoking history. "The prevalence of chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma were found to be significantly higher in sudden cardiac arrest cases at night compared with daytime cases, regardless of gender," said Chugh, also the Pauline and Harold Price Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology Research. "Brain-affecting medications, some of which have the potential to suppress breathing, were also found to have a significantly greater usage in nighttime compared to daytime cardiac arrest." Based on these findings, this research report suggests that prescribing physicians may wish to be cautious when recommending brain-affecting medications, for example, sedatives and drugs prescribed for pain and depression management, to high-risk patients, especially women. "This important research may better guide physicians and the broader medical community to making more sound, science-backed recommendations in treating this difficult condition," said Christine Albert, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute and the Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distringuished Chair in Cardiology. "It is also a necessary continuation of sex-based research defining much of the field of cardiology." For two decades, Chugh has led the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study, a unique partnership with the approximately 1 million residents of the Portland, Oregon metro area as well as the provider organizations that care for them-the first responders, hospital systems and the medical examiner network. Chugh also leads the Ventura Prediction of Sudden Death in Multi-Ethnic Communities Study based in Ventura, California, a similar community partnership with the approximately 850,000 residents, first responders, medical examiner and hospital systems of Ventura County. ### Read more from the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Heart Rhythm Revelations. At the end of 2020 China revealed its new individual SEIE (Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment) suit, This item allows submarine crew to escape from a submarine disabled at shallow depths of up to 183 meters (600 feet). The Chinese SEIE is based on the British SEIE design developed in the 1960s and regularly updated since then, and widely used in Western navies. The SEIE was an improvement on the American developed Momsen Lung from the 1930s and the later 1960s Steinke Hood. These two devices provided escaping submarine crew with an air breathing system that minimized decompression sickness. While these two breathing devices worked, they did not protect escaping submarine crew from freezing to death if they were surfacing in anything but tropical waters. The SEIE incorporated a thermal suit and individual life raft that automatically inflated when the sailor reached the surface. The SEIE was augmented by existing SRVs (Submarine Rescue Vehicles) that had been around in one form or another since the 1930s. China was ahead of Russia when it came to submarine rescue equipment, and since the 1970s has adopted British gear to equip their submarines and submarine rescue ships that carry SRVs, decompression chambers and related submarine support equipment. These ships spend most of their time serving as submarine tenders that supply submarines at sea with needed supplies and emergency services. One of the more extreme emergencies is a disabled sub on the ocean floor with survivors inside. Russia neglected its submarine rescue capability until the August 2000 disaster that wrecked the five-year-old pride of the Northern Fleet, the 14,000-ton nuclear submarine Kursk. Explosions sank the Kursk and it came to rest on the sea floor at a depth of 108 meters (354 feet). Some of the Kursk crew who survived the initial disaster died inside the sub after their air ran out because Russia had no equipment available to detect and rescue them. The Kursk was equipped with an automatic locating buoy that would go to the surface automatically if the sub sank. The buoy was disabled duringan earlier operation and not repaired. Same problem with the two SRVs the Russian Navy had. Both had been sidelined for repairs that the naval budget did not have money for. As a result it took too long to find the Kursk, which was sunk when one of its own torpedoes exploded. Only 23 of 118 crew survived. They were all in one compartment that only had air for about six hours, and no access to other equipment that would enable them to get to the surface alive. If the location buoy was working and at least one of the nearby DRSVs were in working order, the 23 surviving Kursk crew could have been rescued. The Kursk disaster was a major scandal for Russia and forced them to do what China had done in the 1970s, obtain the latest submarine rescue equipment and keep it operational. Russia chose the British SRV rescue sub because Western firms pioneered the development of this equipment and were the foremost manufacturers. Western firms also established international standards in this area. Back in 2008, NATO successfully completed tests of the NATO SRV. This $95 million SRV1 is a deep-water rescue device that can be airlifted to anywhere in the world on short notice, fit on the deck of at least 140 identified ships, and mate with the escape hatches on most of the worlds submarines. The SRV1 has a crew of three and can carry up to 15 men at a time to the surface. It can go down once every four hours. This allows time to deal with decompression, battery recharging, and maintenance before each trip down. The two Russian SRVs were in need of repairs because they were used regularly for supporting espionage and naval commando training rather than submarine rescue. The SRV1 system is shipped in eleven waterproof cargo containers that can be flown by military or civilian cargo aircraft. Including flight time, set up time on the ship, and movement time to the site of the distressed submarine, the NATO SRV should be able to get where it is needed and have the SRV in the water within 72 hours. The SRV itself is 10 meters (31 feet) long, weighs 27 tons, and can go as deep as 1,000 meters (3,000 feet), which is the maximum depth for most submarines. Britain, Norway, and France cooperated to design and build SRV1. The Americans built a similar system, providing two rescue systems to deal with any of the several hundred subs in service. The NATO SRV is based in Clyde, Scotland and is managed by the UK Ministry of Defense. After 2000 Russia established links with NATO that included sharing undersea rescue capabilities. This was first used in 2005 when an unmanned British minisub was flown Pacific coast in the Russian northeast. Within six hours of landing to work, the minisub had cut free a small Russian rescue sub. This allowed the trapped sub and its crew of six to come to the surface. The Russian sub had gotten snagged in abandoned fishing nets three days earlier. The United States also flew out two minisubs, but the British got there first and were aided by some American transport troops who had already arrived. The Russians thanked the British and other nations who had rushed assistance to the remote area. Russia also decided to buy two of the minisubs that Britain used. These minisubs are used for all sorts of underwater work and cost about a million dollars each. Quickly calling in foreign assistance was a major change in Russian Navy practice. The navy was under tremendous pressure to ask for foreign assistance after they refused to do so in 2000 when the Kursk went down. The 2005 rescue was a direct result of the 2003 agreement between Russia and NATO to instantly cooperate if anyone's submarines went down and quick rescue attempts were needed. This agreement was a direct result of what happened when the Russian Kursk three years earlier. Back then NATO nations immediately offered rescue ships but the Russians dithered and the Kursk sailors who survived the initial disaster died. The agreement meant more regular transfer of information on who has what submarine rescue capabilities as well as rescue exercises between NATO navies and Russia. Over half the submarines in European navies belong to Russia, including most of the nuclear subs. China began developing its own SRVs in the 1970s using Western SRVs as a model. The first of four Type 7103 DSRVs entered service in 1987 and all underwent refurbishment in the mid-1990s. While similar to Western SRVs the Chinese 7103s lack several features common in Western models. As a result, a new generation of SRVs are being developed. China has not had a Kursk-level disaster to prompt them to join existing international submarine rescue organizations. One reason for the lack of Chinese submarine disasters is that China does not operate its submarines as frequently as Western navies or as carelessly as the Russians. Audi Philippines started the year with a bang by introducing the RS3 sedan followed by the RSQ8 SUV afterward. Now, the flagship supercar, the R8, has finally arrived in the Philippines, joining the brand's high-performance RS lineup. After two years on the market, the refreshed 2021 R8 is now available at Audi dealerships across the country. It features new styling cues that give the supercar a more aggressive look. Upfront, there's a restyled front bumper with larger intake vents and new smaller side vents. Moving to the rear, the bumper gets a more prominent diffuser and larger exhausts. A large one-piece panel has been fitted below the taillights to improve cooling. New 20-inch wheels round up the exterior changes for the R8. While the exterior gets a makeover, the interior is carried over from the pre-facelift R8. Everything from the dashboard to the three-spoke steering wheel and digital gauge cluster remains. Customers can also spec the cabin of their R8 to their liking. It's the same story with the engine. The 2021 R8 V10 Plus is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine producing 620 horsepower and 580 Nm torque. A 7-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission then sends power to all-four wheels via the Quattro all-wheel-drive system. As a result, the supercar can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.1 seconds and hit a top speed of 331 km/h. To improve its cornering ability, the suspension was tweaked to improve handling and stability. Meanwhile, Audi magnetic ride suspension continuously adapts the shock absorbers for various road surfaces and driving style. With the arrival of the R8, customers now have more high-performance Audi models to choose from aside from the RS3, RS6, and the RSQ8. The R8 may not be the most practical of the bunch, but it will certainly turn the most heads driving around town. Interested in the 2021 Audi R8? You may visit any of the Audi Philippines showrooms across the country to inquire about their newest supercar. You may also call 7270381 to 85 or email [email protected] for more information. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. 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 Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the 2020 presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahamas application to inspect six (6) documents of the Electoral Commission (EC). The legal team of John Mahama is asking for six documents including the originals of the constituency presidential election result collation forms (form 9) for all constituencies, the originals of all constituency presidential election results summary sheet (form 10) and the originals of the regional presidential election collation forms (form 11) for all regions. They are also asking for the originals of the regional presidential election results summary sheets (form 12) for all regions and the original of the declaration of the presidential results form (form 13) as well as the records of the alleged update to the purported declaration of presidential election results on 9th December 2020, of the results of four (4) constituencies in the Greater Accra Region. Lead counsel for Mr. Mahama, Tsatsu Tsikata said: these are plain circumstances which necessitate a reference back to the original documents which are in the custody of the first respondent (EC) so that there could be a proper validation of what the correct figure is, he said. In reaction to this, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere Darko queried: "what really is the issue" The so-called Form 13 (Declaration of Presidential Results Form) is already filed as Exhibit 4 and attached to witness statement of Jean Mensa. Theres only one Form 13 used and only one in dispute and the EC has filed it. So, what really is the issue, Mr Tsikata? What koraaa? he tweeted The so-called Form 13 (Declaration of Presidential Results Form) is already filed as Exhibit 4 and attached to witness statement of Jean Mensa. Theres only one Form 13 used and only one in dispute and the EC has filed it. So, what really is the issue, Mr Tsikata? What koraaa? Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) February 3, 2021 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 In participation for Black Lives Matters at School Week of Action, D.C. Public Schools announced that it will teach its students about Black History Month using critical race theory-based curricula. The announcement was emailed to parents on Monday including a video that explains the relevance of "anti-racism" activism and a link to resources created by Teaching Tolerance, a project of Southern Poverty Law Center which is an activist organization, The Daily Wire reported. The said curricula uses the "13 Guiding Principles" of Black Lives Matter. It calls for "restorative justice", globalism and dismantling of the "patriarchal practice" which requires mothers to parent the kids while participating in "justice work", as well as queer and transgender affirmations, defying Biblical morality. In addition, the guide also encourages "disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirements by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another, and especially "our" children to the degree that mothers, parents and children are comfortable." In its article published in August 2020, the Nationalist Review reported about a concerned father pleading for the American people to help put an end to the new teachings prevailing in the country's public schools. In his tweet dated Aug. 21, 2020, Matt Moss revealed that his child's school was teaching Marxism and that he was told by the principal "that the school is working with" Black Lives Matter. The report further says that the schools in Maryland, California, Massachusetts, Indiana, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and many others "have all signed onto the effort," as well as multiple unions of teachers. It also said that Black Lives Matter At Schools began its "initial push to shift education towards their political goal" in a day of protest in Seattle in October 2016. The event resulted in the participation of thousands of teachers around the country in the organization's week of action. But the report claimed that the group has set a new target in 2020, campaigning "to implement a new educational program that praises infamous black Americans from Trayvon Martin to the Black Panthers." The lesson plans are reportedly created by a number of education activists targeting children with their political propaganda which aims "to manipulate the youngest of children while they're still highly impressionable, obedient towards authority, and away from the supervision of their parents." The groups involved in the effort intensified their campaigns by lobbying school boards, deploying "an army of activists," partnering up with teachers unions and pushing city councils and town committees. The National Public Radio said that the Black Lives Matter movement became 2020's international phenomenon following the police killings of George Floyd in United States, Anderson Arboleda in Colombia and Nathaniel Julies in South Africa. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, demonstrations protesting George Floyd's death, the black man killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, is both a reaction to the killing of Floyd and "an expression of frustration over longstanding issues" concerning the treatment of black people in America. But the research center also pointed out that about 60% of American adults say that another major contributing factor in the protests is that some people are just "taking advantage of the situation to engage in criminal behavior" - such as the riots that BLM and other groups like Antifa staged across the country last year, and the riot that leftists instigated in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Suspicious Gun Transaction Brings Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff MCCRACKEN COUNTY - An investigation into a suspicious gun transaction led to numerous charges for a Princeton man on Tuesday.On January 23, detectives with the McCracken County Sheriff's Department were in a local business and reportedly witnessed a suspicious gun transaction. Authorities said a man was attempting to purchase three firearms from a local gun dealer, but the background check was delayed, and the guns were not transferred to the man at that time.Detectives said the man attempting to purchase the guns also had a concealed handgun on his person at the time of the transaction. They tried to speak with him, but the man left the business before authorities could approach him.Authorities identified the man as 24-year-old Sean D. Conger. Conger is prohibited from purchasing firearms due to prior domestic violence convictions.Detectives issued a warrant for Conger for unlawfully attempting to purchase firearms by making false statements. On Tuesday, detectives with the Princeton Police Department located and arrested Conger. Authorities said he was in possession of controlled substances and a handgun at the time of the stop.Conger's attempted transaction was ultimately denied by the NICS background check required for all gun purchases from licensed gun dealers.More charges are expected.The McCracken County Sheriff's Department was assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in the case. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Corporate treasurers fed up with rock-bottom returns on their cash are about to get another pitch from the world of crypto.Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the digital-asset firms behind the so-called stablecoin dubbed USDC that is pegged 1-to-1 to the dollar, has cooked up an alternative for the legions too conservative to follow the likes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into Bitcoin. Park your extra cash in USDC and earn as much as 7% annually through high-yield accounts, the marketing says -- more than 10 times the return on an ultra-safe 1-year Treasury bill.The idea may be appealing to some treasurers who were initially seduced by the big gains in crypto, especially following Bitcoins roughly 40% decline since mid-April. Stablecoins such as USDC are gaining increased attention because of their ability to maintain their pegs during the wild crypto price swings, suggesting they could actually serve as a store of value. Even so, not all long-term digital market observers are convinced.If companies wish to put their corporate reserves into a stablecoin and that is fully audited, it is like putting their money in a bank account which is what they normally do, John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. However, if the account is paying out a higher yield than bank account yields, then it is not merely invested in some risk-free asset.Heres how Circles program will work: Treasurers would open a digital-dollar account where the companys fiat money is converted into USDC and interest is paid out in USDC. The yield is generated by Circle lending the digital dollars to a network of institutional investors that are willing to pay an interest rate for access to additional capital.The companies would lock in their return when the account is opened, similar to a bank certificate of deposit. Circle plans to offer accounts with maturities ranging from one month to a year, with no early withdrawals allowed. Rates available will be updated on a weekly basis, depending on demand for USDC loans.Thats a bit tamer than the strategy first highlighted last year by MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who advocated pouring company reserves into Bitcoin because he said the dollar is being debased by surging inflation. Musks February announcement that Tesla Inc. had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet helped fuel the rally that took the largest cryptocurrency to a record in April before it lost more than one-third of its value.Corporate reserves are not for investing in stocks, going to Vegas, or something more volatile and more rigged against you like Bitcoin, Griffin said.With few companies outside the crypto realm following MicroStrategy, Tesla and Dorseys Square Inc. into Bitcoin, Circle hopes that stablecoins may be the next logical step. The company is working with Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders.The service will be first made available in the U.S. and Switzerland, and will launch imminently, Jeremy Allaire, Circles CEO, said in an interview. Thousands of businesses are already on the waiting list, according to Circle.We are seeing the opportunity for the treasury use-case grow a lot, Allaire said.Other providers of stablecoins are rolling out similar offerings. On May 26, Gemini exchange -- the brainchild of the Winklevoss brothers -- said investors can earn up to 7.4% annually on Gemini dollars through a program called Gemini Earn. The Gemini token is also pegged to the dollar and its reserves are held with State Street Bank and Trust, the largest financial custodian in the world. Each month, the dollar deposit balance is examined by BPM LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm.USDC reserves are attested to monthly by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and published online.Various small crypto lenders already offer yield accounts for different coins, including less regulated stablecoins like Tether.For these products, appropriate users would be people who invest in junk bonds or similar risky lending, said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and writer for Bloomberg Opinion. It might offer a better risk-adjusted return than alternatives. . . or not. But whatever it is, its not a savings account in the way most people understand that term.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. A teenager and a woman have been charged after an 18-year-old girl was found in the boot of their car with stab wounds. The alleged victim smashed the tail light and waved her hand through the hole as the Holden Commodore drove along the Hume Highway in Berrima, NSW, on Wednesday at 11.30am. A passing truck driver then called police, who twenty minutes later stopped the car and found the teen with stab wounds to her knee, thigh and forearm. Officers arrested Latia Henderson, 18, who was allegedly behind the wheel, and her passenger Kayley Ketley, 24. The pair, who are both from Campbelltown in Sydney's southwest, were on Thursday morning facing numerous serious charges and refused bail. The pair, who are both from Campbelltown in Sydney's southwest, are still on custody on Wednesday night assisting police with their inquiries A driver called police after noticing the 24-year-old's hand hanging out of a broken tail light in the boot of the Commodore (pictured) Henderson was charged with unlawful wounding with intent to cause grevious bodily harm, detaining to gain advantage causing bodily harm, driving a vehicle without owner's consent, and unlicenced driving. Ketley faces the same charges, except she was also accused of drug possession and charged with driving while disqualified instead of unlicenced. The alleged victim recently arrived in Sydney from interstate and may have been inside the boot for up to an hour before witnesses called triple-0, The Daily Telegraph reports. '[An] observing motorist saw a hand protruding from a tail light cavity in the vehicle and subsequently called police. It was stopped by police after [an officer] saw a hand also protruding from the tail light,' Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie said. 'Some excellent work done by the motorist who identified the hand coming out of the vehicle and they subsequently notified police and we can't thank the motorist enough.' She was treated for her stab wounds at the scene before being taken to Liverpool Hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Police pulled the car over on the Hume Highway in Berrima, in the NSW Southern Highlands, on Wednesday morning 'It appears that all of the people involved are from the greater Sydney metropolitan area and we're making inquiries into how they came to be down in the Southern Highlands,' Det Insp Bernie said. The motive behind the incident isn't yet known, but Det Insp Bernie said it's 'very fortunate' the young woman was found alive. 'It's very fortunate that we found this woman alive we obviously think it could have ended quite catastrophically for her we are fortunate no one was killed or seriously injured,' he said. 'We do believe she was in there for some time.' Police are investigating if the incident was a drug-related kidnapping. The Holden Commodore is now being forensically examined. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Such measures should be in effect until the end of the Russian occupation of Crimea. At the initiative of the SBU Security Service, Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Moldova's JET4U S.R.L. and Portugal's JET4U LDA airlines, which operate flights to Russian airports and the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia. Based on the identified violations, the SBU recommended sanctions against the aforementioned air carriers, namely: suspension of the fulfillment of financial and economic obligations, a halt to the transit of resources, flights and transportation via Ukraine, and an asset freeze, according to the SBU press center. Read alsoUkraine blacklists two lawmakers' planes in latest round of sanctions mediaSuch measures should be in effect until the Russian occupation of Crimea ends or until the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on Ukraine's claim against Russia for damages over the annexation of the peninsula enters into force. Sanctions against TV channels: What is known On February 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted a National Security and Defense Council decision of February 2, 2021, to impose sanctions on Member of Parliament Taras Kozak and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, such as 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. After that, the channels were immediately disconnected from broadcasting. Commenting on the decision, Zelensky said he strongly supports the freedom of speech, but not propaganda financed by the aggressor country. Reporting by UNIAN The Never Trump wing of the Republican Party may have a candidate in next years U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. Craig Snyder, a Philadelphia business and political consultant who started a super PAC in 2016 to support Hillary Clinton, said Wednesday that hes considering running for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Snyder, 59, served as chief of staff for the moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter in the mid-1990s. He said hes intrigued by the prospect of reclaiming the seat his old boss held for three decades and returning it to the non-Trump brand of Republicanism that I believe in. What Ive been doing, quietly, at this point, is reaching out to some folks whod hopefully help with the infrastructure and resources of the campaign, Snyder said in an interview Wednesday, adding he hasnt made a firm decision yet. So far, Ive been getting encouragement. READ MORE: Pat Toomey's retirement makes the 2022 elections in Pennsylvania a total free-for-all Snyder last fall finished an eight-year stint as president and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, a public policy nonprofit. Hes now president and CEO of Indigo Global LLP, a consulting and communications firm, where his clients include a political action committee devoted to ending climate denialism in Congress. Hes also a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg School for Communication. Even as former President Donald Trump faces a historic second impeachment trial next week, he still holds strong influence over the GOP and the partys voters. Philadelphia is hardly known as a launching pad for Republicans to win statewide campaigns, as the city and its suburbs have grown increasingly Democratic and the partys base of support has shifted to rural and postindustrial areas of Pennsylvania. But Snyder is betting that in whats likely to be a crowded GOP primary, pro-Trump voters could split their support among several candidates. And he said there will be a segment of voters that want somebody who is clearly and has been clearly anti-Trump. They want the future of the party to be defined in opposition to Trumpism, he said. Snyder, asked if he would convict Trump at his impeachment trial were he in the Senate, said: Based on what I know today, I would vote to convict. He also said that President Joe Bidens proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is too big and that he would favor more targeted aid. The Pennsylvania race will help determine control of the Senate, which is currently split 50-50 but controlled by Democrats because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast tie-breaking votes. It will also reflect the direction of the post-Trump GOP. READ MORE: What unites Pennsylvania Republicans after Trump? Democrats and tightening voting laws. Other Southeastern Pennsylvania Republicans eyeing the Senate race include Lower Merion real estate developer Jeff Bartos, former U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, and Kenneth Braithwaite, another former Specter aide who served as secretary of the Navy under Trump. Costello has also positioned himself as an anti-Trump candidate, though the former congressman voted for Trump in 2016 before emerging as a vocal critic later. Snyder said he thinks he would be the only person in the race who opposed Trump from the outset of his first campaign. If the Republican Party remains the Trumpist party, were not going to have two functional parties in the U.S., Snyder said, adding that the country needs that debate and competition. Not gonna have it if the QAnon party becomes the only alternative to the Democrats, he said. Snyder said a potential Senate run isnt about nostalgia or paying homage to Specter, who switched parties rather than face Toomey in a Republican primary, only to lose in the 2010 Democratic primary. Specter died in 2012. Its really about the practical impact that this kind of moderate Republican can actually have in getting stuff done for the state and for the country, Snyder said. READ MORE: Pennsylvania Republicans showed Trumps grip on the party after the attack on the Capitol Democrats considering running for the seat include Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Chester County, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb of Allegheny County, Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia. It wouldnt be Snyders first run for office. He ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1990, and again for Congress two years later. He served as Specters chief of staff from 1996 to 1997 and then cofounded Ikon Public Affairs, a lobbying and political consulting firm, with Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative whom Trump pardoned last year after he had faced a prison sentence for lying to Congress. Snyder said that in his vision of the GOP, the party stands for people who believe there is a lot more that is good about America than is bad, and a lot more that should be preserved rather than radically transformed. It should also stand for capitalism, a muscular foreign policy, and a rejection of identity politics, he said. The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. President Hage Geingob yesterday lashed out at the local media, saying journalists were more focusing on negative news than on positive developments realised in the country. Geingob, who was speaking at the opening of the first Cabinet meeting of the year, specifically took issue with the way the media reported on the Afrobarometer report released recently in which Namibia and Cabo Verde emerged as the top two countries were citizens don't have to pay a bribe to access public services. "And I am surprised, none of our newspapers are talking about it. None! Not even NBC TV. They are not talking about it. That is one thing that is happening that we need to tell you," he said. The Afrobarometer survey released on 26 January this year reveals that out of 18 African countries surveyed, Namibia and Cabo Verde came out as the top two countries were citizens don't have to bribe officials to access public services. In other sections of the report, where Afrobarometer asked the opinions of respondents, Geingob said the results were different due to the fact that the opinions are based on perceptions. For example, he said, where respondents were asked 'do you think corruption has increased?', many responded to say 'yes'. However, he said, in this particular instance, respondents were asked whether they have paid a bribe to government personnel responsible for, among others, issuing identity documents. "In terms of reporting corruption, let us take a cue from a local transport company, which recently reported attempts of bribery to the relevant authorities," he said. "This is the level of vigilance required from all of us in order to deal with the scourge of corruption decisively. It is a welcome development because I have said many times, that citizens are often afraid to report corruption out of fear of losing their jobs and licences." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Governance Media By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Fishcor claims Meanwhile, the Head of State reiterated his earlier position that he will at an opportune time address "insinuations" linking him to the state-owned National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) corruption scandal, "with the a view to demonstrating their falsity". "The case concerned has now reached a sensitive stage as the prosecutor general has taken a decision, and the case will soon proceed to trial. I will not seek to jeopardise or influence the administration of justice through public statements induced by the media," he said. "When trial-related rules and ethics allow and at an appropriate time, I will extensively address the unfortunate insinuations, conjecture and mischievous interpretations." The Fishcor corruption matter has resulted in the arrest of high-profile Namibians, including former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and ex-justice minister Sacky Shanghala. In April last year, Windhoek lawyer Maren de Klerk, one of the alleged key figures in the ongoing corruption case, furnished the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) with a 477-page affidavit depicting the role he played in the multi-million-dollar fisheries bribery scheme. De Klerk's law firm and his company Celax Investment Number One is alleged to have been used to funnel N$75 million from Fishcor to entities owned by the accused. In December last year, prosecutor general Martha Imalwa decided to arraign the accused before the High Court, with a pre-trial scheduled for 22 April this 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. 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. Parts of this site are only available to paying PW subscribers. Subscribers: to set up your digital access click here. To subscribe, click here. PW All Access site license members have access to PWs subscriber-only website content. Simply close and relaunch your preferred browser to log-in. To find out more about PWs site license subscription options please email: pw@pubservice.com. If you have questions or need assistance setting up your account please email pw@pubservice.com or call 1-800-278-2991 (U.S.) or 1-818-487-2069 (all other countries), Monday-Friday between 5am and 5pm Pacific time for assistance. The Junta de Andalucia's spokesman, Elias Bendodo, has said that the regional government has no plans - at the moment - to introduce the anal tests to detect the coronavirus that are already being used in other regions of Spain. "No," was the one-word answer given when he was asked the direct question during a press conference this Tuesday (2 February). Health authorities in the north of Spain have confirmed that they are using anal tests to detect Covid-19 in patients. The Galician Ministry of Health told El Correo newspaper that they are using them on those patients who, due to being in a very serious condition and intubated, cannot undergo a conventional PCR swab taking a sample from the back of the throat. However, in China these types of tests were introduced last week in Beijing and Qingdao, mainly for "high-risk" groups such as travellers arriving from abroad and tourists in quarantine in hotels. The scientists quoted by the Chinese media said that the tests would be more accurate than others used so far, such as taking samples with swabs introduced through the nose or mouth and taking samples of saliva or blood. China says the anal tests have proven to be very effective. "They increase the detection rate of infected people" because the coronavirus remains longer in the anus than in the respiratory tract, explained Dr Li Tongzeng, from You'an Hospital in Beijing. Every election cycle you will see photos of people showing off their I voted stickers on social media. The 2021 version of that appears to be posts showing COVID-19 vaccine cards. But while photos of stickers are harmless, you shouldnt post photos to social media of the card youre given after you receive your coronavirus vaccine, according to the Better Business Bureau. The BBB warns the self-identifying information on the vaccination card can make you vulnerable to identity theft and could help scammers create phony versions. Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday on it, as well as information about where you got your vaccine. If your social media privacy settings arent set high, you may be giving valuable information away for anyone to use, BBB said. Sharing personal information isnt the only issue. Scammers in Great Britain were caught selling face vaccination cards on eBay and TikTok and BBB thinks its only a matter of time before similar cons come to the U.S. Posting photos of your card can help provide scammers with information they can use to create and sell phony ones, BBB warned. Instead, people can post stickers given out at some vaccination locations or set a frame around your profile picture. People should also check their security settings to see what you are sharing and with whom. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 20:51:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Samuel Egadu, Ronald Ssekandi KAMPALA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Judges at the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) will on Thursday give their verdict on whether or not a Ugandan former child soldier is liable of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Experts see it as a defining moment for the victims of a two-decade-long rebellion in northern Uganda until 2006, which made homeless over 1.9 million people and left tens of thousands of people dead. Uganda took the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel case to the ICC in December 2003, close to two years after the global court was founded to address war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier who rose through the rank and file of the LRA was among the five top commanders of the outfit who were indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The other three are said to have died apart from rebel leader Joseph Kony who is still in hiding. "The fact the ICC will soon issue the verdict in its first trial of an LRA leader is important progress toward holding accountable a rebel group that has caused mayhem in Uganda and several nearby countries for years," said Elise Keppler, associate International Justice director at Human Rights Watch. "It also highlights the challenges to delivering accountability when a child victim grows up to become a leader of such a group," Keppler said in a Jan. 27 statement. Ongwen, 41, was abducted by the LRA rebels in 1988. The outfit, according to rights organizations, abducted some 25,000 Ugandan children, primarily for use as child soldiers, or to be forced into child marriages with LRA commanders. Ongwen is charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, and torture, according to ICC. "What makes Ongwen verdict key is that the ICC shall for the first time determine the criminal responsibility for (a) child soldier who faced trial for the crimes of which he was also a victim," Sarah Kihika, head of office International Centre for Transitional Justice in Uganda told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday. "Ongwen is being tried for conscripting child soldiers but we do remember that he himself was a child soldier. So they will have to determine his criminal responsibility," Kihika added. Ongwen surrendered himself to U.S. forces in the Central African Republic in January 2015, and his trial before the ICC began in December 2016. In his first appearance before the court, Ongwen pleaded not guilty to all the charges, telling the court he was "one of the people against whom the LRA committed atrocities" and should not be on trial. More than 4,000 victims and witnesses from Acholi, Lango and Teso subregions in Uganda that were affected by the insurgency participated in the trial. "This is an important moment of acknowledgement regardless of the outcome of the verdict," said Kihika. "The fact that over 4,000 victims had an opportunity to participate in the proceedings, witnesses and victims had the opportunity to testify about the horrendous acts that were committed but also to present testimonies about the abuses that Ongwen suffered that could have shaded the trajectory of his life in LRA," she said. The ICC's outreach team in Uganda has scheduled four live screening centers, one in the capital Kampala and three in the northern Ugandan city of Gulu. "It's going to be a judgment that we are all looking forward to," said Kihika. The rebellion came to an end in 2006 when the LRA fled to neighboring South Sudan and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda and the LRA held peace talks which eventually collapsed after rebel leader Joseph Kony failed to sign the final peace agreement in 2008. Enditem New Delhi: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act rules are under preparation, the Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 was notified on December 12, 2019 and it came into force with effect from January 10, 2020. "The Rules under The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 are under preparation. The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted extension of time up to April 9 and July 9, respectively to frame these rules under the CAA," Rai said in a written reply. The government also clarified in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday that no decision has been taken on a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) yet. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said the NRC would follow the CAA. An NRC is planned to identify illegal immigrants, the government had said. The central government has said that it is not considering country-wide NRC right now. According to a report by the Indian Express, in response to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee report of the Home Ministry regarding the issue of apprehensions related to the National Population Register (NPR) and Census 2021, the government said, "All personal level information collected in the census is confidential." In February 2020, a committee led by Congress MP Anand Sharma found that there is a lot of discontent and fear among the people about the upcoming census and NPR. The report made on the basis of action in this regard was presented in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The Parliamentary Work manual states that "statutory rules, regulations and bye-laws will be framed within a period of six months from the date on which the relevant statute came into force". It is also stated that in case the ministries and departments are not able to frame the rules within the prescribed period of six months, "they should seek extension of time from the Committee on Subordinate Legislation stating reasons for such extension", which cannot be more than for a period of three months at a time. The CAA will grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities like Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian, from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Under the CAA, people from these communities who had come to India till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution in the three countries will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. The bill was passed by Parliament and got the President's assent on December 12, 2019. The passage of the bill triggered protests in several parts of the country. In 2020, a violent clash between pro and anti-CAA groups led to communal riots in Northeast Delhi which left around 53 people dead and more than 200 injured. Live TV Talks are likely to get under way this week on a phased reopening of post-primary schools, with an immediate focus on pupils with special needs and Leaving Cert students. It follows agreement on a staggered return, from February 11, of about 16,000 pupils with special needs at primary level and ongoing discussions about a wider reopening of that sector. However, no target dates have been set and it is not clear now how soon more than 900,000 other primary and post-primary students will be back in the classroom. Taoiseach Micheal Martin has already said he doesnt expect schools to fully reopen before St Patricks Day. Schools have not returned since Christmas because of high Covid-19 infection rates, and public health advice around the phased reopening for 16,000 pupils in special schools and special classes is specific to that situation. Meanwhile, options for Leaving Cert 2021 were discussed again yesterday by the Department of Educations exams advisory group, and a further meeting will take place this week. The closure of schools has cast serious doubt over running traditional State exams, but there is no agreement within the group, which is made up of the education partners, on the issue. The Irish Second Level Students Unions (ISSU) wants a choice between calculated grades and exams, while teachers unions say the conventional exams should run. A Cabinet decision on the matter is likely next week. Read More An upcoming High Court ruling may have a significant bearing on the final shape of the Leaving Cert assessment this year. A five-week legal action against the system of calculated grades used for the 2020 Leaving Cert, after the cancellation of the June exams, ended yesterday. Following the hearing, Mr Justice Charles Meenan said he would give his decision as soon as possible. He said the case involved complex facts and issues but he was also conscious Leaving Cert 2021 is now in view and the calculated grades system may be a matter of some importance. The case is the first of about 50 similar actions that have been put on hold until this case is determined. Freddie Sherry, of Newtown, Celbridge, Co Kildare, and a former student of Belvedere College, Dublin, claimed a direction by the Education Minister Norma Foley last August to remove school historical academic records from the calculated grades process resulted in him being unfairly downgraded by 55 points. Meanwhile a breakdown of grades for students who sat the postponed Leaving Cert 2020 in November shows that those sitting honours biology scored proportionately more H1s. The biology higher level paper attracted the single biggest number of candidates 806 out of 2,155 who sat the exams. Of those, 196 (24pc) achieved a H1, according to data from the State Examinations Commission (SEC). The high success rate in biology compares with 3pc of 294 higher level English candidates and 3pc of the 389 higher level maths candidates achieving a H1 In other examples, 14 of 62 (23pc) art candidates achieved the top grade, while in accounting, 21 of 94 (22pc) scored a H1. Among the languages taken at higher level, 26 of 119 (22pc) Spanish candidates, 19 of 222 (9pc) of French candidates and 12 of 99 (12pc) of German candidates scored a H1. Higher education institutions making improved offers to students on foot of these results will be in contact with them next week. Saudi Arabia banned expatriates from traveling to the Kingdom from 20 countries to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Exceptions to the ban, which begins at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, are diplomats, and medical staff and their families. Travel will be banned from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Japan, Arab News reported. The ban also applies to travelers who transited through any of the 20 countries in the 14 days before a planned visit to the Kingdom. Many passengers had been using Dubai as a transit hub from countries where there are no direct flights to Saudi Arabia, an option that is now no longer available. The new action comes amid a global surge in cases of COVID-19 linked to variations in the original coronavirus, first detected in England, South Africa and Brazil, and fears that vaccines being rolled out worldwide may be less effective against them. Health officials in the Kingdom warned this week that stricter measures would be necessary to curb the spread of the virus if the public continued to flout regulations on social distancing and a ban on large gatherings. Saudi Arabia reported 310 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, almost four times the number a month ago. Flights to and from the Kingdom were first suspended on March 14, 2020, two weeks after the World Health Organization declared that the coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic. Entry to Saudi Arabia by air, land and sea resumed on Jan. 3. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus in Parliament has accused their National Democratic Congress (NDC) colleagues of attempting to whip up public sentiment against them in the matter of the rejection of a motion, which sought to absorb fees for tertiary students. According to the caucus, claims by the NDC members of Parliament (MPs) that the NPP was not compassionate to the plight of students in tertiary institutions were untrue. The NPP caucus on Thursday, voted against the Private Member Motion moved by NDC MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, for the House, to resolve that the president took steps to absorb fees of students in the countrys tertiary institutions as part of governments COVIDovid-19 alleviation programme. Following the negation of the motion, the NDC MPs have accused their NPP colleagues of not being responsive to the plight of students and their parents in an economy ravaged by COVID-19. But addressing the press in Parliament on Friday, the NPP MPs said the impression being created that the government was not willing to help tertiary students was a political mischief intended to cause public disaffection for the NPP. According to the caucus, the NPP throughout history has demonstrated that it has Ghanaian students at heart and same has been underscored by the implementation of the Free Senior High School Programme. We have the track record and will be first to take action. Students and parents should know that if any relief is to be provided the government will do it in a manner they would get the real benefit, Deputy Caucus Leader and NPP MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin said. In his view, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos government has demonstrated commitment in that regard and has provided support for the education sector more than any other government in Ghanas history. He explained that their decision to vote against the motion was because same was vague, discriminatory, had no financial impact analysis on the state coffers and an invitation to an illegality and unconstitutionality. How do you in one breath invite government to take steps to absorb fees of students in public tertiary institutions, and in another breath say the government should consider supporting accredited private tertiary institutions?, Mr Afenyo-Markin asked. He said the ambiguity in it was just too much. All that we are saying is that if you really want to have a plan for the tertiary students in this COVID-19 era then we must sit together with the executive. Our colleagues created the impression that we do not support the urgent need to provide some relief for our students at the tertiary level, but that is most misconceived. He rejected the NDC caucus allegation that the NPP side of the House was not willing to build consensus as they have been admonished by the Speaker of Parliament so that the House could run smoothly. To him, the motion was just to court public sympathy than the intention it sought to achieve. 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 Weve had to wait a while but Sir Keir Starmers lid finally blew yesterday. Out of nowhere, that neatly oiled head of his simply exploded like a shaken-up can of Vimto. For months we have grown accustomed to the Labour leader occupying a saintly plinth inside the chamber, a beacon of trustworthiness, a model of upstanding propriety. The grown-up in the room, if you like. At PMQs all that lawyerly cool finally disappeared in a few terse seconds. A mask slipped. A halo scuffed. Sir Keir effectively accused the Prime Minister of lying. Eek. Cant say that in the Commons. Heavens no. Mustnt go calling another politician dishonest. Not least as, when the dust finally settled on the most almighty ding-dong weve seen since the crisis began, it emerged that Sir Keir was the one being economical with the actualite. What a to-do. Unexpected? Absolutely. Unprecedented? Pretty much. Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer pictured taking part in the weekly Prime Minister's Questions, in a socially distanced session at the House of Commons on Wednesday But for most of us, witnessing the Labour leader who puts so much stock in his own sense of decorum forced into such a humiliating climbdown was also strangely delicious. The drama kicked off mid-way through what had hitherto been a humdrum PMQs, in which the Labour leader had been haranguing the PM for not properly shutting down our borders. Boris wasnt keen on such a move. Too much fuss, too much faff getting supplies into the country. Then, from nowhere, he chambered his silver bullet and fired. He pointed out that our vaccination programme would still be at the starting blocks, like the rest of Europe, if Starmer had managed to force us to remain in the European Medicines Agency. The Labour leader had previously demanded we do so, Boris pointed out, on no fewer than four occasions. Hansard will state Sir Keir Starmers response to this accusation. Sadly, what the stenographers will not record was his reaction. It was a pearler. Pure slapstick. The great prosecutors robotic coils twirled and whirred. Warning lamps flickered. Danger! Malfunction! Those unblinking eyes suddenly went into a full-blown fruit-machine spin. Were this a court case, Sir Keir would have been demanding an immediate adjournment to oil his circuits. Complete nonsense! But dont let the truth get in the way of a pre-prepared gag, he huffed, throwing out a dismissive arm. The Prime Minister knows Ive never said that, not from this dispatch or anywhere else. The truth escapes him. It had all been a simple misunderstanding apparently. Starmer had misheard Boris (pictured above) and thought hed said Labour had wanted to join the EU vaccine programme The Tory benches scoffed in disbelief. In normal times, when the benches are chock-a-block thered have been pandemonium. Meanwhile, down in front of them, it was now the turn of Boriss eyes to go walkabout, rolling and bobbling about in their sockets in mock disbelief. Hed expected Starmer to ignore him, not to issue a flat-out denial. Consult YouTube! the PM suggested. The Twittersphere didnt need asking twice. Social media suddenly exploded. All at once, videos showing Sir Keir espousing the EMA were springing up everywhere. Hed certainly said it four times, just as Boris said. Others had found more. Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh & Wickford) leapt to his stubby feet calling a point of order. He tried read out one of Sir Keirs previous comments but Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle ordered him to pipe down. Quite right: Field Marshal Francois is one of parliaments more shameless rabble-rousers. As the drama continued to unfold, Sir Keir sat guppy-eyed, twirling his right foot round and round like a helicopter rotor, as poisoned as a thousand wasp stings. After the Speaker called time, Sir Keir and Boris made their way towards the exit. Their altercation seemed to continue. It looked civil enough. The PM wore the satisfied smirk of someone whod just got one over his opponent. A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre, taking part in the weekly Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons Reports differ as to what occurred afterwards, when the pair reached the lobby. Some claim it got so heated that Sir Keir had to be escorted away by one of his whips. Boris on the other hand had tried to calm things down, it was said. No, nothing more than a friendly chat a Labour spokesman insisted. Thank you, move along, nothing to see here. Come tea-time a grovelling apology is issued. It had all been a simple misunderstanding apparently. Starmer had misheard Boris and thought hed said Labour had wanted to join the EU vaccine programme. Hed been wrong all along. Dare say a few wastepaper baskets Chez Starmer got kicked around the office after that admission. Later, at 6pm, Sir Keir was outside his North London home, joining the applause for Captain Tom. He looked withdrawn, pained almost. If I didnt know better, Id assume hed spent time in the bathroom scrubbing the egg from his face. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WASHINGTON The meetings begin each day not long after dawn. Dozens of aides report in, coffee in hand, joining by Zoom from agency headquarters, their homes or even adjacent offices. The sessions start with the latest sobering statistics meant to focus the work and offer a reminder of whats at stake: new coronavirus cases, people in hospitals, deaths. But they also include the latest signs of progress: COVID-19 tests administered, vaccine doses shipped, shots injected. Where the last administration addressed the pandemic with the vernacular of a natural disaster using the Federal Emergency Management Agencys mantra of a federally supported, state managed and locally executed response President Joe Bidens team is borrowing from the Pentagon and the doctrine of overwhelming force. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Were at war with this virus, COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said in an interview with The Associated Press between Sunday morning meetings on the response. Were taking every resource and tool the federal government has to battle on every front. Its a strategy facing urgent tests after Biden inherited an inconsistent vaccine distribution plan and with the emerging threats from new virus variants. The goal, Biden aides say, is as simple as it is ambitious: After a year of being on defense, they want to take the fight to the virus to overwhelm the problem, a kind of mantra for the team. The campaign is being waged in schools and sterile pharmaceutical plants, on the vast blacktop of stadium parking lots and along the sidewalks outside Americans homes. To defeat the virus, Bidens team must oversee a herculean logistical effort to put shots into hundreds of millions of arms, but also overcome vaccine hesitance, politically charged science skepticism and fatigue across all corners of society after nearly a year of hardship. For Biden, beating back the pandemic is a defining challenge of his presidency, testing his central promise to the American people that he can better manage the outbreak than his predecessor. His team seemingly day by day rolls out an almost dizzying array of new efforts and appeals large and small everything from building a surgical glove factory in the U.S. by years end to asking Americans to wear masks while walking their dogs. The central question for Biden and his team, one that cant be answered yet: Will it all add up to enough? Theyre taking exactly the right approach, said Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University who previously served as Baltimores health commissioner. The federal government is taking responsibility, instead of leaving everything to state and local governments and blaming others when things go wrong. For all of the activity, though, Biden knows that there are more grim statistics to come before Americans can return to any semblance of the before days. More Americans have died from COVID-19 in the last year than died during combat in World War II, and some projections show the death toll could top that of the Civil War by the beginning of summer. New virus cases, which had been at historic highs following the holiday season, have steadily declined over Bidens early weeks in office but still remain worrisomely elevated, and lives are still being lost at a rate of about 21,000 per week. Since he took office three weeks ago, Bidens team has attacked the problem on multiple fronts. They have unleashed billions of federal dollars to boost vaccinations and testing and developed a model to deploy more than 10,000 active-duty troops to join even more members of the National Guard to put shots into arms. Mass vaccination sites, supported by federal troops, are set to open in California, Texas and New York in coming weeks. As concerns grow about potentially dangerous mutations in the virus, Biden aides view the vaccines less as a silver bullet and more as part of a complementary series of moves that, taken together, offer the prospect of real progress. And for the U.S. to fully contain the problem, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious-disease expert, has warned that the pace of vaccinations must increase globally to curtail the mutants. Were not going to sugarcoat in any way how hard this is, but were going to demonstrate clear evidence of progress and action, Zients said. Biden is already well on pace to exceed his goal of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office. Its an assuredly achievable goal that some consider inadequate but also a break from the off-base predictions of the Trump administration that undercut public confidence. According to the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention, at least 26 million doses have been administered in Bidens first three weeks in office. Thats just the floor, Biden said Thursday as he toured the National Institutes of Health. Our end goal is beating COVID-19. Wen urged the Biden administration to set more aggressive targets a moon shot to increase the pace of vaccinations to 3 million per day. Much of the improvement in vaccination deliveries so far has been due to long-planned manufacturing ramp-ups, not the actions of the Biden team, aides acknowledge. But with the prospect of a third vaccine receiving approval in coming weeks, they are trying to anticipate and eliminate the next set of bottlenecks, when capacity to deliver injections and demand for vaccines become limiting factors. They have also moved to speed up the existing supply pipeline, with Biden announcing Thursday that the U.S. had secured contractual commitments from Moderna and Pfizer to deliver 600 million doses of the vaccine enough to inoculate 300 million Americans by the end of July, more than a month earlier than initially anticipated. Beyond the focus on sheer numbers of shots delivered, there is the question of whose arms. Bidens team has taken an increased role in determining where each vial of vaccine goes, with an eye on ensuring that lower-income, rural and minority communities are covered, an implicit criticism of how some states have handled their rollouts. New distributions to community health centers, announced Tuesday, and a 1 million weekly dose pharmacy program being rolled out this week will allow the White House to directly steer vaccines to underserved communities. The ideas are not without their critics. On a call with the White House on Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appealed to the administration to work through states rather than alternative distribution avenues, arguing they have excess demand they already cant meet. Other governors expressed concern that the federal program would upend their own plans to use those health centers to distribute vaccines. While governors appreciate the federal partnership, it is important that any increase in manufacturing capacity for vaccines should go to the states for distribution and not duplicated through separate federal programs, Hutchinson told the AP. The White House has defended them as pilot programs that can be scaled up to more sites with more doses if they prove to be effective. In one key instance, the more hands-on federal response has meant the Biden White House has taken a step back. Where the Trump White House got involved in editing CDC guidance for businesses, travel and schools prompting complaints about meddling with science and leading some states to adopt their own more stringent protocols the Biden administration is leaving it to career scientists to craft policies. New, more prescriptive federal guidance on schools is expected as soon as Friday. While Biden in December promised that the majority of our schools can be open by the end of my first 100 days, his administration has since narrowed that goal to cover just K-8 schools, and even then, plans to count success as being open just a single day per week. Thats drawing criticism from some Republicans who say Biden is setting the bar too low and for ignoring the lessons of schools that have remained open for most of the pandemic. One early success of the Biden plan was born out of conversations with governors frustrated about constantly fluctuating vaccine supplies. The lack of certainty led some states to slow the administration of first doses to ensure enough second shots would be available if deliveries dropped. Bidens team pledged to give states three weeks notice on whats coming their way. We now see more vaccine on the horizon than we did a few weeks ago, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told the AP. The more we learn about more vaccine the happier I am. Early reviews from the public of Bidens response have been largely positive. Two weeks into Bidens administration, a Quinnipiac poll showed 61% of Americans approving of the way the president is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly all Democrats and 33% of Republicans said they approve. In a December Quinnipiac poll, 39% of Americans approved of the way President Donald Trump was handling the coronavirus pandemic. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans, but just 3% of Democrats, approved. Bidens national strategy for the pandemic, released on his second day in office, provides the roadmap for the months ahead: more testing, clear guidance, and more and equitable vaccinations. But the path to a new normal is still unclear. The science on what will be necessary to achieve herd immunity, particularly with the rise of new mutations, remains unresolved. The Biden team is already actively working with pharmaceutical companies to prepare booster shots for the variants, potentially annually, like flu vaccines. And theyre building the infrastructure to ramp up testing for the virus, given that testing could be part of life for years to come. Bidens call for Americans to wear a mask for his first 100 days will undoubtedly be extended, aides said. And his other goals are likely to be adjusted upward in coming months. Well set the next set of goals as we make progress against the first set of goals, Zients said. ___ Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut and Jonathan Lemire in Washington and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report. Our hearts go out to the victims of the Fultondale tornado. Tragedies are more poignant when they are close to home. I live only eight miles away. This awesome tornado fits with the observation that the Tornado Alley of the Great Plains is shifting east and extending into the Birmingham and Huntsville areas. This is what climate change looks like. Because the historic data on tornados is limited, it is not yet scientifically definitive that the tornado migration is human caused. However, the shift is consistent with the human-caused movement of the hot and dry climate in the West eastward into the Midwest. In contrast, scientists are extremely confident that human greenhouse gas emissions are making hurricanes more intense and causing temperatures to rise. Consistent with the fact that this pollution accumulates in the atmosphere, 2020 tied 2016 as the hottest year on record despite the significant reduction in global emissions created by the pandemic recession. Because of strong inertias in the climate system, we know that weather-related disasters will become worse. However, how much worse is still in our hands. We must act together to avoid the more dire possibilities. An appreciation for Representative Gary Palmers (AL-06) service on the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. In that capacity he has taken a deep dive into alternative climate policies. The committees 2020 547-page majority staff report describes literally hundreds of government actions aimed to aggressively build a clean energy economy, create good-paying jobs and leave no populations or regions behind. Mechanisms include eliminating tax breaks for large oil and gas companies, loan guarantees and grants, research and development, regulations, direct government employment and creating market signals. While carbon pricing is among the Democrats recommendations, it is not emphasized. As an economist, I advocate for making this market mechanism the foundation of our efforts. It is the way to quickly incentivize responsible climate choices. Carbon pricing simply means that polluters will no longer be allowed to dump wastes into the atmosphere for free. By making polluters pay, everyone will be motivated to transition off of fossil fuels. Momentum is growing for carbon pricing. Across the US 68 percent of adults agree that fossil fuel companies should pay a carbon tax. Even across Alabama 63 percent agree. As of this January the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports a market-based approach to reduce our nations emissions. Twenty-one Fortune 500 companies, the Business Roundtable, and the U.S. Commodities Future Trading Commission all endorse carbon pricing. So, too, does a coalition of 20 prominent faith organizations. Carbon pricing is already in place throughout California and New England, and in Austin, Texas. Beyond our borders, over 55 carbon pricing initiatives are implemented or scheduled to begin including in the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and China. One specific approach to carbon pricing is for government to charge fossil fuel companies according to how much carbon will be emitted when their products are burned. The funds collected would then be rebated to Americans on an equal basis as carbon dividends. 3589 US economists endorse this carbon dividends approach. Among us are 28 Nobel Laureate economists and all living former Federal Reserve chairs. Pricing carbon will incentivize innovation and efficiency and promote economic growth. The dividends will provide a net financial benefit to the majority of Americans, especially those with low incomes. Others among the various endorsers of carbon dividends are the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church. And, young people. The student government presidents at University of Alabama and at UAB are among the 400+ college student leaders to endorse carbon dividends. A college Republican group, Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends, asserts, Capitalism isnt the problem. Capitalism is the solution. The city councils of both Birmingham and Florence endorse this policy. A carbon dividends bill was introduced in each of two previous Congresses, both times with bipartisan sponsorship. It will be reintroduced in the current Congress and it would be extremely significant for Representative Palmer to be a co-sponsor. Given his climate policy expertise and as chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, Palmer can lead his colleagues to support the measure. This approach is the conservative solution to climate change. It relies on the invisible hand of the marketplace, and being revenue neutral it does not increase the size of the federal government. In 2020 Hurricane Sally was among a record-breaking nine extreme weather events impacting Alabama that had price tags of over a billion dollars. Those disasters, like the Fultondale tornado, injured Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Similarly, the sea level rise on Dolphin Island does not discriminate according to the political leanings of the property owners. As we search for common cause in our divided nation, the changing climate can be, and needs to be, an issue that bridges our political divide. Dr. Emily Northrop is a professor of economics emerita at Southwestern University A Bucks County man has been charged with assaulting a federal officer after federal investigators say he pushed over a fence and knocked an officer to the ground during the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol in early January. Charges including assaulting an officer, obstructing an officer during their official duties and obstructing an official proceeding were filed against Ryan Samsel late last week, according to federal court documents that were unsealed early Monday. No attorney information was listed for Samsel and a number listed in his name had been disconnected. Philadelphia FBI office spokesperson Carrie Adamowski confirmed that Samsel was arrested Saturday by a joint FBI and local task force. She said as of Monday afternoon, he was being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia awaiting his initial appearance. Courts were closed Monday in Philadelphia because of the weather, and it was unclear from court records if Samsel had an initial appearance in Magistrate Court on Tuesday. More than 160 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the siege. All of those cases so far are being handled out of Washington after initial appearances. Records showed Samsel, 37, is on parole for an assault conviction from 2016 in Pennsylvania, and that there is a separate warrant for his arrest related to an alleged 2019 assault in New Jersey. According to the criminal complaint, Samsel can be seen in videos from the Capitol approaching a reinforced fence being secured by Capitol police officers. He takes off his jacket, turns his hat backwards and takes an aggressive posture before he and several other protesters began pushing and pulling on the barrier, authorities allege. A female officer was knocked to the ground and struck her head when the fence fell. That officer, who was not named, told investigators that Samsel said, We dont have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way? The officer was later taken to the hospital for treatment after she blacked out. Investigators said in the charging documents that Samsel can be seen on video a short time later during an altercation with another group of officers in riot gear, trying to pry a riot shield away from one of them. A federal agent identified Samsel using a law enforcement database. A review of Samsels cellphone data showed he traveled to Washington on Jan. 6, according to the court documents. By CLAUDIA LAUER Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. When George Gascon was elected district attorney for Los Angeles County with the backing of Soros money, many of us feared the worst. But we never expected that he would have his office break with four decades of precedent and allow the very darkest of evildoers to be unleashed from captivity and foisted upon the innocent public. The Manson family are the very symbol of depraved, malign evil. Failing to oppose releasing a Manson member is tantamount to symbolically embracing evil and letting it loose on the public. George Gascon (photo credit: Shawn Calhoun CC BY-1.0 license). NBC News reports: Whenever the notorious killer Charles Manson or one of his convicted followers would come up for parole over the last 40 years, a Los Angeles County prosecutor joined victims' family members at a California state prison to argue against the release. But when Kay Martley joined a California Board of Parole Hearings video conference to consider parole for convicted Manson "family" killer Bruce Davis earlier this month, she was stunned to learn she would be making the case on behalf of her murdered relative alone. "I had no one to speak for me," said Martley, 81, whose cousin Gary Hinman was tortured and killed by Manson followers on July 27, 1969. "I felt like no one cares about the victim's families anymore. We are totally forgotten." The absence of a prosecutor was no oversight. It was the result of a policy shift ordered by newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, who campaigned on promises to reduce the number of people in prison. The new mandate puts a halt on Los Angeles County prosecutors opposing parole for inmates sentenced to life who have already served their mandatory minimum period of incarceration. I cannot begin to grasp the pain that this move inflicts on the friends and relatives of all the victims of the Manson Family. Evil like that must be opposed always, everywhere, every time. Maybe this will wake up Los Angeles County voters to what they have installed as a guardian: someone who is fine with freedom for the worst among us. But of course, the Manson killings are now decades in the past, and maybe few people remember what looking into the face of evil feels like. Hat tip: Legal Insurrection. New York: Technology giant Microsoft is undertaking a major reorganisation that will likely see the company cutting about 3,000 jobs from its global workforce, a media report said on Friday. The layoffs under the restructuring at the technology giant led by India-born Satya Nadella will mostly affect sales, and as many as 3,000 jobs will be cut, CNBC reported. The media report quoted a Microsoft spokesperson as saying that the company is implementing changes to better serve its customers and partners. Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others, the spokesperson said. ALSO READ: Microsoft to announce thousand of layoffs, will focus on cloud service CNBC added that the job cuts amount to less than 10 per cent of the companys total sales force, and about 75 per cent of them will be outside the US. The report added that Microsoft was going to specifically focus on how it sells its cloud-services product, Azure. Microsofts cloud business has been booming over recent quarters and the company Microsoft noted Azure sales growth of 93 percent last quarter. While Amazon has become a bigger competitor in the space, Microsofts restructuring is to pivot to software as a service, platform as a service and infrastructure, the report said. Microsoft said its plan is to use employees who are more knowledgeable about specific verticals so they can sell bigger packages. Microsoft has 71,000 employees in the US and 121,000 employees around the globe, suggesting that these cuts are relatively small compared to the size of its entire workforce, CNBC said. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Joe Biden keeps appointing czars. One of them, the Asian policy czar, is Kurt Campbell. Campbell was a former Obama administration official and, more recently, board vice chairman of the U.S.-China Strong Foundation. Whats that? According to Alana Goodman, who cites State and Justice Department records, its ostensibly a nonprofit group that promotes student language exchanges with Beijing but whose leaders included prominent members of the Chinese governments overseas propaganda fronts. Says Goodman: The foundation has promoted the Chinese army and Chinas Belt and Road Initiativedeemed a national security threat by U.S. officials. It has also partnered with the Confucius Institute U.S. Center, an educational nonprofit organization that the State Department designated as a foreign mission last summer, citing its promotion of Beijings propaganda efforts to academics across the world. We have written about the noxious Confucius Institute in posts like this one. Goodman continues: In August 2017, the U.S.-China Strong Foundation appeared to celebrate the founding of the Peoples Liberation Army on its Twitter account, writing, Today is the 90th anniversary of the founding of Chinas PLA! and urging followers to read about a commemorating address by President Xi. The group also posted multiple favorable Twitter messages about Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure program that U.S. officials have decried as a national security risk. Theres plenty more in Goodmans report and plenty to support the suspicion that, to quote intelligence analysis Anders Corr, the U.S.-China Strong Foundation could be a [Chinese Communist Party] front group, or so heavily influenced by the CCP as to be tantamount to a front group. Campbell isnt the only China sympathizer Biden has selected for a key foreign policy post. Theres also Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who has been nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. In a column for the Washington Post, Josh Rogan pointed to past remarks by Thomas-Greenfield on China, some of which she delivered at a Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institute. According to Rogan: She touted Beijings Belt and Road Initiative and noted Chinas vast expansion into all aspects of African economic and even cultural life. She criticized the Trump administration for treating Africa as a battleground for great power competition. She said the United States and China are not in a cold war. . .Thomas-Greenfield also seemed to excuse Beijings debt-trap diplomacy in Africa. Is Thomas-Greenfield simply naive about China? Maybe. She said she didnt realize the significance of speaking at the CCP-backed Confucius Institute. Thats not easy to believe, considering her extensive experience in foreign policy, including nearly four years as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Obama administration. In any case, her pro-China remarks surely reflected her views. Ignorance would be no excuse for them. Of the two officials discussed above whom Biden is empowering, however, Campbell is the more problematic. After all, he will be directly tasked with China policy. And he hasnt just participated in a Confucius Institute event, he was on the board of a Confucius Institute partner that appears to have been heavily influenced by the CCP. But then, Biden himself, or at a minimum close members of his family, was enriched by China. So why should we be surprised when he appoints China sympathizers to key posts in his administration? The government on Wednesday formally sealed the Rs 48,000 crore deal to procure 83 Tejas light combat aircraft from state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The deal is the biggest ever in the indigenous military aviation sector. The contract was handed over by Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, V L Kantha Rao to Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, R Madhavan, at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country's premier defence and aerospace show in Benagaluru in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Tejas, manufactured by the HAL, is a single engine and highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month approved the deal for procurement of the 73 Tejas Mk-IA variant and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-I trainer aircraft from the HAL to boost IAF's combat prowess. "I am very happy that HAL has got orders for development of 83 new indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas MK1A from Indian Air Force valued at more than Rs. 48000 Crores, it is probably the biggest 'Make in India' Defence contract till date," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said after the contract was signed. The purchase is in addition to an earlier deal to buy 40 of the combat aircraft and the locally-made jets are set to join the Indian Air Force fleet over the course of the next six to seven years. The Mark A1 version of the jet will have 43 improvements over the initial version, including major improvements to enhance operational capability. These include easier maintenance, active electronically scanned array radar, electronic warfare suite and beyond-visual range missile capabilities, that will include the Indian made air-to-air missile Aastra Mark1. It will also have the ability to carry missiles for long range. The Indian Air Force plans to switch to the locally-manufactured Tejas, the LCA Mark 1A, three years after it floated a tender from international producers for 114 aircraft. The 123 Tejas fighters procured by the IAF will be in three different variants, all powered by a general electric engine. So far 20 have been made in what is called the initial operational clearance version. Another 20 are being made in what is called the final operational clearance version. These 123 jets will be followed by the Mark-II variant which are medium weight fighters. 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 [February 03, 2021] AIG Retirement Services Selected as Exclusive Retirement Plan Provider for Care New England Health System AIG Retirement Services, a leading retirement plan provider for tax-exempt and public sector employers, today announced it will serve as the exclusive retirement plan provider for Care New England, a non-profit health care system with over 7,000 employees and over $400 million in retirement plan assets. "We are honored to bring our services to Care New England, especially at a time when our nation's health care systems are doing such extraordinary work," said Gilliane Isabelle, Chief Distribution Officer, AIG Retirement Services. "AIG Retirement Services works to help those who serve others achieve the retirement they envision, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to bring our powerful technologies and a personalized retirement plan experience to so many Rhode Island frontline health care workers." AIG Retirement Services provides retirement plan participants with access to valuable education and guidance-however and whenever they prefer. Through the user-friendly, interactive online experiences FutureFIT and Retirement Pathfinder, AIG Retirement Services helps plan participants work toward their desired retirement outcomes by making finances personal, understandable and accessible. "Care New England looks forward to our new partnership with AIG Retirement Services, which includes the important step of consolidating our 403(b) and 457(b) plans onto one platform," said Gillian Cook, Compensation & Retirement Manager, Care New England. "Unifying the administration of these retirement plans will give our employees a better, more comprehensive user experience." AIG Retirement Services offers plan sponsors powerful data analytics that help drive employee engagement and improve participant outcomes. AIG's SponsorFIT transforms how employers run their retirement plans, uncovering plan-specific opportunities through customized reports identifying plan trends and actionable data-driven insights. About AIG Retirement Services For more than half a century, AIG Retirement Services has served as a leading defined contribution retirement plan provider for tax-exempt and public sector employers, including healthcare, K-2, higher education, government, religious, charitable and other nonprofit organizations. AIG Retirement Services has more than $100 billion in total assets under administration, managing thousands of plans serving approximately 1.8 million participants. It includes the VALIC family of companies: The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. and VALIC Retirement Services Company. Additional information can be found at www.aig.com/RetirementServices. About AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement solutions, and other financial services to customers in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube (News - Alert) : www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter (News - Alert) : @AIGinsurance www.twitter.com/AIGinsurance | LinkedIn (News - Alert) : www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries and jurisdictions, and coverage is subject to underwriting requirements and actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005489/en/ [ 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. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Anti-vaccine activists have been having a field day with the myth that COVID-19 immunizations cause infertility. There is zero evidence to support this canard, but it has caught on because it has the thinnest veneer of scientific plausibility, plus a coincidental echo in a science fiction miniseries. The co-originator of the myth is Wolfgang Wodarg, a German politician and physician who left medical practice in 1994. He was "the prime mover" in 2010 behind cries that the swine flu pandemic was fake and that drug companies had used the crisis to squander money on "inefficient vaccine strategies" that exposed people to "insufficiently tested vaccines," as an article in the journal Nature reported. In December, Wodarg and a former Pfizer employee petitioned the European Medicines AgencyEurope's version of the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationto delay approval of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. They speculated that because the vaccine triggers disease-fighting antibodies to the coronavirus spike protein, it might trigger an immune response against a protein called syncytin-1, which is involved in the formation of the human placenta. No placenta means no pregnancy, which means infertility. The spike protein and syncytin-1 have a tiny bit of genetic code that is the same, but even Wodarg's petition says "there is no indication whether antibodies against spike proteins of [coronaviruses] would also act like anti-syncytin-1 antibodies." The idea that the vaccine would do that is wrong for several reasons. As Jill Foster, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota, told WebMD, the spike protein and the placental protein are about as similar as two different 10-digit phone numbers, each containing a 7. Besides, if the vaccine could trigger an immune response against the placental protein, so could an actual COVID-19 infection. That, in turn, would mean millions of women of childbearing age around the world who suffered COVID-19 over the past year are suddenly unable to have children. "There's no evidence that this pandemic has changed fertility patterns," Paul Offit, a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pediatrician and vaccine expert who advises the FDA, told WebMD. That didn't stop anti-vaccine groups from posting disinformation on social media. "Head of Pfizer Research: COVID vaccine is female sterilization," declares a post flagged by Facebook as false. The FDA has cleared both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for use in women of childbearing age. Although pregnant women were not included in the vaccine trials, a few dozen women who participated in the trials became pregnant. They continued in the trials with no safety problems. The pandemic vaccination-causes-infertility notion was a plot device in Utopia, an Amazon Prime miniseries that was canceled after its first season. "Near the end of the show's first season, released in late September, the biotech chief executive Dr. Kevin Christie (John Cusack), who created the bogus vaccine and is also a secret human trafficker, finally reveals his master plan: His vaccine is designed to make people infertile in order to radically reduce the world's population," says a New York Times review. "In Christie's view, humans are the real virus, wiping out other creatures, and he's convincing enough to make one of the show's crusading characters join his mad cult." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. MINEOLA, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is from Rick Collins, a principal in Collins Gann McCloskey & Barry PLLC: As Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section's Sealing Committee, I was part of a broader advocacy coalition in support of record sealing bills that were introduced in Albany until, in 2017, New York joined the ranks of the vast majority of states by enacting a broad criminal record sealing statute. Prior to the new law, most of those convicted of low-level, non-violent crimes would remain forever hampered by their publicly accessible conviction records. As a result, thousands of non-violent first-time offenders, including a disproportionate number of people of color, lived with the permanent stigma of a criminal conviction long after their debt to society was paid. A criminal record can be an obstacle in more than 100 licensed professions and present roadblocks in housing and education. There have been countless rehabilitated ex-offenders denied jobs due to a low-level crime dating back 20 years. By allowing individuals with limited, non-violent conviction records from ten or more years earlier to petition the court for sealing, the new law offers hope and opportunity to thousands of people who had reformed their lives. Sadly, the initiative has been sabotaged by the editorial policies of countless media entities with online presences. Many publications publish local arrest news from police blotters, which can include the suspect's name and photograph. Even if the case is later dismissed or the person is found not guilty, the story remains online. Convictions are also widely reported, and the online story links remain permanently hosted even if the case is later sealed. It is a tragic irony that all the effort expended by advocates and lawmakers and all the effort by individuals who now petition courts throughout the state to have their records sealed is undermined because a simple Google search for a person's name will disclose the link to the original news account. As a criminal defense lawyer, I am routinely consulted by individuals seeking to seal their ancient criminal conviction records typically based on something they did within a remote window of immaturity, poor judgment, mental health issues, or substance abuse. Some are seeking better employment opportunities while others are long retired but seeking a certain "peace of mind" as closure on a distant and regrettable chapter of their lives. I must inform them that while I can shield their court records from the public view that occurs through a standard background record search, I cannot do anything about changing the results of a search engine query by name. But times may be changing. The Boston Globe's recently announced "Fresh Start" initiative allows individuals to appeal to the publication to have old online articles edited or taken down (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/22/metro/globes-fresh-start-initiative-submit-your-appeal/. "Going forward, the Globe will allow all people to appeal their presence in older stories published on our websites," they announced. "We are not in the business of rewriting the past, but we don't want to stand in the way of a regular person's ability to craft their future." The policy recognizes the permanent damage that ancient news stories can do to pursuit of the American Dream, and has inserted humanity into its editorial policies. The Fresh Start policy reflects the future on this issue. I call upon other publications to do the same. Rick Collins is the Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section's Sealing Committee, a Past Co-Chair of the Reentry and Collateral Consequences Committee of the American Bar Association's' Criminal Justice Section, and a principal in Collins Gann McCloskey & Barry. He can be reached at 516-294-0300. https://www.cgmbesq.com SOURCE Collins Gann McCloskey & Barry PLLC Related Links https://www.cgmbesq.com 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 One San Antonio based business joined 16 other Texas companies in Fortune's 2021 rankings for "Most Admired Companies," despite experiencing a headline-filled 2020. USAA came in at number 27 on the magazine's 2021 rankings and was the only San Antonio-based company to make the list of top 50 companies. Within the past year USAA donated the San Antonio Food Bank, provided members $1 billion in the form of dividends during the summer, and gave a total of $87 million to local nonprofits in the area. The bank branch also provided members with more than $400 million in special payment agreements, per a company spokesperson. The company also shifted its workforce during the onset of the pandemic making work-from-home possible for more than 19,000 San Antonians. RELATED: Forbes names USAA, H-E-B among top workplaces for veterans The award does come after a shaky year for the insurance company. In January, USAA reported a 10.1 percent yearly employee bonus despite nearly normal profit during the pandemic. Last year USAA also kept portions of some members federal stimulus checks if their accounts were overdrawn or had a negative balance. This was ultimately reversed and members were given their entire stimulus amount. In October of 2020, federal regulators dropped USAAs grade to "failing" and hit the bank with an $85 million fine, citing "discriminatory or illegal credit practices." However, they also received a number of 2020 accolades, like being named a top employer for new college graduates. RELATED: USAA slashes yearly employee bonuses despite nearly normal profit The top 50 spots were also dotted with other Lone Star state companies, like Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, Westlake-based Charles Schwab, and Irving-based Kimberly-Clark. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 670; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group. 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 Langham, Hong Kong invites Hong Kong residents to experience London in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui with their new A Glimpse of London staycation. Guests will be presented with their pink Langham boarding pass when they check-in and be transported to London when they step into the two British themed rooms, A Trip to London Parks and Pink Afternoon Tea Room. While the world is eagerly waiting to travel again, we want to fill the gap and create staycations that give residents in Hong Kong a window to one of their favourite destinations, said Marcel Holman, managing director, The Langham, Hong Kong. The Langhams British heritage is drawn from the opening of the flagship hotel in London in 1865 and inspired by our legacy, we have designed the staycation experience so guests can be transported to London, added Holman. A Trip to London Parks room is inspired by the different famous parks in London, this room lets guests soak in the tranquility of natural parks in London and be surrounded by grassy meadows with a view of the iconic landmarks and skyline in London. The Langham, London is the first grand hotel in Europe who first served afternoon tea when it opened. A quintessentially British experience, this afternoon indulgence is often enjoyed at a social gathering or celebration amongst friends and families. The Pink Afternoon Tea Room is designed and decorated in the luxury brands signature pink. Specially curated for memorable photo and Instagram opportunities, there is an afternoon tea set-up with roses, a paper marche floral wall, an indoor swing and a romantic canopy corner draped with fairy lights. To complete the British staycation at The Langham, Hong Kong, Palm Court and The Food Gallery in the hotel will be serving classic British fare which include the Traditional English Breakfast, Fish N Chips, Shepherds Pie of Lamb, Bangers and Mash, Baked Seafood Pie. Priced from HK$1,148 ($148) for a one-night stay at Superior Courtyard View Room (complimentary upgrade to Deluxe room), complimentary breakfast buffet for two and a 30-minute self-service photo session for two at the two British themed rooms (photographer not included); and enjoy an extra HK$800 dining credit with rates begin at HK$1,648 ($212.5). The Langham, Hong Kong welcomes reservations until March 31 and are available for stays until March 31. - TradeArabia News Service Three months after Sudan agreed to normalize relations with Israel, it still hasn't signed an agreement to formally do so. Israeli officials tell me one reason has now emerged: Sudan wants to sign the deal at the White House. Driving the news: Israel sent Sudan a draft agreement for establishing diplomatic relations several weeks ago, but the Sudanese didnt reply, the officials say. On Tuesday, Israeli Minister of Intelligence Eli Cohen raised that issue in Khartoum during the first-ever visit of an Israeli minister to Sudan. Cohen told the head of Sudan's governing council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, that Israel wouldn't be able to proceed with anticipated projects and cooperation until a formal agreement had been signed. Burhan said he was prepared to move forward but that he wants the Biden administration to endorse the agreement and host a signing ceremony in Washington. Between the lines: It may prove difficult to hold such a ceremony under COVID-19 restrictions, but Biden administration officials see the Sudan normalization deal as a positive step that they want to help promote. What they're saying: Israeli officials say previous plans to sign the agreement before Trump left office were derailed by political events in Washington. There is no rush. We think it is a good idea to sign this agreement in Washington with the support of the Biden administration. It is important for the Sudanese, and it will strengthen the agreement," an Israeli official told me. Whats next: Before an agreement is signed, the Sudanese will have to cancel two laws: the Israel boycott law, which bans any trade with Israeli entities, and a law that bans Sudanese nationals from visiting Israel. First things first: electric vehicles are greener than conventional gas- and diesel-powered internal combustion engines no matter how you slice it. Even if 100 percent of your EVs energy comes from dirty, emissions-heavy coal-fired power, your electric car will still have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than a gasoline-consuming equivalent. That being said, the coming EV revolution raises some extremely important questions about skyrocketing energy demand and consumption and its associated ecological impact--questions that need to be addressed with some urgency. The world is switching over to EVs at a breakneck pace thats only going to continue to speed up as more countries adopt EV-friendly policies, ramp up charging infrastructure, and the EV sector continues to see technological improvements that make their vehicles more attractive and more affordable for the public. In the UK, policy-makers are pushing to ban new gas-powered vehicles by just 2030. In the U.S., President Joe Biden is on an EV-spending spree that could boost the countrys EV fleet by 40 percent. And Tesla is trying to take over the entire world. For utilities and other bodies in charge of grid and energy infrastructure, this means that the race is on to improve and adapt current infrastructure to meet with coming demand. In order to make the EV transition smooth and as eco-friendly as possible, its imperative that we not only continue to improve our grid capabilities and capacities but that the expansion of renewable energy keeps pace with increasing energy demand. The key to powering a countrywide EV fleet without overwhelming power grids and eating up more energy than ever before lies in energy efficiency. While the topic is decidedly un-sexy and seems trivial compared to other, flashier components of the global energy transition and the battle against climate change, energy efficiency is a monumentally important piece of the puzzle. Using energy more efficiently accounts for the largest share nearly 40% of the reductions in heat-trapping emissions needed to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, Axios reported in October. And while EVs are huge energy guzzlers, they are much, much more energy-efficient than combustion engines--up to 5 to 6 times more energy-efficient. But the energy that powers them needs to become more efficient as well for this to work. In our current energy landscape, where 97 percent of power is generated through a thermal system (one where we mostly burn stuff or split atoms) nearly two-thirds of the energy created is lost as wasted heat thanks to the second law of thermodynamics. By comparison, while wind and solar lose a small amount of energy in transmission, the vast majority of the energy created is actually used. So heres a thought experiment, a Bloomberg article posited this week. What if the entire U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet (currently about 270 million cars and trucks) were electrified by 2030 and we expanded wind and solar generation at a rapid pace while eliminating coal power, at the same time? The answer? Not only will U.S. carbon emissions be slashed by nearly 30 percent, but our entire system also gets a huge energy efficiency boost. Related: Will U.S. Shale Finally Reward Shareholders? If current predictions for solar and wind growth hold true (with solar rising 20 percent and wind 10 percent by 2030) and coal is eliminated in the same time frame (which is not a far-fetched idea), with natural gas filling in the gaps, despite the electrification of light-duty vehicles, inputs to the grid actually fall slightly writes Bloomberg. The replacement of coal-fired power by more efficient gas turbines and the rapid expansion of non-thermal renewable power means useful electrical energy rises by more than a third anyway. If nothing else, these hopeful figures are a good reminder that when it comes to a world-ending hyper-threat the size and breadth of global warming, there is no silver bullet solution. The answer to saving ourselves and saving our planet lies in incremental (but urgent) change across sectors. All these little improvements really add up, and they are all essential. EVs in and of themselves can only go so far without better, cleaner, more efficient power production. And Leaf-driving consumers can only do so much without the help of the government and the private sector. We all have a part to play, and we can all play our part. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: On Tuesday, the chief executive officer of Deutsche Post DHL criticized governments everywhere for not doing enough to anticipate the challenges of the vaccine rollout. We have not seen enough foresight for how the last mile will work," said Frank Appel. In language usually used to describe the obsession of listed companies with short-term results, Appel told the Financial Times that politicians across the world were always looking at what is happening next week." The drive to vaccinate billions of people across the world was always going to be the challenge of the century. Having got vaccines developed and approved in record time, governments are struggling with distributing them and vaccinating adult populations. The European Union is involved in an ugly spat with Astra Zeneca to corner some of its production for Europe. In India, problems with the CoWIN software and unexpected vaccine hesitancy by some members of the medical community are handicapping the vaccination drive. Much of the world is off to a slower start than expected. Meanwhile, mutating viruses such as those that started in southeastern England and South Africa are adding to the pressure to get significant segments of the population vaccinated. The EUs problems highlight an age-old faultline between the developed and developing world: the West talks a better game on trade than it practises. Last week, Jean Pisani-Ferry, a senior fellow at Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel put the contradiction in stark terms while laying out an argument for the developed world picking up the bill for vaccinating the developing world. Either design and implement a comprehensive global strategy, or seal borders and let countries fight it out with the virus one by one. There is no effective middle way," wrote Pisani-Ferry for Project Syndicate. His logic is easy enough to follow: In a world where travellers and migrants to Europe are as often as not people from Senegal or Punjab, the prevailing combination of vaccine nationalism and half-open borders is a losing strategy," he argues. The UK strain has already spread to most American states and the Brazilian strain is moving rapidly across the US too (and is in Germany). The H1N1 virus arrived in New York City years ago via more than 20 American high school students returning from a mid-term holiday break in Cancun. In 2003, SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, was likely unleashed in Hong Kong by an infected doctor from across the border in Guangdong who checked into a hotel to attend a wedding in Hong Kong. Helpfully, Pisani-Ferry has a price tag for vaccinating 75% of the worlds low-income and lower middle income population, which totals 4 billion people. At $10 per vaccine, he estimates that effort to cost $30 billion, which he points out is just 2% of the crisis-induced fiscal loss already incurred by advanced economies." Focused on the struggle to achieve herd immunity via vaccinations by summer or autumn in the US and EU, it is likely that this sensible proposal will not be taken up with the urgency it deserves. The international community would also do well to heed a call by India and South Africa to relax patents on vaccines themselves, so that these can be manufactured across the developing world more inexpensively. As the worlds largest vaccine producer, India would seem ideally positioned to roll out the vaccine. Just over a fortnight into the effort, however, reports of problems with the CoWIN digital platform, designed to register for and track the vaccination process, as well as no-shows by many healthcare professionals when they should have been getting vaccinated, suggest the opposite. A few years ago, the repeated crashing of Indias goods and services software in the initial phases of its use by thousands of businesses was an ominous sign, as also the ministry of corporate affairs (MCAs) notoriously problematic e-filing process. India is the worlds back office for software and process management. Yet , it has a government that struggles to build reliable software for ministry after ministry. Some months ago, the usually gracious head of a small Bengaluru accounting firm was almost shouting in frustration as he described how he had to delegate the task of registering businesses on the MCA website to two young colleagues because he feared for his health if he tried to do so himself. India needs to ensure that CoWIN is robust enough to deal with millions seeking appointments, let alone tracking vaccines from manufacturing plants to jabs received by hundreds of millions of individuals. Faisal Farooqui, co-founder of Mouthshut.com, a consumer review company, told Business Standard last week that making vaccine registration a completely electronic process in a country with such varying digital literacy and connectivity (including in the government) was an unsound idea. The government needs to go beyond healthcare providers to find people above 60 and thus enlist what marketers call early adopters who could become evangelists for vaccination. Writing in Gulf Today on Tuesday, Rajendra Aneja, a retired Unilever executive with considerable experience in managing distribution in India and elsewhere in the developing world, remarked on the self-congratulation that accompanied Indias vaccination of three million people in the first fortnight of the January rollout. Its an achievement for sure, but he pointed out that at this rate, the country would need 12 years to vaccinate 1 billion Indians. Rahul Jacob is a Mint columnist and a former Financial Times foreign correspondent. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. London: Even just the first of the two-dose Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can cut coronavirus transmissions by around 67 per cent and therefore have a "substantial effect" on controlling the spread of the deadly virus, according to a new Oxford University study on Wednesday. The UK government described this as good news for the world because the impact of COVID vaccines on transmission has been a crucial unknown in the fight against the pandemic. "The data indicate that (the vaccine) may have a substantial impact on transmission by reducing the number of infected individuals in the population," notes the report from the latest study. The Oxford Vaccine Trial results, currently under review to be published by the The Lancet', also found that up to a three-month interval between the two required doses of the jab proved an effective gap as protection against the deadly virus. A single standard dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which is also being produced in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India showed 76 per cent efficacy from day 22 to day 90 after the jab, which means protection is not reduced in the three months between the first and second dose. "This news about the Oxford vaccine is absolutely superb. Two-third reduction in transmission, stronger protection from 12 week gap between doses and no hospitalisations. This vaccine works and works well," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock. "The really good news embedded in it is that it not just reduces hospitalisations there were no people in this part of the trial who are hospitalised with COVID after getting the Oxford jab but also it reduces the number of people who have COVID at all, even asymptomatically, by around two-thirds, he said. The study found that a single standard dose of the vaccine is 76 per cent effective at protecting from primary symptomatic COVID-19 for the first 90 days post vaccination, once the immune system has built this protection 22 days after the vaccination, with the protection showing little evidence of waning in this period. "These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators, including the MHRA and EMA, to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation, said Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator and co-author of the Oxford Vaccine Trial. "It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine," he said. The analysis, based on swab tests on early recipients of the jabs, found no cases of hospitalisations and that the effect of dosing interval on efficacy is pronounced, with vaccine efficacy rising from 54.9 per cent with an interval of less than six weeks to 82.4 per cent when spaced 12 or more weeks apart. This supports the UK government's strategy of mass rollout of the first doses, with a second dose after three months. Scientists say the findings are in line with previous research into other vaccines such as influenza, Ebola and malaria. The authors are hoping to report data regarding the vaccine's impact on new COVID variants in the coming days as well. The news comes as the National Health Service (NHS) says it has covered 9.6 million people in the UK with COVID first jabs, moving towards the government target of protecting all vulnerable groups by mid-February. Meanwhile, a related study also reveals that protective antibodies against COVID-19 last up to six months in most infected people. As many as 88 per cent of people showed antibodies in their blood to fight COVID-19 six months after infection, finds the study based on the UK Biobank data of almost 1,700 people. "Although we cannot be certain how (the presence of antibodies) relates to immunity, the results suggest that people may be protected against subsequent infection for at least six months following natural infection," said UK Biobank chief scientist Professor Naomi Allen. "More prolonged follow-up will allow us to determine how long such protection is likely to last," she said. One of the world's largest follow-up COVID studies also provides more detail about the likely symptoms experienced by those infected. While 26 per cent had a cough and 28 per cent had a fever, a bigger proportion 43 per cent said they lost the sense of taste or smell. However, 40 per cent reported none of these symptoms, and about 20 per cent reported no symptoms of any kind at all. The data backs up previous studies on who is most likely to have been infected with COVID at some point during the pandemic. Among a full group of nearly 20,000 people who were regularly tested monthly during the pandemic, it was younger adults, black or South Asian people and those living in deprived areas who were most likely to test positive for the antibodies. 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. Tension along the Kenya-Somalia border remains after Kenyan police officers were shot by the Somalia National Army. The Star has established that the two officers were among a team of eight officers under the multi-agency team consisting of KPS, CIPU and KRA. The eight were patrolling and manning the border point at pb3 area, commonly known as Barri at around 11 am. The officers had intercepted two Somali females as they tried to cross over to Kenya's Mandera town from the Bulla Hawa area. According to a police report, the two were being interrogated by the team when Somali National Army -SNA manning their side about 10 metres away disrupted the interview. At that point, the five SNA officers started shooting at Kenyan officers in the process injuring two officers from CIPU attached to KRA. The two officers are currently nursing gunshot wounds at the Mandera Referral hospital. According to police reports, while one officer was shot on both legs below the lower limb, the other sustained injuries on the left lower limb. Top security officers visited the scene and cautioned Kenyan officers against retaliating. "The situation is being monitored. The scene was visited and the officers admitted in fair condition. The situation around the border is tense but our officers have been cautioned against retaliating," read part of an incident report seen by the Star. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Somalia Legal Affairs Arms and Armies By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Last week Kenya clapped back at Somalia over claims of destabilising the Horn of Africa country. In an address to the media on January 28, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said allegations that Kenya is sponsoring and harbouring militia with objectives of destabilising Somalia are not based on any merit. "As a people, Kenyans are known over the world for their generosity and hospitality, perhaps more so by Somalis who have found refuge in this country for more than two decades. While in the country, they continue to enjoy almost equal privileges as Kenyans. "Due to this, it is here more Somalis run to whenever violence breaks out in their country. They still do cross over to seek certain services even in situations where there is relative calm in that country," Oguna said. He said that every single day, 3,000 learners cross to Kenya to seek education. Besides the 3,000 learners, 8,000 individuals cross to Mandera for business. Over 500 mothers and the elderly cross over to seek medical services. "We also have 270,000 Somalis in our refugee camps out of which 81,000 are urban refugees doing business. Therefore, if this is a country they run to in situations of violence, how can it be the same country that is destabilising that country? It beats logic, honestly," the spokesperson said. 404 This page could not be found . With refineries and chemical plants along Houstons Ship Channel as a backdrop, Texas Republicans on Tuesday made a stand against the Biden administrations energy plans. Houston-area Reps. Kevin Brady and Dan Crenshaw gathered with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, seven other Republican lawmakers, and oil and gas company representatives at Enterprise Products Partners to focus their response to the Democratic president. President Joe Bidens energy agenda, they said, will eliminate oil and gas jobs, shrink the industry and damage the nations economy. Biden is launching an attack on our nations oil and gas workers, including the hundreds of thousands here in Texas, Brady said during a news conference after their roundtable, which was closed to the media. Thats why today, Im joining my Republican colleagues in Houston to stand up for our workers. Biden has already canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S., temporarily halted new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and said he hopes to end industry tax breaks. Bidens choice for Energy secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, told senators at her confirmation hearing last week that the presidents plans would create more jobs in clean energy than the jobs that might be sacrificed. FACT CHECK: Fact-checking claim that Biden ban will kill 120,000 Texas jobs The lawmakers from Texas on Tuesday, however, criticized Biden for what one said was a deliberate effort to eliminate oil and gas jobs. Millions of Americans are jobless thanks to the pandemic, Brady said. President Bidens top priority, while defeating the virus, is getting Americans back to work. So it is troubling that in his first weeks in office, he took steps to deliberately kill more than a million good-paying jobs. Many are blue-collar. Many of them are union. Many of them are here in Texas. The oil and natural gas industry directly employs almost 2.6 million Americans and supports 9.8 million jobs in America, according to the American Petroleum Institutes most current numbers. If Biden were to ban existing in addition to new leases on federal lands and water something the administration has not said it would do Texas would lose 120,000 jobs, the API said. EDITORIAL: Biden sends the right message on energy - even for Texas Our biggest concern is that we believe the administration is leading us towards more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards, said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers. It places hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of government revenue for education and conservation programs at risk. McCarthy echoed Sommers concerns, saying enough jobs have been lost already amid the pandemic. We will put in solar panels. That's the answer to the American essential worker that we need? McCarthy said. Crenshaw also expressed his frustration at Bidens plans, saying they would give less-regulated nations such as Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia far more industry weight. Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox President Biden says, well, they'll just go find a solar panel job. On average solar panel jobs pay less than oil and gas jobs, he said. The Democrats say that's just the price to pay for saving the world. Ed Hirs, an energy fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, said the Republicans echoed a letter from Texas Democrats in the U.S. House last week urging Biden to rescind his leasing moratorium while the economy recovers from the downturn. But the GOPs job loss estimates, Hirs said, just dont add up. The industry has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the last four years, he said. We can't lose what they say they are going to lose in oil and gas without going negative. The simple math does not work. But Hirs criticized Bidens numbers, as well. On the flip side, the Biden administration is truly exaggerating the number of jobs that green energy will create, he said. Electricity is not yet a substitute for gasoline or diesel in transportation. It will happen over time. But no edict from Washington is going to make it happen in the next four years. marcy.deluna@chron.com Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is considered as a diverse group of epithelial cancers characterized by poor outcomes. Cholangiocarcinoma can be divided into three types according to the original position: Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma (PCC), and Distal Extrahepatic Tumors (DET). The most promising way to cure cholangiocarcinoma is surgery, including laparoscopic liver resection and open liver resection. However, the post-surgical outcome is less than satisfactory and there is a poor 5-year survival rate of 16.5-48%. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of the patients are unable to be treated with surgery when diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma. According to the present meta-analyses, HBV and HCV infections significantly increase the risk of cholangiocarcinoma. For instance, with the high HBV infection rates in Asia and China, the incidence rate of cholangiocarcinoma is approximately 7 per 1 million people in China. Unfortunately, there are no effective biomarkers and typical clinical features for the early diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. Additionally, its poor response and limited chemotherapeutic regimens also render its progression difficult to control. Cholangiocarcinoma's median survival time is commonly less than 24 months after diagnosis and therefore, new therapeutic approaches are strongly needed to improve patients' survival rate. In this article, medical specialists from The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China report a case of a male patient with a stage 4 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, who was unsuccessfully treated with different chemotherapy regimens and who was further treated with a new therapeutic method to restrict the progression of the lesion. This patient had been diagnosed with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma for 2 years and when first discovered in August 2018, metastases were found in the lung and multiple lymph nodes. Medical imaging reasonably doubted that the original lesion was in the bile duct. However, a pathologic biopsy confirmed the result in September 2018. Pathological genetic testing showed alterations in the TP53 and KRAS genes. According to the specific medical imaging and pathological results, gemcitabine and nedaplatin were used as a first-line chemotherapy regimen in October 2018. After 6 courses of chemotherapy, the disease was assessed as stable. In February 2019 follow-up period, Apatinib and Tigio were used to maintain the treatment. However, the disease progressed after the next assessment in April 2019. Paclitaxel for Injection (Albumin Bound) and Oxaliplatin were used with the expectation of stopping the disease progression. After 2 courses, medical imaging that was performed in June 2019, showed that the disease was progressing again and with increased growth of the lung lesion. Therefore, the clinician had to change the patient's chemotherapy regimen into Loplat and Retitrexet, which was, unfortunately, unsuccessful after 2 courses. From September 2018 to August 2019, the patient's CT images showed that the lung metastases continued to increase, the hepatic lesions were obviously enhanced, and the para-aortic lymph nodes were enlarged and fused. In August 2019, with the absence of a solution, the doctors discussed with other doctors and confirmed the possibility to combine PD-1 and VEGF inhibitors with chemotherapy to control the tumor progression. Therefore, the oncologists recommended the treatment combination of FOLFOX6 (Oxaliplatin 130mg d2 + Calcium Levofolinate 500mg d2 + 5-FU 500mg d2 + 5-FU 3000mg d2 46h; q2w), Camrelizumab (PD-1 inhibitor) (200mg d1) and Fruquintinib (VEGF/VEGFR inhibitor) (5mg d1-21). After discussing this with his family, the patient provided his consent, and consequently, they collected his data for results' comparison. After a complete course, the liver and lung lesions stopped growing, which was encouraging but still worrying, and after discussion with the patient, the doctors decided to proceed with the course. Six courses later, they delightfully discovered that the patient's lung lesions were significantly reduced, the liver lesion enhancement was reduced, and the abdominal para-aortic lymph nodes were stable. The lesion was assessed as PR (partial response) and stable afterward. Significant efforts have been made in improving the survival of cholangiocarcinoma patients. In this case, combining a PD-1 inhibitor, a VEGF/VEGFR inhibitor in chemotherapy for controlling cholangiocarcinoma is a promising therapeutic approach; however, more studies are still needed to fully understand how the treatment works. PHOENIX, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Real Estate Development Executive Michael Johnson has utilized Government subsidies to expand and service his ever-growing multi-family empire. Already the State of Arizona's largest rental subsidy partner, his latest foray in development and design may be his greatest challenge yet. Michael Johnson of Michael Johnson Enterprises, Inc. Johnson has launched an initiative to help combat the City of Phoenix's burgeoning homelessness and affordable housing crisis. As a native Phoenician, Johnson has seen his beloved city go through many stages of housing booms, busts, and now pandemic stress. Through a planned staged rollout, Johnson plans to build several multi-unit affordable housing developments using recycled shipping containers throughout the city. In addition to providing the need for adequate & affordable housing for those who may fall below 60% of the Miracopa County & local Phoenix average median income level (AMI), Johnson is again at the cutting edge of renovation and development by utilizing refurbished shipping containers as a housing alternative. Johnson plans to modernize the design of the 40 x 8 x 8 shipping container with a surface of approximately 320 sq. ft. creating a unique living space encompassing a leisure area, kitchen, bath and bedroom. In Arizona, homes built below 400 square feet falls under the category of a "tiny house" and Johnson's developments will follow all respective building codes, including size regulations that require any home built with a foundation, to be no smaller than 200 square feet. This unique housing concept is not new in the housing space or the hospitality industry. The FlopHouze Hotel just outside of Austin, Texas is a destination hot spot for millennials and traditional travelers alike. Visitors can choose from a half-dozen "houzes" outfitted with eco-friendly and recycled materials such as bowling alley floors. Hammocks, fire pits, cozy chairs and complimentary food & beverages are among the amenities. Through Michael Johnson Enterprises, the company has been quietly securing several vacant parcels across the city near transportation hubs and major traffic arteries. "The initial phase will be 10-20 unit buildings, and ultimately we will have developments that will have 100-140 units. Our architecture and engineering partners have been trusted advisors on our vision for this initiative. We aim to not only provide accessible affordability, but also eco-friendly sustainable principles, long-term durability, and contemporary aesthetics," said CEO Michael Johnson. Within the universe of commercial real estate investing, Johnson's drive and expertise has seen him take a $50,000.00 investment from Media Executive Bruce Johnson-Castille and turn that into a $20Million dollar portfolio in 4 short years. Michael Johnson and his real estate team have always taken a relatively conservative approach when selecting transactions for investment. This is vastly different. With this proven track record of success, Johnson is optimistic about this new initiative. "This is a more focused investment strategy, we are investing in both debt and equity in this specific property development type and the overall cost savings will allow us to be very opportunistic with the 3 million dollars of equity for deals, while solving a very serious problem in Miracopa County and beyond. I've always provided my investors significant returns and the benefit of potential appreciation in property values. And I expect this initiative to be no different," added Johnson. The launch of this initiative adds to the wave of opportunity for Johnson and his partners to invest in Phoenix area real estate. Johnson's Phoenix area real estate investment portfolio consists of 17 multi-family properties, a Boutique Hotel, 2 Motels, The Upscale Barbershop and The Arizona Edition New Times honored, Bread & Honey House Restaurant. Media Contact: Aviva Friedman [email protected] 323-380-8664 SOURCE Michael Johnson A City of Kelowna staff proposal to make new highrises much more slender than current building rules allow was deferred Tuesday. The approach is sometimes called 'Vancouverism', which is also the name of a book, shown here, released last year by former Vancouver planning director Larry Beasley. He'll join a Kelowna webinar later this month. File image: Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on February 2 that India and Pakistan must resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue in a dignified and peaceful manner. Pakistan, Bajwa said, is a peace-loving country and committed to peaceful co-existence in the region. We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend hand of peace in all directions, the Army chief was quoted by local media as saying. He was addressing a graduation ceremony at Pakistan Air Force (PAF)s Asghar Khan Academy at Risalpur, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Bajwa was the chief guest at the event where Pakistani Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan was also present, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate press release cited by local media. Pakistan and India must also resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion, Bajwa said. However, Bajwa also added that the country will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness. Bajwas remarks assume significance as it hints at possible softening of Pakistans stand on J&K and the countrys aim to improve bilateral ties with India. India has repeatedly said that talks and terror cannot go together and Pakistan must take demonstrable steps against terrorist groups operating from its soil and those responsible for terror attacks against India. The change in Pakistans stand, many say, comes amid pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based inter-governmental watchdog that monitors terrorism and criminal financing laws. Pakistan has been calling on FATF to remove its name from the grey list as it is crippling country's economy. However, the FATF has said that Pakistan needs to curb terror-financing and money laundering if it wants to see its name removed from the list and save itself from being pushed into the blacklist. The crucial FATF plenary that will decide whether Pakistan falls into the black list will be held later this month. Being in FATFs black list would make it impossible for Pakistan to receive foreign funding from global institutions and would thus discourage global investors to deal with the financial institutions of the country. 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 Australian Medical Association WA has blasted the state government and health officials for ignoring lessons from other states about the transmission of COVID-19 after it was revealed case 903 may have come about through airborne spread. Up until last week, staff at WAs quarantine hotels were not required to wear masks at all times and the Four Points security guard was sitting in a chair three metres from the room of the guest he is suspected of catching the more infectious UK strain of the virus from. AMA WA president Dr Andrew Miller. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola Speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon while a CO2 measuring device analysed the ventilation of the media room, AMA WA president Andrew Miller said the world had known about airborne transmission since last year. For some time now since around March 2020 it has been clear from scientists that airborne spread, whilst not always the most dominant method of transmission, it is certainly an important method of transmission of coronavirus, he said. Australia will build a new fleet of military vehicles that can travel on land and water under a $800 million upgrade to the Australian Armys arsenal of amphibious vessels, replacing vehicles used in the Vietnam War. The new fleet - which will also include landing craft - is being rolled out so that the Australian Defence Force can more quickly project into the region, including as part of the Pacific step-up. The armys existing fleet of amphibious vehicles proved helpful in the Mallacoota evacuation. Credit:Justin McManus The Defence Force Structure plan, released last year, called for new amphibious vessels to support an enhanced Defence posture and influence in the region, including the Pacific Step-up objectives. The Australian government has been re-focusing on the Pacific in recent years to deepen engagement in the region at a time when it is subject to growing Chinese influence. McCracken Schools Names New Diversity Coordinator By West Kentucky Star Staff MCCRACKEN COUNTY - McCracken County Public Schools has named Stacy Thomas as its Community Outreach and Diversity Coordinator.Thomas has served as the Mustangs Youth Services Coordinator at McCracken County High School since 2013. Before she was involved at MCHS, she worked at the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce as the Business/Education & Leadership Director.She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Organizational Communication from Murray State University."I am excited about this opportunity and what a position like this can do for our school district and our community as a whole," said Thomas. "I am so honored to be apart in helping to create a culture of diversity, inclusion and equity at McCracken County Public Schools."Thomas will work to recruit diverse faculty and staff across the district, assist in developing and creating diversity-minded curriculum, and assist with diversity and equity related issues among the study body."McCracken County Public Schools is committed to meeting the needs of all students," said superintendent Steve Carter. "Stacy brings a combination of rich leadership experience and passion to this position." How to Make Homemade Dumplings for Lunar New Yearor Any Day In many Chinese homes, dumplings are a traditional, must-have dish to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the most important holiday of the year. Families get together on New Years Eve to roll, fill, and wrap a feasts worth of the plump, ingot-shaped parcels, an auspiciousand deliciousway to ring in the coming year. Across China, the components of the lucky new years feast vary widely; dumplings are rooted in northern China, where wheat was historically the staple crop. From region to region, household to household, and person to person, everyone makes and wraps dumplings a little differently. This family recipe is but one way of many. (And unless youre a Chinese grandma, or have equivalent skills, each of your individual dumplings might look a little different, too. Embrace their homemade charm!) Start by making the wrappers, from a simple dough of flour, water, and salt. This recipe calls for room temperature waterthough others swear by using hot water firstand salt for a chewier Q texturethough you can add cornstarch if you prefer a softer bite. The dough will be firm; two rounds of resting will help it relax and come together smoothly, but it shouldnt be too soft. Dumpling wrappers made from scratch. (CiCi Li) Northern Chinese typically roll out their wrappers by using one hand to hold and constantly rotate the dough, and the other hand to swiftly flatten the edges with a rolling pin. This technique results in circular wrappers that are thinner around the edges and thicker in the center, better for holding the filling. Try your hand at it, or opt for two easier methods also included below: straightforward rolling, or a creative, albeit untraditional cookie-cutter hack. Next comes the filling, a mix of ground chicken, mushrooms, and cabbage, with a few secrets for guaranteed juiciness: add a generous 1/2 cup of water, and toss the minced cabbage with oil before adding it to the rest of the filling, to trap its water content inside. Fill and seal your wrappers, boil your dumplings, and enjoy your hard-earned feast. The process is time-consuming, but the results are worth itespecially if you gather a team of helpers. Filled and wrapped, ready for the pot. (CiCi Li) Rest Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes Prep Time: 40 minutes Makes 30 wrappers 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2/3 cup water (or a little more or less, depending on the humidity level) Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt To make the dumpling dough: Add the flour to a large mixing bowl. In another smaller bowl, mix together the water and salt. Pour the water mixture into the flour. Mix with a pair of chopsticks until it starts to come together into a shaggy dough, then knead until it becomes a firm, cohesive ball of dough, about 5 minutes. Wrap with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Knead the dough again until it becomes smooth, another 3 minutes. Rewrap with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour. Cut the dough in half. Work with one half at a time; keep the other wrapped in plastic wrap until ready to use. To roll the wrappers: Method 1: Roll, Rotate, Repeat On a floured flat working surface, use your hands to roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into about 15 1-inch pieces. Lightly toss the pieces in flour and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a log. (CiCi Li) Cut the log into 1-inch pieces. (CiCi Li) Working with one piece of dough at a time, use your palm to gently pat the dough into a flat disc. Use your non-dominant hand to slightly lift the top half of the disc from your work surface, with your thumb on top and your middle three fingers on the bottom; the bottom half of the disc should still be touching the work surface. With your dominant hand, roll your rolling pin over the bottom half of the disc, from the bottom edge into just shy of the center (where your fingertips are) and then back out. Then, use the fingers of your non-dominant hand to slightly rotate the disc, keeping the tip of your middle finger in the center as an anchor, and repeat the rolling motion with your dominant hand and rolling pin. Keep rotating and rolling until the disc is thin, about 3 inches in diameter. The center should be a little thicker than the edges. Method 1: Use one hand to hold and rotate the dough, and the other to use the rolling pin. (CiCi Li) Dust the wrapper with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap while you repeat with the rest of the dough. Method 2: Regular Rolling On a floured flat working surface, use your hands to roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into about 15 1-inch pieces. Lightly toss the pieces in flour and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Working with one piece of dough at a time, use your palm to gently pat the dough into a flat disc. Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a thin disc, about 3 inches in diameter, rotating the dough as needed to keep it a uniform circle. Method 2: Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into an even circle. (CiCi Li) Dust the wrapper with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap while you repeat with the rest of the dough. Method 3: Cookie Cutter On a floured flat working surface, use your hands to pat the dough into a flat disc. Then use a rolling pin to roll into a large, thin sheet, about 18 inches in diameter. Use a round 3-inch cookie cutteror anything round in your kitchento cut wrappers out of the sheet of dough. Combine and re-roll the scraps. Method 3: Cut out wrappers from one large, thin sheet of dough. (CiCi Li) Dust the wrappers with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap while you repeat with the rest of the dough. To store: If you dont plan to use the wrappers right away, dust them with flour, transfer them to a Ziploc bag, and store them in the freezer. They will stay fresh for a few weeks. Prep Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Makes 36 dumplings For the Filling 1 pound ground chicken 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 2 tablespoons oyster sauce 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 cup water 6 tablespoons extra-light olive oil (or other cooking oil), divided 2 tablespoons sesame oil 3/4 pound flat cabbage, minced (about 3 cups) (or other green cabbage) 2 scallions, minced 4 tablespoons minced cilantro stems To Assemble 36 dumpling wrappers For the Dipping Sauce 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar 2 teaspoons sesame oil To make the filling: In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, five-spice powder, white pepper, cornstarch, water, 4 tablespoons extra-light olive oil, and sesame oil. Mix well. In another large bowl, add in the flat cabbage, scallions, cilantro stem, and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the cabbage mixture to the meat mixture. Mix well. To wrap the dumplings: If using frozen wrappers, defrost the wrappers at room temperature for 2 hours. (Skip this step if you are using fresh wrappers.) Lightly flour a cutting board, baking sheet, or other flat surface to hold your finished wrapped dumplings. If using frozen wrappers, prepare a small bowl of water. To make each dumpling, use your finger to brush a ring of water around the edge of the wrapper (skip this step if you are using fresh wrappers) and place about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of the wrapper. Fold in half into a half-moon shape, and pinch the edges together first in the middle, then all along both sides to tightly seal. Place the dumpling on the floured surface. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers and filling. Add the filling to the center of the wrapper. (CiCi Li) Seal and pleat the edges. (CiCi Li) To make the dipping sauce: In a bowl, mix together the garlic, soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside. To boil the dumplings: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. (Note that you will be adding an additional 1 1/2 cup water during the cooking process, so be sure not to overfill the pot.) Working in batches if needed, to not overcrowd the pot, add the dumplings. Stir gently with the back of a ladle, so the dumplings dont stick to the bottom and sides of the pot, or each other. Cover and bring back to a boil. Boil the dumplings. (CiCi Li) Once its boiling again, uncover and add 1/2 cup water to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then add another 1/2 cup water to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then add another 1/2 cup water to the pot. Bring to a boil once more, and the dumplings are ready. Serve with dipping sauce. Recipes by CiCi Li, the producer and presenter of CiCis Food Paradise on NTD. Join her in discovering the world of Asian home cooking at CiCiLi.tv The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Media accreditation now is open for prelaunch and launch activities for NASA's Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station, the second uncrewed flight test of the company's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is targeted for no earlier than March 25 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The uncrewed mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner and the Atlas V rocket from launch to docking to a return to Earth in the desert of the western United States. Following a successful completion of the OFT-2 mission, NASA and Boeing are targeting no earlier than September 2021 for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), Starliner's first flight with astronauts aboard. OFT-2 and CFT will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing's crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station. Media also may apply separately for a photo opportunity during the rollout of the Starliner spacecraft from Boeing's Commercial Cargo and Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The operational activity is targeted for approximately 4 a.m. EST on Wednesday, March 10. Media accreditation deadlines for both OFT-2 launch and the photo opportunity are as follows: U.S. media interested in being on-site for a photo opportunity of Starliner rollout must apply for credentials by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17 . . U.S. media interested in covering the OFT-2 launch must apply for credentials by 4 p.m. Monday, March 1 . . U.S.-based International media without U.S. citizenship interested in covering the OFT-2 launch must apply by 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11 . All accreditation requests should be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov NASA continues to monitor developments related to the coronavirus pandemic, and Kennedy will grant access to only a limited number of media to protect the health and safety of media and employees. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions at Kennedy, international media coming from overseas will need to follow quarantine requirements. The agency will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency's chief health and medical officer, and will immediately communicate any updates that may affect media access for this launch. For questions about media accreditation, email [email protected]. For other questions, contact Kennedy's newsroom at 321-867-2468. Reporters with special logistics requests for Kennedy, such as space for satellite trucks, trailers, tents, electrical connections, or work spaces, must contact Kristi Irastorza at [email protected] by Friday, Feb. 25. NASA's Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity's testbed for exploration. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov "SourceAmerica is honored to be a part of the Army Green Service Uniform project," said Jill Johnson, VP, Products. Tweet this Once the decision was made to change the uniform, the question of how to bring it to life came to the forefront. The Army ultimately decided that the AbilityOne Program was positioned to provide the best quality and value for the project. The AbilityOne Program is one of the nation's largest sources of employment for people who are blind or have significant disabilities. Nationwide, nearly 45,000 people are employed through the AbilityOne Program, including around 3,000 veterans. "SourceAmerica is honored to be a part of the Army Green Service Uniform project," said Jill Johnson, Vice President, Products. "Our goal is to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities. We are proud to partner with the Army to accomplish our mission through this work." SourceAmerica and National Industries for the Blind (NIB) are Central Nonprofit Agencies designated by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission to facilitate the participation of nonprofit agencies in the Program. As an AbilityOne-authorized enterprise, SourceAmerica connects its network of approximately 700 local nonprofit agencies to job opportunities that become available through AbilityOne. With the decision made that SourceAmerica and the AbilityOne Program would manufacture and roll out the AGSU, it turned out that SourceAmerica's Manufacturing and Development Program was the ideal fit for the creative testing, manufacturing, and delivery of the uniform. Two nonprofit agencies within the SourceAmerica network, Goodwill Industries of South Florida, and Puerto Rico Industries for the Blind, were selected to take part due to their expertise in manufacturing uniforms and capacity to provide expert kitting and shipping plans. Their involvement enabled people with disabilities to have a front-and-center role with the AGSU project. Additionally, two nonprofit agencies within the NIB network -- Alabama Industries for the Blind and Travis Association for the Blind were also on board. The AGSU team spent nearly nine months designing and testing several versions of the new uniform. This process included the people with disabilities who were manufacturing several of the test pieces, including shirts, jackets, belts, slacks, and hats. Once a final design was chosen by the Army, full production on the AGSU began. Today, the nonprofit agencies share different responsibilities in the manufacturing, packaging, and delivery of the uniforms. "Our team is proud to be a part of this landmark project through the AbilityOne Program," said Goodwill Industries of South Florida President and CEO David Landsberg. "People with disabilities are making an impact every day, and to see the new Army Green Service Uniform being worn by our soldiers is very empowering for the individuals who are a part of this effort." Walter Anderson works on the AGSU project for Goodwill Industries of South Florida. "I take pride in what I do. I love my work. I love the company. I love the military; that I'm doing it for the military. I can't get on the field and fight for them, but I can sure make their uniform," he said. The U.S. Army has received its initial shipments of the uniform at a number of its installations across the nation and will continue to receive them through the end of February 2021. Because of the diligence and dedication of people with disabilities who used their expertise and skill to meet the Army's requirements, the Army is receiving a uniform they will proudly wear for years to come. About SourceAmerica SourceAmerica connects government and corporate customers to a national network of approximately 700 nonprofit agencies that hire a talented segment of the workforce people with disabilities. Established in 1974, SourceAmerica is committed to increasing economic and social inclusion and advocating for a more accessible future of work for people with differing abilities. As a leading job creator within the disability community and distinguished as an AbilityOne authorized enterprise, SourceAmerica harnesses the momentum and boosts the capability of its network and customers. To learn more, visit SourceAmerica.org and follow the organization on Facebook (@SourceAmerica), Twitter (@SourceAmerica) and LinkedIn (@SourceAmerica). SOURCE SourceAmerica Related Links http://www.sourceamerica.org uschools/iStockBy BENJAMIN SIEGEL, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- House Republicans will meet Wednesday afternoon to address simmering intraparty tensions after former President Donald Trump's second impeachment, with debate expected around Rep. Liz Cheney's impeachment vote and the controversy ignited by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's history of espousing conspiracy theories. Cheney, the chair of the conference and a member of House GOP leadership, faces intense criticism from Trump's most ardent supporters in the House, who have excoriated her and nine other Republicans for voting to impeach the president for inciting the Capitol riot. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have threatened to oust her from leadership, and claim to have the support of more than 100 Republicans to do so. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., even traveled to Cheney's home state of Wyoming last week to rally her constituents against her. "I don't believe that the folks who supported impeachment are anywhere near in line with the Republicans throughout the country," Gaetz said in an interview with ABC News Live from Wyoming last week. Gaetz and other Cheney critics would need to submit a petition for a special conference meeting for House Republicans to take up a vote on Cheney's leadership post, according to a GOP leadership aide. The petition would need at least 43 signatures of House GOP lawmakers. The measure wouldn't be taken up immediately in the closed-door meeting without approval from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy or the support of at least two-thirds of the conference, approximately 140 House Republicans. Cheney, in the weeks since her impeachment vote, has spoken to House Republicans across the spectrum about her decision. She's also received endorsements from allies, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who called her "an important leader in our country and in our nation." Greene, a vocal supporter of Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud and efforts to overturn the election results, has been condemned by Democrats and many Republicans for embracing numerous conspiracy theories in videos and social media activity before she took office this year. In posts and videos from 2018 and 2019 reviewed by CNN, Greene appeared to endorse violence against prominent Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and suggested that the Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings were staged "false flag" operations. Greene has not denied making the comments on social media or in recorded videos, but said other people had access to her accounts in a statement posted to Twitter. Democrats have called on McCarthy to remove Greene from the House Budget and Education Committees and are threatening to do so with a resolution on the House floor if the California Republican doesn't begin that process himself. Some Democrats have introduced measures to censure Greene on the House floor, and even expel her from the chamber, which would be an extraordinary step that would require the support of roughly 70 House Republicans. McCarthy met with Greene in his office Tuesday evening, though no decision was made on her committee assignments. While Republicans have largely condemned Greene's comments -- McConnell issued a statement Monday blasting her "loony lies and conspiracy theories" -- they have argued that Greene shouldn't be punished for comments made before she was elected to serve in Congress. The House Republican leader has kicked a member of Congress out of a committee before for comments he made. Former GOP Rep. Steve King, the Iowa hardliner who was pushed off committees by McCarthy last year, came under fire after comments he made about white supremacy that came in an interview with the New York Times while serving in Congress. McCarthy may also face questions Wednesday about his leadership over the last few weeks. Some Republicans have privately complained that he did not offer members enough consistent messaging around how to respond to Trump's second impeachment after the Capitol riot. Speaking on the floor of the House during the impeachment debate, McCarthy said Trump "bears responsibility" for the attack on the Capitol, but later said in an interview with Greta Van Susteren that "everybody across the country has some responsibility." McCarthy traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, last week to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club, in an effort to mend his relationship with the former president and intraparty tensions following the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol. The California Republican has said he supports Cheney remaining in leadership, but that members have questions about how she announced her support for impeachment, a statement that was released ahead of the House vote, and repeatedly referenced by Democrats during floor debate. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Because it's only five more years until she reaches 50, Angelina Jolie revealed that her kids worry about her more because of her age. Angelina Jolie's Age In an interview with British Vogue, Jolie revealed the one activity that her children believe is too dangerous for her: trampoline. "We were on the trampoline the other day, and the children said, 'No, mom, don't do that. You'll hurt yourself,'" Jolie narrated. She added, "And I thought, 'God, isn't that funny?' There was a day I was an action star, and now the kids are telling me to get off the trampoline because I'll hurt myself." However, the "Maleficent" star knows that her kids mean well in their concern for her. The mom of six told the outlet, "Even at their young age, they know that what matters is to feel safe and loved and stable." "To not see those you love harm. To know your own mind and truth and not live a lie." Additionally, while the brunette beauty is looking forward to getting older, she hopes she will always have her spirit of youth. Angelina Jolie Not a Traditional Parent Angelina Jolie, who shares Maddox, 19, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 12, with ex-husband Brad Pitt, knew that she always wanted a massive family and envisioned a future with them where they always had adventures roaming the world. She revealed to British Vogue that one of the things she can't do is to sit still. "I always imagined it kind of like Jane Goodall, traveling in the middle of the jungle somewhere," the "Maleficent" star continued, "I feel like I lack in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mom." Thankfully, Angelina Jolie's kids are resilient and have been helping her because she admits to not being good as a mother. Life After Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's legal battle over their kids' custody has been in the headlines for the past couple of years. After being together for a decade and married for two years, the former Hollywood royalties decided to part ways in 2016. When asked about their lives after Brad Pitt, Jolie admitted that it has been "pretty hard." But one of the things she's focusing on is some "healing" within her family. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles 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. RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new, nationwide study of United States adults by FR Data Insights casts doubts on the potential effectiveness of the new stimulus bills pushed by Congress and the new administration. Response data suggests that recipients are unlikely to increase consumer spending dramatically and instead intend to save, invest, or pay off existing bills rather than stimulate local economies (40%+ intend to save, invest or pay bills vs. 28% on groceries or consumables. Drew Travers, head writer with FR insights notes "the common wisdom that a blanket stimulus will revive the economy is wrong at best, and dangerous at worst. A targeted solution could be more effective and efficient". This revelation should draw policy-makers attention as they work through details of the legislation, which may need a more targeted approach to be effective. New survey suggests stimulus checks won't be spent where they are most needed. Important Findings: Only a small minority of American adults intend to use stimulus checks towards consumer spending. All age demographics had savings and investment as higher than groceries and recreational spending. All geographic regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) responded that their stimulus check would primarily be used for savings. Less than 1/2 of stimulus dollars will actually be used to increase consumer spending. Analyst Reactions: "If there ever was evidence that the blind redistribution of wealth is inefficient or ineffective, this is it." - Drew Travers , Chief Editor for FR Data Insights. "The blanket delivery of checks to American adults without consideration of need, especially when there are clear pathways to direct payments towards those in need, is at best lazy and at worst attempted bribery of the American voter." - Drew Travers , Chief Editor for FR Data Insights. Press Contact: Russ Jones, Editor in Chief Finance Reference Data Insights [email protected] (919) 701-8036 Related Files stimulus-responses.xlsx Related Images is-the-stimulus-just-burning-money.jpg Is the Stimulus Just Burning Money New survey suggests stimulus checks won't be spent where they are most needed. Related Links Finance Reference Data Insights Team Raw Survey Data SOURCE Finance Reference Data Insights The state government asked for interim relief worth nearly Rs 1,000 from the Centre and central teams assured to extend nearly 80 per cent of the relief asked by AP. PTI representational photo Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh is eagerly awaiting Central assistance worth nearly Rs 1,000 crore as compensation for damage to crops and infrastructure following the continuous rains and floods from August to October, 2020 and again due to Cyclone Nivar storm in November last. Two Central teams visited the affected areas to inspect the damage. The state government prepared the estimates for the loss of crops and damage to infrastructure to provide interim relief in the form of input subsidy to the affected farmers and also to take up restoration of damaged infrastructure, worth Rs 6,386 crore as per the norms of National Disaster Response Fund. The state government asked for interim relief worth nearly Rs 1,000 from the Centre. The Central teams assured to extend nearly 80 per cent of the relief asked by AP. State government sources say that when AP suffered crop damage due to natural calamities during kharif season in 2018-19, AP got drought relief worth nearly Rs 900 crore in December 2019. Similarly, when parts of AP suffered badly due Cyclone Titli in October 2018, the state received relief worth of nearly Rs 500 crore from the Centre for crop damages and loss at an early date. Sources said several letters are being written from the Chief Ministers Office to the Union ministry of home seeking release of Central assistance to AP to enable it provide relief to the affected farmers and to restore damaged infrastructure. Despite no financial assistance being released, the state government has provided input subsidy to all the affected farmers to enable them to take up cultivation of crops for the next season. A senior official from AP State Disaster Management Authority said, Though it is not unusual for Central assistance to get delayed at times but there is a long delay this time given the enormity of the extent of damage and the assurances given by the Central teams to expedite release of funds to AP. Sources say that it has to be seen whether the Centre releases 80 or 50 per cent of the relief sought. The Kyiv City Council is planning to allocate UAH 140 million in budget funds for vaccination of Kyiv residents. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said this at a briefing on February 3, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "At the next meeting of the Kyiv City Council on February 11, were planning to amend the city's target program Health of Kyiv for 2020-2022 and allocate UAH 140 million for COVID-19 vaccination in the capital," he said. According to Klitschko, the heads of Kyiv healthcare facilities have been already instructed to set up special vaccination sites and mobile medical teams. As reported by Ukrinform, Klitschko earlier stated that Kyiv city was negotiating with several manufacturers to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for the capital. According to the Health Ministry, Ukraine expects to receive the first 117,000 doses of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine under the COVAX global initiative in mid-February. Ukraines Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko said that vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine would begin on February 15. iy Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. (Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images) House Republicans Seek White House Documents on Unprecedented Firings of NLRB Lawyers Four House Republicans want to see all official documents from President Joe Bidens White House and one of his Cabinet-level transition teams related to the firing of the National Labor Relations Boards (NLRB) two top lawyers. Biden fired NLRB general counsel Peter Robb near the end of the presidents first day in the Oval Office, then fired Robbs acting successor, deputy general counsel Alice Stock. The general counsel has a central role in managing cases the NLRB accepts and how it decides them. The position requires Senate confirmation for a four-year term; Robbs term would have concluded in November. The NRLB was created by the 1935 Wagner Act, with regulatory authority over the implementation and interpretation of federal labor laws and regulations, a power that makes it critically important to labor unions and corporate managers. The general counsel position was created by the National Labor Relations Act of 1947. In a letter made public on Feb. 3 to White House Counsel to President Dana Remus; Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the ranking minority member of the House Education and Labor Committee called Bidens actions unprecedented and a disturbing precedent for labor-management relations. Just 22 minutes after speaking of unity and embracing an orderly transition of power, President Biden requested Mr. Robb resign, prior to the completion of his Senate-confirmed four-year term. With 10 months of his term left, Mr. Robb declined to resign. President Biden then fired him on Jan. 20 as one of his very first actions as President, the Republicans said in their letter. Reps. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) and Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) also signed the letter with Comer and Foxx. The letter was also addressed to Chris Lu, team lead to the Department of Labor (DOL) for the Biden-Harris transition team. The next day, Mr. Robbs replacement, Deputy General Counsel Alice Stock was told to resign by 5pm or she would be dismissed as well. She declined to resign and was also fired. Given the timing of Mr. Robbs and Ms. Stocks firings, we want to understand whether they were removed for partisan political purposes, as retaliation for some action they undertook at the NRLB, or other reasons, the Republicans continued. Robb is the first general counsel to be terminated. Congress constructed the General Counsels office to be free from political influence, ensuring it is free to investigate and prosecute potential violations of the law. By firing Mr. Robb and Ms. Stock, President Biden is setting a disturbing precedent for politicizing an office created to be independent from political pressure, the Republicans contended in their letter. A White House spokesman couldnt be reached for comment. Spokesmen for Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the Oversight committees chairwoman, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-N.Y.), the Education and Labor panels chairman, didnt immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. The Republicans cited media reports that Biden had been lobbied by major labor unions, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), about terminating Robb. The requested documents included: All documents and communications between the White House and any outside persons or organizations, including SEIU, from Jan. 20, 2021, to present related to requesting the resignation and/or removal of any employee in the NLRB Office of General Counsel, including Robb and Stock. All documents and communications between the White House and the Biden-Harris transition team related to requesting the resignation and/or removal of any employee in the NLRB Office of General Counsel, including Robb and Stock. All documents and communications between the White House and the NLRB related to requesting the resignation and/or removal of any employee in the NLRB Office of General Counsel, including Robb and Stock. All internal documents and communications between and among White House employees relating to requesting the resignation and/or removal of any employee in the NLRB Office of General Counsel, including Robb and Stock. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc A group of Australian parents have discovered a simple way to prevent the offensive odour of boiled eggs cooking from spreading through the house. Mum Natasha was the first to bring the hack to light and shared the explanation in a popular Facebook group where it quickly took off. All she did was add a few teaspoons of white distilled vinegar into the water when boiling eggs and it neutralised the smell. The trick involves adding a few teaspoons of white distilled vinegar into the water when boiling eggs to neutralise odours After sharing the tip on social media, other parents who had tried the trick confirmed it worked well, while others were eager to give it a go. According to culinary scientist Jessica Gavin, boiling eggs releases the iron in the yolk while the whites release sulfur and hydrogen that causes the smell to occur. But adding the vinegar to the water when cooking the eggs will help prevent this chemical reaction from occurring without impacting the taste of the food. According to culinary scientist Jessica Gavin, boiling eggs releases the iron in the yolk while the whites release sulphur and hydrogen that causes the smell to occur. But adding the vinegar will help prevent this reaction from occurring without impacting the taste of the food Why do boiled eggs smell and how does white vinegar prevent it? Culinary scientist Jessica Gavin wrote on her website that cooking eggs releases chemicals in the food to form an unpleasant gas The yolk releases iron while the egg whites release sulfur and hydrogen that causes the smell to occur when mixed together Adding the white distilled vinegar to the water when boiling the eggs will help prevent this chemical reaction from occurring without impacting the taste of the food Advertisement The handy tip is also ideal to ensure the food doesn't smell if eggs were to be added into school lunchboxes, which parents were concerned about. 'This is good to know, I made my daughter boiled eggs last week (for school) and didn't have the heart to send them because they smelt,' one mum wrote. 'I will have to try this so I can send them for my daughter,' another said. BT has unveiled what it calls an 'unbreakable' home internet solution which combines the firm's Wi-Fi connectivity with the EE mobile network. The so-called Halo 3+ package features the new 'Hybrid Connect' technology which links the EE 4G mobile network to a home's broadband connection. The central BT hub connects to a 4G modem and if it detects the wired internet has been knocked out it automatically switches over to the mobile network. It does this within 90 seconds to get the user back online in minutes, BT claims. BT Halo 3+ will be available from February 5 and will cost new customers 65.99 per month. Hybrid Connect is available as an add-on for new and existing BT broadband customers, costing 7 per month. BT has unveiled what it calls an 'unbreakable' home internet solution which combines the firm's Wi-Fi connectivity with the EE mobile network. The so-called Halo 3+ package includes a device called 'Hybrid Connect' (right) which links the EE 4G mobile network to a home's broadband connection via the Smart Hub (left) The telecoms giant says the hybrid technology is a UK first and has been designed to offer more reliability during the coronavirus pandemic, with BT recording a 60 per cent increase in downloads from domestic users over the last 12 months. Christian Thrane, managing director of marketing for BT Consumer, said: 'With BT Halo 3+, we're launching an innovative new category of home broadband that's truly a first of its kind in the UK. 'We are combining the best fibre home broadband and Wi-Fi technology, backed up with our award-winning EE mobile network to become the only UK provider that offers customers an unbreakable Wi-Fi connection in the home. The central BT hub connects to a 4G modem and if it detects the wired internet has been knocked out it automatically switches over to the mobile network. It does this within 90 seconds to get the user back online in minutes, BT claims BT announces free unlimited mobile data for families with no internet access BT will provide free unlimited mobile data to families that have no internet access to help children access online learning tools during the latest coronavirus lockdown. The move follows calls from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and others for technology firms to do more to support students suddenly home-learning due to coronavirus lockdown measures and school closures. As well as unlimited data, a number of educational websites will be 'zero rated' - requiring no mobile data - as part of the new 'Lockdown Learning' support scheme. Advertisement 'BT Halo 3+ offers a super reliable service with the best connectivity for all corners of the home, giving the whole family peace of mind they can work, home school or keep in touch with friends and family without interruptions.' EE is owned by BT and this release is the latest in a series of business moves which brings the wo companies closer together. As part of the new Halo 3+ package, BT will also offer a free upgrade to full-fibre broadband where available, as well as access to its Home Tech Experts for help with any home internet support. Industry expert Matthew Howett, principal analyst and founder of Assembly Research, said: 'The past 12 months have reminded us all of the importance of fast, and crucially, reliable broadband as we've taken to work, educate and entertain ourselves at home. 'In its truest sense, convergence is about the coming together of fixed and mobile networks in a seamless way for the consumer. 'The Hybrid Connect device is a great first step in the delivery of that vision, and works to reinforce the always on promise, at a time when households need uninterrupted connectivity more than ever.' Small businesses have launched another protest as the government has extended the 9 pm. curfew for food and leisure establishments until after the Lunar New Year. Groups representing owners of billiard rooms, cafes, restaurants, karaoke bars and gyms said Tuesday that they will leave their lights on around the clock in protest but won't serve customers as ordered. In early January, owners staged a rally demanding the government let them keep their shops open as they believe they have been made to bear the brunt of economic difficulties causes by lockdown. The groups said the 9 p.m. curfew is a "serious violation" of their rights and in fact contributes to the spread of the virus by forcing customers to crowd into their establishments between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The lights-on protest will continue until the government allows them to remain open "at least until midnight" and offers a more tailored lockdown order that lets them have a say in drafting quarantine measures. (Natural News) Google is threatening to end its search engine services in Australia if the country passes its proposed digital media code that would require the tech giant to pay local news publishers for the articles it links to. Prime Minister Scott Morrison isnt fazed, saying that Microsofts own search engine Bing will be able to fill the void if Google carries out its threat. Morrison told the National Press Club of Australia that Microsoft is pretty confident that Australians would not be worse off without Google. Morrison said that he has spoken with Microsofts chief executive officer Satya Nadella regarding Bing taking a leading role with regards to Australias search engine requirements. Microsoft confirmed that this online meeting took place, but they refused to release any details regarding the conversation. We recognize the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and we recognize the challenges the media sector has faced over many years through changing business models and consumer preferences, said Microsoft in its statement. The company refused to comment on the proposed digital media code. Currently, Google dominates the search engine market in Australia. According to web analytics service Statcounter, Google has a 95 percent market share, followed in second place by Bing with 3.6 percent. (Related: Google Play deletes over 150,000 Robinhood app reviews after frustrated users leave one-star ratings.) These are big technology companies and whats important to Australia, I think, is that we set the rules that are right for our people, said Morrison. Having a news environment in this country that is one that is sustainable and is supported commercially, then this is vital to how democracies function. Google argues that paying for content would dismantle a free and open service thats been built to serve everyone. In a statement, Mel Silva, the managing director for Google Australia and New Zealand, said that the digital media code would break a fundamental principle of how the web works and setting an untenable precedent for our business, the internet and the digital economy. The proposed digital media code would make big tech companies including Google and Facebook pay Australian media outlets for using news content. The government doesnt plan to force Bing to pay for content, but it has not ruled out the possibility of including Microsoft in the proposal. Google has carried out threats against nations before. In 2010, it effectively shut down operations in China after discovering that the communist nation targeted it in a cyberattack. Four years later, it took out Google News from Spain after the government passed a similar copyright law that would have forced it to pay news publishers for their stories. Just recently, the big tech company signed a deal with a group of French publishers requiring it to pay these publishers for their content. But unlike the Australian proposal, Google has a lot more control over how much it will pay. For starters, it does not have to pay for links to news sites. Google also has the freedom to negotiate individual licensing deals with different news corporations, with payments based on a variety of factors such as monthly site traffic. According to Peter Lewis, director of the tech watchdog group the Center for Responsible Technology, Google is terrified by the Australian proposal and is resisting it as much as it can because the code may set a precedent that other countries can follow to force the tech giant to fall in line. I think Googles view is that they are so superior that people cant live without them, said Lewis. There is a whole bunch of flow-on effects that I dont even know if Google have probably thought through yet. Australian government touts benefits of Google-less continent Not only is Morrison holding firm against Googles threats, but his ministers are also touting the possibilities that come with Googles withdrawal from the continent. Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts Paul Fletcher argues that Googles departure may pave the way for a rise in investment from other players in the local market. We know that big tech companies make these threats from time to time, they dont always follow through, he said, regarding Googles potential exit from Australia. But this is a potential commercial opportunity for other providers of search. When asked whether Bing can be a sufficient alternative for Google, Fletcher said that the meeting between Microsoft and the prime minister sends a very strong signal that companies are gearing up for the opportunity to become Australias leading search engine provider. There will be a strong market response, said Fletcher. Ultimately, at the end of the day, if you want to do business in Australia, you need to comply with the laws of the sovereign government of Australia. Thats not a particularly radical position. What weve seen in other areas where weve introduced laws that initially have been resisted by global technology businesses is that ultimately they have complied. The digital media code, known by its formal name, the News Media Bargaining Code, passed in the House of Representatives and is up for debate in the Australian Senate. Barring interference from tech giants like Google, the code will pass. Whether or not the company follows through on its threat to depart remains to be seen. Sources include: ABC.net.au TheEpochTimes.com ZDNet.com Myanmar nationals living in Thailand hold pictures of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar military Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing during a protest in front of the United Nations' building in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday. / AP Boris Johnson has warned the European Union he is willing to override parts of the Brexit divorce deal relating to Northern Ireland unless the bloc agrees to relax customs checks. The Prime Minister signalled he is willing to unilaterally ditch elements of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol if that is what it takes to ensure there is no post-Brexit trade barrier down the Irish Sea. The protocol was designed to keep the Irish land border open by conducting checks on goods at ports but the measures have caused disruption to imports from the rest of the UK. Mr Johnson told MPs this afternoon: 'We will do everything we need to do, whether legislatively or indeed by triggering Article 16 of the protocol, to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea.' Article 16 is part of the divorce deal which keeps Northern Ireland following the EU's customs rules. It allows either side to unilaterally intervene if the measures are deemed to be causing a major problem but it is supposed to be a last resort. Earlier today Mr Johnson promised Arlene Foster during a phone call that the UK Government will 'do everything we can' to reduce friction at the border as he demanded the EU take 'urgent action' to ease rules. Mrs Foster, the First Minister, said 'there is a lot of very grave anger' in Northern Ireland about the border checks and the issues need to be 'sorted immediately'. The worsening row over the post-Brexit customs checks has seen loyalists threaten port workers, with politicians now scrambling to improve the situation. The implementation of the protocol from January 1 had already caused community tensions to rise but the EU's botched threat last week to impose export controls on vaccines made things worse. The European Commission's proposal on export controls last Friday would have struck at the heart of the protocol's main function to facilitate a free-flowing Irish border by placing restrictions on vaccines moving into Northern Ireland from the bloc. Brussels was forced to swiftly drop the plan after a ferocious backlash and Mr Johnson today stepped up the UK's war of words with the EU over its actions. He said that by seeking to restrict the movement of vaccines into Northern Ireland the EU had seemed to 'cast doubt on the Good Friday Agreement'. The PM's comments came ahead of a crunch meeting on the issue this evening between Michael Gove, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, Mrs Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill. The Minister for the Cabinet Office wrote to Mr Sefcovic ahead of the meeting to urge the EU to ditch a technical and legalistic approach to the protocol and to ask for extra time to resolve problems. It came after Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign affairs minister, said the EU is 'looking for ways' to reduce 'friction' at the border as he also blasted the bloc's approach on vaccines, labelling last week's exports threat a 'serious mistake'. The Northern Ireland Protocol was agreed as part of the Brexit divorce deal and it requires regulatory and customs checks on goods entering the region. The physical inspection of goods was suspended on Monday night because of threats and intimidation of staff at ports. Many unionists and loyalists are against the protocol because they believe it has created an economic barrier between the region and the rest of the UK, undermining the constitutional integrity of the Union. Police have insisted there is no evidence that loyalist paramilitaries are involved in the sinister campaign, instead blaming disgruntled individuals and small groups. Boris Johnson spoke to Arlene Foster on the phone this morning as he vowed to do everything he can to ensure trade to Northern Ireland is made smoother Mrs Foster said 'there is a lot of very grave anger' over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland Customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain Northern Ireland is operating different regulatory and customs arrangements to the rest of the UK. Under the terms of the Brexit deal, the region is remaining in the EU Single Market for goods and applying EU customs rules at its points of entry - Belfast Port, Larne Harbour, Warrenpoint Port, Foyle Port, and Belfast International Airport. Customs declarations and extra checks are now required on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but trade in the other direction remains largely unfettered. These checks include: Chilled meat: For a period of six months, some chilled meat such as sausages can continue to enter Northern Ireland from Britain. To avoid disruption, the protocol provides an immediate solution where these meats can continue to move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland throughout the first half of 2021. Retail goods: Goods from certain food suppliers, such as supermarkets and their trusted suppliers, can enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain. They should benefit from a grace period, through to 1 April 2021, from official certification for products of animal origin, composite products, food and feed of non-animal origin and plants and plant products. They must also be destined solely for sale to end consumers in supermarkets located in Britain, and they cannot be sold to other operators of the food chain. Sanitary and phytosanitary checks: Goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain are subject to EU controls to protect animal, plant or public health. Customs staff may make documentary, identity or physical checks at points of entry in Belfast Port, Larne Harbour, Warrenpoint Port, Foyle Port, and Belfast International Airport. Medicine: Goods already on the market in the EU or the UK are able to continue to circulate, under the principles agreed by Britain and the EU in the Withdrawal Agreement. This arrangement protects supply flows for medicines already on the market in Great Britain moving to Northern Ireland. Travelling with pets: Any person travelling from Northern with a pet to Britain and returning to NI, will be required to adhere to the EU requirements for travelling into the EU/NI from a Part II listed country. If travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and not returning to NI, with your pet, there are no documentary or health preparations, though there is a law requiring dogs are microchipped at eight weeks old. Advertisement Import inspections at Belfast and Larne were stopped with immediate effect on Monday evening as Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) assessed the risk to workers at the sites. The decision came after a local council decided to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port due to 'an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks'. Rising tensions have been blamed on the protocol which requires checks on goods to be carried out at ports to ensure Northern Ireland continues to comply with the EU red tape. Britain and Brussels agreed to the measures in order to avoid a return of checkpoints on the politically sensitive land border. The inspections and added bureaucracy are needed because, under the protocol, Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods and also applies EU customs rules at its ports. In another sign of heightened tensions in the region yesterday, a large group of masked men were seen walking around an area of east Belfast where the Ulster Volunteer Force exerts influence on the community. Graffiti warning off trade inspectors has appeared close to ports in recent weeks. Police have stepped up patrols at the ports following the spate of intimidatory incidents. Mr Johnson and Mrs Foster held a phone call this morning to discuss the situation and the actions of the EU last Friday. A Downing Street spokesman said the pair had spoken of 'their shared concern that the processes set out in the protocol were ignored' by Brussels. The spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister restated his commitment to Northern Ireland as an integral part of our Union and underlined that we would do everything we could to ensure trade continues to flow effectively right across our United Kingdom. 'He welcomed the First Minister's engagement with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and urged that this coordinated work continues to ensure that the protocol works in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. 'The Prime Minister said that we needed urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits in full from the UK's exit from the EU. They agreed to keep in touch.' Mr Johnson then used PMQs to blast the EU over its ditched threat to restrict the export of vaccines. He told MPs: 'I certainly agree that it was most regrettable that the EU should seem to cast doubt on the Good Friday Agreement, principles of the peace process, by seeming to call for a border across the island of Ireland. 'I can tell you that we will work to ensure that there are no such borders. We will respect the peace process and indeed no barriers down the Irish Sea, that the principle of unfettered access across all parts of our United Kingdom is upheld.' Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic, the joint chairs of the UK/EU joint committee which is tasked with implementation of the protocol, will discuss the situation with Mrs Foster and Ms O'Neill this evening. The Minister for the Cabinet Office told Mr Sefcovic in a letter that 'what is now required is political, not technical, solutions' as he asked for checks to be relaxed. A range of grace periods came into effect when the protocol became operational at the start of the year. For example, supermarkets and other food retailers were given three months to adjust to the new regulatory checks on animal-based food products. Mr Gove has suggested extending the grace periods in order to reduce friction when goods are sent to Northern Ireland while permanent solutions are found. Mrs Foster, the DUP leader, had claimed overnight that problems at the border were being caused by UK customs officials over-interpreting new rules. She told The Telegraph: 'It's our own Government and our own officials looking at the regulations and implementing it to the Nth degree.' She gave an example of potatoes with British soil on being blocked at the border by officials because they are apparently in breach of EU plant health rules. Mrs Foster said: 'There is a lot of very grave anger in Northern Ireland about the way in which this protocol is rolling out. And we need to get it sorted and we need to get it sorted immediately.' She added: 'One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we're told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland. A crowd of masked men move through Belfast last night Animal and food product inspections at Northern Ireland's Belfast and Larne ports were stopped 'with immediate effect' on Monday night over safety fears for staff A Unionist poster against a possible UK internal border is attached to a post at the Port of Larne The decision came after a local council agreed to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port due to 'an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks'. The Brexit disputes sending Northern Ireland tensions soaring: Loyalists threaten port staff for checking goods from Britain while an 'internal UVF dispute' puts masked men on 'patrol' in Belfast and anti-EU graffiti appears across province Soaring tensions in Northern Ireland over Brexit have sparked the British government's anger at the EU today and demands for the trade rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. Checks at Northern Irish ports on goods travelling between Britain and the province were suspended after anonymous threats, feared to be from hardline loyalists, were sent to EU and local officials. It comes amid fury at the EU for threatening on Friday to suspend post-Brexit trade agreements in an attempt to stop coronavirus vaccines travelling from Ireland to the UK. The extraordinary threat by Brussels united Britain, Ireland and all parties in condemnation for appearing to undermine the EU's commitment to the Good Friday peace agreement. However, the episode has inflamed the anger of loyalist elements who are unhappy at customs checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland, which has caused shortages and is viewed as the erection of a hard border in the Irish Sea. Anti-Brexit graffiti opposing 'a border in the Irish Sea' has appeared across the province recently, including on the front of the offices of local politicians. Masked UVF men were also caught on video putting on a 'show of strength' in East Belfast yesterday - although the Irish News says this was related to an 'internal dispute'. And a dissident Republican who spent five years in the British Army was shot dead outside a bar in North Belfast last night. Danny McClean, who was on bail facing arms charges, was ambushed by members of violent splinter-group ONH, of which he was once a senior member - though this is not Brexit-related. Graffiti has also been sprayed on the offices of local politicians, with Alliance MP Stephen Farry tweeting a photo of graffiti on his constituency office reading 'RIP GFA' - a likely reference to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brokered to bring an end to years of sectarian conflict. His colleague Kellie Armstrong, the Alliance MLA for Strangford, tweeted a photo showing the words 'stay out' sprawled over her office window, while Alliance councillor in Bangor, Connie Eagen, posted an image of graffiti on a wall which read: 'Banger says no to Irish Sea border'. Michael Gove is set to hold crisis talks with Brussels' chiefs and Northern Ireland leaders today in a bid to defuse the growing tensions. The Cabinet Office minister is expected to push for trading rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. DUP leader Arlene Foster today claimed problems at the border were being caused by UK customs officials over-interpreting new rules. She told the Telegraph: 'It's our own government and our own officials looking at the regulations and implementing it to the Nth degree.' She gave an example of potatoes with British soil on being blocked at the border by officials because they are apparently in breach of EU plant health rules. Mrs Foster said: 'There is a lot of very grave anger in Northern Ireland about the way in which this protocol is rolling out. And we need to get it sorted and we need to get it sorted immediately.' She added: 'One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we're told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland. 'So if you're buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that's a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can't possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.' Mr Coveney argued this morning that ultimately 'Brexit is the problem that is causing all of this disruption' but added: 'Of course we are looking for ways in which the protocol can be implemented with less friction.' Advertisement 'So if you're buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that's a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can't possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.' Mr Coveney argued this morning that ultimately 'Brexit is the problem that is causing all of this disruption' but added: 'Of course we are looking for ways in which the protocol can be implemented with less friction.' Asked about the threats to staff at ports, Mr Coveney told Newstalk radio: 'Of course it is a worry and the safety of staff must come first and that is what happened yesterday. 'I think there is some uncertainty as to the level of threat there, certainly the PSNI have confirmed that this does not involve loyalist paramilitaries. 'But clearly there is a lot of tension and Friday didn't help that when the commission made a serious mistake by signalling an intention to trigger Article 16 of the protocol. That should not have happened. 'They reversed that decision quickly but certainly on the back of that it sparked a lot of tension in Northern Ireland and my job is to try to calm that.' The DUP yesterday announced a series of political moves aimed at undermining the protocol. Its strategy includes opposing any protocol-related legislation at the Stormont Assembly and refusing to participate in any exchanges with the Irish Government related to the operation of the protocol. Sinn Fein described the DUP's attempts to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol as 'reckless'. Tensions have been heightened following the controversial events of last Friday when the European Commission was forced to backtrack on a threat to suspend part of the protocol using Article 16 amid a rumbling row with the UK over vaccines. While the EU stepped back from the brink, after an evening of frantic diplomacy, the episode further angered loyalists and unionists and emboldened them to press their demands for an end to the protocol. Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Gove said: 'On Friday afternoon the European Commission, without prior consultation, published a regulation to enable restrictions on the export of vaccines from the EU. 'That regulation also invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, barring the free movement of medicines from Ireland into Northern Ireland. 'It is important to be clear about what was proposed. Not only plans to stop vaccines being delivered through legally binding contracts at the height of a pandemic but also and critically a unilateral suspension of the painstakingly designed and carefully negotiated provisions of the protocol which the EU has always maintained was critical to safeguarding the gains of the Northern Ireland peace process. 'Article 16 exists for good reasons but it is meant to be invoked only after notification, only after all other options are exhausted and in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. 'None of these conditions were met. Worse still, neither the UK Government representing the people of Northern Ireland nor the Irish Government, an EU member, were informed. 'The Commission's move has provoked anger and concern across all parties and throughout civil society in Northern Ireland as well as international condemnation.' Mr Gove welcomed the fact that the plans were withdrawn but he said: 'Trust has been eroded, damage has been done and urgent action is therefore needed. 'Peace, progress and strong community relations in Northern Ireland have been hard won and in recent days we have seen an increase in community tension and as was reported last night port staff in Belfast and Larne have been kept away from work following concerns for their safety.' He added: 'Fixing problems on the ground now requires us all to work calmly. The EU needs to work with us at speed and with determination to resolve a series of outstanding issues with the protocol.' Meanwhile, the EU also faced criticism from Downing Street after Ursula von der Leyen accused Britain of compromising on coronavirus vaccine safety and claimed the bloc's slower approval process was the 'right decision'. Number 10 hit back and said experts at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had been 'very clear that no corners were cut, no stones were left unturned' when they decided to give the green light to a number of jabs. The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said 'the public should be confident of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines'. The last and 11th round of meeting between the Centre and 41 protesting unions, held on 22 January, was inconclusive. The Centre had asked unions to reconsider the government's proposal to suspend new farm laws for 18 months New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Wednesday said the Centre is not holding any informal talk with protesting farmers and described putting up of more barricades and suspending internet in and around agitation sites as law and order issues related to local administrations. The last and 11th round of meeting between the government and 41 protesting unions, held on 22 January, was inconclusive. The Centre had asked unions to reconsider the government's proposal to suspend new farm laws for 18 months. Asked when the government will hold the next round of talks and if it was engaging with the unions informally, Tomar replied in the negative. "No. We will inform when formal talks will be held," Tomar told PTI. When told that protesting unions demand that no formal talks with the government can be held until the police and the administration stop "harassing" them and release the detained farmers, the minister said, "They should talk to the Police Commissioner. I don't want to comment on the law and order issue. That's not my job." Since the 22 January talks, there has been no meeting between the farmer leaders and the Centre to discuss the farm laws although the government reiterated that its offer stands and doors are open for discussion. On Tuesday, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) - the umbrella body of farmers' unions protesting the Central farm laws - had said that there can be no "formal" talks with the government until the "harassment" of different kinds against the farmers' movement by the police and administration is "immediately stopped". The SKM had also said no formal proposal for talks has been received by it. "Though no formal proposal for talks came from the government, we clearly state that the talks will be held only after unconditional release of farmers who are in illegal police custody," SKM had said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an all-arty meeting on Saturday had said the government's offer to suspend the farm laws for 18 months was still on the table and the agriculture minister was just a phone call away to take the talks forward. The sites of the farmer protest at Delhi's borders have turned into fortresses with police beefing up security and putting up multi-layer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles. Concertina wires and metal spikes have also been put up to keep off people on foot. The strengthened security measures come after the violence during the Republic Day tractor parade by the farmers. Shares in Vodafone climbed 5% as its chief executive Nick Read hailed an unexpected increase in its service revenues, boosted by its major market Germany, where broadband customers upgraded to higher-speed plans during the pandemic. Vodafone also posted a slower decline in its Ireland service revenues for the three months to the end of December, helped by "the anniversary of the prior year market repricing". In the quarter, Ireland posted total revenues of 205m, compared with 209m a year earlier. New study shows effectiveness of CO2 lasers as nonhormone treatment for helping improve sexual function in survivors of breast cancer with genitourinary syndrome of menopause CLEVELAND, Ohio (Feb 3, 2021)--Postmenopausal women often complain of painful intercourse or a lack of desire caused by decreased estrogen levels, which affect vaginal elasticity and lubrication. Survivors of breast cancer typically experience worse symptoms as a result of cancer treatments, and concerns exist regarding hormone therapies. A new study suggests that fractional CO2 laser therapy may help. Study results are published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). The menopause transition can subject women to genitourinary changes from a lack of estrogen and subsequent alterations in vaginal elasticity, moisture, tissue integrity, and pH levels. These changes can lead to troublesome vaginal and urinary symptoms that are collectively referred to as the genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). Although the condition is underdiagnosed, it can affect a woman's well-being and sexual function. Survivors of breast cancer are even more likely to experience GSM because of the effects of chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy used to treat the cancer. An ongoing problem is that many healthcare providers do not address GSM as part of survivorship care for these women. Complicating matters is that treatment options are more limited for women with breast cancer because there are concerns about the use of even low-dose vaginal hormone therapies. Fractional CO2 laser therapy is a nonhormone treatment approach for GSM that remodels vulvar and vaginal tissues. Early results indicate that the procedure is safe and effective. In this newest study, CO2 laser therapy appears to have reduced sexual function problems at the 4-week follow-up visit. Specifically, improvements were noted in sexual function in the areas of desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain. At the 4-week follow-up visit, additional improvements occurred with regard to a woman's interest in sex and her level of sexual activity. Although sexual function scores were lower at 1 year than at 4 weeks and indicated that women continued to experience sexual problems, they remained significantly improved compared with baseline. Follow-up will be conducted again in 2 years to better identify the long-term effectiveness of laser therapy. Although this new study was small, it provides valuable insights for healthcare providers treating postmenopausal women, especially postmenopausal women who are survivors of breast cancer. Additional, larger-scale studies will be needed to fully explore the long-term potential of fractional CO2 laser therapy for the treatment of GSM and associated sexual problems. Study results appear in the article "Patient-reported sexual function of breast cancer survivors with genitourinary syndrome of menopause after fractional CO2 laser therapy." "This study highlights the issue of sexual dysfunction affecting most survivors of breast cancer and the potential role for CO2 laser therapy in the treatment of GSM and related sexual problems. Additional study is needed to better understand the long-term safety and efficacy of this therapy," says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, NAMS medical director and one of the authors of the study. ### The authors have prepared a video summary of this article that can be found at http://links. lww. com/ MENO/ A711 . For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit http://www. menopause. org . When U.S. President Joe Biden killed a high-profile, controversial oil pipeline project on his first day in office, he set the stage for more complicated and lengthy environmental reviews for all oil and gas infrastructure. President Bidens decision to scrap the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline was not entirely unexpected, considering the campaign promises and the focus on clean energy and strengthened environmental policies. The killing of Keystone XL and the climate executive orders that followed in President Bidens first ten days in office are sending a message to the oil and gas industry: energy infrastructure with poor environmental credentials will not fly in this Administration. At risk are not only proposed pipeline projects, but also operating pipelines with steel in the ground, such as the infamous Dakota Access Pipeline, analysts say. Challenges To Pipeline Permitting Increase Last weeks Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad directed relevant authorities to ensure that Federal infrastructure investment reduces climate pollution, and to require that Federal permitting decisions consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The strengthened environmental impact scrutiny, including on siting and permitting processes in progress, is set to make the entire environmental and permitting reviews more complicated, with longer lead times from project to definitive approval from all relevant authorities, including federal agencies. Related: Russia Is The Biggest Winner In The OPEC+ Deal Overall, one would expect much more intensive and difficult environmental review and permitting processes for pipelines, including potential rejection of requests altogether, Michael Drysdale, an attorney at the law firm Dorsey & Whitney, told Energy Intelligences Bridget DiCosmo. On his first day, Biden also revoked four of Trumps executive orders intended to streamline and accelerate infrastructure permitting, suggesting that securing approvals could become more complex and protracted, said Ed Crooks, Vice-Chair Americas at Wood Mackenzie. In its rush to streamline approvals for pipelines, the Trump administration had opened up the projects to more litigation from opponents and climate activists. President Bidens killing of Keystone XL adds another factor on top of the ongoing legal and regulatory hurdles to smooth approval of pipeline projectspotential opposition from the federal government, Wood Mac says. Operating Pipelines Are Not Out Of The Woods Either The Administrations shift to clean energy is not only complicating the future of proposed oil and gas infrastructure. It also creates additional challenges to the operation of existing pipelines that are already mired in legal troubles, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline. Climate activists and some indigenous organizations rejoiced at the killing of Keystone XL and are now calling on President Biden to take action on Dakota Access, Enbridges Line 3 expansion and replacement program, and Enbridges Line 5 replacement plan in Michigan. Activists protested last Friday in St Paul, Minnesota, demanding that President Biden revoke the permits for Line 3 after killing Keystone XL. Enbridge has just started construction on the Line 3 oil pipeline replacement in Minnesota after receiving all necessary approvals and permits, while indigenous groups continue to seek to delay or stop the works with lawsuits. Last week, a federal U.S. appeals court upheld a lower courts decision to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out a much more extensive and lengthy review of the environmental impact near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Since the summer of 2020, DAPL and Energy Transfer are fighting a legal battle after a judge vacated the permit for the pipeline in July. Related: Oil Prices Continue To Rise As Bullish News Mounts The latest court ruling came a week after President Biden took office and killed Keystone XL. Activists and the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribal groups had appealed to President Biden a day before his inauguration to take executive action to shut down Dakota Access. The ball is now in the Biden administrations court, Jan Hasselman, an attorney representing Standing Rock, told Grand Forks Herald after the court ruling on DAPL. But the ongoing litigation over DAPLs permit is not over yet, and the courts could rule in favor of activists and tribal groups even without the Administrations executive action. Analysts are not unanimous in their opinion whether the Biden Administration would proceed with sweeping executive orders regarding oil and gas infrastructure. Some say that killing Keystone XL was the low-hanging fruit and showing commitment to the climate agenda on the Presidents first day in office. But others say that this could be the start of the new normal, as Southern Methodist University energy law professor James Coleman told Bloomberg Law. Environment vs Jobs? The pipeline saga and controversy spilled onto two portions of society that had rallied behind President Bidens campaignunion workers and environmental activists. Climate advocates, emboldened by the end of Keystone XL, want more action from the Administration on shutting down pipelines, while trade unions Teamsters and North Americas Building Trades Unions (NABTU) criticized President Bidens decision to stop the Canada-U.S. oil pipeline project. Environmental ideologues have now prevailed, and over a thousand union men and women have been terminated from employment on the project, said NABTU. It will reduce good-paying union jobs that allow workers to provide a middle-class standard of living to their families. America needs access to various forms of energy that can keep its economy running in the years ahead. This decision will hurt that effort, Teamsters said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads from Oilprice.com: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has announced that the first shipment of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has arrived from India at Dubai Airport. DHA will be making the AstraZeneca vaccine available in the emirate as part of its commitment to provide the public a choice of different vaccines. The provision of the vaccine also supports the UAEs broader objective of combating the pandemic. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the latest addition to the list of Covid-19 vaccines offered by DHA, which include the Pfizer- BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines. The vaccines are being provided as part of Dubais comprehensive vaccination drive launched in December 2020. More than 120 vaccination centres have been set up to administer the vaccines. DHA is in the process of setting up more centres in the coming weeks to accommodate the growing demand for vaccination. Dr Farida Al Khaja, CEO of DHAs Clinical Support Services and Nursing Sector and Chairperson of the Covid-19 Vaccination Steering Committee, said the AstraZeneca vaccine will be available at the One Central Vaccination Centre for all Emiratis aged between 18 and 60 as well as people of determination and people with chronic diseases between the ages of 18 and 60, provided they have a valid Dubai visa. She noted that the vaccine will also be available to frontline personnel and vital sector workers from both the public and private sectors at the vaccination field centre. Appointments for individuals in these two categories will be scheduled in coordination with the government departments and institutions they work for. TradeArabia News Service TORONTO (AP) The Canadian government designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity on Wednesday, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys have faced increased scrutiny after seizing on the former Trump administrations policies and was a major agitator during earlier protests and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys is a far-right, male chauvinist extremist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. Canada is the first country to designate them as a terrorist entity. During a September presidential debate, Donald Trump had urged the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by when asked to condemn them by a moderator. Senior officials speaking on a technical briefing said authorities had been monitoring and collecting evidence about the Proud Boys before the Capitol Hill insurrection, but confirmed that the event provided information that helped with the decision to list the organization. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said they revealed themselves. Their intent and their escalation toward violence became quite clear," Blair said. Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of Proud Boys, called the terrorist designation ridiculous. "There is no basis for it. It's infringement of free speech rights. All the Canadian Proud Boys have ever done is go to rallies, Tarrio said in a phone interview. They used what happened at the Capitol to push for this." Tarrio said the Canadian chapters are very quiet compared to their American counterparts. He estimated there are between 1,000 and 1,500 Proud Boys in Canada. He said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who first proposed the designation, are virtue signaling. Tarrio was arrested in Washington shortly before the Capitol riot. He was accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during an earlier protest in the nations capital. Asked whether the US will follow Canada and designate Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. has a domestic extremism review underway. We will wait for that review to conclude before we make any determinations, Psaki said. The terrorist designation in Canada means the group may have assets seized and face harsher terrorism-related criminal penalties. A government official said just because they are a member doesn't mean they will be charged with a crime, but if they do engage in violent acts they could be charged with terrorist crimes. Sending money to the organization or buying Proud Boys paraphernalia would also be a crime. The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs, the Canadian government said in briefing materials. The group regularly attends Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests as counter-protesters, often engaging in violence targeting BLM supporters. On January 6, 2021, the Proud Boys played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The government calls the Proud Boys a neo-fascist organization with semiautonomous chapters located in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It said it engages in political violence and that members espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist ideologies. Since 2018 we have seen an escalation towards violence for this group, Blair said. In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, we have seen signals of escalation towards violence from a number of different groups including the Proud Boys. Blair said four right-wing groups are among 13 additions to the list, which include three groups linked to al-Qaida, four associated with the Islamic State group and one Kashmiri organization. Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence, Blair said. The Proud Boys were formed in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McInnes, who co-founded Vice Media. In 2018, police arrested several Proud Boys members and associates who brawled with antifascists after McInnes, delivered a speech at New Yorks Metropolitan Republican Club. McInnes has described the group as a politically incorrect mens club for Western chauvinists and denies affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views. McInnes sued the Southern Poverty Law Center, claiming it defamed him when it designated the Proud Boys as a hate group. In response to the federal suit, which is still pending in Alabama, the law center said McInnes has acknowledged an overlap between the Proud Boys and white nationalist groups. Indeed, Proud Boys members have posted social media pictures of themselves with prominent Holocaust deniers, white nationalists, and known neo-Nazis, law center lawyers wrote in a court filing. Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Trudeau's Liberal government is trying to attach their star to the anti-Trump sentiment prevalent in Canada. Since the Proud Boys are identified with Trump, they are an easy target. Had Trump won the election, Im confident the Liberals would not have gone after the Proud Boys, Wiseman said. There is right-wing extremism in Canada but much, much less than in the U.S." YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations reports that some roads are closed or difficult to pass in Armenia due to weather conditions. The roads leading to Amberd Fortress and Lake Kari are closed. The Vardenyats Pass is difficult to pass for trailer trucks. The roads in Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces are partly covered with clear ice. The Georgian authorities inform that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles. Drivers are urged to use snow tires. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan 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 World Economic Forum on Wednesday said its special annual meeting for 2021 will now be held in August in as against earlier scheduled dates in May this year. Geneva-based WEF, which describes itself as an organisation for public-private cooperation, has been holding its high-profile annual meeting, attended by the rich and powerful from across the world, in January every year in Swiss ski resort town of Davos, but it could not do so this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the held an online Davos Agenda Summit this time in the last week of January and had planned to hold a special in-person annual meeting for 2021 in Singapore, before taking the event back to Davos in 2022. In a statement, the said its special annual meeting 2021 will now be held in on August 17-20. "The meeting follows the success of the Forum's virtual Davos Agenda in January, which brought together world leaders from government, business and society," it added. Earlier, the special annual meeting 2021 was scheduled for May 25-28. "Although the World Economic Forum and Government of remain confident of the measures in place to ensure a safe and effective meeting, and local transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore remains at negligible levels, the change to the meeting's timing reflects the challenges in containing the pandemic," the said. However, current global travel restrictions have made planning difficult for an in-person meeting in the first half of the year. Furthermore, differing quarantine and air transport regulations have increased the lead time necessary to ensure that participants globally can make arrangements to join, it added. The special annual meeting 2021 in Singapore in August will be the first global leadership summit to address the challenges of recovering from the pandemic and laying the basis for a more inclusive and sustainable world. It will bring leaders face-to-face to focus on shaping solutions to the most pressing challenges of our times. "A global leadership summit needs the participation of all global stakeholders," WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said. The Singapore meeting will provide the place for leaders from business, government and civil society to come together to address the steps for global recovery, he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shipa, the digital logistics and e-commerce arm of Agility, has opened two state-of-the-art e-commerce fulfilment centres in Dubai to manage online purchases and deliver to customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. The centres, in the Jebel Ali Free Zone and Dubai Investment Park, will help global, regional and local brands scale quickly to capitalize on the explosive growth in e-commerce and online sales across the GCC. Shipas 60,000-sq-m fulfilment centre in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) and a second 20,000-sq-m facility in Dubai Investment Park feature a combined 2,000 pallet positions and 10,000 bin locations. Both leverage the operational expertise and technology of Agility, a leading global logistics provider. The centres offer bonded and non-bonded storage; inbound air and ocean stock replenishment; pick-and-pack services; customer technology integration and APIs; local and international returns services; and integration with cross-border and last-mile transportation vendors. Shipas value-added services include e-fulfilment solutions scalable for all GCC markets, including access to more than 1.2 million sq m of GCC warehousing, customs brokerage, express bonded road services, and delivery options that include COD, pre-paid and payment-at-door. Shipa Delivery, Shipas last-mile delivery network, provides last-mile services in GCC markets. Both facilities offer racked and bulk storage and use leading warehouse management systems. In addition, both adhere to rigorous Quality Health Safety, Security and Environment (QHSSE) standards and offer temperature-controlled storage, including frozen and refrigerated storage. The JAFZA facility offers bonded and duty-paid facilities to serve retailers with regional logistics requirements. Globally and in the Middle East, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated growth in online sales and the shift from in-person purchases to digital commerce. Even before the pandemic, e-commerce and digital sales were growing at 21% a year in the GCC, where annual retail spending is estimated at $230 billion a year, according to global consulting firm Consultport. Jeremy M Skyrme, Chief Growth Officer for Shipa, said: The brands that get the customer experience right in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and across the GCC will be the ones that succeed. Shipas world-class fulfilment centres give them services and solutions that ensure a fast, efficient, mistake-free flow of goods from first mile to last mile -- the keys to guaranteeing customer satisfaction and repeat business. Shipa launched its fulfilment centres to meet the surge in demand brought about by the dramatic acceleration in e-commerce and online transactions. The need for efficiency and improved per unit productivity are important requirements for companies looking to trusted partners as they outsource fulfilment. Hassan Mikail, Middle East CEO of Shipa Ecommerce said: Shipa is widening their service offering to meet changing market dynamics. We are delighted that Shipa is leveraging the full scope of the Agility JAFZA and DIP capabilities to further support global and local businesses. TradeArabia News Service Former European bank chief Mario Draghi has agreed to try to form a non-political government to steer Italy through the coronavirus pandemic after last-ditch negotiations among political parties failed to produce a viable governing coalition. Italian president Sergio Mattarella met with Mr Draghi, who is credited with having saved the euro during Europes debt crisis, and gave him a mandate to try to form a new government to replace caretaker premier Giuseppe Contes coalition of the 5-Star Movement and Democratic Party. Mr Draghi told reporters he accepted the mandate knowing that Italy faces the multiple challenges of a health care crisis, a national vaccination campaign and an economic recession and at the same time will have extraordinary resources from the European Union to try to help the economy relaunch. Mario Draghi speaks to the media after accepting a mandate to form Italys new government (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) Its a difficult moment, Mr Draghi, 73, said. Appealing for unity from Italys squabbling political forces, he added: We have the chance to do a lot for our country. Mr Conte was forced to resign last month after ex-premier Matteo Renzi pulled ministers of his small, centrist Italy Alive party from Mr Contes government. Mr Renzi, whose nickname is il rottamatore, or the demolisher, complained among other things about Mr Contes plan to spend more than 200 billion euro (1.8 billion) in EU funds and loans to help the economy recover from the pandemic. During his tenure at the European Central Bank (ECB), Mr Draghi became known as Super Mario. Italys president Sergio Mattarella, left, and Mario Draghi in 2019 (Boris Roessler/Pool Photo via AP) He had been rumoured as a possible choice to lead a non-political government if Mr Conte was unable to find enough parliamentary support to continue leading Italy. Negotiations among political parties failed on Tuesday. Draghi to the rescue, Christopher Dembik, senior European economist at Germanys Berenberg bank, said, predicting that Mr Draghi would eventually succeed in forming a broad-based government. But his greatest hurdle will be securing support from the 5-Star Movement, the biggest political block in the Italian parliament and the senior partner in Mr Contes government. The block had insisted on Mr Conte remaining premier and bitterly resented Mr Renzis power play that brought him down. Mario Draghi leaves the presidential palace after talks with Italian president Sergio Mattarella (Andrew Medichini/AP) Five-star leader Vito Crimi said the movement would only support a political government. As such, it will not vote in favour of a technical government headed by Mario Draghi, Mr Crimi said in a statement. For the 5-Stars, a Draghi government imposed by Mr Mattarella poses an almost existential dilemma. The anti-establishment, populist movement emerged as a potent political force in part as a response to Italys last technocratic government led by Mario Monti, between 2011 and 2013. Under Mr Conte, the 5-Stars had led two successive governments starting in 2018, allying first with the right-wing League and then the centre-left Democrats. Markets and analysts reacted positively to a possible Draghi mandate, with borrowing costs sinking and the Milan Stock Exchanges benchmark FTSE MIB index rallying 2.7% in early trading. A government headed by a high-profile and respected figure like Mr Draghi was likely to be seen, especially by market investors, as a very good solution in the short-term, UniCredit analysts said in a note. A sombre Mr Mattarella told the nation on Tuesday that he essentially had no choice: While an early parliamentary election was a necessary exercise in democracy, calling one would be ill-advised at this crucial time in Italys history, the president said. With over 89,000 confirmed virus deaths, Italy has the second-highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe after Britain. It is trying to ramp up its vaccination campaign and must report back to the EU how it plans to spend the recovery funds. A group of Draghi supporters in front of the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP) It is therefore my duty to make an appeal to all the forces in the parliament so that they grant the confidence to a high-profile government not linked to any political force, Mr Mattarella said. Mr Renzi, who was premier from 2014 to 2016, blamed Mr Contes forces for the failed negotiations to find a new coalition and governing programme, saying they had rejected his proposals. He made clear he was pleased with the outcome, praising Mr Mattarellas wise decision. Now everyone of good will must welcome President Mattarellas appeal to support the government of Mario Draghi, he said on Wednesday. Viva Italia. Mr Draghi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained economist, had led the Italian central bank from 2005 to 2011 when he was tapped to lead the ECB, a job he held until 2019. Prior to that, he had been a vice chairman and managing director at Goldman Sachs International in London and an executive director at the World Bank. He is perhaps best known for his intervention as ECB chief during the peak of Europes debt crisis in 2012. As Italy was facing unsustainably high borrowing costs that threatened its financial stability, Mr Draghi said in July 2012 that the central bank was ready to do whatever it takes within its mandate to preserve the euro. It proved to be a turning point for Europe. Italy, the third-largest economy in the European Union, had been heading into a recession even before it became the first country in the West to be hit hard by Covid-19 last February. The ensuing economic devastation has only made matters worse, with gross domestic product falling 8.8% last year and nearly 450,000 jobs lost, national statistics agency ISTAT reported this week. February is the new January. I just dont think that is realistic, Dr Tony Holohan has said, pouring cold water over the prospect of sun holidays and overseas travel this summer. Many of us feared as much; we just didn't want it said out loud. So far 2021 has been a gruelling Groundhog Day, after all, and the prospect of flopping on a beach, or of American accents returning to deserted resort towns like Killarney and Cong, was something to look forward to. In truth, whatever Michael OLeary and Ryanair might say about a jab and go summer, Irelands inbound and outbound holiday industries have all but written off travel for at least the first half of 2021. Read More Given the vaccine delays and virus variants, and quarantine hotels in the works, Q3 (business-speak for July to September) is seen as the optimistic scenario for any reopening. So where do those of us craving a holiday go from here? On the plus side, another summer of staycations may be a match made in heaven for Irish people who have fallen back in love with this island, and a tourism industry starved of international visitors. Theres a new buzzword in town revenge travel, referring to a hoped-for holiday boom once pent-up demand, cabin fever and household savings are uncorked. Failte Ireland has a 6m 'Keep Discovering' campaign ready to go, grants for outdoor dining are in the works, and businesses are beavering away behind the scenes to be ready when the time is right. Summer bookings are heating up, too particularly for the peak months of July and August, and for self-catering, camping and hotels with pools and activities. Yesterday, an email from my wife popped into my inbox: Do you think we should try and book a summer holiday in Ireland? X says lots of places already booked up. Summer holiday chats like ours are kicking off around kitchen tables all over the country. Having learned from 2020, and not wanting to be disappointed by a lack of availability, people are taking a punt. Demand for camping is phenomenal, according to the Irish Caravan and Camping Council. Self-catering in coastal areas is 85pc booked for July and August, says Jacinta Doolin of the Irish Self-Catering Federation. Due to the uncertainty around reopening, however, demand remains low from April through June, and there is far more availability away from hotspots like Kerry and Wexford, or popular resorts like Kilkee and Clifden. The rest of the country is wide open, Ms Doolin adds. Once the holiday rush starts, the rip-off debates follow. Of course, there will be bad apples and opportunists. Tourism and hospitality businesses have been through the wringer, but they need to explain why Ireland is pricier than Portugal, and to keep value front and centre in their offerings. That means lots of off-peak deals and packages with add-ons like extra nights, activities, or resort credit like food and drink discounts. But punters have a role to play too. Remember how expensive it is to run a business in this country, what our hospitality industry has been through, and dont judge a house, or a holiday, solely on the price. Where is it? When is it? How many does it sleep? Is it luxury or basic? If you see bad value, by all means call it out. But we owe it to ourselves to avoid the Rip-off Ireland reflex, too. 5 U.S. Air Force Gets Serious About eVTOLs 3 FCA Gets Into the eVTOL Game, Heres a Teaser of Whats to Come 2 Yasava Wants to Put Wall-Sized OLED Screens Instead of Windows on Private Jets 1 Have Radio, Will Broadcast: Man Taps into Police, Airport Frequencies from Home More on this: We Might Finally Feel Cozy on Transatlantic Flights Thanks to Seats Turned Homes Flying isnt everybody favorite cup of tea, and theres no doubt the limited space inside an aircraft doesnt help either. 7 photos JetBlue promises a premium experience at a non-premium price, or at least thats the tagline of the companys latest seat upgrade available for transatlantic flights. The Mint package, which is live on JetBlues Each seat uses Thompson Aero Seatings VantageSOLO design customized for JetBlue, as well as Tuft & Needles proprietary T&N Adaptive foam and a breathable cover, making sleeping a cozy experience up in the sky. But the icing on the cake is the Mint Studio, an all-new small room for passengers and whose design was created by Acumen and then developed by AIM Altitude. This time, the studios come with a 22-inch tilting Thales AVANT seatback screen, an extra side table for added productivity, and a guest seat. Passengers can recline the seat to sleep like a baby on a bed thats the largest of any U.S. carrier, according to a JetBlue press release (embedded below). The new seats will become available on Airlines have been trying for years to find a way to provide passengers with more space, but you know how this one goes: you cant have a premium experience unless you pay for it, and for air travel, this is something thats often ridiculously expensive.JetBlue promises a premium experience at a non-premium price, or at least thats the tagline of the companys latest seat upgrade available for transatlantic flights.The Mint package, which is live on JetBlues airplanes since 2014, is getting a major overhaul with 24 individual suites that include a tilting 17-inch Thales AVANT seatback screen, wireless charging, a phone holder, power outlets, and several storage compartments for laptops, shoes, and handbag.Each seat uses Thompson Aero Seatings VantageSOLO design customized for JetBlue, as well as Tuft & Needles proprietary T&N Adaptive foam and a breathable cover, making sleeping a cozy experience up in the sky.But the icing on the cake is the Mint Studio, an all-new small room for passengers and whose design was created by Acumen and then developed by AIM Altitude. This time, the studios come with a 22-inch tilting Thales AVANT seatback screen, an extra side table for added productivity, and a guest seat.Passengers can recline the seat to sleep like a baby on a bed thats the largest of any U.S. carrier, according to a JetBlue press release (embedded below).The new seats will become available on JetBlue s London flights in the summer, while a 16-seat layout will debut on certain flights between New York and Los Angeles later this year. As for Mint Studio, only two such all-private suites would be available on select aircraft, always in the first row, so you can drool over the warm home feeling some people can enjoy right after you board the plane. load press release The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company (@FahadShabbir) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced grave concerns over the crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region and underscored the need for "urgent steps" to protect populations at risk UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced grave concerns over the crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region and underscored the need for "urgent steps" to protect populations at risk. According to a statement issued by his spokesperson, the UN chief remained "seriously concerned" over the situation in the region, where hundreds of thousands of people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Guterres said he "attached strong importance to the partnership between the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations, through its Country Team, in addressing the acute humanitarian needs of all affected populations." The UN chief "underlined the need for continued urgent steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation and extend the necessary protections to those at risk". Guterres also welcomed the "positive engagement" of the Ethiopian Government during recent visits by senior UN officials, including High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley, and Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security Gilles Michaud. High Commissioner Grandi, who recently concluded a mission to Ethiopia, described the situation in Tigray as "extremely grave". "People need all possible forms of support: food items, non-food items, medicine, clean water, shelter [and] the closure of the banking system, of the telecommunication system has added to the hardship of thousands of people", he said at a press conference in Addis Ababa on Monday, before leaving the country. Grandi said that though "some progress" in the security situation was reported by the Government, "isolated or scattered incidents continue to happen and in some areas we continue to observe, violence carried out by various armed elements and militias, but also as often is the case in these military situations, by criminal elements and this has resulted in looting, in violence, sexual violence, in rape. " Six humanitarian workers also lost their lives in recent weeks, he added. The High Commissioner for Refugees went on to note that he held frank discussions with the Government, where he underlined the that "access is fundamental" for the UN and NGOs to assess the situation and reach people with assistance. "What I have discussed with all interlocutors is the importance to have an access management system, a clearance management system, that is fast, that is efficient and as close to the field operations as possible", he added. Given the volatile situation, such procedures must be very agile to ensure security of humanitarian workers, Grandi stressed. During his mission, Grandi travelled to southern Tigray and met with refugees at the Mai Aini refugee camp, one of the four camps hosting Eritrean refugees. The people he spoke with reported "very concerning" issues, said Mr. Grandi. "They reported that they had been cut off, as we know, from support and assistance for several weeks. Some of them told us and told [Ethiopian Minister of Peace] that they had resorted to eating leaves because there was no other food." Refugees also reported having been caught up in crossfire, of infiltration of armed actors in the camps, as well as of some forced returns to Eritrea at the hands of Eritrean forces present in the areas. There were also reports that some refugees chose themselves to return to Eritrea given the insecurity prevailing in Tigray, he added. In November 2020, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered military operations targeting leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional ruling party, a move he said came in response to TPLF-orchestrated attacks on Federal army camps. Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace prize, declared victory in late November 2020 when federal forces took the Tigray capital Mekele, though leaders of the TPLF remain on the run and have vowed to fight on. Researchers from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) in collaboration with colleagues from Belgium take a step in the development of genome editing technology. Currently, it is possible to deliver genetic material of different sizes and structures to organs and tissues. This is the key to eliminating DNA defects and treating more patients. The project is guided by Professor Gleb Sukhorukov and supported by the Russian Science Foundation. Research results were published in Particle & Particle Systems Characterization journal. An international research group developed a polymer carrier with a number of unique properties, several types of genetic material can be loaded in its structure. In particular, the scientists managed to load genetic material of various sizes and structures into "universal containers". From small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The efficiency of delivery was demonstrated on human stem cells. "Nowadays most of the vaccines, including those for COVID-19, are made on the basis of mRNA. This is a kind of "genetic SD-card" with information that activates the human immune system, thus teaches it how to deal with the "enemy proteins" of the virus. Typically, for medical purposes, different types of carriers are used to deliver specific molecules, we proved that it is possible to deliver genetic materials of different sizes using one type of carrier. This technology opens up new horizons for the development of non-viral delivery systems", - notes Alexander Timin, head of the Laboratory for microencapsulation and controlled delivery of biologically active compounds at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Scientists added that the micron-scaled carrier with incorporated genetic material can be delivered by systemic administration, or locally (directly into the tumor focus for cancer). The study is conducted jointly with the Raisa Gorbacheva Memorial Research Institute of Children Oncology, Hematology and Transplantation, which provided the patients'mesenchymal stem cells (cells building organs and tissues) for the experiments. In the future, we plan to conduct experiments on tumor-bearing laboratory animals in order to find out how the genetic material delivered to the tumor will be managed." Igor Radchenko, Director of the "RASA-Polytech" Center The Raisa Gorbacheva Memorial Research Institute of Children's Oncology, Hematology, and Transplantation are interested in the early implementation of these developments in order to fulfill the recommendations and medical protocols that will be introduced into medical practice. No. 1 downloaded Christian dating app, Upward looking to help users find God-centered love Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The dating app Upward, previously known as FTH, officially re-launched this year to help Christian singles connect with each other during the pandemic. Pegged as the fastest-growing dating and lifestyle app for Gen Z and millennial Christian singles by Match Group, Upward wants users to find a relationship where God is glorified and at the center. We believe that Jesus would encourage people to embrace new technologies and advancements in society as well as guide people to find a like-minded, lifelong partner who strives to know Him well and create a happy, loving relationship with His teachings at the center, Alexis Ferraro Luerssen, vice president of marketing and communications for Match Affinity, said to The Christain Post about the app. According to research released by Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld, the No. 1 way couples now meet is by using online dating apps, as they're less likely to meet through friends and family. Upward offers a user-friendly platform where members can describe their faith in their own words to be shared on their profiles, the apps description reads. Once signed up for the free app, faith-based users are encouraged to swipe left or right on profiles and chat with their matches. The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Posts interview with Ferraro Luerssen, who details their motivation behind creating the app and reveals its success rate as a new way to find love. CP: Your app underwent a brand change. Why? And what does Upward stand for? Ferraro Luerssen: We started out as FTH, which stood for Faith, but after much thought and member discussion, we arrived at Upward. Upward stood out to us from some verses and the clear call specifically Philippians 3:14 which reads, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The writer of Philippians was one of Jesus' disciples, Paul. He used the analogy of a runner who focuses on the goal ahead of him. Staying on the "path" and preventing distractions and stumbling. Paul's spiritual goal is stated directly here: "The prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Our goal for the Upward app is to bring Christian singles who value like-minded, faithful partners together for a chance at love. Staying on their path and preventing the same type of distractions Paul was facing. Paul's focus is on forward momentum, not prior mistakes. We see this same focus for our members. Letting go of the past, focusing on the potential of the future and allowing the Upward app to help find a relationship where commitment and faith lead to finding a partner. Paul had a clear goal: being in Heaven with the Lord, or his "upward call." He looks forward to the ultimate reward for his faithful service. This prize is to be with Christ. We see the prize of the Upward app to find a relationship where God is glorified and at the center. Upward's mission is simple: to create a community where Christian believers meet and find love based in faith at the center of their relationship. CP: Who is your app geared toward? Ferraro Luerssen: Upward is geared toward Christian singles, ages 18-35, who are looking for faith-focused relationships. We did extensive market research and discovered that these Gen Z and millennial age groups needed a welcoming, fresh and youthful place to connect with other like-minded, Christ-centered singles. CP: For those afraid of dating apps, can you explain how you vet your users? Ferraro Luerssen: We have a robust set of tools, including automated systems and human review, to capture any bad users on our platform. We review every profile that is created on our app, and users are able to report bad behavior that we review and take very seriously. Our goal is to make our app the safest and best possible experience for members. CP: Your app sends messages of encouragement to its users. Can you explain the reasoning behind that? Ferraro Luerssen: When creating Upward, we wanted to ensure that it was more personal, faith-focused and thoughtful than superficial dating apps since thats reflective of the types of relationships we want to foster. We share messages of positivity and encouragement in a few ways, like through our push notifications, Instagram feed, and brand partnerships. Weve gotten wonderful feedback from our users about the overall positive community aspect of Upward, and we think its really making a difference in the quality and likemindedness of singles on the app. CP: Do you think Jesus would encourage people to meet this way? Ferraro Luerssen: We believe that Jesus would encourage people to embrace new technologies and advancements in society as well as guide people to find a like-minded, lifelong partner who strives to know Him well and create a happy, loving relationship with His teachings at the center. CP: What are good signs users can look for and warning signs users should also look out for? Ferraro Luerssen: Meeting new people is exciting, and doing it online gives singles a unique opportunity to get to know others on their own personal timetables and level of comfort. Singles should use similar judgement that they would when meeting someone in person as well as pick up on certain cues to gauge how the relationship is developing, such as conversation flow, common interests, and communication style. While we put the care and safety of our users first, they should always be cautious when interacting with someone they dont know and use their best judgment, whether you are exchanging initial messages or meeting in person. CP: How has the pandemic impacted your app? Ferraro Luerssen: Upwards launch coincided with the onset of the pandemic when we saw singles dating habits begin to change given the unique circumstances. As a result, weve seen Gen Z and millennial singles dating habits shift drastically in the past few months. For example, 64% of Upward users said that their desire to meet a partner of the same faith has increased during the pandemic. Similarly, 64% of users said that they are open to a long-distance relationship (two+ hours) if they matched with the right person. More singles are seeking the one, or at least a longterm romantic partner that they could realistically see a future with because of pandemic-induced shrinking social circles and growing desire for companionship. In just a few months since launching, Upward is already the No. 1 downloaded Christian dating app, which shows Gen Z and millennial Christians' craving for faith-focused relationships. CP: Can you share about your apps success rate and a testimony of a love story? Ferraro Luerssen: Since launching Upward in March 2020 (back when it was named FTH), weve seen incredible success with singles finding love. There are thousands of relationships, countless engagements and even a marriage already! In a recent survey we conducted, we found that over 90% of Upward users joined the app hoping to find a longterm relationship leading to marriage. Were blessed with the opportunity to connect Christian singles with their true matches for faith-focused relationships. One heartwarming Upward love story is Candie and Elias a young couple who got engaged after connecting on Upward! Prior to downloading Upward, Candie had downloaded other online Christian dating apps and quickly uninstalled them because they weren't user friendly. When Candie matched with Elias, they quickly got to know each other and fell more and more in love. They are long-distance, so the first time they met in person was when Candie was in Colorado Springs for a girls' trip. He drove to her Airbnb to pick her up for their first date! Now, a few months later, Candie and Elias are happily engaged and are planning their perfect wedding. CP: Have you ventured into partnering with churches and their singles ministries? Ferraro Luerssen: This is definitely something were exploring and looking at for the future. Open to connection! CP: Is there anything else youd like to add? Ferraro Luerssen: As part of Match Group (experts in the dating space and creators of other niche dating apps), we have created several community apps: Chispa for Latino singles and BLK for black singles, for example, to better serve singles who are looking for like-minded partners with shared values and backgrounds. Upward launched out of that same focus, to help Christian singles who are looking for more from their dating app to find love with their faith as the foundation. In looking at other dating app data, we found that females under 25 years old who mention any variation of Christ in their profiles receive 25% fewer right swipes/likes than females who dont mention it. With that in mind, a specific community for Christians like Upward gives faith-focused, Christian singles a welcoming and comfortable space to meet and develop relationships with partners who value religion and faith the same way they do. analysis International initiatives developed without local expertise and knowledge are bound to fail. The inauguration of President Joe Biden in the US and upcoming elections on 8 February present a welcome opportunity for Somalia and its Western partners to rethink their relations. Since the outbreak of civil war in 1991, Somalia has been seen by many as a place of bloody internecine fighting and mass poverty. That portrait is far from today's reality. In recent years, much of Somalia has lifted itself out of the ruins of conflict and gone through a period of economic growth. Yet many international partners continue to see Somalia through an outdated lens and believe they have the answers to its problems. Without local expertise and knowledge, these initiatives are bound to fail, much as they have in other post-conflict states in which theory has clashed with reality. Somali's unique context demands a level of understanding that only Somalis can provide. Any proposed solution that does not take this into account is, at best, incomplete. It is the Somali people who will lose out as a result. A case in point is the introduction of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks in 2016. These require anyone who wants to open a bank account to verify their identity and may well be crucial for Somalia as it develops its commercial and regulatory landscape. For now, however, they demand a set of conditions that Somalia cannot meet. As all Somalis know - but what many non-Somalis may be less aware of - is that only a small number of people in the country possess any form of identification. Somalia has one of the lowest birth-registration rates in world at just 3%, and very few people own passports or national ID cards. A better system is no doubt needed, but this will require trustworthy authorities and will be a complex endeavour that will take time. While the absence of Somali voices in international decision-making can be counter-productive, the converse is also true. In recent years, we have witnessed several homegrown solutions to local challenges. Perhaps the greatest success has been the mass adoption of mobile money, which over 70% of Somalis over the age of 16 use. To put that in context, that's virtually the same rate as in neighbouring Kenya, a pioneer of mobile money platforms, and nearly double Nigeria's 40%. One upshot of this development has been far greater economic stability. According to the World Bank, the adoption of mobile money has precipitated the creation of jobs, a steep rise in local investment, and a narrowing of the gender gap. An estimated $2.7 billion of mobile money transactions take place every month. This contributed to Somalia's 2.9% economic growth in 2019 and to the African Development Bank's projections of 3.2% growth in 2020 and 3.5% in 2021. This period of robust economic growth, which to many would have seemed impossible just a few years ago, has lifted a many Somalis out of the depths of poverty and, with them, entire communities almost broken by years of hardship. The high penetration of mobile money has given aid organisations and civil societies a means to reach internally displaced people, of which Somalia has one of the highest populations in the world. Isolated rural communities can now be reached for the first time. Businesses are growing. Of course, there is a long way to go. We need to overcome some of the remaining obstacles to wider access of financial services to the most impoverished. And, given our historically nomadic way of life, we need to make sure that those in even the most difficult-to-reach parts of Somalia have access to the resources they need to improve their lives. We need to integrate innovation into the traditional banking system in order to better serve our population's unique personal and economic needs. But we have made a promising start, and Somali innovation -founded on a rich understanding of specific local challenges and needs - will continue to drive development in the coming years. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Somalia Business By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates, the development of Somalia becomes increasingly pressing. In the years to come, people around the world will be dragging themselves out of the ruins of the global economy. Now is the time to take the steps to mitigate the initial damage and plant the seeds for a swift recovery. With the Biden-Harris administration, we have an opportunity to redefine the relationship between our great nations and find a way to work in partnership as equals, and for everyone's sake. And for that to happen, we must talk. Our international partners must work with the Somali business community and national government to address the challenges. Only then will we find a uniquely Somali way forward. Professor Esse M Halane is the Deputy Managing Director of the Somali Chamber of Commerce, the country's only trade organisation, representing industries from telecommunications and fisheries to agriculture and aviation. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. A recent market study published by Future Market Insights on the flooring and carpet market offers global industry analysis for 2016-2020 & opportunity assessment for 2021-2031. The study offers a comprehensive assessment of the most important market dynamics. After conducting a thorough research on the historical, as well as current growth parameters, the growth prospects of the market are obtained with maximum precision. Market Segmentation The global flooring and carpet market is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present complete market intelligence to readers. Flooring Type Carpets Tufting Woven Rugs Accent Rugs Area Rugs Other Rugs Artificial Grass Carpet Tiles Vinyl Flooring Laminate Parquet Flooring Material Type Polypropylene Nylon Polyester Others Application Residential Commercial Offices Retail Hospitality Healthcare and Hospitals Educational Institutes Automotive Industrial Others Region North America Latin America Europe East Asia South Asia Middle East and Africa (MEA) Oceania Request a Sample of this Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-369 Report Chapters Chapter 01 - Executive Summary The executive summary of the flooring and carpet market includes the global market analysis, proprietary wheel of fortune, demand-side and supply-side trends, opportunity assessment, and recommendations on the global flooring and carpet market. Chapter 02 Market Introduction Readers can find the detailed segmentation and definition of the flooring and carpet market in this chapter, which will help them understand basic information about the flooring and carpet market. This section also highlights the inclusions and exclusions, which help the reader to understand the scope of the flooring and carpet market report. Chapter 03 Key Market Trends The report provides key market trends that are expected to impact market growth significantly during the forecast period. Detailed industry trends are provided in this section, along with key market developments or product innovations. Chapter 04 The Massive Impact of the Crisis This section provides an in-depth analysis on the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on global economy and its related effect across various countries. Readers can also find information on the impact of the pandemic on various sectors such as manufacturing and supply chain across the globe. Chapter 05 The 2020 Market Size of Flooring and Carpet This section provides an in-depth analysis on the quarter by quarter forecast, 2020 of flooring and carpet market. Readers can also find information on the change in market size by regions, flooring type, material type, and application. Chapter 06 Brand Mapping Analysis This section highlights the top brands for flooring and carpet across the world, what are the product portfolios offered by key players, brand loyalty mapping, and usage pattern/trend for the particular product by customers. Chapter 07 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Demand Analysis 2016-2020 and Forecast, 2021-2031 This section provides detailed analysis of the historical flooring and carpet market volume, along with an opportunity analysis of the future. Readers can also find the incremental opportunity for the current year (20212022) and an absolute opportunity for the forecast period (20212031). Chapter 08 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Pricing Analysis This chapter highlights the pricing analysis based on product type for base year 2020 and forecast year 2031. In addition, profit margins at each level of the flooring and carpet market are analyzed and readers can find detailed information on top importers and exporters as well as the value chain of the market. Chapter 09 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Demand (in Value or Size in US$ Mn) Analysis and Forecast 2016-2031 This chapter includes detailed analysis of the historical flooring and carpet market (2016-2020), along with an opportunity analysis for the forecast period (2021-2031). Readers can also find the incremental opportunity for the current year (20212022) and absolute $ opportunity for the forecast period (20212031).This chapter provides details about the global flooring and carpet market on the basis of flooring type, material type, application, and region. In this chapter, readers can understand market attractive analysis for all segments. This chapter explains how the flooring and carpet market is anticipated to grow across North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East and Africa. Chapter 10 Market Background The associated industry assessment of the global flooring and carpet market is carried out in this section. In addition, this chapter explains key macroeconomic factors that are expected to influence the growth of the global flooring and carpet market over the forecast period. Along with macroeconomic factors, this section also highlights the opportunity analysis for the market. It offers provides key market dynamics of the flooring and carpet market, which include drivers, restraints, and opportunities. Moreover, it will help readers understand key trends followed by leading manufacturers in the flooring and carpet market. Browse Full Report Now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/flooring-carpets-market Further, the chapter highlights which specific brand preferred by the consumers and why, factor influencing market behavior, which mode of advertisement is more preferred by the vendors, key challenges associated with the market suppliers, and many others consumer sentiment analysis. Moreover, this section of the report highlights the consumer perception for target products on social media platforms, trending brands, trending #hashtags, trending subject titles and many others social media sentiment analysis. Chapter 11 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 and Forecast 2021-2031, by Flooring Type Based on flooring type, the flooring and carpet market is segmented into carpets (tufting, and woven), rugs (accent rugs, area rugs, and other rugs), artificial grass, carpet tiles, vinyl flooring, and laminate parquet flooring. In this chapter, readers can find market attractiveness analysis, based on product types. Chapter 12 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 and Forecast 2021-2031, by Material Type This chapter provides details about the flooring and carpet market on the basis of material type which is segmented into polypropylene, nylon, polyester, and others along with market attractiveness analysis. Chapter 13 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 and Forecast 2021-2031, by Application Based on application, the flooring and carpet market is segmented into by residential, commercial offices, retail, hospitality, healthcare and hospitals, educational institutes, automotive, industrial, and others. In this chapter, readers can find market attractiveness analysis, based on application. Chapter 14 Global Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 and Opportunity Assessment 2021-2031 by Region This chapter explains how the flooring and carpet market will grow across various geographic regions, such as North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Chapter 15 North America Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the growth of the flooring and carpet market in the North America region, along with a country-wise assessment that includes the U.S. and Canada. Readers can also find regional trends, opportunities, and market growth based on flooring type, material type, application, and countries in the North America region. Chapter 16 Latin America Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 Readers can find detailed information about several factors, such as the pricing analysis and regional trends, which are impacting growth of the flooring and carpet market in the Latin America region. This chapter also includes growth prospects of the flooring and carpet market in leading LATAM countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America. Chapter 17 Europe Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 Important growth prospects of the flooring and carpet market based on its flooring type, material type, and application in several countries such as Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain, BENELUX, Russia, Poland, and rest of Europe are included in this chapter. Chapter 18 East Asia Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the growth of the flooring and carpet market in East Asia region including the important growth prospects of the flooring and carpet in several countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea are included in this chapter. Chapter 19 South Asia Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the growth of the flooring and carpet market in the South Asia region, along with a country-wise assessment that includes, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and rest of South Asia. Readers can also find regional trends, restraints, and market growth of countries in the South Asia region. Chapter 20 Oceania Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 This chapter includes a detailed analysis of the growth of the flooring and carpet market in Oceania region including the important growth prospects of the flooring and carpet in several countries such as Australia and New Zealand are included in this chapter. Chapter 21 Middle East and Africa Flooring and Carpet Market Analysis 2016-2020 & Forecast 2021-2031 This chapter offers insights into how the flooring and carpet market is expected to grow in major countries in the Middle East & Africa region such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, during the forecast period 2021-2031. Request for Report Ask A Question @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-369 Chapter 22 Market Structure Analysis In this chapter, readers can find detailed information about tier analysis and market concentration of the key players in the flooring and carpet market along with their market presence analysis by region and product portfolio. Chapter 23 Competition Deep-Dive Analysis In this chapter, readers can find a comprehensive list of manufacturers/ players in the flooring and carpet market, along with detailed information about each company, which includes company overview, revenue shares, strategic overview, and recent company developments. Some of the market players featured in the report are Mohawk Industries Inc., Interface Inc., Beaulieu International Group N.V., Tarkett S.A., Balta Group, Shaw Industries Group, Inc., ALSORAYAI Group, Forbo Holding AG, Armstrong World Industries LLC, Gerflor Group, Oriental Weavers Group, Al Abdullatif Industrial Investment Company (AIIC), Polyflor Ltd., Brintons Carpets Limited, Milliken & Company Inc., Betap Tufting B.V., and among others. Chapter 24 Assumptions and Acronyms This chapter includes a list of acronyms and assumptions that provide a based to the information and statistics included in the flooring and carpet market report. Chapter 25 Research Methodology This chapter helps readers understand the research methodology followed to obtain various conclusions, as well as important qualitative and quantitative information, on the flooring and carpet market. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Linux Foundation announced that it will launch an open source industry collaboration focused on enabling a converged cellular core network stack, starting with the Magma open source software platform. Previously open sourced by Facebook in 2019, Magma will now be managed under a neutral governance framework at the Linux Foundation. Arm, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, FreedomFi, Qualcomm, the Institute of Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University, the OpenAirInterface Software Alliance, and the Open Infrastructure Foundation, will join the collaboration as founding members to accelerate the path to production use cases at scale. Magma enables operators to build and augment modern and efficient mobile networks at scale. Magma features an access-agnostic mobile packet core, advanced network automation and management tools, and the ability to integrate with existing LTE networks with use cases across both virtual and container Network Functions (xNFs) including fixed wireless access, carrier Wi-Fi, private LTE and 5G, network expansion, and mobile broadband. A number of Magma community members are also collaborating in the Telecom Infra Project (TIP)'s Open Core Network project group to define, build, test, and deploy core network products that leverage Magma software alongside disaggregated hardware and software solutions by the TIP Open Core ecosystem. By enabling automation of common network operations like element configuration, software updates and device provisioning, Magma reduces the complexity of operating mobile networks. Magma enables better connectivity by: Allowing operators to expand capacity and reach by using LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi and CBRS. Allowing operators to offer cellular service without vendor lock-in with a modern, open source core network. Enabling operators to manage their networks more efficiently with more automation, less downtime, better predictability, and more agility to add new services and applications. Enabling federation between existing MNOs and new infrastructure providers to augment mobile network infrastructure more efficiently. Supporting open source 5G technology and incubating future wireless network use cases like Private 5G, IAB, Augmented Networks and NTN. "Arm is synonymous with a diverse technology ecosystem that underpins the compute, connectivity, and security required for solutions spanning cloud to edge to endpoint devices," said Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. "Together with the Linux Foundation and Facebook Connectivity, Magma is helping to solve the very real challenge of providing feature-rich, cost effective access for worldwide mobile networks." "Bringing Magma to the Linux Foundation is a huge milestone as the Magma ecosystem of developers continues to grow," said Dan Rabinovitsj, vice president for Facebook Connectivity. "We are excited to see the contributions and innovations from this collective group of industry players, and we look forward to celebrating Magma's success as the project continues to scale." "Qualcomm Technologies strongly supports the evolution of the Magma core network efforts into a broader coalition among the key founding and contributing projects," said Douglas Knisely, engineer, principal, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and OSA Advisory Board member. "This effort builds on the collaboration activities and code contributions from OAI into the Magma project and promotes the harmonization of a common 5G Core Network reference architecture, internal structure, APIs, and interfaces for all of the emerging 5G open source projects in the industry." "Magma is one of the most exciting projects I've seen in years. In our world, connectivity is directly linked to progress, and Magma's mission to improve network access for the under-connected is inspiring and meaningful," said Jonathan Bryce, Executive Director, Open Infrastructure Foundation. "The Open Infrastructure Foundation helps build communities like Magma who are writing the software that powers production infrastructure, and we look forward to working together to accelerate the growth of the Magma community, bringing Magma to new markets." "The OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (OSA) is excited at the prospect of seeing Magma deployed in a number of use cases in wireless networks. The OSA has accompanied the Magma development efforts since the very inception of the project by not only providing the base code from OpenAirInterface for some of the components of the 4G core network but also by regularly and constantly developing new features," said Irfan Ghauri, Director of Operations at the OSA. "The OpenAirInterface community will continue to participate in the ongoing efforts at developing and testing functionality for Magma alongside other partners. We look forward to the great success this initiative is on track to accomplish in deployments in various wireless use-cases. "We are excited to collaborate with our peers on a global cause of connectivity and open source software," said Arpit Joshipura, GM Networking & Edge at the Linux Foundation. "Hosting this important project on behalf of the open source community allows us to bring open applications and network functions to end users." The Magma community will host a virtual Magma Developers Conference today beginning at 8:30am PT to highlight the growing community and how the platform enables service providers and systems integrators to deploy faster and more efficient networks. The schedule includes Magma use cases, a 5G demo, and other talks about the state of the project. Get involved with Magma by joining the project on Github . About The Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and industry adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org . Media Contact Jil Lovato [email protected] The Linux Foundation SOURCE The Linux Foundation Related Links www.linuxfoundation.org The World Health Organisation said Thursday that it was in touch with Tanzania as President John Magufuli on Wednesday called for caution against Covid-19 vaccines being developed by Western scientists. The president also said that Tanzania is not planning to impose Covid-19 restrictions or lockdown anytime. He was reacting to a message by Archbishop Jude-Thaddeus RuwaIchi of the Catholic Church in Dar es Salaam to congregants on January 23 that Covid-19 is still at large and that it is unfortunate that churches have abandoned all precautions against being infected during the global pandemic. AU initiative The president ordered all churches to reinstate the use of sanitizers, social distancing and handwashing. In clear reference to the country, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the head of World Health Organisation (WHO) in Africa told reporters that Tanzania should prepare to receive the vaccine. Africa is at a crossroads and all Africans must double down on preventive measures. Science shows that vaccines work, she said during a virtual press briefing. She also added that WHO officials were in touch with Tanzanian officials and that Tanzania should implement measures and prepare for vaccinations. Tanzania is among African countries listed to receive at least two million doses of vaccines through the African Union Initiative. Last December Tanzanias ministry of Health said it had no plans of importing Covid-19 vaccines. Dr Dorothy Gwajima, Tanzanias Minister for Health did not respond to messages from The EastAfrican on Friday, but an official in the ministry who requested anonymity said the ministrys stance on Covid-19 has not changed. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The last time Tanzania issued Covid-19 statistics was April 29, 2020, and the country had recorded 509 infections with 183 recoveries and 21 deaths. Home-grown remedies There is no official Covid-19-related statistics or information available in Tanzania and issuing of unsanctioned Covid-19 information is strictly prohibited and restricted to the president, prime minister, the minister for Health and the governments chief spokesman. President Magufuli told Health ministry officials not to naively accepting imported vaccines and instructed them not to rush to accept a white man-made Covid-19 vaccine without due diligence from local experts. He said Tanzanians will continue taking precaution and natural remedies while working and praying. Recently, the administration of International School Moshi issued an apology after it had announced that a pupil had been confirmed to have Covid-19 and ordered the day scholar to self-isolate at home whole restricting the movement of boarders. The Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner refuted the Covid-19 claims. *** This article was first published in The EastAfrican on January 30, 2020. The Justice Department on Wednesday withdrew a lawsuit against Yale University that charged it with discriminating against Asian-American and white applicants, reversing a key element of the Trump administrations efforts to undermine race-based college admissions. The department brought the lawsuit last year on the grounds that white and Asian-American students faced stricter admissions standards. Its action on Wednesday suggested that the Biden administration might be prepared to take sharply different policies regarding affirmative action, but it does not mean the lawsuit against Yale is dead. Students for Fair Admissions, a group opposed to affirmative action, plans to pick it up and refile it under its name. Yale is gratified that the U.S. Justice Department has dropped its lawsuit challenging Yale Colleges admissions practices, Karen N. Peart, a school spokeswoman, said in a statement. Our admissions process has allowed Yale College to assemble an unparalleled student body, which is distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity. 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. Source: AP A total of 41,20,741 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 76,516 sessions held till the evening of February 2, the 18th day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry. On February 2, 1,70,585 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 7.00 pm through 3,785 vaccination sessions, the ministry said. 106 cases of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) were reported till 7 pm on Day 18 of the vaccination drive, it said. Two states, Gujarat and West Bengal, initiated vaccination of frontline workers on the day. A total of 19,902 frontline workers were vaccinated till 7 pm on the day, as per the provisional report. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic 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. 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 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: > Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta was the first one to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the state police as the second phase of inoculation drive for frontline workers began on February 2. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rolled out the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on the day. > A total of 9,357 people were administered the vaccine in Delhi on the day. Seventeen cases of AEFI were reported during the day and around 51 percent of the targeted beneficiaries were inoculated, they said. Covishield was given to 8,131 beneficiaries at 150 centres of the Delhi government, while Covaxin jabs were administered to 1,226 healthcare workers at 33 centres in central government-run hospitals, officials said. > Coronavirus vaccine jabs will to be given six days a week in Delhi from now on instead of the earlier four days, according to officials. > The COVID-19 vaccine is being provided free of cost to states and union territories for vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of vaccination, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey informed Rajya Sabha on the day. On whether any state has announced to supply the COVID-19 vaccine to the public free of cost including Kerala, Choubey said, "The government of India has not received any formal communication from states and UTs regarding announcement to supply the COVID-19 vaccine to the public free of cost, including Kerala." > The second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out in Haryana on February 3 and frontline workers will get the jab during the drive. To ensure its smooth implementation of the drive, the registration of all such workers will be completed on the CoWIN portal by February 7. States Total Beneficiaries Andhra Pradesh 1,87,252 Arunachal Pradesh 9,791 Assam 42,435 Bihar 2,21,354 Chandigarh 4,019 Chhattisgarh 79,676 Delhi 74,068 Goa 4,509 Gujarat 2,83,817 Haryana 1,27,893 Himachal Pradesh 39,570 Jharkhand 55,446 Karnataka 3,16,368 Kerala 2,19,871 Madhya Pradesh 2,98,376 Maharashtra 3,18,735 Odisha 2,08,205 Punjab 61,332 Rajasthan 3,38,960 Tamil Nadu 1,20,745 Telangana 1,68,771 Uttar Pradesh 4,63,793 Uttarakhand 43,430 West Bengal 2,84,228 Miscellaneous 54,019 Here is the state-wise vaccination: (With inputs from PTI) Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here 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. Victorias accommodation industry wants government support to continue for the struggling sector after the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends, as hotel revenue in Melbournes CBD remains at just one-third of pre-pandemic levels. Industry group Tourism Accommodation Australia said the sector was experiencing a two-speed recovery from last years COVID-19 lockdowns in the state, with activity in regional Victoria bouncing back much more strongly than in Melbourne. Lee Davey says mid-week occupancy rates at the 188-room QT Melbourne have plummeted. Credit:Jason South With JobKeeper set to finish at the end of March, both the federal and state governments have confirmed that additional sector specific industry aid was being considered, but details of what might be on offer to the hardest-hit industries have not been settled. The accommodation groups general manager, Dougal Hollis, said city hotels were struggling and had stood down or made redundant significant numbers of workers throughout the pandemic, citing one central Melbourne venue that was down to 175 full-time staff from 330 before the coronavirus struck. King Mswati III of Eswatini disembarks from a plane at Sochi International Airport as he arrives to take part in the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, 23 October 2019. Hospitals in Swaziland (eSwatini) have reported a shortage of body bags for corpses because of the number of deaths from coronavirus. Lubombo Referral Hospital and Good Shepherd Mission Hospital (GSMH) are among the hospitals affected. Dead bodies are being wrapped in sheet-covers or plastic. Funeral houses last month also reported a shortage of coffins and problems burying bodies in a timely fashion because of the numbers who have died of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Swazi Ministry of Health Director of Services Dr Vusi Magagula, confirmed the shortage of body bags faced by the hospitals. GSMH Chief Executive Officer Muzi Dlamini told the Times of eSwatini there had been a shortage of body bags in some sizes from their suppliers. The number of positive case and deaths from coronavirus in Swaziland has risen sharply in the past two months. As of Tuesday (2 February 2021) there had been 15,878 cases and 583 deaths due to coronavirus, according to official Ministry of Health figures. They've been going from strength to strength as they continue to enjoy their 'work' trip in popular Mexican resort Tulum. And on Wednesday, Francesca Farago, 27, announced that she's moving to London to live with girlfriend Demi Sims, 24, after just a few weeks of dating as their relationship continues to blossom. The announcement sent the Canadian beauty's Instagram followers into meltdown as they asked the The Too Hot To Handle star: 'Are you gonna be in TOWIE?' BIG NEWS! on Wednesday, Francesca Farago, 27, announced that she's moving to London to live with her TOWIE girlfriend Demi Sims, 24, after just a few weeks of dating Francesca's revelation came as she shared shots of herself in blue floral bikini bottoms and a white crop top from PrettyLittleThing. But, it wasn't just her incredible physique which her fans were commenting on, in her caption the blonde beauty revealed that she will be moving to London. 'Moving to London next, brb,' wrote the Canadian TV star - a statement which was quickly met with approval by Demi Sim's sister Frankie, who commented: 'Yay.' Shortly after, Demi herself confirmed the news as she wrote: 'Can't wait for you to live with me!' amongst a trio of adoring comments on Francesca's post. It's happening: Shortly after, Demi herself confirmed the news as she wrote: 'Can't wait for you to live with me!' amongst a trio of adoring comments on Francesca's post Gorgeous: Francesca shared shots of herself in blue floral bikini bottoms and a white crop top but it was her announcement that sent her followers into meltdown Yaya! Her statement was quickly met with approval by Demi Sim's sister Frankie, who commented: 'Yay' Following her announcement, one of Francesca's Instagram followers enthused: 'London!! Yes 100% you'll love it!' 'Great news - you'll be close to Demi X,' wrote another while someone else commented: Another fan added: 'Was waiting for this announcement' while another asked: 'Are u actually going to London? Are u gonna be in towie ?' OMG! Following her announcement, Francesca's Instagram followers went into meltdown and asked if she'd be joining the cast of TOWIE Sensational! The couple have been flaunting their romance on social media, and on Tuesday, Francesca took to Instagram to show off her slim physique in green lingerie The couple have been flaunting their romance on social media, and on Tuesday, Francesca took to Instagram to show off her slim physique in green lingerie. In her sensational underwear shot, The Too Hot To Handle babe posed with a red rose while looking forward to Valentine's Day. Although part of her face and hair was blurred in the snap, most attention was put on her phenomenal curves. Loved up: Later the same day, the Netflix star shared a series of photographs of herself and girlfriend Demi out for dinner together PIcture perfect: The duo had freshly-applied make-up but opted for low-key attire Later the same day, the Netflix star shared a series of photographs of herself and girlfriend Demi out for dinner together. The couple could be seen smiling, laughing and kissing for the camera as they sat together in a restaurant. Francesca captioned the romantic snaps: 'Take out dinners, movies and cuddles with you, over everything.' Moving fast: Demi recently admitted marriage could be on the cards with girlfriend Francesca as they took part in an Instagram Q&A on Saturday during their 'work' trip in Mexico In their element: The dynamic duo have been flaunting their loved-up status on social media during their sun-soaked 'work' trip The news of Francesca's big move comes days after Demi enthused: 'I'm waiting for the ring!' as the couple kissed and cuddled in their hotel room, during and Instagram Q&A. Reading a question asked by a fan, Canadian beauty Francesca said: 'Do you see yourself marrying the person that you're with?', to which she replied: 'Yes.' Make-up artist Demi also gushed: 'I'm waiting for the ring babe' as she was smothered in smooches by her lover. Francesca fake cried with happiness as she added: 'I would totally live in LA with you,' before her girlfriend erupted into laughter. Wild tributes: Last week, the Essex native showed off her dainty 'F' piece on her wrist (L), while the influencer debuted her 'Demi' inking, which was placed on her bottom (R) Cute: Days earlier, Chloe Sims' younger sister shared the moment the PrettyLittleThing model asked her to be her girlfriend as she held a surprise date on the beach The couple recent shocked social media as they got their names tattooed on each other's bottom and wrist, just days after going public with their relationship. The pair are among a host of reality stars who have switched their 'work' trips from Dubai to Mexico amid a ban on UAE flights. Francesca first received attention for her role in the Netflix original series Too Hot to Handle last April, when she briefly dated her co-star Harry Jowsey. Demi has previously dated Leonie McSorley, with them last being seen out together in October, and having confirmed their romance in July. Commenting on the overall picture of traffic in the South of Vietnam, Minister Nguyen Van The said that there have been welcoming improvements after the introduction of major bridges of Cao Lanh, Vam Cong, and Rach Mieu, along with the opening of Lo Te Rach Soi Route on national ways. Another important construction to be formally in operation this year is Trung Luong My Thuan Expressway. He admitted that the weakness at the moment is not a lack of investment but the loose connection between areas, leading to ineffective exploitation. For example, Cai Mep Thi Vai International Port is the best in Vietnam, with a capacity of 230,000 tonnes, but is only using half of that because of insufficient supporting traffic facilities and frequent congestions in the neighborhood. Therefore, in the medium-term investment plan from 2021-2025 to be submitted to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) will focus more on upgrading national ways, especially those with a high congestion or accident rate. More investment ill be poured into specific routes for high-speed trucks, for connections between urban areas, sea ports, economic zones, and border gates. He listed a series of routes to be formed in the 340-km construction project, namely Bien Hoa Vung Tau, Can Tho Ca Mau, Chon Thanh Duc Hoa, My An Cao Lanh, An Huu Cao Lanh. Water traffic is the advantage of the South, yet it is now not at its full capacity. Minister The shared that in the next 5 years, his ministry will begin the second stage of several essential projects to upgrade the river routes of Cho Gao, Hau River, while starting work on the Southern logistics project and increasing the vertical clearance of major bridges. He then cited the success of Binh Loi Bridge as an example. The vertical clearance increase on this bridge has made water traffic much more convenient for businesses that need to transport goods from the provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Dong Nai to ports located in Ho Chi Minh City. The Minister introduced the construction project of Tran De Deepwater Port in the Mekong Delta to welcome 80,000-tonne ships. When being asked about the necessary capital for upgrading traffic infrastructure in the South of Vietnam, Minister The first mentioned the mobilization of resources in the community. To do that, his ministry is now preparing necessary legal regulations to attract more capital using the Public-Private Partnership model (PPP), where the State will investment no more than 50 percent of the total cost. Due to the land characteristic of the Mekong Delta, the investment amount is supposed to be higher, so MoT proposes to have a more flexible regulation on the investment percentage between public and private partners so that potential projects can be launched as soon as possible. The Minister added that any projects without capital return ability should be under the responsibility of the Government to ensure social welfare and fair development among regions. Another promising action is the establishment of large corporations for the ease of accessing capital and enjoying incentive policies to serve water traffic construction projects. MoT is now preparing necessary documents on regulations for the approval from the Government. Minister The expressed his belief that the close cooperation between the State, the local authorities, and the public will create an impressive change in the overall picture of traffic in the South of Vietnam in the next 20 years, contributing to the sustainable socio-economic development of the Mekong Delta. By Bich Quyen Translated by Thanh Tam US federal authorities have arrested a man who was filmed wearing a jacket emblazoned with the name of his company during the Capitol riots on 6 January. Troy Faulkner, 39, from Whitehall, Ohio, turned himself into police on 13 January after FBI investigators identified him from a video that showed him breaking through a window at the Capitol. He was filmed alongside a mob of pro-Trump supporters climbing into the building, while the name of his company, Faulkner Painting and its number was visible on the back of his jacket. In the charging document released this week, an FBI investigator wrote that Mr Faulkner could be seen facing away from the camera with his back turned. Recommended Outrage as alleged Capitol rioter permitted vacation to Mexico On the back of his jacket, there is the name of a company 'FAULKNER PAINTING' and the telephone number [redacted]. The investigator added that the authorities were able to confirm through the website of the Ohio secretary of state that Mr Faulkner owned a painting company consistent with the companys logo on the back of the jacket. The authorities also discovered social media posts written by the 39-year-old, where he argued with one of his Facebook friends about the riot. We werent fighting against antifa were fighting against the government, Mr Faulkner wrote in one comment, and added: We took it to there front door unlike p***y ass BLM, in another. Recommended Trump reportedly fixated on taking down Liz Cheney over impeachment Mr Faulkner was subsequently charged with with two felonies of destruction of government property and obstruction of an official proceeding. He is still in federal custody. Five people died and several more were injured as a mob of pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol on 6 January, causing members of the House to barricade themselves inside offices. At least 180 people have been arrested in relation to the riots. Mr Trump was impeached by the House for a second time for his role in inciting the riots at a rally held nearby. He faces a Senate impeachment trial on 9 February 2021. Master of Science in Organizational Leadership is the first master's degree program offered by Pima Medical Institute. Tweet this In the works for some time, the degree program's wide-ranging scope and breadth of knowledge made it an ideal fit for Pima Medical. "We have had a good share of students express interest in moving on to a master's degree and this program offers them a chance to build the skills needed to manage teams, as well as those required for global management positions," said John Streit, Ed.D, Master of Science in Organizational Leadership Program Director. "After much research, feedback from our advisory committee and market surveys, we determined that a broad approach would provide the best opportunities for our graduates." Pima Medical currently offers associate and a bachelor's degree programs in health care administration. For students on the health care administration track, they can foreseeably complete multiple degrees and be in the field working, before many who might take a traditional university approach. The public health specialization is new for Pima Medical. "At Pima Medical, we are always looking for ways to advance career and earning opportunities for our students and alumni," said Fred Freedman, President and CEO, Pima Medical Institute. "Healthcare is at the epicenter of the seismic post-COVID shift in job opportunities. We have developed programs that offer a wider variety of career prospects for healthcare professionals to accelerate their momentum." The Master of Science in Organizational Leadership is an addition to an already robust, fully online curriculum. Pima Medical offers multiple bachelor's degree programs as well as an associate degree in health care administration. Go to pmi.edu for information on Pima Medical's locations and a full list of programs. About Pima Medical Institute Pima Medical Institute is an employee-owned, private, accredited school dedicated to providing students classroom studies paired with real-world training at medical facilities. Established in 1972, Pima Medical Institute helps students become career ready, focusing exclusively on health care professions, including medical, dental, veterinary and nursing fields. Curriculum includes certificate, associate degree, bachelor's and master's degree programs. Pima Medical Institute operates 18 campuses as well as an extensive online curriculum. The medical career college has a presence in eight western states with the following ground locations: Albuquerque and Albuquerque West Rio Rancho in N.M.; Tucson, Phoenix and two campuses in Mesa, Ariz.; Aurora, Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Seattle and Renton, Wash.; Las Vegas, N.V.; Houston, El Paso and San Antonio, Texas; Chula Vista and San Marcos, Calif.; and Dillon, Mont. For more information and a complete list of programs offered at each campus, visit pmi.edu or call 1-888-442-5998. Media Contact: Diane Smith | [email protected] | c: 480-320-0142 SOURCE Pima Medical Institute Related Links https://pmi.edu Twelve police officers have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 19 people whose charred bodies were found near Mexico's border with the US last month, prosecutors said Tuesday Ciudad Victoria (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :Twelve police officers have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 19 people whose charred bodies were found near Mexico's border with the US last month, prosecutors said Tuesday. Evidence at the site indicated that "at least 12 members" of the state police participated in the massacre, Tamaulipas state attorney general Irving Barrios said during a press conference. Prosecutors said that on January 23 two burnt-out vehicles containing human remains were found on a country road near the town of Camargo, in the northern Mexican state which borders Texas. Preliminary investigations suggested the victims had been shot before their bodies were set alight. Most of them were believed to be migrants making their way to the United States. Preliminary investigations and crime scene analysis led authorities to suspect the 12 police officers of being involved, Barrios said. The officers have been arrested and will be charged with "probable participation in the crimes of homicide, abuse of authority and performance of administrative functions and falsification of reports given to an authority," the prosecutor said. Relatives of migrants in Guatemala said family members who were crossing Mexico with the help of smugglers to reach the US could be among the victims. Prosecutors worked with Guatemalan consular authorities on DNA analysis to identify two Guatemalans and two Mexicans among the victims. Camargo, a town of about 15,000 people, borders the US state of Texas and is near the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. The region sees frequent clashes between the Noreste cartel, which controls a part of Nuevo Leon, and the Gulf syndicate, which has been active in Tamaulipas for decades. In January 2019, in the neighboring town of Miguel Aleman, 24 corpses were found, of which 15 were burned. In August 2010, a group of 72 undocumented migrants were killed in San Fernando, in Tamaulipas. Authorities said the massacre was perpetrated by the Zetas cartel, one of the most powerful at the time. Tamaulipas, on Mexico's Gulf coast, is the shortest route to the United States but also the most dangerous because of the presence of criminal gangs, which kidnap, extort and murder migrants. Cartel-related violence has beset Mexico since 2006, with more than 300,000 killings since then. The country recorded 34,523 assassinations in 2020, a slight decrease on the previous year's figure, which was a record high since official tallies began. Ge Fei also describes the collapse of a dynasty, but his Jiangnan Trilogy only burnished his status in the Peoples Republic, helping to make him one of the most respected writers in 21st-century China. Canaan Morses translation of the opening volume, PEACH BLOSSOM PARADISE (New York Review Books, 392 pp., paper, $17.95), showcases its deft mix of history, myth and invention, depicting a young womans emergence from her sheltered childhood to confront the realities of a land on the brink of violent change. Its the end of the 19th century, and Xiumi, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, is living at the family mansion in the village of Puji. This is a household of women, presided over by her mother because her father has mysteriously wandered off, apparently disappearing into thin air. Is he simply an eccentric madman? Or is he just one of the many characters whove been led astray by their own visions of a perfect society? One such is her mothers lover, who leaves behind a diary disclosing dangerous revolutionary activities. Another is a bandit lord whose dream of creating a perfect refuge in a lakeside village will go up in flames. Might yet another be Xiumi herself? Xiumis attempts to right the wrongs that have been done to her and to others take place in a vividly evoked array of settings. The inhabitants of Puji village offer an energetic chorus of background voices, as do servants and hangers-on at the family home. And an interlude on a tiny island, where the kidnapped Xiumi awaits her fate, accompanied by a Buddhist nun, is properly foreboding. Wherever she finds herself, Xiumi will make an effort to chart her own course, but it seems inevitable that at times she will feel like a fallen leaf caught in a river, trapped in the current and dragged through the water before she could even make a sound. In the course of their long history, Sudan and Egypt have never been very close as far as political consultation and joint cooperation are concerned. It is true that the deposed Islamist former president of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, was a stumbling block to any progress in the relations between the two nations. It was the Islamist regime of Al-Bashir and his supreme guide Hassan Al-Turabi that dealt a powerful blow to Egypt, calling it a bad neighbour and disorienting the Sudanese public. With Al-Bashirs fall from power in 2019 thanks to a popular and army-backed revolution similar to the two revolutions in Egypt that ushered in the demise of former president Hosni Mubarak and former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a new chapter opened in Egypt-Sudan relations. For the first time in their history, Egypt and Sudan have conducted quality military exercises, codenamed Eagles of the Nile, to ensure that both armies remain well-prepared in the face of any regional dangers threatening their countries existence or jeopardising their national security. The exercises included tasks such as reconnaissance training, interception and air and land assistance in defence of vital objectives, plus the training of special forces on both sides. Egypt has also reiterated its full support for Sudans national security in the face of any regional threats to Sudans territorial integrity and stability. This is a language spoken by both Sudan and Egypt. The two nations are attached by inextricable people-to-people bonds that should never be allowed to break or to fall victim to any whimsical inclinations. The media in both countries are tasked with a major role, as both need to engage in a different discourse and make a clean sweep of any misperceptions that may regrettably have been instilled in the minds of average Sudanese and Egyptian people over the decades. Egypt was never, even in the darkest moments of its relations with Sudan, the kind of bad neighbour that Al-Bashirs media pretended. During the harsh US sanctions on Sudan, Egypt was almost the sole provider of life-saving commodities to the Sudanese people, starting from the most basic and including industrial spare parts. Under President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, a project that has been waiting in the wings for years has now finally come online, namely Egypts electrical linkage with Sudan. Sudan will remain Egypts strategic ally thanks to the shared cultural values and common heritage binding the two countries together. Here, we need to put efforts into promoting Sudan to Egyptian public opinion in order better to reflect the current level of continued coordination and political consultation between the leaders of the two countries. The media on both sides should work on enforcing the code of ethics that was signed between the two countries some two years ago and refrain from the use of any profanities when they handle different issues between them. This entails engaging in more serious exchanges of more media professionals on both sides. Agreements between the two countries should not be allowed to remain simply ink on paper, as the environment is now conducive to more constructive engagement between the two sides. Users of social media on both sides need to be fully acquainted with the recent unprecedented progress in relations between the two countries so that their interactions on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will reflect that positive environment in the political, economic and trade spheres. Here is a reminder that the lone wolves of the Muslim Brotherhood may still be active in the virtual world on both sides and that different pages on Facebook in particular serve as launching pads for venomous content directed especially at young people. Public diplomacy is also important for building relations. A recent effort by a Sudanese and an Egyptian think-tank to further relations between the two countries was a move in the right direction. Such unofficial initiatives could play a more significant role in promoting people-to-people relations, particularly in the media and culture. Economic benefits remain, however, the core of relations between peoples and countries. Egypts goal to establish an industrial park in Sudan must, therefore, be given top priority, and all the Egyptian bodies concerned should not spare any efforts to realise this goal in the near future. Now that the US sanctions on Sudan have been lifted and the countrys name is no longer on the US List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, prospects of a new and more economically powerful Sudan are looming, and Egyptian businesspeople have to grasp this moment. Thanks to connections between the two countries in terms of land and maritime transportation, it is now much easier to do business than it was, and there are more opportunities to further economic and trade relations between the two peoples. The economic hardships facing Sudan today should not derail Egyptian entrepreneurs from starting joint projects in favour of the two peoples. These difficulties will surely be overcome as they walk hand-in-hand together within the framework of a transformation process. The Egyptian people experienced something like this when their economy was being transformed five years ago, and economically speaking Egypt is now better than it was before it started to implement its economic-reform programme. Things will surely continue to advance. This is also true in the Sudanese case, where things will get back to normal once an ambitious economic-reform programme is in motion. Now, and as the two countries are back on track, nothing, literally nothing, should be allowed to derail them in furthering their relations and elevating these to the full strategic partnership to which their two peoples have long aspired. The time is ripe for action to be taken towards a stronger alliance between Sudan and Egypt, and the opportunity should not be missed. *The writer is a former press and information officer in Ethiopia and an expert on African affairs. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: By Juliet Nalwooga Police in Nateete have in detention 45 people who were arrested at local artist Mathias Walukaagas residence yesterday night. Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala metropolitan deputy police spokesperson says the arrests were made during a police operation in Nsangi at around 12 am, at Walukagas home located in Maya Sub County Wakiso District. He explains that it was after they received information that a group of people had gathered at the musicians home for reasons not yet known. Most of the suspects arrested who are residents from Kawempe Division are detained on charges of doing negligent acts likely to spread infection of disease. Walukaga however wasnt arrested as upon seeing the officers, he ran inside his house. Police say the suspects are being processed and will be arraigned in court. [February 03, 2021] MPHASE REDUCES DEBT WITH ADDITIONAL CONVERTIBLE NOTES PAYMENTS Gaithersburg, MD, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mPhase Technologies, Inc. (OTC Pink: XDSL) (mPhase or the Company) is pleased to report that it has paid off two additional convertible notes, marking the third and fourth notes retired during January 2021. All of the convertible notes were paid off to avoid dilution and reduced the Companys overall debt. Managements goal is to continue to pay off notes prior to their due dates to avoid further dilution. During 2020, we incurred some one-time costs associated with infrastructure needs as we grew our organization, but recently we have generated sufficient cash flow to begin paying down our debt, said mPhase CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. We believe that this strategy will better position us to pursue some important growth prospects that we are currently evaluating. Having a strong core business is proving to be an important attribute in our discussions with potential partners. The next step in our strategic plan is to enter a growth phase, so we are focusing on new revenue-producing projects in our core technology categories. Operational Update As previously reported, mPhase recently regained reporting compliance through the filing of its 10-K for fiscal year 2020 and its 10-Q for Q1 of fiscal year 2021. The Companys next 10-Q is due to be filed by February 16, 2021. Management previously planned to provide an investor call and operational update by the end of January 2021. However, due to the compressed reporting period and the nature of ongoing strategic discussions, the Company has elected to defer its first ever investor call until after the Q2 fiscal 2021 filing. The Compan believes this timing will enable management to more fully explain the growth strategy for the remainder of 2021. About mPhase Technologies mPhase is a technology driven, innovative development company that creates and commercializes products and applications that impact everyday people. The Company is assembling industry-leading teams specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, software, consumer engagement, and other advanced technologies. Additional information can be found at the mPhase website, www.mphasetech.com ; and at www.learningtrack.com . Please follow us on twitter: @mPhase_Tech for the latest updates. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words could, believe, anticipate, intend, estimate, expect, may, continue, predict, potential, project and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contacts: Investor Contact: ir@mphasetech.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Apollos efforts to contain the fallout from co-founder and now former CEO Leon Black having paid boatloads in fees and loans to Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted of child prostitution are not succeeding. As well discuss shortly, Apollo had commissioned an whitewash investigation by law firm Dechert to reassure investors that nothing too unsavory had happened, and get them to stop their capital strike against the giant fund. However, the Financial Times reported yesterday that the UNs pension fund is keeping Apollo on a watch list and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System is sticking to its guns: From the Financial Times: A report by lawyers for Apollo Global Management into the ties between Leon Black and the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is not enough to remove the company from a watch list of investments that require extra scrutiny, a top UN pension fund official has said Apollo was put on the UN Joint Staff Pension Funds watch list in July 2019 after reports of Mr Blacks ties to Epstein, a UN official said. The $80.3bn pension fund has invested with Apollo since at least 2013 The Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, which said in October it was not considering any new investments with Apollo, showed no sign of reconsidering its position in the wake of the Dechert review. I refer you to our previous comment . . . and decline further comment, said Steve Esack, a spokesman for the fund. The $40bn Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds said it had reviewed Apollo this spring and determined, based on a variety of due diligence criteria, they did not meet our standards for making a new capital commitment. In fairness, the pink paper did say that the report plus some governance changes at Apollo, like changing the dual-class share structure so as to reduce Blacks grip on the company, were enough to placate some investors, like UKs South Yorkshire Pensions Authority which had made close to 29 million in commitments to three Apollo funds from 2013 to 2019. But the UN pension fund reaffirming its Apollo red flags will sway other pension funds. So why are many, and perhaps most, big pension fund investors not satisfied with the Apollo report? The short version is bad headlines plus bad details. The UN pension fund acted after the first big media story on the troubling close relationship between Black and Epstein: Bloombergs Jeffrey Epstein Had a Door Into Apollo: His Deep Ties With Leon Black, in July 2019. But as we pointed out then, most investors, like CalPERS, merely went into pious hand-wringing mode. The scandal grew to an entirely new level last October, when the New York Times broke the story that insiders reported that Black had paid at least $50 million and perhaps over $75 million in fees to Epstein from 2012 to 2017. After Blacks mumbled denials and foot shuffling failed to calm rattled investors, Apollo commissioned Dechert to poke around and put the best possible spin on the facts. Apparently just about everyone with an operating brain cell reacted as we did when the report came out: Why Apollos Palace Coup Against Leon Black and Further Disclosures on Jeffrey Epstein Are Not Reassuring. Dechert did say there was no evidence that Black was caught up in Epsteins illicit activities or that Epstein had even tried foisting an underaged girl on him. However, that was about as good as the good news got. First, the numbers were so much worse than what the Times had initially found. The report stated that Black had paid $158 million, more than twice as high as the Times original top figure, plus $30 million in loans, only $10 million of which had been repaid. Second was that the claims about what all that money was for were wildly implausible. From our post: The shock value of the magnitude of the payments to Black may succeed in diverting press and investor eyes from the real scandal here: what was Black paying for? And was Apollo implicated? Bear with me, because the supposedly reassuring excerpts from the report by law firm Dechert actually suggest that Apollo was involved too. This is how Dechert attemptsed to justify the transfers from Black to Epstein. From the Wall Street Journal: Mr. Black believed, and witnesses generally agreed, that Epstein provided advice that conferred more than $1 billion and as much as $2 billion or more in tax savings, the report states. It also supports Mr. Blacks contention that he paid Epstein a fee he believed was roughly equivalent to 5% of the value that the late financier generated on an after-tax basis. Well deal with the second howler first, that someone like Black would pay for mere advice on a percentage of results basis. As Black knows well, the people who get rich to very rich attach themselves to capital and get paid a percentage for performance, such as brokerage or asset management fees. Black, who buys legal services from the very best firms in the US in bulk, would know he could hire the most cunning tax lawyers in the US for a fraction of what he paid Epstein. He could even have financed a firm with the very best minds in the industry for this kind of dough. And in earlier accounts, Black also asserted that all of Epsteins advice was vetted by independent experts. So it seems reasonable to think that Black was not paying just for advice but some kind of execution too, as in moving funds and engaging in sham transactions to recharacterize the economic substance or apparent ownership of funds. So its hard to see Dechert with a straight face parroting Blacks defense that he was paying 5% of the economic value of what is presented as mere tax advice as if that were a reasonable compensation arrangement. But lets go back to the first eyepopper: tax savings of $1 billion to over $2 billion. Lets be charitable and use Blacks maximum applicable tax rate: a marginal tax rate of about 50% for Federal, New York state and New York city income taxes. That means the amount of Leon Black personal income subject to Epsteins wizardry, again charitably assuming he managed to find a way to bring Blacks taxes from 50% to zero, would be double the savings, or $2 to $4 billion. If you read the post, we worked though the implications. It seems impossible to get to anything like these numbers unless you assume some of the income came from fees and expenses coming directly from the portfolio companies which did not go through Apollo. But for Black to achieve different tax outcomes than hed received before, the income would have had to be distributed or characterized differently. That requires the cooperation of portfolio company employees, who are managed and controlled by Apollo, not Black personally. And thats before getting to the other glaring problem with the Dechert/Black story: its hard imagine this much in tax being saved without Black having engaged in tax evasion, as opposed to tax avoidance (which he could buy all day from all sorts of cunning white shoe providers for a mere fraction of what he paid Epstein).1 An indirect confirmation of how fantastically inexplicable the payments to Epstein were: the Financial Times almost immediately ran a long and obviously planted story about what great buddies Black and Epstein had been and how Epstein served as Blacks money major domo, handling everything from audits to art buys. This didnt pass the smell test with the investment-savvy. A non-lawyer, non-accountant as the front person with tax examiners? Epstein as another layer of costs and bureaucracy on top of Blacks family office pros? And the serious art buyers I know give money to the likes of the Fogg Art Museum and the Met, where they can typically get input from museum curators, who are top pros in their fields, on planned major purchases (the understanding being some of those works will be bequeathed, but theres no way to enforce these understandings). As one business school professor who specializes in private equity said via e-mail: I read your piece after I read that of the FT. I thought that your point that tax advice is BS to the power ten was spot on and well seen. Amazing that FT journalists and others would not pause a sec and think: hold on Dechert, thats BS. They just summarize the info they are given, thats it. Some experts came up with additional possibilities of the services Black was actually buying from Epstein. A law professor argued it could be blackmail after Epstein had paid bribes on behalf of Black. The problem I have is the only place where the bribes might have delivered enough value would have been to sovereign wealth fund officials in return for fund contributions. The flip side is the fund contributions are so large that big bribes are possible and you dont necessarily have to throw in blackmail. But then you get to the question of why would Black do this sort of thing personally, and not through Apollo. If I am right and some of the targets were foreign officials, thats an Foreign Corrupt Practices violation, which is criminal. Why would Black put that target on his back, and not Apollos? But then again, if Apollo were caught bribing foreign officials, pretty much no US public pension fund could invest in Apollo. They might even have to renege on their current commitments, since most government entities have strict prohibitions against doing business with firms charged with criminal conduct. Thats why Eliot Spitzers threat to indict AIG gave him the leverage to force the resignation of Hank Greenberg: many legal experts argues the mere filing of a criminal case would force many government players to halt activity with AIG. So Black would be less exposed than Apollo would be in this scenario.2 As much as this may sound like a stretch, recall that Apollo has paid what amounted to bribes, although a tremendous amount of energy has been expended on the fiction that Leon Black was victimized by former CalPERS board member, later placement agent Al Villalobos.3 Apollo paid $48 million in placement agent fees to Villalobos, some of which wound up as cash in paper bags as a bribe to CalPERS CEO, Fred Buenrostro. Villalobos committed suicide after he was indicted; Buenrostro was sentenced to four and one-half years in Federal prison.4 But heres the mystery of that case. Apollo supposedly paid $48 million to get meetings at CalPERS. To this day no one who know CalPERS can fathom why Apollo paid a big fee, much the less any fee, to Villalobos. Apollo didnt need Al Villalobos to get meetings at and big commitments from CalPERS. There is no evidence that the Villalobos intervention resulted in a dime more going to Apollo than it would have gotten otherwise. So the bribe was unnecessary and Villalobos was a very odd agent to use (as in sleazy). But Villalobos was raising his hand to do the dirty work for anyone. And apparently a lot of the $48 million paid to Villalobos disappeared; it was never found after he committed suicide. So perhaps the money paid with respect of CalPERS was going to other actual or planned dirty work. The larger point is simple: the official story about Black and Epstein is simultaneously implausible and doesnt show Black in a good light. That says to pretty much everyone that the real story is worse, potentially much worse. Maybe well find out, but I am not holding my breath. Dead men tell no tales. _____ 1 No one in the PE industry thinks Black was partaking of Epsteins underage offerings, much the less extorted for having done so. Remember, on deals, even the big honchos will work long hours and so the minions get a good view of their habits. In addition, Black and Epstein were on friendly social terms, whereas its hard to imagine anyone being buddy buddy with their blackmailer. Finally, if Epstein started making big demands for his silence, there were plenty of ways to silence him other than paying him nearly $180 million (the fees plus the outstanding loans). A prosecutor added: I initially bought the theory that Epstein and Maxwell were fronting a Mossad blackmail operation, but Epsteins friends dont act toward their purported blackmailers the way I would expect people with something that dark to hide to behave. Most pedophiles I have seen in the dock are quite unashamed of themselves, to a shocking degree just as Epstein seems to have been. At least one of these Masters of the Universe would have preferred exposure to forking-over tens of millions to blackmailers. I also agree and your evidence strongly confirms that Blacks payments werent a fee for tax or trust/estate planning. Whatever planning was going on involved hiding assets. On the hiding assets or other outside-the-banking-system transfers: Epsteins island was 5 miles from the British Virgin Islands. So a helicopter or a small plane could easily surveil the waters and a boat could make a run over with cash. A large suitcase full of $100 bills = $10 million. You could probably several suitcases like that on a private plane without much difficulty. 2 This law professor threw more cold water on the Black/Dechert position that Epstein was actually or implicitly paid on a percentage of tax savings basis: Ive only heard of a percentage deal being offered once to an individual lawyer: Marty Ginsburg (RBGs husband) did a few hours of work for Ross Perot when he sold EDS to GM and saved Perot hundreds of millions. Perot wanted to give him a percentage; Marty insisted on his hourly rate. Perot then decided to endow a chair in Martys honor at Georgetown on the condition it go to Marty. Marty, being an incredibly modest guy, said he wouldnt accept. So Perot threatened to endow the chair at Bob Jones University. Marty relented on the condition that the chair be filled by someone else. 3 Villalobos was a sufficiently accomplished con artist that he got on CalPERS board under false pretenses. He was on the State Personnel Board, which then chooses one board member as its CalPERS representative. Ill update this section when I get the details of Villalobos ruse, but my early AM recollection is that Villalobos told his fellow SPB members that the Governor wanted him on CalPERS board. When his story was found to be false, Villalobos was voted off the CalPERS board. 4 For those of you with overactive minds, there is no similarity between Villalobos suicide and Epsteins, as in no lingering mystery. Villalobos went to a shooting range, fired some rounds, then turned the gun on himself. The movie Penguin Bloom released on Netflix on January 21, 2020. This movie is based on a storybook Penguin Bloom from acclaimed writer Cameron Bloom. It is a family drama that tells the story of a modern family which suddenly has an unexpected guest and how they become closer again despite all their differences. The movie is based on the true story of a woman named Sam Bloom. Read till the end to know about Penguin Bloom cast, story and review details. Also read: 'Freaks And Geeks' Filming Locations - Where Was The Cult Classic Shot? Penguin Bloom Cast The movie is directed by Glendyn Ivin and has producers like Emma Cooper, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Jodi Matterson and others. According to IMDB, Penguin Bloom cast includes talented actors like Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Jacki Weaver and some penguins in prominent roles. Also read: Where Is 'Penguin Bloom' Filmed? Filming Locations Of The Netflix Release Revealed Penguin Bloom story synopsis Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts) becomes injured as she falls off during a vacation and loses the power to use her legs. She becomes depressed and becomes quite withdrawn. Her family takes home a magpie bird named Penguin Bloom, which has also been gravely injured and cannot fly any longer. Sam gradually starts to bond with the bird, and in turn, the whole family welcomes the bird with open arms, and the family comes closer while Sam gets a miraculous recovery. Also read: See Parineeti Chopra & Cast Members Of 'The Girl On The Train' In This Tweet By Netflix Penguin Bloom filming locations Wondering about Penguin Bloom filming locations? As per The Cinemaholic, the principal shooting was completed in Sydney, Australia. To get the real feeling, a significant portion of the movie was shot inside the original Bloom house located in Sydney near the Northern Beaches. It is one of the prominent locations of the film. The other Penguin Bloom shooting locations also include Palm Beach. This beach was featured throughout the movie to give an authentic Sydney vibe. The Avalon beach was seen in the film. Also read: Where Was 'Blown Away' Filmed? All About Filming Location Of Reality Competition Series The real Sam Bloom also posted some pictures with the cast of Penguin Bloom to offer some details about its shooting locations. Phuket, Thailand, was used to shoot the critical scene of Sam's accident. The cast and crew flew to Thailand to recreate the scene. Penguin Bloom review Overall, Penguin Bloom review was average. The critics praised the performance of Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln. According to Rotten Tomatoes, The movie got an average approval rating of 65% from the critics and 67% from the audience. On the other hand, Metatricitic official website gave 54 Metascore out of 100 in Penguin Bloom review and listed some mixed reviews from the critics. IMDB's official website gave this movie 6.7 out of 10. 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. Photo: (Photo : Screenshot from Facebook) An Idaho Dad wins the lottery for the 6th time. He helps public schools every time he wins. Bryan Moss, the Idaho dad, has recorded his sixth win last January. He was able to win 250,000 US Dollars in the Idaho Lottery Scratch Game $250,000 Crossword. According to the lucky dad, he continues to play even after his first five wins because he loves helping public schools. ALSO READ: Father-to-Be Hits the Jackpot of 1 Million US Dollars in a Scratch-off Game; He Was at Grandma's House When He Won Idaho Dad wins the lottery for the 6th time The most recent win of Moss in the Lottery Scratch Game was the biggest that he ever had. Although he has been winning six times, the biggest that he claimed in the past was 10,000 US dollars. The first time he won the lottery, he only got a thousand US Dollars. Helping public schools In a press release by the Idaho Lottery, the lucky Idaho dad shared that supporting public schools is one reason he keeps on playing the lottery. He said, "I'm proud to help support Idaho public schools; that's really why I play." Aside from the lucky dad's wins, the Idaho Lottery has recorded giving away more than 12 million US Dollars to public schools in Idaho since 1989. Aside from supporting public schools, the Idaho dad also plans to spend some of his winnings for his daughter's future. ALSO READ: Alberta Dads Pose for 2021 Calendar: "It's Not Dad Bods, It's Father Figures." Sharing the good news On his Facebook account, the Idaho dad shared his joyful win. He said in the caption for his post, "I'm proud to help support Idaho schools! #6 decent lotto win. #lucky" In the comments section, his friends congratulated the lucky dad. Some of his friends said Moss deserves the win, "Couldn't have happened to a better guy! Congrats, Bryan." Another one said, "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!! Congrats buddy!!! Another netizen even asked for tips from the lucky dad, "Congratulations, Bryan!! So lucky! Can you give me some pointers on how you do it? I am not a lucky person but would like to give this a try." One netizen jokingly commented, "Awesome! Congratulations! Can I give you money to play for me? I definitely don't have that kind of success, lol." ALSO READ: Michigan Dad Wins Two Lotteries Claims He Has a Lucky Coin The Idaho dad Even if the Idaho Dad wins the lottery for the 6th time, he is still very active in promoting his store products. The lucky dad from Idaho is the owner of a sport and nutrition store in their state. The winning ticket that Moss purchased was from an ExtraMile in Idaho. The stall will be receiving 20,000 US Dollars as a bonus. According to Idaho Lottery Scratch Game, winning the $250,000 Crossword game is a very slim chance. The odds of winning are at 1 in 152, 433. ALSO READ: How to Be an Involved Father? [Viral Tips from an Influencer Dad] The lawmaker representing Nnewi North, NNewi South and Ekwusigo Federal constituency, Hon Chris Azubogu has said the commercial city of Onitsha has the capacity to jumpstart the economy of the south east zone of the country. The lawmaker who is the vice chairman house committee on finance and appropriation in the country's lower chambers, who is also running for the governorship position of Anambra State said if elected governor, he will execute a Strategic Urban Renewal programme that would return Onitsha as catalyst for economic transformation of the state and the zone. Azubogu made the statement in Onitsha when he met with members of PDP in Onitsha South and North Local Government Areas over his intention to run for the governorship of Anambra State. He added, "We must reopen the conversation on the need to return Onitsha as a catalyst for a strong Anambra economy and the South east. "My promise is that if elected as the Governor of Anambra State, we are going to pursue a Strategic Urban Renewal programme for the Onitsha cluster, which will enhance the commercial, residential and industrial potentials of Onitsha as a catalyst for a thriving Anambra economy of our dream." Azubogu who met with party leaders of the two local government areas at separate venues, appealed to members to support his aspiration which he said is about the future of Anambra State's development. New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs responded to the recent comments made by foreign individuals and entities on the ongoing farmers protests. Issuing a statement to the effect, the ministry urged that before rushing to comment on such matters all the facts be ascertained, and one should have a proper understanding of the issues. "The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible," the statement read. In Pics: International celebs Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Lilly Singh, Mia Khalifa extend support to farmers protest The MEA also stressed that a small section of the farming community is against the farm laws, and claimed that stated that the government has done its best to persuade the protesting farmers. The Centre said that in order to end the deadlock, the Centre and farmers union representatives have held 11 rounds of talks and also agreed to hold the implementation of the laws for 1 to 1.5 years. The statement comes after a slew of celebrities came out in support of the ongoing farmers protest in the national capital. From pop star Rihanna to former porn star Mia Khalifa took to social media to support the stir against the contentious farm laws. It further emphasised that these protests must be seen in the context of Indias democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse. Read full statement here: "The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming. A very small section of farmers in parts of India have some reservations about these reforms. Respecting the sentiments of the protestors, the Government of India has initiated a series of talks with their representatives. Union Ministers have been part of the negotiations, and eleven rounds of talks have already been held. The Government has even offered to keep the laws on hold, an offer iterated by no less than the Prime Minister of India. Yet, it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26, Indias Republic Day. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India, was besmirched, and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian capital. Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is extremely disturbing for India and for civilised society everywhere. Indian police forces have handled these protests with utmost restraint. It may be noted that hundreds of men and women serving in the police have been physically attacked, and in some cases stabbed and seriously wounded. We would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of Indias democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible. " Live TV Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Responds to EU Beating Cancer Plan ATMPs are uniquely positioned to attack cancer at its source, bringing life-changing benefits to patients BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - February 3, 2021 The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) -- the 'global voice' of the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies sector -- applauds the EU Beating Cancer Plan's identification of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) as part of a comprehensive cancer solution. ATMPs include cell and gene therapies that have already revolutionized the treatment of some aggressive forms of blood cancers and hold great promise for addressing other types of cancer. In particular, ARM: Agrees with the Plan's comprehensive approach, including its focus on addressing the root causes of cancer and promoting innovative, personalized cancer treatments. ATMPs for cancer, including CAR-Ts, in many cases are produced using a patient's own cells - the very definition of 'personalized' Notes that there are already three EMA-approved CAR-T therapies to address aggressive blood cancers that have not responded to conventional treatments Highlights that its members are developing similar therapies to address solid tumors, while gene-editing technologies - including CRISPR, which won the Nobel prize in chemistry in 2020 - have the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment by targeting some cancers at their genetic sources Underlines the importance of cell and gene therapies in the future of oncology with roughly one half of all 383 Phase I cell, gene, and tissue-based therapy trials focused on immuno-oncology (as of Dec 2020) Applauds the Plan's links to the 'European Health Data Space' and its intention to address the current fragmentation of health data in the EU that could benefit HTAs, facilitate cross border treatment, and fast-track Real World Evidence/Data -- all of which would have clear benefits for patient access to life-changing therapies Highlights its commitment to improving the quality of life for cancer patients and their caregivers, which ATMPs address via durable and potentially curative approaches. Additionally, ARM agrees with the Plan that people in the EU should have access to 'curative' healthcare of good quality. Paige Bischoff, SVP of Global Public Affairs at ARM, commented: "We believe that ATMPs are some of the most powerful weapons that we have to beat cancer. The Beating Cancer Plan recognizes that ATMPs should be part of a comprehensive cancer solution -- ARM looks forward to engaging with and supporting the EU's efforts to harness the durable and potentially curative nature of cell and gene therapies. The existing treatments include EMA-approved 'personalized' CAR-T therapies, which genetically re-engineer patients' own immune cells to identify and attack some forms of cancers. And looking to the future, innovation in gene-editing technologies may enable us to tackle some cancers at their source - the genome." Press enquiries For more information or for media requests, please contact Stephen Majors from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine at smajors@alliancerm.org or Consilium Strategic Communications at ARM@consilium-comms.com . About the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Highlights According to MRFR analysis, the Global Neurodiagnostics Market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.88% from 2019 to 2025 and held a value of USD 4,848.48 Million in 2018. GET FREE SAMPLE COPY @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8762 Neurodiagnostic tests which are also known as neurodiagnostics. records and monitors electrical activities of patients peripheral nerves, spinal cord, and brain. These tests help physicians to confirm or rule out a neurological disorder or other medical condition. The growth of the global neurodiagnostics market is boosted by factors such as rising number of strategic initiatives by key players such as mergers, joint ventures, acquisitions, partnerships, coupled with the advancements in technology across the globe. Furthermore, many non-profit organizations in various countries are working towards creating awareness regarding neurological diseases. For instance, the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), founded in July 2016, is a membership organization focused on raising awareness about the age and neurological conditions and diseases associated with age. However, the high cost of neurodiagnostic treatment is likely to restrain the market growth to a certain extent in the coming years. Market players such as GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Philips Healthcare, and Hitachi, Ltd., currently dominate the global neurodiagnostics market. The key players are involved in product launches and agreements to strengthen their market positions. For instance, in December 2019, GE Healthcare (US), signed USD 100 million technology partnership agreement with AFFIDEA (Ireland). GE Healthcare will install 200+ new equipment in Affideas network of centers across Europe. The deal includes the provision of 60 new MRIs, 50 ultrasound devices, 40 CT scanners and 30 X-rays machines in the next 3 years. It also includes a six-year service contract. Regional Analysis The market has been divided, by region, into the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The Americas held maximum share in the base year 2018, owing to the high incidence rates of neurological disorders in countries such as US. According to the American Neurological Association, as of 2016, mealy 100 million Americans were affected by at least one of the neurological diseases. The neurodiagnostics market in the Americas has further been branched into North America and Latin America, with the North American market divided into the US and Canada. The European neurodiagnostics market has been categorized as Western Europe and Eastern Europe. The Western European market has further been classified as Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The neurodiagnostics market in Asia-Pacific has been segmented into Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The neurodiagnostics market in this region is anticipated to be the fastest-growing during the assessment period due to the increasing awareness about the diagnostic treatments and favorable reimbursement policies. The neurodiagnostics market in the Middle East & Africa has been divided into the Middle East and Africa. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/neurodiagnostics-market-8762 Segmentation The Global Neurodiagnostics Market has been segmented based on Product, Condition, and End User. The market, based on product type, has been divided into diagnostic imaging systems, clinical diagnostic instruments, and reagents & consumables. The diagnostic imaging systems segment held a major share in 2018 owing to the rising number of diagnostic laboratories an imaging centers in the developing as well as developed countries. The reagents & consumables was the fastest-growing segment in 2018 due to high consumption in various routine techniques. The market, based on diagnostic imaging systems, has been further segment is segmented as, MRI systems, EEG systems, CT scanners, PET scanners, EMG devices, ultrasound imaging systems, MEG devices, angiography systems, and others. The market, based on clinical diagnostic instruments has been further bifurcated into PCR instruments, NGS instruments, sanger sequencers, and others. The market, based on reagents & consumables has been further segmented into media & sera, antibodies, buffers, solvents, enzymes, proteins, & peptides, probes, and other Marshall Pair Convicted on Medicaid Fraud Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff CALVERT CITY - A Calvert City couple have been convicted of defrauding the Kentucky Medical Assistance Program of nearly $8,000.During the course of their investigation, the Medicaid Fraud Unit discovered that Melissa Dufay, who was a Medicaid recipient enrolled in the Home and Community Based Waiver Program, employed her husband Ray Dufay. Together, the couple prepared and submitted fraudulent timesheets for Mr. Dufay for over a year. Last November, in Marshall Circuit Court, Melissa and Ray Dufay each pled guilty to one count of devising or engaging in a scheme to defraud Medicaid of $300 or more, a Class D Felony. Ray Dufay was also convicted of one count of theft by deception over $500 but less than $10,000, a Class D Felony. On Jan. 29, Judge Jamie Jameson sentenced the Dufays to five years on each count, probated for five years, and ordered them to pay $7,705 in restitution to the Kentucky Medical Assistance Program. Ray Dufay was also sentenced to six months of home incarceration. The Medicaid Fraud Unit, along with the Department of Aging and Independent Living within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, investigated the case. Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh be released from prison and moved to a government safe house. The Pakistani-British man had been on death row for 18 years for his alleged role in the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Pakistans Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh be released from prison and moved to a government safe house. The Pakistani-British man had been on death row for 18 years for his alleged role in the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 by Al Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist militants. A three-judge Supreme Court bench directed authorities to release Sheikh and three co-defendants. Defense lawyers argued Sheikh was a scapegoat and sentenced on insufficient evidence. A day later, Pakistans government appealed to the court to review its decision. But the review panel on Tuesday stood by the Supreme Court ruling. Justice Omar Ata Bandyal, who headed the review panel said, He should be moved to a comfortable residential environment, something like a rest house where he can live a normal life. In the government-run safe house, Sheikh will be under a 24-hour guard, often by military personnel. He will not be allowed to leave the house, use the phone or access the internet. But his wife and children can visit him. Also read: Myanmar coup: Myanmar General warns Biden, clear show of siding with Xi Locations of such safe houses are usually kept secret. Pakistans security establishment has several such facilities across the country. It is not a complete freedom. It is a step toward freedom, the prisoners father, Saeed Sheikh said. The terms of Sheikhs release will become clearer once a written order is made public. Sheikh has spent more than 18 years in prison for the crimes. The earlier ruling triggered outrage from Pearls family and the US administration. State Secretary Antony Blinken said that Washington is ready to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen. Blinken further said that the US is committed to securing justice for Daniel Pearls family and holding terrorists accountable. Also read: Farmers stir enters 69th day: Ruckus in Rajya Sabha over farm laws The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Dhaka, Feb 4 : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his wish to visit Tungipara in Bangladesh -- the birthplace of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known as Bangabandhu, the country's Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said. Speaking to IANS on Wednesday, Momen said Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is likely to visit Bangladesh before Modi's scheduled tour in March. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Modi are scheduled to hold summit-level talks in Dhaka on March 27, taking forward the relations between the two countries keeping the celebratory year in focus. Bangladesh and India would hold four Secretary-level meetings before the summit talks between the two Prime Ministers, to provide inputs for the March 27 talks. The meeting between the Water Resources Secretaries of the two countries would be held in Indian capital New Delhi while Commerce Secretary-level, Home Secretary-level and Shipping Secretary-level talks would be held in Dhaka. "PM Modi wishes to visit Tungipara... It's yet to be finalised. But We're progressing quite smoothly," Momen said. The two countries are currently working on four to five MoUs to be signed during the Summit meeting and there is a possibility to increase the number of bilateral documents with inputs from four Secretary-level meetings. Earlier in the December 17, 2020 virtual meeting, Hasina thanked Modi for accepting her invitation to visit Bangladesh in March 2021 to join the celebrations on the occasion of 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations. Bangladesh and India have described the year 2021 as historic in their bilateral relations as they would be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Liberation War and the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh Prime Minister requested the Indian side to consider Bangladesh's proposal to name the historic road from Mujib Nagar to Nodia on Bangladesh-India border as "Shadhinota Shorrok" commemorating the historical significance of the road during Bangladesh's Liberation War. The road will jointly be inaugurated during the PM-level meeting, said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, adding that Feni Bridge is also likely to be inaugurated. On trade issues, Masud Momen said the bilateral trade between the two countries crossed $1 billion mark and there is a scope for further expansion of trade addressing the barriers. Masud Momen also mentioned the air bubble arrangements in the Covid-19 pandemic situation have been extended between Bangladesh and India until April 30. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Less than two weeks after his deportation to Haiti a country he wasnt born in and had never visited was halted by immigration enforcement, Paul Pierrilus was sent there anyway, his lawyer said. Pierrilus, 40, arrived in Port-au-Prince Tuesday morning aboard a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation charter flight from Louisiana with 63 other individuals expelled from the United States. He was distraught and in shock, said his lawyer, Nicole Phillips, who spoke with him hours later. They knew he was stateless. They knew he didnt have a Haitian passport, she said. Its our understanding that he did not have travel documents to return to Haiti and yet they deported him there anyway. A spokesperson with ICE did not respond to a Miami Herald inquiry about the flight before publication. Haitis ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond, said he was inquiring into the matter. The countrys foreign minister, Claude Joseph, did not respond to a request for comment. A financial consultant from New York, Pierrilus was born to Haitian parents in the French territory of St. Martin. He doesnt speak Haitian-Creole fluently, advocates said, and he has no family in Haiti, where on Tuesday, he was staying with a friend of a friend after being transferred to the offices of the countrys judicial police, where he was taken to a tiny room, photographed and had his fingerprints taken, his lawyer said. Phillips said he tried to explain his situation to four ICE agents, and at one point attempted to get back on the stairs of the plane. Four ICE agents wrestled with him to force him to get off the airplane to stay in the country, she said. He kept pleading over and over again, Show me the travel document. And nobody did. On the verge of explosion: Violence, constitutional crisis push Haiti to the brink Pierrilus landed in Haiti in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a deepening political crisis. A countrywide general strike in its second day Tuesday over a surge in kidnappings had shuttered schools and businesses, meaning he couldnt go purchase a cellphone, or collect a wire transfer. Story continues Streets with normally bumper-to-bumper traffic were devoid of cars and buses except for the occasional private vehicle and motorcycle taxi drivers. The United States government made a huge error by deporting a stateless person, in this case to Haiti. So they need to do everything they can to fix this problem, Phillips said. This is not a country that he should have ever been deported to. Pierrilus, who was detained when he went to an immigration check-in in Manhattan on Jan. 11, won a last-minute reprieve from deportation on Jan. 19, when he was removed from one of the last deportation flights under the Trump administration. A frenzied effort by immigration advocates, his sister, and New York Congressman Mondaire Jones, D-NY, helped him win the stay. The next day, President Joe Biden was sworn in. All involved in Pierrilus case believed that he was safe at least for the time being. Soon after entering the White House, Biden issued a 100-day moratorium on deportations of some undocumented immigrants. Last Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the deportation suspension. Phillips, legal director for the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration advocacy organization, said the Texas court order does not mandate ICE to deport detainees. Nor does it tell them who specifically to deport, she said. It remains within ICEs discretion whether or not to deport people, Phillips said. In their hastiness and desire to rid the United States of Black immigrants from Haiti, they are doing everything they can to deport as many Haitians as they can, and Paul was one of them. In addition to Tuesdays flight, there was another flight to Haiti on Monday with 102 detainees, she said, and 1,800 more Haitians are in the pipeline to be return to their homeland in the next two weeks. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Guerline Jozefa, director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said Pierrilus was awoken by an ICE agent at 1 a.m. Tuesday and told to get his belongings. When he asked where he was being taken, he was provided no answers. He also asked if they had travel documents for him, and again received no response. In 2003, Pierrilus was convicted of selling drugs, and after serving his time, an immigration judge ordered him removed. He argued that he could not be deported to Haiti because he wasnt a citizen of the country. He also wasnt a citizen of St. Martin, under French law. Both Haitian and French authorities had denied U.S. deportation requests. Advocates say they still arent clear how Pierrilus, who has never been recognized by Haiti as a citizen, ended up there. How is it that the Haitian government agreed to receive a man that they have previously clearly stated is not a Haitian citizen? asked Jozefa. Isnt the Haitian government supposed to receive people who are coming into the country; dont they know who is coming into the country or is it carte blanche that they have given to whatever ICE wants? Phillips said they have not given up on getting Pierrilus back. In 2006 ICE tried to deport Pierriluss brother, Daniel Pierrilus, who also was in immigration trouble. When he arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haitian officials sent him back, the sister previously said. Miami Herald reporter Monique O. Madan contributed to this report. 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. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company New Delhi, Feb 4 : The protest site at Singhu border bore a different look on Wednesday with more number of protesters arriving from Haryana and Punjab, while the number of langars distributing food also increased in comparison to the past few days. Around a 15 km-long stretch on the Delhi-Haryana highway was packed with tractors on both sides of the road, with people people walking and standing in different groups. They were of the view that the viral video of a weeping Rakesh Tikait, news of barricading by the police, and the attack on the protesting farmers have touched a chord with the agricultural community. "Our own government tried to punish us by using its police force in an attempt to derail the peaceful protest. We had high hopes from the government, but at present we have only anger," Rana Randeep Singh, a protester at one of the langar sites at Singhu border, told IANS. What has changed at the Singhu border is that young brigades of farmers have joined the protest in large numbers. And every young farmer has to say one thing: "The January 26 incident has changed the mindset of the people. No one will go back now until the anti-farm laws are taken back." Hamir Singh, a college student who joined the protest on January 29 and has given the responsibility of monitoring the security system at the protest site, told IANS that people in the villages of Punjab are full of anger. "I had come here on January 25 to join the tractor rally and had gone back with my group after the event. After hearing the news of attack on our elders, I came back with 100 more protesters from my village," he said. Hamir Singh also said that the gram panchayats in both Punjab and Haryana have made it mandatory that one person from each home will join the protest for one week. "After the news of attack on farmers broke, the gram panchayats decided that more people will join the protest." Another young farmer said, "It has been made mandatory for each family to send one person for a period of one week to the protest site. Those who do not comply with the panchayat's order will have to pay Rs 2,100 as compensation." The suspension of internet services at the Singhu border is another reason why the protesters are angry, especially the youth. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Even as the usual made-for-TV drama unfolded on the Feb. 1 episode of The Bachelor, a woman from Oregon introduced some moments of actual, touching emotion. Amid endless bickering about a toxic atmosphere among the women who are featured on Season 25, supposedly looking for romance with Matt James, Abigail Heringer sat down with James and opened up, with what seemed to be sincere vulnerability. After having talked with other women gathered at Nemacolin Resort, and in confessional segments about feeling like James had formed deeper connections with other women, and concerns that she was being left behind, Heringer finally went to James near the end of the weeks group date. I really want to open up to him and talk about the things I want to talk about, Heringer had said in a confessional/interview, when the cast members speak to the camera, away from the rest of the women. But its scary to open the door to being vulnerable, and possibly rejected. (How to watch: The Bachelor airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on ABC. No cable or antenna? Live stream The Bachelor on FuboTV (which offers a 7-day free trial); or Hulu + Live TV; you can stream episodes the following day on Hulu) When Heringer sought out James for a personal conversation, she did indeed open up, admitting she had felt a bit defeated by being on yet another group date, and not a one-on-one date. Whats wrong? James asked, as Heringer got a bit emotional. Nothings wrong, Heringer said, and added that she was super-excited to be with him. I really get, like, the biggest smile on my face when Im around you. She also wanted to be open with him about the process, she said. My biggest fear has become that Im going to disappoint you, Heringer said. You want a wife and you want a family, and you know I want those things, too. But if I were to have a family, theres a really strong possibility that my kids would be deaf. As Heringer told James when she first met him, and before he gave her the First Impression rose, she was born with congenital hearing loss, and she received a cochlear implant when she was a child, as did her sister. Heringer went on to tell James that her birth father left, and how that impacted her. Heringer said it was hard not to feel that, if she fully opened herself up to somebody, that she could lose that person. James was sympathetic, and said he could relate to parts of what she was feeling. Those things youre seeing as a barrier and a road block, those are things that I admire about you, and are encouraging to me about what a future with you would look like. In his confessional, James said he thought Heringer had been courageous in sharing with him that she felt vulnerable. Hes looking for someone to challenge him and make him better, he said, adding that Heringer does that. When it came time to present the group date rose, James gave it to Heringer, who works as a client financial manager in Beaverton. Oregon's Pieper James, left, and other women on a group date with Matt James during the Monday episode of "The Bachelor." (Photo: ABC/Craig Sjodin) ABC The episode began with James trying to clean up the mess left over from last week, when Katie told him that the atmosphere in the house was toxic, and that some of the original women were acting like bullying mean girls to the four new women who had shown up to join the group in competing for James affections. Viewers might have been tempted to say, Its about time! as Anna -- who spread potentially harmful rumors about one of the new women -- and Victoria -- who has been auditioning for Ridiculously Transparent Camera Hogs of The Bachelor since her first appearance -- were both shown the door. In other news, the other Oregon cast member, Pieper James, looked disappointed at not receiving a one-on-one date card from James, though he did plant an out-of-nowhere kiss on her in what was apparently the middle of an interview/confessional she was doing during the group date. Speaking of that group date, it involved several of the women slopping around in mud on a farm, doing farm-like tasks, all of which looked absolutely dreary. Are the group dates this season all going to be booby prizes/endurance tests/cringe-worthy embarrassments? Looks that way. No wonder the women seem to roll their eyes when their names are called out for group dates. And speaking of one-on-one dates, Rachael got to join James for a session with a celebrity stylist. Not only that, during their dinner, James said he was falling in love with her, and she said she was falling in love with him, too. Hmm. Later James had a one-on-one date with Kit, preparing dinner at his place. As Kit kept talking about her privileged background, and her fashion designer mother, I realized I know zilch about Kit, other than her slight resemblance to Anya Taylor-Joy, star of The Queens Gambit. Thanks to Google, I now know that her name is Kit Keenan, shes only 21 (!) and her mother is indeed a well-known designer, Cynthia Rowley. Thanks, Google. Next week: As Jerry Seinfeld might say, what is the deal with MJ and Jessenia? Are they both going home, or what? And are the editors now wanting us to think that Katie isnt a straight-shooter, but is instead a mean girl? More of our coverage: The Bachelor 2021: The Portland-area women are still on the show, right? (recap) The Bachelor 2021: How did the Portland-area bachelorettes do in Episode 1? Subscribe to our What to Watch newsletter. Email: -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist A worker wearing a face mask looks out from an entrance of a hospital toward the Wuhan centre for disease control and prevention in Wuhan, China's central Hubei province, China, on Feb. 1, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing City Is Underreporting the Number of CCP Virus Cases: Chinese Official Chinese authorities on Feb. 2 only announced new CCP virus infections in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. But an official in Beijing told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak in the capital was out of control and that authorities were covering up new COVID-19 diagnoses there. In Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, residents said the regime underreported the outbreak and they were worried about the situation due to the authorities lack of transparency. Meanwhile, Chinese cities began allowing people to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday, following a new policy issued by Chinas State Council. But citizens complained that it is still difficult to travel due to the different requirements enacted by local governments. Underreporting Wang is an official working in the Beijing government. She revealed that the real outbreak is worse than what the official announcements have described. Xihongmen [township in Daxing] has an outbreak which started on Jan. 23. [As a result,] we have locked down the Xingguang community since day one. Wang said that though the city government said on Feb. 1 that there was only one area, the Ronghui community, designated as a high-risk region for virus spread, and no medium-risk regions, there were in fact another five communities in Daxing district that were being treated as medium-risk regions. In Harbin city of northeastern China, resident Wang Fang (pseudonym) said that the Rongyao Tiandi residential compound where she lives was fully locked down on the morning of Feb. 2, after a resident was diagnosed with COVID-19 on the day prior. We have about 1,700 families in our compound. They moved all residents from the first floor to the 30th floor of one building [to a quarantine center], and sealed off all the others, including my family, Wang Fang said. The Harbin government didnt announce any virus cases from Rongyao Tiandi. Harbin netizens posted scores of online videos in recent days, which showed newly sealed-off residential compounds in areas where authorities have not yet announced any infections. Travel Ban The Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 12, and is the most important festival in China. Schools have two to four weeks winter break around Lunar New Year, while companies and governments are issuing a seven-day public holiday from Feb. 11 to Feb. 17. People normally travel to reunite with their families. But amid a resurgence in virus cases, the CCP Central Committees General Office had issued a policy mandating citizens to stay in the areas where they live and not travel for the Lunar New Year. Then, on Jan. 31, Chinas State Council did an about-face and encouraged people to travel for the Lunar New Year. Local governments were told to lift their travel bans. China analysts commented that the central government likely wanted to increase consumption and stimulate the economy. In the past two days, Chinese people told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that their local governments allowed them to travel under certain conditions, but it was very difficult to get permission. Shijiazhuang [in northern Chinas Hebei Province] government asked us to present three certifications before leaving the city, Li Tong (pseudonym) said on Feb. 2. But we couldnt get them all. Shijiazhuang authorities announced on Jan. 30 that residents could leave the city with three certifications: a negative nucleic acid test result that was taken within seven days; a permission slip issued by the local community office; and a permission slip issued by the government authorities in ones destination. Li is a postgraduate student at a university in Shijiazhuang. Her hometown is Wuan in Hebei, a city that is located about 120 miles away from Shijiazhuang. She eagerly wants to return to her hometown. I always spend the New Year with my parents, Li said. Im alone and feel lonely in Shijiazhuang. Li said the community office would not issue certification if she did not have a permission slip from the destination government. But the Wuan government said it couldnt issue any certification because Hebei Province does not have such a policy. Wang, the Beijing official, said that the city government allows people to leave, if they have a negative nucleic acid test result that was taken within three days and a leaving permit issued by the local community office. Wang said, Who dares to issue the leaving permit? The permit means the official can guarantee the resident wont get infected during the tripWho can guarantee a person wont be infected? If this person is later diagnosed, you will lose your position. Better late than never, the Raging Bull of SantAgata Bolognese has embraced electrification in the guise of a supercapacitor that juices up a 48-volt motor integrated into the transmission of the Sian FKP 37 . The last hurrah of the Aventador doesnt mark the end of the twelve-cylinder engine, though.Time and again, chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani made it clear that hybridization is key to keeping the V12 alive without resorting to forced induction. Thats a very bold claim given the heavy-handed emissions regulations of the European Union, but its not impossible to achieve either.Although the successor of the Aventador is hiding in the background, Lamborghini is running a survey in the United States about sustainability. I nearly spat out my coffee once I heard that, primarily because the Italian automaker is the worst offender in the United States in terms of MPG.Just like the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport, the Aventador Coupe and Roadster are rated 10 miles to the gallon on the combined driving cycle. Thats 23.5 liters per 100 kilometers, representing a yearly fuel cost of around $4,550.The Lamborghini and Sustainability online survey isnt just for show, though. One question refers to eco-friendly powertrain technologies ranging from plug-in hybrid to full electric and hydrogen fuel cells, which is curious because the Italian brand has intentionally omitted the hybrid option.Can that be considered a coincidence? On the one hand, it certainly is because Lamborghini wont roll out a fuel-cell vehicle anytime soon. But on the other hand, McLaren prepares to unveil a plug-in hybrid supercar with a V6 and approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers) of all-electric range.What does this mean, you ask? Well, plug-in hybridization for the successors of the Aventador and Huracan is more than doable thanks to the know-how and financial strength of the Volkswagen Group that controls Lamborghini [February 03, 2021] The Hartford Named A Best Place To Work For LGBTQ Equality For 13th Year The Hartford has received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. This marks the 13th year The Hartford has received this recognition. "We are proud of our long history of supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ community," said Lori Rodden, chief human resources officer at The Hartford. "At The Hartford, we want employees to bring all the elements of who they are to work - their backgrounds, cultures, experiences, passions and interests. Receiving this recognition again is a testament to our continued focus on sustaining a workplace where every employee is empowered to engage and contribute to the company's long-term success." The company has a long-standing commitment to engaging in LGBTQ advocacy. PRIDE, which was founded in 1996 and was the first of the company's nine employee resource groups, champions the growth and development of its members by providing the company with a center of expertise for LGBTQ awareness, networking and business practices. For more information, visit http://thehartford.com/our-company/diversity. The 2021 CEI evaluates companies based on a list of detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. The Hartford's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria results in a 100 percent ranking and the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. For more information on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei. About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. About The Hartford The Hartford is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds. With more than 200 years of expertise, The Hartford is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at https://www.thehartford.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @TheHartford_PR. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., (NYSE: HIG) operates through its subsidiaries under the brand name, The Hartford, and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. For additional details, please read The Hartford's legal notice. HIG-C Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued. From time to time, The Hartford may use its website and/or social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook (News - Alert) , to disseminate material company information. Financial and other important information regarding The Hartford is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at https://ir.thehartford.com, Twitter account at www.twitter.com/TheHartford_PR and Facebook at https://facebook.com/thehartford. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about The Hartford when you enroll your email address by visiting the "Email Alerts" section at https://ir.thehartford.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005554/en/ [ 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. The J-20 stealth fighter jet, Y-20 large transport plane, Z-20 utility helicopter, FC-31 stealth fighter jet and GJ-11 stealth armed reconnaissance drone feature in the poster for AVIC's 2021 work conference. Photo: Screenshot from AVIC's Sina Weibo account The 13th Airshow China, originally scheduled for November 2020 and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held this year. It will likely take place before November, exhibitors said. Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, will host the 13th Airshow China this year, Yao Yisheng, mayor of Zhuhai, announced in a government work report at a meeting on Tuesday, Guangzhou Daily reported on the same day. Unlike previous editions of the biennial exhibition, which took place in November, this year's air show could take place some months earlier, some long-term exhibitors at the exhibition told the Global Times. Originally scheduled to take place from November 10 to 15 in 2020, the event was postponed until further notice after careful consideration for the health of guests and exhibitors, safety of travel and quality of the exhibition, given the global situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event's organizing committee said in a statement released in October 2020. The Airshow China has become not only an exhibition for the aviation and space industry, but also for the arms industry, as many Chinese arms firms, also for naval and ground weapons, took part in previous shows, observers noted. As the air show was postponed for a year, more advanced technologies are expected to be on display at this year's event, analysts said. One of the most anticipated items, the J-20, China's most advanced fighter jet, could again put on a flying performance after participating in the air show in 2016 and 2018. Military enthusiasts hope to see the J-20 equipped with homemade engines appear at the show, after it was featured in a People's Liberation Army Air Force recruitment video released in January. Taking a much-needed break from her shooting schedules, Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu was spotted enjoying a dinner date night on Tuesday with her Danish boyfriend Mathias Boe. The 40-year-old Badminton player shared a video on his Instagram story that featured Taapsee and her sister Shagun. Captioning the video, Mathias wrote with the Pannus. Read: Taapsee Pannu on Mathias Boe: He's Part of My Inner Circle The 33-year-old actress has reportedly been dating the professional shuttler. Last year the duo was spotted enjoying a vacation in the pristine beaches of Maldives. Mathias had even shared a photograph where he struck a fun pose next to Taapsee at the white sandy beach. Captioning the post Mathias wrote that it was all the magic of the uplifting holiday. On her birthday last year, Mathias had even posted a special Instagram post to wish her a happy birthday. The picture showed Mathias raising eyebrows at a book called Shopaholic and Baby while Taapsee was all smiling. Captioning the picture, Mathias called Taapsee a crazy little creature and said that they are getting old fast, especially her. He further mentioned that he cannot believe how lucky he is that he found someone who does not find him too annoying and even laughs at his lame jokes sometimes. Mathias promised that he will try his hardest to keep Taapsee smiling. The post was liked by over 6k Instagram users. However, the actress has not gone public with her relationship on her social media. Taapsees Instagram handle is more dedicated towards her work and behind the scenes pictures from her shootings. The actress recently completed the shooting schedule for Rashmi Rocket where she dons the role of an athlete. Taapsees various Instagram posts show how the actor underwent an impressive physical transformation for the role. With intense physical workout and dedication, Taapsee has certainly got her fans wondering how the film will turn out. The actor is currently shooting for the dramedy titled Looop Lapeta that also stars actor Tahir Raj Bhasin. (JTA) A longtime Chabad emissary in Massachusetts was fired after months of social media posts in which he railed against pandemic-related lockdowns and mask mandates. In more recent weeks Rabbi Michoel Green, the Hasidic movements envoy in Westborough for almost 20 years, encouraged his followers not to be vaccinated with the new COVID vaccines. Its NOT immunization. Its pathogenic priming & mass sterilization, he wrote last week, according to Haaretz. ADVERTISEMENT Anti-vaxxers constitute a small minority in Orthodox communities. In 2019, anti-vaxxers contributed to an outbreak of measles in Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York, that was resolved through vaccination campaigns by government and community groups, as well as barring unvaccinated children from schools. During the COVID pandemic, in which some Orthodox communities have seen little compliance with mask wearing and social distancing, misinformation about the new vaccines has been spreading for months. Green apparently had been promoting his anti-vaccine views since the 2019 measles crisis, but the posts intensified during the pandemic. Rabbi Mendel Fogelman, director of the Central Massachusetts Chabad, told Haaretz that Greens social media posts were contrary to the organizations mission and a direct conflict with the sacred task for which he was appointed. It became clear that dismissal was our only choice, Fogelman said. Green was dismissed on Jan. 27. The Westborough area, located about 35 miles outside Boston, constitutes a second hub of Jewish life in the Central Massachusetts area, according to the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 14:01:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 30 Ethiopian police officers have been killed in recent clashes, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Tuesday. According to the UNOCHA, these police officers were killed last month in violent confrontation between the Afar regional state's police force backed by the Ethiopia Federal Police Commission officers and ethnic Somali militias. Also, 40 security troops were injured, with any possible casualties on the ethnic Somali militias side unknown, said the UN agency. The violent clashes broke out last month over the disputed ownership of three localities in Afar, mostly populated by ethnic Somalis. The neighboring Somali regional state rejects a 2014 agreement that put the administration of the three localities under Afar and claims the three ethnic Somali-dominated localities. The three localities bear outsized economic importance as they are located along the highway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to ports in neighboring Djibouti. Enditem Bay of Plenty We are looking for experienced planters for a large commercial job in Omokoroa; that will be for 4 weeks.This is will be... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz FALLUJAH, Iraq - The Humvees stopped two miles from the city limits, lights twinkling hazy on the horizon. Inside the armored vehicles, elite soldiers sat in darkness. Radios crackled, and the commander told his unit to wait. Their informant had not confirmed the target yet, he said. Everyone: hang tight. Minutes passed, the soldiers readied their guns, then, finally, the order came: "He's at the location. Now move." Engines revved, the vehicles lurched forward, and suddenly they were coursing through the night toward an uncertain objective that had eluded Iraq's security forces for months. As the United States withdraws troops from Iraq, this is the new face of the fight against the Islamic State. With the group's self-described caliphate ousted from Iraq and Syria, the need for U.S. airstrikes and ground troops has diminished, and Iraqi security forces are taking the lead on the next phase of the battle. This campaign is quieter than before, and often out of sight. Iraqi soldiers hunt ragtag bands of militant fighters in the foothills. Steadily, in the background, Iraqi security forces are rolling up sleeper cells and arresting financiers, such as the target this recent night - whom the Iraqis described as part of a network that sustains the insurgency's support base through money transfers to the families of dead Islamic State fighters. The residual U.S. force of about 2,500 troops supply what American and Iraqi officials describe as vital intelligence about targets. How this effort unfolds, experts say, will shape the future of the Islamic State - whether its remaining foot soldiers can be hunted down or it retains the potential to reignite the insurgency. Questions also linger about the capacity of the security forces to eradicate it without Iraq addressing the grievances, including corruption and government abuses, that helped give rise to the Sunni Muslim extremist group in the first place. Three years after Iraq announced that it had defeated the Islamic State, security officials estimate that there are several thousand militants in the country. For the most part, they are lying low or exploiting security gaps in rural areas to launch small-scale attacks, targeting, for instance, power lines and ambushing the Iraqi forces hunting them. But the group is still capable of carnage. In January, two suicide bombers killed at least 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market and the Islamic State took responsibility. Hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties. Inside the city's morgue, shocked pathologists asked one another whether the city was returning to its bloody past after three years without such bombings. Several hours before the raid last week, several dozen Counterterrorism Service officers had gathered at a military base near the Baghdad airport, meeting around a wooden table as Maj. Gen. Hussein al-Azawi laid out their mission. Barrel-chested with a thick black mustache, Azawi was among the few men in the room not wearing a balaclava. His officers listened intently. Their target would be Shaker al-Issawi, known also as Abu Waheeb, an alleged militant from the city of Fallujah. Issawi's backstory had been found through Iraqi and American intelligence, Azawi said. Now the suspect's whereabouts were to be confirmed by a secret informant. An arrest warrant was ready. The troops would move at 11 p.m., and by midnight they would be in position. But Issawi's precise location was still unclear. On a map, another commander, Col. Muhannad al-Tamimi, pointed to three sites, each closer than the last to a local cemetery. In the worst-case scenario, the troops were told, they could encounter explosives along the road or sniper fire from above. Some soldiers were to take to nearby rooftops to watch for a potential ambush while others would comb each location until they found the suspect. In previous raids, suspects had been found in bushes and water tanks. "Three kilometers from the city limits, we'll wait for the source to confirm," Tamimi said. "Wherever he is, we will find him." It was not possible to independently confirm the allegations against Issawi. "You're not the first force to try this mission. Two have failed before us," Azawi told the room. "He's in the middle of a city, there are civilians everywhere, and the enemy might use empty buildings as cover." As one of the officers glanced briefly at the floor, the commander reminded them of the battles they had fought. "You've fought in Fallujah. You know every street and every alleyway," he said. "Eat a meal, hydrate, and prepare the cars. I wish you all the success." At least three U.S. troops were present at the Baghdad military base that evening. They seemed taken aback by the presence of Washington Post journalists and declined to speak with them. They did not accompany the Iraqi troops on the raid. With major battles against the Islamic State complete, the U.S.-led coalition has pulled out most of its troops, down from about 5,000 American soldiers and several thousand more allied troops at the peak of the campaign. And while the U.S. drawdown from Iraq has left domestic forces taking the lead on missions against the Islamic State, Iraqi security officials and Western security experts say intelligence support from U.S. and coalition troops remains vital to rolling up the militant group's networks. U.S. and coalition forces also continue to provide air support for Iraqi operations, fly surveillance drones, and advise and train Iraqi security forces. On Friday, the coalition said it had partnered with Iraqi troops in killing one of the Islamic State's most senior leaders in Iraq, Jabbar Salman Ali Farhan al-Issawi. Iraq's Counterterrorism Service, the country's U.S.-trained elite force, says it has arrested about 350 militants in the past six months, some during military engagements, others during nighttime raids. Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the coalition, said 68 operations against alleged Islamic State militants have been carried out this year by the coalition, its partner forces, including Iraq's, or both. He did not elaborate on the type or size of the missions. "There's a lot that we can still help with," said Mike Knights, who specializes in Iraqi security matters as the Bernstein Fellow at the Washington Institute. "We're talking sensitive site exploitation, making sure the phones and hard drives are seized during raids and that the Iraqis can extract data that is actionable straight away." The convoy of a dozen Humvees drove fast through the night, reaching Fallujah by early morning. The elite soldiers, wearing night-vision goggles, jumped out and moved quietly in a line down a dark side street leading to Issawi's house. They clasped their rifles, at times pointing them upward as they scanned the rooftops for threats. Local security forces had locked down the surrounding streets. The only civilian bystanders, it seemed, were boys on bicycles. They joked among themselves but also looked wary, waiting and watching to see what followed. When the soldiers reached the house - a white one-story structure - they bashed open the iron gate to its small yard with their rifle butts. Suddenly the night filled with yells and wailing. Next door, three men were dragged out of their home and made to kneel against a wall. Issawi, wearing sweatpants, was brought out without a fight. His head was bowed below the weight of a soldier's arm. The alleged militant uttered barely a word. But his sister was screaming, imploring the soldiers to let him be. "Please don't take him, please don't take him," she cried. At the doorway, a young boy also watched and his eyes were a picture of terror. Within minutes, Issawi was on the floor of the concrete yard as three soldiers stood above him, tying his hands and photographing his face. He looked older, more tired than the image they had seen before. They checked his identification card against details on a clipboard. The young boy started to cry. An officer lurched forward to close the family's door, apparently trying to shield Issawi's family from seeing more. The soldiers bundled Issawi into a Humvee, and the convoy screeched off, heading back to Baghdad. The raid had taken 17 minutes. What would become of Issawi remained unclear. A senior Counterterrorism Service official later said Issawi had been put under investigation by a judge linked to the counterterrorism force. More than 20,000 people are jailed on terrorism charges, according to judicial records, often held in detention centers that security and judicial officials say are overwhelmed. The number of individuals held in pretrial detentions on similar charges is unclear. Human rights groups have long criticized what they say is a lack of due process and poor, sometimes abusive, conditions. As the vehicles headed back to Baghdad, the tension inside broke. A driver smiled for the first time that evening. Another passed chocolate cookies around to his team. His commander's voice kept crackling over the radio, telling the men to maintain their discipline. "You're driving too close together now," he told them. "I'll keep you on base for a week if you don't stop that." The convoy pulled up at its base near the Baghdad airport. An American soldier was visible in the distance. As Col. Tamimi slipped out of the Humvee, he asked his men to bring Issawi's jacket. They placed it over his shoulders and walked him off into the night. COMPASS Pathways announces publication in Frontiers in Psychiatry of paper on therapist training programme for psilocybin therapy Formal and scalable methodology for psychological support in psilocybin therapy London, UK - 3 February 2021 COMPASS Pathways plc today. The programme sets out a formal and scalable methodology for psychological support in psilocybin therapy. It is currently being used to train therapists taking part in COMPASS's phase IIb clinical trial of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, as approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as part of COMPASS's Investigational New Drug (IND) application. In psilocybin therapy, patients are given a dose of psilocybin, a psychedelic substance, in conjunction with psychological support from specially trained therapists. COMPASS developed the therapist training programme alongside leading experts in mental health and psychedelic research, including William A Richards (Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, US), Elizabeth Nielson (NYS Psychiatric Institute, NYU School of Medicine, US), Riikka Ajantaival (Clinical Research Institute, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland), Peter Gasser (private practice, Switzerland), Sara J Tai (University of Manchester, UK), Brian D Richards (Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, and Aquilino Cancer Center, US), and Frederick Reinholdt (King's College London, UK). The programme uses a new and manualised approach drawing from evidence-based psychotherapeutic approaches, and currently comprises four components: an online learning platform; in-person training; applied clinical training; and ongoing individual mentoring and professional development. In previous psilocybin studies, the approach to psychological support often varied between research sites, making it difficult to replicate and distinguish the specific effects of psilocybin from concurrent therapeutic interventions. Equally, training in the provision of psychological support had not been defined and evaluated. This manualised training programme begins to address this gap and is the start of a process that will continue to be refined and adapted as clinical trials of psilocybin therapy progress. Dr William A Richards, a psychologist and research affiliate in the Psychiatry Department of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bayview Medical Center, and a co-author of the paper, said, "The psychological support is an integral element of psilocybin therapy and must be provided by trained therapists. The development of a structured and formalised training programme aims to ensure we deliver psilocybin therapy in a way that considers physical and psychological safety, with consistently high quality support." Therapists who participated in the training reported that the combination of didactic and experiential learning helped them to build conceptual understanding and develop their skills in the therapeutic approach. From the programme feedback, the clinical training and engagement in participant care, under the guidance of experienced therapists, were considered to be the most beneficial and challenging aspects of the training. Ekaterina Malievskaia, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-founder, COMPASS Pathways, said, "Psilocybin therapy has the potential to make a difference to millions of people suffering with mental health challenges, and our priority is to develop evidence-based innovations that are safe and effective for patients. High quality clinical training for therapists is an essential part of this. Our training programme is the result of early and ongoing collaboration with many experts and we are grateful for all their contributions. We will continue to evolve our training programme as we progress COMP360 psilocybin therapy through clinical trials. We hope that this first step encourages collaboration among therapist training providers, as we work towards bringing psilocybin therapy to all who might benefit." About COMPASS Pathways COMPASS Pathways plc Availability of other information about COMPASS Pathways Investors and others should note that we communicate with our investors and the public using our website (www.compasspathways.com), our investor relations website (ir.compasspathways.com), and on social media (LinkedIn), including but not limited to investor presentations and investor fact sheets, US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. The information that we post on these channels and websites could be deemed to be material information. As a result, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in us to review the information that is posted on these channels, including the investor relations website, on a regular basis. This list of channels may be updated from time to time on our investor relations website and may include additional social media channels. The contents of our website or these channels, or any other website that may be accessed from our website or these channels, shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933. Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may", "might", "will", "could", "would", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "objective", "anticipate", "believe", "contemplate", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "continue" and "ongoing," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond COMPASS's control and which could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, among others, the risk that benefits of our methodology of psychological support in psilocybin therapy may be less effective than we believe, that preclinical and clinical development is lengthy and uncertain, and therefore our preclinical studies and clinical trials may be delayed or terminated, or may never advance to or in the clinic, and those risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in COMPASS's Prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 21 September 2020 and in subsequent filings made by COMPASS with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, COMPASS disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on COMPASS's current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. Media enquiries: Tracy Cheung, tracy@compasspathways.com , +44 7966 309024 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. The Conversation The day a muddled mob stormed the US Capitol building, a team of American researchers published a paper in Nature that signified a landmark in gene therapy. The head of the US National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins had joined forces with Harvard University professor David Liu and others to tackle progeria, a genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly. The achievement, successfully tested in mice, was made possible by Lius invention of a second-generation CRISPR gene-editing technology called "base editing". With this, researchers may eventually be able to correct lifelong genetic diseases, including progeria, in humans. A rare but devastating disease Francis Collins, former leader of the Human Genome Project, had worked on progeria for many years before the breakthrough. Children carrying the mutation for progeria have normal intelligence but show early signs of general ageing, including hair loss and hearing loss. By their teenage years they appear very old. Few live past the age of 13. In 2003, Collinss lab discovered progeria is caused by a mutation (which you can think of as a misspelling) in a gene that encodes a protein called Lamin A. Lamin A has a structural role in the cells nucleus. Many of us carry mutations in various genes. But as we typically have two copies of genes (one from our mother and one from our father), we tend to have at least one good copy and thats usually enough. But the progeria mutation in Lamin A is different. While there may be a good copy present, the mutant copy generates a poisonous product that messes things up, like a spanner in the works. This type of mutation is called a dominant negative mutation. The solution, ideally, would be to specifically correct the mutant copy using CRISPR. With this gene-editing tool, scientists can direct a pair of molecular scissors to any part of the genome (DNA). Unfortunately, first-generation CRISPR technologies while good at cutting genes do not have the level of surgical precision or efficiency needed to correct the Lamin A mutation. Complications with mass cell editing CRISPR scissors are good at finding their target and cutting, but the reconstructive surgery that comes after is left to the cell and isnt guaranteed to happen in every cell. In the lab, researchers can usually manage by just correcting a few cells before growing them in a petri dish for further research. But in humans we need to accurately correct most, if not all, cells. It would be pointless to correct the progeria mutation in five cells in a patients finger, while leaving the rest of the body unrepaired. This is where David Lius work on base editors is critical. Liu identified the limitations of CRISPR technology very early and began developing molecular machines that could do more than operate only as targeted molecular scissors. He started with naturally occurring enzymes, which can change one type of chemical base of the genetic code into another; for example, enzymes that can convert an A (adenine) to a G (guanine), or a C (cytosine) to a T (thymine). Liu then modified the enzymes to make them more precise and fused them to CRISPR to create fusion proteins called base editors. Since CRISPR technology is good at reading DNA and finding a target, it can effectively deliver the editors to the gene that needs to be changed. Its important to highlight Liu deliberately developed base editors so that they change letters, but no longer sever DNA like CRISPR scissors. This is crucial, as cutting DNA increases the risk of larger chromosomal deletions, which can potentially damage cells. The differences of mice and men Collins, Liu and their colleagues knew they would have to get base editors into all (or at least most) of the cells of a mouse with progeria to cure it. For this, they relied on using hollowed-out viruses as delivery vectors. They used a vector based on the Adeno Associated Virus, or AAV. As students, we joked AAV stood for almost a virus, as its one of the smallest viruses and doesnt cause any known disease. Collins and Liu packaged the AAV virus particles with genes encoding the relevant base-editing enzyme and delivered them into the mice. The treated mice essentially avoided the disease and became indistinguishable from healthy mice. But, of course, this all happened in mice and humans are bigger. We dont know how difficult it will be to upscale this gene-editing machinery to work reliably in humans. But in any case, Collins and Liu have taken an inspiring first step by showing its possible in mice. Base-editing CRISPR tools are a dream come true for experts committed to gene therapy and for families afflicted by conditions such as progeria. Work on this front is just beginning. But in these dark pandemic times, it provides much-needed new hope. Merlin Crossley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Professor of Molecular Biology, UNSW This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. As many as 145 people were hospitalised due to suspected food poisoning in Assam's Karbi Anglong district after having biryani at a government function attended by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, prompting the authorities to order an inquiry on Wednesday, officials said. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was also present at the programme held in the Diphu Medical College on Tuesday, said he had fallen ill after having the food but he is fine now. Sonowal inaugurated the academic session of the MBBS course at the medical college and around 8,000 people who attended it were served packed biryani. The health minister said at a press conference in Guwahati that 145 people were admitted to hospital since Tuesday night and 28 of them were discharged. He said that 117 people are still under treatment and they are all doing fine. Sarma said that he also had food from the "same kitchen and no doubt, I too suffered from stomach upset but am fine now". Karbi Anglong Deputy Commissioner Ng Chandra Dhwaja Singha said that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the circumstances leading to the incident. One person who attended the event died at a hospital on Tuesday night but it was yet to be ascertained whether food poisoning was the cause of his death, he said. Food samples were collected and sent for testing. Those who were admitted to the hospital complained of abdominal pain and vomiting. Union Budget 2021 announced setting up a new 'bad bank' to manage one of the worlds largest piles of stressed loans that may actually end up inflating prices. According to a report by Bloomberg, experts say theyll be closely watching whether it could wind up inflating the price of distressed assets. That could happen if the creation of the bad bank reduces pressure on loan owners to price such debt at discounts attractive enough to draw other buyers, the argument goes. The report further adds that if the firm is owned by lenders including ones that originated soured assets bought at lower prices, that could force those banks to mark down the value of the securities they receive in exchange. While the plan provides a new path to resolve soured loans, key issues including the capitalisation of the bank, its ownership structure, and the limited secondary market for stressed assets still need to be addressed, Nitesh Jain, a director at CRISIL Ratings, the local arm of S&P Global Ratings, told Bloomberg. Also read: Union Budget 2021 Announces Bad Bank to Purge Balance Sheets and NPA Worry Any such issues with the transparency of bad loan pricing could crimp interest in Indian distressed credit thats been growing in recent years and drawing investors from Oaktree to Apollo. The organization will be set up through an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) model, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech on Monday. It will be a major boost for bad asset resolution in the financial system and has been in discussions for long. Banks can transfer bad assets to this entity at a discount. Experts will then attempt for a resolution through a professional approach, while originating banks can focus on new business. Also read: What is 'Bad Bank' And Why Centre May Use it as Policy Option in Budget 2021 to Revive Banking Sector 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 existing stock of bad loans is a big worry for banks. At the end of September 2020 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 14:18:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's imported vehicle sale posted a double-digit growth in January due to solid demand for German luxury models, industry data showed Wednesday. The number of imported cars sold here was 22,321 in January, up 26.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. The double-digit increase came on the back of robust demand for German vehicles. German automaker Mercedes-Benz ranked first by selling 5,918 units, followed by BMW with the sale of 5,717 units, Audi with 2,302 units and Volkswagen with 1,236 units each. The number of European vehicles sold here was 18,407 in January, up 75.9 percent from a year earlier. The sale of Japanese models tumbled 21.6 percent to 1,035 units, while the sale of U.S. brands slipped 1.8 percent to 2,879 vehicles. Enditem Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) - Catriona Gray will showcase Philippine culture and arts in an upcoming web series by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The former Miss Universe will host the NCCA's 'Kultura 101', a five-episode program that will premiere on February 20. "It's a lighthearted web series where I share my passion for aspects of Filipino culture, whether it be our textiles, our dances, our food," said Gray during the NCCA's virtual presser for National Arts Month. "These are all things, through the platform of being online, that we can share not just with Filipinos here in the Philippines, but also those who are abroad, who haven't had the opportunity to come home, those who feel away from their families," she added. The trailer for the upcoming web series was premiered during the virtual presser and Gray also shared on Instagram a glimpse of her latest project. Gray is on her second year as Arts Ambassador. The beauty queen was known for wearing patriotic outfits during her stint at the 2018 Miss Universe pageant. She wore gowns inspired by the mythical Ibong Adarna and Mayon Volcano's lava flow. Her national costume also showcased the cultures of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao islands. Despite being nearly synonymous with PDFs, Adobes Acrobat software hasnt kept pace with the advancements weve seen the companys competitors make to their online apps. In recent years, youve had to turn to the Acrobat desktop app if you wanted to access some of its more advanced functionality. But with Acrobat webs latest update, Adobe hopes to change that. Starting today, you can use the Acrobat web to add a password to a PDF, split a single PDF into multiple files, as well as merge multiple PDFs into a single file. Previously, those were all features you had to use the desktop app to access. Provided you pay for an Acrobat subscription, you can now also use Acrobat web to edit text and images in PDF. The company is also making it easier to get to those features from your browser address bar. Back in July, Adobe started using Googles .new domain to create handy shortcuts for quick access to specific Acrobat web features. With todays update, the company is adding several new shortcuts, including one you can use to sign a PDF. As for why it took Adobe so long to get to this point, the company told TechCrunch some technical challenges delayed the rollout of todays new features. In particular, fonts made it tricky to make text and image editing available online. We could have done it earlier, but it wouldnt have been up to the standards of being fast, nimble and quality, Adobe vice-president for Document Cloud told the publication. Late or not, if you use Acrobat web on a daily basis, youre probably happy to finally have access to some new tools. 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. Islamabad: Pakistan's Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf will represent the country against India at the International Court of Justice in the case involving Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the ICJ Registrar at Peace Palace in The Hague that Ausaf would be the "agent" for Pakistan in the case whereas Foreign Affairs Director General Dr Mohammad Faisal would continue to act as the "co-agent". The term "agent" is described as a top functionary of the government who leads the delegation to represent a country and usually opens arguments or presents a framework followed by the legal team in the ICJ. This also means that all future exchanges or information between Pakistan and the ICJ will be made through the Attorney General's office. Soon after a meeting between ICJ President Ronny Abraham and delegations of Pakistan and India on June 8 in the Netherlands, Ausaf had informed the world court about Pakistan's intention to appoint an ad-hoc judge to the ICJ bench for all proceedings, including the substantive hearing in the Jadhav case. Also Read: Jadhav files mercy plea, India slams Pakistan over 'confessional video' Pakistan has dismissed India's consular access request to Jadhav more than 15 times. India has accused Pakistan of repeatedly violating the Vienna Convention by doing so. India had approached the world court in May seeking a provisional stay of the execution of Jadhav which was granted. The 15-member bench backed India's contention that there had been a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as New Delhi's requests for consular access to its national had been denied 16 times. Pakistan, which announced the death sentence on Jadhav on April 10, claims its security forces arrested him from its restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Advertisement Boris Johnson tonight praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid amid calls for No10 to get a grip on the 'lackadaisical approach' to dishing out jabs on Sundays. Heralding the achievement in a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister thanked everyone involved in the roll-out, from scientists to delivery drivers to pharmacists. He said: 'And it is thanks to their effort the most colossal in the history of our National Health Service that we have today passed the milestone.' With the country jabbing an average 400,000 people every day, the UK is well on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. But despite the inoculation drive being an undoubted success with Britain administering more jabs per person than any other country except Israel, a trend has emerged in the figures showing a sharp drop-off in uptake on Sundays. For example, last Sunday there were 46 per cent fewer jabs administered compared to the day before dropping from almost 600,000 to 320,000. The fall was even more pronounced two Sundays ago, on January 24, when half as many jabs were done compared to the Saturday. Several GPs, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline that a large number of practices shut on Sundays and do not offer appointments despite No10 insisting the immunisation drive is 24/7 operation. It echoed claims made by Scotland's national clinical director yesterday who said the closure of surgeries on Sundays was hampering the vaccine rollout north of the border. The Royal College of GPs said said family doctors were 'doing everything they can' to get the vaccine to those who need it most, with 'some' but not all practices providing services seven days a week. Economists from the Institute for Economic Affairs told MailOnline that there is 'no incentive' for family doctors, who've been juggling the vaccine rollout and battling Covid on the frontlines of the second wave, to work seven days a week. It suggested GPs be offered commission on every jab done on a weekend. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today blamed 'lumpy supply' for the Sunday blips in Britain's coronavirus vaccine rollout and revealed plans to administer jabs through the night were going to be scrapped. Asked about the fluctuations during a round of interviews this morning, Mr Hancock claimed the issue was being caused by patchy deliveries of supplies. He told LBC Radio: 'The answer is absolutely about supply... The supply is lumpy and as soon as a big shipment comes in we deliver it to the front line and they get it out as fast as we can.' Heralding the achievement in a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister thanked everyone involved in the roll-out, from scientists to delivery drivers to pharmacists Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured today) suggested that vaccine supplies arrive in one large batch at the start of the week and dry up by the time Sunday comes around. It comes after Oxford University's jab was shown to protect people for 12 weeks after a single dose. Pictured right: Dr Andrew Pollard, the lead investigator of Oxford's study Research found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was 84% effective at preventing Covid-19 with doses 12 weeks apart and it appeared to get better the further apart the doses were (shown graph top left, how the protection level changed based on the dose spacing). And it also proved that there was a high level of protection from disease for weeks and even months after even just a single dose (bottom graph, showing how the efficacy of the vaccine remained high for almost 100 days after dose one) Scientists urge No10 to ensure vulnerable Brits get their second dose of Oxford vaccine after 12 weeks amid fears efficacy plunges with delays Matt Hancock was today urged to ensure every vulnerable Briton gets their second dose of Oxford Universitys coronavirus vaccine within 12 weeks amid fears they may receive less protection if their top-up is delayed. A landmark study last night showed a single dose of the jab made alongside drug giant AstraZeneca was 76 per cent effective at preventing coronavirus symptoms after three months. But researchers admitted they are still not sure whether the single dose offers any protection past the 12-week mark when the second jab must be given under the UK's roll-out plans. Layla Moran, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Covid, called on the Health Secretary to 'guarantee' the most vulnerable will not miss out on doses. 'To ensure no one is left behind, the Government should ring-fence vaccine supplies for the clinically vulnerable right now, while it has stocks, to prevent a crisis further down the line,' she told MailOnline. And virologist Professor Lawrence Young appealed to ministers to ensure all second doses were rolled out within 12 weeks, saying 'you would not want to leave it much longer than that'. In a bid to get wider vaccine coverage more quickly, Britain's regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the shot to 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions and deaths. But as the drive enters its ninth week there are concerns that the target may not be met amid 'lumpy' supply of vaccines and some of the most vulnerable may have to wait for a second dose. Advertisement The Adam Smith think-tank told MailOnline the blips were a 'worrying sign of lost priorities'. Deputy director Matt Kilcoyne added: 'We need to make sure that we are firing on all cylinders at every single point, every single day. 'This is the most important issue in politics right now and the fact that we are failing to ramp up right across the week is a worrying sign of lost priorities of everybody who is involved in the pandemic.' Mr Hancock also suggested No10 was purposefully masking data on its vaccine supplies, adding: 'We don't publish the supply figures and the reason we don't is that they move around.' Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, slammed Mr Hancock for hiding the figures. 'We need transparency from the Government about vaccine supply and how that is affecting the rate at which people can get their jabs,' she told MailOnline. 'It's vital that we take advantage of every hour of every day to vaccinate as many people as possible, and any issues with vaccinations on Sundays must be explored and fixed by the Government.' Meanwhile, Mr Hancock hinted that 24-hour vaccinations would be scrapped because not enough people were coming forward for nighttime jabs. NHS trusts in Birmingham and Nottingham have been offering 24/7 Covid vaccines for a fortnight as part of a pilot to gauge the demand for the scheme. Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'We have discovered, perhaps to nobody's surprise, that people tend to want to have the jab during the day, and those who are doing the vaccinations prefer to do it during the day, so... getting those three together during the day is more convenient than overnight.' However, there are fears the 24/7 vaccine programme is being scrapped before it has had a chance to properly succeed. At the moment only the elderly and the most frail Brits, as well as NHS and care workers, are being invited for vaccines, including jabs done overnight. Experts have said all along that because many vulnerable Brits find it difficult to leave home, there won't be huge clamour for nighttime vaccines until priority moves down to younger and healthier people, who are more flexible and find it easier to get to a jab centre. Mr Kilcoyne accused the Health Secretary of trying to shift the blame when it came to the Sunday performance dips. 'Matt Hancock has made the order, he is in charge of the operation and the rollout and it seems like he is passing the buck but the buck still stops with him,' he said. 'It is not good enough that there is a drop - it is the most important issue that we end up with high levels of vaccine supply every single day of the week so that we can end up with vaccinations being ramped up so that we can save more lives.' Despite the daily fluctuation in vaccine uptake, Britain is dishing out 400,000 doses on average every day more per capita than anywhere in the world except Israel. Single shot of Oxford University's Covid jab 'is 76% effective for 12 weeks' A single shot of Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and may have a 'substantial effect' on transmission, research suggests. In a huge boost to the UK's immunisation drive, analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. When the second dose is administered after three months, the jab's efficacy is bumped up to 82.4 per cent, according to the study, which has been submitted to The Lancet for publication. The results, from more than 17,000 trial volunteers, suggest Britain's vaccination gamble to delay its dosing regimen has paid off. In a bid to get wider vaccine coverage quicker, regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions. Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford's trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the findings as 'hugely encouraging', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' Dr Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said the study suggested the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could be the 'holy grail'. Advertisement The UK passed the landmark of 10million vaccine doses yesterday, amid hopes that all adults could have received Covid jabs by the end of August. Around 353,000 jabs were administered on Monday. Around three million people aged between 65 and 69 will start to be sent letters in the coming days, meaning that some areas may be able to offer vaccines to those below the age of 70 before February 15 when the four most vulnerable groups should have been covered. The news suggests the UK is on track to surpass its goal of offering jabs to all over-70s by mid-February. Some in Whitehall are reportedly hopeful that the whole adult population will be provided with doses by the beginning of May. There are added hopes all of those adults could have received their follow-up jab by the end of August. However, other government sources said that could be too optimistic, telling MailOnline that supply constraints alone are likely to rule it out. It would require an average of around 500,000 doses to be administered every day for the next 12 weeks. No10 has promised to vaccinate 13.9million of the most vulnerable by mid-February, in order to begin easing lockdown restrictions. But Boris Johnson has since said March 8 is the earliest date for easing the national measures. Mr Hancock has claimed those who had received a first dose of the life-saving drug included more than half of the over-70s, plus nine in 10 of the over-80s. It came as the Health Secretary today admitted he pushed the Government into the massive order for 100million doses of Oxford University's Covid vaccine instead of the originally planned 30million, saying he refused to 'settle for less'. The staggering order has been a stroke of good fortune for Britain, with the jab successful in clinical trials, quick to get approval and now believed to be getting delivered at the break-neck speed of two million doses per week. And the Health Secretary said a study published last night, which showed the jab is 84 per cent effective when doses are spaced by 12 weeks and that it can cut transmission of the virus by up to two thirds, meant 'people right around the world can be confident in this Oxford vaccine'. His comment came after European leaders snubbed the vaccine for elderly people, with Germany, France, Sweden and Poland saying they won't use the vaccine on over-65s because there isn't enough data to prove it works. French President Emmanuel Macron ruffled feathers this week by dubbing the jab 'quasi-ineffective' for elderly people. When asked what he thought of Mr Macron's comment, one of Oxford's vaccine makers Dr Andrew Pollard said on Radio 4: 'I don't understand what the statement means'. Scotland's top medic says slow roll-out has been hindered by GPs who don't work on Sundays Scotland's top medic today said that Scotland's slow vaccine rollout had been hindered by GPs whose surgeries are closed on Sundays. National clinical director Professor Jason Leitch said 'Sundays are a little bit tricky' and that the vaccination team has been asked to 'have a look at that'. Holyrood ministers have been accused of being too slow over the vaccination rollout in recent days, with opposition politicians saying the rest of the UK is moving faster. On Sunday, just 9,628 vaccinations were completed in Scotland, out of a UK-wide total of 322,000. Prof Leitch added that the reason for the drop on Sunday was because of where the jabs are being administered, with most being delivered in GP practices which 'didn't all work (on) Sunday'. 'We decided to do the over-80s in their own practices, where they would know their nurses, where they would know their GPs, where they would be close to home,' he said. The situation is believed to be different in England where, under an agreement between the British Medical Association and NHS England 'practices will need to be prepared to offer vaccinations seven days a week so that the vaccine is delivered within its short shelf-life and so patients receive it as soon as possible'. Advertisement Europe has struggled to get its hands on the Oxford/AstraZeneca's vaccine because batches being developed in Germany have had lower yields than those in Britain, which triggered a bitter row last week. Britain's huge, home-grown and protected supply now puts the nation in the best position for vaccinations in the entire of Europe. Mr Hancock, speaking on LBC Radio, said he had taken inspiration from the 2011 film Contagion, which taught him there would be a scramble for jabs. He said: 'In the film it shows that the moment of highest stress around the vaccination programme is not, in fact, before it's rolled out when actually it's the scientists and manufacturers working at pace it's afterwards, when there is a huge row about the order of priority. 'So not only in this country did I insist that we ordered enough for every adult to have their two but, also, we asked for that clinical advice on that prioritisation very early and set it out in public so that there was no big row about the order of priority.' Detailed researched showed last night that a single dose of Oxford's jab gave 76 per cent of people total protection against developing Covid-19 symptoms before their second jab, and the two-dose course appeared to stop two thirds of people (67 per cent) from catching coronavirus at all. The study was welcomed by ministers because it reinforced the science behind the controversial decision to extend the gap between the first and second doses from three weeks to 12, Mr Hancock said. And he added that discovering it could stop transmission previously unknown could 'help us all to get out of this pandemic'. Mr Hancock said today: '[This study] does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well, it protects you because there were no hospitalisations amongst those who had the jab and it slows transmission by around two thirds.' On Mr Macron's comment he added: 'My view is that we should listen to the scientists... and the science on this one was already pretty clear. And then, with this publication overnight, was absolutely crystal clear that the Oxford vaccine not only works, but works well.' In another ray of hope from Oxford's research, Dr Pollard said he is confident that the current vaccines will still prevent severe Covid-19 in people who get infected with mutated variants of the virus. But the prospect still looms that new vaccines will be needed for more future rollouts as medics look to keep on top of the evolving virus to stop it getting past immunity developed to older versions of the disease. Experts have suggested a yearly vaccination campaign like flu may be the answer, or that boosters will be need to tack on protection for new variants. Only time will tell how long the current jabs give immunity for. A 30-year high in East African rainfall during 2018 and 2019 resulted in rising water levels and widespread flooding. The new study shows that emissions of methane - the second most important greenhouse gas - from flooded East African wetlands were substantially larger following these extreme rainfall events. The study, led by Dr Mark Lunt from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, used data from two different satellites in combination with an atmospheric model to evaluate methane emissions from East Africa. This included data from the European TROPOMI satellite instrument, launched in 2017, which provides information about atmospheric methane at unprecedented spatial resolution. "Our study is one of the first times the new TROPOMI satellite data has been used to study regional methane emissions," says Dr Lunt. The satellite observed enhanced methane concentrations over East Africa during the anomalously wet months between October and December 2019. Using these data, the authors found that, in the final three months of 2019, following a once in 30-year extreme rainfall event, emissions from East Africa were substantially larger than the same period in the previous year. "The extra emissions were equivalent to the UK's annual total emissions of methane in just a three-month period" says Dr Lunt. Indeed, the authors found the additional emissions in 2019 were large enough to account for over a quarter of the global annual increase in methane emissions. The study shows these increased emissions were most likely to be from natural wetlands as a result of the additional rainfall. According to the authors, the findings - published in the journal Environmental Research Letters - could be of significance for future methane emissions. Prof. Paul Palmer, from the University of Edinburgh, who co-authored this work, said: "Climate models suggest that in the future there will be an increased frequency of these extreme rainfall events over East Africa. Our findings show that such a future scenario will have far-reaching consequences for global concentrations of atmospheric methane." ### People in the central Queensland coastal town of Yeppoon are being urged to get tested for COVID-19 after the states sewage surveillance program found traces of the virus in a treatment plant. Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said continued detections across the state were becoming more concerning. Yeppoon residents have been warned to get tested. Credit:Darrian Traynor This is especially important now more than ever. As we know, the new variants emerging overseas are more contagious than previous variants we have seen in Queensland, she said. If there is a case we are not yet aware of, it is critical we detect it through our testing mechanisms as quickly as possible to contain any potential spread. The catchment, near Rockhampton, takes in sewage from the suburbs of Taroomball, Inverness, Hidden Valley, Rosslyn, Mulambin, Cooee Bay, Barlows Hill, Lammermoor, Meikleville Hill, Pacific Heights, Taranganba and Yeppoon. It is, of course, also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases who can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious, Dr Young said. While Queensland added no new cases to its COVID tally on Thursday, three cases of interest are now under investigation. Dr Young believes one of the cases, a woman in north Brisbane, had returned a false positive test. Read the full story here. It has been nearly a year since the city began working on a much-needed psychiatric respite center for the citys homeless and mentally ill but the sprawling, yellow building in the Mission slated for the project is still vacant. The city announced the new Hummingbird Place respite center last February and hailed it as a small but important step toward helping the citys most vulnerable. But the hurdles faced in opening the 30-bed site underscore just how long it takes San Francisco to make even incremental improvements to its system of care. Nearly everything was in place last winter to open the vacant Salvation Army building at 1156 Valencia St. within just a few months: the funding, the nonprofit operator and a lease that was unanimously approved in City Hall. But then the pandemic hit and slowed the process. Now, officials expect the site to be ready by the end of April. I am very, very frustrated, said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the site. Its a lot of effort for a small facility. It will be worth it when we get to the end. But we just need to get to the end. When the facility eventually opens, it will be the second-of-its kind in the city. The original Hummingbird, with about 30 beds, is on San Francisco General Hospitals campus. It serves people who are in the midst of a psychotic episode, and often also struggling with substance use. Some people stay for a few hours, while others stay for weeks. Clients often move to another treatment program, or back to the streets. Officials say the city desperately needs another Hummingbird: According to the health department, there are more than 4,000 people on San Franciscos streets struggling with homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction. That number has likely increased due to the pandemic. On Tuesday afternoon, a man surrounded by a wall of boxes, trash and a shopping cart was aggressively yelling into the air just half a block away from the empty building on Valencia Street. Another man down the street muttered as he toted a large stick, while another with a large shopping cart meandered into the street as a car zoomed by. You could fill this Hummingbird just by taking a walk three blocks around the area, Mandelman said. We dont just need this Hummingbird, we need a dozen of these. And its not going to happen at this pace. The reason behind the delays are myriad, said Theo Ellington, director of homeless initiatives at The Salvation Army. First, COVID-19 hobbled the construction timeline and led the original contractor to pull out of the project. Then, the nonprofit found several issues with the building including a leaky roof, mold, and plumbing and electricity hookups that needed to be expanded. The city originally estimated the project would cost $300,000 in capital improvements and about $3 million a year in ongoing costs. The nonprofit Tipping Point Community gave the city a $3 million grant to help. Ellington said the capital costs have since doubled, and the Salvation Army will be paying for the overruns. The operating costs will be funded through the citys budget. There have been a lot of unforeseen issues, which is not out of the ordinary, he said. Department of Public Health officials praised the original Hummingbird as the kind of service that the city needs to expand. The program gives doctors and nurses another place to send people when they arent sick enough to be in the emergency room, but arent stable enough to be out on their own. Hummingbird Place is a good example of the Department of Public Health trying something new, figuring out what works and building on that success to serve more clients with behavioral health needs, Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys health department, said last year when the Valencia Street site was first announced. Even before the pandemic hit, the citys Psychiatric Emergency Services was overwhelmed, as people struggling with mental illnesses and substance use streamed in looking for help. In 2019, the city began working on a massive plan called Mental Health SF to improve the citys disjointed system of care. As part of that initiative, the city recently launched two crisis response teams to help people struggling with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. But other than that, little progress has been made. Brett Andrews, CEO of PRC Baker Place, the nonprofit that will run the Valencia Street site and already runs the S.F. General site, said that some furniture and equipment is already in the building and they are actively hiring. The new site on Valencia Street was originally slated for 30 overnight beds and 25 daytime beds. But, due to the pandemic, it will open with about 25 overnight beds so clients can socially distance. There will be no daytime beds, but some people will be able to drop in for access to services like laundry and food. The moment the building is ready, were ready, Andrews said. There was intention on all sides to move it forward as fast as we possibly could, but the barriers that are in our way are out of our control. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani 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! AstraZeneca vaccine is ready to be used at a homeless shelter in Romford, east London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The British health service has started to vaccinate "vulnerable" homeless people. In a study by Oxford University, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to reduce transmission of the virus. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shows a hint that it may reduce transmission of the virus and offers strong protection for three months on just a single dose, researchers said Wednesday in an encouraging turn in the campaign to suppress the outbreak. The preliminary findings from Oxford University, a co-developer of the vaccine, could vindicate the British government's controversial strategy of delaying the second shot for up to 12 weeks so that more people can be quickly given a first dose. Up to now, the recommended time between doses has been four weeks. The research could also bring scientists closer to an answer to one of the big questions about the vaccination drive: Will the vaccines actually curb the spread of the coronavirus? It's not clear what implications, if any, the findings might have for the two other major vaccines being used in the West, Pfizer's and Moderna's. In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, dismissed the idea of deliberately delaying second shots, saying the U.S. will "go by the science" and data from the clinical trials. The two doses of the Pifzer and Moderna vaccines are supposed to be given three and four weeks apart. Still, the research appears to be good news in the desperate effort to arrest the spread of the virus and also suggests a way to ease vaccine shortages and get shots into more arms more quickly. Apprentice Nursing's Associate Ellie Bull injects the AstraZeneca vaccine to a homeless person in Romford, east London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The British health service has started to vaccinate "vulnerable" homeless people. In a study by Oxford University, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to reduce transmission of the virus. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) The makers of all three vaccines have said that their shots proved to be anywhere from 70% to 95% effective in clinical trials in protecting people from illness caused by the virus. But it was unclear whether the vaccines could also suppress transmission of the virusthat is, whether someone inoculated could still acquire the virus without getting sick and spread it to others. As a result, experts have been saying that even people who have been vaccinated should continue to wear masks and keep their distance from others. Volunteers in the British study underwent regular nasal swabs to check for the coronavirus, a proxy to try to answer the transmission question. The level of virus-positive swabscombining volunteers who had asymptomatic infection with those who had symptomswas 67% lower in the vaccinated group, the researchers reported. While not a direct measure, "that's got to have a really beneficial effect on transmission," Oxford lead researcher Sarah Gilbert told a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences Wednesday. Pharmacist Bhaveen Patel administers a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid vaccine to Joshua Labor at a coronavirus vaccination clinic held at Junction Pharmacy in Brixton, London, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP) The researchers also looked at how likely people who have been vaccinated are to get a symptom-free infection. In one subset of volunteers, there were 16 asymptomatic infections among the vaccinated and 31 in an unvaccinated comparison group. Pfizer and Moderna also are studying the effect of their vaccines on asymptomatic infections. Only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being used in the United States. Britain is using both AstraZeneca's and Pfizer's. AstraZeneca's has also been authorized by the 27-nation European Union. Pfizer has not endorsed the British government's decision to lengthen the time between doses. Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, said that no patients experienced severe COVID-19 or required hospitalization three weeks after receiving a first dose, and that effectiveness appeared to increase up to 12 weeks after the initial shot. Apprentice Nursing's Associate Ellie Bull injects the AstraZeneca vaccine to a homeless person at the homeless accommodation YMCA in Romford, east London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The British health service NHS England have started to vaccinate homeless 'vulnerable' people. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) "Our data suggest you want to be as close to the 12 weeks as you can" for the second dose, Pangalos said. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the study "backs the strategy that we've taken" to make sure more people have gotten at least one shot. Britain's decision has been criticized as risky by other European countries. Stephen Evans of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said the study's suggestion that a single dose protected people for 12 weeks was "useful but not definitive." He said that the authors themselves acknowledged their research was not designed to investigate the vaccine's dosing schedule and that their conclusions were based on statistical modeling, not actual patients tracked over time. "It certainly isn't very strong evidence, but there is also no indication this is the wrong thing to do," Evans said of Britain's strategy. People wear masks to protect against coronavirus as they pass a shop in London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday a new study suggesting that a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine may reduce transmission of COVID-19 categorically supports the government's strategy of taking more time between injections. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) One of the Oxford researchers, Dr. Andrew Pollard, said scientists also believe the AstraZeneca vaccine will continue to offer protection against new variants of COVID-19, though they are still waiting for data on that. Fast-spreading mutant versions have caused alarm around the world. "If we do need to update the vaccines, then it is actually a relatively straightforward process. It only takes a matter of months, rather than the huge efforts that everyone went through last year to get the very large-scale trials run," Pollard told the BBC. Meanwhile, a U.N.-backed program to supply COVID-19 vaccines to the neediest people worldwide is gearing up after a troubled start. The COVAX Facility announced plans Wednesday for an initial distribution of some 100 million doses by the end of March and more than 200 million more by the end of June to dozens of countries. Nearly all of the doses expected for the first phase are due to come from AstraZeneca and its partner, the Serum Institute of India. The rollout will be contingent on the World Health Organization authorizing the AstraZeneca shot for emergency use, which is expected to happen this month. Doctor Anil Mehta gives the AstraZeneca vaccine to a homeless person in Romford, east London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The British health service has started to vaccinate "vulnerable" homeless people. In a study by Oxford University, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to reduce transmission of the virus. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Doctor Anil Mehta gives the AstraZeneca vaccine to a homeless person at the homeless accommodation YMCA in Romford, east London, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. The British health service NHS England have started with doctor Mehta and his team to vaccinate homeless 'vulnerable' people. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Some 190 countries and territories are participating in COVAX, which has seen rich nations scoop up vaccine supplies, sometimes at premium prices. The pandemic's worldwide death toll has eclipsed 2.2 million, including about 447,000 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data. New cases per day in the U.S. and the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 have dropped sharply in the past few weeks, but deaths are still running at close to all-time highs at an average of around 3,100 a day. Deaths often lag behind the infection curve, because it can take weeks to sicken and die from COVID-19. The AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Amid a dispute over expected shortfalls, the European Union is looking at legal ways to guarantee the delivery of all the COVID-19 vaccine doses it bought from AstraZeneca and other drugmakers as regulators are set to consider approving the Anglo-Swedish company's vaccine for use in the 27-nation EU. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) As the Super Bowl approaches, Fauci is warning people against inviting others over for Super Bowl parties, urging viewers to "just lay low and cool it" to avoid turning Sunday's big game into a super spreader event. "You don't want parties with people that you haven't had much contact with," he told NBC's "Today" show. "You just don't know if they're infected." 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. A missile is launched in a drill in Iran (Iranian Revolutionary Guard/Sepahnews/AP) The United States joined Russia in extending the two countries last remaining treaty limiting their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, two days before the pact was set to expire. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the US would use the five years of the New START treatys renewal to pursue limits on all of Russias nuclear weapons. This comes after the Trump administration pulled out of two other such deals, as part of a broad withdrawal from international accords. Expand Close Then-US vice president Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with then-Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2011 (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Then-US vice president Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with then-Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2011 (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) Last week, the countries announced plans to extend the agreement, even as the Biden administration stepped up criticism of Russia over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, its involvement in a massive hack and other issues. Mr Blinken said: Especially during times of tension, verifiable limits on Russias intercontinental-range nuclear weapons are vitally important. Extending the New START treaty makes the United States, US allies and partners, and the world safer. An unconstrained nuclear competition would endanger us all. The treaty, signed in 2010 by then-US president Barack Obama and then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, limits the number of US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons. Expand Close Both houses of the Russian parliament voted last month to extend the New START treaty (The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Both houses of the Russian parliament voted last month to extend the New START treaty (The State Duma, The Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation via AP) The outgoing Trump administration made a late bid to extend the treaty, but Russia rejected its conditions. The treaty was due to expire on Friday. Both houses of the Russian parliament voted unanimously last month for the extension, and President Vladimir Putin signed the bill. That was after US president Joe Biden and Mr Putin talked and agreed on the extension, part of a quick round of diplomacy by the less-than-month-old US administration to keep the treaty going. The extension does not require formal congressional approval in the United States. The Biden administration will also work on control measures for Chinas smaller but growing arsenal of nuclear warheads, Mr Blinken said. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 San Francisco officials will sue their own school district for its failure to reopen schools, nearly a year after the pandemic shuttered in-person education. The San Francisco Chronicle, which first broke the news, reported that City Attorney Dennis Herrera will sue both the district and the Board of Education the latter of which Mayor London Breed has roundly criticized over its handling of renaming schools. Per a release obtained by SFGATE, the suit is being filed in San Francisco Superior Court. On Feb. 11, Herrera plans to issue a preliminary injunction that would "compel the district" to have an "appropriate plan" for in-person instruction, he said in a press conference. The City has offered resources, logistical help and public health expertise," he said in a statement, first shared with the Chronicle. "Unfortunately, the leadership of the school district and the educators union cant seem to get their act together. The Board of Education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get these kids back in school. So far they have earned an F. Having a plan to make a plan doesnt cut it. During a Wednesday press conference, Herrera said that his office did not meet with the school district or board before filing the lawsuit. "Quite frankly, I didn't think it was worthwhile considering the lack of progress over the past several months," he said. It's the most aggressive action likely taken by any major metropolitan city against its own schools, a flashpoint amid the national challenges over the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing economic and social effects. The Chronicle reports the suit is being filed on the basis that the school district hasn't provided accommodations for students facing "significant learning loss due to school closures. During last week's State of the City address, Breed addressed these ongoing concerns and vowed to "do more for families." She said in the release that she supports the lawsuit because students of color and low-income students are facing extreme academic hardships during the pandemic. "Our teachers have done an incredible job of trying to support our kids through distance learning, but this isnt working for anyone," she said. "And we know we can do this safely." "While I don't control the schools, I am the elected leader of this city and I am not going to stand by while our children and families suffer with no end in sight," she said in an impassioned address during the presser. The news comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance stating that teacher vaccinations aren't a "prerequisite for safe reopening of schools." Parents have repeatedly expressed concern at the priorities of the school board. Alison Eastwood, a mother of three San Francisco district students, including a senior at the soon-to-be-renamed Lincoln High, says the board is disconnected from "the school community it is supposed to be representing." "Although my senior in [high school] is doing very well academically," she said, "I worry how the lack of the normal daily grind of going to school, in-person instruction and ... friend gatherings is affecting her deep down and what the longer [effects] will be for her," she told SFGATE. "As a single parent, the stress and emotional toll is overwhelming for me."' A representative for the teachers union did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. 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. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 3 : BJP President J.P. Nadda has reached the Kerala capital on a two-day visit, ahead of the Assembly election in the state which is likely to be held in the middle of April. Nadda will attend a series of programmes including meeting with senior BJP and RSS leaders to develop a strategy for the party in the election. With the BJP having already opened its account at Nemom in the 2016 polls, the party wants to win a minimum of 10 to 15 seats. While this is a tall order, there are possibilities of the party breaking the jinx and winning more seats. A recent survey conducted by the party has found that it can win a minimum of 10 seats and if it puts up a good fight taking into consideration all the social and political angles it can reach the winning post in 25 seats. Nadda will be attending a dinner meeting with business leaders and the elite of the capital city to get feedback on the Modi government and also the burning issues faced by the state. With the party entering into confabulations with RSS leadership and the coalition partners, the state party leadership will provide feedback on the pros and cons faced by the party in state. Senior leader and former National Executive member and ex-core committee member Shoba Surendran has been sulking for the past one year and has not been attending party functions since the last one year. The party will have to take a call on whether she will contest the election as she has been a grassroots leader from the backward Ezhava community. Nadda will travel to Thrissur to attend the party state office bearers' meeting on Thursday. He will return to Delhi later on Thursday. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed ATLANTA, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a leader in data and analytics, was named one of the Top 25 Cybersecurity Companies by The Software Report. The list recognizes companies that present the most innovative and technologically advanced approach to protecting its customers. LexisNexis Risk Solutions ranked third among its peers and top among all risk management companies on the list. The Software Report is a comprehensive source for market research and insights, business news, investment activity and corporate actions related to the software sector. LexisNexis Risk Solutions was selected against hundreds of nomination submissions, and stood out for its ability to provide customers with solutions and decision tools that combine public and industry specic content with advanced technology and analytics to help evaluate and predict risk. LexisNexis Risk Solutions utilizes data and advanced analytics to help customers make better, timelier decisions by linking physical and digital identities including device, behavioral biometric and credit seeking insights to bring the world of identity together for a holistic view of a consumer. A suite of fraud management and identity verification and authentication solutions provides companies with risk intelligence they can use to apply the appropriate level of security-related friction for every interaction across the consumer lifecycle. This helps prevent fraudulent activity before it enters the business environment. The Software Report also recognized the company's commitment to ensuring broader identity attribute coverage across risk domains. The company released two new products in 2020 to enhance these capabilities: LexisNexis Fraud Intelligence is a non-FCRA solution that helps organizations mitigate new account fraud risk by bringing together identity events and consumer application activity to arrive at a comprehensive, powerful score that offers a complete view of identity; and LexisNexis Emailage, a fraud risk scoring solution that uses email intelligence to increase fraud detection and prevention. "We believe that fraud solutions should differentiate between trustworthy and high-risk users in real-time, without adding friction for good consumers," said Kimberly Sutherland, vice president of fraud & identity strategy, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, who was named as a Top 50 Women Leader in SaaS by The Software Report in October 2020. "LexisNexis Risk Solutions ultimately helps make commerce more transparent, business decisions easier and processes more efcient by bringing clarity to otherwise disparate information. We thank The Software Report for its acknowledgment of our work and are very proud to be recognized for essentially changing the face of cybersecurity for our customers across the globe through unparalleled physical, digital and behavioral insights." About LexisNexis Risk Solutions LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com and www.relx.com. Media Contact: Marcy Theobald 678.694.6681 [email protected] SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions Related Links http://www.lexisnexis.com Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Royal Bank of CanadaGlobal Credit Research - 03 Feb 2021Toronto, February 03, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Royal Bank of Canada and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 2 February 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.The Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) Aa2 long-term senior debt rating and the ratings of several subsidiaries, reflect its a3 baseline credit assessment (BCA) and the application of Moody's advanced loss given failure to its assumed liabilities at failure, as well as the positive impact of government support.RBC is a strong and diversified universal bank with leading market shares across many retail products and services in its home market. It has demonstrated over time strong risk management resources, processes, modeling capabilities and risk culture, mitigating our growth concerns related to its capital markets operations. The key supports of RBC's strong credit profile continue to be its high asset quality and the stable earnings generated by its Canadian retail franchise, which contributes approximately half of its earnings. A solid wealth and asset management business adds further to sustainable internal capital generation. RBC is also a leader in developing digital customer solutions in Canada.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 Banks Methodology published in November 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. David Beattie Senior Vice President Financial Institutions Group Moody's Canada Inc. 70 York Street Suite 1400 Toronto, ON M5J 1S9 Canada JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Ana Arsov MD - Financial Institutions Financial Institutions Group Releasing Office: Moody's Canada Inc. 70 York Street Suite 1400 Toronto, ON M5J 1S9 Canada 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. MOODYS DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT OR IMPAIRMENT. SEE APPLICABLE MOODYS RATING SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS PUBLICATION FOR INFORMATION ON THE TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ADDRESSED BY MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS, NON-CREDIT ASSESSMENTS (ASSESSMENTS), AND OTHER OPINIONS INCLUDED IN MOODYS PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. 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[February 03, 2021] GoldenTree Asset Management Raises $725 Million in Commitments for Second CLO Strategy NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GoldenTree Asset Management ("GoldenTree"), a global credit manager, announced the closing of $725 million in commitments on a second CLO strategy ("GLM II") as part of its GoldenTree Loan Management ("GLM") program. GoldenTree previously raised $600 million in 2016 for the first vintage of the strategy. Over 60% of investors in GLM II are returning investors from the first vintage of the strategy. Many of GLM II's investors increased the size of their commitment relative to the previous vintage given the attractive return profile. "We are honored that so many investors in our first CLO equity strategy have again entrusted us with their capital and we thank them for their partnership," said Steve Tananbaum, Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer. "CLOs and CBOs have been an important product offering of GoldenTree's for more than 20 years. We are proud of our results and are well positioned to continue to deliver differentiated performance in the product." GoldenTree's GLM program originated in 2016 with the objective of capturing the firm's top decile track record in CLO equity and further enhancing returns given its unique approach to CLO execution. The vehicle's structure enables GLM to take on additional responsibilities that simplifies the role of banks, leveraging their core competencies and driving significant efficiencies in the execution of CLOs. In addition, GLM CLOs are intended to comply with European Risk Retention regulations, enabling participation by the broadest universe of investors. Furthermore, it enables GoldenTree to opportunistically and actively manage the strategy's underlying assets and liabilities. As a result, GoldenTree believes it can enhance the returns for the CLO equity held by GLM. GoldenTree's approach has proven successful, with an average net IRR since inception in the GLM program in the mid-teens as of December 31, 2020. Furthermore, the GLM program has made distributions of over 15% per annum, illustrating the attractive carry that can be generated in the strategy. Since inception, GoldenTree has never missed a BSL CLO equity distribution, allowing the GLM program to maintain its high profile of current income. Only a fraction of the CLO manager universe has achieved this result, which is driven by GoldenTree's active management of the loans within its CLOs. GLM's innovative structure enables a broad base of institutional investors to access GoldenTree's CLO strategy, and as a result GLM has a diverse global investor base and includes participants from the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The investor base is further diversified by type, with participation from sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and family offices. The GLM program also benefits from a strong alignment of interest, with broad participation by GoldenTree partners and employees. Since its inception in 2000, GoldenTree has issued nearly $20 billion of CLOs, with approximately $11 billion currently outstanding. GoldenTree's strong historical CLO performance is in large part due to its security selection and active management of its loan portfolios. The investment team is comprised of over 60 individuals with, on average, 16 years of experience. In addition, GoldenTree has been an active investor in structured credit since 2007 and currently manages over $6 billion of structured products investments across the firm. About GoldenTree Asset Management GoldenTree Asset Management is an employee owned, global asset management firm that specializes in opportunities across the credit universe in sectors such as high yield bonds, leveraged loans, distressed debt, structured products, credit-themed equities and emerging markets. GoldenTree was founded in 2000 and is one of the largest independent asset managers focused on credit. GoldenTree manages nearly $40 billion for institutional investors including leading public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. For more information, please visit www.goldentree.com For further information contact: Investors: Media: Kathy Sutherland Steve Bruce and Mary Beth Grover GoldenTree Asset Management ASC Advisors 212-847-3455 203-992-1230 ksutherland@goldentree.com sbruce@ascadvisors.com mbgrover@ascadvisors.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goldentree-asset-management-raises-725-million-in-commitments-for-second-clo-strategy-301221288.html SOURCE GoldenTree Asset Management [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Italian mafia has ordered ambulance drivers in Naples to stop using their sirens and flashing lights because they confuse drug-dealers. In one reported incident on Saturday, two gang members stopped an ambulance and threatened to kill the driver for putting the siren on while travelling to an emergency in the southern city. Local clans are said to dislike the blaring sirens and ambulance lights as they can disturb drug-pushers who mistake them for the arrival of police cars, interrupting their business and scaring off customers. Italian mafia has ordered ambulance drivers in Naples to stop using their sirens and flashing lights because they confuse drug-dealers. In this file photo taken on November 11, an ambulance and health workers arrive near the Cotugno Hospital in Naples The ambulance drivers in Naples are now demanding police protection from being harassed by the local mafia. While travelling to an emergency in the citys Spanish quarter, one medical worker was driving an ambulance with its siren on when the vehicle was flanked by two men riding a large motorbike, reported The Times. They banged on the ambulance window and threatened to kill the driver. Havent you understood you cannot use your siren here? Turn it off or well shoot you, one of the men warned. After the incident, the terrified medic was forced to call the police to escort him out of the neighbourhood safely. Clans in Naples dislike ambulance sirens and lights because they disturb drug dealers who mistake them for the arrival of police car, interrupting their business Similar have been reported in neighbourhoods across Naples, said Manuel Ruggiero, a 42-year-old emergency doctor and local head of Nessuno Tocchi Ippocrate, a group fighting violence against medical workers. He told The Times: We have already been ordered not to use sirens in other neighbourhoods, including Sanita and Traiano, where the locally based ambulance turns on its siren only after it leaves the area. Ambulance crews have also been assaulted by relatives of patients after they arrived on the scene too late to save them. The same ambulance involved in the incident on Saturday was kicked, and the crew pushed, when they were not in time to save a cardiac arrest patient, the doctor added. In the past three years, Naples has recorded 300 incidents of aggression towards medics as the local emergency service of 17 ambulances has been stretched too thinly for the one million residents. Alessandro Amitrano, a local MP, urged the government to consider the fight against the clans from Napless mafia Camorra as a national priority. He also called for extra protection for the ambulance drivers against the gang members who believe they are above the law. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters before boarding Air Force One for his last time as president at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Jan. 20, 2021. (Pete Marovich/Pool/Getty Images) Leaders of City in Florida Declare Donald J. Trump Week for Start of February City leaders in Frostproof, Florida, have declared the first week of February as Donald J. Trump week. It is official. Happy Donald J. Trump week in the City of Frostproof! The first of its kind. Feb 1-6th, announced the citys vice mayor, Austin Gravley. The leaders made the declaration on Monday night after a city council meeting, reported WFLA. The small town of some 3,180 people saw high support for the former president in the 2020 presidential election, with more than 76 percent of the votes cast for Trump, according to the citys proclamation. Former President Donald J. Trump was overwhelmingly supported, and received 76.43% of the votes in Frostproof, Florida, Precinct 537, won the state of Florida twice and received more votes than any incumbent in United States History, the proclamation states, according to a copy shared online by State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican. Frostproof is part of Polk County, which had 56.56 percent in favor of Trump in the 2020 presidential election. The proclamation praised Trump, noting that while he was president, the country gained millions of new jobs, including more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs while designating 9,000 opportunity zones, as well as achieved new unemployment record lows. The city also noted in its proclamation that the United States engaged in no new wars while bringing many troops home. Gravley introduced the item to the city council meeting agenda as a way to honor Trump, according to a meeting agenda, reported WTSP. The positive feedback on Donald J Trump week has been phenomenal. I am certain the President has heard about it by now. Just happy we could do just a little something to honor 45, Gravley wrote on Facebook late Tuesday. Can certainly tell he won Florida twice. Sabatini, who had attended the city council meeting to speak in favor of the proclamation, had announced last month in a Twitter post that he planned to introduce legislation to rename U.S. Highway 27 in Florida as President Donald J. Trump Highway, according to the outlet. When we look back at the history of the Internet and what it helped achieve, Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com will be one of the biggest success stories for sure. And as Jeff Bezos prepares to relinquish his role of CEO of Amazon later this year, fellow technology stalwarts recognised Bezos' achievements and success in a rare show of camaraderie. Reuters ALSO READ: Jeff Bezos Offers Help To US President Joe Biden In COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Late Tuesday, Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos announced he will be stepping down as CEO and become executive chairman, naming the head of its lucrative cloud computing division Andy Jassy as his successor, according to Reuters. Andy Jassy, head of cloud division Amazon Web Services known as AWS, as the next CEO after Jeff Bezos is a sign of Amazons transformation from web retailer and e-commerce platform to a giant internet conglomerate. Jeff Bezos is leaving as CEO on a high A whopping 27-years-ago, Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com in July 1994, when many of his users weren't even born. The small online book-selling business he began under Amazon.com over a generation ago has now become one of the worlds most valuable companies, as Amazon reported quarterly sales above $100 billion for the first time ever on Tuesday. Obviously, Jeff Bezos management style and business transformation at Amazon.com has won him great respect from industry peers like Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and others who tweeted their congratulations to Jeff Bezos' tenure at Amazon.com. Congrats @JeffBezos , best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund. Congrats @ajassy on your new role! Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 2, 2021 Congratulations to @JeffBezos and @ajassy on your new roles. A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished. Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 2, 2021 Not just Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, other tech industry stalwarts also tipped their hats at Jeff Bezos' reign at Amazon as founder and CEO of one of the biggest online businesses of all time. This was Jeff Bezos office in 1999. Today, he is worth $200 billion. pic.twitter.com/HmePyDg9Np Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) February 3, 2021 As Jeff Bezos takes a back seat from Amazon, he's made it clear where he wants to devote the rest of his energy towards -- space exploration and clean renewable energy projects. ALSO READ: NASA Artemis: Musks SpaceX And Bezoss Blue Origin Compete To Take Humanity To The Moon In the letter he wrote to Amazon employees, Jeff Bezos said, Ive never had more energy, and this isnt about retiring. He further went on to say, "As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. Like he said, Jeff Bezos isn't retiring, he's still going to be there as executive chairman of Amazon's board. Like Bill Gates did after relinquishing his throne at Microsoft all those years ago, Jeff Bezos still has a lot to give back to the world and make a big difference in the future of technology. ALSO READ: Elon Musk Is Richest Person In The World, Overtaking Amazons Jeff Bezos [February 03, 2021] 83% of Canadians Value Vacation Experiences More than Ever Before, Expedia Reports Annual Vacation Deprivation Study reveals travellers are continuing to stay inspired during this time through growing their bucket list destinations TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ -- Following a year where for many, every aspect of life from work, school, daycare, and even vacation was spent under one roof, people worldwide are inspired about future travel possibilities and expressed making it a priority to use the vacation days they've earned more than ever. Across the country travel restrictions remain in place; though undoubtedly Canadians are dreaming about the opportunity to get away and explore once able to do so again. According to the annual Vacation Deprivation study from Expedia, in 2021 Canadians plan to take an extra week (five days) of vacation. With this new "no days left behind" mindset, Vacation Deprivation is well on its way to becoming a thing of the past. Expedia first launched the annual study more than two decades ago in an effort to illustrate the benefits of vacation and encourage working adults to regularly unplug. In recent years, the benefits of vacation are well-known and undisputed, yet Vacation Deprivation is on the rise in most nations. This year's findings point to yet another shift, one in which workers agree they will never take their vacation days for granted again. In fact, the majority of Canadians (83%) said they now value vacations more than ever before, which comes in slightly higher than the global average (81%). Queue the bucket lists Expedia's study showed that 66% of people globally have been inspired to create a bucket list, and the longer the pandemic has waged on, the longer bucket lists have become 60 percent of respondents said they continue to add to their lists. Expedia's study also found that people are willing to put more budget into their bucket list vacation in 2021 than originally planned (61%). Whether it's trying a new activity, seeking out a place untraveled, reuniting wih family and friends separated by distance (64 percent find vacation time more valuable when spending quality time with family), or simply having time to relax and recharge (54 percent think having the time to relax and do nothing is what makes them happiest on vacation), people want to make the most of their time. Vacation dreaming for the future As the hope for future travel in 2021 grows, Expedia is seeing an uptick in Canadians searching for their next bucket list spot for the backend of the year. Whether it's a warm and sunny beach or an outdoor adventure closer to home, the below destinations topped the list for where Canadians are dreaming of going once able to do so1: Domestic: Banff, Kelowna, Osoyoos, Canmore, Jasper, Tofino, Niagara Falls, Montreal, Revelstoke and Halifax International: Cancun, Maui, Las Vegas, Honolulu, London, New York, Puerto Vallarta, Maldives, Paris and Santorini. Shifts in travel perspective Expedia's Vacation Deprivation study found that over half of respondents (63%) expressed feelings of vacation deprivation over the past year, which is an increase from the previous report (57%), and one that isn't surprising given the year that has transpired. The study also found: Travel Substitutes Brought Joy: Respondents indicated that spending more time watching TV/movies (41%), more time cooking (41%) and more time spent reading (32%) were all activities that brought joy to fill the time in the absence of travel. Additionally, 82% of Canadians expressed in the interim of not being able to travel, they are looking for new ways to find happiness. Respondents indicated that spending more time watching TV/movies (41%), more time cooking (41%) and more time spent reading (32%) were all activities that brought joy to fill the time in the absence of travel. Additionally, 82% of Canadians expressed in the interim of not being able to travel, they are looking for new ways to find happiness. Employer Support in Recharging Batteries : 75% of respondents feel their employer is supportive of taking vacation time. : 75% of respondents feel their employer is supportive of taking vacation time. Taking Time Off at Home: 37% of Canadians' last vacation involved staying at home, not travelling anywhere. With COVID-19, it's important to stay safe and up to date on the latest travel guidance and restrictions. Find out what to expect, how to find flexible travel and other information on the Expedia COVID-19 travel guide. 1 Top searched destinations based on lodging interest on Expedia.ca between December 14, 2020 January 12, 2021 for travel between July 1, 2021-December 31, 2021. About the Vacation Deprivation Study The annual study was conducted online among 9,200 respondents across North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Commissioned from November 18-December 9, 2020 on behalf of Expedia by Northstar Research Partners, a global strategic research firm, responses were gathered using an amalgamated group of best-in-class panels. Looking at the margin of error for the global average, a 1% difference is statistically significant at 90% confidence. The sample for Canada included 1,000 participants. About Expedia Expedia is one of the world's largest full-service travel sites, helping millions of travellers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia aims to provide the latest technology and widest selection of top vacation destinations, affordable airfare, hotel deals, car rentals, destination weddings, cruise deals and in-destination activities, attractions, services and travel apps. 2021 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Expedia and the Airplane logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. Visit our web site https://www.expedia.ca or use our mobile app to book cheap flights, hotels, and packages. SOURCE Brand Expedia [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (881) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (897) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (851) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (852) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (942) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (755) Why vaccine is a must in fight against Coronavirus? Dr Randeep Guleria explains India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Jan 03: On January 30, 2020, India reported its first-ever case of the coronavirus. Since then, the country is seen one of the largest contributors of coronavirus cases and related fatalities. But a year later, when several American and European countries still continues to grapple with the pandemic, India seems to be on an irreversible path towards exit. While the world's largest inoculation drive launched by India on January 16 has covered more than 41 health workers, apprehenion about vaccine efficacy, safety concerns has posed an unusual problem in the country. OneIndia speaks with Dr Randeep Guleria, a noted-pulmonologist and Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences about the coronavirus vaccine and the road ahead. Edited excerpts: 1. How are vaccines going to help contain the pandemic? Vaccine will help us achieve two things-one, it will further bring down the mortality, and secondly, it will bring down the number of cases. Eighty four percent of COVID deaths occur in people above 50, who develop severe illness because of other comorbidities such as diabetes, kidney disease, chronic respiratory diseases. If we reduce the severity of the disease in this group, we will be able to bring down the mortality rate. Besides, if you are able to vaccinate a significant number of people, this together with people who have developed immunity naturally because they have had the disease will help us acquire herd immunity. This will help us to return to a near normal life. 2. Do you think COVID-19 can be reduced to common cold and cough disease in the coming time? If we are able to vaccinate and protect our healthcare workers, other frontline workers, our elderly and other high-risk groups and bring down the severity and mortality of the disease, COVID will become a normal cold and cough disease. I am not saying that it will lead to zero deaths but then seasonal influenza also kills some people every year. 3. Are we sure that the vaccines are safe and efficacious? The data indicates that the vaccines are safe. Local side-effects such as pain, swelling, and fever are normal-it shows that the vaccine has invoked an immune response in the body. If we look at the cumulative number of people on whom the various vaccine candidates have been tested across the world, it will come out to close to 90,000, which is a huge number. Whether the vaccine will have a long-term side-effects, we will know only when it is out and long-term follow up is done. Also, if we have to ensure that the vaccine is safe for all group especially those that may not get covered in the vaccine trials. We will closely follow up all the vaccinated individuals to look for any long term or unusual side-effects. To rule out such side-effects, we do what we call Phase-4 trials in which we follow-up on the side-effects after releasing the vaccine into the market. On the basis of the data, we have from across the world, we can say that the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine are far more than these perceived risks. Coming to the efficacy of the vaccine, we need to look at the following: Is the vaccine is giving us protection against developing a severe disease? The answer is yes, it does give us that protection. 4. Does the vaccine is giving us complete protection against the infection? That is once vaccinated we do not get infection at all, not even a mild infection. We can't say right now. We will have to follow up and see. Third, for how long will the vaccine provide immunity? Preliminary data suggests that the immunity will last 6 months for sure and may last 1 to 2 years. Interestingly, more than 50 vaccine candidates for COVID are at different levels of development across the world. It has never happened for any other disease. It is possible that the vaccine we are getting now is good, and we may get a better vaccine later. Influenza vaccine when launched, for example, was a trivalent vaccine, giving protection against two A strains and one B strain of the influenza virus. Then it was observed that two B strains-- Yamagatta and Victoria-- were circulating simultaneously in the world. So now we have a quadrivalent vaccine that gives protection against two A strains and two B strains of influenza. So it is quite possible that with time we get a new generation of COVID vaccine which may be better that the current ones. 5. On what basis vaccines have been approved? Whenever you look at a vaccine, we take in consideration a few factors-first is its safety and efficacy; second, how feasible it is to give it to a large number of people in terms of maintaining the cold chain, storage, etc; and then it is the cost of the vaccine. Our vaccines meet these criteria. As far as feasibility is concerned, vaccine needs to be stored at only 2-8 degree centigrade, the temperature at which most of the vaccines we are using in for children's routine immunisation program are stored. We already have a good network of storage facilities and healthcare workers to immunise our children and women. The only difference in case of COVID vaccine would be in terms of the total number of people to be immunised. If we can augment these facilities we can achieve a good vaccine coverage. 6. There is vaccine hesitancy among people. What will be your message to people who are afraid of taking COVID vaccine? My message is simple: the vaccine our regulators have approved are safe and effective. We must trust them, they will not allow any unsafe vaccine to be administered to Indian population. Secondly, if we want to get over this pandemic, socially and economically, vaccine is important. Every aspect of life-education of our children, jobs, businesses, health services-has suffered because of the pandemic. A vaccine is important if we want to get back to normal. 7. Why do we need to follow COVID- appropriate behaviour even after vaccination? Someone told me that if I get 1st dose, I may get 50 percent protection. It is not true. It is only after the 10-15 days of taking the second dose that the body will develop adequate amount of antibodies to protect you from developing severe disease. Having said that, we are not sure if the vaccine will protect you from the infection or the disease. You may still get the infection and spread it to your near and dear ones. So, continue wearing the masks at least for the next one year. If you look at it from another angle, masks give you protection from several other diseases such as tuberculosis, other respiratory diseases and air-pollution. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 20:05 [IST] GODFREY Customers at Germania Brew Haus drive-through at Monticello Plaza in Godfrey have helped the business launch a new scholarship at Lewis and Clark Community College. The Germania Brew Haus Scholarship is designed to strengthen the community through an investment in the higher education of L&C students. The ideal scholarship recipients are students lacking the means to fund the entire cost of tuition, fees, books or supplies, and who are persistent in their pursuit of a college education despite financial barriers. They possess an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to live, work and improve the Germania Brew Haus service area. Beginning Nov. 21, customers at the Godfrey location could round up purchases to the nearest dollar to benefit the scholarship. The business set a $1,000 goal, which was reached in January. Thats a lot of change, said general manager and co-owner Ben Brynildsen. The community has been so good to us we wanted to give back. Our employees and customers were into the idea and made a big impact. Brynildsen co-owns the business with his brother and sister-in-law, Jared and Carolyn Brynildsen, of San Antonio, Texas. The specialty coffee house and craft taproom opened its first location in Alton in 2017. Last year, it opened its Monticello Plaza location. Jared and I both attended Lewis and Clark, so have many of our staff and customers, Ben Brynildsen said. Its a great way to start a new chapter in life and we want to support the students there. Everyone should have the chance to go to college and realize their full potential. Many students dont qualify for full financial aid from the government, or any at all, and they dont have a giant savings account or parents to foot the bill, he said. Ive met many people in that position, and the only thing left is student loans. We want to provide another option. The scholarship will be available for the 2021-2022 academic year. To apply, students do not have to be enrolled but must have applied to the college and received an lc.edu email and password. Upon application to the college, students are automatically accepted and given credentials. High school students in dual credit courses should contact the Help Desk at 468-HELP or helpdesk@lc.edu for log in assistance. The online scholarship application is available at www.lc.edu/scholarships. The deadline is March 1; students can fill out one online application and automatically be matched to scholarships for which they qualify. Donations to the Germania Brew Haus Scholarship are still being accepted through the Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation which will steward the scholarship. To use PayPal, visit www.lc.edu/foundation and note that it is for the GBH Scholarship, or mail a donation to Germania Brew Haus at 617 Broadway in Alton. For more information, contact Ben Brynildsen through Facebook @GermaniaBrewHaus or Debby Edelman, director of development at the L&C Foundation, at dedelman@lc.edu. 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. For anyone who doubts why it is vital to move forward with the Senate impeachment trial, take a look at whats going on this week in a Moscow courtroom. On the same day Democrats laid out their case against President Donald Trumps effort to subvert the U.S. election, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 2 more years in prison on trumped-up charges after the Kremlin failed to kill him with poison. Both cases revolve around this question: Can a democracy exist if its leaders base their power on flat-out lies to the public about the most essential principles of governance? Conversely, can an autocracy survive if it allows those lies to be refuted, in public, with compelling video, that reveals to the public how they have been conned? READ MORE: Russian leader Navalny risks it all for democracy. Will GOP senators do the same? | Trudy Rubin Call it the Big Lie challenge. If a leader can convince the bulk of his public that the Big Lie equals truth in other words, that 2 + 2 = 5, in the language of George Orwells 1984 then democracy is doomed. The Big Lie challenge was on view this week in Moscow. It will be in full view at Trumps trial in the U.S. Capitol next week. First to Moscow. Vladimir Putins Big Lie claims that he, and only he, is capable of restoring Russian greatness after the Soviet Union was broken and robbed by Russian so-called oligarchs in the 1990s. But the charismatic Navalny, along with his courageous team, constantly punctures Putins Big Lie narrative with vivid videos laying bare the corruption of Putin and his cronies. Virtually all national Russian media is state-controlled and bans Navalny, and he is also barred from running in elections. This limits his reach, especially among older Russians who mainly watch TV, but he gets his message out on YouTube. While recuperating from his poisoning in Berlin, Navalny tricked one of his intelligence agent poisoners by phone into revealing how the Novichok nerve agent was smeared on his underwear, and the audio went viral. And, after his return to Moscow, Navalnys team released a two-hour video (with English subtitles) on a sinfully luxurious palace built for Putin on Russias Black Sea coast. The video racked up over one million views (which forced Putin to deny he owned the palace), and I highly recommend that you watch it. This anti-corruption message has won him youthful followers around the country, whom he has helped organize to vote against Putins party in local elections. Thousands of demonstrators turned out all over the country last weekend after he was jailed. So Navalnys real crime is not the faked charges thrown at him in court, but his puncturing of Putins Big Lie. That is no doubt why the Kremlin risked sending agents to kill him with an internationally banned chemical substance. Putin of course denies this, as he denies a string of previous poisonings of opponents. But an unbowed Navalny told the court Tuesday that Putin would go down in history as a poisoner. Now well have Vladimir the Poisoner of Underpants. Even if state TV ignores him, that truth will reach millions of Russians via the internet. However, Navalnys supporters fear Putin may have him killed while he labors in a Siberian penal colony. Compare Navalnys unbridled courage with the cowardice on view in the Senate. The Russian activist knows he has a Sisyphean task in trying to chip away at Kremlin lies. Yet he also knows Russia cant liberalize politically until the false Kremlin narrative is cracked. In the United States, on the other hand, the former president of the United States is still promoting the Big Lie that the election was stolen, a lie that led to the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. He is reportedly urging his new defense team to make that case at his Senate trial, where all but five GOP senators appear ready to give this lie a pass. In late December, a YouGov poll found that over 70% of Republicans still believed Trump got more votes than Joe Biden. Obviously, that fantasy is still fueled by Trump, along with GOP legislators and officials and far-right media that profit off of conspiracy theories. This is not a problem from which America can move on. As Navalny knows, a Big Lie poisons the political system. If 30% to 40% of Americans remain convinced that Biden lost, that is fuel for continuing violence and paralysis of Congress, and the poisoning of any serious political debate. READ MORE: The violence and conspiracy theories Trump fueled will threaten America after he leaves | Trudy Rubin So the video evidence of Trumps mad election claims, and the violence they inspired, must be laid out to the national public. Middle Americans need to know the details of his plotting to thwart a peaceful election. Unlike Navalnys videos, this compilation will be widely shown, perhaps even on Fox. It will lay out visually how the former president duped, and still cons, tens of millions of followers as if he were a cult leader. Trump, to paraphrase Navalny, should go down in history as a poisoner of democracy for his attacks on a fair election. Yet, this will be a trial for GOP senators as much as for Trump, and whether they want to go down in history as poisoners of democracy as well. Please join my conversation on the global vaccine mess with Dr. Paul Offit on Friday, Feb. 5 at 11 a.m. www.inquirer.com/trudyevent Addis Ababa The formation of convention bureau to facilitate Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) in Ethiopia would enable the country exploit tourism potential by hosting regional and international events, according to Tourism Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Convention Bureau was inaugurated today in the presence of President Sahil-work Zewde, other high ranking government officials and stakeholders of the tourism sector. The newly established Bureau, which operates under Tourism Ethiopia, would be in charge of promoting the sector through MICE. On the occasion, President Sahlework said Ethiopia is endowed with various tourism potentials including natural, historical and cultural resources and appropriate execution of MICE could make it competitive and go long way off in the tourism development. Tourism is among the major sectors given priority by government's 10-year perspective development plan as it creates huge job opportunities, she added. Therefore, the president underscored the need to create nexus among pertinent stakeholders to add innovative and inclusive approaches to effectively promote the true images of the country in order to exploit the benefits from the tourism sector. Tourism Ethiopia Board Chairperson and former prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn said the country should use its untapped potential of tourism through the promotion of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). MICE could serve as backbone to exploit the tourism potentials of Ethiopia where its capital city Addis Ababa is seat for regional and international entities and occasionally over floods with meetings, he added. 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 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) launches a new scientific series today, Stem Cells and Global Sustainability, which explores the intersection of stem cell science and global sustainability issues. The four-part series is sponsored by Burroughs Wellcome Fund, BioLamina, NH Foods, and Olympus. Learn more and register. "I am delighted that the ISSCR is shining a light on efforts in the stem cell research community to address biodiversity and sustainability issues, said Steve Kattman, Sana Biotechnologies, and a co-organizer of the program with Takanori Takabe, MD, PhD, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA and Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. "The digital series, 'Stem Cells and Global Sustainability,' brings together stem cell researchers, conservation biologists, global ecologists, and food industry innovators to discuss these critical global challenges and ways that Stem Cell Research could have an impact." Animal agriculture, a main contributor to global deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, is estimated to be the second largest cause of human-made global warming. Global warming is one of the most significant threats to biodiversity on the planet. Stem cell research and its application has the potential to remedy these problems. While still in its nascency, the manufacturing of animal meat products in the lab may hold significant potential to reduce humanity's reliance on climate-altering animal farming, enable cheaper access to protein sources, and curtail climate change fall out and climate change itself. Yet another unforeseen application of stem cells is their potential use in the conservation of endangered species. From frozen zoos of endangered species to reproduction-related technological advances, stem cell-related applications can be harnessed to help conserve biodiversity on Earth. The four-part scientific series will explore these topics: 3 February 2021 11:00 - 12:30 EST Environmental Sustainability and Stem Cells: Why Stem Cells? The first program of the series will highlight the intersection between stem cell science and the global sustainability issues of species conservation and cell-based approaches to developing meat and fish products. What are some of the big issues that are driving the need for this approach and how can stem cells help? Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez, PhD Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico David Welch, PhD Synthesis Capital, USA Steve Kattman, PhD Sana Biotechnology, USA Innovation Showcase brought to you by Burroughs Wellcome Fund 10 February, 2021 20:00 - 21:30 EST Emerging Applications of Stem Cell Technology: Species Conservation The number of endangered or extinct species is growing rapidly. What does it take to restore or sustain a population on the brink of extinction and can stem cell-based approaches play and role? If so, how? During the second program of the series, hear from conservation and stem cell experts as they discuss the latest species conservation efforts. William Burnside, PhD Nature Sustainability, USA Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA and Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Yokohama City University, Japan Katsuhiko Hayashi, PhD Kyushu University, Japan Jeanne Loring, PhD Scripps Research, USA Oliver Ryder, PhD San Diego Zoo Global, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, USA 17 February, 2021 11:00 - 12:30 EST Emerging Applications of Stem Cell Technology: Commercial Agriculture The use and application of cell-based approaches for commercial agriculture requires expertise in cell culture, bioengineering, manufacturing, and food sciences. The third program of the series will bring together experts in these fields to share insights in these processes and stimulate discussion. David Mack, PhD Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, USA Shingo Kajimura, PhD Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, USA Shulamit Levenberg, PhD Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Israel Lauran Madden, PhD Blue Nalu, USA 23 February, 2021 06:00 - 07:30 EST Promise and Challenges of Stem Cells in Global Sustainability The fourth and final program of the series will highlight the potential and the challenges of cell-based approaches to meat and fish alternatives from experts in the field and industry. Mark Post Maastricht University and Mosa Meat, Netherlands Shoji Takeuchi, PhD Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo and Institute of Industrial Science, Japan Anne Mullen, PhD Nature Food, United Kingdom Media registration is complimentary. Contact Kym Kilbourne at kkilbourne@isscr.org. ### About the International Society for Stem Cell Research With nearly 4,000 members from more than 65 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health. Additional information about stem cell science is available at A Closer Look at Stem Cells, an initiative of the Society to inform the public about stem cell research and its potential to improve human health. The President of the Republic, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah has accepted the resignation of Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission's Chairperson, Cllr. A. Ndubusi Nwabudike. An Executive Mansion statement release said onTuesday. "The Liberian Leader received the resignation and thanked the LACC's Boss for his service to the Country," the statement said. Cllr. Nwabudike's resignation takes effect as of February 26, 2021. He was appointed LACC's Chairperson in October 2019 having previously served as the Governance Commission's Chairperson in 2018. In the letter of resignation dated January 27, 2021, Counselor Nwabudike's thanked President Weah for affording him the opportunity to serve his Country. "The monumental progress made by the Government in the fight against corruption, both in the public and private sectors, is being marred by public debate of my person rather than what contribution I can make towards the economic development of our country", Cllr. Nwabudike said in his letter of resignation. Continuing, the LACC's outgoing Executive Chairman said, "it does not serve the overall strategic interest of your government and our people if I were to constitute a distraction from the national agenda that your government is poised to deliver to our people in the next three years of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD)." As part of his service to Liberia, he worked with and led a five-member team comprising counselors and prominent Liberians on a Special Presidential Committee to examine allegations made by Global Witness in its report involving the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL). Before this, he also served as "Special Investigator" looking into the usage and misappropriations of donor funds in the agriculture sector (Ministry of Agriculture) 2017. Dr. Weah received the letter of resignation from Cllr. Nwabudike on Monday, February 1, 2021. It can be recalled The Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) expelled Nwabudike, from forming part of the Bar and deleting his name from its record after months of contention regarding his Liberian citizenship, with fake documents filed on his date of birth. "The purpose of this press engagement is for the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) to inform the Liberian people through the press about its findings and decision on the critical issue of the Liberian citizenship of Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike and his controversial membership of the Liberian National Bar Association," Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe, President of the LNBA said at a presser at the weekend. He added: "You will recall that during the Senate confirmation hearings of Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike for the position of Chairman of the National Elections Commission, the issue of the validity of his Liberian citizenship was brought into question and his woeful failure to convince members of the Senate, dominated the hearing and became the single reason for his outright rejection by the Senate and subsequent withdrawal of his nomination by the President of Liberia. Therefore, the National Executive Council of the Liberian National Bar met and mandated the President of the LNBA to instruct the Grievance and Ethics Committee to launch a full scale investigation into this matter. Cllr. Gongloe noted that "the LNBA wishes to emphasize that the legal profession is unique among the professions in Liberia because it is the only profession that is given protection by the constitution of Liberia. On April 3, 2020, the Liberian Immigration Service wrote a letter informing the Grievance and Ethics Committee ofthe LNBA that it did not have any record on Cllr. Nwabudike legal residency status or naturalization in Liberia. On April 6, 2020, the Committee obtained a clerk certificate from the Clerk of the First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes "B" at the Temple of Justice, revealing that it had no record on Cllr. Nwabudike's residency or naturalization status, Gongloe said From documents obtained from the Senate confirmation hearings of Cllr. Nwabudike and the pleadings in the record of the Civil Law Court on a petition for declaratory judgment filed by him, the Grievance and Ethics Committee found the following inconsistent information, Clr. Gongloe explained. He said a purported certificate of naturalization presented to the Liberian Senate by Cllr. Nwabudike showed that he was issued same by Criminal Court "B" at the Temple of Justice on May 13, 1982, when in fact that court was called the People's Criminal Court "B" during the regime of the People's Redemption Council (PRC), thereby creating more doubt. The LNBA president narrated that a perusal of his various passports showed his birth dates as October 19, 1960, October 2, 1963, October 2, 1965 and October 2, 1969. Gongloe said the expelled individual's 2004 Liberian Passport carries his date of birth as October 2, 1963 and his name as A. Nkwuka Ndubuisi Nwabudike, instead of the name that appears on the roster of the Liberian National Bar Association and Supreme Court Bar which is A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike; His Liberian National Identification card carries his date of birth as October 2, 1969 and his name as A. Ndubuisi Nkwuka Nwabudike. But his application for marriage certificate dated January 22, 1992, filled by himself in handwriting, carries his name as A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, while his date of birth is October 19, 1960 and his nationality as Nigerian. In view of the information received from the Liberia Immigration Service and First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes "B" there is no record to support Cllr. Nwabudike's claim ofLiberian citizenship, the existence of information showing gross inconsistency in his date of birth and names, as well as, the fact that in his application to the Marriage Registry, he declared in his own handwriting in 1992 that he is a Nigerian Citizen. Cllr. Gongloe observed that the only valid, logical and common sense conclusion that could be reached by the Grievance and Ethics Committee was that he became a member of the Liberian National Bar Association through fraudulent means. Adding, "It is a well-settled common law principle that fraud vitiates everything." The committee, Gongloe said, therefore, recommended that Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike be expelled, consistent with Article II Section IX of the Constitution of the LNBA, which provides, "Any member may, after inquiry, be disciplined by means of suspension or expulsion from membership of the Association for proven gross misconduct in his relations to the Association or in his professional undertaking upon two thirds votes of the Membership of the National Executive Council." "At a meeting of the National Executive Council held at 3:00 P.M. on May 18, 2020 here at the headquarters of the Liberian National Bar Association, the Grievance and Ethics Committee's recommendation that Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike be expelled was approved by a vote of two thirds members of the National Executive Council of the Liberian National Bar Association. "Hence, Cllr. A. N. Nwabudike is hereby expelled from the membership of the Liberian National Bar Association. His name is hereby stricken from the roster of the membership of the Liberian National Bar Association. Cllr. Nwabudike is the current chairman of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, who was nominated by Liberian President George Weah a few months ago to head the National Elections Commission (NEC). Cllr. Nwabudike's nomination by the Liberian leader, President George Manneh Weah, as Chairman of the National Elections Commission, sparked serious concerns, with many calling on the Liberian leader to withdraw his nomination from the Senate. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Legal Affairs Corruption By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Senator Abraham Darius Dillon of Montserrado County called for the intervention of the Liberian Senate in getting Cllr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike out of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) over controversies surrounding his Liberian citizenship. Senator Dillon, wrote the Senate's Plenary, indicating that Part IV Section 6.3 of the Act creating the LACC requires that only citizens of Liberia are eligible to serve as Commissioner of the anti-graft institution. Senator Dillon said "Nwabudike, as Chairman, does not meet the criteria. We hold strongly that Mr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, a Citizen of Nigeria by birth, has not demonstrated or proven to be a Liberian. Dillon pointed out that his communication was intended to formally invite the intervention of the Senate over the issue of "grave national concern," noting that his colleagues should take the proper and appropriate measure to uphold, protect, and defend the integrity and credibility of LACC. "Therefore, the LNBA is under a moral obligation and degree of integrity and credibility to prove to the people of Liberia that the legal profession is worthy of this unique protection, because as the saying goes, 'to whom much is given, much is expected', Cllr. Gongloe stated. He stressed that "the LNBA, therefore, could not ignore the issue of the citizenship status of one of its members when information provided by him created doubt over the authenticity and veracity of his claim of Liberian citizenship." In order to ensure that the investigation was thorough and meticulous, Gongloe narrated that the LNBA acted within the confines of legal speed by exhausting all means possible to provide Cllr Nwadudike his right to due process. Meanwhile, Cllr Nwadudike expulsion by the LNBA means he is barred from the practice of law in Liberia. In recent times, he there has been mounting pressures from civil society groups and other groups calling for his dismissal or resignation. Police have busted a suspected 1million county lines drug operation after dealers posed as key workers to fool lockdown patrols. Couriers allegedly delivered drugs - mostly cocaine - to 2,000 customers across Birmingham and Worcestershire by dressing up as care home staff. But the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (WMROCU) shut down the hotline. A 12-gauge self-loading shotgun was recovered as part of the operation and four men - aged 24, 31, 33 and 35 - have been charged with drug offences. Detectives also fear young people may have been groomed and exploited to supply the drugs - much of it to 'middle-class customers'. Couriers allegedly delivered drugs - mostly cocaine - to 2,000 customers across Birmingham and Worcestershire by dressing up as care home staff. Pictured: A gun was recovered as part of the operation and four men have been charged with drug offences Analysis of a phone - seized phone from a 31-year-old man from Solihull on November 25 - revealed the numbers of more than 2,000 customers. As part of the police operation, text messages were sent to every customer urging them to seek addiction help and highlighting how their habits were fuelling child exploitation. Detective Inspector Dan Rooks runs the WMROCU County Lines Task Force which was launched last June. He said suspects had gone to extraordinary lengths during lockdown to peddle drugs by posing as key workers including care home staff and builders. DI Rooks said: 'This particular group posed as key workers during the first lockdown, so they had fake documentation saying that they were volunteering in care homes. 'So when they were stopped by the police they would say: 'I'm just going to a care home' - really exploiting the goodwill of those who really were volunteering. 'It was just a way to disguise their drug-dealing. Fortunately because of the intelligence we had from members of the public, we were able to see through their lies and arrest them.' The gang allegedly delivered drugs to areas such as Birmingham, Bromsgrove, West Bromwich, and Solihull. As part of the operation, text messages were sent to every customer urging them to seek addiction help and highlighting how their habits were fuelling child exploitation (pictured) DI Rooks said: 'Forensic analysis of the line shows the marketing messages being issued are appealing to the middle classes that use cocaine socially, as well as those who have addictions. 'Intelligence suggests young people were being exploited and groomed to carry out drug dealing on behalf of the line. They were taking all the risks and their exploiters were making big profits. 'We want these drug users to know that their cocaine habit is directly leading to the abuse of young people and to urge them to take action to address their addictions.' The warning text to customers read: 'This is a message from the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands region County Lines Task Force. 'We have sent you this message as your phone number has been in contact with a known County Lines drug line, which is being targeted by police. 'If you require any further information then please visit [web address]. The site will also provide contact details of support organisations who can provide help and support if you have an addiction or believe you are being exploited.' The phone was seized last November after officers stopped a car in the city. Warrants followed at addresses in Birmingham and the Black Country. Four men have since been charged with possessing drugs with intent to supply. Nata A 30-year-old man is in custody regarding investigations on the murder of a 55-year-old man of Sekao ward in Nata. Nata police station commander, Superintendent Vincent Pitsietsile, explained in an interview that the incident happened on Friday afternoon when the accused hit the deceased with stones. He said the victim suffered excessive loss of blood from the injuries he sustained on his head and was rushed to Nata clinic where he was certified dead. Supt Pitsietsile said the suspect was immediately arrested and appeared before Nata Magistrate Court on Monday. Furthermore, Nata police chief said the deceased body had been taken to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital for postmortem while investigation continued. Source: BOPA The local Chin population inside Midland has concerns with what is taking place in the former home for many of them Myanmar. The Associated Press has reported a coup in Myanmar has left the military in control under a one-year state of emergency, while the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians have been detained. Having the military in control is a worry for Midlanders with family back in the former country of Burma, which is bordered by China to the northeast, Thailand to the southeast and Bangladesh and India to the west. Myanmar protesters living in Japan hold up a picture of Myanmar's army chief Min Aung Hlaing with his face crossed out followng a military coup in their home country, Feb. 1, 2021. A grouping of Southeast Asian nations needs to pressure Myanmar and kick it out of the bloc if military leaders there dont end the coup they launched this week, an association of MPs from across the region said Tuesday. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, other Asian nations such as Japan and China, and the West need to stop saying nice things about reconciliation in Myanmar and take concrete action, said Charles Santiago, chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights. ASEAN should have a high level delegation visit Myanmar in the next days to put pressure on it to return the government back to Aung San Suu Kyi to impress [upon them] that the coup is not acceptable and very inconsistent and it violates ASEAN principles and the ASEAN charter, Santiago, a lawmaker from Malaysia, told an online news conference with other pro-democracy groups, referring to the civilian leader of the Myanmar government. [I]f Myanmar does not turn around, I think there should be proceedings to expel Myanmar out of ASEAN. Santiago acknowledged that ASEAN nations were divided in their individual responses to the coup, with Cambodia, Thailand, and, initially, the Philippines, saying the development was an internal matter of Myanmar. Notably, all three countries have a history of coups. Santiago is a member of the opposition in Malaysia, which has an unelected government and is under its first national emergency in more than five decades. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, expressed serious concern about Mondays coup in the fellow ASEAN state. And the kingdom of Brunei, as chair of ASEAN this year, urged a return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of Myanmars people. Manila, however, changed its tune on Tuesday, and also expressed worries about the military coup in Myanmar. The Philippine government is following with deep concern the developing situation in Myanmar, and is especially concerned with the safety of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asian group, called on the United Nations Security Council to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar and refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party won 396 seats in parliament while the army-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party won 33 in general elections in November. Early on Monday, Myanmars military arrested Suu Kyi and other senior leaders, then declared a one-year state of emergency to deal with allegations of voting fraud tied to the general election three months ago. On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said it had assessed that the elected government in Myanmar was deposed in a military coup a day earlier. Therefore, the United States would now review foreign assistance to the Myanmar government, the department said. Coup an ASEAN problem Non-interference in member countries domestic affairs is a foundational principle of ASEAN, so unless the coup directly affects member nations, the bloc is unlikely to take any action against Myanmar, said Mohammad Hasan Ansori, research director at the Habibie Center, an Indonesian think-tank. Indonesia or any other ASEAN member countries cannot intervene or apply strong pressure. It doesnt work that way, Hasan told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. In fact, even though Indonesia on Monday urged Myanmar to implement the ASEAN Charters principles including a commitment to democratic principles it must not say or do much more, said Hikmahanto Juawana, a professor in international law at the University of Indonesia. For now, its not advisable for Indonesia to make a statement that could be perceived by the coup government as interfering, he told BenarNews. The blocs non-interference policy doesnt apply to the coup in Myanmar because the military takeover there had wider, regional ramifications and needed to be addressed by the blocs member-nations, Santiago, the Malaysian MP, said. This is not interfering because Myanmars problem will become an ASEAN problem because countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand will now have more refugees coming to those countries and this could pose a security problem for those nations, he said. Meanwhile, as of December 2020, there were more than 150,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar registered with UNHCR, the refugee agency of the United Nations, in Malaysia, the agency said. They comprise 102,250 Rohingya, 22,410 Chins and 29,360 other ethnic groups from conflict-affected areas or fleeing persecution in Myanmar, according to UNHCR. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya people remain in Myanmars Rakhine state, including some 126,000 who are effectively confined to camps or camp-like settings established in 2012, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday. In addition, more than 100,000 people from various communities remain displaced by conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine and Chin states, OCHA said. Humanitarian access to more than a third of these displacement sites remains cut off, OCHA said. Fears for Rohingya in Rakhine The Rohingya in Myanmar are very fearful about what will happen next in Myanmar, said Wai Nu, director of the Womens Peace Network and a Rohingya activist. What is going to happen in the ethnic areas and where the conflict is ongoing? ... Mostly in the camps they are very fearful of what will happen to them next, what will be their future, Nu said at the press conference with Santiago. There has been no progress over several years, but with this military coup, they are more frustrated about accountability processes, justice, and peace for the future. The U.N. General Assembly president on Tuesday echoed the U.N. spokesmans worries about the Rohingya still in Myanmar. I am deeply concerned that the military coup in Myanmar could further exacerbate the problems of the most vulnerable, including Rohingya Muslims. I condemn the coup once again and call for unrestricted humanitarian access to Rakhine State and other parts of the country, said Volkan Bozkir said on Twitter. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Arad border police discovered 28 migrants from Afghanistan and Syria who attempted, in the past 24 hours, to leave the country hidden in five trucks checked at the Nadlac II and Varsand border crossing points, according to AGERPRES. During thorough checks on three trucks, which were about to leave the country through Nadlac II crossing point, the border police discovered 19 foreign citizens hidden in the trailers. The trucks were driven by a Turkish driver, a Romanian and a Bulgarian driver, according to a press release sent on Wednesday by the Arad Border Police. Following the checks, it was established that the migrants came from Afghanistan, they are between 14 and 26 years old and are asylum seekers. Two other trucks driven by a Romanian and a Bulgarian driver, respectively, carried nine migrants from Afghanistan and Syria, aged between 11 and 24, who were asylum seekers in Romania. In all cases, the border police are currently investigating the foreign citizens for attempts to cross the state border illegally, and drivers could be investigated for migrant trafficking. (CNN) - The annual World Economic Forum, due to take place in Singapore in May, has been pushed back again. The event will now convene from August 17 to 20. Although the World Economic Forum and Government of Singapore remain confident of the measures in place to ensure a safe and effective meeting, and local transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore remains at negligible levels, the change to the meetings timing reflects the international challenges in containing the pandemic, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in a news release. WEF added that the pushback is a result of the current global travel restrictions that are making planning difficult for an in-person meeting in the first half of the year. Last week during the virtual Davos event, WEF expressed confidence that the in person meeting in Singapore would go ahead as planned in May. This story was first published on CNN.com, "World Economic Forum annual meeting postponed again, now scheduled for August" Mom Applauds Texas Chick-fil-A for Fulfilling Her Autistic Sons Unique Breakfast Order A Texas mom received such a kind response to her sons unusual breakfast order at Chick-fil-A that she shared the story on social media. The incident touched thousands, as well as giving the mom a chance to spread awareness of her sons diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder (ASD). After visiting a Chick-fil-A drive-thru, mom Marlee Olivarez, of Edinburg, shared on Facebook a photo of her 8-year-old son, Matthew, happily tucking into his breakfast. Matthews hash browns, eggs, cheese, and chicken were placed in four separate cardboard takeaway bowls. Matthew wanted a breakfast bowl that has everything mixed together, she wrote. With the different textures, he asked if they can separate the ingredients because he doesnt like his food to touch each other. Of course, Chick-fil-A gladly did it, she wrote. The grateful mom thanked the staffers for understanding something someone might see as annoying or inconvenient. Olivarez told KVEO that mixing food textures is pretty much a sensory overload for Matthew, a fact that she was happy to explain when Chick-fil-A Hospitality Director Sam Guardiola approached to ask about Matthews order. She wrote: When getting to the window to pay, we waited a bit because they had to take the time to separate everything. The manager comes up and says Out of the many years Ive been working for Chick-fil-A, I have never heard or seen anyone ask for this item separated. Im curious, is there a reason why? Grateful for the chance to explain the ASD, the mom obliged. That was a perfect time to spread awareness and share how the mind and preferences of an individual with ASD work, she wrote. Guardiola, himself a father of three, told KVEO: [Olivarez] informed me that it was because of her son whos autistic, and he wanted to feel the texture of each individual item. I understood her completely it was more of a pleasure, he said. When she was so grateful for it, well, it just encouraged the whole team to do an even better job. Matthew was diagnosed with ASD in 2019. Olivarez remembered being in denial before her sons official diagnosis, reported KVEO. On the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, Matthew was placing his Cheerios cereal in a straight line, color-coordinating his race cars, and getting picky with foods by the time he was a toddler. He preferred things to be separated from each other, Olivarez told the news outlet. Still judged by others with little knowledge of ASD and its behaviors, Olivarez is now on a mission to raise awareness and champion people living with autism in the Rio Grande Valley. The familys impromptu teaching moment at Chick-fil-A was a great chance for Olivarez to spread her message, and the message caught on. All it takes is one person to start raising awareness, she wrote on her social media page. Together, we can create a community that has compassion, understanding, inclusivity, and awareness. This story was last updated in February 2021. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter 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. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) walks through a metal detector before entering the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 21, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Congress Ramps Up Security Measures as House Votes for Fines for Metal Detector Non-Compliance House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday announced ramped up security measures for congressional members traveling to and from Washington, as the House voted to enact hefty fines for lawmakers who refuse to go through newly installed metal detectors at the Capitol. Pelosi in a statement said the heightened security protection for congressional members is in response to the breach of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, which she described as a traumatic assault targeting Members. Going forward, U.S. Capitol Police will be stationed at Baltimore/Washington International, Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Union Station as part of additional security protections, Pelosi said. Congress should establish a 9/11-type Commission to examine and report upon the facts, causes and security relating to the terrorist mob attack, Pelosi said. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, on Jan. 28, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The security of the U.S. Capitol Complex and all who serve and work in it is of the highest priority, Pelosi wrote. Protecting the Capitol, which is the heart of our Democracy, is essential to upholding our Constitutional duty to serve those whom we are privileged to represent. Simultaneously, Pelosi announced that lawmakers who refuse to comply with security checks at the Capitol will be hit with fines that will be deducted directly from their paychecks. Lawmakers will be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second, she said. The vote was 216-210 in favor of the new rule. Metal detectors were set up outside the House chamber following last months breach of the Capitol. Some Republican lawmakers have expressed their displeasure about the new protocol and have been bypassing the metal detectors entirely or walking through and not stopping when they set them off. It is beyond comprehension why any member would refuse to adhere to these simple, commonsense steps to keep this body safe. It is sad that we have been forced to move forward with a rule change imposing fines on those who refuse to abide by these protections, but the Peoples House must and will be safe, so that we can honor our responsibility to do the Peoples work, Pelosi said in a statement. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), the newly elected Republican who has affirmed that she plans to carry firearms on Capitol grounds, criticized the newly installed metal detectors last month, saying they are nothing more than another political stunt. Lawmakers had previously been able to bypass security screening stations at most entrances to the House chamber. 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: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the emergent coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has forced nations to radically overhaul their healthcare systems in order to cope with the new pressures of millions of sick people. Innovation is still needed, especially in Africa. New research published in the International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, suggests that indigenous knowledge could assist in this regard. Olawale Olaopa of the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has explored and examined the role of traditions and practices in influencing community and individual perceptions of health and illness, prevention, cure, and management of COVID-19. The main conclusion is that indigenous knowledge can benefit the community and might even reduce the impact of the pandemic. This will be especially true if the indigenous knowledge is used synergistically with scientific understanding and undertaken in an environmentally aware manner. "Indigenous knowledge remains a fundamental aspect of social culture and inheritance communicated and transferred verbally from one generation to the next," writes Olaopa. This tradition has for countless generations played a vital role in the life of the community. It has a potent effect on the socio-economic conditions and political situations in which the community lives as well as affecting the spiritual lives of people. It is more than forty years since the World Health Assembly (WHA) first recognized and supported indigenous knowledge in traditional medical practices and it is to this day seen as a critical component of primary health management at the level of local communities. Olaopa suggests, based on his ethnomedical, explanatory, and health promotion model, that students of health-related disciplines and related fields should be encouraged to study indigenous knowledge and the associated traditional medicine. They might also benefit from an internship in a rural community where traditional medicine is used. This, he suggests, could help "remove the various misgivings, misconceptions, and prejudices against traditional medicines and practices." Explore further COVID-19 and the decolonization of Indigenous public health More information: Olawale R. Olaopa. Harnessing African indigenous knowledge for managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development (2021). Olawale R. Olaopa. Harnessing African indigenous knowledge for managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2020.112744 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said Tuesday he is optimistic that improving numbers may mean the city can soon shed the strictest COVID-19-related restrictions. During a virtual media briefing, Keller said unofficial data show that Bernalillo County where Albuquerque is located has a test positivity rate low enough to reach the yellow level in New Mexicos three-tier COVID-19 framework. Bernalillo, like most New Mexico counties, is presently in red, the most restrictive level. Moving to yellow would allow restaurants to reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity and for retailers and houses of worship to allow slightly more people inside. The state makes the official designations based COVID-19 risk measurements averaged over two-week cycles. Keller said the county remains far from advancing based on per capita daily case counts, but appears to have dipped beneath the 5% COVID-19 test positivity rate needed to move to yellow. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ When the state provided its most recent update last Wednesday, Bernalillo County had a 6.68% positivity rate. Keller said unofficial data Tuesday shows about 4.7%. The states next update is not until next week, and Keller stressed that nothing is official until then and there remained plenty of time for the numbers to change for the better or worse. He urged continued social distancing, mask usage and testing. We all need to do what we can to push us over that line to get to yellow, he said. Price and fear of the unknown are key deterrants stopping car buyers from choosing electric vehicles GREEN licence plates entitling EV drivers to preferential bus-lane travel or parking could be on the way to persuade people to buy electric. They are seen as having tipping-point potential to get far more people to switch to electric. The possibility was mooted at a Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) webinar today as part of a renewed push to reach Climate Action Plan targets of nearly one million EVs on our roads by 2030. Read More At the behavioural economics webinar to outline an SEAI study of what persuades people to buy or not to buy electric cars, it was clear that price and fear of the unknown remain key deterrents to purchase. The perceived high price of a new electric car is a key reason people are not buying substantially more. There have been steady increases in buying over the past few years but to reach mid-decade and 2030 government targets for EVs there will have to be quite a dramatic increase, SEAI says. It would appear that we have a lot of incentives, such as VRT rebates and home charging grants. Carbon taxes are also designed to make petrol and diesel less attractive. But the big challenge remains how to get a lot more people used to the idea of owning an EV. The webinar was told that in terms of meeting 2030 targets, there needs to be a big change. Green licence plates could be a small but psychologically important way of encouraging prospective buyers to take the plunge. Such plates are being introduced in the UK. They would be part of an effective blitz of information, encouragement and education about not just the initial cost of an electric car but one emphasising the long term financial and environmental savings. Apart from the perception of costly EVs only being relevant to better-off people described by the SEAI as a significant inhibitor - other areas play a dampening role in enthusiasm for the switch too. They include the basic fear of change, lifestyle issues, doubts about the charging infrastructure and battery range. The importance of how dealerships approach selling an EV, as opposed to a petrol or diesel, is regarded as vital too as it takes a lot longer to explain in detail about the electric vehicle, studies have found. For example they could emphasise that the average car journey here is 15kms while the average EV range is 380km. There should not be any range fear on that basis - but there is. However, that largely dissipates when a dealer explains such matters in detail, an SEAI study has shown. Otherwise unfamiliarity creates doubts so we stick with the status quo even when it is good for us to change. Other countries, such as in parts of Canada, are staging EV road shows to help familiarise people with EVs. Another obstacle to winning people over is the fact that 36pc of people lack access to off-street parking for charging. Part of a more controversial approach to reaching targets in the Climate Action Plan would include considering congestion charging for the likes of Dublin. They already have such policies working in London, Milan, and Stockholm for example where there has been an average 10pc-12pc increase in the uptake of EVs. Public support for the measure in London is running at 70pc. Studies in Norway show people bought an EV so they could travel in the bus lane and enjoy other concessions. Yet we dont want our bus lanes clogged with EVs being driven by well-off motorists - the system in Norway was trialed for a limited time. The webinar was told we should be having a conversation about the type of vehicles we let into our bus lanes. Also workplace charging is coming on stream, encouraging people to charge up while at their desks. Quebec, the UK and France already have incentives for employers to provide chargers. Despite the perceived reservations about EVs, Ireland is definitely seeing a continuing switch, according for SEAIs Declan Meally. To reach 175,000 EVs on our roads by 2025 he foresees the need for a sustained campaign to put peoples mind at ease. That includes expanding home, on-street and off-street charging, as well as charging at workplaces, shopping centres and hotels. Cyrell Paule may not see eye-to-eye with rival Jessika Power. But the pair seem to have the same opinion when it comes to hairstyles, after Cyrell, 31, debuted a sleek bob cut reminiscent of Jessika's latest hairstyle on Tuesday. Cyrell, who was shamed by viewers for her 'exposed' hair extensions during MAFS' Grand Reunion special, appeared in an Instagram Story video on Tuesday with much shorter tresses. Hair today, gone tomorrow! MAFS' Cyrell Paule, 31, debuted a dramatic new bob cut on Tuesday (right), after being shamed by viewers for her 'exposed' hair extensions during the reunion special (left) With her famous, balayage-blonde extensions nowhere to be seen, Cyrell looked like a new woman as she showed off her dark brown bob cut. It comes days after MAFS viewers urged the mother-of-one to fix her 'extremely obvious hair extensions' after her appearance at the reunion special. 'I love Cyrell but I'm not okay about seeing her hair extensions,' one person Tweeted while watching the program. What a change! With her famous, balayage-blonde extensions (left) nowhere to be seen, Cyrell looked like a new woman as she showed off her dark brown bob cut (right) Criticism: It comes days after MAFS viewers urged the mother-of-one to fix her 'extremely obvious hair extensions' after her appearance at the reunion special 'Cyrell exudes confidence in a disco era dress and the worst extensions know to man,' another added. During Sunday's highly anticipated reunion episode, Cyrell confronted Jessika, 29, accusing her of having said that her son Boston with Love Island star Eden Dally was just 'a publicity stunt'. Jessika denied she ever said anything negative about their 10-month-old son, but did admit to having called their romance fake. Unhinged: Cyrell certainly made her presence felt during Sunday's episode, hurling a glass of wine at rival Jessika at the dinner table An emotional Jessika broke down in tears, eventually storming off the set. 'To be angry at me like that... because I've never once said a bad word about Cyrell and her son,' Jessika said in between tears, in a piece-to-camera. 'I feel disappointed and feel let down. Sorry. I didn't buy in to the drama, and I walked away when I should've... when I normally would have reacted, and I'm proud of myself tonight,' she continued. Tracey Jewel also weighed in, accusing Cyrell of 'unacceptable' behaviour. 'It's unacceptable to treat anyone the way she carried on tonight. And I don't care what you've done to anyone. No-one deserves that,' she said. They all started in the same place, with no one immunized, no stockpiles of vaccine and no choice but to dive in immediately with perhaps the most high-stakes public health campaign in American history. Seven weeks later, the nation's states are all racing to deliver a potentially lifesaving defense against the novel coronavirus to millions of arms. But some states are having far more success than others. In the states moving fastest, up to 1 in 7 people had received at least their first injection as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. At the other end of the rankings, it was 1 in 17. Health experts had expected the wide disparities, given that states had broad latitude to devise their own strategies, with conspicuously little federal coordination. Far less predictable were the particular states that would be leading the way and those lagging behind. On either end, it has been a mix of large and small, urban and rural, red and blue. Yet, if there's one thing that the states moving fastest have in common it is that they have tried to bring at least some measure of order and simplicity to a process otherwise marked by chaos and complexity. In South Dakota, distribution of the vaccine has been limited to a small number of health-care providers who meet via phone twice a week and can make decisions on the fly as conditions change. Connecticut has teamed with a well-established partnership network while using community ambassadors to advocate for the vaccine among populations where hesitancy runs high. And West Virginia has tightly coordinated its rollout, using the National Guard to speed supplies to where they are needed while streamlining the rules for who can get the shots. Officials in the three states say that though coronavirus vaccination is inevitably complicated, they want to keep it from being any more confusing than necessary. "If you want to know how many cows are in a field, just count the egg-sucking cows," said West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican. "Don't count the legs and divide by four." That ethos has helped propel his state to a position that much wealthier and healthier states can only envy. West Virginia has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the United States - along with some of the highest levels of chronic illnesses - but it has been among the most prolific in protecting its residents against the novel coronavirus. As of Wednesday, 11% of the state's residents had received at least their first shot, the second-highest rate in the nation, according to The Post tracker. "People think we're the poorest or most backward or whatever it may be," Justice said in an interview. "But West Virginia has become the diamond in the rough." The state's record has won it accolades from public health professionals as well as notice from the Biden administration. Just 90 minutes after the new president was sworn in last month, Justice, a Republican, said he had a call from the administration's new coronavirus coordinator, Jeff Zients, inquiring whether West Virginia's success might offer lessons outside the Mountain State. Tinglong Dai, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University's business and nursing schools, said it certainly does. In many states, Dai said, governors have delegated the vaccination process to a web of underfunded county health departments, along with hospitals, pharmacies, HMOs and doctor's offices. Each has devised its own sign-up system and made its own rules for who can get vaccinated and when. West Virginia has sought to avoid that - where possible - by creating a uniform statewide process. "The U.S. has a very, very decentralized health-care system," Dai said. "But we need coordination. We need leadership. We need clarity." In West Virginia's case, that meant becoming the only state to opt out of a federal program to vaccinate workers and residents at nursing homes and other care facilities. While the federal program featured partnerships with the national pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS, West Virginia incorporated local drugstores into its plans. It managed to wrap up the work "before most states had even started the process," said Dai, who studied the state's operation. West Virginia also has leaned heavily on the National Guard, using its expertise in logistics management to ensure that vaccine distribution is well organized. And the governor has closely managed the process of determining who gets priority while giving counties far less leeway than in other states to make their own rules. "If you just pass this all to the 55 counties in my state, then you're going to have 55 chiefs," Justice said. "You're going to have absolute chaos in every way." South Dakota is another state ranked near the top in the percentage of residents who have received a shot and the percentage of the state's vaccine supply administered. Its success contrasts with its grim record in the fall, when infections and death counts spiked and public health authorities criticized Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, for not instituting a mask mandate. As with West Virginia, South Dakota's rural character had threatened to become a barrier to a rapid rollout, with far-flung communities and many people living miles from medical facilities. Other states with large rural populations - including Idaho, Alabama and Iowa - have struggled to scale up their immunization campaigns and are at the back of the pack in per capita vaccinations. But South Dakota has been able to use its small size - and especially its limited number of health-care providers - to its advantage. Instead of leaving it up to county health departments, the state has tasked its largest providers with getting the vaccine out the door and into residents' arms. Twice a week, executives at the companies - normally competitors - speak by conference call along with state officials. No more than 15 people are on the line. If one provider is running short on doses or falling behind, others can shift resources to help. "That simplicity of being able to make decisions quickly, on the fly, works really well," said David Basel, vice president for clinical quality at Avera Medical Group, the state's largest provider. The scaled-down system, he said, "cuts through all the red tape, and we can just go." The group, he said, has a few inviolable rules: Never waste a dose. Never leave a dose in the refrigerator over the weekend. And never break the mutually agreed hierarchy for who is eligible to be vaccinated at any given time. "If one of us vaccinates one teacher, all the teachers in the state will want the vaccine tomorrow," said Basel, who also is a practicing internist and pediatrician. "The rumor mill goes nuts." That has been a problem in many states, where differing eligibility rules between counties - or even within counties - have sown confusion. Some states, though, may have little choice, given their scale, experts say. California's largest county, for instance, has more than three times the population of West Virginia and South Dakota combined. "The states that have been able to centralize have, in the early weeks, been able to be more efficient," said Hemi Tewarson, a fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. "But for some states it's going to be a really tall order to centralize everything." California is among the large states that have been slower to roll out their campaigns, along with Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. But speed, said Jennifer Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, is not the only measure of a state's vaccination success. Also essential is making sure that those most vulnerable to death or serious illness are prioritized and that disadvantaged communities are served alongside affluent ones. "That's harder to do, and it can take longer," Kates said. "It's coming up against speed, and it's creating a trade-off." Already, some states have begun to deprioritize front-line workers, a signal to critics that they are sacrificing equity concerns in the name of swiftness. Connecticut's acting public health commissioner, Deidre Gifford, said one of her biggest challenges is balancing speed and equity. The state has delivered at least a first vaccine dose to 10.3% of residents - the fourth-highest in the nation. It also is closely tracking its performance in towns and cities that score high on the social vulnerability index. Gifford said the state relied heavily for its rollout on community partnerships that were established early on in the pandemic, when Connecticut was ramping up testing. "There was a glide path there that didn't need to be built," she said. The state also has deployed health ambassadors to underserved communities and has set up public information campaigns to dispel myths about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines. But as with other leaders across the country, Gifford said her biggest challenge was not convincing people to get vaccinated but getting adequate supplies to provide shots. "More people want vaccine than we have vaccine to give," Gifford said. The Biden administration has said it intends to change that, ramping up distribution as drugmakers step up their production. If it's successful, that could create a very different dynamic - and an opportunity for other states to emerge as leaders in the vaccination race, said Eric Schneider, a senior vice president at the Commonwealth Fund. While the early campaigns nationwide have focused on relatively easy targets - such as front-line health-care workers and nursing home residents - the challenge ahead will be different. As scarcity ends and supply proliferates, the emphasis will shift to populations that are more difficult to reach, Schneider said. "With any luck, in a month we'll be in an abundance situation. And at that point, the question of whether health systems can reach underserved populations will be the big test," said Schneider, whose organization advocates for broader and better health-care access. "We're in a long horse race, and we're just getting out of the gate." The parliamentary panel, which examined the Bill, is headed by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. The fears raised over the DNA Technology Bill are "not entirely unfounded", noted the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology. The panel, in its report submitted on February 3, called upon the government to effectively address the apprehensions. The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 was referred to the committee by Parliament in 2019. The panel has, since then, been consulting various experts and stakeholders to examine the proposed benefits and the apprehensions related to the legislation. "A number of members have expressed concerns about the use of DNA technology or more accurately its misuseto target different segments of our society based on factors like religion, caste or political views. These fears are not entirely unfounded and have to be recognised and addressed by the government and by Parliament as well," the panel said in its report. The committee, however, did not recommend the revocation of the law. On the contrary, it agreed that the legislation is essential to strengthen criminal investigation. The panel, in its report, also referred to the recent "fake encounter" in Jammu & Kashmir's Shopian where three labourers from Rajouri were killed and labelled as militants. A probe, involving the use of DNA technology, found the deceased to be innocents. The fears of misuse do not "negate the need for such legislation especially when DNA technology is already in use", the report said, adding that "its use in recent months has exposed a false encounter in which innocents were killed contradicting initial claims made that they were militants". The parliamentary panel, which examined the Bill, is headed by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. The committee had heard the apprehensions raised by AIMIM lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi and the CPI's Binoy Viswam. In his dissenting note before the committee, Owaisi said the provisions in the law may lead to violation of the right to privacy. He also claimed that the Bill poses "potential dangers" for the vulnerable members of Muslim, Dalit and Adivasi communities. The report said the Supreme Court judgments related to the matter should be adhered to while the law is being implemented. "The Committee is of the strong opinion that an enabling ecosystem must be created soon to ensure that DNA profiling is done in a manner that is fully consistent with the letter and spirit of various Supreme Court judgments and with of the Constitution of India," it said. The DNA technology law, once enacted, would lead to the establishment of a DNA Regulatory Board. This Board will advise the Centre and states on all issues relating to establishing of DNA laboratories and DNA Data Banks, and laying down guidelines, standards and procedures for functioning of such laboratories and Data Banks. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), which was consulted by the Parliamentary panel before finalising its report on the law, said the use of DNA would aid several ministries, along with the top investigative agencies. The Ministry of Home Affairs would benefit through "forensic crime investigations", the Defence Ministry would find it useful for "body identification" and the Ministry of External Affairs for "immigration issues". The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare would find the law applicable in cases of "child trafficking and missing/abandoned children investigations", the DBT told the Parliamentary committee. Advertisement Three buildings along the Massachusetts coastline were condemned on Tuesday after fierce waves battered homes during Storm Orlena. High tide caused flooding early Tuesday in coastal areas of the state such as Cape Cod, where waves crashed over seawalls and resulted in severe erosion underneath the houses already battered by storms over the past few weeks. One house in Sandwich collapsed onto the beach on Tuesday afternoon after its foundations were hit. Other homes in the area, which cost $700,000 on average to buy, were severely damage with fears of further strong winds to come. 'It got undermined and the house is on a 45-degree angle. And it's totally gone now. There's no moving it now. It's just wrecked. It's just destroyed,' neighbor Michael Pottey told WCVB. The two-day snowstorm had shut down public transport, closed schools, and stranded travelers with canceled flights, as three foot of snow was dumped over the region. And yet more snowfall could be on the way with two more potential storms on track to hit the northeast in the coming days. According to The Weather Channel, the first system is expected to bring modest snowfall mid- to late-week but the second could pose a greater threat from Sunday. Scroll down for video MASSACHUSETTS: Three buildings along the Massachusetts coastline were condemned on Tuesday after the storm MASSACHUSETTS: One house in Sandwich collapsed onto the beach on Tuesday afternoon after its foundations were hit MASSACHUSETTS: The homes were already suffering from erosion due to previous storms More snowfall could be on the way with two more potential storms on track to hit the northeast in the coming days NEW JERSEY: There was also concern about coastal flooding in New Jersey, where police were forced to rescue an elderly man from the floodwaters. In a Facebook video posted by Union Beach Police, officers were shown rescuing the man, who was showing signs of hypothermia, after being trapped in his car in the floodwaters, pictured above MAINE: Rick Wallace clears a sidewalk with a snowblower during a winter snow storm in Freeport on Tuesday NYC: A person carries shopping bags past piles of snow blocking the entrance to a closed NYC bar MASSACHUSETTS: Monster waves, storm surge, and high winds slam Scituate, Massachusetts, during Storm Orlena There was also concern about coastal flooding in New Jersey on Tuesday, where police were forced to rescue an elderly man from the floodwaters. In a Facebook video posted by Union Beach Police, Keyport Police Chief Shannon Torres and Capt. Michael Ferm were shown rescuing the man, who was showing signs of hypothermia, after being trapped in his car in the floodwaters. Bands of snow continued through parts of the region Tuesday afternoon, but the worst was over, with more than 30 inches in parts of New Jersey and just a few inches in Boston. The highest levels were in Pennsylvania with Nazareth hit by 36.1 inches as of Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. MASSACHUSETTS: At least three homes in Sandwich, a town in Barnstable County in Cape Cod, Massachusetts were condemned as fierce waves from the Nor'easter led to coastal erosion during Storm Orlena on Monday MASSACHUSETTS: One of the homes completely crashed onto the beach on Tuesday afternoon MASSACHUSETTS: Flood waters had taken over the area at high tide around 3am on Tuesday morning MASSACHUSETTS: The homes collapsed after huge waves swept against the state's coastline MASSACHUSETTS: Severe coastal flooding began after 3am when high tide hit MASSACHUSETTS: The storm surge left the area on alert until Tuesdy afternoon MASSACHUSETTS: High tide caused flooding early Tuesday in coastal areas of the state such as Cape Cod Lara Pagano, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in College Park, Maryland, noted that while several areas in the mid-Atlantic saw measurable snowfall for a few consecutive days, it hadn't shattered records. For example, she said, the most consecutive days with measured snowfall for Washington is four, while the mark is five for New York City and six for Philadelphia. 'While this storm has been a prolonged event, it's not a record-setter in that sense, but it does rank up there pretty high of course,' she said. The sprawling, lumbering storm had already walloped the eastern United States by Monday night. More than 17 inches of snow dropped on Manhattans Central Park, and as much as 30 inches was reported in northern New Jersey. While New York City school kids had another day of all-remote learning because of the snow, above-ground subway and train service returned early Tuesday, and a ban on certain large trucks on state highways was lifted. Experts predict a further arctic blast is on its way that could lead to the development of further storms It is predicted that at least one more storm could hit the northeast in the coming week Forecasts show that conditions are there for a second larger winter storm to form in the next week On Friday, a mix of rain, ice and snow is expected to hit the Northeast (depicted above) On Sunday, forecasters are predicting snow in parts of New Jersey, New York and Boston Some vaccination sites in the city remained closed, but others, including those run by the public hospital system, were open Tuesday. Much of southern New Hampshire got about a foot of snow. Parts of northern New Hampshire, where the state's ski resorts and most of the snowmobile trails are, got 9 to 10 inches. 'For the next couple of weeks, the conditions are going to be phenomenal,' Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday during an interview on WZID-FM. The storm also raged offshore, making it inhospitable for mariners. Off the Maine coast, waves were approaching 30 feet, and a 73-mph gust was recorded at an offshore buoy. In Connecticut, the storm - which dumped up to 19 inches of snow in some areas - forced the cancellations of 10,000 vaccination appointments Monday, state officials said. Efforts are under way to provide vaccinations by the end of the week to people whose appointments were canceled. MASSACHUSETTS: Two women jump off a seawall as they photograph rough surf along Lynn Shore Reservation MASSACHUSETTS: A woman watches rough surf along Lynn Shore Reservation in the aftermath of a snowstorm NYC: Worker clears ice and snow in front of illuminated trees in the Hudson Yards precinct of Manhattan NYC: Customers wait at Celebrity Chef Brandon Fay's Pasta By Hudson near piles of snow in Manhattan NYC: A restaurant worker pushes snow off the roof of Sushi Seki's outdoor dining structure in Manhattan MAINE: A car driven on a snow-covered road in Maine on Tuesday WILMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS: A man uses a snow blower with a hood outside his home on Tuesday WILMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS: A man clears his snow-covered driveway on Tuesday following Winter Storm Orlena A state of emergency imposed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy remained in effect Tuesday and the state's six mega sites for COVID-19 vaccines were still closed as plow operators faced snow showers and blowing snow. In Virginia, four firefighters were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life threatening after their firetruck overturned Sunday on snow-covered roads in Henrico County, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. Power outages appeared to be minimal. About 5,000 customers in Massachusetts and about 3,000 in New York were without power Tuesday morning. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared a disaster emergency after snowfall of up to 30 inches throughout central and eastern regions. The proclamation freed up millions of dollars for snow removal and authorized officials to request help from the National Guard. The storm also resulted in the deaths of at least five people. Authorities said a 67-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who wandered away from her home was found dead of hypothermia on an Allentown street Monday morning. NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS: This aerial image shows a snow-covered home in Massachusetts on Tuesday NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS: Large chunks of ice are seen floating in the Merrimack River on Tuesday NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS: This aerial image shows snow covering the ground in Massachusetts on Tuesday PENNSYLVANIA: A woman is loaded into an ambulance after slipping on ice as winter storm Olena blows through Philadelphia The worst of the snowfall in the past few days was seen in Pennsylvania and New Jersey Much of the snowfall had died down by Tuesday morning yet more snowfall is expected Highest snowfall totals by state so far 1. Pennsylvania - Nazareth - 36.1 inches 2. New Jersey - Mount Arlington - 35.5 inches 3. New York - Fishkill/Saugerties - 25.6 inches 4. Massachusetts - Lowell - 24 inches 5. West Virginina - Terra Alta - 22.1 inches 6. Maryland - Sabillasville - 20.5 inches 7. Connecticut - Danbury - 19 inches 8. New Hampshire - Atkinson - 16 inches 9. Maine - Salem Township - 15.5 inches 10. Virginia - Landgrove - 15.2 inches Advertisement About 60 miles north in Plains Township, a shooting after an argument over snow removal killed a married couple, and the suspect was later found dead at his nearby home of a wound believed to have been self-inflicted, officials in Luzerne County said. A man in Newark, New Jersey, also died after being found lying in the snow on Monday, according to police officials, who said the death was not considered suspicious. Much of Tuesday was spent clearing snow as the storm moved on, yet experts are warning that more is on the way. 'For at least the next week, the weather looks pretty tumultuous in the eastern two-thirds of the United States,' AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Rob Miller said. According to The Weather Channel, the first system is expected to bring modest snowfall and would likely impact travel from the Northern Plains and upper Midwest to the interior Northeast mid to late week. A winter storm that will sweep into the Plains Thursday into Friday could continue into the Northeast, transforming into another hard hitter. AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said that at least one further storm is guaranteed to hit the region by the weekend. 'This primary storm will at least occur, no matter what,' Rayno said. 'Some accumulating snow should occur from Kansas City and St. Louis into western Pennsylvania, causing some slippery travel along routes like Interstate 70 this weekend.' Yet a second could materialize with another round of double-digit snowfall totals and major disruptions. The second storm could pose a greater threat to the East Coast with snow, rain and wind in portions of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast beginning on Sunday and into Monday. 'In this scenario, where the secondary storm hugs the coast, heavy snow could also break out from the Appalachians through New England, with a full-blown blizzard likely to unfold in the Northeast,' Rayno said. 'A storm track closer to the coast, or even just inland, could mean more rain and wind for residents near the coast, but that could also bring a flooding threat -- both from rain and surf action'. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: A New Yorker is seen removing snow from around a vehicle Tuesday morning BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: A man removes snow from a car following Winter Storm Orlena on Tuesday MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Parts of northern New England were waiting their turn to be pummeled by a heavy winter storm Tuesday, while residents of the New York City region were digging out from under piles of snow Forecasters warned that even if a significant storm doesn't develop, there will still be a burst of at least lighter snowfall and gusty winds. As of Tuesday, forecasters are still monitoring the storm systems and cautioned that it's too early to nail down exactly what scenario will play out. The news of the new storm seems to line up with Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of six more weeks of snow. The furry critter was woken up at 7.25am at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see whether he would see his shadow or not, and he did. Shortly after this year's prediction was revealed, one of the members of the inner circle shared a message he said Phil had told him earlier in the day: 'After winter, youre looking forward to one of the most beautiful and brightest springs you've ever seen.' [February 03, 2021] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation of Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) on Behalf of Investors Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. ("Tyson" or the "Company") (NYSE: TSN) investors concerning the Company's possible violations of federal securities laws. On December 15, 2020, the New York City Comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, issued a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) ") calling for an investigation into Tyson's failures to carry out its stated coronavirus protection policies. The letter stated that Tyson's steps "to protect employees were grudging and minimal, such as letting workers use bandanas or sleep masks." The Company also "penaliz[ed] workers who take ick leave to avoid contact with any exposed workers" and, "as of December 3, 2020, Tyson ha[d] the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any company in the meatpacking industry [and] twice as many deaths as any other meatpacking company." On this news, the Company's stock price fell $1.78 per share, or 2.5%, to close at $68.25 per share on December 15, 2020, thereby damaging investors. If you purchased Tyson securities, have information or 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 Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005954/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Highlights HMD Global will soon launch the Nokia 5.4 in the US. This means the company is readying the phone for global launch soon. Nokia 6300 4G is also arriving in the US this month. Nokia 5.4 was the last smartphone from HMD Global last year that was launched in Europe. The company also launched the Nokia 6300 4G last year as the 4G-enabled feature phone for the European market. Now, both these phones have been listed on the Nokia online store in the US, meaning they are ready to be launched outside of Europe. This also means HMD Global is maybe readying the Nokia 5.4 and Nokia 6300 4G for launch in more markets, including India. The last smartphone launched in India by HMD Global was Nokia 2.4 and Nokia 5.4 might be the first phone to kick off its 2021 journey in India. The Nokia online store in the US reveals the Nokia 5.4 will go on sale starting March 1 for $250 for the 4GB RAM, 128GB storage model. It will be available in Polar Night and Dusk colours. Translating that price for India, the Nokia 5.4 should cost around Rs 18,000 in India but considering the prequel, Nokia 5.3 was announced in India for Rs 13,999, the price for the Nokia 5.4 will likely be way too less. After all, the Nokia 5.4 is not a significant upgrade over the Nokia 5.3 and the price gap would be absurd if the appeal value is not good. HMD Global is wary about the price aggressiveness in India's smartphone market and it will put the pricing thoughtfully on the Nokia 5.4. The second phone, Nokia 6300 4G was also launched last year in Europe as the company resurrected the old model with modern 4G connectivity and KaiOS software that brings support for WhatsApp, Google, YouTube, and other smartphone functionalities in their toned-down versions. The Nokia 6300 4G is listed on the Nokia online store for the price of $60, which translates to roughly Rs 4,400. This price projection is in line with what the existing feature phone range of HMD Global costs in India. The Nokia 6300 4G will begin shipping in the US on February 11, per the online store listing, and comes in Charcoal, Cyan Green, and White colours. HMD Global has not said anything on whether it is planning to launch the Nokia 5.4 and Nokia 6300 4G in India anytime soon. And in case it is, the launch timeframes for the two phones are under the wraps. Hopefully, we will have an idea about the two things soon in the coming days but for now, nothing is concrete. Separately, HMD Global is said to be working on the Nokia 2.4 successor. A Nokia model has appeared on the Bluetooth SIG certification website with Bluetooth 5.0 and LTE connectivity, hinting that it will take things forward from the Nokia 2.4. The company is also rumoured to bring the Nokia 6.3 5G and Nokia 7.3 5G sometime during the first quarter. These phones might also end up being called Nokia 6.4 5G and Nokia 7.4 5G. And finally, there is a Nokia 1.4 that is very likely to go official sometime in the month of February. These are just rumours and HMD Global has not made any announcements regarding them so far. EUGENE Oregon softball will open its 2021 season Feb. 12 in Phoenix. The No. 10/11 Ducks will play Weber State and Montana starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 12 to open their 55-game season, which includes eight four-game Pac-12 weekend series. Oregon will play Weber State and Montana twice each and host Grand Canyon once during the opening weekend in Arizona. UO then plays a doubleheader at Cal Poly on Feb. 19 and at Fresno State on Feb. 20. The Ducks will play top-ranked UCLA twice and Utah once as part of a nonconference tournament at Arizona State from Feb. 28-March 1. Oregons home opener comes March 5-7 with a pair of games against both Portland State and Boise State, followed by nonconference games with Nevada, Sacramento State and Oregon State on March 12-13. The Ducks open Pac-12 play against Utah (March 19-21), then host Portland State and Loyola Marymount. In April, Oregon plays at Oregon State (April 1-3), hosts UCLA (April 9-11), travels to Washington (April 15-17) and hosts Stanford (April 23-25). UO goes to Arizona State (April 30-May 2) and hosts Arizona (May 7-9) before closing out the regular season at Cal (May 13-15). A coronavirus mutation that appears to limit the protection of vaccines against infection has appeared in the United Kingdom, which is already struggling with a highly transmissible and apparently more lethal virus variant. The worrisome mutation, at a site on the virus RNA called E484K, has drawn close scrutiny from infectious-disease experts, who have given it the nickname "Eeek." In addition to its appearance in the U.K. variant, it has been seen in variants that spread rapidly in South Africa and Brazil. It has also been identified in recent days in a handful of cases in the United States. The mutation alters the structure of the virus's spike protein - the target for vaccines and many naturally produced antibodies. The mutation may help the virus to elude detection and make neutralization by the human immune system less efficient. In effect, it makes the virus stealthier, a great concern to vaccine developers, who seek to train antibodies to zero in on recognizable invaders and destroy them. The appearance of the E484K mutation in some infections caused by the U.K. variant is "a worrying development, though not entirely unexpected," said Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at University of Leicester. All viruses mutate, and SARS-CoV-2is evolving as it circulates in tens of millions of people globally, a recipe for further mutation as the virus adapts itself to the human species. The "Eeek" mutation is not actually new: It has reared up in genomic sequences many times since the start of the pandemic, and virologists have long understood that it was potentially problematic. But it appears to do little in isolation, and gained widespread attention only recently, after it began appearing in tandem with other mutations in the rapidly spreading variants in South Africa and Brazil, said Greg Armstrong, director of the advanced molecular detection program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A public database analyzed by The Washington Post showed 213 genomic sequences containing the mutation in the United States, dating to an initial case in Utah last March 15. "It's popped up several times in several lineages," Armstrong said."By itself, it seems to come and go." To date, there are no homegrown "variants of concern," he said. The CDC is closely monitoring one variant in California that is responsible for many cases there - and which does not contain the "Eeek" mutation - but Armstrong said there is no consensus it is truly more transmissible. The CDC is still ramping up its genomic surveillance efforts, however, and the United States does not yet have complete awareness of the many lineages of the coronavirus in circulation. A CDC forecast last month suggested that, based on United Kingdom data, the variant circulating there could become dominant in the United States by some point in March as it outcompeted other variants. Whether that would drive yet another surge depends on vaccination rates. The CDC model showed overall case numbers could still decline - though only gradually - if the country vaccinated a million people a day while the variant spread. Scientists note there is much they do not understand about these virus strains or why SARS-C0V-2, after a protracted period of relative stability, has shape-shifted in recent months. "We honestly don't have a good answer for why this is happening all of a sudden," Armstrong said. Clinical trial data announced last week indicated that vaccines were less effective in preventing infections with variants in South Africa featuring the mutation -but dramatically lowered the chance of severe illness or death. One study also found preliminary evidence that patients in South Africa who had survived an earlier bout with the more common coronavirus were becoming infected a second time - though not severely ill - after exposure to the variant with the E484K mutation. Another alarming data point has come from Brazil, where researchers fear the variant there has reinfected people who had recovered from an earlier bout with the virus. Armstrong and other scientists said the spread of coronavirus variants has not changed our understanding of how the virus is transmitted, nor negated the desirability of getting vaccinated. The vaccines still offer protection and are crucial to crushing the pandemic, disease experts emphasized. "The really important thing is, if you look at who went to the hospital and who died, the vaccines are really effective," said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. As far back as last June, researchers at Regeneron, the maker of monoclonal antibodies, a treatment for coronavirus, reported the E484K mutation as a roadblock for their product. The company formulated an antibody cocktail to overcome the mutation's resistance. The E484K mutation has appeared multiple times in coronavirus lineages across the planet, but that does not always translate into a functionally different version of the virus - something that would merit the term "variant" or "strain." "The thing about the variants is that they are characterized by multiple mutations. We don't actually know what part is played by most of those mutations," said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He pointed out that mutations that hamper immunity do not obliterate it. "It's not that immunity falls off a cliff," he said. "Some people will still be somewhat protected." "Eeek" has been the focus of attention in recent weeks because it is present in B.1.351 and P.1, the variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil, respectively. The United Kingdom strain, B.1.1.7, has spread more widely than the other two, but was considered less problematic until now because it did not contain the E484K mutation. As of Monday, the U.K. variant had been detected in 467 infections in the United States, according to Washington Post data. The CDC's Armstrong said Tuesday that the E484K mutation is not present in any of those cases. It is still very rare in the United Kingdom, turning up in 11 infections there, according to a report published by Public Health England. The report also offered preliminary evidence that the variant could be 65% more lethal. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said in an email that the appearance of coronavirus variants in the United States means that the country needs to "increase the urgency" of disease prevention efforts: "Vaccines, social distancing, masks, testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine are more essential than ever." - - - Booth reported from London. Harry Stevens contributed to this report. What comes to mind when you think of kung fu? If your mind is filled with images of Shaolin monks, Bruce Lee, jaw-dropping stunts or Kung Fu Panda, you are not wrong. But for Laurence J. Brahm, a documentary filmmaker from the United States, the first thing that springs to mind is the concept of nonviolence. "Wushu, the official Chinese name for kung fu, has been translated into 'martial arts' in English. Martial means military," Brahm told a roomful of people attending the premiere of his latest work, Searching for Kung Fu. As Brahm explained, if you break down the character wu, it consists of two characters: one is ge, meaning "dagger-ax", and the other is zhi, meaning "to stop". So, the meaning of martial arts in Chinese is not the "art of fighting", a notion that many people take for granted. On the contrary, he said, kung fu is the art of stopping fighting, the art of nonviolence. In the movie, Brahm takes the audience on a kind of pilgrimage, inviting them to accompany him as he travels to a host of historically important locations in search of the origin of kung fu. Beyond that, Brahm delves into the principles and values embedded in this Chinese cultural legacy, which dates back thousands of years but retains its enormous influence and attraction to this day. Get to the root The decision to produce Searching for Kung Fu was not impulsive. Brahm has a fourth-degree black belt in karate and has been practicing various Chinese kung fu styles for more than 40 years. The movie is the culmination of his passion, insight and discoveries. Brahm's relationship with kung fu dates back to the 1970s when he was a karate student in Hawaii. "My master always told me that if you want to fully understand karate, you have to go to Shaolin in China. That's where the origin is," Brahm said. "Karate was developed in Okinawa under the influence of both northern and southern Shaolin. I wanted to get to the root of it." Brahm embarked on a quest across the Pacific Ocean to go to Shaolin and learn about martial arts. In 1981, two years after China and the United States established diplomatic relations, Brahm landed in Tianjin and became a student at Nankai University. Later that year, he managed to visit the Shaolin Temple for the very first time. Today's Shaolin, situated at the foot of Songshan Mountain in Henan province, is something of a shrine to kung fu. Hundreds of thousands of martial arts practitioners, fans and other adventurers visit every year. "But at that time, very few people were there training in martial arts. I discovered that there were many masters out there, but they were quiet. People were learning, but it was very hidden. People were just beginning to reawaken to their own culture and the martial arts," Brahm said. He retreated from the mountain, a little disappointed at not finding the martial arts paradise he expected. But his passion for kung fu and his desire to find out more were stronger than ever before. Over the following decades, he spent time as a lawyer, government adviser, explorer and film director, actively participating in and recording China's development. Throughout the years, there remained one constant: his commitment as an avid student of kung fu, spanning tai chi, Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do, among a host of other forms, learning under some of the best kung fu masters in China. "I trained in many different styles over the years to understand all of them," Brahm said. The thought of making a documentary about kung fu had been in the back of his mind for years. In 2018, he found a producer, and the dream became a reality. Filming started in May 2019, with Brahm and his team traveling to several locations: the Shaolin Temple, the origin of a large variety of forms of kung fu; Chenjiagou village in Henan, the ancestral home of Chen-style tai chi; and Jingwu town in Tianjin, the hometown of kung fu legend Huo Yuanjia. He also took in several other locations around China that have some significance in the story of martial arts. "I think, to me, what's really important was going back to Shaolin," Brahm said. "There was almost a reason for not wanting to go back. I had to wait for the right time." This time, he said he was "really happy" to see Shaolin rebuilt and martial arts thriving. He spent time with Shi Deyang, a 31st generation practitioner of Shaolin kung fu. "You know, to be with him over those days in Shaolin, to be able to train with him, work with him, talk with him, and look at the originswe went up to the Bodhidharma Cave and practiced up therethis is a really important moment in my life," Brahm said. "We found out that taekwondo, karate and many, many different styles all recognize that Shaolin is the source, and it goes back at least to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)," Brahm said, citing written records in the Pagoda Forest at the Shaolin Temple showing that people came from other countries to visit hundreds of years ago. 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 book is the culmination of Millers research in Chicago and Detroit, plucking a few stories from the nearly 250 interviews he has conducted since 2008. But its also deeply informed by his own personal experiences with the carceral system. In his 20s, he served as a volunteer chaplain at Cook County Jail in Chicago, arriving with a Bible tucked under his arm and noticing how jargon like feeding time seemed more suited for herding cattle. Two of Millers brothers have done time, and Miller himself was 28 when he first met his father, who had spent two decades in and out of prison. My family was no exception, Miller writes. One in three Black men in the United States are currently living with felony records. Image Reuben Jonathan Miller, the author of Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration. Credit... Jonathan Miller Miller meets some of the luckier ones. As a kid, Lorenzo used to steal from his neighbors back porches; he was 10 when he was first arrested, and he would be again 14 or 15 times before he found a job as an intake worker at a halfway house. Another man, Martin, spent years living on the street, racking up 14 arrests for trespassing and another for drug possession. At 65, Martin has finally managed to get his commercial drivers license reinstated so that he can drive trucks for a living. Interviewing these men, Miller wears his social scientists hat, but he admits to chafing under its constraints. Hes supposed to maintain a scholarly detachment and use terms like family complexity and social desirability as shorthand for what he learns. But part of what makes his book stand out is how he parses his own proximity to the material. At one point he meets with another subject, Jimmy, outside of Detroits main bus terminal. The two of them walk a mile in the February cold to the work force development agency where Jimmy needs to fill out job applications as a condition of his parole, only to arrive at a gray high-rise thats closed. Against protocol, a freezing Miller gives Jimmy a ride to one of the other agencies: Jimmy made it to his next appointment and avoided potential arrest because I felt like giving him a ride. Jimmy, in that particular moment, was also one of the luckier ones. His incessant small talk had already irritated Miller, who could see that Jimmy was ingratiating himself because he operated in an economy of favors. Subject to so many rules that one mistake could cost him his freedom, Jimmy often had to rely on the kindness of others in order to meet his needs. But as much as such kindness is relied on to plug the holes in an unyielding system, generosity is just as often discouraged or even prohibited. Even the most understanding employer, Miller explains, can in some cases be sued for having a felon on the payroll. If you open up your home to a loved one on parole, youll be subjected to what theyre subjected to random checks, phone calls in the middle of the night, the possibility of a raid. Miller knows firsthand how compassion can be punished: He details the painful, tortuous process of trying to find shelter for his brother when he was released from prison. If I allowed Jeremiah to live with me, my family could be evicted, Miller writes. Gaborone Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has urged local businesses to tap into the beef market value chain for economic diversification . Speaking in an interview, BMC chief strategy officer Mr Brian Dioka said with Botswana's economic mainstay particularly, the diamond and tourism sectors recently facing a plunge in financial performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the beef market value chain presented business opportunities in goods and services supported under the space of secondary processing. He said BMC's primary mandate was to process meat and have it ready for consumption however and the secondary processing demonstrated opportunities that businesses could explore. Mr Dioka highlighted that the secondary byproducts within the value chain stood a good potential to boost the country's Gross Domestic Product. Notably, he said businesses should tap into pursuing ventures emanating from the value chain being, tannery; production of dog feeds/pallets; medicinal products; energy drinks; setting feedlots; and provision of refrigeration transport services to mention but a few. Mr Dioka reiterated that with the South Region, Cape Town having a decent market for beef products, Batswana should consider exploring the market presented for distribution of BMC products, either through setting restaurants or warehouses there. He illustrated that BMC facilitated the canning of beef products such as Serobe and other related products and offered assistance in soliciting the market where necessary. Mr Dioka said it was paramount for Batswana to acquaint themselves with BMC and its beef market portfolio to appreciate what was key within the beef market value chain. Source : BOPA Over 100 people, largely Christians, killed in mass attacks in DRC: Open Doors Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A militant Islamic group with an expansionist agenda has killed at least 100 people, mostly Christian, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, according to a report by the persecution watchdog Open Doors. More than 100 people were killed in three large attacks by the Islamic extremist group called Allied Democratic Forces in the Christian-majority country, Open Doors reported. On Jan. 14, about 46 people belonging to the Pygmy ethnic group were killed in Ituri province by suspected militants of the extremist group, which is known for attacking, kidnapping, and killing Christians, as well as training and sending jihadists to other countries in Africa. The roughly half a million Pygmy people face extensive persecution and discrimination in the country, Open Doors noted. On Jan. 4, about 22 civilians were estimated to be killed with guns and machetes in an overnight attack on Mwenda village in the Beni region of neighboring North Kivu province. Militants from the Allied Democratic Forces, which is based in neighboring Uganda, killed 25 more people in Tingwe village in the same region the same day. At least 17 nearby villagers had been murdered with machetes a week earlier in Mwenda village. The majority of those killed in the three attacks in the Beni region were Christians. Islamic extremist groups have a clear Islamic expansionist agenda, Illia Djadi, an Open Doors spokesperson on freedom of religion or belief in sub-Saharan Africa, said. It is a reminder of what is happening in other parts of the central Sahel region groups like Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, for example. The ideology, the agenda of establishing a caliphate in the region, and the way they operate is the same, and we can see how they afflict terrible suffering on innocent people. Between Nov. 20 and Dec. 3 last year, men from the Allied Democratic Forces killed at least 30 Christians, raped 10 young women and girls, and abducted several others from churches in a string of attacks on five villages in North Kivu province, according to the Barnabas Fund. Last October, militants believed to be from the Allied Democratic Forces killed at least 18 people, and burned down a church and several homes in an overnight attack in Baeti Village in the North Kivu province, Reuters reported at the time. The Allied Democratic Forces was formed in 1996, merging several existing rebel groups. In a 2020 report, the U.N. acknowledged that widespread, systematic and extremely brutal human rights abuses by the Islamic militant group could constitute, by their nature and scope, crimes against humanity and war crimes. While the militant group has not formally linked itself with the Islamic State terrorist group, IS has claimed responsibility for some of their attacks, calling Congo the Central Africa Province of the caliphate. DRC is at No. 40 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2021, up from No. 57 the previous year. (Newser) House Republicans are under quite a bit of pressure to discipline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her rhetoric around far-right conspiracy theories and false claims of election fraud, but they ended Tuesday by taking no action, Politico reports. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met privately with the freshman lawmaker for about an hour and a half Tuesday night, the AP reports, and he then called an emergency late-night meeting of the House GOP Steering Committee. But the meeting concluded with no decision made on what to do about Greene, including whether to strip her of her committee assignments or reassign her. (Democrats have threatened to move on that themselves if Republicans won't.) "We are going to be working through some things," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said upon leaving the building. story continues below The committee could meet again Wednesday, the same day the entire contingent of House Republicans are meeting to debate whether Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach former President Trump, should be booted from her leadership job. Meanwhile, the controversial Greene news continues to come in: In a previously unreported 2019 video, Greene mocks a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in Florida the year prior, NBC News reports. David Hogg, now 20, "is very trained. He's like a dog. He's completely trained," Greene said in an interview with a Georgia gun group. She called Hogg, then a teenage gun safety advocate, an "idiot" who "only talks when he is scripted." Hogg responded by saying Greene, who has made statements in the past suggesting the Parkland school shooting as well as the one at Sandy Hook were hoaxes, should be expelled from Congress. (Much more of the latest on Greene here.) Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday (February 3) took it to his Twitter handle to show his concern for the protesting farmers. Ahead of the proposed Chakka Jam on February 6 by farmer unions across the country, CM Kejriwal sent out a video message on the issue of missing farmers. He assured the unions that the Delhi government is trying everything in their power to reconnect them to their families. The issue of farmers missing from the protest sites is a matter of grave concern. We are trying our best to connect them to their families | LIVE https://t.co/nlGKNP01lx Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 3, 2021 The Delhi government has decided to help trace farmers who are missing from protest sites. I will speak to Lt Governor if required, assured CM Kejriwal through the video message. He further disclosed that the Delhi government will be releasing a list of 115 people who were detained by the police in connection with January 26 violence. This message came days after CM Kejriwals meeting with a delegate of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, who reportedly urged the CM to conduct a judicial inquiry into the alleged conspiracy against farmers protesting Centres farm laws. After this meeting, leaders of Samyukt Kisan Morcha while addressing the press said that the Delhi government had informed them that 115 protesting farmers arrested by police on January 26 were in Tihar jail. Delhi government had further informed them that they have demanded the formation of a medical board to examine the farmers. A mob of protesting farmers, who had reached ITO from the Ghazipur border, on the day of the tractor rally clashed with the police. While many were detained by the officials, a large number reached the Red Fort on their tractors and entered the monument. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Rajapaksa led government in Sri Lanka has cancelled an agreement signed by the previous regime in 2019 for India and Japan to develop the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at Colombo port with Adani Group as an investor. In a major disturbing development, Rajapaksa led government in Sri Lanka has cancelled an agreement signed by the previous regime in 2019 for India and Japan to develop the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at Colombo port with Adani Group as an investor. This happened in light of Sri Lankas regime facing the threat of nationwide agitations against port privatisation. The decision to develop the ECT was flagged off last month by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in the Parliament where he further maintained that government has not decided to hand over the management of the East Container Terminal, in whole or in part, to any foreign company. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had paid an official visit to Sri Lanka from 5-7 January 2021. Amid rising sour ties with China and Pakistan, Jaishankars visit was seen as a crucial one and might boost up India-Sri Lankas economic and diplomatic ties in the coming months. This visit signified the priorities both countries attach to strengthening their close and cordial relations in all spheres of mutual interest. Multiple sources said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stood by the agreement to develop the strategic East Container Terminal. Strong opposition from trade unions at the Colombo port had rocked the Lankan country since the announcement of working with Adani Group as an investor. Also Read: Myanmar coup: Myanmar General warns Biden, clear show of siding with Xi The ECT project was considered strategically important for India, mainly for security reasons amid Chinese aggression as the China Merchants Port Holdings Company holds 85 per cent stake in the Colombo International Container Terminal which is situated near the ECT. 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. Lords debate the genocide amendments to Trade Bill 2019-21 in the House of Lords chamber in Westminster, London, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Parliamentlive.tv/Screenshot) UKs Genocide Amendment to Trade Bill to Return to Commons An amendment aiming to stop and prevent the UK from doing bilateral trade with genocidal countries passed in the House of Lords on Tuesday by a two-thirds majority despite the Conservative governments objection. A previous version of the amendment was passed on Dec. 7 by 287 votes to 161, before it was narrowly defeated in the Commons. The modified amendment (pdf), tabled by Lord Alton of Liverpool, enjoyed cross-party support and was passed by 359 votes to 188. Of the peers who voted, all Bishops, Liberal Democrat peers, and all but one Labour peer supported the amendment. Most crossbenchers, non-affiliated peers, and 40 Conservative rebels also supported the amendment. The amendment will now be returned to the House of Commons, which will debate and vote on the modified version on Feb. 9. If passed in the Commons, the amendment to the UKs post-Brexit international trade bill will give UK courts the power to preliminarily determine whether a current or potential trade partner of the UK has committed genocide based on the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. If such a determination is made, it must be presented to both Houses of Parliament, and a motion must be arranged for debate in each House of Parliament requiring the government to set out its course of action, which may include (but is not limited to), discontinuation of negotiations towards, or withdrawal or termination of, that relevant agreement. Buildings at the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center, believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, north of Kashgar, in northwestern Xinjiang, China, on June 2, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images) The government had said it rejected the previous version of the amendment, which automatically revokes trade deals once a determination of genocide is made, because it would be a judicial overreach into powers belonging to Parliament. The modified amendment, however, is unnecessary, the government argued. Genocide, the greatest of all international crimes, is notoriously hard to prove, the Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone told peers. Therefore, there is a substantial likelihood that any judge could find him or herself unable to make a preliminary determination on the facts before the court, he said. Such a result would be a substantial propaganda boon for any foreign government accused, which could portray the outcome as vindication for their policies and undermine broader diplomatic efforts to bring them to account. He then said that the government would have acted well before a country commits genocide. It will frankly be absurd for any government to wait for the human rights situation in a country to reach the level of genocide, the most egregious international crime before halting free trade agreement negotiations, he said. Any responsible government, and certainly this government, would have acted well before then. Lord Alton said he proposed the amendment precisely because the government wouldnt act without a courts determination. This genocide amendment has its origins in 2016, when despite Parliament passing a motion on genocidal crimes against Yazidis and other minorities, the government refused to accept it, because a court had not made the declaration, he said. The all-party genocide amendment remedies a circular argument. Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp in Derike, Syria, on Aug. 10, 2014. (Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo) Lord Alton said the government opposed the amendment because of political reasons. At yesterdays meeting, [the] Minister said the amendment may frustrate foreign policy and create diplomatic difficulties,' Lord Alton told peers. Were talking about genocide, not diplomacy. Its designed to frustrate business as usual of a narrow and specific issue of genocide, and to honor our obligations spelled out in international law in the Genocide Convention, he said. Senior figures from the world of foreign affairs are appalled by that extraordinary argument from the government. The debates around the genocide amendment have been largely focused on the Chinese regimes treatment to Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The government repeatedly said that the amendment wouldnt help Uyghurs because the UK and China does not have a free trade agreement. The UK does not have a free trade agreement with China and is not currently negotiating one, Lord Grimstone reiterated on Tuesday. However, Lord Alton said, Lord Grimstone had said the contrary on the previous day. China is an important trading partner for the UK, and we are pursuing increased bilateral trade, he had said in a written reply to Baroness Cox. During the debate in the House of Commons on the previous version of the bill, cross-party MPs supporting the amendment argued that not passing the amendment would be outsourcing all future decisions on genocide to Russia and China, because they have veto powers in the U.N. New Delhi: The Centre has no plans to enact an anti-conversion law to curb interfaith marriages, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the issues related to religious conversions are primarily the concerns of state governments. The law enforcement agencies will take action whenever such instances are reported. In a reply to a question, Reddy said that the Centre has no plans to enact a central anti-conversion law to curb interfaith marriages. "Public order and police are state subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and hence, prevention, detection, registration, investigation and prosecution of offences related to religious conversions are primarily the concerns of state governments and Union Territory administrations. "Action is taken as per existing laws by law enforcing agencies whenever instances of violation come to notice," he said. On November 28, 2020, Uttar Pradesh became the first state to promulgate the anti-conversion law when the Governor Anandiben Patel passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020. The ordinance says that an individual who forcefully marries a girl for the sheer purpose of converting her religion can face punishment up to 10 years in jail. Besides this, mass conversions shall be punishable with a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000 on the organizations conducting it. In January 2021, the Supreme Court had agreed to examine the new laws of Uttar Pradesh regulating religious conversions due to inter-faith marriages. However, a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde refused to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to state governments on two different petitions. Live TV WESTPORT Parents urged the Board of Education to not cut an assistant principal or special education position, highlighting the challenges that would pose for the district and students. In a typical year a regular education APs responsibilities are imperative and robust and as we know additional responsibilities have been taken on because of the pandemic, Lindsay Sherman, a Westport resident, said at a BOE meeting this week. Her comments come as the school board reviews a list of possible cuts to Superintendent Thomas Scarices proposed $128 million budget. Last week the BOE got its first look at a list of reductions to bring the originally proposed 5 percent increase in the budget down to 3 percent, a target previously floated by the BOE. The list of possible reductions includes one full-time equivalent (FTE) elementary assistant principal, a part-time special education teacher and five FTE elementary paraprofessionals. But Sherman said she had grave concern of losing an assistant principal at Kings Highway School because of the possible ramifications. If we suffer a cut to either AP role regular or SPED the chain of events will negatively affect all children at our school, the second most populated elementary in the district, offering less education and emotional support at a time when it is needed most, Sherman said. Michelle Barman, a Westport resident, similarly urged the BOE to not cut an elementary assistant principal. The district already has one less than it needs, Barman said. You should achieve parity by bringing CES and GFS back up to three APs, not by lowering the bar and reducing the number at SES and, or KHS. Parents also spoke out on how additional cuts could affect special education. One area in particular that could be affected is the districts transition program, which is designed to help children in special education prepare to be independent young adults. Mike Rizzo, assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services, said the addition of a 0.5 FTE special education teacher as originally proposed would help make the position into a full-time transition coordinator. I think it would be very difficult to create that self-sustaining program, that in-district program, without the addition of the 0.5 to make it a full-time person, he said. By adding the 0.5 transition to make it a full-time person we might be able to take significant steps towards building that program that we can have on our own. BOE member Karen Kleine said she endorsed the program. I just dont think a lot of us realize how difficult it is for these young adults to gain autonomy, Kleine said. This is a program that will teach them how to do things and the sense of pride that creates. BOE member Elaine Whitney said this was one of the reductions she would be particularly reluctant to do. Im still thinking and will have to weigh and balance it with everything, but it does seem like a huge amount of value for a relatively limited increment of resources, she said. Despite this, the BOE ultimately decided to keep the possible reductions in staff on its list for further review. But administrators cautioned the effects of possibly cutting staff, and in particular another elementary school assistant principal. Rizzo said the reality is extra work will have to be picked up by staff who already have full plates if the cut is made. Any reduction to an assistant principal is a programmatic change and the effects of that will be felt throughout the elementary program, he said. It will affect special ed and it will affect regular ed. The BOE plans to vote on reductions in the budget at its meeting on Monday. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com St. Maarten:--- Motorworld, the official distributor of Hyundai, proudly presents the sensational new 2021 Elantra sedan. The all-new 2021 Elantra is the latest to receive a bold new look and boast high-end prestige that provides a unique balance of advanced features at an affordable value. Hyundai is becoming increasingly known for daring designs! Words hardly do justice when it comes to this incredible car, which sets a new benchmark for Hyundai. The new Elantra is designed to deliver more enhanced driving fun and engineered to boast bold new features. With its all-inclusive design, it is understandable why the new Elantra has earned several awards, including the 2021 North American Car of the Year, shares Tariq Amjad, Managing Director, Motorworld Group of Companies. 2021 North American Car of the Year The all-new ELANTRA takes top honors for its forward-thinking design and next-level technology. Looking boss and loaded with features like big, bold digital displays and wireless everything, the 2021 Hyundai Elantra dutifully earned the award of the 2021 North American Car of the Year by the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) automotive media jury. This is the second time the Hyundai sedan has won Car of the Year (2012). Only two cars have won the award more than once and this marks Hyundais third Car of the Year category win. This highly and prestigious coveted award accentuates a strong year for Hyundai Motor North America and Elantra, with recognition of the following key features: Dramatic four-door-coupe look comes to life with Parametric Dynamics design theme Segment-first wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Bold Inside & Out Transformed and loaded with technology, the all-new Elantra takes the spotlight with a giant leap into modern style and intelligent innovation with a full spectrum of choices for power and efficiency. Introducing a bold new take on sedans, the all-new Elantra showcases angular exterior details and an upscale cabin, along with a host of driver-assistance features that come standard, along with more advanced technological features. Engine, Transmission, and Performance The standard non-hybrid powertrain in the New 2021 Elantra is a 2.0L Smartstream 159-hp four-cylinder engine with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Hyundai engineers implemented several mechanical improvements to Elantras suspension to increase stiffness for a gripping performance, aided by 17-inch, diamond-cut alloy wheels, multi-link independent rear suspension, and larger front brake rotors. Driver-oriented features, such as paddle shifters and Drive Mode Selector system, enable a racing-inspired experience behind the wheel that complements Elantras sporty exterior styling. Interior, Comfort, and Cargo Like its dramatically restyled exterior, the cabin of the Elantra receives a bold update for 2021. The dashboard and center console wrap around the driver while the passenger's side takes a more minimalist approach. A single LED strip follows the dashboard-spanning air vent across the width of the car from the steering column to the passenger's-side door panel. Increased passenger volume adds comfort and style in the 2021 model, particularly in the rear seat. In addition, when your hands are full, the all-new Elantra is the only car in its class that provides hands-free smart trunk release. Infotainment and Connectivity The All-New Elantra features a 10.3-inch digital gauge display along with a second 8-inch infotainment touchscreen that sprouts from the top of the Elantra's dashboard. Hyundai's latest infotainment interface incorporates Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard features, as well as, a Wi-Fi connection. Elantra takes a giant step forward with technology and safety that set new standards for the sedan category. Once you experience the innovations, from wireless device charging to Bose premium audio, you wont settle for anything less. There is also a hands-free opening smart trunk, that will help you open your trunk if your hands are full. Safety and Driver-Assistance Features An array of driver assistance, safety, and convenience features add to the driving experience, In addition, Elantra owners get Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Design Elements Complement a Dynamic Driving Experience Elantras low and wide exterior styling and Parametric Dynamics design theme imparts a look of sophisticated sportiness. Elantras cascade grille gets a more aggressive look with an intricate geometric pattern. Arrow-shaped air curtains on the lower fascia support aerodynamic performance and engine cooling while giving the model a high-performance image. Elantras sporty side skirts and 17-inch alloy wheels accentuate the fastback sedans low and wide aesthetic. From the side, the cars dynamic styling is defined by arrow-like creases in its body panels that suggest forward motion. Glossy black molding on the wheel wells, side-view mirrors and side skirts provides a touch of modern sophistication to the overall appearance. Elantras fastback profile merges with a sculpted rear, designed to enhance aerodynamic performance and further express the low and wide aesthetic through horizontal lines adding to the cars performance-inspired styling. Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG The EPA estimates that the 2021 Elantra with the 2.0-liter four-cylinder will earn up to 33 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on the highway. Standard Features on the Award Winning Elantra at Motorworld - Premium Leather Powered Seats - 10.3 Digital Gauge Instrument Cluster - 8 Touchscreen with Wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto - 17 Diamond Cut Alloy Wheels - Wireless Smartphone Charging Pad - Smart Key with Remote Engine Start, and Push-button Engine Start - 8 Speaker Bose Premium Sound System - Power Tilting Sunroof - Full-LED front and rear lights with LED DRL - Rear View Camera - Front and Rear Parking Sensors - Rain Wiping Sensors - Hands-Free Opening Smart Trunk Warranty and Maintenance Coverage The 2021 Elantra carries Hyundai's legendary 5-year/100,000-Kilometer warranty. Visit Motorworld to experience the exquisite all-new 2021 Elantra. Low, wide, and ample, Elantra surrounds its driver with an impressive cockpit, for a solid feeling of confidence and capability. Youre in command! Test drive and take home yours today. 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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 COLONIE Community Care Physicians, one of the largest doctors practices in the Capital Region with tens of thousands of patients, says it's struggling to vaccinate its frontline workers against the coronavirus and likely won't have any doses for its patients for a while. "Right now, we do not have any vaccine... for anyone," Community Care said in an email sent to patients on Monday. The network, which has 2,000 employees, including 420 providers such as doctors and nurse practitioners, says it gave 400 frontline workers their first dose of the vaccine on Jan. 8, using a supply of vaccine obtained from a local hospital. The next delivery of doses that Community Care receives will be used to give those frontline workers their second dose. It is trying to get more supply, although it's unclear when any will arrive. The two vaccines currently approved for use in the U.S. made by Pfizer and Moderna require a second jab several week later to boost their effectiveness. Like other physician networks, Community Care places orders for the COVID-19 vaccine through the New York State Immunization Information System managed by the Department of Health. Community Care has been placing weekly orders for the COVID-19 vaccine with the state vaccine portal, through which it also submits detailed information to the state's vaccine tracking system about the doses it has obtained and administered so far. "Weve been completing this information consistently for about six weeks now," company spokesperson Alexis Musto told the Times Union. Community Care is not alone in its frustration to get it hands on enough vaccine to start offering it to its patients, although the Capital Region has had one of the most efficient vaccine distribution roll-outs in all of the state. Albany Medical Center is in charge of what is called the Capital Region Vaccine Network that is setting up vaccine clinics in coordination with health departments in eight counties, from Glens Falls down to Greene County. Besides health care workers, teachers and other so-called frontline workers, people 65 and older are eligible for the vaccine, although supply has been so limited that getting an appointment can be difficult. The vaccine is also being given out through two local Market 32 stores and through Market Bistro in Latham, although as of Monday, no appointments were available. So far, the Capital Region Vaccine Network has given out 111,000 doses of the vaccine locally with a goal of two million doses overall. Although only a fraction of that goal has been reached, the network says it has given out nearly 90 percent of its allocated supply, the second-best rate in the state. The North Country has the highest deployment rate. A mass vaccination site has been set up at the University at Albany. Community Care is urging its 65-and-older patients to try to get appointments if they can by visiting the state's vaccination web site or the Capital Region Vaccine Network web site or through Price Chopper's special website, instead of waiting to hear from their doctor. "You must get your vaccine elsewhere, at least for now," Community Care said in the email. "We understand appointments are not readily available. Youll need to check back often. Even if months out, take any appointment that becomes available. Go with the sure thing. Get the appointment wherever, whenever you can." Editors Note: The crash Wednesday occurred in Charlton, not in Sturbridge as Massachusetts State Police originally stated. A man in his 30s who was struck by a tractor-trailer and killed on the Massachusetts Turnpike late Tuesday is believed to have exited his vehicle at the time he was hit, according to authorities. Massachusetts State Police troopers responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a tractor-trailer in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 in Charlton around 11:20 p.m., law enforcement said. A 1993 Toyota Camry had become disabled in the breakdown lane. The operator of the car, a 33-year-old Hartford, Connecticut man, was standing outside of the vehicle to the left of the drivers door, which had been opened into the right travel lane, according to a statement from state police. An oncoming tractor-trailer struck the driver of the Camry as well as the open door, the statement said. The man died at the scene. His name has not yet been released by authorities. The Camrys passenger, a 35-year-old Hartford man, was not injured, according to state police. The tractor-trailer, a 2017 International that was hauling a 53-foot-long box trailer, was being driven by a 47-year-old East Hartford man. He was not injured and pulled over immediately after the crash, authorities said. The right lane at the crash scene was closed until shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday to facilitate the investigation and reconstruction, according to officials. The crash remains under investigation. The statement comes amid the arms control deal being recently extended by the U.S. and Russia. NATO's North Atlantic Council has issued a statement on the latest extension of the New START Treaty, noting the Bloc remains "clear-eyed" about the challenges Russia poses. "NATO welcomes and fully supports the agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation to extend the New START Treaty for five years. NATO Allies believe the New START Treaty contributes to international stability, and Allies again express their strong support for its continued implementation and for early and active dialogue on ways to improve strategic stability," says the statement seen by UNIAN. It also says Allies remain collectively determined to uphold existing disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation agreements and commitments. Read alsoNATO chief calls on Allies to boost defense spendingThe Bloc says Allies support further arms control negotiations, with the aim of improving the security of the Alliance, taking into account the prevailing international security environment. "Allies see the treaty's extension as the beginning, not the end, of an effort to address nuclear threats and new and emerging challenges to strategic stability," the statement notes. At the same time, it is stressed that "[e]ven as the United States engages Russia in ways that advance our collective interests, NATO remains clear-eyed about the challenges Russia poses." "We will work in close consultation to address Russia's aggressive actions, which constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security," the statement concludes. Reporting by UNIAN Prime Minister Florin Citu on Wednesday met with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, during her official visit to Bucharest, the two dignitaries highlighting the substantial character of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Spain and the opportunities for developing joint strategic projects, according to AGERPRES. According to a Government press release, the meeting took place in the context of the 140-year anniversary in 2021 of bilateral diplomatic relations and the first joint government session between the two states, which will be hosted by Spain this year. "The two high-ranking officials highlighted the substantial character of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Spain and emphasised that the special level of the bilateral relations and the post-pandemic context offers opportunities for developing joint strategic projects and added value partnerships and jobs in the economies of the two countries. The presence of a large Romanian community in Spain also contributes, in an essential way, in consolidating the partnership between the two countries", according to the press release. Furthermore, Prime Minister Citu appreciated the presence of Spanish companies in our countries and highlighted that the Romanian executive will continue to promote "investor-friendly public policies". The press release reads that several shared interest topics were tackled, with an emphasis on priorities regarding the ongoing anti-COVID vaccination programs and opportunities tied to the post-pandemic economic recovery. "The Romanian Prime Minister also reiterated Romania's major interest in finishing the process of our country's accession to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE), as well as to the Schengen space," the quoted source specifies. According to the press release, the foreign ministry of affairs Arancha Gonzalez Laya expressed Spain's "full support" for both of the Romanian Government's objectives. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Tom Hollander is the consummate show-stealer. I remember first seeing him on stage in The Judas Kiss, David Hares play about the Oscar Wilde scandal in 1998. Even though I can picture him strutting around as the treacherous lover, Bosie, I had to look up who played Wilde (it was Liam Neeson). Sometimes Hollander is the lead (remember his hilarious, deeply affecting performance in the church sitcom Rev which he co-created), but more often he spices things up with a piquant supporting role. Examples include the horrendous Corky in The Night Manager, which left a huge impression and won him a Bafta; his Edward Stratton in Baptiste was more memorable than Baptiste himself. From Gosford Park to Bohemian Rhapsody, Hollander has the happy knack of always being the best thing in the thing. But try telling Hollander that offer him puffery and he will re-route you faster than Waze. We are meeting to talk about his role as Douglas Petersen in the BBCs adaptation of David Nicholls bestseller Us. Its the story of the collapse of the Petersen family after Connie (Saskia Reeves), Douglas bohemian wife, wakes up one night to tell him that after 20 years of marriage shes had enough. When their teenage son Albie (Tom Taylor) heads off to university, she wants to leave too. European vacation: Tom Hollander, Tom Taylor and Saskia Reeves in Us, adapted from David Nicholls hugely successful novel. Credit:BBC First They set off regardless on a long-planned grand tour around Europes great cities that Douglas hopes will bring them all back together. Hollanders stick-in-the-mud Douglas is barnstormingly brilliant, of course but he just wants to talk about how great everyone else is. On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed the memorandum promoting abortion, rescinding Trump's pro-life Mexico City Policy. Christian Headlines reported that Biden has overturned the past administration's pro-life policy which would allow taxpayers' dollars to be used to fund abortions. Since its conception in 1984, the Mexico City Policy has banned organizations, foreign or otherwise, that counsel or promote abortion to get federal funding. Every Republican administration has supported the pro-life policy including Trump who renewed the policy in 2017 until the end of his term in 2020. Now, a few days in his office as president, Joe Biden already signed the memorandum to reverse the former administration's pro-life policy to reflect the current administration's goal of supporting the "reproductive health" and "sexual rights" of women not only in the United States but all across the globe. Under the memorandum, Biden has directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to "consider whether to rescind regulations under its Title X family planning program" which prohibits funding to clinics that refer for, promote, support or perform abortion as a family planning method. Not much of the memorandum has been elaborated during its signing. On the other hand, Biden says that the new memo "protects women's health at home and abroad." Unfortunately, this would also mean that the government will once again fund millions of abortion in the US which accounted to the leading cause of death among unborn babies in the United States every year. With Biden's latest move, foreign organization can now use taxpayers' money to promote, market and perform abortions. A pro-life pastor, Robert Jeffress, from First Baptist Church of Dallas criticized the newly elected Democrat president for rescinding the Mexico City Policy and openly promoting abortion saying that the US governor is now a primary investor on something that promotes death. "President Biden has chosen to make our government the primary investor in an international franchise that exports death, as well. All in the righteous-sounding name of 'global aid.' May God have mercy on our country," Jeffress said. He then added, "It is bad enough that these abortion factories perform their deadly work here on our shores." Another implication of Biden's overturning Trump's Mexico City Policy is the promotion of abortion. Despite the newly signed memorandum, the Helms Amendment of 1973 still prohibits the direct funding of abortion, especially in foreign organizations. However, an analysis by the pro-life group Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) says that having the policy in place strengthens the restrictions on promoting or even marketing about abortion. Without the policy, abortion organizations are more likely to operate in foreign countries especially with the additional funding that they will receive from the government. Under the Trump administration, Planned Parenthood dropped out of the Title X program after losing funding with an estimated budget of $60 million annually. There is still some good news for pro-life groups and those who support and value the sanctity of life since the state of Texas has already cut funding to Planned Parenthood facilities today after winning a five-year long suit against the abortion organization for its unlawful conduct and inhuman extraction of fetal tissues to further their own research. 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. Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey will be expanding its COVID vaccine distribution program to include some houses of worship and community centers. Murphy said the move will help the state reach more people in communities of color. We will be working directly with our communities of faith to turn houses of worship and other community gathering places into vaccination centers for local residents essentially bringing the vaccines to them, Murphy said. We undertook these partnerships throughout last spring and summer to ensure access to COVID testing, and we are going to follow this model for COVID vaccination. Weve had a lot of extraordinary leadership with our faith leaders as it was with testing, he said. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) will help the state execute the plan. Murphy said he will be visiting Mary McCleod Bethune Life Center in Jersey City next week as members receive vaccinations. Bethune Life Center was a COVID testing site the site last spring. We know this virus has had an outsized impact on our Black and Brown communities, and in communities that have been historically under-resourced, especially in terms of medical care, Murphy said. This is, after all, Black History Month, and I think that we all share a common goal of using this month wisely to help make COVID-19 history. Bethune Life Center has been administering vaccines for four weeks already, said Kim Scalcione, press secretary for Jersey City. She said they originally asked for 1,000 doses from the state to start, but they havent received that many. It received 500 doses in the first week, 300 in the second, 500 in the third and 700 in the fourth week, she said. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. UTICA, N.Y. Rose Grimaldi and Carolann Cardone huddled over tables stacked with more than 1,000 ballots at Mohawk Valley Community College last week, fixing their third big mistake in the nations only undecided Congressional race. They discovered theyd tossed nearly 400 ballots from people whose votes should have counted. It was just the latest mistake that has delayed the results of the 22nd Congressional District race for nearly three months. In the meantime, an empty chair not Democrat Anthony Brindisi or Republican Claudia Tenney has represented more than 700,000 Upstate New York constituents during a chaotic time in American history. The failures by Oneida Countys elections board have drawn national attention and intense scrutiny on the county and its commissioners: Cardone, a Democrat, and Grimaldi, a Republican. The errors have likely cost hundreds or even thousands of voters their voice in the election, even though the voters did everything right. The pair is facing calls to resign and, if that doesnt happen, for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to swoop in and remove them. Sarah Reeske, an organizer with Indivisible Mohawk Valley, said the commissioners errors seem to have undone her groups tireless get-out-the-vote efforts leading up to the 2020 election. Were rightly disgusted and rightly frustrated that all of our work of getting voters to register and getting voters to the polls can be completely undermined because of two individuals who havent been following state law, she said. So far, however, the political parties and elected officials who appointed both commissioners are standing by their commissioners. Each will stay put at least until the end of the election saga, party officials said. They were both just unanimously re-appointed to two-year terms. While the court battle plays out and Grimaldi and Cardone try to fix their mistakes, party officials and activists are trying to figure out how Oneida County found itself in this mess, plus how difficult it will be to get out of it. They blame increasingly complex election laws that state lawmakers change every year without providing enough funding for local training. Some also blame the political nature of the $80,000-a-year commissioner position that has no educational or experience requirements. Others put the blame squarely at the feet of the commissioners. Of course, there was also a global pandemic, which made for a uniquely awful year to run an election, they say. And those interviewed also agreed on one unsettling likelihood: We never would have discovered the errors in Oneida Countys operation if the race wasnt as close as it was. How many other errors occur all over the state but are never discovered? Most of the time, the number of votes affected by these errors is not enough to determine a winner, which keeps the errors unexposed and, as a result, allows them to be repeated in future elections, those interviewed said. You dont normally see any of this, because all these issues fell within the margin, said Bill Thickstun, spokesman and former chairman of the Oneida County Democratic Party. The fact that the 22nd Congressional District race is divided by only 122 votes of more than 316,000 cast means the operation is under a massive microscope. Highly paid attorneys have asked pointed questions to Oneida County elections staff who, under oath, have been forced to lay out their mistakes. The race has been long and painful, but it might also contain lessons in how not to run an election, said Luke Perry, a political science professor at Utica College. One silver lining presently, he wrote in a recent paper, is the light that has been shown on the flaws of Oneida Countys current system. Democrat Anthony Brindisi poses in front of his Congressional office upon being seated in January 2019. The office has not had a representative for three months. How we got here The first hint of problems in Oneida County began with what locals call stickygate, the discovery that Oneida County had placed sticky notes on a handful of contested ballots that disappeared by the time State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte reviewed them. That was in late November. It was the tip of the iceberg. Since then, major errors have been brought to light in Oneida County: Oneida County commissioners rejected about 1,500 affidavit ballots without allowing both campaigns an opportunity to review them More than 2,400 people filled out an application on time to vote in Oneida County via the Department of Motor Vehicles, but elections staff didnt process their applications by Election Day; And county elections staff ignored a state law that allows voters to stay registered to vote when they move from one county to another, so they erroneously rejected 700 ballots . (The ballots were later salvaged, but too late to be counted in any race except for the Congressional race) Each of those errors either disenfranchised voters or caused additional delay. The failure to process the DMV applications has caused the biggest uproar. When it came time to face the music in court, neither commissioner testified. Cardone told the court that she was unavailable because she needed to care for her disabled son. Grimaldi was sick, she said. So Kelly Comeskey, a 30-year-old elections clerk, testified about how the big DMV mistake happened. In her testimony and interviews with Syracuse.com, a picture emerged of an operation overwhelmed by recent changes to state election law and the huge increase of absentee ballots brought on by the pandemic. Enough staff came down with Covid-19 that the board of elections was reduced to half-staff for several months, according to Thickstun. Each commissioner has a staff of about 10 people. As a result of being overwhelmed, elections staff just didnt get to the 2,418 DMV applications that their office received between Sept. 24 and Oct. 9. Both commissioners declined to comment through their attorneys. John Dillon, who represents Cardone, said he didnt know why Oneida County seemed to have the hardest time handling this years election. But he defended his client, saying she worked tirelessly and did not have enough support to get the job done. Out of all the people who have criticized the board of elections, can any of them look themselves in the mirror and say they worked seven days a week, nights, weekends? Dillon said. Grimaldi and Cardone oversee the third canvassing of more than 1,000 ballots last week to fix their mistake: Voters who applied on time via the DMV but were not processed by Election Day. Writing was on the wall Months before Election Day, activists trying to turn out voters were worried about how prepared Oneida County would be on Nov. 3. In late May, Romes chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for example, criticized Cardone for failing to get absentee ballots out to Democratic voters for the primary election as quickly as her Republican counterpart. So chapter president Jacqueline Nelson said she wasnt shocked by recent events. Did this surprise me? I would rather say it disappointed me, Nelson said. Because after the conversation we had about the primaries, they said they were going to look into hiring more people. That was one of the excuses, was that they didnt have enough staff. Cardone testified that shed asked the county for more staff to help deal with the issues before Election Day. However, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr.s office never received such a request, a spokesman said. Dillon, Cardones attorney, said he did not know how that breakdown could have occurred. Cardone has served in the Board of Elections for more than 30 years. She doesnt have a college degree, but she is described as the hands-on commissioner who knows the details of election law the best. She was the deputy commissioner for much of that time under longtime commissioner Angela Pedone Longo, who retired at age 80 about 12 years ago. Since Pedone Longo retired, the Democratic side of the office has seen major turnover: A new commissioner every two years. This is Cardones second shot at being commissioner, Thickstun said. She was appointed to commissioner two years after Pedone retired, but that didnt work out particularly well, he said. Cardone got another shot two years ago, and Thickstun said shes handled the unforeseeable challenges of the last election cycle as well as anyone could have. So hes standing by her. We would not (be) happy to have the Democratic Party appear to take the fall for the issues at the board of elections, because in my view, theres blame to go around on all sides, Thickstun said. Grimaldi, the Republican, has been commissioner for eight years and was just re-appointed to her fifth term. Her deputy commissioner, Cathy Dumka, retired last year after decades in the office. Dumka is the sister of Picente, the county executive. Peter Sobel, the chairman of the Oneida County Republican Party, said the office lost a lot of institutional knowledge when Dumka retired. But he said his confidence hasnt wavered at all in Grimaldi this election, despite all the errors. She wants everything to work perfectly in that office, and thats her mantra, Sobel said. So obviously this has affected her, too. Despite the errors, the Democratic and Republican Parties in the county both decided to stick with their commissioner. The county legislature unanimously reappointed both commissioners to two-year terms in the weeks following Election Day. Under state law, only the governor can force their removal now. Grimaldi was reappointed Nov. 12. Cardone was reappointed Dec. 23. Parties nominate commissioners and submit their names to the party caucuses within the legislature. Once a caucus agrees to nominate a commissioner, the full vote by the legislature is a formality, according to Thickstun and Perry, the professor. The legislators did not debate the re-appointments, according to minutes and interviews. Republican Claudia Tenney, pictured in 2018, currently leads opponent Anthony Brindisi by 122 votes. Delays and errors in the incredibly close race have meant no one from the 22nd Congressional District has taken a seat in Congress.Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syr Where we go from here The fact that commissioners are selected in two private meetings first by the party, second by the legislative caucus without much public debate is one thing that Perry, the professor, thinks should change. In fact, the jobs should not be political at all, he said. They should be staffed with civil servants who have demonstrated their qualifications for the job, not political appointees. Running an election should be technical, coherent and precise, a job suited for a bureaucrat, not a politico, Perry said. But he said it might be a difficult sell for parties to give up their power over that position. If thats the case, they should at least consider bringing in outside experts, like professors or consultants, to get more perspectives on who should be nominated. That way you widen the circle of input at that point in the process where youre trying to figure out who would be a good fit, Perry said. You could also weed out people who might be trying to use the position as a step up the political ladder or who could get the job only due to family or personal ties to the party, he said. Thickstun, the Democratic official, also said the state election law needs to be simplified, even though he agrees with the changes that made absentee voting easier and other reforms. Election law needs a radical overhaul. It needs to not be 800 pages long. Nobody understands it, except two or three people in Albany who are election lawyers, he said. And its not just the commissioners themselves who could use some help, Thickstun said. The clerk positions and other jobs at the elections board are technical jobs. Perhaps a community college could offer an elections law class, he said, to help prepare the staff to prevent issues like Oneida Countys from occurring. Reformers should also seize the opportunity to learn from Oneida County, experts said, because races this close are exceedingly rare. Tenneys 122-vote lead amounts to a .04% margin. Gerrymandering or the drawing of district boundaries to favor one political party is one reason these errors are often hidden in wide margins separating candidates, said Marc Elias, a prominent Democratic lawyer representing Brindisi. We usually only figure out that there are issues with elections when theres a lot of scrutiny. If you have an election that is 60-40, no one pays much attention to the final issues that may remain, Elias said in a recent conference call. The debacles in the 22nd Congressional District have piqued the interest of New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), who heads the Senates elections committee. The committee will discuss a slate of bills aimed at preparing local elections boards for elections in 2021. Oneida Countys failures will show show in how election law is often applied differently in each of the counties in New York state, Myrie said in a statement. And it will generally be a lesson in what not to do. New York is the last state in the country with an uncalled House race, with no end in sight, Myrie said. Clearly, more action is needed to expand voter protections and elections administration, and ensure the law works for the voters. Contact reporter Patrick Lohmann at PLohmann@Syracuse.com or (315)766-6670, and follow more #NY22 updates on Twitter: @PatLohmann. More on the NY 22nd race: Judge delays NY 22nd race another week after last-minute Brindisi effort In NY 22nd, judges suggests there are no great options to fix Oneida County mistake Whats next in Brindisi-Tenney House race? Appeals, recount, could delay decision for months 700 votes were tossed in Oneida County. Officials ignored state law in latest mess up Oneida County botched 2,400 voter signups, preventing their votes in Brindisi-Tenney race At least 63 voters who did everything right could see votes nixed in Brindisi-Tenney race Court case to decide winner in NY-22 House race to take at least another week Trump refers to Brindisi-Tenney House race as he pushes baseless voter fraud claims This sudden concert of global celebrity voices against Indias government begs the question: who is wielding the baton? Tuesday night is too early for a midweek drink. But not for fulsome amusement, as it turns out. Popstar Rihanna first popped the cork in support ofnot the USs new line on healthcare or environmentbut farmers unruly and violent protests in India. Why arent we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest, she tweeted. Because we, or Rihanna as the grand plural first-person pronoun, know nothing about the subject. That was the most popular response. The river of memes, jokes, and outrage had begun hurtling down its course when in a couple of hours another voice lately of global pontification, teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, tweeted with the same, grand plural first-person pronoun: We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Overseas NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) followed, quote-tweeting Rihanna. Indian authorities should be releasing activists and others already jailed or facing criminal charges in politically motivated cases, not adding to that list" ~ @mg2411 https://t.co/OyiTBUjNz2 #FarmersProtest https://t.co/4hRqEISrML Human Rights Watch (@hrw) February 2, 2021 Now, HRW has been accused variously of anti-Israel bias, poor research and accepting funds from Saudi Arabia to look away from its human rights record. But more pertinently, it had received a record donation of $100 million from Hungarian tycoon-cum-global political meddler George Soros in 2010. The same Soros in 2020 pledged a $1 billion fund to fight would-be dictators, which includes Narendra Modi, a man who has been overwhelmingly voted to power by the people of India for the second time in the most transparent of elections. This is not the first time that some global celebrity has jumped into an Indian issue without any context, explanation, or seemingly, homework. Teenager Thunberg cannot seem to stop diving into these issues headlong. In May 2019, she condescendingly said: According to statistics, India is one of the top countries in the world that emits. India emits a lot since they have a lot of people and they have very dirty coal and so on. The fact that India has one of the lowest per capita carbon footprint (140th in the world, compared with the US at 14th and China at 48th) despite being a developing country with much bigger energy needs than developed nations did not come in the way of her tutored preachiness. Little Thunberg then thundered again in August 2020. Its deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the COVID-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID, she tweeted. Its deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the COVID-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) August 25, 2020 Again, without any idea about a huge majority of students and parents favouring the exams lest a whole year be lost, or the government making extraordinary arrangements to get the students to write the tests safely. Thunberg is not the only child wonder to attack India lately. Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban as a little girl and is now spending her 20s parroting the agenda of the Wests Left-liberal establishment, attacked India for scrapping Articles 370 and 35A which gave special status to Kashmir. I am deeply concerned about reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested & jailed, about students who havent been able to attend school for more than 40 days, about girls who are afraid to leave their homes, the young Nobel Prize winner tweeted. I am asking leaders, at UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] and beyond, to work towards peace in Kashmir, listen to Kashmiri voices and help children go safely back to school. In the last week, Ive spent time speaking with people living and working in #Kashmir - journalists, human rights lawyers and students. Malala (@Malala) September 14, 2019 She never mentioned that this was done to mainstream Kashmir, lift it from dark, bloody pits of separatism and terror, end discrimination against Dalits, women, and LGBTQIA persons. Nor did she wonder if certain curbs were necessary to stop Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks and widespread violence. Malala has also never waded into the subject of her home nation Pakistans brutal treatment of minorities. But this sudden concert of global celebrity voices against almost every decision of Indias democratic government begs the question: Are there invisible conductors wielding the baton? Is it a mere coincidence that big global brands like Rihanna, Malala and Greta, who do not tweet even a line out of whim, are doing it against India? Can Rihanna or Greta explain what exactly they have against Indias new farm laws? Is there a concerted global effort to destabilise India from outside, since chances of Congress or Oppositions electoral victory against Modi seem highly remote if not impossible? Who gains from destabilising India? How big power is it that can spend thousands of crores on anti-CAA and so-called farmers protests? What kind of power or network can activate big global names again and again? Only the future may tell us the answers. But we must ask the questions now because the darkest of evil often comes dressed resplendently in good intentions. Angelina Bellissima was parking her car around the corner from her home in South Philadelphia last week when she was jumped from behind by three women who kicked and punched her, doused her with pepper spray, and took off in her 2008 Honda CRV. Bellissima, 78, had just finished unloading some groceries around 4:30 p.m. and was stunned to be attacked in broad daylight. I just started crying, Bellissima recalled Tuesday. I said, Why me? I never thought this would happen. There has been a surge in the number of these brazen crimes across the city in recent months. Police arent quite sure whats fueling the rise. In January, there were 59 carjackings, up from 18 at the same time last year, according to the Philadelphia Police Department a more than threefold increase. This years uptick is a continuation of a disturbing trend that unfolded through last year, when many were out of work or had to work from home because of the coronavirus. There were 404 carjackings in 2020, up from 225 in 2019 and 230 in 2018, according to the department. One of the most terrifying carjackings last year happened in October, when a gunman, on the run after firing an AK-47 assault rifle into a Germantown church, raced up to a stopped car and shot and killed the 19-year-old driver while attempting to steal her black Infiniti sedan. A very young, innocent woman whose life was just beginning, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said of the victim, Skylar Owen of Broomall. A male passenger in her car survived a gunshot to the back. The suspect, Stanley Cochran, 29, was fatally shot by police during a gun battle minutes after the deadly attempted carjacking. Most carjackings are carried out by men, some wearing face masks or hoodies, according to police reports. They have struck victims across the city, from South Philadelphia to West Philadelphia to Kensington to the Northeast, and communities in between. Carjackings are a crime of opportunity, said Officer Tanya Little, a Police Department spokesperson. We can speculate and say its because of the pandemic, high unemployment, social unrest. ... However, many people experience hard times that are not turning to violence. Police are ultimately unsure of the reason for the spike, Little said. As part of what she described as continuing, comprehensive efforts, the department is evaluating the data and working to identify hot spots and patterns. The threefold increase in carjackings so far this year has affected nearly every corner of the city, police records show. The morning of Jan. 27, there were two carjackings in Kensington: A gunman stole a black Saturn at Kensington Avenue and Somerset Street, while four hours earlier on the 3000 block of Coral Street, three teens, two with guns, stole a black Cadillac CTS, according to police. Two days earlier, a gunman on the 4300 block of Locust Street in West Philadelphia stole a black Mercedes GLE 350. Greg Bucceroni, who recruits, trains, and supervises members of neighborhood watch programs as a community support specialist with the citys Town Watch Integrated Services, said he has been in a number of virtual meetings this year about the uptick of carjackings. Most of these carjackings happen mainly when people are parked and getting in and out of their vehicle, he said. With the distraction of cellphones, people are not paying attention to their surroundings. Its a crime of opportunity. His advice? Be aware of your surroundings, keep your windows up, doors locked, stay off the damn phone, and, if youre going to go to Wawa, Dunkin Donuts, or an ATM, turn your car off, take your keys with you, and lock the door. Officer Little, the Police Department spokesperson, gave similar advice, and added, Park in well-lit and heavily traveled areas, if possible, and please report suspicious activity. Bellissima, who lives with her daughter and helps care for an autistic grandson, said she got a good look at her attackers and believes she would be able to identify them if they are caught. I want them to get whatevers coming to them the fullest extent of the law, she said. I want them to take them off the streets so they can never do this to another person again. I want no mercy. [February 03, 2021] South Carolina Department of Education Selects DreamBox Learning to Support COVID-19 Academic Recovery DreamBox Learning, the K-8 digital math company that pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning technology, announced today that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) has selected DreamBox Learning Math to support teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate student learning loss. The SCDE will offer DreamBox Learning Math through June 2022 to 21 districts reaching more than 32,000 students in the most underserved communities in the state. "We conducted an extensive evaluation of math solutions that could help our districts as we transition from emergency instruction towards 'academic recovery,' and DreamBox stood out as the only solution that is both proven to increase student achievement and able to provide actionable learning insights for our teachers," said Dr. David Mathis, Deputy Superintendent at the SCDE. "DreamBox provides a prescriptive approach to help educators determine where students are in their learning, where they need to be, and a clear path to close that gap." Effective for in-person, hybrid, or remote learning and available in both English and Spanish, DreamBox uniquely personalizes the learning experience for each student through an engaging and motivating environment that adapts in real-time within and between math lessons based on how students are solving problems. DreamBox also offers educators interactive professional development courses to learn best practices for using DreamBox to teach online or in the classroom in ways that meet students exactly where they are. Independent research conducted by Harvard's Center for Education Policy Research shows that students who use DreamBox for just one hour a week improve their math scores by nearly 60% more than expected growth norms on benchmark and state tests. DreamBox has already shown measurable impact across South Carolina prior to the pandemic, including several of the largest istricts, producing 1.42 to 1.96 grade levels of growth when students complete five or more lessons per week. "We are delighted to partner with the South Carolina Department of Education to empower students across the state with an engaging, personalized, and effective math learning experience," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, DreamBox President and CEO. "We welcome the opportunity to help state departments and districts across the country instill math competence and confidence in their students, while supporting our invaluable educators every step of the way." Building Capacity for Teachers, Supporting At-Home Learning Guardians While supporting South Carolina students, DreamBox has also introduced features to save educators time and help them connect with students and parents. These new features include: DreamBox Predictive Insights : To help educators identify where their students are in their learning, DreamBox Predictive Insights equips educators with monthly data points that show the progress their students are making against end-of-year expectations. : To help educators identify where their students are in their learning, DreamBox Predictive Insights equips educators with monthly data points that show the progress their students are making against end-of-year expectations. Embedded Direct Messaging : While many teachers are challenged to connect with students during remote learning, DreamBox introduced an embedded messaging tool for teachers to send notes of encouragement, goals, and reminders to an individual student or the entire class. : While many teachers are challenged to connect with students during remote learning, DreamBox introduced an embedded messaging tool for teachers to send notes of encouragement, goals, and reminders to an individual student or the entire class. Professional Learning Library : DreamBox offers educators a variety of guided resources, including webinars and interactive learning guides, designed to help educators implement insights from student learning data and cultivate a positive math culture. : DreamBox offers educators a variety of guided resources, including webinars and interactive learning guides, designed to help educators implement insights from student learning data and cultivate a positive math culture. Parent Dashboards: DreamBox provides parents and other home-based learning guardians with progress snapshots that highlight important learning milestones for their students. South Carolina students and teachers join the more than 5 million students and 200,000 educators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico, who are experiencing the positive impact of DreamBox. To learn more about DreamBox, visit https://www.dreambox.com/. About DreamBox Learning DreamBox Learning, founded in 2006 in Bellevue, Washington, is the only K-8 digital math program powered by students, built by and for educators, and independently proven to positively impact student achievement. DreamBox dynamically adapts and differentiates in real time based not only on students' answers, but also on how they solve problems. Along with actionable reporting and tools that empower differentiation for all learners, DreamBox gives teachers content-specific professional development and provides administrators with insights about how all students are progressing. The company's pioneering platform has won more than 40 top education and technology industry awards and is used by 200,000 teachers and nearly 5 million students in all 50 states and throughout Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit http://www.dreambox.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005216/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) -- State leaders announced Tuesday that some Walmarts in Mississippi will start giving coronavirus vaccinations late next week. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said the final list of locations has not been finalized and there won't be many doses available for those Walmarts -- more than 6,000 in the first week to be split among approximately 30 stores with pharmacies. Still, he expects those vaccinations to begin February 12. Sending vaccines to Walmarts is part of a White House program to get vaccines to pharmacies across the country in hopes of getting shots to more people, especially in minority populations. Gov. Tate Reeves expressed concern about the federal government's plan, saying "there arent a lot of Walmarts in Issaquena County, and there arent a lot of Walmarts in very rural areas." Mississippi has not had great success with national chains administering the vaccine. Many nursing homes across the state signed up for its residents to get the vaccine through a federal program with Walgreens and CVS, but those vaccinations did not happen as rapidly as hoped. The retailers blamed the slow rollout on staffing issues in Mississippi. After a quiet few years, the FTSE is set to welcome a wave of fresh blood. Alongside Dr Martens and Moonpig - both of which joined the FTSE this week - a number of multi-billion pound companies are preparing to 'go public'. This will be the first time these companies will be open to retail investors. Investors often get excited about IPOs (initial public offerings), as they can be a chance to buy into a fast-growing company. IPO boom: After a quiet few years, the FTSE looks set to welcome fresh blood this year The IPO boom should also deliver a jolt to the wider FTSE, which has been flagging in recent years. So should you seize the opportunity to freshen up your portfolio? And can you get in before the crowd? Time for a change? As many investors will know, the FTSE hasn't had a great run lately. This is not a reflection of the UK economy. Indeed, many of the weakest performers are large multinationals with no connection to the British High Street. Oil majors, mining companies and struggling banks have contributed to the FTSE 100's reputation as an outdated index. Debut: Dr Martens' stock opened at 22 per cent above the IPO price when it floated on Friday, but has slipped 1 per cent since To worsen matters, the number of companies joining the stock market has ground to a halt. Dynamic new companies - the likes of Pret A Manger, for example - have instead raised money privately from rich investors. That's bad news for everyday investors and pension funds, which can't benefit from their success. It is a problem for the FTSE too, which has become less popular with international investors. But 2021 may prove to be the year that starts to change. The new kids The City of London is excited about a number of upcoming IPOs expected to take place this year. They include lockdown winner Deliveroo (estimated to be worth 5 billion), Cambridge-based cyber experts Darktrace and craft beer pioneers Brewdog. For Rob Burgeman, investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, the IPO frenzy is good news for the wider market. 'It shows that the animal spirit has returned to the stock-market,' he says. 'People are feeling confident enough in the future to want to float their companies.' Investors will also be hopeful that the likes of Deliveroo and Brewdog follow the trend of recent IPOs - where share prices often shoot up after listing. That was certainly the case for Manchester-based retailer The Hut Group, which joined the FTSE last year. The firm was the biggest IPO in London for seven years, and was accompanied by a large buzz. Its shares have since risen some 30 per cent in four months, rewarding those who got in early. Dr Martens' stock opened at 22 per cent above the IPO price when it floated on Friday, but has slipped 1 per cent since. Moonpig opened at 25 per cent above, but has since fallen 5 per cent. So how can you get in first this time - and beat the crowd? Big names: Investors will also be hopeful the likes of Deliveroo and Brewdog follow the trend of recent IPOs - where share prices often shoot up after listing Get in first The IPO process itself is complicated, with the first public shares typically offered to large institutional investors. 'It's a long-running grumble among private investors that they rarely get to participate in IPOs ahead of flotation,' says Lee Wild from Interactive Investor. Even so, it's worth checking the website of your investment platform about details of upcoming IPOs - and signing up for email alerts of future offers. There are other ways, however, for investors to put some of their money into new companies. When large investors invest in private (i.e. pre-IPO) companies, they will often include these shares in their retail funds. Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford, for example, has become well known for investing in pre-IPO companies. Most famously, the investment house was an early backer of Tesla. Its flagship Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust allows for 30 per cent of investors' money to be put into private (non-listed) companies. Taking a risk on IPOs: Rideshare platform Lyft, a competitor to Uber, has fallen 40 per cent since March 2019 This strategy has paid off in recent years, with 10,000 invested five years ago now worth more than 50,000 (before fees). For retail investors, this has the added benefit of diversification: you're essentially investing in dozens of companies at once. Risky buys But experts warn that - for all the excitement - investors should be wary of assuming every new offering is a guaranteed winner. 'Not all IPOs go well, as those who snapped up shares in Aston Martin Lagonda will ruefully tell you,' warns Russ Mould from investment platform AJ Bell. The car-maker issued its first shares back in autumn 2018, at a price of more than 10,000. Since then, its shares have plummeted, losing 80 per cent of their value in just over two years. And in the U.S., some high-profile IPOs have fallen short of expectations. Ride sharing platform Lyft, a competitor to Uber, has fallen 40 per cent since March 2019. The company had originally been tipped by Baillie Gifford, and was included in its retail funds. 'When it comes to IPOs, investors certainly need to take each deal on its merits and carefully assess each company's competitive position,' says Mr Mould. Either way, investors can look ahead to an interesting year and hopefully a stronger FTSE, too. moneymail@dailymail.co.uk (Newser) The Rosa Parks of textbooksa tired Alabama bus passenger whose small, solitary act of defiance helped ignite the civil rights movementleaves a lot out. The distorted fable misleads us at a time when the real story could help the nation understand its history and find a way past it, Jeanne Theoharis writes in an opinion piece in the New York Times. "Over the years, I have been rebelling against second-class citizenship," Parks said. "It didn't begin when I was arrested." She was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in 1955, but she had begun her civil rights work in 1931 on behalf of nine Black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women who were known as the "Scottsboro Boys." Parks spent a decade pushing the Montgomery NAACP to become more active in addressing voter registration, criminal justice, and desegregation, Theoharis writes. story continues below Parks worked with young people, encouraging more activism against segregation. Parks didn't meekly get off the bus, she asked police officers, "Why do you push us around?" Indicted under an old anti-syndicalism law during the boycott that followed, she turned herself in to police rather than wait for arrest. After her battles in the South, she moved to Detroit and fought the racism of the North, Theoharis writes. She was continually frustrated with the pace of change. "I don't believe in gradualism," Parks said, "or that whatever is to be done for the better should take forever to do." Yet the myth endures that "a simple seamstress changes the course of history with a single act, decent people did the right thing and the nation inexorably moved toward justice," Theoharis writes. It's the view that President George W. Bush evoked when honoring her by saying, "one candle can light the darkness." That's not how change happened, Theoharis says: It was disruptive and slow-moving. Parks persevered. "She placed her greatest hope in the militant spirit of young people," Theoharis writes. (You can read the full piece here.) A man accused of stealing valuables at his neighbours house has been charged with burglary and handling stolen property. Carlton Kuria Wesonga is said to have robbed Christian Ndeka of a television set, sofa set, electric kettle, a sub-woofer, mattress, plastic chairs, among other items all valued at Sh60,000. The accused is said to have taken advantage of Ndeka's absence to commit the crime. She had reportedly traveled to Busia but upon return found her house empty. Her neighbour had shifted houses but was traced and found with the items in his new house in Pipeline Estate, Nairobi on January 31. He is accused of dishonestly retaining the items in the course of stealing them, having reasons to believe them to be a stolen property. Wesonga denied the charges before Makadara chief magistrate Angelo Kithinji. He was freed on a Sh100,000 bond with an alternative cash bail of Sh50,000. The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture is updating the Export Strategy of Ukraine, which will determine the main directions of export policy for the coming years. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleksandr Romanishyn stated this during a public discussion of the draft National Economic Strategy of Ukraine until 2030 entitled "International Economic Policy and Trade, Export Credit Agency" held in Kyiv on February 2, Ukrinform reports referring to the ministrys press service. According to him, in this direction, the Ministry of Economic Development is focused on strengthening the interaction of institutions to support exports, expanding the tools of such assistance, in particular, ensuring access to financial resources. The ministry reminded that in order to create a modern export support system, it is necessary to ensure the full operation of the Export Credit Agency (ECA). In 2020, we carried out large-scale work on forming the regulatory framework of the Agency. In addition, there will be a ruling to increase the authorized capital of ECA to UAH 2 billion in the near future. All this will allow ECA to start working effectively and increase Ukrainian exports, increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian exporters, and support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, Romanishyn commented. As reported by Ukrinform, according to data provided by the State Customs Service, Ukraine in 2020 imported goods for a total sum of $54.2 billion (imports decreased by $6.2 billion, or 10.3%, from 2019). Exports from Ukraine last year amounted to $49.2 billion (decreased by $0.85 billion, or 1.7%). The largest volumes of goods exported from Ukraine were cereals ($9.4 billion), ferrous metals ($7.7 billion), as well as animal fats and vegetable oils ($5.8 billion). iy Former Princess Tessy of Luxembourg has claimed that she was 'put all the way at the back' behind a 'huge concrete column' at Grand Duke Jean's funeral in 2019. The ex-royal, 34, who lives in London and spent much of lockdown with her two sons Prince Gabriel of Nassau, 14, and Prince Noah of Nassau, 12, shared an Instagram post about her ex-husband Prince Louis' grandfather earlier today. In the post, she commented: 'At his funeral, even though I was put all the way in the back with a huge concrete column in front of me so that I could not see anything, I knew he knew I was there for him.' Grand Duke Jean, who reigned for 36 years but stepped aside in 2000 in favour of his eldest son Henri, died in April 2019, weeks after Tessy and Prince Louis were officially granted a divorce. Former Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, 34, has revealed that she was 'put all the way at the back' behind a 'huge concrete column' at Grand Duke Jean's funeral in 2019 Grand Duke Jean, who reigned for 36 years but stepped aside in 2000 in favour of his eldest son Henri, died in April 2019, weeks after Tessy and Prince Louis were officially granted a divorce In the post, Tessy shared a photograph of Jean with her two sons Gabriel and Noah, writing: 'We miss Urapapa everyday. The most wonderful, informed, Fair and kind man i have ever known. 'A man who loved his family as much as he loved his country.' She continued: 'I am far from being perfect. Yet, that was never an issue. Since the moment our paths crossed he made me feel loved, accepted like family.' She went on to recall his funeral where she was 'put' at the back of the church, saying: 'I didn't mind that journalist[s] were sitting with family while I was put where they put me. Tessy was granted a divorce from Prince Louis weeks before the Grand Duke died, and was stripped of her royal titles (pictured, at their wedding) 'Just the blessing of being there for him and for my children to know that mama is there if needed was all that mattered. I closed my eyes and saw everything in my heart.' 'It is rare to have such precious souls touch your life in a way that HRH did for all of us! A real role model to look up to for Gabriel and Noah.' Tessy of Luxembourg wed Louis in 2006, and has two children Prince Gabriel of Nassau and Prince Noah of Nassau with the Prince, who is the third son of the country's reigning monarch Grand Duke Henri. The former Princess, who lost her title after divorcing Louis in April 2019, is said to have maintained a close relationship with ex husband Louis, 34. European royalty including Princess Anne and King Philippe of Belgium attended the Grand Duke's funeral in 2019 The couple's fairytale marriage broke down in 2016, and they were granted a decree nisi in February 2017, after 12 years together. They were only 20 when they wed in 2006, getting married six months after the birth of their eldest son Prince Gabriel of Nassau. Prince Louis, who will now pay 8,000 a year child support, renounced his succession rights to the throne in 2006, a month after marrying Tessy - who was not born of royal blood - but to a modest family in the small town of Niederkorn. At a hearing in December, Louis was ordered to pay just 75-a-week to each of his two sons after a judge found his family's vast wealth could not be factored into a divorce battle with his ex-wife. Born a commoner, Tessy joined the Luxembourg Army in 2002 at the age of 18, rising to the rank of corporal. Two years later, when she was one of a handful of female UN peacekeepers in Kosovo, she met Prince Louis, who was visiting the army Their divorce was made official in April 2019, just weeks before the Grand Duke died aged 98. European royalty including Princess Anne and King Philippe of Belgium attended the funeral. Louis now lives in Paris, while Tessy juggles a busy work life with raising the couple's two children across the Channel. The philanthropist is the co-founder of social enterprise Professors Without Borders which aims to improve access to higher education across the globe. She also works as a consultant, public speaker and is a UN Association patron. The former royal shares her sons Prince Gabriel and Prince Noah with her ex-husband Prince Louis (pictured together) She recently spoke about the devastating impact of her divorce on a podcast, saying: 'When the divorce broke out, when it became public, my body just shut down - literally. 'I couldnt walk, properly speak, eat, sleep. I was a prisoner.' 'For me, I really had to build myself up again one day at a time. It was really hard. I learned you could not fix that with pills, so I never took any pills like anti-depressants or stuff...I had so much anxiety, I couldn't go shopping for food.' She added: 'Divorce was one of the most painful things I have gone through. I lost 98% of my friends. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Ltd has sourced the world's first consignment of 'carbon-neutral oil' from the US as it looks to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035. Reliance, which operates the world's largest single location oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat with capacity of 68.2 million tonnes a year, got 2 million barrels of consignment Permian basin, the US supplier said in a statement. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental, delivered carbon-neutral oil to Reliance, the firm said. "This transaction, which was arranged in conjunction with Macquarie Group's Commodities and Global Markets group (Macquarie), is the energy industry's first major petroleum shipment for which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the entire crude lifecycle, well head through combustion of end products, have been offset," it said. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Macquarie will offset carbon dioxide equivalent to that associated with the production, delivery and refining of the crude oil and the use of the resulting product through the retirement of carbon offset credits. This will make the oil 'carbon-neutral'. The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Sea Pearl containing the carbon-neutral oil unloaded the cargo at Jamnagar on January 28. "This transaction is a first step in the creation of a new market for climate-differentiated crude oil," the statement said. It is also a bridge to the development of a further differentiated petroleum product, net-zero oil, which Occidental intends to eventually produce through the capture and sequestration of atmospheric CO2 via industrial-scale direct air capture (DAC) facilities and geological sequestration. Ambani had in July last year unveiled plans to turn Reliance into a net carbon zero company by 2035. This will be done by embracing new technologies to convert its carbon dioxide emissions into useful products and chemicals. OLCV said the oil was produced in the US Permian Basin by Occidental and delivered to Reliance in India. "Macquarie arranged and structured the bundled offset supply and retirement," it said. The offsets were sourced from a variety of projects verified under the Verra Verified Carbon Standard meeting eligibility criteria for the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). "The volume of offsets applied against the cargo are sufficient to cover the expected GHG emissions from the entire crude lifecycle including oil extraction, transport, storage, shipping, refining, subsequent use, and combustion," it said. This type of transaction, which involves the bundling of high-quality carbon offsets with crude oil, is an immediate executable solution that helps promote investments in longer-term, industrial-scale decarbonisation strategies. It is also a step in the furtherance of Occidental's net-zero ambitions and commitment to addressing today. Occidental, the first US-based international energy company to announce an ambition to achieve net-zero GHG emissions associated with the use of its products by 2050, has been using carbon-dioxide in its enhanced oil recovery operations in the Permian for over 40 years. "We are taking important initial steps to work with our customers in hard-to-decarbonize industries to offer carbon-neutral and other low-carbon products that will leverage our expertise in carbon management to lower their total carbon impact and address Scope 3 emissions," said Richard Jackson, president of OLCV. (Natural News) Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida strongly criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) for visiting a propagandistic exhibition in Wuhan that extolled the power of the Chinese Communist Party as well as the courageousness of the city residents who sacrificed their lives in the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). The WHO sent a team of investigators to Wuhan, the epicenter of the worldwide pandemic, on a supposed mission to figure out where the virus originated. Since their arrival in Wuhan on Jan. 28, they have visited many areas in Wuhan, including two local hospitals and a seafood market. On Jan. 30, the WHO team took a break from their investigations by visiting the exhibition in Wuhan. This exhibition, which was opened in October 2020, displays Chinese propaganda regarding how they supposedly successfully responded to the pandemic. The content of the exhibition praised the CCP and its highest officials for their organized leadership and for effectively halting the spread of the virus in the country. This visit made Scott furious. Unbelievable, wrote Scott on his Twitter account. The @WHO continues to give oxygen to CCP propaganda and COVID lies. Bidens Admin should rethink rejoining the WHO without significant reform and reassurances they will stop parroting General Secretary Xi. (Related: Mike Pompeo calls for investigation into Wuhan lab, but Biden likely wont hold the CCP accountable for bioweapon release.) The WHO received a lot of criticism during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak due to its role in helping China cover up the virus. It initially parroted the claim of the CCP that it was not contagious, despite warnings to the contrary from nearby nations like Taiwan. Now, the WHOs investigative team in Wuhan is already being criticized for potentially being an instrument of the communist regime to promote its own coronavirus narrative. Chinese officials have even begun denying that the WHO team is an investigative team. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that what the WHO is doing in cooperation with Chinese professionals is part of a global study that is based on exchanges and cooperation on origin-tracing, not an investigation. WHO teams field visits in Wuhan are heavily choreographed by CCP officials On Jan. 31, a day after the CCP toured the WHO team through its propaganda exhibition, the team visited a market in Wuhan where one of the first reported clusters of infections was discovered. The market, known as the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Center, has been sealed off from the public since the beginning of the outbreak in January of last year. Journalists at the scene even noted that, after the investigative team was quickly ushered into the premises, the guards were quick to barricade any entrances and openings to block anybody from viewing what is inside. The experts also did not take any questions from the journalists. Security staff even told the reporters to leave and threatened a photographer who was sitting on a tall leader for a better view by shaking it. Very informative and critical for our joint teams to understand the epidemiology of COVID as it started to spread at the end of 2019, said team member Peter Daszak on Twitter following the closely monitored market tour. Its difficult to know how much Daszak and the other members of the investigative learned from their trip. The team left in a convoy after only about an hour in the market. Chinese state media have been attempting to downplay the role the Huanan market played as an epicenter of the virus, claiming that subsequent investigations have put into question the theory that the market was the main source of the outbreak. The state-run tabloid Global Times argued that the possibility that the coronavirus was passed on from cold-chain products into Wuhan, or more specifically, to the Huanan wet market cannot be ruled out. The WHO team also visited two disease control centers in the province: the Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and its city office in Wuhan. It is once again unclear how much the team actually learned from its visits. Daszak told reporters that the team met with Chinese scientists and that it was a really good meeting, really important, and refused to give away any other details. WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove promised that the team is planning to visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This is where certain theories suggest that the coronavirus may have originated from. The more detail you have on the ground, the more questions you have. The team will follow the information. They will follow the science and continue to ask questions and analyze data, said Van Kerkhove, who said that the team must decide with the permission of the Chinese state where else they should conduct field visits. We are in the field with experts from 10 countries looking to find answers, said Dr. Michael Ryan, emergencies chief for the WHO, as he sent a call to the public to help the team and provide them with more information regarding how the pandemic could have started. If you have the answers, if you think you have some answers, please let us know. Meanwhile, WHO officials continue to defend the Chinese state. The organizations higher-ups in Geneva, Switzerland are pushing back against suggestions that China is not being very forthcoming with the investigation. Learn more about how the coronavirus truly started by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Twitter.com StraitsTimes.com APNews.com At the same time, the government is yet to figure out the exact amount of state and municipal property is that is now de facto at disposal of Russian proxy forces. Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration Oleksiy Reznikov spoke about the material damage to Ukrainian government property inflicted by the Russian occupation of certain areas in Donbas, including the regional centers Donetsk and Luhansk. "Various estimates say about UAH 120 billion in property losses has been inflicted on us in the Donbas," the minister said in an interview with LB.ua. "According to the Vienna Institute for International Economic Research though, the minimum amount required to have the region revived will stand at about $22 billion," the official stressed. Reznikov added that the figures he voiced were "tentative," at the same time reiterating the fact that these figures are "colossal." Read alsoDonbas war update: Ukraine reports one KIA amid eight ceasefire violations on Feb 2At the same time, the Vice PM notes, the Ukrainian government is yet to figure out the exact amount of state and communal property that is now de facto under control of Russian proxy forces in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine. That is, the damage from the alienation of assets, including private property, will have to be thoroughly evaluated. Reporting by UNIAN Victorian health authorities are investigating a transmission of the UK variant of COVID-19 within one of the states quarantine hotels, after the virus jumped from a hotel room to a guest in the opposite room. The states public health team believe viral particles may have exited the room of a family who all later tested positive. Somehow, the virus either lingered in the air or attached itself to a hard surface, which then caused a woman in another room to contract the same strain of COVID-19. Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage and conducting environmental testing at the Park Royal Hotel at Melbourne Airport, including a further review of ventilation systems to ensure the virus did not carry from one room to another. A member of the family recalled opening the hotel room door - either to collect food or put out laundry - at the same time as someone in the room opposite opened their door. CCTV footage has not shown any occasion on which members of the two rooms exited their rooms simultaneously. Its COVID Valentines Day, which means weve made it almost a year under strict safety protocols and also, you arent going anywhere fancy for dinner. But that doesnt have to mean the day is a total wash. Why not use the excuse of celebrating your love for the person or people or pets youve been sharing every single moment of your life with for the last 11 months to get a few tasty treats delivered right to your door? Youll be supporting the economy, making an occasion out of another identical day, and eating or drinking something delicious. Here are eight treats you can order for the big day. And dont forget, if all goes well, maybe by next Valentines Day youll be able to put on some uncomfortable clothes and spend too much money on steak with a crowd full of drunk strangers. Note: Delivery and fees will probably vary, depending on where you are and what kind of account you have. For Caviar, these orders were made with DashPass, which makes deliveries free in many cases. Many things available on Caviar are also on DoorDash, which owns Caviar. Crumbl Cookies - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) With four locations in the Portland-area and five if you count Wilsonville, theres a good chance you could find a Crumbl that will deliver to you. We ordered through Postmates and received a pink box of four cookies ($14), each big enough to feed a family. These cookies are a special treat -- they are thick and chewy and covered in frosting. Usually, cookie frosting is cloying and overwhelming but in the case of these cookies, it just makes you want more. We recommend the chilled hot chocolate if you really want the cookie recipient to know they are loved. $14 for the cookies, and another $15.26 for delivery, fees and tip through Postmates. Carlita's - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) If you cant take your sweetheart out for a margarita and queso, why not bring the margarita and queso to your sweetheart? Carlitas has a nice line-up of fruit margaritas that come in a cute pouch. We tried blackberry, ($10) which was ostensibly for one person, but just fine for two people who also were watching a child. We got the delicious chorizo chili queso and house chips combo, which came with two tacos as well ($26.45), a perfectly reasonable amount of food for two people on Valentines Day if you are planning on getting dessert delivered, too. Otherwise order more or youll be fight over the last bites of delicious queso, which isnt exactly the ideal way to celebrate love. $36.45 for food and drink, and another $23.56 for delivery, fees and tip through Postmates. Fat Cupcake - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) There are so many benefits to ordering a box of mini cupcakes from Fat Cupcake ($2.15 per cupcake). First, you can get a bunch, because, you know, theyre mini. That means you get to try a lot of tasty flavors, like the lemon doodle or the raspberry rex, or maybe even all of them, why not? These are mini cupcakes after all. Another great thing about mini cupcakes is the person you get them for is definitely going to share with you, unless they are a monster, in which case just buy yourself a box of mini cupcakes and by-pass the middle man. We got a box of seven and they were so good they were gone in five minutes. Recommendation: get more than seven. $15.05 for the cupcakes, and another $6.68 for delivery, fees and tip through Postmates. Olympia Provisions Public House - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) Another option for at-home happy hour is Olympia Provisions Public House, which offers a spread that you can easily imagine set before you at a booth in a bar in the time before -- a charcuterie and cheese board, along with Swiss salad and a pretzel with mustard and beer cheese dip ($28). We also opted for the Cappelletti Spritz ($12), which was a refreshing 8 oz cocktail made of Cappelletti, cava, soda, orange, lemon, rosemary. We added ice and it was perfect for two people. The whole thing, a drink and a bunch of food wed never make at home, gave the table a definite date-like vibe, even with the toddler scribbling on her high chair in crayon. $40 for food and drink, and another $14.39 for delivery, fees and tip through Caviar. Buddy's Lounge - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) If your true love loves bubble tea and is over 21, they will probably really, really love boozy bubble tea, which you can snag from Buddys Lounge via Postmates in a variety of flavors. We tried the Tequilla Mangonada ($12), which featured tequila, rainbow jellies and tamarind candy on a straw. It was a party in a plastic cup. One bonus -- Buddys knows you need to buy food to buy alcohol but food isnt your main concern, so they offer $5 nachos as their only food option. Those nachos are basic with just ground beef, cheese, sour cream and lettuce and come with a handful of taco sauce packets and absolutely do the trick. We ate the whole thing. $17 for food and drink, and another $9.70 for delivery, fees and tip through Postmates. Salt & Straw - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) I cant prove this scientifically, but I believe ice cream is the perfect food and, unless the person you love is lactose intolerant, they will be overjoyed to get an ice cream delivery on Valentines Day or any day of the year. If they are lactose intolerant, they probably still want ice cream. Portland is full of good ice cream options, but if you want to get the fancy stuff, order two pints of Salt & Straw. This month, the Portland-based ice cream juggernaut is celebrating its 10-year anniversary by rereleasing flavors from the vault. Salted Caramel Cupcake has chocolate cake and salted caramel frosting and what more do you need to know, really? And Strawberry Tres Leches is a delicious strawberry party with huge bites of tres leches cake, plus its pink so its seasonally appropriate. And, if you do need a treat for someone who is not into lactose for whatever reason, this months vegan flavor is Lemon Cheesecake Crumble. $21.90 for two pints, and another $8.10 for delivery, fees and tip through Caviar. St. Honore Boulangerie - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) Romantic relationships under lockdown arent exactly swimming in senses of occasion. Every day is a lot like the last and no one is wearing jeans indoors, let alone putting on nice shoes. So ordering fancy French pastries you likely would not be able to create yourself is a delicious way to imbue the day with some class. We tried a chocolate eclair ($5.85) and chocolate raspberry delice cake ($6.70), the kind of layered cake someone might make to win Star Baker on The Great British Bakeoff. Both were delicious and something we would never be able to make ourselves and added some gravitas to a very normal pandemic morning. $12.55 for pastries, and another $3.63 for delivery, fees and tip through Caviar. Oven and Shaker - Valentine's delivery treats (Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian) Its Valentines Day, so why not get your love what they really want -- pizza. We ordered the pepperoni tanto pizza ($25.20), which was a deep-dish delight reminiscent of the good old days when you would read enough books to get your own little Pizza Hut pizza. It was cheesy and covered in crisp pepperoni and more than enough to feed two adults and one one-year-old pizza enthusiast. Oven and Shaker also has three cocktail options. We picked the Maplewood ($14.70), which is Benchmark #8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon, lime juice, maple syrup and angostura bitters. It came in a nice glass bottle and, over ice, it tasted like going out. $39.90 for food and drink, and another $11 for delivery, fees and tip through Caviar. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the OPEC+ group wrapped up their monthly meeting on Wednesday in record time and, as widely expected, did not make any recommendation about changing the oil production levels of the alliance. The JMMC meeting this month was more of a formality rather than disagreements and bargaining like the previous meeting since OPEC+ decided in January how it would proceed with the production cuts for February and March. This month, the OPEC+ alliance is easing its production cuts by just 75,000 barrels per day (bpd)of which 65,000 bpd will be given to Russia and another 10,000 bpd to Kazakhstan. In March, Russia and Kazakhstan are set to boost their oil production by another 65,000 bpd and 10,000 bpd, respectively. All other members of the pact are keeping their production levels from January. And of course, OPECs top producer, Saudi Arabia, is cutting its production by an additional 1 million bpd beyond its quota this month and next. So this months JMMC meeting only took stock of the oil market situation and the compensation schedules for those producers who havent fully complied with the cuts since the deal was enacted in May 2020. Related: A Glimmer Of Hope For Oil Markets Since the start of the pact, countries have compensated a total of 1 million bpd to make up for previously overproduced volumes, thus achieving 99 percent of the supply adjustment commitments, the JMMC ministers said, Amena Bakr, Deputy Bureau Chief and Chief Opec Correspondent at Energy Intelligence, tweeted. Those producers who still need to compensate for over-production have to submit their schedules by February 15, Bakr said. Todays meeting noted that an acceleration of vaccinations could spur a faster global growth recovery in the latter half of 2021, Energy Intelligences Bakr said. The next JMMC meeting will be held on March 3, and this is where discussions are expected to heat up again as the OPEC+ group will have to decide on the production levels for April, and possibly beyond. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cuyahoga County Council committee on Wednesday approved a 20-year-plus lease with FlexJet that would allow the private luxury jet company to build a corporate headquarters and flight operations facility at the Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights. Under the terms of the lease, expected to be considered Tuesday by the full council, FlexJet would pay the county $11 million over the next two decades. The agreement also includes two 10-year renewal options for an additional $15 million. The project is expected to bring 200 new jobs to the area, according to county records. The agreement with the county covers FlexJets lease of the property, as well as fuel fees and other related costs, Property Management Administrator John Myers told the committee. FlexJet will pay for construction of the facilities, which are expected to take 18 months to complete, said Jay Heublein, Flexjets executive director of strategy. The city of Richmond Heights signed off last fall on site plans for the project. The futuristic design for the operations center was described by architect Richard Hebard at the time as evoking a sense of aviation, with wings spreading out from a three-tiered central structure. Mayor David Roche on Wednesday said Richmond Heights is excited by FlexJets decision to make a major investment in the city, as it is one of its largest employers. FlexJet, a 25-year-old firm, has its current headquarters at the county airport. It offers fractional jet ownership, jet leasing and other private jet services. The company has a $2.5 billion portfolio, with offices throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Heublein told city officials last year. They know that teachers are notorious for not raising too much of a fuss, because they want to be here, they want to help the kids, theyre nice people. Thats who they are, Spivak said. Theyre taking advantage of that fact, is what it is. Well, we can just disregard the teachers because they wont speak up, they wont say anything, theyre too nice. "With the release of 122 drill holes and 8 drill rigs continually operating in Los Ricos North, our understanding of this truly large mineralized system is becoming clearer. We believe La Trini, El Favor, El Orito, and potentially a new area Casados will form part of an upcoming Los Ricos North initial resource to be released later this year," said Brad Langille, President and CEO. "Our 100,000m drill program should provide a continuous flow of drill results as we work towards defining resources, along with more exciting discoveries to be made in the Los Ricos district." Drill hole LRGT-20-094 intersected 8.5m of 203 g/t AgEq, consisting of 197 g/t silver and 0.08 g/t gold. The intersection was near surface, beginning at 44.8m. This hole also included 3.2m of 512 g/t AgEq, which consisted of 506 g/t silver and 0.08 g/t gold. Hole LRGT-20-094 is located on the last drill section at the northwest corner of the deposit and the mineralization remains open along strike and at depth. Drill hole LRGT-20-090 intercepted 23.5m of 125 g/t AgEq, consisting of 64 g/t silver and 0.81 g/t gold, from 145.3 to 171.7m. This included 2.8m of 530 g/t AgEq, consisting of 283 g/t silver and 3.30 g/t gold. The hole also passed through a void of 3.0m where the vein was historically mined out through underground workings. Detailed intersections are listed in Table 1 with drill hole locations included in Table 2. A plan view of La Trini is included as Figure 1. Figure 2 shows a wider plan view of a portion of Los Ricos North including the El Favor, El Orito, La Trini, Casados and Mololoa targets. Table 1: Drill Hole Intersections Hole ID Area From To Length1 Ag Au AuEq2 AgEq2 (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) LRGT-20-075 La Trini 79.6 98.7 19.1 43.7 0.36 0.94 70.6 including 95.4 98.7 3.3 65.9 0.74 1.62 121.5 LRGT-20-076 La Trini 86.8 111.1 24.4 81.4 0.36 1.44 108.1 including 94.7 99.7 5.0 118.4 0.90 2.48 186.2 and 119.1 138.5 19.4 38.4 0.05 0.56 42.2 including 137.5 138.5 1.0 126.7 0.17 1.86 139.6 LRGT-20-077 La Trini 105.9 116.8 10.9 88.7 0.67 1.86 139.3 including 105.9 110.9 4.9 125.2 1.38 3.04 228.3 LRGT-20-078 La Trini 102.0 129.0 27.1 37.6 0.05 0.55 41.2 including 102.0 103.5 1.6 185.7 0.04 2.52 189.0 LRGT-20-079 La Trini 87.3 99.8 12.5 89.4 0.10 1.29 96.9 including 94.8 98.8 4.0 141.3 0.21 2.10 157.4 LRGT-20-080 La Trini 94.8 100.9 6.2 118.0 0.06 1.64 122.8 including 97.8 98.4 0.6 868.4 0.08 11.66 874.3 LRGT-20-081 La Trini 120.7 131.7 11.0 62.9 0.02 0.86 64.3 LRGT-20-082 La Trini 77.2 86.5 9.3 50.5 0.03 0.71 53.0 and 94.8 105.2 10.4 48.0 0.04 0.68 50.9 including 96.3 97.3 1.0 183.4 0.08 2.52 189.0 LRGT-20-083 La Trini 128.0 144.8 16.8 58.2 0.39 1.17 87.6 including 129.0 131.8 2.8 169.0 1.79 4.04 303.2 LRGT-20-084 La Trini 125.4 148.9 23.5 57.3 0.57 1.34 100.3 including 131.2 134.2 3.0 228.4 2.73 5.78 433.4 LRGT-20-087 La Trini 99.1 125.1 26.0 40.5 0.34 0.87 65.8 including 120.5 124.1 3.6 103.8 1.05 2.43 182.2 LRGT-20-088 La Trini 147.4 166.5 19.1 33.8 0.15 0.60 44.7 including 147.4 150.4 3.0 97.7 0.34 1.65 123.6 LRGT-20-089 La Trini3 76.4 93.6 15.5 45.2 0.16 0.76 57.1 including 84.3 88.4 4.1 113.8 0.51 2.02 151.7 LRGT-20-090 La Trini4 145.3 171.7 23.5 63.7 0.81 1.66 124.7 including 152.4 155.2 2.8 282.6 3.30 7.06 529.8 LRGT-20-091 La Trini5 79.9 92.0 11.0 53.0 0.27 0.97 73.0 including 79.9 86.5 6.7 78.2 0.42 1.46 109.5 LRGT-20-093 La Trini 56.7 77.7 21.0 63.2 0.71 1.56 116.8 including 69.5 72.0 2.5 237.2 4.34 7.50 562.6 LRGT-20-094 La Trini 44.8 53.2 8.5 197.0 0.08 2.70 202.6 including 49.2 52.4 3.2 505.8 0.08 6.82 511.5 LRGT-20-096 La Trini 36.9 48.3 11.4 97.4 0.05 1.34 100.8 including 36.9 37.7 0.8 1214.3 0.25 16.44 1,233.0 1. Not true width 2. AqEq converted using a silver to gold ratio of 75:1. 3. Excludes 1.7m of historically mined void 4. Excludes 3.0m of historically mined void 5. Excludes 1.2m of historically mined void 6. LRGT-20-085,086,092 are omitted due to low mineralization, these results are available on GoGold's website. Figure 1: La Trini Plan View Figure 2: Plan View La Trini to El Favor Area of Los Ricos North Table 2: Drill Hole Locations Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Length LRGT-20-076 582937 2339765 939 234 -65 157.5 LRGT-20-077 582992 2339773 951 234 -65 172.2 LRGT-20-078 582956 2339798 945 234 -65 165.5 LRGT-20-079 582917 2339776 932 234 -65 154.4 LRGT-20-080 582923 2339828 914 234 -65 151.5 LRGT-20-081 582949 2339818 937 234 -65 169.9 LRGT-20-082 582909 2339809 912 234 -65 152.2 LRGT-20-083 583010 2339794 961 234 -65 199.9 LRGT-20-084 583042 2339764 963 234 -65 174.0 LRGT-20-085 583076 2339708 939 234 -65 148.1 LRGT-20-086 582996 2339812 958 234 -65 199.9 LRGT-20-087 583054 2339736 953 234 -65 148.9 LRGT-20-088 583080 2339783 977 234 -65 210.0 LRGT-20-089 583098 2339663 929 234 -65 170.0 LRGT-20-090 583058 2339789 973 234 -65 193.5 LRGT-20-091 583081 2339679 930 234 -65 158.0 LRGT-20-092 583117 2339707 947 234 -65 152.0 LRGT-20-093 582916 2339718 920 234 -65 163.5 LRGT-20-094 582857 2339820 886 234 -65 151.5 LRGT-20-095 582850 2339793 877 234 -65 128.2 LRGT-20-096 582813 2339764 860 234 -65 130.5 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, and the prospect of further discoveries there, 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. Related Links http://www.gogoldresources.com/ Delhi Police used tear gas and lathi charged tractor rally on January 26. (Image Source: Twitter/Abhijeet Dipke (AAP) The ongoing farmers protest against the Centres agricultural reform laws have left Delhi borders blocked for months, causing great inconvenience to the residents of the national capital and neighbouring states, the government told Parliament. The farmers protest that started in November 2020 has also resulted in huge financial losses to the government and the people, the Centre told Rajya Sabha on February 3. Replying to a question raised by Shiv Sena member Anil Desai, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said: The Delhi Police has informed that Gazipur, Chilla, Tikri, and Singhu borders of the National Capital are blocked by agitating farmers and it is inconvenient to the residents of Delhi and neighbouring states. In any agitation, there is the financial loss incurred by people and governments. Reddy added that large convoys of protesting farmers in tractors tried to furiously force their way and go past police barricades to enter Delhi on January 26. They aggressively resorted to rioting, damage to government property and used criminal force to deter public servants from the discharge of their duty, thereby inflicting injuries to the on-duty police personnel, he said in a written reply. The minister further said social distancing protocols to avoid COVID-19 spread was also flouted by protesting farmers as they had gathered in large numbers without face masks at a time the country is still battling the coronavirus pandemic. Clarifying why the Delhi Police used tear gas and water cannons on January 26, Reddy said: The farmers' actions left the Delhi Police with no option but to use tear gas, water cannons and mild force to control the crowd," he said. --With agency inputs TICKERS: MRO; MLRKF Source: Maurice Jackson for Streetwise Reports (2/2/21) Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable sits down with Millrock CEO Gregory Beischer to talk about recent developments at the prospect generator. Maurice Jackson: Joining us for a conversation is Gregory Beischer, the CEO of Millrock Resources Inc. (MRO:TSX.V; MLRKF:OTCQB). It's been a couple of months since we last spoke. Let's get readers up-to-date on the latest developments on the 64 North Project, as well as some of the upcoming drill programs that you may have slated coming up within the property bank of Millrock Resources. Speaking of the 64 North, several interesting developments are moving there simultaneously from road cutting sampling, assay results, trenching, and today the announcement of a 30% earn-in with Resolution Minerals. Let's visit the Aurora targets. What can you share with us regarding the latest assay results, sir? Gregory Beischer: Well, there's been a lot of water under the bridge, since it has been a couple of months since we spoke, Maurice. As you know, we aggressively drilled at 64 North, well throughout 2020, but even as late as December, we were finishing up the last two holes. However, I would say that all the drilling results were quite disappointing in terms of their gold content. Some of the holes appear to have excellent looking alteration features and veining, and we thought we'd tied into the system, but the gold wasn't there. I certainly don't rule out the prospect by any means. It was just about the first nine holes ever drilled in that part of the world. So lots of potential remains, but disappointing nevertheless. However, in tandem with that drilling work, we also completed a lot of trenching work and geophysical surveys. And we've developed with our partner Resolution Minerals three more targets. One of them is quite close to the Aurora. The drill trail that we constructed to Aurora goes right over what's now called the Sunrise prospect where we sampled the road. That's over 137 meters of road-cut; we detected strongly anomalous gold values continuously over that entire distance around 0.3 grams per ton. Its intrusion hosted mineralization is different than the nearby Pogo Mine, but perhaps more akin in its style to what one would see at the Fort Knox Mine, which is close to where I presently am located in Fairbanks. And of course, Fort Knox is a fantastic mine and a deposit style that we wouldn't be discouraged if we found one similar to it. And that is the sort of style and we are keeping an open mind, the flat line veins at Pogo, very high-grade. That would be great to find, but we always keep an open mind when we're in a gold-rich system like this. It could be any style-related to these intrusions. So, the Sunrise prospect well worth following up, and additionally, east of the Pogo mine at the Boundary prospect and southwest of the mine, the Eagle prospect, there are three great drill-ready prospects now that were developed between Resolution last year. And they've indicated their intention to continue to drill and test those projects in the coming year. Maurice Jackson: How many square kilometers are we talking about here? Gregory Beischer: The 64 North Project is huge. We had the unique opportunity to stake hundreds and hundreds of claims in a wide-open district. Very unique that a mining district like this was wide open except for the mine itself practically. And it's 660 square kilometers of highly prospective gold ground. So there's lots more to explore and it appears that our earn-in partner shares our confidence as well. Although the results of the drilling weren't what we hoped, we look at this project on a long-term basis and it costs us roughly USD 600,000 to develop and acquire all the mineral rights for the project. But at this point, we've recovered that investment. We've got a substantial shareholding and Resolution Minerals as a result of the deal, holding now about 14 million of its shares, which could still become highly valuable if there's a discovery in the coming year or two. And we have every reason to believe that that success could come. So I think we've done our job for our shareholders sticking closely to our generator model. Maurice Jackson: As a shareholder, one has to be fairly optimistic about the value proposition before us. If Resolution Minerals is demonstrating its commitment on a 30% earn-in, and I speak off the record with several respected names in the space and the recurring theme that I hear on the 64 North is: "it's there, they just have to keep drilling," but they have full confidence in the project. And I do wish to convey that I will be looking to add to my position at these prices. Let's move to Fairbanks, sir, please introduce us to the Treasure Creek project and the new relationship between Millrock Resources and Felix Gold on this project. Gregory Beischer: Today I'm in Fairbanks at Millrock's now northernmost office and surrounded by the Fairbanks gold mining district. The Goodpastor district just off to the southeast by about an hour and a half drive, that's where the 64 North project is located that we're just talking about. But more recently Millrock rolled three projects, Treasure Creek, Astrodome and Liberty Bell, all into a brand new company that's called Felix Gold. The company is named after Felix Pedroni, who was the original prospector, discoverer of gold at Fairbanks, and a fantastic amount of alluvial or placer gold has been mined from this area. And there's been several high-grade, past-producing underground gold mines, but by far, the star of the show is Kinross' Fort Knox mine, which has so far produced over 7 million ounces, I believe, and has a total resource of 13 million ounces. So a flagship mine for Kinross Gold, but a few years ago, Millrock started to build a property position in Fairbanks, a surprising amount of land, when it was still open. And we met people from what's now Felix Gold, and they got very interested in Fairbanks. And so we formed a strategic alliance with them that's meant to explore all over the Fairbanks district, but also aggressively drill on the toehold projects that we've got, Treasure Creek and Astrodome and Liberty Bell. And we're going to start with Treasure Creek, perhaps is as early as May. The Treasure Creek placers draining off our ground over 130,000 ounces of gold already recovered from the alluvial deposits, draining the uplands in which we're searching for lode gold deposits. There has been some drilling in the past, some big, broad, modest grade intersections along the lines of Fort Knox, for example, 0.9 grams over a good 30-meter thickness and very close to surface, some higher-grade intersections to follow up. So we've done all the legwork that we need to do in terms of soil sampling and the like we've got our targets picked out and we're just amending our exploration permit now and anticipate that Felix Gold will complete its initial public offering on the Australian securities exchange and become a trading company, a very well-funded one. And we'll get to work drilling holes on the project here and hopefully repeat the success that Freegold Ventures has had. Maurice Jackson: Switching gears, Millrock Resources in the past has focused on gold discoveries. That focus will now include more base metal commodities; which base metals will be the focus, where and why now? Gregory Beischer: Millrock has always had a steady pipeline of new projects and gold has been the main focus, gold and copper. The porphyries are the types of deposits we like to pursue because they really can be the huge ones that are worth a lot of money to the major mining companies, so we plan to keep adding to our copper portfolio. But more particularly, I think that nickel is a metallic commodity that's going to be in huge demand as well as in a huge deficit in the coming decade. We have ideas on where to search for nickel, as you probably remember, a big part of my background was with INCO. And I learned a little bit about nickel exploration along the way there, so that, and maybe even zinc, we have probably one of the most spectacular zinc deposits in the world and Alaska operated by Teck, the Red Dog Mine, and there's certainly geologic potential to find more incredible deposits like that. So those are the sorts of things we'll be adding to over the coming months and year, while we continue to work on our existing projects. Maurice Jackson: Before we close, sir, please provide us with an update on the capital structure. Gregory Beischer: Sure. Well, we have approximately 115 million shares outstanding right now; we'll have to issue more shares shortly to raise the funding. We need to continue to aggressively acquire new projects and bring them towards drill readiness and partnership readiness. So, that's going to be happening in the next few weeks. We'll do financing. Maurice Jackson: In closing, Mr. Beischer, what would you like to tell shareholders? Gregory Beischer: We are confident that Millrock has a great year coming up. It appears that we're going to be drilling on at least four different projects with partner funding. It may be more than that. We're closing in on potential deals on two of our other projects, one of them in Sonora, one in southeast Alaska. And so it could be even more than four projects. That's a lot of opportunities for drill hole success that can drive our share price higher. I think our company's an absolute bargain right now. I appreciate that you're going to be buying some shares and I can assure you that I'm going to be buying some too. So, I'm putting my money where my mouth is and I think Millrock's going to be worth a lot more in the future. You know, I look back at 2020, we were at the share price a year ago. We rose nicely through the summer in anticipation of strong drilling results. We were 20, 25, 30 cents a share. So folks that bought shares in our company a year or so ago, hopefully, took a little profit and did well. But I think that we'll do that well again this year. And if we get a bit of lock-in some good drill holes, perhaps a lot more than that Maurice Jackson: Luck is when opportunity and preparedness meet one another. And that's what we have right here before us in Millrock Resources. Sir, last question. What did I forget to ask? Gregory Beischer: You forgot to ask if the price of gold going to go up. I think the stage is set. We've been consolidating at these levels for a while, I'm no expert, but it just seems to be common sense that the price of precious metals is going to strongly increase soon. And you know, that's what makes the investment money flow in our industry. So I'm hopeful, that'll move soon and that we'll all be happy shareholders and Millrock and the other junior companies that I know you and I both share. Maurice Jackson: Mr. Beischer, for readers that wish to get more information on Millrock Resources, please share the contact details. Gregory Beischer: Please visit www.millrockresources.com and you'll find us. Maurice Jackson: Mr. Beischer, it has been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today. Wishing you and Millrock Resources the absolute best, sir. Before you make your next precious metals purchase make sure you contact me. I'm a licensed representative to buy and sell physical precious metals through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments where we have several options to expand your precious metals portfolio from physical delivery of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium directly to your home or office, to offshore depositories and precious metal IRAs. Call me directly at 855.505.1900 or email: [email protected]. Finally, please subscribe to Proven and Probable, where provide Mining Insights and Bullion Sales. Subscription is free. Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world. [NLINSERT] Disclosure: 1) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources is a sponsor of Proven and Probable. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 4) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the decision to publish an article until three business days after the publication of the article. 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You should not make any decision, financial, investments, trading or otherwise, based on any of the information presented on this forum without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with a professional broker or competent financial advisor. You understand that you are using any and all Information available on or through this forum at your own risk. Images provided by the author. For the rest of us, a return to any semblance of normal is a far off pipe dream at the moment, but it's reality for Listowel native Carmella McKay living on the Isle of Man, she has been living under almost zero restrictions for much of the past year. The Isle of Man was in the international headlines this week as they removed almost all of their covid restrictions as they emerged from the island's second 'circuit-breaker' lockdown which was brought in on January 7 following a cluster of positive Covid cases. This lockdown meant that the island's almost 85,000 residents were asked to comply with a comprehensive set of rules, including a strong advisory to wear facemasks even when outside. It has worked though, the island has not had any unexplained COVID-19 cases for 20 days and so Covid-19 restrictions were lifted shortly after midnight on February 1. It means that there is no longer a requirement for social distancing and members of the public do not have to wear face coverings. It also means that all schools and businesses on the island are allowed to re-open again. Despite the lifting of these restrictions though, there are still strict controls that remain in place at the island's borders, including rules on those who can travel to the Isle of Man. Carmella - who moved to the Isle of Man in 1995 - has told The Kerryman this week that they have spent more time living without restrictions this past year than with them. She said that she is baffled as to why Ireland, as an island, has been so dismissive of adopting a 'Zero Covid' policy, something which has been much talked about here in Ireland over the last few weeks. For Carmella, the positives of this strict strategy far outweigh the negatives. "We're looking at family in Ireland and in the UK and what ye are going through is just so completely different to what the Isle of Man has gone through. At Christmas time, we were still able to do a big light switch on, there was Christmas parties going on, the churches were packed out. Everything was as normal as it always had been," she continued. Their only experience similar to what we in Kerry and Ireland have been going through for much of the past year was in the early months of last year when the pandemic first started, since then though, life was almost at a complete near normal. "Between March and July of last year, we were in about a three month lockdown and then everything went back to normal from about July onwards. We got back to normality pretty much in July and then we continued on as normal until January 6 when there was a small outbreak which meant we had to have a hard 25-day lockdown," Carmella said on Tuesday afternoon. "We had masks and social distancing measures in place early last year but since I'd say around mid-June, there was no measures about masks, no social distancing that we had to adhere to. We had five to six months of a run at it, with no restrictions at all," said Carmella. Key to achieving this level of freedom and normality again is their government taking a very strict approach to their borders and who can enter the region. "Our borders here have been shut here completely since March 2020 except for key workers obviously, but you can't have visitors coming here, you can't have family, It's been hard obviously but it's worked," she continued. "Ireland should be closing its borders, closing all the airports, not letting anyone it. Even if they could that for a month to six weeks and just keep everyone in, you'd see a huge difference. Obviously, I know that the Isle of Man is smaller, much smaller than Ireland, but you're still an island, you should just seal off your borders. Just grin and bear it. It would make a massive, massive difference," she said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for President Biden to be impeached on his first day in office and endorsed the execution of prominent Democrats such as Speaker Pelosi, but she gets to write our laws. Greene believes the Parkland and Sandy Hook massacres were false-flag operations, says no plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, and speculates that space lasers controlled by a Jewish investors caused California wildfires, but she has a seat on the Education Committee in the US House of Representatives. Greene perpetuates the dangerous lies that the 2020 election was stolen and believes that Americans may need to reclaim freedom with the price of blood the calling card for Capitol insurrectionists but she remains unmuzzled by spineless House Republican leaders. It is chilling to have anyone who promotes political violence, foments sedition and spouts insane conspiracy theories in a seat of power. So if the Republican party has any intention of purging its nihilistic fringe and restoring any credibility, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy needs to remove Donald Trumps favorite freshman from her committees, where she may do serious damage to the rest of us. And if he balks, the Democrats must do it for him. Because we should agree on this much: This is not just the kind of talk that gets you ostracized in your workplace and disqualified from public service. This is the kind of talk that gets you criminal charges for credible threats of violence and a week in psychiatric observation. I am retweeting this video of Marjorie Taylor Greene without comment. The video speaks for itself. Also, Representative Greene is a Member of the House Republican Caucus in good standing. pic.twitter.com/1geqDo9ND4 Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 31, 2021 It was only 24 months ago when another Trump ally, proud Iowa bigot Steve King, was stripped of his committee assignments after admitting support for white supremacy. McCarthy called Kings remarks not the party of Lincoln, and definitely not American. His only remark about Greene, however, was a pre-packaged tsk-tsk largely because she is a Trump acolyte, one of several new members who embrace QAnon, the racist, anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that believes that Trump is fighting a deep-state cabal of satanic pedophiles and cannibals. It is now a significant portion of the Republican base: 30 percent of GOP voters have a positive view of QAnon, a new poll found. The Democrats are bringing a resolution to the floor Wednesday to strip Greene of her committee seats, which could force McCarthys hand. But if he doesnt take action essentially agreeing with Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who called Greene a cancer on the party Monday McCarthy should prepare for the possibility that her flaky faction will take over GOP before long. His only alternative is to surrender to the new ethos, which is tragic, because we are well past the point-and-giggle phase of these proceedings, particularly on a state party level. The Arizona GOP censured Cindy McCain for endorsing Biden and Republican governor Doug Ducey for imposing COVID emergency rules, and is pushing a bill that would allow the Legislature to override the popular vote in presidential elections. The Oregon GOP passed a resolution that said the Capitol riot was a false flag, engineered by Trumps opponents to make him look bad. The Virginia GOP nominee for governor, who calls herself Trump in heels, said the Capitol attack was justified because Covid restrictions caused fear that we are losing our republic. The Hawaii GOP issued tweets last week defending QAnon and praising the high quality work of a Holocaust denier. So it is no surprise that the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin last week that there will be more violence by right wing extremists emboldened by the Capitol attack. Greene isnt so much an outlier as representative of whats coming up the pipeline: The Republicans have spent four years in abject fear of Trump, and now they are afraid of a violent, racist, ignorant back-bencher from rural Georgia. It still leaves McCarthy with one question to answer: If Marjorie Taylor Greene satisfies his standards for decency, what can we expect next? Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. analysis Dabanga Sudan A compact digest of this week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox. RSF 'Peace Shield Forces' deployed in North Darfur February 2 - 2021 TAWILA / GENEVA One person was killed, another wounded, and three kidnapped in two separate attacks in Tawila locality, North Darfur, on Sunday. Witness Hasan Adam told Radio Dabanga that gunmen with cars and camels attacked the village of Barakarou in Tawila, injuring Mohieldin Suleiman (42) and kidnapped Yusef Hamid (18), Yahya Idris (22), and Abdelbaqi Hamed (30). They were forced into a vehicle at gunpoint and taken to an unknown location. Experts from the UN Human Rights Council called on the government to take urgent action to protect civilians in Darfur. The North Darfur State Security Committee headed by Governor Mohamed Arabi decided to deploy the 'Peace Shield Forces' in El Sareif Beni Hussein, Saraf Omra, Kabkabiya, Kutum, and Tawila to deal with the violence and lack of security. All roads to West Darfur capital blocked by Arab sit-in February 1 - 2021 EL GENEINA The sit-in of Arab tribes in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, has entered its second week. The protestors have closed all roads to and from the city, causing a rise in the price of goods. Delegations from Zalingei and Nyala arrived at the sit-in square in Kubari El Naseem in El Geneina to support the protestor's demands to dismiss state governor Mohamed El Doma, remove the camps for displaced people from the city, and restructure the state police force. More than 130,000 displaced people who have fled recent violent attacks in El Geneina now live in harsh conditions in more than 60 shelters. The displaced say that these shelters are overcrowded and that one family lives in an area not exceeding two square meters. They also say that food and water rations are not distributed regularly and there is a lack of toilets. Hamdok receives FFC nominations for new govt February 2 - 2021 KHARTOUM The Forces for Freedom and Change nominated people for 17 ministerial positions among the Council of Ministers. Khartoum also witnessed the formation of a new group demanding the right to govern Sudan's central states. Peace Shield Forces arrive in South Darfur January 31 - 2021 NYALA The acting Wali (governor) of South Darfur State, Hamid Al-Tigani Hanoun, asserted that "the force that arrived in the state is a strong boost to the peace process and the protection of civilians" after renewed deadly attacks in West and South Darfur. Deputy Chairman of Sovereign Council received by Emir of Qatar January 31 - 2021 DOHA Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemeti', was received by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to discuss relations between the two countries and ways of boosting them further in all fields. US military delegation: 'Partnerships key to lasting security' January 30 - 2021 KHARTOUM A high-ranking delegation from United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) led by its deputy commander, Andrew Young, noted the need to further the vision for a professional Sudanese military that is accountable to the government and its citizens. Govt formation delayed to February January 29 - 2021 KHARTOUM The Transitional Partners Council led by Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan agreed on a specific time to complete the formation of the Sovereign Council, the Council of Ministers, the Legislative Council, and the governors, following significant delays. Journalists allowed to travel into Darfur after criticism Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Sudan Media By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. January 28 - 2021 EL GENEINA / KHARTOUM The Ministry of Culture and Information explained that the travel ban was solely in place for El Geneina and concerned only foreign journalists and correspondents of foreign media organisations. Police and army clash while bread and fuel protests continue January 28 - 2021 WAD MADANI / KHARTOUM Clashes took place between police and army forces in Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira, resulting in a number of injuries. Sources told Radio Dabanga that the cause of conflict were 'disagreements' at El Tarifi fuel pump in Wad Madani. Thousands flee attacks in Darfur's Jebel Marra January 27 - 2021 JEBEL MARRA / EL GENEINA / KHARTOUM More than 3,000 people have fled their villages east of Jebel Marra and sought refuge, after groups of gunmen attacked villages in the area. An initial report mentioned six people killed. The attackers are still roaming the area. 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. Flash Another 16,840 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,852,623, according to official figures released Tuesday. The country also reported another 1,449 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 108,013. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. The latest figures were revealed as Britain is stepping up its effort to speed up coronavirus vaccine rollout to bring the pandemic under control. "We've now protected almost nine out of every 10 people over 80 and half of people in their 70s, and I'm delighted that we've been able to visit every eligible care home, 10,307 in total." British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons, lower house of parliament, earlier Tuesday. "We now have over 400 million doses of vaccine on order," he added. More than 9.6 million people in Britain have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures. Britain aims to deliver a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first dose by autumn. 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. ADVERTISEMENT The trial of Gibril Massaquoi, a former Sierra Leonean rebel commander who is accused of committing war crimes in Liberia, began on Wednesday in the Finnish city of Tampere. Mr Massaquoi, 51, entered the Pirkanmaa District Court shortly after 10 a.m .local time, wearing a grey pinstripe suit and a face mask. The session commenced with an official reading of the charges levelled against him by State Prosecutor, Tom Laitinen. A former commander of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), his charges include war crimes and crimes against humanity between 1999 and 2003. He is accused of committing and commanding the murder and rape of civilians. Among the murder charges is the killing of dozens of civilians and raping of seven women in the village of Kamatahun, Lofa County. The charges also include several allegations of cannibalism. As the charges were being read, Mr Massaquois attention was fixed on his court-assigned translator sitting next to him. A translator is tasked with interpreting the Finnish proceedings in English to him throughout the trial. Mr Massaquois defence team denies the charges. The defence is based on written evidence, said Kaarle Gummerus, his lead lawyer, in a brief response. Speaking to Finnish reporters outside the courtroom, Gummerus repeated the defences argument that Mr Massaquoi was not present in Liberia during the time that the crimes allegedly took place. The first part of the trial in Finland will conclude on February 12. After this, the court will travel to Liberia to hear witnesses there. Laitinen told reporters that this was found to be the most suitable solution, as moving the relatively small court to Liberia was more manageable than moving the extensive number of witnesses from Liberia to Finland. We will hear witnesses of both the prosecution and the defense, Laitinen said. It will be interesting to see, once we get to speak with the witnesses in the courtroom, how the narratives will play out. Mr Massaquoi is a former high-ranking officer of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) but was not prosecuted for his role in Sierra Leones civil war, because he was an informant of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). He was instrumental in the SCSLs convictions of other former RUF commanders and former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is now serving a 50-year sentence for aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone. In 2006, Finland signed a law allowing the placement of SCSL informants in the northern European country. Mr Massaquoi arrived in 2008, and settled in Tampere, Finlands third largest city, some two hours away from the capital Helsinki, according to a report by public broadcaster YLE. In 2018, an investigation into his alleged crimes was launched by Finlands National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Civitas Maxima, a victims group based in Switzerland, and Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), based in Liberia, had hinted the NBI about Massaquois alleged crimes on the Liberian soil. He was arrested in March last year and indicted on January 25 this year. NBI said it interviewed several witnesses in Liberia and Sierra Leone, who it says will testify in the West African nations later this month. The investigation does not solve this case, added Laitinen, only that which is said in front of the judge does. At the end of Wednesdays session, Mr Massaquoi was taken to the Tampere jail. The trial continues Thursday. This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project His co-workers and the citizens he protected are mourning the sudden loss of the Whitesboro Village Police Chief, Jason Buley. Chief Buley died of a massive heart attack Tuesday morning, at his home. He was 45 years old. Village Mayor, Robert Friedlander, shared the sad news at the village offices Tuesday, surrounded by past and present village employees, who were clearly devastated. Chief Buley took the helm of the department in June of 2019, after Chief Dominick Hiffa retired. About a year prior to that, then-Sergeant Buley eulogized his friend and fellow Whitesboro Police Officer, Kevin Crossley, after Crossley died in a car crash in the line of duty. As the police department grieves this second loss, the village mayor, who's also the public safety commissioner, assured citizens that they would be safe during this difficult time. "I want our community to understand that in the wake of this loss, your village will still be protected; our police department will continue to do their job to the best of their ability and we have full cooperation from other communities along with the state police and the sheriff's department that our streets will be protected," said Mayor Friedlander. Final arrangements for Chief Buley are pending. A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Buley family. The government has said may face action for not complying with its orders to remove content on farmer protests and attacking it (the government) with the word genocide in it. The protests in New Delhi have got international attention after pop star Rihanna and climate change activist Greta Thunberg tweeted on Tuesday about the internet shutdowns taking place in New Delhi because of the protests. In a communication sent to the microblogging platform on Tuesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said unilaterally unblocked tweets and accounts that were using the hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide, beginning Saturday. ALSO READ: India's reputation taken massive hit, PM must protect farmers: Rahul Gandhi According to sources, the ministry told in a written communication: It may be noted that the impracticability or disproportionality of the said measure cannot be decided at the instance of Twitter, which is an intermediary bound by the orders of the Central Government. In response to an email from Business Standard, Twitter said it did not have any comment to offer on the ministrys communication. Twitter erupts Voices against and for Thunberg and Rihanna dominated Twitter chatter Wednesday, with actors Kangana Ranaut and Diljit Dosanjh continuing their sparring over farmer issues with renewed zest. Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and other Indian actors also tweeted about the protests. However, despite the governments investment in the Indian diaspora, it was this that pushed their governments to get answers from New Delhi on the way India treated its farmers, eliciting a firm pushback from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Italian health authorities have inoculated more than 2 million people so far since the vaccination campaign across the European Union began late last year. Italian COVID-19 special commissioner Domenico Arcuri on Monday informed that the country has administered both doses of vaccines to over 6,59,000 people to date. The inoculation pace in Italy hit a roadblock in late January after it received fewer shots than expected. Read: Outrage In Italy As Moderna Reduces Jabs Delivery Italy's vaccination campaign suffered after American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer reduced the number of doses meant for Italy. The Italian government raised the issue with the company and also urged it to oblige the contractual agreement it had signed with the EU. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte even threatened to sue Pfizer if it doesn't meet its commitment regarding the delivery of certain amount of doses. Moderna and AstraZeneca, both of which have received approval for their vaccines in the EU, had also warned regarding distribution delays due to production issues at European sites. Read: Probe Into Italy Virus Response Looks Into Preparedness Plan COVID-19 response in Italy However, Italy has inoculated more people per capita than any other European nation, including Germany and France. Italy has administered vaccine doses to 3.4 people per capita, more than Germany's 3.0 and France's 2.3. But Italy still remains way behind than its former European Union peer the United Kingdom, which has vaccinated 14.4 people per capita to date, just behind Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Read: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte Resigns As Political Crisis Intensifies Italy is one of the worst affected countries in the world with more than 2.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 88,000 deaths so far. Italy recorded over 7,900 new cases and 329 new deaths in the last 24 hours. The country of 60 million people has a positive test rate of 5%. Italy has also imposed preventive measures to curb the spread of the the virus, especially at a time when fear of new emerging variants contributing to higher caseloads is evident. Read: Italian PM Giuseppe Conte Close To Resigning, Reports Local Media (Image Credit: AP) In late 2019, as various candidates jockeyed to win the Democratic nomination for president, Elizabeth Warren made the statement that she would ban fracking everywhere. It was just the kind of hollow campaign promise that I loathe, and I explained why that was an unrealistic promise. Then Joe Biden came along and pandered to the same crowd Warren was trying to impress. He promised no new fracking, but once again I explained why that promise wouldnt be fulfilled. Now that President Biden has issued a pair of executive orders that are viewed as hostile toward the oil and gas industry, many people have asked me whether Biden has in fact banned fracking. On his second day in office, President Biden signed Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. The biggest takeaway from the Executive Order was the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit. The project had been rejected by President Obama in late 2015, fast-tracked by President Trump in 2017, and now once more rejected by President Biden in 2021. But there is no mention of fracking in this executive order. Last week the administration also issued Secretarial Order No. 3395, which implemented a 60-day suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for federal land and water. This week President Biden followed that action up with Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. The biggest takeaway from this order was an indefinite pause on new oil and natural gas leases on public lands until a comprehensive review on the climate change impacts can be completed. The sound bite for many from this executive order was that President Biden had banned fracking as a consequence of this action. But as with the previous order, fracking isnt mentioned in this executive order. Further, if an operator has an existing lease and permit but hasnt drilled yet, they can still drill the well and frack it. The order does potentially impact some future fracking operations, but Biden did reiterate before he signed it Let me be clear, and I know this always comes up, were not going to ban fracking. But what Biden cant do by executive order is an overall ban on fracking, because most fracking takes place on private land. A complete ban would have to be passed by Congress, and that looks like a longshot. Related: A Glimmer Of Hope For Oil Markets For a more in-depth interpretation of Bidens recent executive orders, I spoke with Stacey Morris, who is Director of Research for midstream index and data provider Alerian. She explained that the orders were certainly not as bad as they seemed: These executive orders were pretty well-telegraphed. They were even a little bit softened from what was said during the campaign. The language on the Biden website discussed banning permitting on federal land. The executive order is a pause on new leases. They arent looking at a full out fracking ban. When I asked how companies might be affected, she explained Companies have been stockpiling permits in anticipation of a move like this. Right now there are 7,700 unused permits. Devon Energy, for example, has over four years of permit backlog and drilling inventory. They expect to be able to execute on their federal lands program based on comments made in November. She added that some states that could be most impacted longer-term are New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Colorado. In the long run, she said that a ban on drilling on federal land could lead to more imports. In that case, we could end up using oil that is produced with more associated carbon emissions than if it had been produced in the U.S. I remarked that President Biden seemed to be going further left than President Obama on these issues, and she said that is probably because climate change is widely viewed as a more pressing problem now. Hence, Biden feels compelled to pursue more aggressive actions. She said that the bottom line is the bark was worse than the bite: The headline looks scary, but we dont see any immediate impact from these executive orders. For those who are worried about your gasoline prices going up, this is definitely not the reason. By Robert Rapier More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Michele Wee, the newly-appointed CEO of Standard Chartered Vietnam A seasoned banker with over 25 years of industry experience, Michele joined Standard Chartered in 2011 as Global Head of E-commerce Sales to build an e-commerce business distribution channel for the banks Financial Markets (FM) clients. Prior to her appointment as CEO of Vietnam, she was the head of FM for Singapore, Australia, and Brunei, in which she was responsible for the development and execution of these markets FM strategy. Vietnam is an important market for our global network with significant opportunities to develop our businesses with universal banking capabilities. My key focus will be on providing valuable support and benefits to our clients, regulators, and the communities, building on our unrivalled local knowledge and international expertise, Michele said. Despite the unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam continues to offer exciting business and investment opportunities given its strong fundamentals of a young, dynamic, and tech-savvy population, a growing domestic market, a rising middle class, and an open economy. The country has been an investment magnet for many years and holds great growth potential for the future. I look forward to working with my Vietnam team and relevant stakeholders to support Vietnams sustainable development, she added. Michele takes over the reins from Nirukt Sapru who was appointed as CEO for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 2013, and in 2015 took on the expanded role as the regional CEO for ASEAN and South Asia cluster markets including Australia, Brunei, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Under his leadership, Standard Chartered Vietnam has recorded strong growth in all business segments and made valuable contributions to Vietnams economic development process. Standard Chartered is one of the first international banks to establish a presence in Vietnam, having set up its first branch in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in 1904. The bank provides a full suite of banking products and services for corporates, financial institutions, as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises and individuals. It also plays an active role in building the communities through many programmes that promote social and economic development focusing on health, youth, and financial education. The global ratings agency Fitch recently rated Standard Chartered Vietnam BB and BBB- for its long-term issuer default foreign currency rating and local currency rating respectively. These ratings are capped by Fitchs country ceiling of BB for Vietnam and would typically represent the highest possible rating for a bank operating in Vietnam. The outlooks on these ratings are stable. The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine appears to substantially reduce transmission of the virus, rather than simply preventing symptomatic infections, UK researchers have suggested. The rate of positive PCR tests declined by about half after two doses, according to preliminary results by researchers at the University of Oxford that have yet to be peer reviewed. Their analysis, released as a preprint Tuesday, also supports spacing out doses and estimates good efficacy after just one shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The study did not measure transmission directly -- for example, by tracing contacts who were infected by study volunteers. But the researchers did collect regular nasal swabs from some participants and found that the rate of positive PCR tests fell by half after two doses of the vaccine. After one dose only, the rate of positive tests fell by 67%. 'While transmission studies per se were not included in the analysis, swabs were obtained from volunteers every week in the UK study, regardless of symptoms, to allow assessment of the overall impact of the vaccine on risk of infection and thus a surrogate for potential onward transmission,' the authors write. If the vaccine were simply making infections milder, PCR positivity would not change, the authors argued in the preprint analysis. 'A measure of overall PCR positivity is appropriate to assess whether there is a reduction in the burden of infection.' Coronavirus vaccine trials have primarily looked at prevention of symptomatic cases of Covid-19. Previously, there has been little other public data suggesting that vaccines could prevent people from passing the infection to others. Speaking to the UK's Science Media Centre (SMC), Helen Fletcher, professor of immunology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the data in the study 'suggest a possibility that the vaccine could have an impact on transmission but further follow-up would be needed to confirm this.' Dr. Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, told the SMC the study 'hints that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may be effective in stopping people being able to transmit the virus.' He added: 'While this would be extremely welcome news, we do need more data before this can be confirmed and so it's important that we all still continue to follow social distancing guidance after we have been vaccinated.' Salim Abdool Karim, the chair of the South African government's coronavirus advisory panel, told CNN on Wednesday that the results shared in the preprint were a 'promising start' to understanding coronavirus transmission after vaccination but that more research is needed. Dose spacing The vaccine showed 66.7% efficacy against symptomatic disease starting two weeks after the second shot, researchers at the University of Oxford said. The new analysis adds new trial sites and a month of new data to the mix, building upon earlier results announced by AstraZeneca that its vaccine had showed an estimated 70.4% efficacy. However, the latest research also suggests the vaccine may offer substantial protection after a single shot. The study estimates 76% efficacy up to three months following one dose. This is based on a subset of 88 symptomatic infections, split unevenly between the vaccine and placebo groups between 22 and 90 days after vaccination. The study also found relatively stable levels of antibodies during this time frame, 'with minimal waning by day 90.' Furthermore, the authors suggest there could be higher efficacy with more spaced-out doses. Among adults age 18 to 55, vaccine efficacy appeared to rise when the time between shots was spaced out from less than six weeks to more than 12. However, more information is needed to know how statistically different that finding is. Taken together, the findings may bolster the UK's decision to recommend spacing out doses up to 12 weeks apart, according to a statement from the chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial and co-author of the paper, Andrew Pollard. 'This is positive news as it shows that just one dose of this vaccine generates good levels of immunity and that this protection does not seem to wane in the shorter term,' said Brown, of the British Society for Immunology. 'In immunology terms, this finding is not unexpected as we know that some other vaccines confer better immunity when the doses are more spread out. Although further information is required to confirm these findings for older age groups, overall this new research should provide reassurance around the UK's decision to offer the two doses of this vaccine 12 weeks apart.' Professor Azra Ghani, chair in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, cautioned against interpreting the estimates in the study as indicative of a higher efficacy with a longer dosing gap, citing limitations with the study design. 'Most importantly, the study was not designed to look at different dosing gaps or at one versus two doses. This means that participants weren't randomised and it is therefore quite possible that there are other things that are driving this apparent trend with dosing schedule,' she told the SMC. 'The only way in which this question can be answered robustly is in a prospective trial with different dosing schedules compared side-by-side.' 'Inevitable uncertainty' Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the extra data in the paper were helpful but that some 'inevitable uncertainty' around exact efficacy values remained. 'The data definitely provide some evidence to suggest that the eventual protection from two doses of this vaccine are not worsened by having a longer than 28 or 42 day period between doses and tend to confirm what had been shown before, that if anything the eventual efficacy was better,' he said. 'The data also do not provide any evidence that efficacy wanes after the first dose.' Similar data is not yet available on delaying the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to 12 weeks after the first dose, said Dr. Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, past chair of policy and communications at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in comments to the SMC. But, he added, 'most commentators agree that it is likely to be the same with that vaccine, and indeed, other two dose vaccines.' The authors caveat that the trials were not initially designed to evaluate efficacy by dose intervals, but the data 'arose due to the logistics of running large-scale clinical trials in a pandemic setting.' The primary analysis is based on 332 symptomatic infections that occurred among more than 17,000 trial volunteers in the UK, Brazil and South Africa more than two weeks after their second dose. AstraZeneca announced last month it had completed enrollment in its Phase 3 trial in the United States, which will serve as 'the primary basis' for the company's eventual application to the US Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine has already been authorized in a number countries, such as the UK and India, but authorization may not come in the US until late March at the earliest, according to Operation Warp Speed's Moncef Slaoui. Ultra announced on February 3 that a contract has been signed to start work on the key Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) system for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program named the Towed Low Frequency Active Sonar (TLFAS). This subcontract moves the development of CSCs anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability from the program definition phase into the full manufacture and delivery of the vessels suite of sonars. Ultra announced on February 3 that a contract has been signed to start work on the key Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) system for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) program named the Towed Low Frequency Active Sonar (TLFAS). This subcontract moves the development of CSCs anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability from the program definition phase into the full manufacture and delivery of the vessels suite of sonars. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link The TLFAS is a world-class towed sonar solution, optimized for the detection and tracking of stealthy submarines in challenging ocean environments (Picture source: Ultra) The TLFAS is a world-class towed sonar solution, optimized for the detection and tracking of stealthy submarines in challenging ocean environments. When delivered it will represent a step-change in Canadas anti-submarine warfare assets and will provide a level of sonar capability never before enjoyed by the Royal Canadian Navy. The TLFAS system is fully designed and manufactured by Ultra in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its design also includes components built by other Canadian companies, such that the industrial benefit of this system selection is spread across multiple Provinces. The selection of this system for CSC therefore means that Canadian industrial content is maximized in the delivery of the initial systems, and that the skillsets and facilities required to maintain the system through its operational life are also resident in Canada. More broadly, Ultra's work on the CSC program is proving to be an important vector for growth of Canadian jobs, innovation and investment. In the two years since having been originally awarded program definition studies for CSC, working in close partnership with Lockheed Martin Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc., Ultras Canadian team has grown by over 150 employees, with another 80 high-tech roles expected to be made available in 2021 alone. The program is also triggering major Canadian investment decisions by Ultra in terms of facilities, inward technology transfer and research partnerships which will be announced through the course of 2021. Overall, Ultras role on CSC is a very good example of the Industrial and Technological Benefits that the program is providing to Canada, and of the enduring impact that the program will have on sovereign naval capability for the nation. Bernard Mills, President of Ultra Maritime Sonar Systems commented: Ultra recognizes our responsibility to provide, through CSC, the highest possible level of ASW capability to the Royal Canadian Navy. We are therefore immensely proud of this contract award, especially because it is grounded in Canadian innovation and ingenuity, and because it will be an enduring driver of both operational capability and national industrial benefit. Most importantly, this is not just a success for Ultra but is one for the entire CSC enterprise, and I want to thank our strong partners in Lockheed Martin Canada, Irving Shipbuilding Inc., and all our peers on the CSC team who are as dedicated as we are to the delivery of a world-class naval capability to Canada, built by Canadians. Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, noted: As we work to build the future fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy, we are pleased to see companies like Ultra stepping up to provide leading-edge technology for our shipbuilding projects. The National Shipbuilding Strategy continues to provide opportunities for Canadian businesses of all sizes, from coast to coast to coast. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for DartmouthCole Harbour, Darren Fisher, highlighted the benefit of this contract award in his riding: I am delighted to see the positive economic impact of the National Shipbuilding Strategy across Nova Scotia. Companies like Ultra are playing an important role in the CSC program, while providing good quality jobs here in Dartmouth. Ultras highly skilled employees will produce the technology needed to help ensure the capability of the Royal Canadian Navys future fleet. Hunstville Hospital CEO David Spillers said the current coronavirus vaccine site at John Hunt Park in Huntsville will get more doses so it can be one of Alabama's large-scale clinics. Starting Monday, Spillers said they plan to administer 1,000 more shots per day at John Hunt. This would put the daily number of doses near 2,000 per day, or three doses every minute, Spillers said. This will be appointment only. Walk-ups are discouraged, Spillers said Wednesday. It will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can try to get appointments HERE On Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Public Health said eight large scale driver-through clinics will open Monday in Alabama. The clinics are in Anniston, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa will open the week of Feb. 8. Feb. 8 is the day that more people in Alabama become eligible to receive the vaccine, including those 65 and older, teachers, grocery store workers and more. Learn more HERE Stay with WAAY 31 for updates John Hunt Park site to serve as North Alabama's large-scale drive through coronavirus vaccine clinic The national law firm of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman has filed a Gardasil lawsuit against Merck alleging the multinational pharmaceutical corporation misled regulators and the public about the safety of its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Plaintiff Kayla Carrillo, 20, alleges Gardasil caused her to develop postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), seizure disorder, and infertility, among many other serious health issues. Attorneys Bijan Esfandiari, Nicole K. H. Maldonado, Michael L. Baum, Monique Alarcon, and co-counsel Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. filed the latest Gardasil lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of the plaintiff. The defendants named in the case include Merck & Co., Inc. and its subsidiary, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., both of New Jersey. The case number is 30-2021-01182274-CU-PL-CJC. The Carrillo case is one of several Gardasil lawsuits Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman has filed in the last sixth months alleging Merck's dangerous and defective HPV vaccine caused plaintiffs to develop severe and life-altering injuries. The firm previously filed cases on behalf of Sahara Walker of Wisconsin, Michael "Mike" Colbath of California, Zach Otto of Colorado, and Julia Balasco of Rhode Island, among others. All of the plaintiffs in these cases were happy and healthy kids with boundless possibilities in front of them before they received the Gardasil HPV vaccine. Faced with a future of debilitating injuries, they are determined to hold Merck accountable for not only failing to warn them and other consumers about the vaccine's known dangers but also for allegedly running, according to critics, a "deceptive and dishonest" relentless propaganda campaign in the years prior and leading up to the approval of Gardasil, where Merck ran "Tell Someone" commercials designed to strike fear in people about HPV and cervical cancer. The lawsuits also allege Merck engaged in "disease branding" to create a market for its vaccine out of thin air, "seeded" obliging media via third parties with terrifying stories about cervical cancer and guilted parents who failed to inoculate their children with Gardasil. 'I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me' Kayla Carrillo was a 12-year-old minor when she received her first shot of Gardasil on August 17, 2012. At the time, she was a happy, talented, physically active girl in her usual state of health. She enjoyed playing musical instruments and had early ambitions to study art. Like millions of other mothers throughout the country, Marlena Carrillo allowed her daughter to receive Gardasil because she had seen numerous advertisements from Merck on the internet, on television, and in print vouching for the vaccine's safety and efficacy in preventing cervical cancer. Within 24 hours of the first injection, Kayla experienced a seizure-like episode which included a staring spell, facial swelling, slurred speech, and a severe headache. Days later, Kayla developed migraines, dizziness, and numbness. Over the following months, she also experienced constant and severe migraine headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat and palpitations, insomnia, and symptoms of auditory hallucinations and parasomnias. Other serious health issues developed, and her ongoing symptoms continued or got worse over time: February 2013 Kayla experienced a seizure and was taken to the Emergency Department at Orange County Memorial Hospital. A head CT was performed and returned normal. She was diagnosed with a first-time seizure. March 2013 After suffering from severe headaches, vomiting, and nausea for about five continuous days, Kayla was taken to the hospital for a dihydroergotamine (DHE) protocol. Although the protocol resolved her nausea and vomiting, she continued to have migraines and occasional hallucinations. April/May 2014 Kayla began to experience irregular menstrual problems, including heavy bleeding at the beginning of each cycle. After 6 months of suffering, Marlena Carrillo made an appointment for a consultation with a doctor. October 2014 Kayla received her second Gardasil injection during a doctor's office visit to discuss measures to monitor and control her menstrual problems. Two days after receiving the shot, she collapsed at school while running in her P.E. class and was taken to the Emergency Department of Children's Hospital of Orange County. December 2014 Kayla's menstrual problems had changed to an absence of menses and severe abdominal pain. March 2015 An ultrasound showed that Kayla had a hemorrhagic cyst in her right ovary and large Nabothian cysts in her cervix. Further testing indicated that the cysts were getting larger. In constant pain, Kayla decided to have the cyst on her ovary surgically removed. May/June 2015 Kayla experienced several more seizures and was taken to the hospital each time. After receiving two doses of the Gardasil HPV vaccine, Kayla saw numerous physicians and specialists to treat a multitude of life-altering health issues, including (among others): Recurring ovarian cysts requiring surgery Constant nausea and abdominal pain Multiple seizures Feeling faint and lightheaded Heart rate irregularities and palpitations Chest pains Dizziness and blurry vision Dyspnea with walking Significant fatigue Continued menstrual irregularities Joint hypermobility Hives and facial flushing Severe food allergies Life After the Gardasil Vaccine Due to the severity and frequency of her symptoms, Kayla was and is unable to engage in the normal activities that a teenager and young adult would enjoy. She was physically unable to attend in-person classes, so she was forced to give up her position playing in the high school orchestra. She likewise could no longer pursue other passions like art and travel the way she did before receiving the Gardasil vaccine. In constant pain, Kayla has been unable to hold down a job for any significant amount of time. She also cannot drive a car because of the risks of fainting or having a seizure while driving. Since the age of 15, Kayla has undergone at least one surgery per year on her reproductive organs. Doctors say she will not be able to get pregnant and will not be able to pursue in vitro fertilization (IVF). "One of the hardest things for a mother to hear is your daughter will not be able to have children," says Marlena Carrillo. "Having to be the one to tell your daughter that she won't be able to get pregnant is a pain that is beyond words. People need to know that these risks are very real. They need to know exactly what they are getting into with Gardasil." As a result of her post-Gardasil injuries and symptoms, Kayla has experienced a significant decline not just in her physical health, but in her mental health as well. Due to the significant stressors related to her physical injuries and symptoms, she has experienced hallucinations as well as other mental health issues. "We hear a lot about the devastating impact that Gardasil has had on physical health, especially the long list of severe ailments that our clients continue to suffer from," says Gardasil attorney Nicole K.H. Maldonado. "What can get lost or underrepresented in the face of the physical injuries is the mental health toll that these injuries carry with them." Last November, Kayla had another surgery to remove a tumor from her reproductive organs. A biopsy revealed that the tumor was benign but had endometriosis, a painful disorder that Kayla continues to suffer from. "I just wish I had been warned," says Kayla. "If someone had told us these issues were possible, I wouldn't be in this position." Kayla is currently enrolled at Cypress College where she is pursuing a degree in psychology. She hopes to work as a psychologist for children with disabilities. "Based on what I've been through, I feel like I know firsthand what they are going through and can relate," she says. Gardasil Lawsuit Allegations: HPV Vaccine Contains Hazardous Ingredients Linked to Autoimmune Diseases and Infertility The lawsuit alleges that Gardasil caused Kayla to develop serious and debilitating injuries, including but not limited to, dysautonomia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), orthostatic intolerance (OI), small fiber neuropathy (SNF), neuropathy, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), complex migraine headaches, seizure disorder, vasculitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, endometriosis, and interstitial cystitis, as well as a constellation of adverse symptoms, complications, and injuries. Had Kayla or her mother been warned of the risks of these and other adverse events, she never would have consented to receive the Gardasil vaccine. According to the complaint, the Gardasil HPV vaccine contains numerous hazardous ingredients, including at least one ingredient Merck failed to disclose to regulators and the public. These hazardous ingredients are responsible for post-Gardasil induced autoimmune diseases in select patients, the lawsuit alleges. One of these ingredients, Polysorbate 80, is associated with many health injuries, including, anaphylaxis, infertility, and cardiac arrest, per the complaint. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has received more than 64,000 case reports of adverse events after individuals received the Gardasil vaccine. Experts estimate that a mere one percent of vaccine adverse events are reported, meaning the likely number of adverse events related to Gardasil is significantly higher. According to the complaint, Gardasil has more reported injuries than any other vaccine on the market and the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid out millions of dollars in damages for Gardasil-induced injuries and deaths. About Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman represents hundreds of individuals throughout the nation harmed by the Gardasil HPV vaccine. In practice since 1973, our firm has earned more than $4 billion in verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients. We understand there is currently a great deal of controversy surrounding vaccines. Our firm wishes to stress that our attorneys and our clients are not against vaccines. They have the potential to eradicate disease and save millions of lives. We are, however, against intentional efforts to mislead consumers about the safety and effectiveness of a drug or vaccine. Our firm has always foughtand will continue to fightfor the rights of consumers to be fully and honestly informed about risks associated with any drug, vaccine, chemical, or medical device. We will work tirelessly to ensure those rights are defended and victims of injustice are compensated for their injuries. ---------- Our past results do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of future cases. # # # 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. 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 his motion to dismiss, Easterbrook called the suit meritless and misleading and argued the case should be heard by courts in Illinois, not Delaware. He alleged the evidence the company claims is new is not because it existed on its servers, and that the company is trying to use creative pleadings to shirk its bargain and reverse a transaction it entered into with the benefit of all the information it claims to now rely upon. 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 file illustration photo taken on Nov. 17, 2020, shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. AFP France will only administer the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people under age 65, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday after the government's health advisory body cited a lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people. The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy, because the country has prioritized nursing home residents and people over 75. France had counted on the AstraZeneca vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world. ''For this AstraZeneca vaccine, we will not propose it to those older than 65,'' Macron told TF1 television Tuesday night. Instead, the vaccine the British-Swedish company developed with Oxford University will be given to medical personnel under 65, individuals with health vulnerabilities or those facing high exposure, he said. The French practice differs from the guidance given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. Chadwick Boseman became a Golden Globe nominee five months after his death for his work in Ma Raineys Black Bottom. Read article The late actor, who lost his battle with colon cancer in August 2020 at age 43, was posthumously nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama category on Wednesday, February 3. The South Carolina native played Levee in the November 2020 film, which also starred Viola Davis. Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock The Black Panther star kept his cancer diagnosis a secret while filming, and his publicist confirmed to Us Weekly that he progressed from stage III colon cancer in 2016 to stage IV. Read article It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman, the September 2020 statement read. A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilsons Ma Raineys Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King TChalla to life in Black Panther. He died in his home, with his wife, [Taylor Simone Ledward], and family by his side. The 21 Bridges star has been nominated for multiple posthumous awards this season, from a Gotham Award to a Film Independent Spirit Award. While virtually accepting her late husbands award at the former last month, Ledward, 30, called Boseman the most honest person she had ever met. As an artist, an actor and a person, Chad made a practice of telling the truth, the musician said in January. He didnt just stop at speaking the truth. He actively searched for it in himself, in those around him and in the moment. The truth can be a very easy thing for the self to avoid, but if one does not live in truth, then its impossible to live in line with a divine purpose for your life. And so, it became how he lived his life, day in, day out, imperfect but determined. Read article Ledward cried, concluding, Chad, thank you. I love you. I am so proud of you. Keep shining your light on us. Boseman shares his Golden Globes category with fellow nominees Riz Ahmed from Sound of Metal, Anthony Hopkins from The Father, Gary Oldman from Mank and Tahar Rahim from The Mauritanian. Kortney Hyslop grew up in Scranton, and her husband, Stephen, grew up in Glenside, Montgomery County, but neither knew much about Philadelphias Fairmount neighborhood until a photo on a listing site in 2015 led them to their first house after they moved back from California. Stephen had gone to St. Josephs Preparatory School nearby, but the neighborhood had been changing rapidly in ways that attracted them both. Its now more family-friendly. And they liked the traditional feel of the three-bedroom, 2-bath townhouse as against what Stephen, who is in engineering operations for Comcast, calls the super-boxy new construction going up. But now, with a second child on the way, we need a little more space, says Kortney, managing director for an employment branding company. So they are moving to a larger house in Media. The previous owners had lived in the Fairmount house for only about two years, Stephen says, and it had been completely renovated shortly before that. The entry vestibule has a glass-paneled door leading into an open first-floor layout, with nine-foot ceilings and crown molding. The kitchen has granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, a glass tile backsplash with mosaic inserts, and a pot filler faucet over the gas stovetop. The first level has a powder room and a patio with built-in wooden planters. The second floor has two bedrooms, a laundry room and a full bath. The main suite takes up the entire third floor, with a sitting room, three closets, and a bathroom with seamless shower, large vanity, and whirlpool tub. The finished basement has additional storage space and would be suitable for a home gym, home office, or virtual classroom. The house, which was built in 1920 and has 1,992 square feet, is two blocks from Fairmount Avenue, a playground, and Bache-Martin Elementary School. It is listed by David Batty and Paul Douglas of Keller Williams Realty Devon-Wayne for $590,000. Mam | Media And Advertising Digital has become a very crowded medium: Truecaller's Manan Shah "This campaign, in fact, shows the true power of print and a strong messaging," Truecaller marketing director - India Manan Shah told us over a telephonic interview around the app's latest viral campaign #ItsNotOk. Read More... Television | TV Channels Sports viewers more receptive to brand messaging, shows Neurons Inc study Passion is an extremely desirable virtue sought after by brands. While every brand seeks to entice, educate and garner interest in their products and services, gaining a passionate consumer is often a rarefied achievement. Read More... Mam | Media And Advertising Hershey's elevates Herjit Bhalla as VP, India & AEMEA The Hershey Company has elevated Herjit Bhalla to vice president, India and Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa (AEMEA) effective January 2021. Bhalla has spearheaded the Indian market as managing director for three years. Read More... Mam | Media And Advertising Wavemaker India bags media mandate for PagarBook Wavemaker India has bagged the media mandate for PagarBook, which offers payroll and attendance management solutions for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The account will be handled from the agency's Bengaluru office. Read More... Mam | Marketing AI-led Xaxis Creative Studios to boost impact of digital ads in India Outcome Media Company and GroupM's advanced programmatic arm Xaxis has rolled out its programmatic creative services solution, Xaxis Creative Studios (XCS), in India. Read More... By Kamil Warraich Reporting police misconduct and corruption is not as easy as New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, makes it seem. Yes, there are written protocols in place to submit complaints of misconduct by police, based on the hierarchy within law enforcement in our state, in which Grewal sits at the top. In reality, police do a very poor job of policing their own, and an even worse job when police officers themselves are the complainants of misconduct by other officers. The system completely breaks down when police are the complainants of misconduct by their bosses or make complaints about systemic issues within their agencies. Theoretically, complaints made by an officer about his/her bosses or agency, should go to the county Prosecutors Office, unless there is a conflict of interest, at which time the complaint should go to the Office of Public Integrity & Accountability (OPIA) under the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Sounds simple enough, right? Far from it! Typically, what occurs is a game of hot potato in which OPIA often hands the complaint right back to the county prosecutors office, who in return hands the complaint back to the agency the complaint is about. After going full circle, the officers complaint about his/her boss or agency ends up right back in the lap of the people he/she is complaining about, leaving him/her susceptible to retaliation. I have personally experienced this game of hot potato and retaliation. There were a total of 524 cases reported to OPIA over the last two years. In 2019, OPIA initiated investigations on 124 cases, and 103 cases in 2020, for a total of 227 cases. The first question that comes to mind is, what happened to the other 297 cases? The second question is, who is ensuring the 227 investigations initiated by OPIA were investigated to a logical conclusion in which individuals were held responsible? What are the mechanisms in place to hold OPIA/OAG, the chief law enforcement investigating agency in the state, accountable? I can tell you from personal experience, there are none! Is the OAG that flawless that we can blindly trust them and only need mechanisms of accountability for other law enforcement agencies? I can attest to the fact that OPIA does not adhere to the same Attorney General Internal Affairs guidelines while investigating some complaints they expect local departments to adhere to. The Attorney General Internal Affairs guidelines are basically written for local departments. There are not even many restrictions for county prosecutors, which leaves room for abuse in the system. There is certainly nothing in the guidelines specifically regarded how the OAG is to conduct these investigations, therefore the OAG exercises absolute freedom. Ive also gone to other agencies. I have reported my police corruption complaints to the State Commission of Investigations, Office of the Comptroller, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and countless Civil Rights organizations, all to no avail. I have also publicly reported most of my complaints in the media and in my lawsuit. The bottom line: it is the responsibility of the attorney general to properly investigate my complaints. The buck stops with him. The people of New Jersey need public oversight on the OAG and sensible legislation to hold the states highest law enforcement office accountable when there is malfeasance. Police Reform will never occur in reality, but only on paper, unless we fix the problem at the top, which is long overdue. My complaints in 2017 and 2019 have gone from being against Asbury Park Police Department executives and the Monmouth County Prosecutor, to against personnel from OAG in 2020. The matters have only gotten worse, where more and more people have been pulled into this mess because OAG has repeatedly failed to do their job with integrity. Attorney General Grewal often says, culture eats policies for breakfast. New policies are rolling out from his office quicker than we can even read them but what is he doing to change police culture if he is not holding Investigators and decision-makers in his own office accountable for their actions. Im not a crusader by any means. All I have done is what is exactly expected of me as a cop, which is to uphold my oath. If a well-known, 15-year veteran police officer who is highly involved with the public and different law enforcement communities cannot get any results for reporting local police corruption to the chief law enforcement officer in the state, what can an average citizen expect from reporting police corruption to law enforcement agencies? Kamil Warraich is a whistleblower police lieutenant and the president of both the Asbury Park FOP Lodge 221 and the Muslim American Law Enforcement Association. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A Chinese food-focused rival to Uber Eats has made unilateral cuts to its workers pay and booted a delivery driver off its platform after he launched a small strike in protest, leaving him without an income. In a message to riders obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, HungryPanda this week issued new pay rules, adding to reduced rates if drivers do not wear a uniform and a direction riders must work for other companies in an apparent effort to claim their delivery riders arent employees. HungryPanda worker Yang Jun, who goes by James, was thrown off the platform after organising a protest. Credit:James Brickwood The move typifies a larger fight between unions and gig economy companies over how their workers should be classified, be it employees, who typically cannot have their pay unilaterally changed, or independent contractors, whose flexibility and lower cost are key to the sector but lack minimum wage and workers compensation. Yang Jun, 50, said he had worked for HungryPanda in Sydney for about a year, working 10 or 12 hour days, seven days a week to provide for his wife, four children and elderly parents in China. Over that time he had seen his base pay drop by about $500 a week, from a previous rate of about $1500 before costs and tax. Vietnams industry has seen the fastest upward movement in ranking in global competitiveness among Southeast Asian countries, coming closer to the top 4 ASEAN countries. Vietnam now can manufacture cars The representative of a large manufacturing enterprise said previously the firm mostly worked as a contractor for construction works. But leaders understand that the enterprise needs to shift to production for sustainable development. That is why we have established a series of production companies, cooperating with foreign partners and using the most advanced technologies to make products bearing Vietnamese brands, he said, adding that products have been selling well in Vietnam and will be exported. We joined the market later than other enterprises. Therefore, we need to use the most advanced technologies, go straight to digital transformation to create the products with highest quality and at reasonable costs, he explained. The strong rise of many Vietnamese enterprises in recent years has made Vietnam better known in the world market. BKAV and Vingroup make smartphones, while Vinfast manufactures cars, showing the considerable progress of Vietnams industry. Vietnam is the destination of many large multinationals such as Intel, Samsung, LG and Apple vendors. Giving a presentation at the 13th Party Congress on January 28, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said Vietnam has become one of the countries with high average global competitiveness in industry. The global competitiveness of Vietnams industry has increased by 16 grades over the last 10 years, from 58th in 2009 to 42nd in 2019 according to UNIDO ranking. It is the country with the fastest grade promotion in ASEAN, coming closer to the top ASEAN 4. In 2011-2020, industry was the sector witnessing the highest growth rate, which made up 30 percent of GDP and became the major export sector of the country, helping Vietnam jump from 50th in 2010 to 22nd in 2019 among the worlds biggest exporters. The way to prosperity According to Anh, Vietnam's key industries include oil and gas exploitation and processing; electronics, telecommunication and information technology; metallurgy and steel manufacturing; cement and building materials; textile and garment and footwear; mechanical engineering, processing and manufacturing, automobiles and motorbikes. These are an important foundation for long-term growth and help accelerate modernization and industrialization. The strong rise of many Vietnamese enterprises in recent years has made Vietnam better known in the world market. BKAV and Vingroup make smartphones, while Vinfast manufactures cars, showing the considerable progress of Vietnams industry. Manufacturing and processing sector has shown its importance, from the rise of the UK in the 19th century, the US, Germany and Japan in mid-20th century, to newly industrialized economies such as South Korea and Taiwan in the late 20th century and China recently. The success of the economies is proof that manufacturing and processing is the way towards development, the key to prosperity of every nation. In Vietnam, industrial development has changed the outlook of many areas. In addition to the localities with long lasting industrial foundation such as Hanoi and HCM City, the provinces in the southeast and the Red River Delta and provinces in the central region have also become bright spots on Vietnams map of industrial centers. These include Quang Ngai province with Dung Quat Economic Zone, Thanh Hoa with Nghi Son Economic Zone and Ha Tinh with Vung Ang. In the north, Samsung manufacturing complex in Thai Nguyen and Apples vendors in Bac Giang serve as the driving force for the localities to become more prosperous. However, Anh pointed out that Vietnams industrial production activities are just in the final stages which bring low added value. There are other problems in industry, including unconnected development between industries, leading to unsustainable development. The production and export of Vietnams industrial products is mainly promoted by foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) which make up 70 percent of total export turnover. Anh believes that it is necessary to focus on accelerating restructuring to improve industries; develop Vietnamese enterprises; and consolidate large firms which are the driving forces in key manufacturing fields, especially fields which apply high technologies. Luong Bang New regulations to change Vietnam automobile industry in 2021 Cars in Vietnam since 2021 are subject to new regulations such as registration fee, import tariff, and higher emission standards. A Moscow court has sentenced Sergei Smirnov, the chief editor of the news website Mediazona, to 25 days in jail after finding him guilty of "repeated violations" of the law on mass gatherings. The Tverskoi district court announced its ruling on February 3, sparking a chorus of condemnation from Russian media outlets as well as international watchdogs. Smirnov was detained on January 30 near his home when, he says, he went out for a walk with his son. He was released shortly afterward but charged with violating the law on rallies. According to the investigators, Smirnov posted a statement on Twitter that contained elements of calling for unsanctioned rallies to support jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny. Smirnov has said that the charge stems from a joke he tweeted suggesting that some people see a similarity between him and the singer of the rock group Tarakany (Cockroaches), Dmitry Spirin, who openly supported Navalny. The publisher of Mediazona, anti-Kremlin activist Pyotr Verzilov, tweeted that the Kremlin was "not only trying to harshly crack down on protests but is also trying to intimidate journalists who are writing about what's happening." Syndicate 100, a coalition of independent Russian media outlets, said it was "convinced that Smirnov's arrest is linked to his professional activities." The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for Smirnovs immediate release, saying journalists in Russia "should be able to work without fear." In late January, dozens of Navalny's associates and supporters were briefly detained in Moscow and other towns and cities before countrywide mass unsanctioned rallies on January 31 protesting Navalny's arrest earlier in the month. On February 2, Navalny was found guilty of violating the terms of a suspended sentence from a 2014 embezzlement case and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given the time he had already spent in detention, the court said he would have to serve another 2 years and 8 months behind bars. The courts ruling caused new protests across the country, with more than 1,400 people being detained by police. Kenya Electricity Generating Company's (KenGen) last week announcement that it had more than doubled its net profit to Sh18.38 billion for the full year ending June 2020, has shed the light on the power value chain where the producer is making huge profits while the distributor is sinking in financial abyss. The energy generator's 133 per cent jump in earnings is hard to compare with its key partner in the business; Kenya power, the only buyer of its product. The two have their profitability graphs facing different directions despite having their fates tied in the supplier-distributor relationship, a very strange one. So strange that Kenya Power is expected to make a Sh2.98 billion loss official anytime this quarter after the figures emerged in documents submitted to the National Treasury while KenGen maintains a Sh21 billion gap in net earnings between it and its only distributor. How? That remains the puzzle whose explanation according to experts is found in the operations within the two power parastatals, skewed power purchase deals and the market inefficiencies that have resulted to the puzzling power value chain where the producer is far richer than the distributor who should essentially be making the money like it happens in most value chains. Analysts contend the power distributor may have had a fair share of their internal inefficiencies coupled with years of government policies that have pushed power distribution towards social and political realms than business while keeping generation a pure business. An energy expert who spoke to Smart Business seeking anonymity places the woes for Kenya Power squarely on government policies largely bordering on politics. "It is political and the Last Mile Project is an example. KenGen is doing fine because there is no political interference and KenGen has to meet all costs through borrowing largely through donor agencies or through their own earnings. Kenya power has had to borrow even from local banks to take care of the burdens brought about by the last mile consumers," the expert who headed the energy regulator before retiring told Smart Business. The government has, however, defended the plan to connect all households to power as a fully funded scheme where Kenya power is compensated even as the State's remittances to Kenya power under the Rural Electrification Scheme have been lagging more than Sh11 billion in the last two years. Hatched plan The Last mile project is not the only shock the government may have caused in the Kenya Power systems. Back in 2013, when Kenya Power was still making double digit billions in net earnings, a plan was hatched to raise Kenya's installed generation capacity to 6,762 megawatts in just 40 months. The Jubilee administration, which was new in power drew the controversial plan to add 5,000MW to the country's electricity supply buoyed by the argument that Kenya was going to grow industries, have an electric train on the standard gauge railway line, build resort cities and establish several special economic zones with huge demand for electricity. Electricity generation deals were signed and Kenya Power which then had just 2.3 million customers was pushed to hook more households to the grid, spent hugely to expand distribution lines by over 20,000 kilometres and doubled its number of substations, sinking some billions of shillings into the process. Seven years later and the long awaited 5000MW is still far from reality, the installed capacity still falls below 2800 MW and the infrastructure built to distribute almost double this capacity remains idle, adding to the technical losses much as they are expensive to maintain. The expansion also missed out on the demand projections, leaving the distributor with power purchase deals that compels it to pay for the energy generated even if it has nowhere to sell it. The clause known as 'take-or-pay' in the PPAs has seen Kenya Power unable to sell what it buys from suppliers while it still has to pay for it anyway. Confidential documents from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority show that by 2026, the demand supply gap is expected to rise from a deficit of 104MW in 2019 to a surplus of 923MW against the slow growth in peak demand from the current 1,926MW in 2019 to 2,766MW. Such moves only expanded opportunities for KenGen whose latest earnings from electricity sales grew 13 percent despite the Covid-19 driven demand drops. A letter written to the Ministry of Energy by the then Kenya Power Board Chairman Mahboub Maalim paints the picture of an agency put in the frontline and burdened by the problems from all the other players in the value chain, making its operations difficult and sinking it deeper into the loss territory. Mr Mahboub, who was concerned that the delayed tariff revision was hurting Kenya Power said that other players in the value chain earned their fair share of funds from the distributor's sweat while remaining comfortable in the background. "In principle, the tariff should provide adequate compensation for all sector players, but KPLC has been experiencing persistent revenue shortfalls due to delays in tariff revenue and inadequate compensation. All other entities receive the full revenue requirements provided in the retail tariff plan. KPLC's revenue, on the other hand, is the residual amount net of actual losses, bad debts and unrealised sales,"Mr Mahboub wrote in the April 2020 letter. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Energy By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Mr Mahboub may have succeeded in putting a strong case for Kenya Power and many analysts agree the distributor has taken a beating on behalf of other sector players such as the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company and the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Company. Nairobi based economists Robert Shaw contends that Kenya Power has had its woes worsened by inefficiencies in the business of selling power including delayed connections, poor metering which has seen several people use power without paying as well as procurement driven corruption which has increased its mountain of debt without much returns. Mr George Aluru who sits at the Electricity Sector Association of Kenya (ESAK) Board, a body bringing together Independent Power Producers (IPPs), says comparing KenGen and Kenya Power's profits may be difficult given that KenGen has a ready customer in Kenya Power and has less market turbulence and costs to deal with compared to the customer-facing Kenya Power. Like other analysts, he agrees Kenya Power has to deal with inefficiencies. "There is quite a significant spread between what Kenya Power buys power from KenGen at and the rate at which it sells. Where does all that go? As much as they have been trying in the recent past, energy losses and metering inefficiencies have to be addressed including staffing levels," Mr Aluru told Smart Business. The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Rotterdam in May, organisers have said, but the usual format will be impossible. The European Broadcasting Union, which produces the annual competition, said it was looking at a scenario B featuring in-person performances and socially distanced audiences. The 65th edition of Eurovision was one of the first high-profile cancellations of the coronavirus pandemic. The 41 acts scheduled to compete eventually featured in a non-competitive virtual show on the weekend the final would have taken place. To ensure the show goes ahead in 2021, the EBU created four scenarios, from the usual format to an entirely remote one. They are now focusing on scenario B in which everyone attending Rotterdams Ahoy Arena would need to practise social distancing and submit to measures including frequent Covid-19 testing. Acts who can travel to Rotterdam will perform live on stage, while those unable to will feature in recorded performances. Organisers described it as a determined yet realistic approach in the final phase of preparations, but said they would be keeping the option of downscaling on the table. Scenario C would see the show, featuring hosts and interval acts, presented from Rotterdam but the delegations and artists would submit recorded performances, while scenario D would be entirely remote and would be likely in the event of a new lockdown in the Netherlands. With an ever-changing situation we are taking our time to ensure that we can host the Eurovision Song Contest in the best and safest way possible Martin Osterdahl A further decision on the fate of the contest will be taken in the coming weeks. The contests executive supervisor Martin Osterdahl said: The Eurovision Song Contest will definitely make its welcome return this May despite the pandemic but, in the prevailing circumstances, it is regrettably impossible to hold the event in the way we are used to. The security, health and safety of all participants at the Eurovision Song Contest, from the crew to the artists, is our top priority. We are following international developments closely and continuing to explore and plan for three revised scenarios (B, C and D) first announced last autumn. Were grateful for the renewed commitment and backing from the City of Rotterdam and the ongoing support of all the participating broadcasters. We very much hope to be able to gather in Rotterdam in May and will do all we can in the coming weeks to achieve this. With an ever-changing situation we are taking our time to ensure that we can host the Eurovision Song Contest in the best and safest way possible. Expand Close Michael Rice was last to represent the UK (Isabel Infantes/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michael Rice was last to represent the UK (Isabel Infantes/PA) The United Kingdom has yet to announce who will be competing in 2021 but James Newman, last years pick, has said he hopes to have a second chance. At the 2019 contest the UK came in last place with Michael Rices Bigger Than Us, while the Netherlands came top with Duncan Laurences Arcade. The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place on May 22. The good news is that most of them arent going too far. People are moving out of Manhattan and San Francisco, but about half of those Manhattan exiles went no farther than Brooklyn or the Hamptons, and most of the former San Franciscans moved to a new home no more than 60 miles away from the old one. Containment is holding, for now. But its not just the big Democrat-run cities in blue states that are bleeding population so are the big Democrat-run cities in red states. In fact, other than New York County (Manhattan), the three counties that have lost the most population during the plague all have been in Texas: Travis County (Austin), Dallas County (Dallas), and Harris County (Houston). I have lived in all of those counties (and Manhattan, too), and they all have their charms but I can also see a solid case for leaving them, especially if you are a family with children and one or more adults working from home, and if that home is assessed at a high enough price to intensify the pain of Texas cities rapacious property taxes. For many Americans, city life has lost much of its luster. Meanwhile, somebody needs to hang a big sign on the interstate outside Ramey, Idaho: No Vacancy. Heres the best-kept secret of American cities: They are all alike, for the most part. People talk about the theater and the restaurants in New York, and they are not wrong to do so but most New Yorkers never go to the theater, and there are no fewer than three TGI Fridays in Manhattan alone, none of which lack customers. American cities are full of Americans, and there are only little pockets of distinctiveness in them: Moving to New York City is not the same as moving into a Woody Allen film, and moving to Dallas is not the same as moving to Dallas. But there is a great, stupid, romantic notion and I am more guilty of indulging it than anyone that moving to a new place will make you a new person. That is, for obvious reasons, encoded in the American DNA. But we never really change. Story continues And that is what worries a certain kind of Texan about all the Californians landing here, and a certain kind of West Texan about all the Austinites landing there. One point five million relatively stable American dollars for a house in Marfa, Texas? A half-million for an undeveloped desert plot outside Fort Davis? That aint right. But its not really the economic changes that are spooking people. The usual maxim here in Texas is that people pulling U-Hauls from California are welcome to bring their worldly goods as far as they like as long as they leave their Californian politics in New Mexico, which already has them. There are more than a few Texans who believe that we are building a wall along the wrong river that its the Red River that needs fortifying, and that our westernmost city should have its name changed to: Prohibido El Paso. In reality, there is some reason to believe that the median Californian relocating to Texas is more conservative (or at least more likely to be registered as a Republican) than the median Texan. But we have seen this kind of thing before: Powered in no small part by moneyed coastal refugees, the clout of the Denver-Boulder-Aspen axis eventually came to dominate all of Colorado politics. A similar story has played out in Arizona. Florida always seems to be about one 8:10 a.m. LGA-MIA flight from being permanently New Jersified. But it may be that people are taking the Texans advice that we are sorting ourselves by geography and politics even more thoroughly than we had before. A Boise real-estate agent tells CNN: I had people calling me, primarily from California and Washington, and they would say, I just have to get out. We are a conservative state and people are attracted to that. In the same CNN report, newly arrived Idahoans cite disruptive protests, crime, and vagrancy the familiar condition of big blue cities as their motives for moving. Some cite the political environment specifically. Is that kind of self-conscious political sorting a good thing? In Henderson, Nev., the booming suburb outside Las Vegas, several high-end real-estate deals fell through after the election, with certain conservative buyers changing their minds about moving to a blue state. That we cannot bear the thought of living in the same communities as people who do not share our politics doesnt seem to me to indicate anything healthy about our national culture. Yes, we are all familiar with the ancient cliche of small-town progressives finally arriving on the blessed shores of California, liberated at last from the suffocating rustic bigotry of their conservative communities and now we have the new cliche of California conservatives finally arriving at the green lawns of small red-state towns, liberated at last from the suffocating urban bigotry of their progressive communities. Part of me thinks this is a terrible trend for the country. Another part of me thinks St. George, Utah, is awfully nice this time of year. More from National Review .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A man was found dead following reports of a shooting Tuesday afternoon at a mobile home park in Northeast Albuquerque. Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said police believe the person responsible was among those detained at the scene. He said police responded sometime before 3 p.m. to a shooting in the 11400 block of Linn Ave NE, a few blocks from Central and Southern. Gallegos said police found a man with trauma in a trailer and he died at the scene. It appears that all of the parties involved were on scene when officers arrived, he said. No other subjects are believed to be outstanding at this point. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ 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 [February 03, 2021] Skye Bioscience to Participate in Investment Conferences in February San Diego, Calif., Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skye Bioscience, Inc. (OTCQB: SKYE) (SKYE or the Company), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing proprietary, synthetic cannabinoid-derived molecules to treat glaucoma and other diseases with significant unmet need, announced that members of its leadership team will present at several upcoming investment events in February, including the Small-Cap Growth Investor Conference, the Money Show February Virtual Expo, and the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference taking place virtually. Small Cap Growth Investor Conference Punit Dhillon, CEO of Skye Bioscience, will present a company overview at the Small Cap Growth Investor Conference on February 4, 2021. Details of the presentation are as follows: Presentation Date: Thursday, February 4, 2021 Presentation Time: 3:30 PM EST Registration link: https://bit.ly/2MLt2FP This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event. For more information about this event, please visit: www.virtualinvestorconferences.com. Money Show February Virtual Expo Mr. Dhillon will also present a company overview at the Money Show February Virtual Expo to be held on February 16-19, 2021. Details of the presentation are as follows: Presentation Date: Thursday, February 18 Presentation Time: 11:20 AM EST Registration Link: http://bit.ly/36t4IiX For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.moneyshow.com/online-events/ . Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Karam Takhar, VP of Corporate Development & Investor Relations of Skye Bioscience, will present a company overview at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference on February 25, 2021. Details of the presentation are as follows: Presentation Date: Thursday, February 25 Presentation Time: 10:40 AM EST Registration Link: http://bit.ly/3arwtcD For more information about this event, please visit: https://www.benzinga.com/events/cannabis/virtual/ . About Skye Bioscience, Inc. Skye Bioscience Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary, synthetic cannabinoid-derived molecules to treat diseases with significant unmet needs. The companys lead molecule, in preclinical studies, has demonstrated potential as a new class of therapy to lower intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma or elevated intraocular pressure that is superior to currently available drugs. For more information, please visit: www.skyebioscience.com . CONTACT Karam Takhar VP, Corporate Development & Investor Relations Email: ir@skyebioscience.com Phone: (858) 410-0266 FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our product development, business strategy, relocation of corporate headquarters, timing of clinical trials and commercialization of cannabinoid-based therapeutics. Such statements and other statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on managements current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price could be materially negatively affected. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology including anticipated, contemplates, goal, focus, aims, intends, believes, can, could, challenge, predictable, will, would, may or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. We operate in a rapidly changing environment and new risks emerge from time to time. As a result, it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements the Emerald may make. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, our capital resources, uncertainty regarding the results of future testing and development efforts and other risks that are described in the Risk Factors section of Emerald most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by law, Emerald disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Ganta A 20-year-old man who was detained in the male cell of the Liberia National Police station in Ganta, Nimba County, has been pronounced dead by medical doctors assigned at the Ganta United Methodist Hospital. Saver Moore, who was charged for the crime of Theft of Property, was a resident of the Gleneyiluu community in Ganta. The deceased's complaint was brought to the police station on January 30 by a community member. Report says at about 8: 00 am on February 1, Moore's lifeless body was seen hanging in the cell, and was later rushed to the Ganta United Methodist hospital where he was pronounced dead by medical doctors. (@FahadShabbir) Wuhan, China, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :World Health Organization inspectors visited a laboratory in China's Wuhan city on Wednesday that American officials suggested could have been the source of the coronavirus. The inspection of the Wuhan virology institute, which conducts research on the world's most dangerous diseases, will be one of the most-watched stops on the team's probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sensitive mission, which China had delayed throughout the first year of the pandemic, has a remit to explore how the virus jumped from animal to human. But questions remain over what the experts can hope to find after so much time has passed. The convoy of cars drove past security to enter a virology institute shrouded in mist Wednesday morning, with the first car pausing briefly to take questions from journalists. WHO team member Peter Daszak said the team was "looking forward to a very productive day and to asking all the questions that we know need to be asked". Scientists think Covid-19 -- which first emerged in Wuhan and has gone on to kill more than two million people worldwide -- originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal. But there are no definitive answers so far. There was speculation early in the pandemic that the virus could have accidentally leaked from the biosafety lab in Wuhan, although there was no evidence to back up that theory. ADVERTISEMENT It baffles one to think that the people will find it even comfortable to label those risking everything to fight for the common good. How on earth can someone who fights for the peoples emancipation be regarded by the same people as an enemy? At the end of the day, I fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. If that makes me an outlaw, so be it. Ive been called worse. Angela Parkhurst It is still widely reported that Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed while fighting for his Ogoni people. I have read many articles from local and international news platforms and journals; nowhere in these has he been accused of selfishness. The question that bothers me most is: Why was it easy for General Sanni Abacha to order the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists in 1995? What roles did Nigerians and the international community play that either or both indirectly enabled this act or that could have prevented it? This piece is intended to purposefully conscientise those among us who seem to find it amusing to rain insults on activists who often engage government in Nigeria. When people are behind the comfort of their keyboards, there is sometimes no limit to what they can type and send to the public through the Internet, without caring about the implications of such action. In a research study, the University of Toronto confirmed that people tend to become hostile towards active feminists, environmentalists, and activists in general. According to the Pacific Standard, By aggressively promoting change and advocating unconventional practices, activists become associated with hostile militancy and unconventionality or eccentricity. I have been deliberately paying attention to common words used to describe some of Nigerias active activists on Twitter and Facebook. Below are some of them: Fight the right way and stop getting yourself and other people in trouble always; You are unserious and a mere troublemaker; Mr Protester; Stop fighting like hoodlums; You are seeking cheap popularity, etcetera. There is a set of people who seem to believe that it is wrong to criticise those in power. According to them, if you think they are incompetent, you should also contest elections to get into office to do things differently, rather than criticise those in government. The truth that may have eluded many partisan political actors in Nigeria is that nearly all political posts and electorates are literally for sale to the highest bidder. Plus, the political scene can be said to have been captured by a few elites, thereby making it nearly impossible to win even a local government election unless you belong. I firmly believe that there is the need to fight for the liberation of the political system from the claws of the powerful elites and the supervising oligarchs to give room for fair play, internal democracy and effect the demonetisation of politics in Nigeria. We must bear in mind that we cannot be okay as a nation until we are able to elect (in free and fair elections) the best of us without necessarily deploying the bullion van. Many so-called educated individuals cannot see any good in activism and activists, as they assume them as mere attention seekers, clamouring for selfish gains alone. However, how does it make sense to call activists attention seekers The approach that activists are known for is termed social action, which is also studied in social work at the Bachelors and Masters degree levels. Many Nigerians seem to be unaware of this, even though it has been used and studied since Mahatma Gandhis days of taking action against British colonial rule in India. Social action is a method used in effecting social change and drawing attention to social evils. Many Nigerians seem to have been conditioned or socialised to perceive civil disobedience and related activities as nonsensical. Many so-called educated individuals cannot see any good in activism and activists, as they assume them as mere attention seekers, clamouring for selfish gains alone. However, how does it make sense to call activists attention seekers, when calling peoples attention to social evils and starting discussions around them are, in fact, essential to seeking a change from these ills? Democracy is not just about campaigns and voting during elections; in short, the need to educate ourselves cannot be overemphasised. It baffles one to think that the people will find it even comfortable to label those risking everything to fight for the common good. How on earth can someone who fights for the peoples emancipation be regarded by the same people as an enemy? Thus, it is saddening that the oppressors will instigate the oppressed against activists fighting for them. it is high time for the Nigerian masses to have deep reflections on how they have always perceived and treated the activists in their midst. Rights activists are the nations conscience and should not be disparaged by the people they fight for. No doubt, like any human endeavour, there are rotten eggs amongst activists, especially those that may be called double agents, who also fraternise with the oppressors behind closed doors. Nevertheless, this should not be sufficient reason to turn blind eyes to those who genuinely fight for the people. Activism is not evil but a conscious wake up call to social action for a better society. If the oppressors hate activists, and rightly so, it behoves on the oppressed to rally around them, for they stand in the gap for them. Therefore, it is high time for the Nigerian masses to have deep reflections on how they have always perceived and treated the activists in their midst. Rights activists are the nations conscience and should not be disparaged by the people they fight for. Again, why was it easy for General Sanni Abacha to order the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others? Could it have been that autocratic leaders like Abacha are aware of citizens erroneous perceptions and, sometimes, hate of activism and activists? Some of the advantages of activism include the creation of awareness about human rights, improved social security, pressure on politicians, the encouragement of participation, a more gender-equal society, advocacy for inclusion, etc. Fadumo Abiodun Paul is a social worker, educationist and author. Credit: CC0 Public Domain New drivers between the ages of 15 and 25 account for nearly half of the more than one million road deaths that occur worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. Educational programs often use fear-based messaging and films of crash scenes to reduce risky driving behavior among young people. But does this "scary" approach work? A new study published in the journal Risk Analysis suggests that fear-based messaging fails to reduce risky driving behavior, while fear-based Virtual Reality (VR) films depicting a violent collision may actually lead young drivers to take more chances behind the wheel. A team of psychologists led by University of Antwerp researcher Clara Alida Cutello, Ph.D., conducted a study of 146 students who had been legally driving for less than five years. The researchers examined the impact of both content (fear vs. positive) and delivery mode (2-D vs. VR) of driver safety intervention programs. Fear-based driver ed films often show terrible crash scenes in graphic detail. The assumption behind this approach is that arousing a sense of fear by depicting a serious consequence such as death will persuade young people to drive more carefully. Positively framed films take the opposite approach, using humor and empathy and modeling safe driving behaviors that result in positive consequences. Three tests were used to gauge the risk-taking behavior of the young drivers before and after participating in the intervention program. One was a Driver Behavior Questionnaire. The other was the Vienna Risk-Taking Test on traffic, which asks participants to watch video clips of driving situations from the point of view of the driver and choose whether they view a situation as too risky. For example, choosing whether to pass another car in icy conditions. A third test was a 21-item Emotional Arousal Scale that measured the level of emotional arousal (such as feeling afraid) after watching a film. The results showed that participants who viewed the fear-based VR film reported riskier driving behaviors afterward, while those who viewed a positively framed VR film exhibited the greatest reduction in risky driving behavior. This finding supports other research that has shown that exposing participants to an extreme and graphic collision tends to activate defensive mechanisms, such as paying attention for a shorter time, disengaging, rejecting a message, and an increase in risky behaviors. "Fear appeals have been used in many health and environmental campaigns, such as smoking, anti-drug, safe sex, and HIV prevention campaigns," says Dr. Cutello. "Further experimental research is needed to determine whether the use of fear is effective." Explore further Positive messages encourage safer driver behavior than fear tactics More information: Clara Alida Cutello et al, Evaluating an Intervention to Reduce Risky Driving Behaviors: Taking the Fear Out of Virtual Reality, Risk Analysis (2020). Journal information: Risk Analysis Clara Alida Cutello et al, Evaluating an Intervention to Reduce Risky Driving Behaviors: Taking the Fear Out of Virtual Reality,(2020). DOI: 10.1111/risa.13643 Provided by Society for Risk Analysis As cash supplies dwindle across the metro and the world waits on cash from Prez Biden, here's a charitable move from the courthouse that should help local families coping with the financial devastation of the pandemic. Read more . . . Jackson County Executive announces $500,000 food assistance program KANSAS CITY, Mo. Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. is announcing today a food assistance program that will provide funding awards to area food agencies in support of their efforts to minimize hunger amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, Ordinance 5483 authorizes $500,000 of federal CARES Act monies be allocated to County Executive Whites program, which allows eligible food agencies to purchase and distribute food and other necessities to Jackson County residents. Food agencies interested in receiving funding can apply and, if approved, receive an award amount of up to $30,000. The unanimous support of the County Legislature for this program is a clear indication that hunger is not a partisan issue, but an issue of humanity, dignity and compassion, said Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. Together, we remain steadfast in our commitment to provide any support we can to ensure our residents can take care of themselves and their families during this challenging time. No one should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from and it is my hope that making these dollars available will ease that burden for those in need in Jackson County. Starting today, food agencies can apply for funding using the online application on the Jackson County website. There, they can also find qualification and eligibility requirements. The deadline to apply for funding is March 3, 2021. All recommendations for funding through the application process will be submitted to the County Legislature for final approval. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Jackson County has allocated $1.8 million to combat hunger in the community.On March 27, Congress passed and the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established a new $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) for state, county and municipal governments with populations of over 500,000 people to address necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Accordingly, Jackson County received $122,669,998.30, which may only be used to cover costs that:1. Are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19); and2. Were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act); and3. Were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 31, 2021.[i][i] Congress recently adopted the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 extending the deadline for the expenditure of CARES Act funds. https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr133/BILLS-116hr133enr.pdf### Developing . . . In glacial periods with low sea levels, exchange with the Pacific was halted and exchange with the North Atlantic was extremely reduced, while the Arctic basin was still receiving freshwater input. Exchange could only occur through narrow gateways in the Greenland-Scotland-Ridge. The sequence of three sketches shows (1) a period of freshening of the Arctic Ocean followed by (2) the release of freshwater to the North Atlantic, when saline water entered the Arctic Ocean and (3) sudden melting of the Arctic ice sheet upon contact with the relatively warm and salty Atlantic water. Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute/Martin Kunsting The Arctic Ocean was covered by up to 900-meter-thick shelf ice and was filled entirely with freshwater at least twice in the last 150,000 years. This surprising finding, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, is the result of long-term research by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the MARUM. With a detailed analysis of the composition of marine deposits, the scientists could demonstrate that the Arctic Ocean as well as the Nordic Seas did not contain sea-salt in at least two glacial periods. Instead, these oceans were filled with large amounts of freshwater under a thick ice shield. This water could then be released into the North Atlantic in very short periods of time. Such sudden freshwater inputs could explain rapid climate oscillations for which no satisfying explanation had been previously found. About 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, in a particularly cold part of the last glacial period, large parts of Northern Europe and North America were covered by ice sheets. The European ice sheet spanned a distance of more than 5000 kilometers, from Ireland and Scotland via Scandinavia to the Eastern rim of the Kara Sea (Arctic Ocean). In North America, large parts of what is now known as Canada were buried under two large ice sheets. Greenland and parts of the Bering Sea coastline were glaciated too. What was the ice situation like even further North, in the Arctic Ocean? Was it covered by thick sea-ice, or maybe with the tongues of these vast ice sheets were floating on it, far beyond the North Pole? Scientific answers to these questions have been more or less hypothetical so far. In contrast to deposits on land, where erratic boulders, moraines and glacial valleys are the obvious landmarks of glaciers, only few traces of vast ice shelves had been found so far in the Arctic Ocean. Geoscientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now compiled existing evidence from the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, and combined it with new data to arrive at a surprising conclusion. According to their study, the floating parts of the northern ice sheets covered large parts of the Arctic Ocean in the past 150,000 years. Once about 70,000-60,000 years ago and also about 150,000-130,000 years ago. In both periods, freshwater accumulated under the ice, creating a completely fresh Arctic Ocean for thousands of years. "These results mean a real change to our understanding of the Arctic Ocean in glacial climates. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a complete freshening of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas has been consideredhappening not just once, but twice," says the first author, Dr. Walter Geibert, geochemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute. Thorium is absent in the sediments, so saline water must have been absent Their finding is based on geological analyses of ten sediment cores from different parts of the Arctic Ocean, Fram Strait and the Nordic Seas. The stacked deposits mirror the climate history of the past glacials. When investigating and comparing the sediment records, the geoscientists found that an important indicator was missing, always in the same two intervals. "In saline sea water, the decay of naturally occurring uranium always results in the production of the isotope thorium-230. This substance accumulates at the sea floor, where it remains detectable for a very long time due to its half-life of 75,000 years," Walter Geibert explains. Therefore, geologists often use this thorium-isotope as a natural clock. "Here, its repeated and wide-spread absence is the giveaway that reveals to us what happened. According to our knowledge, the only reasonable explanation for this pattern is that the Arctic Ocean was filled with freshwater twice in its younger history- in frozen and liquid form," co-author and micropalaeontologist Dr. Jutta Wollenburg, also from the AWI, explains. A new picture of the Arctic Ocean How can a large ocean basin, connected by several straits with the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, turn entirely fresh? "Such a scenario is perceivable if we realize that in glacial periods, global sea levels were up to 130 m lower than today, and ice masses in the Arctic may have restricted ocean circulation even further," states co-author Professor Ruediger Stein, geologist at the AWI and the MARUM. Shallow connections like Bering Strait or the sounds of the Canadian Archipelago were above sea level at the time, cutting off the connection with the Pacific Ocean entirely. In the Nordic Seas, large icebergs or ice sheets extending onto the sea floor restricted the exchange of water masses. The flow of glaciers, ice melt in summer, and rivers draining into the Arctic Ocean kept delivering large amounts of fresh water to the system, at least 1200 cubic kilometers per year. A part of this amount would have been forced via the Nordic Seas through the sparse narrow deeper connections in the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the North Atlantic, hindering saline water from penetrating further north. This resulted in the freshening of the Arctic Ocean. "Once the mechanism of ice barriers failed, heavier saline water could fill the Arctic Ocean again," Walter Geibert says. "We believe that it could then quickly displace the lighter freshwater, resulting in a sudden discharge of the accumulated amount of freshwater over the shallow southern boundary of the Nordic Seas, the Greenland-Scotland-Ridge, into the North Atlantic." A concept that assumes that enormous amounts of freshwater were stored in the Arctic Ocean and available for rapid release would help understanding the connection between a range of past climate fluctuations. It would also offer an explanation for some apparent discrepancies between different ways of reconstructing past sea levels. "The remains of coral reefs have pointed to a somewhat higher sea level in certain cold periods than reconstructions from Antarctic ice cores, or reconstructions from the calcareous shells of small marine organisms, would suggest," explains Walter Geibert. "If we now accept that freshwater may not only have been stored in solid form on land, but some of it also in liquid form in the ocean, the different sea level reconstructions agree better and we can reconcile the location of the coral reefs with calculations of the freshwater budget." Freshwater release from the Arctic Ocean might also serve as an explanation for some abrupt climate change events during the last glacial period. During such events, temperatures in Greenland could rise by 8-10 degree centigrade within a few years, only returning to the original cold glacial temperatures over the course of hundreds or thousands of years. "We see an example here of a past Arctic climate tipping point of the Earth system. Now we need to investigate in more detail how these processes were interconnected, and evaluate how this new concept of the Arctic Ocean helps in closing further gaps in our knowledge, in particular in view of the risks of manmade climate change," says Walter Geibert. Explore further The climate changed rapidly alongside sea ice decline in the north More information: Glacial episodes of a freshwater Arctic Ocean covered by a thick ice shelf, Nature (2021). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03186-y Journal information: Nature Glacial episodes of a freshwater Arctic Ocean covered by a thick ice shelf,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03186-y Amazons billionaire founder Jeff Bezos is handing over the reins at the tech giant to long-term team member Andy Jassy as his empire focuses on the cloud and looks to space. As Amazon has grown from the online book seller Mr Bezos started in 1994 to the $US1.7 trillion ($2.23 trillion) market juggernaut it is today, Mr Jassy has been there for much of the journey, having started with the company in 1997 straight out of university. Amazons new chief executive, company veteran Andy Jassy. Credit:Nate Cochrane Mr Jassy, 52, has risen to prominence within the company running Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing arm, since its inception in 2003. The division is vital because of its role in running much of the worlds internet economy, powering everything from Netflixs streaming service to Atlassians enterprise software . AWS revenues grew to $US12.7 billion ($16.8 billion) during the fourth quarter of 2020, and the unit is by far the largest source of profits for Amazon. At the moment, Senate Democrats seem ready to push ahead with a rather large coronavirus relief bill, using procedural tactics that will allow them to pass it on a party-line vote instead of haggling endlessly with Republican moderates who would prefer a much more modest package. But already, some Washington budget wonks are warning that this hard-nosed approach could lead to unintended consequences (cue lightning, blood-curdling screams, and a synthy, pulse-pounding John Carpenter soundtrack). What sorts of accidental repercussions, you ask? If the Democrats aid bill adds to the deficit, it could theoretically trigger massive, automatic spending cuts to popular programs like Medicare and farm subsidies under an obscure law known as the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. The cuts would be huge, said Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, recently told NBC. Its a critical issue, which, at some point, is going to have to be dealt with. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I personally doubt any of this will come to pass, since there are a couple of obvious ways that Democrats could scoot around these cuts. But some of are more straightforward than others. And since well probably have to talk about this dumb law nowand I cannot overemphasize how dumb it truly isheres what you need to know. Why the heck is there a law that automatically cuts Medicare if we arent careful about the deficit? I want to transport you back to a time in American politics that feels unrecognizably alien to those of us living in 2021an era known as the early Obama administration. This was a moment when Democrats desperately wanted to paint themselves as the true party of fiscal responsibility. They had spent years hammering George W. Bush for ballooning the national debt by cutting taxes while launching a pair of wars. Many Democratic House members belonged to the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, which was genuinely concerned about the countrys red ink. Whats more, the president himself had promised to bring some budgetary responsibility to Washington while campaigning for the White House. Advertisement The financial crisis and economic collapse complicated those plans, but didnt halt them entirely. The president passed an unprecedentedly large stimulus bill that triggered all sorts of nasty backlash from deficit fanatics (Rush Limbaugh, who actually mattered back then, liked to call it the Porkulus). The Tea Party, which was nominally (I repeat, nominally) a grassroots small-government movement focused on cutting government spending, started gaining momentum and dominating headlines. Advertisement And so, in June of 2009, even as the economy continued to groan under the rubble of the Great Recession, President Obama decided to get ahead of deficit concerns and called on Congress to restore what was known as Statutory PAYGO. This mechanism for fiscal restraint had been created in 1990, but lapsed in 2002. Advocates believed that reviving it would force Washington to pay for big new tax cuts or spending proposals in the future. Later, the Blue Dogs threatened to vote against hiking the federal debt limit unless PAYGO was enacted. By February, it was law. Now, Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else, Obama said during a web address, thus perpetuating the classic, false analogy between a sovereign government with the power to print money and a financially constrained household. Advertisement Im confused. I thought I read somewhere that PAYGO was just a rule Congress made for itself. Is this different? Youre right to be confused. The House and Senate set their own, separate PAYGO rules, which are also controversial, but include some big exceptions and can be pretty easily waived. Statutory PAYGO is different. Its a law were stuck with for now. Advertisement You sound unhappy about that. I am. Its dumb. Its all very deeply dumb. OK. But before you go on a rant about how much you hate this thing, how does it actually work? The basic idea is that whenever Congress passes legislation that either increases or decreases the deficit, the money gets added to a PAYGO scorecard. At the end of each year, the White House Office of Management and Budget is required to tally up the net total. If the deficit rose, it must then impose across-the-board spending cuts within 14 days, known as a sequester, to balance out the new red ink. Advertisement In theory, Congress can exempt spending from the scorecard by designating it as emergency legislation. But that requires 60 votes in the Senate. Since Democrats are most likely planning to pass their COVID relief bill through the budget reconciliation process, which essentially requires a bare majority, thats not an option. What programs could be cut? The biggest program on the chopping block, which headline writers tend to focus on for obvious reasons, is Medicare. But its important to read the fine print there: The PAYGO sequestration can reduce the programs spending by no more than 4 percent, and the cuts only affect payments to doctors; patient benefits would remain the same. Plenty of hospitals and physician groups would go ballistic if the axe actually fell, but in the grand scheme of things, it probably wouldnt lead to a lot of human suffering or dysfunction. Advertisement Advertisement Another bit of good news: Most of the governments crucial safety-net programs for the elderly and poor are actually exempt from the cuts. Social Security, Medicaid, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Supplemental Security Incomenone of those get touched, mercifully. All of that said, lots of important budget items would be subject to devastating cuts. Farm support programs; U.S. Customs and Border Patrol; the risk-adjustment payments to insurers that help keep Obamacares insurance exchanges stabilized; the Social Services Block Grant Program, and more would all be in danger. How big would the cuts be? Quite big! Other than Medicare, these programs would have to be completely eliminated. Just zapped out of existence, at least for the time being. Advertisement Heres some basic arithmetic. If Democrats jack up the deficit with their coronavirus bill, the White House will have to spread the money over a five-year and 10-year scorecard, then calculate the size of the sequester based on whichever is larger come January. So, lets assume Biden signs a $1.9 trillion aid package, and the government spends most of the money immediately. That would average out to $380 billion per year allocated over a half-decade period. Thats how much wed have to slash from the annual budget when it came time to PAYGO the piper in January of 2022. Advertisement Advertisement The problem? If you took 4 percent of Medicare spending and combined it with all of the other programs covered by the sequester, they only added up to about $92 billion in 2018, which was around the last time anybody was kind of worried about this issue. Today, Ive been told the total would probably be somewhere in the $100 billion to $110 billion range. Thats obviously a lot less than $380 billion, which means the Biden administration would be obligated to zero out all the programs fully subject to sequestration. Advertisement Which is absurd. We would just, like, no longer have a farm subsidy program or border agents (I guess the customs line at airports would move a lot quicker?). Obamacare would once again be in trouble; so would the student loan program, since the White House would be required to increase origination fees on borrowers. Itd just lead to a bizarre grab bag of cuts thatd leave certain crucial functions of our government in chaos. I honestly laughed the first time someone explained it to me, because the whole thing sounded so preposterous. Thats nuts. Why have I never heard about this before? Because sequestration has never actually happened under Statutory PAYGO. Every time it has come up, Congress has just decided to waive the cuts, because doing anything else would make everybody extremely unhappy. (The Obama administration did have to deal with budget sequestration back in 2013 after the deficit reduction supercommittee flopped, but that was due to a different law and landed on a different pot of spending; Washington just really likes the word sequester.). Back in 2017, for instance, there was a lot of chatter that the Republican tax cuts would force automatic spending reductions; instead, Congress just averted the issue by quietly inserting a waiver into some end-of-the-year spending legislation. When Democrats and Republicans passed their big coronavirus relief bills in 2020, they also just waived the PAYGO requirements, for obvious reasons. Advertisement Of course, now that Democrats are in office, people are concerned that Republicans might choose not to cooperate. Are you worried? Not especially. How come? Mostly for two reasons. First, my guess is that in the end, Republicans will actually agree to stop the sequester. Democrats will probably try to attach a waiver to some sort of must-pass, year-end spending bill like defense appropriations or government funding, and if Republicans want to filibuster it, theyll be forced to either defund the military or shut down the government. What are they going to say? We sold out the troops and closed the national parks in order to force Democrats to cut Medicare and blow up the farm subsidy program? Their voters are older, rural Americans. That doesnt seem like itd end well. Advertisement Second, even if Democrats somehow fail to make Republicans pass a waiver, they might still have a another out. Its a stupid, silly, groan-inducing outa legislative Rube Goldberg device jerry-rigged into a perpetual motion machine. But it could work, at least temporarily. Basically, if we get to next January and Congress is facing sequestration, they could pass another party-line reconciliation bill adding back all the funding theyd be required to cut. That spending would end up on the next PAYGO scorecard, so theyd have to do the same trick the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, on into infinity until everyone got exhausted by the routine and agreed on a permanent solution. Yeah, that sounds dumb. Indeed. All of this would be a lot simpler and less stressful if Democrats just nuked the filibuster so they could just repeal this silly law and stop having to worry about it. Instead, were doomed to watch them shoot these weird legislative bank shots, like theyre in a game of HORSE. (From Joe Manchins office, off the Senate parliamentarians desk, onto the backboard, and into the net, money for the unemployed!) Maybe, one day, theyll get sick of this preposterous game. Predator Oil & Gas Holdings PLC - Jersey-based oil & gas company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco and Ireland - Welcomes the renewed commitment on Tuesday by the Irish government to honour existing licences issued by the state for oil and gas. Says all options for energy security in the future that utilise existing oil and gas infrastructure should be explored and that subsurface oil and gas reservoirs "provide a potentially valuable asset for safe carbon dioxide sequestration during the transition to green energy dominance." "With the natural transition to greener energy, it is incumbent on policy makers and regulators to be inclusive, in order to utilise all the available expertise and practical knowledge to develop a workable policy for carbon dioxide sequestration along the way to a sustainable energy future. To facilitate such developments Predator will work with regulators, where invited to do so, to promote enabling legislation that facilitates carbon dioxide sequestration," says Chief Executive Paul Griffiths. Current stock price: 5.05 pence, up 3.1% on Wednesday Year-to-date change: up 33% By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. London's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is still at risk from coronavirus and has not achieved herd immunity, scientists warned today after a study showed two-thirds were infected by the disease last year. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers found 64 per cent had Covid-19 antibodies after testing the blood of 1,750 members of the community. That is one of the highest infection rates found in the world, and is comparable to the Brazilian city of Manaus where 76 per cent of the population were estimated to have antibodies. It follows criticism of ultra-orthodox communities by Jewish leaders in the UK, Israel and New York for holding large-scale weddings and funerals that break social distancing rules. In Israel there is anger that the community could be delaying the effects of the country's world-beating vaccine drive with the ultra-Orthodox making up 12 per cent of the country's population but two-thirds of infections. However, experts warned today that the high infection rate in London would not protect members of the ultra-Orthodox community from the coronavirus pandemic through 'herd immunity' - when a virus stops spreading because enough people are immune Scientists warned a prevalence of at least 85 per cent must be achieved to reach herd immunity, especially with the super-infectious Kent variant of coronavirus. And because London's ultra-Orthodox community is not isolated within the city, individuals are still at risk of catching the disease from the capital's wider population and can spread infection outside their own community. The results also showed lower antibody levels in older ultra-Orthodox Jews, with a prevalence of 54 per cent among the over-67s, who are most at risk of death or hospitalisation if they catch the virus. The median age of the ultra-Orthodox community in London is 14 - much lower than in the rest of the UK where it is 40. This could also explain the low case fatality ratio of 0.3 per cent in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. And scientists also warn that the possibility of reinfection with a mutant antibody-defeating variant of coronavirus also poses a risk to ultra-Orthodox Jews, and that there is no firm evidence antibodies last beyond six months. Members of the ultra-Orthodox community in London ignore social distancing rules in May at a gathering to celebrate a religious festival. The UK's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has condemned gatherings like this as a 'most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear'. Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed into a synagogue in New York last month for a wedding, despite warnings from authorities to stick to social distancing rules Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews attended a funeral in Jerusalem, Israel, on January 31 despite lockdown rules in Israel. One politician decried the event as an example of 'unequal' enforcement rules', as most families were at home following lockdown rules Jewish men and women suffered the highest death rates in the first wave of the pandemic in Britain Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the rate of past infection in London's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community was 64 per cent Scientists said as London's infection rate remains high the Jewish community there haven't achieved herd immunity, because they could still catch the virus from the wider population MORE THAN FIFTY ORTHODOX JEWISH WITH UP TO 300 GUESTS ILLEGALLY HELD IN LONDON Dozens of illegal Jewish Orthodox weddings with up to 300 guests have taken place in London during England's third national lockdown, whistleblowers claimed today. More than 50 ceremonies have allegedly taken place in the capital during lockdown with lookouts used to raise the alarm and money put aside for potential fines. Sources told Jewish News the weddings were 'happening all over' with the bride at one in Stamford Hill, North London, said to have been positive for Covid-19. It comes after a school being used as a Covid testing centre was revealed to have hosted a secret wedding for 150 guests which had to be broken up by police. Yesodey Hatorah Girls' Senior School in Stamford Hill was raided by officers following a tip-off that around 150 guests had gathered last Thursday night. Advertisement Professor Stephen Evans, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who was not involved in the study, warned it would be 'very dangerous' for the UK's 60,000-strong ultra-Orthodox community to shrug off Covid-19 restrictions such as wearing face masks and social distancing. 'Firstly there are 36 per cent who are presumably still vulnerable and with the virus still circulating at high levels the probability that more will be infected is high,' he told MailOnline. 'Secondly, the protection afforded by natural immunity is by no means 100 per cent against the previously prevalent strains. 'As I understand it, but Im not a virologist, natural immunity tends to be less effective against mutant strains than a vaccine can be, and so its quite likely that those who have previously had Covid-19 could still transmit the virus to others. 'The consequence is that it is very dangerous if they think they can stop following rules.' The study found 0.3 per cent of those in the community in Britain have already died from Covid-19 - the equivalent of 180 people - but this is likely to rise if the virus continues to spread to older people. Dr Michael Marks, who led the study, said it would 'not be safe' to assume there is enough herd immunity to prevent further transmission of the virus. 'Antibody levels fall over time and we dont currently know accurately how long any protection from antibodies lasts,' he said. 'Finally, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging and there is some evidence that people who were infected with older variants of the virus may not have as much protection against some of these newer variants. 'In other settings, such as Manaus in Brazil, where very high (antibody levels) have also been reached there continues to be evidence of ongoing transmission.' He added: 'Herd immunity is not determined only by biological features. The prevalence required for collective immunity is highly dependent on behaviour, in particular the amount of contact. 'Therefore communities which have more frequent contact with higher numbers of people will have a higher threshold for herd immunity.' Studies have suggested antibodies against the virus are likely to be maintained for at least six months in someone who has previously suffered an infection. But scientists say that these may not stop a re-infection, meaning a Covid-19 survivor could still catch and pass on the disease to someone who is more at risk. Tests on the vaccines show that while they can stop someone from suffering severe symptoms and being hospitalised, they may not stop an infection. There is also mounting concerns over the new variants, which appear to have mutations enabling them to dodge previous immunity. Officers attended the scene in north London in May before the celebrations, left, and were told that no more than 10 members of the same family, which lived at the house anyway, would be there. Police went back a few hours later and found the party in full swing, right The wedding took place in the parking lot, but then continued inside where video shared to social media showed hundreds of men were packed together and not wearing masks Guests were warned not to take video but it was still shared on social media on Tuesday Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said a previous infection does not guarantee '100 per cent' protection. Rules on UK weddings during third lockdown The UK Government has said people in England should only consider booking a wedding or civil partnership, or continuing with one already booked, in 'exceptional circumstances'. This may be if someone or a partner is seriously ill and not expected to recover, or is to undergo debilitating treatment or life-changing surgery. Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies must only take place with up to six people. Anyone working at the event is not included in the total. People are urged to stay local and avoid travelling outside of their local area, but they are able to travel in England to attend a wedding if they 'absolutely need to' and it is being held in accordance with the legislation. People can also leave England and travel to other parts of the UK or abroad, to attend a marriage. This is again when it is taking place as set out in the legislation, subject to any travel restrictions in that country. Advertisement 'An infection doesn't actually stop you getting reinfected as soon as three months later,' he told MailOnline. 'But the plus point though is that most of the reinfections tend to be asymptomatic. So within that community many of those who are already immune would be most likely to suffer a relatively mild re-infection.' Professor Tracy Hussell, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Manchester, told MailOnline the community would not achieve herd immunity unless the 'whole country/world has herd immunity'. 'They could still pass it on to other people who are not immune and so should therefore follow the protection guidelines,' she said. 'One might argue that some people only interact within the community. However, remember that up to 40 per cent are still not immune.' Communal events and gatherings have continued in the ultra-Orthodox community despite lockdowns, according to reports. More than 50 ultra-Orthodox wedding with up to 300 guests have already been illegally held in London during shutdowns, an investigation has claimed. They added lookouts were used to raise the alarm in case the events were spotted, with money also put aside to cover potential fines. Sources told the Jewish News the weddings were 'happening all over' with the bride at one in Stamford Hill said to have tested positive for Covid-19. The Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has condemned the lockdown-busting gatherings as a 'most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear'. 'At a time when we are all making such great sacrifices, it amounts to a brazen abrogation of the responsibility to protect life and such illegal behaviour is abhorred by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community,' he said on Twitter last month. He aired his fury after police broke up an ultra-Orthodox wedding with 150 guests at Yesody Hatorah Girls' Senior School in Stamford Hill, north London, which is being used as a coronavirus testing centre, last Thursday. The organiser, who detectives are now searching for, is facing a 10,000 penalty and five others, thought to include the bride and groom, were stung 200 after officers busted the address at 9.14pm following a tip-off. The principal of the school had died from the virus. Large gatherings in the ultra-Orthodox community have also been taking place in New York, where hundreds attended a wedding without wearing masks last month, and in Israel. The large group was pictured inside the Shaarei Zion synagogue in the city for the wedding of the 18-year-old son of the head of the Bobov Hasidic sect. Guests had travelled from as far afield as London and Israel, according to reports, risking spreading the virus and mutant variants further. Thousands of ultra-Orthodox jews have also been pictured thronging the streets for the funerals of famous rabbis in Jerusalem, despite the nationwide lockdown. Photos show the men attending the events packed tightly together with many not wearing masks. Israeli defence minister and political party head Benny Gantz decried the pictures as revealing how 'unequal enforcement looks'. 'Millions of families and children are locked in their homes and abide by the rules while thousands of (ultra-Orthodox) crowd the funeral, most of them without masks,' he said. In Israel the community accounts for about a third of all cases, despite making up just 12 per cent of the population. Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews pictured attending the funeral of the Head of Brisk Yeshiva, Rabbi Meshulam Soloveiitchik, in Jerusalem on January 31 Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews pictured attending the funeral of the Head of Brisk Yeshiva, Rabbi Meshulam Soloveiitchik, in Jerusalem on January 31 In their study, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the rate of infection was 64 per cent after taking blood samples. Suspected infections peaked in early March, just before the first lockdown, when rates then began to fall sharply, before rising again in the autumn once restrictions were lifted. The researchers say crowded housing and deprivation are also thought to explain why the community has higher rates. Ultra-Orthodox families have significantly larger households than the UK average - with five to six individuals per house compared to a UK average of 2.3 - and tend to live in areas of increased population density. The Mayor of Hackney has previously called on Orthodox Jews to stop holding massive weddings after a string of events breaking lockdown rules emerged. During the research, 697 people (37.5 per cent) reported an illness they thought was consistent with Covid-19. There were clear peaks in reported illness consistent with the first and second waves of the virus in the UK. A total of 16 (0.9 per cent) individuals reported hospitalisation for COVID-19 and a further three individuals were reported to have died of COVID-19. Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR) in the US, said at least 85 per cent of the population needs antibodies to achieve herd immunity. Judge orders documents from June Medical Services Supreme Court abortion case to be unsealed Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In a victory for pro-life activists, a federal judge ordered the release of documents from a recent Supreme Court case that abortion providers fought to keep under seal. In an order written last Thursday that was published this week, Magistrate Judge Richard Bourgeois of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ordered the release of several documents related to the 2020 case June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Louisianas Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, which required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, was unconstitutional because it created an undue burden for women seeking abortions. June Medical Services, along with other abortion providers, filed the lawsuit against the law. Bourgeois court ruling lists some of the documents that abortion providers had hoped to keep under seal, including hospital bylaws, admitting privileges or procedures, (and) credentialing processes or procedures as well as testimony pertaining to clinic conditions and practices, and/or hospitalizations relating to abortions. While many documents that abortion providers sought to keep under seal will be released under the order, a handful of documents will remain confidential. Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana, reacted favorably to Bourgeoiss order to unseal documents. For too long, the public has been barred from critical information relating to the safety of women and girls in Louisiana, said Landry. The State has fought for more open access; yet journalists and elected officials alike were prohibited from accessing public facts only because they had become part of the courts record. Today, that affront to our First Amendment is over, he added. Now the public may be able to see the full record in cases where abortion providers are seeking to minimize regulation against a backdrop of documented health and safety violations, destruction of medical records, and medical malpractice. Landry contends that access should never be able to supersede safety. As explained in a court filing submitted on their behalf, a group of journalists, academics and legislators had sought access to the court records, arguing that they needed the documents to write and publish news stories and law review articles analyzing the Supreme Courts decision, as well as to pass new laws that do not create an undue burden. The record documents proposed to be sealed are of vital importance to the applicants, the court filing argued. In this case this Court, the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court all viewed the same facts yet came to different conclusions. This is because, in part, the undue burden standard that potentially renders an abortion law unconstitutional is a fact-specific standard. The brief claims that without these documents, the Applicant Journalists and Other Members of the Media and Applicant Academics will be constrained in their ability to write and publish on the Supreme Courts holding because they will be limited to a sanitized record that reveals only what Plaintiffs want to see. Those seeking access to the court records argued that Supreme Court precedent from the 1978 case Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc. proves that they had a First Amendment right to access the documents. The aforementioned Supreme Court case found that the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents. Under federal law, these public documents can only remain under seal if a party can demonstrate good cause for protecting them from public scrutiny. The plaintiffs seeking to keep the documents from being unsealed argued that unsealing would reveal the identities of the abortion providers. However, evidence exists that several aspects of these identities are already known, lawyers for the movants assert. The publics right to access judicial records is not absolute, but given such a right, to deny intervention would be inappropriate, Bourgeois wrote in the order. Intervenors seek to assert and protect the publics general right to access judicial records, an essential interest that is not currently represented, and therefore, intervention is justified and appropriate. 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. India is vigilant in the face of attempts to change status quo at its border and prepared to defeat any misadventures to defend its territorial integrity, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, amid the continued military standoff with China. "We have long witnessed unfortunate attempts to employ force to change the status quo at our unresolved borders", he said at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country's premier Defence and aerospace show, at Yelahanka Air Force Station. "India is vigilant and prepared to counter and defeat any misadventures to defend our people and territorial integrity at all costs," the Minister asserted. China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far. Dubbed as Asia's largest military aviation exhibition, the three-day Aero India event commenced amid the COVID-19 pandemic with buzz around "Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) and "Make in India" push. With a combination of both physical and virtual exhibition, the 13th edition of the biennial international event is said to be the world's first hybrid aerospace show. Singh also said India plans to spend $130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next 7-8 years with the focus on domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex platforms. The government has since 2014 brought in many reforms in the defence sector to create a conducive ecosystem for exports, Foreign Direct Investment and offset discharge, he noted. To achieve the twin goals of self-reliance and exports, the government has set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 crore in the field of Defence manufacturing, including export of Rs 35,000 crore in Aerospace and Defence goods and services, by 2024, Singh said. "We plan to spend $130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years", he added. Like many of its friendly countries, India also faces threats and challenges emanating from multiple fronts, the Defence Minister said, adding, the country was a "victim of state-sponsored and state-inflicted terrorism which is now a global threat". The government has taken several steps to strengthen the country's security apparatus recently. Domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex defence platforms has now become the focus of our policy under the 'Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan', he said. Singh said he has been informed that about 540 exhibitors, including 80 foreign companies, Defence Ministers, Delegates, Service chiefs and officials from more than 55 nations are participating in the Aero India event. "It reflects the growing optimism of the global community", he said. Singh also expressed gratitude to the Defence Ministers from Maldives, Ukraine, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Comoros and Madagascar who have attended this show in person, and many others who are joining virtually. Noting that India today offers a unique opportunity in defence and aerospace manufacturing, he said, this opportunity comes as a 'Sangam' of rising demand, greater innovation, conducive policies and maturing ecosystem in defence and aerospace manufacturing sector. Over the years, the government has facilitated establishment of wide-ranging production facilities, of various defence equipment through Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Ordnance Factories, he added. Pointing out that India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world, the Defence Minister said, with rising passenger and cargo traffic, demand for aircraft and the related supply chains is increasing. "India therefore holds a huge potential for investments in the aerospace sector, particularly in manufacturing of aero engines and sub-assemblies as well as in Maintenance Repair & Overhaul, of Aircraft," he said. Singh invited business leaders from across the globe to take advantage of the various initiatives of the government and set-up manufacturing units in the country. With focused attention being laid on promotion of exports of defence products from the country, India is steadily marching from Make in India towards Make for the World, Singh said. A high-level committee has been constituted for authorising exports of major indigenous platforms to various nations, leading to faster approvals, he added. "Our vision is to make India one of the biggest countries of the world in the Defence sector, from design to production, with active participation of public and private sectors", he added. Noting that India has a vast coastline and its interests also lie beyond the shores, Singh said it included people who reside and work across continents, especially in the Indian Ocean Region. It was the government's bounden duty to remain capable and willing to assist them in times of natural calamities and security challenges, he added. Indian Ocean Region Defence Ministers Conclave, themed on "Enhanced peace, Security and cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region" is being held during the Aero India. ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Reaction Retail announces the appointment of brand expert, Gabby Rojchin, as the Vice President of Retail-Ready Operations and Digital Platforms. Rojchin will report to Reaction Retail CEO and Founder, Janet Carter. This new role comes as part of Reaction Retail's aggressive growth plan, and its foray into the direct-to-consumer digital space with its new fashion accessories line, YOUZEY. "I've had the pleasure of working with Janet Carter in the past, but this is our most ambitious and exciting project together," said Rojchin. "I'm thrilled to be working with Reaction Retail as they look to parlay their successes in Wholesale and Private Label into their expanding Retail-Ready division." Rojchin is bringing with her over 30 years of experience as a business leader and brand builder. Influenced by her childhood spent living in multicultural environments, she gets her energy from working and playing with people of diverse backgrounds. This has served her well throughout her career in building powerful brands, teams, and strategies for brand operations. Rojchin has been consulting with Reaction Retail to get YOUZEY off the ground, building the launch strategy, and even coining the brand name. The expansion of its Retail-Ready division was part of Carter's strategic decision to take the company to the next level. "The timing for creating a direct-to-consumer brand was perfect given the change in buying habits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gabby's expertise is essential. Now that she's joining us full time, her brand-building expertise, operational acumen, and knowledge of digital platforms will be vital to this next expansion phase of Retail-Ready." Gabby Rojchin previously served on the Executive Creative Team for the internationally-acclaimed Supon Design Group. Subsequently, she founded SUMO Creative in 2002, a design and marketing "heavyweight" studio based in the Washington, D.C. area. For over a decade she grew SUMO Creative before it was acquired by Streetsense, an experience-focused strategy and design firm. As Managing Partner and Creative Director for Streetsense, she honed her skills and expertise at managing the operations of the brand studio and a team of over 30. Rojchin has made her mark as an industry leader by shaping the branding for established clients, such as Claire's Stores, Marriott Corporation, American Film Institute, BET, PARADE Magazine, American University, Scholastic Books, Whole Foods, Lockheed Martin, Discovery Channel, and more. Throughout her career, Rojchin has won over 500 design and marketing awards, and has been a guest speaker at numerous Brand Building panels, earning her the position of Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University where she taught Graduate level courses on Advertising and Marketing. For more information on Reaction Retail or YOUZEY visit https://www.reactionretail.com/ , https://youzey.com/ , or email [email protected]. About YOUZEY Be original. Be you. Be Part of something different. Be YOUZEY. YOUZEY is a brand new, online accessories store focused on self-expression, inclusivity and good vibes. Timeless and trendy, YOUZEY offers a wide range of fashion and beauty accessories that are carefully curated to fit one's unique sense of style, from sunglasses to scarves, hats to watches, makeup brushes to intimate apparel, and more. As a socially responsible brand, YOUZEY donates 10% of all proceeds to organizations that support artists, currently Americans for the Arts, a non-profit organization that makes a critical difference in the lives of artists and creators. That's our YOUZEY. What's yours? For more information visit https://youzey.com/ . About Reaction Retail Since 2011, Reaction Retail, a female-owned and operated business, has established itself as one of the premier design and manufacturing companies that provides end-to-end solutions for retail clients. Its offerings, which span the Wholesale, Private Label, and Retail-Ready space, are timeless, on-trend, and include beauty, home, gifts, travel, and fashion. Its current portfolio of Retail-Ready products includes three brands: 1) The AnySharp award-winning line of kitchen accessories; 2) TRAVALO, the most in-demand line of refillable fragrance atomizers; and 3) The newly-launched fashion and beauty accessories brand, YOUZEY. Reaction Retail delivers 100% turnkey solutions through full sourcing, design, packaging, manufacturing, and assembly capabilities. Its clients include prominent retailers such as Macy's, Ulta, Kohl's, HSN, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Bare Minerals, Dillard's, Belk, Bloomingdales, and Shopper's Drug Mart, just to name a noteworthy few. For more information visit https://www.reactionretail.com/ . Wendy Vazquez 3D Communications 512-294-6218 [email protected] SOURCE Youzey Artist's impression of PSR J20395617 and its companion. The binary system consists of a rapidly rotating neutron star (right) and a stellar companion about a sixth of the mass of our Sun (left). The star is deformed by the neutron star's strong tidal forces and it is heated by the neutron stars gamma radiation (magenta). The modelled surface temperature of the star is shown in brown (cooler) to yellow (hotter) color. The radiation from the neutron star slowly but surely evaporates the star and creates clouds of plasma in the binary system, which hamper observation at radio wavelengths. Credit: Knispel/Clark/Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics/NASA GSFC An international research team including members from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute; AEI) in Hannover has shown that a rapidly rotating neutron star is at the core of a celestial object now known as PSR J20395617. They used novel data analysis methods and the enormous computing power of the citizen science project Einstein@Home to track down the neutron star's faint gamma-ray pulsations in data from NASA's Fermi Space Telescope. Their results show that the pulsar is in orbit with a stellar companion about a sixth of the mass of our Sun. The pulsar is slowly but surely evaporating this star. The team also found that the companion's orbit varies slightly and unpredictably over time. Using their search method, they expect to find more such systems with Einstein@Home in the future. "It had been suspected for years that there is a pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star, at the heart of the source we now know as PSR J20395617," says Lars Nieder, a Ph.D. student at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute; AEI) in Hannover and co-author of the study published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. "But it was only possible to lift the veil and discover the gamma-ray pulsations with the computing power donated by tens of thousands of volunteers to Einstein@Home," he adds. The celestial object has been known since 2014 as a source of X-rays, gamma rays, and light. All evidence obtained so far pointed at a rapidly rotating neutron star in orbit with a light-weight star being at the heart of the source. But clear proof was missing. Precision observations with optical telescopes The first step to solving this riddle were new observations of the stellar companion with optical telescopes. They provided precise knowledge about the binary system without which a gamma-ray pulsar search (even with Einstein@Home's huge computing power) would be unfeasible. The system's brightness varies during an orbital period depending on which side of the neutron star's companion is facing the Earth. "For J2039-5617, there are two main processes at work," explains Dr. Colin Clark from Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, lead author of the study and former Ph.D. student at AEI Hannover. "The pulsar heats up one side of the light-weight companion, which appears brighter and more bluish. Additionally, the companion is distorted by the pulsar's gravitational pull causing the apparent size of the star to vary over the orbit." These observations allowed the team to get the most precise measurement possible of the binary star's 5.5-hour orbital period, as well as other properties of the system. Searching with the help of tens of thousands of volunteers With this information and the precise sky position from Gaia data, the team used the aggregated computing power of the distributed volunteer computing project Einstein@Home for a new search of about 11 years of archival observations of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Improving on earlier methods they had developed for this purpose, they enlisted the help of tens of thousands of volunteers to search Fermi data for periodic pulsations in the gamma-ray photons registered by the Large Area Telescope onboard the space telescope. The volunteers donated idle compute cycles on their computers' CPUs and GPUs to Einstein@Home. This search required combing very finely through the data in order not to miss any possible signals. The computing power required is enormous. The search would have taken 500 years to complete on a single computer core. By using a part of the Einstein@Home resources it was done in 2 months. With the computing power donated by the Einstein@Home volunteers, the team discovered gamma-ray pulsations from the rapidly rotating neutron star. This gamma-ray pulsar, now known as J20395617, rotates about 377 times each second. Surprising changes of the orbit "We found that the companion's orbital period varies slightly and unpredictably over the 11 years. It only changes by up to about ten milliseconds, but since we know the arrival time of every single gamma photon from the pulsar to microsecond precision, even this little is a lot!" says Nieder. These variations of the orbital period could be linked to tiny changes in the shape of the companion caused by its magnetic activity. Similar to our Sun the companion might be going through activity cycles. The changing magnetic field interacts with the plasma inside the star and deforms it. As the shape of the star varies its gravitational field also changes, which in turn affects the pulsar orbit. This could explain the observed orbital period variations. "Spidery" pulsars consume their mates While the light-weight stellar companion is orbiting the pulsar, the strong radiation and particle wind from the pulsar evaporate the companion. "This is the reason that astronomers call systems like this one 'redbacks' in reference to the Australian redback spiders whose females consume the males after mating," explains Nieder. In the case of J20395617 the matter ablated from the star forms clouds of charged particles in the binary system that absorb radio waves. This is one of the reasons that previous searches for pulsating radio emission from the neutron star failed. With the precise determination of the orbit from the gamma-ray data, it was also possible to detect radio pulsations and this will be published in a separate paper. "We know dozens of similar gamma-ray sources found by the Fermi Space Telescope, for which the true identity is still unclear," says Prof. Dr. Bruce Allen, director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover and director and founder of Einstein@Home. "Many might be pulsars hidden in binary systems and we will continue to chase after them with Einstein@Home," he adds. Explore further Mystery of unusual neutron star system revealed after 20 years, thanks to thousands of volunteers More information: C J Clark et al. Einstein@Home Discovery of the Gamma-ray Millisecond Pulsar PSR J20395617 Confirms Its Predicted Redback Nature, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020). C J Clark et al. Einstein@Home Discovery of the Gamma-ray Millisecond Pulsar PSR J20395617 Confirms Its Predicted Redback Nature,(2020). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa3484 A Corongiu et al. Radio pulsations from the -ray millisecond pulsar PSR J20395617, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2020). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staa3463 Journal information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 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. With barely 10 days left for municipal body elections in Punjab, political parties are gearing up for a tough battle that is being billed as a referendum on the months long farmers agitation against the three new agri sector laws. The run-up to the elections have already been marred by incidents of violence with clashes between Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress workers in Jalalabad on Tuesday triggered by an attack on SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Allegations and counter-allegations continue following the attack. Eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils are scheduled to go to polls on February 14. These will be the first local body elections since the protests began in the state. Five of the eight municipal corporations that go to polls are in the politically significant and agrarian belt of Malwa region which include Bathinda, Moga, SAS Nagar, Moga and Amritsar. Though these are essentially urban areas but have a strong farmers connect with a majority of voters here directly and indirectly linked to agriculture. With farmers agitation taking centre-stage in Punjabs politics these local body polls are being seen as an acid test for all political parties. A large number of the farmers from these cities have not only been in the protest for more than over two months but actively participated in the January 26 tractor parade. The ruling Congress had swept the previous elections and hopes to repeat its performance but the continued the farmers agitation has made the task tougher. The family members are camping at the border in rotation. The leaders have generally not allowed politicians to hijack the movement. So there is a sense of uncertainty on which way these farmers and their families will vote. Even if these are local body elections but interesting would be how polling is impacted due to it," said a senior Congress leader. The principal challenge, according to observers, could come from the Aam Admi Party (AAP) which after almost of year of internal bickering senses an opportunity to crawl its way back and give a tough fight. Not surprising that during the campaign, the AAP is targeting the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government for not doing enough to prevent the farm laws. The Congress, if it would have wanted, could have got it stalled right at the beginning. They (Congress) may deny these allegations but people know it, claims Punjab AAP chief, Bhagwant Mann. Though the SAD carries a baggage of its past association with the BJP going into these polls, but cannot be ignored completely. We lost out the last Assembly elections on sacrilege issue. But we have fought our way back. And we gave up our ministerial berths at the Centre, the people of Punjab are aware of that," said a senior SAD leader. Anushka Shakya usually brings her lunch for her office from her own home. One day, one of her colleagues asked her to eat out. She agreed. Later, Shakya, who does not have any smoker in her family, felt her decision was wrong. We went to a nearby restaurant and sat in a no-smoking zone. But, a group of boys came in and started smoking there, she narrates, My friend and I asked them not to do so in non-smoking areas or else move to smoking zones, but all in vain. If the government had implemented its laws effectively, Shakya and her friend could have been able to sue the smokers for Nepal has already banned smoking in public places that also include restaurants. It has already been a decade since the Tobacco Control and Regulatory Act came into effect, but the law prohibiting public smoking exists on paper only. Non-operational law According to the Tobacco Products (Control and Regulatory) Act, 2011, no person shall be allowed to smoke or consume tobacco in public places. The Act has deemed the bodies, institutions, or offices of the state and of the government, educational institutions, libraries, training, and health-related institutions, airport, airlines service and vehicles of public transportation, child welfare homes, childcare centres, hermitage for senior citizens (old-age homes), orphanage, children parks and clubs, public latrines, workplaces of industries and factories, cinema halls, cultural centres, and theatres, hotels, motels, resorts, restaurants, bars, dining halls, canteens, lodges, hostels and guest houses, stadiums, covered halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, and pool houses, departmental stores, and minimarkets, pilgrimage and religious places, waiting-spaces for public vehicles and ticket counters as public places. Likewise, this Act further says management authorities in prisons, airports, hotels and other facilities can arrange some smoking zones as per necessity. But, Shakya complains no one is bothered to take it into notice. Ignored risks Human lungs. Photo: Pixabay Following the incident, she and her colleague went out and moved to the place marked smoking zone because no one was there. But, soon, two others came in and started smoking. She says, We could say nothing to them as they were sitting at the smoking zone. And, we just left the place. There are many like Shakya who are forcefully exposed to secondhand smoking in public places. But, neither the direct smokers nor the authorities seem to care about this issue. But, the risks involved in secondhand smoking and direct smoking are almost the same, informs Dr Rakshya Pandey, a senior consultant for pulmonary and critical care medicine at HAMS Hospital. Citing the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, she shares, Eight million people in the world lose their lives due to smoking every year. Out of them, 1.2 million are non-smokers. There are usually two types of secondhand or passive smoking: mainstream and sidestream. Mainstream smoking is when the non-smoker inhales the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Likewise, sidestream smoking is when the non-smoker inhales the smoke that comes through the burning cigarette. Dr Pandey says, Both are equally injurious to the health of the non-smokers. The impact of secondhand smoking can be both immediate and long-term. Anushka Shakya shares, Whenever a person starts smoking near me, I soon start coughing, my head gets heavy, I have difficulty breathing and my body starts getting numb. But, people rarely understand the problem. Dr Pandey believes it is unfair for non-smokers to be forced to inhale the smoke. It is an attack on non-smokers health, she claims. There are about 7,000 chemicals in a burning cigarette. Out of them, more than 250 are toxic and 70 chemicals are carcinogens, describes the expert. In addition, Dr Pandey informs, There is no risk-free level for secondhand smoking. Both direct smokers and those who are exposed to secondhand smoking are at risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, damage of the blood vessels, low birth rate, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, and, ear infection. Unaccountable authorities File: Ministry of Health In most of the countries where smoking has been banned publicly in the laws, the number of people suffering from heart diseases as well as cancers is seen dropping significantly. However, this has not been the case in Nepal, says Dr Pandey, Although there is the law prohibiting smoking in public places, it has not been effectively implemented. There also lies a huge problem in the civic sense of the individual as well. Shakya also expresses her disappointment about the issue. I was elated when public smoking got banned years ago. But, it only lasted a while and now it has been the same. And, the problem is you cannot even tell the other person to not smoke. She says some people understand and put their cigarettes out immediately whereas many are likely to shut her up and suggest that she move somewhere else if she is having problems. But, the Ministry of Health and Population claims the law is gradually being implemented. Ganesh Shreevastav, a senior health education officer at the ministry asks to show the evidence that the Act has not been implemented properly. After being given some narratives of the incidents, he says, It is getting better than before. At least, we can find ashtrays in the restaurant nowadays which couldnt be found before. It takes a lot of time to bring about such changes. Perth residents in the north-eastern fringe suburbs of Bullsbrook and Upper Swan have braced themselves for a horror night, with a looming bushfire stretching 110 kilometres wide and raining embers threatening housing estates on Wednesday afternoon. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services worst fears have been realised with a change in wind direction gusting the fire front uphill, with three breakout fires near homes in Avon Ridge and Joshua Mews, Shady Hills Estate and east of Shady Hills along Clenton Road, Property Road and Berry Road. DFES Deputy Commissioner Operations Craig Waters said those residents needed to enact their bushfire safety plan as Shady Hills was expected to be hit by 6.30pm. Were experiencing significant wind changes at the moment, were transitioning from a south westerly to a south/south-easterly which is posing some issues for firefighting crews on the ground, he said. 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. Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi warned yesterday that Israel will have to decide whether to strike the Iranian nuclear program or come to terms with a nuclearized Iran. The United States will never attack the nuclear facilities in Iran. Israel must decide whether it will accept a nuclear Iran. Israel will be forced to act independently to remove this danger, said Hanegbi in an interview with the public broadcaster Kan. "Its possible that in the future there will be no choice [but to attack Iran militarily]. I hope that when our leadership is met with this dilemma, it wont accept [a nuclearized Iran], Hanegbi said. Hanegbi had issued a similar warning Jan. 13 when he said that 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, which by the end of the deal will have received a green light from the world, including the United States, to continue with its nuclear weapons program. Hanegbi was not the only senior Likud minister to warn of the need to stop Iranian advancement toward a nuclear bomb. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said yesterday that "in terms of enrichment, they [the Iranians] are in a situation of breaking out in around half a year if they do everything required. As for nuclear weaponry, the range is around one or two years." Steinitz's assessments on Irans possible breakout-time toward nuclear capabilities contradict those of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had estimated recently that Iran was currently three or four months away from being able to produce enough material to build a nuclear weapon. Blinken had also said that this timeframe could be reduced to a matter of weeks if Tehran further violates restrictions it agreed to under the 2015 JCPOA deal with world powers. That being said, while both Israeli leadership and the Biden administration agree in principle that Iran could be close to nuclear-bomb production capabilities, views differ on the best course of reaction. Several Israeli top politicians and top security officials object to the Biden administrations intention to reopen talks with Tehran for reinstating the JCPOA or a similar agreement. Israel would like to see financial sanctions on Iran being continued and reinforced, alongside a much broader, tougher and long-term agreement that would halt the production of nuclear weapons, the production of long-range missiles and Iranian support of global terrorism. On Jan. 26, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said this clearly. Speaking at an INSS conference, Kochavi launched a direct attack on the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, delivering thinly veiled hints to the new American administration. If the 2015 nuclear deal had [remained in place], Iran would have gotten itself a bomb. A return to the 2015 nuclear agreement, or even if it is a similar accord with several improvements, is bad and wrong from an operational and strategic point of view. Operationally, because it would enable Iran to enrich quantities of uranium, develop centrifuges to the point of a nuclear breakout. Strategically, it will drag the Middle East into a nuclear race, Kochavi warned. According to some publications in the Israeli press, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to appoint outgoing Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen to head Israeli diplomatic efforts vis-a-vis the White House against a new JCPOA. Cohen is set to finish his term as Mossad chief in June 2021, and a replacement for him has already been picked. Still, June is a long time away. Netanyahu apparently will not wait that long for discretely negotiating with the White House on American talks with Iran. Thus, in the meantime, through ministers close to him and through leaks to the press, Netanyahu is sending the White House clear warnings. Another point that concerns Jerusalem is the fact that President Joe Biden has not called Netanyahu yet a phone call that should offer Netanyahu the possibility to express his concerns over Iran directly to the new administration. US Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested yesterday that she expects Biden to call Netanyahu in the weeks ahead. Adding to tensions on Iran was a report by Reuters yesterday on Iran deepening a key breach of the 2015 nuclear deal. Reuters report said Iran had been enriching uranium with a larger number of advanced centrifuges in its underground Natanz plant. Another report that drew much attention in Israel concerned the arrest a few weeks ago of Iranian nationals in Africa for allegedly spying on Israeli, American and Emirati diplomatic missions, with the intention of preparing a terror attack in an unspecified Central African country. The issue of Iranian support and initiation of terror acts was raised also in recent reports from India on possible Iranian involvement in the blast that occurred Jan. 29 in New Delhi not far from the embassy of Israel. With that, Israel stresses that any new deal with Iran must also clearly curb its support of regional and global terrorism. (Bloomberg) --Oil climbed to the highest level in over a year as tightening global supplies and signs of strength in physical markets aided crudes virus-recovery rally. Futures rose 2.3 percent in New York, earlier rising above $55 a barrel for the first time in a year. Crude has been climbing steadily since late last year as coronavirus vaccines and producers supply curbs boost expectations of a tighter market. OPEC and its allies expect to drain an oil surplus by the middle of the year. Meanwhile, there continues to be signs of strength in the market for physical barrels of oil, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc bidding for more cargoes of benchmark-grade North Sea crude on an S&G Global Platts pricing window. The bids come a day after the oil major staged the heaviest buying by a single company since at least 2008. WTI for March delivery advanced to $1.21 to settle at $54.76 a barrel. Crude on an S&G Global Platts pricing window. The bids come a day after the oil major staged the heaviest buying by a single company since at least 2008. Theres hope around the vaccine rollouts at the same time were seeing a lot from the majors and international players about cutting back on production, said Gary Cunningham, director at Stamford, Connecticut-based Tradition Energy. Those two factors are combining to keep us toward the upper end of the range. The rally in headline crude prices and buying binge in physical markets comes amid a markedly tighter structure in the oil futures curve this year. Nearby Brent timespreads are trading in their biggest backwardation in a year -- a bullish structure where nearer-dated contracts trade at a premium to later-dated ones -- suggesting supply tightness. Last months pledge by Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to slash production by a further 1 million barrels a day has buttressed global markets. On Wednesday, a panel that oversees OPECs strategy -- the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee -- will convene online to assess the outlook. The JMMC is unlikely to recommend new policies, which will instead be tackled at the next full OPEC+ meeting in early March. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by over 4 million barrels last week, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to report ahead of a U.S. government tally. The API report also showed a decline in refined product inventories and a drop in supplies at the nations largest storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Still, technical indicators point to prices being due for a pullback, with both Brent and WTI settling above their upper Bollinger bands. At the same time, the near-term impact of the pandemic on demand limits how far crudes rally can extend. Even amid a spate of unplanned refinery outages that would normally boost gasoline prices on the U.S. Gulf Coast, they are barely causing a ripple as the pandemic continues to cap fuel demand. Meanwhile, retail investors using online chatrooms like Reddit will be hard pressed to influence other commodity markets beyond silver, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.s Jeff Currie said in a Bloomberg Television interview. When you start to get to markets like oil and natural gas, the liquidity is substantially larger and it becomes that much more difficult to do, Currie said. To be the marginal driver in these markets like they were in silver yesterday, is a much larger question mark. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced 50-50 joint venture transaction (the "Transaction") with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico"), which combines Maple Gold's Douay Project and Agnico's Joutel Project into a consolidated land package of approximately 400 km (the "JV"). The closing of the Transaction follows the signing of a Binding Term Sheet between Maple Gold and Agnico that was previously announced on October 8, 2020. "The closing of this Transaction represents an exciting new chapter for Maple Gold as we move forward on the Douay Project with the best joint venture partner we could ask for," stated Matthew Hornor, Maple Gold's President and CEO. "We are excited to kick off the JV's maiden drill campaign shortly to expand the established gold resources at Douay and will continue to test regional targets for new discoveries, all with the aim of establishing an exciting new gold district in Quebec's Abitibi Gold Belt. We also look forward to building on our relationships with the local communities around the combined land package, including the First Nations." JV Highlights: Maple Gold contributed its 357 km Douay Gold Project, which has an established National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource estimate of 8.6 million tonnes grading 1.52 g/t Au for 422,000 contained ounces of gold in the Indicated category and 71.2 million tonnes grading 1.03 g/t Au for 2.35 million contained ounces of gold in the Inferred category using a cut-off grade of 0.45 g/t Au for open-pit Mineral resources and a cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t Au for underground Mineral Resources; 1 Agnico contributed its 39 km Joutel Project, which hosted Agnico's past-producing Telbel mine (reclamation area and associated liabilities are excluded from the JV); Agnico to provide an aggregate of C$18 million of funding over four years for exploration expenditures at the Douay and Joutel properties, which will be allocated based on management committee budgets. Agnico and Maple Gold will contribute proportionately for expenditures thereafter; Agnico and Maple to jointly fund an additional C$500,000 in exploration of VMS targets located on the western portion of the Douay Project; Agnico to contribute its technical expertise to the JV through Joint Operatorship (Fred Speidel, Maple Gold's VP, Exploration will act as the initial General Manager of the JV); Agnico to support Maple Gold in its pursuit of third-party project financing for the development phase; and Maple Gold and Agnico have each retained a 2% NSR on the property that they contributed to the JV, each with aggregate buyback provisions of C$40 million. As previously disclosed, Maple Gold and Agnico share a common vision for realizing the exploration potential at the consolidated Douay and Joutel property package. With close collaboration and by employing modern approaches to exploration, management believes there is strong potential for expanded mineral resources and new gold discoveries across the district-scale property package. Transaction Details Property Package The Douay and Joutel Projects are contiguous properties located in the Abitibi region of Quebec with a combined area of approximately 400 km2. Both properties have multiple styles of mineralization, including deep controlling structures, which are generally favorable for exploration and the discovery of mineralized systems. The Douay Project currently hosts a substantial gold resource (RPA 2019) which remains open in multiple directions laterally with significant resource expansion potential. The resource is also open at depth, with known higher-grade zones open down plunge and the vertical depth of all drilling at Douay averaging only 350 metres. The Joutel Project hosted Agnico's past-producing Telbel mine, which was in production from 1974 to 1993, though certain reclamation lands and associated liabilities are not part of the JV. Both properties are also highly prospective for new regional gold discoveries. Current plans for the first year of the JV include: a Winter 2021 drill campaign of between 10,000 to 12,000 metres at the Douay Project that will encompass both step-out and infill drilling as well as regional exploration drilling focused on new discoveries (such as the Northeast IP and P8 targets); digitization of historical data at the Joutel Project of approximately 500 surface and 6,500 underground holes to build a 3D model for additional exploration targeting; and completion of larger IP surveys over three separate grids (two over Douay ground and one over Joutel ground), totalling approximately 120 line kilometres. Figure 1: Douay and Joutel property package showing existing Douay gold resource, past-producing Telbel mine and major regional discovery target areas. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/73496_ac73be1914bba852_001full.jpg JV Funding In connection with the JV, Agnico will fund an aggregate of C$18 million over a four-year period. Once this funding is complete, the parties will be responsible for their proportionate share of future expenditures, which, after such funding, will be on a 50-50 basis. Agnico and Maple Gold will jointly fund an additional C$500,000 in exploration of VMS targets located on the western portion of the Douay Project. NSR Each of Agnico and Maple Gold will retain a 2% net smelter return royalty on the property that they have contributed to the JV (each, a "Contributed Property NSR"). The first 1% of each Contributed Property NSR may be repurchased at any time by the non-holding party for $15 million and the second 1% of each Contributed Property NSR may be repurchased at any time by the non-holding party for $25 million. In addition, transfer of each Contributed Property NSR will be subject to a right of first refusal. Technical Expertise In addition to funding JV expenses and contributing the Joutel Project to the JV, Agnico will also support the JV through Agnico's technical expertise as an explorer, developer and operator with decades of experience in the Abitibi region of Quebec. Development Phase Financing In connection with the process of considering financing alternatives, Agnico has agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to investigate third-party financing for the JV and to provide commercially reasonable support and assistance to Maple Gold in connection with the Company's pursuit of its share of financing for the development phase of the JV. Qualified Person The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc., P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this press release through his direct participation in the work. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company's QA/QC page on the website. For more information on Agnico Eagle: https://www.agnicoeagle.com. About Maple Gold Maple Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canadian advanced exploration company in a 50-50 joint venture with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited to jointly advance the district-scale Douay and Joutel Gold Projects located in Quebec's prolific Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt. The projects benefit from exceptional infrastructure access and boasts a combined ~400 km of highly prospective ground including an established gold resource that holds significant resource expansion potential as well as the past-producing Telbel mine. The property also hosts a significant number of regional exploration targets along a 55 km strike length of the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone that have yet to be tested through drilling, making the project ripe for new gold and polymetallic discoveries. The Company is focused on carrying out aggressive exploration programs to grow resources and make new discoveries to establish an exciting new gold district in the heart of the Abitibi. For more information, please visit www.maplegoldmines.com. ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD. "Matthew Hornor" B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO For Further Information Please Contact: Mr. Joness Lang Executive Vice President Cell: 778.686.6836 Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.com Ms. Shirley Anthony Director, Corporate Communications Cell: 778.999.2771 Email: santhony@maplegoldmines.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 PRESS RELEASE. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements about the future activities at the JV. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. 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. ____________________ 1 December 6, 2019 RPA report entitled "Technical Report on the Douay Gold Project, Northwestern Quebec, Canada". To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73496 The President of Liberia, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah will this afternoon, February 2, 2021 join his West African counterparts for an Extraordinary Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Summit to be held via videoconference will focus on the harmonization of ECOWAS participation in the forthcoming African Union (AU) Summit, and internal reforms within ECOWAS. The Heads of State will also discuss ways to enhance trade, commerce and economic activities with the region. The Liberian Leader will address the conference. Dr. Weah address will primarily call on his colleagues to commit to a harmonized position at the summit, fighting piracy and maritime related insecurity within the gulf of Guinea and terrorism in the region. President Weah will be joined at the summit by the Ministers Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah (Foreign Affairs), Samuel Tweah (Finance and Development Planning), Nathaniel F. McGill (State for Presidential Affairs), Trokon Kpui (State without Portfolio), Daniel Ziankah (Defense) and Ledgerhood Rennie (Information, Culture and Tourism). Others are Maritime Commissioner, Lenn Eugene Nagbe and Presidential Advisor, Emmanuel Shaw. Well, folks, Hollywood has officially done it again -- less than a week after stories of retail investing Redditors working together to take on taking on Wall Street dominated the headlines, our social feeds, and the national conversation, two separate films detailing r/WallStreetBets and their market implications are reportedly already in the works. First on the docket? None other than Netflix, according to Deadline. Just days after GameStop's share price soared by approximately 135% over the span of one trading day, the streaming giant has allegedly already made strides in developing a film adaptation of these notable events. So far, The Hurt Locker's Mark Boal is in negotiations to pen the script, with Noah Centineo, the heartthrob from the To All The Boys I've Loved Before series "attached to play a major role," presumably as a Reddit-lurking wannabe-investor who hit it big as $GME went BRRR. Scott Galloway, a highly-controversial NYU professor, advertising expert, and bona fide boomer is also "in talks" to work as a script consultant on the project, in spite of his highly-publicized rants, detailing his evident frustration over young people using stock trading apps at Reddit's behest instead of *checks notes * getting laid? Continue Reading Below Advertisement "What happened here (i.e., GMS)?," Galloway mused last week on Twitter. "It's about sex... --Specifically, young men not having (enough) sex --Sex leads to relationships, obligations and guardrails (don't get in fights, we need you. Don't gamble your paycheck, we need to save for a house)." Continue Reading Below Advertisement "Arm young men, in a basement, not at work, not having sex, not forming connection, with an RH account, a phone and stimulus and you have the perfect storm of volatility as they wage war against established players while squeezing the dopa bag,,,harder and harder," he wrote later in the four-tweet thread. More like not harder and harder, am I right? Continue Reading Below Advertisement Galloway seemed the double down on these strange sexual sentiments amid a stint on MSNBC earlier this week. "Maybe it's fun, fine," Galloway explained to anchor, Stephanie Ruhle, of the Reddit-controlled market boom on Monday "But the biggest loss of capital will be the human capital of young men who are sitting and staring at their phone, watching the price of Bitcoin or the price of AMC. Ask yourself, 'Would you be better off taking that one, two, or three hours a day and working out, trying to form relationships, romantic relations, getting great at something so you can be the person on the other side of the trade?' Similar to how there's a ton of young women out there who became very depressed by looking at Instagram, self-cutting, and self-harm skyrocketed I think you are going to see an explosion in young male depression." ... okay then. That is definitely, uh, an opinion on this whole debacle. Dar es Salaam The Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) has lost more than 10 of its members in the past two months, a number that has not happened since the formation of the body. The deaths of the lawyers who died between December 2020 and January 2021 from various ailments including two who died on Friday and Saturday in Morogoro region, has shaken the community. Although the lawyers themselves through their groups on social networks including Whatsapp have been expressing their feelings about the cause of their deaths, there is no official report of the deaths of their colleagues. According to a list obtained by this newspaper in collaboration with the TLS leadership, two lawyers from Morogoro region, Alex Sikalumba and Allen Mwakyoma died on Friday and Saturday. Others are Angel Korosso who died on January 28, Edson Mkisi who died on January 26, Lord Munuo Ng'uni who died on January 25, Professor Nicholaus Nditi who died on January 27, Tumaini Pius who died on January 21 and Hashim Ngole on January 9. The regions rocked by the deaths of lawyers who are members of TLS are Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Tabora, Dodoma, Morogoro and on the list of deceased lawyers there is also Aneth Lwiza. Moshi lawyer David Shillatu said the number of deaths among the learned friends was alarming and had not happened since Tanzania gained its independence in 1961. "It's a bit scary and I can honestly say it has never happened even though the lawyers' community today is a big group, but this is the highest number of deaths that we have recorded in a row since independence," said Shillatu. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Another lawyer, Patrick Paul, said the deaths of his colleagues worries them but in the nature of their work they meet many people and handle documents that go through hands of many people. "I can't say he died of this disease or that but with the nature of our work we meet a lot of people and keep a lot of documents, you can't tell who has an infectious disease or not," he said. Patrick said that together with them making sure they take health precautions, but also most lawyers do not exercise and that leads to getting diseases like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Speaking to this newspaper about the deaths, TLS President, Dr Rugemeleza Nshala said more than 10 members died within two months while last week alone, the party lost four members. Dr Nshala said the members died of various causes such as the 'current pneumonia' and other non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, kidney and high blood pressure. "It is a huge gap in the legal fraternity for many members to die. We are going through a difficult time. Last week we lost Professor Mbiti and a week before we lost Professor (Joseph) Kanywanyi, "he said. by Card. Charles Maung Bo The Archbishop of Yangon and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar urges everyone to use non-violence because we have shed enough blood. For him, the coup d'etat is the result of a lack of communication; for this reason, the military and Aung San Suu Kyi's party must resume the path of dialogue. The prelate calls on the international community not to impose sanctions, which would create millions of poor. The path of reconciliation is the only one viable. Yangon (AsiaNews) Card Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar, issued a message a few hours ago, posted on the website of his archdiocese, which he ends saying: Peace is possible. Peace is the only way. Democracy is the only light to that path. Addressed to the people of Myanmar and our international communities, the message expresses opinions and suggestions on the events that are currently underway in the country. Defining what is happening, i.e. the military coup, as periodic darkness, he calls on the people of Myanmar to stay calm and not fall victim to violence because We have shed enough blood. He notes that what has happened the military takeover, the arrest of democratic leaders, a state of emergency for a year, the promise of new elections are the result of a sad lack of dialogue and communication between two views in the society. The military accuse the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's party, of winning the elections by fraud. For this reason, carefully addressing the Tatmadaw General and the Tatmadaw Family, he asks them to resolve the problems that have emerged through dialogue and not through a coup. In addition to freeing the prisoners, this is the way to prove that you love the people. The cardinal has very kind words for the pro-democracy movement and Aung San Suu Kyi, but he asks them to listen to others and correct this lack of dialogue. The last point is addressed to the international community. Card Bo, who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops (FABC), urges caution with judgements and sanctions. Until now, the latter have been a great blessing for those super powers that eye our resources. Consequently, he calls on the international community to try to understand Myanmars history and political economy. Sanctions risk collapsing the economy, throwing millions into poverty. Engaging the actors in reconciliation is the only path. For the full text of the message, see below. My dear Friends, I write these lines as a spiritual leader, empathizing with the sentiments of millions of people at this moment. I write to my dear people, the civilian leaders, the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) and the international community. I have watched with sadness the moments of darkness in our history and watched with hope the resilience of our people in their struggle for dignity. We are journeying through most challenging times of our history. I write with love towards all, seeking a durable solution, praying for an end forever to the periodic darkness that envelops our dear nation. 1. To My Dearest People of Myanmar I share deep fellowship with all of you in this moment as you grapple with the unexpected, shocking events that are unfolding in our country. I appeal to each one of you, stay calm, never fall victim to violence. We have shed enough blood. Let not any more blood be shed in this land. Even at this most challenging moment, I believe that peace is the only way, peace is possible. There are always nonviolent ways for expressing our protests. The unfolding events are the result of a sad lack of dialogue and communication and disputing of diverse views. Let us not continue hatred at this moment when we struggle for dignity and truth. Let all community leaders and religious leaders pray and animate communities for a peaceful response to these events. Pray for all, pray for everything, avoiding occasions of provocation. We are living through a time of pandemic. Our courageous health workers have saved many lives. We understand your pain. Some have resigned as protest, but I plead with you, do not abandon your people in need at this time. 2. To our Tatmadaw General and the Tatmadaw Family : The world has reacted with shock and agony to what has happened. When, in 2015, a peaceful transition to the elected government was effected by the Army, that won the admiration of the world. Today the world tries to understand what went wrong in the following years. Was there a lack of dialogue between the elected civilian authorities and the Tatmadaw? We have seen so much pain in conflicts. Seven decades of shedding blood and the use of violence brought no results. You all promised peace and genuine democracy. Democracy was the streak of hope for solving the problems of this once rich country. This time millions voted for democracy. Our people believe in peaceful transfer of power. Now the Tatmadaw has unilaterally taken over. This has shocked the world and the people of Myanmar. Allegations of voting irregularities could have been solved by dialogue, in presence of neutral observers. A great opportunity was lost. Many leaders of the world have condemned and will condemn this shocking move. Now you promise greater democracy - after investigation and another election. Myanmar people are tired of empty promises. They will never accept any fake protestation. You also promise to hold multiparty elections after one year. How will you gain the trust of our people? They will trust only when words are matched by sincere actions. Their anguish and disappointment must be understood. Your actions need to prove that you love them, care for them. Once again I plead with you, treat them with great dignity and peace. Let there be no violence against our dear people of Myanmar. Sadly, the elected representatives of our people belonging to NLD are under arrest. So are many writers, activists and youth. I urge you, respect their rights and release them at the earliest. They are not prisoners of war; they are prisoners of a democratic process. You promise democracy; start with releasing them. World will understand you. 3. To Daw ASSK and President U Win Myint and all our beloved leaders. Dear NLD leaders : You are in this plight in your unending struggle to bring democracy to this nation. The unexpected turn of events has made you prisoners. We pray for you and urge all concerned to release you at the earliest. Dear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, you have lived for our people, sacrificed your life for our people. You will be always the voice of our people. These are painful days. You have known darkness, you have known light in this nation. You are not only the favorite daughter of the father of the nation, General Aung San. You are Amay Suu to the nation. Truth will prevail. God is the ultimate arbiter of truth. But God waits. At this moment I offer my personal sympathies with your plight and pray that you may once again walk amidst your people, raising their spirits. At the same time I wish to confirm that this incident takes place due to lack of DIALOGUE and communication and lack of acceptance of one another. Please listen to others. 4. To the International Community: We are grateful for your concern and appreciate your sense of shock. We are grateful for your compassionate accompaniment at this moment. It matters a lot. But history has painfully shown that abrupt conclusions and judgements ultimately do not benefit our people. Sanctions and condemnations brought few results, rather they closed doors and shut out dialogue. These hard measures have proved a great blessing to those super powers that eye our resources. We beg you do not force concerned people into bartering our sovereignty. The international community needs to deal with the reality, understanding well Myanmars history and political economy. Sanctions risk collapsing the economy, throwing millions into poverty. Engaging the actors in reconciliation is the only path. What has happened is painful. It has shattered our people. I write this with a desire to console them. I write not as a politician. I believe all the stakeholders in this country wish the best for our people. I write with prayers and hope that his great nation, this golden land of a graceful people will enter into global stage as a reconciled community of hope and peace. Let us solve all disputes through dialogue. Peace is possible. Peace is the only way. Democracy is the only light to that path. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo Archbishop of Yangon Myanmar President of the Catholic Bishops, Conference of Myanmar President of Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences Patron of Religions for Peace Myanmar and Pro-President for RfP International 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. [February 03, 2021] Corporate Tax Consulting Firm DMA Announces Expansion to Europe FORT WAYNE, Ind., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc. (DMA), an industry-leading corporate tax consulting firm, proudly announces its expansion to Europe, with headquarters in Germany. As the Wayfair court decision has greatly expanded the number of companies required to collect sales tax in the U.S., navigating the complex maze of U.S. state and local tax schemes has continued to be a challenge for even the most sophisticated U.S.-based tax departments. For a company based outside the U.S. with sales or operations inside of the U.S., satisfying its sales and use tax compliance obligations can be a nightmare. At the same time, European countries are beginning to adopt real-time indirect tax compliance regulations and lowering their thresholds for imposing tax collection obligations (including considering tax collection requirements for marketplace facilitators). As a result, global companies with a European presence are facing increasingly daunting tax compliance challenges. Unfortunately, the functionality of these companies' enterprise business systems often isn't robust enough to effectively manage the full array of sales and use and value added tax (VAT) calculations, remittances, and document management/retention requirements. As a result, complex, global companies are looking to automate their transaction tax compliance processes not just for their U.S. and Canadian operations - they're looking for comprehensive, global solutions. According to Justin Reinard, DMA's Executive Vice President of Tax Technology, "There are over 12,000 taxing jurisdictions in the U.S. alone. We find that our European clients with operations in the U.S. can be overwhelmed by the complexities of U.S. taxation, and we believe that with a European presence, we'll be better able to support those clients with their .S. tax automation needs. In addition, as global tax scenarios become more complex, we're seeing an increased need for our North America-based clients to automate their global tax processes, as well." DMA's Tax Technology experts connect clients' ERP systems to software that automates tax calculations for purchase and sales transactions and streamlines the associated reporting to the appropriate taxing authorities. This not only reduces the burden on a company's tax, IT, and accounting teams, it enhances compliance. "Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in tax automation - companies have been approaching it from a global perspective, more countries have increased the scope and complexity of their tax regimes, and tax compliance obligations for global companies with a U.S. presence have increased," says DMA President and CEO Dan Hutmacher. "As many organizations are now considering a global tax software deployment instead of U.S.-only tax automation, DMA's expanded footprint allows us to better support our global clients." To learn more about DMA's global tax automation expertise, visit DMAinc.com/Tax-Technology. About DMA DMA, a proudly employee-owned company, has been partnering with many of the world's largest companies since 1972 to solve their corporate tax challenges. Focusing on eight key areas of corporate taxation - property tax, sales/use & commodity tax, state income & franchise tax, tax technology, value added tax, customs & duty, crown royalties, and unclaimed property - DMA professionals assist companies with minimizing their taxes, enhancing the efficiency of their tax administration through industry-leading technology solutions, and managing their tax compliance obligations. To learn more about DMA, visit DMAinc.com. Press Contact: Lori Wildman +1 800.309.2110 ext. 2528 lwildman@dmainc.com Related Images dma-ducharme-mcmillen-associates.png DMA - DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc. DMA - DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc. Related Links DMA Website View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/corporate-tax-consulting-firm-dma-announces-expansion-to-europe-301220912.html SOURCE DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc. [ 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. All the main parties sitting on Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have paid tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore on his passing with the exception of Sinn Fein. And during the same meeting, one councillor was cut off in the course of commendations, having drawn reference to the NHS struggling under government cuts. Read More With the sad news breaking shortly before the meeting began, Ulster Unionist Councillor Victor Warrington offered his sympathies to the family. The man was a great inspiration at the start of this pandemic, with his efforts of doing the walk to raise millions for the NHS," he said. "He had a great life of 100 years and would have had some great stories to tell. On behalf of my party, I want to express our sincere sympathies. DUP Councillor Errol Thompson added: It was very sad to learn of the passing of Captain Sir Tom Moore. He was a great inspiration. For a man of 99. then 100 years of age to walk constantly for NHS and the amount of money he raised right across the UK was unbelievable. Our party wishes to be associated with the remarks of sympathy to his family. Independent Councillor Emmet McAleer also expressed his condolences adding: The money that Captain Sir Tom raised during his activities was absolutely inspiring. However, when pointing out NHS funding cuts are a complete indictment of the Conservative government, the chair, UUP Councillor Diana Armstrong cut in, refusing to allow him to continue. She said: I am insisting on respect in these messages, so I am ruling that out of order. Councillor Josephine Deehan, Independent told members she was greatly saddened on learning of the death of Captain Sir Tom. I watched television images of him doing his rounds and doing everything within his power to raise funding for the NHS, an institution which he valued so much. He was willing to put in that supreme effort," she said. "I thinks its truly extraordinary. A great inspiration, especially to those of us who spend so may hours sitting behind a desk there he was, getting out, doing his bit. He was truly inspirational and we are all greatly saddened at his passing. Next to speak was Independent Councillor Donal OCofaigh who also referred to Captain Sir Toms inspirational efforts. He said: Sadly, it takes people like that, at his age, to raise funds in this way. This was genuinely done in an inspirational manner. This is a man who faced down the threat of fascism and he knew the value of the NHS which was created on the back of that victory. We cant let go of our NHS. Concluding, the SDLPs Councillor Paul Blake told members Captain Sir Tom: Became a very inspirational figure during a very difficult time when we were overcoming the pandemic. To see his movements every day and the amount of money he raised was a real inspiration. We owe a great debt of gratitude. 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. Within the next 60 days, each of the military services will take time out of daily duties to discuss the problem of extremism and extremist ideology in the ranks, as military leaders seek to get a better sense of how widespread these belief systems are. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III ordered the stand-down Wednesday morning in a meeting with all the military service secretaries and service chiefs, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in an afternoon briefing. Kirby called the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riots at the U.S. Capitol, and the fact that many of those arrested were military veterans or currently serving, a "wake-up call" for Lloyd and the Defense Department. Lloyd, Kirby said, stressed to his military leaders that he believed the vast majority of those in uniform serve honorably and do not espouse the "kind of beliefs leading to the kinds of conduct that would be so detrimental to good order and discipline." But, he said of extremists in the military, "although their numbers may be small, they may not be as small as we would like them to be or we would need them to be." Read Next: Idaho Guard Halts Flight Operations After Black Hawk Crash in Bad Weather Kills 3 It's not immediately clear how the stand-down will be structured or what each service and the tenant commands and units within will be required to do. More information is coming, Kirby said. "We owe the force, we owe these leaders some training materials and some deeper, more specific guidance about how to conduct [the stand-down], what the expectations are and thoughts about how feedback can be provided," he said. The new focus on extremism comes on the heels of recent efforts by the services to address racial inequalities and sexual harassment in the ranks. NPR reported that one in five defendants in cases linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol assault had ties to the military, a disproportionate number in that veterans make up only about 7% of the U.S. population. Kirby indicated that leaders believe the number of those with right-wing extremist beliefs inside the military is small, although he added that it's difficult to track: While active participation in organizations deemed to be gangs or hate groups violates military policy, membership in the same groups is permitted and troops' belief systems are not policed. "One of the challenges and one of the reasons we're trying to do this is, we don't know the full breadth and depth of it," he said. "We don't want to overestimate or underestimate the number. It may be more than [we believe] and probably a lot less than the media [makes it out to be]." Austin, who became secretary of defense Jan. 22, may be mulling additional orders to the services in the near future aimed at promoting equality and addressing problems with the culture. "I don't think at this point he's ruling anything out," Kirby said. "He made it clear to the leadership that he's still mulling how he wants to organize this and how he wants to attack it from an institutional perspective." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Related: Navy IDs 56 Ways to Fix Inequality in the Ranks in the Wake of George Floyd's Death The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RakBank) has announced a consolidated net profit of AED505.4 million ($137.5 million) for the full-year of 2020, decreasing by AED589.9 million over the previous year. In a statement on Wednesday, RakBank said, "The Banks results reflect the impact of the pandemic on our customers and the economy whereby Total Assets stood at AED52.8 billion, decreasing by 7.6 percent over 2019, and Gross Loans and Advances closed at AED32.2 billion, down by 11.2 percent over the previous year, reported Emirates News Agency. citing a RakBank statement. "However, business fundamentals remain strong with Deposits growing by 0.3 percent including the CASA growth of AED5.1 billion (22.3 percent). The Return on Average Assets ratio closed the year at 0.9 percent compared to 2.0 percent for the previous year and Return on Average Equity was 6.5 percent, compared to 14.9 percent in 2019. "The Board of Directors recommended a distribution of cash dividend of 15 percent of the share capital (15 fils per share) for the shareholders consideration and approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM)." RakBank CEO, Peter England, said: "The efforts of recent years to diversify our balance sheet and revenue stream delivered strong results in the first couple of months of 2020. Our Treasury business displayed an increase in operating profits year on year. Additionally, our income from investments recorded significant revenue growth as compared to the previous year. "When the global pandemic struck at the beginning of 2020, the Bank activated its Business Continuity Plan. We focused on maintaining our business-critical activities and the collective wellbeing of our workforce, customers and all stakeholders." The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company It took 30 long minutes for Ruby the dog to die, as her neck was crushed in the grips of a metal conibear trap. Her owner, Cathy Gagnon, could do nothing but futilely struggle to remove the trap, watching her companion gasp for air and slowly die. The incident happened just north of Winnipeg last month, as Gagnon and Ruby were enjoying a winter walk. Opinion It took 30 long minutes for Ruby the dog to die, as her neck was crushed in the grips of a metal conibear trap. Her owner, Cathy Gagnon, could do nothing but futilely struggle to remove the trap, watching her companion gasp for air and slowly die. The incident happened just north of Winnipeg last month, as Gagnon and Ruby were enjoying a winter walk. In a letter to the editor published by the Winnipeg Free Press on Jan. 26, Gagnon described her awful ordeal. Winnipegger Robyn Rypp asked in a subsequent letter, "What on earth could this monster be trapping so close to a city? Are there not laws to protect domestic pets from this fate?" The trap was reportedly set by a local farmer, to protect his property from coyotes. Conibear traps are legal in Manitoba, even within city limits. Animal advocates are calling for that to change. The conibear is a steel, spring-loaded, body-gripping trap that is meant to break the neck and strangle a captured animal. "They are landmines, waiting to devastate animals who get too near," says Lesley Fox, with wildlife advocacy group The Fur-Bearers. Though touted as "instant kill" traps, and often promoted as more humane than leg-hold or snare traps, Fox says "as is documented in this case and many others, this isnt the reality." And because they are classified as kill-traps, there are no regulations for licensed trappers regarding when they must return to check the traps. "So animals suffer for extended periods of time," she says. Just like Ruby. "When used by property owners like the person who set the trap that killed Ruby, no licence is needed in Manitoba," explains Kaitlyn Mitchell, a Winnipeg-based animal rights lawyer with Animal Justice, "and the province merely requires that the trap be checked every 24 hours." But with no licensing requirements for property owners, Mitchell explains that authorities "are generally in the dark about who is using these traps and where, making it difficult to enforce the 24-hour checking requirement." When used by licensed trappers, she adds, "enforcement is also a challenge, given that trapping generally takes place across vast areas of wilderness." Both the Fur-Bearers and Animal Justice are calling for the province of Manitoba to finally outlaw all body-gripping traps, including the conibear. The Winnipeg Humane Society has also deemed the trap cruel and inhumane. "Traps do not discriminate," the society said in a statement. "Dogs, children and non-target wildlife all run risk of being caught and slowly killed by these traps." The society also stated via email that its board of directors is "in discussions as to how we can take next steps to make these traps illegal in Manitoba." On its website, The Fur Bearers list dozens of incidences across Canada over the last decade of pets being caught in wildlife traps, including Pippen, another dog killed in a conibear trap in Manitoba in 2012. Last August, a man got his foot caught in a conibear trap while hiking in southeastern Manitoba. Conservation and Climate had issued a wild-animal kill permit for "problem" beavers. The WHS published blogs asking for officials to stop killing ecologically important beavers, and offered alternative and proactive measures for dealing with wildlife. "Landowners are encouraged to learn how to coexist with native wildlife," says Fox, adding that The Fur-Bearers can offer assistance with this. "Many resources exist on how to predator-proof farmed animals and property." While the tragic story of Ruby the dog has tugged at the hearts of many Manitobans, let us also consider the many other animals for which these traps are actually set: the beavers, coyotes, raccoons, muskrats and other wildlife that are threatened with a slow, inhumane death that no creature deserves. "There are plenty of ways to reduce human-wildlife conflict," says Mitchell, "without resorting to the use of cruel and indiscriminate traps." Jessica Scott-Reid is a Winnipeg-based writer and animal-rights advocate. New Delhi, Feb 3 : In a strong message to those propagating anti-India moves, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Wednesday that no propaganda can deter the democratic country's unity, nor can it stop India from attaining new heights. Shah's remarks came in support of a tweet by Extermal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, in which the official mentioned about vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on the ongoing farmers' protest. "No propaganda can deter India's unity! No propaganda can stop India from attaining new heights! Propaganda can not decide India's fate, only 'Progress' can. India stands united and together to achieve progress," Shah tweeted. Shah's comment came after the MEA spokesperson through his official Twitter handle described how the Parliament of India, after full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislations relating to the agricultural sector -- the three farm laws against which thousands of farmers are sitting on Delhi borders seeking their withdrawal by terming them as "black laws" and "anti-farmer". Srivastava said these reforms gave expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to the farmers and also paved the way for economically and ecologically sustainable faming. He further mentioned that "a very small section of farmers in parts of India have some reservations about these reforms". Respecting the sentiments of the protesters, the govemment of India has initiated a series of talks with their representatives. "Union ministers have been part of the negotiations, and eleven rounds of talks have already been held. The govemment has even offered to keep the laws on hold, an offer iterated by no less than the Prime Minister of India," Srivastava said. Yet, Srivastava continued, it is "unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them". "This was egregiously witnessed on January 26, India's Republic Day. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India, was besmirched, and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian capital. "Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise intemational support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is extremely disturbing for India and for civilised society ewerywhere," Srivastava said. He said that Indian police forces have handled these protests with utmost restraint, and it may be noted that hundreds of men and women serving in the police have been physically attacked, and in some cases stabbed and seriously wounded. "We would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the government and the concemed famer groups to resolve the impasse," he said. Before nushing to comment on such matters, Srivastava said, "we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken". "The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible," the MEA spokesperson added. 2021-02-02 Maeci The Foreign Ministry expresses consternation at the news of Aleksey Navalny's long prison sentence; a sentence originating from a trial itself defined as arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable by the European Court of Human Rights. The detention of Mr. Navalny, after he was poisoned with a chemical agent last August, confirms the trend of suppression of fundamental rights under way in the Russian Federation. Italy remains a consistent supporter of dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Russia, but expresses strong concern about these developments, which are in contrast to the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law. WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the start of efforts to identify and reunite hundreds of families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration and remain apart years later. President Biden signed an executive order creating a task force to reunite the families, a step toward fulfilling a campaign promise. "With the first action today we are going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families at the border and with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the children who are still in custody and their parents," he said. Administration officials did not have details on the scale or timing of the work. They said the task force, chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, would meet regularly with the president and make recommendations. The group will "work across the U.S. government, with key stakeholders and representatives of impacted families, and with partners across the hemisphere to find parents and children separated by the Trump administration," a senior administration official said. The Trump administration separated at least 5,500 children from their parents along the border between July 2017 and June 2018 in an attempt to deter migration. The American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the government over the policy, says it's likely that at least 1,000 of those families remain separated - parents scattered mostly across Central America and children living with relatives in the United States. "The first order of the task force will be to get a better handle on these numbers and start reuniting children with their parents," said the senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before it was announced. Because of poor government record keeping, it remains unclear how many parents were deported without their children and where they are currently living - a major challenge facing any reunion effort. Attorneys and advocates have been unable to find hundreds of separated families, in some cases sending search parties into remote parts of Central America in attempts to locate them. Many of those parents, unsure if or when they would ever be together again, have spent the past several years trying to raise their children over video calls. Some returned to the U.S. border in hopes of finding their children but were once again apprehended by immigration agents and deported a second time. "It's a daily horror for us who are living without our children. It's an endless sadness," said Maria, a Guatemalan mother who was separated from her 10-year-old daughter on the Arizona-Mexico border in July 2017. "All we want is the opportunity to see our kids, to be with them again." "I tell my daughter to have patience. 'Very soon we'll see each other,' I say," said Maria, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used due to threats she has faced in her home country. Like many separated parents, she watched the U.S. election closely, believing that a Biden victory would improve her chances of seeing her daughter again. But she has since struggled to discern the Biden administration's plan for parents like her, or any timeline for a possible reunification. Advocates have emphasized the need not only to reunite families, but also to provide them with protection from deportation and a path to citizenship. When a court ordered the Trump administration to reunite families in 2018, many reunited parents were not given any legal status, making them immediately deportable and raising the prospect of re-separation. "We have entrusted Joe Biden to keep his word to bring these families together and help make them whole," said Carol Anne Donohoe, a managing attorney at Al Otro Lado, which is working with 32 separated families. "That means resettling these families in the United States, giving them legal status, and resources to help them heal. We also demand accountability so that Family Separation doesn't go down as yet another stain on this nation's history that is never redressed." Government officials said they had not settled on a single legal status for returning parents. They said families could receive different visas or legal protections depending on their cases. Attorneys and advocates have raised concerns that minor charges - such as reentering the United States illegally - could be held against separated parents and stand in the way of them possibly being reunited with their children. The task force will be authorized to evaluate family separation cases "on an individual basis, taking into account the preferences of the family and the well-being of the children," the senior administration official said. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, the lead lawyer in the family separation lawsuit, said the creation of a task force was expected; now more concrete pledges are needed. "What we need now is an immediate commitment to specific remedies, including reunification in the U.S., permanent legal status, and restitution for all of the 5,500-plus families separated by the Trump administration," he said. "Anything short of that will be extremely troubling given that the U.S. government engaged in deliberate child abuse." It remains unclear whether the U.S. government will conduct its own searches for separated families and arrange their return to the United States, or if that work will be outsourced to nongovernmental organizations that did it independently during the Trump administration. The task force will consist of officials across government agencies. It remains unclear how the group - or the Biden administration more broadly - will pursue demands for reparations among separated families, or how it will respond to calls to investigate former officials who were responsible for crafting the policy. Under Biden, according to the senior official, the federal government "will not repeat the policies and practices that led to the separation of these families." Boost Business NEPA will support local restaurants through its 2021 Spread the Love Campaign. Designed to raise money, drive online and on-site traffic, promote participating eateries and engage the community, the initiative aims to give restaurants a much-needed boost. To participate, community members are asked to visit BoostBusinessNEPA.com and make a $10 donation in support of their favorite restaurant. For every $10 donation, which will be presented to each business as a personalized valentine, Boost Business will also give $10 through the help of match donors.Every day in February, the Boost Business leadership team will deliver the valentines to restaurants throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. A Boost Business Restaurant Roundtable will be held later this month. All local restaurant owners and workers who would like to participate should email Boost Business at team@boostbusinessNEPA.com. ROBERT TOMKAVAGE 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. "We are so proud to announce a President with one of the most impressive track records in our companys history," said Kit Hughes, CEO & Co-Founder. "Donnas tenure with our team makes her uniquely equipped to lead Look Listen during this critical time in our evolution. As an integral driver of our Look Listen, a full-service digital marketing agency with offices in Atlanta and Denver, today announced the appointment of Donna Crafton Montgomery, as its new President, effective January 2021. Mrs. Montgomery has over 25 years of experience in the marketing industry, most recently as Managing Director of the agencys Denver office. She was instrumental in standing up the companys second office nearly five years ago, while growing revenue four-fold during her tenure. Montgomery has end-to-end marketing experience in public relations, digital, events, business development and brand strategy. "We are so proud to announce a President with one of the most impressive track records in our companys history," said Kit Hughes, CEO & Co-Founder. "Donnas tenure with our team makes her uniquely equipped to lead Look Listen during this critical time in our evolution. As an integral driver of our strong growth in the Denver market, we will benefit from her vision, leadership, and creativity to successfully continue building upon this momentum for years to come. I am honored to be trusted to lead our business forward with my talented team, and am confident my leadership experience combined with our focus on developing best-in-class work at the intersection of insights, creativity and technology, will unlock growth and continue to create value for our clients at speed and scale, said Montgomery. About Look Listen Look Listen builds campaigns, websites, communications, and digital solutions for companies, while seeking to improve the human experience. Leveraging our long history of applying human-centered design to marketing, we help our clients achieve peak performance by using behavioral analysis across sales, marketing, and communications. With offices in Atlanta and Denver, you can connect with us online at LookListen.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Veteran marijuana activist Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion put New Jersey under the cannabis microscope late last year when he challenged the state's newly passed marijuana legalization laws with a lawsuit directed at Governor Phil Murphy (Case 3:20-cv-16582-PGS-TJB FORCHION v. MURPHY at: http://njweedman.com/Federal_Cannabis_lawsuit.pdf ). In response to the governor's recently filed request for the lawsuit's dismissal (http://www.njweedman.com/Federal_Cannabis_Lawsuit_Murphy_REPLY.pdf), Forchion's attorney, John Vincent Saykanic, Esq. has filed a 78-page complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief (http://www.njweedman.com/Federal_Cannabis_Lawsuit_Njweedman_Response.pdf). Ed NJWeedman Forchion is fighting for inclusion for marginalized vendors who are excluded in the cannabis legalization marketplace. Forchion champions for the underground suppliers that currently provide 90% of the marijuana consumed in his state. Second image, left to right: Governor Phil Murphy; Senator Nicholas P. Scutari; Ed NJWeedman Forchion, the elephant in the room; Scott Rudder, former Republican state legislator; and Senator Stephen M. Sweeney. Graphics by @pleaseb_thechange Governor Murphy, represented by the Attorney General of New Jersey Gurbir S. Grewal, requested the dismissal claiming in defense that he has not officially signed the state's pending Regulated Cannabis Act. Peter G. Sheridan, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey has elected to hear oral arguments on February 17, 2021. Forchion has accused the state of baiting New Jersey citizens into voting for the legalization of a corporate, Caucasian run cannabis industry, under the guise of legalizing marijuana. Forchion notes that under the current developing legislation, marijuana would still be illegal and in fact, criminalized, in underserved communities. Boldly fighting for inclusion and equality for marginalized vendors who are being excluded in the legalization marketplace, Forchion's arguments champion what he defines as the "existing underground marketeers that currently provide 90% of the marijuana consumed in the state." "I'm demanding small businesses like myself, which ironically are the backs the current industry is built upon, be granted concessions that are due to us based on the well documented history of our marijuana related prosecution across this country. Now, corporations and state politicians are attempting to write us out of this multibillion-dollar industry, and my lawsuit documents and challenges the complicity of these efforts," expresses Forchion. "Considering that Governor Murphy has not yet signed the Regulated Cannabis Act that I am contesting, will he further delay signing it while this case proceeds? And if so, where does that leave the thousands of citizens who voted for legalization?" Forchion, a cannabis cult figure, has rallied for fair representation and legalization for over three decades now. In 2016, his lawyer, Attorney Saykanic, filed Forchion's case challenging the state of New Jersey before the United States Supreme Court regarding pertinent issues pertaining to reefer, racial discrimination and religion. "I have always believed in Forchion's legal battles. Since his first arrest in 1997 to his current Citizen Dispensary located across the street for Trenton City Hall, Forchion has never backed down from the systemic racial discrepancies inherit in the structuring of the cannabis legalization industry. This lawsuit may redefine how legalization will ultimately play out in New Jersey. Forchion is controversial yes, but his insight, arguments, and academic understanding of the languaging of law are proving to stand the test of time. Many of us are just now beginning to fully realize the impact of concerns he has espoused for decades now," notes Attorney Saykanic. In his lawsuit, filed in November 2020, Forchion sought to have the "Court declare unconstitutional and invalid the application and implementation of the 'Constitutional Amendment to Legalize Marijuana.'" Forchion asserted that the Regulated Cannabis Act, as the amendment is referred to in the lawsuit, "deprives him of equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as it subjects him to selective prosecution." Forchion also noted that the state unfairly allows Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) dispensaries to possess large amounts of marijuana in violation of federal law while prosecuting individuals such as himself. Forchion has had numerous marijuana related prosecutions brought against him by the State of New Jersey, including a pending matter. Forchion further proposed that voters were duped into believing that they were voting to legalize marijuana, while unwittingly sanctioning a cannabis industry which only grants legalization to a majority of Caucasian owned corporate entities while criminalizing many individuals of color, who in effect will not be granted similar access to grow, sale and distribute. Comparing the pending legislation to the 1990's cocaine vs. crack dilemma, Forchion cites how the State is subtly creating a distinction between illegal "marijuana" supplied by vendors like him, versus state 'regulated cannabis' sold by majority Caucasian owned and operated corporations. New Jersey's cannabis legislature has come under increasingly mounting criticism with the state publicly criticized for attempting to push through a corporatized cannabis culture with not enough regard for the constituents that voted it through. The state seemingly hangs in yet further limbo as the Governor may now delay full legislative passage per Forchion's unprecedented filing. News of longtime New Jersey resident, Rohan Marley, and son of reggae legend Bob Marley, entering the market with his Lightshade retail site offers inspiring signs of hope, however. In the past, Forchion has been vehemently retaliated against by the State of New Jersey. In 2002, he was jailed for advocating the legalization of marijuana. Forchion was held at the Burlington County Jail for over five months when United States District Court Federal Judge Joseph E. Irenas, U.S.D.J., hearing his civil rights suit, agreed that the state had violated Forchion's First Amendment right to advocate marijuana's legalization and ordered him to be released. In 2016, Forchion and his partner, Debi Madaio, had their restaurant, NJWeedman's Joint, raided by Mercer County law enforcement authorities on marijuana dealing charges. Forchion was held without bail for 447 days due to the retaliatory charge of witness tampering. He was acquitted by a jury and all charges were dismissed with no convictions. Media, legislature, politicians and cannabis activists and supporters worldwide are taking close heed of this case as it maneuvers the smoky realms of legalization. Find out more about Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion at https://linktr.ee/NJWeedman. jazzmyne Public Relations 323-380-8819 e-mail: [email protected] web: www.jazzmynepr.com SOURCE Ed Forchion aka NJWeedman Gavin Newsoms poll ratings may be shaky, but that alone isnt going to knock the governor out of office. What Republicans and other Newsom opponents need in order to make that happen is another Arnold. The 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis succeeded in part because Arnold Schwarzenegger ran to replace him. He was a charismatic, largely self-funding candidate with 100% name recognition and California-friendly moderate positions. So far, that person doesnt exist in California in 2021, as Republicans try to qualify a recall of Newsom for the ballot. To have the recall succeed, they need a larger-than-life figure, said Garry South, a Democratic strategist who managed Davis 1998 and 2002 campaigns for governor. Schwarzenegger had a somewhat bipartisan image. He was married to a Kennedy (John F. Kennedys niece Maria Shriver), South said. There arent any more Arnold Schwarzeneggers hanging out in the wings. Rob Stutzman, a senior adviser to Schwarzeneggers 2003 recall campaign, said that Schwarzenegger and the pope were the most famous people in the world at that time. Literally. But Stutzman, a GOP strategist, cautioned that Newsom isnt in the clear just because theres no Arnold on the scene yet. I dont think you will see who the additional candidates will be until (if and when the petition drive for a Newsom recall) qualifies, he said. Neither Stutzman nor South said the Republicans who have announced their candidacies businessperson John Cox, whom Newsom defeated by 23 points in 2018, and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who officially launched his campaign Tuesday were the governors top threats. They were also skeptical of wealthy Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Democratic donor Chamath Palihapitiya, who said he will challenge Newsom but has never held public office and has created no campaign infrastructure. He doesnt have to beat Kevin Faulconer, Stutzman said of Newsom. He has to beat 50% in a recall vote. Republicans leading the recall effort say they are gaining momentum, but qualifying it is no sure thing. They have until March 17 to gather 1.5 million valid signatures of registered voters to put the issue on the ballot this year. As of Jan. 6, they had submitted 410,087 valid signatures, according to the secretary of states office. Republicans could take heart from a poll released Tuesday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that found Newsoms job approval rating at 46%, down from 64% in September. However, nearly half the 10,357 registered voters surveyed said a recall would be a bad idea, and more respondents said they would vote to keep Newsom than to oust him. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press Still, said Stutzman, the poll shows hes vulnerable. While it is tempting to compare the 2003 recall of Davis with Newsoms predicament today, there are major differences: California is more Democratic now: In February 2003, Democrats held a nine-point voter registration advantage over Republicans. But the GOP has steadily lost membership since then and now trails Democrats, 46% to 24%. California has not elected a Republican to statewide office since Schwarzeneggers re-election in 2006. Newsom is not Gray Davis: Davis barely won re-election in 2002, while Newsom cruised to victory in 2018 with 62% of the vote. It takes a majority vote to remove the governor. Right now, 43% disapprove of Gavin Newsom, said Mark Baldassare, CEO of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, which released a survey Tuesday showing 52% approval for Newsom. For perspective, Baldassare said, 7 in 10 likely voters disapproved of Gray Davis before he was recalled. Davis tepid re-election performance was a sign he could not rely on a well of support from his fellow Democrats. That was compounded by Davis reputation as someone who, as then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said at the time, has zero personal relationships and was cold and distant. People do not like him, Brown said. Newsom has a different problem: Californians see him as an elitist who doesnt think the rules apply to him, Exhibit A being the infamous French Laundry dinner. I made a bad mistake, Newsom said after he was outed for dining with a lobbyist friend and more people than his own administration recommended for gatherings during the pandemic. It remains to be seen whether Californians will accept his contrition. Theres no Democratic opposition. Yet: South recalled that Davis chances of remaining in office were hurt when Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a fellow Democrat, decided to run in the recall election. That gave Democratic voters who held their nose to vote for Davis in 2002 an option: They could vote for a Democrat and still get rid of Davis, who angered many Latinos when he vetoed a bill that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. South said the campaigns internal polling showed Latino voters flocking to Bustamante, who would have been Californias first elected Latino governor. Instead, he lost badly, getting only 31% of the vote in the recall to Schwarzeneggers 49%. But he helped send Davis to defeat in the recall, in which 55% of the electorate voted to oust the governor. South, who ran Newsoms aborted campaign for governor in the 2010 race, said: I dont see any credible Democrat running this time. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Democrat thought to have long-term designs on the governors post, told The Chronicle on Tuesday that she would not run if the recall qualified. A progressive hasnt emerged. Yet: Stutzman said Newsom should be concerned about a challenger taking him on from the left, perhaps from outside the political establishment. In 2003, that list included author and publisher Arianna Huffington. This time, it could be someone like Palihapitiya, who has more than 1.2 million Twitter followers and the bankroll to introduce himself quickly to voters during the sprint of a recall campaign. The venture capitalist gave $100,000 on Tuesday to the Rescue California recall organization. If a candidate to Newsoms left appealed to, say, 20% of voters, that could really hurt him, Stutzman said. Social media wasnt a major factor in 2003, but it would be today, enabling candidates to quickly scale up campaigns and boost their name recognition. If you have a progressive out there who catches fire and then add that to some centrist Republicans supporting the recall, Stutzman said, then that could put you over 50% (in a vote to recall the governor). Im not saying Newsom is toast, but hes vulnerable. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli MALTA At a public meeting Monday, town board member Craig Warner praised a former town zoning board member for being at the U.S. Capitol siege on Jan. 6. Sharon Pineo, who was photographed being led away from the Capitol by police with her hands behind her back, "did nothing wrong," said Warner at meeting's end when it was his turn to give general comments on town business. Pineo has acknowledged her presence at the Capitol, but there has been no evidence she was criminally charged. "Over the past weeks, we have heard a lot of things about the incident in the Capitol," said Warner of Pineo, who sits on the town Republican committee. "Malta was thrust into the headlines from here to San Francisco. I want to put a little bit of a twist on that. I want to thank Sharon for being on our zoning board, helping out in town, shuttling vets, because she stood up for our rights at the Capitol. And they made an example out of her. But the thing that she did, she was standing up for everybody in town and in the country for our freedom of speech and our right to protest. She did nothing wrong. They made an example out of her and she is a prime example of many volunteers that serve hours and hours to our town. Thank you Sharon." The statement prompted Saratoga County Democratic Chairman Todd Kerner to call for Warner's resignation. Previously Local official seen in photo at breach of US Capitol resigns Malta official resigns after involvement in U.S. Capitol siege Churchill: Message adds to season of campaign hate Most Saratoga County residents objected and were appalled by the insurrection that led to the deaths and hospitalizations of police officers and others, Kerner said. For an elected official to thank anyone associated with those actions and the broader attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election shows he is unfit to serve the public at large. He must be called out for his comments and resign from office immediately. Pineo helped to organize a charter bus to the Capitol to attend the rally supporting former President Donald Trump, which preceded hundreds from the rally storming the U.S. Capitol building. In a statement to The Paul Vandenburgh Show, the Daily Gazette reported, the 70-year-old said she did not enter the Capitol nor did I commit any violence. The New York Times reported that she was detained after she made it past barricades surrounding the building." Just days after the storming of the Capitol, the Round Lake resident resigned her seat on the town's Zoning Board of Appeals. In a letter to Malta Supervisor Darren OConnor, she wrote it is important not to allow any impediment to the smooth operation of the town business. Democratic town board member Cynthia Young thought that was the end of the controversy surrounding Pineo. She said she was surprised that Warner brought it up again. I am disappointed that he chose to bring it back into the spotlight, Young said. We have important issues before us. Its about the town of Malta, not the Capitol. Chair of the Malta Democrats Tracy DeRagon agreed, adding she was upset that Warner said Pineo was standing for Malta residents; Saratoga County voters handed the election to Democrat Joe Biden. I watched it over and over again, asking myself why would he say something like that, DeRagon said. I was very upset. I was embarrassed. I was shocked he defended her. She does not represent us and Im appalled he would say that at a board meeting. ... If he wanted to thank her for her service, it should have been between him and her at another time. In an emailed statement from Malta Republican Chair Ted Willette, provided by the committee's spokesman, Willette said: "I will call on Craig to resign when both the Saratoga County Democrat Chairman and town board member Cynthia Young ask Governor Cuomo to resign for his corruption in the nursing home death scandal as reported by the Democrat Attorney General," Willette's statement read. Warner has been criticized before for extreme views. Back in 2016 during the last presidential election, he forwarded a racist email that listed white people who were allegedly murdered by Black people. The email read, "there is an epidemic of violence coming from the black community that seriously endangers the remainder of the population." Warner topped the email with: Just one of the many reasons my family supports Donald Trump." Craig nor Pineo responded to the Times Union's requests for comment. Republican Supervisor OConnor said that hes not asking Warner to step down and its Warners prerogative to make those comments. Once Sharon resigned from the ZBA, it was no longer a town issue, OConnor said. I still dont have the facts as to what happened. Its impossible to make a judgement on what actually happened. Was there a breach of police line, was there a disregard of any order from police or was it part of a demonstration? Maybe Craig looked into this and has more details than I have. Im certainly not calling for anyones resignation. Its totally his call. At a glance: The budget calls for the single-biggest personal income tax ever, though Gov. Tom Wolf has cast it as a major reform that would actually only increase taxes on about one-third of all filers. The governor is also making another run at a key reform of state corporate net income taxes. What it means: Wolf would reset the personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 4.49 percent, a whopping 46.3 percent increase that dwarfs any prior increase in the levys history. The proposed increase would generate just under $3 billion in new revenues annually based on current economic projections. But its not a straight-up increase for everyone. Because of a simultaneous dramatic expansion of Pennsylvanias existing tax forgiveness program that allows some filers to exempt a portion of their income from taxation, Wolf says the changes would lower taxes on 40 percent of all filers, and leave another 27 percent largely at status quo. The great bulk of the increase would fall on the top one-third of the states wage earners. Supporters say the proposal would provide a transformative infusion of cash into public school districts, while offering relief to those who need it the most, while asking more of those who are more fortunate. But opposition to the plan is already forming in the legislatures majority Republican caucuses. Governor Wolf and his Democrat allies are once again proving they have forgotten about Main Street and every middle-class family in the Commonwealth, said Senate President President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre County. Now is not the time to ask Pennsylvanians to send more of their hard-earned dollars to Harrisburg. Wolfs plans would also pair a broadening the base of the states tax on corporate profits by requiring multi-state corporations to file one return reporting income for all related entities effective January 1, 2022. Wolf says his plan will close a loophole that allows multi-state corporations to evade paying that tax by incorporating a holding company in another state and moving profits there. This so-called combined reporting would be paired with a lower tax rate effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. The rate is proposed to decrease from 9.99 percent to 8.99 percent, and then further reduce to 8.29 percent in 2023; 7.49 percent in 2024; 6.99 percent in 2025; and 5.99 percent in 2026 and thereafter. Supporters say the changes will help Pennsylvania based corporations first, because they pay the existing rate, while many larger multi-state and multi-national corporations get a free pass. While the changes are expected to pull in an additional $208 million in 2021-22, Wolf argues that over time, the reduced rate will lower taxes for all, improving the states business climate. Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said Wolfs push to restructure the tax would undercut the benefit from lowering the rate, and push many firms into a morass of new tax litigation. Its a tremendous mistake, Barr said, contending that the bulk of the states so-called Delaware loophole issues were fixed in 2013. The governor is proposing no change in the states sales tax. Laois Offaly Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley wants the Dail to give more power to the agency that polices the spending of taxpayers' money on sporting organisations such as the FAI and charities like Pieta house that get a lot of funds from the Government raised from taxes. Dep Stanley is Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley to whom the Comptroller and Auditor General reports. He has published the draft of a new bill which if passed by the Dail would become law and result in the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to chase all public money spent even where state funding comprises less than 50% of the organisations revenue. A statement said this would include organisations such as the FAI, Pieta House and section 38/39 organisations in the health sector. It is very important that the States public auditor (C&AG) and the PAC is empowered to chase taxpayers money wherever it is spent," he said in a statement on Tuesday, February 2. Unfortunately, under the existing legislation, this is not always possible due to a restriction on auditing private organisations where state funding constitutes less than 50% of their total gross receipts for the year. This restriction imposed by existing legislation make no sense and only serves to undermine public confidence in much needed services. In recent years, there has been a significant expansion of Government funding to non-government agencies, especially in section 38 and 39 health and education service providers. Where 4 billion is spent per annum. While the vast majority of organisations have not been the subject of questionable behaviour and are very good at spending taxpayers money, our position is that if the Government is going to continue to outsource programmes and money to the private sector, then they need to be held fully accountable," he said. Dep Stanley explained what the new bill would achieve The Bill wont confer an obligation on the C&AG to audit all of the accounts, rather it allows his or her office to establish, where necessary, that the money was spent for the appropriate purposes. In the spirit of accountability and transparency and at a time when public money is scarce, this would be a useful tool and power for the C&AG and the PAC. It is based on the principle that all public money is to be subject to the same scrutiny regardless of the organisation's size or level of funding. This is how we, as elected representatives, protect the public purse and deliver first-class public services to the highest standards of delivery, accountability and oversight, concluded the Laois Offaly TD. Washington schools to teach comprehensive sex education after referendum vote Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Voters in Washington state have approved a referendum upholding a bill that would require public schools across the state to teach comprehensive sexual health education to students multiple times throughout their K-12 education. Referendum 90 asked voters whether they wanted to repeal Senate Bill 5395, which was passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year. The bill would require schools across the state to implement comprehensive sexual health education to students in grades six through 12 by the start of the 2021-22 school year and expand curriculums to kindergarten through fifth grade for the 2022-23 school year. Opponents of the bill, including a group called Parents for Safe Schools, successfully gathered enough signatures to place Referendum 90 on the ballot for the November general election. While Parents for Safe Schools urged the residents of the Evergreen State to stop the new, extreme curriculum, nearly 59% of Washington voters voted to leave the bill in place. According to Parents for Safe Schools, materials to meet the new state standards will include graphic sexual subject matter taught at a very young age. But as The Spokesman-Review reports, many school districts wouldnt have to change all that much of their sexual education curriculums to be in line with the bills requirements and students will not be taught about sex before fourth grade. Supporters of the bill, including Planned Parenthood, maintain that the bill aims to give students across the state equal access to sexual education. However, critics say the bill doesn't grant enough local and parental control over what children will be taught about sex. Maia Espinoza, who ran unsuccessfully for Washingtons superintendent for public instruction, spoke with talk radio host Todd Herman in September about some of the more controversial aspects of the sex-ed curriculum. This curriculum is really obsessed with confusing kids about their gender, Herman said during the conversation. He shared content from the website of Informed Parents of Washington, which describes itself as a political action committee for parental rights. Espinoza pointed out that no parents were present on the Sexuality Education Curriculum Review Panel, which consisted of school district officials, health officials from notoriously liberal western Washington and an official from Planned Parenthood. She said that there were no representatives from more conservative eastern Washington districts. Espinoza added that one sex-ed curriculum framework has a section that teaches "sexual positions to fourth graders. There is a book that shows people in different positions having sex recommended for fourth grade. They show children masturbating, showing them the action, like a how-to-masturbate for fourth grade, she added. Herman charged that comprehensive sex education has a framework of ideas that kids are sexual beings from the day theyre born and that it is their right to pursue sexual pleasure and they have the right to consent to it at any age. Espinoza claimed that advocates of comprehensive sex education want to see it incorporated into other subjects. Herman shared testimony from a retired police officer who spent much of his career investigating child sex crimes. The man expressed concern that The mandated comprehensive sex education bill is nothing but a framework for grooming children to be victims of sexual abuse and an obscene assault on innocence. The Informed Parents of Washington shared lesson plans from some of the sex-ed frameworks, highlighting the parts they took issue with. A lesson called Understanding Our BodiesThe Basics, designed for kindergarten students, teaches that there are some body parts that mostly just girls have and some parts that mostly just boys have. Being a boy or a girl doesnt mean you have those parts, but for most people, this is how their bodies are. It also gives graphic descriptions of female genitalia. A lesson plan for middle school students asserts the ideas that people can choose their sexual orientation and gender identity are myths. Informed Parents of Washington annotated a lesson plan for high school students called Creating Condom Confidence, stressing that the condom lesson has students practicing putting condoms on either a banana or a penis model, talking about where a teen can get condoms, and going out to different locations to obtain condoms. That particular lesson plan contains a student worksheet titled Steps to Putting on a Condom. The text of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5395 does not give details about the comprehensive sex-ed curriculum frameworks approved by the state. It defines Comprehensive sexual health education as recurring instruction in human development and reproduction that is age-appropriate and inclusive of all students. Under the guidelines, students in kindergarten through third grade will be subject to social-emotional learning that is consistent with learning standards and benchmarks adopted by the office of the superintendent of public instruction. The bill requires curriculum for students in grades four through 12 to include information about the physiological, psychological and sociological developmental processes. In addition to informing older students about health care and prevention resources, the curriculum teaches them about the development of meaningful relationships and avoidance of exploitative relationships; understanding the influences of family, peers, community, and the media throughout life on healthy sexual relationships; and affirmative consent and recognizing and responding safely and effectively when violence, or a risk of violence, is or may be present with strategies that include bystander training. The bill has a provision enabling any parent or legal guardian who wishes to have his or her child excused from any planned instruction in comprehensive sexual health education to file a written request with school officials. It also enables parents to review the sex-ed curriculum of their childrens school upon providing a written request to school officials. (CNN) Google is providing a deeper look into the financials of its cloud business, and it doesn't look great. Google Cloud posted an operating loss of $1.2 billion in the final quarter of 2020, 4% worse than a year earlier, the tech giant reported Tuesday. The unit lost $5.6 billion for the full year, an increase of nearly 21%. The company's overall business is doing just fine, however, with a net profit of $15.2 billion up 43% from the same period last year on revenues of nearly $57 billion, up 23% and higher than analyst estimates. Google stock jumped more than 6% in after-hours trading. While Google mints money from its core search advertising business, the company has been working for years to diversify its revenue through bets on hardware, cloud computing and various ambitious moonshot projects. The cloud, which has proved to be a huge profit driver for rival Amazon, was thought to be among its most promising efforts. Google's cloud business is seeing sales grow fast even as losses mount. Revenue from this unit topped $13 billion last year, up from nearly $9 billion in the prior year. Earlier this week, the company announced a six-year strategic partnership with Ford, part of which makes Google the carmaker's preferred provider for cloud data storage. "We've obviously been investing aggressively given the substantial market opportunity we see," Google's chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, said on an earnings call Tuesday, pointing to "the success Google Cloud is having with large enterprises which are signing meaningful long-term commitment agreements." The cloud business's operating loss "reflects that we have meaningfully built out our organization ahead of revenues," she added. US tech giants have further cemented their dominance during the coronavirus pandemic even as economies around the world suffered huge setbacks Facebook's $11.2 billion profit last quarter was more than 50% higher compared to the previous year; Microsoft posted record revenues; and Amazon exceeded analysts' profit expectations by more than $1 billion. But many of those companies are under intense pressure from regulators that is likely to further intensify in 2021. Google, like Facebook, is facing a massive antitrust lawsuit as well as questions about its role particularly through video platform YouTube in spreading misinformation about last year's US presidential election. Google is also facing pressure from within, with hundreds of employees forming the company's first-ever union in early January. And despite its ever-growing dominance, particularly in areas such as online search and advertising, the company has retreated from several high-profile projects in recent weeks. On Monday, Google shut down in-house video game development efforts that were part of its Stadia gaming platform, just days after parent company Alphabet said it would wind down an initiative called Loon that used giant balloons to beam internet to people in remote areas around the world. This story was first published on CNN.com 'Google's cloud business is losing money' 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 is an exciting moment for us because Celia Cruz fully embraced her African heritage in life and her music, which is pretty trailblazing for her time," said AfricanAncestry.com President and Co-founder Gina Paige. "We're proud to support the growing number of people from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, etc., turning to us to add the 'African' to their identities and legends such as Cruz paved the way." AfricanAncestry.com Traces the Legendary African Roots of Celia Cruz to the Balanta People of Guinea-Bissau Using DNA AfricanAncestry.com used its single lineage MatriClan test to trace Celia Cruz's mother's mothers' line to the Balanta people of Guinea-Bissau as means to honor Cruz. Celia Cody, Cruz's niece and namesake provided her DNA through a simple swabbing of the cheek. Records show that nearly 600,000 enslaved Africans were brought to Cuba during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Born in Havana, Cruz often integrated Yoruban Tribal influences in her work as a fearless show of African pride. "We now know she's of the Balanta people -- known as 'those who resist' -- and we are honored to celebrate her legacy in this unprecedented way," said Paige. To see the video Reveal of Celia Cruz's ancestry, visit AfricanAncestry.com/Remember. Visit www.AfricanAncestry.com for special Black History Month offers throughout February. For press inquiries in English and/or Spanish, contact Daniel Ali at [email protected]. SOURCE AfricanAncestry.com According to a statement published by the Singapore Ministry of Defense (MoD), Singapore has created a new Maritime Security and Response Flotilla (MSRF) that will have the same missions as the Coast Guard in other countries. According to a statement published by the Singapore Ministry of Defense (MoD), Singapore has created a new Maritime Security and Response Flotilla (MSRF) that will have the same missions as the Coast Guard in other countries. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link The ships for the new Singapore Maritime Security and Response Flotilla MSRF. (Picture source Singapore MoD) The launch of the new Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN)'s Maritime and Security Response Flotilla (MSRF) was attended by the Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral Aaron Beng at RSS Singapura, Changi Naval Base, in January 2021. The new flotilla will add capacity and build capabilities to protect Singapore's territorial waters and respond to expanded maritime security threats. The MSRF will be equipped with new purpose-built ships. As a start, the flotilla will operate four Sentinel-class Maritime Security and Response Vessels (MSRVs) and two Maritime Security and Response Tugboats (MSRTs) to enable more calibrated responses. Commander of the MSRF, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Jun Meng, said, "The MSRF will strengthen Singapore's ability to deal with maritime security threats that have grown in scale and complexity through the years. The additional capabilities will provide us with more flexibility and a wider range of responses, and allow us to be deployed for greater persistence to safeguard and protect Singapore's territorial waters." Also present at the inauguration ceremony were senior RSN officers and representatives from other national maritime agencies. The MSRF will be responsible to develop and operate calibrated capabilities to provide the Singapore government and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) with more options to respond to maritime incidents. The capabilities raised by the MSRF will provide flexibility to meet the increased demands and a wider scope of maritime security operations, and offer greater persistence to protect Singapore's territorial waters. The MSRF will form an important part of the restructured Maritime Security Command. The MSRF will operate new purpose-built vessels from 2026. As a start, the flotilla will operate four Sentinel-class Maritime Security and Response Vessels (MSRVs). It will also operate two Maritime Security and Response Tugboats (MSRTs). In line with other international maritime security agencies, these vessels will all bear red "racing" stripes on their bow. Four ex-Fearless class patrol vessels have been refurbished as the Sentinel-class MSRVs. In addition to refitting the vessels to extend their operational lifespan, the Sentinel-class MSRVs will be installed with a range of calibrated capabilities. This includes enhanced communications equipment, improved visual and audio warning systems, installation of a fender system and modular ballistics protection. MSRV Sentinel and MSRV Guardian will enter into operational service today, while MSRV Protector and MSRV Bastion will be refurbished and operationalized in the coming months. Noted Improvement in Fuel Efficiency, Performance and Engine Wear. Xeriant Expects Significant Revenue, Sales Beginning in 2021 BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xeriant, Inc. (OTC PINK: XERI), a new aerospace technology holding company, announced today that Xeriant Europe s.r.o., its strategic alliance partner in the Czech Republic, has demonstrated a dramatic reduction in friction by its eco-friendly XERI-MC and XERI-L nano-lubricant products in automobiles, adding to its ever-expanding list of successful tests in applications across a variety of industries. Based on early results from tests by three automobile development partners in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, which began last year, XERI brand lubricants have shown a reduction in maintenance and improvements in power output, noise, emissions and fuel efficiency. Henry Biza, CEO of Xeriant Europe, commented, Our next-generation, XERI brand lubricants have been remarkably effective and versatile, outperforming the capabilities of other automotive lubricants in engines and other mechanical components, particularly in harsh environmental conditions. We expect to see similar results in other industries such as mining and manufacturing as well as in other modes of transportation. We currently have tests underway in 16 countries around the world. Developed in 2020, XERI brand nano-lubricants represent a sea change in lubricants technology and could become a significant player in the growing specialty automotive lubricants segment of the estimated US$77.9 billion automotive lubricants market, as reported by Research and Markets. XERI effectively addresses the growing multi-billion-dollar demand for sustainable automotive lubricants which is only one part of the entire transportation-related lubricants market, stated Keith Duffy, CEO of Xeriant Aerospace. About Xeriant Europe Xeriant Europe s.r.o., headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, was founded with the purpose of uncovering leading-edge green technologies with applications in aerospace, primarily from the Czech Republic, and promoting them on the world market, especially in the U.S. The companys focus is on unique products that are either already being sold or are close to commercialization. About Xeriant Xeriant, Inc. (d.b.a. Xeriant Aerospace) is a holding and operating company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing revolutionary, eco-friendly technologies with applications in aerospace, including innovative aircraft concepts targeting emerging opportunities within the aviation industry. In 2019, Xeriant acquired a unique, scalable, multi-purpose VTOL aerial platform called Halo, which is protected under a broad utility patent. Xeriant is located at the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida adjacent to the Boca Raton Airport. The Company is an OTC Markets public company trading under the stock symbol, XERI. For more information, please go to www.xeriant.com SAFE HARBOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS In connection with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Xeriant, Inc. is hereby providing cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements (as defined in such act). Any statements that are not historical facts and that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, indicated through the use of words or phrases such as will likely result, are expected to, will continue, is anticipated, estimated, intends, plans, believes and projects) may be forward-looking and may involve estimates and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, our expectations concerning our ability to attract investors. We caution that the factors described herein could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements we make and that investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of such factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our results of operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. XERIANT, INC. CORPORATE A question of what is essential work will arise in a case against a 30 year old man charged with breach of Covid travel restrictions when operating a drone near Punchestown racecourse last month. The case is scheduled to be heard next week, on February 10. James Denton is questioning the motivation for his arrest suggesting that it has more to do with his work in filming races. On January 19, Mr Denton, 30, of 5 Totnes Avenue, Liverpool, L267AD, England, appeared before Naas District Court, charged under Section 4 (1) Health Act 1947 and Section 31A of the Temporary Restrictions Covid 19 No 20 regulation, 2020). He is also charged with failing to comply with the direction of a garda. The State is alleging he was present at Punchestown without good reason around 1.50pm on Monday afternoon, January 18. On January 19, Mr Denton questioned the motivation for his arrest suggesting that it has more to do with his work in filming races. It is the prosecution case that Mr Denton was NOT providing an essential service when filming races. But at Naas District Court on February 2, David Powderly, solicitor for Mr Menton, said that he would be relying on the rules about what qualifies as essential work in Mr Mentons defence. He also said that Mr Menton would have dashcam footage which he planned to use evidence and asked the court to facilitate that. Mr Powderly asked for an early hearing due to the bail conditions sought by the State and applied to Mr Denton. On January 19, Mr Denton was remanded on bail but on condition that he stay at a county Kildare hotel - reporting restrictions were put on naming it - and notify gardai if he wished to leave. Judge Zaidan commented that day that this drone activity was a bit unusual and asked Mr Denton if he got licences to fly drones. No information was given by Mr Menton on this. Sgt Kelly said the accused was flying the drones over the horse races. Judge Zaidan said he liked to think that Mr Denton had permission to fly the drones over the course. Sgt Kelly said that all that was being alleged is that he had breached the Covid 19 travelling distance regulation and had refused to comply with garda directions. Mr Denton was putting people at risk, said Sgt Kelly. Mr Powderly responded on January 19 that Mr Denton is questioning the motivation for the charge and that there is an objection to this type of work which is not welcome. Mr Powderly said Mr Denton believed his arrest was motivated by other concerns rather than Covid 19 rules. The solicitor said his client had been tested in the UK for Covid before he came to Ireland and was clear. He is not socialising or engaging with numbers of people. Judge Zaidan said the allegations are very serious. He said the only issue is whether the work in which Mr Denton was involved was essential or not. Kantar Retains Slovakian TV Audience Measurement Contract Slovakian TV audience measurement steering committee PMT has awarded Kantar an eight-year extension to its existing contract to provide official TV audience measurement data for the country. This new contract runs until 2029. Kantar has delivered Slovakia's ratings continuously since 2004, and in 2014, PMT renewed its contract with Kantar until 2021. The new contract uses a representative panel of 1,200 households, monitoring 150 channels, and includes a complete upgrade to the underlying technology of the service. This upgrade involves the roll-out of Kantar's People Meter 7, which uses a touch-screen tablet to measure live and catch-up viewing on TV. As well as new hardware, People Meter 7 also offers new software that the firm claims improves engagement with panel members and ensures continuous data capture through Kantar's audio-matching technology, i33. Vladimir Fatika (pictured), Executive Director of PMT, comments: 'Our media industry will benefit from the improved technology while ensuring the highest possible standards in currency measurement are maintained. We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with Kantar. It follows a rigorous and comprehensive search for the best research and technology partner.' Web sites: www.pmt.sk and www.kantar.com . Update: Missing Rochester baby, mom found safe Rochester, N.Y. Rochester police are looking for a 2-month-old baby believed to be in danger. Harlem Antoni Roberts was last seen with his mother, 23-year-old India Roberts, according to a missing child alert issued by the state Division on Criminal Justice Services. Both mother and son are missing. The two were last seen around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on West Avenue in Rochester. According to the alert, they may have traveled to the town of Perinton. India Roberts stands 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs around 140 pounds and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and white leggings. Baby Harlem is about 24 inches long and weighs 8 pounds. Both are Black, with brown hair and brown eyes. Harlem Antoni Roberts (left) and his mother, India Roberts, were last seen in Rochester on Feb. 2.Provided Photos Rochester police ask anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact them at (585) 428-6666, or call 911. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci. The last year of the decade showed little remorse to many of us, no matter if we were working, studying or taking care of family or friends from near or far. Surviving daily news headlines and making it out of the grocery store proved challenging, and I would argue, took much more thought than most of us are used to. As we struggled to make it through the year, many legislative bills were struggling to make it as well. If youre reading this, you did make it, and congratulations for that which was no small feat. Unfortunately, the fate of an important bill that Massachusetts could have passed wasnt so lucky. On Dec. 29, just before the promise of a new year, the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act, or the Death with Dignity bill was shot down. The bill would have allowed patients in Massachusetts the ability to ask for and receive help dying through physician-assisted death (PAD) if they meet a certain set of criteria, such as being mentally sound, over 18 years of age, and being diagnosed with a terminal illness that would end their life within six months. Seven states in the US, including our neighbors in Vermont, have already legalized PAD. In these states, the majority of people who choose to enact their right to die are over the age of 65 and have cancer or a neurological disorder. In most cases, if you are approved by your healthcare practitioner, they will prescribe a cocktail of medicines for you to take at the time and place of your choosing. While I support the autonomy of people who choose to enact PAD, we would do well to address the ways that society lets these people down before they make this decision. Time after another, society is the disabler, not the disease or condition itself. Twenty years ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) made an effort to shift away from the way weve viewed disability for centuries: a medical model, where the person is an object of intervention, a patient who needs to be diagnosed and corrected. The shift from this model was to a more social conscious one that addresses removing environmental barriers that cause limitations for people living with impairments. The most perfect execution of this model would create access in communities for people with a broad range of disabilities. I question, though, why its been 20 years since the WHOs paradigm shift, yet so many of our doctors still put the onus of disability on the individual rather than looking upstream at the factors that cause people to get sick. I offer this question to medical professionals, scientific researchers and educators at every level: if people living with terminal illnesses become eligible, in MA, to request PAD, whether at age 18 or 70, what could we have done earlier in that persons life to reframe the way they think of living with a disability? I have, as have many of us do, family living with Parkinsons Disease and Alzheimers which severely affect their ability to lead normal lives. These illnesses can be truly devastating for diagnosed individuals and their families. Many people fear not being able to do the things they once enjoyed, they fear outliving their need in a society that so values productivity. Many worry about loss of their independence as well as being a burden, financially or otherwise, to loved ones. These fears ones run parallel to the very core of our values as Americans living in 2021, but I do believe that action in removing barriers to people living with an illness and reframing each of our roles in the community could help push us closer to actually adopting the WHOs Social Model of Disability as commonality. I argue in favor of passing the Death With Dignity bill that would legalize PAD, but the social framework that allows people living with illnesses to feel like dying is the best option is one that should be picked apart, sorted through and rebuilt. Communities have to give people living with terminal illnesses and other impairments the ability to live in the public sphere with the support they need to be successful, and we have to allow them to make decisions about the end of their own lives. Brandi St. Romain is a Ada Comstock Scholar studying Neuroscience at Smith College and is an alumni of Holyoke Community College. She lives in Chicopee. Police in Belfast have launched an investigation into how access was gained to a storm drain where the body of teenager Noah Donohoe was discovered. The 14-year-old's body was found in the storm drain on June 27 last year. He was last seen in the north Belfast area six days earlier. The PSNI said the new investigation would centre on "access to the storm drain network, convenient to Premier Drive/Northwood Road in north Belfast, which is owned by the Department for Infrastructure". "Police are working in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and Public Prosecution Service and have informed the Donohoe family of the development," a PSNI spokesperson said. The investigation will take place in addition to the coroner's investigation into the teenager's death. The PSNI said last year they believed Noah entered the north Belfast drain. He had cycled to the area from his home in south Belfast and, shortly before he went missing, was seen with no clothes on. Prior to that, he was seen falling off his bike on Shore Road. Noah's disappearance led to a wide-scale search operation across Belfast, involving police, community rescue teams and the local community. Police have said there was no reason to suspect foul play in his death, but Noah's family have continued to call for answers. Last week deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she had "grave concerns" regarding the police investigation into the death. She met with PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne to discuss the matter. I have met with the Donohoe family, continue to engage with them and they have my full support in terms of getting truth and justice around what happened to Noah," the Sinn Fein vice-president said. I think any mummy in that position that Fiona (Noahs mother) is sitting in today, not having answers about what happened to her wee boy, could not fail to be heartbroken. We will all do and should do everything we can to make sure that every piece of information is uncovered and that Fiona has the answers that she needs to have. The Federal Council Bern, 03.02.2021 - At its meeting on 3 February 2021, the Federal Council approved the 2020 Foreign Policy Report. The report provides an overview of the priorities of Swiss foreign policy in the past year, most of which was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other priorities were European policy and the implementation of the Foreign Policy Strategy 202023. The COVID-19 pandemic also left its mark on Swiss foreign policy last year. The FDFA made an important contribution to the federal government's crisis management: its repatriation operation (FlyingHome) was the largest in the country's history, bringing a total of 7,255 people back to Switzerland. Thanks to a rapid and extensive reprogramming of existing SDC programmes, Switzerland also made important contributions to international crisis management. The pandemic also affected the country's relations with the rest of Europe. For example, COVID patients from France were brought to Switzerland in the spring for treatment. Switzerland's inclusion in the EU's crisis response and the close coordination of its crisis measures with the EU were important factors in the fight against the pandemic. It demonstrated how important secure access to the single market is for Switzerland. The European policy objective of the Federal Council therefore remains unchanged: conclude an institutional agreement with the EU to further consolidate the bilateral approach. Swiss candidacy for Security Council on track Switzerland's international contributions to peace and security remain in demand. In the year under review, Switzerland provided support for 17 peace processes and also supported peace efforts in Libya, Cameroon and Ukraine, among others. Work progressed on Switzerland's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 202324 period. The final phase was launched with a virtual event in New York and Bern. In addition, the Federal Council approved a report on possible forms of parliamentary involvement. As an open, export-oriented economy, Switzerland is dependent on the rules-based international trading system, particularly in the current economic crisis. As the ability of international organisations to act is also under pressure in the economic sphere, in 2020 Switzerland together with 22 other WTO members agreed to a provisional appeals procedure in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. Switzerland was thus able to help bring stability to trade and in 2020 was also able to participate for the first time as a full guest country in all the work of the G-20. Strategies consolidate Swiss foreign policy With a view to implementing the Foreign Policy Strategy 202023, the Federal Council adopted several sub-strategies. These included strategies for international cooperation, digital foreign policy, communication abroad and the MENA region. On 13 January 2021, the Federal Council also adopted a strategy for sub-Saharan Africa. Further strategies are in development, notably for China, the Americas, arms control and disarmament. These strategies will further strengthen the coherence of Switzerland's foreign policy. Despite the ongoing pandemic, overall the Federal Council is on track to meet the objectives of its Foreign Policy Strategy 202023. Address for enquiries For further information: FDFA Communication Tel. +41 58 462 31 53 kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Publisher The Federal Council https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html A sign listing the UK's main COVID-19 symptoms outside a test centre at the University of Bedfordshire. (PA) Doctors have called on the government to add cold and flu symptoms to the UKs official list of coronavirus symptoms. More than 140 GPs signed an open letter to Englands chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, asking the UK to bring its official COVID-19 symptoms in line with the World Health Organization (WHO). The letter, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), says a runny nose, a sore throat and a headache should be added to the UKs official list. According to the NHS, there are currently three main symptoms of coronavirus: a high temperature; a new, continuous cough and a loss or change to sense of smell or taste. Doctors want the UK's official list of coronavirus symptoms to be updated. (PA) Last month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that people with the new UK variant of coronavirus were less likely to report loss of taste or smell. In their letter, the group of doctors from east London state: As GPs, we regularly review patients with mild symptoms for example, a runny or blocked nose, sore throat, hoarseness, myalgia, fatigue, and headache who subsequently turn out to be COVID-19 positive. The GPs said many patients with such symptoms have not self-isolated in the crucial early days when they were most infectious, and pointed out that only people with the three main symptoms are able to access an online COVID-19 test through the NHS. GPs have to advise patients to be dishonest to get a COVID-19 test, the letter said. Watch: People with UK COVID variant less likely to report loss of taste What are the UK's official symptoms? According to the NHS, the main symptoms of coronavirus are: 1. A high temperature Meaning you feel hot to touch on your chest or back. 2. A new, continuous cough This means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours. 3. A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste This means youve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal. The NHS says most people with coronavirus have at least one of these three symptoms. Story continues Those with any of the main symptoms should get a COVID-19 test as soon as possible, the NHS says. Under the governments stay at home guidance during Englands third national lockdown, people should only go outside to shop for basic necessities; for work if they cannot do so from home; exercise with their household or one other person; meet their support bubble or childcare bubble; seek medical assistance or attend education or childcare if eligible. What does the WHO recommend? The World Health Organization lists the most common symptoms of COVID-19 as fever, dry cough and tiredness. It says less common symptoms are aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell and a rash on skin or discolouration of fingers or toes. Under its serious symptoms, it lists: difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; chest pain or pressure and loss of speech or movement. It advises those with serious symptoms to seek immediate medical attention. The WHO says people with mild symptoms who are otherwise healthy should manage their symptoms at home. In additional advice for the public, the WHO says patients should stay at home if they have minor symptoms such as a cough, headache or mild fever. What do others say? According to the COVID Symptom Study, a joint project between King's College London, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and health technology company Zoe Global, there are at least six distinct clusters of coronavirus symptoms. Via data shared through its app from millions of people in the UK, it has found that headache and fatigue are among the most common early symptoms of coronavirus. It said sore throat, loss of appetite and shortness of breath are also commonly reported. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. In older people, delirium is a common symptom, the study said, while rashes are seen in about 8% of COVID infections. It says that, in some cases, less typical symptoms such as rashes or delirium are the only ones experienced. The study advises people to self-isolate and get tested even if their symptoms dont match the classic triad of high temperature, new cough and loss of taste or smell. Last week, it also recommended that the suggested COVID fever temperature should be adjusted for age. In November, it said there are 16 symptoms of long COVID. Watch: What is long COVID? The tragic death of one of her own family members helped Jacqui Lewis support husband Wally when he fell into depression after an operation for epilepsy. The former wife of the man known as 'King Wally' also considered selling the family home and getting a job when she feared he would not be able to return to work after the debilitating illness. The revelations originally reported in the Sydney Morning Herald make the demise of her marriage to Wally particularly poignant, reinforcing her 36 years of selfless devotion to the man. While Jacqui declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia when contacted about her former husband's statement on the split, earlier media appearances illustrate the extent of her loyalty to the rugby league legend. Lewis' diagnosis of epilepsy, which he first revealed in December 2006 after an on-air blackout while reading the news on Brisbane TV the previous month, led to an operation in February 2007. Wally Lewis and Jacqueline Lewis (pictured right) have split after 36 years of marriage The couple have three children - Lachlan (pictured left), Jamie-Lee and Mitchell Lewis (pictured right) It was followed by period of depression, during which the Origin star admitted, 'For three months, I was not much fun to be married to.' Jacqui said: 'When I realised Wally was suffering depression, I'd say, "Why wouldn't you tell me you were in so much pain?" 'But he wanted to get over it himself. Depression is a very hard thing. Wally didn't understand it.' The circumstances were even more trying for Jacqui, who revealed in the same interview that her own brother John had succumbed to the disease nine years earlier. 'I knew he [Wally] was in a bad place but not in a hole like my brother,' Jacqui continued. 'He was just like a little puppy dog, a shadow, hanging around me all the time. He was so vulnerable and I thought he could never work again.' Jacqui confessed she thought Wally's condition would make it necessary to sell their house and she would have to return to work, before he made a steady recovery and she realised, 'I've got my husband back.' Also in 2009, Jacqui took to the airwaves to deal with the fallout from the revelations about son Lincoln's sex tape with a teenage starlet, which he showed to his Home And Away castmates. Phoning into the Ryan, Monty and Wippa Nova 969 drive show, Jacqui was asked how Wally had reacted to the news of son Lincoln's indiscretion. 'In the past Wally would have worried and got paranoid but now he's so composed,' she said. 'Wally's got to remember, as I've always told him, everything you do when you're in the public eye belongs to the people.' League legend Wally Lewis (pictured above) has found love with a new woman after 36 years of marriage Lewis' new flame is Lynda Adams (pictured above) who is a volunteer at Sands Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Newborn Death Support Group in Townsville Ever the fiercely protective matriarch, Jacqui also came to the defence of her son. 'I am glad he is not with that girl anymore,' she said of the young actress appearing in the tape. 'I don't want that as a daughter-in -law. 'She must have said she was willing to do it. 'As a female I wouldn't be doing any of that. We keep things. Have a look at Monica Lewinski, she kept the dress. 'I say to Wally and Lincoln [it does not] matter what people throw at us, as long as we stay together as a family.' Sadly, Jacqui's wishes have not come to pass, sparking sorrow among the 'King's' legion of fans, particularly in Queensland. Rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis 's wife Jacqui (pictured left) has always been protective of him - especially during his battle with epilepsy and depression While she is yet to publicly comment about her marriage break-up, Jacqui Lewis is known as a woman of singular strength. 'Women have a lot of power,' she told the SMH. 'We can bring men to their knees if we want to, but we can also be nasty and conniving. I just want to be on par with my husband.' The split comes after it emerged that the family home was sold by Lewis for a reported $2.1million three months ago after less than a week on the market. It has now been revealed that Lewis, 61, is dating Lynda Adams. Adams is a volunteer at Sands Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Newborn Death Support Group in Townsville, an organisation she became involved with after losing six unborn children to miscarriage over 'four dark years'. In his statement announcing the end of his marriage last Monday, Lewis said, 'This is a deeply personal matter that we do not want to discuss publicly. 'I want to acknowledge the pain and upset my family has gone through since Jacqui and I separated last year. I hope over time we can rebuild our ties and move on with life.' Elderly care home residents should be given their second dose of coronavirus vaccine sooner than scheduled, according to a former NHS England director, amid reports of rising outbreaks. Martin Vernon, former national clinical director for older people at NHS England, said he had seen an alarming number of infections among residents who had received one dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine. Ministers have decided to delay giving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine until 12 weeks after the first dose, along with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, in a bid to stretch supplies and protect more people due to partial immunity after one dose. Research suggests the Oxford vaccine does give some partial immunity after a delay of between two to three months but trials for the Pfizer jab did not compare different dose intervals. In its latest Covid-19 surveillance report Public Health England reported more than 520 Covid outbreaks in care homes. Data on infections among those vaccinated has not yet been published but PHE has launched a national surveillance project to track cases occurring after a vaccine. Public Health England has said that looking at data for the Pfizer vaccine from day 15 to 21, it calculated it would be effective in around 89 per cent of cases. Pfizer itself has said there is no evidence that the protection lasts beyond the 21 days. Dr Vernon, a consultant geriatrician in Greater Manchester, told The Independent he was seeing an increasing number of infections among care home residents in his local area who had been vaccinated. We have now got a situation where we have offered the vaccine to most residents in my area, we have seen an uptake of around 80 per cent. We are starting to see residents who are positive for Covid-19, some before 21 days since the vaccine, some after 21 days. He said elderly people and those with long term conditions can have a poorer response to vaccines with elderly and care home residents underrepresented in clinical trials. The fact we have cases is a concern when we have now got an 11 or 12 week delay before the second dose. What I dont want is for the government to take its eye off this vulnerable group, he said adding that they were not prioritised during the first wave in March last year which he said was down to ignorance of the care home sector. He added: This time around we are knowingly not giving these care home residents the best opportunity to protect themselves. We know this is a very high risk group who are vulnerable to Covid and death. We have been implementing a vaccination programme that is not fully supported by the evidence. We are taking a risk with these vulnerable people. Shelagh ORiordan, a community geriatrician working in East Kent, said she had also seen big outbreaks. On Twitter she said many if not all residents had been infected, some with serious illness and deaths. She said: This was not meant to happen. We need to seriously review the second dose decision in care homes now. The outbreaks in care homes post single vaccine are far worse than we hoped and expected. Its not too late for a rethink. Dr Eileen Burns, a geriatrician working in Leeds and a former president of the British Geriatrics Society said she too had seen small numbers of post vaccine infections as well as some staff becoming positive a month after their jab. She said: Dont be lulled into a false sense of security. Second doses need to be given asap. As near to the evidential schedule as possible. In a statement the British Geriatrics Society said it supported the aim of protecting as many people as possible. It said: As the vaccination schedule progresses, there has been reporting of some new Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes. We are working with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS to understand the emerging data collected following initial vaccination of care home residents and staff. It is too early to say whether this may warrant a re-evaluation of the vaccination policy, but continued close monitoring is essential and the BGS will continually review its position in light of available evidence. It added: No vaccine can deliver 100 per cent protection from Covid-19, and there will be cases where those who have been fully vaccinated with both doses do subsequently contract the virus, though their symptoms are likely to be less severe. This can happen where people live in close contact, such as in a care home, and underlines why distancing, mask-wearing and hygiene measures need to be maintained. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: Through our vaccination programme, over 9 million of those most vulnerable to Covid-19 have had a first dose of the vaccine, which will give them significant protection from the virus. We have been clear that no vaccine has ever been 100 per cent effective, and even with a highly effective vaccine it takes 2 to 3 weeks to see the protective effect, and people can still be infected in that period. The four UK chief medical officers agreed with the JCVI that at this stage of the pandemic prioritising the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the priority list would protect the greatest number of at-risk people in the shortest possible time. 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. Coronavirus lockdowns have stripped the world of democratic freedoms, with 2020 returning the worst scores in the 15-year history of an annual democracy index. The United Kingdom slipped two places, while France and Portugal joined the US in the 'flawed democracies' categories compiled in the Economist's Democracy Index. Norway, Iceland and Sweden were unchanged at the top, the Central African Republic, the Congo and North Korea, stayed bottom. But overall democracies were dented throughout the world as draconian measures were introduced to control the pandemic. Police officers patrol near the Eiffel Tower during a government enforced quarantine on March 17. The French and Portuguese democracies were the most dented in Europe because of their extreme lockdowns, the report said While repressions were most extreme in authoritarian states, the report said 'the removal of individual liberties in development democracies was the most remarkable feature of 2020.' The index grades democracies using 60 indicators grouped in five different categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Countries are awarded a score out of 10 based on their performance in each category, while their overall score - which determines their place on the list - is an average of their category scores. The index's top 30 democracies 1) Norway 2) Iceland 3) Sweden 4) New Zealand 5) Canada 6) Finland 7) Denmark 8) Ireland =9) Australia =9) Netherlands 11) Taiwan 12) Switzerland 13) Luxembourg 14) Germany 15) Uruguay 16) United Kingdom 17) Chile =18) Austria =18) Costa Rica 20) Mauritius 21) Japan 22) Spain 23) South Korea 24) France 25) United States of America 26) Portugal =27) Estonia =27) Israel 29) Italy 30) Malta Advertisement Countries are then further divided into four types of regime: 'full democracy', 'flawed democracy', 'hybrid regime' or 'authoritarian regime.' Britain fell to 16th place but remained 'stable' despite uncertainty over the Brexit outcome and 'persistently high levels of polarisation around the outcome of the referendum.' Boris Johnson's strong majority in Parliament and ability to push forward his policies after 'two years of paralysis' under Theresa May improved the scores for 'electoral process' and 'pluralism.' By contrast, America remained a 'flawed democracy' the category it fell into after Donald Trump took office in 2016. The United States' performance was 'held back by a number of weaknesses,' the report said. It noted Trump's refusal to accept the result of the presidential election, divisive culture wars and race riots, biased TV networks and how the pandemic encouraged Big Tech to police speech more than ever. The report pulled no punches in tearing into Trump's deployment of the National Guard in the 'aggressive clearing of Lafayette Square near the White House in June 2020,' when protesters were raging over the killing of George Floyd. And the authors skewered him for alleging 'voter fraud long after the election was over, without producing reasonable evidence to substantiate' the claims. However, the Economist's report argued that Trump was part of a larger problem at the heart of America which has been 'amplified by the mainstream media' and by social media. The report said: 'The coronavirus pandemic encouraged the big tech giants to go further than they had previously in policing content that they deemed to be unacceptable. 'In particular, the social media platforms took steps to filter, remove and censor content that questioned the lockdown policies pursued by governments or that expressed scepticism about vaccines. 'However, the most astonishing intervention came before and after the US election, when Twitter attached fact checks to president Trump's tweets, and ultimately (in January 2021) shut down his account. Facebook soon followed suit. 'That unelected, unaccountable big tech CEOs can ban the sitting president of the US from their platforms should concern everyone who believes in freedom of expression.' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing St. to attend Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday The biggest declines for democracy of all were in Hong Kong and Myanmar - two places where Covid was not a factor. Bottom ten democracies 167) North Korea 166) Democratic Republic of Congo 165) Central African Republic 164) Syria 163) Chad 162) Turkmenistan 161) Laos 160) Equatorial Guinea 159) Tajikistan 158) Yemen Advertisement China took a firm hold over Hong Kong last year with massive voter suppression and a heavy-handed approach to political protests. It meant the city was downgraded from a 'flawed democracy' to a 'hybrid regime.' The report noted the sweeping national security law passed in June which has seen pro-democracy activists arrested and imprisoned. It has killed off democracy by making it illegal to subvert the government in Beijing. In Myanmar - which saw a coup d'etat this week - there was voter suppression in the conflict-ravaged Rakhine state. More than a million ethnic people's votes were suppressed in last year's election which saw Aung San Suu Kyi take victory. Military commanders seized control of the country this week claiming the election had been fraudulent. In Western Europe, the aggregate score for civil liberties fell from 8.78 to 8.53 and for 'functioning of government' from 7.95 to 7.71, as countries introduced draconian measures to combat the spread of Covid. The report added that as those liberties were taken away, the people of those democracies questioned their governments more. 'The pandemic also led to a decline in public trust in government, as many citizens doubted the effectiveness of governments' management of the pandemic and their responsiveness to individual concerns,' it said. 'These factors, as well as a decline in the score for citizens' control, underpinned the deterioration in the functioning of government scores in many countries.' U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House to board Marine One ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden, in Washington, U.S., January 20 These impacts were most keenly felt in France and Portugal. Emmanuel Macron imposed multiple harsh lockdowns on the French throughout 2020 and most recently, introduced a national curfew. In Portugal, parliamentary debates were reduced and the Prime Minister Antonio Costa pushed through tough measures without the usual scrutiny. The democracy score for the Middle East fell to its lowest level since the Arab Spring as governments cracked down following protests in 2019. 'The damaging effects of coronavirus on economic prospects and personal freedoms had the effect of limiting open opposition to the authorities,' the report said, waring of more volatility in 2021. In sub-Subharan Africa, autocrats imposed short, sharp police imposed lockdowns on the populations which led to abuses and crack downs on political opposition. Anti-government protesters march again Beijing's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong in May last year 'Typically, the strategy in Africa was to make lockdowns as short as possible, which meant that they were enforced ruthlessly by the police,' the report said. 'During the early weeks of a local lockdown, more Nigerians died at the hands of police than from coronavirus.' Joan Hoey, the report's editor, said: 'The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 posed the question of whether the public should, temporarily, surrender democratic freedoms to save lives. 'Through their actions the majority of people answered in the affirmative. The problem was they were never really invited to consider it. The quality of any democracy can be measured by the questions it puts to the public for decision or guidance. 'The pandemic confirmed that many rulers have become used to excluding the public from discussion of the pressing issues of the day and showed how elite governance, not popular participation, has become the norm.' The EU has positively assessed the decision to impose sanctions on such TV channels as 112.Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK, said head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the EU Mykola Tochytsky. "I can say that today, starting in the morning, yesterday evening, the European Commission, the European External Action Service reacted extremely favorably to yesterday's NSDC decision on our sanctions, and there is already a direct, so far unofficial reaction. However, I think that during the visit of the Prime Minister to Brussels, we will hear an official reaction," Tochytsky said at a meeting of the Commission on the coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on Wednesday. As reported, Zelensky on February 2 enforced a decision by the National Security and Defense Council effectively blocking the operations of the television channels 112, NewsOne, and ZiK, which are believed to be associated with Viktor Medvedchuk, one of the leaders of the Opposition Platform - For Life party. According to the decision, personal special economic and other restrictive measures will be applied, in particular, to Taras Kozak and such legal entities as Ariadna TV LLC, Novy Format TV LLC, TV Vybor LLC, 112-TV TV and Radio Company LLC, Lider TV LLC, Partner TV LLC, News 24 Hours LLC, and New Communications LLC. The political force says it will hold an "emergency congress" soon. Members of the Opposition Platform - For Life parliamentary faction have announced they will seek the impeachment of President Volodymyr Zelensky over the sanctions imposed on a number of TV channels. "We are initiating the impeachment procedure for President Zelensky who has outraged voters and the country," co-chair of the Opposition Platform - For Life faction Vadym Rabinovych said at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, an UNIAN correspondent reported. "Tonight and evil forces always act under the cover of darkness three TV channels were closed for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine," he added. According to Rabinovych, the authorities "gave the command to kill independent journalists," so they created "a special task group of so-called patriots." Read alsoZelensky blocks Putin crony's TV channels in Ukraine by enforcing NSDC sanctionsHe said the political force would hold soon an "emergency congress that will determine our next steps." At the end of his speech, Rabinovych started singing: "Arise, Great Country!", a song titled "The Sacred War," which is one of the most famous Soviet songs of the Second World War. During Rabinovych's speech, MP Viktor Medvedchuk, who is considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Ukraine, as well as other faction members were standing next to him. Taras Kozak's TV channels: What is known On October 12, 2018, MP from the Opposition Platform - For Life Party Taras Kozak announced the acquisition of the NewsOne TV channel worth UAH 41-42 million (US$1.4-1.5 million). In December 2018, Kozak announced the acquisition of nine companies of the 112 Ukraine group, estimating their value at UAH 72.87 million (US$2.6 million). In 2019, Kozak became the new and sole owner of Zik TV broadcasters. On October 4, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada backed an appeal to the National Security and Defense Council regarding the introduction of sanctions against companies that are part of the ownership structure of 112 Ukraine and NewsOne TV channels. Reporting by UNIAN A judge on Tuesday ordered all inmates in the Oregon prison system to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations a move that should make prisoners immediately eligible for inoculation. The preliminary injunction orders all Oregon Department of Corrections inmates be offered a vaccine as part of phase 1A, group 2, of Oregons COVID-19 vaccination plan putting prison inmates in the same category as people living in nursing homes and other congregate care settings. The order should make prisoners eligible for vaccines now, but its not clear if theyll move ahead of teachers or the elderly. But given that the Oregon Health Authority dictates where vaccines are shipped, the state has the ability to redirect doses for prisons. This will save an incredible amount of lives, said Juan Chavez, an Oregon Justice Resource Center attorney who is representing a group of seven inmates. The order will allow adults in custody to stand in the same line as others in congregate living facilities with a high risk of COVID-19 infection, Chavez said. As far as jumping the line ahead of anybody, they shouldve been vaccinated already, he said. The decision comes after seven inmates at Oregon correctional facilities filed motions Jan. 21 for the federal government to intervene and immediately compel the state to vaccinate all prison inmates against COVID-19. The same inmates first filed a class action lawsuit in federal court last April seeking protection against the spread of COVID-19. Inmates across the state have described horrid conditions in the states correctional facilities as 3,392 cases of COVID-19 and 42 deaths have been confirmed in prisons to date. In her ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman noted state officials had prioritized residents of other types of congregate care settings, such as nursing homes, but bypassed inmates, despite widespread COVID-19 outbreaks in the states prisons. The decision to exclude the states prison population from high-tier priority lists demonstrated deliberate indifference to the serious risk of harm prisoners face from COVID-19, the judge concluded. Beckerman was unswayed by the states argument that the public interest called for teachers to be vaccinated first, so children could return to school. The judge pointed out the prisoners attorneys werent asking for inmates to be vaccinated first, just that they be vaccinated at the same time as teachers. Chavez pointed out that Oregons current rate of vaccination is about 12,000 a day roughly the same size of the state prison population. Any diversion of vaccines would be equivalent to a days worth of vaccines administered, compared to the previous plan, which put prisoners behind 900,000 others, he said. To date, the state has used 65% of its vaccine allotment, according to Oregon Health Authority numbers. MULTNOMAH COUNTY JAIL VACCINATIONS The first vaccinations of Multnomah County Jail inmates began Tuesday, as the county administered vaccines to 108 adults at the Inverness Jail. More inmates will be vaccinated once more doses are available, according to Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, a county spokeswoman. Sullivan-Springhetti said the county has always planned to treat jails as part of the high-risk congregate settings category for vaccinations. These vaccinations began as two more outbreaks have been reported in Multnomah County and Josephine County jails in recent days. There have been 107 cases of COVID-19 and no deaths during the Inverness Jails current outbreak, which began Jan. 15, Sullivan-Springhetti said. Thats equivalent to 21% of the current population of 512 inmates. An ongoing outbreak at the Multnomah County Detention Center also has affected 26 staff and 10 inmates since October. To prevent further spread at the Inverness Jail, at least two dormitories have been placed in isolation and three others on quarantine, according to the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office. All inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 have been moved into an isolation dorm for about two weeks. Those who have been exposed to the coronavirus but tested negative are in quarantine for the same amount of time. Those in quarantine are being tested every few days and anyone with symptoms is offered COVID-19 testing, Sullivan-Springhetti said. The outbreak has caused delays in court hearings for those in the affected dorms, according to Multnomah Public Defender Michael Rees. A release hearing for one of his clients was abruptly canceled last week, Rees said, and a remote hearing via video was not rescheduled until Tuesday morning. Rees said he was told the hearing was canceled because his client was in a locked down dorm. I think the jail shouldve started taking this seriously ages ago, Rees said. People sitting in there are at risk of serious illness and death. The Inverness Jail is at about 77% capacity, according to the most recent figures from Sullivan-Springhetti. The county reduced its jail population by 30% near the start of the pandemic due to fewer arrests, early releases of sentenced inmates and stepped-up pretrial releases. The Josephine County Sheriffs Office reported 30 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 using rapid testing since Jan. 26. All inmates and staff will be tested again Feb. 8 to verify the results using PCR testing, which uses genetic material. The OHA, meanwhile, reported 619 new confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases and 23 more deaths Tuesday. Here are todays coronavirus numbers: Where the new cases are by county: Baker (2), Benton (16), Clackamas (59), Clatsop (8), Columbia (2), Coos (10), Crook (3), Curry (2), Deschutes (18), Douglas (15), Harney (3), Hood River (7), Jackson (54), Jefferson (5), Josephine (23), Klamath (18), Lake (3), Lane (32), Lincoln (5), Linn (10), Malheur (5), Marion (42), Morrow (1), Multnomah (135), Polk (21), Sherman (3), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (25), Union (9), Wallowa (3), Wasco (4), Washington (64) and Yamhill (10). Deaths: The 1,905th death is a 72-year-old Clackamas County man who tested positive Jan. 12 and died Jan. 23 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. The 1,906th death is a 90-year-old Clackamas County woman who tested positive Jan. 3 and died Jan. 16 at her residence. The 1,907th death is an 88-year-old Clackamas County woman who tested positive Dec. 29 and died Jan. 24 at her residence. The 1,908th death is a 90-year-old Deschutes County woman who tested positive Jan. 22 and died Jan. 26 at her residence. The 1,909th death is an 82-year-old Deschutes County woman who tested positive Jan. 4 and died Jan. 19 at her residence. The 1,910th death is a 79-year-old Deschutes County woman who tested positive Jan. 8 and died Jan. 19 at St. Charles Bend Hospital. The 1,911th death is a 68-year-old Deschutes County woman who tested positive Jan. 4 and died Jan. 5 at her residence. The 1,912th death is a 70-year-old Douglas County man who tested positive Jan. 6 and died Jan. 26 at Mercy Medical Center. The 1,913th death is an 81-year-old Hood River County woman who tested positive Jan. 12 and died Jan. 27 at her residence. The 1,914th death is a 93-year-old Jackson County woman who tested positive Jan. 28 and died Jan. 29 at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. The 1,915th death is an 86-year-old Jackson County woman who tested positive Dec. 24 and died Jan. 1 at her residence. The 1,916th death is a 91-year-old Jackson County man who tested positive Dec. 27 and died Jan. 17 at his residence. The 1,917th death is an 88-year-old Columbia County man who became symptomatic Dec. 26 after contact with a confirmed case and died Jan. 25 at his residence. The 1,918th death is an 81-year-old Jackson County man who tested positive Jan. 23 and died Jan. 29 at his residence. The 1,919th death is an 83-year-old Klamath County woman who tested positive Jan. 20 and died Jan. 28 at her residence. The 1,920th death is an 89-year-old Klamath County woman who tested positive Jan. 20 and died Jan. 26 at Sky Lakes Medical Center. The 1,921st death is a 74-year-old Klamath County man who tested positive Jan. 11 and died Jan. 23 at his residence. The 1,922nd death is an 86-year-old Klamath County woman who tested positive Jan. 4 and died Jan. 21 at her residence. The 1,923rd death is an 87-year-old Lake County woman who tested positive Jan. 27 and died Jan. 29 at Lake District Hospital. The 1,924th death is a 71-year-old Lincoln County woman who tested positive Jan. 9 and died Jan. 27 at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. The 1,925th death is an 85-year-old Malheur County woman who tested positive Jan. 13 and died Jan. 26 at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The 1,926th death is a 75-year-old Marion County man who tested positive Jan. 16 and died Jan. 28 at Salem Hospital. The 1,927th death is a 43-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive Dec. 31 and died Jan. 25 at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. The 1,928th death is a 69-year-old Marion County man who tested positive Dec. 31 and died Jan. 26 at Salem Hospital. The 1,929th death is a 64-year-old Marion County woman who tested positive Dec. 26 and died Jan. 28 at Salem Hospital. The 1,930th death is a 76-year-old Marion County woman who tested positive Dec. 21 and died Jan. 26 at Salem Hospital. The 1,931st death is an 88-year-old Marion County man who tested positive Nov. 19 and died Dec. 12 at his residence. The 1,932nd death is an 84-year-old Marion County woman who tested positive Nov. 8 and died Nov. 29 at her residence. The 1,933rd death is a 90-year-old Marion County man who tested positive Jan. 26 and died Jan. 29 at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center. The 1,934th death is an 86-year-old Marion County man who tested positive Jan. 17 and died Jan. 26 at his residence. The 1,935th death is an 82-year-old Morrow County man who tested positive Jan. 5 and died Jan. 24 at St. Lukes Boise Medical Center in Idaho. He had no underlying conditions. The 1,936th death is a 72-year-old Washington County man who died Jan. 5 at Portland VA Medical Center. His death certificate listed disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. The 1,937th death is a 67-year-old Washington County woman who tested positive Dec. 13 and died Jan. 1 at her residence. The 1,938th death is a 53-year-old Washington County man who died Dec. 6 at his residence. His death certificate listed disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. The 1,939th death is a 97-year-old Washington County woman who tested positive Dec. 9 and died Jan. 17 at her residence. The 1,940th death is a 74-year-old Washington County man who died Jan. 5 at his residence. His death certificate listed disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. The 1,941st death is an 84-year-old Union County woman who tested positive Jan. 20 and died Jan. 29 at Grande Ronde Hospital. The 1,942nd death is a 79-year-old Polk County man who tested positive Jan. 13 and died Jan. 25 at Salem Hospital. The 1,943rd death is a 69-year-old Multnomah County man who tested positive Jan. 5 and died Jan. 23 at Oregon Health & Science University. The 1,944th death is a 53-year-old Multnomah County woman who tested positive Dec. 26 and died Jan. 6 at Adventist Hospital. The 1,945th death is a 59-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive Dec. 8 and died Jan. 8 at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. The 1,946th death is a 75-year-old Multnomah County man who tested positive Dec. 3 and died Jan. 4 at his residence. The 1,947th death is a 78-year-old Multnomah County man who tested positive Nov. 30 and died Dec. 14 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. The 1,948th death is an 85-year-old Multnomah County woman who tested positive Nov. 23 and died Nov. 28 at her residence. The 1,949th death is a 93-year-old Multnomah County woman who tested positive Nov. 11 and died Nov. 21 at her residence. The 1,950th death is a 93-year-old Multnomah County woman who died Dec. 6 at her residence. Her death certificate listed disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. The 1,951st death is a 95-year-old Washington County woman who tested positive Jan. 4 and died Jan. 28 at her residence. She had no underlying conditions. The 1,952nd death is a 73-year-old Washington County woman who tested positive Jan. 11 and died Jan. 18 at OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center. The 1,953rd death is a 95-year-old Washington County woman who died Jan. 22 at her residence. Her death certificate listed disease or SARS-CoV-2 as a cause of death or a significant condition contributing to death. The 1,954th death is a 67-year-old Yamhill County woman who tested positive Jan. 8 and died Jan. 26 at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. The 1,955th death is a 66-year-old Yamhill County man who tested positive Jan. 12 and died Jan. 22 at his residence. The 1,956th death is a 98-year-old Yamhill County woman who tested positive Jan. 19 and died Jan. 22 at her residence. The 1,957th death is an 85-year-old Yamhill County woman who tested positive Jan. 21 and died Jan. 22 at her residence. The 1,958th death is an 81-year-old Crook County man who tested positive Jan. 1 and died Jan. 23 at St. Charles Bend Hospital. Unless noted above, each person who died had underlying health conditions or state officials were working to determine if the person had underlying medical conditions. The prevalence of infections: The state reported 699 new positive tests out of 16,540 tests performed, equaling a 4.2% positivity rate. Who got infected: New confirmed or presumed infections grew among the following age groups: 0-9 (37); 10-19 (67); 20-29 (101); 30-39 (109); 40-49 (93); 50-59 (76); 60-69 (62); 70-79 (43); 80 and older (20). Whos in the hospital: The state reported 262 Oregonians with confirmed coronavirus infections in the hospital Tuesday, nine fewer than Monday. Of those, 61 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, three fewer than Monday. Vaccines: Oregon reported 454,246 doses of vaccine have been administered, or about 65% of the doses received. Oregon reported 15,967 newly administered doses, which includes 10,712 on Monday and the remainder from previous days. Since it began: Oregon has reported 143,978 confirmed or presumed infections and 1,981 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 3,218,747 lab reports from tests. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding There is confusion over when Britain will announce plans for quarantine hotels, after Downing Street denied claims made by Boris Johnson that an update was due tomorrow. Speaking at today's press briefing, the prime minister said Matt Hancock would lay out plans tomorrow, but Downing Street have now said that was a 'misunderstanding'. Earlier today Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to give a timetable for when quarantine hotels could be up and running. It comes as the PM insisted 'shutting ourselves off completely' is not an option because the countries relies heavily on imports of food and medicine. But he said the government had taken action to limit travel, pointing to the ban on travel from variant hotspots. The comments came amid signs that Spain could be added to the 'red list' of countries subject to travel bans, as cases rise sharply there. The roster already includes 33 states including South Africa, South America and Portugal as well as the UAE. Speaking from Downing Street on Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson said: 'If you do come here from one of those countries, then you will be, as we've said, taken and put in special accommodation. 'The health secretary will be making a further announcement about that tomorrow.' A source at Number 10 told The Mirror tonight that was a 'misunderstanding'. Officials have also been looking at tightening exemptions to the travel rules, amid concerns that some are being exploited by people seeking to get around the holiday ban. Boris Johnson tonight warned that Britain cannot close its borders completely to prevent mutant coronavirus strains getting in. He also said Matt Hancock would be giving an update on plans to quarantine arrivals in hotels tomorrow, but Downing Street has since claimed this was a 'misunderstanding' Spain could be added to the 'red list' of countries subject to travel bans, as cases rise sharply there. The roster already includes 33 states including South Africa, South America and Portugal as well as the UAE Mr Hancock had earlier today refused to confirm whether quarantine hotels for international arrivals will open this month. The Government announced the policy aimed at limiting the spread of new coronavirus strains last week, but has not revealed when it will be implemented. Mr Hancock was asked by LBC if the scheme will be launched by the end of February. The Cabinet minister replied: 'We'll set out more details of that when we're ready to, but you've seen that we're perfectly prepared to take very tough action if that's what's needed.' He went on: 'Already there is the very clear legal rules - with the strong enforcement behind it - that we've now put in place for anybody entering the country as a passenger at all. 'Whether that is isolation in your own home or in hotels, it is isolation. 'But we're always open to looking at tougher measures.' Mr Hancock had earlier today refused to confirm whether quarantine hotels for international arrivals will open this month. The proposal was announced last week, but the Health Secretary could not give a timeline of when it will be applied, telling LBC: 'We'll set out more details of that when we're ready to' The border crackdown comes amid fears the South African variant is already loose in the UK, and other more potent mutant strains could lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine drive. PIctured, Heathrow Airport Speaking at a Downing Street briefing tonight, Mr Johnson dismissed the idea that the government was not being strict enough. 'We have among the toughest border regimes now anywhere in the world, we're restricting as much as we can, any risk of importing new infection into this country without totally secluding the UK economy,' he said. He said it was 'illegal to go on holiday', and that passengers arriving from a list of countries around the world will be 'taken and put in special accommodation'. The government moved to bolster the border regime last week, announcing that the ban on travellers from 33 'hotspot' countries will be tightened so returning Britons and the few other permitted individuals will have to go into 'quarantine hotels' at their own expense for 10 days. But the plan was the subject of an extraordinary Cabinet tussle, with Priti Patel and Mr Hancock among those pushing for even tougher action. Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) defended the current 'stringent' measures - but made clear that even harsher arrangements are in the pipeline. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (right) struck a different tone as he gave evidence to MPs Fears have been mounting that the South African variant is already loose in the UK, and other more potent mutant strains could lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine drive. Senior Tories have joined Labour in calling for the countries covered by the restrictions to be widened, and Nicola Sturgeon turned up the heat yesterday by announcing Scotland will unilaterally force all arrivals to quarantine. In a direct attack on the Prime Minister's strategy, the First Minister said it would not work and called on him to mirror her approach, telling MSPs at Holyrood: 'The firm view of the Scottish Government is that in order to minimise the risk of new strains coming into the country, managed quarantine must be much more comprehensive.' At PMQs, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded to know why ministers had not followed the views of scientists two weeks ago that a 'pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival' was the only way to stem the flow of variants. But Mr Johnson said the UK had one of the 'toughest regimes in the world' and stressed that 'quarantine hotels' are being brought in for high-risk countries - although he did not indicate when. 'It is not practical completely to close off this country as he seems to be suggesting. What is practical to do is have one of the toughest regimes in the world and to get on with vaccinating the people of this country,' the premier said. The exchanges came after Mr Hancock said UK border rules will get tougher to protect against emerging strains. 'We are also looking to strengthen measures in particular for those countries that have the highest risk,' he said in a round of interviews. Mr Hancock played down alarm that minister rejected SAGE advice on the need for a border crackdown, saying scientists wanted 'mandatory isolation' for arrivals and that is what had been introduced. 'I am up for strengthening that further and we are looking at that,' he added. However, he repeatedly refused to give any schedule for the introduction of 'quarantine hotels', amid fear that the policy is still weeks away from being ready to implement. Mr Hancock said: 'The government brought in mandatory self-isolation for every passenger coming into this country... now you have to isolate wherever you've come from.' Asked about the quarantine hotel plan he said: 'Obviously we are working on those proposals.' The Cabinet minister went on: 'Of course we are always looking to strengthen these things but we already have very stringent measures at the border.' But amid fresh signs of tensions in Cabinet, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps struck a different tone as he gave evidence to MPs. He insisted the UK could not do a full Australia-style lockdown with blanket 'hotel quarantine' rules because it was an 'island' and needed food imports. On suggestions the 'red list' of travel ban countries will be expanded, Mr Shapps told the transport committee: 'It might go to more in the future... we simply don't know until the virus decides what it wants to do.' He said: 'People say ''why don't we just close down and then we'll be safe?'' Boris Johnson insisted closing off the country altogether was 'not practical' as he clashed bitterly with Keir Starmer in the Commons this afternoon 'But, of course, we wouldn't be safe, because we are an island nation unlike Australia or something which is an entire continent and that means that we need to get medicines in, we need to get food in, we need to get our raw materials in, sometimes we have to move people around, scientists and others. 'If we weren't doing these things then we simply wouldn't be combating this crisis. In fact, specifically we wouldn't have had things like the medicines that we've needed or indeed the vaccinations, some of which are manufactured in Europe, only 20 miles away at its closest point.' He added: 'The idea that the UK could completely button down its hatches and remain buttoned down for a year is mistaken. 'But also the evidence that that is the only thing that you need to do, or even the primary thing you need to do, is also pretty shaky.' A leaked Sage document from last month warned that 'geographically targeted travel bans' would not be enough to stop new strains entering the country. Labour seized on the warning, saying ministers should now force all travellers arriving in the UK to undergo ten days of supervised quarantine in hotels. Labour veteran Dame Angela Eagle said the Government had done 'too little and too late to stop the spread of this new and dangerous variant in the UK.' But Downing Street insisted Sage backed Government's proposals. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'Sage did not actually advise the Government to completely close borders or call for a blanket quarantine on travels.Their modelling showed a combination of specific policy options including pre-departure testing and isolation are effective in mitigating the public health risk.' Arrivals from 'red list' countries are set to have to isolate in hotels at their own expense. It is not known if this hotel will be involved in the scheme, which is still being hammered out However, some Tory MPs joined the calls for a tightening of controls to prevent the arrival of Covid strains resistant to the vaccine. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'We are doing a fantastic job in rolling out the vaccine, but there is no point heating the house and leaving the windows open.' Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News: 'I think we should have done this much earlier, but I am pleased that we are doing something. 'I think it is absolutely right that we are bringing in hotel quarantine. 'The trouble with just doing it for a few countries is that someone coming to the UK from Brazil could go via numerous other countries. 'It is very difficult if you restrict it to a small number of countries. So we might need to expand that list significantly as we go forward.' The Cabinet Office is also conducting an urgent review of exemptions from the travel restrictions. One Whitehall source said: 'The exemptions are drawn too widely. At the moment, for example, people can go abroad to look for a holiday home and some are using that to get round the rules on holidays. 'We have got to reduce the flow of arrivals right down. We are making it really tough to travel, but we need to make it even tougher.' [February 03, 2021] Vinson & Elkins Attracts Nationally Recognized Renewable Energy Team NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vinson & Elkins announced today it has expanded its market leading Renewable and Sustainable Energy and Tax practices with the addition of a nationally recognized renewable energy finance team that includes partners Sean Moran, Mike Joyce, Lauren Collins and Aaron Prince, counsel Josh Heideman and Trevor Shelton, and a number of talented associates. This team brings to V&E a broad-based and sophisticated energy and infrastructure finance practice and comprehensive experience in acquisitions and tax equity. Each was previously with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati LLP. "Sean, Mike, Lauren and Aaron are among the leading practitioners in renewable energy and tax equity in the United States," said V&E Managing Partner Scott Wulfe. "Virtually all of our clients are interested in renewable and sustainable energy, and the practice is growing rapidly all over the world. Now is a particularly exciting time in the industry given the convergence of significant economic, technological and political developments. The addition of this team enhances our ability to help our clients navigate the rapidly transforming landscape." "V&E's clients are at the forefront of the energy evolution," Moran said. "As a result, the firm has all the pieces the complementary practices and lawyers necessary to serve this client base. We all agreed that joining V&E will allow us not only to continue serving our existing clients at the highest level but to take advantage of a number of opportunities to develop and extend the practice." "Capital is being deployed into the renewable energy and adjacent markets at a record pace, and there are significant challenges and opportunities our clients face," said Kaam Sahely, head of V&E's Renewable and Sustainable Energy and Infrastructure practices. "The addition of this team, with whom we have worked on multiple transactions, cements our position as a preeminent firm for sophisticated investors and participants in the renewable energy markets." Moran, Joyce, Collins, Heideman and Shelton will remain in Los Angeles, where V&E has secured temporary office space and will open a permanent location when conditions permit. Prince will join the firm's New York office. Below is a brief overview of each new partner and counsel's practice. Sean Moran, Tax Equity: Moran focuses on asset finance, with an emphasis on financing, acquiring and disposing of renewable energy, zero carbon and infrastructure assets. Instrumental in creating the structure that has become the standard for renewable energy deals in the United States, Moran has handled many of the country's largest and most complex renewable energy financing transactions, including numerous first-of-its-kind deals. In the course of his practice, Moran represents Fortune 50 companies, investors, sponsors and developers. His clients include some of the largest investors in the renewable energy market, collectively investing billions of dollars in renewable energy generation. His projects include wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and waste-to-energy facilities that generate electric power in all but a couple of states. Recntly, he has represented both investors and sponsors in the development of solar and storage facilities, off-shore wind power facilities and fossil fuel power facilities that sequester carbon. Moran is ranked by Chambers USA (2020) as a Band 1 lawyer nationally for Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy, where sources call him a "[t]op tax equity lawyer," and a client says, "[w]e really rely on him from a tax, financing and transactional perspective. He knows the market very well and is incredibly valuable to us." He graduated from Fordham University with a B.S. degree in 1981 and a J.D. in 1988 and earned an LL.M. in Tax from New York University School of Law in 1994. Mike Joyce, Corporate: Joyce's practice focuses on energy and infrastructure finance. He has represented clients in numerous cutting-edge transactions in the energy and infrastructure field, with a particular emphasis on renewable energy sectors such as solar, wind and storage. He also has considerable experience with geothermal, biomass, coal, gas-fired and nuclear projects, as well as with joint ventures and the disposition and acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets. Joyce is a recognized practitioner in Chambers Global and Chambers USA (2020) for Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy. He received his B.A. degree from Claremont McKenna College in 1998 and his J.D. degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2002. Lauren Collins, Tax Equity: Collins focuses on tax matters related to project finance, with an emphasis on renewable energy and infrastructure assets. She has represented clients in the financing, disposition, acquisition and development of renewable energy projects including solar, wind, energy storage, carbon sequestration, fuel cell and biomass projects. Collins has considerable experience utilizing a variety of structures to finance these assets and has helped develop some of the most complex and cutting-edge renewable energy financing transactions in the United States, including numerous first-of-its-kind deals. In the course of her practice, Collins represents Fortune 50 companies, investors, utilities, sponsors and developers in the renewable energy space and has advised clients more broadly in connection with various federal and state tax matters. Her experience includes tax issues related to M&A and private equity, reorganizations and bankruptcy, structured finance and New Markets Tax Credits. Collins received her B.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego in 2007, and her J.D. degree from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law in 2010. She also received an LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law in 2011. Aaron Prince, Corporate: Prince's practice focuses on asset based financing, acquisition and joint venture transactions. He represents tax equity investors, private equity funds, sponsors, lenders, borrowers and other investors in project finance, structured finance, acquisitions, joint ventures and general corporate transactions, primarily in the energy sector, including renewable energy (such as solar, wind, geothermal and refined coal). In addition, Prince has experience advising clients on other asset-based and non-asset based financing transactions, including innovative transactions in the fintech space. Prince received his B.A. degree from Emory University in 2005 and J.D., cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2008. Josh Heideman, Corporate: Heideman's practice focuses on renewable energy asset finance and acquisitions. Heideman has represented clients in numerous renewable energy transactions in solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, with a particular emphasis on tax equity financing. He also has considerable experience with renewable asset financing, non-asset financing, mergers and acquisitions and asset deals in both the renewable energy and technology sectors. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Southern California in 2003, and his J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 2006. Trevor Shelton, Corporate: Shelton represents equity investors, lenders, sponsors and project developers in the energy and project finance space. He has extensive renewable energy experience including the financing of wind, solar and numerous other asset types utilizing a variety of structures. Shelton has worked on many first of their kind transactions as well as some of the largest renewable energy projects in the United States. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 2002 and his J.D. degree from UCLA School of Law in 2006. The group's clients include tax equity investors Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, The Goldman Sachs Group, State Street and others and renewable energy companies such as Cypress Creek, Clearway Energy Group, Terra Gen and Siemens. As a leading law firm in the energy industry, V&E works with a broad spectrum of clients including companies, investors and financiers across the globe and is exceptionally well-positioned to advise on their most important and complex transactions or disputes. This includes clients' needs in traditional energy spaces as well as the energy evolution. Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers across 12 offices worldwide. For more information, please contact Melissa Anderson at +1.713.758.2030. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vinson--elkins-attracts-nationally-recognized-renewable-energy-team-301221131.html SOURCE Vinson & Elkins LLP [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A woman in her forties, who was seriously injured in an incident on January 20 last while walking on the pedestrian walkway, between Georges Dock and Custom House Quay, IFSC, Dublin 1, was pronounced dead at The Mater University Hospital today, February 3. Gardai await the outcome of a post-mortem examination to determine the course of further investigations in the case. A male juvenile arrested following this incident has been charged and before the Courts. Gardai previously appealed for any persons who may have witnessed the incident or who were in the vicinity of Custom House Quay, George's Dock, Harbourmaster Place or Connolly train station, Amiens Street, Dublin 1 between 9.15pm and 10.00pm on the night of Wednesday, January 20, to contact them. They also asked that any individuals that may have camera footage of this incident or surrounding locations to make this footage available to Gardai. Contact Store Street Garda Station on 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. A U.S. billionaire with Lehigh Valley ties, who made a fortune in tech and fighter jets, is buying an entire SpaceX flight and plans to take three everyday people with him to circle the globe this year. Besides fulfilling his dream of flying in space, Jared Isaacman announced Monday that he aims to use the private trip to raise $200 million for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, half coming from his own pockets. A female health care worker for St. Jude already has been selected for the mission. Anyone donating to St. Jude in February will be entered into a random drawing for seat No. 3. The fourth seat will go to a business owner who uses Shift4 Payments, Isaacmans credit card processing company in Allentown, formerly based in High Bridge. I truly want us to live in a world 50 or 100 years from now where people are jumping in their rockets like the Jetsons and there are families bouncing around on the moon with their kid in a spacesuit, Isaacman, who turns 38 next week, told The Associated Press. I also think if we are going to live in that world, we better conquer childhood cancer along the way. Hes bought a Super Bowl ad to publicize the mission, dubbed Inspiration4 and targeted for an October launch from Florida. The other passengers aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule what Isaacman calls a diverse group from everyday walks of life will be announced next month. SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk expects the flight to last two to four days. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Crew Dragon capsule lifts off May 30, 2020, from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Saturday.Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS File Photo Isaacmans trip is the latest deal announced for private space travel and its No. 1 on the runway for an orbital trip. This is an important milestone toward enabling access to space for everyone, Musk said during a press conference Monday from SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. While expensive, these initial private flights will drive down costs over time, he noted. Last week, a Houston company revealed the names of three businessmen who are paying $55 million apiece to fly to the International Space Station next January aboard a SpaceX Dragon. And a Japanese businessman has a deal with SpaceX to fly to the moon. In the past, space tourists had to hitch rides to the space station on Russian rockets. Isaacman would not divulge how much hes paying SpaceX, except to say that the anticipated donation to St. Jude vastly exceeds the cost of the mission. While a former NASA astronaut will accompany the three businessmen, Isaacman will serve as his own spacecraft commander. The appeal, he said, is learning all about SpaceXs Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket. The capsules are designed to fly autonomously, but a pilot can override the system in an emergency. A space geek since kindergarten, Isaacman dropped out of high school when he was 16, got a GED certificate and started a business in his parents basement that became the genesis for Shift4. He set a speed record flying around the world in 2009 while raising money for the Make-A-Wish program, and later established Draken International, the worlds largest private fleet of fighter jets. Isaacmans $100 million commitment to St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee, is the largest ever by a single individual and one of the largest overall. Were pinching ourselves every single day, said Rick Shadyac, president of St. Judes fundraising organization. Besides SpaceX training, Isaacman intends to take his crew on a mountain expedition to mimic his most uncomfortable experience so far tenting on the side of a mountain in bitter winter conditions. Were all going to get to know each other ... really well before launch, he said. Hes acutely aware of the need for things to go well. If something does go wrong, it will set back every other persons ambition to go and become a commercial astronaut, he told the AP over the weekend from his home in Easton, Pennsylvania. Isaacman said he signed with Musks company because its the clear leader in commercial spaceflight, with two astronaut flights already completed. Boeing has yet to fly astronauts to the space station for NASA. While Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos Blue Origin expect to start flying customers later this year, their craft will just briefly skim the surface of space. Isaacman had put out spaceflight feelers for years. He traveled to Kazakhstan in 2008 to see a Russian Soyuz blast off with a tourist on board, then a few years later attended one of NASAs last space shuttle launches. SpaceX invited him to the companys second astronaut launch for NASA in November. While Isaacman and wife, Monica, managed to keep his space trip hush-hush over the months, their daughters couldnt. The girls, ages 7 and 4, overheard their parents discussing the flight last year and told their teachers, who called to ask if it was true dad was an astronaut. My wife said, No, of course not, you know how these kids make things up. But I mean the reality is my kids werent that far off with that one. By MARCIA DUNN Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. It has been over 16 months since the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, was appointed and sworn in. The inauguration was his second having concluded his first tenure in the same position in 2019. However, since Mr Bellos inauguration, the FCT Executive Council is yet to be formed. The mandate secretaries for the secretariats under the FCT have not been appointed. These secretariats serve as ministries in the states, the mandate secretaries are equivalent to state commissioners while the FCT, the 37th state. The mandate secretariats, seven in total, were created under the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) following an Executive Order by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the dissolution of the ministry of FCT in 2004. They are; Area Council Service, Agriculture and Rural Development, Education and Health and Human Services. Others are Legal Services, Social Development and Transport. This was, in a way, to ensure smooth operation of the administration of the nations capital. Acting secretaries Upon his inauguration, the minister is expected to send a list of nominations for the post of mandate secretaries to the president for approval. Rather than appoint mandate secretaries, Mr Bello appointed most senior officers in the secretariats as acting secretaries. It is not clear whether President Muhammadu Buhari has received and/or approved such nominations but the seven secretariats have been without secretaries for almost two years, multiple sources at the FCTA across different secretariats, who did not want their names mentioned for fear of victimisation, confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES. Neither the president nor the minister seems bothered about the absence of a constituted exco at the FCT. While they expressed dissatisfaction at the ministers mode of sole operation, they blamed the situation for the slow progress of work across the federal capital. Its not just here, one of the staff said, referring to their secretariat. It is all the secretariats. Since his second term started, almost two years now, nothing. First time, we heard he was waiting for approval from the president. Later, we heard the president had already approved some names. We dont know which one is true. People are not really happy. Another staffer of the FCTA had similar comments. There are no secretaries in all the departments, he said. The minister just appointed the most senior officer to act in that capacity. All we have now are acting secretaries. Thats where we are. We dont know what the delay is about. Not the first time Apparently, this is not the first time the president and the minister are taking time to appoint mandate secretaries. When he was first appointed in 2015, Mr Bello did not appoint secretaries until almost a year later. No reason was given for the delay. He only said the appointments were in accordance with sections of the Federal Capital Territory (Establishment of Functionaries and Departments) and Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (Dissolution) Order No. 1, 2004 as modified. ADVERTISEMENT Many have blamed the current deteriorating state of the FCT on the governments failure to appoint secretaries who they believe would better administer the major departments. The minister scored below average in a PREMIUM TIMES analysis on his performance in the last one year. This was majorly because he recorded more failures than achievements compared to the promises he made upon assumption of duties. Some of the failures of the Bello-led administration are poor state of the roads in the territory, crime rates which escalated as a result of lack of utilities like street lights and the absence of CCTVs has made it worse to detect these crimes. There are also rising cases of armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, one-chance, killings, among other attendant security lapses (most of which happen at night) thereby rendering the FCT increasingly unsafe. Also worthy of mention is the poor waste management system and the trend of open defecation, especially in satellite towns and villages of the federal capital. Appointments of secretaries not a priority An official, who has authority to speak but sought anonymity, said the ministers failure to appoint mandate secretaries is neither an issue nor a priority at the moment. He said no project was stalled and departments of the FCTA have been carrying out their duties diligently. The entire country, including the FCTA, is battling COVID-19 and that is everybodys focus. We have been battling COVID-19 since early 2020 till date. The FCT has been commended for its response to the pandemic. And in reality, they did a fantastic job in handling the matter. The absence of a secretary for health and human services did not have any negative effect on our handling of COVID-19. No effect on the education sector either. Throughout last year, the entire country was only focused on COVID-19 and saving lives and keeping people safe. People shouldnt even be talking about appointments and so on not when we have a major crisis. When people come to complain of this, I ask them what changed? Did the work stop? Did we respond well? So what exactly is missing? For a government that knows its priorities, we are in the middle of a fight. If we dont focus on COVID-19, what should we focus on? he told this reporter. While he informed that the FCTA will not dignify the grievances of the people with a response, he said the current acting secretaries are working with the full powers of secretaries and with decades of experience most of whom he said have handled the positions better than anyone else. Presidency, National Assembly keep mum While an authoritative source at the FCTA, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, craved anonymity, the presidency has refused to comment on the issue. Both presidential aides to the president, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina did not take calls made to them. They also did not respond to text messages requesting their comments, about 24 hours later. Same was the case when this paper contacted some lawmakers for questions. The FCT senator, Philip Aduda and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on FCT, Tolu Odebiyi, did not respond to calls and text messages. The chairperson of the said committee, Abubakar Kyari, could not be reached via phone. The lawmakers, many say, should also raise questions regarding the gap in the FCT administration majorly because they are meant to check the excesses of the executive and because they approve the annual budget of the federal capital hence the need for oversight for the implementation of the appropriation. They recently approved N199 billion for the FCTs 2020 revised budget. Who is to blame? The minister who has the power to appoint is to blame and his failure to do so says a lot about our attitude towards institutions, Samson Itodo, activist and executive director of Yiaga Africa, said. He said Nigeria has a political class that doesnt uphold the rule of law because if it does, the minister would have been compelled by just the culture and constitution to make those appointments. There is also the fragility of the state. The fact that the minister has not appointed boards and hes still going about his daily duties, it tells you that the state itself is weak, he said. Because theres lack of accountability, impunity prevails and becomes the order of the day. When you have institutions that cannot hold government officials to account or keep them in check. Also, the underbelly of this attitude is just politics. One of the core pillars of political order is the mobilisation of citizens into political institutions to meet the demands of the people. The fact that these appointments are not made not only weakens the institution it also precludes the state from mobilising people into these institutions. Because you are losing the opportunity to harness the potentials of those people in managing state affairs. Again, its just politics. Its either the people who are most qualified didnt get appointed at the end of the day. Because it is quite difficult for merit to be the guiding philosophy when we make appointments into public office. These institutions have been bastardized and they cant function because the people who man them are not competent. Or simply because appointments are a reward for loyalty and sycophancy, not necessarily merits. Here's what you need to know: Wednesday, Feb. 3 Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. A man is accusing four Chicopee police officers of twice knocking him to the pavement with so much force that it fractured his skull into multiple pieces. A lawsuit filed in November in U.S. District Court in Springfield by Rey L. Augustine Jr. accuses Officers Timothy Brodeur, Mickey Dumais, Frank McQuaid and Joseph Brunelle of using unnecessary force and conspiring to cover up the incident. The suit also names the city, Police Chief William R. Jebb and 10 other unnamed officers as defendants. It accuses the city of violating Augustines civil rights of protection from cruel and unusual punishment and unreasonable searches. Police and city officials deny the allegation of police brutality and vow to fight it in court, Mayor John L. Vieau said. James R. Goodhines, who is representing Augustine, did not respond to a request for further comment. The lawsuit stems from a fight Nov. 16, 2017, between Augustine and two other men at the former Hu Ke Lau restaurant on Memorial Drive. One of the men allegedly grabbed Augustine by his jacket, forcing him to fall. Employees called police. Augustine left the restaurant to walk the short distance to his home in the Harmony Homes complex at 735 Memorial Drive before the officers arrived, the suit said. Brouder and Dumais stopped Augustine as he was walking home. According to the suit, the two officers determined Augustine was unable to care for himself in his current state and restrained him by grabbing his forearms. Defendants Brodeur and Dumais physically forced (Augustine) to the ground, smashing his face, the suit said. After they stood him up and handcuffed and searched him, the officers allegedly shoved Augustine, who landed face-first on the ground because he was unable to break his fall with his hands, the suit said. The officers used excessive force during and after the arrest, abused (Augustine) with physical force, applied excessive force even after (Augustine) was brought down to the ground and denied his due process under law, the suit said. Police later brought Augustine to Holyoke Medical Center, and doctors determined his skull had been broken into several fragments. He underwent several surgeries and plates and screws were needed to set the bones in place, the suit said. Since considerable force and energy is required to fragment a bone, fractures of this degree usually occur after high impact trauma such as vehicular impacts, the suit said. Augustine was later charged with two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned on May 4, 2018, the suit said. Vieau declined to discuss the case, which is being handled by Thomas J. Rooke, assistant city solicitor for Chicopee. It is pending litigation so I have no comment. It is our intent to vigorously defend the city and the citys best interest, he said. A response to the lawsuit filed by Brunelles lawyer, Andrew J. Gambaccini, said the officer arrived after Augustine was placed in custody, did not harm him and did not witness the alleged offenses. Brunelle retired in 2019, a year before the suit was filed. Related Content: New Delhi, Feb 3 : Ruckus over the three contentious farm laws continued in the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive day on Wednesday with opposition members raising slogans seeking repeal of these Acts enacted in September last year. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House till 4.30 p.m. within few minutes of it assembling for the day at 4 p.m. The second adjournment was announced till 5 p.m. as the pandemonium continued, and the third adjournment till 7 p.m. A similar scene was witnessed on Tuesday with almost no business transacted. The lower house, during these brief sittings, managed to conduct laying of papers. The government also presented six Standing Committee reports on Finance; Labour; Industry; Science and Technology; Environment, Forests and Climate Change; and Transport, Tourism and Culture amind the din. Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) former allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Shiv Sena were among the over eight key opposition parties who took part in the protests. The Congress, the DMK, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party were among other parties whose members who trooped near the Speaker's podium every time as the house assembled at 4 p.m., 4.30 p.m. and 5 p.m., raising slogans like "Kisan Virodhi Bill Wapas Lo" (Take back anti-farmer laws), and "Kisano Par Tanashahi Nahi Chalegi" (No more dictatorship on farmers), "Modi Sarkar Hai, Hai (Modi government, shame, shame)". Some of the MPs standing near the podium were holding placards reading "Kisan Marne Wale Kanoon Wapas Lo" (take back the laws that will kill farmers). Members of the YSRCP, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were also raising slogans against the government from their seats. From the Akali Dal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal rallied her party even as Arvind Sawant from the Shiv Sena led its members in the House to raise objections against the government. Harsimrat Kaur had resigned from the Modi ministry last year, leading to a rift in the SAD-BJP alliance after the farm Acts were enacted in Parliament. The Speaker repeatedly urged protesting members to go back to their seats and let the House function, assuring them enough time to speak on their issues, but to no avail. Birla also threatened to take action but the protest continued leading him to announce these three adjournments on brief intervals in the span of around 70 minutes. Congress' Leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Choudhury requested the Speaker amid uproar that the government should first discuss farmers' issue on priority. Refering to the similar protest in Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said both government and opposition parties in a meeting decided earlier in the day to let the House function by allowing 15 hours discussion on motion of thanks to President's address, which is a tradition, and then take farmers's issue. "I am not aware why the opposition changed its strategy," Joshi said. As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker finally adjourned the House till 7 p.m. The opposition raising voice in support of thousands of farmers protesting on various Delhi borders since November 26 seeking withdrawal of these farm laws terming them "black laws" and "anti-farmer". First greeted with scepticism, experts have since been convinced of the effectiveness of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, with positive results published in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday. The development represents a scientific and political victory for Vladimir Putin's Russia. From the first weeks of the pandemic, the Russian president ordered the scientific, political and military apparatus of the country to work in overdrive to develop the world's first Covid vaccine -- even if that meant taking shortcuts. Last spring, Alexander Gintsburg, the director of the state-run Gamaleya research centre that developed Sputnik V, boasted of having personally injected himself with an experimental version of the jab. A few months later, in mid-August, Putin announced the approval of the world's first coronavirus vaccine. With the shot at that point having only been tested by a few dozen volunteers, the proclamation was greeted with scepticism abroad. The vaccine nonetheless soon became available to Russia's elite, including one of Putin's daughters, even before the beginning of Phase III clinical trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers. Russia made the vaccine available to the wider public in December, when Europe and the United States were just deploying the first doses of the vaccines made by their pharmaceutical companies. For the Kremlin, the homemade vaccine -- first vilified by the West -- demonstrates Russia's excellence, with Putin having called Sputnik V "the best vaccine in the world". The choice of name for the jab is highly symbolic. A tribute to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, Sputnik V recalls a scientific feat for Russia and a historic setback for its rival the United States. The success of the vaccine restores Russian research capabilities to the world's top echelons, after the sector had been decimated by crises and corruption in the wake of the USSR's collapse in 1991. Sputnik V has been approved in more than 15 countries, including ex-Soviet nations like Belarus and Armenia, allies like Venezuela and Iran, but also Argentina, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan. Last month the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance Sputnik V, announced that it had applied for registration of the vaccine in the European Union. But the Russian vaccine has been treated with suspicion due to a lack of publicly available scientific data. Denouncing European delays, Viktor Orban's Hungary sidestepped the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and registered the vaccine on its own. For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered Putin the possibility of "joint production". Russia says it has received pre-orders of more than a billion doses of Sputnik V, but it is unable to meet that level of demand. The quantities of doses that have been delivered abroad have mainly been symbolic, like the 20,000 exported to Bolivia. In some cases the figures were not revealed, while Argentina experienced a shipment delay last month. No official source has made clear how many doses have been produced or deployed, though authorities in mid-January said that 1.5 million people had been inoculated with Sputnik V around the world. Rather than exporting Sputnik V in bulk, Moscow hopes to develop production partnerships with local factories. Brazil, India, Kazakhstan and South Korea are currently producing the jab, though not all them have made it available to the public yet. At least three more Russian coronavirus vaccines are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks. Sputnik V -- a two-dose vaccine using adapted strains of the adenovirus, a virus that causes the common cold -- is set to be produced as "Sputnik Light", a less effective single-dose version. Mass production of the EpiVacCorona vaccine, developed by the Siberian Vektor laboratory, is set to launch this month. The Russian government has said that a third vaccine named CoviVac is expected to be approved this month too. And there may even be a fourth, with the Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and the developers of Sputnik V having said they are working to combine their respective vaccines. City Hall is set to receive a boost in its disaster management operations after the Belgian government pledged a Sh1.2 billion project upgrade of firefighting equipment in the Capital. This is after the two parties announced plans to commence phase two of the upgrade programme that has been running since 2016. The move follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Nairobi County government and Somati Vehicles NV, a Belgian Company, on March 28, 2018 for phase II of the agreement between the two entities. The Sh1.1 billion or 8.8 million Euros deal was later approved on December 23, 2020 paving the way for the commencement of the second phase. This comes at a time when the county continues to suffer a spate of fire disasters which have led to the loss of lives and destruction of properties. In Phase I which began in 2016, the government of Belgium through KBC Bank NV -M/s Somati Vehicles, donated fire engines, ambulance vehicles, personal protection equipment, breathing apparatus sets, communication systems, construction of new fire station, training, spare parts and materials at a cost of more than Sh1.1 billion or 10 million Euros. In total, City Hall received 29 vehicles inclusive of firefighting engines ambulances and a ladder truck to help them better respond to fire outbreaks in addition to the construction of Kangundo Road fire station. In the second phase, the Nairobi County Government is expected to receive firefighting and disaster management equipment such as boats to assist in recovery in case of floods, state of the art machines to pump out water in areas such as Eastlands which is mostly affected by floods when it rains as well as diving equipment. It will also be receiving special containers in order to deal with chemical incidences in the city. Acting County Secretary Jairus Musumba said the current deal will further boost the county government's emergency and disaster response mechanisms. He pointed out that donations in the first phase boosted City Hall's response to disasters and emergencies where until then the county's fire department was infamous for faulty equipment, arriving at fire scenes late, running out of water and having difficulties putting out fires in high-rise buildings, but this has not been the case since the commencement of our partnership in 2016. "I am very happy that Belgium continues to stand with Nairobi City County government and the Kenyan government. The fire fighting vehicles and equipment donated in Phase I, in 2017, have gone a long way in helping our Fire and Rescue team respond better to fire incidences which are common, especially in the informal settlements," said Mr Musumba. Belgium Ambassador to Kenya Nicolas Nihon said that his country will provide 35 percent (Sh420 million) of the entire project sum with the rest offset by Somati Vehicles NV with the funds made available as part of the tied aid from the Belgian government. "The Belgian government is ready to support this project and hoping that we can swiftly sign the commercial contract for this venture with the county Government," said Mr Nihon. The ambassador urged City Hall to fast track the completion of the first phase with the deadline of May 31, 2021 fast approaching. Nairobi Devolution and Public Service Management and Administration Executive Veska Kangogo said the county government desires to work with partners including national, regional, international and local agencies to develop a disaster management system that will enhance risk preparedness. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. She stated that City Hall has made commendable efforts towards addressing fire hazards and attendant human vulnerability with the county government having already hired 300 firefighters and is in the process of recruiting 200 more to address shortage of staff. Further, she stated that the county government is currently preparing the Disaster and Emergency Management Act in accordance with the Kenyan Constitution which mandates a county to develop and implement suitable disaster management policies. The Act seeks to put in place institutional systems for disaster management and enhance resource mobilization. "The county government has also entered into various strategic partnerships to help address these disaster concerns. The county government therefore sees this project as an opportunity towards achieving the above goal," said Ms Kangogo. Public Relations Firm Red Banyan Receives Corporate Excellence Award for Expertise in PR As our firm continues to expand its reach and handle increasingly high-profile PR cases, it is gratifying to be recognized for our hard work. International crisis communications agency Red Banyan was recently selected to receive Corporate Vision Magazines 2021 Corporate Excellence for the Most Influential Leader in PR & Marketing 2021 Washington DC. The Corporate Excellence Awards were created to showcase companies that are committed to innovation, business growth, and providing the very best products and services to clients across a wide range of industries. The digital magazines mission is to celebrate businesses all over the world who strive every day to be better than they were. Winners were evaluated on multiple criteria, including company performance over a given period of time, expertise within the industry, sector or region, previous accolades won, and client testimonials or recommendations. As our firm continues to expand its reach and handle increasingly high-profile PR cases, it is gratifying to be recognized for our hard work, said Red Banyan Founder and CEO Evan Nierman. I am extremely proud of our talented crisis communications team as demand for our expertise spreads internationally. The award is more evidence that Red Banyan is one of the top public relations agencies in the nation and a standout leader in high-stakes crisis communications, Nierman added. Established in 2010, Red Banyan has built a global reputation for excellence. Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Red Banyan also has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Its LA hub was recently launched in September 2020 to better serve celebrity crisis clients and others on the West Coast. Red Banyan also provides litigation support, media relations and other strategic communications services. About Red Banyan Red Banyan is a specialized communications firm and crisis management firm focused on solving complex, highly sensitive and mission-critical communications challenges. Specializing in crisis communications, corporate public relations, government relations, and legal PR, Red Banyan provides an integrated approach to communications rooted in strategy. Learn more at http://www.redbanyan.com, become a fan on the Red Banyan Facebook page and follow the firm on Twitter and LinkedIn. A man shot dead in a gun attack in north Belfast on Tuesday night had links to dissident republicans, it is understood. Police cordoned off an area on the lower Cliftonville Road, near the Junction with Manor Street at approximately 9pm. Residents told the Belfast Telegraph they heard four or five shots being fired. The victim is believed to have been in his mid 50s. Expand Close Police at the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 2nd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police at the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 2nd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) First Minister Arlene Foster condemned the killing and sent her condolences to the family. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill appealed to anyone with information to contact police, she added: "Obviously there is a grieving family at the heart of this who lost a loved one and our thought are with them. "Police have a job of work to do. This is not acceptable at any level in our society." Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery said: We received a report around 8.15 pm, that a man had been shot in the Cliftonville Road area of the city. Officers attended, along with colleagues from NIAS. Sadly, a man has been pronounced dead. "We would urge anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have any information which may assist us with our inquiries to contact 101 or alternatively information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) was dispatched to the area, where a man was pronounced dead. Pictures from the scene showed a heavy police presence. A spokesperson for the NIAS said it received a 999 call following reports of a shooting incident in the Cliftonville Road area of north Belfast. "The NIAS dispatched one rapid response paramedic, two emergency crews and an ambulance officer to the incident," they added. "Following initial assessment, all ambulances resources cleared the scene and no patients were taken from the scene." Expand Close Aftermath: Police officers at the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on Tuesday Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Aftermath: Police officers at the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on Tuesday Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker condemned the shooting. "This is horrific news for a family to receive and the community is rightly shocked," he said. "Those responsible for this shooting have absolutely nothing to offer our community. "Local residents should be allowed to live their lives without the threat of violence." "The community does not support these actions. There is no place for violence on our streets." Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilin added: "The local community are deeply shocked by this incident." I am appealing to any witnesses to come forward." A team of student engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology won Best Overall Design in SpaceX's competition to design a pod for a Hyperloop system that would transport people through high-speed vacuum tubes. "The public wants something new," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told the attendees at this first-ever competition on Saturday at Texas A&M University. "And you're going to give it to them." Elon Musk spoke to teams of student engineers at the end of the Hyperloop design competition at Texas A&M University on Saturday. Photo credit: Flickr / Texas A&M University More than 115 student engineering teams representing 27 U.S. states and 20 countries competed. Musk challenged the teams to "design a passenger pod to run in the Hyperloop, a low-pressure tube between LA and San Francisco which will use a railgun to rocket passengers between the two cities at supersonic speeds," according to The Guardian. Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands finished second, the University of Wisconsin third, Virginia Tech fourth and the University of California, Irvine, fifth. The top 22 teams will build their pods and test them this summer at what Texas A&M called the "world's first Hyperloop test track"a one-mile track being built next to SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. "The prototype pods would be half the size of the system that Musk envisioned and would not carry people," Phys.org noted. One of the pod designs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hyperloop Team. Photo credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology The idea for the Hyperloop was popularized by Musk in a 2013 Tesla blog post, in which the entrepreneur outlined his rough plans of how the system would work. Read page 1 Musk explained in the post that he was "quite disappointed" with the state of California for approving a "high speed" rail project that was "one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world." He wrote: The underlying motive for a statewide mass transit system is a good one. It would be great to have an alternative to flying or driving, but obviously only if it is actually better than flying or driving. The train in question would be both slower, more expensive to operate (if unsubsidized) and less safe by two orders of magnitude than flying, so why would anyone use it? If we are to make a massive investment in a new transportation system, then the return should by rights be equally massive. Musk went on to explain the technical feasibility of transporting people in pods through a vacuum tube at roughly 700 miles per hour. "The proposal was quickly criticized by experts in the field, who questioned Musk's figures on the cost of land by a highway, the price of concrete and the thermal expansion of steel," The Guardian said. "But in the following years multiple companies picked up Musk's concept and developed it further." Various private companies, notably Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and Hyperloop Technologies, have set out to make Musk's vision a reality. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies sought permits last week to build a 5-mile test track along Interstate 5 in Central California. And Hyperloop Technologies has already begun construction on a test track in North Las Vegas, Nevada. And now it appears the federal government is interested in a Hyperloop system. U.S. Sec. of Transportation Anthony Foxx spoke at the competition on Friday, telling participants that "the idea merits consideration for a public-private partnership to develop it further," Ars Technica reported. When I first heard about the Hyperloop, I was less than enthusiastic," Foxx said. Reflexively, I felt this proposal was impractical. Then I began to think, what if there had been a secretary of transportation when the automobile was first built or the airplane invented with that attitude? I feel that we have in our department a responsibility not just to continue the traditional forms of transportation, but a responsibility to nudge the future of transportation along." Watch Musk speak at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Competition awards ceremony at Texas A&M University: YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE This Solar Road Will Provide Power to 5 Million People Elon Musk vs. Warren Buffett: The Billionaire Battle Over the Future of Solar Power Elon Musk: 'You Can Easily Power All of China With Solar' Huge Hydropower Plant to Harness Seawater and Solar Power in South America's Driest Desert Bengaluru, Feb 3 : India on Wednesday showcased its home-grown fighter Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas at the 13th edition of the biennial Aero India 2021, with a spectacular display of its strike capabilities and daring manoeuvres at the Yelahanka air base on the city's outskirts. Flown by Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot Manish Tolani, the indigenous Tejas demonstrated its prowess and agility through breath-taking aerobatics, including thunderous rapid rolls, vertical Charlie, upside down and angular flying display on the first day of the 3-day air show under Covid cloud. Designed and developed by the city-based state-run Aircraft Development Agency (ADA) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and built by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Tejas is the world's only light combat aircraft. The IAF has already inducted the LCA-1 in its fighter fleet squadron at its Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. The Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 13 approved the purchase of 83 Tejas Mark-1A variants, including 10 trainers for the IAF at Rs 48,000 crore from the defence behemoth HAL. This is in addition to the 40 LCA-Mark-1, the IAF has placed an order in 2016 with HAL to deliver for setting up two squadrons of the fighters. The city-based company has delivered 20 Tejas and in the process of delivering the remaining 20. Other military aircraft that flew at the inaugural event of the air show in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Karnataka Chief Minister B.Y. Yediyurappa and other dignitaries include Rafale fighters of the French aerospace major Dassault, Sukhoi-30 MKi, Jaguar, advanced jet trainer Hawk and HAL-made helicopters such as ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter), Light Combat Helicopter and Light Utility Helicopter. The highlight of the 2-hour long opening show was the dazzling aerobatics by the IAF's 9 Surya Kiran Hawks and 4 Sarang ALHs Dhruv. The US B1-Bomber also flew along with LCA at the opening event. The maiden joint aerobatics by Surya Kirans and Sarang choppers was the highlight of the show at different altitudes. Both the aerobatic teams flew in heart formation with their trail smoke on a bright sunny day. Dornier 228, Hindustan Turbo Trainer (HTT)-40 and LUH and ALH Mk III of the HAL were at the static display. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Instant Brands President and CEO Ben Gadbois, who oversees the growing portfolio of iconic brands such as Pyrex, Instant, Corelle, CorningWare, Chicago Cutlery, SnapWare and Visions, has created a new unifying platform for the company - "#MadeforTogether." Mr. Gadbois has assembled a team of exceptional and diverse leaders to transform Instant Brands (the "Company") into a global consumer-led, innovation-driven company, focused on delighting consumers. "2020 was a year that further unified us as one team as we worked together, leveraging our shared values," said Mr. Gadbois. "We have been inspired by how consumers around the world engaged and shared with us. This experience clarified that our mission across our portfolio of iconic brands is #MadeforTogether. It represents how important it is to help people create connections and memories through that instant of 'together' using our great brands and products. In 2021, our company plans on wowing consumers with more innovation than ever before. We are ready for an incredible future as Instant Brands, with all of our great employees and partners around the world." Mr. Gadbois was named President and Chief Executive Officer in June 2020 and brings more than 25 years of experience driving global growth for leading consumer brands. Prior to his current role, he served as Global President and Chief Operating Officer of Spin Master, where he was instrumental in guiding the company through transformative acquisitions and its successful initial public offering in 2015. Previously, he was also President for several Newell businesses and brands, including Sharpie and Rubbermaid. In his first seven months at the helm, Mr. Gadbois has reorganized the company into four global business units and centers of excellence, expanded the company's global footprint and hired diverse, best-in-class talent empowered to accelerate the Company's transformation. About Instant Brands Owned by Cornell Capital LLC and headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Instant Brands and its affiliates design, manufacture and market iconic small kitchen appliances and houseware products worldwide. Its well-recognized and respected brands, including Pyrex, Corelle, Instant Pot, CorningWare, Snapware, Chicago Cutlery, and Visions, have been creating connections and memories in the homes of families across the world for over 100 years. The company employs approximately 2,300 people globally at locations in 11 countries, including several manufacturing and distribution operations in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific regions. Contact: Amy Cheronis [email protected] +1.312.493.9949 SOURCE Instant Brands Related Links https://corporate.instantbrands.com Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Salary See Position Description Location Arlington, VA Job Type Summer Employment Department Department of Parks and Recreation Job Number 1986-21B-DPR-SD Closing Continuous Position Information Employment Opportunities - Summer 2021 Please read this entire announcement before submitting your application. This announcement is specific to the Nature and History Camp Staff. If you are interested in other camp program areas, you must apply for that position as well. Opportunities for temporary summer employment with the Arlington County Department of Parks & Recreation include work as Camp Directors, Assistant Directors, and support staff (counselors) in camp programs throughout the County. Nature and History Camp Counselors are needed to provide camp programs for children and teens ages 6-14. Several positions are available, and hours vary. Staff must commit from June 21 to August 13th (core camp dates). Additional weeks from August 16-27 may also be available. Training and planning beginning mid to late May through June, which includes a combination of independent and self-paced online courses with virtual and in-person trainings during weekday evenings and a few Saturdays. All camp staff will be trained to follow current guidance (county specific protocols) related to Covid19 safety. Nature and History Camps: Staff will be asked to plan and lead a variety of nature experiences for campers ages 6-10 or 11-14, depending on the camp. Daily camp activities include, animal show and tell, outdoor games, crafts, storytelling and physical activities like hiking, fishing, etc. Experience in the outdoors and experience working with children is preferred. Must enjoy the outdoors, be flexible in changing situations, and have a lot of energy. Applications are being accepted for the following positions: STUDENT ASSISTANT I/II (SAI/II) - $9.50-$11.00/Hour Responsible for assisting all leaders in the summer camp or program activities and operations. Applicants must be at least 16 years old to be hired for licensed preschool camp, all other camps require the applicant be at least 15 years old. Minimum requirements : Applications for Student Assistant positions will only be considered from individuals who have previously volunteered in one or more of our summer camps. These individuals are either non-high school graduates (SA I) or high school graduates enrolled in post-high school level education programs who have not accumulated at least 3 months of relevant experience (SA II). SUMMER RECREATION ASSISTANT II - $14.25/Hour Responsible for assisting in the planning, leading, and conducting of recreation activities for a camp, behavior management of participants, and assisting in the evaluations of the activities and the participants. Minimum requirements : Graduation from high school/GED, plus six months experience in administering recreational programs or facility monitoring. Certification in CPR and First Aid is required for all applicants hired at this level. Selection Criteria Please review the minimum requirements listed above. Applicants may attach a resume in addition to completing the online application. Attaching a resume without completion of the application will be considered "an incomplete application". The successful candidate will have good character and integrity, positive communication skills, reliable transportation, the ability to complete tasks as assigned, take the initiative when needed, and the ability to work successfully in a team environment. Staff may be asked to work with individuals with disabilities. Desirables: Enjoys being outdoors Enjoys working around animals Has experience in hiking, scouting, fishing, other outdoor skills Interests in Civil War or history Willingness to work with individuals with disabilities. Special Requirements If selected, all summer staff will be required to: Agree to a criminal background check. Candidates will be asked to provide two letters of reference from related work/school experience prior to an offer of employment. Letters of reference may be attached to this application. Provide negative TB results or submit to a TB screening. Attend all required trainings. Some positions require a valid motorized vehicle operator's license and driving history record check. Be open to provide personal care as needed to campers (training provided). Additional Information Work Hours: These positions vary in days and hours of work, from a few hours per week to a full forty (40) hours per week schedule. Camps operate from 8:45a.m. - 12:30p.m. or 8:45a.m.- 4:00p.m. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, until May 31, 2021. Interviews will be conducted on a continuous basis, so interested applicants should apply as soon as possible. Summer camp positions will remain open until filled. We hope to have all camp jobs filled by May 10, 2021 . Applications received after that date will be considered only if there is need to consider other applicants. Written notifications will be sent to applicants who applied but were not hired, once all positions are filled. Generally, these letters are sent out in mid-July. For further information about the selection process or specific camp job duties: Email (see application details) Arlington County Government employee benefits depend on whether a position is permanent, the number of hours worked, and the number of months the position is scheduled. Specific information on benefits and conditions of employment can be found on the Arlington County Human Resources Department website: (see application details) Permanent, Full-Time Appointments All jobs are permanent, full-time appointments unless otherwise stated in the announcement. The following benefits are available: Paid Leave : Vacation leave is earned at the rate of four hours biweekly. Leave accrual increases every three years until eight hours of leave are earned biweekly for twelve or more years of service. Sick leave is earned at the rate of four hours biweekly. There are eleven paid holidays each year. Health and Dental Insurance : Three group health insurance plans are offered - a network open access plan, a point-of-service plan, and a health maintenance organization. A group dental insurance plan is also offered. The County pays a significant portion of the premium for these plans for employees and their dependents. A discount vision plan is provided for eye care needs. Life Insurance : A group term policy of basic life insurance is provided at no cost to employees. The benefit is one times annual salary. Additional life insurance is available with rates based on the employee's age and smoker/non-smoker status. Retirement : The County offers three vehicles to help you prepare for retirement: a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan (401(a)), and a deferred compensation plan (457). The defined benefit plan provides a monthly retirement benefit based on your final average salary and years of service with the County. You contribute a portion of your salary on a pre-tax basis to this plan. General employees contribute 4% of pay; uniformed public safety employees contribute 7.5% of pay. Employees become vested in the plan at five years of service. The County also contributes to this plan. For general employees, the County also contributes 4.2% of pay to a defined contribution plan (401(a)) . The County also matches your 457 contribution, up to $20 per pay period, in this plan. The 457 deferred compensation plan allows you to set aside money on either a pre-tax (457b) or post-tax (457 Roth) basis up to the IRS annual limit. New employees are automatically enrolled with a pre-tax contribution equal to 2% of your base pay. Other Benefits: The County also offers health, dependent care, and parking flexible spending accounts; long-term care insurance; tuition assistance; transit and walk/bike to work subsidies; a college savings plan; wellness programs; training opportunities; and a variety of other employee benefits. Permanent, Part-Time Appointments: Part time employees who work ten or more hours per week receive paid leave and benefits in proportion to the number of hours worked per week. Limited Term Appointments: Benefits are the same as permanent appointments except that the employees do not achieve permanent status. Temporary Regular Appointments: Temporary regular employees who work 30 hours or more per week are eligible for health, dental, and basic life insurance as described above. They are also eligible for vacation, sick leave, and paid holidays. Temporary Seasonal and Occasional Appointments: Temporary employees who work on a seasonal basis or variable hours receive sick leave, but do not normally receive other paid leave or benefits. Exceptions are noted in individual announcements. In 1999, a 17-year-old Jimmy Gorecki stood at the Municipal Services Building plaza with his skateboard positioned under his right foot. He had skated there for years, but this time felt momentous with so many onlookers. He stared at a handrail several yards away before jogging a few paces to gain momentum. Gorecki hopped up the handrail, slid down the rails edge, and nailed the landing a maneuver called a backside lipslide. As the crowd broke into cheers, Gorecki knew he wanted to be a skateboard pro. He went on to snag national sponsorships from Aesthetics Skateboards, Elwood Clothing, Zoo York, and Billionaire Boys Club a streetwear clothing and accessory brand created in 2003 by Pharrell Williams and Nigo. In 2013, he opened a Los Angeles-based streetwear brand, Jimmy Sweatpants, which LeBron James wears regularly. Now, Jimmy Sweatpants is teaming up with Vans for a limited-edition shoe inspired by Phillys skate culture. The shoe will debut Feb. 10 and be available exclusively at two Center City retailers, Lapstone & Hammer and Nocturnal. On Monday, a billboard promoting the collaboration was unveiled across from Lincoln Financial Field. Gorecki grew up in Norristown. When he was a kid, his mother drove him daily to LOVE Park, where he would skate for hours. He took the train once he was old enough, and when he got his license, he drove himself. Gorecki said LOVE Park gave him his identity. Hes not alone in that. Philly first became a skating hotbed in the 60s, and with some 20 skate parks that emerged in the 80s and 90s, the city has long been a skateboarding hub, launching pros like Stevie Williams, Ricky Oyola, and Roger Browne. And LOVE Park was long their mecca, although skating was banned there by city officials in 1994 and again in 2000 with hefty fines. We called the [sneaker] collaboration A Love Story, LOVE being the skate park at 15th and JFK, which is the scene that I grew up in and around, said Gorecki, now 38. Weve seen so many big skateboarders that came out of that park, but I wanted to tell the story of the kids that have utilized that area. Skateboarding is a conduit that brings all of these men and women together. The Love Story shoe will be available in either black or white, with both versions featuring Vans signature checkerboard iconography and graffiti art by Philly artist Joseph Lees, who also skateboards. The style I chose was a chukka boot, which for me is one of the more obscure Vans silhouettes, Gorecki said. But its one of the shoes that I used to see growing up reading Thrasher Magazine, and I always have liked the way [chukka] looks with sweatpants, which is the basis of our brand. Like Gorecki, Lees started skateboarding as a child. Hed watched kids perform tricks at a gas station near his North Philadelphia home then begged his mother for a skateboard for Christmas, and he got one. Years later he began to draw, mostly with markers and using calligraphy. And the images he drew were inspired by the graffiti he saw at skate parks around Philly. Hes known Gorecki since the early 2000s. Its a dream of mine to be working on something like this, Lees said. Combining his art and his love for skateboarding in a collaboration with Vans is just beyond. Jake Mednik, a global manager for Vans, said Philadelphia has been a gatekeeper of skate culture on the East Coast and that the Jimmy Sweatpants and Vans collaboration pays respect to that history. When you look at the 1990s when you had Stevie Williams, Josh Kalis, all these top industry professionals living in Philly and really documenting their career in that city, a lot of times they were wearing Vans shoes, Mednik said. So the shoe really encompasses several pillars. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 The sun was nowhere in sight Tuesday, but Fairfield resident Jean Treglia was looking on the bright side. Its good exercise. Youve just got to pace yourself, Treglia said while shoveling in front of her home near the Fairfield-Bridgeport line. A blanket of clouds lingered overhead all day and flurries and freezing rain dropped periodically. And in much of southwestern Connecticut, more than a foot of snow needed clearing from driveways, sidewalks, and buried vehicles. By Tuesday morning temperatures had risen to the mid-30s, giving people shoveling and using snow blowers a head start by melting some of the snow that had fallen. Its perfect shoveling snow, Treglia said. Theres no ice on it. The best part is its perfect for snowmen. Thats what Id rather be doing right now. Most towns in the region reported having no trouble keeping roads clean throughout the storm and keeping up with the pace of the snowfall. Fairfields Acting Director of Public Works, John Marsilio, said snow had been pushed back to the curb on most roads by Tuesday afternoon. That could be important because it will give crews somewhere to push fresh snow if more falls during a storm predicted for Sunday. We have to be prepared for a temperature drop tonight, and ice, he said. So, thats what well be doing, is putting down salt and widening the roads. Its maintenance now, he said. The snow is to the curb line. Now, we just have to push the snow back and put some salt down in the event that the roads freeze. Well probably be back at it tomorrow. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganims spokesperson, Rowena White, agreed, saying crews would be on the lookout for any icy conditions to lay down sand. White said there were fortunately no life-endangering incidents in the city during the storm, echoing emergency management officials from throughout the area, who reported no major crashes or fires. White said there were a few trouble sports in neighborhoods where folks did not follow (the) parking ban, and advised those shoveling snow to be careful and take breaks. Fairfield police Lt. Antonio Granata said one car had to be towed from an area with a parking ban in effect on the 700 block of Fairfield Beach Road. Granata attributed not needing to tow many cars to the fact that the town notified residents of parking bans and cops knocked on doors asking people to move their cars. All things considered, not bad, Shelton Emergency Management Director Michael Maglione said of the storm, noting no major issues during the daylong noreaster that dumped more than a foot of snow in the city along with high winds through the night. Public works crews worked the entire day clearing roadways, and there were only two equipment breakdowns, Maglione said, adding that he measured 15 inches of snow at his home. Shelton had 22 plows ready to clear roadways, with outside contractors on call for the duration of the storm. Crews are working today to do cleanup and then coming back on Wednesday to complete the job, Maglione said. They want to get as much done before the hard freeze comes. In Stratford, Public Works Director Raynae Serra said that public works crews were focusing on the towns school properties Tuesday afternoon. Because of wind drifts it can be very time-consuming, she said. Roads were by and large in great shape, she said, because the department kept up with clearing snow as it was falling at its heaviest. We really staffed up and saturated the roads as soon as the snow started falling at midnight, she said. The best thing to do was to keep up with the snow. Once you fall behind you cant push it any more, its falling too fast, too heavy, too hard. Because of the storms duration, most people were off the roads during the heaviest part of the storm, which helped public works crews a lot, according to Trumbull First Selectman Vicki Tesoro. People also were good about removing cars parked on the street. In Milford, Mayor Ben Blake said most roads were cleared by Tuesday afternoon but the cleanup work would continue for some time. Well be mopping up for days, he said. Staff writers Brian Gioiele, Brian Lockhart, Donald Eng, Josh LaBella contributed to this report. Stalco logo We are honored to be named a leading 3PL by Multichannel Merchant which covers the industry with great detail and expertise, said Stalco President Steven Page. Stalco is growing in scope and capabilities and, with our joining with Canada Cartage, is geared to rise even further in the next year. Stalco Inc., a Toronto-based, third-party logistics company specializing in fulfillment and distribution for high-velocity, e-commerce clients in Canada, the U.S. and international markets, has been named a MCM Top 3PL for 2021, joining dozens of other leading third-party logistics providers selected by Multichannel Merchant in its sixth annual directory. 3PLs, already growing in importance prior to COVID-19, have seen significant growth in 2020 as the massive shift to ecommerce fuels significant demand for outsourced fulfillment and logistics operations. This unique resource from Multichannel Merchant, a searchable directory that can be sorted by various criteria, helps ecommerce and DTC companies vet qualified, experienced 3PLs. Ecommerce and DTC merchants need experienced, qualified 3PL partners as they handle unprecedented growth in their online business, and lack the internal resources or expertise, said Mike OBrien, Senior Content Manager of Multichannel Merchant. Each company has been selected based on their industry experience, services offered, performance and range of capabilities. The company profiles in the MCM Top 3PL directory include vital information to help merchants in their selection process, including key services, average annual client order volume, top merchandise categories handled, facility locations and more. The directory is available throughout the year. We are honored to be named a leading 3PL by Multichannel Merchant which covers the industry with great detail and expertise, said Stalco President Steven Page. Stalco is growing in scope and capabilities and, with our joining with Canada Cartage, is geared to rise even further in the industry in the next year. About Multichannel Merchant Multichannel Merchant reaches key decision makers responsible for ecommerce, management, marketing and operations at companies that sell merchandise through multiple channels including ecommerce, mobile, social, and catalog. Multichannel Merchant delivers original research, as well as in-depth analysis of trends and best practices, news, tactical/how-to, executive summaries, technology and supplier comparisons, tip sheets and resource information to help companies sell & deliver products wherever and whenever the customer wants them at home, work, store or other locations. About Stalco Stalco Inc. was founded in 1994 and is a third-party logistics company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Stalcos full-service offering includes fulfillment, inventory management, importation, warehousing, returns management, regulatory expertise, and cross-border and global shipping solutions for high velocity, e-commerce companies. Stalco is site-licensed by Health Canada, and offers clients access to their extensive, on-demand, white-label inventory of the most popular health and beauty products and assists their clients with eliminating all duty costs associated with overseas importation. A clergyman from a prominent Church of England parish yesterday condemned the commemoration of Captain Sir Tom Moore as a cult of white British nationalism. The Reverend Jarel Robinson-Brown appeared to dismiss the work of the Covid fund-raiser, whose efforts were praised by all political leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The cleric, newly appointed to a prestigious post by the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Sarah Mullally, added that he would not join Wednesday night's national clap to mark the passing of Captain Tom. He responded to the veterans death by tweeting: The cult of Captain Tom is a cult of White British Nationalism. I will offer prayers for the repose of his kind and generous soul, but I will not be joining the National Clap. Hundreds of thousands of Britons across the nation took to their doorsteps yesterday evening to pay tribute to Sir Captain Moore after he died of coronavirus yesterday. Apology: Jarel Robinson-Brown appeared to dismiss the work of the Covid fund-raiser, whose efforts were praised by all political leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury Captain Tom became a national treasure during the first coronavirus lockdown after he raised 33 million for the NHS by doing laps of his garden. His death was met with an out-pouring of grief with the Queen leading tributes The intervention by the 29-year-old black and gay activist appeared to undermine the Church of England and its handling of the Covid crisis at a time when its leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, have been facing criticism for their willingness to close churches. The Archbishop marked Captain Toms death by saying he was an inspiration to millions. Mr Robinson-Brown deleted the tweet after a fierce backlash and posted an apology, saying: I offer an unreserved apology for the insensitive timing and content of my tweet regarding the clap for Captain Tom. He said he had since read and will sign the churchs digital charter, which is designed to help make social media and the web more widely positive places. Former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman described it as an appalling comment, and Bishop Mullallys diocese was understood to be preparing an apology last night. Mr Robinson-Brown, a former Methodist minister and chaplain at Kings College London, converted to Anglicanism and is training to become a priest in the Church of England. Last month he was appointed as a curate at the oldest church in the City of London, All Hallows By the Tower. Mr Robinson-Brown is set to begin work shortly at the inclusive church, CofE jargon for a radical parish that supports gay rights. His new vicar, the Reverend Katherine Hedderly, greeted his appointment as a curate last weekend by saying her congregation were delighted. The war hero, who raised 33 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden during the first national lockdown, passed away peacefully in Bedford Hospital on Tuesday afternoon Captain Tom (pictured front) along with his grandchildren Benji (left), Georgia (middle left), his daughter Hannah (middle right) and her husband Colin Ingram (right) as they enjoyed the Barbados sunshine Captain Sir Tom Moore (pictured in April) became a national treasure during the first coronavirus lockdown after he raised more than 32 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds take part in the doorstep clap in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore outside Downing Street yesterday evening The war veteran's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, with her children Benjie and Georgia and husband Colin Ingram stand outside their residence before taking part in a Clap for NHS staff He has said he is passionate about issues of justice, particularly in the areas of race and sexuality and has an interest in gender, desire and ethnicity in Late Antique Egypt, alongside liberation theology and queer theology. Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the national round of applause at 6pm from Downing Street yesterday, with the veteran's family also taking part. Images showed his emotional daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore leaning on her son Benjie as they marked the applause alongside her daughter Georgia and husband Colin Ingram outside Captain Tom's home in Marston Moretaine near Milton Keynes. They were joined by hundreds of thousands thousands of well-wishers who showed their support for the 100-year-old by standing on doorsteps and leaning out of windows to clap. Captain Tom became a national treasure during the first coronavirus lockdown after he raised 33 million for the NHS by doing laps of his garden. His death was met with an out-pouring of grief with the Queen leading tributes. MPs held a minute's silence before Prime Minister's Questions at midday, after which Mr Johnson asked Britons to take part in a clap straight after his 5pm Covid press conference. He also threw his backing behind a statue to commemorate the war veteran for his efforts during the pandemic. Nick Caves Truth Be Told, on display at The School in Kinderhook, N.Y., has been the focus of a battle over whether the piece is a sign and subject to restrictions set by a sign ordinance. The Village of Kinderhooks Zoning Board of Appeals determined Tuesday that the work is art and cannot be regulated under the zoning code. Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec. Loan to Increase Production Capacity by 400% & Shift Company into a Cashflow Positive Status Once Daly Facility Opened Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) ("TransCanna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding term sheet (the "Term Sheet") with Wild Horse Properties L.P. (the "Lender" or "Wild Horse") for a secured convertible loan (the "Convertible Loan") in the aggregate principal amount of US$2 million (the "Principal Amount."). The proceeds of the Convertible Loan are to be used exclusively for capital expenditures at the Company's Daly Facility located in Modesto, California (the "Facility."). "We are excited to finally unlock the production capacity of the Daly Facility with this direct investment. We believe that scaling our cultivation capacity precipitates industrial level distribution, manufacturing and processing rewarding shareholders with significant revenue growth. We have been in the planning stage for several months," stated Alan Applonie, Company General Manager, "and are very happy to have secured the necessary funding required to realize this vision." A reminder to shareholders, Mr. Applonie comes from Taylor Farms an organic produce grower in the central valley where Alan was part of the original founding management team and responsible for annual gross revenues exceeding US$1 Billion. The Facility build out consists of four phases; with receipt of the Company's occupancy permit for Phase One, the Company will be shifting its distribution business from the Jerusalem property. Cultivation will continue at full capacity at the Jerusalem facility. "With this funding we will be completing the construction of our first phase at the facility, which is approximately 80% finished," stated Bob Blink, CEO. "Once complete, this represents a significant milestone for the company, and one that should boost profits and set the stage for our Californian expansion. After a lengthy and thorough due diligence process, we are delighted to have found the right partners in Wild Horse for this exciting next phase." The Convertible Loan will bear interest (the "Interest") at the rate of 10% per annum (compounded annually) over a 2-year term from the date of execution of the definitive loan agreement and related security agreements (the "Definitive Agreement Date.") The Interest is payable annually in cash starting on the anniversary of the Definitive Agreement Date. The Convertible Loan will mature two years from the date of the Definitive Agreement Date (the "Maturity Date"), whereupon the Company will repay the Principal Amount, plus all accrued but unpaid Interest, in cash. The Company will be entitled to draw down on the Loan at any time and from time to time, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions of precedent. Subject to applicable regulatory approval, the entire Principal Amount outstanding is convertible at the Lender's option after expiry of the applicable statutory hold period into common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares"), at a fixed conversion price of US $0.59 per common share (the "Conversion Price"), at any time from the Definitive Agreement Date until Maturity Date. Upon and from the first drawdown by the Company of any part of the Convertible Loan, the Lender will be entitled to appoint one member to the Board of Directors of the Company. The proposed transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval and the completion of definitive documentation by February 15, 2021. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities 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 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. About TransCanna Holdings Inc. TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a California based, Canadian listed company building Cannabis-focused brands for the California lifestyle, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.transcanna.com or email the Company at info@transcanna.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors Bob Blink, CEO Corporate Communications: Hybrid Financial @hybridtcan irteam@transcanna.com 604-800-3589 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. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws or forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs regarding future events of management of the Company. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things: commencement of operations of the Facility; the increase of the Company's output; the receipt of licensing approvals for the Company's facilities; expansions to and growth of the Company's business operations; and the Company entering into the definitive agreements in respect of the Convertible Loan by February 15, 2021 and the availability of the loan to the Company thereafter. These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the receipt of necessary regulatory approval and licensing approvals; market uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic; potential negative consumer, investor or public perception of a party's respective current brand or company; changes in consumer preferences and product trends; general market trends; political, legal and regulatory uncertainty relating to cannabis products generally; and specific risks relating to the negotiation and execution of the definitive agreements for the Convertible Loan by February 15, 2021 and therafter the use and availability of proceeds from the Convertible Loan. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation: the ability of the Company to commence operations at the Facility; the ability of the Company to increase its output; the ability of the Company to receive the necessary licensing approvals for its facilities; the ability of the Company to achieve its anticipated expansion and growth of its business operations; that the definitive agreements are executed and delivered by all the parties thereto by February 15, 2021 and thereafter the ability of the Company to make the required interest payments under the Convertible Loan. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking 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. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73584 Donald Trump might be in denial about who won the 2020 election, but his pollsters arent. Two of them have performed autopsies on his defeat, and those autopsies are now public. One of his pollsters, John McLaughlin, published an analysis in Newsmax in November. Another report, written by consultant Tony Fabrizio, was posted on Monday by Politico. Neither pollster blames the former president, but their numbers tell the story: Trump destroyed himself. The autopsies identified two reasons why Trump should have won. First, based on self-identification, the 2020 electorate was significantly more Republican than the 2016 electorate. Second, public satisfaction with the economy favored the incumbent. Both pollsters found that people who voted in 2020 thought Trump would handle the economy better than Joe Biden would. McLaughlins analysis, based on his postelection survey of people who voted in 2020, noted that 61 percent of these voters said they were better off than they had been four years earlier. Despite this, Trump managed to lose one-third of the 61 percent. Fully 20% of all voters thought they were better off today than four years ago and did not vote for President Trump, McLaughlin wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fabrizio analyzed exit polls from 10 battleground states Trump had won in 2016. Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas stayed with Trump in 2020; Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin flipped to Biden. Collectively, in the 10 states, Fabrizio computed a massive swing against Trump among independents (by 17 to 19 percentage points) and a similar shift among college-educated white voters (by 14 to 18 points). Likewise, in his national sample, McLaughlin found that Biden won moderates, 62 percent to 36 percent. What killed Trump were the new voters. Biden won them by 14 points in the five decisive states. Trump repelled these voters, even those who were happy with the economy. In McLaughlins national sample, Biden was viewed more favorably than Trump. Among voters who disliked both candidates, the pollster noted, dislike of Trump was more dominant. Three-quarters of Biden voters cited character or personality traits as reasons for their voting decisions, and the reasons they gave were mostly anti-Trump, McLaughlin wrote. Seven percent of respondents said they had voted mostly against Biden, but 19 percent said they had voted mostly against Trump. Advertisement Fabrizio found similar results. In the battleground states, voters said by a four-point margin that Biden wasnt honest and trustworthy. Trumps deficit on the same question was much bigger: 14 to 18 points. The exit polls also indicated that Trump inspired millions of new voters to turn out, either in person or by mail, to get rid of him. Fabrizio noted that collectively, in the five states that flipped to Biden, Trump outpolled Biden among people who had voted in 2016. What killed Trump were the new voters. Biden won them by 14 points in the five decisive states. Advertisement Trump also misjudged the politics of COVID-19. Throughout the campaign, he focused on rapidly reopening the economy, often at the risk of rekindling the pandemic. That turned out to be disastrous for the country, but also for his candidacy. Fabrizio found that in the 10 battleground states, majorities of voters prioritized stopping the spread of [the virus] over re-opening the economy. The virus was the top issue in these states, the pollster observed, and Biden carried those voters nearly 3 to 1. In the exit polls and in McLaughlins survey, voters said by significant margins that Biden would handle the virus better than Trump. Advertisement Fabrizio flagged two particularly foolish mistakes in Trumps response to the virus. One was ridiculing masks. In the 10 battleground states, voters who favored mask mandates (Bidens position) outnumbered those who opposed mask mandates (Trumps position) by a ratio of 3 to 1. The enormous pro-mask constituency went to Biden by about 30 points, on average, in the five states that flipped to him. Trumps other dumb move was his persistent slander against Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In the five states that flipped to Biden, 72 percent of voters approved of Faucis job performance, and 63 percent of those voters went to Biden. Any incumbent would have struggled with a pandemic in an election year. But Trump had everything else going for him. Despite setbacks, the economy he inherited was still strong. Congress and the Federal Reserve pumped in trillions of dollars to prop up households and businesses. Republicans turned out to vote in better numbers than in 2016. And yet, Trump managed to lose. He lost because he botched his job, picked stupid fights, and antagonized most of the country. His own pollsters have confirmed it. Aero India 2021: B-1B makes its debut, here is a complete fact-sheet of the heavy bomber from US India offers unlimited potential in defence, aerospace: PM Modi India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India offers unlimited potential in defence and aerospace. The PM made the comments as the Aero India 2021 kickstarted at the Air Force Station in Yelahanka, Bengaluru today. Aero show 2021: Watch IAF's Surya Kiran team perform | Oneindia News "India offers unlimited potential in defence and aerospace. Aero India is a wonderful platform for collaborations in these areas. The Government of India has brought futuristic reforms in these sectors, which will add impetus to our quest to become Aatmanirbhar," PM Modi wrote on Twitter. Aero India 2021: How air show made its way to become Asia's biggest strategic event Earlier, Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh said that despite the constraints caused by the global pandemic, I am pleased to see such a large number of participants in this year's event. It is coming from the world's leading nations in the field of military and aviation.'' ''The Aero India 21 will display the vast potential of India, and the multifarious opportunities that our country offers in the field of defence and aerospace sector. It also promises to be the World's First Ever Hybrid Aero & Defence exhibition,'' he said. ''In order to maximize the reach & participation, event is being conducted in a hybrid format with a concurrent Virtual Exhibition which will integrate Seminars, B2B interactions etc. It'll be not incorrect to say, that Aero India 21 has truly gone digital & global,'' Defence Minister further said. CORK City Hall and Pairc Ui Chaoimh are being considered by the HSE as potential sites for mass vaccination centres in Cork. Mass centres will be charged with playing an integral part in the rollout of the vaccination nationwide, with the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly setting an initial target of this September for all the general public to receive the vaccine. Pairc Ui Chaoimh has already successfully provided a drive-through Covid-19 testing centre for a number of months last year which had the capacity to test up to 1,000 people daily. PRO of the Munster GAA Bob Ryan who previously served as the stadium operations manager welcomed the news that Pairc Ui Chaoimh is a possible site. It makes perfect sense. It is so accessible for all. It is ideal for people driving in and out of the stadium. They could operate a drive-through under the tunnel in the South Stand. "They have so much actual space on level 3 they could also set up more room for vaccinating people. You could drive in one end, get the vaccine and depart out the other end. "The tunnel is 150 metres long. If you allow six metres for a car, you could potentially be able to get 60 or 70 people in there with ease, he said. Mr Ryan said he believes the Cork GAA ground which is located in Ballintemple is ideally located for both Cork city and county residents. It would be accessible and ideal for people from both the city and the county. There is good access both in and out. It worked very well when it was set up for the Covid-19 testing. There are very few people who dont know how to get to Pairc Ui Chaoimh. It ticks every box. The HSE are well aware of their capabilities. The more venues we can make available to the HSE, the better for all. We can get more people vaccinated as quickly as possible. "We need to get people vaccinated and get herd immunity up as soon as possible. It is a fantastic venue, he added. Mr Ryan also praised the response from the GAA community during Covid-19, from organising fundraisers to helping the most vulnerable members in their community. They have been to the forefront throughout the pandemic. From a Munster GAA perspective, we are encouraging all GAA clubs to make available their facilities if they feel they are adequate and would be of benefit to the HSE for the mass vaccination. It reflects very well on the GAA. A spokesperson for Cork City Council confirmed that Cork City Hall has been offered as a potential vaccination centre. I can confirm that Cork City Council has offered the use of the City Hall campus facilities as vaccination centre but the selection of hubs is a matter for HSE. We will facilitate in any way we can to progress the rollout of the vaccination programme. Third Amazon fulfillment center announced in Tennessee in just over 12 months 634,000-square-foot fulfillment center will utilize Amazon Robotics Technology NASHVILLE, Tenn. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and Amazon officials announced today that Amazon will establish a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Alcoa. The site, which is anticipated to launch in 2022, will create nearly 800 new, full-time jobs with benefits and opportunities to engage with advanced robotics. Amazon employees at the more than 634,812-square-foot fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods. The Alcoa facility will be Amazons third fulfillment center in Tennessee to use innovative robotics technology and the companys eighth fulfillment center in the Volunteer State. In 2020, Amazon announced it would establish similar fulfillment center operations in Memphis and Mt. Juliet, Tenn. Amazon currently operates fulfillment and sortation centers in Charleston, Chattanooga, Lebanon, Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville. The company is in the midst of building Amazon Nashville, a new downtown office that will bring more than 5,000 tech and corporate jobs to Nashville. Since 2010, Amazon has invested nearly $9 billion in Tennessee, including infrastructure and compensation to thousands of its employees in the state. Amazon's investments in Tennessee contributed an additional $8.7 billion into the states economy, and using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 12,700 indirect jobs on top of the company's direct hires in Tennessee. Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs. Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly-skilled roles across the companys corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retails stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon. Over the last five years, TNECD has supported more than 60 economic development projects in East Tennessee, resulting in approximately 7,400 job commitments and $2.3 billion in capital investment. To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit www.amazondelivers.jobs. QUOTES Over the past year, Amazon has announced projects in each of Tennessees grand divisions, accounting for nearly 3,000 new jobs. As we continue to navigate through the pandemic and reboot our economy, we know our recovery is supported by the success of our Tennessee businesses. We are grateful that Amazon continues to provide jobs to thousands of Tennesseans, and we congratulate the company on its newest fulfillment center in Alcoa. Gov. Bill Lee It is a testament to the strength of Tennessees business climate that companies are attracted to our state and choose to operate and expand here. Amazon is a global brand that has invested $1.5 billion and created more than 25,000 jobs across all three grand divisions of our state, and we appreciate their team for choosing to grow in East Tennessee. We would also like to thank Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Clay Bright and his outstanding leadership team for their many contributions to help bring this project to fruition. TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe We are excited to continue creating a positive economic impact in the region with job opportunities and industry-leading benefits that start on the first day of the job. Tennessee is a great state for business and we are excited to have the opportunity to partner, grow and better serve our customers throughout this region. Holly Sullivan, Amazons head of worldwide economic development I, along with all the citizens of Blount County, are delighted Amazon made its decision to locate here. The jobs and worldwide recognition it brings are extremely beneficial to this area. We thank Amazon, Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee ECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe, Tennessee Department of Transportation, and our county and city commissioners for tirelessly working together to bring this project to fruition. I, along with the citizens of Blount County, wish them great success and look forward to working with them for many years to come." Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell Having Amazon locate in a community has proven to be beneficial for everyone involved, and on behalf of the Blount County Economic Development Board, Im happy to welcome its leadership to Blount County and East Tennessee. The regional economic impact of an operation like this will be felt almost immediately. We are excited to get this project progressing quickly and look forward to watching it grow. Matt Murray, chairman of the Blount County Economic Development Board TVA and City of Alcoa Electric Department congratulate Amazon on its decision to locate and create hundreds of new job opportunities in Blount County. We are proud to partner with the Blount Partnership, City of Alcoa, and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to celebrate Amazons continued commitment to job creation and investment in the Valley and look forward to supporting its future business success in the region. John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic Development Its no surprise that Amazon is making such a substantial investment in Blount County and bringing 800 jobs to our area. Companies realize that Tennessee is a great place to live and do business. I appreciate the work of state and local officials who helped secure these jobs, which will be a tremendous boost to the local economy. Senator Art Swann (R-Maryville) Amazon has been a great partner for Tennessee and Im very proud to welcome them to Blount County. These 800 new jobs will help diversify our local economy. I thank Amazon for their investment in our community and I wish them success for many years to come. Rep. Jerome Moon (R-Maryville) Amazon Media Contact Brittany Parmley PR Manager, Operations (916) 221-8588 bcparm@amazon.com TNECD Media Contact Jennifer McEachern Director of Communications and Marketing (615) 336-2689 Jennifer.Mceachern@tn.gov About Amazon Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/ and follow @AmazonNews. About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Developments mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd. ### The head of U.S. Strategic Command STRATCOM, which is responsible for the U.S. nuclear deterrent, is calling for military and federal leaders to reimagine methods of deterring aggressive action from rivals such as China and Russia, including the "real possibility" of nuclear war. STRATCOM Commander Adm. Charles Richard warned that China and Russia have "begun to aggressively challenge international norms" in "ways not seen since the height of the Cold War." Richard cited a rise in cyberattacks and "threats in space," as well as their investment in advanced arms such as nuclear weapons. "There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, if they perceived a conventional loss would threaten the regime or state," Richard wrote in the February issue of "Proceedings," the U.S. Naval Institutes monthly magazine. "Consequently, the U.S. military must shift its principal assumption from "nuclear employment is not possible" to "nuclear employment is a very real possibility," and act to meet and deter that reality." "We cannot approach nuclear deterrence the same way. It must be tailored and evolved for the dynamic environment we face," Fox News cited him as saying. Richard argued that recent actions by both countries would "increase the risk of great power crisis or conflict" if "left unchecked" by U.S. officials. The STRATCOM commander noted Russia was "aggressively modernizing" its nuclear arsenal and China is "also on a trajectory to be a strategic peer" and should not be mistaken as a "lesser included" case." ATLANTA, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mia Aesthetics started 2021 with the addition of its seventh clinic in less than two years. The opening of the 16,000-square-foot facility in Atlanta, GA more than doubles the network of Mia clinics which have expanded from two states to five since 2019. Revenue doubled from 2019 to 2020, growing the network exponentially as a result of a spike in the number of savvy, 25 to 30-somethings earning between $30K to $50K choosing to make an investment in cosmetic surgery by U.S. board-certified plastic surgeonsa shift that also has the potential to forever disrupt the trend of traveling abroad for cosmetic surgery. "The plastic surgery market in the U.S. is much larger than it was years ago when the cost of procedures were only affordable for the affluent," said Mia Aesthetics founder and board-certified plastic surgeon Sergio Alvarez, MD. "Today, quality cosmetic surgery by experienced surgeons is accessible to anyone who wants it. From a business standpoint, the opportunity for continued growth abounds and is heightened by personal choice and a prioritization of personal appearance." In addition, according to Alvarez, anecdotally about 70 percent of Mia Aesthetic patients would have gone out of the U.S. for their procedures. Priced at about 40 percent below the market average, but performed by experienced, board-certified plastic surgeons, it is easy to imagine a potential long term impact on the multimillion dollar cosmetic medical tourism industry by its clinics located in Miami, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Chicago, Ill.; and Austin, Texas, already servicing hundreds of in-state, out-of-state and even international patients and catering to highly specific transformations. "At Mia Aesthetics we are also seeing patients from countries like Brazil and Mexico, places traditionally sought out by U.S. patients for certain procedures because of perceived affordability," said Alvarez. "We also have patients from as far away as Norway and France visit our clinics. It is absolutely plausible that traveling abroad for cosmetic surgery could become a thing of the past." Undoubtedly, demand among U.S. patients is high. The current network of Mia Aesthetic clinics even attract patients from surrounding states. The Mia Aesthetics Miami location alone performed 9,000 cosmetic surgeries on patients who flew in from 46 states. Surgeons at the Austin clinic performed 2,000 cosmetic surgeries on patients who flew in from 37 outlying states. And despite 2020 events, the recently opened Mia Aesthetics location in Atlanta, like all the other locations, already has a six-month waiting list. Commenting on the future of the network, Alvarez said, "We are well positioned to be the preferred provider among this new cosmetic surgery consumer that has a world view and is uncompromising in their expectations of desired results; methodical in their choice of surgeon and cost conscious." SOURCE Mia Aesthetics The recent discovery of a massive, highly sophisticated hack, almost certainly by Russia, of key U.S. technology companies and government agencies puts the new Biden team in a real quandary: How, when or even whether should they retaliate against Russias president? I have a lot of sympathy with that quandary because Vladimir Putin has become Americas ex-boyfriend from hell. There was a time when Russia formerly the core of the Soviet Union (a country with double the population of the one Putin now rules) was very important to us. It once threatened to conquer all of Europe and spread communism across the globe. That time was the Cold War. That time is long gone. Our most important global rival today is China. Putin is not very important to us at all. Hes a Moscow mafia don who had his agents try to kill an anti-corruption activist, Alexei Navalny, by sprinkling a Soviet-era nerve agent, Novichok, in the crotch of his underwear. Im not making that up! Russia once gave the world Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Dostoyevsky, Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. Putins Russia will be remembered for giving the world poisoned underwear. But to distract his people from his corruption and maintain his grip on power, Putin presents himself as the great defender of the Russian Motherland, and its Orthodox Christian culture, from godless, pro-gay Westerners. And to inflate his importance in his own eyes and in the eyes of Russians he keeps stalking us. He meddles in our elections, hacks our companies, while denying it all with a smirk and relishing the notion that so many Americans think he installed Donald Trump as president. This is a new kind of strategic problem for U.S. planners how to deal with a geopolitical stalker? How do you deal with a Russian leader whos not a superpower but a supertroll, an old suitor who wont accept rejection: Vlad, were just not into you anymore. Were seeing other people, like China. If we could, wed get a court order to keep you 5,000 miles away. To be sure, Putin still controls dangerous nuclear missiles. Im glad that he and President Joe Biden agreed last week to extend the New START nuclear treaty that was about to expire. And, as weve just seen through the far-reaching hack of our companies and government, his cybercapabilities are significant. But it all masks a country that is actually not very dynamic at all. In the real world, where countries thrive by making stuff that others want to buy, Putins top seven exports are: oil and gas (52%); iron; precious metals; machinery and computers (2.1%); wood; fertilizer; and cereals. For a country with so much human talent, thats pathetic. Russia today is a czarist economy with a space station Doctor Zhivago with nuclear missiles and hackers. Meanwhile, scientists who fled Russia have made Israel and Silicon Valley tech superpowers. A rare success is Russias COVID-19 vaccine, but it is difficult to mass produce. When did you last buy a computer, smartphone or app from a Russian company? A Russian car? A Russian watch? Russian-made commercial aircraft? Id rather take a bus than fly on one. The only Russian exports that appeal to Westerners are caviar, vodka and nesting dolls and were full up on all three. Why is that? Because Putin trusts the stuff that comes up from the ground more than the stuff that might come out of his peoples heads. So, he has built a petro-autocracy that is fueled by natural resources, not human resources. He then uses the cash to lubricate an engine of corruption that keeps him and his cronies in power, while denying his youth the tools and freedoms to truly realize their full potential. So, Vlad, you hacked our companies. Tell me, to what end? Youre not going to invade us. Your system of government kleptocracy is obnoxious to your own people, let alone foreigners. We certainly have no interest in invading you. And what are you going to do with all those stolen credit card numbers? A massive Amazon buy? (Ill take 8 million diapers, 30 million rolls of toilet paper, and throw in 4 million pairs of mens underwear.) The truth is, everything worth stealing in America is in plain sight. Its our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, free and fair elections, independent judiciary that upholds elections even if the incumbent loses and our independent FBI. But Putin wants none of those. (Which is probably good, since weve had trouble holding onto them ourselves but thats for another column.) So how best for Biden to deal with this geopolitical stalker? Answer: low-cost military deterrence and high-volume diplomacy that puts us solidly behind Navalnys anti-corruption movement. Message to Putin: Our last president was with you. Were instead with your people. Have a nice day. In terms of deterrence, Russia expert Leon Aron, author of Boris Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life, told me that whenever Putins popularity dips, or he is challenged by a significant opposition movement like Navalnys, his go-to reaction is militarized patriotism, anti-Americanism and some move to recover the lost glory of the Soviet superpowership. Aron argued that we should prepare now for a possible Crimea-type attempt to seize and annex areas just across Russias border with significant ethnic Russian populations to reignite Russian patriotic fervor and expose NATO as a paper tiger. In other words, he added, it might be a good time for Biden both to rescind Trumps order withdrawing about one-third of the U.S. troops in Germany and to reinforce Baltic NATO members Estonia and Latvia, both of which have significant ethnic Russian populations. On anti-corruption, last week I took part in a Zoom call with Vladimir Ashurkov, the head of Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation. Ashurkov, speaking from London, shared a letter just sent to Biden, urging him to impose sanctions against 35 individuals in Russia who he claims supply Putins mistresses and their parents, and Putins children, with yachts, apartments and multimillion-dollar-a-year jobs at the companies they control. Our current economic sanctions are too diffuse, Ashurkov said. By banning these 35 from traveling to the West and laundering money there, we would be squeezing the key people who can squeeze Putin. The reason Navalny is such a threat to Putin the reason Putins court on Tuesday threw him back in jail for about 2 1/2 years is that Navalny is as much a Russian nationalist as Putin is, but he focuses his campaign on Putins massive corruption. In court, Navalny called Putin a little thieving man in his bunker. This is resonating widely in Russia partly because Navalnys foundation recently released a video showing a $1.7 billion Versailles-like palace that it alleges Putin had built for himself on the Black Sea. The video has been viewed more than 100 million times. Putin denies he is the owner (one of his cronies claims it is his) and called the video boring. I hope the White House tweets out the link twice a day. At the same time, lets not forget that Bidens climate/green energy policy is a huge win-win deterrent for us: Every new gigawatt of U.S. clean energy makes Putins oil and gas less valuable and America healthier. And, finally, there is one last deterrent message Biden could send Putin a reminder that his chump Trump has left town: Vlad, if all the computers in the Kremlin stop working one night and Born in the USA starts blaring through the speakers in Red Square consider it a gentle reminder from the U.S. Cyber Command of what we could do to you if we thought you really mattered. The surge of violence that ripped through Oakland in 2020 only continued escalating in the first weeks of 2021, with 15 people killed in January alone a killing nearly every other day. The rise of homicides in Oakland was among the steepest in the Bay Area last year, which tracked with a disturbing, nationwide spike in killings after decades of mostly falling violence. At the end of January 2020, Oakland recorded just a single killing. The violence so far this year made January 2021 the deadliest start of the year for Oakland in two decades. A particularly harrowing spree came between Jan. 11 and Jan 21, when 10 people were killed in 10 days. Two people have been arrested in connection with killings committed this year. Remnants of the last years carnage can be seen scattered throughout the citys flatlands: homes and cars pockmarked with bullet holes, shattered glass glittering the streets and curbside memorials left to wilt as they soak in the winter rain. And all but one of the suspected homicides so far this year was committed with a firearm, according to police. There have been 242 instances of gunfire so far this year compared to 100 the same time in 2020, police said. While its difficult to trace crime trends to a single cause, Oakland police and local officials have offered a number of theories to explain the upswing, including economic impacts from the pandemic, an influx of high-powered weapons and police budget cuts. As was the case last year, most of Januarys homicides centered in East Oakland, home to a large portion of the citys people of color and underserved communities. Newly minted Oakland City Council Member Treva Reid serves District Seven, which has emerged as an epicenter for this years gun violence. (People) are afraid. They are frustrated, Reid said in an interview Monday. They want solutions, they want to see affordable resources. Police officials said the pandemic has more strains on at-risk communities and forced the department to stem the in-person portions of their celebrated anti-violence program, called Ceasefire. The program is credited with reducing the citys gun crime by 50% over seven years by targeting people at the greatest risk of shooting or being shot and providing them with social support and resources. Guillermo Cespedes, chief of the citys Department of Violence Prevention, returned to Oakland just over a year ago after tackling gang crime in Los Angeles and overseas. The situation now, in Oakland, he said, Its just overwhelming. Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle I frankly feel like these have been the most difficult conditions I have ever worked under, he said. Rose, a resident in her 70s who lives near the 7800 block of Bancroft Avenue, has lost track of the number of shootings that have thundered outside her home, though she recalled two or three that came within just days of each other in January. A vigil marking the death of 36-year-old Genado Vital the intersection of Bancroft and 78th avenues was all but gone, with just a few balloon strings remaining. Im really tired of this, you know, said Rose, who declined to provide her last name out of fear for her safety. Rose has lived in her house for more than three decades and works from home while taking care of her disabled daughter. What scares me the most is when they start shooting and stuff around here, and I cant get her out of the house, she said. Oakland Police Deputy Chief LeRonne Armstrong said officers are lately responding to scenes resembling a war zone, at times recovering 100 to 200 shell casings after a single incident. Were seeing a huge increase in the number of high-powered firearms, and weve also seen an increase in high-capacity magazines as well, Armstrong said. Thats been a significant problem for us. Its led to multiple scenes where a large number of rounds are being fired into our community. Apart from the use of firearms, Armstrong said the killings havent followed a unifying trend that police can identify. Gang violence that has plagued Oakland in the past hasnt driven the rise in this years homicides, he said, and the victims range in demographics: Theyre Black, Latino and Asian American, male and female, ranging in age from 2 to 58. Armstrong, Oaklands next police chief, said the police department is working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to trace the origin of these weapons and potentially cut off the source. For Armstrong, this years violence is also personal. One of the victims, 52-year-old grandmother Lashawn Buffin, was a close family friend whom Armstrong described as a god sister. Buffin was gunned down in her home near the 8300 block of A Street when at least 15 shots were fired just outside on Jan. 16, according to police. Buffin, who died three days later, was not believed to be the target of the attack. She was a loving mother to her daughters and grandchildren, Armstrong said. She was a caring person in the community, who would open her home to help anyone. She will be truly missed. As Oakland police grapple with the rise in violence, theyre also weathering rolling budget cuts that have scaled back staffing in traffic enforcement, youth outreach, sideshow details and Ceasefire, the anti-violence program. Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last year and amid a national reckoning on racism, Oakland city council members responded to calls to defund the police by cutting $14 million from the departments budget last summer. Then in December, up against a citywide deficit due to the pandemic, the department lost another $22.4 million. Still more significant shifts could be on the horizon. The City Councils Reimagining Public Safety Task Force is still weighing how they could meet the lofty goal of halving the police departments $290 million budget by diverting funding into social services. Reid said the cuts have impacted public safety in her community, but said that shouldnt derail the efforts of the reimagining task force. This movement is not a movement to bring harm to communities, she said, adding that there needs to be a balance between police presence and other community groups that can help curb the violence, adding that people in East Oakland still want to see a police presence. How we manage the presence, and investing in alternative methods and approaches ... is what were working on now, she said. Unfortunately in the midst of working together, as a community, and looking to collaborate, we are experiencing a high threat of crime. Armstrong said police officials have recently drafted a new crime-reduction plan that deploys more patrol officers into areas with increased shootings and moves more staffers into the departments intelligence unit so it can operate around the clock. Cespedes said his team is testing various new approaches, hoping something will take hold. His department is sending field workers out to shootings immediately after they occur, attempting to mediate with those involved. In another method, he said, theyre reaching out to mothers who might be able to talk some sense into their teens who are influential in the community. In this field, you keep working hard. In situations where what you did before didnt work, you try new things, Cespedes said. And thats what were doing. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy HILLSBOROUGH, N.J., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Clear Thinking Group, the award winning advisory firm, announced today that the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota has approved its retention by Stock+Field under section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code, and that Partner Michael Wesley will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer during the Stock+Field chapter 11 process. Stock+Field is a premier farm, home, and outdoor retailer with 25 stores serving communities across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. About Clear Thinking Group Clear Thinking Group is a management consulting firm that helps companies to succeed, at any stage of their life cycle, with clear direction and practical, actionable solutions. Over the past 20 years, the firm has been engaged by healthy companies to create value, and by troubled companies to preserve value. For further information, visit the firm's website at www.clearthinkinggroup.com. SOURCE Clear Thinking Group LLC Related Links http://www.clearthinkinggroup.com Photo: Contributed David Wylie reviews cannabis products for theounce.ca Its that time again! Heres another mish-mash of some of the latest legal cannabis products weve tried at the oz. BC Organic Apple Toffee Simply Bares BC Organic Toffee is night and day what we were getting at the start of legalization. Its smell was milder than expected, yet its sweet and light which matches its candy apple taste. Vaping this bud produces nice clouds even at lower temperatures. A thick and heavy porcelain jar goes a long way in keeping the flower fresh. The trim could have been better, with some leafy bits still attached. At 18.87% THC, the effect isnt overpowering. Here's a video review. Summit 10 Summit 10 Lemonade Iced Tea from The Valens Company is lemony fresh, with a Nestea vibe. Its made with black tea, and only contains seven grams of sugar in each 355 ml bottle. Valens S?RSE Emulsion Technology really shines through in Summit, as theres no cannabis taste or smell at all, and the onset is quick. Summit 10 packs 10 mg of THC and less than one mg of CBD. This will be a great summer sipper. Here's a video review. Legend Chocolates Chocolate used by Legend comes from renowned Canadian master chocolatier Bernard Callebaut. They offer plain dark chocolate and milk chocolate, as well as flavourful varieties; raspberry, orange, candy cane crush. Each bite-sized 10-gram bar is infused with 10 mg of THC. Its scored into four pieces (2.5 mg of THC each). Theres no hint of cannabis taste. Legends offerings are some of the most affordable cannabis chocolates out there. Pipe Dream Pipe Dream by Broken Coast is top shelf. My sinuses were seriously tingling from vaping the 22.2% THC Sativa-dominant proprietary cultivar. It put me in a creative space. The BC-grown bud is dank and dense. I got four nice buds in my eighth, including two really pretty ones. The smell is bright, with hints of ... nostalgia. The dominant terpenes are myrcene and caryophyllene. Ace Valley Gummies Gummies by Ace Valley are an old-school flashback. Sweet and dense, theyre square shaped with Ace Valleys logo embossed on one side. Each package includes two gummies. There are three varieties available, grapefruit, blueberry lavender and raspberry. They have different THC to CBD amounts. These gummies were more substantial than the variety of soft chews weve sampled lately. They lasted longer in the mouth and had a more satisfying bite. Here's a video review. Visit theounce.ca for more reviews, as well as cannabis news and features. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The Canadian government has designated the Proud Boys group as a terrorist entity, noting they played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. The Proud Boys have faced increased scrutiny after seizing on the former Trump administrations policies and was a major agitator during earlier protests and the Capitol riot. The Proud Boys is a far-right, male chauvinist extremist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. Canada is the first country to designate them as a terrorist entity. Expand Close A protester carries a Proud Boys banner (Andrew Selsky/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A protester carries a Proud Boys banner (Andrew Selsky/AP) During a September presidential debate, Donald Trump had urged them to stand back and stand by when asked to condemn them by a moderator. A Canadian government senior official said the insurrection at the US Capitol contributed to the designation. The terrorist designation means the group may have assets seized and face harsher terrorism-related criminal penalties. A government official said just because they are a member does not mean they will be charged with a crime, but if they do engage in violent acts they could be charged with terrorist crimes. Sending money to the organisation or buying Proud Boys paraphernalia would also be a crime. The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs, the Canadian government said in briefing materials. The group regularly attends Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests as counter-protesters, often engaging in violence targeting BLM supporters. On January 6, 2021, the Proud Boys played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the US Capitol. The government calls the Proud Boys a neo-fascist organisation with semi-autonomous chapters located in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It said it engages in political violence and that members espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist ideologies. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said 12 other groups were also added to the list. Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence, Mr Blair said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 20:17:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel has announced a pilot program to demonstrate and test drone flights in managed airspace, including drone deliveries, the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) said Wednesday. The program is a step toward integrating drones in Israeli transportation, including delivery of medicines, tests and medical equipment, agricultural spraying, postal services, and delivery of food and other products to the customer's home. The main purpose of this program is to improve the landscape of transportation options in Israel and develop the ecosystem for urban uses of drones. The plan will test operational capabilities of heterogeneous drone networks that coexist in crowded urban quarters. The drones' "co-existence" will be tested in eight meetings, in which 20 drones from five selected companies will simultaneously fly in one managed urban airspace. The companies will receive a total of 6 million new shekels (1.82 million U.S. dollars) in grants to demonstrate their drone technologies. The plan is carried out by the IIA in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Transport, the Fuel Choices and Smart Mobility Initiative at the Prime Minister's Office, Israel's Civil Aviation Authority, and Ayalon Highways. Enditem STUTTGART, Germany, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Intention to split Daimler's industrial businesses and establish two independent pure-play companies Spin-off and separate listing of Daimler Truck planned Significant majority stake to be distributed to current Daimler shareholders Intention to rename Daimler as Mercedes-Benz at the appropriate time Mercedes-Benz will be the world's pre-eminent luxury car business, committed to leading in electric drive and car software Daimler Truck will accelerate its path towards zero emissions as the world's largest truck and bus producer and technology leader It is intended that both companies will have strong net liquidity and will pursue ambitious financial targets Financial service teams of Daimler Mobility to be allocated to the respective Cars & Vans and the Truck & Bus business Cars & Vans and the Truck & Bus business Listing of Daimler Truck in Frankfurt planned for year-end 2021 Daimler plans a fundamental change in its structure, designed to unlock the full potential of its businesses in a zero-emissions, software-driven future. The Supervisory Board and the Board of Management of Daimler today agreed to evaluate a spin-off of its Truck and Bus business and begin preparations for a separate listing of Daimler Truck. It is intended that a significant majority stake in Daimler Truck will be distributed to Daimler shareholders. The Daimler Truck business will have fully independent management, stand-alone corporate governance including an independent Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and is targeted to qualify as a DAX company. The transaction and the listing of Daimler Truck on the Frankfurt stock exchange is expected to be complete before year-end 2021. In addition, it is also Daimler's intention to rename itself as Mercedes-Benz at the appropriate time. Simplification of Daimler structure into two strong and independent companies "This is a historic moment for Daimler. It represents the start of a profound reshaping of the company. Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Trucks & Buses are different businesses with specific customer groups, technology paths and capital needs. Mercedes-Benz is the world's most valuable luxury car brand, offering the most desirable cars to discerning customers. Daimler Truck supplies industry leading transportation solutions and services to customers. Both companies operate in industries that are facing major technological and structural changes. Given this context, we believe they will be able to operate most effectively as independent entities, equipped with strong net liquidity and free from the constraints of a conglomerate structure," said Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz. As part of a more focused corporate structure, both Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck will also be supported by dedicated captive financial and mobility service entities, driving sales with tailor-made financing, leasing and mobility solutions, increasing retention and building customer loyalty. In this process, the company plans to assign resources and teams from today's Daimler Mobility to both Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck. "We have confidence in the financial and operational strength of our two vehicle divisions. And we are convinced that independent management and governance will allow them to operate even faster, invest more ambitiously, target growth and cooperation, and thus be significantly more agile and competitive," added Kallenius. Daimler Truck to target growth and accelerate new technologies Daimler Truck intends to generate value for its shareholders by accelerating the execution of its strategic plans, raising its profitability and driving forward with its development of emissions-free technologies for trucks and buses. "This is a pivotal moment for Daimler Truck. With independence comes greater opportunity, greater visibility and transparency. We will grow further and continue our leadership in alternative powertrains and automation. We have already defined the future of our business with battery-electric and fuel-cell trucks, as well as strong positions in autonomous driving. With targeted partnerships we will accelerate the development of key technologies to bring best-in-class products to our customers rapidly," said Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler and Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck. "Daimler Truck already has a solid financial basis, and our business model is robust. We will continue to work on our cash flow management and we know how to deal with industry market cycles we have proven that again in the significant COVID-related global market reduction. We have clear strategies to raise our financial performance and accelerate our execution. We will use our strong and well-known global brands, our scale and our exceptional technology to deliver industry-leading returns," Daum added. Daimler Truck is the world's largest Truck and Bus producer, with industry leading positions in Europe, North America and Asia, and with more than 35 main locations around the globe. With more than 100,000 employees, it unites seven brands under one roof: BharatBenz, Freightliner, Fuso, Mercedes-Benz, Setra, Thomas Built Buses and Western Star. In 2019, a total of around half a million trucks and buses were delivered to customers. Revenue in 2019 for the individual divisions were 40.2 billion for Daimler Trucks and 4.7 billion for Daimler Buses. EBIT amounted to 2.5 billion for Daimler Trucks and 283 million for Daimler Buses. Important step for customers, shareholders and employees Manfred Bischoff, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler, sees the planned market listing as an important step to create value: Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck enter this transformation with significant strengths and we are convinced they will emerge even stronger as independent companies, serving their respective customers. With their different return profiles and capital needs, the rationale for two independent entities is evident. We are convinced that the capital markets will appreciate the opportunity to invest in more clearly focused, pure-play businesses. The final decision on the spin-off has to be made by an extra-ordinary shareholder meeting of Daimler, which is planned to take place in Q3 2021." Michael Brecht, Chairman of the Daimler's General Works Council, endorsed the plans: "The transformation of our industry is moving ahead quickly. In order for us to keep pace, we need to invest in innovations boldly and more quickly. To this end, we will set up an innovation fund with a volume of 1.5 billion for Daimler Truck in addition to our current financial plans. This will enable us to invest in new products and technologies, and we will play an active role by contributing our ideas. This provides additional support for our locations and helps to secure employment. In addition, collective bargaining deals such as our labor agreements will continue to apply until the end of the decade. The planned independence will bring Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck many advantages, and we will continue to do everything in our power to uphold the interests of our colleagues. We have the unique opportunity to proactively and sustainably shape our commercial vehicle sites - from production to the service business - in order to help write the next chapter of the Daimler Truck success story." Further details to be presented at extra-ordinary shareholder meeting Q3 2021 The intended structure of the transaction would involve Daimler transferring the majority of Daimler Truck to its shareholders on a pro rata basis in accordance with existing shareholdings, but it intends to retain a minority shareholding. Representation of Daimler in the Daimler Truck Supervisory Board will be in line with the intended deconsolidation. This marks the beginning of the process to finalize the planned transaction. Therefore, it will not be possible to provide full details on various financial and technical subjects, including the exact share to be listed and the allocation ratio, until a later date. All further details of the intended spin-off would be presented to the shareholders at an extra-ordinary shareholder meeting in Q3 2021, in order to obtain their mandatory approval to the plan. A company presentation is available here: https://www.daimler.com/project-focus/ Further information on Daimler is available at: www.media.daimler.com and www.daimler.com This document contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current views about future events. The words "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "can," "could," "plan," "project," "should" and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties, including an adverse development of global economic conditions, in particular a decline of demand in our most important markets; a deterioration of our refinancing possibilities on the credit and financial markets; events of force majeure including natural disasters, pandemics, acts of terrorism, political unrest, armed conflicts, industrial accidents and their effects on our sales, purchasing, production or financial services activities; changes in currency exchange rates and tariff regulations; a shift in consumer preferences towards smaller, lower-margin vehicles; a possible lack of acceptance of our products or services which limits our ability to achieve prices and adequately utilize our production capacities; price increases for fuel or raw materials; disruption of production due to shortages of materials, labor strikes or supplier insolvencies; a decline in resale prices of used vehicles; the effective implementation of cost-reduction and efficiency-optimization measures; the business outlook for companies in which we hold a significant equity interest; the successful implementation of strategic cooperations and joint ventures; changes in laws, regulations and government policies, particularly those relating to vehicle emissions, fuel economy and safety; the resolution of pending government investigations or of investigations requested by governments and the conclusion of pending or threatened future legal proceedings; and other risks and uncertainties, some of which we describe under the heading "Risk and Opportunity Report" in the current Annual Report or the current Interim Report. If any of these risks and uncertainties materializes or if the assumptions underlying any of our forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, the actual results may be materially different from those we express or imply by such statements. We do not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements since they are based solely on the circumstances at the date of publication. Daimler at a glance Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies. With its Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans, Daimler Trucks & Buses and Daimler Mobility divisions, the Group is one of the leading global suppliers of premium cars and one of the world's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Daimler Mobility offers financing, leasing, fleet management, investments, credit card and insurance brokerage as well as innovative mobility services. The company founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history by inventing the automobile in 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler sees shaping the future of mobility in a safe and sustainable way as both a motivation and obligation. The company's focus therefore remains on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior vehicles that both captivate and inspire. Daimler continues to invest systematically in the development of efficient powertrains from high-tech combustion engines and hybrid vehicles to all-electric powertrains with battery or fuel cell with the goal of making locally emission-free driving possible in the long term. The company's efforts are also focused on the intelligent connectivity of its vehicles, autonomous driving and new mobility concepts. Daimler regards it as its aspiration and obligation to live up to its responsibility to society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly every country of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. In addition to Mercedes-Benz, the world's most valuable luxury automotive brand (source: Interbrand study, 20 Oct. 2020), and Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, its brand portfolio includes smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses as well as the brands of Daimler Mobility: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and Daimler Truck Financial. The company is listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges (ticker symbol DAI). In 2019, the Group had a workforce of around 298,700 and sold 3.3 million vehicles. Group revenues amounted to 172.7 billion and Group EBIT to 4.3 billion. SOURCE Daimler North America - Corporate Communications Related Links www.nissanusa.com The Kaduna State Government and Zipline, the worlds first and only national scale drone delivery service, announced a partnership to use a logistics network of autonomous delivery drones to help transform access and availability of routine and emergency medicine for millions of people in the state. This groundbreaking initiative was made possible thanks to the leadership and support of Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, a statement by the Kaduna State Government said. The revolutionary new service will use drones to make on-demand deliveries of hundreds of different vaccines, blood products, and life-saving medications. The service will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from three distribution centreseach equipped with 30 dronesand deliver to more than 1,000 health facilities serving millions of people across Kaduna State. Together, all three distribution centres will be capable of microtargeting the delivery of more than six tons of medical products each week over more than 60,000 square kilometres. Kaduna State is focused on delivering one of the best public healthcare systems in Nigeria, said Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The state has upgraded 255 primary health centres, one in each political ward, to improve access to health care services. It is also implementing a supply chain transformation programme in the health sector, including the installation of a Pharmagrade warehouse, to efficiently service the needs of hospitals for medicines, consumables and vaccines. Our primary health board is recruiting and training 3000 officers to manage these systems and ensure that health facilities do not experience stock-outs. According to the statement, Mr El-Rufai noted that while we celebrate our successes, we must also recognize that we have much more work to do to create universal access to critical healthcare for all. The agreement with Zipline builds on and adds value to our initiatives to strengthen the capacity of the Kaduna State health system. This new emergency drone delivery service is a great solution to deliver vaccines, blood and other lifesaving products instantly when time is of the essence. It will help ensure that millions of people in Kaduna State will always get the care they need. Where you live shouldnt determine whether or not you have access to the medicine you need, said Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo. Thats why Im so proud of our partnership with Kaduna State. Our work together will help transform the quality of care for millions and help make Nigeria a world leader in using technology to expand universal healthcare access. About the New Service The revolutionary new service, which is expected to launch operations in the second quarter of 2021, is part of the Government of Kaduna States bold vision of using drone delivery to establish universal, seven-days-a-week access to lifesaving and critical medicines for most of its more than eight million citizens over the coming years. Zipline drones will make on-demand and emergency deliveries of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications. In addition to expanding access to routine and emergency medical deliveries, the new drone delivery service will also expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly for rural and hard to reach populations. Zipline has built an end-to-end, cold chain distribution capability that allows it to safely deliver frozen and ultra-low COVID-19 vaccines and medical products. This will allow health facilities in Kaduna State to bypass the need for ultra-low freezerswhich are required to transport, store and distribute the Pfizer vaccineby receiving on-demand deliveries of the precise amount of COVID-19 vaccines they require at any time, safely and compliantly within the required temperature profile. The Government of Kaduna States vision is for Zipline to establish a total of three distribution centres across the state in phases over the next several years. The governments goal is to put almost all of its more than eight million citizens within minutes of a lifesaving medical delivery by drone. In the first phase of operations, a distribution centre located in Barwa in Kauru LGA will be established to serve health facilities there beginning in Q3 2021. Over the next year, additional distribution centres are planned in Rafingyeda in Birnin Gwari LGA and Kachia in Kachia LGA. All three distribution centres are projected to serve over one thousand regional hospitals and health facilities serving millions of people. THE PROBLEM Throughout both the developed and developing world, access to life-saving and critical health products for billions of people is hampered by the last-mile problem: the inability to deliver needed medicines and vaccines from a city to rural or remote locations due to lack of adequate transportation, communication, or supply chain infrastructure. A NEW SOLUTION To increase access and reduce medical waste, key stock of blood products, vaccines and life-saving medications will be stored at Ziplines distribution centres for just-in-time delivery. Health workers will place orders by text message or call and promptly receive their deliveries in 30 minutes on average. The drones both take off from and land at Ziplines distribution centres, requiring no additional infrastructure or manpower at the clinics they serve. The drones fly autonomously and can carry 1.8 kilos of cargo, cruising at 110 kilometres an hour, and have a round trip range of 160 kilometreseven in high-speed winds and rain. Each of the three planned Zipline distribution centres in Kaduna State will cover a delivery area of more than 20,000 km2. They will collectively be capable of delivering to more than 1,000 health facilities serving millions of people. Deliveries are made from the sky, with the drone descending to a safe height above the ground and releasing a box of medicine by parachute to a designated spot at the health centres it serves. HOW ZIPLINE WORKS Each week, a single Zipline distribution centrea combination medical fulfilment warehouse and drone airportis capable of the micro-targeted delivery of more than two tons of temperature-controlled medicine to any point across an almost 20,000 square km service area. Each aircraft can fly 80 kms round trip, in strong winds and rain, day or night, to make on-demand deliveries in 30 to 45 minutes on average. Ziplines drones have flown more than 5 million autonomous miles to deliver more than 1 million doses of vaccines, units of blood, and critical and life-saving medications to thousands of health facilities serving more than 25 million people across three countries. ADVERTISEMENT About Zipline Zipline is the worlds only national-scale, instant drone delivery service. Its mission is to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies. Ziplines drones have flown more than 4 million miles in multiple countries, delivered more than 1 million medical products, and helped health care providers to save thousands of lives. Zipline designs, assembles, and operates its unmanned aircraft system in the United States and is progressing towards FAA type certification of its drones and air carrier certification for its US operations. The most respected investors in the world support Zipline, including Temasek, Baillie Gifford, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, GV, The Rise Fund, a global impact fund managed by TPG, Katalyst Ventures, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Stanford University. Health official: 'I am hopeful for the brighter days ahead' 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. 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! (Natural News) Remember that blockbuster interview with vaccine researcher Pamela Acker who told us about the reality of abortion-tainted vaccines? Click here to watch it if you dont remember. (Article by John-Henry Westen republished from LifeSiteNews.com) After gaining over 150,000 views, it was removed from YouTube and our main channel was suspended. Still, its gotten hundreds of thousands of views on other platforms and it remains up on our Rumble channel. But we have been flooded with questions ever since we released it. All sorts of people are asking us to give evidence that abortions dating way back several decades are involved in vaccine manufacturing. Well, today on my podcast, Im going to give you the proof, beyond a shadow of a doubt. And also Ill give you the key to answer most if not all your questions about the COVID and other vaccines. Before doing that though, I want to encourage you to sign up today for LifeSites virtual conference on vaccines on Friday, February 19 Unmasking COVID-19: Vaccines, Mandates, and Global Health. Click here to register for free to watch this historic event. LifeSite will have the best experts speaking with staff members in order to give you all the information you need. Doctors like Dr. Leland Stillman, lawyers, vaccine researchers, including Pamela Acker, authors, entrepreneurs, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider will all be speaking. So, sign up today by clicking this link. Dr. Stanley Plotkin is considered the Godfather of Vaccines. He is an American physician who worked as a consultant to the biggest vaccine manufacturers and biotechnology firms, non-profits, and governments. In the 1960s, he played a role in creating the Rubella vaccine. His book,?Vaccines,?is the standard reference textbook on the subject. Im going to show you parts of Dr. Poltkins 9-hour deposition where he reluctantly admits the horrific facts and gruesome details about the relationship of abortion to vaccines. Dr. Plotkin was called to answer questions from a lawyer who was defending the rights of a mother who refused to vaccinate her child due to concerns about the ingredients in the vaccines. First off, Dr. Plotkin attempts to conceal the fact that hundreds if not thousands of babies were aborted in the process of bringing vaccines to market. Then the lawyer hands Plotkin a published study with Plotkin himself as the author. The study used over 70 aborted babies. And, after numerous clarifications, he is forced to admit that, yes, this was related to his work with vaccines. And then, Dr. Plotkin reveals other macabre aspects of the abortion link to vaccines. Not that it should make a difference to pro-lifers, but the children aborted were not disabled babies who were likely to die in the womb anyway. They were not miscarriages either, as is so often presented to assuage the consciences of people conflicted about taking abortion-tainted vaccines. That is just a complete falsehood. He even says that all of them were over three months gestation. If that is not grotesque enough, Dr. Plotkins response to harvesting organs from these dozens of babies, who were aborted all after the third month of pregnancy, is even further disturbing. So, they were healthy unborn babies all beyond three months gestation and they had to be three months in utero or older because they needed to have developed the organs these mad scientists were after, organs like their pituitary glands, the unborn childrens lungs, their skin, their kidneys, spleen, hearts and tongues. There were so many of these children killed and, yet, we are supposed to use these abortion-tainted vaccines? That is why Bishop Athanasius Schneider told me there is no way Christians can take these vaccines. At a later point in the video, the lawyer asks Dr. Plotkin if he is aware that his client was objecting to the vaccines because what they contain were developed from aborted babies. And Plotkin says that despite this, the Catholic Church approves of taking them. But even more than that, he says that the researchers involved will go to hell for it and that he is glad to do that. I kid you not. Im certain that youre going to have more questions. Im sure, too, that youve got much more information now to share with your friends and family. But LifeSiteNews is going to help you even more. Were running a conference on vaccines with the best experts in the world on February 19. Its titled Unmasking COVID-19: Vaccines, Mandates, and Global Health. As uncertainty reigns in the general population, especially around COVID and the vaccines, LifeSite is devoted to sharing the truth. It is time to understand the connection between aborted fetal cells and vaccines, the next-gen of vaccines such as the mRNA shots, the healthcare system as a whole, the implications of lockdowns and mandates, as well as the ethical and moral dilemma of abortion-tainted vaccines. Read more at: LifeSiteNews.com DULUTH, Minn. (AP) The U.S. Navy says the commissioning of the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul in Duluth is on hold after a design defect was discovered. The high-speed combat ship was christened at the Marinette, Wisconsin shipyard in 2019. The commissioning ceremony was expected to take place this spring before a problem with the propulsion system was discovered. While we are disappointed that the first-ever commissioning of a Navy vessel in Minnesota will be delayed, we remain optimistic that this historic event will take place in Duluth, Brian Skon, chairman of the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul Commissioning Committee, said in a statement. The Navy did not provide a timeline for when it is expected to be commissioned or go into service following the gear fix. The USS Minneapolis-St. Paul is the 21st littoral combat ship in the Navys fleet. It will have a crew of about 140 sailors and be based out of Mayport, Fla., after its commissioning in Lake Superior, the Star Tribune reported. The ship is among the fastest combat ships in the Navy with a top speed of 40 knots. It will be the second naval vessel named after both Twin Cities. The submarine USS Minneapolis-St. Paul served from 1984 to 2008. copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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MXW - Mandalgobi Airport IATA Code MIDDLETON, Mass., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Datamatics, a global IT, Consulting, BPM and Data Management Company, has been ranked by global advisory and consulting firm Quadrant Knowledge Solutions amongst the Technology Leader in its report titled SPARK Matrix: Intelligent Document Processing Platform (IDP), 2020. Quadrant Knowledge Solutions SPARK Matrix evaluation examined Datamatics and 15 other vendors by evaluating the company's product portfolios, technology strategies, market presence, and customer value proposition. Quadrant Knowledge Solutions' SPARK Matrix provides a snapshot of the key market participants and a visual representation of their positioning. It also provides strategic insights on the ranking of participating vendors in relation to their competitors along several axis, representing a range of performance parameters, coinciding with technology excellence and customer impact. Intelligent Document Platform (IDP) is an emerging software segment consisting of a suite of tools and technologies such as computer vision, intelligent optical character recognition (iOCR), deep learning, and natural language processing (NLP) for capturing, classifying, and extracting data. An IDP platform enables organizations to streamline document processing workflows within organizations. IDP solutions help organizations automate business processes and improve overall operational efficiency and productivity. The platform serves as an intelligent and advanced document processing solution for complex data formats, as it can deliver higher document processing accuracy for complex data formats. While IDP vendors are already focusing on offering IDP solutions that can achieve higher accuracy and STP, AI technologies will continue to drive the IDP space by delivering innovative IDP solutions to support industry-wide use cases. Datamatics offers innovative IDP platform, TruCap+ that help data-driven businesses to digitally transform themselves through robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, cloud, mobility, and advanced analytics. The integrated AI in TruCap+ scans unstructured data and also reads, deciphers, and captures relevant information fields such as invoice numbers and dates and converts it into structured data. The platform facilitates context-specific and intelligent data capture from various sources without creating any templates. TruCap+ facilitates high character accuracy, reduces errors, and improves straight through passes (STP) in document automation. It can process data from multiple sources like hard copies and digital data channels including, images, scanned documents, emails, and social media posts. "Datamatics with its proprietary ICR and AI/ML powered IDP product, TruCap+, offers robust capabilities for data extraction, multi-channel data processing, automated document classification, data validation, and auto learning" according to Pranjal Singh, Analyst at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions. "TrupCap+ template-free approach, pre-extraction & post-extraction functionalities, unique image topography analytics algorithm, scalable and flexible solution offering, and seamless integration with majority of the RPA platforms and third -party business applications help organizations to achieve higher accuracy for semi-structured and unstructured Data. Moreover, TruCap+'s image enhancement and data quality improvement capabilities deliver greater accuracy with minimal human intervention" Pranjal further adds. Mitul Mehta, SVP & Head, Marketing & Communications at Datamatics, said, "Over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated every day, in such a world of data deluge, managing it becomes a huge challenge. Organizations are facing tremendous pressure in managing, processing and automating such unstructured data. Datamatics TruCap+ is meant to address such challenges of enterprises and help them to step-up their intelligent automation. It is template free, cloud-based, and processes huge data volumes with speed and accuracy. The product integrates seamlessly with RPA platforms and BPM solutions to deliver comprehensive experience. We are happy to be positioned amongst the Leaders in SPARK Matrix: Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), 2020 by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions." Additional Resources: For more information on DatamaticsTruCap+ Link Complimentary Report Download - Datamatics Knowledge Brief on IDP Capabilities by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions: Link 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/ About Datamatics Datamatics (BSE: 532528 | NSE: DATAMATICS) provides intelligent solutions for data-driven businesses to increase productivity and enhance the customer experience. With a complete digital approach, Datamatics portfolio spans across Information Technology Services, Business Process Management, Engineering Services and Big Data & Analytics all powered by Artificial Intelligence. It has established products in Robotic Process Automation, Intelligent Document Processing, Business Intelligence and Automated Fare Collection. Datamatics services global customers across Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, International Organizations, and Media & Publishing. The Company has presence across 4 continents with major delivery centers in the USA, India, and Philippines. To know more about Datamatics, visit www.datamatics.comand on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For media queries, please contact: Sudeshna Mukherjee Manager- Marketing & Corporate Communications sudeshna.mukherjee@datamatics.com +91-7738574137 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/746706/Quadrant_Knowledge_Solutions_Logo.jpg A man has been arrested in a Tigerland double homicide that left two people dead inside their apartment last month, Baton Rouge police announced Tuesday afternoon. LaQuincia "Nanny" Jackson, 26, and Fredrick Hollins, 33, were found shot to death on Jan. 23. The two had been dating for approximately four years and living together in an apartment in the 4600 block of Earl Gros Avenue in Tigerland. Police announced Tuesday the arrest of Brian Lavergne, 33, whose listed address is a neighborhood off Burbank Drive, several miles from where the shooting occurred. Lavergne is Jackson's ex-boyfriend and still was active in her life, according to his arrest warrant. He would regularly drive Jackson places and knew where she lived, the warrant said. Baton Rouge police say man arrested in Tigerland double homicide, but details remain scarce The Baton Rouge Police Department announced Tuesday the arrest of Brian Lavergne, 33, who has been charged in the double-homicide that happene 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 Lavergne had been asking about Jackson's whereabouts the day of the murders, according to police. His arrest warrant says he called her more than 100 times the day of her death. He had also been involved in a recent altercation with Hollins, police said, and had said he was going to kill him. When police arrived at the scene of the shooting, they discovered nothing appeared to be missing from Jackson and Hollins' residence. This led police to conclude that the only intention of the suspect was to kill one or both of the victims, the warrant says. Lavergne was booked into jail on two counts of first-degree murder. Jackson and Hollins had lived together for several months. Her family said relatives discovered the bodies after Jackson didn't show up at a birthday party for her little cousin, leaving them wondering whether she was alright. Editor's Note: This story was updated with additional information from police about the suspect's relationship to the victims. EAST LANSING, MI Michigan State University has chosen Marlon Lynch to serve as the universitys next chief of police. Lynch, an MSU alum who has worked in law enforcement for nearly 25 years, will also hold the title of vice president for public safety, a university release states. MSUs Board of Trustees will vote on Lynchs appointment on Feb. 12, and his expected start date is Feb. 1, according to the release. This is an exciting opportunity for me to return to a campus and university that I hold in high regard, and to lead a talented group of public safety professionals at (MSU), said Lynch. Its an honor to be selected for this role and to serve the university community while enhancing community collaboration efforts. Lynch began his career as a police officer in the Meridian Township Police Department near MSUs East Lansing Campus, the release states. He currently serves as chief safety officer for the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he oversees more than 180 individuals in police, health system security, emergency management and community services, according to the release. In July, the MSU Police Department announced that Chief Kelly Roudebush was going on medical leave during her treatment for stage-four breast cancer. Assistant Chief Doug Monette has served as interim police chief since July. MSU President Samuel Stanley appointed a search committee, which held meetings with students, faculty and staff and received input from multiple stakeholders. Lynch was one of 90 potential candidates considered during the search, Stanley said. Marlon has a highly distinguished service record, including leading some of the largest university police departments in the country, said Stanley. His nearly 25-year career in law enforcement will allow him to look expansively across the spectrum of public safety to identify areas for improvement in the department and maximize its community engagement. I know he will be a great addition to the Spartan community. READ MORE: Michigan State University issues enhanced physical distancing directive as COVID-19 cases rise Handling of Larry Nassar survivor fund prompts call for resignation of Michigan State University trustee What you should know about the University of Michigans latest stay-in-place recommendation Regulatory News: La Francaise de l'Energie (Paris:LFDE) (Euronext: LFDE ISIN: FR0013030152), a producer of energy with a negative carbon footprint, announces the improvement of its Gaia rating which assesses ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) performances, and now ranks first among companies under 150 million in turnover, operating in the energy sector. Gaia Rating is the leading ESG rating agency for French mid-size listed companies. The rating of companies is carried out on more than 150 extra-financial criteria related to the environment, social and governance. LFDE keeps improving its ESG performance La Francaise de l'Energie has reached an overall rating of 62/100 and ranks 1 among companies under 150 million in turnover, operating in the energy sector. LFDE also outperforms the average rating of the "conventional and renewable energies" category as well as the Gaia panel made of 230 companies. La Francaise de l'Energie stands out for the significant improvement in its governance with a score of 92/100 as well as the quality of its Social Policy (86/100), its Environmental Policy and its impact on the Green House Gas (63/100), and its relationships with suppliers (83/100). For the 4th year in a row, the Company has recorded an improvement in its Gaia rating. This confirms the fulfilment of La Francaise de l'Energie's commitments on key subject matters such as the safety of its teams, its operations and its actions against climate change. Julien Moulin, President of La Francaise de l'Energie, declares: "ESG matters are the core of La Francaise de l'Energie's commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the territories where we operate and to promote local development. La Francaise de l'Energie is the only French energy company with a negative carbon footprint. We are therefore very proud that the Gaia ESG rating awarded by EthiFinance confirms our footprint and our position as a leader of sustainable development Next announcement: March 23, 2021 Half-year results 2020/2021 About La Francaise de l'Energie La Francaise de l'Energie is an SME with a negative carbon footprint, specializing setting up decentralized energy production sites. La Francaise de l'Energie supplies gas, green electricity and heat to regional players, thus replacing imported energy with local, cleaner energy. La Francaise de l'Energie has strong development potential and aims to become a benchmark independent player in the energy sector in Europe. The company benefits from the innovative company label awarded by Bpifrance. More information available on www.francaisedelenergie.fr Reuters code: LFDE.PA Bloomberg code: LFDE.FP Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward looking statements and estimates concerning LFDE's financial condition, operating results, strategy, projects and future performance and the markets in which it operates. Such forward-looking statements and estimates may be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is designed to," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "objective," "should," or the negative of these and similar expressions. They incorporate all topics that are not historical facts. Forward looking statements, forecasts and estimates are based on management's current assumptions and assessment of risks, uncertainties and other factors, known and unknown, which were deemed to be reasonable at the time they were made but which may turn out to be incorrect. Events and outcomes are difficult to predict and depend on factors beyond the company's control. Consequently, the actual results, financial condition, performances and/or achievements of LFDE or of the industry may turn out to differ materially from the future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by these statements, forecasts and estimates. Owing to these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the correctness or fairness of these forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates speak only as of the date on which they are made, and LFDE undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005965/en/ Contacts: Press contact@francaisedelenergie.fr + 33 3 87 04 34 51 Investor Relations ir@francaisedelenergie.fr + 33 3 87 04 34 51 Prof. Pat Utomi, has stressed the need for governments across adjourning states to start considering megalopolis cities' growth pattern to drive development within their geographic locations. Utomi stated this in Lagos, recently, while sharing perspectives on the forthcoming Ehingbeti, the Lagos Economic Summit, holding February 16th- 18th. He described the summit as a strategic initiative and planning tool that has significantly driven the development of Lagos State. This, he stated, was in line with the development agenda strategies adopted by developed climes where the government maintains discipline to attract venture capitalists to build infrastructure. "Think of Lagos-Ibadan megalopolis, develop in Ogere, a beautiful city, go to Abeokuta to develop a beautiful city. People can wake up and in 45 minutes they are in their office in Victoria Island and in the evening, they go back to Ibadan, Ogere, and Abeokuta. This is a megalopolis and you think of the Boston-Huston corridor. But, this needed political will to collaborate with the adjourning state." He added: "The idea of Ehingbeti came from the need to provide infrastructure and social services to the citizenry after the return civil rule in 1999. Aside from the huge infrastructural deficit, Lagos had issues with waste management system, social planning and transportation. Everything, in fact, was somewhat chaotic. "Government needed to quickly address these challenges, even with its limited resources. With the crop of technocrats drawn into serve in government, plans and roadmaps were easily developed, working with their private sector colleagues". Reports showed that the developed roadmaps were turned into implementable agenda for the government. The private sector was hugely involved in this process beyond the intellectual and professional contributions of the likes of Christopher Kolade, Bummi Oni, Dayo Lawuyi, Bode Agusto, Mazi Ohuabunwa, Ben Akabueze, Wale Edun, Funke Osibodu, Bola Adesola and other notable private sector figures, keenly drove developments in certain areas of the State. Ehingbeti, a private sector-led participatory forum has been the driving force of infrastructural and socio-economic development in Lagos State since 1999. To the credit of the initiative is Lagos State gradual transition to a multi-modal transport system, with manifestation in building a rail system, water transportation and introduction of mass transit for easy community with the State. Similarly, the initiative has helped increase the private sector confidence in government and created a formidable ground for collaboration towards building modern and functional state. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Business Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The increased confidence and shared ideals between government and the private sector have translated to accelerated growths in the state. "Over the last two decades, with Ehingbeti, Lagos has witnessed huge infrastructural development. Most of the major road constructions, bridges, medical facilities and social innovations that made Lagos attractive originated from discussion at Ehingbeti," Hakeem Cole, a retired Permanent Secretary, who had attended some of the grueling deliberations preceding the Ehingbeti conferencesaid. "It is good that the 4th Mainland Bridge in on the table now. It was a presentation topic of the Traffic Management Committee of the Ehingbeti in 2004. It was revisited under Governor Fashola and slated for execution by the subsequent administration for better management of traffic in the state. "Ehingbeti feeds the Lagos Master Plan. It is the private sector setting agenda for the government. "So, is the government doing the needful regarding the whole responsibility of megacity, a lot more can be done, more involvement of the private sector is critical in getting that done; as it stands government cannot do all this so much. But it can be able to play a catalytic role in the flourishing of the private sector which then can creatively drive that growth and development." Utomi added. "Boys & Girls Clubs of America is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. It's not only foundational to who we are as an organization, but fundamental to what Boys & Girls Clubs stands for," said Lorraine Orr, chief operations officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "As we undertake this work of dismantling racism and inequity, it was critical we build infrastructure to create long-term, sustainable impact. We are thrilled to welcome H to Boys & Girls Clubs. With his diversity, equity and inclusion expertise, I'm confident he will guide us on the right track and help us eliminate barriers for marginalized communities." Walker joins Boys & Girls Clubs of America from an extended career with global brands like The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, McDonald's Corporation, and the United States Postal Service, where he served in numerous organizational culture and diversity, equity and inclusion leadership roles in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Walker's work helped transform DEI educational experiences, corporate strategies and structures and inspired senior leaders, staff, membership organizations, franchisees and suppliers to challenge their own knowledge and truly embrace DEI as a mindset and a way of managing change. Walker is steadfast in his belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies improve financial performance and stimulates corporate and community excitement. This "people-first, human-centered" way of life communicates that the goal is to do good. "I'm thrilled to join Boys & Girls Clubs of America to help continue and innovate their work to create inclusion and equity within their organization and for kids and teens in Clubs across the country," said H Walker, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Diversity, equity and inclusion is not only a strategy but should be infused in an organization's culture, building a more equitable future for all. Boys & Girls Clubs play a pivotal role in breaking down barriers for so many young people today, and we must continue to strengthen the opportunity equation for millions that are impacted by this organization." To learn more about how Boys & Girls Clubs of America's commitment to breaking down barriers for all youth, visit www.bgca.org. 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. 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 on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs of America on Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America Related Links http://www.bgca.org By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/03/2021 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. star Matt James has explained why he wasn't willing to give Victoria Larson or Anna Redman a second chance after learning they had essentially led an attack against the new bachelorettes who arrived mid-season.Monday night's episode featured Matt eliminating Victoria and Anna -- who were dubbed "mean girls" by several women in the cast due to their "toxic" behavior -- in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for the rest of his bachelorettes going forward."This opportunity doesn't really allow for second chances. You're on a crunch of time," Matt explained during a Tuesday appearance on Good Morning America."When I see that my connection with you is starting to wither and I see signs that are not what I'm looking for in my wife at that time, then I've got to act on it and focus my energy and efforts on the women whom I'm forming those strong connections with."Matt discovered that Victoria had called professional dancer Ryan Claytor "a ho" and that Anna had accused Brittany Galvin of being "an escort" and sleeping with wealthy men in the Chicago area.The new arrivals who met Matt after the third Rose Ceremony also complained about being ostracized from the original group of ladies, many of whom referred to themselves as the "Varsity squad."Victoria and Anna were shown apologizing -- arguably insincerely -- to the women they had offended after realizing Matt was upset and disappointed with them.Anna even cried to Matt that she had made a "horrible" mistake by starting a nasty rumor about Brittany, but Matt chose to send them both packing anyway."When you break it down, any type of name-calling [is not okay]. I think people try to pass it off as just playing around, but it's really not playing around to the people on the receiving end of it," Matt explained on GMA.Matt elaborated, "I can't fault any of these women for getting emotional, but when the name-calling and the persistent making the environment uncomfortable for the other women in the house, that's when... it's brought to my attention and I've got to act on it."Matt told his group of women on the show that if a person needs to belittle someone else to shine, that's not a quality he's looking for in his future wife.Matt said on GMA that he hopes the new arrivals weren't brought onto the show just to cause drama and he did his best with the situation in trying to treat every woman equally."[My] frustration comes from having a limited amount of time to spend with the women, and so I want to be spending that time getting to know them," Matt said."When you're having to address things like [bullying claims], though they're important, it takes away from time [I could use to] get to know these women better."Matt, however, apparently doesn't believe his cast of bachelorettes had a few bad apples in it. Instead, Matt said the women's bad behavior seemed to derive from "a combination of high emotions and being in a stressful environment" that is , a competitive reality dating show."You are dating one person with a lot of other women, so I can't imagine what it's like to be on that side of the rose," Matt shared.When asked whether he would have made different decisions had he been privy to some of the nasty comments, rumors or gossip earlier, Matt replied, "I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason.""All you can do is act on the information you have available to you, and I don't have any regrets," Matt explained on GMA."When things come up, you've got to handle them, and I think that's what I did [on Monday night's show]. And I think going forward, we're going to have a little smooth sailing."Anna and Victoria had very different reactions to their ousters on Monday night's episode Anna cried with regret and said she was "really disappointed" in herself and how she had acted. Anna told the cameras she understood why Matt wouldn't want to pick someone like her."Anna had said something that is out of character," Matt said in a confessional, "but the damage has been done. I've seen how words can affect people, and I owe it to these women to create a safe space for them."But Victoria completely denied ever being a bully or harassing any of the other women. She insisted her words were just "playful" and never malicious."I'm upset because I know I didn't do anything wrong. I was invested and I cared about him. So I think he made a huge mistake," Victoria said in her final words.Before leaving, Victoria walked up to Matt with her arms crossed and said, "I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not all of the facts behind the situation."Matt just stood there in silence and then Victoria complained to the cameras, "He is not my king and I am still a queen. Matt is a jester... Whatever, Matt is not the guy for me. I am not dating another Matt as long as I live -- ever. I hate that name now!"Also during Matt's GMA interview, he appeared to accidentally spill that he's engaged. Click here to read spoilers on Matt's season and find out which bachelorette he picked and ended up with at the end of his journey to find love on TV.Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd (FRL) moved the Delhi High Court on Wednesday against its single judge order directing the company to maintain status quo on its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail, which has been objected to by US-based e-commerce giant Amazon. FRL's appeal was mentioned before a Joint Registrar of the high court who allowed it to be listed for hearing on Thursday, a lawyer associated with the case said. Justice J R Midha on Tuesday said the court was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. "Respondents (FRL) and other respondents are directed to maintain status quo as on today at 4:49 PM till pronouncement of the reserved order," the judge had said. In August last year, Future had reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance. Amazon has approached the high court seeking direction to order enforcement of the award by Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator (EA) restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail. It has sought to restrain Kishore Biyani-led Future Group from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group. Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, in its plea, has also sought detention of the Biyanis, directors of FCPL and FRL and other related parties in civil prison and attaching of their properties for alleged "wilful disobedience" of the emergency arbitrator's order. The high court, which heard the matter for four consecutive days, reserved its order on Tuesday on the main petition and also directed all other concerned authorities to maintain status quo in relation to the matters which are in violation of the emergency award and to file status report with regard to the present status within 10 days. While pronouncing the interim order, the high court said it was of the prima facie view that the emergency arbitrator is an arbitrator and he has rightly proceeded against FRL and its order was not in nullity. The court said it was clear that the October 25, 2020 order of the emergency arbitrator passing the award was enforceable and appealable under the relevant provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The high court directed FRL to file an affidavit stating the steps and actions taken by it from october 25, 2020, when the emergency award was passed, till now in connection with the deal with Reliance. The high court had earlier issued notices and sought responses of FRL, Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), Biyanis and other related parties on the petition by Amazon. Amazon has also sought to restrain Future Group from taking any steps to transfer or dispose of FRL's retail assets or the shares held in FRL by the Biyanis in any manner without prior written consent of Amazon. The Future Group and Amazon have been locked in a battle after the US-based company took FRL into the emergency arbitration over alleged breach of a contract between them. The three domestic firms FRL, FCPL and Reliance have however contended before the high court that if Amazon's claim, that it indirectly invested in FRL by investing in FCL, was accepted then it would amount to a violation of Indian foreign direct investment laws which permit only 10 per cent investment by a foreign entity in the multi-brand retail sector. According to Amazon, the EA award passed under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Rules is enforceable under Section 17(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. It referred to an order passed by the high court on December 21, 2020, prima facie holding that the EA's award was valid under the Indian law. Amazon has contended that FRL has deliberately and willfully violated and continues violating the October 25, 2020 order of the EA and immediate interim order be passed to protect them. FRL had earlier submitted that Amazon had a deal with FCPL and signed an agreement with Biyani. FCPL has a shareholding agreement with FRL which has no agreement with Amazon. In its petition, Amazon has alleged that Future Group, Kishore Biyani and other promoters and directors have deliberately and maliciously disobeyed the EA award despite it being binding on them and not having challenged it in accordance with the law. The majority respondents' action of simply ignoring the order (of EA) and continuing with the impugned transaction (deal) is not only contumacious but calls into serious question their respect for enforceability of contracts, the rule of law and the administration of justice.., it has said. It has sought to injunct Future Group and its officials from taking any steps in furtherance of the deal with Reliance. The SIAC had on October 25 last year passed an interim order in favour of Amazon barring FRL from taking any step to dispose of or encumber its assets or issuing any securities to secure any funding from a restricted party. Subsequently, Amazon wrote to market regulator SEBI, stock exchanges and Competition Commission of India (CCI), urging them to take into consideration the Singapore arbitrator's interim decision as it is a binding order, FRL had earlier told the high court. As per the SIAC interim order, a three-member arbitration panel needs to be set up within 90 days (from the date of the judgement) with one judge each being appointed by Future and Amazon, along with a third neutral judge. On November 10, 2020, Amazon had told the court that it and FCL have appointed their respective arbitrators. (Disclaimer: News18.com is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited) . The Congress on Wednesday decided to bring a resolution against the Centre's new farm laws in the next session of the assembly. The party will also move a resolution to demand amendment to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to ensure that farmers get guaranteed minimum support price (MSP), according to a party statement. The decisions were taken at a Congress Legislature Party meeting chaired by Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Hooda said the party will also bring a no-confidence motion against the government and seek time from Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya for a meeting to request him for a special session of the assembly. He said the party MLAs will march towards the Raj Bhavan on Thursday if the governor did not give them time for a meeting. Commenting on the procurement process, the former Haryana chief minister said there should be a provision of legal action against those buying crops below the MSP. Hooda said the agitation against the farm laws is completely non-political and farmers' organisations are receiving support from all sections of society. The Congress stands firmly with the demands of farmers and their peaceful agitation, Hooda said in the meeting. The former chief minister said all party MLAs condemned tactics used by the government to "suppress" the movement. "It is a democratic right of farmers to agitate for their demands. In such a situation, shutting down the internet, electricity, water supply and sanitation facilities is inhuman. The government should resume all facilities immediately," Hooda said. He said the Congress is constantly demanding from the state governor to convene a special session of the assembly. "We have repeatedly sought time to meet the governor. Tomorrow, we will again request him to give us time for a meeting. Congress legislators will wait until 11 am. If we are not given time to for a meeting, then all party MLAs will march peacefully towards the Raj Bhavan from the MLA hostel," he said. Hooda also claimed that the BJP-JJP government in the state has lost people's confidence. The Congress will bring a no-confidence motion against the government in the coming assembly session, Hooda said, claiming that voices of dissent are being heard among the MLAs supporting the government. They are constantly making statements against the government and in support of farmers, the Congress leader said. "The no-confidence motion will let people know which MLA stands with the government and which MLA stands with farmers," he added. Hooda said the farmers' movement has become a people's movement. This movement is drawing support from a cross-section of society as the three agricultural laws are not only anti-farmer but will also cause huge losses to the common consumers, 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.) Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A French lab will start producing Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in March, while another will begin making the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech in April, Industry Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said Wednesday. President Emmanuel Macron pledged Tuesday that four sites on French soil would begin making coronavirus vaccines soon, as the government draws sharp criticism over an innoculation drive that has started off slowly. French pride has also taken a hit after its pharma giant Sanofi said its COVID vaccine would not be ready until later this year. The health crisis has prompted governments to push for more widespread production of vaccines already available, overriding the industry's fierce resistance to sharing intellectual property secrets. "Production at the first site will begin in March for the Moderna vaccine," at a lab operated by Recipharm, Pannier-Runacher told RTL radio. "We'll then have a production site running in April for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine," she said. "And in May, we should (also) be producing the CureVac vaccine, for which we are waiting for approval," she said, referring to the German biotech firm that could start French production at a lab owned by Fareva. A French Sanofi lab will start making the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the second quarter, even as it pursues research on its own jab, as will the French firm Delpharm. Separately, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Russia's Sputnik V vaccine could be used in France as long as it meets "scientific norms" and European "standards." "If Sputnik is confirmed and approved by the European Medicines Agency and France's top health authority, there will be no impediment to its distribution," he told Europe 1 radio. France is hoping to avoid a new national lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases rises, with authorities reporting Tuesday a further 404 deaths over the previous 24 hours, as well as a new increase in intensive care cases to 3,270 in total. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Mumbai, Feb 3 : Actress Parineeti Chopra says as an actor she is always looking for ways to challenge herself, and her role in upcoming psychological suspense drama, The Girl On The Train, gave her an opportunity to do so. "'The Girl On The Train' was an entirely different experience for me as I have never played this kind of a role before. Getting into the character of Meera Kapoor and working closely with (director) Ribhu (Dasgupta) to bring her to life was an immense learning experience for me," Parineeti said. "As an actor, I have always wanted to challenge myself with more, and this role gave me the opportunity to do so. 'The Girl On The Train' will take the audiences on a dark journey trying to piece together the reality of who actually committed the crime and have them guessing the truth," she added. The film is an official Hindi remake of the Hollywood thriller The Girl On The Train, which is based on Paula Hawkins' 2015 bestseller of the same name. The Hollywood version by Tate Taylor featured Emily Blunt in the lead role. The Hindi remake follows the story of Meera (Parineeti), who fixates on the perfect lives of a couple she watches from afar during her daily train commutes. One day, she witnesses something out of the ordinary that shocks her. The film also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Kirti Kulhari and Avinash Tiwary. Talking about the film, director Dasgupta said: "The book enticed me tremendously, and I am excited to have the opportunity to bring this version of the story to screens around the world. This film has been a real ride of emotion and passion for me. I am happy that the trailer will drop on Netflix and everyone will see a glimpse of the world we have created." The film was due to release theatrically in May 2020, but got pushed due to the Covid pandemic. It will now premiere on Netflix on February 26. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Prime Minister has given a March deadline for a resolution to the NI Protocol issues, the DUP has said. The party held a virtual meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday and is to later meet with Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic along with Sinn Fein and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill. It comes after the controversial events of last Friday, when the European Commission was forced to backtrack on a threat to suspend part of the Northern Ireland Protocol to prevent Covid vaccines crossing the border. There have been issues with goods crossing the Irish Sea since January when the EU and UK severed all ties. DUP MP Ian Paisley said it made people feel like foreigners in their own land. He pressed the Prime Minister to take action, during PMQs. "Tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard," he said. "Will he be a man of his word and allow businessmen in my constituency to bin the unnecessary documentation that he told us we could bin? "Prime Minister, be the unionist we need you to be." Mr Johnson said he shared his frustrations and would do anything required. "The honourable gentleman's business constituents, some of whom I know very well and admire very much, can continue to do business unfettered between Northern Ireland and the rest of this country," he added Read More In a statement, the DUP said Arlene Foster set out in stark terms the damage the protocol was having on trade between GB to NI as well as the impact of the EU's intention to invoke article 16 in her meeting with Boris Johnson. "We pressed the Prime Minister to set out what he was now going to do to deal with the unfolding situation," the statement said. "The Prime Minister indicated that he was deeply shocked 'by the cavalier approach adopted by the EU' last Friday and without consultation. He recognised that such actions by the EU undermines the authority of the protocol. Again it was made clear to him that the protocol is without support within the unionist community." "The Prime Minister said there was a duty under the Belfast Agreement to sort these matters out, that we could not have a situation within the United Kingdom where there were barriers to movement across a range of areas including plants, seed potatoes and British beef and that it was plain the protocol was being used in an absurd way. "The Prime Minister said what the EU was doing 'goes beyond the bounds of common sense'. The DUP again made clear that this the reality of what was agreed by the UK and EU." The DUP said the Prime Minister had vowed to use all the instruments at his disposal and again indicated he was prepared to use Article 16 "to get things done and to legislate if necessary". "The Prime Minister has said that his timetable for getting all these matters sorted is the end of March," the party added. "For our part we have been clear to the Prime Minister that the people and businesses of Northern Ireland cannot continue to be subjected to the undermining of Northern Irelands place with the UK internal market as a consequence of the protectionist attitude of the European Union. "We want to see permanent solutions developed and barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland lifted. Sticking plaster solutions and grace periods that kick the can down the road will not solve these problems. "It is now up to the Prime Minister to back up his words with tangible actions that protect the integrity of the whole of the United Kingdom. "We will continue to engage with the UK Government on all these issues but have underlined that long-term workable solutions will need to be found quickly because Northern Ireland needs to be free of this protocol." Tensions have been heightened following the controversial events of last Friday. The botched move by the EU would have struck at the heart of the NI Protocol's main function - to facilitate a free-flowing Irish border - by placing restrictions on vaccines moving into Northern Ireland from the bloc. While the EU stepped back from the brink, after an evening of frantic diplomacy, the episode further angered loyalists and unionists and emboldened them to press their demands for an end to the protocol. On Tuesday, the DUP announced a series of political moves aimed at frustrating the operation of the protocol amid mounting unionist and loyalist concerns that Northern Ireland's place within the UK is being undermined. Its strategy includes opposing any protocol-related legislation at the Stormont Assembly and refusing to participate in any exchanges with the Irish Government related to the operation of the protocol. Physical inspections on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, which are required under the protocol, have been suspended amid threats and intimidation of staff. Police have insisted there is no evidence that loyalist paramilitaries are involved in the sinister campaign, instead blaming disgruntled individuals and small 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. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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[February 03, 2021] Electreon Wins a Tender to Provide Road Charging Technology for a Project Funded by the German Government BEIT YANAI, Israel, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ElectReon (TASE: ELWS), which is developing and implementing Wireless Electric Road Systems (ERS) that wirelessly charge commercial and passenger electric vehicles while driving, announced today that it was selected to provide the technology for eCharge, a project funded by the Roads Innovation Program of the German Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). The winning consortium includes Volkswagen and Eurovia. The aim of the project is to develop an economical and functional solution for inductive charging of electric vehicles while driving. The project has received 1.9 million financing from the German Federal Government. ElectReon will act as a subcontractor providing the project with its leading wireless dynamic charging technology, as well as leading and supporting different project tasks. As part of the project, ElectReon will integrate its wireless vehicle receiver to a Volkswagen electric vehicle to be tested on the Electric Road. A few subsidiaries of the global Vinci group are part of the consortium - EUROVIA Germany will lead the road construction task, the digital enterprise VIA IMC will manage the project, and Omexom will lead the grid connection task. Volkswagen will lead the vehicle task and Braunschweig University will lead the road materials and aging task. The project will focus on testing issues such as road integrity, connection to a renewable energy source, the billing interface and the systems' integration with vehicles, as well as analyzing different business cases for the German mobility market. The wireless electric road will be built at DuraBASt, the German national road test facility, located near Cologne, Germany. In addition, the Company announced it is establishing a local subsidiary in Germany, in light of the growing support from the German authorities for the advancement of wireless electric road technology. The current project joins the Company's further cllaborations in Germany with Eurovia, and with the leading energy corporation, EnBW. Electreon's German subsidiary will be headed by Dr. Andreas Wendt, who in his last role led the wireless charging efforts of Toyota in Germany. Enak Ferlemann, the State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure said: "The project aims to ascertain how German road infrastructure could be designed in a more modern way and how a charging facility could be integrated into the asphalt surface." Ferlemann also stated: "Wireless charging which is already a reality for smartphones, so far is only a vision for e-vehicles. That is why we are now supporting the contactless charging of e-vehicles while driving - and all without overhead lines. This would not only extend the range for all vehicles immensely - from cars to heavy trucks, but also will save the trip to the charging station. It is a very exciting project for us!" concluded Mr. Ferlemann. Dr. Nikolai Ardey, Head of Volkswagen Group Innovation commented, "Volkswagen relies on e-mobility like no other manufacturer and is consistently working on further technological developments in this area. Inductive charging offers a lot of potential here, as it can simplify the charging process considerably. In addition, this technology could, in principle, be used in all vehicle segments from cars to trucks. With this project, we want to understand the technology better and examine its possibilities in comparison to the alternatives. " Oren Ezer, Co-founder and CEO of Electreon states, "Electreon sees Germany as a global leader in fighting emissions from the transport sector and as an entry point to the European and global markets. Being part of this German government funded project will bring us one step closer to decarbonizing transportation in Germany and, ultimately, the world. With the support of our project partners that are global leaders in mobility innovation, we intend to show that wireless dynamic charging is the most holistic and cost-effective solution for charging electric vehicles and can accelerate the transition to clean mobility globally." Investor Relations Contact GK Investor Relations Ehud Helft +1 646 201 9246 electreon@gkir.com Company Contact Electreon Marketing and Sales Officer Charlie Levine +972 585818433 info@electreon.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/electreon-wins-a-tender-to-provide-road-charging-technology-for-a-project-funded-by-the-german-government-301221202.html SOURCE ElectReon [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The government will pursue a tough stance on the issue, the Council secretary underscores. Following a recent ban on a number of pro-Russian TV channels in Ukraine, security official says the authorities could introduce restrictive measures against more media assets if evidence is found proving they work to the detriment of Ukraine's national security, playing in the hands of the adversary. That's according to Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, who spoke at a briefing on Wednesday, February 3, aired by Ukraine 24. Read alsoU.S. embassy voices support for ban on pro-Russian TV channels in UkraineAsked whether there's a possibility of sanctions being imposed against other TV channels, including particular regional ones, broadcasting in eastern Ukraine, circulating anti-Ukrainian narratives, Danilov said, "There are a lot of such channels. Depending on how soon we get the relevant documents precisely documents, not emotion... we will immediately go for an appropriate response. It doesn't matter whether it's in the east or west, south, or elsewhere else." The NSDC secretary said that "the stane will be tough because we're in an extremely difficult situation today." We're at war. Everyone needs to realize and understand this," he stressed. Read alsoZelensky comments on his move to block TV channels in UkraineAccording to Danilov, Ukraine has confronted an "insidious" enemy so the Ukrainian society must act responsibly to ensure that their country survives and prevails. Reporting by UNIAN New Delhi, Feb 3 : Last week as the Intra-Afghan Peace talks were being held in Doha, Taliban leaders, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, suddenly decided to board a flight to Tehran. The visit took place within days of the new US administration taking its guard in Washington. The US capital was already agog with whispers that the new Joe Biden administration was breaking away from key Trump administration hallmarks-the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan, and re-stablishing ties with Iran. Iran had earlier bonded with the Obama administration, when Joe Biden was Vice President, resulting in the Iran nuclear deal. Biden is also signalling that the US may deviate from Trump's deal with the Afghans, leading to the complete withdrawal of US forces from the Hindukush. Unsurprisingly, Tuesday's Taliban visit to Tehran comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a "new chapter has been opened" in Kabul's relations with Washington, welcoming President Joe Biden's plan to review the troop drawdown. Ghani's comments follow remarks by Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser that Washington's dealings with China, Afghanistan and Iran are key priorities for the new administration. On the issue of the Doha Agreement, Biden's administration has asserted that it would have no truck with the Haqqani Network and al-Qaeda in its dealings with the Taliban. In a statement, Sullivan said that his team wanted to assess whether the Taliban was living up to its commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce Afghan violence and to engage in "meaningful negotiations" with the government and other stakeholders" in the country and it intends to "review" the US-Taliban deal. This has rattled Taliban leaders who were hoping to grab power in Afghanistan with the tacit support of Pakistan. After meeting leaders in Tehran, Taliban leader Baradar said the Doha agreement and Intra-Afghan talks would lead to the overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani-led government and "Afghanistan's new Islamic government will emerge". But Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made it clear to the Taliban delegation that Iran supports an inclusive Afghan government that would include all ethnic groups and sects. Zarif also underlined that Iran would never recognize any current group seeking to take power in Afghanistan through war, stressing the need for all ethnic groups to participate in a fully peaceful process to decide the fate of Afghanistan. Interestingly, the Iranian government had informed Kabul of the Taliban visit beforehand, and that Tehran said it would emphasise upon the Taliban that a pause in violent attacks against civilians and government officials was essential, besides, lasting peace should be pursued within the framework of the Afghan constitution. Iran's move to host the Taliban could be an attempt to demonstrate to US President Joe Biden's administration that Tehran is willing to dock its position on the Afghan peace process with that of the US under Biden. Behind Iran's diplomatic signalling lies a fundamental distrust between Tehran and Islamabad, which may be engaged in a covert war in Balochistan. The animus between the two has become evident in the utterings of a serving Pakistani Major General serving in Balochistan. "If the threat of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is averted, we will go inside Iran and take action. Iran is the biggest enemy of Pakistan which has a direct hand in the instability of Balochistan," Major General Ayman Bilal was quoted as saying. Ahead of a likely normalisation, the Biden administration is also signalling its willingness to engage, rather than isolate Iran. "From our perspective, a critical early priority has to be to deal with what is an escalating nuclear crisis as Iran moves closer and closer to having enough fissile material for a weapon, We would like to make sure that we establish some of the parameters and constraints around the program that have fallen away over the course of the past few years," Sullivan said, "we would like to make sure that we establish some of the parameters and constraints around the program that have fallen away over the course of the past few years." The likely turnaround of ties between Washington and Tehran is good news for India. A revalidation of the Iran nuclear deal or its clone will open its strategic track with Iran with energy and transit via Chabahar and the International North South Corridor as its key pillars. India halted its imports from Iran, previously its third-largest oil supplier, in mid-2019 after the expiration of US exemptions. Now with the new administration in Washington, Indian diplomacy is regaining momentum vis-A -vis Iran. Last week when the Taliban delegation was in Tehran, an Indian delegation, led by joint secretary (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran) JP Singh of the external affairs ministry, visited Iran for political consultations and also took stock of the development of the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar Port in his meeting with Rasoul Mousavi, assistant to Iran's foreign minister and director-general for West Asia in the foreign ministry. India and Iran are more or less on same page on the peace process of Afghanistan, despite differences between New Delhi and Tehran on engaging with the Taliban. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text ALEPPO, Syria Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the United Nations and others, has recently made public appearances in Syrias northwestern province of Idlib. On Jan. 23, he was seen touring the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Idlib and was photographed with camp officials, who complained to him about the damages done to their dwellings as a result of the rainstorms. The frequent appearances of Golani in Idlib raises several questions as to HTS plans, and the message its leader is trying to convey. On Dec. 19, 2020, Golani had visited a camp in the Idlib countryside, where he listened to the complaints of the IDPs. The visit came days following the US decision to designate HTS as entities of particular concern over its abuses of human rights, and less than a month after the US State Department announced Nov. 24 offering a financial reward of up to $10 million for information related to HTS leader. Golani made several public appearances in 2020. In August, he was seen visiting an IDP camp in the town of Halfaya. In the same month, he toured the Jabal al-Zawiya area, south of Idlib, and on May 2, 2020, he visited a hospital in Idlib. Back in December 2012, Washington placed Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, on its terrorist list. In 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra announced its disengagement from al-Qaeda and changed its name to HTS, but this did not stop Michael Ratney, the US special envoy for Syria, to confirm on March 12, 2016, that Jabhat al-Nusra was a terrorist entity. On May 15, 2017, Washington was still adamant to place the group on its terrorist list. At the time, the US State Department said that HTS was designated as a terrorist group, regardless of its names and the groups merging with it. It appears that Golani is trying to be seen in a different light, presenting himself as a leader who caters to the needs of the people and who visits camps to offer help to the displaced. In his recent visits, Golani took advantage of the displaced persons needs for help after their camps were flooded by the heavy rains. Some 224 camps were damaged due to the floods as a result of four rainstorms, according to the estimates of Syria's Response Coordination Group, which is a local organization operating in the Syrian opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria. Golani is trying to present his group as a local jihadist organization that is well accepted by a large portion of the Syrian population, in a bid to have the groups name removed from the international terrorist list. Hisham Eskif, deputy head of the political bureau of Liwaa al-Salam (Peace Brigade) affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Al-Monitor, The HTS leader is trying to promote himself as a popular leader, caring for Syrians and their revolution. He is also trying to present his group as part of the social, revolutionary and the displaced communities. He added, He is sending a message that his organization is different from other fundamentalist jihadist groups. I believe that Syrians in Idlib realize that Golani is a chameleon who only runs after the interests of his organization and that his tours to the camps and meetings with people is nothing but a lame act." Al-Farooq Abu Bakr, deputy commander of the FSA's Al-Motassem Brigade, told Al-Monitor, HTS is presenting itself as a moderate group in order to reach settlements that would preserve its survival and presence in Idlib. It is making every effort to [present itself as] a reliable partner in any future political solution locally or at Syrias level. Golanis public appearances serve this end and clean up his image among Syrians in order to portray himself as a leader of a local organization who shares their aspirations and concerns. He said, Golani is trying to absorb the increasing popular anger against HTS in Idlib. People are angry because of the policies of HTS members and its security apparatus, as well as because of the policies of the Syrian Salvation Government affiliated with HTS, which impose taxes and control all vital sectors in Idlib. Abu Bakr added, Golanis strategic attempts to get closer to the people and to market himself as a popular leader will fail. No one will believe this deceitful man who has been the partner of the [Bashar al-] Assad regime in oppressing the revolution and waging wars on the FSA factions more than once during the past years." Bilal Sattouf, a researcher in political science who is based in Azaz in the countryside of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, Since it has controlled most of Idlib and excluded the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham movement, HTS has been following a policy based on achieving stability and domination. It has taken a few steps to remain the largest factional force in Idlib. He noted, This was evident at several levels, such as its decision to share power with other groups that are ostensibly independent but tacitly affiliated with HTS. This is not to mention the Syrian Salvation Government, which is portrayed as a civil government working on managing the Idlib areas and providing basic public services. It also provides HTS with a political cover at the regional level at least. The existence of the Salvation Government thus prevents the emergence of any other executive and administrative body that is not approved by HTS in Idlib. According to Sattouf, HTS is trying to become closer with the largest segments of Syrians living in the areas under its control, by forming local councils in every town and village. These councils manage the areas and make sure to control the situation so as to prevent the emergence of any group that would oppose HTS policies. This is done through intimidation practices. HTS is also trying to interact with the people by presenting its leader as the sponsor of Syrian interests, who follows up on the suffering and hardships of Syrians, to demolish the psychological barrier between HTS and the people in Idlib by playing on solidarity sentiments with the residents, he said. Satlouf concluded, This is why we see Golani making a [public] appearance with every occasion or event. He wants to be [seen as] the leader who is close to his people and who stands with them in their sorrows and their joys, in a bid to increase his popularity and draw more members to his organization." WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CFP Board announced today the appointment of William A. Nelson, J.D., LL.M., to the newly created position of Assistant General Counsel. William is returning to CFP Board after four years of service as Public Policy Counsel from 2013-2017. In this new role, William will be responsible for assisting the General Counsel with the development of standards, including CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, Sanctions Guidelines, Fitness Standards and Procedural Rules. He will assist the General Counsel with the development of guidance materials concerning the Code and Standards, including formal guidance materials and responses to individual requests for guidance. In addition, he will provide assistance with the adjudication of alleged violations of the Code and Standards and provide assistance with corporate governance matters. He will report directly to CFP Board General Counsel Leo G. Rydzewski. "As a highly accomplished attorney, William brings considerable experience in the areas of securities regulation, compliance and financial services policy to CFP Board," said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. "He will concentrate his efforts on developing guidance resources to help CFP professionals comply with the Code and Standards. In addition, he will work to strengthen enforcement and adjudication processes in support of CFP Board's mission to benefit the public." William is an accomplished attorney with several years of experience in the areas of securities regulation, compliance and financial services policy. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of Securities Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He previously taught legal research and writing at the George Washington University Law School. William has been published in several scholarly law journals across the country and his work has been cited in legal treatises and state and federal court decisions. William is the former Chief Compliance Officer at Mercer Global Advisors Inc., one of the largest independent SEC-registered investment advisers. In this role, William redesigned the firm's entire compliance program, including the creation of a comprehensive compliance manual drafted to assist the firm in preventing, detecting and correcting violations of securities laws. William served as Legal Advisor to Mercer Global Advisors' Investment Committee and ERISA Committee and served as a subject matter expert for the organization on questions concerning regulatory compliance. William has held multiple roles as an attorney with both the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining Mercer Advisors, he spent four years as Public Policy Counsel with CFP Board. In this role, he researched and analyzed issues related to brokers, dealers, investment advisers and financial planners in support of CFP Board's public policy, advocacy and regulatory priorities. William received his Master of Laws degree from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. He also earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa College of Law, with Honors, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Tulsa. ABOUT CFP BOARD Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is a professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification one of the most respected certifications in financial services so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by more than 88,000 people in the United States. SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Related Links http://www.cfp.net Advocates have had great successes over the past decade in securing the same rights for LGBTQ people as straight and cisgender people. State lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage in 2011. The Democratic takeover of the state Senate in 2018 paved the legislative way for the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act early the following year, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender expression in workplaces, housing and public accommodations across the state. That push continues under the new Democratic supermajorities in the state Legislature. Its one of the longest preexisting bills prior to the Democratic takeover, state Sen. Brad Hoylman of Manhattan said in an interview about legislation taking aim at a state law opponents have dubbed the walking while trans ban. The Feb. 2 passage of legislation to repeal the 1976 loitering for the purposes of prostitution statute could mark an important turning point in the decadeslong effort to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in New York state. However, any final decision depends on state lawmakers winning over Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who included several LGBTQ-friendly proposals in his state budget, to their version of the legislation. (Editor's note: Cuomo signed the bill shortly after this story was published.) The bill that passed the state Senate and Assembly would seal the criminal records of people convicted of prostitution-related offenses while the version of the legislation included in Cuomos proposed budget does not. Activists are urging state lawmakers to hold the line on the issue. We need to go back and kind of undo some of those wrongs that have happened, Amanda Babine, executive director of the advocacy group Equality New York, said in an interview. A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment by publication time, but the governor has expressed a willingness to expunge criminal records in a previously passed law loosening state marijuana laws, which suggests that he might budge on this issue. In the meantime, the current loitering law continues to exact a heavy toll. In 2020, there were only six arrests made under the current statute further underlining the archaic nature of the law and need for its repeal, Assembly Member Amy Paulin of Westchester County, who sponsored the bill in the chamber, said in a statement. Getting New York to ditch the statute could make a big difference in getting other states to pass their own versions of the law, according to activists. Im a Black woman of trans experience, Kiara St. James, co-founder and executive director of the New York Transgender Advocacy Group, said in an interview. Ive been profiled simply for standing out with my girlfriends in Midtown, and police officers assuming that we were sex workers. The law also gave people outside of law enforcement their own weapon to use against transgender and gender-nonconforming people. Men and women knew that all they had to do was tell a police officer that (you) were solicited, even if you werent, and we will be locked up or harassed and we will move away, St. James added. Final passage of the repeal means LGBTQ advocates have one less bill to worry about when it comes to winning equal rights. Once we get it passed, there is going to be a whole raft of legislation, Hoylman said. This could include renewed efforts to expand gender identities (which was included in one budget bill) on drivers licenses, expand gender-neutral bathrooms at public colleges, and legislation making schools more inclusive of childrens own gender preferences. Such efforts are all important in their own ways, according to Babine, but taken together they reflect a growing need to focus on tweaking landmark laws passed in recent years. We have overcome so many hurdles, (but) some of these policies are still lacking in the implementation of them, she said of laws like GENDA, which have limited purview over incarcerated people and school children. One proposal in Cuomos state budget would prohibit judges from considering issues of sexual orientation and gender when deciding what is in the childs best interest in custody cases. Democratic control of the state Legislature and the executive branch mean that such legislation is likely to pass even if there are some differences between Cuomo and legislators on bills like the repeal of the walking while trans ban. Yet, despite Democrats newfound power in New York and the election of President Joe Biden, the political winds are blowing against increased rights for LGBTQ people in some areas of the country. The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court could even jeopardize progress in the Empire State, according to Hoylman. Its possible, unfortunately, that issues like adoption and so-called conversion therapy and support for LGBTQ youth and First Amendment grounds to oppose LGBTQ equality may get a second look, he said. Confronting reactionary politics while improving civil rights for LGBTQ people could come down to activists maintaining the same level of political energy moving forward as they exhibited during the years that culminated in the passage of landmark laws like GENDA and the repeal of the walking while trans ban. But the coronavirus pandemic adds another way to highlight how the fight for LGBTQ rights is really part of much larger efforts to create a more equitable society, according to St. James. We have to learn new ways of creating this new normal, St. James said. We have to also make sure that we are not leaving anyone behind. South Chinas Hainan province, the first free trade port on the Chinese mainland, saw strong foreign investment growth in 2020. Official data showed that paid-in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the island province surged 100.7 percent year-on-year to a record high of $3.03 billion in 2020. Aerial photo taken on April 4, 2020 shows the Atlantis resort in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun) In the same period, 1,005 foreign-invested companies were newly established in the island province, soaring 197.3 percent over the previous year. About 90 percent of all newly established foreign-funded companies were in the modern services sector and their actual use of foreign investment accounted for around 80 percent of all. Eighty countries and regions had investment in Hainan last year, doubling the number in 2019, and the investors included G20 member countries. The reason why Hainan holds appeal to FDI can be largely attributed to the advantages of the Hainan free trade port, explained Shen Danyang, vice governor of the province. With supporting policy packages, the Hainan free trade port is becoming a popular destination for foreign enterprises. U.S. electric carmaker Tesla, which launched a project in the free trade port in October last year, is one of them. On Jan. 15, Tesla opened its first sales and service center in Haikou, capital city of the province. Five days later, the giants new superchargers went into operation in the province. Tesla will expand its self-run charging network and improve the supercharger deployment in the province, said Xu Yao, sales manager of Teslas Hainan market, adding that the company plans to extend its sales and service network on the island. Hainans well-targeted policies to promote the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) have brought opportunities for NEV manufacturers including Tesla and the whole industry, enhancing the companys confidence in increasing investment in China, said Tao Lin, vice president at Tesla. Hainan will embrace new opportunities in areas like advanced technologies and low-carbon economy, noted Fabrice Fourcade, senior vice president of EDF Group, and its chief representative in China, introducing that the company and its partners are cooperating with Hainan in clean energy and the construction of NEV infrastructure. From signing a license contract with a local company in Hainan to opening five stores on the island province, Japanese convenience store chain operator Lawson Inc. took only a little more than two months to land its business in Hainan. Tang Yaohua, general manager of Lawsons local partner firm hailed the provinces better business environment, disclosing that the Japanese convenience store chain plans to open over 100 stores in Hainan. At the end of last year, the Hainan free trade port signed 14 foreign-funded projects, covering sectors such as aviation, culture and sports, international settlement and fintech, attracting foreign companies including American multinational conglomerate General Electric. China released a master plan for the Hainan free trade port on June 1, 2020, marking the start of construction of the port. On Feb. 1, the 2020 negative list for foreign investment access in the Hainan free trade port took effect. The list lifts restrictions on foreign investment access to online data processing and online transaction processing businesses and allows overseas high-level universities and vocational colleges specializing in science and engineering, agriculture, and medicine to run on the island independently. China will further shorten the negative list to gradually realize investment liberalization and facilitation in the Hainan free trade port, according to the countrys National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). This year, China will roll out special measures to relax market access for the Hainan free trade port, said Zhao Chenxin, secretary general of the NDRC. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has reintroduced coronavirus restrictions after a Australian Open hotel quarantine worker in Melbourne became infected with Covid, with a testing blitz on tournament participants underway. In a late night press conference on Wednesday, Mr Andrews announced household gathering limits would be slashed in half to 15 and masks would once again be mandatory indoors. About 600 Australian Open players, officials and support staff have been identified as close contacts and are isolating until they test negative for Covid. Most players had only just been released from quarantine. As a result of the testing blitz and isolation orders, all Melbourne Summer Series matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday were cancelled. 'There will be no matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday. An update on the schedule for Friday will be announced later today,' Australian Open tweeted. Ash Barty, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams, Stan Wawrinka, Victoria Azarenka and Naomi Osaka were just a few of the big name tennis stars due to play. The statewide restrictions, which came into effect from 11:59pm Wednesday, are the same as those imposed following the Black Rock cluster in late December. 'We have to assume that this person has in fact infected others. And it's through that abundance of caution that I'm announcing (the restrictions),' Mr Andrews said. He begged anyone with Covid-like symptoms to come forward for testing without delay but urged residents not to panic over the worker's positive case. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) has reimposed restrictions across the state after an Australian Open hotel quarantine worker became infected with Covid The infected 26-year-old man from Noble Park last worked at the Grand Hyatt hotel (pictured) in Melbourne's CBD on January 29 THE RESTRICTIONS From 11:59pm on Wednesday across Victoria: - The limit on the number of people gathering in a household will be reduced from 30 to 15, meaning the household members plus 15 visitors (excluding children under 12 months of age) - Masks will be mandatory in public indoor spaces. If you have visitors in your home, it is strongly recommended that masks are worn during the visit. Masks must be worn in indoor public spaces apart from when eating or drinking - The 75 per cent 'return to work' cap in both public and private sectors scheduled for Monday, February 8 will be paused and the current cap of 50 per cent will remain in place Advertisement 'This is one case. There is no need for people to panic, there is no need for people to be alarmed,' Mr Andrews said. A 26-year-old man from Noble Park, Melbourne's southeast, who was working as a resident support officer for the Australian Open quarantine program, tested positive on Wednesday. His positive test ended Victoria's 28-day run of zero locally acquired cases of coronavirus. The man has been moved to a health hotel and his household contacts have been put into isolation. Mr Andrews said the new Covid case may have an impact on an Australian Open lead-up event on Thursday but did not foresee it would have an effect on the tournament itself. 'There's a number of about 500 or 600 people that are either players and officials and others who are casual contacts. They will be isolating until they get a negative test,' Mr Andrews said. The man last worked at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne's CBD on January 29 and returned a negative test that day. It is unclear how he became infected. 'Subsequently, he's developed symptoms, gone and got tested, and has tested positive. That result has come back (Wednesday),' Mr Andrews said. 'We can't necessarily determine how it is that the person was infected. All of that will become clearer with further examination of CCTV footage and genomic sequencing, further testing. 'All of that coronavirus detective work that's already well and truly underway.' Mr Andrews said authorities had not identified any breaches in the hotel quarantine program. He did not give a timeline for how long the restrictions would last. The 75 per cent 'return to work' cap in both public and private sectors scheduled for Monday has been paused as part of the restrictions. Residents who have any Covid-like symptoms are urged to get tested as soon as testing clinics open from 8am on Thursday Health authorities are bracing themselves for the possibility the man has contracted the much more highly-infectious UK strain of Covid. He was said to have a 'high viral load'. An urgent alert has gone out for a number of venues across southeast Melbourne which are listed as exposure sites after they were visited by the infected individual. The venues, which the man visited between January 30 and February 1, include the Kmart at Brandon Park, Bunnings at Springvale and Coles, also at Springvale. Anyone who has visited these exposure sites during the times listed must immediately isolate, get a coronavirus test and remain isolated for 14 days. The man is a CFA volunteer and had attended at least one function, with venue deep-cleaning and contact tracing underway. Mr Andrews said testing was paramount and told residents not to delay presenting to testing sites, which open from 8am. The Bunnings Warehouse at Springvale (pictured) has been listed as an exposure site for the time of 11:28am to 12:15pm on February 1 The Coles supermarket at Springvale (pictured) has been listed as an exposure site for the time between 5pm to 6pm on January 31 EXPOSURE SITES Monday, February 1: - Bunnings: Springvale - 11:28am to 12:15pm - Golf Academy: Heatherton - 5:19pm to 6:30pm Sunday, January 31: - Northpoint Cafe: Brighton - 8:10am to 9:30am - Kmart: Keysborough - 4pm to 5pm - Kmart: Brandon Park - 4:35pm to 5:10pm - Coles: Springvale - 5pm to 6pm Saturday, January 30: - Club Noble: Noble Park - 2:36pm to 3:30pm - Aces Sporting Club (Driving Range): Keysborough - 10pm to 11:15pm Advertisement 'If you've got symptoms or you've been at one of these sites, you've got to get tested. You can't wait till tomorrow afternoon. You've got to go first thing tomorrow morning.' Mr Andrews said he was confident the state would be able to contain the new case without it spreading exponentially. 'I just want to finish by making the point that we - all of us across this state - having been through everything we've been through, having been, as a community, so united and had that real sense of purpose to beat this thing, I'm confident that we all know what we have to do,' he said. 'We have a proven track record of being able to - as recently as a few weeks ago - to get on top of these cases quickly.' The Victorian Department of Health said its public health teams are investigating the new case and close contacts are being notified. A security guard at a quarantine hotel in Perth tested positive for Covid on Saturday, sending the city and Peel and South West regions into a snap five-day lockdown. The alert comes after two separate groups of guests in adjacent rooms at Melbourne's Park Royal Hotel tested positive for the more infectious B117 coronavirus variant, first detected in the United Kingdom. Victoria's Police Minister Lisa Neville, responsible for overseeing the revamped hotel quarantine program, said genomics had shown the infections were identical. 'That means it's as if they have been in the same room together,' she told reporters on Wednesday. Club Noble at Noble Park (pictured) has been listed as an exposure site for the time between 2:36pm to 3:30pm on January 30 One of the groups, a family of five who are all now infected with the virus, arrived from Nigeria on January 20 and tested positive four days later. A fellow returned traveller in an adjacent room, who restarted her 14-day quarantine stint after her husband arrived on January 16, twice tested negative before returning a positive result on January 28. Questions remain over how the woman in her 60s became infected, given her partner's day three and 11 swabs were negative. Ms Neville said security footage outside the rooms had been reviewed, with no indication of any breach of protocols by the families or staff during their stay. 'The viral load in the room of the family of five... was so high that just even opening the door to pick up your food has seen the virus get into the corridor,' she said. 'That is the working assumption. There has been absolutely no kids running down corridors or movement between the rooms at all.' The infected woman remembers opening her door at the same time as the room next door but she has not been able to pinpoint the exact date or time. Deputy Chief Health Officer Melanie Van Twest said authorities believe the potential room leak stemmed from the family's collective infectiousness in combination with the potent UK strain. The alert comes after two separate groups of guests in adjacent rooms at Melbourne's Park Royal Hotel tested positive for the more infectious UK coronavirus variant The Victorian Department of Health said its public health teams are investigating the new case and close contacts are being notified Deputy Chief Health Officer Melanie Van Twest said authorities believe the potential room leak stemmed from the family's collective infectiousness in combination with the potent UK strain 'This might be a Swiss cheese line of holes where everything has lined up to create this particular event,' she said. 'As far as we know, there's no community transmission. This has happened within the hotel. It's contained.' The hotel's ventilation system will be reviewed, although Ms Neville said an earlier report had found no air was being shared between rooms or into common spaces. 'It's probably unlikely to have been the ventilation system in this case,' she said. All positive cases have been moved to a health hotel and remain in isolation, while the husband of the infected woman has been moved to another room. Some 100 hotel quarantine staff members and 37 returned travellers who have completed their 14 days on the impacted floor are now self-isolating at home. None have tested positive thus far. TANAISTE Leo Varadkar has criticised the EU over delays in approving and distributing Covid-19 vaccines, while praising the effectiveness of Russias Sputnik V jab. Mr Varadkar told a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday that the EUs handling of the vaccine programme was not its finest hour. He said the European Medicines Agency had been slow in approving vaccines and that the European Commision had favoured cost over speed. While it had gotten good deals, the bloc did not get preference in terms of prioritisation, he said, adding that Israel had made a good choice in choosing to pay more for vaccines. Read More The meeting heard strong criticism of the European Commissions botched attempt to suspend the Northern Ireland protocol as part of plans to impose controls on vaccine exports last Friday. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the mistake had been a trigger point to ratchet up tensions in the North and had the capacity to destabilise politics there. Backbench TDs including Eoghan Murphy and Paul Kehoe were among those who demanded answers for how the mistake had happened. MEPs Frances Fitzgerald and Sean Kelly said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had taken personal responsibility for the debacle. Several other TDs including John Paul Phelan, Bernard Durkan, Fergus ODowd and junior minister Patrick ODonovan were also critical. During a lengthy presentation on Covid-19, Mr Varadkar said Russia's Sputnik V vaccine seems to work and its data was very good. Sources said Varakdar told colleagues it was unfortunate that the EU does not approve Russian drugs and said he hoped this would change in the future. He noted that the Russians led the way in scientific innovations during the Soviet era. On Irelands vaccine rollout programme, the Fine Gael leader said he was confident that the country would be awash with vaccines from April and May when the State expects to take delivery of a million vaccines every month. He said that coronavirus will probably be with us for eternity and that vaccines will help society to live with the virus in the same way it lives with the flu. He said half of the adult population will be vaccinated by the end of June and that 70 or 80pc will be vaccinated by the end of September which the Government believes will confer herd immunity. Mr Varadkar said the HSEs latest recommendation that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are preferential to AstraZeneca for use in people over 65 had affected the rollout plan. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which have to be stored at ultra low temperatures, may be administered at vaccination centres and larger GP surgeries, he said, insisting he expected the community vaccination programme for over 85s to begin in the middle of this month. Mr Varadkar said easing restrictions from March 5 would be dependent on case numbers, hospitalisations and ICU admissions, the vaccination programme and the situation in the North. He said schools are likely to reopen on a phased basis over February and March as well as construction. He said it remained to be determined whether the country would move to Level 4 next month but said it would definitely not move to Level 3. Speaking on the attitudes to the Coalitions handling of the crisis, sources at the meeting said that Mr Varadkar told colleagues that the public always reserve the right to blame the Government when it does what is asked of them and it does not work out and that this is what is happening now. Mr Varadkar also expressed concern that the decline in case numbers appeared to be plateauing in recent days. At his parliamentary party meeting, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the EU decision to trigger article 6 caused political mayhem and insisted Ireland was blindsided by the move. Mr Martin he said he learned of the decision through media reports and immediately contacted Ursula von der Leyen. He noted there is pressure on unionist politicians but said he believe the issues can be resolved without ditching the Northern Ireland protocol. He said the protocol should not be lightening rod for political conflict and should be approached in a more pragmatic way. A Fianna Fail source said the Taoiseach said: we need to dial down the rhetoric and manage it and we need to reduce tension in Northern Ireland itself. The Taoiseach said he will contact all parties in the North about the issue. There was also what was described as sustained criticism of EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness from Fianna Fail TDs over her failure to spot the issue before it got out of control. TDs Cormac Devlin and Paul McAuliffe along with Senator Timmy Dooley raised issue with her involvement in the fiasco. Separately, the Taoiseach damped expectation about a significant reopening of the country next month saying the Governments focus is on schools and construction. He also said he was concerned the virus may have plateaued. Advertisement Female protesters who have been detained during demonstrations in Russia in support of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny claim they have been sexually humiliated and made to strip naked in police custody. A number of the anti-Kremlin activists say officers have forced them to show their underwear, perform naked sit-ups and undress in rooms with transparent glass. They allege the officers removed their identification badges and threatened the women with charges of insubordination if they refused orders. It comes as more than 1,400 protesters were arrested amid battles in the streets of Moscow after the Kremlin's most prominent critic Alexei Navalny was jailed for two and a half years on Tuesday. Hundreds were rounded up in Moscow and St Petersburg on Tuesday as riot police faced off against Navalny's supporters - who have taken to the streets across Russia over the last two weekends to demand his release. As protesters shouted 'Putin is a poisoner!' and 'Putin is a thief', riot police hit demonstrators with batons and chased them through the streets with 1,408 detained in total, according to a monitoring group. In a fiery courtroom speech, Navalny himself had accused Vladimir Putin of trying to intimidate his critics and said the court was 'putting one person behind bars to scare millions'. The 44-year-old is set to serve around two years and eight months in prison after a suspended sentence for a 2014 embezzlement conviction was upgraded to real jail time. Russian authorities accused him of flouting the terms of his parole, but Navalny said he could hardly have made his appointments while recovering from the Novichok attack last summer which he blames on the Kremlin. The verdict sparked Western outrage, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken warning that the Biden White House would 'hold Russia accountable' - but Moscow, typically, accused the West of interfering in its own affairs. Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's wife, thanked her 1.1million followers for support in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the first statement she has made since her husband was jailed. 'You write to me saying that I'm strong,' Navalyana wrote. 'I'm not some strong [woman], I'm perfectly common.... thank you all for taking to the street. 'I read all your messages and understand that there are so many good, strong and right people supporting Alexei and me and that there is no need to retreat and be afraid. We will still win.' Battle in Moscow: A Navalny supporter is dragged away by Russian police officers wearing riot gear during protests in the capital on the day the the opposition leader was handed a two-and-a-half-year jail term Riot police take a protester in a headlock during what authorities described as an unauthorised rally in Moscow on Tuesday A protester is detained in front of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow during rallies in support of the jailed Kremlin critic yesterday Protesters line up against a wall, watched by a riot police officer, during an unsanctioned rally after Navalny's court hearing Navalny, pictured in the dock on Tuesday, was jailed for violating the terms of his parole - which he says is absurd since he was recuperating in Germany from a nerve agent attack and could hardly have made an appointment with Russian officials Supporters of Navalny say they too are facing cruel state treatment, with human rights activist Elza Nisanbekova claiming female detainees have contacted her complaining about abuse in custody. She said: 'Girls have been messaging. We have a very strange practice starting. 'After detention, in police departments, police officers force the girls to either fully undress and do sit-downs naked, or force them to show their underwear, pull up their T-shirts, blouses, pull down their trousers. 'This practice has nothing to do with the law. These are some sort of sexual deviations.' She told pro-democracy news outlet Current Time that the women complained about the 'perversion' but officers had illegally removed their ID badges. Male detainee Talgat Ahmadiev, 28, who was held at a recent pro-Navalny protest, said the woman who was held with hum was 'not treated humanely'. He said: 'She was forced to take off her bra and undress to her panties.' When she refused, she was threatened with an additional charge of insubordination, refusing to obey a police commander, he claimed. Female students in Kazan say they have been forced to undress in a cell with 'transparent glass'. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny makes a heart sign as his prison term is handed down by a Moscow court today Policemen detain a protester after allies of Alexei Navalny called for supporters to protest a Moscow court's decision to sentence him to two-and-a-half years in prison A woman is dragged to jail after attending a protest demanding the release of imprisoned pro-democracy opposition leader Alexei Navalny A woman is dragged away by Russian police during nationwide protests, called for by now-imprisoned pro-democracy opposition leader Alexei Navalny As his sentence was read, Navalny made a heart sign with his hands and smiled at his wife Yulia from behind the glass panel of his holding cell. He told Yulia, who had travelled back from Germany with him last month and was crying as the verdict was read out: 'Don't be sad, everything will be fine'. Navalny, who was arrested at a Moscow border post on his return to Russia, was on trial for breaking the terms of a 2014 embezzlement conviction, for which he received a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence. The Moscow court today ordered Navalny serve his original sentence in a penal colony, minus the one year he already spent under house arrest. Navalny says the 2014 fraud conviction was based on trumped-up charges, while the European Court of Human Rights has also voiced concerns about the verdict. His brother, wife and other allies have also been arrested and some of them fined by Russian courts in recent days in a crackdown on the opposition movement. His legal team plan to appeal the latest verdict, his lawyer Olga Mikhailov said, with Navalny expected to stay in detention in Moscow during that process. Navalny and his lawyers have argued that while he was recovering in Germany from the poisoning, he could not register with Russian authorities in person as required by his probation. 'I came back to Moscow after I completed the course of treatment,' Navalny said during Tuesday's hearing. 'What else could I have done?' A man is lifted away by Russian police during protests in Moscow today, following the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny An injured protester cries out during protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today Riot police officers detain a man during a protest against a court ruling which ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny be jailed for nearly three years, in downtown Moscow in the early hours of this morning Officers scramble to detain protesters during a demonstration against the two-and-a-half year jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Protesters run during demonstrations against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday A Navalny supporter is escorted away from protests outside the Great Hostiny Dvor Shopping Centre in downtown St Petersburg last night As Navalny faced his first night in prison, UK prime minister Boris Johnson joined a chorus of world leaders calling for the Kremlin critic's release. 'Alexey Navalny's decision to return to Russia after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act. In contrast, today's ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately,' the PM said. French president Emmanuel Macron also called for his release, while German chancellor Angela Merkel labelled the decision 'far removed from any rule of law'. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, due to visit Moscow later this week, said it 'runs counter to Russia's international commitments on rule of law and fundamental freedoms'. Dmitry Polyanksiy, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, responded to the criticism from Washington by referring to the recent political troubles in the US. 'A Russian citizen sentenced by Russian court in accordance with Russian laws. Who gave US the right to judge if it was wrongful or not? Wouldn't you mind your own business, gentlemen? Recent events show that there are a lot of things for you to mend,' he said. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Western reaction as 'disconnected from reality', adding: 'There is no need to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.' A man shouts as a police officer detains him during protests against the jailing of Putin foe Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday A man scraps with police officers during a street gathering to protest the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Riot police officers drag a man down a set of steps during an unauthorised rally in support of Alexei Navalny tonight in Moscow Riot officers detain a man during demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, following his imprisonment of two-and-a-half years Protesters detained following a protest demanding the release of Alexei Navalny await their jailing in Moscow this morning Navalny supporters are detained last night following Navalny being jailed for two-and-a-half years by a Moscow court Russian police detain a man in downtown Moscow this evening after the Kremlin critic was sent to prison earlier today Detained people are seen inside a police vehicle in downtown Moscow this evening Police escort a man from the scene of protests in downtown Moscow earlier this evening Russian reinforced police units stand guard on the street in downtown of St. Petersburg, Russia today Officers detain a man during protests after the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today A man draped in a Russian flag walks among protesters demonstrating the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today Riot police officers guard Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St Petersburg today. The city authorities tightened security measures as Moscow's court sentenced Alexei Navalny to three-and-a-half years Russian police drag a protester away in St Petersburg, Russia today. Protesters descended on Russian cities after dissident Alexei Navalny was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in a penal colony A man scraps with police officers during protests against the jailing of Kremlin critic A riot police officer searches a man during protests against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Police pull a man's jacket over his head as they lead him away from the scene of a protest outside a St Petersburg shopping centre last night Earlier, Navalny mocked Putin by giving him the nickname 'Vladimir the Poisoner of Underwear' and told a judge his trial is only taking place because the Russian leader had failed to kill him with Novichok. Navalny told the Russian courthouse that Putin is 'demanding to steal underwear from opponents and smear them with chemical weapons', referring to the claim that FSB agents sprinkled the nerve agent on his clothes. He also said Putin wanted him imprisoned to 'scare millions' and warned the President that 'people will realise' that he 'can't jail everyone'. 'We know why this is happening,' he said. 'The reason is the hatred and fear of one man in a bunker. Because I offended him by surviving after they tried to kill me on his orders. 'No matter how much [Putin] tries to pose as a geopolitician, his main resentment toward me is that he will go down in history as a poisoner.' Two days after Navalny was placed in pre-trial custody last month, his team released an investigation into an opulent seaside property which he claims was given to Putin through a billion-dollar scheme financed by close associates who head state companies. The probe was published alongside a YouTube video report, now viewed more than 100million times. Putin denied owning the property. Last week a billionaire businessman close to the Russian leader, Arkady Rotenberg, said he was the owner and was turning it into a hotel. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets the past two weekends to demand Navalny's release and chant slogans against Putin. On Sunday, police detained more than 5,750 people nationwide, which was the biggest one-day total in Russia since Soviet times. Most were released after being handed a court summons, and they face fines or jail terms of seven to 15 days, although several face criminal charges of violence against police. Riot police detain a man involved in unauthorised protests in central Moscow last night A man is detained by riot police in Russia today as protesters gathered to demand the release of jailed dissident Alexei Navalny Navalny supporters, and their dogs, are escorted away from the scene of a protest in downtown St Petersburg tonight Russian riot police detain a participant of an unauthorised rally in central Moscow tonight Russian riot police detain a Navalny supporter after the dissident called for protests against his three-and-a-half year imprisonment In a blatant act of censorship, the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) has blacklisted the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) on its NHS Wi-Fi system. The move by RBH, part of the newly University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD), came shortly after the WSWS posted a letter from a frontline nurse exposing the abysmal working conditions of nurses, doctors and other health workers. Royal Bournemouth Hospital Instead of addressing the grievances highlighted in the frontline nurses letter, UHD management is desperately trying to shut down any discussion in the workforce about patient and staff safety. Moreover, they are trying to discredit the WSWS which is giving a voice to health workers not only at the UHD and throughout the National Health Service (NHS) but internationally. Health workers who had previously accessed the WSWS without any issues using the NHS Wi-Fi system reported finding it difficult to do so since the latest revelations on the hospital were published. They were, however, able to visit the website when they used their own mobile data. Some submitted screenshots of the messages they received when they tried to access the WSWS article, which they explain is circulating widely among hospital staff in their online groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger. Message reading: "The web page you are trying to access has been blocked by our content filter provider" The message gives the impression that the WSWS is some sort of rogue website which is trying to steal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers. When a regular user of WSWS ignores the warnings and continues, they get the following message: The web page you are trying to access has been blocked by our content filter provider. Commenting on this censorship, a health care assistant at the hospital said, This is shocking. This is the only place where the truth was told. Now they are blocking it instead of asking us what our problems are. I have not seen a single article in the Daily Echo [local newspaper] or BBC describing the true situation on the floor. They only tell us the point of view of the management. Message reading: "The web page you are trying to access has been blocked by our content filter provider" Since April, the WSWS has published five letters from frontline workers at Bournemouth and Poole hospitals detailing managements criminal indifference to patient safety and staff wellbeingin line with that of the Conservative government. In the most recent letter to the WSWS, a frontline nurse wrote, We have been on level 4 Operational Pressures Escalation Alert for months. Patient safety and care has also been compromised for months. UHD is one of the worst hit trusts in the South West of England. Our own lives and wellbeing are in jeopardy. We saw this coming from the first wave of the pandemic and colleagues sounded the alarm by speaking out. But these warnings have fallen on deaf ears. RBH hospital responded to the original letter in April by joining with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to attack the author and make lying denials of their claims in the local newspaper, the Bournemouth Daily Echo. The WSWS and the frontline nurse delivered a devastating rebuttal. Now the hospital management are responding with the blunt instrument of censorship. Their concern is not solely for the exposure of conditions in the UHD, but the role the WSWSs reporting is playing in revealing the crisis throughout the NHS. Tens of thousands of health workers have succumbed to COVID-19 with 883 of them now dead in England and Wales and many struggling with Long COVID and post-traumatic stress disorder. NHS governing bodies, under the directives of the government, are desperately trying to downplay the enormity of the crisis. They are hostile to any criticism and trying to shutdown dissent by gagging the workforce. Anger among health care workers about this situation is widespread. The articles on the WSWS regarding RBH have sparked widespread discussion on social media. Scores of commenters have explained that they face the same conditions in hospitals all over the country. The most recent frontline nurses letter reached nearly 15,000 people on the NHS Workers Say NO to Public Sector pay inequality Facebook group alone. Tina commented, It makes me feel angry that you are working in such appalling conditions, on such poor pay and the govt says they have done everything they can. My heart goes out to you all on the frontline. Kim wrote, I am furious that this government has let down our frontline staff and left you without adequate PPE and at breaking point. The fact youre operating with decreased staffing is inadequate and therefore you must be totally shattered and feel abandoned by the governments poor ability to protect you and everyone you are caring for. You provide amazing services and we thank you for giving our community so much. On the Facebook group Fighting for our NHS, Joyce commented, I couldnt have put it better myself. This government has blood on their hands. Thank you for posting. Mary expressed her views about the letter on the Manchester Royal Infirmary Facebook page: This makes me so angry, on so many levels and I have been angry for more than a year now. Chronic under-investment in healthcare and the undervaluing of a dedicated workforce, to the extent of hundreds of deaths of healthcare workers is a national disgrace. If we had closed our borders and locked down sooner, thousands of lives would have been saved. Nursing used to be so different and I can still remember when I looked forward to going to work and was proud of our health servicenot now! NHS FightBack, an initiative of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), received the following comment on it Facebook page from another worker at RBH endorsing the content of the letters published on the WSWS: Im an HCA [Health Care Assistant] at Royal Bournemouth. I will confirm everything the nurse wrote about. Im already known for speaking my mind and it DOES NOT go down well. I do NOT WANT to be named. I confirm PPE [personal protective equipment] at the beginning was ridiculous. I confirm upper management who are NOT ON THE FLOOR have absolute no idea of what we go through. It appears to be ALL about saving money. Certainly NOT patient and staff care. Everyone is trying to put on a brave face. The on floor staff are amazing. Our Sisters are amazing. Beyond that forget it. Its all just placating emails and empty words. I TRULY care about my colleagues and patients but I no longer love my job. Above all, the government and NHS management are terrified that health care workers anger and discontent will be transformed into organised opposition in a fight for genuinely safe and secure working conditions. This is the basis of the programme of the WSWS, the SEP and NHS FightBack. As the pandemic crisis more and more clearly exposes the divide between the ruling classseeking to defend profitsand the working classseeking to save livesthat programme is coming under an escalating attack. A week ago, the accounts of leading members of the SEP and its youth movement, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, as well as the London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee, were suspended by Facebook without warning or explanation. The SEP mobilised a powerful campaign of protest and forced Facebook to retreat. The same must now be done at RBH. The WSWS demands that access to the site be immediately restored by hospital management. Workers have a right to speak out about and access vital information on their conditions, and to have their concerns reported. We call on our readers to send letters of protest to RBH, copied to the Socialist Equality Party. The new service chiefsshould be aware that is not how long they are in office that really matters, but the swiftness of the sea-change in the impact that they bring to bear on Nigerias deeply deteriorating security situation, towards the reclamation of national safety and stability. The story of Major Generals Lucky Irabor and Ibrahim Attahiru, the new chief of defence staff and chief of army staff, respectively, is like that of two blood brothers following one another. Before their appointments as service chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari, Irabor and Attahiru were commander and deputy commander at the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC Minna) of the Nigerian Army, located in Minna, Niger State. Established in 1981, TRADOC is a research-oriented formation in the Nigerian Army. It is nevertheless dreaded by many officers who regard it as a kind of Siberia, dump or pre-retirement enclave for senior officers who have fallen out of favour with the military or political powers-that-be. In reality, TRADOC is charged with doctrinal training and combat development, while it also supervises and coordinates research and development in all the training schools, depots and the command college of the Nigerian Army. Before the establishment of the Nigerian Army Resources Centre (NARC) in 2015, TRADOC had served as a major senior think-tank and a liaison centre between the Army and educational establishments, in ensuring the professional development of officers. It also serves as a corps headquarters for directing the operational tasks of various divisions of the Army that are on deployment. Annually, TRADOC conducts and supervises the Senior Staff Course Qualifying Examination (SSCQE) for officers in the ranks of Major and Captain across all Army formations. This examination is a major prerequisite for officers to attend the Senior Staff Course in Nigeria or subscribed staff colleges oversees. While Irabor, an Igbo from Agbor in Ika South of Delta State, was born on October 5, 1965, Attahiru, a Hausa from Doka in Kaduna State, was born on August 10, 1966. In terms of foreign operations, both Irabor and Attahiru in their follow-follow-brotherhood have undergone tours of duty with the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and served in peacekeeping with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), where they were honoured with medals and awards Irabor was a member of Regular Course 34, whereas Attahiru was a member of Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy. They have both served as theatre commanders of Operation Lafiya Dole, the central counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency outfit of the Nigerian Army in North-Eastern Nigeria. It was Irabor, as theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, who handed over the leadership of the unit to Attahiru on May 30, 2017. General Irabor, the new defence chief obtained a Bachelors degree in Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and Masters degrees from the University of Ghana, Accra and the Bangladesh University of Professional, Dhaka. He is an alumnus of the National Defence College, Bangladesh and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, USA. He also attended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) and Ghana Armed Forces Staff College, Teshi, among several other military courses. Attahiru obtained a Graduate Diploma from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and holds Masters degrees from the Nigerian Defence Academy and Salford University in the United Kingdom. Attahiru also attended the National Defence College, Kenya; the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Special Forces Academy, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province; Bournemouth University, United Kingdom; and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Major General Lucky Irabor has held several appointments in the course of his career. Notable among these were the Nigerian Defence Academy Adjutant; commanding officer, 515 Signal Regiment; commander, 53 Signals Brigade; principal staff officer to the chief of army staff; coordinator, Nigerian Army Aviation; theatre commander, Operation Lafiya Dole; force commander, Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF); and the chief of Defence Training and Operations. Similarly, before his most recent posting, General Ibrahim Attahiru held top military positions, including serving as deputy director, Office of the Military Secretary; spokesperson and director, Army Public Relations; commanding officer, 146 Battalion in the Bakassi Peninsula; commander, 13 Brigade (Pulo Shield) in the Niger Delta; and the general officer commanding, 82nd Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu. He was also deputy chief of Policy and Plans at the Army Headquarters; chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation; and chief of Defence Logistics, at Defence Headquarters Abuja. In terms of foreign operations, both Irabor and Attahiru in their follow-follow-brotherhood have undergone tours of duty with the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and served in peacekeeping with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), where they were honoured with medals and awards at various times. The two Generals brought relative stability to the North-East region while they were theatre commanders of the Armys counter-insurgency effort at different periods. Even with their closely related professional attainments, yet in terms of personal dispositions, Irabor could be diplomatic in approach on necessary exigencies, while Attahiru is noted as being quite rigid on the levels of military discipline and operations. In fact, Irabor, as the theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole in 2016, was responsible for the capture of Alargano forest, the acclaimed spiritual base of Boko Haram, and the rescue of thousands of civilians, including two Chibok girls earlier abducted by terrorists. He also led the MNJTF in the clearance and domination of the towns of Gashigar, Arege and Metele in the North-East, as well as the destruction of several terrorist camps and IED-making factories in the Lake Chad Basin. Meanwhile, as theatre commander, Attahiru created dugouts along the crossing points of the Boko Haram terrorists, to deny the group freedom of action and stem the conduct of their nefarious activities, before launching Mobile Strike Teams (MSTs) to reinforce the Mobile Brigade Concept (MBC) adopted in the theatre to facilitate the quick defeat of the terrorists. At least five top commanders of Boko Haram and over 70 of their fighters were killed in the offensive, while 72 other members of the terror group surrendered to the Nigerian troops through the non-kinetic and coordinated media operations he commissioned. Even with their closely related professional attainments, yet in terms of personal dispositions, Irabor could be diplomatic in approach on necessary exigencies, while Attahiru is noted as being quite rigid on the levels of military discipline and operations. With the appointment of these new service chiefs, the next counter-insurgency campaign should not only be aimed at the deadly Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists but it must also be targeted at their informants and the communities that harbour terrorists. It is undeniable that terrorists do not drop from outer space to launch their attacks on troops, travellers and other innocent citizens, as they are also located in the same communities that Nigerian troops are trying to protect. ADVERTISEMENT Therefore, in the two remaining years of President Buharis administration, the military should deploy sophisticated surveillance equipment for intelligence gathering, and to tackle informants and communities that are protecting and harbouring terrorists. It is high time the government puts an end to these treasonable acts of sabotage of the security and well-being of the country, which also undermines the effectiveness of our gallant forces and leads to the unfortunate erosion of their numbers. The new service chiefs, including Rear Admiral Auwal Z. Gambo, the chief of Naval Staff, and Air-Vice Marshal Isiaka O. Amao, the chief of Air Staff, should be aware that is not how long they are in office that really matters, but the swiftness of the sea-change in the impact that they bring to bear on Nigerias deeply deteriorating security situation, towards the reclamation of national safety and stability. As they set out in their new, even if highly formidable engagements, may the best of their efforts be all that our country needs in restoring its balance. Yushau A. Shuaib is author of An Encounter with the Spymaster; www.YAShuaib.com Former Seattle Seahawk Chad Wheeler pled not guilty on Monday to a charge of felony domestic violence along with a charge of resisting arrest stemming from an alleged assault of his girlfriend in January. Wheeler, an offensive lineman, is facing two felony charges - first-degree domestic violence assault and domestic violence unlawful imprisonment, along with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. Wheeler has been out of jail since posting a $400,000 bail on Jan. 26. Wheeler was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence Jan. 23. Wheeler was accused of choking the woman, leaving her unconscious. According to court documents filed by the King County Prosecuting Attorneys office, Wheeler, who is physically conditioned and trained to compete at the highest level of professional sports, strangled, suffocated and beat the victim into unconsciousness -- twice -- both times leaving her for dead as blood poured from her nose and mouth, and into her stomach and lungs. The victim, with her left arm in a sling, was present in court on Monday and a statement was read on her behalf. The statement expressed the victims desire for Wheeler to be jailed and she does not feel safe when he is not in custody. Chad is out of custody staying in a hotel watching this play out on social media, she wrote in her statement to the court. This current status places my safety at risk, and I do not believe that a protective order or a condition of release is sufficient to keep me safe. Wheelers next court date is a hearing set for Feb. 11 and a trial is expected to begin April 6. The Seahawks waived Wheeler following his arrest. -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on his racial equity agenda in the State Dining Room of the White House on Jan. 26, 2021. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images) Biden Proclaims Racial Equity as Goal Of the Whole of Government President Joe Biden has proclaimed a commitment to embed the quasi-Marxist equity ideology throughout the government. We need to make the issue of racial equity not just an issue for any one department of government; it has to be the business of the whole of government, Biden said in remarks on Jan. 26 before signing an executive order and three memoranda. In a related release, the administration said that systemic racism and discrimination in our economy, laws, and institutions have put the promise of America out of reach for too many families of color, promising to take steps to root out inequity from our economy. Equity is a concept tied to the critical theory, which slices up society into identity groups based on race, gender, sexual proclivities, and other factors, while dividing the groups into oppressed and oppressors, similar to how Marxism labels people as oppressors or the oppressed based on class. In political parlance, equity commonly refers to equality of outcome, rather than equal treatment. The ideology assumes that if an oppressed group on average gets a worse life outcome, its primarily because of systemic discrimination by an oppressor group. Biden highlighted that black and Hispanic Americans have higher unemployment rates and higher rates of contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, and prompted the audience to imagine what would happen if the government provided pre-kindergarten to all children, gave young people access to start-up capital, and enabled everybody to buy a home. Housing is a right in America, Biden proclaimed. He touted his earlier executive order that will, for the first time, advance equity for all throughout our federal policies and institutions as well as his reversal of the executive order of his predecessor, President Donald Trump, that banned federal agencies, contractors, subcontractors, and grantees from instructing their employees to follow the tenets of critical theory. Biden further highlighted his decision to abolish Trumps 1776 Commission, which was tasked to advise the president on the meaning of the American founding and issued a report on the matter. Biden called the commission counter-factual. Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies, he said. The commission pointed out that the current identity-based ideology is mutually exclusive with the American founding ideals that all men are created equal, by substituting individual rights for rights dependent on ones identity group, according to Matthew Spalding, a professor of constitutional government at Hillsdale College and the executive director of the commission. You have rights because of your group, your ethnicity, your race, he said in a recent interview with The Epoch Times American Thought Leaders program. The ideology is oddly akin to the group rights argument leveled by John C. Calhoun, who served as vice president from 1825 to 1832, in defense of slavery, Spalding said. Bidens new executive actions include an executive order that cancels federal contracts with private prisons, calling it a first step to address systemic problems in our criminal justice system. Private prison operators condemned the move as a political gesture, since they house less than 10 percent of federal inmates, who will need to be moved to already overcrowded government facilities. Biden also signed a memorandum that directs federal agencies to report on their implementation of a 2000 executive order that directs them to have regular, meaningful, and robust talks with Native American tribes on federal actions that affect them. Another memorandum directs federal agencies to ensure that official actions, documents, and statements, including those that pertain to the COVID-19 pandemic, do not exhibit or contribute to racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The order could in effect cause government officials to avoid linking the CCP virus to its country of origin. Yet another memorandum directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to review whether to revoke two regulatory actions of the Trump administration. One, Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice, relaxed the rules for HUD grantees to prove that they are actively furthering the goals of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in housing based on race, sex, and other categories. Trumps HUD secretary, Ben Carson, said the agency no longer needed grantees to submit lengthy reports on how they intend to further fair housing, as the goals would be achieved by focusing on the administrations Opportunity Zones strategy instead. Another rule clarified what counts as discrimination based on disparate impact, giving entities accused of discrimination more tools to claim a valid defense (pdf). Lead Climate Change Specialist, Washington, United States Organization: The World Bank Country: United States City: Washington, United States Office: World Bank in Washington, United States Closing date: Thursday, 18 February 2021 Lead Climate Change Specialist Job #: req10721 Organization: World Bank Sector: Sustainable Development Grade: GH Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC,United States Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 2/18/2021 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. GLOBAL PRACTICES & CROSS-CUTTING SOLUTIONS AREAS The 14 GPs are: Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation; Governance; Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment; Poverty & Equity; Education; Health, Nutrition & Population; Social Protection & Jobs; Agriculture; Energy & Extractives; Environment & Natural Resources; Social; Urban, Rural & Resilience; Transport & Digital Development; Water. The 5 CCSAs are Climate Change; Fragility, Conflict & Violence; Gender; Infrastructure, PPPs & Guarantees; Knowledge Management. The new operating model is part of a broader internal reform aimed at delivering the best of the World Bank Group to our clients so that together we can achieve the twin goals of (1) ending extreme poverty by 2030 and (2) promote shared prosperity for the bottom 40% of the population in every developing country. REGIONAL CONTEXT: SOUTH ASIA The South Asia Region (SAR) has the largest concentration of poor people of any region, home to 2 billion people, with over 1 billion living under $2/day. It has had high growth of 6 percent average annual rate in the last 20 years, despite its poverty, conflict, and instability. The WBG is and will continue to be a key development partner in South Asia. The South Asia Region (SAR) strategy is based on three pillars promoting growth, enhancing social inclusion, and strengthening climate/environment. South Asia is home to some of the worlds countries most vulnerable to climate change and disasters. In the past decade alone, nearly 700 million people-- half of the Regions population-- were affected by one or more climate-related disasters. Now, changing weather patterns are expected to impact directly over 800 million people by 2050 and will continue to burden South Asian countries economies. Between 2000 and 2017, disasters caused by natural hazards in the Region caused damages worth $149.27 billion. World Bank estimates suggest that climate change could bring 62 million people below the extreme poverty line in the SAR by 2030, mostly caused by agricultural impacts. Hotspot areas with an overlap of extreme poverty and high vulnerability (for example, soil salinization in Bangladesh) already exist in the Region. More generally, coastal deltas in the Region are vulnerable to climate change impacts. Current trends in sea level rise could make parts of highly populated coastal areas uninhabitable in the future. On the energy side, the energy mix in the Region relies on coal; road transport is expensive, inefficient, and insufficient, and rapid urbanization continues to offer opportunities for engagement. Energy access remains a challenge in the Regions rural areas, offering opportunities for decentralized renewables and clean cooking The South Asia Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Unit (SSACD) is a highly decentralized team of about 35 technical professionals who work on strengthening SARs climate and disaster resilience through enhancing early warning and disaster preparedness, rapid response to disasters in the Region, including rapid damage assessments, structuring reconstruction efforts. SSACD, in cooperation with other GPs and CMUs, leads on the design of transformative climate action for SAR. This requires partnerships with countries to mobilize additional capital for mitigation and adaptation action in identified different priority actions in different countries. The unit is leading the effort to finalize and then implement the SAR Climate Change Action Plan that will demonstrate and support robust and transformative climate action by SAR countries in the lead-up to the Glasgow Climate Conference of the Parties (CoP) in November 2021 and beyond. SSACD is the responsible unit for supporting SAR teams in achieving the climate co-benefits (CCB) targets, which are counted as the portion of project financing that delivers either mitigation or adaptation benefits to project beneficiaries. SSACD seeks a highly qualified Lead Climate Change Specialist to provide analytical and operational leadership in the context of SSACDs business-lines. The incumbent would be a global thought leader in the climate change field and would be expected to play an influential integrator role both across SSACD business lines as well as linkages to the energy, environment, rural development, carbon, and other climate finance, etc. agendas across different units. DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES: The Lead Climate Change Specialist will report to the Practice Manager, SSACD. S/he will lead the units Climate Change team and will have the following responsibilities: Taking the lead role in the overall management and development of SSACDs climate change pipeline of activities (Loans, Grants, AAA, and TA), the achievement of the Regions climate co-benefit targets, ensuring quality and timely delivery of the teams activities across the South Asia region. This includes mobilization of a variety of increasingly innovative financing modalities for our clients, including CTF, Adaptation Fund, etc. and new market-based financing. Act as the focal point for the climate change agenda in SSACD and the department and contribute, jointly with staff across the department (including the economics and sectoral units) to the Regions engagement in this area. Lead on the dissemination and implementation of the SAR Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) TTL for flagship climate change projects/activities in SAR Supporting the inclusion of climate change concerns across the Regions portfolio by developing close and effective working relationships with other regional units within and outside of the Region Leveraging climate finance for Paris Alignment of Bank operations, including deepening engagement with other GPs to maximize the uptake of climate finance opportunities in operations; Explore and maximize synergies of different climate change initiatives across the GPs and CMUs in coordination with the Climate Change Group and Engaging with the countries in the Region in benefiting from the next generation carbon markets and supporting other GPs in leveraging the emerging carbon markets in their operations. Provide expert advice to client and counterpart organizations and Bank Management concerning national and climate change policy and operational issues. Leading the work on country dialogue and fostering and strengthening internal and external partnerships, with the central climate change units and Vice Presidency, donor countries, the public and private sector, research institutes, etc. Mentoring and providing guidance to junior staff. Working in close collaboration with the DRM team to identify opportunities to further develop the Regions Climate Change resilience program. Knowledge management - Leading in outreach and knowledge sharing with staff in SAR and across the Bank on good practices emerging from the Climate Change Global Practice and building of Climate Change resilience. Selection Criteria Candidates must meet the generic criteria for international level GH Masters degree (or equivalent) or above in a relevant or related discipline, e.g., economics, environmental sciences, environmental economics, and other climate change-related fields such as energy, transport, urban development, water, or agriculture and a minimum at least 12 years of global relevant experience. Deep multilateral operational experience is required for example: managing complex lending programs and policy dialog as TTL and/or as technical team member across preparation and implementation or in leading the preparation and dissemination of flagship climate related analytical work. A minimum of at least 12 years relevant professional experience in institutional and policy aspects of climate change policy and management or a related technical field. Direct experience supporting a country to prepare and/or implement its climate change strategy and action plan with an emphasis on mitigation efforts and climate finance mechanisms would be a significant plus. A strong track record in trust fund grant proposal submission and management is required Proven track record in delivering and disseminating complex reports and projects with high analytical rigor, leading and working in multi-disciplinary teams. Strong team building and mentoring skills. Excellent oral and written communications skills in English are essential. Demonstrated capacity for strategic thinking as well as innovative approaches to climate change challenges. WBG Core Competencies - https://bit.ly/2kbIA7O Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe. DRESDEN, Germany, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GEMoaB, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next-generation immunotherapies for hard-to-treat cancers, today announced interim data from the ongoing Phase I study of their lead asset UniCAR-T-CD123 in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (rrAML) at the Virtual 3rd EHA-EBMT European CAR-T-Cell Meeting, which is held from February 04-06, 2021. The data are being presented as oral presentation by Dr. Martin Wermke, University Hospital Dresden, Germany (February 05, 12:20 CET) and as a poster presentation by Dr. Sabrina Kraus, University Hospital Wurzburg, Germany (Abstract 68). "These clinical results present a promising step forward as we continue to evaluate the safety and efficacy of UniCAR-T-CD123," said Professor Gerhard Ehninger, Chief Medical Officer of GEMoaB. "We are highly encouraged by the fact that UniCAR-T-CD123 has demonstrated a favorable safety and efficacy profile in rrAML. The clinical data nicely confirm our UniCAR key platform claims and provide the clinical proof of UniCAR's rapid switch on/off and re-activation capability. We look forward to progressing our study and positioning UniCAR as a potentially superior cellular immunotherapy platform for patients with hard-to-treat advanced hematologic malignancies and solid tumors." Data highlights for the oral presentation titled: "Proof-of-Concept for Rapidly Switchable Universal CAR-T Platform with UniCAR-T-CD123 in Relapsed/Refractory AML" include: UniCAR-T-CD123 has been well tolerated to date with CRS (cytokine release syndrome) grade 1-2; no ICU admissions or dose limiting toxicities have been observed by the cut-off date; UniCAR-T-CD123 dose escalation is ongoing Robust expansion of UniCAR-T-CD123 in peripheral blood and bone marrow, comparable to conventional CD123-targeting CAR-T products Rapid recovery of neutrophils after stop of treatment with targeting module TM123 in all treated patients Encouraging efficacy signals in the first 3 fully treated patients, with 1 PR (partial remission) and 2 CRi (complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery) observed The poster named "Re-activation of UniCAR-T-Cells with 2nd Cycle of Targeting Module TM123 in a Patient with Relapsed/Refractory AML" is summarizing data obtained on re-activation and re-expansion of UniCAR-T cells, leading to a CRi in the respective patient. Both presentations will be available on the GEMoaB website following the congress. About the UniCAR-T-CD123 Phase IA Study This first-in-human phase I study is an open-label, non-randomized, dose-finding study designed to evaluate the safety and activity of UniCAR-T-CD123 in up to 16 CD123 positive patients with relapsed/refractory AML. Its purpose is to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) as well as Dose limiting toxicities (DLT) of the combined application of a single dose of UniCAR-T and the continuous infusion of TM123 over 25 days. Application follows post bridging therapy and lymphodepletion. The study also investigates response rates, response duration, persistence of UniCAR-T cells over time as well as the ability to rapidly switch UniCAR-T cells on and off in case of side effects through stopping TM infusion. The study takes place at selected Phase I, Acute Leukemia and CAR-T experienced University centers in Germany. The study is supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (project "TurbiCAR"). To learn more about the trial, please visit clinicaltrials.gov. About UniCAR GEMoaB is developing a rapidly switchable universal CAR-T platform, UniCAR, to improve the therapeutic window and increase efficacy and safety of CAR-T cell therapies in challenging cancers, including acute leukemias and solid tumors. Conventional CAR-T cells depend on the presence and direct binding of cancer antigens for activation and proliferation. An inherent key feature of the UniCAR platform is a rapidly switchable on/off mechanism (less than 4 hours after interruption of TM supply) enabled by the short pharmacokinetic half-life and fast internalization of soluble adaptors termed TMs. These TMs provide the antigen-specificity to activate UniCAR gene-modified T-cells (UniCAR-T) and consist of a highly flexible antigen binding moiety, linked to a small peptide motif recognized by UniCAR-T. About GEMoaB GEMoaB is a privately-owned, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is aiming to become a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. By advancing its proprietary UniCAR, RevCAR and ATAC platforms, the company will discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer patients with a high unmet medical need. GEMoaB has a broad pipeline of product candidates in pre-clinical and clinical development for the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors. Its clinical stage assets GEM333, an Affinity-Tailored Adaptor for T-Cells (ATAC) with binding specificity to CD33 in relapsed/refractory AML, and GEM3PSCA, an ATAC with binding specificity to PSCA for the treatment of castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer and other PSCA expressing late stage solid tumors, are currently investigated in Phase I studies and globally partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Phase IA dose-finding studies of the first UniCAR assets UniCAR-T-CD123 in hematological malignancies and UniCAR-T-PSMA in solid tumors are currently recruiting patients. Manufacturing expertise, capability and capacity are key for developing cellular immunotherapies for cancer patients. GEMoaB has established a preferred partnership with its sister company Cellex in Cologne, a world leader in manufacturing hematopoietic blood stem cell products and a leading European CMO for CAR-T cells, co-operating in that area with several large biotech companies. More information can be found at www.gemoab.com. For further information please contact Jana Fiebiger [email protected] Tel.: +49 351 4466-45012 Investor Contact Michael Pehl [email protected] Tel.: +49 351 4466-45030 Forward-looking Statements. This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results and matters discussed in the forward looking statements. Forward looking statements include statements concerning our plans, goals, future events and or other information that is not historical information. The Company does not assume any liability whatsoever for forward-looking statements. The Company assumes that potential partners will perform and rely on their own independent analyses as the case may be. The Company will be under no obligation to update the Information. SOURCE GEMoaB Related Links https://www.gemoab.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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said the state has surpassed a quarter of a million vaccines and is working to get more doses. He called the news a major milestone during a public briefing on Tuesday. Despite logistical challenges, the governor said Mississippi will supply 30,000 to 49,000 doses of the vaccine this week, with 60,000 more to come in the weeks ahead. "As you know, the state-run sites have an even more logistical challenge this week when compared to last week and the week before that, he said. Because now, we're not only providing first doses at our vaccination sites, we're now also providing second doses." This week there have already been approximately 30,000 first-dose appointments and approximately 19,000 second-dose appointments. This could cause some logistical problems at some sites, he said. He has been in contact with President Joe Biden's administration about efforts to get more doses into the state. "The primary take away from that particular call is what we've been saying in Mississippi for quite some time, and that is we really need the administration to focus on the supply issues, focus on manufacturing of the vaccine much more so than distribution." Reeves said he believes the administration will likely increase vaccine supply a little bit next week by partnering in an additional federal pharmacy program aimed at fighting racial disparities in getting the vaccine. Because Mississippi is a very rural state, the governor said this could make it hard to place additional vaccines in some areas. Open this link to schedule an appointment online in Mississippi. Mississippi COVID-19 vaccination report (updated daily by MSDH). Report listed beneath "Statewide COVID-19 Data and Reports." Advertisement Matt Hancock today claimed he pushed the Government into the massive order for 100million doses of Oxford University's Covid vaccine instead of the originally planned 30million, saying he refused to 'settle for less'. The staggering order has proven to be a stroke of good fortune for Britain, with the 'holy grail' jab successful in rigorous trials and quick to get approval. It is now getting delivered at the break-neck speed of two million doses per week. And the Health Secretary said a landmark study published last night, which showed a single dose of the jab is 76 per cent effective for 12 weeks and that two-doses can cut transmission of the virus by up to two thirds, meant 'people right around the world can be confident in this Oxford vaccine'. The results have piled further pressure on Boris Johnson to end the lockdown. Tory backbencher John Redwood said the findings were 'more reason to plan [a] safe return to work and school'. Mr Hancock's comment came after European leaders snubbed the jab for elderly people, with Germany, France, Sweden and Poland saying they won't use the vaccine on over-65s because there isn't enough data to prove it works. French President Emmanuel Macron ruffled feathers this week by dubbing the jab 'quasi-ineffective' for elderly people. When asked what he thought of Mr Macron's comment, one of Oxford's vaccine makers Dr Andrew Pollard said on Radio 4: 'I don't understand what the statement means.' Europe has struggled to get its hands on the Oxford/AstraZeneca's vaccine because batches being developed on the continent have had lower yields than those in Britain, which triggered a bitter row last week. Britain's huge, home-grown and protected supply now puts the nation in the best position for vaccinations in the entire of Europe. Mr Hancock, speaking on LBC Radio, said he had taken inspiration from the 2011 film Contagion, which taught him there would be a scramble for jabs. He said: 'In the film it shows that the moment of highest stress around the vaccination programme is not, in fact, before it's rolled out when actually its the scientists and manufacturers working at pace it's afterwards, when there is a huge row about the order of priority. 'So not only in this country did I insist that we ordered enough for every adult to have their two but, also, we asked for that clinical advice on that prioritisation very early and set it out in public so that there was no big row about the order of priority.' Detailed researched showed last night a single dose of Oxford's jab gave 76 per cent of people total protection against developing Covid symptoms before their second jab, and the two-dose course appeared to stop two thirds of people (67 per cent) from catching coronavirus at all. The study was welcomed by ministers because it reinforced the science behind the controversial move to extend the gap between doses from three weeks to 12, Mr Hancock said. And he added that discovering it could stop transmission which was previously unknown could 'help us all to get out of this pandemic'. Mr Hancock said today: '[This study] does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well, it protects you because there were no hospitalisations amongst those who had the jab and it slows transmission by around two thirds.' He added that the science is clear that it works on 'adults of all ages', while academics behind the jab said regulators across the world have given it the green-light for over-65s. On Mr Macron's comment he added: 'My view is that we should listen to the scientists... and the science on this one was already pretty clear. And then, with this publication overnight, was absolutely crystal clear that the Oxford vaccine not only works, but works well.' In another ray of hope from Oxford's research, Dr Andrew Pollard one of the lead Oxford researchers said he is confident that the current jabs will still prevent severe Covid in people who get infected with mutated variants of the virus. However, he admitted the South African variant 'will have a big impact on the immune response from all the vaccines', suggesting the jab may not be as effective in curbing transmission of mutated strains. But the prospect still looms that new vaccines will be needed for more future roll-outs as medics look to keep on top of the evolving virus to stop it getting past immunity developed to older versions of the disease. Experts have suggested a yearly vaccination campaign like flu may be the answer, or that boosters will be need to tack on protection for new variants. Only time will tell how long the current jabs give immunity for because the current crop of vaccines have only existed since last spring. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today hit back against French President Emmanuel Macron's claim that the Oxford vaccine was 'quasi-ineffective' for elderly people, as he said last night's research makes it 'absolutely crystal clear' that the jab works. Dr Andrew Pollard, the lead investigator of Oxford's study, said of Mr Macron's comment: 'I don't understand what the statement means' Research found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was 84% effective at preventing Covid-19 with doses 12 weeks apart and it appeared to get better the further apart the doses were (shown graph top left, how the protection level changed based on the dose spacing). And it also proved that there was a high level of protection from disease for weeks and even months after even just a single dose (bottom graph, showing how the efficacy of the vaccine remained high for almost 100 days after dose one) Research published in January by the University of Warwick suggested that if a vaccine could prevent 65% of transmission, as Oxford now says its vaccine does, the country's death rate could be kept to the low hundreds per day or fewer from late March onwards if the rule of six is kept in place. The model is based on a large majority of the population having a vaccine with that level of effectiveness Dr Pollard also hit back against claims from Europe that the vaccine didn't work. He said on Radio 4: 'The European Medicines Agency has approved the vaccine for use in all ages in all countries in Europe, the MHRA has approved for all ages, and another 25 or so regulators elsewhere in the world have also approved the vaccine for all ages. 'But individual countries have their own JCVI equivalent committees and they have to look at what vaccines they have available, what they make of the data and whats best for their population. So, thats obviously up to them.' The national effort to suppress the virus was given another injection of optimism yesterday when a study found the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab had a strong impact on reducing transmission. Analysis also found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. Mr Hancock described the findings as 'absolutely superb', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' A scientific paper published by Oxford University researchers themselves, including Dr Pollard, found that a single shot of its coronavirus vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and may have a 'substantial effect' on transmission. HUNDREDS OF VACCINE DOSES WASTED AFTER FRIDGE 'SWITCHED OFF' OVERNIGHT Hundreds of Covid vaccine doses have reportedly been thrown away after a fridge was turned off by accident at NHS vaccination centre in Rotherham. Around 450 doses of Pfizer's jab, which must be kept frozen or refrigerated up until moments before it is used, were left unusable by the error, the Press Association reports. Sources told the agency that 90 vials, each of which contain five doses, were in the fridge when it was turned off overnight. The blunder, which happened on January 7-8, was discovered by workers the next morning. A spokesperson for the local NHS board said: 'Following a power-related issue with the fridge at a vaccination service site, a number of Pfizer vaccine vials were compromised as a result of not being stored at the required temperature overnight, which meant staff were unable to administer that batch of vaccines. 'However, thanks to our partners across Rotherham, we were able to ensure all patients booked in at the site received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as planned.' Supplies of the vaccine bound for somewhere else had to be diverted so that the patients booked in at Montgomery Hall, a community centre, could still get their jabs the next day. Vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be stored below 8C in a fridge at vaccine centres for a few days after they have been removed from cold storage at minus 70C. Guidance from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) now states that up to six doses can be extracted per vial, though this was not policy at the time of the incident. Advertisement In a huge boost to the UK's immunisation drive, analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. When the second dose is administered after three months, the jab's efficacy is bumped up to 82.4 per cent, according to the study, which has been submitted to The Lancet for publication. The results, from more than 17,000 trial volunteers, suggest Britain's vaccination gamble to delay its dosing regimen widening the gap from three weeks to 12 weeks will pay off. Dr Andrew Pollard, who was the lead investigator on the Oxford trial, said today that vaccine makers would have to adapt to the ever-mutating virus but he hoped these original vaccines would give strong enough to immunity to prevent severe illness. Speaking about a concerning mutation first found on the South African variant and apparently capable of reducing the effectiveness of vaccines or natural immunity, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'That mutation is a really interesting one because it is in a bit of the spike protein that most of us try and make antibodies against, and so its highly likely that that will have a big impact on the immune response from all the vaccines... 'I think all developers are looking at updated vaccines at this moment so there will be vaccines that are tested and thats a relatively short process in order to make sure that we are prepared if these mutations result in ongoing severe disease. 'But I think there is a bit of hope in that, when we look at studies that have been done of the vaccines from any country in the world, including those with the variants, if they look at severe disease in those studies then were still seeing very good protection.' Ministers are pleased with Oxford's findings because they support the Government's controversial decision to push back people's second doses to get wider vaccine coverage quicker. Regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions. Analysis of PCR coronavirus swab tests carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford's trial suggested the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the findings as 'hugely encouraging', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' Dr Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said the study suggested the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could be the 'holy grail'. He added: 'The data support the recommendation to delay the second dose of the Oxford vaccine out to 12 weeks. 'If these vaccines reduce transmission to the extent reported, it will mean that the easing of social restrictions will be enabled sooner than if we have to wait for herd immunity, which may never in fact be achieved because of insufficient vaccine population coverage. 'That would be the holy grail of the global vaccine rollout, and these data bring us one step closer.' Since numerous vaccines have been shown to block symptomatic Covid, officials have turned their attention to how effective jabs are at stopping spread altogether. Vaccines that can both prevent serious illness and make a dent in the virus' ability to spread will help drive down Britain's epidemic much quicker. Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and co-author of the latest analysis, said: 'These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA [the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] and the EMA [European Medicines Agency] to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. 'It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.' As part of the latest analysis, Oxford researchers went back through their vaccine trial data - which aimed to test how well the two-dose regimen worked - to see how much protection a single shot provides, and for how long. The research looked at 17,177 participants from three trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa who were monitored weekly throughout the months-long studies They found the vaccine had an efficacy of 54.9 per cent when it was administered in two doses within six weeks of each other. This rose to 82.4 per cent when the second dose was pushed back 12 weeks or more. Scientists are still not certain as to why the longer space between doses provides more protection. One of the prevailing theories is that giving a second dose too soon can interrupt the immune system before it's had the chance to fully process the first one. Creating the initial antibodies and memory cells after the first vaccine can take weeks, which is also why there is a lag before protection is achieved. The finding is significant because Government vaccine advisers have recommended that the second dose can be delayed up to 12 weeks in a bid to get more people protected quickly. Britain came under international criticism, including from the World Health Organization (WHO), for the move because the original vaccine trials did not specifically look at this dosing regimen. Only four local authorities recorded more cases in the seven days to January 28 (left) than in the seven days to January 21 (right) A single shot of Pfizer's Covid vaccine might NOT be enough to protect over-80s from South African variant, Cambridge study finds Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine could leave some elderly patients vulnerable to the South African Covid variant, research suggests. Laboratory tests by Cambridge University found that a single shot of the jab might not stimulate a strong enough immune response to kill the new strain in over-80s. Antibody levels only appeared to be protective after a second dose but the researchers admitted the jab is still likely to be 'less effective' when dealing with the E484K mutation on the South African variant's spike protein. Experts believe the mutation which is also present in the Brazilian Covid variants helps the strain 'hide' from the body's natural defences. The news is particularly worrying as the UK Government has this week warned that cases of the South Africa variant are cropping up in people who haven't travelled there, and the same E484K mutation is also appearing on unrelated cases caused by the Kent variant and even older versions of the virus. Top Government advisers and vaccine manufacturers insist the current crop of jabs should still work against the variant when given in the full two doses because the antibodies they make can still stop the disease from taking hold in the body. Antibodies disease-fighting proteins created by vaccines and in response to previous infection are also not the immune system's only layer of defence. Scientists reacting to the findings said now was 'a good time to switch' away from Britain's one-dose strategy, which aims to get wider vaccine coverage quicker. Regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved at the end of December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in a bid to give partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible and drive down hospital admissions. And the strategy has been extremely successful, with 9.6million people now vaccinated with at least a single dose of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's jab. Advertisement Another significant finding in the Oxford study is that the vaccine is likely to significantly reduce transmission of the virus. PCR swabs showed there was a 67 per cent reduction in positive tests in those who had been vaccinated - in another sign the UK's inoculation gamble has paid off. A positive PCR would signal that even someone who is vaccinated and immune to the disease is carrying fragments of the virus in their nose or throat which they could pass to others. Reducing Covid's spread is critical for country's to achieve 'herd immunity', when so many people are immune that a disease peters out. In the coming days, the Oxford researchers hope to also report data regarding the new variants, and expect the findings to be broadly similar to those already reported by fellow vaccine developers. Studies of approved jabs by Pfizer and Moderna have shown that the vaccines can stimulate a strong enough immune response to neutralise the South African and Brazilian variants. But there are still question marks about how protective a single dose of either jabs will be effective against the worrying mutant strains. Results from laboratory tests by Cambridge University published today found that a single shot of the Pfizer jab might not stimulate a strong enough immune response to kill the South African strain in over-80s. Antibody levels only appeared to be protective after a second dose but the researchers admitted the jab is still likely to be 'less effective' when dealing with the E484K mutation on the South African variant's spike protein. Experts believe the mutation which is also present in the Brazilian Covid variants helps the strain 'hide' from the body's natural defences. The news is particularly worrying as the UK Government has this week warned that cases of the South Africa variant are cropping up in people who haven't travelled there, and the same E484K mutation is also appearing on unrelated cases caused by the Kent variant and even older versions of the virus. The UK's reproduction 'R' rate is believed to have been wrestled down to between 0.7 and 1.1, meaning infection rates are falling or virtually flat. Yesterday 16,840 new cases were recorded, marking the lowest daily rise for eight weeks and offering more evidence that restrictions are inhibiting the spread of the disease. The 1,449 new deaths also heralded a drop of 11.2 per cent from last Tuesday's toll of 1,631 fatalities due to the disease. The PHE data showed Knowsley in Merseyside continues to have the highest infection rate in England, with 922 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 28 the equivalent of 611.2 cases per 100,000 people. However this is down from 898.2 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 21. Sandwell in the West Midlands has the second highest rate, down from 840.6 to 546.8, with 1,796 new cases. Slough in Berkshire is in third place, down from 807.8 to 543.0, with 812 new cases. Devon boasts the three areas with the smallest coronavirus presence, with Torridge only recording 28 cases per 100,000. Allison Langdon brutally shut down controversial MP Craig Kelly on national television - before he was hauled into the Prime Minister's office for a dressing down. Mr Kelly has caused outrage over the past few months by promoting unproven drugs to treat Covid-19 and calling into the question the safety of vaccines. Langdon grilled the Liberal MP on Nine's Today show where she told him: 'Craig, I looked into absolute everything that you have put forward last night. Every single theory was debunked.' Member for Hughes Craig Kelly and Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek clashed in Parliament on Wednesday morning Mr Kelly denied he was spreading misinformation and said that Newcastle University Professor Robert Clancy has supported the use of hydroxychloroquine, a controversial treatment drug which he has advocated. Langdon told him to stop promoting studies that have not been peer-reviewed on his Facebook page, which has 90,000 followers, and urged him to stop questioning the vaccines. 'Craig, we have seen deaths from Covid, we've seen sickness. We've seen mass job losses, hundreds of billions of dollars spent in government stimulus, all our hopes are riding on a vaccine. You need to be quiet,' she said. The host also told Mr Kelly he was in a position of authority and was 'failing in that duty'. But again Mr Kelly insisted he had done nothing wrong. 'I've been very disappointed about the Labor Party making this a partisan issue and attacking me and smearing me and slandering me and actually misrepresenting what I say,' he said. 'All I've done is post a peer-reviewed article, the opinions of expert professors and medical experts from around the world. The idea that I somehow have been posting misinformation is absolutely misinformation itself.' After the interview, Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek confronted Mr Kelly, who represents Hughes in south Sydney, in the corridors of Parliament. 'My mum lives in your electorate and I don't want her exposed to people who are not going to be vaccinated because of these crazy conspiracy theories that you're spreading,' she said. Mr Kelly replied: 'You're the one doing that because you're the one spreading misinformation.' Ms Plibersek asked Mr Kelly if Scott Morrison agrees with him and the Liberal MP replied: 'The prime minister can speak for himself.' Later she called him a 'taxpayer-funded nong' and urged Mr Morrison to 'tell him to shut up'. After the clash, Mr Kelly was hauled into the prime minister's office where Mr Morrison told him to restrain his social media posts and focus on supporting the government's vaccine rollout. Mr Kelly released a statement after the meeting, saying: 'I agreed to support the government's vaccine rollout which has been endorsed by medical experts. 'I believe that the spread of misinformation can damage the success of our public health response during the pandemic.' In Question Time on Wednesday Mr Morrison distanced himself from Mr Kelly, saying: 'It is true that views expressed by the member for Hughes do not align with my views or the views of the advice that has been provided to be by the Chief Medical Officer.' The Liberal MP, who also denies climate change, has insisted he is not an anti-vaxer but has cast doubt on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and previously said 'I'm waiting for all the evidence to come in' before taking one. On Monday he was interviewed on a podcast with former celebrity Pete Evans, who has been banned from Facebook for spreading anti-vax theories. Ms Plibersek (right) asked Mr Kelly (left) if Scott Morrison agrees with him and the Liberal MP replied: 'The prime minister can speak for himself' Tanya Plibersek vs Craig Kelly in the press gallery halls. @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/uNjxR5ygd0 Eliza Edwards (@ElizaEdNews) February 2, 2021 Mr Kelly has repeatedly endorsed the use of drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to treat Covid-19, even though reputable global studies have found them to be ineffective and potentially harmful. He has also claimed that making children wear masks was akin to child abuse. On Monday Mr Morrison refused to condemn Mr Kelly, instead saying 'he's doing a fantastic job for Hughes'. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the Liberal MP's actions were undermining the vaccination effort and endangering people's health. 'Craig Kelly is not doing a fantastic job. Craig Kelly is doing dangerous job,' he told reporters on Tuesday. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said it was up to voters in Mr Kelly's electorate to judge his statements. 'Craig is not a doctor and if you're going to take medical advice from Craig, well you might as well take medical advice from me,' he told Sky News. Good morning, North State. Here's what you need to know to start your day on Feb. 3. Chico City Council votes to ban needle distribution program The needle distribution program is banned in the city of Chico. This comes after a 5 to 2 City Council vote Tuesday night, permanently ending such programs in the city limits. Council members Alex Brown and Scott Huber voted against it. In 2019, the state health department approved a Chico needle distribution program. A lawsuit ended that program last year. Chico joins Paradise in joint sewage system study Also, in Tuesdays Chico city council meeting, members voted to join the Town of Paradise in helping to fund a $300,000 study into a joint sewage system. The study will take 18 months. Paradise town leaders say the sewer system is crucial to the town's rebuilding efforts. Chico voted to join only the study and not the actual project. Homeless shelter plans moving forward in Chico Council in Chico is also setting plans in motion to move forward with possible sheltering options for the homeless. In a 4 to 3 vote, council members decided to move forward with authorizing the Silver Dollar BMX property for a potential shelter. The council also voted to look into using the Silver Dollar fairgrounds. Council members say it could cost $1.2 million to set that sight up. California COVID-19 infections, hospital cases are plunging California reported just over 12,000 coronavirus cases Tuesday. That is the lowest daily figure since November, and it's making a difference in the hardest hit hospitals where ICU availability has been on the rise. Despite this change - state leaders say, to not let our guards down. Applications back open for CA relief grants The second round of applications for the California relief grant program is now open. The deadline to apply is next week, Feb. 8. Click here for all the information. Virtual PG&E wildfire safety town hall Today at noon PG&E officials will hold a virtual meeting. Some of the topics include wildfire prevention, an overview of last year's public safety power shutoffs, and vegetation management. Click here for information on taking part in this virtual town hall. The U.K. coronavirus strain thats sparked concern around the globe has picked up another mutation that appears to make the virus more resistant to vaccines. Scientists have identified the mutation on 11 different sequences of the new strain, Public Health England said in an updated report Monday. The findings came from a data set of more than 200,000 sequences. The mutation is present in the variants that arose in South Africa and Brazil, and is thought to help the virus resist vaccines and antibody therapies -- and infect people who already fought off Covid. The change is a worrying development, Julian Tang, a professor and clinical virologist at the University of Leicester, said in remarks on the U.K.s Science Media Centre. The reassurances from recent studies showing that the mRNA vaccines will still offer optimum protection against the original U.K. variant may no longer apply. Its unclear whether the mutation occurred on its own or after a process of recombination with one of the South African or Brazilian variants, a process common with influenza viruses but not with coronaviruses, according to Tang. The fact that the mutation arose on British soil suggests that travel curbs to limit the movement of people from South Africa may not be enough, according to Sam Fazeli, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. Instead, theres a growing need for vaccine makers to design updates to their shots that target the new strains. Last week, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc. both announced results from late-stage clinical trials that showed that their respective vaccines were somewhat less effective in South Africa. The rise of new coronavirus strains has prompted calls for vaccinating people more quickly before mutations become widespread. Drugmakers say theyre working on booster shots that could enhance the potency of their vaccines against the new mutations. The disclosure of the new mutation comes as the virus is in overall retreat across the U.K., which on Monday reported the lowest number of new daily cases since December. COLUMBIA A South Carolina judge who's married to Columbia's mayor fell short in her bid to leap to the S.C. Court of Appeals after being targeted by a conservative group who claimed she is a "liberal Democratic activist" and urged Republican lawmakers to oppose her. Circuit Court Judge DeAndrea Benjamin lost to Family Court Judge Jay Vinson of Florence for a spot on the state's second highest bench, the Court of Appeals. State lawmakers voted 94 to 63 in favor of Vinson on Feb. 3. The race became unusually partisan in the final few weeks amid external pressure from a conservative advocacy group. Greenville businessman John Warren, who unsuccessfully challenged Gov. Henry McMaster in the 2018 GOP primary and is considering another campaign in 2022, went after Benjamin as a "liberal Democratic activist," citing donations to Democratic candidates from her former law firm, which she left when she first became a judge a decade ago. His political organization, "South Carolina's Conservative Future," sent mailers and email blasts to supporters urging them to contact lawmakers and tell them to oppose Benjamin. Benjamin is the wife of Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a high-profile S.C. Democrat. But Warren said that being Benjamin's spouse was not relevant to his opposition to her. Steve Benjamin is expected to announce Thursday that he will not seek another term as mayor. Warren's effort against DeAndrea Benjamin appeared to work or at least contribute to her loss as Republicans overwhelmingly voted for Vinson. State fundraising records show Vinson's former law firm, which he left in 2004, also mostly donated to Democratic candidates. Vinson, 60, said he was "honored and "humbled" by the General Assembly's vote to elect him, but he emphasized he had no involvement in Warren's effort. "I don't think it's appropriate for outside parties to become involved," Vinson said. "This is a legislative process. It is their purview. If their constituents have an opinion, that's fine, but for outside sources that are not their constituents, that's not appropriate." Benjamin, 48, said she believes in the independence of the judiciary. "I hate the fact that the judicial races today turned into partisan races, but that's what's happened," Benjamin said. She did not rule out the possibility that she may seek a spot on the Court of Appeals again in the future. Steve Benjamin also bemoaned how the race had become partisan but declined to opine on why that had happened, including whether it was because of her relationship with him. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! "But it is prayerfully not a demarcation point and we haven't crossed the Rubicon on how important it is that we have an independent, nonpartisan judiciary," Benjamin said. "I'll leave it there." DeAndrea Benjamin would have been the first African American woman on the Court of Appeals in South Carolina history, a point her supporters emphasized as they sought to elevate her. Vinson is White. In a tweet, Warren called the result a "huge win" for South Carolina, and he thanked people who contacted their legislators to oppose Benjamin, as well as the lawmakers who had "the backbone to stand against liberal activism and the status quo." "When the GOP unites around conservative principles, our state can achieve great things," Warren said. In the only other race Warren weighed in on, his efforts did not succeed. Lawmakers voted 84 to 72 to elect Robert Bonds to fill a 14th Circuit Court vacancy over Tameaka Legette, even after Warren pointed out that Bonds donated to Democrat Vincent Sheheen in his 2010 and 2014 campaigns for governor against Republican Nikki Haley. South Carolina is one of just two states, along with Virginia, in which lawmakers elect judges. The typically perfunctory votes of some of the state's most powerful judges is just one part of the unusual, secrecy-shrouded selection process for state judges that minimizes public input and accountability, The Post and Courier found in a joint investigation with ProPublica in 2019. The reporting revealed how the system, steeped in politics, had undercut transparency and accountability. Among other things, the news organizations found that the states circuit judges have faced more than 1,000 ethics complaints, yet not a single one had been publicly disciplined, suspended or removed in almost 30 years. At the same time, Statehouse judicial elections have occurred with no public debate and candidates are elevated to the bench through cursory votes. Incumbents and candidates for those seats are first screened by the 10-member Judicial Merit Selection Commission. Defenders of the system insist theres nothing wrong with legislators lining up votes or suggesting candidates withdraw to spare them the potential embarrassment of a loss. But some lawmakers decry the process. They say it shuts the public out of the selection process for some of the states most consequential public officials. The states circuit judges preside over all felony and major civil cases. Paxton, IL (60957) Today Clear skies. Low around 40F. NNE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 40F. NNE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. MEDFORD, Ore. Jackson County is working with Asante, the Oregon National Guard, and Providence to set up a second mass vaccination event at the Expo but this one will be specifically geared toward those who attended the last event and need to receive their second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. This second event is scheduled to be held at the Expo on February 11, 12, and 13 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It will be open only to those who received their first doses at the Expo at the end of January. "This event will NOT be open to individuals in Phase 1B, Groups 2-5, the general population, or anyone who is currently eligible and needs to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine," officials said. "This event is ONLY open to those who need the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine who were vaccinated at the Jackson County Expo on January 21, 22, or 23." RELATED: Jackson County, Asante, Providence submit request for second drive-thru vaccination event Attendees will be required to bring their COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card as proof to receive their second dose at the event. Anyone who does not have the card will need to verify their eligibility in another manner. "Many of you may already have an appointment at Asante or Providence for your second dose," Jackson County Public Health said in a statement. "Asante and Providence are redirecting all of these appointments to attend the second dose drive-through vaccination event at the Jackson County Expo. You do not need to call Asante or Providence to cancel your appointment. This has already been done for you." Eligible members of the community can visit the Asante vaccination event page to reschedule that appointment for a date and time at the Expo. Attendees will also need to bring the following documentation: Vaccine Administration Record Patient Billing Information ID COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card Under Oregon's current vaccination plan, school staff and childcare workers became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on January 25. People 80 and older become eligible the week of February 7, followed by progressively younger groups of seniors each week after. However, these plans may be hampered on the local level by the supply of vaccines. As of Tuesday, local vaccine providers were not yet scheduling appointments for these next groups of Phase 1b. A version of this story was published on Dec. 2, 2019 Much of New Jersey is digging out Tuesday from the first significant snowstorm of the year. Just dont forget about clearing snow and ice from vehicles, which is required by a state law that took effect 10 years ago. It was adopted in response to vehicles and pedestrians being struck by a wintry mix dislodged from fast-moving cars and trucks. Robert Sinclair, spokesperson for the American Automobile Association, offered an analogy a year ago in explaining the potential hazard. If youve got a bunch of ice and snow on top of your vehicle, youve got a contrail like a jet airliner at high altitude, Sinclair said. A ticketed driver faces a fine of from $25 to $75 even if none of the snow and ice actually flies off the vehicle, according to the statute. The potential penalty is steeper if dislodged snow and ice actually causes property damage or injury. Under those circumstances, drivers face a fine of between $200 and $1,000. For drivers of commercial motor vehicles, such as tractor trailers, fines range from $500 to $1,500. Steve Carrellas, a longtime advocate for the National Motorists Association, said in 2019 that the New Jersey law makes sense and most follow it, but that he hopes police use some discretion in enforcement. If I have powdered snow on top of my car, youre not going to get chunks flying off. When it gets to be like that, you hope that law enforcement uses good judgement, said Carrellas, the state chapters director of government and public affairs. More than 14,000 motorists in New Jersey have found guilty of violating the law, according to municipal court records. Sinclair said accumulated snow and ice is more likely to fly off as the vehicle warms, and that the danger is not limited to other drivers and pedestrian. If you hit the brakes, that comes sliding right in front of your windshield, Sinclair said, explaining that it would block the drivers view. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. 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You Are Here: After a year unlike any other, I am looking forward to 2021 with renewed hope and positivity. And Im not just talking about the COVID-19 vaccines that promise to control the pandemic and bring life back to (somewhat) normal. Im also hopeful for a renewed economy and global stability as the pandemic subsides and government as well as businesses return to business as usual. While virtually every market sector and segment has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, technology has seen an outsized disruption. From manufacturing to supply chain and logistics to retail and consumer demand, businesses have needed to pivot quickly not just once but often twice or three times. However, technology is already showing some positive indicators for the coming year and I see some clear trends in the data science space. Here are seven that are already beginning to emerge. Rather than decreasing investment in data science, the coronavirus pandemic will continue spurring companies to increase their investment. Organizations are making dramatic budget cuts in many areas in an effort to overcome the effects of COVID-19 and keep their business viable. Yet, in 2021, I predict that many companies will sustain or even increase their investment in data science. COVID-19 accelerated the Fortune 500s move to public cloud and modern data science tools in the rush to support remote workers. This was one of the last remaining barriers holding back outright data science investment. Now the seals broken, its easier for organizations to continue the investment, and many of the Fortune 500 are investing in building a core competency in machine learning and data science as a big bet to be faster/smarter/better than their competitors. As a corollary, the ongoing pandemic will accelerate development of model monitoring solutions. COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on nearly every facet of business operations, and organizations that depend on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate business decisions have been particularly vulnerable. One of the biggest issues that companies are experiencing is a massive data drifta change in model input leading to performance degradation and inaccurate output, due to the large-scale changes in human behavior since the pandemic. The development of new and more robust model monitoring solutions that enable organizations to catch data drift will be a huge area of innovation and investment in 2021. A new sheriff is coming to town. In 2021, Chief Analytics Officers (CAOs) and Chief Data Analytics Officers (CDAOs) will be the new face at the boardroom table, supplanting the traditional Chief Data Officer role as companies move from focusing on the data behind the models to the AI/ML models themselves. Model risk will enter the mainstream. Financial services firms have long used predictive models to drive decisions subject to regulatory scrutiny and have understood the risks associated with this approach. In 2021, well see broader awareness of legal implications and the risks of automated decisions across a wide variety of industries. In addition, its likely that well see public lawsuits related to discrimination or liability stemming from decisions made by models. Companies wont be able to hide behind The AI made me do it excuses as theyre held accountable under increased scrutiny on their pricing and business practices. IT organizations will be empowered to manage data science shadow IT. Until now, data science has lacked both appropriate governance and a centralized platform within enterprises, leading to widespread shadow IT practices that include data scientists downloading unapproved tools and data science packages and using unofficial infrastructure for storage and specialized compute power. The risk of these rogue systemsfrom both a security and an IT perspectiveis no longer tenable, as we see data science becoming increasingly pervasive and critical to every business function. Weve seen cases where companies that underwent dramatic organizational changes due to COVID layoffs, etc., couldnt figure out how to update their pricing after COVID because some data science team built the pricing model on their own systems. This coming year well see more organizations treat models as material assets, motivating IT to take the reins and provide the infrastructure to support data science at scale. Organizations will experience increased pressure to ensure transparency in the use of algorithms and predictive models. While increased AI engineering capabilities provide greater structure and sophistication in how we bring models into production, rapidly evolving privacy standards (e.g., GDPR and Californias CCPA) will require that equal attention be paid to making AI models more transparent and secure. However, this wont be easy. It will require a very heavy lift involving ModelOps, DevOps, model risk management, explainable AI, and ethical AI requiring both an evolution of technology and processes. Data science education programs will continue to be on the rise. Just as the dotcom boom spurred interest in computer science courses and majors, 2021 will see skyrocketing demand for classes and degrees in data science, as models increasingly drive every part of business and our economy. Data science will become the most popular freshman class at schools where its offered. The net-net of these predictions is that data science is not only not going away, its becoming more popular and more ingrained in business practices. Whereas, in the past, data science has been compartmentalized and siloed in organizations, 2021 is the year in which it will become an enterprise-wide capability that impacts every line of business and functional department. Ill be interested to look back at the end of the year and revisit these predictions to evaluate how many have come to fruition and how many were completely off-base. Personally, Im betting on greater than 90 percent accuracy, but that depends on my model and quality of the data input, of course. And one more thing... If you have any predictions for data science in 2021 that I havent covered in this article, Id love to hear them. Nick Elprin is co-founder and CEO of Domino Data Lab. New Tech Forum provides a venue to explore and discuss emerging enterprise technology in unprecedented depth and breadth. The selection is subjective, based on our pick of the technologies we believe to be important and of greatest interest to InfoWorld readers. InfoWorld does not accept marketing collateral for publication and reserves the right to edit all contributed content. Send all inquiries to newtechforum@infoworld.com. The European Commission is to fund 10million towards a project which it is claimed will have a big peatlands rehabilitation element. Bord na Mona, which is coordinating the project, said the Peatlands and People project is a major national initiative that has won funding support from the European Commission which will contribute to the long term implementation of Irelands Climate Action Plan. The company says it will engage people in Ireland and across the European Union with the benefits of peatlands restoration, in particular, to realise the power of peatlands in climate action. The project will establish a Peatlands knowledge Centre of Excellence in Ireland to focus on peatland restoration and rehabilitation. A Just Transition Accelerator programme will also be facilitated to focus on low-carbon and circular economies to support the midlands region economically. It intends to provide a range of services for the development of new sustainable products, services, enterprises and value chains. A Peoples Discovery Attraction in the midlands is also planned to introduce climate action and peatlands to citizens. Bord na Mona says it will work with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage), the Environmental Protection Agency, National University of Ireland Galway and ERINN Innovation Ltd, with additional co-financing from Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the project in communities areound the midlands. Announcing the project, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD said he was delighted to welcome another major project to support for the rehabilitation of a huge tract of Bord na Mona peatlands. Our peatlands are a precious resource in terms of storing carbon, restoring biodiversity and supporting local communities in new jobs taking care of our environment...The Peatlands Centre of Excellence, Just Transition Accelerator, and the new Discovery Attraction supported by this EU LIFE project put the spotlight and investment where it should be, on peatlands and people, he said. Laois Offaly based Green Party senator and Minister of State Pippa Hackett welcomed the project announced on Tuesday, February 2 which is World Wetlands Day. She was particularly pleased with the restoration element. It is fitting that this announcement comes on World Wetlands Day, which aims to raise global awareness of the importance of wetlands, including peatlands, for people and our planet. The establishment of a Peatlands Knowledge Centre of Excellence, to carry out and examine peatlands restoration, will be a marvellous addition to this region, and it will play a central role effecting positive climate action from these bogs. Im also really looking forward to visiting the immersive Peoples Discovery Attraction when its up and running. It will be a super attraction for locals and tourists alike, she said. Bord na Mona Chief Executive Tom Donnellan said this project that will contribute towards the implementation of Irelands Climate Action Plan. "Bord na Mona is taking a lead role in this as we are now focused on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enhancing carbon storage potential through best practice restoration and rehabilitation of peatlands. I am particularly pleased that the project recognises that climate action doesnt happen in isolation, it will require a new awareness and behaviour change across society. We have been through this fundamental change and I think we can show that you can achieve business growth and place a new value on the environment that sustains all of us, he said. The project partners plan to hold a stakeholder engagement day to explore the details of the EU LIFE IP Peatlands and People project when current Covid-19 restrictions ease. This project has received funding from the European Unions LIFE Programme under grant agreement. For more details please see www.peatlandsandpeople.ie or contact info@peatlandsandpeople.ie. KYODO NEWS - Feb 3, 2021 - 16:26 | All, World Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries on Wednesday condemned the military coup in Myanmar and called for the release of all people "unjustly detained" including civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint," the ministers said in a joint statement issued following the Myanmar military's seizure of power Monday. The G-7, which groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States as well as the European Union, called on the military to immediately end the state of emergency and restore power to the democratically elected government. Referring to a landslide victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in November elections, the statement said the outcome "must be respected" and that parliament "should be convened at the earliest opportunity." "We stand with the people of Myanmar who want to see a democratic future," it said. The statement came as the Myanmar military, according to NLD lawmakers, freed about 400 people, including lawmakers of the formerly ruling party, and ordered them to go home. However, senior NLD members, including Suu Kyi, are believed to remain under house arrest following Monday's coup. Related coverage: Myanmar military launches decision-making council after coup U.N. Security Council discusses military coup in Myanmar U.S. determines Myanmar military takeover a coup, to review aid Australia will build a new fleet of military vehicles that can travel on land and water under a $800 million upgrade to the Australian Armys arsenal of amphibious vessels, replacing vehicles used in the Vietnam War. The new fleet - which will also include landing craft - is being rolled out so that the Australian Defence Force can more quickly project into the region, including as part of the Pacific step-up. The armys existing fleet of amphibious vehicles proved helpful in the Mallacoota evacuation. Credit:Justin McManus The Defence Force Structure plan, released last year, called for new amphibious vessels to support an enhanced Defence posture and influence in the region, including the Pacific Step-up objectives. The Australian government has been re-focusing on the Pacific in recent years to deepen engagement in the region at a time when it is subject to growing Chinese influence. Alfonzia A.J. Jackson Jr., a 35-year-old Jefferson County father of two who was among the first diagnosed cases of the UK variant of COVID-19 in Alabama, has died, his wife announced Tuesday on social media. Lord this day has been hard. I wouldnt wish this on anyone as I said goodbye to my amazing husband, wrote Jacksons wife, Ashley Jackson. . You are now our guardian angel and you are at peace, rest on my amazing husband until we meet again. A.J. Jackson was admitted to UAB Hospital late last month and was among the first three Alabama cases of the COVID-19 variant, which is more contagious than the original coronavirus strain. Jackson went into organ failure at the hospital. My husband, we were talking about everything getting better, and to see him go from that to being on a breathing machine is hard, Ashley Jackson told AL.com Sunday. I have to keep strong for my girls, so when I get overly emotional I have to go to the garage to cry and scream. Ashley Jackson set up a Gofundme page to raise money for healthcare costs and living expenses. And she urges people with lingering symptoms who have tested negative for COVID to stay vigilant and quarantine until they recover. The page has raised more than $71,000 as of Tuesday night. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 RICHMOND HILL, ON, Feb. 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Mazda Canada Inc. (MCI) today reported January sales of 4,039 vehicles, representing an increase of 7.6 percent versus January 2020. In January, sales of the Mazda CX-30 Turbo started at dealers across the country, bringing a new level of empowering performance and refinement to the small crossover segment. JANUARY 2021 SALES HIGHLIGHTS: Overall sales were up 7.6 percent, representing the second-best start to a new year in the past 10 years. CX-5 jumped out to a commanding lead, staking its claim to Mazda's number one sales slot with a 11.8% year-over-year increase. CX-9 came out of the gate with a record January showing, growing sales by 21.6 percent compared to the same time last year. In its first year-over-year showing, CX-30 sales increased 65.5 percent versus January 2020 . . Sales of Mazda's family of crossovers, including the CX-3, CX-30, CX-5, and CX-9 increased 13.1 percent compared to 2020, and accounted for 76.4 percent of Mazda sales in January. Mazda's i-ACTIV All-Wheel Drive option continues to be a favourite among Mazda CX-line buyers, with 94.0 percent of customers selecting AWD models in January. January January YOY YTD YTD YOY 2021 2020 Change 2021 2020 Change Mazda3 783 941 -16.8% 783 941 -16.8% Mazda6 154 59 161.0% 154 59 161.0% MX-5 16 26 -38.5% 16 26 -38.5% Passenger Car 953 1,026 -7.1% 953 1,026 -7.1% CX-3 439 555 -20.9% 439 555 -20.9% CX-30 581 351 65.5% 581 351 65.5% CX-5 1,711 1,531 11.8% 1,711 1,531 11.8% CX-9 355 292 21.6% 355 292 21.6% Light Truck 3,086 2,729 13.1% 3,086 2,729 13.1% MAZDA TOTAL 4,039 3,755 7.6% 4,039 3,755 7.6% Mazda Canada Inc. is responsible for the sales and marketing, customer service and parts support of Mazda vehicles in Canada. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Mazda Canada has a nationwide network of 163 dealerships. For additional information, visit Mazda Canada's media website at www.media.mazda.ca. SOURCE Mazda Canada Inc. For further information: Chuck Reimer, Mazda Canada Inc., 905-787-7079; Sandra Lemaitre, Mazda Canada Inc., 905-787-7167 Related Links http://www.mazda.ca Back in 2014, New York voters approved a constitutional amendment to create a more fair system for drawing legislative district lines, but as the time draws nearer for that plan to actually be put into practice, some politicians want to change the rules. The Independent Redistricting Commission was much debated and negotiated by both houses in Albany before going before voters. Its passage paved the way for a commission made up of people outside government to oversee the redrawing of districts for the state Assembly, Senate and U.S. House based on population figures supplied by the once-a-decade U.S. Census. It's not a perfect system, but it has the potential to improve a process dominated for decades by party politics and blatant gerrymandering, and that's why New York voters decided to give it a shot. A woman charged in connection with the Capitol riot still wants to go on her planned vacation to Mexico, but she'll need permission first. Florist and former Midland mayoral candidate Jenny Cudd entered the U.S. Capitol with the pro-Trump mob that breached the building on Jan. 6, boasting in a Facebook live stream afterward, "We did break down Nancy Pelosis door and somebody stole her gavel. AFTER JAN. 6: Texas gubernatorial candidate posted photo of noose after Capitol riot, saying 'let 'em hang' On Monday, lawyers for Cudd filed a motion to travel, asking a judge to grant her permission to leave the country for a prepaid vacation to Riviera Maya, Mexico later this month. This is a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses, attorney Farheena Siddiqui wrote in the motion. Ms. Cudd has appeared at her scheduled court appearance, remains in constant contact with her attorney, and has remained in contact with pretrial probation, as ordered. Cudd is on pretrial release after she was arrested and charged with entering and remaining on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct or violent entry on Jan. 13. She needs the court's permission to travel outside of Texas. The federal magistrate's office has not yet granted permission and would not confirm when a ruling could come, USA Today's Jayme Deerwester reports. The motion notes that prosecutors are aware of and take "no position" to Cudd's request. Cudd admitted to breaching the Capitol multiple times on her social media accounts. Cudd streamed to her Facebook page from a hotel after the riot, telling viewers, "F--- yes, I am proud of my actions. I f------ charged the Capitol today with patriots today." She defended her actions in a Jan. 8 interview with local ABC affiliate NewsWest9, saying she didn't personally enter Pelosi's office or destroy anything in the Capitol. She claimed she used "we" to refer to we the patriots. Ive told everybody this: I would do it again in a heartbeat because I did not break any laws, Cudd said. Iran on Tuesday promised to release the crew of a Korean ethanol tanker that it seized in the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 4. The MT Hankuk Chemi was seized with 20 crewmembers on board for alleged chemical pollution. Five are Korean and the rest Indonesians, Myanmarese and Vietnamese. The captain continues to be detained. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying Tehran allowed the crew to leave the country at the Korean government's request for "humanitarian" reasons. The captain apparently has to remain in Iran to take care of the tanker and it is unclear when the ship itself will be released. Among the many highlights of President Joe Bidens inaugural address was his promise that we can deliver racial justice. The Biden administration wasted no time putting executive action behind those words, issuing several orders on advancing racial equity. But personnel is policy, as the saying goes. And just as important as the new direction charted by these policies is who carries out the work. But changing the latter might be delayed something this administration, and people in need of justice, can't afford. A memo released last month by Department of Justice administrative chief Lee Lofthus gave many Trump appointees the green light to stay, stating that a good majority of United States Attorneys and United States Marshals have been asked by the incoming administration to continue to serve for the time being. The U.S. Department of Justice shoulders much of the burden of ending mass incarceration and reforming policing, starting with not simply a policy reset but also new, more progressive U.S. attorneys. Attorney general nominee Judge Merrick Garland speaks during an event with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. While Biden has already indicated his intent to replace at least one U.S. attorney and some have resigned, its unclear when or whether others will be removed. Even more alarming is the apparent delay in considering Biden's nominee for attorney general. Congress had seemed poised to set a hearing date for Judge Merrick Garland last week. But his nomination has been stalled even as others have moved forward. A politicized department We should bear in mind that 93 U.S. attorneys lead 94 districts throughout the country and in American territories. Local federal prosecutors' offices handle all manner of cases, from civil rights and police abuses to hate crimes and drug prosecutions. This work is where communities are most impacted by the federal criminal system. Equally important, the Department of Justice, through its Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office, supports state and local leaders in pursuing racial justice and policing reforms grounded in research. Its Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is responsible for guiding national juvenile justice issues that impact our nations young people. Yet the leader of OJJDP was left vacant under the Obama administration for years. Story continues COLUMN: Death of Maryland man shows continued out-of-control nature of SWAT, no-knock raids Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department (and by extension, federal prosecutors) became deeply politicized. Amid concerns regarding corruption and collusion with Russia, Trump took the unprecedented step of interviewing candidates for U.S. attorney, according to Politico. Some were expected to faithfully execute Trumps agenda cracking down on immigrants, pursuing tougher drug penalties and threatening to block marijuana legalization. Some followed Trumps lead on his personal crusades against the Biden family and attempted to undermine the Russia investigation. Those who did not bend to Trumps will were dismissed or pushed out. Moving slowly to replace Trump appointees would be the wrong move for at least two reasons. First, current attorneys are tainted by the failures of the Trump administration. They might not have come up with Trumps agenda, but they enabled him to carry it out. In Massachusetts, for example, at the height of the coronavirus, the U.S. attorneys office fought a federal judge who wanted to release Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at risk of the virus. The assistant U.S. attorney stated in open court that theres no evidence, zero evidence, COVID-19 is present among the detainee population. COLUMN: Biden's executive orders on criminal justice should extend to inmates sent home by COVID This thinking was echoed by federal prosecutors across the country although more than 200 people confined in federal prisons have died of the disease. In Pennsylvania, the U.S. attorney dedicated time, energy and taxpayer dollars in a legal battle to prevent a lifesaving, evidence-based safe drug consumption space from opening. And many U.S. attorneys' offices took part in former Attorney General Jeff Sessions gun possession prosecution program, which targeted predominantly Black men, many stopped randomly for low-level offenses, and delivered hefty sentences. Every day, these attorneys remain in office they continue to make decisions impacting the lives of countless Americans, including how COVID-19 is handled behind bars, when and how police accountability will be managed and how rebuilding trust with community will move forward. The COPS leader, who chaired Trumps controversial Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, has already departed. Filling that critical role and ensuring that permanent leadership is in place at OJJDP is essential to begin the ambitious justice system transformations Biden has pledged to carry out. Fresh start for criminal justice reform Starting fresh with a new slate of U.S. attorneys and DOJ leaders who share a new vision for justice would reflect the transformative moment were in. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken of the need for criminal justice reform and their desire to rethink policing. POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media To implement these types of policies means moving away from the traditional prosecutor mindset. Biden needs attorneys and DOJ leaders who embrace reform. It means looking at the burgeoning reform-minded state and local prosecutor movement for examples of leaders who are committed to systemic change. It means looking at defense lawyers and public defenders who know the federal justice system from the other side and know what it takes to reform it. And it means valuing diversity and personal experience with the failures of the justice system. Already, local progressive prosecutors in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City have shown what can be done. They have created conviction integrity units to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, launched processes to review and reduce harsh sentences, stopped prosecuting many offenses tied to poverty and racial disparities such as drug possession and sex work, and held law enforcement accountable. This agenda would be a breath of fresh air. On Jan. 20, Biden said, A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer. That cry must be heard and acted upon in the halls of the Department of Justice and in its attorneys' offices around the nation. Shay Bilchik, founder and director emeritus of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, previously headed up the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice. Miriam Aroni Krinsky, executive director and founder of Fair and Just Prosecution, is a former federal prosecutor. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delays in Garland hearing, replacing attorneys, jeopardize justice system PHOENIX, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest original exhibition from the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight, will explore the influence of American Indian creative expression on the work of iconic artist Leon Polk Smith from Friday, Feb. 5 through Monday, May 31. Smith is a celebrated modernist painter and leader of the Hard-edge painting movement, an art form of the late 1950s and '60s that emphasizes geometric forms and bright colors. "Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight" installation view, Photo: Heard Museum, Craig Smith This is the largest exhibition of Smith's paintings in more than 25 years and features 37 original works that span seven decades. The exhibition pairs Smith's paintings and works on paper with examples of American Indian beadwork, ribbon applique and painted hides from his native Oklahoma. The Heard Museum is located at 2301 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix, Arizona. A fully illustrated catalog with new scholarship is available. Private media previews and tours can be scheduled by appointment. Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight is made possible by: Lead Supporters Henry Luce Foundation Exhibition catalogue is made possible through the generous support of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation Leon Polk Smith Foundation Additional Support Robert Lehman Foundation Arizona Commission on the Arts Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and Patrons of the Grand Gallery Exhibition Fund About the Henry Luce Foundation A leader in arts funding in the United States, the Luce Foundation's American Art Program was established in 1982 to support museums, universities, and arts organizations in their efforts to advance the understanding and experience of American and Native American visual arts through research, exhibitions, publications, and collection projects. About the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation recognizes the power of the arts to challenge and shift perceptions, spark creativity and connect people across cultures. We lend and exhibit artworks from our collection and support innovative individuals and pivotal initiatives in the arts. About the Leon Polk Smith Foundation The Leon Polk Smith Foundation was established to preserve and promote the art and legacy of Leon Polk Smith (1906-1996). The Foundation encourages and assists museums and other educational organizations to organize and produce exhibitions of and publications on Smith's work and to create online resources about his art and career. ABOUT THE HEARD MUSEUM Since its founding in 1929, the Heard Museum, a private nonprofit organization, has grown in size and stature to become recognized internationally for the quality of its collections, world-class exhibitions, educational programming and unmatched festivals. Dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art, the Heard successfully presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitions that showcase the beauty and vitality of traditional and contemporary art. The Heard Museum is supported, in part, by the generosity of Heard Museum members and donors, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. SOURCE Heard Museum New Delhi, Feb 3 : There are 19 ongoing railway projects spanning 2,008 km and worth Rs 75,795 crore in the northeastern states, Parliament was told on Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said: "As on April 1, 2020, 19 projects -- 13 new lines and six doubling -- costing Rs 75,795 crore for 2,008 km length falling fully or partly in Assam and North Eastern Region are under different stage of planning or approval or execution." Sharing the details, Goyal said of the 13 new line projects of total length of 1,178 km costing Rs 57,774 crore, 253 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 20,157 crore have been incurred up to March 2020. Of the six doubling projects of total length 830 km and worth Rs 18,021 crore, 9 km doubling has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 1,861 crore has been incurred up to March 2020. He said that the national transporter is focusing on expediting the railway infrastructure in northeastern frontier hilly region. Four railway projects -- three new lines and one doubling -- of total length 23 km costing Rs 18,901 crore falling fully or partly in Uttarakhand are under different stage of planning/approval/execution. The Minister said that three new line projects of total length 216 km costing Rs 18,554 crore, out of which 6 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 2,275 crore incurred up to March 2020. He said that one doubling project of 27 km length costing Rs 347 crore has been commissioned in January 2021. He also said that presently, there is no ongoing railway project falling fully or partly in Ladakh. He stressed that the completion of any railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by state government, forest clearance by officials of the Forest Department, shifting of infringing utilities (both underground and over ground), statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic considerations etc. "All these factors vary from project to project and site to site which affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage. As such, confirmed completion time of projects cannot be ascertained at this stage; nevertheless, every effort is being made to commission the projects expeditiously," he said. The groundhogs right. Winter isnt going anywhere soon. Even though the worst of a three-day winter storm is behind us, the more than 30 inches of snow dumped on parts of New Jersey is likely here to stay. It does not look like this is going to melt quickly, New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson told NJ Advance Media. Robinson predicts snow will stay on the ground in North Jersey for the next 10 days to two weeks. AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rossio painted an even harsher picture. The snow is going to be here to stay, at least from this storm, probably through the end of February, Rossio said. 26 After the 20 inch snow storm The reason for the prolonged snow is mostly due to an incoming Arctic blast, expected to slam the Northeast next week with frigid temperatures reaching into single digits and possibly below zero, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Staarmann. That doesnt mean the snowpacks will sit undiminished until the Arctic blast passes. Staarmann thinks Fridays higher temperatures reaching into the 40s and potential rainfall will begin to melt some of the packs. And snow in South Jersey should melt off over the next two to three days, he said. Still, forecasts dont anticipate much rain, the crucial ingredient needed to melt snow. It will certainly eat away at it some, itll probably melt away a little bit of it, but it wont totally eliminate the snow if its not very heavy, Staarmann told NJ Advance Media. Other than rain, higher temperatures and a rising dew point would help to dissolve snow. Contrary to popular belief, once the snow stands at least a foot high, sunny weather wont do much, as the snow just reflects the sun. What you really want to get good melting is a good warm-up and a heavy rain, so one of those storms to bring in a strong southerly flow where temperatures rise upwards of the upper 40s, low 50s, and you have that soaking rain before the cold front moves through, Rossio said. Thats what will really melt the snow, but were just not seeing that anytime soon. Cars are buried under huge mounds of snow in Mount Arlington in western Morris County, where the National Weather Service is reviewing a report of a whopping 35.1 inches of snow falling during the fierce winter storm.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Additionally, with Fridays higher temperatures and colder air moving in next week, theres threat of a freeze-melt-refreeze cycle dashing hopes of clear roadways and sidewalks. If the temperature fluctuates, the snow can get packed down more densely, making an efficient melt more difficult. That cycle can wash some of the salt off the roadways and create slick surfaces or black ice so, at least for now, some might want to follow the groundhogs lead and retreat to their burrows. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTC Pink: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (the "Company" or "Iconic") announces that the Company has received acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange on January 28, 2021, for the Company to enter into the option agreement (the "Option Agreement") with Nevada Lithium Corp. ("Nevada Lithium")) whereby Iconic, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bonaventure Nevada Inc. ("Bonaventure") granted Nevada Lithium the option (the "Option") to earn up to a 50% interest in the Bonnie Claire lithium property located in Nye County, Nevada (the "Bonnie Claire Property"). See the news release dated December 15, 2020. Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Nevada Lithium may exercise the Option in three stages by funding USD $5,600,000 in cumulative exploration expenditures on the Bonnie Claire Property. Phase I of the Option Agreement is expected to be exercised on or before March 8, 2021, to obtain 20% of the joint venture interests by expending USD$1,600,000 in exploration expenditures ("Exploration Expenditures") on the Bonnie Claire Property. Iconic has received an advance of funds towards the initial Phase I Exploration Expenditures, which were used to acquire additional mining claims at the Bonnie Claire property. The acquisition ensures that the Company has sufficient land for major expansion of the exploration and development of the property. These additional claims include 220 placer claims totaling 4,400 acres, which increase the total claims held to 915 or 18,300 acres (74 km2 or 28.6 mi2). All of the claims are located on federal lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Sediment hosted lithium must be held via placer claims on federal lands in the U.S. Richard Kern, Iconic's President and CEO, stated, "We are looking forward to working with Nevada Lithium to develop the Bonnie Claire Property. The initial $1,600,000 will allow the Company to conduct additional definition drilling, accumulate additional sediments to advance the metallurgy we are currently exploring to find the most economic pathways to production. We are also pleased that this first phase will help facilitate the process of completing the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). The total $5,600,000 is expected to fund all anticipated exploration and development activities, including a final feasibility study and an initial production stage." Bonnie Claire Property The Bonnie Claire Property is located within Sarcobatus Valley, which is approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs containing anomalous amounts of lithium occur within and adjacent to the valley. Drill results from the salt flat have included lithium values as high as 2550 ppm Li and a 1560 foot (roughly 475 meter) vertical intercept that averaged 1153 ppm Li. The current 43-101 report on the project notes that, with a cutoff grade of 600 ppm Li and average grade of 1,027 ppm Li, one square mile contains an inferred resource of 5.025 billion kilograms Li (though this is a resource, not a reserve, and has not yet proven economic viability). The gravity low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 feet). The current claim block covers an area of 74 km2 (28.6 mi2) with potential for brine systems and further sediment resources. Qualified Person Richard Kern, Certified Professional Geologist, a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Kern is not independent of the Company as he is the Chief Executive Officer of Iconic. On behalf of the Board of Directors SIGNED: "Richard Barnett" Richard Barnett, CFO and Secretary Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614 For further information on Iconic, please visit our website at www.iconicminerals.com. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 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, statements with respect to the Option, the Joint Venture, the amount of the Offering, the expected use of proceeds from the Offering and the future business plans and exploration 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: "will", "believes", "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, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals required for the Option Agreement and the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Bonnie Claire Property, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and gold, 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, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the business, financial condition and exploration and development activities of the Company, 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 of the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the Option Agreement and the Offering, 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 the Canadian Securities Authorities. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties. 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 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/73521 I am a teacher, and I want to sincerely apologize to my students, your parents/guardians, and the community at large. Because I am a teacher, I am able to move near the front of the line to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and protect myself, ahead of millions in our state. I foolishly and naively thought getting vaccinated would allow me to return to in-person teaching with my students, who are suffering before my eyes each day, absolutely crushing my soul. Secret jailhouse letters traded between a convicted terrorist and a Melbourne woman accused of recruiting for Islamic State have been read aloud in court as one of the women fights to be released back into the community. Hadashah Saadat Khan, 23, is said to have professed her love for her fellow inmate and discussed dying in the name of Allah before the pair were captured together on CCTV in the prison yard. Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday that prison staff seized the letters late last year from inside the cells of Ms Khan and a fellow inmate known as Prisoner S, who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for an attack on another person in the name of jihad. I love you to infinity and beyond. I think about you all the time, one letter to Prisoner S read. Senior Constable Jan-Paul Antemes, a federal agent with the Australian Federal Police, told the court that in other letters and cards, believed to have been sent between May and November 2020, Ms Khan expressed her support for martyrdom and the use of physical violence against others. NEW DELHI First came the accusations of foreign infiltration. Police complaints against protest leaders followed, as did arrests of protesters and journalists. Then the government blocked internet access in places where demonstrators gathered. As Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, struggles to quell months of protests by farmers against new market-friendly agriculture laws, critics and analysts see a pattern of curtailing free speech that they fear is sending India down a dangerous path of intolerance. In its response to other contentious policies including citizenship laws that disadvantaged Muslims, its clampdown on the disputed Kashmir region and the farmers protests Mr. Modis government has resorted to arrests, stifling of dissenting voices, and blocking of the internet. Groups that track internet freedom say Indias is slipping. While some of the tactics are not new in Indias recent history, many fear Mr. Modi is taking them to new heights. Cabinet has appointed former Minister of Commerce Professor Alexandre Lyambabaje as the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rwanda (UR). Lyambabaje has been serving as the Executive Secretary of the Inter University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), a regional body that coordinates inter-university cooperation in East Africa. The body facilitates strategic development of member universities, promotes internationally comparable higher education standards and systems for sustainable regional development. At UR, he replaces Professor Phillip Cotton whose tenure came to an end in October 2020. Cotton had served as UR's Vice-Chancellor since 2015. Who is Lyambabaje? As Vice-Chancellor, Lyambabaje will be serving as the principal academic and administrative officer of UR, the only public university in the country. Born in 1960, Lyambabaje among other academic qualifications holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Mathematics and a Doctorate in Mathematics from University de Rennes in France. He has served in different capacities in Rwanda's public sector. Among these, in 1999, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education. In 2000 he was appointed Minister of Commerce, Tourism Industry, Investments Promotion and Cooperatives, a position he held until 2003. He supervised the formulation of policies for the ministry and in particular Rwanda Tourism Policy. He also contributed to the regional integration process through active participation in regional ministerial meetings, including those of the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). From April 2014 to 2015, he served as a senior researcher at the University of Rwanda in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences. He also served as an Associate Professor of Statistics in the Institute of Applied Sciences Ruhengeri. Auditor General Nancy Gathungu is on Wednesday expected to face a parliamentary committee probing the Sh7.8 billion Covid-19 expenditure by the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) Ms Gathungu will appear before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee over change of figures of two companies that supplied Kemsa with Covid-19 materials. Last week, the committee chaired by Mvita lawmaker Abdulswamad Nassir received an addendum from the office of the Auditor General indicating that its earlier special report on the utilisation of Covid billion had errors. The initial report by the Auditor General indicated that Nanopay which supplied Kemsa with 50,000 pieces of N95 facemasks at a cost of Sh340 million had the figure changed to Sh34.9 million representing a reduction of over Sh300 million. The committee wants the Auditor General to explain what caused the changes after it ruled out an earlier explanation that the figures changed due to a typing error. "..we wish to clarify an error occurring in pages 18 and 41 of the special report on the amount of Nanopay," reads of the addendum signed by the Auditor General to the committee. Mr Nassir yesterday confirmed to the Nation that Ms Gathungu has been scheduled to appear before them this afternoon. "We have invited her in the afternoon over the errors that appeared on the companies. We need to know what happened, it is in public domain and even documents from Kemsa presented before this committee indicate that Nanopay got tenders worth Sh340 million but now the addendum from the Auditor General is saying there was an error," Ms Nassir said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Lawmakers raised an alarm on the admission by the Auditor General on the typing error casting doubt over its validity. Ms Gathungu is also expected to explain to the committee on changes of figures of little known Shop N Buy was also changed but it was yet to be established by how much. Little-known Shop 'N' Buy which was registered on February 14 is one of the major beneficiaries of the flawed tender processes at Kemsa last year and is among the companies set to be probed by the committee on how it got the tenders at Kemsa. The company was handed Sh970 million contract to supply 100,000 PPE kits, each at an approximate price of Sh9, 000, earning it Sh900 million. The company was also allowed to supply another 100,000 pieces of KN95 masks at Sh700 a piece. Sometimes, its possible for two seemingly contradictory things to be true at the same time. This weeks Exhibit A stems from the proposal by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, and nine GOP colleagues of a coronavirus relief bill thats about a third the size of Democratic President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion package. For their effort, Biden hosted the group at a lengthy Oval Office meeting, which the leader of this particular pack, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, described as frank and very useful discussion. Cassidy and his fellow senators are absolutely right to be at the table and to bring a counterproposal, at a time when many Republicans are busy whining about a president who just won a decisive election and has a friendly Congress pursuing his agenda, not theirs. What they have to offer the new administration is tantalizing: a filibuster-proof majority in support of a relief package, and a sign that bipartisan unity is still possible in bitterly divided Washington, as Biden insists. Also, Biden and the Democrats are absolutely right to be wary of their effort, to see a potential trap in lengthy negotiations that would water down an initiative on which theyd promised to move quickly and go big and to wonder whether getting Republican buy-in would force them to give up widely popular policies and result in a less-than-robust recovery. The White House reaction to the meeting made nods to both sides of the coin. While Press Secretary Jen Psaki called it substantive and productive, she also said that while there were areas of agreement, the president also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas which the Republican senators proposal does not address. (One of those areas is aid to state and local governments, which Cassidy has championed for months now.) If Biden has bipartisan deal-making in his insider DNA, the Democrats also have reason to insist they wont be fooled again. They point to the economic recovery bill that President Barack Obama and the vice president who now lives in the White House passed in 2009, which won few Republican votes despite Obamas desire to address the recession with a bipartisan voice. They also recall the passage of the Affordable Care Act, on which the Obama administration worked mightily to address concerns of a handful of Republicans (including then-U.S. Rep. Joe Cao of New Orleans) who signaled openness to backing the bill, only to see them vote the party line against it anyway. Many Democrats now say the effort to include Republicans cost them time and political capital they might have used on other initiatives. And they note that Senate Republicans used the same procedure that Democrats now want to use on the recovery bill to ram through their big move of the Trump administration, a giant tax cut, with no Democratic support. The process, called reconciliation, allows the Senate to pass legislation that has an impact on federal spending with a simple majority, not the 60 votes required for bills that can be filibustered. They also clearly feel a sense of urgency based on the precariousness of their majority. As the recent hospitalization of Vermont Democrat Pat Leahy reminded everyone, the loss of just one Democratic senator could put the chamber back under Mitch McConnells control. But if all these factors suggest the Republican offer faces significant headwinds, it was still good to see Cassidy in the room. Regardless of what happens with the current bill, he sent a signal that hes willing to seek common ground. That sets him up as a player, a senator whose vote can be leveraged for concessions on matters important to him and his state. As Ive written before, hes got a role model here in the senator he defeated in 2014, Democrat Mary Landrieu, who was often among those seeking bipartisan deals on the issue of the day and who generally got something in return. That Biden insists he values bipartisanship only strengthens Cassidys position. It may not lead to compromise now, but the term is just getting started. Benchmark Metals (CVE: BNCH- OTCQX: BNCHF) President Jim Greig joined Steve Darling from Proactive to provide the latest results from drilling on the Lawyers Project in British Columbia. These numbers coming from the Cliff Creek Deposit. Greig saying they returned intersections of broad zones of high-grade mineralization. He also noted the intercept is at a vertical depth of about 350m below surface and around 100 metres below recently reported drilling (Natural News) Conservative journalist Andy Ngo dubbed Antifa as both an idea and a movement to dismantle capitalism and fascism. The journalist said during an interview with the Crossroads television program that Antifa has networks of organizations, with some organized into formal groups. Ngo told program host Joshua Philipp that Antifa uses intimidation and violence on anybody who disagrees with its far-left, anarchist political agenda. The Antifa experts statement to Philipp contrasts with law enforcements perception of the domestic terrorist group. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said back in September 2020 that Antifa was more of an ideological movement than an organization. Antifa is a real thing: Its a movement, or an ideology may be one way of thinking of it, he said that time. Wray nevertheless acknowledged that Antifa had small groups or nodes. Antifa is more than an idea. Its also a movement [with] networks of organizations, and some of them are organized into formal groups, Ngo elaborated. These formal groups found in different cities include Portland-based Rose City Antifa, Torch Network and Atlanta Antifa. According to Ngo, Antifas training curriculum is similar to how extremist Muslim groups such as ISIS radicalize their members. The anarcho-communist group does so by launching events that look like social gatherings. It then uses these events to disseminate extremist literature and recruit people to its cause. The journalist elaborated that the brand of fascism Antifa opposes is not the traditional kind espoused by Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini. Rather, Antifa redefined fascism for its own use as anything that is in opposition to the far-left political agenda. Some of the things Antifa has dubbed as fascist included the Trump administration, the U.S. itself, capitalism and liberal democracy. Antifa traced its roots during the period between the two world wars, as a paramount tree of the German Communist Party. When Germany was split into two, the communist east formalized the Antifa ideology. Being an anarcho-communist organization, Antifa appears to have contradicting goals. What the totalitarian state communists strive for directly opposes the anarchist goal of a leaderless state. It has partnered with other like-minded groups to end [the] American criminal justice system and demonize free markets [and] property ownership. Ultimately, Antifas end goal is abolish all nation states worldwide and create anarchist, communist collectives. [It believes] that [it] can actually organize society without a government, Ngo remarked. The journalist has uncovered a lot of evidence about Antifa, which he presented in his upcoming book titled Unmasked: Inside Antifas Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. (Related: New report shows platforms run by Big Tech companies enable Antifa violence.) Ngo expressed concern over Antifa violence, being a victim of the groups attacks himself Antifa managed to grab territory from the federal government back in 2020. It established the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle amid Black Lives Matter protests in the city. Ngo described the zone as a lawless area after spending some time there. Warlords within the CHAZ competed with each other for dominance and with it came crimes such as homicides, shootings and sexual assaults. A hard border between the zone and the outside world was created with armed volunteers serving as guards. He continued that CHAZ was able to sustain itself only because restaurants and people from outside provided food and other supplies. [CHAZ] thought that [it] didnt need capitalism to function, Ngo commented. He told Philipp that Antifa victimizes its targets through a sustained barrage of intimidation. This results in the target being fearful of an attack coming from anywhere. Doxing is one strategy Antifa employs for this purpose. Ngo explained that doxing involves publicly releasing a persons details such as where they live and work and how to contact their homes and employers. Ngo himself fell victim to an Antifa attack in June 2019. Members of the anarcho-communist group beat and robbed him, hurling cups of cement milkshakes at the journalist. Ngo suffered a brain injury and was hospitalized as a result of the attack. He underwent various treatments and therapies to address the injuries he suffered, but he has not yet received any justice. Not content with physically attacking Ngo, Antifa demanded that the largest independent bookstore in Portland remove his new book. Powells Books did remove the book from its shelves, but retained it on its online catalog. He expressed sympathy for the family-owned bookstore, given that Antifa has a track record of making good on its threats to burn and loot businesses. (Related: Antifa smashed Democrat headquarters in Portland, but Republicans were blamed.) Despite the opposition Ngo faced from Antifa, he remains adamant in exposing the truth about the group to a wider audience. He hopes to help law enforcement in systematically dismantling Antifa networks. Furthermore, Ngo hopes that his revelations about Antifa challenge the ideology the group uses to poison peoples minds. Visit AntifaWatch.news to learn more about the anarcho-communist group and its nefarious goal. Sources: TheEpochTimes.com APNews.com OregonLive.com Telegraph.co.uk Appointment 3 February 2021 Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asia's largest hospitality company, today announced organizational leadership changes. Gaurav Pokhariyal has been appointed as Senior Vice President & Global Head - Human Resources. Gaurav will take over the leadership role from industry and IHCL stalwart, Dr. P V Murthy, respectively, as he retires after a successful stint at the Company. In his new role, Gaurav will join the Executive Committee (ExCom) of IHCL. Gaurav brings with him three decades years of rich experience in Operations and has held a number of critical roles, the most recent being heading operations for key markets in the Northern region. Gaurav is known for his decision making ability, commitment and passion towards his work. Gaurav is alumni of the Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland, and IHM Pusa. In his new role, Gaurav will be responsible for executing IHCL's strategy for long term growth whilst further strengthening the Company's market and brand leadership position. The World Logistics Passport (WLP), a major policy initiative established by Dubai to increase trading opportunities between emerging markets, has announced India, Indonesia and South Africa as members. They join Colombia, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Uruguay and the UAE in a club of trading nations sharing expertise to smooth trade flows around the world. The WLP creates opportunities for business across Africa, Asia, Central and South America to improve existing trading routes, and develop new ones, through the worlds first logistics loyalty program for freight forwarders and traders. It overcomes non-tariff trade barriers by fast-tracking cargo movement, reducing administrative costs, advancing cargo information and facilitating movement between ports and air. Transporting high-value, low-weight goods through historically established transport routes in Europe takes considerably longer, and is therefore more expensive, than if the goods pass through Dubai. Through the WLP, traders can expect to save 25% on freight costs and 10% on transit time moving goods from Indonesia to South Africa. The WLP has a proven track record. In Dubai, 12 local providers have confirmed more than 50 benefits which have in turn been applied to over 300 traders, accounting for approximately 50% of the emirates trade. Since its inception in 2019, the WLP has generated more than AED3 billion ($816 million) in total trade. Mike Bhaskaran, CEO of the World Logistics Passport, said: The World Logistics Passport increases resilience in global supply chains and removes the barriers that prevent developing economies from trading as freely as they might, which is more important than ever as governments around the world seek to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19. Todays announcement shows that governments and businesses are thinking differently about how goods and services move round the world, and we are delighted to welcome India, Indonesia and South Africa to the club, he added. India the largest economy to join the WLP to date The WLP now counts Mumbai International Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport), Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (Mumbai), and Emirates SkyCargo in India & Nepal as partners. As a trade enhancing policy initiative, the WLP is closely aligned with the Strategy for [email protected] in its aims to boost national competitiveness, increase the efficiency of Indias logistics sector and build tighter economic integration with emerging economies in South and South East Asia. South Africa signs up to spur intra-regional trade The WLP program is closely aligned with South African National Development Plan 2030, particularly in terms of increasing intra-regional trade and improving trade penetration into fast growing markets in Asia and Latin America. The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce has signed a framework agreement with the WLP and bilateral negotiations with the government continue. Joining the WLP will be a key enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, opening up new market potential among countries in the region. Indonesia the first South-East Asian nation to the join Indonesia is a strategically important market for the WLP, as it represents a region key to the WLP concept for its fast economic growth driven by manufacturing exports. The WLP will compliment and reinforce the headline aims of the final stage of the Long-Term National Development Plan (RPJPN), specifically in terms of boosting national competitiveness and higher-wage job creation across all of Indonesias varied geographies. The WLP now counts the Indonesia National Shippers Council as a partner, which will provide benefits related to navigating the local market. Last year, the Indonesia National Shippers Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PCFC in Dubai to realise trade cooperation, thus the registration can be seen as an evolution of an already entrenched and fruitful partnership. TradeArabia News Service [February 03, 2021] PMC Capital Acquires Specialty Engineering Firm UniversalPegasus International from Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PMC Capital Partners, LLC (PMC Capital) is back again on the acquisition trail after completing the buy-out of an award-winning multifunctional engineering design firm, UniversalPegasus International, Inc., of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HII). Headquartered in Houston, Texas, UniversalPegasus has a track record of delivering turnkey integrated engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) solutions; ranked by Engineering News-Record (ENR) as No. 59 of the Top 500 Design Firms and among the top 10 in the petroleum sector. ENR's list ranks public and private companies by its markets' share of total revenue. Financial terms of the deal with HII were not disclosed. "We are extremely excited to acquire UniversalPegasus International (UPI) and its amazing team of 600 professionals. Spearheaded by an impressive business leader in CEO, Tom Davison, the UPI team maintained record-level engineering design revenues during an economically crippling COVID-19 pandemic while building a backlog/pipeline of business that will continue to support future success. Acquiring UPI coincides with PMC Capital's vision to acquire and support an elite technical staff of engineers who deliver first-class mission-critical business services to blue-chip customers," said Chris Aye, Managing Partner of PMC Capital. "UPI's decades of record success delivering engineering, logistical, and construction management solutions captivated PMC Capital. Not only will PMC Capital support UPI in maintaining a high level of service for its clients we look forward to building and exceeding UPI's past accomplishments. We're excited to partner with Tom and his team as we aggressively embark on a multifaceted growth strategy," added Mr. Aye. "UPI is the industry leader in project delivery and the employer of choice in the Houston and Calgary engineering markets. Our success stems from our strong company values and commitment to transparency. With PMC Capital behind us, UPI will continue to differentiate itself and outperform the competition as one of the few remaining independent oil and gas engineering companies. We expect to emerge from the pandemic in a strong financial position poised for double-digit growth," said Tom Davison, CEO of UPI. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement. PMC Capital is a great new home for UniversalPegasus International, its world-class people and services," said Andy Green HII Executive Vice President and President of HII's Technical Solutions division. "It will enable UPI to continue to flourish, ensuring the business remains at the forefront of innovation and custoer service in the future." Ernst & Young Capital Advisors, LLC served as Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.'s exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. About UniversalPegasus International UPI is a privately held company headquartered in Houston, with a strategically located office in Calgary, Canada, and currently employs close to 600 personnel. UPI has provided a broad range of engineering and project management services to the energy industry for over 50 years. Whether onshore or offshore, from the wellhead to processing facilities to delivery points, UPI delivers the engineering, design, project management, survey, inspection and construction management personnel to move energy safely, reliably and efficiently to domestic and international marketplaces. Find out more at www.universalpegasus.com/. About PMC Capital Partners, LLC Established in 2019, PMC Capital is on the path of becoming one of the fastest-growing private equity firms that invests in strategic opportunities where thought, operational resources and flexible capital can empower management teams to execute their business plans. PMC Capital currently owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality national and international businesses in the lower middle-market space, employing nearly 1,000 employees, with approximately $450M in combined annual revenues. With over 100 years of collective private equity experience, PMC Capital brings a successful track record of executing corporate carve-outs, recapitalizing balance sheets, acquiring founder-owned companies and completing bolt-ons. With a committed pool of capital backed by a family office, PMC Capital targets control equity investment opportunities in the business services, industrials, TMT, consumer and health care sectors. The nature of PMC Capital's platform allows for a longer-term time horizon and a business-friendly approach to ownership transitions, divestitures and successions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, visit www.pmccapital.com About Huntington Ingalls Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing more than 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries Contact Chris Aye Managing Partner, PMC Capital Partners, LLC chris@pmccapital.com +1 818 896 1101 Related links www.pmccapital.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pmc-capital-acquires-specialty-engineering-firm-universalpegasus-international-from-huntington-ingalls-industries-inc-301220888.html SOURCE PMC Capital Partners, LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] More than 1,000 young black men have been removed from a controversial police gangs database. The Metropolitan Police's gang violence matrix was created after the 2011 London riots, to identify those considered at risk of becoming involved in gang violence. But campaigners accused forces of 'stigmatising' young black men - many with no history of violence or criminal convictions - sometimes on the strength of their social media posts. London mayor Sadiq Khan ordered a review of the database, which includes suspected gang members and those seen as at risk of becoming involved in violence. The Metropolitan Police's gang violence matrix was created after the 2011 London riots, to identify those considered at risk of becoming involved in gang violence. Pictured, Police search a young black man whose car they had just stopped as he drove through the City of London What is the Gang Matrix? The Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Violence Matrix was set up in 2012, to support London's new gang strategy and borough 'Gang Taskforces'. The matrix is overseen by the Trident Gang Command (a specialist unit tasked with delivering 'more targeted enforcement against gangs') - but managed by the police and local authority in each of London's 32 boroughs. The purpose of the matrix is to track and assess the risk of violence posed by London's 'known gang members'. It also works to enable the Met to identify and keep track of people involved in gangs. Individuals recorded on the database are known as 'gang nominals' and each is assigned a risk score. Scoring is based on police information about past arrests, convictions, intelligence related to violence and weapons access and social media monitoring. Source: Amnesty Advertisement The Mayor's review led to more than 1,000 black males under the age of 25 being removed from the database, most of whom had very low rates of offending and victimisation in the year before and the year after being removed, according to analysis by City Hall. Figures released on Wednesday show the number of names on the list has dropped to 2,305, a 40% drop from a peak of 3,811 in August 2017 and the lowest in seven years. The 'gangs matrix' was established in response to the riots of 2011. Since then, the Met has gathered information on those linked to gangs and ranked them in a traffic light system as to the risk they pose. Critics labelled the matrix 'racially discriminatory', with figures showing some 80 per cent of people on the database are black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME). A Freedom of Information request to Scotland Yard in 2019 revealed the youngest person on the Matrix was 13 years of age, with 55 under the age of 16. Controversially, the database is shared with some other public sector bodies, including schools, local authorities and even job centres. Mr Khan said today: 'We simply cannot ignore the fact black Londoners have less trust in the Met and that is why my comprehensive overhaul of the gang violence matrix is so important to improving the trust and confidence London's diverse communities have in our police. 'As a direct result of the Met acting on my recommendations to make the matrix database more transparent, effective and more evidence based than ever before, more than 1,000 young black Londoners who should not have been on it have now been removed. At the same time detection rates have improved. 'We know that gang-related violence still accounts for a significant proportion of the most serious violence in London, and the matrix is a necessary enforcement tool as well as a means for support and intervention, but it's vitally important that the police continue to evaluate, improve and communicate how it is used to address concerns from communities about the disproportionate number of black Londoners and young men on the matrix.' London mayor Sadiq Khan had ordered a review of the database The matrix works by measuring the harm 'gang nominals' (people who are named on the matrix) pose. It scores them based on evidence of them committing violence and weapons offences, or being involved in, or at risk from, gang violence. From these scores every individual is graded as Red, Amber or Green (RAG rating) denoting the level of risk (victim) or harm (offenders) they present. 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close By Ken Atkinson-Founder and senior board advisor Grant Thornton Vietnam As a long-time resident of Vietnam and a dual national, I can only applaud the government for its swift proactive measures to contain the pandemic and enable a relatively strong economic performance in 2020. The achievement of 2.91 per cent GDP growth and also very few COVID-related deaths is more remarkable, when you compare this to the developed economies of North America and Europe and then take into account the size of Vietnams population, the long often porous border with China, and Vietnams limited medical resources and facilities. We must also remember that the severely impacted tourism and hospitality sector, which was a major contributor to GDP, knocked at least 1 per cent off GDP in 2020. Our GDP growth was the highest in Southeast Asia and one of the highest in the world. This was in large measure due to the strong export performance and continued significant foreign direct investment (FDI). Exports reached $281 billion, an on-year increase of 6.4 per cent, and registered FDI recorded $28.53 billion, and whilst this was 25 per cent down on 2019, it was still a great achievement bearing in mind the borders were effectively closed for most of the year. Another contributor to GDP growth was the increased public investment by the government, as they sought ways to inject a stimulus package into the economy. The driving factors According to the recent Economic Intelligence Report, Vietnam has emerged as an attractive FDI destination in Asia, recording a better performance than China and India when measuring FDI as a percentage of GDP. Vietnam has become a new hub for low-cost manufacturing in Asian supply chains, the report added. Factors that make Vietnam better than its peers are the incentives for international investors for setting up units to manufacture high-tech products, the pool of low-cost workers, and the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs). The recent FTA between Vietnam and the European Union has benefited the country, as the EU lifted 85 per cent of its tariffs on Vietnamese goods in 2020, and socio-political stability and population structure have helped win investors trust in the Vietnamese market. Most of the major financial institutions and multilateral agencies are forecasting a significant rebound by Vietnam and higher GDP growth than the governments forecast of 6.5 per cent (see table). Standard Chartered sees FDI and the services sector as driving factors for growth in the next few years. The bank acknowledges that Vietnam will be one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investors, following its successful management of the pandemic and from the US-China trade war, which is not likely to end with Joe Bidens election as US president. Standard Chartered also concluded that despite the slow global recovery and gloomy outlook for global investment, Vietnams FDI inflows are expected to surge in the next few years. The bank sees that increased competition will motivate Vietnam to try and raise up the value chain and a new focus on adopting advanced technologies. This will also be helped by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) signed last November by 15 countries, which will provide opportunities for Vietnams small- and medium-sized enterprises to move up the value chain. I believe that Vietnam is in a great position to be a stand-out performer and my personal forecast is that the next 10 years will be the most exciting in my 30 years here. The drivers of the economy will be domestic, as well as increased FDI, and these include the population dynamics, public sector investment, and the growth of per capita GDP through the $3,000 figure, which together should ensure GDP growth of close to 7 per cent or higher for the next 10 years and beyond. In addition, London-based market research firm Euromonitor International recently forecast that Vietnam will be one of the worlds most dynamic markets by 2030 with a forecast of 17 million middle-class households by that time. The World Bank also forecasts that Vietnams middle class will grow from 13 per cent in 2019 to 26 per cent of the population by 2026 and other forecasts are 40 per cent by 2030. It also shows per capita income in Vietnam has risen from $410 in 2000 to $2,540 in 2019. Estimates for 2020 put this figure over $2,700, with a possibility to exceed $3,000 in 2021. That $3,000 per capita income figure is often regarded as a barrier, which once passed will lead to a significant increase in the speed of economic growth, as it becomes a driver for domestic consumption reducing the reliance on manufacturing and exports. In China when per capita income passed $3,000 in the early 2000s nearly all indexes went up three-fold over the next decade. At the same time this dynamic also acts as a driver for FDI, as companies see the growth potential in sectors such as retail, education, healthcare, and fast-moving consumer goods. FDI will also continue to be driven by other factors such as FTAs with the EU, the United Kingdom, and the aforementioned RCEP among others, not forgetting the global trade tensions with China. In spite of the drop in FDI in 2020 because of COVID-19, this has not reduced the attractiveness of Vietnam or the desire of companies to invest in Vietnam so we can expect to see a surge in new commitments as travel into Vietnam becomes possible. I personally forecast registered FDI this year to reach $40 billion, if the government finds ways to facilitate travel by new and existing foreign investors. Last year, investors operating here added $6.4 billion to their existing investments, which is a trend also expected to continue. Maintaining attraction The challenge for the government is the implementation of its declared strategy of focusing on higher added-value investment using modern technology. One of the governments measures to help maintain GDP growth and employment during the second half of 2020 was increased and accelerated public expenditure. As well as having the desired result, this will also help maintain the future attraction for FDI as the end result will be much improved and needed infrastructure. A significant portion of this expenditure will go into roads, bridges, ports, and airports, which at times have been bottlenecks in Vietnams development. Vietnam also scores highly in the area of political stability, which is also a key driver for FDI and whilst the National Party Congress has just taken place, there is unlikely to be any major change in policy and there should be a younger make-up of the Politburo, which again augurs well for the future. Another factor driving interest in investment in Vietnam is the startup scene, which has accelerated strongly over the past two years, as the government recognised the need for a startup eco-system and the need to develop creativity. This has seen the development of a whole raft of digitech companies supported by significant angel funding, which has commentators talking about a Vietnamese silicon valley. With increased investment into infrastructure, we will continue to see good levels of growth in exports, and with higher use of technology, we will also see an improvement in productivity, which is also essential to help avoid a middle-income trap and will be a driver for income growth. We will see a more rapid increase in the growth of per capita income, which in turn will drive higher domestic consumption and help Vietnam reach its true potential in this golden period. President Biden traveled to the Capitol on Tuesday evening to pay his respects to Brian D. Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died from injuries sustained during a Jan. 6 mob attack and whose remains were brought to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. Mr. Biden spoke with members of Mr. Sicknicks family in the days after he was killed, according to White House officials, but his visit to the Capitol was not announced until the presidents motorcade departed the White House. Jill Biden, the first lady, joined him. On Tuesday around 9:30 p.m., Mr. Sicknicks remains were delivered to a silent Capitol on a cold and windy evening. Officers from Mr. Sicknicks unit, some on mountain bikes, lined up near the steps outside. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood to the side during the arrival. His remains passed through a set of doors still shattered from the events on Jan. 6. Mr. Biden departed the White House minutes later. The memorial for Mr. Sicknick, who was 42, was not open to the public, but police officers and lawmakers are scheduled to be given the opportunity to pay their respects before Mr. Sicknick is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. President Biden rallied Senate Democrats to pass a large Covid-19 relief package as party lawmakers pushed forward with a legislative process that would allow them to pass a $1.9 trillion package without Republican votes. During a virtual meeting Tuesday with Senate Democrats, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined, Mr. Biden argued that providing too little aid presents a greater risk to the economy than offering too much, according to people familiar with the call. Mr. Biden told Democrats that the U.S. hasnt provided enough support to the economy during previous recessions. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat Democrats on Capitol Hill are working on translating Mr. Bidens $1.9 trillion plan, which bolsters unemployment aid, provides funds for vaccine distribution, and sends $1,400 checks to many Americans, among other measures, into legislation. President Biden spoke about the need for the Congress to respond boldly and quickly," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Tuesday after the meeting. Mr. Bidens meeting with Democrats comes a day after a group of 10 Republicans pitched Mr. Biden on a $618 billion proposal during a White House meeting, calling for the administration to quickly pass a bipartisan package. Mr. Biden, who didnt take questions during Tuesdays meeting, told Democrats that he thinks the GOP proposal is too small. On Tuesday, Democrats took early procedural steps in a process called reconciliation, which will allow the Democrats to skirt the 60-vote threshold in the Senate and pass the package instead with a simple majority. In the Senate, all 50 Democrats voted to proceed to the budget resolution necessary to reconciliation, overcoming 49 Republican votes with one GOP absence, and the House approved a procedural step later Tuesday. The Republican groups counterproposal is less than a third of the size of Mr. Bidens plan, leaving out Democratic priorities like aid to state and local governments and an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Republicans want to scale back the $1,400 per person checks to $1,000 per adult and $500 per dependent. The GOP plan would provide $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits through June, a cut from the $400 a week through September in the Biden plan. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Democrats were abandoning the possibility of reaching a bipartisan deal by moving forward with reconciliation. Republicans say the package is too much too soon, pointing to the $900 billion in aid Congress passed in December. Were off to a totally partisan start. I think thats unfortunate," Mr. McConnell said. When they held the House, Senate and White House in 2017, Republicans used the same reconciliation procedure to pass tax cuts and unsuccessfully tried to use it for a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Mr. McConnell met with a group of Republican senators on Tuesday morning to discuss reconciliation strategy, according to people familiar with the meeting. The White House and Democratic leaders have said starting reconciliation doesnt rule out bipartisan support or passing a potential deal through the standard legislative process. Maintaining party unity among Democrats on the overall package may become more complicated as the process for passing the $1.9 trillion bill moves forward. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said he was opposed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, a plank of Mr. Bidens plan that progressives have rallied around. Im supportive of having something thats responsible and reasonable; in my state that would be $11," Mr. Manchin said. Asked if including the $15 minimum wage is a must-have for the White House, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House wasnt going to negotiate in public. Additionally, some moderate House Democrats have argued to the White House and Democratic leadership that a smaller, bipartisan bill focused on vaccines would pass through Congress more quickly, according to a person familiar with the conversations. The person said that the lawmakers contend that Democrats could follow up a smaller bill with broader legislation through the reconciliation process. A partisan bill using the reconciliation process could take weeks or even months," said Rep. Jared Golden (D., Maine). Acting now doesnt mean Congress cant do more later." 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. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed a decree on resuming and increasing rail and air connections with four former Soviet republics after months of restrictions imposed over the coronavirus pandemic. According to decrees signed by Mishustin on February 3, passenger trains from next week will resume service between Moscow and the Belarusian capital, Minsk, as well as between Moscow, St. Peterburg and Russia's western Kaliningrad exclave via Belarus. The number of flights between Moscow and Minsk will also be increased from three to five per week, and weekly flights from Rostov-on-Don and St. Peterburg to Minsk will resume. As of February 8, there will be more flights from Moscow to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, as well, increasing from one to three per week. Mishustin also signed a decree resuming two flights from Moscow to Azerbaijan and four flights from the Russian capital to Armenia each week as of February 15. Based on reporting by RIA Novosti and Interfax 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. [Follow live coverage of the 2021 Golden Globes.] Unpredictability is the biggest weakness of the TV portion of the Golden Globes, and also its greatest strength. You can usually count on the Globess handful of voters to make some baffling choices as well as to celebrate some deserving but obscure nominees that the Emmys overlook. Call it inspired capriciousness or the broken-clock theory; either way, its part of the awards charm. Let the movie Globes carry the weight of helping set the odds for Oscar season. All the low-stakes TV awards owe you are surprises. Here are a few of those for better and worse for 2021, and some TV standouts from last year that got left out. I May Destroy You Well, this was a crime. Michaela Coels deservedly acclaimed limited series about a rape and its aftermath was one of the most stunning narrative feats not just of the year but maybe the last decade. Not to the Globes, apparently; it was as absent on the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations list as it was ubiquitous on critics best-of-2020 lists. Emily in Paris No, thats not a typo. Darren Stars fantasy for Netflix about a young American woman who sweeps into the French luxury marketing business received some harsh reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Explanation, sil vous plait? The Golden Globes do like to honor new shows and young talent (the star, Lily Collins, also got an acting nomination). Also, the awards are given out by the H.F.P.A., and, well I guess Paris is in the title? Stringent security continued on Wednesday at Ghazipur on the Delhi- border, one of the key protest sites where thousands of farmers are camping with a demand that the Centre repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September. Internet services remained disrupted for the fifth day at the site on Delhi's outskirts where protesters are occupying a stretch of the Delhi-Meerut highway since November, even as a Ghaziabad Police officer told PTI that online connectivity has been restored but there could be glitches. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had announced suspension of internet services at the three border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur and their adjoining areas from 11 pm on January 29 effective till 11 pm on January 31. Later it extended the suspension till 11 pm on February 2. There has been no further extension of internet suspension at these sites as of now, a Home Ministry official said on Wednesday. BKU's Meerut zone president Pawan Khatana said the internet was inaccessible at Ghazipur early on Wednesday till the time he left for a mahapanchayat in Haryana's Jind with union leader Rakesh Tikait and other supporters. Ghaziabad Superintendent of Police (City 2) Gyanendra Singh told PTI, Internet services have been restored but there could be glitches or slow speed due to crowd at the protest site. Iron nails studded on roads, multi-layer iron and concrete barricades, concertina wires remained fixed as large number of security personnel were deployed as fortification of Ghazipur continued to prevent protesters' movement to Delhi. On the security apparatus at the protest sites, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava had Tuesday told media, We have only strengthened the barricading so that it is not broken again. Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Shafique Khokhar Some 200 people were accused of blasphemy last year, 75 per cent Muslims (70 per cent Shias), 20 per cent Ahmadis, and 3.5 per cent Christians. if in the beginning Muslims tended to accuse non-Muslims, Muslims now mostly accuse other Muslims. At least 78 people were killed extra-judicially over blasphemy or apostasy. For Peter Jacob, the government should focus on those who drive the machine of religious intolerance. Lahore (AsiaNews) - Recent data released by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) show that Pakistans blasphemy legislation is creating more and more victims. Between 1987 and December 2020, at least 1,855 people were charged with offences related to religion, especially under Sections 295 B and C and 298 C of the Penal Code of Pakistan, generally referred to as the blasphemy laws. Last year saw the highest number of cases: 200 (picture). It is worth noting that 75 per cent of the accused are Muslims, mostly Shias (70 per cent), followed by Ahmadis (20 per cent), Sunnis (5 per cent), Christians (3.5 per cent), Hindus (1 per cent) and other/unconfirmed religions (0.5 per cent) (picture 3). One of the victims best known to world opinion is Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death over accusations of blasphemy made by some women and the imam of her village. She was eventually released upon appeal but not before spending 10 years in prison. Noting that 1987 saw only 19 cases, we realise that the rising number of case is indicative of how the law has become a tool to easily get rid of economic, political, or religious rivals. While in the beginning, Muslims tended to accuse non-Muslims, now the trend sees Muslims mostly accuse other Muslims, which does not preclude the fact that members of various minority groups are still targeted with accusations of blasphemy. The trend of the past few years also highlights Pakistans great sectarian divide (especially Sunni vs Shias) and the increasingly abusive use of religion hanging over all Pakistani citizens. Interestingly, since 1987, Punjab has had the most blasphemy complaints (76 per cent), followed by Sindh (19 per cent) (picture 4). As of December 2020, Punjab prisons were holding 337 prisoners for blasphemy, both those convicted and those awaiting trial. The largest number of inmates are in the Lahore district jail (60). At least 78 people have been killed extra-judicially after being accused of blasphemy or apostasy: 42 Muslims, 23 Christians, 9 Ahmadis, two Hindus and two whose religion could not be ascertained. These figures do not include the targeted killings of members of sects considered heretical or apostate, so the overall number far exceeds those mentioned above. In fact, the killings of Hazaras, Ahmadis and Shias are often attributed to terrorist actions. The notion of blasphemy is frequently and openly used in fund raising, hate speech and the indoctrination of violent groups. For CSJ Executive Director Peter Jacob, These statistics depict Pakistan as a place where abuse of blasphemy is the highest in the world. The law is frequently used to made despicable and multiple human rights violations, including physical violence, loss of property and livelihood, evictions and even loss of life It is not only the accused but some time entire families and communities who experience suffering after allegations are levelled. The government needs to pay serious attention to the drivers of religious intolerance. Dozens of jobs are set to be lost among agencies supporting arts, heritage, Indigenous communities, and some of the states biggest cultural projects as the NSW Premiers department searches for multi-million dollar savings. Tim Reardon, head of the states public service, is seeking voluntary redundancies across the Department of Premier and Cabinet as part of post-budget necessary efficiency savings. The redundancy drive has prompted the Public Service Association to complain to the department about a lack of consultation. Tim Reardon sent a letter to affected staff on February 1. Credit:AAP Heritage Council of NSW, Create NSW the governments arts agency and Aboriginal Affairs NSW fall within the department, along with positions responsible for the development and delivery of government strategy and legislation, major projects and state events. Marathi actor Prathamesh Parab, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming film Oh My Ghost, recalls he went through a phase of depression when he did not have work after the release of the super successful Marathi film Timepass in 2014. He Image Source: IANS News Marathi actor Prathamesh Parab, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming film Oh My Ghost, recalls he went through a phase of depression when he did not have work after the release of the super successful Marathi film Timepass in 2014. He Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, Feb 3 : Marathi actor Prathamesh Parab, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming film Oh My Ghost, recalls he went through a phase of depression when he did not have work after the release of the super successful Marathi film Timepass in 2014. He adds that family and friends helped him tide over the period. The Marathi horror comedy Oh My Ghost deals with the subject of depression, and talking about it Prathamesh said: "I feel every human being goes through depression at some point of life. In this film, the lead character doesn't have a job and he has seen failure in life. I guess, more than that, he doesn't have anyone around him and that is the reason he goes into depression." "I just want to tell people that if you are going through a similar situation you should share your feelings with friends and family or consult a doctor. After the release of 'Timepass', there was a time in my life, where I didn't have any film, and the films I had didn't release as per schedule. So, I have also gone through a phase of depression," he added. Prathamesh has established himself in the Marathi film industry with releases such as Balak Palak, Timepass, Timepass 2, Urfi, and Lalbaughchi Rani. He has also appeared in the Ajay Devgn-Tabu starrer Hindi film Drishyam, which released in 2015. Talking about Oh My Ghost, Prathamesh said: "This film is about an orphan boy who lives in Aurangabad. He doesn't have a job and has suicidal tendencies. Then, these ghosts come in his life and how his life changes after that is the storyline of the film. In my earlier films, I have done loud comedy but in this film there are subtle comic elements. I think it's right for us to release the film in theatres." Oh My Ghost also features Kajal Sharma, Pankaj Vishnu, Apurva Deshpande and Someshwari in key roles. Talking about upcoming project, Prathamesh said: "I am working in a Hindi film titled 'Anya'. It didn't release due to lockdown, so I will talk more about it ahead of its release." Anya is about the drug mafia and also features Atul Kulkarni and Raima Sen. THE government expressed its commitment to ensure shortage of desks in Primary and Secondary Schools becomes history in the coming five years. Deputy Minister in the President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, David Silinde also said the State was set to come up with the Desks Fund, to address the challenge. He gave the statement in Parliament here on Tuesday, while responding to a question from Bunda Member of Parliament (MP-CCM), Boniface Getere, who wanted to know the sustainable measures being taken by the government to deal with desks' shortages in schools. He also advised the Parliamentarians to use all options within their jurisdictions to deal with the shortages in their respective areas. Equally, he urged them to use the Municipalities and Councils' funds, Constituency Funds and involve stakeholders in addressing the shortage, while the government is working on the matter as well. Mr Silinde said the desks' shortages in school is as a result of free education policy by the fifth phase government, prompting many students to be enrolled, adding that in the past lack of fees made some to stay at home. He said the government will keep on setting aside funds for purchasing the school desks, noting that some 5,070,896 desks were made in the past five years to address the situation. The Deputy Minister said in 2015 there were 3,024,311 desks and the number increased to 8,095,207 by September last year. "In every new classroom being constructed, the government is setting aside budget for desks and we appeal to the public and Councils through their own sources of revenue, as well as stakeholders to join the government in efforts to deal with the shortages," he added. However, he cautioned head teachers who refuse to enroll students on the grounds that they do not have money to contribute for desks that the government does not allow that. TOKYO (AP) It will be an Olympics like no other, the worlds largest mega-sports event being staged in the middle of a pandemic. Tokyo organizers and the IOC on Wednesday began explaining in public just how they hope to do it, rolling out Playbooks" to detail the ways that 15,400 athletes will enter Japan and exit Japan with the Olympics opening on July 23 and the Paralympics a month later. There are indeed a lot of questions in the public domain about how the games will take place this summer. And today is a preliminary review of how things will be done," Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said in a video news conference with Tokyo officials. The rollout of the Playbooks is aimed at assuring athletes, and an attempt to convince the Japanese public that the Olympics should go ahead. Polls across Japan show up to 80% want the Olympics postponed or canceled. The public sees the health risk in a country that has controlled the virus better than most. The Playbook introduced on Wednesday is aimed at international sports federations and technical officials. Guides for athletes, broadcasters and the media will come in the next few days. They are all similar, and these are all the first versions." Much of the information is still vague with more details coming in updates in April and June. The IOC held a similar session earlier in the week with Olympic athletes and their representatives to explain the stringent guidelines in their rule books. On that video conference, obtained by The Associated Press, IOC President Thomas Bach spelled out the large unknown. At this moment in time, no scientist can predict the health situation in 206 national Olympic committees at the time of the Olympics, Bach told the athletes, adding the IOC was learning day to day and asked for the athletes' patience. Games operation director Pierre Ducrey explained the general procedure for entering Japan. Both Dubi and Ducrey called the Playbooks a framework. Story continues In the playbook we are documenting what will be the typical journey for a stakeholder group starting with measures 14 days prior to departure," Ducrey said. Including a test before you leave your county, a test upon the time you enter the country, and testing for each stakeholder group while they are in Japan. Olympics officials said they expect athletes to be tested at least every four days. They are being encouraged to arrive in Japan five days before their event and leave two days after. Dubi was asked about fans. It seems clear that fans from abroad will not be allowed but he did not confirm it. The decision is not made at this point in time but at some point in the course of spring we will have to make this decision regarding the number of spectators the proportion of spectators in the stadium and the also the question of spectators from outside," Dubi said. The rollout comes two weeks after a British newspaper, citing an unnamed Japanese government official, said the Olympics would be canceled. The IOC and Japanese organizers have pushed back for two weeks, and the Playbooks offer some concrete plans after months of vague talk. No matter what situation would be with the coronavirus, we will hold the games, Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee and a former Japanese prime minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday. We should pass on the discussion of whether we will hold the games or not, but instead discuss how we should hold it. The Playbooks spell out strict behavior in regard to entering Japan and leaving the country. They deal with hygiene, testing, immigration and a code of conduct that will prohibit athletes from any tourism. Olympic officials have documented thousands of sports events that have taken place in the last 10 months some with fans, some without and they believe they can do the same on an Olympic scale at dozens of venues spread across a Tokyo metropolitan area of about 35 million. Sports events are taking place, athletes are training and competing, but we know that we are facing a huge challenge that is to create a bubble for all athletes," Lucia Montanerella, head of IOC media operations, told a panel discussion a week ago. One thing is to create a bubble for 200 athletes, and a very different thing is to created a bubble for thousands of athletes of different sports. The IOC has said that 60% of the qualification spots for Tokyo are filled. Of the remaining 40%, 15% will be filled by rankings, as in tennis and golf, and the remaining 25% will come from test events, if they can be held. The IOC and the Japanese government will not require participants" to be vaccinated to enter the country. Vaccination will be voluntary, and the IOC says it will hold the games as if no vaccine were available and rely on social distancing, masks and testing. Olivier Niggli, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked by athletes earlier in the week if a vaccine could trigger a positive doping test. The likelihood of having a positive doping test in relation to the vaccine is non-existent in the opinion or our scientists, he said, adding scientists were cautious and looking at the possibility. At the moment," Niggli said, "there is no particular worry to have for the athletes. ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports New Delhi, Feb 3 : Continuing its streak of low numbers of single-day coronavirus cases, India reported 11,039 new infections in the last 24 hours even as its overall tally mounted to 1,07,77,284, health officials said on Wednesday. For the last five days, the country has recorded less than 15,000 new infections daily. Also, the daily COVID-19 death toll has been below the 300-mark for more than a month. On January 19, India had reported 10,064 new cases, the lowest this year. Last year, the lowest 9,633 cases were recorded on June 3. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that there were 110 more COVID-19 fatalities, taking the overall death toll to 1,54,596. As per the Ministry's data, there are 1,60,057 active cases at present whereas 1,04,62,631 persons have been discharged so far. The recovery rate has increased to 97.08 per cent, while the fatality rate is down to 1.43 per cent. As many as 41,38,918 corona vaccine doses have been administered in India since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'. As per the Health Ministry, India is in fifth position globally in terms of the vaccine doses administered in the country, despite the fact that many countries had launched their vaccination campaigns before India. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text On Jan. 22, President Joe Biden spoke with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. It was Bidens third day as president and his second call to a foreign leader from the Oval Office. This cordial post-inauguration exchange is perhaps expected given the U.S. and Mexicos shared history and interests. Mexico is one of the U.S. top trading partners, second to only China in 2020. It is also the country of origin of the largest immigrant community in the U.S. and home to the largest U.S. expatriate community in the world. Yet, over the past four years, U.S.-Mexico relations atrophied. Now its up to Biden to restore this key regional partnership to the level it deserves. This will likely prove to be quite challenging. His institutional approach to bilateral affairs appears to threaten Lopez Obrador, who resonated with Donald Trumps individualized and inward-looking leadership style. The Mexican president didnt appear pleased about Trumps departure from the White House. Lopez Obrador waited six weeks to congratulate President Biden on the election results. On their initial phone call in December, he stressed his close relationship with Trump. When Biden and Lopez Obrador spoke for the second time on Jan. 22, their discussion focused on regional migration. Biden went over his plans to reverse Trumps draconian immigration policies, address root causes of migration in Central America and increase refugee settlement capacity. This is all an easy ask of Mexico. And Bidens halt to the border wall construction, preservation of DACA and proposed path to U.S. citizenship for millions of Mexicans is welcome news for Lopez Obrador. It appears, however, that Biden will find less common ground on other issues that are just as essential to the bilateral relationship. To start off, the COVID-19 pandemic presents an urgent challenge. Mexicos public health system has been at the point of collapse, and the virus has continued to rage across the U.S. With a 2,000-mile shared border, binational coordination is essential. Yet, the two leaders dont exactly see eye to eye on public health messaging. After downplaying the pandemic for almost a year, Lopez Obrador recently contracted COVID-19 and is currently isolating at the National Palace. In contrast, Biden released a comprehensive pandemic strategy during his first days in office. As part of this strategy, Biden signed an executive order requiring travelers from abroad to provide a negative test and self-quarantine. This will take a hit on Mexicos tourism industry that has benefitted from the arrival of hundreds of thousands of U.S. travelers in recent months. While the new rules should motivate bilateral coordination, Mexico has low testing rates and might balk. The high level of cross-border mobility also calls for cooperation on vaccinations. Yet, when Mexicos COVID-19 vaccination program recently had to be paused over shipment delays, Lopez Obrador reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the phone call, Lopez Obrador secured doses of the Sputnik vaccine, invited Putin to visit Mexico and discussed sending Mexican medical professionals to Russia for training. Cozy Mexico-Russia relations could pose a challenge for the new U.S. administration. Security will be even trickier for Biden to navigate. In the past few months, bilateral security cooperation reached an all-time low. Mexicos attorney general exonerated former Defense Minister General Salvador Cienfuegos who U.S. prosecutors had charged in the fall for drug trafficking and money laundering. Lopez Obrador then released classified U.S. documents and reinstated Cienfuegos as an adviser at the Ministry of Defense. Making matters more challenging, Mexicos Congress passed a law in December to limit U.S. law enforcement operations. Biden should also keep an eye on economic matters. The U.S. and Mexican economies are so intertwined that slow recovery on either side of the border is bad news for the other. The Mexican economy was already on the downslide before the pandemic and it contracted 8.8 percent in 2020. Analysts have forecasted the economy wont return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023. On trade, Biden will have to follow up on the enforcement of the new USMCA agreement. And he already faces a road block. Trumps absence from bilateral affairs allowed Lopez Obrador to begin undoing Mexicos 2013 energy reform that opened the market up to private investors. Bidens regulations-based approach and renewable energy ambitions will have to hold Lopez Obrador to task on Mexicos trade obligations. Restoring vigorous U.S.-Mexico cooperation on the public health, security, the economy, trade and climate change will likely be an uphill battle for the new U.S. administration. But Biden must find a way to move beyond cordiality and engage across issue areas. The regions recovery from the pandemic and long-term prosperity depend on a robust bilateral relationship. Lets hope both sides appreciate the urgency. Garza served as the US Ambassador to Mexico from 2002 through 2009. Mr. Garza is currently Counsel to the law firm of White & Case in Mexico City. Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) has continued its expansion into the Middle East and Africa with the formation of Babcock & Wilcox Middle East Holdings and the opening of a headquarters in Dubai. Concurrent with this announcement, Wassim Moussaoui has been named Managing Director, B&W Middle East Holdings. The new headquarters for B&W Middle East Holdings is located in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), the UAE, and will serve as B&Ws hub for sales, business development and operations in the Middle East and Africa region and will support the companys growth in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Oman and Qatar. The office will serve customers for the companys new strategic, market-facing segments B&W Environmental, B&W Renewable and B&W Thermal. B&W Middle East Holdings, under the direction of Wassim Moussaoui, strengthens our presence in the expanding environmental, renewable and thermal markets in the Middle East and Africa. We see approximately $4 billion in addressable market potential in the countries and lines of businesses where we are focusing our efforts, and were pleased that Wassim will lead our growth efforts in this key geographic region, Kenneth Young, the CEO of B&W, said. Wassim brings more than 15 years of international business development experience to this role. His depth of knowledge and expertise make him an ideal fit for this position. Moussaoui joined B&W in 2017, most recently serving as Senior Director, Sales & Business Development, Europe, Middle East & Africa. Prior to joining B&W, he worked for Babcock Borsig Steinmuller GmbH for 11 years, most recently serving as the companys Head of Sales & Proposals. Moussaoui holds a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Munich University of Applied Sciences. B&W is actively expanding its sales and business development team throughout the world. Targeted expansion regions include the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific as they offer significant opportunities for the companys advanced technologies, including waste-to-energy, biomass, advanced thermal and environmental solutions. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Babcock & Wilcox is a global leader in energy and environmental technologies and services for the power and industrial markets. Tradearabia News Service HIGH Court prosecutor Arthur Bosha, who was arrested Sunday for consenting to bail in the case of a notorious armed robber, will languish in jail after he was Tuesday denied bail by Harare magistrate, Lazini Ncube. Bosha is facing criminal abuse of office charges after he allegedly consented to bail in separate applications filed last year by two armed robbers who are accomplices of Mussa Taj Abdul, who was arrested last year after evading the police for 20 years. The prosecutor allegedly consented to bail for Musafare Mupamhanga. In his ruling, the magistrate maintained the prosecutor was facing a serious offence, which could force him to abscond if freed on bail. Bosha allegedly consented to Mupamhanga's release on $2 000 bail on October 9 last year after the state agreed on the basis that some of his co-accused were out on bail. Mupamhanga and his co-accused, Conwell Kasambarare and Spicer Takawira are believed to be part of the gang that raided Mashwede Holdings last year and got away with over US$100 000, R42 000, $14 000 worth of fuel coupons, firearms and 20 live rounds of ammunition. They have since gone into hiding following their release on bail. Police have launched a manhunt for them, together with more than nine other robbers, including two ex-policemen. Recently, prosecutor Tapiwa Kasema was arrested for consenting to bail to four other suspected armed robbers led by Taj Abdul. The robbers were rearrested on fresh charges before they could be released on bail. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. In March last year, Mashwede Holdings lost the cash to five workers and nine suspected robbers. The five workers, Mupamhanga and Kasambarare were then arrested and appeared in court. Among the five workers were two brothers related to the business owner while two were security guards. The two robbers were then remanded in custody and advised to apply for bail at the High Court. Mupamhanga, Kasambarare and Spicer Takawira then applied for bail, which was granted between May and October last year. During Bosha's bail ruling, his lawyer, Admire Rubaya, while cross examining the investigating officer, pointed said Mashwede owner, Alex Mashamhanda, was working with police and boasting he was going to ensure all the prosecutors who handled this case were arrested. The state denies the claims. Hyderabad, Feb 3 : Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan's husband and a frontline warrior against Covid-19 Dr. P. Soundararajan on Wednesday took the Covid-19 vaccine. The Governor congratulated him for taking the vaccine. Dr. P. Soundararajan, an eminent nephrologist and professor of Nephrology, took the vaccine on Wednesday, when his turn came as the frontline warrior as per the registration process for the vaccine for doctors and health workers, said a press communique from Raj Bhavan. The Governor stated that his taking the vaccine as the frontline warrior and as a senior medical professional helps boost the morale of other doctors and health workers to take the vaccine without any hesitancy. She said that as our Indian-made vaccines are safe and as they fully comply with the international standard approval procedures, nobody needs to have any vaccine-hesitancy. The Governor appealed to doctors, nurses and paramedics to come forward and take the Covid vaccine to protect themselves and their patients. TORONTO - Canada on Wednesday declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaida, ISIS and al-Shabab in an effort to crack down on "ideologically motivated violent extremism," described by the country's public safety minister as the "most significant threat to domestic security." The announcement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came less than a month after Proud Boys allegedly joined the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol after attending a rally by then-President Donald Trump in the hope of overturning the presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in that attack. It also followed a warning last week by the Department of Homeland Security about the heightened threat of "ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition" and "perceived grievances fueled by false narratives." Designation as a terrorist group carries financial and legal consequences. Police can seize the property of the group or its members; banks can seize their assets. It's a crime to knowingly provide assistance to a designated group to facilitate or carry out attacks. Group members may be denied entry to Canada. The government also listed the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group whose members participated in the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. The Base, another neo-Nazi group, and the Russian Imperial Movement, a Russian nationalist group with members linked to violent activity abroad. "These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world," Blair said. "Their violent actions and rhetoric are fueled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny." Also added to the list were seven groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State, as well as Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant Kashmiri liberation group. Senior government officials said they were not aware of any other jurisdiction that has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group. They said the Capitol insurrection was not the "driving" factor, but it did produce a "trove of information" that was added to the intelligence reports that informed the decision. The Canadian government says ideologically motivated violent extremism includes xenophobic violence, anti-authority violence, gender-driven violence and grievance-driven violence not clearly affiliated with an organized group but shaped by "echo chambers of online hate." The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, a Canadian. The far-right, male-only group of self-described "Western chauvinists" has a history of street violence, including against Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Canada said the group played a "pivotal role" in the attack on the Capitol, and that "leaders planned their participation by setting out objectives, issuing instructions and directing members during the insurrection." Analysts say the Proud Boys were emboldened when Trump, pressed during the first presidential debate to condemn the group, told members to "stand back and stand by." Asked whether there was evidence that the Proud Boys pose a "current serious security threat to Canada," Blair said, "Absolutely, yes," and citeda "serious and concerning escalation" to violence in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday the U.S. government was conducting its own review. National security analysts in Canada have warned of the growing threat of right-wing extremist groups here, bolstered by transnational alliances they've built with counterparts in the United States and Europe. "We are more and more preoccupied by the number of ultra right-wing extremists," David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Services, told a Canadian Senate committee in 2019. Several months later, Canada announced that the neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honor and Combat 18 would be the first ideologically motivated extremist groups to be included on its list of terrorist groups. Public Safety Canada reported in 2018 that it was "concerned about threats posed by those who harbor right-wing extremist views." It cited several examples of right-wing extremist attacks in Canada, including the shooting of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers in 2014 by a man motivated by anti-law enforcement and anti-government beliefs and a 2017 shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six worshipers by a man who was "motivated, at least in part, by his self-admitted fear of Muslims." Neither of the men were charged with terrorism offenses. In 2020, a 17-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a Toronto massage parlor became the first Canadian charged with terrorism in a case connected to the "incel," or involuntary celibate, ideology. Canadian lawmakers voted unanimously last week to urge the federal government to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity "immediately," but the move drew a backlash from anti-hate groups and national security analysts. They said the nonbinding measure risked politicizing what's supposed to be a legal process guided by evidence and intelligence. Others asked why groups with ideological similarities to the Proud Boys weren't also listed. Blair said politics played no role in the designation. He said the government is constantly monitoring and gathering intelligence to inform its decision. Before the announcement Wednesday, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network expressed concern that the definition of a terrorist entity would have to be expanded to accommodate the Proud Boys. The group worried that a looser definition could be "exploited" to target anti-racist groups and people of color in the future. In a post on its website, it said Blair assured them that the Proud Boys "more than meet the criteria." The listing process begins with the drafting of criminal and security intelligence reports detailing "reasonable grounds to believe that the entity has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity." Those reports are submitted to the public safety minister. If the minister is satisfied that the relevant criteria for listing the groups has been met, he or she can make a recommendation to cabinet to place the group on the list. - - - The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez in Washington contributed to this report. People working from home during the Covid pandemic put in ten hours extra each week compared to when they were in the office, a study has shown. NordVPN Teams, which provides digital network services to businesses, found the average working week had increased by 25 per cent in the UK. The company collected data on the average usage of its business VPN servers last month and analysed it against that of last year, including pre-pandemic levels. Under national lockdown restrictions introduced at the start of this year, Boris Johnson ordered everyone in England to work from home if they can. People working from home during the Covid pandemic put in ten hours extra each week compared to when they were in the office, a study has shown Britain, alongside Austria, Canada and the US, saw a 'sustained' two-and-a-half hour increase to their working day, reports The Telegraph. Meanwhile, the number of hours people worked fell back to pre-pandemic levels in Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain in January. The company said: 'Online working hours across some European countries have started to stabilise, with employees having had the opportunity to return to the office in some capacity. 'However, employees in the UK and the Netherlands are working until 8pm, regularly logging off later than usual to wrap up an extended working day.' Indre Kadaksyte, a data analyst at NordVPN Teams, explained: 'The differences in data could be related to Covid-19 being handled differently in different countries but also due to the fact that remote work in some countries became a new normal.' To facilitate working from home, employees are encouraged to provide both IT equipment and the services to enable remote working. Those who are out of the house without a 'reasonable excuse' - including those who are working outside when it is not essential - can be slapped with a 200 fine. This figure can be doubled up to 6,400 for repeat offenders. Britain, alongside Austria, Canada and the US, saw a 'sustained' two-and-a-half hour increase to their working day, found digital software company NordVPN Teams Those working in childcare or education are deemed to be providing an essential service, meaning they should continue to go into work. People who need to work in others' homes - such as nannies, cleaners or tradespeople - are also able to do so. The Government states on its website: 'You can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home. 'This includes, but is not limited to, people who work within critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing that require in-person attendance.' Instagram is testing a new change that will make some users very happy and leave others angry. In select countries, Instagram has been sending out notifications that its disabling the ability to share posts from your feed to stories. Instagram hasnt specified which countries the change is being tested in but its not affecting users in India yet. But based on replies to Matt Navarras tweet, users in Argentina, Thailand and Chile have been experiencing this for the past two months. The Instagram notification reads, We hear from our community that they want to see fewer feed posts in stories. During this test, you wont be able to add a feed post to your story. Instagrams decision to remove the ability to share feed posts makes sense as it would lead to users seeing the same post again. But at the same time it also takes away the ability for people and businesses wanting to grow their presence on the app. It may also affect users wanting to support other businesses or accounts by sharing their posts to stories. Instagram stories is a successful product in itself with over 500 million daily active users. Instagrams algorithmic feed also shows posts only from accounts users frequently engage with so theres a good chance youre missing a ton of new posts. This test will most likely receive mixed responses from Instagram users so its interesting to see if the company will expand it to more countries or not go ahead with it at all. 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! GlaxoSmithKline has announced a new partnership with German biopharmaceutical firm CureVac to develop vaccines that target new variants of the coronavirus. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant also said it would help manufacture 100 million doses of the group's first generation Covid vaccine in Belgium later this year, with hopes the vaccine will be launched in 2022. A total of 150million (132million) will be invested by GSK in the research of CureVac, which is creating a vaccine that uses messenger RNA to target the disease. GlaxoSmithKline said it will invest a total of 150million (132million) in the research of CureVac, which is developing a vaccine that uses messenger RNA to target the disease Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will hold the sole right to develop, make and market the next generation Covid-19 vaccine except in Switzerland, where it will additionally not have market authorisation, Germany and Austria. 'The increase in emerging variants with the potential to reduce the efficacy of first generation Covid-19 vaccines requires acceleration of efforts to develop vaccines against new variants to keep one step ahead of the pandemic,' the companies remarked. GSK further revealed today that its sales rose by only 1 per cent last year, blaming it partly on declining demand in both antibiotics and vaccines for conditions such as Hepatitis. Shares closed the day 6.3 per cent lower at 12.82. This was despite its consumer healthcare segment growing 12 per cent to more than 10billion on the back of higher sales of digestive health products, and pain relief medication like Voltarol and Panadol. It said the division's strong performance helped the group's operating profits to climb by over 800million to 7.8billion, as did the divestment of its Horlicks brand and shares in Hindustan Unilever. Demand for influenza vaccines also rose across all markets as governments put more effort into protecting their citizens from the flu. In England alone, a record number of over-65s have had the influenza vaccine. Demand for GSK's influenza vaccines rose across all markets as governments put more effort into protecting their citizens from the flu Its largest division - pharmaceuticals - fell 3 per cent to 17.1billion as purchases of HIV medicine stayed flat, though there were large percentage rises in sales of immuno-inflammation and oncology drugs. Nonetheless, chief executive Emma Walmsley declared 2020 to be 'one of significant progress for GSK' adding that the group achieved 'strong performances of new products and effective cost control.' In a separate statement announcing the CureVac deal, she stated that it would 'combine our scientific expertise in mRNA and vaccine development to advance and accelerate the development of new Covid-19 vaccine candidates.' GSK bosss Emma Walmsley declared 2020 was 'one of significant progress for GSK' adding that the group achieved 'strong performances of new products and effective cost control' Public health officials across the world are increasingly raising concerns about new virus variants that are more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. Scientists are closely tracking these mutations to make sure they quickly identify variants of concern. This week, authorities in England are conducting house-to-house coronavirus testing in targeted communities in a bid to snuff out a new variant before it spreads widely and undermines a nationwide vaccination program. British authorities want to test about 80,000 people in eight areas where the variant, first identified in South Africa, is believed to be spreading after a handful of cases were found in people who had no contact with the country or anyone who travelled there. Public health officials are concerned about the variant first identified in South Africa because it contains a mutation of the virus' characteristic spike protein targeted by existing vaccines. The mutation may mean the vaccines offer less protection against the variant. 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 Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com. The support of its most senior executive in Asia for Chinas imposition of its national security laws in Hong Kong and its co-operation with China in freezing the accounts of activists and lawmakers in Hong Kong earned it the ire of the Trump administration. Former US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, slammed the bank for its corporate kowtow to China. But HSBC has also earned the ire of the Chinese authorities for providing information at the direction of the US authorities that contributed to the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018. Given the banks roles in Hong Kong and China, the sanctions the US placed on Chinese companies and individuals for their alleged involvement in the crackdown on activism in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang represent a minefield. Equally, co-operation with the US enforcement of sanctions Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam is being paid in cash after being cut off by international banks concerned about compliance with the US sanctions risks the bank being placed on Chinas unreliable entity list and punished by the Chinese authorities. Some of Chinas Wolf Warriors have urged the authorities to put HSBC on that list. Last year, to try to blunt the impact of the US sanctions, China also issued new rules purporting to block its companies and citizens from complying with unjustified foreign laws. HSBC chief Noel Quinn faces a difficult choice. Credit:Nic Walker While HSBC has demonstrated throughout its history a remarkable ability to walk the tightrope of sporadic tensions between China and the West, the accelerating decoupling of the Chinese and American economies and the potential for the US to be joined by its allies some of which, like the UK and Australia, have co-operated on issues like Huaweis involvement in 5G rollouts is making it more difficult for the bank to avoid choosing sides. Biden might determine its future. Hes made it clear he wants to reform the alliances with the UK, Europe and Americas traditional allies in Asia that the Trump administration trashed while also re-stating the US view of China as an amoral rival. Its survival in its current form could depend on whether the new administration seeks to defuse them or intensify them. His administration might rationalise some of the myriad measures taken by its predecessor and bring some coherency to the trade and other sanctions Trump imposed, but the anti-China sentiment in the US is shared by Democrats and Republicans. Any success in enlisting the Europeans, in particular, to the effort to contain China will only exacerbate the pressures on HSBC. At face value, the choice for the bank might appear straightforward. Its Hong Kong and China operations are the core of its earnings and value. Its businesses in Europe, the US and elsewhere have always been weaker contributors and have exposed it to massive fines for money-laundering, breaches of sanctions and other misbehaviours. After its most recent strategic review, the bank committed to sell $US100 billion of its global assets over the next two years and to beef up its operations in Asia and the Greater Bay Area of Hong Kong, Macau and the mainlands neighbouring Guandong province in particular. It could retreat to Hong Kong and China and sell, shut down or spin off its other operations, but that would end its global aspirations, turn its back on more than 150 years of financing international trade and risk it becoming just another Chinese bank, possibly ending up state-owned. (China has, reportedly, run the numbers on acquiring it several times in the past). Its unclear, however, whether China which has said it would welcome a redomiciling of HSBC to Hong Kong would actually be keen for HSBC to be broken up. The bank is a key pipeline for foreign capital into Hong Kong and China, and a mainstay of Hong Kongs status as an international financial centre. HSBC has survived existential threats throughout its history and shown that it can usually find a way to walk both sides of a treacherous path. Unless tensions between the US and China and the West and China abate, however, this period might produce the most threatening moment of all. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The treasury industry has recognized ICD's independent portal for money market funds and other short-term investments as the Best Investment Management Solution in this year's Global Finance awards for Best Treasury and Cash Management Banks and Providers. Winners were chosen from across 75 countries and territories. "We're thrilled to be recognized by the broad community of participants in the treasury industry," says ICD Chief Executive Officer Tory Hazard. "Treasury's ability to move easily in and out of funds and at the right time is in no small part aided by the kind of independent portal technology and high-touch service ICD offers, which is especially important in times of market stress like we've seen during this pandemic." Throughout the pandemic, ICD's data against the industry benchmark indicates that investors using ICD Portal act more quickly than the rest of the market to de-risk portfolios and find opportunities in short-term investments. ICD has added number of investment products in recent months that allow organizations to find yield while still offering same-day liquidity in a near-zero rate environment. "Smart management of cash and treasury systems were essential over the past year of pandemic-induced chaos," said Joseph D. Giarraputo, publisher and editorial director of Global Finance. "Our awards pinpoint the financial entities that shepherded their clients through the crisis with real-time insights and strategies that worked even at a time of rapid and dramatic changes." To determine winners of the awards, Global Finance used a multi-tiered assessment process, which included input from industry analysts, corporate executives, technology experts and independent research. For more information about ICD, visit icdportal.com or contact [email protected]. About ICD ICD is treasury's trusted, independent portal provider of money market funds and other short-term investments. We provide intuitive technology and unbiased access to over 300 investment products through ICD Portal, a model in the industry for trading, reporting and analysis. Through our Global Trade Desk, located in London, Boston and San Francisco, we offer follow-the-sun support and expert service. ICD Media Contact Zoe Sochor +1 646.581.3277 [email protected] SOURCE ICD The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A mob of supporters of US President Donald Trump fight with members of law enforcement at a door they broke open as they storm the Capitol Building in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. File Photo: Leah Millis/ Reuters Emanuel Jackson (20 ) was caught on video using a metal bat to strike the protective shields wielded by police officers as they tried to fend off rioters storming the US Capitol on January 6. Mr Jackson, awaiting trial in federal court on assault charges, is adopting a novel legal defence: seeking to pin the blame on Donald Trump, citing the former presidents remarks at a rally shortly before the Capitol siege. Mr Trump told the crowd to fight like hell, said we will not take it anymore and repeated his false claims that the election was stolen through voting fraud. Mr Trump exhorted followers to go to the Capitol. The ensuing rampage left five people dead. Mr Jacksons lawyer, Brandi Harden, wrote in a January 22 court filing that the nature and circumstances of this offence must be viewed through the lens of an event inspired by the President of the United States. The siege, Ms Harden added, appears to have been spontaneous and sparked by the statements made during the Stop the Steal rally. At least six of the 170 people charged in connection with the Capitol siege have tried to shift at least some of the blame on to Mr Trump as they defend themselves in court or in the court of public opinion. Read More Other defendants to take this route include Jacob Chansley, who donned a horned headdress during the attack, and Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys right-wing group who is accused of shattering a window in the Capitol so rioters could enter. The boss of the country said, People of the country, come on down, let people know what you think, Mr Pezzolas defence lawyer, Michael Scibetta, told Reuters. The logical thinking was, He invited us down. Lawyers have not yet sought dismissal of charges or acquittal during a trial based on the idea that Mr Trump incited their clients, instead making the claim as part of efforts to spare them from pretrial detention. No defendant will be able to avoid criminal culpability by saying they were incited by Mr Trump, said Jay Town, who served as the top federal prosecutor in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Trump administration. If anything, it is an admission to criminal conduct, said Mr Town, now the general counsel of cybersecurity firm Gray Analytics. While this ineffective tactic may help with headlines, it will not help the fate of any defendant. Mr Trump took to a stage near the White House and exhorted supporters to fight, using the word more than 20 times. He told the crowd that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol. About 50 minutes into the speech, many of them did. Trump adviser Jason Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal strategy of blaming the former president. Mr Trump has called his speech totally appropriate. The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection stemming from his January 6 speech. He faces an impeachment trial next week. Enough Republican senators have signalled opposition to impeachment to indicate that the chamber almost certainly will fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict him. Read More . Switzerland has refused to approve the AstraZeneca Covid, vaccine with regulators raising concerns over insufficient test data and arguing 'new studies' are needed. It comes after France, Sweden and Germany advised against administering the jab to those over 65 and Emmanuel Macron claimed it was 'almost ineffective' for the age bracket. That is despite Oxford data published this week suggesting the jab is 76 per cent effective after just one dose, and may also prevent 67 per cent of infection. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also weighed in, saying the jab is 'is very good and efficacious' in all age groups. Continental objections to the jab come amid a furious row between the EU and AstraZeneca over lagging supply, which has seen newly-unshackled Brexit Britain storm ahead in its immunisation roll-out. Switzerland has refused to approve the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine amid concerns over insufficient data and regulators said 'new studies' were needed. Pictured: A medic checks a man's temperature at a vaccination centre in Geneva, Switzerland The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had been examining information from the pharmaceutical giant but that was 'not yet sufficient to permit authorisation'. Pictured: Vaccination centre in Geneva The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had been examining information from the pharmaceutical giant but that was 'not yet sufficient to permit authorisation'. 'To obtain more information about safety, efficacy and quality, additional data from new studies are needed,' it said in a statement. Switzerland has so far given the green light to Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Switzerland had been expected to authorise the AstraZeneca jab soon, after the European Union last week gave the vaccine the go ahead for people over the age of 18. But the Swiss today agreed with France, Sweden and Germany that there was not enough data to show how the vaccine affects elderly patients. EU Vaccine approval: State of play Approved for the EU BioNTech/Pfizer (German/US, mRNA vaccine, 95-percent efficacy according the European Medicines Agency): 600 million doses. Its first-quarter deliveries to EU member states were cut by as much as half, but the company vows they will be back to normal by mid-February. Moderna: (US, mRNA vaccine, 94-percent efficacy): 160 million doses. AstraZeneca (Anglo-Swedish, adenovirus, 60-percent efficacy): 400 million doses. It was meant to have delivered more than 100 million doses in the first quarter, but on December 22 said that would be cut to 31 million. Von der Leyen announced on Sunday that would now be boosted to 40 million. Pending approval Johnson & Johnson (US, adenovirus, efficacy unknown): 400 million doses. The Commission says 100 million should be delivered by June if this single-shot vaccine is approved. CureVac (Germany/US, mRNA, efficacy unknown): 405 million doses. Sanofi/GSK (France/UK, recombinant spike protein, efficacy unknown): 300 million doses. After a disappointing Phase 2 trial, the companies are trying a different antigen formulation and are now aiming for production late this year. The Commission is also in exploratory talks with Novavax (US, recombinant spike protein, efficacy unknown) for up to 200 million doses and with Valneva (French, inactivated virus vaccine, efficacy unknown) for up to 60 million doses. Advertisement Swissmedic said a meeting of its external advisory body on Tuesday had confirmed its interim assessment of the AstraZenica vaccine data. 'The data currently available do not point to a positive decision regarding benefits and risks,' it said. 'To obtain a conclusive assessment, the applicant will among other things have to submit additional efficacy data from a Phase 3 trial under way in North and South America, and these will have to be analysed. 'As soon as the results have been received, a temporary authorisation according to the rolling procedure could be issued at very short notice,' it added. Switzerland, which kicked off vaccination against the deadly coronavirus in late December, meanwhile announced Wednesday that it had signed three more contracts to acquire another 17 million vaccine doses. The country of 8.5 million people said it had reached an agreement with Germany's Curevac, whose vaccine is in Phase 3 trials, and the Swedish government for the delivery of five million doses. It said it had also signed a preliminary agreement with US firm Novavax for six million doses. These will add two new vaccines to the Swiss portfolio, if they are approved by regulators. At the same time, the Swiss government had also signed a deal to acquire an additional six million doses of the Moderna vaccine, bringing the total number of those jabs available in Switzerland to 13.5 million. In addition, the government has signed deals for access to around three million Pfizer-BioNTech doses and 5.3 million AstraZeneca doses. Amid concerns over the AstraZeneca jab, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK health chiefs have insisted that the vaccine, made by Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, is effective for all age groups. Mr Johnson said on Friday that the vaccine 'is very good and efficacious' after health officials in Berlin warned that there was 'insufficient data to assess the efficacy of the vaccine for persons aged 65 years and older.' It was revealed yesterday that research suggests a single shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and may have a 'substantial effect' on transmission. Analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. When the second dose is administered after three months, the jab's efficacy is bumped up to 82.4 per cent, according to the study, which involved more than 17,000 trial volunteers. Mr Johnson tweeted: 'Really encouraging data from a new study today shows the Oxford/AZ vaccine provides significant protection against the virus.' Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford's trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent. But pouring petrol on the row again yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Britain of compromising on safety by giving swift approval to the jab. But the Swiss today agreed with France, Sweden and Germany that there was not enough data to show how the vaccine affects elderly patients. Pictured: A nurse prepares a dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine Sweden's King Carl Gustaf, 74, receives a Pfizer vaccine on January 15 at Stenhammar Palace The former German defence minister also took the chance to throw her deputy leader under the bus over the EU vaccine shambles. Brussels last week descended into bitter attacks on Britain and AstraZeneca, which it accused of reneging on it contractual obligations to deliver the jab, with suspicions raised that the company had supplied the UK with the EU's doses. AstraZeneca has been open about their initial tests in which only 10 per cent of the participants were 65 or older. However, there are trials ongoing throughout the world to prove its efficacy further in the older age groups. Amid EU rancour last Friday, the European Medicines Agency, the Bloc's regulator, granted approval to the AstraZeneca vaccine for all age groups. The British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the jab in December, well before its European counterparts. As a result of the fast approval and Britain's investment in its vaccine programme, the UK - which finally quit the EU on January 1 - has taken the lead in the roll-out stakes. As of Sunday, Britain had dished out 14.42 jabs per 100 people, while Germany has only managed 2.95 and France 2.35. The UK committed 1.67 billion to ordering doses, while the EU spent only 1.57 billion for its 27 member states. The UK committed 1.67billion on Covid vaccines before it was known whether they would be effective - more than the 1.57billion the EU put forward for its 448million people, with Britain spending 25.00 per capita compared to 3.51 for Brussels. The US government spent 7.9billion in total, according to the figures from science analytics firm Airfinity, an outlay of 24.02 for each of its 330million people EU country's vaccination programmes have been lagging behind other nations as the bloc continues to struggle with its rollout following the fiasco That works out to 25.00 per capita for Britain, compared to 3.51 for Europe. Germany's medicines regulator, STIKO, did not reveal the specific data used to come to their conclusion about not recommending the jab for over-65s. But last week as the jab war raged between London and Brussels, two prominent German media outlets claimed the efficacy for over-65s was below 10 per cent. The reports were firmly rejected by AstraZeneca as well as by the German health ministry. 'A false claim does not become true just because it is repeated,' a German health ministry spokesman said of the reports. He noted that it is a known fact that the AstraZeneca trials involved fewer older people than other manufacturers'. But 'that the efficacy is only eight percent is incomprehensible and in our view, wrong,' he added. British regulators had said that 660 older people took part in the Oxford AstraZeneca trials, acknowledging that there were too few to derive an efficacy figure for that specific group STIKO said that apart from the 'limitation' in data on older people, the vaccine was 'considered appropriate' for 18 to 64-year-olds. British regulators had said that 660 older people took part in the Oxford AstraZeneca trials, acknowledging that there were too few to derive an efficacy figure for that specific group. The trials showed one out of 341 older vaccine recipients testing positive for Covid-19, compared to one out of 319 who received a dummy jab - making a senior-specific comparison almost pointless. But the vaccine did generate antibodies in all the over-65s who received two doses of the jab, which AstraZeneca cited as evidence that they had 'strong immune responses to the vaccine'. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said that older people had not been vaccinated until later in the trial because 'very ethical' Oxford scientists wanted to confirm there would be no negative side-effects. 'They're very ethical, and very academic. So they didn't want to vaccinate older people until they had accumulated a lot of safety data in the 18 to 55 group,' he said. 'They said it was not ethical to vaccinate old people until they had enough safety data in younger people. 'Other companies took this risk, went ahead and vaccinated older people faster or earlier. If you start earlier, you have more data. Essentially, because Oxford started vaccinating older people later, we don't have a huge number of older people who have been vaccinated.' European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, pictured in Brussels on Sunday, has come under pressure over the EU's slow jab rollout and her attempt to control vaccine exports But Mrs Von der Leyen reignited the row today as she accused Britain of compromising on the safety of its citizens. How did the UK end up as one of the world's leading countries on the vaccine roll-out? The UK is one of the world's leading countries when it comes to the speed of the roll-out of its coronavirus vaccination programme - a fact made all the more impressive given where the nation started when the pandemic hit early last year. At that point the country had just one vaccine manufacturing site - a facility in Liverpool which made flu jabs. But the Government quickly set up a vaccine task force in April to make sure the UK was well-positioned to benefit from medical breakthroughs. The experts appointed to the task force reportedly recommended seven projects for investment within its first two weeks, according to The Times. Advance purchase orders were hammered out by the task force with suppliers despite the fact there were no guarantees that any of the vaccines would work or that they would be signed off by regulators. That early work meant the UK was in pole position to receive the jabs, if and when they were shown to be effective and safe. The task force's strategy means two companies have been relied upon to do much of the heavy lifting during the UK's vaccine roll-out: Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The UK ordered 40 million doses from the former and 100 million doses from the latter. Agreements are also in place with a handful of other would-be suppliers should their products get the green light. The speed with which the UK moved on vaccines was perhaps best illustrated this week when Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, revealed the deal with Britain was agreed three months before the EU's. The UK's supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine is made at sites in Oxford and Staffordshire before it is put into vials at a facility in Wrexham, while the Pfizer jab is made in Belgium. Every new batch of vaccine in the UK has to be safety tested by the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire before it can be sent for delivery. This process takes about four days and once each batch has been rubber-stamped it is taken to secure Government warehouses where the NHS takes over the process and decides where the doses will be sent. The physical roll-out of the vaccine is headquartered from an NHS office in London, with doses sent to more than 1,400 vaccine sites across the country. It is easily the biggest vaccination drive in the history of the health service and many believe it will become an annual programme. Advertisement Her comments came after she pinned the blame for the vaccine supply shambles -that saw Brussels threaten Britain with a vaccine export ban - on her deputy Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Trade. The under-fire European commission president said she was committed to her role, and that she should be judged at the end of her term in 2024. She also refused to apologise for the coronavirus vaccines row last week that saw Brussels threaten to introduce a hard Irish border to block vaccine exports to the UK. But pressure is mounting on the former German defence minister, particularly from her home country, where German MPs are planning to call her in for questioning over her handling of the EU's slow vaccination programme. Speaking on Monday, Mrs von der Leyen defended the EU's slower vaccine approvals policy, while criticising Britain's for compromising on 'safety and efficacy'. 'Some countries started to vaccinate a little before Europe, it is true,' she said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde when asked about Britain. 'But they resorted to emergency, 24-hour marketing authorisation procedures. The commission and the member states agreed not to compromise with the safety and efficacy requirements linked to the authorisation of a vaccine,' she said. 'Time had to be taken to analyse the data, which, even minimised, takes three to four weeks. So, yes, Europe left it later, but it was the right decision. I remind you that a vaccine is the injection of an active biological substance into a healthy body. We are talking about mass vaccination here, it is a gigantic responsibility.' Through her spokesman, Mrs von der Leyen also threw her deputy leader under the bus over the EU vaccine shambles, that saw Brussels decide to trigger Article 16 before performing a later U-turn. Brussels accused pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca of breaching its contract with the EU, amid suspicion that the company had supplied the UK with stock that was meant to go to countries in the bloc. Britain used emergency procedures to grant market approval to the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, and signed a contract three months earlier than the EU, which used a slower approval process. Mrs von der Leyen said she did not take personal responsibility for the decision to trigger Article 16 of the Brexit treaty, which would have seen a hard 'vaccine border' in Ireland to stop vaccines from being smuggled through a back door, but she did admit the decision was an error. Instead, the European commission president said that the responsibility lay with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Trade. 'This regulation falls under the responsibility of Mr Dombrovskis,' Eric Mamer, the European Commission's chief spokesman, said on Monday of the former prime minister of Latvia. 'In my country we have a saying, 'Only the Pope is infallible,'' Mr Mamer said. 'Mistakes can happen along the way the important thing is that you recognise them early on.' Speaking herself during the newspaper interview, Mrs von der Leyen said: 'I know how sensitive the Irish subject is. But when you take urgent decisions - in this year of crisis, the Commission has taken almost 900 - there is always a risk of missing something. I am relieved that we were able to find a solution.' The legislation was met with a fierce backlash, and was amended after Mr Johnson and the Irish prime minister Micheal Martin called Mrs von der Leyen. Pictured: German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking after a vaccine 'summit' that brought together key players. She renewed a promise to offer every German citizen a vaccine by the end of September France's president Emmanuel Macron (pictured Thursday) has astonishingly claimed the AstraZeneca vaccine is 'almost ineffective' on people who are over 65 years of age After years of Brexit negotiations between Britain and the EU to avoid a hard border on the island, the move would have created a 'vaccine border'. It was announced without notifying either Ireland or Britain. Von der Leyen's initial comments attempting to avoid blame were met with scathing criticism from Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland, who campaigned to be appointed European Commission president himself. 'Number one rule of any leader: if your organisation screws up; never, ever blame your team publicly,' he said in response. To add to her woes, von der Leyen's predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker said he was 'very much opposed' to her export restriction measures during a speech in Stuttgart on Sunday. The Brussels-imposed export controls were introduced last week to supervise vaccines leaving the bloc for other countries, after AstraZeneca said it was cutting supplies to the EU in the first quarter of 2021. 'It all went too slow, it all should have been done more transparently, even though that would have been difficult,' Juncker said. Mr Mamer said the regulation to create an 'export transparency mechanism', which included the Article 16 measure, was passed provisionally and hurriedly by the College of Commissioners on Friday. 'We believe that we are on the right track since the beginning of this pandemic in ensuring there is as cohesive and as effective a European response as possible,' he told The Daily Telegraph. But Mrs Von der Leyen attempt to pass the blame on to her deputy has led to suggestions from EU diplomats that she has gone rogue, and to German MPs in Berlin planning to summon her in for questioning. To make matters worse for her, the move by German MPs was led by legislators from her own party, Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). The European Commission president pinned the fiasco - that saw Brussels threaten to implement a hard Irish border - on Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Trade (pictured in Brussels on January 29) Thus far, Mrs von der Leyen has refused calls for a public debate on the fiasco in the European Parliament, and she will instead hold closed-door meetings with MEPs on Tuesday with parties who approved her appointment. In an interview on German television, she denied that the EU was losing a vaccine race against Britain, insisting that the only race was against the virus and time. She also gave an assurance that neither the EU or Britain would block each other's vaccine supplies. The EU and many of its 27 members have faced criticism over their sluggish rollout, with fewer than 10million people getting a dose so far across the entire bloc. Von der Leyen's European Commission has invested 2.7 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to secure 2.3 billion doses from companies making potential vaccines, mostly using European factories. Three vaccines are so far authorised for use across the EU's 27 member countries: one by German outfit BioNTech with US giant Pfizer; one by US company Moderna; and most recently one by Anglo-Swedish group AstraZeneca. All three firms are undershooting on delivery schedules for the January-March first-quarter period. While excessive bureaucracy in countries such as France and Germany has been one reason for the slow start, the EU has also struggled to get hold of enough supplies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday defended the European Union's troubled vaccine drive, saying there were 'good reasons' the rollout had got off to a slower start than in some other countries. Speaking after a vaccine 'summit' that brought together key players, Merkel renewed a promise to offer every German citizen a vaccine by the end of September. Merkel had convened the online talks in response to growing anger in the 27-member bloc over the sluggish rollout of Covid-19 jabs, which has been beset with delivery delays and piled political pressure on EU leaders. 'It is true that in some areas, the pace became slower, but there were good reasons for it to be slower,' Merkel told reporters in Berlin. Merkel, the leader of Europe's largest economy, acknowledged that the United States, Israel and Britain were further along with their inoculations. But she said the EU had deliberately avoided rushed emergency approvals, as seen in the UK, to bolster public 'confidence' in the jabs. The EU had also at times negotiated 'for a very long time' to ensure pharma companies took on enough liability, she said. And the bloc chose not to sacrifice data protection, Merkel added, in a nod to Israel's deal with Pfizer/BioNTech to offer data on its inoculation campaign in exchange for doses. German media has been scathing about the EU's troubled vaccine drive, with the topselling Bild daily calling it a 'disaster'. Mrs Von der Leyen did not join Merkel's meeting with top German politicians, but the EU commissioners for health and the internal market did. A string of vaccine makers also took part, including Pfizer, BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and CureVac. 'The months ahead will be challenging. We must all continue working together in solidarity to find solutions,' said Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. Like other EU leaders, Merkel has come under fire for the decision to pursue an EU-wide rather than a national strategy on inoculations. She has said a go-it-alone drive would have inflated prices, left pockets of the continent more vulnerable to the pandemic and poisoned political unity in the bloc. The German debate has been supercharged by the start of a general election year to choose a successor to Merkel, who has led the country since 2005. The Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel's loveless 'grand coalition' government, at the weekend demanded she produce a 'roadmap' toward the September vaccinations goal. Pfizer and BioNTech have slowed down production to make manufacturing changes, while AstraZeneca said it was cutting supplies to the EU in the first quarter of 2021. That prompted outrage from Brussels, which imposed export controls last week to supervise vaccines leaving the bloc for other countries. Pharmaceutical companies have since made public pledges to make up for the shortfalls with additional doses later on - though none has pledged to speed up the initial delivery, meaning the EU's Covid pain will drag on for some time. BioNTech and Pfizer have promised to send up to 75 million extra doses to the bloc in the spring thanks to progress at key manufacturing sites. Meanwhile Mrs von der Leyen, who signed the vaccine contracts on behalf of the bloc, said Sunday that AstraZeneca would deliver 40 million doses in total in the first quarter - 30 per cent more previously promised - but shipments will not start until the second week of February. And chemicals giant Bayer announced that from 2022 it would produce a coronavirus vaccine that fellow German pharmaceuticals company CureVac is developing. CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas said his company would also produce several hundred million doses of its own vaccine by the end of 2021. CureVac's mRNA vaccine has yet to receive the green light from regulators, but German health minister Jens Spahn said it was 'on its way to approval in the coming weeks'. French pharma group Sanofi agreed last week to help produce 125 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. A European source said on Monday that Germany was putting 'tremendous' pressure on the Commission to improve the vaccine rollout, adding that von der Leyen's position had been 'severely weakened'. The Brussels-imposed export controls were introduced last week to supervise vaccines leaving the bloc for other countries, after AstraZeneca said it was cutting supplies to the EU in the first quarter of 2021. Pictured: health worker draws a dose of the AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Newcastle upon Tyne, Britain, January 30 While Brussels boasts of having a portfolio of 2.3billion doses, it has paid dearly for failing to sign its agreement with AstraZeneca until August last year. Meanwhile, the EU's contract with Pfizer was not signed until November 2020, two days after the company had announced its successful trial results. The Pfizer rollout did not begin until the very end of December, and even a month later the daily vaccination rates in countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain are well below those in Britain and the US. Brussels did sign a deal with Moderna days before Britain, but again this was after the jab had already passed clinical trials. And the EU was again shown to be lagging when the Novavax trial results were published last week showing 89.3 per cent efficacy. While Britain has 60million doses ordered, the EU has only conducted 'exploratory talks' with the manufacturer, which were completed in December. Even then, the 200million doses envisaged in an 'exploratory contract' are a smaller stockpile when adjusted for population size than Britain has ordered. The EU also has other agreements in place with vaccines from Sanofi-GSK and CureVac, which have yet to conclude clinical trials. Each EU member state is responsible for its own rollout. Most are giving priority to the elderly and frontline health workers. Almost all the vaccines require two jabs for a full vaccination. (Johnson & Johnson is aiming for a single-shot regimen, subject to trials and EMA approval.) Collectively, the European Union as of Saturday had provided 2.4 doses per 100 people, according to official sources collated by the website Our World in Data. Top performers are Malta (6.08 doses per 100 people), Denmark (4.47), Slovenia (3.65) and Romania (3.50). The bigger countries are trailing: Germany has given 2.8 doses per 100 people, France 2.34, Italy 3.16 and Spain 3.1. The countries leading the world in giving jabs are Israel (54.7 per 100 people, with most of those over 70 already having been vaccinated with their two injections), the United Arab Emirates (33.7) and Britain (13.9). Britain, which left the EU last year, is focused on giving the maximum number of people one injection and stretching out the time before they become completely vaccinated through their second injection. France and other EU countries, in contrast, say they are maintaining stocks to give the second jab as recommended, even if that means a slowdown in their first jab programme. Some EU countries, particularly in the poorer east of the bloc, are sensitive to the cost of vaccinating their populations. The logistical challenge of the mRNA-type vaccines that require sub-Arctic temperatures is also a factor. While the price of each vaccine has been kept secret in the European Commission's contracts, a Belgian minister's tweet in December - deleted afterwards - gave a breakdown. The Moderna vaccine was listed as most expensive, with Brussels paying 14.70 euros a dose. The BioNTech/Pfizer one 12 euros. The AstraZeneca vaccine came in at 1.78 euros a dose. Last month, Kate Langbroek returned to Australia after two years living abroad in Bologna, Italy. And on Wednesday, the 55-year-old radio personality revealed she's finding it hard to adjust to life now that she's back in Melbourne. During an interview with The Kyle & Jackie O Show, host Jackie 'O' Henderson asked Kate how she was feeling now that she's back. Expats: On Wednesday, Kate Langbroek told The Kyle and Jackie O Show she's feeling 'overwhelmed' since returning to Australia after living Italy. Pictured with her family Kate confessed she was feeling 'a bit overwhelmed' since moving back home to Australia. Kate explained that she and her husband of 17 years, Peter Lewis, along with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, were all having a hard time adjusting. 'We had such a quiet life over there and we were in lockdown for six months, we got used to it,' she said. Adjusting: Kate confessed she was feeling 'a bit overwhelmed' since moving back home to Australia 'Now we've come back and there's so many people that we're so happy to see, but I'm working and the kids had to start school,' she added. Reflecting on their time in Italy, Kate said she was proud of her family for adapting to their new surroundings so quickly. 'It was beyond what I imagine, I'd only been to Italy twice before, and none of us speak Italian, so it could have been an absolute disaster, but it was the greatest thing we've ever done in our lives,' she added. 'Now we've come back and there's so many people that we're so happy to see, but I'm working and the kids had to start school,' she added Last month, the radio host agreed to replace Rebecca Judd on KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up, alongside Katie 'Monty' Dimond and Yumi Stynes. Speaking about returning home, Kate said she and her family are finding plenty of things that need fixing around their house after being away for two years. She said the time away had also given her 'really good clarity of people', after being asked if it had prompted her to 'cull' anyone from her life. By Park Yoon-bae South Korea faces two major diplomatic and security challenges this year. The first challenge is North Korea's persistent development of nuclear weapons. The second one is the growing rivalry between the United States and China. The North's nuclear arsenal is an existential threat to the South. For this reason, President Moon Jae-in has sought active engagement with the North to prod it to give up its nuclear program and move toward peace and co-prosperity. Nevertheless, Moon has yet to produce successful results, despite his efforts to broker summits between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Nuclear talks have been stalled since the no-deal Hanoi summit in February 2019. This means Trump's top-down approach had not worked properly to achieve the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North. Now President Moon will have to work closely with new U.S. President Joe Biden to revive the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. Yet the problem is how to narrow their differences over the method of denuclearization. As Moon said during his New Year press conference last month, he would prefer to continue with a top-down approach as Trump did in the summitry with Kim. He has stressed the need for Seoul and Washington to start where Trump left off and recognize the progress he had made in dealing with the North. However, Biden is expected to take a "bottom-up" approach. During a presidential debate in the lead-up to the November election, he lashed out at Trump for legitimizing Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons by holding summits with the North Korean dictator. He even called Kim a "thug." Biden, who served as vice president during the Barack Obama administration, must have had deep distrust in North Korea and its leader. This reminds us of "strategic patience," Obama's policy toward the North Korean nuclear standoff of applying pressure and sanctions without engaging with the recalcitrant state before bringing it to its knees. The Biden administration, of course, is unlikely to return to strategic patience, given that the present situation is very different from the past. North Korea has now arguably completed its nuclear program with a capability to attack the U.S. mainland with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. Biden seems well aware of the growing military threats from the North. But it is still doubtful if he will actively engage with the North to persuade it to abandon its nuclear arsenal in return for sanctions relief, security guarantees and economic aid. Even if he sets out such an engagement policy, no one knows if Kim will return to dialogue. However, Moon is still confident that Kim is ready to denuclearize the North. He is overly optimistic, considering that Kim vowed to strengthen the North's nuclear capability during the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party early last month. Moon needs to face up to reality and take a realistic approach. Moon appears to feel time-pressed because his term will end in May 2022. But he should not rush to make any progress in his peace initiative. Haste makes waste. Worse, he may lose trust not only with the U.S., but also with the North, if he attempts to broker a deal hastily between Biden and Kim. That's why Seoul needs to have close consultations with Washington to iron out differences and hammer out a joint strategy. The Biden administration is now reviewing its approach toward North Korea. It is important for the two allies to draft a well-coordinated policy. Dissonance will only benefit the North. Another challenge for South Korea is the feared deterioration in U.S.-China relations. Biden may take a tougher stance on China than Trump, although he wants to cooperate with the Asian rival in such areas as climate change, public health, nuclear nonproliferation and poverty reduction. Biden is certain to continue Trump's trade and technology war with Beijing to protect the U.S.' national interests and counter China's rise. America sees China as a partner, competitor and potential enemy at the same time. So it is inevitable for Sino-U.S. ties to become more complicated: Both countries have to collaborate on some common issues, while clashing over other matters such as human rights and the South China Sea. If the rivalry between the G2 intensifies, South Korea could sustain collateral damage. There are growing worries that the South will be caught in the crossfire as seen in the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile battery here in 2017. The country is heavily dependent on the U.S. for defense and security, while relying on China for economic growth. But it might be forced to choose between the two global giants. Washington may ask Seoul to join its anti-China alliance, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as the Quad, comprising the U.S., Japan, Australia and India. This shows the need for Seoul to strike a diplomatic balance between Washington and Beijing. It is necessary for the country to map out a long-term strategy to avoid a worst-case scenario. Do not leave the fate of our country at the mercy of others no matter how difficult it is. The author (byb@koreatimes.co.kr) is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. The recent discovery of a massive, highly sophisticated hack, almost certainly by Russia, of key U.S. technology companies and government agencies puts the new Biden team in a real quandary: How, when or even whether should they retaliate against Russias president? I have a lot of sympathy with that quandary because Vladimir Putin has become Americas ex-boyfriend from hell. There was a time when Russia formerly the core of the Soviet Union (a country with double the population of the one Putin now rules) was very important to us. It once threatened to conquer all of Europe and spread communism across the globe. That time was the Cold War. That time is long gone. Our most important global rival today is China. Putin is not very important to us at all. Hes a Moscow mafia don who had his agents try to kill an anti-corruption activist, Aleksei Navalny, by sprinkling a Soviet-era nerve agent, Novichok, in the crotch of his underwear. Im not making that up! Russia once gave the world Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Dostoyevsky, Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. Putins Russia will be remembered for giving the world poisoned underwear. But to distract his people from his corruption and maintain his grip on power, Putin presents himself as the great defender of the Russian Motherland, and its Orthodox Christian culture, from godless, pro-gay Westerners. And to inflate his importance in his own eyes and in the eyes of Russians he keeps stalking us. He meddles in our elections, hacks our companies, while denying it all with a smirk and relishing the notion that so many Americans think he installed Donald Trump as president. RADNOR, Pa. and IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroRx, Inc. today announced initiation of a Phase 2/3 clinical trial investigating the role of inhaled ZYESAMI (aviptadil) for the treatment of patients with Severe COVID-19 in partnership with UCI Health of the University of California, Irvine. UCI Health was also a key site in the recently-completed study of ZYESAMI1 for intravenous administration in patients with Critical COVID-19 Respiratory Failure. The objective of the current study is to determine whether aviptadil, administered at the earlier (Severe) stage of COVID-19 can reduce the likelihood of progression to Critical COVID-19 with respiratory failure: the predominant cause of death in COVID. ZYESAMI is a synthetic form of human Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP). Emerging data indicate that the drug protects the alveolar type II cells upon which the lung depends for production of surfactant and which are the primary target of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus. Loss of surfactant causes the alveolar collapse that is the hallmark of radiographic change in COVID-19. VIP blocks replication of the Coronavirus, increases production of pulmonary surfactant, and blocks the virus-induced production of inflammatory cytokines in laboratory experiments. "We are excited to be the first clinical site for this crucial study, which aims to prevent patients from progressing to respiratory failure and being admitted into the ICU," said Dr. Richard Lee, Interim Chief of UCI Health's Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine and the Principal Investigator for the clinical trial. "We have seen the devastation of COVID-19 firsthand and recognize the importance of investigating all potential therapeutics, especially one like ZYESAMI. Its mechanism holds promise as a treatment for patients in the ICU with Critical COVID-19 and possibly also in the earlier stage of the disease, to reduce disease progression and respiratory failure." Reducing the progression of COVID-19 could have a profound impact in mitigating the ICU and hospital occupancy crisis in the US. Nearly 90 million Americans currently live in a county where ICU bed occupancy averages 90% or greater, according to data provided by the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). In Orange County, CA, where UCI Health is located, 90.0% of ICU beds and 80.7% of hospital beds are currently occupied, underscoring the dire need for a treatment that mitigates COVID-19 progression and, thereby, ICU admissions. The placebo-controlled study is targeted to enroll 144 patients. Once clinical safety is established, NeuroRx will initiate a second outpatient cohort of patients with the aim to determine whether inhaled ZYESAMI can be used at home in patients with early stages of COVID-19 and perhaps other viral infections in order to prevent disease progression and hospitalization. "We are welcome the partnership of UCI Health as our lead clinical site," said Dr. Jonathan Javitt, MD, MPH, CEO and Chairman of NeuroRx. "Their nationally recognized leadership in the treatment of COVID-19 is inspiring. As increasingly virulent strains of the Coronavirus emerge, threatening the efficacy of existing vaccines, we are counting on UCI to continue to help us chart a forward path. Naturally, we look forward to honoring our collaboration agreement with our partner Relief Therapeutics on this important project." Details of the study are posted on Clinical Trials NCT04360096. About VIP in COVID-19 Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) was first discovered by the late Dr. Sami Said in 1970. Although first identified in the intestinal tract, VIP is now known to be produced throughout the body and to be primarily concentrated in the lungs. VIP has been shown in more than 100 peer-reviewed studies to have potent anti-inflammatory/anti-cytokine activity in animal models of respiratory distress, acute lung injury, and inflammation. Most importantly, 70% of the VIP in the body is bound to a rare cell in the lung, the alveolar type II cell (ATII), that is critical to transmission of oxygen to the body. COVID-19-related respiratory failure is caused by selective infection of the ATII cell by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They are vulnerable because of their (ACE2) surface receptors, which serve as the route of entry for the virus. These specialized cells manufacture surfactant that coats the lung and is essential for oxygen exchange. Loss of surfactant causes collapse of the air sacs (alveolae) in the lung and results in respiratory failure. VIP is shown to block Coronavirus replication in the ATII cell, block cytokine synthesis, block viral-induced cell death (cytopathy), and upregulate surfactant production. Other than ZYESAMI, no currently proposed treatments for COVID-19 specifically target these vulnerable Type II cells. About ZYESAMI (previously RLF-100: aviptadil) ZYESAMI (Aviptadil) is a formulation of Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) that was developed based on Prof. Sami Said's original work at Stony Brook University, for which Stony Brook was awarded an FDA Orphan Drug Designation in 2001. VIP is known to be highly concentrated in the lungs, where it inhibits coronavirus replication, blocks the formation of inflammatory cytokines, prevents cell death, and upregulates the production of surfactant. FDA has now granted IND authorization to NeuroRx for intravenous and inhaled delivery of aviptadil for the treatment of COVID-19 and awarded Fast Track designation. ZYESAMI is being investigated in two placebo-controlled US Phase 2b/3 clinical trials in respiratory deficiency due to COVID-19. Since July 2020, more than 300 patients with Critical COVID-19 and Respiratory Failure have been treated with ZYESAMI between the two FDA-cleared protocols (randomized and expanded access). Information on the ZYESAMI Expanded Access Program can be found at https://www.neurorxpharma.com/our-services/rlf-100. About NeuroRx, Inc. NeuroRx draws upon more than 100 years of collective drug development experience and is led by former senior executives of Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Novartis. In addition to its work on ZYESAMI, NeuroRx has been awarded Breakthrough Therapy Designation and a Special Protocol Agreement to develop NRX-101 in suicidal bipolar depression and is currently in Phase 3 trials. Its executive team is led by Prof. Jonathan C. Javitt, MD, MPH, who has served as a health advisor to four Presidential administrations and worked on paradigm-changing drug development projects for Merck, Allergan, Pharmacia, Pfizer, Novartis, and Mannkind, together with Robert Besthof, MIM, who served as the Global Vice President (Commercial) for Pfizer's Neuroscience and Pain Division. Its Board of Directors and Advisors includes Hon. Sherry Glied, former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; Mr. Chaim Hurvitz, former President of the Teva International Group, Lt. Gen. HR McMaster, the 23rd National Security Advisor, Wayne Pines, former Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Judge Abraham Sofaer, and Daniel Troy, former Chief Counsel, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In December 2020, NeuroRx and Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:BRPA) announced an agreement to merge. Following the merger, the company will operate as NRx Pharmaceuticals and trade as NASDAQ:NRXP. About UCI Health UCI Health comprises the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, California. The 418-bed acute care hospital provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, and behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is also home to Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. It is the primary teaching hospital for the UCI School of Medicine. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. CORPORATE CONTACT US Inquiries Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., MPH Chief Executive Officer NeuroRx, Inc. [email protected] MEDIA CONTACT NeuroRx (United States): David Schull Russo Partners, LLC [email protected] 858-717-2310 INVESTOR RELATIONS Brian Korb Solebury Trout [email protected] 917-653-5122 1 Zyesami is a trademark of NeuroRx, Inc. SOURCE NeuroRx; UCI Health Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Sofia Hayat is often seen expressing her views on the current season of the controversial reality show. Apparently, she was approached to enter Bigg Boss 14 house to support Rakhi Sawant in the family week, but couldn't take it up as she lives in London and the UK is under lockdown currently. While talking to TOI, Sofia also condemned people who doubt her marital status and revealed that she has met her husband virtually and wants to celebrate her wedding by hosting a reception either in London or India. She was quoted by the leading daily as saying, "Rakhi Sawant is a dear friend of mine and I have been asked to enter the house to support her in the family week. I remember when I was a contestant in Bigg Boss 7, they didn't approach any of my friends to support me, which was very sad. But they did approach me to support Rakhi. I would have come but because we have lockdown in London, I can't fly out to India to support her, which is a big shame because I do love Rakhi so much." Sofia was all praise for Rakhi and said that she is a good entertainer and is doing a good job on the show. She feels that whoever is watching her will for sure be laughing and crying, because that's what she does to people. Condemning people who doubted Rakhi's marital status, she said, "I am excited for her to come out of Bigg Boss so we can finally celebrate her wedding. I have met her husband virtually. So we will be hosting a wedding reception either in London or India. I am fed up of people saying Rakhi is a liar, and it's about time people stop calling her that. She is an amazing person." Also Read: BB 14: Gautam Hegde Slams Salman Khan For Supporting Rakhi; Calls Recent Weekend Episode Worst Also Read: Bigg Boss 14: Rakhi Sawant Reveals Big Secret About Hubby Ritesh; Says 'I Need Father's Name For My Babies' As the Bard of Avon wrote in Macbeth... this is a Co Kerry island defined by what it hasnt, rather than what it has and thus captures the paradox. Foughill's neighbours have an embarrassment of riches but it itself has very little to bring to the table. Foughil Island lies just off Caherciveen in the estuaries of the River Ferta and the River Carhan which flow into the sea from the east and the south of the town of this magnificent spot on the southwestern seaboard. A few kilometres landward is Reenard Point which is connected to Valentia Island by car ferry and which knocks off a good 20km for those driving to the island. The oddly-shaped Beginish Island lies between the town and Valentia Island and has the ruins of a Viking house which is just one of the pearls in its box of treasures. Church Island is just off the east end of Beginish and boasts a monastery including oratory, hut, holy well and a shrine which were constructed there in the seventh century. Much of the complex is still intact today and makes for an amazing trip not just for students of church history. Even the fourth of the quartet, Lambs Island at the mouth of Valentia Harbour, though it also has nothing much to report, has more appeal than Foughil because of its location facing out to sea. Dan MacCarthy: 'What is likely to have prevented the island being inhabited is its marshy nature and the risk of flooding as it is so low-lying' Poor Foughil doesnt even have elevation going for it. Beginish rises to a comparatively mighty 64m; Church Island appears high because it has no foreshore, though it has only 5m; Lambs Island boasts 14m of height. Foughil, as an estuary island formed over thousands of years by deposits from the rivers has just 3m of elevation in its expansive 15 acres. The archaeological record shows nothing there: not a ringfort, or a standing stone or a souterrain. In an area with an incredibly rich hinterland of archaeological monuments there is nothing recorded for Foughil Island. Its as though the slate has been wiped clean. Access for historic currachs would have been no problem. It is a conundrum. The immaculate stone ringfort at Cahergall 1km to the north teases with possibilities. What is likely to have prevented the island being inhabited is its marshy nature and the risk of flooding as it is so low-lying. Foughill Island is the centrepoint of a trigonometrical point defined by the hills of Beentee to the south, Castlequin to the north, and Killeland Mountain to the west which slopes down to the sea at Doulus Head. Nowadays, cattle loll in the fields, chewing the cud, minding their own business. The island is divided into several large fields but there is nothing evident of ruins or an old road that might suggest former occupants. Today, the only occupants, other than the bovine ones, are the plentiful species of waders that forage in the surrounding mudbanks, including godwits, whimbrels and oystercatchers. A clue to Foughils possible importance comes with its name. Of the five spellings given at logainm.ie the derivation of one jumps out: Fochoill' or underwood. The other names recorded for Foughill over the centuries are: ffogholl; Foghill; Fochoille; Fo-choill. All have an element of choill' or wood. It is possible that the island, if heavily wooded, was used as a resource by the MacCarthy Mors who are regarded as having been the occupants of the adjacent Ballycarbery Castle. Wood would have been in demand for use in construction of houses, carts and boats, and manifold other functions. The standout feature, manmade or natural, in the vicinity of the island is this imposing ruin which was the seat of power of the MacCarthy Mors in the 16th century. The castle was later bombarded by Cromwells forces and Foughill Island would have served as a perfect vantage point to have carried out that attack. On the northwestern shore is Laght Point with the gorgeous White Strand around its tip. Opposite Foughill is Mannix Point and its campsite. Yachts berthed at Caherciveens handsome Marina will sail past Foughil but very few passengers will disembark or cast a second glance. 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. FAIRFIELD As students return to in-person classes at many colleges and universities this week, many are requiring students to be regularly tested for COVID-19. Sacred Heart University has taken it a step further, handing out wristbands to students after they receive a test for the virus, which then allow them access to campus buildings and in-person classes. Wristbands are for full-time undergraduate students, and they indicate that you have had your mandatory COVID PCR test for the week, SHU officials told students in a message Tuesday. Testing is offered on campus for free, but failing to get tested will get students suspended from the university. Each week, you will receive a different colored wristband to designate that you have complied with testing, the message said. These will be your passport to move about and participate in activities on campus, including your on-ground classes. As of Monday, no new cases were reported at Sacred Heart. The school reports 31 active cases, the majority of them among residential students Its not the only school taking strict measures on testing this semester. At Quinnipiac University, the first time a student misses their assigned testing appointment they will be barred from campus facilities, activities and in-person classes. Students in university housing then have 48 hours to get tested before being kicked out of their housing. Quinnipiac reported 54 new cases last week, the majority of them among residential students. Many colleges and universities also started with students taking classes online before beginning in-person classes, with many starting in-person instruction this week. As students return, colleges and universities around the state have begun reporting new cases of the virus. Western Connecticut State University in Danbury reported 11 cases last week. A dozen quarantine beds and two isolation beds are in use, though the university says not all students will isolate or quarantine on campus. Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven reported 16 COVID-19 cases last week, so far the total number the university has reported this semester. The University of New Haven in West Haven reported seven new cases in the past seven days as of Tuesday, with nine active student cases and four among employees. The University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford reported five new cases last week. Wesleyan University in Middletown reported one new case last week, and reports one active case involving an employee. Yale University in New Haven reported 31 cases within the last seven days as of Sunday, most of them among students. Since Jan. 1, 157 cases have been found at Yale. Trinity College in Hartford reported one new case last week and reports one active case, an employee, as of Monday. The University of Connecticut reported five new cases Tuesday, all among off-campus students at its Storrs campus. As of Tuesday, 30 residential students are in isolation on campus after testing positive or developing symptoms Germany warned Wednesday that Russia may face further EU sanctions over the jailing of opposition figure Alexei Navalny. "After this ruling, there will now also be talks among EU partners. Further sanctions cannot be ruled out," said Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert. Nevertheless, he told reporters the government had not changed its position in support of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline with Russia. Short link: [February 03, 2021] Sungrow Debuts Second Generation of Three-phase Residential Inverters in Australia SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter solution supplier, launched its second generation three-phase residential inverters tailored for the Australian landscape. The comprehensive residential line-up of Sungrow's Gen-2 three-phase inverters come in five variants 5kW, 7kW, 10kW, 15kW and 20kW and are loaded with cutting edge technologies such as Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) which substantially reduces the risk of electrical fires, Smart IV Scan and Real-time monitoring for quick fault location and troubleshooting, a wide MPPT voltage range (180V-1000V) translating to higher system yield and a fully compliant built-in DC Switch enabling easier installation and huge cost-savings. "Our presence in the Australian market for more than 10 years helps us resonate with our customers and their unique needs. Our strong team of 20 personnel operate from our North Sydney office and our warehouses in Greater Sydney, which highly assist us to provide timely support to our customers," said Joe Zhou, Country Manager of Sungrow Australia. The company indicated that its market share in Australia for the residential segment has grown to 20%-22% in 2020 and the target for 2021 is to get a stronger foothold in the segment. It also expects to make a bang in 2021 with multiple deployments across the commercial and utility-scale projects and a strong project pipeline in the battery energy storage landscape. About Sungrow Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 154 GW installed worldwide as of December 2020. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters, with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 24-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 150 countries. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com. SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi, Feb 4 : In a major breakthrough in the 2019 killing of four Jharkhand Police personnel, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said it arrested Mrityunjay Kumar Singh, who is believed to have close nexus with the banned CPI-Maoist. An NIA spokesperson here said that the anti-terror probe agency arrested Singh, a resident of Jharkhand's Latehar district. The NIA had registered a case in June last year. The case pertains to the attack on the police patrolling party by Maoists on November 22, 2019 at Lukaiya More in Latehar, which left four police personnel dead while the insurgents fled with their arms and ammunition. The Jharkhand Police had registered a case and filed a charge sheet against six accused. The NIA official said that after taking over the probe, the agency had conducted searches at several places in the districts of Latehar, Loherdagga and Palamu. "During one of the searches at the premises of Singh, unaccounted money amounting to Rs 2.64 crore was recovered. And it was also revealed that a day before the incident Singh had met Ravindra Ganjhu, Regional Committee Member of CPI-Maoist at Bearjanga forest, and had provided him money for the attack," the official claimed. A Pilates instructor who's proud of her indigenous ancestry has blown up on TikTok at followers who questioned her Aboriginal heritage. Lily Hodgson, 23, who posts under the account Thrlils, recently got a tattoo of the Aboriginal flag on her arm, prompting some social media users to dispute her racial identity. One commenter said: 'You are white! Stop pretending like you understand the struggle that a real Aboriginal has been through, quite insulting.' But the proud Wiradjuri woman hit back at trolls, calling them 'rude, uneducated, ignorant and racist' - and said being Aboriginal has nothing to do with skin colour. Lily Hodgson, 23, (pictured) who posts under the account Thrlils on TikTok recently got a tattoo of the Aboriginal flag on her arm, prompting some social media users to dispute her racial identity The TikTok star from the New South Wales Central Coast told Daily Mail Australia she felt the need to speak out after copping a 'magnitude of bigotry' on the platform. 'It's tiring that others feel the need to pressure me to explain myself or any other indigenous individual,' Ms Hodgson said. In a video posted on social media, she told her critics: 'You don't know that my father was part of the stolen generations and you don't know that my aunts and uncles were beaten and raped.' 'Being Aboriginal has nothing to do with my skin colour. I have 60,000 years of blood within me.' Her aunt Elizabeth Hodgson is an acclaimed author who wrote Skin Painting - a memoir which examines the struggles of Indigenous Australians. The book reflects on her experience as part of the stolen generations, a period between 1905 to 1967 when a number of Aboriginal children were removed from their families by church missions on the orders of the Australian government. 'The stolen generation was basically to bleed the Aboriginal blood out of society so there could be a supreme white Australia,' Ms Hodgson said in one of her TikTok clips. 'Hence the reason why I don't have beautiful dark hair, dark eyes or seriously dark skin because they tried to bleed us out.' Ms Hodgson, who identifies as a proud Wiradjuri woman, is pictured in indigenous tribal paint Ms Hodgson (pictured) blew up at fans who questioned her Aboriginal heritage in a TikTok video calling them 'rude, uneducated, ignorant and racist' A flood of TikTok users had repeatedly pestered the content creator with requests to show photographs of family members with dark skin. Although Ms Hodgson said she feels in no way obligated to prove her identity to 'a bunch of people on the internet', she eventually showed followers a photo of her indigenous father. 'It's tiring how people, who have absolutely nothing to do with Aboriginal culture think that they can dictate and gate-keep race to people like myself,' she said. The outspoken activist created controversy in a previous video where she appeared to say that Europeans have 'no culture'. She later clarified the comments in another clip saying her mother's side of the family, who are non-indigenous, do not have any 'cultural connection' to Europe. A flood of TikTok users had repeatedly pestered the content creator (pictured) with requests of photos to show family members with dark skin Ms Hodgson works as a Pilates instructor and lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales 'People are thinking I'm saying Europeans have no culture. I am not saying that,' she said. 'I understand that in genealogy they have English, Irish, Scottish or whatever and that's fine, but my family do not celebrate anything like that. 'Her (ancestor's) family were sent to Australia on a boat to work in service.' Ms Hodgson said it's important for Australians to look beyond appearance when it comes to Aboriginality and be more respectful about cultural identity. 'If somebody tells you that they are Aboriginal and they don't fit whenever your idea of what an Aboriginal person is supposed to be it is not an invitation to pic that person's life apart,' she said. STUTTGART, Germany -- The U.S. is no longer actively preparing to move nearly 12,000 troops out of Germany, putting an initiative proposed by the Trump administration on ice while the Pentagon reviews it, the top American general in Europe said Wednesday. The plan, which called for relocating U.S. European Command from Stuttgart to Belgium, returning the Vilseck, Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment to the U.S. and a host of other moves, would have been one of the largest repositioning of forces in Europe in decades. "At this very moment, every single one of those options, they are all on hold. They will all be reexamined from cradle to grave," U.S. European Command's Gen. Tod Wolters told reporters. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has begun "a very thorough review" of the proposed drawdown, which was announced in July by his predecessor, Mark Esper, Wolters said. Then-president Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to come up with a plan to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany, saying that there were too many American troops in the country, which he repeatedly said was not investing enough in its own defense. At one point, Trump said Germany was "delinquent" on its financial contributions to NATO. He also said the country was financially benefitting from having U.S. forces in the country. Around 34,000 troops are stationed in Germany, with many of them focused on missions in other parts of Europe, such as enhancing security along NATO's eastern flank, or extending the U.S. military's reach into the Middle East and Africa. When the proposed drawdown was first announced, Esper and Wolters said taking troops out of Germany and moving them elsewhere would enhance security on the Continent. But critics of the plan, including a large, bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, questioned how reducing forces would enhance efforts to deter Russian aggression on the Continent, a main focus of the U.S.-led NATO alliance since the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the invasion of eastern Ukraine. The possibility of withdrawing thousands of American troops shook the many towns and cities in Germany that house them. Hans-Martin Schertl, the mayor of Vilseck in Bavaria, called the proposed drawdown, which would have pulled 4,500 troops out the town of just 6,400 residents, a "bitter loss." Vilseck would need need state and federal government support to survive, he said. Stuttgart Lord Mayor Fritz Kuhn in July called the proposed troop cuts "punitive action against an ally" that "upended decades of close cooperation" between Germany and the U.S. But, he said, he was hopeful that the plan would be reversed and that the bases -- and U.S. troops -- would stay put. Wolters did not say when Austin was expected to wrap up his review. But when it is completed, he said, "we will go back to the drawing board." Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Kloeckner contributed to this report. Australia will build a new fleet of military vehicles that can travel on land and water under a $800 million upgrade to the Australian Armys arsenal of amphibious vessels, replacing vehicles used in the Vietnam War. The new fleet - which will also include landing craft - is being rolled out so that the Australian Defence Force can more quickly project into the region, including as part of the Pacific step-up. The armys existing fleet of amphibious vehicles proved helpful in the Mallacoota evacuation. Credit:Justin McManus The Defence Force Structure plan, released last year, called for new amphibious vessels to support an enhanced Defence posture and influence in the region, including the Pacific Step-up objectives. The Australian government has been re-focusing on the Pacific in recent years to deepen engagement in the region at a time when it is subject to growing Chinese influence. 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 Irish flag will be flying high at the 78th Golden Globes this month after Brendan Gleeson, Normal People and Kilkenny animation studio Cartoon Saloon all got the nod for the prestigious awards. Gleeson has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a TV role for his acclaimed portrayal of former US President Donald Trump in The Comey Rule. The Emmy-winner will be going up against stars like Donald Sutherland in The Undoing and Daniel Levy in the Netflix monster hit Schitts Creek. Read More Normal People has been nominated in the category of Best Limited TV Series after the adaptation based on Sally Rooneys novel became a global sensation last year. Made by Dublin company Element Pictures and co-directed by Academy Award nominee Lenny Abrahamson, lead actress Daisy Edgar-Jones has been given the nod in the Best Actress in a Limited Series. However, in a reversal of last years controversial decision to give co-star Paul Mescal an Emmy nomination for his role as Connell Waldron and omit Edgar-Jones, the Kildare man did not receive a Golden Globe nod this year. The British actress will be going up against some stiff competition for the gong, namely from Any Taylor Joy as a chess prodigy in The Queens Gambit and Nicole Kidman in The Undoing. The same two hit releases have also been given the nod in the same category as Normal People as the production for Hulu/BBC 4 battles it out for the Best TV series gong. Reacting to the nominations, Ed Guiney of Element Pictures told the Irish Independent: All of us at Element are so proud and so grateful to Lenny, Sally and our incredible cast and crew. "We are so happy for Daisy who so richly deserves it and a bit sad that Paul didnt get the nod. "Its also an incredible honour for the entire team as this is the first time that a fully Irish set, produced and directed TV series has been nominated for a Golden Globe. Meanwhile, Cartoon Saloon has been nominated for its hit release Wolfwalkers for Best Motion Animated Picture. The companys previous releases have garnered a total of four Academy Award nominations, including recognition for co-directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The Apple Original film tells the tale of Robyn Goodfellowe, a young apprentice hunter who journeys to Ireland with her father in a time of superstition and magic to wipe out the last wolf pack. In a joint statement, they said they were delighted that this Irish story is so well received by audience, fans and critics from all over the world. They said along with Melusine Productions in Luxembourg and production colleagues in France, they were honoured to be nominated. While we would love to be in Hollywood to celebrate the Golden Globe award ceremony, we will likely be in a socially distant safe celebration here in Kilkenny, they said. It is expected that distribution company Wildcard will be re-releasing Wolfwalkers in cinemas whenever they re-open in Ireland and the UK. The nominations were announced earlier today by Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P Henson, with the 78th awards taking place with a virtual ceremony on February 28. Meghalaya to examine human rights directive on financial relief on coal miners death Shillong, Feb 2 (UNI) Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Tuesday said that the government will examine the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC)s direction for granting interim relief to the families of the six coal miners, who were killed in a coal mining accident in East Jaintia Hills district last month. Taking suo motu cognizance on the incident, the MHRC had passed an order on January 29 directing the state government to grant interim relief to the next of kin of the deceased victims. The Commission had also issued notice and directed the Chief Secretary, M.S. Rao to cause an enquiry into the incident and submit the detailed report within 30-45 days. Derik Holtmann | Belleville News-Democrat via AP EAST ALTON Part of a shuttered power plant in southern Illinois has been demolished. Crews imploded the Wood River Power Station building in East Alton shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, East Alton Fire Chief Timothy Quigley said. It will take at least another month for three smoke stacks at the site to be imploded, according to KTVI-TV. Six minority ethnic groups in Marsabit County have backed the proposed rotational presidency system, saying that it will help stem the recurrence of ethnic violence often witnessed after elections. Speaking during their caucus elections in Marsabit town on Monday the group, known as Kona Tribe, said a rotational presidency would also help reduce ethnic tension. The tribe's chairperson, Mr Abdirahman Shariff, said the system would help uproot social tensions that stem from real or apparent marginalisation of other ethnic communities. "The only way to stem the political heat we always witness when a General Election approaches is to embrace a rotational presidency to ensure inclusivity of all communities," Mr Shariff said. He said leaders must embrace inclusivity and be sensitive to the ethnic differences that exist in the country. He said Kenya should borrow from countries which have a rotational presidency system. Mr Hussein Bachu, a member of the tribe, also said that those in power tend to disproportionately distribute national resources to their regions or hand more senior government jobs to people from their communities. The Kona Tribe, which comprises the Somali, Arab, Asharaf, Hindu, Barawa and Nyamwezi, also felt left out in most government appointments both at the county and national levels. The tribe's incoming leader, Asha Abdinassir, decried marginalisation by the county government. She urged county leaders to ensure that women are included in all levels of governance for long-lasting peace in the region. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "We wish to ask both the county and national governments to stop relegating our communities to the periphery in governance issues," Ms Abdinassir said. She added that they would make public their political stand in the near future. They urged Marsabit County Governor Mohamud Ali to fulfil campaign pledges he made to the community in 2017. Recently, Kwale Woman Representative Zuleikha Hassan proposed a five-year rotational presidency to ensure that each ethnic group in the country has a chance to hold the highest office on the land. Ms Hassan proposed that a presidential candidate should not be allowed to run for office if he or she is from the same ethnic group as the current president or the four preceding presidents. 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. Thinkers AIT10 2012 GDP3/4 G20 500 7080 20191 Can China and US coexist and escape Douglas Paals forecasted dilemma? By Wang Wen China-US relation. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT In the era when groups of senior thinkers occupied the mainstream of American think tank circles, the US view of China was generally rational and tolerant, defined by frequent dialogues, which I miss very much. The scholar I miss the most is Douglas Paal. Paal used to work in the CIA, and later served as senior director for Asian affairs in the White House during the George H. W. Bush administration, and director of the American Institute in Taiwan. He is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is tall and burly, like Dwayne Johnson, and somewhat awe-inspiring when talking with him - especially for the first time. However, after talking with him for several times, Paal started to give me a different image, that he is elegant and gentle. In 2012, I had a two-hour conversation with him. What impressed me up to now was when he said "huo lu" several times in Chinese, meaning the way of living together. He thought it was the biggest challenge that China and the US would face in the future. This sentence has become a prophecy, and a dilemma that China and the US have to deal with in their competition. From the US' perspective, China's development is ambitious and aggressive, directly threatening the US' global leadership. From China's point of view, the US constantly provokes China, deprives its basic development rights, and curbs the rejuvenation of the nation. The world is worried that the relationship between the two countries seems to be one step away from the state of "life and death." The "Paal Dilemma" seems to have emerged. Is it possible that only one of the two countries can survive at last? Now there are four realities China and the US must face. First, neither China nor the US can contain one another's self-evolution. There is no way for the US to curb China's development. China should also pay attention to US anxiety. Second, what Trump left are negative assets. If the two countries want to move forward, they must discard Trump's legacy. After US President Joe Biden assumed office, he called most leaders of the G20 countries, but not China. This is probably because of Trump's poisonous influence. Trump should not become the obstacle for bilateral ties. Third, if China and the US continue to battle each other ferociously, the two and the rest of the world will suffer. In the past four years, no country in the world has chosen either Washington or Beijing. This fully demonstrates that the international community hopes for normalized development with China-US relations. Also, John Kerry's role as US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate is very important so the two countries can address climate change to benefit humanity. Fourth, both China and the US have strengths that each can learn from. For China, the technological innovation and financial development of the US are worth learning from. For the US, China's policy of "targeted poverty alleviation" and infrastructure development hold many valuable lessons. In the US, the disparity between the rich and the poor is increasing, society is becoming more divided, and racial conflicts as well as partisan rivalry are also intensifying. The Biden administration needs to do its utmost to solve its domestic problems, and suppressing China will not help solve the US' problems. China is facing problems too, such as the gap between the rich and the poor, north and south disparity, and urban and rural uneven growth. Regarding these, China still needs to consider anti-crisis measures, anti-pollution policies, anti-poverty campaigns, and anti-corruption drives as its main development tasks. Fighting with the US will not help China's development in any way. After Biden assumed office, some think tank scholars I know have joined the US government. In bilateral dialogues among young scholars from China and the US over the years, I have witnessed their wisdom, vitality and academic skills. However, it will take some time to see whether or not they will inherit the manner of American scholars of the last generation, turning US views toward China back on a rational track. The last time I met Paal was in January 2019. He lamented that he and a number of China hands like him were aging, and that future China-US ties will depend on the younger generation. I think the next generation of think tanks must have the ability and wisdom to offer reasonable advice to policymakers, so as to fulfill the missions of helping the two countries escape Paal's forecasted dilemma. "We're proud to welcome Bails to Nordic's growing family of companies," said Nordic CEO, Jim Costanzo . "Together, we'll help solve for the complex integration challenges facing healthcare organizations. By combining Bails' expert ERP capabilities with Nordic's deep experience in advisory consulting, health IT staffing, and managed services, we'll enable greater efficiencies that drive better business outcomes for healthcare organizations." Bails was founded by President and CEO Jamie Bails as part of the Infor ecosystem more than 25 years ago. Under Jamie's direction, the company has grown to serve more than 1,000 clients to date worldwide in various markets including healthcare, public sector, retail, manufacturing, and strategic industries. Jamie will continue to lead the company, overseeing strategic initiatives, guiding the integration with Nordic's healthcare consulting solutions, and providing targeted approaches to ERP implementations in these industries. "Bails is pleased to be joining Nordic, a firm that shares our customer-first mentality," said Bails President and CEO Jamie Bails. "From its commitment to quality to its focus on company culture, Nordic values the same priorities we do as an employer and as a partner. We look forward to tapping into our combined strengths to deliver transformational results for our clients." With this acquisition, Nordic will bring Bails' ERP solutions to its current customer base of nearly 300 healthcare organizations, helping clients align their system capabilities and operational efficiencies to successfully achieve their business objectives. As an Infor Alliance and Delivery Partner, Bails' tenured ERP consultants provide Infor/Lawson expertise in a variety of areas including, implementation and upgrade service performance improvement, enablement, managed services, and migrations to V11 CloudSuite. These offerings align with Nordic's portfolio of healthcare consulting solutions, which, in combination with its Europe-based EHR consulting firm Tasman Global, and its Canadian healthcare consulting entity, Healthtech Consultants, it provides to customers around the world. The combined entity will now serve nearly 550 organizations globally. Bails is Nordic's fourth acquisition in recent years. Nordic acquired Tasman Global, a leading EHR consulting firm throughout Europe and Asia, in 2020 and Healthtech Consultants, Canada's top strategic healthcare IT consulting firm, in 2019. In addition, Nordic acquired the revenue cycle transformation practice of The Claro Group in 2018, complementing Nordic's offerings with robust revenue cycle solutions for its healthcare customers. About Nordic Consulting Nordic is a top-rated healthcare consulting firm that guides organizations to a stronger business with better patient outcomes. It provides health IT staffing, advisory consulting, and managed services, leading clients smoothly from strategy through to execution. Founded in 2010 as an EHR staff augmentation firm, Nordic's solutions have expanded over time to help clients overcome their evolving healthcare-related challenges. Today, Nordic and its family of consulting companies, Bails & Associates, Healthtech Consultants, and Tasman Global, partner with nearly 550 clients across the globe, helping them deliver higher quality care at a lower cost. To learn more, please visit nordicwi.com. About Bails & Associates For 25 years, Bails & Associates has provided seasoned, certified consultants with services encompassing Human Capital & Talent Management, Financial Management, Supply Chain Management and Technical Services, including cloud provisioning, reporting, interfaces, data conversions, extensions, and workflows. Bails offers experts with a multitude of talents, abilities, and experience across diverse industries. Bails' ERP resources are heavily experienced and are vetted, trained, and extensively supported, making them well qualified to identify client needs and exceed expectations. These attributes provide a smooth and seamless transition from existing systems, while at the same time enhancing each client's business operations. To learn more, please visit bailsllc.com. Press Contact : Michelle Lichte, EVP, Client Partnerships (608) 268-6900, [email protected] SOURCE Nordic Consulting Related Links www.nordicwi.com The SEC said that in 2006 and 2013, there were hardly 6-7 per cent unanimous results in East Godavari as against the average of 15 to 20 per cent in the state. Representational image Kakinada: State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar has said a special intelligence wing would be set up to track the polling process across the state in view of some recent incidents. The SEC told the media that a transparent and impartial probe will be held into the death of Sabbella Srinivasa Reddy at Gollalakunta village of Jaggampeta mandal of East Godavari. Reddy, who had quit the YSRC and joined the Telugu Desam, was tied and kidnapped in the wee hours on Sunday and dropped in the forests. On Sunday, his wife Pushpaveni filed the nomination. Later, he lodged a complaint with Jaggampet police. On Monday evening, he committed suicide by hanging from a tree. On Tuesday, Ramesh Kumar visited the house of Srinivasa Reddy and consoled the family members. He told the media at the Collectors office, after visiting the village Gollakunta and consoling the family members of Srinivasa Reddy, that he has re-assured the family that a postmortem will be conducted and the cause of the death will be investigated in a transparent manner. He had spoken to the Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi and the SP accompanied him to the village to give reassurance to the family members. The SP is still in the village, the SEC said. The SEC said the issue should not politicized. A fair and transparent probe should be held into the circumstances that led to the death of Srinivasa Reddy. The guilty will be punished in accordance with the law regardless of their status. Referring to the situation vis-a-vis panchayat polls, he said the SEC is not opposed to unanimous elections. But unanimity should not be forced on the villagers. If unanimity emerges at the village level on its own, its fine. He noted that, in the past, there used to be many unanimous elections at village level. The village elders used to be influential. Nowadays many people want to contest. This is a healthy trend. It is not correct to say that peace in villages will be disturbed if there are no unanimous elections. There is no evidence to support such a view, he said. Citing the example of East Godavari district, the SEC said that in 2006 and 2013, there were hardly six to seven per cent unanimous results there as against the average of 15 to 20 per cent in the state. Still, East Godavari villages are by and large peaceful even if there are no unanimous elections. Therefore, we should not launch a campaign to support unanimous elections. He said that polling percentages in East Godavari in 2006 and 2013 were more than 80. This is satisfactory but there still is room for improvements. He complimented the district officials for making proper arrangements and expressed the hope that the panchayat elections will be held smoothly. SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal support for protection and restoration of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary could nearly double in coming years following enactment last month of the Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act. As one of 28 "estuaries of national significance" eligible for funding through the new law, the San Francisco Estuary and other estuaries along every U.S. coast each may now receive as much as $1 million a year in federal aid. This compares to just over $650,000 appropriated by Congress in fiscal 2020 to the San Francisco Estuary Partnership for protection and restoration of the San Francisco Estuary. Passed with strong bipartisan support and unanimous approval from the Senate, the Protect and Restore America's Estuaries Act reaffirms support of the National Estuary Program. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) noted, "For years we've taken advantage of the environmental splendors and economic growth provided by our nation's estuaries without putting in the requisite work to protect them. The growing threat of climate change demands the federal government's attention and this legislation helps provide a meaningful response. With double the annual funding limit of $50 million, the National Estuary Program can better support revitalization efforts for the San Francisco Bay and the nation's 27 other estuaries of significance." Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was the original sponsor of the Protect and Restore America's Estuaries bill, which was introduced in July 2019. Rep. Malinowski said, "Estuaries nurture a vast array of marine life, filter pollutants from rivers before they reach the sea, and are the natural infrastructure that protects human communities from floods and storms. As extreme weather events increasingly threaten these nurseries of the sea, I'm very proud this important legislation was signed into law so these critical waterways will continue to be protected." The San Francisco Estuary Partnership works with communities at the local level to protect coastal resources essential for tourism, commerce, storm protection and clean water. In 2019, the Partnership passed more than $15 million in funding to local partners for on-the-ground projects ranging from water efficiency improvements and green infrastructure projects to fish passage, habitat and floodplain restoration projects. "The San Francisco Estuary Partnership leverages $26 for every $1 of federal funding to adapt and prepare for the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on our vulnerable human and wildlife communities. Many areas of the Estuary are already feeling these impacts, making the new funding limit even more essential and timely," said Caitlin Sweeney, Director of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership. "We greatly appreciate the strong support from our Senators and Representatives for the important work being done in our estuary through our program and in collaboration with so many partners across sectors." The San Francisco Estuary Partnership collaborates with regional planning organizations, volunteer groups, community-based organizations, scientific research organizations, government regulatory and non-regulatory agencies, and many others to successfully implement multi-benefit projects for a healthier, more resilient Estuary. SOURCE San Francisco Estuary Partnership Dubai, Feb 3 : The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee announced on Wednesday that in-classroom education would resume for all grades in Abu Dhabi schools from February 14. It confirmed that it had approved a preventive protocol specific to the schooling community - that is, for academic and administrative staff and students - that will be implemented until the end of the school year to facilitate the same, the Khaleej Times reported. However, it reiterated that e-learning also remains an option until the end of the school year. The announcement came as the Ministry of Education also announced that the return of public school students to on-site classes would begin from Sunday, February 14. The move - undertaken in coordination with the Emirates Foundation for School Education - comes after the success of the previously announced plan of action for recovery and safe return of students to schools. Students' return to schools will be rolled out in a gradual and phased manner for all academic levels in public schools across the UAE until the end of the school year, it said. The ministry has also previously announced that the option of distance education would remain available until the end of the current school year to ensure a smooth transition for students from remote to in-person classes again. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, attends a rally at a town hall in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, Feb. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay individual confirmed to lead a Cabinet department in U.S. history. WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to approve Pete Buttigieg as President Joe Biden's transportation secretary. The 86-13 vote has made Buttigieg the first openly gay individual confirmed to lead a Cabinet department in U.S. history. During his confirmation hearing last month, Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation "can play a central role" in rebuilding the U.S. economy, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Buttigieg, 39, is expected to be part of the Biden administration's push for a bipartisan infrastructure package. Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg was a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee but dropped out to endorse Biden early in the primaries. In 2014, Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, was deployed for six months to Afghanistan as a U.S. intelligence officer. The U.S. Senate will vote later in the day confirming Alejandro Mayorkas as Biden's homeland security secretary. The upper chamber has previously approved Biden's Cabinet nominees for secretaries of state, treasury, and defense, as well as director of national intelligence. The page you have requested does not exist any more.If you typed the page address/URL, make sure it is spell correctly.Open the Business Today homepage or Use the "Back" button on your browser to return to the previous page. "We are thrilled to welcome Joseph Benedetti to the Newfront team. He is known for his extensive employee benefits expertise and his deep ties throughout the Los Angeles area," said Raphael Parker, Newfront's Chief Growth Officer. "We are excited to continue building our practice in Southern California, and Mr. Benedetti will be integral in extending our success from the past year." "What really stood out to me about Newfront was the innovative and collaborative culture to improve the overall client experience.", said Mr. Benedetti. "I spent time interacting with the team to understand their vision for improving the client experience along with Newfront's ability to leverage technology in a meaningful way, It was a natural fit". Mr. Benedetti is based out of the Los Angeles area and supports clients across all of California. About Newfront Insurance Founded in 2017, Newfront is one of the fastest-growing insurance brokerages in the nation, driven largely by proprietary technology that makes the insurance process less cumbersome, more transparent, and more effective for customers and its brokers. Newfront was recently named to the 2020 CB Insights list of the most innovative financial services businesses in the United States Contact: Hemant Tyagi, [email protected] SOURCE Newfront Insurance Related Links https://www.newfrontinsurance.com/ Physicians hope Manitoba issues COVID-19 vaccination cards to prevent a rush of people who demand records from their doctors so they can board a plane once travel is permitted. Physicians hope Manitoba issues COVID-19 vaccination cards to prevent a rush of people who demand records from their doctors so they can board a plane once travel is permitted. Vaccinations are moving at a snails pace, and widespread lockdowns mean no one who has been immunized gets special treatment. However, governments are preparing for situations in which vaccinated people get access to certain privileges or jobs. Manitoba, unlike other provinces, hasn't yet decided whether it will provide a paper card and/or online record to people who have been vaccinated. "We have teams that are exploring some online or some card options, to make it easier for Manitobans to get access to their own information," said Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead for Manitoba's vaccine rollout. Reimer said she did not know when a decision would be made or whether the province is leaning toward a paper or online record. Provinces track all immunizations in digital registries, and its fairly easy for Manitobans to have their local public health office print a copy of shots they have received dating back to 1981. Reimer said shed prefer Manitobans approach public health instead of their primary care provider, but Doctors Manitoba is concerned people will still be relying on a family doctor to pull their records. The lobby group said it would make sense to provide some sort of record at the point of immunization, so that people dont need to request those documents later. "A vaccine card like this can be useful for many reasons, including for patient safety," wrote Doctors Manitoba spokesman Keir Johnson. "The card would note which type of vaccine you received to ensure you get the same type for your second shot. It can also serve as a reminder on when you should get your second dose." NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said Manitoba should have had its ducks in a row already, particularly so people can track when they need a booster shot, and for which vaccine. "We seem to be playing catch-up," Asagwara said. "The information needs to be provided in a manner that is accessible and manageable for folks." In the Yukon, everyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine is supposed to receive a paper that folds in half into the size of a business card, with their name and vaccine type written on the inside, with spaces for two doses. The cards include the lot number of the vaccine shipment, which can help patients if issues later emerge. Theoretically, that might include getting doses from an expired shipment, or to track if they received a vaccine before it was modified to deal with emerging variants. In Ontario, vaccinated nurses receive a printout similar to a grocery store receipt. Saskatchewan has pledged to give out cards at vaccination sites. British Columbia soon plans to issue cards, similar to what is done in the Yukon. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention provides a standardized paper card for COVID-19 vaccinations across the country. Asagwara is baffled Manitoba has yet to introduce a card or an online registry to book appointments. The MLA said the public loses confidence when mistakes occur, such as when text messages that ordered people to go to the wrong site were sent. "Manitobans are scratching their heads as to why these things werent laid out in advance," Asagwara said. The Pallister government responded to NDP criticism by noting it has one of the highest rates of fully immunized people. "The Vaccine Implementation Task Force continues to work with stakeholders, including Doctors Manitoba, to identify and address the logistical needs of rolling out this vaccine," wrote PC government spokesman Brant Batters. "Instead of degrading their efforts, we encourage the NDP to recognize and thank the hundreds of public servants and medical experts who are working hard to protect Manitobans from COVID-19." dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca [February 03, 2021] Mydecine Innovations Group Appoints Josephine Wu to Board of Directors DENVER, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mydecine Innovations Group (CSE: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) (FSE: 0NFA) (Mydecine or the Company), an emerging biopharma and life sciences company committed to the research, development, and acceptance of alternative nature-sourced medicine for mainstream use, announced the appointment of Josephine Wu, Founder and CIO at Aionious Management, Ltd., to the Companys Board of Directors. Josh Bartch, Chairman and CEO of Mydecine, stated, The Board of Directors welcomes Ms. Josephine Wu to our board as a contributing member as Mydecine continues its growth trajectory. Josephines operational and financial leadership in the healthcare and biopharma spaces in addition to her experience bringing numerous successful drugs to market underpins Mydecines core strategy in the sector. Her knowledge will be incredibly valuable as we continue to execute on our business model and provide tremendous value to our partners, investors and shareholders. Ms. Wu has over 18 years of hedge fund, family office and global asset management experience including 10 years of listed, pre-IPO and early-stage Pan-Asia healthcare investment experience. She has been CIO and portfolio manager with combined assets under management over US$5 billion. She is the founder and CIO of Aionious Management Limited, a dedicated healthcare investment company which invests and provides business development and commercialization strategies in pan Asia region, specifically in China. Ms. Wu brings in an extensive network of experts in operation, clinical, market positioning and regulatory knowledge in the Pan Asia healthcare landscape. Her investments in different stages healthcare companies have led to a few successful commercialization launches of pharmaceutical products, regulatory approvals for decontamination solutions for hospitals and research centers and signing of strategic partnerships in commercialization transactions and IPOs. I am pleased to join Mydecines Board of Directors to support management efforts to develop innovative solutions using psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat the global mental health challenge, said Ms. Wu. Throughout my career, I have leveraged my experiences in healthcare to advance both start up and mature companies through their various stages of development. I am excited to get to assist Mydecine as it continues progress its business model. Corporate Governance Additionally, Mydecine, with its appointment of Ms. Wu continues to focus on best practices in corporate governance. As a result, OTC markets has removed the Caveat Emptor designation, which had previously been associated with its stock ticker. The Company continues to comply with all listing requirements of the OTC Markets and anticipates trading restrictions in the U.S. to be removed. Further, the Company announces the resignation of Michael Connolly from the Board of Directors. The Compny would like to thank Mr. Connolly for his time, services and for the valuable contributions he made during his tenure as Director. Ms. Wu replaced Mr. Connolly on the Board of Directors. About Mydecine Innovations Group Mydecine Innovations Group (CSE: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) (FSE:0NFA) is an emerging biotech and life sciences company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative solutions for treating mental health problems and enhancing vitality. The companys world-renowned medical and scientific advisory board is building out a robust R&D pipeline of nature-sourced psychedelic-assisted therapeutics, novel compounds, therapy protocols, and unique delivery systems. Mydecine has exclusive access to a full cGMP certified pharmaceutical manufacturing facility with the ability to import/export, cultivate, extract/isolate, and analyze active mushroom compounds with full government approval through Health Canada. Mydecine also operates out of a state-of-the-art mycology lab in Denver, CO to focus on genetic research for scaling commercial cultivation of rare (non-psychedelic) medicinal mushrooms. At the heart of Mydecines core philosophy is that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy will continue to gain acceptance in the medical community with many of the worlds best accredited research organizations demonstrating its remarkable clinical effectiveness. Mydecine recognizes the responsibility associated with psychedelic-assisted therapy and will continue to position itself as a long-term leader across the spectrum of clinical trials, research, technology, and global supply. Mydecine has also successfully completed multiple acquisitions since its inception. Learn more at: https://www.mydecine.com/ and follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . Mydecine Innovations Group Media Contacts: Anne Donohoe / Nick Opich KCSA Strategic Communications adonohoe@kcsa.com / nopich@kcsa.com 1-212-896-1265 / 1-212-896-1206 On behalf of the Board of Directors: Joshua Bartch, Chief Executive Officer contact@mydecineinc.com Corp Communication: Charles Lee, Investor Relations corp@mydecineinc.com +1-720-277-9879 For further information about Mydecine Innovations Group, Inc., please visit the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Companys website at www.mydecine.com . The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information contained herein may constitute forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, will be, looking forward or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the Company increasing investors awareness are based on the Companys estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of Mydecine to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including capital expenditures and other costs. 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. Mydecine will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The relocations are a result of InvestPR's strategic plan with support from BiosciencesCorp Puerto Rico for strengthening Puerto Rico's bioscience sector. Puerto Rico has a storied past spanning six decades of excellence. Eli Lilly opened its first plant on the Island in 1960. The majority of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, including Abbvie, Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Wyeth operate facilities in Puerto Rico. The Island, which boasts a staggering $50 billion+ in annual pharmaceutical industry production, has 100+ FDA-approved pharmaceutical and bioscience plants, and is the U.S.'s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing region, more than the next several states combined. Biosimilar's innovations are focused on biotech products including a COVID-19 vaccine (more details below) while CytoImmune Therapeutics specializes in cancer immunotherapy treatments. "This announcement is a clear indication that Puerto Rico's business ecosystem is primed to support bioscience innovation, manufacturing, and distribution on a global scale. It also shows that this sector is crucial to the Island's path to economic transformation since biotechnology start-ups can provide hundreds of jobs upon a successful FDA approval. We proudly welcome CytoImmune and Biosimilar to Puerto Rico and reiterate our commitment to helping them ensure success and a healthy ROI," said Rodrick Miller, CEO of InvestPR. Leveraging the Puerto Rico Incentives Code (Act 60) and other assets to set up Puerto Rico operations, both companies will perform novel biologics and cell therapy research and development. Both initiatives represent a combined investment of approximately $228 million and the creation of 400 jobs. Governor of Puerto Rico Pedro R. Pierluisi stated, "Once again Puerto Rico demonstrates that we have the talent, resources, and capabilities of a global leader in manufacturing in the Bioscience sector. Thanks to the work of Invest Puerto Rico and the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, an increasing number of companies are leveraging the Island's value proposition to boost their operations, which in turn leads to increased private investment, job creation, and a positive return on investment for all. Furthermore, Puerto Rico is ready to serve our nation by providing a proven ecosystem for reshoring to bring back manufacturing to U.S. soil and ensuring our critical supply chain." Biosimilar Sciences will establish a state-of-the-art biotech facility in Aguadilla with a $200 million investment in machinery and equipment. It will develop a series of biosimilar products, including a COVID-19 vaccine, new cell and gene therapy, biologics, clinical studies, and other recombinant biotechnologies. Biosimilar's current product portfolio has an approximate market value of $30 billion. CytoImmune will settle in Toa Baja with a total $28 million investment including machinery and equipment and expects to hire up to 100 highly remunerated professionals. The company will be developing and marketing novel cancer immunotherapy products that use the patient's own immune system to eliminate cancer cells. Cytolmmune currently develops proprietary Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) engineered T cells (CAR-T) technology, as well as an approach for human natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy that involves a CAR NK cell. "We are excited to get to work in Puerto Rico, which supports our mission to make biologics affordable, accessible, and with uncompromising quality. There is no doubt about the Island's capabilities in the bioscience sector and we look forward to doing great things that help save lives. All of the stakeholders in Puerto Rico who helped make our presence here possible have been supportive, a reflection of the Island's commitment to performing on the highest level in terms of life science manufacturing and business development," said Robert Salcedo, cofounder and CEO of BioSimilar. Rich Santulli, CytoImmune Chairman and CEO noted, "Puerto Rico has a proven history in the life science sector and a deep talent pool. It is plain to see that the environment in Puerto Rico is ideal for the development of our immunotherapies. "Puerto Rico's recently designated Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, Manuel Cidre Miranda, reiterated that "Puerto Rico continues to make significant progress in its path to economic transformation. Per our strategic plan, we continue to build on the Island's legacy in the bioscience sector by attracting top-tier manufacturers that are innovating on a large scale. Our value proposition for investment in this area supports the activities of all types of companies, enabling them with our human capital, infrastructure and favorable business climate." About INVEST PUERTO RICO Invest Puerto Rico is the economic development organization created by law with the purpose of promoting Puerto Rico abroad as a competitive jurisdiction for investment, focused on attracting new businesses and capital to foster economic growth on the Island. Our vision is to be an entity focused on results, that accelerates Puerto Rico's transformation and generates more and better jobs on the island. About Biosimilar Solutions, Inc. Biosimilar Solutions, Inc. is a leading global biosimilar company committed to improving patient lives by expanding access to life-changing biologic medicines. About CytoImmune Therapeutics, Inc. CytoImmune Therapeutics was founded on the proprietary Natural Killer (NK) cell expansion technology pioneered by Michael Caligiuri and Jianhu Yu. The company is focused on expanding its manufacturing technologies to enable numerous clinical studies across various cancers. About Biosciences Corp, LLC Biosciences Corp is a consulting company based in San Ramon, California, focused on Biologics, Gene and Cell Therapy strategy, Regulatory, Facility Design, and Process Development supporting start-ups to commercialization. Contact: Carolyn Artman, Mort Crim Communications (MCCI) for Invest Puerto Rico | [email protected] | 313.269.4729 SOURCE Invest Puerto Rico Related Links https://www.investpr.org Patients seeking services in public hospitals in Taita-Taveta should brace themselves for tougher days as nurses and clinicians have vowed to continue paralysing health services following a hardline stance by the county government over their sacking. The county government has fired over 400 striking medics and is working towards returning the health sector to normalcy by replacing the sacked workers. Public health facilities are only offering outpatient services with crucial departments like the maternity, inpatient wards and theatre closed as the medics keep away from work. However, Moi County Referral Hospital in Voi has resumed services at the renal and cancer units. Poor patients seeking medical services in the facilities continue to endure pain and agony as the strike enters its third month since it kicked off in December. The prolonged strike has also posed a significant threat to universal access to healthcare. Sick people in need of inpatient services are being referred to private facilities at St Joseph Shelter of Hope, River Jordan and Tsavo medical clinics in Voi for admission. Coast General Hospital in Mombasa has been rejecting patients referred from the county, forcing a number of them to go back and seek treatment locally. "The challenge comes in admission. Sadly, we have to pay more at these private facilities for us to be admitted," said a kidney patient, Saul Maseghe. Forced to dig deeper into their pockets Officer-in-charge of Taita-Taveta Hospice Centre Muriel Kinyanga said some patients have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets to seek services from private facilities. The centre offers support palliative care services to cancer patients in the county. "We don't have any patient who has discontinued treatment because we have our medics who attend to them and give them medicine. The challenge comes when these patients require admission because private facilities charge higher fees," she said. She was optimistic that a solution would be found soon to relieve patients from suffering. According to the Kenya National Union of Nurses branch secretary-general Richard Matolo, talks between the union and county government officials had failed to produce desired results. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Health Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The county government has refused to hold a dialogue with us so we will not return to work until a solution is found," he said. Mr Matolo said their hope lies in the ongoing negotiations between the Ministry of Health, Council of Governors and the union at the national level. The union said their members will not resume duty until their demands have been fully addressed and accused the county government officials of insincerity while addressing their concerns. The county government has vowed not to pay the striking medics their salaries for participating in an illegal industrial action. "We have not received salaries from December last year. Our efforts to come to an amicable solution with the county government have been fruitless," Mr Matolo said. County executive for Health John Mwakima said that even though doctors and other cadres are still on duty, they cannot play the role of nurses and clinical officers. "We have closed some crucial departments because of the strike. I have been receiving distress messages from people who are in dire need of treatment and, unfortunately, they have to seek services in private facilities," he said. The county government has taken a hardline stance regarding reinstatement of the health workers. "We will only consider taking back those who will explain themselves in writing. The recruitment process is ongoing and it has been accorded the urgency it deserves," he said. The county intends to hire 317 nurses and 92 clinicians. Dancing On Ice star Brianne Delcourt has welcomed a baby girl named Olivia Mai with husband Kevin Kilbane. The couple, who were partnered up on the 2019 edition of the hit skating competition, announced on Instagram that they had welcomed their daughter on Wednesday at 8.30am, with their bundle of joy weighing 6lbs 11oz. Professional skater Brianne, 40, is also mother to daughter Gracie, 3, who she shares with an unnamed ex. Meanwhile, Kevin, 44, has two daughters, Elsie, 16, and Isla, 14, with his ex-wife Laura, who he split from in 2011 after 12 years of marriage. Congratulations! Dancing On Ice star Brianne Delcourt, 40, has welcomed a baby girl named Olivia Mai with husband Kevin Kilbane, 44 New baby alert! The couple announced on Instagram that they had welcomed their daughter on Wednesday at 8.30am Announcing the happy news, Brianne wrote: 'Olivia Mai. Born at 8:30am, February 3rd 2021. Weighing 611. 'We love you so much and Gracie has never been more excited to get a baby sister and bestie for life.' Brianne and Kevin also shared a photograph of their newborn's tiny hand via OK! magazine. The couple, who met last year when they were partnered on the ITV skating show, announced they were expecting their first child together back in September, and also revealed that they had tied the knot. Healthy baby girl: Brianne shared with her followers that their bundle of joy was born weighing 6lbs 11oz Big sister! Professional skater Brianne is also mother to daughter Gracie, 3, who she shares with an unnamed ex The couple have spent lockdown together with Brianne's daughter in Canada, and tied the knot in Ontario after the pandemic forced them to cancel their dream wedding in Ireland. Speaking to OK! magazine at the time, Brianne revealed that her pregnancy came as a shock, but made their wedding all the more special. Kevin told the magazine: 'Everything may seem fast in other peoples eyes and we cant believe it ourselves but we do everything together so this was naturally the next step.' Cancelled: Brianne and Kevin announced they were expecting their first child together back in September, when they also tied the knot in Canada Discussing their ceremony, which took place at Bonnie View Inn in Haliburton, Brianne noted: 'When I look back now I realise it worked out perfectly. It was intimate and just about Kevin and I.' Due to Covid travelling restrictions, the couple were unable to have any guests with them from the UK, so their nuptials were attended only by Brianne's daughter Gracie, her immediate family, and two friends. Yet the pair still had an incredible day, with Brianne gushing: 'It was amazing. Of course we had Gracie with us, but to also have our baby in my stomach took it to a complete other level. The baby kicked as we said "I do".' The pair are now planning to have a lavish wedding ceremony in Ireland next year that can be attended by all their friends and family, including their new arrival. Brianne and Kevin first met in October when they were partnered on Dancing On Ice, and they have been in a relationship since December. The couple then got engaged just two months later after being eliminated from the show, with Kevin popping the question at a steakhouse in London. Brianne, who left Dancing On Ice in July, has hit the headlines with her past relationships, having previously romanced her DOI celebrity partners Matt Lapinskas and Sam Attwater, as well as Danny Young, who was partnered with Frankie Poultney. Meant to be: Brianne and Kevin first met in October when they were partnered on Dancing On Ice, and they have been in a relationship since December She previously insisted that Kevin isn't part of a pattern, as she gushed to OK magazine: 'There is no comparison of Kevin to the guys I used to date. 'He's perfect and my best friend. Kevin has all the boxes checked for what I'm looking for in my life.' Meanwhile, Kevin's relationship with his wife Laura came to an end in 2011 after 12 years of marriage. The pair tied the knot when Kevin was just 22 and he blamed the split on the couple being 'naive' about settling down at such a young age. The National College for Education (NCE) in Hanoi has signed a memorandum of understanding on a comprehensive strategic cooperation and first contract of investment in KidsLoop classes at practising schools of NCE, a move to jointly promote digital transformation in preschool education through the KidsLoop Educational Technology platform. Together, the goal is to transform education by integrating world-class curriculum with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology. Both agencies expect that this cooperation will positively impact more than five million children and over 15,476 preschools in Vietnam in the next five years. KidsLoop is known in the EdTech industry for its unique learning platform of the same name, as well as its high-quality interactive educational content, Badanamu. Through this partnership, NCE wants to incorporate KidsLoop as an advanced educational technology platform to accelerate the digital transformation in early childhood education, providing schools, teachers, parents a holistic view of how their students are learning. The two sides committed to collaborate to deploy KidsLoop to more than one million preschool students across the country in the period of 2021-23. In addition, KidsLoop is expected to be deployed in systems of English Language Training (ELT) across the country with the number of students reaching more than 30,000 each. The two agencies share a common vision on the development of technology education platforms for preschool and digitisation of learning materials for preschool and primary school. In this partnership plan, KidsLoop and NCE will work together to build KidsLoop's Ed-Tech teacher community as a premise for digital transformation. The NCE will support teachers and kindergartens across the country to access and use the KidsLoop platform as a basic development platform for the school's digital transformation. The KidsLoop Platform is a cutting-edge solution for educators to operate educational organisations oriented to student-centered growth. Teachers can easily use the KidsLoop platform to proactively digitize traditional lesson plans into vivid, interactive digital ones backed with AI power of KidsLoop. Proactively creating digital learning materials and lesson plans on the KidsLoop platform is also the first step in promoting a rich and diverse content library created by Vietnamese teachers and schools in collaboration with publishers. Building a world class quality, rich in Vietnamese culture and language learning materials library for teaching and learning in preschool is also another crucial cooperation between the two agencies. The pathway of building this digitised learning content will start from the localisation of the world-class Badanamu curriculum and the investment in creating digitised Vietnamese language curricula for a long-term plan. The NCE has always been a pioneer in applying technological achievements in teaching. Initially, the NCE will organize the KidsLoop classes in NCEs Practical Preschools: Hoa Thuy Tien (Narcissus), Hoa Hong (Rose), and Hoa Sen (Lotus). At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the NCE will support the deployment of the KidsLoop platform to NCE's satellite preschools across the country. Both agencies believe that this strategic cooperation is a positive movement contributing to the success of digital transformation in preschool education in the country. Founded in 2011, KidsLoop is a global EdTech company with principal offices in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, London, and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). The KidsLoop vision is to transform early years education by providing the tools and asset libraries to digitize contents, collect data, and create personalized learning paths for every student. The platform offers a variety of options for interactive learning, both in class and remotely, and brings teachers, parents, and students together in one place. For more information, please visit www.kidsloop.vn in Vietnamese and www.kidsloop.net in English. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Developers of an upmarket new 'countryside community' have apologised after their management company tried to bar 'social housing' children from using the playground. A Residents Only sign was installed at the new 1 billion Bertha Park estate, in Perth, Scotland, by the estate's management company Screen Autumn. The sign was installed after Screen Autumn staff - who maintain the estate on behalf of developer Springfield Properties - told residents they had had complaints about 'social housing' children using the playground. A community at Bertha Park estate (pictured), in Perth, Scotland, was left furious after the management company put up a Residents Only sign to discourage 'social housing children' from playing on the estate's playground as they say they had received a number of complaints Prices for homes currently available range from 164,000 for a two-bed apartment to 345,000 for a five-bed detached house. Homeowners were consulted about the sign in advance, and told that it would let people know the park was 'for residents' use only'. Questioned about the wording, a senior member of staff at Screen Autumn told one mother in an email: 'We have opted to include this due to the overwhelming number of complaints we have been receiving regarding children from the high school and children from social housing using the park, which is owned by and maintained on behalf of residents.' Springfield has now apologised and agreed to take down the sign. Bosses accepted the sign had led to some residents 'feeling unwelcome' and said its aims 'had not been communicated effectively.' Mother-of-four Nic Crossley said: 'It makes me so sad. I don't want a kid from social housing seeing this sign and feeling like they're not allowed to play there.' She said: 'Bertha Park is a brand new estate, there's nothing else here. Mother-of-four Nic Crossley, pictured with children Sullivan, 9, and Benedict, 7, said she did not want children from social housing to see the sign and feel like they were not welcome 'It might be fair play if there was a park attached to the social housing, but there isn't. The nearest other park is probably a 20 or 30-minute walk away.' Nic said she couldn't understand why Screen Autumn had received complaints about children using the park. 'The community here is lovely and the kids seem very welcoming and polite,' she said. 'I've seen no empty beer bottles or graffiti since we arrived in September.' Another mother, who lives in the affordable housing part of the site, said: 'I felt angry. The sign itself isn't as offensive as the email. 'The email clearly states social housing residents should not be using the park, which is disgusting.' She said: 'We also pay a factoring fee, and this is our home. We are not some kind of monsters. 'We have young children who should be out enjoying the fresh air and exercising, not victimised for whether or not their parents bought their home.' Screen Autumn did not respond to requests for comment directly, but Springfield released a statement confirming that the sign would be taken down. Central managing director Peter Matthews said: 'We are sorry the 'residents only' sign at Bertha Park playpark has caused upset and confusion, resulting in some residents of the village feeling unwelcome. 'We installed the sign after hearing concerns from residents of how busy the park had become. 'While in normal circumstances, we would welcome everyone to enjoy our fantastic playpark, we felt that a reduction in crowds within the facility at this time would be good practice given wider Covid-19 guidance on social distancing.' He added: 'Our intention has not been communicated effectively and I can confirm the sign will be removed.' Mr Matthews confirmed: 'Every child is welcome at Bertha Park play park.' Gov. Greg Abbott struck a hopeful tone during his State of the State address Monday as he laid out his legislative agenda. Like him, we are optimistic that better days are ahead as the pandemic which has killed more than 36,000 Texans finally appears to be abating, but we are far less confident in his legislative priorities, which are mostly a disappointing mix of partisan pandering and frustrating half measures. Abbott recognized that health care is a pressing concern and that the state needs to make sure that all Texans have better access an understatement when Texas consistently has the highest number of uninsured in the country but far more consequential was his signaling that he would not support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Expansion could provide coverage to more than two million adults, with 90 percent of the cost subsidized by the federal government, and has the support of Democrats and some Republicans not to mention 2/3 of Texans, according to recent polls. We salute his promise to expand broadband access a step which could improve lives in the more than two million Texas households that lack high-speed internet. But his other top concerns amount to little more than an appeal to his base in a bid to secure his 2022 reelection. They include barring local governments from defunding the police, changing a broken bail system, guaranteeing election integrity and instituting civil liability protections for businesses against frivolous COVID-related lawsuits. If you emerged yesterday from a long slumber, every single one of these priorities sounds virtuous. Thats the magic of political spin. But we urge thinking Texans to consider reality: No serious Texas Democrat has argued for defunding the police in the wake of demonstrations that erupted after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Austin attempted to reallocate part of its budget for mental health and prevention services, a move that Abbott pounced on as he threatened to take over the citys police force.What Abbott wont tell you? Austins cuts last year came as it spent more per-capita on police than another other city in Texas hardly making it a hot bed of anti-police fervor. In his rush to build a straw man as an excuse to seize local control, he neglects necessary police reform that will keep the public and officers safe while ensuring accountability for the use of excessive force. Thats especially evident when it comes to the bail reform he champions. Hes not for real bail reform; hes worked doggedly against it. Bail practices across Texas hold people in jail before conviction because they cannot afford to post bond when those with money can get out a system that federal courts have already ruled unconstitutional in Harris and Dallas Counties, forcing major reforms. Rather than demonizing systems that finally pass constitutional muster, the governor of Texas should ensure theyre fairly implemented throughout the state. That doesnt mean joining liberal judges on some quest for leniency. It means embracing efforts by reformers in his own party including Texas Chief Justice Nathan Hecht. Nobody favors a bail system that lets dangerous criminals back out on the streets. Thats not what bail reform is about. Abbott, a former attorney general and Texas Supreme Court justice, knows that. He just hopes you dont. On election integrity, the governor is far more concerned with keeping Texas as the state with the most restrictive voting laws in the country than with any real effort to safeguard voting. One thing that all of us should agree on, whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, is that we must have trust and confidence in the outcome of our elections, Abbott said, neglecting to add that it is people within his own party who have stoked fears over alleged widespread voter fraud that doesnt exist.Is he seriously suggesting that the November election, which in Texas largely went for Republicans, was somehow tainted? That news to us. His focus on limiting liability to businesses open during the pandemic is still more pandering. Of all the needs and inequities revealed by this terrible scourge on humanity, we fail to understand how tort reform stands out as the most pressing. This kind of solution in search of a problem was a common theme as Abbott tossed out red meat to his base ticking off priorities on abortion, border security and guns and left little sustenance for struggling Texans. As he ended his address, Abbott took a page out of President Bidens playbook and called on legislators to put away their differences and unite to meet the challenges facing the state. We must seize this opportunity to make our state healthier, safer, freer and more prosperous for all who call Texas home, he said. The opportunity is real, but if lawmakers follow the governors lead, it will be squandered. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) The lawyer of one of the respondents in the death of Christine Dacera is urging her family to reflect on the case, given the evidence recently brought forward. "It's really hard to move on or accept, but science has already spoken that she died of natural death," said Atty. Emmanuel Ramos at the preliminary hearing on Wednesday. A Philippine National Police medico legal report presented on Jan. 27 said Dacera's death was consistent with ruptured aortic aneurysm, ruling out homicide in the case. Today's preliminary investigation marked the first time all 11 respondents appeared at the Makati Prosecutor's Office where they submitted counter-affidavits answering allegations against them. Speaking to media, Ramos said, "Science will not lie. The two medico legal reports speak of natural death, and the...examination speaks of the same that there is aneurysm of the aorta." Meanwhile, the police have yet to submit the toxicology report. They also said the laboratory results from the Makati Medical Center are with the National Bureau of Investigation. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would transmit the NBI's report to the handling prosecutor. The complainant's camp has until February 11 to submit its reply. CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report. The First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has, through her Angel of Hope Foundation, donated food for the health and nutrition support of six homes and orphanages in Mashonaland Central during this level four COVID19 lockdown. The gesture comes at a time when some of the orphanages are facing food challenges due to depleting donors due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Homes and orphanages that received the food hampers could not hide their happiness and expressed gratitude to the First Lady for her kindness. Founder of Child Future Africa Mr George Seremwe said the assistance from the First Lady has boosted their food supplies. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 00:32:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Around 10 million people in Britain have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday, hailing it as a milestone in the ongoing national effort against the COVID-19 pandemic. Hancock made the remarks as Britain is stepping up its effort to speed up coronavirus vaccine rollout to bring the pandemic under control. Meanwhile, mass testing is undergoing in parts of Britain as more coronavirus "mutations of concern" were found in the country. Earlier Wednesday, the team behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said a vaccine to tackle the coronavirus variants could be ready to deploy by October. Andy Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccine group, said the team is already planning to tweak the vaccine, adding it is a relatively quick process and would only need small trials to be done before the rollout. Early study had suggested that COVID-19 variants which have the E484K mutation, seen in variants related to South Africa and Brazil, could reduce the efficacy of vaccines. However, Pollard said that there is still strong evidence that the existing vaccine will work well against the mutations that have emerged, according to the BBC. Britain aims to deliver a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first dose by autumn. 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 [February 03, 2021] SUMA acquires Bind-ERP from IGNIA and Capital Invent MEXICO CITY, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SUMA SaaS Holdings (www.sumasaas.com) has announced the acquisition of Bind-ERP (www.bind.com.mx), one of the leading providers of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions in Mexico, as part of its regional expansion and building upon its vision of empowering millions of small business owners in Latin America via simple, intuitive, world-class financial management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The acquisition will provide SUMA with a leading position in Mexico, a country with over 4 million small businesses operating in a highly connected economy. Bind-ERP enables SMB owners to manage their operations online, improve financial visibility and collaborate with their accountants all in one place, allowing them to make better business decisions. In a country where 52% of the GDP and 72% of its employment is generated by SMBs, the company serves thousands of clients, supporting their growth by up to 50%. As SMBs have increasingly moved to remote work due to the pandemic, Bind ERP provides business continuity and productivity for its clients. In 2020, the Company launched Bind for Accountants, a cloud platform that enables accounting firms to perform their client's accounting in minutes instead of days, serve significantly more clients with the same installed capacity, and access a new universe of potential customers. Having accountants and business owners working together on the same platform drives greater efficiency and unprecedented growth opportunities for both parties. "We are very excited to partner with SUMA to promote our shared vision, enhancing the lives and finances of small businesses, through incredible technology and exceptional service. We are confident that together, we can help promote the growth, expansion and digital inclusion of entrepreneurs throughout Latin America," stated Alejandro Bonilla, the CEO of Bind-ERP. With more than 100,000 small businesses already supported, SUMA has become Spanish-Speaking Latin America's largest and fastest-growing financial management automation platform, now operating in Chile via Nubox (www.nubox.com), Argentina via Colppy (www.colppy.com), and Mexico via Bind-ERP. SUMA backer, Riverwood Cpital, committed additional capital in order to fund the transaction. Matthew Cole, the CEO of SUMA, remarked, "We are enthusiastic about the potential for Bind-ERP to join SUMA in our mission to digitize and enhance the operations of millions of SMBs in Latin America. As part of SUMAs global platform, Bind-ERP can accelerate its growth and product development to cement its position as the market standard in Mexico." Fabrice Serfati, IGNIA's Partner mentioned, "We are very fortunate to have been one of Bind ERP's earliest backers; having initially invested in 2017 in the company's Series A round, we were consistent with our belief of partnering with entrepreneurs in building solid digital platforms that have a positive impact in Mexican SMEs. We have enjoyed working alongside Bind ERP's CEO, Alejandro Bonilla, as the company's monthly recurring revenue grew more than three times since the beginning of our partnership. This acquisition marks another exit from IGNIA's portfolio of tech-enabled solutions for the emerging middle class in Latin America." "We are very proud of the work of the entire BIND team and Alejandro's leadership. For us it is a pleasure to have been part of the entrepreneurial path from Series A to this successful exit, since it is part of our philosophy as Venture Capital fund -accompanying entrepreneurs on the journey of entrepreneurship. We had fun and learned along the way, as we witnessed the small business cloud management industry to consolidate in our country," stated Jana Boltvinik, Managing Partner of Capital Invent. About Bind ERP Founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Alejandro Bonilla and Eliezer Garza, Bind ERP is the most practical and modern administration and billing system in the cloud for SMBs in Mexico. The Monterrey, Mexico-based company is committed to promoting the use of these technologies to increase productivity and drive growth for its clients. For more information, please visit: bind.com.mx About SUMA With more than 100,000 small businesses already supported, SUMA has become Spanish Speaking Latin America's largest and fastest-growing financial management automation platform. Developed for the unique administrative and regulatory requirements of entrepreneurs and small business owners, SUMA simplifies and automates key business tasks such as: accounting, payroll and electronic invoicing. SUMAs platform allows customers to easily integrate their business information with a variety of counter-parties in the ecosystem: customers, suppliers, employees, banks, accountants, regulatory agencies, and sources of potential financing via a simple, easy-to-use, intuitive user-interface and world-class customer service. SUMA is backed by Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm focused on high growth technology and technology-related companies in need of capital and expertise to scale on a global basis. SUMA + Bind-ERP Contact Santiago de la Vega Head of Corporate Development santiago.delavega@nubox.com +52.55.1798.4650 About IGNIA IGNIA is a cross-border early stage venture capital firm, investing in world-class tech entrepreneurs who are solving pain points faced by the emerging middle class in Latin America (Latam). IGNIA serves as a bridge for international companies coming to Mexico and Latam and supports high-growth Latam-based startups in industries ranging from fintech, digital commerce, SaaS, marketplaces, and the future of retail. Learn more about our investments at ignia.vc, and check-out our resources for entrepreneurs at igniaunlocked.vc. IGNIA Contact Christine Chang Industry & Investor Relations ccc@ignia.vc info@ignia.vc (81) 8000-7164 About Capital Invent Capital Invent is a Venture Capital fund based in Mexico City, focused on investing in internet companies in Mexico and Spanish-speaking LATAM. Capital Invents mission is: to promote and support ethical entrepreneurs to make a better world and to generate exceptional economic returns. Among its main sectors of interest are fintech, edtech, healthtech. SaaS, mobility, and other tech related startups. To learn more about Capital Invent visit capitalinvent.com and you can visit Capital Invent resources for entrepreneurs at wp.capitalinvent.com Capital Invent Contact Laura Santana laura@inventmx.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/suma-acquires-bind-erp-from-ignia-and-capital-invent-301221229.html SOURCE SUMA SaaS [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. 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 Jennifer M. Simon founded the Wyoming Womens Action Network and is a senior policy adviso r to the Equality State Policy Center. She holds a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School. She can be reached via columnists@jhnewsandguide.com. AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said. Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Global Trac Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink: PSYC) ("the Company"), a company integrating media, creativity, and technology to develop and deploy thought-provoking ideas and solutions that are fostering and transforming the approach to some of society's most pressing matters. CEO of the Company, David Flores, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's background and current projects. "Global Trac Solutions is a digital media company in the space of medicinal psychedelics. In fact, we are the first and currently the only digital media focused public company in the emerging space of medicinal psychedelics," shared Flores. "We have our primary platform and website, psychedelicspotlight.com, where we provide news, information, original content, interviews, all focused on the emerging sector of medicinal psychedelics." Jolly then asked about a recent announcement detailing the Company's investment in The Conscious Fund. "I've been following the works that The Conscious Fund has been involved in for the past 12 months, and I've been very impressed with the portfolio of companies that they have meticulously assembled," explained Flores. "The Conscious Fund, more or less, is a venture capital fund and is really focused on the space of psychedelics," he added, before elaborating on the potential of the companies in the Fund's portfolio. "At the end of the day, if we can contribute to the growth of the industry and help it thrive, that creates opportunities for us and it helps put us in a more effective position being involved in this industry," said Flores. "It's also an opportunity for us now to collaborate and work with some of these companies that they have under their umbrella and leverage the very powerful digital media platform that we have developed here with Psychedelic Spotlight for their use," he continued. "In the long-term, I think this does have the opportunity to provide Global Trac Solutions with value." The conversation then turned to the execution of the Company's JV Partnership with PsycheDev Inc., a digital mental health startup. "This is a space that I really see growing, especially given the current environment and climate we as a society are in right now," said Flores. "I think there's a real hunger right now for people to be able to identify different tools and resources that can be utilized to help promote a more healthy and effective state of mental health and mental well-being," he said. Flores then elaborated on the digital mental health platform being developed by PsycheDev Inc. "This is about providing individuals with a very effective and unique tool and resource that they can utilize to either expand upon their psyche and their mental health and well-being, place them in a more creative state of mind, or promote calm and relaxation," explained Flores. "We're very excited to participate in the co-development here of this app." Jolly then asked about the Company's revenue and profitability strategy. "Being able to put together an effective plan for how we are going to address debt over the course of time I think is the most important thing here, and that's exactly what I've done since day one," said Flores. "The mentality that we've adopted here is one where you have to go out and earn profitability," he added. "If you believe in it and you stick to the plan that you've created, more times than not you'll get there," said Flores. "We recognize the wave that is potentially coming here with the psychedelic industry. It's following a very similar path to what we've seen with the cannabis space," he continued, noting the Company's potential to position themselves as one of the first players in this space. To close the interview, Flores shared that the Company is continuing to grow and move forward responsibly. "This is a long-term investment for us," said Flores. "We are in this for the long haul. Everything that we are doing today is setting us up for what I think is going to be success in the future. As this industry starts to move forward, starts to really thrive, I think we have plugged ourselves into the right places to be able to capitalize and take advantage of the many different opportunities that I believe are going to exist." To hear the entire interview with David Flore's, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7789935-global-trac-solutions-discusses-the-conscious-fund-investment-and-jv-partnership-with-psychdev-in Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Global Trac Solutions, Inc. (OTC Pink: PSYC) At Global Trac Solutions we are integrating media, creativity, and technology to develop and deploy thought-provoking ideas and solutions that are fostering and transforming the approach to some of society's most pressing matters. PSYC has expressed its intent and commitment to positioning itself at the forefront of the psychedelic revolution and as a resource center for discovering and understanding the latest research and business opportunities surrounding psychedelic inspired medicines. In conjunction with the FDA's more open-minded approach to psychedelic medicines, and as several major U.S. cities continue to approve the decriminalization of psilocybin, investors are speculating that the psychedelic boom could be bigger than that of cannabis. PSYC is your source for current investment related news specific to psychedelic medicines and cutting-edge research improving overall health, moving this sector into the mainstream. We believe in a forward-thinking approach that embraces groundbreaking new technology and innovations and through the vision of business development we intend to continue to evolve into these unchartered territories as the industry leaders of the future. We truly are the right TRAC to follow. Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer: 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. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors, including the effect of COVID-19, that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are disclosed on the OTC Markets.com website. Disclaimer: Global Trac Solutions, Inc. does not in any way encourage or condone the use, purchase, sale or transfer of any illegal substances, nor do we encourage or condone partaking in any unlawful activities. We support a harm reduction approach for the purpose of education and promoting individual and public safety. If you are choosing to use psychedelic substances, please do so responsibly. Corporate Contact: Global Trac Solutions, Inc. (PSYC) www.globaltracsolutions.com (702) 239-1919 psyc@globaltracsolutions.com (OTC Pink: PSYC) About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media (602) 821-1102 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73553 Two Sydney women have been charged after another woman was found with stab wounds in the boot of a car they were driving through the Southern Highlands on Wednesday. Latia Henderson, 18, and Kayley Lee Ketley, 24, will appear in court on Thursday after the car was reported to police by a truck driver, who spotted the woman in the boot waving her hand through a hole created by a missing tail-light. Latia Henderson, top right, and Kayley Ketley. NSW police stopped a white Holden sedan on the Hume Highway at Berrima after receiving reports of a hand waving from its tail light section. Credit:Nine News/Facebook Both women are from the Campbelltown area and police were on Wednesday investigating why they were in the Southern Highlands and if the alleged abduction was related to drug crime. But on Thursday morning, Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie from the Hume Police District said the incident appeared to have been motivated by personal grievances. Herkes bu kadar yalnzken neden herkes bu kadar yalnz?! Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the arrival of Brandon L. Van Grack as a partner in its National Security, Global Risk and Crisis Management, and Investigations + White Collar Defense Groups in Washington, D.C. Mr. Van Grack joins the firm after more than a decade of service at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he most recently served as Chief of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit and previously served as a lead prosecutor in the office of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Van Grack joins as co-chair of the firms National Security Practice, alongside John Smith and Nicholas Spiliotes, and co-chair of the firms Global Risk and Crisis Management Group, alongside Robert Litt and Alex Iftimie. Mr. Van Grack is the second senior DOJ official to join Morrison & Foerster in the past month, following the arrival of Brian K. Kidd, who joined the firm as a partner in its Investigations + White Collar Defense Group. Mr. Van Grack is also the seventh former senior DOJ official to join the firms D.C. office in recent years, following in the footsteps of Alex Iftimie, Charles Duross, James Koukios, Lisa Phelan, Robert Litt, and Brian Kidd. Further, two Morrison & Foerster partners, John Carlin and David Newman, were recently named to Day One DOJ leadership roles, as Acting Deputy Attorney General and Associate Deputy Attorney General, respectively. As Chief of the FARA Unit, and the first official to supervise all foreign influence matters across the DOJ, Mr. Van Grack revitalized and transformed the enforcement of FARA, which requires agents of foreign governments and companies to disclose their activities on behalf of those foreign entities. Following the DOJs announcement making FARA an enforcement priority, he supervised a team of 40 attorneys and staff that opened a record number of investigations, pursued a record number of enforcement actions, secured a record number of registrations, and obtained the first civil injunction involving FARA in nearly three decades. As Chief, he also led the review of transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and Team Telecom that involved foreign influence. Prior to his role as FARA Unit Chief, he served as Senior Assistant Special Counsel for the Special Counsels Office, leading teams investigating the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. As one of Special Counsel Muellers top deputies, Mr. Van Grack led the investigation and prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and was a key member of the trial team that successfully prosecuted Paul Manafort, a former presidential campaign manager. Brandon is a well known and well respected Justice Department lawyer whose prosecutorial experience at the DOJincluding his role as former FARA Unit Chiefbrings unparalleled capabilities in investigations, compliance, and enforcement, making Morrison & Foerster the go-to firm on FARA, said Morrison & Foersters Global Litigation Department Co-Chair, Bradley Wine. His arrival, together with the deep team of former senior government officials that we have assembled in recent years, further cements Morrison & Foersters position as a market leader, offering unmatched insider enforcement perspectives across investigations and white collar defense, sanctions and export controls, CFIUS, and cybersecurity matters, among others. Mr. Van Grack has held other prominent roles within the DOJ, including Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Trial Attorney in the Counterintelligence & Export Control Section. As Counsel, he managed the DOJs review of transactions before CFIUS and oversaw all export control and sanctions matters for the DOJ. He has worked on almost every significant corporate resolution with the Department of Justice pertaining to export control and sanctions violations in the last decade and helped manage the DOJs Voluntary Self Disclosure Program for export control and sanctions violations. As a long-time prosecutor, he directed complex cyber investigations, including multiple matters involving state-sponsored cyber attacks. I was immediately drawn to Morrison & Foersters expertise and deep bench for handling all manner of investigations and litigation, including matters involving CFIUS, cyber attacks, FCPA, and export control, said Mr. Van Grack. During my time in the DOJ I worked with numerous MoFo attorneys and have always been struck by their effectiveness, knowledge, and professionalism. Im honored and excited to join the MoFo team. Prior to the DOJ, Mr. Van Grack served as a Judicial Clerk for the Hon. Thomas F. Hogan, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and he began his legal career as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of a global law firm. Mr. Van Grack earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from Duke University. ABOUT MOFO We are Morrison & Foerstera global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has named the firm to its lists of most innovative law firms in North America every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in the region. In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFos Privacy and Data Security, Bankruptcy, and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education for poor children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, winning asylum for the persecuted, and safeguarding the environment. As for another two suspects Yuliia Kuzmenko and Yana Duhar the court extended the current restraint measures as well The Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv on Tuesday, February 2, has ruled to extend until April 2 the term of custody remand for former Donbas war volunteer and rock artist Andrii Antonenko aka Riffmaster, who is among suspects in the journalist Pavel Sheremet murder case. Today, February 2, the jury considered the motion by Andrii Antonenko's defense team to alter the defendant's restraint measure, releasing him from a detention center. Read alsoSheremet murder: Ex-Belarus KGB officer ready to testifyAs for another two suspects Yuliia Kuzmenko and Yana Duhar the court extended the current restraint measures as well, that is, 24/7 house arrest and check-ins, respectively. Sheremet murder case: Details The journalist was assassinated in a car blast in the center of Kyiv on the morning of July 20, 2016. On December 12, 2019, police said they suspected five persons of complicity in the crime: former Donbas war volunteer and musician Andrii Antonenko, army volunteer and pediatric surgeon Yulia Kuzmenko (nom de guerre "Lysa," or "Fox"), nurse with a paratrooper unit Yana Duhar, and a family couple of army volunteers Inna Hryshchenko ("Puma"), and Vladyslav Hryshchenko ("Bucha"). Law enforcers claim that the goal of Sheremet's assassination was to destabilize the social and political situation in Ukraine. Antonenko, Kuzmenko, and Duhar were notified of suspicion on December 12, 2019. Ukrainian investigative journalists with the Slidstvo.info project said they had found the forensic analysis report used in the probe into the murder of Sheremet far from being unambiguous, while evidence presented by the police was not convincing. What is more, many Ukrainian activists consider the proof collected by the investigators to be insufficient. On August 25, 2020, all three defendants demanded in court that their case be heard by the jury. Olha Holub, the chair of the panel of judges, said that since they all were facing life imprisonment, the Criminal Code allows such cases to be heard by a jury, which consists of two professional judges and three members of the jury. On September 28, the prosecutor in the Sheremet case read out the indictment to Antonenko, Kuzmenko and Duhar in Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court. On January 4, 2021, leaked audio recordings were released alleging the involvement of Belarus top security leadership in the elimination of political opponents, including the assassination in a car blast of journalist Pavel Sheremet. The National Police of Ukraine said they had received documents and audio recordings exposing what could be possible masterminds behind Sheremet's murder. Reporting by UNIAN As it turns out, they counted every bed and not every person. As you know there are facilities that are not full, he said. In addition, they assumed that every person that would be offered, including staff, would take the vaccine. That also has not been the case. (Natural News) China Joe has ordered Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to immediately release all 14,195 detainees currently in its custody, we have learned. As part of his Build Back Better plan for the United States, Beijing Biden is trying to set free thousands of illegal aliens, most of whom are convicted criminals or have pending criminal charges. As of midnight tonight, stop all removals, reads an email sent to ICE. This includes Mexican bus runs, charter flights and commercial removals until further notice all cases are to be considered. Release them all, immediately, the email adds. No sponsor available is not acceptable any longer. According to reports, a whopping 71.45 percent of the 14,195 detainees currently in ICE custody are criminals. They are currently being held at some 138 facilities across the United States. It is unclear if ICE has followed through with the Biden order, however we do know that the federal agency has halted all deportations, regardless of criminal convictions. This is due to an executive order signed by Biden ordering that all deportations come to an end for at least 100 days. The initiative is a long-term goal of the open borders lobby, reports Citizen Free Press. Activists call on Biden to defund ICE It is not simply enough for Biden to release all illegal immigrants still in holding, though. Far-left activists are also calling on Biden to defund ICE and completely revamp the immigration system. The left had hoped Barack Hussein Obama would do it during his first term since the Democrats controlled all three branches of government at the time. This did not happen, so now the extremists are hoping Biden will open up the immigratory floodgates. They controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, and they did not deliver for us, complained Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, a Maryland-based illegal immigrant group. I hope thats not going to be the case again. I hope we are going to pass immigration reform for 11 million (people) this time. Biden is already well on his way to fulfilling this goal as he signed an executive order for illegal immigrants to have a pathway to citizenship. He also ended a travel ban from Muslim countries while reinvigorating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Biden also unveiled a program to give green cards to millions of illegal aliens in five years, three years after which they could become citizens. Activists want Biden to go even further by reviewing the practices of detention and enforcement for illegal aliens. According to Cynthia Garcia, a United We Dream member from Oklahoma, funding for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) need to be decreased in order to stop the pain and suffering of illegal aliens who encounter problems while trying to cross the border. Garcia wants Biden to do away with voluntary departure procedures and end cooperation agreements such as the 287g program that allow for local police departments to act in part as immigration enforcers. While President Donald Trump was in office, efforts were ramped up to have federal immigration officials work closely with local law enforcement to catch and deport illegal aliens. Under Biden, that process will likely reverse, making it more difficult to deport illegals. Finally, immigration reformers are calling on ICE and CBP to stop separating families at the border, an issue that was heavily amplified by the mainstream media which showed scary-looking images to the public of children lying on the floor behind chain-linked fencing. Let them out and the 74 percent that are criminals can go in the ladies bathrooms and rape our little girls, wrote one Citizen Free Press commenter about where all this is headed. For more related news, visit Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: CitizenFreePress.com NaturalNews.com BorderReport.com The Hong Kong government has revealed to the education sector its plans to re-purpose Liberal Studies in the city's schools, skewing it towards the patriotic indoctrination favored by Beijing. The decade-old Liberal Studies program, blamed by China for a string of mass, pro-democracy and anti-government protests in Hong Kong in recent years, will now be repurposed as a vehicle for China's brand of "patriotic education," a proposal shelved following mass protests in 2009, according to a 45-page circular sent to schools in recent days. The Education Bureau plans to "optimize" the program around four core subjects, under which topics will include "national security" and "national identity," as well as material relating to China's recent achievements. There is also a module on "Chinese culture and modern life," which requires students to complete a project on some aspect of life in mainland China. The name of the subject will also be changed, with "citizenship and country," "citizenship and social studies," and "social education," proposed as alternatives. Tin Fong Chak, vice president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, said the entire premise of Liberal Studies had been to encourage critical thinking, something that will be lost under the new curriculum. "We are all very suspicious that this is merely a form of patriotic education," Tin told RFA. "The values that we once cherished are disappeared." "We said a few months ago that this wasn't about reforming Liberal Studies, but about killing it off," he said, adding that the part in which students learn about life in Hong Kong has been reduced to a discussion of the city's interaction with mainland China. Tin said that while the Education Bureau had sent out the circular as part of a consultation exercise, no genuine consultation with teachers and school management would likely take place, as they weren't being asked for their opinions on the changes. He said multiple choice and short answers would be much more heavily weighted in assessment of students' performance than before, when the education sector had encouraged essay-style answers to demonstrate critical thinking skills. "Now they will account for more than 30 percent of the overall grade, and it appears that students must give the officially approved point of view to pass," he said. Policies target youth The move came after Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam set out an array of policies in November 2020 targeting the city's youth, citing figures showing that some 40 percent of the 10,000 people arrested in connection with the 2019 mass protest movement were students, out of which some 2,000 were in primary or secondary education at the time. Echoing CCP officials, Lam blamed the "infiltration of politics into school campuses" for the appearance of young people in pro-democracy protests in recent years, and announced reforms to Liberal Studies to "[rectify] the previous deviation from the subjects objective." The move to reform Liberal Studies came as the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) listed Hong Kong in 87th place in its 2020 Democracy Index, downgrading it from "flawed democracy" to "hybrid regime." "A national security law that curtails Hong Kongs political freedoms and undermines its judicial independence was passed in June," the EIU report said. "Over the course of the year, pro-democracy activists were arrested, and several hundred protesters were imprisoned." "Crackdown on opposition also continuedthe central government sees no role in Hong Kong for parties that support greater local political autonomy for the territory," it said. Mainland China ranks 151st in the same index, and is described as an "authoritarian regime." Reported by Man Hoi Yan for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law today announced the availability of its 2021 Outlook on Privacy & Data Security, a compendium of news, analysis, practitioner perspectives, and Practical Guidance that explores the complex issues businesses need to stay on top of, including Schrems II, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the follow-on California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and Europe's GDPR. The 30-plus page Outlook report is accessible for complimentary download at http://onb-law.com/tlRl50Dlazo. Among the topics explored in the 2021 Outlook on Privacy & Data Security include: This valuable compendium explores the many complex privacy and data security issues businesses must navigate in 2021. Tweet this A collection of articles from Bloomberg Law's privacy & data security reporting team covering the recent cyberhack of the U.S. federal courts filing system, whether wiretapping laws cover workplace teleconferences and online meetings such as those via platforms like Zoom, and the sweeping changes to California's privacy laws with the passage of the CPRA. from privacy & data security reporting team covering the recent cyberhack of the U.S. federal courts filing system, whether wiretapping laws cover workplace teleconferences and online meetings such as those via platforms like Zoom, and the sweeping changes to privacy laws with the passage of the CPRA. Analyst pieces that lay out the CPRA's applicability and implementation timeframe, the potential impact of the Schrems II judgment on the sharing of intelligence information among longtime allies, and GDPR's performance, two-and-a-half years post-rollout. that lay out the CPRA's applicability and implementation timeframe, the potential impact of the judgment on the sharing of intelligence information among longtime allies, and GDPR's performance, two-and-a-half years post-rollout. Practitioner perspectives that address what to watch for in healthcare privacy and a country-by-country look at lessons learned from enforcement actions taken by the EU's data protection authorities. that address what to watch for in healthcare privacy and a country-by-country look at lessons learned from enforcement actions taken by the EU's data protection authorities. Practical guidance to help legal professionals navigate cross-border data transfer and international data privacy compliance in the wake of Schrems II, and a detailed checklist to help businesses understand the CCPA's requirement for notice at collection. "In the United States and in Europe, there was no slowing down privacy regulators in 2020, and that's why legal professionals turn to Bloomberg Law to help them prepare for the many changes they must comply with in 2021," said Joe Breda, President, Blomberg Law. "There is no indication that the pace of change will be any less frenetic this year and our clients can continue to rely on us for up-to-the-minute news and insightful analysis that will keep them on top of the newest federal, state, and international laws and regulations." About Bloomberg Law Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of comprehensive primary and secondary source material, real-time news, expert analysis, time-saving practice tools including Practical Guidance, market data, and business intelligence. For more information, visit pro.bloomberglaw.com. SOURCE Bloomberg Law Related Links http://www.pro.bloomberglaw.com The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Drug major Glenmark Pharma on Wednesday said it has received final approval from the US health regulator for Topiramate extended-release capsules, used to treat certain types of seizures. The approved product is a generic version of Qudexy XR Capsules of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Topiramate extended-release capsules USP in the strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, and 200 mg, Glenmark said in a regulatory filing. Quoting IQVIA sales data for the 12-month period ended December 2020, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said Qudexy extended-release capsules market achieved annual sales of approximately $120 million. The companys current portfolio consists of 169 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 43 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) pending approval with the USFDA. Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were trading 2.41 percent higher at Rs 499.10 apiece on the BSE. South Africa: SA's citrus industry commended for record-breaking export South Africa has become the second largest exporter of fresh citrus in the world, after record-breaking exports that delivered 146 million cartons of citrus in 2020. Citrus is one of South Africa's most important subsectors in the agricultural sector that provides a significant contribution to job creation and economic activity in South Africas rural communities. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza has commended the citrus industry on the record exports they made. The industry has expanded notably over the past decade, and we thank the farmers for showing confidence and increasing the investments. The industry's investment is starting to pay off, as the Citrus Growers Association reported this morning (Tuesday) that South Africa exported a record 146 million cartons of citrus in 2020; which means we are still the world's second-largest exporter of fresh citrus after Spain, Didiza said. Didiza added that the challenge going forward is ensuring that, as a government, we open more export markets for the industry, as the estimates suggest, there will be roughly 300 000 tons added into the current volumes in the next three years that require an export market. As a government, we commit to working with the industry and other stakeholders to expand the market access to destinations such as the United States, China and India, and the European Union and other countries that already enjoy the South African citrus. In the process, we will work with relevant stakeholders in improving logistics for export activity. Agriculture is part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that the president announced late last year; to this end, we will continue working with all stakeholders to ensure that we provide a policy environment conducive for all subsectors to prosper. Part of the growth-enhancing interventions is detailed in the Sector Master Plan, which will be announced within the first quarter of the year, the Minister said. The growth projections for soft citrus, lemons and Valencia oranges alone indicate an expected additional R6.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings and the creation of 22 250 sustainable jobs over the next three years. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. If an 860-word column could hope to convey speechlessness, this one would be it. Hours after news broke of a bureaucratic blunder in Harrisburg that resulted in further damage to victims of child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, it remained hard to know what to say. It just never ends, State Rep. Mark Rozzi put it moments after answering my call Monday night. I couldnt have agreed more with those four words. For 16 years in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, people like Rozzi, who was molested as a child within a corrupt institution that knowingly harbored and hid pedophiles, were told they could not sue as adults. After the Catholic abuse scandal broke open in 2002, lawmakers in Harrisburg began blocking legislative efforts to alter the civil statute of limitations so that victims could sue as adults many years beyond what the merciless law had allowed. In late 2019, that finally changed. A long-resistant Republican-controlled legislature said yes to a compromise bill. The Democratic governor signed it, and a constitutional amendment seeking to give victims a two-year window to the statute of limitations to file lawsuits for long-ago abuse was set to be put to voters as early as this spring. Then this week came word of a terrible unraveling, and from the office of Pennsylvanias top elections official, Kathy Boockvar. READ MORE: A Pa. Dept. of State error means some sex-abuse victims will again have to wait for justice; secretary of state to resign At about 10 a.m. on Monday Rozzi, the Democratic lawmaker who had spent years as the fiery leader of the victims movement in Pennsylvania, was preparing to head outside to shovel snow. He checked his cell phone for a minute and was alarmed. He saw a blitzkrieg of messages. We need to talk to you was the plea, and it was coming from members of Gov. Tom Wolfs staff, Rozzi said. Minutes later, on the phone with the governor, Rozzi felt his heart sink. He was like, Mark, theres been a problem, Rozzi said. The governor said the hard-fought victims law had been fouled up before even being delivered to voters in a referendum. Someone within the Pennsylvania Department of State had failed to advertise, as required, that the proposed constitutional amendment had been passed by the legislature. How bad was this? Very bad. Voters would have to wait at least another two years before the chance to consider any such change to the state constitution. Department Secretary Boockvar would be resigning by weeks end, Wolf told Rozzi, and the press reported the same soon after. The governor promised an investigation. You could hear in his voice, Rozzi said. He was probably as punched in the gut as I was. Just four months before the pandemic struck, Rozzi and Wolf had been seated next to each other, in November 2019, as Wolf signed this very bill into law. A photo by Matt Rourke of the Associated Press showed the two men in a clenched handshake: Wolf with one hand on Rozzis shoulder while the onetime Catholic altar boy locked eyes with the governor. For years, I had watched Rozzi pound marble in the Capitol and the pavement beyond for this law. He angered powerful politicians with his sometimes brutal appraisals of their apparent allegiance to the Catholic Church and insurance-lobby interests who opposed any change that would subject them to big payouts. Rozzi ended up backing the constitutional amendment in 2019 only after it became clear that Republican leaders would never support Plan A: a bill that would have instantly made the retroactive filing of civil litigation legal in Pennsylvania. (The GOP resisted on grounds it was unconstitutional an assessment not shared by Rozzi and other victim advocates.) READ MORE: Theres another path for survivors of clergy sex abuse to get justice. It faces an uphill climb. Now the entire effort is back at zero. Just reading Spotlight PAs account of the recent debacle after it broke the news was disorienting. As a journalist who has chronicled the rot of Catholic church abuse since 2002, and the grand jury reports exposing cover-ups in diocese after diocese, all I could do for hours was shake my head. The bureaucratic bungling supposedly was an accident. If so, what a fatalistic blow. One can only wonder why, in Pennsylvania, civil justice remains eternally elusive for a class of citizens already subjected as children to some of the worst violence and trauma imaginable. Nothing surprises me anymore, Rozzi told me, but I have to say, Im shocked. Im stunned. How could this happen? Republicans were quick to batter the Wolf administration for this devastating oversight in implementation of the law. And they were right to do so. This is a titanic blunder. At best, this was incompetence. At worst, this was malfeasance, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman said in a statement Monday. We need answers from Wolf about how this happened and who, exactly, is responsible. But Republicans have been no angels in the delays that made victims wait so many years for even this moment of despair. Now is the majority partys chance to truly repent. The GOP should revert to Plan A. Pass a statute-of-limitations bill straightaway that does not amend the state constitution. And let the courts decide, as they have in other states, if justice is to be delivered or denied. New York, Feb 3 : A racial gap has appeared in the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the United States, with African Americans lagging behind in terms of receiving jabs, according to a recent analysis by a media outlet. The study showed that in the 17 sample states and two sample cities, African Americans were inoculated at levels below their share of population, "in some cases significantly below," said the analysis, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. In North Carolina, where black people make up 22 per cent of the population, they account for only 11 per cent of the vaccine recipients. In comparison, white people, including both Hispanic and non-Hispanic whites in the state, are 68 per cent of the population and 82 per cent of those vaccinated, local media reported. "We're going to see a widening and exacerbation of the racial health inequities ... if our communities cannot access the vaccines," said Uche Blackstock, a New York emergency physician. In New York City, nearly half of the residents who received a Covid-19 vaccination shot were white, more than double any minority group in the city, according to data released late Sunday by city health officials. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have received shots since December, with whites accounting for 48 per cent. Blacks received 11 percent of the doses, while 15 per cent went to Asians and another 15 per cent to Latinos in the city, reported the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the data highlighted a "profound problem" of racial inequity and the coronavirus pandemic. Blacks and Latinos in the United States have been killed by Covid-19 at more than twice the rate of white residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The disparity is very plain. It has to be addressed forcefully," de Blasio said at a press conference on Sunday. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on member states to make vaccine solidarity a top priority and underlined the UN's commitment to promoting tolerance and ending white supremacy. Delivery firms and drivers are burning candles at both ends as the number of orders during the pre-Tet sales season has soared. Do Quang Hung, a deliveryman, said he has to be present at a storehouse in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi to take goods to deliver to customers. Hung said the number of orders has soared pre-Tet and his company is using many delivery drivers who have to work from early in the morning until late in the evening. On average, Hung has around 100 orders a day in the Hoang Mai area. There are four delivery drivers in charge of this area. But this is not enough, he said. Customers are not there all the time waiting for you. You have to come when they are at home, he said. Hung also complained that the traffic jams on pre-Tet days, when people rush to markets and shopping centers to buy goods, had made it more difficult to deliver goods. Last year, Hai had to work until the last days of the previous lunar year and could only return to the home village two days before Tet. Delivery personnel for home appliances are the busiest now. Ngo Van Thanh, in Ha Dong district, said the number of TV and refrigerator buyers has increased sharply. Since the beginning of January, e-commerce websites have launched sale promotion programs, offering attractive discount rates and preferences to buyers. In general, these products are delivered and installed in the evening. When we deliver products to customers, we also have to install the appliances. This works requires advanced techniques, he explained, noting that some home appliance deliverymen are lacking in skills. Delivery race The shopping demand usually increases by 2-3 times on the last days of the lunar year and delivery service quality is the weapon for firms to compete with each other. Big retailers all try to shorten the committed delivery time. Tiki has committed providing delivery service through Tet in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCM City. The service allows people to buy goods when they need them instead of having to store goods for consumption during the entire Tet holiday. Viettel Post is playing big this year offering a single delivery fee of VND24,000 nationwide on orders of less than one kilogram. Meanwhile, Giao hang tiet kiem is running a program which offers 20 percent fee reduction for the first five orders (with no limitation on weight and type of orders). The delivery fee is just VND30,000 for interprovincial delivery orders. Duy Anh Bright future tipped for Vietnams e-commerce market Vietnams e-commerce market is forecast to continue growing strongly in the time to come thanks to a big population with high rates of young people and internet users. A Chinese navy formation, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning (C), during military drills in the South China Sea, on Jan. 2, 2017. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) UK, Japan Voice Serious Concerns Over Beijings Maritime Aggression Britain and Japan on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over the situation in the East and South China Seas and their common opposition to the Chinese regimes unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force. At a virtual meeting with their Japanese counterparts Toshimitsu Motegi and Nobuo Kishi, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab discussed the planned deployment of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Indo-Pacific region later this year. Japan is a key security partner for the UK, and a close friend. Today @BWallaceMP and I met with Foreign Minister @moteging and Defence Minister Kishi to discuss our shared priorities and common strategic interests ahead of the UKs G7 Presidency. pic.twitter.com/JBsh8MeHOE Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) February 3, 2021 In a joint statement, the four ministers agreed that Japan and the UK are global strategic partners who share a fundamental commitment to core values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law and are each others closest security partners in Europe and Asia respectively. They confirmed their commitment to maintaining regional security and upholding the rules-based international order, as well as their opposition to attempts to coerce others in the region including by economic means. The ministers expressed serious concerns about the situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea and strongly opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and increase tensions, said the joint statement. The British Royal Navys newest aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth departs Portmouth dockyard, in England, on Oct. 30, 2017. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Japan and the UK have forged a close defence and security partnership that is being elevated to new heights this year when the UK Carrier Strike Group visits the Indo-Pacific, said Wallace, the defence secretary. The most significant Royal Navy deployment in a generation demonstrates the UKs commitment to working with our partners in the region to uphold the rules-based international system and promote our shared security and prosperity, he said. Calling Japan a key security partner for the UK, and a close, enduring friend, Foreign Secretary Raab said that the UKs Indo-Pacific tilt demonstrates the two countries shared priorities and common strategic interests including maritime security and free trade. The four ministers also voiced grave concerns over the recent situation in Hong Kong, in particular Beijings imposition of a National Security Law on the city, as well as the human rights situation in Xinjiang. OLYMPIA, Wash., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Headquartered in Billings, Montana, Billings Federal Credit Union (BFCU) launched a new small dollar loan product on November 30th, 2020. QCash is a short-term loan ranging from $250 to $1,000 that helps members deal with unexpected cash needs in an easy to use, mobile application process. Billings Federal Credit Union's Main Branch Using QCash Financial's white-label, digital small dollar lending platform, BFCU automated the loan process using the member's credit union relationship history to make the lending decision rather than credit history. Members learn immediately what they qualify for, and the funds are deposited into their account right away. The fees and rates are configurable by each financial institution and are substantially lower than predatory lenders. "One of our member promises is to simplify their lives," said BFCU President/CEO, Tom Boos. "These small dollar loans align with this promise. A member can apply for a QCash loan from anywhere, 24 hours a day, seven days a week if they have access to the internet. And if approved, their funds are available almost instantaneously. It doesn't get much easier than that," Boos said. The QCash Financial platform provides short-term liquidity to members who historically turned to high-cost lending sources, such as payday lenders with triple-digit APRs. Bad credit limits consumer options when cash is needed. Predatory lenders are often the only option unless credit unions provide a responsible, affordable alternative. The need for small dollar loans like QCash has grown as a result of the pandemic. "As we move from economic relief toward recovery and stability, credit unions recognize the pandemic increased financial hardships for many. Financial inclusion is top of mind for innovative credit unions as they look for ways to help those hardest hit. Credit unions, like BFCU, are providing a needed resource to their communities," said QCash Financial CEO, Ben Morales. Additionally, "Federal regulators are encouraging credit unions to offer small dollar loans which rescue members from a cycle of debt that's hard to escape," Morales said. "Once the immediate need has been met, members with improved financial health can move upstream to utilize other traditional credit union resources." About Billings Federal Credit Union Billings Federal Credit Union (BFCU) serves 11,200 members and has more than $180M in member-owned assets. Established in 1935, BFCU is a not-for-profit cooperative, owned by its membership. Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Yellowstone, Big Horn or Carbon Counties, Montana is eligible to become a member. BFCU offers a full line of financial products and services, competitive rates and low fees, and personal, professional services from staff members. About QCash Financial QCash Financial, headquartered in Olympia, WA, is a purpose-driven FinTech firm with a mission of empowering financial institutions in their quest to improve the financial wellness of their communities. QCash Financial offers an automated, cloud-based, short-term lending technology and is currently piloting a financial wellness app with existing clients designed to build financial capacity, stability, and resilience. MEDIA CONTACT: Erika Taylor Montgomery, [email protected], 408-218-2391 SOURCE QCash Financial Related Links https://qcashfinancial.com AFWERX Challenge The tools that optimized the traditional grid need to be upgraded with smarter simulations and AI-enriched decision support capabilities, and that is what we are offering to this Challenge. AFWERX, the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, announced Mobius Logic, Inc. 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 topicsFixed 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 Tysons, VA, Mobius Logic Inc. is competing in the Energy Transmission and Distribution Challenge alongside a diverse group of teamsoriginating from the vast regions of North America, Europe, Australia and other allied countriesthat represent entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academic institutions and research labs all vying to Reimagine Energy for the Department of Defense. The AFWERX Base of the Future Challenge is critical to our mission of increasing collaboration between large businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate solutions for the Air Force, stated Mark Rowland of AFWERX. On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise. The Energy Transmission and Distribution Challenge strives to identify ways to transport and distribute energy to where it is needed. 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. Mobius Logic's Energy Challenge Solution, Smart Grid Analytics using MAKANA, is a set of analytics tools that will enable major command to run agent-based simulations and automate their machine learning operations so they can get quick answers to what-if questions. Our aim is to provide the Air Force senior command with a wholistic decision making tool that would enable them to make quick and informed data-driven decisions regarding the choice of innovative technologies that will instrument the smart energy grid for strategic and tactical purposes, stated Christian Manasseh, CEO and founder of Mobius Logic. The tools that optimized the traditional grid need to be upgraded with smarter simulations and AI-enriched decision support capabilities, and that is what we are offering to this Challenge. MAKANA runs predictive analytics and simulations to optimize demand/supply patterns enabling users to analyze large amounts of data from various DoD and public domain sources, augmenting the human decision-making process for a combat-credible energy system. Deploying Mobius Logic's Smart Grid Analytics ensures decreased risk of energy system failure and decreased consequences of that failure by enabling rapid decisions in a changing environment. This allows the USAF to benefit from the best new technologies in energy generation, transmission, and storage, by ensuring these systems can be implemented with reliability and sustainability. To learn more about the Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenges, visit https://afwerxchallenge.com/energy. ABOUT Mobius Logic, Inc. Mobius Logica leader in next-generation digital services and consultinghelps organizations realize results in a digital world through business technology solutions and cloud-based services that combine insight, innovation, and expertise focused on Microsoft technologies. Our focus is on providing data teams with the ability to process massive amounts of data in the cloud and to empower AI with that data. This enables organizations to rapidly adopt machine learning and data science capabilities enterprise wide. 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 AFWERXto 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. [February 03, 2021] KuCoin CEO Reflects on 2020 and Looks to the Future VICTORIA, Seychelle, Febr. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The CEO of leading asset exchange KuCoin has written an open letter to the community, reflecting on the events of 2020 and outlining the company's roadmap for the future. Johnny Lyu did not shy away from discussing the security incident incurred by the platform in September, when $285 million of funds was stolen. "Security has always been the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of crypto exchanges. When we encountered the breach, we acted quickly and transparently to protect all our users and partners," wrote Lyu. "First, we gradually resumed the deposit and withdrawal services within a week, before fully restoring all features. "Secondly, with the efforts of all parties in the industry, we cooperated with exchange and project partners to recover $222 million (78%), and through further cooperation with law enforcement and security institutions, we recovered another $17.45 million (6%). "KuCoin and our insurance fund covered the remainder of around $45.55 million (16%). In the end, we ensured that no users sustained any loss in this incident, and we have since greatly strengthened our security level." Lyu also confirmed that KuCoin had gathered intelligence about the perpetrators, and indicated that investigations were ongoing. Based in Seychelles, KuCoin is one of the industry's most recognized exchanges, serving a global user bse of over six million. The platform works closely with over 200 blockchain projects and facilitates hundreds of millions of dollars worth of daily transactions. Reflecting upon the addition of 39 fiat currencies in the past year, Lyu confirmed that KuCoin now supports 53 national currencies with plans to integrate emerging payment tools and popular gateways such as BTC Direct and Mobilum. The CEO also heralded impressive growth in trading volume. "In 2020, our margin trading volume increased 217% year on year and has supported 33 tokens and 54 trading pairs. Since the start of the year, KuCoin Futures have achieved a stunningly rapid 420% increase in trading volume and a remarkable 670% growth in user numbers. It now supports 17 coins, including USDT-Margined and Coin-Margined Contracts, and Perpetual Futures and Quarterly Delivery Futures. "Over the past year, the Pool-X staking platform which supports over 50 projects generated around $7 million of passive income for users." After reflecting on recent additions, including new DeFi and NFT trading boards, Lyu revealed that KuCoin will support the upcoming Polkadot parachain slots auction, enabling users to participate in the expanding Polkadot ecosystem. Outlining his vision for the next two years, the CEO stated his belief that bitcoin will overtake gold, that decentralized finance will continue to innovate, and evolve, and that NFT use will also increase. "In general, the future strategy of KuCoin will be carried out by two priorities: 'Find the next crypto gem' and 'Empowering KCS'. In order to achieve the former, our intercontinental blockchain project research team will keep up with industry trends to identify more promising projects. " "In the KuCoin community, KCS is the bond that connects us all, and ideally, all KuCoin users will become members of the KCS community. To this end, we will shed light on KCS and encourage users to become token holders, to grow with us and share the benefits from our growth. Moving forward, we will build KCS as a killer product rather than a simple token." Decentralization was a dominant theme in Lyu's letter, with the CEO restating his belief that decentralization and blockchain-powered transparency can facilitate the free flow of value around the world. "After evaluating all existing technologies and public chain ecosystems, we are going to launch new KuCoin decentralized trading solutions on the basis of KuChain," Lyu wrote. "One thing is for sure: KCS will be the underlying fuel whatever the solution actually is." About KuCoin KuCoin is a global crypto exchange that supports multiple crypto asset transactions. Established in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges in the world. It currently provides Spot trading, Margin trading, P2P fiat trading, Futures trading, Staking, and Lending to its six million users in over 200 countries and regions around the world. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kucoin-ceo-reflects-on-2020-and-looks-to-the-future-301221402.html SOURCE KuCoin [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A tiny Lonon flat is available to rent for 360-a-week, despite the kitchen being located inside a cupboard. The studio flat is described as 'spacious' in the Gumtree listing, but a quick look at the photos reveals it is anything but. There is not enough space for a dedicated living space and the single sofa needs to be pushed out of the way to bring down the retractable 'Murphy' bed that is hidden in the wall. The only eating or working space is a small circular table that needs to be folded away against the window. The landlord advertised the 'self contained' studio 11 days ago, in the hopes of finding a tenant who is willing to stay until September A television has been strategically placed in front of the bed, above a chest of drawers to maximise space - while a wardrobe appears to be absent. The only hanging space appears to be a small set of hooks attached to the back of the door. The property, which was originally featured on Vice, has a cupboard that once opened reveals a kitchenette, complete with storage space for plates, bowels and cups. However there is no stove or oven, and it appears as though the tenant is expected to survive on microwave meals. The 1,500 a month property advertised including bills, is located within easy reach of a central line tube station and Hyde Park A landlord has been accused of adding a bed to their studio flat in Notting Hill as an 'afterthought' (pictured) There is a small en-suite bathroom, although no separate photo is included so it is difficult to see the features. The property listing makes the most of the location, noting it is in the centre of Notting Hill with beautiful scenery and social spots nearby. The bills are also included in the price. The listing adds: 'With Notting Hill Gate station practically on your doorstep, this property offers unparalleled connections via the Central line.' This is unlikely to hold much appeal now that the majority of people are working from home. The property features a kitchenette located inside a cupboard and an en-suite bathroom (pictured) Indeed it appears the landlord has struggled to find a tenant as the original move in date is listed as September 2020. The London rental market has been rocked by the coronavirus crisis with prices dropping by up to a third in 12 months. Expensive areas like Notting Hill have been particularly hard hit. Commenting on the trend Matt Hutchinson, director at SpareRoom, said: 'Its generally the most expensive neighbourhoods that are worst affected. 'With so many young renters leaving the Capital, either to find cheaper rents, to move with family, or to leave the UK altogether, it's hard to know when, or even if, London will regain the appeal it had before the pandemic. 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. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. Findings showed a statistically significant increase in creativity among pupils at the school where the thinking tools were used. Read More.. Source: Medindia Teaching children and encouraging them to empathize with others improves their creativity and can also lead to other beneficial learning outcomes.Bill Nicholl and Ian Hosking led the research. It focused on challenging pupils to solve real-world problems by taking others' perspectives and feelings into account.The study lasted for one year and included grade nine pupils (ages 13 to 14) from two schools. Children from one school followed curriculum-prescribed lessons, while the other group's design and thinking lessons used a set of engineering design thinking tools that aimed to foster students' ability to think creatively and to induce empathy, at the same time solving real-world problems.The creativity of both sets of pupils was assessed at both the start and end of the school year with the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking.Findings showed a statistically significant increase in creativity among pupils at the school where the thinking tools were used.At the start of the year, pupils' creativity scores from the control school (standard curriculum) were 11% higher than those at the intervention school (design and thinking). However, creativity scores among the intervention group were 78% higher than the control group.Pupils from the intervention also scored much higher in specific categories within the Torrance Test that indicate emotional or cognitive empathy (such as 'emotional expressiveness' and 'open-mindedness') were also examined by the researchers.The authors state that encouraging empathy improves creativity in pupils and can deepen their general engagement with learning.Evidence also showed that both boys and girls in the intervention school responded to the D&T course differs from traditional gender stereotypes. Boys showed improvement in emotional expression, with a 64% higher score in that category at the end of the year. At the same time, girls improved more in cognitive empathy, scoring 62% higher in perspective-taking.The 'real-world' challenge required pupils at the intervention school to design an asthma-treatment 'pack' for children aged six and under. They were given various creative and empathetic 'tools' to do so - data about the number of childhood asthma deaths in the UK and a video depicting a young child having an attack. They also tried to explore the problem and test design ideas by role-playing as patients, family members, and medical staff, which helped understand each stakeholder's perspective.Nicholl, senior lecturer, said,Dr. Helen Demetriou, researcher, believes that the study awakened something in these pupils by encouraging them to think about others' thoughts and feelings. The research shows that it is possible to teach empathy and that doing so can support children's creativity and broader learning.Findings also indicate that the intervention enabled students to overcome some of the barriers to learning that are often created by assumed gender roles. For instance, boys often feel discouraged from expressing emotion at school, yet, in this study, they made significant creative gains in that area.The researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with pupils at the intervention school and a third (girls-only) school who also undertook the asthma challenge. Along with the Torrance Test results, these interviews also showed that pupils had empathized deeply with the challenges of children with asthma, which influenced their creative decisions in the classroom.The pupils used phrases like 'stepping into their shoes' or 'seeing things from another point of view' when discussing the patients or their families.said a participant.The authors conclude that these findings point to a need to nurture 'emotionally intelligent learners' across other subjects, too, and not just D & T, particularly in the context of emerging scientific evidence that our capacity for empathy reduces with age.Demetriou says, Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will step down from his post in the third quarter of 2021 and be replaced by Andy Jassy, the head of the companys cloud computing unit. Jassy, 53, for years has been seen as a potential successor to Bezos, who founded the company as an online bookstore from his Seattle garage more than 25 years ago and became one of the worlds wealthiest men. Jassys likelihood as successor seemed inevitable last year when Jeff Wilke, who was the consumer business chief and was also seen as a potential successor, announced hed be leaving this year. Bezos, 57, the companys driving force since its founding, will become executive chairman, Amazon said Tuesday in a statement. The transition arrives at time when Amazon seems unstoppable, fueled by record sales amid the pandemic and generating massive cash and profits from Amazon Web Services, which Jassy helped create and manage. Bezos isnt going far, much the way Bill Gates remained chairman of Microsoft Corp. after ceding the CEO role. When you look at our financial results, what youre actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention, Bezos said in a statement. Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition. TOMLINSON: Texas business owners deserve answers from Ken Paxton on Amazon The reaction on Wall Street was mostly positive, even as Amazon turned in another blockbuster quarter and solid guidance. Revenue will be $100 billion to $106 billion in the quarter ending in March, the Seattle-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Amazon projected operating income of $3 billion to $6.5 billion. Analysts, on average, estimated profit of $6.07 billion on sales of $95.72 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The online retailer reported fourth-quarter sales jumped 44% to $125.6 billion, beating analysts average estimate of $119.7 billion. Earnings were $14.09 per share, compared with analyst projections of $7.34. The shares were little changed in post-market trading. Still, investors remain mindful of Amazons rising expenses. Costs related to Covid-19, which include lost productivity due to social distancing as well as stepped up cleaning throughout its warehouses and shipping centers, will add $2 billion to expenses in the current quarter, Amazon said. Jassy, who served as a technical adviser to Bezos earlier in his career, is cut from the same cloth as his boss, current and former colleagues say. He prefers data-driven decision-making and puts customers at the center of the companys thinking. Jassy is also known as an occasional micromanager on projects close to his heart, another trait he has in common with Bezos. Colleagues are impressed with his ability to recall small details about projects from long-ago meetings. Jassys rise to CEO is probably bad news for companies like Oracle Corp., Microsoft and Google that compete with Amazon in cloud computing, said Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at Forrester.Andy Jassy for almost two decades now has focused on the AWS side of Amazon, she said. CEOs focus on their babies. If I were Oracle or Google or Microsoft, Id be more nervous. [February 03, 2021] EQ Inc. Announces Proposed Overnight Marketed Public Offering of Common Shares /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./ TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - EQ Inc. (TSX-V: EQ) ("EQ" or the "Company") a leader in geospatial data and artificial intelligence driven software, announced today that it is commencing an overnight marketed offering (the "Offering") of common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Offered Securities"). The Offered Securities will be offered by way of a short form prospectus to be filed in each of the Provinces of Canada, other than Quebec, (the "Prospectus") in the United States on a private placement basis to "qualified institutional buyers" pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and by private placement to eligible purchasers resident in jurisdictions other than Canada and the United States. The number of Offered Securities will be determined in the course of marketing. The Offering is expected to be priced in the context of the market, with the final terms of the Offering to be determined at the time of pricing. 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. The Offering is expected to close on or about February 19, 2021, or such other date as the Company and Canaccord Genuity Corp., the co-lead underwriter and sole bookrunner for the Offering, may agree. Closing of the Offering is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, such as the approval of applicable securities regulatory authorities and the TSX Venture Exchange. In addition, the Company intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Offered Securities pursuant to the proposed Offering on the same terms and conditions for market stabilization purposes and to cover overallotments. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to develop its proprietary SaaS platform, marketing and branding initiatives, research and development, expansion into the United States and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Copies of the Prospectus, folowing filing thereof, may be obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and from Canaccord Genuity Corp., 161 Bay Street, Suite 3000, Toronto, ON M5J 2S1. The Prospectus contains important detailed information about the Company and the proposed Offering. Prospective investors should read the Prospectus and the other documents the Company has filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com before making an investment decision. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Offered Securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the Offered Securities may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About EQ Works EQ Works (www.eqworks.com) enables businesses to understand, predict, and influence customer behaviour. Using unique data sets, advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, EQ Works creates actionable intelligence for businesses to attract, retain, and grow the customers that matter most. The Company's proprietary SaaS platform mines insights from movement and geospatial data, enabling businesses to close the loop between digital and real-world consumer actions. Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as, "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe, "intend", "plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "outlook" and other similar expressions. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including expectations and assumptions regarding the terms, timing and potential completion of the Offering, satisfaction of regulatory requirements in various jurisdictions and the use of proceeds from the Offering. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors relevant in the circumstances, including assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions, the current and future regulatory environment; and the availability of licenses, approvals and permits. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to current and future market conditions, including the market price of the common shares in the capital of the Company, the delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals, and the risk factors set out in the Company's annual information form dated October 29, 2020, filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. SOURCE EQ Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Just how much is tuition from former prime minister Tony Abbott worth? Quite a bit, according to the Warringah Liberals. A fundraiser headlined Winning Back Warringah after Abbott lost the former safe seat to independent Zali Steggall, remember is offering tickets for $50 apiece, or 12 at a discounted price of $200. But the nominated value of some of the prizes is prompting some head scratching among members. A surf lesson and breakfast with the former PM and the Liberals last Warringah MP gets top billing with an estimated value of $2500. Just how great do they think the guy is? Former prime minister Tony Abbott after a surf at a charity event at Queenscliff in 2015. Credit:Dallas Kilponen A tour of Taronga Zoo with the NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean has a Liberal Party market value of $1500, while an afternoon beer-tasting with Manly MP James Griffin for four is worth $1000. A morning tea for two people with broadcaster Alan Jones at the winners choice of location Jones Sydney or Fitzroy Falls piles is $3000. Which is all enough to make another item dinner for eight with plucky NSW Senator Andrew Bragg around the lazy Susan at Chinese eatery XOPP seems like good value at an estimated rack rate of $2000. Other items include a silver pendant necklace from Mosman jeweller Peter Dracakis and two tickets to watch the Australian Wallabies donated by lobbyist David Begg. But CBDs pick of the bunch is the All Inclusive Day on Sydney Harbour with art collector and philanthropist Lisa Paulsen and her retired shipping executive husband Egil Paulsen. The outing for six on the couples luxe Palm Beach 38 cruiser with a gourmet lunch and fine wines is a steal at $1500. Now thats value. - Gianfranco Nazzi brings broad international experience from a distinguished career in Pharma - Mr. Nazzi will join Almirall as Chief Executive Officer on May 1, 2021 BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Almirall, S.A. (BME: ALM), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on Medical Dermatology based in Barcelona, announced today that the Board of Directors have approved the appointment of Mr. Gianfranco Nazzi as CEO and Executive Director of the Board of Directors effective May 1, 2021. Mr. Nazzi joins Almirall from Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, where he has most recently been serving as Executive Vice President of the International Markets Region and as a member of the Teva Executive Committee. While at Teva over the past seven years, he has held roles of increasing responsibility and geographic scope based in Israel and the Netherlands. He held the position of Senior Vice President Specialty Medicines Europe and President and CEO Growth Markets Region. Prior to Teva, Mr. Nazzi held a variety of senior positions in Astra Zeneca, GSK and Eli Lilly in commercial and General Management roles based in the UK, Italy, Serbia and the US. "I'm very pleased to announce that the Board of Directors have agreed to appoint Gianfranco Nazzi. Mr. Nazzi is a trusted leader in the Pharma industry and brings with him a wealth of experience in areas key to the success and growth of Almirall, in US, Europe and Emerging Markets. I am convinced he will bring what is needed to develop Almirall to the next level," said Jorge Gallardo, Chairman of the Board and President of Almirall. "I am really excited to join Almirall and its talented team of professionals. The company's focus on putting patients at the center of all that they do is inspiring and I am sure that I will be able to continue to support them and provide them with novel and value added solutions and treatments to improve their lives. I am committed to this mission and I know that, together with the team, we will achieve great milestones in the near future," stated Gianfranco Nazzi. Gianfranco Nazzi is Italian and holds a degree in Economics and Banking Sciences from the University of Udine and a Master's Degree of Business Administration from the Bocconi University of Milan. Mr. Nazzi will take over the CEO duties from Mike McClellan, who at the beginning of the year was appointed interim CEO in addition to his role as CFO after the company's former Chief Executive Officer, Peter Guenter, left Almirall on December 31st to pursue other professional endeavors. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1217694/Almirall_Logo.jpg Boston city councilors on Wednesday approved a petition that would skip the otherwise required special election if Mayor Marty Walsh resigns before March 5. Councilor Ricardo Arroyo filed the petition after President Joe Biden nominated Walsh as labor secretary. Arroyo said yesterday that given the COVID-19 crisis, it would be irresponsible for the city to potentially hold four elections -- a special, the regularly scheduled November contest, and preliminary elections preceding each -- in a five-month span. Holding multiple mayoral elections during a pandemic and in such a short time period is a serious threat to the health of our residents, our city workers and our communities, and will contribute to the disenfranchisement of people of color, disabled and low-income communities, and would be wasteful and costly as an expenditure for the city at a time when our revenues are down and so many of our critical services are in need of increased funding. A day before Walshs scheduled confirmation hearing before a U.S. Senate committee, the petition passed with 12 votes in favor and a present vote from Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, one of three City Council members currently running for mayor. The other two candidates, Councilors Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell, voted yes. The change needs approval from the mayor, state Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker to take effect. Baker has suggested that he would sign the petition if it reaches his desk. Joe Biden doubled down on his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package on Wednesday but also expressed optimism he'll get Republican support for the plan despite their concerns about the cost. The president reassured Democrats he has their back as they lay the groundwork to muscle through Biden's proposal - without Republican votes if necessary. Biden called into the House Democratic Caucus weekly meeting on Wednesday morning, where he reassured his party a Republican proposal for $600 billion in relief is 'not even in the cards.' 'I'm not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people,' he said. The president, in his five minute pep talk, told House Democrats to stick together. 'I have your back and you will have mine,' he said according to Politico. He also vowed to boost stimulus checks to $2,000, by adding another $1,400 in direct payments as part of his relief measure. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also met with Democratic senators on the COVID relief proposal in the Oval Office, where the president expressed optimism that some Republicans will support his plan. 'I think we'll get some Republicans,' he said. After the meeting, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that 'there's agreement, universal agreement we must go big and bold.' He echoed Biden's hope that Republicans would join them. 'We want to do it bipartisan, but we must be strong. We cannot dawdle, we cannot delay, we cannot dilute, because the troubles that this nation has and the opportunities that we can bring them are so large,' he said. 'So we're gonna all work together with this president, we are united as one big whole package, working with our Republican friends, when we can.' President Joe Biden doubled down on his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, reassuring Democrats he has their back as they muscle it through Congress President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Democratic Senators in the Oval Office on Wednesday about COVID relief Democratic senators wore face masks and were socially distanced for their meeting with Biden During his meeting with Democrats senators, Biden expressed hope he'd get some Republican support on COVID relief The day of meetings comes as Republicans accuse Congressional leadership and White House staff of interfering with Biden's wish to have a bipartisan proposal. The White House called the report 'ludicrous.' 'I've seen some of those reports. Some many of them are ludicrous,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday when asked if there were differences between Biden and his staff on COVID relief. 'I sat in a lot of meetings with the President of the United States in the last few weeks and even before then. There is no one who's going to tell him what to do or hold him back from his commitment to delivering relief to the American people and I would point you to the fact that he talked about the importance of going big on a package back to the campaign,' she added. Biden met with Republican senators in the Oval Office Monday to discuss their compromise measure, which contained about one-third of the amount of relief funds he wanted. After the meeting concluded the White House made it clear the $600 billion the GOP proposed was not enough money. Republicans argued, however, the president seemed willing to cut a deal but was stopped by his staff and Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. 'Our members who were in the meeting felt that the president seemed to be more interested in [a bipartisan agreement] than his staff did, or it seems like the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate,' Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. McConnell spoke with Biden on Tuesday, the GOP leader tweeted, mentioning they discussed the situation in Burma. He did not say if there were other topics of conversation discussed. Biden wants a $1.9 trillion COVID deal, which Republicans think is too expensive. Given Democratic control of the House and Senate, the GOP has limited legislative power, particularly after Pelosi and Schumer began the process to pass Biden's proposal through reconciliation - a legislative maneuver that allows them to pass the measure with a simple majority. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that 'there's agreement, universal agreement we must go big and bold' on COVID relief Republicans are accusing Democratic congressional leadership of interfering with President Joe Biden's wish to have a bipartisan proposal on COVID relief Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the charge against White House staff and Democratic congressional leadership Republicans made the charge after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi began the process to muscle through COVID relief without them Republicans also accused White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain of interfering - Klain is seen in the above photo standing behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with his armed crossed during Biden's meeting with GOP Senators on Monday night 'My sense is the president would be more forward-leaning working with both sides, but there are pressures up here on the Hill, including Schumer and Pelosi seem less interested,' Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio told Punchbowl News. 'It's hard to read his staff, but they didn't seem all that interested in finding common ground.' Portman was in Monday night's Oval Office meeting, which was attended by the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, senior White House staff and 10 Republican senators. Several Republicans senators told the news outlet that White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, during Monday's meeting, notably shook his head to agree or disagree with Republicans during the session. The Senate on Tuesday passed - on a 50-49 party line vote - a budget resolution to let them begin the reconciliation process, which would allow Democrats to muscle through Biden's $1.9 trillion proposal with no Republican votes. The House is expected to pass it on Wednesday. Therefore, it would be in Republican interests to try to drive a wedge between Biden and the Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill. But the president speaks with Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and Pelosi, the speaker of the House, on a regular basis. White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Tuesday that reconciliation doesn't mean Republicans are cut out of the process. 'Republicans can engage and see their ideas adopted. At any point in the process, a bipartisan bill can pass on the floor. So just creating the option for reconciliation with a budget resolution does not foreclose other legislative options,' she said at her press briefing. 'Republican ideas can be adopted during the reconciliation negotiations, and it is likely that several bipartisan ideas may be -- or we are certainly hopeful of that,' she added, pointing out Republicans can also offer amendments to the proposal as it makes its way through the legislative process. White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued that Republicans will have a chance to weigh in on the legislation as it makes its way through the reconciliation process President Joe Biden (C) and Vice President Kamala Harris (L) meet with Republican Senators, lead by Senator Susan Collins (2nd R), alongside Lisa Murkowski (R), Senator Mitt Romney (bottom L) and Bill Cassidy (bottom R) to discuss a coronavirus relief plan on Monday night Biden said his first priority as president is to tackle the COVID pandemic, including the ensuing economic fallout. And he made clear during Monday night's meeting that the $600 billion proposal from GOP senators was not enough. Biden told them their plan was 'too small,' Schumer revealed on Tuesday. President Biden made a virtual appearance at Senate Democrats' weekly luncheon that day, where he revealed the details of his meeting with GOP senators the previous night. 'He said that he told Senate Republicans that the $600 billion dollars that they proposed was way too small,' Schumer said after the lunch. Schumer conceded there may have to be some compromise from Biden's $1.9 trillion proposal that Republicans has protested as too costly. 'President Biden said he told Republicans he's willing to make some modifications,' Schumer said without going into detail as to what that could entail. After Schumer's remarks, the Senate approved the procedural motion to move ahead on the budget resolution, which sets the stage for Congress to pass Biden's COVID plan without any Republican support. Biden warned Senate Republicans after their meeting Monday night he would not 'settle' for their smaller COVID proposal - seen as a sign the president was willing to pass a relief package without their help. President Biden held a two-hour meeting with the 10 Republican senators in the Oval Office but the two sides did not come together on a compromise measure. In a statement after the meeting, the White House indicated it was willing to move forward with a plan from Democratic congressional leaders to pass coronavirus relief without Republican support through a legislative process known as 'reconciliation.' And, the White House warned, Biden would not 'settle' for a measure that was not large enough - echoing talking points Democrats have pushed, saying more relief was needed for Americans suffered the economic fallout from the pandemic. The president 'reiterated that while he is hopeful that the Rescue Plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. 'The President also made clear that the American Rescue Plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation short of its pressing needs.' 'He reiterated, however, that he will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment,' she added. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who has taken the lead for Republicans on the COVID relief issue, called it a 'productive cordial two-hour meeting' with the president. But, she noted, there was no deal. 'It was a very good exchange of the views. I wouldn't say that we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting, but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further at the staff level and amongst ourselves, and with the president and vice president on how we can continue to work together on this very important issue,' she told reporters after it ended. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who has taken the lead for Republicans on the COVID relief issue, called it a 'productive cordial two-hour meeting' with the president but noted there was no deal Collins expressed hope that a bipartisan deal was possible. 'Finally let me just say, that we have demonstrated, in the last year, that we can come together, on a bipartisan package, dealing with the COVID crisis. In fact we've done that not just once, or twice, we've done it 5 times,' she said. 'I am hopeful, that we can once again, pass a 6 bipartisan COVID relief package.' But Biden may not need their votes. Pelosi and Schumer's budget resolution contains a provision for a process called 'reconciliation' - a legislative procedure that allows them to prevent the use of the filibuster in the Senate and lets the legislation pass with a simply majority of 51 votes. With an even 50-50 split in the upper chamber and Vice President Kamala Harris the tie breaker, Biden would be able to get his $1.9 trillion plan without any Republicans on board. Republicans have protested such a move, saying it goes against Biden's call for unity. President Donald Trump is gaining a stronger support base despite his impeachment according to Politico Playbook co-author Tara Palmeri. In an interview with MNSBC, Palmeri revealed that support for Trump is getting stronger the more he keeps away from the media. "A lot of people say that they aren't really Republicans, that they are for Trump. I think the base are getting stronger," she said. "I think there's a huge disconnect right now between Washington and the rest of the country. And you know, Trump--people don't want to hear anything against Trump," she emphasized. "Actually, the more he stays out of the media, the more he becomes this martyr, this looming figure over the GOP." Palmeri's statement came from her observation and interviews in Wyoming where she attended the rally called by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for Trump last Thursday. She actually came out with a report about it that was published in Politico the next day entitled, "Politico Playbook: My Wild Day In Wyoming With Matt Gaetz." The Trump rally, as per Palmeri, was attended by more than 800 people who gathered in front of the Wyoming statehouse with "the same feverish voltage" of an "actual Trump rally." It was held in defiance of what Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney did by not representing her constituents sentiments when she voted to impeach Trump. "I knew going in this was Trump country, and that Cheney angered his many fans with her vote to impeach him. But I wanted to try to gauge just how deep the anger ran," she explained. "My takeaway, after an admittedly short stay and small sample size: If Cheney were up for reelection in 2021 instead of 2022, she'd be in serious trouble," she added, "Honestly, it was hard to find anyone who would defend Cheney." Palmeri narrated in her article her interview with various individuals from Wyoming who weren't even in the rally and which led her to deduct that Trump's support is actually growing. "If there was any doubt this is still Trump's Republican Party, my time in Cheyenne dispelled it," she concluded. On Tuesday, Palmeri expressed her gratitude to ABC's The View who featured her MNSBC interview video through her Twitter account. "Thanks for featuring my latest dispatch from Wyoming on @TheView. @MeghanMcCain nailed it--as per usual," she stated. Fox News reported that Palmeri's observations actually run "contrary to the assumptions of many in the Washington D.C. establishment and the mainstream media". "I think an impeachment would make him even more powerful--a conviction, is what I mean," Fox News quoted Palmeri in saying in her MSNBC interview. Meanwhile, Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham urged Congress through Facebook to heed Palmeri in what she said in the hope of avoiding further division due to the impeachment of Trump. "Here's a Washington reporter who went to Wyoming and was surprised at the 'huge disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country'. I think she is right. She shared the observation that former President Trump has actually gained-not lost-political clout since leaving office," Graham raised. "When it comes to the impeachment, it does nothing for the American people, it only continues to fuel more disunity," he added, "I hope the leaders in Washington pay attention to this reporter, because the disconnect is there-it's true all over the country, not just in Wyoming." Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Chattanooga State Community College, in collaboration with Hamilton County Schools and the Public Education Foundation, have established the Global Center for Digital Innovation. With a planned opening during spring 2021, the 15,000 square foot GCDI will shine as a world-class center for innovation, creation, and production. As the nations first K-College digital fabrication pathway, GCDI will empower students to fill emerging workforce needs such as entrepreneurship, digital fabrication and manufacturing while creating new pathways for innovation. This 21st century lab will provide opportunities for college faculty and area educators to attend or hold technical and skills workshops, and summer institutes. Students may explore the benefits of Chattanooga States Dual Education program through GCDI or participate in after school workshops. Community members may plan celebrations, pitch nights for entrepreneurs, competitions for inventors, maker nights, or community workshops. Designed to encourage discussion and spur creativity in a comfortable atmosphere, GCDI is divided into four major areas. Visitors will enter GCDI through its ultra-modern foyer located on the second floor of the Center for Engineering, Technology, Arts and Sciences building, then may proceed to one of two labs that focus separately on digital fabrication or woodworking aspects before convening in the Student Collaboratory and Entrepreneurship Center that allows students to design solutions through a business lens. The Global Center for Digital Innovation is an exciting partnership between the College and Hamilton County Schools, said Dr. Rebecca Ashford, Chattanooga State president. This Center will provide a collaborative space for innovators and creators to put their ideas into tangible form. The Center will contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem already in place in Chattanooga. (Alliance News) - UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to confirm that quarantine hotels for international arrivals will open this month. The UK government announced the policy aimed at limiting the spread of new coronavirus strains last week, but has not revealed when it will be implemented. Hancock was asked by LBC if the scheme will be launched by the end of February. The cabinet minister replied: "We'll set out more details of that when we're ready to, but you've seen that we're perfectly prepared to take very tough action if that's what's needed." He went on: "Already there is the very clear legal rules a with the strong enforcement behind it a that we've now put in place for anybody entering the country as a passenger at all. "Whether that is isolation in your own home or in hotels, it is isolation. "But we're always open to looking at tougher measures." Quarantine hotels will be used for people arriving from countries from where non-residents or nationals are already banned from entering the UK. This "red list" includes all of South America, southern Africa, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates. Passengers will be met at airports and transported directly to hotels where they will self-isolate for 10 days. Further details are expected to be released this week. source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Sharebite, the leading mission-driven food ordering platform built exclusively for workplaces, has partnered with HqO, the end-to-end tenant experience operating system for commercial office buildings, to easily facilitate contactless office lunch deliveries and help keep employees safe both while and after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic persist. Through this partnership, businesses will have access to Sharebites enterprise-ready technology platform, allowing them to centrally manage employee food ordering and arrange contactless deliveries to Sharebite Stations, the companys designated drop-off points designed for offices. While the COVID-19 vaccination rollout has begun nationwide, it is expected that the majority of Americans wont be vaccinated until later on this year. As businesses consider both near-term and long-term return-to-work plans, Sharebites service helps companies maintain the safety of their employees while also offering them benefits that keep them motivated, which includes food perks. Sharebite fulfills this need for businesses that are located in HqO-managed buildings. In fact, Sharebite has found that over 70% of employees surveyed noted that a safe solution for lunch ordering and delivery would contribute to their comfort level in returning to the office. And once employees do return, Sharebite Stations provide a simple, efficient, and easy-to-use perk that employees look forward to using. Were always excited to partner with companies that can contribute to a positive experience for our clients tenants, and Sharebite is a great fit for providing value and utility to our customers in the post-COVID world. We look forward to building upon this relationship and giving tenants much needed peace of mind at their workplace, says Reid Snyder, Director of Platform Solutions at HqO. Sharebites platform gives administrators the ability to easily manage food ordering and expense allocation for all levels of an organization. Group orders can be customized to each companys specific needs, and restaurants can be rotated on a daily basis, thanks to the multitude of options available through Sharebites extensive network of restaurant partners, which include popular local brands such as Dig, Chopt, Dos Toros, Westville, Naya, and many others. Orders completed through Sharebite are individually packaged, labeled and placed in the designated Sharebite Station located in each building or corporate office, minimizing contact between delivery persons and employees. In addition to safe, contactless delivery, companies using Sharebite can help contribute to combating childhood hunger thanks to the companys partnership with City Harvest, New York Citys largest food rescue organization that helps feed the more than 1.5 million New Yorkers who are struggling to put meals on their tables. A portion of proceeds from every order placed through the Sharebite platform is donated to City Harvest, at no additional cost to Sharebites corporate clients or restaurant partners. This pandemic has transformed the way companies think about their workplace. We are committed to helping our clients successfully navigate Post-COVID return-to-work plans, while enhancing overall employee experience well beyond this pandemic. Partnering with HqO enables us to be the preferred office lunch solution for some of the largest commercial landlords in NYC, says Mohsin Memon, COO & President of Sharebite. Sharebite is the preferred food ordering partner on HqOs Marketplace, which allows customers to browse, procure, and manage a curated catalogue of best-in-class technology developers and vendors that can add value to their portfolio. From one single tool, customers can navigate the proptech landscape and identify partners that fit their specific needs. HqO customers are now able to save time procuring service providers, accelerate innovation within their existing technology stack, and deliver better tenant outcomes. Currently, HqO powers over 120 million square feet of property technology across North America and Europe. About Sharebite Sharebite is a mission-driven food ordering platform built exclusively for workplaces. Companies that partner with Sharebite save money, inspire their workforce, support local restaurants, and commit to helping the community. Core to Sharebites mission is the belief that each and every stakeholder must benefit from the existence of Sharebite. Every order placed on the Sharebite platform results in a donation made to alleviate childhood hunger in local communities, via its partnership with City Harvest. Sharebites restaurant partner network includes over 3,000+ merchants across the United States, which are all curated specifically for corporate clients. Sharebites corporate clients include a majority of the top law firms in New York City, including Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, along with many of the most prestigious investment banks, private equity & hedge funds, tech companies and real estate firms across the country. Sharebite is headquartered in New York City, with operations in Chicago, the Bay Area (SF/Oakland), Austin, Charlotte, Irvine, and Washington, DC. About HqO For owners and operators of commercial real estate, HqO is an integrated tenant experience platform and strategy solution that strengthens relationships with current and prospective tenants, unlocking business value for owners while bringing property management, marketing, and leasing teams closer to their customers. For tenants, HqO is an award-winning tenant experience mobile app connecting employees to the communities in and around their building and empowering them with tools to control their workday. HqO is headquartered in Boston, with offices in New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, and Paris. ### The government will not invest any equity in the bad bank proposed in the Union budget, and commercial banks will have to create and manage it on their own, financial services secretary Debashish Panda said, in contrast to the banks proposal for a state-run entity. A bad bank buys toxic assets from banks and pursues loan recovery on its own, while banks with cleaned-up balance sheets resume lending. Indias banking system is left with the legacy of bad loans that peaked in 2018, Panda told reporters on Tuesday. Now, what information we get from banks is that more than 2.25 trillion, are still lying unresolved. If these 2.25 trillion of bad assets or stressed assets are sold, then the money can be realized, and it can come into banks balance sheets," Panda said, adding that this will help banks lend more and grow. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat Bad loan accounts of more than 500 crore will be eligible to be transferred to the new entity, Panda said. The bad bank will pay lenders 15% in cash for the loans it purchases, while the rest 85% will be paid as securitized receipts. They (banks) will be able to transfer their assets through ARC (asset reconstruction company) at the net book valuethe value of assets minus the provisioning that has already been done. In some assets, 100% provisioning has been made, and in some assets, 80% or more has been done. It is not an issue of provisioning, but more about getting the money back from these assets. Otherwise, with the passage of time, there will be erosion in the value of these assets, and there will be no buyer. So, that is the urgency," Panda said. He said the initial capital for the bad bank has still to be estimated, but added that a minimum capital of 100 crore may suffice. In May, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) submitted a proposal to the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bad bank to tackle mounting bad loans, which worsened following the covid-19 outbreak. An asset reconstruction company and asset management company would be set up to consolidate and take over the existing stressed debt and then manage and dispose of the assets to alternate investment funds and other potential investors for eventual value realization," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech on Monday. A senior banker said lenders are yet to receive a formal plan on how the asset reconstruction company will function and take over assets. The IBA proposal was for a bad bank backed by the sovereign; however, we can manage with what is being suggested now. A decision has to be taken on the capital allocation strategy, and lenders will meet to discuss it," the banker said on condition of anonymity. Another banker at State Bank of India said the capital requirement would not be a problem for banks at the moment, given the amount of gains one would make by transferring bad assets out of the books. To my mind, the governance structure of the new entity will be key. It is better if the entity has a private ownership structure. Otherwise one would get into a loop of the three Cs of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)," the banker said on condition of anonymity. Panda also said federal think tank NITI Aayog will identify the two public sector banks and one insurance firm that the budget has proposed to privatize. NITI Aayogs proposal will be considered by a core group of secretaries, and a final decision will be taken by an alternative mechanism, he said. The alternative mechanism is a ministerial panel, which will decide the bank or insurance firm that will be privatized. Sitharaman on Monday also announced the creation of a new development finance institution (DFI) to spearhead government spending in infrastructure. This will be regulated by RBI, Panda said. The DFI will initially be capitalized with 20,000 crore of government equity, allowing it to leverage debt of up to 5 trillion to provide financing to the capital-starved sector. State-run India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd (IIFCL) could be subsumed into this DFI, Panda said. IIFCL may be considered for a quick start if it could be subsumed in this new financial institution because they already have some domain expertise and they have some manpower which is already trained and experienced in this field. So, that could be a way of looking at it," Panda said. shreya.n@livemint.com Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The central government on Tuesday said that with access to low cost credit under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), APMCs can setup post-harvest infrastructure such as sorting and grading units, assaying units, drying yards, cold storages, and warehouses for the benefit of farmers for better price realisation of quality produce, ability to store and sell at a better price and minimise post of harvest looses, as the suitable infrastructure will help to reduce post-harvest losses, which can be as high as 5-10 percent of the produce. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in Union Budget 2021-22 that Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) will become eligible beneficiaries to utilize the 1 lakh crore financing facility under AIF to enhance infrastructure at Mandis. "APMCs are state controlled markets that are setup to provide market linkages to farmers. Market yards or Mandis provide space for auction to ensure that farmers obtain best possible price for their produce. However, these markets continue to require up gradation and set up of more modern infrastructure. With access to low cost credit under AIF, they can setup post-harvest infrastructure such as sorting and grading units, assaying units, drying yards, cold storages, and warehouses for the benefit of farmers for better price realization of quality produce, ability to store and sell at a better price and minimize post of harvest looses," said the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in a statement. The AIF is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. The duration of the scheme is from FY2020 to FY2029. Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore. The beneficiaries include farmers, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects, and now APMC mandis. Chandigarh, Feb 3 : A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) walked out of the all-party meeting to once again expose its double standards on the farmers' issue, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said the people of the state should not expect anything better from a party whose chief was on record touting the farm laws as the most revolutionary step in the agriculture sector in 70 years. The act of the walk-out had not only shown the party in its true colours but also bared their lie on Arvind Kejriwal's video, which showed the Delhi Chief Minister narrating the benefits of the farm laws in a media interview, said Amarinder Singh. Trashing AAP's claim of the video being doctored, he said given their track record of repeated U-turns on the issue, it was amply clear where the party's sympathies lie on this issue. "How can one believe them after their continued theatrics over the farm laws and the farmers' agitation, including their walk-out from yesterday's meeting?" he asked, pointing out that this was not the first time AAP had shown its double standards on the issue. Citing the recorded presence of AAP Punjab member Amrik Micky at Red Fort during the violence of January 26, the Chief Minister said there was no doubt now that the party was hand in glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the conspiracy to destabilise and sabotage the farmers' peaceful agitation. "What have they done to help or support the farmers in all these months?" Singh asked, adding that the string of AAP actions in recent weeks clearly proved that their sympathies were not with the farmers but with the BJP and their crony capitalists. "Why else did the Kejriwal government in Delhi notify the implementation of one of the black farm laws back in November? Why else have they allowed the national capital's roads to be dug up and the farmers' protest sites be barricaded like fortresses, instead of exercising their powers since the control of the city's roads lies with the Delhi government and not with the Centre?" asked the Chief Minister. "It is ridiculous that a party which cannot stop its own property from being taken over in this shocking manner, in a state where it is in power, should walk out from a pro-farmer meeting in Punjab demanding that our police should go to their state, against all rules and laws," Amarinder Singh remarked. It's obvious that the whole drama over security deployment at the Delhi border was enacted by AAP only to divert attention from its own lapses and role in the events triggered by the farmers' protest in Delhi over the past few days, he added. The Chief Minister also took a dig at Kejriwal for taking more than a week to release the list of farmers thrown, under the Delhi government's very nose, into the Tihar Jail, which is also under their own control. "And yet you have the gall to claim you care for, and are concerned about the farmers," he added. A report released Wednesday ranks Connecticut 13th in the country in encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles. The report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy found that, Connecticut has taken a number of important steps to encourage and enable residents to use electric vehicles, said Bryan Howard, state policy director for the organization. Howard is also the reports lead author. But (the state) should rapidly step up its efforts, which could in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, decrease air pollution, and cut fueling and maintenance costs for individuals and businesses, Howard said. The report found the state earned 38.5 out of 100 possible points for measures Connecticut officials have taken toward encouraging wider usage and sales of electric vehicles. Areas where the state earned points for include: Adoption of Californias Zero-Emission Vehicle Program, which requires manufacturers of passenger vehicles to offer a certain number of zero-emission vehicles. The Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate or CHEAPR program, which provides a graduated incentive toward purchases of eligible passenger electric vehicles. Howard said one areas Connecticut needs to improve upon is creating purchase incentives for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Connecticuts CHEAPR program has been existence since June 2015 and has resulted in the states consumers getting 6,447 rebates worth $11.66 million. The state breaks down the electric vehicle category into two types: Plug-in hybrids that operate on both electricity and gasoline, and those powered exclusively by electricity. The Tesla Model 3 is the most popular vehicle purchased by consumers using the program, according to the state data. There have been 1,637 Tesla Model 3s purchased using the program, nearly 59 percent more than the next most popular car, the Toyota Prius Prime. Two New England states were among the top 10 in the report. Massachusetts finished fifth and Vermont was seventh. The release of the report comes less than a week after the worlds fourth largest automaker, General Motors, announced that by 2035 it will end production of its cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles with diesel- and gasoline-powered engines and move exclusively to electric vehicles. A 2019 survey by the West Monroe consulting firm found that 59 percent of respondents would likely purchase an electric vehicle for their next car. And a majority of those who said they would make an electric vehicle their next automotive purchase said they would buy one by the end of this year. But the higher initial purchase cost and lack of access to vehicle charging remain barriers for many households and commercial fleet owners, according to the ACEEE report. The cheapest electric vehicle available to U.S. consumers is the 2020 Mini Cooper SE with a starting price of $30,750, according to the automotive information site Edmunds.com. Among electric hybrids, the least expensive 2020 model is the Honda Insight with a starting price of $22,930. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com Paul and Karen Chung enjoyed raising their son and daughter in Berwyn, but after the children moved out and people continued to flock to Main Line communities, they realized they craved simplicity. It just seemed to be getting more crowded to us and more frenetic, said Paul Chung, 64. They decided to look somewhere calmer, peaceful. And to them, that meant an old house and some land. They searched farther out in Chester County, ditched the idea of an open floor plan and, 4 years ago, settled down on a four-acre property in Chester Springs. During the pandemic, they have hosted socially distanced dinners in the barn, which is more than 100 years old. The earliest parts of their stone house date to about 1850. A historic home is like living in art, Chung said. Its living in history and living in art. And that is appealing to a growing subset of home buyers. Some are enthusiasts who have always envisioned living in historic homes, while others, such as the Chungs, transitioned to historic for a change in lifestyle. With housing inventory at an all-time low and buyer demand high, some buyers are considering the possibility of purchasing an older home for the first time. Appetite for historic homes Last year, 14,093 homes built between 1800 and 1921 sold in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to Bright MLS. Thats up from 9,266 in 2019. Realtor Trish Keegan of Styer Real Estate in Chester County, who specializes in historic properties, has noticed wider interest lately in older homes. Normally, she said, its not unusual for buyers to search for years before they find the one they love because of the uniqueness of the properties. In the COVID market, I found the historic listings I had were not only going under contract much more quickly in a couple of weeks but even these very specific old homes were garnering multiple offers. Like the typical commodity housing stock usually does, Keegan said. She attributes the change partly to the pandemic. People want to balance increased screen time with a greater connection to nature, she said. Outside of the city, historic properties tend to come with more outdoor space. I also think theres an appetite for simplicity, Keegan said. When you walk into an old home, youre reminded of how simple life used to be. Historic homes typically have more individual spaces and separated rooms that really fulfill the need to have one or more home-based offices or remote learning spaces for the kids, she said. People are beginning to value unique and handmade versus a big white box with empty spaces that dont really support how we used to live and how were evolving in the time of the pandemic. READ MORE: On the market: A five-bedroom Victorian twin in West Philadelphia for $400,000 Many buyers also are chasing memories of their childhoods, usually either the homes they grew up in or grandparents homes, said Scott Laughlin, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach in Devon who specializes in historic properties. The specific histories of properties also can be a big draw, he said. In October, Laughlin sold an 18th-century stone home in Cheltenham Township that was first owned by the African American granddaughter of Philadelphias first mayor. Depending on the desired location, from small villages to downtown West Chester, home buyers may have no choice but to purchase an old home, given the housing stock, he said. What to know about buying historic Interested buyers span every demographic. Keegan describes the typical buyer as a person who values the handmade nature of the home, the human touch that went into creating the home, and someone who values preservation, appreciates uniqueness. Theyre not expecting perfection. READ MORE: Retired teacher has become the custodian of 18th-century houses and a piece of Pennsylvania history The typical buyer is also someone who is courageous and energetic and has vision. Because restoring, renovating, maintaining a historic property, its not something everyone can and wants to do, she said. Someone who wants to live in a development would run screaming from a historic home. Buyers of historic properties have to be comfortable taking risks. The first step for a potential buyer of a historic home is gathering as much information about the property as possible and replacing fear with information, she said. READ MORE: Surprise discoveries retain the historic flavor of a renovated Montgomery County manor Andrew Gustine, a restoration carpenter based in Chester County, recommends buyers find someone who is familiar with old homes to perform inspections. Most home inspectors dont necessarily understand the subtleties of settling and sagging, and what the difference between a minor problem and a major problem is in terms of cost, said Gustine, the principal of Native Woods Restoration Carpentry. I think a typical home inspection both misses things and also can overreact to things. Inspections of historic properties take longer and are more complicated than examinations of more modern buildings, said Bill Kibbel, founder and director of the Bucks County-based Historic Building Inspectors Association. Most old homes I inspect have many additions, many alterations, said Kibbel, owner of Heritage Building Inspections. Sometimes its like inspecting three separate homes. Over the 33 years he has been an inspector, hes found that neglected chimneys are the most common expensive structure that needs work. Basements and crawl spaces almost always have rot and insect damage, he said. New heating systems in old houses are almost always done wrong and are not properly ventilated. Often, electrical and plumbing systems have been patched, not fully replaced, and need work. Some buyers seek older homes that someone else has fully renovated. Others are looking for a project or want to personalize their home. The Chungs home in Chester Springs was in good shape when they got it because it had been renovated a few years earlier. But the barn, which hadnt been used in decades, was a different story. It took a lot of work to get it ready to host musicians and dinner parties. Its a good idea for [buyers] to have the energy or the know-how to do some things on their own or at least understand how things work, Paul Chung said. For example, buyers looking for historic homes outside the city might not have municipal sewer or water and have to learn about wells and water treatment and septic systems, as the Chungs did. READ MORE: On the market: An 1815 home, carriage house, and barn in Ambler for $925,000 He cautions that it all might be a little too much for first-time home buyers, but not impossible. You can learn an awful lot on YouTube and figure things out, he said. Laughlin points out to potential home buyers that the structure and systems of older homes tend to last longer than those built more recently. Just because its old, he said, doesnt mean its broken. Hillary Latham embraced projects at two historic houses she has owned, hiring craftsmen for renovations and adding traditional finishings and pieces from local artists. She grew up in Chester County in a developed neighborhood that was surrounded by old stone farmhouses. As she looked for homes of her own with her husband at the time, they were drawn to properties with character and charm. Every time the Realtor showed us something newer or more modern, it just didnt speak to us, she said. Latham sold her two historic properties in summer 2020. She moved out of her Chester Springs house when a developer built homes on the neighboring 25-acre farm that once had made her small property feel large. Shell soon be looking for a new home, some charming old house that needs some love, she said. I dont even want to look at anything that wasnt built before 1950. Theres not a lot out there, she said. Or if it is, it looks like its moving pretty quickly. DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / February 2, 2021 / Gold Resource Corporation (NYSE American:GORO) (the "Company") has intersected additional mineralization up to 250 meters above current production areas. "I recently had the opportunity to visit the Don David Mine and see firsthand the impressive Switchback and Arista vein systems," stated Mr. Allen Palmiere, President and CEO of Gold Resource Corporation. "These drill results, which I expect will add resources to the mineral inventory, underscore the reasons for my attraction to Gold Resource Corporation and its highly prospective ground package. We are presently taking a holistic approach to understanding and further capitalizing on the foundations laid in the areas of safety, community relations, environmental stewardship, operational excellence and organic growth. These recent drill results support the Company's renewed commitment to invest in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our exploration team continues to do an excellent job working to expand the Don David Mine's high-grade mineralization." From two underground exploration drill stations, one located in a footwall development ramp of the mine's Switchback vein system and the other located approximately 500 meters to the northeast of the Arista vein system, twelve (12) drill holes confirmed the northern strike and up-dip extensions of the Switchback vein system. Drill highlights include: Hole # 520033 (35-meter step-up): 10.85 m grading 9.12 g/t gold, 179 g/t silver, 0.58% copper, 3.47% lead, 6.99% zinc Hole# 520034 (35-meter step-up): 11.83m grading 17.56 g/t gold, 99 g/t silver, 0.78% copper, 3.73% lead, 6.31% zinc Hole# 520036 (50-meter step-up,): 9.97m grading 4.43 g/t gold, 88 g/t silver, 0.35% copper, 0.84% lead, 3.24% zinc Hole # 520010 (50-meter step-up): 5.87 m grading 1.51 g/t gold, 871 g/t silver, 0.15% copper, 0.46% lead, 1.01% zinc incl. 2.95 m grading 2.00 g/t gold, 1,366 g/t silver, 0.23% copper, 0.67% lead, 1.58% zinc Hole# 520012 (100-meter step-up): 3.85m grading 1.66 g/t gold, 1,046 g/t silver, 0.14% copper, 0.27% lead, 0.44% zinc incl. 1.01m grading 2.52 g/t gold, 1,710 g/t silver, 0.22% copper, 0.28% lead, 0.61% zinc 7.06m grading 0.71 g/t gold, 286 g/t silver, 0.02% copper, 0.06% lead, 0.15% zinc incl. 1.56m grading 1.46 g/t gold, 652 g/t silver, 0.05% copper, 0.13% lead, 0.30% zinc Hole# 520013 (50-meter step-out, 50-meter step-down): 9.20m grading 0.47 g/t gold, 283 g/t silver, 0.05% copper, 0.07% lead, 0.23% zinc incl. 1.40m grading 1.14 g/t gold, 796 g/t silver, 0.12% copper, 0.10% lead, 0.29% zinc (m=meters, g/t=gram per tonne; full drill table below) From the underground exploration drill station located in a footwall development ramp of the mine's Switchback vein system, five (5) drill holes confirmed the up-dip extensions of the Switchback vein system approximately 35 meters (two mine levels) above the current mine workings. The current intersections of the Selene vein suggest that the Switchback vein system, of which Selene is a constituent element, has been displaced to the northwest at shallower elevations. These intersections extend the known mineralization at Switchback at shallower depths. Hole # From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Vein Au g/t Ag g/t Cu % Pb % Zn % 520032 100.81 103.38 2.57 Selene Vein 2.80 74 0.53 1.88 3.35 inc. 100.81 102.30 1.49 2.55 84 0.47 0.67 2.20 inc. 102.30 103.38 1.08 3.14 59 0.62 3.56 4.94 106.69 108.93 2.24 Selene Splay 1 1.22 49 0.24 1.29 2.80 inc. 106.69 107.49 0.80 2.69 13 0.06 0.14 0.34 inc. 107.49 108.93 1.44 0.40 70 0.33 1.94 4.17 113.46 114.40 0.94 Selene Splay 2 0.28 55 0.30 5.75 13.55 520033 128.00 138.85 10.85 Selene Vein 9.12 179 0.58 3.47 6.99 inc. 128.00 129.50 1.50 34.20 82 1.49 3.22 15.75 inc. 129.50 131.00 1.50 15.55 82 0.80 5.39 13.10 inc. 131.00 132.50 1.50 2.76 49 0.39 3.61 4.03 inc. 132.50 133.70 1.20 3.05 147 0.21 8.94 8.42 inc. 133.70 134.50 0.80 0.12 23 0.34 0.85 2.83 inc. 134.50 136.00 1.50 1.98 43 0.27 3.31 4.57 inc. 136.00 137.30 1.30 2.35 51 0.34 0.68 2.13 inc. 137.30 138.85 1.55 6.70 835 0.59 1.31 2.94 520034 140.73 152.56 11.83 Selene Vein 17.56 99 0.78 3.73 6.31 inc. 140.73 141.89 1.16 26.10 40 0.33 3.42 8.05 inc. 141.89 143.30 1.41 28.20 81 2.39 5.22 9.20 inc. 143.30 143.78 0.48 1.02 8 0.19 0.15 1.80 inc. 143.78 144.58 0.80 10.20 26 0.25 2.21 4.70 inc. 144.58 145.64 1.06 2.77 28 0.23 1.19 2.45 inc. 145.64 146.62 0.98 0.59 43 0.48 1.47 3.93 inc. 146.62 147.67 1.05 2.45 41 0.27 2.54 2.91 inc. 147.67 148.93 1.26 23.20 126 0.50 6.02 7.16 inc. 148.93 149.86 0.93 16.35 352 0.98 4.27 8.62 inc. 149.86 151.30 1.44 42.50 124 1.10 8.09 12.05 inc. 151.30 151.83 0.53 0.70 40 0.19 0.34 1.59 inc. 151.83 152.56 0.73 23.20 253 1.32 3.10 4.13 154.27 155.37 1.10 Selene Splay 1 0.64 71 0.68 3.24 9.11 inc. 154.27 154.76 0.49 0.59 67 0.92 0.52 7.95 inc. 154.76 155.37 0.61 0.69 75 0.49 5.43 10.05 520035 174.18 174.50 0.32 Vein 2.69 19 0.22 1.24 7.17 176.59 178.06 1.47 Selene Vein 18.60 58 0.32 4.79 5.95 520036 (not shown on map) 111.07 111.62 0.55 Vein 2.09 133 0.02 0.24 0.40 147.97 157.94 9.97 Selene Vein 4.43 88 0.35 0.84 3.24 inc. 147.97 149.45 1.48 0.65 52 0.57 0.31 3.10 inc. 149.45 150.93 1.48 0.50 46 0.54 0.41 3.23 inc. 150.93 152.45 1.52 9.35 129 0.50 1.20 3.27 inc. 152.45 153.94 1.49 9.66 45 0.32 2.07 5.49 inc. 153.94 155.41 1.47 3.51 20 0.14 0.70 2.65 inc. 155.41 156.74 1.33 3.86 168 0.13 0.66 2.82 inc. 156.74 157.94 1.20 2.95 182 0.20 0.38 1.81 166.50 166.99 0.49 Selene Splay 1 0.50 84 2.10 1.65 4.07 170.30 171.18 0.88 Selene Splay 2 3.94 516 0.40 0.35 1.01 Assays by ALS, Vancouver, BC Canada. Meters Down Hole, Not true width. Plan view of Switchback mining area for reference. Note hole number 520036 is not shown but is located west of hole 520035 and is stepped out 50 degrees. Cross Section view of Switchback mining area to provide context for elevation of holes relative to mine workings. In addition, from the underground exploration drill station located approximately 500 meters to the northeast of the mine's Arista vein system, seven (7) drill holes confirmed the northern strike and up-dip extensions of the Switchback vein system. Multiple en echelon veins were encountered, further extending the known mineralization at Switchback both along strike and at shallower elevations (see map). Drill highlights in this area include: Hole # Vein From To Interval Au Ag Cu Pb Zn Meters Meters Meters g/t g/t % % % 520010 Sadie 2 Vein 79.77 80.15 0.38 0.73 813 0.02 0.17 0.54 Sadie 1 Vein 130.15 130.47 0.32 0.66 249 0.03 0.08 0.24 Sasha Vein 147.28 153.15 5.87 1.51 871 0.15 0.46 1.01 Incl. 147.28 153.15 2.95 2.00 1,366 0.23 0.67 1.58 520011 Sasha Vein 141.54 143.43 1.89 0.40 407 0.04 0.02 0.06 Incl. 142.73 143.43 0.70 0.97 933 0.08 0.01 0.05 Vein 169.76 172.75 2.99 0.50 213 0.03 0.12 0.27 520012 Sadie 2 Vein 138.58 139.89 1.31 1.69 196 0.02 0.10 0.19 Sadie 1 Vein 142.66 146.51 3.85 1.66 1,046 0.14 0.27 0.44 Incl. 143.71 144.72 1.01 2.52 1,710 0.22 0.28 0.61 Sasha Vein 153.24 160.30 7.06 0.71 286 0.02 0.06 0.15 Incl. 158.74 160.30 1.56 1.46 652 0.05 0.13 0.30 520013 Sadie 2 Vein 136.60 145.80 9.20 0.47 283 0.05 0.07 0.23 Incl. 144.40 145.80 1.40 1.14 796 0.12 0.10 0.29 Sadie 1 Vein 157.21 158.35 1.14 2.66 18 0.11 1.18 5.39 520015 Sadie 2 Vein 138.03 143.43 5.40 0.30 290 0.02 0.03 0.09 Incl. 138.03 139.16 1.13 0.53 833 0.07 0.04 0.15 Sadie 1 Vein 145.04 145.55 0.51 0.13 275 0.06 0.08 0.31 520017 Vein 93.36 93.74 0.38 0.59 280 0.15 0.21 0.42 Vein 111.63 112.81 1.18 0.36 281 0.04 0.06 0.20 Sadie 2 Vein 136.79 137.14 0.35 0.50 321 0.03 0.04 0.12 Sadie 1 Vein 187.96 189.20 1.24 3.12 19 0.02 0.06 0.09 520020 Vein 71.50 71.79 0.29 0.53 353 0.00 0.05 0.14 Vein 86.80 87.10 0.30 0.57 376 0.00 0.03 0.13 Vein 100.41 101.81 1.40 0.31 233 0.01 0.02 0.07 Vein 103.04 103.39 0.35 0.16 364 0.02 0.04 0.07 Sadie 2 Vein 116.54 117.21 0.67 0.39 350 0.01 0.03 0.08 Assays by ALS, Vancouver, BC Canada. Meters Down Hole, Not true width. Arista Mine Cross-Sectional Views A-A' & B-B' (Looking Northwest) "We are pleased with the results of drilling completed late in 2020," stated Mr. Barry Devlin, Vice President of Exploration for Gold Resource Corporation. "Our focus was and remains identifying additional mineralization along strike and up-dip at shallower elevations above the current mine workings. Our objective is to continue to test these extensions and expand resources of this growing system, as well as infill drilling to upgrade mineralized material to proven and probable reserves. We are also encouraged by the higher precious and lower base metal grades at this elevation clearly indicating we are higher in the Switchback vein system." About GRC: Gold Resource Corporation is a gold and silver producer, developer and explorer with operations in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Company's focus is on unlocking the value of the mine, existing infrastructure, and large property position. For more information, please visit GRC's website, located at www.goldresourcecorp.com and read the Company's 10-K for an understanding of the risk factors involved. Cautionary Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "target", "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding Gold Resource Corporation's strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to Gold Resource Corporation on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. In particular, there can be no assurance that production will continue at any specific rate. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the Company's 10-K filed with the SEC. Contacts: Ann Wilkinson Vice President, Investor Relations Ann.Wilkinson@GRC-USA.com www.GoldResourcecorp.com SOURCE: Gold Resource Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627523/Gold-Resource-Corporation-Confirms-Vein-Structures-Up-to-250-Meters-Above-Current-Production-Area-at-the-Don-David-Mine-in-Mexico-With-Intercepts-Including-1183-Meters-Grading-1756-GT-Gold-and-1004-Zinc-Lead-Combined President will visit and from February 4 to 7, according to an official communique issued on Wednesday. The President will leave for Bengaluru on Thursday evening, it said. On February 5, the President will address the valedictory function of the Aero India-21 at the Air Force Station, Yalehanka, Bengaluru, said the communiqu issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President will visit Madikeri, Kodagu district of on February 6, to inaugurate a museum at the erstwhile ancestral house of General Thimayya, it said. On February 7, the President will grace the 23rd annual convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bengaluru, the communiqu said. On the same day, he will also visit the Ashram of the Satsang Foundation in Madanapalle and Peepal Grove School at Sadum in Andhra Pradesh, before returning to New Delhi, 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.) White Wolf Capital LLC (White Wolf) is pleased to announce the recapitalization of JS Global, LLC (the Company). Based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, JS Global is a rapidly growing provider of anti-terrorism and force protection construction services to federal government agencies and commercial customers. As part of the transaction, management will remain a significant minority investor as JS Global enters its next phase of growth. Elie Azar, Managing Director of White Wolf, noted, We are very excited to partner with Joe Simpson and his team at JS Global. The JS Global team has built a very impressive business with an excellent reputation developed over a 20-year history. In addition to focusing on organic growth opportunities, this partnership will provide the Company with access to additional capital and resources to accelerate M&A initiatives. Joe Simpson, President and Co-Founder of JS Global, commented, We are looking forward to partnering with White Wolf as we embark on an exciting new chapter of our story. The White Wolf team not only brings a track-record of M&A expertise but also provides significant experience and contacts within the government services industry and will undoubtedly help accelerate our growth. Blake Conner, Vice President of White Wolf, added, Partnering with entrepreneurs like Joe Simpson is fundamental to what we do at White Wolf and continues our tradition of investing alongside the management teams of highly defensible businesses with compelling growth stories. About JS Global JS Global is a Maryland-based government services contractor specializing in the design and build of anti-terrorism and force protection systems. The Companys core competencies include providing specialty hardened systems designed to minimize the impact of damage to a buildings structural, electrical, and mechanical components during an attack. Capabilities also include construction of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and systems designed to allow building occupants to shelter in place during any potential type of threat. JS Globals staff includes a variety of project managers, electricians, carpenters, and various other highly skilled tradesmen. About White Wolf White Wolf is a private investment firm that began operations in late 2011 and is focused on management buyouts, recapitalizations and investments in leading middle market companies. In general, White Wolf seeks both private equity and private credit investment opportunities in companies that are headquartered in North America with $10 million to $100 million in revenues. Preferred industries include: manufacturing, business services, information technology, security, aerospace and defense, government services, and infrastructure services. For further information, please visit: http://www.whitewolfcapital.com. Please contact info@whitewolfcapital.com to discuss potential acquisition candidates. [February 03, 2021] Soprano Design Launches First Whole of Government Communications Platform as a Service SYDNEY, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Soprano Design, a global leader in CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service), announced today its Whole of Government communication solution tuned specifically to meet the needs of large government messaging and capable of spanning across multiple government departments and agencies to become the platform of choice. The Australia-hosted platform is dedicated for government communications and will be available to Australia government agencies starting March 1, with plans to expand hosting into select countries globally during 2021. For the first time, governments can consolidate their existing G2C (government-to-citizen) services onto a single communications platform to better engage with their citizens. "As governments increasingly compete for citizen's attention and trust, there's an increasingly pressing need for siloed government departments to band together to leverage more powerful communication technology, allowing them to roll out more engaging programs and to communicate in ways that build trust," said Dr. Richard Favero, CEO and Chairman at Soprano. "This is truly the next frontier in government communications, because as citizens, we want to be engaged with our governmentand we increasingly expect our government services to provide us with more thoughtful and trustworthy information. Enterprises already know that mobile messaging now offers powerful interactive ways of building this trust, and we're grateful we can begin to help governments with their mission to engage in meaningful ways with citizens." Additional solution features include: Available on the Australian Digital Marketplace making it convenient for organizations to begin including sophisticated communications in their digital transformation process Capabilities for the entire government body or on a dedicated individual department basis Expertly secured and capable of being locally hosted for each corresponding government A vast menu of off-the-shelf internal communications and intra-department applications, including a secure IP messaging capability with encryption and Common Criteria certification The past year has made government officials worldwide acutely aware how every branch of their organization needs to send trusted communications as emergency scenarios of 2020 disrupted the status quo of proper and effective messaging. Given the shift of accelerated digital transformation in this sector, governments are reassessing how they can utilize common communication channels such as SMS, voice, email, WhatsApp and RCS to inform citizens regarding important announcements, daily appointments and reminders. This digital transformation pushes the confines and limitations of traditional approaches by government communication. Soprano is a global enabler of government services worldwide and already powers some of the world's largest government organizations' communications needs. Soprano's expansive services include integrating with applications commonly used in social services, tax, voting and tax organisations but also with postal services, utilities, healthcare and mental health services, education programs, tourism, and more. Specific government services enabled by Soprano depend on the region needs. Soprano's omnichannel enterprise mobile messaging platform helps government agencies around the world. The platform's omnichannel capabilities give governments the ability to transform the way they interact and reach communities across all departments such as finance, transportation, public health, education and security. The platform also offers a powerful secure IP messaging capability that can integrate with government services, allowing organizations to offer G2C secure mobile messaging in adherence with applicable compliance laws. Soprano's trusted mobile communication platform adheres to recommended best practices to provide a secure mobile messaging solution that can become part of a proactive IT security program, designed to minimise the risks and costs associated with service disruptions. For more information on our government solutions, please visit: https://www.sopranodesign.com/solutions/government-mobile-messaging/. ENDS SOURCE SOPRANO DESIGN LIMITED [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The minor progressive Justice Party decided Wednesday not to field candidates in the April mayoral by-elections in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal that led to the expulsion of its leader. Kim Jong-cheol resigned as head of the party on Jan. 25 after admitting to sexually harassing a female lawmaker of the same party. He was expelled from the party Thursday. "The party decided not to nominate candidates in the by-elections as a way of reflecting on itself and taking responsibility," a party official said after a meeting of the national committee, its top decision-making body. Mayoral by-elections will be held in Seoul and Busan on April 7. The posts have remained vacant since then Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don resigned in April and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon killed himself in July, both amid accusations of sexual harassment and assault. (Yonhap) Mr. Kwaku Gyimah Kye, a lawyer with the Oboyang Chambers says it is unlawful for state enterprises to pay public funds into an individual account. He described the situation as one with the tendency to cause financial lost to the state in the event that the party in question failed to disburse the monies to affected parties or individuals involved. The Lawyer was educating on the transfer of six million cedis and five hundred thousand cedis allegedly paid separately into the private account of Nana Kofi Abuna V, chief of Essipun after Ghana Gas Company Limited and Gridco as compensation for affected families and individuals. It will be recalled that, between 2018 and 2019, the two companies undertook some infrastructure development in the area which affected properties of some community members and the Essipun stool. Residents and some stool members contend that the Chief had since refused to pay their portions of compensation igniting family and community feud. Meanwhile, the Lawyer said the two companies might have done a great disservice to the country for placing millions of the taxpayer's monies at risk. He said, "Ideally, this is against corporate funds transfer and even banking principles especially when the transaction has more the one-party involved". 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 Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have the kind of comedic chemistry that few can match. And the best pals/Saturday Night Live alums are preparing to put their timing to the test, from totally different time zones. They're reuniting to host this year's 78th Golden Globe Awards from opposite coasts on February 28, a first for the awards show, as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, NBC and Dick Clark Productions adjust to COVID-19 precautions. Going bicoastal: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are reuniting to host this year's 78th Golden Globe Awards from opposite coasts on February 28, a first for the awards show (pictured in January, 2013) Long distance: According to Variety , Fey, 50, will broadcast from atop New York City's Rockefeller Center, in the Rainbow Room. Meanwhile, Poehler, 49, will fulfill her co-hosting duties from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the awards show is usually held According to Variety, Fey, 50, will broadcast from atop New York City's Rockefeller Center, in the Rainbow Room. Meanwhile, Poehler, 49, will fulfill her co-hosting duties from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the awards show is usually held. It's still unclear whether presenters and winners will make in-person appearances or telecast from home, as recent awards shows have done both amid the pandemic. With two locations, this year's event has the potential to feature more big names, while letting its co-hosts remain close to home. Close to home: With two locations, this year's event has the potential to feature more big names, while letting its co-hosts remain close to home (pictured in January, 2013) They're baaack: The Baby Mama co-stars are making their return to the Golden Globes stage, after they hosted together three years in a row, from 2013 to 2015 (pictured in January, 2014) Lots of questions: Poehler gave Seth Meyers an update on the hosting gig last month: 'The prep is going so good. We just have a few final questions. When, how, why, where and what? Just those, that's all we need to find out. But we're going to figure it out' The Baby Mama co-stars are making their return to the Golden Globes stage, after they hosted together three years in a row, from 2013 to 2015. Poehler gave Seth Meyers an update on the hosting gig last month: 'The prep is going so good. We just have a few final questions. When, how, why, where and what? Just those, that's all we need to find out. But we're going to figure it out.' Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P Henson will announce the major category nominees Wednesday at 8:35am ET/5:35am PT on The Today Show. The nominees are: Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P Henson will announce the major category nominees Wednesday at 8:35am ET/5:35am PT on The Today Show (pictured in January, 2019) Postponed: Although the awards show usually takes place in January, this year's event has been postponed due to the pandemic (pictured in January, 2020) Satchel and Jackson Lee, children of three-time Golden Globe nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and producer/philanthropist Tonya Lewis Lee, will serve as the 2021 Golden Globe Ambassadors. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards will air live Sunday, February 28 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on NBC. Although the awards show usually takes place in January, this year's event has been postponed due to the pandemic. BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance is proud to announce that Weatherproofing Technologies Inc., (WTI), its affiliated construction services company, has been awarded its sixth consecutive contract (#IFB-021-D) by the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) in the category of Roofing & Building Envelope Services. The Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies is a national cooperative for education purchasing with agencies located in 29 states. Nationally bid and locally awarded, AEPA contracts are competitively bid per each state's specific legal requirements and are available in non-member states through piggyback contract options. Each member state determines which vendor contracts are signed to best serve eligible clients within their state. Since 2001, WTI/Tremco has managed thousands of school and public sector roofing and building maintenance projects under the AEPA Cooperative Contract throughout the United States. "We are incredibly pleased to continue as an awarded vendor for AEPA," said Craig Nelson, Vice President of WTI GC Strategy, Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. "Through the Roofing & Building Envelope Services contract with WTI, AEPA members can simplify and streamline the procurement process and be assured of quality, expediency and transparency. Together, WTI and Tremco offer solutions to meet each AEPA member's roofing and building envelope needs and deliver unique facility asset management solutions designed to help AEPA members reduce their roofing and building envelope life-cycle costs, while improving building performance." To learn more about AEPA please visit www.aepacoop.org. About the Tremco Construction Products Group Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance and WTC are part of the Tremco Construction Products Group, the new master brand representing the combined forces of Tremco Incorporated companies, which also include the Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing and Tremco Barrier Solutions operating divisions; Dryvit Systems, Inc.; Nudura Inc; Willseal; and Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. Altogether, Tremco CPG companies operate 14 manufacturing facilities, six distribution sites, and three technology sites and employ more than 2,600 people across North America. For more information, visit us at www.tremcoinc.com. SOURCE Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance Related Links http://www.tremcoinc.com Two days after Myanmars military seized power in a coup, the scope of its formal allegations against the countrys civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, are taking shape: She is accused of illegally importing at least 10 walkie-talkies. It was a bizarre postscript to a fraught 48 hours in which the army placed the countrys most popular leader back under house arrest and extinguished hopes that the Southeast Asian nation could one day serve as a beacon of democracy in a world awash with rising authoritarianism. The surprise use of walkie-talkies to justify locking up a Nobel Peace Prize laureate reinforced the militarys penchant for using fine-grained strategy to neutralize its greatest political rival. The accusations, which surfaced in a court order on Wednesday, may seem obscure and underwhelming, but they could put her in prison for up to three years. The court order to detain Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, which was provided by an official from her party, the National League for Democracy, was dated on the day of the coup and authorized her detention for 15 days. The document said soldiers searching her villa in Naypyidaw, the capital, had turned up various pieces of communications equipment that had been brought into the country without proper paperwork. COVID-19 vaccines will begin to arrive in Ukraine under the COVAX mechanism in February this year, head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas said. "We reacted quickly and provided EUR 190 million in aid and 1.2 billion in macro-financial support - an unprecedented amount for a crisis year. Today, the issue of vaccination against the virus has come to the fore. Vaccines under the EU-supported COVAX program will begin to arrive in February," he said at a meeting of the Commission on coordination of implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. "Ukraine and other neighboring countries are a priority for the EU," Maasikas said. As reported, within the framework of the COVAX program, Ukraine will receive 117,000 doses of American-made Pfizer-BioNTech m-RNA vaccine in February, and in parallel, during the first half of 2021, from 2.2 to 3.7 million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. On February 2, 2021, the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered final judgment against Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at CR Intrinsic Investors, LLC, a former hedge fund advisory firm and affiliate of S.A.C. Capital Advisors, L.P. In November 2012, the SEC filed a complaint in this action, charging Martoma with insider trading. As alleged, Martoma obtained confidential information about clinical trial results for a drug being jointly developed by two pharmaceutical companies from a doctor involved in the trials. According to the complaint, on the basis of the confidential information, Martoma then caused trades in the securities of the two companies to be made in several hedge fund portfolios ahead of the negative announcement of the trial results, thereby reaping profits and avoiding losses totaling over $275 million for funds advised by CR Intrinsic and S.A.C Capital. In March 2013, the SEC filed an amended complaint naming S.A.C. Capital Advisors and four hedge funds managed by CR Intrinsic and S.A.C. Capital as relief defendants because they each received ill-gotten gains from the insider trading scheme. As part of the SEC's litigation in this matter, the court established a fund to compensate investor victims of the fraud. The fund comprised over $601 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties paid in settlement by CR Intrinsic and the relief defendants. In separate distributions in August 2017 and July 2020, over $531 million was distributed to over 4,800 harmed investors. These payments fully reimbursed those investors. In February 2014, Martoma was convicted after trial of insider trading for the same conduct alleged in the SEC's complaint. In connection with his criminal conviction, Martoma was sentenced to 9 years in prison, and ordered, among other things, to forfeit more than $9 million, representing his compensation tied to the illegal trading. Martoma has now consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining him from future violations of the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The litigation resulting in the final judgment against Martoma has been handled by Thomas P. Smith, Jr., and the matter has been supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa, both of the SEC's New York office. The Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) president, Titus Sitentu, has said civil servants have not received salary and benefits adjustments for the last six years. Sitentu blames this on the government and majority unions, who he says have failed workers. "Thanks to the complicity between the government and the so-called majority unions who have consistently failed the workers," Sitentu said. He said this on Monday at the appointment of the union's new secretary general, Mathew Haakuria, who replaces Victor Kazonyati. Sitentu said it would be a disservice on the government's part if this year ends with no adjustments to the salaries of civil servants. "The current leadership of the PSUN commits itself to serve workers with the uncompromised interests of the workers as the primary driving force," Sitentu added. GIPF STRUCTURE Sitentu also highlighted aspects he says were omitted in the GIPF story, which he said are the structure of its board of directors and the First Capital Treasury Solution. He said, "The manner in which the board of directors is constituted and appointed is illegitimate, as it does not follow the legally prescribed processes. "Second, First Capital operates in a manner that does not promote the purpose for which it was established, as it operates in competition with local banks. It is equally exploitative of the members as all ordinary banks would and this trend must be completely reformed," he added. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. COVID-19 VACCINE AND WORKING CONDITIONS He criticised the government over how it is handling the securing of the Covid-19 vaccine. "There are countries that secure over 400 million doses of vaccines for their citizens. Can we say our country, with all the resources that we waste on the likes of Fishrot, cannot secure doses for 2 million people?" Sitentu further said the conditions under which frontline healthcare workers are operating should be looked into, as they are forced to attend to Covid-19 patients with no protective equipment. "They are forced to attend to Covid-19 patients without any personal protective equipment and when they ask for this, they are told that they like to complain too much. This is uncalled for!" Sitentu said. He added that last year PSUN suggested that the Ministry of Finance sets aside an additional portion of the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year to be allocated as an incentive for healthcare workers. However, minister of finance Ipumbu Shiimi directed them to submit such to him through the Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, which they did, but they never heard anything from the two ministers to date. "It is disturbing to notice that these healthcare workers have lost four of their colleagues in the recent past but the Ministry of Health and Social Services shows no signs to improve the situation," Sitentu said. NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lust for Life LLC (the "Company"), the main subsidiary of Renewable Energy & Power, Inc. (OTC: RBNW), is excited to announce that the Lust for Life Footwear brand ("LFL") is focused on developing a much bigger, consumer- driven new website. As D2C (Direct to Consumer) has become the driving force at retail, online sales have been converting from brick-and-mortar stores. There has been a significant reduction of stores across all chains and in order to convert customers and ramp up online sales, Lust for Life Footwear will be revamping the entire website. We will also work closely with the GSA House Agency (https://www.gsahouse.com) building a fresh and dynamic social media team to keep up consumer retention and more repeated sales. We will be manufacturing special styles for our own website. Selling our product directly to consumers will give us the advantage of collecting valuable customer data and create accounts, for future membership and loyalty programs. And since there is no "middleman" sharing profits, we can potentially see higher margins on every sale. In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 3.53 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars in 2022. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/) Lust For Life wholesale division has begun designing new product for Fall 2021. We will expand our comfort categories that will focus on fashion stay at home footwear. We have partnered with a factory in Mexico to produce a sustainable/ recycle material footwear. It is extremely important to be environmentally conscious, do better by the planet and the people who live in it. The new footwear will also be washable, comfortable and easy to wear. We will utilize specialized materials to highlight these styles on our website. Note: our technologically equipped factories in Mexico fully participate in the new USMCA trade treaty. The global sustainable footwear market size is expected to reach $11.8 billion by 2027, expanding at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8 per cent from 2020 to 2027, according to a new report by market research and consulting firm Grand View Research. (https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/sustainable-footwear-market-size-may-hit-11-8-bn-by-2027-267790-newsdetails.htm) Private Brand Sector, Lust for Life is continuing to build specialized product and work towards Fall 2021 expanding the retail customers. This direction comes from being able to give the retailers ability to maintain higher margin. About Renewable Energy & Power, Inc.: Renewable Energy & Power, Inc. (OTC: RBNW) is the parent company to Lust for Life Group. RBNW is a holding company for apparel lines with both direct to consumer and wholesale sales to national retail chains. Previously, RBNW was focused on renewable energy projects, however in August 2019, with the acquisition of Blind Faith Concepts, Inc., which holds 100% of Lust for Life, LLC, RBNW's management determined to shift operations to focus on apparel. For more information on RBNW, visit www.lustforlifeshoes.com. Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions (such as those relating to future expansion or financial results) and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company's OTC Markets filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words such as "may," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan" and other similar expressions. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not within the control of the company. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. IR Contact: Lust for Life Group 55 Washington Street Suite 703 Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone:718-971-9704 [email protected] SOURCE Renewable Energy & Power, Inc. Related Links http://www.lustforlifeshoes.com ADVERTISEMENT The police say three bandits were killed on Tuesday as officers repelled an attack on two villages in Dutsima Local Government Area of Katsina State. The state commissioner of police, Sanusi Buba, stated this at a press briefing in Katsina on Wednesday. Mr Buba said the police recovered two AK-47 rifles with 15 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the bandits. He said the police responded to distress calls from community members, and deployed officers who engaged the suspected bandits in a fight that lasted from 2 a.m. till dawn on Tuesday. Mr Buba said the police area commander of Dutsima, Aminu Umar, led his team to the area after callers said about 50 bandits on motorcycles were shooting sporadically in Unguwar Bera and Tashar Mangoro villages in Dutsima LGA. The police team engaged the hoodlums at a spot between Mara and Tashar Gajere villages, Mr Buba said. Fortunately, the bandits were entrapped and the team had an upper hand, neutralised three bandits and recovered two AK-47 rifles with 15 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, the commissioner told journalists. He said the police were still conducting a search of the area for injured bandits and their weapons. The North-west state, where President Muhammadu Buhari hails from, has been rocked by insecurity especially attacks by bandits in recent months. PREMIUM TIMES reported how 333 students were kidnapped in the state in December 2020 while Mr Buhari was on a private visit to his hometown. The students were later released after negotiations by the federal government. Democrats on Tuesday paved the way for a simple majority vote on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that includes $1,400 checks to millions of Americans, with Democratic leaders and the Biden administration painting a $618 billion Republican compromise plan with $1,000 checks as way too small. Democrats could easily pass a comprehensive package in the House but would typically need support from at least 60 total senators to get a recovery bill on President Joe Bidens desk. But the evenly-split Senate voted Tuesday to allow Bidens package to be tied to budget reconciliation, a process that requires only a majority. In the case of no Republican support and a 50-50 tie in the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris would cast the deciding vote on the stimulus. We are not going to dilute, dither or delay, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters in a news conference Tuesday. The needs of the American people are just too great. The most recent COVID-19 relief, approved in December, came after several months of back-and-forth negotiations between lawmakers and the Trump administration. Over the weekend, 10 Republicans pressed Biden to make good on his calls for unity by considering a more moderate package with bipartisan support. The group met with the president on Monday at the White House, with both sides saying it was a productive meeting. But Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a virtual meeting with Senate Democrats Tuesday, urged them to push forward with the bigger bill. Schumer told reporters that the president was willing to modify some provisions in the package. But Biden and Yellen made clear their assessment that if Congress moved forward with the Republican plan, wed be mired in the COVID crisis for years, Schumer said. He was very strong in emphasizing the need for a big bold package, Schumer said. He said he told Senate Republicans that the $600 billion that they proposed was way too small. The Biden team wants to send $1,400 checks to American adults earning less than $75,000, and couples earning less than $150,000; the checks phase out incrementally, likely capped entirely for individuals making $99,000 and couples earning $174,000. Biden said last week that hes open to negotiating the income thresholds, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that $1,400 checks were badly needed along with a host of relief provisions. The GOP compromise plan shrinks the checks to $1,000, with full amounts only going to individuals earning up to $40,000 and couples making up to a combined $80,000. The checks phase out incrementally, and individuals earning more than $50,000 and couples topping $100,000 would no longer be eligible for stimulus checks. Lets focus on those who are struggling, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio told CNN on Sunday. We really want to help those who need it the most. We need to be sure this is targeted. Biden has pushed for college-aged students and disabled seniors claimed as dependents to qualify for additional stimulus checks; previous packages approved in March and December included $500 and $600 checks, respectively, for child dependents under the age of 17. The Republican compromise package calls for $500 checks for dependent adults and children. It also calls for no checks to convicted inmates. Bidens 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, through September. The compromise proposal includes $160 billion for direct COVID-19 response, including $50 billion for a massive expansion of testing, $20 billion for a national vaccine program, $30 billion for a disaster relief fund and tens of billions for provider relief and rebuilding and restocking the National Strategic Stockpile. It also includes $20 billion to help schools reopen and $50 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program and economic injury disaster loan program. Bidens proposal also includes a push for a $15 federal minimum wage. While a non-starter for most Republicans, increasing the minimum wage has long been a goal of Democrats who argue the pandemic has helped put drastic inequity under the spotlight. 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. The Arctic Ocean spans more than five million square miles and although the water is salty, thousands of years ago the vast ocean was a filled with freshwater. Researchers found the Arctic Ocean as well as the Nordic Seas did not contain sea-salt in at least two glacial periods - once about 70,000 to 60,000 years ago and also 150,000 to 130,000 years ago. The ocean at these times was capped with a massive ice sheet of ice that measured about 2,952 feet, which trapped the fresh water from circulating out from the area. The team also determined that because sea levels were much lower during these time periods, large icebergs extended to the sea floor that also restricted the exchange of water masses. The flow of glaciers, ice melt in summer and rivers also drained into the Arctic Ocean, also delivered large amounts of fresh water to the system that could not escape. Scroll down for video The Arctic Oceans spans more than five million square miles and although the water is salty, thousands of years ago the vast ocean was a filled with freshwater. The ocean was capped with a massive ice sheet of ice that measured about 2,952 feet, which trapped the fresh water from circulating out from the area The Arctic Ocean surrounds the North Pole in the middle of the North Hemisphere and itself is surrounded by Eurasia and North America. Scientists from Germany's Alfred Wegner Institute and the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research conducted a detailed analysis of the commotions of marine deposits in the Arctic Ocean to uncover what secrets they may tell of the ocean. The results showed the ocean, along with the Nordic Seas, contained freshwater and capped with a massive sheet of ice. The sheet of ice kept the water from flowing into the North Atlantic for short periods, but the experts say sudden freshwater inputs could explain rapid climate oscillations for which no satisfying explanation had been previously found. The team also determined that because sea levels were much lower during these time periods, large icebergs extended to the sea floor that also restricted the exchange of water masses According to their study, the floating parts of the northern ice sheets covered large parts of the Arctic Ocean in the past 150,000 years. Once about 70,000 to 60,000 years ago and also about 150,000 to 130,000 years ago, and during both these periods, freshwater accumulated under the ice, creating a completely fresh Arctic Ocean for thousands of years. The next step was determining how the large basin that is connected by several straits with the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean could go from sea-salt to entirely fresh water. Professor Ruediger Stein, geologist at the AWI and the MARUM, said: 'Such a scenario is perceivable if we realize that in glacial periods, global sea levels were up to 42 feet lower than today, and ice masses in the Arctic may have restricted ocean circulation even further.' Near shallow connections, like Bering Strait or the sounds of the Canadian Archipelago, were above sea level at the time, which cutting off the water flow to the Pacific Ocean entirely. In the Nordic Seas, large icebergs or ice sheets extending onto the sea floor restricted the exchange of water masses. The flow of glaciers, ice melt in summer, and rivers draining into the Arctic Ocean kept delivering large amounts of fresh water to the system, at least 1200 cubic kilometres per year. A part of this amount would have been forced via the Nordic Seas through the sparse narrow deeper connections in the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the North Atlantic, hindering saline water from penetrating further north. This resulted in the freshening of the Arctic Ocean. Dr Walter Geibert, geochemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, said: 'Once the mechanism of ice barriers failed, heavier saline water could fill the Arctic Ocean again.' 'We believe that it could then quickly displace the lighter freshwater, resulting in a sudden discharge of the accumulated amount of freshwater over the shallow southern boundary of the Nordic Seas, the Greenland-Scotland-Ridge, into the North Atlantic.' These results mean a real change to our understanding of the Arctic Ocean in glacial climates,' said Geibert. 'To our knowledge, this is the first time that a complete freshening of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas has been considered - happening not just once, but twice.' The team also determined that because sea levels were much lower during these time periods, large icebergs extended to the sea floor that also restricted the exchange of water masses To uncover these findings, the team conducted a geological analysis of ten sediment cores pulled from different areas of the ocean, along with Fram Strait and the Nordic Seas. And the stacked deposits mirror the climate history of the past glacials. When investigating and comparing the sediment records, the geoscientists found that an important indicator was missing, always in the same two intervals. 'In saline sea water, the decay of naturally occurring uranium always results in the production of the isotope thorium-230. This substance accumulates at the sea floor, where it remains detectable for a very long time due to its half-life of 75,000 years,' Geibert explained. HICKSVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NY State Solar is pleased to announce that as of January 21st, 2021, the company has achieved the 2021 NYSERDA Quality Solar Installer Designation. NYSERDA, the New York State Energy and Research and Development Authority conducts its own independent quality inspections of solar systems across New York through the year. This designation was developed to recognize solar installers who consistently meet the highest standards of quality. Of the installers based in New York, NY State Solar is among the few that achieved this designation. "I'm very proud of the work that our teams have done throughout the global pandemic. As a group, we continue to provide exemplary service to each of our customers and deliver a higher quality installation than many of our competitors. This is a testament to our ability as an organization to focus on perfecting each installation to ensure our customers solar systems last for the decades they are designed to," said Reid Garton, CEO of NY State Solar. In 2020, with the help of its rapidly expanding team, NY State Solar served over one thousand homeowners across Long Island the boroughs of NYC. Each of the company's customers has benefited from a curated solar installation process built specifically with the homeowner in mind. Utilizing exclusively premium solar energy components, NY State Solar meticulously installs each solar system with an industry best attention to detail, while also keeping the homeowner informed along the way. It is due to the partnerships NY State Solar has with top rated solar energy component manufacturers and the wealth of industry knowledge throughout the team, That NY State Solar is able to maintain the highest standard of excellence for each of it's customers solar system installations. About NY State Solar: NY State Solar is a residential solar provider headquartered in Hicksville, NY serving a customer base of thousands of homeowners. A vertically integrated residential provider, NYSS currently employs over 100 Tri-State area residents with a projection to double that in the next 12-24 months. NY State Solar manages the sale, consultation, design, permitting, installation, & service of the residential solar system, having internalized the entire customer experience while staying focused on the New York market. Media Contact: Jaime Laviena [email protected] SOURCE NY State Solar Related Links https://www.nystatesolar.com Police have arrested 94 people who were caught praying in residential houses in two cells of Nkotsi Sector in Musanze District. The people had violated guidelines put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19, including social distancing and mask-wearing, according to Rwanda National Police (RNP). They had gathered in two residential houses in Karambi and Bikara cells of Nkotsi Sector. According to Chief Superintendent of Police (CIP) Alex Rugigana, the police spokesperson in the Northern Province, the information was provided by local residents. "At about 10am on Sunday, Police found 89 people in the house of one Uwitije Alphonsine and five others in the house of Uwamungu Jean Claude, praying. They had violated all the Covid-19 prevention guidelines," said Rugigana. He added that both Uwitije and Uwamungu had been caught in similar offences in the past. "Of the 89 people found congested in the house of Uwitije, 49 of them had no face masks, but even those that had them were not wearing them. They were congested in a small room, no social distancing and they did not wash their hands," Rugigana said. The violators had come from various sectors of Musanze District and included young children. All the 94 people were taken to the Ubworoherane Stadium in Musanze for sensitisation about prevention guidelines. Between January 25 and 30 Musanze District recorded at least 16 cases of the coronavirus. "It's absurd that in light of such a situation, there are people who can still think of holding gatherings where one infected person can easily spread the virus to everyone," said Rugigana. Rwanda is grappling with the second wave of the Covid-19 that has seen Kigali City put under lockdown and movements restricted between districts in the four provinces. Rugigana urged the public to adhere to the preventive measures put in place to control the spread of coronavirus and commended those who report such violations. NEW DELHI : Freelance content creators, marketing, social media and digital marketing, cybersecurity and specialised engineering roles will present better job opportunities and emerge as the top five job categories in 2021, according to LinkedIn. LinkedIns 'Jobs on the rise list includes 15 fast growing jobs, and aims to help professionals, especially those who may have lost their jobs during the pandemic, know about the employment landscape. These categories have seen the highest year-on-year growth rates in hiring, based on LinkedIn data between April and October. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat Top of the list are content creators, who use creative storytelling skills to produce entertaining content such as podcasts, Youtubers, bloggers and content coordinators are expected to grow. With India expected to have over 760 million smartphone users in 2021, demand for local and relevant content is only going to grow in 2021. YouTube is the countrys most popular digital platform with an 82% penetration rate. India also has a burgeoning podcast scene and is currently the third-largest podcast-listening market, according to a report by KPMG. As new ways to monetise this content emerges, demand for those who can produce captivating stories will only grow. Digital transformation has continued to drive all industries, and both, tech and non-tech roles have shifted to meet the needs of a new collaborative, remote work culture. The List shows us that audience builders and content creators are key to brands, HR continues to be at the heart of all operations, user and customer experience are critical in the new online world of service, and emerging tech, especially ed-tech, continues to boom," said Ruchee Anand, Director - Talent & Learning Solutions, India at LinkedIn. Social media and digital marketing roles are growing as brands need to connect with a rapidly growing market. This is fuelling demand for experts who know how to craft the perfect message to engage customers and drive demand across different social and digital channels. Cybersecurity and data science roles will continue to rise as data safety becomes a key priority for consumers and organisations alike. Startups, including Zoomcar and Unacademy, saw user data leaked onto the dark web last year, while a data breach at BigBasket hit the privacy of 20 million users. Experts say as remote work becomes more widely accepted now, investment in cybersecurity solutions by organisations is set to pick up. As EdTech, HealthTech, and FinTech sectors continue to experience a significant digital overhaul, professionals who can pivot to digital-based operations smoothly will be particularly sought after. Finance, education, healthcare, and e-commerce roles are also expected to gain popularity in the job market. With remote working becoming mainstream, HR professionals face new challenges of employee engagement, upskilling and recruitment. This has raised the demand for skilled HR executives who can onboard new employees remotely as well as develop existing talent. According to the data, the covid-19 disruption has fuelled demand for customer services roles as brands navigate customer concerns and adapt to how they deliver their services online. User experience designer roles and customer service roles will be critical in helping organizations forge stronger and enduring relationships with customers in this turbulent scenario. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Cambridge University has added an 'over-subscription' clause to its offers which could leave students stripped of their places if too many meet their required grades. The decision means undergraduates hoping to take a place at the world-leading institution could be left scrambling for their back-up option despite achieving the entrance criteria. The university's rule change comes after a move to teacher assessments last summer sparked chaos when thousands of pupils had their A-Levels downgraded by a faulty algorithm designed to replace exam standardisation. Cambridge said at the time it had made 4,500 offers for 3,450 places, and took on considerably more students than it would normally when the grades were scrapped and replaced by higher-marking teacher assessments. Cambridge University has added an 'over-subscription' clause to its offers which could leave students stripped of their places if too many meet their required grades (stock photo) But its new terms, set out in a document last month, will cut down the number of students being accepted, even if they have the required grades. In a section titled 'oversubscription', Cambridge says if the 'number of applicants meeting the conditions of an offer of a place on your course exceeds the number of places available' then places will given 'on a fair and reasonable basis'. Referring to changes to assessments brought on by the pandemic, the document adds that clause would be used in 'circumstances outside the reasonable control (of Cambridge)'. Anyone not allocated a place to start in October could instead be offered another College or course at the university, or the chance to defer a year. The university's rule change comes after a move to teacher assessments last summer sparked chaos when thousands of pupils had their A-Levels downgraded by a faulty algorithm designed to replace exam standardisation, before being readjusted Last summer Cambridge promised all students who initially missed their offer but then had their grades raised by teacher assessment that it would keep their place, although it said some may need to defer. But now A-Level leavers face the real prospect of being without a place at their preferred university and having to choose between a back-up or an uncertain jobs market. Mary Curnock Cook, a former chief executive of Ucas, told The Times: 'In a normal year, [universities] can rely on well-tried and tested offer-making strategies; this year the challenge will be to make fair offers without opening the floodgates if every applicant achieves their offer conditions.' A spokesman for the university said: 'We are trying to ensure students are aware of their options should we be faced with similar pressure on places. 'This is about planning for the most exceptional circumstances and offering the student the best information to help inform their choices.' A Ucas spokeswoman said: 'In the rare cases of over-subscription, we would expect universities to have an open and transparent conversation with students about their options, with the decision ultimately lying with the student.' Oxford University on the other hand has stated that all applicants who meet their conditions will have their offer confirmed and accepted. While universities have been able to provide flexibility for most course numbers, some practical subjects such as medicine and dentistry remain limited due to built-in capacity. BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $28,362,000 in Fannie Mae Green financing for Maple Grove Apartment Homes and Middleton Shores Apartments, located in Madison and Middleton, Wisconsin. The portfolio comprises 462 units in total, all of which qualify as mission-driven, affordable housing under Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) guidelines. Led by Pat Dempsey, Jeff Schmidt, and Tim Cotter, Walker & Dunlop's financing team expertly navigated Fannie Mae's loan programs to refinance each property through the agency's Green Building Certification program. At the time of the financing, both Maple Grove and Middleton Shores had already undergone significant green upgrades. This precluded the properties from qualifying for discounted financing through the Green Rewards program, which incentivizes future upgrades. The team identified the lesser-known Green Building Certification program, which rewards existing green improvements and maintenance practices, as an ideal fit for the client. Working alongside Eric and Michaela Truelove of Green Building Resources, LLC, Walker & Dunlop secured Green Globes certificates from Green Building Initiative. In addition to securing reduced rates on behalf of the client, Walker & Dunlop's team successfully incorporated the acquisition of 38 orphaned units into the transaction. Located adjacent to Maple Grove, the orphaned market-rate property formerly known as Valley Crossing was originally developed by the same firm in the 1990s and features identical aesthetics and floor plans. Walker & Dunlop worked to seamlessly incorporate the acquisition collateral into the transaction, making for a 340-unit property at closing. Walker & Dunlop's Dempsey commented, "We were pleased to put our expertise to the test for Maple Grove and Middleton shores once again. Our team originally financed the properties in 2010, and were able to cut the financing rates nearly in half through this refinance assignment. This was due to a combination of green financing, historically low rates, and the organically affordable rents all of which added up to the best pricing possible from Fannie Mae." The client, Sue Case, added, "Our refinance was complicated with green certification and a purchase of additional units, but the Walker & Dunlop team led us through the process with expertise, skill, and even humor. We certainly plan on working with them again!" Walker & Dunlop is a top-ranked multifamily lender in the United States. For information about Walker & Dunlop's view on the apartment market, including economic updates and expert perspectives on markets, leadership, and the road ahead, download our Winter Multifamily Outlook. About Walker & Dunlop Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 1,000+ professionals in 41 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction. SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc. Related Links http://www.walkerdunlop.com ORAL, Kazakhstan -- Police in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Oral have prevented journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov and several activists from traveling to the western city of Atyrau, where they planned to greet outspoken government critic Maks Boqaev upon his release from prison on February 4. Activists in Oral told RFE/RL that Akhmedyarov, the chief editor of the independent newspaper Uralskaya Nedelya, was stopped by police on his way to Atyrau on February 3 and held for questioning in an unspecified case. Akhmedyarov placed a video on Facebook showing the moment of his detention as he argued with police, saying that he had received a subpoena ordering him to show up on February 5 at a police station for questioning, which he was going to follow and therefore there was no need to hold him. Four rights activists in Oral, Maqsat Aisauytov, Bekbolat Otebaev, Bauyrzhan Alipqaliev, and Orynbai Oqasov, also were summoned to the police on February 4. They say they were ordered to come to the police so that they were unable to travel to Atyrau on that day to attend Boqaev's release. The police department in Oral told RFE/RL that the activists and Akhmedyarov were summoned over "a classified criminal case." "Kazakhstan authorities are once again trying to prevent journalists from reporting on public interest issues, and this time they have targeted editor Lukpan Akhmedyarov," Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. "Instead of wasting their time detaining and threatening members of the press, authorities should encourage journalists to report on politics and expose corruption," she added. A day earlier, police in Nur-Sultan, the capital, stopped a vehicle with four rights activists who were on their way to Atyrau, where they also planned to see Boqaev at the moment of his release. Police then impounded the vehicle, citing an unspecified investigation. The 48-year-old activist Boqaev was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison on extremism charges in 2016 after he organized unsanctioned protests against land reform in Atyrau. While serving his term, Boqaev refused to ask for clemency, insisting that the case against him was politically motivated. The United States, the European Union, and the United Nations have urged Kazakh authorities to release Boqaev. Human rights organizations in Kazakhstan have recognized Boqaev as a political prisoner. Kazakhstan's government has insisted that there are no political prisoners in the country. 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. Gov. Kay Ivey said Alabama overcame one giant challenge after another last year and quoted civil rights icon John Lewis in her call to use those experiences to build a better state. In her fourth annual State of the State address, the governor reflected on a difficult 2020 and explained some of her priorities for 2021. During the past 12 months, Alabama like the rest of the country had no choice but to deal with one giant challenge after another, Ivey said during the 27-minute speech, delivered via webcast from the Capitol. In addition to social unrest and a polarizing national election, we also had eight federal disaster and emergency declarations in the state, including a hurricane, a tropical storm and floods from one end of the state to the other. So, make no mistake, there were no tears shed when we bid goodbye to 2020 a month ago. While the year tested both our patience and perseverance, it never once tested our faith. Despite all that was thrown at us, Alabamians remained grounded and kept our resolve. You never gave up. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ivey spoke without a live audience. Normally legislators and other public officials pack the Old House Chamber in the Capitol for State of the State speeches. Speaking on the first day of the annual legislative session, Ivey said she would support bills on three topics that lawmakers say have broad support. They would exempt from state income taxes the coronavirus relief payments and benefits that households and businesses received from the federal government, renew the laws allowing the state to offer tax credits and other incentives to recruit businesses, and provide immunity to businesses, hospitals, schools, churches, and other organizations from lawsuits casting blame for COVID-19 illness. The immunity would not apply in cases of reckless or intentional misconduct. The governor thanked Alabamas teachers for adapting and teaching during the pandemic. She asked the Legislature to approve a 2% cost of living raise for teachers and for state employees. She repeated her call for all schools to resume in-person teaching as soon as possible. During her State of the State address a year ago, Ivey announced she would appoint a study group to gather information on how a lottery and other expansions of gambling in Alabama would affect the state. The group issued a report in December, estimating that the state could raise net revenue of $500 million to $700 million a year from a lottery and casinos. Tonight, Ivey said the study groups work could set the stage for the Legislature to allow voters to decide whether to allow a lottery or other forms of expanded gambling. Those bills die in the Legislature every year, and voters have not had their say on a lottery since 1999. Ive never been an out-front champion on this issue, but I have always believed that the people of Alabama should have the final say, Ivey said. If established in an accountable and transparent manner, good can come from this effort. The current system only costs the state money and you, the people, dont benefit in any way. Forty-five states have lotteries, including the four that border Alabama. I am confident the Legislature will be thoughtful and deliberate as they debate this issue, Ivey said. But let me be absolutely clear, this must be a transparent process with no deals being cut under the table. And If something doesnt pass the smell test, Ill sure let you know. I look forward to working with the men and women of the House and Senate to give Alabamians an opportunity to decide, once and for all, if a different approach to gambling is in the best interest of our state. Related: Sen. Del Marsh to propose gambling bill to support scholarships, broadband The speech came one day after Ivey signed leases for new mens prisons in Elmore and Escambia counties. The decision has drawn concerns from legislators about the costs and uncertainties. Others oppose new prisons because they say they wont fix the violent conditions that Department of Justice found in its investigation of Alabama prisons that led the DOJ to file a lawsuit against the state in December. Ivey, who has worked with the Alabama Department of Corrections on the plan for new prisons for more than two years, said they were the cornerstone of a multi-faceted plan to overcome decades of neglect. Not only will these modern facilities improve prison conditions and safety for both Alabamas correctional staff and inmates, they will also be designed to accommodate inmate rehabilitation, the governor said. Rehabilitated inmates are much less likely to reoffend and much more likely to become productive, contributing members of society when they are released. It is incumbent upon all of us to make this investment which will, over time, help make all our communities, and all of us, safer. We will also continue to move forward with criminal justice reforms, and I am grateful to have the support of so many in the Legislature as we seek to improve our criminal justice laws. Two years ago, Ivey supported a plan to raise the state gasoline and diesel taxes to pay for road improvements. The Legislature approved the plan, called Rebuild Alabama, and Ivey said it is showing results. She announced plans to four-lane U.S. 43 from Thomasville to Tuscaloosa. Tonight, Im proud to announce we are moving forward with a project that other governors have talked about but, until now, no one has been able to do, Ivey said. Later this year, were going to turn the shovel on a long discussed four-lane Highway 43 from Thomasville to Tuscaloosa. This will provide interstate connectivity and economic development opportunities for many rural counties in Alabamas Black Belt between the cities of Mobile and Tuscaloosa. I am also pleased to announce plans to connect two more rural counties with four-lane access in Geneva and Fayette counties and plans for others are under development. Folks, our roads are the arteries of Alabamas commerce. These projects are just a few of the many that well use to open doors of opportunity to all our people. Ivey said three mental health crisis centers that she proposed during her 2020 State of the State would open in May. They will be in Mobile, Montgomery, and Huntsville. She proposed adding a fourth but did not say where it would be. Last year, we funded and will soon open by May 2021 three new crisis centers to serve as a safe place for those needing mental health services, the governor said. Established along the I-65 corridor in Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville, these centers were meant to serve as pilot programs with the intention of expanding into more communities as soon as possible. With strong leadership in the Department (of Mental Health) and in partnership with the Legislature, we are providing a wide range of new tools to divert individuals from hospital emergency rooms and local jails. Ivey proposed spending $46 million to add 96 beds to the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa, which provides psychiatric evaluation and treatment for the criminally committed. As Ivey closed her speech, she turned to John Lewis, the Pike County native who became a national symbol for equal rights for Blacks for his decades of work as an activist and member of the U.S. Congress from Georgia. Lewis died last year and was honored across his home state and at the State Capitol. As I reflect on all that happened during this past year, one moment that rises above the rest was the honor and privilege our state extended to the late Congressman John Lewis, Ivey said. Although he represented Atlanta in Congress, this Pike County native never forgot where he came from. With his passing, he was given the distinct honor of being the first African American to lie in repose in our State Capitol. After marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma as a young man, John Lewis went on to become a legendary leader for civil rights alongside other giants of the movement like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. To honor his final wishes in this way was simply the proper thing to do. It was incredibly moving to see people of all races, religions and political parties stand in line for hours to pay homage to, as he called himself, the boy from Troy. To quote John Lewis, Every generation leaves behind a legacy. What that legacy will be is determined by the people of that generation. I hope that as Alabama continues to make progress, we remember the lessons of history. We must consider our challenges ahead as more than momentary struggles and view them in the lenses of our legacy. Remember, there is nothing we cannot achieve when we work together. 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. Increasing Ukrainian exports, attracting investments and promoting the tourism potential of Ukraine are the main tasks of Ukraine's economic diplomacy. Andriy Bukvych, Director General of the Foreign Policy Directorate at the President's Office, said this during a public discussion of the draft National Economic Strategy of Ukraine until 2030 entitled "International Economic Policy and Trade, Export Credit Agency" held in Kyiv on February 2, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "If we talk about the tasks of implementing the course towards the economization of foreign policy, about the implementation of economic diplomacy, then, first of all, three main tasks have been identified, namely: increasing Ukrainian exports, attracting investments, and promoting the tourism potential of Ukraine," he said. In addition, according to the official, the tasks of economic diplomacy are not limited to these three "main areas", there are other equally important tasks, namely: improving trade conditions for Ukrainian exporters, spreading narratives about the course of economic reforms in Ukraine, and attracting technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian economic institutions. Bukvych also noted that the economic diplomacy was given a task to attract export financing on favorable terms, in particular for a sufficiently long period for imports within the framework of infrastructure and technological projects, taking into account localization requirements. At the same time, he stressed that the Ukrainian embassies should organize their work in such a way as to contribute in every possible way to the development of Ukrainian business and its promotion to foreign markets. ish Annual cash dividend per share for 2020 grew by 7.3% year on year HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An", the "Company" or the "Group", HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020. The year 2020 was extraordinary. We were challenged by COVID-19 and the economic fallout from the pandemic. Ping An went all out in three fields, namely financial services, technology, and community support, to prevent and contain COVID-19, as well as help resume work and production. The Group provided more than RMB18 billion in financial support to enterprises, customers and front-line medical institutions affected by the epidemic, donated over RMB180 million in money and materials, provided approximately 8 million healthcare workers and 15,000 front-line workers with free exclusive insurance with a total insured amount of over RMB13.5 trillion. In addition, the year 2020 witnessed the endgame of China's battle against poverty. The Company further advanced Ping An Rural Communities Support by capitalizing on its "finance + technology" capabilities and advantages. The Group increased industrial poverty alleviation loans by over RMB14 billion year on year in poverty-stricken areas in the Three Regions and Three Prefectures. In 2020, Ping An actively responded to the state's call to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services for the real economy. As of December 31, 2020, the Company invested a cumulative total of over RMB5 trillion of financial resources, including insurance funds and bank credit, to support the real economy and China's "dual circulation" strategy. In 2020, facing the challenges of COVID-19, Ping An achieved sustained and steady business growth for the year. The Group continued to further pursue its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies and continued to enhance its data-driven operational capabilities. In 2020, the Group achieved a 19.5% operating ROE with operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rising by 4.9% year on year to RMB 139,470 million. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company declined 4.2% year on year to RMB143,099 million. Despite the short-term adverse impact of COVID-19, Ping An continued to reward its shareholders. The annual cash dividend per share for 2020 grew by 7.3% year on year to RMB2.20. In addition, The Board held a meeting on February 3, 2021, reviewing and resolving the Resolutions regarding Considering Director Candidates for the 12th Session of the Board. In order to continuously improve corporate governance and adopt the best practices of global corporate governance, and to ensure that the number of Independent Non-executive Directors represent more than one-third of the Board, it is proposed that one Independent Non-executive Director seat will be added to the 12th session of the Board and one Executive Director seat will correspondingly be reduced. As such, the total number of Directors will remain at 15. These changes are intended to ensure the decision-making professionalism and independence of the Board of Directors is further enhanced and is in line with the best standards of international corporate governance. Ten business highlights in 2020: 1.Profit grew steadily. The Group achieved a 19.5% operating ROE with operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rising by 4.9% year on year to RMB139,470 million. 2.Cash dividends continued to increase. Despite the short-term adverse impact of COVID-19, Ping An continued to reward its shareholders. The annual cash dividend per share for 2020 grew by 7.3% year on year to RMB2.20. 3.Retail customer development yielded strong results. As of December 31, 2020, the Group's retail customers increased to over 218 million, up 9.0% from the beginning of 2020. In total 37.02 million new customers were acquired, 36.0% of whom were sourced from internet users of the Group's ecosystems. Contracts per customer rose by 4.5% from the beginning of 2020 to 2.76. The number of internet users grew 16.0% from the beginning of 2020 to over 598 million. 4.The corporate business cross-selling model achieved steady growth. Ping An continued to extend its "1+N" integrated financial business model to the corporate business, and took a segmented approach to customer development. Ping An provided national strategic customers and regional key customers with integrated "commercial banking + investment banking + investment" services, while serving small and micro-business customers online. In 2020, the new financing scale achieved through corporate business cross-selling rose 69.7% year on year. The written premium of the corporate channel achieved through cross-selling grew by 84.8% year on year. 5.Insurance business grew steadily. In quick response to COVID-19, Life & Health established an industry-leading online operations model, and increased operating profit after tax by 5.3% year on year to RMB93,666 million. Against the backdrop of auto insurance pricing reform and a complex business environment, Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year and maintained better-than-industry business quality, with a combined ratio of 99.1%. 6.Ping An Bank maintained stable business operations and strengthened provisions. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Ping An Bank quickly responded by advancing online digital operations. In 2020, revenue grew by 11.3% year on year to RMB153,542 million and net profit rose by 2.6% year on year to RMB28,928 million. As of December 31, 2020, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.18%, down 0.47 pps from the beginning of 2020. The provision coverage ratio rose by 18.28 pps from the beginning of 2020 to 201.4%. In addition, Ping An Bank actively responded to the new regulatory requirements regards asset management and became the first in the industry to fully move non-standard wealth management assets back onto the balance sheet one year ahead of schedule with sufficient provisions and write-offs, thus significantly increasing the capability to prevent and withstand risks. 7.Ping An continued to develop its technological capabilities. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's technology patent applications increased by 10,029 from the beginning of 2020 to 31,412. In global patent application rankings, Ping An ranked first for fintech and digital healthcare, and third for AI and blockchain. 8.Ping An's innovative businesses grew rapidly. Ping An Good Doctor's online medical services registered strong growth, with revenue up 82.4% year on year. Autohome's revenue from the online marketplace and other business grew by 34.4% year on year against the backdrop of a weak auto market. OneConnect's revenue grew rapidly by 42.3% year on year to RMB 3,312 million in 2020. 9.Ping An developed new China ESG benchmarks and diligently fulfilled its social responsibilities. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) upgraded Ping An's ESG rating to A in June 2020. Ping An rolled out its AI-ESG smart management platform to support responsible investments. Meanwhile, Ping An launched the "Xinhua CN-ESG Evaluation System", together with Xinhua News Agency's China Economic Information Service, to set new national ESG evaluation standards with Chinese characteristics. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's responsible investments exceeded RMB1.03 trillion. Moreover, Ping An provided RMB 29,834 million for targeted industrial poverty alleviation through Ping An Rural Communities Support. 10.Ping An's brand value continued to increase. In 2020, the Company ranked 21st in the Fortune Global 500 list, 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list, and 38th in the BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list (1st among global insurance brands for the fifth consecutive year). Customer development: with its deepened integrated financial services strategy, the Company's retail business and corporate business continued to grow. In 2020, the Group's retail operating profit grew by 0.1% year on year to RMB 122,977 million, reversing the negative growth in the first half of 2020 despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Retail business accounted for 88.2% of the Group's operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company. Under the Company "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategy, the Group's retail business grew steadily. Ping An retail customers reached over 218 million as of December 31, 2020, up 9.0% from the beginning of 2020. Of the 37 million new retail customers Ping An acquired in 2020, 36.0% were sourced from the Group's internet user base. Contracts per customer rose by 4.5% from the beginning of 2020 to 2.76. As the Group's retail cross-selling continued to deepen, retail customers holding multiple contracts with different subsidiaries accounted for 38.0% of total customers, up by 1.2 pps from the beginning of 2020. The Group's internet users increased by 16.0% from the beginning of 2020 to over 598 million, of which 404 million had not yet become its retail customers, indicating future growth potential ahead for Ping An. Five of Ping An's portfolio of apps have each accumulated more than 100 million registered users. In the last 5 years, the Company doubled the size of the retail customer base and also doubled the proportion of retail customers holding multiple contracts of the Group. Corporate business grew steadily under the philosophy of integrated financial services, namely "one customer, multiple products and services." In 2020, the written premium of the corporate channel achieved through cross-selling rose by 84.8% year on year and new financing scale achieved through corporate business cross-selling increased by 69.7% year on year. As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding balance of retail assets referred by corporate business was RMB1.21 trillion, while the underlying assets invested by insurance funds sourced from corporate business amounted to RMB519,022 million, with an increment of RMB147,906 million in 2020. Financial services businesses: Ping An life and health insurance business's operating profit after tax increased by 5.3% year on year. Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year. Banking business maintained stable and healthy business growth. Ping An's life and health insurance business continued to solidify its business foundation for long-term sustainable growth. In 2020, life and health insurance business delivered a 35.0% operating ROE with operating profit after tax rising 5.3% year on year to RMB93,666 million. In 2020, COVID-19 hindered Ping An's traditional offline operations and temporarily tempered consumer spending on long-term protection products amid uncertainties over macroeconomic growth and personal income. As a result, NBV of Life & Health dropped by 34.7% year on year to RMB49,575 million. The Company responded by optimizing product strategies to attract and maintain customer stickiness to prepare for the anticipated market recovery. In 2020, Ping An Life completed the top-level design of its reform and implemented and promoted key projects. Going forward, Ping An Life will continue to advance and promote its reform to develop into a world-leading life insurer. Ping An Property & Casualty maintained stable growth by applying technologies and improving the services system. In 2020, Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew by 5.5% year on year. Ping An Property & Casualty maintained better-than-industry business quality, despite its combined ratio rising by 2.7 pps year on year to 99.1%. In the year, Ping An Property & Casualty continued to apply technologies. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An Property & Casualty's "Ping An Auto Owner" app had over 126 million registered users, who had linked over 81 million vehicles with the app, and 90% of insurance claims for family cars were settled via "One-click Claims Services". Ping An Bank maintained stable business growth and upgraded its retail business transformation. In 2020, revenue grew by 11.3% year on year to RMB153,542 million and net profit rose by 2.6% year on year to RMB28,928 million. Retail banking revenue grew by 10.8% year on year. The number of registered users of the "Ping An Pocket Bank" app exceeded 100 million in the period. Retail assets under management (AUM) rose by 32.4% from the beginning of 2020 to RMB2,624,762 million. As of December 31, 2020, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.18%, down 0.47 pps from the beginning of 2020. The provision coverage ratio rose by 18.28 pps from the beginning of 2020 to 201.40%. The Company's investment portfolio of insurance funds grew 16.6% from the beginning of 2020 to RMB3.74 trillion as of December 31, 2020 with 18.9% of the financial assets carried at fair value through profit or loss under IFRS 9. The Company continued to increase the efficiency of insurance fund investment as well as ensure the safety and soundness of the investment portfolio. In 2020, the net investment yield was 5.1%, and the total investment yield was 6.2%. For the past ten years, the average total investment yield and the average comprehensive investment yield of the Company's investment portfolio of insurance funds were 5.3% and 5.5%, respectively; both are above the 5% long-term investment return assumption. Technology business: Ping An continued to develop its technological capabilities and the innovative businesses grew rapidly. In 2020, Ping An further developed the financial services ecosystem, healthcare ecosystem, auto services ecosystem, and smart city ecosystem and promoted the rapid development of innovative businesses. As of December 31, 2020, four technology companies have gone public, with a total market cap of USD68.4 billion. The total operating profit of the technology business for 2020 increased by 76.4% year on year to RMB8,221 million. Ping An continued to invest heavily in research and development (R&D) and made significant progress in ecosystem development. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's technology patent applications increased by 10,029 from the beginning of 2020 to 31,412. In global patent application rankings, Ping An ranked first for fintech and digital healthcare. The Company made significant progress in its ecosystem development, providing comprehensive scenarios, services and synergies for its over 598 million internet users as of December 31, 2020. Lufax Holding saw stable business growth. As of December 31, 2020, Lufax Holding achieved a 17.9% increase in the balance of retail credit facilitated from the beginning of 2020. The ratio of loans more than 30 days overdue was 2.0%, down sharply from June 30, 2020. The online wealth management business grew steadily, with client assets up by 23.0% from the beginning of 2020. OneConnect's revenue grew rapidly and loss narrowed. In 2020, OneConnect' s revenue grew by 42.3% year on year to RMB3,312 million. As of December 31, 2020, OneConnect served a total of 642 banks and 106 insurance institutions, of which premium customers grew from 473 to 594. Ping An Good Doctor initiated a comprehensive strategic upgrade in channels, services and capabilities to capture the long-term growth opportunity of the Chinese online medical services market. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An Good Doctor achieved a total of 373 million registered users. In 2020, Ping An Good Doctor's revenue rose by 35.5% year on year to RMB6,866 million, driven by a strong year-on-year increase of 82.4% in the revenue from online medical services. Ping An HealthKonnect continues to develop as a smart technology company that fully empowers the healthcare ecosystem. In 2020, Ping An HealthKonnect won bids to construct ten provincial-level social health insurance (SHI) platforms in provinces including Qinghai, Guangdong and Hainan. In response to COVID-19, Ping An applied advanced healthcare technology to prevent and contain COVID-19. Ping An Good Doctor launched a 24-hour free online consultation service, receiving 1.11 billion visits during the peak of the epidemic. Ping An HealthKonnect dispatched to Wuhan a vehicle equipped with a mobile CT scanner, assisted diagnosis through remote online image reading, and became one of the first institutions designated to conduct nucleic acid tests for COVID-19. Autohome responded to the impact of COVID-19 to realize business growth against the weakened market backdrop. In 2020, despite a 6% year-on-year decline in domestic passenger vehicle sales, Autohome's revenue increased by 2.8% year on year to RMB8,659 million and net profit rose by 6.2% year on year to RMB3,621 million. Revenue of the online marketplace and other businesses grew by 34.4% year on year to RMB2,005 million, driven by automakers' and auto dealers' increased demand for online marketing services. Centering on government services, business development, and citizen services, Ping An's smart city business offers comprehensive solutions, and served 151 cities, 1.6 million companies, and 104 million citizens in the period. In respect of government services, Ping An's smart fiscal system served more than 10,000 administrative units, businesses and public institutions, and enabled the management of over RMB20 trillion in assets. In respect of business development, Ping An's smart market supervision platform has an accuracy rate of over 92% in enterprise supervisory risk warning and an accuracy rate of 90% in enterprise risk identification. In respect of people's livelihoods, Ping An's citizen services platform was accessed by 31 million users in 21 cities and supported the online processing of nearly 8,000 service items on mobile devices. In addition, Ping An Smart City provided relevant state ministries and commissions and local governments with technology platforms to predict the epidemic development to help resume work and production. The accuracy of prediction made 24 hours in advance reached above 98%. Ping An diligently fulfilled its social responsibilities and built China's ESG benchmarks. During the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the Company donated over RMB180 million in money and materials. Through the Ping An Rural Communities Support program, Ping An provided a total of over RMB29,834 million in poverty alleviation funds, benefiting an impoverished population of 730,000. The Company helped build or upgrade 1,228 rural clinics and 1,054 rural schools, and trained 11,843 village doctors and 14,110 village teachers. Ping An invested a cumulative total of over RMB5 trillion of financial resources, including insurance funds and bank credit, to support the real economy. The Company rolled out its AI-ESG smart management platform to support and enable responsible investments. It also launched the "Xinhua CN-ESG Evaluation System", together with Xinhua News Agency's China Economic Information Service, to set national ESG evaluation standards with Chinese characteristics. As of December 31, 2020, Ping An's responsible investments exceeded RMB1.03 trillion. Looking ahead, Ma Mingzhe, Chairman of Ping An, said, "The year 2020 was extraordinary. We were challenged by COVID-19. In this challenging year, we remained true to our original aspiration of serving the national economy and people's livelihoods and supporting the real economy. We furthered the ecosystem-based strategic transformation, conducted research and development in technologies, and continued to build a healthcare ecosystem to create a new engine for future value growth. The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of China's 14th Five-Year Plan. In 2021, Ping An will continue to seek steady growth, optimize our structure, and plan for the future, aiming to drive the steady development of the Group's businesses. We will continue promoting smart data-driven operations. While growing our core financial businesses, we will empower industries and smart city development, and advance the healthcare ecosystem strategy. By consolidating and developing the results of poverty alleviation, we will engage deeply in China's rural vitalization strategy. We will remain true to our original aspirations and keep in mind our mission, and work together to contribute to the Chinese nation's great rejuvenation." DUBLIN, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Medical Devices: Technologies and Global Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market's growth is attributed to the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, arise in the world's geriatric population, growing demand for minimally-invasive procedures, rising COVID-19 cases, and an increasing number of product launches. Various governments are looking at medical device technology companies in efforts to make healthcare more affordable. Some governments in Western Europe encourage older adults to stay in their homes for longer periods to trim budgets. There is considerable pressure on medical device technology firms to ensure compliance with different varying regulatory standards. Governments of various regions have framed rules and regulations to ensure that these companies meet safety and efficacy criteria for their devices. Regionally, growth is expected in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region for various reasons, including the growing number of medical procedures being covered by insurance companies, increased government spending on healthcare, growing geriatric populations, rising awareness among people concerning healthcare, and a rise in disposable income. India and China are lucrative markets, with populations of over one billion each and favorable economic growth rates despite the recent global downturn. Companies have not completely exploited these markets, facing problems with distribution, competition from low-cost products manufactured locally, and an inability to introduce products that meet patient needs in these countries. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has thrown countless businesses into a frenzy. The medical device industry, in particular, is facing growing pressure to rapidly-produce tests and ventilators needed in nearly every region of the world. The virus created unprecedented challenges for the medical device industry. COVID-19 put the medical device industry at center stage with the phenomenal demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), diagnostic tests, ventilators, and other critical medical supplies. In addition to the unusual measures underway to rapidly ramp up manufacturing capacity and capabilities, medical device leaders are looking outside the normal sector boundaries to explore creative solutions to further supplement capacities, such as partnerships with companies outside the sector, open-source equipment design, and deployment of medically trained employees to support public-health needs. Major players, competitive intelligence, innovative technologies, market dynamics, and regional opportunities are discussed in detail. The report examines recent developments and product portfolios of major players. The patent analysis focuses on technological trends in recent years in regions such as the U.S., Europe, and Japan. The report presents a market analysis and estimates the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for medical device technologies. Report Includes: Analysis of global market trends, with data from 2019, 2020, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2025 Discussion on definitions, evolution, and types of devices, regulations, and legislation, as well as key industry aspects such as market drivers and industry strategies An in-depth breakdown of devices by technology type including imaging devices, in-vitro diagnostic devices, cardiovascular devices, orthopedic and spine, urology and renal devices, endoscopic devices, and drug delivery systems Detailed description about COVID-19, including disease progression, symptoms and treatment options and impact analysis of COVID-19 on entire life science industry as well as on medical devices industry Evaluation of current market trends, market size, market forecast, and technological advancements within the industry Company profiles of major key players in the market, including Boston Scientific Corp., Koninklijke Philips N.V., General Electric Company, Medtronic plc, Siemens Healthcare, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights Chapter 3 Market Overview Current Trends Notable Trends Definition, Evolution and Types Definition Uses of Various Devices Evolution Types Regulations and Legislation Europe U.S. Japan Market Dynamics Drivers Restraints Opportunities Strategies Trends Chapter 4 Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Symptoms of COVID-19 Progression of COVID-19 Incubation Period Epidemiology Collaboration Between Organizations and Governments Spread of Disease Impact on Medical Device Market Elective and Noncritical Procedures Shift in Manufacturing Regulatory Delays, Clinical Trials and Product Launches Supply Chain Disruptions Medical Tourism Production Capacity for Medical Supplies Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Economy Chapter 5 Global Medical Device Technology Market Imaging Devices Market Dynamics Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Ultrasound Technology Market Laser Imaging Market Interventional Radiology Market X-Rays Computed Tomography (CT) Nuclear Medicine and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Point-of-Care Technologies In Vitro Diagnostic Devices Market Dynamics In Vitro Diagnosis Types In Vitro Diagnostics Market, by Region Immunochemistry Point-of-Care Diagnostic Market Molecular Diagnostics Blood Testing Cardiovascular Device Market Common Types of CVD Risk Factors for CVD Coronary Blockages Interventional Cardiology Devices Cardiac Rhythm Management Market Cardiac Catheterization Technologies Orthopedic and Spinal Technologies Market Dynamics Reconstructive Implants Spinal Implants Trauma Fixation Device Technology Market Orthopedic Robotic Systems Urology Device Market Market Dynamics Medical Laser Systems for Urology Incontinence Devices Renal Dialysis Device Market Endoscopy Devices Types Rigid Endoscopes Flexible Endoscopes Drug Delivery Devices Market Dynamics Infusion Systems Inhalation Devices Needle-Free Injections and Transdermal Systems Chapter 6 Medical Device Technologies Market by Region Chapter 7 Competitive Landscape Chapter 8 Company Profiles 3M Abbott Laboratories Agilent Technologies Bayer Baxter International Beckton, Dickinson and Co. Boston Scientific Corp. Cardinal Health Cryolife Inc. Danaher Dragerwerk Ag & Co. Kgaa Depuy Synthes Endologix, Inc. Fresenius General Electric Co. Getinge Ab Medtronic Plc Novartis Ag Olympus Corp. Koninklijke Philips N.V. Roche Diagnostics Siemens Healthcare Smith & Nephew Smiths Medical Stryker Corp. Thermo Fisher Scientific Zimmer Biomet Chapter 9 Patent Review/ New Developments For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/fu886i 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 CORVALLIS, Ore.-- Oregon State University announced plans to build a $70 million arts and education complex on Friday by the board of trustees. The 49,000-square-foot building will be constructed at the corner of Southwest Washington Way and Southwest 15th Street next to the administration building. The university said half of the money came from an anonymous donor and philanthropic gifts. The other half came from state bonds. The building will have classrooms, study spaces, offices, a 500-seat orchestra hall, and a 200-seat black box theater. Larry Rodgers, the dean for the College of Liberal Arts, said this is the first time students at Oregon State will have a designated building for the arts. "Im most looking forward to walking into the building, not when theres about to be a performance, but in the middle of the day when we have students studying there," Rodgers said. "We might have other OSU students working on a set for a play, we might have yellow school buses outside with a group of sixth graders who arrived on the OSU campus to spend the day interacting with one of our terrific music faculty members." The building's construction is set to begin this summer with a plan to have it completed by the 2022-2023 academic year. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. 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. 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. they must have specific outcomes they want to see in the short to medium terms. These should be communicated to Nigerians as a way of building confidence and engendering positive expectations. Nigerians are weary of the security situation and need to be served hope on the basis of concrete plans. The military is one of the most important institutions of state in Nigeria and indeed anywhere in the world. Apart from their traditional mandate of protecting the countrys territorial integrity, the Nigerian military is also charged with ensuring internal cohesion. All over the world, the military is authorised to use coercive instruments, including weapons, in defending the motherland by combating actual or perceived threats. The state of war in the country in the last ten years, characterised by banditry and insurgency, has put the Nigerian military in sharper focus. The terrorist group, Boko Harams activities have created a heavy security burden on Nigeria, with added adverse effects on the economy, resulting mainly from the dislocation of communities and the creation of glitches in the productive chain. Boko Haram, which began as a ragtag Islamic sect led by the late Muhammed Yusuf, has grown in leaps and bounds in the past years to become a blood thirsty organisation. It is currently ranked as the worlds third deadliest terrorist group, with strong links to foreign terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Shabaab in Somalia. It is suspected that these organisations provide skills for Boko Harams operations, especially in guerrilla warfare, the production of sophisticated improvised bombs and kidnapping for ransom as an additional form of funding to its allied sources. Boko Haram has since spread into Nigerias neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The expansion of the terror groups reach and sophistication would naturally elicit a proportional response from the Nigerian government. In recent years, defence spending in Nigeria has been on the increase. It is now superior to other sectors of the economy, mainly due to the required security response to insurgency, and now banditry. One of the less discussed economic impacts of the fight against insurgency is that the country faces the challenge of meeting the costs of catering for, rehabilitating, and resettling both internally displaced persons and refugees. The state is also burdened with reconstructing damaged infrastructure, which is a vast encumbrance for the government, especially with the global drop in oil prices that has assailed an oil income dependent economy like Nigeria. The increasing focus and expenditure on defence have naturally hurt investment in other economic sectors, particularly social infrastructure, thereby imperilling the governments economic development targets. This is aside the human cost of the fight against the insurgency, leading to thousands of Nigerians being maimed and killed, and millions more who are internally displaced, alongside other attendant socio-political strife. The cost of the war against insurgency on the country has put greater focus on the service chiefs the officers leading the Nigerian militarys different arms. There was a time in the recent past when many Nigerians hardly knew who the chief of defence staff was, or the Nigerian Armys head. But not these days. For the past two years or so, as the Nigerian military recorded significant losses against the Boko Haram terrorists, there have been strident calls from many sections of the country for President Muhammadu Buhari to shake up the top echelon of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Even the National Assembly was involved, with persistent calls from the hallowed chambers that the military leaders should pay the price for the tottering fight against the insurgency. The recent replacement of all the service chiefs, including the chief of defence staff, elicited mostly positive reactions from Nigerians. As a retired General, the natural assumption is that President Buhari has a visceral understanding of the modus operandi of the military. His knowledge of the necessary technicalities and intricacies should be far greater than that of the ordinary Nigerian politician, who is usually susceptible to populism and quick fixes. This may have influenced his decision to wait for this long before overhauling the top leadership of the military in Nigeria. For the new service chiefs, their work is well cut out for them it is expected that a new injection into the security architecture will lead to fresh strategies, new leadership ethos and novel perspectives. The new service chiefs should carefully analyse their predecessors shortcomings and ensure that noted gapsare filled for better results. It would be overly simplistic and naive to believe that a mere change of the military hierarchy would mark a sudden turning point in the fight against criminality or lead to an overnight decapitation of Boko Haram. The insurgency threat in Nigeria is complex and multifaceted and would require deeper intelligence, analytical thinking, strategic planning, immense professional expertise, consistency of purpose, and time to be overcome. However, there is a famous adage that you cannot continue doing the same thing repeatedly and expect a different outcome. When things are not working out, when there is stagnation or when a situation continues to deteriorate, there is usually the need to do a diagnostic review, change the old guard and bring on new faces with fresh ideas and perspectives. Sometimes the mere fact that there is change at the top has motivated the rank and file to put more effort into their duties for better results. For the new service chiefs, their work is well cut out for them. Nigerians recognise that their appointments do not automatically mean that they are the messiahs that the country has been waiting for to resolve her security challenges. However, it is expected that a new injection into the security architecture will lead to fresh strategies, new leadership ethos and novel perspectives. The new service chiefs should carefully analyse their predecessors shortcomings and ensure that noted gaps in the efforts of the previous leadership are filled for better results. After a careful consideration of the herculean military tasks facing these new service chiefs, I am proposing seven suggestions on the way forward. First, they must have specific outcomes they want to see in the short to medium terms. These should be communicated to Nigerians as a way of building confidence and engendering positive expectations. Nigerians are weary of the security situation and need to be served hope on the basis of concrete plans. Secondly, a prolonged war makes combatants weary, demotivated and demoralised. Our new leaders must think outside the box in creating new solutions to motivate the forces, alongside a new incentive system that will make them give their best. Thirdly, wars in the 21st century are intersections between technology, politics, and psychology. I doubt if our military has taken enough advantage of technology to fight insurgency and other criminal activities plaguing our country. It is time to scale up the use of technology, both for intelligence gathering and the warfare proper. Fourthly, there is need to urgently infuse strategies from outside the military into their operations. This is an unconventional war that needs a different approach. It is no time for big egos or personal interests. No one method is best for defeating insurgents. It is time to listen to other perspectives and collaborate with anyone who has anything different and plausible to offer. No military establishment or organisation can win this war alone. We need all the intelligence and security outfits and civilians, who have anything to contribute, to get involved in this war. The new service chiefs should brace up to our nations challenges and note that their appointment at this time, more than at any other point in our national history, demands an enormous sense of commitment, responsibility, and determination. They must secure our nation and restore peace, order and national cohesiveness in our polity. Fifthly, because of our current security challenges are transnational nature, we need to talk to our neighbours and collaborate with them in fighting the war. We need to involve global powers like the United States of America and Russia in order to defeat Boko Haram. It is unacceptable that we have not yet fully understood the structure, source of funding, and weapons acquisition of Boko Haram insurgents after eight years. It points to the fact that there is something wrong with our intelligence gathering capabilities. Sixthly, it is high time the executive and legislative arms of government give the military more support in terms of resources to scale up infrastructure, technology, and human capacity to confront this monster, once and for all. ADVERTISEMENT The last point is that Nigerians are yet to see the best of the coordination efforts of the National Security Adviser (NSA). The synergy of military chiefs and the NSA needs to be evident for all to see, whilst they maintain political neutrality. Without a shred of doubt the missing link in this fight against insurgency is the coordination of all the units involved in the war. This is squarely at the doorstep of the NSA. Insecurity is perhaps the most critical issue facing the country today. Therefore, the new service chiefs must hit the ground running. The tenures of their predecessors were not without merits, so they should try and consolidate on the areas the past leadership performed well. The new service chiefs should brace up to our nations challenges and note that their appointment at this time, more than at any other point in our national history, demands an enormous sense of commitment, responsibility, and determination. They must secure our nation and restore peace, order and national cohesiveness in our polity. Boosting the morale of troop would be vital in winning the fight against insurgency. Cases of desertion and the cowardly abandonment of their duty posts by soldiers, while confronting a less equipped but highly motivated enemy, is rampant. Soldiers salaries and allowances must be paid fully and when due. The military equipment needed to overpower the terrorists must be always made available. Service chiefs should also ensure that acts of indolence, corruption, recklessness, abuse of process and partisanship amongst the commanding officers, which negatively affect troop morale, are eliminated in the Nigerian armed forces. The military chiefs must not allow the biases of their ethnic nationalities to influence their judgments. At this point, the military does not need those who give preference to the interests of their ethnic nationalities. They should see the entire country as their constituency. There is also the need to get community leaders and the civil society involved in the war against insurgency. In the same vein, it is expected that all militias and armed groups are kept in check to ensure that none can challenge the state. These are part of the duties of the new service chiefs. Nigerians are full of expectations and not ready for more excuses. Insecurity has affected all facets of the Nigerian body polity and it is threatening the countrys corporate existence. The new service chiefs must answer the call to duty. Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert. [February 03, 2021] Equity Crowdfunding from Unistellar Gives Space Lovers Rare Access to a Profitable Space Brand Space-loving investors have their sights on Unistellar, the tech startup that revolutionized amateur astronomy and dominates the emerging digital telescope market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005614/en/ Unistellar today opened public access to a crowdfunding campaign that offers equity to accredited investors(*) through Fundable, following frequent requests from customers who want to join the "(ad)venture" as investors. More than $1 million has already been raised in 48 hours, during the pre-launch phase. The company, profitable after only nine months of product commercialization, is taking its share of the billion-dollar amateur astronomy market while accelerating scientific space exploration advances. Unistellar's eVscope was launched in January 2020, after four years of research and development focused on one goal: empower astronomy novices and pros alike to profoundly experience the cosmos. With the eVscope's fast-growing success, Unistellar now has 4,000 of its high-end consumer digital telescopes distributed across Europe, the United States and Japan, in only one year. Beyond disrupting a trending marketplace, the brand had a banner year thanks to high customer satisfactio, with a net promoter score of 54.5 for the eVscope. An active citizen science partnership with the SETI Institute also contributed to a strong network effect for the community, which saw exponential monthly growth in its size and scientific contributions during the year. "Unistellar gives consumers the opportunity to connect with astronomy on a thrilling and personal level, from enjoyable stargazing evenings to contributing to science advancement through their observations. Now we are pushing this further by giving them the opportunity to own a valuable piece of this emerging industry," said Laurent Marfisi, Chief Executive Officer at Unistellar. Unistellar is looking to raise $ 3M (News - Alert) between Feb. 3rd - March 3rd, 2021. So far, Unistellar has raised more than $1 million from both the company's historical investors-including business angels based in France, Switzerland, and the U.S.-and new investors. Tenured investors joining the venture include Thibaud Elziere, founder of Fotolia and Emilio Frazzoli, MIT (News - Alert) Professor and founder of nuTononomy. This crowdfunding round will help Unistellar scale its current success with a new line of digital telescopes that address new and larger consumer segments. Funds will finance the R&D, sales and marketing needed to launch two new groundbreaking digital telescopes by Q1 2022. "I've invested in more than 100 companies in the last decade, including hardware and software, and quickly saw the competitive advantage for Unistellar," said Elziere. "The strength of the eVscope is its innate networking capabilities. Businesses with a real network effect are rare and offer strong competitive moats." To learn more about Unistellar's Fundable equity crowdfunding round, visit www.fundable.com/unistellar. (*) (*) This offering is strictly limited to US-based accredited investors. Please note that your accreditation status will be verified prior to investment. Please refer to the SEC (News - Alert) Rules for the definition of an accredited investor About Unistellar Unistellar is the start-up behind the eVscope, a powerful, simple-to-operate consumer telescope that brings the wonders of the universe to life in seconds - even in urban settings. Thanks to a partnership with the SETI Institute, this game-changer in consumer telescopes also allows its users to become citizen scientists and contribute to cutting-edge research on exoplanet transits, asteroid occultations, comets, and much more. The Unistellar eVscope received a CES Innovation Award in 2018 in the category Tech for a Better World and was nominated for a SXSW (News - Alert) 2019 Innovation Award. Nearly 4,000 digital telescopes are now operating in Europe, Japan, and North America, participating in an unprecedented observing experience. Media assets: - Video featuring Unistellar's founders, supporters, and investors. - Press kit with photographs and detailed information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005614/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] GODFREY Bethany Bohn has launched her campaign for village clerk in Godfrey. Bohn began working for the village in 2012, starting in the assessors office. When the township dissolved she was selected to serve as deputy village clerk for three years under the direction of Pam Whisler, Godfrey Village Clerk for more than 40 years. Upon Whislers retirement in 2018, Bohn was named to fill the position of village clerk. The knowledge she (Whisler) passed to me is invaluable, said Bohn. This position is important to me, and I love working with the residents of the Village of Godfrey. The village clerk is the keeper of public record, local election authority, and the liason between the residents and the board, she said. Knowledge to effectively perform the duties of the village clerk, and my desire to see the office function at its highest level, is vital. In 2019, after three years of training, Bohn received her Registered Municipal Clerk, Certified Municipal Clerk and Certified Illinois Assessment Officer designations. She currently is a member of the Illinois Municipal Clerks Association and the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. Originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, Bohn said she fell in love with the area and moved here in 2005. She and her husband, John, celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary this past December. They have three children: Jake, A.H.S. 2016 valedictorian, 2020 high distinction graduate of the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering currently works for Epic Medical Software; Madison, currently studying at Saint Leo University in Florida and majoring in Pre-medicine; and Piper, a senior honor roll student at Marquette Catholic High School. Godfrey is my home, and I am proud to be a part of its growth and development, she said. I hope to continue to serve this community and its residents for years to come. Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri expressed appreciation for Egypts support for Lebanon in a Cairo meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and head of the General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel. Al-Hariri hailed Egypts sincere efforts in mobilising international support for Lebanon during the current stage, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry read. During Al-Hariris visit to Egypt, he met with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo. Egypt launched an air bridge to deliver medical aid and food to Lebanon in August in the wake of a deadly blast in Beirut that killed over 200 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Earlier in January, an Egyptian aid shipment to Lebanon also included tons of baby formula and protection supplies and coronavirus protocol medication During the Wednesday meeting with the Egyptian FM and intelligence chief, Al-Hariri affirmed Lebanons aspiration to boost cooperation with Egypt in many priority sectors and to benefit from Egypts experience in achieving economic and social development. The Egyptian side, during the meeting, reiterated Egypts support of Lebanese security and stability and the efforts Lebanon is taking to overcome the current challenges. The meeting also highlighted the importance of prioritising national interests while adhering to the Lebanese constitutional commitments. The officials also affirmed the need to accelerate efforts to form an independent Lebanese government that is capable of dealing with the requirements of the future sought by the people of Lebanon. Short link: SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Webcor, a leading California general contractor, has reorganized key elements of its Operations unit, establishing two new groups: Project Planning and Project Delivery. The move streamlines the company's planning and construction efforts and allows Webcor to focus on consistent execution regardless of a project's location or market sector. "Under this structure, regional Operations groups will share specialty expertise with whatever pursuit or project can benefit from it, regardless of location," says Matt Rossie, Webcor's chief operating officer. Rossie was named COO in April 2020. The reorganization follows his in-depth review of the previous Operations structure. Senior Vice President Jit Pahilajani will lead the Project Planning group, assuming responsibility for all preconstruction efforts from the pursuit phase to the awarding of the project. Project Delivery will be led by Senior Vice President Greg Chauhan, who will ensure project planning work is carried forward seamlessly into the construction phase. The Project Planning group will be responsible for project pursuits and preconstruction. The group will include the planning units of the following departments: Preconstruction & Estimating Design Quality & Management Field Coordination & Scheduling Project Support Virtual Design & Construction Contract Compliance "Organizing these groups under Jit will enable us to provide the best skills from every region wherever they can deliver the greatest benefit," Rossie says. "By leveling resources across the entire company, we will have greater flexibility in providing the best possible service to each individual client while ensuring the most consistent execution and highest quality." "These changes will also foster greater collaboration across the entire company," Rossie adds. The new structure of Project Delivery mirrors the organization of the Project Planning teams. The Project Delivery group comprises the following relevant business units: Design Quality & Management Field Coordination & Scheduling Project Support Project Controls Virtual Design & Construction Field Innovation & Quality Control Corporate Quality Assurance Facade Management Field Operations Safety Organizing these groups under Chauhan will deliver the same advantages Webcor will see from the Project Planning group: flexibility, consistency, and quality. "It is no mistake that some groups fall under both Planning and Delivery," Rossie explains. "Just as Jit will need to understand and have input on delivery, Greg will be very involved in planning efforts. These two groups will have a highly collaborative relationship to ensure successful project lifecycles and continuous improvements throughout Operations, with feedback loops to ensure we are benefiting from lessons learned." "Jit and Greg will work closely with Gust Soteropulos, Senior Operations VP for Webcor's Southern California projects, and Tom Taylor, Senior Operations VP for Northern California," Rossie says. The introduction of these two groups will also benefit Webcor Craft, which comprises Webcor's self-perform divisions: Webcor Concrete, Webcor Drywall, and Webcor Carpentry. "As a team, we are more committed than ever to bringing the strengths of Webcor Craft to our core-and-shell projects," Rossie says. "We have demonstrated that we can realize greater control and efficiency with our highly skilled self-perform forces." About Us Webcor is a premier provider of commercial construction services, known for its innovative and efficient approach, wide range of experience, cost-effective design-build methodology, skill in concrete construction and expertise in building landmark projects. Webcor's mission is to build structures of superior quality with integrity, continuously improve its processes by employing the best talent in the industry and add social and economic value to its communities. Founded in 1971 and repeatedly honored as one of the Greenest Builders in California, Healthiest Employers, Top Corporate Philanthropists, Best Places to Work and Largest California Construction Firms, Webcor has offices throughout the state in San Francisco, Alameda, San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles. More information is available on the Webcor website and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Webcor Contact: Shel Holtz Internal Communications Director +(510) 517-3845 sholtz@webcor.com https://www.webcor.com/ SOURCE: Webcor View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627474/Webcor-Reorganizes-Operations-to-Streamline-Planning-and-Delivery-Efforts U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson late last month extended an invitation to tour the Savannah River Site to President Joe Bidens pick for energy secretary, a gesture coinciding with the congressmans pledge to work with Cabinet members to advance local interests. Wilson made the formal offer ahead of Jennifer Granholms expected confirmation a Senate energy panel will vote on her nomination Wednesday morning and, in turn, ahead of consequential decisions she could make. For decades, Aiken County and the Department of Energy have shared an intimate connection by way of the Savannah River Site, the sprawling nuclear reserve near New Ellenton and Jackson. In both his dispatch to Granholm and in remarks made this week and last, Wilson, R-S.C., committed to making sure the relationship remains fruitful. As I approach this year, Im particularly grateful to be on the armed services committee, where I will have the opportunity, through the National Defense Authorization Act, to provide for issues that are very important here, in Aiken, with the Savannah River Site, Wilson said Monday as he unveiled his 2021 agenda. Ill be right there to make sure that the missions are in place, that we can add new missions. Those endeavors including the continued handling and packaging of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen used in nuclear weapons, and, potentially, plutonium pit production, which would drum up hundreds of jobs in pursuit of nuclear-weapon cores were at the heart of Wilsons winsome message to Granholm. The DOEs National Nuclear Security Administration has three major capital construction projects on the Sites 310-square-mile manufacturing complex, the congressman wrote, and I am very pleased that they have continued to make significant progress during this pandemic. I am grateful for the opportunity to work together on these missions critical to our national interests, Wilson continued. If ever I may be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Many Energy Department executives have traveled to the Palmetto State to tour the Savannah River Site and meet its workforce. Then-National Nuclear Security Administration chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty visited over the summer, and then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry dropped by in early 2018. Wilson was there for both. The South Carolina congressman, though, is not the only lawmaker vying for Granholm's attention and presence. At her Jan. 27 confirmation hearing, at least three senators floated visits. Rada set to streamline exports: Details The controlling stake in the ECA's authorized capital will belong to the state and not be subject to privatization. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter An 87-year-old grandmother chased a thief from her home using her late husband's military sword after she was struck over the head and beaten in a violent robbery. Anastasia Lukianchikova woke up to the sound of smashed glass at around 3am and saw Ashley Riley, 28, standing at her bedroom door in her Acton, west London, home. Father-of-two Riley - who used a cobblestone to smash the front window - hit Mrs Lukianchikova over her head, punched her several times, and pulled her nightgown over her face. But 'tough, stoic, and fit' Mrs Lukianchikova fought back by hitting him with a lamp. Drug-addict Riley smothered Mrs Lukianchikova's face with a pillow to suffocate her after she cried for help during the 13-minute attack in January 2020 - which left her fearing for her life. Anastasia Lukianchikova woke up to the sound of smashed glass at around 3am and saw Ashley Riley, 28, (pictured) standing at her bedroom door in her Acton, west London, home He made off with 50,000-worth of 'irreplaceable' jewellry, cash and heirlooms in the attack - including priceless earrings Mrs Lukianchikova's father gave her before her wedding day. As he headed for the door, Mrs Lukianchikova - who had suffered a fractured spine - chased him with her husband's military sword before the thief jumped into a taxi. Riley - who claims he was high at the time and doesn't remember the attack - was jailed for 13 years on Monday after pleading guilty to robbery and possession of a weapon. He will be behind bars for eight years and seven months at least - and then will be on licence for a further four years. Former cleaner for Waltham Forest council Riley has had a string of convictions for robbery in the past, and chose Mrs Lukianchikova's home as he thought it was likely to be occupied by an elderly person. Judge Sarah Paneth told Isleworth Crown Court: 'There's no doubt Mrs Lukianchikova was not going to give in easily. 'Far from cowering in her room, Mrs Lukianchikova with immense courage followed you down the stairs, having armed herself with her husband's military sword. Father-of-two Riley - who used a cobblestone to smash the front window - hit Mrs Lukianchikova over her head, punched her several times, and pulled her nightgown over her face, Isleworth Crown Court heard 'By the time she got there, you were making your way out through the front door.' 'I have little doubt part of the motivation for this brutal attack was to stop her from shouting for the police.' Riley broke in around 3am on January 31, 2020, by using a cobblestone to smash Mrs Lukianchikova's front window, the Evening Standard reports. Prosecutor James O'Connell said: 'One could only imagine what terror must have gone through this lady's mind. 'She recalls the defendant shouting out and striking her on the head, before dragging her and throwing her on to the bed face down. 'He pulled her nightshirt right over her head, leaving her naked and covering her mouth, causing her to fear she would be the victim of rape. 'She put up what fight she could, sliding down on to the floor from the bed to avoid suffocation.' Mrs Lukianchikova tried to fight back by using a lamp - but Riley was able disarm her. He pushed a pillow down over her face while holding her on the bed. He repeatedly punched her. Among the items he stole were pre-war Russian gold rings and bracelets - and earrings Mrs Lukianchikova's father gave her before her wedding day. The total value of items stolen was 50,000. Mrs Lukianchikova said: 'I thought I was going to die. I was in pain and total shock, and was actually very concerned for my life. 'He began to shout "money, money" and I screamed for help, but this angered him more and he picked up one of the pillows and began to suffocate me in bed.' She added: 'I would like the person who did this to me to go to prison for a very long time, as I don't want him to do it to anyone else.' Riley - who was caught on camera fleeing her home - attended a pre-planned probation appointment for an older sentence 11 days later and was arrested. Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikat on Wednesday wondered what would happen if the protesting farmers started demanding the resignation of the Modi government instead of the repeal of the three new central agricultural laws. "We are now urging the central government to withdraw the three farm laws. What will happen if we begin to ask the government to leave the throne in Delhi?" the farmer leader said while addressing a huge crowd at a Kisan Mahapanchayat at Kandela village in Jind district. Representatives of nearly 50 'khaps' or caste or community groups from Haryana participated in the event. The BKU leader also warned that now was the time for the Union government to be careful on the demands of the farmers, who have been protesting on the Delhi borders since November 26 last year. "The government has time till October to accept our demands. If it does not, we will take out a farmers' rally with 44 lakh tractors," he warned. The participants passed resolutions on five demands, including withdrawal of new agricultural laws, law on minimum support price, and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. MOSCOWRussias homegrown Sputnik V vaccine showed high levels of efficacy and safety in a peer-reviewed study, handing Moscow a geopolitical coup and a potential slice of the multibillion-dollar vaccine market as it seeks to promote the Covid-19 shot abroad and curb the pandemic at home. Tuesdays findings, from a preliminary analysis of a large-scale clinical trial published in the British medical journal the Lancet, demonstrated that the two-shot vaccine was 91.6% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and offered complete protection against severe cases. There were no serious side effects, the paper said. The vaccine was also found to be similarly safe and effective in elderly people. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat The endorsement of Sputnik V presents a significant victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the global vaccination race, providing a vote of confidence in the capability of Russian science and medicine and helping to deflect some of the criticism Moscow encountered for its fast-tracked development of the vaccine and lack of published trial data. The Russian shots efficacy rate is almost equal to vaccines developed by Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE, which are around 95% effective, and outshines the vaccine produced by the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC, which has published efficacy rates at between 62% to 90% in late clinical trials, with most trial results in the lower end of that range. Russiathe worlds fourth worst-hit country with nearly four million caseshas banked on Sputnik V to avoid new costly lockdowns as its economy reels from plummeting prices for its oil, a critical industry for the country. Authorities here plan to vaccinate 60% of the domestic population by the end of the year. So far, Sputnik V has been administered to more than two million people world-wide, including in Argentina, Serbia and Algeria, according to Russian authorities. Some 15 countries outside Russia have already authorized Sputnik V, and Moscow has received orders or expressions of interest for 2.4 billion doses, including from Brazil, Mexico and India. The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency," virology professors Ian Jones at the U.K.s University of Reading and Polly Roy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine wrote in the Lancet. But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination demonstrated, which means another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19." Alexander Gintsburg, the head of the vaccines developer, the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, said that the data demonstrates Sputnik Vs safety and high efficacy against the virus. This is a great success in the global battle against the Covid-19 pandemic," he said. The Lancet study didnt address the shots usefulness against new variants of the virus, amid some early evidence suggesting strains may prove resistant to current vaccines. Russian officials said Tuesday they are continuously testing Sputnik V against new variants, and they expect the shot to achieve the same level of efficacy. They also expect it to provide long-term immunity of as long as two years, based on early experimental laboratory evidence. The results published on Tuesday were based on an interim analysis of a Phase 3 trial of nearly 20,000 participants, three-quarters of whom received the vaccine while the rest received a placebo. The analysis was based on a total of 78 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 62 of which were identified in the placebo group and 16 in the vaccine group. The clinical trial, totaling 40,000 volunteers, is continuing. Researchers found that the Covid-19 vaccine didnt produce serious adverse reactions, the Lancet paper said. Most side effects included flulike symptoms, pain at the injection site and headaches. Among the elderly, the vaccine was well tolerated and demonstrated an efficacy of 91.8%, based on a group of 2,144 volunteers older than 60, the paper said. Like other Covid-19 vaccines, including ones developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca and Oxford University, Sputnik V uses a so-called viral vector approach. It introduces a genetically altered form of a harmless virus, known as the adenovirus, to serve as a vehicleor vectorfor a fragment of genetic material from the coronavirus. Each of the vaccines two shots is based on a different adenovirus vector, which Russian scientists say achieves a stronger immune response. Sputnik V has simpler logistical requirements compared with some of its peers, with a storage and transportation temperature of between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pfizer vaccine must be kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit before thawing. With Sputnik Va reference to the satellite the Soviet Union launched into orbit ahead of the U.S. in the Cold War space raceRussia could gain clout with some countries, analysts say, as well as participate in a global coronavirus vaccine market estimated by Russian officials at $100 billion annually. Competing on price, Russia is selling the vaccine at less than $10 a dose, lower than Pfizer and Moderna, and is targeting up to 30% market share among Covid-19 shots in the countries buying Sputnik, according to Russian officials. That price could make it attractive to many countries in the developing world. AstraZeneca has said that it would test whether a combination of its Covid-19 vaccine, which has shown to be between 62% and 90% effective depending on dosage, and Sputnik V can boost efficacy. Clinical trials for a combined shot are expected to start soon in Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. In a bid to accelerate the global rollout, Russia will also offer a one-dose vaccine, dubbed Sputnik Light, which Russian authorities say would be between 73% and 85% effective. To produce its vaccine, Russia relies on a global supply chain, including manufacturing hubs in Brazil, South Korea, India and China. Russia has also mounted an aggressive public-relations campaign abroad, including posting weekly video updates in English and maintaining a Twitter account for Sputnik V. Sputnik V hasnt been approved by Western health authorities or received authorization from the World Health Organization, which many developing countries rely on for vetting vaccines. Russia is in talks with the European Medicines Agency about approving the shot in the European Union and has applied for WHO authorization. In Iran, health-care professionals and lawmakers criticized the governments announcement that it would import Sputnik V, saying that the vaccine hadnt been approved by international bodies and that the purchase was politically motivated. Government officials said Tuesday that Tehran would buy as many as 1.5 million doses, with the first batch arriving as early as Saturday. The domestic rollout has also faced challenges, including production delays and a skeptical populace. Authorities have recently said that manufacturing is now being ramped up following initial equipment problems. They now expect to produce 11 million doses this month, up from seven million in January. Around 46% of Russians said they would get a vaccine in a January survey by British polling firm Ipsos MORI, up 5 percentage points compared with December. Still, Russians were among the most reluctant to get inoculated globally, compared with 55% in France, 63% in the U.S. and 86% in the U.K. Russia doesnt publish daily vaccination rates, but regional data shows that at least 1.3 million Russians have received a dose so far. Irina Levashova, a kindergarten teacher in Romodanovo, a small town some 400 miles southeast of Moscow, received her second shot last month along with her husband. I have many acquaintances who have been ill or even died from this disease, so I wanted to protect myself and my family," said Ms. Levashova, 58 years old, adding that she didnt experience any major side effects. As soon as they started talking about vaccinations, I immediately told myself that me and my family would do it." 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. The scene in the Pitt Park area of east Belfast on Tuesday Police are investigating an incident in east Belfast on Tuesday during which a gang of masked men were seen patrolling the streets. Video circulating on social media shows more than two dozen men with their faces covered walking through the Pitt Park area, just off the Newtownards Road. The footage also shows police in attendance, who disperse the crowd while monitoring the gang as they leave the area. The courageous stand taken by Chicago teachers against Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoots threats of retaliation for defying her back-to-work order has won widespread support among educators and other sections of workers across the United States and internationally. Last weekend, teachers voted overwhelmingly to continue remote-only teaching as the pandemic continues and to strike if the mayor attempted to lock teachers out of their computer accounts. Lightfoot, who is in constant contact with the Biden administration, was forced to retreat and announce a 48-hour cooling off period, which allows teachers to work from home without any retaliation until the end of today. The mayor is engaged in intense negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to reach a deal to send teachers back. Both Lightfoot and the CTU, however, face intense opposition from rank-and-file teachers who are fighting not just for themselves but to stop the spread of the deadly virus in the working class communities they serve. Chicago educators teaching outside of their school (CTU Facebook page) Chicago teachers should be proud of their united effort in prioritizing staff and student safety, a Texas teacher told the WSWS. Politicians making decisions for educators value money over human lives. They have the blood on their hands of bus drivers, teachers, principals, cafeteria workers, custodians and family members who have died because of school exposure and spread. We lost our first district staff member that I am aware of (Mansfield ISD, Mansfield, Texas) to COVID over the weekend, and while counselors are available, who will answer for this preventable loss? Michael Hull, the administrator of Teachers Against Dying, said, We stand in solidarity with Chicago teachers, but be wary of capitulation by your union. Dont accept anything less than fully remote learning until health department guidelines are met. Use your labor power to leverage demands, such as an adequately funded online learning experience, a reprieve from standardized tests, and financial support for working families. Dont allow your union or the Democratic Party to break your solidarity or hinder your cause. Your determination has the potential to reverberate throughout the exploited working classes and ignite a broader resistance. Dont underestimate the power you have and the gravity of your choices. A group of Tennessee teachers who have formed a rank-and-file safety committee independent of the unions wrote, The Tennessee Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee stands in solidarity with our sister and brother educators in the Chicago Public Schools. CPS rank-and-file educators are currently fighting for their lives on three fronts: they are fighting for their lives against a deadly pandemic that has already claimed over 450,000 American lives in 10 months; they are fighting for their lives against an exploitative political and economic system that is willing to distort science and obfuscate facts in order to send teachers back into classrooms for profits; and they are fighting for their lives against their own union, the CTU, which agrees with the Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot that schools should reopen during a pandemic without community-wide inoculation against COVID-19, instead of upholding the demands and protecting the lives of their own rank-and-file members. As you stand together, arm in arm in the fight for your lives, know that Tennessee teachers are banding together in a rank-and-file committee to stand against our delusional governor, degenerate legislators and spineless local administrators as they coerce educators back into classrooms. As you bravely countenance the homicidal threats to your livelihoods, professionalism and well-being from your leaders, know that educators and workers in cities across the country and throughout the world are coming together in rank-and-file committees to fight against injustice in their workplaces. As you turn your backs on your dissembling union, the CTU, know that you, the rank and file, are entreating every teacher, every health care worker, every service industry worker, every worker who is being sacrificed by the insatiable oligarchs for their profits, to form rank-and-file committees independent of their feckless unions. Also expressing support was a teacher in New York City where the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) agreed to a back-to-work deal with Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio. After American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten recently tweeted, If NYC can figure out in-person learning, so can Chicago, she was met with a torrent of denunciations pointing out that there have been thousands of infections since New York City schools reopened. A New York teacher expressed solidarity with the Chicago teachers but warned, Their union is turning on them like ours. Ive been using a cab every day. I go in costing me large amounts of money because I refuse to take the three modes of transportation I have to. Have we made it too hard to get rid of all this bad leadership in schools, everywhere? An Oklahoma teacher, who was part of the 2018 statewide strike, indicated the explosive nature of the reopening of schools, Every single student has been invited BACK to school in our rural community as weve had an A/B schedule (alphabetically split population) since approximately late September-October. That schedule allowed approximately 7-10 kids per roomsized 25x25. A wave of unrest is coming in relation to the Back to School announcement from our superintendent. I fully support Chicago teachers because this is where we all need to be. In Oklahoma it is naked herd immunity and mass murder. In Chicago its being done by the Democrats. Same game, different party name. Autoworkers in Chicago, Indiana and Michigan also expressed their support, calling for a general strike to close schools and nonessential production and demand full compensation to all workers. A supporter of the Rank-and-File Safety Committee at the Faurecia Gladstone plant in Columbus, Indiana said, Democratic Party Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Janice Jackson CEO of the Chicago Public Schools dont know what theyre talking about, which is a polite way of saying it. Everybody already knows that the capitalists are not going to do whats good for the working class. The only way for the teachers to do their jobs safely is with remote learning. Bring up the statistics for COVID-19 infections in the Chicago area and base your policy on that. We need to band togetherteachers, parents and students, and just say, No to brick-and-mortar schooling. They dont have enough jails to hold us all. The educators have spoken. The Rank-and-File Safety Committee for the autoworkers at Faurecia Gladstone in Columbus, Indiana stands with the educators, parents and students. Workers all over the country support them. We say: Stop the madness. Stop the pandemic. Shut down the schools. Shut down nonessential businesses. And compensate all workers that are affected. That is the only way that we can do it safely until the vaccines can get a foothold. They can teach remotely. The Democrats running the city do not want them teaching remotely. That is the conflict that is shaping up across the country. We are building the Rank-and-File Safety Committee Network to prepare a political general strike. A veteran worker at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant said, Stopping the virus should be first. Safety is first for everyone, teachers and students and anyone in a school building. Students can still learn [from home] if the parents get involved. Its messed up, this whole situation with the virus, he continued. The government, the unions, the mayor, the big companies, the auto industryits all about money. Not kids, not autoworkers safety, not peoples health. A worker from the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant added, Im glad theyre doing this. Im with them because this is a matter of life and death. A veteran worker at the Stellantis (former FCA) Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in metropolitan Detroit said, We dont need kids to go back to class if they can do it virtually. Kids have enough difficulty social distancing as it is. They push and prod each other all day, that is what they do. When this first hit, if we had got a hold of this thing and rapidly tested and then vaccinated, we could have controlled it. Instead Ive been hearing more and more about herd immunity. I know what is more important to the capitalist, its money. They dont care about the kids. They just want the parents back to work. The worker compared Lightfoots threats to President Ronald Reagans firing of the striking air traffic controllers in 1981 and the smashing of their union, PATCO. This is just like PATCO. When Reagan made those threats, the AFL-CIO should have called a nationwide strike the same day and shut down every airport and corporation in the country. They didnt do that. Now the unions have stock in all of these companies. They need to leave the schools closed right now and give the districts the money they need. They need to shut down production and pay people to stay home. This is a pandemic. The corporations always cry, and the government runs to bail them out. But when it comes to helping the average person, they have a problem with it. I think everyone in Wall Street should lose their money. What the Bolsheviks did, when they took the oligarchs money in Russia, thats what needs to happen here. There is no war right now for them to profit off of, so the pandemic is another way to get the capitalists more money. They are using this to get richer. They dont care about 450,000 people dead. This is about money. How much is enough? You have people working two jobs, but Jeff Bezos is worth $200 billion. Amazon is getting bigger, and he is so rich he is stepping down. 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 New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company BEIJING : China on Wednesday said it would provide 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the global COVAX initiative as it seeks to step-up its vaccine diplomacy amid projections from experts that India could become the "engine" for the distribution of the jabs to the world. China offered to supply vaccines to COVAX even as it awaited emergency approval for its shots from the World Health Organisation (WHO). COVAX, formally known as the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, is a global initiative, which aims at ensuring that middle and lower-income countries get timely access to coronavirus vaccines. China has decided to provide 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, at the request of the WHO, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here. China last year joined COVAX, which is co-led by Gavi, an international vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO. Chinese officials said the country is currently conducting field trials for 16 vaccines, while it has so far granted conditional approval to one of its jabs -- Sinopharm, even as it began supplying the shot to a number of countries, including Pakistan. Recently, over 80 people were arrested in China in a crackdown against smuggling of spurious vaccines filled with saline water. Some of the counterfeit vaccines reportedly were being sent to African countries. China's announcement to provide vaccines to COVAX came as India has already begun providing the jabs to a number of countries. Beijing had announced that it would supply three lakh vaccines to Sri Lanka after New Delhi dispatched five lakh doses to Colombo. China has also offered its vaccine supplies to Nepal, Maldives and Brazil, which has already received the first batch of supplies from India. South Africa has received one million doses of Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India in Pune as India moved to use its vaccine diplomacy to shore up its global image, putting it in direct competition with China, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Wednesday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that his country expects another 500,000 doses from India later this month. Lawrence Gostin, director of the ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, told SCMP that "India, and especially the Serum Institute, was likely to be the engine for vaccine distribution to the world, especially for low- and middle-income countries". Gostin said India and China had been locked in a geopolitical struggle for many years now, and the rivalry was only intensifying. He said China had a long history of seeking political, commercial or diplomatic gains for its various projects. "For example, China has used the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for its economic and military advantage. China is using its vaccines for similar geostrategic advantage," Gostin said. However, India does not have a history of seeking special benefits from its health assistance," he said. "India has long been seen as a helpful partner in ensuring affordable drugs and vaccines to lower-income countries. I expect that to continue," the Post quoted him as saying. Known as the 'pharmacy of the world', India produces 60% of vaccines globally. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Prime Minister Florin Citu met with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu on Wednesday, and they discussed, among other topics on the agenda, on how Romania can help Moldova have faster access to the COVID vaccine. The head of the Bucharest Executive wrote in a post on Facebook that the meeting was "excellent". The Moldovan president also mentioned on the social network that she had a "short meeting" with Prime Minister Citu, in the context of her visit in Paris, stating that the main topic of discussion was related to how Romania can help Moldova to have faster access to the COVID-19 vaccine. "Today, being in Bucharest for a few hours on my way to Paris, I had a short meeting with the Prime Minister of Romania, Florin Citu. I thanked Mr. Citu for the openness and kindness with which the Romanian Government supports the Republic of Moldova, especially in these trying times for all of us. The main topic of discussion was, of course, how Romania can help us have faster access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Citu assured us that all possible levers in this regard are being analyzed, as stopping the pandemic is a subject of not only national, but also European security. Prime Minister Florin Citu also informed me that in a very short time the Romanian Government will send other aid to the Republic of Moldova," said Maia Sandu. She also added that there has been talk of stepping up cooperation at the governmental level. "We talked about the initiatives addressed during the visit of the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, to Chisinau, so as to intensify the collaboration at governmental level. Among the priority projects for the bilateral cooperation we listed the energy connection with Romania, the functionality of the Iasi-Chisinau Gas as well as the construction of the Ungheni bridge. Mr. Florin Citu assured me that Romania will make every effort to continue to support the Republic of Moldova, both as regards the bilateral relations and at the level of the European Union, promoting the European agenda of our country and the interests of its citizens," the Moldovan President also said. Recognising fintech as an industry would have been much sweeter but overall, it is a 360-degree growth for the fintech sector A lot was expected from Budget 2021, especially to negate the economic impact of the pandemic. The finance minister has created a fine balance between available resources and requirements to usher in economic growth. Keeping Atmanirbhar Bharat as the keyword, the Budget has spelt out a vision of making India a self-reliant nation. The fintech industry has been playing a pivotal role in providing financial services to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The allocation of Rs 1,500 crore to boost digital payments is just what was required to take fintech as a sector to the next level. This will help companies push for innovation in a big way. The digital payments space has seen good growth over the last few years and this move will increase the adoption of E-payments and promote a digital mode of payments in the smaller cities, too. The entire fintech industry from lending, automation of the financial processes, digital payments, P2P lending, neo banks and the collaboration between the banks and fintechs will benefit from this move. The move to set up a fintech hub in GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) is a welcome move. In fact, there is a need to create more such hubs in the country for fintechs to expand. The decision is a clear validation by the finance minister that fintechs are an important part of the banking ecosystem. It would be really important to accord industry status to this sector as for the first time fintech is being acknowledged and this will provide a great boost to the players across the country. Two public sector banks and one general insurance company will be privatised and LIC will be listed on the bourses in the financial year 2021-22 as part of the consolidation in the banking and insurance sectors. The Budget has announced Rs 20,000 crore recapitalisation of PSU banks, a constructive move. Since the pandemic has largely affected the MSME and SME sector, with Budget 2021, MSMEs and startups will have better access to financing and the provision of Rs 15,700 crore for the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Budget is again an optimistic move. The move to set up an Asset Reconstruction Company and Asset Management Company to consolidate and take over the existing stressed debts is a very good one. It will help in managing and disposing of the assets to Alternate Investment Funds and other potential investors for eventual value realisation resulting in the cleaning up of bad books of public sector banks. Fears about the introduction of Wealth Tax and increase in Long-term Capital Gains tax have been allayed. Many other announcements which are important and notable including the changes in the regulatory and compliance front like no restrictions on paid-up capital; turnover of one-person companies (OPC) to allow such companies to grow will help startups; and also the change in days for computing residency status of NRIs. The finance minister has paid adequate attention to the stressed assets of the banking industry. Up to 74 percent of foreign investments in the insurance sector will be a big boost to the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. It is a budget with no negatives and many positives. Recognising fintech as an industry would have been much sweeter but overall, it is a 360-degree growth for the fintech sector. The writer is Founder and Chairman of Zaggle In voting to impeach President Trump, Wyoming rep. Liz Cheney violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution by declaring him guilty before due process. Regarding the mob violence at the U.S. Capitol building, Rep. Cheney stated that the president "lit the flame of this attack." To be sure, he enflamed the marchers to the Capitol, but he did not incite to a riot. The mob itself chose to do that. The Constitution does not protect speech that incites a riot. Trump did not tell the marchers to march to the Capitol and engage in violence. In fact, he stated to them, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." Rep. Cheney declared, "Everything that followed" at the Capitol "was his doing." No, it was not his doing; it was the doing of many of the mob. She makes a faulty leap of post hoc, ergo propter hoc: after his comments, therefore because of his comments. The law and the Constitution don't work that way. Nowhere did the president state or imply that the marchers should next march to the Capitol for violent insurrection. Rep. Cheney then charges the president with "betrayal ... of his oath to the Constitution." In unwitting irony, it is Cheney who betrays her oath to the Constitution by declaring guilt before due process. She should have taken the route that Sen. Mitch McConnell carefully did: wait to see what the evidence says which implements due process. On January 17, the Republican Party Central Committee in Carbon County, Wyoming voted unanimously with 45 votes to censure Cheney for her vote to impeach President Trump. The Committee declared that "she voted in favor of the Democrats' rushed impeachment article, denying President Trump due process." The Committee was accurate in its charge. It is understandable that one week later, state senator Anthony Boucher tossed his hat into the ring in the Republican primary against Rep. Cheney. I want to relate a true story that explains the distinction between enflaming people and inciting a riot. These are constitutionally two entirely different things. In the late '60s, when I was a college professor at a mid-sized Michigan university, nearly every campus in America was protesting the country's involvement in the Vietnam war. One well known and revered professor at my university decided in a Hyde Park manner to protest the war. He set up a P.A. system in the center of campus and blasted his protests of the war. After dark, student mobs destroyed the campus. The destruction got so violent and widespread that military helicopters were flown in to tear-gas the entire campus, dispersing the students. Was this the professor's constitutional right to engage in free speech on a public, not private, campus, or did he incite a riot? He enflamed students, but he did not instruct or suggest that they should violently destroy much of the campus. I take this as the professor's constitutional right to free speech on a public campus much as I take President Trump's right to protest to his followers, even enflame them, but not incite them to mob violence and destruction. I've always liked Liz Cheney's politics and wish she would have made the critical distinction between Trump's enflaming comments and incitement to riot. With unanimous censure by her party leaders in Wyoming, she could lose her seat. Ronald L. Trowbridge, Ph.D. is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. He was appointed by President Reagan to the United States Information Agency and later became chief of staff for U.S. chief justice Warren Burger. Image: Milonica. When I began writing this newsletter, in June, I imagined the local journalism crisis as a graph with a simple line, rising and falling with each wave of cuts, marking how the world of news was getting worse or getting better. After nine months of reporting, Ive realized its not that simple. Its not just about what the numbers mean for those who were laid off or furloughed, but sometimes, how the newsroom that is left survives. A graph shows what is lost and gained, but not what it means to undergo such radical fluctuation and change. The journalism crisis isnt easy to plot: its messy, varied, and in constant flux. In December of last year, Gabby Miller and I reported on the closure of fifty-five outlets and eight physical newsrooms, as well as on cutbacks at as many as two thousand outletsmany of them chain-ownedin 2020. The New York Times has estimated that thirty-seven thousand staffers at news companies have experienced layoffs, furloughs, or reductions in pay. These numbers are meaningfulif imperfectbecause they can help us begin to wrap our minds around the magnitude of the crisis. But theyre only part of the story. The crisis in journalism isnt linear. Once-shuttered outlets begin publishing again. Managers rehire staff when they have the budget. Cutbacks may not always be permanent, but they can have lasting effects. The Chico News & Reviewone in a group of three alternative weeklies based in Californiahalted print publication in March of 2020; in July, after an aggressive bout of fundraising, it announced plans to resume publishing one issue a month. The most recent print masthead lists twenty-seven names, down from the more than sixty listed in January of last year. When the St. Louis Riverfront Times margins were tightest, the publication dropped down from a staff of six to just one editor and one Web editor, who managed to keep the publication in print. When I spoke to editor Doyle Murphy in September, hed been able to hire back three more staffers, bringing the writing staff up to four. But its not six, he said. And even at a full staff, you always think, If I had one more writer Keeping publications alive is good, but alive does not necessarily mean thriving. As I wrote in October, emphasizing survival over dwindling capacity hurts the industry, and hurts the people who keep it alive. Placing the current crisis in the context of the industry-wide attrition over the past decade, its also worthwhile to note that our pre-pandemic benchmarks for success are also likely wildly insufficient. This week, Jaeah Lee wrote for CJR about Nate Gartrell, an overworked reporter covering local courts and police misconduct in the Bay Area; on most days, Gartrell is the only reporter around the civil court clerk office. Last week, I spoke to Lisa Scagliotti, whose scrappy Vermont startup fills a news void but still doesnt have a viable business model; when people ask her if the publication is sustainable, she tells them shes not sure. Melissa Taboada, a longtime reporter at the Austin American-Statesman who took a buyout from Gannett, talked about the toll of shrinking margins when we spoke in November. The workload just became greater and greater, Taboada said. If we cant have more resources, then we need to adjust the way that we cover news. Corporations and managers can shave off costs while limiting bad press. Pay reductions or salary freezes can stave off job loss headlines, but at great cost to individuals and to their newsrooms. Hiring freezes go underreported. Other, less measurable budget cuts make the jobs of existing staffers much, much more difficult. Many consolidations amount to closures, allowing corporate owners to skate by with little public outcry. Its important for journalism, as an industry, to pinpoint what we consider a loss and what we consider a victory. To do that, we need better questions and more specific language. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The journalism crisis is not fleeting; its fundamental. We cant settle for the standards of a year ago, or even five years ago. We need to consider how to measure victories and to consider whose victories they are. How do job cuts affect readers? Still-employed journalists? Management? How far do reopenings go, and what is lost in the process? What resources do small newsrooms have to challenge the status quo? How do consolidations reflect on corporate owners, as compared with the people who are doing the work on the ground? Whats survivable? Whats sustainable? And what was never good enough to begin with? As in most cases, the answers to these questions are about both the numbers and the peopleand communitiesbehind them. 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: NEW JERSEY NEWSPAPER GROUP GOES NONPROFIT: Fourteen New Jersey weeklies owned by the New Jersey Hills Media Group have collaborated with the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media to convert to nonprofit ownership, Editor & Publisher reported last week . The transition will make the New Jersey Hills Media Group the largest nonprofit weekly newspaper group in the country. LOCAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY SUES TECH GIANTS: HD Media, owner of West Virginias Charleston Gazette-Mail and Huntington Herald-Dispatch , filed a federal antitrust lawsuit last week against Facebook and Google for cannibalizing advertising revenues, Editor & Publisher reported . The freedom of the press is not at stake, the suit says. The press itself is at stake. REGRET IS NOT RESTITUTION: For CJR, Alexandria Neason wrote about the difference between newsroom apologies and atonement , underlining the role that newspapers play in writing and maintaining racist narratives in their communities. Trevell Anderson, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, talked to Neason about the importance of redistributing resources for equity. Anyone who has worked in journalism during this era of gutted ad revenue knows how hard that can be, especially at local outlets, but there would be money found, Anderson said, if only people in positions of power were willing to make personal sacrificessomething to which the industry doesnt yet seem committed, Neason writes. COMMUNITIES TURN TO NEXTDOOR FOR NEWS: For OneZero on Medium, Will Oremus wrote about the Nextdoor platforms role in displacing local reporting . Anecdotally, Nextdoor has gone from being kind of sub-Facebook to actually being the main platform you hear people discussing as a vector for local news and events and discussions, Emily Bell, Tow Center director, told Oremus. Despite the prevalence of misinformation on the platform, Nextdoor has largely avoided the scrutiny other platforms, like Facebook and Google, have faced. STOP BEGGING READERS FOR YOUR PAYCHECK: On Medium, Heather Bryant argued that managers, not readers, should be held responsible for journalists low wages . If your newsroom is owned by a big company, dynastic family, hedge fund or your bosss boss has millions, and youre out here lobbying the general public, most of whom make as little or less than you do, that they need to part with some of their money so you can have a job while your bosss bosses get to keep their millions and billions, please stop doing your bosss dirty work for them, Bryant writes. SUPPORTING LOCAL NEWS GETS MORE DIFFICULT: Tina Hay, a news consumer living in Pennsylvania, wrote in last weeks Newstart Alliance newsletter about the increasing hindrances to subscribing to local news. Hay expresses frustration with declining coverage, delays in reporting, and inconsistent and negotiable subscription pricing. My heart is with the local reporters, photographers, and editors, who earn little money and have even less job security, Hay writes. Ill keep subscribing, in part to support them and in part because its just a hard habit to break. But it sure seems as though, with every renewal notice, my loyalty gets tested all over again. WORK FROM HOME CONTINUES: Publishers continue to push back estimates for when employees will return to physical newsrooms, Digiday reported . Outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, and Reuters currently have plans to return to in-person work this summer, though many employees expect remote work to be extended beyond the projected dates as the pandemic drags on. While some employees have learned to favor working from home, others miss the productivity of the newsroom. Some have suggested that publishers should stop holding on to real estate and reallocate those resources. MORE CUTBACKS, LAYOFFS: Yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer announced the sale of its printing plant, which will mean the loss of five hundred jobs, Kristen Hare reported for Poynter. 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. Gov. Tom Wolf outlined the details of his $37.8-billion spending plan for the 2021-22 fiscal year, including a plan that would raise the state income tax. The governor is proposing to raise the states personal income tax from 3.07 percent today to 4.49 percent, starting in July, netting the state close to $3 billion annually. But the Wolf administration said only the top-third of state wage-earners would actually pay more. Wolf also plans to expand the states tax forgiveness program, so the administration said most would pay less or see no change in their tax rate, according to the Wolf administration. We can make 2021 a year when we cut taxes for working families, Wolf said. Wolf unveiled the budget in a speech to the General Assembly Wednesday morning. Breaking with tradition dating back a century, Wolf did not deliver the address in the state Capitol, citing precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he spoke from the Governors Residence in Harrisburg and his speech was delivered via video. You can watch it here or view it below. 2021 Budget Address This year, I'm delivering my annual budget address virtually. Please join me as I update Pennsylvanians on the state of the commonwealth and lay out my budget plan for this year. Posted by Governor Tom Wolf on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 In explaining his tax plan, Wolf said he wants to make sure young families arent burdened with paying the same tax rate as he does. The real question is whether everybody is paying a fair share and whether were all getting our moneys worth, Wolf said. And the truth is, the answer to both questions right now is no. This isnt about pitting the rich against the poor, or the middle class, Wolf added. The governor plans to expand eligibility for tax forgiveness, so an estimated 40 percent of state tax filers would see a cut in their state taxes, and another 27 percent would see no change, according to the House Democratic Caucus. Wolfs plan would include an increase of $1.3 billion for schools for basic education programs, and an increase of $200 million for special education programs. Republican legislative leaders argue the plan is unacceptable and would hurt some families and small business owners that can ill afford higher taxes in the wake of the pandemic. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, called Wolfs income tax proposal completely unsustainable, totally irresponsible and absolutely crippling to the states economy. The Wolf administration and Democratic supporters argue the plan would offer relief to families who need it the most and provides a sensible way to fund critical programs. The Democratic governors plan requires the approval of the GOP-controlled General Assembly and Republican lawmakers have shown little desire to raise taxes. Noting the unusual nature of his budget address, Wolf said he wasnt directing his speech to the lawmakers who would boo or cheer but said he wanted to speak directly to Pennsylvanians. He acknowledged the financial challenges posed by the pandemic and said that only heightens the importance of acting boldly by changing tax policies to help those in need and generate more money for better schools. Im telling you I think your familys future is important enough that we ought to just have this argument right now instead of putting it off until next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, Wolf said. Heres a look at the governors proposal to revamp the states income tax. Gov. Tom Wolf's 2021-22 budget proposal includes the largest personal income tax rate increase in state history while also providing some tax forgiveness or relief to lower-income Pennsylvanians. This chart indicates who would pay more and who would pay less. Provided by Pa. House Democratic Appropriations Committee The Wolf administration has said the state is facing a deficit as revenues have dropped due to the coronavirus pandemic. Wolf is also proposing to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by July 1, along with putting the state on a path to go to $15 per hour by 2027. The governor also wants to allow the sale of marijuana to adults for recreational purposes, creating another new source of tax revenue. Wolf also has called for the state to impose a severance tax on natural gas drilling. The governor has made each of those initiatives a top priority in recent years but has failed to win legislative support. The new state fiscal year begins July 1, giving an ostensible deadline for Wolf and lawmakers to agree to a budget. But governors and lawmakers have missed that deadline in the past. More from PennLive Pa. budget: Gov. Tom Wolf calls for historic funding increase for public schools Wolf calls for state police fee for municipalities... again Wolf calls for minimum wage hike, natural gas tax to pay for economic recovery projects (CNN) The Republican civil war hits a critical moment on Wednesday over the fate of two prominent lawmakers who represent rival visions for a party torn by the toxic but still powerful influence of Donald Trump. Real-time reckonings for third-ranked GOP House leader Liz Cheney and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a freshman congresswoman who has espoused outlandish and dangerous conspiracy theories, will help establish the extent to which a loyalty oath to the ex-President remains the party's dominant principle. Cheney is expecting to confront a venting session over her vote of conscience to impeach Trump in the House Republican Conference on Wednesday. In the coming days she faces a fight to hang onto her leadership post. She is also confronting a potential primary challenge at home over her decision. Party leaders will meanwhile resume consideration of whether to censure Greene, who spent several hours in a meeting with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday evening. There is pressure from Democrats and Senate Republicans for her to lose committee assignments over offensive social media activity before she ran for office and her behavior in only a month as a Georgia representative. The challenges facing Cheney and Greene encapsulate the raging battle for the control of the GOP between orthodox conservatives and pro-Trump radicals who are viewed by the establishment as a "cancer" and "wacky weeds." Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney is the epitome of the old school, ultra-conservative but internationalist Republican Party that disdains Trump's assault on democracy. Greene is a proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory and is an avatar of the wild fringe welcomed into the GOP by Trump. McCarthy's painstaking effort to walk a line between the wings of the party represented by the two lawmakers was made immeasurably more difficult when, according to Greene, she and Trump spoke in a recent phone call, The former President's power play came after he received McCarthy for an audience at his Florida resort. The visit was a stunning indication of how Trump is still calling the shots for much of the House GOP -- even after his mob invaded the Capitol in a January 6 insurrection In a somber reminder of the cost of Trump's actions, President Joe Biden traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to honor fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick who died as a result of the assault. Sicknick's cremated remains lay in repose in the very Rotunda breached by Trump's rioters nearly a month ago. No sign of regret from Greene The volatile state of the GOP is evident in the way that Cheney faced far more public criticism from her House colleagues than Greene, an advocate of a fringe conspiracy theory anchored on baseless claims that Democratic leaders are pedophiles. Two officials familiar with her meeting with McCarthy told CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday evening that the GOP Steering Committee has not decided whether to strip Greene of her committee posts. There was no indication that Greene has shown any remorse for her extreme behavior, that included past support for the assassination of top Democratic officials, 9/11 trutherism and claims that the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018 was a false flag hoax. Top GOP senators, like Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have defended Cheney. But emphasizing her growing estrangement from the GOP House caucus, a Trump acolyte, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, even traveled to Wyoming last week to rally against her and to initiate an effort designed to end her career. The visit underscored how Trump's loyal base is still dictating the party's direction, even with the ex-President out of the White House and as some GOP power players hope his influence will fade. Tensions sure to rise over impeachment trial The tussle that is tearing the House GOP apart -- and alienating its members from their brethren in the Senate -- is coming at an especially fraught moment with the second Trump impeachment trial set to start in the Senate next week. The former President's team indicated Tuesday that it intends to once again highlight Trump's dangerous lies about a stolen election, while Democrats present graphic evidence of his insurrection that will discomfort GOP senators. The outcome of the drama involving Cheney and Greene are skirmishes in the wider search for the GOP's identity that will shape the run-up to midterm races next year and weigh on the GOP's chances of fielding candidates capable of helping recapture Congress -- a crucial consideration for Biden's presidency. Fundamentally, the fight that rips away at the Republican Party every day is the one ignited the moment that Trump declared his candidacy for president in 2015 and directed the GOP on a wild populist, nationalist ride. It has been exacerbated by a generation of pro-Trump figures inspired to run for Congress by his success. The choice before House Republicans was best captured by John Thune, one of several Senate Republicans who spoke up after their leader McConnell rejected Greene's "loony lies and conspiracy theories" as a "cancer" for the party. Thune argued Tuesday that "the House Republicans are going to have to decide who they want to be." "Do they want to be the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, free markets, peace through strength and pro-life, or do they want to be the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon, and I think that is the decision they've got to face," Thune said. Another mainstream Republican, the party's 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney -- who is now an outlier cut off by the Trumpian tide -- also weighed in. "I think our long history as a party has shown that it's important for us to separate ourselves from the people that are the wacky weeds," the Utah senator said. "If we don't, then our opposition tries to brand us with their image and with their point of view, which has been detrimental to any party that doesn't do that." GOP is hostage to its most radical elements The challenge for the broader Republican Party, however, is that there is plenty of evidence that the party's activist base is not excited by small government, debt reduction, globalization and a hawkish foreign policy -- four pillars of the Republican Party for decades between Ronald Reagan and Trump. "We have to be aware that Marjorie Taylor Greene has a very wide following in this country," said Gabriel Sterling, one of the Republican electoral officials who stood firm against Trump's attempt to steal the election in Georgia. "I mean, she's raised millions of dollars based on things that she said and sometimes ... being attacked by the quote/unquote 'elites' only drives her up in terms of the esteem she's viewed by many, many people," Sterling told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Tuesday. In many ways, this is a schism that the Republican Party in Washington has brought on itself, and that is already more destabilizing than the influxes of radical lawmakers brought into Washington by the Tea Party uprising and New Gingrich's Republican revolution that captured the House in 1994. Four years of appeasing Trump's uncouth character, unconstitutional power grabs and appeals to baser instincts -- in a Faustian pact that returned a conservative Supreme Court -- has effectively provided an entry path into the party for the extremists who found inspiration in the ex-President. McConnell is turning against die hard Trumpists like Greene and Capitol Hill insurrectionists now. But his failure for weeks to condemn the ex-President's assaults on the integrity of the election helped brew the crazed atmosphere that Trump exploited when he incited the Capitol insurrection on January 6. The strength of the pro-Trump faction in the GOP -- at a time when more traditional conservatives like McConnell would like to rid themselves of his influence -- was underscored by the fact that a majority of House Republicans voted not to certify Biden's election win over election fraud lies. And even in the Senate, 45 Republicans -- including McConnell -- voted to support Sen. Rand Paul's attempt to have the impeachment trial that begins next week declared unconstitutional. The conundrum for the wider GOP is that the path to fundraising riches, fame and primary success lies in sponsorship from Trump. McCarthy's pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to meet the ex-President last week shows that he believes his hope of winning the House lies closer to Greene's appeal than Cheney's. Senate Republicans however have long memories about past races squandered by extremist candidates. And Trump's style of politics just cost the party two runoff elections in Georgia that handed the Senate to Democrats. "Whose side do I want to be on? Liz Cheney or Marjorie Taylor Greene?" former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who was himself driven out of the party because of his opposition to the Trump revolt, asked on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, in encapsulating the electoral conundrum facing an increasingly ungovernable GOP. "Where do you think the party will likely grow more or where do I want to be as an elected official? It is pretty stark and that is what the party is facing right now." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Trump powers GOP schism over Taylor Greene and Cheney." 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. Probing RTI Killings in Maharashtra: A Tough, Instructive Task Captured in the 110-page report titled Life and Death in the Time of RTI (Case Studies of Maharashtra), are detailed findings about 13 Right to Information (RTI) activists and users of Maharashtra who were brutally killed between 2010 and 2018. Sadly, the challenges faced during the study portray a pathetic picture of how shoddily the criminal justice system treats the death of such whistleblowers who are soldiers of pro-active citizenry in a democracy and how the society, including the media, ostracises and maligns their family members. The study conducted by my colleague Prasannakumar Keskar and me is an outcome of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) fellowship awarded to us. It was conceptualised and edited by Venkatesh Nayak, CHRIs RTI researcher. Hesitation of family members to speak out; shoddy police investigations; accusations of the late activists being labelled as blackmailers; witnesses turning hostile; a callous and indifferent media and apathy of the RTI activists fraternitythese are some glaring observations and the reasons why it was challenging to compile the research findings. The following are our main observations and the major challenges we faced while conducting our investigation: Reluctance of families of slain RTI activists to speak out: Traumatised by the brutal murder of their bread-winners, who were labelled as RTI blackmailers by the police and sometimes by the media, family members were reluctant to talk to us about their experiences. They looked at anyone who approached them for information about the slain activist with suspicion. Afraid that they may be targeted again and also distressed by the fact that the whistleblowers sacrifice had gone in vain, some had even burnt the RTI documents obtained by the murdered activist or hidden them away. We had to find alternate means to obtain these documents, from friends or compatriots with whom they shared their penchant for activism. We were successful in some cases but were stonewalled in others. In two cases, we could not find photos of the slain activists at all. Shoddy police investigations: In almost all cases, immediately after the murder, the families, obviously in a state of shock, could not give the name(s) of persons whom they suspected for being behind the attacks. Meanwhile, the police, in the name of probing all angles, came up with explanations that we found bizarre, avoiding even mention of the possibility of the murder being related to their 'RTI activism' in their reports. Later, when the families came forward to name the suspects, the police refused to probe this angle, terming the attempts by the families as an afterthought. For example, when the first information report (FIR) was registered by the family member who learnt of the murder first, it did not identify any suspect. Later when the family members gave their statements to the police in the course of the investigation, they were labelled as deliberate improvements by the trial courts. This happened in the case of Satish Shetty (case study #1) and Dattatreya Patil (case study #2), to name a few. As a result, the perpetrators of the heinous crime got ample opportunity to escape the long arm of the law and even destroy crucial evidence. Because of this, we had to spend considerable time digging out details of what else had occurred that did not find mention in the police investigation reports. Police branding RTI activists as blackmailers: The police have been treating the murders of RTI activists as routine cases of murder due to personal enmity and avoiding describing the victims as RTI activists. Instead, immediately after the murders or at times even during the trials in the court, they projected the RTI activists as blackmailers. This resulted in a media trial which stigmatised the families for years, making it impossible for them to not only to seek justice but also to lead a normal and dignified life in the community where they reside. At least one family moved away where it lived and remained untraceable, despite our fervent efforts. Witnesses turning hostile: Panchas (witnesses) turned hostile in almost every case of acquittal not least due to fear of reprisals from the murder accused or pressure from other quarters. After all, these activists had taken on the locally powerful and the influential people head on in their struggle for social causes. The criminal justice system also did not bother to ensure the safety and security of the witnesses so that they could give evidence during the trial in a free and fearless manner. Further, the delay in arresting the suspects also created a fear psychosis. Such delays helped the culprits to influence witnesses as was alleged in the case of Vitthal Gitte (case study #4). There was a considerable time gap between the murder and the trial proceedings, as a result of which discrepancies between various accounts of how the crime was perpetrated cropped up during the depositions in the trial court. No coordinated efforts by the RTI activist community: Families of slain RTI activists got little help from their fraternity. In rural areas, RTI activists either do not know each other or do not help in furthering the causes that the slain activists had taken up. In urban areas, like Mumbai, the apathy is even more apparent. Therefore, tracking down the families of the slain activists itself became an arduous task. In most cases, neither the RTI activists nor journalists from newspapers which had carried screaming headlines after the murders, had the contact numbers or addresses of the victims families. Even the police and public authorities were not forthcoming with such information, despite our repeated efforts. Tracking down the families was an uphill task in many cases. Stalking during our field trip: Let sleeping dogs lie is the attitude adopted by society in general, in such matters. As a result, someone who starts making inquiries is often seen as a potential threat and faces hostile reactions. During a field trip, one of us, authors, was at the residence of a slain activist making the usual inquiries. A couple of men reached the house and, using their mobile phones, clicked our photographs, that of our driver and the car we used. On our return journey, we halted at a dhaba (roadside restaurant) for a meal. While the youth at the counter was questioning us about who we were and the purpose of our journey, we could see our photo, that of our driver and the car we used, loaded on his mobile phone. Our photos had been shared at lightning speed with the youth at the dhaba, situated at least 200km away from the village where we had conducted our inquiries earlier. Inadequate legal support: When it came to the trial court, public prosecutors relied on circumstantial evidence, thanks to the inadequacy of evidence collected during the police investigations particularly with regard to witness statements. Also, in the cases we have analysed, the public prosecutors did not further cross-examine the witnesses who turned hostile. With most of the RTI activists having been killed in public places or on public roads, there would have been witnesses, whom the police did not take the trouble to track down - deliberately or otherwise. This was observed even by the trial court in the Dattatreya Patil murder case in which strictures were passed against the investigative officer for his failure to track down witnesses who might have seen the activist and the accused present in the same area at the same time. Lack of records in police stations: In almost all cases, records at the police stations did not have the judgement in cases where the trial had been completed. This, even after two to three years of the court having delivered the judgment. We had to rely on the E-courts website to procure them. Thankfully, Maharashtra has taken steps to upload judgements of trial courts in criminal cases. So, we were able to access some case records. However, where case numbers or case details were not known, finding official documentation of several cases became impossible. In a few ongoing cases the police records only spoke of preventive action taken against the accused after they were granted bail. No further information about the status of the criminal trial was available with them. Media found wanting: We found that news reports published and circulated in rural areas were tilted against the slain activists. In one case, the reporter of a prominent newspaper confessed to us that the facts mentioned in his story were false. Moreover, there had been no follow up reporting of the cases by the media. As a result, we had to cross-check every fact reported in newspapers. When it came to the latest status of the cases, we had no way other than extensive internet searches through e-court websites, public and private websites, and blogs to rely upon. At times, while looking for addresses or contact details of the victims families, we had to talk to local grocery shop owners and community workers to collect information and to identify the bare bone facts in order to stitch them together into a reliable narrative. Footnote: Given the extremely poor response of the system to provide justice to the victims families, it is of prime importance to put in place mechanisms to ensure that the possibility of attacks on RTI activists and users is mitigated. In the rare instance where such attacks occur, effective oversight mechanisms are necessary to ensure that the law enforcement agencies and the courts do their mandated jobs without any external influence or considerations. As the editorial extension of Murad, Well Connected will amplify Dr. Murad's four key pillars of wellness : 1) Being Kind to Your Mind, 2) Eating Your Water, 3) Awakening Your Body and 4) Nourishing Your Skin. By accessing Well Connected , readers can expect a thoughtful curation of content in the areas of Mind, Food, Body and Skin, aimed at helping them navigate the often-saturated world of wellness. "Consumer awareness of wellness has skyrocketed in recent years and has only been accelerated by the pandemic," says Dr. Murad. "There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, particularly in the digital/social sphere. But the problem is, how do people know what is legitimate? What is actually proven and not just unsubstantiated discourse? Bringing readers reputable information, rooted in facts and proof, is not only the backbone of Well Connected but of Murad as a whole. Well Connected is the conduit for us to further amplify our purpose of bringing well-being to as many people as possible." "Well Connected is the next step of Dr. Murad's decades-long journey to improve the well-being of his patients and consumers," explains Michelle Shigemasa, CEO of Murad. "Consumers have come to trust us for our clinically backed, efficacious formulas, and they can expect that same standard when they read Well Connected. Our goal is to serve up science-backed resources that people can have confidence in on their own health and wellness journeys." Coming from a doctor-founded brand whose products are fueled by research and clinical studies, Well Connected will exclusively feature digestible, validated content driven by fact and curated by a roster of contributors with proven expertise in their fields. These experts will include board-certified MDs, prestigious university professors and other leading figures within the scientific community, such as Dr. John Koo, a UCSF professor and leading psychodermatology expert who is board-certified in both dermatology and psychiatry, and Dr. Sara Gottfried, a Harvard-educated, board-certified MD and author of three New York Times bestselling books. Additionally, each month will feature an esteemed guest editor who will be responsible for curating the site's content around significant wellness topics. These experts include Candace Reels , activist and founder of The Female Collective (speaking with her singular, recognizable voice on the trend of inclusive wellness), Sophia Amoruso , serial entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author (providing proven expertise on the trend of financial wellness), and Dr. Zion Ko , a board-certified internist who has amassed a legion of followers on TikTok and Instagram (connecting with the youth generation who are just discovering holistic skin wellness). With the debut of Well Connected, Murad further cements its status as a globally trusted brand by doubling down on its science-backed approach. "Well Connected symbolizes the next key step of many as we continue to diversify our content offerings and serve as a trusted source for wellness including total skin health for consumers and readers everywhere," says Shigemasa. To learn more about Well Connected by Murad, visit Murad.com/WellConnected and follow the brand on Instagram . PRESS INQUIRIES: [email protected] ABOUT MURAD SKINCARE: In 1989, dermatologist and pharmacist Dr. Howard Murad founded Murad, Inc., the first modern doctor brand of clinical skincare products, setting a new standard for high performance skincare. For more than 30 years, Murad has been committed to developing clinically-proven, cruelty-free products that meet the meticulous standards for safety, efficacy and care you'd expect from a doctor. SOURCE Murad PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Repairing the harm from decades of inequity from the War on Drugs is the goal of the Cannabis Social Equity Act introduced this week by a coalition of legislators in the Oregon State Legislature. HB 3112 is the culmination of months of work led by former State Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spencer including numerous cannabis companies, the NuLeaf Project, the Oregon Cannabis Association, the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association, the City of Portland, Urban League, and law students from Willamette University. "We came together with a common purpose - to undo and repair some of the harm caused by cannabis criminalization on Black, Indignenious and Latinx communities in Oregon," said Rep. Lawrence Spence. "This legislation uses cannabis tax revenue to invest in Oregonians who have been unjustly targeted for decades by law enforcement, in an effort to repair some of the generational harm done to their communities." Chief sponsors of HB 3112 include Representatives Janelle Bynum, Ricki Ruiz, Mark Meek, Julie Fahey and Senators Lew Frederick and Kayse Jama. Current sponsors include Representatives Karin Power, Pam Marsh and Maxine Dexter. Jeanette Ward Horton, executive director of NuLeaf Project, has been working with the coalition since its inception eight months ago. NuLeaf Project receives funding from City of Portland cannabis tax revenues and private donations to aid cannabis start up companies with funds, technical assistance and job placement/training. "We've seen the harm to far too many families to not address this issue. Cannabis convictions bring challenges that ripple through families and cause hardship for the children of children whose parents were disproportionately arrested. The loss of jobs, education grants, housing and more that can all stem from a minor cannabis conviction have impacted communities of color for generations. Today Oregon has the chance to undo some of that harm," said Ward-Horton. The bill contains three major provisions: Direct investment in cannabis businesses owned by Black, Indigenious, and Latina/o/x people, as well as people convicted of cannabis crimes. Creates investment in home and land ownership, job training, health care, education and other areas determined by the Cannabis Equity Board. Free, automatic expungement of eligible cannabis criminal convictions paid for by cannabis tax revenues as needed. Previous legislation saw less than 200 of 28,000 eligible Oregonians successfully complete expungement. Equity licenses for Black-, Indigenious-, and Latina/o/x owned cannabis companies with reduced fees and modified requirements to initially qualify. Provides for funding of two OLCC positions to aid in the licensure process, and includes the addition of three license types beneficial for the small businesses owner. Chief Sponsor and State Rep. Ricki Ruiz said fixing the expungement process is a critical piece of the legislation. "Less than 200 out of 28,000 Oregonians eligible for expungement were able to successfully complete the process in the past two years. We need to do better," said Ruiz. "This bill provides us the path and the funding we need to efficiently remove previous cannabis crimes from people's records and provide them the opportunity to repair their lives from the harm caused by cannabis criminalization. It is a critical step toward restoring the health of these individuals and the communities where they reside." Gabe Parton Lee, General Counsel at Wyld, spearheaded the design of the automatic expungement process. "What we clearly see is that those left in the destructive wake of cannabis prohibition have been helped the least by cannabis legalization. Instead, we see a rapidly-growing industry that has largely left behind people and communities who disproportionately suffered under cannabis criminalization," said Parton Lee, general counsel for Wyld. "We are advocating for the use of cannabis tax dollars to help correct some of these long standing issues of inequity and provide for direct investment into people and neighborhoods most impacted by cannabis prohibition." State Rep. Julie Fahey helped drive the creation of the bill when she passed legislation in 2019 calling for a work group to develop a cannabis social equity program. "This effort has brought together a diverse group of advocates, business owners, and industry partners to develop one of the most comprehensive equity bills in the country breaking down barriers for BIPOC Oregonians and investing in the communities most harmed by cannabis criminalization. The cannabis industry is a driver of economic opportunity for entrepreneurs in our state, and this bill will help ensure that those harmed by the war on drugs have access to those opportunities," said Fahey. A coalition of cannabis companies and trade groups including the Oregon Cannabis Association, the Oregon Industry Progress Association, and the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association have all united around this legislation as the key cannabis related bill for the 2021 session. Major sponsors include Groundworks industries, Wyld, Wana and Dutchie with dozens of other cannabis companies, law firms and others supporting the effort. For more information, please contact: Geoff Sugerman, 503-510-3704 Jeannette Ward Horton, 404-644-0319 Meghan Jones, 512-393-9072 cannabisequityoregon.com SOURCE Cannabis Equity PAC Related Links http://cannabisequityoregon.com Bishop Thomas Paprocki celebrated Mass on the Father McGivney Catholic High School campus to Tuesday during Catholic Schools Week. National Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. This years theme is Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service. Each day is themed to celebrate different aspects of the people involved in the enterprise of Catholic education, including celebrating our parishes, communities, families, vocations and our faculty, staff and students. The first half of this 2020-2021 school year has certainly been remarkable. From face masks and temperature checks to safe-distancing and new arrangements of classrooms and schedules, this has been a year like no other, Bp. Paprocki said. This year has required tremendous effort, collaboration and creativity. It has required courage. Our school administrators, faculty, staff, students and families have all been tested by this. You have passed that test with flying colors. As your bishop, I could not be more proud of each of our Catholic school communities. Your witness of humility, courage, resilience, and perseverance is a testament to your faith. So many faithful people have sacrificed so much to make in-person learning happen across our diocese. This selfless giving of ones time, talent and treasure for the sake of our students and their families is an inspiring witness of Christian discipleship. Elizabeth Moody, marketing and development director, encourages the community to join in celebrating Father McGivney this week by following some of the action in real-time on its Facebook page. Our Faith Formation Director, Mr. Craig Brummer, along with Principal Joseph Lombardi, continue to make CSW special, unique and fun year after year, she said. If you are called to support Father McGivney Catholic High School or the greater mission of Catholic education in the Springfield diocese, a donation can be made at www.dio.org/schools/give. An outraged family has hung an inverted Australian flag outside their home in protest of lockdown measures imposed on millions of Western Australians. Premier Mark McGowan on Sunday plunged Perth and two nearby regions into a five-day hard lockdown after a hotel quarantine security guard attended more than a dozen venues while infected. The state has since recorded three straight days without a positive case, but Mr McGowan on Wednesday firmly ruled out cutting the lockdown short because 'we are not out of the woods yet'. One family from Northbridge on the outskirts of Perth's CBD staged a protest against the 'despotic' McGowan government by leaving the inverted flag outside their home - alongside a strongly-worded note. An outraged family has hung an inverted Australian flag outside their home in protest of lockdown measures imposed on millions of Western Australians 'We have raised an inverted Australian flag to declare the occupants of this house are in distress ... We are being held under crimeless house arrest by the McGowan government,' the note read. 'We are unable to move about freely. We are required to wear a muzzle like a dog. We are denied the ability to earn a reasonable income. Our children are denied school education.' The family said there was 'no justification' for the five-day lockdown 'for one single case of the corona flu' and accused the government of 'abusing its power'. 'Abuse of political power for political gain is a crime,' the note finished. The sign (pictured) hung next to the flag stated the family was in 'distress' The post garnered thousands of comments, with most suggesting the family failed to see the forest from the trees. 'If having to stay home for five days is "distress", God forbid you ever suffer a real trauma in your life,' one said. 'And that sort of attitude is exactly how a single case becomes a massive community outbreak,' another agreed. 'When old mate fails to understand the whole global pandemic started with a single case,' a third said. But others argued the family had a point. 'The execution using the flag may be dubious but the points being raised have merit,' one wrote. 'Five days lockdown for one case is either one of two things; political or a serious over-reaction... which? Over 30,000 tests yet no community transmission. Contract tracing and tracking would have been sufficient.' Prepare these 5 codes for your Spring Festival travel China Are you going outside of Guangdong to celebrate Chinese New Year, or just stay where you are? Either you travel to other places or stay put, the epidemic prevention and control is among one of the most important concerns. Fanny 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 Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan on Wednesday said that negotiations over the India-US mini trade deal are ongoing and contentious issues have largely been addressed. "The sticking points have largely been addressed. There are no sticking points as such ... bilateral discussions are always ongoing, they never end... status is very good on that deal," Wadhawan told reporters. He said the effort in any bilateral relationship is always to resolve issues as quickly as possible. There were apprehensions that the proposed mini deal would be put on the back burner after Joe Biden took over the presidency of the US last month, as he has other more urgent work to focus on. The two countries are negotiating a trade package to iron out certain issues and promote two-way commerce. India has demanded resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering. On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, data localisation, and import duties cut on some information and communication technology (ICT) products. The US has also raised concerns over the high trade deficit with India. Equalisation levy: Wadhawan reiterated the country's stand that it does not agree with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) report that the New Delhi's move to impose two per cent equalisation levy on foreign e-commerce firms discriminates against American companies. Last month, an USTR investigation concluded that the tax on e-commerce supply discriminates against US companies and is inconsistent with international tax principles. "We do not agree with that conclusion," Wadhawan said. "Basically, if there is an economic benefit from a certain jurisdiction then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction...OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is also moving in that direction that if you have an economic presence and economic gain, then you must have taxation in that jurisdiction. You have billions of dollars of revenue in a certain jurisdiction, you have to pay taxes," he said. Some countries are protesting because they have huge domination in that kind of activity whether it is Facebook, Google or Amazon, he added. Over a period of time when other countries also have presence in that space, those protesting now will themselves levy such a tax, he said. Budget and Exports: Wadhawan said exports are picking up and will soon reach pre-covid levels. Exports grew 5.4 per cent in January against 0.14 per cent in December. Exports rose only in three months-- February, September and December-- in the entire 2020. Wadhawan said the government is restructuring the economy which would help meet all the unachieved potential. He counted the productivity-linked scheme and the measures announced in the Budget in this regard. He said the Budget measures such as provisions relating to countervailing duties and anti-dumping duty, a scheme for mega investment textile parks (MITRA), substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours an fish landing centres, operation green scheme for agriculture sector, would enable growth, diversification and technological enhancement of India's exports. "You will see a very robust export sector in the future," he said. Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme : "We are in the process of determining the rates and identifying the lines ...work is in a very advanced stage," he said. On whether agriculture infrastructure cess announced in the Budget will also be refunded, he said in principle any duty or tax which is otherwise not refunded will be in the ambit of RoDTEP. RoDTEP which has replaced an earlier scheme has come into effect from January one this year but the rates have not been notified so far. Customs duties: On changes in the customs duty in the Budget, Wadhawan said the broad principle is that it should do away with the inverted duty structure and increase the competitiveness of our exports. He said all customs duties are within the bound duty rates committed by India in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "...and see how our duty structure has evolved over a couple of decades and average levels have come down on a secular basis..they are making raw materials affordable and boosting manufacturing. Free Trade Agreements (FTA) reviews: Wadhawan said some of the reviews are on. ""We will keep working towards having those reviews at the earliest possible time frame," he said. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: "Our stance is clear," he said. India had opted out of the deal in 2019. RCEP says that its doors for India are open. Switzerland has said trials of AstraZenecas coronavirus vaccine did not produce clear data, especially around its efficacy in older people, as it withheld approval of the jab. Drugs regulator Swissmedic called for more efficacy and quality data before it green lights the shot, which is currently being used in the UK and won approval in the European Union last week. Separately, the country separately announced it had ordered millions more Covid-19 vaccine doses from other manufacturers. Switzerland, which has already ordered 5.3 million doses from AstraZeneca, said it was waiting on results from trials of the shot in North and South America involving tens of thousands of people. "As soon as the results have been received, a temporary authorisation according to the rolling procedure could be issued at very short notice," Swissmedic said in a statement, adding it was necessary to get additional data about safety, efficacy and quality. "The data currently available do not point to a positive decision regarding benefits and risks," it said. AstraZeneca and its partner, Oxford University, have defended their vaccine, saying it had 76 per cent efficacy against symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, which increased if the second shot is delayed. However, some European countries are restricting it to certain age groups, citing a lack of data in particular in older people. The Swiss government said it had signed a deal with Germany's Curevac and the Swedish government for the delivery of 5 million vaccine doses, a preliminary pact with US vaccine maker Novavax for 6 million doses, and secured a further 6 million doses from Moderna. These new orders bring total Swiss vaccine orders to more than 30 million doses, enough to vaccinate its 8.6 million population about twice over under a two-dose regimen. Further talks with additional developers are under way for even more shots, the government said. "The idea behind procuring vaccines from different manufacturers is to make sure that sufficient doses of an approved vaccine are available to the public even if there are delivery problems," the Federal Health Ministry said. Additional reporting by Reuters Silver prices rebounded on Wednesday after an over 8% plunge in the previous session prompted investors to buy in, although the social media-driven rally that started last week appears to have run out of steam. Spot silver rose 1.4% to $26.99 an ounce by 0333 GMT. Prices hit $30.03 on Monday, their highest since February 2013, after small investors responding to social media calls flooded the market in a GameStop-style squeeze. The (retail) frenzy is dead, its rolled over," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at financial services firm Axi. Its fundamental driven today as there is a consistent demand for silver in the underlying primarily because of the green energy demand which is going to be using a lot of silver." The white metal plunged over 8% in the previous session after CME Group raised maintenance margins on silver futures by 17.9% on Monday, in a familiar move aimed at reducing market volatility. (CMEs intervention) is allowing the markets to breathe a lot more easier because that fear of retail flash mobs has diminished quite greatly," Innes added. The buzz that started last Thursday saw silver dealers scramble to find supplies for retail buyers, and the amount of silver traded in the London market surged to 1.006 billion ounces on Monday. While posts on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum at the centre of this retail rush have urged traders to steer clear of silver, analysts expect some volatility to continue. I dont think we should write them off just yet, and underestimate the collective power of many retail investors," said Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,840.86 per ounce. U.S. gold futures added 0.5% to $1,842. The gold-silver ratio is currently below normal and we can see this to continue converging back," Lee added. Platinum was steady at $1,094.89 and palladium gained 0.1% to $2,242.84. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor The United States suffered a defeat at the UN's highest court, where judges ruled that they can consider a case filed by Iran that seeks to lift U.S. sanctions on Tehran. A majority of a panel of judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on February 3 found that The Hague-based body has jurisdiction in the dispute, rejecting U.S. arguments about admissibility. Iran filed the case at the ICJ in 2018 after then-President Donald Trumps administration withdrew the United States from Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Iran argued the sanctions violated an obscure friendship treaty signed between the two countries in 1955, before Irans Islamic Revolution. In a preliminary ruling in October 2018, the world court unanimously ruled that Washington should remove any restrictions on Iran related to the trade of medicines and medical devices, food, and agricultural commodities. The court said sanctions on such goods "required for humanitarian needs... may have a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals on the territory of Iran." The Trump administration responded to the preliminary ruling by pulling out of the friendship treaty, known as The Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights. Now that the court has ruled it can hear the case, it may take months or years to reach a conclusion. The ICJ's rulings are binding, but it has no power to enforce them. "Another legal victory for Iran following the October 2018 Order. Iran has always fully respected international law. High time for the U.S. to live up to international obligations," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that Washington was "disappointed that the court did not accept our well-founded legal arguments that the case Iran brought is outside the court's jurisdiction. The ruling comes as President Joe Biden is seeking to kick-start diplomacy with Iran and "lengthen and strengthen" the fragile 2015 nuclear accord. In response to the U.S. pullout and the crippling sanctions, Iran has gradually breached parts of the pact, which eased international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its disputed nuclear program, saying it is no longer bound by it. Tehran is demanding that the United States first return to compliance with the deal by lifting sanctions before it adheres to the pact. Earlier on February 3, Iranian President Hassan Rohani again ruled out changes to the nuclear accord and dismissed calls to broaden the terms of the deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested earlier this week that the European Union could help coordinate a synchronized return of both Washington and Tehran to compliance with the agreement. The nuclear deal was signed by Britain, China, Iran, France, Russia, and the United States, plus Germany. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters [February 03, 2021] Oxford Finance Provides $23.5 Million Credit Facility to Prosper Life Care Oxford Finance LLC ("Oxford"), a specialty finance firm that provides senior debt to healthcare services and life sciences companies worldwide, today announced the closing of a $23.5 million senior credit facility and revolving line of credit to Prosper Life Care Inc. ("Prosper Life" or "the Company), a management company with over three decades of combined experience in healthcare, Prosper Life specializes in assisted living and memory care. The proceeds were used for the acquisition of two assisted living/memory care facilities located in Massachusetts totaling 214 units. Prosper Life Care was formed in 2019 with the purpose of creating a lasting impact on the residents of assisted living and memory care communities. The Company operates with the goal to improve communities through efficient use of process, technology, and equipment. This is done by living by the Prosper Life core values of making life fun, making the community a home, and delivering purpose to everyone. "Although this is Oxford's first transaction with Prosper Life Care, the Company's principals and investors have a long history of success in the space," said Tracy S. Maziek, head of healthcare services at Oxford Finance. "We anticipate much success for this team in the future." "Wecould not have selected a better partner than Oxford for financing," added Russ Papia, president of Prosper Life Care. "We all had to think outside the box to get this deal across the finish line during a pandemic. The team at Oxford was extremely professional, responsive, and understanding throughout the process." About Oxford Finance LLC Oxford Finance is a specialty finance firm providing senior secured loans to public and private life sciences and healthcare services companies worldwide. For over 20 years, Oxford has delivered flexible financing solutions to its clients, enabling these companies to maximize their equity by leveraging their assets. In recent years, Oxford has originated over $6 billion in loans, with lines of credit ranging from $5 million to $150 million. Oxford is headquartered in Alexandria, Va., with additional offices in San Diego, Calif.; Palo Alto (News - Alert) , Calif.; and the greater Boston and New York City areas. For more information, visit https://oxfordfinance.com/ About Prosper Life Care Prosper Life Care is a forward-thinking management company specializing in assisted living. With a combined experience of over three decades in healthcare, Prosper Life Care's leadership team has a passion for providing care that enhances a person's life. This is carried out by improving quality of life for not only the residents, but the staff that are responsible for providing care. To find out more about Prosper Life Care, please visit https://prosperlifecare.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005659/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Masks Now Required At Yosemite And Other National Parks Yosemite National Park View Photo Yosemite, CA Following an Executive Order by President Joe Biden, masks are now required at all national parks, including Yosemite. NPS Public Health Director Captain Sara Newman says, Wearing a mask around others, physical distancing, and washing your hands are the simplest and most effective public health measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Face masks are now required in all National Park Service buildings and facilities, and they are also mandated in outdoor areas where physical distancing cannot be maintained, such as narrow or busy trails and overlooks. Park rangers have been directed to educate visitors and enforce the new requirement. Newman adds, Getting outside and enjoying our public lands is essential to improving mental and physical health, but we all need to work together to recreate responsibly. There are 423 national parks covering 85-million acres. Harvard University recently purchased four Proterra battery-electric buses and electric infrastructure. The new buses will replace four, similarly sized biodiesel-powered vehicles, representing more than 30% of Harvards fleet. Each Proterra battery-electric transit bus is 35 feet long (similar in size to the current buses), has a seating capacity of 29, and runs on a 450 kWh battery. The new 800-volt system architecture allows vehicles to accept high-power DC fast-charging. The shuttles will be charged during off-peak overnight hours when demand for electricity is typically lower using 150 kW charging stations located at 28 Travis St. in Allston. The vehicles can be fully charged in about three hours. In 2018, Harvard set a goal to eliminate the use of fossil fuels on its campus by 2050 and to achieve fossil fuel-neutrality by 2026. To achieve this, the University made a commitment that all Harvard-owned vehicles will operate without fossil fuels. Each year, the fleet transports approximately 600,000 students across Harvards campus and the transition to electric is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions by more than 220,000 pounds annually. Harmful air pollutants will also be reduced providing health benefits to local communities. The project was supported with a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) grant program, which is funding nearly 100 projects across the commonwealth to help electrify the transportation sector. In addition, a loan from the Harvard Green Revolving Fund, a $12-million revolving loan fund that provides up-front capital for projects that reduce Harvards environmental impact, will enable investment in the charging system infrastructure necessary to support the new vehicles. Harvard also recently joined MassEVolves, an initiative that recognizes and supports the work of organizations in Massachusetts that use zero-emission vehicles for their operations, employees, and communities. As a participant in MassEVolves, Harvard supports opportunities to secure cleaner air and a stronger economy across the state. To help achieve these goals, Harvard pledges to create and implement a Zero-Emission Vehicles Action Plan, which will include steps such as replacing bio-diesel powered buses with electric buses. Harvard has already incorporated electric power into many campus operations, from electric leaf blowers to service and operation vehicles. Commuters can also access dozens of electric vehicle charging stations across the campus in Cambridge and Allston. Activists of several student, youth and women organisations assembled at Mandi House here on Wednesday for a march in support of the farmers staging protests at the capital borders demanding repeal of the Centre's new farm laws. The activists of AISA, SFI, AISF, DSF, NSUI, CYSS, AIPWA and AICCTU, carrying posters, banners and placards, gathered at Mandi House for the "citizens' march for farmers" till Jantar Mantar. However, a senior police officer said they will not be allowed to march till Jantar Mantar as prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 were in force in the area. Roads near Mandi House were closed and traffic movement was affected. Thousands of farmers have been camping at several Delhi border points, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws -- the Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- and legal guarantee of minimum support price for their crops. Enacted in September 2020, the government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and "mandi" (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations. The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws. (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.) 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 Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has backed down in a dispute over treatments for COVID-19 after a clash with Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek and a reprimand from Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Mr Kelly issued a statement of support for vaccination after Ms Plibersek confronted him in Parliament House over his disputed claims, telling him he was putting public health at risk. A series of photos showing Labor MP Tanya Plibersek and Liberal MP Craig Kelly having a robust discussion as they cross paths in the corridor of Parliament Houses press gallery. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Ms Plibersek, a former health minister, warned Mr Kelly that his comments could spread doubt about vaccines and leave people exposed to those who were carrying the coronavirus. My Mum lives in your electorate and I dont want her exposed to people who are not going to be vaccinated because of these crazy conspiracy theories that youre spreading, Ms Plibersek said. has received the country's first consignment of 1 million Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccines which arrived from the Serum Institute of India (SII). President Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President David Mabuza and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, among other officials, lined up on the tarmac of OR Tambo airport to welcome the vaccine cargo, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. Ramaphosa said the vaccine would boost the fight against the pandemic. "Today marks a major milestone in our fight against the pandemic as we receive our first consignment of the vaccine. This batch will benefit our healthcare workers who have been at the forefront of keeping us all safe," Ramaphosa said. "We thank all South Africans and all the researchers who have contributed toward ensuring the successful development of the vaccine," he added. The vaccination program was said to be organised and coordinated through the committee chaired by Deputy President Mabuza, which focuses on procurement, distribution, actual vaccination, monitoring, communication and mobilization. --IANS int/ (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.) 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. Beitbridge district Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has started mobilising resources to assist villagers from 51 homesteads whose houses were recently damaged by heavy rains. CPU's focal person from the District Development Coordinator's office, Mr Jahson Mugodzwa, said more assessments were ongoing in selected wards to identify needy people. He said the process was being slowed down by the bad state of major roads, especially in Beitbridge West constituency. Mr Mugodzwa said roads linking wards 7 (Masera), 8 (Shashe) to 9 (Swereki) were badly damaged and most people in those areas had been cut off the town. "We have engaging a number of partners to help those villagers whose houses were destroyed by heavy rains. So far, we have confirmed that 51 houses were damaged and most of these were built using mud and poles or mud and bricks. "While we put together material to rebuild in some areas, we are going to start by giving the affected people non-food items in the interim," he said. Mr Mugodzwa said they had assessed infrastructure damage in the Nuli, Tshamnanga, Dite, Lutumba, Makavhane and Tshigomele areas. In terms of roads, some culverts and small bridges were washed away by heavy rains. The bad state of the roads had adversely affected the efficient distribution of grain under the Drought Relief programme and an estimated 20 000 households were food insecure in the district. "We will continue making assessments where we can still access areas. You will also note that we are making use of our Risk Communication sub-committee to educate the communities on Covid-19 and rainfall-related hazards." Remember grazing tables? Pre-pandemic, these large surfaces, covered with butcher paper or wooden boards and loaded with meticulously rolled up or fanned out slices of charcuterie, cheese, dried fruit and other snackable items, were a mainstay at Bay Area gatherings and parties. People would crowd around, picking up a slice of prosciutto or a wedge of manchego and basking in the plentiful choices. Such a lavish scenario, of course, is unimaginable in the shade of COVID-19, but it turns out local purveyors are still selling plenty of charcuterie boards. Only now, instead of as a backdrop for large events, people are buying them as the center of minuscule gatherings and solo indulging in front of the TV or on a bench at a local park. Theyre also the stars of socially distanced gifting, even after the holidays. One company, Ripen Co. in Dogpatch, used to get 90% of its revenue from corporate events, and though it has lost all of that, the business is making the same amount it did last January due to sales of smaller boards. Gathering boards seem like such a timely thing to me they feel defiantly pleasurable among all the crap sandwiches weve been tossed this year, says Sophie Speer, the founder of Ripen, which launched in 2018 with a specialty in grazing boards. Speer makes boards like the Pique Nique, featuring mozzarella balls, halved figs, pickled vegetables and a variety of cured meats decorated with herb sprigs. While small in size, such offerings, adorned with flowers and artfully arranged, retain the element of delight and variety popularized by their larger predecessors. They manage the transition from the assemblers home to your table thanks to contactless personal delivery in a box that contains the pre-arranged feast. Before COVID, the majority of Speers revenue was from corporate events at Facebook and Airbnb. Aside from sales of smaller boards, she holds Zoom workshops on assembling grazing boards at home, for which she ships kits all over the U.S. In December, business peaked with the holiday gifting season, and now the revenue is from birthday boards and orders for small spring events. Brian Feulner / Special to The Chronicle Sophia Lorenzi of Oakland recently ordered a Ripen Co. board as a gift for friends for watching the family dog. It reminded her of how they used to spend time together. Thats how we used to eat naturally, nibbling for two hours when wed meet, she says. Its just an impressive, thoughtful gesture. Other local companies specializing in grazing tables are reporting similar scenarios; as corporate and large celebration orders vanished, individual boards for company Zoom gatherings, picnic boxes and individually portioned charcuterie snacks (sometimes called grazing cones) for drive-through birthday parties replaced them. We have found that the majority of our clients order small boards that serve two to four people, and most of them send these to friends, family, clients and co-workers as gifts, says Alyssa Gilbert of the year-old Graze + Gather in Oakland. Trou Normand and Dopo, two Bay Area institutions known for their indulgent charcuterie, may have closed this year due to the pandemic, but the taste for carefully assembled, interesting bites has remained, perhaps as a reminder of happier days filled with live cocktail hours and busy restaurants. Theres an added value, like a bouquet of flowers made by a florist its a whole new level of care, a professional putting their heart and magic into it, says Evan Inada, charcuterie and partnerships director at the Bay Area deli brand Columbus. Brian Feulner / Special to The Chronicle In November the company expanded its offering of pre-made, portioned charcuterie boards in selected grocery stores. Inada is happy to see that individual boards are gaining popularity, whether ordered from others or assembled at home with some remote guidance and supervision. Charcuterie can be therapeutic, its a calming process to assemble a board, he says. The popularity of charcuterie boards has even led to offshoots that have nothing to do with cheese and meats. On the Internet, anything from a charcuterie board of Mexican foods to meticulous boards of cleaning supplies can be found, sometimes in all seriousness and other times as a meme mocking the ubiquity of the trend. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. For some, since no cooking skills are required, the grazing board business has been a new way to supplement income during pandemic times. When Dina Bsharas musician husband lost all his gigs due to shelter-in-place, Bshara, who still works full time, decided to put her assembly skills and accretive eye to a test. Affinage Boards was born in October 2020, offering a contactless delivery of picnic boxes and grazing boards. Our Personal Graze box is popular because its perfectly portioned grazing for one, Bshara says. In Bsharas opinion, people continue to reach for the grazing board because its a casual, communal, experiential way to eat, especially in a time theres not that much to do. Another perk: Theres no reheating or rushing to eat while the foods warm. Its about having a little bit of everything trying different combinations, enjoying over a period of time, she says. Until we meet in person again, time is all we got. Flora Tsapovsky is a San Francisco freelance writer. Follow her on Instagram: @bicoastalista Email: food@sfchronicle.com A nurse looks into an emergency triage tent set up outside Hoag Memorial Hospital in Irvine, Calif., on Dec. 11, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Orange Countys COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Cases Continue to Decline SANTA ANAOrange Countys COVID-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations continued to improve Feb. 2, but the county also logged 53 more fatalities as death reports from the holiday case surge continue to roll in. The adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 population dropped from 46.6 last week to 39 on Feb. 2, and the test positivity rate on a seven-day average, with a seven-day lag, dropped from 12.9 percent to 10.9 percent. The numbers for the states color-coded tier framework are updated on Feb. 2. The countys Health Equity Quartile Positivity Rate, which measures the cases in highly affected, needier parts of the county, declined from 16.6 percent last week to 13.9 percent. To move to the less-restrictive red tier from the top, purple, tier in the states coronavirus regulatory system, the county has to improve to 4 to 7 new daily cases per 100,000 and a 5 percent to 8 percent positivity rate with a health equity quartile at 5.3 percent to 8 percent. The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals in Orange County continued its downward trend, declining from 1,362 Feb. 1 to 1,330 on Feb. 2, with the number of patients in intensive care dropping from 384 to 370. The countys state-adjusted ICU bed availability remains at zero, and the unadjusted figure decreased from 10.9 percent Feb. 1 to 10 percent. The state created the adjusted metric to reflect the difference in beds available for COVID-19 patients and non-coronavirus patients. Look at the hospital numbers, thats a dramatic drop, said Orange County chief executive Frank Kim. The ICU numbers are on an accelerating downward path, which is good. Kim said the countys positivity rate has declined nearly 50 percent since its peak Jan. 10. The county on Feb. 2 logged 768 coronavirus cases, the first time since Dec. 31 that the health department has reported fewer than 1,000 cases. The cumulative case total stands at 234,162, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency, which also reported 8,625 tests to bring the total to 2,701,938. Of the fatalities reported Feb. 2, nine were skilled nursing facility residents and 10 were assisted living facility residents. Of the total fatalities since the pandemic began, 849 were skilled nursing facility residents and 347 were assisted living facility residents. Since Jan. 31, the county has logged 144 coronavirus-related fatalities. Last week, the county reported 393 coronavirus deaths, up from 305 the week before. The death reports are staggered because they come from a variety of sources and are not always logged immediately. The death toll for January stands at 627. On Jan. 3, 58 people succumbed to COVID-19, the deadliest day since the start of the pandemic. The second and third most lethal days were Jan. 2, when 54 died, and Dec. 30, when 53 died. Fifty-two people died on Christmas Day. December was the deadliest month during the pandemic, with 834 people succumbing to coronavirus. Andrew Noymer, a University of CaliforniaIrvine professor of population health and disease prevention, predicted the countys death toll will reach 4,000 before March 1. The outbreak in the countys jails continued to decline. The number of inmates infected dropped from 27 on Feb. 1 to 25 on Feb. 2, with one inmate hospitalized. The county is awaiting the result of 308 tests. Kim said he was encouraged by news from the countys lobbyist that the federal government will begin sending a million doses of vaccine weekly to the nations largest pharmacy chains, starting Feb. 11. To me, this is big news, Kim said. This kind of restores the order in how people access healthcare. Were holding up this gap that currently exists, but ultimately vaccinations should happen through traditional healthcare delivery systems. Kim said it makes sense to continue delegating authority to local governments for vaccinating the homeless or mentally disabled because local officials are best equipped to reach those people through clinics and shelters. The county is responsible for distributing about 20 percent of vaccinations and hospital systems receive the rest of the states allocations. County officials expect that Johnson & Johnson will seek emergency authorization next week for its one-dose vaccine, which could be available by mid-month, Kim said. NEW HAVEN Police are investigating the alleged use of force by officers during the recent arrest of a 52-year-old man at the Connecticut Financial Center on Church Street, according to the department. Our department will conduct a transparent and thorough internal investigation to determine the appropriateness of the officers actions, Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said in a prepared statement Wednesday. We take use of force seriously and the Internal Affairs review will determine if the use of force was within the guidelines of department policy. During the Jan. 29 incident, Shawn Marshall allegedly was struck in the head by Officer Justin Cole during an altercation while officers attempted to arrest Marshall, according to the police report, which the department released Wednesday. Officers had responded to the building after management sought to have Marshall leave an office, according to police reports. More than hour after police arrived, a security director said Marshall had to leave the building. Marshall said he would not leave, the police report said. Cole attempted to arrest him, the report said. At one point, according to police reports, Marshall said that if police were going to arrest him, they should do so at that particular moment and put his hands out. Cole said in the report that Marshall attempted to run away and was then taken to ground and violently kicked me. Cole wrote that he fell several feet backward and another officer tried to handcuff Marshall. Cole is then quoted in the police report as saying Marshall made a spitting noise and I attempted to get my hand near his face to prevent him from doing so. Marshall continued to refuse to be handcuffed or to roll over onto this back. To try and gain control, I punched Marshall in the area of his head three times. Marshall was again instructed to give us his hands to be handcuffed or to roll over onto his back. Marshall said Im not resisting arrest. For several seconds, Marshall kept his hands clenched to his chest and would swing away his arms when Officer (David) DeRubeis attempted to place him in handcuffs. Marshall continued to struggle, according to Coles report. Cole wrote in his report that he used pepper spray when Marshall refused to offer his hands to be cuffed during the altercation. Marshall then was placed in cuffs and arrested, the report says. He is charged with assault of a public safety official, interfering with a police officer, first-degree trespassing, disorderly conduct and failure to allow fingerprinting, police said. According to judicial records, he was released on a $100,000 surety bond and scheduled to appear in court March 18. Marshall said Wednesday that his reaction to the incident was clear in the video, noting what he said was his evident pain. He claimed he had the right to remain in the building, and that he had called the police to respond there. He claimed he had a contract to be in the building. Cole, however, wrote in the police report that an official at the Connecticut Financial Center said a notice had been issued to Marshall telling him he was banned from the site, in part due to alleged disruptive behavior there. A representative of Regus, the office space provider that police said rented the space to Marshall, declined to comment Wednesday. Elm City Local Police Union President Florencio Cotto could not immediately be reached for comment. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com WASHINGTON President Joe Bidens administration will begin to test a program to provide coronavirus vaccines directly to pharmacies, as officials seek to increase the pace of U.S. inoculations. Bidens team announced Tuesday that it will ship roughly 1 million doses per week to about 6,500 pharmacies nationwide as a trial run, beginning Feb. 11. It also will boost shipments to states by 5% to 10.5 million doses per week, up from the 10 million doses announced a week earlier. This pharmacy program will expand access in neighborhoods across the country, " Jeff Zients, who serves as Bidens COVID-19 response coordinator, said at a briefing with reporters. The shipments will increase as supply allows but due to the current supply constraints, this will be limited when it begins next week, he said. The pharmacies providing shots at stores include CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and Costco, as well as networks of independent operators. Not all of the chains will immediately be taking part in every state, the White House said. Zients also announced that the Biden administration would expand reimbursements to states for eligible expenses related to the pandemic, dating back to the start of 2020. Those expenses include masks, gloves and mobilization of National Guard troops, he said. This is expected to cost $3 billion to $5 billion and doesnt require congressional approval, Zients said, yet called on Congress to pass a new coronavirus aid package. States need resources for other parts of the coronavirus response, including testing, genomic sequencing and mass vaccination centers, he said. The faster Congress acts, the faster we can scale vaccination sites, mobile units, we can increase testing, we can increase emergency supplies, he said. Bidens team discussed the developments during a call with governors earlier Tuesday. The number of doses sent to pharmacies in each state will be calculated using the same formula as states overall shipments, but the administration has picked pharmacies in rural or underserved regions in a bid to ensure equity in vaccinations, Zients said. Those seeking vaccines will still be subject to local immunization criteria, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will monitor data from the program to ensure equitable and efficient immunization by pharmacies, he said. CVS Health Corp. will start immunizing people on Feb. 11 in CVS Pharmacy stores in 11 states through the federal partnership, the company said in a statement. The pharmacy chain is working directly with Indiana and Ohio to give shots using their state allocations. Walgreens will offer shots in 13 states and New York City and Chicago through the program, focusing on underserved areas with a high social vulnerability index score. Walgreens will continue working directly with states. Its already given 300,000 shots through these arrangements, the company said. Pharmacy teams stand ready with their expertise to help educate and vaccinate additional Americans, including those in rural and underserved communities, Walgreens President John Standley said in a statement. The Trump administration tapped about two dozen pharmacies last fall to participate in the program, which would open thousands of convenient places to get immunized. Initially, the partnership was planned to start when the general public became eligible. Its now being accelerated to help relieve some of the bottlenecks in getting shots into arms. As many as 40,000 pharmacies across the country could eventually administer Covid-19 vaccines, including independent pharmacies, national chains and supermarkets, Zients said. The Biden administration also has plans to use mass vaccination sites, mobile clinics, community health centers and other providers. The increase in doses 1.9 million more doses per week to states, plus another one million doses to pharmacies is possible because of increased production by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., Zients said. The vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna require two shots. Nairobi Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko was charged with assault and robbery with violence Tuesday, in offenses committed in 2019. Sonko denied a total of 12 counts and was remanded at the Gigiri Police Station after the prosecution pleaded with the court to allow detectives more time to complete their investigations, an indication he could face more charges. He was arraigned at the Kiambu Law Courts where he denied all the charges leveled against him and which his lawyers said were political due to public statements he made recently linking Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho to the 2017 violence. Others said his arrest and prosecution was linked to statements he made during a roadside rally in Nakuru against President Uhuru Kenyatta who had spoken about in Nyeri where he told a youth meeting that the Governor was impeached due to incompetence. Charges read out to him Tuesday stated that he assaulted two people in Buru Buru in 2019, leaving them with serious injuries. The charges include assault causing actual bodily harm, robbery with violence and destruction of property. He also faced an additional charge of entering private property without permission or a search warrant. His case was heard by Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Stellah Atambo who ordered he be remanded at the Gigiri Police Station. The prosecution has indicated that it intends to apply to have the former Governor taken to Mombasa where a warrant of arrest against him is pending. Sonko was impeached in November over gross misconduct, abuse of office and corruption. he is also facing corruption charges in court alongside several county officials and suppliers accused of colluding to siphon public funds. Advertisement Stern-faced Nazi SS soldiers stare down the defiant Jews who dared to resist being sent to death camps under orders to 'liquidate' Poland's ghettos. Rare photos show men, women and children being lined up and herded off after fighting for nearly four weeks during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. The heroic resistance saw 13,000 Jews killed in fighting which also took the lives of 59 police officers and members of the feared SS. The fightback was prompted by Nazi authorities' attempts to 'liquidate' the ghetto, which was part of the system they had imposed on occupied Poland to segregate and confine Jews in sections of towns and cities. Of the 460,000 Jews within the Warsaw Ghetto, 265,000 were sent to Treblinka death camp to be murdered; a further 20,000 were sent to labour camps. Now, rare photos show the aftermath of the uprising, as the Nazis meted out their brutal revenge. The pictures are revealed in historian Ian Baxter's new book, The Ghettos of Nazi-Occupied Poland Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, published by Pen and Sword. Mothers and children are seen being hauled from the sewage system; other men and women are forced to stand against a wall with their arms raised above them before they are searched for weapons. Directing it all is the SS commander in Warsaw, Major General Jurgen Stroop. One image shows him surrounded by armed guards as he watches a building burn. The end of the uprising came when Stroop himself destroyed the Great Synagogue of Warsaw by detonating explosives which had been rigged up inside. The Warsaw Uprising of 1943 saw 13,000 Jews killed as they attempted to prevent the Nazis from sending them to their deaths. Men, women and children courageously fought back against Hitler's troops for three-and-a-half weeks; 59 police officers and members of the feared SS were killed or injured. Pictured: Women and children stand with their arms in the air after being forced from their shelters following the suppression of the uprising. They were set to march to the Umschlagplatz - the German term for collection point which was used during the Holocaust to describe the holding areas near railway stations were Jews were assembled for deportation to death camps. The Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto were deported to the Treblinka camp, where between 700,000 and 900,000 were murdered The fightback was prompted by Nazi authorities' attempts to 'liquidate' the ghetto system which they had imposed on occupied Poland. Of the 460,000 Jews within the Warsaw Ghetto, 265,000 were sent to Treblinka death camp to be murdered; a further 20,000 were sent to death camps. Pictured: SS troops guard female Jewish resistance members captured during the suppression uprising. The original German caption read: 'These bandits offered armed resistance' The pictures are revealed in historian Ian Baxter's new book, The Ghettos of Nazi-Occupied Poland Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, published by Pen and Sword. Pictured: Jews captured by the SS during the suppression of the uprising are lined up against a wall before being searched for weapons. The original German caption reads: 'Before the search' Following the uprising, most of the incinerated houses were razed. SS chief Heinrich Himmler later ordered the destruction of Warsaw, demanding that 'every building must be razed to its foundation'. Pictured: SS troops walk past a block of burning housing during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'An assault squad' Surrounded by heavily armed SS and SD guards, SS Major General Juergen Stroop (pictured centre), watches housing blocks burn during the suppression of the Warsaw uprising. Two of the guards are seen with smiles on their faces. The end of the uprising came when Stroop himself destroyed the Great Synagogue of Warsaw by detonating explosives which had been rigged up inside The German authorities SS troops arrest the Jewish department heads of the Brauer armament factory during the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The fightback against Nazi attempts to liquidate the ghetto began on April 19, the eve of Passover. Forces were ambushed by resistance fighters who threw Molotov cocktails and hand grenades while firing guns from their hideouts A line of Jewish men, women and children are seen being marched to the Umschlagplatz ahead of their deportation to the Treblinka death camp. Next to them are troops with guns. The original caption on the photo reads: 'To the Umschlagplatz.' The failure of Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg - the original leader of the units sent in to liquidate the ghetto - saw him replaced with Stroop SS soldiers take a break to eat during the suppression of the uprising. Stoop sent in 2,000 heavily-armed troops and motorised infantry, as well as Polish policeman, to tackle the resistance fighters. Savage fighting immediately broke out when the force arrived and it took ten days for the units to gain the upper hand SS and police officers look on as Stroop discusses with his police adjutant, Kaleschke, the razing of the houses on Niska and Muranowska Street in the city. Once the Nazis had gained the upper hand, fighters continued to resist as they sought to prevent the city from being overwhelmed An SS officer questions Jewish resistance fighters as Stroop (rear, centre) and his security guards look on. The original German caption reads: 'Jewish traitors'. Once the fighting was over, most of the remaining 50,000 residents of the Ghetto captured and marched out of the ruins of the city, destined for the Treblinka death camp An SS sergeant interrogates religious Jews captured during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'Jewish rabbis' Among those pictured is Rabbi Heschel Rappaport. Even after surrendering, some members of the resistance had concealed hand grenades or small firearms on them, in the hope of inflicting one final blow to the Nazis An SS soldier searches a captured Jewish resistance fighter during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'Pulled from a bunker' German police and an SS soldier man a machine gun during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'Securing a street'. The uprising had been prompted by the Germans attempting to hire out the ghetto's remaining fit and skilled workers to businesses before eventually shipping them off to death camps once exhausted SS troops guard members of the Jewish resistance captured during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'Bandits!'. The men will likely have been sent to their deaths shortly after this photo was taken. To the right, a member of the SS is seen with his lapel badge marking him out from other troops Jewish men, women and children emerge from a hideout inside a ruined building following the Nazis' suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'Smoking out the Jews and bandits'. In total, 13,000 Jews were killed during the uprising An SS soldier oversees the deportation of survivors of the uprising. This photo was among several commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm Krueger, higher SS and police leader in Krakow. The album bound and intended as a souvenir for Heinrich Himmler to celebrate the hard-won victory over the ghetto's resistance fighters (USHMM: George Bogart) Jews captured by the SS during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising are forced to board a truck that will likely take them to a labour camp. Most of the people captured during the ghetto uprising were deported to Treblinka; some were sent to Trawniki or to Poniatowa, both of which were concentration camps SS troops search ruined buildings for survivors during the suppression of the uprising. The ghettos were seen by unknowing inhabitants as temporary stopping points before being resettled. But for the Nazis, the ghettos were a step along their process of wiping out Europe's Jewish population SS troops force Jewish labourers to evacuate a Warsaw ghetto factory during the uprising. Prior to the April uprising, initial fighting between German troops and members of the resistance saw only 5,000 Jews removed from the ghetto, rather than the intended 8,000 Jews captured by the SS during the Warsaw ghetto uprising are interrogated beside the ghetto wall before being sent to the Umschlagplatz. The original German caption reads: 'Search and Interrogation' Stroop (centre) accompanied by SS and police officers looks on as SS soldiers uncover the entrance to an underground bunker during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The original German caption reads: 'They were also discovered in underground bunkers' Captured Jews are marched through the city ahead of their deportation. They would likely have been sent to Treblinka to be murdered. Many of them carried bags of belongings which they would have been stripped of on arrival at the death camp This telling image highlights how much of Warsaw was destroyed during fighting between members of the resistance and the SS forces. Above, a member of the SS is seen standing among the ruins Jews are seen waiting at the Umschlagplatz in the Warsaw ghetto ahead of their deporation. The liquidation process saw Jews either marched out of the ghetto or loaded on to waiting trucks, where they would have been taken to camps. Many also had to railway cattle or freight carriages which took them to the camp SS troops force Jews to dig out the entrance to a bunker on the twentieth day of suppression of the uprising. The original German caption reads: 'A bunker is opened'. Many members of the resistance had hidden in bunkers and inside abandoned buildings Jewish men and women are seen carrying their belongings as they are forced to march to the Umschlagplatz ahead of their deportation The Ghettos of Nazi-Occupied Poland Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, was written by Ian Baxter and recently published by Pen and Sword GREENVILLE Its official: United Community Bank will dramatically expand its footprint in downtown Greenville. With no discussion, the 12-member Greenville County Council unanimously passed a tax-incentive agreement Tuesday night that compels the Georgia-based bank to invest at least $24 million at its newly acquired East Camperdown Way property over the next five years. The bank estimates it will hire 225 people. In exchange, the bank qualified for a tax-abatement deal that does two things: it freezes the bank's property taxes on Camperdown Way at 2021 rates for the next 30 years, and it gives the bank a 35 percent property-tax "infrastructure credit" for the next 10 years. The bank bought the property at 200 E. Camperdown Way on Dec. 18 for $5.75 million, according to county records. The building on the 1.9-acre parcel now currently houses the Wyche Law Firm, whose principals announced Monday that they would move their 100 lawyers into a six-story existing office building at 200 E. Broad St. by the end of 2021. Wyche lawyers have practiced in buildings along Camperdown Way since the 1960s. The developers of the Grand Bohemian Hotel bought Wyche's previous headquarters at 44 E. Camperdown Way two years ago. The cash value of the tax deal for United Community Bank was unclear Tuesday night, but such abatements are routine for the county. In all of 2020, according to county documents, abatements for all industries in Greenville County cost the county $7.2 million in property tax revenue. Sign up for our Greenville development newsletter. Get all the latest updates on the Upstate real estate market, more openings and closings, exclusive development news and more in your inbox each week. Email Sign Up! United Community Bank has not yet officially announced whether its new Greenville investment means it intends to move its headquarters here. Bank executives, many of whom have worked in Greenville for years, plan a major announcement on Wednesday morning. Details about what the bank has in mind for the parcel also remain unclear, including whether it intends to build a new structure, how tall that structure would be and what offices would be housed there. Located within the city of Greenville's central business district, zoning regulations on the parcel allow for unlimited height and density. United Community Bank currently operates in three locations around downtown Greenville with executive offices on Broad Street, in the former Palmetto Bank office building on East North Street, and in the ONE building at West Washington and Main streets. Across the state of South Carolina, it has more than 30 branch offices. United Community Bank also has branches in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, and it is currently the eighth largest bank by deposits in Greenville. The Blairsville, Ga.-based bank was unmasked in a Greenville County Council agenda on Friday as the investment party that had been nicknamed "Project Spruce" in county documents related to the development since October. A 2020 study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, commissioned by the South Carolina Chamber Foundation, described South Carolina's property tax system as "complex, inequitable and uncompetitive." The study said the complex package of fees and credits such as the ones offered to United Community Bank on Tuesday are a necessary work-around for county governments wanting to offer tax breaks to companies without falling afoul of the South Carolina Constitution. Even with the fees and credits, the effective property-tax rate for large, multi-state companies in South Carolina, according to the study, is 1.42 percent, compared to 0.7 percent in Alabama and 1.05 percent in North Carolina. Georgia's is 1.62 percent. McKinsey & Company Managing Partner for Korea Andre Andonian speaks during a press conference at his company in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of McKinsey & Company Andonian concerned about lingering Seoul-Tokyo trade war By Park Jae-hyuk The Korean economy is unlikely to climb back to pre-pandemic levels until the second quarter of 2022, despite the government's ambitious plan to achieve a return to normal during the first half of this year, according to McKinsey & Company's managing partner for Korea. Andre Andonian, who became the new head of the global management consulting firm's Seoul office earlier this year, said in a recent press conference that there is little likelihood of a simple U-shaped recovery at this moment, so an economic recovery will take a bit longer. "The emergence of new virus strains and the slower start of the vaccine rollout may pose additional risks," he told reporters at his company, Monday. Last December, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government would ensure a full economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis during the first half and would break out of the vicious cycle of a slowdown in potential growth rate. The new head of McKinsey's Korean office came up with a gloomier scenario than that put forward by the government, but said he expects Korea to see a slightly faster economic recovery than the rest of the world, which will likely get back to normal during the third quarter of 2022. Andonian, who led McKinsey's Japan office for five years before his transfer to Korea, also expressed concerns about the lingering trade feud between Seoul and Tokyo, which was sparked in 2019 over the Japanese government's retaliation to a Korean Supreme Court ruling ordering Japanese firms to compensate families of Korean victims of wartime forced labor. "I'm particularly aware (of the conflict) because I am an Austrian of Armenian origin, and basically there was a genocide in the First World War, so therefore I understand all the emotions there," he said. "My hope is that there will be a resolution soon since both countries are dependent on trade and both countries now have to capture the opportunity of post-COVID to position themselves as leading countries in the post-COVID world. Any of those is actually damaging both countries." Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. High around 75F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. ROME, FEB 3 - Chinese video sharing platform TikTok has blocked access to the under-13s and will assess artificial intelligence systems to verify users' ages after the death last month of a 10-year-old Palermo girl who tied her belt around her neck in a Blackout Challenge, the company told Italy's privacy watchdog Wednesday after the authority had blocked the platform due to the outcry. TikTok will also launch an awareness-raising campaign for parents and children, it said. The watchdog said it would assess the effectiveness of the measures announced by TikTok. The girl's death on January 21 was followed on January 28 by the case of a 48-year-old woman influencer from Siracusa, also in Sicily, who was cited by postal police for allegedly instigating suicide by posting a video on TikTok showing a man and a woman wrapping adhesive tape around their mouths and noses so they could not breathe in another Blackout Challenge. The privacy watchdog, meanwhile widened its probe into the case of he Palermo girl by asking Facebook and Instagram for information on how she had been able to open accounts on their platforms. Facebook said it would collaborate fully with the investigation. In the case of the Siracusa influencer, police said they had found out that she had posted other challenge videos that had helped her amass over 730,000 followers of various ages. They found around 20 videos of dangerous challenges including inhaling cream through the nose, closing your eyelids with pincers, and pretending to break an arm with saucepans. All the challenges were performed by the influencer. All the videos posted by the woman, who has children of her own, were removed. TikTok Europe Child Safety Head Alexandra Evans said Wednesday that "the safety of people who are part of the TikTok community is our absolute priority. "Talking of protecting our users, especially the younger ones, there is no final goal, and therefore our work in this sphere will not stop. That is why we are continuing to invest in people, processes and technology that help keep our community a safe space for positive and creative expression". (ANSA). Farmers brought and laid 37 wreaths with the names of already discontinued production facilities outside the parliament's building and were also handing out to parliamentarians and passers-by the last eggs from the agricultural holding's poultry farms, which are being shut down. Employees of one of the largest Ukrainian agro-industrial holdings, UkrLandFarming, which is engaged in the production of crops and animal husbandry, are rallying outside the building of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, and the Cabinet of Ministers in the center of Kyiv, demanding that the authorities stop pressure on the company. As an UNIAN correspondent reported, about 5,000 agrarians from 22 regions of Ukraine gathered for the rally, they accuse Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk of illegal pressure on the agricultural holding, which continues for one and a half years, during which 37 agricultural enterprises have been destroyed. Farmers brought and laid 37 wreaths with the names of already discontinued production facilities outside the parliament's building and were also handing out to parliamentarians and passers-by the last eggs from the agricultural holding's poultry farms, which are being shut down. As Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the UkrLandFarming group of companies, Halyna Kovtok, said, the company's employees demand that lawmakers protect their workplaces from the pressure of the law enforcement agencies and create an Interim Commission of Inquiry to probe into Sytnyk's pressure on the agricultural holding. "We are here to protect our jobs. Our right to work in Ukraine. Exactly a year ago, we gathered here [near the Verkhovna Rada] for the first time. In fact, this year has very poor results. This is minus 37 enterprises. Minus 13,000 jobs. And minus UAH 1.5 billion in taxes to the state budget. This is all the result of the work of NABU, namely, Mr. Sytnyk," she said. Dmytro Oliynyk, Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, who was present at the rally, noted that pressure on UkrLandFarming enterprises leads to negative consequences both for the companies themselves and for the agricultural market as a whole. "Unfortunately, the company closed eight poultry farms in 2020 and continues to close its plants because it does not have access to loans and does not have the ability to expand its sales markets due to persecution. This situation has already had a negative impact on the egg market," he said. "I hope that today's appeal of UkrLandFarming employees to the Verkhovna Rada regarding the creation of the inquiry commission by lawmakers will be heard. In my opinion, this is the only mechanism to bring the situation back to the legal field," he added. The workers who came to the rally explain that if the enterprises of UkrLandFarming are closed, they will have to go to work abroad, because there will be unable to sustain their families. "I came to the Verkhovna Rada to defend my rights to work and live in my native Ukraine. But citizen Sytnyk does not allow us to do this. I do not want to go to work abroad. I have two children, so I want to continue working in my hometown at my favorite job," commented Yulia Platsenko, who works as a dispatcher at the Rise-Vostok enterprise in the town of Lokhvytsia, Poltava region. At the rally were present Members of Parliament, including Oleksiy Honcharenko, Mykhailo Tsymbaliuk, Stepan Kubiv and Andriy Nikolayenko. UNIAN memo. UkrLandFarming is one of the largest Ukrainian agro-industrial holdings, which is engaged in the production of crops and animal husbandry. The agricultural holding enterprises are located in 22 regions of Ukraine. The shareholder of the agricultural holding is Ukrainian businessman Oleh Bakhmatyuk. For the last year and a half, NABU has been investigating the case against the former and previously closed for lack of corpus delicti. The then acting NBU Governor Oleksandr Pysaruk and shareholder of the agricultural holding Oleh Bakhmatyuk regarding the refinancing of VAB Bank. All these one and a half years, during which there have been no shifts in business, the enterprise, through pressure from NABU, suffers from restrictions in financing, closing of credit lines, etc., which is why it is forced to close its enterprises throughout Ukraine. The conclusions of the examinations, statements by the NBU and the results of inspections of the Deposit Guarantee Fund refute the accusations of NABU, and the shareholder of the agricultural holding himself accuses the director of NABU Sytnyk of personal revenge: the adviser to Bakhmatyuk's sister was the main witness at the trial, which found the director of NABU Artem Sytnyk guilty of committing a corruption offense. The other day the Pechersk court in Kyiv recognized the existence of a conflict of interests of NABU officials and the groundlessness of suspicions. This decision was confirmed by the Kyiv Court of Appeal. UkrLandFarming COO Halyna Kovtok has just handed over to the representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers an appeal from the workers, demanding to stop pressure on the ULF from NABU and create a temporary commission of inquiry to investigate Sytnyk's pressure on the agricultural holding. Reporting by UNIAN Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:53 am A massive data breach involving the state auditor's office has left more than a million Washingtonians' personal information vulnerable to identity theft. It's created potential new headaches for unemployment claimants already struggling to pay bills and deal with delays in benefit payments. A full picture of the debacle may take months to emerge, but here are answers to some of the most pressing questions Seattle Times readers have been asking: How was this data exposed? State Auditor Pat McCarthy's office has been investigating how the state Employment Security Department (ESD) lost $600 million to fraudulent employment claims last year. (ESD says it has since recovered $357 million.) As part of that probe, auditors demanded a trove of claims information from ESD. In December, a vulnerability in a computer file-transfer service used by the auditor's office a product of the California tech firm Accellion allowed unknown people to access that data. The breached data includes Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, bank account numbers and employment information basically everything a cybercriminal would need to steal someone's identity. State officials estimate 1.6 million claims were left vulnerable, involving about 1.4 million people. Does that include people who had fraudulent unemployment claims filed in their names last year? Unfortunately, yes. People already victimized last year by fraudulent unemployment claims are among those whose information was also exposed in the new data breach, according to Kathleen Cooper, a spokesperson for the auditor's office. Who has the stolen data? That's unclear. State officials have only said that the data was accessed by "an unauthorized person." The incident is under investigation by federal law enforcement as well as the state attorney general's office and state cybersecurity officials. Will I be notified if my data was part of this breach? Yes. The auditor's office has said said it is working on individual notifications but has not yet provided details. "We do not yet have a firm date on when these will begin. We are working with our insurance carrier on this complex process, and it is Auditor McCarthy's highest priority," Cooper said in an email. Is the state offering free credit monitoring or other protections? Not at this point. Many people have asked whether the state should provide credit monitoring or other consumer protections as Equifax did after its infamous 2017 data breach. So far, state officials have not announced specific plans. The auditor's website says it "will make resources available to help each affected individual take measures to protect their identity" and will "post that information as soon as it is available." What should I do now if I think my data was part of this Accellion breach? The auditor is directing people to the office's website, with frequently asked questions and suggested actions: https://sao.wa.gov/breach2021. That site will be continually updated as new information becomes available. For now, the auditor's recommendations include: * Obtain a free credit report by visiting annualcreditreport.com * Consider placing a fraud alert on your credit report. * Review financial account statements and report any suspicious activity to your bank or credit union. * Report any suspected identity theft to the state Attorney General's Office, law enforcement and/or or the Federal Trade Commission's IdentityTheft.gov. Who is responsible for this screw-up? McCarthy has pointed the finger at Accellion. The company's supposedly secure file-transfer product was compromised due to a vulnerability. McCarthy said her office had been using the service, called FTA, for 13 years and was paying $17,000 annually for it. An Accellion executive, Joel York, said the firm had been encouraging customers for years to upgrade to its newer, more secure transfer product, kiteworks. The auditor's office was in the process of moving to that new service when the hack occurred. Ultimately, Washington voters will get to decide whether to hold McCarthy accountable. As state auditor, she is an independent statewide elected official who does not report to the governor. McCarthy, a Democrat, is a former Pierce County executive who was elected to a second term in November before the data breach. Did McCarthy's office really need to gather detailed personal information to conduct its probe of ESD? State legislators of both parties are raising this issue and may press for changes. State Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, asked Monday whether the level of detailed data obtained by the auditor was "truly necessary." On Tuesday, state Rep. Matt Boehnke, R-Kennewick, chimed in: "Why do we still continue to have full Social Security numbers in locations around state agencies when we can identify [people] by other means?" McCarthy defended her investigation, saying her office regularly obtains massive amounts of documentation and data from state and local agencies it audits. "That's what we do," she said. Cooper, the auditor's spokesperson, said investigators needed the personal data to fully assess how ESD scrutinized unemployment claims for potential fraud before paying them. Is it safe to file a new unemployment claim? You should always be careful with personal data, but there has been no indication that ESD's computer systems were hacked or compromised. The already-overwhelmed agency has requested that any calls about the data breach be directed to the state auditor. ___ (c)2021 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Study using surveys of more than 1.1 million 13-15-year-olds from 140 countries between 1999 and 2018, finds that the prevalence of smoking cigarettes on at least one day during the past 30 days decreased in 80 countries (57%) but was unchanged or increased in 60 countries (43%). However, during the same time period, the prevalence of using other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, cigars, cigarillos, pipe, or electronic cigarettes, levelled off or increased in 81 (59%) of 137 countries with available data. Surveys of more than 530,000 adolescents from 143 countries between 2010 and 2018, finds that 17.9% of boys and 11.5% of girls used any tobacco product on at least one day during the past month. Tokelau had the highest cigarette use (50.6%) and Kiribati had the highest use of tobacco products other than cigarettes (42.2%). Turkmenistan had the lowest cigarette use (0%) and the lowest use of tobacco products other than cigarettes (0.3%). Researchers call for better tobacco control in adolescents and for policies to include non-cigarette tobacco products. Despite an overall reduction in cigarette use over the last 20 years, nearly 1 in 5 boys (17.9%) and more than 1 in 10 girls (11.5%) around the world used tobacco at least once in the past month between 2010-2018, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Tobacco use kills more than 8 million around the world every year [1] and can lead to cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as affect fertility [2]. Tobacco use among adolescents and children is a crucial problem, given that most adult smokers start in adolescence or childhood. In the new study, the authors looked at the Global Youth Tobacco Surveys data between 1999 and 2018 to assess trends in prevalence of tobacco use. All countries included did at least two surveys, resulting in 1.1 million 13-15-year-olds from 140 countries included between 1999-2018, and 530,000 adolescents from 143 countries between 2010-2018. In the study, the prevalence between 2010 and 2018 of smoking cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days was approximately twice as high at age 15 years compared with age 13 years in both boys and girls (6.8% vs 15.4% in boys; 3.4% vs 8.7% in girls). The prevalence of cigarette smoking was highest in the Western Pacific region for boys (176%), with Tokelau having the highest prevalence of 49.3%. The European region had the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking for girls (90%), with a prevalence of 23.7% in Bulgaria and 23.6% in Italy. The study also looked at the use of other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, cigars, cigarillos, pipe, or electronic cigarettes. Between 2010 and 2018, the prevalence of using these products was higher at age 15 years than at 13 years (8.4% vs. 13.9% in boys, 5.1% vs. 9.3% in girls), and there was a significant increase in using other tobacco products among boys aged 15 over the past 20 years, where it rose by an estimated 2.1%. The prevalence of using tobacco products other than cigarettes was highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region (16.7% in boys and 9.0% in girls). The Americas and European regions had the lowest prevalence (7.5% and 9.3% among boys and 5.4% and 5.5% among girls respectively), according to the study. The authors note that they could not distinguish between the different types of tobacco products in this category. Prof Bo Xi, of Shandong University, China, and lead author of the study, said: "Cigarette use may have decreased in the majority of countries in the study, but there are still large numbers of young people smoking. The fact that in many countries the prevalence of using non-cigarette tobacco products is higher than, or as high as, the prevalence of cigarette use shows us there is still a lot of work to do. The need to strengthen tobacco control efforts, which include specific policies for different tobacco products and a focus on health education for adolescents globally is more important than ever." [3] In the study there was varying prevalence of smoking cigarettes and using other tobacco products across different regions, which the researchers suggest was due to differences in how tobacco control measures are implemented and monitored. For example, Uruguay has been at the forefront of tobacco control, with a complete ban on tobacco promotion and advertising and strict pictorial health warnings. As a result, cigarette smoking reduced by 17% per 10 calendar years (from 20.1% in 2007 to 8% in 2014), the authors estimate. The Western Pacific region showed improvement in the prevalence of smoking cigarettes and use of other tobacco between 1999 and 2018 where it reduced by 6.2% and 4.2%, respectively, per 10 calendar years. The prevalence of cigarette smoking also reduced in the European region by 5%. However, even though the region showed improvement, not all countries within the regions performed as well. For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw an increase of 10.6% every 10 years (from 11.7% in 2008 to 17% in 2013). The authors suggest that possible reasons for an increase in smoking in this country and some others could be due to the low cost of cigarettes, poor enforcement of smoking bans inside buildings, weak measures on tobacco advertising and promotion, or the sale of single cigarettes. There were regions that showed an increase in prevalence of using other tobacco products. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the prevalence increased by 3.5% and in the South-East Asia region it increased by 3.3% per 10 calendar years. For example, in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the prevalence of using other tobacco products increased by 33.3% every 10 years (from 11.2% in 2007 to 21.2% in 2010). In Bhutan in South-East Asia it increased by 18% (from 7.2% in 2004 to 23.4% in 2013). Professor Yajun Liang, of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, said: "The largest reductions in tobacco use were seen in countries which had ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, highlighting the importance of policy change to reduce tobacco smoking. But there is still a lot of work to be done especially with reducing the use of other tobacco products." [3] "The prevalence of using any tobacco product was two or three times higher in adolescents aged 15 than aged 13 in most countries. Peer pressure, the desire to experience new things, and the ability to buy cigarettes could all explain this trend. Fortunately, many countries have implemented partial or total bans on tobacco advertising. However, it is challenging to address advertising or promotions on the internet and on social media. Health education from an early age about the dangers of tobacco remain crucial." [3] In a linked Comment, co-authors Mohammed Jawad and Christopher Millett of Imperial College London, UK, and Rima Nakkash, of American University of Beirut, Lebanon, (who were not involved in the study) say that the study "portrays a somber situation" and "[the] findings uncovered a quietly growing phenomenon that has manifested into an urgent priority for the global tobacco-control agenda: the rise of non-cigarette tobacco products." They discuss in depth the rise in the use of other tobacco products in the Eastern Mediterranean region and suggest this is due to the growing popularity of the waterpipe (known locally as shisha, hookah, or arghile) as a result of new flavoured tobacco, a thriving Middle Eastern cafe culture, and the misperception that waterpipe tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes. They agree with the study authors that different policies may be needed for different tobacco products and that existing tobacco control laws are based on reducing cigarette smoking and are less effective when applied to products such as waterpipe tobacco. The authors write: "Simply extending existing laws to waterpipe tobacco seems reasonable in theory, but in practice is far from adequate and can be unenforceable. In the absence of an effective policy response to the emergence of a more nuanced tobacco-use landscape, tobacco consumption among adolescents will remain high... It is not yet certain whether plateaued trends in cigarette use among adolescents in the Eastern Mediterranean region were caused by increasing waterpipe tobacco use, but it is certainly plausible. At a minimum, rising non-cigarette tobacco use is likely to undermine the progress made in reducing cigarette smoking, and at worst could sizably exacerbate the tobacco epidemic." The authors note some limitations. Not all countries around the world were included in the study because they had not completed a survey within the time period. The surveys were not carried out in the same year in every country and some countries (53 out of 140) had done only two surveys as opposed to more. This weakened the ability to assess how the prevalence changed over time. Additionally, the survey relies on self-reporting and so participants might have understood and interpreted the questions differently; and the survey did not distinguish between different non-tobacco products. ### NOTES TO EDITORS This study was funded by Shandong University. It was conducted by researchers from Shandong University, Karolinska, Institute, and the University of Lausanne. The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www. sciencemediacentre. org/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2018/ 01/ AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE. pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com [1] https:/ / www. who. int/ news-room/ fact-sheets/ detail/ tobacco [2] https:/ / www. nhs. uk/ common-health-questions/ lifestyle/ what-are-the-health-risks-of-smoking/ [3] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. 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 (AP) Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he'll run for California governor and plans to formally announce the campaign Tuesday in Los Angeles. Faulconer is the first major Republican to formally step into the contest as signatures are being gathered for a recall effort against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Faulconer says in an online video that California has become a failed state under Newsom, accusing him of botching such issues as homelessness and dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. However, Faulconer would face an uphill fight in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 2-to-1. After Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos announced to step down as chief executive of the e-commerce giant, several CEO, including Sundar Pichai, congratulated him for his new ventures. Bezos will now become the executive chairman of Amazon, a move he said would give him "time and energy" to focus on his other ventures. Bezos will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who is currently the head of Amazon's cloud division Amazon Web Services known as AWS. Bezos said in a note to employees posted on Amazon's website, "As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions". Blue Origin is Bezos' space company. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc, sent his wishes to Bezos for his two passions projects -- the Day 1 Fund and Bezos Earth Fund. Pichai also congratulated Jassy for his new role as Amazon's CEO. Congrats @JeffBezos , best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund. Congrats @ajassy on your new role! Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 2, 2021 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also congratulated both Bezos and Jassy by writing, "A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished". Congratulations to @JeffBezos and @ajassy on your new roles. A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished. Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 2, 2021 Marcelo Claure, executive chairman at WeWork and COO of Softbank, welcomed Bezos to the "executive chairman club" and added, " This is when the real fun begins". Congrats @JeffBezos , welcome to the #ExecutiveChairman club !! This is when the real fun begins !! Congrats @ajassy on your new role! MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) February 2, 2021 Padmasree Warrior, founder and CEO of Fable and a Spotify and Microsoft board member, called Jassy's promotion a "well deserved step-up." Bezos is ending his role as the CEO on a high note: the business he began as an internet bookseller 27 years ago is now one of the world's most valuable companies and posted three consecutive record profits after losses in decades prior, reported Reuters. Jassy, 53, joined Amazon in 1997 after Harvard Business School. He founded AWS which has now grown into a cloud platform used by millions of customers. Also read: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to step down as CEO; to give reins to cloud boss Jassy Also read: Who is Andy Jassy, the next CEO of e-comm giant Amazon? Net Zero, Climate Action, Build Back Better, and the Great Reset are some of the names for policies aimed at expediting the transition of the global energy sector from fossil fuel to renewable technology. The goal? Saving the planet from climate apocalypse. But there is a huge hurdle to make this transition a reality. Most of the worlds primary energy comes from coal, oil, and gas. Fossil fuels dominate the global energy sector, and there is a reason for that: they are reliable, abundant, and affordable. Further, with constant innovations, the amounts of pollutants emitted from burning them have been reduced considerably. Japans clean-coal technology and improved combustion engines in automobiles are two of the many technologies that have reduced pollutants in emissions, making fossil fuels all the more desirable. Wind and Solar Will Usher in Chaos In contrast, wind and solar make up an insignificant percentage of the worlds energy consumption. The renewable contribution to global energy consumption in 2017 was less than 2%. Solar and wind contributed just 7% of the worlds electricity in 2018. There is a reason for that. Besides being expensive, they are highly intermittent and so are unreliable. Further, wind and solar power cannot be used without backup by fossil fuel-powered energy sources. Even in Germany, increased reliance on wind and solar has resulted in energy chaos. Berlin is facing energy shortages as both wind and solar have failed during the ongoing winter, and coal plants are running at full capacity to meet the demand. With this supply of wind and photovoltaic energy, its between 0 and 2 or 3 percent -- that is de facto zero. You can see it in many diagrams that we have days, weeks, in the year where we have neither wind nor PV. Especially this time (winter) for example -- there is no wind and PV, and there are often times when the wind is very miniscule. These are things, I must say, that have been physically established and known for centuries, and weve simply totally neglected this during the green energies discussion, said Dr. Harald Schwarz, professor of power distribution at the University of Cottbus. It will be impossible to replace fossil fuels with solar and wind. Neither the developed West nor the developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America can afford to make a move that will jeopardize their economic growth and the well-being of their citizens. In developing countries, the risk of renewable dependency is much higher. Their GDP growth is highly sensitive to disruptions in the energy sector. Predominantly industrial in nature, the economies in developing countries are completely reliant on the supply of reliable and affordable energy. Apart from electricity, the supply of oil and gas is also critical for the transportation and manufacturing sector. Resistance to Carbon Imperialism and Hypocrisy However, the present onslaught of anti-fossil fuel policies -- from the European Union, United Nations, and now from the Biden administration in America -- will likely force countries to increase their dependency on unreliable renewable technologies. In turn, the countries will risk the growth of their commercial sectors, their industries, and the well-being of their households. Defenders of developing countries rights to use fossil fuels have called this type of climate diplomacy and fossil fuel arm-twisting carbon imperialism. They are right to do so. The economic success of Western civilization -- and its unprecedented social development -- can be credited to the Industrial Revolution and how fossil fuels enabled it. Today, the very benefactors of that fossil fuel-empowered economic progress are asking developing and poor countries to forgo the use of fossil fuels. This is nothing short of a form of economic suppression and is indeed carbon imperialism. As far as the current energy outlook is concerned, some of the biggest fossil-fuel consumers, like India and China, are determined to resist this form of carbon imperialism. But not all developing nations will be able to show this resolute display of political willpower to continue using fossil fuels. Smaller Nations Worse Off Much smaller nations and poor countries are entirely dependent on foreign aid to keep their economies running. Such nations have no choice but to surrender to the carbon imperialism imposed upon them. For example, the African Developmental Bank (ADB) announced in 2019 that it will not fund any coal projects. Just imagine the impact of that on the future progress of countries in the continent! According to its own admission, the ADBs primary mission is to reduce poverty, improve living conditions for Africans and mobilize resources for the continents economic and social development. Yet, it is now depriving its own members of an energy source that has had a proven record of uplifting communities and nations out of poverty during the past two centuries! Likewise, a couple of other major funders have announced that they will not fund fossil-fuel projects. Instead, they will restrain funding nations that are not adhering to their decarbonization policies. The European Investment Bank, which has funded 13.4 billion Euros worth of fossil fuel projects since 2013, announced that it will drop fossil-fuel funding. The collective anti-fossil fuel push from the UN, EU, funding institutions, and the Biden administration will push the smaller nations towards the brink of economic chaos and a stall their progress. In fast-developing nations like India and China, there will be considerable delay in poverty alleviation if they succumb to the carbon pressure. Even developed nations will encounter instances of energy poverty if they allow their domestic energy grids to depend more on renewable tech. Carbon imperialism is evil, and the biggest benefactors of fossil fuels perpetrate it. The world should not remain silent. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. -- Martin Luther King Jr. Vijay Jayaraj (M.Sc., Environmental Science, University of East Anglia, England), is a Research Contributor for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and resides in New Delhi, India. Image: Pixabay Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has warned against potential crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) following a spike in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group, in two provinces in the east In a kitchen the size of a studio apartment on Guijo Street, counters and tall racks of ingredients, condiments, and takeout containers fill up the space that a bed, desk, and bathroom normally would. Sunlight bounces off the contrasting navy and white walls. The free line cooks wear masks. A few tables that create an L shape make up their dispatch area lined with freshly packed orders, ready for contactless pick-ups. Amidst the busy and snug space, the head chef is busy studying. In the wake of her careful examination of a proposed restaurant concept where the brief was for painfully addictive Korean fried chicken, she had begun a series of experiments to be tasted by Mikee Villareal, the young, beaming, and platinum blonde CEO of the online-only restaurant group, MadEats. After eating those experiments almost every day, Villareal concurred: the secret to creating chicken that stays crispy during delivery is the same thing that all cooks at pre-pandemic chicken winners before them knew. "It has to be fried twice. Judging from the motorbikes picking and packing food cargo into their insulated boxes in Kapitolyo and the fringes of BGC, cloud kitchens, spaces purpose-built to cook food for delivery, are on the rise. But MadEats is the first to go all in on a techie playbook, spinning off multiple brands out of one kitchen facility so they can maximize the gains. Conceptualized in September 2020, MadEats was born in anticipation of a world in which delivery is the norm, and the future of food is digital. But when they finally launched in November, this prediction materialized into the reality for restaurants they had to make people happier at home while the rest of the world stayed temporarily closed. Yang Gang's Chick-n-Cheese. Photo courtesy of MADEATS The anatomy of MadEats Behind the delivery-only food group are individuals who have worked in food & beverage marketing and business development: Mikee Villareal (Chief Executive Officer), Keisha Lao (Chief Product Officer), and Andie Cruz (Chief Marketing Officer). The all-female teams core philosophy captured the attention of their now-investor and Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen along with PayMongo Chief Growth Officer Luis Sia. MadEats is the first local F&B venture Mateen has invested in and the third venture he has funded in the Philippines joining the likes of Avion School and PayMongo. Behind MadEats are (from left) Keisha Lao (Chief Product Officer), Mikee Villareal (Chief Executive Officer), and Andie Cruz (Chief Marketing Officer). Photo courtesy of MADEATS Orders are usually placed on their website where their menu is divided into two sections: Chow Time, a line of Chinese grub for everyday selling dimsum, rice, and noodles, and Yang Gang, which is focused on Korean fried chicken. The site illustrates all my desires for a painless ordering experience: time-saving quick views, a condensed list of dishes, and online-friendly payment methods. For now, they are relying on third-party courier manpower while they work on assembling their own fleet of riders dedicated to getting to where their customers are. In contrast to ordering on FoodPanda or GrabFood, where Chow Time and Yang Gang are also available, the MadEats website grants you the exclusive opportunity to cross-order from both food brands and conveniently end up with a box with three flavors of Korean fried chicken and a side of Chinese fried rice topped with sweet and sour pork. Their delivery-only model was orchestrated to suit the needs of conscious consumers who are independent, open-minded, pleasure-seekers. When it comes to the consumer market for food, there will always be traditionalists and purists, said Cruz, the marketing officer. Since our [brands] are playful both in taste and in marketing, we imagine that the behavioral thinking of our target market is that they are the ones who like to take risks. The websites flood of colors and bold fonts did welcome me just like how it felt before to enter the Food Choices in Glorietta when it was newly renovated. At the same time, I was thrilled at the thought of eating food from two different places while avoiding the doubled inconvenience and fees that it otherwise wouldve cost me. I try it out myself on an impossible Monday when I am drained empty from ambitiously catching up on all the work in my to-do list. I expected, irrationally, to have the kind of carbo-loaded and deep-fried food that would wipe away the exhaustion. MadEat's Chow Time is a line of Chinese grub for everyday selling dimsum, rice, and noodles. Photo from MADEATS Moments later, a hot and unusual combination of Chinese takeout boxes and signature Korean chicken waited for me on my dining table. In just a few taps and clicks, a man on a motorcycle paid my house a visit to hand me a warm paper bag carrying the food I caught myself staring at through my phone a mere few minutes earlier. I called my mom to join me while I unpacked my favorite dishes. Mom examined the stark contrast of red and black printed on the remnants of a torn and discarded paper bag, Wheres their restaurant? I tore open the last sizable tub of cheese supposedly meant for the soy garlic chicken and motioned for her to sit and start eating before the food got cold. They dont have one. If theres anything I learned from scouring Hongdae, a street lined with restaurants in Seoul that offered street food and then some, its that anything delicious turns into something unbelievable when dipped in cheese. The same principle applies to Yang Gangs OG fried chicken with its thin and crackly crust submerged in their OG crack sauce (a tub of silky and rich cheese that equalizes the spiciness). Plus, their tangy rabokki, a firecracker hot fusion of instant ramen noodles and rice cakes and a subtly sweet jjanjangmyeon with an outburst of umami are easy to devour on their own or great pairings to their signature chicken which the kitchen tweaked based on early impressions from its first customers, I learned from Villareal later on. A sensation experienced by most was exorbitant levels of spicy. We can concede to the fact that not a lot of people like spicy food, but what we can do is give them a variety of other dishes that are not spicy, Villareal said, pointing to their expanded selection of chicken flavors: OG Fried Chicken, Fire OG Fried Chicken, Soy Garlic, Sweet Curry, Yangnyeom, and Kimchi BBQ. I abandoned my cheesed-up fork and spoon to navigate a pair of chopsticks towards the red oyster pails. Inside the first lucky meal I pried open, I found a generous serving of their namesake fried rice with bits of beef topped with a fried variation of classic siomai a combination that I now crave for often. I also could not resist a bite or two of their balanced sweet and sour pork which, to no ones surprise, also paired perfectly with the Chow Time fried rice. On the side, I had an unbelievable amount of stir-fried noodles bursting with a strong garlic and sesame flavor which I want in all my birthdays to come. The best decision I made was ordering the fried dimsum, which disappeared in mere seconds. Yang Gang's OG Meal comes with fried chicken, steamed rice, and cheese crack. Photo from MADEATS With our realities minimized to our immediate vicinities, MadEats creates versions of our cravings specifically engineered for delivery. We make it a point to look for cuisines that are delivery-friendly because we believe that good packaging and a delivery experience can only do so much, Lao says. We want our food to remind people what its like to eat at a restaurant. They deliver within a radius where they feel the food is at its peak when the texture, freshness, and temperature are, under most circumstances, preserved. To make good on their vision to grow their national reach, they are also working on expanding their delivery footprint beyond the immediate neighborhood by setting up more cloud kitchens in the near future. For now, theyve dropped hints about the third and next member to join their growing list of homegrown brands: Fried Nice. Rice is intrinsic to the eating culture of Filipinos, Cruz says. They allude to a possible repertoire of adobo fried rice, mushroom fried rice with truffle butter, and maybe even a plant-based bibimbap. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A vial and sryinge are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken Jan. 11, 2021. Reuters Sweden will for the time being not use the Covid-19 vaccine made by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the age group 65 years and older, health authorities said on Tuesday. Data from the British-Swedish company are not sufficient to be able to assess the effectiveness of the vaccination in the age group, the Swedish Public Health Agency said. It noted that more data was pending from a large-scale, late-stage trial in the United States. Two other approved vaccines, already in use developed by US-German venture Pfizer/BioNTech and US firm Moderna - would therefore be used for older age groups, the agency added. Soren Andersson of the Public Health Agency told a press conference that other countries, among them Germany, have made a similar decision. An entrepreneur who has been trying to open a car wash in Chula Vista for three years has a message for other business owners thinking of setting up shop in San Diegos second-largest city. I would say be very careful about doing business in Chula Vista, said Neil Capin Tuesday night after the City Council decided to hit the brakes on his project on Telegraph Canyon Road and Halecrest Drive. The City Council, after nearly two hours of deliberation, voted 4-1 to reject the recommendations of its Planning Commission and city staff to move forward with the project. Instead, they asked Capin to conduct a traffic study of the site to quell noise and traffic safety concerns brought up by the owner of a neighboring gas station that has a small car wash. Capin, who began the process in December 2015, called the gas station owners objections thinly veiled attempts to protect his business interest. Advertisement But a lawyer representing the gas station, John Moot, maintained that placing a car wash on that corner would cause traffic to back up onto Telegraph Canyon Road, one of Chula Vistas busiest roads. The council last discussed the car wash in November. It concluded that meeting by asking Caltrans to weigh in on some of its traffic concerns. During Tuesdays meeting, the citys Development Services Director Kelly Broughton told the council that Caltrans chose not to comment on the project. They concluded that they had no further comments on the project, Broughton told the mayor and council. I will remind you this is the fourth chance that Caltrans had to reply to a review of this project. Usually, when Caltrans has concerns about a project, they respond to it, Broughton added. During Tuesdays meeting, Capin and the owner of the property in question argued that there used to be a gas station on the site so a car wash would not create more traffic than a gas station. Additionally, they argued the opposition complained about existing traffic conditions in that intersection therefore it wasnt fair to penalize the proposed car wash. Don Christlock, the property owner of the proposed site for the car wash, said he plans to retire from money earned off that lot. It seems clear that the adjacent owner is raising these issues because they feel it could negatively affect their business, he said. This is just not fair. Why should my property value be negatively affected because of this? Ultimately, the City Council voted 4-1 to reject the staff recommendation and asked Caputo to pay for a traffic safety study. Advertisement The lone no vote was Councilman John McCann, who said the vote sets a poor example of how Chula Vista treats business owners. I hope that people will understand that this will become the poster child of how not to do business in Chula Vista, he said. This vote came at a time when Chula Vistas elected officials have made making the city more business friendly a top priority. Newly elected and re-elected candidates, including Council members Jill Galvez and McCann and Mayor Mary Casillas Salas campaigned on attracting more businesses to the city. Additionally, Chula Vista faces growing budget deficits and one of their strategies to balance the budget is to diversify revenue by bringing more businesses to the city. Advertisement After the vote, Capin said he will consider his options over the next couple of days and decide whether he wants to continue pursuing the project. He said hes already altered his design and business plans to appease public concerns. Specifically, he changed the height of a wall from six feet to nine feet to minimize noise pollution and he pushed back the opening of business from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. in order to minimize the traffic impact during the morning rush hour. We were looking for ways to work with people or ways to make the situation better, Capin said. They were just looking for any reason to say no. Ultimately, council members who voted against the car wash said they were swayed by public safety concerns related to traffic on Telegraph Canyon Road. Im pro-business, I hate it when someone says theyve been doing this for four years, said Councilman Mike Diaz. But at the end of the day, the one thing that we are responsible for in our communities is public safety. Advertisement Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has reiterated to Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri Egypt's support to Beirut, expressing his well wishes to Al-Hariri in forming a new cabinet in a manner that fulfils the aspirations of the Lebanese people to achieve security and stability. El-Sisi received on Wednesday Al-Hariri, who is on an official visit to Egypt, at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo. El-Sisi voiced Cairo's readiness to offer all sorts of support and assistance to overcome the crises facing Lebanon, especially the ramifications caused by both the massive 4 August explosion in Beirut's port and the coronavirus pandemic. El-Sisi reaffirmed to Al-Hariri Egypt's stance toward enhancing cooperation with Beirut, the Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel, said Rady. Al-Hariri was named premier for a fourth time in October after his successor stepped down. He has pledged to quickly form a new cabinet comprised of specialists that would enact reforms and save the country from economic collapse. During the meeting, Al-Hariri highlighted the "strong historical" ties that unit Cairo and Beirut. He expressed his county's appreciation of Egypts effort to support his nation amid the challenges facing the Lebanese people on the political, economic and humanitarian levels, especially by providing all forms of aid in the wake of the explosion. "Egypt is a fundamental pillar in preserving stability in the Arab region," Al-Hariri said. He also praised the Egyptian experience that gave priority to the success of economic reform and development, saying "it is a model to be emulated in the region." Egypt has sent a number of airlifts carrying medical supplies and humanitarian aid as part of an open-air bridge it launched after the August explosion, which killed an excess of 200 people and devastated swathes of the capital. Lebanon's economic woes were exacerbated in 2020 by the pandemic, as rising infection rates in the country led to a coronavirus lockdown nationwide earlier this month in a bid by the government to stem the spread of the virus. The lockdown has led to several protests this week, as popular frustration over the restrictions grew. Egypt also sent tons of medicine and medical supplies to help Lebanon fight the coronavirus pandemic. Short link: Popular Australian brand Bali Body has launched an express fake tan product that provides a perfect deep golden glow in just one hour. Since the release on January 19, the product sells every three minutes nationally and is ideal for those who have forgotten to apply a tan or are time poor. The 1 Hour Express Tan priced at $32.95 not only delivers swift results, but is enriched with vitamin E to hydrate, soothe and support skin health. Scroll down for video The 1 Hour Express Tan priced at $32.95 not only delivers swift results, but is enriched with vitamin E to hydrate, soothe and support skin health Since the release on January 19, the product sells every three minutes nationally and is ideal for those who have forgotten to apply a tan or are time poor Whether you're attending a special function, event or simply going out on a Saturday night, customers can stress less knowing the perfect tan is always within reach with the new affordable buy. The innovative product is equipped with 'colour guide technology' to reduce the amount of time needed to develop a dark, natural-looking tan. Compared to Bali Body's Self-Tanning Mousse, the 1 Hour Express Tan dries quicker on the skin and will last up to seven days. The innovative product is equipped with 'colour guide technology' to reduce the amount of time needed to develop a deep natural-looking tan Compared to Bali Body's Self-Tanning Mousse, the 1 Hour Express Tan dries quicker on the skin and will last up to seven days Co-Founder and Managing Director of Bali Body, Laura Oosterloo said: 'We couldn't be more excited about the launch of the 1 Hour Express Tan. 'As a business owner, I know how challenging it can be to justify time for self-care so I'm so proud to offer our customers a product that not only respects their time but lets them feel beautiful in their own skin.' For best results, it's recommended to shower and exfoliate before applying the tan onto dry skin. For best results, it's recommended to shower and exfoliate before applying the tan onto dry skin HOW TO APPLY THE BALI BODY ONE HOUR EXPRESS TAN 1. Ensure your skin is clean and freshly exfoliated 2. Apply the One Hour Express Tan foam onto a tanning mitt and rub in a circular motion across your body the legs are often the easiest place to start 3. Let the product develop for one hour for a glowing tan 4. For a darker result, leave the product on for two to three hours 5. Shower with warm water and pat the skin dry 6. Enjoy a dark, natural looking tan for up to seven days Source: Bali Body/YouTube Advertisement While the product only launched two weeks ago, it has received several positive reviews on the business website. 'I couldn't believe the tan that I was able to achieve with this product after just one hour! My whole office complimented me on my tan the next day, saying it looked completely natural,' one customer wrote on the Bali Body website. 'I can confidently say this is the best self-tanner I have ever used! It is so light and airy, and dries quickly! It goes on so smoothly,' another said. 'When they say "dark results in 60 minutes", they really mean it! I have never used an express tan that actually works until this one,' a third added. While the product only launched two weeks ago, it has received several positive reviews on the business website. Customers can purchase all products from the Bali Body website Since launching in 2014 by married couple David and Laura Oosterloo, the brand has become a global sensation and has gained a following of 1.4 million Instagram users. The brand also sells a selection of other products, the most popular being the Face Tan Water for $29.95, the Self Tan Remover priced at $24.95 and the Bronzing Lotion priced at $23.95. The bronzing lotion can be used to enhance a natural tan as it's made with antioxidant rich ingredients to provide an instant tan while smoothing the skin with Vitamin E and nourishing oils. Customers can purchase all products from the Bali Body website. Cyrell Paule shared shocking footage on Tuesday of her Married At First Sight co-stars Jessika Power and Ashley Irwin 'mocking mental health' and has accused the two blondes and fellow co-star Sarah Roza of 'bullying her.' The mother-of-one shared a video on Instagram of Ashley jokingly saying that 'Cyrell has been hospitalised, institutionalised' ahead of the reunion, as Jessika added it was for 'mental [problems]'. At the start of the clip, Cyrell's nemesis Jessika said she 'hoped Cyrell accidentally fell over and broke her leg or something' and that she wouldn't be at the dinner party. Has the Married At First Sight feud finally gone too far? On Tuesday, Cyrell Paule shared shocking footage of her co-stars 'mocking mental health and bullying her' - before Jessika Power hit back Sarah seemed shocked by the comments, but added that while 'nobody wishes anyone bad', Cyrell will one day 'get karma' for her actions. 'I know she has been not good, but the thing is, Karma. You don't have to drive the Karma bus,' Sarah said. Cyrell says the clip is an example of the girls 'bullying' her. 'Sooo wishing I fell and broke my leg.... Then we had I think her name is Ashley (I wouldn't know. Was she even at the reunion???) and Jess making a mockery of mental health!' Cyrell said. Shocking: The mother-of-one shared a video on Instagram of Ashley Irvine (right) jokingly saying that 'Cyrell has been hospitalised, institutionalised' ahead of the reunion, as Jessika added it was for 'mental [problems]' Controversial: Sarah Roza (far left) seemed shocked by the comments, but added that while 'nobody wishes anyone bad', Cyrell will one day 'get karma' for her actions 'And how I should be admitted. In this day and age, mental health is not a joke. And if I were a person who was not as strong and allowed this to get to me, I probably would have committed suicide or inflicted self harm from this BULLYING!' 'It was crocodile tears,' she said of Jessika breaking down at the reunion dinner party. 'For those that believe that Jess was capable of change. This was filmed on the day of the reunion... I don't find this funny at all.' Cyrell then went on to say that the girls should apologise for the clip. 'In this day and age. Mental health is not a joke. And if I were a person who was not as strong and allowed this to get to me. I probably would have committed suicide or inflicted self harm from this BULLYING!': Cyrell said the clip is an example of the girls 'bullying' her 'And these ladies should apologise for their inappropriate remarks. And to even post it on their Instagram. Shame on the three of you. For anyone dealing with any mental health issues. Don't not let this video get to you. Seek help. You are not alone.' Sarah Roza has since removed the video after being asked to by Jessika and Ashley. Sarah also added: 'I will tell my side of the story soon. Even though it was not my intention, it has become apparent that the IGTV may have triggered some people,' before adding numbers for mental health helplines. Regretting it? Sarah Roza has since removed the video after being asked to by Jessika and Ashley Meanwhile, Jessika has hit back at Cyrell over on her Instagram stories, sharing a series of videos explaining the situation. 'As many of my followers know, I'm a massive advocate for mental health and I have lost close people to me to suicide due to mental health,' she said. 'The comments made in the back of the car where I said "mental", where because the night before she followed me around five times at the dinner party, five times I tried to remove myself and I wasn't able to. Meanwhile, Jessika has since hit back at Cyrell, sharing a series of videos explaining the situation. 'As many of my followers know, I'm a massive advocate for mental health and I have lost close people to me to suicide due to mental health,' she said 'She (Cyrell) then threw a whole glass of wine at me and she had to be restrained from throwing a whole entire glass water jug at me and a few other glasses that Sarah had to take out of her hands.' 'That was mental... I'm not saying she is mental, it's a pass off comment, if anybody has taken any offence to it, I apologise. I would never mock mental health.' She went on to say that Cyrell is 'grasping at straws' trying to say she's mocking mental health. 'The comments made in the back of the car where I said "mental," where because the night before she followed me around five times at the dinner party, five times I tried to remove myself and I wasn't able to,' Jessika explained 'It's insane I'm even having to do this,' Jessika said. Jessika admitted her comment about Cyrell breaking her leg was a 'b***hy' thing to say. Ashley has not yet publicly commented on the video. During part one of the Grand Reunion, Cyrell threw a glass of white wine at Jessika when she confronted her at the dinner table over past comments she believed Jessika to have made. Cyrell confronted the blonde over claims Jessika once described her relationship with Love Island's Eden Dally as 'fake', and that their baby was all for publicity. Jessika denied she ever said anything negative about their 10-month-old son Boston, but did admit to having called their romance fake. Fiery clash: During part one of the Grand Reunion, Cyrell threw a glass of white wine at Jessika when she confronted her at the dinner table over past comments she believed Jessika to have made During part two, Cyrell apologised to Jessika for the incident and admitted to the experts she had 'regrets' over the way she acted. 'I hated what Martha [Kalifatidis] did, and yet I did it to Jessika. I threw wine, and I really am sorry, I actually am,' she said, referring to the time Martha tipped wine on her in 2019,' she said. Cyrell continued: 'Honestly, you did not deserve that. I was really childish, I did what I hated Martha for so many years, I did that to you.' 'Okay, and that was wrong, that was ill of me, that was stupid. I really am sorry for that. But, you know, that's probably where I'm just going to leave it.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jessika, Sarah and Ashley for comment in relation to this story. If you or anyone you know is struggling, contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue. 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The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled the further plans to be implemented during the period of state of emergency at the meeting. The plans include to reopen the respective religious buildings and pagodas, to resume the domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as the industries in line with the COVID-19 rules and regulations, to revitalize the country's economy, to provide job opportunities for the unemployed and to repatriate Myanmar citizens from abroad promptly during COVID-19 pandemic. Min Aung Hlaing urged the cabinet members to follow the norms for the betterment of the country through multilateral consultation. Myanmar's President Office on Monday declared a state of emergency for one year after the military detained government leaders and other senior officials. The state power has been handed over to Min Aung Hlaing under the Constitution. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company [February 03, 2021] ADVANCE.AI Launches 'Advance Intelligence Group' Brand SINGAPORE, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ADVANCE.AI, a homegrown AI and big data company in Asia helping to solve digital transformation, fraud prevention, and process automation for enterprise clients, is today formally announcing its corporate parent brand Advance Intelligence Group. Backed by a number of leading investors including Temasek subsidiary Pavilion Capital and several top tier venture funds, the Series-C AI-driven technology company has raised over US$100 million in equity and leverages innovative technology and partnerships to build an ecosystem of products and services serving consumers, enterprises, and merchants. Headquartered in Singapore, Advance Intelligence Group operates across Southeast Asia, India and Greater China and consists of two main business lines. ENTERPRISE BUSINESS The group's enterprise business, ADVANCE.AI provides AI-based (digital identity verification, video eKYC) and risk products (alternative credit scoring, anti-fraud and anti-identity theft) to key focus sectors include banking and financial services, retail, and e-commerce industries. ADVANCE.AI's API call volume for its cloud-based software more than doubled last year to reach almost 800 million as digitalisation across the financial services and retail sectors accelerated due to COVID19. Last year, it was alo named in LinkedIn Top 10 Start-ups in Singapore, awarded "Best International Fintech" at India's Fintech Awards and listed in the "Next Global Tech 50: Artificial Intelligence" shortlist by global investment research firm Equal Ocean. In 2021, ADVANCE.AI's expansion plans include serving the UK, European and Latin American markets with growing demand for its cloud-based eKYC identity verification and broader AI-based anti-fraud solutions. Meanwhile, its cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and omni-channel management platform, Genie, has also grown to support more than 30,000 SMEs and processed nearly 30 million e-commerce orders in less than a year, integrating with all major e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. CONSUMER BUSINESS Its consumer business, Atome Financial, provides 'buy now pay later' and digital lending services under its Atome and KreditPintar brands. Atome Financial works with some of the world's most respected financial institutions who provide over $200 million in funding and credit facilities to propel its mission to enhance product access and financial inclusion across the region. Since inception, it has served over 5 million users in the region and cumulatively provided more than USD 1 billion of credit to empower merchants and consumers. Atome, Asia's leading buy now pay later platform, partners with over 2,000 retail brands including Agoda, Sephora, Zara, Pull&Bear, Aldo, Furla and Marks & Spencer in six markets. Meanwhile, Kredit Pintar is one of Indonesia's top digital lending apps, having been downloaded over 10 million times with 1.5 million customer reviews on the Google Play store and has an average 4.8-star rating out of 5. Jefferson Chen, Co-Founder and Chairman of Advance Intelligence Group, said: "After four years of rapid growth, we are introducing our Advance Intelligence Group as our parent brand to better reflect the breadth and depth of products that we offer. Covid-19 was a test of our technology, adaptability and leadership strength. We are on the fast track of global expansion against the backdrop of rapid digitalisation across the industries and partners we serve. Being customer- and data-centric are key pillars of our company philosophy. We strive to continue our journey of "advance with intelligence for a better life" under this new group umbrella". A media kit is available here. About Advance Intelligence Group Advance Intelligence Group is a Series-C AI-driven technology company in Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2016, it leverages innovative technology and partnerships to build an ecosystem of products and services serving consumers, enterprises and merchants. Its enterprise business, ADVANCE.AI and Genie, provide facial recognition, OCR, credit scoring and omni-channel ERP management solutions to financial services, retail and other industries. Its consumer business, Atome Financial, provides "buy now, pay later" and digital lending products in both developed and emerging markets. The Group is headquartered in Singapore and has presence across Southeast Asia, India and Greater China. Contact: Michael de Waal-Montgomery Ellerton & Co. Public Relations michael@ellerton.sg SOURCE ADVANCE.AI [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Two men yesterday appeared in court on allegations of defrauding unsuspecting people by manufacturing and selling fake Covid-19 certificates. Grant Tafadzwa Mangwiro (36) and Kufakunani Mufundikwa (41) were facing fraud and forgery charges when they appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Barbra Mateko. They were remanded in custody to February 4 for bail application. The court heard that on January 29, detectives from CID Stores and Business received information that the two suspects were issuing fake Covid-19 certificates at Afgate House in Harare. One of the detectives approached the suspects in room number 107 Afgate House, posing as a prospective client. The detective said he needed a Covid-19 certificate indicating he had tested negative to the virus as he wanted to travel to South Africa the following day. He was charged US$30 for the service, but the suspects said they had forgotten the stamp and seal at home in Chitungwiza and would only hand over the document later in the day. The detective proposed payment of US$20 as deposit saying he would pay the balance of US$10 after receiving the document. It is alleged that the two accused persons created a fake Covid-19 document which showed that he had been tested and was Covid-19 negative. After proofreading the document, the detective left on the agreement that they would meet at Mbudzi roundabout at around 3pm after the document had been stamped. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. At around 3pm that same day, the detectives went to Mbudzi roundabout to wait for the two accused who arrived at around 5pm. Mafundikwa handed over the fake document to the detective. The fake document was purported to have originated from GENAU Laboratory situated at number 52, Baines Avenue, Harare. It is alleged that soon after handing over the document three other detectives moved in and arrested Mafundikwa and Mangwiro. Recently, 334 fake Covid-19 certificates were recovered by police from two suspects at Chirundu Border Post, as law enforcement agents intensify operations to weed out criminals producing fake documents. The two suspects, Simbarashe Tsetse (24) and Freddy Katamanga (31) were arrested after a tip-off, leading to the recovery of the fake Covid-19 certificates, two tubes containing glass capillaries, two testing kits, two receipt books, three plastic capillaries, Covid-19 test record register, methylated spirit bottle and one packet of new needles at their office at Self-Med Complex. The duo had no medical qualifications and had just received US$120 from two travellers who intended to cross the border. According Zimbabwean lawa and World Health Organisation guidelines, travellers must produce Covid-19 clearance certificates issued by a recognised health facility 48 hours before leaving the country. Most institutions charge around US$65 for the Covid-19 tests and some people have in a bid to cut costs, resorted to paying between US$20 and US$40 for them to be issued with fraudulent certificates. Both benchmark oil contracts were close to their highest in about a year on Wednesday, boosted by a draw in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks, which fuelled demand recovery hopes as OPEC+ has forecast that the market will be in deficit in 2021. Brent crude futures were up 55 cents, or 1%, at $58.01 a barrel at 1245 GMT, their highest in about 11 months. The contract's "backwardation" structure, where oil for nearby delivery is more expensive than further forward, was near a one-year high at more than $2, indicating expectations of tighter supply. WTI crude futures climbed 40 cents, or 0.7%, to $55.16 a barrel, having hit a one-year high at $55.28 a barrel earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The market was also bolstered by news that Democrats in the U.S. Congress took the first steps toward advancing President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan without Republican support. API oil industry association reported U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week to Jan. 29. Gasoline stocks fell by 240,000 barrels, defying analysts' expectations for a build of 1.1 million barrels. Distillate inventories also fell. Prices were also buoyed by the latest assessment by OPEC and allies that the oil market could be in deficit throughout this year. "Ahead of today's ministerial meeting, OPEC+ hinted that global oil stockpiles will decline below the five-year average by June," PVM analysts said. The ministerial meeting will convene on Wednesday, although it is not expected to recommend any adjustments to oil output policy. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. GREENVILLE In an announcement anticipated for days, United Community Bank made it official on Wednesday morning: The Blairsville, Ga.-born bank will move its corporate headquarters to downtown Greenville. The bank plans to build a new tower that will rise seven stories from a parcel on East Camperdown Way, itself on an elevated knoll above the Reedy River at the center of downtown. The building, which replaces a two-story, decades-old structure currently housing a law firm, promises to make a visible impact on Greenville's skyline. Motorists will easily catch sight of the United Community Bank tower from Church Street, the main bypass that carries motorists downtown from Interstate 85. The bank's move will nearly double its employee footprint in Greenville, where United Community Bank currently employs about 287 workers. The new headquarters will add 227 to that total. With $17.8 billion in loans and other assets, United Community Bank is now the largest bank headquartered in South Carolina. It bumps Greenville-based Southern First from the top spot. Architectural renderings of the new building, estimated at 90,000 to 100,000 square feet of office space, were not yet available this week. The structure will include a two-story parking deck and five stories of offices, United Community Bank chief executive officer Lynn Harton said. Up to 325 bank employees will fit into the new tower, and the bank plans to vacate office space it is leasing at two other buildings downtown the old Palmetto Bank building on East North Street and executive offices at the ONE building on West Washington. Harton said the bank has a very "connected culture" and being in an office together is important. At the same time, he said, he wanted a building close to Falls Park and downtown, a place where employees would want to come to work. The Liberty Bridge over the Reedy River is within walking distance of the future headquarters. "We have some preliminary sketches, but the plans aren't finalized yet," Harton said. The new headquarters will be at 200 E. Camperdown Way, a 1.9-acre parcel with an office building that currently houses the Wyche firm. Wyche, which sold the parcel for $5.75 million on Dec. 18, will move out by year's end, Harton said. "Then we'll scrape it," he said. United Community Bank anticipates starting construction on its new building in early 2022 and moving in by 2024. A bank branch will also be located on the site, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce. About 150 United Community Bank employees who work in the bank's mortgage, consumer credit, loan and audit operations in the former Erwin Penland building on East Broad Street will not be moving into the new tower. In a broad-ranging interview Wednesday with The Post and Courier, Harton said the company has been talking about moving its headquarters "for years." Its current home in Blairsville is a two-and-a-half-hour drive due west from Greenville in the mountains of northeast Georgia and generally not large enough for a growing, multi-state bank. United Community Bank has tripled in size since 2012 and Harton said he expects $2 billion to $2.5 billion in annual growth through new business and acquisitions in coming years. Harton said Greenville's downtown is ripe territory for recruiting experienced banking talent to his company, and the city's location along Interstate 85 between Charlotte and Atlanta places the bank's new headquarters smack in the middle of its five-state territory. United Community Bank, which acquired Florida-based Seaside National Bank in July, has 160 branches in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. "They are coming here with their family," Harton said of recruits. "We try to time it so they arrive in downtown when the lights are on and put them at one of the hotels and have a great dinner and walk them across the Falls Bridge before the sun goes down, and they start looking around and say, 'You know, this is a place I think I could live.'" Greenville, said Harton, who is a native of Asheboro, N.C., is "definitely one of the best cities, easiest cities to recruit that I've ever seen." United Community Bank focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses that need the heft of a regional financial institution for large loans but still want a level of personal customer service. Harton said that while BMW might be too big to seek financing from his bank, the German automaker's hundreds of suppliers in the region might come to him. Sign up for our Greenville development newsletter. Get all the latest updates on the Upstate real estate market, more openings and closings, exclusive development news and more in your inbox each week. Email Sign Up! In addition to traditional banking services, United Community Bank also operates an equipment financing company. Harton said the bank has enjoyed growth over the past year's challenging financial environment in part because of its ability to jump aggressively into the federal Paycheck Protection Program, part of a coronavirus relief package Congress passed last spring. United Community Bank completed 11,000 PPP loans with businesses for a total of $1.3 billion. Of those loans, about 3,000 were to new customers, Harton said. Not including the PPP loans, United Community Bank enjoyed net loan growth of 8 percent during the third and fourth quarters of 2020, compared to zero net loan growth in most of the banking industry, Harton said. Much of that growth for United Community Bank was new business leveraged from new clients from the PPP program. The bank generated about $19 million in proceeds from the PPP loans, and put about half that revenue into a new charitable arm, the United Community Bank Foundation. Greenville small business owner Edward Johnson, whose family has owned Old Colony Furniture since the 1940s, reached out to United Community Bank when his company needed a PPP loan last spring. Johnson said he was able to keep all of his people paid through the store's mandatory closure and during weeks of nearly no customers walking through his doors. Under terms of the PPP loans at least 80 percent had to go toward payroll. Johnson described being in constant contact with his banker by text message the night he submitted his PPP loan application. "That three-month period was touch and go," Johnson said. "They were the knights in shining armor." With its new downtown tower, the bank's anticipated investment in Greenville will be $24.8 million, the state Commerce Department said. United Community Bank, founded in 1950, has had an executive presence in the Upstate most notably with the hiring of Harton as its chief operating officer since 2012. Harton was promoted to CEO in 2017. Harton, 59, said he's committed to staying with the bank at least another decade. "I love what I do. I love being here. I love the team that we've created," he said. Harton himself came to Greenville in 2007 as part of a team focused on stabilizing Carolina First, a Greenville-based bank that had overextended itself on land loans. Harton helped guide the sale of Carolina First to TD Bank during the national financial crisis the following year at the time one of only a few banks to sell rather than fail. Greenville Mayor Knox White called the bank's decision to move to Greenville the latest affirmation of what the city has done "to retain and attract strong corporate citizens." "With our mission to support financial services, entrepreneurship and advanced manufacturing, Greenville is establishing itself as a destination for innovation and a first-class workforce," White said in a written statement. 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 least 120 cases of detention, obstruction and violence against journalists have been recorded on 31 January as a result of media coverage of protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and their affiliate the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) call on Russian authorities to stop intimidating journalists and let them do their job. On Sunday 31 January, tens of thousands of protesters took to streets across Russia to show support to the jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. By late evening, more than 5,000 people had been detained in at least 85 cities across Russia, according to OVD Info, an independent NGO that monitors rallies. Journalists were detained, obstructed or intimidated in at least 32 cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Tyumen, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude According to JMWU-OVD Info monitoring, at least 120 journalists were detained, obstructed or beaten, while covering the protests. Law enforcement agents detained journalists from major Russian and international media (Kommersant, Radio Svoboda, Novaya Gazeta, RBK, Ekho Moskvy) and from small or regional media (Baza, Open Media, Kholod, MBKh Media , Sota.Vision, RusNews, Activatica, Karavan, the Shtab channel, Navalny LIVE, Rabochaya Democracy, Reporter-NN, Yakutia.Info, Udm-info). According to RUJ, the editor-in-chief of Batayskoe Vremya was condemned to 10 days of arrest in Rostov; a journalist for DonDay was detained and fined in Rostov; a photoreporter was arrested in Murmansk; several journalists, including the editor-in-chief of Babr.Media Andrei Temnov and the editor-in-chief of Yakutia.Info Denis Adamov, were detained in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk; Sergei Smirnov, editor-in-chief of Mediazona, was detained in Moscow; journalist Nikolai Svanidze was also detained in Moscow Overall, we saw twice as many violations of media freedom this Sunday as the previous weekend. The repression is intensifying, even if the acts of violence remain limited, commented the EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutierrez. The journalists covering these demonstrations were clearly identified. We call on the Russian authorities to protect these journalists rather than intimidate or prevent them from working. IFJ Secretary General, Anthony Bellanger, said: "We are shocked by this outrageous crackdown on the press. The Russian government must let our colleagues report safely on matters that are in the public interest. Journalism is not a crime. " The federal government and the organised labour will reconvene on February 22 for the consideration of the reports of their technical committees on fuel price and electricity tariff. One of the major recommendations of the committee is that the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) should collect their port charges in naira to reduce pressure on forex demand and petrol price. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, disclosed this on Monday night while briefing journalists after a bipartite meeting between the federal government and the organised labour at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa Abuja. Ngige said the meeting received and adopted the report of the Technical Committee on Petrol Pricing Framework, while that of the Electricity Tariffs Committee was expected in a week's time. Speaking on the outcome of the discussion, Ngige said that the organised labour has requested for more time to enable them subject the report on petrol pricing to their organs for further investigation. "It is a technical report; so, they needed further investigation of the report by their own technical research team. The Technical Committee on electricity tariff has not finished. We expect the report in a week's time. So, cogently, we are reconvening on 22nd of this month to take both reports," Ngige said. The report of the Technical Committee on petrol Pricing was presented at the meeting by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Onochie Anyaoku, a former Executive Director in charge of Refineries at the NNPC. According to Anyaoku, the report is 100 per cent- owned by the membership of the technical committee, adding that they all endorsed it. He recalled that the terms of reference, jointly agreed to by the bipartite parties include to review the cost of supply and incidental commercial costs of petrol and arrive at the basis of determining market-reflective pump price under the template of the PPPRA Act; to engage all relevant stakeholders to establish the price review framework and to carry out any other assignment that will facilitate the work of the committee. Dubai International Airport has joined the #CorrectUA campaign. Dubai International Airport has turned down the long-obsolete spelling of the capital of Ukraine that was derived from Russian, having switched to correct spelling 'Kyiv.' Read also#KyivnotKiev: Wikipedia changes spelling of Ukrainian capital"Good news from the sunny United Arab Emirates. Dubai International Airport has officially corrected the spelling of Ukraine's capital and now uses the only correct transliteration Kyiv," Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter on February 2, 2021. Background When Ukraine was part of the USSR, the name of its capital in the English-language media was delivered in a manner that corresponded to the Russian pronunciation, that is, Kiev. The Ukrainian authorities now insist that the name of the city be spelled the Ukrainian way, that is, Kyiv. On October 2, 2018, the Foreign Ministry, together with StratCom Ukraine Center for Strategic Communications, launched the #CorrectUA campaign. They ask foreign media to use correct spelling 'Kyiv' (#KyivNotKiev). Over 50 international airports have already joined the initiative. 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. Many Armed Forces veterans do not want to see an amnesty from justice introduced in Northern Ireland, the veterans commissioner said (Niall Carson/PA) Many armed forces veterans do not want to see an amnesty from justice introduced in Northern Ireland, their commissioner has said. A middle way should be found between their needs and the demands of others who seek answers about deaths of loved ones, Danny Kinahan said. He added the Government should be held to its promise to behave in a fair, balanced and proportionate fashion. They were out there protecting all of us and many of them have given not just their lives but their whole way of life is now completely changed by having worked within security and the awful things that happened to them in the past. Most veterans want the past put behind them and would like to find a way forward Danny Kinahan The Veterans Commissioner said those he represents wanted to be respected and to publicise their stories. Mr Kinahan took part in discussions on addressing the legacy of the past hosted at Londons Lambeth Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury in November. The event was branded a secret talks process which ignored victims, but organisers said it was a seminar based on a previous report. The guest list included representatives of the British and Irish governments, senior republican Sean Murray, loyalist Winston Irvine, and Judith Thompson, who was the commissioner for victims and survivors. Mr Kinahan said it had opened the door to further engagement. He recalled he had been asked to discuss an academic set of principles about how the legacy process could advance and said he was pleased to be invited. I went there to find a lot of groups that werent represented. There were some good, strong people, but to me, it seemed there were many more who should have been there on the victims, veterans and government side. Mr Kinahan said former soldiers believed in the rule of law. He told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs: We have a large number of veterans who do not want to see any amnesty whatsoever. Most veterans want the past put behind them and would like to find a way forward. I want us to find a way forward. The rule of law must be followed. He said officials may need to find variations and noted that many people convicted had already been freed, and some had gone on to serve in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mr Kinahan added: The whole of society needs us to find a solution to legacy, to find a way forward so that it does not stay with us in the future. Earlier this week, Rihanna who is the fourth most followed celebrity on Twitter, urged international media to talk more about the farmers' protest in India. The American pop star extended her support with a tweet about the internet blockade in Delhi and condemned the act aimed at crippling the movement. Rihanna tweeted, "Why aren't we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest," to her 100 million followers on the microblogging platform. Two hours later, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also took to Twitter and extended her support to the ongoing farmers' agitation in India. On Tuesday, Greta , while sharing the same news story about internet shutdown in Delhi as Rihanna, said, "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India." Soon after the UK Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe and the US House Representative Jim Costa also expressed solidarity with the Indian farmers, as well as Meena Harris, author and niece of the US Vice President Kamala Harris. Meena wrote on Twitter, "It's no coincidence that the world's oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India's internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters." Harris wrote further, "Militant nationalism is just as potent a force in US politics as it is in India or anyplace else. It can only be stopped if people wake up to the reality that FASCIST DICTATORS aren't going anywhere." Soon after, more celebrities joined in and extended their support to the farmers' protest. Take a look at the tweets, The government of Indias Prime Minister Modi is presiding over a dangerous regression in free speech rights in pursuit of its Hindu nationalist agenda. https://t.co/Xevp0LgiKS #FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/joQVCFqXGr Human Rights Watch (@hrw) February 2, 2021 Yes! Thank you so much @rihanna. This is a humanity issue! #IStandWithFarmers and this narrative is TIRED. https://t.co/H0h5EM7mNW Lilly // #LateWithLilly (@Lilly) February 2, 2021 Why hasnt @narendramodi or other BJP leaders been warned by Twitter for inciting violence against protestors and bystanders? Twitter has suspended or withdrawn the accounts of Indian activists for doing FAR far less. #India #FarmersProtest Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) February 2, 2021 Solidarity to the Indian Farmers. Thank you Rihanna. In an era where political leadership is lacking we are grateful for others stepping forward#FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/jdZnGWURBl Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) February 2, 2021 Salute to Rihanna for shedding light on the #FarmersProtest in #India - she is bringing needed attention to a movement silenced by Twitter and violently suppressed by the Modi government pic.twitter.com/x5GLJSjqPw Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) February 2, 2021 'The big picture here is that India must begin to value the lives and well-being of its own citizens over the potential economic gains for its nation.'Standing in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest @LicypriyaK https://t.co/72B0SfCxCA Elizabeth Wathuti (@lizwathuti) February 2, 2021 According to reports, farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been camping on Delhi's borders for over two months. The group stood in protest against the new farm laws and has demanded repeal by the central government. In the recent turn of events, internet services on the Delhi border were suspended on Saturday. Earlier this week, it was reported that the shutdown has been extended twice and will be in force till at least 5 pm Wednesday. ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Lashes Out At Pop Star Rihanna For Her Tweet On Farmers' Protests; Calls Her 'Fool' ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Says, 'I Am With Farmers' After Twitter Backlash For Anti-Farmers Protest Tweet Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was launched last year packing triple rear cameras. Here we have the camera samples and the camera review of the phone. The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra sport a triple camera setup 108MP rear camera with LED Flash, f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, OIS, Laser AF Sensor 12MP Periscope lens with f/3.0 aperture, PDAF, OIS, 5X optical zoom, Super Resolution Zoom up to 50X 12MP 120 Ultra Wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture 10MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture On the video front, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra can record 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, 1080@60fps, and 720@30fps. There is a Pro Video mode that lets you control various aspect of the device including ISO, Aperture, Focus, White Balance and others. Samsung has added support for an external Bluetooth mic for recording audio during video shoots With Note 20 Ultra, Samsung has addressed several issues that persisted on the S20 Ultra including, focus issues with a dedicated laser auto-focus sensor. As expected, the daylight shots were excellent, with a slight saturation tone to it, typical Samsung. Focusing was quick most of the time. In the case of macro photos, we zoomed it 2X and shot. It gives the same effect as a macro with good natural depth. In terms of zooming capabilities, the output looks sharp and detailed till 10X, and anything beyond 20X looks kind of washed out and blurry. At max, you can go up to 50X using the buttons that appear on the sides. Most of the zoomed images are better than what we saw in the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The 108MP mode, which for some unknown reasons kept in the aspect ratio bar, offers plenty of details. The ultra-wide camera is good as well and maintained the same color profile as other cameras. As expected, the low-light performance was good. It manages to pick up and retain the detail, color saturation is better too. The Night mode kicks in the pseudo-long exposures and brightens the darker areas, but in the right way. The front camera, on the other hand, takes good selfies during the daytime and passable ones at night. There are options for individual and group selfies as well. The portrait photos (Live Focus mode) comes out well most of the time but occasionally leaves focus alongside the border of the subject. Check out the camera samples below: We will bring you the complete review of the phone soon. Deputy President William Ruto has warned political leaders against misusing youths to cause chaos to achieve their selfish ends. Dr Ruto said it was wrong for leaders to use youths to engage in violence for political reasons. He said leaders should take the lead in championing peace and development initiatives aimed at uplifting the lives of youths. As leaders, we must stop misusing the youths to cause chaos for political reasons, said Dr Ruto. He said Kenyans were free to live and own property in any part of the country without any fear. We want to unite and live peacefully as Kenyans in any part part of this country. We should, as leaders take the lead in preaching peace and harmonious coexistence among our people, said Dr Ruto. The Deputy President made the remarks on Tuesday in Ogembo, Bomachoge Chache during the burial of Mzee Abel Gongera (father to Kisii DG Joash Maangi). Present were former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Kisii Governor James Ongwae and several MPs among other leaders. Dr Ruto added that Jubilee has achieved a lot in terms of development, contrary to claims by some leaders that it has done little since it took over power in 2013. We have done a lot in terms of development including construction of roads, connection of electricity to households, improvement of health, education and water sectors, he said. He added: When we took over in 2013, there were only 27,000 households connected to electricity in Kisii County. But as we speak, there are 114, 000 households connected to electricity. The Deputy President made it clear that the hustler movement was about creation of wealth among majority of Kenyans, saying the current model of economic empowerment favored a few in the society. The hustler movement is not an enemy of anyone but an enemy of poverty and unemployment, he said. He said there was need to change the current economic narrative where the economy trickles from the top to bottom and make it vice versa. We want to change the conversation not to be only about leaders, positions and power to include ordinary citizens like boda boda, wheelbarrow and mama mbogas among others, said the Deputy President. Mr Odinga distanced ODM from the leadership wrangles facing the Jubilee Party, saying they were not part of the mess. As ODM, we are out of government and we dont want to be part of the Jubilee mess. Jubilee should not involve us in their internal wars, said Mr Odinga. MPs Alpha Miruka (Bomachoge Chache), Sylvanus Osoro (Mugirango South), Richard Onyonka (Kitutu Chache South), Raphael Wanjala (Budalangi), Shadrack Mose (Kitutu Masaba), Simba Arati (Dagoretti North) among others addressed the function. Mr Gachagua said Mt Kenya will rally behind the leadership of Dr Ruto in 2022. He said those relying on political endorsement to get votes from the region would be in for a rude shock in 2022. Mr Osoro asked the Abagusii community to reject BBI,saying the region has nothing to benefit from it. Governor Ongwae said it was high time leaders engaged in politics of respect and maturity. The Deputy President described mzee Gongera as an elder who valued the education of his children and the community at large. Israeli military vehicles near the kibbutz Manara in northern Israel's upper Galilee patrol along the border with Lebanon, on Dec. 20, 2020. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) Missile Fired at Israeli Drone Over South Lebanon BEIRUT/JERUSALEMAnti-aircraft missiles were fired at an Israeli drone flying over south Lebanon on Wednesday but did not hit the target, the Israeli military spokesman said. Two Lebanese security sources said Lebanons Hezbollah armed movement fired at the drone. One of the sources said the missile did not hit the aircraft, which then returned across the border. Witnesses said they heard the sound of an explosion. Local channel NBN had said earlier that a drone blew up. Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has a dominant presence in the south near the border, has vowed to bring down Israeli drones breaching Lebanese airspace. The two neighboring enemies last fought a month-long war in 2006. Earlier this week, Hezbollah said it had brought down an Israeli drone, while Israels military said the aircraft had fallen inside Lebanon. Lebanons government regularly files complaints to the United Nations against Israeli drones and jets that often fly into Lebanon. By Ellen Francis and Laila Bassam 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. Bi And Data Imperatives For Cios And Cdos The demands of business, and the advanced technologies underpinning it, mean CIOs, CDOs, and other informed business leaders need real-time intelligence to power their decision making. Read this white paper to discover what components, cultural and technical, are needed to succeed with data-driven business initiatives and active intelligence. At least eight people, including soldiers, were killed and several others wounded when terrorists ambushed military personnel in Lower Shabelle region of Somalia on Tuesday, an official said. The ambush took place in the vicinity of Doonka, 40 kilometers (24 miles) southwest of Mogadishu. The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility. Abshir Mohamed, a police official in the region, told Anadolu Agency by phone that the military personnel were targeted while escorting vehicles carrying goods to the capital. He said six soldiers and two drivers were killed in the attack, adding that the injured were taken to Afoye, a nearby town, for treatment. The al-Qaeda affiliated group also claimed attacking Ethiopian forces serving under African Union Mission in the country's southwestern region of Bakol, killing at least four soldiers. Counsel to former President Donald Trump will argue in the upcoming impeachment trial that an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional. They are mistaken. Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution provides that a sitting officer must be removed from office upon impeachment and conviction. It does not exclude former officeholders from impeachment. Article I, Section 3 provides for a penalty applicable to former officeholders: disqualification to hold and enjoy any office ... under the United States. The House is seeking disqualification of Donald Trump. Some argue that if the framers had intended for late impeachment to be permissible, they would have said so in the Constitution. But history shows that late impeachments were an accepted aspect of the impeachment power. Federal impeachment is based on the British Parliaments impeachment power. In 1725, Parliament impeached the Earl of Macclesfield notwithstanding his resignation, and the Earl was convicted after several weeks of trial. In 1787, Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal, was impeached by Parliament nearly two years after he resigned. Twelve states had written constitutions by the time of the Federal Convention, and all but two contained provisions for impeachment of state officials. Virginia provided that the governor was only liable to impeachment after leaving office. Delaware provided for impeachment within 18 months of leaving office. Pennsylvania and Vermont allowed for impeachment after resignation or removal. No pre-1787 constitution prohibited late impeachments. None of the delegates to the Federal Convention expressed any opposition to late impeachment. Instead, the delegates argued about whether federal officers should be impeachable while in office. George Mason argued that exposure to impeachment should be perpetual: No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above justice? Mason mentioned the Hastings case during the debates, but no one suggested that Hastings should be immune from accountability due to his resignation. During the debate over ratification, two framers endorsed late impeachment. During Pennsylvanias convention, James Wilson stated, When a member of Senate shall behave criminally, the criminality will not expire with his office. James Madison indirectly endorsed late impeachability in the Federalist Papers when he argued that by providing for impeachment in office, the federal constitution was an improvement over late impeachment in the Virginia and Delaware constitutions. None of the impeachments since 1787 rejected late impeachment. The Senate expelled Sen. William Blount in the summer of 1797. Nevertheless, the House impeached him several months later. Although Blount argued at trial that he could not be impeached, his counsel made it clear he was not challenging late impeachment per se: I certainly never shall contend, that an officer may first commit an offense, and afterwards avoid punishment by resigning his office, but [this] defendant has been expelled. In 1846, during House debates over the fate of Sen. Daniel Webster, several members advocated Websters impeachment over his conduct as secretary of state. Former President John Quincy Adams endorsed late impeachability: Every officer impeachable by the laws of the country is as liable twenty years after his office has expired as he is whilst he continues in office. The clearest case for the constitutionality of late impeachment is the 1876 impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap. Belknap delivered his resignation to President Ulysses S. Grant, but later that same day, the House impeached him. At trial, Belknaps counsel moved to dismiss on the grounds that late impeachment was unconstitutional. After two weeks of argument, the Senate rejected Belknaps jurisdictional argument. Sen. Thomas Norwood pointed out that the minoritys argument amounted to saying that an officer could commit treason while in office and if he left office before trial, he would escape all accountability. Most constitutional scholars have endorsed the constitutionality of late impeachment. Professor Brian Kalt wrote an influential law review analysis. One hundred fifty scholars recently published an open letter arguing that late impeachment was constitutional. Some who take the minority view have pointed to the dropping of impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon following his resignation, but Nixon was ineligible to seek the presidency again pursuant to the 22nd Amendment. The question opponents of late impeachment cannot answer is this: Why should an officer running out the clock on his term be immune from punishment? As Norwood observed in the Belknap trial, such an odd rule would make the Senate the only court in Christendom whose jurisdiction ... depends on the volition of the accused. Late impeachment is an important safeguard for policing the conduct of federal officeholders. The Senate should reject any challenge to the Trump trial. Kirk Jenkins is an appellate and constitutional attorney in San Francisco. He is president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an elected fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and California chair of the American Bar Associations Council of Appellate Lawyers. The US Navys Nimitz carrier strike force has left the Middle East after a nine-month deployment abroad that was extended to keep pressure on Iran, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to tell reporters whether any specific event had influenced Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins decision to send the carrier home, nor whether the United States assessment of the potential for hostile Iranian activity in the region had changed. It is a balancing act between requirements and the capabilities on hand, Kirby said, adding, The secretary believes that we have a robust presence in the Middle East to respond. It would be imprudent for us to think this is based on a specific piece of intel in a specific part of the world, he said. USNI first reported the decision to bring the Nimitz back to the United States. Following a late December decision to send the supercarrier home, the Nimitz was ordered to return to the Middle East in early January amid public threats from Iranian leaders against US officials. The Nimitz also took part in exercises with the Indian navy and assisted the US troop drawdown from Somalia since leaving San Diego in May 2020. Its home port is in Bremerton, Washington. US Central Command has led a show of force in the region to deter Irans military and its proxies from potentially acting on threats by leaders in Tehran to retaliate for last years killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by the United States. The US Air Force has dispatched six round-trip flights of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East since November, a trend that is likely to continue. The Navy also publicized the deployment of a guided-missile submarine, the USS Georgia, escorted by two cruisers into the Persian Gulf late last year. CENTCOM commander Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie has emphasized that the display is intended as an act of deterrence and that the US does not seek conflict with Iran. McKenzie, who visited US partners in the region last week, has credited the deployments with potentially averting Iranian hostile activity in the region amid the presidential transition in Washington. It is not clear if another carrier will replace the Nimitz. Kirby said Tuesday that Austin had made no decisions on changes to US force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some 2,500 US troops remain in each country, the result of a last-minute order from former President Donald Trump. The Nimitzs departure comes as the Biden administration is looking to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and other nations. Officials in both Washington and Tehran, however, are publicly insisting the other side return to compliance with the agreement first. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested the European Union could mediate the apparent snag. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Tuesday that a mutual return to the deal will take time. Just last week, the Biden administration named Robert Malley as its lead Iran envoy. The return of Malley, who previously served on the Obama administrations National Security Council, triggered sharp criticism from observers opposed to a more diplomatic US approach to Iran. Israeli officials have also voiced firm opposition to the United States rejoining the original agreement, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said was insufficient to prevent Irans long-term ability to acquire sufficient nuclear material for a bomb. McKenzie met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi last week to discuss the issue of Iran. Further diplomatic coordination between the key partners is expected in the coming weeks. Somalia Faces Constitutional Impasse At least 13 members of Somalia's security forces were killed on Sunday (February 7, 2021) in a roadside bombing attack, shortly after emergency talks failed to end a stalemate over how to select a new president. The bomb hit a convoy belonging to regional intelligence units, a military official said. The convoy had been traveling near the town of Dhusamareeb, which had hosted talks over the country's delayed election. The talks ended without a conclusion just days before the term of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed - also known as Farmaajo - was set to expire. Mohamed flew back to Mogadishu, and addressed parliament on Saturday. Local news outlet Dalsan Radio reports that Mohamed said there was hope for more meetings on the elections. But Kenya's Daily Nation reports that key stakeholders have started warning they will withdraw recognition of Farmaajo as the head of state, if he chooses to stay on beyond February 8. The president is elected by lawmakers - made up of 275 members of parliament and 54 senators. But the country has failed to hold the necessary ballot to choose new lawmakers, so no new president can be elected. The mandate of the current president expires on February 8, 2021. Newsmax anchor Bob Sellers repeatedly tried to cut off MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in an interview Tuesday after the Trump-supporting executive spread election fraud falsehoods on air. That's a particularly touchy topic for the conservative news channel, because it was named in a lawsuit claiming it spread misinformation about voting machines. Lindell was invited on Newsmax to discuss "cancel culture." Twitter banned his personal account and the MyPillow account for repeatedly sharing election misinformation. But at the beginning of the interview, Lindell discussed the conspiracy theories that got him kicked off Twitter. "We have all this election fraud with these Dominion machines," Lindell said. "We have 100% proof." Sellers quickly interjected. "Mike, you're talking about machines. We at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those kinds of allegations," he said, before reading from a statement: "While there were some clear evidence of some cases of voter fraud and election irregularities, the election results in every state were certified, and Newsmax accepts the results as legal and final. The courts have also supported that view." An executive at Dominion Voting Systems has previously sued Newsmax and others over false claims of voter fraud. Following the lawsuit, Newsmax ran an on-air news segment correcting the prior falsehoods it disseminated on its network. Separately, Dominion has sent Lindell a letter warning that litigation is "imminent." Lindell told CNN he welcomes a lawsuit from Dominion and has "100 percent evidence." While reading the statement, Lindell was shouting over Sellers, claiming that Newsmax was trying to do the same thing to him that Twitter did. "You have just suppressed me, just like Twitter," Lindell said. Sellers grew agitated as Lindell continued to talk over him. "We wanted to talk about canceling culture, if you will," Sellers said, adding, "We don't want to relitigate the allegations that you're making, Mike." Less than two minutes into the interview, Sellers asked the show's producers, "Can we get out of here, please? I don't want to have to keep going over this. We at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those allegations." When Sellers' co-anchor Heather Childers, a former "Fox & Friends First" anchor, continued the conversation, Sellers promptly got up out of his anchor chair and walked off set. Yet, later Tuesday, Newsmax brought Lindell back on the network for an interview with anchor Rob Schmitt. Schmitt referred to Lindell as "our good friend" and gave Lindell another opportunity to discuss his Twitter ban. "Obviously you were on the network earlier in the day. We made some waves there. We'll leave it at that," he said, adding, "You and Newsmax have always had a very good relationship." Lindell spoke about impeachment, but he did not discuss voter fraud in his second interview on Newsmax on Tuesday. The interview also touched on the ban of Lindell's personal and professional Twitter accounts, and Schmitt talked about businesses that no longer sell MyPillow pillows. There is no evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and the Trump administration and election officials have called the 2020 presidential election the "most secure" election in US history. President Joe Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and he won the electoral map 306 to 232. Newsmax was just one of the defendants in the Dominion lawsuit. The list also included the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani, Trump adviser Sidney Powell, conservative media outlet One America News Network, the right-wing website Gateway Pundit, and Colorado businessman and activist Joseph Oltmann, among others. -- CNN's Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report 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 head of former President Donald Trump's legal team defending him in the Senate impeachment proceedings will argue that the Capitol rioters planned the attack before Trump's speech. David Schoen, the Atlanta-based lawyer appointed by Trump on Sunday, will defend him next week in his historic second impeachment trial. 'I have no reason to believe anyone involved with Trump was in the know,' Schoen said in an interview with the New York Times of the Capitol riots, that saw Trump supporters storm the building on January 6 leaving five people dead. The argument that Capitol rioters planned the attack in advance could help Trump, as house prosecutors plan to argue that the former president was 'singularly responsible' for the riots, and that he must be convicted and barred from office. Schoen, a Fox News commentator and former counsel to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, also said on Tuesday that his client had never pressured him to base his legal arguments on baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. David Schoen (pictured) appeared on Fox News on Monday night to discuss the impeachment trial. On Tuesday, he told the New York Times 'I have no reason to believe anyone involved with Trump was in the know,' about the Capitol riots Over the weekend, Trump parted ways with Butch Bowers - the first head of his legal team in the impeachment proceedings - along with four other lawyers. Sources close to the prior legal team and close to Trump himself had previously said that the plan was to focus on claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. But Schoen hinted that this tactic would not be used, saying: 'You know the president believes what he believes. He's never forced that, in front of me' on his legal representatives. 'It's not my experience,' Schoen said. He also said he believed that Trump's comments at the January 6 'Save America' rally that preceded the Capitol riots were protected speech under the constitution. A conviction of Trump by the Senate risked 'chilling the rights on any passionate speakers,' he said, adding 'We can't control the reaction of the audience.' In a lengthy filing on Tuesday, Democrats laid out their argument for convicting Trump. 'They're going to put on reams and reams of video and riots and people being hurt and interviews with Capitol Police and people saying they did this for Trump,' Mr. Schoen told The Times. 'We're going to be arguing it's not a constitutional proceeding and I think there are some very important First Amendment issues involved I think that's pretty obvious.' Speaking on Monday to Fox News, Schoen insisted that the trial of a former president was 'unconstitutional'. He argued further that Trump was not to blame for the insurrection on January 6, which killed five people including a Capitol Police officer. Schoen said that the storming of the Capitol after Trump's January 6 rally was not his fault Trump, pictured leaving Washington on January 20, urged supporters to march to the Capitol At a 'Stop the Steal' rally on the morning of January 6, Trump told his followers: 'We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. 'Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.' Schoen said: 'He condemned violence at all times. Read the words of his speech. It calls for peacefulness. 'This has nothing to do with President Trump and the country doesn't need to just watch videos of riots and unrest. We need to heal now. We need to move forward.' Schoen, who will represent Trump along with Bruce Castor, the former district attorney in Pennsylvania who declined to prosecute Bill Cosby, said the impeachment case was 'the most ill-advised legislative action that I've seen in my lifetime.' He added: 'It is tearing the country apart at a time when we don't need anything like that.' Schoen told Hannity that the January 6 riot 'has nothing to do with President Trump' Schoen said the the process was being made a mockery because those involved had already made up their minds, before it had even started, and strongly criticized the 'awful bias and prejudgment shown.' He continued: 'Could you imagine any American citizen considered to be on trial, in which the judge and jury has already announced publicly the defendant must be convicted in this case? 'It undercuts democracy. How could you possibly have a fair trial? Senator Schumer promised a fair and full trial. You can't when you know that they are biased going in.' Trump was impeached by the House on January 13. He appears highly likely to be cleared, for a second time, by the Senate after a procedural vote showed that Republicans were unlikely to convict him. On January 26 the Senate was asked whether they wanted impeachment to proceed. The Senate voted 55-45, meaning that impeachment will go ahead. But it showed that regardless of what happens in the trial, there almost certainly won't be enough Republican support to convict Trump: conviction would require 67 votes, or two-thirds of the Senate. Schoen insisted that the trial was designed to end Trump's political future Schoen said the trial was being held to damage Trump and bury him politically. 'This is the political weaponization of the impeachment process,' he told Sean Hannity on Fox News. 'There was a rush to judgment. Once President Trump became president, on the day he was elected, there were calls for his impeachment.' He said the 'agenda' from the Democrats was to 'simply to bar President Trump from ever running for president again.' Schoen added: 'And that is about as undemocratic as you could get. Can you imagine the slap in the face that is to the 75 million or more voters who voted for Donald Trump?' DEMOCRATS DISMISS TRUMP'S DEFENSES Democrats made clear that they disagree with all the defenses Trump was already expected to raise. 'The only honorable path at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and concede his electoral defeat. 'Instead, he summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue,' they wrote. Meanwhile, Trump's legal team is still scrambling to nail down its defense strategy as a deadline looms at noon on Tuesday for the former president to reply to a charge of incitement of insurrection brought by the House last month. Over the weekend, Trump split with his previous team of lawyers, with reports indicating they were unwilling to center their legal strategy on election fraud claims. His new lawyers, which were announced Sunday, have not indicated what defense they have planned for the 45th president. Trump on January 6 had told his supporters during a 'Save America' rally that they needed to 'fight' to overturn the election in the hours leading up to the Capitol riots The team shake-up and lack of legal strategy maintains as there's just one week left before the former president's impeachment trial is set to start in the Senate. Democrats in the House voted to impeach Trump for a second time last month, claiming his actions and rhetoric on January 6 and before led to a violent mob storming the Capitol in the name of preventing Congress from certifying the election for Joe Biden. During the trial next week, Democrats will continue to argue Trump 'incited an insurrection,' and therefore should be convicted. Chile rolled out a new phase of its vaccination plan Thursday, with health workers getting a second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. According to Chilean health authorities, 10,706 people have received their first dose so far, half of them from the Metropolitan Region around the capital Santiago. More than 2,500 people have already been given their second dose. A third shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived in Chile on Wednesday in the country, amounting to 88,725 doses. After healthcare workers, the country's elderly and nursing home workers are next in line to be vaccinated. Coronavirus cases rose by more than a third in Chile over the last week. Chile has reported more than 656,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in total, and 17,294 deaths. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Cookies op Tweakers Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers is onderdeel van DPG Media en maakt gebruik van cookies, JavaScript en vergelijkbare technologie om je onder andere een optimale gebruikerservaring te bieden. Functionele en analytische cookies die door Tweakers zelf geplaatst worden, worden gebruikt om de website goed te laten functioneren, bezoekersstatistieken bij te houden en a/b-testen uit te voeren. Ook kan Tweakers hiermee het gedrag van bezoekers vastleggen en analyseren. Cookies kunnen daarnaast worden gebruikt om op Tweakers advertenties te tonen die aansluiten bij je interesses. Daarbij kan gebruikgemaakt worden van bezoekersprofielen die door derden zijn opgesteld. Ook kunnen derden je internetgedrag volgen, zoals bijvoorbeeld het geval is bij embedded videos van YouTube. Tot slot kunnen cookies worden gebruikt om op sites van derden relevante advertenties te tonen. Content van derde partijen, zoals embedded videos van YouTube, wordt met een trackingvrij abonnement standaard uitgeschakeld. Indien je deze content wilt zien, kun je hier expliciet toestemming voor geven. Wil je meer informatie over cookies en hoe ze worden gebruikt? Bekijk dan ons cookiebeleid. Accepteer cookies ... Om deze pagina op Tweakers te kunnen bekijken, moet je cookies accepteren. Cookies accepteren Heb je al een account? Dan kun je hier inloggen! Haiti - Politic : Death of former Senator Serge Gilles Pradel Henriquez, the Minister of Culture salutes the departure of Serge Gilles (85), politician, former Senator and former presidential candidate, who died on the evening of February 1st, 2021, at the Canape-Vert hospital (Port -au-Prince). "Minister Henriquez, while offering his condolences to his family, to his relatives, to his combat comrades, to his party, pays tribute to the man of conviction that was Serge Gilles. Have a nice trip Serge And sympathies from the Ministry of Culture to the entire political class." Find out more about Serge Gilles : Born in Maissade, in the Central Plateau, on January 5, 1936, Serge Gilles, brilliant intellectual, had a license from the Sorbonne in psychology, a diploma in International Relations from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, a diploma in Physical Education the National School of Physical Education (ENSEP). Engaged very early in a fight against the Duvaliers, he experienced a 25-year exile. Upon his return to Haiti in 1986, he founded the Social Democratic Party, Haitian Revolutionary Progressive Nationalist Party (PANPRA) before being arrested and tortured under military rule. In 1990, he was elected Senator following the alliance of his Party with the Movement for the Establishment of Democracy (MIDH). In 2005, PANPRA joined with other left-wing parties to form the Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats. Under the banner of the Fusion, he will run for the presidential elections of 2005-2006, which will preferably consecrate the victory of Rene Preval. Alongside Chavanne Jean Baptiste of the Mouvement des Paysans de Papaye (MPP), Brother Francklin Armand of the Congregation of the Little Brothers and the Little Sisters of the Incarnation, Serge Gilles was considered for a long time as the reference for the entire Central Plateau. Messages of sympathy : President Jovenel Moise : "Haiti has lost a great political figure who dedicated his life to the cause of democracy. Serge Gilles was a unifier, a man of great generosity. May we continue to be inspired by his wisdom, his commitment, to make our Nation better and more just." Prime Minister Jouthe : "It was with great emotion that I learned of the death of Serge Gilles : one of the great political figures of the left and of socialism in Haiti. Another huge loss for the country ! My heartfelt condolences to his family and to the members of the Fusion of Social Democrats." Joseph Lambert, President of the Senate : "The death of Serge Gilles plunges me into great sadness. The Haitian political class has lost a patriarch who has marked his time. To the grieving widow, her daughters, the President and the members of the Fusion, I send my very sincere and friendly condolences. Mathias Pierre, Minister Delegate in charge of electoral matters and relations with political parties : "All my condolences to Betty Sorel Gilles, to the entire Gilles family and the great FUSION! Serges was very wise, an open man, always promoting a necessary Governance Pact for Haiti. I remember our weekly meetings." Charlot Jacquelin Jr., Secretary of State for Youth : "The teacher. Serge Gilles was a remarkable man. I remember our various discussions around a cup of coffee, in the living room, on Gilles' gallery. Very affable, he had the art and manner of saying things with incredible depth. Good start ! " James Jacques, Consul General in Santiago (RD) : "It is with regret and great sadness that I welcome the news of the departure of a friend, an advisor, a mentor, Serge Gilles. A being who had exceptional human, interpersonal and professional qualities. I extend my sympathies to his family, friends and all other people who had the chance to meet him and for whom he had become dear." HL/ HaitiLibre Taipei: A second Chinese lawyer who represented a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was stripped of his license on Tuesday as Beijing attempts to crush opposition to its tighter control over the territory. Ren Quanniu, who represented one of 12 Hong Kong activists who tried to flee to Taiwan, said he had his license revoked by the Henan Provincial Justice Department. Ten of the 12 activists caught at sea in August were sentenced by a Shenzhen court in December to prison terms ranging from seven months to three years for crossing the border illegally and organizing the crossings. The two other activists are minors. Thousands of Hong Kong residents have fled the territory since Beijing's imposition of a tough new security law that some say is destroying the territory's Western-style civil liberties. Since the law was introduced in response to anti-government protests that began in 2019, dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested or detained. The Henan Judicial Department held a hearing on the license revocation on Friday in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, according to other lawyers who turned up to support Ren. They were not allowed into the hearing. Ren is the second lawyer to have his license stripped by the authorities for handling the activists' case. Two weeks ago, judicial officials in Sichuan took away the license of Lu Siwei, another lawyer on the case. The US expressed concern over the decision to revoke the licenses of both lawyers. We're deeply concerned by the People's Republic of China's attempts to disbar and harass human rights lawyers Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu for representing the Hong Kong 12, said a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department in a statement issued on Twitter on Wednesday. Ren has years of experience in handling politically human rights cases in China. He has defended people affiliated with the Falun Gong, a spiritual movement which China has labelled a cult and is the subject of persecution after its followers protested in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1999. Most recently, he represented citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was sentenced to four years in prison last December for attempting to report on the situation in the city of Wuhan during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic early last year. Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen on Wednesday said should continue its focus on labour, and health care sectors and that he was"very optimistic about looking to the future". He was speaking at the conclusion of athree-day global virtual conclave organised by the State Planning Board to chart Keralas future in a post-Covid scenario. Prof Sen said a look at the successes and failures of would pin the focus on labour "I would be personally very optimistic about Kerala looking to the future, he noted, citing not just its track record, but unique historical reasons that contributed to the states success. He recalled that Keralas first government in 1957 triggered animated discussions when the Communist regime saw movements related to labour, anti-untouchability and as a major means of progress. "Kerala was one of Indias three poorest economies when the state was incepted six-and-a-half decades ago. In a couple of decades, the state not only moved away from that position, but was competing for being one of the top three in terms of per capita expenditure," he said. The 'Kerala Looks Ahead' conclave gave a call on Wednesday for continued social security and highlighted the need for public discussion that relied heavily on humanity and reasoning,the release said. "The 22 sessions on nine key sectors got an overwhelming response from experts across the world,"Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan noted in the valedictory session. He said KLA stimulated and international discussion between scholars and experts in areas that were part of the conference and many suggestions had emerged. "There are issues of long-term and strategic interest to the state and also recommendations regarding policies that can be implemented in the short run." the government would study these suggestions, which have from all over the world, to look at ways they can be incorporated into policy," he said. State Planning Board Vice Chairperson Prof V K Ramachandran said Kerala "is poised for a new leap into its economic future. He said the conference succeeded in its efforts to learn about the best practices and achievements all over the world and their relevance to Kerala in a diversity of fields. Dr Amit Prakash, Associate Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, Prof K J Joseph, Director of Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation were also part of the conclave. (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.) 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 Sir Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's office on Tuesday said that they scrapped the deal to develop a major port terminal with India and Japan amid weeks-long protests by trade unions and opposition parties. Sri Lanka had previously agreed to develop the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo port with India and Japan. Under the deal, 49% of the terminal's shares were to be owned by India and Japan while Sri Lanka's Ports Authority would retain the majority stake. Now, the Sri Lankan government said it would instead develop the port's West Container terminal with investment from India and Japan. The Colombo port trade unions had opposed the proposal of investors from India and Japan buying 49 per cent stake in the ETC. They had demanded the ECT to remain 100 per cent owned by the SLPA as opposed to the 51 per cent. 23 trade unions had joined hands to oppose the port deal. The unions took the stand that the proposed deal with India's Adani Group was a sell out of the ECT. They launched industrial action urging to scrap the deal and the government to run the ECT operation as a 100 per cent government entity. The unions mostly affiliated to the ruling Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) forced the government not to go ahead with the deal. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently said that stopping the deal would endanger the 66 per cent of Indian transshipment cargo handled by the ECT. Therefore, in order to remain competitive, the deal was needed. However, in recent weeks, the trade unions were able to mount public opinion against the deal and even got support from government's own politicians against it. The Indian embassy in Colombo said India expects the timely implementation of the agreement the three countries signed in 2019. The commitment of Government of Sri Lanka in this regard has been conveyed several times in the recent past, including at the leadership level. The Sri Lanka Cabinet also took a decision three months ago to implement the project with foreign investors, the embassy said in a response sent via WhatsApp. Tension has been growing in Sri Lanka in recent weeks over the port deal among trade unions and opposition political parties who have demanded the government halt the plan to develop the terminal with India and Japan. India, which considers the Indian ocean region to be its strategic backyard, has for years been worried by its rival Chinas economic and political influence over neighbouring Sri Lanka. China considers Sri Lanka to be a critical link in its massive Belt and Road global infrastructure building initiative and has provided billions of dollars in loans for Sri Lankan projects over the past decade. The projects include a seaport, airport, port-city, highways and power stations. Critics say that the Chinese-funded projects are not financially viable and that Sri Lanka will face difficulties in repaying the loans. In 2017, Sri Lanka leased a Chinese-built port located near busy shipping routes to a Chinese company for 99 years to recover the heavy burden of repaying the Chinese loan the island nation received to build it. The facility is part of Beijings plan for a line of ports stretching from Chinese waters to the Persian Gulf. China has also agreed to provide a $989 million loan to Sri Lanka to build an expressway that will connect its tea-growing central region to the Chinese-run seaport. Medical supplies donated by the Chinese government are seen at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, on April 29, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] The world cheered when the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines finally began to be rolled out. Less than two months later, however, the production, transportation, and distribution of the vaccines have already been teetering in disarray. A worldwide battle for COVID-19 vaccines Some vaccine companies have repeatedly stressed their capacity. The reality, however, is that their limited productivity makes many countries scramble for their share. Let's take the European Union (EU) as an example. Recently, Pfizer has told some EU member states that the amount of vaccines it promised to offer this week has to be halved. To make matters worse, AstraZeneca, which developed the coronavirus vaccine with Oxford University, told the EU that "it intends to supply considerably fewer doses in the coming weeks than agreed and announced," according to a press statement by the EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. An EU official told Reuters that this would mean a 60 percent cut, from a projected 80 million doses to an eventual 31 million. Not surprisingly, the EU is furious about it. "Europe invested billions to help develop the world's first COVID-19 vaccines," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum's virtual event. "And now, the companies must deliver. They must honor their obligations." European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer further accused that vaccine "doses are being delivered elsewhere." To respond forcefully to the cuts, the EU then announced that it would conduct rigorous inspections of vaccine exports. "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," said Kyriakides in the press statement. She then put an increased emphasis that "the European Union will take any action required to protect its citizens and rights." With fears that this move could lead to restrictions on vaccine exports, according to BBC, the United Kingdom's Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi warned of "the dead-end of vaccine nationalism." Rich countries "hoard" coronavirus vaccines U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced the U.S. was buying 200 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses. With this order, America will have purchased 600 million doses in total, which means that it will lock in the number of vaccines to fully vaccinate almost all Americans in early fall. Countries like Canada and the UK have already reserved more than three times what's needed to inoculate their population, according to Bloomberg's vaccine tracker, while many other countries are struggling to get even the first dose. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has urged developed countries to "stop being selfish by restricting vaccine exports or prioritizing their citizens" at an online meeting of the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda, according to KBS news, while the country has yet to authorize the use of a coronavirus vaccine, or even receive a single dose of it. What is true of South Korea, a high-income country, is even truer for those less wealthy. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly called rich countries to stop "hoarding" coronavirus vaccines so that other countries can have access to them at the same meeting. Earlier, a South African factory is reported to have the capability of producing a million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, but none is left for locals, according to the New York Times. They will all be "rushed to" Western developed countries, where hundreds of millions of orders have already been booked. "The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure" over the distribution of vaccines, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has thus warned. "And the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries." Chaotic management wastes vaccines Most tragically, for some countries that are stockpiling coronavirus vaccines, their chaotic management means that many vaccines are never really available to the public. Recently, Michigan health officials confirmed that nearly 12,000 Moderna vaccines got too cold and rendered useless while on route to the state. And a delay in the federal government's distribution of vaccines also forced New York City to temporarily close some of its COVID-19 vaccination hubs. In Canada, it's a different story, but with the same ending. Sufficient vaccine purchases meant Canada has less to worry about than other countries, but its poor distribution system left Ontario with 40 percent of its vaccines still kept in freezers, while much-needed long-term care homes were not fully vaccinated, according to the Washington Post. There are also cases of people taking advantage of the chaotic management or their positions. In the U.S., healthcare personnel, residents of long-term care facilities, the elderly, people with underlying medical conditions, and other essential workers have priority access. But a New York health care provider, ParCare Community Health Network, has been accused of fraudulently obtaining coronavirus vaccine doses, bypassing the most vulnerable, and administering them to the members of the public. Another American vaccination site once announced that it was running out of vaccines on New Year's Eve, even though there was still a large line of people waiting to be vaccinated, according to NBC affiliate WRCB-TV. In the evening, however, the reporter found that some people were leaving the site, saying that their family members or friends working at the site had contacted them that the vaccine was still available and asked them to come. "We have got the contacts," one driver exclaimed when a WRCB reporter asked how he got the vaccine. The reporter was then told that all seven people in the vehicle had been vaccinated. Just as Americans worry about those with power, money, and connections finding their way to skip the line, others across the world find similar problems. Spain's top general has recently resigned amid public anger over allegations he jumped the queue for vaccination. A large number of countries are still struggling to get their first vaccine does in the face of dwindling supplies. When some countries stockpile vaccines but fail to deliver them properly, do they wonder what people in other countries are feeling? It is important for patients to understand the information they need for making health decisions, yet studies have shown that a large segment of the population lacks the health literacy to do so. Health literacy refers to capacity of people to obtain, process, and understand health information needed for making health decisions. A researcher in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is addressing this topic. "Many people have inadequate health literacy to support them in understanding health information and/or performing basic self-care activities," said Assistant Professor Jessie Chin. "Successful self-care would lead to better health outcomes, especially for patients with chronic illness." Chin's paper, "Health Literacy, Processing Capacity, Illness Knowledge, and Actionable Memory for Medication Taking in Type 2 Diabetes: Cross-Sectional Analysis," was recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The paper's coauthors include Huaping Wang, Adam W. Awwad, and James F. Graumlich, University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria; Michael S. Wolf, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; and Daniel G. Morrow, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois. In their study, Chin and her colleagues investigated the relationship between health literacy and "actionable memory," or memory for medication purposes, among patients with diabetes. Their results demonstrated the link between health literacy and self-care, which the researchers said could be accounted for by both the processing capacity and health knowledge of the patients. "The study also showed that there are individual differences in the way that people can compensate for limitations in their cognitive capacities in order to maintain their health literacy. The implications of our study include improving medication adherence for patients with chronic illness through multiple strategies to promote the actionable memory of medication-taking," said Chin. ### Chin holds a BS in psychology from National Taiwan University, an MS in human factors, and a PhD in educational psychology with a focus on cognitive science in teaching and learning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Medics at a hospital for treating Covid-19 patient in Hai Duong Province, February 2021. Photo by the Ministry of Health. The Health Ministry confirmed nine more Covid-19 community transmissions Wednesday morning, all of them linked to the cluster in northern Hai Duong Province. Two of the patients are in Hai Duong, four in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, two in Binh Duong Province that borders Ho Chi Minh City, and one in Hanoi. Numbered from 1883 to 1891, the patients have had contact with people who were infected with the coronavirus from Hai Duong, the epicenter since infections returned to Vietnam's community on January 28. The Wednesday cases raised the national community infections to 310, including 226 in Hai Duong and 38 in its neighbor Quang Ninh. The two provinces were where the first infections of this new outbreak were detected. Infections have spread to eight other cities and provinces. Hanoi is now the third biggest cluster with 21 cases, followed by Gia Lai with 13. Binh Duong has reported four cases, Bac Ninh three, Hoa Binh two, and HCMC, Hai Phong and Bac Giang one each. Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long told a meeting with local authorities on Tuesday night that all cities and provinces must speed up the progress in every steps of their fight against the pandemic, especially the testing capacity, as the outbreak has been confirmed to be caused the by U.K. variant that is 70 percent more transmissible. Globally, the pandemic has killed more than 2.2 million people among more than 104 million infections. The article underlined that the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which took place in Hanoi from January 25 to February 1, was a success and Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected as Party General Secretary in the 13th tenure. The documents of the 13th National Congress have re-affirmed the viewpoint and guidelines of Doi moi (Renewal), setting the direction of and guidance for all activities of the Party and the Government for the countrys sustainable development in a new era. It also noted that the 11th National Congress of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) took place on January 13-15, during which Thongloun Sisoulith was elected as General Secretary of the Party. The article said that as the two Parties originate from the same root - the Communist Party of Indochina - the LPRP and the CPV will continue to stand side-by-side in leading the entire Party, army, and people in each country, strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in an effective and practical manner to fulfil the wishes of the people of both while contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. LONDON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Abingworth, a leading international life sciences investment group, today announced the final closing of its latest transatlantic venture fund, Abingworth Bioventures 8 (ABV 8) at $465 million. ABV 8, which is Abingworth's 13th life sciences fund, exceeded its target of $375 million and closed at its hard cap. ABV 8 will target companies developing innovative therapeutics with potential to significantly improve human health. As with previous funds, ABV 8 will invest in opportunities in the US, UK and Continental Europe. ABV 8 will invest broadly across multiple stages including seed and early stage, development-stage companies, including VIPEs (Venture Investments in Public Equities), and Clinical Co-development opportunities. Total investment size per company will typically range from $15 million to $30 million. ABV 8 has already invested in three deals: Atsena Therapeutics focused on bringing the life-changing power of genetic medicine to reverse or prevent blindness. The company's lead program is in an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial for patients with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA1), one of the most common causes of blindness in children. The company also has a robust pipeline of preclinical gene therapy programs aimed to treat patients with other inherited retinal diseases. Reneo Pharmaceuticals developing REN001 as a first-in-class treatment for patients with genetic mitochondrial diseases impacting muscle. The company aims to improve daily function and quality of life of these patients by improving how their mitochondria work and so preserving muscle function, and preventing muscle injury, weakness, and wasting. Vera Therapeutics developing Atacicept, a first-in-class antibody to treat IgA Nephropathy (IgAN), a rare auto-immune disease. IgAN is the most common cause of kidney disease after hypertension and diabetes. Vera in-licensed Atacicept from EMD Serono, with compelling Phase 2a data. "We are delighted to have raised one of the largest transatlantic life sciences funds in recent years, and we are grateful to be supported again by such high-quality existing and new investors," said Tim Haines, Chairman & Managing Partner. "2020, maybe more than any year before, has demonstrated the resilience, innovation and drive of the international life sciences community to advance and deliver novel vaccines and medicines to significantly improve human health. In addition to raising Abingworth Bioventures 8, the last 12 months have seen us invest in ten companies as well as support further portfolio company fundraisings that collectively raised $773.5 million, including two IPOs, and Tizona's partial exit via Gilead, valued at up to $1.55 billion. Furthermore, with approval of Chiasma's MYCAPSSA for acromegaly, we now count 19 novel medicines approved in the US in the last eight years from companies that Abingworth invested in and helped build. We are excited to launch our new fund at this time, and to continue building the next generation of life sciences companies based on cutting-edge science and world-class leadership." "Abingworth has a long and successful track record investing in the life sciences sector in the US and in the UK and Europe. This heritage alongside our transatlantic presence and strategy has been crucial to generating investor demand in Abingworth Bioventures 8. It also ensures we have access to high-quality deal flow as well to the entrepreneurs and management that drive the success of the companies we invest in," added Kurt von Emster, Managing Partner. ABV 8 welcomed several new limited partners to its international investor base, including British Patient Capital, while also receiving strong support from existing investors including leading asset managers, endowments, fund-of-funds, family offices, foundations, healthcare corporations, insurance companies, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds. ABV 8's investor base is also well diversified geographically across the US, Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Asante Capital Group and Wise Capital acted as global and regional placement advisors, respectively, for Abingworth Bioventures 8. Goodwin Procter acted as legal counsel. Notes for Editors About Abingworth Abingworth is a leading transatlantic life sciences investment firm. Abingworth helps transform cutting-edge science into novel medicines by providing capital and expertise to top calibre management teams building world-class companies. Since 1973, Abingworth has invested in 170 life science companies, leading to 44 M&As and 69 IPOs. Our therapeutic focused investments fall into three categories: seed and early-stage, development stage, and clinical co-development. Abingworth supports its portfolio companies with a team of experienced professionals at offices in London, Menlo Park (California), and Boston. Contacts Tim Haines Chairman & Managing Partner Tel: +44 (0)20 7534 1500 www.abingworth.com For media enquiries: Mark Swallow or David Dible, Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: +44 (0)20 7638 9571 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Abingworth The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The Louisiana Department of Health reported 1,230 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 46 more confirmed deaths in its noon update Wednesday. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 54, and the number of patients in need of ventilators decreased by nine. There are also 52,728 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard. There are now 19,136 more coronavirus patients listed as "presumed recovered." +2 As coronavirus variant gains ground in Louisiana, officials predict 'another spike in our future' Two additional cases of a more infectious variant of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom have been found in Louisiana and a These are another few key statewide statistics as of Wednesday: Total confirmed cases: 353,507 Total "probable" cases: 52,728 Total confirmed deaths: 8,421 Currently hospitalized: 1,386 Currently on ventilators: 180 Vaccine series initiated: 384,047 (updated twice weekly) Vaccine series completed: 103,658 Presumed recovered: 363,457 as of Feb. 1 (updated weekly) 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 Note: The Advocate and The Times-Picayune staff calculates daily case count and confirmed death increases based on the difference between today's total and yesterday's total of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. The Louisiana Department of Health releases a daily case count on its dashboard that includes probable cases as indicated by a positive antigen test. That case count can be different than the one listed here. Here are some of the parishes with the highest single-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, based on the Wednesday report: St. Tammany: 148 Jefferson: 122 Orleans: 98 East Baton Rouge: 91 Caddo: 79 Lafayette: 65 You can view more graphs and charts breaking down the data by clicking here. Louisiana began reopening for Phase 1 on May 15-16 then moved to Phase 2 on June 5. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards extended Louisiana's Phase 2 restrictions twice in August before moving the state to Phase 3 on Sept. 11. The governor then moved the state back to a modified Phase 2 near the end of November. This is a developing story. More details and analysis to come. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Dangerous cancer myths have taken root in Australia, with Cancer Council data showing too many people believing misinformation spread on social media. Almost two-thirds of people believed animals could sniff out cancer and two in five thought cancer could be cured by alternative therapies that have no scientific backing. The pandemic created a perfect storm of misinformation: a reliance on digital technology to stay informed with health information, and heightened anxieties. Credit:iStock The survey of 1000 Australians from 18 to over 76 years old, commissioned by the Cancer Council, found nearly half of respondents believed sunscreen contained chemicals that were bad for you and 8 per cent didnt realise you didnt need to burn to get skin cancer. One in five Australians said they were likely to have changed their behaviour based on something they read online (including 14 per cent due to a story they read on social media) - the same proportion that would do so based on government information, according to the survey results released on World Cancer Day. A good leader will unite this nation and not divide it. President Buhari should jettison his conscious or unconscious bias and demonstrate leadership now, before he goes into history as the last leader to preside over the affairs of a united Nigeria! Nigerias Unity Video message claims: There are no good tribes or good ethnicities. There are good people and there are bad people. I have close friends all across the nation and still wrote my experience of a beautiful, memorable Nigeria in a memoir recently. It actually went viral, titled, The Nigeria That I Knew. Infact, the Fulani I knew as a child were good neighbours who would sell fresh congealed milk we call wara. I also volunteer within an organisation that partners with institutions as patriots. We founded the Corruption Not In My Country to unlock the capacity of Nigerians to identify corruption and shun it, and the FlagIt App to enable Nigerians report corruption, and COVID-19 messages recently, to spread the awareness of a deadly pandemic. Working with the Police to identify culpable officers and uncovering cyberbully gangs in Nigerian Universities. We do not therefore constitute ourselves into superior opinion shapers of how the nation should move forward. We align with strategies and tactics premised on constructive engagement and strengthening the capacity of institutions for effective performance. This is what makes us patriots. But patriotism must be clearly defined within a noble premise and enthusiasm to critically interrogate issues when our sailing ship is seeming to become rudderless. It is recognising that we do not owe allegiance to a leader, but to the country Not only to the country but also to justice and humanity. It is on this note that I feel compelled to address us all on the ongoing crisis between the Fulani herdsmen and other ethnicities in the country, including the Yorubas. I am not speaking as a tribalised Yoruba man, I am speaking as a Nigerian, born here, who made friends here across the divide and still believes in the beauty of our diversity. Truth be spoken, if we situate Nigeria within the concept of Thomas Hobbess theory of a nasty, brutish and short life, then it is safe to say Nigeria is already headed in the direction of total chaos and, of course, anarchy. This anarchy and seeming oppression of a people by another set of people within the same country, which is already besieged by hunger, unequal distribution of wealth and impoverishment, threw up the symbolism of resistance that Sunday Igboho represents. Sunday Igboho is a systemic creation of anger against the gruesome murder of Mrs. Olakunri, the daughter of Yoruba leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti. Also, the gunning down of a first class monarch in Yoruba land, the Olufon of Ifon and, of late, Dr. Fatai Aborode, an accomplished Yoruba man who recently returned to Nigeria to create employment for his people in Igangan, Ibarapa Local Government. They all lost their lives in the hands of Fulani herdsmen. But we are also not unaware that all across the federation, many families have lost loved ones to this same domestic terrorism from supposed fellow countrymen. Many families will never recover from the emotional turmoil of untimely deaths, rape or the financial setback of those who paid heavy ransoms to rescue their loved ones. Many families will not recover from the agonising shock of paying ransoms for relatives who never return home, because the herdsmen took the money and still slaughtered the victims. I speak as someone who has participated in the contribution of ransom before, for two kidnapped victims. So, how did the crime of kidnapping by herdsmen become a notoriously enduring industry in Nigeria? Each time we hear that ransoms have been paid, shouldnt we ask: Paid to who? People have paid multiples of millions of naira as ransom. Into whose bank accounts do these ransoms flow? Is it to these same ragtaglooking kidnappers, some of who end up getting caught and are paraded by law enforcement? Do they own the kidnapping empires? Why has it been a challenge for security agencies to FOLLOW THE MONEY? These are begging questions that require urgent answers. And in all of these, where is leadership? On October 23, 2001, after ethnic clashes that led to the death of 27 people in Lagos, Nigeria, the Independent Daily of United Kingdom and our local newspapers reported that the then president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had ordered rioters to be shot at sight. The president was literally ordering the shooting at sight of his own tribesmen, member of the Oodua Peoples Congress, who were alleged to be inciting the riots. Obasanjo was actually quoted as saying, The Police have instructions that anyone who calls himself OPC should be arrested and if he doesnt agree, he will be shot on sight. We cannot allow this country to be overtaken by hoodlums and criminals. THAT IS LEADERSHIP! On November 26, 2020, the Olufon of Ifon in Ondo State was kidnapped and eventually murdered. This was after Chief Olu Falae, a prominent national and Yoruba leader had suffered in the hands of kidnappers. The governor of Ondo State must have been concerned about a possible attack on the State by herdsmen hiding in the forests, and as chief security officer of the State, he issued a quit order on criminal herdsmen to vacate Ondo State latest by January 18. On January 19, as typically, Mallam Garba Shehu, representing the Presidency, countered Aketi and rejected the Quit order! Are citizens not curious to ask: Whose purpose is this Presidency serving? Why is Mallam Garba Shehu combining the job of speaking for the president with speaking for herdsmen? And as the president did not disown Garba Shehu by saying, No, I am president for all, shall we conclude that Garba Shehu was playing the piper of a tune dictated by the president? Does the president feel gracious to dictate a divisive, ethnic tune? On July 15, 2012, the twitter handle of Mallam Nasir El Rufai, a Fulani leader, stated the following: We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes. El Rufai, contemptuous as he sounded, stood for something: He sent a signal that he would not cower and watch his people decimated. He spared no words. He was not diplomatic. So, what rights guarantee El Rufais words but denies Akeredolus frustrated response to the annihilation of his people? When Miyetti Allah leaders rascally issue threats against their host communities, this Presidency plays deaf. But the moment anyone pokes at the herdsmen, the Presidency abandons everyone who voted it in and embarks on vocal hemorrhage. How suddenly did President Buhari forget that for three consecutive periods, he contested Nigerias presidency through the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) but lost, until he forged an alliance with the South-West? Why is the same president now carrying on like a president of the Fulanis instead of the President of Nigeria? Why does a president who never speaks to the nation, except we literally drag him to do so in moments of national crisis, always find a hasty voice to ward off justified salvos against cow herders who are jeopardising the rights to existence of other nationalities and he actually does so characteristically within 24 hours? Are we really citizens of the same country? This is why Sunday Igboho is a symbolic depiction of leadership failure in a suggestive, almost deliberate and complicit abdication of responsibility! And that is why Igboho now represents many things, part of which is the emboldening of numerous other community resisters of oppression. This resistance is building and the government does not seem to be aware of it, or it is aware of it but stranded within its myopic cocoon of ethnic prejudice. Theres a thick dark cloud of calamity around us but we are also being gaslighted into alternative realities. Perhaps we should ask then that how many of our government leaders can travel to their villages anytime of the day, unescorted and pass the night there? And while they enjoy state protection, what happens to the poor? The poor who cannot even go to farm. In all of these, where are the South-West leaders? Apart from the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), and now Sunday Igboho, who is fast becoming a phenomenon of circumstance, many South-West leaders have always been reactive than proactive. They must go to the drawing board and work out a strategy of containment, not against herdsmen alone but also to ensure that South-West youths are gainfully and meaningfully employed through the creative unlocking of technological opportunities. The youth in the South-West are not immune from criminality. During the #EndSARS protest, a notorious group called One Million Boys terrorised Lagos. Those were not Fulani herdsmen. What have we done to rein in those ones? Or we are keeping them for the next election? The money we are stockpiling for this election, how much of it are we prepared to invest in the youths who are so resilient, so creative, so docile, that theyve accommodated leadership failure this long? South West leaders cannot continue to pretend to be proteges of Awolowo but lack his integrity. You cannot claim to be an Awolowo apostle but lack his character and ingenuity. The South-West is limping because hijackers of great ideals have become burdensome liabilities of counterfeit morality. South-West leaders must recognise that ambition for office must never consume them to such extent that they throw this momentum away, because if on the altar of ambition they keep mute while their region burns, by 2023 they would have no nation left to govern. In all of these, where lies genuine and constructive criticism? As we continue to embrace unity in diversity, candour must never depart from the lips of true patriots. There is a distinct line we must never cross out of misguided love for politicians, and that includes the president. Certain nations are classified as fragile states, with their complexities making it necessary to demand accountability from their leadership, or qualitative living, healthcare, infrastructure and especially PEACE. Amongst fragile states are Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and South Sudan. And with over $400 billion frittered away in oil revenue and poverty staring down at citizen, which is now compounded by clear bias in the management of the crisis of herdsmen, it is heartbreaking to spot Nigeria on the fragile states index, occupying the 14th position in the world and ninth position in Africa, as far back as 2019 and 2020. ADVERTISEMENT With this grim picture, those who call the president Baba and lack the temerity to call him out are not doing him any good. Misguided loyalty is cancerous, because it gradually eats into the consciousness of the self-acclaimed loyalist as he keeps imagining himself a patriot. Patriotism is not reckless imprudence. It is measured by a heart that loves the nation but also recognises its responsibility and that of other citizens, rich or poor, as rights holders within a social contract that binds leadership as duty bearers who must be held accountable. If by your standard, everything the leader does is right and you must each time hurl expletives at those who find the actions of the leader as insensitive and repugnant, then you are enslaved to primitive patriotism, which is the type that shouts, glares, denigrates, threatens and calls others names. You are numb to the deaths and pogrom around you, because your political idol must not be hurt. This is a conscious bondage where your undiscriminating respect for your chosen leader is the greatest enemy of truth. This is why you seek diversion away from every disorder and would rather shift it to a political camp disunion, rather than enter a coalition of honour to move the nation forward. This is why, instead of holding government to answer certain questions, some of us have elected to divorce answerable leadership from the leader. When you brand a nations power holder as worship idol, you have burnt patriotism and embraced servility. What were seeing today is the effect of not just bad governance, but also that of enabling AYE-SAYERS. This is why governments spin doctors are quick to demonise and incriminate the media and civil societies as heating up the polity. Isnt it sardonic that this same administration that rose to power through a well-orchestrated media machinery and propaganda and that consistently solicited civil societys support to call out bad governance of the past is now tagging the media the enemy of the nation by the duplicitous estimation of an intolerant administration? This gaslighting is a disingenuous conduct of a government that circumvents the truth, fails to take responsibility for its errors and must attempt to steer you away from questioning facts, which is completely alien to its mouthed integrity! The president must face a fact here today: There has been a sweeping and systematic liquidation of other peoples territories by unhinged suspected Fulani herdsmen. The presidents own people. The president must ask a question too? How do foreign nations who lead the pack in global cow-ranching business get on with this business without slaughtering their own people? On April 13, 2011, when you wept over the state of the nation in your quest for power at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, will you say you have turned the country around and made it safer after power was granted to you in the past six years till date? What are you making of your legacy? Are you capable of rising beyond ethnic sentiments now and protecting all Nigerians? After voting and handing over power to you, with the constitutional mandate to be a leader of all, do you recognise that the presidency you hold is more dignifying and it is beneath you to still carry on in a manner that brands you as a mere Fulani leader? As a Muslim who is nearer the valedictory stage of life, I shall step into this faith to remind you, Mr. President, that for each time you know what to do, to rescue Nigerians from Fulani herdsmen slaughter, but you fail to do so, you will struggle to shake off an inaudible complicity in the murder of innocent souls, all in a bid to fulfill what is beginning to look like a well-orchestrated expansion agenda. Your supporters of today will not stand in judgement with you. Finally, good leaders take personal responsibility in crisis, no matter how much of these lie outside their control. Good leaders align team focus, and establish periodically evaluated metrics to monitor their own performance. Good leaders create a culture of accountability, and stay alert and aligned on the effective dashboard of priorities. A good leader will unite this nation and not divide it. President Buhari should jettison his conscious or unconscious bias and demonstrate leadership now, before he goes into history as the last leader to preside over the affairs of a united Nigeria! Akin Fadeyi is the founder, Akin Fadeyi Foundation. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will depart his post later this year, handing the helm over to the company's top cloud executive, Andy Jassy. Bezos will become Amazon's Executive Chairman of the Board. The transition will take effect, the company said, in the second half of 2021. Bezos, 57, created Amazon in 1994 and has since turned the one-time online bookstore into a global mega-retailer in various categories, from electronics to food to streaming. In January of last year, under Bezos' leadership, Amazon reached a $1 trillion market cap; it is now worth more than $1.6 trillion. "Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it's consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything else," Bezos said in a letter to Amazon Staff on Tuesday. The news came as part of the fourth-quarter earnings report from Amazon. The company is handily beating the Wall Street analysts' forecasts for revenue and earnings and capping a banner year as the pandemic boosted its retail and cloud companies. The business shares were virtually flat shortly after the market closed on Tuesday but added nearly 1 percent two hours after the closing bell. Over the past year, Amazon's stock has risen almost 69 percent. The organization had kept its succession plans secret. However, onlookers suspected that Jeff Bezos' eventual successor would be either Jassy or Jeff Wilke, CEO of the worldwide market sector of Amazon. Wilke will retire in 2021, Amazon announced in August. In the third quarter, Jassy, 53, will become CEO. Brian Olsavsky, the company's chief financial officer, said on a media call that the executive move was agreed upon in consultation with Amazon's board of directors. Jeff Bezos will remain very active and have his fingerprints on several different aspects of the company, he said. Olsavsky said that Jassy is a visionary leader who will bring his own set of skills, but Amazon expects a lot of stability with the change. Bezos said he would remain active in big Amazon ventures and have more time to concentrate on the Bezos Earth Fund, the Washington Post, and the Amazon Day 1 Fund, his Blue Origin spaceship venture. Who is Jeff Bezos of Amazon In January of 1964, Jeff Bezos' mother, Jackie, was a teenager when she had him. She recently married Miguel Bezos, a Cuban immigrant, who adopted Jeff. Jeff did not know until he was ten that Miguel was not his real dad, but he says he was more worried about finding that he wanted to get glasses than he was about the news. From an early age, Bezos displayed signs of genius. He ripped his crib apart with a screwdriver when he was a toddler because he wanted to sleep in a real bed. For Bezos, his grandfather, Preston Gise, was an immense inspiration and helped ignite his intellectual pursuits' enthusiasm. In his statement in 2010, Bezos said Gise taught him "it's harder to be kind than clever." Bezos, along with his partner, began the Dream Institute, a 10-day summer camp for children, after spending a miserable summer working at McDonald's as a teenager. A child was fined $600, and six students managed to sign up. The "Lord of the Rings" sequence made the list of readings required. At Princeton University, Bezos later went to college and majored in computer science. He turned down work offers from Intel and Bell Labs upon graduation to join a startup called Fitel. Bezos considered working with Halsey Minor, who would later discover CNET, to launch a company that would distribute news via fax after leaving Fitel. He got a position at the D.E. Shaw hedge fund, and after four years, he became a senior vice president. Bezos decided to leave D.E. Shaw, although he had an incredible work. David E. Shaw, his manager at the company, tried to convince Bezos to stay. But Bezos was still determined to start his own company, feeling that he would instead try to fail at a startup than never try at all. And Amazon was born like that. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Image: Reuters) First greeted with scepticism, experts have since been convinced of the effectiveness of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, with positive results published in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday. The development represents a scientific and political victory for Vladimir Putin's Russia. Putin at the forefront From the first weeks of the pandemic, the Russian president ordered the scientific, political and military apparatus of the country to work in overdrive to develop the world's first COVID vaccine -- even if that meant taking shortcuts. Last spring, Alexander Gintsburg, the director of the state-run Gamaleya research centre that developed Sputnik V, boasted of having personally injected himself with an experimental version of the jab. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show A few months later, in mid-August, Putin announced the approval of the world's first coronavirus vaccine. With the shot at that point having only been tested by a few dozen volunteers, the proclamation was greeted with scepticism abroad. The vaccine nonetheless soon became available to Russia's elite, including one of Putin's daughters, even before the beginning of Phase III clinical trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers. Russia made the vaccine available to the wider public in December, when Europe and the United States were just deploying the first doses of the vaccines made by their pharmaceutical companies. Global ambitions For the Kremlin, the homemade vaccine -- first vilified by the West -- demonstrates Russia's excellence, with Putin having called Sputnik V "the best vaccine in the world". The choice of name for the jab is highly symbolic. A tribute to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, Sputnik V recalls a scientific feat for Russia and a historic setback for its rival the United States. The success of the vaccine restores Russian research capabilities to the world's top echelons, after the sector had been decimated by crises and corruption in the wake of the USSR's collapse in 1991. Sputnik V has been approved in more than 15 countries, including ex-Soviet nations like Belarus and Armenia, allies like Venezuela and Iran, but also Argentina, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan. Sputnik V in Europe? Last month the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance Sputnik V, announced that it had applied for registration of the vaccine in the European Union. But the Russian vaccine has been treated with suspicion due to a lack of publicly available scientific data. Denouncing European delays, Viktor Orban's Hungary sidestepped the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and registered the vaccine on its own. For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered Putin the possibility of "joint production". Follow our LIVE blog for latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic Production capacity? Russia says it has received pre-orders of more than a billion doses of Sputnik V, but it is unable to meet that level of demand. The quantities of doses that have been delivered abroad have mainly been symbolic, like the 20,000 exported to Bolivia. In some cases the figures were not revealed, while Argentina experienced a shipment delay last month. No official source has made clear how many doses have been produced or deployed, though authorities in mid-January said that 1.5 million people had been inoculated with Sputnik V around the world. Rather than exporting Sputnik V in bulk, Moscow hopes to develop production partnerships with local factories. Brazil, India, Kazakhstan and South Korea are currently producing the jab, though not all them have made it available to the public yet. Other Russian vaccines At least three more Russian coronavirus vaccines are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks. Sputnik V -- a two-dose vaccine using adapted strains of the adenovirus, a virus that causes the common cold -- is set to be produced as "Sputnik Light", a less effective single-dose version. Mass production of the EpiVacCorona vaccine, developed by the Siberian Vektor laboratory, is set to launch this month. The Russian government has said that a third vaccine named CoviVac is expected to be approved this month too. And there may even be a fourth, with the Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and the developers of Sputnik V having said they are working to combine their respective vaccines. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here This is the heartwarming moment an orphaned baby elephant tries to master holding his own milk bottle. Footage captured at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, shows the two-year-old elephant named Bondeni try to hold onto the bottle of fresh warm formula milk with the tip of his trunk. Bondeni, who arrived at the Kenyan animal rescue centre as a newborn in 2019, manages to grab hold of the bottle before dropping it and letting his keeper help him. The two-year-old elephant named Bondeni tries to master holding his own milk bottle at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya The baby elephant holds the bottle with the tip of his trunk and manages to slurp its contents During the clip, the baby elephant uses his trunk to hold the large bottle as he slurps its contents. As he raises the bottle higher he loses his grip and the bottle falls to the ground. His keeper picks the bottle from the ground and helps the animal with his feed. On Twitter the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust wrote: 'He might be little but Bondeni is big on personality and bravado - watch him try and be a big bull and hold his milk bottle all by himself. He's an orphan in the care of our nursery.' Bondeni arrived to the rehabilitation centre in 2019 after wandering alone into a village bordering the Chyulu Hills. The calf's feet were covered in lacerations from trudging across the nearby lava fields and he was taken to the centre's Kaluku Field HQ where he was nursed back to health. Bondeni initially struggled to walk due to his lacerations but his wounds soon healed and he has since been moved from the trust's neonates centre to their nursery. In order for Bondeni to receive the same amount of nourishment he would in the wild, keepers prepare freshly made formula milk for him every three hours. The elephant raises the bottle above his head but soon loses his grip and drops the bottle Bondeni's keeper picks the bottle from the ground and gives the elephant a hand with the rest of his feed While the keepers will often hand-feed the baby elephants, as they grow older some of the animals prefer to hold the bottle and feed themselves. Following the heartwarming scenes, social media users shared their praise for the 'adorable' elephant. One user wrote: 'Oh he is a great little man. Give home a week and he will have mastered it.' While another added: 'They grow up too fast! It won't be long before he has the hand of that bottle.' Another person commented: 'Bondeni is too adorable trying to be a big bull and wanting to be independent. Team SWT - you guys are simply amazing!' Elsewhere another person said: 'Could he be any cuter? I just adore him and his personality.' Social media users were quick to share their praise for the elephant, with one calling him a 'great little man' The Trust, which was founded in 1977 by Dr Dame Daphne Sheldrick DBE, is one of Africa's oldest wildlife charities and is best known for their work with elephants. More than 160 orphaned elephants have successfully been rescued, raised, and reintegrated back into the wild by the charity - which also works with the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Forest Service. African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth and are recognised by their trunks and their large ears which allow them to radiate excess heat. The Asian Elephant is typically smaller than its African counterpart and its skin ranges from dark grey to brown, with patches of pink on the forehead, the ears and the base of the trunk. " " Just how vulnerable is your cloud computer network? Aitor Diago/Getty Images Whether you have years of computing behind you, or you've just bought your first laptop or desktop PC, tablet or smartphone, you've probably already heard about the dangers of not protecting yourself from malware viruses, worms, trojans and other programs used by hackers to damage computers and other devices, steal your personal data, hijack your machine and turn it into a bot, or even lock up your device and hold it for ransom. [source: Fruhlinger] To protect yourself from such threats, you need security software. One increasingly popular option is to use a cloud antivirus product. In contrast to a conventional antivirus program, cloud antivirus does most of its processing on the internet rather than your computer's hard drive. Advertisement Cloud antivirus software consists of client and web service components working together. The client is a small program running on your local computer, which scans the system for malware. Full locally installed antivirus applications are notorious resource hogs, but cloud antivirus clients require only a small amount processing power. Instead, the heavy lifting is done by software running on cloud servers, which continually update their lists of malware files and risky websites. Cloud antivirus is capable of transmitting real-time data on those threats to your device, so that you don't have to rely upon manual or scheduled automatic updates to keep your defenses up-to-date. [source: Kapersky] Cloud antivirus can provide more powerful protection for your devices, and it has numerous other benefits as well. Here are a few: Your malware database is updated without the need to download all the signatures the clues that a program is malicious on your device. The service can do behavioral-based scanning, which can spot new threats. Less demand on your device's storage space and memory. The ability to use artificial intelligence, machine learning and other advances, so that your protection evolves with the threats [source: Steinberg ]. Cloud antivirus has some disadvantages, too. One drawback is that you have to remain connected to the internet, and if your connection is slow, that can interfere with files being scanned. And since everything is checked against cloud databases, some scans may take longer [source: Steinberg]. In this article, we'll tell you more about the features of cloud antivirus programs and how you can use them to protect your devices. Myanmar residents are currently relying on an offline messaging app since the country's military has disrupted internet traffic. Sources confirmed that Bridgefy has been downloaded more than 600,000 times in the country! The information was confirmed by the app's official account, stating that people have downloaded the app thousands of times in just a few hours. "We're grateful to share that the Bridgefy App was downloaded more than 600,000 times in #Myanmar today, in just a few hours. Hopefully, people will find it helpful during tough times. Please stay safe!" said Bridgefy via its official Twitter account. According to Gadgets 360's latest report, the download surge happened after the country's military seized power on Monday, Feb. 1, and temporarily disrupted Myanmar's internet traffic. Can Bridgefy help Myanmar? Bridgefy, the offline messaging app that also became popular in Hong Kong due to pro-democracy protests in 2020, said that it hopes its service would help the country's residents during tough times. The issue started after the military began arresting democratically elected leaders. They disrupted phone and internet connections in the main city Yangon and the capital Naypyitaw, including some parts of the country. Although communications were restored by late Feb. 1, activists still encouraged Myanmar to install Bridgfy as a solution to possible further shutdowns. We're grateful to share that the Bridgefy App was downloaded more than 600,000 times in #Myanmar today, in just a few hours. Hopefully, people will find it helpful during tough times. Please stay safe! Bridgefy (@bridgefy) February 1, 2021 Also Read: Tencent Fires 100 Suspicious Employees for Alleged Graft Involvement The rising offline messaging app gained popularity around the world, especially in countries that have a history of implementing social media platform restrictions. However, security experts said that offline messaging apps could expose users to possible surveillance. Best offline messaging apps Right now, Myanmar clearly faces hard times since they are now relying on offline messaging apps just to communicate with each other. Here are some of the best offline applications they can use, and even you can install them. Fossbytes explained that the apps in the list should work properly even if there's no internet connection. Meshenger (Link to F-Droid) Bridgefy Rumble Two Way: Walkie Talkie Briar Serval Mesh For more news updates about Bridgefy and other messaging app innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Microsoft Agrees With Australia to Remove Google! It Suggests to Bing More Often This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has intensified its ongoing investigation into the violence and the mayhem unleashed during the farmers tractor rally on January 26 and launched a massive search for 12 rioters identified by it. According to the reports, the police have started identifying the rioters who were mainly responsible for the violence on January 26 in the name of farmers tractor parade. The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, which is investigating the case, has begun taking the help of the forensic team to identify the rioters being held responsible for the violence in the national capital on the Republic Day. The Crime Branch has found several videos of the violence during the farmers tractor rally on January 26. The Delhi Police, with the help of the forensic team, has been able to identify the blurred faces of the rioters from those videos. The police have zeroed in on 12 people who can be seen carrying sticks and rods during the farmers tractor rally on January 26. These miscreants, according to the police, had indulged in violence and attacked policemen at many places, including the Red Fort, during the tractor rally. The Delhi Police is trying to clean those photos with the help of the forensic team to identify those rioters so that they can be arrested and booked for the January 26 violence. The forensic analysis of these photos and videos will help Delhi Police in bringing out the truth behind the farmers tractor violence and expose the real culprits responsible for the mayhem during the Republic day. The Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava on Tuesday (February 2, 2021) defended the heightened security measures at the national capital borders and said that they have strengthened barricades so that they cannot be broken again. "I am surprised that when tractors were used on January 26 to attack policemen and barricades were broken, no questions were raised at that time. What have we done now? We have just strengthened the barricades so that they are not broken again," the Delhi Police0 Commissioner said. The statement came after Delhi Police put multi-layered barricading, iron nails on road, barbed wires, iron rods between cemented barriers and deployed DTC buses and extra personnel on the ground at the farmers' protest sites. Shrivastava also visited the police personnel who were injured during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on Republic day. He lauded them for exercising utmost restraint in the face of 'violent' behaviour while persuading the farmers to follow designated routes. The top cop said the force remained firm, yet polite while performing their duty in such a hostile situation. Shrivastava was accompanied by senior police officers, including Special Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Sanjay Singh and Joint Commissioner of Police (Western Range) Shalini Singh. Delhi Police informed a total of 510 police personnel were injured during the incident. It has so far registered 44 FIRs against protesters in connection with the violence and arrested 122 people. Notably, thousands of farmers have camped at Delhi's borders and are demanding a rollback of these three 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 We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 27-year-old Staten Island woman was among a dozen people who slashed, robbed and stripped a man of his clothes in Manhattan in broad daylight, authorities allege. Tymantha Richardson, of Arthur Avenue in South Beach, was arrested on Friday in connection with the incident that occurred a week earlier in Chinatown. Richardson is named in the criminal complaint as one of the people who allegedly were captured on surveillance video removing the victims clothing, including sneakers, pants and underpants. About 12 males and females swarmed a 26-year-old man on Jan. 22 at about 11:30 a.m. in the vicinity of Canal and Allen streets, according to an NYPD statement. The group allegedly slashed, punched, kicked, and threw the victim to the ground while boosting his clothes, a cell phone and wallet containing $500, according to the criminal complaint and police. The individuals involved in the assault fled the scene inside of multiple vehicles, police said. The 26-year-old man was cut with a sharp object, causing a vertical laceration that extended from his hairline to his right eyelid, the complaint alleges. The victim also suffered a cut on his forehead, another laceration on his hand and multiple slashes on his back before he was removed in stable condition to Bellevue Hospital, according to police and the complaint. Additional suspects are two males, Jahi Nimmons, 20, of E. 21st Street in Brooklyn, and Tyriek Nimmons, 32, of Washington Street in Newark, and a woman, Tiffany Nimmons, 36, who lives at the same address at Jahi. Richardson and the other suspects all have been charged with robbery and gang assault, according to the complaint. Richardsons attorney, Robert Briere, denied the charges. He said all of the defendants are related and that Richardson, Tiffany Nimmons and Tyriek Nimmons, plus some Good Samaritans, were actually defending Jahi after an incident on a bus, which made various stops between Atlanta and Manhattan. Bond has been set at $70,000/$35,000 cash for Richardson, even though Manhattan prosecutors requested that bail be set at $300,000/$100,000, according to public records and a source with knowledge of the case. Briere said that the New York City Criminal Justice Agency recommended Richardson be released without bail. Although the judge set bail at a lower amount than the prosecutor asked for, unfortunately this bail is still too high for my client to make bail, the attorney said. He added that Richardson and her other accused relatives turned themselves in on Friday morning. There is absolutely no reason to think that anyone in this group is a flight risk, Briere said, adding that he will request lower bail when Richardson appears again in court on Wednesday. If Fix SAPD succeeds in its mission to eliminate collective bargaining for police officers, the city would have to formulate a new process for negotiating police contracts. That would almost certainly mean a move to a meet-and-confer system. While some defenders of collective bargaining tend to describe such a move as a potential traumatic blow to labor relations in San Antonio, if this city went to meet and confer, wed actually be in alignment with the other big cities in Texas. At this point, San Antonio is the Texas outlier with its use of collective bargaining. Fix SAPD has submitted a petition calling for the repeal of collective bargaining. If the city clerk determines that at least 20,000 signatures are valid, the repeal initiative will be on San Antonios May ballot. In 2006, when Fort Worth voters were given the chance to pass meet and confer, that citys business community depicted meet and confer as a dangerous expansion of the bargaining powers of police associations a gateway drug to collective bargaining. In San Antonio, you often hear the opposite perspective, particularly from supporters of the police union. Here, union advocates suggest that a move to meet and confer would weaken the union to the point where the bargaining process would be compromised. Bottom line: Both the 2006 Fort Worth and the 2021 San Antonio warnings are overstated. Just ask Ken Casaday, the president of the Austin Police Association. Austin has been operating under meet and confer since 1995, and Casaday says he sees meet and confer and collective bargaining as very similar processes. The major difference is that under collective bargaining, city management is obligated to bargain with the police association. Under meet and confer, its optional. For members of Fix SAPD, who think collective bargaining gives too much leverage to the police union, and therefore stands in the way of stronger police accountability measures, meet and confer is a better bet. Under this new system, we could have strong pay and benefits for officers, while protecting citizens and keeping the police officers accountable, said EJ Pinnock, Fix SAPD board member, during an interview on the San Antonio Express-News Puro Politics podcast. During the first decade of meet and confer in Austin, police salaries went up 90 percent. Austin police officers are currently the highest paid in the state. Casaday said Austin police officers have relinquished some power on disciplinary issues in exchange for better pay and benefits packages. San Antonio is fighting a (meet-and-confer) process that we adopted many years ago, Casaday said. We have pretty strong oversight in our city and have had it for about 18 years now. Youve got to weigh what youre willing to put up with. In 2017, Austin negotiated a new contract with its police officers, but community activists argued that it didnt do enough to address issues of officer misconduct. As a result, the Austin City Council unanimously rejected the deal. Nearly a year later, a new contract emerged. The deal revamped Austins Office of the Police Monitor into a stronger, more transparent Office of Police Oversight, which has the ability to accept complaints (including ones submitted anonymously), initiate its own complaints and follow up with complainants as investigations uncover additional information. In exchange for this stricter oversight, Austin police officers received a 7 percent pay raise over four years. Our officers are scrutinized and investigated on a very regular basis, because of complaints that are sent in by citizens, Casaday said. With our meet and confer, where both sides agree on issues that we want to talk about, weve never told the city no up-front to anything. Michael Mata, the president of the Dallas Police Association, has a decidedly less positive opinion of meet and confer than Casaday. Mata contends that the meet-and-confer process, as it has been applied in Dallas, doesnt allow the police association to negotiate anything but officer salaries. We wanted collective bargaining but we had to settle for meet and confer, Mata said. We really dont have the ability to negotiate any type of health care, policy, any type of governing rules. We just fall under whatever plan the city chooses to give us. Unfortunately, the only thing were able to work out and discuss is pay, and thats only however much the council wants to discuss it. In San Antonio, a shift to meet and confer wouldnt necessarily mean a dramatic change. It would, however, give the city some leverage on accountability issues. When asked if he thinks Austin police officers would be better off under a collective-bargaining system like the one in San Antonio, Casaday sounded skeptical. I really dont, he said. Because our fire department has it, and weve always done better than they have. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 My friends on the other side dont have to agree with Mr. Mayorkas on the finer points of every policy, but surely we can all agree that he knows the department, he understands the threats to our nations security and has what it takes to lead DHS, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he called for a vote to lift a Republican filibuster on the nomination. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Robotic Process Automation (RPA) firm UiPath on Wednesday announced to appoint Anil Bhasin as Managing Director and Vice-President, India, and South Asia. Formerly the Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks, Bhasin will replace Manish Bharti who will take on a new strategic role within UiPath, details of which will be available in near future, the company said in a statement. "Bhasin will be responsible for scaling the business and technology units within the company's India and South Asia operations", the company said. He will work closely with Rick Harshman - Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Asia Pacific and Japan. Bhasin will help accelerate adoption of automation as the preferred platform for catalyzing digital transformation across various industry verticals and sectors. The India appointment came as UiPath closed a $750 million Series F funding on Monday, that puts the company at $35 billion post-money valuation. The funding round was co-led by existing investors Alkeon Capital and Coatue. Other investors include Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, IVP, Sequoia, Tiger Global, and funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price Associates, Inc. UiPath's Automation Platform is designed to transform the way humans work, providing customers with a robust set of capabilities to discover automation opportunities and build, manage, run, engage, measure, and govern automations across departments within an organisation. 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 In its annual survey of nearly 5,000 Amazon entrepreneurs, brands, and businesses, Jungle Scout explores the challenges, strategies, and ecommerce investments of Amazon sellers in 2021. AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jungle Scout, the leading all-in-one platform for Amazon sellers, today released the results of its survey of nearly 5,000 entrepreneurs, brands, and businesses on Amazon. The 2021 State of the Amazon Seller Report reveals that more than half of Amazon sellers saw increased sales in 2020 during and because of COVID-19. In its annual survey of nearly 5,000 Amazon entrepreneurs, brands, and businesses, Jungle Scout explores the challenges, strategies, and ecommerce investments of Amazon sellers in 2021. Amazon's net sales from third-party sellers grew 57% year-over-year in 2020, heavily contributing to Amazon's $386 billion annual revenue. The report explores these sellers' diverse business strategies, including their challenges, revenue, and ecommerce growth plans for 2021. Key insights include: 1. COVID-19 contributed to Amazon sellers' revenue in 2020. 51% of Amazon sellers say their sales increased during and/or because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 44% said their businesses have performed better than expected because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2. 85% of Amazon sellers are profitable going into 2021. 62% said their profits increased during 2020. 3. Ecommerce expansion is top priority for Amazon sellers in 2021. 96% plan to expand their Amazon businesses in 2021. 39% are considering selling on Walmart.com in 2021, and many are exploring Shopify, Instagram, Target, and other platforms. 4. Sellers continue to invest in Amazon but they have concerns. 66% are concerned about increased competition driving prices down. Amazon's ad business is booming, but it's costing sellers; 62% are concerned about increasing ad costs on Amazon. "The past year has emphasized the staying power of ecommerce, with Amazon continuing to lead the charge. And Amazon's third-party sellers are essential to this success and growth," said Greg Mercer, founder and CEO of Jungle Scout. "As ecommerce becomes a more fundamental part of consumers' lives, it also becomes more competitive for the brands and businesses that leverage its reach." About the Survey Between Dec. 1-28, 2020, Jungle Scout surveyed 4,864 Amazon sellers, including prospective and former sellers. Respondents represent 70 countries, 17 Amazon marketplaces, and all relevant Amazon product categories. They are ages 18 to 80+, as well as all genders and levels of education. See full report for more details. About Jungle Scout Jungle Scout is the leading all-in-one tool for selling on Amazon. Founded in 2015 as the first Amazon product research tool, Jungle Scout today features a full suite of best-in-class business management solutions and powerful market intelligence resources to help entrepreneurs and brands manage their ecommerce businesses. Jungle Scout is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and supports nine global Amazon marketplaces. Read more at www.junglescout.com. Media Contact: Leslie Termuhlen [email protected] PR Strategist 513-600-3353 Related Images jungle-scout.jpg Jungle Scout Jungle Scout is the leading all-in-one platform for selling on Amazon and supports over $6 billion in annual Amazon revenue. the-state-of-the-amazon-seller-2021.jpg The State of the Amazon Seller 2021 In its annual survey of nearly 5,000 Amazon entrepreneurs, brands, and businesses, Jungle Scout explores the challenges, strategies, and ecommerce investments of Amazon sellers in 2021. Related Links The State of the Amazon Seller 2021 SOURCE Jungle Scout Related Links http://www.junglescout.com The makers of all three vaccines have said that their shots proved to be anywhere from 70% to 95% effective in clinical trials in protecting people from illness caused by the virus. But it was unclear whether the vaccines could also suppress transmission of the virus that is, whether someone inoculated could still acquire the virus without getting sick and spread it to others. The COVID-19 pandemic is a great example of the importance of access to the Internet and to digital health information. Unfortunately, historical disparities in health care appear to be reflected in computer ownership, access to the Internet and use of digital health information. However, few studies have qualitatively explored reasons for digital health information disparity, especially in older adults. A study led by Florida Atlantic University's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing in collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, examined the extent of computer ownership, Internet access, and digital health information use in older (ages 60 and above) African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanic Americans and European Americans. They quantitatively identified factors related to electronic device ownership, Internet access, and digital health information in 562 study participants and explored the reasons for any differences using a series of focus groups. Results of the study, published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, revealed a deep digital health divide within the older population, which was evident in both the community sample and focus groups. Participants who were older, less educated, economically disadvantaged and from ethnic groups (African American, Afro-Caribbean or Hispanic American) were up to five times less likely to have access to digital health information than were those who were younger and more highly educated, had a higher income, or were European Americans. The odds of owning a computer or having access to the Internet were one-fifth as likely in the African American group as it was for European Americans and one-fourth as likely for the Afro-Caribbean group. The odds of Hispanic Americans owning a computer were one-third as likely and for having access to the Internet less than one-half as great as for the European Americans. Those who received Medicaid assistance were less than one-half as likely to use either the Internet or digital health information as were those who did not receive Medicaid and a little more than half as likely to own a computer. "Currently, digital health technology development is outpacing parallel efforts to conquer the digital health divide, which also has important implications for helping older adults get registered for the COVID-19 vaccine," said Ruth Tappen, Ed.D., R.N., F.A.A.N, lead author and Christine E. Lynn Eminent Scholar, FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. "Portals that allow patients access to their electronic health records, decision aids that prepare patients to discuss options with their providers, making telehealth appointments with providers and so forth, needlessly, though unintentionally, excludes, marginalizes, and disenfranchises those who are older, have low incomes, have low health literacy, and/or are members of minority groups." The results of the focus group sessions shed some light on the effects of this disparity and highlight differences in response across the minority groups represented. Interest in obtaining Internet health-related information was highest in the African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and European Americans, and moderate at best in the Hispanic American group. Ability to afford a device that allows Internet access differed greatly across groups, and participants' expressed preferences for provider-patient information or more independent searches, and involvement in decision-making also varied considerably. Participants in the African American/Afro-Caribbean group expressed frustration with lack of access to digital health information but appreciation for alternative sources of information. Hispanic Americans critiqued information received from providers and drug inserts, some suggesting that a positive attitude and trust in God also contributed to getting well. European American participants evaluated various digital health information websites, looking to providers for help in applying information to their personal situation. The researchers stress that addressing this digital health divide in the older population requires attention at several levels. At the policy level, national connectivity plans are needed, and greater effort to provide universal Internet access needs to be made. Municipal broadband networks can achieve this at the local level. Eventually Internet service needs to be redefined as a necessity, not a luxury, a necessary utility like electricity and water or to become a free service supported by advertisements as are broadcast radio and television. Not only does it need to be affordable but also adequate for the job. "Until Internet access is universal, creative use of printed materials, telephone calls, in-person groups, family assistance, individual meetings, and mailings are needed for those disadvantaged and minority older adults who remain affected by this digital health information disparity," said Tappen. ### Study co-authors are Mary E. Cooley, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N, Phyllis F. Cantor Center, Research in Nursing and Patient Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Roger Luckmann, M.D., M.P.H., Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Somi Panday, a graduate student in FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award - EAIN-2276, and University of Massachusetts Medical School, Engaging Stakeholders in Implementation of Decision Aids. About the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing: FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing is nationally and internationally known for its excellence and philosophy of caring science. The college is ranked No.1 in online graduate nursing programs in Florida and No. 23 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. In 2017, with a 100 percent pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), FAU BSN graduates, first-time test takers, ranked among the highest (No.1) in Florida and the United States. FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). For more information, visit nursing.fau.edu. About Florida Atlantic University: Canadian pension funds demonstrated their resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic, many intend to reposition as they meet long-term needs with significant shifts planned in infrastructure, fixed income and private equity allocations. TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Canada's sophisticated pension funds are at the forefront of a trend to shift asset management functions in-house along with associated requirements for investment operations and systems. Even amid rising focus on in-house management, plan sponsors are also becoming increasingly strategic about selection of, allocations to and oversight on external managers, according to a new survey of 50 leading Canadian pension funds entitled, "In Search of New Value: How Canadian Pension Funds are Preparing for a Post-COVID-19 Environment," published today by CIBC Mellon. Canadian pension funds are adapting their investment strategies for a post-COVID-19 environment (CNW Group/CIBC Mellon) The first instalment of the research, "Investment Strategy: What will life look like after COVID-19?" highlights how Canadian pension funds are preparing increase the portion of assets and investment activities managed in-house to 28% from 22%. In particular, real estate (58%) and equities (48%) are the asset classes where the largest portion of pension funds are planning to increase in-house management over the next 12 to 24 months. That said, the survey also confirms that Canadian pension funds continue to see significant value in leveraging external managers to deliver returns across key asset classes. "Many Canadian pension funds take a nuanced approach to asset management. Where appropriate, they operate with in-house teams and this appears to be increasing," said Alistair Almeida, Segment Lead Asset Owners, CIBC Mellon. "Elsewhere, they are pursuing partnerships and collaborations, as well as full-scale outsourcing arrangements. There is no one-size-fits-all arrangement." "As the Canadian investment industry works through the market turbulence, early indications are that investors may see this as an inflection point to secure increased transparency," said Ash Tahbazian, Chief Client Officer, CIBC Mellon. "From gathering information to assist in various risk and performance scenarios, to launching separately-managed accounts with trusted asset managers, initial feedback is that investors are keen to further the gains they have made in enhancing control in recent years." Story continues Download the Chapter 1 of the study at www.cibcmellon.com/insearchofnewvalue clients can also contact their CIBC Mellon relationship manager to learn more or arrange a detailed discussion of the findings. Additional findings include: Pension funds have significant plans to alter the mix of their portfolio. Notably, 86% of funds expect to reduce their exposure to infrastructure over the next 12 to 24 months. The asset class most likely to see a rise in allocations is private equity, where 90% of respondents say they intend to increase allocations over the next year. Almost half of funds (42%) expect to raise their exposures to real estate. Almost nine in 10 pension funds (86%) expect to invest more in fixed-income assets in the short term. However, not all funds are taking a defensive stance: 36% plan to increase their allocations to equities, almost twice as many as plan to trim allocations, while 20% anticipate a reduction in the size of their cash holdings. Methodology The survey of 50 leading Canadian pension managers was completed in 2020. Half of respondents had between C$600m and $1.2B under management, and half had more than $1.2B under management. About CIBC Mellon CIBC Mellon is a Canadian company exclusively focused on the investment servicing needs of Canadian institutional investors and international institutional investors into Canada. Founded in 1996, CIBC Mellon is 50-50 jointly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). CIBC Mellon's investment servicing solutions for institutions and corporations are provided in close collaboration with our parent companies, and include custody, multicurrency accounting, fund administration, recordkeeping, pension services, exchange-traded fund services, securities lending services, foreign exchange processing and settlement, and treasury services. As at December 31, 2020, CIBC Mellon had more than C$2.1 trillion of assets under administration on behalf of banks, pension funds, investment funds, corporations, governments, insurance companies, foreign insurance trusts, foundations and global financial institutions whose clients invest in Canada. CIBC Mellon is part of the BNY Mellon network, which as at December 31, 2020 had US$41.1 trillion in assets under custody and / or administration. CIBC Mellon is a licensed user of the CIBC trade-mark and certain BNY Mellon trade-marks, is the corporate brand of CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company and CIBC Mellon Trust Company, and may be used as a generic term to refer to either or both companies. For more information, including CIBC Mellon's latest knowledge leadership on issues relevant to institutional investors active in Canada, visit www.cibcmellon.com . SOURCE CIBC Mellon Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2021/03/c9850.html Tanzanias health ministry has denied claims being circulated on social media that hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. The ministrys permanent secretary, Mabula Mchembe, said the public should not spread fear among people. The government has repeatedly been accused of playing down the threat posed by Covid-19. Prof Mchembe said that he had visited Mloganzila and Muhimbilia - two major hospitals in the main city Dar es Salaam - and was "satisfied that not everyone admitted here is suffering from Covid-19 as said by social media". His comments came a few days after Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima showed journalists how to make a concoction from onions, ginger, lemons and green peppers, and encouraged the public to take it as a precautionary measure. There is no scientific evidence that it helps to combat the virus. Tanzania is one of the few countries in the world to not publish any data on Covid-19 cases. It last did so in May 2020, when about 500 cases and 20 deaths were recorded. The following month, Mr Magufuli declared Tanzania "coronavirus-free". Last month, President John Magufuli said some Tanzanians had travelled abroad to take the vaccine but "ended up bringing us a strange coronavirus". The comments were seen as an apparent admission that the virus may be circulating in the country. Dr Gwajima also warned media outlets not to report unofficial information on coronavirus or any disease. The warning comes after the Catholic Church said it had observed an increase in requiem masses, blaming funerals on a spike in coronavirus infections. The US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised against all travel to Tanzania and updated its alert to level four, meaning transmission of coronavirus in the country is "high or rising rapidly". On Monday, Dr Gwajima said that "for now the government has no plans to receive the Covid vaccine being distributed in other countries". Last week, President John Magufuli warned officials against acquiring vaccines saying they could harm people, without giving evidence. Millions of people have already been inoculated in many countries after the vaccines were given emergency approval. Vaccines are rigorously tested in trials involving thousands of people before being assessed by health regulators. They look at all the data on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines before approving them for use on a wider population. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged Tanzania to consider inoculating its population. 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 Homa Bay nurses ended a two-month strike after the local government pledged to address their concerns. The nurses called off their strike on Wednesday after negotiations with the county government. In a meeting chaired by Homa Bay County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe and the County Health Executive Prof Richard Muga, the health workers under their umbrella body, Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) decided to resume duty after their employer assured them that their complaints would be heard. Union officials instructed members to resume work immediately. Nurses declared a nationwide strike November 23 last year. Most public hospitals were closed as the health workers took to the street to demand a number of issues from county governments. Knun members in Homa Bay joined the strike, in solidarity with their colleagues resulting in total paralysis of health services in major facilities. In Homa Bay, nurses were asking for a comprehensive medical cover, timely salary payment, promotions, better working environment among other grievances. Union officials led by Knun Secretary Omondi Nyonje, Treasurer Juma Magara and Lilian Ogutu (trustee) said they reached an agreement with the county government to address contentious issues. "There are many issues which we wanted to be addressed. The county government has offered to tackle serious ones first," Mr Nyonje said. He told union members that their employer has assured them of enhanced risk allowance, which he said will be paid according to regulations of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Health Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The county government has agreed to implement payment of risk allowance as stated by SRC from January this year," he told nurses. The medics were also demanding promotions. According to Mr Nyonje, the county government has agreed to regularly promote nurses from one job group to another. The health workers will also be receiving their salaries on time in line with the agreement. "We also agreed that the county will provide us with comprehensive health insurance from July this year," Mr Nyonje added. Mr Ogwe told journalists that Homa Bay County government had addressed some of the issues that were being asked by KNUN national officials. He said they managed to negotiate with the nurses to call off the strike because there were no serious issues affecting the health workers. "Health workers in Homa Bay County were just in solidarity with their colleagues from other counties. Most of their demand had been addressed even before the strike began," the county secretary said. The county government is now focused on talking to other health workers who are still on strike, including clinical officers. Prof Muga said they are negotiating with officials from the Kenya National Union of Clinical Officers to to tell their members to resume duty. 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 support of its most senior executive in Asia for Chinas imposition of its national security laws in Hong Kong and its co-operation with China in freezing the accounts of activists and lawmakers in Hong Kong earned it the ire of the Trump administration. Former US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, slammed the bank for its corporate kowtow to China. But HSBC has also earned the ire of the Chinese authorities for providing information at the direction of the US authorities that contributed to the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018. Given the banks roles in Hong Kong and China, the sanctions the US placed on Chinese companies and individuals for their alleged involvement in the crackdown on activism in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang represent a minefield. Equally, co-operation with the US enforcement of sanctions Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam is being paid in cash after being cut off by international banks concerned about compliance with the US sanctions risks the bank being placed on Chinas unreliable entity list and punished by the Chinese authorities. Some of Chinas Wolf Warriors have urged the authorities to put HSBC on that list. Last year, to try to blunt the impact of the US sanctions, China also issued new rules purporting to block its companies and citizens from complying with unjustified foreign laws. HSBC chief Noel Quinn faces a difficult choice. Credit:Nic Walker While HSBC has demonstrated throughout its history a remarkable ability to walk the tightrope of sporadic tensions between China and the West, the accelerating decoupling of the Chinese and American economies and the potential for the US to be joined by its allies some of which, like the UK and Australia, have co-operated on issues like Huaweis involvement in 5G rollouts is making it more difficult for the bank to avoid choosing sides. Biden might determine its future. Hes made it clear he wants to reform the alliances with the UK, Europe and Americas traditional allies in Asia that the Trump administration trashed while also re-stating the US view of China as an amoral rival. Its survival in its current form could depend on whether the new administration seeks to defuse them or intensify them. His administration might rationalise some of the myriad measures taken by its predecessor and bring some coherency to the trade and other sanctions Trump imposed, but the anti-China sentiment in the US is shared by Democrats and Republicans. Any success in enlisting the Europeans, in particular, to the effort to contain China will only exacerbate the pressures on HSBC. At face value, the choice for the bank might appear straightforward. Its Hong Kong and China operations are the core of its earnings and value. Its businesses in Europe, the US and elsewhere have always been weaker contributors and have exposed it to massive fines for money-laundering, breaches of sanctions and other misbehaviours. After its most recent strategic review, the bank committed to sell $US100 billion of its global assets over the next two years and to beef up its operations in Asia and the Greater Bay Area of Hong Kong, Macau and the mainlands neighbouring Guandong province in particular. It could retreat to Hong Kong and China and sell, shut down or spin off its other operations, but that would end its global aspirations, turn its back on more than 150 years of financing international trade and risk it becoming just another Chinese bank, possibly ending up state-owned. (China has, reportedly, run the numbers on acquiring it several times in the past). Its unclear, however, whether China which has said it would welcome a redomiciling of HSBC to Hong Kong would actually be keen for HSBC to be broken up. The bank is a key pipeline for foreign capital into Hong Kong and China, and a mainstay of Hong Kongs status as an international financial centre. HSBC has survived existential threats throughout its history and shown that it can usually find a way to walk both sides of a treacherous path. Unless tensions between the US and China and the West and China abate, however, this period might produce the most threatening moment of all. A prototype of SpaceXs Starship rocket exploded during a landing attempt minutes after a high-altitude experimental launch from Boca Chica, Texas, on Tuesday, in a repeat of an accident that destroyed a previous test rocket. The Starship SN9 that blew up on its final descent, like the SN8 before it, was a test model of the heavy-lift rocket being developed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musks private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars. The self-guided, 16-story-tall rocket initially soared into the clear, blue South Texas sky from its Gulf Coast launch pad on what appeared from SpaceXs livestream coverage to be a flawless liftoff. Reaching its peak altitude of about 10 km (6 miles), the spacecraft then hovered momentarily in midair, shut off its engines and executed a planned belly-flop maneuver to descend nose-down under aerodynamic control back toward Earth. The trouble came when the Starship, after flipping its nose upward again to begin its landing sequence, tried to reactivate two of its three Raptor thrusters, but one failed to ignite. The rocket then fell rapidly to the ground, exploding in a roaring ball of flames, smoke and debris 6 minutes and 26 seconds after launch. The Starship SN8, the first prototype to fly in a high-altitude test launch, met a similar fate in December. No injuries occurred in either incident. A SpaceX commentator for Tuesdays launch webcast said the rockets flight to its test altitude, along with most of its subsonic re-entry, looked very good and stable, like we saw last December. We just have to work on that landing a little bit, the commentator said, adding, This is a test flight, the second time weve flown Starship in this configuration. There was no immediate comment from Musk, who also heads the electric carmaker Tesla Inc. Hours earlier, Musk said on Twitter he planned to stay off the social media platform for a while. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would oversee an investigation of Tuesdays landing mishap, as it did following the previous explosion an inquiry that revealed tensions between Musk and the agency. SpaceX conducted Decembers launch without demonstrating that public safety risks posed by far-field blast overpressure met the terms of its regulatory permit, according to the FAA. But the agency said corrective actions the company later took were approved by the FAA and incorporated into Tuesdays launch. We anticipate taking no further enforcement action on the SN8 matter, the agencys statement said. Last week, Musk tweeted that the FAAs space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure and that humanity will never get to Mars under its rules. The complete Starship rocket, which will stand 394-feet (120 meters) tall when mated with its super-heavy first-stage booster, is the companys next-generation fully reusable launch vehicle the center of Musks ambitions to make human space travel more affordable and routine. A first orbital Starship flight is planned for years end. Musk has said he intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the moon with the Starship in 2023. Lawmakers Vote to Check Beshear's COVID Powers By The Associated Press FRANKFORT - Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have delivered final votes to limit the Democratic governors authority to order restrictions to combat COVID-19.The votes Tuesday set up a legal showdown over the extent of executive powers in the state.GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate voted to override vetoes issued by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The votes amounted to a repudiation of the governors nearly 11-month strategy to contain the spread of the coronavirus.Beshear immediately filed a lawsuit to block the new measures. He says the legislature has attempted to surrender to COVID-19 and to accept the casualties. [February 03, 2021] Featuring Top 5 Vendors in the Global Marine Insurance Market Report | Competitive Landscape and Key Product Offerings | Technavio The global marine insurance market has the potential to grow by USD 8.42 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. The report highlights key products offered by the top five vendors and their contribution to the overall growth of the market. Download a Free Sample Report Instantly for a More Detailed Analysis This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005543/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Marine Insurance Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The use of multiple distribution channels will be crucial in driving the growth of the global marine insurance market during the forecast period. Technological advances in the marine industry, such as digitization and analytics, have increased the number of online portals that improve customer experience. For example, countries such as Singapore encourage insurance business models that promote direct underwriting via online platforms. Also, the use of multiple distribution channels is helping suppliers reach a broader audience, especially in emerging markets. This leads to reduced costs, low risks, and helps vendors craft a better customer experience. "The increase in the use of IoT has been a prominent factor in boosting the market growth. Also, an increase in premium contribution from the emerging markets will positively impact the market as well as the marine industry in the forthcoming years," says an analyst at Technavio. Develop Smart Strategies for Your Business: Grab an Exclusive Free Sample Report Now! Marine Insurance Market: Competitive Vendor Landscape The market is fragmented due to the presence of many players. Allianz Group, American International Group Inc., Aon Plc, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and AXA Group are some of the major market participants. To help clients improve their market position, this marine insurance market report provides a detailed analysis of the market leaders and offers information on the competencies and capacities of these companies. The report also covers details on the market's competitive landscape and offers information on the products offered by various companies. Gain Instant Access To 17,000+ Market Research Reports and Connect with Expert Analysts Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Top Five Vendors in the Global Marine Insurance Market: Allianz Group Allianz Group operates its business through segments such as Property-Casualty, Life or Health, Asset Management, and Corporate and Other. The company offers marine and shipping insurance for all types of marine risk, from single vessels and shipments to the most complex fleets and multinational logistics businesses. American International Group Inc. American International Group Inc. operates its business through segments such as General Insurance, Life and Retirement, Other Operations, and Legacy Portfolio. The company provides marine insurance for goods in transit from warehouse to warehouse anywhere in the world. Aon Plc Aon Plc operates its business through segments such as Commercial Risk Solutions, Reinsurance Solutions, Retirement Solutions, Health Solutions, and Data and Analytic Services. The company provides marine insurance which insure transport and storage risks in comfort, keep an administrative overview, and produce certificates and policies online. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. operates its business through segments such as Brokerage and Risk Management. The company offers specialized expertise, foresight, and knowledge of the current risks and future opportunities in the marine industry to manage your risk and develop alternative financing. AXA Group AXA Group operates its business through segments such as France, Europe, Asia, AXA XL, US, International, and Transversal and Central Holdings. The company offers insurance against loss or damage to goods while being transported by rail, road, air, and sea. Related Reports on Industrials Include: Global Aerospace Insurance Market - Global aerospace insurance market is segmented by end-user (service providers, airport operators, and others), insurance type (public liability insurance, passenger liability insurance, ground risk hull insurance not-in-motion, ground risk hull insurance in-motion, in-flight insurance, and others), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Seafreight Forwarding Market - Global seafreight forwarding market is segmented by service (FCL and LCL) and geography (Europe, APAC, North America, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, Download a Free Sample Report 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/20210203005543/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] While obesity is often linked to other health problems, doctors say they have been struck by how hard COVID-19 hits even those obese patients who have no other underlying conditions. "I think the one [health condition] that has really stuck out is obesity, said Jakob McSparron, M.D., a critical care doctor at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, Mich. In particular, it seems as though obesity among younger patients is a notable risk factor." Why it's dangerous with COVID-19: Obesity can make it harder for a person's lungs to expand, impairing breathing and oxygenation. In addition, extra fat, especially around the belly, is linked to chronic inflammation that can weaken the immune response. Obesity is also believed to increase your risk of blood clots. What you can do: Because your risk of complications from COVID-19 is directly correlated to your BMI, if you're among the 42 percent of Americans who are obese, even a small amount of weight loss can make a difference, said cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., dean of Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. "It takes weeks, not years, he said. It's very well documented that even losing five pounds makes a difference in your metabolic health. With a few small lifestyle changes eat a little healthier, exercise a little more, get more sleep you could very plausibly lower your risk of severe illness from COVID-19." High-risk condition: High blood pressure What the numbers say: When researchers analyzed 22 studies from eight countries last year, they found that high blood pressure was present in 42 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, making it the most prevalent health condition by far. Even more stunning: Those patients had twice the risk of death compared with patients without high blood pressure, said Vikramaditya Samala Venkata, M.D., one of the study's authors and a hospital medicine physician at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, N.H. The news isn't all bad, however. The Clinical Infectious Diseases study on COVID-19 mortality found that hypertension on its own raised the death rate only for those under age 40, said study author Anthony Harris, M.D., an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland. For those age 40 and older, mortality risk increased only if their high blood pressure had caused a complication such as heart damage or chronic kidney disease. Why it's dangerous with COVID-19: Experts believe COVID-19 damages the cells that line blood vessels, causing clots and making it harder for them to carry oxygen. What you can do: Follow your doctor's advice to keep your blood pressure under control. Studies show patients with unregulated high blood pressure are at greater risk from COVID-19 compared with patients who take medication to control it. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 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 renewal of this C-12 CLS contract is a testimony to Vertex's high-quality, innovative solutions that have led to a 20-plus year relationship with the USAF C-12 program," said John "Ed" Boyington, Vertex Aerospace president and CEO. "These long-term relationships have allowed us to streamline maintenance operations through predictive analysis approaches and cost control efficiency, offering our customers accelerated readiness." CLS support will be performed at seven domestic locations and 16 international sites. This contract award follows Vertex's prime seat awards on the U.S. Air Force Installation Contracting Center's Aircraft Maintenance Enterprise Solution and Consolidated Rotary Wing Maintenance contract vehicles, allowing the mid-level aerospace defense company and the USAF to further advance innovative fixed and rotary-wing solutions together. Work is expected to be completed by December 31, 2021. Funds in the amount of $6,648,772 were obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. About Vertex Aerospace Vertex Aerospace offers a global capability and complete solution for government and commercial customers. The mid-level aerospace Company operates in over 100 locations worldwide providing aftermarket aerospace services for more than 2,400 fixed and rotary wing airframes. Vertex's agility, rapid deployment capability, and customer optimization have distinguished it from competitors for over half a century. With a 50 percent veteran workforce, the Mississippi-based company understands the challenges faced by the defense sector. More information can be found at vtxaero.com . POC: Rachel C. Henson Corporate Communications Manager [email protected] 601-607-6552 SOURCE Vertex Aerospace Related Links http://www.vtxaero.com ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Minnesota Department of Health wants you to be careful of vaccine opportunists. The department has some warnings for all of us. It says if anyone offers you the vaccine, but asks for any money, they are trying to con you. The department says the vaccine is free to everyone. The Minnesota Department of Health says if someone asks for your credit card, bank account, or social security number, do not give it to them. Public health and health care providers will not call you and ask for this. If someone offers to sell you a vaccine, they are not legit. If someone says you can pay to get on a list or get access to a vaccine sooner, don't do it. Getting on a list through a provider does not cost you money. If someone offers to ship you a vaccine, that's a con too. The vaccine needs to be received from a medical professional. "We know there is a lot of demand for vaccines right now, so claims you can get the vaccine faster sound great. But it's important to be careful because these could be attempts to gain access to your personal information," says Kris Ehresmann, Infectious Disease Director for the Minnesota Department of Health. Ehresmann says it's important to be patient with health care officials and providers at this time. They are trying to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible. The Minnesota Department of Health reminds us the vaccine is available to all of us for free. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company She was left devastated when her beloved Nanny Wendy passed away aged 77 last week after battling pneumonia. And Sam Faiers paid a heartwarming tribute to her grandmother on Wednesday, sharing collage of throwback snaps to Instagram as well as a sweet message which read: 'I will love you forever'. Her tribute comes hours after older sister Billie also honoured their beloved Nanny, with a moving message and a throwback Karaoke video of Wendy singing. Looking back: Sam Faiers paid a heartwarming tribute to her Nanny Wendy on Wednesday, sharing collage of throwback snaps to Instagram as well as a sweet message which read: 'I will love you forever' Former TOWIE star Sam, 30, remembered her relative with an image of throwback snaps featuring Wendy and Sam from over the years. Captioning her post, which she also shared on her stories, Sam penned: 'Nanny Wendy, a week today the lord called you home to heaven. 'I will love you forever nan, you was such a huge inspiration to Billie and I. From day one we was your Miss Worlds you spoke positivity over us our whole life. You loved us unconditionally. You truly was the best nan ever.' She continued: 'I can hear your voice everyday, hello my darling, how are you. You would call us almost everyday for a chat, you would come to all the parties and events with us, I have thousands of special memories with you, nan you are a legend.' So missed: Her tribute comes hours after older sister Billie also honoured their beloved grandmother with a touching message and throwback video Going on to detail the impact Wendy had on her, Sam concluded: 'Im so blessed that I had you in my life, you was infectious, everyone loved you. 'I will continue to make you proud nannny. Until we meet again.. for a coffee and doughnut or a Pina colada.' [sic] The poignant message garnered several supportive comments from her fans and showbiz pals, including Gemma Colins, Chloe Sims and Luisa Zissman. Sam also shared an image of her cooking her Nan's favourite meal. Lovely words: Captioning her post, which she also shared on her stories, Sam penned: 'Nanny Wendy, a week today the lord called you home to heaven' Remembering her: Sam also shared an image of her cooking her Nan's favourite meal Sam's message comes shortly after sister Billie shared her own touching tribute to her grandmother on Tuesday, sharing a clip of Wendy singing karaoke to her Instagram alongside a sweet message saying how much she missed her relative. The reality star, 31, also took to her Instagram stories on Wednesday where she revealed she had returned to Dancing On Ice training, after being forced to miss the last show so she could grieve over her loss. Billie uploaded a heartwarming video of Nanny Wendy singing karaoke just two days before Billie's Maldives wedding to Greg Shepherd in 2019. In the clip, a confident Wendy took centre stage as she belted out her 'favourite song', Crazy by Patsy Cline, to rapturous applause from the crowd. Happy times: Billie, 31, uploaded a heartwarming video of Nanny Wendy singing karaoke just two days before Billie's Maldives wedding to Greg Shepherd in 2019 Writing alongside the video, Billie paid a touching tribute to 'My beautiful nanny wendy'. She penned: 'I struggle to understand why you have been taken from us so soon. 'All I can hold onto in my heart are the many amazing memories with you nanny and this one has to be one of my favourites that I will cherish forever Here you are in the Maldives just 2 days before my wedding, singing your favourite song, only you could capture a crowd like this my precious nanny wendy ' The former TOWIE star went on to say how much she cherished many years with her beloved nan, adding: 'I am so grateful I had you in my life for 31 years, you have been the most encouraging, loving, funniest, one of a kind, special nanny that we could ever wish for... 'Your Miss worlds you would always call Samantha and I, I know how proud of us you are, you told us every day Memories: In the clip, a confident Wendy took centre stage as she belted out her 'favourite song', Crazy by Patsy Cline, to rapturous applause from the crowd 'I miss you terribly and Im heartbroken. I will love you forever and ever .' Billie didn't take part in Sunday's episode of Dancing On Ice so she could grieve the 'devastating' loss of her relative. A DOI spokesperson said at the time: 'Sadly due to a family bereavement this week Billie Shepherd is taking a break from the ice and won't be on Sunday's show. We look forward to her returning next week and send her all of our love at this sad time.' And on Wednesday, Billie confirmed that she had returned to Dancing On Ice training as she shared a picture from skate partner Mark Hanretty in which he said: '#BackAtItAgain.' Tribute: Writing alongside the video, Billie paid a touching tribute to 'My beautiful nanny wendy' as she shared how much she meant to her While Billie captioned the clip saying: 'I have some serious catching up to do.' It was announced last week that Billie has lost her Nanny Wendy and a source close to the family said: 'The girls are completely devastated. 'They were very close with their Nan and her passing has come as a complete shock to the family.' MailOnline understands that the girls and their families have also taken time out to grieve and have temporarily halted filming for The Mummy Diaries. Week off: Billie didn't take part in Sunday's episode of Dancing On Ice so she could grieve the 'devastating' loss of her relative Back at it: on Wednesday, Billie confirmed that she had returned to Dancing On Ice training as she shared a picture from skate partner Mark Hanretty in which he said: '#BackAtItAgain' Billie and Sam have been silent on social media in recent days following the tragic loss of their nanny. They had begun filming for the ninth series of their successful fly on the wall ITV series last month, as they shot Sam's 30th lockdown birthday. They have regularly shared images with Nanny Wendy on their social media pages at glamorous events and on holidays. In 2019 the family holidayed at the five-star Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, where the sisters were joined by mum Sue and grandma Wendy. While on the trip Billie shared a sweet picture of herself, Sam, mum Suzie, 51, and Wendy, alongside the caption: 'Three generations. We learnt from the best.' The Faiers sisters had a close bond with their nanny, who is mother to their biological father Lee Faiers. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that India's image has taken a hit internationally due to the government's handling of the issue with apathy, while rejecting the tweets made by international celebrities on the issue. Gandhi said,"This is our internal matter." He doesn't have any opinion on the tweets but farm laws must be withdrawn, he added. The Congress leader said that the government should resolve the issue. He asked: "Why is the government fortifying the place? Are they afraid of farmers? The farmers are the country's strength and the government should talk to them and resolve the issue." "The impasse is not good for our country and the farmers will not back down. The government must withdraw the farm laws. So, it is better to withdraw them today," he added. On the issue of Budget, he said,"I expected that the Budget will give support to 99 per cent people but this Budget is just for one per cent of people. The economy can grow only through consumption. Giving money to the supply side will not start the economy." Gandhi claimed that China has entered Indian territory. "And what the government has done has only increased the defence budget marginally. Whatever the armed forces wanted, the government should have given it to them," he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A systematic review and meta-analysis of seven longitudinal studies published in the journal Psychological Medicine shows evidence for an almost two-point decline in IQ associated with frequent or dependent cannabis use in adolescence. Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit substance worldwide, with the prevalence of lifetime cannabis use highest in young people. Its use in adolescence is consistently associated with poorer mental health outcomes including increased risk of mood disorders, self-harm and suicidality. Its use is also associated with markedly poorer psychosocial outcomes across the lifespan in diverse indices such as educational attainment, employment, relationships, welfare dependency, risk of motor accidents, social mobility and income. Previous research tells us that young people who use cannabis frequently have worse outcomes in life than their peers and are at increased risk for serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, said study senior author Professor Mary Cannon, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. Loss of IQ points early in life could have significant effects on performance in school and college and later employment prospects. For their systematic review and meta-analysis, the researchers searched Embase, PubMed and PsychInfo databases from inception to January 24, 2020. They found seven cohort studies involving 808 young people who used cannabis at least weekly for a minimum of 6 months and 5,308 young people who did not use cannabis. The young people were followed up until age 18 on average although one study followed the young people until age 38. The authors found that young people who use cannabis frequently or dependently by age 18 have declined in IQ at follow up and this may be due to a decline in verbal IQ. The findings could be explained by several potential mechanisms: a developmental neurotoxicity mechanism, a social pathway influenced by deviancy and educational non-engagement, by residual effects of cannabis or by individual vulnerability factors such as reading ability in childhood or by genetic factors. Hypotheses such as family level vulnerability predisposing to IQ decline are possible but are less likely to be fully explanatory. Cannabis use during youth is of great concern as the developing brain may be particularly susceptible to harm during this period, said study first author Dr. Emmet Power, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the Royal College of Surgeons. The findings of this study help us to further understand this important public health issue. _____ Emmet Power et al. Intelligence quotient decline following frequent or dependent cannabis use in youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, published online January 27, 2021; doi: 10.1017/S0033291720005036 Hyderabad, Feb 3 : Hyderabad Police have booked a couple involved in theft of idols from temples to perform special puja to have children. While the man has been arrested for theft at two temples in the city, the police are on the lookout for his wife. Santapuram Siddesh and S. Sujatha allegedly committed thefts at two temples under Langer House and Kulsumpura police station limits after a 'tantrik' suggested they perform a special puja. "Someone suggested to them that if performing puja of Lords Naga Devatha, Katta Maisamma and Narasimha Swamy by keeping their idols in home, they can be blessed with children. As such they hatched a plan to commit theft of the Narasimha Swamy idol or idol plate as well as Lord Naga Devatha idol with Katta Maisamma idol or idol plate," said Kulsumpura inspector P. Shankar. On December 11, 2020 the couple gained entry into the Sri Kovela Ranganayaka Swamy Temple in Nanal Nagar and committed theft of a brass coated wall hanging of Laxmi Narasimha Swamy. The couple on January 18 stole brass coated metal plate of Lord Naga Devatha with Katta Maisamma idol from Katta Maisamma Temple, Jiyaguda. Siddesh and Sujatha, both aged 27, are labourers and residents of Deen Dayal Nagar in Film Nagar, Banjara Hills. The police recovered the stolen property and a mobile phone. Kulsumpura police also apprehended another person involved in the theft of gold and silver ornaments from idols in various temples in Hyderabad. According to the police, Emani Ram Babu, who is into the pearl business, committed thefts of ornaments from three temples in Hyderabad Police commissionerate limits and one temple in Rachakonda commissionerate. Police recovered the gold ornaments weighing about 37 grams and silver ornaments weighing about 50 grams all worth about Rs 2,00,000 from his possession. A native of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and currently residing in Hyderabad, he is a habitual offender and is involved in 42 cases in the city and 21 cases in Andhra Pradesh. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The long wait for Delhi nursery admission 2021-22 is over. The Department of Education has released the dates for admission of students to Nursery, KG and Class 1. The Delhi Nursery Admission 2021 will begin on February 18. It has asked all the private schools to follow the guidelines and complete the admission guidelines. This year, the admission process of the nursery in Delhi was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Also Read: How To Improve Learning Abilities Of Students Delhi Nursery Admission 2021 Registration Process Step 1: Visit the official website of the school that you want to register for. Step 2: Go to the admissions 2021-22 link or tab on the homepage. Step 3: A login window will open. Step 4: Enter the registration details and fill in the required information. Step 5: Upload the required documents. Step 6: Pay the application fee, i.e., Rs 25. Step 7: Submit the Delhi Nursery Admission 2021-22 application form. Delhi Nursery Admission 2021: List of Documents Passport-size photograph Mother's/ Father's/ Guardian's passport-size photograph Family photograph (mother, father, and child) Address proof Child's birth certificate Child's Aadhar card Ration Card/ Smart Card issued in the name of parents Electricity bill/ MTNL telephone bill/ Water bill/ Passport in the name of the parents or child. Parent's Voter ID Card Parent's Aadhaar Card/ UID card Delhi Nursery Admission 2021 Schedule Particulars Dates Uploading the criteria and their points in the module of the Department at the link mentioned February 17, 2021 Commencement of admission process and availability of forms February 18, 2021 Last date of submission of application forms in schools March 4, 2021 Uploading details of children who applied to the school for admission under Open Seats March 9, 2021 Uploading marks (as per point system) given to each of the children who applied for admission under open seats March 15, 2021 The date for displaying the first list of selected children (including Waiting List) along with marks allotted under point system) March 20, 2021 Resolution of queries of parents, if any March 22 to 23, 2021 The date for displaying the second list of children March 25, 2021 Resolution of queries of parents, if any March 26, 2021 Subsequent list of admission, if any March 27, 2021 Closure of admission process March 31, 2021 Delhi Nursery Admission Age Limit Upper Age Limit Nursery (Pre-school): 4 years Kindergarten (Pre-primary): 5 years Class 1: 6 years Note: The age is based on March 31 of the year in which the admission is sought. DoE Releases Delhi Nursery Admission 2021-22 Schedule The DoE, Delhi has released the Delhi Nursery Admission 2021-22 dates and schedule for entry level classes (below six years of age) for open seats in private unaided recognised schools of Delhi for the session 2021-22. Parents are advised to download the notice issued by the Department below and read all the guidelines meticulously. Delhi Nursery Admission 2021 Download Notice Education Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia tweeted, "Nursery admission schedule announced by the Delhi govt.... best wishes for all the parents and kids" Nursery admission schedule announced by the Delhi govt.... best wishes for all the parents and kids. pic.twitter.com/bGANGnZLvS Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) February 10, 2021 CM Arvind Kejriwal interacted with the principals and management officials of private schools on February 2. He also informed that the government is putting its best foot forward to reopen the schools in Delhi. The decision to reopen nursery schools will be taken after closing watching the vaccine drive. Delhi schools and colleges are reopened for Classes 10th and 12th from January 18. Had an interaction with principals and authorities of private schools in Delhi | LIVE https://t.co/6qQ16TGWW5 Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 2, 2021 Every year, Delhi's government agency, Directorate of Education (DoE), releases the admission schedule for Entry Level Classes in private schools of Delhi. Around 1700 private schools are there in Delhi under DoE. The Delhi nursery admission 2021 is conducted for Entry Level Classes (below six years of age) for open seats in Private Unaided Recognized Schools. Parents are advised to refer the official website of DoE to check all the details regarding Delhi nursery admission 2021-22. The admission schedule, age limit, essential documents and basic norms will be uploaded on the official site. Delhi Nursery Admission 2021-22 Updates Earlier, DoE has asked the private schools to submit the details to prepare for the nursery admission process. This will help the government to prepare the Delhi Nursery Admissions 2021 process guidelines and other details. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal has announced while interacting with principals and authorities of private schools. Deputy Cheif Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia had also ruled out the decision to scrap Delhi nursery admissions 2021-22 as the schools have been closed since March 2020 due to COVID pandemic. ROME, FEB 3 - President Sergio Mattarella has summoned Mario Draghi to the Quirinal Palace on Wednesday and he is expected to give the former president of the European Central Bank (ECB) a mandate to try and form a new government. The head of State turned to Mr 'Whatever It Takes' after Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico reported to him on Tuesday that efforts to patch up the coalition that had supported outgoing Premier Giuseppe Conte's executive had failed. Conte quit last week, although he remains at the helm of government for day-to-day business, after ex-premier Matteo Renzi's centrist Italia Viva (IV) party triggered a crisis by withdrawing its support. Mattarella on Friday handed Fico an exploratory mandate to see if there was a way for IV and the other former allies, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the left-wing LeU, to work things out. But it became clear that the talks were destined to fail when Renzi said Tuesday that the other parties were not giving ground. After speaking to Fico on Tuesday, the president, the arbiter of Italian politics, called on the parties represented in parliament to support a "high-profile" non-political executive. He said the nation needed a solid government and argued that now was not a good time for its political class to be focused on an election campaign. In addition to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the State also has to plan and implement projects to make good use of over 200 billion euros Italy is set to get in grants and low-interest loans from the EU's COVID-19 Recovery Fund. Furthermore, Italy holds the G20 presidency this year and it is co-chairing the COP26 UN Climate Summit with the UK. It is not certain, however, that an eventual Draghi executive would win broad backing from parties across the political spectrum. The M5S has said it will not vote in favour of a technocrat government led by Draghi, saying "the only possible government must be a political one". League leader Matteo Salvini, whose party is top of the opinions polls and is the driving force of the centre-right opposition, reiterated his call for snap elections. "Sovereignty belongs to be the people," said Salvini. Salvini's ally Giorgio Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said early elections were better than a Draghi government. However, the other main party in the centre-right coalition, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI), did not close the door, recalling the "long-standing esteem" between the ex-premier and the former head of the ECB. Renzi welcomed Mattarella's move. PD leader Nicola Zingaretti attacked IV and said his party was "ready for talks for the good of the country". (ANSA). The Ambassador of the State of Israel to Ghana, Ms Shani Cooper, has called on the government of Ghana to join the International Holocaust Alliance and adopt its definition of anti-Semitism. She said it was the responsibility of all member states of the United Nations (UN) to join efforts at making the world a better place, hence the need for Ghana to join the Holocaust Alliance. "I call on the government to officially mark the Holocaust Remembrance Day, as set by a United Nations resolution," she said. Ms Cooper made the call when the Embassy of the State of Israel marked this year's International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Accra on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Holocaust This years Remembrance Day was marked in collaboration with the German Embassy and the UN, on the theme: "Facing the aftermath: Recovery and reconstitution after the Holocaust". The day was set aside in 2006 by the General Assembly of the UN in remembrance of the systematic murder of Jews in Europe and North Africa during World War II at the hands of the German Nazi government. Approximately six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis between 1939 and 1945, together with other minority groups, such as the deaf, the physically or mentally challenged, homosexuals, Roma or Gypsies, political dissidents and intellectuals, who were considered undesirable. Account Ms Cooper said although the Holocaust was remembered officially in 2006, that is, 60 years late, it still showed strong solidarity with the Jewish people, in that their suffering and revival were recognised. She said Remembrance Day reminded her of her grandmother, who was six years when the Nazis invaded Brussels, Belgium, where she (the grandmother) lived with her parents and siblings. When the Nazi soldiers called all Jews to come out, she said, her great grandfather asked her grandmother and her older sister to run to the fur factory where he worked. Continuing, Ms Cooper said, they hid there for a night until he returned the next day and took either of them to a separate Christian family, and for six months her grandmother, who was six years old, was hidden in a suitcase in the attic and lay there without movement," she said. Ms Cooper said the remains of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination were still thriving in the world. We still see anti-Jewish events and neo-Nazi rallies around the world. People are killed just because they are Jewish and people wear T-shirts that say: 'Six million were not enough'. I am ashamed of the human race for forgetting so fast this 70-year-old history," she said. Lessons The UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Mr Charles Abani, said there was the need for the UN system to continue partnering the Embassy of Israel and other stakeholders to organise programmes to instill in young people the principles of human rights. "We must continue in these footsteps and ensure that generations after us are well informed and prepared to protect future generations from such negative acts," he said. For his part, the German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, said the most important lesson to be learnt from the Holocaust was: "Never again." He said that had become a fundamental tenet for Germany. "The memory of our history shapes how we see ourselves today, and taking ownership of our past is important for Germany," he said. Mr Retzlaff said Germany's commitment never to allow a thing of such nature happen again was firmly rooted in its awareness of the importance of freedom and the rule of law, pluralism and tolerance. "These values are fragile and precious. They require constant vigilance and committed efforts and this means exposing old and new prejudices and stereotypes for what they are," he said. He said remembering the Holocaust imposed a duty not to forget what happened. "It reminds us each and every day that our mutual coexistence depends on our shared humanity and the Holocaust must concern all of us today and tomorrow; not just on remembrance days and not just in countries where the catastrophe took place," Mr Retzlaff said. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video M&A Inside Alion's journey from Navy-centric to $1.1B broad-based tech provider Alion Science and Technology can say it is a much different company today than that of four years ago, when systems engineering and technical assistance work for the Navy was the core business. That was true for many decades leading up to Veritas Capitals acquisition of Alion in 2015. Step two in that transformation came in 2017 when Alion installed a new CEO in Steve Schorer, formerly an executive at DRS Technologies and the former L3 Technologies. Which leads to the first question I always ask anytime a story of transformation comes to my attention: what kind of company did Schorer see before he joined? Keep in mind Schorer had worked with Alion while at L3 and DRS, the latter of which he ran half the business for. I felt the platform had scale and more importantly it had technology, Schorer told me. I thought I could do something with that, leverage into the market and pursue a strategy similar to what we did at DRS in building verticals of growth and capability in contemporary markets. Upon his arrival at Alion, that look at the contemporary market landscape led to an increased worry about the companys heavy bent toward the lower-margin SETA work and questions over what the company could be doing instead. I started that dialogue as I came in to say Do we need the SETA position, and could I trade that for EW (electronic warfare), cyber, data analytics, big data and Air Force versus so heavy on the Navy side. Its also portfolio balance and shaping, Schorer said. Alion subsequently began to look outward for acquisitions, which led it to zero in on MacAulay-Brown and complete that purchase in 2018. One year after the MacB deal, Alion sold the naval systems engineering business to Sercos U.S. subsidiary. What does McLean, Virginia-based Alion look like now? Its roughly $1.1 billion in annual revenue breaks out to 19 percent with the Navy; 38 percent to the Air Force and 12 percent to the Army. The remaining 26 percent is spread across intelligence and classified customers, plus other non-combat defense agencies. Schorer also pointed out Alion also expects to post 35-percent sales growth for its current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 and sits on an almost $5.1 billion backlog, which is around 5 times revenue. Along with EW and cyber, some of Alions core tech areas Schorer mentioned to me include the spectrum and training solutions. A bigger overarching theme over some of those technogy areas is Schorers idea of having more franchise programs. That concept translates to perhaps having fewer contracts but instead ones of larger durations and values, plus those being more profitable. Look no further for examples than this almost $1 billion task order booked in September 2019 to support combatant commands and this nearly $900 million win added nearly a year later to help the Navy further evolve a training environment. Schorer told me Alion previously worked with the Navy on its training environments under a handful of other contracts. In the past four years, the Navy moved to a single cyber-hardened network with software integrated throughout. It can bridge now to the Air Force programs, as well as the Army, but I see it as a marquee franchise for the company that has real enduring qualities and technology, Schorer said. Alion is looking at more acquisitions, which is natural given it is a Veritas-backed company. Though Schorer stopped short of revealing more details beyond saying smaller deals for technically differentiated companies are on the table. But the backlog and hence organic growth gives Alion more than enough to work with. Plus as Schorer pointed out, even the deals that do not come to fruition are revealing. As you look at things, it gives you perspective on the market and capabilities in the market, and helps you shape where you want to go, Schorer said. You need to have a view of the market and what other companies are doing and what the potential capability is out there. Whether you end up buying it or not, it helps you build a perspective and relational capacity. Schorers comment on relational capacity was a natural transition to one of our other big conversation topics -- the coronavirus pandemic. Particularly both Alion, the industry it operates in and how the customers they work with are looking to get through it and keep everything moving. A main item of concern that has to be addressed across the entire federal ecosystem is how classified programs would proceed in a world where most are working from home. That is of course not an option in many respects for those working in the cleared space. Schorer told me one of Alions training customers helped deploy hundreds of laptops to the whole team, so they could work on the unclassified side at home, and bring sprints in. Those people are doing that from home in a secure compute environment on the low side, and bringing it into the lab on the high side, on an as-needed basis, Schorer added. In a second example Schorer offered, they rotate people in and out of the facility but the latter is also working from home. He conceded that was something we thought we could never do. So how is Alion taking in everything it is learning about todays environment with respect to the future of work after the pandemic subsides? The study and review is ongoing of data Alion has collected, including an employee survey where many reported wanting to continue primarily working from home. Some positions will remain that way, while others will not. But there is also a future workforce question on Alions mind here as well. We are assessing every operating group and location we have, to say as we come out of this do we change how we execute, and does that become more attractive to hire people into the company going forward, Schorer said. AssuredPartners logo We are excited about the continued growth in the Florida region and look forward to having the talented team and exceptional clients of Egis join AssuredPartners, said AssuredPartners CEO, Tom Riley. AssuredPartners, Inc. is proud to announce that Egis Insurance & Risk Advisors (Egis) of Boca Raton, FL has joined AssuredPartners. Since 2008, Egis has been dedicated to providing property and casualty insurance as well as risk management services to Floridas local governmental entities and public charter schools. Egis is the administrator of the Florida Insurance Alliance, an 800+ member governmental self-insurance trust. The team of 16 will remain under the leadership of Egis President and Founder, Mark Grimmel. We are honored to be joining AssuredPartners and looking forward to further aligning this partnership as we grow together, said Mark Grimmel. My team and I are truly excited about the additional resources and services that this new partnership will bring to our existing clients. AssuredPartners Keenan Region Property & Casualty President, John Stephens stated, Egis Insurance & Risk Advisors insures more local governmental entities and charter schools than any other insurance services firm in the State of Florida. We are pleased to have the talented team join AssuredPartners and will continue to work towards the same goals and be a resource that Floridas public entities can trust and rely on. We are excited about the continued growth in the Florida region and look forward to having the talented team and exceptional clients of Egis join AssuredPartners, said AssuredPartners CEO, Tom Riley. For more information on Egis Insurance & Risk Advisors, please visit: https://egisadvisors.com/. ABOUT ASSUREDPARTNERS, INC Headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida and founded by Jim Henderson and Tom Riley, AssuredPartners, Inc. acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses (property and casualty, employee benefits, surety and MGUs) across the United States and in England. From its founding in March of 2011, AssuredPartners has grown to over $1.6 billion in annualized revenue and continues to be one of the fastest growing insurance brokerage firms in the United States with over 190 offices in 34 states in addition to London and Belgium. For more information, please contact Jamie Reinert, Director of Marketing and Communications, at 513-624-1779 or jamie.reinert@assuredpartners.com, or visit http://www.assuredpartners.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. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. India may grant emergency use authorisation to another coronavirus vaccine Russia's Sputnik V this month or next, reported news agency ANI. "India is a key partner in terms of production of vaccine and we expect that there'll be a restricted emergency use order for the Sputnik V vaccine...this month or next. After that we will be able to start our vaccine delivery to India," Kirill Dmitriev, Russian Direct Investment Fund chief said. Russia's experimental coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V is 91.6% effective against in protecting people from COVID-19, according to results published in The Lancet on Tuesday. The new results are based on data from 20,000 participants in the phase III trial "The data published by The Lancet shows that Sputnik V is one of only three vaccines in the world with the efficacy of over 90 per cent but outperforms them in terms of safety, ease of transportation due to storage requirements of 2 to 8 degrees, and a more affordable price. Sputnik V is a vaccine for all mankind," Dmitriev said. Russia was the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine in August. The vaccine has been developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry. "The Russian vaccine is based on a well-researched human adenoviral vector platform which has proven to be safe, with no long-term adverse effects in more than 250 clinical trials over decades," said Dmitriev. The uniqueness of the Russian vaccine lies in the use of two different human adenoviral vectors as a delivery mechanism of the outer coat genetic material of coronavirus to human body, the researchers said. "This approach provides for creation of a stronger and long-term immunity as compared to vaccines, using one and the same component for both doses," they added. "The level of virus neutralizing antibodies of volunteers vaccinated with Sputnik V is 1.3-1.5 times higher than the level of antibodies of patients who recovered from COVID-19," according to The Lancet. Dr Reddy's has partnered with the RDIF to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution rights in India. It had last month received approval from the Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase III clinical trial for the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19. "Sputnik V is already registered in 16 countries including Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia and Armenia," according to The Lancet's paper. Sputnik V is considered as one of the most affordable vaccines in the world with a price of less than $10 per shot. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) The mother of a 9-year-old girl who was handcuffed and pepper-sprayed by Rochester police said the officers involved should be fired. Public outrage has been high since body camera footage released Sunday showed officers restraining and scolding the girl, who was screaming for her father. The mother, Elba Pope, told CNY Central on Tuesday that the conflict started as an argument between her and her spouse. The two were arguing outside when Pope's daughter overheard them from inside the house, making her upset, Pope said. "I was unaware that she was upset, I was unaware that she was feeling any type of way or that she had even heard the fight or the argument, Pope said, adding that officers ignored multiple requests for mental health assistance for her daughter during the conflict. Pope ended up calling police on her spouse. When they arrived, her daughter left their house, and it was when she was trying to get her daughter back inside that the situation escalated. Pope said, What he should have done was got on his walkie-talkie and ask for help not back up for police, but someone from mental health to help him with a 9-year-old child having a meltdown." The city of Rochester suspended the officers on Monday pending the completion of an internal investigation. They should be fired," Pope said. Regardless to what happened prior, there is no reason why a child should be pepper-sprayed when she is already detained in handcuffs in a car. The day after the detainment, the police said the girl disobeyed commands to put her feet in the car. An officer was then required to spray an irritant in the handcuffed girls face, the department said. Pope's attorneys have filed a notice of claim with the city, which maintains her right to sue. The day after the detainment, the police said the girl disobeyed commands to put her feet in the car. An officer was then required to spray an irritant in the handcuffed girls face, the department said. Rochester police didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday her office was looking into what happened. She called the incident deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable. James last year empaneled a grand jury to investigate the actions of several Rochester police officers following the death of Daniel Prude. Prude died after officers responding to a call for help from his brother put a hood over the naked mans head and pressed his face into the pavement. ___ This story was first published on Feb. 2, 2021. It was updated on Feb. 3, 2021, to correct the spelling of the mothers name in some instances to Pope, instead of Pobe. MILAN, FEB 3 - A Lodi court on Wednesday explained why it gave a paedophile the longest ever sentence for the crime in Italy, 19 years in jail, in October. It said his personality was "marked by traits of evil" and that he was "devoid of all trace of humanity towards the little girls he abused". The 48-year-old aroused "terror" in his young victims, the court said in its explanation. (ANSA). South Africa: Former union leader dismissed from SAPS The South African Police Services (SAPS) has dismissed a former senior union leader for contravening the SAPS Code of Conduct. Mpho Kwinika, former South African Police Union chairperson, was this week dismissed following an internal disciplinary process. The charges related to a March 2019 incident. When police officers [responded] to a complaint of public disturbance, [they] found him [Kwinika] with his friends outside a block of flats in Pretoria, said SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, in a statement. During the incident, Kwinika was allegedly abusive towards the police officers and assaulted of one of them. Naidoo said the former unionist was subsequently arrested on multiple charges, among which were public disturbance, resisting arrest and assault of a police officer. A departmental investigation was conducted and the outcome thereof informed the process of a departmental trial. On 18 December 2020, Kwinika was found guilty of four counts of serious misconduct by an external independent presiding officer, reads the statement. On Monday, SAPS handed down to Kwinika a notice of dismissal with immediate effect. National Police Commissioner, General Khehla John Sitole, welcomed the sanction and emphasised that police management will ensure that all members within its ranks conform to its Code of Conduct. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. WASHINGTON Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona stepped closer to assuming the nations highest education job Wednesday and shouldering the immense burden of safely reviving Americas schools during the coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Bidens nominee for Secretary of Education, Cardona committed to helping all the nations schools safely reopen within Bidens first 100 days in office, building on his experience in Connecticut during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. Senators on both sides of the aisle expressed his classroom teaching experience and his personal upbringing learning English in school made him a solid fit for the job. We are here today in the midst of one of the most challenging school years in American history, Cardona said. It would be my greatest privilege, if confirmed, to forge opportunity out of this crisis. Cardona is expected to receive broad support in the Senate for his confirmation. A bipartisan group of 11 governors, including Gov. Ned Lamont, urged the Senate to back him Wednesday. The Senate is expected to vote on his confirmation soon. During the hearing, senators pressed Cardona on how he would get students everywhere back in the classroom. Biden is pushing for Congress to approve over $150 billion for schools and universities to help achieve this goal. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., asked Cardona if students and teachers must be vaccinated before resuming teaching in person, as some teachers unions have called for. Cardona said he supported regular surveillance testing for COVID-19 and prioritizing educators for vaccinations, but Connecticut and other states have found ways to safely return students to the classroom without immunizations. There is no substitute for a classroom experience for our students, Cardona said. We have to do everything we can to safely reopen schools. In Connecticut, Cardona issued detailed guidance to schools on how to reopen for in-person learning this fall, but did not mandate schools bring students back to the classroom. As our states commissioner, he lead the effort to reopen Connecticuts schools earlier than most people thought was possible and he did it in a way that didnt divide teachers and parents and students, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who introduced him to the committee. Hes going to make a great secretary of Education. Cardona, 45, was the first Latino to serve as Connecticuts Education commissioner. Growing up in a Puerto Rican family in Meriden, Connecticut, Cardona learned English in school and was the first in his family to go to college. Despite the havoc the pandemic has forced on schools and universities, Cardona said it was his priority to make the U.S. education system a place that can give opportunity to all students, no matter their background, by investing in public education and early childhood education and improving access to college or career training. For me, education opened doors, Cardona said. That is the power and the promise of America. But it is not a promise kept for every student. Generating the most high-tension exchanges of the hearing, several senators asked Cardona whether he would permit transgender students to compete in womens athletics. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education issued a decision that a Connecticut policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports violated the girls civil rights. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., spent five minutes pushing Cardona on how he would handle the issue, saying it was bizarre and wrong to let transgender athletes, whom he called boys, compete with women on the playing field because they may be larger or physically different. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said boys should be competing with boys on the athletic field. Cardona said he believes schools have a legal responsibility to provide access to extracurricular activities to all students, including transgender students, and noted discrimination based on gender is illegal. Senators also questioned Cardona about how he would improve career and technical education, schooling in rural areas, support students with learning disabilities and respond to charter schools. Cardona is highly respected in education circles, but he doesnt have much experience in politics, especially at the national level. Democrats celebrate the fact that a teacher will again lead the U.S. Department of Education, after the leadership of President Donald Trumps Secretary, Betsy Devos, a Republican donor and school choice champion. Of charter schools, Cardona noted hes seen excellent ones in Connecticut, especially in Stamford, but his primary mission is to improve all neighborhood schools so students dont feel they need to seek a better alternative. My passion really is to ensure quality schools period, Cardona said. Lamont appointed Cardona to be the states commissioner of Education in August 2019. Cardona attended and spent over two decades of his education career at Meriden Public Schools, where he taught fourth grade. He rose to become the youngest principal in the state at age 28 and then became assistant superintendent. Senators on both sides of the aisle noted his meteoric rise in education circles. Its the stuff of legend, almost mythical except its based on real hard work and solid values gained from his parents, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who introduced Cardona. Cardona was born in public housing to a Puerto Rican parents that spoke only Spanish at home. Murphy described how the Cardona family is well-known in Meriden for helping build up the citys Puerto Rican festival and through Cardonas fathers work as a police officer in the community. Like many students across the country, he learned English at school. He got his bachelors degree from Central Connecticut State University and his masters in bilingual/bicultural education and his doctorate in education from the University of Connecticut. Cardona was joined at the confirmation hearing by his wife and two high school aged children. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson Clifford Chance advises Globeleq on acquisition of private power generation company in Nigeria International law firm Clifford Chance advised Globeleq, a leading independent power generation company in Africa on its acquisition of Nigerian power business called CPGNL Limited (CPGNL), which will be rebranded as Globeleq Power Solutions Nigeria Limited. Globeleq takes a 74% majority equity stake, while the current owner of the business, the Clean Energy Group, will retain the remaining 26% shares. CPGNL has a portfolio of assets which serve commercial and industrial customers mostly in the southwest of Nigeria. These include 12 operating plants with a total capacity of 58 MW, three plants in construction (9 MW total capacity), as well as approximately 100 MW of projects in development. The local team's depth of knowledge will complement the existing expertise at Globeleq and provides an immediate operational presence in the country. Olamide Oladosu comments: "We are delighted to have been able to support Globeleq on this transaction which marks Globeleq's entry into the commercial & industrial power sector in Nigeria. I am proud of the unique combination of sector expertise, country knowledge and legal project management that our team offers clients in Nigeria and across Africa. The commercial and industrial power sector is growing rapidly across the region and we will continue to work with clients on transactions that will help bring energy to where it's needed to power the continent's development." The deal team was led by Russell Wells and Olamide Oladosu from the Energy & Infrastructure practice and Nigel Wellings assisted by Jonathan Dillon and Mayowa Kalesanwo from the M&A team. Zanzibar THE public has been encouraged to produce more farm and industrial products for export in order to minimise international trade deficit and stimulate the country's economic growth. The call was made by senior officers from the 'Zanzibar Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS)' at the monthly external merchandise trade statistics media briefing. The OCGS-Zanzibar Communication Officer, Mr Bakari Khamis Kondo said that low goods production has been one of the main reasons for the continued trade deficit internationally. "We need to work hard to increase exports. We should be committed," he said. Mr Kondo said Zanzibar recorded a decline in foreign export in December 2020, compared to a corresponding month of December 2019. The leading exports in December 2020 were food items and live animals. He said that food sent abroad includes rice, which is unfit for human consumption worth more than 375m/- . Mr Kondo informed journalists that the leading foreign exports for Zanzibar are cloves, seaweed, spices, and Zanzibar curios. Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) is used in the monthly trade balance. Leading importers of goods from Zanzibar include USA, India, China, Kenya, and Vietnam, while imports such as foods, fabrics, and second hand items to Zanzibar are mainly from the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), followed by China, Russia, Pakistan and Turkey. A father was pistol-whipped by two armed intruders who broke into his home, forcing the rest of his family to cower in an upstairs closet. Joe Nguyen, 41, was held down and bashed with a handgun by robbers demanding money on at a home on Humphries Road, Wakeley in Western Sydney after 10.10pm on Tuesday. The shocked father was later treated for a head laceration and then taken to Liverpool Hospital where he remains in a stable condition. Joe Nguyen, 41, was held down and bashed with a handgun by robbers demanding money during the home invasion at Wakeley in Sydney's west Mr Nuguen's terrified wife, two daughters, mother and father hid in an upstairs closet while two boys, aged three and seven slept through the attack. One of his daughters heard the attackers demanding to know 'where's the safe, where's the master bedroom', 7News reported. 'It was so scary,' she said. 'When we heard police cars we got out and we saw blood on the floor, and that's when we got really really worried.' The daughter told 9News: 'We closed the [bedroom] door and they kicked it in in like literally three kicks. Then we ran into the closet.' The man's 20 year old daughter had her life threatened as she made a phone call reporting the home invasion to police The home invasion happened at 10.10pm on Tuesday on busy Humphries Road, Wakeley in Sydney While the two intruders were scouring the house for money they heard the 20 year old daughter on the phone to police, so they threatened to kill her. She recounted one of the men yelling: 'We're going to kill you if you don't shut up', before they fled in a four-wheel drive vehicle. 'Police have been told two males one armed with a firearm forced entry to the home, before threatening and assaulting a 41-year-old male occupan,' a NSW police statement said. 'The males left the scene in a vehicle, described only as a 4WD.' 'A 68-year-old man, four women aged 19, 21, 38 and 64 and two boys aged three and seven were also home at the time but were not injured.' 'Officers from Fairfield City Police Area Command attended and established a crime scene, which has been examined by forensic officers.' Police said they retrieved a key piece of evidence, the handgun, on nearby Canley Vale Road soon after. 'Detectives would like to speak to two males who may be able to assist them.' 'One is described as being about 180cm tall and of large build. The second man is described as being of thin build.' 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 man has been jailed for 18 months after attacking a 71-year-old-pensioner while he was walking across a street. Seamus Ward struck Charlie Toye with such force with one punch as he walked across the Main Street in Milford, Co Donegal that he caused him to develop a brain bleed. Ward, then aged 32, attacked Mr Toye after he had been drinking in a nearby pub and knocked the pensioner to the ground in a completely unprovoked attack. The pensioner suffered a black eye, cuts to his face and was rushed to hospital. A witness to the attack on June 24th, 2019, told how she heard Ward shout at Mr Toye "You think you're a big man now?" before attacking him. Ward, of Drumkern, Milford appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court last week where he was charged with assault causing harm to Mr Toye. He expressed remorse and offered his victim 2,000 in compensation. However, Judge John Aylmer said he felt the level of remorse was questionable and that it seemed that the offer from the witness box was "too little too late." He also noted that after the attack, Mr Toye complained that he had been taunted by Ward who allegedly made faces from him while driving by in his car. A medical report on Mr Toye revealed he suffered a loss of consciousness, swelling and bruising, a black eye, cuts to the face and head and also a small bleed to the brain. In his victim impact statement, the victim said he could not remember the attack and was in a lot of pain and confusion. He was told that he could lose the sight in his right eye and had to have two teeth removed and got headaches for six months after the attack. Read More He said he still wakes up in a pool of sweat because of the nightmares from the attack and even bought a dog for himself for company but also for security. Mr Toye, who was in court accompanied by his daughter Tara, said it was the worst experience of his life. Tragically his own brother was killed in a car accident at the exact spot where he was attacked back in the 1960s, he said. Garda Mark McHugh told the court that Ward was arrested and he was shown CCTV of the incident. He said he didn't recall the incident but said he was ashamed after watching the CCTV footage taken from a local bar named Dustys. He said he was sorry and he hoped Mr Toye was okay and it was later revealed how the accused had called the local Garda station to enquire about the condition of Mr Toye. He claimed there had been ongoing 'history' between the pair which arose out of allegations about his father, who was a former Garda. Mr Toye had also claimed that following the attack, Ward had made faces at him from his jeep but this was denied by the accused. Barrister for Ward, Mr Peter Nolan said his client had issues with alcohol and that he had been to rehab twice. He had previous convictions including one for dangerous driving causing the death of a friend in 2008 for which he had done community service but had no convictions since that time. Passing sentence Judge Aylmer said there had been mitigating circumstances in the case including that he cooperated fully with Gardai and admitted responsibility. He accepted that Ward had an addiction to alcohol and cocaine after he was convicted of killing a friend through dangerous driving in 2008 and that he had been to rehab twice. He added that it also appeared that the accused appeared remorseful and ashamed of what he had done. However, the aggravating factors included that it was a vicious and unprovoked attack which had left Mr Toye seriously injured as well as having such a negative impact on his life. He said Ward was lucky that he had not found himself before a superior court on more serious charges. The Judge also noted that he was a carer for his elderly father and that he had offered 2,000 in compensation to the court. Judge Aylmer said he placed the attack at the upper end of the scale of such offences albeit it at the lower end of that level and one which merited three and a half years in prison before mitigation. With mitigation including the guilty plea and his cooperation, he was reducing that sentence to two and half years. He said that this particular offence was too serious to suspend in its entirety but agreed to suspend the final 12 months meaning Ward was jailed for 18 months. Judge Aylmer also ordered him to avoid alcohol and drugs, to attend all therapy recommended by the Probation Services and not to come within 20 metres of Mr Toye upon his release. (LIC) employees on Tuesday opposed the government's proposal of disinvestment of the corporation and protested against the decision in Coimbatore. During the Union Budget on Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the initial public offering of will be brought in through requisite amendments in the session itself. Talking about the government's proposal, a protester told ANI, "The government has announced in the budget that the FDI in the insurance sector will be increased from 49 to 74 per cent. Simultaneously the government also declared disinvestment of shares in the Indian stock market. On behalf of the All India Insurance Employees Association, we oppose and condemn the move by the Government of India (GOI). The government proposed to generate 1.75 lakh crores during this year by selling the shares of the public sector. It is against the will of the people." The protester claimed that by avoiding disinvestment of the shares of the public sector, alone can contribute 3 lakh crores surplus every year that can be used by the government for social welfare schemes, while adding that the employees expected LIC's income to cross Rs 5 lakh crores this year. He further added, "We feel that instead of disinvesting LIC, the government should give autonomy to LIC so that it can perform well and can garner the savings of the people. It can contribute more to the government's exchequer for the welfare of this country." The Budget proposals for 2021-22 on Monday put Rs 1.75 lakh crore as a target from stake sale in public sector and financial institutions. Sitharaman had said the government aims at making use of disinvestment proceeds to finance various social sector and developmental programs besides infusing private capital, technology, and best management practices. "A number of transactions -- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd -- among others are proposed to be completed in FY 2021-22," she told the Parliament. Other than IDBI Bank, a proposal of privatisation of two public sector banks and one general insurance company will be taken up in the year 2021-22. The initial public offering of (LIC) will also be brought in through requisite amendments in the session itself. (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.) On Jan. 9, Elizabeth Matsutani said she received her last unemployment check for $414, exhausting the benefits shes relied on since April after she lost her job as an administrative assistant due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the 60-year-old has watched her bills pile up $1,100 in rent for her Lake Como studio apartment, $173 in cable and internet, $136 for car insurance, and money for her cats insulin for diabetes. I have $0 in my bank account. I have nothing, and I never thought in my whole life that I would say that, she said, breaking down in tears. Ive never been to a food bank, and now I go to one in a church. I was thinking of panhandling, its gotten so bad. ... Theyre just leaving me and my cat for dead. Shes one of 75,000 people who the state says havent received an unemployment check in weeks as benefits expire, stuck in a limbo as the state updates its programming to distribute the newly passed 11-week federal benefit extension. And that number is expected to continue going up each week as more people exhaust their benefits. Its already more than double what it was in January, Labor Department spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi said in a statement to NJ Advance Media. The delays are due in part to the stimulus bill passed in late December, which allowed for 11 more weeks of federal benefits. Federal labor rules say all federal benefits, like the 11-week extension, must be paid before extended state benefits kick in. New Jersey also has a 20-week extension of benefits based on the states high unemployment rate dating back to the summer. By the time Congress acted and former President Donald Trump signed the bill on Dec. 27, 2020, the new law made it nearly impossible for payment to continue uninterrupted for millions of claimants across the country, Delli-Santi said. Congress and the President did not give the states enough time to reprogram their systems to allow for benefits to continue without delay for claimants, she added, noting its a national issue. While hundreds of thousands of people in New Jersey had the 11 weeks added to their benefits without interruptions under the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act, many are experiencing delays while the state Labor Department updates its system. People who are in the middle of their 20 weeks of extended benefits will finish out that benefit until its exhausted, then will transition to the 11 weeks, the state said. But some are in limbo as they wait for the 11-week benefit to start if they havent already started the 20-week extension. The programming challenge lies in the fact that prior to enactment of the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act, these claimants would have moved to 20 weeks of state extended benefits. Even though both PEUC (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation) and extended benefits are fully federally funded, U.S. Department of Labor mandates that claimants exhaust their federal PEUC first, she told NJ Advance Media. This is affecting less than 5% of claimants whove received benefits since the beginning of COVID, but nonetheless the wait is very difficult for them, she continued, adding that residents who have exhausted their PEUC have received between $26,000 to $36,000 in unemployment funds. Gregory Vasil exhausted his benefits on Dec. 26, and believes he should be receiving the 20 weeks of extended benefits. He said the confusion surrounding which program hes eligible for hasnt been communicated to him at all other than an email from the Labor Department that it would be a slight delay for funds to come through. Its going to be six weeks, thats not a slight delay. And every time I call, even if I call back to back for two hours straight, I cant even get in touch with them. Its been horrible, he said. Delli-Santi said the Labor Department has been working every day to reprogram its system, but it will take a while to implement. In the meantime, the state has contacted 75,000 claimants whose benefits have exhausted, letting them know theyll be notified when they can claim. The state prioritized distributing the $300 supplemental payments after two weeks of programming trouble because it is available to every single resident collecting unemployment in any amount, Delli-Santi said. Still, Delli-Santi noted, part of the issue lies in the fact that the federal unemployment system was originally designed for people who meet a very specific eligibility requirement, and called for the federal government to tackle unemployment reform by creating an integrated system for all 50 states. In September, Labor Commissioner Robert-Asaro Angelo sent a letter to New Jerseys congressional delegation detailing hurdles the state faced in distributing payments, and asked Congress to relax strict requirements and streamline the system for interstate wage data, according to the letter obtained by NJ Advance Media. Gov. Phil Murphy has echoed those concerns in previous press conferences. We have nothing but sympathy and empathy for these folks, he said during an unrelated press event Tuesday morning, touting the states distribution of $20 billion since the start of the COVID crisis. Vasil said he watches the press conferences every day, but its been cold comfort to him. He lays in bed at night wondering how hell pay his electric bill, or how hell cover the cost of his fathers hospice. Were real people and were actually really hurting. Were not in Trenton or Washington with fat bank accounts and stocks, said Vasil. Were working people who live check to check whose checks were snatched away. What do we do now? Just help us, please. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Statehouse Reporter Matt Arco contributed to this report. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips 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. Visitors try a 5G-powered haptic device, by which users can feel remote objects in real-time, at the Light of the Internet Expo Center in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun) BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of China's internet users hit 989 million by the end of last year, an increase of 85.4 million from March 2020, according to a report on China's internet development released Wednesday. The country's internet availability rate was raised by 5.9 percentage points from March to 70.4 percent, said the statistical report from the China Internet Network Information Center. A total of 986 million Chinese used mobile phones to surf the internet, accounting for 99.7 percent of the online population, said the report. Around 309 million, or 31.3 percent of the online population, live in rural areas, an increase of 54.71 million from March. Meanwhile, the internet availability rate in rural areas neared 56 percent, up 9.7 percentage points from March, according to the report. The United States is seeking to detain the oil aboard a tanker traveling to the U.S., alleging that Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has created a scheme to covertly ship Iranian oil to a customer outside Iran, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The U.S. filed a forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that all oil aboard a Liberian-flagged vessel, the Achilleas, is subject to forfeiture under U.S. terrorism forfeiture laws. The supertanker is carrying 2 million barrels of what the United States believes is Iranian crude oil traveling to the U.S., Bloomberg reported last week, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The very large crude carrier, is traveling between Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the U.S., according to MarineTraffic. Bloombergs sources said last week that the owner of the supertanker, Greek company Capital Ship Management Corp, had notified the U.S. that it might have unknowingly loaded Iranian oil on board, believing the crude had come from Iraq. In the forfeiture complaint, the U.S. said that Participants in the scheme attempted to disguise the origin of the oil using ship-to-ship transfers, falsified documents, and other means, and provided a fraudulent bill of lading to deceive the owners of the Achilleas into loading the oil in question. The forfeiture complaint filed today serves as a reminder that the IRGC and IRGC-QF continue to exert significant control over the sale of Iranian oil, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division. This investigation sends a message that the attempted circumvention of U.S. sanctions by the IRGC-QF will not be tolerated, said Special Agent in Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York. Despite indications from U.S. President Joe Biden that he would offer Tehran a path back to diplomacy and a return to the nuclear deal, lifting the sanctions on Iran is still months away, at best. We are a long way from there, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, while he was still President Bidens nominee for the role. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: As the US vaccine rollout continues, so-called 'vaccine hunters' have sprung into action at pharmacies across the country. Hoping to score a leftover jab, people will wait for hours or even days to see if any vaccines remain after appointments have finished. CNN reported that these hunters have been criticised for 'jumping the line' instead of waiting for their turn to be vaccinated as per government timetables on who should receive the vaccine first. But the hunters themselves say that their actions prevent the precious vaccines from going to waste. Once defrosted, vaccines including both the Pzifer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs must be used within a certain time period or thrown away. Pzifer's degrades after two hours, while Moderna's lasts for 12 after being removed from the fridge. As the US vaccine rollout continues, so-called 'vaccine hunters' have sprung into action at pharmacies across the country. Hoping to score a leftover jab, people will wait for hours or even days to see if any vaccines remain after appointments have finished. Pictured: People without appointment wait outside a vaccination centre in Leesburg, Florida on January 29 Isabela Medina (right), a healthy 25-year-old, posted a TikTok video of her experience 'vaccine dumpster diving'. She waited at a pharmacy with a friend and they were offered two of the eight leftover vaccines. She told CNN that she 'felt good about' her decision, knowing that the vaccine wouldn't go to waste Reports of vaccine waste due to no-shows at appointments have encouraged some people to show up at pharmacies on the off-chance that they might get a leftover jab. Isabela Medina, a healthy 25-year-old, posted a TikTok video of her experience 'vaccine dumpster diving'. She waited at a pharmacy with a friend and they were offered two of the eight leftover vaccines. She told CNN that she 'felt good about' her decision, knowing that the vaccine wouldn't go to waste. Medina would not have received a vaccine until at least late summer under the government's plans. She is due her second dose in February. But not everyone can be a vaccine hunter - time and money are essentials - as well as no small amount of luck. Connections also help and Facebook groups have sprung up to share tips on the best places to check for leftovers, inspired in part by similar groups in Israel, which is leading the world in administering the vaccine. Medical student Brad Johnson told CNN that he had set up a group for New Orleans which now has almost 600 members in order to address a 'patchwork of chaos' in US vaccine distribution plans. He has since started working with the Louisiana Department of Health to better coordinate the distribution of leftover vaccines, hoping to create an official waiting list with health care workers, seniors and essential workers at the top, according to CNN. The US is currently administering some 1.3million doses per day and President Joe Biden has the ambitious goal of delivering 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days, despite inheriting an erratic plan from the Trump administration. Taking into account a recent drop, case numbers in the US remain high, prompting concerns that Biden's plan might not be aggressive enough. On Tuesday, the US recorded 11,400 new infections and 3,406 deaths. At least 26.5million cases have been reported in the country and 447 deaths since the pandemic began last year. On Tuesday, the US recorded 11,400 new infections and 3,406 deaths. At least 26.5million cases have been reported in the country and 447 deaths since the pandemic began last year Taking into account a recent drop, case numbers in the US remain high, prompting concerns that Biden's plan to administer 100million vaccines in his first 100 days might not be aggressive enough Reports of vaccine hunters have fuelled concerns over supply and fears that the jabs will not be fairly distributed. Black and Latino Americans are currently being vaccinated at lower levels than their white counterparts, CNN reported. Biden has released a detailed coronavirus response strategy which includes establishing centers in low-income areas to address income and racial inequalities. One way to address inequality and assuage concerns about vaccine hunters would be to have pharmacies located in grocery stores administer leftovers to the store's staff, many of whom are Black and Latino. Another way to get leftovers to those who need the vaccine most is to take extra doses to long-term care facilities and vaccinate residents and staff there, as some vaccination sites are already doing. But until there is an effective plan for distributing leftover vaccines, hunters will continue to watch, wait, and hope for luck. CHIEF medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned Ireland still has "a long way to go" in halting the spread of Covid-19 as the highest ever number of deaths was reported this evening. The Department of Health confirmed 83 of the 101 further deaths recorded today happened in January, while 18 people have died this month so far. This brings the death toll to 3,418. The median age of those who died is 85 years and the age range is 19 to 103 years. Dr Holohan said the spike in mortality is due to the high levels of transmission that occured after the festive period. This is the highest number of deaths we have reported on any single day of the Covid-19 pandemic so far," he said. "The high mortality we are experiencing as a country at the moment is related to the surge of infection we saw several weeks ago, and the hospitalisations and admissions to ICU that followed as a direct result. Although we have seen great improvement in the level of infection being reported, we have a long way to go and incidence needs to decline much further. "The best way to honour those who have died from Covid-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice. Stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same. What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up. There is now an additional 879 cases of the virus in Ireland, bringing the total to 198,424. Of the cases notified today, 383 are in Dublin, 79 in Cork, 53 in Galway, 40 in Limerick, 43 in Meath and the remaining 290 cases are spread across 20 other counties. There are currently 1,388 Covid-19 patients in hospital, 207 of which are in ICU. It comes as the Oireachtas Health Committee heard today that more than 1,500 people in nursing homes have died with Covid-19. A total of 1,543 staff and residents in care homes have lost their lives during the pandemic 369 in the last month alone. During the third wave of the pandemic, the number of Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes has increased fivefold, from 34 in mid-December to 193 by the end of January. Read More Some 81pc of all coronavirus-linked deaths in healthcare settings in Ireland have been in nursing homes. A total of 4,300 positive cases were recorded in nursing homes during January, 37pc of them healthcare workers. Questions were raised about the rollout of vaccines in nursing homes by the chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, Tadhg Daly. He asked if a critical window of opportunity had been missed by not initiating a widespread rollout of vaccines in nursing homes as soon as the first doses arrived in the country. He said: With nursing home residents the most susceptible to the virus, just 10% of the initial 77,000 vaccinations administered by mid-January were within nursing homes. It is appropriate to remind that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee agreed nursing home residents and staff would be priority. The first vaccines arrived in Ireland on 26th December, yet the first was only administered in a private or voluntary nursing home on 7th January 2021. Every day is vital for our nursing home residents and staff. Mr Daly said the entire health service is under immense strain, with staffing levels the predominant emergency. Some 1,800 nursing home staff are unable to work due to the virus, he added. Minority communities that for generations have been targeted by law enforcement would receive major assistance to get into the marijuana business, under a plan that Gov. Ned Lamont will consider as he proposes full legalization. The plan by a task force of lawmakers, community leaders and state offcials marks the latest evolution of a thorny topic equity and righting past injustices in the multi-year campaign to legalize adult-use cannabis, which Lamont campaigned on in 2018. It includes a fist-ever recommendation that for every two retail licenses awarded, at least one would be given in Black and brown and lower-income communities. People convicted or imprisoned in the past for marijuana-related crimes would get preference under the proposals from the group, which includes cannabis advocates, members of under-served communities and clergy, as well as state economic and consumer protection officials. Thats a way to give back to neighborhoods that have been disproportionately affected in what amounted to a failed, 80-year war on marijuana use and sales, leaders of the group said. The proposals would be reviewed by a study commission set up as part of legislation that leading pro-cannabis lawmakers hope Lamont will include in his two-year budget that will be announced next week. I hope the governor takes seriously the recommendations of the task force, said Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, a proponent of adult-use cannabis who has watched the legislation develop, then fail, in recent years. The last couple of months we have spent a lot of time in a robust discussion aimed at undoing decades and decades of punishing minority communities for a victimless crime. Elliott, a member of the informal group, said Tuesday that under the plan, much of the funding for the adult-use cannabis program would go to making sure minority candidates obtained a market stake. To be included in the preferred group, applicants or members of their families must have been involved in the criminal justice system, according to a draft of the qualifications. Cannabis prosecutions and imprisonments have disproportionately affected minority communities, according to studies by the ACLU and others. Elliott, with the support of Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, believes there are enough votes this year in the state House of Representatives to approve the measure. In 2019 the two-part legislation was approved in the legislatures committee structure but was never brought to floor debates in the House and Senate. The 2020 session was abandoned in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendations of the task force include requirements that the number of so-called equity licenses would equal the number of other licenses submitted by entrepreneurs. Zero-interest loans are also recommended for the participants in the equity program, and grants would include training courses and wide-ranging business-creation support, from real estate acquisition to tax compliance. There would also be income requirements. There are currently equity programs in Massachusetts, Los Angeles and Oakland, California that the task force sees as possible models. Potential business opportunities include retail dispensaries, transportation and even delivery services, all of which would be regulated by the state Department of Consumer Protection, which operates the states eight-year-old medical cannabis program, with nearly 50,000 patients. Officials from that agency, as well as the Department of Economic and Community Development, are also on the informal task force, as is a top Lamont aide, Jonathan Harris, a former state senator and consumer protection commissioner. State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, who as co-chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee has been a leading proponent of adult-use marijuana legislation, said Tuesday that his panel has raised a general bill for a public hearing. We could do our own bill, but we certainly reserve our right to review concepts in the purview of the committee, he said Tuesday. At this point we are waiting to see what the governor proposes. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 21, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Reaffirms Stimulus Checks Will Be $1,400 White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday reaffirmed that stimulus checks to Americans will be $1,400 and said the administration is looking into limiting income eligibility. There was speculation that the stimulus payments would be less than the $1,400 amount that was proposed weeks ago. President Joe Biden included the checks in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that he wanted to be passed but last week suggested that he is willing to negotiate on the amount for stimulus payments. Further targeting means not the size of the check, it means the income level of people who receive the check. Thats something that is under discussion, Psaki said. The president also had the opportunity to meet in the Oval Office just a few minutes ago to meet with [Senate Majority] Leader Schumer and the Democratic chairs of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the American rescue plan, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday. They were in agreement over the need to move swiftly to ensure that we get $1,400 direct payments to middle and working-class Americans as quickly as possible. During former President Donald Trumps final month in office, $600 payments were authorized under a $900 billion bill, coming after Trump wrote on Twitter that $2,000 payments should be included. Biden and other Democrats, in the lead up to the Senate runoff race in Georgia, said that $2,000 payments would be authorized if Democrats captured the Senate, triggering confusion about whether $2,000 payments would be issued after Biden took office. Some complained that the $1,400 checks were not enough and said that the $1,400 was a broken promise. Regarding who will get the stimulus payments is up in the air, according to Democrats who spoke with Biden this week. We did have a conversation about the direct payments and how those might be modified in a way to ensure theyre targeted, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told reporters on Wednesday morning as he left the White House. But President Biden was clear with us and with our caucus yesterday, hes not going to forget the middle class, hes not going to walk back from a real commitment. A number of Republicans in the Senate have said they dont support the measure. I would predict not a single Republican will support the $1.9 trillion plan, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Schumer previously said that Democrats would prefer a bipartisan solution but would move without the GOP to pass the measure, arguing that unemployed Americans need the stimulus assistancealong with relief for schools, housing, and state, and local governments. In tweets over the past several days, Schumer repeatedly said that big and bold action is needed to take on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisisin an attempt to explain his rationale for passing the stimulus package quickly. However, his agenda may be stymied by several senators in his caucus, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who on Wednesday said stimulus payments need to be targeted. There were people making $250,000 and $300,000 receiving checks, he said. And Democrats and Republicans start saying that was not our intent at all. So theyre trying to make sure its targeted to the people that really need it. So thats where itll happen. And it will go out quickly once we get this passed. On Friday, February 5, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Fierce Start to Political February in Ukraine, Whole World." Participants include expert at the Hardarika Strategic Consulting Corporation Kostiantyn Matviyenko; Director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov; Director of the Ukrainian Barometer sociological service Viktor Nebozhenko; political consultant, analyst Valentyn Hladkykh (8/5a Reitarska Street). The press conference will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. A 35-year-old Chittenango man has been arrested and accused of shooting a man during an argument at a home just outside of Sylvan Beach, according to New York State Police. Nicholas C. Damanski was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree assault, police said. Todd A. Estes, 42, who lives in the house, was shot in the upper torso and is in stable condition, according to police. The shooting was reported at 7:09 a.m. at 7289 state Route 13, a home on the east end of Oneida Lake. Its unclear how the gun went off, according to New York State Police spokesman Jack Keller. The two men were arguing when one pulled out the weapon, Keller said. Aside from the two men involved in the argument, there were two women also inside the residence, Keller said. Estes was taken to Oneida Hospital, then transferred to Upstate University Hospital, in Syracuse. Hes expected to survive. Damanski has been taken to the Oneida County Public Safety Building where he awaits centralized arraignment. Police are still investigating the shooting. 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. Good morning. Today will be unseasonably warm, with a forecast high about eight degrees warmer than the average for todays date. Its very windy this morning, and snow is expected this afternoon. Approximately 110 WestJet employees are being laid off in Winnipeg and Brandon, CBC reported last night. World Health Organization investigators visited a research centre in Wuhan that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19. Adam Treusch, assignment editor Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 BENGALURU : Highlighting that India can take on the role of being the net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that the Central government is looking forward to cooperate with friendly countries for the prosperous environment in the region. "Geopolitically, India is a reliable part of the Indian ocean range and can take on the role of being the net security provider in the region. Airpower has and could continue to play a critical role in maintaining regional stability and peace in the region. We are looking forward to cooperating with friendly countries and work towards capability building that can address their security issues and create a more stable and prosperous environment in the region," he added. Addressing the inaugural session of Chiefs of the Air Staff Conclave at Aero India 2021 in Bengaluru, he said it is imperative for India to strengthen relations with the countries with whom it shares converging views on key global issues. "We live in a challenging geopolitical landscape where countries not only have to face the threat of military aggression but natural calamity which includes pandemics like COVID-19 which has weakened havoc in the last one year. Therefore, when faced with threats across multiple dimensions, it is imperative for us to strengthen our relations with the countries with whom we share converging views on key global issues," Singh said. The Defence Minister said that India's unique disposition in the IOR complemented by a potent airlift capability of the Indian Air Force (IAF) enables India to contribute significantly in Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions. "India has been regularly conducting exercises to deepen the HADR cooperation and coordination among our neighbours with the focus on sharing expertise and assisting building capabilities," he said. IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said that IAF has been at the HADR mission in IOR. "India and IAF are conscious of responsibility shared with our friends and partners in responding to calls for assistance in wake of natural disasters and calamities. IAF with its potent strategic airlift capability has been at forefront of HADR missions in this region," he said. The 13th edition of the Aero India international air show, organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) started today and will continue till February 5 at Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bengaluru. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New Delhi: India has sharply reacted to comments by western celebrities like Rihanna & Climate activist Greta and others on farmers protests in India. India's Ministry of External Affairs called the comments a temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others as neither accurate nor responsible. Without taking names, the statement said, "...before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken." Rihanna, who has 101 million followers tweeted a media link saying, "Why arent we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest". Greta, tweeted the same link, saying,"We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India." Not just Rihanna and Greta, Jim Costa of US, a member of the US congress's Foreign Affairs Committee tweeted, "I am closely monitoring the situation. The right to peaceful protest must always be respected. #FarmersProtest". Meena Harris, the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris too tweeted, saying, "We ALL should be outraged by Indias internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters." The MEA's statement pointed out that the "reformist" farm laws have been passed "after a full debate and discussion" and "these reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers". It recalled, talks between the govt and farmers over the "reservations about these reforms" and the fact that "Government has even offered to keep the laws on hold, an offer iterated by no less than the Prime Minister of India". The developments of January 26, when protestors "violence and vandalism" took place in Delhi & Mahatma Gandhi statues being "desecrated in parts of the world" were also highlighted in the statement. The statement also mentioned how the Indian police forces have "handled these protests with utmost restraint" even as "hundreds of men and women serving in the police have been physically attacked" and in "some cases stabbed and seriously wounded." Illegal miners have found their way from all over the country to areas like Penhalonga in Mutasa, Rusitu in Chimanimani, Nyazingwe in Nyanga north among many others to dig for gold Areas frequented by illegal miners possible Covid- 19 hotspots. - Cde Chido Sanyatwe (MP) Despite the Covid 19 restrictions put in place by Government, thousands of illegal gold miners are still trekking to the various mining sites around Manicaland province in search of better fortunes, posing a serious threat to the fight against the pandemic. The miners, who usually congregate in huge numbers at a single site, have not stopped working and authorities fear they could be exposing themselves and the communities they operate in. Manicaland is mineral resource rich and over the past decade, illegal miners have found their way from all over the country to areas like Penhalonga in Mutasa, Rusitu in Chimanimani, Nyazingwe in Nyanga north among many others to dig for gold. Nyanga North Member of Parliament Cde Chido Sanyatwe said the areas that are frequented by the illegal miners were possible Covid- 19 hotspots. "We have many areas where illegal gold miners operate around the province and here in Nyanga, we have several areas around the Nyazingwe, Fombe, Ruwangwe and other areas. These miners have no regard for Covid- 19 regulations when they do their work, they do not wear masks and they interact freely with the local communities. We fear that these areas might become hotspots," she said. As at February 1, Manicaland had 3422 cumulative cases, 2528 recoveries and 166 deaths. She said it was imperative for the Joint Operation Command (JOC) and provincial Covid 19 Taskforce to visit such areas and come up with measures to minimise the activities. "We are working towards reducing the impact of the pandemic on our people but if we do not act on these illegal miners, we might lose that fight. Our communities should be safe and they will not be safe if these activities continue unchecked," said Cde Sanyatwe. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company She may have 7.3million followers on Instagram, but Natalie Portman has no plans to open an account on Facebook. During an interview with Australian talk show The Project Tuesday, the Hollywood star, 39, explained that she believes Facebook has a long way to go when it comes to filtering out fake news. 'You know, Facebook started at school when I was there [from 1999 to 2003]. I didn't join when I was there and I haven't joined since,' she told interviewer Lisa Wilkinson. The mother-of-two, who attended Harvard University with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also claimed that the social network needs to take more responsibility for the kind of content posted on its platform. 'In terms of that they are kind of publishing platforms, that they are presenting information that people are taking as fact,' she explained. Ironically, Natalie has a personal connection to Facebook, having studied alongside its founder Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. Access denied: Natalie Portman, 39, (pictured) told The Project's Lisa Wilkinson on Tuesday night that she doesn't use Facebook because she has a problem with the way information is presented Speaking to People magazine in January last year, Natalie said she feels 'thankful' to have grown up in a world without social media. 'I was really able to go about my business and not have it documented for public consumption. Which was really lucky,' she said. 'Because, guess what? Its good to like, make mistakes and do stupid things when youre a teenager and young adult and not have it hunt you forever,' Natalie added. Responsibility: The mother-of-two, who attended Harvard University with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also claimed that the social network needs to take more responsibility for the kind of content posted on its platform' The superstar is currently living in Sydney to film Thor: Love and Thunder. The film will see Natalie's character, astrophysicist Jane Foster, take up the mantle of Thor after transforming into a female version of the Norse god. She relocated to Australia late last year with her husband Benjamin Millepied and their two children - son Aleph, nine, and daughter Amalia, four. What a coincidence! Ironically, Natalie has a personal connection to Facebook, having studied alongside its founder Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) at Harvard University 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. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / World High Life Plc: Appointment of Chief Executive Officer World High Life Plc (AQSE:LIFE)(OTCQB:WRHLF) is pleased to announce that Tony Calamita has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company with immediate effect. Tony is one of the founders of the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Love Hemp Limited ("Love Hemp") and has played a crucial role in the rapid development of Love Hemp's business, creating one of the UK's leading CBD and health and wellness suppliers. Commenting on Tony's appointment, Andrew Male, Director of the Company, said: "Tony has worked closely with the World High Life Board since the acquisition of Love Hemp in 2019. His guidance and energy with the operations of Love Hemp are key to its success to date, and it is natural for him to accept this appointment to join the Board of World High Life. We are very pleased to welcome him and look forward to working with him on the continuing growth of Love Hemp". Settlement of Deferred Consideration Concurrently with the appointment of Mr. Calamita as a Director, and further to the Company's announcement of 25 September 2020, the Company and the vendors of Love Hemp (the "Vendors") have agreed that settlement of the final deferred consideration of 2,000,000 due to the Vendors will be satisfied by the issue of ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), rather than in cash. Accordingly, the Vendors will be issued with a total of 133,333,333 Ordinary Shares at a price of 1.5p per share (the "Vendor Shares"), in full and final settlement of the consideration due to them. The Vendor Shares will be allotted in two tranches: an initial tranche of 68,000,000 Ordinary Shares (the "Initial Vendor Shares") will be allotted immediately, and the balance of 65,000,000 Ordinary Shares will be allotted by no later than 30 June 2021. Tony Calamita and Thomas Rowland are the principal Vendors and have each been allotted 30,600,000 of the Initial Vendor Shares, such that each now has an interest in 54,100,000 Ordinary Shares, representing, in each case, 13.48% per cent of the Company's enlarged issued share capital. The settlement of the deferred consideration by the issue of the Vendor Shares will eliminate 2,000,000 of debt at Word High Life. Issue of additional Ordinary Shares for Cash Further to the subscription of Ordinary Shares announced by the Company on 27 January 2021, World High Life is pleased to announce that Peterhouse Capital Limited has procured subscriptions for an additional 12,500,000 Ordinary Shares, and the Company has directly procured subscriptions for an additional 34,200,000 Ordinary Shares for a total of 46,700,000 Ordinary Shares at a subscription price of 1.0p per share (the "Additional Subscription Shares"), raising gross proceeds of 467,000 for the Company. Subscribers for the Additional Subscription Shares will also receive 1 share purchase warrant for every 1 Ordinary Share subscribed for, amounting in aggregate to 46,700,000 additional warrants (the "Additional Warrants"). The Additional 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. Convertible Debentures The Company has also issued a Deed of Variation to holders of the outstanding 1,910,292 of convertible loan notes and convertible debentures (together, the "Convertible Debentures"), issued in earlier financings by the Company. If the holders of Convertible Debentures accept the Deed of Variation, the Convertible Debentures, plus accrued interest at a rate of 10% per annum, will be converted into Ordinary Shares at a price of 0.025p per share. Resignation With the appointment of Tony Calamita, Robert Payment has resigned from the Company. Mr. Payment Is committed to working with the Company through a transition phase. We would like to thank him for his involvement and support and wish him well in his future endeavours. Application for Admission Application will be made for the Initial Vendor Shares and the Additional Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on the AQSE Growth Market and admission is expected to become effective on 9 February 2021. Enlarged Issued Share Capital Following the issue of the Initial Vendor Shares and the Additional Subscription Shares, the Company has 401,440,419 Ordinary Shares in issue, each share carrying the right to one vote. The figure of 401,440,419 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. 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, Boots, 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 Financial PR Tim Blythe tim.blythe@blytheweigh.com +44 (0)7816 924626 Alice McLaren alice.mclaren@blytheweigh.com +44 (0)7875 744 070 Madeleine Gordon-Foxwell madeleine.gordon-foxwell@blytheweigh.com +44 (0) 7554997357 Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3224 For more information on World High Life please visit: www.wordhighlife.uk. Save as set out below, there is no further information regarding Antonio ("Tony") Luigi Calamita, aged 36, that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 4.9 of the AQSE Growth Market Access Rulebook. Current Directorships Past Directorships London Street Art Ltd Logic 7 Ltd Barton Tyndall Ltd LH Botanicals Ltd 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: Antony Luigi Calamita 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 GB00BMDY1P48 b) Nature of the transaction: Issue of Ordinary Shares c) Price(s) and volume(s): Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.015 30,600,000 d) Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price: Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.015 30,600,000 e) Date of the transaction: 2021-02-02 f) Place of the transaction: AQSE Growth Market (AQSE) 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. SOURCE: World High Life Plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627694/Appointment-of-Chief-Executive-Office-and-Issue-of-Equity Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 17:38:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's vaccination program against COVID-19 has been widely hailed by experts. William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the U.S. publication Executive Intelligence Review, said in an interview with Xinhua that China's vaccination program is very effective. He also hailed China's policies on vaccination for key groups. Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, Serbia's Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, said that China's assistance has been of great help to Serbia throughout the epidemic, and that the country has started mass vaccinations thanks to Sinopharm's vaccine. Produced by Xinhua Global Service As the Federal Bureau of Investigations executed a federal court-ordered search warrant in a city in central-western Broward County, the search in Sunrise turned into a shootout that resulted in two FBI agents' death and three other members wounded on Tuesday morning. 2 Dead, 3 Wounded Based on the statement of FBI Miami Special Agent Michael D. leverock and their spokesman Jim Marshall, the shooting incident happened at around 6 a.m. in Sunrise. That was when a team of FBI agents carried out a federal-ordered search warrant as part of a case concerning violent crimes against children. They have also confirmed that the subject of the search warrant was dead on the scene of the shooting incident. During an afternoon press briefing, George Piro, the Special Agent in Charge on the case, shared that two FBI agents were killed after the suspect opened fire during the execution of the search warrant, while three others were wounded. The Bureau also added that two of their agents were taken into the hospital after taking multiple gunshot wounds. In contrast, the third agent who survived the shots was immediately treated at the scene. They also mentioned that the two agents who were delivered to the hospital were already in stable condition. Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, identified the two dead FBI agents as Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger and Special Agent Daniel Alfin. During his statement release, he also shared that his FBI agents are putting their lives a risk in keeping the American people safe and Special Agent Schwartzenberger and Special Agent Alfin exemplified heroism in defense of their country. The FBI Director also emphasized that the FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for the bravery that they have shown. Moreover, the Sunrise Police stated that the shooting took place at the Water Terrace apartment complex, an upscale gated community outside Fort Lauderdale, at around 6: 04 a.m. In addition, Sunrise Police spokeswoman Otisha Browning-Smith said that the person subject of the search warrant had barricaded himself. Read also: Tesla Conducts New Recall of More Than 130,000 Vehicles Due To Defective Touchscreens The shoutout in Sunrise was one of the deadliest in FBI history as it had brought a major law enforcement response to the location. According to CNN, in a video from their affiliate WSVN, they have captured in their footage an ambulance driving from the scene going to the Broward Medical Examiner's Office at around 10:30 a.m., which is escorted by law enforcement officers on motorcycles. During their arrival at the location, a body on a gurney was draped in an American flag. It was delivered into the building while officers present saluted. As of the moment, the FBI mentioned that their Inspection Division is already investigating the shooting, which killed the lives of two FBI agents. They also stated that their review process is thorough, objective, and conducted as quickly as possible based on the circumstances. The 36-year-old FBI Agent, Alfin, has worked for more than six years in cases of crimes against children while the 43-year-old Schwartzenberger worked in the same cases for more than seven years and been with the Bureau since 2005 and only moved to the Miami bureau 11 years ago, The New York Times reported. On Tuesday, President joe Biden also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the shooting in Sunrise and stated that his heart aches for the families as the FBI Agents put their lives on the line, and it is a huge price to pay. Related article: Japan Extend State of Emergency as COVID-19 Cases Spurt, Olympics and Vaccine Remain Uncertain @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. February 03, 2021 Whilst we await the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, many business owners and CEOs are undoubtedly evaluating the future of both their business and their industry as a whole. The pandemic has had some success stories, be they are few and far between. Whilst industrial warehousing and online retailers may have experienced a positive impact; the overall effect on the western economy has been a negative one. With many businesses currently holding out for the pandemic to come to an end, tourism, bricks & mortar retail and commercial real estate may take years to recover. With vaccines effectiveness ranging from 70% to 95% and many businesses saving money using a remote working model, our working week will likely never look the same again. What is Outsourcing? Outsourcing is the process of obtaining goods or services from persons outside of your business. For example, you may want a graphic designer to help with your website and social media posts. You can look for a designer in the local area or worldwide on a freelancer website. Outsourcing has been gaining popularity rapidly in recent years. Even before the pandemic, websites such as PeoplePerHour.com and UpWork.com have made outsourcing a streamlined process, helping it gain popularity, especially with small and medium-sized businesses. What are the Advantages of Outsourcing? Outsourcing can be a great alternative to hiring full-time employees. With outsourcing, you do not have to interview lots of candidates. You can hire people from all around the world, and you do not have to purchase additional hardware or software, including office furniture and computers. It can also be a lot more cost-effective to hire a freelancer, as they often work from home and do not have a large payroll like a local agency might have. You can also take advantage of geo-arbitrage by hiring someone overseas in another economy. For example, you may work in New York and hire someone in the Philippines. Hiring a designer in the Philippines will typically cost around $15-40 per hour, compared to $50-$100 per hour for a US-based freelancer. Another significant advantage of outsourcing is that you will not have to deal with much paperwork and administrative tasks. With no permanent contracts, you can pay per project which can help you scale your business whilst mitigating financial risks. If you use a third party website, you do not need to worry about drawing up a contract, and you certainly dont need to give a freelancer the usual employee perks such as a pension and healthcare. Remote Working & Outsourcing With remote working, combined with outsourcing, you can work in a highly efficient manner, especially when it comes to overheads. If you run a small business from home, then you wont have to worry about office rent each month and as mentioned above, using freelancers can mitigate financial risk and reduce expenses significantly. Some additional perks regarding remote working and expenses, include the fact that you do not have to buy specific clothes to suit an office environment, and the coffee and food at home is usually less expensive! However, one of the most significant advantages of remote working is that you do not have to commute to and from an office each day. Remote work can result in considerable savings in terms of time, money and wellbeing. If you have the infrastructure in place for remote work, you too can take advantage of job opportunities worldwide. You may also be able to undercut competitors in terms of how much you charge per hour or project. Nomadic Remote Working You can take your remote working business to the next level and take advantage of geo-arbitrage in a more direct way, by living and working overseas. For example, many digital nomads choose to live in a beautiful country such as Thailand, where the cost of living is relatively low. This allows them to work for a reduced rate and still enjoy a great way of life thanks to the favourable exchange rates if paid in US dollars or pounds sterling. Other remote workers choose to stay in their home country but work from motor home or campervan. Mobile-offices like campervans, mean these nomadic workers can enjoy a new environment every time they choose and live a more dynamic and exciting lifestyle at the same time. Remote Working Cons Like most things in life, you should evaluate both the pros and the cons before investing in any hardware or software related to remote work. Managing teams can be tricky with remote working. If you have several full-time employees working for you remotely, they often feel that they are not valued as much as a typical in-office employee might be. Remote workers can feel somewhat devalued and not connected with the rest of the team. For this reason, it can be essential to have face to face conversations using video conferencing software such as Teams. From a business owners point of view, it can be more difficult to track an employees productivity in they are working remotely. This is where project management software and regular but short conversations on live chat software can be helpful. Having good communications and systems that allow you to check-in with each can help. Distractions can also be an issue. Whether it is an annoying phone call on your landline or delivery at the door, it can be easy to get distracted at home. Some noise-proof headphones and energetic instrumental music may be the answer if this is an issue. A Pomodoro timer can also help immensely, by splitting your working day into 25-minute sprints. Technology & Remote Working The pandemic has accelerated the rate at which the general population has taken to online grocery shopping and the number of businesses adopting a remote-working model. However, the technology allowing a more global and online way of life has been available for quite some time. Technology can certainly make a home office more comfortable and productive. Whilst technology allows you to have everything from a smart radiator, to a Bluetooth keyboard, there are also apps available for all devices to make a remote working business enhance productivity. For example, QuickBooks is a great app for small business owners looking to quickly take care of their accounts, record receipts, or even send all their financial records to an outsourced accountant based overseas. The Moneypenny phone answering app is also an excellent app for small business owners, giving them all the benefits of a full-time receptionist, for a fraction of the cost. Telephone answering apps can also help improve productivity by reducing the number of unwanted interruptions. Grief has engulfed residents of Khainga village, Bungoma County after a Form 4 boy hacked his father to death. 16 year-old Brian Juma slashed his father, Bernard Juma, to death with a machete on Sunday night at around 8pm. The deceased, who lived in Siboti area, Bumula Constituency, had visited his home in Kanduyi where his son lives with his grandmother to ask the teen to report back to school. When he arrived, he found his son with three of his friends in the company of their girlfriends. An argument ensued, leading his son's friends and their girlfriends to flee, after which the Form 4 student picked a machete that he later used to attack his father. Consolata Nanjala, sister to the deceased, said they heard commotion outside their house at night. Great pain "We were the only two in the house, me and our mother, and we were afraid to go outside to find out what was going on. We didn't even know that Juma had come," she said. She said that when they heard him calling, they opened the door and found him with deep cuts. He was bleeding profusely. "My brother was writhing in great pain and I asked him who had done that to him. He said that it was his son Brian," she adds. She called her neighbors and other family members to come help her ferry her brother to the nearest hospital. "We quickly called for a motorbike that rushed him to Nzoia dispensary where they referred him to Bungoma County Referral Hospital where he died while being treated," she said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. She said that Brian had stopped going to school, leading his father to request him to resume studies since he had cleared his fees and exams were around the corner. Illegal 'marriage'? Leah Nekesa, Brian's mother, said her husband - who was a church leader - had received a phone call informing him that the police were hunting for his son for allegedly marrying a class seven pupil. Ms Nekesa said the girl's parents were demanding that Brian be arrested for making their daughter drop out of school. She said that later on, after they had had supper, she was called by her in-laws who informed her that their son had attacked his father and he had been rushed to hospital for treatment. "I wanted to come with him but he told me just to wait till morning," she said. Ms Nekesa disclosed that their first born was very unruly and kept what she described as bad company. Brian, she said, smoked marijuana and drank illicit brew with them. She also noted that Brian was unhappy that his father had sold land and had refused to give him his share. Liru Katani, the area assistant chief of Namirembe, concurred that Brian notorious in the area, and that they had tried to persuade him to go to school but he had refused. "We have been working to ensure that all pupils from this area are back to school but Brian has really given us a headache," he said. The upcoming fantasy action blockbuster "A Writer's Odyssey" could set a new milestone in China's film history in terms of visual effects. A poster of "A Writer's Odyssey." [Photo courtesy of Huace Pictures] "I want to go along in step with you to make a really awesome film," Lu Yang said to his crew at the beginning of the project. The "Brotherhood of Blades" director spent five years dedicatedly in making the best Chinese visual effects the world has ever known. In the two-and-a-half years devoted to post-production, Lu saw half of his previously black hair turn gray, indicating how hard it has been to make this film. The director said they had used some special effects technologies that had never been used before for any Chinese film, and he was happy to be a trailblazer exploring something from nothing. The fantasy thriller, produced by renowned filmmaker Ning Hao and starring Lei Jiayin, Dong Zijian and Yang Mi, focuses on a novelist who is amazed to find the fictional world emerging from his pen is influencing the real world in a surprising way; meanwhile, a father who is desperate to find his missing daughter agrees to help a mysterious woman assassinate the novelist because the latter's fiction is leading the woman's boss to become weak and close to death. A highlight in the film is the making of 15-meter-tall "Red-haired Ghost," a celestial figure. Completely made by CGI technique in a process that took more than two years to complete, this ruthless figure was the most complex and difficult creation for the visual effect artists. After being adjusted dozens of times with different versions, the character has more than 400,000 hairs on its head, as well as over 900,000 skin follicles on the body. Many foreign and domestic peers of Lu have praised this marvel. The director Lu Yang watching the monitor on set of "A Writer's Odyssey." [Photo courtesy of Huace Pictures] "I can't believe Chinese domestic production can make such impressive special effects to this level," exclaimed Wu Jing, the actor who once visited the studio. In recent years, Wu has directed and starred in several phenomenal blockbusters such as "Wolf Warrior 2," the highest grossing Chinese film of all time, and the highest-grossing sci-fi work "The Wandering Earth." Actually, the team behind "A Writer's Odyssey," formerly known as "Assassin in Red" based on writer Shuang Xuetao's fiction, is from China's top visual effects company MORE VFX, which previously provided services to "The Wandering Earth", "Ne Zha". "Legend of Deification," as well as the upcoming "The Yinyang Master" and "Detective Chinatown 3" scheduled for release during the forthcoming Spring Festival. Xu Jian, CEO and founder of MORE VFX, is visual effects supervisor of "A Writer's Odyssey." After he finished the script, the first words he spoke to the director were "are you crazy?" Xu led an 800-person team to produce the visual effects over a period of 30 months. He said this was the most difficult task he had ever experienced. Before it, Xu's most monumental work was "The Wandering Earth," for which his team worked for nine months. He recalled his team had encountered numerous difficulties during the post-production process, adding that, "sometimes during sleepless nights, and I just wanted to give up, but the director always encouraged me to hold on." A poster of "A Writer's Odyssey." [Photo courtesy of Huace Pictures] Director Lu Yang said he was there to make sure every scene was presented in perfect form. "I like to inspire everyone to dig up something better," he said. In order to create a unique oriental world full of exquisite fantasy, the crew set up more than 20 sets in an area covering 170,000 square meters. They were not only using virtual shooting technology on a large scale for the first time, but also integrating multiple technologies such as virtual shooting, motion capture, live-action shooting, CGI and others, which has established a brand-new industrial production process precedent for Chinese domestic films. Xu added that he believed what his team has done for "A Writer's Odyssey" amounted to a new industrial revolution for domestic production. "After so many years into my career, this time I felt I really had turned out a visual effects blockbuster." According to "The Wandering Earth" director Frant Gwo, after "A Writer's Odyssey" was made, many films have started to borrow technologies from it, including last year's war epic "The Sacrifice," co-helmed by Guan Hu, Gwo and Lu Yang. Lu Yang said the visual effects in "A Writer's Odyssey" are all made in China. But he went further to say, all audiovisual languages are tools, "what I hope most are that people can appreciate the stories and characters in the film. " A photo shows that director Lu Yang (R) is directing and comforting actor Lei Jiayin on the set of "A Writer's Odyssey." [Photo courtesy of Huace Pictures] "I wanted to cry after I read the script, I'm speechless," actor Lei Jiayin said. The actor was usually sleepless without drinking and eating on the set, in order to immerse himself into the role of the anxious and desperate father agreeing to be an assassin in exchange for finding his daughter. Every character in the film refuses to obey fate or give up, and wants to fight for hope and belief though in despair. Another main actor Dong Zijian, who played the novelist in the film and who lost 20 kg in weight for the film yet still remained energic, shared his belief in the value of the film, "I felt I was involved in a particularly awesome cause, I feel tireless." "A Writer's Odyssey" will hit screens on Feb. 12. Press Release February 3, 2021 Hontiveros to gov't: Ensure no fake vaccines get through to PH Senator Risa Hontiveros urged the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to ensure that no smuggled or fake COVID-19 vaccines are entering the country, amid reports of Chinese authorities confiscating over 3,000 doses of fake vaccines. The Chinese government seized saline-filled syringes packaged as COVID-19 vaccines, which they suspected were made with the intent to send these abroad. "Pag hindi dumadaan ang bakuna sa FDA, walang ibang makakasigurado na ligtas ito. We need to keep watch of our borders like bloodhounds. Ni isang pekeng bakuna ay hindi dapat makalusot," Hontiveros said. "Our own authorities need to bust any plan to bring those fake vaccines onto our shores. Anyone willing to put other people in danger for quick profit should be apprehended and put behind bars," she said. Hontiveros said the National Taskforce on COVID-19 (NTF) should further reassure the public of the safety of vaccines by breaking down its quality control and security measures. "At whatever stage of the procurement, siguraduhin ng NTF na ang publiko mismo, alam kung paano magkilatis ng kalidad ng ating mga bakuna. Ilatag na ang safety and quality control protocol at magdagdag ng security protocol para siguraduhing ang bawat isang dose sa milyon-milyon nating bibilhin ay walang halo at hindi peke," she said. "I expect the heads of law enforcement and the NTF to be on top of this. This is a grave concern of public safety and health. Siguraduhin sanang walang inside jobs o under-the-table deals sa mga ahensiyang nagbabantay sa ating borders," she added. Hontiveros also warned the public against getting vaccinated through the black market, and to instead trust in the national COVID-19 vaccination plan. "Walang awtorisadong bakuna ang mabibili sa merkado. Hindi ito rehistrado, ligtas, walang tiyak na bisa at maaring peke pa. Engaging in the black market is not only illegal, it is dangerous. Go through the proper government channels," she urged. "The health and safety of Filipinos is all that matters. Let's show the public that we are doing everything we can to vaccinate them safely and truly lead them out of the pandemic," she concluded. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Corporate treasurers fed up with rock-bottom returns on their cash are about to get another pitch from the world of crypto.Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the digital-asset firms behind the so-called stablecoin dubbed USDC that is pegged 1-to-1 to the dollar, has cooked up an alternative for the legions too conservative to follow the likes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into Bitcoin. Park your extra cash in USDC and earn as much as 7% annually through high-yield accounts, the marketing says -- more than 10 times the return on an ultra-safe 1-year Treasury bill.The idea may be appealing to some treasurers who were initially seduced by the big gains in crypto, especially following Bitcoins roughly 40% decline since mid-April. Stablecoins such as USDC are gaining increased attention because of their ability to maintain their pegs during the wild crypto price swings, suggesting they could actually serve as a store of value. Even so, not all long-term digital market observers are convinced.If companies wish to put their corporate reserves into a stablecoin and that is fully audited, it is like putting their money in a bank account which is what they normally do, John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. However, if the account is paying out a higher yield than bank account yields, then it is not merely invested in some risk-free asset.Heres how Circles program will work: Treasurers would open a digital-dollar account where the companys fiat money is converted into USDC and interest is paid out in USDC. The yield is generated by Circle lending the digital dollars to a network of institutional investors that are willing to pay an interest rate for access to additional capital.The companies would lock in their return when the account is opened, similar to a bank certificate of deposit. Circle plans to offer accounts with maturities ranging from one month to a year, with no early withdrawals allowed. Rates available will be updated on a weekly basis, depending on demand for USDC loans.Thats a bit tamer than the strategy first highlighted last year by MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who advocated pouring company reserves into Bitcoin because he said the dollar is being debased by surging inflation. Musks February announcement that Tesla Inc. had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet helped fuel the rally that took the largest cryptocurrency to a record in April before it lost more than one-third of its value.Corporate reserves are not for investing in stocks, going to Vegas, or something more volatile and more rigged against you like Bitcoin, Griffin said.With few companies outside the crypto realm following MicroStrategy, Tesla and Dorseys Square Inc. into Bitcoin, Circle hopes that stablecoins may be the next logical step. The company is working with Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders.The service will be first made available in the U.S. and Switzerland, and will launch imminently, Jeremy Allaire, Circles CEO, said in an interview. Thousands of businesses are already on the waiting list, according to Circle.We are seeing the opportunity for the treasury use-case grow a lot, Allaire said.Other providers of stablecoins are rolling out similar offerings. On May 26, Gemini exchange -- the brainchild of the Winklevoss brothers -- said investors can earn up to 7.4% annually on Gemini dollars through a program called Gemini Earn. The Gemini token is also pegged to the dollar and its reserves are held with State Street Bank and Trust, the largest financial custodian in the world. Each month, the dollar deposit balance is examined by BPM LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm.USDC reserves are attested to monthly by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and published online.Various small crypto lenders already offer yield accounts for different coins, including less regulated stablecoins like Tether.For these products, appropriate users would be people who invest in junk bonds or similar risky lending, said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and writer for Bloomberg Opinion. It might offer a better risk-adjusted return than alternatives. . . or not. But whatever it is, its not a savings account in the way most people understand that term.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. A second SolarWinds attack might have taken place and it was not Russian hackers this time. Security researchers said that the Chinese hackers might have exploited an independent flaw that is different from the reported SolarWinds attack last year. According to The Wired's latest report, the alleged Chinese hackers independently exploited a different flaw during the Russian hackers' previous attack. Chinese News Asia reported that the second attack specifically targeted the United States Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center. The software giant SolarWinds confirmed that it already patched the said vulnerability that the Chinese hackers exploited in December. Although this is the case, security researchers said that the alleged Chinese attack just shows that SolarWinds' third-party companies could also be vulnerable. Why the second SolarWinds attack is alarming Security researchers said that if the SolarWinds' third-party companies are vulnerable, their flaws could also affect the main company as well. Also Read: Applications on Apple's App Store Are Still Tracking Your Data; New Labels Are Inaccurate "It's not realistic to not depend on any third parties," said the security firm Red Canary's director of intelligence Katie Nickels via The Wired. "It's just not really the way any network is run. But what we saw for the first week or two even after the initial SolarWinds revelations were some organizations just trying to figure out whether they even use SolarWinds products," she added. On the other hand, the software giant said that the second exploited vulnerability is very different from the one that Russian hackers were able to implement. SolarWinds added that the Chinese hackers' flaw was only exploited after they infiltrated the company's network using other methods. Why SolarWinds software provider is targeted Researchers said that SolarWinds is still using Microsoft Windows, which is a popular target for different hackers and cybercriminals. The software company is also two decades old and has a big customer base including the United States' government contracts and those abroad ones. Although this is the case, the SolarWinds software is just one of the tools that companies and other IT management services need to continuously run. This means that the hackers could also focus on other software or tools that different companies are using, and SolarWinds' previous attacks show that cybercriminals are becoming more notorious than ever. For more news updates about SolarWinds attacks and other security breaches, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Washington State Data Breach 2021: 1.6 Million Citizens with Unemployment Claims Exposed! Possible Identity Theft? This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [February 03, 2021] Fifth Annual NOVIPRO/Leger Survey Reveals the Pandemic has Forced Canadian Businesses to Scale Back on their IT Plans Cybersecurity and AI investments put on hold in favour of urgent operational needs MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - COVID-19 has led Canadian companies to completely rethink their IT strategies, according to the fifth annual NOVIPRO/Leger IT Portrait of Canadian Businesses. In 2020, spending plans on security investments dipped to 25% compared to 42% in 2019 and saw many artificial intelligence (AI) projects put on hold. At the peak of the pandemic, IT teams were swamped with operational requests forcing critical security investments, like cybersecurity and AI, to take a back seat, to the detriment of their company's overall development. "The survey shows that change was the catchword in 2020. Companies had to adapt extremely fast to minimize the effects of the pandemic on their operations," explains Yves Paquette, NOVIPRO co-founder and CEO. "Companies will need to pivot back to a longer-term vision to foster a return to stability." Decline in Security Investment Plans An overwhelming majority of businesses (81%) say the pandemic caused serious security issues, primarily due to managing remote workforces. However, despite the higher risks due to working from home, only 25% of businesses plan to invest in solutions to improve security in the next two yearsa significant drop compared to 2019 (42%). Surprisingly, the survey also found that employees account for more than half (53%) of the IT threats. Of that number, more than one-third of attacks (35%) were caused deliberately by someone in-house, and 18% were caused accidentally by employees. Ontario had the highest number of internal security threats with 41% of companies citing a malicous internal resource, such as an employee as their main source of computer threats, compared to Quebec companies at 21%. "The figures are alarming, especially because only two in five businesses feel they are very well protected against data loss or theft, intrusions, and viruses," says Dominique Derrier, CISO at NOVIPRO and President of Metropolitan Montreal Security and Computer Association. "With telework booming, businesses would do well to invest in security, and do it soon," he adds. Dialing Back on AI Investments Contrary to the trend observed over the past four years, investment plans in AI also declined in 2020 as businesses refocused on other IT projects. Only 29% of Canadian businesses plan to invest in AI in the next two years, compared to 36% in 2019. Although, 87% of respondents say AI is an important lever for their organization, obstacles such as cost (52%) and lack of dedicated resources (36%) are causes for not investing in this solution. Luckily, it's not all bad news. Of the Canadian companies that did implement AI solutions, 87% say they are reaping the benefits, particularly when it comes to lowering risk of errors and creating higher quality products and services (40%). In Ontario, businesses saw a 44% increase in company performance and financial gains using AI. "Artificial intelligence can be a huge budget item for companies. However, it pays off in the long term through more efficient operations and a higher level of security," says Eric Cothenet, technology solutions director at NOVIPRO. A Shift in Perception While the role and importance of IT at large and medium-sized Canadian companies had been growing over the past four years, there was a major shift in 2020. Companies began to see their IT as functional rather than innovative. In 2020, a mere 29% of respondents viewed their IT infrastructure as "state-of-the-art" compared to 41% in 2019. What's more, IT is now seen as an investment rather than a strategic partner. Compared to 2019, IT teams also seem to be playing a less influential role in business strategies. Only 37% of companies say they have full confidence in their IT team's security capabilities, a slight drop compared to 2019 (42%). About the 2021 NOVIPRO/Leger Survey For the past five years, NOVIPRO has been surveying Canadian businesses about their IT priorities and challenges. These annual surveys have revealed trends in the deployment of new artificial intelligence initiatives, cybersecurity solutions, cloud computing, and IT investments. Data for the fifth NOVIPRO/Leger portrait of IT in large and medium-sized Canadian companies comes from an online survey conducted between September 8 and October 23, 2020, among 300 IT decision makers, 75 managers who don't work in IT, 78 decision makers who are neither directors nor IT specialists, and 31 NOVIPRO clients. About NOVIPRO A technology partner since 1993, NOVIPRO's mission is to guide companies in achieving their business objectives by leveraging its wealth of human capital, its range of expertise and the power of its network. With a team of over 135 employees, NOVIPRO stands out for the excellence of its business, technology, and cloud solutions. SOURCE NOVIPRO [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 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. Telecommunications companies have failed to provide data on the capability and location of their assets like phone towers and the lack of information is risking the lives of emergency services personnel, says Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud. Mr Littleproud said he wrote to telecommunications companies in November and NBN, Optus and Telstra still had not provided the information. He singled out Telstra chief executive Andy Penn, who he said had made a personnel commitment to provide the data. Emergency Services Minister David Littleproud. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I am disgusted that Andy Penn has not made good on Telstras commitments even after a personal conversation with him that he would not put Telstras commercial interests ahead of the safety of Australians, Mr Littleproud said. Mr Littleproud said emergency service personnel need to know where telecommunication infrastructure is and what capabilities it has when they make life and death decisions during an emergency. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. 5.5 million from the E5P multi-donor fund for greater energy efficiency Grant complements an earlier 25 million loan from the EBRD Investment to reduce CO 2 emissions and energy bills in Dnipro public buildings Patients and medical staff at clinics as well as children attending kindergartens and schools in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro are to enjoy better heating in their buildings thanks to funds provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P) fund, to which the European Union and Sweden are the largest contributors. The E5P fund grant of 5.5 million complements a 25 million loan from the EBRD to the municipal energy management company Dniprovska Municipalna Energoservisna Kompanya. With the help of the joint financing, close to 100 public buildings will be refurbished to improve their energy efficiency, introduce better heating systems and create a more comfortable environment for students, patients, teachers and doctors. The project builds on a previous joint pilot investment by the EBRD, the E5P and the Clean Technology Fund to the Dnipro municipal energy management company, which helped upgrade 33 schools and 48 kindergartens in the city. Mark Magaletsky, EBRD Deputy Director for Ukraine, said: We are delighted to be joining forces with the E5P fund and its donors to boost energy efficiency investments in Dnipro. The refurbishment of public buildings will help create comfortable conditions, save energy bills and promote green practices. Overall, with prior investment we will help the city of Dnipro renovate almost 200 public buildings. Chloe Allio, Head of Operations Section (Economic cooperation, energy, infrastructure and environment) at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said: The EU continues supporting energy efficiency efforts in Ukraine. With the contract signed today, the E5P Fund provides a 5.5 million grant to an ambitious energy efficiency project that will help the Dnipro municipality save energy and reduce over 7,000 tonnes of CO 2 emissions per year. The EU has been supporting the E5P Fund since 2010, with 50 million mobilised so far. Tobias Thyberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine, added: Sweden is the initiator of the E5P concept and has over the years contributed over 40 million to the E5P Fund in Ukraine. These funds are to support energy efficiency projects in Ukraine that reduce energy consumption, improve the living and working conditions of the citizens and overall contribute to the global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to minimise climate change impacts. Sweden will continue to support E5P as the flagship initiative to mobilise financial resources for the green climate-friendly transition of municipalities in Ukraine and across the Eastern Partnership region. The E5P is a multi-donor and multi-IFI fund operational in all the Eastern Partnership countries. In Ukraine, it is supported by the European Union (the largest contributor), Sweden (the funds initiator and largest bilateral donor), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Ukraine and United States of America. E5P support for the country totals 137 million dedicated to municipal energy and environmental projects, mainly for energy efficiency in buildings and district heating rehabilitation. The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1993, the Bank has provided almost 14.5 billion in financing across 489 projects. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma-backed Ant Group has submitted plans to restructure itself as a financial holding company, which would be overseen by China's central bank. The financial services company and Chinese regulators have agreed on a restructuring plan and it is expected to be announced officially before the start of China's Lunar New Year holiday next week, as per a Bloomberg report. The move is being seen as effort by China's government to get oversight of Jack Ma's business empire. Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma' flagship company Ant Group Co had faced increased scrutiny from Beijing in recent months, which resulted in suspension of its initial public offering (IPO). Ant was previously planning to make one of its subsidiaries a financial holding company. However, the new structure would require converting Ant's whole financial operations into a holding company that would face strict regulations, similar to those of the country's banks. Under the restructuring plan, Ant Financial Services Group is subjected to additional capital requirements similar to those for banks and other guidelines that span multiple financial business lines, as per the report. Also Read: Jack Ma arrested? Chinese media says Alibaba founder 'embracing supervision' In November last year, Chinese regulators had suspended Ant Group's IPO, raising questions about the business, which it had positioned as a fintech firm rather than a financial services provider. The Chinese fintech's public listing was touted to be world's biggest IPO at $35 billion. It was a major setback for Jack Ma's fintech firm, which will now face tighter scrutiny and will be subjected to restrictions on capital and leverage as banks. Besides, Ma was summoned by Chinese authorities, who informed that there has been significant change in the regulatory environment and that Ant's online lending business would face tighter scrutiny. Coincidently, it happened just a month after Ma criticised China's regulatory system, saying it has a "pawnshop mentality" and that the company like AliPay was unsuitable for financial regulatory structure like that of China's. Calling for reform in the country's regulatory system, Ma blamed it for stifling business innovation and likened China's global banking regulations to an "old people's club." Also Read: Bad omen for Jack Ma? Alibaba founder removed from Chinese media's top business leaders list Ma, who is known for occupying the limelight, had not made public appearance for months since October 24 after he criticised China's financial regulatory system in a speech. He later made his first public comments in January this year. According to the Jack Ma Foundation, the billionaire participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event on January 20. The Foundation also released a 50-second video where Ma was seen congratulating teachers. By Chitranjan Kumar Terming the detention of Myanmar's top civilian leaders by the military "a coup", a senior State Department official has said that the US is in constant touch with regional allies like India and Japan on the latest developments in Nay Pyi Taw as the two countries have better contact with the military in the Southeast Asian nation. Myanmar's military on Monday took control of the country for one year and detained top political figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We have certainly been in frequent contact with our like-minded allies and partners in the region. You mentioned Japan and India. We're having daily ongoing conversations with them, and we certainly appreciate that some other countries have better contact with the Burmese military than we do, so we're continuing those conversations, a senior State Department official told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. The United States categorically said the military action in Burma is a coup. After a careful review of the facts and circumstances, we have assessed that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's ruling party, and Win Myint, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1," the State Department official said. was called Burma before 1989 when the ruling junta, backed by the armed forces, changed its name. This was done to maintain the country's global image after a total crackdown on a pro-democracy movement. "We continue to call on the Burmese military leadership to release them (the elected leaders) and all other detained civil society and political leaders immediately and unconditionally, the State Department official said. The US has denounced in the strongest possible terms Myanmar's military leaders for seeking to reject the will of the people as expressed in democratic elections on November 8 and for taking control of the government. However, the military has justified the seizure of power, saying the government had failed to thoroughly investigate the claims of voter fraud in the polls. "We continue to stand with the people of Burma, as we have done for decades, in their efforts to achieve democracy, freedom, peace, and development, said the US official. This assessment, the official said, triggers certain restrictions in foreign assistance to the government of and the US would undertake a broader review of its assistance programmes to ensure they align with recent events. "At the same time, it will continue programmes that benefit the people of Burma directly, including humanitarian assistance and democracy support programmes that benefit civil society," the official said. The US is providing nearly USD 135 million in bilateral assistance to Burma in the financial year 2020. Now, a small portion of that is expected to fall under sanctions. The return to civilian rule in 2015 had enabled Myanmar to engage with countries and businesses across the globe and move beyond relying on actors in the region that do not respect human rights and democratic institutions. The military's actions over the last week, and frankly prior to that, have put that progress at grave risk. A very small circle of Burma's military leaders have chosen their own interests over the will and well-being of the people, the official said. The Biden administration, the official said, rejects any attempt by the military to alter the outcome of the November 2020 election in Burma. And, as President Biden has said, we will take action against those responsible, including through a careful review of our current sanctions posture as it relates to Burma's military leaders and companies associated with them. Most importantly, we will continue to stand with the people of Burma, the official said. ...we will be conducting a review of all our assistance programmes for Burma. I don't have a timeline for you on that, but we're going to be guided by our longstanding commitment to the people of Burma and their aspirations for democracy, peace, justice, and development, said the official. Calling the military's seizure of power in Myanmar a direct assault on its transition to democracy, US President Joe Biden on Monday had threatened to slap new sanctions on 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.) Lawmakers are back in session, and bills relating to the coronavirus pandemic have already been pre-filed. Senate Bill 30 would protect businesses from having frivolous lawsuits slapped against them because of the pandemic, but it's not a free pass. "There hasn't been an explosion of Covid-related lawsuits, but this will prevent that going forward," said Attorney Tommy James. James practices law all over the state and has some cases here in North Alabama. He said Senate Bill 30 protects churches, businesses, government entities, health care providers and educational and cultural institutions from being sued civilly over coronavirus. "There is some accountability. It's not a free pass if these businesses, schools, churches, if they are willful or intention or extremely reckless. If they violate the CDC guidelines for policy and procedures and Alabama Department of Public Health guidelines, then they do open themselves up for liability," said James. James said when the pandemic started, some people approached him about various coronavirus-related lawsuits. He said even without this bill, those claims are hard to prove. "They would be so hard anyway to prove where someone contracted it, where they were exposed to it, so they are really tough cases anyway," said James. James said he believes the bill will be passed into law because it's supported by trial lawyers, lawmakers and businesses. "There's not much opposition I've seen to this legislation because businesses and other entities don't need to be worried about frivolous lawsuits with this pandemic," said James. Senate Bill 30 now goes to the Senate judiciary committee. It's also retroactive going back to March 13, 2020, so any lawsuit filed against a business about coronavirus since that date can be overturned by this bill if it becomes law. Another bill filed has to do with the coronavirus and providing more privacy and protections to people who are questioned by contact tracers. That's Senate Bill 1. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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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 Sorry! This content is not available in your region Civil activist Muhammad Hammud has claimed that the Syrian government delegation is intentionally halting discussions on constitutional articles, writes North Press. Negative effects will face the Negotiations Committee, [Syrian National] Coalition, and the opposition due to the failure of the fifth round in Geneva, civil activist Muhammad Hammud said on Monday. Hammud, who resides in Damascus, told North Press that the meetings of the Constitutional Committee concluded in utter failure, while it is basically a waste of time at Syrians expense and destruction of the country. He believes that the meetings of the Constitutional Committee will not continue due to the Syrian government delegations disagreement to discuss the constitutional articles, and it does so intentionally to waste time for the fifth time. He pointed out that the first negative effect that the Negotiations Committee, Coalition, and opposition will witness is the resignation of opposition delegation member General Awad al-Ali of the Constitutional Committee due to the futility of the meetings and wasting of time. The Russian guarantor is still watching and waiting for an American signal helping it to overcome this crisis, according to the civil activist. Meanwhile, another negative side effect is to reveal the Coalition and Negotiations Committees weak and bad performance, Hammud said. He pointed out that disputes start to come to the surface, confirming that meetings of the Constitutional Committee will not take place anymore, and this is what the Syrian government delegation seeks. Not confessing the failure, Russia announced the holding of a new meeting of the Astana process to get out of the trouble which will help to revive the work of the Constitutional Committee, when it is basically stillborn, he stressed. 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. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. The Pope and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar to jointly present awards via virtual ceremony on International Day of Human Fraternity Ceremony to be streamed 4th February on www.zayedaward.org 5:30pm GST/1:30pm GMT ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has today officially revealed that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Moroccan-French activist, Latifa Ibn Ziaten, are the two honorees of its 2021 award. Hosted via a virtual ceremony, anchored around the setting of the Founder's Memorial, in Abu Dhabi, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity's (ZAHF) inaugural annual award ceremony will be streamed from its own website for viewers to watch, on Thursday evening at 5:30pm GST. Born out of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity (DHF), in Abu Dhabi, in 2019, and aligned to the humanitarian values shared by the UAE's founder, the late Sheikh Zayed, this global award recognizes individuals who are committed to fostering conditions for peaceful co-existence. In recognition of that historic meeting, the honorary recipients of the first Zayed Award for Human Fraternity were the co-signees of the Document: His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al-Tayeb, and the Head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis. As Secretary-General of the UN, since 2017, Antonio Guterres has embarked on a dedicated mandate to address issues relating to world peace and security. Among some of the key initiatives he has spearheaded, during his time in office, Guterres has addressed a number of impactful initiatives, including: countering hate speech and violence; modernizing UN peacekeeping practices; to his Global Cease Fire Appeal and Initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic - resulting in 170 member and observer states heeding that call to sign up. 2021 honoree, Latifa Ibn Ziaten, is a mother and Moroccan-French activist, dedicated to raising awareness against escalating religious extremism, following her own personal tragedy of losing her son, Imad, to a terrorist attack, in 2012. Since then, Latifa has become a well-known civil society activist, in France and beyond; working with families and communities to prevent youth radicalization and spreading the message of peace, dialogue, and mutual respect. Ahead of receiving his award on Thursday, Guterres, said: "It is with humility and deep gratitude that I feel honored to receive the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. I see it also as recognition of the work the United Nation is doing every day, everywhere, to promote peace and human dignity. "We live in challenging times. We see the threats coming from the pandemic, from the climate, threats from war and conflict in different parts of the world. Therefore, it is fantastic to see the enormous leadership of His Holiness the Pope and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, pushing humankind to come together, in unity, in dialogue, to promote peace, to promote fraternity, and to promote the unity that is necessary to address all the challenges to defeat hate and ensure that human solidarity wins the battles we are facing." In accepting her award, Ms. Latifa said: "It is a great honor, and indeed humbling, to have been recognized by the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity for the work I and many others do, each day, in addressing extremism though dialogue, mutual respect, and peaceful co-existence. Most importantly, I hope this award helps raise awareness among a wider audience about the need to continue these efforts. "The situation in France and Europe has often presented many challenges due to a sense of exclusion and marginalization that affects so many young hearts. That said, I feel progress is being made, and we continue to work with families and communities to prevent youth radicalization and to understand how we can create opportunities for more open dialogue and advocacy; making co-operation and mutual understanding the norm - not the exception," Latifa concluded. Speaking ahead of Thursday's ceremony, the Secretary-General of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity (HCHF), and co-author of the Document on Human Fraternity, Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, said: "As head of the UN, Mr. Guterres has been responsible for launching many individual and joint initiatives aimed at ending humanity's violence against itself and violations against nature. His commitment and dedication in this role has shown that he is a true endorser of the approach and values advocated for by the Document on Human Fraternity. "In recognizing Latifa Ibn Ziaten as a 2021 honoree, it is a bitter-sweet realization of how circumstances born out of such grievous and personal sorrow have been turned into a fitting tribute to her son, and all other victims of terrorist violence. Mrs. Latifa's great work in advocating for the values of human fraternity as a way to end violence is truly inspiring. "This independent, global award was conceived to encourage and recognize those who inspire us all to play our part in creating a more understanding, inclusive and peaceful world. By examining the work and impact of both 2021 honorees, it is clear that they are both role models for the next generation, world leaders, and all those engaged in similarly noble pursuits for peace," he continued. "Honoring Mr. Guterres and Mrs. Latifa with the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity in its first edition after the Grand Imam and Pope Francis were honored, in 2019, is a tribute to all those who love peace and an invitation to humanity to continue on this path," Abdelsalam added. "The Higher Committee for Human Fraternity will continue its efforts to achieve the goals of the Document on Human Fraternity, with the sincere support and care of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the patron of human fraternity who sponsors the committee and its projects, and is keen to ensure that the award continues on its path to achieve human fraternity with complete independence and impartiality, and this indicates the sincerity of the message and the greatness of the goal," he concluded. To watch the two honorees receive their award from His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmed Al-Tayeb, viewers can go to www.zayedaward.org. The 30-minute broadcast will air from 17:30-18:00 GST/13:30-14:00 GMT/08:30-09:00 EST, Thursday evening. The February 4th awards ceremony also coincides with the first International Day of Human Fraternity, which was adopted by a UN General Assembly resolution, in December 2020. This date is now an official day dedicated to raising awareness and recognising the efforts of those who promote peace, harmony, and intercultural dialogue, around the world. The date was chosen to coincide with the 2019 signing of the Document on Human Fraternity. This year's award is the first time that nominees from all over the world could be submitted to be assessed by an independent judging committee, formed by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity (HCHF) and made up of international experts. The 2021 Judging Committee for this year's Zayed Award for Human Fraternity was: Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam , Secretary-General of HCHF , Secretary-General of HCHF Adama Dieng , former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide , former UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Rt. Hon. Michaelle Jean , 27 th Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada , 27 Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of H.E. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla , former Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia , former Vice-President of the Republic of Cardinal Dominique Mamberti , Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. , Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. H.E. Catherine Samba-Panza, former President of the Central African Republic The nominations process for the 2022 awards will open on in May 2021 and close in October 2021. To find out if you qualify as a nominator or to nominate a candidate for next year's award, go to: www.zayedaward.org. About ZAHF The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity seeks to honor the legacy of the founder of the United Arab Emirates by celebrating people everywhere who embody through their work his lifelong commitment to human fraternity. It is awarded by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity and includes a financial prize of one million dollars. It was created in February, 2019, to mark the historic meeting in Abu Dhabi of the head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis, and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmad al-Tayeb, to co-sign the historic Document of Human Fraternity. Pope Francis and Grand Imam al-Tayeb were the first honorary co-recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity. About HCHF Formed in 2019, the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity is an independent committee dedicated to achieving the aspirations of the Document for Human Fraternity by bringing people across the world together, in the spirit of peaceful co-existence. The committee comprises a diverse group of international religious leaders, scholars and cultural leaders. Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432391/Zayed_Award_for_Human_Fraternity_Trophy.mp4 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432389/Antonio_Guterres.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1432390/Latifa_Ibn_Ziaten.jpg Around 20,000 people every day are flouting instructions to self-isolate, the government's testing tsar admitted today. Baroness Dido Harding gave the staggering estimate - and conceded it could be even higher - as she was grilled by MPs. Amid rising anxiety that the lack of compliance with the Test & Trace system could hamper efforts to control the virus, the peer said evidence suggested 20 per cent of the 100,000 cases and contacts identified every day did not fully obey the rules. Lady Harding highlighted a range of potential reasons including money worries, not having help from people to obtain food and other essentials, or just finding the isolation too oppressive. However, she defended the performance of the Test & Trace scheme despite it failing to hit targets, saying it is on track to reduce the crucial coronavirus R rate by between 0.6 and 0.8 in hospots, but can only ever be 'one element' of the response. The comments came as Lady Harding was questioned by a joint session of the Commons health and science committees. Baroness Dido Harding gave the staggering estimate for isolation breaches - and conceded it could be even higher - as she was grilled by MPs Quizzed by health committee chair Jeremy Hunt, she gave the rough figure of 20,000 a day breaching isolation, but added that her 'biggest concern' was many more people did not come forward for testing. Mr Hunt said: 'The people we know about are the people we can do something about and there are thousands of those 20,000 plus or minus every day who are not self-isolating. 'I'm just wondering why you think that is.' Asked why she thinks people are not isolating when they should be, Lady Harding said one element is communication people not understanding and not being clear about what they should and should not do. She said: 'The clearer and simpler the guidance, the easier is it for people to follow it.' The Tory peer said the second element is people finding it 'practically impossible' not having enough food in the fridge, having care responsibilities, having to collect a prescription. 'Across the country, local authorities have been doing some fantastic work in providing practical support, either directly or through voluntary groups and other third-sector providers,' she said. The third reason she gave was the issue of financial support people who must go out to work as they cannot afford to isolate. She said it would need to be the case that any financial incentives in place 'genuinely drives the right behaviour, rather than any unforeseen consequences'. Mr Hunt said: 'Thousands of people every day is enough to restart the pandemic.' Baroness Harding's fourth reason for people not isolating was mental health that people find it 'really difficult and hard'. She said there is 'undoubtedly more we can do' to help people cope with the mental challenges of self-isolation. People living in the postcodes in England where door-to-door testing is taking place to prevent the spread of the South African variant should consider not going to the shops if they have food in the house, Matt Hancock has suggested Lady harding said the T&T system was on track to reduce the R number in high prevalence areas by between 0.6 and 0.8 by the end of March. She told MPs on the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee: 'But with a disease with an unconstrained R in March of over 3, it is impossible for Test and Trace to single-handedly fight the disease. 'It is always going to be one element of our fight against Covid, not the silver bullet.' The peer also warned that the more transmissible variants were making the contact tracing process more difficult. 'The new variant, which is now endemic and accounts for, I think, more than 70% of cases across the country, I think has broad implications, not just for NHS Test and Trace, but for the whole country, the whole world's fight against Covid,' she said. 'It means that we all have to keep our distance more rigorously, more hand washing, more face-mask wearing. 'It also means that speeding up our end-to-end Test and Trace journey becomes more imperative. 'Also, as I think I said earlier, finding more of the positive cases.' A few short months ago, there was a fair amount of public skepticism that RNA vaccines would work against COVID-19, given that no such drug had been approved for preventing any other disease. Now that the injections have been shown to offer near-total protection, millions want to know why they cant have one immediately. Blame balky sign-up systems, the need for transport and storage of the drugs at ultracold temperatures, and poor coordination among various levels of government, among other bottlenecks. But ultimately, success depends on the source: a handful of high-tech facilities where stainless-steel bioreactors are steadily synthesizing genetic code to quench the pandemic. Supply so far has fallen short of pent-up worldwide demand, but industry experts say there were bound to be challenges in making millions of something that had never been made before. And the pace is picking up. Compared with the lengthy process for producing most traditional vaccines some flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs, for example the RNA approach is expected to be more nimble and efficient in the long run, both for this disease and others. Add the government investment that allowed the makers of the RNA vaccines to start setting up their factories last year before knowing whether the drugs worked, and the result has been dramatic, said Parviz Shamlou, executive director of the Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing. It is remarkable, said Shamlou, whose industry training institute, located in Lower Gwynedd, is part of Thomas Jefferson University. Its never been done in human history. For a crash course in the manufacturing technology, we spoke to two scientists whose RNA research at the University of Pennsylvania, starting more than 15 years ago, was instrumental in making the vaccines possible. They are Katalin Kariko, now a senior vice president at BioNTech SE, the German firm that joined with Pfizer Inc. to produce one of the RNA vaccines, and Drew Weissman, an immunologist at Penns Perelman School of Medicine. Ramping up The underlying science for synthesizing RNA has been established for decades. From start to finish, small batches can be made in a laboratory in just a week or two. But it is one thing to make it in a lab, using a robot arm to make less than a quarter-teaspoon of fluid at a time. Producing millions of doses in a high-tech factory? Kariko likened it to the difference between cooking dinner for two and putting on a banquet for hundreds. The equipment is far larger and more sophisticated. Staff must be trained. Ample quantities of raw materials must be secured from specialty suppliers. These things are not sitting on somebodys shelf, because nobody wanted it before, she said. READ MORE: Dozens of Philly pharmacies are willing to be COVID vaccine providers. The city has approved just two. Quality control is on another level entirely. For a product destined to be injected into the human body, regulators require every step to be checked and double-checked. Each batch of product is tested for purity and consistency. Facilities must have negative-pressure systems to ensure that air from one room does not mix with air from another. Protective gowns and shower caps are worn. And, oh, the record-keeping. Weissman, who is currently advising the government of Thailand on how to set up its own RNA vaccine facility, said the required documentation can seem more taxing than the manufacturing itself. The joke is that there are two people watching one person work to keep the records of what theyre doing, he said. Writing the code Remember that most traditional vaccines consist of a weakened or inactivated form of a virus, enabling the recipients immune system to develop customized defenses in the event of a live infection. The RNA vaccines, on the other hand, consist of genetic instructions for human cells to make just a fragment of the coronavirus: the familiar spike proteins that protrude from the surface of each virus particle. The key is packaging that recipe in a form that can be delivered inside human cells. The first step: Writing the code and making lots of copies. This is done by inserting the spike recipe into bacteria, not viruses, because it is easy to grow lots of them using large, stainless-steel tanks called bioreactors. Each time the bacteria divide and multiply, there is a new copy of the recipe. Although the bacteria are useful for making lots of copies, the version of the code inside them is not the right form for use in an RNA vaccine. Instead of RNA, it is written using RNAs cousin, DNA, nestled inside a circular region of genetic material called a plasmid. So in the next step, it must be transcribed. From DNA to RNA Chemicals are used to extract the plasmid DNA from all those bacteria. The DNA then serves as a template for making RNA: the version of the code that is needed for the actual vaccine. Enzymes are used to snip open the bacterial DNA and linearize it. Other enzymes are used to assemble the RNA copy, using the DNA template as a guide. One letter at a time, it kind of marches down the DNA and it adds a letter to the RNA, corresponding to the one in the DNA, Weissman said. Think back to biology class. RNA is comprised of four different chemical bases, or letters: A, G, U, and C. In the case of the spike protein, the RNA code is 5,000 letters long. The form of RNA used in the vaccines is called messenger RNA. Thats where Moderna, the maker of the other RNA vaccine for COVID, got its stock ticker symbol: MRNA. Into waxy spheres Once it is made, the RNA undergoes multiple purification steps and testing. The genetic molecules are then encapsulated into tiny spheres, made of waxy substances called lipids. This requires a fancy bit of chemistry, with the end result a high-tech vaccine delivery vehicle: billions of microscopic particles with genetic code packaged inside. The outer coating of lipids protects the RNA until it is injected. READ MORE: With 13,000 infected, 100 dead of COVID-19 in Pa. prisons, advocates urge faster releases When these waxy spheres encounter the membrane of a human cell (which is also made of lipids), it is swallowed inside. The genetic recipe is delivered. The human cell responds by making the spike protein. And the immune system recognizes it as a foreign presence, and gets to work crafting customized defenses. But before the needle delivers that dose into a persons arm, first comes the cold chain. On to the freezer farm Many the coordinator of a vaccine clinic has lamented the low temperatures needed to store the RNA vaccines. The one made by Pfizer and BioNTech must be kept at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, though it can be moved to a refrigerator for five days before use. The Moderna vaccine requires freezer storage at minus 4 degrees, though a refrigerator is OK for 30 days before it is administered. But in a sense, that reflects a positive attribute of these drugs. The reason RNA must be kept in freezers is because otherwise it degrades quickly. Thats what happens once it is injected in the human body. It delivers the recipe and degrades within a week or so, with no lasting effects beyond immunity to the coronavirus. Nevertheless, that means that until they are administered, the vaccines require special treatment. First, the lipid spheres are coated in sugars, which allows them to remain stable and distinct from each other when frozen, rather than freezing into one big ball. The resulting mixture is then loaded into vials, which are stored in large industrial freezers, such as those at Pfizers freezer farm in Kalamazoo, Mich. When it comes time for delivery, the vials are packed in dry ice and fitted with GPS-enabled thermal sensors, allowing the company to monitor the location and temperature of each batch. Lots of moving parts. Could it move any faster? Maybe, but its not just about one company operating one facility. From start to finish, each vial of fluid requires the involvement of dozens of partners. Last month, for example, BioNTech announced that fellow drugmaker Sanofi had agreed to fill and package the RNA vaccine at its Frankfurt, Germany, facility starting this summer. Weissman likened the complexity to what is involved in manufacturing a car or airplane. Its a constantly turning wheel, he said, where everybody is dependent on everybody else. More vaccines made with other technologies are on the way. But at tens of millions of doses and counting, RNA appears here to stay. Members of Congress paid their final respects Wednesday to slain Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, the South River native who lost his life when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 in a failed attempt to block the certification of President Joe Bidens victory. In a solemn ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, where Sicknick lay in honor since Tuesday evening, members of Sicknicks family, Capitol Police and Washington, D.C. Police, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and federal lawmakers all looked on as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Sicknick a good, kind decent man while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised that we will never forget his sacrifice. The Air Force Band Singing Sergeants sang, America the Beautiful. Sicknick served in the New Jersey Air National Guard for six years before joining the Capitol Police in July 2008. Lawmakers at the memorial service, including New Jersey U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker and Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., stopped one more time in front of the specially built table holding Sicknicks remains before leaving. Then Capitol Police officers, one at a time, gave a final salute. Officer Sicknick died heroically in the line of duty defending democracy and protecting the members of Congress and staff whose lives were threatened by violent insurrectionists, Menendez said afterwards. May his death not be in vain. Shortly before noon, as bagpipes played, Amazing Grace, two members of the police honor guard carried Sicknicks remains in a wooden urn and a folded American flag down the stairs on the Capitols East Front. The urn and flag were then loaded into a waiting hearse for the trip to Arlington National Cemetery for his interment. Dozens of Capitol Police officers lined the driveway and saluted as the hearse, accompanied by a police motorcycle escort, drove by. Before the ceremony, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in floor speech that Sicknick paid the ultimate price to uphold a solemn oath. Sicknick died when the Capitol was breached by pro-Trump mob while members of Congress were certifying the electoral votes that would make Biden president. Four others also lost their lives. His remains arrived at the Capitol in a solemn ceremony Tuesday. A wooden urn containing his remains and a folded American flag were placed on a special table built for the occasion. Three wreaths, representing the Senate, House and the Capitol Police, also were placed in the Rotunda. Capitol Police officers in shifts of two took turns standing guard at either end of the table, saluting when they were relieved. Biden and first lady Jill Biden came to the Capitol Tuesday night, and members of the Capitol Police paid their respects throughout the night and into Wednesday morning. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, came to the Capitol Wednesday morning, according to pool reports. They placed their hands over their hearts and their hands on the urn. Senators and representatives of both parties paid their respects in the morning. So did some of the House members who will lead the impeachment trial in the Senate next week of Trump on grounds that he incited the Capitol riot, according to pool reports. After the rioters were cleared out of the Capitol, Congress resumed the vote counting. A majority of House Republicans, including 2nd Dist. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, voted against certifying the votes in two battleground states. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., and Don Beyer, D-Virginia, have introduced legislation to posthumously award Sicknick the Congressional Gold Medal. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). The political squabbling over the collapse of Philadelphias coronavirus vaccine partnership is getting hotter. City Councilmember Cindy Bass took the unusual step Monday of asking Mayor Jim Kenney himself to testify about the administrations now severed partnership with the group Philly Fighting COVID. Kenney declined to appear at the Friday hearing, his office confirmed Tuesday. Several members of his administration will testify, including chief of staff Jim Engler, Managing Director Tumar Alexander, and Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. But Bass said Tuesday that Kenney himself needs to answer for the implosion of the citys partnership with the group, which slowed vaccination progress in Philadelphia and garnered embarrassing national headlines. At the top of the food chain, he is the responsible party for contracts, whether they be written, verbal, a handshake agreement, a wink and a nod the buck stops with the mayor, Bass said in an interview. I feel strongly that he should step up and have these conversations with the citizens of Philadelphia. Kenneys declining Bass invitation is neither surprising nor without precedent. But it speaks to the level of antagonism the Philly Fighting COVID debacle has sparked between the administration and City Council, and suggests more tension to come at Fridays hearing. Kenney wrote in a letter to Bass on Tuesday that he has no unique knowledge that could assist City Council in its investigation. The only time mayors typically appear before Council is for the annual budget address. When lawmakers hold oversight hearings on administration actions, they usually interrogate department heads, the managing director, or members of the mayors staff. I cannot recall a time that a sitting mayor has been subjected to questioning by a City Council committee investigating an issue, he wrote. I share your frustration and disappointment regarding Philly Fighting Covid, and like you want to ensure all questions are answered in an expeditious manner. Philadelphians lives are at stake and we need to rebuild that trust immediately. READ MORE: The city trusted a group of college kids to lead its vaccine rollout. But Philly Fighting COVID was full of red flags from the start. Councils public health and human services committee, which Bass chairs and will hold Fridays hearing, also took about 10 minutes of testimony in November from Philly Fighting COVID CEO Andrei Doroshin and failed to question his credentials. Members of the committee attended the opening of the groups vaccination clinic at the Convention Center. But since the city cut ties with the organization last week, lawmakers have emphasized that they dont oversee contracts and have sharply criticized the Kenney administration. Doroshin, 22, confessed last week to taking several vaccine doses from the Convention Center to administer to his girlfriend and friends. At a combative news conference Friday, he called for Farleys dismissal. Deputy Health Commissioner Caroline Johnson resigned Saturday after records obtained by The Inquirer showed she gave PFC an advantage in a city bidding process. Bass and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke introduced legislation on Monday that would allow for more oversight of the citys vaccine rollout, including the process for awarding contracts. The citys Office of the Inspector General is conducting an investigation into the relationship between the health department and PFC, as the department attempts to regain public trust and ramp up vaccine distribution. Farley said Tuesday that the city, one of only a handful nationwide to be given vaccines directly by the federal government rather than through the state, will open its own mass vaccination clinics by the end of the month. But outraged constituents are reaching out to lawmakers in the meantime, demanding answers and vaccines. Council is supposed to exercise a check and balance on the administration, and it should be doing that during this emergency, Councilmember David Oh said in an interview Tuesday. READ MORE: Philly Fighting COVIDs founder met with City Council about vaccines in November. No one asked about his credentials. Kenney said at a news conference Tuesday that he understands he is blamed for most things because hes the mayor. That comes with the territory, he said. Ive got my big boy pants on. The health department ended its relationship with PFC after The Inquirer questioned the city about the groups privacy policy, which allowed it to sell personal data through a previously undisclosed for-profit arm. Many Philadelphians who saw the grand opening of Philly Fighting COVIDs mass vaccination site at the Convention Center thought it was city-sponsored. The official city seal was plastered around the clinic and officials in attendance at the launch included Kenney and Bass. Bass, a frequent Kenney critic who is widely seen as a potential candidate for mayor in 2023, has blamed her attendance at the event on the Kenney administration. At no time in any way, shape, or form was I ever told or informed that this was an outside entity, that we had a verbal contract with, that was doing these vaccinations with no experience, Bass said during a news conference Tuesday. These things all came to light afterward. Several lawmakers joined in criticism of the administration last week, echoing Bass demand for answers. You know I hold both of you in high esteem but I want to know who made the call? Councilmember Cherelle Parker, a Kenney ally, said in comments directed toward Kenney and Farley during a Council meeting last week. I want to know who put their credibility on the line. I want to know who said, This is a green light. ...? We have to make sure that the confidence of the citizens of the city of Philadelphia is in place, and its not there now. Im getting calls from all over about what the hecks going on, Clarke said at a news conference Monday. The city of Philadelphia is basically an embarrassment across the country. Councilmember Bobby Henon, meanwhile, has defended the group. His office acknowledged Friday that Philly Fighting COVID provided at-home coronavirus tests for his family. Henon is vice chair of the public health and human services committee.Those tests were first reported by WHYY. Kenney and Farley sought to reassure residents Tuesday. I can understand everybodys on edge, everybodys stressed out, Kenney said. A lot of the stress has to do with the fact that we have very little vaccine. So I understand peoples consternation. Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this report. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Australian Liberal and Labor senators have accused the Chinese Communist Party of unspeakable human rights abuses after first-hand accounts of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture in Uighur detention camps in China were aired by the BBC. The rare testimony, including from a former prison guard, is likely to lead to further scrutiny of the partys practices in Xinjiang, which the US government has labelled genocide. Beijing has accused the United States and its allies of interfering in its internal affairs and dismissed the genocide claims as baseless. One of the centres housing Uighurs in Chinas Xinjiang region. Credit:AP One Uighur woman, Tursunay Ziawudun, who spent nine months in detention and now lives in the US, said she was raped by groups of masked Chinese men and had an electrified stick inserted into her. Another, Qelbinur Sedik, an Uzbek woman who was a Chinese language teacher at one of the camps, said there were four kinds of electric shock the chair, the glove, the helmet, and anal rape with a stick. Sydney City is set to welcome a new hotel with the signing between the City Tattersall Club and the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) to manage the accommodation at the clubs planned $200 million redevelopment. Scheduled to open in 2025, Hotel Indigo Sydney Centre will sit atop the Clubs premises in a newly renovated, 49-storey mixed-use tower that includes new restaurants, event space, an exclusive business lounge, retail, health and wellbeing facilities, along with a 110-room hotel and 246 residential apartments. The Indigo brand will embrace the clubs 125-year history with the NSW racing industry while offering the trappings of a high-quality hotel. Renders of the IHG and City Tattersalls Clubs new Hotel Indigo Sydney Centre planned to open in 2025 in Sydneys CBD The club at 198 Pitt Street is undergoing a significant $200 million redevelopment with the ground floor and newly built tower undertaken by a development consortium led by Singaporean First Sponsor Group and Melbourne developers, ICD Property. On the same day that Kamala Harris became the first Black American to be inaugurated as vice president, Black students at Lowell High School were subjected to vicious, racist postings as they partook in an anti-racism lesson. Officials at the school and the San Francisco School Board maintain it was an isolated incident, the work of some unknown hacker. Yet, while they insist they were outraged at the occurrence, the tragic truth is that racism born of elitism is embedded at what is supposed to be the jewel of the public school system in the city. This environment has made the Lowell experience anything but sparkling. Black students who attend Lowell are daily under great stress, duress and fear because of that environment. To start with, there are just 45 Black students among the 2,900 enrolled at Lowell. That is barely 1.5% of the total enrollment. Yet, citywide, Black students account for 8% of San Franciscos public school population. This enormous underrepresentation of Black students is not merely astonishing, its an unmistakable sign of much greater problems. The fact is that Black students experience stigmatization at Lowell every day. Students of color who were interviewed in the aftermath of the racist postings talked about racism as Lowell behavior and that their pleas to address issues of racism and discrimination go unheeded. Students who have been admitted selectively to Lowell also enter with a sense of entitlement not so subtly encouraged by the school system, parents and alumni that leads them to believe that increased diversity somehow lowers the bar. Perhaps part of the anti-racism lesson should have been listening to Amanda Gorman deliver a powerful poem at the Biden-Harris inauguration. The school board claims it is addressing systemic racism but so far, the focus has been on covering up historic murals and a hasty and misguided effort to rename schools. That includes Lowell, and while the schools namesake was hardly perfect in his attitude toward Blacks in his later life, the Harvard-trained poet and lawyer James Russell Lowell spent much of his career as a committed abolitionist. All of that is just window dressing. It ignores the substantive problems that have manifested themselves at Lowell. First, our city schools consistently fail to provide the resources Black students need to prepare for academic success in high school. That includes the non-academic support they need to deal with violence and poverty in their neighborhoods. Second, school leaders are failing to face up to and dismantle the elitist culture at Lowell, a public school. One important step that is being considered is to make this years lottery system for Lowell attendance permanent. This is an important move toward providing Black students and those from other under-represented groups the opportunity to attend Lowell and gain the advantages it offers in readiness for college. It also may spur the school system to address the lack of resources in elementary and middle schools that serve largely Black students. Increasing the diversity of the student population at Lowell will begin to address longstanding inequities, but it is not a full solution. The school board, parents, students and the community need to come together to identify actions to take that will dismantle the environment that makes Blacks unwelcome at Lowell. The goal must be to foster a new culture of diversity, equity and inclusion at Lowell, and across the entire public school system. It is a matter of fairness, but its also the most important lesson for Lowell students as they progress toward college and careers in an inherently diverse world. Rev. Amos C. Brown is pastor of Third Baptist Church and president of the San Francisco chapter of NAACP. LOS ANGELES Three people were critically injured late Tuesday afternoon in an explosion that sparked a brush fire in Valencia, authorities said. Firefighters responded at 4:45 p.m. PST to a report of burn injuries in an industrial park in the 25100 block of Rye Canyon Loop, said Jonathan Matheny, a public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Three men had suffered serious burns in an industrial explosion and were taken to a hospital, Matheny said. A brush fire, ignited by the explosion, covered a quarter of an acre of a nearby hillside and was running uphill when firefighters arrived. The Fire Department dispatched 125 firefighters and two helicopters to the area, and the blazes progress was stopped at one acre about 5:30 p.m. The men taken to the hospital were expected to survive, Matheny said. No structures were damaged by the brush fire and no firefighters were injured battling it. It was unclear where exactly in the industrial park the blast occurred and what materials may have ignited, Matheny said. Bomb technicians from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department were at the scene and investigating the cause of the explosion. Matheny refuted earlier reports that the explosion erupted on a movie set. This was an industrial accident at an industrial park, he said. He added that there were a number of businesses in the park, everything from a brewery to storage facilities, you name it. By Matthew Ormseth, the Los Angeles Times (TNS) More: 25 fire agencies work to put out N.J. recycling plant blaze that triggered explosions Fire badly damages popular Ocean City amusement park (PHOTOS) 3 dead in fire at Pa. home that had hoarding-like conditions, no smoke detectors: chief When the House met for the day, Naidu said Parliamentary rules restrict 'usage of cellular phones within Rajya Sabha chambers'. (RSTV/PTI ) New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday warned MPs against recording proceedings of the House on mobile phones, saying such unauthorised recordings and its circulation on social media may be a breach of Parliamentary privilege and contempt of the House. Some opposition MPs had on Tuesday used their cell phones to record the disruption in proceedings over farm bills. These videos were shared on social media and aired on television channels. When the House met for the day, Naidu said Parliamentary rules restrict "usage of cellular phones within Rajya Sabha chambers." "It is observed that some members are using their mobile phones to record the proceedings of the House while sitting in the Chamber. Such conduct is against Parliamentary etiquettes and is not expected from members," he said without naming anyone. MPs, he said, should desist from such "unwarranted activities inside the Chamber". "Such unauthorised recording of proceedings of the House and its circulation on social media may lead to a breach of privilege and contempt of the House," he said. Naidu said sections of the media, who started using the clips, are advised not to do so as "it is not authorised" and they could be "liable for consequences thereon". He hoped MPs will follow rules and maintain the dignity of the House. "If members are fair everything will be fine," he said, adding, "Members have to be fair to the rules of the House." "Members are, therefore, advised to be careful in this regard. I only hope that everybody will follow rules and regulations," he added. Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan is a peace loving country that had rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace. He also emphasised that Pakistan and India should resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue in a dignified manner. General Bajwa said this while congratulating the graduating cadets at PAF Academy on Tuesday, the Geo TV reported. The graduation ceremony of 144th GD (P), 90th Engineering Course and 100th AD courses was held at Pakistan Air Force (PAF) academy Asghar Khan and Bajwa was the chief guest on the occasion, said the Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a press release. Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan was also present at the ceremony. While addressing the graduating cadets, Gen Bajwa said that Pakistan stands firmly committed to the ideals of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. "It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions," he remarked. Pakistan and India should also resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion, the army chief emphasised. "However, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness," he added. The Army chief said that Armed Forces of Pakistan were fully capable and prepared to thwart any threat. The immaculate coordination and harmony displayed by all the three services in operations against the enemies of Pakistan had brought great improvement in the internal security environment, he said. The Army chief specially commended the critical role played by Pakistan Air Force in the War on Terror. "The outstanding courage and professional excellence displayed by brave air warriors of Pakistan Air Force during Operation Swift Retort is a manifestation of our resolve and capability. "The whole nation is proud of its Air Force and I earnestly hope that PAF will scale new heights of glory and excellence in the years to come," Gen Bajwa said. He hailed the presence of cadets from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for training at PAF Academy Asghar Khan. "This is a manifestation of warm fraternal ties between Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our Defence Forces indeed." "We are proud of the strong bonds of Islam, brotherhood and cultural communion that bind us together," the Army chief said. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Clear to partly cloudy. Low 41F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 41F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. In its letter, AARP outlines a number of steps lawmakers can take to lessen the problems consumers have in getting a COVID-19 vaccination: Work with states to develop toll-free 800 numbers for scheduling vaccination appointments and ensure that these numbers are staffed with competent customer service representatives. Make sure all consumers have access to a centralized online tool that they can search by zip code to find where they can get a vaccination. This tool and the 800 numbers should be available in a variety of languages. Allow people to review and sign the necessary consent forms for vaccinations online before they get to the site. Standardize the information patients need to have with them when they arrive at their vaccination appointments. AARP's letter illustrates for lawmakers how demand for the vaccines has far outstripped the supply. During the week of Jan. 18, for example, Minnesota's vaccination appointment website received more than 1 million hits for only 6,000 appointments. Vaccination process needs equity During the hearing, Julie Morita, a physician and vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, called for a simplified vaccination system. "Vaccines are only as effective as people's ability to obtain them and their willingness to take them, said Morita, a former commissioner of health in Chicago. Those with means and privilege are increasingly getting vaccinations before those with highest exposure and risk." Morita said not everyone has access to an internet connection to make an appointment online or a car to drive to a large vaccination site. She said that states not only need more public health resources but that more federal coordination is needed to ensure that the vaccine is provided equitably across the country. In the AARP letter, LeaMond also addressed the concern that many workers in long-term care facilities have chosen not to get vaccinated. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only 38 percent of nursing home staff agreed to be vaccinated between Dec. 18, 2020, and Jan 17, 2021. More must be done, LeaMond said, to save lives and ensure that staff, residents and their families feel confident in COVID-19 vaccines." AARP is also working, LeaMond said, to get information about vaccine availability and distribution to people as quickly as possible. We urge you, LeaMond says in the letter to pay special attention to communities that may need specific education and outreach, such as rural communities and diverse communities." Dena Bunis covers Medicare, health care, health policy and Congress. She also writes the Medicare Made Easy column for the AARP Bulletin. An award-winning journalist, Bunis spent decades working for metropolitan daily newspapers, including as Washington bureau chief for the Orange County Register and as a health policy and workplace writer for Newsday. Seychelles has become the first country in the world to allow vaccinated tourists to enter the country without the need to quarantine. The Seychelles, Cyprus, and Romania have reopened to visitors from anywhere in the world who have received two doses of an authorized vaccine for Covid-19. Iceland also plans to waive quarantine rules for visitors with an international vaccine certificate. Travelers must also submit an authentic certificate from their national health authority as evidence they've received both doses of the vaccine. It has been a pretty good few days for Jen Psaki. On her very first outing as Joe BidensWhite Housepress secretary, her very first question was one that could only be described in the parlance as a softball. Do you see your primary role as promoting the interests of the president, she was asked by a reporter for the Associated Press. Or are you there to provide us the unvarnished truth, so that we can share that with the American people? The 42-year-old, who previously served as a spokesperson in Barack Obamas state department, barely paused before responding. She said she had travelled the world on the governments dime to promote democracy, and seen the power of this podium, and the power of truth, and the importance of setting an example of engagement and transparency. She added: So I will just state - because you gave me the opportunity - I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy and for the role all of you play. Not all the questions she has received in ten days or so she has been in the job were that simple. At the same time, Sean Spicer never had such an easier opener. Equally, so Spicers first interaction with the press corps was not to answer questions, but to read out a statement condemning media coverage of the size of the crowds at Donald Trumps inauguration. At a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power and, as the president said, the transition and the balance of power from Washington to the citizens of the United States, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting, said the stern-faced Spicer, very much aware his boss was watching. The assessment of Psaki by most of the people who interact with her as reporters, squeezed inside the White House briefing room named for Ronald Reagans press secretary, the late James Brady, grievously injured in the 1981 assassination attempt on the president, appears largely favourable. So too, has that of the pundit class who pontificate abut her on television. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds press briefing She has appeared friendly but not fawning, smart but not smug. She has provided a fixed amount of information on various topics, and vowed to get back to people if she does not have an answer. Veteran correspondents enjoyed the fact she asked the first question of a wire agency - a long-held tradition of such briefings - and vowed to hold one every day. Biden has also broken new ground by deciding a sign language signer be present for every briefing. She also impressed by bringing experts or senior administration into the briefing room, such as Dr Anthony Fauci, Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council, and John Kerry, and just letting them talk. Yet, much of the gushing about Psaki by Democrats and progressives - the activist Amy Siskind wrote on Twitter she had wept while watching that first briefing on the day Biden was inaugurated - has been less about what Psaki is, but what she is not. Unlike Spicer, and unlike the Trump press secretaries who followed - Anthony Scaramucci, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh Mcenany - Psaki has not yet had to go and bend the facts in favour of the the president. She is not like Kellyanne Conway, the presidents tireless adviser who added to the lexicon with her insistence on alternative facts. Most of all she is not like Donald Trump himself, caught telling falsehoods so many times over the course of his four years - The Washington Postput its total at 30,573 - it appeared unclear whether he truly believed what he was saying. While Psaki may deserve her honeymoon period, it is unlikely it will last long. She has already faced much more challenging questions, from the likes of a Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who confronted her over Bidens previous claim that Trumps covid-related travel ban on China was xenophobic, despite Biden then introducing his own travel ban for South Africa. I don't think that's quite a fair articulation, she said. The president has been clear that he felt the Muslim ban was xenophobic. He overturned the Muslim ban. He also, though, has supported steps, travel restrictions, in order to keep the American people safe, to ensure that we are getting the pandemic under control. And several commentators have pointed out while it is good for the press to have a professional relationship with the governments top spokesperson, it benefits nobody for that relation to be overly warm. While it may be a novelty for Psaki to be promising to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, it is important to remember, other presidents have had traditional press secretaries, many of whom have had sometimes tense relationships with reporters, especially over controversial topics. Writing in the Atlantic this week, Adam Serwer said Trump lied in a different way from previous presidents. Yet he said it was likely the Biden administration would also find ways to mislead the media and the public, and the press needed to be alert to it. (As it happened, Post fact-checkers this week awarded their first three Pinocchios rating to Biden since he became president, indicating significant factual error, to his claim that foreign company contracts went up 30 per cent under Trump.) Presidential lies were destructive long before Trump appeared, said Serwer. So the press and the public should resist the temptation to assume that the Biden administration will always be on the level, or that its dishonesties can be forgiven because Biden's predecessor wielded falsehood with such abandon. He said Bidens team has already "sought to mislead the public by setting expectations for vaccinations that experts have said are too modest - which will allow the president to declare his approach a great success if the goal is exceeded. He aded: Biden will lie. All presidents do. STOCKHOLM, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On 14 December 2020, EQT IX1 ("EQT IX"), through Roar BidCo AB2 ("Roar BidCo"), announced a public offer to the shareholders and holders of the Senior Unsecured Convertible Bonds (the "Convertible Bonds") ("Holders of Convertible Bonds") in Recipharm AB (publ) ("Recipharm" or the "Company") to tender all their shares3 and Convertible Bonds to Roar BidCo (the "Offer"). An offer document relating to the Offer was made public on 17 December 2020 (the "Offer Document"). The Offer was subsequently increased on 28 January 2021 (the "Revised Offer"). A supplement to the Offer Document was registered with the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority on 1 February 2021 (the "Supplement"). In 2016 Recipharm issued the Convertible Bonds. The Convertible Bonds are admitted to trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Open Market (Freiverkehr) (ISIN: XS1496895753). Prior to the announcement of the Offer the Company informed Roar BidCo that the final terms and conditions of the Convertible Bonds (the "Terms"), due to an administrative mistake in connection with the issuance of the Convertible Bonds, contained an error. The error entailed that the formula in the Terms to be used to recalculate the conversion price in the event of a so-called change of control event or a free float event did not correctly reflect the formula presented to investors in the launch and pricing term sheets when the Convertible Bonds were marketed to investors (the latter being the "Correct Recalculation Formula"). The Offer therefore contained a condition that the Terms were amended so that the Correct Recalculation Formula would apply.On 11 January 2021, Recipharm announced an invitation to eligible Holders of Convertible Bonds to consider and approve a proposal to amend the Terms so that the Correct Recalculation Formula would apply. The Company has today in a separate press release announced that the meeting of Holders of Convertible Bonds reached the necessary quorum, and with requisite majority has resolved to pass the resolution to amend the Terms in accordance with the proposal to the effect that the Correct Recalculation Formula will apply. This means that the Terms for the Convertible Bonds have been corrected, and that this condition for Roar BidCo's completion of the Offer to the shareholders in Recipharm and Holders of Convertible Bonds hereby has been satisfied. Do note that the Offer remains subject to additional conditions and only when and if such conditions are fulfilled or waived, and Roar BidCo declares the Offer unconditional, will the Offer be completed. Information about the Offer: Information about the Offer and the Revised Offer is made available here. For enquiries, please contact: EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com For administrative questions regarding the Offer and the Revised Offer, please contact your bank or the nominee registered as holder of your shares, or, in respect of the Convertible Bonds, Lucid Issuer Services Limited: Lucid Issuer Services Limited Tankerton Works 12 Argyle Walk London WC1H 8HA Telephone: + 44 20 7704 0880 Attention: Owen Morris Email: recipharm@lucid-is.com The information in this press release was submitted for publication by Roar BidCo (contact details to EQT Press Office above) on 3 February 2021 at 15:15 CET. This announcement is not an offer, whether directly or indirectly, in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. Shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds not resident in Sweden who wish to accept the Revised Offer (as defined below) must make inquiries concerning applicable legislation and possible tax consequences. Shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds should refer to the offer restrictions included in the section titled "Important notice" at the end of this announcement and in the offer document published on Roar BidCo's website (www.eqtgroup.com/pe-bidpage1). Shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds in the United States should also refer to the section titled "Special notice to shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds in the United States" at the end of this announcement. Important notice This press release has been published in Swedish and English. In the event of any discrepancy in content between the two language versions, the Swedish version shall prevail. The Offer (which in this section "Important notice" refers to the Offer as well as the Revised Offer) is not being made, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction, by use of mail or any other communication means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone and the Internet) of interstate or foreign commerce, or of any facility of national securities exchange or other trading venue, of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa, or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction, and the Offer cannot be accepted by any such use or by such means, instrumentality or facility of, in or from, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. Accordingly, this press release or any documentation relating to the Offer are not being and should not be sent, mailed or otherwise distributed or forwarded in or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. This press release is not being, and must not be, sent to shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds with registered addresses in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. Banks, brokers, dealers and other nominees holding shares or Convertible Bonds for persons in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa or in any other jurisdiction where such offer would be prohibited by applicable law pursuant to legislation, restrictions and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction must not forward this press release or any other document received in connection with the Offer to such persons. The Offer, the information and documents contained in this press release are not being made and have not been approved by an "authorised" person for the purposes of section 21 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). The communication of the information and documents contained in this press release is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that it is a communication by or on behalf of a body corporate which relates to a transaction to acquire shares in a body corporate and the object of the transaction may reasonably be regarded as being the acquisition of day to day control of the affairs of that body corporate within article 62 (sale of a body corporate) of the FSMA 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005. Statements in this press release relating to future status or circumstances, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections and other benefits of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipates", "intends", "expects", "believes", or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of Roar BidCo and Recipharm. Any such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Roar BidCo has no obligation (and undertakes no such obligation) to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except for in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The reader should, however, consult any additional disclosures that Roar BidCo or Recipharm have made or may make. Goldman Sachs International is not responsible to anyone other than Roar BidCo for advice in connection with the Offer. Special notice to shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds in the United States Shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds domiciled in the United States (the "U.S. Holders") are advised that neither the shares nor the Convertible Bonds are registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and that the Company is not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder. The Offer (which in this section "Special notice to shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds in the United States" refers to the Offer as well as the Revised Offer) is open to shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds resident in the United States and is made on the same terms and conditions as those made to all other shareholders of the Company or Holders of Convertible Bonds to whom an offer is made. Any information documents, including an offer document, are being disseminated to U.S. Holders on a basis comparable to the method that such documents are provided to the Company's other shareholders and Holders of Convertible Bonds. The Offer described in this press release is made for shares and Convertible Bonds in Recipharm, a company incorporated under Swedish law, and is subject to Swedish disclosure and procedural requirements, which are different from those of the United States. In particular, the Company's financial statements, and all financial information that is included herein, or any other documents relating to the Offer, have been or will be prepared in accordance with IFRS and may not be comparable to financial statements of companies in the United States or other companies whose financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The Offer is made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) and Regulation 14(E) of the Exchange Act, subject to the exemption provided by Rule 14d - 1(d) (the "Tier II Exemption") under the Exchange Act, and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Swedish law. Accordingly, the Offer is subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to withdrawal rights, the Offer timetable, settlement procedures and timing of payments, that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and law, and certain rules applicable to U.S. tender offers made in the United States do not apply. U.S. Holders are encouraged to consult with their own advisors regarding the Offer. As permitted under the Tier II Exemption, the settlement of the Offer is based on the applicable Swedish law provisions which differ from the settlement procedures customary in the United States, particularly as regards the time when payment of the consideration is rendered. The Offer, which is subject to Swedish law, is being made to the U.S. Holders in accordance with the applicable United States securities laws, and the exemptions applicable thereunder, in particular the Tier II Exemption. To the extent the Offer is subject to U.S. securities laws, those laws only apply to U.S. Holders and thus will not give rise to claims on the part of any other person. The U.S. Holders should consider that the price for the Offer is being paid in SEK and that no adjustment will be made based on any changes in the exchange rate. It may be difficult for U.S. Holders or other shareholders or Holders of Convertible Bonds to enforce their rights and any claims they may have arising under the U.S. federal or state securities laws in connection with the Offer, since the Company and Roar BidCo are located in countries other than the United States, and some or all of their officers and directors may be residents of countries other than the United States. U.S. Holders may not be able to sue the Company or Roar BidCo or their respective officers or directors in a non-U.S. court for violations of U.S. securities laws. Further, it may be difficult to compel the Company or Roar BidCo and/or their respective affiliates to subject themselves to the jurisdiction or judgment of a U.S. court. To the extent permissible under applicable law and regulations, including Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act, Roar BidCo and its affiliates or brokers (acting as agents for Roar BidCo or its affiliates, as applicable) may from time to time after the date hereof directly or indirectly purchase or arrange to purchase shares or Convertible Bonds of the Company outside the United States, or any securities that are convertible into, exchangeable for or exercisable for such shares, other than pursuant to the Offer, during the period in which the Offer remains open for acceptance. These purchases may occur either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. In addition, the financial advisor to Roar BidCo may also engage in ordinary course trading activities in securities of the Company, which may include purchases or arrangements to purchase such securities as long as such purchases or arrangements are in compliance with the applicable law, including Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. Any information about such purchases will be announced in Swedish and in a non-binding English translation available to the U.S. Holders through relevant electronic media if, and to the extent, such announcement is required under applicable Swedish or U.S. law, rules or regulations. The receipt of cash pursuant to the Offer by a U.S. Holder may be a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes and under applicable U.S. state and local, as well as foreign and other, tax laws. Each shareholder and Holder of Convertible Bonds is urged to consult an independent professional adviser regarding the tax consequences of accepting the Offer. Neither Roar BidCo nor any of its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees or agents or any other person acting on their behalf in connection with the Offer shall be responsible for any tax effects or liabilities resulting from acceptance of this Offer. NEITHER THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY U.S. STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE OFFER OR PASSED ANY COMMENTS ABOUT WHETHER THE OFFER IS FAIR OR HAS ANY MERITS, OR PASSED ANY COMMENT UPON THE ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS PRESS RELEASE, OR PASSED ANY COMMENT ON WHETHER THE CONTENT IN THIS PRESS RELEASE IS CORRECT OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. 1 The fund known as EQT IX, comprising of EQT IX Collect EUR SCSp, a Luxembourg special limited partnership (societe en commandite speciale) with its registered office at 26A, Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, registered with the Luxembourg trade and companies register (Registre de Commerce et des Societes, Luxembourg) under number B 239.741, and EQT IX Collect USD SCSp, a Luxembourg special limited partnership (societe en commandite speciale) with its registered office at 26A, Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, registered with the Luxembourg trade and companies register (Registre de Commerce et des Societes, Luxembourg) under number B 239.744, both acting by their manager (gerant) EQT Fund Management S.a r.l., a Luxembourg limited liability company (societe a responsabilite limitee), with its registered office at 26A, Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register (Registre de Commerce et des Societes, Luxembourg) under number B 167.972. 2 A newly established company indirectly wholly-owned by EQT IX. 3 Excluding (i) any treasury shares held by Recipharm (assumed 165,260 shares of class B), and (ii) 21,312,000 shares of class A and 4,629,410 shares of class B indirectly held by Lars Backsell and Thomas Eldered, who are participating with EQT IX in the Offer. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/roar-bidco-s-outstanding-public-offer-for-recipharm-ab--publ----consent-granted-to-correct-error-in-,c3278509 The following files are available for download: A medical staff takes samples from a man to test for the novel coronavirus in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh. Vietnam recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, 19 of them local, bringing the national tally to 1,911. The northern province of Hai Duong recorded 14 new cases, nine of them factory workers in Chi Linh Town, which has been locked down. The northern province of Quang Ninh has confirmed four new patients and the remaining case is in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Meanwhile, the central province of Quang Nam has confirmed one imported case, that of "Patient 1902," a 25-year-old man who landed Monday at the Da Nang International Airport on Vietjet flight VJ5925 from Japan. Vietnam has recorded 329 community transmissions of Covid-19 in 10 localities since January 28. Hai Duong leads with 240 cases, followed by Quang Ninh 42, and Hanoi 21. The national tally is now at 1,911, with 1,461 recoveries and 35 deaths. Most active patients are in stable conditions with 12 having tested negative for the novel coronavirus at least once. Over 48,000 people are in quarantined with over 22,000 in quarantine facilities, 378 in hospitals and the rest at home or other designated accommodations. Globally, Covid-19 has claimed 2.2 million lives among 104 million confirmed cases. When Bells acquisition of MTS was finalized almost four years ago now, Dan McKeen, who recently retired from his position as the companys senior executive, said: We bought this company to grow it We did not buy the company to shrink it. Opinion When Bells acquisition of MTS was finalized almost four years ago now, Dan McKeen, who recently retired from his position as the companys senior executive, said: "We bought this company to grow it We did not buy the company to shrink it." But the workforce sure has shrunk. This week, the company has offered a voluntary retirement/termination incentive program to another 50 people. Its the eighth time since March of 2017 folks have been encouraged to retire from its three bargaining units IBEW, TEAM and Unifor. The so-called VR/TIPs are relatively generous, offering lump-sum payments of between 30 and 40 weeks and sometimes more. Since Bell took over, those three units combined have about 600 fewer members. Granted most of the reductions have been through the voluntary retirement process, and job reductions were taking place prior to the acquisition. But during this era of corporate North America where recruiting talent is one of the most important competitive dynamics it is surprising to learn that not only have veterans been encouraged to retire early, there have been scant few new hires among the rank and file. There has not been a single new hire at IBEW or Unifor in at least three years. There have been a sporadic few new postings at TEAM, which represents white-collar workers like supervisors, engineers, IT professionals and sales and marketing people. And again, while early retirement packages can be a godsend for some, the spectre of layoffs is part of the voluntary retirement scenario. (Collective bargaining agreements with all three unions include language that the companys next step is layoffs if they cannot achieve the required reductions through the VR/TIP.) As one union official said, "It is not lost on our members that this latest early retirement program comes just a few days after the big Bell Lets Talk initiative." Every company is responsible for managing its workforce for the betterment of the operations, even for the job security of the people still on the job. The companys broadcast division, Bell Media, has been undergoing a purge of senior managers and it was reported yesterday that a total of 210 employees, including about 100 unionized workers at Bells television operations in Toronto, were being laid off. While Bell committed to growing the business in Manitoba when it undertook the purchase of MTS, it did not promise to maintain employment at any particular level. Many of us remember the days when the chance to work at MTS before and after it was a provincial Crown corporation held the prospect of lifetime employment. Regardless of Bell MTS, todays labour market does not really include the concept of lifelong employment. But what is particularly tough for Manitobas Bell MTS workforce is that in addition to the kind of operational efficiencies and technology adaptation that workers must deal with, it looks like the kind of centralization many feared would happen is slowly but surely taking place. The same class of workers who are part of the TEAM collective agreement with Bell MTS are not unionized in other jurisdictions where Bell operates in Canada. Erin Spencer, the executive director of TEAM IFPTE Local 161 which represents about 660 Bell MTS workers (down from about 900 in March, 2017 when the Bell deal was finalized), said, "It is confusing for our members. Its a tough situation all around when we are seeing jobs being lost here in Manitoba but yet we see job opportunities that look very similar to what is being lost here being posted in other parts of the country outside Manitoba." Joe Breland, the IBEW business representative, said, "What is kind of damning to us is they (Bell) are going the contractor route more or shipping the jobs out of province or out of country." Manitobas vaunted diversified economy loses some of its punch if some of those vertical sectors are just stuck in place, with no prospects of employment for graduates from the skilled trades or otherwise. Breland said, "Every year its reducing our current workforce, our current contingent of IBEW people and shipping the jobs elsewhere. It is not a good outlook." Maybe more than others, Bell MTS has to deal with changing technology and consumer trends. Various elements of its business are under pressure and it has to manage through that. And even if young people may not be able to look to Bell MTS as a dream job, current employees do have the benefit of much more generous early retirement options than many of the rest of us. But the new reality is Bell MTSs workforce keeps getting smaller and the company is declining in its status as an institutional employer. Clearly the days when Ma Bell was a safe place to seek lifetime employment has been disconnected. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Merck & Co knew about reports of suicidal behavior in men taking the company's anti-baldness treatment Propecia, newly unsealed court documents and other records reveal. Officials allegedly knew as early as 2009 and decided not to warn consumers of those potential risks in a 2011 update of the popular drug's label. Last month, internal records were made public when a federal magistrate in New York, granted a 2019 Reuters motion to unseal 11 documents filed in years of litigation alleging Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction and other harmful side effects. Since the 2011 decision on the warning, the FDA has received more than 700 reports of suicide and suicidal thoughts among people taking Propecia or generic versions of the drug. Those included at least 100 deaths. Before that, in the first 14 years the drug was on the market, the agency received 34 such reports, including 10 deaths. European and Canadian regulators, citing similar reports among men taking finasteride, require a warning of suicidal thoughts on the label, though they note that research has not proved that the drug causes such thoughts. To this day, the U.S. label contains no mention of suicide or suicidal thoughts. Yet, the drug is still incredibly popular with more than 3.4 million prescriptions filled in 2020, more than double the number in 2015, according to health data company IQVIA. Newly unsealed court documents and other records reveal Merck & Co knew its hair loss drug Propecia (pictured) was linked to depression and reports of suicide, but declined to add a warning to the label The FDA approved Propecia in 1997, and sales climbed steadily through the 2000s, peaking at $447 million in 2010. Soon after, Merck's patent expired. Overall sales of finasteride have remained strong as cheaper generic versions have hit the market. But, as early as 2009, Merck knew of more than 200 reports of depression, including suicidal thoughts, in men taking Propecia, according to an internal 'risk management' assessment from that year. The company decided there were too few reports of serious depression and suicidal behavior and not enough specifics about those cases to warrant more than 'routine' monitoring of safety data. In 2011, two years after the Merck risk analysis, the FDA was weighing a company request to add 'depression' to the drug's label as a potential risk, with no warnings related to suicide. FDA analysts disagreed about adding a warning related to suicide, according to previously unreported government documents. But the regulator ultimately agreed with Merck's request on the grounds that the number of suicides was lower than one would expect in this group of patients. MEDICAL RESEARCHERS AND PATIENT ADVOCATES CALL ON MERCK AND FDA FOR TRANSPARENCY Some medical researchers and patient advocates said Merck and the FDA have left American consumers in the dark about potentially life-threatening dangers associated with finasteride. 'No family should ever have to learn about this after the fact,' said Kim Witczak, a consumer advocate who serves on an FDA advisory panel for psychiatric drugs. She has called for drug companies and regulators to issue stronger warnings after her husband died from suicide in 2003 five weeks after being prescribed an antidepressant for insomnia. Merck 'had an opportunity to put suicide on the label, but they didn't want to do that because it's all about sales.' Michael Irwig, an endocrinologist and Harvard Medical School faculty member whose own research has found possible links between finasteride and suicidal behaviors, said Merck's handling of the risk analysis and the FDA'Ms inaction keep critical information from the public. Merck 'definitely should have provided a more complete picture,' Irwig said. Propecia was approved by the FDA in 1997 as the first ever drug to treat male pattern baldness. Pictured: A Merck sign stands in front of the company's building in Summit, New Jersey, January 2021 WHAT IS FINASTERIDE? THE HAIR LOSS DRUG TIED TO DEPRESSION AND ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION Finasteride is a widely-used drug that stimulates hair growth. The drug was originally developed to treat urinary problems in men. Studies showed finasteride made prostate glands smaller by reducing the levels of the hormone dihydrotestosterone in participants. But during the clinical trials, scientists saw an unexpected side effect - hair growth. And so, in 1997, the FDA approved the steroid inhibitor as the first ever drug to treat male pattern baldness. However, it has been tied to many severe and uncomfortable side effects A research paper published in March 2017 by Western University in Ontario offered the first concrete evidence showing the pills' mental health risks, and appeared to confirm many medics' fears that it increases a risk of suicidal tendencies. That same week, a study by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found most study participants were left impotent for four years after taking Propecia (the brand name for finasteride). Finasteride belongs to a class of medications known as 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors (5ARIs). 5ARIs have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years by regulators in the United States and Canada because of a possible link to mental health issues, according to the researchers. Advertisement In a statement to Reuters, Merck said that 'the scientific evidence does not support a causal link between Propecia and suicide or suicidal ideation and these terms should not be included in the labeling' for the drug. 'Merck works continuously with regulators to ensure that potential safety signals are carefully analyzed and, if appropriate, included in the label for Propecia.' Merck has said in past statements that Propecia has been prescribed safely to millions of men since the late 1990s. It also has argued in court that 'premature hair loss itself, the very condition for which Propecia is prescribed, is associated with low self-esteem, poor body image, and depression.' In a statement, the FDA said it 'continues to monitor postmarketing safety data for Propecia.' Overall, the agency noted that the presence of a report in the FDA database 'does not mean the drug caused the adverse event' and medical problems may stem from the 'underlying disease being treated, caused by some other drug being taken concurrently, or occurred for other reasons.' The agency declined to comment further about its handling of Propecia and reports related to suicide. Merck's analysis of a potential suicide risk stayed secret in court for over three years -- and only became public after Reuters intervened in the proceeding. The insights in the recently unsealed documents echo findings from a Reuters 2019 investigation, which revealed how U.S. judges routinely allow makers of consumer products to file under seal in lawsuits information that is pertinent to public health and safety. In granting Reuters motion to unseal Merck documents, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo last month ruled that the company's arguments for continued secrecy 'are so weak that they would not overcome even a low presumption of access under the common law.' INTERNAL DIFFERENCES AMONG FDA SAFTEY EVALUATORS In addition to the risk management plan, Kuo unsealed other Merck documents including an internal marketing report from prior to the drug's launch and some communications with regulators regarding sexual dysfunction. Reuters obtained the FDA documents discussing suicide from a separate online repository maintained by the agency. In a November 2010 report, while reviewing Merck's proposal to add potential depression risk to Propecia's label, FDA safety evaluator Namita Kothary recommended also adding a warning for suicidal thoughts and behavior. She noted nine suicides and reports filed by consumers, doctors and other members of the public.of other suicidal behaviors among patients who took finasteride. Kothary wrote that the nine suicides were difficult to assess due to incomplete information but 'we cannot exclude that finasteride may have contributed to the events.' She did not respond to a request for comment. Two other FDA reviewers disagreed. The two physicians - Amy Woitach and David Kettl - said the data supported adding depression to the label. Suicidal ideation, however, should be left off because the number of suicidal thoughts, attempts and deaths was 'lower than would be expected in this patient population,' according to their December 2010 report. Kettl and Woitach did not respond to requests for comment. However, both the European Medicines Agency and Health Canada added warnings to their labels in 2017 and 2019, respectively. As early as 2009, Merck knew of more than 200 reports of depression, including suicidal thoughts, in men taking the medication. Pictured: Propecia seen on a pharmacy shelf in New York, August 2019 PROPECIA'S LINK TO 'PERSISTENT' SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION IN MEN The new information regarding a potential suicide risk emerged as a result of longstanding controversy about sexual problems associated with the drugs. From the beginning, Merck's label said Propecia caused sexual dysfunction in nearly four percent of its clinical study participants. However, the 2009 risk management report also shows that the company was aware of reports that those sexual problems continued for some men after they stopped taking the drug. The FDA in 2012 approved Merck's request to add a warning of erectile dysfunction that continued after stopping the drug, as well as 'libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders.' Even so, Merck at the time said scientific evidence did not establish that Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction. The warning prompted more than 1,100 lawsuits against Merck by men alleging their sexual problems lasted long after they stopped taking Propecia. Merck in 2018 agreed to settle most of the lawsuits consolidated before Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn federal court for a combined $4.3 million. Reuters reported in 2019 that prior to the settlement, plaintiffs' lawyers had alleged that Merck, when revising the drug's original label, understated the number of men who experienced sexual symptoms in clinical trials and how long those symptoms lasted. The allegation was part of a sealed court brief a Reuters reporter was able to read because of a redaction error. The brief cited internal Merck communications, filed under seal. Reuters intervened in the case, seeking to unseal those communications Since the 2011 decision not to update the label, the FDA has received more than 700 reports of suicide and suicidal thoughts among people taking Propecia or generic versions of the drug (file image) MERCK DEEMED DEPRESSION AN 'IMPORTANT POTENTIAL RISK' OF PROPECIA - BUT DECLINED TO ADD A WARNING LABEL The 2009 risk management report unsealed last month shows that while depression did not emerge as a risk in clinical trials, Merck deemed it an 'important potential risk' after the company received 218 global reports of depression from 1998 to 2008. Of those, 10 involved serious depression, and an additional nine involved suicidal behavior. Merck noted limitations with both the depression reports and the nine involving suicidal behavior. Four provided 'insufficient information to allow a full evaluation.' Three of the men had other medical conditions, and for two, the symptoms developed after they stopped taking the drug. 'One fatal report was received from a sheriff's office and described a male who committed suicide by shooting,' according to the report. 'The medical examiner did not think this event was related to Propecia, in addition, the report provided insufficient information to allow for assessment.' The report contained no additional details about the patient's identity or the medical examiner's investigation. Merck did not respond to questions about what steps it took to learn more about the case. In its statement to Reuters, Merck said adverse event reports reflect only the opinions of the person who files them. 'While consumers and healthcare professionals are encouraged to report adverse events, the reaction may have been related to the underlying disease being treated, or caused by some other drug being taken concurrently, or occurred for other reasons,' the company said. Dr W. Vaughn McCall, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia, agreed that relying on adverse event reports to monitor drug safety has its limitations. However, he said one of those limitations is that injuries and deaths are often underreported because people aren't familiar with the process or don't have time to examine a specific case. He said there is a plausible biological explanation for a potential link between Propecia and suicidal thoughts. The drug reduces a testosterone-related hormone, which in turn could impact an anti-depressive steroid produced in the body. 'There is a reason to be suspicious,' McCall said. ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Rochester Salvation Army Rapid Rehousing Program is moving two homeless families into apartments. The organization is asking for help for basic household items to help these families furnish their new homes. The Rapid Rehousing Program is the Salvation Army's effort to get families the assistance they need to get back on their feet. The Salvation Army works with landlords to get homeless families into rental properties within the community. Now they are asking the community for donations of household items including dressers, beds, couches and cleaning supplies. Rapid Rehousing Program case manager, Emily Johnson says she is working with 7-8 families who are new to the program. She tells KIMT some of these families experience barriers like criminal history, poor credit, or eviction. "Having somebody go from literally homeless, living in their car, living in the street, being in a shelter, to having something they can call their own. It definitely takes time to be able to become self-sufficient, but just seeing that transition I think is really powerful." Johnson says they want these families to experience a warm and inviting home environment. Giving back for them is really important, being able to provide them with a bed, or a couch, or pans to cook with, or silverware to eat with... it's things that a lot of us take for granted." The Rapid Rehousing Program aims to help at least 5 new families find homes by summer. If you would like to make a donation to the Rapid Rehousing Program, reach out to the Salvation Army in Rochester to set up a time to drop off as their pick-up service has been suspended for the time being. Call (507) 288-3663 and ask to speak to Emily. TORONTO - Canada on Wednesday declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaida, ISIS and al-Shabab in an effort to crack down on "ideologically motivated violent extremism," described by the country's public safety minister as the "most significant threat to domestic security." The announcement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came less than a month after Proud Boys allegedly joined the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol after attending a rally by then-President Donald Trump in the hope of overturning the presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in that attack. It also followed a warning last week by the Department of Homeland Security about the heightened threat of "ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition" and "perceived grievances fueled by false narratives." Designation as a terrorist group carries financial and legal consequences. Police can seize the property of the group or its members; banks can seize their assets. It's a crime to knowingly provide assistance to a designated group to facilitate or carry out attacks. Group members may be denied entry to Canada. The government also listed the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group whose members participated in the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. The Base, another neo-Nazi group, and the Russian Imperial Movement, a Russian nationalist group with members linked to violent activity abroad. "These groups are unfortunately active in Canada and around the world," Blair said. "Their violent actions and rhetoric are fueled by white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny." Also added to the list were seven groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State, as well as Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant Kashmiri liberation group. Senior government officials said they were not aware of any other jurisdiction that has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group. They said the Capitol insurrection was not the "driving" factor, but it did produce a "trove of information" that was added to the intelligence reports that informed the decision. The Canadian government says ideologically motivated violent extremism includes xenophobic violence, anti-authority violence, gender-driven violence and grievance-driven violence not clearly affiliated with an organized group but shaped by "echo chambers of online hate." The Proud Boys was formed in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, a Canadian. The far-right, male-only group of self-described "Western chauvinists" has a history of street violence, including against Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Canada said the group played a "pivotal role" in the attack on the Capitol, and that "leaders planned their participation by setting out objectives, issuing instructions and directing members during the insurrection." Analysts say the Proud Boys were emboldened when Trump, pressed during the first presidential debate to condemn the group, told members to "stand back and stand by." Asked whether there was evidence that the Proud Boys pose a "current serious security threat to Canada," Blair said, "Absolutely, yes," and citeda "serious and concerning escalation" to violence in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday the U.S. government was conducting its own review. National security analysts in Canada have warned of the growing threat of right-wing extremist groups here, bolstered by transnational alliances they've built with counterparts in the United States and Europe. "We are more and more preoccupied by the number of ultra right-wing extremists," David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Services, told a Canadian Senate committee in 2019. Several months later, Canada announced that the neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honor and Combat 18 would be the first ideologically motivated extremist groups to be included on its list of terrorist groups. Public Safety Canada reported in 2018 that it was "concerned about threats posed by those who harbor right-wing extremist views." It cited several examples of right-wing extremist attacks in Canada, including the shooting of three Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers in 2014 by a man motivated by anti-law enforcement and anti-government beliefs and a 2017 shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six worshipers by a man who was "motivated, at least in part, by his self-admitted fear of Muslims." Neither of the men were charged with terrorism offenses. In 2020, a 17-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a Toronto massage parlor became the first Canadian charged with terrorism in a case connected to the "incel," or involuntary celibate, ideology. Canadian lawmakers voted unanimously last week to urge the federal government to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity "immediately," but the move drew a backlash from anti-hate groups and national security analysts. They said the nonbinding measure risked politicizing what's supposed to be a legal process guided by evidence and intelligence. Others asked why groups with ideological similarities to the Proud Boys weren't also listed. Blair said politics played no role in the designation. He said the government is constantly monitoring and gathering intelligence to inform its decision. Before the announcement Wednesday, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network expressed concern that the definition of a terrorist entity would have to be expanded to accommodate the Proud Boys. The group worried that a looser definition could be "exploited" to target anti-racist groups and people of color in the future. In a post on its website, it said Blair assured them that the Proud Boys "more than meet the criteria." The listing process begins with the drafting of criminal and security intelligence reports detailing "reasonable grounds to believe that the entity has knowingly carried out, attempted to carry out, participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity." Those reports are submitted to the public safety minister. If the minister is satisfied that the relevant criteria for listing the groups has been met, he or she can make a recommendation to cabinet to place the group on the list. - - - The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez in Washington contributed to this report. BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's Siemens AG (SIEGY.PK, SMAWF) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net income climbed 38 percent to 1.50 billion euros from 1.09 billion euros last year. Basic earnings per share grew 29 percent to 1.72 euros from 1.33 euros a year ago. Adjusted EBITA Industrial Businesses jumped 39 percent from last year to 2.13 billion euros, driven by strong operating performances and sharply lower severance charges. Adjusted EBITA margin Industrial Businesses was 16 percent, up from 11.7 percent a year ago. Revenue grew 3 percent to 14.07 billion euros from 13.68 billion euros last year. Comparable revenue growth was 7 percent with all industrial businesses contributing to growth. Orders climbed 11 percent to 15.94 billion euros from 14.36 billion euros last year, driven by higher volume from large orders in Mobility. Orders surged 15 percent on a comparable basis. Looking ahead, the company said it continues to expect a complex macroeconomic environment influenced by COVID-19. However, with improving conditions in some of its businesses and geographic regions during the first quarter, the company has raised its outlook for fiscal 2021. The company now expects full-year net income in the range of 5 billion euros to 5.5 billion euros, well above the previous expectation of only moderate growth compared to 4.2 billion euros in fiscal 2020. The company now expects mid- to high-single-digit comparable revenue growth for the group, compared to previous expectation of moderate comparable revenue growth. Digital Industries now expects fiscal 2021 comparable revenue to grow clearly year-over-year instead of modestly. The expectation for Adjusted EBITA margin is now 19 percent to 20 percent, 2 percentage points higher. 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. New Delhi: After international sensation, Rihanna tweeted on Indian farmers' protest, she became a top trend on Twitter. The buzz maker invited global attention with many reacting to her post. Soon afterwards, Punjabi heartthrob Diljit Dosanjh not only shared her picture as his Insta story but also released a full song on RiRi. Watch Diljit Dosanjh's 'RiRi' song here: Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded to the recent comments made by foreign individuals and entities on the ongoing farmers protests. Here's the full statement: The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed reformist legislation relating to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provided greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming. A very small section of farmers in parts of India have some reservations about these reforms. Respecting the sentiments of the protestors, the Government of India has initiated a series of talks with their representatives. Union Ministers have been part of the negotiations, and eleven rounds of talks have already been held. The Government has even offered to keep the laws on hold, an offer iterated by no less than the Prime Minister of India. Yet, it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26, Indias Republic Day. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India, was besmirched, and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian capital. Some of these vested interest groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is extremely disturbing for India and for civilised society everywhere. Indian police forces have handled these protests with utmost restraint. It may be noted that hundreds of men and women serving in the police have been physically attacked, and in some cases stabbed and seriously wounded. We would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of Indias democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible." WASHINGTON COVID-19 vaccine boosters will tackle one coronavirus variant at a time, focusing first on a mutation recently identified in South Africa that is alarming scientists, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations leading infectious disease expert, told McClatchy in an interview. The ultimate solution to the coronavirus pandemic may be a vaccine that protects against all mutations but work on that project is just beginning, Fauci said. The chief medical adviser on COVID-19 to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that vaccine manufacturers could develop the boosters quickly, and expressed confidence that they could pass regulatory hurdles and reach the public within months. But a longer-term goal one that could end the cycle of variants, and the pandemic, once and for all is a universal vaccine that could protect against all types of mutations, Fauci said in an interview Monday evening. Vaccines for COVID-19 first became available in December, but the new coronavirus continues to mutate, creating the risk that existing vaccines will not be enough to protect Americans and end the pandemic. The long-term goal, Fauci said, is a vaccine that would work against all mutations of this particular coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2. Eventually, a pan-coronavirus vaccine that could protect against all different types of coronaviruses might emerge in the future, he added. It is a hopeful, but realistic project, Fauci said and scientists around the country, including in the Army, the National Institutes of Health and in private industry, are already working towards those types of vaccines. The long-range goal would be to get a vaccine that would be good against all coronaviruses. But I think the first goal you want is to get a vaccine thats upgraded enough that whatever mutation occurs with the current SARS-CoV-2 will be covered by the vaccine, Fauci said. Thats the ultimate solution. You dont even need a pan-coronavirus one you need a pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine first, because thats the one that continues to mutate, he said. Were going to be upgrading them to match better the mutants. A very fit virus In the short term, Fauci said that Moderna and likely Pfizer the two companies with vaccines currently available to Americans are working on a booster shot that would only work against the South African variant, known as B.1.351, which this week was detected for the first time in the United States. The South African variant appears highly contagious and able to evade the vaccine in some individuals. Those who have already had COVID-19 and recovered also appear highly susceptible to reinfection with the new variant. This variant is the one that is the most troublesome since it already is evading many of the monoclonal antibodies that are being used for treatment of COVID-19, and it has diminished by several-fold the efficacy of the antibodies induced by the existing vaccines, Fauci said. Its a very fit virus, Fauci said. People who have been infected with the original virus dont seem to be protected against reinfection with the South African isolate. In fact, my colleagues in South Africa tell me that it doesnt protect at all that if you were infected with the original isolate, theres no protection. By adjusting their vaccine formulas to target the South African variant, Moderna and likely Pfizer hope to stave off an immediate crisis, Fauci said. This addresses the immediate problem of B.1.351, he said. Looking ahead, it is likely that additional mutants will arise, and so the long game approach would be to develop a pan-SARS-Cov-2 also known as a universal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that would handle all types of mutants of SARS-CoV-2. This is a much longer range project that is just getting started and will likely take a much longer period of time, he added. Moderna confirmed that it is working on a booster shot to address the South African variant in an email on Monday night. Pfizer said the nature of its COVID-19 vaccine which, like the Moderna vaccine, uses a new biotechnology known as messenger RNA provides it with flexible technology to adapt to virus mutations. This flexibility includes the ability to alter the RNA sequence in the vaccine to cover new strains of the virus, Pfizer said in a statement to McClatchy. The company said it plans to develop booster shots only for variants that have proven an ability to escape the immunity provided by its existing vaccine. If one ever were to emerge that is not well covered by the current vaccine, the updated vaccine could be administered as a booster, Pfizer said. Optimism for herd immunity While Fauci has expressed alarm over the South African variant, which was identified for the first time in the United States with three cases in South Carolina and Maryland this week, he was hopeful that modest boosters to the vaccines would not take long to develop and reach the public. That should not be very difficult that could likely be done in a few months, because one of the good things about the mRNA platform technology is that it is very flexible and adaptable, Fauci said. You will not have to do a 30,000 or 44,000-person trial the way you did to show efficacy for the original vaccine, he said, explaining that data from the monthslong clinical studies could be coupled with new data on the booster shots. Pfizer noted that the Food and Drug Administration which would have to authorize any booster shots before they reach the public is still outlining the process it would take to do so. We will need to generate data that gives confidence that any updated vaccine is safe and effective, the company said. The updated vaccine to be administered as a booster would be subject to regulatory approval or authorization. The most important step that Americans can take to prevent new variants of the virus is to get vaccinated, because the more the virus is allowed to circulate, the more opportunities it has to mutate, Fauci said. With more vaccine doses and vaccination sites becoming available, and more people being trained to administer them to the public, Fauci expressed some optimism that the emerging variants would not outpace U.S. progress toward a return to some form of normalcy. Still, once an individual is fully vaccinated, they should not feel as if they have a free pass to waive public health guidelines, Fauci said, warning that they may still be able to carry the virus and infect others. But alongside others who have been vaccinated, it would be reasonable to meet indoors for a meal, he added. Youve got to use common sense, he said. Yes there is a degree of protection where, even though the risk is not zero, its much less of a risk. We may be able to reach herd immunity by the time we get to the end of the summer, the beginning of the fall, he said. -- Michael Wilner of the McClatchy Washington Bureau wrote this story. 2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFCT) Chairwoman Joh Sung-wook answers questions in a briefing after the country's top anti-trust regulator approved Apple Korea's plan to correct unfair business practices, Wednesday. Yonhap By Kim Yoo-chul Apple has apparently been freed from a "gapjil" controversy in Korea after the country's anti-trust regulator approved Apple Korea's measures to address antitrust practices and provide some support for its customers and partner companies here. Gapjil is a Korean term which refers to the abuse of power by people or firms against affected parties in a weaker position. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) had been investigating Apple Korea after the country's top three telecommunications firms SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus alleged the iPhone designer had demanded that they pay the cost for TV adverts and warranties for iPhone customers, and had also intervened in their mobile phone subsidy policies since the 2009 iPhone release. In 2020, Apple Korea filed corrective measures with the KFTC that included spending 100 billion won ($90 million) on a series of measures to support customers and work with the carriers, which the commission discussed with the trade and education ministries, the telecom regulator, and the prosecution. "Apple Korea's measures were approved. I want to emphasized the accepted corrective measure included Apple Korea's agreement to give customers a 10 percent discount on repairs," KFTC Chairwoman Joh Sung-wook, said in a briefing to reporters. The company also vowed to introduce a "mutual mechanism" to protect any intellectual property (IP) related disputes and delete an article letting it unilaterally nullify contracts with local carriers. Apple Korea said the money will also be used to establish research and development (R&D) centers in Korea, introduce a so-called "developer academy" and to provide digital devices for educational purposes. "We expect Apple Korea's corrective measures to help all interested parties improve the level of business transparency between the firm and customers," the KFTC chief said. The local anti-trust law permits an entity accused of anti-competitive business practices to offer corrective measures without admitting that previous practices violated it. An official at the KFTC said the soon-to-be-established Apple R&D center in Korea will focus on highlighting manufacturing factors and added "all small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be eligible to apply to join the R&D program" regardless of whether or not they have a business relationship with Apple Korea. The KFTC stressed it will choose an accounting firm to check the implementation process on a half-yearly basis for the next three years. If the company fails to implement the steps without a proper reason, the regulator will impose an enforcement penalty of two million won per day and revoke approval. Regarding Apple Korea's measures, representatives at KT, LG and SK Telecom said they have no official comment. "We are pleased this process has reached a conclusion and look forward to expanding and accelerating our existing commitments here with this new investment that will benefit local suppliers and manufacturers, small businesses, entrepreneurs and education. We continue to deepen our support for public education. We look forward to sharing more details on these plans in the months to come," Apple said in a statement. 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. Self-proclaimed godman Swami Om, who was known for his antics inside the Bigg Boss house, passed away at the age of 63 on Wednesday in Delhi. Swami Om, who was part of Bigg Boss 10, had been very ill for some time and was undergoing treatment at AIIMS. He also had a paralytic attack a few days ago, after which his health condition exacerbated. Swami Om also reportedly tested COVID-19 positive but he had recovered from it. Son of Swami Om's friend Mukesh Jain, Arjun Jain was quoted by India Today as saying, "Swami Om was sick for the last few months. Even after recovering from the coronavirus, he had a lot of trouble walking due to weakness. He also had paralysis in half of his body. His condition worsened 15 days ago due to paralysis. He breathed his last this morning." He has been cremated at Delhi's Nigam Bodh Ghat today. He became the talk of the town after he was caught stealing other contestants' toiletries and was seen making nasty remarks at fellow contestants. During one of the tasks on this show, he was seen throwing his pee on contestants Bani J and Rohan Mehra. After this, all the contestants including Bani J and Rohan Mehra complained about this act to Bigg Boss. The makers of the show then ousted Swami Om from the show. Even after his Bigg Boss stint ended, the self-proclaimed godman was in the news for all the wrong reasons. After being evicted from Bigg Boss, Swami Om spoke against the host Salman Khan and Bigg Boss on various occasions. He had even threatened to damage the Bigg Boss set in Mumbai along with his followers. Also read: Prabhas announces 'Aarambh' of Adipurush shooting Also read: 'Baby on the move!' Adorable video of toddler interrupting mom during live weather forecast goes viral A UN peacekeeper on patrol in the Beni region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (file). The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has warned against potential crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a spike in attacks by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group, in two provinces in the east of the country. At least 849 civilians were killed in ADF attacks last year in Irumu and Mambasa territory, located in Ituri province, and in Beni territory in North Kivu province, according to a report published on Tuesday. The group is also accused of injuring 62 civilians and sexually abusing four women in the second part of the year. Violations by Congolese forces Congolese security and defence forces were also found to have committed violations in operations against the ADF in 2020, according to the report by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the country (UNJHRO), which is in French. Overall, some 47 civilians were killed, and 27 women and 22 children were sexually abused, while 126 people were arbitrarily arrested. The ADF also carried out several reprisal attacks against civilians in areas previously under its control during the second half of the year, resulting in massive displacement. The report further documents an increase in the number of civilians abducted into forced labour, with 534 people kidnapped, 457 of whom are still missing. Armed attacks continue The violence has continued into the new year. Unknown men attacked the Twa community in Walese Vonkutu, located in Irumu territory, on 13 January, killing at least 14 people, including two pregnant women. "Given the widespread and systematic nature of the attack directed against the civilian population, some of the documented human rights abuses may amount to crimes against humanity," said Marta Hurtado, an OHCHR spokesperson in Geneva. "The violence takes place in a context of impunity, where few human rights abuses and violations and violations of international humanitarian law are duly investigated and prosecuted. An ADF attack on Beni prison in October 2020 - that led to the escape of 1,300 inmates escaped - was a blow to accountability in the country." Recommendations for justice The report contains several recommendations for the DRC authorities, including to ensure security forces act according to international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Protection mechanisms for civilians, especially during military operations, must also be enhanced. The authorities also should work with neighbouring countries, particularly Uganda, to ensure perpetrators affiliated with the ADF who seek refuge in their territories are found and brought to justice. Temperatures will drop starting Thursday night, when lows could reach 13 degrees, and the high is expected to be in the midteens Friday. After the sun goes down Friday, temperatures were expected to drop to close to zero, and reach no higher than the low double digits into late next week. Ziath reports how it has worked with the Hubrecht Institute (Utrecht, Netherlands) which has developed a pioneering automated test robot, called STRIP-1, which can process up to 20,000 samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing in just 24 hours. Automated SARS-CoV-2 testing using STRIP-1 Robot system (Courtesy: Hubrecht Institute) This makes it much faster than all other automated SARS-CoV-2 testing systems used to date. In addition, all samples can be tracked precisely because they have a 2D-barcode on the bottom of each tube that is scanned multiple times throughout the process. This also enables an automatic online return of test results to the tested persons, which will relieve the burden on laboratory personnel who were severely overloaded during the first wave of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. Wouter de Laat and Marvin Tanenbaum, group leaders at the Hubrecht Institute, worked closely with Martijn Bosch, automation specialist at local instrument manufacturer Genmab to develop STRIP-1. This team decided to adopt 2D-barcoding of the sample tubes throughout the robotic workflow. This was achieved by integrating a Ziath Mirage camera-based 2D barcode reader into the automation platform. The high-speed of reading and decoding offered by the Mirage, around 1 second for a full 96 position rack used in STRIP-1, was a key factor in the choice of Ziath, allowing the robot to reach its maximum potential of 20,000 samples per day. Ziath Mirage camera-based 2D barcode tube reader in action on STRIP-1 Robot System "We hoped that we could organize everything in a faster and more intelligent way by using robots, so that became our focus almost immediately," said Wouter De Laat. The STRIP-1 robot was designed by Martijn Bosch according to optimisation of our SARS-CoV-2 test requirements. Bosch commented: "Not just the new robot system, but also the whole chain of events posed a challenge. From sample collection, registration, the logistics and the tracking of samples to the test itself and reporting the results, basically the entire chain of events from patient to test and back, that was the big challenge. The Ziath Mirage ensures correct registration, tracking and reporting of the patient samples as they arrive in the lab and are re-formatted into 384-well PCR plates to increase throughput whilst conserving valuable and currently scarce PCR reagents. The robot was ordered from Swiss automation company TECAN, who delivered and installed it just before Christmas 2020 at PAMM medical microbiology laboratory in Veldhoven, Netherlands. On January 27th 2021, Hugo de Jonge from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, visited the robot at the PAMM laboratory, as the Dutch government plans to order five more STRIP-1 systems in the future, if the validation procedure delivers the expected results. Together, these robots will be able to process more than 100,000 samples per 24 hours. To see the STRIP-1 in action please visit https://youtu.be/ZHCFJDblIZs. For further information on the Ziath Mirage camera-based 2D barcode reader please visit https://ziath.com/index.php/products/barcode-scanning/datapaq-mirage or contact Ziath on +44-1223-855021 / +1 858-880-6920 / [email protected]. (Natural News) Google has deleted one-star ratings of stock trading platform Robinhood after users swarmed it with negative reviews. The technology firm removed at least 100,000 negative user ratings of the stock trading app on its Play Store platform. Robinhoods four-star rating as of Jan. 28 fell to just one star the next day as a result of users rating it poorly. But as of writing, Google has reverted the app to its original four-star rating at the Play Store. Google stated that it took action against coordinated or inorganic user reviews. It refused to elaborate on how it determined if a Play Store review was inorganic or not. Further requests for comment sent to the technology giant went unanswered. But Google policy states that manipulating an apps score by spamming five-star or one-star reviews is prohibited. The company talked about its rules on app ratings in a December 2018 blog post. The said post explained that Google uses a system that combines human intelligence with machine learning to monitor and penalize violations related to app ratings and reviews. User trust is a top priority for us at Google Play, and we are continuously working to make sure that the ratings and reviews shown in our store are not being manipulated, it continued. Negative reviews, backlash from Robinhood blocking trading of GameStop stock Googles removal of Robinhoods one-star reviews follows the trading app blocking users from buying so-called volatile stocks from certain companies. These firms with volatile stocks such as electronics retailer GameStop, movie theater chain AMC and software firm BlackBerry were promoted in the Reddit WallStreetBets discussion community. Users angered by the trading platforms decision called on other Reddit users to flood the app with one-star reviews in retribution. The Robinhood stock trading app became the center of the WallStreetBets fiasco in late January 2021: Most of the communitys users traded stocks via the platform. It has gained popularity among investors with little to no experience in online stock trading. A group of WallStreetBets users noticed that hedge fund Melvin Capital had planned to short GameStop, anticipating huge profits from buying back shares. In response, the users launched a campaign to buy up shares from different companies including that of the struggling retailer. The users investments caused the price of GameStop stock to soar rapidly. Investors who purchased GameStop shares raked in windfall profits. On the other hand, hedge funds and other institutions who bet on falling GameStop share prices saw losses amounting as much as $19 billion as of Jan. 29. Robinhood accused of taking away power from the people Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter, slamming Robinhoods decision to block the purchases of shares from different companies as unacceptable. She continued: We now need to know more about [Robinhoods] decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock, while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit. (Related: Criminal Wall Street oligarchs stifle populist trading movement that sent GameStop stocks soaring.) Some users have brought their grievance against the stock trading platform a notch higher by means of a class-action lawsuit. Law firm ChapmanAlbin LLC announced Jan. 28 that it is investigating claims on behalf of Robinhood users [who] suffered losses as a result of investing through the app. Meanwhile, Facebook took down the group Robinhood Stock Traders for an alleged infraction of the social media sites community standards. The Facebook groups founder slammed the suspension of the 157,000-strong stock trading community as unjustified. Chicago resident Allen Tran told Reuters that the group was first on the picking tree to be cut off. He also slammed the social media site, saying that it was not a free platform like Reddit. Tran wrote in a separate Facebook post: The major institutions are attempting to silence our community. We are positively impacting peoples lives and they are attacking our group because we are more powerful than them. Responding to Reuters, Facebook spokeswoman Kristen Morea said Trans group was removed for violating [the platforms] community standards and had nothing to do with the ongoing stock market fiasco. She did not respond to requests to elaborate. Robinhood Stock Traders was previously suspended in early January 2021 for being a dangerous organization. But the groups suspension was later lifted after Tran lodged an appeal. Visit Risk.news to read more news about the WallStreetBets stock market issue. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Android-Developers.GoogleBlog.com CNBC.com Twitter.com Reuters.com The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 22:46:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wednesday that the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will assist the continent in overcoming some of its pressing economic challenges. Kenyatta said the Africa trade pact which entered into force on Jan. 1, has the potential to accelerate continental integration efforts by promoting people-to-people interactions through trade. Kenyatta, who was speaking during a meeting with visiting AfCFTA's Secretary-General Wamkele Mene who paid him a courtesy call in Nyeri County in central Kenya, reaffirmed Kenya's commitment to AfCFTA. Analysts say full implementation of AfCFTA would reshape markets and economies across the region and boost output in the services, manufacturing, and natural resources sectors. On his part, Mene briefed the Kenyan leader on AfCFTA's road map which prioritizes industrial development, women and the youth, and thanked Kenya for backing his successful bid to lead the Pan-African institution. Enditem The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company National Democratic Alliance parties and the Opposition have finally reached an agreement on the discussion of farm laws in the Parliament. The dialogue will happen in the Rajya Sabha, where the Question Hour has been suspended for two days. It will be raised during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Presidents address. The allocation of time for the discussion on the motion of thanks has been increased from 10 hours to 15 hours. Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said both sides have reached a consensus on the issue. Leader of the Opposition and Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad also agreed on extending the time allocation by 5 hours to discuss farmers issues. Also read: Parliament live updates Opposition parties, including the Congress, on Tuesday had staged a walkout four times from the Upper House after their demand for suspension of business of the day to take up the farmers agitation was rejected by Chairperson Venkaiah Naidu. The Lower House, too, witnessed unruly scenes as the days business had to be suspended multiple times before adjourning for the day. AAP members, however, raised slogans in the House just ahead of the discussion on the motion of thanks was to begin. Also read: Delhi Police Announce Rs 1 Lakh Reward for Information on Actor Deep Sidhu After Republic Day Violence Using Rule 255, that asks a member to withdraw from the House for the remainder of the day, Naidu asked the AAP MPs to withdraw from the House. The House was also adjourned for six minutes. Confrontations are also likely over the Narendra Modi governments Union Budget for 2021-22. While the government claimed the Budget was unprecedented and honest, the Opposition said it had failed to address core economic problems at a time when India is suffering from its worst recession in years while battling the coronavirus pandemic. She scandalised high society with her affairs with both Winston Churchill and his son, bought 250 pairs of shoes at a time - which she wore once - from Paris and was so renowned for her sexual prowess that she even attempted to turn gay men straight. Known as a poule de luxe a luxury hen which means a woman who is a plaything for rich men, Cara Delevingne's very glamorous great aunt Doris, was known for her wild lifestyle in the aftermath of the first World War and worked as a chorus girl and hostess. She funded her extravagant lifestyle by targeting any man rich enough to pay for it and even carried on her liaisons when married to Viscount Castlerosse after his parents cut him off for going ahead with the wedding, earing herself the nickname The Mistress of Mayfair. Now the most notorious socialite has been thrown under the spotlight again as a portrait by Sir John Lavery goes up for auction at Christie's, and is expected to fetch between 400,000 and 600,000 on March 1 after being put up for sale by Cara's property developer father Charles Delevingne, 71, the Times reported. A portrait of Viscountess Castlerosse, Cara Delevingne's glamourous great aunt, is expected to fetch up to half a million pounds at auction next month The portrait was inspired by a photograph of the Viscountess dangling her legs from a diving board over a pool in Palm Springs The 1938 oil painting, called Viscountess Castlerosse, Palm Springs, shows the socialite dangling her legs from a diving board over a pool, and puts the focus on Doris' famously lithe limbs. The Viscountess was born Jessie Doris Delevingne in 1900 in a modest family house in Beckenham. According to Lyndsy Spence, author of the Mistress of Mayfair, Doris' father owned a haberdashery shop and also dealt French luxury goods while her mother was a housewife. She flew the nest in the wake of the first World War and started working as a pantry maid at an RAF hospital in Hampstead, before heading to London, where she sold second-hand gowns to actresses. The socialite was said to have had so many lovers she often asked men she was introduced to if they ever had slept together, because she could not keep count Throughout her life, Doris was known for her love of partying and lavish taste in fashion (pictured here she is dressed up as a mermaid for a Santa Claus Ball in December 1929) Pictured here in 1934, Doris often embarked on affairs with some of the upper echelons of society, including Winston Churchill and his son Randolph, who was only 21 She became good friends with Gertrude Lawrence, the mistress of Household Calvary Officer Philip Astley who invited her to come live with her in her Mayfair flat. The two friends hit the town often, dined at Rules, and mixed with the Prince of Wales - who even got in trouble with his father King George V for attending one of Doris' parties. The glamorous life of Viscountess Castlerosse 1900 - Jessie Doris Delevingne was born in Beckenham 1914 1918 - WWI 1918 - Doris flew the nest and began working as a pantry maid in Hampstead before leaving for London where she sold gowns to actresses She became a regular at the Cavendish Hotel, and worked as a chorus girl at the Grafton Galleries 1920s - Embarked on an affair with Laddie Sanford, an American millionaire and polo player. 1928 - Met Valentine Brown, Viscount Castlerosse, who was 37 at the time May 1928 - Married Valentine Brown. His parents cut him off after finding out about the marriage, and Doris went back to her lovers in order to fund her lifestyle. 1930s - Became a 'society spy' for the wealthy newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook Enjoyed affairs with several members of high society, including a rumoured romp with Winston Churchill in France. 1932 - Embarks on an affair with Winston's son Randolph Mid 1930s - Met New York socialite Margot Hoffman and is rumoured to have entertained a Sapphic liaison with her, even though she was not a lesbian 1938 - Doris officially divorces Valentine 1939 - WWII broke out, and Doris' relationship with Margot does not survive move to New York. Doris falls on hard times and pleads with Churchill to facilitate her return to the UK, pawning off her diamonds to survive in New York without lovers to fund her. Sends letters to her ex-husband Viscount Castlerosse, who eventually offered to remarry her. Upon her return to her homeland, Castlerosse met Doris but found her appearance 'haggard' Realising he would not remarry her, Doris took to selling more of her diamonds to a broker in New York, which was illegal. 1942 - Fearful of jail time, Doris died of an overdose of sleeping pills while staying at the Rochester Hotel in London Advertisement She and her friends were regulars at the Cavendish Hotel and struck a friendship with Rosa Lewis, the UK's first celebrity chef, and Edward VII's mistress. Doris worked as a chorus girl and hostess at the Grafton Galleries, a nightclub in the basement of a Mayfair art gallery, where she earned herself the nickname of 'the girl with the white gloves' due to the white opera gloves she wore. It wasn't long before she began a passionate affair with Laddie Sanford, an American millionaire and polo player. He installed her in a house on Deanery Street and showered her with gifts, as well as a generous allowance that covered a chauffeured Rolls Royce, a maid, and her taste for expensive fashion. It is rumoured Doris, then in her 20s, said it was 'idiotic to wear shoes more than three or four times' and would order 250 pairs in one go from Italian and Parisian fashion houses. It was also claimed she ordered silk stockings from Paris which she only wore once before discarding. When Laddie moved on to courting Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of Lord Mountbatten, Doris kept the house. In her book about Doris, Spence claimed the socialite took to frequenting nightclubs in hope of finding rich men who could afford to spend their money on her. She was revered for her good looks, and her lovers celebrated her skills in the bedroom, with one of her conquests claiming her phenomenal success with men was down to a sexual trick known as Cleopatras grip, where a woman contracts her vagina moments before orgasm. You may think it fun to make love, she declared. But if you had to make love to dirty old men as I do, you would think again. When she was 28, Doris met then 37-year-old Valentine Brown, Viscount Castlerosse, at a St James nightclub. The gossip columnist for the Sunday Express, who was also a close friend of Lord Beaverbrook and the inspiration for Evelyn Waugh's Mr Chatterbox, was said to have been smitten with Doris from the start, to the point of obsession. Though she continued seeing other men after meeting him, Valentine wanted Doris exclusively. He even stole the key to her house in order to break in, which led to a violent scene. In an attempt to compete with her admirers, he began to send her jewels, furs and paintings, which plunged him into debt, Spence wrote. Although friends of both Doris and Brown warned them against marrying and Valentine's mother even threatened to cut him off, the couple did so secretly at Hammersmith register office on 16 May 1928. However Valentine's parents cut him off after finding out about the marriage, and Doris went back to her lovers in order to fund her lifestyle. The couple became the talk of Mayfair due to their repeated public scenes and fights, biting and scratching each other. They separated and Doris moved out, with Spence writing that they spent the next decade mounting divorce cases against one another, with Brown claiming infidelity and Doris physical abuse. The pair eventually officially called it quits in 1938. The socialite married Viscount Castlerosse in 1928 but the couple had a violet and scandalous marriage, and officially divorced in 1938 (pictured, with Doris into a swimming pool in the South of France during their marriage) During the 1930s, Doris became a 'society spy' for the wealthy newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook, and tipped him off on her society friends in exchange of money. Meanwhile she entertained affairs with several members of high society, including a rumoured romp with Winston Churchill in France in 1930. According to the legend, Churchill painted her during a holiday in the South of France and later bedded her at the Ritz in Paris, where he was rumoured to have told her: Doris, you could make a corpse come. While the rumours were never confirmed, Churchill never denied the liaison. Despite being married, Doris, second left, continued to embark on a host of affairs with other men and women within the society (pictured with Gerald Berners, Daphne Weymouth (centre right) and Robert Herber-Percy, nicknamed Mad Boy, one of her lovers at Faringdon) Two years later, Doris moved her sights to Churchill's son Randolph, who was only 21 and whom she is said to have nicknamed 'fuzzy wuzzy.' Their affair was discovered by the maitre d of the Cavalry Club, who opened the door to an anteroom and was confronted by a pair of long, gorgeous legs waving happily in the air, Tony Rennell wrote in 2018. 'Doris, whose face he could not see but whose legs were unmistakable, let out a gasp. When the man between the legs looked up, the maitre d saw it was Randolph Churchill. "Get out!" Randolph yelled.' Despite being warned by his father to 'behave' Randolph persisted and 'even taunted Castlerosse that he was bedding his wife.' After separating from Castlerosse, Doris, centre left, continued her party lifestyle and travelled to Singapore Rennell wrote: 'He phoned Castlerosse and said: "Guess where I am?" before telling him he was in bed with Doris. He even had the gall to make it a reverse-charge phone call.' Following parental pressure, Randolph and Doris broke it off, and she moved on to the next lover. She had so many conquests by then, she was rumoured to ask potentials beaus if she had already bedded them, because she could not keep count. After she met society photographer Cecil Beaton, who called himself 'terribly homosexualist,' she decided she could 'cure him' and the unlikely pair began an affair. Doris with Mr Noel Coward, one of her friends, arriving at Southamptom from American in the 1930s Spence wrote in The Mistress of Mayfair that Doris told Beaton: 'Theres no such thing as an impotent man, just an incompetent woman.' Beaton himself admitted he treated Doris badly, and their short-lived romance saw her move on to Robert Herber-Percy, known as Mad Boy. Spence recounted that Doris booked a room at the Ritz for her lover's birthday and presented him with a prostitute and a whip, ordering him to beat the woman to death. When Herber-Percy failed, she reportedly took the whip herself, saying: 'I haven't waste my money for this.' Doris and Peter Wilson pictured on-board the liner Mariposa arriving at Los Angeles from Australia in June 1938 In the mid 1930s, she met New York socialite Margot Hoffman and is rumoured to have entertained a Sapphic liaison with her as well, with Spence writing: 'She had no scruples when it came to sex. She used it as a means of survival.' Margot bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice for Doris where they had parties, but when the second World War broke in 1939, their relationship did not survive a move to New York, and Doris found herself falling on hard times. She pleaded with Churchill to facilitate her return to the UK, pawning off her diamonds to survive in New York without lovers to fund her. Churchill, Rennell wrote, was not keen on acceding her request because Doris was friends with Nazi-sympathiser Oswald Mosley and had attended black shirt rallies with his wife Diana, where she sat in the front row. The Viscount remarried in 1943 in London, wedding 'serial widow' Enid Maude, the Viscountess Furness (pictured) During her time in the US, Doris began exchanging letters with her ex-husband Viscount Castlerosse, who eventually offered to remarry her, but was seeing 'serial widow' Enid, Viscountess Furness at the time. Upon her return to her homeland, Castlerosse met Doris but found her appearance 'haggard' and went back to Enid. Realising he would not remarry her, Doris took to selling more of her diamonds to a broker in New York. However, selling diamonds during war was a crime, and her telegrams to New York were intercepted, leading to a police interrogation. Doris was wary of jail time and was staying at the Rochester Hotel in London, where she succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills in 1942, aged 42. OTTAWA - Procurement Minister Anita Anand said this week she is confident Canada's COVID-19 vaccine deliveries will only get better going forward but just hours after she made the remark, Canada's vaccine purchases got slammed again. A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a UHN COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Canada could get more than one million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March through a global vaccine sharing initiative known as COVAX. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette OTTAWA - Procurement Minister Anita Anand said this week she is confident Canada's COVID-19 vaccine deliveries will only get better going forward but just hours after she made the remark, Canada's vaccine purchases got slammed again. "The worst week was last week," Anand said in an interview with The Canadian Press Tuesday night. But within hours of the statement, potential deliveries from the global vaccine-sharing initiative known as the COVAX Facility diminished and Canada learned the production problems that cut this week's deliveries from Moderna by 20 per cent are now going to affect the next shipment as well. Moderna was to deliver almost 250,000 doses to Canada the third week of February. It hasn't said yet what the impact will be. A spokeswoman for Moderna told The Canadian Press the company remains "on track" to meet its contract to supply two million doses of its vaccine by the end of March. They are but the latest headaches for Canada's vaccine efforts, coming after supply constraints cut Pfizer-BioNTech deliveries by more than two-thirds over four weeks, and European export controls that could put our entire supply of vaccines at risk. Provinces and territories, which in mid-January got close to vaccinating 50,000 people a day, only vaccinated 5,000 people Jan. 31. Canada, which was one of the first countries to start vaccinating its citizens in mid-December, has fallen out of the top 30 countries when it comes to the proportion of people vaccinated. But there was some good news. Europe's assurances to Canada that the export controls wouldn't stop Canadian shipments came through and new deliveries from Pfizer and Moderna are already landing in Canada. A spokeswoman for the European Commission said that controls would be used "only in very limited cases" and that Europe is particularly mindful about the impact it could have on countries like Canada, with no domestic COVID-19 vaccine production currently. On Tuesday afternoon, Anand received confirmation from the COVAX Facility that Canada would be shipped at least 1.9 million and as many as 3.2 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June. But Wednesday morning, information COVAX published on its website listed only the smaller amount and the international body has not given Canada any explanation. The documents warn all deliveries are contingent on supplies available. Canada invested $440 million in COVAX last fall, half to secure up to 15 million doses of vaccine for Canada and half to buy vaccines for low- and middle-income countries that can't afford vaccines on their own. Cecely Roy, a spokeswoman for Anand, said COVAX hasn't explained the discrepancy between its communication to the Canadian government and what it posted publicly. The facility has also not responded to a query from The Canadian Press. With two doses of vaccine required per person, the gap could be the difference between vaccinating another half-million Canadians before Canada Day. Canada is also feeling heat from critics who argue Canada is contributing to vaccine nationalism, using its wealth to buy up doses and not doing enough to ensure vaccines get distributed equitably worldwide. International Development Minister Karina Gould said that is why Canada joined COVAX. But Gould balked at the idea that Canada should forego deliveries from COVAX in favour of letting the facility send more doses to the world's poorest places. "At this point in time, the idea was always with COVAX that you would have developed countries and developing countries participate so that you would have global buy-in and support for the process," Gould said in a separate interview Tuesday. Independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former Liberal justice minister, expressed shock Wednesday that Canada would take deliveries "from poor countries." "How can this be true!" she wrote on Twitter. Katrina Plamondon, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and a spokesperson for the Canadian Society of International Health, said equitable access to vaccines is critical. But Plamondon said Canada's doses from COVAX are part of the deal it made when it joined, and Canada made one of the most significant contributions to help fund COVAX to date. She said the government is under so much pressure at home to beef up vaccine supplies that turning down any potential doses isn't really an option. "It would be politically difficult to refuse those doses," she said. Opposition leaders and provincial governments are expressing exasperation at the vaccine rollout. "We knew over a year ago that the way through this pandemic, one of the key tools we needed to fight this pandemic would be the vaccine," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said. The Liberals remain firm that their effort to procure vaccines from seven different suppliers will still allow them to live up to the promise that every Canadian who wants to be vaccinated can get the shots by the end of September. Canada has secured 40 million doses each from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which together should be enough to vaccinate everyone. But three more vaccines from AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson and Novavax are likely to be approved within the next two or three months, adding another 82 million doses to the pile. Gould said Canada is still working on a strategy to donate excess doses through COVAX. The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada show the country has surpassed one million doses given for the first time. According to the federal government, the provinces reported 13,768 new vaccinations administered Wednesday for a total of 1,000,862 doses given. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021. TYSONS CORNER, Va., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Executive Mosaic, the leading provider in connecting, promoting and branding government and government contracting (GovCon) executives of consequence, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Wash100 Award to showcase and recognize the 100 esteemed executives who continue to demonstrate excellence in leadership, vision, reliability, innovation and achievement. Visit GovConWire to see the full list of 2021 Wash100 Award winners. You can now cast TEN votes for your favorite GovCon executives at Wash100.com . "This is our eighth consecutive year recognizing the outstanding achievements of the most significant GovCon and federal executives in 2020 as well as the vision and success they will continue to bring in 2021 and beyond, said Jim Garrettson , founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic. For the eighth consecutive year, the GovCon community will celebrate the accomplishments of the elite GovCon and federal leaders across the federal marketplace to drive innovation and growth as the groundbreaking and ongoing initiatives related to policy, emerging technology and other aspects of the sector continue to heavily influence the landscape. You can learn more about the full list of 2021 Wash100 Award recipients on ExecutiveBiz and ExecutiveGov as well as how to cast your votes to ensure your favored GovCon executives receive recognition for their accomplishments in 2020 and their upcoming success in 2021. Following the race to the top of the 2020 Wash100 Popular Vote Rankings , this year's voting season is expected to initiate more enthusiasm, anticipation and high-energy participation from the GovCon community that will result in the largest turnout of voting in the history of the Wash100 Award. Visit Wash100.com to vote for your favorite executives in the federal sector and learn more about the Wash100 Award's prestigious history and the latest class of winners from 2021. About Executive Mosaic Jim Garrettson founded Executive Mosaic in 2002 to provide a cross-media platform and exclusive forum for top-tier executives in the Washington, D.C., region. Executive Mosaic offers highly coveted executive events, breaking business news on the GovCon industry, and robust and reliable content through influential websites and three consequential E-newswires. Headquarters are located in Tysons Corner, Va. Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Executive Mosaic Related Links http://www.executivemosaic.com WHITE HALL A North Greene High School senior is out to represent rural America after being named a candidate in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Sarah McEvers, 18, recently learned that she is one of 4,500 students recognized for exemplary achievements from among a field of 3.6 million students nationwide. I couldnt believe it was real, McEvers said. Im super, extremely excited about this, she said. Being selected into the program, for which she was nominated by her English teacher, is one of the highest honors a graduating high school senior can receive. Candidates are selected on academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and community involvement. Im just happy to represent rural Illinois, she said, adding that most students selected come from larger cities and this is a great way for her to represent her community. The 4,500 candidates will be evaluated by a panel of educators, who will select 600 semifinalists in April. The Commission on Presidential Scholars then will select up to 161 finalists. I will know in the beginning of May, McEvers said. If selected, McEvers will have the opportunity in June to visit Washington, D.C., for the National Recognition Program, which will feature various events and enrichment activities before culminating in the presentation of the Presidential Scholars Medallion during a White House-sponsored ceremony. Im happy to have the opportunity to be in the White House and receive the medallion, she said. To get herself to the next round, McEvers has until mid-February to put in 16 hours of work consisting of writing six essays, fulfilling community service, and requesting recommendations from teachers and community members. I need to get going, she said. McEvers mother, Amber Nash, couldnt be prouder of what her daughter has accomplished, though she said shes getting used to it. Honestly, I have always been proud of Sarah, Nash said. For the most part, she has made my life as a parent easier. Filling out the original application at the beginning of the school year was something they were willing to try. We knew it would be a long shot, but you dont know if you dont try, Nash said. Once they received word that McEvers had been selected, we were in shock and awe, Nash said. Sarah McEvers mother and her father, Chuck McEvers, are both teachers and Sarah McEvers lived at schools as she was growing up, Nash said. She would run up and down the halls after school while I was still working, Nash said. Sarah McEvers grew up competing in dance and is a member of her high school volleyball team. She has volunteered throughout her high school career as a class officer, worked with the student council and is president of her schools chapter of the National Honor Society. She was crowned Miss Greene County Days in 2018 and participates in the Greene-Calhoun CEO student program, through which she runs a pop-up boutique store in White Hall twice a month, giving her business ownership experience. She just has a huge, big heart and shes happy to step up, Nash said. Sarah McEvers plans to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to study secondary education, with an eye on becoming a history teacher. I can give back to the community, Sarah McEvers said of teaching. I can learn history and make history. For her parents, knowing that their daughter wants to go into teaching is something else in which they can take pride. Im quite honored that she would follow in our footsteps, Nash 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. Andrew Spark, 58 (pictured), solicited sex inside attorney-client visitation rooms at two separate Florida jail facilities, a release from the Florida Bar said on January 28. An attorney in Florida has been disbarred for filming a sexual encounter with at least one female inmate for the production of a pornographic video. Andrew Spark, 58, solicited sex inside attorney-client visitation rooms at two separate Florida jail facilities, a release from the Florida Bar said on January 28. 'Spark video recorded these encounters with the goal of creating an adult pornographic film for his own prurient and/or financial interest,' the release said. After pleading guilty to three separate charges, the lawyer has been on probation since February 8, 2019 and will remain so until February 7, 2024. The the summary of Florida Supreme Court's ruling to disbar Spark said that he had been disbarred on January 21, having already been suspended after his convictions. 'Spark abused his privilege to practice law and used his law license to engage in deception with the intent to access private rooms provided to attorneys in two separate jail facilities for the purpose of soliciting prostitution,' the release said. The former lawyer was first arrested in 2017 after being caught in the act of soliciting sex from 28-year-old Pinellas County Jail inmate Antoinette Rose Napolitano. According to the uncontested report of the case referee, Spark would take advantage of women Pinellas and Hillsborough county jails. Police said at the time he had an arrangement with the drugs suspect: He would put $30 to $40 in her commissary account if she had sex with him in the attorney-client meeting room. He would then allegedly post videos of their trysts on the internet. Spark was also involved with another woman in jail. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in 2017 that the lawyer had pretended to be the personal attorney of another women who was sentenced for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old. The investigation into Spark began in November when they got a tip about him approaching 25-year-old inmate Shauna Boselli, left, and offering to pay her money to have sex with him in the attorney-client meeting room at the Pinellas County Jail. She turned him down, but police discovered that he had convinced another inmate, 28-year-old Antoinette Napolitano (right), who he slept with six times while she was behind bars According to Law & Crime, Spark approached Shauna Boselli two days before she was sentenced to 40 years in Federal prison, soliciting her for sex on camera in return for money. While she refused, she was open to it in the future. Gualtieri said that the lawyer had met Boselli and her co-defendant husband two years earlier at a pornography convention in Tampa, with Spark wanting to shoot videos with the woman, but, the Sheriff said, they could not agree on a price. To speak with her in November 2017, Spark reportedly showed his Florida Bar identification, claiming he was representing her. 'He really duped the system because he shouldn't have access to her,' Gualtieri said. 'He wasn't her lawyer; he wasn't representing her. But as an attorney, he's given the courtesy of going into the jail to meet with clients.' Spark told Boselli that he was making a series of pornographic videos in which female inmates gave him oral sex, and that he had already done this with others, bragging that he had done so with another inmate named 'Rose'. Boselli went on to tell family members of what Spark had proposed, who in turn told law enforcement officials. Following his arrest, investigating officers used a warrant to search his electronic devices where they found photos of an inmate at Hillsborough Countys Falkenburg Road Jail (pictured). He also reportedly used his tablet to film Napolitano giving him oral sex Investigators found that Spark had done some pro-bono work for Antoinette Rose Napolitano before her arrest for drug charges. Gualtieri also said that Spark had been a sexual client of Napolitano's after they met online. Finding that Spark had visited Napolitano in October 2017, police were able to convince her to be an undercover agent for them, setting a trap to catch him. When Spark returned to the jail on December 17, 2017, he again used his Florida Bar ID and attorney privileges to take her into the attorney-client room, expecting the usual arrangement to take place. However, 'Law enforcement then entered the room and arrested [Spark], who had his zipper down,' the referee's report said. Following his arrest, investigating officers used a warrant to search his electronic devices where they found photos of an inmate at Hillsborough Countys Falkenburg Road Jail. He also reportedly used his tablet to film Napolitano giving him oral sex. Records show that Spark once worked for the Florida Attorney General's Office as an assistant attorney general, but quit in 2011. COSTA MESA, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sovereign Lending Group (SLG), a leading mortgage lender for veterans and millennials, today announced earlier that it had been recognized by the Energage Top Workplaces Program as a 2021 Financial Services Top Workplace in the United States . This comes on the heels of SLG providing additional repayment options to loan borrowers, as well as employment opportunities to those working in industries impacted by COVID-19. "At Sovereign Lending Group, our culture is extremely important to us and the work that we do," said CEO and Co-Founder Dan Holtz of Sovereign Lending Group. "We understand that to go above and beyond for our clients, our employees must be happy. We are so proud to be recognized as a 2021 Top Workplace in the United States for the culture that we have created." Due to the pandemic, the U.S. unemployment rate jumped in April to a level not seen since the 1930s and still stood at 6.7 percent in December. Sovereign Lending Group has responded to this crisis by implementing innovative work from home model-driven to heighten employees' work experience, effectiveness, and wellness on top of providing additional employment opportunities in and out of state to hospitality, restaurant, and retail professionals. "Sovereign Lending Group has given me so much support in my transition to the mortgage industry from the hospitality industry," said Jasper Potter, newly hired MLO at Sovereign Lending Group. "SLG has welcomed me with open arms and it really feels like family here." Surveying and studying more than 66,000 organizations since 2006, Top Workplaces helps recognize companies who operate efficiently with strong values, have great communication between employees and management, and thrive on innovation. For more information about Sovereign Lending Group, please visit slgmortgage.com , and for open positions, click here . About Sovereign Lending Group Sovereign Lending Group is a VA loan lender with headquarters in Southern California and Dallas, Texas. Sovereign Lending Group provides home purchase, home refinance, second mortgage, and home equity loans to clients throughout the U.S. with the lowest possible interest rates and closing costs. To learn more about Sovereign Lending Group, please visit, www.slgmortgage.com. SOURCE Sovereign Lending Group Inc. A mother of four from Collingdale, just outside Philadelphia in Delaware County, Elyssa Falls has trudged dutifully through the pandemic, home-schooling her 10-, 7-, and 5-year-old kids while entertaining her toddler. Whats hardest to handle, however, is a slowdown in the parole process thats kept her husband, Keith Falls, in state prison with no clear timeline for returning home. Keith, who has struggled with addiction, was arrested for a third-offense DUI in September 2019. Because that was a parole violation for the previous DUI, he was returned to state prison for a six-month hit. After that, he was told, hed be given a parole interview, so the violation could be resolved and he could begin serving his sentence for the 2019 offense. But after a year and a half in prison, that interview still has not taken place, Elyssa Falls said. I have written letters saying, I dont understand. He got a six-month hit, but hes well past his six months. Everything is backed up. Its a mess, Falls said. We understood he would have to do time for violating parole, but that time has well past come and gone. In the interim, her husband caught COVID-19, along with more than half of those incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Laurel Highlands, where 11 have died. Altogether, 96 state prisoners and four staff have died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. There have been at least 13,000 confirmed cases in the state prisons 3,895 among staff and 9,431 among incarcerated people an infection rate more than three times higher than in Pennsylvania as a whole. At the same time, advocates say officials are not acting with requisite urgency to reduce the prison population, which state leaders agree is central to mitigating the spread of the virus. About 700 fewer people were paroled or re-paroled from April through December of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, official statistics show. A reprieve process introduced by Gov. Tom Wolf in April resulted in only around 160 releases, out of a prison population of around 40,000. Legislation advancing medical parole has stalled. Meanwhile, the states historically slow commutation process, the only release valve for life-sentenced prisoners, remains sluggish. Thirteen people recommended for clemency are now awaiting Wolfs signature, while one man in the queue, Bruce Norris, died last week after contracting COVID-19 in prison. READ MORE: Commutation in sight, Pa. lifer Bruce Norris died of COVID-19 awaiting governors approval Everything is just moving at a snails pace, said Claire Shubik-Richards, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, who has received many complaints about delays in every facet of the system. Its just a bureaucratic morass, causing these deaths, causing these infections, and causing these outbreaks. A Parole Board spokesperson said that parole interviews have proceeded as normal throughout the pandemic, and any decline in the number of people paroled could be traced to a decline in the parole-eligible prison population. The board has adapted to COVID-19-related challenges, like quarantines that prevent prisoners from attending parole interviews, by creating more flexible, rolling interview schedules, the spokesperson said. Bret Bucklen, who oversees statistics for the Department of Corrections, added in an emailed statement: I estimate that 90 percent or higher of all parole-eligible incarcerated individuals are being interviewed at or before their [parole eligibility] date. Most are interviewed months before their [minimum] date, and this hasnt changed and has even improved. Pennsylvania state prisons, which went into lockdown in March, weathered the first wave of the pandemic with relatively few cases of COVID-19. But the virus spread rapidly through the fall and winter at institutions around the state. Additional cases may have gone undetected, as staff are not required to be tested, and universal testing of prisoners has been limited to certain facilities or cell blocks. As of Monday, Forest County in rural Western Pennsylvania ranked among the nations top 10 coronavirus hot spots. That can be largely attributed to the DOCs latest outbreak, at State Correctional Institution Forest, where 940 prisoners and 135 staff caught the virus, according to the COVID Prison Project. (The Department of Corrections removed its own public-facing dashboard after complaints about data inconsistencies). READ MORE: Confronted with significant flaws in coronavirus data, Pa. corrections officials concede its unacceptable Robert Pezzeca, a prisoner at SCI Forest, said some with COVID-19 symptoms were failing to report it for fear of triggering even stricter lockdowns. Its been almost a year of being locked in a cell 23+ hours per day, he said in an email in January. A few days later, he followed up to say he had tested positive for the virus. I cannot lay on my back or chest, feels like my lungs are collapsing, he wrote. As of Jan. 29, more than 800 DOC staff were out on COVID-19-related leave. John Eckenrode, president of the Pennsylvania State Correctional Officers Association, said he was urging the Department of Corrections to cease prisoner transfers and to seek vaccines for prison staff as soon as possible. He posited that the virus had largely burned itself out for the moment. But without action, he said, well be back in the same boat we were before. Since the start of the pandemic, the state prison population has declined by 14%. But Shubik-Richards said much of that decline can be linked to fewer admissions, as the pandemic forced courts to shut down. READ MORE: Coronavirus death counts exceed one per day in Pa. prisons. Gov. Wolf needs to use all the tools he has. | Editorial Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel, in a hearing held by state lawmakers in January, repeatedly said that Wolf was not interested in expanding the use of reprieves. Meanwhile, Shubik-Richards said, some people have been stuck in county jails for weeks awaiting transport to state prison, just so they could be assessed for early-release programs. Its almost like people have become numb to the fact that this is a crisis, she said. Other prisoners, like Falls, had their parole interviews canceled or delayed because lockdowns had prevented them from completing required programming. Falls, who worked building and maintaining cell towers, was the sole breadwinner before his arrest. Now, his wife is getting with by part-time work, help from family, and support from First Baptist Church of Collingdale, which is providing housing. Im a pretty strong person. But lately the not knowing and the timing of things has just been really rough, she said. Meanwhile, for some elderly prisoners serving life sentences, hope that the Board of Pardons could offer a route home amid the pandemic has faded. Wolf has not approved a lifer for commutation since June 2020, and 13 men and women who were recommended by the board last year are still awaiting approval. A spokesperson said in a statement that Wolfs staff was unable to expedite the review process without additional resources. Francisco Mojica, who received the boards recommendation in September 2020 after 29 years in prison, said Norris death while awaiting Wolfs approval had shaken him. I am beginning to get afraid that I might also eventually get the virus and die before the governor has the chance to sign my paperwork, he said. I cant help but think that I made it this far and this long in here, only to have it all slip away. An outreach worker is set to visit some of Corks public sex cruising spots to offer sexual health advice and supports. Recruitment is now underway for the HSE-funded public sex environment outreach worker role with the Sexual Health Centre in Cork city. Dr Martin Davoren, the centre's executive director, described it as a challenging yet exciting new role. Its quite a bespoke role and its not going to be for everybody but we are excited to introduce it, he said. While some people use apps to hook up with sexual partners, Dr Davoren said there was a significant cohort of mainly older men who dont use such technology to meet sexual partners. Public sex environments are active and alive in Ireland, he said. "One of our missions is to reduce barriers to access to sexual health advice and supports. We need to meet people, especially those who are marginalised or who are hard to reach, in environments where they are active. "With up to 6,000 people living in Ireland today with HIV, one of the biggest things we can do is provide people with an up-to-date status and link them to care and supports to ensure they can live a long and healthy life." The role will initially focus on responding to the sexual health needs of men who have sex with men in a public environment, with the outreach worker providing information leaflets and condoms, signposting services and supports, and encouraging people to talk about their sexual health. But it is hoped that, in time, the centre will be able to deploy a mobile testing unit to provide rapid HIV testing on-site. Dr Davoren said they have learned a lot from their European counterparts about what's needed to make the role safe and effective. The outreach worker will be accompanied during site visits and will have a check-in app with a direct link to a security company. After a 7-year-old was killed while playing on his porch, Darlene Burton, a longtime Kensington resident, stood on a busy Philadelphia intersection last summer with a sign imploring fellow Philadelphians to Stop Shooting Our Babies. Last month, 73-year-old Vietnam veteran Donnie Andrews kicked off his annual 30-day commitment against violence at the corner of Belfield and Wyoming Avenues with his own sign that read: Murder in Phila. Cain you got to stop killing your brother Abel. On Martin Luther King Day, longtime city activist Jamal Johnson, 63, began his one-man hunger strike outside City Hall in hopes that leaders would treat the gun-violence epidemic with the same urgency as the coronavirus pandemic. And specifically, that Mayor Jim Kenney might find his way to talk to him about a September 2020 City Council resolution introduced by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier that would declare gun violence a citywide emergency. So far, nothing. We want the same type of attention that theyre giving to the COVID crisis, said Johnson. Hold daily briefings, tell us whats happening, tell us the strategy, tell us whats been accomplished. Thats my goal, for him to acknowledge the resolution and tell us what, if anything, hes going to do about it. One night last week, Johnson joined Rosalind Pichardo, who was camping out for peace for a few days in a vacant lot on North 11th Street to call attention to gun violence that has affected too many in her life to count. No crowds. No hordes of reporters. Just lone citizens doing what officials, trying to cover up their own failures, often imply they arent doing: their parts. These examples might seem as if they reinforce that tired trope. Where are all the people, right? But this is what you see if you arent really paying attention, or if you want to reduce residents individual and collective efforts. Every day, Philadelphia residents endure under the weight of gun violence. Last year the city saw nearly 500 homicides, and as of Feb. 2, 50 murders already more than 30% higher than the same time period in 2020. Sometimes residents go it alone. Other times they stand together at rallies and protests and endless hearings and news conferences where city leaders always promise to do more but never quite come through. Theres nothing youre going to name we havent done, said Johnson, who has also walked to D.C. for the last four years to bring awareness to police brutality. The people who say nobody cares are the people who dont care, Burton said. In addition to her one-woman antiviolence protests, Burton has recently turned her attention to hanging free face masks on a tree outside her home. Could city residents do more? We all can, but residents might be more inclined if they could trust that theyd be safe when they spoke up, or if dangerous criminals werent given reduced sentences only to go on to commit more heinous crimes, or if police solved more than half of the citys homicides. If the city showed the kind of all-hands-on-deck focus we now know it is capable of. If elected officials, including Mayor Kenney, remembered that they work for city residents, who shouldnt be ignored. Am I seeing that decrease in violence because were doing these things? Pichardo, 43, said. No, I think now its worse than ever. But its even more important for us to be persistent, to set an example for each other. In the meantime, Andrews recently wrapped up his protest, where for the last 40 years he has written antiviolence messages on a blackboard affixed to a building on the same corner. He recently hung the funeral programs there of young men from the neighborhood who have been picked off one by one by gun violence: Gary Hall Jr. in 2006, Maurice Woods in 2007, Jerome Cox in 2010, Shanik Gantt in 2012, Tyshawn Malik Woods and Demetrius Green in 2020. Pichardo hits the streets, finding endless ways to try to keep people in Philadelphia from dying from drugs and guns these days with community kits filled with gun locks, Narcan to reverse overdoses, and bandannas that could be used as face masks and tourniquets. Burton keeps her mask tree stocked. Even as he grows weaker from not eating since Jan. 18, Johnson is at City Hall every day. On Monday, he stood alone, pleading into his megaphone as snow steadily covered everything around him. The numbers show we are not doing enough, Mr. Mayor, so come on out. Stop hiding behind COVID-19. And Jesus H., Mayor Kenney! Would it kill you to spare a few minutes and come down to speak to Johnson? Im afraid, weeks into his hunger strike, it might kill him if you dont. 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. 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. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Galway-based Everyday Finance has succeeded in a High Court motion to be named the first claimant in a case related to security that was used by financier Peter Lavelle to raise loans from Anglo Irish Bank. The move was objected to by Capita, which is the trustee of a trust whose original beneficiaries were Mr Lavelle, his wife and children. In 2019, Everyday which is owned by London-based Link Financial acquired loans for which Mr Lavelle had provided interests in shopping malls in Bulgaria and Poland as security. Everyday acquired them from another firm called Stapleford Finance. Mr Lavelle borrowed money from the now defunct Anglo Irish Bank in 2006 and 2007 to invest in property deals promoted by Quinlan Private, which is now known as Avestus Capital Partners. Mr Lavelle provided his interests in the Mall of Sofia Shopping Centre and the Galeria Kazimierz in Krakow as security to Anglo for those loans. Avestus currently holds proceeds from those two investments. Capita denies that the funds now held by Avestus are secured against the loans in question. The Mall of Sofia was sold in 2011 for 100m by Avestus and GE Real Estate. After Anglo collapsed, Mr Lavelles loans were eventually sold to Stapleford in 2014. That firm later failed in a 2016 High Court effort to secure summary judgment for almost 6m against Mr Lavelle. Stapleford sold the loans in 2019 to Everyday Finance, which then sought to replace Stapleford as the first claimant in proceedings. Stapleford has used Pepper Finance to service the loans. The judge hearing the motion, Justice Brian OMoore, said that the evidence was not contradicted. He said the only evidence in response was an affidavit from an employee of Apex Financial Services, which is the new name for Capita. That employee claimed Capita did not receive notification that the proceedings or the claim to the two investments in question were assigned to Pepper. He said that Capita was not notified that Pepper had assigned the proceedings or claim to Everyday. The judge noted that Capitas counsel made some submissions to the court that referred to the efficacy if the transfers prior to any acquisition by Everyday of an interest in Mr Lavelles loans and the associated security. I do not think that such submissions relate to the motion before me, he noted in granting Everydays application. Mr Lavelle was a financial markers trader in London for a number of years and became resident in Ireland in 2008. He was involved as an investor in high-profile deals including the 180m purchase in 2006 of the former Bank of Ireland headquarters on Dublins Baggot Street. The High Court heard in 2016 that based on tax advice, Mr Lavelle had maintained a substantial amount of money on deposit with Anglo Irish Bank in the Isle of Man until he became resident in Ireland. He had loans with Anglo to invest in deals undertaken by Quinlan Private that included the acquisition of Jurys Inns in 2007, as well as other investments in Ireland and Germany. As President Joe Biden was sworn in on 20 January, there was rampant debate in Israeli political circles about possible changes in American foreign policy. Can such changes impact Israeli interests? Two issues were deemed especially critical: reaching a settlement with the Palestinians and addressing the nuclear threat from Iran. There are two questions on the minds of Israeli leaders right now. First, will Biden withdraw the deal of the century that was pushed by former president Donald Trump? This included recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and establishing a Palestinian state on 70 per cent of the West Bank in addition to the Gaza Strip. At the same time, it left the demarcation of borders between East and West Jerusalem to bilateral negotiations without breaching the unity of the city now recognised as the capital of Israel. Secondly, after eliminating the deal of the century, would Biden present a new vision for relaunching talks between Palestinians and Israelis? What would become of the gains Israel made in the deal, which the Palestinians officially rejected? Will Bidens new path of negotiations erase those gains? The only statement by the Biden administration came on 27 January, when the US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills told the Security Council: 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. In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis. This will involve renewing US relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people. These statements do not suggest that the Biden administration has a plan to relaunch talks between Palestinians and Israelis any time soon. All that it is likely to do is revive US relations with the Palestinians after they deteriorated gravely under Trump. Biden may later resort to reviving the negotiating process between the two sides, but within a regional framework that takes advantage of Israels desire to expand normalisation with Arab countries, a process that began during Trumps tenure, and so put pressure on the Israeli government. Arab countries would then announce their sponsorship of negotiations with US participation, on condition that Israel should commit to a two-state solution. Or perhaps he will revive the role of the Quartet (US, Russia, EU and UN) as sponsors of the process, on the same terms. In any case, Biden will endeavour to avoid a clash with Israel, leaving the entire issue to a wider regional or international framework. This means fruitless negotiations and a repeat of previous, useless solutions, since Israel directly rejects a two-state solution or indirectly promotes what is known as negotiations without conditions, which the Palestinian leadership tried during former US president Barack Obamas tenure only to meet with failure. Making matters even more complicated, in March Israel will hold its fourth election in two years. In election campaigns and statements by the Prime Minister and leader of the Likud Party Benjamin Netanyahu and his rivals in the right wing camp -- which he allegedly leads -- such as Naftali Bennett, leader of the Yamina Party and Gideon Saar, leader of the New Hope Party, it is apparent that right wing leaders are competing over who will be more hardline in rejecting a two-state solution. Netanyahu, as usual, is being elusive by theoretically accepting the two-state solution but practically refusing to grant Palestinians a real and viable state. He focuses on issues that guarantee Israels security, which in reality means putting a weaponless, symbolic Palestinian state under Israels full control within the borders that Israel decides for it. Meanwhile, Bennett, who previously served as minister of defence in Netanyahus government, is adamant about openly rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state even with minimal sovereign powers and on minimal possible land. Newcomer Saar has joined the fray, declaring his rejection of a two-state solution and stating in an interview with the Times of Israel in January, I think the national interest for Israel is in the direction of autonomy [for the Palestinians], with regional arrangements, and not an independent Palestinian state, which is both impossible and dangerous, and not a single, binational state either. To put it more plainly, the Biden administration will not be able to achieve any real breakthrough in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because of the growing power of right-wing parties in Israel, which all reject a two-state solution. On Iran, Israel is worried that Biden will initiate a return to the nuclear deal signed by Iran and the five major world powers in the Security Council as well as Germany in 2015. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018. On 12 January, Bloomberg published a report titled Israel Wants to Derail Bidens Plan to Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal, which details how Israel is disturbed by Washington merely considering a return to the nuclear deal with Iran. Netanyahu had described a return to the deal as a major mistake, and he is trying to convince the Biden administration not to rejoin the deal, even if Iran said it was willing to recommit to obligations it abandoned after Trump withdrew from the agreement and reinstated sanctions. Netanyahu believes any new deal with Iran must include a ban on the production of ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear heads, as well as more guarantees to block Iran from continuing enriching nuclear fuel in the future. On 19 January, Iran responded to unofficial reports that Biden may invite Tehran to negotiate a new deal that could include the six countries involved in the 2015 agreement, as well as Saudi Arabia. Iranian media reported that Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said: The nuclear deal is an international multilateral agreement adopted by the Security Council in Resolution 2231, and is non-negotiable. The signatories are clear and cannot be changed. On 22 January, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif published an article in Foreign Policy stating, If the US begins to unconditionally lift all the sanctions on Iran that were imposed, renewed or reclassified since Trump took office, then Tehran will reverse the measures it has taken since the US withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Overall, whether on the Palestinian issue or Irans nuclear portfolio, Biden will face serious challenges in making a real breakthrough. In the end, it will depend on Washingtons overall strategy and its vision for achieving its interests across the globe, especially in the face of Chinese and Russian ambitions. Only when this strategy is formulated will Bidens policy on the Middle East and those two issues in particular be clear. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) announced today that its 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held via live webcast on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 2 p.m. ET. Instructions for accessing the webcast are available on the Company's investor relations website, https://investors.fmc.com. About FMC FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides innovative solutions to growers around the world with a robust product portfolio fueled by a market-driven discovery and development pipeline in crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management. This powerful combination of advanced technologies includes leading insect control products based on Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr active ingredients; Authority, Boral, Centium, Command and Gamit branded herbicides; Talstar and Hero branded insecticides; and flutriafol-based fungicides. The FMC portfolio also includes biologicals such as Quartzo and Presence bionematicides. FMC Corporation employs approximately 6,400 employees around the globe. To learn more, please visit www.fmc.com . FMC, the FMC logo, Rynaxypyr, Cyazypyr, Authority, Boral, Centium, Command, Gamit, Talstar, Hero, Quartzo and Presence are trademarks of FMC Corporation or an affiliate. Always read and follow all label directions, restrictions and precautions for use. Products listed here may not be registered for sale or use in all states, countries or jurisdictions. Hero insecticide is a restricted use pesticide in the United States. The Company's investor relations website, located at https://investors.fmc.com, should be considered as a recognized channel of distribution, and the Company may periodically post important information to the website for investors, including information that the Company may wish to disclose publicly for purposes of complying with the federal securities laws. After April 27, 2021, this type of information will no longer be regularly provided by press release but will continue to be posted on the investor relations website. Statement under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events, future business conditions and the outlook for the company based on currently available information. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. These factors include, among other things, the risk factors and other cautionary statements included within FMC's 2019 Form 10-K filed with the SEC as well as other SEC filings and public communications. FMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statement. FMC undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they were made, except as otherwise required by law. SOURCE FMC Corporation Related Links http://www.fmc.com So whats your take? Are you concerned? KEVIN Honestly, not really? Its obviously not great for public safety that neo-Nazis, far-right militias and other dangerous groups are finding ways to communicate and organize, and that those ways increasingly involve end-to-end encryption. Weve seen this happen for years, going all the way back to ISIS, and it definitely makes things harder for law enforcement agencies and counterterrorism officials. At the same time, theres a real benefit to getting these extremists off mainstream platforms, where they can find new sympathizers and take advantage of the broadcast mechanics of those platforms to spread their messages to millions of potential extremists. The way Ive been thinking about this is in a kind of epidemiological model. If someone is sick and at risk of infecting others, you ideally want to get them out of the general population and into quarantine, even if it means putting them somewhere like a hospital, where there are a lot of other sick people. Its a pretty bad metaphor, but you see what I mean. We know that when theyre on big, mainstream platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, extremists dont just talk among themselves. They recruit. They join totally unrelated groups and try to seed conspiracy theories there. In some ways, Id rather have 1,000 hardened neo-Nazis doing bad stuff together on an encrypted chat app than have them infiltrating 1,000 different local Dogspotting groups or whatever. BRIAN I see where youre going with this! When you open Facebook or Twitter, the first thing you see is your timeline, a general feed that includes posts by your friends. But you could also see posts from strangers if your friends reshared them or Liked them. When you open Signal or Telegram, you see a list of the conversations you are having with individuals or groups of people. To get a message from someone you dont know, that person would need to know your phone number to reach out to you. So to complete our analogy, Facebook and Twitter are essentially billions of people packed into an enormous auditorium. Encrypted messaging apps like Signal and Telegram are like big buildings with millions of people, but each person is living inside a private room. People have to knock on one anothers doors to send messages, so spreading misinformation would take more effort. In contrast, on Facebook and Twitter, a piece of misinformation can go viral in seconds because the people in this auditorium can all hear what everyone else is shouting. MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An Alabama parole officer accidentally shot himself inside the Montgomery field office Tuesday. The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles said the officer, whose name was not released, is in good condition at Baptist South hospital. Capt. Saba Coleman described the victim's injury as non life-threatening. The Montgomery Advertiser reports the officer accidentally discharged one round. No other people were injured or involved. NEW CANAAN Later this month, New Canaanites may be expecting another delivery to their front doorsteps. Grace Farms Foods, a new benefit operation owned exclusively by Grace Farms Foundation, is rolling out the first taste of its new food product line in mid-February. The foundation, which oversees and operates the 80 acres of land that make up Grace Farms on the northern side of town, tasked former Director of Operations Adam Thatcher with a mission to expand the reach of the brand into the homes and pantries of local residents and beyond. Since opening in 2015, food has been a central part of bringing people together at Grace Farms, Thatcher, co-founder of Grace Farms Foods said. Its really exciting to know that we can create opportunities to bring people together at home as well now. Thatcher and the foundation agreed on a monthly subscription model to start their foray into the food business. Last week, Thatcher unveiled the first line of products for Grace Farms Foods. He broke it down into three distinct categories: Sips, drips and chips. These aliases refer to their new lines of herbal organic teas, whole bean coffees and salted chocolate chip cookies, respectively. Grace Farms Foods is currently offering five different herbal teas, including Rooibos Chai, Chamomile Citrus, Spearmint Rose, Hibiscus Orange and Lavender Goji Berry. Grace Farms Foods will be importing its coffee beans from women-led co-ops in Ethiopia, Columbia and Indonesia. Its River Roast blend will emanate from Ethiopia, while its Fairtrade Certified: Single Origin Ketiara will originate in Indonesia and its Single Origin Asoprosierra from Columbia. For its chocolate chip cookies, Grace Farms Foods has partnered with New Canaan resident and former Food Network show Chopped champion Silvia Baldini, who will be prepping the cookies with responsibly sourced cocoa from Guittard Chocolate and Fairtrade Certified sugar and vanilla, according to Grace Farms Foods. A gluten-free chocolate chip cookie option is also in the works, Thatcher said. Grace Farms Foods is also offering free trial boxes for those who visit www.gracefarmsfoods.com. The first trial box will include three salted chocolate chip cookies, one 3.25-ounce bag of ground River Roast coffee and five tea bags of each flavor. Once the company fully launches, according to Thatcher, the website will accommodate monthly subscription orders. Monthly bundles will begin at $27. Customers will also have the ability to gift a box to a friend or family member through a one-time purchase, without having to commit to a monthly subscription. Currently, Thatcher said that the company plans to start with the subscription-based model and work its way up from there. He said that Grace Farms Foods may grow and eventually move into a retail market, but for now they are focused on expanding their brand, first locally, then globally. Grace Farms Foods provides a great opportunity for the New Canaan community and those from farther away to get involved and support the work of Grace Farms Foundation, said Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms Foundation. The good news is that the coffee is already a local favorite, and the new offerings, as an extension of our tea and cookies, have been refined with Adam and Silvias attention to every detail. They are lights-out delicious and good for the planet and people at the same time. The new TikTok Silhouette challenge has taken the popular platform by storm. It has received the attention of many users on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. However, rumors claim that the new trend is dangerous since there are some users that could save the contents, remove the red filter, and post them on other social media sites. This is alarming since Pop Inquirer reported that thousands of people have taken part in the latest challenge, making it the most viral trends on the Chinese app. Many people posted that users should not be doing the new challenge since there are some men that are editing the red filter to reveal the original video or image underneath the red lighting. Why TikTok's new viral challenge is dangerous According to Pop Buzz's latest report, although there's no way that people can remove the red filter once it is applied, there are some methods that some individuals are using to edit the viral contents. Most of the targeted creators are women. If you will search the challenge on Google, one of the most popular searchers is "How to remove the red filter." This just shows that there are lots of users trying to take advantage of the women content creators. Some users are even posting the method on how to remove the red filter that hides the original image or video of the content creators. These include the Twitter account @redlightremover and another Reddit user. Reports confirmed that the posts were already deleted. Here are some of the Twitter posts confirming what other malicious users are doing with the new TikTok craze. Theres a new challenge called the #silhouettechallenge it uses a red light filter and men are using an app to remove the filter to see everything which defeats the purpose of the challenge and overrides consent from the women posting their videos Men ruin everything Noxeema Jackson (@prime_bee) January 28, 2021 Also Read: Applications on Apple's App Store Are Still Tracking Your Data; New Labels Are Inaccurate I reported as unauthorized photo and video of someone else and just selected five of the tweets. Only took a few seconds. Cult of Person-ass-ity (@angryblkhoemo) January 29, 2021 How to report a Twitter post If you want to help and stop the current issue with the new TikTok challenge, you can report any post that is sharing how to remove the filter. It may be a small act, but if many users do this, those posts will be immediately deleted. You can also report the accounts doing it. If you see it on Twitter, all you need to do is take the three horizontal dots and then click report. Select the options harmful or abusive. After that, you can also send an actual statement why you find it harmful or offensive. For more updates about new TikTok trends and other viral challenges online, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: TikTok Silhouette Challenge No Filter Tutorial: How to Remove Red Filter This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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 if Christians in America and in other parts of the world believed God brought Trump in to serve a Kingdom agenda, why do they think the same God cannot use Biden to advance His purposes in America and in the earth? God is multi-dimensional. He cannot be figured out through a narrow lens. Many Christians in America and around the world are still in shock, not because of the ravaging pandemic and other global crises, but because of the outcome of the recent presidential election in the country. A number of prophets in America and across the world, including Nigeria, had prophesied that Trump was going to win the election. In addition, a number of Christians expressed their desire, prayed to and believed God for the continuation of the Trump presidency for another term. Up until a few days before the inauguration, some prophets still believed something could happen that would overturn the result of the election and keep Trump in the White House for another term. But that was not to be. This development has left a number of these people devastated, both mentally and spiritually. Some prophets have summoned the courage to apologise to their teeming followers for getting it wrong with their prophecies. I commend them for that. It is not an easy thing to do. Some peoples faith has been shaken as a result of this development. They are now asking: How could they have gotten it so wrong? Does this mean these are false prophets? First, we need to understand that hidden desires in our subconscious are capable of influencing or interfering with what we receive from God. When one goes to God on an inquiry, with certain desires or biases, one will most likely return with those biases as answers from God. Second, prophetic operations are not as simple as we take them to be. Some prophecies, for instance, are conditional. That these prophets got this wrong and apologised does not necessarily make them false prophets. It does not mean there are no fakes among them though. False prophets are all over the place right now, just as the Bible had warned. Having explained what could be responsible for the wrong prophetic declaration and false predictions, let me move on to the second issue this piece seeks to address. The reasons why conservative Christians in America and others across the world wanted Trump to win the election and continue in the White House have been widely expressed. One is the issue of homosexuality, which the Bible is clearly against. The other issue is abortion. These are some of the major contentious issues that both Democrats and Republicans have clear and distinct positions on. The other is gun rights. However, the issues of homosexuality and abortion were of primary concerns to a number of believers in the past election, as they clearly violate Kingdom principles. It is important for Christians, both in America and other parts of the world to know that taking a stand against homosexuality and abortion through an election does not make one a follower of Christ or a Kingdom believer. What makes us followers of Christ is beyond going against these two issues. Homosexuality and abortion are clearly against Kingdom principles. However, we cannot focus on these two issues and neglect the central issue of love, for instance. I realised from the exchanges on the news and on social media that a lot of people who are claiming to defend Kingdom principles are full of hatred for their fellow citizens. There are other principles of the kingdom that are clearly being undermined by these campaigners. I am focusing on the subject of love because it is the core of our faith and the greatest commandment, according to the Scripture. Paul, in 1 Corinthians dedicated an entire chapter to teaching us how important love is, especially how it trumps (no pun intended) other spiritual expressions such as prophecy, faith, giving of alms, etc. The impression that Trumps Christian supporters are giving to the world is that as long as the issues of homosexuality and abortion are sorted in line with the principles of the Kingdom of God, then everything is fine. The everything is fine means the Christian president gets a pass for other violations of Kingdom principles, which shouldnt be so. Taking a stand against these two issues does not make a Christian or a Godly president. As believers, we must seek to promote the whole counsel of God. I understand that a Republican president would not support abortion and homosexuality. Its great for us as believers, even though thats not all being a believer is about. I understand that we want to see or live in a society that is governed by kingdom principles and values. The third important issue I will like to draw the attention of Christians to is the flaw in the notion that righteousness can be legislated. Laws are great. They help maintain sanity and order in every society. I understand that a Republican president would not support abortion and homosexuality. Its great for us as believers, even though thats not all being a believer is about. I understand that we want to see or live in a society that is governed by kingdom principles and values. However, in as much as laws are great and needed, there is an extent to which righteousness can be promoted through legislation. Lets look at a clear example in the Bible. After the Children of Israel exited Egypt, God gave them a set of laws, as well as a governance system that helped define them as a distinct civilisation. The letters of these laws were in effect for over 1000 years. However, when Jesus Christ came, the letters of the laws were set aside, primarily because they were ineffective in making the people righteous. First, the blood of animals was not capable of providing a sustained redemption and forgiveness of sins before God. Second, the practice of the law and compliance with its provision became ceremonial and ritualistic, with little or no impact on the quality of their being. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross put an end to that practice and the focus shifted from external observance of laws to internal conviction, submission, willing obedience and transformation. In the Book of Hebrews, Chapters 8 and 9, Paul wrote succinctly on the nullification of the old legalistic system that had become obsolete and ineffective. Permit me to reproduce relevant portions of these chapters here: For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. Hebrews 8:7-8, 10-11. The purposes of God will not be stopped, regardless of who wins election into the office of the president in any part of the world and even if election malpractices are exposed in the future, in this instance, it still would not affect Gods purposes. Paul went further to describe the old covenant: Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuaryThis is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washingsexternal regulations applying until the time of the new order. Hebrews 9:1,9-10 From these verses, we can see how God Himself saw the ineffectiveness of the legislation of mans purity and decided to come up with a better arrangement through Jesus Christ by which man gets to become righteous. Having legislations against abortion and homosexuality sounds like a great idea. But it will do very little to make people righteous. The issue of righteousness is beyond the physical observance of laws. It is a matter of the heart. God wants people to willingly submit and obey Him. Having provided this clarification, if Christians in America and in other parts of the world believed God brought Trump in to serve a Kingdom agenda, why do they think the same God cannot use Biden to advance His purposes in America and in the earth? God is multi-dimensional. He cannot be figured out through a narrow lens. A multi-dimensional sight is needed to appreciate a multi-dimensional God. We must not put God in a box. If you do so, we will miss His movements in the earth in these last days. The purposes of God will not be stopped, regardless of who wins election into the office of the president in any part of the world and even if election malpractices are exposed in the future, in this instance, it still would not affect Gods purposes. As Kingdom believers, we should shine the light so that those around us will desire to know our Father and embrace His principles sincerely and not just depend on legislation to make people live righteously. Frederick Adetiba is an author, a management consultant and the Lead Pastor of The Finishing Church, Abuja. He can be reached via ofadetiba@gmail.com and on social media @fredadetiba. EDWARDSVILLE An Edwardsville man faces felony charges in a domestic battery case filed Tuesday. Richard A. Presswood, 36, was charged Feb. 2 with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, and domestic battery (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Feb. 1 Presswood intentionally strangled a household or family member by covering their face with a pillow and wrapping his hands around their neck. It was noted he had a prior 2014 conviction out of Will County for domestic battery. Bail was set at $60,000. Other felony charges filed Feb. 2 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include: Thomas J. Gately, 43, of Glen Carbon, was charged with resisting a peace officer causing injury, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the SIUE Police Department. On Feb. 1 he allegedly fled from an SIUE police officer on foot, resulting in injuries to the officer. Bail was set at $20,000. Kyle J. Brooks, 27, of Granite City, was charged with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On Feb. 1 Brooks, who has a 2020 conviction for aggravated domestic battery in Madison County, allegedly was found to be in possession of a color mini-stun gun. Bail was set at $40,000. Johnny R. Mordis, 50, of St. Louis, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Glen Carbon Police Department. On Aug. 31 Mordis allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen 2019 Nissan Rogue. Bail was set at $20,000. Amil K. Rajput, 52, of Chesterfield, Missouri, was charged with burglary, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Glen Carbon Police Department. On Nov. 1 Rajput allegedly entered a vehicle in the 3900 block of South Illinois 159 in Glen Carbon to commit theft. Bail was set at $15,000. Roscoe D. Friese Jr., 33, of Granite City, was charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and driving while license revoked, both Class 4 felonies. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Nov. 25 Friese, while having a revoked license, allegedly tried to flee a deputy on Homer Adams Parkway near Greenwood Lane in a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500, reaching speeds of more than 21 miles per hour above the posted limit. Bail was set at $40,000. Thomas M. Burns, 27, of Madison, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Oct. 8 Burns allegedly was in possession of a stolen 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Bail was set at $40,000. On Oct. 4 Johnny L. Lucas, 80, of the same address, was charged with unlawful possession of a stolen license plate, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. Lucas allegedly was found to be in possession of a stolen license plate from a 2007 Ford Econoline van. Bail was set at $20,000. 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. Maame Obeng, an African-American teen attending Danbury High School, feels lucky to live in a diverse town where shes able to see other people who look like her at school. However, I did partake in numerous Advanced Placement honors classes. When I was in class, my classmates werent African-American. They werent Hispanic, she said. I looked around the class and everybody was white. As schools recognize and mark the start of Black History Month with celebration and education, Obeng and many other people of color say theyre not looking forward to hearing more about slavery, segregation and the Civil War, along with many other events that traumatized and killed Black people. Looking around class, I felt like everybody was staring at me, because I was the only African-American in my classes, Obeng said, adding that shes not comfortable with schools focusing on negative history. I feel as though we should celebrate African American success stories during this month. Obeng shared her story Tuesday afternoon during an online conversation to kick off and celebrate Black History Month and highlight legislation championed by the General Assemblys Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and other lawmakers. Last year, Connecticut became the first state in the nation to require that all high schools offer elective courses on African American, Black, Puerto Rican and Latino studies. The law, Public Act 19-12, requires that all regional and local boards of education include courses to help students better understand how those groups have contributed to Americas history, society, economy and culture. The move comes after the state Board of Education unanimously approved the curriculum. Identities matter, especially when 27 percent of our students identify as Hispanic or Latino and 13 percent identify as Black or African-American, said former state education commissioner Miguel Cardona, in a December release issued before he was tapped to become U.S. Secretary of Education. High schools can offer the class in the academic year that starts in September and will be required to offer it during the fall of the 2022-23 school year, said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who was on the virtual call Tuesday. The adopted curriculum focuses on a two-pronged inquiry-based approach that includes both content knowledge and student identity development, she said. The coursework utilizes a Connecticut social studies framework, already familiar to local teachers, who are expected to deliver a content-rich and personalized learning experience, Bysiewicz said. The state Department of Education worked with the State Education Resource Center, or SERC, to develop the curriculum. And the development process was guided by a 150-member advisory group comprising educators, administrators, university professors, scholars, national researchers, historians and representatives from education and community organization, and families. Gov. Ned Lamont has called the addition of the elective long overdue, and said adding the course to Connecticut high schools would benefit not only Black and Latino students alike, but also other youth of all backgrounds. Black history, Latino history, Puerto Rican history, are all an integral part of the American experience and the American story, Bysiewicz said Tuesday afternoon. The governor and I firmly believe in the importance of introducing our students to inspirational figures so that they can follow in their footsteps, because, if we show our students that someone who looks like them can become the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, Bysiewicz said, or the first Black and Asian American Vice President ... or the first Black female engineer at NASA they will know that they too can become history makers of tomorrow and achieve their dreams. The law was passed, in large part, due to the efforts and advocacy of many local students, said Desi Nesmith, deputy state education commissioner. Students who take the course will examine historical movements, legislation and wars that have affected their citizenship and rights, and theyll learn to build and create consciousness and civic mindedness while they look at society from a different perspective, said State Senator Doug McCrory, D-Hartford. As a child, McCrory said he was educated in a segregated elementary school in north Hartford and while he had teachers who understood and valued him there, unfortunately, when he moved to high school, he was one of only a few students of color. Actually, February was the worst time...for me because all I learned was that I was a slave, he said. All I learned was what people did for me and did for my people. I didnt learn my stories until much years later, and thats going to change with this curriculum. State Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the legislatures education committee, said to move the needle forward, the next step is to expand the curriculum to kindergarten-through-eighth grade. He and others, including Rep. Bobby Gibson, a Bloomfield teacher, said the new curriculum should also eventually become a requirement, not an optional elective. Eight years ago, Sanchez was in a lecture hall at New Britain High School, speaking to 200 students, about 80 percent of whom were Latino, he added. When I asked the simple question and talked about the 65th Regiment Infantry, which is the Borinqueneers, I was stunned that only three hands were raised, he said, referring to a largely Puerto Rican regiment that fought in World War II and the Korean War. We really need to teach our students about these brave men and women that fought for this country, the majority of them being Puerto Rican, he said. Our own students didnt even know about that. Gibson, an educator of 26 years, said representation of people of color in science and history books is so small, individuals in those racial groups struggle to figure out where they sit at the table in history. That means that they do not see positive contributors and contributions that their ancestors have made, or that they dont understand the prevalence and the presence of racism throughout our history. So they may continue to see themselves negatively, said Hartford Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez. Gibson challenged those attending the conference to become part of the change in making the new course a requirement, not an elective. Thats how important it is, he said. Because the more our kids know about each other and understand about each other, the more they know about inclusion, the more they can love one another. And perhaps some of these ailments we have in our nation right now, would not exist. tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS a five-month-old American Staffordshire terrier, was on verge of death A series of confronting photos have revealed the shocking condition a man subjected a five-month-old Staffordshire terrier puppy called Guinea to at his home. Darren William Budd, 54, from Deeral, south of Cairns, was fined $3,500 in the Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday for three counts of breaching his duty of care to an animal. He will also have to pay approximately $250 in vet and legal costs and is banned from owning new pets for at least 18 months. Guinea (pictured) was severely malnourished after he was seized from a property south of Cairns by the RSPCA The state of Guinea (pictured) when he was seized was confronting for RSPCA officers The court heard Guinea had to be carried out the Deeral property by a responding RSPCA officer at the scene as he was so weak. Guinea was also severely malnourished and had a number of weeping sores when he was seized, according to the Cairns Post. Budd was also charged with failing to adequately feed another dog named Jingo and not supplying enough water to a third dog. The RSPCA inspector first entered Budd's property in May of 2019 when he seized Guinea. He then returned with police last August where one of Budd's dogs was spotted with access to no water. Acting Magistrate Warrington revealed Budd had no previous convictions for animal cruelty. 'Hopefully this has been a wake up call for you,' she said. Magistrate Warrington permitted Budd to keep four registered dogs, but he is banned from owning any other pets until August of 2023. Thankfully the American Staffordshire terrier (pictured above) has made a full recovery - and is now looking the picture of health New Delhi: If you are an HDFC Bank customer, this piece of information will give you a heads-up for your credit and debit card related activities on the banks net and mobile app services. HDFC Bank's credit card related services will not be available on February 4, 2021 from 2am to 3am while the bank's debit card related services will not be available on February 5 from 12.30 am to 5am on net/mobile banking app. HDFC Bank has written to customers, "Dear customer, Apologies, we are revising the scheduled maintenance activity time. Credit card related services will not be available on February 4, 2021 from 2am to 3am and debit card related services will not be available on February 5 from 12.30 am to 5am on net/mobile banking app. Regret the inconvenience caused". It must be noted that this is a regular maintainence exercise that all banks follow from time to time. HDFC Bank will be carrying out the scheduled maintenance activity at such point time (read wee hours here) that it may not majorly affect your banking activities. Notably, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in December last year asked the private sector lender to temporarily stop all launches of its upcoming digital business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers, the bank has said that the central bank's decision will not have any impact on existing credit cards, digital banking channels. RBI asked HDFF Bank to stop the above services after outage at its data centre which impacted operations last month. In addition, the order has directed the bank board to examine the lapses and fixes accountability. Live TV #mute HDFC Bank said that it has been taking major steps to remedy the recent outages on its digital banking channels. The bank has also assured its customers that it expects the current supervisory actions will have no impact on its existing credit cards, digital banking channels and existing operations. Moscow: Russia has cleared a hurdle in its vaccine rollout with the publication in the respected British medical journal The Lancet of late-stage trial results showing that the countrys Sputnik V vaccine is safe and highly effective. The publication is sure to buoy the Russian governments promotion of the vaccine at home and around the world, strengthening the Kremlins hand in vaccine diplomacy with a credible endorsement of the products safety. A vial of the Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as Sputnik V, COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund at the City Clinic #68 in Moscow, Russia. Credit:Bloomberg Russia drew criticism from Western experts when it approved the vaccine developed by the Russian research institute Gamaleya, for emergency use in August before late-stage trials had even begun and started vaccinations that month. It claimed victory in the vaccine race, as it had decades earlier in the space race with the launch of the Sputnik satellite, though at the time other vaccines were further along in testing. In the end, its politicised rollout only served to deepen scepticism. 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 woman who was stabbed and seriously injured in Dublin last month while on her way home from work has died. Mother-of-two Urantsetseg Tserendorj (48), who was originally from Mongolia but had worked and lived in Ireland for several years passed away this morning. She suffered life-threatening knife wounds following the alleged assault and attempted robbery in the capitals financial district on January 20. At around 9.30pm, while on her way to meet her husband after finishing work, she was stabbed near Custom House Quay, in the IFSC, Dublin 1. Ms Tserendorj was rushed to the Mater Hospital where she was treated for her injuries but sadly passed away this morning. Investigators are now awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination to determine the course of the garda inquiry. A 15-year-old teenager has already been charged in relation to the alleged assault and attempted robbery of Ms Tserendorj. The tight-knit Mongolian community in Ireland, made up of around 2,000 people, is said to be deeply shocked by the killing. The family have lived in Dublin for many years where Ms Tserendorj worked as an office cleaner. Her son, aged in his mid-20s, has recently been living in Mongolian while her teenage daughter is currently in her Leaving Cert year. Its understood that in recent days Ms Tserendorjs sister travelled from the east-Asian country to Ireland to be at her bedside before she passed away this morning. At a court hearing last month gardai said that the youth charged in relation to the incident, who cannot me named because he is a minor, may face further serious charges. Gda Mark Barry of Store Street garda station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution at the court appearance last month. He said the boy made no reply when charges were put to him. There was no application for bail and he appeared at the Dublin Childrens Court before Judge Colin Daly. Defence counsel Alison Fynes said there was no application for bail and the teen consented to being further remanded in custody for another four weeks. Adjourning the case until 24 February next, Judge Daly told him directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions needed to be obtained. He explained that they were needed to help determine if the case should stay in the juvenile court or go to a higher court. The boy is charged with assault causing harm contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. He also faces connected charges of attempted robbery and unlawful possession of a knife as a weapon at the CHQ Building, in the IFSC in Dublin 1. Local Independent councillor Nial Ring said the tragic news has brought in to focus the need to tackle knife crime in the area. There are over 2,000 Mongolian citizens working in Ireland and a huge number live around the inner city, as did Urantsetseg, and all they want is a better life for themselves and their families. Urantsetseg lived in the area with her daughter (her son moved abroad to study). This tragic news again bring into focus the necessity and indeed obligation on us all to tackle this problem. On Monday night Dublin City Councillors backed a motion to get the Minister for Justice to set up a task force on knife crime and demanding that the bill Jim O'Callaghan put before the Dail recommending doubling of the knife crime/carrying sentence be enacted. It is incumbent on us to follow up and ensure these initiatives are carried out., he said. We owe it to Urantsetseg, we owe it to the boy killed in East Wall last week (who we all know but can't name!) and we owe it to all victims of knife crime to do our duty as public representatives and public servants to protect the public from crime. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and with the grieving Mongiolian community. Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis, Mr Ring added. The stabbing was one of several violent incidents in the capital in recent weeks which also saw a juvenile knifed to death and a doctor stabbed on his way home from work. The spate of crimes also led to the Justice Minister and the Garda Commissioner meeting for an hour yesterday to outline their concerns. Gardai have also set up a special policing plan in Dublin in an attempt to deal with the issue. Dubais real estate market continued to be attractive to local and global investors in 2020, with the sector recording 51,414 transactions worth over AED175 billion ($48 billion), according to the Dubai Land Department (DLD). The report revealed that real estate sales reached AED72.5 billion with 35,423 transactions, while mortgages recorded 12,958 transactions with a total value exceeding AED87.7 billion, and grants recorded 3,033 transactions worth over AED15 billion. The DLD report also showed that Dubai had attracted 31,648 new investors who concluded 41,571 investments worth over AED73.2 billion. The sector was able to achieve a high volume of transactions despite the global Covid-19 crisis, stated Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of DLD. "This affirms Dubais robust investment environment and its ability to adapt to various circumstances, guided by the leaderships strategic vision to strengthen the capabilities of the emirates real estate sector," he noted. "The 51,414 transactions recorded in 2020 validate the success of the government incentive packages that enhanced the markets attractiveness and provided several opportunities for investors and developers who were keen to continue construction and deliver projects according," he added. According to DLD, there was strong demand for investment in Dubais real estate sector from GCC investors in 2020, with 6,704 investors recording 8,659 investments worth around AED14.8 billion. Emiratis topped the list of GCC nationals, followed by Saudis, Kuwaitis, Omanis, and Bahrainis. A total of 4,388 Arab investors registered 5,283 transactions worth a total value of about AED 7.5 billion. Jordanian investors took the lead, followed closely by Egyptian, Lebanese, Sudanese, and Algerian investors. In foreign investments, Indians topped the list followed by the Chinese, British, Pakistanis, and French. Dubais real estate market attracted 19,757 foreign investors, who concluded 24,666 investments worth over AED35.6 billion. DLDs statistics also revealed that 10,300 women concluded 11,723 investments worth over AED15 billion. Indians also topped the list of nationalities investing in Dubais real estate market, followed by Emiratis. Coming in third was China, followed by KSA, UK, Pakistan, France, Russia, Jordan, and Egypt. Dubai Marina topped the list of areas in terms of the number of transactions, followed by Al Barsha South Fourth, Business Bay, Burj Khalifa, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Al Thanyah Fifth, Al Merkadh, Al Yelayiss 2, Al Hebiah Fourth, and Wadi Al Safa 5. Jebal Ali First topped the list of areas in terms of the value of transactions, followed by Dubai Marina, Al Merkadh, Palm Jumeirah, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Burj Khalifa, Business Bay, Al Barsha South Fourth, Al Thanyah Fourth, and Al Yelayiss 2. Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid topped the list of areas in terms of the number of mortgages, followed by Al Yelayiss 2, Dubai Marina, Al Barsha South Fourth, Jabal Ali First, Burj Khalifa, Al Thanyah Fifth, Meaisem First, Nad Al Sheba 3, and Al Thanyah Fourth, said the DLD report. Jebel Ali First topped the list of areas in terms of the value of mortgages, followed by Palm Jumeirah, Al Merkadh, Al Yelayiss 2, Nad Hessa, Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Business Bay, Dubai Marina, Al Barsha South Fourth, and Seih Al Dahl, it added. Concern grows over possible depletion of state coffer Concerns are growing over the possible depletion of state coffers as the ruling camp is rushing to submit a series of packages that require huge amounts of taxpayers' money. On Tuesday, Rep. Lee Nak-yon, chairman of the governing Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), vowed to provide a fourth round of disaster relief funds to help people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. "The party will consult with the government on ways to secure sufficient extra budget to assist the people," he said during a speech at the National Assembly. Lee's statement is in line with President Moon Jae-in who said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday, that measures were needed to support people reeling from the pandemic. Lee went further, calling for an extension of allowances to juveniles, requiring an additional 6 trillion won ($5.4 billion) per year. It is necessary to support people suffering from the state-imposed ban to cope with the unprecedented health crisis. Yet the idea of offering money to all people, including those unaffected by the pandemic, should be reconsidered because the effectiveness of relief funds is questionable and there are concerns about deteriorating fiscal soundness. More than 20 trillion won is needed for the fourth relief fund and the government will have to issue state bonds to find the money. Any bond issuance should be minimized to prevent government debt from snowballing. Lee's remarks triggered a backlash from the government. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said, "The government cannot accept the idea of offering both universal and selective assistance at once." Hong renewed his opposition Wednesday, saying his statement Tuesday was "a restrained expression from the financial authorities." The party's move was taken as politically motivated ahead of the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections slated for April. Any attempt to woo voters with relief funds is equivalent to a "populist" policy, an irresponsible act that will lead to a huge burden on government coffers and the next generation. The party is already seeking to introduce a "damage compensation bill" to help small businesses and the self-employed hit from the fallout of the pandemic. As the envisioned bill will require around 100 trillion won, the DPK should seriously ponder how to finance it alongside detailed and feasible ways of using the money. As was done in the second and third rounds, the fourth round of funding should be first focused on those most affected with huge losses including daily none regular workers, freelancers and small business owners. Enough money should be offered so that they can recover quickly. As the government is equipped with relevant data on the "selective" assistance via the previous round of relief, it would have no particular difficulties in implementing the payouts. Yet what matters more is for the government to map out more detailed and available measures so that the money can be offered to the needy in a proper manner. Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church in Lagos, has said the South-East does not have the numbe... Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church in Lagos, has said the South-East does not have the numbers yet, to produce a Nigeria President of Igbo extraction. Bakare stated this on Tuesday night, during an Instagram Live session with media mogul, Dele Momodu. According to the outspoken cleric, the Igbo would need a handshake between the North and South, because of the way the country is structured. The Igbos are my brothers and sisters, God bless them, I love them and I care about them. They should also come to mainstream politics because APGA as a party cannot win a presidential election in Nigeria. Yes, every citizen of this country can aspire to that position regardless of ethnic personality and I will be too glad to see an Igbo president. But let us always remember that democracy is a ruthless game of numbers and if you dont have the numbers you cannot continue to shout marginalisation. You should join mainstream politics and find a way of reaching out to others to form some kind of alliance or merger that will produce a victory at the poll, Bakare said. Rising sea temperatures are shrinking our favourite commercial fish including cod and haddock in the North Sea and West of Scotland, researchers have found. Experts from Aberdeen analysed 30 years of trawl survey data on cod, haddock, whiting and saith from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. They found that while juvenile fish in the North Sea and the West of Scotland have been getting bigger faster, the size of adults has been decreasing. Furthermore, these changes in size are correlated with the increases in bottom sea temperatures in both areas, the analysis concluded. According to the researchers, the data predicts a reduction in commercial fishery yields in the short term with the long-term forecast presently unclear. Fisheries will need to factor temperature changes into their forecasts, the team added, as to mitigate the effects of global warming and maximise sustainable yields. The fishing industry in the UK presently employs some 24,000 thousand people and is worth around 1.4 billion to the economy. Rising sea temperatures are shrinking our favourite commercial fish including cod (pictured) and haddock in the North Sea and West of Scotland, researchers have found 'Both the changes in juvenile and adult size coincided with increasing sea temperature,' said paper author and biologist Idongesit Ikpewe, of the University of Aberdeen. 'Importantly, we observed this pattern in both the North Sea, which has warmed rapidly, and the west of Scotland, which has only experienced moderate warming.' 'These findings suggest that even a moderate rise in sea temperature may have an impact on commercial fish species body sizes.' Warming waters limit fish body size because it both contains less oxygen but also increases metabolic rates and, therefore the demand for oxygen. This means that fish more quickly reach the size at which growing larger would prevent them acquiring enough oxygen to meet their metabolic demands. Data used in the study was collected as part of the fisheries-independent Bottom Trawl Surveys, and covered the period from 19702017 for the North Sea and 19862016 for the West of Scotland. 'Our findings have crucial and immediate implications for the fisheries sector,' Mr Ikpewe added. 'The decrease in adult body size is likely to reduce commercial fisheries' yields.' 'However, in the long-term, the faster growing and larger juveniles may compensate, to some extent, for the latter yield loss, as although the increase in length (and, therefore, weight) per individual may be small, younger fish are far more numerous.' 'It is this trade-off that we now need to investigate,' he continued. Experts from Aberdeen analysed 30 years of trawl survey data. They found that while juvenile fish (blue) in the North Sea (right column) and on the West of Scotland (left column) have been getting bigger, the size of the corresponding adults has been decreasing. Furthermore, these changes in size are correlated with the increases in sea temperatures in both areas Alongside the impacts on the fishing industry, changes in the size of these species will also likely affect marine ecosystems, the researchers warned. 'Of the four species we looked at, three cod, whiting and saithe are fish eating predators towards the top end of the food chain and therefore have an important ecological role in the ecosystems they inhabit,' said Mr Ikpewe. 'Since predator size dictates what prey they can target, a change in the body size of these fish species may have implications or predator-prey relationships.' This, he added, could have 'consequences [for] the structure of the food web.' Data used in the study was collected as part of the fisheries-independent Bottom Trawl Surveys, and covered the period from 19702017 for the North Sea and 19862016 for the West of Scotland. Pictured: Saithe (Pollachius virens), one of the fish examined in the study Although the findings do provide strong empirical evidence for changes in fish size and growth rates in warming seas, the team noted that the study had its limitations. The team, for example, only considered so-called 'demersal' species that is, those that live close to the seabed and also did not examine some of the UK's other commercially important species, such herring and mackerel. 'The next stage of our work is to consider the management implications based on modelling these populations,' said Mr Ikpewe. 'The idea is to work out what the size changes we observed may mean for future fish productivity and yield under different scenarios of warming.' The full findings of the study were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. There will be civil disobedience actions -- marches, demonstrations, rallies -- so that we oust this government of evil under popular pressure, said Ishkhan Saghatelian, the coordinator of the Homeland Salvation Movement. He did not go into details. The alliance blames Pashinian for Armenias defeat in the recent war with Azerbaijan and wants him to hand over power to an interim government headed by one of its leaders, Vazgen Manukian. The prime minister has rejected the opposition demands and has offered to hold fresh parliamentary elections instead. The opposition forces failed to attract large crowds for their street protests staged in Yerevan in November and December. Saghatelian said last week that they are now discussing ways of reinvigorating their campaign. The top leaders of the alliance met late on Tuesday as part of those discussions. They included Saghatelian, Manukian, former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian, Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian and former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian. The movement will continue protest actions at top gear and use its entire toolkit for fighting against the authorities, Vanetsian told reporters. He said that the anti-government protests were suspended because of a cold weather, rather than differences among the alliance leaders. Saghatelian acknowledged that they are divided over their participation in snap elections that would be held by the current government. But he downplayed those differences, saying that the opposition forces remain united in their attitude towards Pashinians administration. Kocharian said last week that he and his political allies will participate in the elections if they are organized by the current government. The BHK and Vanetsians Fatherland are also against boycotting such polls. The boycott is favored by Sarkisians Republican Party. [February 02, 2021] Accelerate Files Preliminary Prospectus for Accelerate Bitcoin ETF CALGARY, AB, Feb. 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc., ("Accelerate") is pleased to announce that it has filed and obtained a receipt for a preliminary prospectus with the Canadian securities regulators for Accelerate Bitcoin ETF ("ABTC"). "Ever since launching Canada's first bitcoin fund in July 2017, I've been an advocate for the asset class," said Julian Klymochko, Founder and CEO of Accelerate. "Bitcoin has been one of the best performing asset classes on a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year basis, both absolute and risk-adjusted. Given bitcoin's historical track record and future potential, along with its portfolio diversification properties, we are looking forward to offering investors exposure to the asset class in an easy-to-use, low-cost ETF." ABTC will offer U.S. dollar denominated units and Canadian dollar denominated units, with a management fee of 0.70%. Accelerate has applied to list units of ABTC on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"). Listing is subject to the approval of the TSX in accordance with its original listing requirements. The TSX has not conditionally approved ABTC's listing application and there is no assurance that the TSX will approve the listing application. About Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc. Accelerate is one of Canada's most innovative and fastest growing alternative investment solution providers, with a suite of institutional-caliber alternative ETFs for investors seeking diversfication and long-term performance. Accelerate is empowering investors. Find out more at www.AccelerateShares.com A preliminary prospectus dated February 1, 2021 (the "Prospectus") containing important information relating to these securities has been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada. The Prospectus is still subject to completion or amendment. A copy of the preliminary prospectus is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the securities until a receipt for the final prospectus has been issued. No securities regulatory authority has expressed an opinion about the units of the Funds and it is an offence to claim otherwise. Given the speculative nature of bitcoin and the volatility of the bitcoin market, an investment in ABTC is not intended as a complete investment program and is appropriate only for investors who have the capacity to absorb a loss of some or all of their investment. An investment in ABTC is considered high risk. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States and the securities referred to in this news release may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those identified by the expressions "expect", "intend", "will" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to a Fund or Accelerate. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect Accelerate's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Although Accelerate believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Accelerate undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement or information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors that affect this information, except as required by law. SOURCE Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ADVERTISEMENT The membership registration exercise of the All Progressive Congress (APC) turned violent on Wednesday in Kwara State as members of two factions of the party clashed violently in Ilorin. The violence erupted at the Banquet Hall of Government House where a meeting was holding ahead of the registration exercise. The APC registration and revalidation committee called the meeting to ensure a smooth registration exercise amid the protracted crisis in the party in Kwara which worsened after the removal of Bashir Bolarinwa as the party chairman. Mr Bolarinwa was removed by the national caretaker committee of the party led by Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni. He was replaced with Abdullahi Samari two weeks ago. The development was a fallout of a rift between Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and a group of party leaders led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed. Although the national and North-central leaders of the party have intervened in the rift, no solution has been found. This led to fears of the factions conducting parallel registration exercises in the state. Fracas According to witnesses, the Wednesday clash started after supporters of Governor AbdulRazaq stopped Mr Bolarinwa and his supporters from entering the Banquet Hall for the meeting. This newspaper gathered that the governors office had mobilised Mr AbdulRazaqs supporters to the venue. A female supporter of the governor reportedly charged at Mr Bolarinwa after he managed to enter the hall. This led to exchange of blows and throwing of chairs between the rival sets of supporters, the source told our reporter. Videos and pictures obtained by PREMIUM TIMES showed some supporters of Mr Bolarinwa with injuries while the vehicle of one of them was damaged. But the spokesperson of the APC in the state, Tajudeen Aro, said supporters of the former chairman were the agressors. It was BOB (Mr Bolarinwa) who came into the hall with his thugs to disrupt the meeting, Mr Aro said. A mother-of-three has been labelled 'judgemental' and a 'mean girl' after she shared a list of what to wear to the school gate when picking up the kids. Lauren Dubois, from Canberra, said she used to be 'stressed' when she couldn't decide what outfit to wear from her wardrobe for the school drop-off and pick-up. 'When I became a school mum, I genuinely put time and effort into researching what I should wear to school drop off and pickup. Don't laugh. It stressed me,' the political-journalist-turned-parenting-blogger wrote in a now-deleted Instagram Story. 'If you're a stay-at-home or work from home mum, then you don't wear "work clothes" so you have to wear your regular clothes.' In a series of 'sponsored ad' posts, the mum promoted a fashion brand by sharing examples of her favourite outfits she was planning on wearing for her school run, along with a discount code and a direct link to the online store. Lauren Dubois (pictured), from Canberra, has been labelled 'judgemental' and a 'high school mean girl' after she shared a list of what to wear to the school gate when picking up the kids In a series of 'sponsored ad' posts, the mum promoted a fashion brand by sharing examples of the outfits she was planning on wearing on her school run, along with a discount code and a direct link to the online store Lauren - who has nearly 55,000 Instagram followers - shared a detailed list of what type of outfits mothers should consider wearing - including 'casual but presentable' and 'comfortable enough to spend all day in'. She said the outfit should appear like 'you've put in a small amount of effort so other parents will allow their children to befriend yours' so 'they don't worry about play dates at your house being inside a dumpster'. 'But not a total lie - so for me, that meant minimal activewear because I don't go to the gym. I just can't pretend that I do,' she added, along with a laughing emoji. In her light-hearted post, the parenting author explained that she has a 'massive soft spot for mums turning up to drop off' their kids at school while in their pyjamas. 'Whether it's been a s*** morning or they just really couldn't give a flying f***, I see them and I stan them,' she said. 'But if you're keen to make a good first impression (you can always let them down easy next term) then I have some suggestions for you.' After sharing a detailed list of what type of outfits mothers should consider wearing, Lauren uploaded pictures of herself wearing the different clothing she's planning on wearing on her school run, along with a discount code and link to the sale item However, not everyone seemed to agree with her 'judgemental' statement, with one mother calling her out on Instagram, saying: 'Who gives a f*** what you wear to school drop off? 'If anyone is judging you, they're probably the a**holes that talk about "women empowering women" but in online comments body shaming others for not being a size 6,' she added. One school teacher weighed in, explaining why she 'hated' the fashion post. 'Such a tragic way of showing off a sponsored brand by using emotional first-time school mums to make a few sales,' she wrote. However, not everyone seemed to agree with her fashion statement, with one mother (left) calling her out on Instagram, saying: 'Who gives a f*** what you wear to school drop off?' While one school teacher weighed in (right), explaining why she 'hated' the fashion post 'As a teacher, I can categorically say no one notices what mums wear... The fact parents have turned up for their kids is the win here, not what they are wearing. 'She has no idea how terribly her post could impact on someone without the income to be encouraged to wear this brand rather than op shop, hand me downs, handmade or Kmart clothes a lot of our parents wear in order to put a uniform on their kids' backs.' Despite the backlash, many quickly jumped to Lauren's defence. 'Coming on someone's Instagram page and telling them you don't like their content and expect them to change it for you... is like knocking on someone's door and asking them to change their furniture because it's not to your taste,' one wrote. 'You don't live there. Keep moving.' Lauren hit back at the 'tiny few who whinge, nag and insult' her in a follow up post, saying: 'I'll never be what you want. I can't be. I don't want to be. 'I'm not here for you. I'm here for MY people. I have no obligation to be who you want me to be. You are not my people. Go and find yours. They're somewhere else.' UTICA, N.Y. Police say a man who tried to drive himself to the hospital with a gunshot wound over the weekend, was shot on Smith Place Saturday afternoon. The victim started driving to the hospital after he was shot in the chest, but stopped on Park Avenue around 1:30 p.m. when he spotted police officers to ask them for help. Police didn't know where the man had been shot or how far he drove before stopping for help. After investigating, police determined the man was shot on Smith Place. The victim was in critical condition Saturday, and is now in a medically induced coma. Anyone with information about this shooting should call Utica police at 315-223-3510, or leave an anonymous tip with Mohawk Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-866-730-8477. Louth Senator Erin McGreehan has welcomed the announcement of a special round of funding for the independent commercial radio sector as part of the Sound & Vision Scheme. Senator McGreehan commented: Local radio stations, such as LMFM and Dundalk FM, play such an important role in our communities, highlighting local issues which may otherwise never be brought to light. "They create a dialogue that is crucial in keeping our communities connected. The purpose of this special round is to provide support to the independent commercial radio sector to produce programming which will strengthen public awareness and understanding of COVID-19. From today, independent commercial radio stations can apply for amounts ranging from 40,000 up to 100,000 to assist them in communicating to their listeners on COVID-19 Senator McGreehan continued: Local voices, local news and local views - it cannot be underestimated the value of this. "Local radio improves local democracy and local engagement in what is going on and creates a conversation on national issues, but in a local context. Currently, businesses - understandably - are not placing as many adverts - revenue is crucial to a sustainable radio station. This funding is very welcome. However, Senator McGreehan also added that the local newspaper industry cannot be overlooked in this regard either. It is important that the same idea is replicated for print media also. "We are very lucky in County Louth that we have so many great local newspapers and, similar to the radio stations, a strong and supported newspaper sector is vital. Funding is available to cover costs directly related to the achievement of enhanced public awareness and understanding of the COVID-19 health emergency, including costs that support the achievement of these outcomes. The maximum level of funding to be awarded will have regard to the type of service provided. The closing date for applications is Tuesday, 23rd February 2021. Funding awards will be announced as soon as practicable. Commenting, BAI chief executive, Michael OKeeffe said: The BAI is pleased to support the request of Minister Martin to make funding available specifically for the independent commercial radio sector. "We implemented a similar initiative last year, which provided the sector with much needed funding and resulted in the production and broadcast of a wide range of programme content which provided valuable information to Irish audiences at local, regional and national levels through the pandemic in 2020. COVID-19 continues to have a significant impact on the independent commercial radio sector and this additional funding for 2021 further recognises the role that the sector plays in supporting public awareness and understanding of this health crisis and its value as a trusted information source for listeners during the pandemic. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 22:59:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TAIPEI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's primary and middle schools will postpone the beginning of next semester by four days to Feb. 22 so that they will be more prepared in COVID-19 epidemic control, the island's education department said Wednesday. Colleges were also asked to start the new semester after Feb. 22, the department said in a press release. All international students, arriving in Taiwan for the new semester, should take COVID-19 tests when concluding their quarantine, it added. The island reported two COVID-19 cases Wednesday, both from Indonesia, according to the local epidemic monitoring agency. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan has risen to 917 as of Wednesday. Eight of them have died, 834 have recovered and 75 remain hospitalized, according to the agency. Enditem Imperial Valley News Center Hospital Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets, Sell Them in China Columbus, Ohio - A former Dublin, Ohio, woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court Monday to 30 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions. Li Chen, 47, also conspired to commit wire fraud. Chen admitted in her guilty plea in July 2020 to stealing scientific trade secrets related to exosomes and exosome isolation from Nationwide Childrens Hospitals Research Institute for her own personal financial gain. Chen and her husband, co-conspirator Yu Zhou, 50, worked in separate medical research labs at the Research Institute for 10 years each (Zhou from 2007 until 2017 and Chen from 2008 until 2018). They pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal at least five trade secrets related to exosome research from Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Exosomes play a key role in the research, identification and treatment of a range of medical conditions, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition found in premature babies), liver fibrosis and liver cancer. Court documents detail that Chen conspired to steal and then monetize one of the trade secrets by creating and selling exosome isolation kits. Chen started a company in China to sell the kits. Chen received benefits from the Chinese government, including the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. She also applied to multiple Chinese government talent plans, a method used by China to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government. For far too long, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has encouraged the outright theft of American trade secrets through Chinese government programs that reward researchers for stealing what China cannot produce through its own ingenuity, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division. These programs, like the Thousand Talents, are not innocuous platforms for academic collaboration. Todays conclusion of yet another successful prosecution for theft of trade secrets encouraged by the PRC Government serves as a warning to all who might seek to profit from Chinas illicit efforts to achieve technological dominance through thievery. Chen and her husband executed a scheme over the course of several years to set up businesses in China, steal American research and profit from doing so, said U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers for the Southern District of Ohio. Chen willingly took part in the Chinese governments long-term efforts to steal American intellectual property. She deserves time in federal prison. A hospitals most important mission is to help people live longer and healthier lives. The defendants mission, however, was to steal trade secrets and create a company in China to make money off those stolen trade secrets, said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. The FBI will not stop its efforts to identify people who steal technology for their own financial benefit or for the benefit of a foreign government. Chens sentencing today is a recognition of the seriousness of this offense, said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman of the FBIs Cincinnati Division. Chen admitted to abusing the trust of Nationwide Childrens Hospital by stealing cutting-edge research to establish a company in China for her own financial gain. This sentence should serve as a deterrent to anyone else committing similar acts that the FBI will work closely with our partners to ensure the United States remains a world leader in science and technology innovation. Chen will forfeit approximately $1.25 million, 500,000 shares of common stock of Avalon GloboCare Corp. and 400 shares of common stock of GenExosome Technologies Inc. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution. Chen and Zhou were arrested in California in July 2019 and their case was unsealed in August 2019 when they appeared in federal court in Columbus. Zhou has also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. The FBI Cincinnati Division investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Courter Shimeall, Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous and National Security Division Trial Attorney Matthew J. McKenzie, are representing the United States in this case. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Candidates in the 2022 elections could possibly still hold in-person campaigns, on smaller scale and under stringent regulations, the Commission on Elections said as it considers approaches to ensure safety amid the pandemic. We understand that perhaps an outright ban on face-to-face campaigning might be a bridge too far, but certainly there will have to be changes made there, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told CNN Philippines on Wednesday. There will have to be restrictions on face-to-face events, particularly campaign sorties, he added. The poll body has previously floated a proposal to prohibit face-to-face campaigns as the highly contagious COVID-19 remains a threat. But instead of the total ban, some senators have suggested settling for town hall meetings which will be subject to strict guidelines. Jimenez said that if properly controlled, such smaller gatherings could be a possible compromise. Yes, we will consider if that will be an acceptable halfway point between no regulation and an outright ban, he said. He added that they also intend to open up online campaigning as a viable alternative, but are still studying how to establish an even playing field and ensure online resources are not overwhelmed by candidates with more capabilities." I guess it is time for us to come to grips with this reality, Jimenez said, as he noted that campaign sorties are superspreader events. This is a pandemic. Sacrifices have to be made. We have to understand that were not doing this to make life difficult for politicians. We're doing this to make the elections safer for everyone. He added that while politicians can argue they would adhere to the minimum health standards, the big problem could arise from the crowds they could attract. READ: 'Malaking risk': COVID-19 task force backs Comelec's plan to ban face-to-face campaigns for 2022 polls Jimenez said the Comelec intends to work with the countrys COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force in drafting directives for the campaign and election season. Meanwhile, the government is also considering other modes of voting in the 2022 polls. Mail voting is a solution being proposed. In fact theres legislation pending for it, Jimenez said. But also, other alternative means of voting are being considered, for instance absentee voting, particularly for senior citizens and persons with disabilities." Senators have voiced varied opinions on the possibility of mail-in voting, with some noting it is a successful election practice already used by some Filipinos overseas, and with others saying it raises chances of cheating. Voter registration will run until September 30, 2021. Jimenez said the Comelec would no longer extend past that period, but the poll body earlier announced it will start accommodating registrants even on Saturdays starting this month. ROME, FEB 3 - President Sergio Mattarella's office said Wednesday that the head of State has given Mario Draghi a mandate to try and form a new government after talks lasting an hour and 10 minutes. It said Draghi had "reserved" the right to accept the mandate. The former president of the European Central Bank is now set to have talks with Italy's political parties to see if an eventual executive led by him would have a working majority in parliament. The head of State turned to Mr 'Whatever It Takes (to Save the Euro)' after Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico reported to him on Tuesday that efforts to patch up the coalition that had supported outgoing Premier Giuseppe Conte's executive had failed. Conte quit last week, although he remains at the helm of government for day-to-day business, after ex-premier Matteo Renzi's centrist Italia Viva (IV) party triggered a crisis by withdrawing its support. Mattarella on Friday handed Fico an exploratory mandate to see if there was a way for IV and the other former allies, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the left-wing LeU, to work things out. But it became clear that the talks were destined to fail when Renzi said Tuesday that the other parties were not giving ground. After speaking to Fico on Tuesday, the president, the arbiter of Italian politics, called on the parties represented in parliament to support a "high-profile" non-political executive. He said the nation needed a solid government and argued that now was not a good time for its political class to be focused on an election campaign. In addition to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the State also has to plan and implement projects to make good use of over 200 billion euros Italy is set to get in grants and low-interest loans from the EU's COVID-19 Recovery Fund. Furthermore, Italy holds the G20 presidency this year and it is co-chairing the COP26 UN Climate Summit with the UK. It is not certain, however, that an eventual Draghi executive would win broad backing from parties across the political spectrum. The M5S has said it will not vote in favour of a technocrat government led by Draghi, saying "the only possible government must be a political one". League leader Matteo Salvini, whose party is top of the opinions polls and is the driving force of the centre-right opposition, reiterated his call for snap elections. "Sovereignty belongs to the people," said Salvini. Salvini's ally Giorgio Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said early elections were better than a Draghi government. However, the other main party in the centre-right coalition, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI), did not close the door, recalling the "long-standing esteem" between the ex-premier and the former head of the ECB. Renzi welcomed Mattarella's move. PD leader Nicola Zingaretti attacked IV and said his party was "ready for talks for the good of the country". (ANSA). DUBLIN, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Digital Hospitals: Creating Growth Opportunities in Patient Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The widespread outbreak of COVID-19 across the world has overburdened hospitals with a huge influx of patients. Traditional hospitals that rely on manual and analog methods have been unable to handle the huge patient load with limited resources and this has severely impacted the ability of hospitals to provide quality care to patients. To address these issues, digital hospitals have deployed smart technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics that provide a higher standard of care and at the same time offer a hassle-free experience for health professionals. Digital hospitals are a symphony of different smart technologies that work in tandem in order to provide improved patient health outcomes and higher operational efficiencies. This research service highlights the innovations in smart technologies being implemented in digital hospitals including intelligent imaging systems, remote patient monitoring platforms, and medical robots. The research service discusses the impact of these innovations and the benefits offered by them to health professionals and patients. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Scope of the Research 1.2 Research Methodology 2. Industry Overview 2.1 Traditional Hospitals are Focused on Centralized Care Delivery, Reactive Approach, Closed Systems and Fee-For-Service Model 2.2 COVID-19 Has Increased the Challenges Faced by Hospitals 2.3 Digital Hospitals: Addressing Limitations of Traditional Providers Through Decentralized Care, Interoperable Systems, Outcome-Driven and Proactive Approaches 2.4 Improving Patient Journey in the Hospital Through Use of Smart Technologies 2.5 Virtual Assistant and Appointment Scheduling Platforms for Hassle-Free Pre-Hospitalization Experience for the Patients 2.6 Technologies for Enhancing Patients' Experience During Hospitalization 2.7 Technologies Enabling Post-Operative Monitoring and Follow-Up Care for the Patients 2.8 Optimizing Energy Efficiency, Improving Asset Tracking and Inventory Management Through Deployment of Technologies 2.9 Digital Hospital Ecosystem Comprises of Technologies Used in Patient and Non-Patient Care 3. Medical Robots 3.1 Medical Robots for Improving Health Professionals' Efficiency and Quality of Care Provided to Patients 3.2 Reducing Clinicians' Workload Through Robot-Assisted Venipuncture and Hospital Supplies Transportation 3.3 Facilitating Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Process for Patients Through Medical Robots 3.4 Medical Robots Case Studies for Medical Transportation and Disinfection Services 3.5 Medical Robots Case Studies for Remote Screening of Patients 3.6 Medical Robots Case Studies for Remote Monitoring and Rehabilitation Services 3.7 Assessment of Adoption of Medical Robots Globally 3.8 Autonomous Robot for Disinfecting Patient Rooms 3.9 Robotic Solution for Remote Screening of Patients in Hospitals 3.10 Telepresence Robot for Remotely Monitoring Patients 4. Remote Patient Monitoring Platforms 4.1 Automated Patient Monitoring Platforms in Hospital and Home Settings for Better Patient Management 4.2 Minimizing Hospital Readmissions and Decreasing Total Cost of Care for the Healthcare Providers Through Remote Patient Monitoring Systems 4.3 Remote Patient Monitoring Systems Enabling Improved Quality of Care and Enhanced Autonomy for the Patients 4.4 Remote Patient Monitoring Platforms Case Studies for Preventing Adverse Events in the Patients 4.5 Remote Patient Monitoring Platforms Case Studies for Reducing Healthcare Staff Workload 4.6 Remote Patient Monitoring Platforms Case Studies for Detecting Clinical Deterioration in Hospitalized and Discharged COVID-19 Patients 4.7 Assessment of Adoption of Remote Patient Monitoring Platforms Globally 4.8 Remote Monitoring System for Tracking Vital Physiologic Parameters of Patients and Health Professionals 4.9 Contact-Free Patient Monitoring Platform for Use in Hospitals and Other Clinical Settings 4.10 Biosensor Patch for Continuous Monitoring of Patients' Vitals in Hospital and Post-Discharge Home Settings 5. Intelligent Imaging Systems 5.1 Intelligent Imaging Systems Enabling Rapid and Accurate Diagnosis in the Patients 5.2 Intelligent Imaging Systems Enhancing Clinicians Productivity and Predicting Disease Occurrence in the Patients 5.3 Intelligent Imaging Platforms Facilitating Accurate Diagnosis and Image Reconstruction 5.4 Intelligent Imaging Systems Case Studies for COVID-19 Diagnosis 5.5 Intelligent Imaging Systems Case Studies for Breast Cancer and Brain Hemorrhage Detection 5.6 Intelligent Imaging Systems Case Studies for Stroke and COVID-19 Diagnosis 5.7 Assessment of Adoption of Intelligent Imaging Systems Globally 5.8 Ai-Powered Platform for Detecting Myocardial Infarction 5.9 Ai-Powered Platform for Predicting Strokes 5.10 Ai-Based Platform for Precise and Fast Detection of Lung Cancer 6. Technology Adoption 6.1 Global Hot Spots and Emerging Geographies 6.2 North America: Hospitals in the Us Have the Highest Adoption of Smart Technologies 6.3 Europe: Hospitals in the UK Have Been at the Forefront of Adopting Smart Technologies 6.4 Asia-Pacific: Government Support Driving Use of Smart Technologies in Hospitals in China 6.5 Middle East and Africa: Hospitals in Israel Leveraging the Country's Digital Tech Ecosystem for Using Smart Technologies in Their Practice 7. Emerging Technologies for Digital Hospitals 7.1 Emerging Technologies for Digital Hospitals 8. Growth Opportunities 8.1 Growth Opportunity 1: Smart Patient Tracking System for Enhancing Patient Safety and Managing Staff Workflows 8.2 Growth Opportunity 2: Using Electronic Health Records for Population Health Management and Preventive Care 8.3 Growth Opportunity 3: Use of AI in Supply Chain Management to Facilitate Demand Matching and Tracking and Tracing of Medical Supplies 8.4 Growth Opportunity 4: Centralized Command Centers to Facilitate Improvement in Hospitals' Efficiency and Care Preparedness 9. Analyst Insights 9.1 Evidence-Based Design of Healthcare Facilities for Improving Patients' Health Outcomes and Staffs' Efficiency 9.2 Deployment of 5G Technology for Transforming Digital Hospitals' Care Delivery 9.3 Recommendations for Different Stakeholders for Driving Smart Technologies Adoption 9.4 The Strategic Imperative 8 Factors Creating Pressure on Digital Hospitals Market 9.5 Impact of Top Three Strategic Imperatives on Digital Hospitals Industry 10. Key Contacts 11. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hr7gun 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 Despite COVID-19, Wycliffe Associates sees record number of Bible translations Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Despite challenges presented by the pandemic, Wycliffe Associates saw the completion of more Bible translations in 2020 than in any other single year. Wycliffe, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, said that last year, New Testament translations were completed in 141 languages. Now, eight additional languages have completed translations of the Old Testament. Tim Neu, interim president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, said that instead of slowing down because of COVID-19, for some national Bible translators, translation has actually accelerated. Ive been humbled to see how believers in difficult areas, some in places of intense persecution and real danger, have been absolutely unwavering in their dedication to the cause, Neu said. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wycliffe Associates leveraged the power of technology to accelerate Bible translation, allowing mother-tongue translators to participate remotely in a virtual Bible translation event and collaborate throughout the translation and checking process. COVID lockdowns kept Bible translators home, said Neu, but our online Bible translation system enabled many to continue their work together. Wycliffe Associates, which has led the effort to translate the Bible into every language for 79 years, has 773 Bible translations in progress and has received requests from 273 language groups seeking help with launching Bible translations in 2021. In March 2020 Wycliffe Associates released a new translation of the New Testament in a new concept-based language that deaf and blind people across the globe can begin learning in less than a week. The new notation is called SUN (Symbolic Universal Notation) and it is a symbolic representation of the words in Scripture developed by Wycliffe Associates, a prominent Bible translation organization, over the course of the last four years. SUN aims to provide a pathway to Christ for millions of deaf and blind people who have no other way of effectively communicating with the world. This is the first that I have seen or heard of anything like this in Bible translation, SUN Program Director Lori Jenkins told The Christian Post at the time. Basically, what we have done is taken the New Testament and broken it down into the main concepts of each of the verses and each of the chapters. For each concept, we have created a symbol. According to Wycliffe Associates, SUN has the potential to reach about 56 million people with the Gospel who may not otherwise be able to access it. SUN was developed by a former volunteer named Emily Wang, who was inspired after finding out that over 600,000 people worldwide are both deaf and blind. Wycliffe Associates estimates that there are 70 million people in the world who are born deaf and about 80 percent of them cant communicate in their local sign language. Only about 20 percent of the deaf population of the world has access to education, Jenkins said. So the question is, How do you provide a Bible for those that have no education at all? And this is the problem that SUN answers. Through a team of 400 online volunteers across the United States who created symbols to represent the precepts found in Scripture, the production of the SUN New Testament took about 1.5 years. In recent years, technology has allowed the Bible the bestselling book in the world to reach millions in new and innovative ways. The number of languages with the full Bible has nearly doubled in the past 30 years, from 351 in 1990 to 700 in 2020, according to statistics. According to the State of the Bible 2020 report released earlier this year by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society, most Bible readers (65%) prefer a printed version. However, millennials are about as likely to read the Bible digitally (52%) as they are in print (48%). Americans who live in a household that owns a Bible (77% of the population) are as likely to use a Bible app as those without a Bible in the house (56% vs. 55%). Vow ASA has through its subsidiary Scanship been awarded a 5.7-million-euro contract with a major European shipyard for the delivery of two advanced wastewater purification systems. The Scanship systems will be installed on two cruise ships to enter service in 2024 and 2026. The vessels will be operated under European brand and in joint venture with one of the largest Miami based cruise ship companies. Scanship has previously equipped six cruise ships under the same European brand. The technology to be delivered by Scanship will purify all wastewater generated from 6,500 people onboard to the highest international discharge regulations, in line with newly enforced Baltic sea standard and according to continuous Alaskan water discharge requirements. The contract includes a 5.7 million euro option contract for two additional vessels. "The cruise industry is undergoing its most disruptive period in history, still with focus on post pandemic growth by maintaining its large newbuild programs. We are both thrilled and humbled by this new contract, as it demonstrates industry ambitions and signals continuous commitment for sustainable operations to protect our oceans"; says Vow ASA CEO Henrik Badin in a statement. For further queries, please contact: Vow ASA Henrik Badin - CEO Tel: + 47 90 78 98 25 Email: henrik.badin@vowasa.com About Vow ASA In Vow and our subsidiaries Scanship and Etia we are passionate about preventing pollution. Our advanced technology and world leading solutions purify wastewater and convert biomass and waste into valuable resources and generate clean energy for a wide range of industries, which as part of their own transition are looking for low carbon fuels, carbon neutral energy, decarbonised gas, and biocarbon. We have delivered technology to a wide range of industries for many years. Our solutions are scalable, standardized, patented, and thoroughly documented, and our capabilities are well proven in concrete projects and deliveries. In 2020, Vow established Vow Industries. This subsidiary will build, own, and operate plants that deliver industry decarbonisation as a service, thereby accelerating the green transition within waste and biomass valorisation and energy production. Located in Oslo, the parent company Vow ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker VOW). This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Last week, CVS and Walgreens announced the completion of their first round of on-site COVID-19 vaccination clinics in U.S. nursing homes through the federal government's Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program. CVS reported visiting all of the almost 8,000 facilities that chose the pharmacy to administer its vaccines, while Walgreens said it visited more than 5,500 facilities. COVID-19 infections in nursing homes have been spiraling upward in recent months, according to monthly analyses of federal nursing home data by AARP. Staff cases more than tripled between mid-October and mid-December, as resident cases skyrocketed almost fourfold over the same period. Studies show that infected staff members are one of the greatest drivers of COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes. Because the federal government has contracted with CVS, Walgreens and a few state-level pharmacy chains to perform just three on-site vaccination clinics at each of its partnering facilities, pressure is mounting for the second round of clinics, which have already begun, to produce higher uptake rates. Elaine Ryan, AARP's vice president for state advocacy and strategy integration, says low participation stems from subpar working conditions that nursing home staff have endured for years. These workers are poorly paid, get few benefits or sick leave and receive very little information and support when they need it, she says. Can you blame them for not rushing to get a shot they know very little about, from [the nursing homes] who have treated them so badly?" The roots of staff skepticism The national findings match anecdotal evidence that's been echoing through the states for weeks. Maryland's acting secretary of health, Dennis R. Schrader, pegged his nursing home staff refusal rate at somewhere between 50 and 65 percent. In Virginia, Christian Bergman, a member of the state's COVID-19 long-term care task force, estimated that as many as 90 percent of workers had turned down the vaccine at some homes. Many long-term care workers are skipping COVID-19 vaccines because they're concerned that the shots are ineffective or unsafe, the CDC says. Worries about potential side effects, which have so far been minimal from first doses, are also driving resistance. The report cites a recent survey of long-term care workers that found that among the 55 percent of workers in Indiana who said they would decline a COVID-19 vaccine if offered, 70 percent mentioned side effects as the primary reason. Many long-term care workers are hourly employees with little to no sick leave or benefits and may not be able to afford to get sick from side effects. Certified nursing assistants, who make up the overwhelming majority of care workers at nursing homes, make less than $15 per hour on average, and getting to work is often their top priority. Added pressure on second rounds Now, the pressure is on the second round of nursing home vaccination clinics to reach those who've been missed. Both COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S., from Pfizer and Moderna, require two doses administered up to six weeks apart. Missing a first dose during the second clinic will make it all but impossible for workers to get fully vaccinated through the on-site program. As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a December address to his state's nursing home workers of whom 60 percent were reportedly declining first doses The train may not be coming back. Rina Shah, group vice president of pharmacy operations and services at Walgreens, said in a press briefing that the pharmacy is developing tools to get long-term care workers vaccinated once the program ends. One possibility, she said, is supplying vaccine vouchers to workers who can then take them to a Walgreens clinic to receive a shot. But doing so may put those workers in large queues with millions of members of the general population who are struggling to secure vaccinations. Mike Wasserman, past president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine which represents doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others in the industry says the current program needs to be more accommodating. Instead of a one-size-fits-all, rigid approach, he says, what's needed is a more flexible plan that might allow the facility to do its own vaccinations over the course of a week. That could also prevent staffing shortages that may arise from inoculating too many workers with second doses at one time. In the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials, participants reported feeling worse side effects mainly fatigue, headache, muscle aches, chills, joint pain and possibly some fever after their second dose, which could lead to lots of staff calling in sick at once, straining a facility's ability to look after residents at a time of national staffing shortages. Signs of improvement Anecdotal evidence from second-round clinics now taking place suggests that vaccine uptake among staff is improving. The Associated Press reported that last week, in a meeting on vaccine policy, Amanda Cohn, the CDC's deputy director of immunization services, said more staffers get vaccinated when a second or third clinic is held at a home. And a CVS spokesperson told USA Today that they are seeing a higher uptake by staff members on their second visits. Sondra Norder sees the improvements at St. Paul Elder Services in Wisconsin, where she is president and CEO. During the first on-site clinic at her skilled nursing facilities, only 66 percent of staff received a vaccine. On Monday, during the second clinic, that number jumped to 75 percent. Disclosure: Mike Wasserman sits on the board of AARP charitable affiliate Wish of a Lifetime. Mr. Vincent Sowah Odotei, former Member of Parliament (MP) for the La-Dadekotopon Constituency, has denied claims by delegates of the New Patriotic Party, alleging that he caused the loss of the party in the 2020 parliamentary election. The delegates in the constituency on Friday, January 29, 2021, held a news conference to disclose a petition they intended to submit to the Regional Chairman of the Party about some alleged misconducts on the part of the former MP which they believed cost the Party the seat. The allegations included paying people money to vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, going on a spree together with family and workers when results were declared that the NPP had lost its seat, describing projects he spearheaded as his personal enterprise and not that of the NPP.. They also claimed that he commissioned his followers to collate innocent peoples data with the impression of making them delegates in the next compilation of constituency album even though the General Secretary of the NPP had not given any directive to that effect. The delegates also said Mr Sowah refused to publicly dissociate himself from the then NDCs Parliamentary Candidates call on him to join his campaign since his candidature was rejected by the delegates during primaries. Our independent investigations have proven that the former MP clandestinely sponsored and also covertly campaigned for the NDC candidate on the grounds that they are from the same clan, their petition read. Mr Odotei, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the petition was only copied from a petition submitted to the Regional Chairman of the Party by the Municipal Chief Executive of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Reverend Solomon Kotey Nikoi, the Acting Constituency Chairman, Mr Kingsley Addison and the then Parliamentary Candidate, Mr Gerald Tetteh Nyanyofio dated 19th November, 2020. He said he responded to the petition, meanwhile, he would not respond to these allegations from the delegates. In a statement copied to the media as comment over the allegations, Mr Odotei said: I wish to state that as a gesture of respect to the party structures and in order not to do anything which will bring the name of the party into disrepute, I will not respond directly to the allegations contained in their press release since I have, as indicated above responded via the official party channel and awaiting their final determination. However, he said the allegation of him supporting the NDC candidate and both of them hailing from the same clan house of La, hence a support, was not only baseless and untrue but rather the tactics of perennial losers, who had lost many elections. I wish to assure you that I have every faith in the party structures to get to the bottom of the cause of our loss of the seat and reiterate my readiness not only to assist but also to submit myself to the fact finding committee set up by the party to investigate such matters, he 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 The EU could approve Russia and China's coronavirus vaccines if their developers 'show transparency', European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has said as the bloc looks desperately for ways to speed up its stuttering jab roll-out. Von der Leyen told lawmakers on Tuesday that 'if the Russian producers, the Chinese producers open their books, show transparency, show all the data... then they could get... a conditional market authorisation like the other ones'. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has long been viewed sceptically in the West, but Europe was warming to the jab on Tuesday after trial results published in respected medical journal The Lancet showed it was 91.6 per cent effective. The Kremlin today celebrated the Sputnik results which could give Russia a political bargaining chip just as Western governments pile pressure on Moscow over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. German chancellor Angela Merkel said last night that 'all vaccines are welcome' in the EU, adding that she had spoken to Vladimir Putin about the Russian-made jab - whose developers have already approached a German firm about joint production. China's Sinopharm product was similarly not part of the EU plan until Hungary broke ranks and approved it on Friday after slamming Brussels for the slow vaccine roll-out. Merkel, already under fire for allowing Brussels to take the lead in the vaccine roll-out, is also facing growing criticism over the slow progress in Germany - with Europe's richest country coming only 13th out of 27 in the bloc's vaccination league table. More than a month after the EU roll-out began, only 2.3 per cent of the bloc's population has received any dose at all, compared to 14.2 per cent in Britain. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, pictured, has opened the door to approving Russian and Chinese vaccines which until now have largely been scorned by the West Some 14.21 per cent of the UK population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to only 2.34 per cent in the EU This graph shows the total number of doses per 100 people, including both first and second doses. The UK had given out 14.42 per 100 people by February 1, while the EU average stood at just 2.9 per 100 Russia savours Sputnik V success and aims to boost production abroad Russia savoured a scientific and political win today after Western scientists acknowledged that its Sputnik V vaccine had been proved effective by trial results. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the jab's 91.6 efficacy justified Russia's decision to approve the vaccine last August, before Phase III trials were complete. It came after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's scientific and military apparatus into overdrive to win the vaccine race, with even the name evoking Soviet technological triumphs in the early space race. But the premature approval and limited data meant it was widely ignored in the West. On Tuesday, however, the trial data published in The Lancet fuelled talk of Sputnik V being used by the EU. The vaccine was made available to the wider Russian population in December, and has been approved in more than 15 other countries. These include ex-Soviet republics such as Belarus and Armenia, allies like Iran and Venezuela, but also Argentina, Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan. Peskov said Russia was working to further boost production of the vaccine in foreign nations. 'The number of countries that register this vaccine at home is increasing every day,' he said. 'We are very active in responding to enquiries from various countries asking for the supply of this vaccine.' On Wednesday, the banner headline of the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper celebrated the 'successful launch' of the jab. 'Russian Sputnik V has been recognised as the safest vaccine,' the newspaper claimed. The two-dose jab uses adapted strains of the adenovirus, the same type of virus which is the basis of the Oxford/AstraZeneca product. One of Putin's own daughters was among the first to get the jab, while the head of the Gamaleya research centre that developed the jab boasted of having taken an experimental version as early as last spring. Advertisement While the EU boasts of having deals for 2.3billion doses in the bag, it has struggled to get supplies amid delays in Pfizer and AstraZeneca shipments in recent weeks. Brussels reacted furiously after AstraZeneca said it would deliver fewer doses than planned to mainland Europe - while continuing to supply the UK in full. But the EU's move to impose export controls led to further humiliation for the bloc when it opened the door to checking jab shipments as they crossed the Irish border, only to swiftly abandon the idea amid an outcry from both the UK and Ireland. Separately, Germany and France have both restricted the AstraZeneca jab to under-65s - further limiting their ability to protect the most vulnerable groups. German regulators pointed to the small sample size of elderly patients in the Oxford/AstraZeneca trial, meaning any effectiveness figure would be meaningless. But Britain is using the jab for all age groups, with AstraZeneca pointing to trial results showing that 100 per cent of seniors generated antibodies. The EU has also approved the Moderna jab in addition to the Pfizer and AstraZeneca products, but the supplies so far have failed to bring about a rapid vaccine drive. As a result, there has been growing interest in the Russian and Chinese products which until now had largely been scorned by Western countries. Scientists voiced alarm after Moscow registered the Sputnik vaccine last summer before Phase III trials had even been completed. But those doubts were eased on Tuesday after The Lancet published results of trials involving 20,000 volunteers showing an overall 91.6 per cent efficacy rate. Two UK scientists, Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Polly Roy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the results mean that 'another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19'. 'The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency... but the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated,' they said. 'There are no arguments left for critics of this vaccine, the article in The Lancet is a checkmate,' said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The Russian vaccine is also already registered in 16 countries including former Soviet republics as well as Russian allies such as Venezuela and Iran. Merkel has proposed German aid for potential 'joint production' of the vaccine, with Brussels insisting that jabs must be made within the EU's borders or in Britain. The chancellor has previously offered Putin the help of Germany's official Paul Ehrlich Institute in assisting Russia with the application process for EU regulators. Germany's health ministry said today that the Russian Gamaleya institute which developed the jab had approached a German biotechnology firm, IDT Biologika, about jointly producing the jab. German chancellor Angela Merkel said she had spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, pictured together in 2019, about the Russian-made Sputnik V jab A vial of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine which is attracting newfound interest in the EU as it struggles to keep pace with Britain and the US China's home-grown vaccines: How Beijing is exporting Sinopharm and Sinovac Chinese scientists have developed several vaccines, although only one - known as Sinopharm - is being used on the general public in China. Sinopharm's developer said in December that the jab was 79.3 per cent effective, but detailed trial data has not been released. Another Chinese vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech has had efficacy results ranging from 50.4 per cent in Brazil to 91.3 per cent in Turkey. While the West has shown little interest, Hungary last week became the first EU country to approve Sinopharm - with PM Viktor Orban saying it would be his jab of choice. Chinese president Xi Jinping has promised to make China's vaccines a public good, and Beijing has exported Sinopharm and Sinovac to countries including Indonesia and Turkey. The UAE is also using Sinopharm jabs after one of its trials took place in the country. Sinopharm has built two facilities in China capable of producing 200million doses per year. China's domestic effort is also intensifying amid a spate of new outbreaks and with a goal of vaccinating nine key groups before the travel-heavy Lunar New Year in February. Advertisement Meanwhile, developers of China's Sinopharm vaccine say it has 79.3 per cent effectiveness, and the jab is already in use in other countries including the UAE. It has also been approved in Serbia, which is not an EU member, and now in Hungary where PM Viktor Orban said he would rather have Sinopharm than a Western jab. 'I'm waiting for the Chinese vaccine, I trust in that the most,' said Orban, adding that 'the Chinese have known the virus for the longest'. Hungary has also jumped ahead of EU regulators in approving the AstraZeneca jab, amid fury at Brussels for its poor handling of the roll-out. French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday defended the strategy 'we have adopted with Germany, with the EU, which is precisely to vaccinate in Europe'. He added that everyone who wants a vaccine in France will be offered one 'by the end of the summer'. As well as being far behind Britain, which fully cut ties with the EU on January 1, the 27-member bloc is also moving much slower than the United States or Israel. Admitting to some missteps, von der Leyen told French newspaper Le Monde: 'When you take urgent decisions, and in this year of crisis we've taken around 900, there's always the chance of missing something.' In Germany, Merkel also defended the EU's policies, saying EU regulators were right to take their time over approving the AstraZeneca jab. Merkel has been criticised for delegating the vaccine roll-out to the EU, but has insisted that 'a virus that affects us all cannot be defeated by any country alone'. Germany has struggled to ramp up its vaccine drive and the daily rate of inoculations has hardly increased since the middle of January, hampered by excessive bureaucracy which has also been blamed for France's slow progress. Merkel held a summit with state leaders, EU officials and pharmaceutical firms on Monday in a bid to speed up the vaccine drive, but it brought no concrete results. A UK care home resident receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine last month, with Britain among the world leaders in the vaccine race so far Echoing Macron, the German chancellor said everyone would be offered a vaccine by the end of summer 2021. But Britain's current rate of vaccinations, with around 400,000 people getting a dose every day, would allow for every adult to have got one by around May. The UK's vaccine strategy received a further boost on Tuesday with new findings by Oxford University that its vaccine is effective after only one dose. Britain switched strategies in late December to give as many people as possible a first dose of the vaccine, delaying the second doses for up to 12 weeks. Oxford researchers found that once the vaccine has had three weeks to take effect, it remains 76 per cent effective throughout this three-month period. Prof Andrew Pollard, the chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said the findings 'support the policy recommendation' made by UK health officials. In addition, the latest Oxford study said there were promising signs that the vaccine can cut transmission of the disease as well as preventing illness in those infected. Swabs taken from volunteers in the UK suggested that transmission could be reduced by as much as 67 per cent, the Oxford researchers said. Health experts are also looking to Israel, which is leading the global vaccine race, in order to study real-world data on the effects of the various jabs. Preliminary data published last week showed that only 20 people out of 128,600 who received two doses of the Pfizer jab had so far been infected with the Covid-19 virus. PORTLAND, Ore. The state of Oregon will require health insurance companies to cover costs that arise from coronavirus vaccinations following an order by Public Health Director Rachael Banks. The January 27 determination cites Oregon law, mandating that health plans operating in Oregon not charge patients for "most costs" related to providing the vaccine. This includes the cost of all vaccine doses and necessary supplies, and the labor of medical staff that administer the shot. Broadly speaking, vaccine doses are paid for via U.S. taxpayer dollars with the federal government purchasing shipments from the companies that produce the vaccine and distributing them to states. However, local vaccine providers are allowed to charge an administration fee for giving the shots. The Oregon ruling requires that insurance companies cover these kinds of fees. The Oregon Health Plan and Medicare programs already do not charge patients for the cost of vaccinations. We are in the midst of a devastating pandemic that has affected more than 142,000 people in Oregon and claimed almost 2,000 lives, Banks said. There should be no financial barrier to getting the vaccine, whether its a copay or administrative fee. Even small costs can be a big burden for people with limited resources, particularly considering the economic challenges people have faced for the last year. Banks said that she encourages vaccine providers to bill patients' insurance for any administrative costs, and avoid asking patients to cover them. The order delivered by Banks specifically references the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, though it acknowledges that "More COVID-19 vaccines may become available following clinical trials and approval by the FDA. 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 University of North Georgia (UNG) has received a $26,000 grant from the Olmsted Foundation that continues its support of international opportunities for cadets from UNG and three historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Atlanta. While the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted travel and limited UNG to just one Olmsted-funded trip since spring 2020, unused funds will remain eligible to be used when restrictions are eased. "We are appreciative for the trust the Olmsted Foundation has placed in us to provide these international learning opportunities for our cadets and those from HBCUs," said Keith Antonia, associate vice president of military programs and a retired lieutenant colonel. "We look forward to the day when cadets can resume these worthwhile trips." The Olmsted Foundation, UNG and Georgia State University in November 2018 entered an agreement to provide international opportunities for cadets from Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. Cadets from the three HBCUs participate in Georgia State's ROTC program. "We've been very proud of our relationship with the University of North Georgia and their outreach program with the schools in Atlanta. Our board is seeking to be resilient in the face of the pandemic," said retired Col. Mark Elfendahl, vice president of the Olmsted Foundation. "We realize travel opportunities have been limited in the last year, but our Board of Directors is confident UNG will continue to produce high-quality opportunities for future officers from UNG and the HBCUs." The trips give many future military officers their first international experience. These trips, typically one to three weeks in length, take place in non-English-speaking countries for cadets who display outstanding leadership and plan to commission into a combat arms branch in the active-duty Army. "We appreciate the money earmarked for HBCU students who otherwise may not be able to go overseas while in college," Lt. Col. Donald J. Harris, professor of military science at Georgia State, said. "We hope they can soon see the world and enhance their cultural awareness as they prepare to lead soldiers." The Olmsted Foundation's latest grant brings its total gifts to UNG to $114,500 over five years. UNG received a $10,000 grant from the Olmsted Foundation in 2017 and a $20,000 grant in 2018. The 2019 grant, the first to include the money for HBCU cadets, increased to $26,000, and the 2020 total was $32,500. Through the end of 2020, 30 UNG cadets and three HBCU cadets have been part of the overseas immersion opportunities. Thanks to the Olmsted grant, cadets Ian Bryan, Nick Goodwin, Derek Whitmore, and Garrett Wilson represented UNG in the "Military Ski Patrol" international competition in late February in Poland, the most recent Olmsted-funded opportunity. "We're very hopeful that UNG and our other partner schools will be able to execute foreign travel for their cadets this year," Elfendahl said. "But even if that's not the case, we want them to have the resources to plan that travel whenever it can be completed." A day after the Pune Police registered an FIR against Sharjeel Usmani for his speech at the recently held Elgar Parishad conclave, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University will be arrested. The FIR was filed against Usmani under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code, for promoting enmity between different groups based on grounds of religion, after the regional secretary of Bhartiya Yuva Janta Morcha, Pradip Haribhou Gawade complained against him. "The police have inspected the statements made by Sharjeel on the platform of Elgar Parishad. He is not in Maharashtra, but wherever he is, we will arrest him," Deshmukh told reporters. Earlier in the day, state BJP president Chandrakant Dada Patil wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking immediate Usmanis arrest. "The people of Maharashtra are convinced that this government (led by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray) will not take any action against Usmani. People are hurt and angry. In the interest of all the Hindus of the country, turn this into an example so that nobody dares to say such things about Hinduism hereafter," Patil wrote in his letter. Meanwhile, senior cabinet minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said the government will act strongly against this. "As a Muslim, what he said was against the teachings of Islam. Islam preaches that one should not call names to other Gods. I am myself a Muslim. What he spoke was un-Islamic. As an Indian citizen, what he spoke was a crime," he told CNN News18. He, however, denied allegations levelled by the BJP that the government dragged its feet before acting against it. "The police inspected all the statements that were made during Elgar Parishad programme. Only after thorough investigation, did they take the action. There is no question of delay," he said. Oil climbed to the highest level in over a year as tightening global supplies and signs of strength in physical markets aided crudes virus-recovery rally. Futures rose 2.3 percent in New York to the highest in over a year, rising back above $55 a barrel in post-settlement trading after an industry group reported another decline in U.S. stockpiles. Crude has been climbing steadily since late last year as coronavirus vaccines and producers supply curbs boost expectations of a tighter market. OPEC and its allies expect to drain an oil surplus by the middle of the year. Meanwhile, there continues to be signs of strength in the market for physical barrels of oil, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc bidding for more cargoes of benchmark-grade North Sea crude on an S&G Global Platts pricing window. The bids come a day after the oil major staged the heaviest buying by a single company since at least 2008. Theres hope around the vaccine rollouts at the same time were seeing a lot from the majors and international players about cutting back on production, said Gary Cunningham, director at Stamford, Connecticut-based Tradition Energy. Those two factors are combining to keep us toward the upper end of the range. The rally in headline crude prices and buying binge in physical markets comes amid a markedly tighter structure in the oil futures curve this year. Nearby Brent timespreads are trading in their biggest backwardation in a year -- a bullish structure where nearer-dated contracts trade at a premium to later-dated ones -- suggesting supply tightness. Last months pledge by Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to slash production by a further 1 million barrels a day has buttressed global markets. On Wednesday, a panel that oversees OPECs strategy -- the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee -- will convene online to assess the outlook. The JMMC is unlikely to recommend new policies, which will instead be tackled at the next full OPEC+ meeting in early March. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by over 4 million barrels last week, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to report ahead of a U.S. government tally. The API report also showed a decline in refined product inventories and a drop in supplies at the nations largest storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Still, technical indicators point to prices being due for a pullback, with both Brent and WTI settling above their upper Bollinger bands. At the same time, the near-term impact of the pandemic on demand limits how far crudes rally can extend. Even amid a spate of unplanned refinery outages that would normally boost gasoline prices on the U.S. Gulf Coast, they are barely causing a ripple as the pandemic continues to cap fuel demand. Meanwhile, retail investors using online chatrooms like Reddit will be hard pressed to influence other commodity markets beyond silver, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.s Jeff Currie said in a Bloomberg Television interview. When you start to get to markets like oil and natural gas, the liquidity is substantially larger and it becomes that much more difficult to do, Currie said. To be the marginal driver in these markets like they were in silver yesterday, is a much larger question mark. The former director general of the defunct National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Abdoulie Kujabi, in his TRRC testimony on Monday, revealed he is no longer a sympathiser of APRC and whatever happens to them is not his problem. He also vowed to kill Sanna Manjang the most trusted alleged assassin for former president, Yahya Jammeh for killing his brother. "I will kill Sanna anytime we meet because he killed my brother under Jammeh's instructions." These remarks came after Counsel Essa Faal asked him whether he (Kujabi) would appreciate if present government treats APRC the way they treated other political parties during their tenure. Mr. Kujabi testified that he knew former president, Yahya Jammeh when he (Jammeh) was a young boy. He, however, described him as short tempered individual who does whatever he feels like. He told the Truth Commission that he was the one who negotiated the return of former president, late Sir Dawda Jawara to the country after seven years in exile. The witness confirmed that Jammeh was a dictator who would detain or take someone to Mile 2 as he wished. Kujabi continued that he was once arrested by some NIA and military officers with the knowledge of Jammeh, saying he was told that he was tarnishing Jammeh's name in West Coast. "The NIA officers used to torture detainees just to obtain information from them and report to Jammeh." With regard to the detention of some UDP and PPP militants, Kujabi said he was never part of that operation, adding that he was a junior officer under the late Samba Bah. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "When the NIA officers assembled at the premises, I went to Jammeh and asked him what was happening but he said he was informed about people planning to march to the American Embassy. That was how I left home because I wasn't part of the operation. The following day, Samba Bah told me that with the help of some July 22 boys, the ring leaders of the organised demonstration were arrested and taken to Fajara Barrack. I know the detainees were tortured." Kujabi added that the July 22 boys were involved in unlawful activities, mostly used by NIA officers. Counsel Faal put to the witness that a public service officer shouldn't be involved in politics. Counsel also informed Kujabi that Lamin Wa Juwara and the Brikama Imam were attacked by Baba Jobe. When asked who could have ordered their arrest apart from Baba, the witness, however, responded that it must be Jammeh. Kujabi confirmed that a number of journalists were arrested for criticizing Jammeh in their own platform. He also added that Jammeh ordered the torture of some arrestees. He added that he was arrested on three occasions before being admitted to Mile 2 Prison for one week. The coronavirus landed a punch on Carnival 2021, but it didnt knock it out. There may be no parades this year, but never-say-die New Orleanians have taken their holiday back by inventing a whole new way of celebrating. From Algiers to Metairie to Bywater, lovingly decorated houses are popping up on every street, the way plastic babies pop up in every king cake. House floats are the Crescent Citys newest Carnival custom. Like costuming for architecture, house floats take on all forms, from the chic to the funky. Theres a dinosaur house float on St. Charles Avenue, a house float featuring a passel of possums and a controversial ex-president on Mandeville Street, a volcano house float on Leontine Street and on and on. "Mardi Gras For All Y'All," a three-night, online video spectacular will include a fast-paced feature on the house float phenomenon. "Mardi Gras For All Y'All," will highlight the Krewe of House Floats army of do-it-yourself decorators. Viewers will also see the work of the professional float builders employed by the Krewe of Red Beans Hire a Mardi Gras Artist house decorating project. Plus, the contributions of Kern Studios will be featured. In addition to the house float phenomenon, "Mardi Gras For All Y'All" will bring viewers close to the sights and sounds of Carnival, with celebrity interviews, culinary demonstrations, musical performances and Carnival features narrating the history of the celebration and New Orleans' unique culture. "Mardi Gras For All Y'All" will be shown on the nola.com and theadvocate.com news websites, YouTube and Facebook Live in three segments on Feb. 12-14. +6 Krewe of House Floats, a Mardi Gras 2021 parade alternative, is on a roll Megan Boudreaux had a simple idea thats making a big splash: Since New Orleans cant have Carnival parades this year because of the surging c While shopping for a Christmas present with her nieces in the late 1970s, Loretta Whitfield, a Howard University education counselor, stood in the aisle of one of the few stores in Washington that sold Black baby dolls. She felt an eruption of sadness, followed by tears, because of the poor craftsmanship of the few options on the shelves, said her niece Kathryn Thomas, who was with her on that day. "She could immediately feel the sting of racism, a feeling of inferiority and hurt because her only choice was to purchase a doll that was not aesthetically pleasing with little thought given to how it was made," Thomas said. That experience proved galvanizing for Whitfield, who set out to make a doll for African American children, one that would reflect their likenesses and pay meticulous attention to facial features, hair and skin color. Whitfield spent seven years researching the design of a Black doll, consulting with artists at Howard's division of fine arts and finding inspiration on trips to Africa. She and her husband, Melvin Whitfield, a hospital administrator, created the Baby Whitney doll through their toy manufacturer Lomel Enterprises, a play on their first names. By the late 1980s, they began selling the 21-inch doll, mostly through mail order. The doll had a soft, plush body and vinyl arms and legs, and it featured a cherub face based on a West African fertility doll as well as curly, textured hair and painted fingernails. A skilled seamstress, Whitfield sewed the dolls' outfits: bright, patterned dresses trimmed with lace, matching bloomers, bobby socks and dress shoes. She promoted the dolls at trade shows and advertised in Essence and Ebony magazines. Baby Whitney even made an appearance on the popular NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show." The toys sold well enough that the Whitfields scaled production and found a supplier in South Korea to manufacture the dolls. Following a disagreement with the supplier over the quality, Baby Whitney was discontinued in the 1990s. Whitfield, who worked at Howard for 32 years before retiring in 1999 as director of the educational advisory center in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Dec. 27 at her home in Washington. She was 79, and the cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease, her niece said. In addition to her husband, survivors include a brother. Whitfield was born Loretta Mae Thomas in Wellington, Kan., on Feb. 17, 1941, and she was the oldest of three siblings. The following year, the family moved to Washington when her father accepted a clerk position at the Pentagon. She graduated from Eastern High School in 1958 and Howard University in 1962. She received a master's degree in counseling psychology from American University in 1964. She was active in the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and continued to volunteer at Howard, certifying students for graduation, after her retirement as a counselor. But creating Baby Whitney was her joy, said Thomas. "The sole reason that Retta created the doll was so that young girls could have positive images of themselves," she said. "There were so many times that she expounded on the need for little Black girls to know that the melanin in their skin was a blessing and that they were beautifully created at birth." This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Tennessee's Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey confirmed the state's first case of the new coronavirus. (NIAID-RML via AP) She's one of many stars who jetted to Dubai despite new COVID-19 restrictions and it's not clear if she has returned home to the UK yet amid the travel ban. And Gabby Allen shared a series of bikini snaps she shared with fans following mounting criticism over influencers travelling abroad during the pandemic. The Love Island star, 28, slipped into a grey and neon yellow two-piece as she shared the photos which were taken recently, with her 1.1million followers on Wednesday. Sizzling: Gabby Allen, 28, shared some bikini snaps on Instagram on Wednesday following her recent 'work trip' to Dubai - it's not known if she's returned home ahead of the UK's travel ban The star left nothing to the imagination as she posed in the sizzling snaps and showed off her golden tan. She flaunted every inch of her toned physique as she wore her thong bikini bottoms pulled up high to show off her bottom. The blonde beauty let her body do the talking and kept her hair and makeup natural, styling her short tresses in a casual beach vibe. Toned: The Love Island star faced the camera and showed off her taut stomach as she held the sides of her bikini bottoms and posed up a storm In one snap, the Liverpudlian beauty faced the camera and showed off her toned stomach as she held the sides of her bikini bottoms. The star captioned the series of snaps: 'Any fellow Aquarians up in here?', adding an Aquarius emoji alongside a birthday cake and '>>' to signify that its great. She proudly flaunting her toned physique as she showed off some of her best poses in a recent Instagram video. In the caption Gabby explained that despite the image she portrays online she has 'little to no waist' and so tries to add some curves through the way she stands. Posing: The blonde beauty slipped into a grey and neon yellow two-piece as she shared the photos of her perk derriere with her 1.1million followers Star sign: Gabby captioned the series of sizzling photos with an Aquarius emoji and asked if any of her followers were 'fellow Aquarians' She wrote: 'ANGLES, we all have our favourite stance or pose when getting a photo, even a favourite side etc, including myself! We want to upload photos that we feel confident in and welcome comments appreciating how good we look, of course! 'Not much Kim K curve going on around here! But I work out and try hard make the best of what I do have! '(A lot of abductor work to build the side of my glutes and a lot of ab work for some definition even if it's not a 26 inch waist!). 'I'm lucky I have good volume in my glute max so at least a stick out at the back BRINGING ME TO ANGLES! I have learnt to stand in a way that makes it look like I have a (tiny) bit of [hourglass] as have many others! 'Instagram is mostly what people WANT you to see, not how things actually appears... I do believe this platform is improving with more people posting body positive stuff and I'm only just starting so I'm not trying to preach at all! All change: The United Arab Emirates is now on the red-list, meaning anyone in Dubai would have to quarantine on their return to the UK, with Home Secretary Priti Patel criticising those who have been holidaying in the sun when they have been told to stay at home 'So many people do it better than me! (Tagged in post) but I'm trying to do my bit too. And Karen, I'm NOT saying I look bad, I'm saying there's a difference between posed and not posed.' Travel abroad is now banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last week. From 13:00 on Friday, the United Arab Emirates was added to the red-list, meaning anyone in Dubai would have to quarantine on their return to the UK. Home Secretary Priti Patel criticised those who have been holidaying in the sun when they have been told to stay at home. In addition, people coming from countries on the UK's 'red-list' have been banned from entry, except for British and Irish nationals who are required to self-isolate in government-provided accommodation for 10 days upon their return. Wish you weren't here: People coming from countries on the UK's 'red-list' have been banned from entry, except for British and Irish nationals who are required to self-isolate in government-provided accommodation for 10 days upon their return Members of the public have been taking umbrage with their tone deaf posts from Dubai - now dubbed 'Covid Cosablanca.' Hostile messages on Instagram and Twitter pages are accusing them of recklessly spreading the virus and putting the NHS under increasing strain. Many claim they jetted off for 'unavoidable work trips' - with some even going so far as to suggest that their social media posts should make them 'key workers'. Gabby herself explained her decision to fly abroad earlier this month while England was still using a tiered system of restrictions, telling fans her boyfriend Brandon Myers' business is based in the city. 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. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! WASHINGTON When House Republicans meet Wednesday, they'll be at odds over what to do about Liz Cheney and Marjorie Taylor Greene, controversial figures representing the two wings of an increasingly fractured party. But the closed-door gathering also could reveal a lot more about the direction of a party openly warring with itself while charting a future without Donald Trump in the White House but very much on GOP voters' minds. Denver Riggleman, a former Virginia GOP congressman who lost reelection last year to a more conservative Republican, told USA TODAY Tuesday he fears the party will have a hard time shaking off Trump. So he expects that Cheney who voted to impeach Trump could be in trouble despite her deeply conservative credentials, while Greene will get off with no more than a rap on the knuckles because of her allegiance to the president and his claims the Nov. 3 election was stolen. U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. (Left) and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. "This is all about being reelected," said Riggleman, a former Air Force officer and National Security Agency contractor who writes about extreme belief systems in his new book "Bigfoot ... It's complicated." "So it all goes back to polling. And that polling is suggesting that 'Stop the Steal' messaging is going to be effective in a lot of these Republican districts in 2022." Cheney, the GOP Conference chair from Wyoming and the third most powerful House Republican, faces scorching backlash from Trump loyalists. They argue she should no longer be part of leadership given her vote to impeach the then-president following the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters trying to overturn the Nov. 3 election President Joe Biden won. More: Republicans remain mostly quiet on Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose remarks have put GOP in a bind "We are in a battle for the soul of the Republican party, and I intend to win it," Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, a fierce Trump loyalist said during a fiery speech in Cheney's home state last week. "You can help me break a corrupt system. You can send a representative who actually represents you, and you can send Liz Cheney home back home to Washington, D.C." Story continues Greene, a freshman from Georgia and a strong backer of Trump, has drawn furor from establishment Republicans. Not only do they dismiss her continued claims the election was stolen from Trump but they question her fitness after recently unearthed social media posts from her past show her "liking" calls for violence against prominent Democrats, describing school shootings as staged events, and outlining conspiracies such as space lasers causing deadly wildfires in California. More: Read the statement from GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, chair of the House GOP Conference, on why she'll vote to impeach Donald Trump Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country," Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, said in a statement Monday while defending Cheney. "Somebody whos suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.s airplane is not living in reality." So which wing will prevail? House Republicans were mostly tight-lipped Tuesday evening when asked about what might happen at Wednesday's meeting. "I'm sure they'll be a nice family discussion," Ohio Rep, Jim Jordan said. Riggleman said Gaetz's decision to take on a party leader in her home state and GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy's trip last week to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate both say a lot about the party's direction. And it's not to the benefit of establishment types like Cheney. More: Trump and Rep. Kevin McCarthy discussed 2022 election during Florida meeting as Trump allies target pro-impeachment Republicans "There's so much consternation because crazy is helping with fundraising ... and disinformation has become cemented into the base," the former congressman said. Greene "is becoming the voice of the conspiracy resistance which gives her a leg up on fundraising and that's what's really difficult for the conference." Some in Congress are defending her, saying she should be given a chance to explain her views. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who told reporters Tuesday he had "a very pleasant experience" during a ride with Greene to Georgia recently, said she deserves a chance to respond. "Are these postings accurate? I want to hear from her," he said. "Before I judge what to do about her, I want to know what the facts are. If these are not accurate postings (or) they've been manipulated, I'd like to know that. If they are accurate, do you still hold those beliefs? So I'm going to wait for her to come forward and tell us exactly what's real and what's not and what she believes." More: Trump's defense team claims Senate has no grounds to hold trial, ask for dismissal - live politics updates But Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney has already made up his mind. I think we should make it very clear that she does not represent us on any way," he said Tuesday. "Our big tent is not large enough to both accommodate conservatives and kooks. The Senate appears poised to acquit Trump later this month when it holds an impeachment trial on a charge that he incited the riot. His allies stepped up attacks against Republican House members who backed impeachment including Cheney who could face Trump-backed challengers in GOP primaries next year. Trump's approval ratings initially fell to record lows after last month's riot at the Capitol. But more recent surveys show him regaining support among Republicans. A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll said 50% of Republican voters say he should play a "major role" in the future of the party. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy challenged the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris but welcomed them after the inauguration, speaking of a need "to bind this nation's wounds." McCarthy, himself, seems emblematic of the whipsawing opinions within the Republican caucus. A week after the assault, he said Trump "bears responsibility" for the violence at the Capitol. Two weeks later, McCarthy retreated from the criticism, saying "I don't believe he provoked it, if you listen to what he said at the rally" before the attack. After his meeting with Trump last week, McCarthy's office released an upbeat statement that Trump is "committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022." Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who joined Cheney as one of the 10 Republican House members in voting to impeach Trump, told MSNBCs Morning Joe Tuesday that the GOP has lost its way. Its time we just tell the truth and the truth is we have totally lost our way," he said. "But we have a great rich history to tap into and you know what, honestly, if it costs us an election to save our soul Im fine with that." Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi, David Jackson This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Divided Republicans at odds over Liz Cheney, Marjorie Taylor Greene 2021-02-03 Midrand - The DBSA has announced the launch of its first green bond. The 200m bond was issued through a private placement with the French development finance institution, the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD). The bond will be structured in alignment with the Banks recently released Green Bond Framework which reiterates the DBSAs commitment to playing a role in the just transition to a low carbon economy. The Framework is aligned with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles. In recent years, the DBSA has become an increasingly important player in climate finance. The Bank was instrumental in the development of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPPP) and is accredited to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In partnership with the GCF, the DBSA has implemented large scale programmes which support the transition to a low carbon economy, including the Climate Finance Facility (CFF), a lending facility set up to encourage private sector investment in climate related projects in Southern Africa and the Embedded Generation Investment Programme (EGIP), a facility to support embedded generation renewable energy projects in South Africa. The DBSA is also an active a member of the International Development Finance Club (IDFC), a network of national, regional and multilateral development banks and finance institutions that promotes and leverages sustainable development investment in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. The DBSA green bond issuance will be applied to projects that contribute to climate mitigation and /or adaptation, that are aligned to South Africas National Development Plan (NDP) objective of an environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low carbon economy and that are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals. Ends Police probe racist cartoon featured in Wrexham community newsletter This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2021 Police are investigating after a racist cartoon which appears to blame Chinese people for causing the coronavirus was featured in a Wrexham community newsletter. The caricature of a Chinese man with yellow skin and slanted eyes appeared in the latest edition of the Bwlchgwyn Bulletin. It also portrays Father Christmas angrily gesturing at the man, who is sat on a step wearing a conical cap, alongside the caption: After the havoc youve caused youll be on the naughty step forever! The cartoon drew widespread criticism after it was highlighted by Wrexham councillor Carrie Harper, who said it had been brought to her attention by a resident in Bwlchgwyn, a village located five miles outside the town. The Plaid Cymru politician said the images were laden with racism by stereotyping Chinese people, adding that it was designed to dehumanise them. She said: The use of cartoons to ridicule and belittle groups of people is a well known racist tool, whether used against black people, Jewish people, or in this case Chinese people. The point of doing that is always to make it less of an offence to then attack that group in one way or another. Thats why its offensive and thats why its important to call this type of content out. This particular cartoon has an added dynamic in also insinuating that Chinese people collectively are responsible for Covid, which is clearly nonsense. She added: A number of Bwlchgwyn residents have contacted me because they found the cartoon quite shocking. I have Chinese family members who also found it very offensive. Members of the Bwlchgwyn Residents Association, which distributes the newsletter to residents, have since apologised for any offence caused. In a statement shared on Facebook, they said: It has come to our attention that an item included in the recent bulletin, has caused some offence to some readers. The small artistic drawing depicting Santa being cross with the Chinese man for the coronavirus was drawn by a local very talented artist as a bit of humour, and in no way was meant to cause offence. The production team of the bulletin regularly utilise these artworks as fillers when there are small spaces that are too small for another article, and this was the case in this instance. They added: It was too late to recall all the bulletins to amend them before delivery, once this issue was highlighted, despite attempts to do so. All concerned would like to apologise for any upset or offence taken by residents to this cartoon, and will take on board all comments they have received to ensure that no such incident occurs in the future. North Wales Police said it was taking the matter seriously after confirming an investigation had been launched. Chief Inspector Helen Douglas said: We have received a report of a hate-related nature about this newsletter which has understandably caused upset. We are taking the matter seriously and are making enquiries to establish the facts. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter A judge has told a Newry teenager he hopes his time in a young offenders centre will inspire him to learn the words to the Fields of Athenry. Newry Magistrates Court heard how Thomas Martin (19), who appeared today via video link, repeatedly sang the traditional Irish ballad to police officers after he was arrested for resisting and obstructing police on June 5 last year. Martin later pleaded guilty to both charges. With an address at Parkhead Crescent in the city, it was heard how Martin had been mixing with a number of older males who had been drinking in public on that date. When the police approached the men, Martin became obnoxious and began repeatedly singing the Fields of Athenry, continuing to do so even when he had been warned to stop, before eventually being arrested. The teens defence solicitor, Ciaran Downey, explained to the court how his client had spent his life in care and had no family. He added: I have seen the body worn camera footage. He (Martin) became involved in something that had nothing to do with him. Read More A bit of bravado, showing his youth. The incident was more of a drunken struggle rather than any real intent. He has one similar record from last year. He had previously moved to Portstewart to take up some work. He was then held on remand in another matter. Responding to Martins repeated rendition of the Fields of Athenry, a song written about a fictional man who stole food to feed his family during the famine before being sent to a penal colony in Australia, Judge Eamonn King said: Does he know it well? He might in Hydebank (young offenders centre) learn the entire lyrics to the song. He can then sing it with the correct reflection of the sentiments contained in the song. Martin was fined 610, as well as an offenders levy and told to learn the full song. 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. Near the very end of President Trumps administration, the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara. That move elicited loud protests, most notably from James Baker, John Bolton, and Senator James Inhofe (R., Okla.). For reasons that are not persuasive, all three have long opposed Moroccos territorial claims and have favored a process likely to weaken the kingdom, an important U.S. ally in a dangerous region. Moreover, their proposals might hand the territory over to the Polisario, a Cold War remnant organization that cannot reasonably be expected to play Moroccos role in the struggle against terrorism and extremism. The announcement by the White House states that the United States affirms, as stated by previous Administrations, its support for Moroccos autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory. Therefore, as of today, the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory and reaffirms its support for Moroccos serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory. The United States believes that an independent Sahrawi State is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution. We urge the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Moroccos autonomy plan as the only framework to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution. Note the ingredients: (1) Previous administrations have supported the formula of autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty; (2) it is the only realistic formula; (3) negotiations should begin. Left unstated is the additional factor that I mentioned above: Deliberately destabilizing Morocco would be a senseless policy for the United States. The objections by former secretary of state Baker and former national-security adviser Bolton are essentially that the Trump administrations decision overturned decades of U.S. policy and international law. Mr. Baker, who also served as the U.N. special envoy for the Western Sahara, called it an astounding retreat from the principles of international law and diplomacy that the United States has espoused and respected for many years and said it was a major and unfortunate change in long-standing U.S. policy under both Democrat and Republican administrations. That policy, he said, has always taken a more or less neutral stance in support of the efforts by the United Nations to determine the future of that territory and its people, in a way that supports the principle of self-determination. Story continues Mr. Boltons view was sharply expressed in an essay for Foreign Policy: Trumps decision to throw the Sahrawi people under the bus ditches three decades of U.S. support for their self-determination via a referendum of the Sahrawi people on the territorys future status. Senator Inhofe said that since 1966, The international community has had one clear, defined policy: Western Sahara deserves a referendum of self-determination to determine its own future. The United States has supported this policy for decades and has worked to accomplish a referendum of self-determination. Until today, this Administration had continued our long history, one that has remained consistent across administrations. But these claims are actually wrong. When Baker handled this issue for the United Nations in the 1990s, he developed a proposal then known as the Baker Plan. A first draft, in 2000, called for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty and was rejected by the Polisario and Algeria. A second plan was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council in 2003, and it called for five years of local self-rule followed by a referendum on independence. Morocco rejected the plan precisely because it presented the independence option. Soon thereafter, Baker resigned the U.N. position. In this period, the first term of President George W. Bush, I was senior director for the Near East and North Africa at the National Security Council. Baker visited with National-Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice about the Western Sahara, and I believe it was in good part the Bush administrations refusal to support the Baker Plan that led to Bakers resignation. Why did we reject it? We understood three critical things. The first and most important was that it was simply impossible for the king of Morocco to countenance independence for the Western Sahara without destabilizing his own rule with potentially huge consequences for North Africa and U.S. interests. Moroccans are riven by many disputes in their internal politics, but they are united on the issue of the Western Sahara. The Green March of 1975 organized by the kings father, Hassan II, in which 350,000 Moroccans entered the Western Sahara, was a turning point for the government of Morocco. Indeed, neither Hassan nor the current ruler King Mohammed VI has since then ever contemplated letting the region break off from Morocco. To do so would undermine public support for the monarchy and the government, and weaken both. I do recall, I hope accurately, a comment by Baker to the effect that his plan called for a five-year delay in holding the independence referendum, and that during that period Morocco would likely be able to incentivize more Moroccans to move into the Western Sahara and become eligible to vote there. If the government were energetic and smart about this, surely Morocco could win the independence referendum. But that comment showed exactly the problem with the Baker Plan: It would have forced Morocco to acknowledge and accept the legitimacy and the possibility of losing part of its territory, and seeing it become a Polisario state. Doing that was precisely what was dangerous for the government and the monarchy, whatever predictions might be made about referendum results. The second thing we in the Bush administration understood was wrong with the Baker Plan was that it might have led to the creation of a Polisario state in the Western Sahara. There are many reasons this was and still is a bad idea. For one thing, the Polisario has for decades relied on the hosting and financial, diplomatic, and military support of Algeria. Morocco and Algeria remain rivals; relations are tense and poor; Algeria recently denounced Moroccos establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel; and the land border between them has been closed since 1994. Independence for the Western Sahara would mean that Moroccos land borders consist of Algeria and what would likely be an Algerian dependency, the new Polisario state. That would hardly be conducive to Moroccan security, prosperity, and stability. It could mean that Morocco had no open land border at all, and fighting late in 2020 was occasioned by Polisario actions to block the land border between Morocco and Mauritania. Morocco and the United States have a long and deep relationship, and Morocco is a major non-NATO ally. As the State Department phrases it: Morocco and the United States share common concerns and consult closely on security, political, and economic issues and sustainable development. The United States designated Morocco a Major Non-NATO Ally in 2004, and the U.S. and Moroccan militaries hold joint exercises and training. Morocco is a strong partner in counterterrorism efforts and works closely with U.S. law enforcement to safeguard both countries national security interests. The U.S. and Morocco coordinate their efforts to promote regional stability and security, including through the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The Congressional Research Service summarizes that successive U.S. Administrations have viewed Morocco as an important regional partner on security, trade, and development. . . . U.S.-Morocco security cooperation is robust. It is inconceivable to think of this kind of security relationship existing with a Polisario state. How, therefore, would pursuing this new dynamic be in the interest of the United States? Finally, the third thing we understood was that never in history had the Western Sahara been an independent state. There was and is no pressing historical, political, or legal reason to make it one. (For a discussion of the legal aspects, see the discussion by Antonin Scalia Law School professor Eugene Kontorovich.) If the United States must support an independence referendum for the Western Sahara, why not for Scotland and Catalonia? Why not Quebec and Wales? With these and other considerations in mind, the United States rightly rejected the Baker Plan. But we also encouraged the Moroccan government to develop a credible autonomy plan for the Western Sahara, and it did so. In 2007, the United States publicly called the Moroccan plan a serious and credible proposal to provide real autonomy for the Western Sahara. Nor was the United States alone: Also in 2007, The French foreign ministry said the plan offered a constructive step toward negotiations and the possibility of a political solution endorsed by all the parties within the framework of the United Nations. That was during the George W. Bush administration, but in 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the press after meeting with Moroccos foreign minister that our policy has not changed, and I thank you for asking the question because I think its important for me to reaffirm here . . . that there has been no change in policy. Both countries reaffirmed these views again on October 30, 2020 at the United Nations (while also criticizing the Polisario blocking actions at the Mauritania border). Previous U.S. support for the Moroccan autonomy plan did not go all the way to the step the United States took in December 2020, finally recognizing Moroccan sovereignty. But that step was surely not the complete and astounding break with past U.S. positions that Baker called it. It was instead a logical progression from what had for more than a decade, under administrations of both parties, been the U.S. position: that autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty was the best realistic option. The U.N. special envoy for the region in 20052008, the late Peter Van Walsum, spelled out why in 2007: As the Council had made it clear from the outset that it could only contemplate a consensual solution to the question of Western Sahara and, more specifically, had not reacted in 2004 when Morocco decided that it could not consent to any referendum in which independence was an option, I had concluded that there was no pressure on Morocco to abandon its claim of sovereignty over the Territory and, therefore, that an independent Western Sahara was not a realistic proposition. . . . . My conclusion [was] that an independent Western Sahara is not an attainable goal. Van Walsum was right. It is worth noting how closely the White House statement from December 2020, quoted above, follows his logic: The United States believes that an independent Sahrawi State is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution. There are, at bottom, two possible paths forward for the region: the endless continuation of conflict, and a negotiation aimed at securing real autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. By recognizing Moroccan sovereignty, the United States has added pressure for a serious autonomy negotiation that might bring the conflict to an end. No other path will get us there. More from National Review The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company FALLS CHURCH, Va., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Polu Kai Services LLC, (www.polukaiservices.com), and Tidewater, Inc (www.tideh2o.net) announces our Joint Venture was awarded a NTE 125 million dollar Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for Medical Facilities Support Services (MFSS IIa) by the United States Army Corps Of Engineers Huntsville District. The term of the IDIQ is a two-year base and with three one-year options. The IDIQ will be used to provide Project Management (PM), Construction Quality Management (CQM), Project Integration, and Professional Support Services (PSS) in support of MEDCOM and their mission to give medical care to the war fighter(s) and their families. Worked to be performed at Department of Defense installations in the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, and other U.S. territories. Mr. Sean Jensen, Founder and President said "PKS is pleased to be selected as one of the IDIQ awardees, our JV partner Tidewater, Inc shares the same values as PKS (hard work, perseverance and commitment to our federal customers). I am very proud of the entire Polu Kai team. We are grateful for the continued opportunity to provide support to our Uniformed Personnel and Veterans of the Armed Services." Mr. Prasad Dissanayake, PE, Founder and President of Tidewater said "This contract win is a true testament to the dedication and commitment of our team as they give their best on a daily basis to deliver for the success of MEDCOM's mission both at home and abroad. The synergies between Tidewater and PKS are immense and our team is excited to work with PKS on this very important requirement." About Polu Kai Services (PKS) Founded in May 2002, as a Service Disabled, Veteran Owned Small Business, PKS is a multi-disciplinary firm with capabilities in AE Design/Build, Construction, Field Engineering, Construction Management Services and Environmental Services. PKS has a strong team of qualified, licensed, and experienced professionals operating throughout North America and overseas. About Tidewater Inc, (Tidewater) Tidewater was founded in 1983 as an environmental support services provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Tidewater entered the SBA 8(a) Program in 2004, after gaining valuable experience and building a formidable team of professionals. Today our 150 strong; qualified, licensed team of professionals perform work across five divisions - construction, facility management/maintenance, radiological services, industrial hygiene and environmental services. We have performed services in all 50 states and in over 80 countries worldwide. Contact: Angela Myers Tel: (703)533-0039 Email: [email protected] www.polukaiservices.com SOURCE Polu Kai Services LLC and Tidewater, Inc Joint Venture Related Links http://www.polukaiservices.com Vodafone's organic service revenue returned to growth in the mobile phone company's third quarter, with a rise of 0.4% soundly beating analysts' expectations for a fall of 0.1% and bolstering confidence in the group's outlook. Chief Executive Nick Read said there was momentum across the business, including in its largest market Germany. "Our good trading performance underscores our confidence in the outlook for the full year," he said on Wednesday. The world's second largest mobile operator reiterated its guidance for adjusted earnings for the year ... Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) The Chinese Embassy in Manila refuted reports claiming the vessel recently caught in Bataan was a Chinese dredger. The embassy said the ship is not registered in China nor did it have any Chinese nationals on board. "Initial investigation on the identity of MV Zhonhai 68 by relevant Chinese authorities has shown that the ship is not registered in China and not a Chinese ship," said the embassy in a statement on Wednesday. On Jan. 28, the Coast Guard reported a "Chinese dredger-type vessel" was spotted near Orion Point, Bataan with two Cambodians on board who failed to present proper documents. Upon verification with Customs, the Coast Guard said the vessel was granted departure clearance a year ago in Aparri, Cagayan, which makes its presence in the area "illegal and unauthorized." The embassy pointed out that the ship was under the Sierra Leone flag. It is a business practice, however, to register a ship in a country other than that of the ship's owner. Called "flag of convenience", the practice is often done to reduce operational costs. Following the incident, Malacanang had instructed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to identify the purpose of Chinese dredging vessels operating in the country. Lawmakers at the House of Representatives also filed a resolution calling for a probe into Chinese dredging ships allegedly conducting illegal activities in Philippine territory. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Burma Myanmar Coup Means Huge Losses for Thailands Border Trade Armored personnel carriers and military trucks patrol in Mandalay on Feb. 3, 2021. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy Thailand is estimated to forgo about 50 million baht (US$1.66 million, 2.21 billion kyats) a day from inconvenient transportation of goods and strict security checks by Myanmars military administration. According to Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Center for International Trade Studies at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the impact would amount to more than 1.5-2 billion baht a month if tight security inspections continue. We expect Myanmars political crisis to return to normal in the second month, said Aat. However, we need to follow up the political stances of the United States, Europe, Japan and allied countries and their actions or economic sanctions after the Myanmar coup. According to Aat, losses to Thailand depend on the degree of economic sanctions against Myanmar which will affect both purchasing power and investment in the neighboring country. With lower purchasing power, Myanmar, which is already being battered by COVID-19, is likely to import fewer goods from Thailand. Aat said foreign investors are expected to take two or three months to evaluate the impact and wait and see how the military regime handles the situation. The current situation clearly demonstrates that high political uncertainty still exists in Myanmar. Though there were elections in 2015 and 2020 and the country is turning to democracy, political uncertainty will be an important factor for investors to decide further investment, Aat said. This will affect the economy, trade and investment in Myanmar whose per capita income is the lowest among CLMV countries [Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam]. Aat said overall investment projects in Myanmar are expected to be frozen and all international trade negotiations will be subject to review. Tak Chamber of Commerce president Prasert Jeungkitrungrote said the unexpected Myanmar coup will definitely deal a heavy blow to border trade between Thailand and Myanmar, particularly through Mae Sot border checkpoint in Tak provincethe largest border checkpoint with Myanmar in Thailands North, fetching border trade worth at least 80 billion baht a year. According to Prasert, the Tak Chamber of Commerce expects the army to take control of Myanmar for at least one to two years. Were waiting for an official order or announcement from the Myanmar army and we are not yet able to evaluate the impact of the incident as we have to wait and see whether the border checkpoints will be subject to closure. Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the impact of the coup on exports is unlikely to become substantial and Myanmar is unlikely to close border checkpoints, as the military administration is fully aware of the countrys current economic problem mired by the deadly virus. Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), believes Myanmars military authorities will not resort to a harsher solution in their conflict with civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But if the situation escalates, Myanmar may face economic sanctions from many countries, especially the US and European countries. At the moment, the FTI still holds an optimistic view of the problem, hoping the military will act carefully in order to avoid an impact on foreign investment, he said. Thai investors in Myanmar are in a range of industries from hospitality and consumer products to petroleum and construction. It will not be good for their businesses if the power grab causes the international community to step in and respond with economic sanctions. This will affect Thai investors and major investment projects, said Supant. Malika Boonmeetrakool Mahasook, adviser to Thai Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, said Jurin had already ordered officials to evaluate the impact and ordered the Foreign Trade Department, which is in charge of border trade, to closely monitor and update him on the situation. The Trade Policy and Strategy Office has also been ordered to cooperate with the private sector to tackle border trade obstacles. Thai Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said it is too soon to tell whether the coup in Myanmar will affect development projects of the Dawei Special Economic Zone (DSEZ), which is a joint venture between Japan, Myanmar and Thailand. Regarding the recent termination of seven DSEZ concession agreements signed earlier by Stock Exchange of Thailand-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), Thai officials and ITD will negotiate with their Myanmar counterparts to seek a solution, said Arkhom. But no negotiation has begun so far, he said. ITD in January submitted a request for government help to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha after the Dawei Special Economic Zone Management Committee sent a notice of termination for seven concession agreements at the DSEZ to five project companies in which ITD has partial ownership. This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post. You may also like these stories: NLD Demands Myanmar Military End Unlawful Raids on Its Offices Mobile Internet Connectivity Restored to Western Myanmar Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:21 am On Monday, Feb. 1, lawmakers in the Washington State House of Representatives voted on a bill that would spend $2.2 billion of federal funds on COVID relief. Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, was among 36 Republicans who reluctantly voted no on the Democrat-sponsored measure, as many felt the bill was not enough to provide real comprehensive relief to struggling businesses and families according to a release from Abbarnos office. "I came to Olympia to help create opportunities to make small businesses better and families stronger to invest in them not allocate federal money just to make government bigger. I voted no because my priorities go so far beyond this legislation. This is just not enough," Abarrno said in the news release. In the release, Abbarno said he would have preferred the REAL Recovery for Washington Act (House Bill 1334). HB 1334 is a measure sponsored by House Republican Budget Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, which proposed $4 billion in relief and would have used $1.8 billion in federal funding and $2.1 billion from Washington States rainy day fund. According to the release, House Republicans offered six amendments that focused on providing more rental and utility assistance, helping child care providers, supporting small businesses, safely reopening schools and assisting students who have fallen behind. "As the husband of a great middle school math teacher and a father of two elementary school-aged students, I know how important this is. It's really heartbreaking to see the needs in my community, from my wife's students and from my children's friends. But this legislation focuses on programs with federal money, rather than real relief that would make a difference in the lives of my neighbors," Abbarno said. According to the release, Democrats rejected five of the six of the Republican amendments, choosing not to use any of the state's rainy day fund for COVID-19 relief and opting to only appropriate money provided by the federal government. "I'm just utterly disappointed. My priorities are investing in people, empowering communities and creating opportunities for our businesses and families. This bill falls short from doing what we can," Abbarno said. "My vote sends a message to my district that this bill falls woefully short and does not measure anywhere near my commitment and promises to our communities to lift families out of poverty through investments in them. Our community members have needs now. Unfortunately, my priorities were not the priorities of the majority." The measure passed the House, 61-36. India is not agree with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) report that the country's two per cent on foreign discriminates against American companies, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said on Wednesday. Last month, an USTR investigation has concluded that India's 2 per cent digital services tax on e-commerce supply discriminates against US companies and is inconsistent with international tax principles. "We do not agree with that conclusion," Wadhawan told reporters when asked whether India has responded to the USTR report. "Basically, if there is an economic benefit from a certain jurisdiction then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction...OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is also moving in that direction that if you have an economic presence and economic gain, then you must have taxation in that jurisdiction. You have billions of dollars of revenue in a certain jurisdiction, you have to pay taxes," he said. Some countries are protesting because they have huge domination in that kind of activity whether it is Facebook or Google or Amazon, he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In addition, Soma said the Fenix Portal, which will give the company access to the Cordero-Balvina deposit, is approximately 35% of the way to reaching the ore body at Level 3 Soma Gold anticipates commencing mining on Level 3 in the second quarter of 2021 ( ) ( ) has announced that January 2021 gold production at the company's Operadora subsidiary exceeded the planned 1,361 ounces by 22.2%, with a total production of 1,663 ounces gold In addition, Soma said the Fenix Portal, which will give the company access to the Cordero-Balvina deposit, is approximately 35% of the way to reaching the ore body at Level 3. This first phase of the decline totals 890 meters. The decline will then continue for an additional 610 meters to provide access to lower mine levels. The company anticipates commencing mining on Level 3 in the second quarter of 2021. The average grade in Cordero-Balvina is 6.2 grams per ton (g/t) versus the 3.6 g/t the company has been mining at the Los Mangos and La Ye deposits. The group said mining will be fully ramped up in the third quarter when it expects monthly gold production to increase proportionately. Soma Gold owns two adjacent mining properties in Antioquia, Colombia with a combined milling capacity of 675 tons per day (tpd) and permitted for 1,400 tpd. The La Ye mine is currently operating and producing, and the El Limon mine and mill are scheduled to begin operating in Q1 2021. Internally generated funds will be used to finance a regional exploration program. The company also owns an exploration and development property near Tucuma, Para State, Brazil. Shares in Toronto added 5.26% to C$0.40 each. ----Updates for share price--- Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com In a true clash of the titans, ByteDance's Chinese short video app Douyin sued Tencent Holdings for monopolistic behavior and asked for 90 million yuan ($13.93 million) in compensation, ByteDance said on Tuesday. The social media apps WeChat and Douyin shown on a mobile phone. [Photo by Zhang Rui/China.org.cn] Douyin's complaint, filed at the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, stated that Tencent was restricting users from sharing Douyin content on its instant messaging apps WeChat and QQ, which amounted to monopolistic behavior. It asked the court to order Tencent to stop such behavior and demanded compensation. According to the filing, since April 2018, Tencent had been restricting users from sharing Douyin content on its instant messaging apps on the grounds of "cleaning up short video." Douyin said that Tencent was abusing its dominant market position to damage user rights, disrupting the normal operation of online products and services provided by third-party mobile app developers, and eliminating and restricting market competition. "Tencent's monopolistic behavior hinders technological progress and innovation, and is not conducive to improving economic efficiency and social well-being, which can only help it distort market competition and consolidate its existing market position," Douyin stated. Tencent responded in a statement saying it had not received the relevant filing materials and details of the complaints, but insisted that Tencent and its products always follow the principle of fair competition and open cooperation to provide services for users and third-party products. "The allegations made by ByteDance are purely false and maliciously framed," Tencent said. It countered that many of ByteDance's products, including Douyin, "illegally obtained personal information of WeChat users through various unfair competition methods and violated Tencent's platform rules. The court has ordered multiple prohibitions on it to stop such infringement immediately." In March 2019, Tianjin Binhai New Area People's Court issued a ruling to stop ByteDance from providing user information taken from WeChat and QQ to another short video app under ByteDance. Tencent said ByteDance and its affiliated companies still engaged in "many illegal activities" that infringed on Tencent's platform ecology and user rights. It also announced that it will also sue ByteDance. After Tencent's statement, Douyin was quick to issue a refutation on Tuesday, claiming Tencent's claim that the allegations were "maliciously framed" was false, and it was not true to say it had illegally obtained personal information. "Douyin believes that its users have absolute rights and complete control of their own information, and it takes precedence over the rights of any particular platform. Personal data is not the privately owned property of Tencent," the statement said. "During three years of blocking Douyin content, impacting hundreds of millions of users, Tencent has released several short video products," Douyin pointed out, adding that WeChat and QQ, with more than 1.2 billion and 600 million monthly active users respectively, have penetrated into all areas of user life, which amounts to market dominance. Douyin's lawsuit came as Chinese regulators step up regulations on tech giants. For years, China has been stepping up efforts to better regulate the internet industry, with the aim of ensuring equal participation in market competition for all types of market players. The Draft Revision of the Anti-Monopoly Law, issued in early 2020, added provisions for determining the dominant market position of internet companies. The Guidelines on Anti-Monopoly in the Platform Economy, which was issued in November 2020 and has completed public consultation, encompasses a set of draft rules that could rein in the monopolistic conduct of the country's top internet firms. Last December, China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced the launch of an antitrust investigation into the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. "At present, our country is continuously strengthening law enforcement against monopolistic practices and unfair competition. We hope that our lawsuit will help clarify how platforms should compete, and help improve anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition rules," Douyin's statement said. ByteDance is Tencent's largest social media rival. In August 2020, Douyin hit 600 million daily active users. Douyin's international version TikTok is also hugely popular. Tencent released Weishi, a short video app and also upgraded WeChat with a short-video feature. The growing rift between the two titans can be traced back to 2018. The two have previously challenged each other on various issues from anti-competitive behavior to defamation. In May 2018, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming accused WeChat of banning Douyin and accused Weishi, Tencent's own short video app, of copycat updates. Pony Ma, president of Tencent Holdings, responded angrily that Zhang's words could be "understood as defamation." BARI, FEB 3 - Italian police on Wednesday arrested three people in Bari for the November 2018 murder of the nephew of a former boss in the Puglian mafia Sacra Corona Unita (United Holy Crown, SCU). Domenico Capriati, 47-year-old nephew of Tonino Capriati, was allegedly murdered because he was getting too big for his boots, police said. Rival mobster Michele Larizzi, 38, was arrested on suspicion of ordering the hit. Domenico Monti, the 62-year-old former right hand man of the clan boss, and his son-in-law Christian De Tullio, 30, were arrested for allegedly carrying out the assassination on November 21 2018. Police said the pair sprayed Capriati with a hail of bullets after he came out of his house with his wife and daughter, who were unhurt in the hit, before finishing him off with a pistol shot to the head. (ANSA). Sorry! This content is not available in your region When South Bay resident Arjun Batra, 74, heard California Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement in mid-January that individuals age 65 and over were eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, he called his health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, in hopes of making an inoculation appointment. After waiting three hours on hold, Batra said he finally spoke with a Kaiser representative who asked him a "standard set of questions." "Based on those answers, the next thing was if there was an appointment available," he said. "She said there are no appointments available for within the timeframe in which appointments were being given. He called the following week. Same thing. Three hours on hold, same questions, and again no appointments. "I asked to talk to the supervisor," Batra said. "I told the Kaiser supervisor, 'Im not upset with you. Im a little frustrated with the system.' If you can try to streamline the system, if there are no appointments, there should be a quicker way to find out there are no appointments. You should have a system that doesnt take hours to wait on the phone." Based on a tip from a friend, he downloaded the hospitals app. He checked his primary hospital for an appointment time; no luck. After two days, he tried again, opting for another facility farther away. "It gave me three appointments," he said. Batra secured an appointment for Feb. 4, the day before his 75th birthday, at Kaisers Santa Clara facility at Homestead. Days later, he received an email notifying him the appointment was canceled with no information on how to reschedule. "It was a long email," he said. "'Due to shortage of vaccine, we are prioritizing right now a different group of people, health care workers, 75 and over, and all that. It didnt give me any information about how I would get a new appointment." Batra understands the vaccine is in short supply, and he believes that health care workers and those older than him should be prioritized. That said, he feels the system is broken. "I do want them to prioritize health care workers," he said. "Im able to observe quarantine. I can do everything from home. But not everybody else is as lucky and as blessed as I am." Batra's not alone: The process of obtaining the vaccine, for thousands of seniors across the Bay Area, has been hampered by delays, bureaucracy, inconsistency and, perhaps most damning, a shortage of vaccines. Several seniors who spoke to SFGATE have experienced countless hurdles in their efforts to get the vaccine, spending hours maneuvering dysfunctional websites and confused customer service representatives symptoms of a bungled, frustrating rollout. "Its the system that's not smooth and productive and wasting a lot of time and causing a lot of frustration," Batra said. "We need to smooth the systems." MediaNews Group/Orange County Re/MediaNews Group via Getty Images, Media News Group/ Getty Images 'Rife with dishonesty' When Newsom announced the shift into age-based priority for the COVID-19 vaccine last month, it should have been a moment of relief for seniors. Public health officials praised the move, calling it the best decision for the good of the states population, given the limited number of vaccines available. Dr. Tomas J. Aragon, the director of the California Department of Public Health, said that the move may push down the number of hospitalizations and benefit Californians at large, according to the Sacramento Bee. But the sudden change away from Californias initial rollout has proven chaotic for both patients and doctors. James Moldovan, a 70-year-old San Francisco resident and cancer survivor, said confusion arose following the notice, as some providers were offering the vaccine to individuals 65 and over, while others only to those 75 and over. Moldovan's health care provider, Sutter Health, has been clear that those who are 75 years or older or work in community health care are being prioritized, but he hasn't been able to get an estimated date for when he may get vaccinated. (A representative for the hospital declined to comment further to SFGATE.) "I emailed my doctor and he said, basically, youre kind of on your own," said Moldovan, who has been confined to his house without a car throughout the pandemic. "That has been the message of this thing. And thats not a cheery message that youre on your own." Meanwhile, Moldovan has a 72-year-old friend who was vaccinated through his provider and another acquaintance, a donor to a hospital, allegedly received special treatment. "The rollout has been rife with dishonesty," he said. "The citys place is to initiate and to ensure good public policy. The city could coordinate with the Kaisers and the Sutters theyre not being completely honest with people." said Moldovan. 'We understand the frustration' Even for those who are able to get appointments, the process has been riddled with hurdles. In Santa Clara County, nearly 5,000 seniors Batra among them scheduled for the COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser hospitals had their appointments canceled. The Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday that Kaiser did not obtain the number of vaccines it had previously anticipated, a number estimated by prior shipments and government guidance. "We understand the frustration this causes, and we are continuing to do all we can to increase the supply of vaccines, working in partnership with county, state and federal governments," a spokesperson for Kaiser said. They plan on scheduling every individual 75 years or older, but said that younger seniors will have to wait until there is a "significant increase in vaccine supply." To the north in Sonoma County, another crisis unfolded on the same day. A leaked county website link resulted in thousands of people 65 to 74 signing up for a vaccine before those 75 and older. After it went viral on social media, thousands of appointments were canceled, and the county has apologized. "Mistakes get made, and I'm going to guess more mistakes will be made because we're trying so hard to get this right," said Chris Coursey of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, per KTVU. Sonoma County spokesman Matt Brown said the site has since been amended to clearly specify that only individuals over 75 can be vaccinated. Jeff Chiu/AP Solved my problems Some hospitals are strategizing to avoid canceling appointments, and UCSF said it has yet to cancel any. "We are scheduling only a few days at a time to prevent this type of scenario," UCSF spokesperson Elizabeth Fernandez wrote in an email to SFGATE. As of Sunday, UCSF had administered 40,268 vaccines, according to Fernandez. "Our vaccinations have gone to employees and trainees who are at highest risk of exposure, as well as patients," Fernandez said. "We also have vaccinated non-UCSF health care workers in partnership with the city and county of San Francisco." And despite myriad obstacles, seniors are successfully procuring vaccines, often by trying multiple avenues and then suddenly coming upon the one that works. Jeff Neustadt, a 76-year-old San Franciscan, is on Medicare with a supplement and was unable to get any information on how to access the vaccine from his primary care physician. After spending at least 10 hours making calls and checking websites, he signed up through Sutter and was given an appointment in San Mateo after he heard a tip that they were distributing vaccines to nonmembers. "I was between a rock and a hard place," he said. "It took lots of hours, lots of phone calls." That said, Neustadt recognized that he was lucky, in retrospect. "It would be difficult for someone who wasnt mobile as my appointment was in San Mateo." And in Sonoma County, where the scheduling website fiasco took place, 82-year-old Richard Hirsch successfully navigated it all. "I have solved my problems," he said. Despite some initial confusion as to when he would be vaccinated, he was able to find multiple local appointments. He's scheduled to get his first shot at the end of this week. "I'm in good shape," he said. A committee of MPs and peers has drafted its own law to allow care home visits to restart and set the government a two-week deadline to agree to act. The current blanket ban is a breach of human rights and is causing enormous distress, they say, criticising ministers for ignoring warnings first issued last year. The human rights joint committee released evidence from people separated from vulnerable loved ones who had been left further traumatised and feeling abandoned by their families. The law would adopt the Canada system of allowing entry to care homes and mental health hospitals by a designated care-giver, provided they test negative before each visit for Covid-19. Recommended Pledge to offer jabs to all care home staff by end of January missed Relatives must now be reunited with their loved ones in care homes and that needs to be backed up by law, the all-party committee said. The move lays bare frustration that ministers have refused to say when visits will resume, despite delivering a first vaccine to all elderly residents but not staff in English care homes. Families and providers fear they will have to wait until booster jabs have been given which will not happen before all the most at-risk groups have received their first vaccine. Even when they restart, guidance to care homes must be enforced by law to make sure it happens in all homes, the committee is arguing. The legislation would require residential care homes to allow visits unless, after individualised assessment, a face-to-face visit is not possible for safety reasons. We have continued to hear far too many examples of people being denied meaningful visits, where these might be safely facilitated, said Harriet Harman, the committees chair, in a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Failure to adopt an individualised approach to the safety of visits risks breaching the right of patients, residents and their families to family life, she has written. And she added: I would be very grateful if you could consider our proposal as a matter of urgency and respond to us by 17 February. A separate measure for prisons would trigger the immediate temporary release of all pregnant women and those in mother-and-baby-units, after risk assessments. The committee is also recommending that every effort should be made to release mothers with dependent children who could be reunited with their children. On Monday, the care minister Helen Whately was unable to say when visits would restart after the policy of one regularly-tested family member being allowed into a home was scrapped. She defended not fast-tracking second jabs in care homes because we want to protect as many people as we possibly can, by getting the first job to them. But, the minister added: We're looking right now at what could we possibly do over the weeks ahead to try and enable more individual visits to start again. A team of scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States has recently evaluated the immunological impacts of single-dose coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination on healthcare workers. The findings reveal that healthcare workers previously infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) develop significantly higher antibody titers in response to a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, as compared to healthcare workers without prior SARS-CoV-s infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server. Background Since its emergence in December 2019 in China, more than 103 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 2.25 million deaths, were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). To tackle the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, the entire scientific community has made a significant effort to develop specific therapeutics and vaccines. Currently, several potential COVID-19 vaccines with good safety and efficacy levels are rolling out in many countries. The primary aim of such vaccination programs is to immunize and protect frontline workers, such as healthcare workers and at-risk individuals. However, because of the deficiencies in vaccine production and distribution, some countries have started considering suboptimal vaccine doses (half or single dose) to maximize the coverage. Although clinical studies have shown that people with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection develop adaptive immunity that can protect them from reinfection for at least six months, it is still not known whether a suboptimal vaccine dose can induce desired immune responses in these individuals. In the current study, the scientists have examined the antibody responses induced by a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine in healthcare workers with or without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Study design The healthcare workers who participated in the study were categorized into three groups: anti- SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive participants with a history of symptomatic COVID-19; anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive with a history of asymptomatic COVID-19; and IgG negative participants. The immunological impacts of a single dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine were tested. The levels of SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer-specific IgG antibodies (antibody titers) were measure in plasma samples at baseline (day 0) and after 7, 10, and 14 days of vaccination. Important observations A total of 59 healthcare workers participated in the study. The findings revealed that in response to a single vaccine dose, the participants with prior COVID-19 exposure developed significantly higher spike-binding antibody titers than those without any history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Similarly, significantly higher levels of virus-neutralizing antibodies were observed in participants with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection than those without infection. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses after a single dose of vaccination. After COVID-19 vaccination, plasma was drawn at 0, 7, 10, and 14 days and IgG binding titers against spike measured by ELISA and live virus neutralization at Day 0 and 14 measured. Single time point was also measured among COVID-19 outpatients or inpatients whose blood was drawn during peak antibody production (1-2 months after the onset of symptoms). A) IgG spike trimer half-maximal titers. By 7 days and continuing to 14 days post-vaccination HCW with prior COVID-19 who received a single vaccination developed higher peak IgG titers than HCW without COVID and COVID-19 infected patients. Half-maximal binding titers represent the dilution of plasma that achieves 50% of the maximal binding of a known control that reaches saturation. B) IgG spike trimer end-point titers. By 7 days and continuing to 14 days post-vaccination HCW with prior COVID-19 who received a single vaccination developed higher peak IgG titers than HCW without COVID and COVID-19 infected patients. End-point binding titers represent the highest dilution of plasma that gives a reading above the statistically defined cutoff. C) Live virus neutralization. Serial dilutions of plasma were incubated for one hour with 100TCID50 of WA-1 strain SARS-CoV-2. This admixture was added to Vero cells, and the cytopathic effect was assayed using live/dead staining at 72 hours. At 14 days, HCW with prior COVID-19 who received a single vaccination developed higher neutralization titers than HCW without COVID and COVID-19 infected patients. Neutralization values greater than 40,960 were reported as 40,960, accounting for small box size and single line seen in Groups 2 and 3. ID99 defined as the highest dilution at which 99% of cells were protected. Group 1= SARS-CoV-2 IgG negative healthcare worker (HCW). Group 2= asymptomatic SARSCoV- 2 IgG positive HCW. Group 3= symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive HCW. Box plots represent 25% to 75% percentile, with individual dots representing outliers using Tukeys method (1.5 x IQR). Study significance The study highlights that healthcare workers with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection can develop significant levels of secondary antibody responses in response to a single dose of mRNA vaccine containing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as a vaccine antigen. In previously infected healthcare workers, both spike-binding and neutralizing antibody titers started rapidly increasing by day 7 of vaccination and achieved a higher level at day 14 of vaccination. Importantly, a comparable level of binding and functional antibody titers has been observed among healthcare workers with prior symptomatic or prior asymptomatic infection. Moreover, the findings reveal that the antibody titer developed in response to a single vaccine dose is higher than that developed by natural infection and similar to that developed by two doses of these mRNA vaccines. Activation of memory B cells developed in response to prior SARS-CoV-2 infection might be the reason for such heightened secondary antibody responses. The study suggests that a single dose of vaccine can trigger the activation of an already existing pool of memory antibodies (recall response) in people with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. According to the scientists, such a single-dose vaccination regimen can be adopted in vaccine shortage times to maximize the coverage. *Important Notice medRxiv 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:06:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VALLETTA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Malta has detected 12 new cases of the more contagious coronavirus variant that was first discovered in the United Kingdom (UK), Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said here on Wednesday. She said that this brought the tally of variant cases in Malta to 15. The first three cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant were detected in December. These had been linked to travel from the UK. Gauci said that since then another six cases have been detected, and investigations linked them to a 75-year-old woman who was one of the three patients. The other six cases were still being investigated to determine their origin. Malta suspended flights to and from the UK on Dec. 22, except for Maltese citizens and residents returning to the island from the UK. "What we know up to now is that the UK variant spreads faster and in fact one person who came from the UK passed it on to six other people," she said. Gauci said Malta had improved genome sequencing, which helps professionals detect mutations, and is looking at using laboratories abroad to improve its capacity to detect such variants. According to studies, the coronavirus variant first detected in the UK spreads 30 percent to 70 percent faster than others and may be more deadly. Meanwhile, Health Minister Chris Fearne told Parliament on Tuesday that the government had decided to administer AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine only to people aged between 18 and 55 because there were not enough studies to fully know its efficacy in older people. The first of one million AstraZeneca vaccine doses will arrive in Malta in the next ten days, Fearne said, adding that the above decision could be changed if more information is received. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave AstraZeneca's vaccine the green light last week only. According to a bulletin issued by the health authorities on Wednesday, Malta has 2,610 active coronavirus cases and the pandemic has so far claimed 273 lives in the country. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 237 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. 29. Enditem A South Korea-born Sydney man said he was connected to Kim Jong-Un, called North Korea his motherland and communicated in code in a bid to sell missiles and other materials, the NSW Supreme Court has been told. But each attempted deal was a failure, the court heard and according to Chan Han Chois lawyer on the first day of his trial on Wednesday, the 62-year-old from Eastwood was little more than a bag of hot air. Chan Han Choi arrives with supporters to the King Street Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday. Credit:Steven Saphore Mr Choi, who arrived at the Supreme Court flanked by supporters wearing t-shirts emblazoned with his face on the front and Free Chan Han Choi on the back, is the first person to be charged under Australias weapons of mass destruction laws enacted in 1995. The seven charges relate to five alleged transactions in which the prosecution says Mr Choi attempted to sell missiles and other military equipment, coal and iron from North Korea to other jurisdictions; and attempted to buy Iranian petroleum on behalf of North Korea. Each of the alleged transactions contravened United Nations sanctions, the court heard. CHIVHU Some 18 herds of cattle belonging to a senior Zimbabwe National Army Officer, Brigadier Gen Joe Muzvidziwa died on the spot after drinking cyanide that had burst from a safety trench at a ZRP run gold mine near Beatrice on Wednesday last week. The incident happened at Muzvidziwas Subdivision 5 Welcome Home Farm, reliable sources told The Mirror Sources said a safety trench at Joice Mine was washed away by the heavy rains resulting in the poisonous chemical spilling into the farm. National Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said he was out of the office and he referred questions to Mash East Police spokesperson Tendai Mwanza who could not be reached. Brigadier Muzvidziwa ordered The Mirror reporter to keep his hands off the story. Siyana nenyaya iyoyo, haunei nayo (leave that story it has nothing to do with you). A high-powered Police delegation led by Commissioner Charles Nhete from PGHQ is said to have visited the mine following the incident. Cyanide is a deadly chemical that has far reaching effects on people the environment and such an incident would not be kept a secret. ZRP has been running the mine since 2016. Sources said that cyanide used for ore processing at Joice Mine has a 0.08% concentration and at least 5litres spilled into Muzvidziwas paddocks. The cyanide dam which burst had an estimated 25litres. Muzvidziwas 41 cattle were driven to the paddocks at around 6am on January 21, 2021 and a herd boy saw the cattle drinking from pools near the mine and the beasts started dying immediately, said a source. Masvingo Mirror At a hearing on February 1, a British court granted PrivatBank's application for a further payment of its costs and ordered its former owners Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Boholiubov, together with the defendant companies, to pay GBP 1 million to the bank by March 15, 2021. The bank's press service said on Wednesday that the total amount paid by the defendants together with interest is over GBP 12 million, consisting of interim payments of GBP 4.4 million on account of the bank's legal costs incurred at first instance and in respect of the defendants' unsuccessful attempt to challenge the jurisdiction in the court of appeal, and the return of GBP 7.5 million paid by the bank to the defendants in December 2018, The defendants were also ordered to pay a yet further circa GBP 35,000 in respect of the costs incurred by the bank in making the application. The press service said that the total amount of the defendants' costs liability will be determined at hearings which will take place between October 2021 and February 2022. A year later after the nationalization of PrivatBank in December 2016 the bank filed a lawsuit with the English High Court against former owners Kolomoisky and Boholiubov, as well as six British companies they are believed to own or control, and was granted a worldwide freezing order for over $2.5 billion. However, on December 4, 2018, the English High Court found this lawsuit of PrivatBank to be incompatible with its jurisdiction, considering that it was filed against British companies in order to involve Kolomoisky and Boholiubov in the proceedings. The bank appealed this decision, and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on October 15, 2019 sided with it. The court's order for a worldwide freeze on assets remained in force until a verdict on the merits was handed down. The judges of the Court of Appeal confirmed that the bank can pursue its fraud claim for around $1.9 billion, plus interest, against its former owners and others in the English court. On December 18, 2016, the government of Ukraine, referring to the proposal of the NBU and former shareholders of PrivatBank Kolomoisky and Boholiubov, decided to nationalize this largest financial institution in the Ukrainian market. The ex-owners of the bank consider the nationalization, as a result of which they completely lost their shares, illegal, while PrivatBank and the state demand compensation from them. The parties are currently litigating, both in Ukraine and in foreign jurisdictions. A 'sociable and bubbly' woman killed herself after she was made redundant and struggled to cope with isolation during lockdown, her husband has revealed. Howard Jones, 77, said Sarah, 54, from Wigston in Leicestershire, didn't have any mental health problems before the coronavirus pandemic. He said his wife of 15 years fell into a depression when lockdown continued and she was made redundant from the job she held for 20 years as an administrator at an insurance brokers. Charities and politicians urged No10 to provide much-needed funding to prop up mental health services last month, amid a continuing crisis as Britons are kept away from loved ones. Howard Jones (left), 77, said Sarah (right), 54, from Wigston in Leicestershire, didn't have any mental health problems before the coronavirus pandemic Mr Jones said his wife of 15 years fell into a depression when lockdown continued and she was made redundant from the job she held for 20 years as an administrator at an insurance brokers. Pictured, Mrs Jones Mrs Jones was devastated when she couldn't see friends, family or even work colleagues after she was furloughed in March last year. Father-of-two Mr Jones said being made redundant further impacted her mental health and she was diagnosed with depression. He found her dead at their home on January 20 after she told him she was going for a nap. Mr Jones said his wife felt she had 'everything taken away from her' by the pandemic. He said he blames nobody for his wife's death but wanted to encourage others who are suffering to confide in their loved ones. The retired printer said: 'Sarah was so social. She had many friends and she loved her job. Mrs Jones (pictured with her husband) was devastated when she couldn't see friends, family or even work colleagues after she was furloughed in March last year 'It devastated her not being able to see her friends and family because of the lockdown, and then being made redundant as well was too much for her. 'She felt like everything had been taken away from her, and that snowballed into depression with a tragic ending. Sarah was loved by everyone - she was so caring and would never say a bad word about anyone. 'She was a wonderful wife and she was my rock. Her death has completely destroyed me. I knew she was struggling but I never thought it would come to this. The pandemic has cost me my wife and my life.' The couple met in a pub 20 years ago after Mr Jones was drawn to her 'lovely smile and bubbly personality'. Mr Jones found his wife (pictured) dead in their home on January 20 after she told him she was going for a nap. Mr Jones said his wife felt she had 'everything taken away from her' by the pandemic Mr Jones said she'd struggled with not seeing her work friends after she was furloughed last March - but hoped she could soon return to her job They married in 2005 and she had enjoyed a close relationship with his children, Nicola and Chris Jones, now 40 and 38, and his grandchildren. He said she'd struggled with not seeing her work friends after she was furloughed last March - but hoped she could soon return to her job. She was then made redundant in November, which Howard said, coupled with being isolated in lockdown, caused her to spiral into depression. The couple met in a pub 20 years ago after Mr Jones was drawn to her 'lovely smile and bubbly personality'. Pictured, Mr Jones with his son Chris (right), 38, and daughter Nicola, 40 He said: 'It was the combination of being in lockdown and then losing her job and her income. 10million people 'face mental health crisis in wake of Covid' Up to 10million people could need mental health support in the wake of the pandemic, a report warned before Britain's second wave of coronavirus. Experts said around 8.5million adults and 1.5million children in England will likely need help to deal with the fallout from coronavirus, including losing loved ones and jobs. They will mostly need help for depression and anxiety, according to analysis from the Centre for Mental Health, which consulted experts from the NHS. But others - including NHS workers - could develop conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), more commonly associated with service personnel following armed conflicts. Advertisement 'She had been such a happy person and she felt everything had been taken away from her all at once.' Mrs Jones had been recently diagnosed with depression, and was taking mediation, but had 'shown no signs of wanting to harm herself', he said. He said: 'Her death was a tragedy we never expected, but we have no choice but to face what's happened. 'I am completely heart-broken but I have so many fantastic memories of her and I want to hold on to those. 'I don't blame anyone, but it goes to show how much damage this pandemic can have on people's mental health.' Mind says its pandemic support page has seen its highest number of visitors since April when the country was in the grips of the first wave. And former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned there is a 'real risk' self-isolation becomes a 'tipping point leading to an epidemic of severe mental illness'. Experts claim the mental health crisis has been fuelled by the UK's huge death toll, mass unemployment caused by the lockdowns and the social effects of stay at home orders. In December, leading psychiatrist Dr Adrian James warned Covid-19 could deliver the biggest hit to Briton's mental well-being since the Second World War. And the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed in August around one in five Britons suffered either moderate or severe depressive symptoms in June 2020, almost double the level recorded the same time the previous year. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) The Philippines will apply for around 900,000 more doses of Pfizer vaccines through the COVAX facility, possibly rounding off the total doses to be received from the American manufacturer to 1 million. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday said they will send the request to the World Health Organization for the additional vaccines on top of the 117,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses that the government expects to receive this month. "Nakasaad sa COVAX arrangement na if we can have submission for additional 900,000 to make it one million ang ating vaccines sa Pfizer, gagawin namin iyon. We are now preparing the letter. We will submit it before Feb. 14," he said in a media briefing. [Translation: The COVAX arrangement states we can request an additional 900,000 to make it one million Pfizer vaccine doses. We will do that.] The Philippines is expected to receive 5.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the first quarter of 2021 through the COVAX facility, an initiative led by the World Health Organization, along with the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which seeks to provide over 150 participating countries equitable access to coronavirus vaccines. The Philippines may also be able to access 5.5 million to up to 9.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines though COVAX by late February or early March if it soon receives the emergency use listing from WHO. WHO has committed to supply the Philippines with 44 million doses of vaccines for cover 20% of its population by the end of the year. BETHLEHEM Two Bethlehem-area schools were placed in lockout Wednesday after police said one of the schools received a phone call from a man in an agitated state. Town police said just before 2 p.m., St. Thomas the Apostle School got a call from a private number from an unknown man who stated to the school employee, All Gods children are going to pay I tried to talk to your (profane language omitted) priest, and then hung up. School officials notified the police and the St. Thomas School and the Bethlehem Central Middle School were put in lockout as a precaution. St. Thomas received a distressing phone call threatening violence just before dismissal, the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Police advised the Catholic school to delay dismissal, and they were given permission to allow students to leave at 3 p.m. Police maintained a presence on school grounds for about an hour afterward, and the diocese said police will maintain a presence on the school property (Thursday). Police were seen guarding all entrances to St. Thomas, a pre-K-8 school at Adams Place. Officers stayed on the scene and assisted with the dismissal of students and staff at both schools. Police continue to investigate. The lockout caused brief confusion: Bethlehem middle school students about a block away werent allowed to leave the building when school dismissed at 2:45 p.m. Parents waited in cars on side streets, backing up at the entrance on Kenwood Avenue to await word on what had happened. Middle school students who normally walk were taken home by bus. Elementary bus routes at district schools were delayed. The Bethlehem district sent a text alert to parents and guardians about 20 minutes after they would have arrived to pick up middle school students at the end of classes on Wednesday. Claire Bryan contributed to this story (Newser) Dolly Parton says she was twice offered the nation's highest civilian honor by Donald Trumpbut she had to turn down the then-president both times. "I couldn't accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn't travel because of the COVID," the Nashville legend told the Today show Monday. She said she has now heard from President Biden as well about the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but she's unsure about accepting it. "Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure," she said. The BBC notes that when Stephen Colbert asked Barack Obama last year why he hadn't awarded Parton the medal, he said, "I think I assumed that she'd already got one and that was incorrect. I'm surprised, she deserves one." story continues below Parton, who turned 75 last month, is renowned for philanthropy as well as country music, the Tennessean notes. Her Imagination Library child literacy nonprofit has given more than 150 million books to children since it was founded in 1995, and she donated $1 million toward the development of the Moderna COVID vaccine. "But I don't work for those awards," she told Today. "It'd be nice but I'm not sure that I even deserve it. But it's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it." (Tennessee lawmakers are considering another honor for Parton.) 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, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Triplemint is proud to announce its expansion into Westchester alongside founding agents, the Berkowitz Marrone Team. The group, led by Owen Berkowitz and Carol Marrone, bring nearly six decades of collective experience in the Westchester region. Berkowitz and Marrone served as founding members of Douglas Elliman Westchester, where they were the top agent team. They received the Pinnacle Award, given to Elliman's top 2% of agents company-wide, each year since 2016. In 2020, the team closed $60 million in sales volume and were recognized on the Real Trends The Thousand list. "Owen and I are so grateful for the success we saw during our time at Elliman," Marrone said. "We're so excited to take the next step, leading the team and shaping Triplemint from River to Sound. Westchester is our home, and we can't wait to create a better real estate experience for our neighbors." Westchester marks Triplemint's third expansion -- the firm moved into New Jersey in Summer 2019, and the Hamptons in Summer 2020. Tapping into their Westchester expertise, the five-person team, including Susan Reddy, Michael Taraboulos and Matthew Marrone, will serve as cultural pillars and launch partners in the region. "This move speaks to our entrepreneurial spirit," said Berkowitz. "Westchester has begun to realize a new generation and energy, so joining the Triplemint team presents us with a unique opportunity to marry exceptional data analytics with a robust and nimble marketing platform, which supports our team's hyper-focused approach to stay ahead of the curve." "Since the start, Triplemint's expansion strategy has been about quality over quantity, launching with a people-first focus, rather than market-first," said David Walker, co-founder and CEO of Triplemint. "Westchester has always been a key market for us, but we undoubtedly found the right launch partners in The Berkowitz Marrone Team. We can't wait to grow side by side with such wonderful human beings and the region's utmost real estate professionals." About Triplemint Triplemint combines proprietary data and unparalleled end-to-end service to provide a smarter, more successful consumer real estate experience. Founded in 2013 by Yale classmates David Walker and Philip Lang. Triplemint is based in New York City. For more information, visit www.triplemint.com. CONTACT: SYDNEY HOLMES PHONE: 713.204.1102 EMAIL: [email protected] SOURCE Triplemint Related Links http://www.triplemint.com Helen Coronna plans to lay low until she gets both doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Shes almost 99, after all, even if she doesnt look it. Im always very tense when Im out, because Im afraid somebodys going to walk into me or something, said Coronna, a former Radio City Rockette and Manhattan dance studio owner who lives in a condo in Long Branch. Theres not many 99-year-old people walking around by yourself. And they dont realize that Im that old sometimes, because I dont think I look 99. Maybe 90, but not 99. Coronnas tension has eased considerably since last Thursday, when she finally got the first dose of the vaccine three weeks after registering with the New Jersey Department of Health for a chance to make an appointment at a state-designated site. And even then, it was only after a story about her anxious wait appeared on NJ.com and the front page of The Star-Ledger, which prompted a call from Gov. Phil Murphys office offering her some high-level constituent service and then a follow-up call from the governor himself. He was very polite, Coronna recalled of her two-minute conversation with Murphy last Thursday afternoon. And I said, I know youre very busy, but again, I thank you from my heart. Thats just the best thing that could have happened to me. Youve really made my day. He asked me how I was feeling. I said fine. But thats normal, said Coronna, who turns 99 on March 21. I was going to say, this is the best birthday gift I ever got, pre-birthday gift. Coronnas follow-up shot is scheduled for Feb. 26, at the same site of her initial vaccination, the Monmouth County Agriculture Building in Freehold. After getting the first shot, Coronna said she experienced only minor symptoms. One day I had a little temperature 99 or something like that but very minor for my age, she said. You know, my arm a little sore. But I go and get the vaccines for pneumonia and flu, so Im used to that. Coronnas daughter, Helen Butleroff Leahy, had registered her for a vaccination on Jan. 5, the first day the state began taking registrations on its COVID-19 website. As someone who was used to dining out, driving herself to the pharmacist and on other errands, Coronna was eager for whatever return to normalcy vaccination might provide. In the meantime, in addition to her daughters help, Coronna also had the support of her son-in-law, Dr. Robert L. Leahy, a noted therapist, educator and author who is director of the American institute for Cognitive Therapy in Manhattan. But as days of waiting turned to weeks, Coronnas anxiety and depression grew worse, even after Murphy made anyone over 65 eligible for a vaccination as soon as a dose and a time slot were available. Finally, after a story appeared on NJ.com on Jan. 18, Leahy got call from a Murphy aide who helped her make Thursdays appointment. Vaccination advocates said her anxiety was hardly unique, particularly among elderly people for whom navigating the online registration and scheduling processes could be daunting. Since the online registration page went up, the state has added a vaccination call center for people who prefer to register by speaking to a fellow human being over the phone. A spokesman for the governor, Jerrel Harvey, declined to comment on Murphys two-minute chat with Coronna. But Harvey pointed to remarks by Murphy on Friday, when the governor closed his daily coronavirus briefing by asking constituents to be patient and offering assurances that doses would keep coming and vaccinations would accelerate. We understand why theres a lot of anxiety, Murphy said at the time. And we completely get it. Coronna said shes been overwhelmed by the support shes received since the story was published last week, and she admitted that, almost 80 years after her debut with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, it felt good to bask in the limelight once again. I have had phone calls, I have had emails, I have had things from waiters, from managers of stores, from the checkout ladies from one of my grocery stores, from all my students that I used to teach in show business that now live in New Jersey, she said. Ill tell you what its done for me, my anxiety, my emotions. Im back into the community here by people calling me, now that they know that Im alive, at least. And I can go out the door of my apartment with a mask, of course. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Controlling COVID-19 is my only focus: Yediyurappa on speculation about attempts to unseat him Will Karnataka lockdown be extended till June 30? CM Yediyurappa to take call Karnataka allows cinema halls to operate at 100 per cent capacity for 4 weeks India pti-Deepika S Bengaluru, Feb 03: Considering the hardships facedby Kannada film industry's artistes, producers and workers, ithas been decided to allow cinema halls to fill up to 100 percent of their capacity for four weeks on a trial basis, Healthand Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Wednesday. The minister made the announcement after a meeting --held as per instructions of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa --with key office-bearers of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and representatives from the industry. As per technical advisory committee's recommendations, the Health department had earlier allowed 50 per cent seatingsin cinema halls. Taxi fares in Karnataka: Here is all you need to know about AC, non-AC cab fares and waiting charges Though Centre had given green signal for 100 per cent seating, the decision was left to the discretion of state governments depending on the situation in each state, henoted. The film industry had opposed this decision and requested to reconsider it keeping in view the welfare ofthose employed in this field. They had also appealed to the Chief Minister tosupport them in this ''difficult time''. ''It was discussed and as per the instructions of Chief Minister, the decision has been taken to allow 100 percent seatings for four weeks. Strict guidelines will bereleased tomorrow,'' he said. ''Owners of cinema halls should adhere to these guidelines and people should strictly follow. If any case of COVID-19 is detected, government will have to inevitably revoke the decision,'' the minister cautioned. COLUMBIA The city of Columbia will look to stiffen penalties for repeat offenders of its mask requirement during the coronavirus pandemic. City staff will consider revising the city's mask ordinance to address "those that frequently and repeatedly violate the letter and spirit of the masking ordinance," Mayor Steve Benjamin said Tuesday after a four-hour closed session with council. That will include individuals and businesses that are repeatedly cited, he said. City Council voted Tuesday to extend the mask ordinance for another 60 days as currently written, until early April. Any proposed updates to the rules will be shared publicly and could be considered again by the council as early as next week. "This is not meant to be punitive but meant to be a recognition of the fact that we are still working our way through, prayerfully and collectively" a pandemic that has killed thousands, Benjamin said. The mayor said the council sought legal advice on how they might strengthen the mask rule as part of a private session with council. On Jan. 22 and 23, fire marshals wrote 106 tickets for violating the city's mask ordinance with fines of $100 each. Most of those were in Five Points near the University of South Carolina campus where bar hoppers were seen lining the sidewalks and packing clubs by early afternoon ahead of the state-mandated 11 p.m. cutoff on alcohol sales during the pandemic. The city issued just 18 tickets for mask violations during the cold, wet weather over this past weekend, the fire department said. The city raised its fine to $100 from $25 in November. The fines were boosted after USC President Bob Caslen and police and fire officers toured bars in the district popular with college students over Halloween. The requirement applies to people gathered on public sidewalks and in restaurant waiting areas. Employees of businesses including bars, restaurants and retail stores must also wear masks. CIM Group, one of the developers, said in a statement that the building is a successfully designed, constructed and virtually sold-out project, and that they are working collaboratively with the condo board, which was run by the developers until January when residents were elected and took control. (Developers typically control condo boards in the first few years of operation.) Like all new construction, there were maintenance and close-out items during that period, they said. Macklowe Properties, the other developer, declined to comment. The construction manager, Lendlease, said in a statement that they have been in contact with the developers, regarding some comments from tenants, which we are currently evaluating. Ms. Abramovich and her husband, Mikhail, retired business owners who worked in the oil and gas business, bought a high-floor, 3,500-square-foot apartment at the tower for nearly $17 million in 2016, to have a secondary home near their adult children. She was disappointed with her purchase on Day 1, she said, when she left her home in London in early 2016 to move into what she expected to be a completed apartment, and found that both her unit and the building were still under construction. They put me in a freight elevator surrounded by steel plates and plywood, with a hard-hat operator, she said. Thats how I went up to my hoity-toity apartment before closing. Problems escalated from there, she said. There have been a number of floods in the building, including two leaks in November 2018 that the general manager of the building, Len Czarnecki, acknowledged in emails to residents. The first leak, on Nov. 22, was caused by a blown flange, a ribbed collar that connects piping, around a high-pressure water feed on the 60th floor. Four days later, a water line failure on the 74th floor caused water to enter elevator shafts, removing two of the four residential elevators from service for weeks. Both events occurred on mechanical floors that have been criticized for being excessively tall a design feature that allowed the developers to build higher than would otherwise have been permitted, because mechanical floors do not count against the buildings allowable size. Cyber Cyber Guard bill gets new life Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) reintroduced their bill to allow states to utilize the National Guard to improve their cybersecurity, citing the SolarWinds Orion and a noticeable uptick in cyberattacks connected to the ongoing pandemic. "We have seen unprecedented cyberattacks throughout the country this past year -- most notably the SolarWinds attack, but also cyberattacks on schools, hospitals, and state and local governments amid the COVID-19 pandemic," said Hassan. "The National Guard fights to protect Americans from cybersecurity threats every day, and it is essential that they have the authority to provide support to state agencies and local governments working to keep us safe online," Cornyn added. The senators introduced a similar bill in October which stalled after being referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act included several provisions on cybersecurity developed by the congressional Cyberspace Solarium Commission, including a measure pushed by Hassan and Cornyn to establish a cybersecurity state coordinator position in each state. The National Guard during the 2020 elections also took a more extensive roll assisting states with cybersecurity measures. In Washington state, FCW reported, Guard members help monitor local election systems and prepare organizations with better network hygiene. "A lot of this work, and in fact, most of it is done over the shoulder of the secretary of state's team, their own IT staff, [to] teach them how to do these things as well," Air Force Brig. Gen. Gent Welsh, the Washington National Guard's assistant adjutant general, told reporters in October. "But again, just another extra set of eyes." This article first appeared on FCW, a Defense Systems partner. Due to the current Phase Tracker level of 0.52 percent based on local COVID-19 trend data for the five-day average, Hamilton County Schools will follow the Phase 2 schedule next week. The Phase 2 schedule will now include grades 6-8 attending school four days a week. The year 2020 highlighted the resilience of protests worldwide amid an ongoing pandemic. While the world faced a mammoth health emergency in over a century, protests remained a fundamental part of the global political landscape. In early 2020, when little was known about the virus, a protest in East Asia which has continued since mid-2019 only grew stronger. Chile, India, Hong Kong, Lebanon and the US were rocked with political protests with a little pause in between as the novel coronavirus put the world off-track. In pandemic, local protests went global Along with the globalisation of coronavirus, protests on streets took a backseat for a while but the agitation soon moved to a digital space -- social media. #BlackLivesMatter number 2 hashtag on Twitter on 2020 The Black Lives Matter movement, which peaked on June 6, potentially registered itself as the largest movement in the history of the United States. Nearly half a million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States. That was a single day in more than a month of protests that still continue to today. AFP A poll by Civis Analytics, a data science firm that works with businesses and Democratic campaigns suggest that about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks. The number two hashtag of 2020 was #BlackLivesMatter, which spread worldwide after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, according to Twitter. "People continued to utilize Twitter to publicly advocate for political change and demand accountability from world leaders this year," a Twitter blog post said. Farmers' protests in India put government on backfoot The 2020-2021 farmers' protests against the three farm acts which were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020, peaked in India in late January. The protests which officially began on August 9, 2020 are still going strong around the Indian capital. Tweets by international celebrities such as Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Lilly Singh, Amanda Cerny, gave the much-needed impetus to farmers' protests on a global level. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 The support mobilised the protests digitally at a time when most of Indian celebrities never speak on burgeoning political issues in the country but are quick to seize the opportunity to get their tweets registered in international matters. AP After the protests turned violent on Republic Day, the police in Delhi plastered nails on roads, erected concrete barricades and turned the national capital into a fortress, all this to stop more farmers from entering Delhi. Water, electricity supply, and telecom connections were cut at border areas to destabilise the movement. However, the world quickly took notice of the human rights violations taking place in broad daylight in India and the government's tactic to shut down the protests are now being questioned globally. Hong Kong protests The anti-government protests have rocked Hong Kong for months and the situation does not seem to ease any sooner. The protests in Hong Kong started in June 2019 against plans to allow extradition to mainland China. According to critics, the move could undermine judicial independence and endanger dissenters. Reuters Until 1997, Hong Kong was ruled by Britain as a colony but then returned to China. Under the "one country, two systems" arrangement, it has some autonomy, and its people more rights. The bill was later withdrawn in September but demonstrations continue as protesters now demand full democracy. Clashes between protesters and police became violent by the day, with police firing live bullets and protesters attacking officers and throwing petrol bombs. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, one of the prominent pro-democracy voices, defended the right of pro-Hong Kong protesters to freedom of expression on New Zealand university campuses. According to CNN and Financial Times reports, in June, former US President Donald Trump promised Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping that the US would remain quiet on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong while trade talks continued. CAA-NRC protests in India draw international criticism The anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests which hit India in late 2019, drew global attention for an all-women sit-in at a protest site in the national capital. The students of Jamia Millia Islamia were also hit by violence from the Police who entered the university premises and attacked students. BCCL Hollywood actor John Cusack came out in support of the Jamia Millia Islamia University students after a police crackdown. The actor had posted videos of police action against Jamia Millia students, which were being circulated on social media, and wrote, Solidarity. Indian economy in ICU - chaos - civil war - John Cusack (@johncusack) December 16, 2019 1. Statement on NRC-CAB Three years ago, we stood in line obediently outside banks as demonetization was imposed on us, a policy that broke the back of our countrys economy. Now the National Register of Citizens coupled with the Citizenship Amendment Bill is set John Cusack (@johncusack) December 16, 2019 2. -to break the back of our Constitution and cut the ground from under our feet. Are we going to stand in line once again, obediently, and comply with this policy that eerily resembles the 1935 Nuremberg Laws of the Third Reich? If we do, India will cease to exist. We are faced John Cusack (@johncusack) December 16, 2019 Fascists in India trying to set students against each other - To cover for the economic collapse of demonetization but they are standing together in solidarity with their Muslim brothers & sisters - This is fascism everywhere- them or us Arundhati Roy pic.twitter.com/rTgF5CWF2G John Cusack (@johncusack) December 16, 2019 Cusack also shared photographs of California citizens protesting against the amended Citizenship Act. In another tweet he said, "Reports from Delhi are it was a war zone last night - Fascism is not a joke - we use the word with the understanding its deadly." 2020 was a year of digital protests and a show of solidarity. The year was marked with surging activism across the globe with protests going truly global in terms of occupying digital spaces. Allan Burns, a leading television writer in the 1970s and 80s who helped create the groundbreaking hit sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its dramatic spinoff, Lou Grant, died on Jan. 30 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 85. His son Matthew said the causes were Parkinsons disease and Lewy body dementia. Allans range was like nobodys, James L. Brooks, his partner in creating Ms. Moores series, said in a phone interview. I dont think you ever get an absurdist, a legitimate humorist and a feeling person in one package. In 1969, Mr. Burns and Mr. Brooks were working on Room 222, a comedy-drama series set in a Los Angeles high school, when Grant Tinker, Ms. Moores husband, asked them to create a series for her. Their first concept was that she play a divorced woman who worked as a reporter for a gossip columnist. We ran it past Mary and Grant and they absolutely loved it, Mr. Burns said in an interview for the Television Academy in 2004. BOSTON and BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eucure Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing immuno-oncology antibody drugs, announced that its investigational anti-CD40 antibody drug (YH003), when combined with Junshi Biosciences' anti-PD-1 antibody Toripalimab (TUOYI), demonstrated encouraging anti-tumor activity in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial in Australia. The trial is a multicenter, open label study, with an initial multiple-dose-escalation phase designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of YH003 in combination with Toripalimab in subjects with advanced solid tumors. The second phase is a cohort extension phase to assess the safety and preliminary efficacy of YH003/Toripalimab with or without chemotherapy in PD-1 refractory, advanced unresectable/metastatic melanoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. A 68-year-old female subject with ocular melanoma and liver metastases who failed prior immunotherapy, including first-line Nivolumab (an anti-PD-1 antibody) and second-line Nivolumab/Ipilimumab (an anti-CTLA-4 antibody) combination therapy, was enrolled in the 0.1 mg/kg cohort. The subject received a single three-week cycle of YH003 monotherapy, followed by three cycles of YH003/Toripalimab combination therapy over a total of 12 weeks. Imaging assessments indicated a partial response at week 10 post-treatment, with a 38.5% reduction in the total diameter of all target lesions. No dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was observed in the study, and the drug was well tolerated in the first two cohorts and in the ongoing third cohort. In response, Dr. Yuelei Shen, Chairman of Biocytogen and CEO of Eucure Biopharma, commented, "We are pleased to see a patient experiencing partial remission in this first YH003 trial, which is going fast and smoothly in Australia. This result further assured us that our anti-CD40 compound YH003 has great potential to be developed into an oncology therapy in this post PD-1 era. We will take advantage of expedited regulatory programs to hopefully put this product on the market as soon as possible. Then, we will explore the full potential of this compound in a broad spectrum of indications." About YH003 YH003 is a humanized agonistic antibody that promotes CD40 activation on antigen-presenting cells, and thus stimulates the effector activity of anti-tumor T cells. Whether used alone or in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies, YH003 demonstrated potent anti-tumor effects in Biocytogen's CD40 humanized mice, and significantly increased the proportion of anti-tumor T cells. YH003 demonstrated an excellent safety profile at very high doses, both in mice and primates. About Toripalimab (TUOYI) Toripalimab is the first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody to obtain a marketing approval in China. So far, more than thirty company-sponsored clinical studies covering more than fifteen indications have been conducted globally, including in China and the United States. On December 17, 2018, Toripalimab obtained a conditional approval from the NMPA for the second-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Supplemental NDAs of Toripalimab for the third-line treatment of recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma and second-line treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma were accepted by the NMPA in April and May 2020, respectively. Both supplemental NDAs received priority review designations from the NMPA in July 2020. In December 2020, Toripalimab was included in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) for the treatment of melanoma by the China National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA). In the United States, the FDA has granted Toripalimab breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Fast Track designation for mucosal melanoma, and orphan drug designation for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, mucosal melanoma and soft tissue sarcoma. About Eucure Biopharma Eucure Biopharma is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocytogen focused on clinical development. Eucure Biopharma has built up a strong pipeline with over ten targets at different preclinical and clinical stages, among which three are in Phase I clinical development. For more information, please visit http://www.eucure.com/en/. About Junshi Biosciences Founded in December 2012, Junshi Biosciences (HK: 1877; SH: 688180) is an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics. The company has established a diversified R & D pipeline comprising 27 innovative drug candidates and 2 biosimilars, with five therapeutic focus areas covering cancer, autoimmune, metabolic, neurological, and infectious diseases. Junshi Biosciences was the first Chinese pharmaceutical company that obtained marketing approval for anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody in China. Its first-in-human anti-BTLA antibody for solid tumors was the first in the world to be approved for clinical trials by the FDA and NMPA, and its anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibody was the first in China to be approved for clinical trials by the NMPA. In early 2020, Junshi Biosciences joined forces with the Institute of Microbiology Chinese Academy of Science and Eli Lilly to co-develop JS016, China's first neutralizing fully human monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2, which has entered clinical trials and is now a part of our continuous innovation for disease control and prevention of the global pandemic. Junshi Biosciences has over 2,000 employees in the United States (San Francisco and Maryland) and China (Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou). For more information, please visit: http://junshipharma.com. About Biocytogen Biocytogen is an international biotechnology company committed to becoming the global birthplace of new drugs. Utilizing its innovative gene editing technology, Biocytogen has developed numerous humanized animal models to accelerate drug discovery and development, including its flagship RenMab model. For more information, please visit www.biocytogen.com. Media Contacts: Eucure Biopharma Yuanyuan Liyuanyuan.li@bbctg.com.cn BiocytogenJenna Frame jframe@biocytogen.com Thank you for Reading. As a community service, our obituaries are always free to view. In order to better know our audience, we ask that you register to continuing viewing. COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio Houses new rules dont allow the public to weigh in on pending legislation remotely, after majority Republicans revised draft legislative rules that would have permitted it. The Ohio House voted 58 to 35 on Wednesday to adopt new rules, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no. A previous version of the rules, circulated on Tuesday as a draft, initially had allowed for virtual testimony, limited to five people per bill, with speakers approved by House Speaker Bob Cupp or his committee chairs. But by the time the rules made it to the House floor for a vote on Wednesday, the section on virtual testimony had been removed. Republicans also rejected a Democratic amendment that would have added virtual testimony back into the bill, although without limits. The rules otherwise lay out how House business will be conducted, with the new version limiting how and when amendments can be offered, among other changes. House Republicans also rejected a proposal from Democrats to require face masks. A coalition of 76 groups, mostly left-leaning but also including organizations like the Ohio Association of Food Banks and the Ohio League of Women Voters, had asked Cupp and Senate President Matt Huffman to allow virtual testimony, saying it would allow members of the public to testify without fear of jeopardizing their health during the coronavirus pandemic. Cupp told reporters hes open to allowing virtual testimony, but said it raises logistical challenges for the Ohio Channel, the government service that broadcasts legislative business. I think it has some benefits, but Ive talked to at least one member of the U.S. House of Representatives who indicated that it really wasnt working very well, he said. Theres a lot of glitches to it, and so I just think theres a lot of questions yet. Brigid Kelly, the Cincinnati Democrat who argued for allowing virtual testimony, mirrored the advocates concerns during floor debate on Wednesday. We have to find ways for Ohioans to weigh in on decisions that affect their lives and other peoples lives during the pandemic and every day, she said. Members of the public can still offer in-person testimony on bills, although it may raise health concerns for people involved. A group of unmasked activists opposed to Gov. Mike DeWines health orders crowded a Senate committee room hearing legislation on the issue, causing a Democratic lawmaker on the committee to leave the room. The public also can offer written testimony, but advocates have said that limits the possibility of a dialogue with legislators. Democrats, who are in the deep minority, said the changes would limit their ability to offer input during floor debate, but Republicans said the terms were more generous than those used in the U.S. House of Representatives and would allow the House to conduct business in an orderly fashion. 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. UPDATE: 19-year-old man charged in fatal shooting of Lapeer High School student LAPEER COUNTY, MI -- A suspect is in custody after an 18-year-old Lapeer High School student was killed early Tuesday morning at a Metamora Township mobile home park, police said. Metamora Township Police were called out at approximately 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, for a report of an accidental shooting complaint in the Ideal Villa Mobile Home Park. Kaden James Ryan, 18, of Lapeer was found with a gunshot wound to the torso, according to a news release from Metamora Township Police Chief David Mallett. Officer Cameron Plowman attempted lifesaving measures on Ryan before he was transported by Lapeer County EMS to McLaren Lapeer Region hospital. Ryan was later pronounced deceased by emergency room physicians, police said. After an initial investigation, officers took a 19-year-old man into custody on charges to be determined by the Lapeer County Prosecutors Office. The news release states there are no other threats to the community. Troopers from the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division were called to the location to process the scene for evidence. Several pieces of evidence were obtained and are being processed. Mallett said the suspect, whose name has not been released, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Feb. 3 in Lapeer County District Court. Michigan State Police, Lapeer County Sheriffs Office, Dryden Township Police and the Metamora Township Fire Department also responded to the scene. Ryan was born Dec. 16, 2002 in Lapeer, according to his obituary. He was a senior at Lapeer High School and was looking forward to graduating this spring. He loved working on cars with his Dad and followed through with this passion by enrolling in the auto body program at Ed-Tech. Kaden loved shoes, video games, Nike apparel and Mickey-Ds!! Kaden loved to make the people around him happy, the obituary reads. The investigation is ongoing and there is no further information at this time, Mallett said. Read more on MLive: Missing woman found dead in Flint Township Shooting in Flint leaves 21-year-old man dead St. Clair County woman arraigned on meth charges Man arrested after armed robbery of a Bay City pharmacy Michigan man accused of trying to kill 5 state police by booby-trapping house Product Recall - Ecover Zero Non Bio Laundry Liquid 1.5 Litre The Office of Fair Trading is advising the public that Ecover is recalling bottles of Ecover Zero Non Bio Laundry Liquid 1.5 litres with two specific batch codes due to a safety concern. OFT have said it is aware that a small number of the affected bottles have been sold locally. Ecover is taking this safety risk very seriously, and is recalling affected bottles from retailers and consumers immediately. The affected bottles contain potassium hydroxide at hazardous levels that can cause the bottle to leak. Contact with the liquid could result in harm to skin and eyes, including causing skin burns or eye damage. Ecover strongly advises consumers to not to open or use the product until they can confirm that their product is not affected. Since only certain bottles of this product are affected, consumers can check whether they have an affected bottle and to organise careful collection and a refund by going to www.ecoverukrecall.com The OFT are advising anyone who is unable to access the website to send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to arrange for them to call you. Alternatively, you can call 0044345 130 2230 (charges will apply but Ecover will be happy to reimburse you). Please do not attempt to contact Ecover via the telephone number found on the product bottle. You may also contact the Office of Fair Trading for further information on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or tel: 20071700 Quantum tunneling. Credit: Daria Sokol/MIPT Scientists from MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), Moscow Pedagogical State University and the University of Manchester have created a highly sensitive terahertz detector based on the effect of quantum-mechanical tunneling in graphene. The sensitivity of the device is already superior to commercially available analogs based on semiconductors and superconductors, which opens up prospects for applications of the graphene detector in wireless communications, security systems, radio astronomy, and medical diagnostics. The research results are published in Nature Communications. Information transfer in wireless networks is based on transformation of a high-frequency continuous electromagnetic wave into a discrete sequence of bits. This technique is known as signal modulation. To transfer the bits faster, one has to increase the modulation frequency. However, this requires synchronous increase in carrier frequency. A common FM-radio transmits at frequencies of a hundred megahertz, a Wi-Fi receiver uses signals of roughly five gigahertz frequency, while the 5G mobile networks can transmit up to 20 gigahertz signals. This is far from the limit, and further increase in carrier frequency admits a proportional increase in data transfer rates. Unfortunately, picking up signals with hundred gigahertz frequencies and higher is an increasingly challenging problem. A typical receiver used in wireless communications consists of a transistor-based amplifier of weak signals and a demodulator that rectifies the sequence of bits from the modulated signal. This scheme originated in the age of radio and television, and becomes inefficient at frequencies of hundreds of gigahertz desirable for mobile systems. The fact is that most of the existing transistors aren't fast enough to recharge at such a high frequency. An evolutionary way to solve this problem is just to increase the maximum operation frequency of a transistor. Most specialists in the area of nanoelectronics work hard in this direction. A revolutionary way to solve the problem was theoretically proposed in the beginning of 1990's by physicists Michael Dyakonov and Michael Shur, and realized, among others, by the group of authors in 2018. It implies abandoning active amplification by transistor, and abandoning a separate demodulator. What's left in the circuit is a single transistor, but its role is now different. It transforms a modulated signal into bit sequence or voice signal by itself, due to non-linear relation between its current and voltage drop. In the present work, the authors have proved that the detection of a terahertz signal is very efficient in the so-called tunneling field-effect transistor. To understand its work, one can just recall the principle of an electromechanical relay, where the passage of current through control contacts leads to a mechanical connection between two conductors and, hence, to the emergence of current. In a tunneling transistor, applying voltage to the control contact (termed as ''gate'') leads to alignment of the energy levels of the source and channel. This also leads to the flow of current. A distinctive feature of a tunneling transistor is its very strong sensitivity to control voltage. Even a small "detuning" of energy levels is enough to interrupt the subtle process of quantum mechanical tunneling. Similarly, a small voltage at the control gate is able to "connect" the levels and initiate the tunneling current. "The idea of strong reaction of a tunneling transistor to low voltages is known for about fifteen years," says Dr. Dmitry Svintsov, one of the authors of the study, head of the laboratory for optoelectronics of two-dimensional materials at the MIPT center for photonics and 2-D materials. "But it's been known only in the community of low-power electronics. No one realized before us that the same property of a tunneling transistor can be applied in the technology of terahertz detectors. Georgy Alymov (co-author of the study) and I were lucky to work in both areas. We realized then: if the transistor is opened and closed at a low power of the control signal, then it should also be good in picking up weak signals from the ambient surrounding. " The created device is based on bilayer graphene, a unique material in which the position of energy levels (more strictly, the band structure) can be controlled using an electric voltage. This allowed the authors to switch between classical transport and quantum tunneling transport within a single device, with just a change in the polarities of the voltage at the control contacts. This possibility is of extreme importance for an accurate comparison of the detecting ability of a classical and quantum tunneling transistor. The experiment showed that the sensitivity of the device in the tunneling mode is few orders of magnitude higher than that in the classical transport mode. The minimum signal distinguishable by the detector against the noisy background already competes with that of commercially available superconducting and semiconductor bolometers. However, this is not the limitthe sensitivity of the detector can be further increased in 'cleaner' devices with a low concentration of residual impurities. The developed detection theory, tested by the experiment, shows that the sensitivity of the optimal detector can be a hundred times higher. "The current characteristics give rise to great hopes for the creation of fast and sensitive detectors for wireless communications," says the author of the work, Dr. Denis Bandurin. And this area is not limited to graphene and is not limited to tunnel transistors. We expect that, with the same success, a remarkable detector can be created, for example, based on an electrically controlled phase transition. Graphene turned out to be just a good launching pad here, just a door, behind which is a whole world of exciting new research." The results presented in this paper are an example of a successful collaboration between several research groups. The authors note that it is this format of work that allows them to obtain world-class scientific results. For example, earlier, the same team of scientists demonstrated how waves in the electron sea of graphene can contribute to the development of terahertz technology. "In an era of rapidly evolving technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve competitive results," comments Dr. Georgy Fedorov, deputy head of the nanocarbon materials laboratory, MIPT, "Only by combining the efforts and expertise of several groups can we successfully realize the most difficult tasks and achieve the most ambitious goals, which we will continue to do." More information: I. Gayduchenko et al, Tunnel field-effect transistors for sensitive terahertz detection, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications I. Gayduchenko et al, Tunnel field-effect transistors for sensitive terahertz detection,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20721-z Gardai in Dublin are asking for the public's assistance to help them trace the whereabouts of a missing teenage girl. Sasha Rogosic, 14, has been missing from her home in Pryers Gate, Tallaght, Co Dublin, since last Sunday. 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. Tens of Thousands of Chinese Expats Stranded in Burma Following Military Coup Burmas military launched a coup in the early morning of Feb. 1, and said it would impose a state of emergency for one year. At present, there are tens of thousands of mainland Chinese business entrepreneurs and workers in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Previously, the Chinese regime said that due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, overseas Chinese citizens were restricted from returning to China. Since the military coup, the Chinese regime has not addressed the situation of its citizens in Burma or extended any help to them. Mr. Chen, who works in the media industry in Yangon, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that after the coup, local communications were cut off. People were panic buying and there were bank runs. Soon after, banks and self-service ATMs were closed, and shopping malls only accepted cash. People in Yangon are still unsure about the situation, and the atmosphere in the street is tense. However, large-scale unrest has not yet occurred. Before the military coup, many overseas Chinese in Burma were unable to return home for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday due to Chinas COVID-19 travel restrictions. Since earlier last year, as the virus pandemic worsened, anti-Chinese sentiment has risen in Burma. There was a spate of attacks on Chinese nationals, including Yan Bangchao, vice chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Burma, who was killed in May 2020. A vegetable vendor, wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 novel CCP virus, waits for customers at a street market in Yangon, Burma, on April 21, 2020. (Sai Aung Main / AFP via Getty Images) Tu Guoding, chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Burma, told RFA that before the coup, China had announced that major Chinese airlinesAir China, China Southern Airlines, and Eastern Airlineswould suspend their flights to Burma during the Chinese New Year, from Feb. 1 until Feb. 20. After the coup, the only flight to mainland China run by Myanmar Airlines, which flew once a week, was immediately suspended. The Myanmar Civil Aviation Administration said that the Yangon airport would be closed until the end of May. Tu also revealed that there are many people from Chinas southern Zhejiang Province in Burma doing business, such as those who own factories that manufacture clothing and shoes for export. If the military government comes to power, Chinese business owners are worried that the factories may be affected by sanctions imposed by European countries and the United States, Tu said. Asked about the coup in Burma at a press briefing on Feb. 1, Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin did not mention the situation of overseas Chinese in Burma, saying only that We have noted what happened in Myanmar, and we are learning more information on the situation. China is a friendly neighbor of Myanmar. We hope that all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability. The Chinese embassy in Burma issued an urgent reminder to Chinese citizens in Burma to take safety precautions on its official website on Feb. 1, and gave a telephone number for assistance. Radio Free Asia called the number and various departments of the embassy, but no one answered the call. Survey from Solera shows consumer demand and preference for insurance providers and repairers who put digital channels first WESTLAKE, Texas, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New research released today by Solera Holdings, Inc. ("Solera"), a global leader in data, applications and services for the insurance and automotive industries, found that more than three-quarters (76%) of consumers trust automotive claims driven entirely by Artificial Intelligence ("AI"). The survey also identifies crucial barriers to AI adoption for global car insurers, enterprise body shops, and Original Equipment Manufacturers ("OEM") dealer networks. Since 2016, millennials have represented the largest generation in the workforce. Their expectations and prolific use of digital tools influence purchasing and even retention decisions in all categories, including automotive insurance and repairs. According to Solera's survey, most claimants have previous experience using automotive digital claims technology; 56% had submitted a claim online and 51% had used digital technology to track the status of a claim. However, many more were seeking a fully automated experience with 72% of respondents citing confidence in an automated claims and repair journey. "We've reached a point where leading companies are placing top priority on adapting and integrating cutting edge technology to differentiate and optimize customer experience. Those that don't, will face competitive challenges," said Evan Davies, Chief Technology Officer, Solera. "This survey simply underscores what Solera has known to be true for some time; automated processes have the power to increase customer satisfaction and even customer retention." Survey findings show that two-thirds (67%) of consumers would switch insurers for a faster digital experience and 73% would choose an insurer using AI to process claims quicker. In addition to the desire for their insurance companies to use modern systems, consumers are interested in these capabilities along the entirety of the automotive repair journey. More than three-quarters (78%) would favor a repair shop that provides more digital channels to quote, book, and track repairs. There are challenges to upgrading legacy systems and, according to the Solera survey, those barriers differed among respondents. While cost was cited as the top barrier among both car insurers (52%) and enterprise body shops/OEMs (41%), a deeper analysis of the data showed that large insurers must overcome distinct obstacles compared to other market participants. Large insurers cite time to market (62%), upskilling existing workforce (52%) and scalability (52%) as their largest challenges. Body shops and OEM dealers are more concerned with challenges related to systems and business stability. Thirty-five percent of body shops and OEM dealers identified the constraints of legacy IT systems, unknown return on investment, and time to market as key challenges to incorporating AI. "Wide-scale adoption of any revolutionary technology presents inevitable challenges and concerns for small and large businesses, which is why it's even more critical that these companies invest with a proven and leading technology provider," said Davies. "We provide real value to our customers by integrating AI and advanced technologies at all touch points of the claims workflow, from first notice of loss all the way through repair; something not all solutions have." Prior to 2020 and COVID-19, the use of modern technologies, particularly those eliminating in-person contact, were considered a nice-to-have. Now, in many cases, it is crucial that businesses provide customers with touchless interactions. Following the pandemic as a driver of digital transformation, the highest ranked catalysts for car insurers were growth strategies (36%), employee safety and remote working (34%), and customer demand for digital experiences (33%). Body shops and OEMs cited employee safety and remote working and demand from customers to engage via online channels as main drivers (37%), with 36% citing the desire to modernize the workflow. "It is clear that organizations understand how AI can build resilience and improve customer journeys. Finding the right blend of data and technology is the key to optimizing investments to unlock speed, intelligence, and efficiency at scale. Only then can our industry see the highest return on digitization through a faster, more accurate repair claims process," Davies added. For more information, please visit www.solera.com/news About Solera Solera is a global leader in risk and asset management data and software solutions, empowering companies across the automotive and insurance ecosystem with trusted solutions that adhere to the highest standards of data privacy, security and integrity to support connectivity across the vehicle value chain. Solera's solutions bring together customers, insurers and suppliers, empowering smarter decision-making through service, software, enriched data, proprietary algorithms and machine learning that come together to deliver insight and ensure customers' vehicles and property are optimally maintained and expertly repaired. The company is active in over 90 countries across six continents, processing more than 300 million digital transactions annually for over 235,000 customers and partners. By drawing on the market-leading solution capabilities and business process best practices from its technologies around the world, Solera provides unsurpassed scale and strength with superior performance while delivering innovation to move the industry forward. https://www.solera.com/ Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/215922/solera_holdings_inc_logo.jpg The European Union is assessing the consequences of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine to impose sanctions on the 112, NewsOne and ZIK TV television channels. "We are aware that on February 2, 2020 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has decided to impose sanctions against Taras Kozak, the owner of three TV channels (112, NewsOne and ZIK TV). We are assessing the implications of this decision. According to the Ukrainian authorities, this decision has been made on the basis of the anti-terrorist legislation and investigations finding that Mr. Kozak has received funds from non-government controlled areas controlled by separatists," EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano told Interfax-Ukraine. He also said that as provided for by the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the EU attaches the highest importance to the independence and freedom of media. "The Ukrainian media landscape has been and continues to be affected by sustained pro-Russian disinformation campaigns. While Ukraine's efforts to protect its territorial integrity and national security, as well as to defend itself from information manipulation are legitimate, in particular given the scale of disinformation campaigns affecting Ukraine including from abroad, this should not come at the expense of freedom of media and must be done in full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms and following international standards," Stano said. In addition, the representative of European diplomacy expressed his conviction that "any measures taken should be proportional to the aim. We are monitoring the case closely and will be in touch with Ukrainian authorities to receive more information. The EU will continue to engage with the Ukrainian authorities and share its experience in that regard," he said. German engineering consulting firm selects Deltek for real-time project insight and financial management to scale with its business growth LONDON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Deltek, the leading global provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, announced today that Dorsch Gruppe - a respected consulting and engineering partner for industrial clients, private investors and public institutions in all regions of the world - has selected Deltek as its global ERP partner. By moving to Deltek, Dorsch will be able to scale the platform as it grows its business, plus get the real-time project insight across all its entities with a unified ERP solution. Headquartered in Germany with around two thousand employees located in the Middle East, India, Thailand and Africa, Dorsch is one of Germany's largest independent planning and consulting engineering partners for clients in industry, private investors and public institutions. Dorsch's previous ERP system was disconnected and provided little transparency between project management and financial management. Its complex global business requires the ability to process multi-currency and multi-company financials, in addition to providing accurate, real-time information easily accessible to all employees globally. After a thorough search for a partner and system that would meet all its requirements, Dorsch selected Deltek over multiple ERP vendors. "We look forward to partnering with Dorsch to deliver complete visibility, control and insight into their projects. We design our solutions with the user in mind, allowing tight, efficient, and scalable control over their processes. Deploying Deltek Project ERP in the Cloud, Dorsch will have the real-time data it needs for its finances and projects, to make life easier, agile and more efficient as they grow," said Neil Davidson, Regional Vice President at Deltek. "We are thrilled to welcome Dorsch to Deltek Project Nation, and work side by side with them to complete the transition from their existing ERP system to Deltek, so they can support their mission and meet the expectations of their customers around the world." "In 2020, we took a good look at our systems in place to ensure they were centralized and flexible, allowing our employees to work from any location needed. As we considered which companies to partner with, Deltek stood out amongst its competition and impressed us with its proven ability to deliver projects in consulting and engineering industries around the globe," said Andreas Schweinar, Managing Director and Group CFO at Dorsch Gruppe. For more information about Deltek and its solutions, visit Deltek.com. About Dorsch Gruppe For 70 years, Dorsch has been a reputable consulting and engineering partner for clients from industry, private investors and public institutions. With around 2,000 employees Dorsch Gruppe ranges among Germany's biggest independent planning and consulting enterprises. Dorsch is represented internationally through 10 branch offices and numerous offices in more than 40 countries. The portfolio of services comprises airports, transport and infrastructure, water and environment, building and urban planning, oil and gas, development cooperation as well as asset management. About Deltek Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management and collaboration. Our industry-focused expertise powers project success by helping firms achieve performance that maximizes productivity and revenue. Learn more at www.deltek.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1010738/Deltek_Logo.jpg On January 22, 2021 the India Africa Trade Council was inaugurated by Dr Tizita Mulugeta Yimam, Ambassador of Ethiopia in India and Nagma Mallick, Additional Secretary, Indian Foreign Service, (Africa) in order to boost India-Africa business and trade relations. Impetus for closer ties The African continent has a varied and largely untapped scope for multilateral business opportunities due to its abundance of natural resources, such as millions of untilled acres of farmland and large reserves of oil, as well as the potential to support a large percent of the worlds hydroelectric power besides human capital. This untapped potential is important for India as it seeks to forge stronger trade ties with the region. Similarly, Africa is keen to build up its business relations with India and seeks aid in strengthening the capacity of the following organizations in terms of knowledge, skills, and resources: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Regional Economic Organization; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); The Sahel Alliance; and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). India Africa Trade Council to open trade offices in major Indian cities To kickstart its initiatives, the India Africa Trade Council will open 13 trade offices in each of Indias major metropolitan cities, that will assist Indian businesspersons who want to trade with African countries. Each of these trade offices will work directly with African Embassies in India to introduce business opportunities in Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad. South India delegation to sign MoUs with African countries A recent roundtable meeting organized by the Trade Council in Chennai made the decision to send a 30-member South Indian delegation representing the Trade Council in April 2021 to sign various memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on health, skill development, and agriculture with Botswana, Namibia, and COMESA (where Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe are member countries). This decision was made by Chris Pohl, Vice Chairman of the India Africa Trade Council; Dr Asif Iqbal, President of the Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO); and Dr B. Ramakrishnan (Dr. BRK), Founder and CEO of Corporate Clinic in Chennai and Director of the India Africa Trade Council alongside Dr Tizita Mulugeta Yimam and Nagma Mallick. Other initiatives Further initiatives planned for the Trade Council include: Establishing the India Africa Film Commission, that will find opportunities to shoot films for the South India Film Industry and Bollywood; Organizing meetings to discuss possible collaborations with the Indian auto giant Tata Motors, as well as purchase 500 cars from them for the Republic of Djibouti; Organizing monthly roundtables every month in Chennai, for the purpose of focusing on various African countries, with support for better cooperation from their respective Delhi embassies who along with Indian entrepreneurs will chair the meetings; and Launching an Africa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for better collaborations with African companies in the city of Kolar, Karnataka by utilizing 100 acres of land. Dr Tizita Mulugeta Yimam commented that Indian and Ethiopian bilateral partnerships must be elevated strategically in order to have fruitful dialogues, for the benefit of both countries. Dr Asif Iqbal added to this by stating that engagement with Africa is one of Indias top priorities, which will be acted upon by creating as many opportunities as possible for Africa to trade with India. India, Africa trade and investment profile India is reportedly Africas third largest trading partner, accounting for 6.4 percent of the continents total trade at a value of US$62.6 billion in 2017-18. In contrast, the value of China-Africa trade was reportedly US$185 billion in 2018, making China Africas largest trading partner after surpassing the US. Chinese overseas investment in Africa, in all sectors, as of mid-2020, amounted to US$147.66 billion. While India cannot match Chinese spending, it can strengthen engagement in terms of developing human capital while also tapping into the rich Indian diaspora community across the continent. Trade and investment snapshot Indias exports to Africa are diverse, ranging from mineral fuels to automobiles, pharmaceutical products, machinery, and cereals. Indian imports from Africa, on the other hand, is dominated by mineral fuels. Main export destinations for India in Africa include South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Algeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia. Major African countries that India imports from include Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Algeria, Tanzania, Libya, and Botswana. In terms of investment opportunities, there is clearly a lot of scope for investments in establishing forward and backward linkages. Indian investments are presently focused on primary commodities like oil, gas, mining besides automobile and pharmaceutical sectors in manufacturing. Growth driver in 2021 AfCFTA The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which commenced January 1 this year, could play a key role in expanding Indian trade and investment footprint in the region and promote domestic industrial enterprise in export-oriented manufacturing. The AfCFTA pact connects 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$3.4 trillion. According to the World Bank, analysis shows that full implementation of AfCFTA could boost pan-African income by seven percent, or nearly US$450 billion. The agreement would also significantly expand African trade, and especially intraregional trade in manufacturing. A comprehensive, 163 page World Bank report, The African Continental Free Trade Area: Economic and Distributional Effects can be downloaded here. Data representation in the article was adapted from: Singh, Rajender & Aslam, Mohamad & Preet, Gaibul & Mahapatra, Sushanta. (2020). India-Africa Trade and Investment Cooperation for Economic Development. 10.4018/978-1-7998-1730-7.ch005. The Vietnamese Party and State leader thanked the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee, ministries, agencies, the Lao Front for National Construction and political organisations of Laos for sending letters of congratulations to Vietnam on the success of the 13th National Party Congress, vividly reflecting Vietnam Laos special solidarity. Informing the Lao leader about outstanding results of the 13th National Party Congress, he affirmed that the Congress has been a success, marking an important milestone in the development of the Party and country. He also congratulated Laos' achievements in recent times, and expressed his belief that under the sound leadership of the LPRP led by Thongloun Sisoulith, the Lao people will continue reaping greater successes in the cause of national defence and construction, as well as successfully realising the Resolution adopted at its 11th National Party Congress. Vietnam strongly and fully supports the cause of national renewal, defence and construction in Laos, he affirmed. Speaking highly of Party chief Trongs role and contributions to Vietnam's national construction and defence and Laos Vietnam special solidarity, Thongloun Sisoulith believed that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) headed by Trong, the Vietnamese people will continue gaining greater achievements in the national construction and defence, building a strong and prosperous country by the mid-21st century. On the occasion, the Lao Party chief extended his best wishes to Party chief Trong and the CPV Central Committee on the occasion of the 91st anniversary of the CPV. He expressed his profound thanks to the Vietnamese Party, State and people for providing valuable and effective support for the Lao counterparts. The two leaders stressed that as 2021 is the first year to carry out Resolutions adopted at their Party congresses, both countries should stay determined to overcome challenges and effectively realise the agreements set by the two Parties and countries leaders. They affirmed that under any circumstance, the two sides will do their best to foster and hand down Vietnam - Laos special solidarity to next generations. The Vietnamese and Lao leaders invited each other to their countries at convenient time. In homes that are even the least bit conscious about Americas long history of racial bias, one of many lessons Black parents teach their children is this one: You have to be twice as good to get half as much. That key verse from what I like to call The Big Book of Black Home Trainin came to mind as I watched twin controversies grip the city over the last few weeks. One scandal involved the Black female police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, who along with the mayor and other city leaders botched the violent and haphazard response to the George Floyd protests that unfolded in Philadelphia last spring. The other involved Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, a white man whose department is the lead agency responsible for bungling a partnership with an unqualified company that was allowed to vaccinate thousands of Philadelphians against a deadly virus until the city severed that partnership. READ MORE: Danielle Outlaws failure should push Kenney to ask for her resignation but she didnt fail alone | Editorial In the wake of a scathing city controllers report that rightly called out city leadership for using tear gas against antiracism protesters, many entities, including the Inquirer editorial board, called for Outlaw to resign. But after Farleys Public Health Department oversaw the disastrous deal that gave thousands of doses of vaccine to Philly Fighting COVID, a white company whose leaders do not have advanced health degrees, Farley was not called upon to resign. Instead, his acting deputy, a doctor named Caroline Johnson, stepped down for sending emails that gave inside information to Andrei Doroshin of Philly Fighting COVID, including advice on how much to bid for a city contract. Why was Johnson forced to fall on her sword instead of Farley? It couldnt be because she made the decision to partner with Philly Fighting COVID. She couldnt be responsible for the ultimate call, because she wasnt in charge. But when I consider the optics of a white male departmental leader being allowed to keep his job while a woman takes the fall, as meanwhile others call to replace a Black woman top cop following a single critical report, the time-honored phrase thats been passed down through generations of Black people comes to mind. We have to be twice as good to get half as much. There are those who say Outlaws transgressions are more serious than Farleys, because the heavy-handed police response to citizens who were exercising their First Amendment rights could have been deadly. Perhaps, but whats more deadly than a virus thats killed more than 444,000 Americans? Whats more reckless than allowing an unqualified company to distribute the vaccine? Whats more incompetent than failing to properly vet that company when you put the lives of our most vulnerable citizens in their hands? To be sure, both Farley and Outlaw must answer for their mistakes, but if Farley is allowed to stumble while dealing with an unprecedented crisis and have time to get his footing, Outlaw should be afforded that same opportunity. If she makes the same mistakes again, we should talk about serious consequences, and the same goes for Farley. Which brings me to Mayor Jim Kenney. READ MORE: Mayor Kenneys damaging and deadly silence on Philly Fighting COVID fiasco | Editorial He is ultimately responsible for what happens in this city. As the leader, he should be credited when things go well and he must shoulder the blame when they dont. Thats the nature of the job, and Mayor Kenney has been around long enough to know that. However, there is one more thing the mayor must do when his subordinates make mistakes in difficult circumstances. He must support them through their stumbles, steer them in the right direction, and allow them the room they need to get it right, regardless of their race or gender. Kenney has done that for both Outlaw and Farley, and time will tell if he was right to do so. And while Im still uncomfortable with Dr. Johnson, rather than her boss, taking the fall for the Philly Fighting COVID debacle, I am glad to see that Kenney gave his health and police commissioners an equal opportunity to fail. READ MORE: Kenney and Outlaws failures, outlined in recent report, give Philadelphians more reasons not to trust police | Opinion Now, as we move forward through unprecedented times, the rest of us should follow that example and give them both an equal chance to succeed. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has once again warned President Joe Biden that the window to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal is closing, adding that the new administration should prioritize the accord over political maneuvering, Newsweek reports. "The time for the United States to come back to the nuclear agreement is not unlimited," Zarif told CNN. "The United States has a limited window of opportunity because President Biden does not want to portray himself as trying to take advantage of the failed policies of the former Trump administration." Though both Tehran and the Biden administration have expressed willingness to return to JCPOA compliance, each side is demanding the other take the first step. Iran says that Trump's 2018 withdrawal from the deal and subsequent sanctions means the onus is on Washington to lift sanctions and recommit to the accord. But the Biden administration said Iran must first scale back its nuclear activity in line with JCPOA limits before any detente. Zarif told CNN Iran could revert its uranium enrichment program back to the limits in the 2015 JCPOA "in less than a day," stressing that if Tehran wanted a nuclear weapon "we could have done it some time ago." He added: "But we decided that nuclear weapons are not, would not augment our security and are in contradiction to our ideological views." JCPOA critics warn that the deal does not limit Iran's ballistic missile program or its use of regional proxy forces to advance its interests. The Biden administration has said the JCPOA represents a foundation for a "longer and stronger" agreement that it hopes will include curbs on Iran's ballistic missile program and its use of proxies forces. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday that Iran is now more of a threat than it was when the JCPOA was signed in 2015. Sullivan noted Iran's ballistic missile arsenal, which he said has "advanced dramatically." But Zarif told CNN that missiles and other issues are not on the table. "The United States has to accept what we agreed upon," Zarif said. "We decided not to agree on certain things, not because we neglected them, but because the United States and its allies were not prepared to do what was necessary." Iran's growing missile reach will loom over Biden's efforts to thaw ties with Tehran, and give ammunition to both domestic and foreign opponents of the JCPOA who wish to see the agreement die. Iran's Defense Ministry announced Monday that the country had successfully launched a new satellite carrier powered by a solid-fuel engine, capable of sending satellites weighing 485 pounds into orbit 310 miles above the Earth. Solid-fuel engines are a key component of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and offer more stability and operational flexibility than liquid-fueled engines. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, wrote on Twitter that the new space launched "is pretty large." He added: "If used as a missile, it probably falls short of being an ICBMbut it should be a warning." ALBANY An Albany judge has ruled that families of the victims of the 2018 Schoharie limousine crash can go ahead with their lawsuits against Pakistani billionaire Malik Riaz Hussain, the older brother of the limo companys owner, Shahed Hussain. Last Friday, state Supreme Court Justice Denise Hartman, who is coordinating pre-trial activity in Albany, rejected a motion by Malik Riaz Hussains lawyers to dismiss the cases, which allege that the real estate mogul financed his brothers limo business, Prestige Limousine, from overseas. Twenty people died on Oct. 6, 2018 when a 31-foot stretch Ford Excursion owned by Prestige and traveling at more than 100 mph crashed into the parking lot of a popular Schoharie cafe and gift store. All 17 passengers and the driver abroad the Excursion died when it landed in a ditch after the out-of-control limo struck and killed two people walking to their car after dining. Related: Cuomo agencies faulted in NTSB's final report on limo crash NEWS Schoharie limo crash suit claims Mavis knowingly allowed 'death trap' on road Schoharie crash limo operator says victims should have known dangers The crash has been blamed on brake failure and negligence by Shahed Hussains son Nauman, who had taken over management of the limo business from his father in recent years. The older Hussain moved back to Pakistan before the crash. All three Hussains are named as defendants in the civil lawsuits, and Nauman Hussain is also facing felony criminal charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Schoharie County Court, although his trial has been delayed nearly a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although there is no known evidence documenting that Malik Riaz Hussain funneled money into the limo business, he has admitted to having helped his brother financially over the years, even paying off the mortgage on the Crest Inn Suites, the ramshackle motel that Shahed Hussain and his sons ran outside of Saratoga Springs. Malik Riaz Hussain has denied knowing of the existence of the illegal limo business, which had been repeatedly ordered shut down by the state in the months leading up to the crash. But since Malik Riaz Hussain is listed as the owner of the motel on the deed on file in Saratoga County, and since the limo business used the motel as its official address, Hartman ruled there are enough questions to warrant gathering more evidence against the tycoon, one of the richest and most powerful men in Pakistan. These facts, combined with the gravity of the loss in this case, render it inappropriate to dismiss the claims against defendant Malik Riaz Hussain without allowing plaintiffs limited jurisdictional discovery to explore his assertions that he has had no involvement with the motel since 2017 and no involvement whatsoever with the limousine business, Hartman wrote in her decision. Lawyers for Hussain claim he gave up ownership of the Crest Inn Suites in 2017 and put the deed in the name of Nauman Hussain and his brother Haris, who was not involved in the limo business. However, the new deed was never filed with the county clerk. Although families of the victims have sued the Hussains in state court in several different counties, the suits have been consolidated for now in state Supreme Court to streamline discovery, or evidence-gathering. Malik Riaz Hussain has a level of celebrity in Pakistan as the founder of Bahria Town, a real estate development firm that makes lavish gated residential communities for Pakistans middle and upper classes. He is considered a philanthropist and has built multiple hospitals across Pakistan. However, he has been the target of several tax investigations, including one in Great Britain that was settled in 2019 for a reported $260 million. Malik Riaz Hussain noted at the time on his Twitter account that the civil settlement does not represent a finding of guilt. Hartman said that lawyers for the families can only do "limited" discovery and do not have "carte blanche" to probe Hussain's "personal and international business affairs." An Australian mum has admitted she dislikes her children because they are 'rude, disrespectful and messy' - and she is not alone. The mum went online to describe her loathing of her own children - and was bombarded with support from parents who said they felt the same way. 'I really dislike my children. 12, 10 and 5,' the woman posted online. An Australian mum has admitted she dislikes her children - and complains they are rude, disrespectful and messy - but she is not alone 'They don't listen, always yelling and carrying on fighting with each other,' she explained. She went on to say they all have bad attitudes and talk back a lot. They scream at her and call here useless and take their frustrations out on her. 'My son is on his iPad and the internet is slow (been an issue on and off for a week) and he starts carrying on about it to me like i control the internet. He starts hitting his iPad on the lounge etc so i tell him to put it away,' she said. 'I know it sounds horrible but I truly so dislike the people my kids have become.' The chat was on the stay at home mum forum and was very popular with a shocking amount of parents agreeing with the original poster. 'You have all my empathy. I too have 12 year olds that think they know best, are rude, disrespectful and just plain horrible to me. So some days I find it hard to like even love them,' one woman said. 'As I say to myself if they were a man treating me like that - he would be gone.' 'She hasnt said she doesnt love them. Just she doesnt like them. Most parents will get this unfortunately,' said another. The mum went online to describe her loathing of her own children - and was bombarded with support from parents who said they felt the same way But not everyone was on the mum's side and said she needs to do a better job parenting if she wants well behaved children. 'To me it sounds like they can sense you don't like them that's why they are blaming things on you that are out of your control,' one mum said. Others suggested signing up for family therapy, spending one-on-one time with the children and having a good home routine which focuses on family time. 'Signing up for Family Therapy was the best thing we did as a family. It has given my son an outlet to talk freely and also my husband and I to get on the same page.' Another said her relationship with her kids improved when she took alone time, taking time out each day for a walk or yoga. The 'Doomsday Clock' and 'tick-tocks' to annihilation Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment According to the Doomsday Clock we are only 100 seconds from the midnight of apocalyptic doom. This is not the pronouncement of a wild-eyed fortuneteller, crazed would-be prophet, or frenzied alarmist, but a worldwide conglomerate of scientists and policymakers. They assemble annually to assess global threats and fragility, and endurance limits for the planet, its inhabitants, their societies, and civilizations. The vehicle by which the experts reveal their carefully reasoned estimate of the approach of Doomsday is the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS). On January 27 BAS announced its findings virtually (ironically, due to COVID, one of the threat-accelerators that hasten the tick-tocks to annihilation). The BAS experts tell us that we are closer to the end than at any point since the clock was presented in 1947. This is only the second time the clock has been this close to the midnight of global extermination.[1] With wide-spread mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic... little progress in eliminating nuclear weapons; and insufficient mitigation of destructive climate change, the BAS decided to hold the clock at the present, perilous time, and a warning and wake-up call, declared the BAS.[2] However, the wake-up call urgently needed is not for more Woke-ness, social activism, or government regulation, but spiritual awakening. Even an agnostic sees this. Charles Murray, who has written extensively on the dangers of secularism, told a National Review interviewer that he thinks the American Republic cannot continue without a Great Awakening like those impactful spiritual movements that preceded the original founding. At the very least, Murray thinks there must be a revival of the religious values that the Founders depended on to undergird their experiment.[3] Years ago, after I left politics and government to become a pastor, occasionally someone would exhort me to go back and live in the real world. However, the world I had left was itself not one that faced reality. It smirked at the idea of humanitys fall into evil, and the actuality of sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 32:23) was derided as fantasized myth. The real world faces the terrible fact of sin and the urgent need to do something about it. The atonement of Christ, the redemption of grace, and the possibility of repentance comprise the solution. That is the real world. It is also the reason the Doomsday Clock does not go backward, but forward toward destruction. Humanitys fall into sin brings on spiritual entropy. Not only is the physical universe snared in the vortex of the entropic plunge, but so is the spiritual cosmos. The Apostle Paul writes, in Romans 8:21 (NLT), that the whole creation looks forward to the day when it will join Gods children in glorious freedom from death and decay. NLT) The fundamental struggle in the fallen world is between cosmos (order) and chaos. Isaiah 14 describes Lucifer-Apollyon (destroyer) as the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities In ancient Greek thought, the city, or polis was a to be a refuge of order and security. To bring down the city, therefore, was to throw open the gates to chaos and destruction. Therefore, a refusal to acknowledge this reality is living in a fantasy, and not the real world. Ironically, it is people who embrace the biblical worldview who live in the real world. To deny sin and the need for redemption is an attempt to deny the existence of an enemy while being bloodied and battered by the adversary in a battle that is all too real. Though they may not believe in original sin and fallen human nature, the secularists call on us to repent for abusing of one another and the environment, as well as racism, greed and all the other things that cause them to set the clock forward toward annihilation. But if there is no absolute righteousness, how do we recognize sin? This is Saint Pauls point in Romans 7:7, when he writes, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. Without Gods revealed law all we have to enable us to identify evil is finite human opinion. Crusades for better living will accomplish nothing until we awaken to the real world that acknowledges sin and the need for us all to bow before the transcendent majesty of God. If we do not reverence the Creator, we will not reverence what the Creator has made, beginning with human life and proceeding to nature and the environment. The more we try to push back the hands of the clock on our own without acknowledging the core problem, the faster we will plunge toward Apollyons Gehenna. Two thousand years ago an itinerate Jewish carpenter understood the real world better than anyone and revealed important details about the future. In Part II we will examine what Jesus of Nazareth saw about what was coming to the world. [1]Doomsday Clock Says We're 100 Seconds Away from Midnight | IE (interestingengineering.com) [2]Doomsday Clock stands at 100 seconds to midnight (msn.com) [3]Q&A with Charles Murray: Religious Revival That Could Save America | National Review Beekeeper Patrick Murfet with some of his hives in an orchard near Canterbury in Kent A beekeeper trying to bring 15m bees into England via Northern Ireland says he has been told they may be seized and burned because of post-Brexit laws. Patrick Murfet wants to import the baby Italian bees for his Kent business and to help farmers pollinate valuable crops. But new laws that came into effect after the UK left the single market mean that bringing bees into the country is banned. Since the end of the transition period, only queen bees can be imported into Great Britain, rather than colonies and packages of bees. However confusion over whether bees can be brought in via Northern Ireland has caused a legal headache. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it is aware of the issue and is working with the devolved administrations to find a solution. "I am a passionate beekeeper, I've been doing it for nearly 20 years," Mr Murfet said. He is managing director of Bee Equipment, based near Canterbury, and every year he imports large numbers of bees from breeders in Italy, where the climate is warmer. For decades, bees have been imported to replenish stocks, strengthen breeding lines and as pollinators for fruit and honey farms in the UK. But the new ban could put this in jeopardy, Mr Murfet said. "It's a monumentally stupid situation for a country supposed to be standing on its own feet and exporting round the world." In an effort to avoid the import ban and abide by the new laws, Mr Murfet arranged for his usual importation of 15m bees to arrive via Northern Ireland in April, but said he has been told they may be destroyed if he tries. He says his enquiries into the reasoning behind the ban on imported bees have been met with a wall of silence, except an email reading: "Illegal imports will be sent back or destroyed, and enforcement action (criminal charges) will be brought against the importer." Mr Murfet has already paid a deposit of about 20,000 for the bees and stands to lose nearly 100,000 in costs alone if he cannot bring them into the country. Defra said bee health is a devolved matter and it is working to find a solution. Christian WhatsApp Alternative - ChatPray App NEWS PROVIDED BYSoultime Media LimitedFeb. 3, 2021LONDON, Feb. 3, 2021 / Standard Newswire / -- New research suggests that even as churches and other religious gatherings have been closed during lockdown, there's been a big increase in people turning to prayer and other forms of spirituality. In a survey of more than 500 people, 77% of respondents said that knowing they were being prayed for by others would help their mental health, 72% said they had prayed more, and 78% said they had felt more spiritual during COVID. When asked if they would like to explore new ways of connecting spiritually online, almost half (48%) said yes.The free ChatPray app is being launched today in response to those needs. The app has been specifically designed as an intuitive way to help people connect with friends and family in prayer. With ChatPray, users can get notified that someone is praying for them right now.Where existing chat apps have only a single thread of messages for each friend or group relationship, ChatPray always has two channels - a regular chat channel and a second "pray" channel to express the more important things. Every entry in the "pray" channel gets a "pray" button which, when pressed, increments a prayer counter. More importantly it sends a notification to the author and anyone "@mentioned" in the prayer, to let them know they're being prayed for. Prayers can be marked as "answered" too. When they are, a notification is sent to anyone who has ever prayed that prayer. ChatPray is designed to be as familiar and intuitive as WhatsApp but without requiring the mass of private data WhatsApp now seeks.ChatPray also includes an easy and effective way to keep a journal of what and who really matters to you. It gives users a pair of personal channels where you can both "chat" with yourself and write and pray your own private prayers.The ChatPray app is available for iOS and Android and is free to download and use.Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury says, "ChatPray is a wonderful new way for Christians to support each other and to pray together. It's new and another step in using technology to serve the church. I know the people behind it and will give it a try."Father Christopher Jamison Abbot President of the English Benedictines says, "Whether we pray often or rarely, the ChatPray App helps us to know we're not alone. You're in my thoughts and prayers, we say. This App shows we mean it."Nicky Gumbel - founder of the Alpha Course says "Mark Wagner has been a pioneer in bringing the Christian message to the digital world and I applaud his efforts."For app images https://cutt.ly/9hQWdin Full survey report here https://cutt.ly/xkgruZY SOURCE Soultime Media LimitedCONTACT: Mark Wagner, +44-7967-032599, mark@soultime.com Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Lawmakers are urging the Commission on Elections to reconsider its plan to prohibit face-to-face campaigns for the 2022 polls and instead allow candidates to hold small gatherings while still following health protocols. Senators Francis Pangilinan and Imee Marcos both recommended on Wednesday that smaller and properly distanced townhall meetings with voters can instead be held by candidates. "Baka ang maaring ipagbawal ang large gatherings at payagan ang mga small meetings ng 10 to 30 people halimbawa provided lahat naka-mask at may social distancing," Pangilinan said, adding that banning all face-to-face campaigning would be too restrictive [Translation: Perhaps they can prohibit large gatherings and instead allow small gatherings of 10 to 30 people, provided that everyone wears a mask and observes social distancing.] Marcos suggested a similar idea, but also emphasized the need to increase campaign expenditures if candidates need to rely on online or broadcast platforms as their medium. "If online and broadcast will be the preferred campaign platforms, it is urgent that we pass the bill increasing election expenses to more realistic levels- with the caveat that such an increase cannot be so high as to disqualify less wealthy candidates!" she said in a statement. She added: "It will be Comelec's challenge, as it is for Facebook and other networks, to provide clear guidelines for monitoring social media platforms, so that candidates do not exploit their algorithmic and ad potential, nor on the other hand, be held liable, for vague 'alleged violations.'" In 2019, a Senate joint panel approved Marcos' bill which proposes an expenditure hike for politicians. It primarily seeks to increase spending of presidential and vice presidential candidates to up to 50 for each voter, pegging other amounts for other candidates. The measure, however, failed to hurdle the plenary. 'Ban on face-to-face campaigns will only favor the rich' Bayan Muna Party-list also appealed to the Comelec to continue the implementation of face-to-face campaigns, as the ban would "only extremely favor rich candidates and further disenfranchise poor candidates and voters." "Again, if face-to-face campaigning would be prohibited, candidates would have to rely on online and media ads campaigning which is very expensive and only the rich candidates can afford that," Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said in a separate statement, adding the ban would reduce next year's polls to "a contest for the rich and famous." In an interview with ANC on Tuesday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez raised the possibility of prohibiting face-to-face campaigning for the May 2022 elections, amid the threat of COVID-19. He added that the commission may instead promote online campaigning to ensure the safety of voters. Comelec has yet to issue its updated guidelines on election campaigning. Filing of certificates of candidacy will start this October. This picture taken shows flags from the Pacific Islands countries being displayed in Yaren on the last day of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on Sept. 5, 2018. (Mike Leyral/AFP via Getty Images) Australia and Pacific Island Leaders Talk About CCP Virus Vaccine Roll Out On Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will join fellow Pacific leaders at a virtual retreat to discuss the regions response to the CCP virus pandemic. The online forum will see 17 leaders from the Pacific, whose security and prosperity are intertwined, come together to address the health and economic challenges posed by the pandemic. The economic cost of the pandemic has been severe for the Pacific region, Morrison said in a statement on Wednesday. Australia is proud to be supporting our Pacific family to maintain a resilient, sustainable and secure region as we also manage the impacts of the pandemic at home. Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Canberra, Australia on Dec. 11, 2020. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) Australia has committed $200 million to help deliver the roll-out of vaccines to the region. This is in addition to $80 million for the Gavi COVAX Facilitys Advance Market Commitment which provides vaccines to the highest-risk groups in eligible countries, including in the Pacific. I look forward to discussing with the 17 other Pacific leaders how we can work together to continue to manage the health impacts of the pandemic, deliver vaccines to Pacific communities, and drive post-COVID-19 economic recovery in the region, Morrison said. With the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, preventing an in-person meeting, Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said he looks forward to inviting U.S. President Joe Biden to Fiji in August. COVID-19 kept our meeting virtual today, but we are committed to an in-person PIF meeting in Fiji this August. Ive invited [President Joe Biden] to join us and see firsthand how Pacific Island nations are coping on the frontlines of the climate crisis, he wrote on Twitter after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wished the meeting well. COVID-19 kept our meeting virtual today, but we are committed to an in-person PIF meeting in Fiji this August. Ive invited @JoeBiden to join us and see firsthand how Pacific Island nations are coping on the frontlines of the climate crisis. https://t.co/ThgkONrMUJ Frank Bainimarama (@FijiPM) February 3, 2021 Blinken wrote: The United States congratulates Pacific Islands [Forum] leaders on holding their virtual meeting today. [President] Biden is committed to working with our Pacific Islands Forum partners to confront the defining challenges of our time, including climate change and COVID-19. Oregons population growth has been slowing for several years, but in 2020 the state hit a remarkable milestone deaths appear to have outnumbered births for the first time on record. Thats according to Josh Lehner, with the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Falling birth rates and an aging population had Oregon on track to have deaths outnumber births at some point Lehner had been projecting 2025 but COVID-19 upended things. There were approximately 200 more Oregon deaths than births in 2020, according to preliminary state numbers. Thats close enough that Lehner cautions a final tally may ultimately reverse the finding. And if the coronavirus pandemic recedes in 2021 (COVID deaths were down sharply in January), births will again outnumber deaths at least for some period of time. But Oregons birthrate is at a 30-year ebb, among nations lowest. By the Oregon Health Authoritys official tally, 1,649 Oregonians died for reasons directly related to COVID-19 from March through December last year. Thats 4.1% of the nearly 40,000 deaths Oregon recorded overall in 2020, but COVID-19 accounts for a significant share of the 7% increase in the total number of Oregon deaths for the whole year. The number of Oregon deaths in 2020 increased twice as fast as in 2019, and was the sharpest increase in at least 21 years. Oregonians, like people living in other provincial states, have always lamented the costs of in-migration traffic, rising housing costs, loss of open spaces. In 1971, former Gov. Tom McCall famously invited tourists to visit Oregon again and again. But for heavens sake, he declared, dont move here to live. Yet Lehner and other Oregon economists have long noted that, with its birthrate declining, the state relies on smart, young migrants for much of its economic growth. If the population continues to age, and birth rates remain low, the state will grow more dependent on migration long after the pandemic has eased. While growing pains are real (traffic, housing, etc.) the pangs of decay are even more challenging, Lehner wrote in Wednesdays analysis. A declining population impacts the productive capacity of the economy and therefore income growth. That directly translates into lower revenue growth for local businesses, who will struggle more, and tax revenues for providing public services which will need to be cut. -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region New Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has fired several hundred appointees to Pentagon advisory boards - including Trump administration appointees like Corey Lewandowski and Newt Gingrich. The order only impacts board members appointed by the Defense Department, and not board members appointed by Congress or presidents, including Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move does not affect Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway, who were appointed by Trump to the Naval Academy Board of Visitors and the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors respectively. A defense official told reporters that Austin believed 'this was the most fair, most equitable way' to address questions about the boards, according to the outlet. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, has fired several hundred appointees to Pentagon advisory boards Newt Gingrich is one of the hundreds appointed to Defense Department advisory boards that has been ordered to step down Corey Lewandowski was still undergoing a lengthy financial disclosure and security clearance process for his board appointment The Defense Department has also been ordered to conduct a review of its more than 40 advisory boards which were not set up by Congress, according to a memo sent to senior pentagon leadership. Of the 42 advisory panels listed in Austins memo, 31 will have their members removed, six will be part of the review but their members will be retained, and five others have either no members at this time or have concluded their business. Among the 31 are some of the departments most well known boards, including those with purview over defense policy, science, health, innovation, Arlington National Cemetery and women in the military. All together there are more than 600 members on the 42 boards. Defense officials said they dont know exactly how many are being asked to resign, but it will be hundreds. Some of the boards may be reorganized or eliminated, outlets reported. Select board members could be asked to return to their roles by June 1, after the review is completed, an official told Stars and Stripes. Austin was reportedly motivated to order the resignation and review of advisory boards after the Trump administration appointed dozens in a frenzy John Kirby, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said Austin was partly motivated by the former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller's decision to abruptly fire board members in 2020 and replace them with Trump loyalists, Forbes reported. 'The frenetic activity that occurred to the composition of so many boards in just the period of November to January deeply concerned the Secretary,' Kirby said. Allies of former President Trump who were affected include former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, former deputy Trump campaign manager David Bossie, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata. Miller appointed Gingrich and Tata to the Defense Policy Board in December. Tata was placed on the board on January 19, the last full day of the Trump administration. He came under fire after it was revealed that he called former President Barack Obama a 'terrorist leader' in 2018. While board members are not Pentagon employees, their coveted positions carry influence with Defense Department leadership, and members usually maintain valuable security clearances. Last week, Austin effectively stopped Trump administration nominees from being seated on the advisory boards by suspending their on-boarding process. Austin became the Secretary of Defense on January 20, after President Joe Biden's inauguration. In a potentially ancient case of mistaken identity, a new study reveals that an Egyptian mummy likely wasn't the person named on the front of its coffin. Aussie scientists performed computerised tomography (CT) scans and radiocarbon dating on the mummy and coffin, currently housed at the University of Sydney. The mummified female body dates as far back as the year 1200 BC, while the coffin in which the mummy resides was constructed in the year 1000 BC, they found. The body may have been inserted by a crafty Egyptian dealer into what was at the time an empty coffin at some point during the 19th century, just before it was bought for the university. Analysis also reveals a 'rare' painted mud carapace enclosing the adult mummy a hard resinous shell used to protect the body within its wrappings. Scroll down for video Mummified individual and coffin in the Nicholson Collection of the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney. An Egyptian mummy has been revealed not to be the noblewoman named on the coffin it was found in 'The date of the individual is earlier than that of the coffin,' say the team of researchers, led by Dr Karin Sowada from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, in their paper. 'Local dealers likely placed an unrelated mummified body in the coffin to sell a more complete "set", a well-known practice in the local antiquities trade.' The mummified individual and coffin are currently in the Nicholson Collection of the new Chau Chak Wing Museum, which opened to the public in November last year, on the University of Sydney's main campus. Sir Charles Nicholson, an English explorer who spent much of his career in Australia during the 19th century, bought the mummified body, lidded coffin and mummy board as a set during a trip to Egypt in between 1856 and 1867. In 1860, Sir Nicholson donated it to the University of Sydney and two years later returned to live in England. The coffin inscription on the lid identifies the owner as a titled woman named Meruah, and the iconography dates it to approximately 1000 BC. 'The date of the coffin has been established through analysis of the coffin shape, design and decoration,' Dr Sowada told MailOnline. 'It is a well-known type from the Theban area of Egypt (region of modern Luxor).' Although the mummified individual underwent a full computed tomography (CT) scan in 1999, the authors rescanned the body for their current study using updated technology. Using this new visualisation of the teeth and skeleton, the authors determined the mummified individual was a fairly young adult, aged between 26 and 35 years. 3D-rendered CT images of mummified individual, courtesy of Chau Chak Wing Museum and Macquarie Medical Imaging Image from the research paper published in open-access journal PLOS ONE shows fragments of the 'rare' mud carapace Body scans did not reveal external genitalia and internal reproductive organs had been removed during the mummification process. However, ossified secondary sexual characteristics, including hip bones, jaw, and cranium, strongly suggest the mummified individual was female, challenging the finding of a 2005 study that identified the mummy as a male from DNA. 'Our specialist research team is confident of the identification of the sex as female based on the skeletal characteristics seen on the new scans outlined in the paper,' Dr Sowada told MailOnline. 'The DNA test was conducted over 20 years ago and much has changed in this area since. 'Thus, given the opinion of our team, we must face the possibility that there was a problem with the earlier DNA result.' Analysis of the mummification technique and radiocarbon dating of textile samples from the linen wrappings placed the mummified individual to somewhere between the years 1200 to 1113 BC. This makes it likely that the female lived during the 20th Dynasty of Egypt the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period. Sir Charles Nicholson (pictured) bought the mummified body, lidded coffin, and mummy board as a set during a trip to Egypt in 1856-7, donating it to the University of Sydney in 1860 Chau Chak Wing Museum on the University of Sydney's main campus, which houses the mummy, opened to the public in November last year The new scans also revealed the extent and nature of the mud carapace, showing the mud shell fully sheaths the body and is layered within the linen wrappings. Images of the inmost layers indicate the body was damaged relatively shortly after initial mummification, and the mud carapace and additional wrappings were applied to reunify and restore the body. In addition to its practical restorative purpose, the authors suggest the mud carapace was a much cheaper way of replicating burial practices of the wealthy. It gave those who cared for the deceased the chance to 'emulate elite funerary practices' of coating the body in an expensive imported resin shell, but instead making use of cheaper and locally available materials. Though this mud carapace treatment has not been previously documented, the authors note it's not yet possible to determine how frequent this treatment may have been for non-elite mummies in the late New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Therefore, further radiological studies on other non-royal mummies may reveal more about this practice, researchers say. 'The mud shell encasing the body of a mummified woman within the textile wrappings is a new addition to our understanding of ancient Egyptian mummification,' they write in their paper, published in the journal PLOS ONE. WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- When temperatures drop, many regular activities come to a halt, but the American Red Cross needs your help to stop winter weather from giving hospital patients the cold shoulder. Those who are eligible to donate are urged to cozy up to giving blood, platelets or plasma to help hospital patients this February and throughout the pandemic. As the Red Cross works to provide lifesaving blood products to hospitals for patients every day of the year, weather adds additional complications during this ongoing pandemic. Over the past seven days, blood drives from coast-to-coast have been canceled due to severe winter weather, especially in the Northeastimpacting at least 4,600 donations that patients need to help them combat injury and illness, including COVID-19. Just as road crews, snowplows and salt trucks are essential in preparing for and responding to severe winter weather, so are blood donations. All those who come to donate blood, platelets or plasma with the Red Cross this February will receive a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card via email.* Individuals can schedule an appointment to give blood today with the American Red Cross by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or activating the Blood Scheduling Skill for Amazon Alexa. Inspiring Lifesaving Action This gift card promotion is made possible by a generous $1 million donation from Amazon, and the Red Cross hopes it will motivate donors to roll up a sleeve to ensure patients continue to have access to lifesaving blood products. During this pandemic, the Red Cross has been fortunate to witness the best of humanity and grateful to partners like Amazon who have stepped up to help. Amazon's generous donation will specifically help support the Red Cross efforts to collect a sufficient amount of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients as well as support the needs of sickle cell patients, a disease which disproportionately impacts people of African descent, by helping to engage the Black community on the importance of giving blood and hosting blood drives. In addition to Amazon's financial gift, Amazon has opened up their corporate and operations buildings to host blood drives nationwide. In 2020, Amazon has hosted 65 blood drives, collecting nearly 2,000 donations to help save thousands of lives. "Amazon is a longtime partner with the Red Crosslast year we provided $1 million in gift cards to support donor drives during a critical blood shortage," said Bettina Stix, Director, Right Now Needs and Disaster Relief at Amazon. "We are proud to team up again to help the Red Cross carry out its mission during these uncertain times. Donating blood is critical to ensuring a stable blood supply and we hope our gift gives further reason to roll up a sleeve to make a difference to patientsincluding those suffering from COVID-19." Winter weather can create a negative impact on blood donations, but it's hard to predict when that weather may hit. "It's the blood that's already on the shelf that helps patients in need," said Paul Sullivan, senior vice president of Donor Services at the Red Cross. "That's why it's important for people to donate regularly, so we are prepared for when severe weather does arrive. That is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic when we are also struggling with other challenges. We are grateful to Amazon for their support and grateful to our volunteer donors who give during this time." Because the Red Cross maintains a national inventory of donated blood, people in areas unaffected by winter weather can be essential to ensuring that patients receive the lifesaving treatment they need by donating blood. The Red Cross is able to move blood to weather impacted areas, so donations in all communities can make a difference in thawing a freeze on the blood supply. Important COVID-19 information for donors VACCINES: As of February 1, 2021 , there is no wait period to donate after receiving COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax or Pfizer, as long as individuals are feeling healthy and well. Individuals who receive a COVID-19 vaccine and do not know which manufacturer it was from will need to wait two weeks to donate. Individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine are not able to donate convalescent plasma with the Red Cross at this time. , there is no wait period to donate after receiving COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax or Pfizer, as long as individuals are feeling healthy and well. Individuals who receive a COVID-19 vaccine and do not know which manufacturer it was from will need to wait two weeks to donate. Individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine are not able to donate convalescent plasma with the Red Cross at this time. CONVALESCENT PLASMA: As COVID-19 cases have risen across the U.S., so has the need for convalescent plasma leading to a shortage of this potentially lifesaving blood product. Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 may have antibodies in their plasma that could provide a patient's immune system the boost it needs to beat the virus. There are two ways COVID-19 survivors can help through a convalescent plasma donation or by simply giving whole blood. Plasma from whole blood donations that test positive for COVID-19 antibodies may be used to help COVID-19 patients. ANTIBODY TESTING: The Red Cross is testing blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies. The test may indicate if the donor's immune system has produced antibodies to this coronavirus, regardless of whether an individual developed COVID-19 symptoms. Red Cross antibody tests will be helpful to identify individuals who have COVID-19 antibodies and may now help current coronavirus patients in need of convalescent plasma transfusions. BLOOD DRIVE SAFETY: Each Red Cross blood drive and donation center follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and additional precautions including temperature checks, social distancing and face coverings for donors and staff have been implemented to help protect the health of all those in attendance. Donors are asked to schedule an appointment prior to arriving at the drive and are required to wear a face covering or mask while at the drive, in alignment with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public guidance. About blood donation All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver's license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, before arriving at the blood drive. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App. About the American Red Cross The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross. * Restrictions apply. Additional information and details are available at RedCrossBlood.org/Together. National Headquarters 431 18th Street NW Washington, DC 20006 redcross.org SOURCE American Red Cross Related Links www.redcross.org The decision was taken unanimously by members of the National Justice Board (JNJ) , after hearing the report of the rapporteur assigned to the case, Maria Zavala, who presented the conclusions that recommended imposing a sanction on Chavarry, who was facing four charges in both cases. "He is unanimously absolved of charge A and sanctioned with dismissal from office as charges B, C and D were proved true, in which his conduct constitutes a very serious offense," National Justice Board Chair Ines Tello expressed. "This brings the disciplinary process to an end, and the notification will be processed within the stipulated time frame," she added. Disciplinary process Zavala's report concludes that Chavarry's dismissal from office is a suitable, necessary, and proportionate measure as it was proved that he had lied about the conversations with Cesar Hinostroza, for having participated in the opening of a sealed office at the Public Ministry, and for having summoned an advisor to Congress on this case to his office. He was absolved of guilt for a conversation he had with Cesar Hinostroza to coordinate a meeting with journalists in order to support his election as attorney general. "The dismissal is not only suitable and/or adequate to help strengthen the Public Ministry because a supreme prosecutor is no longer able to build up confidence in citizens due to the arbitrary way in which he acted," Zavala stated. According to the rapporteur, it (the dismissal) is "absolutely necessary" because of a series of acts of interference and a "blameworthy conduct" of the person under investigation, which would not be acceptable to the society as a whole. (END) FHG/RMB Loading... The National Justice Board (JNJ) dismissed Pedro Gonzalo Chavarry from the position of Supreme Prosecutor after having determined that he committed a very serious offense when a sealed office intervened by Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez was opened and for having lied about his conversation with former Supreme Judge Cesar Hinostroza.Publicado: 1/2/2021 Welcome Guest! You Are Here: "It was one of the worst things I've seen," says John Joe Mac Gearailt, a Baile an Lochaigh man who farms on the western side of Mount Brandon. "Two walkers, they came in and were halfway down the sliabh with a Labrador. They left the dog loose, the sheep took off, and the dog drove about 10 of my ewes to the edge of a cliff. Six of them jumped off. "I ran up the hill but these people had gone. Nobody came around after to apologise or pay the damages - but it's not about that: it's seeing what's happening." That was eight years ago, but there's been no improvement; walkers still bring dogs onto Mount Brandon and, if anything, things have worsened on all sides of the hill. "One farmer says that four or five ewes have broken legs every time he collects the sheep. It's not right that farmers are coming to me, nearly in tears. I wouldn't usually go public like this - but it's affecting me as well." Little thought for farmers This recklessness isn't new, but it seems curious that things have "come to a head", as John Joe says, when the country is supposed to be locked down. And it's equally curious that this apparently long-standing scourge to hill farmers on all sides of Brandon has not been nipped out through the years - but it's not for the want of trying. "When we approach these people, they become awfully abusive," says John Joe. "It's hard enough to make a living off what we're doing without that. "Lock-down brought it to a head; after things opened up, we had an influx of Irish visitors, and they thought they could do what they wanted west of Dingle, we were only the Wild West back here. "We had a tradition of going to the hill on Sundays to round up our sheep, count them, and see that everything was okay. Last July, I had my sheep bunched up and counted, and then I went up to see where the rest were. As I did, there was a guy down from me, he had left his dog loose onto the sheep. I roared at him, but your man only roared back. I went back down towards him, but he took off. Expand Close Dogs attack more than 3,000 sheep a year, according to IFA statistics, but efforts by sheep farmers to address the problem with irresponsible dog owners too often fall on deaf ears and sometimes lead only to a torrent of abuse / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dogs attack more than 3,000 sheep a year, according to IFA statistics, but efforts by sheep farmers to address the problem with irresponsible dog owners too often fall on deaf ears and sometimes lead only to a torrent of abuse "That day, I told my wife that I just couldn't go up on the hill anymore on Sundays. We're providing these people with an amenity. Walkers are welcome here, we need them for our local B&Bs, but we have a problem, most of it with non-locals, but some local people as well. "We're thinking of locking the gates until it's dealt with. We don't want to, but we might have to. We can't keep going like this." Understanding what dogs can do Flor McCarthy, a Kenmare native, is the IFA National Hill Committee Chairperson. Through his role, Flor says he has noted a nationwide increase in dog attacks, and the theory he puts forward for that suggests this will only get worse- an ominous thought as we head into peak lambing season. "Everybody is after buying a dog," he says. "And it's going to be a massive problem going forward because people don't know how to manage a dog. "It's unacceptable to be going onto a hill with a dog, even on a leash. And in fairness, any real walker won't bring one. I see where I farm here myself, you'd hardly see anyone doing it. "But there's also the problem of people not tying their dog in. He might be a lovely pet, but any dog becomes dangerous when they join a pack - that's what happening. You might think your dog wouldn't kill a sheep, and maybe he wouldn't by himself, but even a small dog joining a group can cause unreal damage. It's easy to kill a sheep - all they've to do is chase them into a stream or river, that's very common. "Owning a dog is a serious responsibility, and I don't think buyers understand that." As Flor puts it, a farmer can't measure an attack's impact on the day itself. Even animals that survive can sustain injuries, and then there's the knock-on that rears its head at lambing season: the next two to three months are crucial for sheep farmers, and today's attacks will have implications for then. And while John Joe says that the problems facing farmers on Mount Brandon can be traced back, predominantly, to visitors to west Kerry, Flor is sure that the uptick in dog attacks nationally is driven mainly by people living nearby. "Our own local people don't know how to manage a dog," he says. What needs to happen The farmers on Brandon haven't asked for much, and they still aren't. Many walkers are very understanding - indeed, hillwalking organisations have strongly backed these farmers' calls - but basic decency still eludes a few and will clearly continue to do so. John Joe says he has contacted politicians, and the response has been good. Councillor Seamus Fitzgerald - himself a member of Dingle Hillwalking Club, which strictly forbids dogs to be brought on its walks - took to these pages to echo what the farmers have called for. Cllr Dan McCarthy raised his concerns at last week's Kenmare Municipal District Meeting. Michael Healy-Rae TD has pledged to raise the matter in the Dail. "We need stronger legislation, and more serious repercussions, such as on-the-spot fines," says John Joe. "We also need the Council to install signage. There are car parks for Mount Brandon in Baile Breac and Baile na hAbha, and they were needed, but we need signage warning people not to bring dogs. We've put signs up, but they're only up five minutes when they're torn down by someone." "It will give them more clout in challenging the matter," Flor agrees. "People are more inclined to respond to a challenge when the farmers have signage backing them up." Aside from those basic calls, John Joe has also made one last push for basic courtesy. "We don't want to see people bringing dogs here, on a leash or not," he says. "Sometimes they will be on a leash, but you've no sooner turned your back when they've been let go. We just can't trust people anymore." Tawila / Nierteti A 10-year-old girl was raped, two young women were shot and a young men was stabbed in three separate attacks in Central Darfur. A relative of the girl told Radio Dabanga that the gunmen raped the girl half a kilometre west of Rokoro. Her family filed a report with the police before she was transferred to Rokoro Hospital to receive treatment. Gunmen on horses and camels attacked Koure Fenegi, 10 kilometers southeast of Rokoro. They shot and wounded the two sisters Nour Adam (18) and Kabira Adam (20). People from the region told Radio Dabanga that the family of the two women had filed a report with the police in Rokoro and that the two women had been taken to Rokoro Hospital for treatment. They also said that the gunmen stole 210 cows. Nierteti Tayeb Abdallah (20) a displaced man who was staying at Nierteti South Camp was seriously wounded two kilometres west of Nierteti in Central Darfur yesterday evening. A relative of the injured man told Radio Dabanga that Tayed Abdallah was confronted by two gunmen, one of them wearing a military uniform. They fired a shot in the air before stabbing him in the head and face. The gunmen then stole Tayeb Abdallah's car, mobile and other possessions. A police report has been opened in Nierteti and Tayeb Abdallah has been transferred to Nierteti Hospital for treatment. Radio Dabanga's editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as 2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee. 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. 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. Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Vincent Biruta has issued assurance on the country's readiness to host the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of State Summit (CHOGM) under a safe environment. Rwanda will be hosting the summit in its capital city Kigali from June 25 to 26, after it was rescheduled from mid-2020 because of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In an article he wrote in the latest edition of Commonwealth voices magazine published this month, Biruta said that as the world looks ahead with optimism that the global health situation will improve over the next few months, Rwanda is looking forward to welcoming fellow member states to the CHOGM summit. He highlighted the country's national Covid-19 response, saying it has been focused on multi-sectoral collaboration and built upon regional and international responses. "As we continue to strengthen our capabilities, be reassured that we will host you in a safe environment, in respect of all World Health Organisation recommendations," he said. He praised "the accelerated international response to the current public health emergency," referring to it as an illustration that "when we combine our efforts, we have the capacity to prepare for future threats but also, to act on pre-existing ones." Biruta also spoke about the Covid-19 vaccine, saying the Commonwealth, could play a key role in ensuring equitable access to and distribution of fairly priced vaccines, using its experience as a leader on environment and climate change that continue to affect communities around the globe. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The upcoming CHOGM meeting is the 26th edition of the summit. It will be held under the theme "Delivering a common future: connecting, innovating, transforming." It is looked at as an opportunity for Commonwealth Leaders to reflect on new forms of global governance while also raising ambitions on key decisions taken during CHOGM 2018. It will also be the occasion to build unified positions ahead of key upcoming events, including the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) scheduled for early November 2021, in Glasgow, UK. "It is indeed time to put our words into action, by making our governance models more inclusive; by making our health systems more resilient; by ensuring our economies and trade attain sustainable growth; by strengthening our social protection systems; by taking bold action on climate and by unlocking the advantages of technology for development," Biruta said. The CHOGM summit is a biennial meeting of the leaders from all Commonwealth nations. The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association member states, many of which used to be territories of the British Empire, though it is open for any nation that wants to join. Rwanda is the youngest member of the Commonwealth, having joined the organization in 2009, and it is one of the very few member states without any direct British colonial connection or constitutional link. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have sent out Christmas thank you cards which feature a photo of the dressed-down couple sheltering from the rain in Australia. The snap of the Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, was taken during their October 2018 visit to Dubbo, Australia, which marked their historic first international tour together and also took them to New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga over 16 days. The photograph, which has been recycled from their 2019 Christmas reply, shows Meghan, who was pregnant with son Archie at the time, holding an umbrella over Harry's head while he gives a speech to locals in the touching image. It was shared on Twitter by royal fan account GertsReplies, who revealed his card had arrived in the post yesterday. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have sent out thank you cards which feature a photo of the dressed-down couple sheltering from the rain in Australia (pictured) In the note, the couple told how they 'appreciate' the 'kind words' and thanked the royal fan for his 'thoughtful message' (pictured) The back of the envelope featured the couple's usual monogram, while printed on the reverse of the image was the thank you message sent on behalf of the royal couple. It read: 'Thank you for your thoughtful message. We appreciate your kind words and the time you have taken to write to us on this special occasion. Sending you our warmest wishes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.' Alongside an image of the card, the royal fan account penned: 'The Sussexes 2020 Christmas Reply arrived today! (And yes, their mail is still be handled by the Correspondence Section at Clarence House)' (pictured) Harry and Meghan hosting a special Time100 talk Tuesday, October 20, 2020, focusing on the digital world (pictured) Last year's card featured a similar thank you note, which was written on behalf of the royal couple Alongside an image of the thank you note, GertsReplied wrote: 'The Sussexes 2020 Christmas Reply arrived today! (And yes, their mail is still be handled by the Correspondence Section at Clarence House).' It marks the second year since the royal couple's Christmas reply has failed to feature their son, Archie. However, the message this year appears to be much more personal, with the note worded as if it has come from the royal couple, rather than written on their behalf. Last year's more impersonal message instead read: 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, thank you for the very kind message you sent for Christmas. 'This was most thoughtful of you and greatly appreciated by Their Royal Highnesses who send their best wishes for Christmas, and for the New Year.' (Newser) On March 20, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a stop to all eviction proceedings in the state. It gave many residents the breathing room they needed amid pandemic job losses. For Heidi Russell, it prolonged an absolute nightmare. In a lengthy piece for New York Magazine, Bridget Read recounts Russell's saga, which started, seemingly fortuitously, in 2016. That was the year in which Read and her roommate Valentina Bajada were able to purchase their 860-square-foot West Village apartment for the "insider rate" of $450,000. For Manhattan it was a steal, but it was still more than they could afford, so they decided to AirBnb one of the bedrooms when Bajada left the country for an extended period. In December 2018, Katherine Gladstone and her 10-year-old stayed in the room for a few nights, uneventfullyleading Russell to think it would be a good move to rent to her long-term. story continues below It most definitely was not, says Russell, whose claims include: Gladstone's refusal in June 2019 to leave by the end of the first month after it didn't seem like a good fit; her refusal to leave entirely; close to zero payment of rent; and Gladstone commandeering the bathroom every morning and taking control of the living room. What Read unspools is Russell's discovery that she was far from the first landlord to be stiffed by the 42-year-old and forced to fight tirelessly to get her out; in one case, someone who sublet his studio to her as a way of covering the last 4 months of his lease ended up out $20,000 after she didn't pay rent and didn't leave when the lease ended. Relief seemingly came in early 2020, when Russell was granted a warrant of eviction that would be carried out by marshalswith the date being 11 days after the eviction freeze. (Read the full story for what pandemic living with Gladstone was like.) 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. More than ever, 2020 demonstrated that organizations can no longer afford a reactive approach to risk management. Tweet this The Top 10 Risks for 2021 Survey respondents were asked to rate 36 macroeconomic, strategic and operational risks, including new risks that emerged this year related to the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice. The top 10 risks identified for 2021 are as follows: Pandemic-related policies and regulation impact business performance Economic conditions constrain growth opportunities Pandemic-related market conditions reduce customer demand Adoption of digital technologies require new skills or significant efforts to upskill/reskill existing employees Privacy/identity management and information security Cyber threats Impact of regulatory change and scrutiny on operational resilience, products and services Succession challenges, ability to attract and retain top talent Resistance to change operations and business model Ability to compete with "born digital" and other competitors "More than ever, 2020 demonstrated that organizations can no longer afford a reactive approach to risk management. Pandemic risk loomed on the horizon for a long time it was a matter of 'when,' not 'if,'" said Jim DeLoach, a Protiviti managing director and co-author of the report. "Business leaders must be vigilant in scanning for emerging issues and make actionable plans to adjust their strategies and business models while being authentic in fostering a trust-based, innovative culture and the organizational resilience necessary to successfully navigate disruptive change. Digitally mature companies with an agile workforce were ready when COVID-19 hit and are the ones best positioned to continue to ride the wave of rapid acceleration of digitally driven change through the pandemic and beyond." Consistent with the survey's findings in previous years, data security and cyber threats again rank in the top 10 risks for both 2021 and 2030. The continuously evolving nature of cyber and privacy risks underscores the need for a secure operating environment in which nimble workforces can regularly refresh the technology and skills in their arsenal to remain competitive. "If there's any risk that all organizations across industries and geographies must maintain focus on, it's cybersecurity and privacy," said Patrick Scott, executive vice president, Industry Programs, Protiviti. "While the areas that businesses will need to address may change as they transform their business models and increase their resiliency to face the future confidently, cybersecurity and privacy threats will remain a constant and should be at or near the top of the list. These threats have been top risks for quite some time, and they aren't going away." The Top Risks for 2030 New for this year's survey, respondents also rated the expected impact of the same 36 risks on their organizations in 2030. The risk landscape of 2030 presents a markedly different picture, according to survey respondents who identified the following as the top 10 risks for 2030: Adoption of digital technologies may require new skills or significant efforts to upskill/reskill existing employees Impact of regulatory change and scrutiny on operational resilience, products and services Rapid speed of disruptive innovation outpace our ability to compete Succession challenges, ability to attract and retain top talent Privacy/identity management and information security Substitute products or services arise that affect our business model Sustaining customer loyalty and retention become more difficult as customer preferences and demographic shifts evolve Ability to compete with "born digital" and other competitors Inability to utilize data analytics and "big data" to achieve market intelligence and increase productivity and efficiency Cyber threats Taking a decade-long view of the risk horizon, executives are concerned about the future of work, particularly when it comes to their organization's ability to adapt to emerging digital technologies and keep pace with the rapid speed of disruptive innovation. According to the survey results, an organization's ability to upskill and reskill employees as well as attract and retain top talent will be paramount to its risk management strategy in the decade ahead. Dr. Mark Beasley, professor of Enterprise Risk Management and director of NC State's ERM Initiative and co-author of the report said, "Following a year of unprecedented adoption of digital tools across industries globally, businesses are facing heightened pressure to pivot to new skills, processes, products and services to meet evolving customer preferences, protect their brand value and remain competitive in an increasingly complex and automated world. One of the most important lessons that business leaders need to take away from 2020 is that they must prepare for a disruptive future by positioning their organizations to adapt and evolve with the speed of change." The study's report also includes a call to action, offering executives and directors diagnostic questions to consider when evaluating risk assessment and risk management processes. Resources Available The "Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2021 and 2030" report from Protiviti and North Carolina State University provides respondent details broken out by company type, size, industry, geographic region and respondent role. The report, along with an infographic and a podcast about the survey results, is available for complimentary download here. Protiviti will host a one-hour webinar with a panel including Beasley, Bozzella, DeLoach, Scott and Manisha Shah, a Protiviti managing director and leader of the privacy practice, to discuss the implications of the survey's findings on February 24, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. PST. Attendance is free with registration here. About Protiviti Protiviti ( www.protiviti.com ) is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned Member Firms provide clients with consulting and managed solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries. Named to the 2020 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, Protiviti has served more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 and 35 percent of Fortune Global 500 companies. The firm also works with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go public, as well as with government agencies. Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in 1948, Robert Half is a member of the S&P 500 index. About the ERM Initiative The ERM Initiative (www.erm.ncsu.edu) in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University provides thought leadership to help executives and boards strengthen their oversight of enterprise-wide risks as they develop and implement strategies for growth. The ERM Initiative's website hosts over 600 articles, thought papers, and best practices documents to help business leaders navigate today's uncertainties for tomorrow's strategic success. Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services. Editors' note: photos and infographic available upon request. SOURCE Protiviti Related Links http://www.protiviti.com Queenslands acting Premier has pointed to migration data showing a surge in new residents as an endorsement of the states pandemic response as he hit out at the Prime Ministers handling of his own party room. Interstate migration data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week, revealed Queensland gained the most new residents during the September quarter while NSW and Victoria went backwards. Acting Premier Steven Miles. Credit:Jono Searle/Getty Images An extra 7200 people moved to Queensland at the same time 4100 people left NSW. Brisbane gained 3200 people through net internal migration, the most of any capital city, while Sydney, with 7800, lost the most. After his suspension from Rajya Sabha for raising slogans against the new farm laws in the House, (AAP) MP compared the Central government with 'Hitler' and accused the government of taking harsh action against the protesting farmers. Speaking to ANI, the AAP leader said, "The government is taking such harsh action against the protesting farmers that even Hitler has failed in front of the Centre government." Taking a dig at the Centre for treating farmers indifferently, he said, "A total of 44 farmers of Punjab are missing, we have no idea they are dead or alive, are farmers are from an enemy country? They are 'Annadatas' of our own country, but they are called traitors, terrorists and anti-nationals, you (government) are hitting lathis, shelling teargas on farmers, the government has committed exploitation and atrocities against the protesting farmers that even Hitler has failed in infront of him." Singh demanded that a discussion on the issue of the three fresh farm laws should be held before any other matter, adding that the government should repeal the laws. He and the other two AAP MPs were suspended for a day from the House. Three members-- Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta and Sushil Gupta were marshalled out of Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked them to withdraw as they trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans against the new farm laws. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu imposed Rule 255 against the MPs, asking them to 'withdraw' from the House. (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.) Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Dec. 11, 2020. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press) Canada Announces 13 Additions to List of Terrorist Entities, Including Proud Boys Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Wednesday the addition of 13 entities to the list of terrorist organizations identified under the Criminal Code, including the Proud Boys. This update hopefully sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious, or politically motivated acts of violence, Blair said during a press conference. Blair said that the list was produced in a neutral and expert process that is based on evidence, intelligence, and the law. This is not about politics, its not about infringing upon the freedom of belief, association, and freedom of speech, Blair said. It is about controlling violent activities ideologically motivated violent extremism. Based on their affiliations and motivations, Blair said, the following entities were classified into four groups: Ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) organizations: Atomwaffen Division, Proud Boys, Russian Imperial Movement, and The Base. ISIS terror group affiliates: Bangladesh; East Asia; the Greater Sahara; Libya; and the West Africa Province. Al-Qaeda terror group affiliates: Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin, Front de Liberation du Macina, and Ansar Dine International terrorist group: Hizbul Mujahideen Blair said the listing of terrorist entities in the Criminal Code is but one tool in the toolbox, and there are other means to monitor and penalize terrorist entities. Public Safety and National Security officials use a full sweep of measures to protect our country and to keep Canadians safe from any threat, including the threat posed by terrorist and ideologically motivated violent extremism, Blair said, adding that the measures will allow Canada to surveil, investigate, gather intelligence, share the information lawfully, and make ongoing threat assessments. According to a released statement, persons and organizations found in association with a listed entity can also face severe penalties mandated in the Criminal Code, which includes the denial or revocation of a Canadian organizations charitable status. Individuals that seek to enter Canada may also be inadmissible if they are found to be associated with a listed entity. Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio talks with a law enforcement officer in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters) Concerns Over Listing of Proud Boys On Jan. 26, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion designating the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, a move which some security experts say could severely impact the freedom of Canadians. This is the sort of thing we need to be careful about, because its a path that we shouldnt go down very easily, Richard Fadden, the former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told the Global News. Blair said that Canadian security agencies have monitored the Proud Boys since 2018 and have collected a body of evidence that the group is involved in escalating violence. On Jan. 29, the U.S. Justice Department indicted two members of the Proud BoysDominic Pezzola and William Pepeon a number of charges in relation to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach. With these 13 new additions, there are now 73 terrorist entities listed under the Canadian Criminal Code. WASHINGTON - Michael Regan, President Joe Biden's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, told lawmakers Wednesday that he would "restore" science and transparency at the agency, focus on marginalized communities and move "with a sense of urgency" to combat climate change. Facing a Senate panel where half of the members are Republicans wary of the EPA's authority and its reach into much of American life, Regan appealed to a collective sense of duty. "We all have a stake in the health of our environment, the strength of our economy, the well-being of our communities and the legacy we will leave the next generation in the form of our nation's natural resources," he told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The 44-year-old Regan, who began his career at the EPA more than two decades ago and currently heads the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, appeared likely to win confirmation after a three-hour hearing in which he received a universally warm reception. Some Republicans, however, confronted him about the Biden administration's plans to aggressively limit emissions from the nation's automotive and fossil fuel sectors, insisting that moving too quickly risks worsening an already battered economy. "Right now they look like they are putting forward a strategy that will crush jobs [and] lower the amount of energy we can produce," Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said of Biden's early moves to kill the Keystone XL pipeline and halt oil and gas drilling on public lands. "It's a policy that makes no sense." Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, likened the administration's actions to "delivering pink slips to hard-working men and women in Wyoming and across the country." Regan countered that, like Biden, he believes the United States will benefit from embracing the inevitable transition away from fossil fuels and that millions of jobs can come from investing in the shift toward a green economy. "We all understand the anxiety and the fear as we make this transition that folks in your states have," he said. "What I know is we've been instructed that we are not to leave any community behind. In order for us to be successful, every state and every community has to see itself in our vision." If confirmed, Regan would become the first Black man to lead the EPA in its half-century of existence, working in an administration that has pledged to address the unequal burden of pollution carried by communities of color. He also would step into a high-profile job with a pair of daunting missions: to reverse the aggressive dismantling of environmental safeguards during the Trump years, and to play a central role in translating Biden's promise to combat climate change into real-world policies. Over the past four years, the Trump administration took aim at more than 200 environmental protections and rules, according to a Washington Post analysis. The EPA shrank by hundreds of employees as President Donald Trump played down the science around climate change and acted to bolster the fossil fuel industry. Biden has made climate change a pillar of his administration. He rejoined the Paris climate accord and began the process overturning scores of environmental actions taken by Trump. But even as the White House moves decisively and activists clamor for even more far-reaching efforts, Regan positioned himself Wednesday as more a consensus seeker than a crusader. "I've learned that if you want to address complex challenges, you must first be able to see them from all sides, and you must be willing to put yourself in other people's shoes," Regan said, adding that "we can't simply regulate ourselves out of every problem we face." It's an approach that won Regan respect across party lines in North Carolina - and also criticism from environmentalists who wanted him to act more aggressively - as secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Quality since 2017. During his tenure, he settled a multibillion-dollar cleanup of coal waste storage facilities with Duke Energy, established an environmental justice advisory board and reached across the political divide to work with the state's Republican legislature. In another high-profile environmental case, the state ordered the chemical company Chemours to virtually eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of human-made chemicals, from seeping into the Cape Fear River. The chemicals - used in cookware, stain repellent and other products - have been linked to harmful health effects, including low infant birth weights and thyroid hormone disruption. Regan, who graduated from North Carolina A&T State University and earned a master's at George Washington University, also advised Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, on the state's plans to mitigate climate change. He frustrated some activists who said he could have been tougher on polluting industries, even as they describe him as honest and well-intentioned. Even so, environmental groups have rallied around Regan's nomination, arguing that he has the right background and skills to pursue meaningful action to cut the nation's emissions, grow clean energy jobs and help communities that historically have suffered the most from pollution. Regan arrived at the EPA in the late 1990s and served for more than a decade under both the Clinton and Bush administrations. He returned to North Carolina as southeast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group, where he focused on lessening the impacts of climate change on the region and on improving air quality in polluted communities. But Regan testified that it was during his childhood in eastern North Carolina - where he grew up hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather but also suffered from asthma in an area with a legacy of toxic pollution - that he understood environmental protection. "Preserving our natural resources isn't something to balance with economic growth," he said. "It's one of the keys to economic growth, along with protecting public health and our way of life." On Wednesday, two of the Democrat's strongest endorsements came from his state's Republican senators. Sen. Richard Burr called Regan "a good man" and "extremely qualified" to lead the EPA. Sen. Thom Tillis added that he and other Republicans are certain to disagree with the environmental policies of the Biden White House. "But what we can hope for is people in the administration who have a track record of listening," he said, adding about Regan: "He will be fair. He will listen." 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. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID LONDON - The developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine report that it may help keep people from spreading the virus, offering a hopeful but uncertain answer to one of the great remaining questions of the pandemic. Vaccines have produced evidence that they are effective at reducing the number of people who experience symptoms or suffer severe illness or die, but much less is known about whether any of the available vaccines can prevent asymptomatic infections that can pass from one person to another - thereby reducing the need for social distancing and allowing a return to more normal life. In a preprint of an article under review at the Lancet medical journal, the Oxford University vaccine developers report that based on follow-up studies of their clinical trials, which found the vaccine safe and effective, there is also "the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus." The study found that after people received two doses of the vaccine, they were 54% less likely to have an infection confirmed by a nasal swab, regardless of whether they had symptoms. In addition, the researchers said a single dose of the vaccine was 76% effective against symptomatic virus infection, for up to three months. Independent scientists who were not involved in the Oxford study called the data intriguing but incomplete. They warned that results were preliminary, that the sample size was too small to make bold claims, and that there could be alternative explanations for the findings, such as that the group receiving a single dose included more women, younger people and health workers. But British officials on Wednesday hailed the report on the homegrown vaccine. They promoted the findings as a vindication for their controversial decision to delay second doses - from four weeks to 12 weeks - while trying to get first shots to as many people as possible. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the research results were "absolutely superb." "It categorically supports the strategy we've been taking on having a 12-week gap between the doses," Hancock told Sky News. Pfizer-BioNTech scientists have warned that they do not have evidence to support the British dosing strategy for their vaccine, also in wide use in Britain. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the report by the Oxford researchers seemed to support the idea that efficacy of the vaccine was improved by having a long stretch between first and second doses. "Taking all this evidence together, the 12-week gap between first and second dose is clearly the better strategy, as more people can be protected more quickly and the ultimate protective effect is greater," Hunter said. Hunter noted, however, that the Oxford vaccine seemed "quite poor at preventing asymptomatic infection." Andrew Pollard, the chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said the results support the British government's decision to give one dose followed by a second booster shot 12 weeks later. Pollard called it "an optimal approach" that "reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine." Pollard also told the BBC on Wednesday: "We found that there was a big reduction in people being infected with coronavirus and, because they were not infected, they can't go on and transmit to other people. That is really important in potentially curbing the pandemic." Natalie Dean, a biostatistics expert at the University of Florida, said: "If you think about the way that vaccines work, they can work in two major ways: one is by preventing infection entirely and the other by taking someone who is infected and preventing them from getting symptoms." The data suggest that "there were some infections that were prevented, but there were some that were bumped down in severity," Dean said. Oxford is eager to further establish the credibility of its vaccine after inconsistent dosing in its clinical trials muddied assessments of its effectiveness and a lack of data on the efficacy in people 65 and older has given some public health officials pause. The European Union's regulator of medicines has authorized the vaccine for use in all adults, but officials in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Belgium have cautioned against using it in older populations. Switzerland on Wednesday rejected the vaccine, saying it wanted to see more data. The United States, too, is waiting for more clinical trial data before an authorization decision. French President Emmanuel Macron last week criticized the Oxford vaccine for use among those older than 65. Macron told the news media that the British vaccine "doesn't work the way we were expecting to." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, defending the European Union's regulatory approach, implied that Britain may have cut corners in its coronavirus vaccine rollout. She told Le Monde that the bloc "agreed not to compromise with the safety and efficacy requirements linked to the authorization of a vaccine." Britain, von der Leyen said, was able to start its mass inoculation program earlier because it had taken "emergency, 24-hour marketing authorization procedures." A spokesman for the British prime minister's office responded that all of the vaccines approved for use in the United Kingdom - Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna - are "safe and effective." Britain has one of the highest per capita coronavirus death tolls in the world. More than 108,000 people have died after being diagnosed with virus, with a more contagious variant propelling the latest wave. The vaccine manufacturers have said their formulas are effective against the variant. - - - Johnson reported from Boulder, Colo. Charities and now the regulator have warned of a 'broken' market and 'potentially harmful business models' which can be unsuitable They can entail commission of more than 1,000 and fees of up to 5,000 Individual voluntary arrangements have boomed in the last few years Millions of Britons in need of debt advice due to the coronavirus pandemic could be pushed into unsuitable debt solutions by companies seeking to profit from commission, regulators have warned. Britain's 'individual voluntary arrangement market is broken', the Financial Conduct Authority said in a 68-page review into the state of Britain's credit and debt landscape published yesterday morning. It said commission totalling 'more than 1,000' handed to third-party lead generators paid to sign up vulnerable Britons and fees of up to 5,000 charged to those in debt had led to 'potentially harmful business models' and 'poor practices' which benefited neither consumers nor their creditors. Struggling: 1-1.5m people could be in need of debt advice in the aftermath of the pandemic, according to regulators It called on regulators and the Government to 'swiftly remedy' the problems found in the 'broken' IVA market, including the way in which upfront fees incentivised companies to push consumers into the controversial debt solution regardless of whether it was right for them. The warning from the FCA, which estimated 1 to 1.5million more Britons could be in need of debt advice as a result of the pandemic, comes less than a week after the UK's advertising watchdog criticised the marketing practices of two unregulated advertisers accused of attempting to 'hoodwink' Britons into handing over their details. The companies, Fidelitas Group and National Direct Service, had mimicked legitimate debt charities and claimed to be endorsed by official government bodies like the Money Advice Service in a bid to hoover up visitors and pass their details onto debt solution providers in exchange for commission. IVAs, or individual voluntary arrangements, and their Scottish equivalent of protected trust deeds are a form of debt solution which have boomed in popularity in recent years, at least in part due to the mass-marketing of them as a 'life hack' and a way for those in debt to write off large portions of what they owe. They charge upfront fees of around 5,000 on average and see borrowers signed up to formal and legally binding debt repayment plans which can last for five to six years. They are usually only recommended for those with more than 10,000 in debt and can see debtors required to use pension or other savings to pay creditors or remortgage their home. The number of IVAs hit an all-time high in 2020 for the third successive year However, despite the fact they are not always the best course of action, the number of IVAs has increased from 49,268 in 2016 to 78,478 last year, according to the latest figures from the Insolvency Service, an all-time high for the third successive year. The number of IVAs rose by 1 per cent year-on-year despite the fact the number of insolvencies fell overall, as did the number of bankruptcies and debt relief orders. As a proportion of all insolvencies, IVAs made up seven in 10 last year, up from 54 per cent in 2016. The website and adverts of Fidelitas Group, which called itself 'Write Off My Debt', and National Direct Service, which called itself 'Step Debt Support', were banned by the advertising regulator last week Although they must bet set up by registered insolvency practitioners, IVA customers are increasingly delivered to so-called 'volume IVA' providers by companies like Fidelitas Group and National Direct Service. Although they often impersonate legitimate debt charities like StepChange or National Debtline, they are unauthorised to do 'anything more than pass on leads', the ASA said last week. What debt solutions are available? Although IVAs are increasingly the most popular route for those who become insolvent, they are not the only one. Here are some of the other terms readers should know in order to get to grips with the conversation around debt: - Debt Management Plan: an informal agreement for paying back non-priority debts (meaning things like council tax and mortgage bills are excluded) in one monthly payment, for those not struggling quite so much that debts need to be written off. They can be free or fee-charging - Bankruptcy: For those who owe at least 5,000 and have no means of paying it back. Costing 680, it amounts to a declaration that someone can't pay back their priority and non-priority debts. - Debt Relief Order: Those who owe less than 20,000 and have less than 50 each month leaving them unable to pay their debts can apply for one of these. It comes with a 90 upfront fee, which regulators warned proved a 'significant barrier' to some, usually lasts for a year and can see debts included in it written off afterwards. Source: Citizens Advice The FCA said in its review: 'Several respondents raised concerns around the functioning of IVA and PTD markets. 'They asked whether the often high and front-loaded fees for these solutions were driving poor outcomes and practices for both consumers and creditors. 'While this lies outside the FCA's remit, it has an impact on areas within it. 'High levels of commission - sometime over 1,000 per referral - have driven potentially harmful business models in the regulated debt advice sector as well as the unregulated lead generator sector.' One Yorkshire-based insolvency practitioner hit back at the FCA's claim the IVA market was 'broken' and said practitioners were 'closely monitored and subject to much higher standards with frequent compliance visits', and said the FCA failed to ask the Insolvency Practitioners Association for its views. This is Money contacted the trade body for comment. But the worry that debtors are being led down unsuitable routes appears to be reflected in the fact that 8.4 per cent of IVAs which began in 2018 failed within a year of being signed after debtors failed to keep up repayments, the highest rate since 2002. More than a quarter of 2016 IVAs have failed within three years, the highest rate since 2009. Failure can leave borrowers on the hook for everything they owe and could cause them to be made bankrupt. And the FCA warned the clogging up of social media platforms and search engines by impersonators, a practice repeatedly reported on by This is Money, could be 'making it harder for consumers to find the best advice provider for their needs'. StepChange said it had already reported 17 cases of trademark infringement and misleading adverts to search engines this year. The percentage of IVAs which failed within a year hit its highest level since 2002 in 2019, raising further fears people are being handed unsuitable debt solutions The charity's Sue Anderson said: 'We completely agree that the FCA needs to work with urgency with government and other regulators to make sure that the right debt solutions reach the right people in the wake of the pandemic. 'At the moment, there are too many barriers to people getting the right help. 'These range from the activities of lead generators in impersonating debt charities to drive online traffic to volume IVA providers, to the 90 cost of entering a solution such as a debt relief order which struggling people in debt on low incomes often cannot afford upfront. 'Dealing with these problems to ensure that there is good availability of high quality, free debt advice that identifies suitable, accessible solutions for financially vulnerable people is vital.' The review, which also made 25 other recommendations including on buy now, pay later services like Klarna, said 'The FCA, Insolvency Service and Scottish Accountant in Bankruptcy must cooperate to swiftly remedy the issues that can be observed in the IVA and PTD markets. 'This should include close attention to problems created by the fee structure of IVA and PTD products on debt advice and lead generators. 'In the longer-term, the FCA should collaborate with these bodies to create a coherent and consistent vision of the debt solution market and a plan to bring this about.' An Insolvency Service spokesperson said: 'We work with a range of partners to support people in financial distress to access appropriate debt solutions to suit their circumstances. We will carefully consider the report and its recommendations.' Mutated Coronavirus spreading across Slovakia : Health Minister Prague, Jan 9 (Sputnik) The mutated strain of coronavirus first found in the United Kingdom appears to have achieved community spread in Slovakia, the health minister of the central European nation said Friday. This comes a day after the western Slovak city of Nitra with a population of 80,000 was quarantined after its hospitals were inundated with coronavirus patients. "My colleagues have now confirmed the new, so-called UK strain in Nitra, which is why the situation there is so tough. The mutated virus appears to be driving the epidemic across the republic," Marek Krajci told a news conference. 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. What do a fashion designer, microbiologist and eco-conscious beauty product pioneer all have in common? They are Kiwi business women at the forefront of change and the key note speakers at a brand new event happening in Tauranga. Hosted by Business Womens Network, in partnership with Cooney Lees Morgan and Craigs Investment Partners, the inaugural BWN Speaker Series brings together inspirational, influential and innovative women from around New Zealand and the Bay of Plenty to share their insights into the new ways of doing business. BWN is a networking group formed by women, for women, as part of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, with a goal to connect local women to exciting and engaging opportunities. Tauranga Chamber of Commerce event organiser Anne Pankhurst says the Speaker Series theme, The Changing Face of Business, addresses the fact that in todays world doing good businesses isnt just about financial profit its about how you look after your people and your place in the world. Companies are scrutinised or praised in real-time for the decisions they make that impact not only their customers, but society as a whole. They must demonstrate values, such as social responsibility, diversity, kaitiaki, and sustainability in their corporate strategy. Anne says the selected speakers are founders, owners or senior members of companies and organisations that have embraced this ideology, and expects the event to promote some real food for thought for its attendees. We are asking our speakers to share how they have had to think and act creatively, challenged the status quo and taken risks in order to achieve the success and positive reputation they have today. The events key note speakers are no strangers to the public eye. Karen Walker. Known for her androgynous and offbeat designs, Karen Walker first launched her label in 1989 but rose to prominence in 2000, when she debuted at New York Fashion Week. Having launched her label at age 18 with just NZ$100 and two T-shirts, she now presides over an international fashion, jewellery, and accessories brand that has won over the likes of Meghan Markle, Michelle Obama and Priyanka Chopra. Today, the brand is available at retail in 42 countries, 200 cities and 1020 stores including Barneys New York, Liberty London and Harvey Nichols. In 2014, Karen was deemed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to fashion design. Dr Siouxsie Wiles has been one of the experts at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. For that, and many other reasons, she was named the Supreme Winner of the 2020 Women of Influence Awards. The Associate Professor at The University of Auckland describes herself as a microbiologist and bioluminescence enthusiast, but to many she is that pink-haired science lady. Siouxsie studied medical microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, followed by a PhD in microbiology at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxford. She spent almost a decade at Imperial College London, before relocating to Aotearoa New Zealand as a Health Research Council Hercus Fellow in 2009. Siouxsie heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab, where she combines her twin passions to understand infectious diseases and to find new antibiotics. Brianne West is a New Zealand eco-beauty entrepreneur and founder of Ethique, which claims to be the worlds most sustainable beauty brand. Brianne West. A qualified biologist, Brianne established Ethique in 2012 while completing her second year of a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Brianne describes Ethique as being on a mission to rid the world of plastic waste, with a focus on the beauty industry. She believes that pushing responsibility for dealing with product packaging onto consumers isnt working businesses need to take responsibility for the entire life-cycle of their products. The key note speakers are joined by a whole slew of other inspirational women from companies that live and breathe the events values. These speakers include Jennifer Del Bel (Founder, Downlights), Jennifer Boggiss (CEO and Founder, Heilala Vanilla), Clare Swallow (Director, Mulberry St), Fiona McTavish (CEO, BOP Regional Council), Gordy Lockhart (The Kollective) and Tania Wilson (Momenta). The Speaker Series events are to be held on Thursday, May 27, and Thursday, July 8, from 1pm 5pm at Trinity Wharf Hotel. Full details can be found online on the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce website: www.tauranga.org.nz/bwn/bwn-speaker-series-2021/ Using a script and props and adjusting the angle for the lighting, beauty vlogger Yu Yihan began shooting his video. Born after 1995, Yu chose to turn his hobby into a career and became a full-time beauty vlogger, a new occupation thanks to social changes and technological progress. People attend a job fair at the Hongshan Gymnasium in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Dec. 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) The young man began to shoot videos when he was in college. Back then, a video of his usually gained only a few hundred views, until one he uploaded before graduation went viral online. The success encouraged him to embrace the new occupation. Yu is one of many who have joined a new profession. According to a report, people who were born after 1990 accounted for 50 percent of the practitioners of new occupations in 2019, while those who were born after 1995 made up over 22 percent. New professions have brought more choices for young Chinese in the job market. New professions means greater development potential and prospects and are popular among young people who exhibit innovation and risk taking, said Huang Jingbao, a professor from the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A survey of 2,000 young people indicated that 96.1 percent said they would engage in new occupations if they had the opportunity, while 62.5 percent of the respondents believed that new occupations could motivate workers to improve themselves. Many young Chinese people have embraced slash careers, pursuing portfolio careers. A survey of 1,988 people aged between 18 and 35, conducted by the newspaper China Youth Daily, found that 52.3 percent of the young people said they have friends who have adopted a slash career. Another report suggested that the number of people with slash careers in China had exceeded 80 million in 2019. Lili in her 30s is among the slashie generation. The woman, who works in a first-tier city in China, defines herself as a health adviser and dance teacher. As a dance teacher, I have flexible teaching arrangements and a lot of spare time. I also know how to maintain good health, which means I can offer health consultations online, Lili said, explaining why she juggles both jobs. Being a slashie not only brings the joy of refreshment, but also more income and opportunities, said the young woman. Some young Chinese opt for side jobs, because they do not want to quit their hobbies and full-time jobs that guarantee stable income, while others believe that they can cultivate more hobbies and hone different skills by adopting a slash career, said Jin Ge, a researcher with Peking University. Huang attributed the popularity of slash careers to the application of new technologies in the internet era, which makes telecommuting possible so that young people can secure multiple side jobs in their spare time. While many young people are embracing new professions and pursuing multiple side jobs, some quit their jobs very shortly after starting. A study by employment-related social media platform LinkedIn showed that Chinese workers who were born after 1995 stay at their first job for just seven months, and those who were born after 1990 an average of 19 months, while those who were born after 1980 stay for about three-and-a-half years. Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura is seemingly in a tight spot after Jubilee and ODM parties launched a twin attack over alleged disloyalty to his party and hate speech. On its part, the ruling party Jubilee has summoned Mr Mwaura to appear before the disciplinary committee for violating the partys constitution. He reportedly did this by pledging allegiance to another party, acting in a manner that is disloyal to Jubilee party and contravening the Jubilee party code of conduct. Jubilee disciplinary committee chairman Lumatete Muchai said Mwaura was summoned following a complaint by party chairman Nelson Dzuya. The senator is accused that on December 31, 2020, in Msambweni Constituency, he acted contrary to conduct expected of a Jubilee member when he publicly announced his allegiance to the United Democratic Alliance party during the homecoming party of the newly elected Msambweni MP Feisal Bader. Isaac Mwaura is also said to have worn another partys branding material other than that of Jubilee; proclaiming that the Jubilee party is dead through the Kenya Diaspora Media USA on April 22, 2020; and stating on Citizen TV on January 14, 2020, that Jubilee party is dead, it is not a party but a name, a song, and two or three colours. On the other hand, the opposition ODM party wants the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to take action against Mwaura over utterances he made in Githurai. Just a week ago, nominated senator Isaac Mwaura was captured on video inciting violence ahead of a visit by the Rt Hon Raila Odinga to Githurai, ODM Disability League chairperson Nickson Kakiri says in the letter dated February 1. He had both a tribal and class message; that people of Hon Odingas tribe were not welcome to Githurai and that the so-called hustlers should rise up (sic) and defeat the dynasties Kakiri also describes Isaac Mwaura as a thankless human being who will burn this country at the slightest opportunity. Act now or throw the country to the dogs, ODM stated. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain New research from the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention in the Smidt Heart Institute has found for the first time that during nighttime hours, women are more likely than men to suffer sudden death due to cardiac arrest. Findings were published in the journal Heart Rhythm. "Dying suddenly during nighttime hours is a perplexing and devastating phenomenon," said Sumeet Chugh, MD, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention. "We were surprised to discover that being female is an independent predictor of these events." Medical experts are mystified, Chugh says, because during these late hours, most patients are in a resting state, with reduced metabolism, heart rate and blood pressure. Sudden cardiac arrestalso called sudden cardiac deathis an electrical disturbance of the heart rhythm that causes the heart to stop beating. People often confuse sudden cardiac arrest with heart attack. However, a heart attack is caused by a buildup of cholesterol plaque that creates a blockage in the coronary arteries. And unlike a heart attack, when most have symptoms, sudden cardiac death can present in the absence of warning signs. Another major difference: Most people survive heart attacks, with only 10% of patients surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Of the approximately 350,000 people affected by the condition each year in the U.S., roughly 17% to 41% of cases occur during the nighttime hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. In the study, Chugh and his team of investigators looked at records of 4,126 patients, with 3,208 daytime cases of sudden cardiac arrest and 918 nighttime cases. Compared with daytime cases, patients who suffered from nighttime cardiac arrest were more likely to be female. While further work is needed, the researchers suggest there may be a respiratory component causing this increased risk at night for women. Chugh's research also shows: 25.4% of females studied suffered cardiac arrest at night versus 20.6% of their male counterparts. The prevalence of lung disease was significantly higher in those who had a cardiac arrest at night compared with those who had cardiac arrest during the daytime. Those who had cardiac arrests in the nighttime had a higher prevalence of prior or current smoking history. "The prevalence of chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma were found to be significantly higher in sudden cardiac arrest cases at night compared with daytime cases, regardless of gender," said Chugh, also the Pauline and Harold Price Chair in Cardiac Electrophysiology Research. "Brain-affecting medications, some of which have the potential to suppress breathing, were also found to have a significantly greater usage in nighttime compared to daytime cardiac arrest." Based on these findings, this research report suggests that prescribing physicians may wish to be cautious when recommending brain-affecting medications, for example, sedatives and drugs prescribed for pain and depression management, to high-risk patients, especially women. "This important research may better guide physicians and the broader medical community to making more sound, science-backed recommendations in treating this difficult condition," said Christine Albert, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute and the Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distringuished Chair in Cardiology. "It is also a necessary continuation of sex-based research defining much of the field of cardiology." For two decades, Chugh has led the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study, a unique partnership with the approximately 1 million residents of the Portland, Oregon metro area as well as the provider organizations that care for them-the first responders, hospital systems and the medical examiner network. Chugh also leads the Ventura Prediction of Sudden Death in Multi-Ethnic Communities Study based in Ventura, California, a similar community partnership with the approximately 850,000 residents, first responders, medical examiner and hospital systems of Ventura County. Explore further Women more prone to nighttime cardiac arrest than men More information: Archana Ramireddy et al, Sudden Cardiac Death During Nighttime Hours, Heart Rhythm (2021). Archana Ramireddy et al, Sudden Cardiac Death During Nighttime Hours,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2020.12.035 The UC Davis MIND Institute and the National Fragile X Foundation are working to encourage and accelerate research about the genetic condition with a new registry. The International Fragile X Premutation Registry is welcoming participants worldwide who are interested in taking part in research studies. "The registry was created to facilitate and encourage fragile X premutation research around the world, including future medication and non-medication treatment and intervention studies that could positively impact quality of life," said Linda Sorensen, executive director of the National Fragile X Foundation. The goal is to build a contact list containing a large, diverse group of people interested in contributing to research by taking part in clinical trials and other studies. "This aim is especially important for premutation carriers with the neurodegenerative disease fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS)," said David Hessl, a psychologist and clinical professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences who is leading registry efforts for the MIND Institute. "FXTAS, which is characterized by progressive loss of motor function and balance, as well as cognitive changes, currently has no cure or specific treatment." What is fragile X syndrome? Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic condition. The "X" refers to the X chromosome, where the altered gene (fragile X mental retardation 1, or FMR1) that causes it is located. Symptoms vary, but males are more severely affected, and are more likely to have intellectual disabilities and autism symptoms and distinguishing physical characteristics like long faces, larger ears, unusually flexible fingers and flat feet. People with FXS also tend to be very social and friendly and have strong visual or long-term memory. FXS affects approximately 1 in 3,600 to 4,000 males and 1 in 4,000 to 6,000 females. The UC Davis MIND Institute's Fragile X Research and Treatment Center is a world leader in the field. What is a premutation carrier? A premutation carrier also has an altered form of the FMR1 gene, through the mutation is smaller than in those with fragile X syndrome. Carriers may pass on an expanded mutation to a child or grandchild, causing fragile X syndrome. Some carriers also develop fragile X-associated disorders. Those include primary ovarian insufficiency, which affects fertility (FXPOI) and FXTAS, affecting mostly males over age 50. FXTAS was discovered at the MIND Institute in 2001. In contrast to the relative rarity of fragile X syndrome, an estimated 1 in 151 females and 1 in 468 men are premutation carriers. "To date, there are no treatments to cure or reverse premutation-linked conditions like FXTAS and FXPOI," said Sorensen. This registry can expedite treatment development by centralizing information for individuals who are interested in patriating in future research." How will the registry work? Anyone 18 or older who is a premutation carrier, anywhere in the world, is encouraged to sign up for the registry. Family members of those affected by fragile X, but who are not premutation carriers themselves are also encouraged to sign up, to serve as research control participants. If individuals are unsure if they are a carrier, but it's a possibility given the family pattern, they may also register and indicate that they haven't been tested yet. The registry enrollment link is on the National Fragile X Foundation website, and the database will be managed by UC Davis, where it will be protected in compliance with U.S. and European patient privacy regulations. Researchers interested in recruiting participants from the registry will notify the registry team and advisory committee, which includes experts and fragile X family representatives, and submit a formal application for review. If approved, the registry team will notify registry participants about the research. There is no obligation to take part in any studies. Researchers will not be given registrants' information. A source of knowledge and connection There are plans to periodically update registry participants about the latest research that may be of interest. "We are also creating a reliable source for information about the premutation based on the most recent research in our field, and a source of connection for carriers and their families," said Hessl. "We're planning a newsletter for registrants at least once a year, and I'm hoping that these communications and sharing our knowledge will help build community and hope for future interventions." A large group of fragile X experts has worked to create the registry. In addition to the MIND Institute and the National Fragile X Foundation, there are researchers and clinicians from the University of Colorado, the University of Michigan, Rush University, Emory University, RTI International, the Fragile X Association of Australia, the Fragile X Alliance Inc., the Walton Centre in the UK and the Congenial Malformations and Dysmorphology, Universidad Del Valle, in Colombia. "Knowledge is power, and this registry is a great first step to contribute to our knowledge base," said Sorensen. ### Enroll in the International Fragile X Premutation Registry. Here's local news repeating what most of us already know as the biggest public health effort in world history has started with an EPIC FAIL that doesn't offer Americans much hope for progress after a rough transition from one White House administration to the next. Take a look . . . A member of the Iraqi forces walks past a mural bearing the logo of the ISIS group in the village of Albu Sayf, Iraqi, on March 1, 2017. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images) 2 ISIS Terrorists, Including Senior Leader, Killed in Iraq: Prime Minister Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi announced on Feb. 2 that security forces killed two ISIS-linked terroriststhe groups commander in southern Iraq and an individual who facilitated suicide bomb attacks. The terrorist Abu Hassan al-Gharibawi, the so-called leader of southern Iraq in Daesh, and the terrorist Ghanem Sabah Jawad, who is responsible for transporting suicide bombers, were both eliminated today, in addition to other terrorist elements, Kadhimi wrote in a tweet, referring to ISIS by an Arabic acronymDaesh. These victories are part of our heroes pledge to eliminate the leaders of Daesh gangs & in loyalty to the Iraqi martyrs blood, Kadhimi wrote. Our security forces have made us proud. Long live Iraq. The two were killed in an ongoing security operation to hunt down remaining ISIS terror cells after dozens of civilians were murdered in a double suicide attack in Baghdad. The strike marks the second high-profile elimination of ISIS terrorists, with Kadhimi announcing last week that security forces had killed Abu Yaser al-Issawi, an ISIS commander who had claimed to be the leader of the terror group in Iraq and its deputy caliph. I gave my word to pursue the Daesh terrorists, we gave them a thundering response, Kadhimi wrote in a tweet on Jan. 28. Two weeks ago, ISIS claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market. It was the first big suicide bombing in Iraq in three years. Iraqi authorities said the attack was a possible sign of revival by the terror group after its military defeat three years ago. At the height of its power, ISIS controlled around a third of Iraq, but by 2017, it had been driven from all territory it held in the country. The terror groups paramount leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died in 2019 during a U.S. raid in neighboring Syria. President Donald Trump at the time said that a nighttime raid carried out by Special Operations forces in northwestern Syria over the night of Oct. 26 led to al-Baghdadis death. Last night, the United States brought the worlds No. 1 terrorist leader to justice, Trump said. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. He was the founder and leader of ISIS, the most ruthless and violent terror organization in the world. Al-Baghdadi died after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel, Trump said. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned in June 2020 that ISIS terrorists continue to pose a threat in some parts of the world, and urged allies to step up funding efforts to defeat them despite a pandemic-driven budget crunch. Our fight against ISIS continues, and will for the foreseeable future. We cannot rest, Pompeo told a virtual meeting of representatives of 31 countries and partners in the fight against international terrorism. We must continue to root out ISIS cells and networks and provide stabilization assistance to liberated areas in Iraq and Syria, he said. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is deeply concerned by the arrest and sentencing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, calling for his immediate release. A Russian court jailed Mr Navalny on Tuesday and handed him a three-and-a-half-year sentence in a ruling the Kremlin critic blamed on what he called President Vladimir Putins hatred and fear of him. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny should be released immediately. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen/AP Mr Navalnys lawyer said the anti-corruption campaigner would only serve two years and eight months in prison because of the time had had already spent under house arrest. Senator Payne reaffirmed Australias calls for Russia to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into Alexei Navalnys poisoning using the banned Novichok nerve agent last August. Joint loan of 4 million to Turkish copper wire producer Mega Metal Financing addresses companys working capital needs EBRD-TSKB partnership to ease access to finance for Turkeys corporates The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi (TSKB) the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey are jointly providing a 4 million loan to Turkeys leading producer of superfine copper rod Mega Metal San. ve Tic. A.S. to address working capital needs in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Mega Metal, a pioneer in the production of copper wire in Turkey, is manufacturing oxygen-free electrolytic copper wire used primarily by global cable manufacturers. Mega Metal was established in 2004 and has been a client of TSKB since 2018. The loan will be divided equally between the EBRD and TSKB. The institutions are working together to improve and simplify access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises across Turkey. Under a risk-sharing agreement, the two lenders provide equal loans to eligible businesses. The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Turkey and to date has invested almost 13 billion in the country through 334 projects, with 95 per cent of these in the private sector. In 2020, the Bank responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by stepping up its financing in Turkey to 1.7 billion from 1 billion in 35 projects in 2020. Willys Motors, Kaiser-Jeep, American Motors Corporation, and then Chrysler all chipped in to make sure people would flock to buy the midsize Jeep Gladiator JT pickup truck based on the fourth-generation Wrangler JL . Meanwhile, classic truck devotees have the original Gladiator and an entire roster of J-Series pickups to marvel at.For example, the atemporal Jeep J10 still turns heads whenever encountered, thanks to a combination of rugged looks, four-wheel drive, and huge levels of nostalgia. This 1978 American Motors Corporation Jeep J10 thats soon heading to auction at no reserve has all that and then some. Clearly, its one truck worth lusting after.With its clean-black exterior thats only interrupted by carefully planned details, the highlights are easy to spot. For example, the 2-door short bed truck has neat fine points such as the red, white, and blue center caps or the smiley-faced covers for the additional KC lights adorning the factory roll bar.Of course, one also has to mention the spectacular Golden Eagle stripe package, which includes enough bling to contrast the black exterior for anyone to stand out in a crowd any time of day and night. Naturally, the resistance piece adorns the hood, and were not even going to say another word about that bad boy eagle!Instead, lets direct our attention for a second towards the 33-inch BF Goodrich tires only to have another look at those neat 15-inch golden wheels. Then, were off inside the cabin, where the vintage atmosphere is only interrupted by the AM/FM/CD Player with Bluetooth.A look at the instrument gauges also reveals the J10 hasnt seen much action during its 43-year stint on planet Earth, given the 33k-mile (a bit over 53,000 km) reading on the odometer.As far as the oily bits are concerned, this Jeep comes nicely equipped with a 360ci (5.9-liter) V8 engine thats mated to an automatic transmission and 4x4 system. By the way, there are also some creature comforts worth mentioning, such as the power brakes and steering. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As temperatures dip and the Great Lakes begin to freeze around the shoreline, the U.S. Coast Guard is warning the public to use extreme precaution along the smallest lakes of Erie and Ontario. The ice thickness is far below past seasonal averages, resulting in unstable, weak ice formation and extremely hazardous conditions, the Coast Guard said in a news release Tuesday. Lake Erie was about 12% frozen Tuesday, with 10.7% coverage across the Great Lakes. On Jan. 17, the lakes were only 1.3% frozen -- an all-time record for that date. Last year, there were multiple rescues due to weak ice or ice instability resulting in people falling into ice-cold water, or loss of snowmobiles and ATVs. At least 46 anglers had to be rescued from a Lake Erie ice floe in March 2019. The public is advised to not venture onto the ice, and to never assume the ice is safe, even if others are on it. While no one can guarantee any ice is safe, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources says that generally, ice must be at least 4 inches thick to support 200 pounds of angler and gear. Only the Great Lakes district of the Coast Guard trains its crews how to save people from the ice. Hypothermia can set in quickly in frigid water when a human bodys core temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The Coast Guard encourages anyone engaging in recreational activities on or near the water in cold weather to take appropriate safety precautions including: Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon, announced today that he plans to step down as CEO this year. In Q3 hell transition to the role of Executive Chair of the Amazon board, at which point Andy Jassy will take over as CEO. Jassy has been the CEO of Amazon Web Services since April 2016 and founded the business in 2003. In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives, Bezos wrote in a letter to Amazon employees. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. From the letter, it sounds like Bezos intends to use the time he has outside of running Amazons day-to-day operations to focus on other initiatives, including the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. Despite stepping down from the top role at Amazon, Bezos says this isnt about retiring, so it seems we can expect him to remain involved at the top of the company. Amazons incoming CEO Andy Jassy isnt exactly a household name like Bezos has become, but as the leader of AWS, hes already in charge of what is arguable the most important piece of Amazons business. Indeed, the earnings statement the company released alongside news of the CEO transition showed that AWS earned the company $13.5 billion in profits in 2020, up 47 percent over 2019. That $13.5 billion accounted for more than half of Amazons $21.3 billion in total profits in 2020. Bezos has been an increasingly controversial figure in recent years, as his company came under fire on a variety of fronts. Chief among those are treatment of Amazon workers at the companys distribution centers, something thats been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. There have also been numerous antitrust concerns, not surprising with a massive company thats a dominant force in so many different parts of the market. User privacy, particularly around Amazons Ring security products, has also been under scrutiny. And the company put a pause on police use of it facial recognition software in mid-2020 after a number of controversies. But Amazon has also become one of the worlds most successful companies under Bezos leadership, growing from an online bookseller to the most dominant internet retailer. Amazons video service overcame a slow start and now has a slate of significant original content its not as dominant as Netflix, but its still one of the top online video destinations. Many of Amazons hardware products have also made major impacts; the Kindle quickly became the de-factor digital book reader of choice, and the company basically started the smart speaker marketplace with the Echo and Alexa digital assistant. Andy Jassy will inherit both these successes and challenges. Probably chief among his concerns will be the ongoing antitrust investigations in to Amazon both in the US and abroad. Another thatll likely command a lot of attention is how the company deals with its impact on the environment. In 2019, Amazon faced significant pressure from its employees over its climate change inaction, though in 2020 it started working towards more environmentally-friendly policies. Alexei Navalny Several nations, including Australia and Germany, have voiced their concerns over Russias decision to jail opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for up to three and a half years on charges of parole violation. Heres how world leaders have reacted to Navalnys sentencing: The US US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: The US is deeply concerned by Russian authorities' decision to sentence opposition figure Alexey Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment, replacing his suspended sentence with jail time. Blinken added: We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly. Australia: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said: We call for Mr Navalnys immediate and unconditional release. The UK UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: The UK calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexey Navalny and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last two weeks. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: Alexey Navalnys decision to return to Russia after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act. In contrast, todays ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately. Germany German cabinet spokesman Steffen Seibert said: The sentence to Alexey Navalny is far from any standards of a rule-of-law state. Navalny must be immediately released. Violence against peaceful protesters must stop. Canada Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: Canada strongly condemns Russia's imprisonment of Alexei Navalny. We call for his immediate release, as well as the release of the peaceful protestors and journalists who have been detained in recent weeks. The justice system must never be abused for political purposes. France French President Emmanuel Macron said: The sentencing of Alexey Navalny is unacceptable. Political differences are not a crime. We are calling for his immediate release. The respect for human rights such as the democratic freedom is non-negotiable. Austria Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz tweeted: Todays sentence to Alexey Navalny in Moscow is unacceptable. I demand his immediate release, as well as an end to violence against peaceful demonstrators. Legal statehood and the right to free expression of opinion must be ensured. --With ANI inputs Catholic and private schools in Victoria will share in an extra $286 million from taxpayers as they shift to a new Commonwealth funding model that some non-government schools warn will leave them up to $4 million worse off. Regional and suburban schools including Bacchus Marsh Grammar, Beaconhills College, Ivanhoe Grammar, Westbourne and Woodleigh say the Morrison governments new non-government school funding formula will force them to jack up fees and drive many students to state schools. Some non-government schools say they will be left worse off and may have to raise fees under a new funding model. Credit:Michele Mossip The agreement with the Morrison government - part of the national $1.2 billion Choice and Affordability Fund - is intended to cushion non-government schools from the financial impact of a new funding model under which a minority of schools will have their Commonwealth funding cut. The lions share of Victorias funding will go to Catholic schools, which have been granted $188.79 million over 10 years. Independent schools will get $97.35 million. 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. Six people, including five children, were shot and killed overnight at a home in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The mass murder happened at a small home off Indiana Street, where seven people were shot. A man and four children were found dead inside the home, and a woman and another child were taken to a Tulsa hospital. The fifth child later died. The victims have been identified as Javarion Lee, 24, Jalaiya Pridgeon, 1, Jaidus Pridgeon, 3, Harmony Anderson, 5, Neveah Pridgeon, 6 and Que'dynce Anderson, 9. Lee was the suspect's brother. Police also said there were three other children inside the home who were not injured. Sister station KOCO has been told that the family lived in the home for about a month. Raven Anderson is in disbelief after her sister, Brittany, and all five of her sister's children were shot. My sister and her children were a great family, Raven Anderson said. If they had known them, they would have loved them and cherished them. Neighbors are absolutely shaken after seven people in one family were shot. Susan Dvorack said police nabbed the 25-year-old suspect, Jarron Pridgeon, in her backyard. How do you describe it? It is a tragedy. They are babies. You cant comprehend it. You cant process it. You cant, Dvorack said. Police received a call around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday about a shooting. When officers got there, they said Pridgeon was holding a gun. An officer fires at that suspect, who doesnt drop the weapon, said Lynn Hamlin, with the Muskogee Police Department. That officer misses. The subject takes off running. Theres a short pursuit, and hes taken into custody. Police went inside to discover Brittany Anderson as well as a man and her five children had been shot. The six others died, and police said Tuesday night that Brittany Anderson is in stable condition at this time. All subjects involved lived inside the home. And (we) dont know the relationship at this time, and just that they all lived inside the home, Hamlin said. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the victims' family. More than $17,000 has been raised as of Tuesday evening. FP Trending Google has rolled out a new feature that tells users more about the websites, which appear on search results. Google will now add extra information about the websites while searching for a specific topic. Talking about the new feature Google stated that users would now start seeing a menu icon that they could tap to learn more about the feature or result of where the information is coming from. With this context add-on, users could make a more informed decision about the site that the users might want to visit and what results would be useful for them. While searching on Google, users will be shown multiple links related to the searched topic. Apart from the link to the website users will notice three dots on the side. As soon as the user clicks on the dots via phone or mobile app, you would receive more information about the websites that have appeared in the search results. The blog further stated that users will get a description of the website from Wikipedia that would provide reliable and free information on tons of websites available on the web. Wikipedia relies on thousands of global volunteers to add content and based on Wikipedias open editing model these descriptions will provide the most up-to-date verified and sourced information available on Wikipedia about the site. Google went on to say that the website won't have the Wikipedia description but would show users when Google had first indexed the site. The search engine would also show the users if the connection to the site is securely based on HTTPS protocol that encrypts all data between the websites and the browser youre using. This would help users stay safe as they browse the web. The company has rolled out this feature in English in the US on desktop, mobile web, and Google App on Android. Which appear on search results. Google will now add extra information about the websites while searching for a specific topic. COLUMBUS, OhioMore than 2 million FirstEnergy customers will no longer have to pay a much-scrutinized decoupling fee, under a request by the company approved by state utility regulators on Tuesday afternoon. The unanimous vote by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio will save FirstEnergy ratepayers an estimated $102 million in 2021 alone, according to Attorney General Dave Yosts office. FirstEnergy asked the PUCOs permission to reduce the fee to zero starting Feb. 9 as part of a deal the Akron-based company reached with Yost. In exchange for zeroing out the decoupling charge, Yost agreed to not seek a court injunction to halt the provision and also agreed to pause other legal challenges to House Bill 6 the scandal-ridden law creating the decoupling fee. HB6 has allowed FirstEnergy since January of 2020 to charge residential and commercial customers more to guarantee the company a yearly revenue of $978 million. Thats the amount FirstEnergy raised in 2018 -- a year in which the utility made more money than in other recent years thanks to hot weather and other factors. By tying revenue to such a lucrative year, HB6 essentially takes about one-third of our company and I think makes it somewhat recession-proof, Chuck Jones, then FirstEnergys CEO, said during a call with investors last year. Its called decoupling because the idea is to allow utilities to decouple the amount of money they make from how much electricity they sell. Yosts agreement with FirstEnergy doesnt affect the money the company has already collected for the past year, though the AG said Monday said his office still has the right to ask a court to order consumer refunds. In a statement released Monday, FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young said the utilitys new leadership is committed to transparency and integrity in every aspect of its business. Young added: Working to constructively resolve this matter in cooperation with the Ohio Attorney General and other parties is part of decisive actions the Board and management are taking to position FirstEnergy for the future and continue to deliver safe, reliable electric service to our customers. Yost noted that FirstEnergy has sacked Jones and other senior executives following an internal review into the companys involvement with HB6, which is currently the subject of multiple federal investigations. The AG said this agreement suggests the companys new executives have concluded they need to go into a new direction. As part of the deal, Yost has agreed to pause a lawsuit seeking to overturn the most high-profile part of HB6: a $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout of two Northern Ohio nuclear power plants owned by Energy Harbor, a former FirstEnergy subsidiary. Under the agreement, Yosts lawsuit will remain on hold until the end of the federal criminal cases against ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and allies, who is accused of securing the passage of HB6 with $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy. Householder political aide Jeff Longstreth and lobbyist Juan Cespedes have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the operation, though Householder himself and two others continue to claim theyre innocent of any wrongdoing. Read more Ohio politics and government stories: 8 Ohio lieutenant governors who later became governor; Jon Husted wants to be the 9th Nina Turner takes big fundraising lead in congressional race to succeed Marcia Fudge; her donors include actress Susan Sarandon and entrepreneur Andrew Yang Ohio 2022-23 budget would provide $54 million annually for high-performing charter schools Gov. Mike DeWines budget plan would spend $1 billion on coronavirus recovery Gov. Mike DeWine recognizes Black History Month by incorrectly recycling proclamation from 2020 Nicholas Kristof recently addressed his New York Times column to his conservative hometown friends in Yamhill, Oregon, urging them to hold liberals accountable while doing the same for right-wing extremists, kooks and charlatans. In that spirit and with Nicks cheerful acquiescence I offer a rejoinder in the form of a letter to my liberal friends. Dear Friends, No, I cant relax! And no, Im not worried that the Biden administration is going to send Trump voters to re-education camps, impose Cuban-style socialism or put out the welcome mat for MS-13. Im just afraid that todays Democratic leaders might look to the very Democratic state of California as a model for Americas future. You remember California: People used to want to move there, start businesses, raise families, live their American dream. These days, not so much. Between July 2019 and July 2020, more people 135,400 to be precise left the state than moved in, one of only a dozen times in over a century when thats happened. The website exitcalifornia.org helps keep track of where these Golden State exiles go. No. 1 destination: Texas, followed by Arizona, Nevada and Washington. Three of those states have no state income tax, while Arizonas is capped at 4.5% for married couples making over $318,000. In California, by contrast, married couples pay more than twice that rate on income above $116,000. (And rates go even higher for higher earners.) Californians also pay some of the nations highest sales tax rates (8.66%) and corporate tax rates (8.84%), as well as the highest taxes on gasoline (63 cents on a gallon as of January, as compared with 20 cents in Texas). Some of my liberal friends tell me that tax rates basically dont matter in terms of the way people work and economies perform. Uh-huh. Still, Id have an easier time accepting the argument if all those taxes went toward high-quality government services: good schools, safe streets, solid infrastructure or fiscal health. How does California fare on these fronts? The state ranks 21st in the country in terms of spending per public school pupil, but 37th in its K-12 educational outcomes. It ties Oregon for third place among states in terms of its per capita homeless rate. Infrastructure? As of 2019, the state had an estimated $70 billion in deferred maintenance backlog. Debt? The states unfunded pension liabilities in 2019 ran north of $1.1 trillion, according to an analysis by Stanford professor Joe Nation, or $81,300 per household. And then theres liberal governance in the cities. In San Francisco, District Attorney Chesa Boudin has championed the calls for decriminalizing public urination, public camping and blocking sidewalks and open-air drug use. Predictably, a result of decriminalization has been more actual criminality. Recent trends include an estimated 51% jump in San Francisco burglaries and a 41% jump in arsons. For the Bay Area as a whole, there has been a 35% spike in homicides. Yes, homicides have been rising in cities around the country. But those trends themselves owe much to liberal governance in like-minded jurisdictions like Seattle and New York, with their recent emphasis on depolicing, decarceration, defunding, decriminalization and other deluded attempts at criminal-justice reform. Funny, you dont hear this about the places Californians are fleeing to. Austin, the preferred destination of San Francisco exiles, remains one of the safest big cities in America (and its run by a Democrat). Another thing you dont hear from Texas: a board of education voting as San Franciscos just did to strip the names of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Paul Revere from their respective schools, on grounds of sinning against the more recent commandments of progressive dogma. Not that it really matters, since all these schools remain closed for in-person learning thanks to the resistance of teachers unions. And then there is Californias political class. Democrats hold both U.S. Senate seats, 42 of its 53 seats in the House, have lopsided majorities in the state Assembly and Senate, run nearly every big city and have controlled the governors mansion for a decade. If ever there was a perfect laboratory for liberal governance, this is it. So how do you explain these results? For four years, liberals have had a hard time understanding how any American could even think of voting for Republicans, given the partys fealty to the former president. Ive shared some of that bewilderment myself. But to adapt a line from another notorious Californian Democrats wont have Donald Trump to kick around anymore, meaning the consequences of liberal misrule will be harder to disguise or disavow. If California is a vision of the sort of future the Biden administration wants for Americans, expect Americans to demur. My unsolicited advice: Like Republicans, Democrats do best when they govern from the center. Forget California, think Colorado. A purple country needs a purple president and a political opposition with the credibility to keep him honest. BRET STEPHENS is a columnist for The New York Times. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi highlighted the need of reaching a binding agreement among all parties over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the state-run Nile TV reported "The Nile River is a source of cooperation and development," said Fattah al-Sisi during a joint press conference with visiting President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. For his part, Tshisekedi said he will work hard during his term as the chair of the African Union to address the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue through dialogue among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to avoid escalation and enhance peaceful coexistence. The two leaders also exchanged views on other issues, and discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between Egypt and Congo, the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement. They agreed to further push forward bilateral ties by activating a joint business committee, exchanging experiences, and enhancing cooperation in the water resource field. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg came in support of farmers Emergency virus period to be extended to March 7: Japan PM BioNTech to produce 2 billion doses of corona vaccine in 2021 France will not put pressure on Germany about its plans for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to pump more Russian gas to Europe, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. A junior French minister said this week that Europe should consider halting the project over Russias actions towards Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the jailing of his supporters. Moscow jailed Navalny on Tuesday, after those remarks. Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians have continued to back the pipeline, and Le Drian said it was not for Paris to meddle in Berlins choices. "We shouldnt mix up subjects," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio when asked whether Nord Stream 2 should be scrapped. We have discussions with the Germans on Nord Stream, but thats related mostly to European energy sovereignty. "Its up to the Germans. Im not going to meddle in Germanys energy choices," Reuters cited him as saying. Commenting on the jailing of Navalny, Le Drian said Russia was taking an authoritarian turn and the European Union would consider how to react after its foreign policy chief Josep Borell returned from a trip to Moscow later this week. Communities of color have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic. But advocates in Texas say those communities are likely to have a harder time getting the vaccine in the coming months, so they are urging local leaders to step in. Travis County Judge Andy Brown, the county executive in the Austin area, put together a vaccination event recently. Brown said he'd been hearing concerns that there weren't enough places to get a covid-19 shot on the east side of Austin, which has more Black and Latino residents and more poverty than other parts of the city. So, Brown asked a hospital for extra doses. And with 600 in hand, he worked with other local officials to set up a temporary drive-thru vaccination site in a southeast Austin parking lot. "They all realized that we need to get the vaccines in the arms of people who are in the hardest-hit ZIP codes," Brown said. "People who are Latinx, who are African American and especially who are over 65, because those are the people who get sickest." When Texas first released its distribution plan, advocates and local officials raised concerns. Twenty-three states, including Texas, are tracking vaccination rates by race, and Texas, like all the others, is vaccinating Black residents at a slower rate. Texas House Member Sheryl Cole, a Democrat who represents Black and Latino communities in East Austin, said she pointed out that the initial plan had 65 vaccine sites for Austin, but only nine on the east side. "Without a doubt, we are seeing disparate treatment of distribution and providers," she said. Part of the reason is that the plan relied heavily on chain stores, such as H-E-B, Kroger, Randalls, Walgreens and CVS. Brown said those big grocery and drugstores just aren't as prevalent in East Austin. "The fact is, this part of town, frankly, does not have as many H-E-Bs, pharmacies, [and] has a higher uninsured rate," he said. Mayor Steve Adler said his office has been lobbying state health officials to turn over the bulk of the vaccines to local governments, which know best how to get them to the hardest-hit communities. "I believe that it goes out much more quickly and goes out to the people who most need it," he said. And this lobbying has worked. Recently, Texas health officials have started giving vaccines to local health departments, which are set up to vaccinate thousands of people. But there have been hiccups. State officials pushed back against city leaders in Dallas who planned to use their hub vaccine distribution solely for Black and brown communities. The city has since decided to abandon that plan, according to The Texas Tribune. Then there is the issue of scarcity. For example, the week of Jan. 18, Austin officials got about 12,000 doses for a city of about 1 million people. Jeremy Lopez, who lives in East Austin, signed up to get a vaccine from the city as soon as he could. Lopez had a kidney transplant in 2006 and is in a high-risk group. But he still has no idea when he'll get vaccinated. "There's no definite time frame of like 'Oh, in a week. Oh, in two weeks,'" he said. "It's like 'Don't call us; we will call you.'" Local officials are urging people to be patient. Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison said she thinks everyone, including state and local government, should have done more planning. "I am a member of Austins governing body, and I've got to tell you that I dont think we have done everything we could have to make certain that we were prepared for what we knew was coming," she said. That includes having plans to prioritize the hardest-hit communities, Harper-Madison said. Cole said Black and Latino Texans have already been through enough. "The underserved community already has to deal with economic disparity and loss of jobs with covid and then to add this additional burden is not good. It's not fathomable," she said. This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes NPR, KUT and KHN. 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. Decode Your Future with an Online Computer Science Degree from Drexel Drexel University's online computer science programs are designed to prepare you for work on the cutting edge of technology. The curriculum is designed for students with any level of experience or previous knowledge. Choose the program thats right for you. Learn More. A strategic partnership with Microsoft was announced Tuesday by General Motors and Cruise aimed at speeding up the commercialization of shared self-driving vehicles. In addition, Microsoft will be joining GM, Honda and some institutional investors in adding US$2 billion to Cruise's coffers, bringing the value of the shared self-driving vehicle company to $30 billion. "The companies in this sector are going to need a long runway before they generate enough revenues to be self-sustaining so another $2 billion in the bank for Cruise is the single most important aspect of this," Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for e-mobility at Guidehouse Insights, a market intelligence company in Detroit, told TechNewsWorld. "GM and its investors are trying to scare off competitors," maintained Roger C. Lanctot, director for automotive connected mobility at Strategy Analytics, a global research, advisory and analytics firm. "This is an intimidation game," he told TechNewsWorld. "There are dozens of robotaxi wannabes, but there are also shuttle bus operators -- like Beep -- throughout the world building revenue-generating businesses around autonomous vehicles operating within narrowly defined, geo-fenced or fixed routes." "The $2 billion investments buys Cruise more time but it will not magically create a functioning, revenue-generating service," he said. Mutually Beneficial Pact Mike Ramsey, a vice president and analyst for automotive and smart mobility at Gartner found it interesting that Microsoft is making a long-tern commitment to a company that's potentially a customer for its wares. "Microsoft provides services -- like a giant cloud computing offering -- that is used to develop these self-driving vehicles," he told TechNewsWorld. However, both companies may benefit from the new partnership. "For Cruise, it may mean greater access to talent and resources from Microsoft; and for Microsoft, it helps to create expertise in high-performance computing related to autonomy, where one of their biggest competitors -- Google -- already has an in-house AV company in the form of Waymo," he said. Abuelsamid explained that all the companies in this sector are going to have to use cloud providers, whether it be Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or Baidu in China. "They need the cloud platforms during the R&D phase to handle all the data they're collecting from their test vehicles, to do simulation, to do AI training and all the other things they have to do," he said. "Longer term," he continued, "if they do start to commercialize, they're going to need cloud platforms to do fleet dispatch and other things. It doesn't make sense for these companies to build their own clouds." "Once you commercialize it and decide to go to multiple cities and multiple countries, scaling that platform is really hard," he added. "It's something that companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon know how to do." Question of Utility Lanctot acknowledged that cloud resources are required to develop and launch an autonomous vehicle-based robotaxi operation, but added that it's not immediately clear that Azure has any extraordinary advantages over competing alternatives such as Google or AWS. "While I'd be inclined to suggest that Microsoft has more to gain in desperately needed credibility in the automotive space than GM -- the $2 billion investment has clearly juiced GM's stock." "So Microsoft gains automotive cred and GM gets a stock boost," he continued, "but it doesn't really move the needle on advancing autonomous vehicles or the actual creation of a robotaxi service." "Microsoft has some useful cloud-based tools to support automotive vehicle development and operation, but the hurdles standing in the path of AV robotaxis do not reside in the cloud," he added. "They are right here on terra firma." He added that robotaxis do not offer any clear benefits to consumers. "If the goal is to deliver a robotaxi -- this is a replacement of an existing and perfectly adequate and affordable solution," he said. " It is not demand driven -- unless they want to make it free." "Given the $250M quarterly burn rate, I don't see how they will ever be able to offer robotaxis at a competitive price -- at least not in this decade," he added. Need for Trust Cruise CEO Dan Ammann noted in a statement that his company's mission to bring safer, better, and more affordable transportation to everyone wasn't just a tech race but also a trust race. "Microsoft," he said, "as the gold standard in the trustworthy democratization of technology, will be a force multiplier for us as we commercialize our fleet of self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles." Cruise self-driving test vehicle on the streets of San Francisco Abuelsamid explained that before anybody is going to want to ride self-driving vehicles, they have to trust that they're safe. "These vehicles are all connected," he said. "They have to be connected in order to dispatch them and provide software, map and traffic updates." "Any device that's connected has attack surfaces for bad actors," he continued. "If you're going to be successful in this business, people have to trust not only the core technology in the vehicle, but that the system is secure and bad actors can't take control of these vehicles and do anything nefarious with them." "Microsoft is generally considered a trustworthy company, a good partner for this sort of thing," he added. Lanctot, though, doesn't believe trust is an issue. "Existing shuttle operators have demonstrated that consumer acceptance of driverless operation is really no big deal," he said. "A bigger deal is the level of tolerance within cities and regulators for driverless vehicles clogging up already heavily trafficked city streets seeking passengers," he explained. "It's a business model issue." Bad News for Tesla GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra praised Microsoft in a statement, noting the high tech company will help drive the auto industry to a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. "Microsoft will help us accelerate the commercialization of Cruise's all-electric, self-driving vehicles and help GM realize even more benefits from cloud computing as we launch 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025 and create new businesses and services to drive growth," she said. GM won't be alone in flooding the market with EVs, which isn't good news for the market leader, Tesla. "Tesla been the dominate player the last several years, but it's been in market that's fairly sparse, without a lot of offerings," explained Abuelsamid. "In the next 12 to 24 months, there's going to be a lot of new EVs coming to market from almost every automaker," he said. "Tesla's going to continue to grow," he continued, "but their market share of EVs is almost certainly going to decline." "Their market share in Europe declined significantly in 2020 because of the introduction of a number of new models from Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and Audi," he added. "That's going to continue to be the case going forward. They'll probably grow sales, but they're going to have a smaller slice of a growing pie." 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. press release The Congress of South African Trade Unions salutes the South African government following the arrival of the of the first consignment of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country. This represents the kind of progress that the federation has been demanding from our government. The Federation calls for transparency in the management of the vaccination programme. We call on the government to ensure that corruption and opportunism do not derail or taint the vaccination programme. We do not want to see the same corruption chaos that unfolded during the procurement of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), where politicians gave tenders to their unqualified and inexperienced friends and children. While there are grounds for the government to deviate from complying with the Public Finance Management Act and other tender management regulations and procurement protocols, this should be done in the name of efficiency and within the legal framework. Saving lives should be the number one priority for the vaccination programme and not looting. The main priority is to ensure that the vaccine is properly stored, is efficiently managed and distributed to those who need it. We call on the national parliament and other oversight state institutions to remain vigilant and perform their duties with diligence. We reiterate our call for a single online open public procurement system that was adopted to be implemented immediately. The government also needs to set definitive timeframes on its commitment to capacitate commercial crimes courts to prioritise corruption cases. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is considering prosecuting Steve Bannon in state court after his federal fraud charges received an eleventh-hour pardon from former President Donald Trump. Bannon, who helped Trump win the 2016 election and briefly served as a White House adviser, was charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan after he allegedly profited off a scheme to defraud donors to the We Build the Wall fundraising campaign. Investigators are in preliminary discussions whether to bring charges against Bannon at the state level, sources told the Washington Post. A presidential pardon only applies to federal crimes. Steve Bannon, center, may face charges from the Manhattan District Attorney for his alleged fraud Bannon, right, an early ally of former President Donald Trump, left, was pardoned on federal charges for allegedly defrauding donors to the We Build the Wall fundraising campaign The investigators are working in the Major Economic Crimes Bureau of the office of District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. A judicial 'sharing order' would need to be granted in order for federal and state prosecutors to swap evidence and it remains unclear if one has been obtained, according to the outlet. Bannon, 66, was arrested in August aboard a superyacht owned by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and accused with three others of defrauding hundreds of thousands of people as part of a group pledging to use private donations to build a section of border wall. He was released on $5million bail, secured by $1.75million in assets and was ultimately the only one of the group to receive the presidential pardon. The investigation into possible state charges are being conducted by the office of Cyrus Vance Jr., center State charges against Bannon, right, may come under double-jeopardy scrutiny The We Build The Wall scheme raised $25million to fund part of the border wall but prosecutors claimed it was a scam: donors' cash was also funneled to its founder Brian Kolfage and to Bannon. Bannon was accused of getting $1million in the alleged scheme, spending hundreds of thousands of that on 'expenses.' The group's founder, Kolfage, is also accused of fraudulently pocketing funds. He claimed he did not get a cent from the scheme but instead got $100,000 up front and $20,000 a month salary, prosecutors allege, living a lavish lifestyle at Miramar Beach in the Florida panhandle. Kolfage, an Iraq war veteran who had both legs amputated and lost his right arm in a rocket attack, was arrested at his home in Florida. Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were also indicted by the federal prosecutors, and all four of them had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money-laundering charges. A trial for the three other defendants is scheduled for later this year, the Washington Post reported. If state charges are filed against Bannon, they may face scrutiny under double jeopardy laws outlined in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and state laws. The Manhattan DA previously brought a case against Trump ally Paul Manafort, who was found guilty on eight counts including filing false tax returns, bank fraud, and failing to disclose a foreign bank account. Vance tried to bring state charges for mortgage fraud and other state felonies against Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, but they were dismissed by a New York appeals court on double jeopardy grounds. The court argued that Manafort, who was later pardoned by Trump in December, had already been tried in federal court. Double jeopardy laws may not apply if charges are filed against Bannon, who had not been convicted at the federal level before his pardon. In 2019, State Senator Todd Kaminsky helped pass legislation hat closed a loophole in New York State's double-jeopardy law, Business Insider reported. In December, Kaminsky -a former assistant US attorney in the Eastern District of New York told the outlet that the state law would have prevented anyone pardoned by Trump from facing state charges. 'If the president pardoned his own family member for something he did running the president's business, or for something he did on the president's campaign ... that would fall squarely into our law and get at the 'corrupt use of the pardon' power we are intending to address,' Kaminsky said. Vance's office began a probe investigating Trump and the Trump Organization for possible tax and insurance fraud in 2019. New York Attorney General Letitia James is also currently investigating Trump for possible financial crimes. A Meath father-of-three who submitted false documents in a mortgage application for a family home has been jailed for one year. Dean Masterson (34) submitted the false documents in an attempt to get a loan of 220,000 so he could purchase somewhere to live for himself and his family. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that personnel at the bank became suspicious of the documents and no money was ever paid out. Masterson of Stonebridge, Ratoath, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to deception and five counts of using a false instrument at KBC Bank, Sandwith Street, Dublin city centre on October 20, 2016. During the loan application he submitted a false salary certificate, a false payslip, a false P60 and two false bank statements. Passing sentence today, Judge Pauline Codd said Masterson said personnel at the bank became suspicious of the documents and began an investigation. Masterson was found to have used five false documents during the application. Judge Codd said the premeditation and deliberation in which the documents were obtained substantially aggravated the offence. She said Masterson has serious previous convictions from between 2004 and 2012 and these include robbery, attempted robbery and theft. She noted he has had no further convictions since committing these offences in 2016. Judge Codd said the fact that Masterson didn't actually obtain money was down to the work of the people in the bank. She said this was a fairly sophisticated offence for which there has to be a deterrent. She said the mitigating factors were the accused's guilty plea, his expression of remorse and shame, his history of addiction, his adverse childhood experiences, his work history and his efforts to rehabilitate and live a pro-social life. Judge Codd said she took into account his motivation for the offences of wanting to obtain a property for himself and his family of three children. She acknowledged that this was his focus but said clearly this is not the way to go about providing a home. She sentenced him to four years imprisonment, but suspended the final three years of the sentence on strict conditions. Prosecutors said Arrieta, who was from Aurora, shot both men multiple times at close range while they were drinking beer and playing cards in an apartment. The investigation found that after Moore was shot but was still alive, lying on his back on the floor of a bedroom, Arrieta returned to shoot him again. UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :The United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy has urged the United Nations Security Council to "collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy" in Myanmar, saying that the power grab by the country's military was "unconstitutional and illegal." The envoy, Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener, addressed 15-member Council during a closed meeting held on Tuesday, a day after Myanmar's military overthrew the government and detained top political leaders and activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. "More than ever, this Council's unity is crucial", she said, according to remarks shared afterwards. "I strongly condemn the recent steps taken by the military and urge all of you to collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar." The crisis stems from elections held in November, marking the second democratic elections in Myanmar since the end of military rule a decade ago. Ms. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), scored a landslide victory, according to reports. The military and some political parties claimed the vote was fraudulent. Myanmar's Supreme Court was scheduled to pronounce this month on its jurisdiction over complaints of alleged election-related violations. "We had earlier encouraged all electoral disputes should be resolved through established legal mechanisms", Ms. Schraner Burgener said. "There appeared to be a commitment on the part of the military to safeguard the rule of law. So, the turn of events was surprising and shocking." The UN envoy underlined the NLD's victory at the polls. The party won more than 82 per cent of seats, which "provided a strong renewed mandate to the NLD, reflecting the clear will of the people of Myanmar to continue on the hard-won path of democratic reform." She called for the state of emergency to be repealed and for the detained leaders to be released, while the post-electoral litigation process should resume "with full commitment from both sides". The military's proposal to hold elections again should be discouraged, she added. "It is important that we join our efforts in helping ensure the military respects the will of the people of Myanmar and adheres to democratic norms. " Following reports of violence, including against journalists, Ms. Schraner Burgener also urged the Council to ensure the protection of civilians and human rights. "We cannot allow a full backsliding since Myanmar opened up in 2011", she warned, while expressing fears about the humanitarian consequences of the crisis as all flights, including UN relief flights, have been suspended through April. The envoy also highlighted other aspects of the crisis, which could hamper efforts to address the situation of the country's Rohingya Muslim community, who mainly live in Rakhine state in western Myanmar. The mainly Muslim minority group has faced violent persecution at the hands of the military. In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh following widespread attacks by the security forces. "It is all too regretful that the hope of continued progress marked by the 8 November elections, including strengthened United Nations-Myanmar cooperation, has been jeopardized," Ms. Schraner Burgener said. "A smooth transition of power would have presented a key opportunity to advance action on priority issues including the Rohingya crisis, strengthening of the rule of law, and advancing national reconciliation and human rights protection for all of Myanmar's diverse communities." The President of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir of Turkey has also called for the immediate release of the detained political leaders in Myanmar, adding that attempts to undermine democracy and rule of law are unacceptable. "The President said this morning that he is deeply concerned that the military coup in Myanmar could further exacerbate the problems of the most vulnerable, including Rohingya Muslims," his spokesman, Brendan Varma, told journalists on Tuesday. "He condemned the coup once again and called for unrestricted humanitarian access to Rakhine State and other parts of the country." Bozkir is also looking to schedule a briefing by the special envoy for all UN member states, in line with a general assembly resolution on the human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. Lucknow, Feb 3 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday lashed out at the Centre and demanded that concertina wires and other security measures should be used on the country's borders and not against farmers protesting on Delhi borders. Her remarks come over the issue of placing of barricades and concrete slabs along with iron spikes and nails and concertina wires at farmers' protest sites on the Delhi borders. In a series of tweets in Hindi, the BSP chief said: "The barricades along with barbed wires and iron nails etc on Delhi borders to spread panic among millions of agitating farmer families is not appropriate. It will be better if such action was taken on the country's borders." She added: "Due to the central government's attitude towards the agitating farmers on the Delhi borders, especially during the Budget Session of Parliament, important and urgent public interest works are getting affected from day one. The Centre should help normalise the situation by meeting the demand of farmers." Earlier, the BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister wrote that her party was always opposed to the new agricultural laws which she claimed were introduced by the Modi government in a "very immature manner" in Parliament last year. "The BSP will always raise its voice against exploitation of farmers and injustice to them, like it has been doing for the poor, Dalits and backwards etc," she said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. Burma Myanmars Legally-Elected Lawmakers Denounce Coup, Call for Release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Members of National League for Democracy arrive at the parliament in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar in 2016. / The Irrawaddy YANGONLawmakers from the National League for Democracy have demanded that the military regime respect the results of the Nov. 8 election and stop all activities that prevent the convening of a new Parliament. Just after military took legal action against party chairperson-cum-State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint under the Export and Import Law and Natural Disaster Management Law respectively, the NLD lawmakers signed a statement to show their solidarity opposing the coup. In a statement, the lawmakers said that they are elected members of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament) by a majority vote of the people. They said that lawmakers have already received certificates of election from the Union Election Commission (UEC). According to the 2008 Constitution, the official term of a lawmaker is five years and no one has the right to revoke that term of office as long as the Constitution is in force, the lawmakers said. In the statement they also called for an immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Win Myint and other detainees. The parliamentarians said that they pledged to stand with the people in defiance of the military coup and remain loyal to the cause of democracy. They pledged their loyalty to the fundamental rights and interests of the state and its citizens as elected representatives. The NLD won Myanmars Nov. 8 general election in a landslide. NLD candidates won 920 of the 1,117 elected seats nationwide, including seats in both houses of the bicameral Union Parliament and the state/regional parliaments, as well as ethnic affairs minister posts. On Feb. 1, the military staged a coup just hours before the new NLD-dominated Parliament was set to convene, claiming it was forced to act over what it called electoral fraud in the Nov. 8 general election and the civilian governments failure to address the issue. Following Mondays coup, the lawmakers were confined in Naypyitaws government guesthouse guarded by soldiers. On Wednesday, the Myanmars military gave lawmakers 24 hours to leave, despite having initially given them until Feb. 6. You may also like these stories: Myanmars Coup Leaders Name a New Union Election Commission Power Grab Brings Myanmar to Standstill Myanmar Coup Means Huge Losses for Thailands Border Trade The late Monica Brennan (nee Meagher) The death has occurred of Monica Brennan (nee Meagher), 30 The Sycamores, Kilkenny and formerly Bawnmore, Johnstown, Kilkenny, died peacefully on February 1 in her 98th year. Predeceased by her husband Willie, brothers Martin and Tom and sisters Peg and Annette. Deeply regretted by her loving family Annette (Walsh), Rena (Bryan), John, Liam, Martin and Alan, sons-in-law Kieran and John, daughters-in-law Margaret and Mary, grandchildren William, Carol, Kieran, Cathy, James, William and Aishling, great-grandchildren, sisters in law Mona and Kitty, nieces, nephews, relatives and a wide circle of friends. In accordance with current Government / HSE guidelines and in the interest of public health and the safety of our most vulnerable a private funeral will take place for Monica (max 10 people) .For those unable to attend you may view the Requiem mass at 11am on Wednesday morning, February 3 at the following link www.stcanicesparish.ie. Those wish to leave a message of condolence for Monica can do so on the page provided at RIP.ie. The Brennan family would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their understanding and support at this difficult time. The late John (Jack) Cahill The death has occurred of John (Jack) Cahill, Kilkenny Road, Freshford, Kilkenny. Peacefully in the care of Tinnypark Nursing Home, Kilkenny. Deeply regretted by his loving wife Kathleen, daughters Angela, Monica, sons Brian and Liam, daughters-in-law, son-in-law and partner, brother Jim, sisters Elizabeth, Mary, Kathleen, grandchildren (Irene, Ciara, Matthew, Ava, Kristin, Fionn, Grace and Aoife) nieces, nephews, relatives, friends and neighbours. Predeceased by his sister Sheila. In accordance with government guidelines, a private funeral Mass (max. 10 people) will be held on Thursday, February 4 in St Lachtains Church at 2pm, followed by burial in St Lachtain's Cemetery. Please observe social guidelines in church yard and cemetery regarding hand shaking and the wearing of face masks. You may view the funeral mass using the following link https://www.facebook.com/moatefarm/live/. The late Margaret Mary Cody The death has occurred of Margaret Mary Cody, Glenarouske, Castlelyons, Cork / formerly of Northampton and Kilkenny died peacefully on January 31 in the wonderful care of Marymount Hospice in Cork with family present. She is the loving and devoted mother of Paul Cody, and to Janet O Dwyer. Just as beloved and revered by their respective partners in life and love, Rose Cody and Patrick O Dwyer. A cherished grandmother to Avril and Claire Cody; equally to her grand-niece, Emma O Dwyer and grand-nephew Christopher O Dwyer who always considered her their Grandma. She joins her beloved husband Tom Cody, her cherished son Andrew Cody, her sisters Joan and Ann, and brother Christopher. Family and friends internationally, including Cork and Kilkenny celebrate her treasured life. You gifted so many with inner strength and peace and remain an indomitable spirit in our lives. Suaimheas siorai da hanam. A private funeral service is taking place at 4.00pm on February 3. Messages of condolence can she shared on www.rip.ie. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully request that donations be sent to Marymount Hospice in honour of Margaret. Margaret's Funeral Cortege will travel via Glenarouske at 2.30.pm. Wednesday. Margaret's Funeral Service will be live-streamed on www.facebook.com/ronaynefuneraldirectorsfermoy/ The late William (Bill) Dunne The death has occurred of William (Bill) Dunne, Terenure, Dublin / Galmoy, Kilkenny. February 2, peacefully after a long illness in the loving care of his family and the staff of Cork University Hospital. Beloved husband of the late Patricia and loving father of Peter, Valerie and Sharon. Sadly missed by his loving family, sister Rosa, grandchildren Peter and Emma, daughter in law Michele, brother in law, nieces and nephews and his many friends in Dublin and Galway. Due to government guidelines a private funeral will take place. Those who would have liked to attend the Funeral Mass may leave a message of condolence in the condolence section on RIP.ie. The late Paddy Tyrrell The death has occurred of Paddy Tyrrell, Haughney Green/ and formerly of Ballybought Street) February 1, peacefully, at St Luke's Hospital) Paddy, sadly missed by his brother Billy (Meadow Way), nephews, nieces, cousins, grand nephews and grand nieces, extended family, neighbours and friends. In accordance with current Government/HSE guidelines and in the interest of Public Health and the safety of our most vulnerable, a private family funeral will take place for Paddy (max of 10 people). For those unable to attend you may view the Requiem Mass at 10.30am on Wednesday, February 3, at the following link www.stjohnskilkenny.com. Those wishing to leave a message of condolence for Paddy's family can do so on RIP.ie. Paddy's family would like to thank everybody for their support and understanding in these difficult days. The late James (Jimmy) Leahy The death has occurred of James (Jimmy) Leahy, Richview, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny City, and formerly of Dublin Road, Kilkenny) February 1, peacefully, in the wonderful care of the staff of Medical 2 at St Luke's Hospital, James (Jimmy), beloved husband of the late Patty and much loved father of Eleanor, sadly missed by his loving daughter and her husband Dermot, his cherished grandchildren Hannah, Jack and Luke, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, extended family, his great neighbours and friends. In accordance with current Government/HSE guidelines and in the interest of Public Health and the safety of our most vulnerable, a private family funeral will take place for Jimmy (max of 10 people). For those unable to attend you may view the Requiem Mass at 10.30am on Thursday, February 4 at the following link www.stjohnskilkenny.com House Private Please. Those wishing to leave a message of condolence for Jimmy's family can do so at RIP.ie. Jimmy's family would like to thank everybody for their support and understanding in these difficult days. The late Thomas Walsh The death has occurred of Thomas Walsh, late of Tybroughney. Piltown, Kilkenny. Died February 1. Sadly missed by his loving sister Anne {Dodo} Keys, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Arriving for funeral Mass on Wednesday, February 3 in Piltown Church at 1pm followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. DUE TO HSE GUIDELINES THOMAS'S FUNERAL AND BURIAL WILL TAKE PLACE FOR IMMEDIATE FAMILY. WE SUGGEST USING THE ONLINE CONDOLENCE PAGE BELOW AS AN OPTION TO OFFER YOUR SYMPATHIES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO OPERATION AND CONSIDERATION AT THIS DIFFICULT TIME. President Joe Biden signed three immigration-related executive orders in the Oval Office Tuesday, with the intent to 'remove the stain' of President Donald Trump's policies like child separation. 'And with the first action today, we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families, their mothers and fathers at the border, and with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the children who are still in custody and their parents,' Biden said. The new president, who has signed 43 orders since taking office, also pushed back on criticism he's receiving from conservatives for the flurry of executive orders he's signed since January 20. 'I want to make it clear. There's a lot of talk, with good reason, about the number of executive orders that I sign,' Biden said. 'I'm not making new law, I'm eliminating bad policy.' President Joe Biden signed three executive orders on immigration in the Oval Office Tuesday. As he signed one setting up a task force to reunite separated children and their families he said his aim was to 'remove the stain' of Trump era policies President Joe Biden (left) stands in the Oval Office alongside new Secretar of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (right) before signing three immigration-related executive orders early Tuesday evening One of the orders will put in place a working group tasked with reuniting migrant families separated by President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy, which some Republicans even criticized Biden's immigration executive orders Joe Biden signed three executive orders on Tuesday to signal a new immigration policy: The creation of a task force to reunite children separated from their families at the border under Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy. This group will be chaired by a homeland security secretary; The evaluation of immigration programs including the Central American Minors Program established by Obama. This allowed children in Central America to legally reunite with parents in the US. The order will also review Trump's 'Remain In Mexico' policy which left asylum seekers in poor conditions in Central America while they awaited US court hearings, and provide aid to help stop the causes of immigration; A review of Trump's immigration policies by the State Department, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to assess whether the laws promote 'integration and inclusion'. The order will also call for a review of the naturalization process and the 'public charge' policy which punishes immigrants who use benefits by refusing their green card applications Advertisement In line with campaign promises, one of the orders will put in place a working group tasked with reuniting migrant families separated by Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy put in place in 2018. That policy allowed officials to prosecute and deport adults who had entered the US illegally. Their children, some just days old, were then placed into federal custody. A federal lawsuit in the Southern District of California has identified more than 600 children who were separated from their parents between 2017 and 2018 who still have not been reunited with their family. Faced with international outcry, and even criticism from within his own party, the Trump administration was forced to scale down the policy, but hundreds of migrant children have still not been returned to their parents. 'We're gonna remove the stain on our reputation that the separations caused,' Biden said as he inked the document on the Resolute desk. 'As my grandfather said, the grace of God and the good will of neighbors, we will reunite these children and reestablish our reputation as being a haven for people in need,' Biden added. The working group will examine ways to reunite the families, officials said, without specifying whether that could allow parents or children who had been deported to return to US soil. A second executive order echoes a similar policy under the Barack Obama administration, putting in place legal mechanisms for prospective immigrants in their home countries to apply for residency, allowing them to avoid dangerous smuggling routes. The third decree will promote the integration of migrants legally settled in the United States and make naturalization 'more accessible to the more than nine million immigrants who are currently eligible to apply' for citizenship. There will be a review of the so-called 'public charge rule' introduced in August 2019 that allowed officials to refuse citizenship or green card applications to migrants receiving social assistance, such as subsidized care or housing allowances. The public charge rule 'basically created or established a wealth test for immigrants,' one senior Biden official said. Under the public charge rule - which was seen as the work of controversial Trump aide Stephen Miller - green cards, the legal term for permanent residence and a preliminary to citizenship, could be refused to immigrants on a series of benefits. They included Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, state general assistance payments, SNAP food stamps, Section 8 vouchers or rental assistance, public housing and federal Medicaid. The Trump administration said the rule protected American taxpayers from subsidizing immigrants and made the country less attractive to poor immigrants. But immigration groups called it cruel and fought it in the courts. The Supreme Court allowed it to stay in place but has not offered a final view of its legality. The Biden administration is also set to order a review all legal obstacles to immigration and integration that were put in place under Trump - a wide-ranging order with effects that will only become clear in the next few months. 'The review will likely lead to dramatic changes in policies,' according to a senior government official, saying the goal is 'to restore faith in our legal immigration system, and promote integration of Americans.' The orders follow Biden suspending construction of Trump's border wall. 'President Trump was so focused on the wall that he did nothing to address the root cause of why people are coming to our southern border,' the official said. 'It was a limited, wasteful and naive strategy, and it failed.' Most of the reforms will be led by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier Tuesday. The vote was 56 to 43. Mayorkas stood in the Oval Office alongside Biden, late for his official swearing-in ceremony with Vice President Kamala Harris. Shortly after his appearance in the Oval, Mayorkas appeared alongside Harris and his family members in the vice president's ceremonial office, located in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (left) is sworn-in Tuesday night by Vice President Kamala Harris (right) Biden will call for his administration to streamline the naturalization of nine million migrants. Pictured: Honduran migrants head to the US through Guatemala Mayorkas - who arrived in the United States as an infant as the son of Cuban refugees - is the first Hispanic person to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a sprawling agency that oversees immigration issues, border police and emergency responses. Biden joked as reporters entered that Mayorkas had an 'easy job.' The Biden administration's efforts to overturn Trump-era immigration policies were applauded by the left wing of the Democratic Party. Since coming into office he has canceled two of his predecessor's landmark measures, suspending construction of a wall along the border with Mexico and lifting a ban on US entry for residents of a number of countries withmajority Muslim populations. Biden has also sent a bill to Congress that could lead to the naturalization of millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The legislation's adoption, however, will require convincing several Republican lawmakers to back it - no easy feat. Breakthrough: Govt-Opposition to discuss farmer protests for 15 hours India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: There would be a 15-hour discussion on the farmer protests in Parliament, the government and opposition have agreed, in what can be seen as a major breakthrough. The discussion will take place in the Rajya Sabha, where the Question Hour has been suspended for two days. 16 Opposition parties had demanded a five hour standalone discussion not the protests, following which the government decided to increase it to 15. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Prahlad Joshi made the announcement after the demand by the Opposition. Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that since the government has accepted the proposal, we are ready for the discussion. Amid the ongoing protests by farmers on the border areas of the national capital, several international personalities have extended their support. However, Zee News has unmasked the real motive behind this which is to target the democracy of India. An international conspiracy to defame India in view of the has come to the fore. READ | Exposed: Greta Thunberg shares document to help protesting farmers, says RSS-BJP are fascistic ruling party Climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg has come out in support of the ongoing farmers protest against the BJP-led Central government's new agri laws. Greta Thunberg tweeted, We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. She also shared a document through her Twitter handle showing clearly a sinister conspiracy to defame India on the international fora. READ | How Greta Thunberg tried to defame Indian democracy: Read the full document The farmers' movement for the last 70 days has been internationalized and now the remote control of this movement has shifted from India to other countries and this movement is now being controlled from these countries. This is exactly like the marketing strategy in which the farmer movement has become a product and this product is being promoted by big celebrities. When any celebrity promotes a product, it is called Profit Making Strategy. READ | Greta Thunberg: Who is she and why is she trending in India? In mathematics, there is a theory of angles that when a line changes its position by rotating with one end fixed, it is called an angle. We feel that the angle of the farmers' movement started against the agricultural laws but has changed and you can call it odd angle if you want. When the circumstances start to be asymmetrical, then an odd angle is formed and the farmers' movement seems to be making such an angle against India. Document shared by @GretaThunberg ,now deleted. Read the dangerous & divisive conspiracy to defame India and its democracy. The activist whos running for the Noble Peace Prize stands exposed.I am surprised to see how much she hates India. #GretaThunbergExposed pic.twitter.com/ahx0MWMVdV Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) February 3, 2021 Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist from Sweden, in a tweet wrote, "We stand in solidarity with the peasant movement in India." Most importantly, Greta has also tweeted this while sharing the same article, which Rihana also shared. Greta Thunberg is known worldwide for spreading awareness about climate change and for this she also criticized former US President Donald Trump. But our question here is, does Greta Thunberg know that the farmers she supported, the same farmers cause pollution by burning straw in India due to limited resources. In the past, the farmers had also placed this demand in front of the government that the rules of action on burning the straw should be abolished and the government had accepted these demands under the pressure of the farmers. Now here are two important things--first is that if Greta Thunberg knows about all this, is her love for the environment false and pretentious? The second thing is that if she doesn't know about it, then how did she give their support to the farmers doing the movement without doing research. Marketing companies are using celebrities like Greta Thunberg and Rihana for their earnings and India's infamy. The key points of the document are: * Participate in (or organise an) on-ground protest: Share solidarity Photo/Video Message by email preferably by January 25 (solidarity messages for farmers at Delhis border). * Digital Strike: #AskIndiaWhy Video/Photo Message - On or Before January 26. It has also written that Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister should be tagged beside the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Bank to oppose the Agricultural Bill. * Twitter Storm on February 4-5 2021: Share solidarity Photo/Video Message by preferably by February 5, latest by February 6. * On February 13-14, there is talk of large demonstrations around the Indian embassy and government institutions abroad. * Contact a local Representative: It is paramount to put international pressure on Indias Government. * The document also names two big business houses as they allegedly manufacture wealth by working hand-in-hand with the current Regime to exploit the worlds people, lands, and culture. * It has also been said that the plan that was prepared for January 26 has happened exactly the same in the whole world and India. * A special email address--ScrapFarmersAct@Gmail.Com has been asked to send photos and videos in support of farmers. * In this document it was also told what you should do to take part in the farmers' movement. The Swedish climate activist extended her support to the farmers and their movement after pop star Rihanna came out in support of the protesting farmers. Earlier, Rihanna posted a Tweet about the farmers' protest with a news update and captioned the post asking her followers and fans using the trending #FarmersProtest hashtag. why arent we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest, Rihanna said. Notably, farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26, 2020, against the three newly enacted agricultural laws. France will only administer the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people under age 65, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday after the governments health advisory body cited a lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people. The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy, because the country has prioritized nursing home residents and people over 75. France had counted on the AstraZeneca vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world. For this AstraZeneca vaccine, we will not propose it to those older than 65, Macron told TF1 television Tuesday night. Instead, the vaccine the British-Swedish company developed with Oxford University will be given to medical personnel under 65, individuals with health vulnerabilities or those facing high exposure, he said. The French practice differs from the guidance given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZenecas vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. Health authorities in Germany and other countries have raised concerns that the Anglo-Swedish company didnt test the vaccine in enough older people to prove it works for them, and indicated they would not recommend it for people over 65. In guidance issued Tuesday, Frances High Authority for Health said it recommends that the vaccine be given preferentially to people under 65. It says it will review this guidance when AstraZeneca has more data on the vaccine's effectiveness in older people. The French government depends on the High Authoritys guidance and is adapting its strategy based on the announcement. Health officials have said they constantly adapt vaccine strategy based on availability of doses, demand and regulatory guidance. Macron said France still aims to offer the vaccine to anyone who wants it by the end of the summer. Macron met Tuesday night with international vaccine producers and major pharmaceutical companies that have an industrial site in France to discuss ways to quickly and significantly boost short-term production capabilities in France and in Europe. The meeting came amid criticism of the EUs handling of its collective vaccine strategy across the blocs 27 member nations. Macron said he sent a scientific team to Russia several weeks ago to study that countrys vaccine efforts and the exchanges were very positive. The French leader noted early results of an advanced study of Russias Sputnik V published in The Lancet medical journal that showed the vaccine was about 91% effective. Macron said that if and when the European Medicines Agency decides approve the Russian vaccine, it will not be a political decision. Its a decision that is scientific. France has seen some of the worlds highest numbers of confirmed virus cases and deaths, which have been steadily rising in recent weeks. More behind the cutTRE45ON defense brief appears to be amateur hour, full of misspellings and lies. One lawyer is David Schoen, who defended Roger I Have a Huge Nixon Tattoo Stone, and was to take over Jeffrey Epstein defense (doesnt think he died by suicide). Other lawyer is Bruce Castor, who refused to prosecute Bill Cosby, then tried to defame one of the victims. The defense claims blah di blah. This is a civil case, not a criminal case, and the main goal is to hold him accountable so future dictator-wannabes dont get any ideas, and to prevent him from holding office again. [A similar analogy in the private sector, an exec gets fired for code of conduct violation, and is stripped of stocks or bonus or parachute package and good luck finding a similar exec position at another corporation.] Some talk and laughs about Newsmax clip (commented in yesterdays The View post), where host stands up and walks off, because MyPillow keeps lying about Dominion voting machines. Dominion is suing everyone forillions over lies. Some talk about Crazy Margarine vs Liz Cheney. Joy bought a MyPillow back in the day, and said it was like a manhole sewer cover.This whole narrative is a nothingburger. Every admin (except the T45 admin, who never cared because they always lied anyway) has done a similar thing where the WHPC was canvassed for topics (not verbatim questions), so the Press Secretary could be sure and have answers or talking points on hand, instead of having to say Idk Ill Have to Circle Back On That. During these briefings, Jen Psaki is calling on all of them multiple times, so its not as if theyre ignored or even censored. The primary complainer probably rhymes with Deter Poocy from Nox Fews. Sunny reads an official WH statement saying normal things. Fact check: Me-again has a degree in art history, not journalism.Adam Kinzinger is 42, voter attractive, has a pretty wife, is former Air Force and current National Guard, so he probably hopes to run for Potus in the future. He started his Country First PAC and is one of the few Republicans who is publicly anti QAnon anti MAGA anti conspiracy anti insurrectionists. He says all the normal things like telling the truth is better than lies even if its a topic in which you disagree, that we should debate opinions and policy not tear down people, dont be a lunatic, and so on. [Some members of his own family have officially disowned him and hes faced a multitude of death threats.] MAM finds yet another opportunity to remind everyone that 74M people (including her own husband and probably her as well) purposely voted for a morally bereft degenerate. Some more talk about Crazy Margarine and Liz Cheney. He wants Margarine gone (and T45 impeached).Dr Kizzmekia Corbett helped create one of the covid vaxx. She is a viral immunologist at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIAID NIH) based in Bethesda, Maryland. She is currently the scientific lead of the VRC's Coronavirus Team, with research efforts aimed at propelling novel coronavirus vaccines, including a COVID-19 vaccine. You can read more about Kizzmekia Corbett here Whoopi doesnt know about pet insurance, but also thinks people should get a tax break for pet food (because they dont eat when theres not a pandemic?) but also maybe extra expenses for fostering animals. Idk what she was talking about. Sunny has insomnia, worries about everything and everybody. Sara is worried about wealth inequity and large existential things whereas before she only worried about her own little world. Joy says watch Lou Dobbs who will put you right to sleep.Source links are below each video or section A condominium association in Florida is suing a 78-year-old woman over the feeding of a stray cat. A lawsuit filed earlier this month in Tampa accuses Joan P. Hussey of breaking the rules by attracting and feeding stray cats/animals in and around the common areas of the Tampa Racquet Club Condominium, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The lawsuit doesnt specify the number of cats or other animals Hussey is alleged to be feeding. The continued presence of the stray cats may also induce unwanted health issues to those surrounding neighbors and/or tenants and could cause unwarranted damage to the Associations common elements, the lawsuit says. Hussey told the newspaper she only feeds a black-and-white cat she had fixed years ago and calls Cleo. She said she puts a bowl of dry cat food under her car in its covered parking space, picks up the bowl after Cleo eats. Im terribly surprised, said Hussey. Ive had cats all my life, and I do it respectfully. However the condo association contends that Hussey has continued to feed strays even after numerous requests for her to stop. The lawsuit wasnt their first legal action against her, the Times reported. Last year, the condo association took its case to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for arbitration, which is a process required before this kind of condo dispute can go to court, the newspaper reported. Hussey never responded to the petition for arbitration. She later said she didnt understand all of the attorneys jargon in papers she received. An order was issued requiring her to stop feeding cats on the property. The association wants a judge to issue an injunction telling her to stop, and has requested reasonable attorneys fees and costs. Circuit Judge Emily Peacock has been assigned to the case but a hearing date hasnt been set. The associations attorney Stanford Rowe issued a statement saying the boards position is that Hussey must comply with the arbitrators order. I go to bed at night, and I cant sleep, thinking about this thing, Hussey told the newspaper. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Florida Strict bail conditions were set for two Polish men who appeared before Portlaoise district court on Thursday. Radoslaw Momot (35) is charged with theft at Tesco, Edenderry on January 22 this year and assault causing harm, theft of a mobile phone and two charges of false imprisonment at Apartment 8, Block F, Clonmullen Hall, Edenderry on the same date. Defending solicitor, Donal Farrelly made an application for bail. Gardai objected owing to the seriousness of the charges. They said they were concerned Mr Momot may not attend further hearings and might be a flight risk, because he had no address. Solicitor Donal Farrelly said that Mr Momot had lived in the country for 11 years, nine of which were spent working in a meat factory. He had lived in Edenderry for seven years up to the time of his arrest. He had now secured a place to stay and was hoping to get his apartment back. Mr Farrelly said that Mr Momot never had had difficulty with the Gardai before. In reply to a query from Judge Catherine Staines, Garda Joseph Bradley said there had been alleged threats on the night of the incident, but none since. Garda Bradley said the two young men who were the alleged injured parties were allegedly terrified on the night. Judge Staines said it was an extremely serious offence, but that Mr Momot was entitled to the presumption of innocence. Bail was set on his own bond of 100 and an independent surety of 500. He is to reside at the address in Edenderry provided to the court, surrender his passport and sign on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Edenderry Garda station between 2pm and 5pm. A curfew from 8pm to 7am was set. He is not have no contact with the alleged injured parties and is to stay sober. She also noted the current delays with trials and that it may take a couple of years before this case comes to trial. He was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison to February 4. Damian Prokopowicz (23) is charged with theft at Tesco Edenderry on January 22 this year. He is also charged with producing a knife, a scissors, assault causing harm, theft of a mobile phone and two charges of false imprisonment at Apartment 8, Block F, Clonmullen Hall, Edenderry on January 22 this year. Garda Joseph Bradley objected to bail on the same grounds as those of Mr Momot, noting also the additional charges facing Mr Prokopowicz. Judge Staines said she was concerned that he had only been in this jurisdicton for 12 months and had no ties to it. Donal Farrelly noted he had no convictions here. An address had been provided at which he would reside. Noting her own reluctance Judge Staines set bail on his own bond of 100 and 500 independent surety. He is to reside at the address provided in Rathangan, curfew 8pm - 9am, sign on at Kildare Garda station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and have no contact with the alleged injured parties. He was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison on February 4. Haiti - USA : An American-Haitian special Assistant to Joe Biden US-Haitian lawyer and political advisor Karen Andre has been appointed Special Assistant to US President Joe Biden. This is the first person of Haitian origin to hold this position, Andre joins Karine Jean-Pierre, Kristen Clarke, Susan Rice and Vice-President Kamala Harris at the White House. Learn more about Karen Andre : Born in New York to parents of Haitian immigrants, Karen Andre attended school and university in Florida. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and is a Law graduate from the University of Miami. She worked with lawmakers to help lobby and pass the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998. Then, she practiced immigration law in Miami, Florida, before returning to work in the political arena. During President Obama's first election campaign, Andre was a campaign field organizer in Miami's poorest neighborhoods. In 2011, she worked with her campaign for the second time as Deputy Political Director of Florida. From 2014 to 2017, Andre was appointed by the President in the Obama-Biden administration as the White House liaison to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. After Obamas departure, she served as Andrew Gillums senior advisor during his main campaign that led to his nomination as the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida in 2018. During the last presidential election, Andre worked as a senior advisor for the Biden-Harris campaign in Florida. Karen Andre, who is also a public speaker and author, is currently President of People First Strategies. She is one of the founding members of the Haitian Women's Network and remains proactive within the Caribbean-American community in Florida. HL/ HaitiLibre Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 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. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PMC Capital Partners, LLC (PMC Capital) is back again on the acquisition trail after completing the buy-out of an award-winning multifunctional engineering design firm, UniversalPegasus International, Inc., of Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HII). Headquartered in Houston, Texas, UniversalPegasus has a track record of delivering turnkey integrated engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) solutions; ranked by Engineering News-Record (ENR) as No. 59 of the Top 500 Design Firms and among the top 10 in the petroleum sector. ENR's list ranks public and private companies by its markets' share of total revenue. Financial terms of the deal with HII were not disclosed. "We are extremely excited to acquire UniversalPegasus International (UPI) and its amazing team of 600 professionals. Spearheaded by an impressive business leader in CEO, Tom Davison, the UPI team maintained record-level engineering design revenues during an economically crippling COVID-19 pandemic while building a backlog/pipeline of business that will continue to support future success. Acquiring UPI coincides with PMC Capital's vision to acquire and support an elite technical staff of engineers who deliver first-class mission-critical business services to blue-chip customers," said Chris Aye, Managing Partner of PMC Capital. "UPI's decades of record success delivering engineering, logistical, and construction management solutions captivated PMC Capital. Not only will PMC Capital support UPI in maintaining a high level of service for its clients we look forward to building and exceeding UPI's past accomplishments. We're excited to partner with Tom and his team as we aggressively embark on a multifaceted growth strategy," added Mr. Aye. "UPI is the industry leader in project delivery and the employer of choice in the Houston and Calgary engineering markets. Our success stems from our strong company values and commitment to transparency. With PMC Capital behind us, UPI will continue to differentiate itself and outperform the competition as one of the few remaining independent oil and gas engineering companies. We expect to emerge from the pandemic in a strong financial position poised for double-digit growth," said Tom Davison, CEO of UPI. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement. PMC Capital is a great new home for UniversalPegasus International, its world-class people and services," said Andy Green HII Executive Vice President and President of HII's Technical Solutions division. "It will enable UPI to continue to flourish, ensuring the business remains at the forefront of innovation and customer service in the future." Ernst & Young Capital Advisors, LLC served as Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.'s exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. About UniversalPegasus International UPI is a privately held company headquartered in Houston, with a strategically located office in Calgary, Canada, and currently employs close to 600 personnel. UPI has provided a broad range of engineering and project management services to the energy industry for over 50 years. Whether onshore or offshore, from the wellhead to processing facilities to delivery points, UPI delivers the engineering, design, project management, survey, inspection and construction management personnel to move energy safely, reliably and efficiently to domestic and international marketplaces. Find out more at www.universalpegasus.com/. About PMC Capital Partners, LLC Established in 2019, PMC Capital is on the path of becoming one of the fastest-growing private equity firms that invests in strategic opportunities where thought, operational resources and flexible capital can empower management teams to execute their business plans. PMC Capital currently owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality national and international businesses in the lower middle-market space, employing nearly 1,000 employees, with approximately $450M in combined annual revenues. With over 100 years of collective private equity experience, PMC Capital brings a successful track record of executing corporate carve-outs, recapitalizing balance sheets, acquiring founder-owned companies and completing bolt-ons. With a committed pool of capital backed by a family office, PMC Capital targets control equity investment opportunities in the business services, industrials, TMT, consumer and health care sectors. The nature of PMC Capital's platform allows for a longer-term time horizon and a business-friendly approach to ownership transitions, divestitures and successions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. For more information, visit www.pmccapital.com About Huntington Ingalls Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing more than 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries Contact Chris Aye Managing Partner, PMC Capital Partners, LLC [email protected] +1 818 896 1101 Related links www.pmccapital.com SOURCE PMC Capital Partners, LLC Related Links http://www.pmccapital.com AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said. SEATTLE - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as chief executive of the e-commerce giant, turning over the reins to the company's longtime cloud-computing boss Andy Jassy. Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, will transition to the role of executive chair this summer, the company said Tuesday. "If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive," Bezos said in an earnings release Tuesday. The looming transition marks the most radical shake-up in Amazon's corporate ranks in its nearly 30-year history. Bezos moves into a new role, with a title made for him, that keeps him at the company in a position where he will focus on innovation at Amazon and hands off the top job to a trusted deputy. Under Bezos's stewardship, Amazon evolved from an upstart online bookseller into one of the world's most popular Internet marketplaces able to quickly deliver a vast catalogue of products and services. Bezos' creation helped set in motion a massive change in the way people around the world shop, as people began buying toothpaste to car parts to consumer electronics on their PCs and phones. Amazon also triggered a sea change in physical retail, accelerating the shuttering of shopping malls and stores. That shift has only accelerated as the coronavirus pandemic fueled a surge in online shopping as worried customers shunned stores. To make the e-commerce business run, Amazon had to create an array of computer data centers, stacked with rows upon rows of servers, to make sure the online marketplace could handle the growing business. That developed into a new market for the company, Amazon Web Services, a giant, profit-driving cloud computing operationthat now powers websites around the world. The company's meteoric growth delivered massive riches to shareholders and made Bezos - depending on the day - the richest man on the planet. For all the praise on Wall Street, however, Bezos and his brass-knuckled tactics also carried great cost. Regulators increasingly viewed Amazon as a threat to competition, and the company's own workers at times told grim tales about their mistreatment, as they sought to carry out Bezos's mission to create a consumer-first "everything store." Amazon for years faced fierce criticism for underpaying workers, only to boost its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2018. It's currently fighting an aggressive union drive at its Bessemer, Ala., warehouse, where employees are pressing for better working conditions and higher pay. Bezos, who turned 57 last month set up the transition to Jassy last summer, when the company announced that one of his possible successors, Jeff Wilke, would soon retire. That paved the way for Jassy to take the CEO job. To Tom Alberg, a venture capitalist and longtime Amazon director who stepped down from the board two years ago, Jassy was the obvious choice. "Andy has lived his whole life in that culture, and that culture is so strong," Alberg said. Jassy's Amazon career is defined by his leading Amazon into a wholly new market, cloud computing, a business the company has come to dominate just as aggressively as it leads in the world of e-commerce. And the fact that Jassy now succeedsBezos offers insight into Amazon: that the company still values high-risk, high-reward bets and is less defined by online shopping than some might think. Jassy joined the company in 1997 after graduating from Harvard Business School. At the time, Amazon had only a few hundred employees and had just gone public. The executive pioneered the company's entry into music sales, Amazon's first push outside books. In the early 2000s, Jassy shadowed Bezos as his technical assistant, something of a chief-of-staff role. And he helped launch AWS, which upended the software industry with its ability to rent space and software programming for customers to run their technical operations on Amazon's vast array of servers. Bezos's own interests have changed over the years as he personally pushed into new industries. That included launching Blue Origin roughly 20 years ago, a space-travel company with the stated goal of "millions of people living and working in space." While the company has struggled, Bezos has invested to the tune of $1 billion a year in the company and rhapsodizes about a future in which humans live in massive habitats in orbit and mine asteroids. He has said it "is the most important work I'm doing." The company is focused, in part, on developing a spacecraft capable of ferrying astronauts to and from the moon's surface. He has also funded new philanthropic efforts in recent years. He said in a note to employees Tuesday that he would focus on these other gambits, including The Post, which he purchased in 2013. "When you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything else," he said, referring to his role as CEO. And he'll continue to play an important role at Amazon. The company's finance chief Brian Olsavsky said Bezos will remain "very involved" even after he moves into his new role. "We expect a lot of continuity with this transition," Olsavsky said in a call with journalists Tuesday afternoon. Bezos, he added, is "is going to have his imprint on new product developments and also key leverage areas of innovation." Olsavsky declined to say when Bezos first approached the board about the transition to a new role, except to say that it had been planned and was done in consultation with Amazon's directors. Five years ago, Amazon changed its management structure, naming both Jassy and Wilke division CEOs, a move that allowed Bezos to delegate many day-to-day tasks. Olsavsky said this transition was similar. "We see the same thing happening here," Olsavsky said. "Jeff is going to remain with Amazon in a very important role as executive chair." What's more, Bezos remains Amazon's largest individual shareholder. "Jeff is really not going anywhere," Olsavsky said. "This is more of a restructuring of who's doing what." One thing Bezos may do less of: Be the public face of Amazon. Last summer, Bezos was summoned to Capitol Hill to testify virtually alongside the CEOs of Apple, Google and Facebook before a House antitrust subcommittee investigation on the clout of the tech behemoths. That spotlight will now fall on Jassy, and politicians are already preparing. "I have some questions for Mr. Jassy," tweeted Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., the top Republican lawmaker on a key House antitrust panel. As Amazon has grown, Bezos has increasingly become its focus, in part because the company's soaring stock value has put his personal wealth into the stratosphere. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos is currently the second-wealthiest person with $188 billion, which is $2 billion behind Tesla founder Elon Musk. He's also transformed his image, morphing from a nerdy, khaki-wearing tech exec to a buff, stylishly dressed socialite who attends Hollywood awards shows and New York fashion balls. Bezos' wealth declined in April 2019 when he divorced from MacKenzie Scott, after his relationship with a former news anchor, Lauren Sanchez, became public. The record divorce settlement gave Scott 25 percent of Bezos's Amazon holdings, although Bezos retained sole voting power over the shares the two once jointly controlled, which at the time amounted to 16 percent of Amazon's total shares. Like most large corporations, Amazon has been preparing its CEO succession plan for years. Still, Alberg, the former Amazon director who participated in that planning over the years, was surprised by the timing of Bezos's move, in part because he has always managed to juggle his different interests. "I was just not expecting Jeff to step aside right now," Alberg said. "He's always been able to do a lot of things simultaneously." Amazon botched an attempt at bringing in an outsider as president and chief operating officer in 1999, when it hired Joe Galli from Black & Decker. Galli lasted a year, and Bezos decided to focus instead on building a strong bench of internal candidates for top jobs and ultimately to take over for him, Alberg said. "He wanted it to be somebody he knew well and the company knew well," Alberg said. Bezos's next endeavors may turn out to be as significant as the second act of his Seattle-area neighbor Bill Gates, Alberg said. The Microsoft co-founder has gone on to burnish his image as one of the world's leading philanthropists in the time after he began moving away from Microsoft in 2000, when he gave up the chief executive post he had long held. Bezos's focus on space travel and climate change could have the same lasting impact, Alberg said. "I think he'll be like Gates," Alberg said. "Twenty years from now, he'll be remembered for one or more of those things as well." 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. Amazon officials announced Wednesday that Amazon will establish a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Alcoa. The site, which is anticipated to launch in 2022, will create nearly 800 new, full-time jobs with benefits and opportunities to engage with advanced robotics. Amazon employees at the more than 634,812-square-foot fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods. The Alcoa facility will be Amazons third fulfillment center in Tennessee to use innovative robotics technology and the companys eighth fulfillment center in the Volunteer State. In 2020, Amazon announced it would establish similar fulfillment center operations in Memphis and Mt. Juliet, Tn. Amazon currently operates fulfillment and sortation centers in Charleston, Chattanooga, Lebanon, Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville. The company is in the midst of building Amazon Nashville, a new downtown office that will bring more than 5,000 tech and corporate jobs to Nashville. Since 2010, Amazon has invested nearly $9 billion in Tennessee, including infrastructure and compensation to thousands of its employees in the state. Amazon's investments in Tennessee contributed an additional $8.7 billion into the states economy, and using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 12,700 indirect jobs on top of the company's direct hires in Tennessee. Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs. Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly-skilled roles across the companys corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retails stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon. Over the last five years, TNECD has supported more than 60 economic development projects in East Tennessee, resulting in approximately 7,400 job commitments and $2.3 billion in capital investment. To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit www.amazondelivers.jobs. Over the past year, Amazon has announced projects in each of Tennessees grand divisions, accounting for nearly 3,000 new jobs," said Governor Bill Lee. "As we continue to navigate through the pandemic and reboot our economy, we know our recovery is supported by the success of our Tennessee businesses. We are grateful that Amazon continues to provide jobs to thousands of Tennesseans, and we congratulate the company on its newest fulfillment center in Alcoa. It is a testament to the strength of Tennessees business climate that companies are attracted to our state and choose to operate and expand here," said TNECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe. "Amazon is a global brand that has invested $1.5 billion and created more than 25,000 jobs across all three grand divisions of our state, and we appreciate their team for choosing to grow in East Tennessee. We would also like to thank Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Clay Bright and his outstanding leadership team for their many contributions to help bring this project to fruition. We are excited to continue creating a positive economic impact in the region with job opportunities and industry-leading benefits that start on the first day of the job," said Holly Sullivan, Amazon's head of worldwide economic development. "Tennessee is a great state for business and we are excited to have the opportunity to partner, grow and better serve our customers throughout this region. I, along with all the citizens of Blount County, are delighted Amazon made its decision to locate here," said Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell. "The jobs and worldwide recognition it brings are extremely beneficial to this area. We thank Amazon, Governor Bill Lee, Tennessee ECD Commissioner Bob Rolfe, Tennessee Department of Transportation, and our county and city commissioners for tirelessly working together to bring this project to fruition. I, along with the citizens of Blount County, wish them great success and look forward to working with them for many years to come." Having Amazon locate in a community has proven to be beneficial for everyone involved, and on behalf of the Blount County Economic Development Board, Im happy to welcome its leadership to Blount County and East Tennessee," said Matt Murray, chairman of the Blount County Economic Development Board. "The regional economic impact of an operation like this will be felt almost immediately. We are excited to get this project progressing quickly and look forward to watching it grow. TVA and City of Alcoa Electric Department congratulate Amazon on its decision to locate and create hundreds of new job opportunities in Blount County," said John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of Economic Development. We are proud to partner with the Blount Partnership, City of Alcoa, and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to celebrate Amazons continued commitment to job creation and investment in the Valley and look forward to supporting its future business success in the region. Its no surprise that Amazon is making such a substantial investment in Blount County and bringing 800 jobs to our area," said Senator Art Swann (R-Maryville). "Companies realize that Tennessee is a great place to live and do business. I appreciate the work of state and local officials who helped secure these jobs, which will be a tremendous boost to the local economy. Amazon has been a great partner for Tennessee and Im very proud to welcome them to Blount County," said Rep. Jerome Moon (R-Maryville). "These 800 new jobs will help diversify our local economy. I thank Amazon for their investment in our community and I wish them success for many years to come. 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. Good morning, Bay Area. Its Feb. 3, and some S.F. streets might never be going back to their pre-pandemic traffic. Heres what you need to know to start your day. The fight over reopening San Franciscos public schools will take a dramatic, heated turn as the city becomes the first in the state to sue its own school district to force classroom doors open. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with the blessing of Mayor London Breed, plans to sue the S.F. Board of Education and school district for violating a state law compelling districts to adopt a clear plan to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The school district did have a plan to gradually open schools for children with severe disablilities and its youngest learners on Jan. 25 with more kids heading back to school through March. After district officials failed to reach an agreement with the United Educators of San Francisco, however, the district canceled that plan and has not announced a new one. Heather Knight reports on whether the lawsuit will actually help students get back in the classroom. Coronavirus updates Jessica Christian / The Chronicle California faces real chance of another surge as coronavirus variants spread including first cases confirmed in the Bay Area of the U.K. variant. Oakland approves hazard pay for supermarket workers, other Bay Area cities considering similar move. Kaiser cancels more than 5,200 vaccine appointments in Santa Clara County due to shortage. Outdoor dining in the Bay Area: Here's what to know about the restaurants open near you. Coronavirus restrictions will likely keep S.F. public school athletes on the sidelines. Around the Bay Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Slowed streets: San Francisco considers turning three Slow Streets into permanent closures to through traffic. It's just overwhelming: Oakland police, residents search for answers after 15 people are killed in the deadliest January in two decades. From Joe Garofoli: To recall Gavin Newsom, GOP needs another Arnold Schwarzenegger. Precious time has been stolen: Bay Area families split by Trumps travel ban are hopeful for the best after Biden administration lifts the order but for many, its still a waiting game. We need a dozen of these: S.F. has taken more than a year to open a 30-bed psychiatric respite center for the citys homeless and mentally ill delayed by pandemic and building problems. Big Sur washout Kodiak Greenwood/Special to The Chronicle For the second time in four years, heavy rainfall sent pieces of California's iconic coastline tumbling into the Pacific Ocean and shut down sections of Highway 1 in the area of Big Sur. We take a visual look at the damage along the famed highway and explain how wildfires and heavy storms contributed to the wash out. 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. Atlasity Integrated Compliance Management from C2 Labs Meeting compliance obligations has traditionally been an archaic, slow, risk-averse, and expensive process, said Travis Howerton, co-founder and chief technology officer, C2 Labs. With Atlasity, we bring DevOps to compliance to solve the most difficult compliance headaches that companies face." C2 Labs, an agile digital transformation partner focused on delivering continuously compliant solutions to regulated industries, today announced the general availability and release of Atlasity Community Edition, the worlds first freemium Integrated Compliance Management automation platform designed for heavily regulated industries. Atlasity digitizes any regulatory requirement and is deployable in any environment. It includes tightly integrated modules and features built from the ground up to easily create compliance artifacts. Atlasitys API-centric approach automates the collection, compilation and reporting of data related to an organizations compliance obligations, serving as the single source of compliance truth. This approach ensures that companies are continually compliant, reducing risk and cost while simultaneously increasing productivity. Atlasity includes more than 48 compliance frameworks for regulations such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (including SP 800-53 Rev 4 & 5, Cyber Security Framework (CSF), 800-171, and OSCAL); Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX); the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); the Department of Defense (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC); and more. It also includes frameworks for industry-specific regulations for the energy and financial services industries such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards; and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council (FSSCC). C2 Labs proprietary digitization engine is able to rapidly ingest new regulations and frameworks for clients in hours or days to support any new regulation. Need for Continuous Compliance Compliance has become increasingly important for organizations in recent years with the growing number of cyberattacks along with the increasing costs of fines and the plethora of new and changing industry regulations, all of which require more diligent compliance efforts. Organizations fear the repercussions that come from non-compliance and failing an audit, such as large fines, reputation loss and associated staff reductions. To spotlight the problem, corporations paid $59B in fines for U.S. regulatory infractions in 2015, a more than 500% increase since 2010, according to McKinsey. Organizations across industries struggle to ensure they are meeting their compliance obligations consistently, and a new approach to help companies become continuously compliant has been critically needed for years, said Anil Karmel, co-founder and chief executive officer at C2 Labs. Drawing on years of experience in regulated industries, our team designed Atlasity to automate a companys compliance processes so they are able to understand, ensure and demonstrate their compliance at any moment in time, rather than conducting a fire drill to collect and analyze information around reporting schedules and audits. The Atlasity Difference With more than 18 modules tightly integrated with the platforms hundreds of real-time open REST APIs, Atlasity meets the most demanding compliance needs in highly regulated industries. Atlasity simplifies the complexity of regulatory compliance in four dimensions by: Converting and digitizing manual compliance documents and regulations; Unlocking data silos for compliance information via a centralized, integrated platform that delivers improved workflow and collaboration; Leveraging an API-centric approach that integrates with common systems such as Jira, Splunk, Tenable, ServiceNow and others to eliminate the manual processes of collecting and synthesizing information to update Word documents and Excel spreadsheets; and Automating the production of reports needed to demonstrate compliance in a timely manner to regulators, CISOs, internal audit teams, and others. Customers benefit from simple wizards and automated drag and drop workflows, allowing them to create compliance artifacts quickly while speeding approvals. They can also create real-time and automated assessments to help their organizations better understand and manage compliance risks in a proactive manner. The collaborative capabilities allow all stakeholders and data owners in the compliance process to work together in one platform to dramatically improve productivity and lower costs. Meeting compliance obligations has traditionally been an archaic, slow, risk-averse, and expensive process, said Travis Howerton, co-founder and chief technology officer, C2 Labs. With Atlasity, we bring DevOps to compliance to solve the most difficult compliance headaches that companies face and help them transition their dated, manual, and static compliance documentation and processes to a dynamic, automated, and collaborative platform in real-time. In addition, we are more than just another cyber tool in the cloud. We deploy anywhere, including behind our customers firewalls, can manage any compliance needs (safety, quality, security, etc.), and continue to push the art of the possible in compliance automation by being one of the first tool vendors to support the new NIST OSCAL standard. The C2 Labs team has deep expertise in government regulations and the industries they affect. Most recently, Karmel was deputy chief technology officer at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and developed cloud computing solutions for the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex while at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Howerton has served in a number of executive positions in government and industry, including as CTO for NNSA, deputy CIO at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and as the global director for strategic programs at Bechtel Corporation. Licensing Made Easy Atlasity was built with scalability and affordability in mind in order to provide a variety of purchase options for all needs from a single user up to tens of thousands of concurrent users. The Community Edition is free for all users with the Enterprise Edition (currently in Private BETA) to be released later in 2021. Customers can easily get started for free and can seamlessly upgrade to Enterprise Edition when it becomes available. A full list of the Atlasity regulations supported today is at https://atlasity.io/regulations. About C2 Labs: Founded in 2014, C2 Labs delivers continuously compliant solutions to regulated industries, freeing organizations from paper via its Atlasity compliance software and DevSecOps services. Through its Atlasity Integrated Compliance Management platform, C2 Labs helps companies continuously comply with laws and regulations such as GDPR, NIST, CMMC, and CCPA. For more information, visit: https://www.c2labs.com/. If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Based on camera footage, aerial observations and gas measurement flights,in the plume appears to haveover the last week and is no longer present in the near-persistent steam and gas plume as GeoNet reported. Over the past three weeks, ash has been emitted from the main vent at the back of the lake at Whakaari/White Island. This is consistent with the lack of ash being detected on recent MetService satellite images. The plume is now back to its light colour, composed of steam and volcanic gas, with little to no ash. ... , as an observation flight on 2 December confirmed that ash emissions from the volcano has now stopped. ... from the active vent occurred at the volcano at about 15:00 local time yesterday detected by seismic instruments as the volcano observatory GeoNet reported. ... Etna - Europe's largest and most active volcano is a universe in itself. Browse through our collection spanning almost 20 years of eruptions and more. Volcanoes in the land of fire and ice. Iceland is one of the volcanically most active places on earth. One of our best volcano expeditions! Stay 3 full days / nights at the active lava lake of Erta Ale, explore the wonders of Dallol and the Danakil desert in northern Ethiopia. 14 days expedition during Nov-March, small groups, guided by geologist. A small group tour with a volcanologist to discover the active volcanoes in Sicily: spend 8 fantastic days in some of the most beautiful and interesting volcanic areas in the world. Watch Etna and Stromboli erupt... Last but not least, very nice accommodation and delicious food wait for you! 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: (Natural News) President Joe Bidens press team may move to restrict the briefings held at the White House to liberal mainstream media outlets, if language from the new Presidents deputy press secretary if more than just talk. (Article by Richard Moorhead republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com) Organizations or individuals who traffic in conspiracy theories, propaganda and lies to spread disinformation will not be tolerated, TJ Ducklo, Bidens deputy press secretary, said in a statement to Politico, and well work with the WHCA to decide how to handle those instances moving forward. Given liberal media figures extremely wide-ranging definition of disinformation, it appears possible to likely that any journalist or reporter who is critical of Biden policies will not be tolerated at the White House. President Trump had accredited journalists from outlets such as Breitbart and One America News Network during his time in office, and Ducklos language suggests the press credentials of such organizations may be revoked. Biden himself has chafed over questions regarding his sons corrupt foreign business dealings, calling Fox New Peter Doocy a one horse pony for daring to ask about an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into Hunter Biden. The first press briefing of the Biden administration was attended by fourteen mainstream media employees, in a limited-capacity briefing spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Room service journalists questioned White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the color scheme of Air Force One and Bidens mood on Inauguration Day. Former Trump administration Press Secretary Sean Spicer described the easy mode briefing as an embarrassment. Spicer is currently seeking press credentials to attend White House briefings, along with Fox host Eric Bolling. Expect the remaining journalists present for White House press briefings to ask vital questions about dogs, chocolate chip ice cream, and softball slam dunks for the Biden administration. Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com and WhiteHouse.news. A schematic diagram showing processes of the new method. Credit: SIAT Vascularized structures infiltrated within a nanofibrous extracellular matrix (ECM) play vital roles in maintaining functions and metabolism of tissue and organs. Nanofibrous scaffolds are promising in tissue engineering owing to their ECM-mimicking architectures. The vascularization of nanofibrous scaffolds remains challenging because of the difficulty in three-dimensional (3-D) infiltration and incorporation of vascular endothelial cells within nanofibrous scaffolds. Dr. Zhao Qilong's group from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. Wang Min's group from the University of Hong Kong, proposed a new method for biomanufacturing of vascularized tissue. The study was published in Acta Biomaterialia on Jan 27. The proposed method could directly place living endothelial cells within bioactive nanofibrous scaffolds in 3-D through concurrent emulsion electrospinning and coaxial cell electrospraying. Endothelial cells were encapsulated in hydrogel microspheres and deposited along with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-containing nanofibers in the scaffold fabrication process, resulting in nanofibrous scaffolds with 3-D embedded cell-encapsulated microspheres. "After selective disruption of the hydrogel microspheres, the encapsulated endothelial cells are released, yielding bioactive nanofibrous scaffolds with tissue-like 3-D cell-incorporated nanofibrous structures," said Dr. Zhao. As for the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of the cells in the hydrogel microspheres after the cell electrospraying and in the scaffolds after the cell release treatment, there were no significantly changes in compared to the cells normally cultured on the scaffolds. Furthermore, the researchers found that endothelial cells could freely stretch, display enhanced intercellular connections, and maintain the phenotype in the bioactive nanofibrous scaffolds, indicating improved vascularization potential. This study opens a new avenue for biomanufacturing of tissue-mimicking constructs with vascularized structures. Explore further Scientists engineer vascularized kidney tissue More information: Qilong Zhao et al. Three-dimensional Endothelial Cell Incorporation within Bioactive Nanofibrous Scaffolds through Concurrent Emulsion Electrospinning and Coaxial Cell Electrospraying, Acta Biomaterialia (2021). Journal information: Acta Biomaterialia Qilong Zhao et al. Three-dimensional Endothelial Cell Incorporation within Bioactive Nanofibrous Scaffolds through Concurrent Emulsion Electrospinning and Coaxial Cell Electrospraying,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2021.01.035 (Nashville, TN February 2, 2021) The Thirteenth Annual Governors Volunteer Stars Awards will honor volunteers from 47 counties on February 7, 2021 in a virtual ceremony. The awards will celebrate the efforts of 80 volunteers statewide who have strived to improve their communities through service. One youth and one adult volunteer were selected from participating counties to receive this prestigious award. Nominees were judged based on the communitys need of the volunteer service performed, initiative taken to perform the service, creativity used to solve a community problem and impact of the volunteer service on the community. The individual awards are sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas and Terry Silver. The Governors Volunteer Stars Awards also includes business and non-profit categories. One business and one non-profit were selected from each of Tennessees three Grand Regions for their outstanding community involvement and service. The business honorees include, Comcast, East Tennessee Business Honoree; The Surgical Clinic, Middle Tennessee Business Honoree; and Terminix Holdings, West Tennessee Business Honoree. The business awards are sponsored by Advance Financial 24/7. The non-profit honorees include, Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service, East Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree; Chapel Hill Lions Club, Middle Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree; and Thistle and Bee, West Tennessee Non-Profit Honoree. The non-profit awards are sponsored by Friends of Volunteer Tennessee. Each year, 1.6 million Tennessee volunteers give more than 137 million hours of service, contributing the equivalent of $3.3 billion to Tennessees economy. By giving of their time and talents to fulfill needs that would otherwise go unmet, they embody the spirit of giving, said Volunteer Tennessee Executive Director, Jim Snell. NewsChannel5 weekend anchor, Jennifer Kraus, will serve as emcee for the event. A recording of the virtual awards will be available on Volunteer Tennessees website www.volunteertennessee.net on February 9. Volunteer Tennessee coordinates the Governors Volunteer Stars Awards at the state level. Volunteer Tennessee is the 25 member, bipartisan citizen board appointed by the Governor to oversee AmeriCorps and service-learning programs and to advance volunteerism and citizen service to solve community problems in the Volunteer State. ##30## For the full press release with individual Governor's Volunteer Stars Awards Honoree highlights included, click here. Individual honorees are organized alphabetically by county. (@FahadShabbir) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) The FBI confirmed two of its agents were killed and three others sustained injuries in a shooting while they were serving a search warrant in Florida. "Two FBI agents are deceased and three are wounded. Two wounded agents were transported to hospital and are in stable condition," the agency said in a statement Tuesday. "The Names of the deceased will not be released at this time." The FBI also said in the statement that the suspected shooter is deceased. The FBI explained that the shooting took place at approximately 6:00 a.m. in Sunrise, Florida, when a team of agents were trying to execute "a Federal court-ordered search warrant in furtherance of a violent crimes against children case. " The shooting incident is being investigated by the FBI's Inspection Division, the statement said. The warrant was related to a child pornography case under investigation by the FBI, local media reported. The media reported earlier that the suspect was believed to have barricaded and killed himself. Later in the day, President Joe Biden at a presser said he was briefed on the matter and offered condolences to the family's. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Digital Servo Press 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 Digital Servo Press 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Digital Servo Press Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31814 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Digital Servo Press will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Digital Servo Press market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Digital Servo Press market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Digital Servo Press 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 Digital Servo Press market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Promess Kistler Tox Pressotechnik IAI SINTOKOGIO THK Soress Sanyo Machine Works SCHMIDT BIW Atlas Copco FEC CORETEC INC C&M Robotics MOVICO Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31814 This study considers the Digital Servo Press value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Less than 100KN 100KN-200KN More than 200KN Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Automotive Motor and Electronic Industry Aerospace and Medical Equipment Industry 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 Digital Servo Press Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31814 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Digital Servo Press consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Digital Servo Press market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Digital Servo Press 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 Digital Servo Press 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 Digital Servo Press 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-digital-servo-press-market-research-report-highlights-on-future-development-2026/ The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The Centre has set up a committee to suggest reforms in criminal laws and sought suggestions from state governments, courts and bar councils, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the committee set up to suggest reforms in the criminal laws is headed by the Vice Chancellor of the Law University, Delhi. "The Ministry of Home Affairs has also sought suggestions from States, Union Territories, Supreme Court, High Courts, Bar Council of India, Bar Council of States and various Universities and Law Institutes on comprehensive amendments in Criminal laws. "The suggestions received and the report of the Committee are subject to examination by the Ministry of Home Affairs in consultation with all stakeholders, he said in written reply to a question. (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.) BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the release of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. A court in Moscow on February 2 sentenced Navalny to 3.5 years behind bars in a financial misdemeanor case. The ruling came to replace Navalny's suspended sentence in the same case due to his breach of conditions set in the court's original verdict. Navalny's legal team has 10 days to appeal the ruling. Several Western countries called for the release of Navalny. In particular, the White House said it was concerned about Navalny's sentence and also called for the blogger's release. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in response to statements by Western countries about Navalny, urged them not to interfere in the affairs of a sovereign state. "The sentence to Alexey Navalny is far from any standards of a rule-of-law state. Navalny must be immediately released. Violence against peaceful protesters must stop," German cabinet spokesman Steffen Seibert quoted Merkel on Twitter. In 2014, Alexey Navalny and his brother Oleg were indicted on charges of embezzlement in dealings with the Russian subsidiary of French cosmetics company Yves Rocher. Alexey got a 3.5-year suspended sentence, with one of the conditions being that he check in with the police in person at least twice a month. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Navalny's house arrest during the Yves Rocher case trial breached several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights but declined to recognize the case as politically motivated. Khartoum Demonstrators closed off 60 Street in Khartoum yesterday using cooking gas cylinders in protest against the rising cost of gas. The Ministry of Energy and Mining is expecting Khartoum Gily Refinery to recommence operations, which have stalled since late December. The prices of basic commodities are rising daily. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mining Hamid Suleiman said in a press release yesterday that maintenance work at the Khartoum Gily Refinery has been accelarated. Radio Dabanga's editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as 2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Rajya Sabha Chairman has warned members against using of mobile phones for recording house proceedings and said it will invite "breach of privilege" if they did not desist. The Chairman has also warned media houses from using such recordings for broadcasting. M. Venkiah Naidu said, "Any use of mobile phone will invite breach of privilege and media is advised not to use the recordings." On Tuesday during sloganeering some members recorded the incident and posted it on the social media. The opposition on Tuesday forced the Upper House to be adjourned for the day. The house witnessed sloganeering the moment it assembled on Tuesday for the day after the Budget was presented on Monday. The ruckus started after Naidu rejected a suspension notice given by the opposition on the farm laws. The rejection did not go down well and the opposition members who returned minutes after walking out, raised slogans before the Chairman's podium. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text This Thursday, homeless New Yorkers will ask questions directly of New York City mayoral candidates during a virtual forum. The historic events conception and organization was led in part by a New Yorker who is homeless himself Shams DaBaron, an advocate for the citys homeless and a resident at the Lucerne, an Upper West Side hotel operating as a shelter, who developed the event in partnership with activist groups including the UWS Open Hearts Initiative. Thursdays forum marks the culmination of a recent foray into activism for DaBaron, who spent last fall organizing and speaking at rallies alongside locals and his fellow residents to successfully block New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios efforts to move its occupants elsewhere. DaBaron has previously garnered the attention of several New York City mayoral hopefuls. I think some have a stereotype in their minds about who the homeless are and what they think they look like, said Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive running for mayor as a Democrat, who calls DaBaron a friend. Part of whats been so powerful about him elevating his voice in this struggle is that he shatters all of those notions in the most beautiful way. Two weeks ago, DaBaron, 51, took a trip to his childhood neighborhood in the South Bronx, with Democratic mayoral candidate Maya Wiley, a former top aide to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. DaBaron spent the day introducing Wiley to locals and community leaders. Shams is a model for who we should all be as New Yorkers, said Wiley in an email. DaBaron credits the attention to his outspoken honesty. Im a straight shooter, said DaBaron. Im not controlled by anybody. That confidence comes from having overcome a life full of challenging experiences. DaBarons mother took heroin while pregnant and he entered foster care at two years old. He first experienced homelessness at around age 10, after the system couldnt find him a permanent home. He made hip-hop as an MC in the Bronx and started dealing drugs in the 1980s to get by. In the mid1980s, DaBarons life trajectory began to change: after his business partner was arrested, he told DaBaron to stop dealing drugs because he didnt want to see his friend end up in jail too. DaBaron started to question his lifestyle and began turning youth that he had initially taught to sell drugs away from the corners. One of them was his cousin, William Evans, who now runs Neighborhood Benches, a community organization for keeping youth away from crime and violence. Later, DaBaron became a single father and got his son through high school while living in a family shelter. By 2018, DaBaron was living in an apartment in Atlanta and developing a TV series based on his life in the Bronx. DaBaron was in need of money but the production company he worked with backed. He decided not to renew his lease and went back to New York City in fall of 2019, where he could use public libraries to work on his project. DaBaron did this while living on the streets again, relying more and more on alcohol as the weather got colder and growing increasingly depressed. DaBaron went to a shelter in Greenpoint to ask for a referral for outpatient services. He was transferred to another shelter, but soon left after feeling that the security guards there were disrespectful. DaBaron decided to ride the subway to keep warm at night. While leaving a station, DaBaron said that a group of cops approached and handcuffed him as a part of de Blasios Subway Diversion Project. It was scary, because I honestly didnt know what they were going to do to me, said DaBaron. The police took DaBaron back to the Project Renewal shelter. Wary of encountering the cops again, DaBaron decided to stay at the shelter and receive treatment for his alcoholism and depression. He credits the shelters services for saving his life. In March, he caught COVID-19 at the shelter and spent three weeks recovering from severe symptoms at a hotel quarantine site in Astoria. When Project Renewal gave DaBaron the opportunity to live in a hotel instead of a shelter, the choice was easy. Along with around 280 other homeless men, DaBaron moved into the Lucerne in July, as a part of a city government effort to use empty commercial hotels to halt the spread of the coronavirus in dormitory-like homeless shelters. Shortly after, concerned Upper West Siders formed a Facebook page that amassed thousands of members and contained hostile rhetoric from commenters. Some even referred to the Lucerne men as scum and thugs. Uncomfortable with the hateful language, but also with homeless men living at the Lucerne, a group of locals splintered off to form another group called the West Side Community Organization, threatened to sue the city and raised over $200,000 to retain Randy Mastro, a former deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani who helped de Blasio settle two lawsuits in 2013. Other locals met the Lucerne residents with support rather than hostility. As soon as the men moved into the neighborhood, a coalition of local moms formed a group called UWS Open Hearts Initiative and wrote welcoming sidewalk messages in chalk with their children outside of the Lucerne. After seeing this, DaBaron reached out to Open Hearts and told them the writing was nice but that men at the hotel need tangible help. According to DaBaron, the group immediately said they could provide 12-step programs and other daily activities for residents free of charge. DaBaron spoke with the hotels service provider and the programs were put into place. As pressure grew to move the Lucerne men out of the neighborhood, Open Hearts took on activist roles, such as scheduling press conferences and rallies that DaBaron and other men could speak at. The first rally was scheduled outside of Gracie Mansion in September. Initially, DaBaron didnt want to show his face or give out his name. Pulling from his skills as a filmmaker and hip-hop musician, DaBaron preferred for his advocacy to appear in writing under the name of Da Homeless Hero. He didnt want to be known as the homeless guy, said Corinne Low, an economics professor and co-founder of UWS Open Hearts Initiative. I think over time he saw what an incredible impact it would have for him to bring his really incredible and passionate voice, advocating specifically for homeless people. DaBaron decided to speak after he ran into an old friend at an outpatient clinic. The man is known as JDL from his time in the once-prominent old-school hip-hop group the Cold Crush Brothers and he recognized DaBaron, from their days making music in the 1980s South Bronx. After learning his friend was now living on the streets, DaBaron walked away in tears and later decided to speak at the Gracie Mansion rally. I kept thinking, man, it's not just me, said DaBaron. We have established a multibillion-dollar industry. We've laid the foundation for it. And here we are, homeless with nothing. His first Gracie Mansion speech caught the ear of then-Lucerne resident Larry Thomas, 59. He speaks the truth, said Thomas. He understands what people are going through. What stood out to Thomas was DaBarons notion of trauma on top of trauma, the dual horrors of homelessness and displacement. Thomas introduced himself to DaBaron afterwards and the two became close friends, both appearing together in future rallies and press conferences. More and more residents have become active in maintaining what they have at the Lucerne, according to DaBaron. Prior to the court hearings in November, DaBaron managed to get 160 signatures of the 180 or so men still living in the hotel on petition in favor of staying. (Of the around 280 men who moved into the Lucerne in July, around 50 left for a variety of reasons and another 30 found permanent housing.) Another product of DaBaron and Open Hearts partnership are the weekly Soulful Walk and Talks, where faith leaders and Lucerne residents spend time outside to learn about each other. DaBaron came up with the idea for the walks after learning that a fellow resident wanted more people to talk to. Feeling that many men at the Lucerne could use the same thing, DaBaron and Open Hearts organized with local faith leaders to host these events. One Protestant minister who works with the homeless, Ian Alterman, describes DaBaron as both humble and courageous after getting to know him through the walks. As a former community board member, Alterman is impressed by the attention DaBaron has gotten from those campaigning for office. He is essentially being courted by mayoral candidates, said Alterman. In September, de Blasio announced the Lucernes occupants would go elsewhere and eventually settled on a hotel in the Financial District. A downtown group sued the city in response, claiming the mayor had caved to political pressure. Meanwhile, progressive Upper West Side activists and Lucerne residents mobilized to oppose the move, arguing that leaving abruptly would inflict trauma and jeopardize the health of residents working through mental illness and substance abuse. On the scheduled move date in October, a judge ruled in favor of a temporary restraining order that DaBaron and two other men petitioned for. The same judge dismissed the order in November, but a subsequent filing to an appeals court has allowed the men still living at the Lucerne to stay until at least May. DaBaron hopes that Thursdays forum will pressure candidates to better understand the lives of homeless New Yorkers and to propose tangible solutions. Mayoral candidate and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Sec. Shaun Donovan has also met DaBaron and appeared at a Lucerne rally in November; New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, another mayoral contender, has also voiced support for the hotel. Local representatives that DaBaron has spoken to include Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and state Sen. Brian Benjamin, who is running for New York City comptroller. Hes got the right personality and the right intelligence, said Brewer, of DaBaron. He has a following in terms of his fellow residents and thats important. To DaBaron, what he has to offer to decision makers who listen to him is an articulate and thoughtful voice for the homeless experience. I relapse like they relapse; I struggle, I get triggered, I go through every last thing they do, said DaBaron. Im them. Corrections: The shelter in Greenpoint is not run by Project Renewal. DaBaron caught COVID-19 in March. The mayoral forum was developed by DaBaron and the UWS Open Hearts Initiative. DaBaron retained an attorney himself. [February 03, 2021] Mouser Electronics Releases New Intelligent Revolution eBook Examining AI in Humanitarian Applications Mouser Electronics Inc. today released Artificial Intelligence: Improving Harvests and the Human Experience, the third eBook from The Intelligent Revolution series. The new eBook examines fascinating new uses for artificial intelligence (AI) in farming and other specialized applications targeting the human experience. Mouser's AI-focused eBook series is part of the company's award-winning Empowering Innovation Together program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005676/en/ Mouser Electronics announces the third eBook from The Intelligent Revolution (News - Alert) series, which examines fascinating new uses for AI in farming and other applications to improve the human experience. (Photo: Business Wire) "While many are familiar with some common uses for artificial intelligence, innovative scientists around the world are constantly finding new applications," said Kevin Hess, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Mouser Electronics. "Our newest Intelligent Revolution eBook explores how AI is being used to deliver real iprovements to quality of life for people in all corners of the world." The first article in the new eBook explores how farmers are using AI to inform changes in techniques and strategies. Another article tells the story of how technicians at a research lab are training robots to help children with autism spectrum disorder. The third article takes readers to Uganda, where AI-based speech recognition of different dialects can help identify potential crises in remote communities. Established in 2015, Mouser's Empowering Innovation Together program is one of the industry's most recognized electronic component marketing programs. Previous series have highlighted the process of turning an idea into a product, as well as innovative developments in robotics and smart city design. To learn more about this and all of Mouser's Empowering Innovation Together series, visit https://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation and follow Mouser on Facebook and Twitter. To read the new Artificial Intelligence: Improving Harvests and the Human Experience eBook, go to https://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation/artificial-intelligence/ai-saves-lives. As a global authorized distributor, Mouser offers the world's widest selection of the newest semiconductors and electronic components - in stock and ready to ship. Mouser's customers can expect 100% certified, genuine products that are fully traceable from each of its manufacturer partners. To help speed customers' designs, Mouser's website hosts an extensive library of technical resources, including a Technical Resource Center, along with product data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, engineering tools and other helpful information. About Mouser Electronics Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on New Product Introductions from its leading manufacturer partners. Serving the global electronic design engineer and buyer community, the global distributor's website, Mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 5 million products from over 1,100 manufacturer brands. Mouser offers 27 support locations worldwide to provide best-in-class customer service in local language, currency and time zone. The distributor ships to over 630,000 customers in 223 countries/territories from its 1 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution facilities in the Dallas, Texas, metro area. For more information, visit https://www.mouser.com/. Trademarks Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. All other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005676/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] An anonymous person with detailed information about the suspicious disappearance of a British man in Brisbane 21 years ago may hold the key to solving the cold case. Police believe Steven Goldsmith was murdered around the time he disappeared in July 2000, and there are people who know what happened. A $250,000 reward is now being offered for information which leads to the conviction of those responsible. One person has made contact with investigators a number of times in the years since Mr Goldsmith's disappearance and last contacted police in 2006. The last confirmed sighting was on July 10, 2000 when Mr Goldsmith was seen on CCTV at the Commonwealth Bank ATM (pictured) in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm 'This caller has provided information that is very specific on what happened to Steven, I won't go into detail, but I am appealing for that person to make contact with the investigators again,' Detective Inspector Damien Hansen said. 'We encourage anyone who has information and for whatever reason has remained silent, to put that aside and come forward and speak with us.' The last confirmed sighting was on July 10, 2000 when Mr Goldsmith was seen on CCTV at the Commonwealth Bank ATM in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm. Detective Inspector Hansen believes the $3,000 Mr Goldsmith withdrew from the ATM 'could well be' connected to the events that lead to his death. An anonymous caller who has given detectives information about Mr Goldsmith's disappearance that was 'very specific' has been called upon to come forward again 'We've seen a homicide motive for a lot less. $3,000 is a lot of cash for someone to be taking out,' he said. Police located Goldsmith's vehicle and work tools at his Sydney street unit and his car keys, credit cards, passport and driver's licence were found inside the home. There was also a load of washing still in the dryer. At the time he was living in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm and was contracted by the Toowoomba City Council as an arborist. Mr Goldsmith was contracted as an aborist for the Toowoomba City Council when he vanished He spent time in the Fortitude Valley and New Farm areas and was known to frequent bars, clubs and boarding houses, and was experimenting with drugs, police said. As well as the $250,000 reward, protection from prosecution is being offered for people not directly responsible for the crime. 'Any person who was involved in the crime but did not commit the crime who comes forward and speaks with police, is eligible for this indemnity from prosecution, Police Minister Mark Ryan said. Mr Goldsmith was 28 years old at the time of his disappearance. Police believe Steven Goldsmith (pictured) was murdered around the time he disappeared in July 2000 He was around 175cm tall, spoke with an English accent, had red hair and freckles and a fair complexion. He had several tattoos, including an eagle on his shoulder blade, and walked with a slight limp from a work injury. Detective Inspector Hansen said Steven's disappearance was out of character and 'strongly believes' people in the community have crucial information on the case. 'He was in regular contact with his family in England and he had upcoming plans in life he was looking forward to'. In 2007, his disappearance was referred to the Coroner whose findings determined Mr Goldsmith to be deceased. Mr Hansen said there was 'no evidence of Mr Goldsmith' living beyond the date of his disappearance on July 10, 2000. 'The proof of life checks that we conduct with missing persons, with homicide investigations, there has been no movement - bank accounts, contact with family, contact with friends,' he said. 'Steven's parents need and deserve to know what happened to their son.' In this Aug. 13, 2020, file photo, Avraham Berkowitz, Assistant to President Donald Trump and Special Representative for International Negotiations, left, and Trump's White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, look at each other during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington. AP Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, were nominated by a friendly attorney on Sunday for the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in negotiating four normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations known as the "Abraham Accords." The deals were announced in a four-month span between mid-August and mid-December and were the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East in 25 years as the region girds for a prolonged confrontation with Iran. Nominating the pair of former deputies to then-President Donald Trump was American attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was eligible to do so in his capacity as a professor emeritus of Harvard Law School. Dershowitz had defended Trump in his first impeachment trial last year and said in a Jan. 20 comment in the Wall Street Journal that the Senate should dismiss the article of impeachment against Trump over the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol as he is no longer president. In his letter to the Nobel committee, Dershowitz also cited the work of former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and former Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer in the normalization deals. He seemed to suggest his nomination could be controversial. "The Nobel Peace Prize is not for popularity. Nor is it an assessment of what the international community may think of those who helped bring about peace. It is an award for fulfilling the daunting criteria set out by Alfred Nobel in his will," he wrote. Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law, and Berkowitz, who was the Middle East envoy, were key figures in negotiating deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. In a statement, Kushner said he was honored to be nominated for the prize. The winner will be announced in October and the award presented in December. President Joe Biden's administration is expected to review all national security deals struck during the Trump administration, including arms packages for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Some lawmakers have complained about the Morocco deal because, to win the nation's agreement, the United States recognized its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. Trump left office on Jan. 20 under a cloud of controversy, potentially affecting whether the two aides would be awarded the Nobel. (Reuters) Central Pennsylvania is home to some of the most accomplished and respected African American leaders anywhere in the nation. About that there can be no argument. As we celebrate Black History month, this region is rightly proud of the legacy of legendary figures that have called Central PA home, including political leader C. Delores Tucker; educators John P. Scott and the Rev. William Howard Day, journalist Thomas Morris Chester and librarian Virginia P. Florence. Dedication and ribbon-cutting of A Gathering At The Crossroads: For Such A Time As This, a monument depicting African-American abolitionist William Howard Day and suffragist Frances E.W. Harper, around the pedestal featuring the names of 100 African-American residents of Harrisburgs Historic 8th Ward. August 26, 2020 Sean Simmers |ssimmers@pennlive.com But in this months Black Excellence project, with the help of our readers, we will pay tribute to African Americans who are excelling in their professions, despite the tremendous obstacles that often block their paths. African American leaders are in the vanguard of those making Central Pennsylvania a better community for everyone who lives here. Its fitting during these difficult days of pandemic that we send out a special salute to Black leaders in the medical profession. The late Dr. Donald Spigner was a legendary and beloved Black doctor in Central Pennsylvania who not only took care of the health of his patients, but he was a committed and fearless civil rights activist. Dr. Spigner died in 2015, leaving a legacy that went far beyond his doctors office and touched the lives of thousands of people in our region. Black physicians are in the vanguard of those helping to save lives during COVID-19. The legacy of Black excellence in medicine continues today with such notable physicians as Dr. Ayodeji O. Bakare, Medical Director of Bakare Associates, OB/GYN; and Dr. Sharee Livingston, with UPMC and Dr. Bolanle Limann, Chief Medical Director at Hamilton Health. They were among the doctors featured on PennLives recent webinar COVID-19 Town Hall: The Vaccine, taking time out of their busy pandemic schedules to help educate those who are still skeptical about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. They are but two of the many Black healthcare professionals tirelessly working very long hours to help a community in crisis. We encourage our readers to lift up the names of African Americans medical professionals who are on the front lines and serving our entire community during this pandemic. They deserve our gratitude and our respect for their courage as well as their expertise in fighting COVID-19. And to help us commemorate Black History Month, PennLive readers are invited to tape a 30-second video about anyone who exemplifies Black excellence in Central Pennsylvania. Or, you can send a short letter of about 300 words describing the person to submissions@pennlive.com. Deadline is Feb. 10. Black excellence in Central PA includes people in many professions, from those serving as religious leaders to those serving as elected officials to those educating our children and cleaning our streets. They are people like the Rev. Nathaniel and Pat Gadsden, two beloved religious leaders and social workers in our region who are focused on strengthening the Black family and encouraging Black youth to achieve the dreams Dr. Martin Luther King envisioned decades ago. Bishop Nathan Baxter (right) and the late Rep. John Lewis during one of their meetings. Bishop Baxter served as chaplain on the joint Congressional pilgrimages to Civil Rights Trails organized by Rep Lewis and Republican Sen. Fred Upton. They are people like Bishop Nathan Baxter, retired as 10th bishop of the Episcopal Church and former dean of the Washington National Cathedral. They are people like veteran civil rights advocate Dr. Robert Scott, professor emeritus at Penn State University; like acclaimed historian Calobe Jackson and Homer Floyd, former Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission who continues to raise his voice for the cause of racial justice. Homer Floyd speaks during a John Lewis memorial service held on the Capitol steps on Aug. 3, 2020. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com But there are so many more who deserve accolades during Black History Month. We ask our readers to join us in applauding a people whose culture, beauty and strength sustain not only our region but our entire nation. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Robert Glazer, CEO of ENTA says, Our partnership with Lynx.MD will allow ENTA to contribute to, and benefit from, the comprehensive wealth of healthcare data that it currently contained in our custom built EHR platform and make that data accessible to the healthcare community. In todays fast-paced and ever-changing global healthcare landscape, real-world data is driving healthcare innovation to new heights. ENT and Allergy Associates (ENTA), is proud to announce that it has partnered with Lynx.MD to securely and seamlessly share its accumulated clinical healthcare data with academic, pharmaceutical and med-tech communities to facilitate the development of innovative medical protocols and technologies. The Lynx.MD cloud-based data platform enables the analysis of rich, real-world health information by securely connecting healthcare organizations. This alliance empowers deep learning analysis, enabling researchers to investigate data from multiple sources driving innovation at an unparalleled pace. Lynx.MD was founded by award-winning entrepreneurs and experts from the cybersecurity and healthcare sectors. The collaboration with Lynx.MD will position ENTA to significantly expand and enhance its opportunities to advance the field of medicine on a global scale. The data will be anonymized prior to placement on the platform and always remains securely stored in the ENT dedicated Lynx AWS cloud environment. An additional layer of security will also be applied with industry-leading advanced firewall algorithms and the application of world-class medical-grade cybersecurity protection protocols. Robert Glazer, CEO of ENTA says, Our partnership with Lynx.MD will allow ENTA to contribute to, and benefit from, the comprehensive wealth of healthcare data that it currently contained in our custom built EHR platform and make that data accessible to the healthcare community. We have dedicated ourselves to being at the forefront of digital medical records for the past 20 years and this is the natural next evolution of the information infrastructure we have built. Glazer further commented, Real-time data and research are the lifeblood of healthcare innovations and technological advancements in the medical arena. We at ENTA are thrilled to be a part of Lynx.MDs mission to drive the advances in medical intelligence and healthcare treatment options on a global scale. Dr. Daniel Gold, Partner and Chair of ENTAs Electronic Health System Committee adds, Lynx.MDs ability to apply machine learning to anonymized health care data can dramatically improve clinical patient care, research productivity, clinical operations, and digital medicine product testing all of which can lead to better patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs. We are excited to be partnering with such an innovative leader in the health care research space. To learn more about the benefits of ENT and Allergy Associates, find the office near you or book an appointment, please visit http://www.entandallergy.com or call 1-855-ENTA-DOC. About ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP: ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA) has over 220 physicians practicing in 40+ office locations in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as New York City and northern/central New Jersey. The practice sees over 90,000 patients per month. Each ENTA clinical location provides access to a full complement of services, including General Adult and Pediatric ENT and Allergy, Voice and Swallowing, Advanced Sinus and Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Disorders of the Inner Ear and Dizziness, Asthma, Clinical Immunology, Diagnostic Audiology, Hearing Aid dispensing, Sleep and CT Services. ENTA has clinical alliances with Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northwell Health, and a partnership with the American Cancer Society. To learn more, visit http://www.entandallergy.com. About Lynx.MD: Lynx.MD unlocks the potential of health data to accelerate innovation. It opens a new era of privacy and anonymization - a safe space in the cloud where rich health data can be quickly shared and studied with minimal effort while controlling access levels on-the-fly. With the Lynx platform, healthcare organizations can become catalysts for innovation by making their data available, and by collaborating with industry partners and academia - all within a secure environment that honors patient privacy. For the med-tech and pharma communities, this means radically reduced data access time and a new potential for instantly performing deep learning and AI research and development based on health data from a diversity of sources never available before. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested a person for his alleged involvement in a murder case in which four police personnel were killed and their arms looted by the cadres of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) terrorist organisation in Jharkhand's Latehar, an official said. Mrityunjay Kumar Singh (34), of Jharkhand's Latehar district who is believed to have a close nexus with the banned CPI (Maoist) leadership, was arrested in connection with the case, an NIA spokesperson said. The case pertains to the attack on the police patrolling party by the cadres of the CPI (Maoist) on November 22, 2019, at Lukaiya more in Latehar in which four police personnel were killed and their arms and ammunition looted. An FIR was registered on November 23, 2019, under sections of the IPC, the Arms Act, the Criminal Law Amendment Act and the UA (P) Act. The NIA re-registered the case in June last year and took up the investigation. The state police had earlier arrested and charge-sheeted six accused. The NIA conducted searches at several places in the districts of Latehar, Loherdagga and Palamu. During one of the searches at Singh's premises, unaccounted money amounting to Rs 2.64 crore was recovered, the NIA said. A day before the incident, Singh had met Ravindra Ganjhu, the regional committee member of the CPI (Maoist) at Bearjanga forest and provided him money for the attack, the official said. The arrested accused is being produced before a special NIA court in Ranchi. David Lee Huber shot dead two FBI agents before killing himself Tuesday The child porn suspect who shot dead two FBI agents in a dawn raid on his Florida apartment before turning the gun on himself has now been pictured, as it is revealed he was a father-of two. David Lee Huber, 55, shot dead Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, while they were trying to execute a federal search warrant on his apartment in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale, early Tuesday. The FBI confirmed Wednesday Huber, an IT expert and divorcee who lived alone, was the target of the federal search warrant in the child pornography case that had led the agents to carry out the deadly raid. Huber, who was armed with an assault-style rifle, lay in wait for the FBI agents and opened fire on them through his unopened door after observing them through the doorbell camera. Sources told CBS Miami that Schwartzenberger was killed instantly but Alfin, who had been shot multiple times, returned fire before he died. Three other agents were also injured in the shooting. Huber is believed to have killed himself after barricading himself in the apartment. Huber was not listed as a sex offender and had no Florida prison record with only minor traffic violations on his rap sheet. Broward County records show he was married for 16 years before divorcing in 2016 and was the father of two children. Huber and his ex-wife had created some sort of parenting plan in the divorce for at least one of the children they shared, the records show. The ages of his children are not clear. Records show he owned and ran computer consulting businesses from 2008 until last year. He also received his commercial pilot certificate in 1994 from the Federal Aviation Administration. Prior to Tuesday's events, he had also worked as a temporary technology contractor for Florida Blue, an affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance firms, in 2020. Prior to this he had also held a job at employment agency Modis. Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, (left) and Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, (right) were shot dead when they arrived to search Huber's apartment early Tuesday Child porn suspect Huber (above) shot dead two FBI agents in a dawn raid on his Florida apartment before killing himself has now been pictured Broward County records show Huber (pictured) was divorced in 2016 and was the father of two children The confrontation on Tuesday marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history. The FBI has so far released very few details about the deadly shooting and a number of questions remain unanswered as to how a search warrant, which agents carry out regularly, went so awry. Former agents and law enforcement experts have since said that meticulous planning goes into serving warrants in a bid to prevent casualties so the FBI has a lot to answer for as the investigation continues. Much of what is known so far has come from FBI sources. It is not yet clear if the agency knew the suspect was heavily armed or if they underestimated his response to the raid. It also isn't clear if agents announced themselves at the door or if they lost their element of surprise. Retired FBI agent Richard Kolko told CBS Miami that something obviously went 'awfully wrong'. 'Getting that many agents caught up in the line of fire something really went wrong and they're going to break that all down,' Kolko said. He said the planning phase of executing a search warrant is meticulous. The suspect, who was armed with an assault-style rifle, lay in wait for the FBI agents (pictured above) and opened fire on them through his unopened door after observing them through the doorbell camera The suspect, who was armed with an assault-style rifle, lay in wait for the FBI agents and opened fire on them through his unopened door after observing them through the doorbell camera. Pictured above is a SWAT vehicle that appeared to have crashed through barricades at the apartment The FBI has so far released very few details about the deadly shooting and a number of questions remain unanswered. The only official comments have come from George Piro, the head of the FBI's Miami field office, who said agents 'meticulously plan' and carry out search warrants almost every day 'It basically covers every contingency: radios, hospitals, route of entry, routes of egress, all kinds of things are going into a very complex plan,' he said. 'That has to be signed by a supervisor, or above, and then they execute the plan early in the morning. That's the best time to try to arrest someone. 'Clearly something went awfully, awfully wrong.' The shooting unfolded around 6am on Tuesday in the middle-class neighborhood of single family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings. Agents went to Huber's first-floor apartment at the Water Terrace Apartment Complex in Sunrise to execute a federal court-ordered warrant related to a case involving child porn and what they described as 'violent crimes against children'. They were trying to seize the suspects computer, as well as any other evidence, related to the investigation. Sources say the FBI had found an IP address for the suspect's computer on an internet service provider and linked it to that address. The FBI has not released any details about what the man was being investigated for or what they suspected was on his computer. Sources told the Miami Herald that the suspect tracked the arrival of agents through his doorbell camera. He opened fire on them through the door with an assault-style rifle before they could even get inside the apartment. 'There are several huge holes in the door going outward,' a law enforcement official said. The FBI said Wednesday that one injured agent was still being treated at Broward Medical Health Center, and a second had been released from hospital. A third agent injured in the shooting did not need to be taken to hospital. Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger (left) and Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, (right) died in Tuesday's raid Schwartzenberger started with the bureau in 2005 and worked out of the Miami office with the violent crimes against children unit. Alfin, who also investigated child exploitation cases, had previously worked at FBI headquarters handling major cases involving violent crimes against children The shooting unfolded around 6am on Tuesday in the middle-class neighborhood of single family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings. A heavy law enforcement presence was spotted in the area in the hours after the shooting He is believed to have killed himself after barricading himself in the apartment. The FBI said they are not releasing the suspect's identity until his relatives are informed 'Vast majority of agents are decent, honorable people': Biden pays bizarre tribute to two FBI agents shot dead by child porn suspect Joe Biden paid tribute on Tuesday evening. 'My heart aches for the families,' he said in a press briefing on Tuesday evening President Joe Biden has paid tribute to the two FBI agents shot dead by a child pornography suspect in Florida before adding that the 'vast, vast majority' of law enforcement officers were 'decent, honorable people'. Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, and Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, were killed at an apartment complex in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale, on Tuesday morning while trying to serve a warrant in a case involving child porn and 'violent crimes against children'. The suspect, who also died in the ambush, lay in wait for FBI agents who he observed through his doorbell camera before opening fire on them, it has since emerged. Biden paid tribute to the two slain officers on Tuesday evening, saying: 'They put their lives on the line and it's a hell of a price to pay. 'And every single day by and large the vast, vast majority of these men and women are decent, honorable people who put themselves on the line. We owe them.' He said he had not yet spoken to the grieving families of the agents. 'One of the things when you're in a combat zone in the military or you're an FBI agent or a police officer, every family when they put that shield on and go out in the morning dreads the possibility of a call,' he said. 'My heart aches for the families. I have not had an opportunity, nor will I try today to contact them.' Advertisement Former US marshal turned private investigator Barry Golden said the installation of doorbell cameras and surveillance on people's homes had reduced the FBI's element of surprise in recent years. 'More people these days have cameras outside their home, so chances are that the element of surprise might be out the window, if someone is sitting there watching or getting a text alert,' Golden said. Some sources have suggested that the open air layout of the apartment complex could have been a disadvantage for agents. It is not yet clear if the agents had announced themselves when they arrived or if they had even been trying to get inside the apartment. Law enforcement officials have said that FBI agents are trained to set up a perimeter and often wait for suspects to emerge. They said that entering an apartment now is often just for hostage situations given the dangers. Alex Piquero, a University of Miami sociology professor who has specialized in criminology, said serving search warrants at a person's home is incredibly hazardous for law enforcement officers. 'Serving warrants, next to domestic dispute calls and high speed chases, are among the most dangerous for law enforcement - they don't know what awaits them on the inside,' Piquero said. The area surrounding the apartment is still secured by law enforcement more than 24 hours later. George Piro, the head of the FBI's Miami field office, said during a press conference on Tuesday evening that agents 'meticulously plan' and carry out search warrants almost every day. 'The vast majority of these warrants occur without incident,' Piro said. 'The operations... in Sunrise ended tragically with the subject opening fire on the members of the search team.' FBI director Christopher Wray has also not offered any details of the investigation but praised the two murdered agents for their 'heroism' and vowed to 'honor their ultimate sacrifice'. 'Tragically, the FBI lost two of our own today,' he said. 'Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger were shot and killed this morning in the line of duty while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation. One of the slain agents is pictured above on a flag-draped stretcher arriving at a medical examiner's officer surrounded by law enforcement Broward County Sheriff escort a Coral Springs Parkland Fire Department vehicle as it leaves the Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services after the killing of two FBI agents 'Every day, FBI special agents put themselves in harm's way to keep the American people safe. Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country. Schwartzenberger, 43, had been an agent with the FBI since December 2005 and worked in the Miami field office on a squad of agents handling violent crimes against children, according to court records. Her work primarily focused on tracking offenders who sexually exploit children online and investigating other crimes against children. Schwartzenberger is survived by a husband and two children. Alfin, 36, who also investigated child exploitation cases, had previously worked at FBI headquarters handling major cases involving violent crimes against children, according to court records. He had a degree in information technology and went through the FBIs specialized training programs for cybercrimes. He was involved in a major child exploitation investigation dubbed Playpen that resulted in arrests around the world. Alfin is survived by a wife and child. In the hours after the shootings, police motorcycles with their lights flashing escorted fire rescue trucks as they brought the bodies of the slain agents to a medical examiner's office. The agent's bodies were draped with American flags as they were given an honor guard by their law enforcement colleagues. In a never seen before move, Delhis No.1 radio station, Fever FM, has roped in RJ Supriya as Delhis evening show presenter, on popular demand! The action started yesterday on Supriyas Instagram handle where she reached to her fans for a suggestion on her next career move. The Insta poll saw a massive 70% people wanting her to come on-air with Delhis No.1 radio station. As part of one the fastest recruitments, Supriya reached out to Fever FM, putting forward the publics demand. The brand lost no time in accepting the verdict of the fans and immediately rolled out the offer letter to the RJ! This bold move by the brand once again establishes Fever FMs cutting edge and spontaneous approach. Supriya comes with over 6 years of experience in the radio industry. She would be hosting the evening show in Delhi, starting today from 5-9PM. The show, Online Poore Time will be targeted to the millennials and Gen Z, who are forever hooked to the digital medium! Gaurav Sharma, Programming Head, Fever FM, said We are extremely pleased to have RJ Supriya on-board with us as our evening show host. The way the entire recruitment panned out in less than 24 hours is truly remarkable! The audience wanted her to be a part of Delhis No.1 Radio station and we couldnt help but oblige! This goes on to show that listeners delight is forever the top-most priority for Fever FM! We look forward to launching our evening show with RJ Supriya and wish her all the success! 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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 SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31792 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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 SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Zhong Composite Material Tongyi Metal Material Development Yinbang Copper Xin Composite Material Technology Jin Hua Ning Thai metal Jinnuo Composite Materials Yuguang Clad Metal Materials Huayuan New Composite Materials Tellable Composite Materials For home Composite Materials Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31792 This study considers the SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Bilayer Structure Three-Layer Structure Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Cookware Transport 3C Electronics 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 SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31792 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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 SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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 SUS-Al-Alloy Clad Metals 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-sus-al-alloy-clad-metals-market-research-report-highlights-on-future-development-2026/ Mike has reported on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's wildlife, wildlands and the agencies that manage them since 2012. A native Minnesotan, he arrived in the West to study environmental journalism at the University of Colorado. A research group from Inselspital, Universitatsspital Bern and the University of Bern has published a comprehensive study on prenatal causes of kidney disease in adults in "Nature Communications". The finding: The serum protein fetuin-A plays a central role in coping with local inflammation and microcalcifications in the fetal kidney, which have an impact on kidney function in adulthood. The study results provide indications of the clinical use of Fetuin-A in kidney diseases. According to the Barker hypothesis (Hales and Barker 1992) (also referred to as "small baby syndrome"), infants with too low body weight have an increased risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney diseases in adulthood. According to this hypothesis, fetal protective mechanisms enable adaptation to unfavorable intrauterine conditions (chronic oxygen or nutrient deficiency) and allow for fetal survival. At the same time, however, they lead to permanent structural and functional strains and changes into adulthood. The comprehensive study recently published in Nature Communications now clarifies the central mechanisms of this phenomenon. Fetuin-A plays a key role Under the program of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Kidney Control of Homeostasis (Kidney.CH) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the research team has developed a mouse model of reduced growth attributable to fetal oxygen deprivation (fetal hypoxia). First of all, they demonstrated that fetal hypoxia causes local inflammation and microcalcifications with tissue damage in the kidney, resulting in a more rapid decline in renal function in adulthood. The experimental findings thus confirmed the Barker hypothesis. Concomitantly, the lack of oxygen activates the gene for the serum protein fetuin-A ectopically in the kidney, beyond the previously known site of expression in the liver. This is in line with the known function of Fetuin-A to protect the vascular system from calcification. Furthermore, the study demonstrates a considerable number of previously unknown functions of fetuin-A in the kidney. These include preventing calcification and fibrotic changes of the kidney soft tissue, as well as inhibiting inflammatory processes. In addition, the research team was able to show that fetuin-A not only carries out these functions during development but also protects against fibrotic remodeling of kidney tissue after acute oxygen deprivation in fully developed kidneys. Fetuin-A with significant, pharmacological potential The versatility of the effects of fetuin-A was initially just as surprising as the fact that kidneys are particularly affected by it. The study provides strong evidence that fetuin-A could play an important role in treating kidney damage caused by oxygen deficiency as well as after reperfusion of an ischemic circulatory disorder. The discovery that fetuin-A is produced ectopically outside the liver under oxygen deprivation in the fetal kidney was a surprising initial finding for us. The further we extended the research the clearer became the significance of fetuin-A not only in coping with the damage caused by oxygen deprivation in the fetal phase but also in adulthood." Stefan Rudloff, Study First Author, Department of Nephrology & Department for Biomedical Research, University of Bern Translational research and development facilitated by sitem-insel The research team of Prof. Uyen Huynh-Do and Stefan Rudloff at the Department of Nephrology and at the Department for Biomedical Research at the University of Bern can rely on very favorable conditions in terms of the environment. The follow-up project will be funded by the "Research Acceleration Initiative 2020" (RAI 2020) of the research department of CSL Behring as one of the three winners of the RAI 2020 funding. Prof. Uyen Huynh-Do, who heads the study, emphasizes: "Without the funding and the network of NCCR Kidney.CH this study would not have been possible. In the future, close collaboration with the research department of CSL Behring as an industrial partner is facilitated by sitem-insel (Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine), where translational research and development is taken very seriously and is actively supported. Thanks to the proximity of the department of Nephrology, the university's research facilities at DBMR and CSL Behring as the industry partner, it was now possible to launch a subsequent translational project that builds on the newly published research data." Teenage climate activist has extended her support to the farmers protesting on the borders of New Delhi against the three farm laws saying that she stands in solidarity with the farmers. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Thunberg wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. The teen activist's post on the micro-blogging site came after Rihanna shared a news article highlighting the Centre's crackdown on the farmers by cutting off internet services in many regions. "Why aren't we talking about this?!", wrote Rihanna, as she added the hashtag #FarmersProtest along with the post on the micro-blogging site. Apart from Thunberg, UK Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe also expressed solidarity with the Indian farmers. "Solidarity to the Indian Farmers. Thank you Rihanna. In an era where political leadership is lacking we are grateful for others stepping forward," she wrote along with sharing a screenshot of Rihanna's tweet. Author and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, Meena also showed her support on social media towards the agitating farmers as well. She wrote on Twitter, "It's no coincidence that the world's oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault." "This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India's internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters," she added. Harris wrote further, "Militant nationalism is just as potent a force in US politics as it is in India or anyplace else. It can only be stopped if people wake up to the reality that FASCIST DICTATORS aren't going anywhere." US House Representative Jim Costa also called the ongoing unrest as troubling and added that the situation is being closely monitored. "The unfolding events in India are troubling. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am closely monitoring the situation. The right to peaceful protest must always be respected. #FarmersProtest," Costa wrote. Meanwhile, the Haryana government has extended the suspension of mobile internet services in several districts of the state till 5 pm on February 3. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the capital since November 26 last year 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. What are the reasons for such a contrast in outcomes? A scientist team led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has now analysed the humoral innate immune defence of European greater mouse-eared bats to the fungus. In contrast to North American bats, European bats have sufficient baseline levels of key immune parameters and thus tolerate a certain level of infection throughout hibernation. The results are published in the journal "Developmental and Comparative Immunology". During infections caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), North American bats arouse frequently from hibernation to trigger a more elaborate immune response, whereas European bats remain dormant, owing, as the new results reveal, to their competent baseline immunity. Not being able to deal with the fungus by baseline immunity causes North American bats to deplete fat stores before the end of winter bnecause of the need for additional and energetically expensive arousals, which ultimately leads to their starvation. European bats may also arouse once in a while when infected but their strong baseline immunity allows them to balance the tight energy budget better during winter hibernation. For this investigation, the scientists went to hibernation sites in Germany and studied 61 mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) with varying levels of natural infections by Pseudogymnoascus destructans. The animals were divided into three groups according to the severity of fungal infections (asymptomatic, mild symptoms, severe infection). Body mass and skeletal body size of bats was measured and blood samples taken from torpid animals. In addition, the team monitored in other conspecifics how often infected animals arose from hibernation. "We could show that there is no link between infection and the frequency of waking up from hibernation in the European greater mouse-eared bat," say Marcus Fritze and Christian C. Voigt, bat experts from the Department Evolutionary Ecology at Leibniz-IZW. "This is consistent with the idea that the fungus does not trigger an immune response in European hibernating bats but is rather kept under control by the bats' baseline immunity." In contrast, North American bats such as little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) arouse frequently when infected by the fungus to elicit an immune response. Frequent arousal and the immune response require energy and prematurely deplete the body's fat stores before the winter has ended. The protein haptoglobin seems key in the bats' fight against the fungus. Haptoglobin is an acute phase protein, which can be produced by bats without large metabolic costs. "Our results demonstrated the central role of haptoglobin in the defence against the fungus. Interestingly, baseline levels of this protein are sufficient to protect the European host against the fungus and there is no need to actively synthesise the protein during the torpid phase", adds Gabor A. Czirjak, wildlife immunologist at the Department of Wildlife Diseases of the Leibniz-IZW. A second key finding of the team's investigation is that heavier European greater mouse-eared bats arouse from hibernation more frequently than lean conspecifics. This seems counterintuitive because each arousal event causes a depletion of fat stores. Well-nourished bats seem to assist their immune system by actively clearing off the external fungal hyphens from their body while being awake for short periods. Thus, heavy bats are in a healthier condition towards the end of hibernation than lean animals. Lean animals cannot afford to arouse as often and thus depend on the efficacy of the baseline immunity to control the fungus. The safety net of a competent immunity keeps European (and Asian) bats alive during infections with P. destructans but proves to be insufficient for North American bats. These results add further evidence that there are differences in the defence strategies against the causative agent of white-nose syndrome in European and North American bat species. Tolerance strategies aim to limit the impact of the fungal infection on the health of animals. Resistance strategies, on the other hand, try to actively reduce the load of pathogens. "Tolerance strategies are effective, as the immune defences of hibernating European mouse-eared bats show," Voigt summarises. "In North American bats, however, this ability is not present to a sufficient degree, possibly because the Pd fungus originated in Europe, giving European species a head start in developing efficient defence mechanisms." ### Publication Fritze M, Puechmaille SJ, Costantini D, Fickel J, Voigt CC, Czirjak GA (2021): Determinants of defence strategies of a hibernating European bat species towards the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. DEVEL COMP IMMUNOL 119, https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1016/ j. dci. 2021. 104017 Contact Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17 10315 Berlin PD Dr Christian Voigt Head of the Department of Evolutionary Ecology phone: +49 30 5168 511 email: voigt@izw-berlin.de Dr Gabor-Arpad Czirjak Scientist in the Department of Wildlife Diseases phone: +49 30 5168214 email: czirjak@izw-berlin.de Steven Seet Science Communication phone: +49 (0)30 5168125 email: seet@izw-berlin.de The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday as President Joe Biden's homeland security secretary, the first Latino to fill a post that will have a central role in the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, a sweeping Russia-linked cyber hack and domestic extremism. Mayorkas was confirmed by a 56-43 vote, the narrowest margin yet for a Biden Cabinet nominee. The first immigrant to serve in the job, he is expected to lead a broad policy overhaul of an agency that was accused of being deeply politicised as it carried out President Donald Trump's initiatives on immigration and law enforcement. Mayorkas is a former federal prosecutor who previously served as a senior DHS official. His nomination was stalled in the Senate by Republicans who wanted to question him further on Biden's plans for immigration policy. He also faced questions over his management of an investor visa programme under President Barack Obama. Biden's team had hoped to have Mayorkas confirmed by January 20. But Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri placed a hold on the nomination on January 19, forcing a delay in the confirmation vote. Democrats bristled at the delay. "My friends on the other side do not have to agree with Mr Mayorkas on the finer points of every policy, but surely we can all agree that he knows the department, understands the threats to our nation's security and has what it takes to lead DHS," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he called for a vote to lift a Republican filibuster on the nomination. Even some Republican senators who had expressed reservations about the nomination conceded DHS needed a confirmed secretary with the nation facing so many challenges, including the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election. "I drove through the National Guard again to get here this morning. We have got some real issues," Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said as he voted to send the nomination from the committee to the full Senate for the vote. Mayorkas, whose family came to the US from Cuba as refugees in 1960 and whose mother had fled the Holocaust, was a federal prosecutor in Southern California before he joined the Obama administration, first as head of the immigration services agency and then as deputy secretary of DHS. "Mr Mayorkas is uniquely qualified to make sure the Department of Homeland Security is working to protect people from all backgrounds, all communities and all walks of life," Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said from the Senate floor. Under Trump, the department was frequently in turmoil and mired in controversy. The agency carried out heavy-handed immigration enforcement initiatives, most notoriously separating migrant children from their families as part of a zero-tolerance campaign in 2018. Over the summer, the department was widely condemned, including by some former secretaries, for deploying tactical agents without nametags and insignia to protests in Portland, Oregon, against the wishes of local authorities. In September, a senior official filed a whistleblower complaint accusing Homeland Security leaders of downplaying threat warnings that Trump might find objectionable, including information about Russian election interference and the rising threat posed by white supremacists. And the president ousted the widely respected head of the DHS cybersecurity agency in November for his defence of the integrity of the 2020 election. Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, who spent more than a year in the post without Senate confirmation, and other senior officials turned routine news conferences into what to many appeared to be Trump campaign events, touting relatively minor enforcement actions as major policy achievements. Mayorkas, who rejected a proposal to separate families when he served under Obama, has pledged to "end the inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants," but also to maintain border enforcement. "We are a nation of immigrants, and we are also a nation of laws," he said during his confirmation hearing. At Mayorkas' confirmation hearing, senators raised the 2015 report by the Office of Inspector General that criticised him for his management of a programme that granted US residency to foreign investors. The investigation found he created an appearance of favouritism and political interference by directing the approval of three projects backed by prominent Democrats, overruling staff recommendations when he ran the immigration services agency under Obama. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced him on the Senate floor Tuesday, saying Mayorkas should be kept from even a lower post for providing special treatment to prominent figures such as Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, Anthony Rodham, and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. "Mr Mayorkas did his best to turn US Citizenship and Immigration Services into an unethical favour factory for Democratic Party royalty," he said. Mayorkas disputed the IG report's conclusion and told senators he intervened in decisions, on behalf of both Republicans and Democrats, to correct what he considered wrong actions. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Since Donald Trump's election loss in November, Sean Hannity seems to have been working through a process, live and on camera, on his nightly prime-time Fox News show and his daily radio show. For a few weeks, it manifested as the denial shared by his fellow believers in the ex-president's unsupported claims of election fraud. After the inauguration of the new president, Hannity pivoted to the next stage - anger - as he lashed out at "the weak, the frail, the cognitively struggling Biden." More recently, he has displayed something closer to depression, as he engages his viewers in a session of public mourning. "My heart's troubled," he told his on-air colleague Laura Ingraham. "It's aching for my country right now." Hannity's process is a window into the current tumult inside Fox News, as the former president's former favorite network tries to find its place in a post-Trump reality. The end of a presidential campaign is often a time for news organizations to take stock and recalibrate their strategies. But never before had a network been so closely affiliated with a commander in chief. Now, as Trump wages war with the more established elements of his own party and against Fox News itself, Fox is seeking to navigate its future without the ear of a sitting president or even his angry voice from exile. And it is doing so - notably with a blitz of programming changes - amid something of an identity crisis, as a network that has long prided itself on being the king of cable TV has slipped from the top. On Tuesday, Fox announced that it finished its 19th consecutive year as the No. 1 cable news network. But in January, Fox reported monthly ratings that fell behind both of its main cable news competitors, CNN and MSNBC, for the first time in 20 years. Even Fox's prime-time opinion juggernaut of Hannity, Ingraham and Tucker Carlson had a smaller combined audience than their CNN competitors did last month. And, unlike its rivals, Fox News had a worse January than it did a year ago. While CNN was up 128%in total viewers in prime time for the month, and MSNBC was up 53%, Fox was down 13% compared with a year earlier. Some see in this plunge the disaffection of conservative viewers who had come to think of Fox as a loyal partner of Trump - only to share his outrage when the channel's news division did not support his bogus claims of a stolen election. "Fox has succeeded for years in straddling the line between a quality news organization and the opinion side. But Trump won't let that happen anymore, and neither will his supporters," said veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz. "They want their 'news' to affirm them rather than inform them." Fox representatives argue that the ratings dip is comparable to what they saw after Barack Obama's victories in 2008 and 2012, when conservative viewers temporarily turned away from news they didn't like - only to come roaring back to cheer on Fox's adversarial coverage of the sitting president. Indeed, Fox's ratings appear to be rebounding somewhat. During the first full week of the Biden administration, the network once again attracted the most total viewers in prime time, though it trailed in the 25-to-54 age group prized by advertisers. Fox's brand - the story it promotes to competitors and advertisers - has been built in part on its two decades of cable ratings dominance and its following among the half of the country it says has been neglected by mainstream television news operations. That position has held since 2002, through multiple administrations of both parties. But however temporary the ratings declines may be, they have caught the attention of the Murdoch family, which controls Fox News's parent company. The 89-year-old Rupert Murdoch, who recently decried the "awful woke orthodoxy" that he believes suppresses free speech in media, has reengaged in the network's decisions, according to several people familiar with his focus. He weighed in on several recent network moves. Fox's top management is examining the network's entire news division. While Murdoch and his son, Fox Corp. chief executive Lachlan Murdoch, have more recently given senior executives more time to execute their plans, they have focused their attention on Fox News President Jay Wallace. The senior Murdoch, who recently received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, has been fielding a steady stream of callers with advice about how to handle Trump's political posture, which is cleaving the Republican Party. "Rupert is watching to see what these interim moves can accomplish," said one person who had recently spoken with the Fox co-founder, and who described the private conversation on the condition of anonymity. In an email, Rupert Murdoch wrote that "Lachlan, myself and [Fox News CEO] Suzanne Scott have complete confidence in Jay Wallace." Rupert Murdoch was supportive of the recent dismissal of politics editor Chris Stirewalt, who was laid off for his part in what Murdoch viewed as the mishandling of the network's aggressively early - but ultimately accurate - election night projection that Joe Biden would win the state of Arizona. The surprising call angered Trump and his allies, who protested it loudly - providing an opportunity for smaller and further-right channels like Newsmax and One America News to curry favor with the president and his fans by championing his denial of the election results. Fox also jettisoned Bill Sammon, a senior vice president and Washington managing editor, who with Stirewalt sat on the "decision desk" of statisticians and political scientists that helps the network analyze election results. According to two associates, the elder Murdoch was particularly put off by Stirewalt's on-air manner, which he perceived as overly casual for a discussion of the election results. When asked about the Trump campaign's baseless claims of fraud, Stirewalt replied: "Lawsuits, schmawsuits. We haven't seen any evidence yet that there's anything wrong." "Chris Stirewalt's leaving had nothing to do with the correct Arizona call by the Fox decision desk," Murdoch wrote in an email to The Washington Post. Stirewalt was respected in the newsroom but had another weakness inside the building that predated the Arizona call: his ratings. Fox, which analyzes its ratings on a minute-by-minute basis, found that viewership dropped or plateaued during Stirewalt's frequent appearances, according to two Fox staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. When reached by phone, Stirewalt declined to comment. By contrast, producers responsible for booking guests noted a reliable uptick in the ratings with every appearance by Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and three-time failed congressional candidate who is a vehement Trump supporter and was recently suspended by Twitter for half a day after he shared a video of Trump repeating false claims of election fraud. "The new daytime lineup is the work of Ms. Scott and [new managing editor for news] Tom Lowell, and to some extent is still a work in progress," Rupert Murdoch wrote in his email, hinting at more changes to come. One move the network is considering is to place Greg Gutfeld, one of the hosts of "The Five," in a new late-night comedy slot, as the New York Times first reported. Both Murdochs were involved in the decision to turn Fox's 7 p.m. weeknight news show hosted by Martha MacCallum into an hour of opinion programming, for which Fox is currently auditioning a roster of hosts, including "Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade, Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo and Republican former congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina. Fox's post-election ratings dip is notable mostly because of how untouchable the network seemed just a few months ago. For the third quarter of 2020, its ratings were nearly 50 percent higher than the year before - and Hannity boasted the highest-rated show on cable, with an average audience of 4.35 million viewers. Since Bill O'Reilly left Fox News in April 2017 amid scandal, Hannity has reliably been the channel's most-watched host; 2020 was his fourth year in a row as cable's top personality. But the recent batch of numbers tell a new story for Hannity as well as Fox. Carlson, who joined the Fox prime-time lineup in 2016 and now occupies the 8 p.m. slot, has beaten Hannity in total viewers for the last five months, a stunning reversal that suggests it's Carlson who may be on his way to becoming Fox's biggest draw. While Hannity, who regularly spoke on the phone with Trump, was Fox's most prominent supporter of his presidency, Carlson is seen as more independent. And Carlson, who is eight years younger than Hannity, is said to be close with the Murdoch family, particularly Lachlan. Hannity took Biden's win personally. He repeatedly told his viewers during inauguration week that he had tried to "warn" America about Biden's policies, calling out the new president for signing several executive orders undoing some of Trump's actions on immigration and the environment "We told you so," Hannity said despondently. "We tried to warn the country. We tried our best. We knew this would happen. None of it's good for the country." Recently, he bemoaned that his book, "Live Free or Die: America (and the World) on the Brink," which he heavily promoted last summer, failed to persuade the public to stick with Trump for another four years. "There's no more books," he moped to Ingraham on Jan. 14. "I didn't do one for 10 years. I'm done with the books. I did it to warn America. . . . Now we're on the 'brink' side of things, and I was hoping we wouldn't get here." But Hannity, who signed a new contract in early 2020, says he doesn't plan to give up. Friends and associates are confident that he'll work his way out of his funk. "Sean is extremely well-positioned to play a serious role in holding the Biden administration accountable in both the 2022 cycle and the 2024 elections," said conservative former CNN contributor Jeffrey Lord. "He will be relentless. Every day." And Fox executives will be watching him, and his ratings, minute by minute. San Francisco, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :Google parent Alphabet on Tuesday reported that its quarterly profit rocketed some 50 percent to $15.2 billion at the end of last year as its digital ad business thrived. Alphabet revenue in the final three months of last year hit nearly $57 billion, compared with $46 billion in the same period in 2019, according to the internet titan. The strong quarter "was driven by Search and YouTube, as consumer and business activity recovered from earlier in the year," Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat said in the earnings release. Google is among the technology titans that have flourished as people hunkered down at home due to the pandemic rely on the internet and computing capabilities hosted at datacenters for work, school, shopping and socializing. "All three of Google's main lines of ad business outperformed our forecast, including YouTube," said eMarketer insider intelligence analyst Nicole Perrin. Ad revenue related to online searches was up more than 17 percent at Google, Perrin noted. Overall, Google took in slightly more than $46 billion in revenue from digital ads, with $6.9 billion of that money made from a growing advertising business at global video-sharing platform YouTube, according to the earnings report. The cloud computing unit at Google brought in $3.8 billion in the quarter, compared to revenue of US $ 2.6 billion in the same period a year earlier. The pandemic is believed to have sped up a lasting shift by businesses, shops, and people in general to relying on services in the internet cloud. "Our strong results this quarter reflect the helpfulness of our products and services to people and businesses, as well as the accelerating transition to online services and the cloud," said Alphabet and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. "We see significant opportunities to forge meaningful partnerships as businesses increasingly look to a digital future." While a financial boon, Google's dominance in online advertising has put it in the crosshairs of regulators concerned about the firm's clout. It is the target of a trio of antitrust lawsuits in the US accusing it of abusing its position. Regulators are concerned that the Silicon Valley giant's search engine, ad platform, mapping service, Android mobile operating system and other offerings give it unfair advantages. Worldwide, the firm is on track to take in $116.7 billion in digital ad revenue this year, an increase of 18.4 percent from 2020, according to a forecast by industry tracker eMarketer. The protocol is drawing businesses to consider setting up in Northern Ireland, the head of Invest NI has claimed. Kevin Holland said access both to the EU single market and the Great Britain market was a factor in conversations with possible investors, including a US life sciences company with more than 10,000 staff. The business, which Mr Holland declined to identify, is listed on US S&P 500 stock market index of the top firms. "We've been doing quite a lot of outreach to businesses about the trade and cooperation agreement that was signed on December 24," he said. (We've been looking at) what the protocol is and what the opportunities that can come from this dual access are. "From January 3, we started talking about why Northern Ireland is an interesting place for businesses to locate." Invest NI is still marketing Northern Ireland on the basis of its usual selling points, such as its strong talent pool, high quality of life and relatively low cost of living. Mr Holland said coverage of the protocol in international media outlets, including gaps on supermarket shelves, had raised awareness. "We're talking to people who are asking 'Where does Northern Ireland fit now in a global supply chain?" he added. "Many companies are looking at how they operate their global footprint post-Covid." He cited a company with a centre in the Philippines that was forced to shut after restrictions were introduced as an example of the kind of firm that may consider setting up here. "Northern Ireland did an amazing job with resilience in Covid and has some amazing opportunities with access to these markets," Mr Holland added. He also revealed Invest NI had held conversations with industrial and technology firms. "People read the Press about the friction of early January. They'll see some of the challenges and will read around the opportunities," Mr Holland said. "We have had conversations in the last week or two with businesses looking at what Northern Ireland can bring to them as part of their footprint. "We had an enormous number of conversations in the middle weeks of January with international businesses, so it has attracted attention. We need to convert those into practicalities. "We've had a listed US life sciences company with more than 10,000 employees which has been talking to us around potentially setting up in Northern Ireland." Mr Holland stressed he did not believe that problems with the protocol would put off investors. "There was a lot of consumer issues in the early days with empty shelves," he said. "In early January, the US business media was asking me 'Can you still eat there? Is there food on the shelves?' They've seen the Press, but the main issue for companies is opportunities." If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Memories of the dark days of the anti-land acquisition movement, when they hunkered down in paddy fields as marauding hordes roamed about terrorising people, have returned to haunt Nandigram. Staccato sounds of gunfire are once again breaking the fragile peace of this small town in West Bengal's East Midnapore district where violent clashes between ruling TMC supporters and those of the BJP have become commonplace in the run up to the Assembly elections to be held in a few months from now. "For the last three days, we have been spending sleepless nights," says 62-year-old Shyamal Manna as gunshots frequently ring out near his mud house. Manna, who lost his sister-in-law during the bloody anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007-2008, and scores of others like him are a disquieted lot ever since former TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari switched over to the BJP, setting the stage for an electoral showdown that has left the locals fidgety and on edge. "For the last two weeks, every day, skirmishes have broken out. Earlier, we witnessed only political violence, but now it has turned communal, too. Sounds of explosions and gunshots have snatched away our sleep. All this is so reminiscent of the bloody Nandigram movement," Manna told PTI. His nephew Gokul said his wife and children have stopped venturing out altogether. Also read: 'Forgotten' Nandigram stands divided between its favourite Mamata di and Suvendu da "At times, I feel like leaving this place and settling somewhere else. I lost my mother due to this violence. I don't let my wife and children go out of the house these days," he said. A blood-soaked Nandigram, a little known semi-urban landscape that shot to national limelight in 2007, had jolted the mighty Left Front government and laid the foundation of the TMC dispensation in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, then an opposition leader, leading the anti-land acquisition stir from the front. Several women were gangraped and many people killed, including 14 in police firing, during the 10-month-long political violence, at some point of which residents turned the area into a no-man's land, digging up roads and making villages inaccessible. Also read: Communally cleaved Nandigram awaits titanic Mamata-Suvendu clash In present-day Nandigram, the battle lines seem to have been redrawn after Banerjee announced her candidature from the seat, the home turf of Adhikari, who has asserted he will defeat his former boss by "at least 50,000 votes" if fielded from the constituency. Kavita Mal of Gokulpur village, whose house was set on fire in 2007, feels dark days await Nandigram. "I had received five bullet injuries back then. Somehow, I survived by God's grace. After TMC came to power in 2011, we thought the place will be peaceful. But now, it seems that violence has come back to haunt us," she said. Soma Pradhan (name changed), 45, who was gangraped 14 years ago amid the massive protests against land acquisition by the erstwhile Left Front government for creation of a special economic zone, said she and her family don't leave home after dusk. "The situation is not good. Our neighbours have seen masked men roaming around in the villages at night," Pradhan said. According to police sources, clashes between activists of the two parties have become frequent in the last few weeks, with TMC and BJP offices being vandalised and set on fire. "For the last few years, there were hardly any instances of violence. But, circumstances have changed drastically in the last few months. Every day there are sporadic incidents. Some don't even get reported," said a police officer. Sources in both the parties admit that things took a dramatic turn after Adhikari and his brother moved over to the BJP. Also read: TMC distances itself from 'goli maaro' slogan raised by party supporters "Over the last 10 years, Nandigram and its surrounding villages were considered TMC bastions with virtually no opposition. However, now it is the TMC versus turncoats of the TMC," local Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) leader Bhabani Prasad Das, who was part of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), told PTI. The BUPC had launched an aggressive resistance against forcible land acquisition. Following the Nandigram movement, the entire East Midnapore district turned into an impregnable fortress of the TMC, but after Adhikari's move, several villages overnight switched sides and rival camps took control of party offices, the sources said. Even as Gokulpur, Gokulnagar, Gopimohanpur, Adhikaripara and Heria have turned into strongholds of the BJP, Sonachura, Haripur, Khejuri, Brindaban Chak, Daudpur, and Tekhali remain faithful to the ruling party, they said. Radha Rani Ari (name changed), who was also gangraped during the brutal stir, said except for Adhikari, no other leader of any party inquired about the condition of the hapless victims all these years. "During the CPI(M) regime, we were used as pawns, and now during the TMC rule, too, violence and rape are used as political tools to settle scores and dominate the area. It is the locals like us who suffer," she said. "Menfolk from the villages have formed groups to keep vigil at night. A few days back, some of the thatched roof houses were set on fire, and food grains and poultry looted," said Joydeb Mondal of Adhikaripara. Sheikh Sufiyan, a senior TMC leader and deputy chairman of East Midnapore Zilla Parishad, alleged Adhikari and his men are trying to vitiate the atmosphere. "There was no sign of the BJP in Nandigram. It is Suvendu Adhikari, who helped the saffron party gain ground here. Now, he wants to bring back the days of anarchy. We will never allow that to happen," he said. The BJP district leadership, which had gone hammer and tongs at the TMC over its alleged Muslim appeasement politics, said the ruling party is the one fuelling communal violence in the region. "The TMC is using brute force and has brought people from outside to terrorise the locals ahead of the assembly polls. Police is just a mute spectator," BJP Tamluk district general secretary Gour Hari Maity alleged. The TMC had pocketed all the 16 seats in East Midnapore district in the last assembly polls, the next edition of which is due in April-May. GREENFIELD - Firefighters battled an early morning house fire on Wednesday at a duplex in the area of 600 Leyden Road, officials said. Details of the fire are not available. Greenfield firefighters and other departments from the area responded under mutual aid. Traffic on Leydon Road was closed between Barton Road and Leyden Woods Lane The fire believed to be out. Photos from the scene show that the exterior of the building appears to be intact, but there is evidence of interior damage. This is a developing story and more information will be posted as it is known. When a magician performs a trick, audiences rarely look where they need to. Sleight of hand and charming patter is used to divert our attention away from what is actually happening. Misdirection comes in many forms. Yesterday, it involved one of the richest men in the world. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, stepped down from his CEO position, shortly before the United States Federal Trade Commission announced that it was fining Amazon $61.7m, so the shopping giant could settle charges that it withheld delivery drivers tips paid by customers. Jeff Bezos accumulated more than $215m a day in 2019. As you are reading this article, his wealth has likely increased nearly four times the amount of the fine his company was issued for withholding payments from its employees. The full announcement from the FTC is astounding. It states that Amazon regularly advertised that drivers participating in the Flex program would be paid between $18 and $25 per hour, and that drivers would receive all of their tips. That is not what happened. Instead, the FTC alleges that Amazon put its workers on a lower rate and used customer tips to make up the difference. Amazon allegedly took steps to mislead drivers about this, made the change, and then lied about it. Rather than passing along 100 per cent of customers tips to drivers, as it had promised to do, Amazon used the money itself, said Daniel Kaufman, acting director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. The FTC also alleges that Amazon only stopped its behaviour, which happened over a two and a half year period, when it became aware of the regulators investigation. Enter Amazons lovely assistant, Jeff Bezos. Or rather, exit Bezos although the billionaire will remain an executive chair of the company. It does not require the deduction of Sherlock Holmes to assume that Bezos decision, while publicly unexpected, had been planned for some time. It is also safe to assume that Amazon knew when the FTC would be making its announcement - the latest in a long series of anti-worker activity from the company. It infamously fired and smeared its warehouse workers when they spoke up about unsafe coronavirus conditions. And it has clashed with climate change activists who want the company to reduce its carbon emissions. This led to another executive stepping down in protest. According to the FTC, Amazon employees called the investigation into drivers tips a reputation tinderbox and a huge PR risk to Amazon. Put yourself in the position of Amazons public relations team, with the FTCs announcement approaching like the blade of a guillotine. Why not time the release of Bezos resignation for the same day, bookended by another announcement of the companys new headquarters for good measure? Suddenly everyone has a new story. The blade sinks through the head of the magician, the audience gasps, and yet our Prime performer miraculously escapes unscathed. Even if Bezos had not stepped down, its unlikely this news would have tangibly affected the company. The old adage, punishable with a fine just means legal for the rich, remains true. Amazon says it disagree[s] that the historical way we reported pay to drivers was unclear, but is pleased to put this matter behind us. That only happens, of course, if we let it. It is also worth remembering that Amazons moral crime is simply a small-scale model of a larger injustice, one ironically epitomised by its wealthy founder. During the pandemic, the worlds one per cent acquired $3.9tn dollars enough to pay for a vaccine for every person in the world while workers have lost $3.7tn dollars worth of earnings, with women and young people bearing the brunt. As Bezos leaves, and the new CEO Andy Jassy enters, Amazon is not the only illusionist making money from its workers pockets disappear, its just the one thats on stage right now. Watch their hands carefully, for all is not as it appears. The nations biggest superannuation lobby group is on a collision course with the federal government, launching a digital campaign to tell 1 million voters their golden years could be in jeopardy from policy changes requiring them to work longer, sell their home or retire later. Industry Super Australia, whose members include major funds like Australian Super, HostPlus, HESTA and Cbus, is pouring money into an online marketing blitz putting up to 10 messages a month in front of under 35-year-olds and pre-retirees about possible changes to their superannuation accounts. Industry Super Australia chief executive Bernie Dean. The advertising warns the federal government may introduce policies that will see the average couple lose $170,000 in retirement savings and force them to sell your family home to fund your retirement if the legislated superannuation guarantee rise from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent by 2025 is scrapped. The first rise is due in July. The Morrison government has pointed out the increases will come at the expense of wages growth at a time when workers and businesses can ill afford to have less money, but has not said whether the increase will be scrapped. Labor, the unions and the superannuation funds say workers need the higher rate for an adequate retirement but the rise has been criticised by the Grattan Institute and the Reserve Bank. The Katsina State Government has concluded plans to inaugurate the White Paper committee on the report submitted by the state judicial commission of inquiry on excess and extrajudicial killings by members of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The state Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed this when he received the report of the commission at Government House yesterday, said the white paper committee would come out with modalities to implement the recommendations of the commission. He said highlights of the report and recommendations of the judicial panel have shown that the commission has conducted thorough investigation and made far-reaching recommendations for consideration. According to Masari, "I am highly delighted that the Katsina State judicial commission of inquiry has become the first among all the states commissions to submit its report within the stipulated period. "Highlights of the report and recommendations have indicated that the commission has conducted thorough investigation and made far-reaching recommendations for consideration. Implementation of the recommendations also calls for inter-government and the inter-agencies collaboration." He stated further that: "I will therefore, with immediate effect, set up a white paper committee to come out with the modalities of implementing the recommendations that affect Katsina State and forwarding to the presidency and the Police Service Commission (PSC) the aspect of the recommendations that affect them appropriately." Earlier, the Chairman of the commission, Justice Abdullahi Bawale, said the commission had established cases of gross violation, impropriety, unconstitutionality and unlawful arrests and detentions carried out by identified members of the disbanded SARS. He noted that the unlawful acts were confirmed to have caused the victims prolonged detentions without trial; death arising from interrogations; loss of limp and confiscation of property. The panel boss explained that the commission received 100 petitions and complaints, out of which 25 were struck out following non-appearance of the petitioners. Bawale said: "Seventy five petitions were disposed on merit, while all hearing notices and summons were appropriately served to complainants and respondents respectively. All evidence of service summons and notices are appropriately placed in the report annexure volume 2A to C." Not just increasing reliance on extra-budgetary resources, but the Budgets in the last few years have also had over-ambitious fiscal targets, founded on unrealistic tax collection numbers. Extra-budgetary resources (EBRs) refers to allocations made from money outside of revenue or borrowings, through means such as the National Small Savings Fund, and fully serviced bonds like the bank recapitalisation bonds. The government is expecting to end almost all entries financed through EBRs. The biggest of them being the loans given to Food Corporation of India (FCI) from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Budget 2021-22 not only finally comes clean about the accounting methodology and putting on record a dire fiscal situation, but also keeps its tax targets understated. "Our revenue figures for this time are understated. So we have taken our nominal GDP at 14.4 percent and the revenues at 16.7. The buoyancy is only 1.16. We are hopeful that we will be able to get more than this and also achieve more in the other areas of non-tax revenue and disinvestment. We will definitely be within 6.8 percent (fiscal deficit) and could be lower," economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj had said at a post-Budget press conference. Budget 2021-22 set a gross tax revenue target of Rs 22.17 lakh crore for FY22. The Centre's net tax revenue for FY22 has been pegged at Rs 15.45 lakh crore. The Budget document showed that the Revised Estimates (RE) for gross revenue collection for FY21 came in at Rs 19 lakh crore, against the Budget Estimates (BE) of Rs 24.23 lakh crore. The RE for net tax revenue for FY21 came in at Rs 13.44 lakh crore, against the BE of Rs 16.35 lakh crore. For FY 2018-19, tax collections fell short of the Budget target by Rs 1.91 lakh crore and the shortfall was Rs 4.51 lakh crore in FY 2019-20. Slowdown in revenue collection happened even before the pandemic drained the government's coffers. For FY 2021-22, the BE for tax collections is lower than the original target of the current financial year by as much as Rs 2.06 lakh crore. Tax collections in Oct-Dec grew 33.1 percent on year, as against a contraction of 32.6 percent in Apr-Jun. Presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the Centre is targeting a fiscal deficit of 6.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY22, which will gradually come down to below 4.5 percent by FY26. For FY21, the revised fiscal deficit estimate now stands at 9.5 percent of GDP, from a budgeted estimate of 3.5 percent. The underlying message of this Budget was that it's an expansionary one drafted to provide a stimulus to the post-Covid Indian economy. The total expenditure size for FY21 now stands at 34.5 lakh crore, up from Rs 30.4 lakh crore planned. For FY22, the Centre will now spend Rs 34.83 lakh crore. The total capital expenditure for FY22 has been budgeted at Rs 5.54 lakh crore. For FY21, the Centre had budgeted its own capital expenditure at Rs 4.13 lakh crore, which was later increased by Rs 38,000 crore. With an expansionary budget guiding the next financial year, economy is expected to show signs of pick up, thereby bringing in better revenues. There could be legitimate concerns over whether fiscal expansionism through capital expenditure would manifest the desired results. But over-optimistic projections and below-the-line accounting aren't any of them. Millions of Texans do not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a new University of Houston survey. While 38 percent of those surveyed said they will be vaccinated when it becomes available to them or have already received the vaccine, about one-in-five (22 percent) of the 1,329 people surveyed said they definitely will not accept it. The survey was conducted by YouGov, a national poll service, and analyzed by the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs, a political science educational institution. In addition to those who definitely will not be vaccinated, another 10 percent say they probably will not get vaccinated. From everything Ive read, experts say that we need to achieve anywhere from 70-90 percent vaccination rate in order to achieve herd immunity, said Renee Cross, senior director and researcher at the Hobby School. If right off the bat, we already have one-third saying they wont get it, it will be very hard for Texas to achieve that level needed for herd immunity. On HoustonChronicle.com: WHO releases new COVID vaccine details, including warning for pregnant women In Texas, more than 2.5 million doses have been administered, and nearly 2 million Texans have received at least one dose, according to Chronicle data. More than half a million Texans are now fully vaccinated. Black Texans reported a greater uncertainty about the vaccine with 15 percent saying theyre undecided on whether they will receive it, according to the survey. But nearly half of Black respondents said they have already received it or definitely plan to. Ten percent of Latinos and 7 percent of non-Hispanic white Texans are undecided, while 60 percent of both populations said they have already received it or definitely plan to. Some Latinos have expressed skepticism about the vaccine, citing concerns ranging from a fear of the potential for long-term effects to concern about inoculation being too expensive Education level, gender and political party factor into how hesitant people are to being vaccinated, Cross said. But she said the anti-vaccination movement should be factored in. A slim majority of Republicans (51 percent) said they will be vaccinated, Cross said. The study found that 28 percent of Republicans said they definitely will not get vaccinated, compared with 11 percent of Democrats. Sixty-five percent of those who said they will not be vaccinated said it is too new and they prefer to wait, while 44 percent of that group said the risks of COVID-19 have been exaggerated. More than half of that group said they dont trust the government or pharmaceutical companies to ensure the vaccines safety. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston plans to launch web portal for scheduling second doses of COVID-19 vaccine Obviously, were making steps in the right direction with the vaccines. However, we have a shortage of vaccines and a sizable number of people who dont want to get it for various reasons, Cross said. Then you add new variants of COVID coming out that may or may not be covered at the same efficacy rate. Looking at all that, I dont think well really get back to normal probably until next year. julie.garcia@chron.com Twitter.com/reporterjulie 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. Juliet Kigongo Former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, the runner-up in last month's presidential poll, yesterday asked the Supreme Court to annul the election victory of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Mr Kyagulanyi, who is widely known by the stage name Bobi Wine, also wants the judges to declare that the Electoral Commission (EC) failed to conduct the January 14 General Election in accordance with the law and, as such, Mr Museveni was not validly elected. In a petition filed at the Supreme Court in Kololo, a Kampala suburb, the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader asked court to order fresh elections because EC's non-compliance with the law affected the final outcome of the ballot in a substantial manner. Substantiality in determination of election disputes relate to proof that an impugned action, commission or omission prior to, or on voting day, had real and considerable impact on results, without which advantage a declared victor would not have won. Bobi Wine's petition is the fourth such attempt to overturn Mr Museveni's victories in six elections superintended by the latter's government since 1996. Four-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye challenged Mr Museveni's 2001 and 2006 re-elections and the Supreme Court judges found evidence of voting irregularities and rigging, but decided that they did not affect the final results substantially. In 2016, court upheld Mr Museveni's re-election then challenged by former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, who stood as an Independent candidate. In this latest attempt, Bobi Wine has drafted so far seven lawyers from five law firms to represent him in the legal battle in which he raises at least 26 grounds against Mr Museveni, the EC and Attorney General. The legal team is led by Busiro East MP Medard Sseggona from Lukwago & Company Advocates. Mr Harriet Ssali Nalukwago, the Supreme Court registrar, said hearing of the petition will begin 10 days after the respondents are served. In the petition, Bobi Wine avers that: "The presidential election held on 14th day of January 2021 was not held in accordance with the provisions of the electoral laws and the principles governing elections, which non-compliance affected the results of the election in a substantial manner." He adds: "The 1st respondent (Mr Museveni) was not validly elected as the president. His election be annulled and set aside and a fresh election be conducted in accordance with the law." On January 28, the Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Simon Byabakama released the final presidential results indicating that Mr Museveni won with six million votes (58.38 per cent) against Bobi Wine's 3.6 million votes (35 per cent). Bobi rejected the results as manufactured, claiming, without evidence, that he won. Non-compliance with election laws Under this ground, Bobi Wine contends that the presidential elections were not conducted in accordance with principles laid down in the Constitution, the Presidential Elections Act and the Electoral Commission Act. He argues that the government refused or neglected to cause amendment of relevant laws which would have ensured free and fair elections as earlier directed by the Supreme Court in the Amama Mbabazi Vs Yoweri Museveni presidential poll petition of 2016. Some of Supreme Court's 10 recommendations at the time, among others, were that time for filing and determination of a presidential election petition be increased from 30 to at least 60 days; use of oral evidence in addition to affidavit evidence be accepted in court; and, time for holding a fresh election where the previous election has been nullified be increased from the currently prescribed 20 days. The judges also ordered that technology in elections be backed by law and sanctions against any State organ or officer for violating election laws. All these and other propositions are yet to be implemented, if ever, five years after the judges' decision. Army interference Under this ground, Bobi Wine accuses Mr Museveni of allowing security agencies such as UPDF and police to commit murder, cause grievous bodily harm, violence, abduction and intimidation against NUP agents and supporters cross the country. He cites an incident where security forces wilfully and unlawfully obstructed him at the nomination centre in Kyambogo by pepper-spraying, brutalising and abducting him in a dehumanising manner. "Contrary to Section 70 of the Presidential Elections Act, officers of the UPF and UPDF, unlawfully blocked and disrupted the petitioner's (Bobi) manifesto launch at Kamwokya in Kampala and at Kakyeka Stadium in Mbarara District by spraying teargas at the petitioner and members of his campaign team," Bobi Wine's petition documents read in part. Voter bribery claims Bribery of voters is one of the common election malpractices that petitioners state out. In this petition, Bobi Wine alleges that with Mr Museveni's consent, he caused the provision of money and other gifts to voters with intent to influence them to vote him or refrain from voting the petitioner, contrary to Section 64 of the Presidential Elections Act. Election violence Bobi Wine accuses the six-time presidential candidate of bragging about election violence right from 1980, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021 elections, resulting into unfair elections and has proudly and publicly stated that the NRM is the master of violence. He argues that this offends the Constitution that demands peaceful elections and free expression. Partisan EC Bobi Wine contends that the Electoral Commission compromised its independence when it subjected its functions to the direction and control of candidate Museveni, state organs, agencies and security institutions, which actions violate the Constitution. He also accuses the electoral body of failing to prevent multiple voting in various parts of the country, ballot stuffing, failure to ascertain, transmit, tabulate and declare the actual results of the presidential elections transparently. He further blames the EC and contends that by banning him from carrying out his campaigns in 16 districts including the capital, Kampala, his rights were frustrated as he didn't associate or interface with his voters and that this cost him votes that would have made him winner of the presidential election. While issuing the ban on campaigns in the said districts, the EC justified its decision on account of surging numbers of Covid-19 numbers in the said areas. The ban was effected in the districts of Jinja, Kabale, Kalungu, Masaka, Tororo, Luwero, Wakiso, Greater Mukono (Buikwe, Buvuma, Mukono, Kayunga), Mbarara, Kabarole (Fort Portal City inclusive), Kasese and Kazo. By press time, Bobi Wine's lawyers were set to serve Mr Museveni, the EC and the AG with copies of the election petition to enable them respond to the accusations. Highlights of Bobi Wine election petition grounds Claims against EC (11) - Disenfranchised voters by not ensuring all citizens eligible to vote were registered - Failed to produce accurate voters' register and conduct voter education - Arbitrarily decided election roadmap, mode of campaign and guidelines - Failed to ensure secure conditions for election - Instituted selectively-applied arbitrary guidelines -Arbitrarily banned campaigns in 16 districts -Failed to prevent/stop ballot stuffing and multiple voting - Non-transparent tabulation, transmission and declaration of results -Commission was under control and direction of candidate Museveni, state agents Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. -Failed to guarantee petitioner's security and ensure his consultations happened uninterrupted - Failed in effective distribution of voting materials Claims against Museveni (6) - Has history of election violence, scared voters by declaring self "master of violence" - Superintended or condoned election crimes by armed forces - Holds command responsibility for security brutalisation of petitioner and agents - Made reckless and derogatory comments about petitioner, which discouraged voters - Museveni and agents offered bribes to voters -Authorised or condoned security to deface, remove or replace Bobi posters with his. Claims against Attorney General (9) -Non-amendment of laws as directed by Supreme Court to ensure free, credible poll -Police and soldiers blocked petitioner's prospective consultations about candidature - Internet, Mobile Money switch-off impaired facilitation of campaign agents on voting day - Security forces arrested and brutalised petitioner on nomination day -UPDF and police interfered with petitioner's rallies to candidate Museveni advantage - Armed forces disrupted petitioner's manifesto launch in Mbarara and Kamwokya in Kampala - Soldiers and police seized campaign materials of petitioner and arrested his agents - Blanket security deployments stirred terror, discouraged voters from voting - Security and resident district commissioners acted as Museveni agents, coerced voters to cast ballot for him Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Report Description A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Tea-based Skin Care Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Tea-based Skin Care Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Tea-based Skin Care Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Tea-based Skin Care Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Tea-based Skin Care Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast. Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunity & Trends of the Market: Definition Skin care products that are produced with significant utilization of natural tea and its variants like white tea, green tea, hibiscus tea, spearmint tea and oolong tea is known as tea-based skin care products. Tea is a rich source of beneficial properties that aids a variety of skin care issues. Magnesium, manganese, potassium, folate, tannin, caffeine, Vitamin E and Vitamin B are some of the vitamins and minerals that are richly imputed in tea. These makes it fit for skin care treatment. Market Drivers The surging health awareness among the consumers is providing the initial impetus to the tea-based skin care market. The consumers are increasingly getting aware with regard to the harmful influence of the synthetic chemical products that are incorporated in inorganic skin care products and their adverse influence on the human health which is driving this market. The benefits associated with the deployment of tea-based skin care products is fueling the growth of this market. It consists of antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory properties. It lowers the rapidity of the aging process. It hydrates the skin and does away with the probability of eczema, acne, and other shin related concerns. It improves the texture and tone of the skin owing to it being an excellent astringent property. It defends the skin from the harmful effects of the sun and UV rays. The use of tea-based skin care product accrues numerous benefits to the user which is charging up the growth of this market. Request for Report Sample: https://datainsightspartner.com/request-for-sample?ref=916 The soaring employment of the female population in the workforce has indirectly charged up the growth of this market. Further, the upsurge in the purchasing power of the individual around the globe and the skyrocketing middle-class population especially in the developing nations has accelerated the growth of this market. The use of synthetic chemical products has negatively impacted the environment. Growing environmental concerns among the millennials and also rigid directives of the government aimed at environment conservation is supporting the growth of the tea-based skin care products. Market Restraints The use of tea-based skin care products has led to side effects of the users. Side effects include rashes and allergies which is hindering the growth of this market. Tea-based skin care products are of immoderate prices. The prices of these organic products are extravagant relative to that traditional skin care products and skin care products that make use of synthetic chemicals. These premium prices make it beyond the reach of consumers with low and average income and threatening the growth of this market. Local and regional brands provide such tea-based skin care products to consumers at a low price and of low quality. They also tend to imitate the packaging style of leading brands. This attracts the unaware consumers and is severely straining the growth of this market. The cut-throat competition among the market players results in the chances of adopting unfair practices that is impeding the growth of this market. Opportunities Rapid urbanization and transitioning of the lifestyle patterns of the people is expected to provide good chances to kickstart operations in this market. Packaging plays a pivotal role in attracting consumers. New and exclusive packaging with aesthetically pleasing labeling is expected to provide ample opportunities to this market. The penetration of internet and social media is expected to provide lucrative opportunities to this market for adopting new selling and advertising techniques and widening consumer base. Trends In terms of revenue, the Asia Pacific region holds a significant share accounting to 30% and is expected to continue its domination and even emerge as the fastest growing region in the forecast period. The presence of tea plantations that has resulted in the ample supply of raw material coupled with the association with natural skin care products for a length of time in the past, for example Ayurveda in India are the main reasons behind such progress. Moreover, the presence of leading players of this market and their attractive promotional techniques have positively led to the growth of this region. The facial skin care segment holds a significant position and is projected to dominate in the forecast period owing to the soaring need for visual aesthetics and the penetration of social media platforms. The Face mask section is expected to register massive growth. Globally, the tea-based skin care products market is expected to grow at CAGR of 7.5% in the forecast period. Segment Covered: This market intelligence report on the global Tea-based Skin Care Market encompasses market segments based on product type, distributional channel and country. Get Request for Table of Contents: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/tea-based-skin-care-market/916#tableOfContent By Product Type the global Tea-based Skin Care Market has been divided into: q Body Care q Facial Care q Others By Distributional Channel the global Tea-based Skin Care Market has been divided into: q Online q Offline o Convenience Stores o Supermarkets/Hypermarkets o Others By country/region, the global Tea-based Skin Care Market has been divided into: q North America (the U.S., Canada), q Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries), q Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries), q Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries), q Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries). Profiling of Market Players: This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as: q Unilever q Schmidts Naturals q Avon Products q Lu Ming Tang q AmorePacific Corporation q Natura & Co. q Purity Cosmetics q Organic Tea Cosmetics Holdings Co Ltd q ArtNaturals q LOreal S.A. others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Tea-based Skin Care Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report. Report Highlights: In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players. Few Recent Developments Unilever In June 2019, Tatcha LLC was acquired by Unilever. The prime objective of this acquisition was the expansion of its organic skin care products business globally. This acquisition resulted in the expansion of its tea-based skin care products. Schmidts Naturals In July 2018, a jasmine tea scent body wash was launched by Schmidts Naturals. The aim of this lauch was to improve its market presence. Salient Features: This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Tea-based Skin Care Market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook Profiling of key market players in the world Tea-based Skin Care Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation The world market for Tea-based Skin Care caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Tea-based Skin Care Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion Reasons to buy: v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Tea-based Skin Care Market v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Tea-based Skin Care Market v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events v Identify key partners and business development avenues v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants Full View of Report Description: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/tea-based-skin-care-market/916 Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted an extension of time up to 9 April and 9 July, respectively, to frame the rule New Delhi: The rules under the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which was enacted over a year ago, are under preparation, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 was notified on 12 December, 2019, and it came into force with effect from 10 January, 2020. "The Rules under The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 are under preparation. The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted an extension of time up to 9 April 9 and 9 July, respectively, to frame these rules under the CAA," he said in a written reply. The CAA, which facilitates granting of Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, triggering protests in different parts of the country. The President had given his assent to the legislation on 12 December, 2019. Under the Act, people from these communities who had come to India till 31 December, 2014, due to religious persecution in the three countries will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. After the CAA was passed by Parliament, widespread protests were witnessed in the country. Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA along with the National Register of Citizens is intended to target the Muslim community in India. However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had dismissed the allegations and described the protests against the CAA as "mostly political". He had asserted that no Indian would lose citizenship due to the Act. Clashes between pro and anti-CAA groups had spiralled into communal riots in Northeast Delhi last year which had left at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. The Manual on Parliamentary Work states that "statutory rules, regulations and bye-laws will be framed within a period of six months from the date on which the relevant statute came into force". It also states that in case the ministries and departments are not able to frame the rules within the prescribed period of six months, "they should seek an extension of time from the Committee on Subordinate Legislation stating reasons for such extension", which cannot be more than for a period of three months at a time. President Uhuru Kenyatta urged the youth to take charge of their future as he rallied them to support the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). Saying the countrys young people have the potential to propel the country to the next level of progress, the President cautioned them against falling prey to politicians dishing out handouts and spreading falsehoods against BBI. Come on, be awake and take control of your future because if you dont, the people who will suffer the most is you and you will not have anyone to blame but yourself. The Head of State spoke at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri County where he engaged the youth from Mt Kenya and its neighbouring Counties on issues affecting them. At the same time, President Kenyatta encouraged the youth to be focused and go for national leadership positions to build on the development momentum the country has gained. Brothers and sisters, the country has a bright future. We have laid a solid foundation that has been built on previous foundations. Dont destroy that foundation in search of false hope. Protect it, the President told the over 700 young people. Noting that the youth represent close to 70 percent of the countrys population, President Kenyatta said they deserve more opportunities as proposed in the BBI document. He asked all leaders to work together and put in place an enabling environment and the right policies to end poverty. The President said the proposed reforms contained in the BBI document will fix the constitutional gaps in the 2010 Constitution and provide permanent solutions to the challenges facing the country especially the youth. He emphasized the need for institutional change and a change of mindset that will enable the youth to be self sufficient and independent. There are institutional problems in our country that must be resolved. If we dont resolve these institutional problems, we are not going to resolve the problem of poverty and we are not going to meet the expectations of our young people. It is not possible, the President said. Speaking during the meeting, the youth assured the Head of State that they will stand firm behind him in support of BBI. They extolled the benefits contained in the proposed changes that include exemption of youthful entrepreneurs from paying taxes for a period of seven years from the moment they register their business. The youths, who included CAS Zack Kinuthia and Commissioner Wambui Nyutu, also applauded BBI, saying it will help the country to achieve the two thirds gender rule. We will market the document to the rest of the youth in the country because it represents our aspirations, Commissioner Wambui Nyutu said. Earlier, President Kenyatta made an impromptu inspection visit of the new Kshs 1 billion Chaka Market shortly after attending Sunday Mass at the neighbouring Arch Angel Michael Chaka Catholic Parish. Speaking to jubilant Chaka Town residents who turned up to receive him, the Head of State said the Shs 1 billion modern market which is 98 percent complete will transform livelihoods in the area by providing a conducive environment for traders to do business and farmers to sell their produce. Shares of on Wednesday declined 5 per cent amid concerns related to the deal with The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Ltd (FRL) to maintain status quo in relation to its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail, which has been objected to by the US-based e-commerce giant Amazon. tanked 4.99 per cent to close at Rs 78.10 -- its lower circuit limit -- on BSE. Other group also declined, with Future Enterprises falling 4.94 per cent, Future Lifestyle Fashions dipped 5 per cent and Future Consumer 4.98 per cent. Amazon has approached the High Court seeking direction to order enforcement of the award by Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator (EA) restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with The Future Group and Amazon have been locked in a battle after the US-based company took FRL into the emergency arbitration over alleged breach of a contract between them. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The family of a young security guard who sparked Perth's draconian five-day lockdown after contracting Covid-19 have lashed out at Western Australia's quarantine system. The guard - an international student in his 20s who is originally from Bangladesh - worked at the Four Points by Sheraton while there were four Covid-positive patients inside. Two of those quarantined were carrying the highly-infectious UK variant while another had the South African strain. The guard and part-time ride-share driver was preparing to graduate from an engineering course at Edith Cowan University when he caught the virus by delivering medication to the door of one of the infected travellers on January 24. Security guards at the Four Points Sheraton hotel in Perth on Sunday. The family of a young guard at the hotel who sparked Perth's draconian five-day lockdown after contracting Covid-19 have hit out at Western Australia's quarantine system The international student, who is aged in his 20s and from Maylands, was working as a security guard at Sheraton Four Points hotel. His family hit out at the decision to quarantine travellers in Perth rather than in remote areas where the risk of community transmission would be lower The young man's family on Wednesday described him as a 'studious bachelor' who was worried about the impact the virus would have on him. 'He's a human being, it's human nature to worry... so obviously he is upset, very upset,' a relative told The West Australian. The guard - who has not yet been officially identified - is now in quarantine at a hotel in the centre of Perth. His family hit out at the decision to quarantine travellers in Perth rather than in remote areas where the threat of rapid community transmission would be far lower. 'Only he got infected [but] it could have been other guys infected at the same place. It's a hotel with everyone passing [through],' the relative said. They said it would have been safer for state authorities to quarantine overseas arrivals 'somewhere remotely'. Health authorities have listed 15 venues, on top of Sheraton Four Points hotel, as potential exposure sites after they were visited by the security guard. Pictured: Map shows venues the positive Covid case visited Nurses take swabs at a COVID-19 testing clinic in Perth on Monday as residents endure a strict lockdown to spread The guard is believed to have visited the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre - one of the 16 locations visited by the guard while infectious - to pick up his gown and regalia ahead of his graduation ceremony. Health officials said the man claimed he was wearing PPE while working at the hotel. The security firm the guard worked for - Ace Security and Event Services - on Tuesday night remained tight-lipped as authorities in WA investigate the cause of the outbreak. Perth, Peel, and WA's South West were plunged into lockdown on Sunday after news broke that the guard had tested positive. Officials temporarily stopped overseas arrivals from staying at the hotel and asked anyone who left the hotel from January 25 to isolate until they get tested. Small business owners have said they could lose out on tens of thousands of dollars during the lockdown. A man and woman walk through the Perth CBD on Tuesday. The strict restrictions will remain in place until 6pm on February 5 'One small business told me the shutdown means losing $11,000 this week. Thats hard to bear for a small business family,' Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Chris Rodwell told the West Australian. Authorities believe the guard was infectious for five days before he tested positive to Covid-19. And during the time he was infectious, he visited 16 locations across Perth - including a Coles, KFC, hair dresser, halal grocery store and the Indian consulate. Contact tracers in Western Australia are scrambling to locate all potential contacts. The man returned negative results as part of routine testing on January 15, 17 and 23 but started to become unwell on January 28 - and called in sick for his shift on January 30. Western Australia recorded no new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday after two days of lockdown. Pictured: Scarborough beach in Perth Western Australia's chief health officer Andy Robertson said the security guard was most likely infectious from January 26 - five days before his positive test result came through on Saturday night. WA's health incident coordinator Robyn Lawrence on Tuesday claimed the guard 'did everything right' despite failing to isolate when he first fell ill. He eventually attended a GP practice in Nedlands and got tested. 'He was unwell, he stayed home, he sought medical advice and then subsequently the following day when he was still unwell, sought a Covid test,' Dr Lawrence told Perth radio 6PR. 'There is no bungle at this point in time. 'I will agree that the State Health Incident Control Centre is responsible for the hotel quarantine program and we take that responsibility incredibly seriously.' Perth residents are allowed out of their homes for one hour of exercise - but only with a mask on Anyone living in the lockdown zone, including school students, must stay at home unless shopping for essentials, attending to medical or healthcare needs, exercising within their neighbourhood or working if unable to do so remotely. Metropolitan testing clinics are staying open until 10pm, but Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup called for the government to open a 24-hour clinic. He also wants an immediate end to some hotel workers holding second jobs. Mr McGowan has said the government is close to enforcing such a ban which is likely to be softened by a 40 per cent pay increase. The Sheraton guard is also a rideshare driver but is not believed to have worked in that job since January 22 - several days before likely becoming infected. He is said to be fully cooperating with a police investigation. REGISTER HERE World renowned experts (physicians, scientists, lawyers, activists etc.) discuss the many unanswered questions regarding the safety and effectiveness of the COVID vaccine. Topics Are they safe and effective? Can you be forced to take one? Whos liable if anything goes wrong? How do I protect my right to choose? Discover what the mainstream media is not telling you! Confirmed Speakers Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Del Bigtree Thomas Cowan, MD Mary Holland, Esq. Christiane Northrup,MD John Gilmore Michael Kane Larry Palevsky,MD Sherri Tenpenny, DO David Rasnick, PhD Kevin Jenkins Emcees Curtis Cost Maureen McDonnell Sponsors Childrens Health Defense Millions Against Medical Mandates Autism Action Network Additional Groups NY Alliance For Vaccine Rights Family Freedom Alliance Liberate NY a Tunis/Tunisia The initiative of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) proposed to the President of the Republic to bring the country out of the crisis, has been suspended due to political bickering, UGTT Secretary General Noureddine Tabboubi said. The UGTT had sought through this initiative, to bring together all the political actors around the same table so as to find together solutions to the current situation in the country, except that the political crisis between the State's institutions has hindered its launch, he stated to the media on the fringes of the UGTT national administrative committee's meeting. "The UGTT has served its duty to the country and proposed a national dialogue initiative to the President of the Republic, but it has not been implemented," he regretted. The country's political, social and economic crisis as well as the meeting due next Thursday with the government as part of the 5+5 dialogue are on the agenda of the UGTT national administrative committee's meeting. On Monday, Democratic-led Washington D.C. filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), seeking an injunction to prevent teachers from participating in a strike or other work stoppage. The legal action comes as District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) reopened 114 schools on Tuesday, and seeks to prevent the WTU from holding meetings where any work stoppages could be discussed. The legal move to forestall strike action takes place amid a growing wave of resistance by educators nationwide, including most notably in Chicago, where teachers in the third largest school district in the US continue to refuse to return to work despite the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) negotiating a reopening plan with Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Fifth grade teacher Lauren Furst leads an online class at Meridien Public Charter School, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) The situation in Washington D.C. is very similar to that in Chicago. For months, the WTU has stifled any collective action by teachers. Only sickouts conducted by rank-and-file educators prevented an earlier opening. Last October, the WTU was prepared to reach a reopening agreement with DCPS but was stopped when teachers insisted on the ability to reject in-person assignments as part of any agreement. On November 2, after a wave of teacher sickouts and days before the US elections, DCPS officials decided against attempting to force reopening. However, in December the union reached a rotten deal with the school system to allow reopenings to proceed. The deal only required that certain inadequate safety measures be met, overseen by unqualified walk-through committees at each school. In a last-ditch maneuver, the WTU filed an arbitration action on January 20, arguing that the school system had failed to adhere to the December agreement. On January 30, the arbitrator rejected most of the WTUs claims, ensuring that all but two city schools would reopen this week. This legal gambit having failed, the WTU faces growing calls for collective action by its membership. The D.C. governments legal filing reveals that the WTU is under serious pressure from rank-and-file educators. On January 29, the union met to discuss having members stage a sickout, on mental health grounds, to prevent a return to the classroom. A day later, the WTU passed a resolution calling on teachers to continue online-only instruction. In a WTU press release issued Tuesday in response to the citys move for an injunction, the union says it must continue to discuss ways to protect our health and that of our students. That could include a strike authorization vote later this week. In fact, the WTU has no intention of carrying out any strike action and offers no protection to the 1,800 teachers who have already been forced to return. At a press conference Tuesday, WTU President Elizabeth Davis stated that WTU is advising its members who have been assigned in-person to return to their schools today. And of course, WTU has also advised membersas it continues to work with our partnersthat a strike would be unlawful and will have serious negative consequences for them and for our union. On Tuesday, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, who sits on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), stated emphatically, Lets be very clear: We are not trying to stand in the way of reopening. In its court filing, the D.C. government claims that without the injunction its most vulnerable youth will suffer profound and irreparable harm. In fact, keeping schools closed is the only way to ensure that children do not suffer the profound and irreparable harm of getting sick or dying from COVID-19, or spreading the virus to their family members and throughout their communities. D.C.s filing also relied on a highly questionable January 26 article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association to support its reopening drive, stating that the evidence does not support the conclusion that in-person learning in either the United States or abroad meaningfully contributed to increased community spread of COVID-19. In fact, numerous studies have shown that schools are a major factor in transmissions of COVID-19 and that shutting them down is one of the most important public health measures to contain the pandemic. D.C.s own limited experience with reopening confirms that schools are vectors for the spread of the virus. In November, the school system opened what it called Canvas Academics and Real Engagement (CARE) classrooms, allowing students to return to school buildings to receive online instruction while overseen by non-teaching staff. While the city reserved positions for up to 14,000 students in the CARE program, only about 900 enrolled, spread across 70 buildings. Despite this low attendance rate, D.C.s own data reveals that K-12 school buildings have been the fifth largest source of outbreaks, with universities ranked just behind schools. In response to the latest attack by a Democratic-run jurisdiction on teachers, a D.C. teacher responded that the citys actions were not surprising. DCPS uses threats in every facet of teaching. Another teacher, commenting on the law forbidding strikes of public employees, stated, Anti-worker legislation has already made it illegal for teachers to strike in D.C., so the injunction can be seen as the mayor trying every method to antagonize workers when she knows we have the power to truly control our workplace no matter what legislation. Teachers undoubtedly have the power to control their workplaces and stop school reopenings in Washington D.C. and around the country. However, to do so they must unite their struggles with the growing nationwide rebellion of teachers, and break free from the isolation imposed by the unions. The WTU, like the CTU in Chicago, is trying to wear down massive teacher opposition to school reopenings and will isolate any strike that does break out, just as the teachers unions did in the massive wave of teachers strike since 2018. The World Socialist Web Site and our Educators Newsletter call on Washington D.C. teachers to join the growing Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, the only organization fighting to unify teachers, students and parents with the broader working class across the US and internationally. Such committees have already been formed in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and a growing number of cities and states across the US, which are preparing for a nationwide general strike to close all schools and nonessential workplaces. To join this struggle, send us your contact information today! Sucharita Kodali, an e-commerce specialist at the research firm Forrester, told me that Amazon might now focus even more on AWS and fighting its muscular competitors in cloud computing, as well as technology-heavy parts of the company like digital advertising and hardware gadgets. It might focus less on groceries or fashion. C.E.O.s have favorite children, Kodali said. Bezos is still a power on the throne but Bezos isnt going to sit at home and eat potato chips. His new job title starting this summer, executive chairman of the board, implies that hes still going to play a big role in the company, and Amazon said he would have a hand in major decisions. Jassy is steeped in Bezos brand of Amazon, and institutions often have inertia that persists no matter who is in charge. But make no mistake: This is a changing of the guard, as my colleague Karen Weise wrote. Companies dont stay the same when their founders stop being in charge. Amazon might still be Bezos company, but I would bet it gets less so over time. (Read more on the Amazon news from my friends at the DealBook newsletter, and Kara Swisher in The New York Times Opinion section.) Goodbye or the long goodbye? There are two ways to hand off the C.E.O. job: The former boss sticks around at least for a while to smooth the transition and provide advice, or he disappears. Amazon is doing the former, as did Disney and Oracle. Uber did the latter, and Microsoft has done one of each. Its hard to know which path is better, but founders do cast a long shadow. Arguably, Google suffered when its co-founder Larry Page stuck around for years as an amorphous boss above bosses after he gave up the C.E.O. post in 2015. When Satya Nadella took over at Microsoft, it looked like his predecessors, Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, would still have a hand in decisions. It was better for him and Microsoft that they quietly stepped back instead. Why now? Bezos is so widely admired that he has been able to dabble in side projects like space travel, buy a newspaper, grab a role in a Star Trek movie, play competitive badminton and run Amazon however he wished. (One of those I made up.) Bezos says he wants to devote more attention now to futuristic projects and his other interests, but Elon Musk has done that and stayed the C.E.O. of Tesla. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 "eccenca offers one of the markets most mature knowledge graph based life cycle management solutions," Ontotext CEO Atanas Kiryakov explains the partnership with eccenca. "Its focus and dedication to automation use cases in manufacturing industries is bringing the benefits of knowledge graph technology to the supply chain and the shop floor. Building on eccenca's unique focus on process automation, we are jointly going to expand our offering into IT landscape automation to help organizations unify automation of security, network, cloud and on-premise IT infrastructures." eccenca Corporate Memory provides a multi-disciplinary integrative platform for managing enterprise data related rules, constraints, capabilities and configurations in a single application. The highly extensible, interoperable enterprise knowledge graph platform re-establishes global data transparency in enterprises as well as line-of-business ownership to a complex and dynamic data environment. By making enterprise data both machine-readable and human-interpretable, enterprises are enabled to drive agility, autonomy and automation without disrupting existing IT infrastructures. GraphDB is an enterprise-ready semantic graph database engine combined with content and data analytics capabilities. GraphDB allows users to link diverse data, index it for semantic search and enrich it via text analysis to build big knowledge graphs. GraphDB's differentiators include comprehensive integration with full-text search engines (Elasticsearch, SOLR and Lucene) and document databases (MongoDB), high-availability cluster architecture proven in business critical deployments spanning across multiple data centers and continents. It also provides efficient reasoning support and numerous analytics plug-ins including semantic similarity via graph- and word-embedding, RDF Rank that determines the importance of the nodes, based on the PageRank algorithm, spatial primitives (e.g. nearby) and others. "Ontotext has been a thought leader in our industry for more than a decade," explains Hans-Christian Brockmann, CEO of eccenca. "Their graph database provides market leading technology both for scalability and performance. Most importantly, Ontotext has matured from providing a mere tech vision to providing a strategy for next generation industry solutions in publishing and life science. It is time for semantic technology to mature from being a technology play to actually becoming a value enabler for industry solutions." Together the two companies are now offering one of the industry's most complete and most mature knowledge graph technology stack. They also provide a broad portfolio of custom industry solutions including Healthcare, Pharma, Automotive, Manufacturing, Financial Services and IT Management. The joint eco-system of Ontotext and eccenca also provides a unique ability to globally deliver custom solutions. Leading consulting partners of both companies include ATOS, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Deloitte, Fujitsu, InfoSys, NTT Data (Everis), MHP, PWC, Tata and Wipro. "The combination of both platforms and our strong partner network will allow enterprises to choose knowledge graph technology with confidence and build the next generation of their solutions Hans-Christian Brockmann adds. On an operational level, users of eccenca Corporate Memory and GraphDB will be able to handle extremely large data volumes and complex modelling tasks. The virtualization capabilities of GraphDB also support our mission to make enterprise data and knowledge graphs absolutely transparent for every user. "Knowledge graph technology allows us to model the most complex and intricate business rules and expert knowledge in a way that is scalable and digitally reusable. Thus it is the basis for advanced automation and AI." Both companies have been enabling enterprises for over a decade to overcome complexity by digitally documenting and automating knowledge management. In 2020, GraphDB was shortlisted as a significant graph database vendor by Forrester Wave while eccenca was named sample vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner Inc. The partnership will enable enterprises to realize the potential of business digital twins by leveraging knowledge-enabled automation. About Ontotext Ontotext is a global leader in enterprise knowledge graph technology and semantic database engines. Ontotext employs big knowledge graphs to enable unified data access and cognitive analytics via text mining and integration of data across multiple sources. Ontotext technology and solutions are spread wide across the value chain of the most knowledge-intensive enterprises in financial services, publishing, healthcare, pharma, manufacturing and public sectors. Leveraging AI and cognitive technologies, Ontotext helps enterprises get a competitive advantage by connecting the dots in their proprietary knowledge and interpreting it, using global intelligence as context.Founded in the year 2000 and headquartered in Bulgaria, Ontotext has most of its revenues from big corporations across US, UK, Mainland Europe and Asia and partners with 5 of the biggest IT Services companies on Earth. https://www.ontotext.com/ About eccenca eccenca is a leading provider of enterprise knowledge graph management software and solutions. Its flagship product Corporate Memory helps companies to master the complexity and dynamics of their knowledge, product and device lifecycles by laying the foundation for data integration, access and reusability across disparate sources. Companies are enabled to manage the rules, constraints, configurations and expert knowledge as well as data in one central application. This empowers customers to digitally scale knowledge for automation and AI applications. eccenca is named Sample Vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner and TOP 10 GDPR Solution Providers by CIOApplications. https://eccenca.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431563/eccenca_Ontotext.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/448827/Ontotext_Logo.jpg SOURCE Ontotext Andrew Yang said he is 'experiencing mild symptoms' after he tested positive for COVID-19. The democrat, who is running for mayor of New York City after his failed presidential campaign, said in a statement that he took the rapid test on Tuesday after testing negative over the weekend. 'I am experiencing mild symptoms, but am otherwise feeling well and in good spirits. I will quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines and follow the advice of my doctor,' Yang, 46, said. Andrew Yang, 46, said he has mild symptoms after testing positive for the coronavirus Yang, who is running for mayor of New York City, made the announcement on Twitter Yang, an entrepreneur, made waves during the 2020 election cycle with his proposals for universal basic income and is running as successor to Bill de Blasio on a platform of a localized income for all. Yang said that during his quarantine he will 'continue to attend as many virtual events as possible, in addition to working with our incredible campaign team to continue our mission of getting New York City back on its feet.' 'When the time is right, I look forward to once again hitting the campaign trail and advancing a positive vision for our city's future,' Yang said. Last month, Yang announced he was under a self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the virus. 'Our team has begun the contact tracing process to notify anyone who may have been in close contact with me,' he said on Tuesday. 'Our safety protocols require staffers who participate in in-person campaign activities get tested on a weekly basis.' Yang also urged his supporters to 'stay safe' and 'wear a mask.' He said his wife Evelyn, left, has Yang, center, 'very well contained and cared for' 'Evelyn already has me very well-contained and cared for. In all seriousness if you want me to feel better donate to my campaign! Then I can relax,' Yang tweeted. New York City has reported 26,443 new confirmed cases in the last week, according to the city's health department. There have been 2,116 new hospitalizations and 427 deaths. Yesterday, the country reported 134,339 new confirmed cases and 2,031 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data. There have been more than 440,000 deaths in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic Yang recently made news when he proposed building a casino on Governors Island as developers and lawmakers pushed to allow gambling halls in Manhattan to fix state budget holes. The entrepreneur said in an appearance on the radio show The Breakfast Club that building a casino would generate 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in revenue as the state faces a $15 billion shortfall while recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. Multiple polls show Yang leading the crowded mayoral race ahead of the Democratic primary in June with a narrow lead over Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, WNBC reported. Algeria has extended a hand to Syrias spiralling and sanction-stricken economy, reports Enab Baladi. The Algerian authorities have expressed their readiness to reactivate economic relations with the Syrian regime, despite the rise in the Algerian trade deficit and the economic crisis the country is facing. This development took place after the Syrian embassy asked for a meeting with the Algerian ministers of trade and labor. The ambassador of the Syrian regimes government in Algeria, Namir Waheeb al-Ghanem, revealed the details of his meeting with the Algerian Minister of Foreign Trade, Kamal Zureik, who expressed the intention of his countrys government to cooperate with Syria and strengthen economic and trade relations with it. On Tuesday, Ghanem said, in a statement to local newspaper Al-Watan, that Algerias stance towards Syria is very positive, describing the meetings he had with Algerian officials as useful. The ambassador said that the meetings with the Algerian Ministers of Labor and Trade took place at the request of the [Syrian] embassy and are concerned with the needs of the Syrian citizen, noting that other meetings would follow, allowing for the reactivation of relations between the two countries. He added that contacts were established with the concerned authorities to reactivate the Joint Syrian-Algerian Businessmen Council and to reconfigure and restructure it, after the Algerian side raised the need to revive the council, considering that the private sector is necessary in restoring commercial relations, in light of the Western sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime. Ghanem pointed to the need to reactivate the bilateral economic agreements signed between the two countries, after the Algerian Minister of Trade expressed his countrys desire to reignite economic and trade relations and to see Algerian goods on the Syrian market, and vice versa. The ambassador quoted the Algerian minister as saying that Syria is now in the process of reconstruction and needs to fulfill certain requirements, and that Algeria has both the ability and willingness to participate in this process. He added that his country possesses capabilities in several fieldsespecially in the field of cement and ironand has a surplus of millions of tons of cement. He added that Algeria is currently in the process of signing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which is a gateway for Syrian investors to enter Africa, which would employ 1.2 billion people, while Syria could be the Asian gateway for Algerian investors. Ghanem explained that the volume of trade exchange in the pre-war years had reached somewhat acceptable levels, although it did not meet the expectations. The volume of trade exchange between Syria and Algeria pre-2011 reached nearly 600 dollars million annually, with the trade balance tipping in favor of Syria, which used to export food, medicine, textiles, wheat, cotton, clothing, shoes, and other commodities to Algeria, while Syria imported chemicals from Algeria. During his meeting with Ghanem, Zureik stressed that raising the value of trade exchanges is a goal that can be achieved by encouraging productive investment and creating partnerships in new fields. Zureik touched on the privileges that Algeria offers investors wishing to penetrate the Algerian market, echoing what the Algerian Ministry of Trade said on Facebook on January 28. Algerias trade deficit is almost at 74 percent. Algeria suffered from an economic crisis in 2020, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the collapse of oil prices in world markets, at a time when fuel revenues represent 93 percent of the countrys foreign exchange income. Algerias trade deficit (the difference between the value of exports and imports) reached 10.6 billion dollars in 2020. The deficit increased by 73.48 percent, as the balance deficit reached 6.11 billion dollars in 2019, according to reporting by Algeria Press Service (APS) on January 14. 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. Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday blamed the BJP-led Central government of indulging in dirty politics of plarisation as the saffron party become "unable" to take the TMC on in West Bengal on social and economic development. When you cannot defeat Trinamool on social, economic or development indices, what does the BJP do? Go back to the tried and tested dirty trick - polarisation. BJPs dirty tricks department is also active in Darjeeling, TMC national spokesperson Derek O Brien said in a statement. The TMC national spokesperson said the BJP should address and resolve issues such as Kashmir and farmers distress instead of indulging in big talk. Cut out the big talk. BJP ministers and senior functionaries are openly spreading provocative messages on Facebook and Twitter. This is a crime, OBrien said. His comment comes in the backdrop of a spat between BJP and TMC over communal riots in the Baduria area of North 24 Parganas earlier this week. BJP gives hollow speeches on unity and harmony and is overseeing killing fields in the country, he said. Also Read | West Bengal violence: Curfew remains in Basirhat, Baduria; Internet services stay suspended in North 24 Parganas Making hollow speeches abroad about unity and harmony. And back home? You sell the nations assets and oversee killing fields. Are you running the nation? Or are you burning the nation? he asked. The BJP had yesterday demanded that the Centre impose Presidents rule in West Bengal and send central observers to assess the worsening law and order situation in the state. Also Read: Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP of misusing social media to spread rumour leading to communal riots For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tonny Abet Lawyers of former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine- on February 01 filed a petition at the Supreme Court seeking nullification of President Museveni's victory through the January 14 polls. The lawyers that will lead Bobi's legal battle against president Museveni's victory include: Medard Sseggona Lubega: He is a senior lawyer with several years of practice and he is one of the managing partners of Lukwago & Co. Advocates since 2003. The Busiro County East legislator, who just earned himself a third term, was a former minister of Mengo where he once got arrested by state operatives. He joined Parliament in 2011 and he has since, among other roles, worked as the Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitution Affairs. He sat his Primary Leaving Examinations in 1990 at Mayungwe Primary School. In 1994, he sat for the Uganda Certificate of Education at Entebbe Parents S.S and A level from Caltec Academy. Mr Sseggona graduated with a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Makerere University in 2001 before joining the LDC for his Diploma in Legal Practice. He lectured at Makerere University Business School between 2002-2010.Politically, he was a member of Democratic Party until recently when he joined National Unity Platform. In the 2016 presidential polls, Mr Sseggona backed former Prime Minister Patrick Amama Mbabazi. Asuman Basalirwa: He has been the incumbent MP for Bugiri Municipality since 2018. He recently earned himself a second term. Basalirwa became leader of Justice Forum (Jeema) in 2010. He is also a partner at Sewankambo & Co. Advocates. He was university secretary and lecturer at Islamic University in Uganda from 2005 to 2010 before joining politics. In October 2020 declared support for the National Unity Platform leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, in the 2021 General Election. Mr Basalirwa was also among the lead lawyers who represented Mr Mbabazi in his 2016 presidential election. Born on November 17, 1977, he attended Mwiri Primary School obtaining his Primary Leaving Education Certificate in 1991. He proceeded to Kira College Butiki for his O and A-Level education. In 2004, Basalirwa attained a postgraduate diploma in legal practice at the Law Development Centre, Kampala Uganda. In 2008, he attained a certificate in International Humanitarian Law, Pretoria University and got his Master of Laws, Makerere University in 2015. Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa: Mr Muyizzi Mulindwa is one of the longest serving senior partners in Alaka & Co. Advocates. He is the current managing partner. He has exceptional skills in litigation, negotiation, arbitration and legal drafting. He has participated and conducted legal service in several jurisdictions at regional and international levels, including international business transactions and labour rights, arbitration and litigation for multi-nationals and international NGOs, government bodies and individual firms and in this sojourn he has also been exposed to foreign practice and jurisprudence in International courts of justice. He is currently working on an ongoing international chamber of commerce multi-billion geothermal energy commercial arbitration matter between AAE Systems an Energy firm in the USA and Katwe Geothermal Services, a local partner in Uganda in an arbitration cause to be handled in the UK. He is also engaged in some matters at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Abdallah Kiwanuka: Mr Kiwanuka is freshly out of an election in which he defeated State Minister for Water Ronald Kibuule for the Mukono North seat on NUP ticket. Mr Kiwanuka in his early days, worked with Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago in his law firm of of Lukwago & Co. Advocates. Mr Kiwanuka came to limelight over 10 years ago when he was blocked from accessing City Hall where the then Kampala Affairs minister Frank Tumwebaze was presiding over the impeachment of Mr Lukwago. Anthony Wameli: Mr Wameli is the founder and managing partner of Wameli & Co. Advocates which employs eight advocates but has nurtured more than 300 advocates. He has been practicing law for the last 11 years with a wide range of experience, including representing suspects on terrorism charges. Known for being a human rights lawyer, Mr Wameli shot to limelight several years ago when he represented suspects accused of killing former police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi. Mr Wameli is currently representing the alleged rebel leader of the Allied Democratic Forces Jamil Mukulu. He is also representing former presidential candidate Gen Henry Tumukunde. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Abubakar Ssenkajako: He is one of the young lawyers in the law firm of Lukwago & Co. Advocates. He has for the last close to five years been involved in cases involving Lord Mayor Lukwago. He Ssenkajako has also been working closely with Mr Sseggona on different court cases. Suleiman Kakaire: Until about two years ago, Mr Kakaire had been a senior journalist with The Observer newspaper. He recently graduated with law degree and he has since been vigorously representing litigants in court. He is into private practice in a law firm with MP Mathias Mpuuga. Before he contested in the Bugweri County elections, Mr Kakaire was lecturing at Makerere University. He is the current deputy spokesperson of the opposition Alliance for National Transformation party. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Saudi Arabia has banned travel from 20 countries in a bid to curb the coronavirus and prevent fast-spreading variants from reaching the kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced on Tuesday. Diplomats, health care workers and their families are exempt from the travel order, which begins at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and includes travelers from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. The decision will include those travelers coming from other countries if they passed through any of the 20 banned countries 14 days preceding the request to enter the kingdom, a source from the Interior Ministry told SPA. Saudi Arabia has also extended its ban on Saudi citizens traveling abroad, pushing back the lifting of the restrictions from March 31 to May 17. The Interior Ministry said the decision was made after scheduled shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were delayed. The Saudi government in December first suspended commercial flights in and out of the country after a new, more contagious strain of the virus emerged in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said Wednesday that the Health Ministry will begin to administer huge quantities of coronavirus vaccines over the next several days, reports Arab News. Saudi Arabia has made vaccines free to residents and hopes to vaccinate up to 70% of the population by the end of 2021. The kingdom launched its vaccination drive in mid-December, with 85-year-old King Salman among the first to receive a jab. The Health Ministry on Wednesday announced 306 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 368,945 since the start of the pandemic. The country of 30 million people has recorded 6,386 deaths from the virus. Former President Donald Trump submitted his response to the article of impeachment against him through his attorneys on Tuesday. Trump denies he should be contested in the Senate after the House impeached him in January. He contented it goes against the Constitution to impeach a former official who does not hold the office. Trump's Response to Impeachment Trial According to lawyers for the former president on Tuesday, the House's impeachment of Trump is "facially and substantively flawed, and otherwise unconstitutional." Responding to House Democrats' brief alleging the former president was to be held accountable for the US Capitol siege, lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor called for either the single article of impeachment against Trump to be dismissed "with prejudice." This means the case cannot be brought again or for the acquittal of the Senate. Portions of the United States Constitution dealing with impeachment require that an individual needs to hold office to be impeached, they wrote in one of their responses to the arguments of Democrats, reported PBS. Trump utilized his legal response to impeachment charges against him in the United States Congress as a vehicle for his conspiracy theory. Trump's allegation he was the victim of massive voter fraud in the November 3 presidential election has not ebbed in the days since he left the Oval Office after spending his last two and a half months in office in a bid to overturn the results of the election against President Joe Biden. According to a source, Trump's aim to use the Senate impeachment trial to project his fraud allegations was a factor in his parting of ways with five attorneys over the weekend who wanted to target constitutional questions, reported Reuters. Also Read: Trump Gives First Remarks Since Leaving Office Prior to Impeachment Trial According to House Democrats on Tuesday in their most expounded case yet for why Trump should be convicted and permanently barred from the presidency, the former president reportedly endangered the lives of all Congress members when he provoked a mob of supporters "like a loaded cannon" at the US Capitol. Trump denied such claims, reported Syracuse. With merely days to go prior to Trump's second impeachment trial in the Senate, arguments from both sides have been taking shape. His attorneys focused on an argument that last week won the favor of 45 Senate Republicans in a failed vote for dismissal that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional. Impeachment managers issued their 80-page brief before the Senate trial against the former president. Rep. Adam Schiff, who was the lead impeachment manager for Trump's first impeachment trial, joins MSNBC's Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber to discuss the case against him, his allegations that the trial is "unconstitutional," and the evidence set forth against him. The 80-page document lays out the case of the former president, which indicates his pursuit of power is a significant betrayal that qualifies for his conviction. Aside from being unconstitutional, Trump's attorneys also said he was exercising his First Amendment right of free speech in questioning the presidential election results -- which they stated could not be proven as false. Related Article: Another Police Officer Takes Own Life After US Capitol Siege @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos last night anointed his successor - as quarterly sales flew past $100billion for the first time. Bezos, 57, revealed he was handing over the reins to Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazons booming cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services (AWS). Jassy will take over as boss of the internet giant as Bezos steps back to become executive chairman. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos revealed he is handing over the reins to Andy Jassy (pictured), the chief executive of Amazon's booming cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services The dramatic changing of the guard came as Amazons sales hit $126billion, or 92billion, in the final three months of 2020 the first time the company has ever raked in more than $100billion in a quarter. The storming end to the year took Amazons total sales for 2020 to 283billion - larger than the entire economy of Norway. In a year which forced consumers to do more shopping online due to lockdown restrictions, Amazon sold 536,000 of products and services every minute. And while high street chains such as Debenhams and Topshop have collapsed, Amazon pocketed profits of 15.6billion over the year. Amazons results released last night coincided with those of Google parent Alphabet. The tech titan raked in 41.7billion over the quarter, taking full-year sales to 123.4billion. Its profits for the whole of 2020 hit 29.5billion. Amazons founder Jeff Bezos, who was recently overtaken as the worlds richest man by Elon Musk, said: Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal. But last nights results came just hours after the company was ordered to pay 45million to the US Federal Trade Commission, to settle allegations that it failed to pay drivers of its Flex delivery service their full tips. Amazons fourth-quarter results were boosted by its postponed Prime Day, which was delayed due to the pandemic. COVID-19 Is Real: London Funeral Director The CCP virus pandemic has affected some more than others. For a funeral director in east London, the impact of the pandemic is very real. John Harris, senior partner at T Cribb & Sonsa 140-year family business now running 17 branches and 100 staffsaid that they have been twice as busy as they would normally be. Our day starts here [at] 6:30 [or] 6:45, and we sort of creep home [at] 9:30 [or] 10:30 of an evening. And it has been six, seven days a week, Harris told NTD on Sunday, adding that he wouldnt have time for an interview on other days. Harris said he doesnt believe every death with COVID-19 on the certificate means that the disease has killed them, but the disease is still a killer. In a lot of cases, it has contributed to the death. And in a lot of cases, had COVID not been here, those particular individuals would have probably gone on to live a lot longer, he said. Harris said that we can always argue about the statistics, but as far as he knows, hospitals and funeral directors are genuinely under an awful lot of pressure. COVID-19 is real, he said. John Harris, senior partner at funeral home T Cribb & Sons, speaks to NTD in London on Jan. 31, 2021. (NTD/Screenshot) Harris told NTD that from what he saw, the second wave of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, seems to have been affecting a wider group. The first wave seemed to affect more people with underlying conditions and seriously ill, but this time around, its far more indiscriminate, he said. Under government restrictions, the number of people attending a funeral is restricted to 30. Thats the biggest difficulty people find, Harriss daughter, funeral director Sarah Farrow told NTD. In the East End of London that barely covers direct family members, Farrow said. She said that being in a melting pot of culture like the East End of London means they have a lot to remember and to accommodate for different funerals. Despite the pressure and unusual circumstances during a pandemic, they have been trying to provide services as they normally do, including embalming the bodies and facilitating rituals, which some funeral homes may have stopped doing. As far as were concerned, we had a service to provide. Carrying out as normal as possible just meant that the families werent affected as much as they could potentially have been, Farrow said. Sarah Farrow, funeral director at T Cribb & Sons, speaks to NTD in London on Jan. 31, 2021. (NTD/Screenshot) Harris gave NTD an example of when they once drove to Preston to pick up a body because the local funeral home didnt allow ritual washing, dressing, and prayers for an elderly Sikh gentleman who had passed away. They facilitated the rituals before driving back at 3 a.m. This gives you some idea of how important that part of the funeral service is to the family, Harris said. As far as I was concerned, they would have moved heaven and earth to make sure that it did happen, he said. T Cribb & Sons was able to facilitate more services partly because they are fortunate to have more space than some other funeral homes, but its also a tradition of the family business that has been passed down for five generations. Back in the 1920s, when there was a big flu epidemic, a great grandfather still carried on with the Catholic faith, going in and having a full Requiem Mass, whereas other funeral directors in the time were not doing that, either didnt have time, didnt think it was necessary, and were just going straight to the cemeteries, Harris said. But we carried on. 100 years later, were doing the same thing, but with different cultures. Harris said they do this because you dont get a second chance to say goodbye to your loved ones. You cant turn the clock back. Bereavement is now, he said. Reporting by Jane Werrell of NTD. Two caretakers were arrested in the January 2020 death of 3-year-old Tarika Carter in Harris County, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Tuesday. Shawanda Harris, 35, and Huey Hamilton, 52, have been taken to Harris County Jail on a charge of injury to a child. Harris' bond was set at $150,000. The total bond for Hamilton, who also was charged with possession of a controlled substance, was set at $255,000. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to take its toll on human life and activity, new mutations and variants have emerged in different populations and regions. As scientists struggle to keep pace with these new strains, the enormous value of genomic sequencing of the viral RNA, and of sharing such data internationally, is becoming clear. A new preprint that appeared on the medRxiv* preprint server recently describes the outcome of such sequencing efforts in Japan as an important tool towards containing the spread of the infection. The researchers used whole genome sequencing of samples from COVID-19 patients to identify a new clade that appeared to have been imported, rather than spreading from the cases already existing in the community. The need for molecular genomic surveillance Infection control demands that cases arising during the same short period of time in a hospital be distinguished as being of nosocomial origin or derived from the community. If the former, it becomes necessary to trace the contacts of both inpatients and healthcare workers, which is not always essential in the community setting. Secondly, the direction in which the virus is adapting and changing in a given region or country is also signaled by the whole genome sequences obtained from COVID-19 patients in multiple hospitals. Such datasets as the national surveillance system in use in the UK have revealed that during the period of high national and international mobility, over a thousand viral lineages spread freely throughout the population. Recently, this system rapidly identified two variants of concern (VOCs), the UK and South African variants 501Y.V1 (B.1.1.7) and 501Y.V2 (B.1.351), respectively. These have been found to have greater infectivity and transmissibility due to the array of mutations found in each of them. Two dominant lineages in Japan In Japan, eight laboratories are engaged in whole genome sequencing of the virus, uploading the new sequences to the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data public database. However, the date of collection or the regional origin of many samples sequenced in Japan is missing. The current study focuses on the lineage summary of the sequencing data from 13 hospitals in the Kanto region of Japan, including 198 specimens. The researchers show that most of the strains belong to two closely related lineages, namely, B.1.1.284 and B.1.1.214. This is in contrast to other countries, such as the UK, already cited above, with over 1,000 lineages of the virus. The very restricted number of lineages seems to indicate the ability of Japans strict quarantine system to keep out new lineages from other countries. The researchers recommend that this system be continued to be enforced, as more virulent and highly infectious strains have emerged in the UK and South Africa. Of the 198 strains, 96% came from clade 20B, which comprised 52% from the B.1.1.284 lineage, and 32% classified as B.1.1.214 lineage. These two lineages have six nucleotide differences, and are found to make up over 4,000 and 1,000 of the more than 9,900 sequences from Japan on GISAID. These lineages are exclusive to Japan, for the most part, with only eight and three samples of B.1.1.284 and B.1.214, respectively, having been sequenced from other parts of the world. A few other lineages of clade 20B have also been found in Japan. Single case of clade 20C infection Strangely, however, a single patient with nosocomial COVID-19 infection was found to harbor a strain belonging to the B.1.346 lineage, belonging to clade 20C. The researchers found 159 sequences belonging to this lineage on the GISAID database, most being from the western part of the USA. Available data shows that clade 20C was last seen in Japan in March and May 2020, fading out thereafter unless in individuals under quarantine. This appears to be the result of undetected importations of the infection at the border between the two countries, evading the stringent quarantine barrier. This strain had 18 nucleotide mutations from the original Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 sequence. However, it does not appear to be associated with either altered transmissibility or increased virulence. What are the implications? The researchers conclude that genomic surveillance is essential to detect breaches in quarantine policy. Due to the surprisingly small number of lineages circulating in Japan, unlike almost any other country in the world, it may be relatively easy to pick up a foreign strain near the point of introduction. Secondly, even if such an introduction does occur, identifying the region or country of origin of the imported strain should be easy by a comparison of genomic sequences and mutations. The researchers also point out the value of decentralized sequencing efforts with common sharing of molecular data, in addition to the single national surveillance system comprising the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo and Public Health Centers and Public Health Institutes. The advantage of the former is its agility in identifying and following up new trends as soon as they are noticed, with appropriate national policies responding to quarantine breaches or containing areas where VOCs are detected, for instance. *Important Notice medRxiv 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. MP Margaret Ferrier has appeared in court charged with culpable and reckless conduct after she allegedly breached coronavirus rules. The 60-year-old had the SNP whip removed last year after it emerged she allegedly travelled from Glasgow to the House of Commons while waiting for the results of a Covid-19 test - and then made the return journey after being informed she had the virus. Ms Ferrier did not enter a plea when she appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday. She was committed for further examination and released on bail. The 60-year-old had the SNP (pictured outside court) whip removed last year after it emerged she allegedly travelled from Glasgow to the House of Commons while waiting for the results of a Covid-19 test - and then made the return journey after being informed she had the virus She has come under pressure to resign from her seat, but remains an independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West. In October the Metropolitan Police said it would take 'no further action' against the MP following an investigation. Ms Ferrier gave a four-minute speech in the House of Commons during a debate on coronavirus on September 28. She also told a national newspaper in October she felt 'hung out to dry' by the SNP, which withdrew the whip an hour after she released a statement about the incident. Ms Ferrier (pictured in the Commons in September) did not enter a plea when she appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday Despite pressure to resign her seat, Ms Ferrier is now an independent MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West. Scottish Labour launched an online petition calling for her to quit as an MP while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hosted a virtual meeting with residents in Ms Ferrier's constituency in early October. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard previously said: 'Margaret Ferrier has apologised for her selfish and dangerous actions. 'But so far she has continued to insist she is fit to represent her constituents in the House of Commons. 'I hope her arrest leads her to reconsider this arrogant position, and the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West get the opportunity to return an MP who puts their interests first.' An SNP spokesman said: 'Ms Ferrier remains suspended from the SNP and we will not comment further on live police proceedings.' The Metropolitan Police said in October because Ms Ferrier took a coronavirus test on September 26 - and travelled to London two days later - she could not face action under the Health Protection Regulations 2020, because they only came into effect on September 29. Lark Voorhies has joined her Saved by the Bell costars in remembering Dustin Diamond, who died Monday at 44 years old. The Nashville-born actress took to Instagram Tuesday to pay tribute to Diamond, after he lost his battle with stage four lung cancer. She posted a throwback of herself and her costar in character as Lisa Turtle and Screech Powers (respectively) from their five-year run on the beloved NBC high school sitcom. RIP: Lark Voorhies has joined her Saved by the Bell costars in remembering Dustin Diamond, who died Monday at 44 years old The 46-year-old wrote: 'Words cannot express the grief that I am feeling right now. Dustin and I had a warm and special friendship, he was a caring gentleman, and my memories of him will always be cherished. 'I am so very sorry he is gone. But it's exceptionally sad for his close loved ones who have do deal with his tragic death and their own great loss. My heart goes out to them at this trying time.' Her rich girl character Lisa was often the object of lovable nerd Screech's desire on the show, which first premiered as Good Morning, Miss Bliss on the Disney Channel in 1988, before it was retooled as Saved by the Bell on NBC. The series ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993, spawning two spinoff series, The College Years (1993-1994) and The New Class (1993-2000), as well as the TV movies Hawaiian Style (1992) and Wedding in Las Vegas (1994). Paying tribute: The Nashville-born actress took to Instagram Tuesday to pay tribute to Diamond (pictured in September, 2019) Battle with cancer: It came after he lost his battle with stage four small-cell lung carcinoma Sending love: Voorhies previously took to Instagram last month to wish Diamond well, after he was diagnosed and subsequently underwent a round of chemotherapy in Florida '90s vibes: She shared a photo of them at the 1994 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (pictured in May, 1994) Young love: Her rich girl character Lisa was often the object of lovable nerd Screech's desire on the show, which first premiered as Good Morning, Miss Bliss on the Disney Channel in 1988, before it was retooled as Saved by the Bell on NBC Voorhies previously took to Instagram last month to wish Diamond well, after he was diagnosed in early January with stage four small-cell lung carcinoma and subsequently underwent a round of chemotherapy in Florida. She shared a photo of them at the 1994 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, writing: 'I'd like to take the time to send special love and special best wishes to Dustin Diamond, who is one of my dearest friends. 'Dustin, all the many in your close circle who know you to be the great person that you are, are truly pulling for you and praying for the best outcome. -Lark Voorhies' It comes after other Saved by the Bell stars offered their own tributes on social media, including Mario Lopez, 47, who wrote: 'Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on...' Tiffani Thiessen, 47, wrote: 'I am deeply saddened by the news of my old co-star @realdustindiamond passing. Life is extremely fragile and it's something we should never take for granted. God speed Dustin.' Fond memories: It comes after other Saved by the Bell stars offered their own tributes on social media, including Mario Lopez, 47, who wrote: 'Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on...' Deeply saddened: Tiffani Thiessen, 47, wrote: 'I am deeply saddened by the news of my old co-star @realdustindiamond passing. Life is extremely fragile and it's something we should never take for granted. God speed Dustin' Truly gifted: Elizabeth Berkley, 48, also remembered him in a post: 'I'm grateful to have gotten to create with Dustin when we were at the beginning of our dreams coming true. I will hold onto those sweet memories and the laughs we shared. He was a truly gifted talent. Rest In Peace' Comedic genius: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 46, wrote on Twitter: 'Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade' Elizabeth Berkley, 48, also remembered him in a post: 'I'm grateful to have gotten to create with Dustin when we were at the beginning of our dreams coming true. I will hold onto those sweet memories and the laughs we shared. He was a truly gifted talent. Rest In Peace.' Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 46, wrote on Twitter: 'Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade.' With the exception of Diamond, the original core cast all recently made appearances on the first season of the Saved by the Bell reboot, which premiered in November on NBC's streaming platform Peacock. In Screech's absence, the show explained that he and his robot Kevin were living on the International Space Station. Diamond was in talks to bring back the iconic character for season two, as his longtime manager Roger Paul told People: 'He was upset that he wasn't asked to be a part of the reboot, but he talked to one of the executive producers about possibly coming to appear on the second season and he was happy about that.' Juicy gossip: Diamond and his costars had a complicated relationship over the years, largely thanks to his 2009 tell-all Behind the Bell, which alleged drug use and sexual relationships among the cast Disappointment: The Celebrity Big Brother star later called the book a 'disappointment', explaining he had a ghostwriter, when he appeared on The Dr. Oz Show in November, 2016 Sincere apology: He addressed his costars: 'I will say, guys, I think you're fantastic, working with you has been just one of the icons of my life and I'm sorry that this has taken advantage of me' (pictured in May, 1992) Lopez has since told Variety that he hopes the show will find another way to pay tribute to him in the wake of his death: 'We were really hoping he'd make an appearance on season two. 'Now I'm really going to push for some sort of tribute. I would love a whole episode dedicated to some of his most iconic moments or something like that. We have a lot of very creative minds who can try to figure it out, but I haven't had those conversations yet.' Diamond and his costars had a complicated relationship over the years, largely thanks to his 2009 tell-all Behind the Bell, which alleged drug use and sexual relationships among the cast. The Celebrity Big Brother star later called the book a 'disappointment', explaining he had a ghostwriter, when he appeared on The Dr. Oz Show in November, 2016. He addressed his costars: 'I will say, guys, I think you're fantastic, working with you has been just one of the icons of my life and I'm sorry that this has taken advantage of me the book and other situations I'm sure we'll talk about here. But I'm sure that you've experienced downfalls, as well, in your time and I'm still loving you guys.' Health officials in the Washington region's two most populous jurisdictions grappled Tuesday with how to equitably distribute the coronavirus vaccine as they continue to receive too few doses to inoculate eligible seniors and essential workers. Fairfax and Montgomery county leaders said new data shows the difficulties both localities are having in reaching communities disproportionately affected by the virus. Meanwhile, government officials announced Tuesday that two Montgomery residents have tested positive for the South African variant of the coronavirus. Raymond Crowel, head of Montgomery's Health and Human Services Department, said racial and income disparities persist among the residents who have preregistered for the vaccine. Using a map graphic, he showed that residents from wealthier Bethesda, Potomac and Chevy Chase are overrepresented among those who have signed up to be vaccinated, while those from Gaithersburg and Silver Spring are underrepresented. "The inequities and disparities are so stark already and that really concerns me," said County Council member Nancy Navarro, D-District 4. "It's like watching a dystopian movie play out." The vaccine shortage has also laid bare problems with health equity in Fairfax County, home to 1.1 million residents, officials said. County health officials said they are worried about people receiving the wrong vaccine as their second dose - for example, the one from Pfizer if they already received a Moderna shot - and have designated specific neighborhood clinics for the different types of vaccine. All first-time inoculations are being handled inside the county government center, which is hard to reach for lower-income residents who live farther away, officials said. Fairfax officials say Black and Latino residents older than 75 have registered for vaccine appointments at lower rates than other groups - either because they worry about side effects or because they don't know how to make an appointment. The county is offering free transportation to the government center from neighborhoods farther away and is working with religious leaders and community groups to reach those populations, officials said. The health department is building up its vaccine network to include private doctors for when more vaccines become available, said Gloria Addo-Ayensu, the county's health director. Among those groups are 70 private health care providers who cater to ethnic communities and are being trained in how to administer vaccine doses, she said. "The ideal thing would be for us to be able to engage clinicians, private providers," Addo-Ayensu said. "They are everywhere in our community. Our community already knows them and can actually trust them." Fairfax health officials said Tuesday their countywide waitlist for the first round of vaccine doses has climbed to 186,602 - a still-growing number that will be difficult to winnow down with just 13,600 doses being shipped each week from the state. "It will take a long time to work through the numbers who have already signed up and there are more signing up every day," Benjamin Schwartz, the county's top epidemiologist, told the Fairfax Board of Supervisors during a briefing. Virginia's largest county began receiving fewer vaccine doses after the state health department began allocating vaccines by population instead of based on a health department or provider's capacity for administering vaccine. Fairfax was previously receiving about 16,700 doses for first inoculations. County supervisors expressed frustration Tuesday with the pace of inoculations, saying residents have been flooding their offices with questions about where they are on the waitlist and when more vaccines would arrive. "Is that summer? Is that March?" Supervisor Daniel Storck, D-Mount Vernon, asked Addo-Ayensu about a broader vaccination effort. "When do we see that changing?" Addo-Ayensu responded: "I don't know," then explained that information has been spotty about additional vaccines and when they might arrive. "We have to wait and see," Addo-Ayensu said. "That's not the answer you're looking for, but that's the reality." The District released partial data this week on the race and ethnicity of those who have received the shots, saying 17,000 White residents and just fewer than 10,000 Black residents have been vaccinated in a city where Black residents are a plurality. But city leaders cautioned against drawing conclusions based on the preliminary figures because they are incomplete. As health officials confront vaccine distribution, they also are finding more cases of coronavirus variants. The Montgomery County residents who tested positive for the South African variant on Tuesday had recently traveled abroad, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said. Contact tracing is underway, and close contacts are isolating, he said. Over the weekend, Maryland became the second state in the nation to report a case of the South African coronavirus variant. That case, officials said, involved a Baltimore-area man who had not recently traveled out of the country. Maryland screens a "fairly small percentage" of positive coronavirus tests for variants through a patchwork network of private and public labs that include Johns Hopkins University and the state-owned lab, Deputy Health Secretary Jinlene Chan said. Samples are sometimes random and other times targeted to a genomic surveillance effort to detect variants when a clustered outbreak or international travel warrants it, she said. "It's a resource that's relatively costly," Chan said. "It doesn't make sense to do sequencing on all of them." Nationwide, the genetic sequencing of virus samples is so sparse that experts say it is likely mutations are quickly spreading undetected. On the same day the variant was announced in Montgomery, efforts were underway to get vaccines to more residents. Earl Stoddard, the county's head of emergency management, said Tuesday the jurisdiction has partnered with Johns Hopkins and other health care providers to vaccinate public and nonpublic school employees. Officials also are seeking the state's permission to vaccinate 100 child care providers and are helping to secure doses for residents and staff of independent-living senior facilities, which weren't included in a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens, said Health Officer Travis Gayles. The county is considering reopening indoor dining early next week, officials said. County Executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, sent an executive order lifting the ban to lawmakers Tuesday. If approved by the council, it would go into effect Feb. 9. Baltimore and D.C. resumed indoor dining in January, leaving Montgomery as an "outlier," Stoddard said. He emphasized, however, that "just because something is permitted doesn't mean it's a good idea." The county's 14-day average test positivity rate was 5.9% on Tuesday, which suggests a "moderate" rate of community transmission, according to federal guidelines. The greater Washington region Tuesday reported 82 new virus-related deaths and 3,775 new infections - the fewest number of new daily cases in the region since Nov. 15. Virginia reported 2,740 cases and 43 deaths, Maryland reported 905 cases and 34 deaths, and D.C. reported 130 cases and five deaths. Alexandria Police announced Tuesday that parking enforcement officer Edward Bonds, 53, died last week of complications from the virus. Bonds, of Suitland, had worked for the City of Alexandria for 21 years. - - - The Washington Post's Erin Cox and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report. 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. CloudBees Names Stephen DeWitt as New CEO, Embarks on Next Phase of DevOps Market-Leading Journey CloudBees, the enterprise software delivery company, today announced the appointment of Stephen DeWitt as its new CEO. DeWitt is a distinguished technology executive who's guided multi-billion-dollar businesses through IPO and strategic growth initiatives. The move represents a critical step for CloudBees, as the company expands its leadership position in the DevOps market and scales its global operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005090/en/ Stephen DeWitt (Photo: Business Wire) Co-founder and former CEO Sacha Labourey will remain very involved at CloudBees as chief strategy officer. Labourey, based in Switzerland, led the CEO search process with full support from the board of directors. He remains a member of the board and of the executive team, focusing on corporate, product and partner strategy. He will partner closely with DeWitt to help shape the company's vision for the market. "The DevOps market is growing at a break-neck pace - and now is the time for CloudBees to be bold and fast in its execution," Labourey said. "Stephen has a proven track record in driving execution, raising funds and delivering on bold strategies. His combined experience, business acumen and energy will invigorate our leadership team and drive the company forward in capturing even greater market share. At the same time, I will dedicate time and energy to strategy, where I will continue to impact CloudBees' success." Having just completed a milestone year that included the company passing the $100 million mark in ARR, CloudBees will look to drive this next phase of growth through expansion of its product portfolio, additional capital raising initiatives, including a potential IPO, and deepening its collaboration with leading enterprises around the globe. CloudBees has been named a Leader for continuous delivery by an independent industry analyst firm. The company has also been recognized for Completeness of Vision for application release orchestration by another industry analyst firm. Today, CloudBees is pioneering new concepts in full lifecycle software delivery. CloudBees' Software Delivery Automation platform creates a single system to orchestrate all software processes, from continuous integration to continuous delivery and application release orchestration. Late in 2020, CloudBees launched its Software Delivery Management platform, which creates a system of record for all of the data associated with a company's software delivery processes. The two platforms tie together processes and data, enabling enterprises to generate increased business value through software investments. DeWitt has a distinguished career in the technology sector. He has successfully built multiple start-ups from inception to scale. He has also served as a senior executive for influential market leaders HP, Cisco (News - Alert) , Symantec and Sun. Most recently DeWitt served as chief strategy officer at Automation Anywhere, a global leader in robotic process automation. Prior to Automation Anywhere, DeWitt served as CEO of WorkMarket, a pioneering SaaS (News - Alert) -based labor automation platform for enterprises, which was sold to ADP. He also has served as CEO at software provider Azul Systems and as CEO at Linux server provider Cobalt Networks. Cobalt Networks went IPO and was ultimately sold to Sun Microsystems (News - Alert) for $2 billion. "I'm excited to be joining Sacha and the team at CloudBees," DeWitt said. "Having spent more than 30 years building innovative start-ups and running tech businesses at scale, I know first hand the impact our innovation has on our customers. I've known CloudBees for years and am honored to join a talented team as the company writes this next exciting chapter in the evolution of the DevOps category. The world has changed in front of all of our eyes. The enterprise is rewriting itself and the importance of automation and the software delivery lifecycle brings the future of DevOps to the forefront...yet again." Additional Resources About CloudBees CloudBees, the enterprise software delivery company, provides the industry's leading DevOps technology platform. CloudBees enables developers to focus on what they do best: Build stuff that matters, while providing peace of mind to management with powerful risk mitigation, compliance and governance tools. Used by many of the Fortune 100, CloudBees is helping thousands of companies harness the power of continuous everything and gets them on the fastest path from a great idea, to great software, to amazing customer experiences, to being a business that changes lives. Backed by Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Verizon (News - Alert) Ventures, Delta-v Capital, Golub Capital and Unusual Ventures, CloudBees was founded in 2010 by former JBoss CTO Sacha Labourey and an elite team of continuous integration, continuous delivery and DevOps professionals. Follow CloudBees on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005090/en/ 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| 2021-02-04 01:12:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MACAO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- One person was injured in a fishing vessel fire on sea waters near Macao late on Wednesday, according to local authorities. The person was in stable condition and sent to hospital for treatment, authorities said. The fire was reported at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and was brought under control in about half an hour. Authorities have urged fishermen to stay alert to emergencies as more fishing vessels return to Macao for the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year. The cause of the accident is under further investigation. Enditem The announcement to set up seven mega textile parks in the Union Budget 21-22 is considered a great move towards making India a sought-after textile and apparel outsourcing hub, a distinction it has been consistently losing out to the likes of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and of course China. However, the Indian textile industry, which employs 4.5 crore people, also includes 35.22 lakh handloom weavers. Stakeholders of the handloom industry say that the setting up of textile parks will not help in pulling the handloom weavers from the clutches of unemployment and poverty. "The textile parks are a good step towards regulating the industry, but it's more for the export market. They are not meant for weavers. As far as the handloom weavers are concerned, not much concern has been mentioned anywhere in the budget. More than 50 per cent of the members of the craft industry consist of women and yet it has been ignored," points out Jaya Jaitly, Founder, Dastkari Haat Samiti. Also Read: Budget 2021-22 caters to 1% of India's population: Rahul Gandhi The handloom weavers were among the worst impacted during the coronavirus lockdown, with sales dipping to the tune of 60-70 per cent. Buyers who had placed orders with weavers went back on their commitment as there was no demand for their products and the weavers ended up with heaps of unsold inventory. Even today, the handloom industry is at just 25-30 per cent of pre-COVID levels. "Since the weavers didn't own the fabrics, they couldn't sell them. Most of these weavers work on trust, and now we are pushing them not to take orders until they are offered a substantial advance," explains Pavithra Muddaya, Co-Founder, Vimor. Most state governments have offered measly compensations to the weavers, which hardly suffices to take care of their daily needs. "The handloom weavers need help to survive, they need help with designs. They don't need infrastructure," Muddaya further adds. The bulk of handloom weavers prefer working in their respective homes on their own looms. Infrastructure intimidates them, says Development Consultant Anuradha Pati. The government has created common facility centres in several weaving clusters such as Kota and Pochampalli and most of them are unfrequented. Also Read: No change in tax slabs, PPF limit, Sec 80C exemption in Budget 2021 "They only go to the facility centres to attend the cooperative society meetings. The government should instead help them by giving them extended credit or design support," says Pati. The textile parks, according to Jaitly, would make sense for the weavers only if companies set up facilities there and give employment to the weavers. Macherla Mohan Rao, President, National Federation of Handlooms and Handicrafts, wonders why the government isn't giving production-linked incentives to the handloom sector. "The government of India is not able to comprehend the domestic potential of handlooms. The overall handloom market in India is Rs 2.40 lakh crore, out of which only Rs 2,000 crore is exported, the remaining is sold in India. The government should have increased the budget allocation for the handloom and handicraft sector." While the bulk of stakeholders feel that the Centre has ignored the needs of handloom weavers, Khitish Pandya, Founder EcoTasar and EcoSareeClub, has a contrarian view. He believes the textile parks could help in providing employment to a lot of marginalised weavers who are struggling to meet ends. "This would mean that there will be fewer weavers left and it will help to get better remuneration. Their produce will have a higher premium attached to it," Pandya adds. ABP News concluded a special e-conclave, Jan Man Dhan to recapitulate and scrutinize the intricacies of the Budget 2021 today. The special conclave was organized with the pretext of discussing the high and lows of the new Budget, which was presented by the Honourable Finance Minister of India, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st Feb 2021. Speaking exclusively on ABP News' Budget Conclave, Honourable Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari said that the Union Budget 2021 will help generate growth and employment in the country. He further mentioned that the Voluntary Vehicle Scrappage Policy is aimed to push forward the introduction of new vehicles and boost the demand for heavy and medium commercial vehicles. This step will surely give a new direction to the auto industry and provide millions of jobs. He said. "With this, import of petrol and diesel will come down. Pollution will be less, and cost of manufacturing cars, buses, and trucks will be reduced. This new policy will make us the number one automobile manufacturing hub in the world," he added. Making the summit highly informative, the conclave hosted various dignitaries such as Jayant Sinha (MP, Lok Sabha), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (MP, Rajya Sabha), Nitin Gadkari (Minister for Road Transport & Highways and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Smriti Irani (Cabinet Minister for Textiles), Manish Tewari (MP, Lok Sabha), Anurag Thakur (Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Cabinet Minister for Law & Justice, Communication & IT), Uday Shankar (President, FICCI), Sambit Patra (Spokesperson BJP), Gourav Vallabh (Spokesperson INC), Prahlad Patel (Minister of State for Tourism & Culture), Dharmendra Pradhan (Cabinet Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas & Steel), Gajendra Shekhawat (Cabinet Minister for Jal Shakti), Vineet Aggarwal (MD, TCI; President, ASSOCHAM), Sumant Sinha (Chairman & MD, ReNew Power), Niranjan Hiranandani (Co-Founder & MD, Hiranandani Group), Aditi Nair (Principal Economist, ICRA), Raamdeo Agrawal (JMD, Motilal Oswal Group), Devinder Sharma (Domain Expert on Indian Agriculture), Sitaram Yechury (General Secretary CIP(M)), Sushil Modi (MP Rajya Sabha), and Priyanka Chaturvedi (MP, Rajya Sabha; Deputy Leader Shiv Sena). The Jan Man Dhan e-conclave witnessed insightful deliberations on the future of the Indian economy, newly introduced policies, budgets impact on different industries, revival in the post-covid era, and concerns of the common man among many other pertinent themes. On this special conclave, Mr. Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said, ABP News has always been known to provide the most incisive, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand coverage on the Budget. Keeping the viewer at the forefront, we offer a meld of expert analysis and simplification of facts on the Jan Man Dhan E-Conclave, to ensure every viewer understands the impact of the budget on their everyday lives and also gets a perspective on what the top leaders and experts think about the new developments. Key Highlights: Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles and Minister of Women & Child Development, Ms. Smriti Irani dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's accusation of selling the country to capitalists. Disinvestment is not selling the country. The business of government is not being in business. During such difficult times, you'd think that a responsible opposition will have a constructive stand but that can't be expected out of Rahul Gandhi. She said. Talking about the farmers and MSPs, she criticized Congress for supporting the farmers and said "In 2013-14 Congress government only did a Rs. 90 crore MSP operation whereas Narendra Modi government until January 2021, has invested about Rs. 25 crores and the farmers have received about one lakhs crores into their bank accounts." Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Mr. Anurag Thakur said that the central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed India to secure sixth position in the world economy from number 11. "We found opportunities in a disaster and worked towards building a self-reliant India. All these steps will help us achieve the target of five trillion-dollar economy." As far as the free COVID-19 vaccine is concerned, Mr. Anurag Thakur said that The first lot of the vaccine consignment is for the health workers and front-line workers, but if it is needed further, we will provide it. Cabinet Minister for Law & Justice, Communication & IT, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad talked about the increase in Production Link Incentive (PLIs) which has allowed major companies like Samsung & Apple to manufacture their products according to global standards in India. This will give jobs to about 9 lakh people. "India will be a part of the global economy by being a part of the global supply chain." He said. "We will make manufacturing and digital economy strong in India," he added. Mr. Uday Shankar, President, FICCI talked about the need for the country to revive its economy. He welcomed disinvestment as a method to do the same. "Right now, the need of the hour is the revival of the economy, and increasing capital expenditure is a very good move. Wage-seekers are going to benefit the most from this investment. The country is past the peak of the current wave of the pandemic, Chris Whitty says but he warned of another surge if restrictions are eased too soon. The chief medical officer gave the verdict after one month of the lockdown in England and despite a further 1,322 deaths being reported in the past 24 hours. Most of my colleagues think we are past the peak. Now, that doesn't mean you can't have another one, Professor Whitty told the Downing Street press conference. But despite the success in vaccinating 10 million people Boris Johnson said it was soon to give the go-ahead for people to meet up once they have received a second jab. Recommended Boris Johnson leads No 10 news briefing He ducked a question about when the hotel quarantine plan will finally get underway, but said Matt Hancock will reveal more details on Thursday with the start date thought to be still a fortnight away. Mr Johnson also faced down pressure from Tory backbenchers for faster school reopening, to match Scotland and Wales, arguing it was prudent to stick to 8 March at the earliest. Professor Whitty, meanwhile, knocked down unofficial hints that every adult could be offered a first dose by the end of May, warning that was probably beyond what is possible. The need to deliver second doses to the oldest and most vulnerable people, after no more than 12 weeks, will inevitably slow things down in the months to come. Both the professor and the prime minister stressed the need for caution, Mr Johnson warning infections were still too forbiddingly high for us to imagine the relaxation of the current guidelines. Professor Whitty said: There are still a very large number of people in hospital and more people than there were in the first peak in April last year. He added: "The rates are now coming down but they are still incredibly high. If we were to start take-off again from the very high levels we are at the moment the NHS will get back into trouble extraordinarily fast. And Professor Whitty dismissed his haranguing by a young man while walking near Westminster, footage of which has being widely shared on social media. The odd young lad, showing off, occasionally happens. I didn't think anything of it frankly, he said. I'm sure he'll become a model citizen in due course and hopefully more like Captain Tom, who is the kind of person who I think much more exemplifies the spirit of the UK. The 28-year-old man was digging out a spot for his car in the 1400 block of North Cleaver Street about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday when two male attackers pulled up in a tan Ford Fusion and pointed a handgun at the man, fishing money and keys out of his pockets, according to police. The two fled, one in the Ford and the other in the mans blue Lexus ES300. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More As promised by her, Finance Minister delivered 'a Budget like never before' on February 1. And the Dalal Street responded with similar enthusiasm. The Budget was focused on growth to boost the economy. No hike in the direct taxes, which investors feared, focus on healthcare as well as insurance, and announcements related to banking were the highlights of a path-breaking Budget. Experts give a thumbs up to the Budget as it will play a key role in pushing the economy back on the recovery path and boost corporate earnings. Investors should bet on specific stocks that are likely to benefit the most from the growth journey. The FY22 budget has turned out to be a landmark budget with the government meeting the sky-high expectations of equity markets and the general public. The focus of the government is clearly on spending to revive the economy without major changes in the taxation structure, B Gopkumar, MD & CEO, Axis Securities told Moneycontrol. The government is doing quality spending with focus on infrastructure, healthcare, and key social programs. The fiscal deficit is pegged at 6.8% for FY22, which is clearly expansionary and will aid the economy significantly, he said. He further added that the proposals for the financial sector which include privatization of public banks and asset reconstruction company are also significant positives for the financial sector. Overall, the budget has checked most of the boxes and will help the economy. Not only largecaps, but mid & smallcap stocks also participated in the rally. NiftyBank touched a fresh record high above 34000 for the first time. Experts advise investors to stay with stocks in economy-lined sectors that are likely to gain the most from Budget proposals. "The 5% thumps up given by the Sensex reflects the market's resounding approval of the bold reform-growth-orientation of the budget. Like the 1991 Budget which initiated liberalization in India, this budget marks a clear turn to the right in economic policy in India, Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol. The stage is set for India embracing privatization in right earnest. There are concerns regarding the high fiscal deficit. Also, implementation holds the key in achieving the targets, he said. Vijayakumar further added that investors should stay invested, particularly in sectors like financials especially private sector banking ( PSU banks will give trading opportunities) IT, pharma, autos, cement and segments of FMCG. Domestic cyclicals appear to be strong bets. We have collated a list of stocks that are likely to benefit the most as recommended by various brokerage firms: Brokerage Firm: ICICIDirect Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement Budget allocation of Rs 5.54 lakh crore for infrastructure spending, Rs 2 lakh crore to states & further Rs 20000 crore for setting up DFI should create a robust tendering opportunity for L&T. Narayana Hrudayalaya, Apollo Hospital, Shalby Proposes PM AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana to be launched at an outlay of about Rs 64,180 crore over six years. Among others, it includes establishing critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions. We expect the government to involve private hospital players via the PPP model as proposed by the Niti Ayog in sync with NHP 2017. KPR Mill, Gokaldas Exports, Arvind To enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, a scheme of Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) will be launched in addition to the PLI scheme. This will create a world-class infrastructure with plug & play facilities to enable create global champions in exports. Seven textile parks will be established over three years. Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, JK Tyre, Apollo Tyres The Budget extended support to the commercial vehicle space through the allocation of Rs 18,000 crore for procurement of over 20,000 buses for urban transport. It is aimed to be implemented deploying PPP model. 2) Announcement of voluntary scrappage policy for commercial vehicles >15 years of age and private vehicles >20 years of age. Indraprastha Gas, Mahanagar Gas, Gujarat Gas, Adani Total Gas & GAIL In the next three years, 100 districts will be added to the existing CGD network. The addition of new areas will provide an incremental opportunity for volume growth for CGD companies. PNC Infratech, KNR Construction Increase in roads & highways CAPEX allocation by ~17% YoY at Rs 1,08,230 crore to boost order inflows for road EPC players. Supreme Industries, Astral Poly In Jal Jeevan Mission for Urban households, the government would be setting up 2.86 crore water tap connection at an outlay of Rs 2.87 lakh crore over the next five years. This would benefit plastic pipe companies with incremental demand of PVC pipes. Brokerage: IIFL Securities ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank, Indias second-largest private bank, is among the few banks that have a manageable asset quality positions and a strong provisioning buffer. The bank is aiming to focus on data, analytics and technology to drive growth and improve productivity and efficiency. The rising share of retail loans continues to drive the overall loan growth and ICICI Bank is strongly positioned to maintain this momentum and further witness margin expansion. ITC: ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a diversified presence across businesses. It is a market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging, and Agri-Exports and, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its nascent business of FMCG. "We believe that ITC is a beneficiary of nil tax increase in this budget vs. 11-16% increase in the past year. Its FMCG business is on a strong footing and is primed for margin expansion on account of scale benefits," said the report. Dabur India: Dabur India has a highly diversified portfolio and is witnessing market share gains in core categories as well as sustained growth momentum in the healthcare portfolio. The focus on strengthening distribution and new launches are likely to aid revenue growth going ahead. Dabur has shown strong volume growth performance among FMCG peers. SBI Life Insurance: SBI Life is Indias largest private life insurer on a retail APE basis. The company has a product mix of participating, non-participating, and linked policies, with the mix skewed towards linked products. SBI Life can deliver top-quartile growth helped by a favourable base, backed by well-diversified distribution, rational cost structure, and an under-penetrated mass customer base. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Market share improvement continues in motor and fire; ICICI Lombards GDPI was driven by 47 percent YoY growth in fire due to last years price hikes by reinsurers, though motor also saw growth, of 12 percent YoY, significantly better than the industry. Health declined 8 percent YoY primarily due to a decline in its benefits portfolio, which is linked to disbursements by banks/NBFCs. The management sounded confident about growth across segments during the rest of the year and would continue to invest in growth initiatives. Deepak Nitrite DNL is a promising play amidst anti-China backlash as it is backward-integrated all the way to basic raw materials sourced largely locally, and competes with Chinese suppliers in several of its products. JK Lakshmi Cement The company has announced clinker and grinding capacity expansion at its existing plant in Rajasthan. The capacity is expected to get commissioned in FY23E, which can drive overall volume growth. Moreover, the improved profitability will enable the company to fund expansion via internal accruals. Sudarshan Chemical Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has grown to become Indias largest manufacturer of colour pigments. Its estimated market share in India stands at ~35 percent. Out of Rs 3.6bn (`1.5bn in FY21E and `2.1bn in FY22E), 70 percent of the capex will be towards growth projects while the remaining CAPEX is towards backward integration and set-up of utility infrastructure. HG Infra Engg HG Infra is the leading Indian highway contractor based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The company is executing 33 projects across seven states in India. The company has submitted bids for Rs 140 bn worth of projects and would bid for another `350bn in the next two months, with Management targeting Rs 35-40bn of new order wins in 4QFY21. The management also intends to bid for railways and water supply projects worth Rs 40 bn. : 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. A group of House Republicans is seeking to fend off the push to expel QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from committees by moving to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar off her own committee assignments. The move comes as the Republican Conference is being split apart by calls to yank Green's committee assignments over her statements in support of bizarre conspiracy theories and online postings about the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. That came Wednesday on an extraordinary day when the GOP conference was also torn over whether to punish Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney over her vote to impeach former President Trump. Republican lawmakers are pushing to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), center, from her committee seats in a move to counter the move against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Notably, Omar apologized for a 2019 comment many colleagues blasted as antisemitic With that backdrop, the move against Omar serves to both change the subject and demonstrate where precedent mike take Congress should Republicans regain control and start to single out Democratic lawmakers for punishment. Each party caucus traditionally handles punishment of their own members, as when Iowa Rep. Steve King lost his committee assignments over comments about white supremacy. The GOP's action on Marjorie Taylor Greene is taking place under a threat by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland to bring up a House floor vote Thursday if Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy fails to act. McCarthy met privately with Greene Tuesday night, and reportedly sought to persuade the first-term lawmaker to apologize for her comments, but she refused. GOP Reps. Brian Babin of Texas, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Jody Hice of Georgia, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Ronny Jackson of Texas are behind the effort. The group members themselves pushed baseless theories about election fraud, and there are moves to try to expel Biggs for his alleged role planning the 'stop the steal' rally that preceded the Capitol riot. Biggs promoted the move on Fox News, which has played up the effort. Taylor Greene has floated conspiracy theories about 9/11 and has made racist and anti-Semitic statements 'We're talking about statements that were made before she was even ever a candidate to Congress,' he said of Greene. 'That, I think has some bearing here .. On the other hand you have statements from Ilhan Omar, actually from Nancy Pelosi, or Maxine Waters, Representative Pressley, a whole plethora of folks, that while they're sitting here made offensive or dangerous statements as well,' he said. He was referring to the House speaker, senior black caucus member and finance chair Waters, fellow 'squad' member Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. TAYLOR GREENE'S BIZARRE CLAIMS The California Camp Fire which killed at least 85 was caused by a space laser linked to the Rothschilds and the state's high-speed rail. PG&E admitted it was caused by a faulty power line and went into bankruptcy to fund a $13.5bn settlement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin cut off a child's face while she was alive, Clinton wore it as a mask so the terrified child would produce 'adrenachrome' and then organized the killing of a cop who knew about it. The Las Vegas massacre was organized by Democrats to help them ban guns and shooter Stephen Paddock was not a lone wolf. There's no evidence of a plane hitting the Pentagon on 9/11. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre which cost the lives of 17 students was a 'false flag planned shooting.' ' 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.' Seth Rich leaked Hillary Clinton's emails and was murdered in revenge by her aide John Podesta because the emails revealed that a D.C. pizza restaurant had a child-smuggling operation in its basement. It does not even have a basement. The world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and the Q in QAnon exists and is the 'best chance to take them out.' Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett are Muslims. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. She wasn't the person who posted a call to assassinate Nancy Pelosi to her own Facebook page. Advertisement 'Look, if it's good for the goose it's good for the gander. Maybe what should happen is you let Republicans take care of our own and you Democrats take care of your own,' he said. Omar has made a series of controversial comments since joining Congress, although notably after her infamous 'it's all about the Benjamins baby' comment that many colleagues in both parties called out as antisemitic, she apologized. Omar, a longtime critic of Israel, received bipartisan criticism in 2019 when she suggested that pro-Israel politicians were being paid by the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby. She had been responding to a McCarthy statement on punishing her for statements critical of Israel. She sits on the Foreign Affairs panel. She tweeted after the uproard: 'Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.' She added: 'My intention I never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole.' Greene has been defiant as her own past comments have been brought up. Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog,' in a clip that surfaced Tuesday as Democrats are poised to remove her from committee assignments over controversial statements. Greene has expressed beliefs in a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon, that a plane didn't hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and that California's Camp Fire was caused by space lasers, which she connected to the Rothschilds in an anti-Semitic dog whistle. Pelosi's biggest complaint was that the congresswoman expressed doubt that Parkland and Sandy Hook actually happened statements that took on greater import after GOP leaders put her on the House Education & Labor Committee. Greene has also also 'liked' a Facebook comment in 2019 that said 'a bullet to the head would be quicker' in reference to Pelosi, as CNN reported. '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,' she said. She called Pelosi 'a traitor to our country' in a video, noting it was 'a crime punishable by death.' Pelosi last week spoke about an 'enemy within' as she defended a requirement that lawmakers go through a magnetometer before going on the House floor. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Police Commissioner Erasmus Makodza, accused of corruptly abusing his post or concealing from the police the business dealings of his girlfriend on a police farm, was yesterday remanded on $10 000 bail when he appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court. Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanley Mambanje ordered him to report once a month to the police and not interfere with witnesses before remanding him to March 2. Makodza, who was being represented by Mr Tapiwa Makanza, is charged with criminal abuse of duty as a public officer. Mrs Netsai Mushayabasa, appearing for the State, alleged that in 2019, Makodza decided to corruptly benefit from police projects in Mashonaland East where he was at the time officer commanding. Makodza is said to have engaged Assistant Commissioner Stephen Zengeya, who was responsible for administration in the province, and told him that there was a private investor who wanted to use Lendy Farm, which is owned by police. It is alleged that Makodza then introduced Maonei Chapfudza to Asst Comm Zengeya, saying she wanted to invest into piggery, poultry and horticulture on the police farm. It is alleged that Makodza did not tell Asst Comm Zengeya that he was in a relationship with Chapfudza and they had a child together in 2017. Further allegations are that Makodza, in a bid to cover-up his relationship with Chapfudza, wanted a formal agreement between his lover and the police. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Background checks were made in March 2019 and Chapfudza was cleared of corrupt tendencies. Mrs Mushayabasa had it that a final memorandum of joint venture agreement was signed between Chapfudza and Mashonaland East Police Province, which Asst Comm Zengeya signed. Although Makodza acknowledged receiving the agreement, he did not sign it, according to the State. The court heard that Makodza knew that he was in a relationship with Chapfudza when the agreement was concluded. According to the State, investigations by the police found that the joint venture agreement gave Makodza an obligation to provide an accounting officer who would make sure that the interests of the police were protected. Chapfudza, under the agreement was supposed to provide capital and expertise, according to the State. Contrary to the agreement, Chapfudza is said to have started using police infrastructure at Lendy Farm and started implementing her own businesses without passing 10 percent from the sale of products to police as agreed, it is alleged. Makodza was alleged to have abused his influence and allowed his lover to undertake the businesses at the police farm. ALBANY A state Supreme Court justice has ordered the state Department of Health to release details on COVID-19 deaths in New York's nursing homes in a ruling in favor of a conservative-leaning think tank that sued the state after the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declined to promptly provide the records in response to a Freedom of Information Law request. The Empire Center for Public Policy filed the request in early August seeking for the dates and number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. The health department stonewalled for months, contending they needed to delay their response due to the complexity of the request. The Empire Center contended that the information is readily available and the state could have turned it over promptly. State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O'Connor agreed with the Empire Center, saying the state violated the law by not providing a reasonable, approximate date when the information would be turned over. The judge ordered the health department to turn over the requested information within five business days and to pay the legal fees incurred by the Empire Center. "DOH has had ample time to respond to Empire Center's FOIL request. Its continued failure to provide petitioner a response, given the straightforward nature of the request, how the data is collected and maintained, and the fact that some of the requested data has already been made publicly available without personally identifying information, goes against FOIL's broad standard of open and transparent government and is a violation of the statute," O'Connor wrote. The court's ruling represents yet another political blow to Cuomo's administration, who last week was the target of a searing report from state Attorney General Letitia James' office that said the state health department had undercounted the deaths of nursing home residents by as much as 50 percent. Within hours of that report's release, the health department released numbers confirming the attorney general's findings information that lawmakers, journalists and outside groups such as the Empire Center had been seeking for months. A spokesman for the health department brushed off the significance of the judge's ruling and said they were nearly ready to turn over the information. With the preliminary audit complete, we were already in the process of responding to their FOIL request, and updating DOHs website with publicly available information, said Gary Holmes, a health department spokesman. Questions about New York's policies governing nursing home facilities have been intensifying for months. Republicans have accused Cuomo of engaging in a "cover up," have participated in protests that accuse Cuomo of being personally responsible for deaths in nursing homes and have called on their Democratic colleagues to subpoena the health department to get more information about the situation. Republicans held a related news conference Wednesday morning calling for an investigation of Cuomo's nursing home policies. They also demaned the release of detailed data, as well as internal communications from the administration regarding nursing home policies and the decisions to withhold the information from the Legislature and outside groups for so long. Rebel Wilson gave an update about her current relationship with Jacob Busch. After sharing an extra special relationship, Wilson took to her social media account and indirectly confirmed that she and Busch have parted ways. On Tuesday, the "Pitch Perfect" actress shared a photo of herself on Instagram, effortlessly flaunting her curves. While Rebel Wilson's weight loss proof caught the attention of fans once again, the caption shocked her followers more. "Lots on my mind...aghhhhhh.." she wrote. "#single-girl-heading-to-Super-Bowl!" After posting the controversial update, one of her representatives confirmed to E! News that she is truly single now. The other details about Wilson and Busch's split remain unknown. However, it is worth noting that the actress posed for a sweet picture with him last December 21, 2020. Who Is Rebel Wilson's Boyfriend (Now Ex)? Rebel Wilson's movies gave the actress the spotlight she deserves. For her now ex-boyfriend's part, working in front of camera is not his forte. Busch is a member of the Anheuser-Busch family, the clan that co-founded the Adolphus Busch brewery in 1852. Although the family sold it to InBev in 2008, their net worth remains at $13.4 billion. Before dating Wilson, he first shared a relationship with "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Adrienne Maloof. The two eventually split in 2015. Currently, he is well-known for founding an ice cream brand named Napp's. Rebel Wilson's Relationship Timeline Wilson and Busch met in 2019 through their mutual friends. Although they have known each other for years, they only made their relationship Instagram official in September 2020. The two first joined the Planetary Health Gala in Monaco together before publicizing their relationship even more. After their red carpet debut, a source confirmed to Us Weekly that they became a couple after meeting in 2019. "They met last year and started casually dating before coronavirus hit," an insider told the news outlet. "They kept in touch while Rebel was in Australia, and when she returned back to the U.S., they picked back up dating again and became serious." A few days later, the actress posted multiple pictures of him on her Instagram Story. She even once joked how their intimacy became her extra exercise toward her weight loss. "We do a lot of exercise together," she wrote along with a tongue-face emoji, cheekily crediting her weight loss to the "exercise" she does with the young bachelor. During the Halloween of 2020, the then-couple dressed up as a spooky and scary couple. Unfortunately, their breakup put an end to more Instagram-worthy moments between them. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Flash Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to focus on cooperation and manage differences in bilateral ties so as to bring the relationship back to its former course of sound and steady development. Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the call in an online conversation with board members of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. "More than a week ago, the Biden administration officially took office. China-U.S. relations now stand at a key point and face new opportunities and new challenges," said Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee. Yang said that normal China-U.S. interactions need to be restored, and "China should be seen as it is." The previous U.S. administration pursued some misguided policies toward China, said Yang, noting that the root cause is a strategic misjudgment by some in the United States. "They view China as a major strategic competitor, even an adversary. That, I am afraid, is historically, fundamentally and strategically wrong." It is a task for both China and the United States to restore the relationship to a predictable and constructive track of development, and to build a model for interaction between the two major countries that focuses on peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, according to Yang. China hopes the new U.S. administration will respond to the will of both peoples and follow the trend of history, said Yang. "For normal exchanges to resume, our two sides have to work in the same direction." He proposed that, at the government level, the embassies of the two countries and other channels should serve as bridges, while other players including think tanks, universities, media organizations, and businesses as well as exchanges at the sub-national level can also contribute in their own ways to bolstering the overall relations. Yang said that he hopes the new administration will remove the blocks to people-to-people exchanges, such as harassing Chinese students, restricting Chinese media outlets, shutting down Confucius Institutes and suppressing Chinese companies. "These policy measures are not only wrong but also unpopular," Yang said. He suggested that more should be done to send a positive message that China and the United States are working together, to encourage positive public perceptions of each other and win more public support for growing China-U.S. relations. (@FahadShabbir) Chile has joined an International Contact Group on resolving the crisis in Venezuela, the Chilean foreign ministry said MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) Chile has joined an International Contact Group on resolving the crisis in Venezuela, the Chilean foreign ministry said. "Amid the serious crisis in Venezuela and due to the international community's efforts to contribute to the peaceful transition to democracy in this country, Chile made a decision to join the International Contact Group (GIC)," the ministry said on Tuesday. Chilean Foreign Minister Andres Allamand participated in the VI GIC ministerial conference on Tuesday, where he expressed the importance of the convergence of international institutions amid the political, humanitarian and institutional crisis in Venezuela. The GIC foundation was initiated by the European Union in 2019. The organization includes Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Italy, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The group aims to elaborate a joint and coordinated strategy to contribute to the effective democratic transition in Venezuela. Increases Next Dividend Payment by 20% HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Evolution Petroleum (NYSE American:EPM) ("Evolution" or the "Company") announced today financial results and operating highlights for its fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2020 (the "current quarter"). Highlights for the Quarter: Declared and paid 29th consecutive quarterly cash dividend on common shares and increased the next dividend payment by 20%, from $0.025 per share to $0.03 per share, payable on March 31, 2021. Revenues increased by 3.1% over the prior quarter to $5.8 million. Generated cash flow in excess of quarterly dividend, before the effects of our last derivatives settlement, and ended the quarter with $19.0 million in cash and no debt. Resumed purchases of CO2 at Delhi in late October at a restricted rate and averaged approximately 75 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day for December of 2020. Amended credit agreement to incorporate a more flexible current ratio covenant. In December, the last of the company's hedges rolled off, which had been adversely impacting recent results. Hired Ryan Stash as CFO after retirement of David Joe. Management Comments on Results "We remain extremely positive about the future of Evolution Petroleum," said Jason Brown, President and CEO. "Although the price of crude rebounded in January to a level approaching that of a year ago, it remains volatile. We have weathered the storm and are optimistic about 2021, as demonstrated by our initial increase in the dividend rate. The hedges that we put in place to protect our balance sheet and dividend during this tumultuous past year did their job and expired in December, allowing us to fully benefit from the recent uptick in commodity prices going forward. We are pleased to welcome our new Chief Financial Officer, Ryan Stash, to the team. Ryan began to add value almost immediately in renegotiating our credit facility covenants to allow full access to our $23 million borrowing base. This undrawn facility, along with our $19 million of cash, will allow us to grow our company and support the dividend as opportunities arise. We are encouraged to hear from our operating partners of the resumption of capital expenditures and much needed conformance work at Delhi. CO2 purchases have been partially resumed at Delhi, averaging almost 75 MMcf per day in December, sufficient to have already begun stabilizing the oil production rate. Purchase levels are expected to be restricted through much of calendar 2021, but are expected to increase over time. We anticipate that the projected increase in purchase levels later this year will help to restore reservoir pressure and result in increased oil production. The Delhi operator, citing oil price uncertainty, has elected to delay the next phase of development for at least twelve months. As such, we continue to look for opportunities to acquire assets that will further support our long-term dividend policy and are encouraged by the number and attractiveness of the potential acquisitions we are evaluating." Financial and Operational Results Evolution reported total revenues for the quarter of $5.8 million compared to $5.6 million in the prior quarter, a 3.1% increase primarily driven by a 4.3% increase in the average realized oil price of $38.83 per barrel compared to $36.93 in the prior quarter. Also contributing to the increase in total revenues was a 36% increase in the average realized NGL price of $12.36 per barrel of oil equivalent ("BOE") compared to $9.11 per BOE in the prior quarter. Total net production in barrels of oil equivalent per day ("BOEPD") decreased 2.4% to 1,797 BOEPD in the current quarter compared to 1,841 BOEPD in the prior quarter. This decrease is primarily attributable to lower Delhi oil production as a result of the suspension of CO2 purchases, due to previously announced pipeline repairs, from late February through the end of October 2020 as well as a deferral of field conformance capital expenditures, and lower production at Hamilton Dome primarily due to wells temporarily shut-in for repairs and maintenance or low oil prices. Lease operating costs were $3.0 million in the current quarter, an increase of 25% from $2.4 million in the prior quarter. This increase is primarily due to the resumption of CO2 purchases at Delhi which resulted in $0.6 million in CO2 costs for the quarter. All other lease operating costs remained unchanged at $2.4 million. The Company recorded a $15.2 million impairment charge during the current quarter primarily as a result of the extremely low oil prices realized in March through May of 2020, which are incorporated in the trailing 12-month average price calculation required for the quarterly ceiling test. Under the full cost method of accounting that the company utilizes, capitalized costs of oil and gas properties, net of accumulated DD&A and related deferred taxes, are limited to the estimated future net cash flows from proved oil and gas reserves, discounted at 10%, plus the lower of cost or fair value of unproved properties included in the amortization base, plus the cost of unproved properties excluded from amortization, as adjusted for related income tax effects (the valuation "ceiling"). The prices used in calculating Evolution's ceiling test at December 31, 2020 were $39.54 per barrel of oil and $8.30 per BOE of natural gas liquids compared to $43.63 per barrel of oil and $7.85 per BOE of natural gas liquids at September 30, 2020. The Company recorded a net loss on derivative contracts of $0.3 million during the current quarter which is consistent with the net loss in the prior quarter. The current quarter consisted of $1.4 million of realized losses, partially offset by $1.1 million of unrealized mark-to-market gains as the last of the Company's open derivative contracts rolled off at December 31, 2020. General and administrative ('G&A') expenses (inclusive of non-cash expenses) were $1.8 million for the current quarter, an increase of $0.5 million from $1.3 million in the prior quarter. The increase in G&A expenses was primarily attributable to one-time consulting and legal expenses associated with the Company's CFO search and transition costs, as well as the yearly administrative and legal expenses associated with the annual shareholder meeting and new equity plan. Income tax benefit increased to $3.2 million, or 39.4%, from the prior quarter, primarily due to a higher pre-tax loss driven by proved property impairment. At December 31, 2020, the Company has a receivable for income tax refunds of approximately $3.1 million. Net loss for the quarter was $12.7 million (including $15.2 million pre-tax / $11.1 million after-tax of a non-cash impairment), or $0.38 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $7.1 million (including $9.6 million pre-tax / $7.0 million after-tax of a non-cash impairment), or $0.22 per diluted share, in the previous quarter. The increase in the Company's net loss was impacted by the full cost ceiling impairment recorded at December 31, 2020 driven by the severe decline in oil prices during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and an increase in lease operating expense as CO2 purchases were reinstated on October 26,2020. These increases were partially offset by a reduction in depletion expense as a result of the Company's fiscal first quarter 2021 full cost ceiling test impairment and an increase in average realized prices of oil and natural gas liquids. Capital Spending During the current quarter, the Company incurred capital expenditures of less than $0.1 million. Capital expenditures for the quarter were curtailed at both Delhi and Hamilton Dome due to the continued volatile price environment. Maintenance capital and expense workovers were performed on an as needed basis to maintain operations. Based on discussions with the Delhi and Hamilton Dome operators, the Company expects to resume conformance workover projects and will likely incur additional maintenance capital expenditures as oil prices recover, primarily at the Delhi field. The Hamilton Dome operator expects to restore volumes shut-in due to low oil prices as conditions improve in the market. Such amounts for workover projects are not known or approved but are expected to be in the range of $0.25 million to $0.5 million for the remaining six months of fiscal 2021. Evolution's proved undeveloped reserves at June 30, 2020 included 1.86 MMBOE of reserves and approximately $8.6 million of future development costs associated with Phase V development in the eastern portion of the Delhi field. Such development requires participation by both the operator and the Company, and is also dependent, in part, on the field operator's available funds, capital spending plans, and priorities within its portfolio of properties. In light of the current oil price volatility, the Delhi field operator has decided to delay the Phase V development project for twelve to twenty-four months. The Company believes Phase V is economic at today's prices and continues to include it in proved undeveloped reserves. The Company plans to continue discussions with the operator and looks forward to the eventual development of Phase V now expected to begin in calendar year 2022/2023. Liquidity and Outlook Working capital increased by $0.1 million from the prior quarter to $21.6 million. The Company ended the quarter with $19.0 million in cash after paying out $0.8 million in dividends, no debt and an undrawn reserve-based credit facility. The Company and its bank agreed to improve the flexibility of the credit facility by entering into an amendment to eliminate the backward-looking debt service coverage ratio and replace it with a current ratio. Operations Update The WTI average price for the current quarter increased 4% from the prior quarter to $42.70/bbl. Although WTI has generally exceeded $50/bbl since December 31, 2020, the Company expects the price of crude oil to remain volatile in the near-term. The Company cannot predict the duration of such volatility nor the current supply-demand imbalance but must be prepared for the potential effects on the Company's business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Decreased production volumes observed at Delhi for the quarter were primarily attributable to a lack of CO2 purchases from February through October which resulted in reduced CO2 injection volumes, as well as unplanned downtime and colder inlet temperatures which caused operational issues. Purchased CO2 supply came back online at Delhi on October 26, 2020 at an initial restricted rate of approximately 65 MMcf per day and averaged approximately 75 MMcf per day during December 2020. The current level of CO2 purchases is expected to abate production decline, and as CO2 purchases increase later this year, the reservoir is expected to repressurize which should increase current oil production at Delhi field. Additionally, maintenance work improved run time at the Delhi NGL plant in December 2020 and installation of remote sensing equipment at Delhi was completed during the quarter. The Hamilton Dome operator has been cognizant of expense impact on field economics and have worked to reduce costs during the fiscal second quarter of 2021. The operator has been deliberate in their well reactivations to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on equipment from repeated shut-in cycles as well as in the timing of reactivations to maximize cost savings on electricity. The Company expects some of the cost savings implemented to continue to be realized moving forward. Cash Dividend on Common Stock Influenced by the improved outlook for oil price and resumption of CO2 purchases at Delhi, the Board of Directors declared an increased cash dividend of $0.03 per share of common stock, which will be paid on March 31, 2021 to common stockholders of record on March 16, 2021. This will be the thirtieth consecutive quarterly cash dividend on the common stock, which has been paid since the quarter ended December 31, 2013. To date, the Company has paid over $70 million or $2.18 per share back to stockholders as cash dividends. Maintaining and ultimately growing the common stock dividend remains a Company priority. Quarterly Conference Call Evolution Petroleum Corporation will host its earnings conference call for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 on Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern (1:00 p.m. Central). The call will be hosted by Jason Brown, President & Chief Executive Officer and Ryan Stash, Chief Financial Officer. Details for the conference call are as follows: Date: February 4, 2021 Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern Call: 888-506-0062 (Toll free United States & Canada) Call: 973-528-0011 (International) To listen live via webcast over the internet, click the link https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2188/39796 or go to our website at http://www.evolutionpetroleum.com/. A replay will be available two hours after the end of the conference call through March 6, 2021 and will be accessible by calling 877-481-4010 (Toll free United States & Canada); 919-882-2331 (International) with the replay pin number of 39796. About Evolution Petroleum Evolution Petroleum Corporation is an oil and gas company focused on delivering a sustainable dividend yield to its shareholders through the ownership, management, and development of producing oil and gas properties onshore in the United States. The Company's long-term goal is to build a diversified portfolio of oil and gas assets primarily through acquisition, while seeking opportunities to maintain and increase production through selective development, production enhancement and other exploitation efforts on its properties. Our largest assets are our interest in a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in Louisiana's Delhi field and our interest in a secondary recovery project in Wyoming's Hamilton Dome field. Additional information, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, is available on its website at http://www.EvolutionPetroleum.com. Cautionary Statement All forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding current expectations, potential results and future plans and objectives of the Company involve a wide range of risks and uncertainties. Statements herein using words such as "believe," "expect," "plans," "outlook," "should," "will," and words of similar meaning are forward-looking statements. Although our expectations are based on business, engineering, geological, financial, and operating assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and we can give no assurance that our goals will be achieved. These factors and others are detailed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our periodic documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Company Contacts: Jason Brown, President & CEO |Ryan Stash, SVP & CFO (713) 935-0122 JBrown@evolutionpetroleum.com RStash@evolutionpetroleum.com Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations (Unaudited) Three Months Ended December 31, Six Months Ended December 31, 2020 2019 2020 2019 Revenues Crude oil $ 5,462,783 $ 8,974,237 $ 10,841,944 $ 17,819,741 Natural gas liquids 305,200 406,634 521,226 712,578 Natural gas 169 744 358 1,511 Total revenues 5,768,152 9,381,615 11,363,528 18,533,830 Operating costs Lease operating costs 3,005,413 4,234,605 5,403,337 7,324,694 Depreciation, depletion, and amortization 1,358,168 1,461,049 2,769,056 2,910,803 Proved property impairment 15,189,459 - 24,792,079 - Net loss on derivative contracts 279,679 - 614,645 - General and administrative expenses * 1,845,699 1,436,197 3,124,397 2,774,550 Total operating costs 21,678,418 7,131,851 36,703,514 13,010,047 Income (loss) from operations (15,910,266 ) 2,249,764 (25,339,986 ) 5,523,783 Other Interest and other income 11,217 52,941 25,643 119,070 Interest expense (19,622 ) (29,345 ) (41,654 ) (58,690 ) Income (loss) before income taxes (15,918,671 ) 2,273,360 (25,355,997 ) 5,584,163 Income tax provision (benefit) (3,208,664 ) 508,442 (5,510,842 ) 1,026,425 Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $ (12,710,007 ) $ 1,764,918 $ (19,845,155 ) $ 4,557,738 Earnings (loss) per common share Basic $ (0.38 ) $ 0.05 $ (0.60 ) $ 0.14 Diluted $ (0.38 ) $ 0.05 $ (0.60 ) $ 0.14 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding Basic 33,106,885 32,988,737 33,031,270 33,057,691 Diluted 33,106,885 32,988,737 33,031,270 33,061,555 * For the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, non-cash stock-based compensation expenses were $317,506 and $236,190, respectively. For the six months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, non-cash stock-based compensation expenses were $617,857and $568,203, respectively. Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Condensed Balance Sheets (Unaudited) December 31, 2020 June 30, 2020 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 19,035,092 $ 19,662,528 Receivables from oil and gas sales 2,507,048 1,919,213 Receivables of federal and state income taxes 3,112,772 3,243,271 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 400,438 491,686 Total current assets 25,055,350 25,316,698 Oil and natural gas properties, net-full-cost method of accounting, of which none were excluded from amortization 39,270,735 66,512,281 Other property and equipment, net 14,019 17,639 Total property and equipment, net 39,284,754 66,529,920 Other assets, net 361,904 291,618 Total assets $ 64,702,008 $ 92,138,236 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 2,051,812 $ 1,471,679 Accrued liabilities and other 1,376,121 716,648 Derivative contract liabilities - 1,911,343 State and federal income taxes payable 53,190 179,189 Total current liabilities 3,481,123 4,278,859 Long term liabilities Deferred income taxes 5,294,276 11,061,023 Asset retirement obligations 2,646,682 2,588,894 Operating lease liability 51,201 84,978 Total liabilities 11,473,282 18,013,754 Commitments and contingencies (Note 14) Stockholders' equity Common stock; par value $0.001; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 33,490,550 and 32,956,469 shares issued and outstanding, respectively 33,490 32,956 Additional paid-in capital 41,901,421 41,291,446 Retained earnings 11,293,815 32,800,080 Total stockholders' equity 53,228,726 74,124,482 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 64,702,008 $ 92,138,236 Evolution Petroleum Corporation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Condensed Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) Six Months Ended December 31, 2020 2019 Cash flows from operating activities Net income (loss) attributable to the Company $ (19,845,155 ) $ 4,557,738 Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation, depletion, and amortization 2,769,056 2,910,803 Proved property impairment 24,792,079 - Stock-based compensation 617,857 568,203 Settlement of asset retirement obligations (100,389 ) (26,773 ) Deferred income taxes (5,766,747 ) 40,252 Net loss on derivative contracts 614,645 - Payments made for derivative settlements (2,137,225 ) - Other 7,475 32,149 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Receivables (457,336 ) (840,298 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets 91,248 (60,118 ) Net operating loss carryback (110,942 ) - Accounts payable and accrued expenses 875,390 875,929 State and federal income taxes payable (125,999 ) 116,173 Net cash provided by operating activities 1,223,957 8,174,058 Cash flows from investing activities Acquisition of oil and natural gas properties - (9,337,716 ) Capital expenditures for oil and natural gas properties (182,935 ) (1,080,874 ) Net cash used in investing activities (182,935 ) (10,418,590 ) Cash flows from financing activities Common stock dividends paid (1,661,110 ) (6,621,194 ) Common share repurchases, including shares surrendered for tax withholding (7,348 ) (1,750,839 ) Other - - Net cash used in financing activities (1,668,458 ) (8,372,033 ) Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (627,436 ) (10,616,565 ) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 19,662,528 31,552,533 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 19,035,092 $ 20,935,968 Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information: Six Months Ended December 31, 2020 2019 Income taxes paid $ 561,852 $ 1,100,000 Income tax refunds received 130,499 - Non-cash transactions: (Decrease) increase in accrued purchases of property and equipment (54,190 ) 39,361 Oil and natural gas property costs attributable to the recognition of asset retirement obligations 91,430 871,076 Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited) Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 September 30, 2020 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 5,462,783 $ 5,379,161 $ 83,622 1.6 % NGL revenues 305,200 216,026 89,174 41.3 % Natural gas revenues 169 189 (20 ) (10.6 )% Total revenues $ 5,768,152 $ 5,595,376 $ 172,776 3.1 % Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 140,700 145,657 (4,957 ) (3.4 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 24,695 23,724 971 4.1 % Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 85 130 (45 ) (34.6 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 165,409 169,403 (3,994 ) (2.4 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,529 1,583 (54 ) (3.4 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 268 258 10 3.9 % Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - - - n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,797 1,841 (44 ) (2.4 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 38.83 $ 36.93 $ 1.90 5.1 % NGL price per Bbl 12.36 9.11 3.25 35.7 % Natural gas price per Mcf 1.99 1.45 0.54 n.m. Equivalent price per BOE $ 34.87 $ 33.03 $ 1.84 5.6 % CO2 costs $ 619,887 $ - $ 619,887 - % Other lease operating costs 2,385,526 2,397,924 (12,398 ) (0.5 )% Total lease operating costs $ 3,005,413 $ 2,397,924 $ 607,489 25.3 % CO2 costs per BOE $ 3.75 $ - $ 3.75 - % All other lease operating costs per BOE 14.42 14.16 0.26 1.8 % Lease operating costs per BOE $ 18.17 $ 14.16 $ 4.01 28.3 % CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.55 $ - $ 0.55 - % CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 51.4 - 51.4 - % DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 1,308,716 $ 1,362,085 $ (53,369 ) (3.9 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 1,810 1,810 - - % Amortization of intangibles 3,391 3,391 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 44,251 43,602 649 1.5 % Total DD&A $ 1,358,168 $ 1,410,888 $ (52,720 ) (3.7 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 7.91 $ 8.04 $ (0.13 ) (1.6 )% Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited) Three Months Ended December 31, 2020 2019 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 5,462,783 $ 8,974,237 $ (3,511,454 ) (39.1 )% NGL revenues 305,200 406,634 (101,434 ) (24.9 )% Natural gas revenues 169 744 (575 ) (77.3 )% Total revenues $ 5,768,152 $ 9,381,615 $ (3,613,463 ) (38.5 )% Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 140,700 168,117 (27,417 ) (16.3 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 24,695 27,260 (2,565 ) (9.4 )% Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 85 356 (271 ) (76.1 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 165,409 195,437 (30,028 ) (15.4 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,529 1,827 (298 ) (16.3 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 268 296 (28 ) (9.5 )% Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - 1 (1 ) n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,797 2,124 (327 ) (15.4 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 38.83 $ 53.38 $ (14.55 ) (27.3 )% NGL price per Bbl 12.36 14.92 (2.56 ) (17.2 )% Natural gas price per Mcf 1.99 2.09 (0.10 ) n.m. Equivalent price per BOE $ 34.87 $ 48.00 $ (13.13 ) (27.4 )% CO2 costs $ 619,887 $ 1,410,213 $ (790,326 ) (56.0 )% Other lease operating costs 2,385,526 2,824,392 (438,866 ) (15.5 )% Total lease operating costs $ 3,005,413 $ 4,234,605 $ (1,229,192 ) (29.0 )% CO2 costs per BOE $ 3.75 $ 7.22 $ (3.47 ) (48.1 )% All other lease operating costs per BOE 14.42 14.45 (0.03 ) (0.2 )% Lease operating costs per BOE $ 18.17 $ 21.67 $ (3.50 ) (16.2 )% CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.55 $ 0.77 $ (0.22 ) (28.6 )% CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 51.4 83.6 (32.2 ) (38.5 )% DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 1,308,716 $ 1,419,333 $ (110,617 ) (7.8 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 1,810 2,182 (372 ) (17.0 )% Amortization of intangibles 3,391 3,391 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 44,251 36,143 8,108 22.4 % Total DD&A $ 1,358,168 $ 1,461,049 $ (102,881 ) (7.0 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 7.91 $ 7.26 $ 0.65 9.0 % Supplemental Information on Oil and Natural Gas Operations (Unaudited) Six Months Ended December 31, 2020 2019 Variance Variance % Oil and gas production Crude oil revenues $ 10,841,944 $ 17,819,741 $ (6,977,797 ) (39.2 )% NGL revenues 521,226 712,578 (191,352 ) (26.9 )% Natural gas revenues 358 1,511 (1,153 ) (76.3 )% Total revenues $ 11,363,528 $ 18,533,830 $ (7,170,302 ) (38.7 )% Crude oil volumes (Bbl) 286,357 317,224 (30,867 ) (9.7 )% NGL volumes (Bbl) 48,419 53,776 (5,357 ) (10.0 )% Natural gas volumes (Mcf) 215 712 (497 ) (69.8 )% Equivalent volumes (BOE) 334,812 371,119 (36,307 ) (9.8 )% Crude oil (BOPD, net) 1,556 1,724 (168 ) (9.7 )% NGLs (BOEPD, net) 263 292 (29 ) (9.9 )% Natural gas (BOEPD, net) - 1 (1 ) n.m. Equivalent volumes (BOEPD, net) 1,819 2,017 (198 ) (9.8 )% Crude oil price per Bbl $ 37.86 $ 56.17 $ (18.31 ) (32.6 )% NGL price per Bbl 10.76 13.25 (2.49 ) (18.8 )% Natural gas price per Mcf 1.67 2.12 (0.45 ) (21.2 )% Equivalent price per BOE $ 33.94 $ 49.94 $ (16.00 ) (32.0 )% CO2 costs $ 619,887 $ 2,694,980 $ (2,075,093 ) (77.0 )% Other lease operating costs 4,783,450 4,629,714 153,736 3.3 % Total lease operating costs $ 5,403,337 $ 7,324,694 $ (1,921,357 ) (26.2 )% CO2 costs per BOE $ 1.85 $ 7.26 $ (5.41 ) (74.5 )% All other lease operating costs per BOE 14.29 12.48 1.81 14.5 % Lease operating costs per BOE $ 16.14 $ 19.74 $ (3.60 ) (18.2 )% CO2 costs per mcf $ 0.55 $ 0.80 $ (0.25 ) (31.3 )% CO2 volumes (MMcf per day, gross) 17.0 76.6 (59.6 ) (77.8 )% DD&A of proved oil and gas properties $ 2,670,801 $ 2,837,087 $ (166,286 ) (5.9 )% Depreciation of other property and equipment 3,620 4,504 (884 ) (19.6 )% Amortization of intangibles 6,782 6,782 - - % Accretion of asset retirement obligations 87,853 62,430 25,423 40.7 % Total DD&A $ 2,769,056 $ 2,910,803 $ (141,747 ) (4.9 )% Oil and gas DD&A rate per BOE $ 7.98 $ 7.64 $ 0.34 4.5 % SOURCE: Evolution Petroleum Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627775/Evolution-Petroleum-Announces-Results-for-the-Fiscal-2021-Second-Quarter-Ended-December-31-2020-and-Declares-Quarterly-Common-Stock-Dividend On the inaugural day of Aero India 2021, the United States of America has offered the Indian Air Force three of its frontline fighter planes namely: F-18, the F-15 and the F-21. This would be seen as an opportunity for joint exercises and strategic agreements. In a major strategic partnership between India and the US, it has been made quite clear that both countries would continue to work together to strengthen the Asia Pacific and unitedly fight against Chinese aggression. On the inaugural day of Aero India 2021, the United States of America has offered the Indian Air Force three of its frontline fighter planes namely: F-18, the F-15 and the F-21. US air force officials maintained that they would need India for its key capability development. The message was quite clear that the said relationship wasnt just about buying-selling or even manufacturing. This would be seen as an opportunity for joint exercises and strategic agreements. Aero India 2021 will kick off today and Defence Min Rajnath Singh will be inaugurating it. It will be taking place from 3-5 February in Bengaluru broadly under the theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India in the defence sector. Many believe Bidens push for strategic partnership and cordial relations with India comes in light of Chinas increasing aggression and the US has been favouring making the Quad a security model. Amid Chinas border conflict with India, this growing closeness between India-US can become a major talking point in the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier Biden in an article had indicated that he would support close relations with India. Quad and its expansion are likely to be supported by Joe Biden as the quad, the Malabar exercises, and defence dialogues are all aimed to protect Indias national and security interests. #WATCH | Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System aircraft flying past in Netra formation at Aero India show in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/dc50ze20ML ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 #WATCH | Aircraft taking part in the flypast in Atmanirbhar formation at Aero India-2021 in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/eusLZOnouL ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jet equipped with an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is on display at Aero India show in Bengaluru. One dedicated squadron of the Air Force is equipped with these missiles which can strike targets at over 400-km. pic.twitter.com/8VLxpmM5jH ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 India offers unlimited potential in defence and aerospace. Aero India is a wonderful platform for collaborations in these areas. The Government of India has brought futuristic reforms in these sectors, which will add impetus to our quest to become Aatmanirbhar. https://t.co/0m123xhL5x Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 3, 2021 Also Read: China crushes Free Baloch Movement: Pak Army General exposes Imran-Xi Jinping Also Read: Myanmar coup: Myanmar General warns Biden, clear show of siding with Xi Further making this occasion remarkable it will be the first time an American air force bomber will touch down on Indian soil. The US will field the B1-B supersonic heavy bomber during the inaugural ceremony held in Bengaluru. Leading global industry experts met at the virtual Agile Governance Global Summit to share international success stories in governance and enterprise agility both in the government and private sectors, as well as to discuss new trends and challenges in the sector. Prof. Raed Awamleh, Dean of the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), joined a panel discussion titled Enterprise Agility Journey at the virtual event hosted by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). Representatives from various high-profile organisations attended the Summit, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and German multinational conglomerate Siemens, among others. This years summit sought to shed light on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing response. The Enterprise Agility Journey panel discussion brought Prof Awamleh together with Trish Clancy, Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Rodrique Engering, Chief Customer and Operations Officer at the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. The session was moderated by Abeer Al Ahmad, Manager of Agility at Dewa. Prof Awamleh discussed his book Agility in Government Management, issued by MBRSG in cooperation with Dewa on January 21, underlining the need for new, unconventional, and more agile methods of governance, better capable of responding to rapid global changes and ensuring a better future for government institutions. Agility in governance is the ability to adapt quickly and innovatively to rapid developments, stated Prof Awamleh. Government entities must balance agility and stability. This requires a set of competencies that allow organisations to seamlessly restructure themselves and their systems in order to seize promising opportunities and address pressing challenges, he added. Prof. Awamleh highlighted the importance of restructuring government entities to ensure their preparedness and enhance their agility in response to any circumstances. These entities must form dynamic internal teams to replace the traditional hierarchy, he noted. There is an urgent need to adopt better and more modern human resources practices that meet current challenges and are in line with the new reality, stated Awamleh, stressing that regulation and policy labs will play a greater role in the future, ensuring policies and regulations meet the requirements for agility. For her part, Boston Consulting Groups Trish Clancy presented the findings of a BCG survey on agility, canvassing local and federal governments, as well as entities active across a range of key sectors. A prominent point of focus for Clancy was the importance of adopting technology and providing more efficient services as a means to ensure customers and consumers are at the top of these entities priorities. Roderick Engering of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce agreed, pointing, in addition, to the importance of empowering employees and engaging them in the efforts to drive transformation and ensure agility. The Agile Governance Global Summit 2021 included a full agenda of sessions, namely: Why We Do What We Do: Lessons Learned from Pandemic Response; Balancing Risk, Compliance, and Innovation: Operational Governance in Action During the Pandemic; and Global Trends in Corporate Governance for State-Owned Enterprises. The panels brought together speakers from various government entities and private institutions to share their thoughts on agile regulations and governance.-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. 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 Garda National Protective Services Bureau has formally established Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit, to police all aspects of organised criminality within the sex trade, including the enforcement of legislation criminalising the purchase of sexual services. The Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit, formally known as and operating as Operation Quest is attached to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, under Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime based at Harcourt Square. "The establishment of this specialised unit reinforces An Garda Siochanas commitment to protecting vulnerable persons, including victims of human trafficking involved in prostitution in Ireland," a Garda Press statement read. "This will be achieved by, tackling crime gangs involved in organisation prostitution, by targeting the demand for prostitution and by safeguarding those persons trafficked for sexual exploitation. "The Unit have been actively targeting organised prostitution and brothel-keeping. For example, a 44-year-old male and a 26-year-old female are currently before the courts charged with multiple offences in relation to Organised Prostitution, Brothel Keeping, Money Laundering and Fraud related offences in the greater Dublin area. "In addition to the above investigation, the Garda National Protective Services Bureau have been active in investigating attacks on persons in the sex trade." Detective Chief Superintendent Declan Daly said: "A physical or sexual assault on a prostitute is a serious crime and an attack on a vulnerable person in the community. Any person who commits such an attack can expect to be subject to a criminal investigation. Those persons who seek out and purchase sexual services also commit a criminal offence and will be prosecuted. The Organised Prostitution Investigation Unit have a number of persons before the Courts involved in violent attacks on vulnerable persons involved in the Sex Trade. An Garda Siochana are conscious that a significant number of serious attacks on individuals in the Sex Trade go un-reported, however An Garda Siochana "encourage those in the sex trade to report all such attacks, which will be rigorously investigated. By Heather Hart I hauled a box from our garage into our house, brushing back a stray hair. I returned for yet another box when a large SUV rolled to the edge of our driveway. With her eyes veiled by sunglasses, the driver rolled down her window and leaned out, Hello! You are new! Your son is in my sons class! We would love to have you come to his birthday party on Saturday. The whole family is invited! Wont you come?! This was my introduction to Meski, my beautiful, welcoming neighbor from Ethiopia. I was the new kid on her block. A few months into our friendship, I invited the women on our street over for dinner: Chinese take-out. In an effort to host well and streamline the evening, I ordered, paid for, and picked up everything for dinner before they arrived. When we were ready to eat, I set out the food and named each dish. I passed out plates and we gathered around the kitchen table. We chatted and ate and then I noticed that Meskis plate was barely half-filled. Perhaps she didnt care for Chinese food. The evening went on and we talked of life outside of kids and husbands. I mentioned I was in seminary and Meski told me she was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. We were elated to realize we shared faith in common. As we talked further, I realized why her plate was only half-full: Ethiopian Orthodox Christians follow some Jewish dietary restrictions and do not eat pork. At least half of what Id ordered was pork. I had invited her over and put her in a difficult position. Thankfully, she handled it with gentleness. Our differences were on full display, but our faith held us together. This was grace. In Romans, Paul writes to Christians with similar diverging beliefs. The Weak believe Jewish laws are necessary for Christian faith. The Strong believe Jewish laws are unnecessary. Unlike the gentleness I experienced, these two groups became adversarial, no longer wanting to be united in faith, each degrading the other. Paul aligns with the views of the Strong but protects the rights of the Weak; they are each allowed to follow the lifestyle God has directed them to follow.[1] Not satisfied with the idea of Christian community merely tolerating each other, Paul pushes them to examine themselves and remember that neither is above the other when viewed from the cross of Jesus Christ. Both groups are sinners in need of redemption and their standing in the church does not come from their adherence or non-adherence to Jewish laws. Their status is the gift of Christ who saves, redeems, and liberates the world. Their personal lifestyles, focused on alignment with or independence from Jewish law, do not affect their status, only God does that.[2] By centering on Christ, animosity is diffused, differences affirmed, and unity upheld. In 1 Corinthians Paul pushes back against cultural definitions of honor that revolve around privilege tied to wealth. The Corinthians method of observing the Lords Supper favored some believers over others and ran contrary to the example of Christ. Christs gift of self to his disciples must not devolve into a rote ritual where their hearts remained aligned to the world. The Lords Supper must include heart renewal for all who participate. This heart attitude gives of self for others and runs contrary to the Greco-Roman honor code which continually fights for increased status. The Corinthians are to examine themselves and ensure their actions reflect Christ, not the world around them, as they celebrate the Lords Supper.[3] These two letters draw a picture of the diverse fellowship of Christ, a people called to participate together in community and in sacrament. Christ must be elevated. Differences are not eliminated, but they cannot gain traction for antagonism. Harmony in the body is not sameness, but it is a rejection of self-elevation. We must look at our own social power and see where the world desires to create animosity within the body of Christ: politics, wealth, and status (to name a few) all seek to deceive and devour us. Only through non-hierarchical, self-giving in community do we reflect Christ at the Lords Supper. We do not need to demand complete unanimity to participate together. We reject self-centeredness and recognize Christs centeredness in the Lords Supper: his righteousness and his self-giving. This is table fellowship, this is grace. [1] Bruce W. Longenecker and Todd D. Still, Thinking through Paul: An Introduction to His Life, Letters, and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 189. [2] Scot McKnight, Reading Romans Backwards: A Gospel of Peace in the Midst of Empire, 2019, 121. [3] Longenecker and Still, Thinking through Paul, 127. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Corp.'s annual shareholders meeting in Bellevue, Wash., on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. The annual meeting was Nadella's first as head of Microsoft. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Microsoft Backs Australian Plan to Make Google Pay for News CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Microsoft said on Feb. 3 it supports Australias plans to make the biggest digital platforms pay for news and would help small businesses transfer their advertising to Bing if Google quits the country. Microsoft has been positioning itself to increase market share for its search engine, Bing after a Google executive told a Senate hearing last month that it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government goes ahead with a draft law that would make tech giants pay for news content. Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement that he and Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella had told Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher in an online meeting last week that Microsoft fully supports the so-called News Media Bargaining Code. Morrison this week confirmed he had spoken to Nadella about Bing replacing Google in Australia. I can tell you, Microsofts pretty confident that Australians would not be worse off, Morrison said on Feb. 1. Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during an Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony and Flag Raising event in Canberra on Jan. 26, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Smith said he had assured the government leaders that small businesses who wished to transfer their advertising from Google to Bing could do so simply and without transfer costs. We believe that the current legislative proposal represents a fundamental step towards a more level playing field and a fairer digital ecosystem for consumers, business and society, Smith said. The Australia Institutes Center for Responsible Technology, an independent think tank, welcomed Microsofts stance and called on Google to withdraw its threat to close its search services within Australia. This is a significant development and should send a message to both Google and Facebook that their network dominance in Australia is only as strong as their respect for Australians, the centers Director Peter Lewis said in a statement. Although Bing is Australias second most popular search engine, it has only a 3.6% market share, according to web analytics service Statcounter. Google says it has 95%. Swinburne University senior lecturer on media Belinda Barnet said Bing and other search engines could fill the void left by Google and deliver benefits. People need to realize it will not be personalized in the sense that Google advertising in searches is, so Bing doesnt know and frankly doesnt care that youre in the market for yoga pants, for example, Barnet said. Some of these platforms, Google and Facebook, in particular, feed you more misinformation if youre already prone to clicking on misinformation, so they create this echo chamber, in a sense, she said. But a product like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia is not going to know that in the past youve looked at 100 articles about how vaccines are bad and they will just give you the most accurate information that they can find. The logos of mobile apps Facebook and Google on a smartphone in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 9, 2020 (The Epoch Times) Peter Strong, chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organizations Australia, an advocacy group, expected the disruption to small businesses created by Googles departure from Australia would be short-lived. Were not panicking, Strong said. But it would have a short-term impact. It would be a bad thing if Google quits, but if Bing took over, the situation would be the same, he added. One organization has the capacity to blackmail a country and that should never happen, he said, calling for more government regulation. A Senate committee that is scrutinizing the draft legislation will report to the government next week. The mandatory code proposed by the government aims to make Google and Facebook pay Australian media companies fairly for using news content the tech giants siphon from news sites. There are no plans to make smaller search engines such as Bing pay for linking users to Australian news, but the government has not ruled that option out. Google has faced pressure from authorities elsewhere to pay for news. Last month, it signed a deal with a group of French publishers paving the way for the company to make digital copyright payments. Under the agreement, Google will negotiate individual licensing deals with newspapers, with payments based on factors such as the amount published daily and monthly internet site traffic. But Google is resisting the Australian plan because it would have less control over how much it would have to pay. Under the Australian system, if an online platform and a news business cant agree on a price for news, an arbitration panel will make a binding decision on payment. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday inaugurated the 13th Edition of Aero India 2021 at Bengaluru, as the three-day AirShow kick-started on Wednesday, February 3. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony at Air Force Station Yelahanka, Singh hailed Karnataka as an attractive destination for the defence and aerospace industry. "The existing supply chains, developed by aerospace and engineering firms, an investor-friendly government, with simplified procedures and fast-track business approvals through the single-window mechanism, combine to make Karnataka a very attractive destination for the industry, "Raksha Mantri said. Attended the inaugural ceremony of the @AeroIndiashow in Bengaluru today. Despite the constraints posed by the global pandemic, I am pleased to see such a large number of participants in this years event. pic.twitter.com/5XkEgTgzKd Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 3, 2021 Aero India 2021, the country's premier aerospace and defence exhibition, will display India's vast potential, and the multifarious opportunities that our country offers in the field of defence and aerospace sector. It also promises to be the Worlds First-Ever Hybrid Aero and Defence exhibition, he said. "I believe Aero India 2021 will boost investment, expand manufacturing ecosystem, support enterprises, appreciate and enhance the technology levels and propel the economic growth for the country," Singh said. READ | Aero India 2021 Will Give Boost To India's Defence Manufacturing Revolution: Rajnath Singh In order to maximize the reach and participation, the event is being conducted in a hybrid format with a concurrent Virtual Exhibition which will integrate the Seminars, B2B interactions etc. The Defence Minister said this year, that Aero India 21 has truly gone digital and global. Karnataka: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Aero India show in Bengaluru; the event to be held from today to February 5. pic.twitter.com/jZHDDn42aV ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 Singh informed that about 540 exhibitors including 80 foreign companies, Defence Ministers, Delegates, Service chiefs and officials from over 55 countries are taking part in the event. He thanked the Defence Ministers from Maldives, Ukraine, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Comoros and Madagascar who joined the show in person and virtually. READ | Rajnath Singh Avers 'Aero India 2021 Will Take Aatmanirbhar Bharat's Clarion Call Forward' Govt to spend $130 billion on military modernization Raksha Matri said that domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex defence platforms has now become the focus of India's policy under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. He announced that the country will spend $130 billion on advancing military power. "We have taken many steps to strengthen our security apparatus recently. We plan to spend 130 Billion Dollar on military modernization. The Government of India has enhanced FDI in Defence Sector up to 74% through the Automatic Route and 100% through the Government route, which would act as a catalyst for foreign players to invest in India, he added. READ | Aero India To Witness Big Boost To Atmanirbhar Bharat, Largest Defence Order To Be Signed The Minister invited business leaders from across the globe in this field to take advantage of the various initiatives of government and set-up manufacturing units in the country. "With focused attention being laid on the promotion of exports of Indian defence products, India is steadily marching from Make in India towards Make for the World. To achieve the twin goals of self-reliance and exports, we have set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crore, including export of Rs. 35,000 Crore in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by the year 2024," he said. READ | Dress Rehearsal On Aero India-2021 Eve Enthrals Audience She recently returned to Essex following her 'work' trip to Dubai. And Kelsey Stratford showcased her sun-kissed glow and sensational figure in a sizzling turquoise cut-out dress on Wednesday. The TOWIE bombshell, 20, flaunted her toned midriff and pert assets in her revealing halterneck outfit, which she captured on Instagram. Send temperatures soaring! Kelsey Stratford showcased her sun-kissed glow and sensational figure in a sizzling turquoise cut-out dress on Wednesday Her dress from LKS Swimwear featured ruched drawstring detailing. She also added a touch of glamour with gold jewellery. Kelsey's chocolate tresses tumbled down in a beachy wave and she highlighted her stunning features with full coverage make-up. The reality star defiantly captioned the sultry post: 'Not ur baby'. (sic) Kelsey's return to the UK from the UAE, comes after her father revealed that her sister, eight-year-old Kennedy, almost died from coronavirus after it 'impacted her whole body'. Battle: The TOWIE star's, 20, return to the UK from the UAE comes after her father revealed that her sister, eight-year-old Kennedy, (pictured) almost died from coronavirus after it 'impacted her whole body' Kennedy, who has genetic condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy, was released from hospital in November after battling the virus as well as sepsis. And speaking over a month after the ordeal, Kelsey's dad Paul opened up about the youngster's horrifying ordeal, admitting the family 'didn't know if she was going to make it.' The youngster was admitted to Great Ormond Street hospital in November, with the family fearing the worst as Kennedy fought Covid-19 and sepsis in intensive care. It's said that Kennedy, who spent thee weeks in hospital, was one the first SMA type 1 patients to fall ill with the virus. Paul told The Mirror: 'We didn't know if she was going to make it. She went through a torrid time, it literally impacted her whole body. It was awful to watch. 'The doctors told us they were changing the antibiotics they were giving her, and that it needed to work because there was nothing else they could do.' Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Company says a disciplinary inquiry was held and that workers admitted to making false claims About 30 members of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) protested outside Volkswagen South Africa's main plant in Uitenhage on Wednesday morning. The protest - in conjunction with the South African Communist Party (SACP), EFF, Assembly of Unemployed and Makukhanye Rural Movement - was to demand that 14 shop stewards, fired on 29 December, be reinstated. The shop stewards were fired after workers downed tools because of a dispute over Covid-19 safety in July. Workers had said they did not feel safe on the production line. Volkswagen insisted it had met all safety requirements. Siphiwo Ndunyana, provincial executive member of SAFTU, shouted during the protest: "We lose jobs every day. They are adding to the poverty that already exists." "If it means that every week we must be here, we will be here." Busiswa Stokwe, district executive member of the SACP, said, "We are very shocked that Volkswagen SA would take such a position by dismissing leaders of the workers in a workplace ... Volkswagen SA has positioned itself in the media as a progressive employer, as a progressive stakeholder in assisting the government of the Eastern Cape, in making sure that they were even availing the field hospital." Volkswagen spokesperson Andile Dlamini said shop stewards had admitted during the disciplinary enquiry that claims made over safety were false. "Volkswage SA's Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols meet and exceed the South African legal requirements and also comply with Volkswagen Group Covid-19 workplace health and safety standards," said Dlamini. GroundUp is being sued after we exposed dodgy Lottery deals involving millions of rands. Please help fund our defence. You can support us via Givengain, Snapscan, EFT, PayPal or PayFast. Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful will host a month of river cleanups on four rivers within the Cherokee National Forest, all of which are tributaries of the Tennessee River. The cleanup series will kick off on Saturday on Watauga Lake and will continue every weekend in February as the series makes its way to the final destination on the Ocoee River near Chattanooga on Feb. 27. The cleanup series is largely made possible by funding received through the Volkswagen Community Grant Program by Volkswagen of America, Inc., administered by The Conservation Fund. Its always great when you have a company come in and create jobs by opening a plant, but its a real win if that company seeks out ways to give back to your community the way that Volkswagen has, said Kathleen Gibi, executive director for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. The grant allowed KTNRB to purchase equipment to support the use of their 5,000-pound, 25-foot work boat as well as an AmeriCorps position through a local East Tennessee chapter, CAC AmeriCorps. This grant will continue to give back well past this river cleanup series thanks to empowering our organization with support equipment so that we can freely host a cleanup at any time and now with additional staffing, said Ms. Gibi. We are so grateful to Volkswagen of America, Inc. and to The Conservation Fund for making all of this possible. Heres a schedule of the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series presented by Volkswagen: CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST RIVER CLEANUP SERIES SCHEDULE Saturday, Feb. 6 | Watauga Lake Saturday, Feb. 13 | South Holston Lake Saturday, Feb. 20 | Tellico Lake Saturday, Feb. 27 | Parksville Lake Sunday, Feb. 28 | Ocoee River Originally, the cleanup series was scheduled to be held in 2020, but has been postponed due to COVID-19. Since that time, KTNRB worked to develop a policy for volunteer and staff safety at cleanups held during the pandemic. (KTNRBs COVID-19 policy can be viewed at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/covid). KTNRB resumed river cleanups in August with a new AmeriCorps member on board after a five-month halt due to quarantine. At that point, Ms. Gibi said the organization was just hoping to meet the record it had set in 2019 with over 48,000 lbs. of trash removed. By the time 2020 came to a close, the organization had worked with over 300 volunteers who removed more than 61,000 lbs. of litter from the Tennessee River and its tributaries. Its a real testimony to the difference public-private partnerships can make for our community, said Ms. Gibi. This year, weve got our sights set on a goal to remove 100,000 lbs. of trash from our waterways, and its all possible because Volkswagen and The Conservation Fund invested in our efforts with their grant. Ms. Gibi said that the litter collected in 2020 was a 22 percent increase from their previous 2019 record that they set the year they first put their work boat in the water. Since the organization formed in 2016, KTNRB has rallied 1,700 volunteers to remove 180,000 lbs. of trash. Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and all of its volunteers are outstanding stewards of this beautiful and critical watershed in eastern Tennessee, and we are honored to support the work they do benefiting people, wildlife, recreation and water quality, said Katie Allen, director of The Conservation Fund's Conservation Leadership Network. Other supporting sponsors of the cleanup series include the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Keep America Beautiful, and Keep Tennessee Beautiful. To register to volunteer in the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series presented by Volkswageen, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/CNF. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Dangerous cancer myths have taken root in Australia, with Cancer Council data showing too many people believing misinformation spread on social media. Almost two-thirds of people believed animals could sniff out cancer and two in five thought cancer could be cured by alternative therapies that have no scientific backing. The pandemic created a perfect storm of misinformation: a reliance on digital technology to stay informed with health information, and heightened anxieties. Credit:iStock The survey of 1000 Australians from 18 to over 76 years old, commissioned by the Cancer Council, found nearly half of respondents believed sunscreen contained chemicals that were bad for you and 8 per cent didnt realise you didnt need to burn to get skin cancer. One in five Australians said they were likely to have changed their behaviour based on something they read online (including 14 per cent due to a story they read on social media) - the same proportion that would do so based on government information, according to the survey results released on World Cancer Day. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Kano Kano state government has shut down UMC Hospital in the state capital to check the excesses of its management for allowing the admission of severe cases of COVID-19 instead of referring them to designated isolation centres in the state. The state commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba stated this on Tuesday in Kano following a visit to the hospital. "What the hospital did was parallel to standards set by the state Task Force on COVID-19 that requires such a facility to attend only to mild cases of the disease. "As a result of its inaction, two confirmed patients with severe cases died, one at the facility and another on the way to the hospital. Malam Garba, who was in the company of the commissioner for health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa during a visit to the hospital, said it would remain closed pending resolution of the matter between the management and the state government. He further stated that two other patients with severe cases of the disease have since been transferred to the designated isolation centre, while other patients on admission have been taken to Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and Muhammadu Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital. 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. Plant will enable large-scale manufacturing of Adranoss proprietary solid rocket fuel, ALITEC WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Adranos Inc., a Purdue University-affiliated company that has developed a high-performance, solid rocket fuel called ALITEC for long-range missile and space launch systems, announced plans Wednesday (Feb. 3) to construct a facility in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette to manufacture ALITEC in support of various launch systems, including hypersonic systems. The company has obtained $5.1 million in land, funding and tax credits, collectively from Purdue Research Foundation and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Adranos will use these incentives to construct its facility in the Purdue Research Park. Adranos expects to serve a broad customer base, including the major military branches and relevant aerospace and defense contractors. The facility will support ongoing efforts that Adranos is currently performing through its rocket motor research and development division. Adranos plans to create up to 50 new jobs by the end of 2025. ALITECs performance benefits make it an ideal solution for any solid rocket system that is seeking to extend range, increase payload capacity or reduce rocket form factor, said Chris Stoker, CEO of Adranos. This facility will enable us to scale these solutions to the large volumes that will be required by our customers. Expansion of Adranoss manufacturing capabilities aligns with the state of Indianas goals of increasing defense spending and becoming a leader in the development of hypersonic technologies. Adranos is currently performing work sponsored by the Department of Defense to evaluate ALITEC in both solid rocket boosters for hypersonic programs and in air breathing systems called solid-fuel ramjets that use solid rocket fuel. As demand for ALITEC grows, so too will defense spending in the state. Indiana is committed to embracing disruptive technology like Adranoss ALITEC to bolster its economic industries and position the state for long-term global competitiveness and economic growth in the defense sector, said retired Major Gen. Omer C. (Clif) Tooley, IEDC president of defense development. "Indiana is ranked No. 1 in the nation in tech job growth among small firms, and as a state, we'll continue supporting innovative companies like Adranos and securing our spot as a top place to grow and innovate." Similarly, Adranoss growth aligns with PRFs mission of innovating and commercializing technologies developed at Purdue University. By supporting Adranoss efforts to establish a production facility, PRF is enabling the transition of ALITEC production from laboratory scale to production scale. Adranos is another exciting example of an innovative company that touches many parts of the Purdue commercialization ecosystem, said Brian Edelman, president of the Purdue Research Foundation. We are thrilled that this new facility in Purdue Research Park will help further advance the Adranos technology and boost the states economy. Recently, Adranos won more than $3.2 million in government contracts, was named to Pepperdine Universitys most fundable companies list, and took the grand prize at the Armys inaugural xTechSearch competition. Technology used by Adranos is licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, which patented the technology. Adranos is located in Purdue Research Park. IEDC offered Adranos up to $525,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants based on the companys job creation plans. IEDC also offered up to $500,000 in conditional tax credits from the Hoosier Business Investment tax credit program based on the companys planned capital investment in Indiana. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired and investments are made. The company has also been awarded $75,000 in Small Business Innovation Research matching grants from Elevate Ventures, and received $20,000 in funding through the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund. About Adranos Adranos Inc. regularly performs research and development of energetic materials and is primarily focused on increasing the range in missiles and other firing systems. Adranoss capabilities include the manufacturing and testing of rocket motors and other related activities. About Purdue Research Foundation The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park, Purdue Technology Centers and University Development Office. In 2020, the IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. 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 Source: Chris Stoker, contact@adranos.com An Oklahoma man with a history of violence has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his three young children, their two half-siblings, and his younger brother, as well as critically injuring his girlfriend. Police say Jarron Pridgeon, 25, opened fire inside the family's home early Tuesday morning, killing his brother, Javarian Lee, 24, and the five children, the oldest of whom was 9. The children's mother, 27-year-old Brittany Anderson, had a portion of her skull shattered by a bullet and is hospitalized in Tulsa in critical condition. During a press conference on Wednesday, police revealed that Pridgeon was the person who called 911 after the killings and summoned EMS. In addition to the murder counts, Muskogee District Attorney Orvil Loge also charged Pridgeon with one count of shooting with intent to kill and one count of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. Prosecutors say they have not ruled out pursuing the death penalty in the case, and will make a decision later. Police in Muskogee said they still don't yet know why Pridgeon carried out the alleged attack. Police identified the slain children as Jalaiya Pridgeon, 1; Jaidus Pridgeon, 3; Harmony Anderson, 5; Neveah Pridgeon, 6; and Que'dynce Anderson, 9. Three other children who were inside the home at the time were unharmed. Pridgeon remained jailed without bond on Wednesday. Court records indicate that he had been subjected to a mental health evaluation in connection with prior criminal offenses. The results of the evaluation have been sealed. Anderson's sisters, Raven and Michelle Anderson, said that Brittany has bleeding on her brain and her doctors have been working to keep the swelling down. According to the family, she is awake and was able to sit up at one point on Tuesday, reported KRMG. A relative has identified the Oklahoma woman who was critically injured and lost her five children in a shooting as Britanny Anderson (pictured above with her children) Jarron Pridgeon, 25, has been arrested in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in connection with the death of six relatives, including a man and five young children Investigators block the public's view as bodies are removed from the scene of a shooting on Tuesday in Muskogee, Oklahoma 'Were trying to get through it. Were trying to be here for her, be strong for her,' Raven told Fox23. Michelle said she was told by her mother that the five children were likely asleep when they were fatally shot. 'I don't get it,' Michelle Anderson said. 'Why take their lives? What did they do? They're babies. They didn't deserve for their lives to be taken.' The sisters said that Brittany and Pridgeon had been together for seven years. The family had only recently moved into the brown house on Indian Street in Muskogee. When asked what might have prompted Tuesday's outburst of homicidal violence, the family members said they did not know. They did reportedly say that Pridgeon was quoted as saying before the killings that he was going to 'go out in a blaze of glory.' Officers responded at around 1.30am to a call of multiple people shot at a home in the 900 block of Indiana Street in Muskogee, about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, police said in a press release. Once there, officers encountered a person holding a gun. He was identified by the police on Tuesday as Pridgeon. 'One of our officers shot, fired at that suspect, missing him. The suspect ran off,' said Lynn Hamlin, with Muskogee police. After a brief chase police apprehended Pridgeon and took him into custody, reported Fox23. A man and five children were fatally shot inside this home on Indiana Street in Muskogee, Oklahoma, early Tuesday A woman was airlifted to a hospital in Tulsa to be treated for life-threatening injuries sustained during the shooting Police arrested Jarron Pridgeon, 25, after encountering him holding a gun at the scene Officers then entered the house and found one man and four children dead. A critically injured fifth child was airlifted to a hospital in Tulsa but also died. Brittany Anderson was also taken to the hospital by helicopter with life-threatening injuries, police said. Family members told KFOR4 that Pridgeon is the biological father of some of the children who were killed. In the description of a GoFundMe campaign raising funds for funeral expenses, Raven Anderson wrote: 'My nieces and nephew had bright futures ahead of them and I know they were going to change the world, but God needed them more than we did, so he called them home sooner than we could've ever expected.' Brittany Anderson's sister said the mom-of-five has bleeding and swelling on her brain A relative identified the young victims of the attack as Jalaiya, 2; Jaidus, 3; Harmony, 5; Nevaeh, 6, and Quedynce, who had just turned 9 on January 12 (pictured above) Muskogee Public Schools released a statement, saying two of the children were students at Creek Elementary School. 'We are saddened by this tragic loss and our deepest sympathies go out to all of those impacted,' stated Schools Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall. 'No words can adequately express our sadness in losing these students and our thoughts and prayers are with this family.' The Muskogee police chief told KJRH he believes the shooting was the result of a domestic incident involving members of the same family, but no motive has been revealed. Neighbors on Indian Street said the family at the center of the incident had only lived there for about three weeks. Pridgeon also resided at that address, according to police. Court records indicate that Pridgeon has a criminal history, which includes charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, threatening to perform act of violence and malicious injury to property under $1,000 stemming from an incident in 2019. The charges stemmed from an incident in which Pridgeon hurled two large chunks of cement at a woman in Muskogee. Court records indicate that Pridgeon has a criminal history, which includes charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and threatening to perform act of violence He pleaded guilty in September 2019 to a felony count of assault and battery, and five misdemeanor counts. Pridgeon was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine and anger management classes, reported The Oklahoman. In 2017, Pridgeon was arrested on suspicion of larceny of an automobile, but that case was later dismissed. A victim in the case was named as Brittany Anderson. Prosecutors in both cases requested a mental health evaluation to determine whether Pridgeon 'suffers from a mental illness.' Officials in Oklahoma said on Tuesday that Pridgeon was not cooperating with investigators. He was arraigned on Tuesday and a judge appointed a public defender to represent him. He is due back in court on February 18. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee on the fourth day of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on Oct. 15, 2020. (Susan Walsh / Pool / AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Kennedy Says Bidens Energy Policy Is a War on US Energy and Will Kill Independence Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) denounced President Joe Bidens energy policies, saying they will devastate his states economy and make the United States more dependent on other countries for our energy needs. His war on oil and gas is going to hurt America. Its going to destroy our energy independence, Kennedy told Fox News on Wednesday. Well, let me say a word about President Bidens executive orders on oil and gas trade. They are immeasurably foolish, added Kennedy. Theyre going to gut Louisiana like a fish. One-third of my states GDP is related to oil and gas, and our state is not alone. Heres President Bidens New Energy Policy. Were not going to produce our own oil. Instead, were going to buy oil from countries that hate us. So, theyll have more money to buy weapons to try to kill us. Its immeasurably foolish, Kennedy continued. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Louisiana is one of the top five states in both natural gas production and reserves, making up 9 percent of U.S. total gas production in 2019 and it has about 7 percent of the nations gas reserves. In addition, Kennedys states 17 oil refineries account for nearly one-fifth of the nations refining capacity and can process 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day. One of Bidens executive orders directs the secretary of the interior to halt new oil and gas leases on federal public lands and waters and another order titled, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad Executive Order, calls for the interior secretary to launch a rigorous review of existing energy leases and permits while identifying steps toward doubling offshore wind energy production by 2030. Biden said his administration is taking these steps to deal with climate change because the planet is in peril. Thats why Im signing today an executive order to supercharge our administrations ambitious plan to confront the existential threat of climate change. And it is an existential threat, said Biden. However, the Louisiana lawmaker doesnt agree with the Biden administration on how to deal with climate change. I think once again, President Biden has given in to the left-wing crazies who say none of us except them care about the planet. Thats not true, said Kennedy. Most Americans support, an all of the above energy policy, oil, gas, wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, hydrogen. But they also understand that we cant run the greatest economy in all of human history without oil and gas. Not now, and not probably for a long time, added Kennedy. Eric Smith, associate director of Tulanes Energy Institute says President Bidens halt on new drilling could have a major negative impact on the chemical plants and refineries in Louisiana. What we will see is higher costs for fuel and a lessening of enthusiasm for all the heavy capital investment thats gone into the state in the last ten years, Smith told Louisianas WWLTV. I dont think that (Bidens) advisors understand the seriousness of the impact that they could have on the U.S economy, in particular on the Louisiana economy. However, a climate change watchdog group, Earthjustices President Abigail Dillen released a statement on Jan. 27, lauding President Bidens executive orders on climate change. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Announcing a pause on new federal fossil fuel leasing is the first step to reining in oil and gas drilling that accounts for 25 [percent] of U.S. carbon pollution while ravaging our public lands and coastal waters. As the worlds largest oil and gas producer, the U.S. must lead by making treasured public lands part of the solution to climate change, Dillen said. Biden said his policy changes will create good-paying jobs in the clean energy sector, to replace those lost in the fossil fuel industry. A key plank of our Build Back Better Recovery Plan is building a modern, resilient climate infrastructure and clean energy future that will create millions of good-paying union jobs, Biden said during a White House press conference on his climate change executive orders. Kennedy criticized the effect the Biden administrations climate change policies will have on American fossil fuel workers livelihoods. He pushed back at John Kerrys comment about oil workers should learn how to install solar panels, saying that is not a realistic expectation. Well, no disrespect to Secretary Kerry but hes living in la-la land, said Kennedy. I mean, youre going tell a 50-year-old woman, whos been working for an oil and gas company whos developed extraordinary expertise, who has kids in school, who has a mortgage to pay, just to quit your job, because were going fire you anyway, and go back to school. And then you can go work in a green job, he said. Thats just not realistic. Russian enterprises have limited opportunities to carry out technological modernisation on their own. Their technological portfolios reveal a high dependence on imported solutions and a limited deployment of their own developments, HSE University researchers discovered. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for the use of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) in Russia. Between 2011 and 2018, the number of AMT used increased by 33%, and in 2018 they amounted to almost 255,000 units in absolute terms. Meanwhile, innovation strategies focused on independent development of novel manufacturing solutions are not widespread in Russia. Fewer than 20% of organizations meet the need for AMT by using their own resources; the majority purchase their technology either in Russia or abroad. 'Since the mid-1990s, researchers in Russia have increasingly collected and maintained statistics on development activity and the use of advanced manufacturing technologies. We have analysed this data systematically for the first time and showed to what extent our production relies on its own developments or on the acquisition of foreign ones,' says Konstantin Fursov, Deputy Director of the HSE University Centre for Statistics and Monitoring of S&T and Innovation. Having considered the results of the federal statistical observation of the use of AMT for 2011-2018, HSE University researchers for the first time assessed the technological self-sufficiency of Russian production at the regional level. The work used a synthetic classification of territories, dividing the regions into nine types according to basic parameters of their economic development. This enabled to establish the relationship between enterprises' technological portfolios and the socio-economic conditions under which they were developed. 'Russia's financial-economic centres and regions with diversified economies account for more than 50% of the AMT developed in the country. 'It is not surprising, therefore, that metropolitan regions andareas with diversified economies, such as Tatarstan, Tyumen and Novosibirsk, demonstrate the highest rates of using independently developed AMT, since they have a high level of financial and economic activity and technological production facilities in place. The latter, in particular, require in-house solutions developmen,' comments Vlada Brilliantova, Expert at the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. Nationwide trends are directly reflected in most region types. All regions (except one type of agricultural regions group) indicate relatively high dependence on imported technologies (ranging from 16% to 38%) paired with low intensity of the use of in-house developed AMT (less than 22% in all types of regions). Yet, the results of the study show that the demand for AMT developed in Russia is increasing. Successful examples of the use of AMT acquired in Russia are demonstrated by those types of developed regions with economies relying on the extractive and manufacturing industries, where leading regions ensure effective industry-science interactions. 'Strong industry-science linkages might boost market entry opportunities of technologies developed by Russian R&D performing organizations. Crucial to that is ensuring sustainable mechanisms of technology transfer to the real sector of the economy, in particular by means of the specialised state support,' argues Valeriya Vlasova, Research Fellow at the HSE University Laboratory for the Economics of Innovation. This study is the first to provide statistical data on the distribution of advanced manufacturing technologies in Russian regions, but it has a number of important limitations. Since the authors worked with aggregated data, it was not possible to set and test hypotheses about the relationship between the technological strategies of enterprises and the socio-economic profile of the region. This significantly limits the validity of the conclusions presented. In addition, while the article was being reviewed by the editors of the journal, new data occurred that may change the picture. ### Fort Carson expanding smart base transportation testbed The Army wants to expand its existing smart base transportation testbed at Fort Carson, Colo., to include smart traffic and weather artificial intelligence platforms. Fort Carsons testbed already includes a 4G/5G network, an autonomous vehicle shuttle for personnel and drone airfield services for debris detection and analysis. Now the Army plans to leverage the existing testbed and expand into the Colorado Springs local community with sensor deployment, data integration and the development of AI models and decision dashboards that integrate traffic and weather-related information. The Army Corps of Engineers announced on Feb. 1 that it will be partnering with US Ignite in a follow-on contract to R&D work the nonprofit performed on the smart transportation platform. The initial project also gave the Army the opportunity to experiment with AI, data analytics and edge computing. The project seeks to utilize a 4G network to exploit technology capabilities that leverage AV sensors, then integrate that data with other data sources to inform decision making, Jim P. Allen, Army Engineer Research and Development Centers program manager, said in August 2020. The goal is to conduct edge computing while maintaining cybersecurity and building an efficient data architecture that fuses data into useful information and builds knowledge over time. The new 4G/5G internet-of-things network will initially support the upload of vehicle data from the AV shuttle and video traffic from route-monitoring cameras, according to a December 2020 US Ignite statement. The network is also designed to accommodate broad research based on air quality and weather sensors as part of a collaborative initiative among Fort Carson, the city of Colorado Springs and the University of Colorado Boulder, which are already supporting a shared data repository. Smart sensors on base that monitor traffic, parking and public safety are linked to information from the city's sensors and mapping systems. Researchers analyze these datasets with an eye to improving safety and services and eventually plan to develop machine-learning models that prioritize transportation resources based on usage rates and community needs. The Fort Carson research network will support 4G and 5G traffic over the CBRS band. It will feature at least 250 Mbps throughput and support for over 1,000 simultaneous device connections, according to US Ignite. JMA Wireless is providing 5G and 4G access powered by its software-based, ORAN-compliant radio-access network solution, and Federated Wireless is supplying Citizens Broadband Radio Services access. Building smart bases and smart communities requires advanced network infrastructure. This network is foundational for the early IoT use cases were testing at Fort Carson, but its also an asset for future research and development efforts targeted at improving public safety, services, and quality of life, US Ignite Director of Technology Scott Turnbull said. Update: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker asked for patience Wednesday amid complaints over access to COVID vaccine appointments. Read more here. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker plans to tour the mass vaccination site at Fenway Park Wednesday morning. The Republican governor plans to deliver a COVID-19 update at 11 a.m. alongside Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and Red Sox President Sam Kennedy. Fenway Park reopened Friday for vaccinations. About 150 people got their first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Another 500 people were vaccinated Monday despite the noreaster as the site opened early, and 1,700 were vaccinated at Gillette Stadium. Appointments opened for the states first mass vaccination site in Western Massachusetts - at Springfields Eastfield Mall - last week, offering hundreds of appointments daily. The mass vaccination site at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, scheduled to open Monday, postponed its appointments due to the storm and started administering shots Tuesday. The site at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Danvers opened Wednesday. Massachusetts moved into Phase 2 of its vaccine plan Monday, allowing people ages 75 or older to request the first shot. 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. 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. Both as an actor and a politician, NTR has left a deep imprint. His body of work in Telugu films will remain a great cultural achievement for times to come. Hyderabad: In a second part of the interview with Sriram Karri, author of a new biography of late N. T. Rama Rao, Maverick Messaiah, Ramesh Kandula says though driven by Telugu pride, NTR was a nationalist but not a casteist, the TDP is not really a Kamma party and despite the challenges the party is facing in AP, Telugu Desam will survive the YSRCP onslaught and the BJP wont grow in Andhra in a meteoric manner like in Telangana. Was NTR a casteist or was he communal? Did NTRs political rise also enable and accelerate the growth of Kammas as one of the most dominant castes in Telugu states? NTR certainly did not come on to the political scene as a representative of his caste, where the-then Congress was dominated by Reddys, and supported by Brahmins and SCs. Congress provoked caste conflicts in a bid to wean away sections of people from NTRs TDP. Some say caste polarisation started in AP after the political entry of NTR. It is the other way round. Unable to take on NTR, Congress blatantly resorted to caste politics and created caste faultlines in Telugu society. An impression that NTR enabled the rise of Kammas in AP is very strong. But Kammas were dominant in various fields from cinema to business and politics even before NTR became chief minister. For example, Bollini Munuswamy Naidu was the premier of Madras province in 1930. Educated Kammas were probably the first migrants from here to the US in the 1960s. Kammas were also frontrunners in every significant socio-political movement witnessed in Andhra in the early twentieth century. There were prominent communists, congressmen, socialists, atheists and radical humanists, besides writers, thinkers and educators. In the 1983 Assembly elections, the number of Kamma MLAs elected on TDP ticket was forty-eight. But as many as forty-four Kammas were returned to assembly as long back as in 1967 assembly elections. But yes, Kammas have drawn significant political mileage from TDP subsequently. Did Chandrababu Naidu backstab NTR to grab power? Are you trying to say he started a revolt against Lakshmi Parvati and it scaled up organically? Was Ramoji Rao a co-conspirator in this cause celebre? That (saying Chandrababu backstabbed NTR) would be an oversimplification. When he precipitated the standoff, Chandrababu had no inkling he would end up replacing NTR. He was only trying to extract his pound of political flesh when he mobilised his group of MLAs. However, many factors unexpectedly came into play that propelled him to dethrone NTR. Once the coup unravelled, those surrounding him were scared that NTR would ensure their political extinction if they were to take a step back. MLAs put pressure on Chandrababu to take the plunge. Not that the son-in-law suffered from any moral qualms and indeed did not shy away when the opportunity presented itself. Ramoji Rao began being critical of NTR from 1990. He seems to have become tired of NTRs whimsicalities. His paper editorially asked NTR to step down as president of TDP and pave way for the younger generation much before the coup. Both his support for and opposition to NTR were expressed openly and were not done covertly. What remains a greater legacy - his art or politics? Have Dr YSR and Jagan taken over the welfare model of NTR while CBN has ditched it? Both as an actor and a politician, NTR has left a deep imprint. His body of work in Telugu films will remain a great cultural achievement for times to come. In politics too, NTRs achievements were no less. The continued domination of regional parties in residual AP and Telangana is a consequence of a political culture NTR created. NTRs contribution to recognition of Telugus as a distinct people, with a unique language and culture has been widely recognised. He was a regional leader with a nationalist outlook, probably the only south Indian leader who left a mark in Delhi. He was the architect of coalition politics at the national level, which contributed to the decline of Congress. He was a strong leader who used his political capital to bring about major changes in social and administrative structures. His legacy lies in his gutsy fight against the hegemony of a single party, his bold stand over the historical necessity of regional political parties and his spirited advocacy of autonomy of states are all ideas which continue to be relevant today. I dont think Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy and Jagan Reddy have any similarities with NTR. The TDP founder did not trade off welfare schemes for squandering public resources in a way YSR did or Jagan has been doing. NTR considered himself a trustee of public funds despite an image as a populist. Chandrababu Naidu indeed moved away from NTRs core ideology of welfarism though he succeeded in building a name for himself as a torchbearer of liberalization agenda at regional level. He tried to later on balance development with welfare, but it did not seem to have worked for him in the last elections. Has the time come for a non-Reddy, non-Kamma political leadership in AP, in the lines of Telangana? Political leadership by a non-Reddy and non-Kamma person, per se, would not make much of a difference unless the shift is accompanied by a clear-cut political philosophy. As for Telangana, I believe while KCRs success in realizing a separate state was no mean achievement, he did not necessarily bring about a qualitative change in the politics here in the same way as NTR, who fundamentally altered the political culture. Is TDP on a terminal decline? Can it ever recover under the onslaught and success of YSRC's welfare politics, in a way Naidu, and his son Lokesh, cannot counter? Do you see BJP taking over opposition space quickly in AP? In short, is NTRs party dying? NTRs party is certainly facing an existential crisis. One reason for its present condition, as I have pointed out in my book, is the gradual erosion of its ideological moorings. While Chandrababu continued with a personality cult that NTR nurtured, he seems to have moved away from value-based politics that NTR fostered. TDP will have to reinvent itself if it were to survive. As for BJP, the weakening of TDP comes as a golden opportunity for the saffron party. But BJP, both at national and state level, suffers from a self-inflicted disconnect with people of the residual AP. While there is certainly a political vacuum in AP, the BJP at present seems to be in no position to fill this void. Tasmanian environmentalists have lost a case that sought to end native forest logging in the state, but may launch an appeal. Known as the great forest case, the Bob Brown Foundation lodged the challenge against the Tasmanian government, the federal government and Tasmanian state-owned logging corporation Sustainable Timber Tasmania in the Federal Court last year. Environmentalist and former Greens leader Bob Brown inspects burnt trees that were once home to swift parrots. The foundation said a win would have helped protect the habitat of the critically endangered swift parrot. It argued Tasmanias regional forest agreements were fundamentally flawed and failed to meet the standards of national environmental laws. Regional forest agreements are legal arrangements between states and the Commonwealth under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which is currently under review. Puberty blocker drugs do have long-lasting physical side-effects, a small study from a controversial gender clinic run by the NHS has found as it finally publishes its data. The drugs, known as gonadotropin releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa), are given to children suffering with gender dysphoria and who wish to switch from their biological sex to a gender of their choosing. Researchers from the Tavistock and Portman Trust in London run the only NHS specialist gender clinic for children in the UK and investigated these drugs. Their study enrolled 44 children between 2011 and 2014 and found puberty blockers which only stave off puberty and do not initiate a changing of genders lead to 'reduced growth' for both height and bone density. The authors say they expect the growth of both height and bone density to resume either naturally or via cross-sex hormones administered from 16. Scroll down for video The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust (file picture) runs the UK's first gender clinic in London. Data reveals puberty blockers administered by the clinic can cause stunted height growth and inhibited bone density growth What is gender dysphoria? Gender dysphoria is a condition in which someone becomes distressed because they don't feel that their biological sex matches the gender they identify as. For example, someone may feel like a woman and want to live as a woman, but have been born with the anatomy of a man. Gender dysphoria is a 'recognised medical condition, for which treatment is sometimes appropriate' and is 'not a mental illness', according to the NHS. People who live as a gender which is not the same as their biological sex are called transgender. Some people may choose to have hormone therapy for example, to make them grow hair or develop breasts or to have reassignment surgery to give them the genitals of a person of the sex they identify as. People diagnosed with gender dysphoria are allowed to legally change their gender. According to the charity Stonewall, as many as 1 per cent of the population may be trans - although accurate numbers are not known. Advertisement The scientific paper has this week been published by the peer-review journal PLOS ONE. All 44 patients were assessed and given psychological support, researchers said. The group also underwent physical evaluation and treatment at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). Researchers said most people taking part in the study reported no psychological issues and were happier and had better relationships with family and peers once their puberty-blocking treatment had started. Some reported negative changes which were largely related to anticipated side effects such as headaches, flushes and fatigue, all of which were mainly mild, the researchers added. They said the young people involved had been assessed for two years on average ahead of the study and had been experiencing gender dysphoria for at least five years. The children were also deemed highly likely to suffer 'severe psychological distress' if they were to progress naturally to the point of full pubertal development. The study was small and did not have a control group, which makes drawing definitive conclusions from the findings difficult. Those behind the study acknowledged these flaws and said bigger, longer-term studies are required. Dr Polly Carmichael, director of the GIDS, said the paper 'adds to our understanding of the best way to support these young people'. 'The results show patient experience on the blocker is positive overall and there were no unexpected adverse events.' Professor Russell Viner, professor of adolescent health at UCL, said they had 'followed rigorous ethical guidelines' at all stages and had put their 'carefully anonymised data from the study in the public domain to allow other researchers to replicate our main findings'. Keira Bell outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London. The 23-year-old, who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before 'detransitioning', brought legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the UK's only gender identity development service for children NHS child gender clinic that faced court over use of puberty-blockers is rated 'inadequate' by CQC An NHS trust which faced court for giving children puberty-blocking drugs has been rated inadequate by the UK's health regulator, after inspectors found vulnerable young people 'were waiting too long for treatment'. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust was told by the Care Quality Commission it needed to significantly improve its services and waiting times, after it found more than 4,600 young people on the waiting list - with some waiting more than two years for their first appointment. In response to the CQC report, the trust apologised to patients for the long waiting times and announced that it is bringing in experts from outside the service to help with improvements. It comes after the trust - which runs the UK's only gender identity development service for children - paused new referrals for treatment following a landmark High Court ruling in December over the use of puberty blockers. The CQC said it carried out the inspections in October at the GIDS clinics at the Tavistock Centre in London and in Leeds following concerns by healthcare professionals and the Children's Commissioner for England over 'clinical practice, safeguarding procedures and assessments of capacity to consent to treatment' Advertisement The Tavistock clinic became entangled in a High Court legal battle last year after Keira Bell, 23, took legal action against the trust, arguing children cannot give informed consent to the treatment which could lead to permanent fertility issues. Ms Bell, who began taking puberty blockers when she was 16 before 'detransitioning', brought the legal challenge with Mrs A, the anonymous mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl who was on the waiting list for treatment. The case forced the trust to pause new referrals for hormone treatment. Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Mrs Justice Lieven, ruled in favour of Ms Bell and said under-16s need to understand 'the immediate and long-term consequences of the treatment'. Tavistock argued that the two stages of treatment puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are distinct, with one not necessitating the other. The court ruled against this, saying the two phases of treatment formed 'one clinical pathway'. This is supported by the fact of the 44 children recruited when they were between 12 and 15 years old, only one individual decided to not progress to the next stage of the transitioning process, which involves taking cross-sex hormones a 97 per cent conversion rate. Three of the participants had also taken breaks in treatment before they were 16 for various reasons, which the authors admit demonstrates patients can and do decide to interrupt treatment. The High Court requested to see the full data of the study to help inform its decision in December, but Tavistock refused, stating it would be published in a peer-reviewed journal in the future. But one day after the High Court gave its landmark ruling, Tavistock reneged and published its findings online as a pre-print, and not in a peer-reviewed journal. The GIDS management team has since been 'disbanded', documents seen by Mail on Sunday reveal. It comes weeks after the clinic was judged 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission. Watchdogs said staff were afraid to raise concerns about patient safety for fear of 'retribution' from bosses. A report said: 'Staff did not always manage risk well. Many of the young [patients] were vulnerable and at risk of self-harm. 'The size of the waiting list meant staff were unable to proactively manage the risks to patients waiting for a first appointment.' Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 (miningmx.com) - The conviction for bribery of Beny Steinmetz, the head of Beny Steinmetz Resources Group is an important moment in the fight against corruption in the mining sector, but there are doubts the Israeli businessman will ever step foot in jail, said Bloomberg News. A Geneva court last week sentenced Steinmetz to five years in jail after finding him guilty of offering $8.5m to the wife of deceased former Guinea president, Lansana Conte for the rights to part of the Simandou iron ore deposit. Steinmetz has appealed the decision. Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - February 2, 2021) - Colson Capital Corp. (TSXV: COLS.P) ("Colson" or the "Corporation") and Pathway Health Corp. ("Pathway"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Clinic Network Canada Inc. ("TCNC"), are pleased to announce that, further to the previously announced letter of intent dated September 12, 2020 between Colson and Cura-Can Health Corp. ("Cura-Can") (the parent company of TCNC), Colson has now entered into a definitive share exchange agreement dated January 29, 2021 (the "Share Exchange Agreement") with Pathway and each of its securityholders, pursuant to which Colson shall purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Pathway in exchange for the issuance of post-consolidation Colson Shares (as defined below), resulting in the reverse take-over of Colson by Pathway (the "Transaction") to form the resulting issuer ("Resulting Issuer"). Upon completion of the Transaction, it is the intention of the parties that the Resulting Issuer will continue on the business of Pathway, subject to the terms and conditions outlined below. Colson intends that the Transaction will constitute its Qualifying Transaction, as such term is defined in Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange"). In addition, the Transaction constitutes a "Non-Arm's Length Qualifying Transaction" as defined in Policy 1.1 of the Exchange. Summary of the Transaction On or immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, Colson will consolidate the 8,400,000 common shares of Colson ("Colson Shares") currently issued and outstanding on the basis of 1 post-consolidation Colson Share for approximately every 2.941 outstanding pre-consolidation Colson Share (the "Consolidation"), resulting in an aggregate of approximately 2,856,171 post-Consolidation Colson Shares issued and outstanding. Completion of the Consolidation is subject to obtaining approval from the shareholders of the Corporation. The parties to the Transaction are at arm's length and therefore the approval of the shareholders of Colson in respect of the Transaction will not be required. However, the Corporation will hold a special meeting of its shareholders prior to March 31, 2021, whereat, among other things, the shareholders of Colson will be asked to approve (i) the Consolidation; (ii) the change of name of Colson to "Pathway Health Corp." or such other name as Pathway may determine; (iii) the appointment of a new slate of directors, conditional upon completion of the Transaction; (iv) the approval of Colson's rolling 10% stock option plan; (v) the removal of the consequences of failing to complete a qualifying transaction within 24 months of listing; and (vi) the amendment of the escrow terms on Colson Shares in light of the recent amendments to the Capital Pool Company Program of the Exchange (including the release of seed shares from escrow over an 18-month period following completion of the qualifying transaction) (collectively, the "Colson Meeting Matters"). The Share Exchange Agreement provides that Colson and Pathway will be completing a business combination, pursuant to which: (i) post-Consolidation Colson Shares will be issued to holders of shares of Pathway ("Pathway Shares") on the basis of one (1) post-Consolidation Colson Share for every one (1) Pathway Share; and (ii) holders of common share purchase warrants of Pathway ("Pathway Warrants") will be exchanged for common share purchase warrants of Colson on substantially the same terms. On completion of the Transaction, the securityholders of Pathway will own a substantial majority of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Resulting Issuer ("Resulting Issuer Shares") and Pathway shall become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Resulting Issuer. The completion of the Transaction is subject to, among others, the following conditions precedent be met prior to the closing of the Transaction: (a) Pathway and shareholders of Pathway shall have tendered all closing deliveries contemplated in the Share Exchange Agreement; (b) the shareholders of Pathway shall have approved the Share Exchange Agreement; (c) the board of directors of each of the Corporation and Pathway shall have approved the Transaction; (d) Pathway shall have obtained the consent of each of the holders of Subscription Receipts, if any; (e) the Resulting Issuer Shares shall have been conditionally approved for listing on the Exchange, and the Transaction shall have been conditionally approved as a Qualifying Transaction by the Exchange, subject to the customary requirements of the Exchange in respect of transactions of the nature of the Transaction; (f) the Offering (as described below) for gross proceeds of not less than $10,000,000 shall have been completed in escrow pending the completion of the Transaction; (g) all of the conditions necessary to complete the Offering shall have been satisfied (other than the completion of the Transaction); (h) the Corporation shall have convened a shareholder meeting no later than March 31, 2021 and shall have obtained shareholder approval for the Colson Meeting Matters; (i) the existing directors and officers of Colson shall have resigned; and (j) the Transaction shall close no later than April 30, 2021. The terms and conditions of the Transaction may be based on the Corporation's due diligence (which is limited as the Corporation intends largely to rely on due diligence of other parties to the Transaction to contain its costs, among other things) and the receipt of tax, corporate and securities law advice for both the Corporation and Pathway. For the purposes of the Transaction the deemed value of each Pathway Share (the "Pathway Share Value") will be $0.50, such price being based on the pricing of the Offering (as defined below). In connection with the Transaction, the Colson Shares will be consolidated on the basis of one post-consolidation share for every 2.491 pre-consolidation Colson Shares, such basis resulting in the deemed value of the Colson Shares being equal to the Pathway Share Value (the "Consolidation"). Other Significant Conditions to Closing Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to TSXV requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. The Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Concurrent Subscription Receipt Financing As previously announced on November 30, 2020, in connection with the Transaction, Pathway has engaged Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Agent"), in connection with the offering of subscription receipts ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.50 per Subscription Receipt on a private placement basis for aggregate gross proceeds of not less than $10,000,000 (the "Offering"). Under the terms of the Offering, the Agent will be granted an over-allotment option to place up to an additional 15% of the number of Subscription Receipts issuable under the Offering for additional gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000. On closing of the Offering, the gross proceeds of the Offering, less 50% of the Agent's Commission (as defined below) and the Agent's expenses incurred in connection with the Offering, will be held in escrow pursuant to a subscription receipt agreement, pending the satisfaction of the Release Conditions, whereupon the net process of the Offering will be released to Pathway and the balance of the Agent's Commission will be paid to the Agent. Each Subscription Receipt will be automatically converted into one unit of Pathway (each, a "Unit"), on the date (the "Escrow Release Date") that: (i) all conditions precedent to the completion of the Transaction have been satisfied to the satisfaction of the parties but for payment of the cash portion of the purchase price to be paid by Pathway for the operating assets of TCNC; (ii) the Agent has received an officers' certificate from the officers of each of Colson and Pathway that each party has instructed its counsel to issue the underlying securities upon the release of funds; (iii) the Agent is satisfied, in its reasonable opinion, that since the closing of the Offering, there have been no material changes in the affairs of the Corporation or Pathway and that there is no previously undisclosed fact which has or could be expected to have a significant adverse effect on the market price or value of the securities of the Resulting Issuer; and (iv) a joint notice from Colson and Pathway to the Agent stating that the Transaction has been completed and all conditions precedent to the Transaction have been satisfied or waived (the "Release Conditions"). Each Unit shall consist of one Pathway Share and one-half of one warrant, where each whole warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one Class A share of Pathway for a period of 24 months from the Escrow Release Date at an exercise price of $0.75. The Agent is entitled to a cash commission payable to the Agent by Pathway on closing of the Offering in an amount of up to 8% of the gross proceeds of the Offering ("Agent's Commission"). The Agent will also receive broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants") on closing of the Offering of up to 8% of the total Subscription Receipts sold in the Offering. Each Broker Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Resulting Issuer Share at an exercise price of $0.50 for a period of 24 months following the closing of the Offering. In the event the Transaction does not occur by 5:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on the date that is 120 days from the closing date of the Offering, the gross proceeds of the Offering shall be returned to the purchasers pro rata without any deduction or interest and the Subscription Receipts shall be automatically cancelled. Subject to applicable laws and the policies of the Exchange, it is anticipated that, upon completion of the Transaction, each Pathway Share issued pursuant to the Offering will be exchanged into one freely tradable Resulting Issuer Share, and each Pathway Warrant shall be exchanged for one Colson Warrant. It is intended that the net proceeds raised pursuant to the Offering will be used to expand the Resulting Issuer's portfolio of clinics across Canada, expand its distribution channels, add interdisciplinary pain services to its clinics, and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Pathway Pathway was incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act on September 18, 2020 for the purposes of completing the transaction (the "TCNC Asset Acquisition") contemplated under the TCNC Asset Purchase Agreement (as defined below) and participating in the Transaction. On January 18, 2021, Pathway entered into an asset and share purchase agreement with TCNC (the "TCNC Asset Purchase Agreement"), pursuant to which it acquired substantially all of the operating assets of TCNC, including the shares of TCNC's operating subsidiaries. Since the TCNC Asset Acquisition, Pathway has continued to operate TCNC's business. Unless otherwise indicated, references to the business of Pathway also include the business as operated by TCNC prior to the closing of the TCNC Asset Acquisition. Pathway's principal business is the operation of medical clinics that offer multidisciplinary therapies to patients that suffer from chronic pain, including pharmaceutical and medicinal cannabis-related therapies. The clinical services are delivered in inter-disciplinary pain clinics operated by Pathway and through virtual care by physicians and other health care providers, who are trained in managing chronic pain through proper assessment and multi-modality treatment that includes minimally-invasive approaches, intravenous therapies, allied health methods and the prescription of medical cannabis which is supplied to the patient directly by sellers and producers licensed by Health Canada ("LPs") under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. Pathway's physicians and nurse practitioners prescribe medical cannabis to qualified patients from LPs, in accordance with the Cannabis Act (Canada) and regulations. Patient educators then inform qualified patients of LP product options and fulfill the order with the patient's choice of LP. Pathway operated clinics are not dispensaries and, as such, do not carry inventory or distribute cannabis products. Pathway generates revenue through the operation of nine physical inter-disciplinary clinics in four provinces, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the provision of virtual care across Canada. Pathway's clinical patient services are paid for by provincial health insurance, third-party insurance companies and privately by patients. Clinical services paid for by provincial and third-party insurance includes: medical assessment and follow-up, multi-modality diagnostic imaging, intravenous therapies, medical implants, nerve block injections and other interventional therapies. Resulting Issuer Following completion of the Transaction, the Resulting Issuer will carry on the business currently carried on by Pathway. The Resulting Issuer will be a Life Sciences issuer under the policies of the Exchange. It is expected that following completion of the Transaction, and assuming that the Offering is fully subscribed (including pursuant to the exercise of the Over-Allotment Option), there will be an aggregate of 88,346,837 Resulting Issuer Shares outstanding, and 22,594,684 Resulting Issuer Shares will be reserved for issuance pursuant to convertible securities of the Resulting Issuer. It is expected that following completion of the Transaction the current holders of Colson Shares will hold approximately 3.2% of the outstanding Resulting Issuer Shares, the subscribers in the Offering will hold approximately 26.0% of the outstanding Resulting Issuer Shares and the holders of Pathway Shares will collectively hold approximately 70.6% of the outstanding Resulting Issuer Shares, all as calculated on a non-diluted basis immediately following the closing of the Transaction. To the knowledge of the directors and executive officers of the Corporation and Pathway, the only persons who will beneficially own, directly or indirectly, or exercise control or direction over more than 10% of the Resulting Issuer Shares is TCNC, which will hold approximately 58.4% of the Resulting Issuer Shares assuming completion of the Concurrent Financing and exercise of the Agent's Option (as hereafter defined) in full. TCNC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cura-Can, and: (i) Avonlea-Drewry Holdings Inc., a company of which Mr. Michael Steele (a proposed director of the Resulting Issuer) is a director and officer, owns or controls, 10,456,168 Class A Shares of Cura-Can representing approximately 40% of the issued and outstanding shares of Cura-Can; and (ii) Mr. Kim Wei, a proposed officer of the Resulting Issuer, owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 2,649,641 Class A Shares of Cura-Can representing approximately 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of Cura-Can. Summary Financial Information of Pathway The following table presents selected financial statement information on the financial condition and results of operations for TCNC prior to the completion of the TCNC Asset Acquisition. Such information is derived from the audited financial statements of TCNC for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 and the unaudited financial statements of TCNC for the period ended September 30, 2020. The information provided herein should be read in conjunction TCNC's audited financial statements, which will be contained in the filing statement to be filed on SEDAR in connection with the Transaction. For September 30, 2020 (unaudited) For December 31, 2019 (audited) For December 31, 2018 (audited) Current assets $1,286,808 $1,438,872 $451,122 Other assets $7,998,587 $7,097,179 $1,026,206 Total assets: $9,285,395 $8,536,051 $1,477,328 Current liabilities $20,977,196 $13,595,416 $3,805,850 Other liabilities $3,012,765 $3,395,256 $74,787 Total liabilities: $23,989,961 $16,990,672 $3,880,637 Total shareholders' equity: (Deficiency) ($14,704,566) ($8,454,621) ($2,403,309) Total liabilities and equity: $9,285,395 $8,536,051 $1,477,328 Management of the Resulting Issuer Subject to Exchange approval, upon completion of the Transaction, it is expected that the board of directors and the senior officers of the Resulting Issuer will be the following proposed individuals. Please see below for a brief biography for each proposed individual: Ken Yoon - proposed Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director Mr. Yoon has over 20 years of experience in advising, consulting, financing, investing in and building innovative private and public companies with over $500M in transactions both as chief financial officer and investment professional. Mr. Yoon joined Pathway in Q2 2019 having worked most recently as Chief Financial Officer of Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation where he was instrumental in raising $27 million in financing. Prior to Acerus, Mr. Yoon was Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Corporate Development at Vive Crop Protection Inc. Mr. Yoon is a Charter Professional Accountant /Chartered Accountant, holds a B.Sc. from University of Western Ontario, law degree from Queen's University and MBA from the University of Toronto, and is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Aura Balboa - proposed Chief Financial Officer Ms. Balboa has over 15 years of finance and operations experience. Ms. Balboa began her career in public accounting with Deloitte. She then held a number of finance roles with increasing responsibilities at multiple pharmaceutical companies both in Canada and the U.S. Her most recent role was Director of Finance at Acerus Pharmaceuticals, a Canadian pharmaceutical company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Ms. Balboa is a Chartered Professional Accountant / Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen's University. Wayne Cockburn - proposed President Mr. Cockburn has over 25 years of healthcare experience, including 20 years at the C-level, specializing in strategic planning, corporate finance and capital market strategies, corporate partnering, corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Cockburn has also served on the board of directors of U.S. and Canadian private and public companies for more than 20 years. Kim Wei - proposed Chief Commercialization Officer Mr. Wei has over 30 years of executive level leadership experience in healthcare. He has a track record for developing and delivering innovative allopathic and complementary medicine models in North America. Mr. Wei is a co-founder of TCNC and has helped grow Pathway to be a Canadian delivery system with corporate and joint-venture clinics, in multiple healthcare disciplines. Mr. Wei has acted as a director on multiple Canadian and international company boards. Michael Steele - proposed Chairman and Director Mr. Steele is an engineer and financier with over 30 years of experience in structured investments and new business start-ups. His company, Avonlea-Drewry Holdings Inc., provides consulting, restructuring, finance and operational advice. Mr. Steele has provided consulting services to various industry sectors including real estate, mining, oil and gas, and recently the Canadian medical marijuana sector. Since 2013, Mr. Steele has consulted to or provided financing to various companies in the Canadian medical marijuana industry including Canadian Cannabis Corp, Cura-Can Health Corp., Maricann Group Inc., and The Hydropothecary Corporation. Mr. Steele was a previous director of Barkerville Gold Corp. Mr. Steele graduated from the University of Waterloo with a P.Eng (BASc) in civil engineering and received his MBA in 1981. Alison Wright - proposed Director Ms. Wright has over 20 years of experience in the construction and property management industries. Ms. Wright was a director of Capform Inc., a full-service concrete contractor based in Dallas, Texas, with projects throughout the southern United States. Currently, Ms. Wright is the President of Alwright Investments Inc., a Canadian property management and investment company she founded in 2012. Ms. Wright has served as a director on several boards of private companies in both Canada and the United States. Ms. Wright graduated from the University of Toronto in 1991 and holds a Bachelor of Science. Kenneth Howling - proposed Director Mr. Howling has over 25 years of healthcare industry experience in senior financial positions; including 11 years with Bausch Health (formerly Biovail Corporation), as Chief Financial Officer, and Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Affairs; five years as Chief Financial Officer of Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation; and five years as Chief Financial Officer with Pharma Patch PLC. During his career, Mr. Howling has contributed to the success of multiple start-up companies, taken companies through the IPO process, and has collectively raised over US$2.3 billion in various forms of capital. Earlier in his career, Mr. Howling worked in senior financial management positions at Roberts Company Canada Limited, including roles of General Manager, Corporate Secretary and Controller, at GlaxoSmithKline (formerly Beecham Pharmaceuticals Ltd), and as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr. Howling is a graduate of the ICD/Rotman Director Program and formerly a Certified Public Accountant (inactive license). Renee John - proposed Vice President, Clinic Operations Ms. John has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry in a variety of capacities and increasingly senior roles, including sales, business development, and operations. Prior to joining Pathway, Ms. John was Vice President of Operations for Agility Health. For over a decade, she previously served as Director, Western CDA Sales and Operations at Shoppers Home Health Care, a division of Shoppers Drug Mart, where she was responsible for a diverse six-figure portfolio. Ms. John holds an Executive MBA from the Ivey School of Business - University of Western Ontario. Pram Sandhu - proposed Vice President, Pharmacy Programs and Regulatory Affairs Mr. Sandhu has over 20 years of experience in various facets of the healthcare sector. He is the former Vice President of Medical Operations and Business Optimization for National Access Cannabis Medical. Mr. Sandhu is also an active clinical pharmacist, who has a passion for developing innovative programs in regulated environments. In 2014, he was a recipient of the Trillium Health Partners Allied Health Professional Award. Mr. Sandhu holds a Professional Certicate in Cannabis Science and Medicine from the University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine. Sponsorship Under the policies of the Exchange, the parties to the Transaction will be required to engage a sponsor for the Transaction unless an exemption or waiver from this requirement can be obtained. The Corporation expects that the Transaction will be exempt from the sponsorship requirement of the Exchange as a result of the Offering being undertaken in connection with the Transaction. There is no assurance that an exemption or waiver from this requirement can or will be obtained. Trading Halt The Colson Shares are currently suspended from trading for failing to complete a Qualifying Transaction within the required timeframe as prescribed by Exchange policies, and the trading of Colson Shares is expected to remain suspended pending completion of a Qualifying Transaction. Additional Information Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and associated transactions and neither of the foregoing entities accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. For further information, please contact: Colson Capital Corp. Murray Moore, CFO, Corporate Secretary and Director Telephone: (403) 471-4039 Pathway Health Corp. Wayne Cockburn, President Telephone: (905) 505-0770 Cautionary Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the proposal to complete the Transaction and associated transactions, including statements regarding the terms and conditions of the Transaction and the Offering, the business plans and objectives of Pathway and the Resulting Issuer, expectations for other economic, business and competitive factors and approval of regulatory bodies. The information about TCNC and Pathway contained in the press release has not been independently verified by the Corporation. Although the Corporation believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the parties will not proceed with the Transaction and the Offering; the Transaction, the Offering and associated transactions will differ from those that currently are contemplated; and that the Transaction, the Offering and associated transactions will not be successfully completed for any reason (including the failure to obtain the required approvals or clearances from regulatory authorities). The terms and conditions of the Transaction may change based on the Corporation's due diligence (which will be limited as the Corporation intends to rely upon the due diligence conducted by the Agent in connection with the Offering) and the receipt of tax, corporate and securities law advice for Colson, Pathway, TCNC and its parent holding entity. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The common shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Not for distribution in the U.S. or to U.S. newswire services. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73508 The operator was fined 800 in total and ordered to pay 72 in court and legal costs A kebab fast food outlet in west Belfast has been fined 800 at the city's magistrates court for food hygiene offences. The prosecution was taken by Belfast City Council against the operator of the Turkish Kebab and Pizza House take-away on the Andersonstown Road, following a routine hygiene inspection of the premises in March 2019. During inspections, environmental health officers found that the premises, including equipment, was not kept clean. They found the business wasn't constructed in a way to permit good food hygiene practices, including protection against contamination of pests. The restaurant was given a rating of just one under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, meaning that major improvement is necessary. The council confirmed to the court that conditions have now improved to their satisfaction and that the premises now has a rating of three. The operator was fined 800 in total and ordered to pay 72 in court and legal costs. More information about the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is available at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/food 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 Texas woman who was arrested by the FBI for her alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will be allowed to attend a "work-related bonding retreat" in Mexico later this month, according to court documents obtained by USA Today. On Monday, Jenny Louise Cudd, a small business owner from Midland, was granted her request to travel to Rivera Maya from Feb. 18-21 for the prepaid trip, the court documents said. The trip is for her employees and their spouses. Cudd was arrested Jan. 12 and charged with entering a restricted building or grounds and violent entry or disorderly conduct. According to the FBI, Cudd was seen on surveillance footage entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 and taking photos of the rotunda before walking around outside the upper House doors. She also streamed a live video on Facebook from inside the Capitol and can be heard saying "f yes, I am proud of my actions, I fing charged the Capitol today with patriots today. Hell yes, I am proud of my actions," the FBI said. READ ALSO: Self -proclaimed Proud Boy member one of 21 Texans facing charges in connection with Capitol riot In an interview with a West Texas TV station, Cudd described the events of Jan. 6 and said we the Patriots did storm the U.S. Capitol" before adding that she would "absolutely do it again," court documents said. She later told NewsWest9 she was inside the Capitol legally and didn't break any laws because she didn't hurt anyone or destroy property. The motion to allow her to travel cites her lack of criminal history and her status as an "established member of the community." The motion also cited Cudd's constant contact with her attorney and appearances at her court hearings Government prosecutors took no position on the request. Cudd's floral shop, Becky's Flowers in Midland, has received plenty of backlash. The Knot, a popular wedding app, said in a tweet it removed the flower shop from its platform, and USA Today said that Cudd has received death threats. Yelp has temporarily disabled the ability to leave a review for the flower shop after it received a barrage of negative reviews. On Jan. 7, one review said "I went in for flowers, but came out with a nasty case of COVID-19 and the inane ramblings of a treasonous moron stuck in my head." Cudd has not responded for comment from the San Antonio Express-News. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway "Sharing technical data with clients and suppliers is mission-critical for success in today's fast-paced digital world," says Tom Gill, PLM Enterprise Value & Integration Practice Manager, CIMdata. "Razorleaf's CollectIT addresses this need for manufacturers. The software makes it easy to find, collect, and manage the information needed to compile technical data packages (TDPs) even if you are a non-PLM expert. CIMdata is impressed with the variety of use cases CollectIT supports and believes it will speed up process efficiency resulting in time savings and higher quality." CollectIT is vendor-neutral software that utilizes Razorleaf's CLOVER technology, a communications hub enabling the exchange of Product Lifecycle Management data and processes between applications across systems, vendors, or domains benefits that support a Digital Thread foundation in a Model Based Enterprise (MBE). The new software offers users the ability to select and share part and BOM (Bill of Materials) representations, 2D drawings, 3D CAD files, and other technical documents associated with the creation of a project, product, or part. The software extracts and consolidates files and data stored in PLM into user-readable file packages that can be shared with employees, suppliers, and clients, ensuring access to accurate and current information. "Razorleaf developed CollectIT to help manufacturing organizations eliminate the inefficiencies of traditional manual methods of extracting and distributing files and data, so non-PLM users can have access to the most current information internally and across the extended enterprise," says Razorleaf CEO Eric Doubell. "Some of our early studies showed the software can reduce the time spent compiling TDP outputs by days or weeks. CollectIT helps clients get to market faster while reducing costs and improving productivity. Razorleaf continues to develop innovative products that increase ROI and deliver a real competitive advantage." CollectIT navigates through the full BOM hierarchy, including related items, to automate the manual extraction process for creating Bid Packages, Product Specifications, End Item Data Packages (EIDPs), and TDPs. The MIL-STD-31000B template is provided to support Government and MBE standards. About Razorleaf Founded in 2000, Razorleaf is a consulting & systems integrator with specialized expertise in PLM. We are focused on helping manufacturing organizations connect products and processes across the digital enterprise to drive more value from the innovation process. Led by a highly skilled and seasoned team of experts across the United States and Europe, Razorleaf transforms businesses by offering comprehensive consulting and implementation services focused on managing the digital thread across the product life cycle and supply chain. For more information, visit http://www.razorleaf.com . SOURCE Razorleaf Corporation Related Links http://www.razorleaf.com NEW YORK (AP) - Amazon said Tuesday that Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO later this year, a role hes had since he founded the company nearly 30 years ago. Bezos built the company from an online bookstore into a behemoth that sells just about everything. Amazon said hell be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazons cloud business. Bezos will then become the companys executive chairman. April 30 will mark the end of the first 100 days of President Joe Biden's tenure. That's a benchmark presidents often set for making good on high-priority campaign promises. In early December, Biden announced that one promise would be to get 100 million covid-19 vaccines into the arms of Americans in the first 100 days, averaging about 1 million daily doses. The U.S. reached that pace around Inauguration Day but will have to maintain it for the next three months for Biden to reach his goal. If realized, how will everyday life change? We asked the experts. Could 100 million doses achieve herd immunity? First, does 100 million doses translate to 100 million people being vaccinated by April 30? The short answer: no. Biden has emphasized that his goal doesn't mean 100 million people will be fully vaccinated, but rather that 100 million shots will be administered. After all, both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines require two doses. When we first reached out to Biden team members in early December to ask about this target number, they said they were aiming for 50 million people to receive both doses and become fully inoculated. Then, in early January, they said the president-elect instead favored releasing most of the vaccine supply as it's produced, rather than holding back doses for people's second shots, on the assumption that new vaccine being produced would cover those booster shots on schedule. The Trump administration, still in office, announced a similar plan. Even now, though, about two weeks into Biden's term, confusion continues to surround the implementation of that policy, which could influence the number of people who receive both vaccine doses within the first 100 days. At a Jan. 26 press briefing, Biden said his goal of 100 million shots "means somewhere between 60 maybe less, maybe more million people" will receive at least one dose of vaccine. Some critics have said the target number should be higher. A day earlier, Biden suggested he would like to eventually increase the rate of vaccinations to 1.5 million a day. Whether it's 50 million or 60 million people who are fully inoculated by the end of April, that number is still well below the prevailing herd immunity threshold recommended by public health experts. Remember, herd immunity is achieved when enough people in a population become resistant to a disease so that it has difficulty spreading. Epidemiologists estimate at least 70% of a population must be protected to reach herd immunity. Because it's unknown how long natural immunity lasts after being infected with the coronavirus, it's recommended that even those who have had covid be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has suggested the herd immunity benchmark could be higher, up to 90%, especially since it seems some new covid variants are more transmissible than the dominant U.S. strain. For now, let's leave the herd immunity estimate at 70% and figure out how long it would take to reach that level. Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York, walked KHN through the math. About 330 million people live in the U.S. Seventy percent of that figure equals about 231 million. Currently, the U.S. has access only to the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, meaning the nation would need 462 million doses to fully vaccinate enough people to reach that 70% mark. At a rate of 1 million doses administered per day, it would take more than 460 days. "Which we would reach sometime in early 2022," said Lee. An additional challenge: Of the estimated 330 million people in the U.S., about 70 million are children and not yet eligible to receive a vaccine, so the vast majority of adults would have to be vaccinated to achieve this level of herd immunity. Others have sketched out how the timeline accelerates if vaccination numbers improve. For instance, KFF chief executive Drew Altman wrote in a column that if the U.S. increased vaccine administration to 1.9 million shots a day, 70% of the population could have vaccine coverage by Labor Day. If vaccinations were increased to 2.4 million a day, that threshold could be reached by July 4. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) In addition, other vaccines are in the pipeline that require only one dose, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and could change these projections. At the White House's second covid response team briefing on Jan. 29, Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the team, said about 1.2 million vaccine doses per day had been administered in the past week. Vaccine trackers from Bloomberg News and The Washington Post also report about 1 million people in the U.S. receiving their first dose of vaccine every day in the past week. And the Biden administration expects this number to increase significantly in the coming weeks and months. But roadblocks loom, including a short supply of vaccine. Between the Trump and Biden administrations, the U.S. has agreed to purchase 600 million doses, in all, of the covid vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. One-third, or 200 million, of that amount was supposed to be delivered by the end of March. The remaining doses aren't slated to arrive until late spring and summer. "The brutal truth is it's going to take months before the majority of Americans are vaccinated," Biden acknowledged during his Jan. 26 news conference announcing the United States' latest vaccine acquisition. The difficulty of reaching people who may have trouble accessing the vaccine, such as rural residents or communities of color, could also hamper vaccination efforts. And certain individuals are likely to be hesitant or refuse to get vaccinated. When will life return to normal? What if you become one of the lucky ones to get vaccinated during Biden's first 100 days of the vaccine rollout? People will still not be able to return to their pre-pandemic activities, said public health experts. A sense of normalcy won't return until we approach 70% or more of Americans vaccinated. "As hard as it is to hear, if you get your second dose of the vaccine before we have vaccinated the majority of the population, we all still need you to take the same protective measures you were taking before you were vaccinated," said Dr. Rachel Vreeman, director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai's medical school in New York City. That means, even if you're vaccinated, you should continue to wear a mask, practice physical distancing with those outside your household, stay home and regularly wash your hands. The same precautions are recommended for those who won't be inoculated by April 30. Vreeman added that a week or two after you receive your second dose of the vaccine, you are less likely to get seriously ill from covid. But you could still get sick. And it's possible you could pass on the virus to others not yet vaccinated. Clinical trials for the covid vaccines didn't evaluate whether it stopped asymptomatic transmission, only if symptoms were reduced. "Immediately at the end of April, for the average American, there won't be a dramatic change in what they're seeing in regards to social distancing and masking," said L.J Tan, chief strategy officer for the Immunization Action Coalition, a nonprofit that works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to distribute vaccine information. Jeffrey Shaman, an environmental health professor at Columbia University, said states should maintain covid restrictions, such as those related to face coverings, remote work and limited travel, during the vaccine distribution process. In a recent modeling study, Shaman and his colleagues found that if such restrictions were lifted this month, 29 million additional covid infections could emerge by summer. He recommends keeping them in place through July. "The bottom line is, if we lift our restrictions and we go back to what it was like before the pandemic, the virus is going to take off again," said Shaman. "Then the race to get vaccines in arms will be complicated because more people will get sick." Experts also said that with multiple covid variants circulating in the U.S., some of which appear to be highly transmissible, taking precautions seriously is critical especially if vaccines aren't as protective against them. Plus, the fewer people who get sick, the less likely it is the virus can replicate, mutate again and create more variants. As for when things will return to normal? That depends on the rate of vaccinations and how many Americans are willing to roll up their sleeves. "I think we will be back to life in the fall, hopefully before Thanksgiving," said Tan. Other experts we asked said it's possible there could be some semblance of a return to normalcy in the summer. But, they all agreed, it certainly won't happen by April 30. 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, Feb 3 : The opposition on Wednesday agreed to discuss the Motion of Thanks on Presidential Speech after it was unanimously agreed upon that its duration would be increased to 15 hours, giving opportunity for the farm laws to be discussed, as was being demanded by several parties. On Tuesday, there was a ruckus in the Upper House as Opposition did not let it function after it's suspension notice was rejected by Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu. As the proceedings began for the day on Wednesday, Leader of Oopposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "The government has cited that there is no ritual of discussing anything before the president motion of thanks so all the opposition has agreed to discuss the thanks motion and take up the farmers issue then." The Chairman after the proposal of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi agreed on the broad consensus in the House. Earlier senior Congress leaders Azad and Anand Sharma had again given suspension of business notice on the farm laws but it was subsequent withdrawn. Several other leaders from across parties had given zero hour notices -- Rajiv Satav of Congress on farmers' issue; T. Shiva on the Sri Lankan Navy harassment of fishermen. The opposition on Tuesday forced the Upper House to be adjourned for the day. The house witnessed sloganeering the moment it assembled a day after the Budget was presented. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 11:25:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIGALI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Rwandan government on Tuesday extended nationwide measures against COVID-19 until Sunday, including a lockdown in the capital city Kigali, while a curfew with other restrictions were announced to replace the lockdown for the next two weeks starting Feb. 8. Rwandan Minister of Health Daniel Ngamije said later Tuesday that the extension will help to consolidate gains brought by the lockdown. Health tests showed that the lockdown imposed on Kigali in the past two weeks slowed down the virus transmission, Ngamije said on the national broadcaster Rwanda Television, adding that before the lockdown, cases registered in Kigali were more than all cases in provinces combined, while the latest figures showed that the capital registered fewer cases compared to provinces. In the past three days, the number of recoveries surpassed new cases, meaning the number of active cases are going down, he said. Kigali returned to a lockdown on Jan. 18 due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city. For the next two weeks from Feb. 8, a curfew from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. and other restrictions will be imposed, read a Cabinet Communique released by Office of the Prime Minister. Enditem Honeywell has been awarded a major contract by Sepco Electric Power Construction Corporation to supply connected control, telecommunications, safety and security systems for the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services shipyard being developed by Aramco in Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia. When completed, the complex will be one of the largest shipyards in the world. It will be automated using a range of Honeywell technologies designed to make the facilitys operations safer, more efficient and secure. The suite of systems will be integrated into the complex by Sepco, the projects main engineering procurement and construction contractor, said a statement. Our global presence enables us to work closely with international engineering, procurement and construction companies, including our valued partners Sepco, to deliver highly innovative infrastructure projects around the globe. We are proud to extend our relationship with both Sepco and Aramco on this landmark development, said Norm Gilsdorf, President for Honeywell, High Growth Regions, Middle East, Russia, Turkey, Central Asia, Customs Union and Asean. Through the combined capabilities of Honeywell, Aramco and SEPCO, the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services is set to become one of the most advanced, efficient, innovative facilities of its type in the world. Honeywell will provide Sepco with a suite of connected systems for the complex, including: A portfolio of integrated, cyber-secure automation control systems that give facility operators complete visibility of processes across the site to reduce workload and improve efficiency. This includes Honeywells ControlEdge Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Data Concentrator, Safety Manager SC and Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system; Integrated telecom and security systems, including local communications and network security systems, closed circuit television (CCTV) and access control technologies to help facility operators maximize on-site security; Fire and gas detection systems, including fire and gas controllers and automatic smoke detection systems to help isolate areas in the event of an emergency and safely minimize facility-wide shutdowns As one of the worlds largest contractors, we are proud to be contributing engineering excellence to the development of the worlds largest shipyard, a project that reflects our ability to deliver global-scale infrastructure and construction opportunities, said Sepco Project Manager Zhang Zhongxiang. Honeywells broad portfolio of connected systems, which are capable of working together to maximize efficiency, safety and security, enables us to realise significant integration benefits for this complex and globally-significant mega-project. The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services was launched in November 2016. The maritime complex complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps meet the development and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030. The complex will be a world-class maritime facility providing a broad portfolio of services spanning vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and will establish Saudi Arabia as one of the worlds elite shipbuilding nations. -TradeArabia News Service The new Boeing F-15EX fighter jet completed its first flight today, paving the way for the early delivery of the first two jets to the U.S. Air Force later this quarter. The jet took off and landed from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, completing a 90-minute test flight before returning to the airport. Boeing F-15 Chief Test Pilot Matt Giese checked out the multirole jets avionics, advanced systems and software. A test team monitoring the data collected during the flight in real time confirmed that the aircraft performed as planned. Todays successful flight proves the jets safety and readiness to join our nations fighter fleet, said Prat Kumar, Boeing vice president and F-15 program manager. Our workforce is excited to build a modern fighter aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. Our customer can feel confident in its decision to invest in this platform that is capable of incorporating the latest advanced battle management systems, sensors and weapons due to the jets digital airframe design and open mission systems architecture. Get an EX-cellent view of the #F15EX as it takes to the skies during its first flight. We'll be delivering the first two jets to the @USAirForce soon. #ReadyAF pic.twitter.com/80cDgVoYKL Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) February 2, 2021 The fighters digital backbone means it can serve as a testbed for future technology insertion, a key capability for the Air Force. Modern variants of the F-15 also include fly-by-wire flight controls, an all-new digital cockpit, modern AESA radar and the ADCP-II, the world's fastest mission computer. The F-15EX, the most advanced version to date, features the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System electronic warfare system to improve mission effectiveness and survivability for operators. In July, the Air Force awarded Boeing a contract to build the first lot of eight jets. Future plans call for as many as 144 aircraft. Boeing is also pitching the latest fighter jet to the Indian Air Force, looking for 124 advanced fighter jets to replace ageing Soviet-made jets. PITTSBURGH, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "As a child, my mother would use this to stop me from having accidents in the bathroom. I thought it could be useful to more people, to keep a bathroom more sanitary," said an inventor from Sacramento, Calif., "So, I created the CONEE PEE." The invention fulfills the need for a device that would allow a person to urinate in an efficient, clean, and safe way. It helps to direct a urine stream without splatters. This could prevent accidents when urinating. This device could provide peace of mind. It offers improved sanitary conditions and would be portable and compact. The inventor's prototype is available upon request. The original design was submitted to the Sacramento sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 19-SOG-510, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com SOURCE InventHelp Related Links http://www.inventhelp.com Jackson Hole Community Counseling Center Executive Director Deidre Ashley is a licensed clinical social worker and has a masters degree in social work. Contact her by emailing columnists@jhnewsandguide.com. A Florida man with a large tattoo of the state on his forehead was arrested after repeatedly calling 911 to get a ride home, before being found with 20 grams of marijuana on him. Matthew Leatham, 22, called police at around 4.20am on Sunday to ask them for a ride to his New Port Richey, home. Leatham reportedly cussed at the dispatcher during his first call to police, prompting the call taker to provide him with the non-emergency number for future reference, a criminal complaint reads. Matthew Leatham, 22, called police at around 4.20am on Sunday to ask them for a ride to his New Port Richey, home A police officer offered to call Leatham a taxi home but he informed the cop he had no money on him. Leatham began walking home, before calling 911 again to request a ride. An officer responded to the scene as Leatham was on the phone with the dispatcher. Upon seeing that the man was not suffering an emergency, the officer arrested Leatham and proceeded to search him. It was then that the officer located the 20 grams of marijuana on his person, testing the drug to determine whether it was actually cannabis. A police officer offered to call Leatham a ride home but he informed the cop that he had no money on him. A responding officer found Leatham and determined that he wasn't in an emergency, finding that the man had marijuana on him Leatham was charged with misuse of the 911 system as well as possession of marijuana. He has since been released on $300 bond. Social media pages associated with Leatham show that his outlandish Florida tattoo started as an upside down cross. New Delhi, Feb 3 : A Canada-based Non-Government Organisation, Damdami Taksal Khalsa Seva Society, is providing free medicines to the agitating farmers protesting at the Ghazipur border. Arvinder Singh, a physiotherapist associated with the NGO, told IANS, "We have been offering free-of-cost medical service to farmers since January this year." Singh said they have set up a camp at Singhu border as well. Medicines as well as physio machines are available at the camps, he added. This clearly shows that many NGOs are providing free help to the agitating farmers. He told IANS that the NGO team is present at the camps all the time and is constantly checking the farmers blood pressure there. An ambulance is provided, too, in case of a medical emergency. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is deeply concerned by the arrest and sentencing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, calling for his immediate release. A Russian court jailed Mr Navalny on Tuesday and handed him a three-and-a-half-year sentence in a ruling the Kremlin critic blamed on what he called President Vladimir Putins hatred and fear of him. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny should be released immediately. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen/AP Mr Navalnys lawyer said the anti-corruption campaigner would only serve two years and eight months in prison because of the time had had already spent under house arrest. Senator Payne reaffirmed Australias calls for Russia to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into Alexei Navalnys poisoning using the banned Novichok nerve agent last August. WESTFIELD, N.J., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Round Table Wealth Management (RTWM), a global wealth and investment management firm headquartered in Westfield, NJ, proudly announces the expansion of its Boca Raton, Florida Office. As the financial services industry grows in the region, Round Table Wealth Management feels confident that its growing team of advisors will continue to provide exceptional client service to fully support the needs of those who currently live or have relocated to Florida. This expansion includes the hiring of Marianne Rodriquez CFP and Anthony Rosetti CFA as RTWM Directors. These two new team members have vast experience and unique perspectives that will strengthen and complement the overall team and bring greater value to RTWM's Florida clients. "The pandemic is reshaping our economy, and many more individuals are working remotely and relocating. The low tax rate in Florida is also attractive to those in the financial and tech industries looking to grow their business during this time. Given the current environment, we are seeing a continued exodus of individuals leaving the New York tri-state area to Florida. The expansion of our new office allows us to maintain close relationships with clients who have moved as well as expand new relationships to develop a significant presence within the state," explains Steven Giacona, Founder and CEO. With the expansion of RTWM, the firm's new office in the region will be a platform that will allow advisors to offer greater and more tailored services to the Southeast Florida Market. Round Table Wealth Management is a leading independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) with offices in New York City, NY, Westfield, NJ, Boca Raton, FL, and Bend, OR. Round Table provides clients with a Multi-Family Office service experience, with over $1 billion in assets under management* and serves domestic and cross-border families throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. Founded in 1999 by Steven Giacona, Round Table offers a wide range of advisory services and investing solutions that are tailored to the specific needs and requests of each client. *As of December 31, 2019. Net assets under management of approximately $1.1 billion. Please refer to Round Table's Form ADV, Part 1A for additional information. SOURCE Round Table Wealth Management Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed with his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva, the latest developments related to the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), stressing Egypt's stance based on the importance of reaching a legally binding agreement. In a phone call on Tuesday, Shoukry and Santos, whose country assumed the European Unions six-month rotating presidency on 1January, reviewed other regional issues of mutual concern, including the crises in Libya, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel region, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Both ministers discussed how to promote cooperation ties between the European Union and the southern neighborhood countries, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez. Minister Shoukry congratulated Silva on the chairmanship of Portugal for the European Union in 2021, expressing Egypt's keenness to continue coordination to promote ties with the EU and enhance European-African cooperation, Hafez added. Shoukry also expressed Cairo's aspiration to cement the bilateral cooperation with Portugal in all fields, increase trade exchange, promote tourism, intensify cultural cooperation and encourage Portuguese companies to invest in Egypt. 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. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Avidian Gold Corp. ("Avidian" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:AVG)(OTCQB:AVGDF) is providing a summary of the major 2020 exploration accomplishments, 2020 corporate activity and its 2021 exploration/corporate plans. The 2020 exploration program focused primarily on the Amanita property, located 5 km southwest and adjacent to the Fort Knox gold mine situated within the Fairbanks Gold Mining District, Alaska. A small exploration program was also carried out on the Golden Zone property in preparation for a 2021 program. Both the Amanita and Golden Zone properties are situated within the prolific Tintina Mineral Belt, which is known to host numerous multi-million ounce gold deposits. Both properties are accessible on a year-round basis. Avidian was able to successfully conduct its exploration programs during the COVID-19 Pandemic and operated with preventive COVID-19 protocols in place and is pleased to report that no COVID-19 related cases occurred. Key exploration results from Avidian's 2020 exploration programs follow. Amanita Property, Alaska (Figure 1) Completed a high-resolution drone magnetic survey (443.6 line km) over the entire property at 50 m line spacing with selected areas flown at a 25 m line spacing in order to assist with ongoing drill targeting. Completed a helicopter-borne LiDAR survey which also provided an orthophoto to aid its 2020 drill program and future drill programs. Completed nine HQ-diameter oriented core holes for a total of 1,945 m (see Figure 2) as follows: Three core holes (AM20-1, 2, 8) were drilled in the vicinity of Trench C & D (completed in 2019) to test the NE-SW trending zone of gold mineralization; Two core holes (AM20-3, 4) drilled to test for possible NE-SW trending parallel gold zones anywhere from 20 to 250 m southeast of the hole AM20-2; Three core holes (AM20-5, 6, 7: note hole AM20-6 was abandoned at 54.25 m due to rock conditions and hole AM20-7 was drilled at the same collar location) drilled to test for a possible strike extension of mineralized trenches on trend with hole AM20-1 & 2) 140 m to the northeast and 230 m to the southeast, respectfully); and, One hole (AM20-9) drilled 1.1 km southwest of the trenches to test possible SW extension of the mineralization coincident with geophysical targets. Complete hole assay results have only been received for holes AM20-1 and AM20-2 with the remainder of the balance of the core hole results pending. Drill holes AM20-01 and AM20-02 were designed to test for the down-dip extent of the mineralization encountered in trenches C-North and D-West, respectively. The mineralization between these two trenches trends in a NE direction over a strike extent of at least 200 m. Highlights from these holes are listed below. Gold mineralization was encountered in both holes, with the highlight being 22.72 m of 3.11 g/t Au from Hole AM20-02; this intersection occurs approximately 60 metres below Trench D-West, which returned 27.0 m of 4.22 g/t Au (Press Release dated January 7, 2020). AM20-01 was designed to pass under the north-trending intersection of 22.5 m of 11.51 g/t Au in Trench C-North and intercept this zone at a vertical depth of approximately 50 m. The upper 75 m of AM20-01 is structurally complex and movement along these structures likely displaced the mineralization as no significant mineralization was intercepted in the upper part of the hole. Several thin anomalous (>0.25 g/t) gold values were encountered including 3.12 m of 1.39 g/t Au at a depth of 95 m. The structural complexity in the upper 75 meters of AM20-01 is also evident in the property wide magnetic survey that indicates multiple, major, structural trends intersecting in the area of AM20-01. Hole AM20-02 was designed to test the down-dip extension of the Trench D-West intersection of 27.0 m of 4.22 g/t Au , interpreted to reflect the same mineralized zone targeted by Hole AM20-01. The upper parts of the hole contain intersections of 4.54 m of 0.68 g/t Au and 6.10 m of 1.49 g/t Au , but the highlight intersection is 33.89 m of 2.56 g/t Au, which includes 27.22 m of 3.11 g/t Au , which itself includes 12.87 m of 6.23 g/t Au. This intersection lies approximately 60 m below the Trench D-West intersection, demonstrating its down-dip extension. This mineralization remains open at depth and along strike. Golden Zone Property, Alaska A helicopter LiDAR and Orthophoto survey was flown over the entire property. A 588.7 line km Drone-Mag magnetometer survey was flown over the northern portion of the property covering the Breccia Pipe Deposit area. Staked an additional 1,975 hectares (4,880 acres) of claims adjoining the southwestern portion of the property along the strike extension of the newly discovered MJ mineral occurrence (grab samples of 5.17 g/t Au and 4.2 g/t Au plus 2.77% Cu ) extending the mineralized trend to 19 kilometres in strike length and overall property size to 125.3 sq km (see Figure 3). Three mineral occurrences are located on the newly staked area known as Silver Kitty, Ready Cash and Canyon Creek. Immediately west of the Silver Kitty occurrence, described as a chalcopyrite and sphalerite bearing skarn adjacent to a porphyritic stock, a grab sample returned 12.5 g/t Au. This sample is located approximately 500 m southwest and on trend with the MJ discovery. At the Ready Cash occurrence, a grab sample returned 0.4 g/t Au, 17.7 g/t Ag and 4.7% Cu (see press release dated September 30, 2020). It should be noted that, due to their selective nature, assay results from grab samples noted may not be representative of the overall grade and extent of mineralization on the subject areas. All drill core assays and trench results noted above are presented in core/sample lengths as at this time there is insufficient data with respect to the orientation of the mineralized intersections to calculate true widths. Jungo, Nevada While no field work was conducted during 2020, work permits were approved and granted late in the year. The 1,960-hectare Jungo property, located within the prolific Humboldt trend in north-western Nevada and proximal to the 7 Moz Au Sleeper and 25 Moz Au Hycroft deposits, is now permitted for exploration work activities including drilling. The property has several immediately available drill targets situated within a 5 km long NE-SW trending zone of Au + Cu mineralization. 2020 Corporate Activity Highlights Promoted Steve Roebuck, P. Geo to President. Raised $3.7 million as a private placement between Eric Sprott and Crescat Capital LLC primarily for exploration activities on the Amanita project, Alaska and general corporate purposes. Purchased the Amanita NE property, which is a 418 hectare Uplands Mining Lease, located 6.5 km east of Kinross Gold's Fort Knox Gold Mine and immediately west of Kinross Gold's Gil deposit in the Fairbanks Mining District. Upon completion of the purchase Avidian flew a high-resolution LiDAR and Orthophoto survey over the entire property, and a drone magnetic survey at 25 m line spacing (212.9 line km). Converted 1,320 acres (5.3 sq km) of its 3,607 acre (14.6 sq km) Amanita property to an Uplands Mining Lease. The Amanita Mining Lease is valid for 20 years and conveys the exclusive right to explore for minerals within the leased area and the exclusive right to mine, extract and remove all minerals subject to obtaining all the required permits and approvals necessary to be able to mine and produce from the lease area. On October 28, 2020, Avdian commenced trading on the OTCQB Venture marketplace ("OTCQB") under the ticker symbol "AVGDF". Listing on the OTCQB will increase exposure in the US and make trading in Avidian stock much more accessible to U.S. investors. Avidian's majority controlled private subsidiary High Tide Resources Corp. completed a four hole, 999 m drilling program on its Labrador West Iron ore property, designed to test the lithological and grade continuity between several key and widely spaced historical Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. drill holes completed on the property from 2010 to 2012. The property (2,475 hectares) is well located with respect to infrastructure and in close proximity to the Rio Tinto - Iron Ore Company of Canada's 23 MTPY Carol Lake iron ore mining operations. High Tide acquired the Property in August 2019 through an option agreement with Altius Resources Inc. ("Altius"). Highlight results include (see press release dated November 11, 2020 for further details): Hole 20LB0056 35.3% Total Fe over 25.7 metres and 33.8% Total Fe over 60.0 metres Hole 20LB0057 29.6% Total Fe over 314.7 metres Hole 20LB0058 26.9% Total Fe over 115.7 metres and 31.0% Total Fe over 57.2 metres Hole 20LB0059 26.8% Total Fe over 321.5 metres Two of the four holes, 56 and 58, were stopped while still in high-grade iron oxide mineralization due to bad ground conditions. 2021 Activities Plan Avidian currently holds three major property blocks, two in Alaska and one in Nevada. Each of these properties represent large land positions in recognized, prolific gold belts where historically multi-million ounce deposits have been discovered. All three properties are at an advanced exploration stage and either host a resource or have drill/trench intercepts of economic interest. They also have historical databases and multiple identified drill ready targets. In 2021, Avdian's focus will be dominantly on the Amanita and Golden Zone properties. Amanita and Amanita NE, Alaska Follow-up drilling to expand strike and depth of mineralized zones intersected in 2020 particularly in the vicinity of hole AM20-2 Scout drilling on targets not tested in 2020 Property-wide soil survey to identify new anomalies to drill test Golden Zone, Alaska Resource Expansion Drilling at Breccia Pipe Deposit and MEZ area Scout drilling at Copper King area Further mapping and sampling at new discovery areas to expand their footprint and produce drill targets Expand existing drone magnetic survey to the southwest. Additional soil sampling Jungo, Nevada If warranted and appropriately funded, initial drilling of established targets. Corporate - Additional Value Creation Assist in High Tide's go public event in the first half of 2021and spin out the public shares of High Tide to Avidian shareholders in a tax efficient manner. Continue to increase the visibility of Avidian especially in the U.S through Avidian's OTCQB listing where there is a high level of interest in domestic gold exploration projects. Convert the balance of the State of Alaska claims at Amanita into the existing Uplands Mining Lease. Background Information on the Golden Zone Property The property is located 320 km north of Anchorage, Alaska and is conveniently accessed by a 16 km road west of the main highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, which is also the main corridor for power and rail between the two cities. The property covers an area of 125.3 sq. km. High grade gold base metal mineralization (> 4 g/t Au to > 25 g/t Au) spatially related to intrusions which are believed to be at shallow depths extends along a strike length of 19 km. Mineralization styles include quartz-arsenopyrite-base metal sulphide veins and stockworks, local semi-massive sulphide skarn mineralization and replacement style mineralization in conglomerate. The multitude of large footprint targets at Golden Zone indicates this property has district scale potential. The property currently hosts a NI 43-101 resource Indicated gold resource of 267,400 ounces (4,187,000 tonnes at 1.99 g/t Au) plus an Inferred gold resource of 35,900 ounces (1,353,000 tonnes at 0.83 g/t Au). Background Information on the Amanita Property The Amanita property is comprised of an Uplands Mining Lease and State of Alaska claims totalling 1,460 hectares (14.6 sq. km) and is located 15 km northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and approximately 5 km southwest and contiguous to the Fort Knox open-pit gold mine. The Amanita Property represents an opportunity to identify one or more oxide gold resources within the Tonsina Trend structural corridor that extends directly onto the adjacent Fort Knox gold mine property. Historical drilling along this corridor (referred to as the Tonsina Trend) indicates that oxide gold mineralization extends from surface to a depth of at least approximately 150 m. Quality Control/Quality Assurance For precious metal analysis, sampling included insertion of certified standards and blanks into the stream of samples for chemical analysis. Every twentieth surface sample was a standard or a blank. Samples were prepared at ALS Global's laboratory in Fairbanks, Alaska and shipped to their Vancouver facility for gold analysis by fire assay and other elements by ICP analysis. Selected samples were also analyzed by metallic screen analysis. ALS is a certified and accredited laboratory service. Gold results varied from below detection to a high of 22.3 g/t. For Iron Ore analysis, sample shipments were securely delivered via courier to Activision Laboratories ("ActLabs") in Ancaster, Ontario for sample preparation and analytical testing. Sample preparation was through the laboratory's standard rock preparation protocol that begins with jaw crushing followed by pulverization of a sample split (250 g) to generate a pulp having 95% passing a 0.074 mm screen. Iron (Fe) content was measured using the XRF technique following Lithium Metaborate fusion. Prior to fusion, the loss on ignition (LOI), which includes H2O+, CO2, S and other volatiles, is determined from the weight loss after roasting the sample. The fusion disk is made by mixing the roasted sample with a combination of lithium metaborate and lithium tetraborate. Samples are fused in Pt crucibles using an automated crucible fluxer and automatically poured into Pt molds for casting. Samples are then analyzed on a Panalytical Axios Advanced wavelength dispersive XRF. ALS and Actlabs are independent of Avidian Gold and High Tide Resources. Qualified Person The technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Dr. Tom Setterfield, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration of Avidian and Steve Roebuck, P.Geo, President of Avidian who are Qualified Persons as defined in "National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects." About Avidian Gold Corp. Avidian brings a disciplined and veteran team of project managers together with a focus on advanced stage gold exploration projects in Alaska. Avidian's Golden Zone project hosts a NI 43-101 Indicated gold resource of 267,400 ounces (4,187,000 tonnes at 1.99 g/t Au) plus an Inferred gold resource of 35,900 ounces (1,353,000 tonnes at 0.83 g/t Au)*. Additional projects include the Amanita and the Amanita NE gold properties which are both adjacent to Kinross Gold's Fort Knox gold mine in Alaska, and the Jungo gold/copper property in Nevada. *Technical Report on the Golden Zone Property, August 17, 2017, L. McGarry P.Geo & I. Trinder P.Geo, A.C.A Howe International Ltd. Avidian is the majority owner of High Tide Resources, a private company with an option on the Labrador West iron ore property located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Avidian is focused on and committed to the development of advanced stage mineral projects throughout first world mining friendly jurisdictions using industry best practices combined with a strong social license from local communities. Further details on the Corporation and the individual projects, including the NI 43-101 Technical report on the Golden Zone property, can be found on the Corporation's website at www.avidiangold.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 news release. Forward-looking information This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". 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, project development, reclamation and capital costs of the Company's mineral properties, and the Company's financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: 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 the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws Figure 1: Amanita Property, Alaska Orientation Map Figure 2: Amanita Property - 2020 Drill Hole Locations Figure 3: Golden Zone Property SOURCE: Avidian Gold Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627610/Avidian-Golds-Review-of-2020-Highlights-and-2021-Exploration-Plans (Natural News) A noted Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scholar who wrote a defense of Chinese technology company Huawei in 2019 may not have written the op-ed at all. A Huwaei employee has claimed that he was the one who ghostwrote the op-ed on behalf of MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte. In his LinkedIn profile, Huawei employee Winter Wright claims that he wrote the article on behalf of Negroponte. The latters research center has received millions of dollars in research funding from the Chinese company. The article reflects the years-long relationship between Huawei and Negroponte. This relationship has continued even after MIT cut ties with the Chinese company after a 13-count federal indictment. For years, Negroponte has praised Huawei, defending it from criticism. In exchange, Huawei has funded the MIT Media Lab, the research institute founded by Negroponte in 1985. Op-ed warned that Huawei ban was a bigger risk In May of 2019, Negroponte wrote an op-ed for Fast Company where he argued that banning U.S. companies and universities from conducting business and research with Huawei would not make the countrys communications networks safer. Dont ban Huawei, reads the op-ed published under Negropontes name. The U.S. should collaborate with leading technology companies and their research labs, rather than banning them. Negroponte argued that a ban would create an illusory sense of security that could actually increase risk. According to him, the real threat would be that the unsubstantiated accusations lobbied against Huawei would instead prevent the U.S from having a more important, rational conversation regarding cyber risk. This failure may prevent the U.S. from achieving the technological and economic progress it could have made, had it chosen to look more closely at the facts, he argued. He noted that this was particularly true at universities, such as MIT, which had to stop research with Huawei, who he called the most advanced partner that the university had in the telecommunications field. Negroponte has worked with Huawei for years Negroponte and Huaweis partnership serves as just one example of the extensive monetary ties that exist between U.S. colleges and China. In recent years, the latters military-industrial complex has funneled millions of dollars into U.S. universities. In addition, more than 100 American colleges and universities have, at one point, hosted a Confucius Institute. These are Mandarin programs, funded by the Chinese government, that have been subject to bipartisan criticism for being a threat to academic freedom on college campuses. (Related: The Economist failed to disclose lucrative Huawei ties, even as it defended the Chinese tech giant.) Huaweis ties to MIT, on the other hand, go as far back as 2008. This was when a research group under Negropontes MIT Media Lab listed the Chinese telecommunications companys U.S. subsidiary as an industry partner. MIT Media later listed Huawei as a corporate sponsor between the 2012 and 2017 fiscal years. This gave Huawei extensive privileges, including access to all of the labs research as well as full intellectual property rights. Meanwhile, the companys ties to Negroponte can be traced back to 2011. Negroponte gave a presentation at a Huawei-hosted MIT junket that praised China for building telecommunication infrastructure in Africa. MIT officially suspended ties with Huawei in April of 2019, citing growing public concerns over its role in higher education in the U.S. But Negroponte continued to work with the company beyond that. Negroponte has helped Huawei in the latters public relations push against scrutiny by Western governments. In addition to the ghostwritten op-ed, he also joined Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei in denouncing as disingenuous the U.S. governments national security concerns in a round table in June 2019. Meanwhile, in May 2020, he also appeared in an online panel with Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping. Follow NationalSecurity.news for more on the threat Huawei poses to cybersecurity in America. Sources include: FreeBeacon.com FastCompany.com QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) has just released its residential real estate market statistics for the Quebec City Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) for the month of January, based on the real estate brokers Centris provincial database. The Quebec City area set a new sales record in January, as transactions jumped by 16 per cent compared to January of last year. However, this was the first month since June 2020 that the increase in sales was well below the 40 per cent mark," said Charles Brant, director of market analysis at the QPAREB. This easing can be explained by two main factors: active listings have fallen by nearly two-thirds in the past 12 months in the single-family home category and the Quebec City market had registered a strong increase in sales last January, he added. January highlights A new sales record was set in January (+16 per cent). All areas of the Quebec City CMA continued to post record-setting sales, including the Northern Periphery with 121 sales (+49 per cent compared to January of last year), followed by the South Shore with 152 sales (+15 per cent). The Agglomeration of Quebec City registered an 11 per cent increase, with 556 sales. A record number of sales transactions were concluded for a month of January: 63 plex transactions (+31 per cent) and 249 condominium transactions (+52 per cent). Sales of single-family homes increased by 3 per cent with 516 transactions. Active listings continued to register record-setting decreases for single-family homes (-59 per cent) and plexes (-42 per cent), which has significantly tightened market conditions in favour of sellers. Active condominium listings fell by 28 per cent. The median price of single-family homes rose significantly in January, jumping by 11 per cent, while that of plexes increased by 9 per cent. The median price of condominiums, whose market conditions are more balanced, fell slightly by 2 per cent. Median prices reached new highs: $350,000 for plexes and $282,000 for single-family homes. Condominiums continue their slow catch-up, sitting at $200,000. Additional information: Quarterly statistics Barometer for the province of Quebec Detailed and cumulative statistics for the province and regions If you would like additional information from the Market Analysis Department, such as specific data or regional details on the real estate market, please write to us. About the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) is a non-profit association that brings together more than 13,000 real estate brokers and agencies. It is responsible for promoting and defending their interests while taking into account the issues facing the profession and the various professional and regional realities of its members. The QPAREB is also an important player in many real estate dossiers, including the implementation of measures that promote homeownership. The Association reports on Quebec's residential real estate market statistics, provides training, tools and services relating to real estate, and facilitates the collection, dissemination and exchange of information. The QPAREB is headquartered in Quebec City and has its administrative offices in Montreal. It has two subsidiaries: Centris Inc. and the College de l'immobilier du Quebec. Follow its activities at qpareb.ca or via its social media pages: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. About Centris Centris is a dynamic and innovative technology company in the real estate sector. It collects data and offers solutions that are highly adapted to the needs of professionals. Among these solutions is Centris.ca, the most visited real estate website in Quebec. For more information: Image bank (credit QPAREB) available free of charge. Marjolaine Beaulieu Publicist Communications and Marketing 1-888-762-2440 or 514-762-2440, ext. 238 media@qpareb.ca A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fab14fb8-aeb0-4de9-a345-1d05ea6b6afc PEORIA, Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, IMEC, the Illinois affiliate of the U.S Commerce NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network, launched the Move Ahead Faster Projects for Illinois small and mid-sized manufacturers. This initiative provides the necessary assessments and technical assistance to improve key drivers of their organizational success. Presented with fully funded projects to address their most critical needs, eligible Illinois manufacturers can receive support led by industry experts to help them plan, implement and excel. Projects vary in focus and were developed based on insights and immediate needs reported from over 1,200 manufacturers. These projects are fully funded through the CARES Act Recovery Assistance Funds. Illinois manufacturing is a major contributor to the Illinois economy. In fact, the Illinois Manufacturers Association's Manufacturing Matters report highlights that Illinois manufacturing is 12.0% of the Gross State Product and creates 592,200 jobs. In many cases, these manufacturers are at the heart of their community and their success drives the success of the people and places where they reside. "Our state is an incredibly powerful manufacturing engine for the global economy. Coming out of the pandemic, this is the right moment for manufacturers to upskill and retool. These Move Ahead Faster Projects will build on manufacturing strengths and ensure our manufacturers become even more competitive in 2021" David Boulay, Ph.D. President - IMEC. The Move Ahead Faster Projects, valued at $5,000 each, emphasizes topics such as: Industrial Hygiene, Global Market Presence, Maintenance, Leadership, Finance, and Technology. Existing small and mid-sized Illinois manufacturers with less than 500 employees are encouraged to apply for one project that best suits their immediate needs. Selected projects must be conducted in Illinois and completed by July 30, 2021 and projects are limited to one project per company. "This is a great opportunity for our state's manufacturing companies. The Move Ahead Faster project options are the right range of topics critical to advancing manufacturing competitiveness in today's marketplace" Marcia Ayala, President -Aurora Specialty Textiles Group. For more information about the program and to apply for a Move Ahead Faster Project, visit https://www.imec.org/rebound/. About IMEC IMEC is a team of improvement specialists who are dedicated to changing lives and creating a positive impact on Illinois' workforce and economy. With a mission to drive growth through enterprise excellence, they help organizations become more effective and efficient by identifying issues, developing and implementing solutions and providing the necessary support that will allow them to excel in areas of leadership, strategy, customer engagement, operations, workforce, and measurement and results. In 2020, they assisted over 1,144 companies and help create or retain over 6100 jobs, resulting in over $645M aggregate impact to the Illinois economy. IMEC has seven offices statewide and 48 full-time industry improvement specialists. For more information, visit www.imec.org. IMEC is one of the 51 MEP Centers in the US and Puerto Rico. MEP Centers are part of the MEP National Network, which includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) and over 1000 manufacturing experts at over 400 service locations, with the tools and resources to help US manufacturers succeed and advance US Manufacturing. Being that each Center is a public-private partnership, they are able to connect manufacturers with government agencies, universities and research facilities, trade associations and many more resources that foster growth and innovation. In 2018, the MEP National Network helped over 2700 manufacturers and created over 122,000 jobs. Find your local MEP Center here. SOURCE IMEC EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 Civilizations Dissolution, or a New Renaissance Feb. 2 , 2021 (EIRNS)History, it is certain, will reflect on the state of Western Civilization in the early 21st Century with wonder and confusion. How, History will put the question, could a civilization which produced such leaps in scientific knowledge, such profound music and poetry, a political system based on the rights of man rather than the rights of an oligarchyhow could such a civilization fall so far, so quickly? The Congress in the United States, a nation which once represented the highest stage of Western culture, has dismissed reason itself. A senile President is calling for unity, while his party is declaring that all those in the opposition party who exercised their constitutional right to challenge the pervasive and self-evident vote fraud are guilty of insurrection, while bringing an unconstitutional impeachment process against a private citizen who was once the President, attempting to disenfranchise his 75 million supporters by declaring him ineligible of ever again running for office. The people who cheered on the anarchist mobs who destroyed large portions of American cities all summer longburning down police stations and federal buildings, killing policemenare declaring a pre-planned riot at the U.S. Capitol, full of FBI stringers, to be the equivalent of the Confederacys war on the Republic, or even of al-Qaedas war on civilization. Behind this is the utter bankruptcy of the Western financial system, while the bankers who run that system are imposing a new form of fascist dictatorship upon the once sovereign nations of Western civilization. Henceforth, the bankers have declared, economic policies shall not be run by elected representatives of the people, but by the bankers themselves, in a regime change of the Western financial system. Credit shall no longer be issued in projects promoting the national interest, for the production of goods and services required to advance the general welfare, nor even to advance the profit motive of entrepreneurs, but rather, in conformance with their insistence to shut down industrial society to save the planet from carbon, based on the most absurd anti-scientific concoction of nonsense since the Stone Age. The Malthusian royals in Windsor Castle are delighted in their ghoulish drive to bring the world population down to their imagined carrying capacity of the Earth, in the range of 1-2 billion. In the process, a new Green Bubble is being created on Wall Street and in the City of London, in a desperate attempt to sustain the bankrupt banking system for yet a few more months. How is this possible? Drugs have something to do with it. The destruction of Classical culture and the advent of the Age of Ugliness has a great deal to do with it. The total control of the media and the educational system by Satanists has also contributed, carrying out Bertrand Russells dream of being able to convince anyone that snow is black. The LaRouche Organization and EIR will release next week a White Paper to both expose this new Green fascism, and to provide the necessary ideas to defeat it. There is little timethe world is now faced with a general social breakdown crisis, and the extreme danger of a new global war, which, in the age of thermonuclear weapons, could end civilization altogether. On the other hand, if the ideas which spurred the Golden Renaissance, which spurred the Confucian Renaissance of the Song Dynasty, which spurred the renaissance eras in Islamic culture and Indian cultureif these powerful ideas can be brought to the fore, as they have following earlier dark ages, then the world can come together for an age of peace through developmentdevelopment of our Earth, our Solar System, and beyond. Lyndon LaRouches ideas are more alive today than during his lifetime. He once said that when the world faces a breakdown crisis, people will look around to find out who had been telling the truth, rather than the lies that brought on the collapse. There is no solution to any part of this crisis without a solution to the entire global crisis, and, ironically, such a solution is more accessible today than ever before, precisely because the scope of this crisis of mankind is now unmistakably before us. The Chinese and the Russian Presidents addressed that truth in their speeches at Davos last week, which will be published in the next issue of EIR. Helga Zepp-LaRouche addressed that truth in her speech for Martin Luther King Day, on Jan. 18. An edited transcription of her speech was printed in the Jan. 29 issue of EIR. It is time for all men and women to act, to master these profound ideas, for the sake of mankinds immortal potential. It is time for all men and women to act, to master these profound ideas, for the sake of mankinds immortal potential. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, saying it is only for 1 per cent of India's population. He said the government needed to put money in the hands of people to restart the economy. The economy can be kickstarted only through consumption, not supply-side measures. "My expectation from the Budget was that it will give support to 99 per cent of Indians. This Budget is for 1 per cent of population," Gandhi said at a press conference. Also read: Rahul Gandhi leads Congress' Delhi protest in support of farmers He accused the government of taking money from MSMEs, workers, farmers and forces, and giving it to 10-15 people in the country. Gandhi also criticised Centre's defence allocation in the Budget, saying that the meagre increase of "Rs 3,000-4,000 crore" gave the message to China that India won't increase its defence expenditure even if the Chinese army enters the country. Referring to the barricading and road blockades on the borders of Delhi where farmers are protesting, Gandhi said, "Why is Delhi being converted into a fortress?" He said the problem (farmers' protest) is not good for the country and peace and harmony, and the government should take back the farm laws. "Farmers are not going away, they won't back down. Government will have to back down," he said. Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the country is lacking leadership, and there is no understanding or strategy. "My constant request to the Prime Minister is do your job, you have been elected to do your job....Your job is to protect the kisans (farmers) standing outside. Go hold their hand, give them a hug and ask them what is it that I can do for you," Gandhi said. Also read: Union Budget 2021: A budget after pandemic - like never before Also read: 'Build bridges, not walls!': Rahul Gandhi attacks centre over heavy barricading of Delhi borders Weve observed a dramatic increase in the sophistication of home weather stations since we started reviewing them five years ago. Smart home connectivity is all but standard now, and instrumentation and sensors are significantly more accurate. This is why I was excited to see Ambient Weathers WS-5000 on my doorstep. Part of my excitement is from what has happened at Ambient Weather itself since I reviewed their last station, the WS-2902, back in 2018. Neilsen-Kellerman acquired the company in 2019, and the WS-5000 is the first station produced under the new ownership. While you might not know Neilsen-Kellerman by its company name, you might be familiar with its brands. Take its Kestrel line of handheld weather meters, for instance. if youve watched Jim Cantore on The Weather Channel pull out a wind meter in a middle of a hurricane, its a Kestrel. The Rainwise brand is less well known, but if youve been in a museum or public space with a weather station, you probably saw the brands pro-level equipment. This review is part of TechHives coverage of the best home weather stations, where youll find reviews of the competitions offerings, plus a buyers guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product. The WS-5000 is a marked departure from anything Ambient Weather has produced to date. Everything feels a little more upscale. The all-in-one sensor suite is gone. The wind sensor is now ultrasonic, with no moving parts. The rain gauge is a separate unit, with a larger funnel to improve rainfall measurements. Even the indoor temperature sensor, which includes humidity and barometric sensors, is separateand it appears to offer more accurate indoor measurements. Ed Oswald / IDG The WS-5000s broader funnel measured rainfall more accurately than previous Ambient Weather stations. The station isnt perfect, but its even better than the WS-2902 we awarded 4.5 stars in 2018. If you find the WS-5000 to be beyond your budget at $299, the WS-2902 remains available for $170. Either way, you cant beat Ambient Weather stations best-in-class smart home capabilities. Setting up the WS-5000 Ambient Weather supplied us with a ton of additional sensors to test above and beyond the standard sensor suite, including: Indoor PM2.5 Air Quality Sensor Outdoor PM2.5 Air Quality Sensor Lightning Detector Soil Moisture Sensor Waterproof Temperature Probe Leak Detector With it being winter at the time of this review, I couldnt test all of the sensors effectively. But installed the ones I could and will cover a few of them in more detail later. Installation isnt too tricky, although I did run into a few hiccups along the way. Much of the station comes preassembled: as long as you have the mast to attach the sensors to and the necessary batteries, you wont need any more than 30 minutes to get things online. My installation took longer as we experienced an issue where the rain gauge and indoor temperature/humidity/barometer sensor wouldnt connect automatically. Ed Oswald / IDG Ambient Weathers new sonic anemometer makes its debut in the WS-5000, using sonic vibrations to measure wind speed and direction. Ambient Weather has a support document for this problem, which addressed the issue and allowed the sensors to connect. The optional sensors connected to the console without an issue, so Im not sure what caused the initial problems. Connecting your station to AmbientWeather.net allows you to both share your data and connect it to your smart home via Alexa, Google Assistant, or IFTTT. You can also set up your station to connect to Weather Underground to publicly share your data, but you dont necessarily need to do that thanks to changes in how AmbientWeather.net operates. Ed Oswald / IDG The front page of AmbientWeather.net is now open to the public and shares Ambient Weather station data in a visually appealing way. The site previously allowed access to station owners only, but a recent redesign enables visitors to search data even if they dont own a station. This gives station owners an alternative to the Weather Underground setup process, which can be finicky. I did find the on-console portion of the setup process to be a bit cumbersome. Many competing weather stations have a setup wizard on the console, or a mobile app to guide you through the first steps. The WS-5000 doesnt have either of those; you must navigate menus, which can be a pain. Ed Oswald / IDG The WS-5000s console screen is one of the larger weve seen among the stations weve tested. The user experience Past the wonky setup, my experience with the WS-5000 was positive. The TFT LCD console screen is a serious upgrade from the WS-2902, whose console was underwhelming. Using an actual display versus the LCD panel of the WS-2902 allows it to display all kinds of information, including separate screens for recalling and charting past weather data. You can view your sensor data from a decent distance and any angle, although there is a lot of data on the screen. Some may appreciate the wealth of information, but a cleaner interface would have allowed Ambient to make the stations primary data (temp, wind, rain, etc.) more prominent on the screen. Ed Oswald / IDG The WS-5000s TFT LCD console allows you to view historical data without an app. As you add more sensors, more of the screen is filled with information: fully decked out with all of the optional sensors, the UI feels a little crowded and overwhelming. But console preferences aside, theres a lot to be impressed with. When it came to the barometric pressure readings during our WS-2902 review, the sensor responded too aggressively to pressure changes. The rain gauge also was an issue, often overcounting rainfall in heavier downpours. These issues are gone in the WS-5000. The barometric pressure readings are more accurate, and the larger funnel for the rain gauge is much improved as well; that said, the lack of liquid precipitation events (much of what we received during the test was snow or sleet) gave us too little data to make a concrete judgment. Ed Oswald / IDG The WS-5000 has an impressive array of optional sensors you can add, most of which cost $50 or less. Were big fans of the new five-second update interval of the new sensor suite. This is a massive improvement over the WS-2902, which sometimes required a full minute to deliver data. The new sonic anemometer was impressive as well. While it only has a maximum speed of 89 MPHslower than the WS-2902s traditional cup-and-vane setupwind readings were far more accurate. You can add an optional heater to prevent the anemometer from accumulating snow or ice, which will cause inaccurate readings. Wed recommend that if youre deploying this weather station in a colder climate. Connectivity The WS-5000 connects to Wi-Fi in the same way the companys other connected weather stations do. Both the app and web-based dashboard use the companys cloud service, AmbientWeather.net. As we mentioned previously, IFTTT, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant support are all included. With IFTTT, you can trigger your sprinklers to stop when rain is detected, or turn your lights on when the solar brightness outside falls below a certain level. Ed Oswald / IDG AmbientWeather.net connects your station to the cloud and allows you to share data and connect to popular smart home services. Once you enable the Ambient Weather skill in your voice assistant of choice, you can ask for a hyper-local weather report. But no matter how you frame the question, you get all the reporting data, even if you only ask for a specific variable, such as the temperature outside. We complained about that in our review of the WS-2902, and it looks as though Ambient Weather hasnt addressed it. The WS-5000 vs. the WS-2000 Ed Oswald / IDG Ambient Weathers app features a clean user interface that is easy to navigate. Since we reviewed the WS-2902, Ambient released another station, the WS-2000. This model comes with the same console as the WS-5000, but it uses sensor suite from the WS-2902. While the TFT LCD screen addresses our problems with the WS-2902s cheap console, the sensor suite still has its limitations. Instead of the super-fast five-second interval, data is delivered every 16 seconds from the outdoor sensors and 64 seconds from the indoor one. Youll also suffer from the rainfall over-measurement issues and the wonky barometer I mentioned earlier. Considering the WS-2000 is priced just $10 lower than the WS-5000, I dont recommend it. Quirky, but a top-tier station The WS-5000 has its own set of quirks, but theyre closer to annoyances than deal breakers. It is by every measure the most accurate station Ambient Weather has ever released, and it rivals Davis Vantage Vue in terms of performance. But Davis seems stuck in the 20th century when it comes to connectivity. While Davis has finally added Alexa support, there is still no Google Assistant support or connectivity options to popular smart home devices and services. This has opened up the door to competition from companies like Ambient Weather. Among builders of smart weather stations, Ambient Weather has proven to be the best in the long term. While my initial thoughts on the Weatherflow Tempest were positive, we found over time that its haptic rain sensor doesnt measure rain accurately enough. The AcuRite Atlas, still in service at a friends house on the Jersey Shore, also appears to regularly under measure rainfall. While Davis is all around the best station in terms of accuracy (we hope to test the top-tier Vantage Pro 2 soon), its high price and lack of true smart home capabilities make it less useful in the connected home. This is where Ambient Weather shines, and with the WS-5000 youre getting about as close as you can to Davis-like accuracy with modern smart home functionality. Hopefully, this station continues to impress us over time, as weve been let down several times before. But Ambient Weathers known for listening to its customers, and the WS-5000 is in part the result of listening to years of consumer feedback. TROY, Mich., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) today announced it has entered into a three-year supply agreement with Volta Trucks, a London-based electric commercial vehicle startup. Meritor will supply Volta Trucks with its Blue Horizon 14Xe integrated ePowertrain. "Meritor is excited to work with Volta Trucks to bring electric commercial vehicles to the European market. Our expertise and investment in advanced technologies has made it possible to offer customers, like Volta Trucks, solutions to meet their electrification needs," said Ken Hogan, Meritor's senior vice president and president of Truck, Europe and Asia Pacific. "Meritor and Volta Trucks share a common vision for the future of commercial vehicle mobility one that is safe and sustainable," said Rob Fowler, CEO of Volta Trucks. "As Volta Trucks seeks to strengthen its position as a leading manufacturer of electric commercial vehicles, we look to partners like Meritor to bring us technologies to achieve our goals." Meritor's 14Xe all-electric, fully integrated, commercial electric powertrain for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles will be equipped on the Volta Zero, which Volta Trucks introduced in September 2020. This purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle, designed specifically for inner-city parcel and freight distribution, is anticipated to go into production in 2022 in the UK. About Meritor Meritor, Inc. is a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. With more than a 110-year legacy of providing innovative products that offer superior performance, efficiency and reliability, the company serves commercial truck, trailer, off-highway, defense, specialty and aftermarket customers around the world. Meritor is based in Troy, Michigan, United States, and is made up of more than 8,600 diverse employees who apply their knowledge and skills in manufacturing facilities, engineering centers, joint ventures, distribution centers and global offices in 19 countries. Meritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MTOR. For important information, visit the company's website at www.meritor.com. SOURCE Meritor, Inc. Related Links http://www.meritor.com The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced Wednesday they are partnering to develop a statewide electric vehicle fast charging network to power the growth of EVs across Tennessee and reduce barriers to transportation electrification. TDEC and TVA signed an agreement to collaborate and fund a network of fast charging stations every 50 miles along Tennessees interstates and major highways. This initiative would add approximately 50 new charging locations, tripling the existing fast charging network. There are only 24 fast charging locations currently operating in Tennessee that are open to all consumers and support both charging standards common to EVs. This investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a monumental step forward, and Im proud that Tennessee is leading in this important effort, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said. With TVAs partnership, we will be able to continue our work to protect our environment and improve our transportation infrastructure. Innovative partnerships with state agencies like TDEC and our local power companies are essential in developing one of the nations most comprehensive EV fast charging networks, starting in Tennessee, TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash said. Through this partnership, TVA is positioned to be a national leader in electric transportation by making it easier for local power companies to install fast charging stations, which make electric vehicles an easy choice for consumers to make. A network of public fast charging stations will promote EV growth by giving drivers more confidence that theyll have easy access to refueling while theyre away from home, eliminating so-called range anxiety that keeps many consumers from considering EVs a viable option. TVA, the nations largest public power provider, says EV adoption will spur jobs and economic investment in the region, keep refueling dollars in the local economy, reduce the regions largest source of carbon emissions, and save drivers and fleets money. This agreement shows TDECs ongoing commitment to a clean environment, TDEC Commissioner David Salyers said. This is an exciting development for Tennesseans, and we are pleased to partner with TVA on this project that will benefit rural and urban communities alike. TDEC and TVA will leverage various funding sources to support the development of the fast charging network with an anticipated project cost of $20 million. TDEC has committed 15 percent, the maximum allowable, of the States Volkswagen Diesel Settlement Environmental Mitigation allocation to fund light-duty EV charging infrastructure. Approximately $5 million from this fund is expected to be allocated to fast charging infrastructure along corridors. The remainder of the project will be funded by TVA, other program partners, and program participant cost share. The agreement reflects recommendations outlined in the Tennessee Statewide EV Charging Infrastructure Needs Assessment, conducted in 2019 by Drive Electric Tennessee, a consortium that includes TDEC, TVA and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The agreement will support Drive Electric Tennessees goal of 200,000 light-duty EVs in Tennessee by 2028. As of December 2020, 11,034 light-duty EVs were registered in Tennessee. TVA is working with a group of local power companies to design a charging station experience convenient for drivers, located close to major highways, and featuring access to amenities that drivers expect. To learn more about this partnership, the Memorandum of Agreement, and Tennessees Volkswagen Diesel Settlement Environmental Mitigation Trust Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, visit tva.com/ev and http://tn.gov/EVfastcharge. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local power companies, and state and local governments, with economic development and job creation. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation exists to enhance the quality of life for citizens of Tennessee and to be stewards of our natural environment by protecting and improving the quality of Tennessees air, land, and water through a responsible regulatory system; protecting and promoting human health and safety; conserving and promoting natural, cultural and historic resources; and providing a variety of quality outdoor recreational experiences. BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Wednesday travelled to Cairo where he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, to obtain regional support for the formation of the long-awaited new Lebanese government, Hariri's press office said. Hariri was appointed last October by the president of the republic, Michel Aoun, but local media reported tensions between the two men over the last few weeks. The outgoing premier Hassan Diab resigned last August 10 after the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut which caused, among others, the death of over 200 people. Lebanon is awaiting the formation of the new executive. But Lebanese political-confessional leaders, each affiliated to a regional and international power, have so far succeeded in gaining time despite the prolonged financial crisis which has been described as the worst in the last 30 years, aggravated by anti-Covid measures. In Cairo, Hariri also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri. He is scheduled to meet also with the secretary general of the Arab League Ahmad Abu al Ghaith. Hariri in the past few weeks has travelled to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in search of political, diplomatic and economic support. Over the last few days, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to return to Beirut to express France's support amid the delicate Lebanese crisis. Lebanese media have not ruled out that Hariri could instead be travelling to Paris soon. ADVERTISEMENT The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of 20 new private universities in Nigeria. The approval followed a memo presented by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, during the weekly meeting of the Council on Wednesday. The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. Briefing journalists at the State House on the outcome of the meeting, Mr Adamu said the approved universities will get their provisional licences from the National Universities Commission (NUC). He gave the names of the approved institutions as Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State; Thomas Adewumi University, Oko-Irese, Kwara State; Maranathan University, Mgbidi, Imo State; Ave Maria University, Piyanko, Nasarawa State, and Al-Istiqama University, Sumaila, Kano State. Others are Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State; Havilla University, Nde-Ikom, Cross River State; Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, Imo State; NOK University, Kachia, Kaduna State and Karl-Kumm University, Vom, Plateau State. Also approved are James Hope University, Lagos, Lagos State; Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano, Kano State; Capital City University, Kano, Kano State; Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State, and the University of Offa, Offa, Kwara State. Others are Mewar University, Masaka, Nasarawa State, Edusoko University, Bida, Niger State; Philomath University, Kuje, Abuja; Khadija University, Majia, Jigawa State and Anan University, Kwall, Plateau State. The minister, said the 20 new private universities are to be given provisional licences to run for three years while the ministry monitors and evaluates their growth. This brings the total number of private universities in the country to 99. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The bilateral trade between Vietnam and Hungary hit a historic record of more than 1 billion USD in 2020. (Photo: baochinhphu.vn) According to the Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary, it was the first time in history two-way trade reached 1.297 billion USD, a rise of 73.88 percent over 2019. Of the figure, Vietnams exports to Hungary were worth 925 million USD, an increase of 126.69 percent. The historic record trade demonstrated that the relationship between the two countries was growing stronger than ever, especially since the two countries upgraded relations to a comprehensive partnership in 2018. The official visit of Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto to Vietnam in August on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic ties reflected that Hungary attached much importance to the relationship with Vietnam. Hungary was also among the first countries in the European Union (EU) to approve the EU Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to create a long-term and stable framework to further economic, trade and investment co-operation between Vietnam and the bloc. In recent years, Vietnam mainly exported computers, electronic products and components, machinery and equipment, phones and components and garment products to Hungary. Hungarys major export products to Vietnam included animal feed and raw material, machinery and equipment and pharmaceutical products. In 2018, the two-way trade between Vietnam and Hungary topped 645 million USD./. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSXV:XIM)(FRA:1XMA)(OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Running Wolf gold property located 20 kilometers west of Cranbrook in the Fort Steele Mining Division in southern British Columbia. Claim map showing Running Wolf and Quartz Mountain properties at Kimberley, B.C. The Running Wolf and Quartz Mountain properties lie within the Cranbrook Gold Belt (also known as the Kimberley Gold Trend), a zone that extends southwestward from the Northern Hughes Range, crossing the Rocky Mountain trench, into the western part of the Purcell Mountains. Alluvial gold placer mining is estimated to have recovered 10 million oz of gold from streams in the East Kootenay area centred on Quartz Mountain since discovery of gold in 1864, and mining has continued since. Exploration for lode gold sources to the alluvial placers has been ongoing for a century. The Running Wolf claims cover three known mineral occurrences, including Rome & Valley, Running Wolf and Gold. Historic records indicate that at Rome & Valley, two or more large quartz veins occur in a fault zone and contain pyrite and galena. One vein has been traced 470 metres and varies in width from 0.6 to 7.6 metres. Samples of mineralized vein material are reported to have assayed from 1.08 to 19.55 grams per tonne gold. At the Running Wolf prospect, historic workings consist of five adits. The main adit exposes three veins, each about 10 metres wide. Surface grab samples of the vein are reported to assay up to 35.0 grams per tonne gold. DDH 1985-8 intersected the No.1 vein in a sheared quartzite and assayed 2.0 grams per tonne gold over 2.0 metres. At the Gold prospect, an alteration zone in quartz phyllite is reported to have assayed 0.24 grams per tonne gold over 3.5 m. Ximen's Quartz Mountain property covers important historical placer deposits on Sawmill creek and five mineral occurrences: Rice, Anderson, Birdie L., Peter Rock and Morgan. At Rice (also known as Quartz Mountain), quartz veins 0.75 to 1 metre wide are mineralized with pyrite, chalcopyrite and native gold. In 1973 and 1974, 1,481 tonnes were mined from surface showings and shipped to Trail, B.C. for smelting. From this, 14,945 grams of gold, 13,405 grams of silver, 1,307 kilograms of copper, 3,286 kilograms of lead and 1,481 kilograms of zinc were recovered. At Anderson (also known as Golden Egg), quartz veins contain specular hematite, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and native gold. Historic records indicate that from 1937 to 1940 (inclusive), 381 tonnes of ore were mined, from which 313 grams of gold, 5194 grams of silver and 200 kilograms of lead were recovered. In 1995, rock chip samples assayed up to 107.2 grams per tonne gold and 63.0 grams per tonne silver over 5 metres. Sampling of a tunnel located on the north side of the pit yielded up to 18.1 grams per tonne gold, 11.6 grams per tonne silver and 0.2 per cent lead over 0.36 metre. In 2003, diamond drilling intersected quartz vein material that assayed 16.53 grams per tonne gold over 0.49 metre. In 2013, two rock samples from a newly exposed road cut, located south west of the pit, yielded 1.12 and 2.28 grams per tonne gold, respectively. At Birdie Load and Peter Rock, quartz veins containing minor amounts of pyrite locally contain gold. Quartz filled shears in trenches at Birdie L. assayed up to 3.4 grams per tonne gold, and a 1983 dump sample assayed 13.1 grams per tonne gold. A rock sample at Peter Rock assayed 3.9 grams per tonne gold, and a composite sample yielded 13.5 grams per tonne gold. Ximen considers the Running Wolf acquisition as a significant addition to its holdings in the Cranbrook Gold Belt. Future work will focus on expanding the areas of known gold mineralization and related fault/shear structures, and exploration for additional lode or disseminated gold deposits. Ximen recently signed a purchase agreement to acquire 100% interest in 10 mineral claims covering 860 hectares in the Cranbrook Gold Belt, referred to as the Running Wolf property. According to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, Ximen is required to pay a total of $30,000 split among the vendors and issue 200,000 shares also to be split among the vendors. The Running Wolf property adjoins Ximen's Quartz Mountain property (58 claims, 2,361 hectares), acquired in 2020. Readers are cautioned that historical information including the assay and production results referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate. Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Christopher R. Anderson" Christopher R. Anderson, President, CEO and Director 604 488-3900 Investor Relations: Sophy Cesar, 604-488-3900, ir@XimenMiningCorp.com About Ximen Mining Corp. Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen's two Gold projects The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under a option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has recently acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings and equipment. Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL. This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange may not accept the proposed transaction in a timely manner, if at all. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Ximen Mining Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627555/Ximen-Acquires-Running-Wolf-Gold-Property-Cranbrook-BC Competing convenience stores Sheetz and Wawa agree on one thing - helping Special Olympics. The COEs of the stores and some employees recently took part in a Burrr-tual Polar Pop on social media in place of the usual Polar Plunge that raises money for Special Olympics. Each store also is donating $5,000 to Special Olympics. For the Polar Pop, Sheetz CEO Joe Sheetz and Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens held a balloon filled with cold water over their heads then popped the balloon. They shared the cold water challenge on social media using #PAPolarPop and #FreezinForAReason. The pop is in place of the annual Polar Plunge when people jump into frigid water. Now more than ever, it is critical we continue to support Special Olympics Pennsylvania, who trains, inspires and transforms the lives of nearly 20,000 athletes every year, said Joe Sheetz, CEO of Sheetz. Now having recently celebrated their 50th anniversary, thats countless lives that have been impacted by them. Join us and take the virtual Polar Pop today! As a longstanding partner of Special Olympics PA, we are honored to continue our support of local athletes at a time when its needed most, said Chris Gheysens, President & CEO, Wawa. We invite our customers to have some fun supporting an organization that is making a significant impact in our community. The Polar Pop is an online event giving supporters the opportunity to take the plunge virtually and safely from home. To participate: Register, make a donation of $20 and commit to raise $50. Fill a balloon with cold water, have someone take a photo or shoot video as you pop the balloon. Now that youre #FreezinForAReason, share your picture or video on social media, challenging five friends to make a donation and complete the Polar Pop challenge. For more information or to register, To learn more and register, go to www.PAPolarPop.org. Businesses can save millions of US dollars through successful digitalisation of supply chains, photo Le Toan James Christopher, president of TM Insight Asia, cited the companys latest report that 98 per cent of business leaders in Vietnam plan to adopt more forms of digitalisation in supply chains. This is to enable them to better overcome challenges and changing consumer trends presented not only by the ongoing pandemic but also other significant events from 2020 including trade disputes. Christopher added that the digitalisation of supply chains will allow businesses in Vietnam to better cope with the upswing in demand, which cannot always be covered with increasing manual operations. It will also allow for better visibility of what is happening within their supply chains, and potential challenges can be anticipated better before they arise. According to the December report from TM Insight, which surveyed over 250 business leaders across various sectors in five ASEAN member states, going digital also helps to build resilience of supply chains against potential shocks, allowing companies to remain competitive even in an ever-changing landscape. Indeed, Vietnamese manufacturers and companies are planning their next technology investments to optimise their supply chain as global markets continue to recover. VinFast in particular has made significant investment in robotics and automation, helping the group improve productivity and build supply chain resilience. Retailer Saigon Co.op has also increasingly implemented online-to-offline business to accelerate digital transformation in management and operation of its supply chain. Kurt Binh, CEO of Smartlog, a technology startup for logistics industry said, We realise the huge potential of the Vietnamese market. By digitalising supply chains, companies can cut hundreds of millions of US dollars. At the same time, digital transformation can make supply chain more agile and closer to end users. It also increases the interaction within supply chains to improve services and reduce logistics costs. Binh added that most Vietnamese companies consider supply chain digitalisation as expenses rather than profitability. Thus, Vietnamese businesses need to change the leadership mindset, culture, and attitude to remove these barriers, he said, adding that Smartlog will help local companies implement the digitalisation process with an end-to-end logistics ecosystem. According to Grant Thorntons Business Pandemic Resiliency Diagnostic, conducted in the summer of 2020, the supply chain was the factor which contributed most to a drop in business, more so than cash flow, demand, regulation, or technology. The survey also revealed that companies with a higher level of digitalisation were more resilient and weathered the pandemic storm better than companies with a low level of adoption of digital adoption. Digitalisation allows greater market reach and more efficient price discovery, both for buyer and seller., explained Claude Spiese, senior advisor of Digital Advisory Services at Grant Thornton Vietnam. Whereas traditionally businesses were limited in their supplier and distributor relationships, with digital they may discover and then buy and sell to a much larger pool of business partners, often at more favorable price levels.. Observing this trend, Elizabeth Fuller, head of Growth at WeWork Southeast Asia, told VIR, The investment in digital infrastructure and connectivity has also played an important feature both in the management of the pandemic and the functioning of the economy. As a data and technology enabled company, we are seeing companies developing new business models and engagement across emerging sectors like e-commerce to traditional sectors such as banks. The pandemic will accelerate such trends even further and savvier companies will turn towards an integrated digital experience to hit their customer base. She noted that the Vietnamese market has also shown an increase in activity. Many international enterprises have invested and expanded their presence here in recent years, which has created a need for companies to continue being nimble and agile to maintain their competitive edge, which often leads them to embrace flexible workspace solutions. In the last quarter, WeWork also signed on a fast-moving consumer goods company along with some regional startups looking at Vietnam as a huge market for their future strategies. 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 Programs during Emorys 2021 observance of Black History Month will feature (clockwise from top left) Anthony Jack; Jessica Stewart; Taos Wynn; Kevin L. Gilliam and Iesha Galloway-Gilliam; Valerie Babb; and more. Departments across Emory will host numerous virtual activities during February in recognition of Black History Month, including panel discussions, a film screening and conversations with artists and authors. "Our theme for Black History Month this year is 'legacy and responsibility' as we reflect on the loss of so many luminaries in 2020," says Carol E. Henderson, Emorys chief diversity officer, vice provost for diversity and inclusion, and adviser to the president. From the deaths of civil rights icons like Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian, Rev. Joseph Lowery and U.S. Rep. John Lewis to the senseless killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and Ahmaud Arbery, among others, "given all this loss, coupled with the groundswell of people responding to a clarion call for change, Black History Month renews our interest in remembering those who laid the groundwork for such change," Henderson says. "That is our legacy. It is our responsibility." How Black History Month began What has now become Black History Month began in 1926 as Negro History Week, created by historian Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Woodson, the second African American to earn a PhD from Harvard, timed the week to coincide with the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. Fifty years later, in 1976, the organization, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, expanded the celebration from a week to a month. President Gerald Ford issued the first national Black History Month proclamation in 1976, noting the relevance of 1976 as the bicentennial of the United States. Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are what our revolution was all about. They were ideals that inspired our fight for independence: ideals that we have been striving to live up to ever since. Yet it took many years before these ideals became a reality for Black citizens, Ford noted. In celebrating Black History Month, we can take satisfaction from this recent progress in the realization of the ideals envisioned by our Founding Fathers. But, even more than this, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history, Ford continued. Black History Month 2021 at Emory Here is the current schedule of Black History Month activities. All programs will be held online and are free and open to the public. Thursday, Feb. 4 4:30 p.m. 2021 Pellom McDaniels Sports History Lecture Series: Bigger than Sports Registration required Just days before Super Bowl LV, join author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant, New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden and Emory history professor Carl Suddler for a timely discussion about sports, politics and African American history. Thursday, Feb. 4 6 p.m. Emory Round Table: Africa Put to the Test: From Free Trade to COVID Registration required Tune in for a conversation with Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the current and fourth-term member of Parliament for Ellembele Constituency, located in the Western Region of Ghana, where he launched a food bank. Friday, Feb. 5 12 p.m. Race Beyond Borders: Understanding Race as a Global Concept: Power, Access, and Policy Registration required This event will launch the multi-institutional Race Beyond Borders initiative and offer a first step in bringing voices together to begin a dialogue and process of inquiry about race: how we can start developing a shared understanding of race as a global concept, how concepts of race are constructed in different parts of the world and more. Participating organizations include Emory's Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives and the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference; Atlanta Global Studies Center; Georgia State University's Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora and GSUs Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies; Spelman College's Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education and its African Diaspora and the World Program; Georgia Techs Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Global Atlanta; and the City of Atlanta Mayors Office of International Affairs. Sunday, Feb. 7 3 p.m. Film Screening and Discussion: Athlete. Scholar. Activist: Chapters in the Life of Dr. Pellom McDaniels Registration required Join this event honoring the contributions of Pellom McDaniels III, former Emory professor of African American studies and curator of African American collections at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, who passed away in April 2020. Monday, Feb. 8 12 p.m. Presentation: Diversity and Inclusion Counts: How Universities Reshape Racial Inequality Behind Diversity Numbers Registration required Guest speaker W. Carson Byrd of the University of Michigan will discuss a snippet of his forthcoming book examining how the organizational processes and policies among universities can shape racial inequality on campuses particularly when campus units rely on numbers-driven approaches to both measure and monitor progress of diversity and inclusion. Tuesday, Feb. 9 7:30 p.m. Oxford College Chaplains Lecture Series with Taos Wynn Registration required Emory alumnus, social advocate, author and speaker Taos Wynn will speak on his advocacy work around human rights issues, including his work with the Perfect Love Foundation a nonprofit organization he founded in 2013 with a focus on community, education and advocacy. Thursday, Feb. 11 4 p.m. Discussion: How Atlanta is Striving to Become an Economically Just and Inclusive Community Registration required A panel of exceptional leaders in the region will share their insights on how their efforts are improving economic access and opportunities for historically underrepresented business enterprises in metro Atlanta. Panelists will include Stacey Key, president and CEO, Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council; Leona Barr-Davenport, president and CEO, Atlanta Business League; and Donna M. Ennis, project director and operator representative for the Atlanta MBDA Business & Advanced Manufacturing Centers and the SE MBDA Inner City Innovation Hub at Georgia Techs Enterprise Innovation Institute. Alan Anderson, Emorys assistant vice president for university partnerships, will moderate the discussion. Thursday, Feb. 11 5 p.m. The Privileged Poor with Anthony Jack Registration required Anthony Jack, sociologist and assistant professor of education at Harvard University, is transforming ways to address diversity and inclusion in education. His new book, The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students, reframes the conversation surrounding poverty and higher education. Wednesday, Feb. 17 5 p.m. 17th Annual Hamilton E. Holmes Memorial Lecture: Healing from Our Two Traumas Registration required During 2020 we weathered the effects of COVID-19 and heard "a cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making." Guest lecturers Kevin L. Gilliam and Iesha Galloway-Gilliam, who completed their medical residencies at Emory School of Medicine, are both physicians in Minneapolis where they stood together on the front lines of both traumas. This annual lecture is named in honor of the first African American graduate of Emory Universitys School of Medicine. Holmes later became a professor of orthopedics, associate dean at the school and was named medical director of Grady Memorial Hospital. The lecture addresses topics of social justice, community engagement, access to care and health disparities. Wednesday, Feb. 17 4 p.m. Discussion: How Small Businesses Drive Economic Opportunity in Metro Atlanta Registration required A panel of established entrepreneurs in the region will share insights on how they are ensuring underrepresented entrepreneurs gain access to mentors, capital and other resources to sustain and thrive in Metro Atlanta. Panelists will include Jay Bailey, president and CEO of Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Ryan Wilson, co-founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot; and Joey Womack, founder and CEO of Goodie Nation. Janeria Easley, assistant professor of African American studies at Emory, will moderate the discussion. Thursday, Feb. 18 12 p.m. Emory Community Conversation: The Black Box Registration required Valerie Babb, Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities, and Jessica Lynn Stewart, assistant professor of African American studies, will lead a conversation on the construction of race, the difficulties individuals experience with Black versus African American, intraracial dynamics, and the many intersections of the Black identity. Thursday, Feb. 18 4:15 p.m. Discussion with artist Kevin Beasley: Race, Social Justice and Contemporary African American Art Registration required The series of programs focuses on the representation of Black persons in contemporary African American art, and on the various ways in which contemporary artists have engaged with the project of representing Blackness. Friday, Feb. 19 3:30 p.m. Lecture and conversation: Following the Path of a Transformed Nonconformist Registration required Hear Emory alumnus the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor speak. Taylor is the new president of Sojourners and a former faith and advocacy leader at the World Bank and World Vision. He is the author of "Mobilizing Hope: Faith-Inspired Activism for a Post-Civil Rights Generation." Monday, Feb. 22 4 p.m. Faculty Showcase featuring Jericho Brown and Emorys New Faculty Registration required Join in celebrating the extraordinary research, creativity and diversity of Emorys faculty. Sponsored by the Office of Faculty Affairs, the event features the poetry of Professor Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry in 2020, and offers interactive engagement with new faculty from across the campus and disciplines, ranging from the humanities to the social and natural sciences. Tuesday, Feb. 23 4 p.m. Preserving Black History in the Archives: The Legacy and Future of Rose Librarys African American Collections Registration required Meet Clinton Fluker, the new curator of African American collections at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, and hear his curatorial vision and his plans for building on Rose's legacy. The event also will celebrate the growth of the Rose Librarys African American collections into one of the premier collections of its kind. Fluker is an Emory alumnus who has worked in the Rose Library and the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. Learn more. Tuesday, Feb. 23 7:30 p.m. Conversation with Roxane Gay and Tameka Cage Conley: We Mend and Remember Registration required Oxford College hosts Roxane Gay, iconic cultural critic and bestselling author whose widely revered work has advanced modern feminist thought, critical race theory and how we consider the world of politics and popular culture. The event illuminates the intention of Oxfords emerging Creative Writing program to embrace and celebrate diversity, excellence, empowerment and exceptional literary talent. Gay will be in conversation with Tameka Cage Conley, Oxford assistant professor of English and creative writing. Wednesday, Feb. 24 Discussion: Black Men and White Coats 12 p.m. Registration required Fewer Black men applied to medical school in 2014 than in 1978. From Feb. 21-23, online access will be available to watch this documentary dissecting the systemic barriers preventing Black men from becoming medical doctors and the consequences on society at large. Watch the film, then join the online panel discussion on Feb. 24. Panelists will include Jason Campbell, resident at Oregon Health and Science University; Anwar Osborn, associate professor at Emory University; DeJuan White, assistant professor at Emory University; and Yolanda Wimberly, associate professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. Professor Sheryl Heron and Yolanda Hood, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs within Emory School of Medicine, will moderate. Wednesday, Feb. 24 5:30 p.m. Conversation: Bigger than a Home Run: The Life and Legacy of Henry Hank Aaron Registration required Join the Emory Center for Ethics for a conversation with some of Atlantas community leaders about the professional, personal and community legacy of the man who Dusty Baker called the truest, most honest person that I ever knew. Speakers will include Sid Barron, general manager and managing partner of Bentley Atlanta and previous part owner and general manager for Hank Aaron Jaguar Land Rover Augusta; Stacey Key, president and CEO of the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council, the states leading authority on supplier diversity and minority business development; A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District; and Ross R. Rossin, CEO of Conrad Floyd Communication and portrait artist known for his large-scale, realist portraits of modern and historical figures including one of Aaron that has hung in the National Portrait Gallery. Edward Queen, director of the D. Abbott Turner Program in Ethics and Servant Leadership and coordinator of undergraduate studies at the Ethics Center at Emory, will moderate. Thursday, Feb. 25 4 p.m. Discussion: How Emory Takes Action to Provide Access and Opportunity for Diverse Business Registration required Join this conversation focused on how Emory University is taking action to provide more access and opportunity for diverse businesses in the metro Atlanta region by ensuring they gain access to contracts, mentors and other resources as the university develops partnerships. Randy Brown, manager of the universitys supplier diversity program, will moderate the discussion. Panelists will include Erin Igleheart, program director of Start:ME; Kevin Nash, chief procurement officer; and Candy Tate, assistant director of the Emory College Center for Creativity and Arts. Fresh from his swearing in on Inauguration Day, President Joe Biden went to the White House and issued a long-overdue proposal for reforming the broken U.S. immigration system. The echoes of the fireworks that evening had barely faded before Republicans began raising objections to it. Among other things, the plan would create an eight-year path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already living and working in the U.S. and expedite legal status to farm workers and those brought here as children, often called Dreamers. But Biden needs a different strategy to get the measure through the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans will have to support it to gain the 60 votes required for most legislation. That may be difficult, because when Democrats say path to citizenship, many Republicans hear amnesty. This is unfortunate. Bidens proposal would do a lot of good, such as codifying the legal status of Dreamers and restoring the Temporary Protected Status classification for those for whom returning to their home countries is unsafe. While Republicans are hesitant to embrace comprehensive reform, they are more willing to take incremental steps toward it, starting with legalizing Dreamers. As the co-owner of a construction company thats been in business for more than 80 years, I have seen the pitfalls of the current immigration system. Today, many construction workers operate in the shadows, getting paid in cash, without receiving safety training. Their employers pay no payroll taxes. While this makes buildings cheap, it depresses wages and contributes to a lack of training and quality that will ultimately cripple our industry. Make no mistake, my industry desperately needs workers, and while we have spent decades cultivating native-born employees through high-school internships and other programs, the bulk of our labor force today as it always has been is immigrants and their children. I understand concerns about border security and amnesty. But our immigration system has failed to keep pace with labor demand, not just for industries like mine, but also for professionals in high-tech fields and medicine. Thats why I have joined with several bipartisan groups in advocating a proposal called ID and Tax. It would improve national security by issuing a tamper-proof ID for undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for a specified number of years (more than 60 percent have lived here for a decade or more). The ID would allow them to remain in the U.S. and work legally without fear of deportation. They would not be eligible to vote or receive food stamps. But they would have the right to apply for a drivers license and buy insurance. They also could enter into the existing E-Verify system already used by many companies so they would be able to work for employers who could legally hire them as employees, rather than contractors, and pay their payroll taxes. This, by the way, is currently a requirement for workers to receive visas, and it would lower the need to bring in more workers from abroad before filling jobs with the 11 million people already here. It would not include a path to citizenship at this time, although that could certainly become a part of a bipartisan bill as a more comprehensive plan is developed. But Tax and ID doesnt need to wait on legislation. It could be implemented immediately by executive order. All the tools are already in place. It appeals to both sides of the aisle. Its not mass deportation, and its not amnesty. Of course, the undocumented, having been subjected to the constant threat of deportation for years, would need to know they could trust the government before they would be willing to participate in the ID and Tax program. Thats why Congress must first legalize the 800,000 Dreamers, a measure that already has widespread support among the public and many members of Congress. The senators from my home state of Texas should lead the way. They understand how critical immigrants are to economic growth. Indeed, our governor declared many jobs that often are done by undocumented workers to be essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. And many undocumented workers filled a similar, if unheralded, role after recent natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey. Texas, more than any other state, has the most to gain by breaking the 30-year impasse surrounding immigration. We cant risk losing another chance to reform our broken immigration system. We cant wait while well-intentioned comprehensive reform efforts simmer in the overheated stew of Washington politics. ID and Tax is a simple, common sense, middle-of-the-road solution that is needed now. As our economy recovers from the pandemic, ID and Tax can clear the way for immigrants as they have for 150 years to play a vital role in restoring our economic prosperity. Marek is the CEO of the Marek Family of Companies, the largest interiors contractors in the southwestern U.S. His is the author, with Loren C. Steffy of Deconstructed: An Insiders View of Illegal Immigration and the Building Trades. Onclusive, the data science company for communications, and Shareablee, the social media analytics and competitive benchmarking company, today announced their strategic partnership to offer marketing and communications teams best-in-class solutions for earned, owned and social media insights. The partnership will help companies gain more holistic data about the performance of their owned and earned content across global news outlets, influencers and social media platforms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202005915/en/ Click to Tweet: Just announced: @Onclusive and @Shareablee partner to help companies measure the business impact of earned, owned, and social media marketing - through to revenue! https://bit.ly/39DF9xE #socialmediamarketing #prmeasurement Social media, communications, public relations, and marketing teams each have a view of a companys brand, reputation, and influence. Companies are increasingly looking to measure their owned and earned media strategies in a more centralized way by combining these functions within integrated teams and equipping them with comparable tools. Particularly during times of crisis or uncertainty when companies put their emphasis on the tactics they can more closely control, social media amplification and paid media activation become even more important, as does measurement of the business impact of these efforts. The intersection between the data and solutions from Onclusive and Shareablee will provide organizations with more comprehensive content marketing data to better optimize their strategies. Both Onclusive and Shareablee have their roots in enterprise media monitoring and content measurement and support Fortune 100 companies and their agencies. Both companies also recently launched mid-market products to deliver their data, platforms and services to a wider range of organizations. Social media strategies are fundamental to a companys marketing plan, yet there is still more to the story. We are excited to be able to complete the picture for our clients via our relationship with Onclusive, said Tania Yuki, CEO of Shareablee. Weve always viewed our data and platforms as a bridge between communications teams and marketing teams. By working with Shareablee, our joint clients will be even better equipped to plan and execute harmonious cross-functional brand and communications strategies, said Dan Beltramo, CEO of Onclusive. About Onclusive Onclusive is the data science company for communications. The inventors of PR Attribution and Power of Voice, Onclusive measures the true impact that content is having on a companys bottom line. The Onclusive platform is built upon a proprietary newscrawler which analyzes millions of earned, owned, and newswire articles every day globally and in over 100 languages, organizing each piece of content based on dozens of dimensions for aggregate and entity-level analysis. The worlds leading brands and agencies including Airbnb, H&R Block, Lyft, Intercontinental Hotels Group, 23andMe, and Experian use Onclusive to modernize communications. For more information, visit onclusive.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. About Shareablee Shareablee is the leader in audience-based social media measurement for media publishers, agencies and brands that want to understand the impact and effectiveness of their cross-platform social media campaigns. Launched in 2013, Shareablee empowers brands by providing data that can help them define and drive success on social media by arming them with metrics and predictive analytics that inform powerful best practices. Shareablee is the leading authority on audience intelligence, competitive benchmarking and actionable insights with clients in 15+ countries. For more information about Shareablee, visit shareablee.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202005915/en/ BOSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gen II Fund Services, LLC, a leading independent private equity fund administrator, today announced the successful completion of its System and Organization Controls (SOC 1), Type II Compliance Report. A major international accounting firm examined the design and effectiveness of Gen II's controls for the period December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2020. Gen II's service and control environment is developed and delivered in adherence with the fund administration industry's best practices. The report also provides Gen II clients and the private equity community confirmation that they have adequately described its controls and that those controls are designed and operating effectively to achieve client objectives. "Private fund sponsors and their Limited Partners require a fund administrator's successful SOC I, Type II examination to satisfy their operational and due diligence assessments," said Steven Alecia, Gen II's Chief Client Officer. "We are proud to now have received an unqualified report on our control environment for 12 consecutive years. This recognition is testament to the soundness of our internal quality controls and emblematic of the world class service and expert guidance that are the hallmark of Gen II." About Gen II Gen II is one of the largest independent private equity fund administrators, administering over $375 billion of private capital on behalf of its clients with offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Stamford, Dallas, and Luxembourg. Gen II offers private fund sponsors a best-in-class combination of people, process, and technology, enabling fund sponsors to effectively manage their operational infrastructure, financial reporting, and investor communications. The Gen II team is one of the most experienced and longest tenured teams in the private equity fund administration industry, with broad expertise across buyout, funds of funds, real estate, energy, infrastructure, credit, co-investment, hybrid funds, feeder funds, venture capital, retail, and managed accounts. For more information, please visit www.gen2fund.com. Contact: Philip Nunes BackBay Communications 617.391.0792 [email protected] SOURCE Gen II Fund Services, LLC Related Links www.gen2fund.com Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. President Joe Biden receives an economic briefing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Jan. 29, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Yellen Calls Meeting With Financial Regulators Over GameStop Trading Frenzy Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to meet with financial regulators to discuss market volatility, including frenzied trading of GameStop stock. Yellen will meet with officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the New York Fed, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a Treasury Department spokesperson told news outlets. Secretary Yellen believes the integrity of markets is important and has asked for a discussion of recent volatility in financial markets and whether recent activities are consistent with investor protection and fair and efficient markets, the spokesperson said. The department didnt immediately respond to a request for more information, including whether Yellen asked for written authorization to participate in responding to the volatility. Yellen received hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from Wall Street, including some $800,000 from Citadel, according to filings with the Office of Government Ethics. Citadel has poured money into the hedge fund Melvin Capital, which took a strong short position against GameStop, a primary stock thats drawn retail investors in recent weeks. The ethics agreement Yellen signed states that shell request written authorization to participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know that entity is a party or represents a party. People enter a GameStop store in New York on Feb. 2, 2021. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times) The White House declined to comment directly on Yellens potential conflict of interest. Reuters reported that it had seen a document from ethics lawyers giving Yellen permission to deal with the market volatility. In the memo, Treasury ethics official Brian Sonfield said it would be difficult, if not impossible for Yellen to recuse herself from matters involving market volatility. You are the Secretary of the Treasury, the duties of which require you to be involved in a broad array of matters focused on these sectors, Sonfield wrote, according to Reuters. Issues relating to these sectors could arise at any time without the opportunity for consultation with the ethics office. These circumstances make it difficult, if not impossible, for you to recuse from matters relating to these sectors and also argue in favor of prior authorization. GameStop shares skyrocketed this month after investors, spurred by a Reddit subforum, poured money into the video game company. The investors sought to disrupt hedge funds like Citadel that bet on GameStop shares dropping. GameStops share price dropped from a high of $469 on Jan. 28 to $91 on Feb. 1. Its still under $100 as of Feb. 3. The situation, which includes other stocks like AMC and Nokia, has spurred calls for stronger regulations. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the countrys top financial regulator, said last week it was closely monitoring the extreme price volatility of certain stocks trading prices over the past several days. The commission said it would act to protect retail investors when the facts demonstrate abusive or manipulative trading activity that is prohibited by the federal securities laws. Following the military coup in Myanmar, the G7 countries condemned the move and demanded the military to end the state of emergency and restore power to the democratically-elected government. According to a statement shared by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the G7 nations urged the military to release all those unjustly detained including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. They also asserted that the results of Novembers general elections in Myanmar must be respected and Parliament should be convened at the earliest opportunity. The statement read, 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 military coup in Myanmar. We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media. We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law, it added. READ: Health Workers In Virus-hit Myanmar Start Anti-coup Protests READ: Rally Against Myanmar Coup Outside Japan Ministry Myanmar military coup Meanwhile, Suu Kyi has been charged by the military with offences related to some walkie-talkies allegedly imported with improper licence and for shaking hands during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the police document. She among other leaders from the civilian government was put under house arrest on February 1 as armed forces took the power after complaining over the voter fraud in the recent general election in November 2020. Myanmar President Win Myint, who was also arrested and removed from the office, would be reportedly charged with offences under the natural disaster management law. Myanmar is under the control of the military and a state of emergency for a year. In the run-up to the November 2020 election, Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has acquired the power of the nation now, had claimed that civilian government was making "unacceptable mistakes". The military alleged that the elections were full of irregularities and questioned the veracity of at least 9 million votes cast in November 2020 even though the countrys election commission rejected the claims of fraud. Myanmar military stressed that it will protect and abide by its constitution. (With inputs from ANI) READ: Myanmar Crisis: Aung San Suu Kyi Charged By Military, Faces Up To 3 Years In Jail READ: Bridgefy App Downloaded Over 600,000 Times For Offline Messaging In Myanmar Amid Crisis At a glance: Gov. Tom Wolfs budget proposal once again includes a municipal fee thats expected to raise $168 million for the Pennsylvania State Police. Unlike in previous years, when the proposal failed to pass the Legislature, this fee would be charged to all municipalities based partially on services rather than focusing on a specific group of communities. Across all funds, including a significant one-time infusion of COVID-19 aid via the federal government, the agencys budget remains relatively flat at $1.38 billion. Over at the Department of Criminal Justice (corrections, probation and parole to us laypeople), total funding decreases slightly to $2.8 billion, reflecting a 5-percent budget cut due in part to declining prison populations. What it means: This years municipal policing fee proposal is just the latest volley in a long-simmering debate over how to fund the state police. For years, the agencys finances were linked to the Motor License Fund, a pot of money created ostensibly to maintain road infrastructure. The state police is gradually weening itself off that fund but it still has to find a sustainable source of funding elsewhere. One solution was to begin charging the growing cohort of municipalities roughly 1,300 at last count that rely solely on the state police for patrols and to respond to 911 calls. Wolf faced significant opposition to his previous plans to charge those communities a flat fee or base charges on a sliding scale, and even to include communities that rely on the state police for part-time coverage. Some of these communities argued that they dont see (or need) much police protection and worried that it would hurt residents living on low- or fixed incomes when the fee inevitably gets passed on as a local tax hike. Were still awaiting details but Wolfs latest proposal would apply to every municipality in the state and would be based at least in part on how many calls the state police responds to in a given community. According to Wolfs budget description, this fee is predicated on station coverage costs, which are driven by incidents and coverage area, and considers various factors, including population and income. It is further weighted for municipalities benefitting from full- or part-time police services. Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook. Read the The hunt for Ray Gricar. Hillsong Church faces property lawsuits seeking more than $20M Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Hillsong Church has taken additional hits to its brand from two recent property-related lawsuits in the U.S. and Australia that accuses church leaders of immoral, oppressive and unscrupulous conduct and seeks to recover more than $20 million in collective damages. Already reeling under the specter of a sexual misconduct scandal, one lawsuit filed stateside on Jan. 20, by the Wall Street Theater Company, Inc., accuses Hillsong Connecticut of failing to pay more than $100,000 in rent and removing electronic equipment from the companys property located at 71 Wall Street in Norwalk. The complaint against Hillsong Connecticut shows that the church entered into an agreement to rent the Wall Street premises starting Sept. 20, 2019, every Sunday from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for $7,937 each Sunday. On Feb. 21, 2020, the agreement was amended to reflect a reduction in the rent for each Sunday to $5,935.25. Just over three weeks later, however, the coronavirus pandemic hit and restrictions were placed on religious gatherings. Hillsong Connecticut emailed the Wall Street Theater Company in May, seeking to cancel to agreement through a 120-day termination clause. The Wall Street Theater Company alleges that since invoking the termination clause, Hillsong Connecticut has not paid the $100,899.25 billed for the period May 11, 2020 through September 8, 2020. Despite due demand the Defendant has failed and refused to pay the balance due of $100,899.25, the company alleges in the lawsuit. The acts of the Defendant constitute violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practice Act, in that said actions were immoral, oppressive and unscrupulous and caused substantial injury to Plaintiff, the lawsuit adds. The Christian Post reached out to Hillsong Church about the lawsuit on Monday and was told it did not yet have a response to the Connecticut lawsuit. A source told the New York Post that the church is claiming that they cannot afford to pay the rent because they are a small nonprofit organization. Hillsong just ghosted the theater, the source told the NY Post. When the theater sent them a bill, they responded saying they were a small not-for-profit and couldnt pay it, and that they didnt owe it anyways because of the pandemic. It appears however that Connecticut does not have a pandemic-related moratorium on commercial rent payment. Dale Smith, whose company provided security for Hillsong, argued that while the church might claim to be a nonprofit, he thinks they operated more like a corporation. It just seemed like a business, real robotic, he told the NY Post. Even the ones on the payroll seemed to be fighting, positioning in order to climb that ladder which, in my opinion, is not what a church is supposed to be. Early last month, Desiree Noel Robertson, 39, and Blaze C. Robertson, 41, were reportedly looking for new jobs at another local church after quietly leaving the church they helped found in 2016. Blaze previously worked as a creative pastor at Hillsong Church New York City. The church is now under internal investigation in the wake of former lead Pastor Carl Lentzs firing over leadership issues and moral failures. Hillsong Church is also facing a $20 million lawsuit in Australia through their connection with Sydney Christian Life Centre, a developer and part of the churchs property arm. Owners of nearly 300 Sydney apartments allege Hillsong and the construction firm the denomination hired to build their housing complex made their homes structurally unsound. Were worried we will find it difficult to sell our apartments, one owner, who requested anonymity, told the Daily Telegraph of the units that were sold for between $440,000 and $945,000. The SCLC, according to the Australian lawsuit, breached their duties of care in causing or permitting the defective work. It is also alleged that residents were prevented from inspecting the common property before buying their units. Structural engineers allegedly found windows and balconies in the units were not up to code in 2019. Hillsong argues in a counterclaim, however, that it is the construction firm, Icon Construction Australia, who are the real wrongdoers. In 2018, Brian Houston, global senior pastor of Hillsong Church, announced a split from Australia's largest Pentecostal denomination to become a denomination of its own, citing the growing global nature of the church. Since its inception, Hillsong Church has been a part of the Australian Christian Churches, a branch of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. "As Hillsong Church has continued to grow, we no longer see ourselves as an Australian Church with a global footprint, but rather a Global church with an Australian base our global office now resides in the USA. Two thirds of the people attending Hillsong Church each weekend live in countries beyond Australia. We have pastoral staff in twenty-four nations around the world, representing 123 campuses and locations, with 263 different church services on any given weekend. We consider it to be 'One House, with many rooms,'" Houston explained in a letter to the Australia Christian Churches. Chris Hemsworth recently began shooting for Thor: Love And Thunder in Australia and had shared pictures from the team's welcome party in his home country. The newest update from the film's set in Centennial Park, Sydney, revealed new looks of lead stars Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt. Hemsworth who plays Thor and Pratt who will reprise his role as Peter Quill or Star-Lord in the leaked pictures, can be seen in new suits as the Marvel Cinematic Universe moves into Phase Four. Apart from Thor's new suit, the pictures also gave a major easter egg for the film's story. The shooting seemed to be in full swing, as the two were surrounded with heavy camera equipment and assistants. Fans were excited to see the duo donning late-80s inspired outfits. Thor in the new film will be seen sporting long blonde tresses once again. In the pictures, he can be seen dressed in a pair of snug-fit blue jeans paired with a red leather vest, walking around with the Stormbreaker axe. Meanwhile, Quill can be seen in his purple spacesuit. Check out these first looks from the set of 'THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER' featuring Thor, Kraglin, Nebula and Star-Lord! (Via: @DailyMailUK | #ThorLoveAndThunder) pic.twitter.com/aYceSfR7W7 MoviesMatrix (@MoviesMatrix) February 1, 2021 More pictures of Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt on the set of #ThorLoveandThunder! New costumes (@matrix_pictures) pic.twitter.com/oBhleQRLQq Marvel Stuff (@marveIstuff) February 1, 2021 Another set of pictures shared by a Twitter user, showed Pratt who can be seen in red armour amid a discussion with Hemsworth in a tight pair of jeans and a singlet. The latter was also spotted with an animatronic goat, hinting that mystical goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder will be introduced in the anticipated Thor sequel. Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt on the set of #ThorLoveandThunder! (@matrix_pictures) pic.twitter.com/XqkFiuIzBa Marvel Stuff (@marveIstuff) February 1, 2021 According to reports, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder are part of Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor stories. The mystical goats are guardians of an alternate version of the Mjolnir, which cannot be lifted by Thor. It is being speculated that this alternate Mjolnir will be seen with Natalie Portman's character Jane Foster. Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder also features Tessa Thompson, and Christian Bale will don the anti-hero or the villain's character, Gorr the God Butcher. The film is slated to release on May 6, 2022, in the United States. ALSO READ: Marvel Shifts Release Dates Of Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange 2 And Thor: Love and Thunder ALSO READ: Christian Bale To Join Natalie Portman And Tessa Thompson In Thor: Love And Thunder, As A Villain! President Museveni will tomorrow officially announce when or whether schools should fully or partially reopen for more classes in addition to the candidates. This follows a Cabinet meeting yesterday which looked at various options both the scientists and Ministry of Education officials submitted after they failed to agree on permitting all learners back to school this term. While education technocrats had proposed that all learners return to school, scientists under the national Covid-19 taskforce said it was risky at the moment and appealed that they wait until they have been vaccinated. Mr Alex Kakooza, Ministry of Education permanent secretary, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the President would make his final say tomorrow. "Wait for the announcement on Wednesday," he said, adding that President Museveni would clear the air on the matter. But teachers under their umbrella, Uganda National Teachers' Union yesterday said their earlier discussions with scientists was not achievable with the latter insisting on waiting for vaccines to reduce coronavirus transmission among learners. "President Museveni is obsessed with scientists. Can they vaccinate all children in school? They have failed to test them. How can they afford vaccinating them? They should now start reopening schools even if it's to add on few classes. You can't reopen markets, arcades, public transport, churches and keep schools closed. The children are everywhere. What are we shielding them from?" Mr Filbert Baguma, the Unatu general secretary, asked. The Ministry of Health earlier said they expect first batch of vaccine between May and June. They have budgeted for only nine million people with priority on frontline health workers, elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Education By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Education statistics show that more than 15 million learners were sent home in March last year following the coronavirus out break. Candidate classes have since been allowed to report back and the date of the other classes remains unclear until tomorrow when the President announces government plan. Already, the Ministry of Health has reported a decline in Covid-19 cases last month contrary to earlier projections because of the election season. But Dr Monica Musenero, the lead epidimeologist, said they should not take the country's strides in the fight against the scourge lightly because they have had to take stringent measures which they would not want to lose at the last minute. She cited how they blocked campaigns in some districts because of high Covid-19 cases that were being reported and how these cases could be because of that. Scientists' take Dr Monica Musenero, the lead epidimiologist, said it isn't wise to take chances without precautions because the virus has shifted to rural areas. "November and December were very bad months. We run out of hospital space. The doctors were now in a very desperate situation. Who should I take off oxygen because one has to die. That is why we had to take drastic decision. At the moment, we can't tell. We have seen a reduction in Covid-19 numbers through January but the testing could also be low," Dr Musenero said on Sunday. In a follow-up interview yesterday, she said: "The President will announce on Wednesday and tell you everything we have agreed on." Isla Fisher celebrated turning 45 on Wednesday - with husband Sacha Baron Cohen joking that he'd completely forgotten. Taking to his Instagram, the Borat star, 49, posted a tribute to Isla, sharing a snap of her looking carefree and joking he'd forgotten about her birthday. 'I was just scrolling through Instagram and found out that its my wifes birthday. Need a good excuse for not having a present... quick!!! (Happy Birthday my darling),' he posted. Joker: Isla Fisher celebrated turning 45 on Wednesday - with husband Sacha Baron Cohen joking that he'd completely forgotten Isla shared a photo of her perching on his knee. She captioned the happy image: '45th Birthday today!' The pair - who have been married for 11 years - sat on a porch in the sunshine in the snap. It's a double-celebration for Sacha as his film, Borat 2, has scored a slew of Golden Globe nods. As the nominations were announced on Wednesday, he found himself up for several awards, nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for the The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and up for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Good film yes? Sacha has found himself up for several awards as the 2021 Golden Globes nominations were revealed on Wednesday. He is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (pictured) Funny: Sacha 'promised to hire Rudy Giuliani to contest the results' if he doesn't win at the Golden Globes Isla and Sacha were also spotted looking loved-up as they went shopping on The Wedding Crashes star's birthday. The actress, who recently relocated back to her homeland of Australia with her family, put on a stylish display as the couple made their way to an expensive art gallery in Sydney. Isla and Sacha visited the Kate Owen Gallery in Balmain, which has a large collection of stunning works by Aboriginal artists. This is 45: Isla captioned the happy image, '45th Birthday today!' Larks: Isla also shared candid images of her at home and with her hair stylist Youthful Isla stood out in a colourful eclectic outfit - wearing a layered green and white paisley print dress. She teamed the look with brown leather and beige heels and a denim jacket. The stunning redhead wore her long locks out and over her shoulders, minimal makeup and shielded her eyes with a pair of sunglasses. Picking out a birthday present? Isla and her husband of ten years looked loved-up as they went shopping on the actress' 45th birthday on Wednesday Meanwhile, Borat star Sacha cut a casual figure in a black and white shirt, which he teamed with grey jeans and sneakers. At one point, he wore a trendy fedora to shield his face from the sun. The pair linked arms as they walked around the streets of Balmain, before heading back to their car. Turning heads: Youthful Isla stood out in a colourful eclectic outfit - wearing a layered green and white paisley print dress The couple, who married in 2010, relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney late last year. And while it's been widely speculated that they moved Down Under to escape the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the US, new reports claim they were actually fleeing America's tumultuous political climate. 'They didn't want to raise their kids in Trump's America,' an insider told The Sydney Morning Herald of the couple's decision to move to Australia on Sunday. Nairobi woman representative Esther Passaris has once again found herself on the wrong side of a section of Kenyans on Twitter after condemning the mishandling of Millicent Omanga in Kisii. During the burial of Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangis father on Monday, Omanga was evicted from the podium following a standoff with governor James Ongwae after she tried to snatch a microphone to address mourners. The nominated senator later tweeted saying she is no pushover. Bora wamejua Im not a pushover. Ama wanasemaje hapo njei? she posed. Like many of us, the incident caught the eye of Esther Passaris who took to her Twitter platform to share her opinion. I am deeply appalled and would like to condemn in the strongest terms possible the manner in which Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga was manhandled yesterday in Kisii. No matter which side of the political divide were on, womens bodies must be respected at all times, Passaris tweeted. Her remarks, however, appeared to split opinion, with a majority accusing her of playing the gender card. Others agreed with Passaris that the situation could have been handled better. Below are some sampled tweets: Feminists when they see its manhandled instead of womanhandled pic.twitter.com/MT0lqWEoa5 Albungurus Bakaya (@ianboflo1) February 2, 2021 Mkileta nyokonyoko lazima mchukuliwe juu juu..you asked for equality..we are granting it kilaa (@SteveKilaa) February 2, 2021 But do you support her behavior of attacking and trying to snatch a microphone from Governor Ongwae, respect is a two way street. When a lady misbehaves she loses that empathy and respect. Benedict Owuor (@BenedictOwuor) February 2, 2021 Moses Kuria was manhandled during the BBI rally in Kitui which I think you attended ,you didnt speak of it ,and then here you are pulling a gender card ..hypocrisy at its best. Juma_Juma (@itsjjuma) February 2, 2021 Thank you mama Taa. Karibu Hustler Nation. Namachanja Khapoya (@n_khapoya) February 2, 2021 Youre right Mheshimiwa LYDIA NYAWIRA MBURIA (@lydia_mburia) February 2, 2021 Womens card again pic.twitter.com/r1FGkwjla5 Bonnitta and 24 others (@bonnitta_ke) February 2, 2021 The moment we draw lines between the sexes and or gender, we lose the fight in the assertion of dignity to individuals. All persons deserve to be decently and civil handled. M.C. Shifwoka (@MCShifwoka) February 2, 2021 Saa zingine unafaa unyamaze mama taa. People cant just go about behaving in a rowdy manner because they are women. YANO (@_Yanoh) February 2, 2021 Allow me to condemn in the strongest terms possible your statement because the victim felt good about it..apologize for pushing a dead on arrival narrative! pic.twitter.com/dU7MIG1KQC Calf (@Pius542) February 2, 2021 Exactly stand strong woman https://t.co/YIj447lnF9 Vince mpya ke (@MpyaKe) February 2, 2021 Women: Treat us equally!! Also women: Not like that https://t.co/7c4aELzWAg Chakra (@teko_amolo) February 2, 2021 Feminists want to be treated equally But kukiharibika they pull out the i am just a girl card https://t.co/ESy4EacbM3 Kala_ken (@kennedy_kala) February 2, 2021 This I support. I was personally very ashamed to see some women who were standing next to her move so that she can be manhandled. I was ashamed. https://t.co/NJ5Z70tb6T Runningwalker and 3,000 others (@mthiuri) February 2, 2021 Respect is earned not demanded. https://t.co/F0pQI6nvSa Betty Muiruri (@snoopiefox) February 2, 2021 Women should be treated better and I am disappointed at the way kisii Governor behaved. Can we have women security guards to handle these cases if any case they arise? @EstherPassaris https://t.co/4Sfe9zg5NN peter kangethe (@kangethearts) February 2, 2021 Pulling the gender card again https://t.co/Jw79STeS2e MaryAnne Naitu (@naitu254) February 2, 2021 Bullfighting is anachronistic You enter into a bullring & youre leaving behind the values of the world outside the ring. Bette Ford https://t.co/Zsacul1GsT Lydiah N. Kinyanjui (@LydiahKinyanju4) February 2, 2021 So we speak up only when its a peer or friend but you cant speak up for fellow women who go through this everyday? Let me sit down. https://t.co/Bo8JGcsQSQ Kui Karingithi (@KuiKaringithi) February 2, 2021 An interesting thread.. not even one Man to protect only she asked for it . Hey men . if yall hate women, just say that https://t.co/OaYy2JtKye VICTORIA KIMANI AFREAKA ALBUM (@VICTORIA_KIMANI) February 2, 2021 Continue being appalled https://t.co/OMor8eUmrt Thuggish Ruggish Bone (@GichingiriEric) February 2, 2021 She really had to play the gender card!?! Out of everything that happened, this is what you chose to condemn? Ahaa https://t.co/wExFrJrqzE careless whisper. (@pauline_wesonga) February 2, 2021 When a woman gave birth outside pumwani you were so quiet on here but because its your fellow politician unascream asubuhi?!! https://t.co/a4XzpPI1XK Jeepmunk (@Mwituuuu) February 2, 2021 Its absurd and a threat to women of this world,thanks @EstherPassaris for standing for the truth irrespective of your political standing https://t.co/D2Zmbkwc9E Sirwocosmasclasified (@CosmasSirwo) February 2, 2021 (@FahadShabbir) Washington, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :The US Supreme Court rejected Wednesday a suit by the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers for compensation from Germany for a storied collection of medieval art treasures. The court ruled unanimously that Germany had sovereign immunity in US courts from claims over the Guelph collection of gold crosses, jewels and other religious works from the 11th to the 14th centuries. But they avoided comment on the merits of the claim that a group of art dealers was illegally forced to sell the collection at cut prices in 1935 to Prussia, then run by Gestapo founder Hermann Goering, as the Nazis increasingly threatened Jews. The treasure ended up after the war on display in a museum in Berlin, and the heirs of the dealers have sought fuller compensation for the artworks, which they say are worth today more than $250 million. Germany, the defendant in the case, argued that the dealers were not robbed in the 1935 sale, but simply cut their losses after paying too much for the collection on the eve of the global depression of the early 1930s. After failing in Germany to win compensation, the dealers' heirs turned to the US courts, which have been supportive of claims for restitution over art taken from Jews by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. "It was simply not possible in 1935 for any Jewish business, least of all dealers who are in possession of the German national treasure, to get a fair deal with perhaps the greatest, most notorious art thief of all time," Jed Leiber, whose grandfather Saemy Rosenberg was one of the dealers, told AFP in December. However strong that claim may have been, the nine justices ruled that Germany was protected by the US Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA), which insulates foreign governments from lawsuits in US courts, with only a few exceptions. Even in the case of "monstrous" abuse, the justices said in their opinion, "We have previously rejected efforts to insert modern human rights law into FSIA exceptions ill-suited to the task." US law, they noted, governs the United States "but does not rule the world," and the Guelph case essentially involved a transaction by Germans in Germany. For example, they added, Washington would not receive well a German court's involvement in human rights claims by Americans against the US government. They also noted that Germany has a functioning system for redress of Nazi-era claims which already provided around $100 billion in compensation to Holocaust survivors. A televised clash over health advice has forced Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reprimand Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly but has sparked doubts about whether the move will stop the MP airing his disputed claims about COVID-19. The government is counting on a public assurance from Mr Kelly to support the mammoth vaccination rollout due to start within weeks, assuming he will curb his contested posts on Facebook about alternative treatments. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his views do not align with those of Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer/Alex Ellinghausen Labor welcomed the moves but criticised Mr Morrison for being too slow to bring any pressure to bear on Mr Kelly, whose posts have been blamed for undermining public support in official health advice. Mr Morrison made a statement to Parliament after question time on Wednesday to praise the official advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and rebuke Mr Kelly, who holds the seat of Hughes in southern Sydney. PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco-based real estate firm Hamilton Zanze (HZ) has acquired the 175-unit ArLo Apartments community in Portland, Oregon. The purchase marks the firm's sixth acquisition in the Portland market. The community, newly built in 2019, is in immediate proximity to Interstate 5 and North Interstate Avenue, providing access to Downtown Portland, Vancouver, WA, Portland International Airport, and major regional employers. The ArLo Apartments range from 367 to 1,100 square feet in size. Each unit is appointed with modern fixtures and finishes, and a large amount of bright, natural light. The ArLo Apartments property was built in 2019 and includes several desirable amenity spaces, such as this multi-purpose game room. "ArLo provided an excellent opportunity to buy a brand-new property in a great submarket from a great developer," said David Nelson, managing director of acquisitions for Hamilton Zanze. "We believe the property's contemporary vintage, amenity package, and prime location in the inner East Side will provide our residents with the quality of life desired in Portland's urban core. We are excited about our continued growth in this region." ArLo was 99.0% occupied at purchase. The community is located at 6015 N Interstate Ave in the desirable Northwest Portland submarket, approximately 10 minutes from Downtown Portland. The 175 units range from 367-1,100 square feet with 11 different floor plans. Community amenities include a rooftop lounge and terrace, game room, fitness center, and co-working lounge. HZ's capital improvements plan includes installing smart rent, lock and door repair, adding a dog park, and landscaping enhancements. Additionally, management of the property has also been transitioned to HZ affiliate Mission Rock Residential. To learn more about ArLo Apartments, please visit https://www.missionrockresidential.com/apartments/or/portland/arlo/. ABOUT HAMILTON ZANZE Hamilton Zanze (HZ) is a private, San Francisco-based real estate investment company that owns and operates apartment communities. Since its founding in 2001, Hamilton Zanze has acquired over $4.8 billion in multifamily assets primarily in the Western, Southwestern, and Eastern U.S. The company currently owns and operates 90 properties (21,536 units) across 15 states and 27 markets. For additional information, visit www.hamiltonzanze.com. Media Contact: Nicole Marshall 504.644.7335 [email protected] SOURCE Hamilton Zanze Related Links http://www.hamiltonzanze.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. The Ken Bradbury play The Spirit of Lincoln became an experiment in how live theater might look until crowds can gather again when the Springfield Theatre Centre filmed a performance for online streaming in November. Pieces of that filmed performance now have been added to the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalitions Conversations series, a collection of streamed programs that connect in some way to the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Assorted scenes from the play will be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 10, 17 and 24 on Looking for Lincolns YouTube channel and Facebook page. Its not just another Lincoln show, said Keith Bradbury, Ken Bradburys brother and a member of the cast. Theres 16,000 books written about Lincoln. (This play looks at) the spirit of Lincoln, the lives he touched and the impressions he left on his friends. The 28-person cast took on 40 roles, rehearsing separately as much as possible, with safety considerations always at the forefront. It lends itself to this, Keith Bradbury said of the play. There are 12 different monologues, so we had 12 different groups of people (rehearsing). We were able to stay safe. I didnt even know until we previewed the show what some of the people looked like. One guy was surprised to find another guy had a goatee. Hed been rehearsing with him for six weeks and didnt know. Hed never seen him without a mask. But, while precautions were taken, there was no skimping on the trappings of a stage play. The performance comes complete with full sets and costumes. Each episode in the Conversations series will feature scenes from the previously recorded performance. A live question-and-answer session with members of the cast or production team will follow each, with viewers encouraged to post their questions during the program on the Facebook page or YouTube channel on which theyre viewing it. Each of the three streaming dates will feature different scenes and different cast members discussing the show. The Conversations programs are free. The full performance of the Springfield Theatre Centre production can be watched online starting Friday at Showtix4u.com/events/STC. There is a ticket fee to watch the full production, with the money going to support Springfield Theatre Centres ongoing arts-related efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition is the coordinating entity for the 43-county Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area and is dedicated to enhancing the communities and landscapes of central Illinois through recognition and support of their significant natural, cultural and historical legacies. For more information about the coalition and the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, go to lookingforlincoln.org. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Spain's coronavirus death toll surged passed the 60,000 mark on Wednesday as another 565 people died in the previous 24 hours, health ministry figures showed. The grim milestone came as officials said Spain appeared to be turning the corner of the third wave, although the death toll has remained stubbornly high. The latest deaths pushed the overall toll to 60,370 while confirmed cases rose by 31,596 over 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 2,883,465. But the real number of people who have died of COVID-19 is likely to be far higher than the official total. In December, Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) said more than 45,000 people had died in the first three months of the epidemic, giving a figure that exceeded the official toll by 18,000. Unlike the official toll, which only counts those who have formally tested positive for the disease, the INE included those who had died "showing symptoms compatible with the illness". Seroprevalence studies also suggest the real number of infections is far higher than the official figure, which is now close to 3 million. On October 21, Spain became the first European country to record a million coronavirus infections but Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the real number was three times higher. Although the numbers have shot up in recent months, prompting most of Spain's 17 regions to increasingly restrictive curbs on public life, the government has refused to impose a new lockdown. With infection spreading rapidly across Europe, many countries have been forced into a second or even a third lockdown, but Spain has so far insisted the restrictions put in place under its state of emergency are sufficient. In passing the 60,000 mark, Spain now joins the United Kingdom, France and Italy, the countries with the highest death toll in Europe. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP [February 02, 2021] Cloudwise Inks Cooperation Agreement with HUAWEI CLOUD to Promote AIOps in International Markets SHENZHEN, China, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) solution provider, Cloudwise, signed a cooperation agreement with Huawei to develop and market professional AIOps solutions for users in international markets. Lu Yanping, General Manager of HUAWEI CLOUD Asia Pacific Ecosystem, and David Liu, President of Cloudwise, attended the signing ceremony and signed the agreement. The digital transformation of every industry is not possible without cloud or IT operations and management. Cloud is the foundation of digital transformation. HUAWEI CLOUD provides full-stack cloud infrastructure, a robust ecosystem, and local support services to help a large number of enterprises in China accelerate digital transformation outside of China and develop innovative solutions and services for customers in constantly evolving markets. Traditional IT operations and management is based on a collection of independent tools, a series of fixed rules, and the experience of users. Data processing and real-time analysis is weak. When there are issues, identifying root causes is difficult. Enterprises need real-time data processing, intelligent analysis and prediction. They need multidimensional root cause analysis, and they need it to be efficient. This collaborative project betwen Cloudwise and HUAWEI CLOUD will provide robust, high-quality, and AIOps solutions and services for Internet, e-commerce, logistics, and other customers outside China. Cloudwise will continue working with HUAWEI CLOUD to innovate and promote AIOps products in more scenarios and create more value for customers. The agreement outlines three main goals: The HUAWEI CLOUD platform will be used outside China as a foundation for Cloudwise. as a foundation for Cloudwise. HUAWEI CLOUD will provide technical support, marketing support, and service support to help Cloudwise operate in Hong Kong , Macao , Taiwan , and throughout Southeast Asia . , , , and throughout . HUAWEI CLOUD Marketplace will provide users with Cloudwise's AIOps products. Cloudwise has already launched Synthetic Monitoring, a proactive, end-to-end IT performance monitoring platform, on HUAWEI CLOUD marketplace. With more than 300 monitoring nodes distributed around the world, this product provides 24/7 monitoring of user experience and IT performance for websites, mobile apps, APIs, and infrastructure. Synthetic Monitoring helps enterprises accurately monitor application performance, detect faults and identify performance bottlenecks in a timely manner. David Liu, President of Cloudwise, said, "In recent years, Cloudwise has been continuously improving its technical strength, enriching its service systems, and seeking active cooperation with external parties. With our robust experience and product strength in the domestic market, we are confident we will make significant progress in the broader international market. Comprehensive cooperation with HUAWEI CLOUD will be a tremendous help in terms of market expansion, solution development, and service capabilities in the local market. With years of experience in markets outside China, HUAWEI CLOUD is well positioned to use Cloudwise's solutions to provide efficient AIOps products for the local market and enable long-term, continuous digital transformation." Lu Yanping, General Manager of HUAWEI CLOUD Asia Pacific Ecosystem, stated, "HUAWEI CLOUD Asia Pacific is providing enterprises with stable, reliable, secure, and sustainable cloud platforms for empowering applications, harnessing the value of data, and accelerating digital transformation of every industry. We are also joining hands with Chinese ecosystem partners such as Cloudwise to build an industry-oriented ecosystem to deliver more value to customers." SOURCE HUAWEI CLOUD [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In a joint appeal, six world leaders called for more multilateral cooperation as a recipe to overcome global challenges and steer the world towards recovery. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Senegalese President Macky Sall, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel all signed off on the letter. The leaders said that over the last few decades two major crises - the coronavirus pandemic more recently and climate change more generally - had impeded societies and common policy frameworks, "casting doubt on our capacity to overcome shocks, address their root causes, and secure a better future for generations to come." They added that at the same time, both problems served as a reminder of how interdependent the world was and how intertwined its problems could be. Calling the COVID-19 crisis "the greatest test of global solidarity in generations," the leaders urged for a strong and harmonized international retaliation to the pandemic that increases the scope for access to tests, treatments and vaccines. "It has reminded us of an obvious fact: in the face of a pandemic, our health safety chain is only as strong as the weakest health system. COVID-19 anywhere is a threat to people and economies everywhere," the statement said. In their bid to promote cooperation, the leaders extended their support to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global platform launched by the World Health Organization and G20 partners last year. "In the longer term, we also need an independent and comprehensive evaluation of our response to draw all the lessons of this pandemic and better prepare for the next one. The WHO has a central role to play in this process," the appeal read. The leaders said that while globalization and international cooperation had helped billions out of poverty, nearly half the global population was still toiling to meet basic needs. They also noted that the pandemic directly put at risk the considerable gains combating poverty in recent years, as well as other societal advances like improved school access for children and girls in particular. "To meet these challenges, multilateralism is not just another diplomatic technique. It shapes a world order and is a very specific way of organizing international relations based on cooperation, the rule of law, collective action, and shared principles." the statement said. "Rather than pitting civilizations and values against one another, we must build a more inclusive multilateralism, respecting our differences as much as our common values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, a Spokesperson for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2020 Presidential Election Petition trial on Tuesday questioned the reasons behind Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo not been used as witnessby the petitioner, John Dramani Mahama. He said Mr Mettle-Nunoo should have mounted the witness box, take the oath and tell the court that he spoke with Mrs Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission and was instructed to leave the EC Strong room. Earlier, Dr Michael Kpessa-Whyte, the Second witness of the Petitioner, former President John Dramani Mahama, in a cross-examination told the Supreme Court that Mrs Mensa instructed him and Mettle-Nunoo to convey a message to the petitioner and then declared the results on their absence. Mr Nkrumah said lawyers for the Respondent believe that if Mettle-Nunoo had mounted the witness box, the court would have caught him for perjury, because he could not take an oath and tell untruth. According Mr Nkrumah this is the reason why Petitioner have resorted to use Dr Kpessa-Whyte, who now admits that he never spoke to the Chairperson and yet she was a subject to an instruction, but the one who heard the instruction was available and alive, but refuses to mount the witness box. He said three key issues have been settled in their opinion which were the fallacy that was initially expressed and amplified through Dr Kpessa-Whyte that the Chairperson of the EC instructed them. We are beginning to see clearly that, that fallacy at best is something that could not stand cross-examination, he said. He said it was not just the interchange of words like instruction, but what we want the media to take particular notice of are that there is nowhere in the witness statement that instruction was used but rather it was asked that was used. He said now in the witness box and under oath, the witness seeks to amend that and to escalate the claim that they were instructed and that was why the lead Counsel, Mr Akoto Ampaw for President Nana Akufo-Addo (Second Respondent) did not take too much time in his cross-examination. He said they were clear in their minds that the fallacy has been settled and the court would take juridical notice, and that it could not even be true that the Chairperson of the EC would instruct a representative of a Candidate and they would obey. He said they think that it was becoming very clear that these matters were settled and connected to the Principal issue; did anyone get more than 50 per cent, was the declaration in breach of article 63 (3), this key questions would now be answered. Mr Nkrumah said another matter that sought attention was the FORM 13, there was a claim to suggest that, the document that was shown to the witness was done through the backdoor and was not FORM 13. The Spokesperson said the claim that the witness has been harassed by the Bench (Judges) was a tactics being used by the lawyers for the Petitioner to poison the minds of Ghanaian against the bench, because they could begin to see through the questions and answers that they were giving gaps in their case. The Bench has the right to ask questions for clarity and we believe that when our witnesses get to the box, they will also be ask questions and there is nothing wrong with that, he added. Meanwhile, lawyers of the Petitioner has filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking an order to inspect documents from the Electoral Commission. The motion on notice was expected to be moved Tuesday, concerns some original documents regarding Presidential Results Collation Forms. The six point-motion is asking for the originals of all Constituency Presidential Election Results Collation Forms and Summary Sheets of all constituencies in Ghana. 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 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. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville declined to comment on the controversy surrounding a north Georgia congresswoman under fire for believing the countrys deadliest school shooting was a hoax -- along with other conspiracy theories -- because recent severe weather has prevented him from reading the news, according to a report published Tuesday. I havent even looked at what all shes done, Tuberville, a Republican, told CNN about Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Business Insider reported. Id have to hold back a statement on that. Travel in this weather its been a little rough looking at any news or whatever. Greene has been mired in controversy as old social media posts came to light last week, including that the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida where 17 people died was a false flag operation and that Jewish space lasers were responsible for the 2018 Camp Fire in California that killed 85 people. While Tuberville declined to comment on Taylor Greene, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked the Georgia congresswoman. Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country, McConnell said, according to the Hill. Somebody whos suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.s airplane is not living in reality. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party. Georgia Secretary of State Opens Probe Into Whether Lin Wood Voted Illegally Georgias secretary of state office on Feb. 2 launched an investigation into whether Lin Wood, a lawyer who filed third-party lawsuits on behalf of former President Donald Trumps election challenges, voted illegally in the 2020 election, according to reports. The probe into Wood was first reported by WSB-TV, with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers office later confirming to several news outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that an investigation has been launched into whether the prominent attorney was eligible to vote in Georgia when he cast his ballot in the November election. According to WSB-TV, Wood sent an email to the outlets investigative reporter Justin Gray, in which he reportedly wrote that he has been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April. According to Georgia law, if someone moves to another state, they lose residency status in Georgia, and only lawful residents are allowed to cast votes in the state. However, Wood said in a post on his Telegram channel on Feb. 1 that he only changed his residency to South Carolina on Feb. 1 and, prior to that, he lived in Georgia for 65 years. I have changed my legal residence from the State of Georgia to the State of South Carolina! Wood announced in the Telegram message, adding that he is thrilled about the move. I have lived in Georgia since I was 3 years old (65 years). I still love the Peach State but Georgia has deteriorated over the years to become one of the most corrupt states in the country, if not the most corrupt, he wrote. Every state has problems. Like individuals, states are imperfect. But Georgia has spun out of control and is heavily influenced by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] through corrupt state officials. Raffenspergers office told NBC in an emailed statement that the probe is seeking to determine whether Wood was a legal resident when he voted in November in light of an email he sent to [WSB-TV reporter] Justin Gray saying he has been domiciled in South Carolina for several months. Wood told WSB-TV that the probe is pure harassment by the Georgia secretary of state because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger. Theyre trying to destroy me because Im revealing a level of corruption from top to bottom, Wood said in separate remarks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brad Raffenspergers got a lot of problems with people who were not legitimate citizens of Georgia. Im not one of them. Woods announcement that he was moving to South Carolina came after the State Bar of Georgia informed him that he would have to undergo and submit a mental health evaluation to keep his license to practice law, which Wood refused to do. I have done nothing wrong. I have only exercised my right of free speech, Wood wrote in a post on Jan. 29. I will not allow the State Bar to persecute me for doing so and thereby violate my Constitutional rights. Wood made news headlines in late 2020 after he filed lawsuits in Georgia against alleged election fraud following the 2020 November election. In an interview with The Epoch Times Crossroads in December 2020, Wood said that courts were dismissing evidence of election fraud because the judges were compromised or threatened, and the CCP was ultimately behind the phenomenon. Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report. FP Trending NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 mission is going to take astronauts to the International Space Station not earlier than 20 April, according to a release by the American space agency. The second crew rotation mission will see four astronauts boarding a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to their destination. NASA says, this will be the first time that two international partner crew members are flying together. This is being undertaken as part of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. While NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will serve as the spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will be one of the mission specialists. Also, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet will serve as the second mission specialist. The space agency also detailed about the lift off and its timing. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be launched from NASAs Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four astronauts are then supposed to camp at the ISS working as part of a seven-member crew. They are likely to return in fall of 2021. Both NASA and SpaceX are gearing up for the launch of the third crew mission as well, which will be launching off Earth in the fall, during the return of the second batch of astronauts. The Crew-2 missions arrival at the station will overlap with the return of the Crew-1 mission astronauts who are currently stationed at the ISS. NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, along with JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi are scheduled to return in late April or early May. Hopkins was the Crew Dragon Commander while Glover was the pilot. Both Walker and Noguchi were the mission specialists. Launched in November last year, the Crew-1 mission was the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft once NASA certified it for regular flights to the ISS as part of its Commercial Crew Program Also read: SpaceX's Crew-1 mission to launch four astronauts to the ISS on 14 November PITTSBURGH, Feb. 3, 2020 - In a recurring pattern of evolution, SARS-CoV-2 evades immune responses by selectively deleting small bits of its genetic sequence, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Since these deletions happen in a part of the sequence that encodes for the shape of the spike protein, the formerly neutralizing antibody can't grab hold of the virus, the researchers report today in Science. And because the molecular "proofreader" that usually catches errors during SARS-CoV-2 replication is "blind" to fixing deletions, they become cemented into the variant's genetic material. "You can't fix what's not there," said study senior author Paul Duprex, Ph.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh. "Once it's gone, it's gone, and if it's gone in an important part of the virus that the antibody 'sees,' then it's gone for good." Ever since the paper was first submitted as a preprint in November, the researchers watched this pattern play out, as several variants of concern rapidly spread across the globe. The variants first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa have these sequence deletions. Duprex's group first came across these neutralization-resistant deletions in a sample from an immunocompromised patient, who was infected with SARS-CoV-2 for 74 days before ultimately dying from COVID-19. That's a long time for the virus and immune system to play "cat and mouse," and gives ample opportunity to initiate the coevolutionary dance that results in these worrisome mutations in the viral genome that are occurring all over the world. Then, Duprex enlisted the help of lead author Kevin McCarthy, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular biology and molecular genetics at Pitt and an expert on influenza virus--a master of immune evasion--to see whether the deletions present in the viral sequences of this one patient might be part of a larger trend. McCarthy and colleagues pored through the database of SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected across the world since the virus first spilled over into humans. When the project started, in the summer of 2020, SARS-CoV-2 was thought to be relatively stable, but the more McCarthy scrutinized the database, the more deletions he saw, and a pattern emerged. The deletions kept happening in the same spots in the sequence, spots where the virus can tolerate a change in shape without losing its ability to invade cells and make copies of itself. "Evolution was repeating itself," said McCarthy, who recently started up a structural virology lab at Pitt's Center for Vaccine Research. "By looking at this pattern, we could forecast. If it happened a few times, it was likely to happen again." Among the sequences McCarthy identified as having these deletions was the so-called "U.K. variant"--or to use its proper name, B.1.1.7. By this point, it was October 2020, and B.1.1.7 hadn't taken off yet. In fact, it didn't even have a name, but it was there in the datasets. The strain was still emerging, and no one knew then the significance that it would come to have. But McCarthy's analysis caught it in advance by looking for patterns in the genetic sequence. Reassuringly, the strain identified in this Pittsburgh patient is still susceptible to neutralization by the swarm of antibodies present in convalescent plasma, demonstrating that mutational escape isn't all or nothing. And that's important to realize when it comes to designing tools to combat the virus. "Going after the virus in multiple different ways is how we beat the shapeshifter," Duprex said. "Combinations of different antibodies, combinations of nanobodies with antibodies, different types of vaccines. If there's a crisis, we'll want to have those backups." Although this paper shows how SARS-CoV-2 is likely to escape the existing vaccines and therapeutics, it's impossible to know at this point exactly when that might happen. Will the COVID-19 vaccines on the market today continue to offer a high level of protection for another six months? A year? Five years? "How far these deletions erode protection is yet to be determined," McCarthy said. "At some point, we're going to have to start reformulating vaccines, or at least entertain that idea." ### Additional authors on the study include Linda Rennick, Ph.D., Sham Nambulli, Ph.D., of Pitt; Lindsey Robinson-McCarthy, Ph.D., formally Harvard Medical School and now working as a virologist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; and William Bain, M.D., and Ghady Haidar, M.D., of Pitt and UPMC. Funding for this study was provided by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Hillman Family Foundation and UPMC Immune Transplant and Therapy Center. To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 020321-mccarthy-duprex-deletions . About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www. medschool. pitt. edu . http://www. upmc. com/ media Contact: Erin Hare Mobile: 412-738-1097 E-mail: HareE@upmc.edu Contact: Ana Gorelova Mobile: 412-491-9411 E-mail: GorelovaA@upmc.edu The Duchess of Sussex's outspoken half-sister Samantha has finally released her tell-all book about their relationship and the rift that has torn apart the Markle family, promising readers that the 'truth is stranger than fiction'. Samantha's autobiography, titled 'The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister: A Memoir, Part One', is expected to heavily criticise Meghan for shunning her American relatives and what she sees as cutting off their father Thomas after he was unable to attend the royal wedding following a heart attack. It lays bare details of the Markle siblings' upbringing, including the rivalry between Meghan and Samantha when their father was still married to the actress's mother Doria Ragland. But Samantha also writes of her adoration for her younger half-sister as a baby and described the infant as 'bi-racial, beautiful, and was both the color of a peach, and a rose'. She branded Prince Harry's comment in an interview that the royals were the 'family that Meghan never had' as the 'ultimate insult'. The book's publication is likely to cause anxiety for the Duchess, whose US media team has not commented publicly on its contents, amid claims the former Suits star burst into tears and was 'sick to her stomach' when she first heard Samantha was writing it. Samantha Markle, pictured with her half-sister Meghan Markle at her graduation in 2008, has written her tell-all book called: 'The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister: A Memoir, Part One' A young Meghan is pictured with her father Thomas Markle, from whom she is also estranged. Her mother Doria was the only relative who attended the royal wedding after Mr Markle fell ill with a heart attack Samantha, 56, who battles with multiple sclerosis and is wheelchair-bound, completed the highly-anticipated memoir four years after announcing she was writing it. The Florida-based author is 17 years Meghan's elder, and they both share the same father, Thomas Sr, a retired lighting director, who later married yoga teacher Ms Ragland, Meghan's biological mother. In the book, Samantha recalls watching Meghan rise to fame after getting her breakout role in TV legal drama Suits in the same year she married her first husband, film producer Trevor Engelson. But despite her success, Samantha says she couldn't help but wonder how commuting and distance would affect her sister's marriage, which she would later learn was on the rocks. Ms Markle's autobiography, titled 'The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister: A Memoir, Part One', is expected to heavily criticise Meghan Meghan and Trevor ultimately divorced in 2013, two years after tying the knot in a ceremony in Jamaica, citing irreconcilable differences. Samantha's rocky relationship with her sister exploded into public view after Meghan's engagement to Harry was announced in 2017. She was quoted by journalists as saying that 'The Queen would be appalled' and called her a 'ducha**' on Twitter. Samantha gave numerous interviews attacking Meghan but has since backtracked and complimented her, a sign of how complicated her feelings are. In the dedication to the book, Samantha says that her family 'collided with history in an unexpected but relatable way'. She writes: 'Our lives have not always been easy, and no one is perfect. We have, laughed, agreed, disagreed, and forgiven each other, which is what makes families so special'. The author suggests that Meghan may well have been conceived in Santa Barbara, California, where the Duchess now lives with Harry, as that is where Ragland and Thomas Sr. used to take romantic getaways from their home in Woodland Hills. Samantha says that when Meghan was a baby she knew her as 'flower' and adored her, writing that she was 'bi-racial, beautiful, and was both the color of a peach, and a rose'. Samantha writes that the future princess' nickname for her was 'Dat Duk' and until Ragland and Thomas Sr. divorced they lived in one house and were a happy family. But the sisterly bond began to fray when Meghan grew older and became 'snippy' and what Samantha called the 'Pushy Princess of Vista del Mar'. She writes: 'I always thought that my sister would become more like my father, but it seemed that with each passing day, she was becoming more like her mother.' Samantha admits she now struggles with her disdain towards Meghan in her adulthood, comparing the feeling of being torn to being tortured on a medieval rack. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is said to feel 'sick to her stomach' about her half-sister Samantha's upcoming bombshell memoir, sources have claimed Released in the US via American bookselling giant Barnes and Noble, the book contains chapters called Queen Would be Appalled and Looking For Mr Right The Wrong Way. And the 330-page autobiography claims to expose 'hidden truths about her family' and Samantha's perspective on how and why Meghan's 'royal fairytale' turned sour. According to its pre-release description, she claims that when it comes to Meghan 'things are not always as they seem' and sometimes the 'truth is stranger than fiction'. Last month insiders told In Touch that the Duchess of Sussex, 39, who is currently living in her $14million Santa Barbara mansion with Prince Harry, 36, and one-year-old Archie, is upset about the book but 'won't act bothered in public.' The book has the description: 'Things are not always as they seem, in a world where social labels define who we are, how we live, and how we view each other. 'Samantha Markle finds herself caught in between the cross hairs of media mayhem, when she reveals hidden truths about her family.' According to Newsweek, who has today published extracts from the book, Samantha describes setting up the staged paparazzi shots for Thomas Markle before the royal wedding, which would lead to a rift between Meghan and her father. She claims it was to paint her father in an 'honest light' and not for money. Samantha writes: 'I got a call from someone offering to connect me with a photographer friend by the name of Jeff [Rayner], who promised to discreetly take photographs of my father, putting him in an honest light. 'I received no money for the deal per my request, and the goal for my father was not money, because he had been turning down $50,000 interviews. It was just allowing the Royals and the world to see him in his proper light, because he was so horribly labeled and photographed. It was like watching vultures feast. 'The photographer said, 'Don't worry, I will take good care of your dad, and nobody will even see'.' Samantha claims she asked the photographer to be 'discreet' and stay a safe distance from Thomas. In her memoir she writes: 'When I saw some of the photographs, I was delighted, until I saw an article that said he 'staged photographs'. 'I nearly choked, when I saw photographs of the photographer walking three feet behind my father. I was guaranteed it would be discreet. 'I sent an email to the photographer, letting him know that I was horribly upset by what had occurred, and he said that he would arrange 'something' with my father that would make him happy, and that he would 'fix the situation.' The damage was done, and the thought of 'fixing it' was tragicomedy at best'. Meghan is thought to have last seen her sister in 2008. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9 last year, on their final royal engagement before they quit royal life A year ago it was reported that Meghan burst into tears after discovering her estranged half-sister was planning to write a book about her. The Duchess of Sussex felt she was being 'taken advantage of' by her sister, according to a close friends, but has not spoken about it in public. Samantha first revealed her literary ambitions in April 2016 when Meghan's romance with Prince Harry became public. She is already writing a second book called: 'In the Shadows of the Duchess'. Meghan was said to be 'furious' with members of her family after 'absurd claims' were made against her as her relationship with Prince Harry took off. Bombshell biography Finding Freedom, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claimed Meghan and her 'estranged' half-sibling had only bumped into each other twice since they were children. Ms Markle has been keeping a lower profile in 2020 while completing her autobiography but appeared on British TV in January last year when Harry and Meghan quit as senior royals and decided to emigrate first to Canada, and then moved to LA. Samantha said that the decision, then after just 20 months of marriage, was a 'gross breach of duty' and a 'slap in the face' for the Queen. She said: 'Prince Harry and Meghan have quite a bit of apologising to do. We aren't talking about teenagers, we are talking about adults who knew what they were doing and in regards to my father it was so incredibly wrong and shocking'. She also said Meghan initially enjoyed the attention of being a royal, accusing her of adopting a 'contrived British accent', but wanted out once she was criticised about her 'spending'. Ms Markle has also been forced to deny criticisms of Meghan, Thomas' only child with Doria Ragland, were laced with racism, calling the claim: 'A misplacement of blame to avoid accountability'. Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for breach of privacy for publishing extracts of a letter she sent her father Thomas Markle, 76, after her royal wedding in 2018. Her lawyers have applied for summary judgment, a legal step which would see the case resolved without a trial and without the need for witnesses, but the newspaper argues the case is 'wholly unsuitable' for it. A ruling by Mr Justice Warby on the application is expected this month. The letter was sent to the parties on behalf of Jason Knauf (left) - formerly communications secretary to the Sussexes, whom the newspaper claims was involved in the wording of Meghan's letter - and Christian Jones (right), their former deputy communications secretary The other two members of the so-called 'Palace Four' are Samantha Cohen (left), formerly the Sussexes' private secretary, and Sara Latham (right), their former director of communications Four former aides of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have evidence which could 'shed some light' on Meghan's letter to her estranged father, the High Court was told two weeks ago. The publisher's barrister Antony White QC told the court that a letter from lawyers representing the so-called 'Palace Four' said they would be able to 'shed some light' on the drafting of Meghan's letter to her father. He told the court it was also 'likely' there was further evidence about whether Meghan 'directly or indirectly provided private information' to the authors of an unauthorised biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Finding Freedom. The letter was sent to the parties on behalf of Jason Knauf - formerly communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, whom the newspaper claims was involved in the wording of Meghan's letter - and Christian Jones, their former deputy communications secretary. The other two members of the so-called 'Palace Four' are Samantha Cohen, formerly the Sussexes' private secretary, and Sara Latham, their former director of communications. The court was told that another area that requires 'factual investigation at trial' is how Royal biography Finding Freedom, which tells the story of Meghan's life and marriage to the Duke of Sussex, was written. The newspaper claims she co-operated with its authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, or authorised her friends to and share details of the letter. Meghan has denied the allegations - as has Mr Scobie - but she has conceded in a court document submitted at a hearing last year that she did authorise a friend to speak with them on her behalf. Treosulfan is an innovative, orphan-designated agent developed for use as part of a conditioning treatment for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Medexus plans to leverage its existing commercial infrastructure in the US to address the underserved allo-HSCT market (CVE:MDP) ( ) announced a major new licensing deal on Tuesday to commercialize bifunctional alkylating agent treosulfan in the US. Treosulfan is an innovative, orphan-designated agent developed for use as part of a conditioning treatment for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or allo-HSCT. The commercialization and supply agreement with Germanys medac Gesellschaft fur klinische Spezialpraparate mbH grants Medexus US subsidiary Medexus Pharma Inc the exclusive license to commercialize the drug. Medexus told shareholders it expects that, if approved by the US FDA, a treosulfan-based regimen will be the first in a new conditioning treatment class, Reduced Toxicity Conditioning, that will lead to improved survival outcomes and decreased toxicity compared to standard treatment regiments. A Prescription Drug User Free date to review the New Drug Application for treosulfan by the FDA is scheduled for August 2021. In a statement, Medexus said it plans to leverage its existing commercial infrastructure in the US to address the underserved allo-HSCT market through its commercialization of treosulfan. medac conducted a phase III randomized study that compared results of treosulfan-based therapy with busulfan-based reduced intensity conditioning in advance of allo-HSCT for adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome who were considered ineligible for standard myeloablative conditioning regimens. Interim analysis of the data demonstrated that non-inferiority was achieved in the 64% of the treosulfan group compared to the 50.4% of the busulfan group in two-year event-free survival. Busulfan, the current market leading alkylating agent for allo-HSCT, reached peak annual sales of US$126 million in the US before a generic version was developed. Long time collaborators The license agreement builds on Mexedus existing relationship with medac, which was established in 2018 when Medexus acquired the latters US affiliate. At the time, the company anticipated that treosulfan could be a significant advancement in HSCT, according to Medexus CEO Ken dEntremont. This transaction marks another major milestone for Medexus and is indicative of our continued effort to further expand into the US through what we believe will be a highly accretive transaction for the company, dEntremont told investors in a statement. Medexus believes that treosulfan could exceed busulfans US $126 million in sales from use in allo-HSCT alone a belief re-enforced by the fact that busulfan is currently being used off-label for the indications for which treosulfan has Orphan Drug Designation. Importantly, we believe there is a large unmet need as the current standard of care is not suitable for numerous at-risk groups, due to the high toxicity effects, dEntremont said. Treosulfan has demonstrated excellent event-free survival and overall survival among such groups and as a result, should be well positioned to become the new standard of care in the US, with more than 100 publications supporting the safety and efficacy of treosulfan. We are proud to be working towards providing patients with a new solution that could have a very meaningful impact on their lives. Terms of licensing Under the terms of the deal, Medexus Pharma paid medac an upfront payment of US$5 million, and must pay up to an aggregate of $55 million in milestone payments tied to the FDAs review process as well as US$40 million in sales-related milestone payments. Medexus Pharma will also pay a royalty said to be in low single digits on net sales of treosulfan in the US. The agreement extends until the tenth anniversary of FDA approval of the initial New Drug Application, unless terminated by either company. Headquartered in Montreal with offices in Toronto and Chicago, Medexus is a leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the therapeutic areas of auto-immune disease, hematology and allergy. Shares of Medexus were up 4.1% in Toronto at C$8.15 on Tuesday afternoon. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas SMYRNA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Requiem for the Dead (March 12, 2020) is the ultimate fictional revenge fantasy. A so-called CIA Operative is captured by the North Korean Government and the operative's father, an American general, asks the White House to intervene. The White House ignores the father's pleas. After his son is tortured for three years and finally murdered, the father's plot for revenge goes into hyper mode. His plan, to revenge his son's needless death, is to kidnap several of the children of high-ranking generals in the U.S. European Command in order to force the Army to implement a first-strike plan against North Korea: An attack that bypasses permission of the U.S. President. An American attack might cause China to enter the fray which would cause a global conflict. A Stealth Bomber, Two Nuclear Smart Bombs, A Rogue US Army General and his Mercenaries, His Plan, Nuke North Korea. U.S. Army CID Special Agent Jacqueline Sinclair and DIA Agent Tom Price are assigned to find out why the children are disappearing. Pursuit of the kidnappers will lead right into the middle of the military establishment, where conspiracy and intrigue rule the day. Add two nuclear smart-bombs into the mix and the President along with the North Korean Regime and you have a spine tingle of an adventure. The investigative duo finds themselves in enemy territory and become the targets of trained killers. Courage and skills are necessary as they are sorely tested while they attempt to find justice. About Victor Alvarez Victor M. Alvarez was born in Puerto Rico, and at nine his family moved to New York City and later drafted into the US Army. He received airborne training, ranger, military police school and later jungle warfare training. His military awards range from Jump Wings, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, awards of the Purple Heart, Air Medal, and Army Commendation Medal, among other many awards. He makes his home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. "This action-packed and bloody military tale introduces a dynamite duo . . . A gusty investigator and intelligence agents see a brutal kidnapping expand into much more in this thriller." Kirkus Reviews Copies of Requiem For The Dead are available at all major booksellers, including Black Rose Writing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Review copies available upon request Visit https://www.writervmalvarez.com/ for contact details, photos, and an author bio. Publicist: Daniel Russell 210-240-5527 [email protected] SOURCE Victor Alvarez Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Stretchable Conductive 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 Stretchable Conductive 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Stretchable Conductive Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31815 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Stretchable Conductive will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Stretchable Conductive market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Stretchable Conductive market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Stretchable Conductive 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 Stretchable Conductive market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. DowDuPont 3M Toyobo Indium Osaka Organic Chemical Industry Ltd Vorbeck Materials Advanced Nano Products Lotte Advanced Materials Applied Nanotech (PEN Inc.) Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31815 This study considers the Stretchable Conductive value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Graphene Carbon Nanotube Silver Copper Others Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Wearables Biomedical Photovoltaics Cosmetics 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 Stretchable Conductive Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31815 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Stretchable Conductive consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Stretchable Conductive market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Stretchable Conductive 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 Stretchable Conductive 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 Stretchable Conductive 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-stretchable-conductive-market-research-report-highlights-on-future-development-2026/ Tata Motors Ltd is quoting at Rs 335.75, up 4.27% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 102.63% in last one year as compared to a 23.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 33.5% spurt in the Nifty Auto index. Tata Motors Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 335.75, up 4.27% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 1.26% on the day, quoting at 14832.75. The Sensex is at 50422.04, up 1.25%. Tata Motors Ltd has risen around 75.51% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Tata Motors Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 14.83% in last one month and is currently quoting at 10638.6, up 1.66% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 1487.63 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 1667.19 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark February futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 337.7, up 4.16% on the day. Tata Motors Ltd is up 102.63% in last one year as compared to a 23.82% spurt in NIFTY and a 33.5% spurt in the Nifty Auto index. The PE of the stock is 0 based on TTM earnings ending December 20. 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 owner of a centuries-old ferry service that provided a route between Maryland and Virginia said he has offered $400,000 to resolve the land dispute that led to its closure in December. White's Ferry, a crucial link for commuters between Loudoun and Montgomery counties, had shuttled travelers across the Potomac River since the 18th century. It closed after a property dispute with a former wedding venue whose owner argued that the service trespassed on its Virginia farmland. Herbert Brown, whose family has owned White's Ferry for decades, said he has offered Rockland Farm a one-time payment of $400,000 for a 5,000-square-foot easement that would allow him to reopen the service. The farm previously had sought $200,000 annually for landing rights - an amount Brown said the six-employee business could not afford. "That's more expensive than land in Washington, D.C.," he said Friday. "They said they'd like to buy the ferry, so I'm talking to them about that. All I want to do is get the boat crossing the river again." Rockland spokeswoman Margaret Brown said last week that the parties were negotiating, but declined to discuss specifics, saying, "We hopefully will have some good news soon." She said Wednesday that updates are possible this week. Herbert Brown said this week that there had been no recent movement in the negotiations. The closure of White's Ferry was met with community outcry a few days after Christmas when, without warning, an idyllic route between two states in a traffic-clogged region disappeared. Up to 600 vehicles a day used the cable-run ferry, officials said, which cost $8 round trip for cars. Traffic was down 30% amid the coronavirus pandemic, while flooding had forced the ferry to suspend services temporarily. After the closure, criticism of Rockland was so vitriolic that a similarly named farm in Maryland posted an online message to note it is not affiliated with the farm. Allan Hung's commute immediately lengthened with the ferry's closure. An air traffic controller who lives near Gaithersburg, Md., he drives to work in Leesburg, Va. Hung said a trip that could be as quick as 40 minutes has stretched to as long as an hour and 15 minutes. A three-minute boat ride was replaced with a journey to Point of Rocks, Md., on Routes 15 and 28. An essential worker, he has little choice but to make the trip. Hung said last week that he is "not optimistic" about a solution. "I think if they were going to work it out, they would have worked it out by now," he said. Public officials said they have tried to broker a deal between White's Ferry and Rockland to no avail - so far. In an email, Loudoun County spokesman Glen Barbour said the county "is engaged in facilitating conversations among the parties involved." He added: "Our hope is that these conversations will help identify a solution that works for the property owner, the ferry operator and members of our community who utilize the ferry services." Montgomery County Council member Andrew Friedson, D-District 1, said he had been in touch with "all the stakeholders," including the ferry owners, Rockland, and state and local officials. He spent part of New Year's Eve discussing a possible solution with town commissioners in Poolesville, he said. However, Friedson said Montgomery County ultimately has little authority in a dispute between two private parties about land not in its jurisdiction. "Everybody is working on this and committed to finding a solution," he said. "We are doing everything that we can." Litigation about landing rights between White's Ferry and Rockland began in 2009 after the ferry company allegedly built a retaining wall on Rockland's property. Before that, the parties had operated under a licensing agreement for decades. In November, a Loudoun County judge ruled that White's Ferry had trespassed on Rockland's land and awarded Rockland more than $100,000 in damages. The judge's 31-page opinion weighed agreements about land use dating at least as far back as 1871. The 3.5-minute trip provided a passage in an area with long distances between bridges spanning the river. It was the only Potomac crossing between the Point of Rocks and American Legion bridges - a span of about 35 miles. White's Ferry was the last of the more than 100 ferries that used to cross the river. Letty Mederos, who works on Capitol Hill, said she moved to Dickerson, Md. - five miles from White's Ferry - because of the boat service. She is a horse owner who thought of White's Ferry as a "gateway to the mountains," she said. "I fell in love with the ferry," Mederos said. "Being in your car, going from one state to another in a matter of minutes . . . it has always been a thrill. It has never stopped being a special thing." Before the ferry's closure, Mederos said, she went to Leesburg to shop up to five times a week. Now, facing a commute around Point of Rocks, she goes once. "I would say that the disruption to daily life and life for me on the weekends has been devastating," she said. "I want and pray and hope that some kind of arrangement can be made," she said. Brown said he had "no idea" whether Rockland would take a deal. "They'd be crazy not to," he said. "If the ferry doesn't operate, you have nothing." Today, Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), via I&P Education to Employment (IP2E), announced a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation that will support businesses in the education sector to recover from the impact of COVID-19. The three-year program will accelerate 30 education entrepreneurs (edupreneurs) in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal by addressing key challenges related to access, quality, and relevance faced within the sector, including: A. Funding for education businesses in recovery phase seeking to adapt and expand; B. Skills development through technical assistance to accelerate SMEs' digital transformation; C. Education opportunities through innovative social inclusion mechanisms; and D. Data and advocacy through robust impact management systems and policy dialogue. The education start-ups and SMEs will be selected based on their capacity to offer quality education and training, while promoting employability and youth empowerment within their countries of operations. "As a pioneering impact investment group, we have witnessed the gap between the available skills of young women and men and the needs of the job market. While African governments have limited means to solve these problems, the private sector is increasingly perceived as a possible complementary player that could boost access to, and the quality and relevance of education," explained Emilie Debled, Executive Director for Strategic Developments & Partnerships at I&P. By accelerating the work of edupreneurs and SMEs in the education space, the US$10.5 million program aims to impact 95,000 beneficiaries, including students, trainees, and ed-tech platform users served by these businesses, out of which 55% will be women and 33% disadvantaged youth. "Providing a pathway to recovery for early stage edupreneurs and SMEs within the education sector will strengthen their operations, build resilience, and increase their social impact within the countries and communities in which they operate with a ripple effect on the improvement of education at a national level," commented Nathalie Akon Gabala, Mastercard Foundation's Regional Head for Western, Central and Northern Africa. With support from the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program, IP2E will be able to deploy its Access Facility, a grant-based facility aimed at increasing access to quality education in Africa, to support SMEs in the education sector that have been severely hit by the pandemic. The program will use mechanisms to ensure that the targeted SMEs are able to promote greater social inclusion among young people, especially young women and girls, who do not generally have the means to attend quality programs. The program will pilot the design of income share agreements or scholarship programs with these education SMEs. In doing so, it will build the capacity of targeted SMEs to enhance access to their programs to young people, primarily young women. "Although the education sector was heavily affected by the COVID-19 crisis, many edupreneurs doubled down on efforts to retain students and accelerate the use of digital tools in schools. This partnership will be instrumental in strengthening the resilience of these SMEs to provide young people with better pathways to education and employment," said Domoina Rambeloarison, Director of the Access Facility at I&P. About Investisseurs & Partenaires Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) is a pioneering impact investing group entirely dedicated to financing and supporting start-ups and medium-sized enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. I&P was launched in 2002 by Patrice Hoppenot and has been led by Jean-Michel Severino since 2011. The team of approximately 90 people is based in 8 African hubs (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger and Senegal), in Paris and in Washington D.C. I&P has partnered with more than 120 companies operating in some fifteen African countries in a wide range of sectors. I&P brings long-term financing as well as strategic, managerial and technical support. As an impact investor, I&P's mission is to maximize the societal impact of its partner companies and contribute to dynamic and inclusive growth in Africa. About the Mastercard Foundation The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management. For more information on the Foundation, please visit: www.mastercardfdn.org About the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program The Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program has two main goals. First to deliver emergency support for health workers, first responders and students. Second, to strengthen the diverse institutions that are the first line of defense against the social and economic aftermath of this disease. These include universities, financial services providers, businesses, technology start-ups, incubators, government agencies, youth organizations, and non-governmental organizations. For more on the Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Program, please visit https://mastercardfdn.org/covid19-recovery-resilience-program/. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at @MastercardFdn. Media contacts: I&P Emile Debled - Executive Director for Strategic Developments at I&P: e.debled@ietp.com Domoina Rambeloarison Director of the Access Facility: d.rambeloarison@ietp.com Clemence Bourrin PR and Communication Officer: c.bourrin@ietp.com Mastercard Foundation Kweku Ahiagble Country Lead, Program Communications, Ghana: rkahiagble@mastercardfdn.org CDC helps laboratories maintain high quality assurance for tuberculosis testing Participants in the Xpert MTB/RIF quality assurance workshop in Hanoi. November 2020. Ensuring high-quality tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is critical in finding and treating people affected by the disease, ending transmission, and ultimately reducing TB incidence and mortality. In November 2020, CDC Vietnam helped organize and deliver two-day workshops in more than 220 laboratories nationwide on quality assurance for tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tests. CDC Vietnam worked closely with the National TB Reference Laboratory (NRL) to develop the agenda for the workshop and assisted with data review and interpretation for presentations and discussions. The workshop aimed to improve quality assurance for the Xpert MTB/RIF diagnostic test for TB. Participants reviewed the performance at their respective sites for key quality indicators, and focused on practical implementation issues, such as troubleshooting, maintenance, and data use and reporting. Since 2013, CDC Vietnam supported the NRL to establish the External Quality Assurance (EQA) program for the Xpert MTB/RIF diagnostic test across Vietnam. Vietnam is now expanding this knowledge to other countries in the region with CDC support. 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 ALEPPO, Syria One could say that all Syrian cities and towns are unsafe, but the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo, in addition to the north of Raqqa governorate and parts of the northwestern countryside of Hasakah governorate, which are under the control of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), are relatively safer. No bombings or raids by the Syrian regime and its allies are carried out there, unlike in Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo. However, being relatively the safest does not necessarily mean safe; northern Syria faces the danger of rigged cars and motorcycles. The areas under the control of the Turkish-backed FSA became safer after Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24, 2016, and following the formation of the FSA's National Army in late 2017. Safety was reinforced in January 2018 with Operation Olive Branch. However, as soon as the Turkish army announced Operation Peace Spring in October 2019, a wave of explosions hit the area, targeting densely populated neighborhoods and popular markets, as well as leading military and revolutionary figures in the area. The first bombing attacks were recorded in the town of Suluk in the countryside of Raqqa, 10 days after the Turkish army took control of the town; a car bomb exploded on Oct. 23, 2019, killing eight people, wounding several civilians and causing significant material damage. The largest bombing targeted al-Bab city on Nov. 16, 2019, killing 15 civilians and injuring over 30 others. No group claimed responsibility for these attacks. Most recently, on Jan. 31, two separate car bombs in the town of Azaz and al-Bab killed at least 12 people. On Jan. 30, another explosion in Afrin killed eight civilians, including four children. Cars from outside Turkish-controlled areas are often used in such attacks. These rigged cars are usually parked on a public street or in the middle of a market or near FSA headquarters, and detonated remotely. In some cases, the driver blew himself up in the car. These cars make their way there through the crossings between the Turkish-controlled areas and the areas controlled by other parties, although all cars are inspected at these crossings. Many cars also take the agricultural roads, known as smuggling routes, as it is difficult for the factions to monitor all of these roads, especially since new, alternative roads can easily be found. Ahmed Sheikh Ali, a car dealer in the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, I have been working in the car trade for years, and I chose this profession because it is easy to practice and does not require large capital, in addition to making good profits without any expenses required by other professions such as renting an office or hiring help. Today, I buy and sell cars online; mostly through WhatsApp and Facebook groups with other car dealers. Some groups are open to the public, so people in the area can post about cars they wish to sell. Most sales are done this way. Ali added, We often buy cars from the city of Manbij, which is under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF], or the city of Idlib. We agree with the owner on a price and transfer the money so that we can collect the car here. By the time the car arrives, we would have already arranged a sale with a civilian or an auto company in the area. Either way, we do not inspect the car, and in some cases we do not even see it; our role would only be limited to mediation. We really cannot tell if the car is loaded with explosives or not. The areas in northern Syria are governed administratively by local councils affiliated with the Turkish states of Gaziantep and Urfa, while in terms of security they are administered by police forces supervised by Turkey. Several steps were taken in confronting the phenomenon of rigged cars, such as requiring all cars to be registered with the local councils. The police also arrested several SDF cells in FSA-controlled areas who confessed to planning to plant explosives and roadside bombs in markets and residential neighborhoods. However, these measures were not sufficient to deter explosions and car bombs. As local councils fail to make car dealers obtain licenses and register their offices, chaos prevails in the car market, which has become uncontrollable since anyone can now bring in cars from other areas such as Manbij or Idlib. The head of the local council in the city of Azaz, Mohammed Kanoo, told Al-Monitor, The local councils in the area had issued a decree [in 2019] requiring all cars to be registered with us, to ensure the citys security. A number of car dealerships are also registered with us. Still, many dealers and car dealerships practice their work without an official office, which makes it more difficult to control the market just as anyone can buy cars from other areas. Here lies the importance of the security apparatus role in the area, which inspects all cars coming to the FSA-controlled areas, in addition to around-the-clock patrols to monitor the entrances to the city and stop unlicensed cars coming in illegally. It remains unclear how many car dealers there are in the area, or how many cars are being sold. Mahmoud Raslan, a media activist, told Al-Monitor that local councils are not forcing car dealers to obtain licenses because they would have to impose such measures on other professions, further burdening the poor locals with more expenses. There are too many car dealers in the area, most of whom work [online] without an office, while others are not even traceable. At the same time, several use agricultural roads to bring cars from other areas in an attempt to speed up the process and avoid inspection at checkpoints, in addition to escaping the crossing fee. The length of the demarcation line between the Turkish area of influence and the SDF-controlled areas makes controlling the borders impossible. Most car dealers coordinate with locals who know the areas geography like the back of their hand and can thus tell them which routes they should take, Raslan noted. The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented the killing of at least 9,967 civilians, including 1,683 children and 1,126 women, due to remote, suicide and forced suicide bombings, since March 2011, in addition to 1,186 civilian deaths in 2019 and 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. PHOENIX, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting on March 15, Arizona job seekers, students looking for internships and recent graduates looking for full time opportunities can participate in the UNMET Jobs hiring event. The event is hosted on Largely, an online platform that empowers job seekers to showcase their personalities, professional work, and career goals through short, simple videos for prospective employers. The hiring event, which is open to all Arizona businesses, aims to improve the traditional job fair experience for both job seekers and employers and will be one of the largest in the State. UNMET Jobs has partnered with the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) through a shared mission to help job seekers and students find quality jobs and provide employers an accessible and authentic way to find talent. "Arizona's educational institutions are producing the workforce of the future, and we're proud to partner with UNMET Jobs to highlight our state's impressive talent pool through this virtual event," said Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority President & CEO. "By leveraging technology, we're able to facilitate a greater number of meaningful connections between Arizona job seekers and job creators." Interested jobseekers, students and employers looking to RSVP for the event can learn more at www.unmetjobs.com. UNMET Jobs 2021 has personalized the typical job seeking experience through Largely. Recruiters can watch video introductions of job seekers with the in-platform option to set up interviews, invite them to private webinars or info sessions. The hiring event will take place from March 15 to April 15, with early access beginning on March 1 for employers. The vision for UNMET Jobs is to maximize the hiring experience for all attendees by providing a personalized, yet virtual networking experience for job seekers and recruiters in this new era. We believe if you start local, you can impact global. About the ACA: The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona's economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: attract, expand, create - attract out-of-state companies to establish operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to expand their business in Arizona and beyond; and help entrepreneurs create new Arizona businesses in targeted industries. SOURCE UNMET Jobs Related Links https://unmetjobs.com/ 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. INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Department of Health today announced that 1,480 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at state and private laboratories. That brings to 631,331 the number of Indiana residents now known to have had the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous days dashboard. A total of 9,713 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 36 from the previous day. Another 378 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by the state and occurred over multiple days. Indiana COVID-19 Dashboard & Map To date, 2,973,618 unique individuals have been tested in Indiana, up from 2,968,591 on Tuesday. A total of 7,096,324 tests, including repeat tests for unique individuals, have been reported to the state Department of Health since Feb. 26, 2020. To find testing sites around the state, click here. Hoosiers age 65 and older, along with healthcare workers, long-term care residents, and first responders, are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As of today, 611,429 Hoosiers have received a first dose of vaccine, and 166,131 are fully vaccinated. To schedule, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211. The state and its partners are adding more locations for you to get vaccinated including select Meijer, Kroger, & Walmart pharmacies across the state. Vigo Countys three Kroger locations are included. All locations will show up on the state's vaccination website. It's important to note Meijer and Kroger will have their own appointment sign-up areas on their websites. Election writs have been issued but campaigning is still on hold as Perth confronts a bushfire that has destroyed more than 70 homes and much of WAs population faces two more days of a COVID-induced lockdown. Premier Mark McGowan visited Government House on Wednesday to ask Governor Kim Beazley to issue the writs for the election. WA Governor Kim Beazley and Premier Mark McGowan meet for the issuing of the election writs. Credit:WA Government Mr McGowan said in a statement on his Facebook page it might seem like a strange thing for the government to go into caretaker mode when there was a natural disaster, pandemic, and election campaign suspension. But by law, the Governor is required to issue the election writs today, in order for our election to take place on Saturday, March 13, he said. Alexandra Canosa, who had accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, maintained in court papers that depositions will help her decide whether to accept a settlement. A producer who says disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped her over seven years says she wants him deposed for a lawsuit even though she might accept a settlement. Alexandra Canosa, a producer on Netflixs Marco Polo, maintained late Monday in court papers that depositions will help her decide whether to accept a settlement approved last week by a Delaware bankruptcy court judge. Of the $35 million set aside for creditors, the settlement calls for roughly half to go to Weinsteins accusers. Attorney Thomas Giuffra said in the Manhattan federal court filing that Canosa will decide whether to settle after seeing depositions and learning the size of a payout. Ms Canosa will have a monumental settlement decision to make, he wrote. The lawyer said Canosa was deposed last week and Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob should face questions too. It is not fair or equitable that Ms Canosa as a victim of horrendous abuse should be subjected to a lengthy and intrusive deposition so that Defendants could evaluate her claims while being deprived of the same opportunity by deposing her abuser and his principal enabler, Giuffra wrote. Late Tuesday, Manhattan Judge Paul A Engelmayer reiterated that the Weinstein brothers must be deposed by 12 February. He said he could drop the deadline if Giuffra doesnt adequately explain why Canosa doesnt yet know how much shed collect from the settlement or if Weinsteins lawyers convince him the imprisoned Weinstein is too ill to be deposed. In her lawsuit, Canosa alleged she was raped, sexually abused, intimidated and harassed from 2010 until September 2017, during what Harvey Weinstein maintained were business meetings. The attacks, she said, occurred in New York, Los Angeles, Malaysia and Budapest, Hungary. Canosa claims Weinstein threatened that she would lose her job at his company and he would blackball her if she denied his advances. Weinstein attorney Imran H Ansari said Tuesday in an email that Canosa, who is suing for $30 million, could face an uncertain financial recovery with The Weinstein Company bankrupt, and Mr Weinstein, who denies the claims against him and stands by evidence in this case that establishes an amicable and consensual relationship, in a financial state that is far from healthy. Those Plaintiffs who have availed themselves of the settlement likely recognise that it is the only route to a realistic recovery, he added. Court records show at least 55 claims have been filed in the bankruptcy case, with over 39 accusers having supported the payout plan and eight voting against it. The plan calls for awards to be calculated with a formula that distinguishes between physical sexual or nonphysical sexual claims as well as claims for emotional distress and economic harm. Lawyers for Bob Weinstein, who is also named in Canosas lawsuit, did not immediately return a request for comment. Last year, Harvey Weinstein began serving a 23-year prison sentence after a New York jury convicted him for the rape and sexual assault of two women. He also faces rape, forcible oral copulation and other charges in California after five women said they were attacked during events in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013. Giuffra noted that Weinstein is incarcerated in a New York prison, where he can be deposed virtually. A deposition soon was of heightened importance because Weinsteins lawyers have indicated their client, 68, has serious health problems, he said. The lawyer for Alfred Trenkler (pictured in 2006) who is serving life in prison for killing one officer and leaving another maimed, has filed for a compassion release The lawyer for a Boston bomber who is serving life in prison for killing one officer and leaving another maimed for life has filed for a compassion release due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the Arizona facility where he's being held after 900 inmates were infected by the virus and another nine died. Alfred Trenkler is being held at the US Penitentiary Tucson where, according to his lawyer, Nancy Gertner, 900 prisoners have been infected with the coronavirus. According to the Boston Herald, Gertner wrote in her motion that nine prisoners have also died and a 'compassionate release is warranted on this basis alone'. Trenkler is serving out his life sentence after he was convicted in 1994 of an October 1991 bombing that left one officer dead and another severely injured. The two officers, members of the Boston Police Department Bomb Squad, were called to the Roslindale home of Thomas L. Shay Sr, the father of Trenkler's alleged lover, Thomas L. Shay Jr, on October 28, 1991. Authorities said the bomb was located in Shay Sr's driveway when officers arrived. Shar Sr had also reported that he had heard a loud noise from under his vehicle when he left home that same day. It's believed the bomb was placed under his car but fell off in the driveway. Officer Jeremiah Hurley was killed and his partner, Officer Francis Foley, was seriously injured when the bomb exploded as they tried to dismantle it. Foley lost an eye and was permanently disabled from the incident. Trenkler is being held at the US Penitentiary Tucson (pictured) where, according to his lawyer, Nancy Gertner, 900 prisoners have been infected with COVID. Gertner wrote in her motion that nine prisoners have died and a 'compassionate release is warranted on this basis alone' The remote-controlled bomb contained two or three sticks of dynamite, according to authorities. According to the Herald, investigators said the bomb was intended for Shay Sr because his son, Shay Jr, wanted to kill his father to retaliate for abuse and cash in on his insurance money. Shay Jr was also found guilty of conspiring with Trenkler. Shay Jr was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Jurors found Shay Jr guilty of aiding and abetting in the attempted malicious destruction of the car, causing the death of Hurley. As part of motion to issue Trenkler a compassion plea, Gertner said that the case 'also raises profound questions about his guilt, and a conviction which could only have been obtained in an atmosphere suffused with homophobia'. Trenkler is serving out his life sentence after he was convicted of an October 1991 bombing that killed Boston Officer Jeremiah Hurley (pictured on a stretcher) and severely injured Officer Francis Foley Officer Foley (pictured in April 2007) was seriously injured when the bomb exploded as he and Hurley tried to dismantle it 'The bottom line is that the government's theory of the case did not then and does not now make sense; worse, it played on the jury's anti-gay biases,' added, according to the Herald. 'It is undisputed that Trenkler did not know Tom Shay Sr, at all; he had no reason to want to kill him,' Gertner wrote. 'The only way to link Trenkler to this horrendous plot was by suggesting sotto voce (very softly) that somehow gay men are capable of anything. It was the prejudicial glue for an otherwise improbable, even discredited, theory,' she added. The motion also cites bad forensic evidence and 'the ravings of an unstable teenager by the name of Tom Shay Jr'. Trenkler said he wants to leave prison so that he can move to Maine with his half brother. press release Today the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases identified in South Africa is 1 458 958 with 2 649 new cases identified since the last report. Click here for statistics. Regrettably, 547 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 68, Free State 30, Gauteng 91, Kwa-Zulu Natal 143, Limpopo 134 (the province captured deaths from retrospective audits between 6 September and 29 January 2020), Mpumalanga 9, Northern Cape 3 and Western Cape 69. This brings the total deaths to 44 946. We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased patients. Our recoveries now stand at 1 318 504, representing a recovery rate of 90%. The Potash Market is poised to experience spend growth of more than USD 0.82 billion between 2021-2025 at a CAGR of over 1.56%. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Request free sample pages This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005353/en/ SpendEdge has announced the release of its Global Potash Market Procurement Intelligence Report (Graphic: Business Wire) Read the 120-page research report with TOC and LOE on "Potash Market Procurement Intelligence Report, Pricing Outlook in Geographies that include APAC, North America, South America, and MEA, and insights into best practices to optimize procurement spend." SpendEdge's reports now include an in-depth complimentary analysis of the COVID-19 impact on procurement and the latest market data to help your company overcome sourcing challenges. Our Potash Market procurement intelligence report offers actionable procurement intelligence insights, sourcing strategies, and action plans to mitigate risks arising out of the current pandemic situation. The insights offered by our reports will help procurement professionals streamline supply chain operations and gain insights into the best procurement practices to mitigate losses. Information on Latest Trends and Supply Chain Market Information Knowledge centre on COVID-19 impact assessment Insights into the Market Price Trends Suppliers in this market have moderate bargaining power owing to moderate pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants. Buyers can benchmark their preferred pricing models for potash Market, Procurement, Management with the wider industry information and identify the cost-saving potential. Insights to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their Potash Market requirements. This procurement report answers the following questions: Am I engaging with the right suppliers? Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers? Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for? What are the Potash Market category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx? To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free. Insights into strategies that will help buyers optimize their category management practices. The report answers the following questions: What should be my strategic procurement objectives, activities, and enablers for the Potash Market category? What negotiation levers can I pull for cost-saving? What are Potash Market procurement best practices I should be promoting in my supply chain? Some of the top Potash Market suppliers enlisted in this report This Potash Market procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. Yara International ASA Nutrien Ltd. K+S AG PJSC Uralkali BHP Group Ltd. Israel Chemicals Ltd. EuroChem Group AG Arab Potash Company (APC) Acron Group VALE SA Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005353/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us Sometimes it can actually be quite easy to do the right thing. And yesterday's statement from Education Minister Peter Weir hit the only right notes remaining at his disposal. The fact that there has been a broad welcome from fellow politicians and students themselves is no surprise. There could simply be no going back to the algorithm debacle that caused such anger, resentment and confusion around the awarding of last summer's A-level grades. By handing over the grading directly to the teachers who know the pupils best and removing the computer-generated algorithm that caused so many issues over four days last August, the complaints this year should be kept to a minimum. Of course, issues still remain. The impartiality of teachers, and the schools themselves who only wish the best for their pupils, will come under scrutiny. That is where the CCEA comes in after grades are awarded. Nothing during Covid is perfect. Problems remain over the ability of pupils to access remote learning and, as the minister says, it is no substitute for face-to-face learning. Mr Weir has come under fire for leaving decisions too late and causing confusion. We are in the first week of February and now there is an opportunity to knuckle down, put in the hard miles and iron out any glitches in the process before the grading proper gets under way in May. A collective breath has been taken and the work begins in making sure disruption is kept to a minimum. In the most part, everyone knows exactly where they stand, and that has to be a welcome move away from the panic and angst, the tears and confusion, that dogged last year's A-level candidates. Pupils will still be anxious, they always are over grades. But what they face now is an anxiousness lessened by uncertainty. Teachers, too, will have a sense of relief that any potential legal challenge to grades decided has been removed, though pupils can still appeal over the process, not because they are unhappy with their award. Time, for once during this pandemic, is on education's side. Police carryout followup enquiries following a fire at the Multi Cultural Association on Donegal Pass on January 21st 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) It took more than 50 firefighters to get the blaze at the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association (BMCA) centre on Donegall Pass under control .Photo Stephen Davison/Pacemaker Press Two men arrested over the arson attack on the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association building have been released on bail pending further enquiries. The pair - aged 42 and 49 - were held on Wednesday after a search of a property in the south of the city. A 40-year-old man has been charged with two counts of criminal damage to vehicles in the Donegall Pass area of south Belfast in October last year. He will appear in court next month. The devastating fire at the former church broke out on Thursday, January 14. The organisation said it was left heartbroken after the attack. There was widespread condemnation of the incident, including from the first and deputy first ministers. Thousands have been raised in a fundraising campaign. Detective Inspector Rachel Miskelly added: While our investigation is ongoing, we are continuing to appeal for information about the arson incident, which is being treated as a hate crime. The fire, which resulted in serious damage to the building, is unacceptable and we are working tirelessly to identify those responsible and put them before the courts. I would also remind anyone who has yet to come forward with information, that the independent charity Crimestoppers, is offering a reward of up to 5,000 to anyone providing information directly and anonymously to Crimestoppers, which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons linked to the arson. Information can be given to detectives directly by calling 101 quoting reference number 1626 of 14/01/21. You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ Alternatively, to stay anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on Freephone 0800 555 111 or complete their simple and secure anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Russia's Sputnik V vaccine could be used in France as long as it meets "scientific norms" and European "standards". "If Sputnik is confirmed and approved by the European Medicines Agency and France's top health authority, there will be no impediment to its distribution," he told Europe 1 radio. Russian researchers say a trial of the Sputnik V vaccine found it to be 91% effective, according to a study published by the British medical journal Lancet. 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 gravitational lens found in the DESI Legacy Surveys data. There are four sets of lensed images that correspond to four background galaxies, which appear as partial rings around an orange galaxy at the center and foreground. Credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, Berkeley Lab, DOE, KPNO, CTIO, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA A research team with participation by Berkeley Lab physicists has used artificial intelligence to identify more than 1,200 possible gravitational lensesobjects that can be powerful markers for the distribution of dark matter. The count, if all of the candidates turn out to be lenses, would more than double the number of known gravitational lenses. Gravitational lenses result from large celestial objects, like galaxies or galaxy clusters, that bend the path of light traveling from more distant galaxies. When these chance alignments are almost perfect, this creates false images that can include rings, partial rings, multiple images, and other illusions. The lenses can tell us about the contribution of dark matter in those distant, lensed objects, as we can only witness dark matter through its gravitational effects on visible matter. And that could help unravel one of the biggest mysteries in the universe, as dark matter accounts for an estimated 85% of the total mass of the universe. All of the candidate lensesdiscovered using a form of artificial intelligence known as deep residual neural networksare considered to be of the strong variety, meaning they exhibit highly visible lensing effects. A study detailing the new lensing candidates has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, and a preprint is available at arXiv.org. "I really thought it would be many years before anyone would find this many gravitational lenses," said David Schlegel, a senior physicist at Berkeley Lab who participated in this study. "It's just amazing to know that you're seeing, very clearly, space itself being warped by a massive object." Schlegel also participated in an earlier study that turned up 335 new strong lensing candidates. Researchers used a sample of 632 observed lenses and lens candidates, and 21,000 non-lenses to train the deep neural networks used in the study. The sample set was obtained from two sky surveys: the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS) and Dark Energy Survey (DES). About one in 10,000 massive galaxies was expected to be a strong gravitational lensing candidate. The DECaLS survey was one of three surveys that was conducted in preparation for the startup of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a Berkeley Lab-led experiment that will help us to better understand dark energy, which is driving the universe apart at an accelerating rate. Explore further Doubling the number of known gravitational lenses More information: X. Huang, et al. Discovering New Strong Gravitational Lenses in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. arXiv:2005.04730v3 [astro-ph.IM] Journal information: Astrophysical Journal X. Huang, et al. Discovering New Strong Gravitational Lenses in the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. arXiv:2005.04730v3 [astro-ph.IM] arxiv.org/abs/2005.04730 In the alternative, either the president, or the state director, could not or did not make reasonable efforts to consult with the presidents committee prior to publication date, and published the matter complained of without the presidents committee prior approval, then the presidents committee is by operation of Rule N.4 deemed to be a decision of the committee. Loading The claim states no attempt was made by any member of the presidents committee, state director, state executive or any member of the LNP to withdraw the press release as being made without their authority. In the premises and by reason of the serious accusations that the matter complained of made about the plaintiff [Ms Richards] and its widespread publicity it was incumbent upon members of the presidents committee, the state director, the members of the state executive or any member of the LNP to withdraw or denounce the matter complained of as either made without due authority of the LNP, the state director, the state executive or the presidents committee, or that it was counterfeit, if such was the case, and by reason of their failure to do so they are jointly and severally liable for the publication and re-publication of the matter, it reads. Ms Richards lawyers say the LNP press release was republished by media organisations, with news articles also shared on Reddit. According to a new study published recently, an investigating team discovered stone tools, fossil bones, and chemical proxies at the riverbed near Serengeti Plains in Tanzania. These were all derived from plant and dental materials. As per Newsbreak.com, the principal investigating teams from Tanzania and Canada, along with their partners in Europe, Africa, and North America, were working together to describe this collection that was found. The scientists found microscopic amounts of silica that were left behind by ancient pollen, ancient plants, and airborne charcoal. These findings may help scientists to find about human activities before 2 million years in Tanzania. Also read: Study: Minorities Should Be Designated Vulnerable To COVID These were the result of natural fires that broke out on the Earth. The collection found in Tanzania was derived from the riverbed and the lake outcrops on the Serengeti plains. Also read: COVID-19 Infection Gives 'natural Immunity' To Patients For Five Months: Study The scientists pointed out that this data gives evidence that human beings roamed in the Olduvai Gorge. This means that human beings can be dated back to 2 million years ago. This is an important step according to the researchers. They feel that with this step they will be able to fill the existing gap between fossils, cultural items, and environmental context left behind by the extinct humans. The data that was used by the researchers was obtained from the survey of an unexplored west part of an ancient river in an area called Ewass Oldupa. A paper published in @NatureComms presents the earliest evidence for human activity in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, around 2 million years ago. The study also shows that early humans used a great diversity of habitats as they adjusted to constant change. https://t.co/1q5TZhDIQk pic.twitter.com/q1EThJycb4 Nature Research (@nresearchnews) January 12, 2021 Also read: US Navy Sonar Could Be Behind Increased Whale Beachings In Pacific: Study Did ancient humans roam on the Earth? The stone tools that were found at the excavation site belonged to a culture known as Oldowan. This discovery points out the fact that the ancient humans who roamed on the earth used tools of different types millions of years ago. The stone tools and the animal fossils point out that the humans, as well as the fauna, were gathering around different water bodies. It also proved that the earliest humans had the habit of carrying rocks with them. They used these rocks as tools. These rocks were obtained from the basin located 12 kilometres east of the place. Also read: COVID-19 Prompted Food Inadequacy, Says New Study By Researchers In US The research also points out that these humans could survive in changing environments. These humans came to Ewass Oldupa for using the local resources for 200,000 years despite great changes happening to the landscape. The artefacts found by the researchers show this can be dated back to the Early Pleistocene Era that is about 2 million years ago. No hominid fossils were discovered in the study of these researchers. They were also not clear about the fact as to which species made those tools. Younger sediments that were discovered at a site 350 meters away had the presence of Homo Habilis fossils. Also read: Mice Can Catch Both Negative And Positive Emotions From One Another: Study Crude oil inventories in China have accelerated their decline in recent weeks, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting data analytics company Kayrros. At this time last year, Chinese stocks stood at 856 million barrels, according to Kayrros, which compiles and analyzes satellite data. At the start of this month, inventories stood at around 990 million barrels, down from a peak of 1 billion barrels last September, the data cited by Bloomberg showed. The decline in crude oil stocks in recent weeks is bullish for oil prices as it suggests that the market has accelerated the inventory drawdown. According to Kayrros, COVID-19 has accelerated a rebasing of Chinese stocks also led by new storage capacity, new refining capacity, and a renewed focus on import independence and energy security, co-founder Antoine Halff said. Chinas inventory build last year was initially led by demand after the Chinese lockdowns ended, and then stocks increased because of soaring crude oil imports, Kayrros said in a report. China effectively served as a sink for the worlds excess production at a time when other consumers cut back on imports and started drawing down inflated inventories, the company said. The expansion of Chinas storage capacity and the efforts to have more stocks to ensure energy security has likely reset Chinas baseline for inventories at a higher level, said Kayrros, noting that a drop from the current levelsalbeit still highwould likely be more bullish for prices than would have been the case in the past. Alongside faster onshore stock drawdowns in China and elsewhere in the world, floating storage has also started to shrink at a faster pace. Global floating oil storage declined at a fast pace in December as traders sold crude held on tankers in the absence of price incentives to store it, and in order to meet peak winter demand in Asia, analysts and sources at trading firms told Reuters last month. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The foreign ministers of the G7 group of some of the world's wealthiest nations said Wednesday they are "deeply concerned" by the military coup in Myanmar. "We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media," they said in a joint statement issued from London. "We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law." Short link: A Washington state church has gathered over $300,000 in donations that will go to forgiving the medical debt of families in over six states across the Northwest area. Christian church organization Valley Real Life, together with New York-based charity RIP Medical Debt have come together to raise funds that will relieve medical debt of Northwestern families in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Northern California and Utah. Every year, the church raises funds through its "Joy to the World" holiday fundraiser, in which proceeds benefit various nonprofits and communities struggling with education, health, poverty, and more. This year, Valley Real Life decided to help relieve medical debt as an act of kindness towards Northwestern families who have been severely impacted by crushing hospital and healthcare bills, which is why they teamed up with RIP Medical Debt. Founded in 2014, RIP Medical Debt is run by Jerry Ashton and Craig Antico, who previously worked as debt collection executives. The charity works by purchasing medical debt on the debt collection market then forgives the debt. The charitable organization pays about $1 for every $100 of debt that they purchase. The idea of founding such a charity organization came about when the founders observed social activists protesting income inequality back in 2011, the Associated Press reported. Valley Real Life's initial goal to relieve medical debt of Northwestern families was $200,000, but during their "Joy to the World" holiday fundraiser, they were able to surpass their goal and still continue to receive donations. Some donors are even those who have had their medical debt paid off and wanted to give back to those who made a positive impact on their lives. Valley Real Life outreach pastor Steve Allen told FOX News, "We have seen that due to the burden of medical debt people have been unable to take a next step in their lives due to poor credit scores, financial crisis, and unpaid bills, and those things have paralyzed thousands of families across our region." Allen also shared that as the church raises funds to relieve medical debt for Northwestern families, RIP Medical Debt is projecting an amount of about $30 million medical debt to be forgiven. It's a huge amount that will benefit families who are struggling, especially during the difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic. "To more than double what we did last year in a really difficult season, I think it's really just reflective of what God is doing in the hearts of people," Allen told The Spokesman Review. "I think it's also reflective of what's happening in the church culture and the community culture of people just wanting to care for one another." Northwestern families who will have their crushing debt forgiven are set to receive notification letters in late March or early April. Allen has expressed his gratitude and admiration for those who have generously shared their resources, including their time and finances to support the wonderful cause. "It's an extremely worthwhile cause, reaching people when they're at the no-hope stage. Well, here comes hope," he said. The number of new Covid-19 cases in Laois this Wednesday, February 3 is the lowest in many weeks. However Ireland has now had almost 200 people die with the virus in two days. The youngest reported today was aged 36 and the oldest had reached 100. Laois has six new cases according the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) report this evening. The daily average over five days for Laois has continued to drop, now at 16 cases while the incidence per 100,000 of the population is down to 308.2 due to 261 cases in the past two weeks. Laois is now the eighth lowest for cases in the county by county incidence table. Every county had new cases today, with Monaghan in the highest position and Roscommon with the lowest case numbers. Laois has now had 2,681 official cases since the pandemic began. Of the total 1,169 were recorded in January. However, the national picture is still one of tragedy for another 94 families in mourning today, close to the record daily death toll of 101 yesterday. Of the deaths, 47 occurred in February, 44 in January, two in December and one in November. The median age of those who died is 82 years. NPHET said there has been a total of 3,512 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of 2pm today, 1,334 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 203 are in ICU. There were 66 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours, up from 45 yesterday. Cases have risen again nationally, with 1,013 as of midnight, Tuesday, February 2, the HPSC. There is now a total of 199,430* (*denotification of 7 confirmed cases) of COVID-19 in Ireland. The 14-day incidence is 424.1 cases per 100,000 nationally on the back of 20,197 in 14 days. The seven-day incidence is 174.7. The 5-day moving average for new cases is 1,121 daily. Of the cases notified today NPHET highlighted 337 in Dublin, 96 in Galway, 65 in Cork, 60 in Kildare, 48 in Louth and the remaining 407 cases are spread across all other counties. **. COUNTY BREAKDOWN AT END OF STORY. Other key points were that 465 are men / 543 are women. 56% are under 45 years of age. The median age is 41 years old. The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. Dr Tony Holohan Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health is urging the nation to keep up the good work of staying at home during February. At the outset of this pandemic, as a global community we knew much less about COVID-19 than we do now. We did not know then that today we would have a portfolio of approved vaccines to mitigate the worst effects of COVID-19, adding to our toolkit of public health measures such as social distancing, reducing contacts, mask-wearing, cough/sneeze hygiene and washing our hands. Now more than ever, as we are continuing to see the tragic effects of the recent surge of COVID-19 infection in the form of mortality, hospitalisation and ICU admission, we should remember the public health advice that has carried us so far in this pandemic, and helped us to suppress COVID-19 together successfully in the past. It is the collective hard work and ongoing sacrifice of people across Ireland in following these public health measures that will keep us all safe at this time, as we look ahead to the increased rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon. Keep it up, and encourage others to do the same. In short: the present is the time to protect yourself and stay safe, in order to receive your vaccine in the future. **County data should be considered provisional as the national Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting System (CIDR) is a dynamic system and case details are continually being validated and updated. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russian and several other countries, was found to be 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic Covid-19 cases Final-stage trial results published on Tuesday placed Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on a par with its Western rivals, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced openness to its use in the European Union once it receives the regulatory nod. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 cases in trial results published by The Lancet, a leading medical journal. "There are no arguments left for critics of this vaccine, the article in The Lancet is a checkmate," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which was part of Sputnik V's development. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, responding to the report, said all vaccines "are welcome" in the EU, which is facing growing anger over a sluggish start to its inoculation campaign. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that all who want a vaccine there will be offered one "by the end of the summer" and defended the strategy "we have adopted with Germany, with the European Union, which is precisely to vaccinate in Europe." But EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces the deepest political crisis of her EU career so far, with politicians and citizens across the bloc voicing frustration over vaccination rates falling behind those in the US, UK and Israel. Admitting to some missteps, von der Leyen told the French newspaper Le Monde: "When you take urgent decisions, and in this year of crisis we've taken around 900, there's always the chance of missing something." Von der Leyen and European leaders have been embroiled in several overlapping rows, particularly with drug firm AstraZeneca over its failure to supply enough doses and a lack of evidence of its efficacy for the over-65s. Europe's disagreements with the firm were further underlined on Tuesday when both Sweden and France recommended AstraZeneca's jab be given only to under-65s. Summer Olympic Games since 1896, including those cancelled or postponed. Jab inequalities Meanwhile, the number of vaccinations administered worldwide passed 100 million, but none of the world's 29 poorest countries has formally started mass inoculations. The richest nationsdespite the finger-pointing over delivery delayshave provided more than two-thirds of the jabs administered so far. However in the United States, a study found that access to jabs among Black Americans was disproportionately low. Israel, whose vaccination rollout is widely described as the world's fastest per capita, has come under mounting global pressure to facilitate access to jabs in the occupied Palestinian territories. On Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority began vaccinating health workers in the West Bank, and health minister Mai al-Kaila said a supply of doses would be sent to frontline workers in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Inoculation drives have yet to begin in some wealthy countries including Japan, South Korea and Australia, which have broadly managed to contain the pandemic with strict border controls and quarantines. Japan, where the summer Olympics are set to begin in July, has yet to even approve a vaccine and is not expected to start inoculating its population until late February at the earliest. But the Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori insisted that the Olympics will go ahead this summer "however the coronavirus evolves". A study finding a drop in ICU coronavirus mortality by last October said hospitals have much more knowledge about what works to save lives Best practices New research meanwhile has provided reason for optimism over the handling of a disease that has killed more than 2.2 million. A large-scale meta-analysis of overall mortality of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) around the world, published in the journal Anaesthesia, found that it had fallen to 36 percent by October. An earlier analysis by the same authors found that ICU mortality was at 60 percent in late March 2020. The authors said that hospitals now know much more about what worksand what does not. In particular, medics now can use steroids like dexamethasone to improve the survival chances of patients on oxygen support. But with several new variants of the coronavirus emerging in the months since the end of their analysis, the authors said ICUs may come under further pressure. Nigeria said on Tuesday it had detected six new cases of the British variant, which has been found in more than 60 nations. Meanwhile Latin America and the Caribbean crossed a grim milestone, marking more than 600,000 deaths since the pandemic began, according to an AFP tally from official sources. Nigeria said it has detected six new cases of the British variant, which has swept Britain and been found in more than 60 nations Coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan more than a year ago, and a World Health Organization (WHO) team is now in the city trying to probe its origins, with one member saying the inquiry was going "very well". The probe has been hit with delays and weighed down by political baggage, with China attempting to scupper it until the last minute. A further reminder of the enduring danger of the virus came on Tuesday in Britain, where the death was announced of Captain Sir Tom Moore, a World War II veteran who raised a record-breaking $45 million for healthcare charities last year. He died of COVID aged 100, prompting a huge outpouring of grief and tributes from the White House, the United Nations and Queen Elizabeth II, among others. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP [February 03, 2021] Carvana Offers As-Soon-As-Next Day Delivery to Baton Rouge Carvana (NYSE: CVNA), a leading e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars, now offers as-soon-as-next-day touchless home delivery to Baton Rouge area residents. Customers can shop more than 20,000 vehicles, finance, purchase, trade in, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery in as little as five minutes. Customers can also sell their current vehicle to Carvana and receive a real offer in minutes, whether or not they are purchasing a vehicle. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005269/en/ Carvana offers Baton Rouge area residents The New Way to Buy a Car with as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery. (Photo: Business Wire) Carvana customers save valuable time and money with The New Way to Buy a Car by skipping the dealership and shopping online. Carvana never charges hidden fees like "documentationfees," which can often be added to the price of a vehicle at the last minute. Additionally, customers looking to trade in or sell their vehicle, can simply enter their VIN or license plate number on Carvana.com, answer a few questions and Carvana can pick up the vehicle and bring them a check, as soon as the next day. All 20,000+ vehicles in Carvana's national inventory are photographed in 360 degrees, so customers get a high-definition virtual tour, along with the peace of mind of a seven-day return policy. This upgrade to the traditional test drive gives customers the time to ensure their vehicle fits their life, whether installing car seats or seeing how much cargo space it offers for groceries. Carvana pioneered online car buying, including its patented 360-degree virtual vehicle tour, where customers can view vehicles in high-definition, 360-degree photography, inside and out. Carvana vehicles are Carvana Certified, having passed a rigorous 150-point inspection, have never been in a reported accident and have no frame damage. Features, imperfections and updated information about open safety recalls are listed on every car's vehicle description page. "We're steadily growing our reach in Louisiana and we're confident that Baton Rouge residents will embrace having the convenience, transparency, and safety that comes with The New Way to Buy a Car," said Ernie Garcia, Carvana founder and CEO. "We want to bring a better car buying experience to as many people as possible and offering as-soon-as-next-day delivery helps us give that to the Baton Rouge community." Carvana now offers as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery to customers in 270 cities across the U.S. About Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana's (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology and exceptional customer service, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online car buying and financing platform. Carvana.com enables consumers to quickly and easily shop more than 20,000 vehicles, finance, trade-in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery or pickup at one of Carvana's patented, automated Car Vending Machines. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005269/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Stratovolcano 4835 m (15,863 ft)Kamchatka, 56.06N / 160.64E(1 out of 5)1697-98, 1720-21, 1727-31, 1737, 1740, 1762, 1767, 1770, 1772, 1785, 1787, 1788, 1789-90, 1791, 1807, 1812, 1813, 1819-22, 1829, 1840, 1848, 1852, 1853-54, 1865, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1882, 1883, 1890, 1896-97, 1890, 1896-97, 1898, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1935-36, 1937-39, 1944-1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960-63, 1963-64, 1965-1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1971-73, 1974, 1977-80, 1981, 1982, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1986, 1986-90, 1991, 1992, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2002-04, 2005 - ongoingDominantly explosive, strombolian and vulcanian activity, sometimes lava flows from fissure vents. At present in a phase of near-persistant activity.(volcano expedition to Kamchatka) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Kliuchevskoi is Kamchatka's highest and most active volcano. Since its origin about 6000 years ago, the beautifully symmetrical, 4835-m-high basaltic stratovolcano has produced frequent moderate-volume explosive and effusive eruptions without major periods of inactivity. Kliuchevskoi rises above a saddle NE of sharp-peaked Kamen volcano and lies SE of the broad Ushkovsky massif. More than 100 flank eruptions have occurred at Kliuchevskoi during the past roughly 3000 years, with most lateral craters and cones occurring along radial fissures between the unconfined NE-to-SE flanks of the conical volcano between 500 m and 3600 m elevation. The morphology of its 700-m-wide summit crater has been frequently modified by historical eruptions, which have been recorded since the late-17th century. Historical eruptions have originated primarily from the summit crater, but have also included numerous major explosive and effusive eruptions from flank craters. NASA photo of the eruption of Klyuchevsky volcano on 30 September, 1994, the volcano's largest explosion in 40 years. The large The world's largest and most active stratovolcano had a phase of intense activity today: Increased lava effusion from the summit produced increasingly large avalanches on the SE flank that ended generating massive block and ash flows (pyroclastic flows), which in turn created a tall ash plume that rose to 28,000 ft (7.5 km) altitude as reported by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Tokyo. ... Armenia is a very photogenic country with a large variety of landscapes showing some very spectacular geology, century-old monasteries and castles, and much more. Our popular app is now also available for iPhone and iPad! Get the latest volcano news and earthquakes world-wide - it's free! We have traveled all over Greece, in particular on its active volcanic areas such as Santorini, Nisyros, Milos, Methana. Impressions from our tour to Kamchatka's volcanoes : remote Karymsky, Gorely, Mutnovsky, Uzon and Valley of Geysers, Klyuchevskoy volcano and more. 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: WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - GameStop Corp. (GME) said that it has appointed Matt Francis to the newly-created role of Chief Technology Officer, effective on February 15, 2021. Most recently, Francis was an Engineering Leader at Amazon Web Services. He previously held senior-level technology roles at companies such as QVC and Zulily. At GameStop, Francis will be responsible for overseeing e-commerce and technology functions. Kelli Durkin is appointed as Senior Vice President of Customer Care. Durkin, who previously served as Chewy's Vice President of Customer Service, has a start date of March 1, 2021. In her new role, Durkin will oversee all customer service and engagement initiatives at GameStop. Josh Krueger is appointed as Vice President of Fulfillment. Krueger, who previously held senior fulfillment roles at Amazon, Walmart, and QVC, has a start date of March 1, 2021. 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. Jaipur, Feb 3 : Rajasthan's Anti-Corruption Bureau officials have arrested IPS officer Manish Agrawal on charge of accepting a bribe of Rs 38 lakh from a highway construction company. After spending a night in ACB custody following his arrest on Tuesday, the accused officer will be presented in court on Wednesday after undergoing coronavirus test. Agrawal has been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act, ACB Director BL Soni said. Sources said that a team of two ACB officials had interrogated Agrawal. His mobile phones were earlier seized by the ACB. Agrawal's name cropped up in the case when petrol pump owner Neeraj Meena was arrested on charge of demanding money from the construction firm on the IPS officer's behalf. The ACB was in the process of gathering evidence of corruption against him in the last 20 days after Meena's arrest. A 2010-batch IPS officer, Agrawal is posted as Commandant of State Disaster Response Force, Jaipur. Earlier, he served as the Dausa SP. The accused has spent six years in Rajasthan which were quite controversial, officials claimed. During this period, he served as Superintendent of Police for 10 months in two districts -- four months in Barmer and six months in Dausa. While he was posted as an SP in Dausa, he was transferred to the SDRF after an anonymous complaint that he demanded a bribe of lakhs of rupees for a project. Earlier, as SP in Barmer, he was declared APO (awaiting posting orders). Along with the petrol pump owner, the ACB had arrested two Rajasthan Administrative Service officers on January 13 for allegedly taking bribes from the same company. [February 03, 2021] Historic St. John African Methodist Church, Inc. Pastor Blaine Hackett Joins Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware in Calling for Governor Carney to Appoint a Black Justice to the All-White Chancery Court Today, Pastor Blaine Hackett of historic St. John African Methodist Church, Inc. in Newark joined Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware's (CPBD) calls to fill the vacancy of Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard with a Black justice. Pastor Hackett echoes the calls of legendary civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton in his recent letter to President Biden advocating for increased diversity within the federal judiciary, and in Delaware. "For too long in Delaware, and across the nation, our leadership has not reflected the diversity of our congregations, our neighborhoods or our State," said Pastor Blaine Hackett of St. John African Methodist Church, Inc. "The vacancy on the Chancery Court gives us yet another opportunity to advance Black leaders and support diverse, fair courts which, in turn, lead to fair rulings and fair sentencing. I stood outside the Senate building about a year ago and urged the Governor to increase diversity on Delaware's courts and fill Justice Montgomery-Reeves' vacant seat with a Black justice. Although our calls were not answered, we are again faced with the opportunity to begin to correct the past tha has disproportionately awarded white men these positions of leadership. I urge the Governor to replace Chancellor Bouchard and Justice Smalls with Black judges and move our courts in the right direction for diversity and justice." Pastor Hackett has joined Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware in their $250,000 awareness campaign for diverse appointments in leadership and on courts. The group has purchased print, radio and digital advertising space to spread awareness of the vacancies and urge Governor Carney to take the opportunity to achieve his own stated goal of advancing diversity in leadership roles in Delaware. Since launching the campaign, CPBD has engage more than 350 Delaware residents to send emails to Governor Carney urging him to appoint a Black justice to replace Bouchard. "We have only just begun our outreach to Delaware residents and we already have more than 350 emails into the Governor asking him to appoint a Black justice to the Chancery Court, which in times of turmoil is tasked with representing the best interest of people across the nation from many different backgrounds," said Chris Coffey, Campaign Manager for Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware. "How can Delaware courts represent those they are meant to serve when they are overwhelmingly comprised of wealthy, white men? The opportunity for Governor Carney to increase diversity on the courts is here again, and the time for change was decades ago." Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 5,000 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the unprecedented forced sale of TransPerfect. While their primary goal of saving the company has been accomplished, they continue their efforts to fight for more transparency in the Delaware Chancery Court. For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware or to join the cause, visit DelawareForBusiness.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005670/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Every now and then a politician comes around with views so crackpot - the word used by the Australian Medical Association president to describe MP Craig Kellys interesting COVID opinions - that you have to ask: how the hell is this guy in Parliament? With the eager assistance of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thats how! Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has been reprimanded by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Kelly, member for the Sydney seat of Hughes, has long tangoed with the more marginal opinion-holes of the internet, ranging from climate change scepticism, to his assertion that coral islands float. Kelly is also an expert on foreign policy. On the 298 people killed aboard flight MH17, shot down by the Russians, he told Sky News in 2018, If some of the things that Russia has gotten away with in the past has to be slightly looked over, well Im sorry, thats the price that we have to pay sometimes to have good relations going forward. Three Mi-17 helicopters taking part in the flypast at the inauguration of the Aero India-2021 1 / 12 Plan to spend $130 bn on defence in 7-8 yrs, says Rajnath 2 / 12 The India's premier aerospace and defence exhibition, 2021 takes off on Wednesday amidst the Covid-19 pandemic with buzz around "AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan" and "Make in India" push. Ready to defeat any misadventures to defend territorial integrity: Rajnath 3 / 12 India is vigilant in the face of attempts to change status quo at its border and prepared to defeat any misadventures to defend territorial integrity, Defence Minister said on Wednesday, amid continued military standoff with China. China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. "India is vigilant and prepared to counter and defeat any misadventures to defend our people and territorial integrity at all costs", the Minister said. Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters in Trishul formation at Aero India-2021 in Bengaluru 4 / 12 BrahMos supersonic cruise missile displayed in coastal defence role 5 / 12 Indian Navy is going to induct the missile as part of the Next Generation Maritime Marine Coastal Defence battery role. Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jet 6 / 12 Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jet equipped with an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is on display at show in Bengaluru. One dedicated squadron of the Air Force is equipped with these missiles which can strike targets at over 400-km. Fifth-generation fighter aircraft Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft 7 / 12 Defence Research and Development Organisation has showcased Indias under-development fifth-generation fighter aircraft Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft at As per DRDO, the aircraft would come with stealth features and all capabilities of a multirole fighter plane. American B-1B Lancer aircraft 8 / 12 The aircraft flew from an American airbase in South Dakota, United States for over 26 hours to reach the city. Indian Air Force helicopters at the inaugural ceremony of the Aero India show 9 / 12 India plans to spend USD 130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years 10 / 12 Singh also said that India plans to spend USD 130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years with focus on domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex platforms. The government has since 2014 brought in many reforms in defence sector to create a conducive ecosystem for exports, Foreign Direct Investment and offset discharge, he noted. Defence Minister hands over a model of Tejas aircraft to HAL Chairman R Madhavan during the inauguration of the 13th edition of Aero India 11 / 12 In Bengaluru for Aero India 2021, which his ministry has billed as Asias most prestigious air show, Defence Minister on Tuesday inaugurated a second production line at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) that will boost its capacity to build the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA). With HAL currently discharging an order for 20 Tejas Mark 1 fighters and poised to sign a Rs 45,000 crore contract with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to build 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters, the new production line doubles HALs capacity from eight to 16 Tejas fighters each year. 540 exhibitors including 80 foreign companies, Defence Ministers, Delegates, Service chiefs & officials from more than 55 nations are participating in this event 12 / 12 Northern Irelands coronavirus transmission rates are still too high, Robin Swann has warned. The Stormont Health Minister urged the public to be inspired by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore and take one step at a time to push down the virus. The region remains under tough coronavirus restrictions which have seen new case numbers drop from more than 1,000 a day to 504 announced on Wednesday. Mr Swann said the numbers need to be pushed down further and kept down as health workers remain under pressure amid the third wave of the virus. Lets keep being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore as we mourn his loss, let us remember all he achieved, one step at a time Robin Swann, Health Minister Infection numbers have come down but they are still too high, we must push them down further and keep them down, he said. We must continue to work so our health service and its staff get the breathing space they need because they cant continue to go on like this. Mr Swann urged the public to follow restrictions, keep socially distanced and stay at home as much as possible. Every breach of the rules, no matter how small, can do harm, every little hurts, he said. So I again urge everyone across Northern Ireland not to slip up now, not to give in now and not to surrender now. Stay focused and stay safe. We are making progress, lets keep building on that, there are no shortcuts out of this. Lets keep being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore as we mourn his loss, let us remember all he achieved, one step at a time. Mr Swann hailed the progress of Northern Irelands vaccination programme as 271,826 doses had been administered. Thats an increase of over 13,500 in the last 24 hours, one of our highest numbers of vaccines administered over a single day, he said. The Department of Health #COVID19 dashboard has been updated. 504 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Sadly, a further 11 deaths have been reported.https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv pic.twitter.com/2pnmvAlzAL Department of Health (@healthdpt) February 3, 2021 Mr Swann said a significant new consignment of the AstraZeneca jab had arrived in Northern Ireland and is currently being delivered to GP surgeries. That will allow us to continue the acceleration of our vaccination programme, he said. A further 11 deaths were also confirmed on Wednesday, while the number of Covid-positive hospital inpatients is at 701, with 65 in intensive care units. Sister Liz Moore, from the Belfast Health Trust, also addressed the media briefing at Stormont. She is a ward sister in the post-intensive care Covid step-down ward at the Nightingale facility at Belfast City Hospital. Sister Moore described patients as very sick and frail, and in many cases unable to do anything for themselves, including swallowing, drinking, eating, walking and talking. It has been a tough time for everyone, we are tired but we are determined to keep going and provide care for all our patients to get through this awful time Sister Liz Moore, Belfast Health Trust She described the age range of these patients as between 35 and 80, and many had no underlying medical conditions. These patients do not see their families and only see health workers wearing full personal protective equipment, she added. It has been a tough time for everyone, we are tired but we are determined to keep going and provide care for all our patients to get through this awful time, she said. This pandemic is ongoing. You may catch this virus, you may feel a bit unwell, you may lose your taste, you may lose your smell, you may have no energy or you may be one of those patients who become very unwell, and end up in intensive care, and then come to our ward for recovery. We must all protect ourselves, each other, and our amazing health service. So please wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance, obey the rules and get the vaccine. Escalation of Religious Freedom Violations in Turkey International Christian Concern (ICC) has observed a marked increase of reported religious freedom violations within Turkey since the start of the New Year. While most of these recent violations mainly impact church buildings, they also include a lack of interest by the authorities of pursuing and protecting justice for Christian victims. Turkey's historic churches are often inaccessible for traditional Christians because of government regulations. Churches are seen as a source of income both by the government (faith tourism) and by society (treasure hunters). Otherwise, church buildings are neglected by the government and often turned into mosques. Recent incidents include: Restoration of Saint Michael Church in Trabzon Province completed with the intention to open as a museum later this year. Destruction of St. Toros Armenian Church in Kutahya Province despite its designation as an "Immovable Requiring Protection." Frequent excavations by treasure hunters led to the collapse of the only surviving chapel of Ai Dimitri Monastery in Balkesir Province. Treasure hunters defile Aya Yani Church in Bursa Province despite the government having placed the church under preservation. The Church of the Virgin Mary in Germus is defiled by an organized barbeque party in Sanlurfa Province. Announcement of transforming the Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Konya Province into an Art Center. The Armenian Catholic Church in Bursa is listed for sale at $800k despite it being reportedly located on a territory that is considered historical heritage. Turkish President Erdogan wishes the country a blessed Friday (Islamic holiday) by sharing a picture of Kars Armenian Cathedral converted into a mosque. It is important to note that though causality is not proven, this increase of religious freedom violations impacting church buildings has occurred while the US has negotiated and signed a cultural property agreement with Turkey. Many within the Christian community have expressed concern that such an agreement validates Turkey's activities of erasing, appropriating, and profiting from church buildings and other Christian artifacts. In addition to these issues impacting church buildings, ICC is highlighting the following religious freedom concerns which occurred throughout the month of January: Syriac monk Father Sefer Bilecen has his trial delayed after the government filed terrorist charges against him for giving bread and water to monastery visitors. One year has now passed following the disappearance of elderly Christians Hurmuz and Simuni Diril with no serious investigation by the Turkish authorities to identify and hold the culprits accountable. Fourteen years have now passed since the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink with no serious investigation by the Turkish authorities to identify and hold the culprits accountable These concerns are not an exhaustive list and do not include Turkey's religious freedom violations that have occurred as a consequence of their military expansionism throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caucasus. Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "Freedom of conscience is the bedrock of a diverse and healthy society. Yet we have observed Turkey's religious freedom violations increasing for a period of years. The rapid escalation of these violations within the past several weeks is very concerning, and they run parallel to comparable escalations in countries where Turkey has a military presence. These violations should be taken seriously and they are indicative that something is very severely wrong as regards to religious freedom in Turkey." BP has racked up its biggest-ever annual loss after a slump in oil prices hammered its business. In an update that underlined the damage inflicted by the pandemic on the industry and wider economy, the FTSE 100 giant plunged 13billion into the red last year. It was one of the largest losses in corporate history and is the first time BP has been in the red since the Deepwater Horizon disaster a decade ago. BP has been hit with a slew of one-off costs after Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions triggered a huge drop in demand for oil that is expected to take years to recover The company was hit with a slew of one-off costs which included writing down the value of exploration projects by about 12.8billion after Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions triggered a huge drop in demand for oil. Demand is expected to take years to recover. The results lay bare the impact of the pandemic, despite BP scrambling to cut costs and halving its prized dividend in a move that dealt a blow to savers and pensioners. Shares fell 4.5 per cent, or 12.1p, to 255p. The stock is down 44 per cent in the past year. Rival Shell will publish 2020 figures tomorrow, while US giant Exxon Mobil yesterday posted a loss of 16.3billion, its first for at least four decades. BP chief executive Bernard Looney described it as an incredibly tough year the most brutal I can remember in almost 30 years in this industry. Looney added: 2021 is not getting any easier just yet. But much better days are ahead. And when the vaccines kick in and the world pulls out of the pandemic, we will be ready to really take off. BP made a profit of 84million in the final three months of the year, far less than the 270million expected by analysts, as the second Covid wave and subsequent lockdowns triggered another drop in demand for crude oil. The annual loss which contrasts with a profit of 2.6billion in 2019 was driven by the sharp fall in oil prices that began last February. After starting 2020 at almost $70 a barrel, Brent crude oil reached a low of $19 in April. It is trading at around $56 now. Although the fall hit demand for all BPs products, it also led the company to revise its long-term price forecasts from $75 a barrel to $55. BP believes it will take years for oil demand to recover though it has previously said this might not happen at all because of the rise in renewable energy. The company's boss Bernard Looney said BP had been 'hit hard' by the pandemic in 2020, a year when it slashed jobs and dividends in the wake of the pandemic Looney is pushing for BP to become one of the worlds biggest renewable energy companies and is plotting for it to become carbon neutral by 2050. He unveiled plans for BP to go green when he took over the helm from Bob Dudley in February weeks before pandemic lockdowns kicked in. Looney, 50, is still pushing the overhaul despite the Covid crisis and struck its first deal to go into offshore wind with Equinor last September. Observers have questioned how much wiggle room the firm will have for big investments amid the slump in oil demand. It is planning to sell 18billion of assets by the middle of the decade and earlier this week announced it was selling a 20 per cent in an Omani gas field for 1.9billion. It is axing 10,000 jobs in its 70,000-strong global workforce and has slashed its dividend in half to avoid running up more debt, which stood at 28.5billion in December. Although this is a drop from 33billion the year before, the firm warned it will take charges in the first half of 2021 that will send it higher again. BP has promised to start buying back shares when debt gets to 26billion which it expects to reach by early next year but has so far made no promises to raise the dividend. David Kimberley, analyst at Freetrade, said: The problem for BP and the other oil majors is that they have to contend with managing vast oil empires while constantly reminding shareholders that theyre on the cusp of a green energy revolution that will make them obsolete. Looney exemplified this last May when he said we may have already reached peak oil. But he added: The trouble with this is that weve been told on several occasions that we are about to reach peak oil, going back as far as 1970, and such an event is yet to materialise. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Global Energy Metals (CVE: GEMC- OTC: GBLEF) CEO Mitchell Smith joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share news the company has closed the sale of a 0.5% gross royalty on the Millennium Cobalt Project, the Mt. Dorothy Cobalt Project and the Cobalt Ridge Project located in Queensland, Australia. Smith talks about why they decided to make the move with Electric Royalties. Smith also told Proactive what the company will be focussing on in 2021 with their assets Lovelock and Treasure Box in Nevada. Stills image from the online Garda video in which Irish Gardai responded to the Jerusalema dance challenge set by Swiss police Tralee Gardai pictured on top of the Tralee Garda station roof for the Jerusalema Challenge Stills image from the online Garda video in which Irish Gardai responded to the Jerusalema dance challenge set by Swiss police Tralee Gardai were amongst the many garda forces around the country who took part in the smash hit international dance-off challenge set by their Swiss counterparts. Gardai in Tralee took to the roof of their station recently before heading out to Blennerville to show off some of Kerry's most stunning scenery as they danced. It was all part of the 'Jerusalema Challenge' which was kicked off in Switzerland by the Zuger Polizei. After posting their video showcasing their best moves online, the Swiss Federal Police were quick to extend the challenge to Irish shores. "We are looking forward to the performance of the @gardainfo," they posted on Twitter, while saying they doubted their steps could be topped "in terms of precision, discipline and perfectionism." 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 federal government on Tuesday moved to drop five of its lawsuits against landowners in Webb and Zapata counties who were challenging the governments right to access their land in the development of the border wall. In these motions to withdraw, which have yet to be signed by a judge, the government cites President Joe Bidens executive order halting construction and obligation of funds to the border wall. The Department of Justice filed its first motion to withdraw from a Laredo border wall case last week, in a lawsuit against 0.14 acres of land off Zacate Creek, south of El Azteca. This order was signed by Judge John Kazen Following Customs and Border Protections notification that they would be ceasing construction work on the border wall, these motions by the Department of Justice represent the final piece of Bidens order coming into effect in the Laredo area. However, this action is not yet across the board. There are 14 active right of entry lawsuits in Webb and Zapata counties; the government has moved to step back from these six, and in three others judges have ordered the government to provide a statement as to whether they intend to pursue this lawsuit in general. These statements are due Wednesday. However there is no such action in the five remaining open cases. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas could not comment Tuesday on any forthcoming action in these cases. Laredos Rep. Henry Cuellar last week wrote a letter to Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Helaine A. Greenfeld asking for the status on all pending court proceedings having to do with border wall construction. As of Tuesday his office has not heard back. But local border wall opponents marked Tuesdays action as a win. The move is a welcome sigh of relief for border communities that have endured constant threats and lawsuits by the U.S. government during the Trump Administration in its quest to seize thousands of acres of land to build the disastrous border wall, wrote the No Border Wall Coalition. Among the right of entry cases the government intends to withdraw from are lawsuits against Ernesto Uribe, a 91-year-old resident of San Ygnacio, and Guillermo Caldera, who fought the constitutionality of the governments offer of $100 as just compensation for the right to access his land for a year. Two weeks ago Judge Kazen overruled Calderas objection to this $100 as just compensation. Calderas attorney, Ricardo de Anda, argued that this $100 payment, which is offered to landowners in essentially all right of entry lawsuits, was perfunctory, arbitrary and not based on an actual property appraisal. Kazen ruled, however, that the right of entry itself has no value. Nowhere in the statute does it state that the estimated just compensation must be bona fide or authentic or legitimate, the judge wrote in his opinion. De Anda himself is also a landowner who was fighting the governments right of entry to access his land. His case is one of the five the U.S. Attorneys Office has now requested to drop. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.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. Press Release February 3, 2021 Hontiveros urges NTF: "Organize, publicize priority list for COVID inoculation before vaccines arrive" Senator Risa Hontiveros today urged the National Taskforce on COVID-19 (NTF) to immediately organize and publicize the "vaccine priority list" or the list of people first in line for COVID-19 vaccination, to prevent confusion and speed up inoculation of Filipinos once supplies arrive. "Dapat ay maisapubliko na ng NTF ang "priority list" sa vaccination para malaman na ng mga kababayan natin kung kasama sila sa mga unang mabibigyan ng bakuna. Kailangan ng malaking information campaign para maiiwasan ang kalituhan at dayaan kapag dumating na ang mga supply ng bakuna sa bansa," Hontiveros said. The senator's statement comes as NTF announced that mass inoculation for COVID-19 is set to begin this month, to be implemented by public and private hospitals and clinics, government agencies, and rural health units, among others. "By now, it should be already clear which individuals would be prioritized for inoculation. Saan ba makikita ang tunay at updated na listahan mula sa NTF? Saan pupunta ang mga nasa priority list para magpabakuna? Per individual basis or per household basis ba ang basehan ng mga kasama sa listahan? All of these should be clearly outlined to the public at this point," Hontiveros said. Hontiveros added that government should already specify what 'essential' professions would be included in the priority list of vaccination: "The NTF told us in the Senate that among the essential workers to be prioritized for vaccination include health workers, teachers, social workers, as well as workers in the food industry, agriculture, and tourism. Any list of essential professions must not only be detailed, but also easily-understandable by the public. "Kailangan ding linawin ng NTF kung paano matutukoy ang mga taong kasama diyan sa mga essential professions na nasa priority list. Ano-ano ang dapat ipakita ng mga tao-- gaya ng company ID o lisensya -- para mapatunayan ang kanilang propesyon? " she said. The senator noted there's still time to make any necessary revisions to the list and clarifications to the public. "It is important that government uses its time wisely by releasing the list immediately. Hindi tayo dapat mataranta na lang pag nakarating na ang mga vaccine. If we can smoothen out this masterlist para masigurado na tuloy-tuloy ang pagpapabakuna, I am sure we will achieve our vaccination goals," she said. "Let's make sure that not a single essential worker who wants to be vaccinated is left out by accident. Siguraduhin natin ang kaligtasan ng ating mga health workers, mga pinakabulnerable, at ang breadwinners ng pamilyang Pilipino," she concluded. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company President Kenyatta has changed tack in his campaign to popularise the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) in Mt Kenya and counter the influence of his Deputy President William Ruto in the restive region. The new strategy includes personally taking charge of the referendum campaigns, punishing rebel MPs, dishing out goodies to key target groups and building consensus with leaders across the political divide. President Kenyatta will take charge of the referendum campaigns to have proposals to change the Constitution passed. He will hold nationwide meetings starting with Mt Kenya before moving to other regions, while accompanied by friendly governors and MPs. The campaign to popularise the BBI in the region was initiated by the administrators, but now Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, governors and MPs are among those roped in. Cabinet Secretaries, the Nation has established, are on the ground to inspect the progress of development projects and list the ones the President will launch. An address to the country on Swahili radio stations is also planned. Technocrats from the region have also been asked to help the BBI cause, especially in their rural areas. The teams are to come up with a schedule to popularise the document. The President has also launched a political onslaught against Dr Ruto's allies, with the first target being nominated Senator Isaack Mwaura. First target President Kenyatta's Jubilee and Mr Raila Odinga's ODM have launched a twin attack on Mr Mwaura, citing disloyalty to his party and alleged incitement of the public to violence. The Jubilee party disciplinary committee has summoned the senator to appear before it for violating the party constitution by "pledging allegiance to another party, acting in a manner that is disloyal to Jubilee party and contravening the Jubilee party code of conduct". Jubilee disciplinary committee chairman Lumatete Muchai and party secretary-general Raphael Tuju confirmed that Mr Mwaura had been summoned following a complaint lodged by the party's chairman, Mr Nelson Dzuya. "Yes, we have started the process and the senator will be expected to appear before the committee to answer to the charges," Mr Muchai told the Nation. Among the accusations facing Mr Mwaura are that on December 31, 2020, in Msambweni Constituency, he acted contrary to the conduct expected of a Jubilee member when he publicly announced his new-found political allegiance to the United Democratic Alliance party during the homecoming party of the newly-elected MP Feisal Bader. He is also accused of wearing another party's branding material other than that of Jubilee, proclaiming that Jubilee party is dead through Kenya Diaspora Media USA on April 22, 2020. "...stating on Citizen TV on January 14, 2020 that Jubilee party is dead, it is not a party but a name, a song and two or three colours." On the other hand, the Orange party has written a formal complaint to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) over Mr Mwaura's utterances which it says border on incitement to violence. Inciting violence "Just a week ago, nominated Senator Isaack Mwaura was captured on video inciting violence ahead of a visit by the Rt Hon Raila Odinga to Githurai. "He had both a tribal and class message; that people of Hon Odinga's tribe were not welcome to Githurai and that the so called hustlers should rise up and defeat the dynasties," ODM's disability league chairperson Nickson Kakiri writes in the letter dated February 1, 2021. President Kenyatta's other part of the plan is to consolidate consensus building, which he began in his Mt Kenya political backyard in the last four days where he poured out his heart to the youth, elders, MPs and MCAs in meetings at the Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He has also encouraged other leaders, including Mr Odinga, Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and ANC Leader Musalia Mudavadi to meet their respective MCAs and lobby them to pass the draft constitutional amendment Bill. The draft Bill will require support of a majority of county assemblies (24) before it is tabled in Parliament ahead of a referendum. Yesterday, Mt Kenya MCAs Caucus chairperson Charles Mwangi told the Nation they will heed the President's call to pass the Bill in the next 30 days. County assemblies clustered as Mt Kenya allied -- Nairobi, Kiambu, Murang'a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Tharaka Nithi and Meru -- have agreed to pass the Bills. The President has also lined up goodies for MCAs, youth and women groups to reach out to the key blocks who will make or break the referendum. MCAs got the first bite of the cherry last week when they were promised Sh2m car grants. Overgrazing can lead to compacted soil, which makes it harder for the land to absorb water when it rains. Photo taken at an open grazing area in Yathong Nature Reserve during the 2018 study. Credit: Mike Letnic As a native animal, kangaroos aren't typically considered a threat to Australian vegetation. While seen as a pest on farmlandfor example, when competing with livestock for resourcesthey usually aren't widely seen as a pest in conservation areas. But a new collaborative study led by UNSW Sydney found that conservation reserves are showing signs of kangaroo overgrazingthat is, intensive grazing that negatively impacts the health and biodiversity of the land. Surprisingly, the kangaroos' grazing impacts appeared to be more damaging to the land than rabbits, an introduced species. "The kangaroos had severe impacts on soils and vegetation that were symptomatic of overgrazing," says Professor Michael Letnic, senior author of the paper and professor in conservation biology and ecosystem restoration at UNSW Science. "Not only did the areas grazed by overabundant kangaroos have fewer species of plants, but the soils were depleted in nutrients and were compactedwhich means that less water can be absorbed by the soil when it rains." The findings, published late last year in Global Ecology and Conservation, are based on fieldwork conducted in conservation areas during the drought in 2018. The researchers made observations across four conservation reserves in semi-arid parts of the country. While kangaroos and rabbits can roam freely in these areas, each reserve has several small 'exclosures' - fenced sections designed to keep unwanted animals outto help native vegetation regenerate. These areas excluded either rabbits, kangaroos, or both. The team compared the health of the soil and vegetation inside the exclosures with the areas outside. They looked for signs of land degradation specific to each species and monitored animal populations in the area. Kangaroos were the most populous herbivore across all reserves. "We tend to think of kangaroo grazing as a natural process because they're a native species, but there are now too many kangaroos in conservation reserves," says Prof. Letnic. "Their grazing can be detrimental for biodiversity conservation. "We need to start thinking about developing strategies to restore the balance and reduce the adverse impacts of overgrazingparticularly during times of drought." The contrast in vegetation coverage can be seen with this kangaroo exclosure at Yathong Nature Reserve. Credit: Mike Letnic Dr. Graeme Finlayson, SA Arid Rangeland ecologist for Bush Heritage, says overgrazing had dire implications for other native species who rely on vegetation cover and associated food resources to survive. Bush Heritage owns and manages Boolcoomatta Reserve, one of the conservation sites included in this study. "One of the key species that is likely to be impacted by overgrazing is the critically endangered Plains Wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), of which there are less than 1000 left in the wild," he says. "Despite sighting three birds at Boolcoomatta in May 2019, monitoring on the reserve has failed to detect any birds since then. "Overgrazing and then a two-year drought which have greatly reduced cover and food resources are likely to be key drivers behind this." A dry and delicate ecosystem Ecosystems are fragile and can be thrown off-balance by an overabundance of one species. For example, kangaroo overgrazing leads to a lower plant diversityand fewer plants means less food and shelter for other animals. Dr. Charlotte Mills, lead author of the study and visiting fellow at UNSW Science, hopes that this study paves the way for future research into how threatened species might be affected by kangaroo overgrazing. "There isn't a lot of research about how kangaroos differentially affect different parts of the ecosystem," she says. "A lot of past research has focused on rabbits." The team found that rabbits still had negative impacts on the landfor example, there were more woody plants in exclosures that rabbits couldn't get tobut not to the same degree as kangaroos. "Rabbits and other introduced herbivores like goats are often considered the main contributor to overgrazing in Australia," says Dr. Mills. "But we found kangaroos had a greater impact on the landand on the grass in particular." Human intervention is a key contributing factor to the growth of kangaroo populations. The native species has reached numbers that are contributing to drier soil and less vegetation - and may be more damaging to conservation areas than rabbits. Credit: Mike Letnic "Humans have been culling dingoeskangaroos natural predators," says Prof. Letnic. "We've been making it easier for kangaroos to thrive." Rethinking conservation practices Conservation reserves help protect native vegetation from threats like grazing from livestock or introduced species like rabbits or goats. The findings suggest native species might need to be kept in check, too. "If we aren't managing threats that have been exacerbated by human activitiessuch as overabundant kangaroo populationsthen we're not using conservation areas in the best way that we can," says Dr. Mills. Prof. Letnic says that while kangaroo populations on farms have been managed for 100 years, they have generally been unmanaged on conservation reserves. "This research changes thinking by suggesting it's time to ask some questions," he says. "We need to ask whether there are too many kangaroos and if they're having unacceptable impacts on our conservation reserves." Dr. Finlayson says it's a difficult balance to get right, but a humane and science-led approach is best for the entire ecosystem. "Reducing total grazing pressure clearly has great conservation benefit but can be a challenging issue when this requires the management of native species, such as kangaroos," he says. "We need to make sure we have a landscape-wide strategy, working across government, conservation and agriculture, to ensure we tackle this problem together, and in the most humane way possible." Explore further Kangaroos and other herbivores are eating away at national parks across Australia More information: Charlotte H. Mills et al, Grazing by over-abundant native herbivores jeopardizes conservation goals in semi-arid reserves, Global Ecology and Conservation (2020). Charlotte H. Mills et al, Grazing by over-abundant native herbivores jeopardizes conservation goals in semi-arid reserves,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01384 11th round of India-China military commander level talks likely to be held on Friday As India-China stalemate continues, top IAF officers grouping to be held this week India stood up Chinas disruptive use of technology and my way or no way attitude: CDS LAC row: Biden admin stands by India, slams China International oi-Vicky Nanjappa Washington, Feb 03: In its first response to the India-China border standoff, the Biden administration has voiced concern over Beijing's ongoing attempts to "intimidate" its neighbours and said it was closely monitoring the situation. A top official of the new Biden administration also asserted that the US will stand with its allies to advance its shared values in the strategically-vital Indo-Pacific region. "We are closely monitoring the situation. We note the ongoing talks between the governments of India and China and continue to support a direct dialogue and a peaceful resolution to border disputes," Emily J Horne, spokesperson, National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, told PTI on Monday. Budget 2021: Security forces guarding Pak, China receive enhanced funds She was responding to a question on recent Chinese attempts to intrude into Indian territories and occupy it. "The United States is concerned by Beijing's pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbours," Horne said. "We will stand with friends, partners and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security and values in the Indo-Pacific region," she added. This is the first response of the Biden administration on the India-China border clashes. Former vice president Joe Biden, a Democrat, was inaugurated as the 46th US President on January 20. India and China are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China's increasing military muscle flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China's growing assertiveness. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan. The South China Sea and the East China Sea are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. India-China LAC talks 'positive', consensus on early disengagement, says Army They are also vital to global trade. Although the US lays no claims to the disputed waters, it has challenged China's growing territorial claims in the South China Sea by deploying warships and fighter jets to assert freedom of navigation and overflight patrols in the strategically-vital region. Addressing a joint session of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind last week said India had strengthened its military presence at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the two countries' shared border to protect its sovereignty. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News "My government is fully committed to the protection of the interests of the nation and is also vigilant. Additional forces have been deployed to protect India's sovereignty over the LAC," Kovind said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 16:31 [IST] Swanu leader Tangeni Iijambo believes President Hage Geingob should be the first Namibian to be inoculated against Covid-19 once the early batch of doses arrive in the country. According to Iijambo, this will maximise trust and confidence in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. "There is a need for maximum transparency due to lingering concerns, confusion, doubts and uncertainty in a sea of disinformation, lies, conspiracy theories, fake news and hidden agendas on mainstream and social media as to the efficacy and even the safety of the vaccines available on the market," Iijambo told journalists yesterday. The Swanu parliamentarian also suggested that members of both houses of parliament should volunteer to be among the first to be vaccinated, "as a demonstration that they are fully and well-informed about the safety of the vaccines and create public trust and confidence in the exercise". Health minister Dr Kalumbi Shangula was not available for comment yesterday afternoon. Shangula last month said the country had secured a Covid-19 vaccine for health workers and the vulnerable, which was due to arrive this month. According to Shangula, the national vaccine taskforce was busy at work to put mechanisms and logistics in place to roll out the vaccine. Shangula explained that the government will prioritise frontline healthcare workers, the vulnerable and severe Covid-19 patients once the vaccine becomes available. Media reports, however, yesterday suggested Namibia is only expected to take delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses sometime next month and not this month as initially declared by the health authorities. NEFF enters fray Meanwhile, the Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) called on Shangula not to rush into vaccinating Namibians against Covid-19. NEFF national coordinator Kalimbo Iipumbu urged Shangula to first ensure that the vaccine is safe and it would not harm Namibians. "We are curiously warning our minister of health that by acquiring this said vaccine there must be proper evidence that this vaccine may not harm the nation; he must be careful, he should not be in a hurry to try these vaccines without total research," Iipumbu told journalists yesterday. The new Manchester Digital Strategy Creating an Inclusive, Sustainable and Resilient Smart City aims to set out a new vision and commitment for using digital technologies to enable a smart city. This is a working title and part of the next phase of the consultation process includes asking for suggestions for the wording for this headline. This is a strategy for the city as a whole, as well as providing a strategic framework for the City Councils own digital transformation. It is based on four key elements which provide the foundation for the Strategy: Smart people: ensuring that everyone can gain and sustain the skills, aspirations and confidence to fully participate in the digital world; providing the basis for Manchester becoming an inclusive, diverse, successful and ethical smart city Digital places: digital neighbourhoods providing access, connectivity and support for all residents and businesses and digitally enabling enhanced health and wellbeing Future prosperity: enabling the digital economy and ecosystem to grow, continue to attract new digital businesses and sectors and support a resilient and inclusive economy Sustainable resilience: using digital imaginatively for innovation to meet zero carbon goals and to create open inclusive connectivity with enhanced digital infrastructure as a utility not just a commodity Manchester has a very strong and resilient digital sector and ecosystem and is acknowledged as the UKs second technology city, consistently outperforming all cities outside of London (The Data City, 2019). This is significant not only in terms of the scale of the sector but also in terms of its scope in covering both established and emerging technologies and providing a talent pool of digital and creative skills supporting consistent growth across all parts of the sector. The recent Tech Nation report 20 UK Tech for a Changing Nation demonstrates the particular strengths of certain parts of the sector in Manchester, including Service Design, eCommerce, Cyber, AI and Data Science, as well as in advanced materials. At the same time Manchester is at the core of a strong local digital ecosystem, with start-up and scale-up support networks, its own trade association with Manchester Digital, skills providers, user groups and tech meetups and events. Manchesters digital strengths impact on many other sectors as well, being at the forefront of innovation for traditional manufacturing, construction, retail and product and service design sectors. Manchester is also a centre for research and innovation around the idea of Industry 4.0 especially in advanced manufacturing, robotics and automation and this is already stimulating thinking around the idea of Industry 5.0, with the intention to link this to ideas of a more people-centric development of industrial digitalisation. Digitalisation continues to have a major impact in public service delivery, especially in local government, health and education, which also drives growth in the digital sector as well as demand for digital skills and the need for inclusive pathways into new employment and training opportunities for all residents and businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a new and innovative digital agenda for Manchester. This needs to take account of the impact that the pandemic has had not only on all aspects of digital life and work but also on the way that digital technologies and services have started to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic. This is why the digital sector has an even more important role in helping Manchester to continue to grow and thrive through a proactive approach to inclusive recovery. The Manchester Digital Strategy aims to provide a vision of how Manchester can become an inclusive and resilient Smart City over the next five years. At the same time the strategy proposes a programme of new initiatives and projects that can help to achieve this through a Manchester Smart City Action Plan. This will enable digital inclusion and skills, smart neighbourhoods, digital innovation for business and jobs and digital resilience to support our zero carbon aspirations. In addition there is a new commitment to make digital infrastructure and connectivity more resilient so that it really can operate as an open access utility and not just as a commodity. This is a Digital Strategy which is about Manchester as a place; it is about everything in our city, including the role of digital businesses, the City Council, Universities and the many partners and stakeholders which made the city work. The Digital Strategy aims to provide the vision and framework to realise Manchesters ambition to be a world leading Digital City within the next decade, aligned with the Our Manchester Strategy, especially in terms of helping us to achieve key aspects of the connected city and liveable city themes by increasing digital inclusion. At a wider level it aligns with the UK Industrial Strategy in terms of the grand challenges set out in this strategy including those around mobility, sustainable growth, ageing population. It also aligns with the City Councils Our Manchester Industrial Strategy and the GM Local Industrial Strategy (LIS). The new Digital Strategy is based on the results of engagement and discussion with partners and networks across the city during the past year. The overall focus is on Manchester the place while recognising that this will also be a key enabler for Manchester City Council itself in terms of digital transformation. This work also takes into account the recommendations from a report commissioned by the City Council by ARUP providing an external overview of Manchesters current digital policies and strategies, including the lessons to can be learnt from case studies of other cities Digital Strategies from across the UK and globally. The City Council are working to ensure this work aligns with the Culture Recovery Plan and the GM Digital Blueprint. It is encouraging to see the commitment to this alignment at the city-region level, where GMCA are also committed to aligning their work with the Manchester Digital Strategy, including using a similar focus for priorities with the emphasis on Smart People, Smart Places and Smart Prosperity. Download Manchester Digital Vision and Narrative Manchester Digital Strategy 2021 Consultation Source: https://manchestercommunitycentral.org/news/manchester-digital-strategy-creating-inclusive-sustainable-and-resilient-smart-city WASHINGTON - Several thousand pharmacies across the United States will start to receive direct shipments of coronavirus vaccine doses next week in the first phase of a strategy intendedto simplify the ability to get shots, White House officials said Tuesday. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's covid-19 response, said the 1 million doses that will be sent to pharmacies starting Feb. 11 come on top of a modest increase in vaccine allocations to states that is beginning this week. And to help states cope with financial burdens created by the pandemic, Zients said, the government will reimburse them retroactively for emergency expenses associated with fighting the public health crisis, including the purchase of masks and gloves, and the mobilization of the National Guard. Taken together, the measures announced Tuesday reflect an eagerness by the Biden White House to portray itself as presiding over a more active federal response than its predecessor at a time when the virus is rampant, more worrisome variants have arrived in the United States and demand for the two authorized vaccines far outstrips supply. "We are doing everything we can to effectively vaccinate individuals across the country," Zients said during a briefing, added on short notice to the White House's three-times-weekly schedule of coronavirus-fighting updates. The direct shipment to retail pharmacies, he said, will begin with a group of 6,500 stores that, if the approach works well, could swell to include perhaps 40,000 chain drugstores, independent pharmacies and supermarkets with such facilities inside. The initial locations are being chosen, in part, to focus on communities whose residents have disproportionately borne the burden of severe illness and death from covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. The decision to send vaccine doses straight to pharmacies is based on the premise that they may be more familiar and easier to navigate - especially for older Americans who are a current priority in the mass vaccination campaign - than websites run by public health departments. The idea originated last fall with the Trump administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been working with states and U.S. territories to identify the first participating stores. In the two months since they began receiving vaccine doses, states have been able to transfer some of the batches to pharmacies, if they choose. But the doses scheduled to be shipped to certain stores next week will mark the first time the program has moved from theory to fact. Zients sought Tuesday to tamp down expectations for how much this would help Americans frustrated by the difficulty of getting vaccine appointments. "Many pharmacies across the country will not have vaccines or will have very limited supply," he said, without predicting a time frame for widening the use of stores. He also announced that, starting this week, states are receiving 5% more vaccine doses, in addition to an already-announced increase of 16%, bringing the total to 10.5 million doses a week. White House officials announced last week that they were on the cusp of buying an additional 200 million vaccine doses to be available this summer. They said the two manufacturers whose vaccines have been authorized for emergency use, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, would each provide 100 million additional doses. If the purchases come through, they would increase by one-third the number of vaccine doses available in the United States months from now - but would not accelerate the pace of vaccination in the short term. The retroactive reimbursement of states' pandemic-related expenses, dating to the start of 2020, is estimated to cost $3 billion to $5 billion, according to White House information. Zients said that sum does not depend on whether Congress approves $350 billion President Biden is seeking to stem the pandemic as part of what the administration calls the American Rescue Plan. As of late Tuesday afternoon, nearly 53 million vaccine doses have been distributed nationwide, and 33.5 million shots have been given, according to The Washington Post's tracking. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, state health officials testified that they are being helped by additional vaccine doses they recently started to get, combined with greater predictability of what will be forthcoming. But the five state officials, appearing before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, gave a mixed picture, saying they could use much more vaccine. Some said the three-week advance notice of their weekly allotments is enabling them to better plan how and where to distribute the doses. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive for Michigan's health and human services department, said the three-week advance notice is "very helpful because I can now tell my providers" how much vaccine to expect. "The transparency and predictability is improving, as are the number of doses," said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Still, she added, "We could absolutely use more federal help." Ryan said her state is dispensing 80,000 shots a week and will reach 96,000 by the middle of the month. But she said its vaccine supply lags behind its capacity to offer 300,000 injections a week now and 400,000 by the end of the month. Clay Marsh, the coronavirus "czar" for West Virginia, said that state is giving 23,600 doses a week. If it had more vaccine, he said, it could be administering 125,000 shots. West Virginia has one of the nation's oldest populations, and three-fourths of its covid-19 deaths have been among people older than 70. - - - The Washington Post's Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report. Advertisement Alexei Navalny's top aide today urged the EU to seize assets belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies. Chief aide Leonid Volkov said since the Kremlin critic was jailed for two-and-a-half years by a Moscow court yesterday, he has been discussing possible sanctions against Russia with European governments. 'The strategy should be to go after the money. There is a lot of Putin's money in Europe', he told AfP during a video call today. 'The rebuttal should focus on this money. Go after money, seize assets of Putin's closest friends, allies, of Putin's oligarchs,' he added. Navalny, 44, has repeatedly accused Putin of personal enrichment at the expense of Russian taxpayers. He claimed a palace worth 1billion had been built for Putin by the oligarchs on the Black Sea coast. Alexei Navalny's top aide, Leonid Volkov, urged the EU to go after 'Putin's money', which he claims is invested in Europe Opposition leader Alexei Navalny (pictured during his trial) was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a penal colony yesterday for breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence Germany today warned that Russia may face further EU sanctions over Navalny's detention. Volkov, Navalny's regional netowrk coordinator who managed his 2018 presidential campaign, said he expected the jailing would boost the Kremlin critic's approval rating and followers despite a crackdown on protests. The jailing was 'part of our strategy', said Volkov, speaking in English in a video call. Volkov is now acting as the dissident's 'foreign minister', he said, as he spoke to reporters from Baltic eurozone member Lithuania, his current home. Russian prosecutors on Friday said he had been put on a wanted list on charges of allegedly encouraging minors to attend protests. Battle in Moscow: A Navalny supporter is dragged away by Russian police officers wearing riot gear during protests in the capital on the day the the opposition leader was handed a two-and-a-half-year jail term Riot police take a protester in a headlock during what authorities described as an unauthorised rally in Moscow on Tuesday A protester is detained in front of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow during rallies in support of the jailed Kremlin critic yesterday Protesters line up against a wall, watched by a riot police officer, during an unsanctioned rally after Navalny's court hearing Navalny, pictured in the dock on Tuesday, was jailed for violating the terms of his parole - which he says is absurd since he was recuperating in Germany from a nerve agent attack and could hardly have made an appointment with Russian officials Volkov brushed off the charges as 'made up', saying the Navalny campaign had never specifically encouraged minors to go out and protest. Navalny aides have been detained all over Russia in recent days in an attempt by the authorities to clamp down on anti-government protests that have brought thousands onto the streets. Volkov said he managed around 180 employees in 40 offices across Russia for Navalny's opposition movement and preparations were still underway for parliamentary elections in September. Navalny's movement is aiming to unseat the ruling United Russia party, which has seen its approval ratings slide in recent years. The aide's promise to fight on despite the Kremlin's best attempts to suppress the pro-democracy movement comes after reports surfaced of detained pro-Navalny female protesters being sexually humiliated while in police custody. A number of the anti-Kremlin activists say officers forced them to show their underwear, perform naked sit-ups and undress in rooms with transparent glass. They allege officers removed their identification badges and threatened the women with charges of insubordination if they refused orders. Policemen detain a protester after allies of Alexei Navalny called for supporters to protest a Moscow court's decision to sentence him to two-and-a-half years in prison A woman is dragged to jail after attending a protest demanding the release of imprisoned pro-democracy opposition leader Alexei Navalny A woman is dragged away by Russian police during nationwide protests, called for by now-imprisoned pro-democracy opposition leader Alexei Navalny It comes as more than 1,400 protesters were arrested amid battles in the streets of Moscow after Navalny was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Tuesday. Hundreds were rounded up in Moscow and St Petersburg yesterday as riot police faced off against Navalny's supporters - who have taken to the streets across Russia over the last two weekends to demand his release. As protesters shouted 'Putin is a poisoner!' and 'Putin is a thief', riot police hit demonstrators with batons and chased them through the streets with 1,408 detained in total, according to a monitoring group. In a fiery courtroom speech, Navalny himself had accused Vladimir Putin of trying to intimidate his critics and said the court was 'putting one person behind bars to scare millions'. The 44-year-old is set to serve around two years and eight months in prison after a suspended sentence for a 2014 embezzlement conviction was upgraded to real jail time. Russian authorities accused him of flouting the terms of his parole, but Navalny said he could hardly have made his appointments while recovering from the Novichok attack last summer which he blames on the Kremlin. The verdict sparked Western outrage, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken warning that the Biden White House would 'hold Russia accountable' - but Moscow, typically, accused the West of interfering in its own affairs. Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's wife, thanked her 1.1million followers for support in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the first statement she has made since her husband was jailed. A man is lifted away by Russian police during protests in Moscow today, following the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny An injured protester cries out during protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today Riot police officers detain a man during a protest against a court ruling which ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny be jailed for nearly three years, in downtown Moscow in the early hours of this morning 'You write to me saying that I'm strong,' Navalyana wrote. 'I'm not some strong [woman], I'm perfectly common.... thank you all for taking to the street. 'I read all your messages and understand that there are so many good, strong and right people supporting Alexei and me and that there is no need to retreat and be afraid. We will still win.' Supporters of Navalny say they too are facing cruel state treatment, with human rights activist Elza Nisanbekova claiming female detainees have contacted her complaining about abuse in custody. She said: 'Girls have been messaging. We have a very strange practice starting. 'After detention, in police departments, police officers force the girls to either fully undress and do sit-downs naked, or force them to show their underwear, pull up their T-shirts, blouses, pull down their trousers. 'This practice has nothing to do with the law. These are some sort of sexual deviations.' She told pro-democracy news outlet Current Time that the women complained about the 'perversion' but officers had illegally removed their ID badges. Male detainee Talgat Ahmadiev, 28, who was held at a recent pro-Navalny protest, said the woman who was held with hum was 'not treated humanely'. He said: 'She was forced to take off her bra and undress to her panties.' When she refused, she was threatened with an additional charge of insubordination, refusing to obey a police commander, he claimed. Female students in Kazan say they have been forced to undress in a cell with 'transparent glass'. As his sentence was read, Navalny made a heart sign with his hands and smiled at his wife Yulia from behind the glass panel of his holding cell. He told Yulia, who had travelled back from Germany with him last month and was crying as the verdict was read out: 'Don't be sad, everything will be fine'. Officers scramble to detain protesters during a demonstration against the two-and-a-half year jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Protesters run during demonstrations against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday A Navalny supporter is escorted away from protests outside the Great Hostiny Dvor Shopping Centre in downtown St Petersburg last night Navalny, who was arrested at a Moscow border post on his return to Russia, was on trial for breaking the terms of a 2014 embezzlement conviction, for which he received a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence. The Moscow court today ordered Navalny serve his original sentence in a penal colony, minus the one year he already spent under house arrest. Navalny says the 2014 fraud conviction was based on trumped-up charges, while the European Court of Human Rights has also voiced concerns about the verdict. His brother, wife and other allies have also been arrested and some of them fined by Russian courts in recent days in a crackdown on the opposition movement. His legal team plan to appeal the latest verdict, his lawyer Olga Mikhailov said, with Navalny expected to stay in detention in Moscow during that process. Navalny and his lawyers have argued that while he was recovering in Germany from the poisoning, he could not register with Russian authorities in person as required by his probation. 'I came back to Moscow after I completed the course of treatment,' Navalny said during Tuesday's hearing. 'What else could I have done?' As Navalny faced his first night in prison, UK prime minister Boris Johnson joined a chorus of world leaders calling for the Kremlin critic's release. 'Alexey Navalny's decision to return to Russia after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act. In contrast, today's ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately,' the PM said. French president Emmanuel Macron also called for his release, while German chancellor Angela Merkel labelled the decision 'far removed from any rule of law'. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, due to visit Moscow later this week, said it 'runs counter to Russia's international commitments on rule of law and fundamental freedoms'. Dmitry Polyanksiy, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, responded to the criticism from Washington by referring to the recent political troubles in the US. 'A Russian citizen sentenced by Russian court in accordance with Russian laws. Who gave US the right to judge if it was wrongful or not? Wouldn't you mind your own business, gentlemen? Recent events show that there are a lot of things for you to mend,' he said. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Western reaction as 'disconnected from reality', adding: 'There is no need to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.' A man shouts as a police officer detains him during protests against the jailing of Putin foe Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday A man scraps with police officers during a street gathering to protest the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Riot police officers drag a man down a set of steps during an unauthorised rally in support of Alexei Navalny tonight in Moscow Riot officers detain a man during demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, following his imprisonment of two-and-a-half years Protesters detained following a protest demanding the release of Alexei Navalny await their jailing in Moscow this morning Navalny supporters are detained last night following Navalny being jailed for two-and-a-half years by a Moscow court Russian police detain a man in downtown Moscow this evening after the Kremlin critic was sent to prison earlier today Detained people are seen inside a police vehicle in downtown Moscow this evening Police escort a man from the scene of protests in downtown Moscow earlier this evening Russian reinforced police units stand guard on the street in downtown of St. Petersburg, Russia today Officers detain a man during protests after the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today A man draped in a Russian flag walks among protesters demonstrating the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow today Riot police officers guard Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St Petersburg today. The city authorities tightened security measures as Moscow's court sentenced Alexei Navalny to three-and-a-half years Russian police drag a protester away in St Petersburg, Russia today. Protesters descended on Russian cities after dissident Alexei Navalny was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in a penal colony A man scraps with police officers during protests against the jailing of Kremlin critic A riot police officer searches a man during protests against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Moscow yesterday Police pull a man's jacket over his head as they lead him away from the scene of a protest outside a St Petersburg shopping centre last night Earlier, Navalny mocked Putin by giving him the nickname 'Vladimir the Poisoner of Underwear' and told a judge his trial is only taking place because the Russian leader had failed to kill him with Novichok. Navalny told the Russian courthouse that Putin is 'demanding to steal underwear from opponents and smear them with chemical weapons', referring to the claim that FSB agents sprinkled the nerve agent on his clothes. He also said Putin wanted him imprisoned to 'scare millions' and warned the President that 'people will realise' that he 'can't jail everyone'. 'We know why this is happening,' he said. 'The reason is the hatred and fear of one man in a bunker. Because I offended him by surviving after they tried to kill me on his orders. 'No matter how much [Putin] tries to pose as a geopolitician, his main resentment toward me is that he will go down in history as a poisoner.' Two days after Navalny was placed in pre-trial custody last month, his team released an investigation into an opulent seaside property which he claims was given to Putin through a billion-dollar scheme financed by close associates who head state companies. The probe was published alongside a YouTube video report, now viewed more than 100million times. Putin denied owning the property. Last week a billionaire businessman close to the Russian leader, Arkady Rotenberg, said he was the owner and was turning it into a hotel. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets the past two weekends to demand Navalny's release and chant slogans against Putin. On Sunday, police detained more than 5,750 people nationwide, which was the biggest one-day total in Russia since Soviet times. Most were released after being handed a court summons, and they face fines or jail terms of seven to 15 days, although several face criminal charges of violence against police. Riot police detain a man involved in unauthorised protests in central Moscow last night A man is detained by riot police in Russia today as protesters gathered to demand the release of jailed dissident Alexei Navalny Navalny supporters, and their dogs, are escorted away from the scene of a protest in downtown St Petersburg tonight Russian riot police detain a participant of an unauthorised rally in central Moscow tonight Russian riot police detain a Navalny supporter after the dissident called for protests against his three-and-a-half year imprisonment VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Metallica Metals Corp. (CSE: MM) (OTC: MTALF) (FWB: SY7P) (the Company or Metallica Metals) is pleased to discuss its Starr gold-silver project (Starr or the Project) and exploration plans for this Project during the 2021 field season. The Project, which the Company has the right to earn up to a 100% interest, covers a large land position of 5,991 hectares that includes several high-grade gold and silver occurrences within a 20 km long segment of the southwestern section of the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt in the Thunder Bay Mining District of Ontario. The Project is accessible year-round by highway and logging roads and is located in close proximity to the Moss Lake gold deposit owned by Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. and the Huronian Gold Property owned by Kesselrun Resources Ltd. (Figure 1). Figure 1: Location of Metallic Metals Starr gold-silver project with respect to adjacent properties including the Moss Lake gold deposit (data sources: 2013 NI 43-101 Technical Report and PEA for the Moss Lake Project see further reference details below; Kesselrun Resources October 7, 2020 news release) https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/46cb3098-b639-4898-81e3-6463e72c7e89 The adjacent Moss Lake gold deposit hosts an Indicated Mineral Resource of 39,797,000 tonnes grading 1.1 g/t Au for 1,377,300 contained ounces of gold and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 50,364,000 tonnes grading 1.1 g/t Au for 1,751,600 contained ounces of gold, and is currently under care and maintenance (source: NI 43-101 Technical Report and PEA for the Moss Lake Project with an effective date of May 31, 2013 and filed on SEDAR under Moss Lake Gold Mines Ltd., now Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.). Readers are cautioned that mineralization and mineral resource estimates on adjacent and/or nearby properties are not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Starr Project (please refer to additional cautionary statements below). Starr Project Exploration Plans: Metallica Metals plans to focus its initial exploration efforts on three historical high-grade gold and silver mineral occurrences within the Starr Project as detailed below and shown in Figure 2: The Lakeshore Showing was discovered in 1934 and worked sporadically by companies including Hemlo Gold Mines, Band-Ore Resources, Benton Resources, and Teck Cominco. Gold is hosted by a vertically dipping quartz vein, approximately 25 cm in width and striking N90E, which contains minor pyrite along with gold-silver tellurides. A 423 kg bulk sample was collected in 1999 from selectively sampled high grade vein material and returned a weighted average grade of 356.3 g/t Au and 850 g/t Ag (source: Mineral Deposit Inventory for Ontario MDI000000001080 Cunniah Lake Gold Occurrence 2011 and Lakeshore Gold Occurrence 2014). In addition, limited diamond drilling was completed on the Lakeshore Showing by Whalen Resources Ltd. in 1999 with one drilling intercept encountering 25.5 g/t Au and 92.0 g/t Ag over 1.1 m near surface (source shown above). No follow-up drilling has been completed since. was discovered in 1934 and worked sporadically by companies including Hemlo Gold Mines, Band-Ore Resources, Benton Resources, and Teck Cominco. Gold is hosted by a vertically dipping quartz vein, approximately 25 cm in width and striking N90E, which contains minor pyrite along with gold-silver tellurides. A 423 kg bulk sample was collected in 1999 from selectively sampled high grade vein material and returned a weighted average grade of 356.3 g/t Au and 850 g/t Ag (source: Mineral Deposit Inventory for Ontario MDI000000001080 Cunniah Lake Gold Occurrence 2011 and Lakeshore Gold Occurrence 2014). In addition, limited diamond drilling was completed on the Lakeshore Showing by Whalen Resources Ltd. in 1999 with one drilling intercept encountering 25.5 g/t Au and 92.0 g/t Ag over 1.1 m near surface (source shown above). No follow-up drilling has been completed since. The Starr Zone was discovered in 1991 by Wye Resources. Significant exploration work has been completed since then including ground magnetic and induced polarization (IP) surveys, geological mapping, trenching, channel sampling, and diamond drilling. Gold is found both in albitized metavolcanics where hydrothermal pyrite is associated with disseminated gold as well as within quartz veins where higher grade gold has been identified. Significant drilling intercepts include 5.69 g/t Au over 20 m (Teck Cominco, 2006) and 5.51 g/t Au over 8.2 m (Benton Resources, 2012) (source: Mineral Deposit Inventory for Ontario MDI000000001717 Starr Zone 1991). No follow-up drilling has been completed since. was discovered in 1991 by Wye Resources. Significant exploration work has been completed since then including ground magnetic and induced polarization (IP) surveys, geological mapping, trenching, channel sampling, and diamond drilling. Gold is found both in albitized metavolcanics where hydrothermal pyrite is associated with disseminated gold as well as within quartz veins where higher grade gold has been identified. Significant drilling intercepts include 5.69 g/t Au over 20 m (Teck Cominco, 2006) and 5.51 g/t Au over 8.2 m (Benton Resources, 2012) (source: Mineral Deposit Inventory for Ontario MDI000000001717 Starr Zone 1991). No follow-up drilling has been completed since. The Powell Zone was discovered in 1934 by the Powell Brothers (prospectors) of Saganaga Lake. Numerous exploration programs have been completed since then including stripping, mapping, channel sampling, ground and airborne geophysics, and diamond drilling. A gold-bearing quartz vein striking 40-55 degrees, varying in width from 0.9 to 6 m, has been exposed over a strike length of 121 m. Gold mineralization has been identified in a thick stratigraphic tuffaceous sequence with significant carbonate and silica alteration. Drilling by Benton Resources in 2009 returned drilling intercepts up to 2.5 g/t Au over 4.25 m and 2.3 g/t Au over 4.85 m (source: Mineral Deposit Inventory for Ontario MDI52B07SW00007 Powell Occurrence 1934). No follow-up drilling has been completed since. Figure 2: Location of significant gold and silver mineral occurrences within the Starr Project https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/aadedd6c-21d7-4062-807e-07978113cecd In addition to focusing its ground exploration efforts on the high-grade gold and silver mineral occurrences discussed above, the Company also plans to complete a high-resolution airborne EM survey over the entire Starr project area to generate new exploration and drilling targets and enhance the Companys knowledge of the structural geology on the Project. Exploration is expected to commence in the spring and summer of 2021. Data Verification and Cautionary Statements: A Qualified Person has not fully verified the historical results disclosed in this news release including any sampling, analytical, and test results underlying this information, other than reviewing the geological information and exploration results disclosed in the Ontario Mineral Deposit Inventory assessment files from previous operators referenced above for the Starr Project, and any other available public information including NI 43-101 technical reports. The Company and a Qualified Person plan to complete a detailed review and verify the available scientific and technical information on the Starr Project as part of its exploration planning over the next several months. However, based on a preliminary assessment of this historical information it appears recent drilling and analytical results by Teck Cominco and Benton Resources were completed using mining industry best practices and QAQC protocols at the time. The historical scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release provides an indication of the exploration potential of the Starr Project, but may not be representative of expected results once the Company completes its own exploration programs on the Starr Project. This news release also contains scientific and technical information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties to the Starr Project, which the Company has no interest in or rights to explore. Readers are cautioned that information regarding mineral resources, geology, and mineralization on adjacent or similar properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Companys properties. Qualified Person Statement: All scientific and technical information contained in this news release was prepared and approved by Paul Teniere, M.Sc., P.Geo., CEO and Director of Metallica Metals Corp., who is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. On behalf of the Board of Directors METALLICA METALS CORP. Paul Teniere, M.Sc., P.Geo. CEO and Director info@metallica-metals.com Head Office: Suite 810 789 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6C 1H2 Ph: (604) 687-2038 Toronto Office: Suite 401 217 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5V 0R2 For more information, please visit the Companys website at https://metallica-metals.com Forward-looking Information Statement 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. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys proposed acquisition, exploration program and the expectations for the mining industry. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management 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 information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation and environmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; liabilities inherent in water disposal facility operations; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. 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. Long-standing customers of Johnsons and many other nurseries are left with no choice but to go directly to EU suppliers One of the UK's leading commercial nurseries has told how it had to stop supplying plants to Northern Ireland after new Brexit restrictions came into play in January. Before the UK left the EU, Johnsons of Whixley sold 500,000 of plants to Northern Ireland customers every year. The company said new and impractical restrictions had hampered long-standing trading relationships. Plants which originate from a bare root young plant, or those that have had any contact with the soil, even if container grown, are considered a risk because of the likely legacy of soil residue, which has the potential to carry pathogens or nematodes, Johnsons said. While not impossible, soil residue removal is impractical and would defeat the point of rootballing and containerisation. Long-standing customers of Johnsons and many other nurseries are left with no choice but to go directly to EU suppliers because there are no restrictions on legacy soil residue between EU members or affiliates in the guise of Northern Ireland. Johnsons head of production and procurement Jonathan Whittemore said: "This legislation penalises UK growers and gives an immediate competitive advantage to EU suppliers, who may go on to monopolise supply into an existing part of the UK at the expense of our business and the wider industry." You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Two captive Vancouver Island marmots predict 6 to 12 more weeks of winter. According to the Marmot Recovery Foundation, Chopper and Marlu growled this morning when they were woken up from their hibernation enough of an indicator that it will be a longer winter. If you're wondering where Van Isle Violet is today, the Marmot Recovery Foundation says she's missing in action and they had to bug two of the organization's captive marmots instead. "Maybe she didn't want to wake up this year because of the pandemic," laughs Adam Taylor, executive director at the Marmot Recovery Foundation. "Violet is a wild living marmot, she was much more photogenic in her younger years but she has become shy in her adult years," he says. Chopper (six-year-old male) and Marlu (four-year-old female) are a romantic couple and in hibernation together. The Marmot Recovery Foundation hopes they will produce pups at some point. The duo growled when awoken this morning, which just as much of an indication of a longer winter as getting scared by their shadows. With the added gloom of the pandemic this year, Castanet hit the streets to ask: Similar to the 1990's movie 'Groundhog Day,' do you feel like you're reliving the same day over and over again? Taylor points out that no marmots were harmed in the Groundhog Day predictions. The Marmot Recovery Foundation wakes its captive marmots at times throughout hibernation to perform health checks on them. Marmots hibernate from late October to May/April. According to Chopper and Marlu's physicals today, Taylor says they are healthy. As for Violet The Marmot Recovery Foundation will continue to check for her because she is a prime breeding age female and they hope she will produce pups. The organization hopes to raise the Vancouver Island marmot population as they are one of the most endangered mammals on the planet. Taylor says there are only about 200 in the wild. In other words, Violet might be on EI, but she's not off the hook for her duty as British Columbia's groundhog and they hope to get a prediction from her in 2022. Maybe she just needed a break from the world this year can you blame her? Watch the video below to see Chopper and Marlu's prediction this morning. (Natural News) Just a week after Joe Biden was installed into the White House, the state of Oregon changed its Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) reporting guidelines to provide fewer details about those who die after receiving a positive test. With the endorsement of Gov. Kate Brown, the Oregon Health Authority has suddenly decided to stop reporting the county, location of death, date of a positive coronavirus test, date of death and perhaps most importantly, general presence of underlying health conditions. For the past 10 months, Oregon provided all of these details, exceeding that of all other states. Now this is coming to an end as officials claim it is too much work to continue reporting all this information. I believe that theres real human value in seeing these individuals that weve lost each day, even if we dont know their names, or really much about them at all other than their age and location, responded Sen. Michael Dembrow, a Portland Democrat who writes a daily newsletter about the Chinese virus. Still, they come across as individuals, as more than a statistic. I value that, particularly in the midst of this dreadful pandemic, and I know many of you do as well. Several Senate Republicans agreed, writing on Twitter that the whole thing smells like a cover-up from here. Dru Draper, a spokesman for the caucus, said the health authority should continue doing what it has been doing since the beginning of the pandemic, which is to report the biographical details of deaths cases as normal. It seems like that was working, Draper is quoted as saying. At the end of the day, whats the reason to give people less information? Why are we changing the way we are reporting deaths all of the sudden? Deaths among Oregonians who test positive for coronavirus on decline The good news is that deaths in people who test positive for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in Oregon are declining, and have been ever since December. At the same time, this should mean that health authorities have it easier reporting extensive details about these cases. Their excuse that continuing to do so is too time-consuming simply does not fly, and some in the legislature believe it could have something to do with Browns prioritizing of teachers over the elderly in the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine line. It seems like thats the only thing that could have changed the calculus, Draper says. Other House Republicans agree, including Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby. The decision to suspend access to key information calls into question the governors commitment to transparency and accountability at a time when state-level decisions have made Oregon a national outlier by ignoring CDC guidelines and dismissing a science-based approach to vaccine distribution, Drazan pointed out in a statement. In order to maintain trust and preserve transparency, Governor Brown and OHA must reverse yesterdays decision and commit to providing clear, consistent and timely data in all categories moving forward. A rebuttal statement from Browns office says a new data dashboard, unveiled the same day as the reporting change, will still provide timely information to the public that allows all Oregonians to see a full picture of deaths in the state that are blamed on the Chinese virus. To my knowledge, no state in the nation discloses as much COVID-19 data to the media and public as Oregon, stated Charles Boyle. What we know is that most of the people who are dying with the WuFlu in Oregon are very old and have underlying health conditions. Very few deaths are occurring in younger people who test positive. More Chinese virus news can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: OregonLive.com NaturalNews.com Two additional cases of a more infectious variant of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom have been found in Louisiana and another 17 suspect cases are awaiting confirmation, state health department officials said Tuesday. Although only five cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been confirmed in Louisiana and the overall pattern of coronavirus cases is trending downward after a months-long surge, officials made grim predictions about the likelihood that vaccinations and distancing can keep up with the more easily transmissible version of the virus. I believe we have another spike in our future before this pandemic is over for us said Dr. Joe Kanter, interim assistant secretary of the Office of Public Health. And I think thats going to be because of the B.1.1.7 variant. The variant, first identified in southern England, has rapidly spread through the U.K., Ireland and Denmark. Data from the U.K. suggests it is about 50% more transmissible. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have predicted it will become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. +4 'No way to sugarcoat this': Coronavirus variants may complicate Louisiana's path out of pandemic The Louisiana Department of Health is doubling down on efforts to increase surveillance for new and more contagious variants of the coronaviru This number is going to keep going up and up and up, said Kanter. This variant is going to continue to circulate, its going to continue to take hold in Louisiana and drive transmission. The confirmed cases announced Tuesday highlighted the precarious position Louisiana and other U.S. states find themselves in amid a rollout of vaccines that is slower than initially hoped. As state and local officials rush to vaccinate residents, the transmissibility of the new variant threatens to outpace the effect of inoculations. The state has increased its surveillance of the faster-spreading coronavirus variant. Prior to Jan. 25, the state sent just five samples every other week to the CDC for genome sequencing to identify variants. Since then, the CDC increased that number to between 10 and 22 samples. But to understand how quickly the variant is hopping from host to host, the state would need to sequence hundreds of genomes, said Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane University who has studied viruses for over four decades. 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 None of the confirmed or suspected cases came from the CDCs genome sequencing. Those cases were flagged by a certain PCR test that also spits out data suggestive of a variant. That particular PCR test, manufactured by Thermo Fisher, is not used all over the state, according to health department officials. That may be a reason why the variant cases have so far only been identified in Region 1, which includes New Orleans, and Region 5, which includes southwest Louisiana. Mutations are the result of small copying errors that occur during the virus replication process. Most of those mutations are inconsequential, said Garry. But every so often, a mutation makes the virus more successful in accomplishing its goal: to infect cells and use them to replicate. When a certain group of mutations starts appearing in large numbers, thats an indicator that something about them is beneficial enough that its increasing the spread. Scientists call this group of mutations a variant. The B.1.1.7 variant has 17 different mutations, the most concerning being a few that alter how easily the virus can slip into cells using its spike proteins. +2 An entire Louisiana family got coronavirus -- except for this vaccine trial participant When Ricky Salvaggio signed up for the Moderna vaccine trial in July, he didnt think it was a big deal. A retired pharmacist, the 66-year-old With Mardi Gras approaching and restrictions relaxing at some businesses, experts who track the evolution of viruses worry it may create ideal conditions for the virus to hop from person to person. Were giving the virus a free-rein playground to operate in, said Garry. There are not going be parades and things like that, we wont see people congregate the same way, but whenever people get together in a situation where they are not wearing masks and in a crowded space, that is an opportunity for this virus to infect a bunch more people. Other more infectious variants, such as the South African variant and the Brazil variant, have not yet been found in Louisiana, but they have been detected in other states. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Juarez, whom she described as mentally unstable came into their bedroom waking her up, saying he knew they were trying to kill him, records allege. They went into the living room where they argued, waking up his father who came out. The text signed by the pope and the imam of al-Azhar favoured "a more serene climate". Exchanges are open "not only between religions, but between different sections of society". Catholics "firm in the faith" need not fear confrontation with Muslims. In the new coronavirus pandemic, gestures of "renewed solidarity". Abu Dhabi (AsiaNews) - The signing of the "prophetic" document on human fraternity by the pope and the imam of al-Azhar two years ago has favoured "a more serene climate" and made inroads "in various fields", although difficult to assess the effect on the real life of individuals, observes Msgr. Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen) and apostolic administrator of the vacant see of northern Arabia (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain). "Today this text - continues the prelate - is part of teaching in Catholic schools" and has "opened up new areas of encounter and exchange not only between religions, but also between different segments of a society made up of 80% of migrants ". Tomorrow marks the two years since the signing of the historic document which has opened new channels of dialogue and confrontation with the Muslim world, especially the Sunni one. An event that will be celebrated in conjunction with the International Day of Human Fraternity, a virtual event promoted by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi with the participation of the pontiff, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb and the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres. For many, the hope is that Francis' next trip to Iraq and the rumours of a personal meeting with the great Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani can serve to strengthen dialogue also with the Shiite world. One of the fruits of the pope's visit, in February 2019, is the decision by the Emirati authorities to build the Abrahamic Family Home, a place of learning, dialogue and worship for the faithful of different religions. "Work has begun" confirms Msgr. Hinder, who will go to visit it as soon as possible. Today relations with the government and the ministers in charge of our affairs - he continues - are very good. Since the pope's visit, they have shown themselves to be attentive and open "to the needs of Christians, keeping" attention to security "high even if this has led to greater - and inevitable - control over activities. "The common thought - underlines the vicar of Arabia - is that it is important to pay attention not only to local and regional problems, with the awareness that we are all in the same boat as the pope says. The problems are not only of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or atheists but they are fundamental questions for everyone. This should help us open up to others, without losing our own identity. From time to time I see this concern in Catholics, but if we are convinced and firm in our faith we must not be afraid to go out to meet Muslims. Two years after the signing, "it is still too early to understand the impact on the lives of Christians, mostly migrants" from other Asian nations. Certainly, warns the prelate, the apostolic journey and the document "have helped to guarantee greater rights, at least at the level of laws because in practice it is not always easy to verify their implementation. However, the considerable efforts made in this direction should be emphasized - he adds - such as the recent decision to extend citizenship. Here, too, it is necessary to understand how many will benefit and to which bracket they belong, as has already happened in the past in Bahrain and Qatar. In the last 12 months characterized by the global pandemic - says Msgr. Hinder - the public life of Christians was suspended, especially due to the closure of churches. For some time now, at least in Abu Dhabi, we have reopened, albeit with limits and restrictions. People have suffered greatly from these closures and the distance, even if we have tried to do everything to keep the bond and relationships with the faithful alive. What is missing most are the sacraments, the Eucharist, confessions and even house visits were difficult ". In the critical context of Covid-19, however, important gestures emerge that confirm renewed solidarity, with aid for those who really suffered from hunger. Many workers, due to the interruption of contracts and wages, were unable to have sufficient food to survive and hence the renewed push for solidarity ", which embraced" not only Christians ". What about the future? "In terms of numbers - concludes the Arabian road - the community will be fewer because many have returned to their countries of origin after losing their jobs. But the challenge remains on a spiritual level, we still need to provide material and psychological support. Ours was one Sacramental Church, which must however be capable of satisfying the spiritual, social and human needs of a people in difficulty. South Africa: Minister receives St Lucia estuarine management plan The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, has received a response from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority on the opening of the estuary mouth on 6 January this year. According to a media report, from 4 - 6 January, heavy machinery removed tons of beach sand to link the ocean with Lake St Lucia. The response also addressed concerns expressed by seven scientists in an open letter. The Minister notes that the opening of the estuary mouth arose from discussions at a multi-disciplinary symposium hosted by the Park Authority in October 2020, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries said on Wednesday. According to the response received by the Minister, the symposium assessed progress on the implementation of the 2016/17 project, funded through the Global Environment Facility (known as the GEF 5 project) to facilitate the ecological restoration and effective functioning of the estuarine system. The symposium acknowledged that the St Lucia Lake system is a complex, dynamic socio-ecological system, the natural functioning of which is critically important for its natural assets, as well as to the many other ecosystem services it provides to the diverse stakeholders that depend on it, the department said. The department said the symposium further acknowledged that all participants have a strong interest in the restoration and effective management of the St Lucia system. It also noted the ecological challenges with regard to the functioning of the estuary, and set up a multi-disciplinary task team to discuss the best adaptive management strategy for the estuarine system. According to the response, it was in this context that a decision was taken to assist the Umfolozi River to fulfill its role as a driver of inlet dynamics by removing the unnaturally high beach berm, so as to allow the system to breach unimpeded. The Minister has noted widespread public interest in this matter, as well as differing scientific views on the most ideal management strategy for the conservation and preservation of this significant World Heritage Site, the department said. Accordingly, after consultation with the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, the Minister has decided to appoint an independent scientific panel to advise on: The significance/impact of the opening of the estuary mouth and how this relates to the implementation of the GEF 5 project interventions and the St Lucia Estuary Management Plan; The exceptional circumstances, as defined in the Estuarine Management Plan, that led to the decision to open the mouth, including those of an environmental, social and economic nature; The impact of the mouth opening on 6 January on the functioning of the estuary system and the wetland system as a whole, as well as the associated environmental, social and economic implications; and Guidelines for the immediate and ongoing management of the system. The names of the panellists will be made public once the appointment process has been concluded. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. SPRINGFIELD, Ore.--The owner of Along Came Trudy says the restaurant will remain open for indoor dining, despite a fine from the state of Oregon. On Wednesday, Oregon OSHA fined the restaurant $9,215, following many weeks of the business remaining open for indoor dining against Covid restrictions. Multiple complaints about Along Came Trudy were reportedly made to the agency. State officials say the fine was issued following an inspection that opened on Dec. 21, finding two violations. By allowing indoor dining, OSHA said the restaurant willfully disregarded the ban on indoor dining in extreme risk areas like Lane County. The second violation regards a failure to make sure customers inside the restaurant wear a face covering. OSHA said armed people outside the business threatened regulatory agencies and their staff members. It is our expectation that employers comply with public health measures that we know are effective at decreasing the risks to workers and reducing the spread of this disease. And we have been able to resolve most concerns about COVID-19 and the workplace constructively and without formal enforcement visits, said Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. However, as this case demonstrates, we will continue to carry out enforcement actions where appropriate and particularly where employers knowingly disregard standards. Employers have 30 days to appeal citations. He wanted to join his sick wife in the US, but was taken away by the police. He is accused of endangering national security. As a student, Guo participated in the Tiananmen protests. During his imprisonment he was subjected to torture. Human rights lawyers are targeted by Chinas regime. Shanghai (AsiaNews) Renowned human rights lawyer Guo Feixiong went missing on 28 January when security officials at Shanghai Pudong International Airport prevented him from boarding a plane, his sister Yang Mouping said. Guo was on his way to the United States where his wife is critically ill with cancer. Guos wife, Zhang Qing, has had colon surgery and is now undergoing chemotherapy. To protest the travel ban, Guo went on a hunger strike, and now faces charges of endangering national security. He has been fighting for human rights in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, when Chinas ruling regime massacred thousands of students demanding freedom and democracy. First arrested in 2006, Guo spent 11 years in prison since then. In 2013 the authorities jailed him for asking the government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In December 2015, he issued a prophetic statement against the Chinese Communist Party. Our movement for freedom and democracy will only grow stronger in the crucible of your repression. This will speed up the fall of the regime. The dissident was released from prison in August 2019, but placed under permanent police surveillance. To escape persecution, Guo's wife moved to the United States with their two children in 2008. She had repeatedly denounced the tortures inflicted on her husband in prison: Chained hands and feet to the bed for days, he was subjected to electric shocks to the genitals and sleep deprivation. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities continue their relentless crackdown against dissidents. Yesterday, lawyer Ren Quanniu lost his licence to practise. Together with colleague Lu Siwei, who also lost his licence, Ren represented some of the 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists arrested in Guangdong in August 2020. Henan authorities justified their action claiming that Ren had repeatedly refused to describe the Falun Gong movement as an "evil cult, which is how it is officially designated by the Chinese government. In 2018, he represented some members of the movement, which is banned in China. A man wanted in connection with a South Carolina shooting was arrested Tuesday in the San Antonio area, officials said. Tyrese Deshawnd Lighty, 22, was arrested in Live Oak by members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force on eight outstanding warrants involving first degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. The warrants were issued after an October shooting at a Myrtle Beach restaurant that left two people dead and six others seriously injured. Lighty went into hiding and had been on the run until Tuesday. U.S. Marshals in South Carolina recently learned that Lighty had ties in the San Antonio area, officials said. The Lone Star Task Force which includes the Bexar County Sheriffs Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety found Lighty at an apartment in the 13000 block of Oak Terrace Drive in Live Oak, northeast of San Antonio. He was arrested without incident and is being held at the Bexar County Jail while awaiting extradition to Myrtle Beach. Lighty is the fourth person arrested in the case. The others are Samuel Alexander Frye, Lonnell Damon Duckett Jr. and Mardave Dawoo Hunter. The shooting occurred on Oct. 12 inside Allens Food Basket. A card game was taking place in the restaurant when a group entered and lined the eight people inside against a wall, according to The Sun News. Several people started shooting. Darius Hemingway died at the scene and Antonio Woods died days later from his injuries. Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) paid back more than $26.5 million to passengers from April 2020 to January 2021 for canceled flights due to coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. As the press service of UIA said on Wednesday, in December 2020 and January 2021 alone, the company paid back more than $4.5 million. For the ten months, the company considered more than 101,000 passenger appeals. "Ukraine International Airlines emphasizes its readiness for an open dialogue with passengers and hopes that they will realize the situation. For their part, employees of all communication departments of UIA do everything possible to reduce the processing time of all requests," the message said. The airline reminds that in addition to refunds for unused tickets, free change of the ticket or promocode for the cost of the unused ticket, which is valid for two years from the date of its issuance are offered as well. DENVER, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Where's Weed , the "Yelp of cannabis" is celebrating National Pizza Day on February 9th with a giveaway of an all-time favorite munchie: pizza. It's no surprise that cannabis and pizza go hand in hand, which is why one winner will have the opportunity to win the perfect prize pack for the holiday -- $200 worth of pizza and a $100 Visa gift card. Where's Weed National Pizza Day Giveaway National Pizza Day Giveaway From Where's Weed Pizza comes in many varieties and has seemingly endless topping choices. Whether one prefers a classic Chicago deep-dish pizza, a thin New York slice or the addition of more interesting toppings like pineapple, Where's Weed is offering the chance to try a variety of local pizza and receive an additional Visa gift card by telling them all about it. "After everything that happened in 2020, Where's Weed wants to kick off the new year with deliciously good news for one lucky individual. Whether you consume cannabis or not, who doesn't like pizza?" says Samantha Chin, Director of Marketing. GRAND PRIZE: One winner will receive gift certificates valued at $200 to enjoy pizza from several local pizzerias. After they've eaten the pizza, the winner will have the chance to win an additional $100 Visa gift card for giving Where's Weed feedback and taking photos of the pizza orders. HOW TO ENTER: Where's Weed has made it incredibly easy to enter the giveaway. Eligible contestants can enter by visiting the following site to fill out a required form: https://wheresweed.com/blog/category/2021/jan/national-pizza-day-giveaway . After the initial entry, an individual can get up to 23 additional entry opportunities by sharing the contest, visiting Where's Weed accounts on different social media platforms, etc. The giveaway ends on February 10, 2021 at 11:59 pm MST and is only open to U.S. residents 21 years or older. A winner will be drawn on or around February 11, 2021. The official rules, offer terms & eligibility requirements can be found in the Terms & Conditions here. Where's Weed is the all-inclusive online consumer resource connecting visitors with relevant cannabis businesses across the US and Canada. We showcase a variety of directories and educational content to help people find dispensaries, delivery services, MMJ doctors, related deals, strain information, cannabis news and much more. In addition to real-time menu integrations, our platform also offers online ordering for pick-up or delivery, making it easy for consumers to search & buy products. Please contact Samantha at 304-759-8181 or [email protected] for more information. SOURCE Wheres Weed You are the owner of this article. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose for the third straight session on Wednesday amid expectations of a vaccine-powered strengthening of activity later in the year and additional policy support in a few large economies. Strong earnings from Alphabet and Amazon.com also boosted sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 rose half a percent to 408.12 after gaining 1.3 percent on Tuesday. The German DAX gained half a percent, France's CAC 40 index inched up 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent. Novo Nordisk jumped 4.2 percent after the Danish pharmaceutical company gave upbeat sales and profit forecasts for 2021. Santander advanced 1.6 percent. After meeting its profit guidance for 2020, the Spanish bank said it expects higher profitability this year. Publicis Groupe shares surged 4.6 percent. After reporting better-than-expected organic growth in Q4, the French advertising agency company said it will hand back all of the salary reductions that 6,000 higher-earning staff voluntarily took during the worst of the coronavirus downturn. British telecommunications company Vodafone jumped 2.8 percent after re-affirming its earnings targets. Glencore lost 1 percent after saying its copper and cobalt production fell in 2020. Siemens advanced 1.6 percent after the German engineering company beat first-quarter expectations and raised its guidance for the year. Telecommunications company Freenet soared 6.4 percent on share buyback news. In economic releases, the euro area private sector contracted further in January amid the Covid-19 pandemic as the decline in services was only partially offset by the growth in manufacturing sector, final survey results from IHS Markit showed. The final composite output index dropped to 47.8 in January from 49.1 in the previous month but was above the flash score of 47.5. The U.K. services sector activity contracted less-than-expected in January, the final report from IHS Markit revealed. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on 1 February that South Africa has received its first consignment of one million doses of the Covishield vaccine from India. This vaccine was developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and South Africa was one of the countries where clinical trials were held to assess the drugs efficacy. While the arrival of 1 million vaccine doses is a positive start, it is a long way from protecting all South Africans against COVID-19. Ramaphosa said local scientists estimate South Africa will reach herd immunity once around 67% of citizens are immune, which amounts to 40 million people. This means South Africa needs tens of millions of additional vaccine doses to reach the governments target of vaccinating a minimum of two-thirds of the population by the end of this year. To address this issue, Ramaphosa said they are sourcing vaccines from a number of suppliers, which include: In addition to the 1 million Covishield doses, another 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute of India are expected to arrive later in February. South Africa has secured 12 million doses from the global Covax facility, which has indicated that it will release approximately 2 million doses by March. The country has also secured 9 million vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson, commencing with delivery in the second quarter. Aspen will manufacture these vaccines in South Africa. Pfizer has committed 20 million vaccine doses commencing with deliveries in the second quarter. South Africa will also receive an allocation of vaccines through the African Union, which has secured 1 billion vaccines for the continent. Ramaphosa added that the country will also receive other vaccines that will be donated by private sector companies to add to the vaccines that our continent needs. Vaccines South Africa is expecting From Ramaphosas recent comments and a recent report by News24, South Africas focus is on four vaccines AstraZeneca (Covishield), Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna. There are many other vaccines on the market, including Novavax, Sputnik V, and Sinovac, but they have not received the same attention by the South African government as the top 4. This raises the question of how efficient these vaccines are against protecting against COVID-19, whether they will protect against the new 501Y.V2 variant, and when we will get them. News24 reported that only around 33 million vaccine doses are expected before the end of the year enough to vaccinate 20 million people. Citing a Cabinet presentation, News24 reported South Africa is facing a shortfall of 40 million doses to reach its 2021 vaccination target. It further reported the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are expected to arrive in May and a Johnson & Johnson shipment in June. The efficacy of the vaccines differs significantly based on different trials conducted around the world, but it is widely accepted that the mRNA vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna provides the best protection. Most COVID-19 vaccines provide some protection against new virus variants, like 501Y.V2 which is widespread in South Africa, but conclusive efficacy results are not available for all vaccines yet. The table below provides an overview of the latest information regarding the vaccines which South Africa are expected to get in 2021. State-owned CIL on Wednesday said it has entered into a pact worth Rs 2,900 crore with a Belarus-based mining equipment manufacturer for purchase of dumpers. The pact is for purchase of 96 dumpers of 240 tonne capacity each, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a statement. "CIL on Saturday last formally signed a major procurement pact worth Rs 2,900 crore, for purchase of 96 dumpers of 240 tonne capacity each with Belaz, the Belarus-based mining equipment manufacturer," the PSU said. In August last year, the CIL board had given its nod for the procurement of these dumpers. The entire Rs 2,900 crore investment would be funded through CIL's own finances and includes the cost of equipment along with the spares and consumables for eight years. For CIL, whose 95 per cent of the entire coal output is through opencast mines, dumpers of such high capacity are pivotal in ferrying Over Burden (OB) from mine working face to dump yard. OB is the extraneous material that overlays the coal seam, removal of which makes the dry fuel's production easier. The batch of 96 dumpers would be deployed in two of the large opencast mines of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), the highest coal producing subsidiary of CIL, namely Gevra and Kusmunda. While 84 machines would be pressed into action in Gevra, the rest 12 would be operationalised in Kusmunda. The first lot of six dumpers would roll into Gevra open cast (OC) expansion project within eight months from the signing of the contract. Thereafter on CIL's go-ahead as per their performance, after one year from the date of their commissioning, the rest 90 would follow at four machines per month. CIL further said 66 similar capacity machines are already operational in SECL and once the 96 are added to the existing fleet, their total would swell to 162. CIL's overburden removal (OBR) performance "has been persistently positive since the beginning of the fiscal and ending January 2021, the growth clocked a robust 20 per cent at 1106 Million Cubic Metres," it said. With the company confident of sustaining OBR growth momentum, the role of dumpers in transporting the extracted OB gets amplified further. This is the second contract that CIL has sealed with Belaz. Earlier it had procured 77 dumpers of 150 tonne capacity from the company through a global bidding. CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. Also read: Pichai, Nadella, other tech CEOs congratulate Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy for new roles Also read: Who is Andy Jassy, the next CEO of e-comm giant Amazon? Asserting that the new farm laws were passed after extensive deliberations in Parliament, the BJP on Tuesday said in Rajya Sabha that doors are always open for farmers to resolve the issue amicably, and urged opposition parties not to make the farmers' agitation another Shaheen Bagh. Moving the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the upper house, BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita said the government respects farmers. He said the government has given new rights to farmers through these new farm laws and none of their rights or facilities have been taken away. Attacking the opposition members, who were trying to disrupt the proceedings of the House, he said, "Let me remind them that the three farm laws have been passed by both the houses of Parliament after much deliberations." "The benefits of these three important farm laws have started reaching more than 10 crore people and small farmers. There has been no reduction in the rights and facilities of farmers. Through these agriculture reforms, the government has given new rights to farmers," he said initiating the debate. The motion was seconded by another BJP member Vijay Pal Singh Tomar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the House when the debate started. The opposition members moved as many as 118 amendments to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. Kalita said even after opposition members are raising the issue to disrupt the House, "we have utmost respect for our farmers". He said Agriculture minister and Railways minister have been holding discussion with farmers and many rounds of discussions have already taken place. "The door is always open for farmers for discussion so that this issue of farm laws can be resolved amicably.The government is ready to discuss all issues concerning it, but my appeal to our friends, please do not make it another Shaheen Bagh," he said. Shaheen Bagh in the national capital was the the epicentre of the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The BJP member from Assam cited the example of the Citizenship amendment bill which was passed by Parliament after the BJP returned to power with a decisive majority. "Now they have objections and they want to organise another Shaheen Bagh. The anti-CAA parties in Assam are forming new parties and let me remind you what Congress got in 2019 Lok Sabha elections by supporting CAA, the anti-CAA parties will lose in 2021 elections in Assam," Kalita said. "The BJP alliance will win and return to power in Assam," he asserted. He lauded the prime minister for his numerous visits to Assam, noting that Modi and central government officials have visited Assam and northeastern states 40 times during his two terms. This is probably the first time that any prime minister has paid so much attention to the northeast region, he said. He also noted that the government is committed to strengthen the underprivileged sections of society. This government believes in 100 percent implementation of its promises, he said. Kalita said the GST collection was picking up as the economy was on the path of recovery due to efforts taken by the government. Vijay Pal Singh Tomar said the farm laws were passed after extensive deliberations, noting that there have been 12 expert committees in the past two decades on farm reforms. He hit out at those criticising the farm laws, saying they are spreading misinformation. The new laws will help small farmers and the agricultural sector, he said. He also drew a comparison between the agriculture budgets during the UPA tenure and now. He aid one year budget provision for agriculture has been more than five years of that in UPA. He said the agriculture budget was Rs 1.21 lakh crore during 2009-2014 whereas the agriculture budget in 2019-20 was 1.51 lakh crore. "The way the prime minister has taken steps in the agriculture sector, we are sure the sector will grow and help make India a USD 5 trillion economy," he said. He stressed on value addition in farming, saying diversification is required in the sector and that is possible only with the new farm laws. Small and marginal farmers which comprise 86 percent will benefit from new laws, he said. He said post harvesting losses to farmers is said to be 15-22 percent and a survey attributes losses at Rs 92,000 crore per annum. Proper storage can save it, he said. Tomar said middlemen were eating into the profits of farmers and new laws were intended to benefit farmers. He pitched for diversification of agriculture and lauded Modi and the BJP government for recognising industrious farmers and conferring awards like Padmashri on them. Tomar also stressed on ethanol production by farmers and said the demand was bound to increase following government's decision to increase blending limit to 20 percent by 2030. On farm laws, he said some people were creating confusion that farmers will not get MSP whereas during the BJP regime it has risen sharply. The children of farmers will become job providers after these laws and would not be required to work for petty sums, he said. Those who moved amendments included Tiruchi Siva, Digvijay Singh and Deependra Singh Hooda. The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, on Wednesday, says the planned industrial action by non-teaching staff in the univer... The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, on Wednesday, says the planned industrial action by non-teaching staff in the universities may last up to three months. SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, stated this on Wednesday in an online interview with The Punch. Non-teaching staff in the universities will commence a nationwide strike from February 5, 2021 over the Federal Governments handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, sharing formula for the N40bn earned academic allowances and non-payment of arrears of the new minimum wage. The planned strike by the non-teaching staff is coming barely weeks after the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its 10-month strike last December. Ibrahim said the planned strike by the non-teaching workers was a matter of necessity, adding that the only language the government seems to understand is strike. He said, In the history of this union, we have never gone on strike beyond three months and this is probably because government realised also that there is no way they will allow us to go on strike for this long, because if our people should go on strike, the system would be shut, there would no water, no electricity, no security, no healthcare, you can imagine what will happen. So, I believe having called us the first time though we have not agreed yet, we still believe and we are hopeful that the government will do the needful by attending to our demands. But if those demands are not met, I can assure you that our cups are full and this is the time for our members to drive home their point through strike if that is the only language the government listens to. The SSANU president explained how the Federal Government deceived the varsity workers to be enrolled on the IPPIS platform. According to him, IPPIS does not capture the peculiarities of the payments in the university community. Ibrahim said, When IPPIS came onboard in February 2020, before then, all the unions in the universities vehemently rejected the implementation of IPPIS for the payment of salaries. From our own angle, we said we dont throw away the baby with bath water, let us listen to the government, what it is that they have to offer on this IPPIS. Government came with the mantra of they want to block leakages and fight corruption and we all know that corruption exists in the public service. We realised that IPPIS is not totally bad in itself but it not for a system like the university, so we challenged the government to say that this system cannot work for the university system and so, therefore, if you want us to buy into it, go and look at our peculiarities such as the age for retirement, sabbatical leave payment, responsibility allowance, excess workload and others found in the university environment. We had a demonstration of the platform at the National Universities Commission and they deceived us to believe that such peculiarities that we highlighted have been captured. And because we believe in having a hitch-free university system, we keyed into it. The SSANU President said the workers realised the system was not working as many workers were not paid their deserved allowances and earnings and therefore wrote the government on the development. We wrote the government that we had keyed but we will give you an alternative payment solution the University Peculiar Payment System which will now accommodate all these peculiarities and that we will soon unveil and present it to the government. The workers had in January embarked on a three-day protest over the governments failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the unions on October 20, 2020. They had said other contentious issues that informed the decision to embark on a nationwide industrial action include inconsistencies in the IPPIS payment and the delay in the renegotiation of the FGN/ ASUU/SSANU 2009 agreement. Others are the non-payment of retirement benefits to former members, non-constitution of visitation panels to universities, poor funding of universities, teaching staff usurping the headship of non-teaching units, among others. Albany, NY -- One of the FBI agents killed Tuesday morning in Florida began his career in the agencys Albany field office. Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, served in the Albany office -- which has a territory that covers Syracuse -- from 2009 to 2014, the FBI said. He resided in the Albany area during that time. Alfin and another Special Agent, Laura Schwartzenberger, were killed Tuesday while executing a search warrant in a child exploitation case at an apartment in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Miami. Three other FBI agents were injured and the suspected gunman was found dead after barricading himself inside an apartment. RELATED: 2 FBI agents killed, 3 wounded in Florida; suspect dead Alfins time in Albany helped develop his passion for investigating cyber crimes and crimes against children. He was an incredible agent who did outstanding work within our criminal and cyber programs, said Thomas Relford, special agent in charge of the FBIs Albany office. In fact, SA Alfin was one of the first agents assigned to our dedicated Cyber Squad. He went on to have a tremendous impact on the FBIs Violent Crimes Against Children program, where he was committed to protecting our most vulnerable. After leaving Albany, Alfin gained renown in 2018 for leading the investigation dubbed Operation Pacifier, which targeted a dark web operation that trafficked in child pornography. He was given an award by the Executive Office of the U.S. Attorneys for the probe, which led to 350 arrests in the United States, 548 international arrests, the prosecution of 51 hands-on child sex abusers and 25 producers of child pornography,. The investigation also identified and/or led to the rescue of 55 victimized U.S. children and another 296 around the world, a description of the award said. The local U.S. Attorneys Office, which prosecutes cases investigated by the FBI, also lauded Alfins skill. Over those 5 years, SA Alfin worked tirelessly to protect our community from predators, said Acting U.S. Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon of the Northern District of New York. Using creative investigative techniques, SA Alfin targeted the worst predators in our area and went on to lead a national investigation. We are grateful to have worked with him and will remember his intelligence, dedication, and sense of humor. He will be missed. Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Atresmedia TV has announced that the filming of the second season of Toy Boy will begin "soon" on the Costa del Sol. The specific date has not yet been finalised, but the announcement confirms the return of this production whose first season filmed in the province for about eight months. The night life, the strip bars and the confrontation between the Rojas and Medina families will feature again but with the addition of a touch of the Italian mafia. Again, Netflix will premiere the series to the rest of the world, which was recommissioned to its worldwide success on the video-on-demand platform. The original premiere of Toy Boy was on during prime time on Spains Antena 3, where it had a very limited audience and numerous critics at the end of 2019. But everything changed when it reached the Netflix platform, where it did not take long to become one of the most popular series in many countries. The producer Plano a Plano is once again the driving force behind this sequel, which will be shot again in its entirety on the Costa del Sol. The main cast of Jesus Mosquera, Cristina Castano and Maria Pedraza, from Malaga, will be joined by two international signings, the Italians Michele Morrone and Federica Sabatini. A Houston police officer failed to identify himself as law enforcement before shooting a man in January 2020 during an undercover operation, according to a civil lawsuit filed Friday in the Southern District of Texas. Officers Aaron Petty and John Sanders were named as defendants, along with the city of Houston. The suit contends that Petty used excessive force when he shot plaintiff Keith Martin, 45, from an unmarked car on Jan. 9, 2020. At the time, police said the plain-clothed officers were conducting an undercover surveillance operation when Martin approached them and attempted to open their unmarked Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Police said one officer opened fire from the vehicle when Martin reached into a backpack to grab what police thought would be a gun. Martins lawyer, Andre Evans, said in the lawsuit that Martin was not armed. He had been offering his car detailing service at the time and did not know he was interrupting a police operation, Evans said. While Martin survived the shooting, he still faces lasting physical and psychological trauma, he said. Martin has requested a federal jury trial. The Houston Police Department referred questions to the city. The city prefers to let a lawsuit run its course in a court of law, instead of commenting publicly on the allegations, according to a statement from Mary Benton, spokeswoman for Mayor Sylvester Turner. Police said Martin approached the officers vehicle around 1 p.m. in a Walgreens parking lot in the 8000 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. The officers were not wearing body cameras at the time. According to the police account, Martin gestured for the officers to get out and, at one point, struck the hood of the truck with his hands. Martin tried to open the driver-side door and said I got something for you, which the officers took as a threat. Evans said Martin was simply trying to offer his services, but the officers did not respond to his attempts. Martin eventually stood in front of the vehicle to get their attention. Petty shot Martin four times through the windshield from the passenger seat, the lawsuit said. The suit noted that Sanders did not draw or fire his weapon from the drivers seat. After the shooting, the officers arrested Martin on a charge of terroristic threats, which was dismissed in June. Martin, a father of three, is now living with family in Houston, Evans said. Two bullets could not be removed from his body. He still suffers from back pain and body aches, Evans said. In addition to the excessive force allegation, the lawsuit contends that Martin, who is Black, was unlawfully arrested and that race played a role in the shooting. julian.gill@chron.com twitter.com/juliangillmusic Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:22 am On Tuesday, Feb. 2, U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concern over the appointment of Suzi Levine to Interim Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration within the United States Department of Labor, according to a release from Herrera Beutlers office. Before Levines appointment, she served as the head of the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD). Under her leadership, the ESD was defrauded of more than $600 million taxpayer dollars and thousands of Washingtonians went weeks without unemployment assistance during the state-imposed shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the release. Her mistakes that led to the largest fraud in Washington state history were matched by the poor service that defined her tenure, the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the President. With thousands of our constituents affected by the ineffectiveness of Ms. Levines leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are deeply concerned that her appointment will have a negative impact on the millions of people who rely on the services of the Employment and Training Administration. We urge you to reconsider this appointment. Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines, including to other countries. Police in Beijing and in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces broke up the group led by a suspect surnamed Kong that was producing the fake vaccines, which consisted of a simple saline solution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The vaccines were sold in China and to other countries, although it was unclear which ones. The group had been active since last September, according to state media. China has already reported the situation to the relevant countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing Tuesday. The Chinese government highly values vaccine safety and will continue to take efforts to strictly prosecute any counterfeits, fake sales and illegal business, and other related actions that involve vaccines," Wang said. "At the same time, China will strengthen our law enforcement cooperation with the relevant countries, to earnestly prevent the spread of this type of illegal and criminal action. He did not offer further details. China has a long history of vaccine scandals resulting from manufacturing issues as well as business practices. In 2016, police arrested two people who were in charge of a ring that sold millions of improperly stored vaccines across the country. In response to recent scandals, China reformed vaccine safety regulations and increased criminal penalties for those caught making counterfeits. Domestically, many Chinese citizens did not trust homegrown vaccines and surveys previously showed that trust in vaccines fell after scandals like the one in 2016. However, since the pandemic has struck, confidence has been high. A total of 74% of respondents in a recent survey published in Chinese business magazine Caixin said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine if it was available. China has at least seven COVID-19 vaccines in the last stage of clinical trials, and has one that has been approved for domestic use, made by state-owned Sinopharm. Chinese vaccine makers have seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic to go global, with Sinopharm and other Chinese companies making deals or donating their vaccines in at least 27 countries around the world. Domestically, China has given more than 24 million doses of its homegrown vaccine candidates, as part of a mass vaccination campaign. It has so far refrained from giving the vaccine to the most elderly, instead targeting key groups such as medical workers and workers who work in food- related industries, as well as adults between the ages of 18 and 59. (Image Credit: AP) (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Note to readers: 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. Stephen King has written 61 novels. And some 200 short stories. With over 350 million copies sold, hes hard to miss. Youve probably read his books and seen some of his novels adapted into movies Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Running Man to name a few. Agatha Christie wrote more than 75 books. Over 2 billion copies of her books have been sold. Many generations have grown up flipping pages of her books as Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy, and Tuppence unravel intricate mysteries. Isaac Asimov (setting his nasty behaviour with women aside to stay on point here) wrote and edited 500 books. Many of his books such as the Bicentennial Man; I, robot, and Nightfall have been made into movies. Secret of Their Productivity Theyre all prolific. Theyve written more than most average readers can even hope to read in a lifetime. This columnist has often wondered and gone down a few rabbit holes to try and find the secret of their productivity and of course answer the question: what gives them ideas? Is it coffee? Like French novelist Balzac who drank some 50 cups of coffee a day, and is said to have written a 14,000-word story in one night? Is it Nicotine? Like King who smoked a fair bit? Or are they freaks of nature? Asimov is quick to remind us that though many great ideas come from people who seem eccentric, it is not a necessary, or sufficient condition. To be a crackpot is not, however, enough in itself, he says. What Is The Common Thread? But theres one thing that you will find common among many of them. They shut the door when they write. The closed door is your way of telling the world and yourself that you mean business; you have made a serious commitment to write and intend to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, Stephen King writes in his book On Writing: A Memoir to the Craft. Isaac Asimov writes in his essay How do creative people get ideas: My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required. The creative person is, in any case, continually working at it. In short, they cut out distractions while theyre at it. These days, although the barriers to writing and publishing have come down drastically, it has become harder and harder to write anything of substance. I speak from experience. The pings and the dings never stop coming. So if youre someone who needs to focus on writing, ideas, or even on getting things done dont just shut the door to your room but also shut the door on social media and other distractions that come on the internet. Nir Eyal, an expert on behavioural design and consumer psychology, who I interviewed a few months ago, had the most succinct antidote to this: become indistractable. How does one do that? Eyal recommends that we control internal triggers that is, events that originate from within ourselves that trigger distractions. Making time for traction that is, not only make a to-do list but mark time in your calendar to accomplish those tasks. Hacking external triggers back in other words, shut the door both to your room and also on your internet-connected devices (notifications, pings, and dings) Taken together, this makes for a good start. And with practice, you too can shut the door and write, read, or create more. The bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, said, 'We have read a statement made by the PM in the press that the law will take its own course. That means they are inquiring into it. We do not want to interfere in it at this stage' New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking setting up of a committee headed by a former apex court judge to conduct a time-bound probe into the violence during tractor rally in Delhi on the Republic Day. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde asked lawyer Vishal Tiwari, who had filed the PIL, to give a representation to the central government for taking necessary action. "We are sure that the government is inquiring into it (violence) and they are doing it. We have read a statement made by the Prime Minister in the press that the law will take its own course. That means they are inquiring into it. We do not want to interfere in it at this stage," said the bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian. Tiwari sought setting up of a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident. The apex court also refused to entertain two similar pleas related to the tractor rally violence and asked the petitioners to file representation with the government. The tractor parade on 26 January that was to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Romanian companies from the textile industry, certified to produce protection masks, have not received any order from the Romanian state for such products, thus being exported in countries such as Germany or France, the chairman of the Employer's Federation of the Light Industry, Mihai Pasculescu, told press conference, on Wednesday, according to AGERPRES. "Shops are closed, there are no orders, we are only making medical and protection clothing, and we export that. The State (Romanian state, ed. n) has not ordered any single mask from the Romanian companies that were certified to making these products, and as such we export them to France, Italy and Germany," the clothing industry leader said. NEW YORK and TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. ("iAnthus" or the "Company") (CSE: IAN) (OTCPK: ITHUF), which owns, operates and partners with regulated cannabis operations across the United States, announces that it has closed an $11 million bridge financing (the "Financing") funded by certain lenders (collectively, the "Lenders") affiliated with the counterparties to the previously announced restructuring support agreement dated July 10, 2020, being the holders of all of the 13% senior secured convertible debentures issued by iAnthus Capital Management, LLC ("ICM") and the holders of 91% of the principal amount of 8% convertible unsecured debentures issued by the Company. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, iAnthus New Jersey, LLC ("iAnthus NJ"), has issued $11 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured bridge notes (the "Secured Notes"), due February 2, 2023, subject to an earlier maturity in the event the Company completes an equity financing resulting in at least $10 million in net proceeds to the Company. The Secured Notes will accrue interest at the rate of 14.0% per annum (decreasing to 8.0% upon completion of the Company's previously announced recapitalization transaction (the "Recapitalization Transaction")), payable quarterly, in kind, commencing on March 31, 2021. The Secured Notes are secured by a security interest in all of the assets of iAnthus NJ. The Company has provided a guarantee in respect of all of the obligations, indebtedness and liabilities of iAnthus NJ under the Secured Notes. The proceeds of the Financing, net of fees, costs and expenses related to the Financing, will be used primarily for the construction and improvements of certain New Jersey facilities leased and/or owned by iAnthus NJ. Upon completion of construction and prior to commencement of operations, such facilities are expected to be subleased to MPX New Jersey, LLC ("MPX NJ"), a medical cannabis permit holder in New Jersey with which the Company has entered into several contractual agreements as described below. These facilities include the cultivation and manufacturing facility currently under construction in Pleasantville and the current dispensary located in Atlantic City, as well as two prospective satellite dispensaries expected to be leased and/or purchased and improved by iAnthus NJ pursuant to satellite approval applications filed with the New Jersey Department of Health on December 31, 2020. Randy Maslow, Interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company stated: "We are very pleased to have closed this bridge note financing. The net proceeds from the financing will be used exclusively for our operations in New Jersey for the continued construction and completion of improvements at our New Jersey cultivation, manufacturing and dispensary facilities. We expect to sublease these facilities to MPX NJ once construction is complete and the facilities are ready to commence licensed operations." The Company's iAnthus NJ subsidiary, pursuant to a loan agreement with MPX NJ dated October 24, 2018, has the right to convert the principal balance of the loans and accrued interest thereon into a 99% equity interest in MPX NJ subject to certain regulatory approvals. In addition, pursuant to an option agreement of the same date with MPX NJ and its then current equityholders, iAnthus NJ has an option to acquire the remaining 1% of MPX NJ for nominal consideration, subject to certain conditions and approvals. All references to currency in this news release are in U.S. dollars. Certain of the Lenders (funds affiliated with Gotham Green Partners, LLC) may be considered "related parties" as such term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Accordingly, the Financing may be a "related party transaction" as defined in MI 61-101. The Company will rely on the exemption from the formal valuation requirement at Section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 (Issuer Not Listed on Specified Markets) in respect of the Financing, and the exemption from minority approval requirement at Section 5.7(1)(f) of MI 61-101 (Loan to Issuer, No Equity or Voting Component) in respect of the Financing. The Company did not file a material change report 21 days prior to the expected closing of the Financing as the structure of the transaction and details of the participation of the Lenders had not been confirmed at that time. Due to the Company's liquidity constraints, the Company believes it is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances to complete the Financing within the available financing windows. About iAnthus iAnthus owns and operates licensed cannabis cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.iAnthus.com. COVID-19 Risk Factor The Company may be impacted by business interruptions resulting from pandemics and public health emergencies, including those related to COVID-19. An outbreak of infectious disease, a pandemic, or a similar public health threat, such as the recent outbreak of COVID-19, or a fear of any of the foregoing could adversely impact the Company by causing operating, manufacturing, supply chain, and project development delays and disruptions, labor shortages, travel, and shipping disruption and shutdowns (including as a result of government regulation and prevention measures). It is unknown whether and how the Company may be affected if such a pandemic persists for an extended period of time, including as a result of the waiver of regulatory requirements or the implementation of emergency regulations to which the Company is subject. Although the Company has been deemed essential and/or has been permitted to continue operating its facilities in the states in which it cultivates, processes, manufactures, and sells cannabis during the pendency of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no assurance that the Company's operations will continue to be deemed essential and/or will continue to be permitted to operate. The Company may incur expenses or delays relating to such events outside of its control, which could have a material adverse impact on its business, operating results, financial condition, and the trading price of the Company's common shares. Forward Looking Statements Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including concerning COVID-19 and the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in iAnthus' periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. When used in this news release, words such as "will", "hope", "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "believe", "should", "our vision" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements related to: the Company's financial performance, business development and results of operations, the use of proceeds from the Financing and the sublease of facilities to MPX NJ. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. iAnthus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law, and iAnthus does not assume any liability for disclosure relating to any other company mentioned herein. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this news release. The securities to be issued pursuant to the Restructuring Transaction 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. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. "United States" and "U.S. person" are as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. SOURCE iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. Related Links https://www.ianthus.com/ Lancaster University together with the British Psychological Society has provided research-based recommendations for mental health support for people living with four motor neurodegenerative conditions. The new guidance, published by the BPS, provides psychologists and other health professionals with recommendations for providing psychological support to individuals living with Huntingtons disease, Parkinsons disease, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis. Georgina Carr, Chief Executive of The Neurological Alliance, called this incredibly important guidance. At the Neurological Alliance we have long known that too many people with neurological conditions arent having their mental health needs adequately served by the existing set of services and support. Not only does this set of recommendations provide invaluable guidance for psychologists and allied professions on how best to work with people with the named conditions, but it also shines a light on the need for further research in this area. Georgina Carr, Chief Executive, The Neurological Alliance Psychological interventions for people with Huntingtons disease, Parkinsons disease, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis is the result of work by Minds & Movement, a joint initiative by health researchers from Lancaster University and the BPS. Jane Simpson, Professor of the Psychology of Neurodegenerative Conditions at Lancaster University and co-author with Dr Fiona Eccles and Dr Nicolo Zarotti of the guidelines, said: We are delighted that this guidance is now available and are extremely grateful to all those health professionals and groups and charities supporting individuals living with these conditions for sharing their own work and patient experiences. While we are able to make some useful recommendations regarding what therapies can be effective for different psychological difficulties, we have also been struck by both the lack of research, especially for people with motor neurone disease and Huntingtons disease, and the lack of accessible psychological services for many in the UK. We hope that our guidelines will add to the voices of patients and supporting associations for more funded research and more support for these essential psychological services. Living with the physical challenges of these conditions is undoubtedly difficult but we also need to make sure we are looking to support the mental health and well-being of the hundreds of thousands of individuals in the UK affected by these conditions. Following a review of the current literature, the guidance gives evidence of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for each neurodegenerative condition. It also categorises these by type of psychological outcome and by type of psychological intervention. The guidance is free to download and will help psychologists, and other health professionals, who work people with these conditions. Maputo The Mozambican health authorities on Tuesday reported a further 17 deaths from the Covid-19 respiratory disease, and 800 new cases. According to a press release from the Ministry of Health, 16 of the latest victims were men and one was a woman. They were all Mozambican citizens and varied in age between 42 and 83. 16 of the deaths occurred in Maputo city and one in Maputo province. Eight of the deaths were declared on Monday, three on Sunday, and one on Tuesday. The other five deaths were declared between 22 and 30 January. According to Sergio Chicumbe, director of surveys at the National Health Institute (INS), the delay between a death and recording it in the Ministry's statistics is due to the care taken in issuing death certificates and ascertaining cause of death. The total Covid-19 death toll in Mozambique now stands at 403. 322 of these (79.9 per cent) occurred in Maputo city. The Ministry release said that, since the start of the pandemic, 350,352 people have been tested for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, 2,642 of them in the previous 24 hours, Of the samples tested, 1,021 were from Maputo City, 358 from Sofala, 307 from Gaza, 200 from Manica, 194 from Gaza, 151 from Cabo Delgado, 123 from Zambezia, 96 from Nampula, 96 from Tete, 50 from Maputo province, and 46 from Inhambane. 1,842 of the tests gave negative results, and 800 people tested positive for the coronavirus. 785 of these were confirmed as Mozambican citizens, five are known to be foreigners (but the Ministry did not give their nationalities), while the nationalities of the other ten are yet to be confirmed. 418 of the cases reported on Tuesday are men or boys, and 382 are women or girls. 53 are children under the age of 15, and 33 are over 65 years old. No age information was available for 34 cases. Over half of the new cases (432) were from Maputo city. There were also 82 cases from Manica, 50 from Niassa, 49 from Gaza, 46 from Tete, 42 from Inhambane, 31 from Zambezia, 28 from Cabo Delgado, 22 from Maputo province, and 18 from Nampula. The only province that did not report any positive cases was Sofala. Tuesday's cases bring the total number of covid-19 cases diagnosed in Mozambique to 40,260. The positivity rate on Tuesday (proportion of those tested who were carrying the virus) was 30.3 per cent. This compares with 27.9 per cent on Monday, 24.8 per cent on Sunday and 28.7 per cent on Saturday. The Ministry reported that, over the same 24 hour period, 35 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospital, slightly more than the 32 who were admitted, In Maputo, 25 patients were discharged and 20 were admitted, while in Matola three were discharged and one admitted. Two were discharged in Cabo Delgado, but two others were admitted. Two were discharged in Tete, and three were admitted. In Sofala, one was discharged, but five were admitted. In Zambezia, one patient was discharged and one admitted, while in Gaza, one patient was discharged. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Mozambique By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. As of Tuesday, 307 people were under medical care in the Covid-19 wards - 210 in Maputo (68.4 per cent of the total), 22 in Matola, 21 in Sofala, 18 in Tete, 12 in Inhambane, eight in Zambezia, seven in Gaza, three in Cabo Delgado, three in Nampula, and three in Manica. The Ministry also reported that a further 417 people had made a full recovery from Covid19 - 186 in Niassa, 170 in Maputo city, and 61 in Zambezia. This brings the total number of recoveries to 25,010, which is 62.1 per cent of all those diagnosed in Mozambique with the coronavirus. The number of active Covid-19 cases continues to grow, and is now 14,843 (up from 18,447 on Monday). The geographical distribution of the active cases is as follows: Maputo city, 7,958 (53.6 per cent of the total); Maputo province, 2,006; Manica, 836; Inhambane, 812; Gaza, 801; Sofala, 730; Niassa, 564; Zambezia, 498; Nampula, 309; Cabo Delgado, 237; and Tete, 92. A laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for COVID-19 at "Fire Eye" laboratory in Wuhan in China's central Hubei Province on Feb. 6, 2020. BGI Group, a genome sequencing company based in southern China, said it opened a lab in Wuhan able to test up to 10,000 people per day for COVID on Feb. 5, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) China Is Collecting Americans DNA, Posing Major Security Risks: US Counterintelligence Agency The Chinese regime has for years been collecting large amounts of American health care data, including sensitive genetic informationwhich pose serious privacy and national security risks, a top U.S. counterintelligence agency has warned. Alongside illegal means such as cyber hacking, Beijing has used investments in American biotech companies and partnerships with hospitals and universities to gain access to U.S. healthcare and genetic data, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) said in a fact sheet (pdf) released on Feb. 1. Vast amounts of genomic information (a persons entire genetic sequence) can fuel developments in the cutting-edge field of precision medicine (or personalized medicine), allowing China to overtake the United States to become a global leader in biotech, the paper said. Such data can also be weaponized to target individuals in the country for intelligence and military operations. The warning came as Chinese genetics giant BGI Group has drawn scrutiny over its aggressive efforts to push its COVID-19 test kits and support labs around the world, raising data security concerns. By last August, the company had sold 35 million rapid COVID-19 testing kits to 180 countries and built 58 labs in 18 countries. The company approached several U.S. states last year to build and run COVID-19 testing labs, but none accepted after U.S. officials warned against the partnership, according to recent CBS report. BGI says it does not gain access to patient data from its COVID-19 labs or test kits, but former director of the NCSC William Evanina told CBS that the labs were like trojan horses: by setting up its gene-sequencing equipment in the United States, the company could later exploit the equipment to mine Americans genetic information. Sequencers are machines used to decode and analyze a persons entire genome. The company was able to gain access to the U.S. market and user data after it bought California-based sequence-machine maker Complete Genomics for $118 million in 2013, the paper noted. Three years earlier, BGI received a $1.5 billion loan from state-run China Development Bank. Chinese companies, including BGI, have also formed partnerships with U.S hospitals, universities, and research institutes, offering low-cost gene sequencing services. These partnerships allow U.S. entities to expand their research capabilities, while Chinese firms gain access to more genetic data on more diverse sets of people, which they can use for new medical products and services, the fact sheet said. A 2019 report found that at least 15 Chinese firms were licensed to perform genetic testing or sequencing on U.S. patients, giving them access to genetic data. Americans genomic information is particularly valuable to China due to the ethnic diversity of the U.S. population, the paper noted. This is because varied data sets are more useful in research to identify genetic diseases. The Chinese regime last year passed laws to severely limit the ability of foreign firms to access Chinese peoples biological data. They are building out a huge domestic database, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Edward You, a former biochemist, told CBS. And if they are now able to supplement that with data from all around the world, its all about who gets the largest, most diverse data set. And so, the ticking time bomb is that once theyre able to achieve true artificial intelligence, then theyre off to the races in what they can do with that data. If the regime is able to use this massive DNA database to make strides in personalized medicine, it could outstrip American companies, jeopardizing U.S. economic security. Although new medicines coming out of China could benefit U.S. patients, America could be left more dependent on Chinese innovation and drug development for its cures, leading to a transfer of wealth, co-opting of new businesses, and greater job opportunities in China, the sheet said. The NCSC also warned that the regime could combine genomic data sets with Americans personal information stolen in previous cyber attacks to precisely target individuals in foreign governments or companies for potential surveillance, manipulation, or extortion. For instance, the regime may be able to identify vulnerabilities, such as addictions or mental illnesses, of a target by analyzing genetic data and health records. Such information could be leveraged for blackmail, used to both recruit foreigners to spy for the regime, and suppress dissidents abroad. The Chinese regime has amassed vast amounts of American personal data through several massive cyber hacks in recent years. These include intrusions on the U.S. governments personnel agency, credit reporting agency Equifax, and health insurer Anthem, which resulted in the theft of personal information of tens of millions of Americans. Inside China, the regime has already started exploiting genetic data to control and repress ethnic Muslim minorities in the far-western Xinjiang region, the NCSC said. In 2014, it launched a mass collection of biometric data from the local population, taking DNA samples, fingerprints, iris scans, and blood samples. Such information feeds into a massive database used to surveil and target individuals. Researchers and advocates have also warned that the DNA collection could be used to facilitate forced organ harvesting of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, more than 1 million of whom are detained in a network of concentration camps. Last year, the U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted two BGI subsidiaries for their roles in conducting genetic analysis on Uyghurs, aiding the regimes persecution in the region. BGI denies that its been involved in human rights abuses. New Britain Fire Department / Contributed Photo NEW BRITAIN One person died and four were rescued after a fire at a Spring Street apartment complex early Wednesday morning, according to the citys mayor. Units were dispatched to the apartment complex around 2 a.m. Artificial Intelligence Colby College Launches AI Institute Colby College in Maine is establishing a cross-disciplinary institute for artificial intelligence the first such major AI program at a liberal arts college, according to the institution. The mission of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence will be to "provide new pathways for talented students and faculty to research, create and apply AI and machine learning across disciplines while setting a precedent for how liberal arts colleges can shape the future of AI," the college said in a news announcement. Set to open this fall, the Davis Institute will pull together faculty with expertise in AI from a variety of disciplines computer science, genomics, sociology, English literature and more to explore the use of AI in research and teaching. It will also partner with outside organizations and institutions to provide students with real-world research projects, internships and other experiential learning opportunities. And a new summer program will allow visiting faculty and students to work on AI projects and course development, and then share their research at their home institutions. Ultimately, the institute will be tasked with providing the next generation of students with the programming and design skills to "shape the capacity and influence of AI" as well as "influence policy decisions regarding the social and ethical implications of AI and its uses for the common good." "The Davis Institute will enable our faculty to transform their scholarship and teaching," said Margaret McFadden, provost and dean of faculty at Colby, in a statement. "AI is driving very dramatic shifts in virtually every area of inquiry. These shifts will have profound consequences for quantitative research and teaching across the sciences, social sciences and the humanities, and ultimately offer new routes to discovery. Our educational mission must include preparing students for a future in which AI is ubiquitous, and this institute will make that possible in a way that no other liberal arts college can do." This is the shocking moment a 31-year-old man was beaten and kidnapped in broad daylight outside his apartment in one of Mexico's safest and affluent cities, in an attack that police believe was orchestrated by one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Footage shot by a bystander shows a group of armed men beating Rolando Garcia while he repeatedly shouted 'help' in the middle of a street in San Pedro Garza Garcia, a municipality in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon, on Monday afternoon. A masked man continuously hit Garcia in the back of his head before he fell to the ground and was eventually shoved inside a Volkswagen Jetta. A separate shows the VW Jetta and a Nissan Sentra racing down the normally quiet street before disappearing. As of Wednesday, Garcia's whereabouts were unknown. A resident in the Nuevo Leon, Mexico, municipality of San Pedro Garza Garcia recorded the moment Rolando Garcia was kidnapped by a group of armed men outside his apartment building on Monday. Authorities did not reveal a motive for the incident but police sources have told local outlets that the abduction could have been ordered by Jose Villareal, who is wanted by the FBI for ordering the 2013 assassination of Mexican lawyer in Southlake, Texas Armed men are filmed forcing Rolando Garcia into a vehicle in broad daylight as he screamed for help outside his apartment in in the San Pedro Garza Garcia neighborhood of Valle de San Angel, home to most of the richest families in Mexico and American diplomats assigned to Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon The incident shocked resident in the San Pedro Garza Garcia neighborhood of Valle de San Angel, home to most of the richest families in Mexico and American diplomats assigned to Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon. According to Nuevo Leon State Attorney General's office, the San Pedro Garza Garcia only reported 1% of crimes were committed in the state in 2020. Local media outlets learned through police sources close to the investigation that the abduction could have been ordered by Jose Villareal. The U.S. Department of State has issued a $1 million reward for the arrest of Jose Villarreal, a top ranking official of the Beltran-Leyva Organization Drug Cartel. Police sources have linked him to the abduction of Rolando Garcia on Monday in Nuevo Leon, Mexico Armed men are seen on video struggling to force Rolando Garcia inside a Volkswagen Jetta The U.S. Department of State is offering a $1million reward for information leading to the 43-year-old's arrest and/or conviction for his role in May 23, 2013 murder of Mexican lawyer Juan Jesus Guerrero in Southlake, Texas. Villareal, who is accused by the FBI of overseeing the San Pedro Garza Garcia and Monterrey drug trade territories for the Beltran-Leyva Organization [BLO] Drug Cartel, reportedly planned Guerrero's assassination for two years. Officials say the assassination of Guerrero, who was a defense attorney for the Gulf Cartel and later became a U.S. informant, was in response to the murder of Villarreal's dad. Guerrero was sitting on the passenger side of his Range Roger and was shot by a masked man while the lawyer's wife was loading bags into the SUV. She was not injured in the attack. A suspect runs to his escape vehicle (top) moments after he and a group of armed men abducted a man and forced him into a second car (bottom) A Texas court landed convictions on three men in 2016 and federal authorities in Texas took Villarreal's brother, Ramon Villarreal Hernandez, into custody in 2020 following his extradition from Mexico, where he had been under arrest since 2018. Jose Villareal was reportedly in charge of shipping cocaine and marijuana to the United States. Beltran-Leyva Organization [BLO] Drug Cartel at one time was considered one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico due to its alliance with Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel before the two factions had a falling out in 2008. The BLO blamed El Chapo for the January 2008 apprehension of Alfredo Beltran Leyva, the organization's founder. The year 2020 was an amalgamation of various emotions. Some experienced a sense of fear, yet made the most of 2020 by spending time with family, transforming health and maintaining finances, while for others, it turned out to be a year full of misfortune. In the midst of these changes, no one dared to even remotely think about travelling. Quite naturally, the anticipation and excitement of planning the next big trip are at an all-time high for everyone. If youre reading this, then congratulations! You and I have safely landed our wagon in 2021 and life is steadily crawling back to normal - and tourism is no exception. One of the first cities to prioritise a safe welcome for international travellers is Abu Dhabi. The land of luxury skyscrapers, fascinating islands, amusement parks and every other thing you can think of, Abu Dhabi is the perfect place for the upcoming summer vacations. Weve put together a list of one-of-a-kind attractions that are not just fun but super safe to visit as well. 1. Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi This exquisite adventure park brings alive all your favourite characters and their hometowns! You can walk right through Gotham City and have an adventurous rendezvous with Batman, or go back to the cartoon Stone Age in Bedrock to visit Fred and Wilma. There are different adventurous rides, shops and restaurants dedicated to your favourite cartoons and superheroes. These include Superman, Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons, Tweety Pie, Scooby-Doo and many more! Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is the world's largest indoor theme park and a wonderful day out for the family in Abu Dhabi. The park is following strict COVID-19 guidelines and has regular sanitation and testing for the staff. The rides are also spaced out to follow social distancing and making sure that you and your family are safe. 2. Yas Mall, Yas Island Yas Mall, Yas Island Located at the heart of the iconic Yas Island, Yas Mall is a one-stop destination for all your shopping needs. If you love shopping, you can spend hours here buying gifts to take home or spoil yourself with something special. The best part is there's something for everyone, from top brands for men and women to relaxing cafes and restaurants for a fun family dinner. Sit back and relax with a cup of coffee at Urban RetrEAT or indulge in some delicious out-of-this-world chocolate delicacies at Laderach. Yas Mall also has one of the largest KidZania indoor play spaces with mini replicas of Abu Dhabi outlets and departments like ADNOC, Majid TV, Rove Hotel and Abu Dhabi Special Forces. At the mall, they are following strict safety guidelines. It is mandatory to wear a mask, prevent crowding and ensure adequate distancing, with fewer customers allowed into stores. Also, while up and running, lifts and escalators are sanitised every 20 minutes ensuring the highest level of safety. 3. Sir Bani Yas Island Sir Bani Yas Island Want to soak up the vibrant colours of nature and wildlife? Head straight to Sir Bani Yas Island! Believe me, the safaris are so beautiful that you will want to spend all day spotting giraffes and cheetahs, exploring sea kayak routes, and even diving. Personally, Sir Bani Yas Island would be my favourite lockdown spot. The island is safe to visit and is following all the COVID-19 guidelines. The staff at every resort and attraction are constantly tested and everything is sanitised to the maximum. 4. Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi A must-visit for every art enthusiast, Warehouse421 is an ultra-stylish complex serving as a cultural centre and exhibition space. If you are interested in exploring the traditional art of Abu Dhabi, along with checking out the works of some talented emerging artists, this is the place to be. Once a warehouse, this venue was launched as a platform for artistic expression in 2015 with its aim being to encourage local artists and designers and promote education, heritage and health through art. The warehouse is following all safety measures as well. The number of people allowed in at a time are limited in order to follow social distancing, floors and doors are sanitised, and wearing a mask is mandatory. 5. Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island Yas Marina Circuit No visit to Abu Dhabi is complete without a pit stop at Yas Marina Circuit. At this holy land of Formula 1TM driving, you can take a spin around the track in an Aston Martin GT4, the Caterham Seven, or even the Formula Yas 3000 - just like a professional racer. The thrill of racing at the venue of the Formula 1TM Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is unparalleled. Whats more, you get to take home a visual reminder of the experience too. There are cameras on board to capture the adrenaline rush of living your dream. The best part? There is a go-kart circuit to keep the kids busy while the adults enjoy the rush of racing. Abu Dhabi is one of the most wholesome locations that you can choose when it comes to planning a vacation. This destination has something that adults, teenagers, kids and millennials can enjoy without having to compromise their health and safety or those of their loved ones. So, as the summer holidays quickly approach, dont waste time and start planning your dream vacation to this gorgeous destination. Fire crews control bush fires as they approach properties on Copley Road in Upper Swan on February 02, 2021 in Perth, Australia. (Paul Kane/Getty Images) Uncontrolled Bushfires Destroy 71 Perth Homes Prompting Total Fire Ban Bushfires have ravaged Perths northeastern suburbs destroying 71 homes, leading the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) to announce a Total Fire Ban (TFB) on Wednesday for areas throughout the state. The bushfire which prompted the fire ban was started in the suburb of Wooroloo and was first reported on Monday, but the cause still remains unknown. According to the DFES, the blaze covers more than 8,000 hectares with 250 firefighters and fire appliances on-site working to control the flames. The flames have destroyed 71 properties, and the number is expected to increase as authorities continue to assess the damage. At his press conference on Tuesday, Premier Mark McGowan called the conditions extremely volatile and said that over 2,700 homes and businesses within the Shire of Mundaring and City of Swan are now without power. Flames surround a property under construction off Copley Road in Upper Swan on February 02, 2021 in Perth, Australia. (Paul Kane/Getty Images) No reports of civilian injuries or deaths have been received, but six firefighters have sustained minor injuries. Commissioner Darren Klemm (AFSM) expressed thanks to the volunteer firefighters for continuing their work despite the challenging conditions. Often firefighters were just going from one house to the next house to the next house trying to save them rather than actually putting effort into putting the fire out, Klemm said. That takes a significant amount of discipline and it something we should really admire about our operational crew. Deputy Incident Controller Greg Mair from the Parks and Wildlife Services has said that it is not over. The situation with the bushfire is that it remains uncontained and uncontrolled, he said. It will be some days before this fire can be made safe with a lot of effort from people on the ground and a lot of patience please from the community. The DFES has listed a TFB for suburbs in the Midwest Gascoyne region, Perth Metropolitan region, Goldfields Midlands region, South West Region, Lower South West Region, and Great Southern Region. Among the list of actions prohibited under the TFB is that vehicles are prohibited from off-road driving where they could contact vegetation. Failure to follow the ban could result in an AU$1,000 (US$763) fine with the possibility of 12 months jail time if convicted. Bushfire emergency warnings are also in place for parts of the Vines, Bailup, Ellenbrook, Gidgegannup, Millendon, Walyunga National Park, Upper Swan, Aveley, Henley Brook, the Avon Valley national park, Red Hill, Belhus, Baskerville, Herne Hill, Bullsbrook, Wooroloo and Brigadoon. Residents are advised to stay updated and alert on the situation in their area and can find updated information at the DFES website. 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. LONDON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Against a background of continuing uncertainty in the job market, myGwork will host WorkFair on 24 March 2021 - a one-day global career fair introducing LGBTQ+ job seekers to inclusive employers. In both the US and the UK, the economic impact on LGBTQ+ people, LGBTQ+ people of color and Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities is clear. A report from the Movement Advancement Project on the impact of the pandemic on US LGBTQ+ people was stark: compared to cisgendered, heterosexual peers, LGBTQ+ people have suffered worse outcomes, with many losing jobs, income, and access to healthcare. In the UK, a report released in March 2020 - before the first national lockdown and furlough scheme - by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Carnegie UK Trust, and Operation Black Vote revealed that millennials from BAME backgrounds were "58% more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts." To help combat the economic impact felt by LGBTQ+ people, including LGBTQ+ people of color, myGwork, the network connecting LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates and inclusive employers, will host WorkFair - a one-day global virtual career fair event. LGBTQ+ applicants will be able to meet and interview with 120 inclusive employers, send their CV to recruiters, talk to an LGBTQ+ representative and learn more about the culture at the organizations attending Workfair. Adrien Gaubert, who co-founded myGwork with his brother Pierre, says myGwork is committed to ensuring visibility and access for all LGBTQ+ professionals: "It's really important that those of us with the means, access, and opportunity are paying attention to the data coming out about the economic impact of Covid-19. For those of us committed to equality in the workplace, we need to be offering up our platforms, using our influence, and demanding more from those around us to make sure that employment opportunities are reaching as widely as possible. In myGwork's case, we have two communities ready and willing to engage: employers and job seekers. WorkFair is one of the ways we are bringing these two groups together." Alongside chat and video functionality connecting job seekers and potential employers directly, WorkFair will also offer free webinars throughout the day, with experts advising on managing career changes, CV writing, LGBTQ+ focused issues, virtual interview skills, and more. Importantly, WorkFair's focus is not only on job seekers but on potential employers too - those seeking to recruit the best and the brightest from the widest pool possible will have to demonstrate they are living up to inclusive workplace practices. WorkFair builds on the success of myGwork's WorkPride, which brought together high-level LGBTQ+ professionals, consultants, and thought leaders. WorkPride explored current and future possibilities for LGBTQ+ professionals as well as the organizations that support them. Conversations focused on job opportunities, hiring practices, and mental health and wellbeing. Pierre Gaubert, co-founder of myGwork, feels confident that the community myGwork has cultivated over the years will prove beneficial in a demanding job market: "The work we do to ensure workplace equality started long before Covid-19, but it feels especially important that at this time, organizations are sticking to the promises they've made to their current and prospective employees - and to the industries they represent. There has absolutely been a negative impact on the bottom lines of many businesses, but the potential for growth and recruitment is huge. There are jobs available. WorkFair is myGwork's contribution at this moment: we know great LGBTQ+ professionals and we know great and inclusive organizations that are looking for talent. Our job is to bring the two together. That's what we do." Notes to editor Contact Email: workfair@mygwork.com Website: https://mygwork.com/workfair Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXRrOPnSpL4 Twitter: @mygwork About myGwork myGwork is the business community for LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, inclusive employers, and anyone who believes in workplace equality. We want to empower the LGBTQ+ community by offering our individual members a safe space where they can connect with inclusive employers, find jobs, mentors, professional events, and news. About WorkFair myGwork will host WorkFair on 24 March 2021 - a one-day global career fair to introduce LGBTQ+ job seekers and inclusive employers. Alongside interview-scheduling and direct-messaging capabilities, the one-day job fair will also include webinars on CV writing, managing career changes during a pandemic and interview skills. WorkFair is free for all attendees. https://mygwork.com/workfair WorkFair The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Gretchen McRae was a Black activist and artist who grew up in Colorado Springs before moving to Washington, D.C., for a number of years and became involved with the civil rights movement in the '20s. She moved back to town in the '30s to little fanfare or recognition of her experiences and began a magazine that featured her essays on equality. An important bacterial disease that affects citrus trees and causes lesions, citrus canker has been effectively controlled by spraying copper. However standard management techniques involve spraying excessive amounts of copper and water without consideration for the size of the trees. "This technique resulted in a waste of resources as well as higher costs, detrimental environmental impact, and risk for development of copper resistant strains," explained plant pathologist Franklin Behlau, who recently published an article discussing a more sustainable approach to managing citrus canker. Behlau and his colleagues showed that it is possible to control citrus canker by spraying much less water and copper. "By adjusting both copper and water usage based on the volume of the citrus trees without affecting the quality of disease control, we have taken an important step to a more economically and environmentally sustainable citrus industry." This research was conducted in a field trial carried out during two seasons in a commercial orchard of Pera sweet orange in Brazil. This is the first study to show that citrus canker can be managed with such a small amount of copper and water. It also identified the minimum copper deposition on the treated surface per spray necessary to protect against the disease. "The impact for the citrus industry is huge. By using the most efficient treatments identified in our study, growers can save up 80% in the amount of copper and up to 60% in the volume of water used annually to manage citrus canker," explained Behlau. "By using less active ingredient, growers can prevent accumulation of copper in the soil and reduce the long-term effects that it may have on the development of the root system and the tree canopy." In addition to studying citrus canker, scientists in the Sao Paulo state and the West-Southwest Minas Gerais state have been studying the most important diseases and pests that threaten the Brazilian citrus belt. Recent findings have been incorporated into the orchard management routine by producers, resulting in a more conscious and balanced production system. "Our research, and the other research coming out of Brazil, can contribute significantly to a more sustainable citrus industry not only in Brazil but throughout the world. These results can help meet the global challenge of using fewer conventional pesticides in agriculture." ### For more information, read "Spray Volume and Rate Based on the Tree Row Volume for a Sustainable Use of Copper in the Control of Citrus Canker" in the January issue of Plant Disease. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. ?? En vivo | Presidenta del Consejo de Ministros, @VBermudezV, brinda entrevista en radio @Cutivalu de Piura sobre las nuevas medidas adoptadas por el Gobierno para luchar contra la #COVID?19. pic.twitter.com/tFLddsAfak The Maharashtra government on Wednesday said colleges will be allowed to resume with 50% attendance from February 15. The government has also decided to relax the 75 per cent compulsory attendance criteria for the current academic year, said Uday Samant, Higher and Technical Education Minister. The colleges are reopening in the state after ten months after the Covid-19 pandemic shut schools and other academic institutions across the country. Universities can conduct examinations online as well as off-line as per the coronavirus situation in respective areas, the minister said. "Colleges in the state can resume physical classes from February 15 with 50 per cent capacity," he said. Universities have been directed not to force students to pay full fees, and a committee is looking into fee-related grievances of students, Samant further said. "If a college is found violating government norms, it will face legal action," he said. Universities can start with practicals and gradually schedule physical lectures, Samant said, adding that colleges are expected to take students into confidence while deciding on this. Students will get relaxation from the 75 per cent attendance rule as colleges have remained shut for most part of the academic year 2020-21 due to the pandemic, he said. Curriculum of second and final years of graduation courses has been covered to some extent through virtual classes, the minister said. On January 29, the Delhi government had announced the reopening of all schools for classes 9 and 11 students as well as degree diploma institutions from February 5. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said the conditions would be similar to the ones announced when schools reopened for students of classes 10 and 12 on January 18. He had said students will attend classes only with the consent of parents, physical attendance will not be compulsory and all schools and colleges will be expected to follow the COVID-19 guidelines. Amanda Holden braved the elements in a floral summer dress as she stepped out after her Heart FM breakfast show on Wednesday. The TV and radio host, 49, wore a black coat draped around her shoulders and bared her legs under the green midi dress in black pointed high-heels as she emerged from the central London studios. Earlier in the day, the Britain's Got Talent judge appeared on Good Morning Britain where she spoke about the decision to cancel this year's talent show which leaves 'hundreds and hundreds' unemployed. Working it: Amanda Holden braved the elements in a green floral summer dress on Wednesday as she stepped out after addressing the decision to cancel this year's Britain's Got Talent 2021 Amanda, who has been a judge on the show since 2007, spoke with GMB host Piers Morgan, who was one of Britain's Got Talent's original judges. The TV presenter said that she believed it was the 'right decision' to cancel this year's show although it was 'difficult' as it left so many people without jobs. Amanda said: 'It was a difficult one this year, for Amelia and all of the producers, because we have so many people that are now unemployed. 'Behind the scenes, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them. Chic: The TV and radio host, 49, wore a black coat draped around her shoulders and bared her legs under the green midi dress in black pointed high-heels as she emerged from the studios Tough call: The Britain's Got Talent judge appeared on Good Morning Britain where she spoke about the decision to cancel this year's talent show which leaves 'hundreds' unemployed 'So I think we were all trying to find a way around it, but for it to be done safely and with the fifth judge, which is everyone that watches, it's a show that is impossible to do without an audience. 'So I am really glad that was the decision that was made, it was the best option.' It was announced last week that Britain's Got Talent 2021 has been cancelled as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic prevents a live studio audience from being present. The hit ITV talent show had already been postponed due to safety concerns and the restrictions brought about by tier systems and lockdowns. Cancelled: Britain's Got Talent 2021 has been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic (pictured, left to right, David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda) But after several weeks of speculation, it was finally confirmed that the show will not return to screens until 2022. Bosses of the show said that despite the efforts of the teams at ITV, Thames and head judge Simon Cowell's Syco, they were forced to call plans off. They said: 'With our absolute priority of safeguarding the well-being and health of every person involved in the programme from judges, hosts and contestants to all of the crew and audience, the decision has been made to unfortunately move the record and broadcast of the 15th series of Britain's Got Talent to 2022. 'BGT is known for its diversity of talent with big dance groups, wonderful choirs and lavish orchestras at its heart, and it has become clear that not only is it not possible to film auditions with these types of acts in a secure way but also that they are not able to adequately rehearse and prepare safely. 'Safety has to come first and, as a result, the recording of the show can't currently go ahead as planned.' Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 STOCKHOLM: Foreign visitors traveling to Sweden will need to show they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 48 hours, the government said on Wednesday. The decision followed a recommendation last week by the country's Health Agency and is aimed at keeping new variants of the virus from spreading. "From Saturday, the 6th of February, foreign citizens who want to enter Sweden will have to show a negative COVID-19 test," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told a news conference. "Without that they won't be able to enter the country." The government said there would be exceptions to the rule, including cross-border commuters and foreign citizens resident in Sweden, for whom different rules would apply. Travel restrictions were already in place for people coming from Britain, Denmark and Norway, as well as for all other travelers from outside the European Union. Sweden, which has spurned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, has seen the rate of new infections dip in recent weeks, though cases of the British COVID-19 variant have been increasing. On Wednesday, the Public Health Agency said it had registered 4,310 new COVID cases and 124 new deaths. In total, Sweden has had 580,916 confirmed cases and 11,939 deaths. Sweden's death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours, but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns. WASHINGTON House impeachment managers said in a brief filed Tuesday that former President Donald Trump summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue, putting everyone on Capitol Hill in grave danger. Trumps lawyers, however, claimed that whatever statements he made to his supporters were protected by the First Amendment. In their initial response to the charges in his second impeachment, the lawyers also argued that the Constitution does not allow the Senate to try the case because he no longer holds office. The impeachment case is a legal nullity since the 45th president cannot be removed from an office he no longer occupies, the lawyers wrote. The House impeached Trump last month, before he left office, on grounds that he had incited an insurrection by urging his supporters to march to the Capitol Jan. 6 as lawmakers met to confirm President Joe Bidens electoral victory. The mob broke into the building in a melee that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. In their 80-page brief, House prosecutors argued that Trump bears unmistakable responsibility for the riot. The gravity of President Trumps offense is magnified by the fact that it arose from a course of conduct aimed at subverting and obstructing the election results. President Trump is personally responsible for inciting an armed attack on our seat of government that imperiled the lives of the vice president, members of Congress and our families, and those who staff and serve the legislative branch, they wrote. The brief also sought to rebut claims that Trumps words on social media and television, and at a rally the day of the riot, were protected by the First Amendment, or that an impeachment trial is unconstitutional now that Trump has left office. They pointed to historical impeachments in the early American colonies, and in Britain, after a person left office examples that they say would have informed the Founding Fathers understanding of how impeachment would be used. There is debate over whether a president can be convicted after leaving office. The Constitution does not explicitly state that impeachment is reserved for current officeholders, though removal from office is the primary remedy. The Senate has once before held an impeachment trial of an official who had already resigned. Democrats and many constitutional scholars say presidents should not be protected against the threat of impeachment simply because their crimes occurred in the final days of their term. There is no January exception to the Constitution that allows a president to organize a coup or incite an armed insurrection in his final weeks in office, the impeachment managers said in a statement released with the brief. They said Trumps behavior was so egregious that it requires permanent disqualification from office, something also allowed as a punishment if he is convicted. This is not a case where elections alone are a sufficient safeguard against future abuse; it is the electoral process itself that President Trump attacked and that must be protected from him and anyone else who would seek to mimic his behavior, they state in the brief. -- Sarah D. Wire and David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story. 2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Hardest Word is an independent podcast from Brett de Hoedt. The concept is simple but compelling; every week de Hoedt invites listeners to apologise on air, and has hosted apologies big and small on the show since 2019. The series has seen some incredible moments, from the simple and heartfelt apology of a mother who admits to having a favourite child, to a remarkable apology from a Kigali man who refused to save a neighbour during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. That episode earned the show a bronze at last years Australian Podcast Awards. Brett de Hoedt hosts The Hardest Word. Every now and again some guy in Melbourne working out of his home office on no budget can find the kind of story This American Life would kill for, says de Hoedt. Anyone who comes on a podcast to apologise is taking a real punt, exposing themselves. Theres a lot of trust there. I try to respect that and pay back that trust. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 17:39:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A medical worker shows China's COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 3, 2021. Pakistan formally started the drive to administer the China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to its frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said. The drive was launched simultaneously in all four provinces, federating units and the capital in the ceremonies attended by chief ministers, senior ministers and health officials, the NCOC said. (Photo by Umar Qayyum/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan formally started the drive to administer the China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to its frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said. The drive was launched simultaneously in all four provinces, federating units and the capital in the ceremonies attended by chief ministers, senior ministers and health officials, the NCOC said. The drive, National COVID Immunization Program, was formally launched by administration of the vaccine to frontline healthcare workers representing major hospitals or health offices which actively participated in the country's fight against the coronavirus. Speaking at the ceremony held at the NCOC head office, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar thanked the government of China for supporting Pakistan during the crisis of COVID-19. He added that the frontline healthcare workers made a lot of sacrifices while handling the infected people, and provided meritorious services for serving the nation during the pandemic. He said the Pakistani government will make sure to inoculate the frontline healthcare workers to make their working safe. In the capital, the vaccine was administered to a head nurse of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences isolation unit Rizwana Yasmin, and molecular technologist at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad Fahad Mahmood, the NCOC said. A member of COVID-19 surveillance team at the District Health Office Islamabad, Javed Iqbal, who diagnosed over 10,000 positive cases in Islamabad by contact tracing and sampling with his team, also received the COVID-19 vaccine at the NCOC. In Sindh province, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, speaking at the vaccine administering ceremony, thanked the people and government of China for their support to Pakistan at the moment of need. Chief Ministers of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab also attended the ceremonies in their respective provinces and expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for enabling immunizing the local people. The first batch of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccines reached Pakistan early Monday from Beijing on a special Pakistan Air Force plane. Pakistan has so far confirmed over 549,000 cases, while 11,802 people have lost their lives to the disease since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, according to the latest government data. Enditem Jutta is new Community Dean at Ditchingham Jutta is new Community Dean at Ditchingham The With youth network, which has taken over the Ditchingham convent from the sisters, has appointed Rev Jutta Brueck to lead the work there. Jutta is a Church of England priest with a longstanding passion for monasticism. She is leaving her role as a parish priest in an urban context in Ipswich where she developed a new monastic community within her parish. She has lived within community and supported a range of communities at various stages of her ministry and was an enabler in the National Monasticism Network. I love the vision of With where were creating a space for prayer and retreat for young people, said Jutta. Holding together contemplation and action is fundamental for the flourishing of the church, and this place facilitates that. Im drawn to the possibility of discovering what a place of prayer and retreat for young people will look like, the rule of a community that has 'being with' as its central charism and the transformative potential this has for young people and everyone involved. The opportunity to create something new, but drawing on ancient traditions is immensely exciting, and I cant wait to partner with the team, and more importantly, with the Holy Spirit, on that journey." Jamie Cutteridge, one of the founders of With, explained that the purpose of the initiative was to create a religious communitywith prayer and a rule of life focussed on the young people of the UK. He said that the first time he came to Ditchingham, it felt like a thin place, a place tangible with the presence of Jesus. We believe that an encounter with Jesus in a place like this can be unbelievably transformative for young people and equally for youth workers. Pictured above is Jutta Brueck and, below, Jamie Cutteridge Eldred Willey, 02/02/2021 Subscriber content preview SEATTLE The Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership at 13733 Aurora Ave. N. sold for $10 million, according to King County records. The seller was 13733 Aurora Avenue North Associates LLC, associated with the Smith family, which acquired the property in 1995 for $2.2 million. . . . Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is releasing a list of 115 persons lodged in different jails in the National Capital in connection with the violence during the farmers' tractor rally on 26 January New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said his government will help trace the farmers missing since the 26 January violence and if the need arises, he will approach the Lieutenant Governor and the Centre. Kejriwal said that the Delhi government has also released a list of 115 persons lodged in different jails in Delhi in connection with the 26 January violence during the farmers' tractor rally. "We are releasing a list of 115 protesters who were arrested by police in relation to the Republic Day incident and are in different jails in the city. Our government will make every effort to trace the protesters who are missing and I will even speak to the Lt Governor and the Central government if the need arises," he said at a press conference. A delegation from the legal team of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha met Kejriwal and presented him a list of 29 missing farmers. It also demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged "conspiracy against the farmers' protest" and the constitution of a medical board to examine those in jail. The chief minister, however, did not comment on the demand for judicial inquiry. Kejriwal said that there 115 persons who are lodged in Delhi jails after being arrested in connection with the "unfortunate" violence that happened during the farmers' tractor rally on 26 January. "It is possible that many of those missing had been arrested in connection with the chaos at Red Fort, due to which they are not able to connect to their families. We are issuing this list with the names, age, and address of 115 people so that their family members could identify them." Over the last few days, many people and farmer unions reached out to the chief minister with regard to the "missing" protesters. Kejriwal assured the people that he will try his best to trace the missing protesters whose whereabouts are yet not known and unite them with their families. "Many people have reached out to the Delhi government in the last few days owing to their family members who were protesting against the farm laws having gone missing, and they are unable to connect to them. I can understand the pain and suffering." The farmer unions protesting at Delhi borders for scrapping of the Centre's farm laws have claimed that several are missing since the Republic Day violence. Delhi Police has said that it has arrested 122 protesters so far in connection with the 26 January violence. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... In his opinion piece Assisted suicide wrong for doctors, patients (Jan. 20 Journal), Dr. Anthony Vigil argues the Elizabeth Whitefield End of Life Options Act, which would legalize medical aid in dying in New Mexico, undermines physicians identity as healers and how our patients view us. But what threatens our identity and patients trust most is when we fail to listen to their wishes with compassion and respect. I, too, am a physician who has had much experience with dying patients. While good palliative care can relieve much suffering at the end of life, on rare occasions even the most expert care is not enough. Symptoms like pain, weakness, loss of bodily functions, shortness of breath and nausea may be overwhelming. Patients may spend their last days, weeks or months in discomfort, sedated, and wholly dependent on care by others. They may wish for death but live in terror of just when and how their final moments will arrive. Vigil points out the primary reasons listed by patients for requesting medical aid in dying are not pain and physical suffering, but existential suffering such as loss of autonomy, loss of dignity, loss of enjoyment of life, and being a burden on family and caregivers. It is a false dichotomy: physical suffering and psychological and existential suffering are intertwined. But more importantly, are these latter forms of suffering any less important? They are certainly less treatable. I am surprised Vigil feels so confident in addressing these problems with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There are limits to our powers. It is true that in general physicians should be healers, but when death is imminent and healing no longer possible, the physicians role should shift from extending life to relieving suffering in accord with their patients wishes. This is not a matter of life versus death, but about the timing and manner of an inevitable death. Most physicians today reject the paternalistic notion that terminally ill patients cant be trusted to know what they want and need to be protected from themselves. The majority of both physicians and the public support legalizing medical aid in dying. Nine states and the District of Columbia have already approved medical aid in dying, as has all of Canada. Oregons Death with Dignity Act, which is similar to the New Mexico bill, has been in effect for 24 years, and the experience there is reassuring. First of all, it is used only rarely. There were initial concerns that aid in dying would be used mainly by socially vulnerable populations and would come to supplant good palliative care. But there has been no evidence of disproportionate use in minority or uninsured populations nor cases of abuse, and palliative care in Oregon remains among the best in the country. The great majority who seek aid in dying have widespread cancer. About one third of patients who receive the medication never use it but keep it on hand for peace of mind. It is immeasurably comforting for these patients to know that they have control and an option for a quick and merciful death in the event their suffering becomes unbearable despite palliative care. As in Oregon, it is likely the N.M. bill would not lead to widespread use of this option. Physicians have a deep professional commitment to heal, and patients almost always want to live. But medical aid in dying is an important option for those few whose suffering just becomes too much. To deny patients this final and most desperate request seems to me a form of abandonment at precisely the time when we physicians are most needed. To help is both compassionate and respectful of patients rights to determine their own future. I would remind Vigil the most important part of our identity as physicians is to be kind. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:55 am The Aberdeen teachers union (AEA) announced Monday it is filing an unfair labor practices suit with the school district because the district has not reached a memorandum of understanding with the union regarding a hybrid on-site and remote learning plan. Starting Monday, preschool and K-3 students entered the hybrid learning model, meaning both at-home and classroom instruction. "Although we have been continually bargaining with the district we haven't reached an agreement," said AEA President Cathleen Wilder. "We are kind of concerned now, bringing kids back into the buildings and have not finished setting protocols, and the concern is that the district won't follow through." Aberdeen School Superintendent Alicia Henderson said the district's reopening plan follows "all current guidelines from the Department of Health, Labor and Industries." A statement from the district Friday read, in part, "Many of our plans and ideas on how to implement the in-person component come from research into best practices and what has been working in other districts. This adheres to guidance from Dr. John Bausher, our county public health official." A statement from the AEA Monday said, "Educators want to be in the classroom with students and are seeking an agreement with the district which outlines a consistent plan for safely reopening students." Henderson said the district has been working not just with the teachers union, but all the unions, to reach agreements, "and have been working diligently pretty much from the fall." She said the district met with the AEA Friday, "and we were hopeful to get an agreement, but they said they wanted to wait and meet later, so our next meeting is on Feb. 10. That was not our decision to postpone the meeting." The statement from the union said its priority is the protection of students, teachers, staff, and the community from the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom and beyond. "It's more global (the safety concern)," said Wilder. "We want to protect students, and also therefore protect their families. They seem to more carriers of this disease, so they might not get sick, but they could take it home to mom or dad or grandma." The AEA statement said, in part, "Weighing the health and safety of our community along with the benefits to our students is something we hoped to continue to discuss with the district. Unfortunately, the superintendent and other administrators chose to disregard our collective bargaining rights by making unilateral decisions without negotiating those decisions with the union." Wilder said the union had been working to provide input on the reopening schedule and was not happy with the district releasing the plan in a newsletter to the public Friday "even before it was released to the staff. That's another concern, that we are not being included in some of that decision making and not even being alerted to some of these decisions until they go public." "That's not something we negotiate, that is something the district (does), to develop the schedules," said Henderson. "We certainly respect and honor at our meetings to bargain the impact of any changes in working conditions" with the union. The in-person model released by the district Friday will be phased in for two-week increments. Grades 4-6 will begin a hybrid schedule on Feb. 18, then Grades 7-8 on March 1, and then Grades 9-12 on March 17. The school schedules are designed to include both in-person and distance learning, utilizing "concurrent instruction." Teacher leave is another concern for the union, said Wilder. "We've been working through bargaining to make sure that we have procedures in place for those who need to take leave," said Wilder, whether that be due to quarantining or isolation and also other reasons. Henderson said Tuesday, "We are honoring all of the authorized leave for all of our employees." Wilder says teachers are looking forward to being back in their classrooms. They want to make sure all CDC and Labor and Industries guidelines are followed, including a consistent plan for sanitizing schools and providing everyone in the buildings appropriate personal protective equipment." "Any specific concerns about masks or (personal protective equipment) or ventilation" are welcome from the union, said Henderson. She said the district has "a very high standard" for the safety protocols put in place, "and there is a safety committee at every building to bring our attention to concerns that arise." How this could potentially impact the district's reopening plan is not clear. "It is not our intent to delay the start, but we want to make sure we protect our collective bargaining rights, not having them circumvented by not going through the (memorandum of understanding) process," said Wilder. Wilder said Monday, "There's this impression teachers are trying to stop the school from starting, and that's not what it's about. Our teachers are happy to be with our kids and happy to move forward, but want to make sure we're moving forward in a safe way." "Our community expects the reopening of the schools," said Henderson. "Our employees are happy to be back with our students, and our children need this." Hoquiam School District The Hoquiam School District is scheduled to open preschool, kindergarten and grades 2 and 4 hybrid learning Feb. 22. Grades 1, 3 and 5 are scheduled to follow March 1. "Our plan was approved at our last school board meeting and was presented by our reopening committee," said Superintendent Mike Villarreal. "Our (Hoquiam Teachers Association, the district's union) president led the presentation." Villarreal said the district is in the middle of bargaining its own memorandum of understanding with the teachers union. "Most of the bargaining has been focused on safety protocols and assurances," he said. A second meeting was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. ___ (c)2021 The Daily World, Aberdeen, Wash. Visit The Daily World, Aberdeen, Wash. at thedailyworld.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ADVERTISEMENT A Nollywood actor, Emeka Ani, is ill and is seeking financial support from the public. The talented actor, who has been off the scene for a while, went public with his illness for the first time on social media on Monday. Since December 7, I have been in this hospital for major surgery and after the surgery, it expanded to a very dangerous one. I thank God Im getting better now. Im soliciting from my people, he said in a video. The actor spoke from his bed at Doctor Lugard Hospital, in Owerri, Imo State, where he is currently receiving treatment. His appeal comes just as the Actors Guild of Nigeria launched an appeal fund aimed at providing urgent medical intervention to ailing Nollywood actors and assisting families of late actors Appeal In the video, the ailing actor revealed that he has undergone some operations in a bid to save his life and begged for financial support. The nature of his illness is unknown. The actor said he requires N2.8 million to foot his hospital bill and cannot raise the funds all by himself. He was flanked by members of the AGN Owerri, branch. The actor has participated in movies like Last Wedding (2004), 666 (Beware the End Is at Hand) (2007), and The Signs of Endtime 2 (2007). He began his career in 1989 in an interesting manner. He revealed in an interview that he once sold motor parts in Onitsha, Anambra State, where a movie was to be shot. While he was seated in his shop, a movie director approached him saying he looked like a chief and asked if he could portray the role of a chief in his movie. He took the offer and landed his first movie role in Betrayal released in 1990. He has since gone on to feature in over 100 Nollywood films. The Idaho Army National Guard announced that three of its soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a routine training flight Tuesday night. All three were pilots flying in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that went down south of Lucky Peak near Boise, Idaho, shortly after 8 p.m., according to an Idaho Guard news release posted on Facebook. The crash comes nearly two weeks after three New York National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk crashed on another training mission. Read Next: Sig Sauer Delivers Final Next-Generation Squad Weapon Prototypes to Army "This is a tremendous loss to the Idaho National Guard and our community," Maj. Gen. Michael Garshak, adjutant general of Idaho and commander of the Idaho National Guard, said in the release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones as we work through this tragedy." The Idaho Guard's last contact with the Black Hawk occurred at 7:45 p.m., Col. Christopher Burt, the Idaho Guard's state aviation officer, said in the release. The aircraft's Emergency Transmitter Locator device was activated shortly after 8 p.m., and Burt's team "immediately initiated emergency aircraft recovery procedures, which included air and ground search and rescue crews," according to the release. At approximately 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, crews located the crash site and the three soldiers. The cause of the accident is unknown, and an investigation will begin promptly, according to the release. Names of the soldiers killed in the crash are being withheld until next of kin have been notified, the release adds. The three New York Guard soldiers were killed when their Black Hawk crashed Jan. 20. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial were all pilots aboard the medical evacuation helicopter. They died when their aircraft went down while conducting night-vision proficiency training in the local training area. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Army Identifies 3 New York National Guard Pilots Killed in Black Hawk Crash Proud to announce that I will be taking over as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 117th Congress, Durbin said in a statement on Twitter. This moment in history demands much of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Im honored to lead my colleagues as we face these challenges. Jack OBrien hasnt been inside a classroom since March 2020, because if he contracts Covid-19 there is a one-in-four chance he could die. The Leaving Cert student (18) from Navan, Co Meath was born with congenital nephrotic syndrome, a rare kidney disease which required him to have a transplant when he was just two years old. Despite research showing that the Covid-19 mortality rate for renal and transplant patients in Ireland is estimated to be as high as 25pc, the young student is categorised in the group which is seventh in line for the vaccine roll-out. His mother Cassandra OBrien has written to the Department of Education, local TDs and Education Minister Norma Foley urging for at-risk students to be prioritised, but her pleas have so far gone unanswered. She praised her son for his incredible resilience but outlined how he wont be able to return to school until hes vaccinated. He deserves to fulfil his hopes and dreams like everyone else, Ms OBrien told the Irish Independent. To be honest, its been really tough. Hes not being prioritised, despite being immunocompromised. "Without the vaccine he has no hope of returning to school. He has only been in school for five months of an 18-month curriculum so we worry it will impact his future. Jack has hopes of studying mental health nursing, while his mother is currently undertaking a masters in social work remotely. Read More Ms OBrien said the Department of Educations policy of supporting post-primary students who are at very high risk of Covid-19 looks good on paper, but the reality on the ground is far different. The policy isnt being implemented properly and I dont think hes being supported as well as he can be, she said. As things stand he doesnt think hell be able to sit the traditional exams, so its very stressful for him. His parents are paying for grinds in certain subjects to help him catch up on time missed in school. Since Ireland moved to Level 5 restrictions, things have improved slightly as teachers are able to dedicate more time to online learning. However, the situation is taking its toll on the family, who decided to speak out about the issue as a last resort. They order their shopping online every week, Jack hasnt seen his friends in months, and the family are living in constant fear hell catch the virus. We need an answer about the Leaving Cert and whether predictive grading will be applied this year, said Ms O'Brien. As there is no indication of when he will be vaccinated or get back to school, he is left in limbo. Prior to Covid-19 Jack was engaged fully in his studies, he was an avid pitch and putt player, representing his county. He is a bright young person who has represented Ireland on many occasions at the British Transplant Games. It does not make sense that high-risk people like Jack arent being prioritised and have to put up with so much uncertainty about their health. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has repealed the Walking While Trans law that prevented police prostitution because activists said it discriminated against trans people, a report said. The Blaze reported that Cuomo ended the ban on "Walking While Trans," a law which helps police prevent prostitution, because critics said it led to anti-bigotry. "I just signed legislation repealing the discriminatory 'Walking While Trans' ban. For too long, trans people have been unfairly targeted & disproportionately policed for innocent conduct based solely on their appearance. NY will never stop fighting for #LGBTQ rights & justice," Cuomo announced in his Twitter account on Wednesday with a link to more information about it in the state's website. In the website, the news article said that the "legislation repeals section of law that was intended to prohibit loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, but instead has led to discriminatory enforcement of transgender and cisgender women of color." The website explained that S.2253/A.654 repealed portions of the 1976 New York Penal Law Section 240.37 that "led to arbitrary and discriminatory policing of transgender women." "The law, originally passed in 1976 with the intent to prohibit loitering for the purpose of prostitution, has been used with an extremely broad definition of loitering that led to the arrest of law-abiding transgender and cisgender women of color. Many local district attorneys have voluntarily stopped enforcing the law, recognizing its discriminatory impact," it said. Cuomo explained that the law have "unfairly targeted and disproportionately policed for innocent, lawful conduct based solely on their appearance" of trans people. He said "repealing the archaic 'walking while trans' ban is a critical step toward reforming" New York's policing system while "reducing the harassment and criminalization transgender people face simply for being themselves." "New York has always led the nation on LGBTQ rights, and we will continue that fight until we achieve true equality for all," he pointed out. The website also cited statements from state officials that gave weight to the law's repeal. "A year ago this week, I said at the @HRC gala--the first under the leadership of my friend @AlphonsoDavid--that we must repeal the "walking while trans" statute. I'm proud to say we got it done and I'm grateful to Alphonso and the entire LGBTQ community for their partnership," Cuomo added in Twitter. Members and supporters of the LGBT community praised Cuomo's efforts as their victory. "#BREAKING: @NYGovCuomo has signed the bill to repeal the #WalkingWhileTrans ban! Today, we celebrate this hard-fought victory led by trans women of color. We also honor all the transcestors who were a part of this fight," New York's largest immigrant organization Make The Road NY said in Twitter. "'Governor Cuomo has made LGBTQI history again by signing the repeal of the #WalkingWhileTrans ban which includes the sealing of records.' @Tanyaasapansa63 Co-Chair @EqualityNewYork," Equality New York tweeted. The Blaze revealed that there were around 1,300 people arrested for the years 2012-2015 and 85% of which were black or Latina based on the data from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice. NEW DELHI : The Indian business community in Myanmar is in a wait and watch mode" though not unduly worried after the Myanmarese military detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power earlier this week. One issue of concern is whether the coup will bring back international sanctions on the country, the last of which was lifted in 2016. Previous economic sanctions on Myanmar in the past have included cuts in financial aid, blocking access to assets and curbs on investment flows. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat News reports, however, have said that the impact of those sanctions was limited given that some Southeast Asian countries had kept economic engagement with Myanmar, cushioning the country from major economic shocks. Currently, there are about 100 Indian companies in Myanmar with investments over 1.2 billion, according to the Indian embassy in Yangon. According to Indias Exim Bank, some of the Indian companies with a presence in Myanmar include ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), Jubilant Oil and Gas, Century Ply, Tata Motors, Essar Energy, RITES, Escorts, Sonalika Tractors, Zydus Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Ranbaxy, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Shree Balaji Enterprises, Shree Cements, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, CIPLA, Gati Shipping Ltd, TCI Seaways, Apollo and AMRI. The imposition of sanctions by the US or UN may create problems for these companies. When Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Myanmar last year in October along with Indian army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane, India had announced that it would invest $ 6 billion to construct a petroleum refinery in Thanlyn region near Yangon. If sanctions are imposed, New Delhi may find it difficult to implement this investment. For now, though, India seems to be in a position to manage its ties with Myanmar despite power changing hands. During their October visit, Shringla and Naravane had called on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Commander in Chief of Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Analysts are divided over whether India had picked up signals of trouble between State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the Myanmarese military leaders or the visit of the two turned out to be opportune given the events that have unfolded this week. The visit showed that India understood the distribution of power in Myanmar," said former Indian ambassador to Myanmar, Rajiv Bhatia. India is likely to re-adopt the policy it formulated in the 1990s to deal with Myanmar which extends moral support for democracy while dealing respectfully with the Myanmar military, he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. People arriving into Ireland from abroad that live in shared accommodation must isolate for 14 days, Stephen Donnelly has said, amid confusion over comments he made last night. The Health Minister said those returning from abroad and living in shared accommodation are a risk to others and must self-isolate for 14 days. However, families returning home together can quarantine in own homes. Lets say you live in shared accommodation, then you are a risk others and should self isolate, the Minister told Pat Kenny on Newstalk. The whole point of this is that you have to isolate yourself from people you could put at risk. If you live on your own, then you can be wherever you want in your own house, obviously. Whats important is that you dont leave the house. Read More "If you are a family coming back, you are already mixing, there is no additional risk to each other, your home is your home and you dont have to go to your respective bedrooms and sit there, he added. Mr Donnelly had come under pressure to clarify comments he made last night that people arriving into the country can move freely within their house, meaning they do not have to self-isolate in their rooms. So, not in a room within their house, but in their house, the Minister said on the Tonight Show on Virgin Media. Labour leader Alan Kelly had described the Ministers comments last night as deeply concerning. Deputy Kelly said that everyone understood isolation to mean in their bedrooms and the Minister for Health had a different interpretation to everyone else. The Labour Leader said anyone arriving into Ireland should have to face a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine - bar essential workers - not just those without negative tests or coming from countries where variants are a concern. The variants are on tour, it doesn't matter, Brazil, South Africa. It could easily come from London, Lisbon or Lanzarote. The government really has a big decision to make on this, he said on RTEs Morning Ireland. Mr Kelly said if the Dail have to sit this week and next to provide the legislation and logistics for this then it should do so because we have locked up the people of this country for 11 months and put severe restrictions on them. I know we are bringing in the vaccine but it is going to take longer and what we need to do now is ensure the people coming are not spreading the virus, he said. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said there is a limited flexibility when it comes to the difference between self-isolation and quarantine. It means that they have to stay in their home. The difference between that and self-isolation is self-isolation means you have to lock yourself in the room and separate yourself from the rest of the household. While quarantine is slightly different to that, the Minister said. The Dail will look to pass legislation quickly to enshrine the 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those without negative tests in law, with Minister Coveney insisting this can be done quickly as long as opposition parties facilitate it. South Africa: Pandor discourages COVID-19 vaccine nationalism International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, has once again shone the spotlight on vaccine nationalism. Speaking during her opening remarks as the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Executive Council, Pandor said the most important public health measure to prevent COVID-19 is a vaccine. However, she raised concerns about the cost of the lifesaving jabs that have put African countries on the back burner. All countries must get vaccines and must get them speedily, she said on Wednesday. Pandor was speaking during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council held virtually under the theme, Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want. She told delegates that it was important that a nation inoculate its population to achieve global containment of the pandemic. We are all aware of the challenges of accessing vaccines for the global South, particularly for Africa, she said. According to the Minister, high-income countries, which have substantial financial resources, have purchased the largest stocks, while African countries are battling to get their fair share. The painful irony is that some of the clinical trials for these vaccines were carried out in Africa. In other cases, vaccines are packaged right here on the continent, yet we struggle to access them for our populations. She said the AUs Agenda 2063 envisions a bold, confident capable efficient AU, able to address tasks presented by an emergency of this enormity. In an attempt to act, India and South Africa have proposed a TRIPS [Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] waiver in response to the pandemic. We have called on the World Trade Organisation to temporarily waive specific TRIPS obligations related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 for a defined period and within defined parameters. According to Pandor, if agreed, this would enable countries in Africa and elsewhere to access active pharmaceutical ingredients and benefit from the technology transfer, including the expertise to manufacture vaccines in Africa at a cheaper cost. Recovery The Minister called on African nations to use their unity to devise solutions that allow the continent to grow together in a post-COVID-19 era. This crisis has created an unprecedented opportunity to devise innovative responses to new challenges and problems. The Executive Council may need to initiate an AU-led reflection on what next, and how we should coordinate. She said the continent has made huge strides in containing the spread of the virus since the outbreak in March 202, which has led to securing the vaccines. For the past year, efforts have been underway to find vaccines that are both safe, affordable and effective. We finally have achieved the goal, with a number of vaccines having undergone clinical trials and passed stringent safety tests. The production of the vaccine has begun in earnest." South Africa officially received its first shipment of one million Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from India on Monday. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. FROM the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the response in Ireland has been anchored in seven key ethical principles: solidarity, fairness, minimising harm, proportionality, reciprocity, privacy and a duty to provide care. In March, 2020, the Department of Health published the Ethical Framework for Decision-making in a Pandemic, which sets out these principles that have guided our collective response to this unprecedented public health emergency. This pandemic has adversely affected every person in Ireland in diverse and challenging ways. In working together to suppress the virus, we have made sacrifices at an individual and societal level and in doing so, made many difficult personal choices. Similarly, difficult decisions have been faced by policymakers and clinicians. Having multiple principles in our ethical framework, reflecting a plurality of values, has been and will continue to be vital to ethical decision-making. These core principles have also laid the foundation for Irelands approach to rolling out a vaccination programme to protect us all against Covid-19. The pandemic has brought into sharp relief questions regarding what we owe each other and what values we wish to prioritise as a society It has forced us to examine how and to what extent public goods are valued in our society. The emphasis on solidarity during the pandemic has been welcome and important for societal cohesiveness. Solidarity is about standing beside and up for others, in facing a common threat and in achieving our shared common goal of containing this virus. It is a recognition of our shared humanity and interconnectedness and is characterised by people acting in mutual support of each other. Solidarity has been described by the philosopher Jurgen Habermas as the other side of justice. Covid-19 has exposed as well as exacerbated pre-existing health and social inequities, with a disproportionate burden falling on vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. We need to take care the decisions we make during this pandemic do not deepen these inequalities. Vaccination is one of the most important things we can do to protect ourselves and others against ill health. Simply put: getting a vaccine is something we do for each other, as well as ourselves. The starting point for deciding which groups should receive the earliest allocations of vaccine, especially during this period of constrained supply, is to recognise that every person deserves equal respect and consideration. The vaccine allocation strategy seeks to balance the requirement to produce the most good while ensuring the equitable treatment of people. The latter involves giving special consideration to those who are most vulnerable. Those who have an increased risk of dying or developing severe disease have been prioritised to receive a Covid vaccine. Increasing age is the clearest risk factor associated with dying or falling very ill if you contract the virus. This risk is amplified for older persons living in long term residential care as they have a higher risk of exposure to infection. In Ireland in the first wave of Covid-19, 56% of deaths occurred in this setting. This is likely compounded by the presence of underlying conditions which increase with advancing age. Frontline healthcare workers have also been prioritised in this initial phase, a group also at high risk of exposure to the virus. If our healthcare workers contract the virus, it will not only affect their health but also impact on their ability to provide essential care. Prioritising healthcare workers recognises the significant burdens they carry daily in protecting wider society and our healthcare system. Some people with underlying health conditions will be vulnerable to developing severe infection and are at increased risk of dying compared to healthy individuals of the same age. It is also clear that socio-economic factors including occupation, as well as living or working in crowded conditions can increase susceptibility to Covid-19 and impact on outcomes following infection with the virus. From the perspective of fairness, it makes sense to afford these vulnerable groups early access to vaccination. No-one is protected until everyone is protected. Solidarity becomes a very thin concept if we only apply it to those who are very much like us and if it comes with terms and conditions. Efforts to control the pandemic at a national level will only succeed if we play our part in the global effort. Human dignity and respect is due to all, not just those within our borders. While we in Ireland and the rest of Europe have already commenced vaccinating our priority groups, it is a sobering thought that nearly a quarter of the worlds population mostly in low- and middle-income countries, will not have access to a vaccine before 2022. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has described this as a catastrophic moral failure. Equitable, global distribution of Covid vaccines is not only the right thing to do, but in protecting the most vulnerable we are protecting ourselves. Importantly, the ethical principles which have guided the vaccine allocation strategy are grounded in and informed by the WHO values framework for the allocation and prioritisation of Covid-19 vaccination. In 2020, we saw how we can collectively make a difference at a population level by abiding by public health measures. It has never been more clear that our own actions impact on other people, both at a national as well as a global level. Solidarity remains a relevant ethical lens through which to view our pandemic response. WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Research Group (BRG) announced today that Matthew Tanner, Ph.D. and Vir Chahal have joined the firm as managing directors in its Energy & Climate practice. They will be based in the firm's Washington, DC office. The pair are expanding BRG's power and renewable advisory practice and wholesale power market analytic capabilities. They will ensure that clients can rely on BRG for support and insights across the full range of energy transition issues throughout the US and global energy markets. Christopher Goncalves, BRG Energy & Climate practice chair and managing director, said, "We're excited to integrate the extensive expertise Matt and Vir bring to our team as we help clients navigate the tides of industry transformation from the dominance of depletable fossil fuels toward greater levels of electrification, integration of renewable energy and transition to clean fuels." Tanner brings over ten years of experience in advising clients across the power-sector value chain on strategy, risk and planning matters. His expertise includes renewable integration, market transformation, power systems modeling and forecasting, utility resource planning and risk simulation. He advises clients on market opportunities, risks of changing market structures, resource planning and investment strategy under uncertainty. Tanner received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University. He has testified before state utility commissions on renewable integration requirements and has worked with developers and investors to understand how the capabilities of flexible resources, such as storage, gas and hydro, can meet system requirements and how future market constructs might value such capabilities. Chahal brings over twelve years of experience in assisting stakeholder decisions across the power industry. His areas of expertise include capacity and ancillary service markets, market due diligence support, renewable integration studies, power market entrant strategy and global equipment order forecasting. He has testified on matters related to new transmission development and renewable integration standards and costs. Chahal received his MSE in electrical engineering from Stony Brook University and BSE from Tufts University. He is a member and serves on the leadership team for workplace community volunteering programs of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "Our Energy & Climate group continues to be among the leading-edge experts in the industry," said BRG Principal Executive Officer and President Tri MacDonald. "We look forward to the valuable expertise Matt and Vir will bring to our clients." BRG's Energy & Climate practice includes leading energy and environmental experts who serve clients in the areas of expert analysis and testimony for US and international arbitration and litigation matters, as well as strategic, commercial, market and forecasting, regulatory, project development, financial and policy advisory services. Their expertise spans the energy subsectors from power and renewables to clean fuels such as hydrogen, natural gas and LNG. The Energy & Climate group's financial advisory expertise includes project finance, corporate finance, valuation, restructuring and capital raising. About BRG Berkeley Research Group, LLC (BRG) is a global consulting firm that helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement and advisory. Headquartered in California with offices around the world, we are an integrated group of experts, industry leaders, academics, data scientists and professionals working beyond borders and disciplines. We harness our collective expertise to deliver the inspired insights and practical strategies our clients need to stay ahead of what's next. Visit thinkbrg.com to learn more. SOURCE Berkeley Research Group, 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. The northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has seen protests against the countrys harsh economic conditions and the lockdown imposed by the government in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus over the past week. The protests turned violent when demonstrators clashed with the security forces, leading to the death of a 29-year old protester, Omar Tayba, and the injury of more than 220 others. The Lebanese police reportedly used tear gas, water cannons and even fired live rounds to disperse the protesters, who had thrown stones and petrol bombs. We are here to demand food. People are hungry, one protester told the news agency AFP, explaining why the protesters had hit the streets of Tripoli. But experts suggest that the protests will likely not expand to other Lebanese cities. Sarah El-Richani, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo (AUC), told Al-Ahram Weekly that the alarming and ever-increasing infection and death rates caused by the coronavirus in Lebanon and the lockdown itself would be enough to stop the growth of a nationwide wave of protests. Having said that, there have also been a few protests in Beirut, one of them held by the families of the Beirut port blast victims, who have been demanding answers from the investigator looking into the devastating blast, she said. The other was a protest on the Beirut ring road as a result of the unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon, El-Richani, a former resident of Beirut, said. Last month, Sidon, a southern city in Lebanon, also saw protests over similar concerns. The Lebanese government is struggling to maintain a balance between curbing the spread of infections with the Covid-19 and supporting the countrys economy. From the countrys six million population there have so far been about 303,000 cases of infection and 3,145 deaths. However, the numbers are increasing, which explains the need for the lockdown. Lebanese families also gathered during last Decembers holidays, something that was fiercely criticised by health experts. The authorities allowed nightclubs and restaurants to stay open until 3:00am over the holiday period, and the number of people being admitted with Covid-19 then became unbearable for Lebanons hospital and medical centres. Hospitals in Lebanon are reporting a 94 per cent occupation rate in intensive-care units amid problems with providing sufficient medical equipment and medicines. Following an ineffective partial lockdown since 7 January, Lebanon declared a complete lockdown in mid-January that has included prohibiting people from going to grocery stores. Instead, they have been counting on food deliveries. Non-essential workers have been banned from going to work, with exceptions only being made in emergency cases. Despite some violations, the Lebanese police say that about 94 per cent of people have complied with the new orders. The situation has been most problematic in areas suffering from high rates of poverty, especially since the lockdown has hit small and medium-sized businesses hard, with these already suffering due to the Lebanese financial crisis. About 230,000 families in Lebanon have been receiving government payments worth 400,000 Lebanese pounds (roughly $50) a month, according to Social Affairs Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh who said three-quarters of the population needed financial support. The World Bank recently agreed to provide Lebanon with a package worth $246 million, but the timing of its arrival remains undetermined. This long list of coronavirus-related challenges has added more burdens to the state authorities amid the socio-economic and political ones already in place. The devastating Beirut explosions in August 2020 left about 300,000 people with no homes, with official estimates showing that Lebanon needs from $10 to $15 billion to rebuild damaged areas. A donors conference sponsored by France after the blasts managed to only secure 253 million euros ($298 million). The presence of the Shia group Hizbullah in several positions of power accompanied by stalled talks on the formation of a new government have caused a delay in the arrival of the money. Lebanese Sunni leader Saad Al-Hariri and Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a Hizbullah ally, have recently started a war of words, with each side blaming the other for the unfinished business of forming a new governing coalition. The problem is reportedly related to who will get the majority of ministerial seats in the new government. In late December, Al-Hariri submitted a government lineup to Aoun. One week later, his office urged Aoun to cooperate and disregard party affiliations. Aouns office responded by opposing Al-Hariris going it alone in naming ministers, particularly Christians, without agreement from the president. Accusing Al-Hariri of submitting a lineup different from the one earlier discussed, Aouns office added that the president never proposed the names of party candidates to be ministers and did not present the prime minister-designate with a list of names. On 1 February, Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai described the Aoun-Al-Hariri clash as sad and shameful, warning that if ties between them do not improve, there will be no government. Imad Salamey, an associate professor of political science at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut, told the Weekly in January that Al-Hariri was looking for regional support to get the task done following a visit to Turkey. Al-Hariri feels that his best bet is to reposition himself between the Saudi, French and Turkish axes, which could give him leverage in pushing for a Sunni-Christian convergence and consequent backing for his premiership, Salamey said. For El-Richani, things are unlikely to improve without international pressure. The unrest may indeed push the self-serving, negligent and seemingly oblivious political class to at least resume the talks on the formation of a new government, she said. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: An aerial view of Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 2, 2020. (Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images) Huntington Beach Solidifies Community Choice Energy Participation Huntington Beach residents will maintain its membership with the community choice energy (CCE) program following a Feb. 1 council vote. The confirmation of program participation means local government will provide energy to power the city, rather than Southern California Edison (SCE). The Orange County Power Authority is spearheading the effort with the regional community choice aggregate Joint Powers Authority, which will subsidize a green energy farm and obtain energy credits. It will use the credits to purchase electricity on the open market, and resell it to people within the city, utilizing the same transmission lines as SCE. Power will be produced by renewable energysolar and windas opposed to gas. Residents who dont want to participate in the CCE must opt out and join SCE, to avoid automatic registration. City council initially voted to join in the program last Dec. 10. It moved to maintain its membership on Feb. 1, rather than withdrawing. Councilmember Erik Peterson opposed the decision, saying government should play no part in providing energy. The government is inefficient for the most part, he told The Epoch Times. I think of every government organization, it always comes with greater costs, [and] greater overhead. But Councilmember Michael Posey, who voted in favor of the motion, said the move made financial sense. We can finance the buying [of energy cheaper than SCE], Posey said, alluding to the tax-free advantage of a municipality, which borrows money at 4 percent, compared to SCE, which borrows money at 8 percent. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The Navy's top officer has received dozens of recommendations to improve inclusion and diversity in the ranks that could change everything from who appears in recruitment ads, to how promotion selection boards are assembled, and how new ships are named. Task Force One Navy presented 56 recommendations to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday last month. Gilday created the task force last summer to examine Navy policies at every stage of a sailor's career to stop any unfair practices that might be putting people at a disadvantage due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, age or other factors. He did so after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody, prompted a national reckoning over race relations in the country. Read Next: Commissioning of Navy LCS Minneapolis-St. Paul on Hold After Design Defect Discovered For too long, the Navy has fallen short by excluding or limiting opportunities for some in the ranks, Gilday said this week when the task force released its 141-page report. "As a Navy -- uniform and civilian, active and reserve -- we cannot tolerate discrimination of any kind, and must engage in open and honest conversations with each other and take action," he said. "... Simply put, all Sailors -- uniformed and civilian -- and applicants for accession to the Navy must be treated with dignity and respect above all else." Task Force One Navy held hundreds of listening sessions and focus groups and collected nearly 1,000 completed online surveys that influenced its recommendations. Rear Adm. Alvin Holsey, who led the task force and recently commanded Carrier Strike Group 1, said the Navy is focused on carrying out the recommendations in the report. From boot camp to the highest levels in the Navy, Holsey said, leaders will continue to reinforce the importance of inclusion and diversity. Gilday agreed, saying that, while there's work to be done, the task force's recommendations will help make the Navy better long-term. "Make no mistake, I am personally committed to this effort," he said. The task force covered five "lines of effort," focusing on potential fixes for recruiting; talent management and retention; professional development; innovation; and other miscellaneous recommendations. The recommendations start with who appears in recruiting materials and how the Navy can better appeal to minorities. The task force also recommends getting rid of aptitude rating test requirements for new officers to remove any barriers from standardized testing. The Marine Corps last year swapped a World War II-era exam it was giving new officers for a modern aptitude test after white and male officers were found to be performing better than women and minorities, raising questions about possible biases. Once sailors and officers are in, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell said the Navy wants to be sure everyone's getting a fair shot at advancement and professional development. Twice a year, Nowell said, top leaders across the Navy's 17 communities will meet and have to show what their inclusion and diversity efforts look like across different pay grades. "This is not about quotas," he stressed. "This is about, 'How do we make sure that as we look at things like mentoring, at advocacy, that we're paying attention?'" The report also suggests ways to diversify the officer ranks through college scholarship programs that target underrepresented communities. The officer corps has historically been less diverse than the enlisted side. The task force also recommends creating a STEM -- or science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- program for elementary, middle and high schools. That effort could raise awareness about opportunities to serve in the Navy, the report states, potentially increasing the number of minorities with STEM backgrounds in the military. Other recommendations include creating a high-level women's policy adviser in the Navy and reviewing how the service names ships and other assets to ensure they represent naval core values. The listening sessions that brought about some of the recommendations were raw conversations about discrimination Navy personnel have faced in their careers. Military.com observed one of the sessions last summer. Sailors described hearing the the N-word on duty, being told to stop speaking Spanish on a ship, and facing snide comments about their hairstyles. Leaders need to continue having those conversations with their sailors, even when they're uncomfortable, Nowell said. Holsey and other members of the task force acknowledge that there's skepticism from those in uniform that the task force's efforts will lead to real change. At nearly every listening session the task force held, he said participants expressed that they didn't expect any change to come out of Task Force One Navy. Jane Roberts, the task force's senior civilian adviser, said women and minorities often feel like it's their burden to teach everyone else about diversity and inclusion. But this effort has support at the most senior levels, Holsey said, adding that it's not going to be any one individual's burden to keep the conversation and effort going. "I think there's a concerted effort to make it right," he said. "... It's not a 'one and done.' This issue is not going to go away. It's going to be embedded in our training throughout the life of the sailor. "We're all in on this, and that's why it will make a difference." Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the total number of recommendations from the task force. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: 'Sailors Using the N-Word': Navy Leaders Hear Painful Cases of Racism The Chase star Anne Hegerty revealed the true extent of her autism-related Prosopagnosia - also known as face blindness. On the final episode of The Chasers' Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles, which airs on ITV on Thursday, the quiz whiz gave further insight. She revealed that the cognitive disorder meant that she once did not recognise her stepmother despite 'vaguely' recalling her face while walking down the street. Open and honest: The Chase star Anne Hegerty revealed the true extent of her autism-related Prosopagnosia - also known as face blindness The three part series sees Anne join fellow Chasers Mark Labbett, 55, and Shaun Wallace in pitting their wits against extraordinary competition as they try to answer: 'Are we really as smart as we think we are?' To find the answers, Anne, Mark and Shaun travel the globe to take on child geniuses, great apes, and the latest AI and robot technology. Thursday's final episode sees the group jet to Japan, during which they register their face information in one of their experiments, shortly before Anne detailed how extensive the affects of the cognitive disorder can be. She explained: 'One of the things that quite often goes along with autism is Prosopagnosia - face blindness - there was an occasion where I was walking down the street and there was this woman who was vaguely familiar, I couldn't place her. Details: On the final episode of The Chasers' Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles, which airs on ITV on Thursday, the quiz whiz gave further insight The whole gang: To find the answers, Anne, Mark and Shaun travel the globe to take on child geniuses, great apes, and the latest AI and robot technology 'Hours later I remembered she was my stepmother! That can be embarrassing.' Prosopagnosia is a disorder of face perception where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively intact. The term originally referred to a condition following acute brain damage. On last week's episode, Anne shed light on how her autism has stopped her from finding love as she revealed the longest relationship she's ever had was four months, and ended as she 'wasn't good' at providing him with the right amount of attention. Anne goes onto joked that she's 'basically a Cyborg' after learning that she has an emotional intelligence level of just 1%. She says: 'One of the things that really goes along with autism is that I really can't hold down relationships. I've tried... Open and honest: 'Hours later I remembered she was my stepmother! That can be embarrassing On screens soon: The Chaser's Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles continues on Thursday at 9PM on ITV 'My longest relationship was four months and that only lasted that long because he lived in Brighton and I lived in Manchester. He was a lovely bloke but I'm just good with the sort of amount of attention that people need.' In the clip, Anne and her Chaser co-stars Mark Labbett and Shaun Wallace also complete a test to find out their level of emotional intelligence (EQ), with narrator Rob Brydon explaining 90% of people have a higher percentage. After completing to test Anne learns she has an EQ level of just 1%, and jokes: 'Basically I am a cyborg.' The Chaser's Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles continues on Thursday at 9PM on ITV. About 10% of Santa Barbara County residents have received COVID-19 vaccinations, and health officials said the reason for the relatively slow rate is due to the states allocations and, ultimately, a shortage of vaccine, neither of which the county can control. Seven local runners were to undertake a 100k run in aid of Offaly Hospice over the course of Valentine's weekend 2021. However due to Covid-19 level 5 restrictions, the run has now been postponed until March 27 & 28. The runners were to get together for the fundraiser over Valentine's weekend. However, the Tribune has been told the event will now take place at the end of March, just before Easter, due to the extension of the current level 5 restrictions. The route will see the runners, who are currently busy training within 5km of their homes, start in Cloghan, head towards Banagher, Birr, Kilcormac and finish up in Blueball, Tullamore. The Day two route begins in Daingean, heading towards Ballinagar, Tullamore, Clara, Ballycumber, Ferbane and finishing up in Cloghan. The group, who are being led by John Bennett, are Noel Flynn, Michael Guinan, Pat Hill, Vincent Devery, Michael Melia and Will Faulkner and have a support team of Ray Bell, Paddy Daly and Damien Brazil. Sponsorship cards will be available along the routes from Christmas time and letters will be sent out to local businesses asking them to support this fundraising initiative. Covid-19 restrictions has meant it has been a very difficult time for many charities and the organisers are asking everyone to support in whatever way they can. Meanwhile, Offaly Hospice is a registered charity founded in 1990 and was established by a group of likeminded medical doctors keen to see palliative care services improved for the people of Offaly. In 2019, Offaly Hospice Foundation has turned its attention to fundraising for a specialist palliative care in-patient unit to serve the whole of the midlands and the midlands hospice building fund was launched in April 2019. The midlands is the only region in Ireland without a specialist palliative care in patient unit and this deficit in health care causes immense hardship for patients and families and needs to be corrected. The proposed midlands specialist palliative care unit will consist of 20 bed specialist in-patient unit, day-care centre/outpatient department, specialist medical and nursing staff with at least one to one nursing, care attendants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, speech and language therapists, pharmacists, clinical nutritionists, spiritual care chaplains and volunteer coordinators. In 2013, a joint study by the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Health Service Executive Midlands region determined that the optimal site for this proposed care unit was on the campus of the Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore. The suggested site is in keep with the advice from the 2001 National Advisory Committee on Palliative care. In 2019, the HSE Dublin/Mid Leinster hospital group formally offered a site for the proposed specialist unit on the campus of the Tullamore hospital. Your generous support will be greatly appreciated and will benefit so many patients and families in the future. If you wish to support their efforts, visit www.idonate.ie/Valentines100KRun POTTSVILLE Schuylkill County residents and businesses spent most of Tuesday digging out from as much as 20 inches of snow that fell over a 36-hour period Sunday and Monday. Rachel Gutierrez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service forecast office in State College, said parts of Schuylkill County had actually received 20-plus inches, with lesser amounts in other areas. She said Ringtown registered 20.3 inches, the Schuylkill Haven area 20.5, Tamaqua area 17.5, Gilberton area 16.5 and areas north of Shenandoah came in at 13 inches. Reports indicate that the areas of Sheppton, Oneida and Nuremberg also had snowfall in excess of 20 inches. A storm that hit the county on Dec. 16 and 17 also produced snow totals in the double digits. And the snow may be around for some time. Gutierrez said temperatures should reach the mid-30s Wednesday and Thursday, but then fall again Friday; highs early next week will be in the mid- to high teens. It will definitely be a cold snap, she said. John Matz, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said that, although the snow clogged highways and streets as road crews worked throughout the storm, no significant problems were reported. Two areas affected included Route 61 north between Darkwater and Frackville on the Frackville Grade. Several commercial vehicles became stuck while trying to negotiate the hill, according to state police at Frackville. The highway was reopened after PennDOT crews plowed the snow and spread cinders. The same was true for a stretch of Route 309 between Ginthers and the Interstate 81 interchange in Kline Township. Police said several commercial vehicles got stuck there as well until PennDOT cleared the way and reopened the road. Ronald J. Young Jr., press officer for PennDOTs Engineer District 5, Allentown, which serves Schuylkill County, said the department had 40 plow trucks working in the county during the storm. Our drivers worked in 12-hour shifts and worked throughout the storm, he said. Right now, most of the major roads are wet or slushy and our crews are working on secondary and rural roads, Young said Tuesday. Young said PennDOT thanks members of the public for staying at home and off the roads, allowing plow trucks to do their job better and safer. For a while, it was hard to keep up because of the amount of snow falling, but the lesser amount of traffic was a help, he said. Young also said truck drivers obeyed directives to stay off major highways. Members of the trucking community heeded the warnings and stayed where they were at, he added. Young said it may take two or three days for PennDOT crews to reach all of the roads throughout the District 5 coverage area. Our trucks are and will be out, he said. Emergency extended Due to the extreme amount of snow, Pottsville extended its Level 2 snow emergency with parking ban until 8 p.m. Wednesday. All vehicles are to be removed from snow emergency routes and fire lanes, and neighbors are asked to remove snow from fire hydrants near their properties. For more information, go to www.city.pottsville.pa.us. Matz said the Schuylkill County Courthouse and all county offices were closed Monday and Tuesday due to the storm but will reopen at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. COVID-19 restrictions remain. In Hamburg Police Chief Anthony Kuklinski told residents on the departments Facebook page that he was sorry to be the bearer of bad news during the challenges created by the storm. On top of it all Punxsutawney Phil predicts another six more weeks of winter, Ugh, he wrote. Please enjoy the time at home and stay off the roads until this all clears. Two men have been fined more than $2,300 for refusing to wear face masks at an airport. A 49-year-old from Melbourne was slapped with a $1,548 fine on Saturday for entering the terminal at Hobart Airport twice without a face mask. Tasmanian police said officers and biosecurity workers asked the man to wear a mask before he was hit with the infringement notice. Pictured: Passengers lining up at check-in at Hobart Airport in March. All passengers are required to wear face masks A 25-year-old from New South Wales refused to wear a mask at the airport on Monday. The man claimed he had an exemption on medical grounds. When he was unable to provide a written exemption, he was fined $774. A 25-year-old from New South Wales refused to wear a mask at the airport on Monday, claiming he had an exemption on medical grounds. Pictured: People entering Hobart Airport All passengers arriving or departing Tasmania are required to wear a face mask inside terminal buildings and carparks within the airport precinct. 'The direction to wear face masks was made to protect travellers and the community from the risk of transmission of COVID-19,' Inspector Brian Edmonds said. 'Tasmania Police urge all travellers to comply with the direction in the interest of public safety.' (TNS) The personal unemployment claims data of at least 1.4 million Washingtonians may have been stolen in a hack of software used by the state auditor's office, raising fears of identity theft and fraud amid an already bleak pandemic downturn.State Auditor Pat McCarthy said Monday the records including Social Security numbers and banking information were exposed during a December breach of Accellion, a software provider the auditor's office uses to transfer large computer files.In a head-slapping irony, the compromised data had been collected as part of the auditor's investigations into how the state Employment Security Department (ESD) lost $600 million to fraudulent unemployment claims."I know this is one more worry for Washingtonians who have already faced unemployment in a year scarred by both job loss and a pandemic. I am sorry to share this news and add to their burdens," McCarthy said in a statement.Those burdens could be substantial, experts say. With personal information from the breach, "the fraudsters have everything they need in order to take whatever money is in that account and electronically transfer it to an account that they control," warned Trace Fooshee, a senior analyst and expert in fraud, data security, and money laundering at Aite Group, a financial services consultancy.ESD claimants can protect themselves, Fooshee added, but "unfortunately, that means changing account numbers."The auditor's office said the breach affects personal information of people who filed for unemployment claims with ESD between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 10, 2020, and included a total of 1.6 million claims. Those claims represent at least 1.47 million individuals, according to data from the ESD website. (Because there are multiple unemployment programs, a single claimant can file multiple times.)The auditor's office emphasized that the new breach did not originate with ESD, which has been under scrutiny over questions about its own security measures following last spring's fraud.ESD officials, meanwhile, asked people who are concerned about their data not to call the agency but to contact the auditor's office with questions.At an afternoon news conference, McCarthy said her office is working with state cybersecurity officials and that a federal law enforcement investigation is underway.Steve Bernd, a spokesperson for the FBI, said the bureau is aware of the incident but could not confirm the existence of an investigation.The data breach involved claimants' names, Social Security numbers and/or driver's license or state identification number, bank information, and place of employment, the auditor's office said.Joel York, Accellion's chief marketing officer, said in an interview the data breach involved the company's 20-year-old "legacy product," known as FTA, which the company has been encouraging customers to stop using."It just wasn't designed for these types of threats," York said.He said the company has been encouraging users for years to upgrade to Accellion's newer product, known as kiteworks. The auditor's office was in the process of moving to that product at the time of the data breach, he said.Asked why her office had relied on software Accellion has described as aging and less secure than its newer product, McCarthy said the state paid an annual subscription fee for the service for the past 13 years and relied on it to be safe."We believed that we were getting a secure system and we expected that and the citizens of Washington state should expect that as well," said McCarthy, a Democrat elected to her second term as auditor in November.The FTA vulnerability was fixed through software patches after the December breach became known to Accellion, a Palo Alto, California-based company.York said that patch was implemented quickly, but 50 of its customers, including the auditor, were compromised, and attacks on the system continued."That's the way things are today. It's cyberwarfare," he said.McCarthy pushed back on the suggestion that Accellion had issued any security warnings about its systems. "Absolutely not. We had no indication, no indication that this product was not secure," she said.Experts said the breach highlights the risks of using third-party vendors, which in the past have been targets for hackers, said Marcus Fowler, director of strategic threat at Darktrace, a cybersecurity firm. When agencies hire outside vendors for important data functions, they're also reliant on the vendor's security, Fowler said, and "you don't always know the level of scrutiny that they put into it."But the breach also raised questions about why the state auditor had requested so much personal information. "Was it truly necessary for the audit of ESD to include all this personal financial data from ESD claimants?" said state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, who chairs the committee with oversight of ESD. "If so, why did the auditor's office not make sure its vendor could be trusted to provide adequate data security?"Kathleen Cooper, state auditor spokesperson, said the personal data was necessary for the auditor to fully assess how ESD scrutinized unemployment claims for potential fraud before paying them.McCarthy's office first disclosed what she termed "a security incident" in a statement to The Seattle Times on Friday evening that provided few details on the scope of the breach.In addition to the massive exposure of unemployment claims data, other information from 100 local governments and 25 state agencies may have been compromised in the breach, McCarthy said Monday. Citing the ongoing investigation, the auditor did not disclose the names of those entities, with the exception of the Department of Children, Youth and Families.The state auditor's office regularly audits some 2,300 local governments and state agencies, according to McCarthy. Those probes necessarily involve sweeping up massive troves of information, she added.The auditor's office is the only state agency that reported using Accellion services, according to a list maintained by the state's chief information officer, said Andrew Garber, a spokesperson for WaTech, the state's central tech services agency.A spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee said the governor had spoken with McCarthy "and expressed his deep concern about the data that was exposed by their third-party vendor. As a separately elected statewide official, we understand that they are taking responsibility for this and doing everything they can do address it."News of the data breach comes nearly nine months after the ESD disclosed that criminals had filed hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of bogus unemployment claims using personal information likely stolen during earlier data breaches.And it comes barely three months after McCarthy rebuked former ESD Commissioner Suzi LeVine for hindering her office's investigation into the fraud and other problems at ESD. A DUBLIN man has been refused bail after he was accused of inflicting serious head injuries to a family member by beating him over the head with a large fire extinguisher. Michael Joyce, 23, of Hamlet Lane, Balbriggan, Dublin is charged with assault causing harm at a house in Rathmines in the citys south-side on Jan. 24. He appeared before Judge Victor Blake at Cloverhill District Court for a bail hearing. Garda Rachel Corcoran objected to him getting released pending trial due to the seriousness of the case. She told Judge Blake it was alleged a man, related to the accused, was visciously assaulted after a disagreement with Mr Joyce and a co-accused. Garda Corcoran said the man sustained a number of punches and kicks to his head area. He was then struck by two men using large fire extinguishers, it was alleged. The man suffered serious injures and was also struck another 10 times while he was unconscious on the ground, Garda Corcoan said. After he was taken to hospital he was put into an induced coma for a number of days as a result of severe bleeding to the brain. He remains in a serious but stable condition, she said. Further charges are anticipated, Garda Corcoran added. She told the court it was alleged the violence used was extreme. Defence counsel Niall Storan, instructed by solicitor Brian Keenan, pleaded for bail. He argued that there was no evidence his client was a flight risk. Judge Blake refused and remanded Mr Joyce in custody to appear again on Feb. 16 next. Another man is also before the courts charged in connection with the incident. Two days after Myanmars military seized power in a coup, the scope of its formal allegations against the countrys civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, are taking shape: She is accused of illegally importing at least 10 walkie-talkies. It was a bizarre postscript to a fraught 48 hours in which the army placed the countrys most popular leader back under house arrest and extinguished hopes that the Southeast Asian nation could one day serve as a beacon of democracy in a world awash with rising authoritarianism. The surprise use of walkie-talkies to justify locking up a Nobel Peace Prize laureate reinforced the militarys penchant for using fine-grained strategy to neutralize its greatest political rival. The accusations, which surfaced in a court order on Wednesday, may seem obscure and underwhelming, but they could put her in prison for up to three years. The court order to detain Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, which was provided by an official from her party, the National League for Democracy, was dated on the day of the coup and authorized her detention for 15 days. The document said soldiers searching her villa in Naypyidaw, the capital, had turned up various pieces of communications equipment that had been brought into the country without proper paperwork. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 The Centre on Monday informed Lok Sabha that 39 cases were registered against the farmers who were protesting demanding the repeal of three Agricultural Laws between September to December 2020. The three laws are: Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Delhi police informed the Ministry of Home Affairs that farmers "used force and aggressively indulged in rioting." Questions were raised by Congress MPs K Muraleedharan, Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, Balubhau alias Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar and Mohammed Faizal, who asked whether any case has been registered against the farmers protesting the recently passed Farm Laws between September to December, 2020 at Delhi border. They also asked for the reasons for use of tear gas and resorting to Lathi charge against protesting farmers by the Delhi Police, and if the government is aware of the number of farmers who died or committed suicide in protest at the Delhi border. In response, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of State Home Affairs, said, So far as NCT of Delhi is concerned, Delhi Police has informed that 39 cases have been registered against the farmers protesting the recently passed Farm Laws between September to December, 2020 at Delhi border. The Delhi Police also informed the Home Ministry that one suicide case has been reported to them during the protest against Farm Laws at the Delhi border. Justifying the lathi-charge and use of teargas on farmers, Reddy said, As regards use of tear gas and resorting to Lathi charge against protesting farmers by the Delhi Police, it has been reported by Delhi Police that at Delhi border, large convoys of protesting farmers in tractor trolleys tried to furiously force their way and go past police barricades to enter Delhi to mark their protest against the recently enacted farm laws. Calling the act aggressive, the MoS said, They aggressively resorted to rioting, damage to government property and used criminal force to deter public servants from the discharge of their duty, thereby inflicting injuries to the on-duty police personnel. the social distancing was not followed by the farmers, protestors and they gathered in large numbers without face masks amid Covid-19 pandemic. The farmers actions left the Delhi Police with no option but to use tear gas, water cannons and mild force to control the crowd, Reddy added. He explained that 'public order' and 'police' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration/ prosecution of crimes, conviction of accused, protection of life and property etc. rest primarily with the respective state governments. Central government keeps a constant watch on the internal security scenario of the country through its security agencies and responds appropriately to the emergent situation. Among other measures, alerts and advisories are issued to the law enforcement agencies whenever any threat to internal security is perceived. The Central Government also provides Central Armed Police Forces to the States/Union Territories upon request. Last year Bezos's Blue Origin launched one rocket into a suborbital flight, while Musk's Spacex sent 25 into space Amazon.com ( ) boss Jeff Bezos is giving up his day job to spend more time with his family of other interests. Since being overtaken as the worlds richest person by ( ) boss Elon Musk, Bezos has perhaps taken a moment or two to think about his priorities. Staying as executive chair of the online retailer and web services colossus, he said he will stay engaged with his big baby, but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, , The Washington Post, and my other passions. As a reusable rocket launch company, also pits Bezos up against Musk and his SpaceX outfit. And it is another example of where Musk is pipping his fellow Silicon Valley billionaire, even though Bezos founded two years before Musk established SpaceX, 2000 and 2002 respectively. Last year, completed one sub-orbital flight, the seventh test launch of its New Shepard rocket, while SpaceX completed 25 orbital launches, including one suborbital abort test. Spacex, which was valued last summer at US$46bn when it carried out its latest fundraising, is generating revenue from its contracts to carry astronauts for Nasa and equipment and other payloads for satellite companies and other space companies, including record numbers on its recent 'rideshare'. Falcon 9 launches 143 spacecraft to orbit the most ever deployed on a single mission completing SpaceXs first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission pic.twitter.com/CJSUvKWeb4 SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 25, 2021 Last year, a coalition including Blue Origin, , and Draper won a US$579mln Nasa contract to develop a human landing system as part of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX are keen to develop their human spaceflight programs. So far in 2021, Blue Origin has launched its first test of a new New Shepard spacecraft, designed eventually to take astronauts and payloads into space, called the RSS First Step. The First Step launch last month was an un-crewed suborbital test flight, with both reusable rocket and capsule successfully touching back down afterwards, with the latter having peaked at about 107km above Earth. Competing with Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic to provide space tourism, this could be a good money spinner for Blue Origin as it works on developing Bezoss longer term plans, which include putting a permanent base on the moon and building up giant space colonies. As Bezos has said: The solar system can support a trillion humans, and then we'd have 1,000 Mozarts, and 1,000 Einsteins. Think how incredible and dynamic that civilization will be." Musk, meanwhile is fixated specifically on Mars. Last year he said SpaceX, which has already carried Nasa astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station, could send its first uncrewed spacecraft to Mars by 2022, with astronauts flying to the red planet within the next three to five years. With trips to our nearest planetary neighbour depending upon a two-year cycle of the two planets orbits lining up, Musk said SpaceX astronauts could fly to Mars in the next window after that in 2024, if we get lucky but for 2026 he said he was highly confident. This will use SpaceXs Starship, the companys fully reusable interplanetary space flight system, of which the latest prototype took off on a test flight last night from the company's South Texas site, before exploding on landing. The SN9 Starship prototype, which is 50 meters tall, reached its target altitude of about 10 kilometers and performed a horizontal flip before coming back to Earth and messing up its landing the same problem that befell its SN8 predecessor. Meanwhile, SpaceXs commercial Falcon 9 rocket has already carried out three launches in 2021, and said this week that it will send four space tourists up into orbit later some time between October and December this year. Accompanied by a former NASA astronaut, businessman Jared Isaacman is paying for the flight and donating the three other seats aboard the Dragon spacecraft to anyone who donates to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital or shares an inspirational business story on Twitter. The price of the trip has not been made public. He has been called truth-telling hero, evil and perverted traitor, heroic, trickster, mythical reviled. Robert Manne called him the most consequential Australian of the present time. The new US President has called him a high-tech terrorist. The protean narratives of Julian Assange, who will be 50 in July, have been brewing since 2010, when his website published The Afghan War Diaries, Iraq War Logs and Collateral Murder, a video showing the US military killing two Reuters employees in Iraq. Supporters of Julian Assange outside Londons Old Bailey during his extradition hearing. Credit:Leon Neal December marked 10 years since Assange has been arbitrarily detained in Britain, according to Felicity Ruby and Peter Cronau in their introduction to A Secret Australia a collection of 18 essays that survey the impact WikiLeaks has had on Australias media landscape and the consequences of our governments attraction towards Americas intelligence and military empire. The potpourri of authors and thinkers includes Julian Burnside, Antony Loewenstein, Scott Ludlam and Helen Razer, who critique the powers opposed to openness and transparency and examine the evidence, not the likelihoods, the probabilities, the suspicions, and assumptions around the subversive, technology-based publishing house. ALBANY One can argue whether the Albany Democratic machine was good or evil or how much of it remains today, but this much is indisputable: It has etched itself into American political history as one for the ages. It has been 100 years since the OConnell-Corning Democratic machine seized control of City Hall in 1921 by defeating the entrenched Barnes Republican machine. The Democrats have not relinquished power since. Albany ranks first as the longest run of uninterrupted Democratic rule, longer than Boston (since 1930), Chicago (1931), St. Louis (1949), Philadelphia (1951), Buffalo (1962) or any other deep-blue city in the nation. READ MORE: Photos: 100 years of Democratic mayors in Albany Aside from a place in American political history, the streak reminds us that Albany has one major-league sport: politics. In ways large and small, the machine left an indelible mark on the citys soul. The machine united a caste divide: Political boss Dan OConnell was a streetwise fifth-grade dropout reared in his fathers South End saloon who pulled the levers of power behind the scenes; his front man was an Ivy League-educated patrician and Albanys 11-term mayor, Erastus Corning 2nd, who took orders from the boss and served as Uncle Dans urbane alter ego. They bonded over the illicit bloodsport of cockfighting and the hurlyburly of politics. Knickerbocker News Staff Photo/Times Union Historic Images The love-hate relationship between the machine and a populace under whose yoke it toiled spans generations. Its impact is debated to this day. Was it a benevolent oligarchy that doled out patronage jobs for the working-class, as well as a turkey at Thanksgiving and buckets of coal in winter? Or was it a malevolent force that solidified its power through intimidation and retribution by jacking up property assessments, co-opting Black citizens with $5 bills for their votes and leaving disenfranchised minorities to languish in ghettos? It depends on who you ask. The Albany Democratic Party was a wonderful organization that always cared about the people and helped the poor, said Leonard Weiss, a World War II veteran and 1948 graduate of Albany Law School. He served as Albany City Court judge, state Supreme Court judge and chaired the Albany County Democratic Committee. Times Union Historic Images Weiss recalled the day in 1977 when Corning telephoned and asked if he wanted to be a City Court judge. Weiss said yes. He swore me in the next day at City Hall, Weiss said. Thats the way things were done back then. Weiss likes the way that Polly Noonan Cornings longtime confidante and grandmother of U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand characterized the OConnell-Corning apparatus. Polly used to say it was an organization, because a machine doesnt have a heart and the Albany Democrats always had a heart, Weiss said. Skip Dickstein/Times Union Historic Images Alice Green, a leading Black activist in Albany for more than 50 years and founder of The Center for Law and Justice, views the machine in starkly different terms. I think the machine still exists, but works to exert control differently today, Green said. People in the Black community are hard-pressed to see what has changed because the police are still used to exert control over Black lives and the police department reports to the mayor. Green recalled working as a poll watcher in 1970 and confronting a uniformed cop on duty. He was literally leaning on the voting machine and I said that was against election rules and he would have to leave, Green said. The cop grew angry, but eventually left when Green produced an election rules booklet. Want to see more photos from the Times Union Archive? Capital Region Memories: A Pictorial History of the Early Years through the 1930s Despite two Black police chiefs John Dale in 1989 and Eric Hawkins since 2018 Green sees disenfranchisement in Black neighborhoods. Look at the low voter turnout in the Black community, she said. They feel their vote doesnt count. The machine is getting creaky, but its still alive and kicking, said Leon Van Dyke, a leader of The Brothers, a Black militant group in Albany in the 1960s. Dan OConnell and the machine were racist and held back Albany the same way racism held back the whole country. Jack Madigan/Times Union Historic Images The Brothers clashed frequently with the machine over unsanitary conditions and slum landlords in poor Black neighborhoods. They picketed and led protests demanding the hiring of Black laborers at the South Mall construction site. When Van Dyke moved to Albany from Philadelphia in 1960, he was shocked to see machine operatives handing out $5 bills from large stacks on street corners in Black neighborhoods on Election Day. Like they were hawking newspapers, he recalled. The Brothers carried signs at demonstrations that proclaimed, Dont sell your soul for $5. When Van Dyke returned to Albany a year ago after 11 years in the Philippines, he noticed significant changes. I went down to City Hall and saw a Black Lives Matter banner hanging over the entrance and thought, 'Dan OConnell must be spinning in his grave,' he said, pleased also to find that two Black men now lead the citys Common Council, President Corey Ellis and President Pro Tem Kelly Kimbrough. Will Waldron/Albany Times Union Im a proud Democrat, but the way we govern and what it means to be a Democrat has changed dramatically from how the machine operated 100 years ago, said Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who acknowledged decades of neglect of minority neighborhoods in a city currently about 28 percent Black and 9 percent Hispanic. She conceded abandoned buildings and blight in the South End and West Hill is a machine legacy of disinvestment and redlining. More diverse voices are being heard today and that is something to celebrate, said Sheehan, the first female mayor in the citys 327-year history when she was sworn in seven years ago. We were raised with the basic understanding that wed all rather be Democrats than Republicans in this city, said Albanys former five-term mayor, Jerry Jennings (1994-2014). He grew up in the Irish-Catholic enclave of North Albany, worked in his fathers saloon from a young age, knew Corning and OConnell and hung around the machine pols. Steve Jacobs/Times Union Historic Images The machine lasted so long because it was well-organized, tightly controlled and they knew how to get out the vote, Jennings said. It doesnt really exist anymore because there is so much apathy and divisiveness. The machine held the city back in many ways because its primary focus was holding onto power, said Frank Robinson, author of Albanys OConnell Machine: An American Political Relic, published in 1973. It does not exist anymore because it doesnt have the same presence or leverage. Times Union Archive Robinson, a former staff counsel for the New York Public Service Commission, was a Republican ward leader who ran unsuccessfully for City Court Judge in 1975. Republicans were the reformers taking on the machine in the 1970s, Robinson said. The high-water mark for the GOP in Albany came in 1973 when Republican Carl Touhey, owner of Orange Motors, came within 3,500 votes of a shocking upset of Corning, so-called mayor for life. The election was marred by allegations of polling place irregularities, which were never proven. The Democrats swept into power in the wake of a coal scandal during the winter of 1921. As poor residents struggled to heat their homes, an investigation revealed that $18,000 worth of coal billed to the city never materialized while Republican city officials received loads of coal delivered without charge to their homes. South End ablaze from coal steal read a Times Union headline. The coal scandal buried Republican boss William Billy Barnes, Harvard-educated and publisher of the Albany Evening Journal, founded by his grandfather, GOP power broker Thurlow Weed. Former state Assemblyman and historian Jack McEneny, author of Capital City on the Hudson, said that scandals often topple political organizations. The Democratic machine teetered after a 1929 baseball betting pool scandal sent OConnell to prison. Gov. Thomas Dewey grilled Corning in a 1943 state investigation on machine kickbacks, no-show jobs and no-bid contracts, but won no substantial indictments. For the past 100 years, the Democrats have managed to convince the people of Albany that it is still the peoples party, McEneny said. Democrats were at their best in Albany during the Rockefeller era because Republicans pushed them to be better. Competition is healthy. Democrats will remain in power only if they change as the city changes. Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body It all began for Christopher Lepczyk out in the wilds of the upper Great Lake states. Growing up in Michigan, he spent his fair share of time exploring the outdoors, budding a love of nature that to this day fuels his passion as an award-winning professor in Auburn Universitys School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, during a time in which the world was facing tremendous environmental problems that needed attention, he said. In Michigan, where I grew up, these impacts included the problems of pollution and invasive species in the Great Lakes and watching the continued loss of land to urbanization. In college, I was pretty sure I wanted to work to help nature, but wasn't clear on the exact pathway and, in fact, thought about becoming an environmental lawyer or majoring in political science. He then met two special professors. I had the fortune of meeting and working with two professors at Hope College (Dr. K. Greg Murray and Dr. Kathy Winnett-Murray) that were ecologists and encouraged me to work in their lab, he said. They soon became both mentors and advisors to me, and to this daynearly 30 years laterthey are still very close friends. It was through them that I really saw the importance of ecology. I subsequently sought to specialize as an ecologist when I went to grad school and really became moved to be an ecologist and conservation biologist when I did my MS degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Today, things have come full circle as Lepczyk is now the one guiding students along their path and teaching them a fond appreciation for nature. He said that his biggest hope is that his students work to make better decisions in how they live and treat the environment. Lepczyk teaches Wildlife Biology and Conservation and in October was one of two Auburn professors to receive the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award is given annually to two faculty members who have demonstrated effective and innovative teaching methods, along with a continuing commitment to student success through advising and mentoring. Receiving the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award really took my breath away and is something that I've been in a bit of shock over as it is such a high honor, Lepczyk said. But what it means to me is that I've been able to connect with students and hopefully affect their lives in a meaningful way. Lepczyks work inside and outside of the classroom speaks to his mission of advancing science for the purposes of conservation. Most of my research and that of my students focuses on collecting data to provide answers for conservation and management of nature, particularly wildlife, he said. At present, my lab has been working quite a bit on comparing wildlife across cities of the world, using birds as model species, developing a new citizen science project looking at biodiversity in people's yards, working on reducing the impact of invasive species, looking at effects of pollution on wildlife and evaluating management options for endangered species. In May 2020, he was the lead editor of the newly released Handbook of Citizen Science in Ecology and Conservation, the nations first comprehensive guide for both professional scientists and citizen scientistsavid science enthusiasts within communities who carry out essential, hands-on work for research projects. And just recently, he co-authored a study that used nearly two decades of data on the birds that inhabit the parks of New York City to answer longstanding questions about how well urban green spaces function to protect biodiversity, particularly the varieties of bird species. The study, published in the international journal Landscape and Urban Planning, examined three major aspects of urban green spacesisolation, shape and areato determine which provided the strongest support for biodiversity. The research found that the size of an urban green spaces areanot its shape or isolationmost strongly corresponds with the richness of bird species in these spaces, both annually and seasonally. We are very proud of Dr. Lepczyks accomplishments, said Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. He is adept at translating his research experiences in the fields of ecology and conservation biology to the classroom to provide his students with a greater understanding of the human dimensions of conservation. Through the exploration of real world management and conservation issues our students are gaining a greater appreciation of the interconnection between people and the environment. Lepczyk said his hope is that his students learn that they can make real change in the world. One of the main reasons I became a professor was to teach so as to educate students about the natural world and how we can use science to help restore and manage it, he said. As part of his nomination for the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award, Lepczyk received several letters of support from colleagues and students. Dr. Lepczyk exemplifies all the qualities that make a great teacher: passion for the subject matter, organization, compassion for students and a class structure that facilitates learning, stated Cullen Anderson, who attended Auburn as an undergraduate student from 2015-2019. Dr. Lepczyk excels as a mentor beyond the classroom, encouraging students to pursue extra-curricular activities (e.g. field work, research) and guiding them through those processes. Lisa Wedding, also a former student of Lepczyks and now an associate professor in Physical Geography and a Tutorial Fellow of Worcester College at the University of Oxford, offered similar praise of Lepczyk in her support letter. I completed Dr. Lepczyks graduate level Landscape Ecology course in the fall of 2008. He thoughtfully organized the course to engage students on many different levels to ensure we not only learned the fundamentals of landscape ecology, but that we became critical thinkers, she stated. His lectures were engaging and he also organized weekly class discussions that highly motivated us to synthesize and critically review journal articles on a specific landscape ecology theme. She added that there are so few professors who show Dr. Lepczyks dedication and commitment to student success and career development. This stretches far beyond his job description, but his professional support has helped me complete my dissertation successfully, secure a postdoctoral scholar position at Stanford University and ultimately an associate professor position at the University of Oxford. Lepczyk said its been his honor to serve in such a role and to pass along his love for conservation through the years. One of the things I most enjoy as a professor is getting students excited and caring about nature and the world around them and seeing that change, he said. Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNtech, which are engaged in the joint development of a vaccine against the coronavirus, will produce its 100 million shots in facilities belonging to France's pharma giant, Sanofi, which earlier announced a delay in its vaccine production MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNtech, which are engaged in the joint development of a vaccine against the coronavirus, will produce its 100 million shots in facilities belonging to France's pharma giant, Sanofi, which earlier announced a delay in its vaccine production. Earlier in January, the firms reached an agreement under which the French drugmaker would assist US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech in packaging and transporting their COVID-19 vaccine starting in July 2020. The separate announcement on the production of Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine on a Sanofi plant was made by Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the minister delegate in charge of the industry for the economy minister, on Wednesday. "Starting this summer, 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which are available, will be finalized in the factories of 'Sanofi'," Beaune said. Sanofi's decision to join efforts with the other two companies followed its December announcement on the postponement of its joint vaccine project with the UK-based GSK firm to late 2021 due to the unsatisfactory interim results of the first clinical trials phase. In the meantime, Pannier-Runacher on the RTL broadcaster detailed the government vaccine production strategy, which seeks to compensate vaccine cuts from Pfizer and Moderna by engaging several facilities in France in the preparation of the shots. In particular, the first site on the French mainland will start to produce Moderna vaccine doses in March, the facility for the Pfizer vaccine will start operating in April, and the German Curevac vaccine's production will begin in May, she specified. Besides Sanofi, the strategy includes such companies as Delpharm and Recipharm. The vaccination campaign began in France on December 27 but was significantly slowed down by delays in deliveries of the vaccines authorized by the EU, including those by Pfizer, Moderna, and the recently approved one by AstraZeneca. Monson municipal offices are open by appointment-only as the towns COVID-19 rating remains in the states red, high-risk category. The Monson Select Board voted unanimously on shifting its public hours to appointment-only to coincide with the towns rating this past week. The new policy change officially began on Monday, Feb. 1. At the time of the discussion at the Tuesday, Jan. 26 board meeting, Monson Town Administrator Evan Brassard said the state Department of Public Health was ranked in the red, high-risk category. Our average daily incident rate is 61.3 and our percent-positivity is 10.6. 10.6 is a pretty substantial number for us, said Brassard at the meeting. At the time, the community had 72 active cases. As of the latest weekly report from the DPH, the towns active case count dropped to 53 cases, its average daily incidence rate to 45.1 and its percent-positivity to 8.11 percent. Brassard broached the topic of the Town Halls hours open to the public after several staff members expressed concerns. He noted that there were four COVID-19 deaths connected to members of the staff in the past few months. As such, he said he developed an approach that the Town Offices would only open to the public if the towns rating via the DPHs weekly report moved out of red and yellow and into green and/or grey. Chair Dr. Richard Smith said he agreed with the approach if it made staff more comfortable. It seems like the building is secure. Theres glass in between. Everybodys separated. I would say, its up to the people that are in the building. Its up to them, said board member Mary K. Hull. If thats how they would feel safe, then we should go with what makes them feel safe. After receiving unanimous approval, Smith opened up time for public comment, which many focused on the ongoing pandemic and the towns status. Resident R. Keith Valley spoke of the increase of positive cases of COVID-19 in town and how while some may be due to the winter season he also felt that there were a number of people not adhering to the mask mandate. He said that he felt that the town was lacking in an effort to stop the spread. Valley further noted that he felt Hull, who is also a member of the Board of Health, is not fulfilling her oath to the town to take care of the health and well being of the community. Valley cited portions of a letter he had submitted to Board of Health Chair John Beau Schneider requesting that Hull to step down from the Board of Health. In the letter, he claimed that Hull is an anti-masker thats been tasked with education and enforcement of the state-ordered mask mandate and recites exceptions to the mask mandate rather than educating business owners on the rules. The letter also referred to Hulls interview with The Journal Register newspaper regarding her participation in the pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 as a patriot. The rally culminated in a deadly attack by some on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election. Resident Karen Nothe-Valley echoed Valleys sentiments. Mary Hull should not be the maskless face of education and enforcement. Its embarrassing that we have a town official that traveled to D.C. for the insurrection and was maskless and shes never held accountable, said Nothe-Valley. Hull did not respond during the meeting to allegations she does not support mask requirements and did not comment on her participation in the Jan. 6 rally in Washington D.C. Resident Chris Carlin asked the board how they felt the town was doing in its handling of the pandemic and its approach to minimize the spread. With the mandate being under the direction of local boards of health, Smith said he felt the town was doing a decent job, but felt that communicating from the Board of Health could be improved. Smith also said that he felt that repeating the messages of hand-washing and sanitizing from the state or federal level would be redundant and Hull agreed. People do know theyre supposed to wear masks. My greater concern now is the suicide, the depression and other things. Its not just about people wearing masks. We have a lot more going on here. The suicide rate is through the roof. Some of these schools are reopening for that reason only. Theres other things that we have to weigh here, said Hull. I understand people: everyone should wear a mask, and Marys a bad representative youre entitled to your opinion. I do a lot. Just because Im not posting everything I do on Facebook and conversations that I have. Theres other aspects to this and my greatest concern right now is the mental wellbeing in this town. Carlin questioned Hull on where those statistics were coming from as it pertains to Monson. Hull said that the suicide rates were up throughout the world and suggested that Carlin do some research for himself. I guess Im asking you as a public official that made the statement if you could please back up that statement with facts, said Carlin. With the children in town, oh sure. I talked to tons of them, said Hull, as a back-and-forth began to ensue. Tons? asked Carlin. Its bad. Many. Many. Dont get like that. Dont be petty because Im not making the point you want to hear, please. This is an important issue. Go talk to these people. Thats the statistic you need, said Hull. ... People under the age of 23 years old, 25 percent have contemplated suicide related to coronavirus. Thats a fact. Board member Ed Harrison stepped in to ask if that statistic related to Monson. Thats everywhere. Thats countrywide. Its the same everywhere. Its terrible what were doing to these kids, she said. At this point in the discussion, Smith suggested moving on. Harrison said that in his travels throughout the town, which includes a daily trip to the post office and frequent visits to the pharmacy and grocery store, he observes more masks than you can shake a stick at. Hull said that legally, if a resident indicates after someone asks that they have a medical condition not to wear a mask, thats the end of it. You cannot throw them out of the store. You cannot tell them they cant go in anywhere. You can ask that they social distance and you can make special accommodations for them. You can discriminate against them for not wearing a mask and thats straight from the CDC, she said. According to Gov. Charlie Bakers COVID-19 order No. 55, all people in the commonwealth over the age of 5 years old are required to wear face coverings in public places indoors and outdoors at all times unless an individual is unable to wear a mask due to a medical or disabling condition. Should a customer refuse to wear a mask or face covering whether they have a medical condition or not the operator of a facility or business may decline entry to the individual, the order states. They've been married for more than a decade, but it seems Sacha Baron Cohen is still every inch the gentleman when it comes to his wife Isla Fisher. The 49-year-old comedian dutifully bought the actress a take-away coffee as she celebrated her 45th birthday in Sydney on Wednesday. As he walked from the cafe back to their home, the Borat star downed his own drink - a double espresso - in a matter of seconds. Such a gentleman! Sacha Baron Cohen downed an espresso while bringing home a take-away coffee for his wife Isla Fisher on her 45th birthday in Sydney on Wednesday Doting husband: The British comedian, 49, held Isla's coffee in his right hand and clutched the empty espresso cup in his left hand The British funnyman, who cut a casual figure in shorts and a patterned shirt, held Isla's coffee in his right hand and clutched the empty espresso cup in his left hand. He wore comfortable flip flops and a face mask for the outing. Sacha and Isla met at a party in Sydney in 2002 and married eight years later. The couple are parents to three children, Olive, 12, Elula, eight, and Montgomery, four. Style: He cut a casual figure in shorts and a patterned shirt while placing his coffee order Done: As he walked from the cafe back to their home, the Borat star downed his own drink - a double espresso - in a matter of seconds Isla told Marie Claire in May that meeting Sacha was like 'winning the lottery'. She said their relationship was built on 'a shared sense of humour and a willingness to be married'. The Confessions of a Shopaholic star, who relocated to America early in her career, also admitted that 'juggling' a family in LA wasn't easy. 'There's not really a culture of bringing your kids to dinner parties or to restaurants past 6pm. I tend to entertain at home because I want to be with my family - it's easier to put your kids to bed and have a wine with friends,' she said. Out and about: He wore comfortable flip flops and a face mask for the outing Love story: Sacha and Isla met at a party in Sydney in 2002 and married eight years later. The couple are parents to Olive, 12, Elula, eight, and Montgomery, four. Pictured in January 2020 The couple are known for being notoriously private, but last month Isla gave her husband a sweet shout-out on Instagram for his birthday. 'Happy Birthday, boo. You have had an amazing year as an activist, actor, father and husband,' she wrote. 'Thank you for trying as hard as you can to make the world a better place.' Smitten: Isla told Marie Claire in May that meeting Sacha was like 'winning the lottery' REUTERS The February 1 pre-dawn coup saw the historic third chapter for building democracy in Myanmar coming to an unceremonious end. At 7AM, all television stations went off air as military-owned Myawaddy TV announced that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint had been detained and military-appointed first Vice-President Myint Swe (now acting President) had, as per constitution, handed over power to Commander-In-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing. February 1 was when the newly-elected Parliament was to begin its first session, but 64-year-old Hlaing commander since 2011 and due to retire in July was conferred unlimited legislative, administrative and judicial powers with a state of emergency declared for one year. The 24-member council of ministers is replaced by his new 11-member team. Most banks are closed, Internet and phone services are restricted and night curfew is imposed in major towns ensuring no protests, thus portraying it as peaceful transition. The international community has reacted with muted condemnation. While the world remains preoccupied with COVID-19, the military in Myanmar made advance preparations, including heavy urban deployments, easily upstaging the civilian leadership. Chairing his new administration team Hlaing has pledged to build genuine discipline, flourishing multi-party system with a promise of free and fair elections. Things had been heating up since the November elections, but world powers failed to take note of it. Even the outrage against the military crackdown on the Rohingya triggering the United States to blacklist Hlaing, or others wanting to strip Suu Kyi of her Noble Peace Prize had dissipated. But popular mood inside Myanmar chose to strengthen Suu Kyi's National Democratic League (NLD) to outvote Myanmar's military junta. In the November elections, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party received 33 seats of the total 476, while the NLD won 396, thus threatening the military's hold on power. No doubt the military raised a storm over so-called millions of complaints against elections calling for a re-run. On January 28, the election commission rejected the military's allegations of fraud, pronouncing the elections fair and credible. On January 27, Hlaing indicated how the constitution could be "revoked" and, the military not ruling out a coup d'etat, January 29 saw foreign missions in Myanmar urging the military to "adhere to democratic norms". Few of great powers have mouthed subtle condemnations. While US President Joe Biden called it "a direct assault on the country's transition to democracy", China merely 'noted' these developments hoping all sides to reconcile their differences. Starting from the 1988 military takeover, China has been the most influential partner and investor in Myanmar. Last month Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar and held meeting with Hlaing and praised him. Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has mostly been ruled by military. The first military coup was in 1962 when Prime Minister U Nu was replaced by former Prime Minister General Ne Win. The immediate trigger was protests in the Rangoon University that triggered harsh response, including dynamiting the Student Union Building, which today remains an important site for all visitors to this campus. The predominance of the military was set in stone in Burma's 1974 constitution making it a one-party socialist republic. But, gradual reforms saw General Ne Win losing his grip, though he stayed as President till 1988 and resigned only on the eve of the August 8 massacre. Things are clearly different today. Compared to the deep-rooted intra-party and popular protests of the 1980s, the sustained democratic struggle by Suu Kyi and constant nudging and co-option by external powers had triggered piecemeal changes. The last two decades have seen the military reticent yet ready for power sharing. The silence, and even defence, of Suu Kyi over the military crackdown of Rohingya Muslims perhaps most aptly showed the fragility of Myanmar's civilian leadership. Under the wraps, the military still had a tight grip on power and, with Hlaing in command, it is least likely to return to the barracks. This is because the military no longer faces the older limitations of being a pariah or facing the powerful opposition from Suu Kyi as in the early 1990s. India has gradually engaged Myanmar's military leaders. As its immediate response, India has beefed up security on the border and will further extend the suspension of all transactions from the Morey border trade point that remains closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. What does this tell us about Hlaing staying in power? Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 17:11:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENNA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price increased to 56.80 U.S. dollars a barrel on Tuesday, compared with 55.13 dollars on Monday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released Wednesday. The OPEC basket, also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, is a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world and an important benchmark for crude oil prices. Enditem The European Union has questioned a move by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to sanction three television stations nominally owned by a member of a pro-Russian faction. In a written statement on February 3, the spokesperson of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, said that "while Ukraine's efforts to protect its territorial integrity and national security, as well as to defend itself from information manipulation are legitimate, in particular given the scale of disinformation campaigns affecting Ukraine including from abroad, this should not come at the expense of freedom of media and must be done in full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms and following international standards." The statement added that "any measures taken should be proportional to the aim" and that Brussels would be in touch with Ukrainian authorities to receive more information on the issue. Zelenskiy on February 2 signed off on the sanctions proposed by his national-security team. Although Taras Kozak, a member of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform For Life (OPZZh), is listed as the owner to the three outlets, Ukrainian media claim that the broadcasters Ukrainian television channels 112, NewsOne, and ZIK -- are actually owned by Vicktor Medvedchuk, the head of OPZZhs political council and one of the richest and most influential individuals in the country. The EU statement contrasts with the response from the United States, which said that "the US supports Ukraine's effort to counter Russia's malign influence in line with Ukrainian law, in defense of its sovereignty & territorial integrity." Medvedchuk, who heads the Opposition Platform For Lifes political council, was sanctioned by the United States in March 2014 following the overthrow of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych for his role in undermining democracy in Ukraine. He has denied that he owns the TV stations. Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church in Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says Prof Yemi Osinbajo should leave if he is not a... Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church in Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says Prof Yemi Osinbajo should leave if he is not allowed to perform his role as the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Bakare, however, said he did not believe reports that Osinbajo was being handicapped in office and not allowed to perform his constitutional role, adding that he would like to hear directly from the horses mouth. The cleric spoke on Tuesday night in an Instagram Live Chat with popular journalist, Dele Momodu. He said, I do not know if that statement is true that he is not allowed to perform because the constitution is very clear on what the role of the vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is, especially as it relates to steering the economy of the nation. Before I accepted General Muhammadu Buharis offer, I said what would be my role because I am not prepared to be a spare tyre and he said to me that my role will be as prescribed by the constitution and as many other things as you can be given to do. I want to hear it one day from the vice-president that he is not allowed to perform. I dont like rumour and I dont like gossip. If he is not allowed to perform, I would wonder what he is still doing there because he is not allowed to perform. If he is content in his office and he is given responsibilities and he is discharging those responsibilities to the best of his ability, I do not believe the story that he is not allowed to perform. If that is true, let him say so and not other people saying he is not allowed to perform. There is constitutional role for the vice-president, it is spelt out in black and white. If he is not allowed to do that, then, what is he doing there? Because if I am enrolled as a teacher and I am not allowed to teach in that school, I will look for another school. The PUNCH had reported that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), said that he decided not to hand over power to Osinbajo when he travelled to the United Kingdom on a private visit from April 25 to May 5, 2019 because there was no constitutional requirement for him to do so. In the past, Buhari had been known to hand over power to his deputy anytime he was travelling out of the country for unofficial engagements. For instance, when the President travelled to London on a working leave on August 3, 2018 and returned on the 18th, spending a total of 16 days, he handed over to Osinbajo. It was while Osinbajo was acting President during the same period that he sacked the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, a move that was said to have been vehemently opposed by those close to the President. Incidentally, since Dauras sacking, the President has not transferred power to Osinbajo again. Wednesday, February 3, 2021 By popular demand, the Stevie Awards have announced a general entry deadline extension for Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards sponsored by RAK Chamber, UAE. Entries will now be accepted through February 24. Details are available at http://MENA.StevieAwards.com. The Middle East Stevie & North Africa Awards are the regions only awards to recognize innovation in all its forms through the workplace. The awards are open to all organizations in 17 nations in the MENA region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. All individuals and organizations - public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small - may submit any number of nominations to any number of the categories. There are no entry fees in this awards program. Organizations may submit as many nominations as theyd like, without cost. Instead, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will pay a winners fee for each successful nomination. Winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Awards in the competition will be announced on March 24, 2021, and celebrated during a gala event in Ras Al Khaimah at the Waldorf Astoria on May 15. There are two new category groups for 2021. The COVID-19 Response categories will recognize the contributions of individuals, groups, and organizations that have worked valiantly over the past months to keep us safe, healthy, employed, and informed. The Achievement categories will recognize singular innovative achievements in areas such as customer satisfaction, growth, international expansion, and more. Nominations citing innovative achievements will be accepted and judged in both Arabic and English, in more than 100 categories across the following category groups: Winners of the 2020 edition of the awards included Al Dhafra Region Municipality, BEKO, Birevim, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celebi Aviation Holding, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola Icecek, DHL Express, Dubai Health Authority, Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, Mohsin Haider Darwish LLC, RAK Transport Authority, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone and many more. The 2021 competition will be judged by more than 150 professionals around the world. Interested in entering the 2021 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards? COLUMBUS, Ohio - Members of the public who attended an Ohio legislative committee hearing on Wednesday moved chairs and disregarded the seating arrangement that legislative staffers had set up in the room for social distancing. They also chose not to wear masks, prompting one state senator to leave the hearing. State Sen. Cecil Thomas, who has a daughter with a compromised immune system, said he had to leave the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee because there were dozens of people not wearing masks or keeping distance. The people were present to support Senate Bill 22, which would give the Ohio legislature power to strike down any executive order or emergency declaration issued by the governor. Lawmakers have made several attempts in recent months to rein in Gov. Mike DeWines authority to issue coronavirus orders. Several chairs in the committee room were turned backward so that people wouldnt sit on them -- to ensure social distancing, said John Fortney, a spokesman for the Ohio Senate Republicans, who control the chamber. A relatively high number of people showed up to the committee. Every single committee room is already set up with distancing guidelines, Fortney said. So certain chairs are turned backwards that are not to be used. There are signs stating the distancing guidelines. Apparently what happened was the people came in and flipped those chairs around facing the committee and sat down, which went (in opposition to) our seating guidelines. Theres already an overflow room for people wanting to testify. The incident on Wednesday led Senate President Matt Huffman to change the social distancing protocols. People will continue to be encouraged to wear a mask but it wont be mandatory, Fortney said. Moving forward, what we are doing is obviously maintaining that overflow room, but we will be removing the chairs that were already facing backwards that were not to be used, Fortney said. There wont be anyone, outside of staff members, allowed to just stand there. I have no idea why they werent wearing a mask, said Thomas, a Cincinnati Democrat. I guess they were making a statement. Not one of those individuals -- and there had to be 25, 30, 35 people in the room -- were wearing a mask and they were not socially distancing or anything. Thomas said he entered the committee room when roll call was being taken, so he didnt object before the meeting began to Sen. Kristina Roegner, a Hudson Republican who chairs the committee. But shortly after the first people began testifying, he thanked them for having the courage to testify, and then he turned to Roegner and told her that he had to leave because he needed to be safe for his daughter. The research speaks to the fact that if youre in a closed room with a lot of people not wearing masks, thats feeding grounds for the virus, he said. I do not want to take the virus back home to my daughter. Thomas went to his office to watch the rest of the committee hearing. I left Govt Oversight today because the committee room looked like this. We are in the middle of a pandemic with a virus that is highly transmittable. My daughter has a severely compromised immune system and I won't sit there and put her health at risk. https://t.co/9WCiyoZoTq Cecil Thomas (@CecilThomasOH) February 3, 2021 The incident Wednesday again underscores the partisan divide over safety during the pandemic, which has been an ongoing debate in the halls of the Ohio Statehouse. The governors statewide mask order doesnt apply to the legislature since its a separate branch of government. Republican-led legislative leadership hasnt mandated masks in the Statehouse, even though coronavirus infections among members of the General Assembly in December kept many at home. Legislative leaders are ultimately in charge of issues such as mask mandates on Ohio Capitol Square, said Mike Rupert, a spokesman for the Ohio Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, which operates the Capitol grounds. All visitors are encouraged to comply with the governors directives, and the Ohio General Assembly is responsible for governing their behavior, he said. Thomas, like most legislative Democrats, would like to see a mandatory mask order. Ive argued with the president of the Senate, he said. I argued this with the previous president. We need to make a rule that you wear a mask in the Statehouse. I kept noticing senators were not wearing masks, friends on the other side of the aisle. Other coverage: Residents of 5 Northeast Ohio nursing homes to be revaccinated for coronavirus due to potential temperature issues in storage 3,657 new coronavirus cases reported, 106 more deaths: Tuesday update Gov. Mike DeWine recognizes Black History Month by incorrectly recycling proclamation from 2020 Read the Ohio coronavirus public health order reducing the overnight curfew by 1 hour The collapse of UCBs like Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) has added to the customers distrust. In the 2021 Union Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to amend the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act (DICGC). This is aimed at enabling depositors of troubled banks to access their money through DICGC route even if banks are temporarily unable to meet the obligations. This announcement assumes significance, particularly for smaller depositors. Earlier, DICGC could be invoked only on liquidation of banks. What does this mean? The Indian banking system now has a much better safety net for depositors of failed institutions, especially smaller depositors, compared to what was available a year ago. Deposit Insurance, as the name suggests, is a scheme under which the depositors of banks will get up to Rs5 lakh in the event of a bank failure. Until a year ago, the depositors of a failed bank in India could claim only up to Rs 1 lakh through DICGC. This amount was too low considering many pensioners park their entire lifes savings in banks seeking the safety of bank deposits. But, the collapse of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) led the policymakers to rethink this limit. Last year, the government increased the amount one could claim under DICGC to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. That came as a big relief for many. At least, a bigger number of small depositors could get protection for their entire savings in banks. The decision was welcomed by all. But, this wasnt enough. There have been cases where crisis-ridden banks continued to be in ICU for a prolonged period. Technically, these entities arent shut but due to their poor financial condition, many crisis-ridden banks were not in a position to honour obligations to depositors. The RBI often places banks under moratorium when the financial situation worsens beyond a point. In some cases, the moratorium will be in effect for a prolonged period. DICGC wasnt of much help to depositors in such cases. Under the Act, depositors could seek claims only after liquidator approve the claims. What is new? With the proposed amendment, the depositor does not need to wait till the bank get liquidated to claim their money. Even if the bank is under a moratorium, the depositors can claim the deposits under DICGC Act. This is a progressive step, said Sanjay Agarwal, Head of BFSI and NBFC at CARE Ratings. In other words, with the latest amendment, this scheme will be a major relief to thousands of small depositors of banks which are under a moratorium for a prolonged period. Are deposits in different banks separately insured? Yes. According to DICGC rules, all funds held in the same type of ownership at the same bank are added together before deposit insurance is determined. "If the funds are in different types of ownership or are deposited into separate banks they would then be separately insured," the DICGC says. In other words, if the customer has a deposit with more than one bank, the deposit insurance coverage limit is applied separately to the deposits in each bank. PMC a major trigger The failure of PMC Bank two years ago was a big eye-opener to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government forcing them to rethink the norms on depositor safety. Even today a section of PMC Bank depositors have not got their money back. The RBI superseded PMC Bank board in September 2019. Of its total loan book of Rs 8,383 crore, as on March 31, 2019, about 70 percent had been taken by real estate firm HDIL. The bank had Rs 11,600 crore in deposits. While enhancing the withdrawal limit to Rs 1 lakh for PMC depositors in June last year, the RBI had said more than 84 percent of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance. But, for the remaining depositors, the wait continued. The PMC episode was followed by a crisis in two more banksYes Bank and LVB. In both cases, the RBI announced moratorium before the banks were bailed out. Cooperative bank failures These instances apart, there have been scores of cooperative bank failures in recent years. In many of these cases, depositors are stuck with money--awaiting resolution. To get a perspective, look at these numbers. In 2020 alone, the RBI has issued a total of 106 directives to co-operative banks either restricting their business operations or extending the period of existing directions. About 60 of them were in the second half of the year. The latest amendment will hopefully bring relief to these borrowers. The GOI proposes to streamline the provisions of the DICGC Act, 1961, enabling the depositors of banks under stress some ease of access to their deposits in a time-bound manner. This step will instil investor trust in the banking industry, BrickWork Ratings said in a report. The deposit insurance guarantee scheme was set up in 1961 to ensure depositors are guaranteed at least some amount in the event of a bank collapse. This amount was enhanced to Rs one lakh only in 1993 from Rs 30,000. The DICGC enhanced the cover to Rs One lakh per depositor in May 1993 for deposits of Commercial Banks, RRBs, Local Area Banks (LABs) and Co-operative Banks and rest of the deposit amount is forfeited in the rare event of a bank failure. An October 2019 SBI analysis showed that in terms of the number of accounts, 61 percent of the total accounts are less than Rs 1 lakh, around 70 percent are less than Rs 2 lakh, and 98.2 percent are less than Rs 15 lakh. This means small depositors are adequately covered in terms of insurance cover. The problem, however, is that in terms of quantum of deposits, the percentage of deposits less than Rs 1 lakh is only 7.8 percent of the deposit base. This means while a majority of depositors in number may get their money back, the remaining is set to lose a big chunk of their savings in the event of a bank collapse. According to the SBI report, about 20.4 percent of the deposits are contributed by customers having deposits of more than Rs 15 lakh but less than Rs 1 crore with an average deposit of Rs 35 lakh. For them, Rs 5 lakh cover is not enough, but better than what it was before. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form She returned to the UK this week after controversially jetting to Dubai to ring in the New Year with her pals amid the national lockdown. And Sophie Kasaei appeared to be pining for another sun-soaked getaway on Wednesday, as she shared a series of sizzling beach snaps to Instagram. The Geordie Shore star, 31, was sporting a stylish triangle style bikini while relaxing on the beach on her sun-soaked getaway last month. Beach babe! Sophie Kasaei appeared to be pining for another sun-soaked getaway on Wednesday, as she shared a series of sizzling beach snaps to Instagram Sophie wore her highlighted blonde locks in a loose style and was sporting a full face of make-up in a neutral pallet, with a slick of matte pink lipstick. The reality personality accessorised her look with a pair of hoop earrings and a selection of delicate chain necklaces. Sophie captioned the snaps: 'There's only one Persian version of me and that's enough. She also questioned: 'Also can anyone tell me what it means when you have a green orb in your photos? Or is just me camera lens needs cleaned! (sic)' Dreamy: The Geordie Shore star, 31, was sporting a stylish triangle style bikini while relaxing on the beach on her sun-soaked getaway last month Sophie captioned the snaps: 'There's only one Persian version of me and that's enough' Sophie marked her return to the UK with another sizzling lingerie snap taken while lounging on her bed. She looked incredible in a white semi-sheer lace bustier, which showcased her curves and was teamed with a skimpy thong. Sophie kept her look typically glamorous as she sported a full face of make-up with a dramatic smokey eye and a bouncy blown out hair style. Dubai lifestyle: Sophie is among a host of reality stars and influencers who have taken 'working' trips to Dubai while the UK is plunged into another COVID-19 lockdown Sophie first revealed her return to the UK by sharing a video on her Instagram Stories from her home, which was still adorned with Christmas decorations. The TV star revealed it was her 'karma' to return to a fully-decorated house as she admitted she doesn't even like. Sophie is among a host of reality stars and influencers who have taken 'working' trips to Dubai as the UK is plunged into another COVID-19 lockdown. The reality star previously enjoyed a sun-soaked trip to Dubai before returning home to spend Christmas with her loved ones. But she returned to the celeb-favourite city to wave in the New Year alongside her reality star pals, including Geordie Shore's Chloe Ferry and Bethan Kershaw. Sophie's return comes as bars and restaurants in Dubai were forced to close amid a spike in the infection rate in the country. Not only did we have the pandemic, but we had a very contentious presidential election. We had protests and demonstrations, unlike things weve never seen here in the community of Naperville, he said. We will always be able to go back to 2020 as the years advance from 21 to 22, and well make a note in our crime data for 2020 that these are some of the additional challenges our police department and our community faced during 2020. OTTAWA - Privacy watchdogs say U.S. firm Clearview AI's facial-recognition technology resulted in mass surveillance of Canadians and violated federal and provincial laws governing personal information. Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Privacy watchdogs say U.S. firm Clearview AI's facial-recognition technology resulted in mass surveillance of Canadians and violated federal and provincial laws governing personal information. In a report Wednesday with three provincial counterparts, federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said the New York-based company's scraping of billions of images of people from across the internet was a clear violation of Canadians' privacy rights. Clearview AI's technology allows for the collection of huge numbers of images from various sources that can help police forces, financial institutions and other clients identify people. The report by Therrien and privacy-protection authorities for Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec said Clearview AIs technology allowed law enforcement and commercial organizations to match photographs of unknown people against the companys databank of more than three billion images for investigation purposes. The probe concluded that Clearview AI had amassed highly sensitive biometric information without the knowledge or consent of individuals. The watchdogs said this created a risk of significant harm to people, noting most of them have never been, nor ever will be, implicated in a crime. "This is clearly unacceptable," Therrien told a news conference. Clearview AI told the investigators that Canadian privacy laws do not apply to its activities because the company does not have a real and substantial connection to Canada, and that consent was not needed because the information was publicly available. The commissioners rejected these arguments. The watchdogs found Clearview AI not only collected the images of Canadians but actively marketed its services to law-enforcement agencies in Canada. The RCMP became a paying customer and a total of 48 accounts were created for law enforcement and other organizations across the country, the commissioners said. Therrien announced last year that Clearview AI would stop offering its facial-recognition services in Canada in response to the privacy investigation. The move included the indefinite suspension of Clearview AI's contract with the RCMP, its last remaining client in Canada. However, the company rejected the commissioners' recommendations to stop collecting images of people in Canada and delete previously collected images and biometric details. The watchdogs warned Wednesday that if the company continues to resist, they will pursue other actions available to them under the law. Therrien's office is completing a related investigation focusing on RCMP use of Clearview AI's technology. The company says it aims to help law-enforcement agencies solve the toughest cases, and its technology comes with strict guidelines and safeguards to ensure investigators use it only for its intended purpose. Doug Mitchell, a lawyer for the firm, said Clearview AI collects only public information from the internet, which is explicitly permitted under Canadian privacy law. "Clearview AI is a search engine that collects public data just as much larger companies do, including Google, which is permitted to operate in Canada," Mitchell said Wednesday. Conservative MP Michael Barrett tweeted that Clearview AI should appear before the House of Commons information, privacy and ethics committee "to be held accountable for their actions." Therrien and his provincial counterparts are developing guidance for law-enforcement agencies on the use of facial-recognition technologies. They expect to publish guidelines for consultation this spring.Public Safety Minister Bill Blair lauded Therrien's efforts and said the government would "continue to work with him" to ensure Canadians' privacy is respected. Dozens of groups and individuals working to protect privacy, human rights and civil liberties want the Trudeau government to ban the use of facial recognition surveillance by federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies. In an open letter to Blair last July, they called the technology highly problematic, given its lack of accuracy and invasive nature, and say it poses a threat to Canadians' fundamental rights. They told the minister that in the absence of meaningful policy or regulation governing facial recognition, it cannot be considered safe for use in Canada. OpenMedia, which works to keep the internet surveillance-free, said Wednesday it should never have been possible for police to adopt Clearview AI's tool. "Essentially, Clearview AI makes everyone a suspect every time the police use it," said OpenMedia's Bryan Short. A Quebec photographer wants a judge to order the RCMP to destroy all the images of Canadians it obtained through the tool. Ha Vi Doans proposed class-action lawsuit in Federal Court seeks damages for her and other Canadians whose photos and related information were allegedly part of the massive database compiled by Clearview AI. Her lawyer, Lev Alexeev, said the commissioners' report confirms that Clearview AI "engaged in illegal mass surveillance." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Philadelphia plans to open six mass coronavirus vaccination clinics this month, officials said Tuesday, aiming to inoculate 500 people a day in the wake of its decision last week to sever ties with Philly Fighting COVID. Grocery and drugstore pharmacies will also begin offering shots to Philadelphians 75 and older, and city officials are hoping some hospitals will open mass vaccination clinics as they transition from inoculating health-care workers to other residents. The citys plan came after Mayor Jim Kenney on Friday directed the health department to open clinics in response to the shutting down of Philly Fighting COVIDs mass vaccination site. But because of the limited supply of doses, its still likely to be many weeks before shots become available to younger and healthier people, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said. Kenney and Farley declined to discuss Philly Fighting COVID on Tuesday, citing an ongoing city investigation into the matter. But Farley sought to restore public confidence in the vaccination process, saying the citys priorities remain quickly delivering vaccines, saving as many lives as possible, and ensuring racial equity in distribution. Let me be clear, we have more to do in each of these areas. I do believe that we at the Department of Public Health can succeed in doing this, he said at a news briefing. We ask people just give us time to show that we can do that. READ MORE: City Council proposes new vaccine rollout oversight amid Philly Fighting COVID fiasco: This will never happen again The city-run clinics will establish infrastructure and expand residents options as Philadelphia and the nation wait for an increase in the federal vaccine supply. Existing staff and contract nurses will be deployed to the sites to start, but the city also plans to hire additional staff, Farley said, since vaccination will be a long-term endeavor. About 400,000 residents are eligible in the citys current 1B phase, which covers residents over age 75 and those with certain health conditions, as well as first responders, teachers, certain essential workers, and people who live and work in congregate settings. For now, the citys supply remains limited to about 20,000 first doses per week. Farley said Tuesday that Philadelphia will remain in phase 1B for months before distribution can expand to other parts of the population. I realize that there are many, many people who want this vaccine who are having trouble difficulty getting it, many people who are very frustrated by where we are, he said. Health-care workers at the citys jails are vaccinating staff members and will soon begin inoculating incarcerated people. Transit workers will also soon begin to receive shots, Farley said. The city is still negotiating a possible vaccination site for teachers, though Kenney said he could not divulge details. Meanwhile, city hospitals have started to vaccinate patients who meet age and health condition criteria, but they are not doing so as quickly as they vaccinated their own staff members, Farley said. The city has urged them to open mass clinics to use more of the vaccine doses they have in storage. The citys clinics three first-dose and three second-dose sites will open the week of Feb. 22. Residents who have signed up on the city vaccine interest website will be invited to schedule appointments as they become available. Were working our way out of this with the Biden administration and the state and the CDC, and were trying to get as much vaccine as we can, Kenney said. On Wednesday, the city will begin administering second doses for people who received their first doses from Philly Fighting COVID, Farley said. The city is contacting people who are in that position to ensure no one misses their second dose. In addition, pharmacies will begin making appointments for city residents who are 75 and older, also using the citys online platform. Residents who have preregistered with the city will receive sign-up links as slots open, and will be asked not to share the links. ShopRite pharmacies will offer vaccination at three locations, and Walgreens will do so at 20 locations, Farley said. Rite Aid pharmacies, which are still working with the city to inoculate health-care workers, will begin treating others later this month. Eligible Philadelphians who lack internet access can call a hotline at 215-685-5488 for help making appointments. In New Jersey, CVS pharmacies will offer vaccinations at 27 locations starting Feb. 11 as part of a newly announced federal effort that will send the vaccine to 6,500 pharmacies nationwide. New Jersey is one of 11 states CVS will serve in the rollout. Other pharmacies will also offer vaccines through the program. People who are currently eligible for vaccination in New Jersey will be allowed to book appointments as early as Feb. 9. Patients must register in advance at CVS.com. People without online access can contact CVS customer service at 800-746-7287. The Biden administration also announced another increase in vaccine doses to states, bringing it to 10.5 million nationwide per week, a 22% increase since the president took office Jan. 20. That will be the minimum amount shipped for the next three weeks as the government works with manufacturers to increase supply, according to the administration. READ MORE: The Biden administration to provide COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies In New Jersey, where the states six vaccine mega-sites stayed closed Tuesday due to the winter storm, 2,811 newly confirmed virus cases and 71 deaths were reported. Pennsylvania reported 4,410 cases and 125 deaths, and the commonwealth is now averaging 5,428 new infections a day over the last seven days, down from the peak of 10,579 in mid-December. New case numbers are also declining in Philadelphia, which reported 382 new cases and 12 deaths. However, with most residents not yet vaccinated, Farley said its critical to continue social-distancing measures including avoiding any Super Bowl parties or gatherings. Everyone needs to keep up their masks and their distancing for now, he said. Staff writers Stacey Burling, Rob Tornoe, and Robert Moran contributed to this article. India is vigilant in the face of attempts to change status quo at its border and prepared to defeat any misadventures to defend its territorial integrity, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, amid the continued military standoff with China. "We have long witnessed unfortunate attempts to employ force to change the status quo at our unresolved borders", he said at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country's premier Defence and aerospace show, at Yelahanka Air Force Station here. India is vigilant and prepared to counter and defeat any misadventures to defend our people and territorial integrity at all costs," the Minister asserted.China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been made so far. Dubbed as Asia's largest military aviation exhibition, the three-day Aero India event commenced amid the COVID-19 pandemic with buzz around "Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) and "Make in India" push.With a combination of both physical and virtual exhibition, the 13th edition of the biennial international event is said to be the world's first hybrid aerospace show. Singh also said India plans to spend USD 130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next 7-8 years with the focus on domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex platforms. The government has since 2014 brought in many reforms in the defence sector to create a conducive ecosystem for exports, Foreign Direct Investment and offset discharge, he noted.To achieve the twin goals of self-reliance and exports, the government has set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 crore in the field of Defence manufacturing, including export of Rs 35,000 crore in Aerospace and Defence goods and services, by 2024, Singh said. "We plan to spend USD 130 billion on Defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years", he added. Like many of its friendly countries, India also faces threats and challenges emanating from multiple fronts, the Defence Minister said, adding, the country was a "victim of state-sponsored and state-inflicted terrorism which is now a global threat". The government has taken several steps to strengthen the country's security apparatus recently. Domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex defence platforms has now become the focus of our policy under the 'Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan', he said. Singh said he has been informed that about 540 exhibitors, including 80 foreign companies, Defence Ministers, Delegates, Service chiefs and officials from more than 55 nations are participating in the Aero India event. "It reflects the growing optimism of the global community", he said. Singh also expressed gratitude to the Defence Ministers from Maldives, Ukraine, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Comoros and Madagascar who have attended this show in person, and many others who are joining virtually. Noting that India today offers a unique opportunity in defence and aerospace manufacturing, he said, this opportunity comes as a 'Sangam' of rising demand, greater innovation, conducive policies and maturing ecosystem in defence and aerospace manufacturing sector.Over the years, the government has facilitated establishment of wide-ranging production facilities, of various defence equipment through Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Ordnance Factories, he added. Pointing out that India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world, the Defence Minister said, with rising passenger and cargo traffic, demand for aircraft and the related supply chains is increasing. "India therefore holds a huge potential for investments in the aerospace sector, particularly in manufacturing of aero engines and sub-assemblies as well as in Maintenance Repair & Overhaul, of Aircraft," he said. Singh invited business leaders from across the globe to take advantage of the various initiatives of the government and set-up manufacturing units in the country. With focused attention being laid on promotion of exports of defence products from the country, India is steadily marching from Make in India towards Make for the World, Singh said.A high-level committee has been constituted for authorising exports of major indigenous platforms to various nations, leading to faster approvals, he added. "Our vision is to make India one of the biggest countries of the world in the Defence sector, from design to production, with active participation of public and private sectors", he added. Noting that India has a vast coastline and its interests also lie beyond the shores, Singh said it included people who reside and work across continents, especially in the Indian Ocean Region. It was the government's bounden duty to remain capable and willing to assist them in times of natural calamities and security challenges, he added. Indian Ocean Region Defence Ministers Conclave, themed on "Enhanced peace, Security and cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region" is being held during the Aero India. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Loading The Pfizer vaccine was approved for use in Australia last week and the first shots will be administered later this month. Professor Pouton and his team believe that with sufficient government support an mRNA vaccine production line could be up and running within months. Local laboratory equipment company ATA Scientific says the equipment can be imported and it is absolutely possible to build a facility. There are many questions left to answer, and other scientists are sceptical such capacity could be brought online in the short term but all agree that it is important for Australia to get into the mRNA game at some point. If we got started, and worked up that capability, there is no reason why we couldnt be manufacturing one of these existing vaccines under licence. And that would really help the flow of [vaccine] doses to Australia, Professor Pouton said. Loading Its not yet clear exactly what technology would be required to manufacture Pfizer or Modernas COVID-19 vaccines under licence, but both companies have worked with Precision in the past, Mr Davis said. He said technologies such as Precisions were already available for import into Australia, and could be used to develop a local manufacturing facility for RNA technologies. This could be for the production of COVID-19 vaccines and other emerging genetic medicines. This [is] an opportunity to create a genetic medicine facility in Australia which can create or pivot to vaccine production. Lets make Australia the genetic medicine hub of the world. Professor Pall Thordarson, chief investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science and a member of the effort said it was not a question of whether we can do it, but when. We have all the expertise we need in this country. What is needed is the right investments and partnerships. We are working carefully to ensure that will happen. But there is no guarantee yet. CSL have been contracted by the government to make 50 million doses of AstraZenecas viral vector vaccine at the companys Broadmeadows facility. CSL has said there is a low likelihood it could prepare its facilities in time to make mRNA vaccines under licence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has indicated it would consider investment in mRNA technologies in the future, however. It declined to comment on Wednesday. Australia does not have local mRNA manufacturing facilities. A 2017 report prepared for the Defence Department warned our lack of vaccine infrastructure could leave us short in the event of a pandemic. To achieve onshore production for existing vaccines, Australia would also have to reach an agreement with those companies. A Pfizer spokeswoman said it was working to expand its manufacturing capacity, both internally and by signing contract manufacturers. Other scientists backed the need for investment in mRNA vaccines but were sceptical it could be done in a realistic time frame. I dont think we can. I think its too late. But it shouldnt stop us from doing something for the future, said Professor Trent Munro, director of the University of Queenslands unsuccessful effort to build a vaccine for COVID-19 . I am very wary about companies who say they can do large-scale commercial manufacturing as opposed to those companies that actually can. Thats a big difference, he said. Australia needs to figure out ways to attract more large biotech here, so we have the established manufacturing capability on shore. Other than CSL, most of the other presence we have had here has been slowly shut down and moved offshore. Associate Professor Archa Fox, an mRNA researcher at the University of Western Australia and president of the RNA Network of Australia, said the plan totally has a reasonable chance of success. Loading It could be up and running within a year. In Canada, they are pushing forward with this. Professor Fox said she and several senior scientists had been canvassing companies and sites across Australia to establish capacity, with sites mooted in Western Australia, NSW, Victoria and Queensland. There are several different irons in the fire. It seems like a no-brainer, that we should be getting into and investing in this space, she said. Analysts say the threat of civil war described by the study group is real. As western military support dwindles and the peace negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban in Qatar remain stalled after starting in September following the U.S.-Taliban agreement, factions in parts of Afghanistan are rearming. Regional militias have been emboldened by the uncertainty around any deal with the Taliban, the fragility of the central government that could fracture under the weight of its own rampant corruption and its continuing inability to unify the many ethnic groups across the country. Over the weekend, armed militia members under the command of Abdul Ghani Alipur fought government forces for control of a district center in Wardak, a province in the countrys mountainous east that neighbors Kabul, the countrys capital. While the cause of fighting, and who started the attack, is not exactly clear the reasons range from tribal migration routes to the theft of government armored vehicles the violent struggle only highlights the governments declining influence across the country. While violence in Afghanistan remains high, the Taliban have refrained for targeting American troops. Taliban officials have suggested that if international forces are not withdrawn by May, they will withdraw from the peace process and restart attacks against American and NATO forces. Despite the Talibans position, the report said that the Biden administration can make the case that delays in starting talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government meant there has not been sufficient time to create the conditions under which international forces could leave. A withdrawal would not only leave America more vulnerable to terrorist threats; it would also have catastrophic effects in Afghanistan and the region that would not be in the interest of any of the key actors, including the Taliban, the report said. In a discussion of the report ahead of its official release, members of the group repeatedly emphasized the need for a new diplomatic push with Afghanistans neighbors. But the report acknowledges that those countries agree on little except for an opposition to a long-term American presence and a fear that a hasty U.S. withdrawal could provoke a civil war. The Biden administration and the Pentagon have begun considering a number of options. The administration could look at temporarily increasing the number of troops in the country, reversing President Donald J. Trumps order to cut forces in the closing weeks of his term. NDOLA, Zambia, June 27 (Xinhua) -- An expert on Thursday urged Zambia and other African nations to utilize the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo and gain tangible benefits. Naison Ngoma, Copperbelt University Chancellor, said in an interview that China has demonstrated all it takes by building road infrastructure in Zambia to indicate the Asian country's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations. "It was China that came to the aid of Zambia by constructing a railway line to the sea coast for last four decades and to date the railway line still remains a vital route for exports and imports of goods," he said. He said China assisted Zambia in a most profound way. The expert expressed optimism that China's agenda for Africa will benefit most African states. The first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo opened Thursday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. The three-day event has attracted more than 10,000 guests and traders, including those from 53 African countries, according to the organizing committee. International organizations including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Food Programme, and the World Trade Organization, have sent representatives to the expo. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Stone from Sita Eliya in Sri Lanka to be used for making Ayodhya Ram temple Two sisters claim ownership of land offered for Ayodhya mosque, move court India pti-Deepika S Lucknow, Feb 03: Two Delhi-based sisters moved the Allahabad High Court Wednesday claiming the ownership of five-acre land allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. The petition before the Lucknow bench of Allahabad HC was filed in the court''s registry and is likely to come up for hearing on February 8. Rani Kapoor alias Rani Baluja and Rama Rani Punjabi have said in the writ petition that their father Gyan Chandra Punjabi had come to India during partition in 1947 from Punjab and settled in Faizabad (now Ayodhya) district. They have claimed that their father was allotted 28-acre land in Dhannipur village by the Nazul Department for five years which he continued to possess beyond that period. Later, his name was included in the revenue records, the petitioners have said. UP CM Yogi Adityanath calls for donations for construction of Ayodhya Ram temple However, his name was struck down from the records against which their father filed an appeal before the Additional Commissioner, Ayodhya, which was allowed, they have claimed. The petitioners further claimed that the consolidation officer again removed their father''s name from the records during consolidation proceedings. Against the order of the consolidation officer, an appeal was preferred before the Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Sadar, Ayodhya, but without considering the said petition, the authorities have allotted five-acre of their 28-acre land to the Waqf Board for the constructing of mosque, they said. The petitioners have demanded the authorities be restrained from transferring the land to the Sunni Waqf Board till the pendency of dispute before the settlement officer. The state government has allotted five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board in Dhannipur village for construction of mosque in compliance with Supreme Court direction on November 7, 2019 in the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri mosque title suit. The Iberia Parish Sheriffs Office is issuing a warning to parents after packages of candy laced with THC were discovered in a recent case. Though states like Colorado have legalized recreational marijuana, Louisiana has not. This means buying and selling of these THC products is a criminal offense, especially if it is targeting minors. To put these edibles in perspective, THC edible candy contains nearly 35% more THC than an average joint. The potency of the edibles recovered in this specific case were extremely high, reportedly enough that consumption of 4 candies could prove fatal A problem with edibles it is takes longer to react, so in regard to children and teenagers, they take the candy thinking they are going to get high and they dont have a reaction for an hour or two, they think they should take more. There have been instances of teenagers overdosing from ingesting drugs in this manner. Sheriff Romero is asking parents to be proactive and speak with your children and especially teenagers regarding these edibles that have been found in Iberia Parish. Contact Iberia Parish Sheriffs Office at 369-3711, if parents believe their child is in possession of marijuana candy. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Cemex announces plan to address US cement shortage 03 February 2021 Cemex has announced plans to optimise its supply chain to address cement shortages experienced throughout the western US. The project will leverage the companys supply chain synergies in North America to alleviate cement shortages and project delays in California, Arizona and Nevada, according to a press release. The plans involve investing approximately US$15m to recommission a kiln with a production capacity of about 1Mta at the CPN cement plant in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. This investment should create more than 130 jobs in Mexico. "Many cement customers in California, Arizona and Nevada have been impacted by supply constraints this past year," said Joel Galassini, executive vice presidentcement commercial, Cemex USA. "The decision to recommission this kiln was made with our customers top of mind, to give them reliable access through a local supply chain to help meet their growing needs. Our unique network of production facilities in this region allows us to make these types of investments that will have a meaningful impact on meeting our customers needs." The efficiency of the Victorville cement plant in California is also expected to be increased, alongside other supply chain modifications designed to help the company deliver hundreds of thousands of additional tonnes of cement. Published under A Chinese-Australian businessman was awarded $590,000 (USD 449,255) on February 2 after the Australian Federal Court found he was defamed by an investigative program describing him as a Communist Party member. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Australian affiliate the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA) in calling for urgent reform to Australias defamation laws and stronger measures to safeguard journalistic freedom. Dr Chau Chak Wing won the case against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Fairfax Media (now owned by Nine) and investigative journalist Nick McKenzie over a 2017 episode of ABCs Four Corners program titled Power and Influence. The product of a five-year joint investigation by the ABC, The Ageand The Sydney Morning Herald, the program examined the issue of Chinese foreign interference in Australian democracy. Chau alleged the program described him as a Chinese agent who was guilty of espionage, bribery and buying political influence. The ABC described the program as raising matters vital to the public interest and expressed its disappointment at the decision. This case has again starkly demonstrated fundamental problems with Australian defamation law and pre-trial procedures being heavily skewed in favour of a plaintiff, said the ABC. An April 2020 press freedom survey conducted by MEAA found that 89% of journalists believed the difficulty of reporting was increased by Australias defamation laws, with 32% of respondents dropping a news story in the previous year due to fears of defamation action. In July 2020, Australias Attorneys-Generals agreed to adopt reforms to defamation law, to be enacted during 2021. The reforms, which include a new public interest defense and the introduction of a serious harm threshold, aim to strike a better balance between protecting individual reputations and freedom of expression, particularly regarding matters of public interest. MEAAs Media Section Federal President Marcus Strom said: The matter highlights the difficulty journalists operate under negotiating Australias restrictive defamation laws. Lengthy court cases and massive damages payouts are crippling to media organisations. Amendments to the uniform national defamation law regime will hopefully go some way to ameliorating that threat Australias defamation regime was a concern for the publics right to know and press freedom in Australia, according to MEAA. The IFJ said: This case has dire consequences for press freedom in Australia, as public interest reporting is silenced and journalists are increasingly under financial and political threat. The IFJ urges Australian legislators to swiftly enact defamation reform and ensure media freedom is protected. Poultry Plant Gas Leak Under OSHA Investigation A Jan. 28 nitrogen gas leak killed six people and injured 12 others. OSHA is actively investigating a fatal nitrogen gas leak that occured at a Georgia poultry processing plant on Jan. 28, according to NPR. The nitrogen gas leak at the Foundation Food Group in Gainesville, Ga. caused 130 workers to be evacuated from the facility, while six people were killed and 12 others were seriously injured. The leak happened as the result of unplanned maintenance. It was reported by the New York Times that the leak was caused by a ruptured line that was carrying liquid nitrogen, a component to freezing chicken. Although there is an ongoing investigation into the exact cause of the leak, it has already been suspected that said investigation will be lengthy. Depending on the complexity of the investigation, it may take up to several years, said Katherine A. Lemos, CEO and chairwoman of the Chemical Safety Board. The nitrogen gas leak was fatal because the nitrogen gas pushes out oxygen from the air and makes it unbreathable. Additional damage to the plant was avoided when a manager turned off an external isolation valve that pumped liquid nitrogen into processing lines after the leak began. A study published Tuesday showed that the COVID vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was more effective when the second dose was delayed more than six weeks. The research performed by scientists at the University of Oxford showed that a single dose of the vaccine was 76% effective against COVID-19 for the first 90 days. The report showed the two-dose vaccines effectiveness actually improved when the second dose was delayed. The vaccines efficacy increased from 54.9% with an interval of less than six weeks to 82.4% when spaced 12 or more weeks apart. Research also showed that the vaccine may not only prevent symptoms but limit the spread of the virus. An analyses of positive COVID swabs in United Kingdom suggested the vaccine reduced transmission of the virus by 67%. In the United States, research continues to determine whether the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are able to stop transmission of the virus. Both have been shown highly effective at preventing mild and severe symptoms. Because its unknown how well Moderna and Pfizers vaccines prevent the spread of COVID, experts continue to emphasize mask wearing and social distancing. The results of the research back decisions make by health officials in the U.K. to delay the second dose of the vaccine to provide more doses to the general public. The United States Food and Drug Administration has balked at the idea of delaying the second doses for the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. Research has not been performed on either vaccine regarding a delayed second dose. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine requires two doses 21 days apart. Modernas vaccine requires an interval of 28 days between the first and second dose. Clinical trials showed 98% of participants in the Pfizer-BioNTech trial and 92% of participants in the Moderna trial received two doses of the vaccine at either a three- or four-week interval, respectively. The small percentage of those who didnt receive a second dose were only followed for a short period of time after, the FDA said. Anecdotally in Worcester, some health care workers who received the first dose of the vaccine still contracted the virus. During a town hall vaccine discussion with MassLive on Tuesday, Worcester Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh estimated that the first dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines provided about 50% immunity. Its only in the range as high as about 50%, Hirsh said. Fifty percent isnt a terrible amount of immunity, but its not enough to really show that youre not going to get ill when you get a COVID exposure. Beyond the results published Tuesday, some have preferred AstraZenecas vaccine as it can be stored in a refrigerator. Moderna and Pfizers vaccines must be stored in extreme cold temperatures. Once they are removed, they must be used or thrown out. Related Content: People felt the airline was implying that most of the UK population would be vaccinated against Covid-19 by spring/summer 2021 ( ) was ordered by the UK watchdog to remove its Jab & Go ad that complainants found offensive and irresponsible. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 2,370 complaints, the third-largest number ever. People felt the airline was implying that most of the UK population would be vaccinated against Covid-19 by spring/summer 2021 so holidays wouldnt be affected by pandemic-related restrictions. The airline had two TV ads running in December and January, the first with on-screen text stating VACCINES ARE COMING while a voice said Covid vaccines are coming. So book your Easter and summer holidays today with Ryanair. One million seats on sale from 19.99 to sunshine destinations in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and many more. So you could jab and go!. The second used the same exact text and imagery but a different price. According to the ASA statement, Ryanair said the Government had continued to give optimistic briefings into early January 2021 while the airline considered that any reasonable member of the public would therefore understand that two doses of vaccine were needed to provide effective protection against Covid-19, and that immunity was not granted instantaneously but instead built over time. Shares added 4% to 15.64 on Wednesday in the late morning. " " An EMT helps a patient into an ambulance. Emergency medical services were pioneered by the Freedom House Ambulance Service in Pittsburgh in 1967. Granger Wootz/Getty Images It may seem like a given that when Americans call for an ambulance, a trained paramedic will be on board the truck to begin administering emergency care. But as recently as 50 years ago, this was not the case ambulances were more like taxis to the nearest hospital. That all changed thanks to an ambulance crew recruited from a poverty-stricken black neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that operated between 1967 and 1975. They became the very first ambulance workers in the U.S. trained in advanced life support, setting the bar for generations of emergency medical technicians (EMTs). If you had a heart attack in 1960s-era Pittsburgh, you had two choices: call the police or a private ambulance company. The police would arrive in a paddy wagon the same one used to transport criminals, equipped with a canvas stretcher and maybe an oxygen bottle toss you in the back and roll you to the hospital. Private ambulances were oversized Cadillacs mostly owned by funeral homes (not a good omen), and drivers had no medical training. For the residents of Pittsburgh's Hill District, an historically black community ravaged by drugs, crime and economic neglect, an emergency call to either the police or a private ambulance company might go unanswered, or else the vehicle would arrive only in time to ship the body to the morgue. That changed in 1967 when Freedom House Enterprises opened its doors in the Hill District as a community empowerment agency focusing on employment and voting rights. At the very same time, a social reformer named Phil Hallen, disgusted that the Hill District had no reliable ambulance service, dreamed up the idea of training local men many of whom were labeled as "unemployable" to provide emergency medical response in the community. Hallen found the perfect partner in Freedom House, but the project would never have succeeded without Dr. Peter Safar at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian-University Hospital. Dr. Safar, an Austrian-born anesthesiologist, had single-handedly pioneered the practice of CPR and was a vocal advocate for bringing life-saving medical techniques like CPR out of the hospital and into the streets. With Safar's expertise, and initial funding provided by the city, nonprofit foundations and President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," the Freedom House Ambulance Service was born on April 15, 1967. Advertisement Bringing the ICU to the Patient Gene Starzenski is a Pittsburgh native, former paramedic and director of a 2010 documentary called "Freedom House: Street Saviors." He says that some of the earliest Freedom House recruits were literally "dragged in off the streets" to fill training classes. The group including Vietnam vets with some medic training, but also struggling drug addicts and even a pimp. In 1968, George McCary III was 20 years old and living with his grandma in a housing project when she gave him an ultimatum: get a job, go to school or get out. A phone call to a friend tipped him off to a job-training class that might get his grandma off his back. He had no idea that it had anything to do with ambulances or medical care, only that he had to be there at 8 a.m. What he found that first day at Freedom House was "a rowdy crew, a bunch of knuckleheads," says McCary, but in a short time they realized they were there to learn how to save people's lives. "Anatomy, physiology, CPR, how to take vital signs. We went down to the morgue to watch autopsies. I'd never even been in a funeral home before." Safar ran the recruits through a year-long training program requiring 160 hours of classroom and hands-on instruction, including six weeks of hospital-based training in the emergency department, operating rooms and the intensive care unit. Safar's vision for modern emergency response wasn't to bring the patient to the ICU, but to bring the ICU to the patient. John Moon was a young man bouncing around from job to job when he noticed the flashing lights and sirens of the Freedom House ambulance cruising up and down the streets of the Hill District. (The state-of-the art ambulances were personally designed by Safar, also the first in the nation to include defibrillators, IVs and even drugs like Narcan to revive overdoses.) "I had to find out how I could become part of this," says Moon. "I was turned on by the glamour of it, for lack of a better term." Moon remembers one particular call when he had to intubate a patient place a tube into the mouth and down the trachea to assist with breathing before bringing him to the hospital. The emergency room doctor was floored. "At that time, it was unheard-of for laypeople to be trained to perform those kind of procedures outside of a hospital," recalls Moon. Advertisement A Victim of Its Own Success Freedom House didn't always get a welcome reception from the medical establishment who saw the ambulance workers as just unskilled drivers. But their own community knew better. The Freedom House EMTs tended to the wounded in the aftermath of the riots that broke out after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. (This was during their training period.) The service took its first official call on July 15, 1968 a seizure on a city bus (she survived) and made more than 5,800 runs in the first year alone. " " Pittsburgh looters cart off merchandise from a market on the third day of sporadic disturbances in the city following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Bettmann/Getty Images But ironically, it was the aid these workers gave to a boy who was hit by a bus in a more affluent area that indirectly led to the end of the program. The police called Freedom House to lend assistance (they splinted his leg and started an IV), and word got around that the EMTs had saved the boy's life. Residents from areas outside the Hill District and downtown started pressing for their own emergency medical services (EMS). The city of Pittsburgh launched its own service in 1975, but it used mostly whites from the surrounding suburbs. It cut off its contract with Freedom House which meant the end of most of its funding and told Freedom House workers that they would have to be retrained before joining the city ambulances, despite having years of field experience. "They quit on me," says McCary, referring to the city's new EMS system. "I came from zero and ended up getting to 99. I loved the work, to be ready for that phone to ring, and to respond to somebody's problem and to give them some kind of comfort. I was there the last day, the very last day when they came to close it down. I went on the last trip. That's how heavy it was." However, some of the former Freedom House EMTs did end up working for the new city service. John Moon went on to serve 35 years in Pittsburgh's EMS department, rising to assistant chief before retiring in 2009. Another Freedom House alum, Mitchell Brown, became EMS commissioner in Cleveland, Ohio, and then ran the Department of Public Safety in Columbus, Ohio. The story of Freedom House was largely lost to history before Starzenski produced his documentary, the result of 10 years' research. Since then, Pittsburgh has installed two plaques commemorating the pioneering Freedom House ambulance workers, one in the Hill District and one in Presbyterian-University Hospital, where the ambulances were based. After years of lobbying, Moon was finally able to convince city officials to place Freedom House medallions on the side of every ambulance in the city of Pittsburgh. But he says that there's still a long way to go before Freedom House gets the credit it deserves for setting the standard of care now followed by every EMT in the world. He wonders how many of those ambulance drivers even know what that Freedom House medallion represents. Now That's Cool Forty-five years after the first recruits joined Freedom House in Pittsburgh, the project was reborn in St. Paul, Minnesota, as an effort to diversify the city's EMS workers. HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has been awarded a major contract by SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO) to supply connected control, telecommunications, safety and security systems for the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services shipyard being developed by Aramco in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia. When completed, the complex will be one of the largest shipyards in the world. It will be automated using a range of Honeywell technologies designed to make the facility's operations safer, more efficient and secure. The suite of systems will be integrated into the complex by SEPCO, the project's main engineering procurement and construction contractor. "Our global presence enables us to work closely with international engineering, procurement and construction companies, including our valued partners SEPCO, to deliver highly innovative infrastructure projects around the globe. We are proud to extend our relationship with both SEPCO and Aramco on this landmark development," said Norm Gilsdorf, president for Honeywell, High Growth Regions, Middle East, Russia, Turkey, Central Asia and Customs Union and ASEAN. "Through the combined capabilities of Honeywell, Aramco and SEPCO, the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services is set to become one of the most advanced, efficient, innovative facilities of its type in the world." Honeywell will provide SEPCO with a suite of connected systems for the complex, including: A portfolio of integrated, cyber-secure automation control systems that give facility operators complete visibility of processes across the site to reduce workload and improve efficiency. This includes Honeywell's ControlEdge Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Data Concentrator, Safety Manager SC and Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Integrated telecom and security systems, including local communications and network security systems, closed circuit television (CCTV) and access control technologies to help facility operators maximize on-site security. Fire and gas detection systems, including fire and gas controllers and automatic smoke detection systems to help isolate areas in the event of an emergency and safely minimize facility-wide shutdowns. "As one of the world's largest contractors, we are proud to be contributing engineering excellence to the development of the world's largest shipyard, a project that reflects our ability to deliver global-scale infrastructure and construction opportunities," said SEPCO Project Manager Zhang Zhongxiang. "Honeywell's broad portfolio of connected systems, which are capable of working together to maximize efficiency, safety and security, enables us to realize significant integration benefits for this complex and globally-significant mega-project." The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services was inaugurated in November 2016. The maritime complex complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps meet the development and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030. The complex will be a world-class maritime facility providing a broad portfolio of services spanning vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul, and will establish Saudi Arabia as one of the world's elite shipbuilding nations. Active in Saudi Arabia for more than 60 years, Honeywell continues to play a vital role in supporting and advancing the Kingdom's industries. In June 2020, the company announced a new gas detection equipment manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia the latest milestone initiative in support of the In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) program. Honeywell also runs a series of training programs that aid the country's transformation into a knowledge-based economy. This includes its long-standing relationship with King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals and its Honeywell UOP University and TECPro career development initiatives to support Saudi graduates as they begin their engineering and technology careers. About Honeywell Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. About Honeywell in Saudi Arabia Over the course of its six-decade history in the Kingdom, Honeywell has furthered the transformation of Saudi Arabia's future through the establishment of localization initiatives and deployment of advanced solutions and cutting-edge technologies. Honeywell remains committed to supporting the national Saudization drive and helping the country meet its Saudi Vision 2030 objectives. Honeywell is proud to be a long-standing and close partner of Aramco a partnership that began when Aramco purchased its first Honeywell product six decades ago. Since then, the two organizations have achieved a number of significant milestones such as the installation of Honeywell's first distributed control systems at Aramco's Safaniyah facility in the early 1980s and the opening of an integrated technical center in the Dhahran Techno Valley in 2012. Honeywell has collaborated with Integrated Industrial Gases (IIG), Trane and ASHRAE to deliver environmentally preferable refrigerant solutions to Saudi Arabia. The partnership aims to reduce energy consumption in the Kingdom and limit the environmental damage of greenhouse gases, in line with global regulations. Honeywell has also held regular Technology Days in the Kingdom, which have brought together key customers, industry leaders and Honeywell's domain experts to discuss trends and the latest market developments including IIoT and its transformational impact on buildings and industry. Media Contacts: Blake Herbert +1 (832) 252-5828 [email protected] Mohaned Lafi Four Communications +971 55 985 3379 [email protected] SOURCE Honeywell Related Links http://www.honeywell.com The Aligarh district administration banned Arif from entering the district for a period of 6 months labelling him as dangerous and threat to society. by Md Sabeeh Ahmad, TwoCircles.net Support TwoCircles Aligarh: After Aligarh district administration in Uttar Pradesh banned Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student Arif Khan from entering the district for six month, Khan told TwoCircles.net that the charges against him are false. I am being targeted for dissent and I have appealed against the order at the Commissionary, said Arif, a M.A. Human Rights student at AMU. The Aligarh district administration banned Arif from entering the district for a period of 6 months labelling him as dangerous and threat to society. The order issued by Additional District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Malpani on January 21 says that Arif falls under the definition of Goonda under Section 2 of the U.P. Control of Goondas Act, 1970. Arif has been booked under at least 16 different sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which include 147 and 148 (Rioting), 149 (Unlawful assembly), 153A (Promoting enmity), 307 (attempt to murder) to name a few. The charges filed against him are related to protests and incidents at AMU since 2018, including the Jinnah portrait protest, the protests against the Hathras rape incident and most importantly the December 2019 protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). AMU spokesperson Prof. Shafey Kidwai told TwoCircles.net that the University has nothing to do with the ban. It is purely a matter between the student and the district authorities. The AMU administration has nothing to do it. There was no complaint from our side against the student. We are not involved here, Prof. Kidwai said. In October last year, another student of the University, Sharjeel Usmani was banned from the district citing similar reasons. Talking to TwoCircles.net, Sharjeel said that the Goonda Act is being now used to suppress critical voices. Neither I nor Arif fall under the category of Goonda. We do not have any criminal history. The first case against me was registered on December 7, 2019. I have no cases before that. Currently, I have 4 different cases against me in Aligarh and all of them were registered within a period of two weeks, said Sharjeel. In Arifs case, the district authorities had served him the show cause notice officially on July 6 last year. Arif replied to the notice on January 6, 202. There were two hearings and during the third hearing, the ADM decided to serve the order banning him from the district. On being asked whether the University administration has been active in quashing charges against the students and taking up their cause, Arif said the University has time and again promised the same but not acted upon it. They have tried to maintain a balance between the district administration and the students. They have said they would ensure that all the charges against the students are quashed but no charges against any student have so far been withdrawn, Arif said. At least 150 students of AMU have been named in different FIRs and charges have been filed against them in the past. Students like Farhan Zuberi, Sharjeel Usmani and ex-student Amir Mintoee were also arrested and jailed during the Covid-19 lockdown. Arif said that the Commissionary will hear the appeal on February 5. If the order is not withdrawn, I will appeal against it in the Allahabad High Court. To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. When I was growing up in the 90s, the only Asian-American writer I knew was Amy Tan. Her thick paperbacks, The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen Gods Wife, were on everyones bookshelves. I, of course, hated Amy Tan because I considered myself a hard-edged thinker. Her books, which were mostly about industrious, dignified immigrants, embodied a type of minstrelsy in which the Asian-American writer gives the white audience bits of tossed-off Oriental wisdom Isnt hate merely the result of wounded love? or a few parables about gold and black tigers or what have you. If I had been asked back then what I planned to write about, I might have gestured toward the Beatniks or cutting down trees in the woods or heroin or jazz, but the only concrete pledge I could have given you was, I will not write The Joy Luck Club. In graduate school, while in an M.F.A. program, I would walk to the bookstore and wander among the fiction shelves, wondering where my novel would fit. This was embarrassing and vain, and although I was certainly both those things, I stage-managed my reverie with some measure of self-aware detachment, performing at being a broke, unpublished author fantasizing about his bright future. In a similar spirit, I would look around for Asian authors who were not Amy Tan. There were also Maxine Hong Kingston and Chang-Rae Lee, but I saw few others. I knew I was supposed to have some feelings about the dearth of published Asian authors, but nothing really came to me. Maybe there just werent many Asian people trying to write novels, or maybe they were bad at it. The tug-of-war between my intellect, which was telling me that I might be in for some rough times in publishing, and my American ambition, which was feeding me some version of a sneaker ad Just Do It was never much of a contest. The world would yield to me. I was 23 and typing out a novel about a young Korean man who had a brother with Down syndrome whom he cast in various public-service announcements about tolerance. There were parts that were supposed to be a direct parody of Life Goes On, the ABC drama that starred Chris Burke as Corky Thatcher. I thought this was very edgy and funny, but I also mixed in occasional ruminations about Koreanness and the burdens of an immigrant childhood. My workshop professor at the time was known as a leader in the field of experimental fiction. One day, he said something about my work that has stuck with me. This novel will almost certainly be published because its about a life we dont hear about too often, I recall him saying. But what we need to do is figure out a way to elevate it so that its not just a telling of the way things are for a certain type of person. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 Relevant to our currently daily lives, Paul practically instructed the Romans how to dedicate their lives as living sacrifices to God. Christ made a way for us to accomplish a closeness with God and forgiveness for our sins that was impossible before He descended from heaven. His life, death, and resurrection broke the curse of since which blocks us from the presence of God. In Christ, we are ushered into an intimate relationship with God, who in His great mercy sent His one and only Son to die for us while we were still sinners. Out of a gratitude we cannot fully express on this earth, we dedicate our daily lives to honor and bring glory to God. What Does Romans 12 Mean by 'Living Sacrifice'? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4 We no longer need to bring animal sacrifices to an altar, because of Christs once for all sacrifice for us. Unlike dead animal sacrifices, Christians must live to serve God constantly, Michael Vanlaningham explains, Rather than be shaped to look like the world, the Christians mind is to be renewed in order to appreciate the importance and benefits of Gods will as revealed in His Word" (Moody Bible Commentary). Gods mercy rains down upon us when we embrace Jesus Christ as our Savior. We die to ourselves in order to live for Him. His supernatural love and forgiveness flow through us we follow Him. This is the picture of a living sacrifice. Our lives worship God before we even lift a hand in the air to sing His praise when we live each day as a living sacrifice. We do this by ensuring we are right with God, through Christ, and in our response to God. Before you think that the Christian life has everything to do with being merciful to people, John Piper explains on desiringGod.org, realize that it has everything to do with being worshipful toward God. The first eleven chapters of Pauls letter to the Romans tell of the mercy of God. In Chapter 12, he tells them how to live their new lives in Christ. Untangling legalistic laws and religious rules to narrow the life of a Christ follower down to becoming the living sacrifice in gratitude of Gods saving grace through His Son. Paul goes into detail to show that Jesus Christ is to be Lord of every area of life, the NIV Study Bible explains. How Is This Our True and Proper Worship according to Paul? What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? James 2:14 God created each and every one of us. His plan to save us from the curse of sin has been in place since the beginning. God is intentional and purposeful. Our very lives are meant to bring glory and honor to God. We are made in His image. True and proper worship to the One True God is submitting our selves daily as a living sacrifice. It means putting our agenda down and picking up His good will for our lives. No-one will ever be able to live up to the holy standard required to stand in the presence of God. Christ lived the perfect life none of us could, and He choose willingly to sacrifice it for our forgiveness. Faith expresses itself in obedience, the NIV Study Bible explains, Obedient service- the liturgy of life. Without salvation in Christ, the consequence for our sins is death. New life in Christ allows us to confess and repent of our sins. We become a living sacrifice, in that our very lives worship our God who reached down to save us. Gods mercy means His pity, compassion, and kindness toward people, Dawn Wilson defines, His mercy shows up in the believers life at salvation, and then God continues to show mercy in forgiveness. in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1 What Are the Characteristics of a Living Sacrifice? And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16 Paul wrote not to conform to the pattern of this world. When discussing what her word of the year was, my daughter proposed self-love. A word our world very much applauds, I knew her intention wasnt to focus on vanity amongst other synonyms of the word. Her true intention is to reflect the peace of Christ in her heart, and to believe the truths God says about her, over the lies of the world. Our enemy and the cursed sin-soaked world we live in is deceitful. When we are in Christ, Gods love flows through our lives. Our behavior reflects the fact we know the difference between self-love and a living sacrifice. Christ died so we would live our lives to the full. When we believe condemning lies its impossible to live fully for God. Christ gave himself for us, and we are to respond by giving ourselves to him, Dr. R.C. Sproul explains, We give ourselves to thank and serve him. A living sacrifice means believing who God says we are and what He has promised for us. This is where our confidence comes from, and our lives will radiate Gods presence and mercy when we embrace our confidence in Him. Paul calls for a renewal of our minds, and Scripture reminds us to take our thoughts captive. Spiritual (logikos, from which the Eng. word logical is derived) means rational, reasonable, that which is carefully thought out, Michael Vanlaningham explains (Moody Bible Commentary). Constantly and consistently, in prayer and Gods Word, our minds develop a godly wisdom and perspective that allows us to see His hand on our lives and His love to radiate through us and onto others. Throughout the entirety of our lives, through the process of sanctification, we are being made holy like Christ. Involvement of the heart, mind, will and life- the whole of what creatures such as human beings are and do (NIV Study Bible). It is a lifetime of days we choose to drop our agenda, refuse to believe lies about who we are not, and embrace the full life we have in Christ to walk out Gods agenda for us in His Kingdom. Why Are Sacrifice and Consecration Important in the Bible? the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Galatians 1:3b-4 Transformation is a life-long process. Sacrifice is synonymous with surrender. When we are baptized in Christ, we die to our old selves, and embrace new life, sacrificing what we selfishly want to gain and achieve in life for Gods greater purpose. Daily, we sacrifice our lives in submission to Gods will for us, continually dedicating ourselves to His purpose. Do not love the world or anything in the world, John wrote, If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them (1 John 2:15). Consecration means to dedicate our lives to God. Idols are anything that creep up and attempt to take the place of God as first and foremost in our lives. We have to be diligent about asking God to search our hearts for distractions and preoccupations that take away from our focus on Him and His agenda for each of our days/lives. Sacrifice and consecration are important because of Jesus. He sacrificed His life for us, once for all. He was consecrated to the will of His Father. He choose to give His life, freely. When He rose again, death was defeated and freedom from the consequence of death for sin was made possible. He literally made a way, and we as Christ followers dedicate our lives to the way He made for us to come into the presence of God. Today, and everyday here on earth and onto eternity, we get to live our lives in a way that worships God before we every lift a hand in the air to sing His praise. This is what it means to be a living sacrifice. To understand who Jesus is, what He sacrificed for us, and what that means for us now and onto eternity. Our hope, here on earth and eternally, is in Him. The call to be a living sacrifice is a difficult daily process, but life within the love of Christ overflows with the supernatural peace and joy of abiding in and obeying our Father in Heaven. Everyday is purposed to bring glory to God. No improvement can be made upon the will of God (NIV Study Bible). When we understand what it means to worship God as living sacrifices, we get to embrace the fullness of His will for our lives. Sources: NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 2008. Moody Bible Commentary, Moody Publishers Chicago, 2014. Further Reading: What Does it Mean to Be a Living Sacrifice and How Do I Be One? Being a Living Sacrifice Not a Cutting Sacrifice Photo credit: GettyImages/Wenping-Zheng Meg, freelance writer and blogger at Sunny&80, is the author of Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ, and Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity, She writes about everyday life within the love of Christ. Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay at home and raise her two daughters, which led her to pursue her passion to write. She has led a Bible Study for Women and serves as a Youth Ministry leader in her community. Meg, a Cleveland native and lifelong Browns fan, lives by the shore of Lake Erie in Northern Ohio with her husband, two daughters, and golden doodle. This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today. Listen to our Daily Bible Verse Podcast Now! Act amended: What this would mean to the Pakistan Army Let Abhinandan go: When Pakistan Army chief was jittery and his legs shook in nervousness Will the General walk the talk: Pak Army Chief wants peaceful resolution to Kashmir issue India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: Pakistan and India must resolve the Kashmir issue in a peaceful and dignified manner, Pakistan Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa calls for resolving J&K issue| Oneindia News General Bajwa was addressing the graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Asghar Khan Academy in Risalpur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to the Army. "Pakistan and India must resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir...," he said. Pakistan is a peace-loving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace, he said. "We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions," he said. "However, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness," Bajwa said. The remarks are significant considering the heightened tensions between the two countries. General Bajwa said that Pakistan is a peace loving country and had rendered great sacrifices yes for regional and global peace. According to a statement by Pakistan's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Gen Bajwa said Pakistan will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret its "desire for peace as a sign of weakness". Experts that OneIndia spoke with said that while the statements are welcome, one has to be on guard. These statements should translate to tensions reducing at the border areas. The number of ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts along the Line of Control have increased over the past one year. We hope the General's statements translate into action, the official cited above also said. In 2020, scores of terrorists from Pakistan attempted infiltration bids into India. However just 44 managed to infiltrate in 2020, when compared to the 141 in 2019, officials said. Rattled by the anti-infiltration grid that blocked several key routes, Pakistan carried 5,100 ceasefire violation, which was the highest since the 2003 truce. "There are 300 to 415 terrorists in various launching pads in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (PoK) along the LoC ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to disturb peace and normalcy by engineering violence," an official said. Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that the ISI continues to make attempts to help infiltrate the large number of terrorists. The IB officer also said that the Pakistan Rangers and the Border Action Team are trying to help the terrorists infiltrate into India. Last year there were an unprecedented number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan. The Pakistan Army had been providing cover fire in a bid to help the terrorists enter India. However, the infiltration attempts were largely foiled by the Indian security agencies. SAN ANTONIO - An El Paso, Texas, woman who witnessed a mass shooting of Latinos at a Walmart in 2019, and provided critical information to state and federal investigators, was deported last week after the Texas attorney general successfully sued to temporarily block President Biden's 100-day pause on deportations. The 27-year-old was headed home Wednesday when El Paso police stopped her because of a broken brake light, officials said. Officers discovered that the woman had outstanding warrants for unpaid traffic violations and took her into custody. That arrest, along with a 2019 deportation order tied to a drunken-driving conviction, resulted in her removal to Mexico - a place she has not lived since she was 11 years old. The deportation came days before her attorneys filed an application for a U visa, which confers legal status to undocumented people who are crime victims or witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement in an investigation. The woman is one of several witnesses slated to testify in the capital murder trial of the Dallas-area man accused of killing 23 people, including Mexican citizens, in the August 2019 shooting rampage. Police said the shooter told authorities he was targeting "Mexicans." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walked the woman, whose name is being withheld because of her status, across the international bridge to Juarez, Mexico, three days after a federal judge blocked Biden's deportation pause. Her deportation occurred before the administration's new immigration enforcement priorities - targeting security threats, recent border crossers and convicted felons - went into effect Feb. 1. "President Biden ran on a platform of humanity, and what has happened has been inhumane," said Melissa Lopez, executive director of El Paso's Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, which is representing the woman. "She is the complete opposite of a national security risk. She is the epitome of the kind of person we want in the United States, people who witness horrific crimes and come forward to help." ICE officials did not respond to questions about the woman's deportation. The woman's troubles began in 2015 when police stopped and cited her for a seat belt violation and not having a driver's license. Then, in 2018, she was charged with driving while intoxicated and pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor. That conviction led to several days in the county jail and immigration removal proceedings, records show. She appealed the deportation order but was denied, Lopez said. In an interview, the woman said she came to the United States with her father as an 11-year-old to escape an abusive family situation in Mexico. She graduated from an El Paso high school and works in a restaurant. The woman wanted to fight the DWI charge because her blood-alcohol reading was within the legal limit, court records confirm. But she said she was given advice from an attorney to accept a plea deal sentencing her to 40 days in the county jail. Months after her removal order was issued, the woman found herself in a Walmart parking lot when, authorities say, Patrick Crusius, then 21, unleashed a hate-fueled spray of gunfire on shoppers in the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in the city's history. Both the state and the FBI have levied charges, including hate crimes, against the alleged gunman. The woman initially hesitated to come forward with details about the shooting but weeks later contacted Lopez's office to help her share her story with investigators. Her attorneys said she was traumatized by her experience and underwent therapy to cope with the memories of what happened that day. "Something told us that we needed to speak up," the woman said, referring to the decision she made with her sister, who also was a witness. "I prefer not to say anything and be quiet, because when you speak it's negative for you when you're an illegal. But we saw things that we needed to say, and the police needed to know." Applying for a U visa requires documents from law enforcement attesting to the role a person played in an investigation. The El Paso County District Attorney's Office issued that certification for the woman last fall, Lopez said. The district attorney's office confirmed it provided the woman's lawyer with U visa certification documents Sept. 16 but declined to answer any other questions about the upcoming trial. The pandemic caused delays for attorneys in gathering the documents for her application, which was sent to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday, Lopez's organization said. Living in Mexico does not necessarily disqualify her from applying for the coveted visa, but a decision could take years. "In a community of immigrants like El Paso, there would be so many crimes that would go unprosecuted and defendants who would go unconvicted" without people like the woman, Lopez said. "That is exactly why we have the U visa, to encourage people to come forward in the safety of knowing they will be protected, and that system failed her." A trial date for Crusius has not been set. The woman said ICE agents knew that she was a witness and allowed her to call her attorney, Anna Hey. But the call went to voice mail. By the time Hey learned of the deportation a few hours later, the woman was in Mexico. Attorney General Ken Paxton made Texas the first state to sue the new Biden administration, arguing that a halt to deportations - intended to give ICE time to overhaul its enforcement priorities - would unfairly burden the state. Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order, and a new hearing is scheduled this week. "The state of Texas intervened and put this woman in a situation that allowed ICE to make this decision," Lopez said. "The state of Texas, who is prosecuting this shooter, just made a decision that will affect their own prosecution." The woman's defense team will ask ICE to consider bringing her back to the United States or petition state and federal prosecutors to intervene. It is unclear whether the woman's deportation will prevent or affect her trial testimony. "I really want to testify because I want to help, even though this happened," the woman said. "I want to help my community, because it was my community, too." Croatian insurers are reaping a windfall as residents rush to sign up for protection after two destructive earthquakes last year left them to rebuild without private coverage, the head of the countrys industry association said. After escaping billions of kuna in payouts because most property owners lacked earthquake insurance, companies like Croatia Osiguranje d.d. and Euroherc Osiguranje d.d., Allianz SE and Vienna Insurance Group AG now see demand for premiums soaring following a March quake in Zagreb and a Dec. 29 temblor further south, said insurers association President Robert Vuckovic. In January, coverage is estimated to have doubled from a year earlier. Premiums for earthquake damage jumped 30% last year, spurred by the March tremor. Exact figures will be released later this month, he said. Related: Rescuers Race to Find Survivors After Croatias Worst Earthquake in 140 Years Earthquake Hits Croatia, a Month After Another Tremor Causes Damages of $6B Croatia lies on the northern edge of the quake-prone Mediterranean Sea region that includes Italy, Greece, and Turkey, a geological area that experiences tremors almost every day, though most are too mild to be noticed. As decades have gone by without major shocks in the former Yugoslav nation, many Croats opted against earthquake policies, largely sparing the 47 billion-kuna ($7.5 billion) insurance industry from devastating payouts. We see a large increase in private policies as a trend for the whole industry, said Vuckovic, whos also a management board member of Croatia Osiguranje, the nations biggest insurer, in an interview in Zagreb. The awareness of the need for earthquake protection has gone up steeply, especially after the second earthquake. The 5.3-magnitude Zagreb temblor, which struck just as the country was locking down against COVID-19, left a child dead and damaged 25,000 buildings, many in the 19th-century center. It was the countrys worst in 140 years until the even-bigger 6.3 magnitude quake an hours drive away added further destruction in December. The latest tremor was felt as far away as Vienna, Budapest and Rome. The seismic double-whammy brought home the risk for many Croatians, who have traditionally avoided financial protection against earthquakes because of habit and price, said Vuckovic. Only about a fifth of homeowners held policies against such damage before the March quake, he said, with the average insurance premium per capita in Croatia totaling 342 euros ($412) in 2019, less than a fifth of the European Union average of 2,170 euros. The damage of the Zagreb quake was estimated last month by the Economy Ministry at 86 billion kuna [US$13.7 billion], or about 60% of the annual budget of the country of 4.2 million people. Yet, only 7,300 insurance claims were filed and insurers will eventually have paid about 400 million kuna [US$63.5 million] in damage, a fraction of the total cost. The plan is to rebuild Zagreb mostly with state and regional government funds, helped by 683.7 million euros in special EU assistance. The government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic will also finance the entire cost of rebuilding the region shaken in December, among the poorest in the country. With the prospect of more seismic activity to come, the government plans to retrofit buildings, many of them constructed of stone and brick, to make them more resilient. Some commercial banks have already included compulsory earthquake coverage in insurance policies as part of mortgage approval processes. There are a number of cultural and material reasons why people have avoided buying insurance, Vuckovic said. Under communism, there was an expectation that the state would take care of everything and after the war in the 1990s, many people didnt have the money to pay for the insurance. But all this is now changing. With assistance from Alexander Jones. Top photo: A view of a damaged building after an earthquake in Petrinja, Croatia, on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. Photo credit: AP Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Mergers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Earthquake Citing negative publicity for the city and potential loss of state and federal aid as a result of last weeks emergency actions by the Solvang City Council, the newly seated mayor and both newly seated council members Monday quickly put the kibosh on any hint of revolt against state mandates relating to COVID-19. Sudan has recently started to state clearly that a legally binding solution is the only way out of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis and Khartoum will not accept a second filling of the dam in the absence of an agreement, noted a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity. He added that Addis Ababa has always found a reason for procrastination and will use its current internal problems in the Tigray region together with mounting tension with Sudan to continue along the same path, despite Khartoums position growing closer to Cairos. That Sudan had now joined Egypt in stating unequivocally that a legally binding agreement is the only way out of the dam impasse is unlikely to shift Addis Ababas position, says Abbas Sharaki, professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University. For that to happen, he argues, Egypt and Sudan need to unify their stand across the dam file. Egypt also reiterated its position on the dam this week when President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi repeated Cairos longstanding position that a legally-binding agreement is needed to resolve the crisis during a meeting in Cairo with the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki. Faki was in Egypt to exchange views with Cairo on a range of African issues, including the upcoming AU Summit scheduled for 6 and 7 February, and the commissions leadership elections which will be held on the periphery of the summit. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri held a separate meeting with Faki during which he stressed Egypts continued willingness to engage in serious negotiations in order to reach a legally binding agreement, provided it is matched by a similar commitment on the Ethiopian side. Speaking to the newly-elected House of Representatives last week about the latest developments over GERD, Shoukri underlined that Egypt will not allow anyone to impose de facto policies or control the Nile. He told MPs that Cairo had managed to involve the international community in the dam file, one result of which was the unprecedented UN Security Council session in June 2020 addressing the dispute. Last week, Sudans acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamareddin told the media that a binding agreement that regulates the filling and operating of the dam is a must, a position that Khartoum is increasingly keen to explain to the world. Last week, it held a series of meetings with foreign ambassadors in Khartoum, including representatives of UN Security Council permanent member states. Continuing the diplomatic push, this week Sudans Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas met the German and Spanish ambassadors to Khartoum. Late last month, Abbas and Qamareddin visited the Congolese capital Kinshasa where they met with Felix Antoine Cheskidy, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC will take over the chairmanship of the AU from South Africa during this weekends AU summit. During their meeting, the Sudanese officials said Khartoum was ready to continue with the AU-mediated tripartite negotiations. Cheskidy, in turn, said he would discuss the issue with Egypt and Ethiopia in an attempt to close the gap between the three parties. Political analysts question whether the Congo can succeed in pushing forward a deal on the dam, something South Africa failed to do during last years AU-mediated talks. Sharaki is far from optimistic, not least because the AU lacks a strong mechanism to impose its resolutions its member states. Hani Raslan, an expert on African affairs at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, argues that however differently Congo manages the file it is unlikely to lead to an agreement. Ethiopia has already rejected the mediation of the World Bank and the US. What we now need is concerted international pressure, from the US and influential European states, especially those involved in the building of the dam, like Italy and the UK. If the international will is there, Addis Ababa will have to respond, says Raslan. Sudan withdrew twice from the AU-mediated talks called by South Africa, demanding a greater role for AU experts in mediating the dispute, and claiming the current negotiating approach had rendered the talks redundant. Although both Egypt and Sudan have said repeatedly they cannot accept a second filling before an agreement is reached, Addis Ababa insists it will go ahead and fill the reservoir this summer regardless of whether an agreement is in place. Ethiopias Irrigation Minister Selshi Bekele tweeted this week that construction progresses as scheduled. Support of Ethiopians for GERD at home and abroad is at its climax. We shall deliver this clean energy for the prosperity of Ethiopia and Africa. The first filling of the dams reservoir took place last summer despite the absence of a binding agreement, a move that angered Cairo and Khartoum, both of whom saw it as a violation of the Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed in Sudan in March 2015. The DoP states that the three countries must first agree on guidelines and rules for the operating processes of the dam before filling the reservoir. The dam, 15km from the Ethiopian border with Sudan, has been a source of contention between the three countries since construction began in 2011. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP, a personal injury law firm based in New York City, http://www.nycLawFirm.com is helping New York victims of child sexual abuse seek the compensation and justice they deserve. However, the deadline for filing childhood sexual abuse cases is fast approaching on August 14, 2021! Child sexual abuse has traumatic life-long consequences. It often takes years, or even decades, for sexual abuse victims to confront their feelings of fear, humiliation, and shame. By the time sexual abuse victims are ready to come forward, the time period to bring a lawsuit (known as the Statute of Limitations) may have passed. In 2019, New York State passed the Child Victims Act which extended the time period for victims of child sexual abuse to bring a lawsuit. New York residents who were sexually abused as children now have until August 14, 2021 to bring a lawsuit, even if the case was previously time-barred by the statute of limitations. Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP is a law firm known for their compassionate representation of child sexual abuse victims. The New York child sexual abuse lawyers at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP understand that coming forward is very difficult. They will walk you through the process. They are sensitive to the concerns of their clients, like protecting their identity. They recognize that children who have experienced child sexual abuse are at increased risk for the following: Alcohol Dependence Drug Dependence Depression Anxiety Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Negative Self-Esteem Increased Suicide Risk Intimacy Issues Trust Issues Increased Instability in Relationships Increased Risk of Sexual Problems Eating Disorders Sleeping Disorder Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP is committed to holding abusers and the institutions who protect them responsible. Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP is currently fighting for victims of childhood sexual abuse against religious organizations, private and public schools, residential treatment facilities, schools for troubled children, camps, youth organizations and youth programs. DON'T BE A VICTIM TWICE CALL 1-800-VICTIM2 (1-800-842-8462) It is important to have your case evaluated by the experienced child sexual abuse attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP before the August 14, 2021 deadline. Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP's motto is "Don't Be A Victim Twice". Don't be a victim of child sexual abuse and then a victim of missing the August 14, 2021 deadline. The time to act is now. If you or a loved one were the victim of a child sexual abuse or assault, contact the New York child sexual abuse attorneys at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP. They can help you obtain justice. Don't Be A Victim Twice". Call 1-800-Victim2 (1-800-842-8462) to schedule a confidential consultation with the child sexual abuse lawyers at Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP. The call is free. The consultation is free. You don't pay them unless they are successful. Related Links http://www.nycLawFirm.com For more information contact: Rob Greenstein 1-800-VICTIM2 (1-800-842-8462) [email protected] SOURCE Greenstein & Milbauer, LLP Related Links https://www.greensteinmilbauer.com/ Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has held preliminary talks with three regional state leader in Dhusamareb on Monday night. According to a statement by Villa, the leaders discussed efforts at the federal and state levels to implement the elections, ensure political stability and security in the country. Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble was also attending the meeting. President Farmajo commended the leaders at the Federal and State levels for their efforts in advancing governance and strengthening the unity of the Somali people. Jubaland and Puntland leaders are expected to arrive in Dhusamareb today for the summit A three-day summit between the federal government and the federal member's states is expected to kick off today. Last week President Mohamed Farmajo called for a consultative meeting between the federal government and leaders of the federal member states to discuss electoral issues ahead of polls. The Footsie started the day in positive territory, but a 6 per cent fall in heavyweight drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline helped send the index in the red. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent, or around 9 points to 6,507, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.3 per cent, or 62 points, to 20,752. Glaxo announced a new partnership with German biopharmaceutical firm CureVac to develop vaccines that target new variants of the coronavirus. But it also forecast lower profits this year, sending shares falling. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is to step down as chief executive of the tech giant later this year and become executive chairman. The New Mexico-born billionaire will be replaced in his role by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazons cloud business. Vodafone has revealed service revenues returned to growth in its third quarter, with a rise of 0.4 per cent. However, it said that overall service revenues were 9.4billion, around 300million lower than at last year's results. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is to step down as chief executive of the tech giant later this year Google's parent company Alphabet announced record revenues and profits in the last three months of 2020 despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with sales climbing 23 percent and profits jumping 43 per cent. Britons working from home during the pandemic saw their average working week increase by 25 per cent compared to when they were in the office, according to a study from software provider NordVPN Teams. ADVERTISEMENT community service is just one strand in Professor Oyewesos rich repertoire of activities Already, no fewer than three festschrifts have been published in his honour as an impactful scholar, each of them drawing high standing contributors from national and foreign-based scholars across assorted disciplines. Incontrovertibly one of the most intellectually engaging historians of our time, Professor Abdul Gafar Siyan Oyeweso, manifests by the day in several discourses on account of his selfless services. I had just been part of a radio programme on Friday, January 8, when one of the promoters of the online broadcaster, Spirit of Nigeria, Dotun Atilade, called me. In rounding off his appreciation to me, he reminded me that most people from my birthplace of Ede, Osun State, are selfless. Thus began quite a sweet recall of a most ubiquitous example in the person of our darling Siyan Oyeweso; that Prof. will go far, very far, even as he is already one of the most accomplished living historians in Nigeria today. Can you imagine someone wilfully turning down legitimately deserved remuneration, choosing a path of honour in the form of personal sacrifice, in a series of activities that he had used his clout to drive to resounding success? A friend of Abioye Oyewusi, who is the son of late Oba Tijani Oyewusi, the immediate past Timi of Ede, Dotun, had been part of the setting up of the foundation in honour of our late monarch. According to him, the process suddenly gained acceleration immediately Professor Oyeweso got involved. He, it was who spoke to big donors like S.O.B Babalola, father of Lanre Babalola, the former minister of Power. Within a short space of time, right within the Ede community, some humongous amount of money was raised on account of his intervention and personal solicitations. It is sure that he will ultimately be celebrated too. Dotun was just being obvious. Enter the birthday anniversary of a media veteran, Alhaji Olumide of the lengendary Lawal family of Ailaka Compound. A couple of hours after I exchanged anniversary pleasantries with the big boss, I started receiving WhatsApp notifications from unusual sources. Most prominent, perhaps, was that of Mrs. Tope Oguntokun, the corporate affairs director of International Breweries, Lagos. A thoroughbred media professional herself, Mrs. Oguntokun was most impressed by a documentary on Ede which Africa Magic chose to run as a birthday gift, as I later learnt, to Haji Olumide. So unmistakable among the individuals featured in the land of many intellectuals is the Baapitan of Lagos, the irrepressible world class Siyan, as many of his folks in the Lagos State University (LASU) fondly hail him. In that documentary, Baapitan, as if acting out his title, is as avuncular as he is clinically thorough with the facts. But community service is just one strand in Professor Oyewesos rich repertoire of activities. This scholar of unmistakably towering height presents a spectacle far from commonplace competition. Already, no fewer than three festschrifts have been published in his honour as an impactful scholar, each of them drawing high standing contributors from national and foreign-based scholars across assorted disciplines. Assorted disciplines because my ever amiable and inimitable benefactor and teacher has impacted on scholars and professionals with obvious and not so obvious connection with our Ogas specialisation in History and amazing research skills. Simply put, the historian, unknown to many, is uniquely endowed to have a better understanding of not only the past but the present and the future. Throughout the nearly forty years of his career path till date, Baba Oyee has exhibited, in meticulous details, the acclaimed unique endowments of the historian. The task master is however not one to leave his house vulnerable to the attack of ignorant and directionless political jobbers at the level of policy making or elsewhere, nauseatingly betraying the lack of knowledge of history in their pronouncements and conduct. When he chose to, in 2006, inaugurate his respected professorial chair dating back to 2004, he promptly resorted to a foundational focus, so strikingly sharp enough to be noticed by any functional being. It was titled The Undertakers, the Pythons Eye and Footsteps of the Ant: The Historians Burden. Delivered at a time History had been dropped from the curriculum of some schools in the country, the grandmaster asserted that we are all bound to make recourse to history, denouncing being an undertaker and instead asserting that he bonds with the genre of people who would not want the past to disappear from our consciousness merely because it is past. Not done, the uncommonly insightful scholar went on to register the thesis that the concern of all patriots today, the failing health of the Nigerian state, derived from what he christened an unholy trinity, comprising the lack of knowledge of its history; a lack of understanding of that history; and a lack of application of the examples and lessons of history. Reinforcing the view of earlier scholars (Carr, 1961; Einstein, 1955), the Baapitan of Lagos thus logically submitted further that, because the past and present are forged organically and in an engaging and interlocking manner, the law of physics are time symmetric; they just run as well backwards as forward, and therefore the future already exists and it can be known in advance. Simply put, the historian, unknown to many, is uniquely endowed to have a better understanding of not only the past but the present and the future. Throughout the nearly forty years of his career path till date, Baba Oyee has exhibited, in meticulous details, the acclaimed unique endowments of the historian. Oyee, as we fondly hailed the small tisha in Ilorin way back in 1982, had apparently taken time to study the Unilorin History team. Only the best was best for the best or so it seemed. The young scholar became the assistant of the globally renowned historian and archaeologist, Ade Obayemi, who later became the director-general of the Nigerian Museum. After understudying Obayemi for a few weeks, the Ede born eagle had done well in perfecting his teaching art and was ready to fly only higher and higher, as he does till date. It didnt take long before all the students began to fall head over heels in very deep appreciation of the young mans expertise, dispensed with utmost relish. Undoubtedly, Oyeweso must have headed for LASU, glowingly recommended, in addition to being robustly credentialed for appointment as an academic. In and out of the classroom, Siyan almost became a standard for conduct. Magisterial presentations cultivated from Unilorin readily endeared him to his students, which is still the situation till date. Oyee of Unilorin promptly transformed to Baba Oyee. His name featured during considerations for virtually all key university offices. With his peerless sartorial taste (who can beat a power dresser endowed with the ajilala oso spirit?), Oyeweso took the position of the university orator to an unprecedentedly glamourous height that may remain a model for long, for those lucky to witness the performative excellence consistently on display throughout his tenure. Far from being a petty, exhibitionist character, Oyeweso has also been a thoroughbred university administrator, indeed waiting to be optimally appreciated and engaged. He was, at various times, during his sojourn at LASU, a member of the University Council; Court of Governors of the LASU College of Medicine; dean, Faculty of Arts; head, Department of History, as well as being director of the Universitys External System in its glorious years. Baba Oyee, in his consistently strong commitment to all his adopted causes, has been an inestimable human asset, of perhaps a dynamo standing, all the way to institutions and individuals, including me, making him earn abundant goodwill worldwide. A most resounding happy 60th birthday to the teacher of teachers and uncommon leader never in want of warmth. To echo your customised pleasantry sir, Ma jaye o ri e! Tunde Akanni is a media scholar and development enthusiast based at the LASU School of Communication. 3D print of a spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19--in front of a 3D print of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle. The spike protein (foreground) enables the virus to enter and infect human cells. On the virus model, the virus surface (blue) is covered with spike proteins (red) that enable the virus to enter and infect human cells. Credit: NIH A single dose of the Pfizer vaccine provides "very high" protection from COVID-19 after 21 dayswithout a 'top up' dose in the recommended time frame, according to a new study from the University of East Anglia. Researchers looked at data from Israel, where the vaccine has been rolled out. They found that the Pfizer vaccine becomes 90 percent effective after 21 dayssupporting UK plans to delay the timing of a second injection. But they warn that people's risk of infection doubled in the first eight days after vaccinationpossibly because people become less cautious. Due to the rapid response nature of this research it has not yet been peer reviewed. Lead researcher and COVID-19 expert Prof Paul Hunter, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "A second dose of the Pfizer vaccine would normally be given 21 days or more after the first to top up and lengthen the effect of the first dose. "But here in the UK, the decision was made to delay the timing of the second injection until 12 weeks after the first. "The logic behind this is to protect more people sooner and so reduce the total number of severe infections, hospitalisations, and deaths. "But this decision caused criticism from some quarters due in part to a belief that a single injection may not give adequate immunity. "A recent non peer-reviewed pre-print paper based on Israel's experience looked at data from 500,000 people who had been given the Pfizer vaccine. It reported that a single dose may not provide adequate protection. "But we saw a number of flaws in how they looked at the data including the fact that they did not attempt to estimate the effectiveness of the vaccine from day 18 onwards. This would have given a better indication of how effective a single dose of the vaccine could be if the second dose was delayed by up to 12 weeks." The research team set out to estimate the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine after a single doseby reanalysing real-world outcomes from Israel. They used the data to see how the Israeli vaccination programme impacted case numbers, and went on to estimate vaccine effectiveness over time. They found that after the initial vaccinationcase numbers increased for eight days before declining to low levels by day 21. Prof Hunter said: "Surprisingly, the daily incidence of cases increased strongly after vaccination till about day eightapproximately doubling. We don't know why there was this initial surge in infection risk but it may be related to people being less cautious about maintaining protective behaviours as soon as they have the injection. "We found that the vaccine effectiveness was still pretty much zero until about 14 days after people were vaccinated. But then after day 14 immunity rose gradually day by day to about 90 percent at day 21 and then didn't improve any further. All the observed improvement was before any second injection. "This shows that a single dose of vaccine is highly protective, although it can take up to 21 days to achieve this. "And it supports the UK policy of extending the gap between doses by showing that a single dose can give a high level of protection. "Whilst we do not know how long this immunity will last beyond 21 days without a second booster, we are unlikely to see any major decline during the following nine weeks," he added. Prof Hunter and Dr. Brainard were funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emergency Preparedness and Response at King's College London in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) in collaboration with the University of East Anglia. "Estimating the effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine after a single dose. A reanalysis of a study of 'real-world' vaccination outcomes from Israel" is published on the medRxiv pre-print server: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.110 021.02.01.21250957v1 Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Estimating the effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine after a single dose. A reanalysis of a study of 'real-world' vaccination outcomes from Israel, www.medrxiv.org/content/10.110 021.02.01.21250957v1 Estimating the effectiveness of the Pfizer COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine after a single dose. A reanalysis of a study of 'real-world' vaccination outcomes from Israel, doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.01.21250957 PAPER and packaging group, Nampak Zimbabwe suffered significant volumes decline across its business units attributed to the harsh Covid-19 impact on the local economy in the past year. Presenting the group's performance for the period ended September 30 2020, the group managing director, John Van Gend said the pandemic's impact took a huge toll on the business. "Hunyani volumes for the full year declined by 28% compared to the prior year. The corrugated division's decline was driven by the tobacco case market where the local tobacco crop output was significantly down on the prior year," he said. He said the delayed start of this year's tobacco marketing season due to Covid-19 concerns and a decline in regional exports also prompted the decline. At the Mega Pak unit, the full year volumes declined by 12% against the prior year, mainly due to constrained consumer demand in the preforms market in the first half of the year. The Carnaud Metalbox volumes for the full year declined by 34% compared to the prior year. The shortage of foreign exchange and reduced disposable incomes in the first half of the year negatively impacted demand. There was improved product demand in the final quarter, and access to needed foreign exchange improved through the auction system. Softex tissue products continued to trade profitability as a result of tight cost control and an improved product mix. "As a result, the available cash resources are expected to fund future capital expenditure projects and meet working capital requirements. In view of this, the directors have decided not to declare a dividend. "The 2020 trading year has certainly not been without its challenges but, we believe, given the continual focus on cost control and margin preservation, that the Group is well positioned to prosper in the coming year," Van Gend added. The California-based multi-level marketing business LuLaRoe is paying $4.75 million to settle allegations from the Washington state Attorney Generals Office that it operated as a pyramid scheme. LuLaRoe sells leggings and other clothing to a network of independent retailers, who can recruit other retailers to sell the companys products. Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the company and its executives two years ago, saying they deceived people about how profitable it was to be a LuLaRoe retailer. While two people at the top made millions from 2016 to 2019, thousands of others were left with debt and unsold product, which they couldnt return due to the companys complex and misleading refund policy, he said. Ferguson said that $4 million of the settlement will be distributed to about 3,000 Washington residents who were recruited to the company. Every Washington retailer who lost money under LuLaRoes pyramid structure will receive restitution, his office said in a news release. The company denied wrongdoing in a consent decree filed late Monday in King County Superior Court in Seattle, but the agreement prohibits LuLaRoe from operating a pyramid scheme and requires it to be more transparent with retailers. Among other things, it must publish an income disclosure statement that accurately details how much retailers might earn. Ferguson said LuLaRoes structure violated the states anti-pyramid scheme law, which defines enterprises as pyramid schemes if they offer the opportunity to earn compensation primarily from recruitment, rather than retail sales. LuLaRoe did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Washington Although low-income communities of color have been affected disproportionately by the coronavirus, health officials in many cities say that people from wealthier, largely white neighborhoods have been flooding vaccination appointment systems and taking an outsize share of the limited supply. People in underserved neighborhoods have been tripped up by a confluence of obstacles, including registration phone lines and websites that can take hours to navigate, and lack of transportation or time off from jobs to get to appointments. And skepticism about the shots continues to be pronounced in Black and Latino communities, depressing sign-up rates. Early vaccination data is incomplete, but it points to the divide. In the first weeks of the rollout, 12 percent of people inoculated in Philadelphia have been Black, in a city whose population is 44 percent Black. In Miami-Dade County, only about 7 percent of the vaccine recipients have been Black, even though Black residents make up nearly 17 percent of the population and are dying from Covid-19 at a rate that is more than 60 percent higher than that of white people. In data released last weekend for New York City, white people had received nearly half of the doses, while Black and Latino residents were starkly underrepresented based on their share of the population. More than 270,000 vaccines have been administered in Northern Ireland so far, Health Minister Robin Swann has revealed. Mr Swann, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, said: "Northern Ireland can and will get through this. We can gain hope and strength from the progress of our vaccination programme. As of yesterday evening we have administered 271,826 vaccines. "That is an increase of over 13,500 in last 24 hours. One of our highest numbers of vaccines administered over a single day." Health Minister Robin Swann provides a Covid 19 update Health Minister Robin Swann provides a Covid 19 update https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-northern-ireland-further-11-deaths-and-504-new-cases-reported-40047202.html Posted by Belfast Telegraph on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 The UUP MLA also revealed that a "significant" new consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine has arrived in Northern Ireland. He added: "Those supplies are already out being distributed to GPs across the country and will continue to do so for the rest of this week. This will allow us to continue the acceleration of our vaccination programme." It comes as another 11 Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland have been reported by the Department of Health. Nine of those deaths occurred in the 24 hours up to 10am on Wednesday and two happened previously. The death toll has now risen to 1,889. Another 504 new Covid cases were also identified in testing. Read More There have been 3,404 positive cases in the last week, down from 4,394 in the previous seven days. Hospital occupancy is at 96% with 2,902 people in beds. A total of 65 patients with Covid-19 are in intensive care - 60 of those are ventilated. And 106 care homes are dealing with an outbreak of the virus. 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 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Some European leaders seem to be warming to the idea of deploying Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine as the EU struggles with supply shortfalls. But how likely is it that Moscow's jab will be going into arms across the 27-nation bloc after trial results showed it to be 91.6 percent effective? Here's where we stand: Is anyone using it? Hungary on Tuesday received its first batch of 40,000 Sputnik V doses after breaking ranks last month and becoming the first EU country to approve and order the vaccine. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the jabs would start being used once "remaining necessary tests" were completed and two million more doses were on their way. Hungary's populist authoritarian leader Viktor Orban is a frequent outlier in the EUand his country is also the only member state to order Chinese vaccines too. While none of the bloc's other 26 nations have gone as far, some appear tempted. Populist Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced he would travel to Budapest on Friday to consult with Orban about Sputnik. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said "all vaccines" are welcome as long as they have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Spain, as well, said it is "open" to using the jabnamed after the famed Soviet-era satelliteso long as it gets approval by European regulators. Regulators ready? So where is Sputnik at with the EMA? For now it is still only at the very preliminary stage. The Amsterdam-based regulator has said Sputnik V's backers submitted a request for "scientific advice" to prepare for a possible application for market authorisation. The EMA confirmed a meeting took place on January 19 to discuss "further engagement" but noted it had not started a rolling review of the vaccine aimed at giving potential approvala process that can take months. Another major hurdle for the vaccine would be to get on the EU's central roster of contracts. The European Commission, the bloc's executive, has been in charge of negotiating contracts with the companies to supply the entire 27-nation bloc. So far it has contracts with six Western manufacturers for some 2.3 billion doses, but only the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been approved for use. A further two contracts are being negotiated but the commission has faced flak as unexpected production shortfalls have fed into the stuttering EU-wide inoculation drive. Brussels has been wary of the Russian and Chinese vaccines, concerned that Moscow and Beijing would use them as soft power tools to bolster their influence in its backyard. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday appeared to leave the jar at least slightly ajar for the jabs. "If the Russian producers, the Chinese producers open their books, show transparency, show all the data... then they could get... a conditional market authorisation like the other ones," von der Leyen told EU lawmakers at a meeting, according to those in attendance. What about production? A key part of the EU's vaccine strategy has been to buy from companies that can produce the jabs in Europe. This was aimed at trying to make supplies securebut still hasn't stopped the bloc from facing damaging shortfalls from both Pfizer and AstraZeneca. With an eye apparently on this, Russia has reached out to German biotechnology company IDT Biologika to explore jointly producing the Sputnik V, Germany's health ministry said on Wednesday. A spokeswoman told AFP that the state-run institute and wealth fund behind Sputnik V "are interested in a co-partner for a possible production and have as such contacted IDT Biologika". "The contents or details of confidential discussions are not known," she added. IDT, based in Dessau in eastern Germany, declined to comment when contacted by AFP. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP But how? He took a crucial first step in his first week in office by asking the director of national intelligence for a comprehensive threat assessment of domestic violent extremism, presumably including the array of far-right militiamen, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters and other oddball extremists. Some have increasingly worked alongside neo-Nazi and white supremacist factions, according to FBI reports and some of whom showed up in the Capitol mayhem. Canada on Wednesday declared Proud Boys a terrorist group, the first country to do so. WASHINGTON Michael Regan, President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, worked to assure Senate Republicans Wednesday that they would be heard as the new administration crafted regulations to address climate change. In a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Regan, secretary of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality and a former leader at the Environmental Defense Fund, described a climate strategy in which he would use both regulation and investment strategies to work with industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "We can't simply regulate our way out of every problem we face," he said. "If you want to address complex challenges, you must be able to see them from all sides. You have to be able to put yourself in other people's shoes." Since Biden took office last month, Republicans have been inflamed by a series of executive orders aimed at shifting the country away from fossil fuels, including the canceling of the construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project and a one-year moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, including the Gulf of Mexico. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., questioned whether the administration's commitment to helping protect impoverished communities from pollution would leave them worse off economically - a reminder of the impact that coal mine closures have had on West Virginia and other Appalachian states. "Where's the justice when many people are plunged into poverty, drug addiction and homelessness?" she asked Regan. In North Carolina, Regan earned a reputation as a centrist deal-maker under Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who was willing to sit down with farmers, energy companies and other stakeholders impacted by his actions. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., described Regan's work to clean up agriculture and power plants in their state as " balancing the values of environmental stewardship with the needs of rural communities." That has prompted some criticism from progressives that Regan's efforts to bring the two parties together on climate change will slow a decarbonization process that needs to move quickly. Asked why Biden hadn't consulted with states before issuing his executive orders, Regan described the orders as "setting goals and visions." "They leave plenty of room of how these things will be implemented," he said. "We have a ton of time to aim for these goals but massage the process by which we achieve these goals." Credit: CC0 Public Domain Despite an overall reduction in cigarette use over the last 20 years, nearly 1 in 5 boys (17.9%) and more than 1 in 10 girls (11.5%) around the world used tobacco at least once in the past month between 2010-2018, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Tobacco use kills more than 8 million around the world every year and can lead to cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as affect fertility. Tobacco use among adolescents and children is a crucial problem, given that most adult smokers start in adolescence or childhood. In the new study, the authors looked at the Global Youth Tobacco Surveys data between 1999 and 2018 to assess trends in prevalence of tobacco use. All countries included did at least two surveys, resulting in 1.1 million 13-15-year-olds from 140 countries included between 1999-2018, and 530,000 adolescents from 143 countries between 2010-2018. In the study, the prevalence between 2010 and 2018 of smoking cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days was approximately twice as high at age 15 years compared with age 13 years in both boys and girls (6.8% vs 15.4% in boys; 3.4% vs 8.7% in girls). The prevalence of cigarette smoking was highest in the Western Pacific region for boys (176%), with Tokelau having the highest prevalence of 49.3%. The European region had the highest prevalence of cigarette smoking for girls (90%), with a prevalence of 23.7% in Bulgaria and 23.6% in Italy. The study also looked at the use of other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, cigars, cigarillos, pipe, or electronic cigarettes. Between 2010 and 2018, the prevalence of using these products was higher at age 15 years than at 13 years (8.4% vs. 13.9% in boys, 5.1% vs. 9.3% in girls), and there was a significant increase in using other tobacco products among boys aged 15 over the past 20 years, where it rose by an estimated 2.1%. The prevalence of using tobacco products other than cigarettes was highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region (16.7% in boys and 9.0% in girls). The Americas and European regions had the lowest prevalence (7.5% and 9.3% among boys and 5.4% and 5.5% among girls respectively), according to the study. The authors note that they could not distinguish between the different types of tobacco products in this category. Prof Bo Xi, of Shandong University, China, and lead author of the study, said: "Cigarette use may have decreased in the majority of countries in the study, but there are still large numbers of young people smoking. The fact that in many countries the prevalence of using non-cigarette tobacco products is higher than, or as high as, the prevalence of cigarette use shows us there is still a lot of work to do. The need to strengthen tobacco control efforts, which include specific policies for different tobacco products and a focus on health education for adolescents globally is more important than ever." In the study there was varying prevalence of smoking cigarettes and using other tobacco products across different regions, which the researchers suggest was due to differences in how tobacco control measures are implemented and monitored. For example, Uruguay has been at the forefront of tobacco control, with a complete ban on tobacco promotion and advertising and strict pictorial health warnings. As a result, cigarette smoking reduced by 17% per 10 calendar years (from 20.1% in 2007 to 8% in 2014), the authors estimate. The Western Pacific region showed improvement in the prevalence of smoking cigarettes and use of other tobacco between 1999 and 2018 where it reduced by 6.2% and 4.2%, respectively, per 10 calendar years. The prevalence of cigarette smoking also reduced in the European region by 5%. However, even though the region showed improvement, not all countries within the regions performed as well. For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw an increase of 10.6% every 10 years (from 11.7% in 2008 to 17% in 2013). The authors suggest that possible reasons for an increase in smoking in this country and some others could be due to the low cost of cigarettes, poor enforcement of smoking bans inside buildings, weak measures on tobacco advertising and promotion, or the sale of single cigarettes. There were regions that showed an increase in prevalence of using other tobacco products. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the prevalence increased by 3.5% and in the South-East Asia region it increased by 3.3% per 10 calendar years. For example, in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the prevalence of using other tobacco products increased by 33.3% every 10 years (from 11.2% in 2007 to 21.2% in 2010). In Bhutan in South-East Asia it increased by 18% (from 7.2% in 2004 to 23.4% in 2013). Professor Yajun Liang, of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, said: "The largest reductions in tobacco use were seen in countries which had ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, highlighting the importance of policy change to reduce tobacco smoking. But there is still a lot of work to be done especially with reducing the use of other tobacco products." "The prevalence of using any tobacco product was two or three times higher in adolescents aged 15 than aged 13 in most countries. Peer pressure, the desire to experience new things, and the ability to buy cigarettes could all explain this trend. Fortunately, many countries have implemented partial or total bans on tobacco advertising. However, it is challenging to address advertising or promotions on the internet and on social media. Health education from an early age about the dangers of tobacco remain crucial." In a linked Comment, co-authors Mohammed Jawad and Christopher Millett of Imperial College London, UK, and Rima Nakkash, of American University of Beirut, Lebanon, (who were not involved in the study) say that the study "portrays a somber situation" and "[the] findings uncovered a quietly growing phenomenon that has manifested into an urgent priority for the global tobacco-control agenda: the rise of non-cigarette tobacco products." They discuss in depth the rise in the use of other tobacco products in the Eastern Mediterranean region and suggest this is due to the growing popularity of the waterpipe (known locally as shisha, hookah, or arghile) as a result of new flavoured tobacco, a thriving Middle Eastern cafe culture, and the misperception that waterpipe tobacco is less harmful than cigarettes. They agree with the study authors that different policies may be needed for different tobacco products and that existing tobacco control laws are based on reducing cigarette smoking and are less effective when applied to products such as waterpipe tobacco. The authors write: "Simply extending existing laws to waterpipe tobacco seems reasonable in theory, but in practice is far from adequate and can be unenforceable. In the absence of an effective policy response to the emergence of a more nuanced tobacco-use landscape, tobacco consumption among adolescents will remain high... It is not yet certain whether plateaued trends in cigarette use among adolescents in the Eastern Mediterranean region were caused by increasing waterpipe tobacco use, but it is certainly plausible. At a minimum, rising non-cigarette tobacco use is likely to undermine the progress made in reducing cigarette smoking, and at worst could sizably exacerbate the tobacco epidemic." The authors note some limitations. Not all countries around the world were included in the study because they had not completed a survey within the time period. The surveys were not carried out in the same year in every country and some countries (53 out of 140) had done only two surveys as opposed to more. This weakened the ability to assess how the prevalence changed over time. Additionally, the survey relies on self-reporting and so participants might have understood and interpreted the questions differently; and the survey did not distinguish between different non-tobacco products. Explore further Teen vaping doubles risk for subsequent tobacco use This weeks snowfall, the second-biggest accumulation on record in the Lehigh Valley, is stretching plow crews to their limits. In Easton and Phillipsburg, that has meant bringing in contractors to assist with removing the snow clogging streets and alleys. This is historic, Phillipsburg Mayor Todd Tersigni said Wednesday, about 24 hours after the storm subsided. This is the 25-year event. There was no other way. To hire contractors with loaders and dump trucks, Easton and Phillipsburg are competing with neighboring municipalities to bring in whatever extra help is available, Easton officials said in an update Wednesday. The city was able to hire eight contractors. The last time Phillipsburg had to turn to contractors for snow removal was 1996, at a cost of $250,000, said town fire Chief Rich Hay, who is also emergency management coordinator. This year will almost certainly cost more, he said. The money will come from the towns budget with plans to seek federal reimbursement under the local and New Jersey emergency declarations. Weve deployed every piece of equipment we have, in addition to hiring contractors, Eastons Public Works Director Dave Hopkins said Wednesday. None of equipment has been turned off, we just put another driver in it. Read our latest municipal email update on the current Snow Emergency and also an important update on snow removal progress:https://t.co/cBpZgar4Ed#eastonpa #cityofeastonpa #snowstorm #snowremoval #snowemergency pic.twitter.com/FXexEUcT3N City of Easton PA Official (@cityofeastonpa) February 3, 2021 Easton is focusing on clearing streets first so that emergency services have access. Then the city plans to turn to city-owned alleys. In Phillipsburg, the alleys are a top concern to ensure access for police, fire and ambulance responses, said town Business Administrator Robert Bengivenga. The sheer amount of snow -- it started Sunday and didnt stop until Tuesday -- and the weight of it means its been really challenging, Hopkins said. Its really slow going, he said. There is nothing else we have in the arsenal. Hopkins was hoping most streets would be passable by the end of the day Thursday, but said snow removal work would probably continue at least until the weekend. Easton announced Wednesday night its snow emergency had expired, meaning cars can be parked on snow emergency routes; the city also extended free parking for residents in both Downtown garages until 5 p.m. Thursday. In Bethlehem, Mayor Bob Donchez said he expects the city to remain in a snow emergency for the next few days. He told city council Tuesday night that he believed every road and alley had been plowed at least once. Theyre going to continue around the clock to expand the opening and then well start removing snow, Donchez said. The city has 40 pieces of snow removal equipment working in 12-hour shifts to clear 250 miles of road, and has been working on getting dump trucks to help cart snow out of the downtowns. These storms do pose tremendous challenges for an urban area like the city of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Public Works Director Michael Alkhal said. Primarily the challenges lie in some of the dense neighborhoods with small streets with cars parked on both sides. With a storm of this magnitude, Bethlehems focus is on plowing as efficiently as it can around the clock, so it is not hitting some streets for the first time days later, Alkhal said. Despite our best effort, there are some areas -- again these small areas -- that even though we pass through them, once, sometimes more than once, given the rate of the snow in the last eight hours of the event, they still had so much snow on them and the type of snow, the wet snow, when we went to push them, it gets packed very easily, Alkhal said. This then poses a logistical challenge because the small equipment cannot handle the packed-down slow and the big plows are too wide for the streets. The city then has to rely on skid steers, front-end loaders and backhoes, which is a much slower process. Bethlehem says most streets wont be cleared to the curb to avoid repeatedly plowing in cars and driveways, Alkhal said. Phillipsburg Town Councilman Randy Piazza Jr. and Bethlehem City Council President Adam Waldron were among officials asking residents to be patient, and offering praise for the plowing crews. I know you guys are doing the best you can, and its never quite good enough for every single portion of the city from their perspective, as theyre looking at their one little street thats in front of their house or behind their garage, Waldron said. Theyre not looking at that 250 miles that needs to be done. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. At least 10 members of the security forces were killed and 11 others were injured in separate attacks in Sar-e-Pul and Uruzgan provinces, TOLO News reported citing local officials. Asadullah Khuram, a member of the provincial council said that the first incident took place when the Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Gosfandi district in Sar-e-Pul province. He said, six Taliban were also killed in the clash. Recent attacks In another significant incident, a car bomb exploded at Kabul PD10 during the wee hours of February 1 near the office of Saadat Mansoor Naderi, Afghanistan's Minister of State for Peace Affairs. As per news agency ANI report, the security officials have informed that the blast was targeting an armoured vehicle that belonged to the head of Naderis office, Khushnood Nabizadeh in the Afghanistan capital. The incident reportedly took place at around 7:26 AM (local time) on Monday in the Shaheed roundabout in Kabul' PD10 after Nabizada's vehicle was hit by an IED. Read: Afghan Official Says Sticky Bomb Blasts Kill 2 In Kabul The law enforcement has reported that there were no casualties in the blast even though Nabizada and two of his children were inside the car at the time the car bomb exploded. The relatives of Naderis head of the office have reportedly confirmed that no one from his family including the driver was hurt. Mondays explosion came after gunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul earlier this month and killed two women judges who worked for Afghanistans high court, injuring the driver. Read: Biden Won't Let Taliban 'have Its Ways' In Afghanistan, Says Ex-Pakistan Envoy To The US In recent months, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for various attacks in Kabul. This also included the attack schools and educational institutions that killed 50 people. IS has also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December that targeted the key US base in Afghanistan. Read: US, NATO Allies 'strongly Condemn' Continued Violence By Taliban In Afghanistan Also Read: Germany: Tie Afghanistan Troop Pullout To Talks' Progress (Image Credits: AP) Rotunda Rumblings Shot down: Walgreens told the state that some of the coronavirus vaccines it gave Monday may not have been stored at the proper temperatures. Laura Hancock reports the pharmacy company is now working with the federal government and the vaccine manufacturer on identifying which nursing home residents at five Northeast Ohio facilities got the shots, so they can get revaccinated. There are no reports of anyone becoming sick or hurt from the vaccines, but they are likely ineffective. Big shots: Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine each received their first doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday morning. As Jeremy Pelzer writes, its the first week that Ohioans older than 70 which include the DeWines are eligible to receive the vaccine, under the governors coronavirus plan. More to do: DeWine spent a good deal of his Tuesday briefing talking about the states efforts to provide more equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine for racial minorities. But as Cameron Fields reports, the governor acknowledged that You can look every single day, and you can see already that the number of vaccinated African-Americans is falling significantly below our white citizens. DeWine outlined a number of outreach and educational efforts aimed at improving the numbers. Continuing crisis: Evan MacDonald took an in-depth look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the opioid crisis, with opioid overdose levels soaring to new highs in 2020 and Cleveland-area providers describing logistical and financial challenges theyve faced. Itll be interesting to see, at the end of this, whos still here doing this this, said Carole Negus, nursing director for Stella Maris, an addiction-treatment center. Because I dont think that all the programs will still be here. Tuesday totals: Hancock reports that there were 3,657 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, along with 29,069 doses of vaccine administered. Try, try again: The Ohio Senate is taking another crack at legislation that would establish state oversight of voter registration lists, Andrew Tobias reports. Senate Bill 14, sponsored by Sen. Michael Rulli and backed by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, got its first committee hearing on Tuesday. A previous version of the bill passed the Senate unanimously, but stalled after the House amended it to include unrelated gaming provisions. Fee fallin: FirstEnergy Corp. customers will no longer have to pay a controversial decoupling charge, saving customers an estimated $102 million in 2021 alone, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted Tuesday. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, FirstEnergy sought the change in exchange for Attorney General Dave Yost pausing legal action against the company over decoupling and other parts of the scandal-ridden House Bill 6. Whats their deal? Pelzer also has more on exactly whats in that deal between FirstEnergy and Yost, including bullet points laying out step by step the actions each side has agreed to take. House rules: Proposed new Ohio House rules would allow virtual testimony in committees, but only five per bill, and would only allow speakers chosen by House Speaker Bob Cupp or his designee. Other changes in the 52 pages of proposed rules, a preliminary version of which we obtained, would ban unauthorized video streaming of House sessions and committee hearings, as well as limit when legislative amendments can be offered and introduced, among myriad other changes. Lieutenant to governor? Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said in announcing that he would not run for the U.S. Senate that he would instead like to one day become governor of Ohio. That would make him just Ohios 9th lieutenant governor to do so. Just three became governor by election - Mike DeWine, George Voinvovich and Richard Celeste, The others did so through resignations or deaths, dating back to Ohios first lieutenant governor, Rich Exner reports. Ohios unemployment delays: The wait appears nearly over for more than 100,000 Ohioans who were cut off the special pandemic unemployment program in December, though it seemed they had weeks of benefits remaining. The state says retroactive payments could begin as early as this weekend, the result of rules from the second stimulus package now being put in place. Also, this weekend, people new to pandemic unemployment should be able to file their claims, Exner reports. Fraud reporting: As tens of thousands of Ohioans are finding that their identities have been stolen to file for unemployment benefits, the state has now set up a toll-free hotline for victims to report jobless benefits fraud, as well as an online portal for employers who suspect their workers have been scammed. Pelzer has the details. Education data: Ohioans can now access information from the state Department of Education through DataOhio, an online data portal. Emily Bamforth reports that the information includes whats commonly called the Cupp Report, a district-by-district examination of more than 50 factors. Viral negotiations: Ohios Rob Portman, who was among 10 Republican senators who met with President Joe Biden on Monday to discuss coronavirus relief, contends much of the $1.9 trillion that Biden wants wont be necessary because the economy will recover without it after the virus subsides, Sabrina Eaton reports. Portman said wasnt sure how close theyd be able to get to the $618 billion that he and his fellow Republicans have proposed, but argued it would be inappropriate to pass the bill through the reconciliation process where Republican votes wouldnt be needed. Judicial discretion: Biden will get a chance to reshape the U.S. District Court in northern Ohio with Judge Solomon Olivers decision to shift to senior status, John Caniglia reports. Oliver joins Judges Dan Polster and James Gwin in becoming a senior jurist. The designation allows the judges to continue hearing cases, but they can decide on the number they oversee, and Biden can appoint replacements for them. Radio hit: A new radio ad from Republican Rep. Bill Johnson acknowledges his interest in running for U.S. Senate, and also takes a shot at former Gov. John Kasich over reports that allies of the former governor tried to recruit candidates into the race. After representing Ohio for ten years, people are asking me to run for Senate, the ad begins. So, Im talking to folks about it. People like conservatives and small business owners. Single parents. And families hurt by government overreach. But news reports say John Kasich wants to pick our next senator. Second opinion: Sure, Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. But for obvious reasons, we prefer the weather forecast of Ohios own Buckeye Chuck, as Mike Rose notes, was shadow-less and thus predicted an early Spring. Lobbying Lineup Here are five organizations that lobbied on Senate Bill 194, the legislation from the last General Assembly that would have set up state oversight of voter registration lists before it was amended to also include gaming components. State lobbying filings dont indicate which side of the issue they lobbied for: 1. Churchill Downs, Inc. 2. Elections Systems & Software LLC 3. Intralot 4. Ohio Secretary of States Office 5.VFW Ohio Charities, Inc. On The Move Hayley Carducci has been hired as press secretary for Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. She previously worked for Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Birthdays Shawn Kasych, former Ohio House chief of staff Judson Harmon, Ohios 45th governor (1846-1927) Straight from the Source Were living in an era of disinformation where many people believe things that are simply not true... Refusing to recognize that this election was safe, secure and accurate can be viewed as nothing less than attacking the peaceful transfer of power. -Jeff Matthews, director of the Stark County Board of Elections and longtime chairman of the Stark County Republican Party, as reported by the Canton Repository. Matthews was commenting on backlash from local Trump supporters after the board of elections moved to buy Dominion voting machines, which Trump allies baselessly have claimed were at the center of a massive voter-fraud conspiracy. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. MDI and its parent company Alex Lee, Inc. are based in Hickory, North Carolina, distributing both food and non-food grocery items to more than 600 retail stores across the United States and other locations. It is a company with a culture that highly values its employees and community. MDI is also aggressively customer-focused, adding 33% more stores with sales growing at 45% over the past five years, which has led to the need to expand their current facility located in Caldwell County, North Carolina. Recognizing the need for greater efficiencies, MDI sought advanced technology from Dematic that would allow them to reallocate existing employees to more productive, more ergonomic and better-paying positions. The 200,000 square foot expansion to their ambient-temperature facility and increased capacity will result in a net gain of 111 jobs. "We are excited to continue to grow in Hickory where we were founded nearly 90 years ago," said Brian George, Chairman and CEO of Merchants Distributors. "The quality of life and the business support from North Carolina and our local community makes the Hickory area an ideal location to continue to grow our business." MDI's Solution: The Dematic Flexible Mixed-Case Fulfillment System When completed, Dematic iQ software will manage and control an automated system that will palletize 165,000 cases per day (up from the current 125,000), with capacity to reach 200,000 cases per day to accommodate future growth. The pallets themselves will be more densely packed and shelf-ready for the quickest possible stocking at the stores all this resulting in a safer, more efficient work environment. "Our partnership with MDI hits the sweet spot for us," adds Michael Larsson, EVP, Dematic Americas, "The solution will generate growth, improve service and empower employees these are exactly the goals we have when making a proposal, and we will be thrilled to deliver on them for MDI." The Dematic Flexible Mixed-Case Fulfillment System will feature a Dematic high-bay unit load AS/RS for pallets, the Dematic Multishuttle for case buffering and sequencing and Dematic RapidPall palletizers to automatically build mixed-case pallets. In addition, a goods-to-person piece picking module will be integrated to deliver smaller order quantities. The full system, managed and operated by Dematic software, creates a highly effective compact mixed-case handling solution. For more information about Dematic, visit dematic.com, check out the Dematic Connections blog, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. About Dematic Dematic is an intralogistics innovator that designs, builds and supports intelligent, automated solutions for manufacturing, warehouse and distribution environments for customers that are powering the future of commerce. With engineering centers, manufacturing facilities and service centers located in more than 25 countries, the Dematic global network of 10,000 employees has helped achieve more than 6,000 worldwide customer installations for some of the world's leading brands. Headquartered in Atlanta, Dematic is a member of KION Group, one of the global leaders in industrial trucks and supply chain solutions, and a leading provider of warehouse automation. Disclaimer: This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g., changes in business, economic and competitive conditions (including with respect to further developments in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic), regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release. SOURCE Dematic Related Links http://dematic.com The first phase of vaccination against infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is underway in many countries the world over. However, logistical problems and vaccine hesitancy, and the shortage of doses at present are likely to prevent complete and uniform global coverage with the vaccine in the near future. Nonetheless, herd immunity by vaccination is the only feasible path to global recovery from the massive disruption of health, economic activity and lifestyles brought about by the pandemic. A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server describes a viral vector vaccine candidate's efficacy to protect against SARS-CoV-2 replication in a hamster model. The virus mediates host cell attachment and infection via its spike protein. This antigen is, therefore, the primary target of antibodies elicited by most vaccines. In the current paper, the researchers describe using a live attenuated virus vector to introduce the modified spike antigen into the human host via vaccination, to induce specific neutralizing antibodies directed at the S1 subunit of the spike. The virus chosen as the vector was the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), an RNA virus that can replicate within the human host. This vector is engineered to express the open reading frames with appropriate start and end signals for transcription of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein's S1 subunit. The S2 subunit was removed to induce neutralizing antibodies against epitopes on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) on the S1 subunit. The full-length spike can allow the generation of both pre-and post-fusion spike protein, both of which have their own adverse impact on vaccine production. The S2 subunit is also more highly conserved between coronaviruses, allowing cross-reactivity directed at this unit rather than at the SARS-CoV-2 S1 subunit. Finally, the full-length spike can be expressed only by disrupting host viral protein trafficking, which severely interferes with vaccine virus replication and thus with vaccine production. A similar strategy was adopted to develop a vaccine candidate against the earlier human pathogen, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). This was switched to the current setting to speed up the process of vaccine production. The modified antigen contains the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 S2 antigen, anchored to the membrane of VSV by the latter's G protein. The G protein tail thus allows the S1 to be integrated into the VSV particle. This vaccine candidate was called ConVac. The researchers then used the golden Syrian hamster model of COVID-19, which has been recently set up to express severe COVID-19. These animals develop intranasal infection with wildtype SARS-CoV-2, resulting in severe disease, as seen in humans at similar stages of infection. Generation and characterization of ConVac. (A) Left: genome structure of the VSV vector expressing the membrane anchored SARS-CoV2 S1 domain. The S1 domain of SARS-CoV2 spike protein (aa 1-681) was joined to the C-terminal 70 amino acids of the VSV glycoprotein. The fusion construct was inserted between the glycoprotein and polymerase genes of VSV. The S1 domain is shown in red and the VSV G tail in green. The transmembrane domain of the VSV glycoprotein is indicated by a yellow box. The amino acids at the junction between S1 and VSV glycoprotein are highlighted. Right: schematic representation of the vaccine construct which shows the two transmembrane proteins anchored in the membrane. (B) Immunofluorescence staining of Vero E6 cells infected with ConVac and a control virus expressing Hendra virus G (VSV-HeVG). The cells were fixed and permeabilized 10 hours after infection and stained with fluorescently labeled monoclonal antibody CR3022 against the S1 domain (shown in red) and two monoclonal antibodies against the VSV glycoprotein (shown in green). (C) Western blot analysis of BSR cells infected with Convac and a control VSV virus expressing GFP. Protein lysates were resolved on 4-20% polyacrylamide gradient gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. The membranes were probed with polyclonal antiserum against the S1 domain (upper panel), monoclonal antibodies against the VSV glycoprotein (middle panel) and a monoclonal antibody against the VSV matrix protein (lower panel). VSV glycoprotein expression was significantly reduced in cells infected with ConVac whereas matrix protein expression was only modestly affected. (D) Viral growth curve on Vero cells. The cells were infected at an MOI of 0.05 PFU with ConVac, or VSV expressing GFP or another control virus expressing Hendra virus glycoprotein. Supernatants were collected 12, 24, and 36 hours post-infection and titrated on Vero E6 cells. Robust humoral response The ConVac vaccine candidate was then tested for immunogenicity and efficacy in the hamsters. With a single dose of vaccine, followed by intranasal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, the hamsters responded with IgG production against the S1 subunit. The vaccine was found to elicit a Th1-biased humoral immune response, as shown by the measured IgG2/3 titers. A robust neutralizing response was also observed, with a mean titer of 1:370. Protection against viral lung replication On day 3 post-challenge, the viral load in the lungs and nose was found to be high in almost all controls. In 4/5 vaccinated hamsters, viral loads were undetectable in the lung, while one had an infectious virus but at a level 645-fold lower than in controls. Thus, only one vaccinated hamster had detectable SARS-CoV-2 virus in the lungs on day three post-challenge, indicating vaccine efficacy. This animal had the lowest neutralizing antibody titer of all vaccinated hamsters. The virus was either absent or present at 57-fold lower levels in the nose than in the controls, but no statistical significance is attached to this finding. After 15 days, the vaccinated and challenged hamsters were found to have less weight loss and signs of clinical disease relative to controls. The virus was not detected in the lungs and nose of either vaccinated or control hamsters at this point. No evidence of antibody-dependent enhancement In both groups, the lungs showed signs of interstitial pneumonia on day 3. The ConVac group showed moderate inflammation, unlike the extensive consolidation and inflammation in the controls. The airway in the former showed mild inflammatory changes, unlike the obstruction seen in the latter group. By day 15, controls showed interstitial pneumonia with airway occlusion, which was present in the vaccine group but to a less severe extent. Septal thickening and airway infiltration with inflammatory cells was observed in both groups. No disease enhancement was apparent in the ConVac group. Two animals in the vaccinated group were euthanized on day 10 and day 11, respectively, because of an unknown disease. The researchers suggest the possibility of neurological vaccine-induced disease due to the high dose of vaccine virus used in the study. Conclusion "Our data show that the VSV-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine based only on the S1 subunit induces a high titer of serum neutralizing antibodies and protects hamsters from SARS-CoV-2." Further testing will allow more accurate predictions to be made regarding the outcome of vaccination and subsequent exposure to the virus in humans. *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. Select Oregon pharmacies will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to eligible Oregonians next week under a new distribution program. The federal government will ship approximately 1 million vaccine doses directly to 6,500 pharmacies across the country as it launches the first phase of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, White House officials announced Tuesday. Pharmacies can begin vaccinations at no cost as soon as Feb. 11, officials said. The White House is working with 21 national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing over 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide, although not all partner pharmacies will receive doses during the programs first phase. Oregons share of doses will go to Costco, Health Mart Pharmacies and Albertsons Companies, which includes both Albertsons and Safeway stores. Until now, most vaccines have been administered at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and special vaccination sites such as the Oregon Convention Center. Its not clear how many doses Oregon will receive next week or consistently. The Oregon Health Authority did not respond to requests for information Tuesday or Wednesday. But Jill McGinnis, a spokesman for Albertsons, said that the company anticipates approximately 11,500 doses will be shipped to 115 Albertsons and Safeway pharmacies across Oregon next week, with roughly 100 doses going to each location. She said the number of vaccine doses that the corporation receives could change. Oregonians currently eligible to receive vaccines under state guidelines will be able to sign up for appointments online through the company once it has the vaccines, McGinnis said. Healthcare workers, people living in nursing homes and other congregate care settings, childcare providers and teachers are currently eligible to receive vaccines in Oregon. Elderly Oregonians will begin to become eligible to receive vaccines next week, with those over 80 eligible as of Feb. 8, according to guidance from the Oregon Health Authority. Albertsons and Safeway posted information on vaccine availability and signups online at www.albertsons.com/COVID-19 and www.safeway.com/COVID-19. Appointment slots are not yet available because the company doesnt have its vaccine allocation yet. Demand is high and appointments are often claimed very quickly, and we ask the public to remain patient, McGinnis said. As dose allocations increase, so too will the opportunity to secure an appointment. The company is kindly asking the public to please check the website first for the most up-to-date information, before calling your local store or pharmacy. A spokesman for Health Mart Pharmacies said 10 of its roughly 25 pharmacies in Oregon will receive doses next week, but it is not yet clear how many vaccine doses each pharmacy will receive. Costco declined to comment on their plans. There are 13 Costco stores across Oregon. The White House said it chose pharmacies to receive the initial doses based on several factors, including their ability to reach populations most at risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Jeff Zients, the White Houses COVID-19 response coordinator, told reporters Tuesday that the federal government viewed the first few weeks of the retail pharmacy program as a trial run. He said it could be scaled up over time, with doses eventually being shipped to roughly 40,000 pharmacies nationwide. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg The University of Denver's Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging collaborated with clinicians from Resilience Code , a Denver functional medicine and human performance clinic, and Vibrant Sciences LLC, a California-based company, to develop and study the test. FDA issues emergency use authorization for new COVID-19 antibody test that can predict severity of symptoms of the virus. "This antibody test has more test points than others that have been approved by the FDA," says Lotta Granholm-Bentley, the founding executive director of the Knoebel Institute and one of the project's lead researchers. "Other tests check for only a few viral antigens, whereas this one could test for as many as a dozen." Using the new test, researchers discovered different antibody profiles between those who tested positive for COVID-19 and had severe symptoms versus those with milder symptoms. "We also discovered that individuals who have been vaccinated for the flu in the past year exhibited more mild symptoms than those who had not," says Daniel Linseman, senior author of the research and associate executive director of the Knoebel Institute. "We found that individuals who experienced the loss of taste or smell also tested positive for COVID antibodies, making this symptom an important aspect of reporting in the clinic." "The flexibility of the semiconductor based multiplex platform enables testing for antibodies against multiple antigens," says Hari Krishnamurthy, director of biomedical engineering at Vibrant Sciences. "Originally developed to replace western blot testing for Lyme disease, we were able to rapidly reuse the technology to enable antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2". The antibody test could be used to identify individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 but have been asymptomatic. These individuals may have antibodies that could protect them from re-infection. "This breakthrough has the ability to give doctors a head start on treatment and speed up the process of diagnosing patients," says Jeremy Haefner, chancellor of the University of Denver. "I'm proud of this achievement by DU scientists and their collaboration with other researchers to make this important discovery." Researchers at the University of Denver are now using these findings to examine whether individuals with a history of severe concussions or other brain trauma are more susceptible to the virus and its long-term consequences. About the University of Denver: The University of Denver: Founded in 1864, the University of Denver is committed to engaging with students in advancing scholarly inquiry, cultivating critical and creative thought, and generating knowledge. The University strives to educate the 21st-century citizens and leaders needed in its organizations and communities. For additional information, visit the University's newsroom or follow the University on Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE University of Denver Related Links www.du.edu Anne Irish, a leading figure in childrens bookselling in America, died on January 26, at age 78. She was among a cadre of women who opened and purchased bookstores in the 1970s and 1980s and went on to cement childrens bookselling as a distinct profession in the American literary scene. Irish opened her childrens bookstore, Pooh Corner, with Denise Herzberg and Donna Huntington in 1976. The Madison, Wis., store quickly became a community staple. The Capital Times described it as a first aid station for culturally battered children and adults. [It is] an alternative to plastic fantastic toy stores and a definitive haven from slam bam television. With two young children of her own, Irish knew what readers wanted. Running a bookstore was a different matter. Prior to opening Pooh Corner, her only experience was a five-day intensive education class offered by the American Booksellers Association. But within a few short years, Irish had gained a mastery in childrens bookselling that put her at the forefront of her generation. At the time, childrens booksellers were struggling to gain a footing as equals to their general trade bookselling counterparts. But with a large number of new childrens stores opening, pressure was growing for educational opportunities backed by the support of a nationwide network. After questions from childrens booksellers dominated a session at the 1984 ABA convention in Washington, D.C., Herzberg and Irish called for an immediate meeting. I remember a bunch of usknown as the founding motherssitting on the floor after that meeting talking about starting our association, Irish told PW in 2011. A year later, they launched the Association of Booksellers for Children. At its peak, the group had 600 members, drawing equal participation from childrens stores and general trade stores. In 1991, Irish bought out her partners and took sole ownership of Pooh Corner. The store was later acquired by Highsmith Company and renamed the Education Station. Irish stayed on as a buyer until 2001. She then became the executive director of the association she had co-founded in 1985. Consistently attuned to changes in the publishing industry, she helped ABC adapt to the emerging shift toward a frontlist-focused publishing trade. She retired from her position at ABC in 2005. With the decline of childrens bookstores in the early 2000s, ABC eventually merged with the ABA in 2010. In many ways, the joining of ABC within ABA provided the seeds for the ABAs annual Childrens Institute, which drew more than 400 attendees from 266 stores last summer. Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes, co-owners of Hicklebees Childrens Bookstore in San Jose, Calif., and founding members of the ABC, offered this tribute: Warm and welcoming, Anne Irish was one of the people we would first connect with when we arrived in a new city to attend a meeting or conference. We would exchange bookstore stories and talk about new programs that could get children reading. She was a good listener, filled with ideas and an easy smile. Anne was key in developing programs for the ABC including the Building Blocks catalog, the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, and the annual ABC auction. Annes calming grace relaxed those around her in even in the stressful hours prior to ABC events. Anne was also a gracious host, whether at her home with board members or welcoming new booksellers at meetings across the country. We salute Anne for all she did to strengthen the foundation of the childrens bookselling community. We will miss her. In retirement, Irish volunteered at her local library, played softball, painted, and traveled. She is survived by her husband Chuck, two children, Rob Irish and Marney Hoefer, and two grandchildren, Will and Ben. HOLLAND, MI - It doesnt matter how you pronounce it, the owners at The Curragh Traditional Irish Pub just want you to come out to the Lakeshore and have a good time. Its pronounced Cur-ruh, but we dont correct anybody, said Sophia Leongas, who has owned the downtown eatery since 2004. Were just happy theyre here, said her husband, Dave Jurgensen. The Curragh finished in second place of our poll for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining for Muskegon and the Lakeshore, but it was the only place in Holland nominated by MLive readers. Even though they didnt win, they were just happy to be nominated, especially after such a challenging year. Last year was tough, said Leongas, who originally owned J.J. Finnegans in Holland. We were holding our breath. But the summer came through for us. It was a good summer, considering. A little excitement is good as Michigan restaurants across the state deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and the dining restrictions. On Feb. 1, restaurants were allowed to reopen with 25% indoor dining for the first time since Nov. 18. RELATED: Air hugs, old friends and fewer pairs of socks: Indoor dining restart brings Michigan closer to regular life Known for its traditional Irish food such as Reubens, fish and chips, bangers and mash, Irish Stew, Shepherds Pie and more, the pub is located in the heart of downtown at the corner of Eighth Street and College Avenue. Its a popular spot for locals and tourists during the busy summer months. Its especially busy during Tulip Time when more than 500,000 visitors (in non-pandemic years) come in early May. The outdoor patio has always been popular, the couple said. This summer it was extended into the street to accommodate more customers. Thats when friends rallied to help them build a wooden fence. Supplies were donated by friends and customers. Then when it got to be fall, and we had to remove the seats on the street, we moved that fence to our regular patio to block the wind for the wintertime, Jurgensen said. They added several propane heaters, including some that had to be leased from Chicago because of backorders. They even won one in a contest by a food supplier. During the second indoor dining shutdown in early November, friends and customers came to the rescue again, adding a wood stove to pipe in heat under an awning. When customers said the metal chairs were too cold, a friend who does upholstery made 150 cushions. Were just trying everything we can to make it nice and comfortable for people, Jurgensen said. The patio now has more than 10 tables and fits more than 50 people. Its first come, first served. No reservations. The patio has remained popular, even on cold winter days, the couple said. Frankly, weve really been surprised at how many people will come out, Jurgensen said. I thought, Well, when temperatures get down into the 50s, people will stop coming. They didnt. And then I said, When its down in the 40s it will be too cold. No, it wasnt. Even when its been 25 to 30 degrees, people are coming out. Theyre bringing blankets, sitting on the patio under a heater and enjoying drinks and a meal, Jurgensen said. Its been really amazing the kind of support weve gotten. A spread of food from The Curragh Irish Pub is pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 2 in Holland. The restaurant is a finalist for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining. (Hope Davison | MLive.com)Hope Davison Traditional Irish Fare and Tacos The menu has changed a bit over the last year, they said. It has been trimmed by half to make it easier on the kitchen staff. The biggest addition has been a Mexican menu, which they call Lopez Brothers, with tacos, burritos, quesadillas, cheese stuffed poblanos, rice and beans, and more. You also can get Family Style Meals that serve four people for $40. Take out is still a busy business for them. Everything is homemade. Popular items: The Mozzarella cheese sticks -- hand-cut, hand-battered and fried to a dark golden brown crisp, served with marinara or ranch -- are a top seller, and surprisingly light. (Youll love the cheese pull!) The fish and chips are flaky cod fillets dipped in a Guinness batter, fried golden brown and served with steak fries, a big serving of coleslaw and house-made tartar sauce. Yum. Toss in a fantastic Reuben sandwich and authentic Shepherds Pie served with seasonal vegetables and DeBoer Bakkerij soda bread, great service from a crew that is excited to serve customers, and you have a great excuse to endure the elements. Customers are a hardy bunch, said the owner, who is still in awe of the communitys commitment to support local businesses. Will this weekends cold weather forecast keep people away? Im not making any comments. You will be surprised, Leongas said. People have sat out there every single day. From left to right: Hannah Devries, Tessa Deyoung and Lily Parker, employees of The Curragh Irish Pub pose for a picture on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021 in Holland. The restaurant is a finalist for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining. (Hope Davison | MLive.com)Hope Davison IF YOU GO The Curragh 73 E 8th St., Holland, MI 49423 616-393-6340 Current Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, and Noon-5 p.m. Sunday More info: curraghholland.com/ or on Facebook at facebook.com/CurraghHolland/ If you missed our complete nominations list, click on the link below. RELATED: See all of the nominations for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining The search for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining is sponsored in part by Warm Fitness. If you have questions about this search or suggestions for future searches, feel free to email us. Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com What a great day on the patio at Curragh Holland as part of our search for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining! Owner Sophia... Posted by MIBest on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 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. Surf and Turf featuring rock lobster tail and a New York strip steak at Sindbad's Restaurant and Marina in Detroit, Michigan.Jacob Hamilton More Michigans Best Stories See all of the nominations for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining The Top 21 Michigan restaurants to visit in 2021 21 of Michigans must-eat items for 2021 6 things Michigan restaurant staff want you to know before you eat out This new Michigan Brewery App puts all your favorites in one place Lulas Louisiana Cookhouse owners look forward to re-opening celebration Have a sweet tooth? Here are Michigans Top 21 Pies Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Overview According to the Latest Report by Market Research Future (MRFR), the global Corn Starch Market is expected to acquire a Significant Market valuation over the review period, at a remarkable CAGR. The easy accessibility of corn and its extensive application in a variety of industries such as food & beverage, animal feed, pharmaceutical, and others, is expected to drive the market over the review period. In the food & beverage industry, corn starch is utilized in gluten-free food items as a substitute ingredient to wheat starch. Additionally, the use of corn starch in the food industry has increased owing to the innovations in recipes, rising adoption of packaged food, among others.These factors are anticipated to drive the market considerably over the assessment period. Key Players the key players operating in the Global Corn Starch Market are Croda International (UK), Grain Processing Corporation (US), Archer Daniels Midland Company (US), Ajinomoto Company Incorporated (Japan), AkzoNobel NV (Netherlands), Associated British Foods plc (UK), Bayer AG (Germany), Cargill, Incorporated (US), Henkel AG & Company, KGaA (Germany) and Calpis Company (Japan) Segmental Analysis The global Corn Starch Market has been segmented based on type, application, and region. Types of corn starch available in the market are native, modified, and sweeteners. The applications o corn starch, as studied by MRFR are in the industries of animal feed, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and nutraceuticals, and others. The food & beverage segment has been sub-segmented into bakery and confectionery, sweet and savory snacks, and others. The food and beverage industry are leading the corn starch market, owing to the massive demand for the use of corn starch in food products. The food and beverage industry are expected to drive the market growth for corn starch over the review period. Regional Analysis The global market for corn starch has been segmented into Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. North America is predicted as the largest region in the global corn starch market and is expected to lead the market for corn starch during the forecast period. This is owing to the growing adoption of gluten-free ingredients by the food & beverage industry, driven by the consumer shift towards gluten-free products. Rising incidence of gluten intolerance, allergies, and celiac disease in the US are the major contributing factors for the growth of the corn starch market in North America over the review period. Europe is also considered a significant region in the global corn starch market and is expected to hold a noteworthy share of the global corn starch market over the review period. This growth is due to the increasing demand for corn starch in the food industry, especially in the bakery applications in food & beverage. Germany and the UK, followed by France and Italy, are the major contributors to the growth of the corn starch market in Europe over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific is assessed as the fastest-growing region in the global corn starch market over the review period. Developing nations in APAC such as China and India account for the largest country-level markets for corn starch in this region, owing to the established food industries. In addition, the usage of corn starch as a binding agent for the preparation of a variety of dishes is likely to drive market growth in the rest of the world. The application of corn starch in animal feed is also expected to drive the growth of the corn starch over the review period. Access Full Report Details and Order this Premium Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/corn-starch-market-7485 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. 13:20 | Lima, Feb. 2. The government agency affirmed that each traveler who comes from overseas must comply with a 14-day quarantine However, this mandatory isolation period can be reduced to 6 days if the traveler proves not to be infected with coronavirus and receives an epidemiological discharge. Before this mechanism was implemented, sending an e-mail to said ministry attaching the document issued by a molecular laboratory was necessary to confirm a negative result from the COVID-19 detection test, as well as awaiting a response from the State-run agency. Now, the epidemiological discharge document will be generated and sent automatically to the e-mail address provided by users at the laboratory where the test was conducted in case the result is negative. Minsa reminded citizens that it will be the strict responsibility of each traveler to sign up at the laboratory where the test is conducted. The information must include the same data registered in the Health Affidavit of the Migratory Control System. Otherwise, it will not be possible to validate the molecular test results. Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG In one of his boldest budget proposals since taking office, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is asking the legislature to significantly boost funding for public schools, legalize recreational cannabis, and approve the first major tax increase in nearly two decades. But Wolfs $40 billion spending plan, which he formally unveiled Wednesday, is likely to be dead on arrival in the GOP-controlled legislature, whose leaders wasted little time shredding it with criticism, calling it unrealistic and hurtful to taxpayers. The budget he is presenting is completely unsustainable, totally irresponsible, and absolutely crippling to the states economy, said Jake Corman of Centre County, the Senates top Republican. Now is not the time to ask Pennsylvanians to send more of their hard-earned dollars to Harrisburg. Still, the Democratic governor, who in recent years has avoided goading Republican leaders with aggressive spending proposals, said he believes his budget blueprint will make the states education system fairer and its tax structure more equitable for those reeling from the financial blows of the pandemic. The budget proposal, Wolfs seventh, harks back to several of his long-held priorities progressive reforms he and other Democrats have sought for years. The governors plan would boost funding for public schools by $1.35 billion and push billions of existing education dollars through the states fair-funding formula, which is set up to help schools that serve disproportionately poor and fast-growing districts. He would pay for the increase by raising the states personal income tax rate, which currently is 3.07%, to 4.49%. However, the Wolf administration said only the top one-third of earners would pay more, because the proposal expands exemptions and tax forgiveness. The proposal would provide complete tax forgiveness to single people who make less than $15,001 and married couples who earn less than $30,001, while providing a $10,000 allowance for each dependent. The level of tax forgiveness would decline by a percentage point for each $500 added to those thresholds. That means that families with two children making less than $84,000 will receive a tax cut while a family of four making $50,000 will have their taxes eliminated, the administration said. I want to help working families get ahead by reducing their taxes, Wolf said. This isnt about pitting the rich against the poor and the middle class. Wolf on Wednesday also rehashed a plan to raise the states minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 per hour this July and gradually to $15. In addition, Wolfs budget proposal would legalize recreational cannabis. A portion of the revenue would support programs to help individuals and communities that have been adversely harmed by the criminalization of marijuana. A tax benefit or burden? Pennsylvania Republicans on Wednesday said Wolfs budget proposal, specifically the proposed tax and minimum wage increase, would severely hurt small businesses and some families that are struggling during the pandemic. The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, through which all budget bills must pass, said the proposed tax hike would devastate working families and small-business owners, many who already cannot afford their current tax burden, are unemployed, or have been forced to close their business. The governor could not have picked a worse time to propose a 46.3% increase in the personal income tax given the struggles Pennsylvanians continue to face during the worst pandemic of our lifetime, Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh) wrote in a statement. The emergence of the coronavirus, and the resulting business closures that Wolf ordered last spring to keep the virus from spreading and overwhelming hospitals with ill patients, devastated the states economy. Before the first cases were diagnosed in Pennsylvania last March, Pennsylvanias unemployment rate was 4.7%. Currently, its 6.7%. But that does not capture the full financial impact of the virus. In February of last year, employer payrolls in Pennsylvania reached a record 6.1 million jobs, according to federal labor data. By April, in the thick of the shutdowns, payrolls hit rock bottom, dipping below 5 million. The industries most affected by the economic slowdown in 2020 were restaurants, which lost 115,000 payroll jobs, and nonpublic colleges and universities, according to a January report by the Independent Fiscal Office. The pain was felt by the states coffers, with revenue plummeting below official estimates. The IFO estimates that $1.4 billion in state revenue was lost due to reduced economic activity brought on by the pandemic, while an additional $1.9 billion was delayed due to extended tax filing deadlines. While recent revenue projections have been stronger than expected, the office is projecting Wolf and lawmakers will be grappling with a $2.5 billion deficit when they pass the budget this summer. In 2020, lawmakers turned to federal relief money to prop up the state budget and they will likely do so again this year. President Joe Biden has vowed to send more money to state governments. To balance the books, Wolf and the legislature have also leaned on one-time solutions, like borrowing money from special funds. Thats how the governor and state lawmakers plan to fund a $145 million grant program for struggling businesses. The state is running a surplus and revenues are coming in above estimate. Theres been a lot of federal money to help the state balance the budget, said Nathan Benefield, vice president of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation. But that federal money goes away at the end of this year. And a lot of the long-term problems are back in there. Marc Steir, director of the left-leaning Keystone Research Center, said at a news conference Wolfs tax proposal was critical to raising state revenue. There could be questions about the proposals constitutionality, as it may violate a uniformity clause that says taxes on income have to be set at the same rate. But the same clause includes a poverty exemption so you can reduce taxes for people with low incomes, he said. 100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA relies on funding from foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Become a member today at spotlightpa.org/donate. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The highly anticipated film Doctor will now release on March 26, 2021. The lead actor of the film, Sivakarthikeyan took to his social media handle to confirm the news with a brand new poster. Though the actor didn't reveal much about the film, he shared the release date with the hashtag #DoctorfromMarch26. In the monochrome poster of the film, Sivakarthikeyan can be seen holding a scalpel in one of his bloodied hands. The intriguing poster also included the cast and crew details of Doctor. Well, fans and followers of the popular actor are highly impressed with the new poster and are celebrating the release date announcement of the film in full swing. Backed by Sivakarthikeyan's SK Productions in association with KJR Studios, the action comedy film stars Gang Leader (Telugu) fame Priyanka Arul Mohan as the leading lady. Doctor's music is scored by renowned composer Anirudh Ravichander. The entertainer marks Anirudh's fifth collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan after Ethir Neechal (2013), Maan Karate (2014), Remo (2016) and Velaikkaran (2017). Doctor will feature an ensemble cast including Bigg Boss Tamil 4 fame Archana Chandhoke, Yogi Babu and Vinay playing pivotal roles. Vijay Karthik Kannan has cranked the camera for the film, while the editing is carried out by R Nirmal. Notably, the film marks the second directorial venture of Nelson Dilipkumar, who previously helmed Nayanthara's Kolamavu Kokila. Interestingly, the director is all set to make it big with his forthcoming film with Thalapathy Vijay tentatively titled #Thalapathy65. On a related note, Sivakarthikeyan's upcoming projects include Ayalaan directed by R Ravikumar and recently announced Don helmed by Cibi, a former associate of director Atlee. The actor is also bankrolling Arun Prabhu Purushothaman's Vaazhi starring Pradeep and Bhanu. Also Read: Sivakarthikeyan And Priyanka Arul Mohan To Team Up Again For Don? Also Read: Doctor: The Sivakarthikeyan-Nelson Dilip Kumar Project Wrapped Up! New coronavirus infections in Northeast Pennsylvania rose by 142 cases in a day, the lowest one-day increase in the area since before Thanksgiving, according to the state Department of Health. Meanwhile, nine new deaths in the region Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties were recorded Wednesday. They raised the regional COVID-19 death toll to 1,430. Wednesdays report is the first time since Nov. 30 that newly reported infections were below 200 in the seven counties over one day. The last time a one-day increase was below 142 was Nov. 16, when there were 120 additional cases reported over 24 hours. Over roughly the last 11 months, 51,854 area residents have tested positive for the virus. Across Pennsylvania, coronavirus cases increased by 3,128, bringing the total to 853,616. Another 143 new deaths increased the total to 21,955 state residents, the health department said. Updated state health department data show 1,067,180 doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been given to 850,819 people. That includes 634,458 people who have received a first dose and 216,361 who have received a second. The health department said the real number is actually higher due to a lag in reporting. During a news conference Wednesday, Department of Health Senior Adviser Lindsey Mauldin said state officials were working as quickly as possible to distribute vaccines but the demand far outweighs the supply. She noted President Joe Bidens administration announced Tuesday it would free up more doses for states and begin sending them directly to retail pharmacies next week. We must have patience as the amount of vaccine available in Pennsylvania and across the nation is limited, Mauldin said. In NEPA, health department data show 60,014 people have received their first shot and 15,701 have received both doses. Locally: Lackawanna added 47 cases for 12,544 total, including 1,705 probable. One new death raised the total to 361. Luzerne added 42 cases for 23,068 total, including 1,657 probable. Seven new deaths increased the total to 645. Monroe added 30 cases for 8,713 total, including 208 probable. One new death increased the total to 246. Pike added six cases for 2,180 total, including 158 probable, and remained at 44 deaths. Susquehanna added five cases for 1,533 total, including 149 probable, and remained at 49 deaths. Wayne added six cases for 2,746 total, including 224 probable, and remained at 48 deaths. Wyoming added six cases for 1,070 total, including 179 probable, and remained at 37 deaths. 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. Earth Energy EV , an Indian-origin automotive startup has launched it's 3 electric two-wheelers GLYDE +, EVOLVE R & EVOLVE Z in the Indian market today. The company claims that the new range comprises 96% Made in India electric vehicles. The new range starts at a price of 92,000 and goes up to 1,42,000. All vehicles will be available in 3 colours - grey, black, and white. Along with the vehicle, the company will provide a default in-built app for smartphones that it claims will help the rider to use live navigation status, incoming calls/messages alert, trip history, and current destination on-screen. The app also allows third party usage model. The entire range gets automatic headlight-enabled feature for switching between night and day time modes. The LCD display helps riders to see battery SOC, real-time range and TBT (turnabout time) navigation, etc. The brand has built an EARTH ENERGY app that digitally clones the users vehicle and provides up to 270 parameters to diagnose. The users can also book maintenance services with the app. Earth Energy Glyde+ is a scooter powered by a 2.4W electric motor that offers a top speed of 60km/h. The price starts at 92,000. The Evolve Z bikes comes with 96 AH/ Li-ion battery and range of 100 km and 15 degrees of grade ability. The price for this bike starts at 1,30,000 Evolve R is the third scooter in the new line-up. The company claims it can be charged entirely in 40 minutes with its fast charge facility, and go up to 110 km in a single charge. The price of this bike starts at 1,42,000 The company claims that customers can purchase the product from select dealers and distributors and trade partners for bulk orders appointed across India. The electric two-wheelers will be also available on Indias first hybrid E-Distribution platform buyEv.in. Commenting on the Launch, Mr. Rushi S., CEO & Founder, Earth Energy EV says, We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first range of electric two-Wheelers. The EV industry in India is emerging on account of various factors such as the growing awareness toward the environment, increasing petrol prices, and stringent emission norms, etc. We feel that the consumption of electric vehicles will go up now than ever." Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. You are the owner of this article. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The euro drifted lower against its major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, after a data showed that the euro area business activity contracted further in January, as tighter virus restrictions weighed on the service sector. Final survey results from IHS Markit showed that the final composite output index dropped to 47.8 in January from 49.1 in the previous month but was above the flash score of 47.5. The service sector was once again the main drag on the economy, with activity contracting for a fifth successive month. At 45.4, the services Purchasing Managers' Index was down from December's 46.4 but above the flash 45.0. In Germany, the composite output index slipped to a seven-month low of 50.8, as initially estimated, from 52.0 in December. The service sector contracted for the fourth straight month in January. The PMI fell to 46.7 from 47.0 in December. The preliminary reading was 46.8. The euro dropped to more than a 2-month low of 1.2010 against the greenback and a 6-day low of 126.23 against the yen, compared to Tuesday's closing values of 1.2043 and 126.40, respectively. The euro is likely to target support around 1.18 against the greenback and 123.5 against the yen. Reversing from its prior highs of 1.0819 against the franc and 0.8823 against the pound, the single currency pulled back to 1.0803 and 0.8802, respectively. The euro is seen finding support around 1.065 against the franc and 0.86 against the pound. The single currency weakened to near a 2-week low of 1.5364 against the lonnie, compared to 1.5393 hit late New York Tuesday. On the downside, 1.52 is likely seen as its next support level. The euro edged down to 1.5776 against the aussie from yesterday's close of 1.5831. If the euro extends decline, 1.54 is possibly seen as its next support level. The 19-nation currency held steady against the kiwi, after having dropped to 1.6673 in the Asian session, which was its lowest level since January 2020. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 1.6742. Looking ahead, U.S. ADP private payrolls data for January is scheduled for release at 8:15 am ET. The U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI for January will be released in the New York session. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Managing Editor Rebecca Huntington has worked for newspapers across the West. She hosts a rescue podcast, The Fine Line. Her family minivan doubles as her not-so-high-tech recording studio. 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. 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 Nairobi The Police Reforms Working Group has condemned the withdrawal of charges against 15 police officers and 6 county enforcement officers over rights violations in Busia. The officers were scheduled to take plea Tuesday following investigations by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) whose recommendation was approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). But on Tuesday, the Police Reforms Working Group officials said the DPP had withdrawn the charges against the officers who were accused of violating people's rights while implementing the COVID-19 containment measures. "The PRWG-K is deeply disappointed by the manner in which ODPP has treated this case, the IPOA concluded investigations and recommended various charges against the officers, they were to take plea yesterday on charges of assault, causing bodily harm, and malicious damage to property but ODPP made an application to withdraw the case," the group told journalists. The police officers were involved in an incident in Busia county where they allegedly discharged teargas in a private home and assaulted a man, his wife, children and neighbours. The officers were set to face various charges including assault, causing bodily harm and malicious damage to property. The activists termed the actions by the DPP as inappropriate, saying "Kenya will never progress on the rule of law" with such actions, further saying the "use of force should only be applied when legally and appropriately." "As PRWG-K, we opine that police officers who abuse their authority must be investigated and prosecuted, Kenyans will only move forward when all those suspected to have violated it, including police officers are prosecuted and given the opportunity to defend themselves in court of law," he said. Harriet Wachira, the Program Coordinator, Transparency International Kenya, on her part said the ODPP should reconsider its stance on this case to ensure justice for the victims and equality before the law. The group urged the DPP to reconsider his position o the matter and have the officers held accountable. "We call upon the DPP to reconsider their stance on this case to ensure justice for the victims and equality before the law," she said. Gisele Norris has joined global insurance broker Marsh to lead its U.S. Healthcare Practice. In this role, Norris is responsible for the delivery of health care risk management knowledge, expertise, and transactional services to clients across the U.S. Norris joins Marsh from rival broker Aon, where for the last 20 years she served as the Western region Healthcare Leader and Pandemic Task Force co-leader. Norris brings to the role 25 years of experience creating risk solutions for health care providers and payers. She first joined Aon in 1997 to create a health care practice in Latin America. Prior to that, she conducted research and consulted on health financing for the Public Health Institute and before that was a program director for World Teach in Costa Rica. Norris also holds a Doctorate in Public Health, with a concentration in epidemiology, and has provided counsel on prevention and mitigation of infectious disease risk to a diverse range of industries. Based in San Francisco, Norris reports to Jeffrey Alpaugh, Marshs U.S. and Canada Growth and Industry Leader. Source: Marsh Topics USA Aon Medical Professional Liability The Centre on February 3 sent a notice to Twitter for reinstating accounts and Tweets supporting the farmers protest despite a directive by the the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) to block them for posing a threat to public order. The notice warns the social media platform of penal action for "non-compliance of directions issued under section 69-A of the IT Act. Twitter on February 1 withheld multiple accounts on its social media platform, including many tweets with #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide linked with the ongoing farmers protest at Delhi borders against the new contentious central farm laws. The handles were reinstated within hours. The crackdown was carried out based on orders issued by the Centre asking Twitter to withhold the hashtag and as many as 257 URLs, including nearly 100 Twitter accounts. The government order said that the hashtag and the account are spreading misinformation about farmers' protests and has the potential to lead to imminent violence affecting public order situation in the country. The fresh notice , issued by the IT ministry says that the as per Indian law, Twitter is an intermediary as defined under Section 2[1][w] of the Information Technology Act and provides a platform wherein opinions of persons are communicated across the world and are open for all to see. "Section 69A of the Act provides jurisdiction to the Central Government in cases wherein it considers it necessary or expedient to direct an intermediary to block for access for public and or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource if the Government is satisfied that the same is necessary or expedient in order to prevent incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to public order," the notice reads. It also says that the "impracticability or the disproportionality of the said measure cannot be decided by Twitter which is an intermediary bound by the orders of the Central Government. The government notice, according to sources, quotes more than half a dozen Supreme Court orders including Constitutional benches as to what is public order and what are the rights of authorities. "It needs to be mentioned that Section 69A[3] provides for specific penal consequences in case of non-compliance of the directions issued under section 69A of the Act," it reads. Section 69 A(3) of the IT Act says, "the intermediary who fails to comply with the direction issued under sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine." A Twitter spokesperson told MoneyControl in an email response that the company has "no comment" to offer on the issue at this time. Among the accounts withheld, and later reinstated, on February 1, included farmers collective Kisan Ekta Morcha and farmers union BKU Ekta Urgahan both having followers in thousands. Also, several other individuals and organisational accounts, including one of a monthly magazine, were also withheld. Among the individuals whose accounts have been withheld include that of actor Sushant Singh, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati to name a few. The development comes in the wake of violence in Delhi on Republic Day on January 26 during a tractor parade of farmers protesting the new farm laws which resulted in the death of one person and injuries to over a hundred people, including police personnel. The Delhi Police is probing the Republic Day violence wherein it has lodged multiple FIRs and booked, among others, several farmer leaders leading the protests at the national capital's borders for two months now Senior Reporter Veteran journalist and liberation war hero, Charles Chengetayi Kawadza, who died on January 30, was buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare yesterday. The late liberation war hero, who was 62, was buried with full military honours. He was buried in line with the Government and World Health Organisation (WHO) regulations on Covid-19 control with only a few family members and Government officials present. Cde Kawadza did his primary education at Murehwa Mission in Mashonaland East and proceeded to Mutambara High School in Manicaland for his secondary education. While he was doing Form Four in 1975, he decided with others, to abort his academic studies to join the liberation struggle against the brutal Rhodesian Ian Smith regime. Speaking on behalf of Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province and Devolution Senator Oliver Chidau, deputy director in his office Mr Trust Mudzingwa described the late Kawadza as a dedicated cadre who sacrificed his life to liberate the country from the yoke of colonial bondage. He, with other men and women, crossed the border into Tanzania and received military training at Mgagao base as a zanla cadre. During the liberation struggle, he rose through to the rank to company medical officer. Just after independence, he went to Cuba where he furthered his studies, receiving a Master's Degree in Journalism from the University of Orient. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Upon his return in 1987, he was employed by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as a journalist and worked at the public broadcaster with distinction for many years. "Through the media, Cde Kawadza continued to defend the benefits of the liberation struggle of a free Zimbabwe we cherish today. He remained resolute in support of the party's revolutionary ideals up to his untimely death. "The nation, through His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Mnangagwa, saw it fit to confer the late with Liberation War Hero status," said Minister Chidau. He said the nation had lost a liberator, dedicated cadre, colleague, humble and a compassionate man. ZBC acting chief executive officer Ms Helliate Rushwaya said they were saddened by the passing of Kawadza, describing him as a leader and mentor. "He joined ZBC in 1987 upon his return from Cuba where he obtained a Master's Degree in Journalism at the University of Orient in Cuba. He began his media career as a reporter and rose through the ranks in the news department to become an assignments manager. He was a great leader, mentor and colleague who played a critical role in our news department. Our deepest condolences to his family," said Ms Rushwaya. Brother to the late, Mr Abraham Kawadza, described him as a unifier. "He used to attend to family issues, and solve problems amicably," he said. Kawadza is survived by his wife, Grace and two children Tapiwa and Takudzwa. See obituary on Page 7 Michael Gove is set to hold crisis talks with Brussels' chiefs and Northern Ireland leaders today in a bid to defuse growing tensions in the wake of last week's vaccine exports fiasco. Mr Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic will hold a virtual meeting with First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill to discuss the ongoing furore over post-Brexit trade checks. The Minister for the Cabinet Office is expected to push for trading rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. Mrs Foster said in an interview overnight that 'there is a lot of very grave anger' in Northern Ireland about the border checks and the issues need to be 'sorted immediately'. Mrs Foster and senior DUP colleagues held a separate virtual call with Boris Johnson this morning ahead of the early evening engagement with Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic. Meanwhile, Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign affairs minister, said the EU is 'looking for ways' to reduce 'friction' at the border as he also blasted the bloc's approach on vaccines, labelling last week's exports threat a 'serious mistake'. It comes amid rising anger at the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol which was agreed in the Brexit divorce deal and which requires regulatory and customs checks on goods entering the region. The physical inspection of goods was suspended on Monday night because of threats and intimidation of staff at ports. Many unionists and loyalists are against the protocol because they believe it has created an economic barrier between the region and the rest of the UK, undermining the constitutional integrity of the Union. Police have insisted there is no evidence that loyalist paramilitaries are involved in the sinister campaign, instead blaming disgruntled individuals and small groups. The roll-out of the protocol on January 1 had already caused anger but the EU's botched plan to control vaccine exports to the UK further increased tensions. The European Commission's proposal would have struck at the heart of the protocol's main function to facilitate a free-flowing Irish border by placing restrictions on vaccines moving into Northern Ireland from the bloc. Brussels was forced to swiftly drop the plan after a ferocious backlash, with Mr Gove claiming yesterday that the bloc's actions had 'eroded trust' in Northern Ireland. Michael Gove will hold a meeting with EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill later today amid growing tensions over border checks in Northern Ireland Mrs Foster is also due to speak to Boris Johnson after she warned 'there is a lot of very grave anger' over post-Brexit trade rules The Brexit disputes sending Northern Ireland tensions soaring: Loyalists threaten port staff for checking goods from Britain while an 'internal UVF dispute' puts masked men on 'patrol' in Belfast and anti-EU graffiti appears across province Soaring tensions in Northern Ireland over Brexit have sparked the British government's anger at the EU today and demands for the trade rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. Checks at Northern Irish ports on goods travelling between Britain and the province were suspended yesterday after anonymous threats, feared to be from hardline loyalists, were sent to EU and local officials. It comes amid fury at the EU for threatening on Friday to suspend post-Brexit trade agreements in an attempt to stop coronavirus vaccines travelling from Ireland to the UK. The extraordinary threat by Brussels united Britain, Ireland and all parties in condemnation for appearing to undermine the EU's commitment to the Good Friday peace agreement. However, the episode has inflamed the anger of loyalist elements who are unhappy at customs checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland, which has caused shortages and is viewed as the erection of a hard border in the Irish Sea. Anti-Brexit graffiti opposing 'a border in the Irish Sea' has appeared across the province recently, including on the front of the offices of local politicians. Masked UVF men were also caught on video putting on a 'show of strength' in East Belfast yesterday - although the Irish News says this was related to an 'internal dispute'. And a dissident Republican who spent five years in the British Army was shot dead outside a bar in North Belfast last night. Danny McClean, who was on bail facing arms charges, was ambushed by members of violent splinter-group ONH, of which he was once a senior member - though this is not Brexit-related. Graffiti has also been sprayed on the offices of local politicians, with Alliance MP Stephen Farry tweeting a photo of graffiti on his constituency office reading 'RIP GFA' - a likely reference to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brokered to bring an end to years of sectarian conflict. His colleague Kellie Armstrong, the Alliance MLA for Strangford, tweeted a photo showing the words 'stay out' sprawled over her office window, while Alliance councillor in Bangor, Connie Eagen, posted an image of graffiti on a wall which read: 'Banger says no to Irish Sea border'. Michael Gove is set to hold crisis talks with Brussels' chiefs and Northern Ireland leaders today in a bid to defuse the growing tensions. The Cabinet Office minister is expected to push for trading rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. DUP leader Arlene Foster today claimed problems at the border were being caused by UK customs officials over-interpreting new rules. She told the Telegraph: 'It's our own government and our own officials looking at the regulations and implementing it to the Nth degree.' She gave an example of potatoes with British soil on being blocked at the border by officials because they are apparently in breach of EU plant health rules. Mrs Foster said: 'There is a lot of very grave anger in Northern Ireland about the way in which this protocol is rolling out. And we need to get it sorted and we need to get it sorted immediately.' She added: 'One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we're told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland. 'So if you're buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that's a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can't possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.' Mr Coveney argued this morning that ultimately 'Brexit is the problem that is causing all of this disruption' but added: 'Of course we are looking for ways in which the protocol can be implemented with less friction.' Advertisement Import inspections at Belfast and Larne were stopped with immediate effect on Monday evening as Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) assessed the risk to workers at the sites. The decision came after a local council decided to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port due to 'an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks'. Rising tensions have been blamed on the protocol which requires checks on goods to be carried out at ports to ensure Northern Ireland continues to comply with the EU red tape. Britain and Brussels agreed to the measures in order to avoid a return of checkpoints on the politically sensitive land border. The inspections and added bureaucracy are needed because, under the protocol, Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods and also applies EU customs rules at its ports. In another sign of heightened tensions in the region yesterday, a large group of masked men were seen walking around an area of east Belfast where the Ulster Volunteer Force exerts influence on the community. Graffiti warning off trade inspectors has appeared close to ports in recent weeks. Police have stepped up patrols at the ports following the spate of intimidatory incidents. Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic chair the UK/EU joint committee which is tasked with implementation of the protocol. The Minister for the Cabinet Office will tell his counterpart that the current border rules do not work and must be relaxed, according to The Times. Their meeting comes after Mr Johnson said 'urgent action' is needed to resolve outstanding problems with the border arrangements. Mrs Foster, the DUP leader, claimed problems at the border were being caused by UK customs officials over-interpreting new rules. She told The Telegraph: 'It's our own Government and our own officials looking at the regulations and implementing it to the Nth degree.' She gave an example of potatoes with British soil on being blocked at the border by officials because they are apparently in breach of EU plant health rules. Mrs Foster said: 'There is a lot of very grave anger in Northern Ireland about the way in which this protocol is rolling out. And we need to get it sorted and we need to get it sorted immediately.' She added: 'One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we're told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland. 'So if you're buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that's a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can't possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.' Mr Coveney argued this morning that ultimately 'Brexit is the problem that is causing all of this disruption' but added: 'Of course we are looking for ways in which the protocol can be implemented with less friction.' Asked about the threats to staff at ports, Mr Coveney told Newstalk radio: 'Of course it is a worry and the safety of staff must come first and that is what happened yesterday. 'I think there is some uncertainty as to the level of threat there, certainly the PSNI have confirmed that this does not involve loyalist paramilitaries. 'But clearly there is a lot of tension and Friday didn't help that when the commission made a serious mistake by signalling an intention to trigger Article 16 of the protocol. That should not have happened. 'They reversed that decision quickly but certainly on the back of that it sparked a lot of tension in Northern Ireland and my job is to try to calm that.' The DUP yesterday announced a series of political moves aimed at undermining the protocol. Its strategy includes opposing any protocol-related legislation at the Stormont Assembly and refusing to participate in any exchanges with the Irish Government related to the operation of the protocol. Sinn Fein described the DUP's attempts to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol as 'reckless'. Tensions have been heightened following the controversial events of last Friday when the European Commission was forced to backtrack on a threat to suspend part of the protocol using Article 16 amid a rumbling row with the UK over vaccines. While the EU stepped back from the brink, after an evening of frantic diplomacy, the episode further angered loyalists and unionists and emboldened them to press their demands for an end to the protocol. A crowd of masked men move through Belfast last night. Police said it was linked to an 'internal UVF dispute' Animal and food product inspections at Northern Ireland's Belfast and Larne ports were stopped 'with immediate effect' on Monday night over safety fears for staff A Unionist poster against a possible UK internal border is attached to a post at the Port of Larne Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Gove said: 'On Friday afternoon the European Commission, without prior consultation, published a regulation to enable restrictions on the export of vaccines from the EU. 'That regulation also invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, barring the free movement of medicines from Ireland into Northern Ireland. 'It is important to be clear about what was proposed. Not only plans to stop vaccines being delivered through legally binding contracts at the height of a pandemic but also and critically a unilateral suspension of the painstakingly designed and carefully negotiated provisions of the protocol which the EU has always maintained was critical to safeguarding the gains of the Northern Ireland peace process. 'Article 16 exists for good reasons but it is meant to be invoked only after notification, only after all other options are exhausted and in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. 'None of these conditions were met. Worse still, neither the UK Government representing the people of Northern Ireland nor the Irish Government, an EU member, were informed. 'The Commission's move has provoked anger and concern across all parties and throughout civil society in Northern Ireland as well as international condemnation.' Mr Gove welcomed the fact that the plans were withdrawn but he said: 'Trust has been eroded, damage has been done and urgent action is therefore needed. The decision came after a local council agreed to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port due to 'an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks'. 'Peace, progress and strong community relations in Northern Ireland have been hard won and in recent days we have seen an increase in community tension and as was reported last night port staff in Belfast and Larne have been kept away from work following concerns for their safety.' He added: 'Fixing problems on the ground now requires us all to work calmly. The EU needs to work with us at speed and with determination to resolve a series of outstanding issues with the protocol.' Meanwhile, the EU also faced criticism from Downing Street after Ursula von der Leyen accused Britain of compromising on coronavirus vaccine safety and claimed the bloc's slower approval process was the 'right decision'. Number 10 hit back and said experts at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had been 'very clear that no corners were cut, no stones were left unturned' when they decided to give the green light to a number of jabs. The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said 'the public should be confident of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines'. Last January, founder and Chief Executive was in India, holding closed-door meetings with top industry leaders including and Kishore Biyani. He hobnobbed with Bollywood stars, visited the iconic Taj Mahal, flew kites with children and also experienced Indian street food. He even delivered a package to a customer from a kirana store in Mumbai and shared the picture on his Instagram account. A lot has changed since then. In a surprise move, Bezos stepped down as CEO of the e-commerce giant on Tuesday. He would transition to the executive chair of Board and will stay engaged in important initiatives. Andy Jassy, who heads the companys cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS), is expected to take over the role of CEO in the third quarter of 2021. Under Bezoss leadership, Amazon identified as a strategic market as early as 2013. Amazon has so far committed over $6.5 billion to the market. It has been scaling up its investments in the country at a time when the Seattle-headquartered firm had signed off from China. I predict that the 21st century is going to be the Indian century. The dynamism, the energy everywhere I go here, I meet people who are working in self-improvement and growth. This country has something special, democracy, Bezos had said during his visit last year. Indeed, only 7 per cent of the $1.2-trillion retail market is online, and Amazon and its rivals including Walmart-owned Flipkart and Reliances JioMart are aggressively eyeing the remaining 93 per cent. The market opportunities for online commerce in the country are also expected to touch $200 billion by 2028 from $30 billion in 2018. Not only online retail, under Bezos, Amazon has also forayed into other big sectors including education, digital payments, video and music streaming and delivery of food and medicine. This year the company launched Amazon Academy to cater to students preparing for the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) for entrance to engineering colleges. The move would enable it to take on top edtech such as Byjus, Unacademy, Vedantu and traditional education institutes and tap countrys $180-billion education sector which has gone online to adapt to the new reality. Last year Amazon forayed into food delivery which puts it in direct competition with established local players including Tencent-backed Swiggy and Alibaba-backed Zomato. It also forayed into the online medicine segment and launched Amazon Pharmacy. This puts it in direct competition with established local players including NetMeds, 1mg, PharmEasy and Medlife. Amazon is at an inflection point in the country, as the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of e-commerce and tech by consumers and small and medium businesses. Last year, Bezos announced that the company planned to invest $1 billion to help bring 10 million traders and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across India online, enabling $10 billion in cumulative exports by 2025. The firm also said it planned to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025 through continued investments in technology, infrastructure, and its logistics network. Industry insiders said this move gave a sneak peek into the business strategy that Amazon is betting on to take on rivals such as Walmart-owned Flipkart and Reliances e-commerce venture JioMart by merging online and offline retail. These include millions of kirana and local store owners across the country that Amazon and Flipkart are wooing. Last year, during a fireside chat with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Bezos described going to a kirana store as an incredible experience. It is this tiny little store. We have thousands of these points of presence now, where they do their regular business, but then they also provide a place for people to pick up their packages, Bezos told Khan. I talked to this young man (at the kirana) who helps his parents to run the store, about how it has really improved their lives, to have that extra source of income. It was a moving experience. During his visit to India in September 2014, Bezos tried to woo the country with investments. Wearing an Indian sherwani, he stood atop a heavily decorated truck flashing a big $2-billion cheque in Bengaluru along with Amazon India chief Amit Agarwal. He had said that the country energised him. Amazons India story is also rooted in Bengaluru. Agarwal, who is a close friend of Bezos, came here in 2004 and started with a handful of software development engineers. He recalled the team was writing code huddled in a tiny office space in Bengaluru. Imagine a typical scrappy Bengaluru start-up, looking to make a difference, said Agarwal recently. The company drew on the talent in this city," he said. However, Bezos transition comes at a time when Amazon is locked in an intense legal battle with Kishore Biyani-headed Future Group for the retail conglomerates $3.4 billion deal with The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Future Retail Ltd (FRL) to maintain the status quo with respect to its deal with Reliance Retail. In August 2020, the Future group struck a $3.4-billion asset sale deal with RIL. Amazon then sent a legal notice to Future, alleging the retailers deal breached an agreement with the American e-commerce firm. It has also been reported that India is planning to tighten foreign investment rules which might e-commerce include Amazon and Walmart. Amazon and its rival Flipkart have also faced court cases related to probe by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged anti-competitive practises. These kinds of courtroom battles have been backed by trade bodies, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM) and are expected to have a bearing on the upcoming e-commerce policy, according to people familiar with the matter. All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which represents more than 850,000 members across the country have also been opposing the e-commerce giants entry into the online pharmacy segment in India. As executive chair, Bezos will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, spaceflight company Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and his other passions. This step-down of one of the worlds richest man shouldnt be viewed by India as a detriment to Amazon but rather as a blessing to other fields of technology which now possess the potential to revolutionise their fields and, possibly, make a similar impact as Amazon has made in lives of billions of people on the planet, said Salman Waris, managing partner at technology law firm TechLegis Advocates and Solicitors. India could benefit from his efforts and initiatives. We now offer lithium prices and coverage free for reference. Click here to read all about it. Join our growing community of participants who want to learn more about electrification and how this market is developing. The many different sensations our bodies experience are accompanied by deeply complex exchanges of information within the brain, and the feeling of pain is no exception. So far, research has shown how pain intensity can be directly related to specific patterns of oscillation in brain activity, which are altered by the activation and deactivation of the 'interneurons' connecting different regions of the brain. However, it remains unclear how the process is affected by 'inhibitory' interneurons, which prevent chemical messages from passing between these regions. Through new research published in EPJ B, researchers led by Fernando Montani at Instituto de Fisica La Plata, Argentina, show that inhibitory interneurons make up 20% of the circuitry in the brain required for pain processing. The discovery represents a significant advance in researchers' understanding of how our bodies and brains respond to pain. The underlying circuitry of the pain process involves a specific configuration of interneurons, each of which link specific pairs of regions, or 'nodes' within the brain. Crucially, a certain fraction of these neurons will be inhibitory; varying the strengths of the connections they provide. To create a biologically plausible model, Montani and colleagues would first need to consider all possible links between specific pairs of nodes, and determine their relative strengths. Within a structure as complex as the brain, however, it would be virtually impossible to do this by considering each configuration individually. The researchers overcame this issue using 'graph theory,' which studies structures made up of sets of nodes, which influence each other's behaviors via links of variable strengths. Using a novel statistical approach, they estimated the signals produced by each region of a virtual brain in a given configuration, and how far they diverge from realistic values. From their initial estimates, Montani's team could then build up a realistic graph by strengthening and weakening the influences of certain links. Their analysis revealed that a configuration where 20% of all interneurons associated with the pain process are inhibitory to information transmission. Tunis/Tunisia Twenty young university graduates participated in a training session in the agricultural entrepreneurship field. This training session, conducted at the Mateur Higher School of Agriculture (governorate of Bizerte) for 5 months, is part of the Competitive Agriculture programme co-funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the Italian NGO Elis. At the closing ceremony held on Tuesday, Agricultural Investment Promotion Agency (APIA) Director General Engi Doggi indicated that the trainees participated in several workshops and presentations on agricultural products' management and export. At the end of this training session, 8 projects had been selected and will be granted funding to ensure their startup, she added to TAP. The "Competitive Agriculture" programme, funded by means of 6 million dinars, started in April 2017 and will last till March 2021. It seeks to boost the development of production chains in the agro-industrial sector, following the example of the Italian model of professional associations operating in the field. The Competitive Agriculture programme will benefit 11 governorates in Tunisia, namely Jendouba, Beja, Kef, Siliana, Bizerte, Ariana, Manouba, Ben Arous, Zaghouan, Nabeul and Kebili. Northamptons Cooley Dickinson Health Care will soon have a new CEO. Dr. David Brown, chief of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, will serve as interim president and CEO, hospital leaders said in an email to employees this week. He will begin in the role next month, serving as the head of the Western Massachusetts health care system in addition to chief of emergency medicine at Mass. General, while a search for a permanent president and CEO is conducted. Cooley began an affiliation with Massachusetts General Hospital and the larger Mass General Brigham system in 2013 following a clinical collaboration dating back to 2009. Brown has strong ties to Western Massachusetts. He is a 1981 graduate of Amherst Regional High School who has served on the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Board of Trustees since 2013. He will be supported in taking on the new role by the senior team at Cooley, Dr. Peter Slavin, president of MGH, and Dr. Timothy Ferris, CEO of the MGH Physician Organization, an email obtained by the Boston Business Journal said. The Cooley senior administrative group has been working closely with Joanne to implement plans and programs that have raised the standards of care at the hospital, improving quality and safety, expanding services, promoting equity and diversity, and enhancing the overall patient experience. David has told us that as interim president and CEO he intends to cement and build upon the legacy of excellence that Joanne has fostered. Joanne Marqusee, who has served as president and CEO of Cooley since 2014, announced last week that she will be leaving to join Wellforce, a health care system in eastern Massachusetts that includes Tufts Medical Center, as executive vice president and chief integration officer. Joanne Marqusee has been president and Chief Executive Officer of Cooley Dickinson since 2014. My seven years at Cooley have been the highlight of my career, Marqusee said. I am so gratified to have worked with the people here. 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. During her tenure at Cooley, Marqusee oversaw the creation of a behavioral health pod in the emergency department, opening of a new breast center and expansion of provider practices. Marqusee implemented multiple measures to address health inequalities along racial, sexual orientation and gender identity/expression lines, 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, Fraser Beede, board of trustees chair, told The Republican, adding that Cooley will continue to build on her legacy and provide high quality, compassionate care for the community. 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. ADVERTISEMENT Several women on Wednesday blocked major roads in Uromi, headquarters of Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State to protest the activities of criminal herdsmen which they said have brought hardship to their communities. The women accused the herdsmen of armed robbery, raping, and destruction of farmlands, among other crimes. The women took their protest to the Palace of the Onojie, Anselm Edenojie, and the Divisional Police headquarters in Uromi, and demanded the immediate removal of herdsmen from their lands. One of the protesting women, Omoh Igbanke, told PREMIUM TIMES they were not able to see the monarch and the divisional police officer to present their complaint. The women, who came from the main Uromi town and neighbouring villages, assembled in the city centre where they set up a bonfire. They later divided themselves into smaller groups and blocked major roads in the town, chanting solidarity songs. Another protester, Angela Esangbedo, said they could no longer access their farmlands for fear of being raped. We are demanding that Fulani herdsmen must leave our communities because we can no longer go to our farms for fear of being kidnapped or raped by the herdsmen. They have taken over our farmlands and have destroyed our farm produce, Mrs Esangbedo said. The women vowed to repeat the protest on Saturday. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the police spokesperson in the State, Chidi Nwabuzor, for his comment, as he did not respond to calls from our reporter. The Uromi monarch, Mr Aidenojie, later told our reporter that the activities of the herdsmen were becoming worrisome. They kidnap our people, rape the women, maim and do a lot of havoc. They dont allow people to go to their farms anymore so their activities are terrible. But that does not mean that there are no good Fulani people because they have been living with us in peace in our kingdom. But this set of Fulani herdsmen that are engaged in criminal activities are strange and are not known to us. We condemn their activities, but we are handicapped. We are trying to encourage the vigilantes, giving support to the police and that is the best we can do. We cannot tell our people to take up arms. I have asked the women to remain calm that I will communicate their grievances to the appropriate quarters. I have spoken to the DPO and the area commander and will also reach out to the Governor to let him know the situation we have at hand, he said. Protests have heightened in parts of the nation in recent weeks against the activities of criminal herdsmen who have infiltrated the ranks of relatively peaceful cattle herders. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 21:04:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Former chief of European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi speaks to the press at the Palazzo del Quirinale after a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome, Italy, Feb. 3, 2021. Draghi was appointed to form Italy's new government, the office of President Sergio Mattarella said on Wednesday. (Pool via Xinhua) ROME, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Former chief of European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi was appointed to form Italy's new government, the office of President Sergio Mattarella said on Wednesday. "This morning, the president of the Republic has received professor Mario Draghi, to whom he has assigned the task of forming a new government," Secretary-General of the Italian Presidency Ugo Zampetti told a press conference. His announcement came after Mattarella and Draghi held talks for over one hour at the Quirinale presidential palace. As anticipated by Mattarella on Tuesday evening, Draghi will be tasked with forming a non-political cabinet to lead Italy in the next crucial months -- through the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and the efforts for an economic recovery. The appointment came after exploratory talks to recompose the previous government failed on Tuesday. VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Vigo County's Court Appointed Special Advocates hope to fill a growing need in 2021. That's by finding more volunteers to help kids impacted by neglect and abuse. At the end of 2020, CASA reported a 72 percent increase to its child waiting list. Organizers say the children, who are part of the program, are going through the juvenile system through cases opened with the Department of Child Services. "We're helping them, we're looking at everything and making recommendations, working with service providers, working with the Department of Child Services," said Director Glenna Cheesman, "It's not just a one player thing, it is an enormous amount of wonderful agencies, that we're all working towards, for the best interest of the children." With a new pilot program in place, CASA organizers are taking an aggressive approach to lower the numbers and boost volunteers. Vigo County CASA is one of several counties, in Indiana, to be part of the pilot. Because of the program, organizers say there's more ways to get involved, besides being an advocate. "If the advocacy is not necessarily what you want to do, but you want to help, we take monetary donations," said Cheesman, "We take donations of diapers, things like that. So there's a lot of different ways you can help the children of our community by being part of our program." Cheesman also invites people to fill out the CASA application, and learn more about how to be part of the organization. "Just because you fill out the application doesn't mean you have to make that commitment," she added, "but you can come in and talk to us, and we can tell you about what's going on, and then you can make that determination whether or not this is a fit for you." You can also reach the CASA office at (812) 231-5658, or vist their Facebook or Twitter. (Natural News) A group of Australian scientists called on the countrys federal government to review its use of AstraZenecas coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. They argued that the jab is ineffective at generating herd immunity and has a low efficacy rate. However, the central government has rejected the proposal to pause the rollout scheduled next month. The opposition Labor Party and some immunologists have called on the Australian government to procure additional doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Clinical trials for these two vaccines have shown that they have higher efficacy rates than the one produced by AstraZeneca. Until we get more data [showing] that AstraZeneca is as good as the others, the scientific and medical risk that you take is that you wont get herd immunity, said Australian Medical Association in Western Australia (AMA-WA) President Andrew Miller. He also warned that there could be a political risk for having a good vaccine for the rich and a not-so-good vaccine for the poor. To avoid these risks, Miller said Australia should halt the planned rollout and source the best vaccines available to build public confidence. However, the central government in Canberra said the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in partnership with the University of Oxford would provide vital protection against the Wuhan coronavirus. Australias Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective, safe and high-quality, and will be available in the country once the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration approves it in February. The British drug maker has agreed to supply Australia with 53 million vaccine doses, which, according to clinical trials, has a 70 percent efficacy rate. Australia has also ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be approved by the Australian regulator next month. Some scientists have expressed concern over Canberras reliance on inaccurate AstraZeneca vaccine data Back in November 2020, a scientist-turned-writer pointed out the shaky science behind the AstraZeneca vaccine data. In a piece for Wired magazine, Hilda Bastian highlighted many issues with the so-called promising results released by the drug maker. Bastian pointed out that a dosing error, which was never explained, allowed the company to report a higher efficacy rate for their vaccine. Two standard doses of AstraZenecas Wuhan coronavirus jab achieved a 62 percent efficacy rate. However, volunteers given an initial half-dose and a subsequent full dose reported a higher efficacy rate of 90 percent. Bastian noted that AstraZenecas clinical trials were designed to examine the effect of the standard two-dose regimen, not the accidental dosing. In addition, Bastian noted that AstraZenecas data came from two separate studies. These studies one published in May 2020 and another at the end of June 2020 were substantially different from each other. The fact that they may have had to combine data from [these] two trials in order to get a strong result raises [a] red flag, she commented. A number of Australian scientists have expressed concern about the central governments reliance on the AstraZeneca jab, including Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) President Stephen Turner. The ASI president said shifting to higher-efficacy vaccines looks like a good idea in an ideal situation. He added that a review of Australias vaccine strategy would be appropriate. However, procuring and rolling out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine also presents challenges as it needs to be stored at a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius. Turner nevertheless remarked that the AstraZeneca jab could be a useful tool in the short term. The vaccine can be kept at temperatures between two to eight degrees Celsius, eliminating the need for specialized facilities. Aside from the lower temperatures needed for storage, AstraZenecas vaccine also has the lowest price compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna candidates. Despite its reported advantages, the AstraZeneca vaccine hit multiple roadblocks in earlier clinical trials. Last September, two participants were reported to have experienced spinal inflammation after receiving the shot, while a third participant died during clinical trials in Brazil a month later. Further investigation revealed that toxic ingredients in the jab, such as aborted human fetal tissue, contributed to the adverse effects associated with the vaccine. Vaccines.news has more on the AstraZeneca jab and other Wuhan coronavirus vaccine candidates. Sources include: FT.com Wired.com BEAVERTON, Ore., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc. today announced the launch of its TekExpress Multi-Gigabit Automotive Ethernet Compliance Test Solution as the first-in-market solution to meet the requirements of complex automotive designs. As newer automotive technologies such as autonomous driving, 5G and connected car solutions develop, the paths carrying the vast amount of data necessary to support those technologies must be tested to ensure reliable transfers between a vehicle's electronic sub-systems. As an automated compliance test application, the Tektronix TekExpress Multi-Gigabit Automotive Ethernet Compliance Test Solution allows for quick, accurate and reliable validation and debugging for multi-gigabit Ethernet chipsets and electronic control units (ECUs) to meet Physical Media Attachment (PMA) transmitter measurement requirements for up to 10 Gb/s. The fully automated compliance test solution is fitting with the current version of the IEEE 802.3ch MultiGBASE-T1 specification. Tektronix announces the launch of TekExpress TM Multi-Gigabit Automotive Ethernet Compliance Test Solution. "The Tektronix TekExpress Multi-Gigabit Automotive Ethernet Compliance Test Solution fulfills the need for reliable, easy-to-use and rapid multi-gigabit automotive Ethernet compliance and test support," shares Raajit Lall, General Manager of Market Solutions. "Multi-gigabit Ethernet uses PAM4 modulation to achieve high data rates and reliability, pushing the boundaries of signal integrity and requiring higher performance measurements for compliance, debugging and validation. Debug tools like DPOJET and PAM4 Analysis also allow for quick identification of the root cause of a failure, saving time and effort." Lall adds, "Tektronix continues to actively participate in the Open Alliance, using our engineering expertise to drive the development of in-vehicle network test specifications and methodologies to ensure reliable, cost-effective testing." This new Tektronix offering is part of its family of industry-leading automated compliance solutions for automotive Ethernet, working seamlessly with Tektronix oscilloscopes. And, because this new application uses the TekExpress automation framework, engineers do not have to learn a new software interface. This new application enhances Tektronix's existing in-vehicle network solution offering of 10BASE-T1S, 100-BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 compliance testing applications for automotive Ethernet standards. The Tektronix IEEE 802.3ch Multi-Gigabit Ethernet automated compliance application is now available globally for 10G/5G/2.5GBASE-T1 automotive Ethernet Physical Media Attachment (PMA) transmitter compliance testing on DPO70000 SX/DX Series oscilloscopes. Product pricing begins at $14,500 USD. For more information, visit tek.com/automotive/automotive-ethernet . About Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, delivers innovative, precise and easy-to-operate test, measurement and monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights and drive discovery globally. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age for over 70 years. More information on our products and solutions is available at Tek.com . Follow us on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter , YouTube and Instagram , and to stay connected. Learn more from our engineers on the Tektronix blog and read our latest announcements in our Newsroom . Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. SOURCE Tektronix, Inc. Related Links http://www.Tek.com Clothing, footwear and handbags are Myanmar's second largest export sector This week's military coup in Myanmar puts foreign investment at risk, poses the threat of trade sanctions, and may prompt some clothing companies to sever their sourcing ties with the country. Following weeks of worsening political tensions in Myanmar following disputed elections in November 2020, the Southeast Asian country's military seized power on Monday (1 February), just hours before the first sitting of the new parliament. Claiming the results were marred by widespread voting irregularities and electoral fraud, the military's proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Prosperity Party (USDP), attracted little support. Instead, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, secured a landslide in the seats available to contest. A state of emergency has now been imposed for up to one year, state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and president U Win Myint have been detained, and communications in much of the country have been cut off. The coup has attracted international condemnation, with US President Joe Biden denouncing it as a "direct assault on the country's transition to democracy and the rule of law." He says: "We will work with our partners throughout the region and the world to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law, as well as to hold accountable those responsible for overturning Burma's democratic transition. "The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action." The European Union's vice president of foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell described the coup as "a clear violation of the country's constitution," and said the EU "calls for the immediate restoration of the legitimate civilian government in Myanmar, and the swift opening of parliament with the participation of all elected representatives. We are in touch with our international partners on this most pressing issue to ensure a coordinated response." Relative newcomer A relative newcomer to the apparel sourcing mix, Myanmar's garment export sector has seen dramatic growth since the country began to emerge from decades of isolation and military rule around ten years ago and counts brands and retailers including M&S, Next, H&M, Bestseller and C&A among its customers. The director general of the European Textile and Apparel Confederation, Euratex, has warned that the military takeover in Myanmar could halt the boom in clothing export sales to Europe, which grew 40% in 2020, year-on-year. Dirk Vantyghem told just-style this has been achieved through a major increase in Chinese investment into the country's clothing industry its upstream textile segment remains small. As a result, at the time of the coup, Myanmar was Europe's 10th largest source of apparel imports, with clothing having become one of the country's largest export sectors. As a result, says Vantyghem, with brands likely to reduce orders from the country because of political risk: "From a development angle this will have a devastating impact on the Myanmar economy." He knows the country well, having in his past role at Eurochambres helped set up business lobby group EuroCham Myanmar. Vantyghem says he is unsure the extent to which European brand orders would migrate to near-shoring after the coup: "It's difficult to quantify. I think to a limited extent Turkey may benefit as may Portugal and Romania." Perhaps more likely would be that Chinese-owned plants in Myanmar may seek to persuade buyers to move orders to associated factories already in place in Bangladesh and Vietnam, which both benefit from privileged access to European markets. He stresses how Chinese clothing and textile manufacturers are increasingly viewing Vietnam as a gateway to Europe because of its recent free trade agreement. "From a Chinese perspective they have sufficient options to manage production capacity." He predicts: "Who will suffer most will be the women in Myanmar," who have been working in a self-employed capacity for the country's booming clothing sector. He adds that if the EU imposed sanctions it would make matters worse for its apparel exporters Myanmar currently has almost completely free access to EU markets through the EU's Everything but Arms free trade status. Second largest export sector Clothing, footwear and handbags are the country's second largest export sector and jumped 26% year-on-year to reach US$6.7bn in 2019, of which around US$5.2bn is apparel. Exports in the first 11 months of 2020 slipped back to about $4bn. The European Union is the biggest customer, taking 54% of all apparel exports, according to SMART Myanmar, the EU-funded initiative that promotes 'Made in Myanmar' garments and sustainable practices. Next come Japan and the United States, receiving 18% and 9% of exports respectively. Buyers and investors are attracted by the country's large workforce and low wages, as well as duty-free access to the European Union (EU) under the Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement. Even so, Myanmar remains a controversial sourcing base. Not only is it lagging in key areas including political and legislative reform, compliance and sustainability, infrastructure and energy, but perhaps more worrying are widespread concerns over issues ranging from ethnic violence to abusive and illegal labour practices. Indeed, the coup leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, along with others in the Tatmadaw the official name of Myanmar's armed forces has already been accused by the United Nations of war crimes in connection with the persecution of the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. Research by the UN in 2019 also prompted a number of brands to review their sourcing from Myanmar to avoid being linked to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law after several garment suppliers were found to be connected to the country's military. The European Union has also threatened to remove Myanmar's Everything but Arms duty-free trade benefit in response to the alleged ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. On top of this, of course, the country has also been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sector started last year with around 690 factories employing over 700,000 workers but an estimated 60,000 workers have since lost their jobs and around 200 factories closed as buyers cancelled orders. Political risk The president of the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has warned that the military takeover in Myanmar could spark a significant shift in sourcing away from this Southeast Asian country if democracy is not restored promptly. Julia Hughes told just-style: "If there is not a quick resolution, then yes we would expect a major shift to other Asian suppliers." Given that brands and retailers need to include political risk within their standard supplier risk assessments, Hughes predicts that even with "a relatively quick resolution" to the crisis, with Myanmar returning to democracy, "there probably will be some companies that decide to shift sourcing to locations that are considered safer." As it stands, she says the USFIA does not know whether there will "be any disruption to production in Myanmar, or to logistics to and from Myanmar," which is the association's immediate concern. While the coup immediately triggered some US government sanctions, the association, which represents US brands, retailers and importers, believes the Biden administration hopes it can pressure the military to give back power to elected officials. Sourcing slowdown Commenting, Mike Flanagan, CEO of UK-based apparel industry consultancy Clothesource, thinks that the military take-over will halt expansion within the Myanmar clothing industry, which has continued during 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. A key problem, he says, is that when brands look to make real sourcing plays in a growing outsourcing hub, they like to install their own executives to oversee production or use third party expert agents. Even if there are no mass violent protests following the coup which is far from certain the risk of sending representatives to Myanmar has clearly increased and that will restrict brands' willingness to participate directly in growing orders and production in the country. He does not foresee a collapse in sourcing because of protracted violent unrest, however. The fact that democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi chose to remain in the country when almost certainly knew in advance about the takeover indicates to Flanagan that she prefers stability over the chaos that could have been seeded by her fleeing the country. If she had, then the only way she would return to power would be via rebellion and revolution in Myanmar, a contrast with her gradualist approach to easing control from the military during her years of house arrest before assuming power in 2016. Flanagan said the military move might help China, given Myanmar's expansion was offering real alternatives to brands seeking a new outsourcing centre, alongside Bangladesh and Vietnam. With the Chinese government keen to retain domestic clothing and textile production capacity, "now there's one less place to move, it makes life easier for China." Substantial impact As for the US, Hughes says that while Myanmar currently ships less than one-half of one percent of US apparel imports, it "has been one of the few apparel suppliers that has been expanding sales to the US market during the pandemic fall-out in 2020. So, while the numbers are low, there are a growing number of brands and retailers who are starting to source there." Indeed, according to the Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), US apparel imports from Myanmar jumped 56% in the first 11 months of 2020 to 104.7m SME (square metres equivalent). By value, the rise was 26% to US$231.5m. This compares with a 24% decline in the volume of total apparel imports into the US over the same period. As for niches, Myanmar has been building sales of manmade fibre flatgoods, luggage and travel goods, which enter duty free into the US under its GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) programme. "That growth in apparel, and especially in travel goods, helps to explain why the coup could have a substantial impact if it is not resolved reasonably quickly," added Hughes. EuroCham Myanmar, the EU chamber of commerce in the country, has released a statement saying it is "closely monitoring the situation and sharing timely developments to our members." It adds: "We recommend everyone to stay home, practice caution and stay safe until the situation becomes more clear." With additional reporting by Keith Nuthall. Click on the following links for further analysis of the potential impact of the Myanmar coup on the country's clothing industry: Complaints about candidates/parties offering temptations to voters like cash or liquor etc can be reported to phone 9121100602. Representational image KADAPA: Kadapa district police seized 5.6kg of gold ornaments in two separate searches on Wednesday. The police in Jammalamadugu seized 2.7kg and the Proddatur Rural police seized 2.9kg of ornaments. Those who possessed these did not show any documents about purchase and hence the police handed over the ornaments to the Income Tax authorities. Jammalamadugu sub-divisional police officer Nallamari Nagaraju said the first seizure was made while cops inspected a car. Two bags were found inside the vehicle at Muddanur Cross Road. The driver was detained. He told the cops that the ornaments were being taken to Proddatur to be polished at a gold jewellery shop in Pulivendula area. According to DSP Prasad Rao, Proddatur Rural Police are conducting inspections of vehicles in the run-up to the panchayat elections. On the Proddatur-Mydukuru road, a man suspiciously stopped his vehicle for some time. Police did a search and found 2.92kg of gold ornaments and cash of Rs. 7.32 lakh in his handbag. Although he identified himself as a gold trader from Hyderabad, the ornaments were seized and handed over to the Income Tax authorities as he did not have proper documents. DSP of Karur Karunapati Nagendra Kumar Anburajan said the election code was in force in the wake of the panchayat elections. It stipulated that anyone traveling with cash or valuables must carry bills. Without bills, a case would be registered and the seized cash or ornaments would be handed over to the commercial tax and income tax authorities. Check posts have been set up at various places in the district and inspections are on. In addition this, flying squads will also be in the field. Complaints about candidates/parties offering temptations to voters like cash or liquor etc can be reported to phone 9121100602. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media FARMINGTON The Haddam man who repeatedly stabbed himself in front of Hartford detectives Tuesday afternoon was wanted by authorities for attempting to kidnap a Red Cross employee before running her over with her own car last week, police said. The 54-year-old victim from Cheshire was seriously injured when David OBrien, 30, and Lauren Murphy, 31, both of Haddam, tried to kidnap her in the Red Cross parking lot off Route 4, police said Wednesday. Because God said so: Louisiana church helps raise $125K to help people pay energy bills Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A congregation in Louisiana has helped to raise $125,000 to help people pay their electricity bills, which have recently been on the rise for multiple reasons. Household of Faith Family Worship Church International, a nondenominational congregation located near New Orleans, oversaw the charitable outreach to help people pay bills owed to the energy company Entergy. First Lady Dale Barriere, wife of Senior Pastor Antoine M. Barriere, told The Christian Post on Monday that they decided to do the charitable event because God said so. Our prayer was how can we help those who are hurting and He said $100 towards Entergy bill, explained Barriere. Our hope is to encourage the community to never give up and when you think theres no help, out of the blue help steps in. According to Barriere, the church initially raised $50,000 while Entergy itself matched their amount. Businesses and church members added an extra $25,000 to the bill aid. The New Orleans branch of Entergy provides electricity for over 250,000 customers, as well as natural gas for around 108,000 others, based on 2019 figures on their website. The company has garnered recent controversy over allegedly hiking up bills for their customers, with many taking to social media to complain about costs that seemed to double in recent times. Entergy New Orleans CEO David Ellis told Jessica Williams of Nola.com last week that the higher bills were due to colder weather and people staying home more because of pandemic shutdowns. "We had colder weather, so people were using heat more. We had an end of holiday period where people were not traveling normally," explained Ellis. "What those point to is higher consumption." For their part, The New Orleans City Council, which oversees the regulation of Entergy New Orleans, will hold a special meeting this week regarding the rising costs of bills. By no later than next meeting, I will have a documented item and an investigation, or a directive message, or whatever we deem necessary to get to the bottom of why these bills are going up, explained Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III, as reported by Nola.com. NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Triterras, Inc. f/k/a Netfin Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: TRIT, TRITW) between August 20, 2020 and December 16, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important February 19, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline. Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Logo SO WHAT: If you purchased Triterras securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Triterras class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2008.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than February 19, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020 founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Story continues DETAILS OF THE CASE: The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: (1) the extent to which the Company's revenue growth relied on Triterras' relationship with Rhodium Resources Pte. Ltd. ("Rhodium") to refer users to the Kratos platform; (2) that Rhodium faced significant financial liabilities that jeopardized its ability to continue as a going concern; (3) that, as a result, Rhodium was likely to refer fewer users to the Company's Kratos platform; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants' positive statements about Triterras' business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Triterras class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2008.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rosen-a-top-ranked-firm-encourages-triterras-inc-fka-netfin-acquisition-corp-investors-with-large-losses-to-secure-counsel-before-important-deadline--trit-tritw-301220750.html SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Youve probably seen headlines recently about the evils of Christian nationalism, especially since Decembers Jericho March in Washington, DC, and since a mob of Trump supportersmany sporting Christian signs, slogans, or symbolsrioted and stormed the US Capitol building on January 6. What is Christian nationalism, and how is it different from Christianity? How is it different from patriotism? How should Christians think about nations, especially about the United States? If nationalism is bad, does that mean we should reject nationality and national loyalty altogether? What is patriotism, and is it good? Patriotism is the love of country. It is different from nationalism, which is an argument about how to define our country. Christians should recognize that patriotism is good because all of Gods creation is good and patriotism helps us appreciate our particular place in it. Our affection and loyalty to a specific part of Gods creation helps us do the good work of cultivating and improving the part we happen to live in. As Christians, we can and should love the United Stateswhich also means working to improve our country by holding it up for critique and working for justice when it errs. What is nationalism? There are many definitions of nationalism and an active debate about how best to define it. I reviewed the standard academic literature on nationalism and found several recurring themes. Most scholars agree that nationalism starts with the belief that humanity is divisible into mutually distinct, internally coherent cultural groups defined by shared traits like language, religion, ethnicity, or culture. From there, scholars say, nationalists believe that these groups should each have their own governments; that governments should promote and protect a nations cultural identity; and that sovereign national groups provide meaning and purpose for human beings. What is Christian nationalism? Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. Popularly, Christian nationalists assert that America is and must remain a Christian nationnot merely as an observation about American history, but as a prescriptive program for what America must continue to be in the future. Scholars like Samuel Huntington have made a similar argument: that America is defined by its Anglo-Protestant past and that we will lose our identity and our freedom if we do not preserve our cultural inheritance. Christian nationalists do not reject the First Amendment and do not advocate for theocracy, but they do believe that Christianity should enjoy a privileged position in the public square. The term Christian nationalism, is relatively new, and its advocates generally do not use it of themselves, but it accurately describes American nationalists who believe American identity is inextricable from Christianity. What is the problem with nationalism? Humanity is not easily divisible into mutually distinct cultural units. Cultures overlap and their borders are fuzzy. Since cultural units are fuzzy, they make a poor fit as the foundation for political order. Cultural identities are fluid and hard to draw boundaries around, but political boundaries are hard and semipermanent. Attempting to found political legitimacy on cultural likeness means political order will constantly be in danger of being felt as illegitimate by some group or other. Cultural pluralism is essentially inevitable in every nation. Is that really a problem, or just an abstract worry? It is a serious problem. When nationalists go about constructing their nation, they have to define who is, and who is not, part of the nation. But there are always dissidents and minorities who do not or cannot conform to the nationalists preferred cultural template. In the absence of moral authority, nationalists can only establish themselves by force. Scholars are almost unanimous that nationalist governments tend to become authoritarian and oppressive in practice. For example, in past generations, to the extent that the United States had a quasi-established official religion of Protestantism, it did not respect true religious freedom. Worse, the United States and many individual states used Christianity as a prop to support slavery and segregation. Article continues below What do Christian nationalists want that is different from normal Christian engagement in politics? Christian nationalists want to define America as a Christian nation and they want the government to promote a specific cultural template as the official culture of the country. Some have advocated for an amendment to the Constitution to recognize Americas Christian heritage, others to reinstitute prayer in public schools. Some work to enshrine a Christian nationalist interpretation of American history in school curricula, including that America has a special relationship with God or has been chosen by him to carry out a special mission on earth. Others advocate for immigration restrictions specifically to prevent a change to American religious and ethnic demographics or a change to American culture. Some want to empower the government to take stronger action to circumscribe immoral behavior. Someagain, like the scholar Samuel Huntingtonhave argued that the United States government must defend and enshrine its predominant Anglo-Protestant culture to ensure the survival of American democracy. And sometimes Christian nationalism is most evident not in its political agenda, but in the sort of attitude with which it is held: an unstated presumption that Christians are entitled to primacy of place in the public square because they are heirs of the true or essential heritage of American culture, that Christians have a presumptive right to define the meaning of the American experiment because they see themselves as Americas architects, first citizens, and guardians. How is this dangerous for America? Christian nationalism tends to treat other Americans as second-class citizens. If it were fully implemented, it would not respect the full religious liberty of all Americans. Empowering the state through morals legislation to regulate conduct always carries the risk of overreaching, setting a bad precedent, and creating governing powers that could be used later be used against Christians. Additionally, Christian nationalism is an ideology held overwhelmingly by white Americans, and it thus tends to exacerbate racial and ethnic cleavages. In recent years, the movement has grown increasingly characterized by fear and by a belief that Christians are victims of persecution. Some are beginning to argue that American Christians need to prepare to fight, physically, to preserve Americas identity, an argument that played into the January 6 riot. How is Christian nationalism dangerous to the church? Christian nationalism takes the name of Christ for a worldly political agenda, proclaiming that its program is the political program for every true believer. That is wrong in principle, no matter what the agenda is, because only the church is authorized to proclaim the name of Jesus and carry his standard into the world. It is even worse with a political movement that champions some causes that are unjust, which is the case with Christian nationalism and its attendant illiberalism. In that case, Christian nationalism is calling evil good and good evil; it is taking the name of Christ as a fig leaf to cover its political program, treating the message of Jesus as a tool of political propaganda and the church as the handmaiden and cheerleader of the state. Article continues below How is Christianity different from Christian nationalism? Christianity is a religion focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ as defined by the Christian Bible and the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. It is the gathering of people from every nation and tribe and people and language, who worship Jesus (Rev. 7:9), a faith that unites Jews and Greeks, Americans and non-Americans together. Christianity is political, in the sense that its adherents have always understood their faith to challenge, affect, and transcend their worldly loyaltiesbut there is no single view on what political implications flow from Christian faith other than that we should fear God, honor the king (1 Pet. 2:17, NASB), pay our taxes, love our neighbors, and seek justice. Christian nationalism is, by contrast, a political ideology focused on the national identity of the United States. It includes a specific understanding of American history and American government that are, obviously, extrabiblicalan understanding that is contested by many historians and political scientists. Most importantly, Christian nationalism includes specific policy prescriptions that it claims are biblical but are, at best, extrapolations from biblical principles and, at worst, contradictory to them. Can Christians be politically engaged without being Christian nationalists? Yes. American Christians in the past were exemplary in helping establish the American experiment, and many American Christians worked to end slavery and segregation and other evils. They did so because they believed Christianity required them to work for justice. But they worked to advance Christian principles, not Christian power or Christian culture, which is the key distinction between normal Christian political engagement and Christian nationalism. Normal Christian political engagement is humble, loving, and sacrificial; it rejects the idea that Christians are entitled to primacy of place in the public square or that Christians have a presumptive right to continue their historical predominance in American culture. Today, Christians should seek to love their neighbors by pursuing justice in the public square, including by working against abortion, promoting religious liberty, fostering racial justice, protecting the rule of law, and honoring constitutional processes. That agenda is different from promoting Christian culture, Western heritage, or Anglo-Protestant values. Paul D. Miller is a professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University and a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. [ This article is also available in Portugues, Francais, , and . ] Joe Biden says he's leaning on prayer to lead because it gives me hope and centers me Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Joe Biden, who is only the second Catholic president of the United States, says hes leaning on prayer to help him lead the nation through the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis. I don't want to proselytize. My religion, for me, is a safe place. I never miss mass, because I can be alone. I mean, I'm with my family, but just kind of absorbing the fundamental principle that you've got to treat everyone with dignity, Biden, 78, stated ina recent interview with People magazine in which the president was asked if he leans on prayer to help him lead. Jill, when she wants me to get a real message, she tapes it on the mirror above the sink where I shave. And she put up a great quote from [Danish philosopher] Kierkegaard saying, Faith sees best in the dark. Other people may meditate. For me, prayer gives me hope, and it centers me. Bidens comments to People come as American Catholics remain divided over whether he should be treated as a model of their faith despite his support for policy positions that conflict with the Catholic Churchs teachings. Areas of contention include his stances on abortion rights, contraception, same-sex marriage and gender issues. While he opposes abortion as a personal matter, he wrote in his 2007 memoir, Promises to Keep, that he doesn't "have a right to impose my view on the rest of society." "There's so much enthusiasm among some in the Catholic world that Trump is no longer president that they are willing to uncritically accept everything from President Biden, and that's a dangerous, dangerous place to be," Jayd Henricks, the former executive director of government relations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told ABC News in a recent interview. Hendricks called abortion a grave, grave sin. "And those who are, you know, manifest in commitment to it in a public way persistently are endangering their souls, he argued. The Church is clear about that." While agreeing that abortion rights remain a central issue, Rev. Kevin Gillespie, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C, where Biden has worshiped twice since taking office, questioned the preeminence some Catholic leaders have given the issue. "It's highly significant, but there is the issue of poverty, of capital punishment, of war, he told ABC News. There's other issues that with the Pope saying let's not get into a cultural war so that we're divided, let's unite and build bridges," he said. Bidens position on abortion caused him to be denied communion at a South Carolina church in 2019, a move that garnered headlines during the 2020 election cycle. Bidens personal approach to prayer stands in contrast to former President Donald Trump. Even though he championed conservative policies on religious freedom, free speech and abortion, many argue that Trump didnt personally model those values. As a candidate in the 2016 election, the real estate mogul said that even though he has a "great relationship" with God, he didnt like asking the almighty for forgiveness. "I have a great relationship with God, hetold CNN's Jake Tapper in 2016. "I like to be good. I don't like to have to ask for forgiveness and I am good. I don't do a lot of things that are bad. I try to do nothing that's bad. I live a very different life than probably a lot of people would think. In 2015, Trump told a crowd at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa that he was not sure if he had ever asked God for forgiveness, causing some at the time to question the sincerity of his Christian faith. When I go to church and when I drink my little wine and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of forgiveness, Trump said at the time. I do that as often as I can because I feel cleansed. I say let's go on and let's make it right. 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 Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) has called off their planned strike after government last Friday promised to give them Shs70 billion for lunch allowance. The strike had been scheduled to start yesterday but in a January 30 letter, Mr Justus Cherop Kiplangat, the president of UNMU, said their demand has finally been met and hence the industrial action has been abandoned. "I wish to inform you that, having had various meetings with ministries of Public Service, Health, Labour and finally with the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Ruhakana Rugunda, the government has finally accepted to give all nurses and midwives of Uganda lunch allowance of Shs15,000 effective the Financial Year 2021/2022," Mr Kiplangat wrote to the union members. Currently, nurses and midwives get Shs2,200 daily for lunch, which they say is not enough for a basic meal. Mr Kiplangat said their demand for better facilitation that started in 2018 is finally paying off. That year, the nurses and midwives went on strike, demanding that their welfare be improved like their colleague doctors. At the time, President Museveni accepted to honour their demand but government did not have enough money to effect the increment. In the 2019/20 financial year, the Ministry of Finance included the lunch allowance in the proposed budget but it was later removed, setting another round of industrial action. Mr Kiplangat in the weekend letter cautioned the government not to renege on its promise again. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Health Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "After the 2018 negotiations, government included this in the budget and after three months, they stopped paying and this time if it happens, we shall lay down our tools. Nurses and midwives are the back-borne of the health sector and without them doctors cannot work," he said. Past promises Government had spent much of the later part of last year negotiating with the nurses' leaders. Mr Wilson Muruli Mukasa, the minister for Public Service, last Friday said government had accepted the demands of the nurses. "I wish to inform you that various consultative meetings have been held and consequently in a letter of reference ADM/10/01 dated January 29, 2021, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to budget for Shs70,59b in FY 2021/2022 for honouring the President's pledge of increasing the lunch allowance of nurses and midwives. In the view of the above, this is to request you to stay the industrial action by nurses and midwives," Mr Muruli wrote to the union. Currently, the budgeting process for the next financial year is ongoing and it remains to be seen if the funds will be included in the budget framework paper. The Finance ministry officials were not available to explain how far the process has gone. AUGUSTA, Ga. (Feb.3, 2021) - A $1 million gift from the estate of a pool industry pioneer has established the newest endowed chair at the state of Georgia's only public medical school. The gift from the estate of the late Leon Bloom, founder of BioLab, Inc., an international swimming pool chemical company, honors him and his late wife by creating the Leon and Dorothy Bloom Chair in Medical Research at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. "We are thankful for the benevolence of donors like the Blooms and this invaluable gift to MCG," says MCG Dean Dr. David Hess. "Philanthropic gifts like this enable us to recruit and retain the best faculty, who in turn help us carry out our essential missions of education, research and patient care." When Bloom founded BioLab in a home basement in Decatur, Georgia, in 1955, the self-taught chemist's interests were focused on the poultry industry. During that time, bacteria and other disease sources were rampant in hatcheries. Bloom created quaternary ammonium algaecide, a type of detergent, then developed a system to use it to cleanse eggs and sanitize chick's drinking and bathing water. Turning to the rapidly growing pool industry, Bloom found another use for his algaecide. Widely known as the "godfather of modern pool care," he is credited with a number of industry innovations including computerized water testing and pool shock -- chlorine and other chemicals used to treat pool water -- packaged for proper dosing. He sold the company in 1979 and retired to Florida. His connection to MCG came a few years later in the mid 1980's. Bloom's longtime friend and lawyer, the late Sidney Parks, had a son David, a 1984 MCG graduate who was in his second year of an otolaryngology/head and neck surgery residency at MCG. Bloom, a noted philanthropist, had approached his friend and lawyer about possibly making a donation to a medical school. "I had been at MCG for about six years at that point and I just loved it. My dad knew I loved it," says Dr. David Parks, now an Atlanta head and neck surgeon. The elder Parks convinced Bloom to travel to MCG and meet with then-president Dr. Jesse Steinfeld to tour the college and discuss the possibility of a major gift. One stop on that tour was the neonatal intensive care unit, where then-Chief of Neonatology Dr. William Kanto, showed them around. "My dad, Mr. Bloom and I went to dinner in Augusta that night and it was clear that the NICU in particular had just made such an impression on Mr. Bloom," Dr. David Parks remembers. "Mr. Bloom was just the nicest man, he was so giving with a real service mentality for others. He grew up during the Great Depression with nothing and here he is giving $1 million. That's remarkable." ### Quortus bolsters U.S. presence with two hires and new office 2nd February 2021, California, US: Quortus Ltd, a leading provider of innovative private edge LTE and 5G network solutions, today announced the appointment of two new hires as the company expands its presence in the U.S. adding to its Mountain View, California base. Eamonn O?Kane joins Quortus as its new Solution Engineer, while Travis Coffey joins as Regional Sales Executive for North America. The new hires will support Quortus? Head of Business Development for North America, Dennis Aguilar, who was appointed in August 2020. Commenting on the appointments and expansion, VP of Sales Neil Dunham said, ?Adding Travis and Eamonn to our team in the US will enable us to have a much greater customer intimacy and build on the progress of the last year. The opportunity in the North American market is a really exciting one for Quortus and investing in more resource locally will mean we can tailor our solutions effectively to better resolve our customers most pressing networking issues.? Based on the East Coast, Eamonn holds over 20 years? experience in the wireless telecoms and enterprise software sectors. As Solution Engineer for Quortus, Eamonn will be responsible for translating business challenges into technical solutions. Eamonn will oversee the solution design aspect of the sales engagement process with a focus on building and maintaining relationships with clients, as well as fostering partnerships with adjacent technology providers and ecosystem partners. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Travis also brings over 20 years of experience to Quortus. Travis is highly knowledgeable in sales, having serviced several global markets during his career. Primarily in the telecoms arena, Travis has focused on understanding and expanding new markets and establishing new accounts for several organisations, including Smiths Group, Pacific Power Group, and Raycap Inc. Travis will be responsible for sales in North America and will lead customer and partner engagement to deliver solutions that meet the needs and opportunities of Quortus? customers and partners. Original Theatre, the minds behind the virtual productions of Birdsong and Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon, have unveiled a new show set for a spring release. Compared to their previous work, this piece will be filmed on stage at Cheltenham Everyman ahead of a UK tour, presented live in front of audiences, set for later this year. Ben Brown's A Splinter of Ice is a political drama set as the Cold War begins to ebb away in the late 1980s. It follows famed writer Graham Greene, who travels to Russia to meet his old MI6 boss. Directed by Alan Strachan with Alastair Whatley, the production will star Oliver Ford Davies as Graham Greene, Stephen Boxer as Kim Philby and Sara Crowe as Rufa Philby. It has design by Michael Pavelka, with original music composed and sound designed by Max Pappenheim, lighting designed by Jason Taylor and casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG. Alastair Whatley, artistic director of Original Theatre Company, said: "I am thrilled that we are producing Ben's fantastic new play with such a wonderful cast and creative team. The plan was to open this in front of audiences at the end of March, but alas, once again, plans have changed. Instead of cancelling, we will now film the production at the beautiful Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, releasing the play to our audiences around the world, before then returning to stages across the UK as soon as theatres re-open." The show will be available from 15 April to 31 July, with tickets from 15. A new documentary tackling the life and career of award-winning Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno was released last Friday. The documentary shifts the spotlight to Moreno's humble beginnings in her home country, as well as her success on Broadway and Hollywood. With the new documentary release, Rita Moreno is finally being recognized as a Latina trailblazer during her time. Moreno is one of the 16 artists to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. The documentary was directed by the award-winning filmmaker Mariem Perez Riera. According to an NBC News report, it was said to detail the highs of Moreno's rise to Hollywood. Aside from her success, the documentary also showed the relentless racism and sexual abuse that Moreno endures along the way. "The first time I interviewed Rita, I had prepared a series of questions about the biggest moments of her career. As soon as she started speaking, I immediately saw myself reflected in her answers," Perez Riera said in her director's note. Perez Riera noted that she could relate to all Rita Moreno was saying, like her stories about discrimination, the insecurities she felt, and the complicated love relationships. Perez Riera added that she could also relate to Moreno's constant need to work three times harder to prove to others that she's worthy. The director said they always wanted to make a documentary about Rita Moreno. But it's not only to showreel her career and how great the Puerto Rican actress is. "When I make or watch a documentary, I want to be able to know that person more than just what I already know, so it was very important for me to go deeper and to understand her as a human being," Perez Riera said in a report. Read also: Meet the Latino Artist Who Paid Tribute With a Kobe and Gigi Bryant Mural in Brooklyn Rita Moreno's Documentary Production The filmmaker followed Rita Moreno for a few months in late 2018 to give the documentary an air of authenticity that also gives viewers a glimpse of the actress' daily life, including making her breakfast, doing her hair and makeup, and driving herself to long hours of work. The documentary also offers insights into her peers, co-stars, and admirers, including Eva Longoria, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Estefan, Hector Elizondo, and fellow EGOT Whoopi Goldberg, according to a Refinery 29 report. Rita Moreno is one of two Latinas to win Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy and the only Latina nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama. However, Moreno said that the awards do not really matter, according to an Indie Wire report. The 89-year-old actress said that what becomes more significant is how the actor used her platform to champion more diverse voices, wherein some situations still face discrimination. Perez Riera said that she would love people to be inspired by her story, to her continuous fight to become the person that Moreno is today. The documentary entitled "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It" premiered on Jan. 29 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Related story: Successful Artists You May Not Know Were Latinos Thousands of Australians have been told to ignore a Covid stay-home order and evacuate their homes in Perth as a bushfire on the citys outskirts threatens to gather pace. The blaze, which is the largest the Western Australian (WA) city has seen in years, has already burnt through more than 9,000 hectares, devastating 71 homes and counting. No deaths have been recorded yet but six firefighters are thought to have been injured, according to the BBC. Officials now fear hot, dry conditions and strong winds, forecast to hit the area on Wednesday, could fan the fires flames leaving hundreds more homes and lives at risk. Perths near two million residents were placed into lockdown on Sunday after the WA provincial capital detected its first case of coronavirus in almost 10 months, complicating fire safety advice messages. Recommended How the climate crisis is affecting wildfires around the world But state officials have urged people to prioritise their immediate safety over the risk of contracting coronavirus, which is considered very low. Perths lockdown was only supposed to last for five days to deal with a single infection, which came from a quarantine hotel security guard who tested positive for the more contagious variant of the virus first identified in the UK. Current coronavirus guidelines require people in the city to stay at home, except for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping or exercise, while visits to hospitals and nursing homes are banned. The important thing is the preservation of life. So, if youre quarantining and youre required to evacuate, you should just evacuate, WA fire commissioner Darren Klemm said on Wednesday. We know how quickly things can go bad [with bushfires]. That is why we are saying, if you can leave, please leave now. Please act to save your life, state premier Mark McGowan added at a news conference. Residents are being urged to wear face masks and assured, where possible, they will be able to self-isolate when they arrive at designated evacuation centres. Its important everyone should have a plan and when emergency service personnel ask you to act on that plan, that trumps any lockdown orders, David Littleproud, Australias emergency management minister, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. There should be no confusion about that. Pamela Wheeler-Hart, a resident from Lillie Road in Gidgegannup who lost her property in the bushfires, talks to the media following a meeting for evacuees at Brown Park (Getty) The origins of the fire, which began in the WA town of Wooroloo on Monday, are still unknown. Officials have estimated it has a 100km perimeter with strong winds present on Tuesday and expected to return on Wednesday to highs of 75km per hour making it near impossible for firefighters to suppress, the fire service said. The fires very presence serves as an eery reminder of the devastating blazes that ravaged Australias most densely populated eastern states last year. Experts predicted WA would likely be the countrys next-effected region: It has largely missed out on the rainfall in 2020 and conditions are very dry, with parts of the south and southwest coasts expecting above normal fire conditions through summer, the Bushfires and Natural Hazards Central Resource Centre warned in a December report. The increase in Australias wildfires is, unsurprisingly, believed to be a symptom of the climate crisis. In a somewhat cyclical stroke of irony, the UN warned in a 2020 report that the countrys bushfires were not only burning more intensely due to climate change and so being made more likely and intense by it but that the fires were adding to the crisis too. Australia has warmed by more than 1.4C since national records began in 1910, according to government agencies, leading to an increase in fire dangers. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. U.S. Pharmacies Will Start to Get a Big Infusion of Vaccines Moderna wants to add 50 percent more vaccine to each of its vials. A mutation found in Britain might make vaccines less effective, health experts there said. Portugal is running out of hospital beds. Follow our latest coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. A U.S. program aiming to channel a huge number of vaccines through pharmacies will start soon. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:32 - 0:00 transcript White House Will Send Vaccinations Directly to Pharmacies The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Last week, we took steps to increase the amount of vaccine going to states, tribes and territories by 16 percent. Today, we are further increasing that weekly allocation by an additional 5 percent. So for the next three weeks, we will provide a minimum of 10.5 million in total doses per week across all jurisdictions. That means we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. To be clear, this is on top of the 10.5 million doses we will ship this week. I also want to be clear that we are delivering on our commitment to provide states with three weeks forward visibility into supply. This is critical, and weve heard strong feedback from state and local leaders that this is helping give them what they need to plan and get vaccines administered more quickly. Pharmacies are readily accessible in most communities, with most Americans living within five miles of a pharmacy. Thats why were pleased to announce our first phase of the federal retail pharmacy program for Covid-19 vaccinations. This is a key component of President Bidens national strategy, offering vaccinations in Americas pharmacies. Starting on Feb. 11, the federal government will deliver vaccines directly to select pharmacies across the country. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and its an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Credit Credit... John Taggart for The New York Times The federal government will send one million vaccine doses to about 6,500 retail pharmacies on Feb. 11, the beginning of a federal program that will deliver vaccines directly to as many as 40,000 drugstores and grocery stores, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, announced on Tuesday. The programs launch will mark the start of a new stage in the massive vaccination campaign in the United States, gradually shifting a drive which so far has been centered in health care facilities and massive sites like stadiums to smaller, more local settings that will play a crucial role in vaccinating the general public. While some states in recent weeks have begun using a limited number of retail pharmacies to give out some of their vaccine doses, the federal program launching next week will not cut into the doses allocated to states and over time, it will greatly expand the number of sites where eligible people can get vaccines. Still, the launch of the program will be slow at first many pharmacies will not have vaccines at all or will have very limited supply, Mr. Zients said and it will not expand the still limited number of high-risk groups that states have deemed to be eligible to receive vaccines. Eligible patients should check pharmacy websites for availability, Mr. Zients said. Mr. Zients said that the federal government would allocate vaccines under the pharmacy program based on the population of each state and jurisdiction, as it has been doing for vaccines distributed via other channels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also working with states to choose pharmacies in areas that are harder to reach and close to people at higher risk of severe Covid-19, Mr. Zients said. He added that the agency would monitor the program to make sure pharmacies are distributing doses efficiently and fairly. Dozens of national and regional chains are participating, though not all of them will be involved in the first phase of distribution. Among them are CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Meijer, Costco, Jewel-Osco and Safeway. CVS said on Tuesday that it would begin offering vaccines on Feb. 11 in 11 states under the federal retail pharmacy program. Walgreens said on Tuesday that it would do the same on Feb. 12 in 15 states and major metropolitan areas. Both chains had already been giving out shots in long-term care facilities and retail pharmacies in some states. Walmart said last week that it has more than 5,000 stores across its flagship brand and Sams Club locations that are operationally and clinically ready to give out vaccines. The Trump administration first announced the retail pharmacy program last fall. Rebecca Robbins and New data on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine lend support for delaying its second doses. A medical worker preparing a syringe with the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot at a vaccination center in a public hospital in Brasilia on Tuesday. Credit... Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters A single dose of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca provided strong protection against Covid-19 in clinical trials when its second shots were delayed by at least three months, researchers reported on Tuesday. The encouraging results, detailed by Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers in a manuscript that has not been peer-reviewed, lend support to the strategy deployed by Britain and other countries to prioritize providing as many first doses of vaccines as possible without worrying that people will get their second doses later than initially planned. The latest data do not have bearing on the debate over whether to further space out the doses of the two vaccines authorized in the United States, those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, since the data on AstraZenecas candidate cannot be generalized to other vaccines. Some scientists have called on the United States to follow the lead of Britain and other countries that have opted to delay the second doses of vaccines by up to 12 weeks. But U.S. federal officials have resisted, saying such a move would not be supported by the data from clinical trials of the two vaccines currently available across the nation. Tuesdays results could amplify pressure on U.S. health officials to delay second doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, though it has not yet been authorized by the country. The Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers found that a single dose of the vaccine was 76 percent effective at preventing Covid-19. The data measured the three months after the first shot was given, not including an initial three-week period needed for protection to take effect. The vaccine appeared more effective when the interval between the two shots was longer than the originally intended four-week gap. Among clinical trial participants who got two standard-strength doses at least three months apart, the vaccine was 82 percent effective, compared to 55 percent effective when the doses were given less than six weeks apart. A vaccination strategy that spaces out doses by three months may be the optimal for rollout of a pandemic vaccine when supplies are limited in the short term, the researchers wrote. Tuesdays results build on data released late last year, which found that the vaccine was 62 percent effective when given as two standard-strength doses. In those initial findings, the vaccines efficacy was much higher, at 90 percent, when the first dose of the vaccine was given at half-strength. Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers initially attributed the different levels of effectiveness to the lower strength of the initial dose. But they gradually reached a different conclusion: the amount of time between doses was the more likely explanation. The results on Tuesday were not entirely positive. The researchers also reported that a single dose of the vaccine did not protect against the virus spreading without symptoms. However, overall cases of any positive test for the coronavirus, whether symptomatic or not, were reduced by 67 percent with a single dose. The researchers said that pointed to the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is waiting on data from a clinical trial that enrolled about 30,000 participants, mostly Americans. Results from that study are expected later this month. The study is expected to arm AstraZeneca with enough safety data to allow it by around early March to seek authorization to provide the vaccine for emergency use. The United States has agreed to buy 300 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, but neither the company nor the federal government has said when and in what quantities those doses will be available after the vaccine is approved. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Some states in the U.S. are pulling back vaccine doses from the federal program for nursing homes. To speed up vaccination of other eligible people, some states are reallocating doses that were earmarked for nursing homes but were not being used swiftly. Jean Riordan and her husband, Joseph, both 92, prepared to be inoculated at a vaccination site in Minneapolis in January. Credit... Octavio Jones for The New York Times It did not take long for Keith Reed, a deputy health commissioner in Oklahoma, to spot a big logistical problem with the states vaccination rollout. Week after week, Oklahoma was allocating thousands of precious doses to a federal program for nursing home patients that was not using them all. In fact, tens of thousands of doses were sitting untouched in freezers. So his department called an audible. It decided to stop allocating any more of Oklahomas vaccine supply to the federal program, a partnership with private pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens that is meant to immunize residents of long-term care facilities. Instead, they would go to distribution channels that would get them into peoples arms faster. A number of states have made similar moves to shift supplies away from the federal effort, known as the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, a telling example of how chaotic the inoculation effort in the U.S. has been so far. Some of the other states include Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Mr. Reed said the Oklahoma move would do no harm: Walgreens and CVS have assured him, he said, that all nursing home residents in the state who needed and wanted to be vaccinated would have the first of their two shots by the end of the week. The federal program used a formula that turned out to significantly overestimate how many shots would be needed for long-term care facilities like nursing homes, whose residents are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. And another problem arose: A considerable number of residents and, especially, workers at the facilities are turning down the chance to be vaccinated. A study released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in the first month of the program, 77.8 percent of residents and 37.5 percent of workers received the vaccine at the average long-term care facility. The study says the true rate for workers may be higher because some may have been vaccinated in other settings. But, even so, federal officials are particularly concerned about how many workers are refusing inoculation, and have been stepping up efforts to change their minds. Mr. Reed said the doses Oklahoma was taking away from the federal program will be going to thousands of Oklahomans who are 65 or older and do not live in nursing homes. Our goal is to move vaccine from freezers to somebodys arm within seven days of receiving it, Mr. Reed said in an interview last week. We just had a hard time with that amount of vaccine off-limits to us that was set aside for this program, when we could be using that vaccine to go straight to Oklahomans. Advocates for nursing home residents are watching closely for any sign that the moves will impede their vaccinations. If we find that older adults are not getting the vaccines that they need, then thats concerning to us, said Lisa Sanders, a spokeswoman for LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers. A peer-reviewed study finds the Russian vaccine has 91.6 percent efficacy. Administering the Sputnik V vaccine in Moscow last month. A report in the medical journal The Lancet showed that the shots appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times A vaccine developed in Russia, Sputnik V, has been shown to have 91.6 percent efficacy against the coronavirus, according to an analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday. The peer-reviewed results, based on a clinical trial conducted on nearly 22,000 people, showed that the Sputnik V vaccine appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects, according to The Lancet, an early vindication for Russia, which faced international skepticism after the vaccine was approved without the release of data regarding clinical trials. The results bring the number of vaccines whose efficacy is higher than 90 percent to three, and will leave Russia well positioned to deliver a cheap vaccine at home and abroad two shots of the Sputnik V vaccine are necessary, each costing $10. The Sputnik V shots also do not need the deep cold storage that can make some other vaccines logistically challenging to use widely. The study comes after the vaccines developer, the Gamaleya Research Institute, which is part of the Russian Health Ministry, announced in December that the vaccine showed 91.4 percent efficacy. When a Russian health care regulator approved the vaccine in August, becoming the first in the world to do so even though the shots had yet to complete clinical trials, experts raised concerns that the authorities were trying to hastily approve a vaccine without due safeguards. But researchers at the Gamaleya Institute had gone ahead months earlier: The head of the team that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, Denis Logunov, along with some colleagues, administered the vaccine to themselves as early as April, according to a New Yorker investigation. Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Polly Roy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who are both virology professors, wrote in The Lancet, The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But, they added, the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated. Russia began its vaccination campaign in December, and around 50 countries have pre-ordered the vaccine. Use of the Sputnik V vaccine in more than a dozen countries, including Algeria, Hungary, Iran and Venezuela, is set to begin this week. Mexico, which has pre-ordered more than 7 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, has approved it for emergency use, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the deputy health minister who is leading the nations coronavirus response, said at a news conference on Tuesday evening. In December, the Gamaleya Institute announced that it had partnered with the drug maker AstraZeneca to try to combine their vaccines and see if the mixture could increase efficacy. Cuomo expands vaccine eligibility in New York to include restaurant workers. Dining outdoors at Cafe du Soleil on the Upper West Side in Manhattan last month. Credit... Clay Williams for The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Tuesday that local governments could begin to provide coronavirus vaccines to restaurant workers, just one day after he dismissed a debate over expanding vaccine eligibility as a cheap, insincere discussion. Taxi drivers and residents at facilities for the developmentally disabled can also be vaccinated, he said. Mr. Cuomo linked the changes to an increase in the vaccine doses allocated to New York State by the federal government. On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it would bump the supply given to states by 5 percent, which resulted from an expected increase in manufacturing. Now theres additional flexibility, Mr. Cuomo said. And Im leaving it up to the local governments to make a determination of what fits their situation best. The debate over whether restaurant workers should be eligible for the vaccine was kicked off last week, when Mr. Cuomo said he would allow restaurants to New York City to resume indoor dining on Feb. 14. The governor barred indoor dining in the city in December among concerns over a second wave of the coronavirus. At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released recommendations that described eating at indoor restaurants as a particularly high-risk activity, and state contact tracing data suggested that restaurants and bars were the fifth main source of new infections in New York. Still, while hospitalizations and the seven-day average positive test rate have been trending downward in recent weeks, both remain higher than they were when Mr. Cuomo closed the restaurants. New York City is at an extremely high risk level for coronavirus, according to an assessment by The New York Times and public health experts. With indoor dining set to restart just as more infectious variants are spreading across the country, many were concerned that restaurant workers returning to their jobs would be putting themselves at increased risk. On Monday, Mr. Cuomo dismissed the suggestion of expanding eligibility, saying the state did not have the vaccine supply necessary to loosen its criteria and that calling for it to do so was a cheap, insincere discussion. Yes, I would like to see restaurant workers eligible, Mr. Cuomo said. It makes total sense. But what does eligibility mean when you dont have the supply necessary?" On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said that he believed that restaurant workers should be eligible to receive the vaccine immediately. Restaurant workers now are going to be in enclosed places with people eating and drinking, Mr. de Blasio said. Every doctor on this line or anyplace else will say thats an area of concern. N.Y.C.s Covid Metrics Are Dire. Cuomo Is Reopening Restaurants Anyway. Average per-capita case counts in New York City are 64 percent higher than they were in December, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo banned indoor dining. Advertisement Continue reading the main story As Moderna looks to increase the doses in vaccine vials, the White House announces an expected boost in manufacturing. A vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine with 10 doses. Moderna is seeking to pack 15 doses into a vial in the future. Credit... Cooper Neill for The New York Times The upstart drugmaker Moderna is asking U.S. regulators to allow it to increase the amount of coronavirus vaccine put into each vial by as much as 50 percent, arguing that it can speed vaccines to patients by clearing away a simple manufacturing bottleneck: Getting medicine into bottles. The Food and Drug Administration could decide within a few weeks how much more vaccine Moderna, the developer of one of the two federally authorized Covid-19 vaccines, can put into its vials. Moderna says it can raise the number of doses per vial from 10 to as much as 15. The company has already been ramping up production of its vaccine, only to find a bottleneck in the bottling, capping and labeling process. With F.D.A. approval, more doses could start going into each bottle quickly, a welcome boost to the campaign to curb a pandemic that has killed more than 440,000 people in the United States alone. In a statement late Monday, Ray Jordan, a Moderna spokesman, said the constraint on dosage per vial was limiting Modernas output. The Moderna proposal is part of a broader push by the Biden administration to speed vaccine distribution, including by clearing away obstacles in the fill and finish phase of manufacturing. Although the nuts-and-bolts stage receives less attention than vaccine development, it has been identified for years as a constraint on vaccine production. On Tuesday, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, said that the federal government would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states for the next three weeks, a bump of five percent resulting from an expected increase in manufacturing. At a White House news conference, Mr. Zients framed the increase in doses as an accomplishment of the Biden administration, saying that we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. But the uptick in production has long been expected as the companies that make two federally authorized vaccines, one from Pfizer and BioNTech and the other from Moderna, have scaled up their efforts. Last week, the companies increased their supply to the U.S. by 16 percent. Governors were informed of the increase on a call Tuesday morning so that they would have more time to plan for vaccinations, Mr. Zients said, with at three weeks of notice for new allocation numbers a cornerstone of a new effort by the Biden administration to improve a distribution system mired in uncertainty and confusion over limited supply and unused doses. That allows them to plan accordingly and know what staffing to have, he said. I think historically, there had been fluctuation. We are very attuned into not having that fluctuation. Moderna has discussed the possible change of the number of doses in vials with the F.D.A. but has not yet submitted manufacturing data to support it, people familiar with the discussions said. Federal regulators may be receptive to the idea of more doses in each vial, but could balk at the notion of a 50 percent increase. The industry standard has long been 10 doses per vial, and federal regulators may be concerned that the extra punctures by needles of the rubber covering of the vial and the time required to extract more doses could increase the risk of contaminating the vaccine with bacteria. Modernas proposal to the F.D.A. for the dose increase was first reported by CNBC. Packing more vaccine into each Moderna vial is one of a number of options White House and health officials are exploring as they push to expand production before the spring, when officials are expecting a renewed surge of infections from emerging variants of the virus. The maker of the other federally approved vaccine, Pfizer, is unable to increase the amount of vaccine in its vials because its manufacturing is geared toward a particular size of vial that can hold only about six doses. But Modernas vial is big enough to hold more than the 10 doses now allowed. Asked about Modernas proposal, a White House spokesman on Monday said that all options are on the table. Among other efforts, Mr. Zients said that the government had now ensured that specialized syringes were shipped out with Pfizers vials so practitioners could extract a sixth dose from them. Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizers chief executive, told investors Tuesday that the company was now two months ahead of schedule and expected to deliver a total of 200 million doses for Americans by the end of May instead of the end of July. The acceleration is at least partly because the government has decided to count Pfizer vial as six doses instead of five. Prashant Yadav, who studies health care supply chains with the Center for Global Development in Washington, said Moderna might be able to relatively quickly make more of its vaccine if it received the green light to add doses to each vial. But he said it would not be an instant change. I dont think Moderna has a surplus sitting around, he said. Mr. Yadav said the finish-and-fill process is intensely automated, devoted to warding off contamination and precise to the microgram. At top speed, as many as 1,000 vials of vaccine can be filled per minute, he said. He said a 15-dose vial carries a trade-off: It could lead to more wasted doses if the health care professional runs out of people to get inoculated and has to throw out the rest of the doses. But in the midst of a raging pandemic, experts said, that may well be a risk that federal health officials would be willing to take. Sharon LaFraniere and A study shows the variant spreading rapidly in Britain might make vaccines less effective. Researchers at Aalborg University in Denmark analyzing coronavirus samples for the variant B.1.1.7 last month. Credit... Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix, via Reuters A fast-spreading coronavirus variant first observed in Britain has gained a worrisome mutation that could make it harder to control with vaccines, Public Health England reported on Monday. And on Tuesday, a team of researchers reported an experiment suggesting that this mutation might make vaccines somewhat less effective against the variant. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, first came to light in December. Researchers determined that it had rapidly become more common across Britain in just a couple of months. Its spread appears to occur because of its improved ability to infect people. Experiments in test tubes suggest that some of its mutations allow the B.1.1.7 variant to hold on to cells more tightly than other coronaviruses. Since B.1.1.7s discovery in Britain, the variant has been reported in 72 other countries. The United States confirmed its first case of the B.1.1.7 variant on Dec. 29, but is conducting little of the genomic sequencing necessary to track the spread of new variants that have caused concern. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 467 samples of the variant in 32 states. Officials in New York City said on Tuesday that they had identified 13 cases of the variant and were ramping up testing capacity to detect more. In its latest analysis, Public Health England estimated that the variants rate of infection is 25 percent to 40 percent higher than that of other forms of the coronavirus. Some preliminary evidence suggests that it may also cause more deaths. Several lines of evidence suggest that vaccines will work against the B.1.1.7 variant. On Thursday, the vaccine maker Novavax announced that its British trial found no evidence that B.1.1.7 could evade the vaccines defenses. But in South Africa, where a variant called B.1.351 has surged to dominance, the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have both been less effective in trials. That variant has been reported in 31 countries so far. In the United States, it has turned up in Maryland and in South Carolina. Scientists suspect that the B.1.351 variants partial escape from vaccines is largely thanks to a single mutation, called E484K. Experiments indicate that the E484K mutation makes it harder for antibodies to grab onto the virus and prevent it from entering cells. Now it turns out that some B.1.1.7 coronaviruses in Britain also have the E484K mutation. To search for new mutations, British researchers reviewed the 214,159 genomes of coronaviruses that the United Kingdom has sequenced as of Jan. 26. In its report, Public Health England said that they found 11 samples of the B.1.1.7 variant that also had the E484K mutation. Since that analysis, more of these viruses have come to light. NextStrain, a website where scientists gather and analyze coronavirus genomes, now identifies 16 B.1.1.7 variants that carry the E484K mutation. These B.1.1.7 coronaviruses gained the mutation thanks to random copying errors as they multiplied inside of people. The evolutionary tree of the coronaviruses suggests that 15 of the variants descend from one common ancestor that gained the E484K mutation. Meanwhile the sixteenth variant seems to have gained the same mutation on its own. Commenting on Mondays report, Kristian Andersen, a virologist at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said that it was impossible yet to say whether the E484K mutation would make these coronaviruses not only more contagious but more resistant to vaccines. Its much too early to speculate whether it will, so well have to wait for data, he said. Just because the E484K mutation helps the B.1351 variant, the one initially found in South Africa, evade antibodies doesnt mean it will do the same in other variants. Thats because mutations dont have a fixed effect. The impact of a single new mutation to a virus depends on the other mutations that the variant already carries. But in a report posted online Tuesday, Ravi Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues reported an experiment they ran to address exactly this question. They combined the E484K mutation with other key mutations found in the B.1.1.7 variant, the one initially found in Britain. The addition of the E484K mutation made it difficult for antibodies to block the viruses. The researchers wrote that they observed a significant loss of neutralizing activity. However, Dr. Gupta and his colleagues used antibodies taken from people who had received just the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It remains to be seen whether the B.1.1.7 variant with the new mutation, E484K, can evade antibodies after a full vaccination. Nicholas Davies, a mathematical biologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, cautioned that with so few of these new coronaviruses, its hard to say whether they will become more common than ordinary B.1.1.7 variant. But it is striking that the same mutation, E484K, has now been documented arising several times in Britain, as well as in South Africa. Meanwhile, in Brazil, yet another variant has also gained the same E484K mutation on its own. Dr. Davies speculated that the mutation may give the virus an advantage when it is spreading in populations where a lot of people have already been sick with Covid-19. It may be able to evade their antibodies to other variants. E484K may well convey a fitness advantage in settings where there is existing immunity, Dr. Davies said. If so, the virus may be providing the world with a dangerous new example of a common theme in evolution. A good solution can arise more than once such as flight, which evolved in birds, bats, and insects. Evolutionary biologists call this repeated pattern convergence. Its not great to see this mutation in the B.1.1.7 lineage, although I think its no surprise at all, said Dr. Andersen. We should expect that to happen. Dr. Gupta argued on Twitter that the best defense against this convergence is vaccination. By making it harder for coronaviruses to get from person to person, they will have fewer chances to gain the E484K mutation or other dangerous changes. We need to continue vaccinating and drive down transmission, Dr. Gupta wrote. Correction : Feb. 3, 2021 An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a virologist at the University of Cambridge. He is Ravi Gupta, not Rajiv. Portugal has Europes highest death rate and is desperately short of hospital beds. A Covid-19 patient from Lisbon arrived at a hospital in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal, on Friday. Credit... Duarte Sa/Reuters Portugal, struggling to contain an outbreak that has led to the highest death rate in Europe, has rapidly filled the beds in intensive care units established for Covid-19 patients and is being forced to create spaces by diverting spaces meant for other critical care patients. With emergency rooms overwhelmed, particularly in the capital region of Lisbon, hospitals have asked patients to try to treat themselves at home, and the government has reached out to other European countries for assistance. Some patients have also been airlifted to island hospitals or moved to hospitals in regions not as badly affected. For those who do show up at hospitals in Lisbon, they are finding a system on the brink, with scores of people lining up outside and waiting to be diagnosed in idling ambulances parked outside. We are managing the full capacity of the country, Pedro Siza Vieira, the Portuguese economy minister, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. While new infections appeared to be falling in some regions, the outbreak in Lisbon was still raging. We are looking at a couple of weeks that will be difficult, he added. Mr. Siza Vieira himself contracted Covid-19 last month, and about a third of the governments ministers have also caught the illness recently, or had to isolate after being in contact with a person who had Covid-19. Portugal, a nation of about 10 million on the Iberian Peninsula, is in the grips of its worst crisis of the pandemic, and 5,000 people died in January. During the first wave of Covid-19, Portugal was one of the success stories of Europe, after applying a strict lockdown that helped keep its death toll low, particularly in comparison with neighboring Spain. But since Christmas, Portugal has faced a surge in infections and fatalities. Government officials have said that the crisis has been amplified by the spread of the Covid-19 variant first discovered in Britain. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal told a recent news conference that the variant accounted for more than 50 percent of new infections in his country. Mr. Siza Vieira, the economy minister, said on Tuesday, We dont have evidence of the Brazilian variant being significantly active in Portugal while we have evidence that the U.K. variant explains more than half of new cases, particularly in the Lisbon area. However, British officials have expressed their own concern about the spread in Portugal of the variant first discovered in Brazil, leading Britain to announce travel restrictions on its European neighbor. The travel ban was part of wave of new border closures around the world as countries raced to vaccinate their populations while trying to limit the spread of new variants. Whatever is driving infections in Portugal, new cases are only now starting to show signs of slowing after a national lockdown was reinstated in mid-January. The defense minister in Germany, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that the country was preparing to dispatch army personnel and equipment to Portugal, noting that all of those deployed would be vaccinated. And Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria announced on Twitter that his country would welcome some patients transferred from Portugal, without detailing how many. Ricardo Baptista Leite, an opposition lawmaker in Portugal who is also a medical doctor and head of the public health department at the Catholic University of Portugal, said he was grateful for the support. We now have international aid coming in to try to save as many lives as we can, he said. But the time will come to assess what went wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Covid Tracking Project, a trusted source of data, will end on March 7. The Covid Tracking Project, hosted by The Atlantic magazine, was run by a small team of employees and lots of volunteers. The Covid Tracking Project, one of the most trusted sources of coronavirus-related public health data in the U.S., announced this week that it will shut down soon, with its last daily updates coming on March 7, the anniversary of its founding. Hosted by The Atlantic magazine and run by a small team of employees and scores of volunteers, the project is one of a number of nongovernmental efforts that sprang up over the past year to track and document with hard data the scope and trajectory of the coronavirus epidemic, one of the worst public health crises in the nations history, as well as the contours of the government response. It was particularly noteworthy for keeping close tabs on coronavirus hospitalizations, as well as data on testing and newly reported cases in individual states and the nation. The projects co-leaders, Erin Kissane and Alexis Madrigal, said in a statement posted to its website that the federal government was now providing more of the essential real-time pandemic data than the project has been offering. They also noted that a number of nongovernment sources were still delivering outside checks on federal public health data. Among the sources they mentioned were a federal vaccine tracker website and a county-level hospitalization tracker run by the University of Minnesota. Although substantial gaps and complexities remain, we have seen persuasive evidence that the C.D.C. and H.H.S. are now both able and willing to take on the countrys massive deficits in public health data infrastructure, and to offer the best available data and science communication in the interim, they wrote, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Coronavirus Tracking Projects data has been cited extensively by researchers, by the news media (including The New York Times), and by the government itself. The project grew out of an article that Mr. Madrigal, a staff writer for The Atlantic, reported in March along with a colleague, Robinson Meyer. At that time, Trump administration officials were boasting about setting up a robust testing program. The journalists called every state, and could only verify that 1,895 people had been tested up to that point. Bloomberg Businessweek wrote in November that the project was in some ways the quintessential pandemic-era startup, existing almost entirely on Slack, the workplace messaging platform. The headline called the participants, many of whom have never met in person, data heroes. Mr. Madrigal, in an interview on Tuesday, seemed to agree. Its been a real source of strength to see all these different people pull together, even at a time when the country was flailing, he said. After the projects final daily update on March 7, Mr. Madrigal and Ms. Kissane said, the project would spend two more months on documentation, analysis and archival work before shutting down entirely in May. global roundup Iran will receive its first vaccines from Russia, and other news from around the world. A shipment of Russias Sputnik V vaccine will arrive in Iran this week. Credit... Yuri Kochetkov/EPA, via Shutterstock Iran announced on Tuesday that its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine, Russias Sputnik V, would arrive on Thursday. It coincided with a study published Tuesday in a British medical journal that the vaccine was safe and effective. The news could not come at a better time for Iran. Vaccines, like everything else in the Islamic Republic, have been politicized and subject to disinformation from the top down. Irans supreme leader has declared a ban on importing American- and British-made vaccines, saying they could not be trusted. The Iranian health ministry canceled a batch of donated Pfizer doses and said it would import vaccines from Russia and China and co-develop a vaccine with Cuba. For weeks, senior Iranian health officials have publicly argued over whether it was safe to inoculate Iranians with the Russian vaccine because it had not been approved by the World Health Organization or any Western medical agency. Before the Lancet study said that Sputnik V had a 91.6 percent efficacy rate against the coronavirus, several high-profile Iranians had expressed skepticism about it, including Irans top infectious disease official and the head of Parliaments health committee. And 98 physicians from Irans largest union of medical workers wrote a letter last week to President Hassan Rouhani urging him not to purchase the unapproved and unsafe Sputnik vaccine. Other health officials pushed back defending the Russian vaccine, including the health minister and his former spokesman. On Twitter, a hashtag trending in Persian was #buysafevaccines, as many Iranians declared they would reject Russian- and Chinese-made vaccines. In other news from around the world: Chile announced that it has started an ambitious mass vaccination program, with the goal of inoculating five million people by the end of March. For now, it is prioritizing high-risk groups like health care workers, child care home workers, those who work in senior living facilities and older adults. The country said it had received about four million doses of Chinas Sinovac vaccine and expects to receive more than 10 million. New Zealand s drug regulator said on Wednesday that it had provisionally approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine but added 58 conditions, most of which require the manufacturer to supply extra data. Pfizer said last week that the first of the 1.5 million vaccines on order were expected to arrive before the end of February. New Zealands director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, has said that the country will be ready to start vaccinating people as soon as a vaccine arrives. The state of Victoria , Australia, declared the coronavirus technically eliminated on Wednesday for the second time after a month in which no new cases were recorded. The state government also announced a rollout plan for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is scheduled to begin in late February. Frontline health workers will be among those included in the first phase, and nine vaccination hubs will be established at the states major hospitals. This is a significant day in the response of the Victorian community to the pandemic, said Martin Foley, the states health minister. It turns a corner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Tuesday that his government had signed a tentative deal with Novavax to produce the companys coronavirus vaccine at a government facility in Montreal, once the drug and the site are approved by domestic regulators. Canada has a separate agreement to purchase 52 million doses of the Maryland-based companys drug, but its regulators have so far only approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Novavax is expected to deliver results from its Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States in March, and to deliver 100 million doses for use there later this year. Farnaz Fassihi, Sui-Lee Wee, Javier C. Hernandez and A judge ruled that Guantanamo is too risky for hearings in a Southeast Asian bombing case. A prisoner at the Camp 5 and 6 detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2019. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times A military judge on Tuesday indefinitely postponed the arraignment of three prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who were scheduled to make their first court appearance in 17 years of detention, finding that the coronavirus pandemic made it too risky to travel to the Navy base. The Indonesian prisoner known as Hambali, who has been held since 2003 as a former leader of a Southeast Asian extremist group, and two people accused of being his accomplices were scheduled to appear at the war court on Feb. 22. But Col. Charles L. Pritchard Jr., the military judge who was to travel to Guantanamo this week, ruled that the various counsels belief that their health is at significant risk by traveling to the base in Cuba was reasonable. Colonel Pritchard is the most recent military judge to join the Guantanamo military commissions bench, and the latest to postpone a proceeding as too risky in nearly a year of cancellations because of the coronavirus. Pretrial hearings in the death-penalty case against five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been delayed for a year. The judge, court staff and lawyers bound for the hearing began a quarantine in the Washington area over the weekend before a charter flight to the base on Thursday. Once there, the passengers were to be individually quarantined for 14 days under a plan devised by prosecutors to protect those living on the base of 6,000 residents and at the prison from the threat of infection. The case had been dormant throughout the Trump administration, but on the second day of the Biden administration, a senior Pentagon official appointed under the Trump administration who had been put in charge of the military commissions approved the prosecutions. The defendants include Mr. Hambali, who is charged as Encep Nurjaman and accused of being the former leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, and those accused of being his accomplices, Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep and Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, who are Malaysian. The three men were captured in Thailand in 2003 and are charged with conspiring in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, which killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 80. They spent their first three years in the C.I.A.s secret prisoner network before they were transferred to Guantanamo for trial in 2006. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Andrew Yang, now running for N.Y.C. mayor, says he has tested positive. Andrew Yang in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn after announcing his candidacy for mayor in January. He had been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times Andrew Yang, who ran for president last year and is now a leading New York City mayoral candidate, announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. After testing negative as recently as this weekend, today I took a Covid rapid test and received a positive result, Mr. Yang said in a statement. I am experiencing mild symptoms, but am otherwise feeling well and in good spirits. I will quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines and follow the advice of my doctor. More than perhaps any rival in the race, Mr. Yang has been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic, holding numerous events outdoors since announcing his candidacy last month. His approach has generated voter enthusiasm and attracted media attention, but with clear risks. A member of his staff tested positive less than a week after he announced his candidacy. Two other mayoral candidates, Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller whose mother died of complications from Covid-19, and Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, have had to quarantine recently, though they have generally been more cautious about in-person campaigning. An entrepreneur with no previous experience in electoral politics, Mr. Yang mounted a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 that raised his public profile and won him many fans, especially among younger voters. But he never became a significant factor in the race, and dropped out after the New Hampshire primary. In his statement on Tuesday, Mr. Yang said, I will continue to attend as many virtual events as possible, and said he looked forward to hitting the trail again when the time is right. He said his campaign has begun the contract-tracing process. Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine will bring in $15 billion this year. Joseph Cruz, a pharmacy manager, preparing a dose of Pfizers vaccine at a community center in Teaneck, N.J., last month. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times The drug maker Pfizer expects its Covid-19 vaccine to generate $15 billion in revenue this year, executives said Tuesday on a call with investors to discuss the companys fourth-quarter earnings in 2020. Pfizer and other companies have struggled to keep up with the demand for their vaccines, as the United States and countries around the world are scrambling to vaccinate as many people as possible to combat the spread of more contagious variants. In comments to investors on Tuesday, the companys chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, said Pfizer had delivered 29 million doses to the United States by the end of January, and 65 million doses worldwide, and that it expected to manufacture up to 2 billion doses by the end of the year. It shares profits with BioNTech, the German company that developed the vaccine. Dr. Bourla also said Pfizer now expects to deliver the 200 million doses, for about $4 billion, that it had promised to the United States two months ahead of time, by May instead of July. That accelerated timeline can be attributed in large part to Pfizer now counting six doses in every vial of vaccine that it ships instead of five after health care providers learned they could extract an additional dose using special syringes. We foresee no issues with delivering the commitments we have made, Dr. Bourla said. And, in an indication that the coronavirus may be here to stay, Dr. Bourla said he expects the vaccine to become a standard part of its business, given the likely need for booster shots to address waning immunity to the virus as well as variants that could reduce its effectiveness. Pfizer has said that preliminary tests of its vaccine against more contagious variants have shown that it continues to be effective, but suggested that a third shot of the same vaccine may be needed, and the company has also not ruled out changing its vaccine to address the new variants. Moderna, which has developed a similar vaccine, has said it is already working on an adapted booster shot. We believe it is increasingly likely that a durable Covid-19 vaccine revenue stream, like is happening in flu, is a potential outcome, Dr. Bourla said. Captain Tom, the centenarian who raised millions for British hospitals, has died. Captain Tom Moore at his home in September. Credit... Dylan Martinez/Reuters Tom Moore, the 100-year-old British Army veteran whose charity walks raised $45 million and made him a national symbol of pluck during the coronavirus pandemic, died on Tuesday. His death was announced on his Twitter account. Mr. Moore, nicknamed Captain Tom by the British press, had been treated for pneumonia in recent weeks and tested positive for the coronavirus last month, his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, said on Twitter on Sunday. He was taken to a hospital because he needed help breathing, she said, and his condition then deteriorated. Dapper, spry and droll, Mr. Moore ambled his way into the hearts of people across Britain 82 steps at a time the number it took to cover the length of a brick patio beside his garden in Marston Moretaine, a village an hour north of London. He did 100 laps before turning 100 last April. With backing from donors including Prince William, who called him a one-man fund-raising machine, Mr. Moore quickly raised 32.8 million pounds, or $45 million, for the National Health Service. In the process, Mr. Moore became a pop-culture phenomenon, with television appearances, a book deal, a chart-topping song and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who came out of seclusion to bestow the honor in July. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Democrats move to advance Biden stimulus plan through reconciliation, drawing Republicans ire. Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said he would vote to move forward with the budget process. Credit... Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Democrats on Tuesday took the first step to push through President Bidens $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, using a budgetary maneuver that could eventually allow the measure to become law without Republican support. The move advanced the two-track strategy that Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders are employing to speed the aid package through Congress: show Republicans that they have the votes to pass an ambitious spending bill with only Democratic backing, but offer to negotiate some details in hopes of gaining Republican support. We are not going to dilute, dither or delay, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on the Senate floor. Theres nothing about the process itself that prevents bipartisanship. The party-line vote of 50 to 49 set the stage for Democrats to advance Mr. Bidens plan through budget reconciliation, which would allow it to pass with a simple majority vote, bypassing the need for Republican support. (Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, was absent and did not vote.) Theyve chosen a totally partisan path, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, said of Senate Democrats. The vote came the day after 10 Republican senators met at the White House with Mr. Biden seeking a smaller, $618 billion package they said could win bipartisan backing. Some Republican senators considered Mr. Biden receptive to their proposals, but said his chief of staff, Ron Klain, shook his head dismissively during the Republicans presentation, according to a participant in the meeting. Senate Democrats could approve the budget resolution as soon as Friday. On Tuesday, a key Democratic senator announced he would support it: Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is a crucial swing vote, said he would agree to move forward with the budget process because we must address the urgency of the Covid-19 crisis. I will only support proposals that will get us through and end the pain of this pandemic, Mr. Manchin said in a statement. Mr. Manchin also reiterated his opposition to Mr. Bidens proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which could force Democrats to drop it from their legislative package. The budget resolution would instruct congressional committees to draft legislation that could include Mr. Bidens stimulus proposal, which includes $1,400 direct payments for many Americans, funding for vaccine distribution, reopening schools and other measures. More than 100 Democratic lawmakers are also urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Mr. Schumer to repeal a business tax break as part of the economic aid package. The tax cuts in question which center on so-called net operating losses were included in a rescue bill Congress passed in March 2020, as the pandemic spread and the nation was in the midst of a recession. On Tuesday, an influential business group that had welcomed Mr. Bidens initial proposal urged him to work with Republicans on a compromise and to scale back his plans, including providing less aid for the unemployed and scrapping a call for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Luke Broadwater and California prison authorities created a public health disaster at San Quentin, a watchdog report says. San Quentin State Prison had no reported cases of Covid-19 before the state transferred 122 inmates there in May. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 have died, according to state data. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times California state prison health authorities created a public health disaster by pressing lower-ranking prison workers to hastily transfer inmates between prisons in the middle of a coronavirus outbreak, according to a watchdog report released this week. The transfers in May 2020, which were supposed to shift medically vulnerable prisoners away from danger, wound up igniting deadly new outbreaks at the facilities where they were sent, including San Quentin State Prison. The report by the California Office of the Inspector General found that authorities in the California Correctional Health Care Services, which oversees most of the states prison health care, ignored or overruled multiple warnings about the dangers of transferring the inmates. Our review found that the efforts by C.C.H.C.S. and the department to prepare for and execute the transfers were deeply flawed, and risked the health and lives of thousands of incarcerated persons and staff, the report concluded. San Quentin had not reported any cases of coronavirus before late May, when officials ordered the transfer of 122 inmates to San Quentin from another state prison, the California Institution for Men in Chino. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 died, according to state data. Sixty-seven inmates from the Chino prison were transferred to Corcoran State Prison, where a smaller outbreak later occurred, the report said. The inspector general found that 91 of the 122 inmates who were sent to San Quentin eventually tested positive, and two died. In an email response to a request for comment, the state prison health care system acknowledged making some mistakes. The transfers, the statement said, were based on a thoughtful risk analysis using scientific information available in May 2020 concerning transmission of this novel disease. We have acknowledged some mistakes were made in the process of these transfers. The statement said the prison system had made pandemic safety improvements, including increased testing, the use of designated isolation and quarantine spaces, and the enhanced use of personal protective equipment when indicated. The inspector generals report, released on Monday, found that prison health authorities overruled dire warnings from a number of nurses and other lower-ranking health officials about the transfers, including after the authorities were informed that only three of the 189 inmates scheduled for transfer had been recently tested. When concerns were raised about packing dozens of inmates into prison buses for a six-hour trip, a state prison health official brushed them aside, writing, the situation appears to outweigh the risks. The report did not name the official. Marion Wickerd, whose husband, a prisoner at San Quentin, was infected in June, said state prison authorities needed to be held accountable. The transfers were inhumane, and someone needs to take responsibility for what happened, she said. It was wrong. It was dead wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story California aims to speed up vaccines. Motorists lined up for Covid-19 vaccinations and testing in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles a week ago. Now California is working to streamline its vaccination process. Credit... Jae C. Hong/Associated Press As new virus cases and hospitalizations drop and increasing attention turns to the states vaccine rollout, California officials are attempting a fine balancing act between speeding the process up and ensuring that vulnerable populations arent shut out. On Tuesday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the states secretary of health and human services, said in a news conference that the two goals are not mutually exclusive. This notion that we have to make a choice between speed and equity its a false choice, he said. We can do both. But as has been the case throughout the fraught vaccine distribution in the nations most populous state, the details of how both of those goals can be achieved are more difficult to pin down. So far, more than 3.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in California, Dr. Ghaly said. The rate of vaccinations statewide, he said, has been building day by day, since a holiday surge of hospitalizations. According to a New York Times tracker, thats about 7.2 percent of the states population somewhere in the middle of the pack of states. However, the state has not yet released demographic statistics about who received the vaccines, so its unclear whether Latinos or other Californians of color who have been at disproportionate risk have been vaccinated at commensurate rates. Dr. Ghaly suggested state officials were weighing several methods of incentivizing vaccine providers to specifically target vulnerable communities, including paying them to get vaccines into harder hit neighborhoods, rather than forcing residents to go to mass vaccination sites that may be farther away. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced that the state would revamp its vaccine distribution approach in the wake of widespread criticism that the rollout has been confusing and piecemeal. Part of that restructuring involves a plan to enlist two of the states biggest health insurers, Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente, to help with a statewide distribution system that would prioritize equity and would help streamline a patchwork system. And the state launched a website and data portal that officials have said will not only notify Californians when they are eligible for a vaccine and help them make appointments to do so, but would also help collect and share data with federal officials or others who may be working to allocate vaccines. Experts have said that enlisting bigger, more experienced health care providers could help accelerate a vaccine rollout that has been hampered by the fact that its been implemented by already overwhelmed local public health departments. On Tuesday, though, Dr. Ghaly repeatedly declined to share details of the partnerships, beyond that any transitions to new systems would not disrupt existing appointments. Forty-nine states have widened vaccine eligibility. Rhode Island is the holdout. Delivering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence in December. The state has moved more slowly than most others in inoculating its residents. Credit... David Goldman/Associated Press Whether the threshold is 65 or 80, people who meet their states age requirement are eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccination shot in every U.S. state but one. The exception: Rhode Island, the only state still in the first phase of its vaccination campaign, which restricts access to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. If Barbara Diener, 65, had known she still wouldnt be eligible for the vaccine in Rhode Island where she and her husband moved to be closer to family she said they might not have moved there in November from Georgia, where anyone 65 or older can get a shot. We moved here three months ago from Georgia, where everyone I know has been vaccinated, said Ms. Diener, a travel agent. Were a little disappointed that the state of Rhode Island, being as small as it is, just cant get it together. The state health director, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, said last week that Rhode Island was expanding eligibility slowly because the state wanted to make sure that the people most at risk were vaccinated first. In addition to how many people you vaccinate, who you vaccinate matters, Dr. Alexander-Scott said. And thats what distinguishes Rhode Island, and how we are taking this thoughtful approach. Where older adults are eligible for vaccines Most states have started vaccinating older adults, though the minimum eligibility age varies widely. 65+ 70+ 75+ 80+ Not yet prioritizing by age *Eligible only in some counties. Data as recent as Feb. 2. Sources: State and county health departments. Sources: State and county health departments. Ms. Diener and her husband both came down with Covid-19 last March, and her husband was hospitalized for two weeks. They want to get inoculated as soon as they can. But since neighboring states are limiting vaccinations to their own residents, they have little choice but to wait. My doctor is in Massachusetts, because were so close in proximity, but I cant get it in Massachusetts either, Ms. Diener said. Rhode Islands health department said last week that it was starting to vaccinate a small number of especially vulnerable people 75 and older people who are part of a registry indicating that they need extra assistance during an emergency. In about two weeks, the department plans to start making doses available to everyone in that age group. State residents ages 65 to 74 are forecast to become eligible at the end of the month, according to the health departments projections. Dr. Alexander-Scott said the state was being strategic because of its very limited supply of vaccine. The state has administered about 54 percent of its available vaccine doses so far, and has given at least one of the two required shots to 6.5 percent of its population, a lower proportion than most other states. A T-shirt with the Wu-Tang Clan symbol is at the center of a dispute between China and Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing. A T-shirt made for embassy staff members who repatriated Canadians from the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has been criticized by the Chinese government. Credit... Andy Wong/Associated Press To hip-hop fans, it is an instantly recognizable symbol, a flying letter W that represents the Wu-Tang Clan, the New York rap collective. To the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it suggests something else: a bat. And so, when Canadian diplomats in China ordered T-shirts with the symbol behind the word Wuhan, it became a minor diplomatic incident. The Chinese side is shocked by this and has lodged stern representations with the Canadian Embassy in China, demanding that the Canadian side immediately thoroughly investigate the incident and give China a clear explanation, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a news conference on Monday. Bats are considered one of the possible original hosts of the coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and they have appeared in memes about Chinese eating habits that have been criticized as racist. The Chinese authorities have tried to play down the pandemics origins in Wuhan, instead pushing dubious theories that the virus may have emerged earlier in Europe, the United States or elsewhere. A spokesperson for Canadas foreign service told the Reuters news agency that the T-shirt did not depict a bat. The T-shirt logo designed by a member of the embassy shows a stylized W, and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the team of embassy staff working on repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020, the spokesperson said by email on Tuesday. We regret the misunderstanding. Relations between China and Canada have been tense since December 2018, when Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at the Chinese tech giant Huawei who was wanted on fraud charges in the United States. Two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested in China soon after in an apparent act of retaliation. They have been accused of espionage and remain held in China under isolated and harsh conditions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Australians in lockdown are driven from their homes by a wildfire. Flames near a property under construction in Perth, Australia, on Tuesday. Credit... Paul Kane/Getty Images MELBOURNE, Australia Just days after residents of Perth, Australias fourth-largest city, were ordered to stay in because of the coronavirus, some were forced to flee their homes on Tuesday as a ferocious wildfire bore down on the citys outskirts. The blaze northeast of Perth, which began on Monday and was fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions, was out of control by about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, officials said. Residents described a confused scramble in the middle of the night, as they were unsure where they were supposed to go in light of the lockdown rules. We wish it would be either one or the other, not both, Gemma Martin, a 33-year-old hospitality worker who fled with her three children, said of the fire and the lockdown. By Tuesday afternoon, close to 20,000 acres had been razed and dozens of properties had been destroyed. Its still a very, very active and very aggressive fire and very much out of control, said Kevin Bailey, mayor of the City of Swan, a region within the Perth metropolitan area where the blaze had done the most damage. The fire, reminiscent of the infernos that devoured Australias southeast coast more than a year ago, is another reminder that as climate change spurs more frequent and intense natural disasters, Australia and other countries are likely to find themselves dealing with intersecting catastrophes. Perth and the surrounding area were put on a strict lockdown on Sunday because of a single coronavirus case, the first one outside quarantine in the state of Western Australia in almost 10 months. The wildfire started around noon the next day, sparked by a house fire, according to Mr. Bailey, the mayor. Ms. Martin said that while the dual disasters were overwhelming, if anything, last year taught us to be grateful for what we do have, and to be resilient. 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. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Indiana State University is on day number 2 of the continual celebration of Black History Month. This year, the celebration looks a bit different due to the pandemic. But organizers say they were not going to let anything stop them. "This is American history this isn't just black history and knowing what we've been able to do here in the United States and just across the world is just like we need a breather to just focus on the joy," says Director of the Charles E. Brown African American Cultural Center Dr. Tiffany Reed. Dr. Reed says this month is important for students to celebrate the accomplishments of various black folks like Madam Vice President Kamala Harris. "I am thankful that she is in that role because like she's said although she's the first she won't be the last and I think that is very very important for not just our Indiana state students but young black women and young black children and black girls to see how you can be whatever you want to be and no one can stop you from doing that," says Dr. Reed. She says the movement still means the same as it did back in the day, and only the style has changed. "When I think of my grandmother understanding her movement was around the suffrage march and civil rights movement. Their movement right now is the black lives matter movement the say her name movement. Really thinking about equity, diversity, equity, and inclusion," says Dr. Reed. The theme this year is Lift every voice - All black lives matter. The events this year will be virtual Dr. Reed says but still powerful. "This is a time for you to lean in and want to learn more or shut down because you don't know and so this is an opportunity where I'm challenging the entire Indiana State University campus the Terre Haute community and the state of Indiana that during black history month, let's all lean in," says Dr. Reed. Dr. Reed says these programs and events are open to anybody in the Wabash valley. You can head to ISU's website for the full rundown. In honor of Black History Month, Chattanooga State will present a series of virtual events open to the campus and community during February. The Bond Arts & Culture Series, The Ties That Bond, will kick off February with a Tribute to C.C. Bond, a video presentation on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The late Dr. Claude C. Bond was a longtime educator and activist known in the community for his work toward improving race relations. Viewers may log on at any point and watch the tribute here. Dr. Adonijah Bakari will present Hidden Facts and Truths About Black History, a BHM seminar, covering African history, culture, religion, and philosophical thoughts on Feb. 10 from noon-1:30 p.m. This presentation can be accessed on zoom.us. Enter Meeting ID 985 6875 5992 with Passcode 272121. Dr. Bakari, a Temple University graduate with a Ph.D. in African American Studies, is the chair of Middle Tennessee State Universitys Africana Studies Program and the co-founder and co-director of Brother-to-Brother, a Nashville-based initiative that seeks to empower young men, their families and communities through social service, economic development and educational enrichment programs. An international traveler, Dr. Bakari has visited African nations and studied in Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru and Australia. An amazing lineup of films will offer individuals the chance to view seven films streaming now on Hulu, Netflix or PBS. Students and employees of Chattanooga State can access most of the films for free through the Kolwyck Library & Information Commons (KLIC). Panel discussions will be hosted during the African American Film Festival scheduled for Feb. 16-18. See times and Zoom login information below. On Feb. 24, Dr. Jameta Barlow will discuss Black Health and Wellness. Movie Panel Discussions: BlackKklansman // Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. Discussion with Criminal Investigator Chuck Martin WATCH>> https://bit.ly/3onwP9b | Meeting ID 953 1296 4692 | Passcode 852591 Good Trouble // Feb. 17 at noon. Discussion with Bettie Mae Fikes, the Voice of Selma WATCH>> https//bit.ly/3a8DK0Q | Meeting ID 961 0342 7129| Passcode 239593 If Beale Street Could Talk // Feb. 17 at 1:15 p.m. Discussion with Chattanooga State BOSS Director Amanda Jordan and her husband Pastor JaMichael Jordan WATCH>> https://bit.ly/2YkFZsG | Meeting ID 962 9819 0739| Passcode 035761 I Am Not Your Negro // Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. Discussion with Dr. Felysha Jenkins and Chaplain Chris Jones WATCH>> https://bit.ly/3cl1sKk | Meeting ID 990 7212 6358| Passcode 408347 See You Yesterday // Feb. 18 at noon Discussion with the writer of the film Stefon Bristol WATCH>> https://www.netflix.com/ Boss - The Black Experience in Business // Feb. 18 at 1:15 p.m. Discussion with Avanades Jamal Pope and Jonathan Norris from the U.S. Bank WATCH>> https://bit.ly/3t62O1h | Meeting ID 940 1054 0332| Passcode 741844 Blacking Up - Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity // Feb. 18 at noon Discussion with Dr. Christopher Emdin, Columbia University WATCH>> https://bit.ly/3iXhAml | Meeting ID 955 8776 3622 | Passcode 375091 Final Event: Black Health & Wellness // Feb. 24 at noon Dr. Jameta Barlow will discuss wellness and disparities in African American health DISCUSSION PANEL>> zoom.us | Meeting ID 977 4903 2216| Passcode 315987 For more information about these events, contact Stacee Jones at 423-697-2409 or by email stracee.jones@chattanoogastate.edu. There are certain things about communicating digitally that dont always translate so easily, and of those things, experts said, is how we communicate with our bosses. (Heidi Younger/The New York Times) Tim Herrera Remember the good old days, when you could clear up an ambiguously curt email from your boss with a stroll by her desk? Or when the anxiety of getting a dreaded We need to chat Slack message could be alleviated with a quick pop-in? If only we knew how good we had it! By this point, those of us who have moved to working from home have figured out the big stuff. Maybe your kitchen doubles as a desk now, and your pet has become a frequent surprise guest in your Zoom meetings, but nearly a year into the pandemic most of us are making it work. But there are certain things about communicating digitally that dont always translate so easily, and of those things, experts said, is how we communicate with our bosses. And if yours wasnt great before the age of working from home, odds are he or she hasnt improved. But that doesnt mean there isnt hope to salvage the relationship and now, as pandemic fatigue has fully set in, may be a better time than ever, said Mollie West Duffy, a co-author of No Hard Feelings, which looks at how emotions affect our work lives. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show We know through research that were much more likely to read into a lack of emotion in digital communication as being negative, because were missing all the context cues, West Duffy said. So if your boss says, I want to chat tomorrow without saying something like I think you did a great job and I just have some comments, youre going to assume your boss has something negative to say. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here She added that because a return to normalcy is kinda-sorta on the horizon, were in a transitional moment, and we like to capitalize on transition moments because it makes having these conversations that can be awkward a little less awkward. (However: If your relationship with your boss has veered into territory that cant be fixed with a few conversations, it may be time to escalate more on that later.) Establishing how to interact Outside the work itself, a poor relationship with ones manager often boils down to bad communication, said Mary Abbajay, author of Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work and Succeed With Any Type of Boss. This was true in normal times, and is even more so now that were unable to read body language and other nonverbal cues that provide useful context and information when we communicate. Establishing how to interact is just as important as the actual communication itself. A lot of times we have conflict because we prefer different forms of communication, Abbajay said. You want to make sure youre having conversations with your colleagues around how you want to communicate and what kinds of things are going to be communicated in what way. For example: Because home has become the office for so many of us, finding the time and space to have a conversation may not be as simple as starting up a Zoom from the kitchen table. It could mean asking a partner to watch the children, scheduling around the cooking of meals or finding a quiet room. So being flexible with how we have those conversations can alleviate a lot of misunderstanding around the substance of a chat, Abbajay said. Check here for the latest updates on all COVID-19 vaccines Maybe your boss would prefer a text over an email, or a Slack message over a video chat. But whatever the medium, knowing how to communicate can be just as important as what youre saying. Make sure that youre communicating and adapting to other peoples preferences in terms of getting their attention and time, Abbajay said. She agreed with West Duffy that now would be a good time to check in and have that talk, as annual reviews may be happening and the new year is a good excuse to do an evaluation about whats working and whats not. Take the time to really assess how well the virtual engagement and communication is going, she said. Whats working well? What are the ways were not communicating well? Managing your manager There are many types of bad bosses, Abbajay told me a few years ago. You might have a ghost boss (someone whos seemingly never around), a seagull (bosses who, she said, swoop and poop or swoop and scoop, meaning they divebomb into a project and leave a mess behind or they dive into it and take it away from you), or a simple incompetent. Of course, most managers are a combination of styles. But working remotely can add entirely new layers to those archetypes and we may be behaving in those ways ourselves, too. The pandemic has turned a lot of us into ghosts, Abbajay said. Its going to be up to you to help your manager learn how to manage remotely. Directness, West Duffy said, is often the best way to get what you need from your manager, and being proactive and naming an issue rather than hoping it will go away on its own can help give you agency in improving a bad situation. If you think the relationship isnt great, chances are your boss thinks that, too, she said. Just naming that and saying, I know its been difficult to communicate, and being on the same page during the pandemic can clear the air and help you train your manager on how best to manage you. Having these conversations is never easy, but going into them well prepared can help you get what you need, West Duffy said. Write down what you think the pain points are, and think through the language you want to use to discuss them. Use statements of fact, like When you do this, it affects me this way, and avoid ambiguity by saying, Help me understand the issue. It helps us mentally to go into these conversations not only knowing the topics, but knowing the words youll say, West Duffy said. Also keep in mind that your managers are dealing with their own stressors at home outside the job, and have compassion and empathy about the ways that may be influencing their approach to work, Abbajay said. You always want to assume positive intent and give a little grace, she said. People are stressed, and this is a very weird time. West Duffy added: We dont know" whats going on "in someones personal lives, home lives, the calls theyve just been on. We just have this one little slice, and emotions bleed into other meetings and we just dont know. So there is a little bit of giving them the benefit of the doubt and depersonalizing it a little bit. When a conversation cant fix it Now, all that said: A stressful world is not an excuse for rude, abusive, inappropriate or otherwise beyond-the-pale behavior from a manager or a co-worker. If your bosss behavior is beyond ghosting on an email thread or being unclear about expectations, its important to recognize that you have a right to a safe environment. No amount of clearing the air will fix an abusive manager. Raising these issues with higher-ups or human resources can be tricky in a work-from-home world, so research your companys policies and protocols. Escalating during a pandemic is very hard, Abbajay said. If you have a bully boss or a truly toxic boss, do a little research about how your HR department handles that. This is all the more difficult for women and members of minority groups, who are often already at a disadvantage in the workplace and who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. But having a clear, specific plan about how to escalate a situation and what outcome you want can help. And most important: Document everything. If you need to escalate, do it, Abbajay said, and be really clear about what you need to get out of it. c.2021 The New York Times Company YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. 8 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Artsakh in the past 24 hours. 94 tests were conducted on February 2, the ministry of healthcare told Armenpress. The number of active cases is 21. The ministry of healthcare has again urged the citizens to follow all the rules to avoid new outbreaks and overcome the disease. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A worker is seen working on a road construction in the southern province of Long An in January, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam. Experts say they expect more pronounced support for the private sector from Vietnam's new leadership in the coming years. Although the country has witnessed impressive economic transformation in the last three decades, there was still work that government leaders need to do to promote its ongoing push for reforms, said Yun Liu, an economist with HSBC Global Research. Improving the business environment should be a priority, she told VnExpress International, adding: "To encourage private investor participation, more reforms are needed to address lingering issues and create a better investment climate." Business leaders have repeatedly said that going through the complicated paperwork process remains one of the biggest challenges they face in Vietnam. Do Trong Khoa, chairman of construction firm Hong Linh Investment and Tourism in the central province of Ha Tinh, told local media that there are times when the implementation of a decision by provincial authorities takes several months, unduly delaying the companys projects. Other companies said they expect more fairness from the new administration. Le Duy Binh, CEO of Hanoi-based consultancy firm Economica Vietnam, said the government should refrain from interfering with businesses decisions to ensure a free market. It should issue policies that benefit all three sectors of the economy, state-owned enterprises, private companies and foreign direct investment companies, he added. Andrew Jeffries, ADB country director for Vietnam, said a level playing field for private and state-owned enterprises means both would have equal access to land and credit. "The development of efficient land and capital markets would facilitate and make more transparent this access to land and capital." He added that another priority should be providing private companies with adequate information on government procurement processes and needs and external markets, which would improve linkages between suppliers and buyers and generate more business opportunities. Nicolas Audier, Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said as private enterprise will continue to be at the heart of Vietnams success in the future, the government should continue to streamline administrative procedures, modernize the legal framework, and open more sectors to foreign investment and innovation. Increasing the countrys labor force quality is another key task, experts said. Liu of HSBC said while labor availability to move from agriculture to manufacturing is an opportunity, the lack of productivity presents a challenge. Vietnam should focus on improving the quality of its education and vocational training to take full advantage of its demographic dividends, she added. One way to increase productivity is by digitalizing the economy, Audier said. "The governments ambition to digitalize different sectors and industries will accelerate the shift from labor-intensive, natural resource-dependent jobs to higher value-added work." Jeffries of ADB said human resource development for digital transformation should be done at all levels of education, including technical and vocational education. "Firms participation in education, including the design of curriculum, will be useful in improving the skills and employability of graduates." Several experts remarked on the need to improve infrastructure quality. Although official figures show that about 85 percent of the governments investment has gone to infrastructure development in recent years, experts said there were many shortcomings still, especially the lack of a uniform infrastructure network between regions, which hinders connectivity. "In addition to upgrading, Vietnam requires large investments in new infrastructure. Given its ambitious projects and growing budget constraints, we think the public-private partnership (PPP) model has emerged as a sustainable solution," Liu said. Other experts called for greater attention to resolving environmental issues that could hamper growth. Jacques Morisset, World Bank lead economist and program leader for Vietnam, said the increasing pollution in Hanoi and rising water levels in the Mekong Delta are some of the examples of the environmental impacts on Vietnams economy. Besides developing new technologies and improving skills, the government should also adopt environment-friendly policies that ensure sustainable growth, he added. Experts say drastic improvements in institutions, labor quality and infrastructure will allow Vietnam to exceed its growth target. Takeo Nakajima, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Hanoi, said that a 6-8 percent growth target is modest, considering the relatively small size of the Vietnamese economy. "New pillars to grow are digital transformation, start-ups, innovation, healthcare, and carbon-neutral industries. If all these combine, Vietnam will be the next Asian economic leader," he said. The 13th Communist Party Central Committee on Sunday elected Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong for another five-year term as Party chief, his third consecutive tenure. Trong said last week that Vietnam should strive to become a developed country by mid-21st century. Some of the Partys economic goals for the upcoming years include having about 1.5 million private companies making up 55 percent of GDP by 2025, versus 700,000 representing 42 percent now. Average economic growth of 6.5-7 percent during 2021-2025, compared to 5.9 percent in the last five years. It also aims to increase per capita GDP to $4,700-5,000 by 2025 from $2,750 at the end of last year. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses reporters during his first press briefing at the State Department in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Carlos Barria/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) US Extends Nuclear Treaty With Russia for 5 Years Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Feb. 3 that the United States has extended the last remaining nuclear weapons treaty with Russia for five years. The New START treaty, which came into force in 2011, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads held by each nation to 1,550 and the number of deployed nuclear missiles and bombers to 700. The treaty also includes a verification regime that allows both nations to ensure mutual compliance through onsite inspections. Especially during times of tension, verifiable limits on Russias intercontinental-range nuclear weapons are vitally important. Extending the New START Treaty makes the United States, U.S. allies and partners, and the world safer. An unconstrained nuclear competition would endanger us all, Blinken said in a statement. The Trump administration was working to extend the treaty and attempted to bring China, which isnt constrained by any nuclear treaty, into the fold. Blinken said efforts to have China join a treaty would continue. He noted that the Biden administration would also pursue a broader nuclear arms control pact with Russia. The United States will use the time provided by a five-year extension of the New START Treaty to pursue with the Russian Federation, in consultation with Congress and U.S. allies and partners, arms control that addresses all of its nuclear weapons. We will also pursue arms control to reduce the dangers from Chinas modern and growing nuclear arsenal, Blinken said. Since signing the treaty, Russia has announced the development and deployment of several missiles that pose serious challenges to U.S. missile defenses, including a nuclear missile with a virtually unlimited range, the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, and the Avangard glide vehicle. The United States and Russia withdrew from two major treaties during the Trump administration. Washington initiated the withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty after accusing Russia of violating the accord. Both nations eventually ended their obligations under the pact. Earlier this month, Russia announced that it would follow the United States to pull out of the Open Skies Treaty, which allowed surveillance flights over military facilities. Blinken said that even as the United States extends the New START treaty, it would remain clear-eyed to Russias alleged human rights abuses and adversarial actions. The Biden administration is considering its options to respond to Russias alleged SolarWinds hack, alleged election interference, and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. GREENWICH Officers responded to Greenwich Hospital around 3:30 a.m. Saturday on a report of an unruly patient, according to the arrest report. Police said a Stamford man assaulted a member of the hospital staff and made threats. Brian Dougherty, 51, of Seaton Road, was charged with assaulting a public health worker, threatening and disorderly conduct, police said. Bail was set at $10,000. Athanasia Sgouris, 58, of Main Street, Stamford, turned herself in at police headquarters last week to face an arrest warrant charging her with a number of financial crimes, police said. She was charged with forgery, larceny and identity theft. Bail was set at $150,000, and she was released after posting bond. Kenneth Natiss, 55, of East 73rd Street, New York City, was charged with voyeurism with malice and eavesdropping, according to his arrest report. He turned himself in at police headquarters Jan. 27 to face the arrest warrant, according to police. The case stemmed from the illicit placement of a small camera, police said. Bail was set at $15,000. Officers came across a motorist who was asleep at the wheel of a car parked on a grassy area off Glenville Road on the afternoon of Jan. 20, police said. A 39-year-old man from White Plains, N.Y., was charged with driving while intoxicated, and he was given a ticket for improper parking, police said. Dinora Martinez-Torres, 30, of Hollow Wood Lane, Greenwich, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct on the night of Jan. 28, police said. She struck another person in the face in the Pemberwick neighborhood, police said. Bail was set at $1,000. Victor Acosta, 36, of Union Street, New Haven, turned himself in at police headquarters Jan. 28, to face a range of criminal charges, police said. He had allegedly intruded into a residence in central Greenwich the day before, struck another person and took items, police said. Acosta was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, larceny, assault and reckless endangerment, police said. Bail was set at $150,000. Officers responding to a dispute on Saturday night made an arrest in the Byram section of town, police said. Irene Whitney, 40, of River Avenue, Greenwich, was charged with assault on an elderly person and disorderly conduct, police said. Police said she pushed another person, causing injury. Bail was set at $1,000. URUMQI, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has registered better-than-expected economic growth in 2020 despite the impact of COVID-19. With continued stability over the years, local people's sense of contentment and happiness has been consolidated and rural residents are among the biggest beneficiaries. Xinjiang's economy expanded 3.4 percent year on year in 2020, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national GDP growth, according to the local government work report delivered to the annual session of the regional legislature, which opened Monday. The economic expansion has coincided with a period of improved, sustained stability in the region. Xinjiang has "completely reversed the past situation marked by frequent violent terrorist activities, with no occurrence of terrorist incidents across the region over the past more than four years," said Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, as he delivered the work report. "People of all ethnic groups have significantly increased their sense of fulfillment, happiness and security," Shohrat Zakir said. Xinjiang will stay committed to fighting terrorism and maintaining stability with effective, law-based measures, he said. In a historic feat, the region has eliminated absolute poverty, with some 3.06 million rural residents lifted out of poverty in the past five years. Xinjiang sailed through three rounds of COVID-19 cluster outbreaks last year, which weighed upon the performance of one of China's main agricultural bases. The secondary sector, including manufacturing and construction, was the primary contributor to growth. Fixed-asset investment grew 16.2 percent over the previous year. On the upside, the region registered robust growth from new economic drivers, with a 27.6-percent year-on-year growth in online retail sales and a 25-percent year-on-year increase in high-tech manufacturing added value. The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 14,056 yuan (about 2,171 U.S. dollars), up 7.1 percent, as the region's anti-poverty campaign bore fruit. The increase was paced at 8.3 percent annually on average over the past five years, as more surplus rural labor force found stable jobs. In pursuing high-quality development, Xinjiang aims to keep its average annual economic growth rate at 6 percent or above in the 2021-2025 period, driven by key engines like the labor-intensive sector, the emerging industries and tourism, according to the government work report. Aiming to develop itself as a core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the region will also expand opening-up and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with neighboring countries, the report said. Xinjiang is well known for its outstanding natural beauty, attracting hundreds of millions of tourists from home and abroad every year. The region received more than 158 million tourists in 2020, and the regional government expects to receive more than 200 million this year and 400 million by 2025. "We've seen a tourism boom in recent years, as more people find Xinjiang a safe and beautiful place," said An Ping, a local lawmaker and owner of a two-story restaurant in Turpan, one of Xinjiang's best-known tourist destinations. "My main wish this year is for the COVID-19 epidemic to come to an end. I believe our business will rebound to the previous boom once the tourism market heats up," An said. Firefighters are bracing for more tough conditions as a devastating bushfire which has claimed at least 71 homes in Perth's north-east rages on for a fourth day. Thousands were ordered to flee their homes late Wednesday night, while others were told it was too late to leave as powerful southerly winds of up to 70km/h picked up. Authorities are fearing the worst with the number of homes lost expected to rise, after some locals battled in vain to save their properties. A bushfire emergency alert was issued on Thursday morning for more than a dozen areas in immediate danger. The fire in Wooroloo near Perth continues to burn out of control for a fourth day. Pictured is a home under threat as firefighters battle the inferno The devastation on evacuated resident Pamela Wheeler-Hart's face says it all after being told her Gidgegannup home has been destroyed (pictured on Wednesday) Hundreds of properties remain in the path of the raging bushfire in Perth's north-east. Pictured is a map of the affected areas 'You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes,' the Department of Fire and Emergency Services alert issued shortly before 3am Perth time (6am AEST) states. 'For people within the Clenton and Berry Road Gidgegannup area and Shady Hills Estate and East Bullsbook areas, its too late to leave and leaving now would be deadly.' Around 2,000 Shady Hills View and Bullsbrook were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday night while others in Avon Ridge, Joshua Mews, the area north-west of Gidgegannup and east of Walyunga National Park were told it was too late to leave. Authorities fear more homes were lost on Wednesday night (pictured, a gutted home in Perth's Hill district) No lives have been lost so far. Thousands of residents have sought refuge at a number of evacuation centres set up. Alternative accommodation has also been provided for hundreds of beloved pets and animals left homeless by the fires. The Magic Million complex has become a temporary home for displaced ponies, horses and goats with volunteers helping to feed and care for them. More than 70 homes were lost in the first three days of the bushfire (pictured, fires burn next to a home in Upper Swan) Thousands of residents and their animals have fled their homes under threat from bushfire this week. Pictured is Abbey Edwards with her pony Monty Hundreds of beloved pets have also been displaced by the bushfire, including this miniature pony (pictured) being offered a snack by a volunteer. More homes and lives were under threat on Wednesday night (pictured, a gutted home destroyed by bushfires in Perth's north-east) More than 70 homes have already been lost with that number expected to rise on Thursday morning. Pictured are crews battling the blaze at Wooroloo, near Perth The blaze is the state's worst bushfire disaster since 180 homes were lost in the south-west town of Yarloo in 2016. 'It's not looking good overnight, we will do our best to hold the fire spread and containment lines, but the wind is really against us.' a DFES spokesperson told the West Australian. 'It's not an easy fire to fight, life and property have been under threat for over three days... the fire has reached a perimeter of 120km.' Weather conditions are not expected to improve until the weekend when rain has been forecast. In the meantime, the area is set to endure warm temperatures with strong winds and low humidity. The fire has burned through about 10,000 hectares since it started in Wooroloo on Monday, with 300 firefighters battling the fire. A New South Wales Rural Fire Service tanker has arrived from the other side of the country and was immediately deployed to battle the blaze from above on Wednesday. The Magic Millions complex in the Swan Valley is currently housing hundreds of animals left homeless by the bushfires. Pictured is Trevor Blight feeding his Nigerian dwarf dairy goats Authorities fear more devastation has been called after winds picked up late Wednesday night. Pictured are firefighters battling the blaze at Wooroloo, which is now in its fourth day About 1,300 homes and businesses remained without electricity after the blaze damaged power lines and poles on Monday night. Premier Mark McGowan said Western Australia was in an 'unprecedented situation' with 80 per cent of state's population a five day lockdwon on top of the bushfire disaster. 'This is a situation the likes of which we have never seen before a full lockdown and raging bushfires,' he told reporters 'The fires have already devastated our community. To all those that have been impacted by the fires, can I say, every single West Australian is thinking of you today.' Myanmar citizens in Yangon clatter tins and pans to make noise to protest a military coup that toppled the civilian-led government a day earlier, Feb. 2, 2021. Shocked and angry citizens in cities across Myanmar banged pots and pans on Tuesday to register opposition to the military coup that deposed and arrested leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her civilian government, whose members appealed for a reversal of the takeover while the army announced its new ruling council. Moving to set up a military regime a day after the bloodless putsch, the army unveiled an 11-member State Administration Council headed by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, while some detained ruling party figures were released and others remained in custody or unaccounted for. Min Aung Hlaing took charge of legislative, administrative, and judiciary powers early Monday, hours before a newly elected parliament was to open. After a yearlong state of emergency and re-examination of voter lists the army claims produced fraud in last Novembers vote, new elections would be held, he said. On Tuesday, the National League for Democracy (NLD) called on military leaders to release all the detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and to respect the 2020 election results, declaring that military chief Min Aung Hlaings takeover violated the constitution and denied the rights of citizens. We urged [the military to take action] for the sake of democratic reform and democratic practice in Myanmar not just for the benefit of the NLD, said Aung Kyi Nyunt, an upper house lawmaker and member of the NLDs central executive committee. In Naypyidaw, military troops and police officers on Tuesday were still guarding the residences where newly elected lawmakers are housed, but there were fewer security forces on city streets and in residential quarters of the city. Lawmakers elected in Nov. 8 elections were told to go home because parliament was dissolved. Documents seized from an NLD office in Naypyidaw were returned, however, and a top military official told RFA on condition of anonymity that the military would release state and regional chief ministers. He also said that Union ministers would be let go soon, but he did not indicate whether they would be placed under house arrest or enjoy full freedom. In cities across Myanmar, a country of 54 million that has experienced long years of brutal military rule that only eased up in 2011, citizens found different ways to protest against the army takeover even as they dealt with tight restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Raucous banging of pots and pans was witnessed in Yangon, Mandalay, and other cities that remain under strict quarantine measures to combat COVID-19. Frontline health care workers in medial coveralls, masks, and gloves stopped work at a pediatric hospital in the central city of Mandalay to stage a peaceful protest against the coup, while doctors issued a statement urging other medical professionals to join their protest. Sushi Shin Thant, a youth activist from Mandalay, called the coup a shameless act that goes against promises made to the people of Myanmar. Now, everything has been cut short by this military coup, she said. It is a shocking surprise for all of us. Concerns over instability Residents of the commercial center Yangon, the largest city, stood in long lines to withdraw their savings from banks and ATM machines. One resident who took all his money out of a bank account said he was worried that he wouldnt be able to access his funds later if the situation got worse and led to economic instability. But Im staying positive that the situation wont get to that point, said the resident, who declined to give his name for safety reasons. I hope they wont be that cruel to the people. In Naypyidaw, where military troops continued to block the residences of elected lawmakers and are staffing security checkpoints, poet Teyzer Maung raised questions about the well-being of senior civilian-government leaders. We havent seen the civilian leaders in public view, he said. Because they are seniors, I am worried for their health. It is unacceptable to take down a democratically elected civilian government, he added. A vendor from the capitals Thabyae Gone market expressed concern for 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, who retains high popularity in Myanmar despite an international reputation damaged by the militarys expulsion of 740,000 Muslim Rohingya on her watch. I feel so sorry for Mother Suu, he said. I feel bad that she got detained. It was totally unanticipated. Government employee Zaw Min Oo said he cannot accept the new members of the government administration appointed by the military regime. We only want to report to the government leaders assigned by the elected party, he told RFA. We all know that military dictatorships have ruined the country, he added. No one will accept the new regime. We all strongly oppose the coup. A military armored vehicle travels along a street in Myitkyina, capital of northern Myanmar's Kachin state, Feb. 2, 2021, a day after the armed forces declared a coup. Credit: AFP Military lawlessness In Ayeyarwady region, Myo Min Paing from the Irrawaddy Region Youth Committee said the people do not accept the coup, which amounts to military lawlessness. It is lawlessness, and it is very selfish, he said. They violated the most fundamental principle of democracy. We have witnessed the impact of these military coups in the past. An organization that owes allegiance to the state and is sworn to protect the constitution is now acting selfishly, he added. Some NLD officials, including chief ministers detained during the coup, were released on Tuesday, party sources said. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, said despite the NLDs entreaties, the military stands by its claim that the coup was executed in accordance with the constitution. The charter, written by the military junta that ruled the country until 2011, allows the military chief to assume and exercise state sovereignty, with the permission of the president, during states of emergency that could cause the disintegration of the union. As far as I know, chief ministers were sent for and investigated, Thein Tun Oo said. Some were released after discussions, [but] some remain in custody. [The military] is likely to regard the NLDs statement as a political move, so there is no solution in sight, he added. The army is very likely to move forward with its plan. The new military regime announced Tuesday that the Naypyidaw city council assigned by the NLD government had been terminated, but the chairman of the council and six municipal committee members submitted resignation letters rather than serve under the military regime. They are not a democratically elected government, said committee member Min Thu. We can no longer continue our service when the head of our committee has been removed from his position. Aung San Suu Kyi reportedly is under house arrest at her residence in Naypyidaw, while President Win Myint has been transferred to a new location that is yet unknown. Zaw Myint Maung, chief minister of Mandalay who is an NLD member, said the chief ministers of other regions and states have been sent back to their state-owned homes but are cut off from communication with people on the outside, and the miltary regime has ordered them to vacate the houses in three days. The chief ministers of Kayin, Mon, Chin, and Shan states have been transferred to their state-owned homes but ordered to move out in three days, while the whereabouts of the chief ministers of Yangon, Ayeyarwady, and Tanintharyi regions remain unknown, party sources said. Coup determination by US An effort by the U.N. envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, to get the U.N. Security Council to issue a statement to condemn the militarys actions and call for the immediate release of all those detained was held up after China and Russia said in a closed-door session because they needed to send it to their capitals for review, the Associated Press quoted diplomats as saying. In Washington, the Biden administration formally determined that Mondays military takeover constituted a coup d'etat, a designation that requires the U.S. to cut aid provided directly to the government, but not other forms of aid. Officials said the bulk of U.S. assistance goes to nongovernmental groups and civic society, while the Myanmar military has not been eligible for U.S. military aid. "So the coup restrictions apply to U.S. foreign assistance for the Government of Burma, and well continue programs for ... the people of Burma that benefit them directly, including humanitarian assistance to Rohingya and other populations in need. But we will be conducting review of all our assistance programs for Burma," a U.S. official told a telephone briefing, where officials confirmed that $108.65 million in U.S. assistance was requested for FY 2021. As Naypyidaw returned to calm Tuesday, market vendor Mi Mi Khin said she worries that the coup will cause hardship for low-income people like her in Myanmar, Southeast Asias poorest country. I live from hand to mouth, she told RFA. The crisis among the politicians could cause havoc for ordinary citizens. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin and Paul Eckert. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) -- February 2, is World Wetlands Day. A day to celebrate wetlands and the impact they have on our environment. However, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, we also acknowledge the passing of a bill that could impact many wetlands here in the Hoosier state. On Monday, Senate Bill 389 passed with a 29-19 vote. I got reactions from those who support and oppose the bill. Rick Wajda, CEO of the Indiana Builders Association, said their members were pleased with the vote and look forward to what they can do if the bill becomes a law. "Many areas of the state and the country are near or at record lows for inventory. Homes continue to rise because the demand is there, and we're not producing enough new homes," "Our organization and our members want to continue to meet the needs of Hoosiers," said Wajda. Dr. Jim Brinson, an Assistant Professor of Ecology at Saint Mary of the Woods College in Vigo County, explained that although this bill might solve one problem, it will create many more. "Yes, you might be building more homes, you might be erecting more structures, but you're also putting those structures at risk. You're going to have long term costs because you're going to have more problems [to deal with], you're going to have people with water in their basements, you're going to have cities that are going to have to redo their infrastructure, and you're going to have state funds that the cities are going to seek. There will also be increased costs to mitigate what nature was already mitigating," explained Brinson. Wajda said IBA members are familiar with the legislation process and are hoping for the best. "There are a lot of opportunities for different groups, different policymakers, and other interested parties to have their voice heard in the process. Hopefully, at the end of the day, the end product is something that Hoosiers can support.," said Wajda. SB 389 will now head to the Indiana House of Representatives for its first reading. In a statement to the Indiana Environmental Reporter, Governor Eric Holcomb said, "We need to be confident that any changes in the law avoid harming drinking water quality, increasing the potential for flooding, or hurting the wildlife habitats used by our anglers and hunters." That concern is shared by environmentalists across the state. It's not too late to voice your support or opposition to the bill. To find your legislator's information, visit here Mumbai: Twitter is facing a backlash over freedom of speech after it suspended the accounts of 250 users at the request of the Indian government, which alleged they had sent provocative tweets. A legal order had been made by Indias ministry of electronics and IT, which said the accounts had committed incitement to genocide by using the hashtag ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide. On January 26, protesting farmers and the police had clashed in New Delhi over proposed agriculture bills that farmers argued would decimate their profits. One farmer died in the violence. A man uses a smartphone in Mumbai, India. Credit:Bloomberg Among the accounts suspended were that of Caravan India, an independent investigative news site; Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who is chief executive of the state-run broadcaster Prasar Bharti; and political commentator Sanjukta Basu. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The National Academy of Sciences of Armenia has issued a statement, appealing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden and President of France Emmanuel Macron the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries, to support UNESCO for the implementation of monitoring in order to assess the state of the cultural heritage in the territories of Artsakh that have come under the control of Azerbaijan. Armenpress presents the statement: The strategy of the top leadership of Azerbaijan during the months following the ceasefire agreement, which ended the war against Artsakh and was signed on the 9th November by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, along with falsification and militant rhetoric shared on social media and international platforms, leave no doubt that the present government of Azerbaijan will do its utmost to annihilate the efforts for establishing peace in the region and for de-Armenization of Artsakh. Due to hate speech, neglecting Armenians and everything connected with the Armenians, Armenophobia has become an important component of identity of the Azerbaijani society. The government of Azerbaijan that has made achievements in practices on alienation of indigenous people, ethnic cleansing, periodically recurring mass murders over the past century, pursues a policy of falsification of history of the region, destruction or Albanization of the Armenian cultural heritage to achieve its national goals these days. Discussion of an unfounded assertion with the involvement of Ilham Aliyev to declare the town of Shushi the cultural capital of the Turkic world, statement of the president of the Association of architects of Azerbaijan on destruction of the Armenian churches of Artsakh, appointment of Rafik Danakari, an Udi as a priest at the Dadivank monastery and demonstration of theatrical ritual ceremonies, provocative statements in the media about 300 Albanian churches in Artsakh are irrefutable evidences of implementation of this policy. The policy of destruction, alienation of the Armenian cultural heritage is presented to the international community as a step to reinstatement of the religious right of the Albanian nation, using for this purpose representatives of the Udi people, who live in Azerbaijan in the status of hostage. Currently, efforts are being made to implement the newly established project of the Udi Church. It became an important tool for the anti-Armenian national goal and falsification of history. The government of Azerbaijan never misses an opportunity to announce that the Udi Church is a successor of the Albanian Church and has the right to dispose the churches located within the territory of Artsakh, historical Utik and even modern-day Turkey, which are represented by Azerbaijani scholars-falsificators as Albanian churches. The meanness of this policy that does not maintain any criticism in the scientific sense and is minimally relevant to morality in the political sense, becomes less ambiguous when we look back at the history of the Albanian Church and historical path of the Udi people. Historical evidence suggests that throughout history the Albanian Church was closely related to the Armenian Church. After the period of apostles' teaching it was reestablished by Gregory, the grandson of Gregory the Illuminator in 330-332, and in the course of subsequent history was a part of the hierarchical system of the Armenian Church from the spiritual point of view. The heads of the Albanian Church were ordained by Catholicoi of the Armenian Church or sometimes upon their consent. During Medieval Period the Church of Caucasian Albania was completely Armenized, when in the 15th century the See of Catholicos was relocated to Gandzasar, the phrase Catholicos of Albania remained an honorary title, inherited from the past. In order to hide cases of destruction of objects of the Armenian cultural heritage and vandalism within the territories that came under control of Azerbaijan, statements are circulated by the head of the Azerbaijani state that Armenians allegedly destroyed 64 mosques of the 67 in the territory of Artsakh. This statement is an obvious lie and has political connotations. It is sufficient to note that according to the list of historical and cultural monuments protected by the state, which was approved by the government of Azerbaijan in 1988, twenty-seven mosques were recorded within the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and neighboring areas. In this list it is mentioned that there are 282 monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh. Currently, 3900 monuments are recorded and registered in Nagorno-Karabakh, including 241 monasteries and churches. Thanks to the field investigations, the list of monuments of Karvachar and Kashatagh was thoroughly updated. Around 750 monuments have been attested and recorded, including 53 monasteries and churches. This data suggests that falsification of the facts was an essential part of the state policy of Azerbaijan over the decades. After large-scale military aggression against Artsakh, the considerable part of these monuments came under control of Azerbaijan, and sooner or later they would suffer the same fate as the Armenian cultural heritage in the territory of Nakhichevan: the monuments would be either destroyed or, in a best-case scenario, renamed and Albanized. The National Academy of Sciences of Armenia believes that protection and guarantee of integrity of the Armenian cultural heritage within the territories that came under control of Azerbaijan is a key condition for sustainable peace in the region, overcoming the humanitarian crisis and requires immediate action. The National Academy of Sciences particularly appreciates performance of the obligation of the Russian peacekeeping forces to protect the Dadivank monastery and considers that peacekeeping activities should be expanded in order to exclude cases of vandalism and destruction of the historical-cultural monuments. The National Academy of Sciences appreciates the approval of regulations in the Resolution The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) adopted by the European Parliament on January 20th of the current year, about ensuring the safety of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, protection of the Armenian cultural heritage, safe return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes and immediate exchange of prisoners of war and bodies of the dead. Attaching particular importance to the Resolution 2347 adopted by the United Nations Security Council at its meeting on 24 March 2017 emphasizing that the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage, and the looting and smuggling of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts, notably by terrorist groups, and the attempt to deny historical roots and cultural diversity in this context can fuel and exacerbate conflict and hamper post-conflict national reconciliation, thereby undermining the security, stability, governance, social, economic and cultural development of affected States, the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia appeals to the heads of Co-Chair countries of the Minsk Group to support UNESCO for the implementation of monitoring in order to assess the state of the cultural heritage, situated in the territory of military actions. At the same time, we call on international organizations, dealing with protection of the cultural property, namely the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), to assist international alliance in the issues of protection of heritage in the conflict zones and encourage UNESCO to realize this initiative. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... New Mexico surpassed 175,000 cases of COVID-19 after recording an additional 670 cases along with 29 deaths from the virus in an update on Wednesday afternoon. The new numbers pushed the rolling averages to 659 cases and 20 deaths a day. Of the 29 most recent deaths, all but nine had reported underlying conditions. The deceased ranged in age, from their 40s to their 90s, and nine of the deceased were from Bernalillo County. The majority of new cases were from Bernalillo and Dona Ana counties with 161 and 95, respectively. So far, the state has recorded 175,652 cases and 3,338 deaths from the virus. There are currently 476 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Mexico and 107,645 cases have been designated as recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The source of heat that powers the volcanic system of Yellowstone National Park in the western US dates back to at least 50 million years ago, scientists say. Known as Yellowstone hotspot, this vast volcanic system has long been thought to have initiated about 17 million years ago. It's responsible for Yellowstone National Park's famous volcanic activity that draws swarms of tourists from around the world. This includes one of the park's most famous geothermal features, the Old Faithful geyser, which spews jets of boiling water every 44-125 minutes, as well as the Yellowstone Caldera, a dormant 'supervolcano'. 'A growing volume of geological evidence', however, suggests Yellowstone hotspot has been around much longer at least 50 million years and maybe even earlier, US experts now reveal. The geologists claim there are chemical and physical traces of Yellowstone hotspot in the ocean waters of the Pacific Northwest many hundreds of miles away. It's already known Yellowstone hotspot has moved over the course of millions of years due to the ever-shifting tectonic plates, but its traces even further afield than previously thought vastly pushes back its possible date of origin. Old Faithful geyser erupting at Yellowstone National Park. Scientists say the source of heat that powers Yellowstones vast volcanic system back to at least 50 million years ago 'About 20 years ago, this story might have been dismissed as fantasy,' said experts the US Geological Survey (USGS). 'Through years of careful accumulation of data and evidence, however, the case has become quite strong the Yellowstone hotspot is a long-lived feature that dates back to at least 50 million years ago, and perhaps even earlier. 'This evolution in thought is a good example of how continued data collection and study are critical and can shift our view of geologic history, even changing our understanding of something as important as the Yellowstone magmatic system.' Yellowstone National Park spans 8,991 square kilometres, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming but extending into Montana and Idaho. Pictured, Yellowstone Caldera, a volcanic caldera and so-called 'supervolcano' within Yellowstone National Park in the US Yellowstone National Park (indicated here in red) spans 8,991 square kilometres, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming but extending into Montana and Idaho The park sits above a melting anomaly within the Earth, called a 'hotspot'. 'This hotspot is powered by a plume of hot (but not molten) material that may extend as deep as the boundary between the planet's mantle and core,' the USGS experts explain. 'As hot material rises buoyantly, it decompresses and melts near the surface, generating magma that feeds the magma chambers beneath Yellowstone and provides the heat that powers the many geysers and hot springs.' One of these is Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park's famous geyser, which has erupted jets of boiling water every 44 to 125 minutes into the air continuously for the last 800 years. Erupting an average of 130 feet into the air at 200F the thermal attraction could prove fatal to anyone in close proximity when it blows. Researchers explain that Yellowstone hotspot is stationary relative to the moving tectonic plates that make up Earths surface. Because Yellowstone hotspot is stationary, it leaves its mark over different areas essentially leaving a trail of historical activity as the North American plate moves. As the North American plate moves to the southwest over the hotspot, the centre of volcanic activity appears to be migrating to the northeast. Earth's rocky, outermost shell is formed of around 15 tectonic plates, each of different shapes and sizes including the North American plate (shaded in brown) 'There is thus a trail of volcanism that stretches to the southwest from present-day Yellowstone across the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, getting progressively older along the trend,' USGS experts say. 'These older volcanic centres are essentially ancient Yellowstones, and some were responsible for especially powerful eruptions.' The start of the trail is the 17-million-year-old McDermitt volcanic system and similar-age volcanism in northern Nevada and southern Oregon. As there were no obvious signs of older volcanic systems to the southwest of McDermitt, the trail essentially 'went cold' which explains the generally accepted 17-million-year estimate for the origin of Yellowstone hotspot. This 'growing body of evidence', however, suggests that the Yellowstone hotspot was active before that time and is far older than previously thought. In fact, it probably initiated well off the west coast of North America. Map of the northwestern US, showing the approximate locations of Yellowstone hotspot volcanic fields (orange) and Columbia River Basalts (grey). Boundary of Yellowstone National Park is shown in yellow Preserved in the coastal mountains of Oregon and Washington (states at the very northwest of the US) is evidence of massive volcanic eruptions that occurred offshore about 50 million to 55 million years ago. Some of the lava from these eruptions was scraped up and welded onto the North American coastline by subduction where two plates converge, and one plate is thrust beneath the other and still more exists on the ocean floor offshore of the Pacific Northwest. This so-called 'Siletzia terrane' has chemical and physical characteristics similar to the Columbia River Basalts. Columbia River Basalt is a continental flood basalt that neighbours Yellowstone today and is thought to have represented the origin of the Yellowstone hotspot. This similarity indicates that the two large lava flow provinces are related and the Siletzia terrane may have formed due to 'an early version of the Yellowstone hotspot'. Beginning about 60 million years ago, Siletzia terrane moved into the subduction zone and smashed into North America Researchers add that volcanism from Yellowstone hotspot continued to leave its mark on the North American plate as the latter continued to move. But these eruptions declined dramatically about 22 million years ago and stopped altogether about 20 million years ago, beginning a hiatus of several million years. This was likely due to a 'slab of previously subducted ocean crust' trapped beneath the North American continent, where magma was still being generated, but it was backing up behind the barrier. 'This barrier effectively blocked the flow material from the Yellowstone hotspot to the surface,' USGS experts say. 'The accumulated magma finally punched through 17 million years ago, breaking the ancient slab and resulting in the Columbia River Basalt eruptions. 'Then began the progression of volcanic calderas to present-day Yellowstone.' Victor E. Camp from San Diego State University and Ray E. Wells from USGS have detailed the research further in a paper published in GSA Today. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as Republicans considered punishing her for her outlandish conspiracy theories and violent, racist views. Aides to McCarthy and Greene offered no immediate comment after the two spent around 90 minutes together in his Capitol office. Republicans have faced pressure from Democrats and members of their own party to strip Taylor Greene from her seats on the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Education and Labor. Republicans are also seeking to have Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democratic from Minnesota, removed from her committee assignments for 'anti-Semtism,' Fox News reported. The House GOP Steering Committee, which makes committee assignments for the party, was also summoned to meet on Tuesday. The Steering Committee can remove people from their posts, but no decision was announced. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, pictures, met with Marjorie Taylor Greene for nearly 90 minutes on Tuesday Taylor Greene has floated conspiracy theories about 9/11 and has made racist and anti-Semitic statements Republican lawmakers seek to introduce a proposal to strip progressive Ilhan Omar, center, from her committee seats Officials told CNN that the Steering Committee, which has not met with Greene, will meet again on Wednesday to try and reach decision. Democrats have threatened to submit a resolution with the House Rules Committee and may force a vote to remove Greene on Wednesday if Republicans fail to act. Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota and a member of GOP leadership, said on Tuesday that the party's identity crisis is a 'big distraction for them right now.' 'Do they want to be the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, free markets, peace through strength and pro-life or do they want to be the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon,' he said. Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a former presidential candidate, have issued firm criticism of Taylor Greene. Taylor Greene, pictured, has been firmly rebuked by members of her own party including Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney Ilhan Omar, right, has faced criticism for 'anti-Semitism' for her comments about Israel 'Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country,' McConnell said in a statement. Romney said: 'I think our party has to make it very clear that she does not represent us in any way.' House Republicans, however, are instead pushed for action against progressive 'Squad' member Ilhan Omar. A proposed GOP-backed amendment obtained by Fox News seeks to remove Omar from House Budget Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee assignments. Reps. Brian Babin, Jeff Duncan, Jody Hice, Andy Biggs, and Ronny Jackson have reportedly sponsored the resolution 'in light of conduct she has exhibited,' Fox News reported. The Republicans allege that Omar has made anti-Semitic comments in the past that mark a grounds for dismissal. Omar, a longtime critic of Israel, received bipartisan criticism in 2019 when she suggested that pro-Israel politicians were being paid by the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby. 'It's all about the Benjamins baby,' Omar had previously tweeted, referencing McCarthy's pledge to take 'action' against her for her Israel criticism. Republican representative Guy Reschenthaler, from Pennsylvania, sought to remove fellow 'Squad' member Rashida Tlaib from her committee assignments last year for her own alleged 'anti-Semitic' comments. Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog,' in a clip that surfaced Tuesday as Democrats are poised to remove her from committee assignments over controversial statements. Taylor Greene, however, has made far reaching conspiracy theory claims including that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, could be hoaxes. The families of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown previously have sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for making similar claims. In a clip that surfaced on Tuesday, Taylor Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog.' 'So he is very trained, he's like a dog, he's completely trained,' Greene said in an 2019 interview with Georgia Gun Owners executive director Patrick Parsons, who's now her chief of staff. The video, which remains on Facebook, was first unearthed by NBC News. An unearthed video from 2019 shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (left) speaking to Georgia Gun Owners head Patrick Parsons (right), who's now her chief of staff, about her encounter with gun control activist David Hogg. In the new clip she says he's 'trained like a dog' On Wednesday, a video went viral that showed now Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (back left and right) following Parkland survivor and gun control activist David Hogg (left) around Capitol Hill's campus, chiding him for his support of gun control measures In it, Greene is speaking about following Hogg around on Capitol Hill, a clip that went viral last week in the aftermath of CNN breaking a story about how the Georgia Republican had indicated support for executing Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Facebook posts. TAYLOR GREENE'S BIZARRE CLAIMS The California Camp Fire which killed at least 85 was caused by a space laser linked to the Rothschilds and the state's high-speed rail. PG&E admitted it was caused by a faulty power line and went into bankruptcy to fund a $13.5bn settlement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin cut off a child's face while she was alive, Clinton wore it as a mask so the terrified child would produce 'adrenachrome' and then organized the killing of a cop who knew about it. The Las Vegas massacre was organized by Democrats to help them ban guns and shooter Stephen Paddock was not a lone wolf. There's no evidence of a plane hitting the Pentagon on 9/11. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre which cost the lives of 17 students was a 'false flag planned shooting.' ' 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.' Seth Rich leaked Hillary Clinton's emails and was murdered in revenge by her aide John Podesta because the emails revealed that a D.C. pizza restaurant had a child-smuggling operation in its basement. It does not even have a basement. The world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and the Q in QAnon exists and is the 'best chance to take them out.' Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett are Muslims. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. She wasn't the person who posted a call to assassinate Nancy Pelosi to her own Facebook page. Advertisement The original video shows Greene following Hogg on Capitol Hill, at one point calling him a 'coward,' and asking the school shooting victim if he realized his classmates wouldn't been killed if the school's guard had been armed. 'Good guys with guns hurt bad guys with guns, they'll kill them, and it will reduce the number of deaths,' she noted. Describing the encounter to Parsons, Greene said Hogg 'does not talk.' 'He only talks when he's scripted,' she said. Greene said Hogg was being followed around Capitol Hill with a 'gaggle of girls' and also female 'handlers' in their 20s and 30s. 'Here they are, they are so naive and they are being so brainwashed into fighting to take away something that protects them as women,' she said of Hogg's female companions. 'I was heartbroken, literally heartbroken. I'm so thankful for my Second Amendment rights.' 'They're fighting to get rid of the right to protect themselves from getting raped,' Greene continued in the 2019 interview. 'I'm looking at this idiot, David Hogg, leading these girls who are clueless, absolutely clueless, into giving up the greatest thing that protects them,' the future congresswoman added. While Greene has expressed beliefs in a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon, that a plane didn't hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and that California's Camp Fire was caused by space lasers, which she connected to the Rothschilds in an anti-Semitic dog whistle, Pelosi's biggest complaint was that the congresswoman expressed doubt that Parkland and Sandy Hook actually happened. Last week, Pelosi went on a tirade because Greene had been placed by Republican leadership on the House's Education committee after saying the massacres had been 'staged.' 'What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing. It's absolutely appalling and I think that the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children,' Pelosi said Thursday. Pelosi said top Republicans were willing to 'overlook' Greene's comments 'when she has mocked the killing of little children,' pointing specifically to the massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the latter of which Hogg attended. Since video of Hogg and Greene's encounter went viral, the now 20-year-old gun control activist has also called for Greene to be stripped of her committee assignments. Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced a resolution that would remove Greene from her committees and a vote is expected Wednesday. Only a majority, which Democrats have, would need to vote yea. That's an easier sell than a separate effort from Rep. Jimmy Gomez to have Greene expelled from Congress. As of Tuesday night, Gomez said he had 68 co-sponsors. Still, that legislation would need two-thirds of the House for passage. Ukrainian MFA receives note from China in connection with introduction of sanctions against Chinese shareholders of Motor Sich The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has received a note from China in connection with Ukraine's imposition of sanctions against the Chinese shareholders of Motor Sich, said Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. "Indeed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine received a note from the Chinese side on the situation with the Motor Sich. The note is a confidential diplomatic correspondence, therefore we cannot disclose its contents. The Ministry has informed the state bodies that are involved in this case about the document," Nikolenko told the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday. He stressed that the Ukrainian side remains committed to resolving all issues on the agenda of relations between Ukraine and China. VILLAR PAYS TRIBUTE TO 106-YEAR OLD MASTER WEAVER Sen. Cynthia A. Villar yesterday paid tribute to the late B'laan tribe weaver Yabing Masalon Dulo, earlier declared a "national living treasure," as the senator has been a staunch advocate of weaving. She also expressed her profound sympathy and condolence on the death of the 106-year old master weaver. "We will forever treasure the legacy she left," added Villar. Weaving has been part of Senator Villar advocacy.Through the Villar SIPAG ( Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance), the senator has been providing livelihood and additional source of income to poor communities through her handloom weaving project. This opportunity helps women especially mothers to augment the family's budget without going too far from their home, since it is a community based project. Handloom blanket weaving belongs to the almost 2000 livelihood projects established by Villar all over the country. Villar's blanket weaving can produce monthly at least 1000 blankets which are distributed for free to calamity victims all over the country. The senator has been in the forefront in providing immediate relief to victims of disasters. Senator Villar considered the passing of Dulo a "great loss to the country". The master weaver who is a Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) awardee will be accorded state burial on February 10. The National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCAA) declared Dulo a "national living treasure on January 17. 2017. She was honored for keeping alive her community's traditional weaving process and sharing her skills to others. In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte gave the award to Dulo during a formal ceremony in Malacanang. Dulo died on January 26 in her sleep. She will be laid to rest next to the traditional weaving center she established in her community in Sitio Amgu-o in Barangay Landa, Polomolok, South Cotabato. 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 pastor of Philadelphias largest predominantly Black church, the Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller knows that the coronavirus is especially dangerous for his flock. Since the pandemic began, Black Americans have contracted and died from COVID-19 at far higher rates than whites. Waller, who leads Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in East Mount Airy, is encouraging vaccination, an effort made more challenging by his communitys long history of mistreatment and neglect in the health-care system. But first, Waller wants it known that overcoming hesitancy about the vaccine means acknowledging and respecting that painful legacy. To approach this thinking that all we have to do is give the Black community more information does not honor the historical problems weve had with the medical community. Thats condescending, he said. Our reticence is sacred, earned, and should be honored. And you honor that with truth and transparency. Greater transparency is what many Philadelphians are calling for in the wake of the scandal surrounding Philly Fighting COVID, the nonprofit run by a 22-year-old with no medical experience who took vaccines home to give to his friends and quietly launched a for-profit arm. After giving PFC thousands of precious vaccine doses, the city abruptly cut ties with the group following local media reports about PFC. Now, the scandal has thrown a heavier burden on a physician-run vaccination group working to build trust with Black Philadelphians since the start of the pandemic, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. Run by veteran physician Ala Stanford and other medical professionals, the consortium has been offering COVID-19 testing in Black neighborhoods since the beginning of the pandemic. Earlier this year it began holding vaccine clinics at churches and other large facilities in the city, including the Liacouras Center at Temple University on Tuesday. READ MORE: Next up in the Philly Fighting COVID debacle: A political fight in City Hall Initially, about 90% of the groups vaccine clients were Black. Now, about half are white in part because of patients who fled to the group after Philly Fighting COVID fell apart. (Everyone who got a first dose through PFC has been offered an appointment to receive the second at clinics that will be operated by the health department, said Jim Garrow, a spokesperson for the agency.) More than 35,000 people have signed up to get a vaccine through the Black Doctors Consortium since Jan. 11, though Stanford has received just 1,000 doses per week from the city. At that rate, it would take her eight months just to get through the current queue. Its been tough, because the purpose was for us to be in Black communities where the impact had been the greatest. Were providing vaccines to a community that has been reticent, and making it easier, Stanford said. I can vaccinate anyone who wants it. But I need more vaccines. Because I cant afford to widen the health disparity by not taking care of the group that needs it most. In a news conference Tuesday, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the city will send the consortium about 2,000 vaccine doses this week and 2,500 next week. Supply, scandal, and skepticism arent the only barriers to vaccination, though. People who dont have reliable access to the internet or a smartphone have more difficulty signing up for a vaccine, and those without regular transportation options might find it hard to get to a vaccine site. Plus, the eligibility categories are complex and confusing for instance, in Philadelphia seniors over 75 can get it, but outside the city 65 is the age. READ MORE: Experts worry that Philly Fighting COVID fuels mistrust in medicine, especially for Black and brown communities Put all those factors together, and community leaders challenge is clear. As of Tuesday, slightly more than 15% of vaccinations given in Philadelphia went to Black residents, who make up over 40% of the city population. Still, thats better than the 8% vaccination rate of a few weeks ago. Its moving in the right direction, Farley said. Its still far too low and its not moving up fast enough. So we clearly need to redouble our efforts to make sure that this vaccine is made available and in a way thats acceptable to African Americans and other minority populations in the city. Black Americans generally have expressed more hesitancy about getting the vaccine. [In November], around 42% of Black Americans said they would get a coronavirus vaccine, said Cary Funk, director of science and society research at the Pew Research Center, which conducted three national surveys around vaccine hesitancy last year. Thats the only major demographic group where youre seeing a little over half saying they would not get a vaccine. Stanford and other health experts said they imagine trust in the vaccine will increase as it becomes more widely administered. Many patients shes spoken to are excited about getting the vaccine, she said. In line at a Black Doctors vaccine clinic last week, some Black Philadelphians waiting to get their shot said that they had been nervous about the vaccine but that Stanford and other Black physicians example had helped them make the decision. READ MORE: Phillys bungled COVID-19 vaccine rollout erodes trust at a time when its needed the most | Jenice Armstrong Zakya Hall, 26, signed her grandmother Pauline up for a vaccine and is hoping to get hers as soon as she is eligible. Several members of their large family had tested positive for the virus; they hadnt seen some of their loved ones in months. Shes not excited at all, but she is willing to do it, Hall said, laughing. I was a little nervous about it, because we dont know the long-term effects, and we know Black people were underrepresented in the trials. But the risk of COVID, especially passing it on to family members, is more dangerous. And everything Dr. Stanford is doing is amazing. Seeing her take the vaccine is what helped me decide to take the vaccine. Carol Williams, 69, of West Oak Lane, said she was nervous about how quickly the vaccine the result of a massive scientific international effort had been produced. Shes even more wary of the medical establishment as a whole. Throughout history, theyve given us a bum deal, Williams said. But she, too, had seen Consortium members on television talking about the safety of the vaccine. That persuaded me, she said, standing in a bitter wind a few feet from the clinic door. Im still kind of hesitant, but its better than not getting it at all. Its better to take the chance. Inquirer staffers Laura McCrystal and Raishad Hardnett contributed to this report. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form British scientists fear that the new variant of the COVID-19 virus that was detected in the United Kingdom last year may have mutated further and could beat the vaccines that are currently being administered across the world. According to PTI, scientists warned that the new UK strain of the virus has shown a mutation called E484K, adding the vaccines might not work against it. The mutation has already been seen in the South African variant and was recently detected in a few samples in certain regions of England. Read: UK: 11 New Cases Of South African COVID Variant Detected In People With No Travel History 'Concerning' Scientists, in a yet-to-be-published study by the University of Cambridge and National Institute for Health Research, said that the new E484K mutation is "concerning" and called for modifications in the vaccines in order to counter new variants. Professor Ravi Gupta, who is the lead author of the study, warned that the existing vaccines might possibly not work against the mutation. Gupta also said that the vaccination drive needs to be scaled-up in order to slow down the spread. Read: UK COVID-19 Strain To Become 'more Dominant' In US By End Of March: Anthony Fauci The new mutation has been detected in 11 samples from Bristol and 32 from Liverpool so far. Health authorities fear that there may be more cases in the country. Mass testing for the new strain has already begun across England. Scientists are still studying what this new mutation might mean for the existing vaccines and how it will contribute to the already mounting cases. Read: 'COVAXIN Effective On UK-variant Strain; Neutralisation Activity Observed': ICMR Report The world was alarmed late last year after the United Kingdom reported a new strain of the virus, followed by South Africa and Brazil. Scientists said that the new strain of the virus is more contagious than all other variants detected previously. Questions were raised about the efficacy of the vaccines against the new variants. Pharmaceutical firms assured that their vaccines are effective against all variants, but also cautioned that the immune response might not be as strong. The companies are currently working to modify the vaccines to make them potent against all variants. Read: COVID-19 Variant Brings New Dimension To Europe's Pandemic (With inputs from PTI) Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. No fewer than 21 people have been killed and 40 others kidnapped as bandits attacked four communities in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The attack, which occurred on Monday night had many other villagers injured. Over 100 gunmen were said to have stormed the four communities of Kurebe, Sabon Gida, Sararai and Rafin Kanya at different times on Monday night. The gunmen came in their usual style of riding motorcycles and shooting sporadically into the air causing the people to scamper away to safety. An eyewitness said that there was confusion, especially as the bandits went from one house to another shooting and abducting people. Secretary to the Niger State Government, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Matane has confirmed the incident. He however, said that the number of people killed or abducted is currently unknown, adding that government is putting in mechanism to bring an end to the incessant bandit attacks. The Co-Convener of Concerned Shiroro Youths, Mr. Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki also confirmed the attack, saying it was a day of total blackout in Shiroro LGA. He lamented that terrorists have continued to have a field day in the council, sacking the communities with impunity. "Arising from the nefarious activities of these bandits, Internally Displaced Persons are conspicuously littered everywhere, helter-skelter and scampering for peace and safety. Unfortunately, nothing is being done by the authorities concerned to salvage the ugly situation," he added. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The elections for community and citywide education councils are open for the 2021-2023 term, including for Staten Islands community education council (CEC) 31. Education councils are elected every two years, and elections are now open to fill all 325 elected seats for the two-year term that begins on July 1. Councils give parents a voice in shaping the policies and priorities for New York City schools. Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza kicked off elections for the education councils on Monday and announced new and major changes to strengthen parent empowerment across every school district in New York City. Parents can apply to run for a council seat, and for the first time ever, all parents and legal guardians with a child in a New York City public school can vote for their preferred candidates. Parent empowerment is at the center of all we do, and now more than ever we need parents to be true partners in their childs education, said Carranza in a news release. Education Councils have a real impact on our childrens lives, and this year parents from across the city can cast their vote and have their voices heard. All parents are encouraged to run and sign-up is simple. Parents can go online to learn more about the structure and roles of the education councils and get information on eligibility guidelines, key dates and frequently asked questions. In order to submit an application this year, you will need an NYC Schools Account with all your children attending DOE schools registered to it. It takes approximately 30 minutes to complete the application. The deadline to submit an education council application is Feb. 28. Candidate forums will take place in April, and voting will take place from May 1 to 11. Results will be posted online once final, and members will take their seat on July 1. Each CEC consists of 11 voting members, which include nine elected parents of students in pre-K through eighth grade (including a parent of an English Language Learner and a parent of an Individualized Learning Plan student), two borough president appointees, and a non-voting high school student. You are eligible to run if you are the parent of a student who currently attends pre-K through eighth grade in a school under the jurisdiction of the community school district where you wish to serve on the CEC. There are also four citywide councils for specific student populations: Citywide Council on High Schools (CCHS), Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE), Citywide Council on English Language Learners (CCELL), Citywide Council for District 75 (CCD75). Like CECs, the councils each have 11 voting members (nine elected parents and two appointees), with the exception of the Citywide Council on High Schools, which has 13 members (10 elected parents and three appointees). Changes were made to the elections after the DOE announced a series of steps to help make the education council election process more equitable and facilitate greater parent empowerment, following new state legislation passed in 2019 and recommendations of a task force appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio Previously, voting for community education councils and citywide councils on high schools and District 75 (which serve students with disabilities) were limited to three mandated parent association (PA) or parent-teacher association (PTA) in each school. Citywide councils on special education and English language learners were limited to one person per district, nominated by the Presidents Council. School Zone: A new newsletter with the updates you need as our schools try to get back to normal. Enter your email address here and hit "subscribe" to receive this weekly newsletter: FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. (Newser) Liberty University is back in the news, this time because of a massive snowball fight in violation of the school's own coronavirus guidelines. The school had promoted Sunday's event in Lynchburg, Va., attended by hundreds of students who stood close together without masks. Photos uploaded to Facebook by President Jerry Prevo, who described more than 3,000 students in attendance, showed him "front and center" amid the action, also without a mask, per Fox News. "I messed up," Prevo said Tuesday, noting officials "did not think through or communicate the need to wear facial coverings and remain 6 feet apart in compliance with Virginia Governor's Executive Orders ... or even our own COVID-19 Operations Plan." He said he was "truly sorry for how this activity may put our students and university in a negative light." story continues below The Virginia Department of Health had received more than 115 complaints by Tuesday. Some worried the snowball fight would become a superspreader event, per the Tri-City Herald. "We share the complainants' concerns about the potential for COVID transmission and are consulting the VDH central office on our response," a department rep tells Fox. The school had reported 79 COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 27, up from 13 on Jan. 18. "We rededicate ourselves to our solid commitment to communicating and reinforcing to students, faculty, and staff the mandate to comply with all COVID-19 policies," Prevo said, adding his mistake came in "being caught up in the moment," as Lynchburg hasn't seen a "good snow in over two years." However, a Liberty student tells WSLS that students are rarely told to wear masks and those that are often "just don't." (Read more Liberty University stories.) MELBOURNE: Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev won their respective singles matches on Wednesday to help Russia join Italy in the semi-finals of the team-based ATP Cup in Melbourne. ATP Finals winner Medvedev took down Japans Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-4 after Rublevs dominant 6-1 6-3 victory again Yoshihito Nishioka, setting up Russias second victory in Group D after the side defeated Argentina on Tuesday. Semis is a big step," Medvedev told reporters. Looking forward, really happy that we made it in both singles." Germany also boosted their chances of progressing to the last four by defeating Canada at the Rod Laver Arena in Group A to set up a knockout tie against defending champions Serbia on Thursday. World number six Stefanos Tsitsipas levelled the Group B tie for Greece against Australia with a 6-3 7-5 win over Alex de Minaur in front of a raucous crowd after John Millman gave the hosts the lead with a 6-2 6-3 win over Michail Pervolarakis. John Peers and Luke Saville then clinched a 6-3 4-6 (10-5) doubles win over Tsitsipas and Pervolarakis to help Australia win the tie 2-1 and keep their semi-final hopes alive after Tuesdays 3-0 drubbing by Spain. With the second edition of the competition truncated because of Australian Open coronavirus quarantine, victory for Fabio Fognini and Matteo Berrettini in the singles combined with Tuesdays 2-1 win over Austria ensured Italy would top Group C. Fognini downed Benoit Paire 6-1 7-6(2) in the opening match of the day on John Cain Arena before Matteo Berrettini outwitted Gael Monfils 6-4 6-2 to make Frances doubles win academic. If that clash was one-sided, the Germany-Canada Group A tie was anything but with four of the fives sets in the two singles matches decided by tiebreakers. Germanys Jan-Lennard Struff dominated the first two and finished off Milos Raonic with a thumping ace for a 7-6(4) 7-6(2) victory that gave Germany a 1-0 lead in their opening tie. After losing 2-1 to Novak Djokovics Serbia on Tuesday, Canada needed to win the tie to stay alive in the competition and Denis Shapovalov made a positive start by taking the first set against Alexander Zverev. Shapovalov, backing up after a loss to Djokovic, needed treatment on his shoulder as world number seven Zverev levelled up the contest in the second set, however. Zverev, in his first match of the year, warmed to his task in a tight deciding set but was unable to convert seven break points as Shapovalov dug deep. Shapovalov had his chances in the decisive tiebreak but an unforced error and a double fault at crucial moments opened the door for Zverev and the German stormed through it with his 14th and 15th aces for a 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(4) victory. Winning a team event, winning something for your country its one of the biggest things in our sport," Zverev said. I think the ATP Cup is just as big as the Davis Cup right now." 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 Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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 Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Peristaltic Hose Pumps Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31793 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Peristaltic Hose Pumps will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Peristaltic Hose Pumps market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Peristaltic Hose Pumps market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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 Peristaltic Hose Pumps market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Watson-Marlow PSG TECHNOLOGIES VERDER Graco ProMinent ALLWEILER Flowrox Crane Wanner Engineering Ragazzini Huayun IDEX Health&Science Albin Pump Yixing Zeus Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31793 This study considers the Peristaltic Hose Pumps value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Pressure Less than 8bar Pressure Between 8bar to 12bar Pressure More than12bar Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Water Treatment Chemical Food & Beverage Energy Industry 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 Peristaltic Hose Pumps Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31793 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Peristaltic Hose Pumps consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Peristaltic Hose Pumps market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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 Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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 Peristaltic Hose Pumps 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/peristaltic-hose-pumps-market-analysis-by-material-product-key-players-and-industry-analysis-by-2026/ Nearly a third of people held by Afghan authorities for suspected security and terrorism-related offences are subject to torture or mistreatment in detention centres, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. The report, released jointly by the UN mission to Afghanistan and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, concluded that the percentage of detainees who had been tortured had fallen slightly over the 15 months to March 2020 to 30.3% from 31.9% in the previous two years, but remained "alarming". The Afghan government did not immediately respond to multiple calls seeking comment. "Torture can never be justified. It has lasting consequences for victims, their families and society," Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in the report. Militant violence has resurged around the country even as peace talks proceed with the insurgent Taliban in Qatar. The Afghan government is under pressure to stem a wave of targeted killings that occur almost daily which they and some foreign players have blamed on the Taliban, who deny responsibility. On Wednesday a blast in Kabul killed a police officer, and unknown attackers killed a religious leader in the southern city of Kandahar and a judge in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Efforts have been made by some government institutions to halt the use of torture, the U.N. report said but added much more was needed to bring it to an end, including improving training for law enforcement agencies. The report was based on interviews with 656 detainees held in 63 facilities in 24 provinces across the country between Jan. 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020 when interviews had to stop because of the coronavirus pandemic. The report said it could not assess the treatment of prisoners held by the Taliban and other anti-government groups as investigators lacked access to their facilities. WASHINGTON: David Lipton, an economist who served as a senior official at the International Monetary Fund and U.S. Treasury, will return to government service as a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, six sources familiar with the matter said. Lipton will focus on the U.S. role within the Group of Seven advanced economies and the larger Group of 20 economies in a temporary role, several sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. His appointment comes as the worlds top economies are struggling to manage the coronavirus pandemic and ensure a nascent global recovery stays on course. The White House and Treasury had no comment. Lipton did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Bringing Lipton on board to guide international matters will free Yellen to focus on the U.S. economy and work to ensure passage of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, the sources said. The plan has run into resistance from Republicans in Congress, and Democrats on Tuesday took a first step toward fast-tracking the bill without Republican support. [nL1N2K81MU] Liptons presence in the Yellen Treasury is a huge boost for the departments international efforts. He brings immediate credibility and signals that the Biden administration intends to hit the ground running in responding to the economic dimensions of this crisis globally," said Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a former Treasury official. That would be great news!" tweeted German Finance State Secretary Wolfgang Schmidt. Liptons experience on international economic issues and his tenure as Treasury undersecretary for international affairs from 1993 to 1998 in the administration of former President Bill Clinton will help Washington as it seeks to rebuild ties with allies and multilateral institutions, people familiar with his assignment said. Several of the sources said Liptons assignment would help bridge a gap in staffing as Yellen assembles her team. The Senate has not yet scheduled a confirmation hearing for Yellens nominated deputy, Wally Adeyemo, and the Biden administration has not yet announced its pick for the international post at Treasury, or who will serve as the G7/G20 sherpa, a job normally housed at the White House. The sources welcomed Liptons return to official life after IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva ousted him as her top deputy one year ago, some 19 months before his official term was due to expire. He had served nearly 8-1/2 years in the role. Widely respected in economic circles, Lipton, 67, was often critical of former President Donald Trumps trade policies and tariff actions, which triggered heavy costs for U.S. companies and farmers and spawned significant tensions with allies. Lipton began his professional career as an economist at the IMF in 1981, and in addition to his role in the Clinton administration, he held a senior role in the administration of former President Barack Obama. Allies are looking for more muscular U.S. leadership on global issues ranging from climate change, battling the pandemic and staving off a wave of sovereign debt defaults among low-income countries. IMF officials have warned of continued uncertainty and divergent economic trends that threaten to push an additional 90 million people into poverty, as even advanced economies struggle to distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Lipton will also likely have to wade into global talks on taxation after those negotiations came to a standstill under former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. It was not immediately clear when Lipton would start in his new role, but the move could happen quickly since the job does not require Senate confirmation. G7 finance officials are due to meet remotely on Feb. 15, while G20 finance officials are due to meet Feb. 26-27, with debt issues and the financing needs of low-income and emerging market economies a priority. Consensus is building for a new allocation of IMF Special Drawing Rights, a move akin to a central bank printing money, that was blocked by Mnuchin. Such a move would provide extra reserves to every IMF member at a time when funding needs remain large, especially for low-income countries hit hard by COVID-19. The Biden administration has signaled support for a new allocation of SDRs, and legislation to back such a move is working its way through the now Democratic-controlled Congress. Yellen spoke with both the IMFs Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass on Tuesday, underscoring the need for close coordination and efforts to reduce debt vulnerabilities and support recovery in low-income countries. 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 An arsonist is still on the run after setting himself alight while allegedly firebombing an upmarket brothel before driving off in a car. Emergency services were called at about 4.30am on November 10, 2020, as The Silks on Upton brothel on the Gold Coast was engulfed in flames. Shocking CCTV footage released by Queensland Police shows a man lighting a flammable liquid and appearing to set himself on fire. An arsonist has set himself on fire while allegedly firebombing an upmarket brothel on astonishing new CCTV footage released by police. Pictured: Two people pouring liquid onto the entrance of the building Emergency services were called at around 4.30am on November 10, 2020, as the The Silks on Upton brothel on the Gold Coast was 'engulfed in flames'. Pictured: One of the arsonists about to light the flammable liquid One of the men appears to accidentally set himself on fire before the pair get into a vehicle and drive off (pictured) The video shows a silver Honda sedan pull up in the carpark of the bordello before two people in hoodies run out. They appear to pour a flammable liquid at the entrance to the building and set it alight. One of the men appears to accidentally set himself on fire before the pair get into their vehicle and drive off, leaving the building to go up in flames. The car the pair used has not been found, police said. Queensland Police are not ruling out the possibility that the alleged attack could have been carried out on behalf of a competing business, the Courier Mail reported. Igor Albinsky/iStockBy DEVIN DWYER and JACQUELINE YOO, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- Immigrant communities and their advocates are celebrating a change in tone at the White House and a new plan to resolve the legal status of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants. "I am excited to hear this new president with his proposal of immigration reform, including us, the field agricultural workers," said Rafaela, a migrant worker who has spent the last decade harvesting apples, cherries and nectarines in the fields of Washington state. "Finally, we won't be afraid anymore," she said, withholding her last name to protect her identity. After four years of President Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown, legalization of millions living in the shadows of American society is getting fresh consideration thanks to President Joe Biden, who sent a proposal to Congress on his first day and immediately lifted the threat of mass deportations. "I feel relief," said Rosibel Flores Arbaiza, a naturalized American citizen and leader in the large Salvadoran immigrant community in the nation's capital. "Right now we are, like I say, stand(ing) by, because we don't know what's going to happen, but our hope is in the new administration, because that's what we are looking for -- change." The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would create an eight-year pathway to citizenship for non-citizen residents, a sweeping immigration overhaul not seen in more than 35 years. The measure would require undocumented residents to pass criminal background checks, pay taxes and wait five years just to apply for a Green Card, or legal permanent residency. Pres. Biden signed three executive orders aimed at reforming the U.S. immigration system, including creating a task force aimed at reuniting children who were separated from their families.@devindwyer takes a deeper look at Pres. Biden's plans. https://t.co/h4UDm7nGMP pic.twitter.com/0CXoBuJjlm ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) February 3, 2021 If they pass additional security checks, learn English and American civics, then qualified immigrants could apply to become citizens three years later, according to the draft legislation. "The proposal is visionary," said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, a nonpartisan immigrant advocacy group. "The bill that they're sending to Congress replaces the word 'alien' with 'noncitizen,'" she added. "That alone is not symbolic, that is actually transformative." Some immigrants would be fast-tracked under the Biden proposal, including hundreds of thousands of farm workers, recipients of Temporary Protective Status, or TPS, and so-called Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children. "I came to the U.S. at a young age with my mom and my dad. They were Southern Baptist preachers in Dallas, Texas, and I've been in the American justice movement since I was a senior in high school," said Greisa Martinez Rosas, a DACA recipient and executive director of United We Dream, a grassroots movement of Dreamers. "I think that this is actually long overdue." There are more than a million Dreamers in the U.S. with more than 600,000 enrolled in DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program created by President Barack Obama to temporarily shield the immigrants from deportation and provide them short-term work permits. The Dreamers have long received bipartisan support for permanent legal status, but making it permanent is something Congress has been unable to do. "This is not a political game for us. This is about our lives," Rosas told ABC News Live. "What is clear from the Obama years, what is even more clear from the Trump years is that the country and the government cannot lead with detention and deportation. There is a mandate and an opportunity for the Biden administration to deliver a visionary future where all of us are able to belong." The window of opportunity for legislative action is narrow, with Democrats holding the slimmest majority in Congress in decades and the midterm election less than two years away. Many Republicans are already trying to kill the Biden immigration bill in its tracks. "At a time when 10 million Americans are still out of work, or struggling to get the hours they need, Joe Biden through his legislation wants to give amnesty to 15 million illegal immigrants," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News this week. Former Trump Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan warned last month that mass legalization would only encourage illegal immigration in the years ahead. "We've seen it again and again in history, that if you reward the behavior of those coming across illegally, it's going to keep happening," he told ABC News Live in December. MORE: Biden creating task force to reunite families separated at the border A Fox News survey of voters in the 2020 election found 71% believe most undocumented immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status; 29% said they should be deported. Most economists agree that mass deportation would be a blow to the economy, but the full impact of mass legalization is less clear. Many immigrants working in the U.S. are doing jobs that other Americans won't do. Thousands are essential workers; many are on the front lines fighting COVID-19. "In the D.C. area, 20% of all construction workers are TPS recipients," said Abel Nunez, executive director of the Central American Resource Center, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington. "They have been loyal employees that are a key to their success. They have been sort of in this temporary status now for close to 20 years. I think they've paid their dues." The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a January 2020 analysis that legalizing more noncitizens would "expand the economy and boost tax revenue." A 2018 study by the CATO Institute of countries that had legalized large numbers of undocumented workers, concluded the move could increase costs for some employers and in turn mean fewer jobs overall. Still, more than 130 major American faith groups and businesses, including Apple, Walmart and Verizon, have thrown their support behind a legalization plan. "They've been good people. Why (do) they have to go back if they have four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 -- I know they had 20 some of them years living here, living with this fear," said Arbaiza, who is also a small business owner in the nation's capital. "I think that for me the better way is, you know, to let them (stay) here." Ten years ago, Obama's major push for immigration reform and a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants failed to pass in Congress. He was criticized for not fighting hard enough for and leaving office without a deal. "Trying hard -- it's not enough," said Teresa Romero, president of the United Farm Workers, the first woman to lead the nation's first and largest agricultural union. "You know, we had been out there saying all or nothing, and we usually end up with nothing." She said Biden now faces enormous pressure to deliver -- even if it's only piecemeal progress. "We need to show our community that we are moving forward. That it's not going to be like what happened in 2013," Romero told ABC News. "I do believe he's going to fight for it." Some advocates see a symbol of Biden's commitment front and center in the Oval Office, where behind the Resolute Desk sits prominently a bronze bust of civil rights leader and farm workers organizer Cesar Chavez. "Having him there representing the immigrant community, the Hispanic community is just amazing," Romero said. Meanwhile, millions of immigrant families like Arbaiza's are watching Biden closely from afar, hopeful he will keep his campaign promises for reform. "After all these four years, you know, you have to have something in your mind to be different," she said. "I pray God every night not to be wrong to see changes. And I think he will do." Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Russell Moore-led ERLC a threat to SBC funding, unity report finds Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Nearly two years after a motion to defund the Southern Baptist Conventions Russell Moore-led Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission was rejected by messengers, a new report from a task force commissioned to study the denominations public policy arm has found it to be a major threat to the funding of the $15 billion Protestant Christian organizations Cooperative Program. The ERLC, which currently has an operating budget of $4.3 million, is funded through the SBCs Cooperative Program, which also provides funding for the North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, and the six Southern Baptist seminaries in America Southern, Southeastern, Midwestern, Southwestern, Golden Gate, and New Orleans. Members of the task force, which includes Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, who is vying to become the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention, painted a grim picture of the threat Moores controversial leadership poses to the Cooperative Fund. While much of the work of the ERLC is praised and appreciated by Southern Baptists, the ERLC is also a source of significant distraction from the Great Commission work of Southern Baptists. The leader of a large state convention reported, The ERLC has been a stumbling block not worth the mission dollar investment. The task force finds merit in this statement, wrote members of the task force. Among the concerns state executive directors of the SBC reported hearing about Moore from pastors were: Moores open opposition of President Donald Trump; an allegation that he received funding from an organization with ties to George Soros; an Amicus brief from the ERLC in support of a New Jersey mosque; a perception that he criticizes conservative political figures more frequently and more harshly than moderate to liberal figures; his stance on immigration; his stated support of attending homosexual wedding showers and receptions; plus giving disrespectful and condescending responses to the questions of messengers. Repeatedly noted was the response given to Pastor John Wofford of Armorel Baptist Church at the 2016 annual meeting about Muslims. The report, which was released Monday, noted that while giving to the SBCs Cooperative Program has been trending downward for years, Moores leadership and perceived liberal politics has led to hundreds of churches withholding funds to the program, threatening to withhold funding or even cutting ties with the denomination. In early January as the task force was finalizing this report, some of our largest state conventions initiated contact with the task force. Multiple churches in those states have more recently defunded or are now considering defunding the ERLC. The contacts included one of the largest contributors in the Southern Baptist Convention. Two additional churches described as significant Cooperative Program churches in one state convention have recently defunded. There were calls for the resignation of Dr. Moore, the task force said. These January actions followed comments made by Dr. Moore related to the unlawful incident at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. The unrest in these churches toward the ERLC was not caused by Dr. Moores condemnation of the U.S. President or by the renunciation of the tragic event at the Capitol. Rather, the churches were troubled by Dr. Moores comments in light of the silence of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission during the violent and destructive protests that swept the entire nation for months beginning in the summer of 2020, they wrote. The Cooperative Program is the SBCs unified plan of giving through which cooperating SBC churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their respective state convention and SBC missions and ministries. While state conventions couldn't provide any verifiable data that they were giving to the Cooperative Program as a result of the work of the ERLC, there was significant evidence that the ERLCs work was affecting funding, the report said. One state convention reported that more than 250 churches are considering withholding or negatively designating funds or have already done so. This number represents a significant percentage of the churches currently in friendly cooperation with that state convention, the task force members wrote. Some churches are considering a complete withdrawal from the SBC because of the belief that the national convention is moving in a liberal direction. The ERLC is listed as one of those concerns. The state convention reported that serious concerns about the ERLC exist with 10 of the top 30 CP-giving churches, potentially impacting a total of $2,448,000 from those 10 churches alone, they said. One state convention verified that $1,147,000 had been withheld due to the ERLC and estimated another $1,500,000 of Cooperative Program giving is in jeopardy. Another state reported that 94 churches have either decreased or completely eliminated Cooperative Program support this year at a total budget cost of approximately $500,000. Based on actual conversations with these pastors, the state executive estimated that 50% have done so because of a lack of confidence in many national SBC issues. These issues included but were not limited to the ERLC, they wrote. The Christian Post reached out to the ERLC for comment Tuesday and David Prince, chairman of the organization's board of trustees, said they have "served Southern Baptists faithfully" during difficult times. I think Southern Baptists can see this report for exactly what it is and are ready to move on from this moment and focus on our mission together. The ERLC has served Southern Baptists faithfully during a time of political, cultural, and in some cases, denominational chaos. Much of this chaos remains with us, including widespread news of many of our black and brown brothers and sisters leaving the SBC. That should be alarming to all of us. Regardless, all this and more is why I am grateful the ERLC serves our churches with a vibrant and bold gospel witness day in and day out," he wrote in a statement. A decision made last year by the Council of Seminary Presidents, which is comprised of the SBCs six seminaries, has sparked an exodus of black leaders from the denomination after they voted to reject critical race theory and deemed it as incompatible with their faith while condemning racism in any form. There appears to be an impasse over the issue that could likely contribute to more black pastors and their congregations cutting ties with the SBC if Resolution 9, which describes CRT as an analytical tool that can aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences, is rescinded at the SBCs annual meeting this summer. To be honest, Im not optimistic that things will change. Again, for political reasons, economic reasons, the Convention is likely to reverse the decision they made in 2019. If they dont reverse it by rescinding it theyll maybe adopt a new resolution thats radically different from Resolution 9 in 2019, Dwight McKissic Sr., one of the Southern Baptist Conventions most outspoken black pastors, said in a recent interview. They may in some way formally adopt the seminary presidents statement on critical race theory. I suspect that things will get worse than better. I think the statement thats being made to us is that there will never be [human] equality and inclusion in SBC life, he added. It is still unclear what impact this situation will have on SBC funding, but The National African American Fellowship alone represents a network of more than 4,000 predominantly African American pastors and churches affiliated with the SBC. Task force members also argued that one of the greatest challenges connected to the recent work of the ERLC is an amicus brief filed by the organization in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of McRaney v. North American Mission Board. The brief was filed on Aug. 21, 2020, and described the SBC as a hierarchy that serves as an umbrella Southern Baptist governing body over all of the various groups of churches. The report states that even though this description of SBC polity was grossly erroneous as noted by SBC lawyers, and Moore was aware of this, he allowed the brief to be filed anyway. It was only after outcry about the brief that the ERLC released a statement apologizing and clarifying the error. After much back and forth, the ERLC and the Thomas More Society filed a letter with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to inform the court of the errors in the amicus brief on Dec. 14 without informing the SBC. That the current perception of the leadership and direction of the ERLC by many Southern Baptists is a substantial impediment to the growth of the Cooperative Program. Without quick and significant changes in that perception, the findings suggest the potential for a measurable decline in the near future and beyond, the task force argued. The group recommended that the SBCs Executive Committee request that the ERLC Board of Trustees work with the ERLC staff to develop an intentional plan to demonstrate a greater appreciation for how its positions, including social media use, affect the spirit of cooperation among Southern Baptists. They also asked that the Executive Committee request that the boards of trustees of each of the entities of the SBC adopt and implement a policy of submitting legal briefs, where those briefs address the nature and work of Southern Baptists, to Convention attorneys, prior to their being filed, for the purpose of receiving input regarding the effect of those briefs on the ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention. 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. Ireland is expecting 1.1million doses by the end of next month. Photo: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters The first delivery of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine next week is only expected to contain 35,000 doses although there are 81,000 over-85s in the country. The hope is that it will be followed by larger consignments of the two-dose jab after AstraZeneca promised nearly 400,000 doses before the end of the March. GPs are expected to be asked to start offering the vaccine to their oldest patients the following week but they are requesting guidelines because supplies will fall short of demand. The National Immunisation Advisory Committee has recommended the vaccine as an option for older people. It is 60pc effective in younger age groups but it is not yet clear if that is the case in older people. Stephen Donnelly yesterday said that at the end of March around 1.1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are due to be delivered here. The Health Minister said: The vaccination programme in terms of the roll-out remains on track. We had 207,000 doses arrive in the country, and just very slightly less than 200,000 vaccinations. The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), representing big drug firms here, said: We all want a way out of the pandemic. We want a route back to normality or, at least, some version of it. There are more than 50 Covid-19 vaccine candidates in clinical trials. "So far, the European Medicines Agency has approved three safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, with more due for assessment shorty. Companies without vaccines are lending manufacturing capacity and expertise to make more doses. We are taking major steps forward, enabled by the efforts of the biopharmaceutical industry, in partnership with academia, regulators and governments around the world. Read More The manufacture of medicines and vaccines can be scattered across territories and countries and, often, across sites. "Global supply chains are vital, whether for moving ingredients of medicines and vaccines or the finished products. Now is not the time for vaccine protectionism. Manufacturing sites should not face restrictions It claimed: The establishment by the European Commission of an export authorisation system for Covid-19 vaccines could jeopardise their supply to people in Europe and around the world. "Introducing export obstructions could severely limit manufacturers capacity to meet global demand. The IPHA also said: Vaccine manufacturers are scaling production at unprecedented speed. "Fluctuations in the supply of doses, though frustrating, can be a feature of manufacturing complex biological products. "But companies are working as fast as they can to protect everyone. This is a time for collaboration and common purpose. Everyone who wants a vaccine should be able to get one. "We need to be able to rely on the resilience of the global medicines supply chains to distribute vaccines unhindered. The statement came in the wake of the row between the European Commission and AstraZeneca over its failure to provided the expected number of doses of its vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. The EU is paying a price similar to that of Britain for the AstraZeneca vaccine, a senior EU health official said. Sandra Gallina, director-general for health at the Commission, denied the EU body, which negotiated vaccine orders for the 27 member states, had prioritised price over securing vaccines. A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands at the door of the Capitol Rotunda near where the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor in Washington, Feb. 2, 2021. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Lies in Honor in Rotunda The Capitol Police officer who died on Jan. 7 after helping respond to the U.S. Capitol breach laid in honor in the buildings Rotunda late Tuesday to honor him for his service. The remains of late officer Brian Sicknick arrived in the evening in a motorcade and was brought into the building as his former colleagues from the Capitol Police force lined the east front steps. Sicknicks urn and a framed American flag were placed on a pedestal as congressional leaders from both parties and dozens of officers stood in a circle in the Rotunda. An honor guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and a folded American flag up the steps of the U.S Capitol to lie in honor in the Rotunda, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) An honor guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and folded flag up the steps of the U.S Capitol to lie in honor in the Rotunda, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) U.S. Capitol Police officers stand guard near the doors of the Capitol Rotunda where the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Leah Millis/Pool via AP) The viewing period commenced at 10:00 p.m. for members of the U.S. Capitol Police and continued overnight. Members of Congress have been invited to also attend from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Sicknick will subsequently be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a statement. Sicknick was granted the rare distinction to lie in honor about a month after he was killed defending the U.S. Capitol as rioters and some protesters breached the building on Jan. 6 as lawmakers were counting electoral votes in a joint session. The 42-year-old officer was injured on Jan. 6 while physically engaging with protesters after which he returned to this division office and collapsed, the Capitol Police said in a previous statement. After being transported to a local hospital, he succumbed to his injuries late on Jan. 7, authorities said. But Sicknick actually died from strokes, the D.C. Medical Examiners Office said on April 19. The New Jersey Devils honor slain Capitol police officer and New Jersey native Brian Sicknick before the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins during the home opening game at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Jan. 14, 2021. (Elsa/Getty Images) Sicknick is the fifth private citizen to lay in honor in the Rotunda, a term reserved for those who are not government officials or military officers. The other four people include United States Capitol Police officers Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson who were killed in the line of duty in 1998, evangelist Rev. Billy Graham in 2018, and civil rights leader Rosa Parks in 2005. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the Capitol on Tuesday night to pay their respect to the officer. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and members of the Capitol Police, pay their respects to the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who lies in honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool) The U.S. Congress is unified in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement on Jan. 29. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve, they added. Shortly after his death, his family called on the public to not politicize the incident. Please honor Brians life and service, and respect our privacy while we move forward in doing the same, his father said in a statement on Jan. 9. Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the Capitol police, also died while off-duty on Jan. 10 by suicide. Another officer Jeffrey Smith, who had served the Metro Police Department (MPD) for about 12 years, took his own life after the incident. Then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 10 ordered U.S. flags across the country and abroad to be flown at half-staff until Jan. 13 in honor of the service and sacrifice of law enforcement, Capitol police, and Capitol Police Officers Sicknick and Liebengood. Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report. Editors Note: This article has been updated with new information about Sicknicks cause of death. Appointment 3 February 2021 Valor Hospitality has proudly announced the appointment of Jessica Redinger as General Manager of the much anticipated voco Johannesburg Rosebank. voco Johannesburg Rosebank will be InterContinental Hotels Group's first voco brand on the African continent when it opens later this year, and is being proudly managed by Valor Hospitality. Jessica has held various senior positions at Radisson Blu Hotels in Sandton and as interim General Manager at Radisson Blu Port Elizabeth, she has also assisted in several new hotel openings. Her strong rooms division skills, combined with guest service delivery excellence, will make this lifestyle hotel brand of IHG an excellent new choice in Johannesburg. 60,000 feet or 18,288 meters. This was the cruising altitude of the BritishFrench turbojet-powered supersonic airliner, whose maximum velocity sat at over twice the speed of sound (that would be Mach 2.04 or 1,354 mph/ 2,180 kph).The situation of the Concorde portrayed here is a bit different, and yet the focus seems to be the close connection between the plane and an Aston Martin.To be more precise, a DBS Superleggera is attached to the belly of the beast. As such, anybody occupying the lavish seats of the super GT would be gazing at the curvature of the Earth, which is easily visible at the said elevation, upside down.And while it's difficult to tell from this image, if the V12 machine is finished in the brightest shade the official configurator has to offer, we're dealing with a color name worth mentioning: Lunar White.However, we can be certain of one thing: this piece of digital art was shared by Miles Nurnberger earlier today. The British automaker's design director showcased the piece, which comes from an artist we'll discuss below, on his Instagram page. Of course, given the carmaker's connection to the aviation world, which led to developments such as the DBS Superleggera Concorde limited edition introduced in 2019, this shouldn't come as a surprise.As for the mind behind the pixels, we're talking about London-based photographer Olgun Kordal - according to his website, the enthusiast has collaborated with multiple big names in the car industry. Oh, and his Instagram handle is carsandcolour, which seems to be the very definition of an apt choice.In case you're looking for something a bit more... down to Earth, another one of the artist's digital adventures might help you, albeit only as far as altitude is concerned.The rendering, which you can see below, places the mesmerizing De Tomaso P72 unveiled in 2019, inside (and outside) the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which Gustav Klimt completed back in 1907. So, we're dealing with a machine that marks the revival of a brand, being mixed with the portrait of the only person the Austrian artist ever painted twice.Still too far from our daily reality? No problem, the third rendering in this story may just deal with that. After all, the super-sized kidney grille of the 2021 BMW M4 seems to be the kind of topic that perfectly serves the said purpose.Since the posterior of the M Division coupe is also present (well, at least most of it), the proposal makes for a complete take on the matter.And while we're dealing with a design element that determines one to pick sides, it looks like Olgun has managed to build a bridge between the love and hate camps. CHEYENNE, Wyo. Liz Cheney was getting so many questions from constituents and colleagues about whether she would vote to affirm the 2020 election results that she responded in a way befitting her background as a State Department diplomat and lawyer: She issued a 21-page memo detailing the constitutional and legal reasons Congress should not interfere with certification. Doing so, she wrote, would set an exceptionally dangerous precedent that no Republican should want to be associated with. Ms. Cheney was right about the danger. But she was wrong about the willingness of her fellow Republicans to go along with it. In the House, two-thirds of them voted against certification. A week later, only nine others voted with her to impeach former President Donald J. Trump for encouraging a mob of his supporters to besiege the Capitol on Jan. 6. Now Ms. Cheney, the lone representative for Wyoming and the No. 3-ranking Republican in the House, is the most visible and imperiled target of the pro-Trump majority in the G.O.P., which wants to make actions like hers a disqualifying offense for any party member seeking office. Immediately after the election, data maven Matthew Braynard began to determine how many fake ballots were cast in the disputed states. He now says he has absolute proof that Biden's victory in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin came through election fraud. On Tuesday, Braynard appeared on Steve Bannon's War Room show to discuss his findings. Bannon opened the interview by asking Braynard if he's certain that, without offering any esoteric evidence about voting machines or the like, he can support a Trump impeachment defense based on old-fashioned election fraud, even if that defense might be too late to change the election outcome. Braynard politely took issue with the "too late" concept. He pointed out that, after the 2000 election, the three major media outlets spent millions of dollars to investigate the election for seven months before conceding that Bush had won Florida. Thus, while Braynard reluctantly admitted that the information he's gathered may not change the current White House occupant (I'll get back to that in a minute), he's very confident in his findings. What I'm finding and continuing to find, because we're actually still doing research, and we're looking forward to presenting it more aggressively without the constraints of the lawsuits we were entangled with initially, is that among those three states, the number of illegal ballots surpassed the margin of victory. Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona, without those three, Joe Biden isn't president and I think we can prove that fairly conclusively. Braynard believes that his data are especially useful for the "impeachment" effort against Trump because it's not a real impeachment. That's not just because it's unconstitutional to impeach a private citizen. It's also because the papers filed against Trump reveal that Democrats have set up a show trial to lay down a retrospective marker for the Trump presidency. The Democrats will use the Senate arena to redefine Trump as an evil man because they disagree with policies that improved the economy for all Americans, strengthened our borders, brought peace to the Middle East, and generally went a long way to making America great again. In this context, it's perfectly reasonable and appropriate for Trump to include in his defense evidence that the election was stolen. Braynard's discussion begins at 43:47: But about that fraud issue...even though the courts, from the Supreme Court on down, have refused to look at claims of election fraud, the reality is that elections are legal processes. That is, each state has legislation that states how elections are to proceed. The Constitution mandates these laws. In 2000, when Florida's results were so close that they required a recount, nobody was alleging fraud. Instead, Democrats were planning to do what they always do: keep recounting the votes until the Democrat candidate wins, and then stopping the recount. That might have worked, too, if the Supreme Court hadn't stepped in and forced the recount to abide by the actual law. But fraud is a different animal altogether. In the world of contract law, if the court concludes that one party was inveigled into the contract because the other party lied about fundamental facts, that contract is void ab initio. That is, it never came into being. The other way of stating this doctrine is that "fraud vitiates everything." Let me say that again: "Fraud vitiates everything." Why shouldn't that doctrine apply to the most important agreement in America, which is the Constitution? Think about it this way: the Constitution is, in essence, an agreement between the American people and their government. It delineates the limited form that the government is to take and, in the Bill of Rights, states explicitly the powers that the government lacks. As the Declaration of Independence states, when the government fails to abide by its obligations (and limitations) the people can dissolve that agreement. Again, it's a contract. When it comes to elections, the Constitution is predicated upon elected federal officials, including presidents, taking office honestly. If the agreement is breached through fraud in the elections, that fraud should vitiate an alleged president's right to occupy the office he claims. If Matthew Braynard can prove that, in at least three of the contested states, massive fraud in the form of fake paper ballots led to Biden's so-called victory, Biden has no right to occupy the White House. And if he has no right to occupy the White House, every act every executive order, every person appointed, every rule made is null. I'm not saying this is a winning argument, but it's an argument. Things could get interesting next week if Senate Republicans show even a smidgen of courage. If your senators are Republican, let them know that you want them to give Trump a chance to develop his entire defense against the calumnies Democrats are heaping against him including the assertion that his claims about election fraud were untrue. Image: Matthew Braynard. Rumble screen grab. With the easing of coronavirus restrictions, museums and cultural sites reopened this week in most of Italy with pomp and circumstance -- as well as new health-monitoring protocols. The only thing missing were the tourists. The first visitors to Rome's Colosseum, when it opened Monday morning, were treated to a performance of Giacomo Puccini's famed opera La Boheme, performed by students from Rome's Sant Cecilia Conservatory. Alfonsina Russo, director of Parco Archeologico del Colosseo, was on hand as doors opened, saying that for her it was "a joy to finally reopen the site to the public." Visitors also had to pass through specially-installed heat sensors designed to detect anyone entering with unusually high body temperatures, something that could be a sign of coronavirus infection. Visitors were kept a safe distance from each other while inside and there were multiple stations with hand sanitizers available for passersby. Crowds were also modest in size. Before the coronavirus arrived in Italy, long lines of visitors who sometimes waited hours to enter the Colosseum were commonplace. But it was a different scene this time around. There was a small scrum of visitors outside just before doors opened on Monday, but the massive, nearly 2,000-year-old structure quickly absorbed them all even though visitors had to stay two meters away from each other while inside. "It's definitely not the same as it used to be," Anna Luisa Cattaneo, 33, an unemployed waitress, told Xinhua, referring to the health checks, social distancing rules, and relatively small crowd sizes. "But none of it really matters to me right now. I used to come here on crowded school trips and now I'm back in the middle of a pandemic and it feels so wonderful to be able to do something 'normal.' It almost made me cry to come here." There were a few big crowds when a few of the cultural touchstones around Italy reopened. Local newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported there was a long line waiting to enter Turin's famous Egyptian Museum when it opened its doors Monday, for example. But the opposite was more often the case. In 2019, before the pandemic, Florence's Uffizi Gallery attracted an average of nearly 8,000 visitors a day, according to Statista, a data firm. But when it re-opened this year, just 776 tickets were sold for the first day. The historical site of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city destroyed by a volcano in 79 AD, attracted just 175 visitors, compared to nearly 9,000 per day before the pandemic. There were multiple factors behind the low visitor numbers, according to media reports, ranging from economic hardship to health worries to the fact that tickets have to be bought ahead of time online. But the biggest factor was clearly the lack of tourists due to coronavirus fears and international travel restrictions. Xinhua spoke to nearly two-dozen tourists at four different cultural sites in Rome on Monday and Tuesday and all of them were residents of the city. Officials working at the sites said they could not recall more than a small handful of visitors who stuck out as being from abroad or even from other parts of Italy. But those who ventured out to enjoy some of Italy's vast number of cultural sites this week said all the issues in the background could not detract from their experience. "Just look at this, look at it," Antonia Caputo, an office manager who has been working almost exclusively from home since May, told Xinhua. The 51-year-old was gesturing at the majestic Fountain of the Four Rivers made by Renaissance sculpture Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the center of Rome's Piazza Navona. "Every time you look at something like this, you forget everything else." Marco Pellegrino, 40, a bank employee who has been working only one day a week since the crisis began, told Xinhua being able to go out and enjoy some of his city's history was helping him look at the challenges facing Italy in a new way. Pellegrino had just exited the Imperial Roman Forum, the ruins of what had once been the heart of ancient Rome. "It's easy to feel down about everything that's happened, but you look at all this and you see what the city has been through," he said. "Rome has been sacked and suffered through plagues and natural disasters and foreign occupations. We made it through all that and we'll make it through the coronavirus as well." A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a UHN COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Canada could get more than one million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March through a global vaccine sharing initiative known as COVAX. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette NEW YORK: Oil prices rose more than 2% to near their highest levels in about a year on Wednesday, after government data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell to their lowest since March, while OPEC+ maintained its supply cut agreement. Brent crude futures rose $1.37, or 2.4%, to $58.83 a barrel by 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT), their highest since last February. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.45, or 2.7%, to $56.21 a barrel, their highest since January 2020. Both benchmarks backwardation, where contracts for near-term delivery are more expensive than later supplies, were at their highest in just over a year at around $2.30, indicating expectations of tighter supply. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week to 475.7 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, their lowest since March. Refiner utilization rates, meanwhile, rose by 0.6 percentage points. Refineries are back in business, which is supportive for crude," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. On net, this is a supportive report." The market has been bolstered by deep supply cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, which on Wednesday, maintained their oil output policy. The day before, a document seen by Reuters showed that OPEC+ expects the oil market to be in deficit throughout 2021, peaking at 2 million barrels per day in May. Underpinning the bullish sentiment are tightening fundamentals. Ahead of todays ministerial meeting, OPEC+ hinted that global oil stockpiles will decline below the five-year average by June," PVM analysts said. The market was also bolstered by news that Democrats in the U.S. Congress took the first steps toward advancing President Joe Bidens proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan without Republican support. 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 Government of India on Wednesday formally sealed in what is being dubbed as the "Biggest Make-in-India" deal to procure 83 Tejas light combat aircraft from state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. This deal is being deemed as the biggest ever indigenous defence procurement programme, according to officials. The contract was handed over by Director General (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, V L Kantha Rao to Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, R Madhavan, at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country's premier Defence and Aerospace show, in Bengaluru, in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. "I am very happy that HAL has got the orders for development of 83 new indigenous LCA (light combat aircraft) Tejas MK1A from Indian Air Force valued at more than 48,000 crore." "It is probably the biggest Make in India Defence contract till date," Rajnath Singh said. Tejas, manufactured by the HAL, is a single engine and highly agile multi-role supersonic fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month approved the deal for procurement of the 73 Tejas Mk-IA variant and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-I trainer aircraft from the HAL to boost IAF's combat prowess. The Tejas Mk-IA will be equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar, beyond visual range missile, electronic warfare suite and air-to-air refuelling system. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Singh inaugurated a new manufacturing plant in Bengaluru to double the production of Tejas. Speaking on the occasion, he said procurement of the Tejas fleet will significantly enhance the capability of the Indian Air Force. The aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and offensive air support missions while reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles. Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited R Madhavan told PTI recently that the delivery of the Tejas aircraft to the IAF will begin from March 2024 and around 16 aircraft will be rolled out annually till completion of the total supply of 83 jets. Madhavan said the basic price of the aircraft will be around 25,000 crore while 11,000 crore will be used for ground support equipment and other required infrastructure at the bases and around 7,000 for basic customs duty and output GST. The HAL chairman and managing director said the cost for each fighter version of the four-and-half generation aircraft will be 309 crore and 280 crore for the trainer version. The total cost of 48,000 crore includes design and development cost of 2,500 crore to be given to Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and around 2,250 crore set aside for variations in foreign currency exchange rate. The Aero India, known as Asia's largest defence and aerospace exhibition, is being held in Bengaluru from February 3-5. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Politicians from across the world have condemned the Moscow Court's sentence of Russian President Vladimir Putin's biggest critic Alexey Navalny and called for his release. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington will closely work with allies and partners on the court ruling for the Kremlin critic. "The United States is deeply concerned by Russian authorities' decision to sentence opposition figure Alexey Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment, replacing his suspended sentence with jail time," he said in a statement. Blinken added, "We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly." The United Kingdom considers the arrest of Russian opposition figure as a breach of Moscow's commitment, said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Tuesday. "The UK calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexey Navalny and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last two weeks," the statement, quoted by Sputnik read. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Navalny's decision to return to as "brave and selfless" adding that the ruling expressess "pure cowardice". "Alexey @Navalny's decision to return to after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act. In contrast, today's ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately," Johnson said on Twitter. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to Sputnik, said that the sentence to Navalny is "far from any standards" of a rule-of-law state. "The sentence to Alexey Navalny is far from any standards of a rule-of-law state. Navalny must be immediately released. Violence against peaceful protesters must stop," German cabinet spokesman Steffen Seibert quoted Merkel on Twitter. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for the immediate release of Russian opposition figure. "Canada strongly condemns Russia's imprisonment of We call for his immediate release, as well as the release of the peaceful protestors and journalists who have been detained in recent weeks. The justice system must never be abused for political purposes," Trudeau said in a statement on Tuesday via Twitter. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday also hit out at Moscow for the decision and called the sentencing as "unacceptable" "The sentencing of Alexey Navalny is unacceptable. Political differences are not a crime. We are calling for his immediate release. The respect for human rights such as the democratic freedom is non-negotiable," Macron wrote on Twitter. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also called for the release of the Putin critic. "Kurz wrote on Twitter: "Today's sentence to Alexey Navalny in Moscow is unacceptable. I demand his immediate release, as well as an end to violence against peaceful demonstrators. Legal statehood and the right to free expression of opinion must be ensured." Sputnik further reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the French president's reaction "either a complete separation from reality, a lack of understanding what was discussed today, or, which is closer to home, a political bias." EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday demanded to immediately release the opposition figure. "The sentencing of Alexey [Navalny] runs counter Russia's commitments on rule of law & fundamental freedoms. It goes against the verdict of #ECHR, which ruled this case arbitrary and unreasonable. I call for his immediate release," Borrell tweeted. A Moscow court on Tuesday sent Navalny to prison for more than two-and-a-half years. CNN reported the verdict was announced after a heated hearing in which the Kremlin critic ridiculed claims he broke his parole conditions while in a coma and denounced Russia's leader as "Putin the poisoner." The Putin critic was previously handed a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in the 2014 case along with five years of probation. He had to spend five months in Germany recovering from Novichok poisoning before his return to Moscow on January 17. (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, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud Compliance Solutions (CCSI), a leading provider of cloud-based enterprise services and compliance solutions, announced today that Bektrom Foods has chosen CCSI as its primary cloud desktop, data center, compliance and voice provider. Cloud Compliance Solutions Virtual Computing is drastically changing how enterprise and mid-level companies do business. "With today's advances in technology, security, features and mobility we are confident that CCSI can deliver these benefits to our company," said Tom Barbella, Bektrom Foods CEO. "This relationship with CCSI enables us to take advantage of a compliant, secure and cost-effective cloud desktop platform for our business. We currently utilize Virtual Desktops, Voice over IP (VoIP), Disaster Recovery and Compliant Security services. We feel this is a great fit for Bektrom Foods. " "Having Bektrom Foods as a customer is a very high honor. Bektrom Foods is a leader in dry grocery manufacturing nationally. They work with all facets of the retail, dollar chains, standard grocery stores, big box stores, distributors as well as co-packing and private label. We are very proud of the fact that Bektrom Foods trusts CCSI with their data and voice needs. "This is a testament to our commitment for business up-time, compliance and security to our clients," stated Kelley R. Allen, CCSI's CEO. "We provide end-to-end compliant technology platforms for clients in healthcare, finance, manufacturing, insurance and many others. We create a solid partnership with our clients and they trust us with their data and core business operations." To learn how you can become part of the CCSI family contact [email protected] today. About Cloud Compliance Solutions CCSI is a cloud technology driven company offering secure and compliant computer and voice enterprise-wide solutions for both large and small companies. Based on experience and expertise CCSI drives client performance and profitability through fully integrated and cost effective services utilizing industry best practices, resource management software and premier support. With in-depth market knowledge and client specific strategic approaches CCSI ensures maximum mobility and business continuity while providing our clients a competitive advantage. Headquartered in Coral Springs, FL with fully owned and operated cloud platforms in Florida, Texas and Ohio, CCSI provides its clients with a complete suite of Cloud Related and Compliance Services for all of their operational and compliance requirements. The ability to offer its clients a single vendor option allows CCSI to deliver more secure, reliable and cost effective services that significantly reduce ongoing operational and audit costs. For more information visit us at http://www.ccsius.com or contact Bill Mulcahy, COO at 561-990-3812 or [email protected] Related Images cloud-compliance-solutions.jpg Cloud Compliance Solutions SOURCE Cloud Compliance Solutions Queensland police investigating the arson of a Gold Coast brothel say a rival business could have been behind the attack, as CCTV video shows one of those involved almost going up in flames themselves. A crime scene was set up after police were called to Silks Brothel on Upton Street, Bundall, about 4.30am on November 10 to find the building well alight. The flames caused the front of the building to collapse. Police have renewed their appeal and issued CCTV footage as investigations continue into the arson attack. Credit:Queensland Police Service Police have renewed their appeal for anyone with information or footage to come forward, releasing CCTV vision from the business that shows two unknown offenders pull up in a silver Honda sedan. The footage shows the people, clad in black, pour what police believe to be an accelerant into the foyer from two containers before attempting to light the fluid. ADVERTISEMENT The Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom, said it is partnering the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) to assist Nigeria achieve sustainable development in engineering. The International Development Manager of the Academy, Catriona MacArthur, said this on Wednesday in a remark during the opening of a virtual three-day international conference, entitled Engineering for Sustainable Development. The conference was organised by the academy, in collaboration with the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering, UNN. Ms MacArthur said sustainable development in engineering would enhance Nigerias energy sector and fast track development in different sectors of the economy. She said: This collaboration will not only help to achieve sustainable development in engineering but also result in quality engineering education in Nigeria. The academy will continue to organise conferences, workshops and training that will equip engineers with relevant knowledge on achieving sustainable development. Sustainable development in engineering will help fast track development in health, education, agriculture, industry and other sectors of the economy. With the collaboration, the academy will ensure improved engineering education in Nigerian universities. She commended Paul Nnamchi, an associate professor and head of Department, Biomedical Engineering, UNN and coordinator of the academy in Nigeria, for facilitating the partnership. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of UNN, Charles Igwe, in his remark, said engineering remains the key to sustainable development in any country. Nigeria is endowed with solar energy but the problem is the lack of technology to harvest it. Israelis live in a desert but today they export food, whereas Nigeria, blessed with fertile land, import food and cannot achieve food security because of the lack of technology and sustainable development, Mr Igwe, a professor, said. Mr Igwe, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Pat Okpoko, urged participants to ensure that the outcome of the conference would provide solutions to the challenges that impeded the realisation of sustainable development. Mr Nnamchi, the conference facilitator, said the conference was designed to provide opportunity for engineers, students, farmers, small scale business owners and stakeholders to discuss ways of achieving sustainable development. He thanked the academy for the collaboration and sponsorship of the conference. (NAN) Indias move this week to set up a to manage one of the worlds largest piles of soured loans could bring unintended consequences. One that some market participants say theyll be closely watching is whether it could wind up inflating the price of distressed assets. That could happen if the creation of the reduces pressure on loan owners to price such debt at discounts attractive enough to draw other buyers, the argument goes. There are many details about the that policy makers havent clarified, including its ownership structure, which makes any analysis challenging. But if the firm is owned by lenders including ones that originated soured assets bought at lower prices, that could force those to mark down the value of the securities they receive in exchange. Banking secretary Debasish Panda told reporters this week that might have to put in initial capital to start the bad bank. While the plan provides a new path to resolve soured loans, key issues including the capitalization of the bank, its ownership structure, and the limited secondary market for stressed assets still need to be addressed, said Nitesh Jain, a director at CRISIL Ratings, the local arm of S&P Global Ratings. Any such issues with the transparency of bad loan pricing could crimp interest in Indian distressed credit thats been growing in recent years and drawing investors from Oaktree to Apollo. There would, of course, also be benefits to the bad bank plan announced in the federal budget Monday. Aggregating soured assets into a single firm could help expedite Indias often protracted debt recasts, and make it easier for foreign funds to build up controlling positions in the debt of companies. That would be an improvement from the current regime, under which investors have to negotiate individually with each lender, resulting in debt resolutions that take over a year, said Ravi Kumar Bansal, CEO of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction company, an investor in distressed credit. But even under the bad bank plan, the need to find a buyer for the distressed loans would still remain, Bansal said. Various components of a new system, developed by Nebraska engineers, that has recorded the stresses and strains on a mature cell-to-cell bridge, or junction, for the first time. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences / Amir Monemian Esfahani / Jordan Rosenbohm / Grayson Minnick / Ruiguo Yang It took less than a day for the pair to form an organic connection that helped anchor them, that helped them communicate and share resources, that put them on the path to becoming part of something bigger than themselves. It took the University of NebraskaLincoln's Ruiguo Yang far longer to devise a way to put that connection to the test, to ratchet up the stress with unprecedented precision, all while measuring the strain it could endure before reaching a breaking point. The pair in question? Human cells. Their connection? A physical junction that forms between them and, when joined by more friends, allows them to form tissues. Yang, an assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, has nothing against the cells he's been so busy stressing out. On the contrary: The newly published work he's spearheaded might ultimately help save untold numbers of them. Thanks to a painstaking feat of microscopic engineering, Yang and his colleagues have now managed to record the biomechanical behavior of mature, individual cell-to-cell junctions for the first time, as reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Though it spans only thousandths of a millimeter, a junction has outsized influence over the fates of the cells it connects. Depending on the type, it can take on many roles: a shepherd that keeps cells from drifting apart, a line of chemical communication between them, a gateway for the transport of water and nutrients. "It is a very important structure, because without it, cells would be isolated," Yang said. "We want to understand the structure itselfhow much force it can take and, during that process, how much signaling the cells can trigger to alter their behavior, either to detach or strengthen the attachment. "Hopefully, that information will come in handy when it comes to understanding (human) development and disease." An illustration of the microscopic component developed to measure the stress and strain on a cell-to-cell bridge. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences / Amir Monemian Esfahani / Jordan Rosenbohm / Grayson Minnick / Ruiguo Yang The team was especially interested in the junction's stresses and strainsusually the macro-level concerns of construction and civil engineers. Stress describes the amount of force applied to a given area; strain describes how much an object stretches or otherwise deforms in response to that stress. The more stress an object can sustain without snapping, the greater its tensile strength. Even when separating two cells at a relatively rapid rate, the researchers found that their junction could stretch to more than twice its original length before breaking. "It's remarkable that they can take that much strain before they rupture," Yang said. Still, the team was applying and measuring almost inconceivably tiny forces on the tiny scale of cells, which are often less than 1/50th of a millimeter in diameter. No one had ever figured out how to both control and record those forces with the precision needed to study the dynamics of a lone cellular junction in its natural, fully developed state. Earlier efforts were limited to testing junctions whose cells were in a suspended rather than an anchored state, making the results less generalizable and relevant to the actual goings-on in the body. Yang's solution to the longstanding challenges involved building two trapezoidal platforms that, when placed together, resemble a microscopic bowtie. Each platform is bordered by three-sided walls to keep a deposited cell from leaving the platform but enable it to make contact, and form a junction, with the cell across from it. The cells also anchor themselves to their platform bases in much the same way that they do in the body. Moving either platform away from the other, then, begins imposing stress on the junction between them. But the design required another component, one that would pose a substantially greater engineering challenge. Beneath each platform would rest a series of support beams whose stiffness would approximate, as closely as possible, the stiffness of the cellular junction. By moving one platform away from the other, recording the deformation of the support beams beneath each platform, and then correlating the magnitudes of the two, the researchers could effectively calculate the stress and strain on the cellular junction. To meet the demands of size, complexity and sensitivity, the team decided to fabricate the beams from a soft polymer, using lasers to solidify bits of gel into the desired architecture. Yang and his colleagues first tried fabricating horizontal beams before finally conceding that they couldn't achieve the needed flexibility. So they turned to vertical beamswhich themselves tended to collapse until the team added microscopic trusses, creating A-shaped supports that finally did the trick. An image of the microscopic component, which the team fabricated by firing ultra-short laser pulses at a light-sensitive material to form a polymer. Credit: Amir Monemian Esfahani / Jordan Rosenbohm / Grayson Minnick / Ruiguo Yang "To balance the softness and the stiffnessthe softness to detect the forces and the stiffness to stand up to the fabrication processwas a very, very big challenge," Yang said. "It took more than a year to actually get to that point." After hitching their new apparatus to a so-called atomic force microscope, which can generate forces as small as a nano-newtonroughly 1 billionth the force of an apple falling from a treethe team began subjecting the cellular junctions to various amounts of stress at various rates. When the researchers rapidly tugged one of the platforms away, the junction seemed to bear the full brunt of the stress, snapping quickly in response. When they separated it at a lower rate, though, "the behavior was totally different," Yang said. Rather than snapping under the same level of stress, the junction continued to stretch, exceeding its tensile strength in the other scenario. Why the difference? The team suspects it's due mostly to a dynamic response not from the junction but from the cells themselves. Many types of cells, including the epithelial cells tested by Yang's group, contain a cytoskeleton: essentially an interlacing network of molecular chains. True to its name, the cytoskeleton exists in large part to provide a cell with structure and support. Yet it can also remodel itself on the fly, reconfiguring those chains to contract the cell, for instance, or assist it in migrating. Yang thinks the cytoskeleton pulled a version of the same trick to dissipate some of the stress that his team imposed on the cells. "They have some sort of internal sensor, most likely, so they sense that they are in danger of stress build-up," he said. "If they can grow the chains longer, then the amount of stress within a cell will be lower. It's like stretching a bungee cord or a rubber band. The rubber bands are actually growing longer. They grow and relax the tension, and the relaxed tension avoids rupture (of the junction). "But if you pull them really quickly, they don't have that time to adapt." That adaptation is a prime example of mechanotransduction: how mechanical stimuli can alter the behavior, and sometimes even the genetic makeup, of cells. The fact that suspended cells don't exhibit those adaptations, Yang said, highlights the importance of studying their behavior in their mature, anchored state. The system's trapezoidal platforms being pulled apart to stress the junction between two mature cells. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The team's discoveries could rate as the first of many to be gleaned from using its system, Yang said. Some of those discoveries might eventually inform the development of therapeutic treatments designed to prevent the junction failures associated with some heart diseases and other maladies. "In the current testing of drugs and therapeutics, people rely on (testing) a monolayer of cells," he said. "You dump them in the media and see the mass effects of it. But we are looking at one junction only to see precisely what is happening. Our goal is to provide the most basic, fundamental understanding, which can then be applied to other, more complicated conditions, where you have three-dimensional cell structures." The team demonstrated that potential by using its system to investigate the behavior of E-cadherin, a protein vital in forming and maintaining cell-to-cell junctions. Prior research has suggested that a deficiency of E-cadherin, which can lead to junction detachment and disrupt chemical signaling between cells, might contribute to the spread of cancerous tumors. As they subjected a junction to strain at a very low rate, the researchers observed E-cadherins clustering around the junction. The clustering appeared to surge as the strain increased from 10% to 100% over the course of about 10 minutes, indicating that the E-cadherin behavior might also be contributing to the greater tensile strength observed under that conditionanother potential hint of mechanotransduction at work. "Although this data is very preliminary, there are many, many other datasets we're currently working on," Yang said. "But even the preliminary data can show us that this molecule may somehow regulate the mechanics of this junction, and also potentially regulate how the cells respond to the strain. "If we can identify the functions of those junction molecules when they are being subjected to strain, then we can test the efficacies of certain drugs that might alter their fate. So we believe this potentially can be a drug-screening platform down the road." More information: Amir Monemian Esfahani et al. Characterization of the strain-ratedependent mechanical response of single cellcell junctions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Amir Monemian Esfahani et al. Characterization of the strain-ratedependent mechanical response of single cellcell junctions,(2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2019347118 Baltimore County Maryland Defenders Union Office of the Public Defender Baltimore County's Maryland Mary Ellen Barbera Dorothy Wilson Marci Johnson Maryland Defenders Union Baltimore City Towson Catonsville Essex Maryland Feb. 8 Feb. 2 Carly Towne Baltimore County Baltimore City Maryland Terri Charles The Maryland Defenders Union AFSCME (TNS) Despite state orders limiting courtroom operations,courts are still scheduling hundreds of in-person hearings for low-level, nonviolent offenses each week, and thesays it's putting county attorneys, judicial staff and the public at risk.Union members, which include more than 50 attorneys, social workers and other staff members in the county's, sayfour courthouses have for months violated orders fromChief Judgeto restrict certain cases and stipulating that courts "shall conduct remote proceedings to the greatest extent possible during the health emergency."Union representatives say District Court Administrative Judgehas failed to enforce Barbera's safety protocols and ensure the guidelines are adopted by county courthouses."They are not taking safety into account," said, president of theand an assistant public defender in. "It's an egregious problem."More than that, there is not enough adequate personal protective equipment, like N95 masks and partitions, for judicial employees; coronavirus screenings are shoddy and notifications of positive cases aren't always shared with staff right away; and social distancing guidance doesn't prevent the close contact that comes when police, family members, reporters, attorneys and other staff members are milling about each day, either inside courtrooms or gathered outside of them, Johnson said.Under Barbera's November order, district courts may "hear only limited actions including criminal cases, other civil proceedings and certain landlord-tenant case types."But Barbera's order also gives the administrative judge discretion over which cases are heard in person or remotely.The district courthouses inandhave been "almost fully operational since June," when courts reopened after statewide shutdown orders when the coronavirus first made its way to, Johnson said.Attorneys are "appearing every day" to represent clients facing adjudication for minor traffic violations, failing to pay train fare and trespassing at fast-food restaurants, she said.On, more than 90 cases are scheduled to be heard in district courtrooms, according to a court docket. A circuit court docket for, before courts closed due to heavy snowfall, showed mostly in-person hearings., an assistant public defender in, said she's frustrated and confused that the cases going forward don't seem to fall in line with the state's orders county court operations confuse Towne's clients, too, who see other localities, like, scaling back dockets and holding many hearings remotely.Towne said motions filed by some of her clients to have their cases heard virtually have been denied. If a defendant fails to appear in court, bench warrants are issued for their arrest, she said."We're seeing bench warrants issued for clients ... for driving without a license," she said.Towne, who began working in the public defender's office in 2019, said attempts to figure out which cases are moved forward and why some are denied remote hearings have been unsuccessful.There is a "significant backlog" of cases, but Towne said "we're not seeing a push to prioritize incarcerated clients" waiting for trials in jail, a hotbed for coronavirus spread.Thejudiciary denied an interview request, but courts spokeswomansaid in an email that district court cases "are prioritized based on whether the defendant is incarcerated, whether the cases involve a crime of violence, and/or an alcohol-related driving offense."Decisions to hold remote or in-person hearings are made on a case-by-case basis "and in consultation with the attorneys for the case," Charles said.Charles added that "many precautions" have been put in place at courthouses amid the pandemic, including mask-wearing mandates, no-contact temperature checks and plastic glass barriers installed in clerks' offices and courtrooms.Docket times are staggered to facilitate physical distancing, she said., which represents more than 700 employees across the state and is part of the state's largest union for state government employees, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or, wants to see more amnesty for defendants facing misdemeanors and wants far more cases to be heard remotely. The union also wants more personal protective equipment."It's not like it isn't being done everywhere else," Towne said. "There are not issues in terms of the technology or availability; we're not utilizing what we could be doing to be safer." WASHINGTON - It had been eight years since Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis left the White House, eight years since black bunting had hung from the East Room windows and her husband's body rested on the same bier that had held Abraham Lincoln's. Much had changed since President John F. Kennedy had been shot to death beside her in Dallas in 1963 and she had returned to Washington in her bloodstained clothes. Even so, "the thought of seeing the White House again" was painful, she wrote first lady Pat Nixon in January 1970. "I have returned to Washington only to visit Arlington," the national cemetery where her husband was buried. "I know that time will make things easier," she wrote. "And that one day, when they and I are older, I must take Caroline and John back to the places where they lived with their father. But that won't be for a while." A year later, however, she thought she was ready, and proposed a secret plan. On Feb. 3, 1971 - 50 years ago Wednesday - Jackie and the children slipped into the White House, almost unnoticed, for her first and only visit there after the assassination of her husband. It was a day marked by grace and tenderness, as Jackie put it later, between two rival political families that seems unimaginable today. And it is chronicled in a poignant exchange of the first ladies' letters, which are held at the presidential libraries of Richard M. Nixon, in Yorba Linda, Calif., and of John F. Kennedy, in Boston. So much had changed in Washington between 1963 and 1971. Two presidents had lived in the White House. Nixon, JFK's defeated 1960 presidential adversary, occupied the executive mansion now - his political disgrace still in the future. Jackie had married the Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis and moved to New York. She was 41. Caroline Kennedy was 13, and John F. Kennedy Jr. was 10. Still, she was fearful of returning. She had been invited by Pat Nixon to attend a small ceremony to mark the hanging of the formal White House portraits of President Kennedy and Jackie, painted by the artist Aaron Shikler. "As you know, the thought of returning to the White House is difficult for me," she repeated in a handwritten letter to Pat Nixon on Jan. 27, 1971. "I really do not have the courage to go through an official ceremony, and bring the children back to the only home they both knew with their father. . . . With all the press and everything, things I try to avoid in their little lives," she wrote. Caroline was 5 and John was 2 when their father was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 22, 1963. "I know the experience would be hard on them and not leave them with the memories of the White House I would like them to have," she wrote, numbering the pages, on stationery of 1040 Fifth Avenue, the luxury Manhattan apartment building where she lived. But Jackie suggested a less public plan - "an alternate solution," she called it. The portraits would go on view publicly. She would send Pat Nixon a statement of thanks. Then, "perhaps any day before or after, at your convenience, could the children and I slip in unobtrusively to Washington, and come to pay our respects to you and to see the pictures privately?" she asked. Pat Nixon wouldn't have to hold a big ceremony, "and the children could see their father's portrait in the rooms they used to know, in a quiet way," she wrote. The first lady agreed. The two women could not have been from more different backgrounds. Pat Nixon was born in a Nevada mining town and grew up on a farm outside Los Angeles, according to Nixon scholar Bob Bostock. She took over household duties after her mother, an immigrant from Germany, died when Pat was 12. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born in exclusive Southampton, on Long Island, the daughter of a Wall Street stockbroker. She attended private schools, Vassar College and had studied in France. But both had shared in the rising political fortunes of their husbands. And the two families had remained close despite Kennedy's narrow victory in 1960, according to Bostock, who was an aide to Richard Nixon in the last years of his life. The former vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, then living in New York City, had written to Jackie the day after the assassination: "While the hand of fate made Jack and me political opponents I always cherished the fact that we were personal friends from the time we came to Congress together in 1947 . . . [and] you brought to the White House charm, beauty and elegance . . . and the mistique of the young at heart." She wrote back: "You two young men - colleagues in Congress - adversaries in 1960 - and now look what has happened - Whoever thought such a hideous thing could happen in this country. . . . We never value life enough when we have it." Now the Nixons sent a special jet to pick up Jackie and the children. "My mother was determined that the visit be as private and as happy as possible," Nixon daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower wrote in a biography of her mother, "Pat Nixon: The Untold Story." "Only four members of the White House staff . . . [were] directly involved . . . and they were sworn to strict secrecy," wrote Julie, who was 22 in 1971. "My mother, Tricia [elder Nixon daughter Patricia Nixon Cox] and I were waiting at the second floor elevator when the three visitors arrived." Jackie wore "a simple but elegant long sleeved black dress," Julie remembered. "Her face with its large, wide-set eyes and pale skin framed by dark hair was exactly like the photographs." "We went immediately to the ground floor to see her portrait, an ethereal, romantic study with her head turned dreamily to the unknown," she wrote. The portrait shows Jackie in golden light wearing a long, thin dress with a ruffled collar and sleeves. She stands before a mantelpiece on which is a bust and a lush bouquet of white flowers. Shikler had finished the painting the year before, according to the White House Historical Association. The group then went to view the JFK painting. The Nixons had worried about this moment. "When we went to the grand hall to see the portrait of John Kennedy, Mrs. Onassis said nothing, except to thank Mother for displaying it so prominently," Julie wrote. The portrait showed JFK with his head "sunk deeply on his chest, his arms crossed, conveying dejection more than the sense of tragedy that the artist perhaps intended," she wrote. Shikler, who had seen Kennedy only once, from a distance, had painted the portrait posthumously, working from photographs and advice from Jackie. He had just finished it the previous November. "I painted him with his head bowed, not because I think of him as a martyr, but because I wanted to show him as a president who was a thinker," he told The Washington Post in February 1971. "A thinking president is a rare thing." The Kennedy children said they liked it, but wanted to see what was next on the tour. President Nixon later took the children to see the Lincoln Bedroom and explained the legend that anyone who sat on the bed and made a wish would have the wish come true. "Mother and Mrs. Onassis quietly toured the state rooms," Julie wrote. "Mrs. Onassis was subdued, seeming to absorb the changes." Jackie had famously restored and redecorated the White House a decade before, and had given a televised tour of the finished work, which was watched by 80 million viewers. Jackie and the children had dinner that night with the Nixons, then went to the Oval Office. President Nixon showed John Jr. where he was photographed as a toddler playing under JFK's desk. "It seemed to Tricia and me to be a private moment," Julie remembered. They waited outside. The day after the visit, Jackie wrote to President Nixon and the first lady. "Never have I seen such magnanimity and such tenderness," she wrote. "Can you imagine the gift you gave me?" she said. "To return to the White House privately with my little ones while they are still young enough to rediscover their childhood - with you both as guides - and with your daughters, such extraordinary young women." "I have never seen the White House look so beautiful," she wrote. "It was moving, when we left, to see that great House illuminated, with the fountains playing." "It made me happy to hear the children bursting with reminiscences all the way home," she wrote. "Thank you with all my heart. A day I always dreaded turned out to be one of the most precious ones I have spent with my children." "May God bless you all, Most gratefully, Jackie." Champignon Brands (CSE: SHRM- OTCQB: SHRMF) CEO Dr. Roger McIntyre joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news the company has announced the opening of a new Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence clinic in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is now the 3rd clinic joining Mississauga and Toronto. Dr. McIntyre saying this Ottawa clinic will be addressing the unmet need of depression and suicide through novel ketamine therapy treatment. Charges have been upgraded against a Jefferson County man in the death of his 5-week-old son. Quinton Artez Arnold, 27, of Hueytown, is now charged with capital murder in the death of Kamari Whitt. Arnold was taken back into custody Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was arrested in Troy and is being held in the Montgomery County Detention Center pending extradition to Jefferson County. Arnold was initially charged with aggravated child abuse and booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Friday. He was released on $250,000 bond and then apparently fled to southern Alabama. Authorities said Kamari was injured Wednesday, Jan. 27, in the 300 block of West Lake Circle in Bessemer. Lt. Christian Clemons said police were notified of the incident on Thursday. The preliminary investigation shows Kamari was left in the care of his father on Wednesday while the mother was out running errands. At some point, the baby was taken to UAB Medical Center West and then transferred to Childrens of Alabama. It was then that doctors notified Bessemer police. Medical experts said the child was suffering from head injuries consistent with being shaken or struck. Kamari was pronounced dead at 10 a.m. Saturday at Childrens. For most of its two decades of existence, Blue Origin was like Willy Wonkas chocolate factory in the childrens book by Roald Dahl. It was a rocket company founded by Jeffrey P. Bezos, the billionaire who had created Amazon. That much was known. What the company was actually doing was shrouded in mystery. But everyone wanted to get in, laughed Carissa Christensen, founder and chief executive of Bryce Space and Technology, an aerospace consulting firm. Mr. Bezos announced on Tuesday that he would be stepping down as chief executive of Amazon this summer and becoming executive chairman. In his letter to Amazon employees, he said he wanted to put time and energy into other passions and listed Blue Origin among 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. 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. Court on Sheremet murder case: Antonenko's arrest extended for another two months, Kuzmenko remains under house arrest, Duhar - under personal obligations Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky District Court has extended the preventive measure for those accused of the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet for another two months, until April 2: Andriy Antonenko remains under arrest, Yulia Kuzmenko - under house arrest, and the measure of restraint in the form of personal obligations will be in effect for Yana Duhar. The court made the corresponding decision on Tuesday, thus satisfying the motion of the prosecution. The trial was broadcast on the YouTube channel of Sudova vlada (Judicial authority). Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 20:55:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- As of Wednesday, most provincial-level regions had held their annual legislative sessions, putting forward new keywords in their development blueprints for this year and the coming five years. The new buzzwords, such as 5G use, digital currency, and carbon peak, highlight the country's new momentum for its high-quality growth in line with China's new development philosophy and paradigm. GROWTH TARGETS Nearly 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have set this year's economic growth target at more than 6 percent. Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong provinces, among the country's major economic powerhouses, aimed for a more than 6 percent expansion in 2021. The growth targets of other provincial-level regions generally range from more than 6 percent to more than 9 percent. Central China's Hubei Province, hit hard by COVID-19 last year, and the southern Hainan Province targeted a double-digit growth of more than 10 percent. The local growth targets showed the resilience and potential of China's economy. It adds certainty to the world amid a global recession, said Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. Growing 2.3 percent year on year in 2020, China's economy will likely see a faster recovery and mild transitions in macro-policies in 2021, a year of multiple challenges at home and abroad, according to Zhang Yuxian, an expert with the State Information Center. DUAL CIRCULATION The "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, was another keyword phrase in this year's local government reports. Liaoning Province in northeast China said it would actively integrate its development into this paradigm, building itself into a central hub for economic and trade cooperation in Northeast Asia. The province will also introduce new reforms in its free trade zone and accelerate Sino-German and Sino-UK industrial park construction. Southwest China's Yunnan Province will beef up efforts to advance reform and opening-up by relying on its free trade zone. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also unveiled plans to apply for a free trade zone in their government work reports this year. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would increase the cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This would be favorable for Yunnan to expand opening-up, said Ma Yong, head of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. CARBON PEAK Amid the country's all-out efforts to meet its 2060 carbon-neutral target, provincial authorities said they would formulate action plans to achieve carbon emission peaks by reducing emissions and expanding renewable energy usage, among other measures. Shanghai aims to bring the city's carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2025. It would be five years ahead of the national target of 2030, according to the municipal government. Liaoning province said it would compile and implement an action plan for carbon emission peaks through developing renewable energy such as solar and wind power, afforestation, and promoting the carbon trading market. Provinces such as Jiangsu and Guangdong also vowed to take the lead in peaking their carbon emissions. China has announced that it will strive to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060. One priority is to adjust energy and industrial structures to meet the carbon peak target, and it is necessary to take a differentiated and inclusive approach, experts say. DIGITAL CURRENCY Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong plan to promote digital currency pilot applications in their local government work reports. Beijing will accelerate innovation demonstration zone construction for fintech and professional services. The city will also advance the pilot use of digital currency, Mayor Chen Jining said. He made the comments while elaborating on the significant tasks this year in the municipal government work report. Guangdong plans to support Shenzhen in building a pilot zone for digital currency innovation. Shenzhen, Beijing and Suzhou have all piloted the digital yuan since last year. Efforts are under way to include more people in this fast-developing digital era, making daily life easy and digital payments more secure. 5G USE China is accelerating its pace to construct information infrastructure for the 5G era to boost production and consumption upgrades. Guangdong will have 220,000 5G base stations by 2022, with its 5G users reaching 60 million. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plans to build 20,000 5G base stations this year and expand the 5G network in cities, counties, and townships. Southwest China's Guizhou will support the applications of 5G and artificial intelligence. 14th FIVE-YEAR PLAN The year 2021 marks the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with the country embarking on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country. The local legislative sessions also reviewed and adopted the provincial-level 14th five-year plan outlines. The economic growth targets and measures to implement the national development strategies and policies are included in the local 14th five-year plans, with high-quality development, innovation, and opening-up among the most significant aspects of regional development blueprints. ANTI-POVERTY CAMPAIGN In 2020, all the remaining poverty-stricken counties across the country were delisted despite the COVID-19 impact, marking a decisive victory in the country's tough battle against poverty. Places such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan have announced measures to consolidate the poverty reduction outcomes and promote rural vitalization at the local legislative sessions. Yunnan plans to build 100 demonstration townships and 10,000 "beautiful villages" among its efforts to vitalize the rural areas and improve the rural residents' living environment. Enditem Lagos House of Assembly has passed a Bill banning the activities of cultists and illegal societies across the state into law. The new law stipulates a 21-year jail term for anyone found guilty of engaging in the act and 15 years jail term for anyone convicted of abetting cultists or who allows his premises to be used by cultists as a meeting point. After its passage, the Speaker of the House, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa, directed the Clerk, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, to transmit the Law Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent. The Bill entitled "A Law to provide for the prohibition of unlawful societies and cultism in Lagos State and for other connected purposes,' says a society shall be regarded as unlawful if its members are engaged in illegal, destructive activities contrary to public policy, safety and peace of members of the public. In Section 3, it read: "Any person who is a member of an unlawful society or cult, identifies as a member or solicits for members of an unlawful society or cult, attends a meeting of an unlawful society or cult whether as a member or an intending member of the unlawful society or cult commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of 21 years imprisonment. "The jail term also concerns anyone who attends such meetings or does any illegal act which may probably cause a breach of peace, disturb public peace or conducts activities in such a manner as to pose a threat to life and property. "Anyone who forms, organises or combines and agrees with anyone to form or organise an unlawful society or cult, manages and assists in the management of an unlawful society or cult or knowingly allows a meeting of members of an unlawful society or cult to be held in any property under his control commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of 15 years imprisonment. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The 15-year jail term further applies to anyone who intimidates or compels people to join a cult group. "Any person who injures or uses violence on a person to compel the person to join an unlawful society or cult commits an offence and liable on conviction to a term of 21 years imprisonment. "Any person who administers or is present at and consents to the administering of any unlawful oath that appears to bind the person who takes it to become a member of an unlawful society or cult under this law, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to seven years. "It also stipulates 21 years for any member of a cult group who sets fire on anything or uses firearm or deadly objects, including acid and other chemicals, in any manner as to cause harm to anyone." For students in the state, the law, which prohibits campus cultism, says "anyone of them who is convicted would face a jail term not exceeding two years." 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. (Photo : Screenshot From Wiki4All YouTube) Jared Isaacman Net Worth: Tech and Fighter Jet Billionaire Gets Ready for SpaceX Voyage The American billionaire who had reportedly made his own fortune in both tech and fighter jets now wants people jumping in their own rockets just like the Jetsons some time 50 years from now. With Jared Isaacman billionaire making huge goals, it's quite intriguing to know exactly who he is. According to an article by The Sun, Jared Isaacman age is 37 but will turn 38 on February 11 and he is SpaceX's newest astronaut. The said billionaire is now buying a whole SpaceX flight and now plans to take three different civilians along with him in order to circle the globe some time later this year. Jared Isaacman SpaceX trip is the latest deal when it comes to private space travel on Elon Musk's company's runway for a whole orbital trip. Tech entrepreneur as well as pilot Isaacman had started his first business early at age 15. Jared Isaacman net worth As of February 2021, Jared Isaacman net worth is estimated to be about $2 billion. Forbes has described the businessman as a particular thrill seeker who has made his own fortune by training fighter pilots. His wealth then soared back in 2020 due to almost entirely his massive 38% stake in the company Shift4 Payments. As a space geek ever since in kindergarten, Isaacman had dropped out of his high school early at age 16 then got a GED or General Educational Development certificate. He noted that he was not too motivated about his own high school life. During this stage, he was actually flogging off certain credit-card terminals out of his own parents' basement and this became the genesis for Shift4 which is now known as a large payments technology provider over in Pennsylvania, according to a Forbes profile. Draken International He had also set a speed record in flying around the world back in 2009 while he was raising money for a certain Make-A-Wish program. Isaacman then later on established the Draken International which is the world's largest private fleet of different fighter jets at the early age of 28. Aside from this, Isaacman announced that he would be taking part in the world's very first all-civilian mission to outer space. Aside from flying to space, Isaacman aims to raise $200 million for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Can a regular person go to space? Jude Isaacman is offering two more seats, seat No. 3 and seat No. 4 for lucky winners and donators. Two other civilians will be selected to go to space. It was stated that anyone donating to St. Jude during February will enter the random drawing for seat No. 3. It was also said that the fourth seat will go to a certain business owner who will use the Shift4 Payments. Elon Musk announced that the space flight is expected to last for two to four days. Read Also: SpaceX Raised $1.9B in Biggest Funding Round Yet as Space Economy Expected to Be Worth $1 Trillion in 20 Years Related Article: Elon Musk Shares SpaceX SN9 Static Fire Test Successful on All Three Tries-No RUDs, Failures! This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian Buenconsejo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. FAIRFIELD An Ansonia man was arrested after police say he broke into a Bulkley Road home and stole from it. Fairfield police Lt. Antonio Granata said Michael John Fernandez, 34, was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary, sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny for a Nov. 30 incident. Granata said police were called to the residence at 3 a.m. for a reported burglary and found a window pushed in at the back of the home where they believe he entered. He said rings, watches, necklaces and other items reported to be family heirlooms were reported stolen. Surveillance footage from the residence showed a suspect and suspect vehicle with unique characteristics, he said. Information was developed through a Law Enforcement Database identifying Michael Fernandez as a suspect. Granata said Fernandez has been convicted of 12 burglary offenses since 2017 and was known to operate a similar vehicle. Detectives examined social media and found videos Fernandez posted that confirmed he drove a vehicle identical to the suspect vehicle on dates before and after the burglary. They also found his vehicle and confirmed it matched the one seen in surveillance footage from the night of the burglary, Granata said. Fernandez was also wearing the same apparel as the suspect seen on the victims home surveillance video, he said. He said a search warrant was issued for the vehicle after detectives observed property taken during the burglary in plain view inside it. Detectives searched the vehicle and located the stolen items from the burglary, Granata said. A superior court arrest warrant was issued for Fernandez. According to court documents, Fernandez was held on $200,000 bond and is scheduled to enter a plea on March 2. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com Telecommunications companies have failed to provide data on the capability and location of their assets like phone towers and the lack of information is risking the lives of emergency services personnel, says Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud. Mr Littleproud said he wrote to telecommunications companies in November and NBN, Optus and Telstra still had not provided the information. He singled out Telstra chief executive Andy Penn, who he said had made a personnel commitment to provide the data. Emergency Services Minister David Littleproud. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I am disgusted that Andy Penn has not made good on Telstras commitments even after a personal conversation with him that he would not put Telstras commercial interests ahead of the safety of Australians, Mr Littleproud said. Mr Littleproud said emergency service personnel need to know where telecommunication infrastructure is and what capabilities it has when they make life and death decisions during an emergency. 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. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has raised the stakes in the revived Brexit row over EU and UK trade with Northern Ireland. John Downing answers all your key questions about the latest crux. Huge efforts were made to resolve the main fallout from the June 2016 decision by UK voters to quit the EU. No thought had been given by London to the Irish Border before that vote result. A compromise deal for the North was done in December 2017 and refined in October 2019. These were signed up to by London and avoided a return of a hard border in Ireland by giving special trade status to the North. The compromise left problems, with the need for some product standard and customs checks on trade between Northern Ireland and Britain. A border was avoided in Ireland but in reality it was relocated to the Irish Sea. Read More What happened in Brussels last Friday? In a bitter vaccine supply row between the EU and pharma giant AstraZeneca, Brussels decided to slap a vaccine export ban directed at the UK. At the last minute the EU also invoked an emergency clause, the so-called Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol of October 2019. The move was an attempt to stop scarce vaccines going from the EU to the UK via the backdoor of the North. It was a botch which created a crisis for the North while not really helping find a solution to the EU vaccine supply crisis. How serious was the botched EU move? Alarm bells rang loudly in Dublin, Belfast and London. The Irish Government went in hard against the EU Commission which promptly buckled and withdrew the special provision on the North. It turned out that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was acting under pressure from Berlin and Paris. She failed to take proper advice from Irish officials in Brussels nor from EU Brexit negotiators. It was a huge own goal by Ms von der Leyen. It opened the door to opponents of the Norths special post-Brexit status to push for immediate changes. Why are the Democratic Unionist Party especially up in arms? Brexit and its fallout have created special problems for the DUP. It was the only party in the North to back Leave in June 2016 but six out of 10 voters in the North opted for Remain. The party has always prioritised the link with Britain over trade access to the EU. It has been slow to buy into the reality that the Norths special trade status offers the best of both worlds via UK and EU trade access. Now the DUP is being blamed for the Irish Sea border, with EU checks causing some disruption of supply to supermarkets, and problems with things like seed and other farm provisions coming from Britain. The DUP over-played its hand when it had the balance of power in London from 2017 to 2019. British PM Boris Johnson abandoned the DUP once he got a majority in the 2019 elections. And its members have grounds not to trust him now even he has upped the ante with a threat to pull the Article 16 emergency chord. What was the response from the Irish Government? Initial fury at the EU Commission produced the desired immediate U-turn by Ms von der Leyen. But much damage was done. Now Dublin is trying to ensure there is no repeat from Brussels. Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney are trying to dial down the anger coming from the DUP in Belfast. Things are not helped by low-level threats of Loyalist violence against EU checks at Belfast and Larne ports. Dublin is trying to calm things and broker practical improvements to EU trade checks for the North. But the Irish Government is equally determined that Northern Irelands special EU trade status is set in stone. And what happens next? Hopefully, the megaphone rhetoric period is over. EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and UK Brexit minister Michael Gove begin talks this evening. Last year they successfully worked their way out of another Brexit crisis on the North. There are hopes the pair can work the magic again. 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. Florida Governor DeSantis to Penalize Big Tech Companies for Unlawful Practices Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the consequences that big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google will face if they violate the privacy of Floridians and interfere with citizens access to candidates during an election. The Republican governor criticized the manipulation of news and censorship of certain individuals while detailing the new legislations harsh penalties during a press conference from the Florida Capitol on Tuesday. Floridians should have the privacy of their data and personal information protected, their ability to access and participate in online platforms protected, and their ability to participate in elections free from interference from big tech protected, said DeSantis. He said that over the years, these platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provided Americans with the freedom to speak to enforcers of preferred narratives. Consequently, these platforms have played an increasingly decisive role in elections and have negatively impacted Americans who dissent from orthodoxies favored by the Big Tech cartel. DeSantis alluded to the tech giants moderating news that was unfavorable to President Joe Biden, banning high-profile conservatives, including President Donald Trump, from Twitter and Facebook, and their removal of the Parler social media platform from Amazons servers. When 2.8 million Americans chose to download the application Parler and share information with friends, family, and colleagues, what was the result of that? Canceled by Amazon, Google, and Apple, said DeSantis. DeSantis called for open, robust debate on issues that affect Americans rather than the outright censorship that big tech companies are currently engaging in. The governor said that companies are discriminating against citizens when they change their rules as it suits them, without warning or consistency. Under the new measure from the Florida legislature, the technology companies that de-platform a candidate during an election will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidates access to the platform is restored. If a technology company promotes a candidate for office against another, the value of that free promotion must be recorded as a political campaign contribution enforced by the Florida Elections Commission. The bill will also empower the Florida Attorney General to bring action against big tech companies under Floridas Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act if they violate the new policies laid out in the bill. Tech companies would have to give users advance notice of a rule change and before shutting down an account and apply the rule consistently. And lastly, [if] a technology company uses their content and user-related algorithms to suppress or prioritize the access of any content related to a political candidate or cause on the ballot, that company will also face daily fines, DeSantis added. Floridas House Speaker Chris Sprowls said, With our proposal, we are going to bring into the sunshine what I call the five families of darkness: Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, and Apple, adding, These actors wont go unchecked here in Florida anymore. They have access to private information and the ability to exercise control over individuals free speech, Sprowls said. Were pushing the barriers to finally call out their convoluted and inconsistent standards for censoring, banning, and de-platforming. Twitter, Facebook, and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Suspension Spring 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 Suspension Spring 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Suspension Spring Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31819 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Suspension Spring will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Suspension Spring market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Suspension Spring market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Suspension Spring 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 Suspension Spring market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Rassini Sogefi Mubea Thyssenkrupp Continental Mitsubishi Steel Fangda Special Steel Jamna Auto Industries Chuo Spring Dongfeng Motor Suspension Fawer Hendrickson Vibracoustic Lesjofors Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31819 This study considers the Suspension Spring value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Coil Spring Air Spring Leaf Spring Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Passenger Car Commercial Vehicle 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 Suspension Spring Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31819 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Suspension Spring consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Suspension Spring market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Suspension Spring 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 Suspension Spring 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 Suspension Spring 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/suspension-spring-market-study-by-observing-top-players-trends-forecast-till-2026/ Syracuse University alumnus Aaron Sorkin has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for directing for the first time. The acclaimed screenwriter received a nod for best director and best screenplay for The Trial of the Chicago 7, the Netflix original movie about Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Bobby Searle (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and others who were put on trial over the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The film is also nominated for three other Golden Globes: Best picture in the drama category, best performance by an actor in a supporting role (Cohen), and best original song (Hear My Voice by Celeste). Its the first time being nominated at the Golden Globes as a director for Sorkin. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is his second directorial effort after Mollys Game in 2017. Sorkin previously won two Golden Globes as a writer for 2011s The Social Network and 2015s Steve Jobs. He also won an Oscar for writing The Social Network and multiple Emmy Awards for The West Wing. His two nods Wednesday mark his eighth and ninth Golden Globe nominations. Sorkins competition in the director category includes David Fincher (who previously worked with Sorkin on The Social Network) for Mank, Chloe Zhao for Nomadland, Regina King for One Night in Miami and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman. Sorkins past credits also include A Few Good Men, Sports Night, The Newsroom, The American President, and Charlie Wilsons War and Steve Jobs. He has never won an award for directing, but received several nominations, including from the Directors Guild of America Award for outstanding directorial achievement of a first-time feature film director, for Mollys Game. Sorkins upcoming projects include a Lucille Ball biopic starring Nicole Kidman as the I Love Lucy actress and Western New York native. Sorkin will write and direct the film, titled Being the Ricardos, which also stars Javier Bardem as Ricky Ricardo. The 1983 SU graduate spoke at Syracuse Universitys 158th Commencement ceremony in 2012 and continues to meet with students spending semesters in the schools Los Angeles program. I love meeting with the SU students who come out to L.A. and I tell them that they need determination, patience, friends and a sense of humor, Sorkin told syracuse.com. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the 2021 Golden Globe Awards ceremony on Feb. 28, airing live on NBC at 8 p.m. ET. The broadcast will be a largely virtual event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Ive taken to scrolling through old holiday photos wistfully during the day. In lieu of the real thing, or even being able to plan for the real thing, Im wondering just how much I took travel for granted. Dont get me wrong; Ive thoroughly enjoyed every trip Ive been on except for a three-day tour of Cologne for work where it poured non-stop from the moment I got on the plane in Dublin to the minute I arrived back. The PR guide on the tour had inexplicably arranged an invigorating cycle on tandems, a river boat cruise on an open-topped vessel, and a bracing walk around World War II bomb sites (there are a great many since the entire city was effectively flattened). Only the bikes were cancelled, and the accommodation we had been promised never materialised, so we were stuck in a (marginally) two-star hotel, without a bar. We agreed we had been led to expect more from the Germans. That aside, there have been others in recent years a fabulous weekend in Venice, afternoon tea at the Ritz in Paris for a roundy birthday, and staycations in the beautiful surroundings of Kenmare, Clifden and Kilkenny. Did I really, really appreciate the freedom? Was I very grateful for the joy each brought? Did I thank my lucky stars enough? Probably not. But perhaps it takes a chilly spring day at the start of a new year in lockdown to reset the gratitude. Lets leave ministers jolly green junkets to 2022 While theres no travel for the rest of us, St Patricks Day brings up an important question: should the Taoiseach meet US President Joe Biden in the White House? Is it essential travel or a slap in the face to the masses? Im tending strongly toward the former. Any US president ignores the Irish vote at his peril; for this one, who considers himself Irish, it would be a rare opportunity to further strengthen important ties especially after the previous incumbent. So, yes, go and do your thing with the shamrock bowl, Micheal. But lets leave the other jolly jaunts in green to 2022. Theres nothing inclined to incense people more than a string of politicians heading off in business class while the rest of us cant even get as far as the airport. Expectant couples need support from hospitals It must be terrible for expectant couples to not be able to be together for things like baby scans and hospital appointments. Having a child is scary and thrilling enough without missing out on bits because youre not the one with the bump. Its odd that a partner, who you already live with, cant be beside you for those precious moments, although some hospitals have softened their position, which is welcome. In the UK it seems its gone one step further and pregnant women are banned from Facetiming their scans to let their partner virtually watch along. The charity Birthrights, which advocates for pregnant women, reports many are being informed its illegal to video the scans. Additional advice claims radiographers say holding a phone leads to a taut abdomen, making scanning more difficult. Having a baby in there makes it taut I would have thought. Perhaps clinicians and lawyers need to try harder to find a clear way of supporting all women in pregnancy. LONDON - Britains health chief has hailed a new study suggesting that a single dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provides a high level of protection for 12 weeks, saying it supports the governments contentious strategy of delaying the second shot so it can protect more people quickly with a first dose. Pharmacist Bhaveen Patel administers a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid vaccine to Joshua Labor at a coronavirus vaccination clinic held at Junction Pharmacy in Brixton, London, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP) LONDON - Britains health chief has hailed a new study suggesting that a single dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine provides a high level of protection for 12 weeks, saying it supports the governments contentious strategy of delaying the second shot so it can protect more people quickly with a first dose. Britain's decision has been criticized as risky by other European countries, but Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday that the study "backs the strategy that weve taken and it shows the world that the Oxford vaccine works effectively." Hancock's comments came after Oxford University released a study showing the vaccine cut transmission of the virus by two-thirds and prevented severe disease. Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, said no patients experienced severe COVID-19 or required hospitalization three weeks after receiving a first dose, and that efficacy appeared to increase up to 12 weeks after the initial shot. "Our data suggest you want to be as close to the 12 weeks as you can" for the second dose, Pangalos said during a news conference. The study has not been peer-reviewed yet, and it did not address dosing of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the other one currently in use in the U.K. Pfizer recommends that its shots be given 21 days apart and has not endorsed the U.K. government's decision to lengthen the time between doses. Distributors working in a pair together go door-to-door giving out home testing kits for COVID-19 from Britain's Department of Health, in Woking, England, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, during England's third national lockdown since the coronavirus outbreak began. British health authorities plan to test tens of thousands of people in a handful of areas of England, including parts of Woking, in an attempt to stop a new variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa spreading in the community. The Department of Health says a small number of people in England who had not travelled abroad have tested positive for the strain. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) But the Oxford research was greeted with excitement by U.K. officials under pressure to justify their decision to delay the second dose. "That reduction in transmission, as well as the fact there is no hospitalizations, the combination of that is very good news. And it categorically supports the strategy weve been taking on having a 12-week gap between the doses," Hancock told Sky News. Some countries, including France, have authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine only for use in people under 65, saying there is not enough evidence to say whether it works in older adults. Belgium has authorized it only for people 55 and under. Yet one of the lead researchers on the Oxford vaccine project, Dr. Andrew Pollard, said "we expect it to be highly effective in older adults" and said more data should be available in the next few weeks. Pangalos noted that the European Medicines Agency had authorized the vaccine for use in all people over age 18. "How individual countries decide to implement vaccines is ultimately up to them based on the vaccine supplies that they have," he said. Vaccine supply is a sensitive issue in the European Union, which is unhappy that AstraZeneca cut back on the number of doses it plans to supply the EU with in the near term. The company said last month that it planned to cut initial deliveries within the EU from 80 million doses to 31 million doses due to reduced yields from its manufacturing plants in Europe. It has since applied to supply 9 million additional doses to the 27-nation bloc, whose leaders are facing criticism over what is perceived as slow progress in inoculating the population. Britain has Europe's deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 108,000 deaths, and is in its third national lockdown as authorities try to contain a new, more transmissible virus variant first identified in southeast England. Other variants are also a concern. Public health officials in England are going door to door, trying to test all adults in eight targeted communities in an attempt to stop a new strain first identified in South Africa from spreading further. So far 105 cases of the variant have been identified in the U.K., 11 of them in people with no links to overseas travel. Scientists say there's no evidence the South African variant is more serious than the original virus but it may be more contagious. There are also concerns that current vaccines may be less effective against that variant because it contains a mutation of the virus characteristic spike protein that existing vaccines target. That is a worry as the U.K. races to vaccinate its own population against the virus. Almost 10 million people have received the first of their two shots, including the bulk of people over 80 and those in nursing homes. Pollard said Oxford scientists believe the AstraZeneca vaccine will continue to offer protection against new variants of COVID-19, although they are still waiting for data on that. He said even if the virus adapts "that doesnt mean that we wont still have protection against severe disease. "If we do need to update the vaccines, then it is actually a relatively straightforward process. It only takes a matter of months, rather than the huge efforts that everyone went through last year to get the very large-scale trials run," he told the BBC. Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak - Urinary incontinence treatment devices market is projected to grow at prodigious pace during the forecast period of 2019 to 2027. Thus, the market is likely to account for US$ 4.20 Bn by the end of 2027 - North America is one of the dominant regions for urinary incontinence treatment devices market ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Transparency Market Research, New York: Urinary incontinence refers to a health condition in which an individual loses bladder control, which leads to involuntary urine release. This health condition is more commonly found in female population than that of males. Weakening of pelvic floor muscles and urethral sphincters, urinary tract infection, pregnancy, childbirth, post radical prostatectomy surgery in males, and menopause in females are some of the key reasons that can result into urinary incontinence. Electrical stimulation devices, urethral slings, catheters, and artificial urinary sphincters are some of the key devices available in the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market. Analysts at Transparency Market Research (TMR) emphasize that the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market is likely to show growth at a promising CAGR of 7.5% during the assessment period of 2019 to 2027. The total valuation of the market for urinary incontinence treatment devices was around US$ 2.21 Bn in 2018. Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market: Major Takeaways Increased Preference toward Minimally Invasive or Non-Surgical Products Fuels Market Expansion In recent few years, major population from all across the globe is inclined toward minimally invasive or non-surgical treatment options. Owing to this factor, the healthcare sector from across the globe is experiencing growth in demand for urinary incontinence treatment devices. Apart from this, the easy accessibility to electrical vaginal stimulation devices is estimated to work in favor of the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market in the forthcoming years. Request for Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/covid19.php Industry Leaders Focus on New Product Launches Major companies working in the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market are focused on improving the quality of their products. They are growing efforts for the development of technologically advanced products. As a result ,players in the market for urinary incontinence treatment devices are investing in research activities. Explore 282 pages of superlative research, current market scenario, and extensive geographical projections. Gain insights into the Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market (Product - Urethral Slings, Electrical Stimulation Devices, Artificial Urinary Sphincters, Catheters; Incontinence Type - Stress Urinary Incontinence, Urge Urinary Incontinence, Mixed Incontinence, Overflow Incontinence: End use - Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Clinics, Home Use) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2019 - 2027 at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/60162 Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market: Leading Segments On the basis of end-user, the hospital was leading segment of the urinary incontinence treatment devices market in 2018. In terms of product, the female slings was dominant sub-segment of the urethral slings segment throughout 2018. The abovementioned sub-segment is projected to gain promising expansion avenues between 2019 and 2027. Based on region, North America was leading region of the urinary incontinence treatment devices market in 2018. Request Brochure of Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/brochure.php Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market: Growth Boosters In recent few years, there is noteworthy increase in cases of urinary incontinence in all worldwide locations. This scenario has resulted into increased acceptance of urinary incontinence treatment devices in the healthcare sector from all across the globe. This scenario is generating prodigious sales opportunities in the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market. The market for urinary incontinence treatment devices is projected to gain lucrative avenues on the back of increased older population in all worldwide locations. Moving forward, the presence of favorable reimbursement policies in many countries across the globe is driving expansion of the global urinary incontinence treatment devices market. Purchase the Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php Urinary Incontinence Treatment Devices Market: Well-Established Participants Some of the key players in the urinary incontinence treatment devices market are: C. R. Bard, Inc. (Becton, Dickinson and Company) Boston Scientific Corporation Promedon Group Coloplast Group Ethicon US, LLC. (Johnson & Johnson) Medtronic plc Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry: Artificial Urinary Sphincters Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/artificial-urinary-sphincters-market.html Foley Catheters Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/foley-catheter-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision." Browse More Upcoming Reports by Transparency Market Research: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/upcoming.htm Contact Mr. Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Press Release Source: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/urinary-incontinence-treatment-devices-market-2018-2026.htm Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1085206/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg Marie D. De Jesus/Staff photographer The search is on for the owner of a bracelet possibly containing human ashes that was found at William P. Hobby Airport. An Arizona woman said in a viral Facebook post that she found the silver bracelet with a heart-shaped charm marked with a thumbprint in a bathroom in the Terminal 2 area of the airport. She said in the Friday post that she believes that the design of the piece indicates it is holding the remains of the owners loved one. Bamako, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :Nine troops were killed in central Mali early Wednesday when their base was attacked by suspected jihadists, security officials said, updating the death toll from four. The position at Boni, in the Mopti region, was attacked at around 6 am by "heavily armed individuals in armoured vehicles," one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The European Commission wants to allocate 4 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars) to combat cancer, it announced on Wednesday. In its "Cancer Plan," which has been delayed by the pandemic, the commission proposes a focus on four areas: prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and improving the quality of life. "In this plan we aim to prevent the preventable," European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides said on Wednesday. The initiatives will be financed through the bloc's health, research and digitalization programmes, with 4 billion euros earmarked for the plan, the commission said. There is no concrete timeframe to implement the plan, though some targets are linked to specific years. As part of preventive efforts, the commission aims to reduce alcohol consumption, environmental pollution and hazardous substances. As one of the most concrete goals, the European Union's executive body suggests aiming for reducing the number of smokers to below 5 per cent by 2040, as this is a major factor contributing to cancer. The number currently stands at 25 per cent, Kyriakides said. As part of its detection strategy, the commission is pushing for EU countries to ensure that 90 per cent of people in risk categories are offered screening for breast cancer by 2025. Screening percentages vary widely across the bloc. The commission also wants to improve diagnosis and treatment by creating a network to link national cancer centres across the bloc to better share information. EU health ministers are to discuss the plan before the end of June, the commission 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 For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has called on the federal government to establish a transport development bank. The Executive Secretary of NARTO, Aloga Ogbogo, made this and other requests in a statement on Monday, and further called for the creation of a transport regulatory body that would checkmate the operations of the industry. The group also said it would hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Zuma Resort in Niger State on Wednesday and Thursday on issues like security challenges on the highways, extortion and multiple taxation. On the requests, Ogbogo said, "We are requesting that just as we have the Bank of Commerce and Industry and the Bank of Agriculture, commerce and industry cannot thrive without transportation. "We are requesting that a Transport Development Bank should be packaged to assist transporters." While seeking a regulatory body, he said, "The road transport sub sector that is responsible for the movement of close to 90 per cent of goods and passengers does not have a regulatory body. It is an all-comers affair." The association recalled that while the federal government engaged the services of NARTO to distribute COVID-19 palliatives to other sectors of the economy such as pharmaceutical and aviation, it had not deemed it fit to extend the gesture to transporters. NARTO, therefore, urged the government to also give the sector relief materials to cushion the effects of the pandemic. Burma Parties Call on Myanmar Military to Accept Election Results Voting during the Nov. 8 general election. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy Yangon Political parties say they want Myanmars military not to hold a new election but to accept the result of the 2020 general election. After seizing power in a coup on Monday on the pretext of electoral fraud in the November election that brought a landslide victory to the National League for Democracy (NLD), the Tatmadaw (military) declared a state of emergency for a year followed by a new election with the military handing power to the winner. Regarding another election, I want [the Tatmadaw] to thoroughly review the 2020 general election. I want it to accept the results, said Aik Mong, chairman of the Taang National Party, which won five seats in the Union Parliament and seven seats in the Shan State parliament. Nai San Tin of the Mon Unity Party, which won five Union seats and six Mon State seats, expressed doubts about whether the military would hand over power. We dont know how far the military will go in its takeover. I think it is unlikely that it will hold another election in a year and hand power to the winner, he said. Theh Reh, general secretary of the Kayah State Democratic Party, which won five Union seats and three Kayah State seats, suggested reviewing results in constituencies where there were alleged irregularities rather than holding a nationwide election. It is costly and both the people and election organizers will be too tired to hold a new general election across the country. It would be better to review the election and take legal action in constituencies where there was fraud and then think about how to form the government, he said. The party condemns the militarys coup on the pretext of electoral fraud, said Theh Reh, urging the Tatmadaw to solve issues through talks with the NLD. The NLD, which won over 83 percent of the vote, released a statement calling for the release of all the detainees, including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and recognize the general election results, which the Union Election Commission (UEC) had confirmed. The Tatmadaw has also arrested the chairs of NLD chapters and seized photos of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD flags and documents from its offices. It is time the people and those in the government act to prevent the history of Myanmar from being stained, said NLD central executive committee member U Aung Kyi Nyunt. Daw Hnin Hnin Hmwe, joint general secretary of the New Democratic Party of a New Society, said: The military quoted the 2008 Constitution saying, The sovereign power of the Union is derived from the citizens. The election results showed people handing power [to the NLD]. It is totally unacceptable to turn a blind eye and revoke the results. Karen National Democratic Party chairman Mahn Aung Pyi Soe said the issue must be peacefully resolved through talks. On Jan. 29, diplomatic missions in Myanmar released a joint statement urging the Tatmadaw to adhere by democratic norms, saying they oppose any attempt to alter the outcome of the election or impede the democratic transition. Twelve domestic civil society organizations engaged in election monitoring released a joint statement asking the Tatmadaw and all political parties to accept the election results. The Tatmadaw, which has repeatedly expressed its distrust in the UEC, said it would appoint a new electoral body to organize the next election. Translated from Burmese Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Military Tells Members of Myanmars Dissolved Parliament They Can Go Home Myanmar Coup Leader Says His Regime Will Focus on Election Probe, COVID-19 Myanmar Medics Prepare Civil Disobedience Against Military Rule SAGINAW, MI Prosecutors are reviewing a police-involved shooting that left a Chesaning civilian dead earlier this year. Meanwhile, the officers involved are no longer on administrative leave. State police investigators on Jan. 28 sent their reports on the death of John R. Neitling to the Saginaw County Prosecutors Office for review, said Michigan State Police Lt. Lizabeth Rich. Prosecutors confirmed they had received the reports and are reviewing them but declined to comment further. Detectives from the MSP Second District Investigative Response Team investigated the shooting that occurred the morning of Jan. 7. About 6:20 a.m., members of the MSP Emergency Support Team were serving a search warrant on Neitlings home at 406 E. Broad St. The team was serving the warrant on behalf of the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, or BAYANET. EST members approached the front of the residence and Neitling confronted them with a gun, police have said. Police fired their weapons at him in response. Shortly thereafter, police found the Neitling deceased inside the residence. Police safely removed a 33-year-old female resident from the home. Neither the woman nor police personnel were injured, according to police. Police also found crystal methamphetamine in the home. EST members who were involved were placed on administrative leave, according to department protocol, while the investigation is underway. Lt. Rich said on Feb. 3 the troopers are no longer on leave and have been reinstated, as a separate internal investigation found the troopers had not violated departmental policies in the incident. Police have also not disclosed how many EST members fired their guns, how many times Neitling was struck by their gunfire, if Neitling fired any shots himself, or how many troopers were placed on administrative leave. Records show Neitling and the 33-year-old woman were arrested on April 30 when BAYANET pulled over a vehicle they were in near their home. The pair had been under investigation by BAYANET for a couple of months, prompted by neighbors calling in several complaints regarding heavy traffic coming in and out of their residence, police previously said. BAYANET recovered about a half-ounce of meth and three guns from the couples home at that time, prosecutors previously said. The woman was arraigned on May 4 on single counts of felony firearm and maintaining a drug house and was freed on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. Three days later, Neitling was arraigned on two counts of felony firearm and single counts of maintaining a drug house and conspiracy to deliver or manufacture methamphetamine. Neitlings bond was set at $10,000 cash-surety or 10 percent. He bonded out of jail on May 11. Authorities revoked the womans bond on Jan. 7 and lodged her in the Saginaw County Jail after the shooting. She remains jailed as of Feb. 3, though no new charges have been authorized against her from the Saginaw County Prosecutors Office. Neitling lived in Chesaning his whole life, according to his obituary. John had been employed by Maximum Roofing and also did other odd jobs, his obituary states. He enjoyed fishing, camping, music, spending time with family and friends, going to concerts, and being a father. Neitling is survived by a wife and two sons in Pennsylvania, a stepdaughter in Chesaning, two siblings, and numerous nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Read more: Investigation continues into fatal police-involved shooting in Chesaning Authorities release name of Chesaning man killed in police-involved shooting Police-involved shooting leaves Chesaning man dead 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 Pinos Pizzeria at 1026 Rossville Ave., which is open for pickup and delivery from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. To place an order, visit pinopizzeria.com/order or call 718-966-9486. 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. YES, THEYRE OPEN: Pinos Pizzeria is open for pickup and delivery at 1026 Rossville Ave. The restaurants hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information, visit PinosPizzeriaNY.com/ or call 718-966-9486. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN? Check out the listings below or check out all of our previous coverage here. Sweets n Such Candy Shop, 71 New Dorp Plaza Enzo & Tinos Bake Shop, 1949 Richmond Ave. Lees Tavern, 60 Hancock St. Towne Deli & Pizzeria, 5373 Arthur Kill Road 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 New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company WLDavies/iStockBy JULIA JACOBO, ABC News (LONDON) -- Poaching of rhinos, one of the world's most endangered species, has been on the decline in South Africa ever since the country shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2020, poaching in the country fell by 33%, South Africa's Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries announced Monday. Rhinos are killed for their horns, which are often used in Asia for medicines and remedies. About 80% of the world's rhinos live in South Africa, according to U.K.-based conservation charity Save the Rhino. In addition to the pandemic, additional steps taken by the government to "effectively deal with these offenses," as well as rangers and security personnel who remained at their posts, contributed to the significant decrease in poaches, Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy said in a statement. The poachers are recruited and managed by crime rings, Creecy said. About 1,000 rhinos were killed each year between 2013 and 2017, according to Save the Rhino. But in 2020, just 247 rhinos were poached for their horns versus 594 in 2019, according to the department. While the decrease in killings "should be celebrated as a moderate win," the department said, wildlife advocates "cannot become complacent as the escalating demand in consumer countries ensures a lucrative black market trade and thus relentless pressure on all resources to combat this organized crime." After the pandemic began, conservationists feared poaching in Africa would increase due to the lack in tourism dollars, which resulted in a loss of crucial funding for animal reserves. The country did see a "significant spike" in poaching activity after lockdown levels eased, especially during December, according to the environment department. Overall, South Africa's Kruger National Park saw 1,573 poacher activities in 2020, down nearly 22% from 2019, according to the environment department. Sixty-six alleged poachers were arrested within Kruger National Park in 2020 and 90 people were arrested for rhino poaching and horn trafficking outside the park, officials said. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. Microsofts Office app for Android and iOS is already one of the best mobile apps you dont know about, able to reproduce the functionality of a scanner with superior OCR text recognition. Now, its getting even better: the Microsoft Lens portion of the app now promises it can read your handwriting. Microsofts Office Lens has quietly existed within Microsofts stable of apps since 2014, when the company first debuted its capabilities of taking a picture of a page of text, scanning it, extracting the text, and formatting it for PowerPoint. In the six years since, Microsofts had ample time to add features, including document scanning, PDF conversion, PDF signing, and more. Its a superb tool. Part of the reason you havent heard about it is because of Microsofts labyrinthine marketing. For one, while the capability is being added to Microsofts Office Lens app (available only on Android), Microsoft is renaming Office Lens to Microsoft Lens. The new handwriting OCR capability is coming to Microsoft Lens first, and will be followed by the mobile Office app in a future release. Got it? Phew. Now, Microsofts pledging to add handwriting from whiteboards, notes, letters, and other non-typed text, which can also be scanned and transcribed. You will be able to scan handwritten letters, to-do lists, and other material and simply convert it into text, Microsoft promised this week. Microsoft also promised better edge detection and filters would be added to the app. Microsoft Microsoft Lens can now add small video bites, too. Finally, Microsoft said that you can now use Microsoft Lens to create small video bites for Microsoft Teams chat function. The capability will be able to record a short video, annotate it with text, emojis, do basic editing, and add live filters, Microsoft said. When the new Microsoft Lens handwriting feature arrives on the Office Mobile app, it should be accompanied by some Office Mobile-specific features, too: for one, scanned documents, pictures, and other images will be automatically organized into albums -- lie receipts, for instance. For business customers, images will also be searchable based on the content of the image, in addition to the standard file name, Microsoft said. These updates will roll out first to customers in the United States for Office for Android in the coming weeks, followed by Office for iOS, it added. By now youre probably wondering, Will Lens be able to read my chickenscratch?! Chances are that it will get a few things wrong that youll have to correct. But its almost a given that the new Lens is built upon a machine-learning algorithm that improves over time. If the new handwriting OCR isnt great, give it time. This story was updated at 12:24 PM with additional details. 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 Parish Priest of Moyross has called on the Land Development Agency (LDA) clarify if it has any involvement in Regeneration at this time. In an hard-hitting letter on behalf of the Moyross partners group, Fr Pat Hogan, who leads Corpus Christi church, said he is concerned following a meeting with Transport Minister Eamon Ryan last week. Here, Fr Hogan claimed the Green Party leader had told him he had asked the LDA to draw up a new plan of what is best for the northside community. Following on from this, the priest issued the letter to the LDA, to be discussed at its board meeting today. He asked three questions of the LDA, including why it got involved in agreeing to draw up a plan of what is best for Moyross without consideration of the Regeneration Process, Limerick City and County Council and the Department of Environment of Housing? He also questioned what the LDA knows about Moyross and regeneration, and added: Was the chair of the LDA dazzled by the amount of land around Moyross, over 200 acres compared to just 100 outside Colbert station? Fr Hogan says there are He said this has led to fears in the community that the responsibility for Limerick Regeneration will once again move from the council, and be put under control of the LDA. The LDA is a commercial, State-sponsored body that has been created to coordinate land within Ireland, for more optimal uses where appropriate, with a focus on the provision of housing. The body has a role to assess public plans under law. Chaired by Limerick man Mr Moran a former secretary general at the Department of Finance it is planning to develop a significant portion of land near Limerick Colbert Station. Its something Fr Hogan says residents do not want to see and hes concerned that if the LDA does take over responsibility for Moyross, it could lead to the shelving of the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road. Initially, Limerick Regeneration was run by an outside body, before it was taken under control of the local authority. The LDA are expected to issue a response to the letter following its board meeting today. Denton, TX (76205) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds E at 5 to 10 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. 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. INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Police Association (NPA) filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief supporting Petitioner Minneapolis resident Cathy Spann and others seeking state district court relief demanding that the City maintain its police force as required under the City Charter. The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor have sought to circumvent the mandates of the City Charter by reducing the number of police officers through political budgetary maneuvering. The amicus brief highlighted the illegalities of the City in attempting to reduce the police force. The Charter mandates how the police force is determined and funded: The City Council must fund a police force of at least 0.0017 employees per resident, and provide for those employees' compensation, for which purpose it may tax the taxable property in the City up to 0.3 percent of its value annually. The petition filed by Minneapolis resident Cathy Spann and others states that, based on the City's population, 743 officers must be on the force to meet that requirement, but because of attrition caused by a hiring freeze, cancelled police training, and the large number of officers on medical leave, the number currently stands at about 634 officers. The NPA argues that the City Charter's provision at issue is a social contract between the government, the public, and the police. The City Charter adopted this social contract. Both the public and the police are protected when there is an adequate police force to respond to crime or civil unrest as the Charter demands. The brief also clarifies that the police collective bargaining agreement with the City of Minneapolis incorporates the City Charter's minimum police force protections. Here, the Minneapolis City Council cannot reduce the police force below the non-political formula of the Charter's minimum requirements without the support of the police force. The brief emphasizes that to reduce the force below the minimum requirements puts greater risk not only to the police force itself but also to the public where fewer numbers of police officers could result in slower response times, resolution to crimes, or prevention. Erick Kaardal, Minneapolis attorney, and lead counsel for NPA on the brief, says: "The Minneapolis city charter provision requiring a minimum police force is a social contract between the government, the public and police. The police collective bargaining agreement incorporates that social contract. Therefore, if the City Council is going to defund the police beneath the city charter's limits, the Minneapolis City Council needs to get approval from the public and the police federation first." The National Police Association is represented by Erick G. Kaardal of Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson. The case is 27-cv-20-10558 Spann, et al v. Minneapolis City Council, et al, in Hennepin County, Minnesota District Court. View the amicus brief here https://nationalpolice.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NPA-Amicus-Brief-in-support-of-Minneapolis-Residents.pdf About The National Police Association The National Police Association is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission of educating supporters of law enforcement in how to help police departments accomplish their goals. SOURCE National Police Association Related Links http://nationalpolice.org/ UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes renewed U.S. commitments announced today aimed at providing safety and solutions for people in need of protection from violence and persecution. This action reflects authentic humanitarian values and reaffirms U.S. leadership amid global levels of forced displacement unseen since World War II. We are heartened by the executive actions taken today by President Biden, said Matthew Reynolds, UNHCRs representative to the United States and the Caribbean. These steps confirm an American tradition of compassion for the vulnerable and are an important signal for all countries in formulating responses that are at once humane and secure, Reynolds said. President Biden announced plans to improve the U.S. asylum system and create a task force to locate and reunite families that had been separated along the southern U.S. border in recent years while trying to seek asylum in the United States. Biden also pledged to work with other governments and organizations to build regional asylum capacity, strengthen refugee resettlement and address the root causes of violence and instability that force people to flee parts of the North of Central America. No one wants to be forced to leave their own homeland, Reynolds said. But it is clear that desperate people fleeing violence in the North of Central America are not deterred by harsh enforcement policies because life back home is simply untenable. The steps announced by the United States confirm the importance of efficient, humane asylum systems and of coordinated action by all governments to create conditions that will prevent families from having to flee their homes in the first place, Reynolds added. UNHCR, which operates in 130 countries and has 70 years of operational experience around the world, reaffirms that it stands ready to support the government of the United States in ensuring that people in need of international protection including refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons are able to find it promptly and without obstruction. Aero India 2021: How air show made its way to become Asia's biggest strategic event India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Bengaluru, Feb 03: Since 1996, Aero India has come a long way to become Asia's largest defence and aerospace air show over the years. In its 25th year, the government is using it to further geopolitical goals with strategic events. Aero show 2021: Watch IAF's Surya Kiran team perform | Oneindia News In a first, the 13th edition will see an Indian Ocean Region (IOR) defence minister's conclave as India seeks a bigger role in this volatile hub of global geopolitical rivalry. It can be seen that the conclave is an initiative that promotes dialogue in an institutional, economic and cooperative environment that can foster development of peace and stability. Govt set to seal Rs 48,000 crore Tejas aircraft deal at Aero India show in Bengaluru Of the 28 countries invited, 18 countries, including Iran's defence minister, confirmed physical participation, while nine more will participate virtually. The Indian Air Force will also host the Chiefs of Air Staff (CAS) conclave on two days which deals with aerospace power strategy and technological developments. In a press release, the Indian Air Force said, "Around 75 countries may attend," adding the conclave will provide a platform to discuss military aviation, space operations and aerospace strategy apart from giving them opportunities to learn about each others' best practices. Ahead of Aero-India, US underscores importance of defence partnership with India It can be seen that Bengaluru has hosted all 13 editions of the show. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who addressed a curtain-raiser conference, said, "Experience tells us Bengaluru is most appropriate for the show." Redmi India, which is the sub-brand of Mi India has announced Sonu Sood as its brand ambassador starting with Redmi 9 Power. The company said that the partnership will further the brands existing campaign More Power to you. Redmi said that the companys brand ethos is democratizing innovation and ensuring technology is available for everyone. In 2020, actor Sonu Sood won hearts for his exemplary work in supporting migrant workers and those in need. He has been a strong figure in enabling those in distress such that they could have the opportunity to a better life. The company said that his personality and initiative fall perfectly in line with Redmis philosophy. Recently the company partnered with Sonu Sood as part of its continued efforts to empower thousands of students by donating Redmi smartphones under the #ShikshaHarHaath initiative. Last year for the Independence Day Xiaomi launched an initiative called Mi For India in partnership with Teach For India to distribute 2500 new smartphones to children affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Redmi and Sonu Sood have shared a mutual desire to uplift peoples lives; Redmi through technology and Sonu through his humanitarian efforts, said the company. Commenting on the association, Muralikrishnan B, COO, Mi India said: We are thrilled to partner with Sonu Sood to endorse one of our best selling smartphones. We have always focused on ensuring the best specs, highest quality and honest pricing. Sonus ability to strike a chord with the masses and his drive to do good will help cement Redmis ambition of enabling everyone through technology. We are sure that this partnership will enable more and more people through Sonus pan India presence and Redmis technology prowess. Commenting on the association Sonu Sood said: Both Redmi and I share the same vision of a better future and education for all. Through ShikshaHarHaath, Redmi is not only providing access to students but also empowering them to scale newer heights. I am happy to represent a brand such as Redmi that is striving to give back to the nation in a manner that truly enables a society in need. As someone who wants to experience the best of everything, I am happy to be the face of Redmi 9 Power. Redmis vision of More Power to You perfectly fits with my work and contributions and I am confident that together we will be able to make a difference. A New Jersey man stabbed his 41-year-old girlfriend to death while they argued at an apartment in Camden on Saturday, authorities said. Camden firefighters found Christine Pierce with a stab wound in her back when they arrived at her apartment on the 800 block of Haddon Avenue around 9 p.m. to extinguish a small stove fire, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said. Pierce, who was in another room, was brought to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead. Investigators later learned Kacheim Davis, 31, had been at the apartment earlier in the day and argued with Pierce. Davis, of Camden, was charged with first-degree murder and is being held at the Camden County jail ahead of a detention hearing. Davis and Pierce were in a dating relationship, the victims family told authorities Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The initial public offer (IPO) of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (REIT) started on a slow note, with only 15 per cent of the issue being subscribed on the first day. The Rs 3,800 crore IPO received bids for 1,15,12,600 shares against the issue size of 7,62,78,200 units, as per the exchange data. The Brookfield REIT IPO opened for subscription on Wednesday with a price band of Rs 274-275 per unit. The issue is likely to close on Friday. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 200 units and in multiples of 200 units, which amounts to a minimum application size of Rs 55,000 at the upper end of the price band. The shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. The finalisation of basis of allotment for Brookfield India REIT will be done on February 11, 2021, and the allotted shares will be credited in applicants' demat account by February 12, 2021. The investment firm Brookfield REIT has already raised Rs 1,710 crore from anchor investors ahead of its public issue. The 62,180,800 shares reserved for anchor investors were subscribed at a bid price of Rs 275 per unit. It saw participation from financial institutions such as HDFC AMC, SBI Life, Tata AIG, HDFC Life, Kotak Mahindra AMC, and Bajaj Holdings, among others. Foreign portfolio investors such as Schroders and Prusik also invested. The company intends to use IPO proceeds for partial or full pre-payment or scheduled repayment of the existing debt of Asset SPVs (special purpose vehicles). Also Read: LIC IPO likely after Oct; BPCL, Air India disinvestment by Sept: govt official Brookfield REIT, the country's only 100 per cent institutionally managed public commercial real estate vehicle, will be the third listed trust in India after Mindspace Business Parks REIT and Embassy Office Parks REIT. Embassy Office Parks REIT, backed by Blackstone and Embassy group, was listed in April 2019 after raising Rs 4,750 crore, while Mindspace Business Parks REIT, owned by K Raheja and Blackstone, was listed in August last year amid COVID-19 pandemic after raising Rs 4,500 crore. With the first two REITs garnering good support from investors, Brookfield REIT is also expected to get positive response. REIT, a popular instrument globally, was introduced in India a few years ago, aimed at attracting investment in the real estate sector by monetising rent-yielding assets. It helps unlock the massive value of real estate assets and enable retail participation. Also Read: Brookfield India REIT to launch Rs 3,800-crore IPO on February 3; check details In the fiscal year 2020, Brookfield REIT posted a profit of Rs 15.12 crore against a loss of Rs 15.75 crore in a year-ago period. Its total income rose 5.54 per cent from a year ago to Rs 981.40 crore. The company has a total debt of Rs 6,952.07 crore, as of March 2020. Multi-national corporations like Barclays, Bank of America Continuum, RBS, TCS, Cognizant, and Accenture are some of the clients of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust. The company has campus-format office parks strategically located in Mumbai, Noida, Gurugram, and Kolkata. With PTI inputs Chiles cement dispatches down 7% in 2020 ICR Newsroom By 03 February 2021 Chilean cement deliveries increased by 14 per cent YoY to 389,488t in November 2020 from 341,721t in the equivalent month in 2019. This was followed by a 7.7 per cent uptick in December 2020 when dispatches rose to 364,925t from 338,720t in December 2019, according to the Chilean construction chamber, CChC. However, full-year data show a seven per cent decline in cement deliveries in the South American country with total dispatches at 3,796,976t, down from 4,081,896t in 2019. YoY losses peaked in June 2020 as the market contracted by 26.9 per cent due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Volumes started to recover with market growth first reported in September, when YoY dispatches were up 5.4 per cent, and showed a bounce-back in October, when they increased 16.2 per cent YoY. Published under Imperial Valley News Center U.S.-Based Promoter of Foreign Cryptocurrency Companies Charged in over $11 Million Securities Fraud Scheme Manhattan, New York - A California man was charged in a complaint unsealed today for his alleged participation in a coordinated cryptocurrency and securities fraud scheme that used purported digital currency platforms and foreign-based financial accounts. John DeMarr, 55, of Santa Ana, was charged in a complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. DeMarr made his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Early of the Central District of California. Judge Early referred the case to the Eastern District of New York for further proceedings. The indictment alleges an elaborate scheme in which the defendant conspired to lure unsuspecting investors with fraudulent promises of large returns in the cryptocurrency market, only to divert millions of dollars for his own personal use, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. While the technologies and methods are constantly changing, the Criminal Divisions commitment to aggressively pursuing fraud in all its forms remains unchanged. As alleged, DeMarr made misrepresentations and false promises that coaxed investors into pouring millions of dollars into fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, all to facilitate his extravagant lifestyle, said Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York. We will continue to root out and prosecute those who would cheat investors to line their own pockets. Mr. DeMarr created an elaborate cryptocurrency scheme, complete with high profile endorsements and incredibly large returns that proved to be a mirage costing investors millions, said Assistant Director in Charge Kristi K. Johnson of the FBIs Los Angeles Field Office. Mr. DeMarr is now in custody and no longer spending his victims' money, nor hiding from justice by faking his own disappearance. In todays hi-tech financial world there are increasingly more opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of people and their bank accounts, said Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner of the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office. John DeMarrs Bitcoin operation is one such example of a cryptocurrency investment scheme that did not payoff for his investors. Claiming to be part of a cryptocurrency ecosystem, DeMarr created nothing more than an elaborate fraud scheme where he stole his investors money to fund his own personal lifestyle, resulting in losses totaling over $11 million. Financial crimes never pay, as one way or another the person behind the computer will be caught and will be held accountable. As alleged in the complaint, between 2017 and 2018, DeMarr conspired with others to defraud numerous victims of $11.4 million by inducing them to invest in their companies, Start Options and B2G, based on materially false and misleading representations. Start Options purported to be an online investment platform that provided cryptocurrency mining, trading, and digital asset trading services. B2G was purportedly an ecosystem that would allow users to trade B2G tokens, provide digital wallet staking, and trade digitial and fiat currencies on a secure, comprehensive platform. According to the allegations, however, both Start Options and B2G were fraudulent. In approximately December 2017, DeMarr and others began offering securities in the form of investment contracts to U.S. and international investors through the Start Options website. Investments were accepted in Bitcoin, U.S. dollars, or Euros. To participate, investors had to deposit their funds for a specified contract period, after which they could purportedly withdraw their money at a significant profit. Among other things, DeMarr and others falsely claimed that investor funds would be invested in digitial asset mining and trading platforms that would earn them massive profits. In truth, however, the money was never invested and was instead diverted to accounts controlled by DeMarr and others and used for various personal expeditures, including the purchase of a Porsche, jewelry, and renovations to DeMarrs home in California. Similarly, according to the complaint, Start Options also purported to feature celebrity endorsements to promote its securities offerings. For example, a professional athlete purportedly endorsed Start Options when, as alleged in the indictment, the athlete had no involvement with Start Options and his name and likeness were used without his consent. Based on this and other fraudulent promotional materials, investors sent millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and fiat currency to financial accounts, including cryptowallets, controlled by DeMarr and others in the U.S. and abroad. As alleged, in or about late January 2018, rather than permitting Start Options investors to withdraw money from their accounts after the requisite time period, DeMarr and others required investors to roll over their accounts into an unregistered initial coin offering, or ICO, of B2G, the second of the two fraudulent companies in which DeMarr was involved. Among other fraudulent misrepresentations, DeMarr and others falsely told investors that the ICO would raise capital for the company to build an ecosystem that would allow users to trade B2G tokens, provide digital wallet staking, and trading. In truth, investors never actually received any digital tokens and funds from the offering were not used to develop the B2G platform. According to the complaint, DeMarr and others also paid various promoters, including an actor famous for martial arts films made in the 1980s and 1990s, to serve as a promoter and celebrity spokesperson, falsely claiming that B2G could generate an 8000% return for investors within one year, and that he was a participant in the ICO. DeMarr and others also created false press releases and whitepapers about B2G, fabricated B2G account statements, and refused to allow investors to withdraw their money. As alleged in the complaint, DeMarr staged his own disappearance to avoid facing disgruntled B2G investors. DeMarr instructed others to release statements asserting that DeMarr had been assaulted and went missing in Montenegro, and telling B2G investors to stop attempting to contact DeMarr or his family regarding their inability to have the money they invested in B2G returned. In truth, however, DeMarr did not disappear in Montenegro and instead was believed to be residing in California. The charge in the complaint is based on allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This case was investigated by the FBI and IRS-CI. Trial Attorney Kevin Lowell of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaitlin Farrell, Hiral Mehta, and David Pitluck of the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case, with assistance on forfeiture matters from Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Mantell. The Criminal Divisions Fraud Section plays a pivotal role in the Department of Justices fight against white collar crime around the country. The meeting of the Romanian and Spanish governments will most likely take place in June this year, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Wednesday, stressing that the agenda of the meeting will be "largely dedicated to the people", context in which she voiced her appreciation for the contribution of the Romanian community to the society in her country. Arancha Gonzalez Laya held a joint press conference with Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu. "Although at the opposite farthest points of the European Union, Romania and the Kingdom of Spain have developed strong ties, risen to the level of strategic partnership. We share a strong friendship, facilitated by the presence of a large Romanian community in Spain, which is very well integrated into the Spanish society," said the head of the Romanian diplomacy. "Today we reiterated the wishes that the Romanian community constantly sends us related to dual citizenship. We understand the legal and constitutional considerations that the Spanish side has. However, we hope that we can find solutions," Aurescu pointed out. The joint meeting, said Arancha Gonzalez Laya, "is a first signal that Spain wants to give to Romania regarding the commitment to strengthen the strategic partnership". "This agenda is largely dedicated to the people. Spain hosts a large community of Romanians, over one million people, whom we welcomed with open arms and their contribution to our society is greatly appreciated. We are talking about people, Romanian men and women, who make Spain richer, but also a more open and tolerant society. As I told you, Mister Minister, we greatly appreciate the contribution of the Romanian population to the Spanish society and we also want to respond to the demands they have forwarded to us in relation to the dual citizenship. We are having talks in this regard so that we can respond to their aspirations," said the Spanish foreign minister. According to the substantiation note of the draft piece of legislation, "the central moment of cultural events will be the most important Romanian archeology exhibition proposed so far to the Spanish public, 'Dacia - the Romans' last frontier', at the National Museum of Archeology in Madrid, which will be organized under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture, through Romania's National Museum of History, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Ministry of National Defense". There will also be a history of the presence of Romanian culture in Madrid, actions in the public space, such as the "Fiesta" installation, a project designed and realized by architects Attila Kim and Bogdan Ciocodeica, concerts, including a George Enescu anniversary moment, exhibitions (the Romanian - Spanish diplomatic archives, the joint exhibition Romania - Spain, the exhibition of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. We all need a little more love this Valentines Day. Show what your loved one means to you with an authentic handmade Irish gift from The Leitrim Design House. Were very excited about our new bigger online shop and wed love you to visit. Were open for business online 24/7 and shipping daily. Browse some of our exquisite Irish jewellery range including the multi award winning jewellery brand deBlaca. Beautifully crafted deBlacas you have my heart pendant says it all to your Valentine. We also have precious wearable pieces for the man in your life such as cufflinks, tie and lapel pins. If youre looking for something more casual, keep your man cosy from the frosty nights ahead in a McKernan handwoven scarf from Co Clare. Made from 95% virgin wool and 5% cashmere gives a luxurious soft feel as well as providing optimum warmth. Say thank you from the bottom of your heart to that special person who has helped you through this challenging year. It may be a partner, a family member, a neighbour, a friend or even a colleague. Acknowledge their support with a very special little token of appreciation from our affordable Leitrim self-care collection. Theres something to comfort everyone in our range of all natural products made in Leitrim such as soothing skincare from Lucys Soap Kitchen lovingly created in Bornacoola and the very popular award winning shaving soap made in Drumshanbo by Natural Ireland. Our customers always return for more. If you want to give a much needed lift to a loved one, an Artwood sun catchers is just the thing. They continue to spread the Leitrim light into homes around the globe and make for wonderful heart-warming uplifting gifts for all ages. It hasnt been a normal year so why give a normal gift? For something special why not indulge that special someone with a handcrafted superior quality leather gift from Tinnakeenly Leather, skilfully crafted in Kilkenny using only the best quality leather to create a durable collection of purses, wallets, belts, satchels and bags. All of this and more can be found in The Leitrim Design House. Browse 24/7 in the safe comfort of your home on our newly expanded online shop www.leitrimdesign house.ie #LoveLocal this year! Give the gift of appreciation this February 14 and remember to make it an Irish one. Your gift can say more than just thank you. Buying Irish nurtures our communities and gives much needed support to small Irish businesses. Get in touch at info@leitrimdesignhouse.ie if you need advice or inspiration to help you choose that perfect gift for your loved one, were delighted to assist you. Well even deliver from our door to theirs for free on orders over 50 across Ireland. For further information follow us on any of the social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. FINANCIAL literacy is not only limited to bookkeeping, debit and credit rules but also involves understanding the basics on how to grow your money. This was noted by Bank Windhoek's head of corporate affairs Hayley Allen, who said basics such as understanding one's banking fees can help one avoid unnecessary charges and penalties. "Customers who understand their banking fees can learn to manage their accounts effectively and save money," she said. According to her, understanding such basics can also help customers meet their financial goals. Bank fees refer to compulsory charges banking institutions levy on the personal and business accounts of customers. Financial institutions use the fees for the set-up, maintenance and transactional services related to the accounts. The bank may charge these fees annually, monthly, or on a pay-as-you-use basis. According to the Bank of Namibia, banking customers are divided into safety seekers, traditionalists and balancers. Safety seekers are individuals with limited cash flow and savings. They value fees transparency and have a strong preference for using the branch for most of their banking transactions. Traditionalists have a basic level of education and relatively low incomes with only a few banking products - they are heavy users of ATMs and branches - although they can be persuaded to use other remote channels and to increase their engagement with their service provider if offered new ways to do business. Balancers have modest assets and do not switch accounts frequently. They are comfortable with online channels and value the relationship aspects offered by traditional banks, fee transparency and help with problem resolution. To help customers understand banking fees and save money, Allen advises one to maintain at least the minimum balance required for that account. She said maintaining such a balance helps to avoid additional monthly fees and accidental overdraws. However, it requires customers to keep track of transactions and account balances to avoid unpaid debit orders and access fees. With innovation such as cellphone banking, which allows clients to be notified via SMS of their debit and credit transactions, customers can keep track of their accounts without going to a bank, explained Allen. "These alerts inform customers of all activity on their deposit accounts and reduce the risk of losses due to fraudulent transactions," she added. Digitalisation has taken shape in many developed economies, and various sectors in developing nations are embracing it- the banking sector in Namibia being one of those with various e-money applications and other online channels. According to Allen, clients can use online banking platforms, which are more cost-effective than over-the-counter banking transactions and far more convenient. Using online services lowers the banking fees, which can result in significant savings at the end of the month. These services include internet banking, mobile app, cellphone banking, and EasyWallet/blueWallet/eWallet. Access to these services remains free or the fees are low, depending on the bank the client uses. Electronic statements are free of charge compared to going to a bank and print. Allen also advised clients to look after their cards to avoid unnecessary replacement fees for lost or stolen cards and for them to have all their 'day-to-day accounts' at a single bank "to avoid paying unnecessary service fees or bundled payments at multiple banks". Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Banking By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. She urged clients to minimise transaction mistakes, as reversals are expensive. Bank of Namibia has a policy on bank fees and charges of the Payment System Management Act 18 of 2003, to ensure that the fees or charges payable by a user are in the public interest, promote competition, efficiency and cost effectiveness in service. According to the banking fees and charges report 2020, which is based on the 10 banking services the average consumer frequently uses when conducting banking, the more a client uses a bank service, physical or online, the more the fees and charges go up. The central bank indicated how much banking fees on average per month, a banking customer falling within each segment (safety seekers, traditionalists and balancers) are likely to pay when using the various banking products. The central bank found that the fees and charges go up with increased usage. Raghuram Selvaraju also repeated his 'buy' call on the stock in the wake of positive data from key Tiziana drug foralumab Wall Street investment bank HC Wainwright has restated its bullish call on Tiziana Life Sciences ( ) ( ). The update followed positive data from a study assessing the use of Tiziana's nasally administered monoclonal antibody, foralumab, in patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). Analyst Raghuram Selvaraju hailed the positive results from the small-scale assessment carried out in Brazil as he reiterated his buy recommendation and US$11 a share price target. The data from the Brazilian trial appear to indicate intriguing evidence of therapeutic utility for nasally administered foralumab, while also suggesting that foralumab alone (without priming using oral dexamethasone) may be the most effective approach, he added. We await data from larger studies to conclusively demonstrate the nature and magnitude of patient benefit. The results of the Brazil study are carried below: The fully human anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAB) proved to be safe in the group of 39 patients that were assessed by a team that included researchers from the prestigious Harvard Medical School. In a statement, lead scientist Dr Thais Moreira said: We are delighted to see that patients treated with nasally administered Foralumab showed a positive trend in the reduction of lung inflammation, and supportive data indicating significant reduction in cytokine IL-6 and C-reactive protein. In addition, there are indications from patients who reported that treatment with Foralumab rapidly improved the smell and taste sensations that are frequently lost with the severity of COVID-19 disease. Nasally-administered Foralumab is thought to work by improving the immune system by stimulating the bodys regulatory T cells. It is also believed to dampen cytotoxic (harmful) T cell responses in the nasal and respiratory tract, the primary sites of the COVID-19 virus. As such, Tizianas scientists think Foralumab may be effective in treating new coronavirus variants from the UK, Brazil and South Africa because it does not attack the disease directly but modulates its effects on the immune system. The drug is the first monoclonal antibody that can be dosed nasally or orally due to its ability to affect systemic immunity via the epithelial lining of the nose, respiratory tract and gut. This marks it out as different from mAB innovations such as ( ) COVID-19 treatment, which is directly injected. HC Wainwrights analysis followed on from notes published Tuesday from US investment bank , which reiterated its buy advice and US$8 a share price target for Tiziana, and Zaks Small-Cap Research, which initiated coverage. Last week Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan took concrete steps to end a three-decade long dispute over an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea, TRT World reports in its article Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan energy deal unlocks new regional politics. The Azerbaijanis called the disputed oilfield Kapaz after Mount Kapaz located near the picturesque Lake Goygol outside Azerbaijans second largest city Ganja. The Turkmens called it Serder the Turkic transliteration of a Persian word meaning commander. Now, both countries have agreed to call the oilfield Dostluq, meaning friendship. They also agreed to Dostluqs joint development. While the oil field is not massive, it is still significant. It is estimated the field contains 60-70 million tons of oil, as well as significant reserves of natural gas. No details about how the profits will be divided have been made public but insiders close to the project tell me that Turkmenistan will get the largest share. In the 1990s, when the Caspian region was starting to boom in terms of energy projects (for the second time in history) neither side could agree to the rights over the offshore oil field. At the time, Azerbaijan was willing to make concessions to enable joint development of the field. At first, Turkmenistan also seemed willing but right before a deal was finally inked, Ashgabat got cold feet fearing Russian disapproval. But times have changed. The geopolitical stars have aligned in the region and the timing of this agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan is no coincidence. They are likely three main reasons why the agreement was made now. The first reason is that Turkmenistan is out of money. Ashgabat has relied too heavily on natural gas exports to too few customers mainly Russia and China. The country is also in an economic crisis. Currency depreciation, autarkic policies, and limited spending on public services have led to economic stagnation. Lines for basic goods are now commonplace, especially in the regions outside Ashgabat. Even so, billions of dollars have been wasted on frivolous projects with little or no economic value. Those international investors that could enter the country are reluctant to do so because little has been done to improve the business climate, privatise state-owned industries, or combat rampant corruption. Like other countries with economies linked to Russia, Turkmenistan has felt the negative effects of Russias poor economic performance and economic sanctions. The greatest potential for Turkmenistan to turnaround its dire economic situation is with its energy resources. President Berdymukhammedov has encouraged some foreign investment in the energy sector, but not enough to make a meaningful difference. Turkmenistan needs new revenue streams and the recent deal over Dostluq could help. The second reason is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is distracted and the Turkmens know this. In the 1990s Ashgabat was loathed to make a deal with Baku for fear up upsetting Moscow. The situation is now different. President Putin faces many problems at home. The Covid-19 pandemic presents a major challenge to the country as the virus continues to run rampant through the population. The economic situation in Russia is also bleak. The poor economic situation is a result of the pandemic, the drop in oil prices, economic sanctions, and endemic corruption. There have been more and more anti-government protests in recent months throughout the whole of Russia. But perhaps Putins biggest problem comes from his main political opponent Alexei Navalny. Moreover, these are only Putins domestic problems. The foreign policy situation does not look much better. Russia has experienced geopolitical setbacks in Syria and Libya. The situation in Belarus looks far from being resolved in a manner that will satisfy the Kremlin. Moscow has picked up another military burden by providing a peacekeeping force in parts of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war in eastern Ukraine simmers on without an end in sight. It is very possible that Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, could soon run out of fresh drinking water. In 2021, a bilateral agreement between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over an offshore oil field is the least of Russias concerns. Finally, everyone likes a winner. The recent completion of the Southern Gas Corridor and Azerbaijans stunning victory in the second Karabakh War probably injected some enthusiasm, if not a healthy dose of realpolitik, into Ashgabats thinking. The Southern Gas Corridor was a success story if ever there was one in terms of regional energy projects. The first shipment of Caspian natural gas made its way to Europe using this new route on the last day of 2020 on time and below budget a rare, good news story in an otherwise dismal year for geopolitics. Azerbaijans victory in the second Karabakh War also demonstrated that the old way of viewing the region no longer applies. Even though it was Russia that brokered the ceasefire agreement, there is a perception that Moscow abandoned Yerevan during the conflict. There is also a perception in the region that Azerbaijan defied Russia, with no consequences, by using military force to liberate its territory. In geopolitics, perception is often reality. Frankly, Moscows long arm in the region now looks a little shorter. It is likely that Ashgabat cared less about Moscows concerns because of this. In addition to providing more regional stability in the Caspian, this agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan could help boost the confidence between the two countries working together on bigger projects in the future. The most obvious project is a Trans-Caspian Pipeline. A pipeline is the only economically viable way to transport Central Asias natural gas across the Caspian Sea and on to Europe without going through Russia or Iran. While a fully-fledged pipeline should be the long-term goal, in the short term, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to construct an interconnector between two existing gas fields in the Caspian. An interconnector would serve as a proof of concept and might reduce Russian objections in the same way a fully-fledged pipeline might not. The Caspian regions first energy boom took place during the beginning of the last century. The second took place in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. With the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor, and the agreement over Dostluq, it is very possible that a third energy boom will take place during this decade. Both policymakers and investors should keep an eye on this region. UK Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe on Wednesday extended support to the ongoing protests by farmers on the borders of Delhi against the three farm laws and asserted that the matter will be taken to the UK Parliament. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Webbe supported and thanked American pop star Rihanna's stand on the matter. Earlier, a petition was started on the issue by one Gurcharn Singh and it garnered over one lakh signatures as support for the campaign. Any petition needs to have secured a minimum of 100,000 signatures to get qualified for a debate in UK Parliament. So far, it has secured 107,261 signatures. Webbe tweeted, "Huge congratulations to all who supported this petition in defence of Farmers Protest. The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental human right. Farmers must be protected." "Boom Were taking this to parliament. The petition has reached 100,000 & qualifies for a debate in Parliament," she also tweeted. Boom Were taking this to parliament. The petition has reached 100,000 & qualifies for a debate in Parliament#FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/B6nh7NqUoZ Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) February 2, 2021 "Solidarity to the Indian Farmers. Thank you, Rihanna. In an era where political leadership is lacking we are grateful for others stepping forward," she wrote along with sharing a screenshot of Rihanna`s tweet. Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has extended her support to the protesting farmers saying that she stands in solidarity with them. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Thunberg wrote on Twitter. The teen activist`s post on the micro-blogging site came after Rihanna shared a news article. "Why aren`t we talking about this?!", wrote Rihanna, as she added the hashtag Farmers Protest along with the post on the micro-blogging site. Author and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, Meena also showed her support on social media towards the agitating farmers as well. She wrote on Twitter, "It`s no coincidence that the world`s oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by India`s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters," she added. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year 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. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has dealt to the industry in 2020, a number of local fitness centers remain committed to serving their membership through the new year while health orders continue to restrict indoor usage. 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! Welcome Guest! You Are Here: COLUMBUS, Ohio - Residents in five Northeast Ohio nursing homes will have to be revaccinated because Walgreens has discovered some of the shots may not have been stored at the proper temperatures, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday. The residents got shots from Walgreens pharmacists on Monday. When Walgreens noticed the error, which was identified through a quality control procedure, it reached out to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the vaccine manufacturer, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the Ohio Department of Health medical director. It notified the state of the potential error on Tuesday. No one has been reported sick or hurt from the error. If vaccines are not kept at the right temperatures, health care officials assume they are ineffective, Vanderhoff said. Walgreens is identifying which residents will need to be revaccinated. They are at the following homes: -Maples/Ashtabula County Residential Services Corp. -Ashtabula Towers -Heather Hill Care Communities in Chardon -Six Chimneys in Cleveland -Willow Park Convalescent Home in Cleveland. DeWine and Vanderhoff didnt identify the vaccine manufacturer. Vanderhoff said that the CDC and manufacturer will determine the right time for the residents to be revaccinated. Not everyone who has received vaccines in these facilities got potentially ineffective shots. Walgreens provided shots to people from different lots, DeWine said. The guidance that (Walgreens has) received leaves them now to be working with the CDC and the impacted nursing homes and the nursing homes medical directors to determine which patients need to be revaccinated, Vanderhoff said. This is really an issue about taking every step that we can to ensure whenever a person gets a vaccine theyre getting a vaccine that will work. This is not an issue of any known harm having been done to patients. The first vaccines arrived in Ohio on Dec. 14 and this is the second time the state has disclosed a problem with vaccine storage. On Jan. 20, the Ohio Department of Health announced that SpecialtyRx may have allowed nearly 900 doses to spoil. SpecialtyRx was given 1,500 doses and had 890 remaining. The company was exploring a transfer of the doses to another provider when it was discovered that it failed to appropriately monitor temperatures in its refrigerator and freezer. The state has cut off SpecialityRx from getting future vaccine doses to administer. The vaccines that are currently approved by the federal government must be stored at cold temperatures. There are strict rules about how long they are allowed to thaw before they must be shot in peoples arms. More coverage: Ohio Department of Health suspends SpecialtyRx after 890 coronavirus vaccines cant be used after faulty temperature monitoring 3,657 new coronavirus cases reported, 106 more deaths: Tuesday update As teacher, school staff vaccinations begin, Gov. Mike DeWine to give a coronavirus update: Watch live With 3,287 new coronavirus cases, Ohio case total nears 900,000: Monday update Gov. Mike DeWine recognizes Black History Month by incorrectly recycling proclamation from 2020 Lt. Gov. Jon Husted not running for U.S. Senate, others still considering: Capitol Letter Read the Ohio coronavirus public health order reducing the overnight curfew by 1 hour Ohio Liquor Control Commission revokes Clevelands Barley House liquor permit, effective March 24 Ohio Supreme Court to decide limits of Marsys Law in kidnapping, rape trial Nine others, who received the vaccine from the same vial from which the 52-year-old worker was vaccinated, exhibited no adverse reactions Ranchi: A health worker has died 36 hours after being administered COVID vaccine in Jharkhand, officials said on Wednesday. The health worker, identified as Mannu Pahan, was administered the Covishield vaccine at his workplace Medanta Hospital on 1 February and he died on Tuesday night, the private medical establishment's CEO Dr Pankaj Sahni said. Though 52-year-old Pahan did not have comorbidities, the cause of his death is being investigated, he said. After being administered the vaccine, Pahan returned to his village in Ormanjhi near Ranchi and even came to work on 2 February. He fell ill in his village on Tuesday night and died while being taken to the hospital, Dr Ajit Prasad, nodal officer for the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the state, said. He said that a post-mortem examination will be conducted on the body by a medical board at state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences to ascertain the cause of his death. "A total of 151 health workers including Pahan had been vaccinated at Medanta Hospital on 1 February. Nine others received the vaccine from the same vial from which Pahan was vaccinated and they are all fine. So, it is yet to be confirmed whether he died due to the vaccine," Prasad told PTI. If it is found that Pahan died due to the vaccine, this will be the first such case in Jharkhand, he added. 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. PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) PetroVietnam Power Corporation JSC (PV Power, HSX: POW) has just announced its plans for the period of 2021-2025 with several large sell-offs of its interest in subsidiaries. Specifically, PVPower would reduce its majority ownership in four subsidiaries, including Hua Na Hydropower JSC (UPCoM: HNA), PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 JSC (HSX: NT2), PetroVietnam Power Technical Services Center (PV Power Services), and PetroVietnam Power Renewable Energy JSC (PV Power REC). Besides, a number of new subsidiaries might be established to serve future activities. PV Power will also take a different approach on Luang Prabang Co., Ltd., an associate, following the directions of the government and relevant authorities. PVPower also plans to continue the full divestment of several other firms which it had plans to cut loose in 2016-2020. These include Nam Chien Hydropower JSC, Song Hong Energy JSC, PetroVietnam Urban Development JSC, Song Tranh 3 Hydropower JSC, EVN International JSC, PetroVietnam Mechanical and Electrical JSC, Viet Lao Power JSC, and PetroVietNam Machinery-Technology JSC. At the same time, PetroVietnam will reduce its interest in DakDrinh Hydropower (PV Power DHC) below 65 per cent of the charter capital or the entire contributed capital. In case the corporation successfully equitises the company, it has to comply with regulations of the Vietnamese government, the Ministry of Finance, and credit contract with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank - its foreign lender. In addition, the firm is also implementing relevant procedures for the termination of the operation of Son Tra-Song Da Hydropower and Asia-Pacific Energy in accordance with the law. As of September 2020, the company recorded a revenue of VND21.795 trillion ($947.6 million), down 17 per cent on-year. Its after-tax profit reached VND1.487 trillion ($64.65 million), down 40 per cent on-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. An interim analysis of data from the phase 3 trial of the COVID-19 vaccine from Russia (Gam-COVID-Vac) suggests that a two-dose regimen of the adenovirus-based vaccine offers 91.6% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The preliminary findings, published in The Lancet, are based on analysis of data from nearly 20,000 participants, three-quarters of whom received the vaccine and one quarter received a placebo. Serious adverse events (those requiring hospital admission) were rare in both the placebo (0.4% [23/5,435]) and vaccine (0.2% [45/16,427]) groups and none were considered associated with vaccination. Four deaths were reported in the trial, none of which were considered related to the vaccine. Most reported adverse events were mild, including flu-like symptoms, pain at injection site and weakness or low energy. The Gam-COVID-Vac is a two-part vaccine that includes two adenovirus vectors - recombinant human adenovirus type 26 (rAd26-S) and recombinant human adenovirus type 5 (rAd5-S) - which have been modified to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The adenoviruses are also weakened so that they cannot replicate in human cells and cannot cause disease. Adenoviral vector vaccines have been previously used, and their safety has been confirmed in several clinical studies. In this trial, participants were given one dose of rAd26-S, followed by a booster dose of rAd5-S 21 days later. The authors explain that using a different adenovirus vector for the booster vaccination may help create a more powerful immune response (compared with using the same vector twice), as it minimizes the risk of the immune system developing resistance to the initial vector. Our interim analysis of the randomized, controlled, phase 3 trial of Gam-COVID-Vac in Russia has shown high efficacy, immunogenicity, and a good tolerability profile in participants aged 18 years or older." Dr Inna V Dolzhikova, Study Co-Lead Author, Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia Worldwide, 64 candidate COVID-19 vaccines are currently in clinical assessment (including 13 vaccine candidates at phase 3) and 173 vaccines are in preclinical analyses. Phase 3 candidate vaccines include a variety of vaccine platforms, such as vector vaccines, mRNA vaccines, inactivated vaccines, and adjuvanted recombinant protein nanoparticles. "Stopping the COVID-19 pandemic requires the introduction of different vaccines based on different mechanisms of action to cover diverse global health demands. Our vaccine, along with other SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, helps to diversify the world SARS-CoV-2 vaccine pipeline," says Dr Denis Logunov, co-lead author, Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia. Between Sept 7 and Nov 24, 2020, a total of 21,977 adults were randomly assigned to receive the vaccine (16,501) or placebo (5,476). The trial was conducted across 25 hospitals and polyclinics in Moscow, Russia. 14,964 participants in the vaccine group and 4,902 in the placebo group received two doses of the vaccine or placebo and were included in the primary interim efficacy analysis reported today. PCR tests were done at screening and at dose 2 (21 days). A further PCR test was done if participants reported symptoms of respiratory infection. Efficacy of the vaccine was calculated on the basis of the proportion of participants with PCR-confirmed COVID-19. From 21 days after receiving the first dose (the day of dose 2), 16 cases of symptomatic COVID-19 were confirmed in the vaccine group (0.1% [16/14,964) and 62 cases (1.3% [62/4,902]) in the placebo group - equivalent to an efficacy of 91.6%. The vaccine induced a robust humoral response (also called antibody response) and cellular immune response (also called T-cell response) with data from 342 and 44 participants, respectively. Six of the 342 participants did not mount an immune response following vaccination, possibly due to older age or individual characteristics. The authors note that because COVID-19 cases were detected only when participants self-reported symptoms (followed by a PCR test), the efficacy analysis only includes symptomatic cases of COVID-19, and further research is needed to understand the efficacy of the vaccine on asymptomatic COVID-19, and transmission. Furthermore, median follow up was 48 days from the first dose, so the study cannot assess the full duration of protection. Adverse events were monitored via electronic medical records, electronic diaries and telemedicine consultations. Data on serious adverse events were analysed for 21,862 participants who received at least one dose of the vaccine (16,427) or the placebo (5,435). 70 serious adverse events were reported in 68 participants, including 45 (0.2% [45/16,427]) participants in the vaccine group, and 23 (0.4% [23/5,435]) participants in the placebo group. None of the serious adverse events were considered associated with vaccination. During the trial, four deaths were recorded - three (<0.1% [3/16,427]) in the vaccine group, and one (<0.1% [1/5,435]) in the placebo group. In the vaccine group, one death was associated with a fracture. Two had underlying conditions and developed symptoms of COVID-19 4-5 days after the first dose of the vaccine. Based on the incubation period of the disease, both participants were deemed to have already been infected before inclusion in the trial, despite a negative PCR test. In the placebo group, the death was associated with a stroke. None of the deaths were deemed to be associated with vaccination. Data on serious adverse events were available for all participants at the time the interim analysis was completed - among these, verified data on general adverse events was available for 12,296 participants (9,258 in the vaccine group and 4,902 in the placebo group). Most of the reported adverse events (94% [7,485/7,966]) were mild (grade 1), and included flu-like illness, injection site reactions, headache, and asthenia (physical weakness or low energy). 451 were grade 2 (5.66%) and 30 were grade 3 (0.38%). The trial included 2,144 participants older than 60 years, and vaccine efficacy was 91.8% in this group. The vaccine was well tolerated and safety data from 1,369 of these older adults found that the most common adverse events were flu-like symptoms and local reaction. There were three episodes of serious adverse events in the placebo group (urolithiasis, sinusitis and flu-like illness) and three in the vaccine group (renal colic, deep vein thrombosis and extremity abscess). No association was found between the adverse events and vaccination. As part of their secondary analyses, the authors explored the efficacy of the vaccine against moderate or severe COVID-19. At 21 days after the first dose, there were no cases of moderate or severe COVID-19 in the vaccine group and 20 cases in the placebo group, equivalent to an efficacy of 100% against moderate or severe COVID-19. Although the study was not designed to assess the efficacy of a single-dose regimen, the findings hint to the early onset of a partially protective effect 16-18 days after a single-dose immunization. From day 15-21, efficacy against moderate or severe COVID-19 was 73.6%, but further research is required to draw any robust conclusions from these observations. The research team have recently received approval to investigate the effectiveness of a single-dose regimen of the vaccine. Most participants in the trial were white so further research will be needed to confirm the results in a more diverse group of participants. Although the study enrolled participants with comorbidities, not all risk groups are represented. All participants were aged over 18 years, and the authors report a need for further research to investigate the vaccine in adolescents and children, as well as pregnant women. The trial is ongoing and aiming to include a total of 40,000 participants - monitoring of safety and efficacy continues. The phase 3 trial published today follows an earlier phase 1/2 trial that reported safety and immunogenicity of two different formulations (one frozen, one freeze-dried) of the two-part vaccine. In this study, the liquid form of the vaccine was used, which requires storage at -18C. Storage at 2-8C has also been approved. Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Ian Jones, University of Reading, and Professor Polly Roy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (who were not involved in the study), say: "The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated, which means another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of COVID-19." Help India! Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Vice President Prof. Mohammad Saleem Engineer said that the violence happens when people do not follow their religion properly. TCN News Support TwoCircles New Delhi: Leaders and gurus of different religions have formed a state-wide religious front Dharmik Jan Morcha at a seminar in Jaipur for promoting love and amity among all communities. Speaking on the occasion, all the religious leaders have maintained that religion does not separate and divide people one another, whereas it unites all human beings. Addressing the seminar on the role of religious gurus in strengthening the atmosphere of love and harmony in the country, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Vice President Prof. Mohammad Saleem Engineer has said that the violence happens when people do not follow their religion properly. He said, it is not necessary to agree with each others views and faiths, but we should respect each others right to disagree. Here gurus of all religions are present on the same stage, in fact, this is the real face of India. Speaking on the occasion, Galta Peethadhish Awadhesh Acharya Maharaj said, those people who happen to be elders of the society, are now creating misunderstandings towards each other. This is an extremely politicised situation, where we are living with apprehension, arousing hatred in our hearts toward one another. Mufti Mohammad Zakir Noumani of Jaipur, said, the role of religious gurus is very significant in enhancing the atmosphere of love and harmony in the society. He suggested intensifying mutual dialogues and discussions. Bishop Oswald Lewis, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaipur, said, we have to convince our followers that we are all children of God and if we love God, we must love our siblings too. Mahamandaleshwar Pandit Purushottam Bharti said, some vested interests want to disintegrate the country by spreading hatred. We should warn them that they will not succeed in their mission as the countrymen live with mutual love and affection. Giani Gardeep Singh, head of Gurdwara Jawahar Nagar, Jaipur said, our greatest strength is that we all believe in God and we are all really born with the same light. Shia cleric Maulana Sadiq Hussaini said: Prophet Muhammad says the best person is the one who benefits others. Sneha Bahan of Brahma Kumaris Aishwarya University has stated that if all religious leaders get united, then peace will prevail in the country. Acharya Praveen Bhai Ji of Saras Nikunj Peeth has said that religious leaders have a big responsibility to maintain peace in the country. On this occasion, Father Vijay Paul Singh, President of Christian Shakti Committee, Shri Shyam Sundar Ji of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya University, Maulana Habibur Rahman of Niazi Dargah, Mir Qurban Ali Sahab also expressed their views. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cleveland City Council on Wednesday introduced Mayor Frank Jacksons proposed budget for 2021, a plan that calls for more than $1.8 billion in spending in all departments including the airport and water department. The City Council will open budget hearings on the plan in a few weeks. The council must give final approval to the budget by the end of March. Enterprise funds entities such as the city utilities and the airport that raise their own revenue -- account for about two-thirds of the spending. The general fund, which covers most basic city services, is forecast at $659.3 million. Cleveland spent about $650 million for general fund services in 2020 after belt tightening to address revenue lost to the coronavirus pandemic. Spending in 2019 was about $686 million. Jackson said the budget is structured so that he doesnt expect to lay off workers or curtail services, unless something catastrophic happens. After voters approved raising Clevelands income tax beginning in 2017, budgets were structured to cover expenses with money raised that same year, allowing for a carryover as a reserve at years end. This years budget would tap $23 million from $43 million left from 2020 to balance the books. Jackson expects to tap about $23 million of that carry over, combined with the years projected revenue, to balance the books for 2021. His budget forecasts a carryover of $20 million into 2022. More from Cleveland City Hall Cleveland City Council subpoenas records for dark money campaign against CPP, Mayor Frank Jackson nears FirstEnergy lawsuit decision Cleveland City Council approves job creation grant for Quicken Loans LLC that will lead to 700 new downtown jobs Clevelands fortunes exiting the coronavirus pandemic could take a hit without income taxes from suburban commuters More than 100,000 Greater Clevelanders could get coronavirus shots each week if vaccine were available, health leaders say Cleveland Mayor Frank Jacksons It is what it is isnt what you might think New Delhi: Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre on Wednesday said that the border standoff between Indian and Chinese armies at the Sikkim sector can be resolved diplomatically and Chinese soldiers should leave the Bhutanese territory to reduce tension in the area. I think the issue can be resolved at the diplomatic level. The Chinese troops should stay where they were earlier. China is approaching towards Bhutanese territory. We want them not to come forward, Bhamre said. This is our security concern and this is our stand. Bhutans King had yesterday given a statement that Chinese (troops) are entering into its territory. This tension can be resolved at the diplomatic level. Across the table we can solve all the problems, he further added. ALSO READ | Sikkim standoff: China says could issue travel alert for citizens visiting India The ministers remarks came a day China demanded that India correct its mistakes by pulling back its troops immediately and accused the latter of trampling on the principles of the Panchsheel pact. China had ruled out a compromise in the military standoff with India and put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the grave situation, Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui said on Tuesday. For the past 19 days, China and India have been betrothed in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction. The standoff began after a Chinese armys construction party came to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India. On the standoff, the Ministry of External Affairs had said India was deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India. With PTI inputs. ALSO READ | Sikkim row: China accuses India of trampling on Panchsheel pact, asks it to pull back troops For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A Victorian government MP has urged his party to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 to keep children as young as 10 out of prison. Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire, who is also the parliamentary secretary for crime prevention, said governments must call out and address systemic injustices, including laws that disproportionately affect Aboriginal people. Frank McGuire has urged governments to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. Credit:Darrian Traynor In July last year, the nations chief law makers, including Victorias then-attorney-general Jill Hennessy, deferred a decision to raise the age for a year after agreeing more work needed to be done to determine alternative ways to deal with young offenders. Speaking in the Victorian Parliaments lower house on a bill seeking to decriminalise public drunkenness, Mr McGuire said there had been too much sorry business, too many preventable deaths, too many blighted lives. A medical worker shows the box for a coronavirus vaccine to a patient at a vaccination facility in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) China on Wednesday announced a plan to provide 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses to developing nations through the global COVAX initiative as part of its ambitious diplomatic and business efforts to distribute Chinese vaccines around the world. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is responding to a request from the World Health Organization as developing countries seek to fill shortages predicted to run through March. He did not offer details on which vaccine China was providing to COVAX, or whether it was a donation. China has already shipped large numbers of doses of its own vaccines, mainly to developing countries. It has pursued deals or donations with more than 30 nations far exceeding the 10 million doses it is providing to COVAX. In Turkey alone, Chinese company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has struck a deal to sell 50 million doses. Its global efforts are seen by many as an attempt to boost China's reputation as it seeks to repair its image after the first cases of the coronavirus were detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. Earlier on during the pandemic, China donated face masks and protective gear to countries around the world as part of a diplomatic push. It has called the virus a mutual challenge facing humanity and even suggested it may have been brought from outside the country. Workers wearing protective clothing enroll patients at a facility for coronavirus vaccinations in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) It agreed to join COVAX, coordinated by the World Health Organization and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, last October, notably when the U.S. under then President Donald Trump had declined to join. COVAX seeks to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have enough vaccines as wealthy nations have snapped up a large part of the billions of upcoming doses from mostly Western vaccine makers. "We hope countries in the international community with the capability will swing into action, support COVAX through practical actions, support the work of the World Health Organization, assist developing countries in obtaining vaccines in a timely manner and contribute to ... conquering the pandemic at an early date," Wang said a daily briefing. WHO is in the process of approving Chinese vaccines for emergency use, he added. A medical worker shows the box for a coronavirus vaccine to a patient at a vaccination facility in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) So far, COVAX has secured only a fraction of the 2 billion doses it hoped to buy in 2021. Pfizer last month committed to supply up to 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year through COVAX. The facility also has 150 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Two Chinese companies, state-owned Sinopharm and Sinovac, have been behind a large part of the effort to take Chinese vaccines abroad, which has largely happened outside the COVAX framework. Both companies' vaccines are inactivated, relying on a traditional technology of growing and killing a live virus. The virus is then purified before it is given as an injection. The inactivated vaccines appear to be less effective than more modern mRNA vaccines. However, they are easier to transport than Pfizer's mRNA vaccine, which requires ultracold storage, a challenge for many lower-income countries. Only one of the vaccines, made by Sinopharm, has been approved for general use within China. Both, however, have won either emergency or broader approvals in other countries, and are actively being used in mass vaccination campaigns from the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia. The vaccines have been criticized for a lack of transparency in data from the final stage of clinical trials. Sinopharm said its vaccine is 79.3% effective. Sinovac's shot in particular has raised concerns after it initially announced an efficacy rate of 78% at protecting against symptomatic illness, but after counting mild cases announced that effectiveness is just over 50%, based on its trial in Brazil. Explore further Pfizer to supply 40M COVID-19 shots for poor countries 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. I had to use my own collection as my opening show, he recalled in the oral history. It was titled Masterpieces of 20th-Century German Art, Mr. Feigen having been enamored of the German Expressionists. But soon he was showing Beckmann, Francis Bacon, the Romanian sculptor and painter Victor Brauner and other important artists there. He also took to representing some Chicago-area artists, among them the painter George Cohen. Their eagerness to have their work seen in New York, he said, was one of the reasons he opened his first New York gallery, on East 81st Street, in 1963. In 1965 he opened a second Manhattan gallery, in SoHo, focused on contemporary art. In this period he had a piece of a gallery in Los Angeles, and, for four years in the early 1990s, he had a gallery in London. Over the years his New York galleries occupied various spaces, including the current one on East 77th Street. Mr. Feigen enjoyed working with his artists, even mercurial ones like Mr. Johnson, who died, apparently by suicide, in 1995. Once Mr. Johnson indulged in a sort of performance art, dropping 60 hot dogs out of a helicopter over Wards Island in New York City. He talked Mr. Feigen into picking up the tab for both helicopter and dogs. He was relentless in his devotion to particular artists and movements (never the most obvious ones), Dr. Beatty said. While showing artists at his galleries, Mr. Feigen built a reputation as a wheeler-dealer in the art world. He often turned up as the bidder behind a high-priced sale at the big auction houses, and even was cast as a version of himself in Oliver Stones 1987 film, Wall Street. Often at such auctions he was representing buyers he had schooled on the value of investing in art. Urgent action from the European Union is needed to resolve problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol, Boris Johnson said (House of Commons/PA) The Prime Minister has said he is willing to override part of the Northern Ireland Protocol to ensure that there is no post-Brexit trade barrier down the Irish Sea. DUP North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said his constituents had been made to feel like foreigners in their own country. Urgent action from the European Union is needed to resolve the problems, Boris Johnson acknowledged. The agreement on post-Brexit trade to keep the Irish land border open has caused disruption to goods travelling from the rest of the UK but progress has been made in recent weeks. Mr Johnson said: We will do everything we need to do, whether legislatively or indeed by triggering Article 16 of the protocol, to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea. Article 16 is part of the post-Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland following the EUs customs rules. It is designed to allow the EU or Britain to intervene unilaterally if the protocol is causing a major problem within its borders. The Democratic Unionists have been pressing for it to be invoked in response to strains on east to west trade which emptied some supermarket shelves temporarily following the end of the post-Brexit transition period and interfered with the transit of parcels. Mr Paisley told the House of Commons: Prime Minister, you say that your commitment to Northern Ireland is unshakeable. We have moved away from previous insistence of "rigorous implementation" of the NI Protocol and dismissal of issues as just "teething problems". Now we need to find solutions that are sustainable, workable and long-lasting. pic.twitter.com/sH2kaSKD3Z Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) February 3, 2021 But I speak for all of my constituents today when I tell you that the protocol has betrayed us and has made us feel like foreigners in our country. Tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard. The Prime Minister spoke to Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster on Wednesday morning. A Downing Street spokesman said: The Prime Minister said that we needed urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits in full from the UKs exit from the EU. They discussed their shared concern that processes established in the protocol were ignored when Brussels threatened on Friday to override part of the deal and stop coronavirus vaccine supplies crossing the border from the Republic. The Prime Minister told Mr Paisley: I utterly share the frustration of the honourable gentleman about the way the EU, in particular, the EU Commission, temporarily seemed to call to use the protocol in such a way as to impose a border contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, and contrary to the letter of the Good Friday Agreement. The Prime Minister urged that coordinated work with Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove continues to ensure the protocol worked in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. Now is a time for steady, calm and measured leadership from all political parties. Our businesses and citizens deserve certainty and I am committed to working to provide that. Later this evening, I will meet with the European Commission and British Government to discuss issues. pic.twitter.com/HIfyUmYjY9 Michelle OaNeill (@moneillsf) February 3, 2021 A DUP spokesman for Mrs Foster said Mr Johnson had indicated he wanted to resolve the outstanding issues by the end of next month. The Prime Minister indicated that he was deeply shocked by the cavalier approach adopted by the EU last Friday and without consultation, the party statement said. He recognised that such actions by the EU undermines the authority of the protocol. The DUP added that it was plain the protocol was being used in an absurd way. Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said it was time for steady, calm and measured leadership from all political parties amidst unionist discontent. Our businesses and citizens deserve certainty and I am committed to working to provide that. New Delhi: B-town hunk Ranveer Singh who has already managed place in hearts of million, is going to receive the most prestigious birthday gift ever. Yes! The 31st birthday (July 6) of this 'Bajirao Mastani' Star is going to be grand and very much special as the actor is going to get his own wax statue placed in Grevin wax museum, Paris. The figure will be installed in the Hall of Columns which is considered to be one of the Grevins most prestigious venues with wax figures of other top most celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Celine Dion, Leonardo Di Caprio , Angelina Jolie and others. The 32 year-old fame of Bollywood has already created a much bigger buzz on social networking sites with all his latest pictures where he has been seen giving measurements to the sculptor Eric Saint Chaffray and the Grevins artistic teams in Paris. It was the time of his 'Befikre' shooting in France when the artistic team of Grevin met the Bolly star and gave a kick start to their programme. The entire measurement session took place at the Pullmann Tour Eiffel hotel and the team left no stone unturned to make the sculpture as lively as possible. They had recorded the actor's Hair, skin, and eye colours with extreme care and hands were moulded. Also Read: Anushka, Varun to knit romantic pattern with 'Sui Dhaga- Made in India Capturing the exact contours of his face was the only hardle for the team as the actor was in his beard due to his role in the film. Moreover, the statue will wore one of Ranveer's cloth which he donated and send to the Grevin from Mumbai. Being excited about this latest happening of his life Ranveer said, "Its a truly special birthday present and one that will always bring back beautiful memories of Paris. I love all things French, and am grateful to the museum that they have given me a permanent place in wax in their home and their hearts." On the work front, the 'Bajirao' of Bollywood is at present busy shooting Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming period drama 'Padmavati'. Also starring Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead 'Padmavati' is scheduled to hit the screens on 17th November, 2017. Also Read: Ankita Lokhande to make her Bollywood debut with Kangana Ranaut's next While Shahid and Ranveer will be seen playing the character of Rana Rawal Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji respectively, the flick features Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmini. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. 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. Chinese regulators launched a probe into Alibaba in December over what they said was monopolistic behaviour Holding Ltd ( ) reported strong growth from its online shopping and cloud computing in the final quarter of 2020. The Chinese tech giants revenues came in at RMB 221bn (US$33.9bn) in the three months to December 31, up 37% on the same period a year ago. Underlying earnings (EBITDA) increased 22% to RMB 68.4bn (US$10.5bn). Thanks to the rapid recovery of Chinas economy, Alibaba had another very healthy quarter, said Daniel Zhang, chairman and chief executive officer, who took the reins from founder Jack Ma in 2019. The group generated free cash flow of RMB 96.2bn (US$14.8bn), which enabled investment in strategic areas. Finance chief Maggie hailed the positive profits for the Alibaba Cloud business during the quarter and that the Cainiao logistics network was operating cash flow positive. Shares in the company were down ahead of the release of the results after-hours overnight. Investors have been concerned about Mas status in Beijing lately. Chinas State Administration for Market Regulation launched an investigation into Alibaba in December over monopolistic behaviour, the first probe of its kind for a Chinese tech company. Regulators said the instigation was to focus on practices including Alibabas tactic of using exclusive agreements with merchants to force them to only sell their products on its platform. Chinese officials also last year halted plans to spin off and float Ant Group, Alibabas financial-technology affiliate, saying there needed to be more supervision of internet finance. The company said in the results statement that it has established a special taskforce to conduct internal reviews of its business. We approach this antimonopoly investigation with a cooperative, receptive and open mind set, said Zhang on a conference call with reporters. We have a deep appreciation of the significant social and public responsibilities of operating our platform. Beyond complying with regulatory requirements, we will continue to do our best to fulfill our responsibilities to society. Zhang said a revamp of the Ant Group business is still ongoing, with its prospects and fund-raising plans now subject to substantial uncertainties. These results can't help but be overshadowed by the recent reappearance of their leader Jack Ma," said retail analyst Andy Halliwell at digital consultancy Publicis Sapient. If the Chinese government is looking to crack down on outspoken entrepreneurs and take a more conservative line with their larger tech businesses, then this will dent investors' confidence in the brand. He added: "Many are looking at the business and wondering where the next wave of growth will come from." ADVERTISEMENT Professor Falola asked Obasanjo why he chose individuals who were perceived to be weak to succeed him, perhaps to carve a power niche for himself, even after leaving office. He denied the charge and pointed out that the health certificate of President Umaru Yaradua was vetted by top doctors who pronounced him fit to lead, after a successful kidney transplant. Despite the heavy toll that COVID-19 is taking on communities and families, Professor Toyin Falola has turned the challenge into an opportunity to present socially distanced interviews with eminent personalities. On January 31, he presented a live interview via Zoom with the former Nigerian president, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo. More than one thousand, three hundred people signed in to listen to the interview and ask questions across platforms, from Zoom to Facebook and YouTube. The scene was set with Ghanaian Highlife music, probably Obasanjos favourite, and with the Neo Afrobeat that Falola loves. The increasingly youthful Obasanjo joked that Falola is greying and should start dyeing his hair but careful observers would notice that Obasanjo drank lots of water during the interview, to reveal the secret of his youthful appearance. In answer to the very first question from Mr Dare Babarinsa, one of the founders of Tell magazine, Chief Obasanjo delved into his memory of growing up and why he chose to join the military. He revealed that the military was not a popular career choice back then because, at that time, it was believed that only those who did not do well joined the military. Today, military officers are highly educated at home and abroad and some families now have a military tradition for some children to follow. The military turned out to be an adventure for Obasanjo because the British colonisers posted him to the border with Cameroon to guard against suspected terrorists an apparent reference to the Bamileke warriors who were fighting for independence from France in the 1950s. Obasanjo did not say if he felt like a traitor when he was deployed against fellow Africans who were fighting for independence from colonialism. Obasanjo also shared his observation as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force that was in place when Patrice Lumumba was overthrown, kidnapped and assassinated in the Congo, under his watch. He said that he quickly found out as a soldier that the colonial boundaries were artificial because he saw a group of young men trying to cross the border and he stopped them. They told him that there was no border there because people on both sides were the same culture and that they were only going to get married in the next village. Obasanjo should have known that but his missionary school tried to exclude politics from the curriculum. There was a Nigerian political party that was also fighting for Independence on both sides National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). If he believed that the colonial boundaries are artificial, that must have been why he commendably resolved the Bakassi Peninsula conflict legally with Cameroon without going to war. Obasanjo replied that democracy is the best system of government, even though no system of government is perfect. He indicated that what we have is representative democracy and not the type of direct democracy found in ancient Greek city states because the populations of modern states are too large for everyone to gather in the village square to debate and vote. Obasanjo said that he used his discretion to let the young men cross the artificial boundary. On their way back with their brides, they brought him presents of kola nut and other things. It makes one wonder if that was the origin of the demand for kola at checkpoints by security agents or why Fela Kuti went on to name Obasanjo among the International Tief Tief decades later. Professor Falola asked him why he chose individuals who were perceived to be weak to succeed him, perhaps to carve a power niche for himself, even after leaving office. He denied the charge and pointed out that the health certificate of President Umaru Yaradua was vetted by top doctors who pronounced him fit to lead, after a successful kidney transplant. He also admitted that Peter Odili would have made a stronger vice president and eventual president than Dr Goodluck Jonathan but that Odili had issues with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), making him nominate Jonathan. Professor Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, dean of Faculty of Social Science at Babcock University, followed up with questions about the prospects for and challenges to, liberal democracy in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world. Obasanjo replied that democracy is the best system of government, even though no system of government is perfect. He indicated that what we have is a representative democracy and not the type of direct democracy found in ancient Greek city-states because the populations of modern states are too large for everyone to gather in the village square to debate and vote. He could have added that the Igbo still approximate direct democracy, despite Obasanjos attempt to truncate it by imposing traditional rulers on the radically republican Igbo in 1976, when he was a military dictator. Obasanjo said that he supported the presence of China in Africa but hopes that the Chinese would train Africans to work with them, even if they bring some of their own workers from China for language and communication reasons. He rejected the suggestion that China is our new colonial master and opined that we should seek to increase direct foreign investments from any source without waiting for others to dictate who should be our friends or enemies. He should have taken this a step further and called for Chinese immigrants to be given a path to citizenship in a united and the more powerful Peoples Republic of Africa. Professor Nimi Wariboko of Boston University asked him the significance of his dissertation at the Open University on the theological philosophy of leadership. Obasanjo answered that he saw Jesus Christ as his model of the servant leader. Was Jesus really a servant leader or the Master, the Good Shepherd, the Saviour, according to his followers? It takes a dictator like Obasanjo to see even Jesus as his servant in his doctoral dissertation and still pass the defence, rather than flunk it. Obasanjo should have used the opportunity of the interview to apologise to the Igbo for the genocide against them carried out by officers like himself in alliance with the British government and the Soviet Union that facilitated it with the supply of arms and through the use of starvation as a legitimate weapon of wear. Two young Nigerians students, one in London and another in Abuja, took turns to ask him what Falola predicted would be tough questions. They asked Obasanjo about fairness and justice and what could be done to improve the conditions of people in Nigeria. Perhaps his answers were not satisfactory, because the same question was raised again at the end by Chido Onumah, author of We Are All Biafrans, with reference to the Nigeria/Biafra war and what could be done to finally go beyond the No Victor, No Vanquished principle and bring the hostilities to a final end. Obasanjo answered that fairness demands that even when people do not vote for you, democracy demands that you will be the president of all Nigerians. Instead of saying that you will give more to those who voted more for you, as President Buhari publicly promised, he said that the Yoruba, his own people, did not vote for him in 1999 but that he did not discriminate against them in public appointments. He only head-hunted capable people like Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to help lobby and negotiate for Nigerias foreign debts to be bought back. He joked that someone recently asserted that he is not a Yoruba man and suggested that he is an Igbo man but he does not know what part of his name sounds like an Igbo name. Unknown to him, his surname is pronounced Obusonjo by some in Igbo, meaning, is it only evil? Obasanjo wrongly asserted that only the Igbo who were born after the Biafra war were the ones who seem bitter about the condition of Nigeria. As he rightly knows, it is not the Igbo youth who are waging terrorist attacks against Nigeria in the North-East. Nor are they the ones armed in the Niger Delta to demand resource control, nor are they among those in the Middle Belt, Southern Kaduna, and Western Nigeria waging battles of survival against onslaughts by armed Fulani cattle herders. Obasanjo should have used the opportunity of the interview to apologise to the Igbo for the genocide against them carried out by officers like himself in alliance with the British government and the Soviet Union that facilitated it with the supply of arms and through the use of starvation as a legitimate weapon of war. Obasanjo should support the call for Igbo reparations and also the call for a national referendum on the future of Nigeria, the same way that Scotland has been conducting such a referendum without anyone being shot dead. Biko Agozino is a professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Email: agozino@vt.edu A 16-year-old Chinhoyi girl faces imprisonment if she fails to pay $15 000 fine imposed by a local magistrate for loitering late into the night with two unidentified men in violation of government's Covid-19 curfew. Chinhoyi magistrate Melody Rwizi Monday found Blessing Macharika guilty of contravening Section 25 (2) of Statutory Instrument (SI) 10/21 which pertains to "disobeying curfew orders and regulations". Blessing was also convicted for breaching Section 4 (i)(a) of SI 83/20 that criminalises unnecessary movement during the national lockdown. The teenager, who is of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty and was fined $15 000 to be paid by 15 February 2021, failure to which she will spend 60 days in jail. The magistrate set aside 30 days for the next two years on condition she does not commit a similar offence. The State case, led by Nyasha Sibesha, was that on 28 January 2021 at around 11pm, Blessing was roaming at Gadzema main bus terminus, Chinhoyi while in the company of two unidentified men. The trio spotted a team of police officers who were on routine patrol and started running away prompting the officers to pursue them. Blessing was apprehended during the chase while her colleagues vanished into the darkness. She was handcuffed and taken to Chemagamba Police Station where she was charged for breaching the on-going curfew meant to curtail the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. In passing her ruling, the magistrate said the courts must impose harsh penalties on violators of the national curfew order and lockdown regulations in order to deter would-be offenders. "We are proud to have not only many but also quality patents in 2020. Thanks to our pioneering research and development Haier Smart Home has gained global-leading intellectual property achievements. Now with operators, software developers and hardware equipment manufacturers joining the smart home ecology, we are seeing a huge market of potentially trillions, and it is important for us to keep innovating and moving forward." said Wang Ye, Vice President and General Manager of Smart Home of Haier Home Appliance Industry Group. "Based on our patent strategy, we have used inventions innovatively to land usage scenario in a demonstration of its global ecosystem. Such innovation has a focus on consumer experience jointly created by our ecosystem partners." The Haier Smart Home has created a "10+N" innovation ecosystem connecting 10 research and development centers around the world and its open innovation platform HOPE. The ecosystem enables instant interaction between users and resources, making it possible for the company to generate scenario-based smart home solution sets for consumers. The innovation of its ecosystem has empowered Haier Smart Home to be a top choice for consumers around the world. In 2020, for the twelfth consecutive year, Haier ranked first in the global retail sales volume of large household appliances, according to the sales data released by world's leading research organization Euromonitor International. Other sales success include: Global top sales in refrigerators for the thirteenth consecutive year Global top sales in washing machines for the twelfth consecutive year Global top sales in freezers for the tenth consecutive year Global top sales in wine cabinets for the eleventh consecutive year About Haier Founded on April 1989, Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (formerly Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd., Shanghai: 600690) is the world's leading home appliance maker. The Company boasts seven world-class brands including Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances-US, Fisher & Paykel-New Zealand, AQUA-Japan, and Candy-Italy. According to Euromonitor International's 2020 Global Major Appliances Brand Rankings, Haier's retail sales volume of large household appliances ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years. Haier Smart Home is also a Fortune Global 500 company. Haier Smart Home focuses on the continuous improvements of the best user experience so as to provide consumers with smart home solutions, create full-scenario smart life experience, and offer design and function options customized for and by users. For more information, visit: http://www.haier.net/en/ SOURCE Haier Smart Home Related Links http://www.haier.net ROME Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank who is largely credited with helping to save the euro, accepted a mandate from Italys president on Wednesday to try and form a new unity government that would guide the country out of the pandemic and through economic recovery. To overcome the pandemic, to complete the vaccine campaign, to offer answers to the daily problems of the citizens, to relaunch the country are the challenges we face, Mr. Draghi said after meeting with President Sergio Mattarella for more than an hour at the Quirinal Palace. Italy, he said, faced a difficult moment. And he said he had accepted Mr. Mattarellas appeal because the emergency requires an answer equal to the seriousness of the situation. Until as recently as Tuesday, the idea of Mr. Draghi replacing Giuseppe Conte as prime minister remained a pipe dream for the many Italians frustrated with a governing coalition that seemed paralyzed by ideological schisms and incompetence, especially as the coronavirus pandemic raged and economic devastation set in. Alessandra Ambrosio founded her swimwear brand GAL Floripa with her sister Aline Ambrosio and friend Gisele Coria two years ago. And the Victoria's Secret Angel and supermodel celebrated the second anniversary of her brand with her mother Lucilda, her daughter Anja, 12, son Noah, eight, and Aline on the beach in Florianopolis, Brazil with friends. The bikini line was inspired by the city as well as the sisterhood between Alessandra, Aline and Gisele. Looking gorgeous: Alessandra Ambrosio founded her swimwear brand GAL Floripa with her sister Aline Ambrosio and friend Gisele Coria two years ago. And the Victoria's Secret Angel and supermodel celebrated the second anniversary of her brand with her mother Lucilda, her daughter Anja, 12, son Noah, eight, and Aline on the beach in Florianopolis, Brazil with friends The GAL Floripa Instagram shared a photo of the sunset with a caption about the special day. It read: '2.02 Today we celebrate Yemanja. She is the divinity known in Brazil as the mother and queen of the seas, who represents the feminine principle of creation and the spirit of moonlight.' Adding: 'It's a very special day for us because, exactly 2 years ago, Yemanja's day was the date chosen to launch the Gal Floripa brand.' The peaceful and zen filled day took place at the beach with the group, which included activities like meditation and prayers. The calming day in celebration of the brand also included group pictures - with Alessandra and Aline posing with Anja and Lucilda - making a three generational photo. Alessandra, 39, looked gorgeous in a blue ruffled bikini top, adding a white skirt featuring sheer elements. The stunning runway beauty also wore a matching white crop top over her bikini top featuring a brown pop of color in the center. Wow: Alessandra, 39, looked gorgeous in a blue ruffled bikini top, adding a white skirt featuring sheer elements So cool: The calming day in celebration of the brand also included group pictures - with Alessandra and Aline posing with Anja and Lucilda - making a three generational photo Aline donned a long white flowy dress, while Gisele chose a light blue bikini top with a long white skirt and her long blonde hair loose and in waves. Anja chose an all white look while Lucilda donned a cream colored button up frock. The group snapped pictures in the water while holding flowers after enjoying a relaxing session on the beach. The group sat in front of an elaborate shell and floral display with baskets of white flowers next to them. Pretty: The bikini line was inspired by the city as well as the sisterhood between Alessandra, Aline and Gisele In motion: The beauty reached for the sky as she enjoyed the beach day Lovely: She added a gold necklace and a evil pendant as well Floral: The stunner held tight to a bunch of flowers after the meditation session Beaming beauty: She frolicked and laughed in the water during the special day Relaxing day at the beach: The peaceful and zen filled day took place at the beach with the group, which included activities like meditation and prayers Peaceful: Alessandra with daughter Anja and sister Aline focused on their meditation Afterwards, a woman was seen going to each person and saying some sort of prayer over their heads. There was also dancing with candles lit all around the group, with attendees making sure to capture the memorable moment with their phones. Gal Floripa celebrates the trio - Alessandra, Aline and Gisele's motherland roots to Brazil as well as their sisterhood bonds. Their brand's website also explained that the name stems from the city of Floripa as well as the synergy between the three women. Good times: There was also dancing with candles lit all around the group, with attendees making sure to capture the memorable moment with their phones Focus: The group seen with their eyes closed as they meditated together as a group All eyes on her: The group listened in on the woman leading their meditation Magical day: Afterwards, a woman was seen going to each person and saying some sort of prayer over their heads More: The beauty seen taking a seat by the shell and rose display All love: The group seen amid their meditation and prayer work Alessandra, Aline and Gisele - the co-founders for the brand - posed in the ocean together with a single rose in each of their hands. The trio coordinated in their white and blue ensembles with beach waves. Alessandra also took time to pose for family portraits with her kids Anja and Noah. Giddy: Alessandra, Aline and Gisele - the co-founders for the brand - posed in the ocean together with a single rose in each of their hands So cute: Alessandra also took time to pose for family portraits with her kids Anja and Noah Family is everything: The trio posed in the ocean, with them all matching in blue and white Mini me: Anja looked just like her mom Alessandra Women uplifting women: The stunning event featured plenty of snaps to celebrate the day Ethereal: The co-founders posed with Anja, who has also model pieces from their mini line for kids Silly: They also made silly faces as they held their flowers to a playful snap On the official website, Alessandra said her childhood with Aline and Gisele in Brazil: 'Growing up in Brazil, Gisele, Aline and I spent most of our summer together by the beach, immersed in the beauty of Florianoplis, known as "The Magic Island," and spending almost every moment of the day in our swimwear.' Adding: 'It makes sense that swimwear became like a second skin.' The site says that the 'spirit of GAL Floripa is aligned with Mother Nature's essence; it's many rhythms and flows, mysteries and magnificence, as well as connection of its elements with women's lives.' Co-founders: On the official website, Alessandra said her childhood with Aline and Gisele in Brazil: 'Growing up in Brazil, Gisele, Aline and I spent most of our summer together by the beach, immersed in the beauty of Florianoplis, known as "The Magic Island," and spending almost every moment of the day in our swimwear' Celebrate! Alessandra looked gorgeous in the white crop top and matching skirt Close up: She showed off her stunning features and wavy tresses in a close up snap Ocean: The beauty was also in a pink look for her Instagram page Proud moment: The GAL Floripa Instagram shared a photo of the sunset with a caption about the special day Stunner: Alessandra shared a series of snaps to her Instagram page on Wednesday Another one: Alessandra looked gorgeous for her social media posts Beauty: The star reached out to the sky in the stunning images Khartoum The head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) Prof Volcker Perthes arrived in Khartoum early Monday to assume office. UNITAMS was established in response to a request by Khartoum government. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok requested the UN on February 27 "to seek a Security Council mandate to establish, as soon as possible, a Chapter VI peace support operation in the form of a special political mission with a strong peacebuilding component that helps us to address transition issues". These issues are to assist the political transition, the process towards democratic governance, protection and promotion of human rights, and sustainable peace; support peace processes and implementation of future peace agreements; assist peacebuilding, civilian protection, and rule of law, in particular in Darfur and the Two Areas; support the mobilisation of economic and development assistance and coordination of humanitarian assistance. The UNITAMS main office will be based in Khartoum with regional offices in Darfur (al-Fashir, Zalingei, Nyala), South Kordufan (Kadugli, Kauda), Blue Nile State, (Ed Damazin), and eastern Sudan (Kasala, Port Sudan). The Head of the National Committee for Coordination with UNITAMS ambassador Omer Al-Sheikh wekcomed Prof Perthes saying he was confident Mr Perthes experience and qualifications would help in solving the said challenges of the transitional period. On his part, Mr Perthes said he was looking forward to use all possible technical and deplomatic support for fulfilling the mission's four tasks in full consultation, cooperation and, coordination with the various institutions of the transitional government particularly the National Coordination Committee. Mr. Volker Perthes, a German national, holds a Master's degree and a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Duisburg in Germany. He has been selected for this top job based on his over 25 years of experience in academia, research, international relations and diplomacy, including with the United Nations, as well as deep expertise in conflict resolution and regional geopolitics. He is fluent in English and Arabic beside his mother tongue. The owners of Utah theme park Evermore have filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift accusing her of trademark infringement following the release of her studio album with the same name. Evermore, a small fantasy-themed park located in Pleasant Grove, opened in September 2018 - more than two years before Swift's Evermore album was released to the public in December 2020. In court documents, filed Tuesday and obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, the park's CEO Ken Bretschneider claims Swift's use of the Evermore title 'infringes on the park's merchandise designs'. He further alleges that 'search results for Evermore Park were pushed down on Google.com by content related to Swift's new album'. It's unclear whether Bretschneider is seeking monetary compensation, but his lawyers have sent Swift a cease and desist letter. However, the pop star's attorneys have hit back and are refusing to comply with the demand. Calling the allegations 'baseless', they stated: 'The Swift Parties have consistently stylized references to the new album in a way that is entirely distinct'. The owners of Utah theme park Evermore have filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift accusing her of trademark infringement after she released a studio album with the same name. Above: Costumed actors are pictured at the fantastic theme park Pictured: the back cover of Swift's Evermore album, released in December 2020 Utah's tourism website first noted that Swift's new album featured the same name as the park in a tweet posted on December 10 2020 - the day before the pop star's record was released to the public Bretschneider - who says he dreamed of being Walt Disney from the age of five - created the park over the span of several years. Set on several acres, Evermore park does not feature any traditional rides, but instead invites guests to use their imaginations as they interact with actors who are dressed in fantastical costumes. Visitors are also able to partake in Middle Ages-themed activities, such as archery and ax throwing. The park's website says Evermore is 'themed like a European village with its own buildings, citizens, and epic story' and guests can 'interact with characters, go on quests, and become a part of a fantasy world. 'Our land is filled with beauty and discovery,' the website continues. 'This ancient township was built eras ago upon a body of mysterious energy. Tales of old spoke of heroes, warriors, royalty, elves, goblins, dragons and more coming to this hamlet through magical gateways.' Swift's attorneys also wrote in court documents that her album is in no way related to such fantastical exploits inspired by European villages during the Middle Ages. Swift 'does not sell small dragon eggs, guild patches, or small dragon mounts, and nothing could be remotely characterized as such,' they wrote. A spokesperson for Taylor Swift told DailyMail.com on Wednesday: 'The fact is, this frivolous claim is coming from Ken Bretschneider, founder and CEO of an experience park and according to Utah Business, 'As of June 2020, at least five lawsuits have been filed against Bretschneider and the Evermore group by major construction companies like Sunroc, AGC Drywall and Construction, Geneva Rock, Mountain Point Landscaping, EME Mechanical, Kreativ Woodworks, and NFH Distributing (Beehive Brick and Stone).' 'The companies claim 'they are owed between $28,000 and $400,000.' Utah Business says, 'he owes millions of dollars in construction, mechanic, and landscaping fees to workers across the valley who have yet to be paid'... with 'a collection of more than 20 construction liens on the Evermore property.' The true intent of this lawsuit should be obvious.' DailyMail.com has contacted Evermore park for comment. CEO Ken Bretschneider - who says he dreamed of being Walt Disney from the age of five - created the park over the span of several years. The park is pictured under construction in 2018 The park's website states: 'Themed like a European village with its own buildings, citizens, and epic story... [Evermore] asks guests to interact with characters, go on quests, and become a part of a fantasy world. A computer generated aerial map of the park is pictured above Evermore Park is complete with cozy taverns that allow visitors they have been transported back to the Middle Ages - albeit with a fantastical bent The park's website states: 'Our land is filled with beauty and discovery. This ancient township was built eras ago upon a body of mysterious energy. Tales of old spoke of heroes, warriors, royalty, elves, goblins, dragons and more coming to this hamlet through magical gateways'. Employees at the park are pictured in costume Evermore Park garnered much buzz following its grand opening, and was even named to the World's Coolest Places 2019' by Time for Kids magazine Swift's attorneys have hit back and are refusing to comply with a cease and desist letter. Calling the allegations 'baseless', they stated: 'The Swift Parties have consistently stylized references to the new album in a way that is entirely distinct' Evermore Park garnered much buzz following its grand opening, and was even named to the 'World's Coolest Places' by Time for Kids magazine. However, the park was forced to shutter amid the coronavirus crisis, before slowly reopening with restrictions in the latter half of 2020. As Bretschneider was getting the park back on track, Swift launched her surprise album of the same name on December 11 of last year. The blockbuster record - which sold one million copies in its first week alone - allegedly caused stress for the theme park officials. In court documents, Andrea Measom, director of human resources for Evermore park, claimed that Swift's album generated confusion. 'Guests at Evermore park asked me whether the Evermore album was the result of a collaboration between Evermore and Taylor Swift or some other type of relationship,' he reportedly stated. Utah's official tourism Twitter account -@VisitUtah- first noted that Swift's new album featured the same name as the park in a tweet posted on December 10 2020 - the day before the pop star's record was released to the public. It appeared Bretschneider was contemplating legal action as early as December 13, replying in a tweet: 'Taylor decided to borrow our trademark ;) ... we will be talking :)' The case is ongoing. The park was forced to shutter amid the coronavirus crisis, before slowly reopening with restrictions in the latter half of 2020. An employee is seen incorporating a face mask into their costume Jess and Ant Pedersen Ant, 32, and Jess Pedersen, 30, have taken over the former Jaques Four Square in Kaiwaka. The couple have moved from Tauranga where they owned a Four Square for nearly four years. They jumped at the chance to move to Kaiwaka when they heard that the Jaques Four Square was on the market. Its a great community in a really cool part of New Zealand, and we wanted the challenge of taking over the reins of a bigger store, Ant says. The significance of taking over a store that had been owned by a single family for 96 years is not lost on them. We are very much here to evolve the Jaques legacy, look after people and serve the community the best we can, Ant says. We have huge boots to fill. Its a case of carrying on that incredible work, and having an ear to the ground on what the community wants to see more of from their local shop. Ant says he recognises there is an element of social responsibility involved in owning a local supermarket, and the Pedersens are already rolling out some new community initiatives. The Four Square Kaiwaka will hold free fitness sessions with local trainer Siobhan Henderson, at the Kaiwaka Fitness Centre. The classes will be held on Tuesday evenings at 6.30pm, starting after Waitangi Weekend. Just turn up with a drink bottle, Ant says. The store is also launching a local legends programme, where a good sort, nominated by the community, will be awarded a hamper or voucher. This is a community hub. Lets honour and put the spotlight on those doing good things, Ant says. When they are not working, Ant and Jess are busy raising their two young children. Before becoming Four Square store owners, Jess was a nurse, while Ant was an accountant and a race car driver. He raced V8 Supercars in Australia and Porsches in New Zealand. A counter terror police officer says the emergency response to the Manchester Arena bombing was 'not as expected,' after police declared a terrorist attack but did not tell fire or ambulance services, an inquiry has heard. Richard Thomas told today's inquiry the emergency response to the May 2017 attack 'lacked cohesion,' after a bomb was detonated following an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 men, women and children. In the event of a marauding terrorist firearms attack, Greater Manchester Police were trained to declare a specialist response dubbed 'Operation Plato' and inform ambulance and fire crews. Today's inquiry heard GMP declared the operation 16 minutes after Salman Abedi detonated a backpack bomb, amid reports that gunfire had been heard. However, fire and ambulance services were not initially informed. The inquiry has heard that only one paramedic was at the scene of the bombing for the first 40 minutes after the explosion on May 22, 2017 and that the first fire engine arrived more than two hours after the blast. Operation Plato - a designated terror response for emergency services, was deployed by Greater Manchester Police 16 minutes after Salman Abedi detonated a backpack bomb at Manchester Arena in May 2017 - however, police did not initially tell ambulance or fire crews Giving evidence on Wednesday, Richard Thomas, from Counter Terrorism Policing HQ, agreed that communication to key agencies after Plato is declared is important. However, the inquiry has previously heard that GMP did not initially inform the fire and ambulance services, and policing experts have said the deployment and command of Operation Plato at the scene was not 'adequately addressed' and the scene command 'lacked multi-agency cohesion'. He said the operation's aim is to achieve a 'considered response from all three emergency services in order to give us the best possible chance to save life'. Today's inquiry heard the emergency service's response to the Manchester Arena bombings 'lacked multi-agency cohesion' He said local ambulance and fire service control rooms should be notified as soon as possible so all three services can activate contingency plans in a co-ordinated manner. Counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney QC asked him: 'You don't seem to accommodate the possibility that it would ever be appropriate for a police commander to declare Operation Plato and then not tell the partner emergency services about it?' Mr Thomas replied: 'Yes, I struggle to foresee a set of circumstances where that would not be the case.' A joint 'dynamic decision-making process' should follow, which leads to the identification of hot, cold and warm zones - depending on the current threat of terrorist activity - and an agreed tactical plan to treat and evacuate casualties, the inquiry heard. Salman Abedi killed 22 men, women and children in the blast in May 2017. The inquiry has heard that only one paramedic was at the scene of the bombing for the first 40 minutes after the explosion and that the first fire engine arrived more than two hours after the blast. Duncan Atkinson QC, representing the families of some of the 22 innocent victims of the Arena attack, said: 'Clearly what the guidance intended was that the other agencies be told so that joined-up decisions could then be made as to who should go where and do what?' Mr Thomas said: 'That's exactly right, sir.' Mr Atkinson went on: 'And if there were concerns on the one hand about putting responders at risk and on the other hand saving lives, those were things to be worked out jointly through three-way communication of the emergency services? Mr Thomas said: 'Exactly, sir.' The inquiry has heard that only one paramedic was at the scene of the bombing for the first 40 minutes after the explosion on May 22 2017 and that the first fire engine arrived more than two hours after the blast. The hearing continues on Monday. A man has been shot dead in a gun attack in north Belfast. Police cordoned off an area just outside McGraths Bar on the Cliftonville Road at approximately 9pm. Residents told the Belfast Telegraph they heard four or five shots being fired. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) was dispatched to the area, where a man was pronounced dead. Pictures from the scene showed a heavy police presence. A spokesperson for the NIAS said it received a 999 call following reports of a shooting incident in the Cliftonville Road area of north Belfast. The NIAS dispatched one rapid response paramedic, two emergency crews and an ambulance officer to the incident, they added. Following initial assessment, all ambulances resources cleared the scene and no patients were taken from the scene. Belfasts Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker condemned the shooting. This is horrific news for a family to receive and the community is rightly shocked, he said. Those responsible for this shooting have absolutely nothing to offer our community. Local residents should be allowed to live their lives without the threat of violence. The community does not support these actions. There is no place for violence on our streets. Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilin added: The local community are deeply shocked by this incident. I am appealing to any witnesses to come forward. A former IRA man convicted of a violent robbery on an elderly couple was recalled to prison amid claims of forging links with dissident terrorists and gaining access to a rocket launcher, the High Court heard today. MI5 intelligence on Kieran Smyth also alleged he was targeting members of the security forces and posed a risk to national security. Details emerged as the 61-year-old mounted a legal challenge to the Secretary of State's decision to revoke his licence. Smyth, with a previous address at Springfield Avenue in Belfast, is serving a 12-year sentence for his part in the armed raid on a family home in September 2013. Intruders claiming to be loyalist paramilitaries entered the property in Ballynahinch, tied up a businessman and his wife - then aged 82 and 76 - and threatened to cut their son's fingers off. The masked men stole more than 5,000 in cash, a Rolex watch and a Mercedes car, ripping out phone lines before they escaped. Smyth and co-defendant Eamonn O'Boyle, 46, were later arrested following a police chase in south Belfast. Smyth, who took part in the blanket protests at the Long Kesh compound in the 1970s, is now aligned with the dissident political grouping Saoradh. He had been freed on licence after serving half his sentence for the robbery behind bars. But in March last year he was sent back to Maghaberry Prison for allegedly breaching the terms of his release. It was reported at the time that he had been linked to threats against mainstream republicans. His lawyers claim it was unlawful to revoke his licence prior to a recommendation by the Parole Commissioners. Des Fahy QC argued in court today: "The decision was predetermined from the outset, and that is supported by the content of the open statement of evidence. "The decision to recall and return Mr Smyth to prison was, it follows, illegal." A second ground of challenge centred on claims that he was sent back to jail for improper reasons of deterrence and to set an example. Contending that immaterial considerations were taken into account, Mr Fahy added: "his process is irredeemably flawed." Under the legislation the Secretary of State can revoke a prisoner's licence if deemed necessary to protect the public. The court heard that on March 25 last year the Northern Ireland Office received intelligence from MI5 which claimed Smyth posed a risk to national security. A case advanced for revoking his licence alleged that since he release he had: :: Associated with senior New IRA figures and established an operational role for himself. :: Targeted and attempted to collect intelligence on members of the security forces. :: At one point gained access to a military rocket launcher for use in terrorist attacks. Peter Coll QC, for the Secretary of State argued that examination of the "timing, choreography and chronology" would identify no breach of the requirement to wait for a recommendation from the Parole Commissioners before revoking a licence. "There isn't a scintilla of evidence to suggest the Secretary of State had somehow at some earlier stage predetermined and prejudged the decision, that he had already decided that he was going to revoke the licence," he insisted. Any alleged predetermination or "closed mind" is not an issue in the case,Mr Coll added. Referring to the decision taken after assessing an open statement of evidence, the barrister contended: "There's no great magic behind any of that, there's no smoke and mirrors." Reserving judgment in Smyth's application for judicial review, Mr Justice Colton pledged to give a decision before a further Parole Commissioners hearing scheduled for later this month. US President Joe Biden's administration has moved to expedite the process to release more than $6 billion in disaster relief and protection funds to Puerto Rico, which suffered major devastation in 2017 after Hurricane Maria hit the island. President Joe Biden on Tuesday, in line with his pre-poll promise, approved to disburse $1.3 billion for projects that would help the US territory prepare against future hurricanes. Biden had earlier approved $4.9 billion as soon as he took charge on January 20. Read: Officials: Suspect In 3 Puerto Rico Policemen Killings Dead The previous administration of former President Donald Trump had created roadblocks for Puerto Rico to access the money granted to the island territory by US Congress over the possibility that the funds would be misused by the local administration. On January 20, before Trump left the White House, the Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the release of $4.9 billion in aid to Puerto Rico, but placed restrictions that made it harder for the island to access the money. As per reports, the Biden administration has eased the restrictions. Read: Three Police Officers Killed In Puerto Rico During Traffic Stop 'We appreciate the effort' Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi on Tuesday thanked the current administration for expediting the process to release the money that would help the island to "build back better", referring to Biden's election slogan. "We appreciate the speed with which the administration of President Biden has worked to expedite the disbursement of federal funds to the Island. We will take advantage of every peso to improve our infrastructure and the quality of life of our people," Pierluisi said. Read: New Governor Sworn In As A Wary Puerto Rico Demands Changes White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a press briefing on Monday said "Hurricane Maria funds, which was a question that was asked last week: The President has made clear the status of them, I should say that it is a priority for his administration to release this funding. We are working to do so. So that is in process." Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017 and is regarded as one of the deadliest natural disasters in the island's history. More than 3,000 people lost their lives and over $90 billion worth of properties were damaged. Read: Puerto Rico To Lock Down Sundays, Close Marinas For Holidays (Image Credit: Governor Pierluisi/Twitter) Fans of I May Destroy You were outraged when the hit show, and creator Michaela Coel, were snubbed by the 78th Golden Globe Awards. The nominations for the event were announced on Wednesday, and the actress, 33, who starred, wrote, directed, and produced the critically-acclaimed series, failed to get a nod in any category. I May Destroy You was one of the summer's most critically-acclaimed shows around the world when it aired on BBC One and HBO. 'I am genuinely embarrassed for the Golden Globes': I May Destroy You fans were left outraged as the show and creator Michaela Coel (pictured) were snubbed by the awards on Wednesday The 12-part series fearlessly dives into hard-hitting issues affecting the lives of young London-based writer Arabella (Michaela) and her close group of friends. It follows Arabella as she comes to terms with a sexual assault after her drink was spiked at a nightclub, in a storyline based on the harrowing real-life experience of Michaela, who also wrote, co-directed and executive produced the series. Normal People, The Queens Gambit, Small Axe, The Undoing, and Unorthodox were nominated in the Limited Series category at the awards show. Meanwhile, in the Best Actress category for a Limited Series, nods wen to Cate Blanchett, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Shira Haas, Nicole Kidman, and Anya Taylor-Joy instead of Michaela. Hit: The show follows Arabella (Michaela, pictured with Weruche Opia) as she comes to terms with a sexual assault after her drink was spiked at a nightclub, and is based her own experience Snub: Normal People, The Queens Gambit, Small Axe, The Undoing, and Unorthodox were nominated in the Limited Series category at the awards show Understandably upset about the snub, fans of the show took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter and claiming it had been the best series to air in 2020. One viewer wrote: 'I am genuinely embarrassed for the Golden Globes. I don't think it's overboard at all to say 'I May Destroy You' was the most important piece of TV in the past twelve months. Madness.' Another added: 'Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You was the best show of last year, outrageous overlook from the Golden Globes nominations. While one person hit out: ' there was quite literally no better show that aired in the past year than I May Destroy You, and no better performance than Michaela Coel from the past year, so... yea not even going to give the Golden Globes my time.' Shocked: Understandably upset about the snub, fans of the show took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter and claiming it had been the best series to air in 2020 Another Twitter user went on: 'Golden Globes needs to seriously rethink that I May Destroy You snub.' And one person claimed: 'Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You not even being nominated for the Golden Globes really speaks "systemic racial" volumes. Last year they snubbed Ava's When They See Us and now this One fan also said: 'a world in which Emily in Paris has a Golden Globes nomination and I May Destroy You does not... much to think about.' Although the awards show usually takes place in January, this year's event has been postponed due to the pandemic. Not considered: Meanwhile, in the Best Actress category for a Limited Series, nods wen to Cate Blanchett, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Shira Haas, Nicole Kidman, and Anya Taylor-Joy instead The Golden Globes will air in the time slot recently made available after the Oscars were also postponed because of the COVID-19 crisis from February 28 to April 25. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are set to co-host the show virtually from opposite coasts, a first for the awards show. According to Variety, Tina will broadcast from atop New York City's Rockefeller Center, in the Rainbow Room, while Amy will fulfil her co-hosting duties from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the awards show is usually held. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards will air live Sunday, February 28 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on NBC. Two suspects who will likely face murder charges in the deadly attack of famed private eye Jack Palladino will remain behind bars while awaiting trial, a San Francisco judge ordered Tuesday. At the pairs first court appearance, prosecutors asked that defendants Lawrence Thomas, 24, and Tyjone Flournoy, 23, remain in custody without bail, arguing that their release would result in further great bodily injury to others, according to a detention motion filed by the San Francisco District Attorneys Office. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin agreed to the motion but left open the possibility for pretrial release at a later date, prosecutors said after the hearing. District Attorney Chesa Boudin said at a public safety news conference Tuesday that his office would seek to keep the pair behind bars without bail. Thomas and Flournoy are scheduled to enter pleas at their next court appearance on Feb. 10. While the two are both currently charged with attempted murder along with several other crimes, those charges were filed prior to Palladinos death on Monday, which followed the four days he spent in a coma. Boudin told The Chronicle on Monday that the cases would likely rise to murder charges once prosecutors consulted with medical examiners. Defense attorneys for Thomas and Flournoy did not immediately respond for comment Tuesday afternoon. The prosecutors detention motion offered chilling details about the crime that were not previously made public, and also confirmed Palladinos familys account of the polices manhunt for the suspects. Palladinos wife, Sandra Sutherland, told the Chronicle Sunday, Palladino had, in fact, cracked his own case. At about 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, police said Palladino left his home in the Haight neighborhood with his camera, and took a photo of a distinctive and suspicious gold Acura driving along Page Street, which had been closed to through traffic. Moments later, the car flipped around and pulled up next to the private eye, while the passenger, alleged to be Flournoy, attempted to wrestle the camera away, court documents state. The Acuras driver, identified as Thomas, gunned the vehicle, dragging Palladino about 40 feet down the road with the camera strap still attached to him. At that point Flournoy appeared to release the camera, causing Palladino to fall backwards onto the ground and fracture his skull, police said. The Acura fled the scene, and officers found Palladino unconscious in a pool of blood around his head. After witnesses at the scene described the vehicle involved, police checked Palladinos camera and found a photo of a car matching the same description complete with a shot of the license plate. The license plate had been stolen off a car in Oakland a few days earlier, officials said. Police located the car the following day. Police conducting surveillance on the vehicle arrested Thomas later that evening after he went back to the car. Security video from the day of Palladinos attempted robbery helped identify Flournoy as the passenger, court records show. Flournoy was allegedly seen exiting the cars passenger side about 30 minutes after Palladinos attack, wearing a distinctive red-hooded sweatshirt. Several San Francisco police officers recognized Flournoy from previous encounters, and had even made contact with him on Thursday evening without knowing he was involved in the Palladino case, according to court records. At that time, Flournoy was wearing the same red sweatshirt. In addition to the attempted murder or likely murder charge, both defendants face charges of attempted robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, kidnapping, false imprisonment and elder abuse. Thomas has three prior convictions of second-degree burglary, beginning in Alameda County in 2015, in Sacramento in 2017 and then in San Francisco in 2019, prosecutors said. Flournoy in 2018 was convicted for illegal possession of an assault weapon in San Francisco, and in 2019 was convicted for felony burglary in San Mateo county and for misdemeanor trespassing in Santa Clara County. Flournoy was on supervised probation for all three, according to court records. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 19:18:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith via video link. Wang said that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Laos diplomatic ties and the Year of China-Laos Friendship. China is willing to work with Laos to inject new impetus into China-Laos relations and make new contributions to the common cause of China-Laos friendship. "China is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with the Lao side in fighting the epidemic, and provide anti-epidemic support including vaccines," Wang said. Saleumxay said Laos takes developing relations with China as a priority and would like to join hands with China to speed up the construction of the Laos-China Economic Corridor to achieve more fruitful results in Laos-China friendship. The two sides announced the launch of a series of events in celebration of the Year of China-Laos Friendship, and reached consensus on relevant matters including putting the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership into effect at an early date. Enditem A 24-year-old west Alabama man sought since December is now in custody. Terrence Cortez Williams, of Eutaw, was wanted by Tuscaloosa police on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and a high-speed chase. Authorities said he fired shots during a Christmas Day robbery at a Skyland Boulevard car wash. Several days later he led officers on a chase through residential Alberta. At the time of his alleged crimes in December, Williams was free on bond in a case pending in Sumter County. That case involves charges of murder, two of attempted murder and one second-degree criminal mischief. In the Friday, Dec. 25 shooting and robbery, witnesses and a victim told Tuscaloosa police that a man fired a gun after stealing Christmas gifts and other items from the victim. Investigators quickly developed Williams as the suspect. Officers attempted to apprehend him the following Wednesday during a daytime traffic stop in front of the departments East Precinct on University Boulevard East. Williams refused to stop, leading officers on a pursuit through nearby neighborhoods, driving at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour before bailing out and abandoning the car in a cul-de-sac, police said. TPD issued statements to the public warning that Williams was likely armed and dangerous but were unable to locate him until Tuesday. Members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force and TPDs Criminal Investigations Division took Williams into custody at a residence in Northport. He is being held at the Tuscaloosa County Jail, charged with first-degree robbery and attempted murder. Bond is at the maximum amount for the crimes with which he is charged which is $120,000. Critically-acclaimed royal drama "The Crown" and Canadian comedy series "Schitt's Creek" dominated the television categories at the 2021 Golden Globes nominations. The nominations for the Globes, which marks the beginning of Hollywood award season that culminates with the Oscars, were announced by actors Taraji P Henson and Sarah Jessica Parker virtually. It was a big day for streamer as it amassed 20 nominations across the TV categories with nods for the fourth season of "The Crown" and smash-hit series "The Queen's Gambit". "The Crown" roared to the top of all TV candidates with six nominations, including lead acting nods for Olivia Coleman, Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor as well as supporting nods to Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter. In the best television series (drama) category, the Peter Morgan-created show will face tough competition from other shows "Ozark and Ratched as well as Disney Plus' "The Mandalorian" and HBO's "Lovecraft Country". Coleman and Corrin, who played Princess Diana in the show, have been nominated in the best actress category, alongside Jodie Comer of Killing Eve, Laura Linney for Ozark and Sarah Paulson (Ratched). O'Connor has a tough road ahead for himself in the best actor (drama) category as he will face off against Jason Bateman (Ozark), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) and Al Pacino (Hunters). In the comedy categories, "Schitt's Creek", which ended its six season run on Pop TV, received five nods, including best musical or comedy. The show will compete against "Emily in Paris", "The Flight Attendant", "The Great" and "Ted Lasso". The father-son duo of Eugene and Dan Levy received nominations in best actor (comedy) and best supporting actor, respectively. Eugene Levy will face competition from Don Cheadle (Black Monday), Nicholas Hoult (The Great), Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Ramy Youssef (Ramy). While Dan Levy will be going up against John Boyega (Small Axe), Brendan Gleeson (The Comey Rule), Jim Parsons (Hollywood) and Donald Sutherland (The Undoing). Their co-stars Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy have also received nominations in acting categories. In best actress (musical or comedy), O'Hara is joined by Lily Collins of Emily in Paris, Kaley Cuoco of The Flight Attendant, Elle Fanning of The Great and Jane Levy of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. For supporting actress trophy, Murphy is pitted against the likes of "The Crown's" Anderson and Carter as well as Julia Garner of "Ozark" and Cynthia Nixon for Ratched". "The Queen's Gambit" star Anna Taylor-Joy deservedly earned a nod in the best actress (miniseries or television film) for her portrayal of a gifted chess prodigy in the show. Daisy Edgar-Jones, another breakout star of 2020, also received nomination in the category for her performance in critically-acclaimed Hulu show "Normal People". Shira Haas (Unorthodox), Nicole Kidman (The Undoing) and Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America) completes the list of nominees for the segment. Both "The Queen's Gambit" and "Normal People" will also compete in best miniseries or television film category. Steve McQueen's anthology film series "Small Ax", HBO's "The Undoing" and "Unorthodox" are the other nominees. In the best actor (miniseries or television film), Mark Ruffalo, who won an Emmy for best actor last year for HBO's "I Know This Much Is True", will compete against Bryan Cranston (Your Honor), Jeff Daniels (The Comey Rule), Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird) and Hugh Grant (The Undoing). The 2021 ceremony of Golden Globes will be held on February 28, after being delayed from its usual January date due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who return for the first time since their gig at 2015 ceremony. However, the two stars won't be in the same room as the award ceremony is going bi-coastal. Fey will broadcast live from New York City, while Poehler will host from the Globes' usual spot inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California. (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.) CONWAY, S.C., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Horry County School Board Chairman Ken Richardson announced today he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the South Carolina 7th Congressional District. Richardson's announcement makes him the first official candidate to declare a run at the 7th Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Tom Rice. "I will not be seeking reelection to the school board chairmanship in 2022," Richardson said. "Instead I am 100 percent dedicated to taking Tom Rice out of Congress. "I want to thank the voters for placing their trust in me as school board chairman," Richardson said. "I believe we have made a lot of progress within the school district and will continue to do my very best for the students of the Horry County in the two years I have left in office." Richardson is the only person in the state to have served as Chairman of the Board at both the K-12 and college levels. He served 20 years as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Horry Georgetown Technical College before being elected as Chairman of the Board of Horry County Schools. "Education will continue to be a top priority of mine at the federal level," Richardson said. "I believe what is taught in our schools is very important and I am willing to fight for top quality education across the nation." Richardson said federal government dollars sent to local school districts often come with many strings attached. He said he will work in Congress to lessen federal dictates on local schools. "Parents, teachers and school boards should have input into what is taught in local schools," Richardson. "I don't believe the school curriculum should be dictated by the demands of standardized tests alone." Richardson has spent the last two weeks putting together a campaign staff all of whom live and work within the congressional district. "It's not necessary to go to Columbia or other states to staff a campaign," Richardson said. "There are plenty of quality people within the 7th District and I prefer to use those local specialists in my campaign. The money my campaign is going to spend in this effort will be spent within this district." Those hiring practices go along with Richardson's philosophy of Congressional representation. "This is not Tom Rice's seat nor is it Ken Richardson's seat. It is the People's seat and I believe the peoples' representative in Washington should vote according to the wishes of the majority of those he represents." Ken Richardson will hold a one hour press conference today at the Richardson Art Gallery, Conway Campus of Horry Georgetown Technical College, U.S 501, Conway, SC. The press conference will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday February 3, 2021. Ken Richardson is a lifelong resident of Horry County. He is married to wife Donna for 43 years. The couple has two children and two grandchildren. All three generations are products of Horry County Schools. Education has always been a passion of Richardson's. He served four years on the Coastal Carolina University Advisory Board, 20 years on the Horry Georgetown Technical College Board of Trustees, 16 as Chairman. Richardson was elected in 2018 as Chairman of the Horry County School Board. Richardson is currently Chairman Emeritus of the HGTC Board, a member of the Conway High School Alumni Hall of Fame and the Richardson Art Gallery at HGTC is named for him. SOURCE Ken Richardson for Congress The death of a Brisbane mother at the Ipswich Watchhouse has led the State Coroner to recommend police ensure prisoners understand they will not face further charges by admitting to past drug use on prison health questionnaires. Cindy Leigh Miller, 44, died at the watchhouse after hiding a bag of methylamphetamine in her body and not telling police officers about it when she was brought into custody. Cindy Miller, 44, died in her sleep at the Ipswich Watchhouse early in April 2018. Credit:Facebook - Sisters Inside Inc Ms Miller died in her sleep at the watchhouse early on April 21, 2018. She was found unresponsive by staff and attempts to resuscitate her failed. An autopsy found she had a lethal combination of substances in her system. This included a toxic level of amphetamine, a potentially fatal level of methylamphetamine, as well as therapeutic levels of ephedrine, paracetamol, tramadol and cannabis. With refineries and chemical plants along Houstons Ship Channel as a backdrop, Texas Republicans on Tuesday made a stand against the Biden administrations energy plans. Houston-area Reps. Kevin Brady and Dan Crenshaw gathered with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, seven other Republican lawmakers, and oil and gas company representatives at Enterprise Products Partners to focus their response to the Democratic president. President Joe Bidens energy agenda, they said, will eliminate oil and gas jobs, shrink the industry and damage the nations economy. Biden is launching an attack on our nations oil and gas workers, including the hundreds of thousands here in Texas, Brady said during a news conference after their roundtable, which was closed to the media. Thats why today, Im joining my Republican colleagues in Houston to stand up for our workers. Biden has already canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S., temporarily halted new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and said he hopes to end industry tax breaks. Bidens choice for Energy secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, told senators at her confirmation hearing last week that the presidents plans would create more jobs in clean energy than the jobs that might be sacrificed. FACT CHECK: Fact-checking claim that Biden ban will kill 120,000 Texas jobs The lawmakers from Texas on Tuesday, however, criticized Biden for what one said was a deliberate effort to eliminate oil and gas jobs. Millions of Americans are jobless thanks to the pandemic, Brady said. President Bidens top priority, while defeating the virus, is getting Americans back to work. So it is troubling that in his first weeks in office, he took steps to deliberately kill more than a million good-paying jobs. Many are blue-collar. Many of them are union. Many of them are here in Texas. The oil and natural gas industry directly employs almost 2.6 million Americans and supports 9.8 million jobs in America, according to the American Petroleum Institutes most current numbers. If Biden were to ban existing in addition to new leases on federal lands and water something the administration has not said it would do Texas would lose 120,000 jobs, the API said. EDITORIAL: Biden sends the right message on energy - even for Texas Our biggest concern is that we believe the administration is leading us towards more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards, said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers. It places hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of government revenue for education and conservation programs at risk. McCarthy echoed Sommers concerns, saying enough jobs have been lost already amid the pandemic. We will put in solar panels. That's the answer to the American essential worker that we need? McCarthy said. Crenshaw also expressed his frustration at Bidens plans, saying they would give less-regulated nations such as Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia far more industry weight. Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox President Biden says, well, they'll just go find a solar panel job. On average solar panel jobs pay less than oil and gas jobs, he said. The Democrats say that's just the price to pay for saving the world. Ed Hirs, an energy fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, said the Republicans echoed a letter from Texas Democrats in the U.S. House last week urging Biden to rescind his leasing moratorium while the economy recovers from the downturn. But the GOPs job loss estimates, Hirs said, just dont add up. The industry has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the last four years, he said. We can't lose what they say they are going to lose in oil and gas without going negative. The simple math does not work. But Hirs criticized Bidens numbers, as well. On the flip side, the Biden administration is truly exaggerating the number of jobs that green energy will create, he said. Electricity is not yet a substitute for gasoline or diesel in transportation. It will happen over time. But no edict from Washington is going to make it happen in the next four years. marcy.deluna@chron.com A relevant bill drafted by the Ministry of Justice calls for the selection of up to 21 such judges for Armenian courts of first instance. Three other new judges specializing in arrests or corruption-related offenses would be appointed to the Court of Appeals. Government officials have said that the new judges would reduce the workload of courts increasingly overwhelmed by pending criminal and civil cases. According to Justice Minister Rustam Badasian, they should also hand down more objective rulings on arrest warrants demanded by investigators. In recent months Armenian judges have refused to allow law-enforcement bodies to arrest dozens of opposition leaders and members as well as other anti-government activists. Virtually all of those individuals are prosecuted in connection with angry protests sparked by the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians handling of the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinian charged in December that Armenias judicial system has become part of a pseudo-elite which is trying to topple him after the disastrous war. The National Assembly passed the government bill in the first reading by 83 votes to 17 with one abstention. Both opposition parties represented in the parliament rejected the bill, saying that the authorities should address instead the far more pressing security challenges facing Armenia and Karabakh. These issues are not addressed because the authorities have what they see as a much more important agenda: how to increase the number of judges approving arrest warrants, said Naira Zohrabian of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Pashinians My Step bloc, rejected the criticism. I want to remind that the government takes on a weekly basis new measures to overcome consequences of the war, she said. We do not contribute to a better [security] environment by delivering fiery speeches here and trying to spread alarm among our citizens. Several other opposition groups denounced the government bill in stronger terms and rallied hundreds of supporters outside the parliament compound in Yerevan in a bid to scuttle its passage. Their senior members claimed that Pashinians administration wants to install loyal judges who would duly allow the pre-trial arrests of their political opponents. The protesters scuffled with riot police after blocking a major street adjacent to the compound. Several opposition activists were detained on the spot. The crowd then marched to the main government building surrounded by several rows of riot police. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. President Joe Bidens administration will begin the first stage of a Federal Retail Pharmacy Program next week in an effort to increase coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination availability across the United States. The program will ship a total of 1 million doses to 6,500 pharmacies initially, said coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients, with that number expected to grow as production increases. The federal governments partnership with pharmacies, which was initially announced by the Trump administration last November, will include about 40,000 drug stores nationwide when it is fully deployed, said Zients. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, said Zients, adding that a priority will be to get the vaccine to minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by the virus and have also been less likely to receive the vaccine. The opening stage of the pharmacy program comes as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that New York state would be receiving 20% more vaccine supply over the next three weeks, including about 30,000 doses that will be shipped directly to private pharmacies in the state. Were in a footrace to vaccinate the entire eligible population while continuing to keep the infection rate low, Cuomo said. Were moving heaven and earth to administer as many doses as possible. But, on a global level, we are experiencing high demand and scarce amounts of the vaccine. We have much more distribution in place than we have supply, and as soon as we have more doses from the federal government we can get those shots in the arms of New Yorkers as quickly and fairly, while continuing to make sure the communities hardest hit have access to and trust in the vaccine, Cuomo added. In the meantime, I urge New Yorkers to be smart and take measures we know work to keep the infection rate low wear a mask, wash your hands and socially distance. Private pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreens, have experience handling the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. They have been responsible for managing vaccinations in New Yorks nursing home facilities since December. These facilities will be charged with prioritizing the communities that are currently eligible to receive the vaccine in New York, Cuomo said. CVS said it would begin administering vaccinations at 32 pharmacies in New York state none of which are located in New York City on Feb. 11. Walgreens has been selected to provide vaccinations at 170 stores in New York City as part of the federal partnership, according to a company spokeswoman. The company will begin its vaccinations on Feb. 12, the spokeswoman said, and appointments can begin to be made on Feb. 9. Walgreens was one of the first pharmacies to begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations in December to long-term care facility staff and residents, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to support the federal government and CDC in expanding access to these vaccines, said John Standley, president of Walgreens. Our pharmacy teams have already provided nearly two million COVID-19 vaccinations and stand ready with their expertise to help educate and vaccinate additional Americans, including those in rural and underserved communities. Associated Press materials contributed to this report. Hillsong Church faces lawsuits in some of its locations over non-payment of rent issues, defective housing units, as well as allegations of ungodly behavior. The Wall Street Theater Company, the lessor of the venue Hillsong Church's branch in Connecticut uses, is suing the religious institution for more than $100,000 over allegations of unpaid rent, stealing of a venue property and carrying out actions that are "immoral, oppressive and unscrupulous". The complaint was filed in the state's housing court in Norwalk on Jan. 20, the New York Post reported. Court documents says that in February 2020, Hillsong Connecticut signed a new contract as an agreement to pay for about $6,000 weekly, using the property as a venue for its Sunday services. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hillsong requested to invoke the 120-day termination clause of the agreement and cancel the contract. The theater agreed but the church allegedly did not pay the $100,899.25 balance as stated in the clause. In addition, the theater also accused the church of removing electronic equipment that belongs to the company on Dec. 18 but Hillsong refused to return it. A source who knows about the situation said that the church "just ghosted the theater." "When the theater sent them a bill, they responded saying they were a small not-for-profit and couldn't pay it, and that they didn't owe it anyways because of the pandemic," the source added. But Connecticut has no moratorium on commercial rent payment relative to the pandemic. The source also said that Hillsong showed no intention of resolving the issue properly. "Hillsong, as a tenant, was always about the last nickel, which is fine, contracts are contracts, but when the shoe was on the other foot, suddenly they were a small church. It was quite sad, really," the source further stated. Dale Smith, owner of the company in charge of the church's venue security, said that the church "seemed like a business, real robotic". "Even the ones on the payroll seemed to be fighting, positioning in order to climb that ladder which, in my opinion, is not what a church is supposed to be," Smith further noted. Hillsong also faces a $20 million lawsuit over defective housing units in Rosebery, Australia. Owners of about 300 Sydney apartments accused the church and the construction company, tasked to build the housing complex, of failure to construct the houses properly. "We're worried we will find it difficult to sell our apartments," a homeowner who declined to be named reportedly told the Daily Telegraph. Units were sold at prices between $440,000 and $945,000. The complaint accused the developer and Hillsong's property arm, Sydney Christian Life Centre, that it "breached their duties of care in causing or permitting the defective work." A lawyer told the Telegraph that the owners were restricted from inspecting "the common property" before purchasing their housing units. The structural engineers have allegedly discovered in 2019 that the windows and balconies of the houses were not up to code. Hillsong responded by filing a counterclaim accusing the construction firm, Icon Construction Australia, as the true "wrongdoers." According to earlier reports, Hillsong Church is also in hot water over several other controversies including the use of tithe money of some of its pastors to fund lavish lifestyles and firing of former pastor Carl Lentz having been embroiled in sexual misconduct activities. Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. The Council of Ministers approved a regulation that will establish the Liability & Asset Management Corporation, which will be soaking up debts owed by state-owned enterprises to external lenders and the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). Set to be established as a state-owned enterprise with 570 billion Br in capital, the Corporation will be in the business of absorbing and administering the enterprises' debts; managing assets and liabilities; and handling the investment activities of the enterprises that will fall under its portfolio. It can further engage with commercial activities for income by transforming state-owned enterprises' assets into income-generating investments. In the making for a year and a half under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, the regulation was approved by the Council yesterday, January 30, 2021. The formation of the Corporation is part of macroeconomic reforms that include the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, according to Eyob Tekalign (PhD), state minister for Finance. The accumulated debt was a serious macroeconomic issue, according to him. "It was a tough decision, but profound," said Eyob. "It'll function as a conduit in preventing debt crises." The Corporation will administer a little over half a trillion Birr in residual debt from CBE and other lenders including China. The Sugar Corporation, Chemical Industry Corporation, Ethiopian Electric Power, the then Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), and the Ethiopian Railways Corporation owe the debt. The EEP carries the largest debt, amounting to 370 billion Br. The Railways Corporation and MetEC follow with 120 billion Br and 74 billion Br in debts, respectively. The Sugar Corporation had 70 billion Br in debt. The Corporation, which will be reporting to the Ministry, will be capitalised from the industrial fund and funds to be mobilised from development partners, according to Eyob. Taking over the enterprises' liabilities, the Corporation will be servicing their debts through the resources to be redirected from the Industrial Development Fund, which was set up by the Public Enterprises Privatisation Proclamation to administer the revenues generated from the liberalisation and privatisation of the state-owned enterprises. It will also administer the debt of companies selected by the Ministry of Finance and those who have requested their debts be taken off their balance sheets. A committee composed of members from the Ministry, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) and the Public Enterprises Holding & Supervision Agency proposed the Corporation's formation. The team, which has been diagnosing the enterprises' debt stress, proposed the Corporation's formation to partially absorb the debt and clear their balance sheets. It also assessed the enterprises' solvency, their capacity to pay off their debt, and their debt-service coverage ratio to assess the serviceable and residual debts. The Ministry has presented a couple of rough organisational structures for the Corporation, according to Eyob, who adds that it will be operated by high calibre experts with a background in finance. "Most of the legwork to operationalise the Corporation has been done," Eyob said. It is a new beginning for the company, according to Hiwot Mosisa, CEO of Ethio-Engineering Group, formerly known as MetEC. "And it comes at the right time," she said. "It came onto the scene when we were about to finalise our major reforms." The company's new management has been working on the restructuring and rebranding that covers changing its name, restructuring human resources, converting its finance and accounting system into International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and fine-tuning its focus area. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Governance Banking By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. One of the major problems of the company was financial issues, on top of being disconnected from its main objective and diverting into megaprojects, according to Hiwot. "It'll give us a good financial look and enable us to do better deals with financial institutions," she said, "such as getting working capital, project financing and support in foreign currency." It will also make the company credible and give confidence to the private firms that want to partner with the company, according to her. "Now we'll be focusing on import substitution," she said. "Then we'll focus on exporting." The Group will also contribute its share, such as resources for the capital of the new Corporation, according to Hiwot. The northern province of Hai Duong has reported an additional number of 16 Covid-19 cases, bringing its total number to 242 cases. Mr. Pham Duy Tuyen, Director of Hai Duong provinces Center for Disease Control (CDC Hai Duong) told VietNamNet that of the new cases, there are 9 in Chi Linh City (the countrys largest epidemic hotspot), 6 in Cam Giang district and 1 in Kinh Mon district. Mr. Tran Van Quyet, Chairman of the People's Committee of Cam Giang District, told VietNamNet that all 6 new cases in Cam Giang are F1 of patient No. 1851. Patient 1851 is a 41-year-old man, residing in Lai Cach town, Cam Giang district, who was confirmed as a Covid-19 patient by the Health Ministry on February 2. Mr. Quyet said that 3 cases are the mans family members, including his mother-in-law, his wife and his child, a 4th grader. The others had close contact with him. More than 100 students of Lai Cach Town Primary School, where the mans son studies, have been isolated. So far, Cam Giang district has recorded 7 cases of Covid-19 in the community. The 16th case is a 21-day-old baby whose father is a Covid-19 patient in An Phu ward, Kinh Mon town. These 16 cases have not been announced by the Ministry of Health. Since January 27, Hai Duong has recorded 242 cases of Covid-19 to become the largest Covid-19 hotspot in the country. Thanks to the support of 1,200 experts from the Ministry of Health, Hai Duong province has initially controlled the epidemic. Currently, the province can conduct up to 10,000 tests per day. Thuy Hanh One more Covid-19 case reported in Hai Duong The Ministry of Health confirmed one new community case of COVID-19 in Hai Duong province on February 2 morning, bringing the overall number of infections in Vietnam to 1,851. The Hamilton County Health Department is adding new second dose appointment opportunities into the system. Appointments will open at 9 a.m. today (Wednesday). Also it was announced that the Health Department has added a total of 2,924 new first dose Pfizer appointment opportunities to the schedule. Feb. 8, 10 and 14 at the Tennessee Riverpark Feb. 11 at the CARTA Bus Barn People in the eligible phases (1a1, 1a2 and adults 75+) are encouraged to visithttps://vaccine.hamiltontn. gov/ and make their appointment online. Those who do not have access to the internet can call the appointment call center for assistance: First dose appointments: 423-209-5398 Second dose appointments: 423-209-5399 The call center is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Due to high call volume, callers may experience a busy signal and need to hang up and call back. A new Spanish vaccine webpage and Spanish appointment call center are available for residents who speak Spanish. Spanish appointment line: 423-209-5384 Spanish vaccine webpage: http://health.hamiltontn.org/ en-us/allservices/coronavirus( covid-19)/vaccine/ vacunacioncontracovid19.aspx Additional Pfizer Second Dose Dates (Pending Vaccine Arrival) The Health Department plans on scheduling additional second dose appointments on Feb. 17, 18, 21, 22 and 23, says Health Department Director of Administrative Services, Sabrina Novak. We will not be making appointments for those dates until we receive the vaccine to fulfill those appointments. If your second dose date falls on or after those dates, please know that you will be able to make an appointment as soon as we receive the vaccine. Please do not make an appointment earlier than recommended; the second dose will only be given on or after the date on the back of the vaccination record card you received when you got your first dose. Current Phases/Eligibility Hamilton Countys vaccine distribution is guided by phases according to the State of Tennessees Vaccination Plan. Only those eligible in the current phases will be able to make an appointment. Phase 1a1 includes: Hospital/Free-Standing Emergency Department Staff with Direct Patient Exposure and/or Exposure to Potentially-Infectious Materials Home health care staff COVID-19 mass testing site staff Student health providers Staff & Residents of Long Term Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Centers, Homes for the Aged, DIDD Residential Centers, Group Homes) First Responders with Direct Public Exposure including Jailers Individuals >18yrs who cannot live independently due to serious chronic medical condition or intellectual or developmental disabilities Phase 1a2 includes: Other Health Care Workers with Direct Patient Exposure Primary care providers and staff Outpatient specialty providers and staff working with acute patients Pharmacists and staff Patient transport Outpatient therapists Urgent visit center providers and staff Environmental services Oral health providers Behavioral health providers Outpatient laboratory staff working with COVID-19 specimens Funeral/mortuary workers with direct decedent contact Age Group Bracket : 75 years or older, must be Hamilton County resident No specific medical conditions are required Important Information to Know Prior to Appointment Do not arrive more than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. Wear appropriate clothing to get a shot in upper arm Bring proof of Hamilton County residency (if applicable) Bring proof of Hamilton County employment (if applicable) Bring proof of age (if applicable) Bring COVID-19 Vaccine Encounter form (if possible; form available for download on registration page) Be prepared to wait 20 minutes after shot Be prepared for the entire process to take an hour or more Vaccination Record Card When patients receive their first dose with the Health Department, they will receive a Vaccination Record Card with the following important information. The vaccine manufacturer (either Moderna or Pfizer) The date the first dose of vaccine was given The date the second vaccine dose is due It is important to keep the Vaccination Record Card because when making the appointment for the second dose of vaccine, it helps ensure the correct product is received and in the correct timeframe. The current recommendation is that second dose vaccinations be received either on or after the recommended date on the Vaccination Record Card, not before. Additional Resources Stay up-to-date on new vaccine appointment information. Follow the health department via their email newsletter and social media accounts, available at this link:http://health.hamiltontn.org/ AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID- 19)/ConnectWithUs.aspx . Download and print the Health Departments new bilingual poster COVID-19 Vaccine Registration Information at this link: https://bit.ly/2YFsVOy Although some see taxes on digital services as negative, nations are working to find suitable solutions, photo Le Toan The new Law on Tax Administration and Decree No.126/2020/ND-CP, which stipulates the guidelines of the law, officially came into force from last July and in December, respectively. Under the latest decree, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) will identify the names and websites of overseas suppliers that have not made a tax registration to banks and intermediary companies. Once identified, banks and other payment intermediary entities will be responsible for withholding tax on the payment to these suppliers monthly. If the bank cannot collect taxes because of unforeseeable issues, such transactions will need to be reported to the GDT monthly for tax management. Banks are also required to provide bank account details of taxpayers to the tax authority within 90 days upon the effective date of the decree. Furthermore, information on bank account transactions of an entity must be provided to the authority upon official request during a tax audit or inspection. Thus, cross-border players such as Facebook, Google, and Netflix cannot use the lack of specific regulations as a reason for their neglect in tax fulfilment in Vietnam despite the effective amendment law and even the Law on Cybersecurity from 2018. According to Clause 42 of the new Law on Tax Administration, cross-border service suppliers that earn money from Vietnam have to register with local tax authorities, declare their taxes, and make payments. Otherwise, Article 27 stipulates that banks will automatically deduct tax payments from the accounts of those who do not obey their tax obligations or third-party payment provider accounts as soon as overseas transactions occur. The local prospects of charging taxes from overseas tech titans are largely optimistic thanks to fresh tax rules from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), forecast to be launched in the middle of this year. According to information published by the OECD last October, participating nations such as Vietnam are likely to broaden the right to tax business profits of the companies per the international code in which users of automated digital services are located. In other words, the physical presence requirement for taxation would be replaced with new rules based on the source of the revenue like the internet address of end-users. This would allow Vietnam to tax revenues generated from sales to Vietnamese end-users. Foreseen efficiency With the changes to the existing tax rules, Vietnam is expected to eventually increase the ability to tax overseas companies earning in Vietnam without official branches, according to Dean Rolfe, tax partner at KPMG. This is however just a blueprint for consideration, discussion, and ideally future political agreement between the participating jurisdictions, Rolfe explained. International consensus has not been achieved and much work is still needed to address remaining issues and areas of concern. In any case, the final adoption of these measures is likely to be some years away, even if an international consensus is ultimately reached in 2021 or beyond. Vu Tu Thanh, deputy regional managing director and Vietnams representative at the US-ASEAN Business Council, also told VIR the new laws adjustments allowed the taxing of businesses without a presence in Vietnam are positive and more advanced than the previous legislation. He said that no measures in the world currently comprehensively tax businesses. However, in comparison with past regulations, the new moves would help the Vietnamese government to collect more taxes than previously. Under pressure from local tax authorities, American over-the-top (OTT) platform Netflix last December worked with the Ministry of Finance and the GDT to prepare for its tax obligation in Vietnam. Netflix and other overseas OTT platforms have about one million subscribers in Vietnam with estimated sales of about VND1 trillion ($43.47 million) annually. However, none of them pays towards the national budget, according to Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung. This has led to prolonged unfair competition with domestic OTT companies, Hung said. Meanwhile, both Facebook and Google are remaining silent about their responsibilities. The GDT has informed that its leading mission in 2021 is to measure the actual number of partners of the tech giants in order to implement tax collection. In addition to the local authorised partners, the two tech titans also have tens of thousands of advertisers mainly small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual online vendors. However, only authorised partners have been paying foreign contractor withholding tax for Facebook and Google at the rate of 5 per cent. According to a VIR source, there are dozens of authorised partners of Facebook and Google in Vietnam. The source also revealed that the pair sign about 10 contracts annually with authorised companies at a value of VND200-300 million ($8,700-13,000) each. Calculated with the 5-per-cent foreign contractor withholding tax rate, they pay about $4,350-6,500 a year in total a tiny sum when placed up against their annual earnings of hundreds of millions of US dollars. Bearing the brunt Along with the foreseen benefits of the national budget, there are some warnings that local end-users will foot the bill. If anything, the digital giants are passing their additional costs to consumers, which means that consumers of these international digital giants in country X are paying the government of country X, US-based consultant firm Frost & Sullivan noted in Nikkei Asia Review. At the end of the day, the digital tax levies are no different from a tax on tobacco and alcohol products for their harm to customers, the firm added. As the issue started to become more prevalent in Vietnam a couple of years ago, Global Digital Foundation managing director Paul MacDonnell noted, A digital services tax could do what all 'sin' consumption taxes are intended to do depress consumption at the expense of raising government revenue. Digital services taxes are, therefore, likely to be regressive. Meanwhile, Vietnam and the US have yet to reach an avoidance of double taxation agreement. Therefore the cost burden on end-users, if they fulfil the tax duty, may yet come to pass. In search of a smarter Einstein Einstein is the Department of Homeland Securitys intrusion detection system. It observes traffic flowing in and out of federal networks, allowing the government to target threats identified by a database of known malware. That makes it unlikely Einstein ever could have detected the malware implanted into SolarWinds Orion because it was delivered to agency networks through a trusted update. However, overhauling Einstein to identify unknown or zero-day threats would be far too costly, cybersecurity analysts said. The most viable path forward, they argued, would be to install new capabilities, necessarily bolstered by private industry. Kiersten Todt, formerly executive director of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, was blunt about Einstein's record. "There are no real strong success stories of Einstein," she said. "When you look at what happened with SolarWinds, they essentially outsmarted Einstein." "The challenge with detecting activity like the SolarWinds hack is that the hack is accomplished through 'authorized' malware," said Philip Reitinger, president and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance. To detect that malware, a defensive system would either have to deny all communications that are not explicitly whitelisted or establish a user activity baseline capable of singling out abnormalities for investigators to pursue. "That can be difficult to do and resource intensive," he added. Michael Hamilton, a former vice chair for a government coordinating council focused on critical infrastructure protection, described a similar method as the most likely way forward for DHS to improve Einstein. Although its precise capabilities are classified, Hamilton speculated the program's age -- Einstein was originally developed in 2003 -- is a sign it may not be baselining user activity in the way he and Reitinger described. Hamilton said that "it's not likely they throw it out and start over," noting the program's sunk costs. "My understanding is that it cost $6 billion to develop." An official from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency declined to comment specifically on the program's methods when asked about the analysts' suggestion. "Einstein intrusion detection and prevention capabilities primarily rely on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) intrusion-detection capabilities, which utilize CISA's access to cyber threat intelligence to detect, and block where appropriate, suspected malicious cyber activity," the official said. Whatever new capability or program DHS establishes, Todt said it must be predicated on industry playing a larger role than it does with Einstein. "Government cannot do this by itself nor should it," she said. "I think Einstein was predicated on government doing it by itself." Mike McNerney, co-founder and chair of the Institute for Security and Technology, said another fundamental challenge Einstein faces is the government's ongoing transition to the cloud. "While it [Einstein] may continue to be a part of the government's security approach, there are other products and technologies better suited for the cloud," he said. "Combined with greater access control initiatives, the more networked-based Einstein is arguably less useful." The White House has started accounting for the damage done in the wake of SolarWinds attack. Within days of being sworn in, Biden ordered the new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, to provide a sweeping intelligence review of the hack. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H), a member of the Senate committee responsible for overseeing DHS, said Biden must "engage in a top-to-bottom review of how this was able to happen and go undetected for so long, and what needs to be done to strengthen the federal government's cybersecurity." This article was first posted to FCW, a sibling site to GCN. New Delhi/Bengaluru, Feb 3 : Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that aviation sector is one of the critical enablers for India's endeavour towards a $5 trillion economy. Addressing a virtual session organised by Ficci during the Aero India 2021, he said: "Today, India is the third largest domestic aviation market and poised to become third largest in the overall civil aviation market very soon." "The Indian aviation sector has grown exponentially in last few years and is one of the critical enablers as well as an indicator for India's endeavour towards a $5 trillion economy." Besides, he said the PM's vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' is not just about manufacturing for the world, it is also about creating jobs and the aviation sector has significant multiplier effect on job creation. About the government's vision of 2040, Puri said that it talks about India as an aviation hub. To fully realise its potential, the government is focusing on policies to add remote and regional areas to the map of Indian aviation, he added. Elaborating on the expansion of airports in the country, the minister said that they will be adding 100 new airports by 2024 and the figures indicate a mammoth opportunity in Indian civil aviation sector. Highlighting the importance of air cargo sector, he said that the resilience shown by Indian air cargo sector despite challenges posed by the pandemic drives home the benefit that has been brought through policy changes and recalibration of business models. "We expect that we may close the year 2021 at the same level of 2019-20," Puri added. [February 03, 2021] Carvana Brings Lake Charles The New Way to Buy a Car Leading online auto retailer Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) now offers as-soon-as-next-day touchless home delivery to Lake Charles area residents. Customers can shop more than 20,000 cars for sale, secure auto financing, purchase, trade in, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery in as little as five minutes. Customers can also sell their current vehicle to Carvana and receive a real offer in minutes, whether or not they are purchasing a vehicle. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005270/en/ Carvana expands reach in Louisiana, offering as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery to Lake Charles area residents. (Photo: Business Wire) Carvana saves customers valuable time and money, allowing them to skip the dealership and shop from the comfort of home or on the go via their mobile device. Because Carvana pioneered online car buying, customers can virtually tour every vehicle in the national inventory via patented 360-degree, high-definition photography, inside and out. Customers looking to trade in their vehicle, or sell a vehicle, can also skip the dealership by simply entering their VIN or license plate number on Carvana.com, answer a few questions and Carvana can pick up the vehicle and bring them a check, as soon as the next day. Carvana vehicles are Carvana Certified, having passed a rigorous 150-point inspection, have never been in a reported accident and have no frame damage. Features, imperfections and updated information about open safety recalls are listed on every car's vehicle description page. Additionally, Carvana vehicles come with a seven-day return policy, giving customers the time to ensure the vehicle fits their life, an upgrade to the traditional test drive. Lake Charles area residents can try out their car on a morning coffee run, or see how the car handles a longer weekend trip with the whole family. "Whether searching for a Honda (News - Alert) Civic or a Ford Explorer, we're confident that Lake Charles will enjoy the great selection, safety, and transparency that comes with The New Way to Buy a Car," said Ernie Garcia, Carvana founder and CEO. "We're pleased to offer as-soon-as-next-day delivery and the peace of mind that comes with our seven-day return policy." Carvana now offers as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery to customers in 269 cities across the U.S. About Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana's (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology and exceptional customer service, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online car buying and financing platform. Carvana.com enables consumers to quickly and easily shop more than 20,000 vehicles, finance, trade-in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery or pickup at one of Carvana's patented, automated Car Vending Machines. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005270/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1. Posted Monday, February 1, 2021 5:04 am I went to Battle Ground High School in the 1960s and I am thankful for the solid foundation our families, teachers and the entire community provided to us. My children also graduated from Battle Ground schools with a solid education thanks to community support. Todays students need a strong foundation to face new challenges, including a pandemic and distance learning, until they can return to in-person classes. I urge the Battle Ground community to once again show their support for todays students by voting yes on the four-year replacement levy on the Feb. 9 ballot. The replacement levy rate will be lower than the current rate, and the Battle Ground Public School district will continue to have the lowest property tax rate of all K-12 districts in Clark County. Thats a wise investment in the future. The 16th edition of Indo-US joint military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' will be held in Rajasthan between February 8 and 21, a defence spokesperson said on Wednesday. The exercise near the India-Pakistan border aims at enhancing cooperation and interoperability between the two armies and will focus on counter-terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate, the spokesperson said. The drill comes days after the air forces of India and France held a five-day joint exercise in Rajasthan in January. Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Amitabh Sharma said, "As part of military-to-military exchange programmes, US Army troops will be arriving in India on February 5 for the 16th edition of Exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' with Indian Army troops. He said the bilateral training exercise will be conducted at the Foreign Training Node at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges. He said the 11th Battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, part of the South Western Command will represent Indian Army in the exercise while the US Army delegation will be represented by the troops of 2nd battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team along with respective brigade headquarters. "Exercise with US Army is significant in terms of security challenges faced by both the nations in the backdrop of global terrorism. The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation between both armies which will also foster the bilateral relations between both nations and reiterate India's key role as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region, he said in a release. The exercise is being held in India also assumes significance in the backdrop of recent developments on northern borders, and conveys the strategic posture of the two nations as well as enhanced upward trajectory in Indo-US relations, he said. "The exercise is being conducted despite the COVID-19 pandemic which indicates the strength of bilateral relations and conveys a geo-strategic message to the environment, the release 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.) BOSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BidMind by Fiksu, a Connected TV/OTT advertising platform, has chosen Pixalate, a global ad fraud intelligence and marketing compliance platform, to combat invalid traffic (IVT) in OTT/CTV advertising. By utilizing Pixalate's pre-bid ad fraud detection and measurement solutions, BidMind customers will gain access to high-quality inventory while maintaining brand safety. Pixalate is accredited by the Media Rating Council, Inc. (MRC) for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. BidMind customers will also continue to be supported by Fiksu's traffic quality algorithms. OTT/CTV advertising is developing by leaps and bounds, and so are the malicious methods used by fraudsters to steal marketers' investments and prevent ads from reaching their target audience. A recent Pixalate study found that IVT in programmatic OTT/CTV advertising remained around 20% throughout 2020. The anti-ad fraud solutions provided by Pixalate help detect IVT and avoid low-quality inventory so that marketers can be confident that ads are viewed by real people alongside relevant content. "Our top priority is the reduction of ad fraud, which threatens campaign efficiency and brand safety. We aim to provide the most efficient media buying experience for our customers by utilizing technology that helps marketers easily run and control advertising campaigns while maintaining a high standard of quality. Apart from this, BidMind by Fiksu strives to achieve a fraud-free experience for every advertiser, and we believe that, together with the proprietary ad fraud detection tools from Pixalate, we will achieve the quality level our customers deserve. Cooperation with Pixalate will help us take media buying to the next level making advertisers sure that every dollar of the ad campaign will pay off, and that fraudulent traffic will be reduced," said Anna Kuzmenko, COO at Fiksu. About BidMind by Fiksu BidMind by Fiksu is a self-serve CTV advertising platform, launched by Fiksu, a renowned, cross-environment programmatic DSP. Its transparent reporting and measurability help track the performance of advertising campaigns and provide exceptional CTV ad placement. BidMind allows marketers to cooperate only with premium partners and get full control of ad campaigns for higher conversion rates and increased brand awareness. About Pixalate Pixalate, a global ad fraud intelligence and marketing compliance platform, works with brands and platforms to prevent invalid traffic and improve ad inventory quality. We offer the only system of coordinated solutions across display, app, video, and OTT/CTV for better detection and elimination of ad fraud. Pixalate is an MRC-accredited service for the detection and filtration of sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) across desktop and mobile web, mobile in-app, and OTT/CTV advertising. www.pixalate.com More at https://fiksu.com/bidmind-by-fiksu-taps-pixalate-to-confront-ad-fraud-in-connected-tv-ott SOURCE BidMind by Fiksu Related Links http://https://fiksu.com Jazz Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire GW Pharmaceuticals, maker of the first drug derived from the cannabis plant to win approval in the U.S., for $7.2 billion in cash and stock. The price amounts to a premium of about 50% over Cambridge, England-based GWs Tuesday closing price. GWs U.S.-traded shares gained about 45% Wednesday to close at $211.37, and Jazz shares declined 3.9% to close at $151.21. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Jazz, which is based in Dublin and has a Philadelphia office, will pay $220 per GW American depositary receipt, in the form of $200 in cash and $20 in Jazz common stock, according to a statement from the companies. GW sells a medication called Epidiolex for children with severe epilepsy that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2018. The drug's active compound, cannabidiol, produces an anticonvulsant effect through its interaction with prominent components of the nervous system. The plants from which the compound is drawn are bred to be low in THC, the chemical associated with psychoactive responses. GW is also in late-stage trials for a cannabis-based product to treat multiple sclerosis, and it is working on drug candidates to treat autism and schizophrenia. Jazz has an array of medications for cancer and other conditions and diseases, but is best known for its high-priced narcolepsy treatment Xyrem, which had sales of $1.64 billion in 2019. However, with the drug due to lose exclusivity soon, revenue from it was expected to peak at $1.75 billion in 2020, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The deal may lend further legitimacy to a growing segment of cannabis companies that focus on pharmaceutical-grade products. Such approaches are much safer in terms of regulatory risk, and allow the companies access to Europe's markets. There, cannabis has been permitted mostly for medical, rather than recreational, use. Acquiring GW "is an interesting strategic fit with Jazz's neuroscience focus and adds a platform of innovative cannabinoid product candidates along with a highly specialized manufacturing expertise," SVB Leerink analysts Ami Fadia and Eason Lee wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. They have an outperform rating on Jazz shares. GW's rigorous approach to developing and producing its products has made the company a much-touted example of the potential for cannabis - which many say is in the early stages of research and development for medical purposes despite its long history of recreational use. The deal also underlines a growing rift between companies that specialize in naturally versus synthetically derived cannabinoids. GW competes with a growing list of companies that expect that synthesizing derivatives from cannabis plants will be more useful to create predictable, pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, and bears less regulatory risk because there are no marijuana plants involved. Deal-making is also picking up more broadly overall among cannabis companies that focus on medical and recreational use as the industry anticipates regulatory headway in the U.S. under the new Democratic administration, and is widely expected to consolidate. Two of the biggest names in cannabis, Tilray and Aphria, agreed in December to combine in a deal valued at about $3.8 billion. Industry experts have predicted that pharmaceutical giants and consumer goods companies might be more interested in making acquisitions in the sector if marijuana becomes legalized nationally in the U.S. The cash portion of the GW deal is expected to be funded with a combination of cash on hand and debt. Jazz, which has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, had a market value of $8.7 billion as of the close of trading Tuesday. The proposed deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the second quarter. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close What a difference three decades make. In 1988, when Aung San Suu Kyi confronted the generals of the country then known as Burma, she was a beacon of light, capturing the global imagination. She personified the human spirit taking on an army that rejected the reality that it had lost an election it had called. In disregard of the outcome, the military had jailed the elected parliamentarians and pretended nothing had happened. Many prominent generals were comical. Superstitious followers of numerology, they arbitrarily changed rules overnight, such as the side of the road to drive on, and banned mobikes in the capital then known as Rangoon. But they were sinister, toopolitical prisoners were tortured and soldiers fought endless wars against many insurgencies across Burma. The generals enriched themselves while the world honoured Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest. That changed in 2010, when she was released and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), fielded candidates in parliamentary by-elections in 2012. The NLD swept the polls, as it had in 1990. In 2015, it easily won parliamentary elections, and while the constitution forbade her from becoming president, parliament created a powerful poststate counselorwhich effectively made her the nations leader. The NLD won the 2020 elections even more resoundingly: regardless of the state of the nation, with its insurgencies, concerns over corruption, restrictive laws, and the Rohingya crisis, her popularity remained undiminished. Now history repeats itself, with troops on the streets once again and she under detention. Global support for her has been unsurprisingly muted. For a free Aung San Suu Kyi was different from the one who was under arrest. Not the author of two fine books about her country, not the woman with a flower placed strategically in her hairwho I remember at an event commemorating the international human rights day saying that democracy meant not only the freedom to speak, but also carried the obligation to listen to other points of viewbut the one who would not condemn the army for its grave crimes against humanity in Rakhine state, who said I dont know" when asked if Rohingyas were citizens of her country, who ignored calls to release journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from jail, and prosecution of poets Saw Wai and Maung Saunkha,whose parliamentarians approved laws that restricted freedoms, and who and squandered global goodwill by defending her armys conduct against Rohingyas at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She may not have ordered attacks on fleeing refugees, and may have had strategic reasons to work with the generals, but her silence, acquiescence and indeed her support made her complicit. The generals could not have picked a better time to act. The world is distracted by the pandemic and no longer places Aung San Suu Kyi on a pedestal. After she defended the junta at the ICJ, the military doesnt need her as a shield anymore. The size of her parliamentary majority threatened the militarys dominance. It also upset the retiring commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaings best-laid plans to become the next president. So, the tanks went marching in. To be sure, those who criticize Aung San Suu Kyi do not support the military. And those who condemn the coup are not fans of the NLD. A plague on both houses, Shakespeare had said. But there are fundamental questions. Granted, the generals are wrong, but is it right to seek the restoration of a civilian government whose commitment to openness and human rights is questionable? Are democratically-elected governments immune from criticism? What if the elected party is majoritarian and its leaders undermine democratic norms and minority rights? Brazil, Turkey, Israel, Bangladesh, Hungary, Russia, India and the Philippines are some contemporary examples where the elected leaders are popular but democracy has declined. Many of these leaders seem to have convinced powerful majorities in their countries that they are somehow persecuted, even as minorities are often blamed for imagined existential crises. In the 1990s, fearing a fundamentalist takeover, the Algerian military cancelled the second round of elections since the profoundly undemocratic Islamic Salvation Front was headed to victory after its impressive performance in the first. The international community protested. In the same vein, it must oppose what happened in Myanmar. A flawed democrat is better than an apparently benevolent dictator, because a democrat can be removed by an election. A charismatic, demagogic leader is dangerous in a democracy, but a coup is not the solution. Challenging a demagogues divisive politics is hard work. It takes painstaking mobilization, sustained campaigns, attractive communication, and persistent commitment. Tolerance cannot triumph over obstinacy and bigotry by embracing intolerance, but by asserting the politics of hope. And hope should not be confused with naive optimism. As Vaclav Havel put it, hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The latest round of the Egyptian-Ethiopian talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) brokered by former chair of the African Union (AU) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ended without agreement last month, adding yet another episode to the chain of negotiating breakdowns. Regardless of how just the Egyptian and Sudanese demands are and how important it is for these countries to reach a binding agreement that safeguards Ethiopias right to development and Egypts right to life through the water of the River Nile, Ethiopia remains as arrogant, intransigent and indifferent to the principles of international law and good neighbourliness as ever. The prevailing ultranationalist zealotry, jingoistic discourse and mounting domestic pressures due to ethnic discord in Ethiopia that have flared into civil war have blinded Addis Ababa to the rights and welfare of others and to its international commitments. It is clearly unable to appreciate the dangers of such behaviour, which should galvanise the international community, as embodied in the UN Security Council, into action. Cairo also needs to drive home the message that an equitable agreement will benefit all concerned while the continued lack of one will harm them. In keeping with the recommendations of the UN Security Council and out of respect for the African framework of dispute resolution, Cairo entered the AU-sponsored negotiations in good faith. Unfortunately, Egypts Ethiopian negotiating partner could not bring itself to reciprocate. Apparently, just as it has constructed the GERD without consulting the downstream nations, it also feels that it can proceed with filling and operating it without consulting them either. The existential threat this poses to Egypt has left Cairo with few options. One logical option would be to return to the Security Council in order to build up important international pressure for a solution to the crisis. However, before doing so Egypt should ask Ramaphosa to convene a summit meeting of the AU Heads of State and Government Assembly Bureau, which delegated the AU experts who took part in the negotiations within the AU framework. It is time that these experts submit a full report on what transpired during the talks and for the bureau to take the appropriate action. At the same time, the AU chair should issue an opinion on the collapse of the AU mediating efforts. High-level exposure of Ethiopias intransigence and its scorn for international norms is one of the main ways available to put pressure on Ethiopia and encourage support for whatever steps Egypt takes next. An essential first step is to present the Egyptian case to various international capitals, among them Washington, Moscow, Beijing and Brussels, so that they can facilitate a Security Council session that can produce results serving the Egyptian cause. Similar messages should also be delivered to the UN secretary-general, current AU chair Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Chair of the AU Commission Moussa Faki. A message should be sent to the AU Summit Bureau warning of the dangers of the current situation and explaining why the Ethiopian leadership is to blame. In this way, Egypt will have performed its duty of presenting a clear picture of the current state of play, demonstrating the concessions it has made in order to create opportunities for consensus and how Ethiopia has snubbed all conciliatory efforts and neglected its responsibility to uphold regional security and stability. In its communications with international and AU parties, Egypt should insist that if the task of mediation is returned to the AU under the new Congolese chair, this should be for a limited duration of no more than two months such that it concludes well in advance of a likely Ethiopian bid to undertake the second stage of the filling of the GERD reservoir when the Blue Nile flooding starts in July. To increase the pressure, the Security Council should caution that in the event that the concerned parties fail to reach an agreement once again within the stipulated timeframe, it will take it upon itself to issue a binding resolution. Another suggestion is to turn again to the US and ask the new Biden administration in Washington to invite the heads of state of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to a round of confidential talks in the US (along the lines of the Camp David negotiations) in order to discuss the last version of the draft agreement that Egypt initialled in February last year. The participants would add new points to the agreement in the light of the substance of meetings they have held since last February, whether mediated by Khartoum or by the AU. I believe that this proposal would be welcomed by US president Joe Biden, especially given how close the parties were to a final agreement last year before Ethiopia snubbed the signing ceremony in Washington. A successful resolution of this GERD crisis under Washingtons auspices would also give an immediate boost to the new presidents domestic and international profile. Meanwhile, it must be acknowledged that Ethiopia lacks the will to reach a binding agreement over the filling and operation of the GERD. For years, Addis Ababa has been vague, guarded about its aims and designs, and unwilling to commit to principles and limitations on its ambitions. It is little wonder that negotiating with it has been difficult if not impossible. Its chief strategy has been to sabotage any negotiating process it undertakes, leaving the other parties up in the air. It negotiates because it needs to be perceived to be willing to talk, but when it feels cornered and pressed into making the concessions necessary for an agreement to take place it pulls out, as occurred in Washington last year and in the Sudan-brokered and AU-sponsored talks this year. In order to counter domestic political pressures, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has used the GERD, his countrys major national project, to rally public opinion behind him and his government. But he has gone to such extremes to drum up popular fervour over the GERD that even if he wanted to he would scarcely now be able to convince the Ethiopian public of the need to make concessions in order to reach an agreement that would serve the welfare of all the parties concerned and also bring Ethiopia into compliance with international law. In response, Egypt should employ strategic acumen and display internal cohesion and balance in its regional and international actions supported by a suitably conscious media. These are essential ingredients in forging cohesive positions on one of the foremost challenges to Egypts national security during these turbulent times and in the unfamiliar climate shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic with its consequent limitations on movement, communications and the ability to rally pressure when influential parties are also focused on Covid-19-related developments at home. Ethiopia may believe that this environment presents the perfect opportunity for it to do as it pleases without being challenged, which is why Egypt needs to make it crystal clear that unilateral actions come at a cost and that Addis Ababa must make up its mind on whether it will work for mutual benefit or reciprocal harm. Egypt has always preferred the former course, but it is prepared for other options if Ethiopia rejects the path of consensus and chooses to force a confrontational path on all. As Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri told parliament on 26 January, when a hundred million people are faced with an existential threat, their options are very limited. No one can impose their will or a fait accompli on a country of the size and status of Egypt. *The writer is former assistant foreign minister. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: A pedestrian was seriously hurt after being hit by a driver Wednesday morning in Northeast Portland, police say. The driver hit the pedestrian in the intersection of 82nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard about 6:30 a.m., according to Portland police. The pedestrian was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The driver cooperated with investigators, according to police, and theres no indication they were impaired. They have not been accused of any crimes in the crash, police said Wednesday afternoon. Neither the driver nor the pedestrian has been publicly identified. An investigation continues. Police ask anyone who has information to contact Officer Dave Enz David.Enz@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-2208. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale 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 source said Habibulla Abdurehim was a former party secretary who sent imams for questioning. Imams and government officials pass under security cameras as they leave the Id Kah Mosque during a government-organized trip in Kashgar, XUAR, Jan. 4, 2019. Authorities have detained some two-thirds of religious leaders in the home township of man claiming to be an imam in a propaganda video condemning the U.S. for designating abuses in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) as genocide, according to officials. On Jan. 19his last full day as top U.S. diplomatformer Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Chinese policies in the XUAR aim for the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group as he announced a designation that Uyghur exile groups have advocated since the revelation in 2017 of mass internment camps that have held as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Pompeo said he had determined China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in the XUAR against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups, and that Beijing and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must be held to account. The new Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has endorsed the designation, suggesting that President Joe Bidens administration will pursue a more forceful approach in holding China accountable for its abuses in the region. Emily Horne, the spokesperson for Bidens National Security Council, told the Washington Examiner last week that President Biden has called the oppression of the Uyghurs a genocide, and he stands against it in the strongest possible terms. Chinese officials have said the camps are voluntary centers for vocational training that protect the region against religious extremism and terrorism, but reporting by RFA and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination. On Jan. 20, the first day of the Biden administration, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying slammed Pompeos venomous lies and called the determination nothing more than a piece of wastepaper. Since then, multiple videos have been published online featuring Uyghurs using the Uyghur language and Mandarin Chinese to discuss how the CCP had improved their lives in the region, praising the government and refuting Pompeos designation. Claims of religious freedom In one such video, a man named Habibulla Abdurehim identifies himself as an imam of a mosque in the seat of Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecturean oasis town of around 330,000 people that served as a key station along the Silk Road in the Tarim Basin. Abdurehim dismisses Pompeos statement as slander while praising the state of religious affairs in the XUARclaiming there is widespread and just policy in Hotan and noting that the government had recently renovated the mosque where he says he works. His statement contradicts reports by RFAs Uyghur Service and other media outlets that indicate religious officials have been detained and locked away en masse. Other reports describe the wholesale demolition of religious sites in the XUAR, including one by RFA which found that 80 percent of mosques in Toqquzaq township, in Kashgar (Kashi) prefectures Kona Sheher (Shufu) county, were destroyed in 2016 alone. Following the publishing of the video, a member of the Uyghur diaspora contacted RFA claiming to know Abdurehim and insiting that he is not a religious figure. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said Abdurehim was formerly the party secretary of Yawa township, in Hotan prefectures Qaraqash (Moyu) county, and that nearly all of the religious figures in the township are currently in some form of detention. In his role as township secretary, which coincided with the beginning of the internment campaign, Abdurehim personally delivered four religious leaders to a police station, where they were presumably questioned, if not detained, the source said. Scores detained RFA contacted the police department in Yawa to confirm the details of the sources information. An officer who answered the phone said he was unsure whether Abdurehim was a religious figure or formerly the secretary of the township and referred further questions about his role to higher level authorities. However, when asked how many religious leaders from Yawa are in prison, the officer replied, most of them. Given what I know, I think its around 60 or 70 percent, he said. According to the officer, there are between 70 and 80 religious figures in Yawa township, which is comprised of 21 villages. The officer said that 50 to 60 of them are in prison alone, while others are being held in internment camps. RFA also spoke with a security official in Yawa who said that one of the religious figures, or akhun, Abdurehim had brought to the attention of authorities was a 30-year-old father of two named Habibulla Mijit. That young man is also gone now, the official said, adding that Mijit had been handed a seven-year punishment. Restrictions on faith In recent years authorities in the XUAR have been targeting prominent Uyghur religious scholars and intellectuals for internment in what observers say is part of a bid to undermine the cultural traditions of the ethnic group. Investigations by RFA have shown that religiously inflected practices, including wearing beards and various styles of dresssuch as long tunics for womenhave been heavily restricted over the past several years. In 2015 and 2016, regional authorities even restricted the giving of zakat, or almsthe act of which constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam. Restrictions on almsgiving have effectively prevented Uyghurs from being able to provide financial and social support to one another. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by the Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Phase 1 Assays Confirm High-Grade Extensions at Mt Stirling Perth, Feb 3, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Torian Resources Limited ( ASX:TNR ) is pleased to announce a significant high-grade gold intercept discovered ~80m NW of the current defined resource estimate area (Figures 1 and 4*).First assays from the furthest Phase 1 hole of the North West extension (Section 1840N) MSRC061 returned significant results of 5m @ 4.42 g/t Au (from 73m), including 1m @ 6.07 g/t Au (from 77m).These results confirm extension of Mt Stirling's strike of mineralisation by at least 80m to the NW.Significantly, three additional NW extension Phase 2 drill sections, occur in direct NW strike of MSRC061 gold mineralisation intercepted, for a further 120m extension of interpreted mineralised strike.These three additional NW extension sections have also all intercepted a second larger significant mineralised Shear Zone to the immediate West of MSRC061 intercept, with high levels of arsenic in sulphides, significant fuchsite, chlorite and biotite alteration, and up to ~26m down-hole intercept for an interpreted 10m true-width zone.Torian has expedited processing of the central NW extension (Section 1920N) with MSRC087 and MSRC088 assays pending.Further, of significance, the Project's first diamond drill hole MSRD001 has intercepted mineralisation directly down-dip from the high-grade Hanging Wall and Main Zones, which subject to assays, is expected to expand the resource estimate a further ~120m below the previous maiden resource.The mineralisation observed in the diamond drill core is substantially similar to the up-dip mineralisation that hosted high grade gold intercepts of 4m @ 8.84 g/t Au (from 187m MSRC025); inc 1m @ 33.10 g/t Au (from 188m); and 17m @ 1.66 g/t Au (from 235m); inc 3m @ 5.17 g/t Au (from 235m); and 1m @ 9.2 g/t Au (from 236m) (Figures 2, 4 and Photo 1*) (refer ASX release 9/6/20).Torian's Executive Director Mr Peretz Schapiro said "Our surface geochemistry and structural model implied that mineralisation continued along strike to the North West of Mt Stirling. Not only have these results extended the strike of the resource by at least 80m, they also coincide with recently discovered (pXRF) highly prospective arsenic leaking structures interpreted to be the surface expression of perhaps the centre of the Mt Stirling gold system.As such, we eagerly anticipate receiving further results from the NW phase of our drilling campaign.We are additionally encouraged by what looks to be a significant continuation of the predicted gold system at depth, with our diamond drillers encountering similar mineralisation directly down-dip from high grade gold intercepts in RC drillhole MSRC025 of up to 33.10 g/t Au.Should results confirm our interpretation of a shear-hosted gold system that continues at depth, for considerable down-dip depth, it would mean that Mt Stirling's multiple gold structures continue to have the potential to depth and resemble that of regional operating gold mines e.g St Barbara's ( ASX:SBM ) 4.8Moz Gwalia Mine and Saracen's ( ASX:SAR ) 3.8Moz Thunderbox Mine, given it remains open in all directions.The ongoing flow of high-grade results intercepted during our drilling campaign continues to justify our confidence in Mt Stirling, in that it is a much larger gold system than originally defined, with the system now exceeding 600m of strike and ~250m at depth. We anticipate that further results from our drilling program will continue to intercept economic grade gold as we have demonstrated that we are 'on the system'.In addition to extending the strike, Torian's drilling has also intercepted grade above earlier reported historical drill hole intercepts which were used in the Company's previous resource estimate. All the above (increase in strike, depth, and historical grade) gives us great confidence that when our interim resource is completed in the first quarter of this year, will result in a significant upgrade to our tonnage and gold ounces.2021 is shaping up to be an exciting year for our Company as we anticipate significant news flow over the coming weeks and months. We eagerly await the results from an additional 18 drillholes from Phase 1 of the Mt Stirling program, along with results from 18 drillholes at Stirling Well, 21 exploratory drill holes at Diorite and the results from Phase 2 and 3 at Mt Stirling which now includes extensional diamond drilling."*To view tables and figures, 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. FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger - a mother, an educator and one of two members of the bureau who was fatally shot in Florida on Tuesday - was also a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, the school confirmed. Schwartzenberger and Special Agent Daniel Alfin were shot in Sunrise, Florida early Tuesday as they were serving a warrant in a violent crimes against children investigation. Three other agents were wounded, and the shooter, who has yet to be publicly identified, was killed, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The 43-year-old woman was born in Pueblo, Colorado. Schwartzenberger started at the bureaus Albuquerque, New Mexico office in 2005 and was reassigned to the agencys Miami, Florida division five years later. She has worked crimes against children cases for more than seven years, according to FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge George Piro. In 2000, Schwartzenberger earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Northeastern, a spokesperson for the university said. She is survived by her husband and two children, Piro noted. Alfin, who was 36 years old when he was killed Tuesday, is survived by his wife and child. The New York native started at the bureaus Albany, New York office in 2009 and was reassigned to the Miami division in 2017, working crimes against children cases for more than six years, according to Piro. It takes an incredibly special person to answer the call and do the heroic work of an FBI special agent. It requires self-sacrifice. It requires putting oneself in harms way, not once, but again and again, Piro said at a press conference Tuesday. Dan and Laura left home this morning to carry out the mission they signed up for and loved to do - to keep the American people safe. They were valuable members of our team. They will forever be heroes. We will always honor their ultimate sacrifice. It is with great sadness that the Rockway Middle School family has recently found out about the passing of FBI Special... Posted by Rockway Middle School on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Along with serving as a dedicated FBI agent, Schwartzenberger is also being remembered as committed educator. At Rockway Middle School in Miami, Schwartzenberger taught students for the past five years about the dangers of social media and much more, according to a Facebook post from the school. Through Schwartzenbergers presentations, students learned about online safety and cyberbullying. They also experienced the evidence response process of FBI agents, the school noted. She would always say, I feel that coming here and talking about the hard stuff means that I wont see you guys on my end, " the school said about Schwartzenberger Schwartzenberger answered students questions directly, with care, but with firmness, to always remind them of the real world, according to the school Lauras commitment and dedication to not just Rockway, but the community as a whole, will be missed, the school said. Related Content: 2 FBI agents killed, 3 wounded in Florida while serving warrant in violent crimes against children investigation SPRINGFIELD Just hours after state Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, announced his resignation from the City Council, School Committee member Maria Perez said she is looking to fill the now vacant seat. I have been doing work in this community for 40 years and being on the Springfield City Council would allow me to continue to do that work, said Perez, who currently represents District 1 comprised of Wards 1 and 3. Springfield Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola said the City Council is currently working on an application process to fill Gomez seat and if Perez was the selected candidate she would have to vacate her current seat. She would not be able to serve on both the Springfield School Committee and City Council, " Oyola said. Perez was first elected to the committee in November of 2017 and is in her fourth year of a four-year term. If selected to fill the City Council seat, the School Committee could leave the seat empty until the November election or appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The School Committee can choose to leave the seat vacant. However, I do not think they would choose to do so as it would leave District 1 without representation during a period where the fiscal year 2022 budget and important (remote, in-person learning) votes would be occurring, Oyola said. Perez said she is proud of her time on the School Committee and the work that has been achieved even during the pandemic. The Lincoln/ Brightwood school project in Ward 1 is something the community has been needing for a long time and we fought hard for it and are now seeing this $82 million project become a reality, she said. Perez said she is also proud of her work as the chairwoman of the staff development subcommittee. We have had a focus on diversity, inclusion and racial equity and that is something that we really needed, she said. Springfield School Committee member Maria Perez protests the conditions at the Gerena School including leaks and mold. (File photo/ The Republican)Staff-Shot As the founder and president of the grassroots organization Women on the Vanguard and employee at the New North Citizens Council, Perez said she has been serving Ward 1, which includes the citys Brightwood and Memorial Square neighborhoods, since she first arrived to the city in 1981. I arrived here as a single parent and even though I had been active in the community in New York and before that in Puerto Rico. I was new to the neighborhood until Barbara Rivera took a chance on me, she said, referring to the founder of the New North Citizens Council, who died in 2005 at the age of 69. We worked side by side for years and she was a progressive woman who motivated me to want to help our community. Perez commended Gomez for his work on the City Council and his decision to resign. I think he realized that being a state senator is a time consuming and serious responsibility and he did not want to do a disservice to the people of Ward 1, she said. I would like to continue the work he started by serving this community on the city council. Related content: A 9-year-old Indian climate activist has turned the tide and brought international attention to the farmers protest, urging popular global icons like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg to show solidarity with the farmers. Licypriya Kangujam, one of the youngest child activists globally, has consolidated support for the farmers protest by raising her voice on social media. Kangujam tweeted, "Dear friends, our millions of poor farmers sleeping in the streets on this cold weather don't expect anything from you. Just your one tweet of love and supports /solidarity to their cause means a lots to them. Our Indian celebrities are get lost!" Since her tweet, there has been an outpour of support and empathy for the farmers from all around the globe. Dear friends, Our millions of poor farmers sleeping in the streets on this cold weather dont expect anything from you. Just your one tweet of love and supports /solidarity to their cause means a lots to them. Our indian celebrities are get lost! Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK) February 2, 2021 We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Its no coincidence that the worlds oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. We ALL should be outraged by Indias internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters. https://t.co/yIvCWYQDD1pic.twitter.com/DxWWhkemxW Meena Harris (@meenaharris) February 2, 2021 Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg also extended her support to the farmers protest and said that she stands in solidarity with the farmers. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Thunberg wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.Pop star Rihanna tweeted "Why aren't we talking about this?!", added the hashtag #FarmersProtest along with the post on the microblogging site. Author and niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, Meena also showed her support on social media towards the agitating farmers. She wrote on Twitter, "It's no coincidence that the world's oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as we speak, the most populous democracy is under assault." Kangujam started environmental activism when she was just seven years old in 2018. Since then, she has received the honorary Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Children's Award, a World Children Peace Prize as well as an India Peace Prize. She has been campaigning for climate action in India for two years to pass new laws to curb India's high pollution levels and to make climate change literacy mandatory in schools. Also read: It's Rihanna vs Kangana on farm protests Also read: Kangana Ranaut calls Greta Thunberg 'spoilt brat' for supporting farmers' protests Representative Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican, on Wednesday condemned Representative Marjorie Taylor Greenes past conspiratorial and violent comments, but he declined to take any action against her on the eve of a vote forced by Democrats to remove her from congressional committees. Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference, Mr. McCarthy said in a lengthy statement. I condemn those comments unequivocally. But in the same statement, Mr. McCarthy criticized Democrats for moving unilaterally to kick Ms. Greene off the education and budget committees, calling the action a partisan power grab, and made clear he did not intend to punish her himself by stripping her of those posts. He released the statement as House Republicans were meeting privately to discuss what to do about Ms. Greene, the Georgia congresswoman whose extreme statements have created a dilemma for their party. They were also planning to discuss the future of Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber, who has drawn a backlash in the party for her vote to impeach former President Donald J. Trump. Overview March 2 10AM PT, 1PM ET Watch Now State and local government organizations know they must modernize their tools and processes if they want modern, data-driven applications that advance their operations, improve citizen services and leverage their existing assets. But until recently, data silos have hindered innovation. Join Government Technology and experts from Confluent on March 2 at 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET for a special 30-minute Lunch and Learn webinar that will explore how the move to ultra-responsive, consumer-driven technologies such as devops, event streaming and microservices are shaping how state and local government agencies engage with citizens. Specifically, you will learn: 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. New Delhi: Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) secures the India-China border at the eastern state Sikkim. Areas as far as Padamchen and the last post Lungthung are also taken care of by soldiers of SSB. The current border stand-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers over the construction of a road by the latter in Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction. China claims Dokalam as a part of its Donglang region. At present, China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. However, Bhutan has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India. Dokalam is also Indias last military post on the trijunction of its boundary with Bhutan and China. China consistently tries to interfere in the northern and eastern sections of Sikkim and India raises obstruction to such actions. ALSO READ: PM Modi-President Xi unlikely to solve 'Sikkim Standoff' in G20 Summit The SSB has increased its vigilance in Sikkim as tensions keep on flaring between India and China. News Nation went to the border region at Sikkim to find out the tough situations that the SSB soldiers live in. The soldiers are given special kinds of homes special clothes and food to help them remain vigilant and counter the tough natural conditions there. READ: 'Atmosphere not right' for Xi-Modi meet in G-20 Summit at Hamburg Despite facing the wrath of nature and being in a confrontational situation with the Chinese army, the SSB soldiers don't flash an eyelid. They sing nationalist songs to keep their morale high and their life is highly inspirational. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Silver prices fell more than 8% on Tuesday as small investors retreated after a rally to a near eight-year high the previous session. GameStop shares have lost more than 70% of its value since Friday. S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) has surged for a third straight day, up 1.04% to 6,833 points by 1.56 pm after briefly hitting a fresh 11-month high earlier in the day. While the market has been see-sawing so far this year, the ASX 200 is still up by 3.6% since January 1. Cash rate unchanged at 0.1% The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its cash rate steady at a record low of 0.1% at its first policy meeting of the year on Tuesday. RBA Governor Philip Lowe surprised the market by extending the RBAs bond-buying program by another $100 billion. He said Australia will need to maintain very significant monetary support for several years, with the cash rate set to stay near zero for as long as is necessary in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeff Bezos to step down Amazons founder Jeff Bezos announced his decision to step aside as CEO and become executive chairman of the company he created around 30 years ago. Bezos will be replaced by the head of Amazons cloud computing division, Andy Jassy who has helped the company become a force in the cloud infrastructure services market. Top gainers Todays top gainers on the ASX include ( ) (+14.81%), ( ) (+28.57%), ( ) (+14.81%), ( ) (+15.12%), Elementos Limited ( ) (+23.08%), ( ) (+13.33%) and ( ) (+11.11%). Proactive news headlines: Ansila Energy transforms into a North Sea Gas development company after completion of Harthead acquisition Ansila Energy NLs ( ) (OTCMKTS:PGNYF) has completed the transaction with the vendors of Hartshead Resources Limited to acquire the remaining 78.4% interest in Hartshead that it did not already own. White Rock Minerals to become a high-grade Victorian gold explorer following entering into a binding merger implementation deed with AuStar Gold ( ) is set to become a high-grade Victorian gold explorer and production folling entering into a binding merger implementation deed (MID) with AuStar Gold Ltd ( ), enabling WRM to acquire 100% of the issued capital of AUL through a scheme of arrangement between the two companies and their shareholders. Technology Metals' magnetic concentrate test work confirms high-grade magnetite composites from Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project s ( ) (FRA:TN6) magnetic concentrate test work based on staged grinding of two large sample masses of fresh massive magnetite composites from the Yarrabubba Iron-Vanadium Project has produced high-grade magnetic concentrate. Alice Queens starts drill spinning at Mendooran Project in NSW Alice Queen Ltd ( ) has started drilling at its Mendooran Project (EL8469), in the Lachlan Fold Belt of NSW, to test the northern extension of the highly prospective Molong Volcanic Belt for undercover large copper-gold bearing porphyry systems. Havilah Resources signs MOU for exploration and potential development of its uranium interests ( ) (FRA:FWL) has entered into a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the exploration and potential development of its uranium interests in South Australia, with Aroha Resources Pty Ltd - conditional upon Aroha listing on the ASX. Comet Resources identifies numerous mineralised structures at surface in detailed geological mapping campaign at Santa Teresa Gold Project ( ) has identified numerous mineralised structures at surface in a recent detailed geological mapping campaign of historic drill collars, shafts, and artisanal workings at the Santa Teresa Gold Project in Baja California, Mexico. Creso Pharma secures four new purchase orders for its craft cannabis, including maiden order from Canadian Province of New Brunswick s ( ) (FRA:1X8) wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, has secured four new purchase orders with a total value of C$242,842 (A$248,6821 ) for its high-quality, indoor-grown, hand-trimmed, hang-dried, cured, artisanal, craft cannabis, in dried flower form, sold under the Ritual Green brand. Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals' additional data on Zilosul patients under the TGA SAS shows very consistent reduction in pain of nearly 50% s ( ) additional data on patients who received Zilosul under the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Special Access Scheme (SAS), brings the cumulative average WOMAC reduction in pain from baseline for the 89-patient cohort to 49.6%. Lithium Australia granted US patent for unique lithium extraction technology Lithium Australia NL ( ) (FRA:3MW) ( ) has been granted the US patent for its SiLeach extraction technology, which can produce a range of lithium chemicals, including lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate and lithium phosphate. further enhances exploration potential of its 100%-owned Cardinia Gold Project near Leonora in WA Kin Mining NL ( ) (FRA:8KM) has further enhanced the exploration potential of its 100%-owned Cardinia Gold Project near Leonora in Western Australia after receiving and interpreting the results of a detailed gravity survey completed in December 2020 over the eastern part of the project tenements. Comet Resources eyes robust year ahead building over the solid initiatives taken in the December quarter Comet Resources Limited ( ) is eying a robust year ahead building over the solid initiatives taken by the company to expand resources, initiate a field program and seek permission to carry out drilling activities. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 07:47:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The planned UN technical mission to inspect the derelict Safer oil tanker has been put on hold after the Houthi rebels seem to be reneging on their earlier approval for such a mission, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday. "We are also very concerned by indications that the Houthi de facto authorities are considering a 'review' of their formal approval of the mission to deploy. Houthi officials have advised the UN to pause certain preparations pending the outcome of such process, which would create further delays to the mission," said the spokesman. "In light of these challenges, the timeline of deployment of the mission remains uncertain and dependent on the continued facilitation of all stakeholders involved. We hope to receive a renewed commitment from the Houthi de facto authorities to resolve this urgent matter as soon as possible. Any other outcome would be extremely disappointing," he said. The United Nations remains committed to doing everything possible to address the grave humanitarian and environmental threat posed by the Safer tanker, which is carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil and at risk of rupture, said Dujarric in a note to correspondents. Following the formal acceptance by the Houthi de facto authorities in November 2020 of the technical scope of work for the UN technical mission, the United Nations has liaised closely with them on multiple logistical issues. Those discussions had been constructive, he said. In parallel, the United Nations has been preparing for mission deployment and has committed, to date, up to 3.35 million U.S. dollars for the procurement of items and the deployment of personnel needed for the mission, he said. "In order to facilitate the leasing of technically equipped service vessels, which are required for the mission, we have requested the Houthi de facto authorities to provide a letter with security assurances. We regret that, to date, we have not received a response to our multiple requests for this letter, the lack of which would increase the cost of the mission by hundreds of thousands of dollars," said the spokesman. The Safer has been moored at a port north of the city of Hodeidah since 1988 as a crude oil storage and offloading platform. It has not been inspected or maintained since 2015. Enditem Former Debenhams workers are calling on the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, to make a 3m training fund established for the workers available as a cash payment. Today marks 300 days since 1,000 Debenhams workers in Ireland were informed their company had entered liquidation. The ex-staff has said they have contacted the Taoiseachs office twice last month but claim they have not yet received a response. Valerie Conlon, shop steward from the Patrick Street store in Cork said: Im particularly annoyed that the Taoiseach hasnt bothered to respond to the last two letters from our Union. Weve spent 300 days in hail, rain and snow during a pandemic, and all because the Government refused to legislate to protect workers in redundancy situations back in 2016. The very least he could do is afford us the courtesy of a response. Gerry Light, Mandate General Secretary, said the Government can resolve this dispute immediately if the political will was there: The ex-Debenhams workers only have two demands. Firstly, they want the 3m fund established for training purposes to be made available as a cash payment, and secondly, they want legislation implemented to prevent this from happening to any workers in the future." He added: "These workers have paid their dues. Theyve paid their taxes for up to 40 years. The least the Taoiseach and the rest of the Government could do is show their appreciation and respect by making a genuine effort to resolve the dispute. Mr Light explained that Mandate had written to the Taoiseach on behalf of the ex-Debenhams workers on January 13 and again on January 25. We met with the ex-Debenhams members in recent days and to say they are disappointed is an understatement. They deserve better than to be ignored by the Taoiseach, and by the Government, Mr Light said. Workers have mounted official pickets on 11 stores around the country including the stores on Mahon Point and Patrick Street in Cork. Imperial Valley News Center Justice Department and EPA Announce Settlement with Stericycle Inc. to Address Environmental Violations at Medical Waste Incinerator Salt Lake City, Utah - The Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Friday announced a settlement with Illinois-based Stericycle Inc. resolving alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act and Utah air quality regulations at its medical waste incinerator in North Salt Lake, Utah. The settlement, set forth in a consent decree lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, requires Stericycle to comply with EPA regulations applicable to medical waste incinerators, pay a $600,000 civil penalty, and conduct a Supplemental Environmental Project requiring the company to spend at least $2 million to purchase low- emitting school buses for a local school district. Todays settlement resolves violations alleged in the United States complaint, which was also filed today. The complaint alleges that Stericycle operated its waste incinerator in a manner that exceeded regulatory limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), failed to properly conduct stack tests, and failed to comply with reporting requirements. EPA investigated the alleged violations in cooperation with the Utah Division of Air Quality, which concluded its own action for related violations several years ago. Medical waste incinerators must operate in strict compliance with our nations clean air laws, said Jean E. Williams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division. Stericycle has installed new pollution controls and made operational changes to remedy the violations alleged in the complaint. This settlement will benefit all who live in and visit North Salt Lake, said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Debra H. Thomas. In addition to NOx reductions at the facility, the settlement requires Stericycle to replace old, high-emitting school buses for a local school district, providing cleaner air for school children and nearby neighborhoods. The school bus replacement is a Supplemental Environmental Project, or SEP, which is an environmentally beneficial project required in a settlement that is not otherwise required by law. Diesel emissions reduction SEPs have been expressly authorized by Congress. EPA expects the SEP in this case will replace as many as 20 buses, leading to significant reductions in NOx, carbon monoxide, and diesel particulate matter and substantial fuel savings. NOx is a key component in the formation of ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates lungs, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, and can increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and bronchitis. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Moscow: Russia has cleared a hurdle in its vaccine rollout with the publication in the respected British medical journal The Lancet of late-stage trial results showing that the countrys Sputnik V vaccine is safe and highly effective. The publication is sure to buoy the Russian governments promotion of the vaccine at home and around the world, strengthening the Kremlins hand in vaccine diplomacy with a credible endorsement of the products safety. A vial of the Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as Sputnik V, COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund at the City Clinic #68 in Moscow, Russia. Credit:Bloomberg Russia drew criticism from Western experts when it approved the vaccine developed by the Russian research institute Gamaleya, for emergency use in August before late-stage trials had even begun and started vaccinations that month. It claimed victory in the vaccine race, as it had decades earlier in the space race with the launch of the Sputnik satellite, though at the time other vaccines were further along in testing. In the end, its politicised rollout only served to deepen scepticism. Australia has made a huge move against China with a multi-million dollar investment in a key industry the communist government has dominated for decades. The Tasmanian Government will put $10million towards helping to revive a King Island mine to produce tungsten, a mineral seen as critical to national security. China currently controls about 83 per cent of the world's tungsten production - a near monopoly on global supply. The Trump administration in 2018 declared tungsten one of 35 minerals 'essential' to the United States' economic and national security, though the country does not have a mine producing tungsten. Australia meanwhile currently only has a small working deposit, located in Tasmania, leaving the two countries vulnerable to controls on exports. The Tasmanian Government has offered a $10 million commercial loan to help revive King Island Scheelite's Dolphin Mine (pictured) which produces scheelite, a form of tungsten The King Island Scheelite company's Dolphin Mine has been closed since 1992 due to a downturn in global tungsten prices. It had been producing Scheelite, a form of Tungsten since 1917 on the island, located halfway between Tasmania and Victoria. The price of tungsten, the second hardest mineral after diamonds, has rebounded in recent years with the mineral used widely in automotive and aerospace industries. Tungsten is used to manufacture passenger vehicles, fighter jets, weapons, drill bits used in the mining industry and in mobile phone screens. 'Tungsten is a strategically significant metal and a key input to industries that are vital to national security,' King Island Scheelite Executive Chairman Johann Jacobs said. 'We note that several Western governments have recently identified a crisis in the supply chain for critical minerals, particularly tungsten, for which North America currently has no mines in production. 'We see a close alignment between the company's development objectives, the Tasmanian Government's interests in maintaining and growing both Tasmanian jobs and export revenue, and the strategic objectives of the Australian Government as implemented by Austrade and the Critical Mineral Facilitation Office.' Tasmania's minister for state growth, Michael Ferguson, said the government had offered a $10 million commercial loan, repayable over 10 years, to help progress the Dolphin Mine. 'King Island Scheelite's Dolphin Tungsten Project has the potential to generate significant investment, create jobs and boost the economy on King Island,' he said. The Dolphin Mine on King Island, halfway between Tasmania and Victoria, had been producing Scheelite (pictured), a form of Tungsten since 1917 'While the project is still contingent on a number of other requirements, which the company is progressing, this is an important step in moving it forward. 'This will allow the company to continue the additional capital-raising necessary to bring it to fruition.' Mr Ferguson said the company estimates the project could create up to 90 full-time equivalent jobs during construction and about 55 ongoing full-time equivalent jobs. 'It would be great to see a clever, job-creating mine up and running again under this proposal, producing significant social and economic benefits for the King Island community,' he said. King Island Scheelite is still hoping to obtain $15million in federal government funding and further money from equity and debt markets. Australia last year referred China to the World Trade Organisation after a trade dispute between the two nations escalated Australia and China have been engaged in trade disputes for about a year. In December, Australia referred China to the World Trade Organisation over its 80 per cent tariff on barley imposed last May. Beijing claims the tariffs are needed because Australia has been selling barley below the cost of production in a practice known as dumping, which Canberra denies. China last year also blocked most of Australia's top exports such as coal and meat. Tesla is poised to enter the Indian market by 2021. It has registered a subsidiary in Bengaluru under the name Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt Ltd. The company is expected to enter the Indian market with its Model 3 product, which will be sold as a Completely Built Unit (CBU) estimated to be priced at Rs 60 lakh. The Model 3 is the most affordable and bestselling product of the brand, but has acquired a hefty price tag due to high tariffs. The company intends to set up manufacturing in India that will bring down the costs of their electric vehicles (EVs) by a considerable margin. Government policy initiative enabling EV infrastructure will play a crucial role in the adoption of EV automakers like Tesla. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has expressed a commitment to green fuel and EVs with an intention to cut down spends of Rs 8 lakh crore on crude oil imports. The Government has set a target for penetration of EVs 30% for private cars, 70% for commercial vehicles, 40% for buses and 80% for two- and three-wheelers by 2030. Their ambition is to set up at least one e-charging kiosk at 69,000 petrol pumping stations across the country. According to a consumer study conducted by Castrol lubricants in 2020, most consumers in India would consider buying an EV by 2022, but it will not be until 2025 that a majority of new vehicles purchased are electric. The study suggests for mainstream EV adoption, consumers are looking for a price point of Rs 23 lakh, charge time of 35 minutes and a range of 401 km from a single charge. EV purchases usually fall on the higher side of the spectrum, the reason being the high cost of the battery. The highest selling cars are both in and around Rs 20 lakh today, explains Gaurav Mehta, CMO, Cardekho. Mehta has observed around 160-170 EVs being sold in recent months, where majority purchases were for two-wheelers. The Tesla Model 3 is available in three variants. The basic version has a range of 350 km in a single charge. The top end variant has a range of up to 500 km. It is unlikely that the price point will be attractive to many customers until Tesla begins manufacturing in India. He adds, I dont think Tesla is going to compete only in the EV category; it is going to cater to the premium/ luxury segment buyers, which already have a sizeable buyer base. The near future uptake is going to be in the metros with good public and private charging infrastructure. When Apple launched their watch, they didnt want to cater to only the smart watch category and their product development and go-to market was targeted at luxury watch buyers. Tesla is also not going to look only at the EV category buyers, but also the premium and luxury buyers. Interestingly, a survey conducted by CarWale states that 53% consumers are willing to pay a premium over a conventional car to buy an EV, considering that it has a higher running that offsets the initial purchase cost by lower running monthly cost. According to Banwari Lal Sharma, CEO, CarWale and BikeWale, Consumers will gradually opt for an EV because it is environment friendly, has better performance and is structured on advanced technology. With eco-consciousness emerging as a trend among Indians, the urge to contribute to environmental well-being and beat rising fuel prices will continue to drive EV adoption. Policy initiatives to incentivise adoption of EVs have been successful. In countries like Norway, full electric vehicles made up 54% of new cars sold in 2020. Norways policy initiatives include access to free charging, free parking, tax deductions and exemption from payment of toll fee. On the business side, manufacturers of EVs like Tesla are exempt from sales tax for the purchase of their products. The countrys ambition is to completely phase out vehicles using internal combustion engines by 2025. India has cut goods and services tax on EVs to 5% from 12% effective on August 2019, which is much lower than levies of 28% on other motor vehicles. In 2015, it launched a Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV (FAME) plan with a $9 billion commitment to subsidise EV purchases. However, these subsidies are only applicable to EV purchases of up to ~Rs 15 lakh. 75% of Indias vehicle purchases happen at around $10,000 (~ Rs 700,000). Teslas most affordable product is not qualified for subsidies as it caters 1% of the market. Teslas brand recall is strong, however, it has a small addressable market with its current product offering. Even in the foreign markets, Tesla is not a mass brand, remarks CarDekhos Mehta. Adding further, he says, There will be questions around the maintenance, regular running information that will be asked initially. But I see Tesla being prepared to answer these questions. If they join hands with a local Auto OEM, then they will be covering a lot of bases from get go. A recently released KPMG and CII report has estimated a spike in demand for EVs in the personal mobility segment by 10-15% by 2030. Teslas foray into the Indian market will further expedite the EV landscape in India, opines CarWales Sharma. It will play within the luxury segment, gaining market share among power players and affluent buyers with a desire to own the most successful electric car in the world. Currently, most of the EV buyers in the passenger vehicles category are trend-setters and early adopters from metro cities. As more players enter the EV ecosystem in India, reliable and better infrastructure has to be created to match this growth, points out Gajendra Jangid, Co-Founder & CMO, CARS24. Additionally, the need to incentivise the potential buyers to switch to EV technology becomes of prime importance, keeping in mind the current price difference between EVs and conventional fuel vehicles. However, we foresee a long term positive impact that it will have on the environment, leading India to become a sustainable economy, he concludes. President Moon Jae-in inspects a training exercise to transport COVID-19 vaccines involving the military, police and the health authorities at Incheon International Airport, Wednesday. The relevant authorities have been rehearsing the delivery process from the arrival of vaccines at the airport to the delivery to inoculation centers at major cities nationwide, with the first vaccinations set to start later this month. Yonhap Folks, we can yak all day about the injustices of the Golden Globes, the nominees and winners of which will be selected this year by the customary 90 or so L.A.-based members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, all junket-deprived and doing their best in a pandemic. Fine folks, Im sure, every one of them. But what were they thinking when they ADVERTISEMENT Indias Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned social media comments by international celebrities on ongoing farmers protests, saying that vested interest groups were trying to mobilise support against the government. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken, the ministry said. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others is neither accurate nor responsible. Popstar Rihanna, environment activist Greta Thunberg and lawmakers from the United States and Britain were among those who put out Twitter posts in support of the protesting farmers. Tens of thousands of farmers have been protesting at the borders of the Indian capital since the end of November over a set of new farm laws. The protesting farmers said the laws will leave them to the mercy of big corporations and want them repealed. The government said the laws will modernise the farming sector and increase farm incomes. A forum of farmers unions said the government had disconnected electricity and water supplies, suspended the internet and social media accounts and removed mobile toilets at the protest sites. The police have been fortifying barricades and digging trenches on the highways to stop protesters from entering the capital after a group resorted to violence and vandalism on January 26. (NAN) A Hungarian family of four is sailing around the world on a 15-meter boat called Teatime. In late June 2020, they left a port in Croatia and started sailing around Italy and Spain. They next stopped on the island of Cape Verde before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The family spent the Christmas holiday in the French territory of Martinique. They were recently in Marigot, on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. They expect to sail towards the Panama Canal next. The family is not trying to reach their goal quickly. Life on the boat is slower. It is similar for people quarantined at home because of the worldwide coronavirus health emergency. Domonkos Bosze is the 48-year-old father. He works in the Information Technology business and made a home office on his boat. Now, his family is always close by. For me it is a fantastic experience that I can spend a lot more time with my kids, instead of getting home late from work totally exhausted, said Domonkos. The family chooses where they will sail next based on the weather and seasons. Domonkos and his wife Anna have sailed for more than 10 years. They planned the trip long before the COVID-19 crisis began. The family had their worries about starting a risky trip during a global health emergency. The situation made it difficult to decide if it was the right time to go. But in the end, their determination pushed them to sail around the world. Sailing the sea on the boat Teatime At the beginning of the trip, living on a small boat with four people was difficult. With time, they learned how to live together. The boat is named Teatime, after the familys habit of sitting down to drink tea and talk together. The biggest problem they had was during a six-hour storm crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They lost a toaster and a satellite phone. They follow the changes in coronavirus rules in each country and take a test or go into quarantine when required. When we arrived in Martinique...we told authorities that we just spent 16 days on the open seas and they accepted that as quarantine, Domonkos said. They have enough food for a month. The six- and eight-year old daughters love watching their parents catch fish, such as tuna or mahi mahi. The two girls do remote learning and plan to study in local schools if possible, to learn in different cultures. Anna said the trip gave her freedom, although she cooks regularly and helps with the sails if needed. We saw dolphins jumping at the bow of the boat and swimming with us, with the sea totally calm, she said. Depending on COVID-19 restrictions, the family plans to sail this year or the next towards the Pacific Ocean. They say their trip could last up to six years more. That is because they might stop for longer periods of time in the southern Pacific and Indian Oceans. Im Armen Kassabian. Krisztina Than from Reuters reported this story. Armen Kassabian adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story quarantined adj. a period of time during which a person who might have a disease is kept ways from others to prevent spreading that disease fantastic adj. extremely good exhausted v. to use all of someone's mental or physical energy determination n. a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult toaster n. an electrical device used for heating up bread authorities n. people who have the power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws remote n. far away bow n. the front part of a boat How has the pandemic changed the way people live with their family? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Gehan Homes Enters Denver Market with Acquisition of Wonderland Homes Tweet this Wonderland Homes brings a balanced lot supply and a diversified product line. In addition to Wonderland's existing backlog of homes, Gehan Homes has acquired approximately 1,000 lots across the Denver area. Currently, the company has 4 actively selling communities. "Denver is a top 10 housing market with strong fundamentals for sustainable growth," says John Winniford, President and CEO of Gehan Homes, Ltd. "When researching the Denver market, we looked for a company that had an established team, sound leadership and shared similar core values. It became evident we found that with Wonderland Homes. We will work together to scale the business with a combination of our financial resources, their exceptional product and focus on the customer experience." Gehan Homes boasts more than 100 new home communities across Texas and Arizona, operating under the Gehan Homes and Gray Point Homes brands. Recent recognition and awards include ranking as the 10th largest private homebuilder in the US by Builder Magazine in 2020, 2020 Builder of the Year by The Texas Association of Builders and 2020 Best Product and Best Service Awards from Houzz. "Wonderland Homes' roots date back to 1966. In those 55 years, we sold and closed approximately 3,000 homes," said Steve Phua, Co-owner and President of Wonderland Homes. "Throughout our history, providing our customers with the best experience possible has always been our focus. In joining the Gehan Homes team, we believe Wonderland Homes will realize its full potential in our ongoing effort to be the Builder of Choice throughout the front range. We are proud that Gehan Homes has put their trust in our team and look forward to our new relationship together". Builder Advisor Group represented Wonderland Homes in the transaction. About Gehan Homes Gehan Homes, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Forestry America, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has been building beautiful new homes at an exceptional value for over 25 years. The builder is known for its award-winning designs, quality craftsmanship and competitive pricing. Gehan Homes is the 10th largest private homebuilder and the 26th largest homebuilder in the US and has offices in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, as well as Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, CO. For more information, visit gehanhomes.com Contact: Christina Lombardo 972-383-4300 [email protected] SOURCE Gehan Homes Related Links gehanhomes.com Guwahati, Feb 3 : Senior BJP leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that only Bangladesh can help the Congress get a "tsunami of votes" in the upcoming Assembly elections. Leaders of the opposition Congress in Assam had claimed on Tuesday that "a tsunami of votes" would be cast in favour of the party and its allies in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, which are expected to take place in April-May this year. Assam Congress President Ripun Bora sounded confident about the party's position after the formation of the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and three Left parties, including the CPI-M and the CPI, and one regional party -- Anchalik Gana Morcha. Sarma, who holds finance, PWD, health, education and other portfolios, while reacting to the Congress' claim, said: "There's no possibility of tsunami in Assam as the state is situated on the banks of rivers. Tsunami occurs in seas and that way, Bangladesh is better located. So their (Congress') tsunami would only come from across the border." Sarma's comment can also be attributed as an oblique attack on the Congress' alliance with the Muslim-based party AIUDF, which the BJP often accused of garnering support from "infiltrators", those who illegally entered the bordering state from Bangladesh. The AIUDF, led by Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, has majority followers and supporters from among the Bengali-speaking Muslims in western Assam and in southern Assam's Barak Valley, both regions sharing 263 km borders with Bangladesh. Bora and other Congress leaders have been claiming that the party along with its allies would secure 100 seats in the 126-member Assam assembly. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) An online survey spearheaded by University of Santo Tomas researchers shows around 9 out of 10 Filipinos have many concerns about the Covid vaccines. A high percentage of respondents from the UST-CoVAX research are worried on COVID-19 vaccines' effects (92.7%), efficacy (90.3%), safety (91.7%), and high cost (82.3%). The study, conducted from January 16-30 this year, revealed almost all of the over 15,600 respondents are also wary on fake vaccines (98%), vaccines being made too quickly (80.2%), vaccines not tested properly (83.5%), and ineffective vaccines against variants (84.5%). The UST-CoVAX open-access and online-based study also showed around 77.2% of the respondents want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine only "after many people have received the vaccine," while 71.6% will get inoculated "after politicians receive the vaccine." On vaccine brand confidence, around 75.3% are confident of getting immunized with COVID-19 vaccines made in the United States and Europe. Only 38.6% said they are confident with Russia-made COVID-19 vaccines and 17.7% on those made in China. The survey also showed almost 51% of the respondents do not prefer any COVID-19 vaccine brand and will use those which are safe and effective. The research also found that only 56% of over 15,600 respondents are willing to get inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines. Of the 56%, about 5,017 respondents or 32.1% answered "probably yes" if they will use a COVID-19 vaccine available in the country. Around 3,701 respondents or 23.7% chose the "definitely yes" option in the survey conducted by the UST-CoVAX research team. Some 5,304 respondents or 34% are unsure if they want to be vaccinated for COVID-19. About 1,042 respondents or 6.7% answered "probably no" and 541 respondents or 3.5% answered "definitely no." Past surveys showed a lot of Filipinos are still hesitant in getting vaccinated for COVID-19. In the latest Social Weather Stations survey released last January 7, around 47% of the respondents said they do not want to be vaccinated even if the doses are already available. Only 1/3 or 32% of the respondents said they are willing to be vaccinated, while 21% are undecided. An independent survey made by the OCTA Research team found that only 25% of respondents in Metro Manila are willing to get an anti-coronavirus vaccine shot when the vaccine becomes available in the country. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Philippine government is aiming to vaccinate at least 50 million to 70 million Filipinos this year, prioritizing frontliners and other members of vulnerable sectors of the society. So far, the government has granted Emergency Use Authority to two companies for the COVID-19 vaccines in the country. These are US drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech and the UK's AstraZeneca. 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 Since the end of 2020, Spain has seen both the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination drive and a spike in new infections. This has meant that residents of the countrys care homes which have been hardest hit by the virus have not escaped the impact of the third wave, even though they are in the first priority group for vaccination. A total of 29,757 people in Spain have died in social service residences due to the coronavirus or with compatible symptoms, between the beginning of the pandemic and the end of January, according to figures supplied by Spains regions. This figure includes care homes for seniors and also those for people with disabilities. This is a disaster. We should have saved the vaccination plan, not Christmas Manuel Franco, spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration But there is no centralized data on the number of deaths in these centers. The Spanish government has so far only released a report, dated June 23, that found that 20,268 people had died in social service residences due to the coronavirus or with compatible symptoms. It is also not known how many of these victims lived in senior homes, although it is likely that they make up the majority given that these centers have been one of the biggest hotspots for infection. Given the lack of centralized data, regional figures must be used. However, it is difficult to compare these numbers as the regions have different ways of counting deaths in residences. Asturias, Madrid and Castilla y Leon, for example, do not differentiate between victims in care homes for people with disabilities and senior residences. Indeed in Madrid, it is impossible to know the real number of fatalities as the region only counts victims who died at their care home not those who died in the hospital. But the evolution of the pandemic in social service residence can be gauged by the overall figures. In the middle of November, when Spain was grappling with the second wave of the pandemic, EL PAIS requested data from the regions on the number of Covid-19-related deaths in care homes. Between then and January 27, the closest date of the updated figures, 5,224 residents have died, according to regional data. This represents 26% of all Covid-19-related fatalities reported in Spain in this time period. Weve paid a high price for Christmas, says Susana Ruiz, a board member of Lares Federation, an industry group that represents around 1,000 residences run by non-profit groups. But according to Ruiz, the impact of the third wave has not been as great as the first, which caught us without personal protective equipment, tests or even an understanding about how the virus worked. Back then, she notes, the protocols in place also resulted in restrictions on sending ill residents to the hospital in overstretched regions. These days, everyone who needs medical assistance is receiving it, say industry sources, and there is better diagnosis capability. We had more deaths in January than in December, and more infections Andres Rueda, spokesperson of the Association of Social Service Directors and Managers While there is no centralized data for the whole of Spain, figures from regions such as Asturias highlight the difference between the first and third waves of the pandemic. In the first, 32% of all confirmed coronavirus infections were diagnosed in social service residences, and of these cases, 67% died. Fatalities in care homes represented 34% of the total death toll. In the third wave, based on data from January 1 to 25, these figures have dropped significantly: residents now account for 4.2% of all confirmed infections and 40% of all deaths. Of the coronavirus cases detected in care homes in this period, 8% have died. But the third wave of the pandemic continues to take a deadly toll on Spains social service residences. We had more deaths in January than in December, and more infections, says Andres Rueda, the spokesperson of the Association of Social Service Directors and Managers. When the virus enters, it continues to be devastating. Infections spread quickly, he explains, as it is impossible for workers and residents to respect social distancing rules. Jesus Molina Cabrilla, a specialist in preventive medicine, agrees: Although we make it difficult for the virus to enter, once it does, its where it causes the most harm: it is very easy for it to spread because these are closed institutions that are home to the most vulnerable people. One month after the launch of Spains vaccination drive, there are 13,848 active coronavirus infections in social security residences, according to regional data. This situation is particularly concerning in Valencia, the region with the highest 14-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants, where there are 4,636 active cases nearly a third of the total. This spike in infections is corroborated by the Spanish Health Ministry, which does provide centralized figures on the number of new cases linked to outbreaks. On December 18, it recorded 740 positive cases from 56 outbreaks. By January 29, these figures had jumped 134.5%, with 1,735 infections from 128 outbreaks reported. Vaccination drive Under Spains guidelines, the first priority group for vaccination is residents of care homes, medical workers and all adults with need for daily assistance even if they are not in residential care. Epidemiologist Manuel Franco, the spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration, believes that this will be key to fighting the third wave of the pandemic. A health worker vaccinating a care home resident in Torrijos in Castilla-La Mancha. olmo calvo When you have such tremendous community transmission, it is easy for the virus to enter anywhere: the home, the workplace, in schools, and as a result, in senior residences, no matter how much visits in and out of the center are restricted, he says. Franco is worried about the impact of the third wave, which is attributed to the relaxation of restrictions over the Christmas period. Although the second dose of the vaccine has begun to be rolled out, coronavirus cases continue to rise. This is a disaster. We should have saved the vaccination plan, not Christmas, says Franco. In some social service residences, the vaccination drive has not even begun due to coronavirus outbreaks. In other cases, centers have recorded new infections after the first dose was administered to residents. Ignacio Fernandez, the president of FED, an association that represents 2,000 care homes, admits that it is a dangerous time, explaining that centers are waiting desperately for the arrival of the second dose. While most regions have administered the first dose, some, such as the Canary Islands and Murcia, have already administered the second. According to preliminary data from Israel, a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides some protection from the virus, and early studies from the Catalan government also show that the first jab can have an effect 10 days after it is administered. For care homes, the coronavirus vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus Cubero, the secretary general of Aeste, an industry group that represents 400 centers, explains: From the beginning of March, we might be the only safe centers in Spain. Without letting our guard down, we have to prioritize the emotional wellbeing of the seniors, we have to start opening residences and allowing visits again. English version by Melissa Kitson. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Radio and TV presenter Kate Langbroek has shared her genius cooking hack. The 55-year-old comedian revealed on Wednesday how she makes sure her fingers never smell after chopping garlic. She was speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show when host Jackie 'O' Henderson said: 'You know a really good hack to not get the garlic smell stuck on your fingers.' Clever: Radio and TV presenter Kate Langbroek has shared her genius cooking hack 'This is the simplest thing, but you know when you've been cooking with garlic, it's often the smell is ingrained within your nails, like it's impregnated you,' she began. 'Even when you go to sleep that night, if you put your hand on your face or your pillow, there's this terrible smell.' She went on to explain how she gets rid of this odour quickly and easily. Common problem: The 55-year-old comedian revealed on Wednesday how she makes sure her fingers never smell after chopping garlic Kate said she runs her fingers 'up and down the blade' of a blunt stainless steel knife - ideally a butter knife - while it's under a stream of cold water. This method apparently 'gets rid of the smell' of garlic better than soap. 'It works with onion as well,' she added. Top tip: Kate runs her fingers 'up and down the blade' of a blunt stainless steel knife while it's under a stream of cold water. This method 'gets rid of the smell' of garlic better than soap Kate recently returned to Australia after a two-year extended holiday in Puglia, Italy, with her family. She is now a host on KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up, alongside Katie 'Monty' Dimond and Yumi Stynes. While living overseas, She regularly shared her cooking and eating experiences on Instagram. Expats: Kate recently returned to Australia after a two-year extended holiday in Puglia, Italy, with her family (pictured) Multi-year collaboration will use artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to accelerate the invention of new, more sustainable products and technologies for growers Insilico Medicine is a world leader in using AI and deep learning for the faster and more efficient innovation of new active ingredients Syngenta will harness the immense potential and scope of AI to develop the next generation of sustainable crop protection solutions Syngenta Crop Protection is collaborating with artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning company Insilico Medicine to accelerate the invention and development of new, more effective crop protection solutions that protect crops from diseases, weeds and pests, while also protecting ecosystems. By bringing new solutions to farmers faster and more efficiently through innovation, Syngenta will help them meet the ongoing challenges they face, in order to enhance productivity and meet global demand for affordable, quality food. "This collaboration with Insilico Medicine means that Syngenta can harness the immense potential and scope of AI to develop the next generation of sustainable crop protection solutions as part of Syngenta's $2bn commitment to innovation and sustainability," said Camilla Corsi, Head Crop Protection Research at Syngenta. "This will further transform agriculture by providing farmers around the world with the tools they need to produce healthy, nutritious, affordable and sustainably grown food in the most efficient way, while also minimizing the environmental impact." Insilico Medicine has a proven track record and has delivered significant advances in pharmaceutical research, using AI and deep learning to design, synthesize and validate new ingredients. The same approach also has the potential to transform the development of new crop protection solutions that help keep plants safe, from planting to harvesting. Working closely with Syngenta, Insilico Medicine will use their AI-powered small molecule generative chemistry technology not only to invent molecules for active ingredients faster, but also actively design molecules that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. "We are very happy to collaborate with a company that is dedicated to developing safe and sustainable solutions for growers," said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, founder, and CEO, Insilico Medicine. "Our artificial intelligence is designed from the ground up to produce very precise chemistry to protect human health, while ensuring short-term and long-term safety. This expertise is extremely valuable for crop sciences, and especially so for businesses whose top priority is the safety of their products. Syngenta is a progressive company with many brilliant scientists, and we will be working together to use artificial intelligence for the benefit of agriculture." "Our reputation as a global leader in innovation is built on a foundation of collaboration and our understanding of the challenges faced by growers," Camilla Corsi also noted. "Working together with Insilico Medicine, combining our skills, knowledge and technologies, will help ensure that new and more effective crop protection solutions will be in the hands of farmers sooner." About Syngenta Syngenta is one of the world's leading agriculture companies, comprising of Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group with 49,000 people in more than 100 countries and is working to transform how crops are grown. Through partnerships, collaboration and The Good Growth Plan we are committed to accelerating innovation for farmers and nature, striving for carbon neutral agriculture, helping people stay safe and healthy and partnering for impact. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta and www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS About Insilico Medicine Insilico Medicine develops software that leverages generative models, reinforcement learning (RL), and other modern machine learning techniques for the generation of new molecular structures with specific properties. Insilico Medicine also develops software for the generation of synthetic biological data, target identification, and the prediction of clinical trials outcomes. The company integrates two business models; providing AI-powered drug discovery services and software through its Pharma.AI platform (www.insilico.com/platform/) and developing its own pipeline of preclinical programs. The preclinical program is the result of pursuing novel drug targets and novel molecules discovered through its platforms. Since its inception in 2014, Insilico Medicine has raised over $52 million and received multiple industry awards. Insilico Medicine has also published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and has applied for over 25 patents. Website http://insilico.com/ Data protection is important to us. You are receiving this publication on the legal basis of Article 6 para 1 lit. f GDPR ("legitimate interest"). However, if you do not wish to receive further information about Syngenta, just send us a brief informal message and we will no longer process your details for this purpose. You can also find further details in our privacy statement. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. 2021 Syngenta. Rosentalstrasse 67, 4002 Basel, Switzerland. The Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006134/en/ Contacts: Syngenta Media Relations media.relations@syngenta.com Head Crop Protection External Communications Anna Bakola +32 488 43 94 85 anna.bakola@syngenta.com Insilico Medicine Polly Firs polly.firs@insilico.com We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Full results from Friday's state track meets Get your full results from the AA, A and B boys and girls state track meets here. KYIV -- Ukraine has sanctioned the media assets connected to a political heavyweight with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kyivs latest move against pro-Kremlin figures inside the country. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on February 2 signed off on the sanctions proposed by his national-security team against three television stations nominally owned by Taras Kozak, a member of the pro-Russian faction Opposition Platform For Life. However, Ukrainian media claim the broadcasters -- Ukrainian television channels 112, NewsOne, and ZIK -- are actually owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the factions political council and one of the richest and most influential individuals in the country. Medvedchuk denies he owns the television stations. The 66-year-old Medvedchuk, who picked Putin to be the godfather of his daughter, was sanctioned by the United States in March 2014 following the overthrow of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych for his role in undermining democracy in Ukraine. As a result of the sanctions approved on February 2, the stations were immediately shut down but they continue to stream their content on the Internet. Zelenskiy said in a posting on Twitter that the move had been a difficult decision and that Ukraine supported freedom of speech but not "propaganda financed by the aggressor country." Serhiy Leshchenko, a former member of Ukraines parliament, called the sanctions against the stations a powerful step and described the stations as a Russian Trojan horse for disseminating Kremlin propaganda inside the country. Leshchenko called for YouTube to ban the stations. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the presidential office, told local media that the channels were quite actively and often openly used as tools of foreign propaganda in Ukraine. "By shutting down opposition television channels, Zelenskiy acknowledged his inability to withstand political competition," Aleksei Pushkov, a political analyst and frequent critic of the West who is also a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, wrote on Twitter. "We regard this decision...as a political reprisal against objectionable media," channels 112, NewsOne, and ZiK said in a joint statement quoted by Reuters. The move is the latest in a series taken by Kyiv since late January against figures considered Russian agents and follow the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. It also comes a day after the first call between the new U.S. administration and Zelenskiy's government. On February 1, Zelenskiys Servant Of The People party voted to expel Oleksandr Dubinskiy, a lawmaker that Washington had put under sanctions over alleged interference in the 2020 U.S. election. And on January 28, Ukraine announced it had launched a criminal investigation into attempts by individuals to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The U.S. Treasury Department in September 2020 sanctioned Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach for interfering in the U.S. election, accusing him of being a Russian agent. Derkach published what he claimed was compromising information on Biden and his son, Hunter, in the months leading up to the November election in what was seen as an attempt to help incumbent President Donald Trump. Treasury in January also sanctioned seven individuals and four entities it claimed were associated with Derkachs influence operation, including Dubinskiy. Zelenskiys former national-security chief, Oleksandr Danylyuk, warned on January 27 that his former boss would have to clean house of those officials connected to the interference operation as it sought better relations with the new U.S. administration. The United States has been one of the biggest backers of Ukraine as it seeks to reform its economy and integrate with the European Union. Washington has given Ukraine more than $1.6 billion in military aid since 2014 to combat Russian aggression as well as billions in financial aid. Biden oversaw Ukraine policy while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017. With reporting by Reuters Prime Minister Florin Citu said that the government has completed an analysis of the bonuses paid in the public sector and which will be presented in the next period. He also emphasized that plans are afoot to amend the legislation this year so as to link performance to pay. "We have finished that analysis and there are some interesting things the Romanians should know and I will present them in the next period. I discovered bonuses I didn't know they even existed. I discovered situations where the legislation in force is not respected, as regards the bonus amount. (...) In the coming days I will publicly present the changes that will be made, but, as I said, the Unitary Pay Law is next, which we will amend this year, and we will do some corrections there. The biggest, or the most important change to this law is to link performance to pay. This doesn't exist in today's Pay Law. Bonuses are given arbitrarily, pays are given randomly. We will introduce performance criteria, this can be done and we can grant the bonus, if it exists, based on performance criteria. This is the most important change that we will operate to the Pay Law," Citu explained today at the Victoria Palace of Government. "Let me give you some examples of bonuses I had no idea they existed, but there are more of them. There's that premium everyone is talking about, for harmful conditions, which actually means things we do every day. Writing on a computer is no longer harmful, but there is a premium for that in certain institutions. These bonuses will be axed, as per a bill that will be issued this year, or maybe next year. This year we will start with a limitation and next year we will reset things. The Uniform Pay Law needs to be changed. I repeat, bonuses are good, they are a motivation for everyone to do their job better, but only when they are linked to performance criteria, not when they come from the manager's pen, indistinctively and without respecting certain rules. And then you will see that we will use this way to motivate people to better do their job in the public sector," PM Citu said. What do tomatoes, hemp and hydrogen gas have in common? Only one thing: they were all victims of misinformation that banned their use. Harmless products that could have had a positive role in the economy and society were shunned for generations. Opinion What do tomatoes, hemp and hydrogen gas have in common? Only one thing: they were all victims of misinformation that banned their use. Harmless products that could have had a positive role in the economy and society were shunned for generations. It seems incredible today to think that Europeans believed tomatoes were poisonous for about 200 years. People did get sick, and some died after eating tomatoes. The culprit was pewter dishes favoured by the upper classes. Tomato acid leached out enough lead out to be poisonous. The advent of porcelain dishware and Italian pizza finally sorted out the real problem. But once a myth is born, it can be hard for the truth to emerge. Europe lagged a long time behind North America in tomato consumption. The prohibition of hemp, the fibre of the cannabis plant, has a more nuanced story and competing explanations. Some accounts sound like conspiracy theories. The alleged conspirators were industrialists in paper, plastics and pharmaceuticals who sought drug regulations to eliminate hemp as their competitor. This is difficult to prove, but economist George Stiglers seminal article in 1971 on the economics of regulation lends support to the theory. The best-documented cause of hemps vilification is racism. Notable racist slurs by U.S. government official Harry Anslinger, who drafted the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, leave no doubt of his bias. As commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, he targeted racialized minorities who used hemp plants. The fear-mongering has ended in most places and important uses for hemp and cannabis are making a valuable contribution to health care, nutrition and fibre. But the stigma of the false claims continue, as does prohibition in many places. Hydrogen ban Unlike the prohibition on hemp, hydrogen gas bans in the United States and Canada are extremely narrow. Its legal to use hydrogen for almost every conceivable purpose, except one: as a gas to provide buoyancy for airships, more commonly known as blimps (although there are differences between airships, blimps and dirigibles). In fact, Canada still has a ban enshrined in its air regulations that states: "Hydrogen is not an acceptable lifting gas for use in airships." Canadas ban on this use of hydrogen is strange given that Canada has never had an airship industry. The origins of the false information that led to this ban on the use of hydrogen are even more surprising. Helium was discovered in natural gas in Kansas in 1903, and an experimental refinery was built in Texas in 1915. At great expense, a few barrage balloons were filled with helium during the First World War. After the war, the need for helium was unclear. But officials from the U.S. Bureau of Mines wanted to protect their newly established helium refinery. They took advantage of the Roma airship accident in 1922 to sell helium to the military. The Roma was a hydrogen-filled, Italian-built airship sold to the U.S. army. During trials, its rudder broke and the airship crashed in Norfolk, Va., hitting power lines during its descent. All 34 crew members were lost. Spreading a falsehood via the media that the crew would have survived had the airship had been filled with helium, the Bureau of Mines was given an audience in Washington, D.C. Before Congress, they staged a demonstration with two balloons and a burning splint. The one filled with helium doused the burning splint. The one marked hydrogen would have put the flame out too, if it were more than 75 per cent pure, but contaminated hydrogen gas is explosive. When the burning splint touched the balloon, it went off like a cannon, rattling the windows in Congress. Based on this poorly designed high school chemistry level experiment, U.S. politicians banned the use of hydrogen in airships. Rubber-stamped laws After the Second World War, when the U.S. became the dominant world air power, its regulations were rubber-stamped into the laws of other nations, including Canada. This is how Canada came to have a regulation banning hydrogen in airships that is grounded in neither science nor engineering research. The ban stems from a political decision made in a foreign country 98 years ago based on misinformation. Hydrogen gas is increasingly heralded as the mobile energy source of the green economy. Hydrogen fuel cells are used for electric cars, buses, boats, forklifts, trains and recently a converted Piper airplane. It is perfectly legal to carry hydrogen in a high-pressure container to power any vehicle, including an airship, but not if carried in a zero-pressure container (gas cell) to lift the airship. The prohibition on hydrogen has held back research and created doubts about the economic viability of airships that must depend on scarce, finite supplies of helium. Lies and misinformation have consequences. Canada needs a transportation solution to the chronic problems of food insecurity, crowded housing and poverty in remote Indigenous communities. Hydrogen-filled cargo airships could do for the Northern economy what the railways did for Western Canada 125 years ago. In the 21st century, myths and misrepresentations should not go unchallenged. Regulatory decisions made when we were still hand-cranking cars should either be justified or removed from the books. Barry E. Prentice is a professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba. This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca. Georgia Republican State Senators Propose Bills to End No-excuse Mail Voting, Automatic Registration A group of Republican state senators introduced a series of bills on Feb. 1 that would amend the Peach States election laws to end statewide vote-by-mail, the use of ballot drop boxes, and automatic voter registration. The package of eight bills also includes a measure that would require voters to provide a copy of their identification or drivers license when applying for an absentee ballot. The bills represent a major overhaul of the way Georgia runs its elections after Republicans lost the presidential election and two special elections for the U.S. Senate. Then-President Donald Trump had challenged the validity of the outcome of the presidential election in the state. Two recounts failed to turn up any significant irregularities and several court challenges failed to deliver results. Weve got to restore confidence in the ballot box. When people lose confidence in the ballot box they ultimately lose confidence in their government, Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) said of the bills, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Our goal is to be sure every vote is accounted for, accurate and legal. One of the bills prohibits the use of ballot drop boxes as a mode of collection and delivery of absentee ballots. Another bill would require voters to submit a copy of their drivers license; Voters who forget to include a photocopy will be notified and given a chance to correct the problem. And a separate bill would prohibit new Georgia residents who voted in another state during the general election from voting in runoff elections. The proposed bills would also expand poll watcher access, ban non-profits from mailing absentee ballots to voters, and mandate regular updates to election officials about voters who died. Democrats used a familiar line of attack against the measures, lumping in each of the proposed changes in the voter suppression category. Its voter suppression. If you restrict access, then people get discouraged and they dont vote. They dont come back, Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) told the Journal. We have to make the argument that its a good process. People were able to vote, and they voted in record numbers. More than 1.3 million people in Georgia cast absentee ballots ahead of the November 2020 election. Skyroot Aerospace's programme to launch India's first-ever privately-designed and developed rocket, Vikram-1, received a boost with the Department of Space entering into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the Hyderabad-based company building small satellite launch vehicles. The NDA signed on Tuesday will enable the company, run by former ISRO scientists, to access the facilities and technical expertise available in ISRO centres to proceed with its launch vehicle development programme. Indian Space Research Organisation's Scientific Secretary R. Umamaheswaran signed the agreement on behalf of Department of Space and Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana signed the agreement from the company's side. Skyroot representatives also met ISRO chief Dr K. Sivan, who assured all support to Skyroot for testing and qualifying their launch vehicle. Chandana told IANS that the NDA marks the formal beginning of their working with ISRO. "From this point onwards, we will exchange data and we will exchange technical expertise, especially from ISRO to us that will enable us to do our programme faster and more reliably because we will have ISRO's strength along with us now and we get to use all testing facilities including testing and launching," he said. Chandana, a former ISRO scientist, pointed out that the national space agency has a committee which gives all approvals including for utilisation of test facilities. Chandana, who founded Skyroot along with former ISRO scientists Naga Bharath Daka and Vasudevan Gnanagandhi, said they plan to launch their first rocket by the end of 2021. "We are planning to do a launch by the end of this year. For that, all hardware, propulsion will be tested at ISRO," he said. The company's vision for Indian space is rapid development of complex aerospace systems with lean use of resources. "We are building the first private Indian launch vehicle to put a satellite in orbit and marching ahead to compete for a reasonable share in the international small satellite launch market which is estimated to be $16Bn in the next decade," says Chandana on the company website. Skyroot is developing a family of rockets especially crafted for the small satellite market and named after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's space programme. Built on common architecture and covering a wide range of payloads, they offer the most affordable and on demand ride to space. Vikram-I requires minimal range infrastructure and can be assembled and launched within 24 hours from any launch site. Skyroot has already achieved few milestones in its journey to launch the first rocket. It successfully test-fired its first solid rocket propulsion stage demonstrator. Named Kalam-5, it is first of the five engines the company plans to test. Backed by investors like Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal, the company has raised $4.3 million till now and plans to raise another $15 million during the current year. --IANS ms/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Sri Lanka: Fishing in troubled waters February 03,2021 | Source: Telangana Today APJ Abdul Kalam, the late President of India, had once suggested a very sensible solution to the long-standing animosity between India and Sri Lanka over the two countries fishermens rights to fish in disputed waters. Kalam had suggested that fishermen of India and Sri Lanka may be permitted to fish in the disputed waters of the Palk Bay, Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar on alternate days. After him, many other commentators have also sung the same tune. But those have not been able to lift India and Sri Lanka out of their deep slumber. Both New Delhi and Colombo have been affirming their commitment to find a permanent solution to the fishermen issue for a long time. But very little has moved in this direction. A tragic incident occurred in the third week of last month when four Indian fishermen lost their lives after their boat collided with a Sri Lankan navy vessel and then sunk. There is an unofficial estimate that since the middle of the 1970s when the bilateral crisis raised its head first as India handed over the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, more than 700 Indian fishermen have been killed by the Sri Lankan navy. Deep Rooted Business The problem has now become a deep rooted one and a piecemeal approach adopted by the Indira Gandhi-led government in the 1970s is responsible for it. New Delhi handed over Katchatheevu to Colombo but Indias then External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh asserted that Indian fishermen would continue to enjoy fishing rights in and around Katchatheevu. So how can any government in New Delhi face and deny the assertion made by the fishermen community of Tamil Nadu that Katchatheevu belongs to India? Let us look at the piquant ground reality surrounding the issue. Tamil Nadu has a large fishermen population depending on deep-sea fishing the number hovers around 2,70,000. On the Sri Lankan side, the figure is gigantic nearly 12 lakh. The presence of such a large number of population in the trade indicates that the catches from the sea have a brisk internal and export market. An inevitable corollary is the investment of big capital in the fishing business of the area. So a giant-sized fishing industry has grown in five districts of Tamil Nadu bordering the Palk Bay, which has attracted large investments from several non-fishing communities thus elbowing out many traditional fishermen. Had it been just a case of small-time fishings by the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka, the problem might not have grown into a festering sore in bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka. But the infusion of big capital has changed the scenario altogether. In 1986, the number of registered trawlers in Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu was 1,568. But in 2000, this number shot up to 3,339. It is widely believed that Rameswaram alone has more than 1,000 mechanised trawlers today. According to a recent estimate, small coastal stretches of Rameswaram, Mandapam and Pamban have 2,500 trawlers while Kottaipattinam and Pudukkottai have another 400. Add to it the number of trawlers in other coastal locations and the figure becomes stupendous. Blame Games Indulging in blame games will serve no purpose because socioeconomic conditions in certain parts of India and Sri Lanka have linkages with the disputed water. Local economies of three districts of Sri Lankas Northern Province are dependent on fishing. More importantly, the Northern Province of Sri Lanka accounts for more than one-third of the countrys marine catch. So the marine products segment of the countrys export economy has its stake in this region. At the same time, the fishermen of Tamil Nadu have also no other way but to cross the International Maritime Boundary Line because resources within the Indian exclusive economic zone are becoming more and more scarce due to the harmful practice of bottom trawling by Indian trawlers. The crisis is no doubt a fall out of the hastily drawn up maritime boundary agreement between India and Sri Lanka in 1974. Neither the then Tamil Nadu government nor the fishermen were engaged by the Government of India in any detailed discussion. The agreement gives Indian fishermen the right to rest, drying up of nets and participate in the annual St Anthonys festival on the Katchatheevu island but it does not give fishing rights. So Swaran Singhs statement assuring fishing rights to Indian fishermen was perhaps an exercise in assuaging wounded sentiments in Tamil Nadu. But it has made the issue more complex. Solution But where does lie the solution? Well, India will have to take the initiative as the bigger country. First, the use of trawlers in the Palk Bay must be prohibited. Sri Lanka has already done it in their side of the said sea route. Second, the fishermen in Tamil Nadu must be convinced not to cross the International Maritime Boundary Line till a permanent solution is found. This will be easy to achieve as any impounded foreign fishing boat in Sri Lankan waters is now charged a penalty of minimum LKR 6 million, which may reach up to LKR 175 million maximum. Thirdly, New Delhi must correct its cardinal mistake of allowing mechanised infrastructure of fishing in Tamil Nadu and instead go back to traditional fishing methods. This will be justice for the traditional fishing communities many of whose members have been forced to become wage labourers in mechanised trawlers. Quantity of marine catch within the Indian side of the exclusive economic zone is low due to bottom trawling and New Delhi has to look for an alternative mechanism. A good idea is to set up a Palk Bay Authority which would set up downstream processing industries for limiting the number of fishermen going into the sea. Another fruitful step may be creation of fishermens cooperatives comprising representatives from both the countries. Through mutual consent, limited fishing days a 12-hour time limit for each fishing trip, and for the Indian fishermen, a prescribed distance of three nautical miles from the Sri Lankan shore may be introduced. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Nationwide, there is still a lot of concern when it comes to the economy. Despite all of this, there is good news. According to Inside Indiana Business, the state of Indiana's economic position is likely to recover strongly. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation said 2020 was the fourth straight record year for economic development deals. The corporation said they had 31,000 job commitments statewide. The smaller economic shutdowns in the Wabash Valley, compared to other states, are one of the reasons the region was able to recover more quickly. Leisure and hospitality sectors were the hardest hit in terms of jobs lost, but, new infrastructure, including a new casino and convention center will provide more jobs and hopefully bring more people to the area. This will help increase tourism and fuel the Terre Haute economy. "The pieces are beginning to fall into place," Gerry Dick, host of Inside Indiana Business said. "The big question and the big challenge is how does Terre Haute, how does the Wabash Valley, how do they take advantage of that and really begin to attract people who want to come visit?" Additionally, the state of Indiana saw some growth in the real estate market. West Central Indiana specifically saw an increase in sales of over thirteen percent. We currently lead the state in terms of sold real estate year over year. "The need for housing does not stop during a global pandemic," explains Bernice Helman, Vice President of Coldwell Banker Realtors. "The demand was strong and the home became more important than ever." Although we are seeing some positive trends, the main issue this area is facing is lack of inventory as the state sees historical lows for listings available. In other words, there are not enough homes for sale in this area for the number of people wanting a home. This is good news for sellers, not so good news for home buyers. VANCOUVER, WA / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / ORCHID VENTURES, INC. (CSE:ORCD)(OTC PINK:ORVRF) (the "Company" or "Orchid"), a multi-state cannabis innovation company, announces that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Weedbox, a licensed Canadian cannabis retail and technology company. The licensing agreement states that Weedbox has secured the exclusive Canadian rights to manufacture, market and sell the Orchid Brand of clean vaporizer hardware that has been emissions tested against the most stringent standards in the world set forth by the EU. As per terms of the agreement, Weedbox will pay Orchid Brands a royalty on all net sales for a period of 10 years with an auto renewal for 5 years thereafter. As part of the agreement Weedbox will purchase proprietary hardware from Orchid's wholly owned subsidiary, PurTec Delivery Systems and will have access to PurTec's bioavailability solutions to increase the absorption of THC and other cannabinoids. According to the licensing agreement, to maintain exclusive rights to Orchid in Canada, Weedbox must be producing and selling 37,000 units per month by month 4 (four) of the agreement and 75,000 units per month by month 8 (eight). The company expects products to be ready for retail in early April 2021 pending Health Canada approval. All products will be manufactured by the Licensed Producer, Diteba Laboratories. Learn more at diteba.com/cannabis. "We are pleased to announce the further expansion of the Orchid Essentials brand license platform into our first international market, Canada. As a fellow Canadian, it is exciting to be able to bring the Orchid brand into the country where I was born and that I am still very connected with. The selection of Weedbox as our Licensee partner was made after evaluating other options under consideration and after finalizing our evaluation and qualification assessments. The decision to select Weedbox was due to a combination of their industry experience and knowledge of the Canadian market, their strong marketing and sales capabilities, their technology platform TokeText and their access to capital, which is critical to building the infrastructure and inventories necessary to ensure a successful launch of Orchid and continued growth", said Rick Brown, President of Orchid Ventures. "We feel that Orchid is highly differentiated from the existing vape products available throughout Canada and that our positioning of best price-value, highest quality and testing standards will resonate with the Canadian consumer. By leveraging Weedbox's ability to secure and expand distribution, effectively manage the retail marketplace, plus their commitment to aggressively market and sell our portfolio of Orchid products in Canada, we are confident that this relationship will be successful." Jeremy Potvin, CEO of Weedbox stated, "We are thrilled to announce Weedbox joining the Orchid Essentials family and to represent their brand in the Canadian market. With clean vaporizer hardware, unrivalled product quality and value pricing, the Orchid suite of products has always been an in-house favourite of the Weedbox team. Their clean vaporizer hardware has been emissions tested against the most stringent standards in the world set forth by the EU, and we are very excited to bring this level of excellence to the Canadian consumer." ABOUT ORCHID VENTURES Orchid Ventures is an Irvine, CA-based cannabis innovation company, that launched in Oregon and California in August 2017 and has since developed a mass-market brand and loyal consumer following with its premium cannabis products and unique vape hardware delivery system. Since July 2019, Orchid has diversified its efforts and has brought to market innovative services and product offerings to support brands throughout the global cannabis industry. Orchid has diversified its portfolio to include PurTec Delivery Systems, a company that produces, markets and sells clean vaporizer hardware that has been emissions tested against the most stringent standards in the world set forth by the EU and has unrivaled product quality and value pricing. Orchid, through its wholly owned subsidiary, has launched a patented and clinically proven bioavailability solution to increase the absorption of THC and other cannabinoids making products much more effective and an activation time of less than ten minutes. With a continued focus on brand and intellectual property development, Orchid will continue to create new and innovative products and technologies, then bring them to the global cannabis marketplace and set the gold standard for delivery systems whether it's vape or formulation sciences. Orchid's management brings significant branding, product development and distribution experience with a proven track record of scaling businesses and building sustainable revenue growth through value-generating partnerships and innovation that creates enterprise value. Learn more at https://orchidessentials.com/ About Weedbox Weedbox Inc. is an Ontario based cannabis retail and technology company. Through its proprietary SMS based marketing platform TokeText, Weedbox has built an unmatched level of consumer reach through its proprietary media channels and exciting and frictionless cannabis shopping experience. Learn more at https://weedbox.io/ For More Information: ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS - ORCHID VENTURES, INC. Corey Mangold CEO and Director investors@orchidessentials.com Investor Relations Corey Mangold 949-357-5818 corey@orchidessentials.com ON BEHALF OF WEEDBOX Jeremy Potvin CEO, Co-Founder 416-841-7664 The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Safe Harbor Statement Except for historical information contained herein, statements in this release may be forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Orchid Ventures, Inc. and Orchid Essentials any of its affiliates or subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company") or its management, identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and probably will, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including those described above and those risks discussed from time to time in the Company's Canadian securities regulatory filings with sedar.com, Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include such factors as (i) the development and protection of our brands and other intellectual property, (ii) the need to raise capital to meet business requirements, (iii) significant fluctuations in marketing expenses, (iv) the ability to achieve and expand significant levels of revenues, or recognize net income, from the sale of our products and services, (v) the Company's ability to conduct the business if there are changes in laws, regulations, or government policies related to cannabis, (vi) management's ability to attract and maintain qualified personnel necessary for the development and commercialization of its planned products, and (vii) other information that may be detailed from time to time in the Company's Canadian securities regulatory filings with sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE: Orchid Ventures, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627542/Orchid-Ventures-Enters-into-an-Exclusive-Licensing-Agreement-with-Weedbox-to-Launch-the-Orchid-Brand-Throughout-Canada Abby Johnson's new project helps women seek legal action for post-abortion injuries Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A prominent pro-life activist has started a new project designed to help women who want to take legal action after experiencing complications from an abortion. Hurt After Abortion, launched last month, is the latest project of Pro-Love Ministries, which was founded by pro-life activist and former Planned Parenthood Employee of the Year, Abby Johnson. The project is a partnership with the Thomas More Society, a notable Catholic law firm. Pamela Whitehead, who serves as executive director of Hurt After Abortion, described the project in an interview with The Christian Post. We have a website and the hope is that women who have been physically harmed by having an abortion procedure and who are seeking help in some way would find our site, she said. We offer a free legal consultation and if the lawyers decide to take her case, then their services would be free of charge to her. We also offer a referral to an options-based healing network for abortion that would individualize the care to that woman based on her needs. We also can help women access their medical records and get a copy of their medical records. Many people dont even know that they have that access, that they have that right. Often women, part of their healing journey is looking back and trying to remember exactly what happened," Whitehead said. "Many women who go through these procedures and have an injury feel like maybe they got what they deserved, or this is just what happened to me and I cant hear this because I already have shame about what Ive done, she added. After expressing a desire for states to increase health and safety oversight at abortion clinics, Whitehead described her expectations for the new project as limitless." We really believe that God is going to send the women to us. We know without a doubt that many of these women are sitting at church. ... We believe that many of those women are sitting in our church pews seeking answers, looking for help and also not finding it, so we hope to be that help. In an interview with CP, Johnson offered details about her own inspiration for creating the Hurt After Abortion project. In addition to operating six projects under Pro-Love Ministries, Johnson also founded the group And Then There Were None, which is designed to help abortion clinic workers leave the industry. Johnson told CP that she had long wanted to place billboards outside of abortion clinics that just simply said: Have you been hurt after an abortion? I have a lot of kids, so I would be up late at night, nursing or feeding babies, and I would see all of these advertisements for law firms. Im assuming they were class-action lawsuits and they would say, If youve been hurt by these products or if youve been hurt by this thing or that thing, call this law office. And I just thought, why arent we doing something like that in the pro-life movement? I even called my private attorneys on multiple occasions to discuss being an expert witness on various personal injury lawsuits that patients had filed, but those always settle out of court. And so I thought, there have to be women who want to come forward who have been harmed by the abortion industry, but they just dont know where to go. And that had always been in the back of my mind for years. As Johnson explained, Whitehead went to the Vita Institute at Notre Dame one summer where she had the realization that we also need to be reaching out to these women and giving them an opportunity to seek legal recourse. Whitehead elaborated on what happened during her 2019 trip to the Vita Institute that led her to have that realization. Im sitting in this session, the lecture, and Carter Snead is the dean of the de Nicola Center for Ethics & Culture at Notre Dame, and he was giving a lecture on the history of abortion in America, she recounted to CP. After mentioning several challenges over the years to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, Snead noted that each time, the case would go to the Supreme Court but there wasnt enough evidence to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he said that several times with every case throughout the lecture. Whitehead told CP that the premise that there was not enough evidence to overturn Roe resounded in me loudly and reminded her of her own experience of having an abortion in 2001: I left that clinic in an ambulance because I was injured. The 14th Amendment gives women, supposedly gives the right to have an abortion because of the right to privacy. But theres another part of the 14th Amendment that is supposed to afford us equal protection under the law. And as he was talking, I was reminded of that. I did not receive equal protection; I was not given the same standard of care that women who were having other surgeries were given, she contended. Whitehead suffered a perforated uterus during her abortion, even though she was told that the procedure was a safe form of healthcare and that it would improve her life. Following Sneads speech at the Vita Institute, Whitehead spoke with him and asserted that women who have been harmed by abortion are the evidence thats needed to overturn Roe. After returning from the Vita Institute, Whitehead shared her idea to create what would eventually become the Hurt After Abortion project. Johnson believed at the time that it was a project Pro-Love Ministries could undertake, but also realized she would have to find attorneys who are willing to actually try these cases. And so, I talked to the Thomas More Society who we work with frequently for our And Then There Were None clients, and I talked to them about it and said, Look, if we do this, will you help us, will you litigate these cases for us? And they were all in, Johnson recalled. One thing just sort of led to another, and we realized that we had enough help to actually get this thing going. According to Hurt After Abortion, physical injuries from abortion include heavy bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, perforation of the uterus, (and) damage to internal organs. Abortions can also result in psychological injuries, such as eating disorders, relationship problems, flashbacks of abortion, suicidal thoughts, sexual dysfunction, alcohol and drug abuse, (and) self-harm, as well as the emotional hurts of guilt, regret, depression, (and) anger. One of the problems that we have here in the United States is we have very poor tracking of these complication rates, Johnson said. So when a woman presents to an emergency room and she had an abortion and shes bleeding, theyre going to report that as just simply a hemorrhage. Theyre not going to say, Oh, she was hemorrhaging because of an abortion, theyre just going to say shes hemorrhaging. Johnson explained that in Finland, a country with better tracking, Their serious complication rate lies at about 20%, adding, We know that the complication rate is a lot higher in the United States than what the abortion industry claims it is. Its just because of poor reporting that we dont actually know what that rate is. While the Hurt After Abortion project is itself a new venture, Johnson is already looking down the road for new opportunities to expand her pro-life ministry: We always have projects on the horizon, we always have ideas that were coming up with. Were always looking for gaps that need to be filled. Were always looking for how we can best serve women and their children. A bank is being accused of consistently arguing that customers are not entitled to a tracker rate and compensation, despite controversy going on for more than a decade now. Financial services ombudsman Ger Deering said it was disappointing that the unnamed bank was taking this position. The bank appears to have previously agreed it should have given the customers trackers. But once the compensation amount is appealed to the ombudsman, the bank reverts to denying that customers should have had a tracker in the first place. Mr Deering said the bank claims customers have not demonstrated any inconvenience caused by its overcharging, even though the bank has already conceded that they are entitled to a tracker rate. The Irish Independent first revealed tracker overcharging and attempts by lenders to deny people a good-value tracker rate at the end of 2009. Then financial services ombudsman Joe Meade had asked the Central Bank to probe the tracker issue, but it was 2015 before the regulator intervened. In an update on legally binding decisions he took last year, current ombudsman Mr Deering said his office continues to get a stream of tracker mortgage complaints. A number of the complaints involve cases where the lender has previously conceded the customer should have a tracker. Customers then make a complaint to the ombudsman about the amount of compensation owed. Read More Mr Deering said: It is disappointing that in such limited complaints, one particular bank continues to argue that the customers in question have no entitlement to a tracker rate of interest. He said the bank was persisting with this argument even in circumstances where it has already conceded the customers are entitled to a tracker rate as part of the Central Bank probe. Mr Deering said of the attitude of the bank: This is not helpful in terms of seeking to resolve these complaints. He said the bank regularly argues that its customers have not demonstrated any inconvenience caused by its overcharging. In my opinion, such statements demonstrate a complete lack of empathy or understanding of the consequences of the banks actions, he added. The ombudsmans report reveals that compensation amounts ranging from 15,000 to 22,000 have been paid to three homeowners who made tracker complaints. About 41,700 customers have so far received compensation for tracker overcharging and being denied the rate, with banks having to pay 708m in redress. But Mr Deering warned that many people making complaints to his office think they should have had a tracker rate, when there is no basis for that argument. The ombudsman received around 500 additional tracker complaints last year. It closed 600 previously received complaints and has 1,200 on hand. 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. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19, according to results published Tuesday that independent experts said allayed transparency concerns over the jab, which Moscow is already rolling out. Experts said the Phase III trial results meant the world had another effective weapon to fight the deadly pandemic and justified to some extent Moscow's decision to roll out the vaccine before final data had been released. The new analysis of data from 20,000 Phase 3 trial participants, published in the medical journal The Lancet, suggests that the two-dose vaccination offers more than 90 percent efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19. On Tuesday, Kirill Dmitriev who is head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said production had started in India and South Korea, and would launch in China this month. Dmitriev further added that doses have also been produced by a manufacturer in Brazil. Dr Reddy's has partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution rights in India. Dr Reddy's Laboratories had last month received approval from the Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 3 clinical trial for the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19. With inputs from agencies Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A parliamentary panel has recommended that the administration, the Ministry of Tourism and other stakeholders must try to remove "negative publicity" in the press of the region and use social media to "promote" a more positive image of it. The 280th report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture -- "Action Taken by the Government on the Recommendations/ Observations of the Committee Contained in its Two Hundred and Seventieth Report on 'Development of Tourism in Jammu and Kashmir'" said that industry bodies should also be encouraged to hold meetings and visit the region. "The committee recommends that the state government, Ministry of Tourism and the various other stakeholders must endeavour to remove the negative publicity in the press by finding innovative means to engage with the world at large via the social media. "In this age of You Tube and social platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, social media influencers may be engaged to promote a more positive image of the state," the panel said. It recommended that the state government engage with ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI to invite and encourage companies to host meetings and visits in the region. "The committee feels that websites of the Ministry of Tourism and its various arms should be made interactive and user-friendly. Mobile applications and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. should be harnessed as a quick and cost effective medium for tourism marketing," the panel said. The ministry in its reply said that it proactively leverages the potential of social media in marketing and promotion of India, both in the domestic as well as in the overseas markets. It also said that it maintains accounts in leading social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo and Periscope. "Since, May 2016, a professional social media agency has been appointed to manage the social media activities on ministry's social media handles. A large number of posts/tweets/messages are regularly posted/tweeted on various facets of India including with a view to provide wide publicity about various destinations in India, it said. The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP TG Venkatesh presented its 280th, 281th, 282th, 283th, 284th, 285th and 286th reports to Parliament on Wednesday. Another recommendation of the committee is that in order to provide safety against accidents to the tourist vehicles especially after sunset till sunrise, mobile ambulances should be made available with a facility to provide immediate first aid to injured tourists on the spot and carry them later to the nearest hospital for further treatment. A toll-free helpline number can also be launched, it said. The parliamentary committee also recommended that a web-based monitoring system be developed to review the physical progress of road projects in pilgrimage destinations and border towns of the Union Territory of The panel , in another report on cargo handling at major ports, has also recommended that to boost cruise tourism at NMPT, a separate task force on cruise tourism should be formed jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping with representatives of all major stakeholders. The committee would like the ministry to furnish the details of cruise terminal projects and related infrastructure projects sanctioned to the Mangalore Port. The panel has also advised the relevant department to prepare an analysis report of all the major ports and also those minor ports which are situated near ecologically sensitive regions like protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, ecological hotspots and marine ecosystems. The study should focus on causes and remedial steps taken by the authorities concerned to tackle oil spillage, hazardous cargo, dirty and dusty cargo, it said. On basis of such report, an Action Taken Plan must be prepared to prevent such unforeseen situations in future so as to protect the environment, 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.) A day after Myanmars military pulled off a well-choreographed coup, the countrys civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, finds herself right back where she was just over a decade ago under house arrest. But this time, her standoff with the generals comes after she has sorely disappointed many once-staunch supporters in the international community by cosying up to the countrys generals while in power. Leaders in the West are still denouncing her detention, of course but they no longer view her as a paragon of democratic leadership. Ms Suu Kyis party won last Novembers elections by a landslide, catching the generals by surprise. They immediately cried voter fraud an allegation the countrys election commission has dismissed and proved on Monday who really controls the country, rounding up Ms Suu Kyi and other top leaders under the cover of darkness, just hours before a new session of parliament was set to convene. With flights grounded and communications largely cut, Myanmar plunged back into isolation and darkness, ending 10 years of new freedoms and quasi-civilian rule that the Obama administration held up as a beacon of nascent democracy. The military-owned Myawaddy TV said the country would be under a one-year state of emergency. Expand Close Military: File photo of Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmars commander-in-chief with Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Military: File photo of Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmars commander-in-chief with Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters Now its not clear who can lead the country out of the wilderness, with Ms Suu Kyis reputation abroad badly tarnished. I believe that Aung San Suu Kyi has been an accomplice with the military, said veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson. I hope she realises that her compact with the devil has boomeranged against her, and that she will now take the right stand on behalf of democracy. Ms Suu Kyi the daughter of independence hero and father of the nation, Bogyote Aung San spent almost 15 years under house arrest before her release in 2010. Her tough stand against the junta turned her into a symbol of peaceful resistance against oppressors and won her the Nobel Peace Prize. Read More During her years of confinement, a parade of foreign diplomats, human rights advocates and Nobel laureates streamed into her lakeside villa, demanding the hardline military free the elegant woman known as The Lady. But since her release and return to politics, Ms Suu Kyi has been heavily criticised for the political gamble she made, showing deference to the military while ignoring and, at times, even defending atrocities most notably a 2017 crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that the United States and others have labelled genocide. When Ms Suu Kyi refuted allegations at the UN International Court of Justice at The Hague just over a year ago that army personnel killed Rohingya civilians, torched houses and raped women, fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams saw it as a betrayal. Beyond rhetoric during election campaigns, what does she really believe in? What does democracy mean to her? asked Ms Williams, who won the prize for her work to ban landmines. Ms Suu Kyi called such criticism unfair, insisting that she had never considered herself a human rights icon. She had always been, she argued, a politician. London: Britain has given 10 million people the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday. This is a hugely significant milestone in our national effort against this virus, he said on Twitter. Meanwhile, foreign visitors travelling to Sweden will need to show they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 48 hours, the government said on Wednesday. The decision followed a recommendation last week by the countrys Health Agency and is aimed at keeping new variants of the virus from spreading. A move to limit outdoor music events near neighborhoods in Jefferson Parish was delayed Wednesday after a Parish Council member wondered if it would pass legal muster. Jennifer Van Vrancken's objection drew a frustrated reaction from the measure's sponsor, Councilmember Deano Bonano, who complained that the measure has been discussed for months and should not be deferred. The ordinance would require any business within 1,000 feet of residential-zoned property to get a special event permit from the parish before it could host any outdoor music or event on private property. Such permits are already required for events on public property. Bonano said that he and Councilmember Byron Lee have received complaints from residents who had been plagued by loud music on weeknights, especially since restrictions enacted to slow the spread of coronavirus have severely limited indoor gatherings. In one case, Lee said, a business owner in his district even closed part of Acre Road in Marrero to host an event in the fall. "I got the administration and others involved to go shut the event down," Lee said. "But we did not have enough teeth in our ordinance so we are looking to prevent that." Under the proposal up for consideration Wednesday, venues would have to submit an application to the parish council to host an outdoor event on their property if it is within the 1,000 foot radius of a residential zone. Businesses outside that radius would not need a permit. Van Vrancken said she agreed with the intent of the ordinance and the concerns from council members who are fielding complains. But she said it was unclear whether the proposal takes into account legal concerns over how the distances were measured. She also said that she had been told the Louisiana Restaurant Association had not been consulted on the plan. "I'm concerned that we may be about to burden the good actors and people who are just trying to survive," she said. Van Vranken asked for a one-meeting deferral, until Feb. 24, a request that is traditionally honored on the council. Bonano's exasperation was evident. 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 "I have to express my frustration ... this item in some form has been on the agenda for two months," he said. "At some point these last-minute requests for deferrals for items that have been on the agenda for numerous weeks have to stop." Van Vrancken argued the prior versions had been canceled and that the current measure had only been published last week. Interested parties like restaurants had not had time to fully examine it, she said. "The topic has been discussed for two months,' Bonano said. "We've had multiple meetings on it. It's just frustrating." Stan Harris, president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, applauded the deferral of the ordinance. Forcing businesses to wait for council approval of their application is not practical, he said. "That's not the way they book band," he said. "There needs to be a shorter turnaround." Harris said the LRA hopes to work with Bonano on an ordinance that would work well for both parties. "We are not objecting to what he's trying to accomplish," Harris said. "The process just needs to be more efficient." Harris said many restaurants had moved to hold events outside due to the limitations on crowd size and types of music allowed indoors due to coronavirus restrictions. In the end, Bonano moved for the deferral, which was unanimously approved. The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has honoured the Presidents representative at the Ministry of Education, Hon. Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh at his office in Accra for his contribution towards education in Ghana and particularly for leading the rollout of the Free SHS programme. The delegation was led by the NUGS President, Mr Isaac Hyde, and included representatives from NUGS constituent bodies such as University Students Association of Ghana (USAG), the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG), Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) and the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG). The various constituent bodies also presented citations to him. Decorating Dr Prempeh with a sash and presenting him with a citation, Mr Hyde reiterated his immense contribution to Ghanaian education during his tenure as Minister for Education. He recounted, in particular, the securitization of GETFund revenues to fund infrastructure and COVID-19 support and interventions in education. Mr Hyde also recalled the Free SHS programme which has provided an immense opportunity to many children who would otherwise not be able to access SHS education. It was for this reason that NUGS had decided to confer on him the status of Dr. Free SHS, in recognition of his role in the rollout of the programme. Dr Prempeh expressed his deep appreciation for the kind gesture by NUGS and its constituent bodies and emphasized that the government of President Akufo-Addo came into office in 2017 as evangelists to preach their manifesto. Particularly on Free SHS, he stated that there were lots of doubts, but that the government was prepared to walk the talk and remained focused. He also expressed his delight that he was leaving office with one NUGS, as opposed to a fragmented one, in place, and recalled his own experience as a NUGS leader back in university. He encouraged NUGS to foster its relationships among its constituent bodies and also with government, urging them to avoid partisanship when engaging on national issues. Source: 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 Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is set to receive Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri at Cairo's Ittihadiya Presidential Palace on Wednesday, Presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said. Al-Hariri was named premier for a fourth time in October after his successor stepped down following the massive 4 August explosion in Beirut's port, caused by thousands of potentially explosive chemicals that had been stored in a warehouse there for years. He has pledged to quickly form a new government of specialists that would enact reforms and stop the country's economic collapse. Al-Hariri is set to meet a number of Egyptian officials during his visit to Egypt. Short link: The Brazilian authorities have issued what is known as a notice of allowance pending full approval next month ( ) said Brazil's Industrial Property Office has granted it an additional patent over XF-73, a nasal gel being developed to prevent post-surgical infections such as MRSA. The Brazilian authorities have issued what is known as a notice of allowance pending full approval next month. It will be the 84th patent from three patent families covering the XF platform. In the same announcement, Destiny said it expects to share the results of its ongoing phase IIb trial towards the end of March, after which it will concentrate its efforts on a phase III programme. There is also a significant commercial opportunity for XF-73 in the hospital setting which we estimate could generate peak annual product sales of US$1 billion in the US alone, said the companys chief executive, Neil Clark in the statement. Destinys product has been awarded both qualifying infectious disease product (QIDP) and Fast Track status by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). A Louisiana mom was killed while pretending to be her daughter to save the minor from a pair of assassins whom authorities say the girl's own uncle had hired to stop her from testifying against him in a rape case. Brittany Cormier, 34, and her neighbor, Hope Nettleton, 37, were found shot dead inside a home in Montegut on January 13 as part of a botched murder-for-hire plot that was allegedly masterminded by Cormier's own brother. On Monday, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office announced the arrests of Beaux Cormier, 35, and his two friends, Andrew Eskine, 25, and Dalvin Wilson, 22, in connection with last month's double homicide. Brittany Cormier, 34 (left)], was killed saving her daughter's life by pretending to be her when hitmen came for her. Officials in Louisiana say Brittany's own brother, Beaux Cormier, 35 (right), hired the assassins to kill his niece to derail a rape case against him Cormier, Eskine, and Wilson were initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder. On Tuesday, prosecutors filed additional counts of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and attempted first-degree murder against each of the suspects, reported WDSU. The new charges stem from two prior incidents when the accused men conducted surveillance on the victims' home and then attempted to carry out the killing, but failed, Sheriff Timothy Soignet told WDSU. Cormier is additionally charged with solicitation for murder for hire for allegedly paying his friends to kill his own niece. When Eskine and Wilson returned to Brittany Cormier's home last month to carry out the killing, Soignet said they asked for the her daughter by name, and her mother pretended to be her daughter - 'accepting her fate to save the life of the actual victim.' Brittany's daughter and stepdaughter were hiding in a closet at the time of the attack and were not harmed. The sheriff credited the mother's actions with saving her child's life. Andrew Eskine, left, and Dalvin Wilson, right, have been arrested by deputies in Louisiana for the January 13 double homicide There were reportedly five people in the home, pictured, at the time the victims were shot to death Samantha LeMaire, a close friend, told The Advocate that she never expected Cormier would have to sacrifice her life to protect her daughter. 'She would do anything for her kids,' LeMaire said. 'But to this extent? I would have never thought it would ever have come down to this.' Beaux Cormier was initially arrested for allegedly raping his own niece in March 2020 in nearby Lafayette Parish and 'is already a convicted sex offender,' according to officials. 'Cormier hired Eskine and Wilson to murder the rape victim so she could not testify,' Soignet said. The trio staked out Brittany's home sometime in the summer or fall, and then Eskine and Wilson allegedly went back there in November to kill the rape victim, according to the sheriff, but the attempt failed and a neighbor reported the license plate to police. Brittany (left) saved her daughter's life and sacrificed her own. Her neighbor, Hope Nettleton (right), fought back and was also killed Soignet said that it took law enforcement a couple weeks to solve the case of the January 13 double homicide and the license plate noted in November was 'critical' to solving it. The sheriff added Eskine and Wilson both confessed to their involvement in the plot and named Beaux Cormier as the person who hired them to kill his niece. Beaux acted as a pallbearer during his sister's funeral on January 20, just over a week before he was arrested for her murder, reported KATC. District Attorney Joseph L. Waitz, Jr. said prosecutors 'feel like we have a very strong case.' 'I will get convictions in this case,' Waitz said, adding that the death penalty 'is absolutely on the table.' The three men are being held without bond at the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex. Nairobi The Ministry of Health reported a 3.9 per cent COVID-19 positivity rate on Tuesday after 153 of the 3,922 samples screened within 24 hours tested positive for the virus raising the cumulative cases reported in the country since March 14 to 101,009. On Monday, the country recorded a 4.7 per cent positivity rate, a rise compared to the average 2.5 percent reported in January when schools resumed in-person learning countrywide while other containment measures remained in force. Health Cabinet secretary Mutahi Kagwe, through an emailed statement, added that there were no reported deaths within the same period with the country's death toll remaining at 1,766. He said 471 COVID-19 patients were admitted in various health facilities countrywide while another 1,471 were under home-based isolation and care. Out of the 54 patients who recovered from the disease, 19 were discharged from various hospitals while another 35 were from a home-based care program. Twelve patients reported to be in the Intensive Care Unit were on ventilatory support while another 15 patients were on supplemental oxygen. "Another 16 patients are supplementary oxygen with 12 of them in the general wards and 4 in the High Dependency Unit," MoH said in its daily update on the pandemic. Nairobi accounted for 93 of the new cases reported on Tuesday while Mombasa, Kiambu, Nakuru and Turkana registered thirteen, eight, six and five cases respectively. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Kenya By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The government is targeting to vaccinate 16 million people by end of the year to suppress virus-related deaths with the Ministry of Health expected to procure vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson. Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi last week said the government hopes to start receiving the vaccines from February for the first phase to start until June. "Given the current global shortage of adequate vaccine stocks, the government is exploring procurement through other mechanisms like the Africa CDC, and plans commitment of doses to cover an additional 5 million people over the same period to achieve a vaccination coverage of 40 per cent," she said. Even after President Uhuru Kenyatta extended several containment measures, including a ban on political gatherings and a night curfew that starts at 10pm to 4am until March, he is among leaders who continue to flout rules restricting large gatherings with meetings convened by the Head of State often falling short of health ministry guidelines. Deputy William Ruto and ODM chief Raila Odinga have also heightened political activity often attracting huge crowds in roadside rallies. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 It is focused on maximising the value of its non-core projects via external funding while simultaneously progressing its core projects with near-term potential. The MOU is conditional to Aroha listing on the ASX ( ) (FRA:FWL) has entered into a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the exploration and potential development of its uranium interests in South Australia, with Aroha Resources Pty Ltd - conditional upon Aroha listing on the ASX. The MOU provides for the parties to progress in good faith on an exclusive basis and will enable Aroha to secure initial seed capital via an Information Memorandum ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). Havilah anticipates it will hold a 25% interest in Aroha at the time of the proposed ASX listing, subject to details of the capital raising, and will also be entitled to future uranium royalties. Progressing non-core prospects Havilah technical director Dr Chris Giles said: We are delighted that Aroha is intending to fund and advance Havilahs extensive uranium interests, which were acquired via the takeover of during 2012. This MOU is consistent with Havilahs stated strategy of maximising the value of its significant pipeline of exploration projects in South Australia, while focusing the companys main efforts on advancing its core projects with near-term potential for significant value uplift for shareholders. It also achieves Havilahs objective of progressing its non-core prospects and projects in a prudent manner, with external funding and leaves Havilah shareholders with a fair residual benefit in the event of success. Arohas team is well experienced and highly successful in the Australian resources industry and we look forward to working with them. MOU terms Subject to Aroha listing on the ASX via an IPO, Aroha would secure the exclusive uranium exploration and mining rights for sediment-hosted uranium deposits within specified Havilah exploration licences. Havilah would maintain an interest in the venture via: An anticipated holding of 25% of the fully diluted issued share capital of Aroha at the time of the IPO, subject to details of the Aroha capital raising to be finalised; Payment to Havilah of $500,000 from Aroha IPO proceeds within one month of Aroha listing on the ASX, subject also to details of the Aroha capital raising to be finalised; and A 1.5% net smelter return royalty on all Aroha uranium sales revenue from within specified Havilah exploration licences (less certain deductions) after the first $10 million of cumulative uranium sales revenue. The MOU will lapse if the IPO does not proceed within 12 months. Additional terms include: A formal tenement access agreement will govern details of the uranium rights as they relate to the exploration licences and any subsequent MLs and MPLs over any uranium deposits to be developed, subject to any required government approvals; Havilah has agreed to make available its share register for Aroha to present the IPO to Havilah shareholders (the company will not seek Aroha Board representation); Aroha would be required to spend at least the statutory minimum expenditure commitment annually for each Havilah exploration licence covered by the MOU; Aroha would be required to pay Havilah half of the total exploration licence rental and renewal costs commencing no later than three months after the MOU date; Havilah would retain 100% legal and beneficial ownership of its exploration licences and will have no restriction on its current activities, excepting exploration for sediment-hosted uranium deposits; and Havilah shareholder approval will not be sought because the companys uranium interests have previously been written down to zero asset value, and are not considered to be a material asset, according to the ASX Listing Rules. Havilahs exploration licence area covered by the MOU uranium rights (green boundary), except EL 5966, which lies to the north of Lake Frome Assets economic potential Many of Havilahs exploration licences north of the Barrier Highway are highly prospective for Tertiary palaeochannel-hosted uranium deposits similar to the nearby Boss Energy Ltds ( ) (OTCMKTS:BQSSF) Honeymoon uranium project, which is being readied for production. Curnamona Energy (a 100%-owned subsidiary of Havilah after its takeover during 2012) identified numerous potentially economic grade uranium intersections in its extensive drilling campaigns across the region and delineated the 4.6 million pound eU3O8 Oban JORC inferred resource. New techniques and processes over the last decade, especially advancements in the use of resins, give the company considerable cause for optimism that Oban and similar prospects within exploration licences covered by the MOU can be economically exploited, along with the ongoing improvement in uranium market sentiment. Honduras ratifies constitutional changes on abortion: 4 things to know Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Lawmakers in Honduras garnered national headlines last week when they voted to ratify a change to the national constitution that effectively bolsters the ban on abortion in the Latin American nation. The lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the amendment on Jan. 21, with a second ratification vote last Thursday solidifying what supporters call a Shield Against Abortion in Honduras. The unborn shall be considered as born for all rights accorded within the limits established by law, the amendment reads. Language was added to the amendment stating that it is prohibited and illegal for the mother or a third party to practice any form of interruption of life on the unborn, whose life must be respected from conception. Because of the ratified changes, Congress's voting threshold to change abortion law in Honduras raises from two-thirds to three-quarters. "As a woman and a mother, I am in favor of life and against abortion, I want to speak on behalf of those who are in the mother's womb and cannot be opposed," Gloria Bonilla, a deputy for the Liberal Party who voted in favor of the change, said in a statement. GRANTS PASS, Ore. Police in Grants Pass are searching for a man who reportedly robbed someone outside of Umpqua Bank on Tuesday morning. Grants Pass Police said that it received a report about a robbery in the parking lot of Umpqua Bank at 117 NE F Street just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The suspect, described as a white male, pushed the victim and stole money from their hand before fleeing the scene. Police said that no one was injured and "no weapons were brandished." Police officers and other Department of Public Safety staff responded to the scene and searched for the suspect, with members of the public calling in tips. Though police said that they followed up on the tips, they did not find the suspect. A camera at Umpqua Bank captured the suspect on video. The case remains under investigation. "Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, can identify the suspect, or has information relative to the investigation is encouraged to contact Officer Kasen Perkins of GPDPS at 541-450-6260," police said. "Please do not approach the suspect if you observe him; call GPDPS and report his location." You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Two Sydney women have been charged after another woman was found with stab wounds in the boot of a car they were driving through the Southern Highlands on Wednesday. Latia Henderson, 18, and Kayley Lee Ketley, 24, will appear in court on Thursday after the car was reported to police by a truck driver, who spotted the woman in the boot waving her hand through a hole created by a missing tail-light. Latia Henderson, top right, and Kayley Ketley. NSW police stopped a white Holden sedan on the Hume Highway at Berrima after receiving reports of a hand waving from its tail light section. Credit:Nine News/Facebook Both women are from the Campbelltown area and police were on Wednesday investigating why they were in the Southern Highlands and if the alleged abduction was related to drug crime. But on Thursday morning, Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie from the Hume Police District said the incident appeared to have been motivated by personal grievances. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 20:20:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand plans to provide a government grant to insured employees, which is expected to benefit 11 million Thais, a senior official confirmed Wednesday. The cash grant will be provided next month to about 11 million insured employees in both public and private sectors nationwide, labor minister Suchart Chomklin said. The grant will be provided via the government's e-wallet, which might probably amount to 1,000 baht (about 33.27 U.S. dollars) per week and 4,000 baht in total for each insured employee, he said. However, those who may currently have more than 500,000 baht in a bank account will not be entitled to the government grant, provided under the so-called Section 33 - We Love Each Other campaign, Suchart said. The grant campaign will be financed by part of the loans which the government has acquired and earmarked for economic stimulus measures in the pandemic situation and not by the Social Security Fund, according to the labor minister. Enditem Oshakati The Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) party says it will consult other opposition parties with the view to declare a vote of no confidence in the current administration over the Fishrot scandal. The international fisheries bribery scandal has led to the arrest of high-profile individuals such as former Cabinet ministers Bernhard Esau and Sacky Shanghala. According to NEFF national coordinator and parliamentarian Kalimbo Iipumbu, the current top administration in government should step down. President Hage Geingob has chosen not to comment on the corruption scandal but yesterday once again indicated he will at an appropriate time address 'insinuations' linking him to it, "with the view to demonstrating their falsity". The ruling Swapo has also in the past denied ever benefiting from the Fishrot scandal. Iipumbu yesterday accused the current leadership of being uncaring towards the Namibian nation. "We therefore would like the team to honour the feelings of the Namibian people and do the honourable thing to resign and give positions to those that can rescue Namibia's economy and its people. The time is now Cde Hage, the time is now Cde Nangolo and the time is now Cde Sofia," he pleaded. "Fishrot, this is a scandalous and satanism activity that needs all support from Namibians to say to the current leaders of the government. Namibians have to starve to pave ways for the well-connected few, whereas we have a nation that needs developmental programmes to make ways for the living standards." Equally, NEFF called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate, amongst others, the mass housing programme, the cost of the fuel storage facility at Walvis Bay, the construction of the Neckartal Dam and contracts dished out to D&M Rail over the years. 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. Dr Alex George has been appointed as a Youth Mental Health Ambassador by Boris Johnson after speaking out following his brother's death last year. The Love Island star, 30, has been passionately campaigning for better mental health provision as he struggled with the loss of his brother Llyr, who took his life at the age of 19 in July. The A&E doctor met with the Prime Minister in No. 10 Downing Street as he was appointed into the unpaid role, which was announced on Wednesday. Downing Street: Dr Alex George has been appointed as a Youth Mental Health Ambassador by Boris Johnson after speaking out following his brother's death last year His role as Youth Mental Health Ambassador will be to advise government, help shape policy on improving support for young people and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools. Dr. Alex has been a passionate online campaigner for children's mental health since he tragically lost his younger brother to suicide last year. On New Year's Day, he wrote on his Instagram that his number one goal this year was to 'help bring meaningful change to mental health education at schools across the UK' and he has been calling for a meeting with the PM. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was 'delighted' to appoint Dr. Alex as a Youth Mental Health Ambassador, saying: 'Children and young people have heroically adapted to save lives and protect our NHS. Mental Health advocate: The A&E doctor met with the Prime Minister in No. 10 Downing Street as he was appointed into the unpaid role, which was announced on Wednesday 'This has understandably had a huge impact on their mental health, so I want to shine a spotlight on this vital issue ahead of their return to school. 'I'm delighted that Dr. Alex George will be working with us as we do everything in our power to improve people's mental wellbeing.' Dr. Alex said: 'The last year has been unimaginably difficult for all of us, but particularly for young people who have sacrificed so much. 'I am honoured to be appointed for this role where I'll be working closely with government to make mental health an absolute priority and hope to have a positive impact on the lives of young people and their education for good. 'Right now young people need a voice in government, and I hope that through this role I can advocate for meaningful change in this area.' Success! Dr. Alex announced the news on his Instagram along with a picture of him meeting with the Prime Minister in Downing Street Downing Street confirmed that Dr. Alex will start his role immediately, and will work within the Department for Education, although he will remain independent of government. He will sit on the new Mental Health in Education Action Group, chaired by Children's Minister Vicky Ford and Universities Minister Michelle Donelan which will look specifically at how we support young people with their wellbeing as they return to school and university after this difficult year. Following the announcement, Dr. Alex appeared on Lorraine with his mother, Jane, to discuss being appointed as a mental health ambassador. He said: 'I got a call last week to say the Prime Minister would like to see and speak to you, which as a boy from west Wales you wouldn't have thought would happen to you. 'We met yesterday and talked about mental health and my passion about that, and how I really wanted to take this role as mental health ambassador. 'I wake up every morning I think of Llyr every morning, I really do. I think through this I can help others.' Loss: The Love Island star, 30, has been campaigning for better mental health provision as he struggled with the loss of his brother Llyr, who took his life at the age of 19 in July last year Dr Alexs mother Jane also shared her story of the loss of her son for the very first time, saying it has been 'beyond' difficult. She revealed that she has taken up knitting to help cope but can't help looking back on opportunities that she may have missed as a a parent to speak to her son. 'We have a duty to know how to have these conversations, to effectively spot those signs,' she said. 'Hindsight is a terrible, terrible thing, you look back and think, "Oh my gosh, I missed opportunities to do things that would have made a difference".' Taking to his Instagram to announce the news, Dr. Alex shared a picture with Boris Johnson and wrote in the caption: 'WE DID IT!! You called and the PM answered!! I have been appointed as the Ambassador for Mental Health. 'It hasn't sunk in yet and I'm not sure it ever will. I am truly humbled. In my role, I will be working closely with the Government to make mental health an absolute priority. Busy man: The A&E doctor will start his unpaid role immediately, and will work within the Department for Education, although he will remain independent of government 'Never has mental health been more important than now. From schools to universities, the NHS and the wider public, MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS. 'For the current as well as future generations, we must do everything in our power to bring meaningful change. 'Nothing will bring my brother back but if I can make a positive impact that saves even one life, it will be worth moving mountains for. There is much work to be done. Particularly in the coming weeks and months. 'Thanks to each and every one of you for your incredible support. Thank you also to the Prime Minister and Government for recognising our campaign and showing a desire to make a real change moving forward. 'I hope I can make you all proud. Most of all I hope I can make my brother proud, we will do it together my boy. LET'S DO THIS.' The doctor, who works in A&E at London's Lewisham Hospital, took to social media in January to urge Boris Johnson to meet with him. He penned a candid letter to the Prime Minister on Instagram, urging him to give more value to 'support for emotional and mental wellbeing' in schools. 'Let's talk': The doctor, who works in A&E at London's Lewisham Hospital, took to social media earlier this year to urge Boris Johnson to meet with him He shared a snap of himself holding a handwritten banner reading 'Boris let's talk #mentalhealthmatters' alongside his lengthy caption. The reality TV star said he has spent 'months' researching and speaking to charities and believes that mental wellbeing needs to be treated with the 'same importance as core subjects such as Maths and English'. He explained that the issue has only become 'more important' due to the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, saying that each loss of life to suicide is 'potentially preventable'. Dr Alex urged his 1.6million followers to share his call for action and tag Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, who he also requested to meet with. His lengthy caption read: 'DEAR BORIS JOHNSON, Our children have a right to receive quality mental health education and support that adequately prepares them for the world in which we live. Call for action: Dr Alex penned a letter to the Prime Minister on Instagram in January, urging him to give more value to 'support for emotional and mental wellbeing' in schools 'I have spent the last few months speaking with mental health charities, teachers, parents and education leads and we all agree that things need to change. 'From my discussions and research, I believe there are clear areas that we can and must improve on. 'Education and support for emotional and mental wellbeing needs to be treated with the same importance as core subjects such as Maths and English. 'Happy and well supported children are much more likely to enjoy and engage in education and become well rounded adults and more able to cope with the pressures of modern life. 'This has never been more important, especially with the effects of the pandemic. Mental health: The reality TV star said he spent 'months' researching and believes mental health needs to be given the 'same importance as core subjects such as Maths and English' 'This has never been more important': He said the issue has only become 'more important' due to the Covid-19 crisis, saying that each loss of life to suicide is 'potentially preventable' 'Too many lives are lost each year to suicide, each one of them a potentially preventable loss of life. How many more lives must we lose before we act? 'I would like to meet with yourself and Secretary of State for Education @gavinwilliamson.mp to discuss the changes which I propose. I look forward to hearing from you, Dr Alex George. 'Please tag @borisjohnsonuk and share to make this happen' The TV doctor did not stop there, as he also shared a flood of posts on his Instagram stories urging his followers to help him 'act'. Speaking about his brother's death, he wrote: 'I might not be able to help my brother. But I can help other children and young adults, with your help. Together.' Anger: Dr Alex also fumed in all caps that 'our children have a right to mental health education', arguing that 'they deserve better' as he vowed he would not give up Support: The A&E doctor also shared driven reactions from his fans, including teachers and practitioners, who argued that 'not enough' was being done to 'protect mental health' He added: 'I have been quiet until now. Gathering information. Speaking to experts. Understanding the issue. Now it's time to act. Please help me.' Dr Alex also fumed in all caps that 'our children have a right to mental health education', arguing that 'they deserve better' as he vowed he would not give up. He also shared driven reactions from his fans, including teachers and practitioners, who argued that 'not enough' was being done to 'protect mental health'. The doctor also posted an array of messages continuing to thank his followers for all of their support; His comments come after he endured his first Christmas without his brother Llyr. Grieving: Last month, Dr Alex returned for a new series of his podcast The Waiting Room, and opened with a tribute to Llyr, who died in July Last month, Dr Alex returned for a new series of his podcast The Waiting Room, and opened with a tribute to Llyr. 'I've been going through the hardest time in my personal life after loosing my brother Llyr to mental health in July,' he told listeners. 'He was only 19 with a career in medicine ahead of him. 'I was so so proud of him. I miss him so much and he is always in my thoughts.' Dr Alex also recalled what someone 'very very wise' told him after his brother passed away. 'Life throws us into the deep end at times but with the help of family and friends we overcome even the most seemingly surmountable of challenges. Just know you are never alone.' Reflecting on the grieving process, he added: 'Grief is an ongoing process and I'll never get over losing Llyr, but i want to continue doing the things that are important to me.' A&E doctor Alex - who shot to fame on Love Island 2018 - was debuting the fourth series of the podcast after a trying year. He's been treating Covid-19 patients at Lewisham Hospital in London and sharing his experiences with the nation in his role as a TV medic. If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org. The Tema Metropolitan Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has warned Tema residents against building in flood-prone areas which have always caused flooding in some parts of the Metropolis. Mr. Ebenezer Cudjoe indicated that it was becoming difficult to control flooding within the metropolis due to the attitude of some persons who continue to build in unauthorized places, blocking natural paths of flash floods during rainfall. He made this observation on Wednesday in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the Tema Metro office of NADMO as part of efforts by the GNA to sensitize the public ahead of the rains this year. Mr Cudjoe informed that NADMO was determined to prevent flooding during this years rainfall season, As such, individuals caught putting up buildings in unauthorized areas would be sanctioned. He stressed on the need to adhere to building protocols, because the indication we are getting is that there will be early and heavy rains this year, which could affect lives and properties if we continue to do the very things that cause flooding. Mr. Cudjoe said some areas including parts of Communities Five, Seven, Eight and Nine, Tema Timber Market, etc., had been declared flood prone areas, And, as a results, it was necessary for city authorities to immediately stop building activities in those areas to protect lives and properties during the raining season. The Tema Metro NADMO Director cited the creation of slum communities within the Metropolis as one of the causes of flooding, and therefore advised against allowing such communities to exist when authorities knew how it contributed to disaster. These slum communities were sometimes found blocking watercourses or in a water-lock area, which made it difficult to control the flow of rainwater and check flooding, he said. Mr. Cudjoe seek the advice of the Lands Commission before buying land. The Metro Director further appealed to residents to desist from dumping refuse in drains because that would chock the gutters, lead to flooding and possibly contaminate lagoons and the sea. Mr. Cudjoe also cautioned motorists against driving through floodwaters, observing that, Many were swept away because drivers underestimated the strong under currents of the seemingly harmless floodwaters in some drains. He said although NADMO was ready to provide relief items to flood victims this year, it was the aim of National Disaster Management Organization to entirely prevent flooding in the Metropolis. As a results, the organizations team had been moving from one community to the other, educating and sensitizing Tema residents on the flood prevention for the past two years, even though the effectiveness of the campaign was reduced due to the outbreak of Covid-19, Mr. Cudjoe informed. 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 [February 03, 2021] Government of Canada invests in research and development collaborations in diverse areas from manufacturing to agriculture New grants program provides opportunities for innovative partnerships between university researchers and the private, public and not-for-profit sectors OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - As the Government of Canada continues to fight COVID-19, it also remains committed to supporting science and research more generally across disciplines. By making investments in innovative research and collaborations now, the government is helping to support the discoveries and new applications that will benefit Canadians in the future. Today, the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced close to $118 million in funding for 414 projects across the country through Alliance grants, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) new research partnership program. Alliance grants encourage greater collaboration in research and development by supporting projects between university researchers and partner organizations from the private, public or not-for-profit sectors. These research projects are led by collaborative teams with different perspectives and skills. They will generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canadians. Areas of research range from manufacturing and aerospace to energy, the environment and agriculture. For example, funding awarded to Professor William Quinton at Wilfrid Laurier University helped develop a research project in the Northwest Territories involving four universities, three territorial government departments, and a regional First Nations government and educational council. These research partners are all working together to improve understanding of permafrost and the ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of permafrost thaw on their shared water resources. This research alliance will co-produce new knowledge, science-based predictive tools and user-driven mitigation and adaptation strategies needed by northern communities and governments to manage and minimize the impacts of unprecedented permafrost thaw. This will help ensure the development and application of environmental management approaches needed for conditons of widespread permafrost thaw, and will help generate positive outcomes for environmental and community health. Quotes "Our Government remains committed to supporting Canada's researchers as part of our vision for science. With the Alliance grants program, our government is helping to bring together the full range of Canada's expertise across sectors and enabling the development of new opportunities that will help turn promising research into real benefits for Canadians." - The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry "Congratulations to all Alliance grant recipients. The overwhelming response has shown that Alliance's responsive and flexible design is just what researchers and their partners are looking for. The ability to build unique collaborations with a broader range of partners is allowing these teams to better address key challenges that are a priority for Canada." - Marc Fortin, Vice-President, Research Partnerships, NSERC "The Northwest Territories is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth and as a result the southern margin of permafrost is experiencing unprecedented rates of thaw and landcover change. This Alliance grant has allowed Indigenous communities, educators, government agencies and researchers to collaborate on improving the understanding of and ability to predict and adapt to permafrost thaw." - Professor William Quinton, Wilfrid Laurier University Quick facts Alliance grants are awarded throughout the year. Today's announcement includes funding since the program was launched in April 2019 through December 31, 2020 . through . In August 2020 , NSERC provided an additional $15.7 million in support through the Alliance grants for 317 projects to stimulate collaborations between university academic researchers and the public and not-for-profit sectors, and industry to address pandemic-related research and technical challenges. Associated links Alliance grants program List of Alliance grant recipients Government of Canada announces major steps in treating and preventing COVID-19 through vaccines and therapies announces major steps in treating and preventing COVID-19 through vaccines and therapies NSERC investments in COVID-19 research Follow NSERC on Twitter: @NSERC_CRSNG For Canadian science news, follow @CDNScience on social media: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on Twitter: @ISED_CA SOURCE Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith via video link. Wang said that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Laos diplomatic ties and the Year of China-Laos Friendship. China is willing to work with Laos to inject new impetus into China-Laos relations and make new contributions to the common cause of China-Laos friendship. "China is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with the Lao side in fighting the epidemic, and provide anti-epidemic support including vaccines," Wang said. Saleumxay said Laos takes developing relations with China as a priority and would like to join hands with China to speed up the construction of the Laos-China Economic Corridor to achieve more fruitful results in Laos-China friendship. The two sides announced the launch of a series of events in celebration of the Year of China-Laos Friendship, and reached consensus on relevant matters including putting the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership into effect at an early date. In 1972, the then Scottish Labour peer, Lord Kennet, himself a former seaman, described Rockall as "a dreadful place. There can be no place more desolate, more despairing, more awful to see in the world". Despite its remoteness, it has been the focus of a decades-old dispute over claims of sovereignty and access to fishing rights around it, as highlighted earlier this month with the incident involving the Greencastle-based vessel Northern Celt. To help us understand why fishing around Rockall has risen like a spring high tide again to our news headlines, it is best to explain first what and where Rockall is, before we move onto the complexities around why these disputes have happened. At just over 17m tall, Rockall is about the same height of a four-story building and at 25m wide, could fit twice across Dublins OConnell Bridge. Dated to be just over 50m years old, it is all that remains of a long-extinct volcano. Uninhabited, save for periwinkles and seasonal gannets, the granite outcrop is found deep in the North-East Atlantic. It is about 230 nautical miles (nm) (425km) from the Donegal coast and 167nm (309km) from the Scottish island of St Kilda, which itself has not had a permanent population since August 1930. Britain formally claimed it in 1955, when two marines and an ornithologist from the HMS Vidal of the Royal Navy landed by helicopter on Rockall, raised the British flag and cemented a plaque onto it. There were concerns at the time that the Soviet Union might claim it as well and build a platform on it to monitor UK missile tests. It was this action that was the basis for legislatures to formally incorporate Rockall into the UK, which was done with the Island of Rockall Act of 1972. Through the Act, it became part of the Scottish county of Invernessshire, and since 1973, the Western Isles Council. These actions became the spring from which decades of disputes with Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands), Iceland and Ireland over Rockall have stemmed from. While these disputes are not about ownership of Rockall, they involve competing claims over portions of the continental shelf (seabed) in this area. A fishing vessel passes the uninhabited island of Rockall, which is now the centre of a dispute involving Ireland and Scotland. In response to Donegal TD Thomas Pringle in October 2016, the then minister for foreign affairs Charlie Flanagan said that while Ireland has never recognised British sovereignty over Rockall, it has never sought to claim sovereignty for itself. Indeed, due to the lack of competing claims of sovereignty over Rockall by Ireland and others, and not protesting the UKs administrative control over Rockall, maritime law experts have made clear arguments to the validity of the UK claim to Rockall. These include Professor Clive Symmons of TCD, Professor Ronan Long of the World Maritime University (Malmo, Sweden) formally of NUI Galway, Professor James Harrison of the University of Edinburgh and Associate Professor Richard Collins of UCD. Further to this, in 2013, the British and Irish government signed an agreement on fixing the boundary of the continental shelves between the two countries. This was based on a similar 1988 agreement, which set Rockall as north of that boundary. In the Dail in 2016, Mr Flanagan elaborated why Ireland did not recognise UK claims over Rockall, by citing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Unclos, which resulted in a 1982 treaty, was the result of discussions which began in 1956 to anchor common rules for the sea into an international legal framework in the post-World War II era. He stated that the consistent position of successive Irish governments has been that Rockall and similar rocks and skerries have no significance for establishing legal claims to mineral rights in the adjacent seabed or to fishing rights in the surrounding seas. He then quoted Unclos Article 121, paragraph 3: "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf." Mr Flanagan stated that Rockall falls into precisely this category. However, Prof Symmons and Prof Long have stated in the past that such rocks can generate 12nm limits. Under Unclos Article 121, paragraph 2, it grants islands the right to have a "territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf". While paragraph 3 lists exclusive economic zones and continental shelfs, it does not list "territorial sea", which according to Dr Collins, is the legal definition for a 12nm limit. However, Brexit does complicate matters in sea fisheries. At the time Ireland and the UK joined the EU in 1973, coastal states could only claim up to 12nm of territorial sea. However, this changed in the 1970s with the concept of a 200nm exclusive economic zone (EEZ) emerging from the third round of the Unclos. Ciaran O'Driscoll: 'Fisheries management in the North-East Atlantic requires cooperation and compromise from all parties, to ensure stocks are sustainably exploited, so that our fishing communities can continue to rely on them.' In January 1977, in response to Iceland and Norway unilaterally claiming EEZs at the time, the then members of the EU jointly introduced a 200nm EEZ on Atlantic and North Sea waters, creating a common EU pool of waters, which included Rockall. Further, since 1970, the EU principle of "equal conditions of access" have been in place, allowing any EU-flagged vessel to access the territorial waters of another. Therefore, from 1977, there was equal conditions of access for Irish vessels to operate in the newly established UK EEZ. Therefore, in pre-Brexit times, as Ireland did not recognise the UKs claim to Rockall and the 12nm territorial sea limit around it, the Irish fishing industry pursued EU fishing quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy and operated under the principle of equal conditions of access in waters around the UK, including Rockall. There appears to have been a "well-agree-to-disagree" attitude from Ireland and Scotland in response to this situation over the years. Marine Scotland, which enforces fishery regulations in Scottish waters, was fully aware of Irish fishing practices in recent decades. But Brexit will bring this small remote rock to loom large on our horizons over issues of quotas and access. And as we know from the Cod Wars of the 1950s and 1970s, right up to the Scallop War of 2018, fishery disputes can quickly climb the political ladder and consume much oxygen. Fisheries management in the North-East Atlantic requires cooperation and compromise from all parties, to ensure stocks are sustainably exploited, so that our fishing communities can continue to rely on them. Ciaran O Driscoll is the policy and research officer at European Movement Ireland and is from Castletownbere, West Cork 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. [February 03, 2021] Uber Eats Launches Eat Local: A Renewed Commitment to US Local Merchants Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) today announced its Eat Local campaign, renewed efforts to support independent restaurant owners and operators in 2021 as the industry continues to face COVID-related challenges. "We're here for restaurants at Uber Eats-as we have been since the start of the health crisis," said Stephane Ficaja, head of Uber Eats and Delivery for the US & Canada. "Today we're committing $20 million through various initiatives at a critical time, renewing promises we've made on pricing, and will remain focused on our partners' success in the months ahead." Details of the support package include : $4.5 million in microgrants to be administered by LISC, pledged to support restaurants active on Uber's platforms in any U.S. city with financial challenges related to the pandemic Waived and reduced fees for restaurants who use Uber Eats services: 0% for Pickup, 0% for processing orders directly on their own websites, and $0 to receive daily payouts to help increase reliable daily cash flow through July 2021. Reduced delivery fees for consumers on all Uber Eats orders from independent U.S. restaurants, and dedicated marketing campaigns-both in-app and via email-to promote delivery from local restaurants Uber matching to all consumer contributions to restaurants made using the Restaurant Contribution feature in Uber Eats Additional benefit include extensions of previously announced programs for restaurants to receive daily payouts, rather than the company's standard weekly payout, and restaurant fee reductions on all Pickup orders and orders processed through its Online Ordering service on independent restaurant websites. "The U.S. Black Chambers (USBC) applauds Uber's commitment to small business owners who rely on its platform to reach customers, particularly as restaurants navigate a challenging winter," said Ron Busby, President of USBC. "Black-owned restaurants have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and we are delighted that our members will benefit from the $4.5 million grant program and continued waived fees." "Restaurants continue to face unprecedented challenges this winter. Uber's support underscores the importance of the entire restaurant and foodservice industry working together as one to advance our recovery efforts," said Tom Bene, President & CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "These microgrants will help independent restaurants stay open and continue serving their customers and their communities." Details of the Eats Local Support Effort can be found at eatlocaleffort.com About Uber Eats Uber Eats is an on-demand food delivery app and website that helps bring millions of people around the world the food they want, at the tap of a button. With over 500,000 restaurants in more than 6,000 cities around the world. Uber Eats offers millions of dishes while maintaining an average delivery time under 30 minutes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005122/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The histories of Burma, Northeast India and Bangladesh have always been intertwined. Joining the Dots is a fortnightly column by author and journalist Samrat in which he connects events to ideas, often through analysis, but occasionally through satire. *** In the early 1800s, the Ahom kingdom, the most powerful one of what later became Northeast India, was crumbling from internal strife. A rebellion had sapped its strength, and a war of succession between contenders to the throne had split the army and nobles. One of the nobles, the Ahom viceroy in Guwahati, Badan Borphukan, made his way to Calcutta to seek British help against his rival. It was not forthcoming, and the disappointed Borphukan now proceeded to the court of the King of Ava, meaning Burma. Among the Burmese queens was an Ahom princess with whom Borphukan was acquainted. With her help, he was able to secure a Burmese army, at whose head he marched into Assam, conquering it. The Burmese conquest of Assam, and subsequent events in Arakan and its neighbouring areas of Bengal, eventually brought the British into the field. This led to the Anglo-Burmese Wars, and the British conquest of Burma and all of what is now Northeast India. The histories of Burma, Northeast India and Bangladesh have always been intertwined. The recent coup in Myanmar where the army under General Min Aung Hlaing has deposed the elected government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is therefore of importance to both Northeast India and Bangladesh. The coup did not happen suddenly. It was building up for a while. Several factors appear to have precipitated it. One was the imminent retirement, after a five-year extension of service, of General Hlaing. Another was the resounding victory of Suu Kyis party, the National League for Democracy, in elections held last November. Suu Kyi and the General had apparently fallen out well before the polls; the results were immediately contested by the party backed by the military, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, on charges of voter fraud denied both by the countrys election commission and by international observers. Nonetheless, the military refused to accept the results, and it has carried out the coup to prevent the new parliament from convening, under the pretext of cleaning up the electoral process. The military promises to hold fresh elections within a year. It is safe to assume that its favoured party, the USDP, will enjoy an astonishing turnaround in electoral fortunes if and when that happens. Perhaps General Hlaing will shed his uniform and reappear in the avatar of President then. There is, however, a long way to go before any such conclusion, and many forces and interests involved. Internally, apart from the Bamar Buddhist majority to which both the general and Suu Kyi belong, Myanmar has multiple ethnic groups that have their own insurgent armies and their own areas of control. Of these, the United Wa State Army backed by China is arguably the most powerful. The Kachin Independence Army, which has in the past enjoyed covert support from Indian agencies, is another strong force. There are a slew of other ethnic armed organisations, including the Arakan Army and the Shan State Army. Insurgent groups that operate in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and parts of Arunachal Pradesh also have bases there, and have in the past received weapons and training from the Burmese insurgents. Both the Indian and the Myanmarese groups, as well as elements of the Burmese military, are said to be involved in the very lucrative drug trade that operates in the area. There are signs that some of the money also finds its way into political funding in parts of Northeast India. The relations between these groups, and the governments of Burma, India and China, have been marked by tales of betrayal, treachery and violence. Indias relations with Myanmar trace their improvement to 1987 when Rajiv Gandhi, as prime minister, made a rare visit there. The actual turnaround began when PV Narasimha Rao was the PM. Through the late 1980s and 1990s, collaboration between the militaries of the two countries, and the machinations of spy agencies conspiring with armed ethnic groups on both sides of the border, formed a key part of the relationship. India needed to cut off arms and training to the Northeast groups. It bought cooperation for doing so by giving the Myanmarese military something they wanted. This give and take approach yielded Myanmarese military support for Operation Golden Bird in 1995 which intercepted a column of Northeast insurgents who were ferrying a large cache of arms from the Coxs Bazar coast in Bangladesh via Myanmar into India. The give part of the give and take was visible in Operation Leech in 1998 when Arakanese militants from the very groups that had collaborated with Indian agencies for Op Golden Bird, passing information in exchange for covert aid, were invited to a deserted island in the Andaman chain by their benefactors and killed or arrested. The Indian relationship with the Myanmarese military remains strong to this day. General Min Aung Hlaing appears to enjoy good relations with India and the Indian leadership. He has visited here several times, including immediately after being put under sanctions by the United States of America in 2019 for his role in the Rohingya genocide, and had the red carpet rolled out for him. The Indian Foreign Secretary and Army chief called on him, and on Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar shortly before the elections there. The General also received Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the capital, Naypyitaw, only last month, where the two discussed the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor that is being built to connect China to the Bay of Bengal. However, his greatest warmth is perhaps reserved for Russia, a country he has visited multiple times. On a visit there last year, he also accused strong forces of supporting terrorist groups, by which he meant Arakanese groups, in his country. It is believed that those particular groups currently enjoy Chinese support. The Myanmar military's relationship status with China is "it's complicated". What the Myanmar coup has done is create additional complications by introducing a fresh fluidity in that murky world of shifting allegiances in which insurgents, drugs, and spies move. With so many actors and so many clashing interests, big and small, it is impossible to predict where all this is going. The Naga peace talks with the Indian government appear to have stalled. The Meitei militants are in sullen silence, biding their time. There is unrest among Kuki groups which are related to the Mizos and the Chins of Burma. In Assam, there is a ferment because of mainstream electoral politics. The protests related to the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act were halted by COVID-19 but the issues themselves are still unresolved, and will no doubt resurface in some manner during the forthcoming polls. Across the border in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas grip on the country is increasingly hard, brittle and unpopular. The Rohingya issue there and in neighbouring Myanmar also shows no signs of being resolved. And, of course, now there is the prospect of unrest in Myanmar, both within the Bamar majority and between the military and various ethnic armies. The complex region comprising Burma, Bangladesh and Northeast India appears to be heading towards a fresh spell of uncertainty. Thats not the America we live in today. And activism isnt the same, either. It is more vibrant and, sometimes, more combative. Men are not always at the helm. Often, women are the big thinkers, the organizers and the fuel behind the movement. The Republican Partys tolerance and embrace of far-right extremists bring to mind the case of Alexander Kerensky, Russias first and last prime minister before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Kerensky, the leader of a relatively moderate socialist party, proclaimed a policy of no enemies to the left and, as a result, released Vladimir Lenin from prison, where hed been interned for his failed attempt to overthrow Kerenskys own government in July of that year. And so, three months later, an emboldened Lenin tried again and succeeded, with catastrophic results for the entire century. Advertisement Republican leaders in America today have, in effect, declared a policy of no enemies to the right. With very few exceptions, they have declined to impeach or even criticize Donald Trump for inciting the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6. They have awarded a House committee seat to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who believes in QAnons wildest conspiracy theories, who has told right-wing protesters they should feel free to use violence, and, before she was elected to the House this past fall, called for the assassination of Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Several GOP lawmakers still refuse to acknowledge that President Joe Biden fairly won the November election. Advertisement Advertisement 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. I dont mean to draw precise parallels. Lenin and his military commissar, Leon Trotsky, were intellectuals and brilliant tacticianstwo terms that dont remotely apply to any of the American rights aspiring revolutionaries. Nor do the strife, tensions, and hardships besetting American society and politics in 2021 bear the slightest resemblance to the combustive mix of hunger, oppression, and war that sparked the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II (spearheaded largely by Kerensky) and then the overthrow of Kerensky himselfalong with any hopes, for decades to come, of a civil society. Advertisement Still, the political dynamics of the two situations, a world and a century apart, have striking similarities. Kerensky refused to criticize Lenin and the Bolsheviks because he regarded them as potent allies against a revival of monarchism, which he (mistakenly) saw as the real enemy. Similarly, Republican leadersincluding many who knew betterembraced Trump and now refuse to dissociate themselves from his most fanatical followers because they were, and are, seen as potent bulwarks against the Democrats liberal programs, which they see as the real enemy. A few Republicans are beginning to grasp the depths of their miscalculation. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the partys most cynically opportunistic (and, for that reason, often the most effective) strategist of the past decade, condemned loony lies and conspiracy theories as a cancer for the Republican Party and our country, adding, Somebody whos suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.s airplane is not living in reality. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party. Advertisement Advertisement McConnell did not mention the name of that somebody, though everyone knew he was referring to Greene. Nor did he acknowledge, much less apologize for, his role in letting the loony lies fester in the weeks after the presidential election, or for his role in abetting the rise of loony lies within his party over the past several yearsall for the sake of maintaining a majority in order to pass corporate tax cuts and seat right-wing judges, the only causes that animate McConnells passions besides the aggrandizement of his own power. He thought that he could corral the loonies that he helped empower; he never considered the possibility that they might wind up co-opting him. In the days leading up to the normally rote procedure of certifying state electors votes for the president last month, McConnell pressured the loonies in his caucus to fall in line with realitybut a dozen of them refused to succumb. The lies that Trump had been propagatingthat the election had been stolen, that in fact hed won in a landslidewere thus legitimized, and they spread in volume and intensity. So when Trumps most diehard followers and gangs of militias gathered on Jan. 6 at his call, and marched on the Capitol at his orders, they really believed that Congress was about to finalize the steal and that they could stop the crime from happening. Advertisement Advertisement This too had a crudely Leninist air about it. Lenin knew that agitation and propaganda were vital to a revolutions success. He called his party Bolshevist, which in Russian means majority, even though its members constituted a distinct minority even among the array of the countrys socialist revolutionary parties; he made many believe they were truly a majority. Similarly, many of those who stormed the Capitol last month truly believed they were the real Americans, energized by the real president. A small number of Republicans are now, finally, trying to resist the fantasy and coax their party back to reality. They include a handful in the Senate, notably Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins, who are securely in sync with their constituents back home. But they number only a handful. On the House side, 10 Republicans voted in favor of the motion to impeach Trump, and they are paying a price for their heresy. Some have been censured (whereas Greene has not been). All will face primary challenges in two years. Rep. Liz Cheneya stalwart conservative, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the third most senior member of the House GOPis now shunned as a pariah. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthywho, soon after Jan. 6, publicly blamed Trump for inciting the insurrection, but then recanted, even journeying to Mar-a-Lago and posing for a smiley photo with the deposed king Trumpis talking about stripping Cheney of her position in the leadership. Advertisement The Grand Old Party, as the Republicans were once known, will likely lie tattered in shambles, regardless of which side prevails in its internecine battles. But what about the uncivil wars, as Biden described them, that have been embroiling the entire nation? How will that play out? The revolutionary wannabes of Jan. 6 view 2021 as their 1776 moment. If they had a deeper sense of history, they might liken their first stab at insurrection to Lenins failed putsch of July 1917, which he replayed with success the following October. Their dream is unlikely to come true. There is no Washington or Lenin within their ranks. Many of those who might have entertained such aspirations have been arrested for their captured-on-video crimes. But the rank and file arent going away. Some are plotting renewed storms. Many more continue to spread the big lies, which galvanize the plots, which lend them meaning and even a swellinghowever monumentally deludedpride of glory. To the extent that their rumblings gain momentum and force, the blame will lie with their abettors in the Republican Party establishmentthose who, for whatever motives, persist in proclaiming no enemies to the right and who fail, perhaps tragically, to detect the nature and scope of the real enemy, our common enemy, from within. Be Mine! from Sarah Baker Two Valentines Day Gifts of Choice Fragrance News Receiving a special fragrance remains a favourite Valentine's Day gift for many. But there are ongoing challenges this year. With bricks-and-mortar shops still closed in many parts of the world, how do you find exactly the right fragrance for your amour, especially if youre banking on the surprise of something new; something not experienced before? Sarah Baker is a London-based American visual artist who founded the niche luxury perfume brand that bears her name in 2015. In barely five years, the house has gone from strength to strength, garnering praise and awards. The brand now boasts two full collections of unisex niche luxury fragrances. This year Sarah Baker Perfumes are offering two limited Be Mine! Valentines Day gift sets that allow your beloved to have a lot of choice at the heart of the matter. Heres how it works in a nutshell: You order one of the Valentines Be Mine! gift sets online and Sarah Baker Perfumes sends the full discovery set of the chosen collection, beautifully presented in a gift box and featuring an artist-designed card by Sarah Baker. Your sweetheart can relish and consider each fragrance, taking as much time as the heart desires before settling on a choice. When your amour decides which one of the collection is his or her favourite, its a simple matter of letting Sarah Baker Perfumes know, using the personal code on the card. They then dispatch a full 50ml bottle without any additional cost or catch. Love Birds Gift Set You can opt for the Be Mine! - Love Birds gift set that profiles the flagship extrait de parfum Sarah Baker Collection. This gift set features eight fragrances, including a 2019 prestigious award finalist. For those who prefer a lighter touch, theres the Be Mine! - Naughty Cupid gift set showcasing the five fragrances of the S. Baker Collection, the houses eau de parfum collection launched in 2020 to much praise in the perfume world. Naughty Cupid Gift Set Best of all, these two limited Valentines Day gift sets offer great value to suit most pockets: Each is the same price as a 50ml bottle. In other words, youre giving your Valentine a beautiful bottle of luxurious niche fragrance not to mention the additional benefit of an entire collection without the stress of blindly trying to get it right. Love Bird set samples The Be Mine! Valentines Day gift sets are exclusively available from sarahbakerperfumes.com up until and including 14 February 2021. The Be Mine! - Love Birds gift set featuring eight extraits de parfum is priced at 120/$155. The Be Mine! - Naughty Cupid gift set featuring five eau de parfum fragrances costs 80/$95. All pricing includes the gift-wrapped box of the collection, discovery set, artist-designed card, and the full 50ml bottle of fragrance subsequently selected by your lucky Valentine. All info and photos from the brand's press release. On January 29, New Zealands immigration minister Kris Faafoi announced that the approaching cruise ship Le Laperouse had stopped just outside the countrys exclusive economic zone and was being advised to turn around, after officials denied work visas to 61 of its 90 crew members. Faafoi said the ship, which was not carrying passengers, could dock in New Zealand for maintenance, but the 61 workers, including waiters, chefs, bartenders, entertainers and housekeeping staff, would have to leave the country immediately or be detained until they are able to leave. The best course of action, he said, would be for the ship to turn around before they get here. Le Laperouse cruise ship (Source: Wikipedia) Stuff reported that staff from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had told the ships owners to dump the hospitality crew in New Caledonia, before proceeding onto New Zealand. The owners, French firm Ponant, decided to turn Le Laperouse around and anchor off the coast of Noumea, in the French Pacific island territory of New Caledonia. With a cyclone approaching and the ship running low on fuel, potentially endangering the crew, Noumean authorities allowed the ship to dock last night. The fate of the crew, who are from several different countries, remains highly uncertain. Given the global collapse of the tourism and cruise ship industries, they will undoubtedly struggle to find other jobs if they cannot work on Le Laperouse. The episode underscores the draconian character of the Labour Party-Greens coalition governments border regime. Under the guise of keeping the country safe during the pandemic, the government is stoking nationalism and xenophobia to divide the working class and prevent any unified struggle against austerity and job cuts. Thousands of migrant workers and foreign students who have visas entitling them to live in New Zealand, are stranded overseas and have been denied the right to re-enter. Many have been separated from family members. Tens of thousands of migrants living in New Zealand are facing endless delays in the processing of their residency applications. Faafoi told a press conference: New Zealand takes its border security extremely seriously, especially given the threat of COVID-19, implying the cruise ship workers posed a health risk. However, the crew of Le Laperouse had tested negative for the coronavirus on four occasions and were aboard the ship for 27 days to fulfill isolation criteria. New Zealand company Wild Earth Travel had chartered the vessel to provide cruises to sub-Antarctic islands. Le Laperouse had been cleared by NZs Ministry of Health to enter New Zealand well before it departed from Indonesia on January 10. Ponant believed that this approval implied its crew would be granted visas. Cruise ships were banned in March 2020 due to the pandemic, but the government allowed the industry to restart late last year. Numerous media articles published in December and January welcomed the return of Le Laperouse, which has operated in New Zealand for seven years. The government apparently did not warn the ships operators that two thirds of its crew would be barred from entering the country. Faafoi admitted to Radio NZ that the crew did not pose a health risk, but said New Zealands border closure in late March 2020 meant only citizens, residents and workers granted an exemption to fill critical skills shortages could enter the country. Immigration NZ informed Le Laperouse that 61 crew did not meet the criteria only days before it was due to arrive. Far from defending the crew of Le Laperouse, who have been prevented from earning a living solely because of their nationality, New Zealands trade union bureaucracy applauded the governments ban. Maritime Union (MUNZ) assistant secretary Craig Harrison said the cruise ship jobs should have been reserved for young New Zealanders struggling to get positions. He said workers that have been displaced at Air New Zealand, the national airline, could have been employed on Le Laperouse. He urged the ship operator to enlist the union to act essentially as a recruitment agency and find local staff to replace the 61 foreign crew. The Merchant Service Guild (MSG) suggested that the entire crew of Le Laperouse, including the 29 technical crew who were granted visas, should be replaced by New Zealanders. MSG vice-president Ian McLeod told Radio NZ the ships non-resident crew can stay onboard for a couple of weeks to train New Zealanders, and then return home. All ships should be using New Zealand people with New Zealand crews, he said. Migrant workers are not responsible for unemployment, which has soared in New Zealand as in every country, amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Official figures show 4.9 percent of working age people in NZ are unemployed, up from 4 percent a year ago. The underutilisation rate, including part-time workers who want more hours and people not actively looking for work, is much higher at 11.9 percent. The unions are scapegoating foreigners for the lack of decent jobs to divert attention from the fact that they have enforced mass sackings, wage cuts and other attacks on the working class. These organisations do not represent workers. They are a privileged middle class bureaucracy working hand-in-hand with big business and the state to defend the interests of New Zealand capitalism. The E tu union, for example, refused to organise any resistance in the working class to more than 4,000 job cuts by Air New Zealand, which is majority-owned by the government and received a loan of $900 million from the state to keep it afloat. While issuing occasional pleas to minimise redundancies, E tu called on the airline to cut its foreign workforce to reduce costs. On September 16, 2020, the union stated that there is no operational reason for Air New Zealand to retain a crew base in Shanghai and demanded that the airline end its agreement with a crew hire company in the Chinese city. E tu and MUNZ are both affiliated to the Labour Party and urged workers to re-elect it in the last years election, despite Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns government handing out tens of billions of dollars to major corporations, while overseeing soaring social inequality, homelessness and poverty. MUNZ donated more than $40,000 of union members money to Labours election campaign. The Socialist Equality Group (NZ) calls on the working class to reject the nationalist and xenophobic poison promoted by Labour and the unions, and to defend the crew of La Laperouse. These workers must be allowed to work and live in New Zealand with the same rights as citizens. People in the central Queensland coastal town of Yeppoon are being urged to get tested for COVID-19 after the states sewage surveillance program found traces of the virus in a treatment plant. Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said continued detections across the state were becoming more concerning. Yeppoon residents have been warned to get tested. Credit:Darrian Traynor This is especially important now more than ever. As we know, the new variants emerging overseas are more contagious than previous variants we have seen in Queensland, she said. If there is a case we are not yet aware of, it is critical we detect it through our testing mechanisms as quickly as possible to contain any potential spread. The catchment, near Rockhampton, takes in sewage from the suburbs of Taroomball, Inverness, Hidden Valley, Rosslyn, Mulambin, Cooee Bay, Barlows Hill, Lammermoor, Meikleville Hill, Pacific Heights, Taranganba and Yeppoon. It is, of course, also possible that this detection relates to previous COVID-19 cases who can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious, Dr Young said. While Queensland added no new cases to its COVID tally on Thursday, three cases of interest are now under investigation. Dr Young believes one of the cases, a woman in north Brisbane, had returned a false positive test. Read the full story here. However, Peskov did not disclose the delivery dates. The Kremlin plans to supply its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 to occupied Donbas. "As far as I understand, there will also be supplies there (to occupied Donbas). I don't know exactly when. Perhaps it is better to ask the government. But, of course, people there also need a vaccine, and if not us, no one will supply it there," Russian President Vladimir Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday, an UNIAN correspondent in Russia reported. Read also Russia reportedly ships first batch of its COVID-19 vaccine to occupied Donbas Russia's Sputnik V vaccine In August 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was the first in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V. Putin also claimed that one of his daughters had been vaccinated with the vaccine. Moscow has not provided the international scientific community with any data on vaccine trials confirming that it is safe and effective against COVID-19. Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine had not been conducted prior to registration. Yet, the Russian side claims the effectiveness of the vaccine is 92%. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine does not buy the Russian-made vaccine against COVID-19 as no one can guarantee the quality of that vaccine. Reporting by UNIAN A father-of-seven who told gardai he thought he was attending a job interview but ended up taking part in a violent forced eviction has been jailed for three years. Desmond McGrath (50) was part of a gang of seven men, including convicted murderer Declan Duffy and INLA kidnapper Dessie O'Hare, also known as The Border Fox, who falsely imprisoned and tried to evict a family from their home. McGrath also took part in the assault of a security guard who became involved in the incident, punching and kicking the man. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that five of the men involved, including O'Hare and Duffy, were convicted in the Special Criminal Court in 2019. The court heard that O'Hare and Duffy were the ringleaders of the events. Following his arrest, McGrath told gardai that before he arrived at the scene he had been told he was attending a job interview for security work. The court heard McGrath was dressed almost as a bouncer for that reason at the time of the offences. McGrath of Cushlawn Park, Tallaght pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm of John Roche at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, on June 9, 2015. He also pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of both Martin Byrne and Lisa Byrne at the same address on the same date. His 11 previous convictions include larceny and road traffic offences. Expand Close Dessie O'Hare was part of the seven-man gang / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dessie O'Hare was part of the seven-man gang Passing sentencing, Judge Karen O'Connor said the offence was aggravated by the level of violence against the security guard and the impact the offence had on the family who were falsely imprisoned. Judge O'Connor said the mitigating factors were McGrath's guilty plea, his admissions, his remorse, his difficult background and his efforts to rehabilitate from drug and alcohol addiction. She said a distinction could be made between himself and others who took part in the offences. She sentenced McGrath to four years imprisonment, but suspended the final 12 months of the sentence on strict conditions. At a previous sentencing hearing, Sergeant Eamon O'Neill told Garret Baker BL, prosecuting, that Mr Byrne had worked in the security industry for 25 years prior to the events in June 2015. Mr Byrne was employed as head of security of the Mansfield Group which ran various properties such as Citywest Hotel. Sgt O'Neill said that on the date in question, Mr Byrne attended an office in which O'Hare was present. They were joined by Duffy and five more men arrived including McGrath. Mr Byrne was told by O'Hare that his services were no longer required and that he was to immediately vacate the property at Garter Lane where he had been residing with his family as part of his employment arrangement. Mr Byrne said that if he was given 24 hours he could move his family and his possessions out of the property, but this offer was rejected. He tried to leave of his own accord but he was surrounded, grabbed and bundled into a car by the men. When they arrived at the property the security gates would not open and Mr Byrne was told he would be brought to another place if they did not open. Out of fear for his safety, Mr Byrne suggested driving through the gates, which they proceeded to do. Mr Roche was working as a security guard at the scene and came to see who was at the gate. The group of men then began punching, kicking and stamping on him. The court heard that the other men had begun the assault when McGrath joined in, punching and kicking Mr Roche before stepping away. McGrath went upstairs with Mr Byrne's son when they arrived at the property and monitored his movement in the house, but he did not perpetrate any physical violence against him or any member of the Byrne family. Mr Byrne pleaded to let his family go, after which O'Hare made a remark to Ms Byrne along the lines of say a prayer. Mr Roche was picked up from the ground around this point and brought into one of the adjacent properties. Mr Byrne was told to go into the same house where he observed Mr Roche in a chair covered in blood. He was told that Mr Roche would be dropped to a hospital when they were finished but that Mr Byrne would not need a hospital. Mr Byrne was then pulled into a chair and struck several times to the head. Gardai arrived at the scene and Mr Byrne was told by O'Hare if he did not get rid of them he would get a bullet in the head. Mr Byrne attempted to tell gardai that everything was okay, but they saw he was shaken and had injuries and that his family were in a distressed state. The seven men left and were arrested at later intervals. A medical certificate submitted to court stated that Mr Roche sustained multiple injuries as a result of the assault, including fractures to his right forearm and his nasal bone. Mr Roche did not make a statement to gardai. The court heard that Mr Byrne and his family have been in the Witness Protection Programme since the events in June 2015. McGrath was arrested in Dublin city centre in April 2019. He was the only one of his co-accused to make admissions and he gave an account of his actions, but did not give any details regarding anyone else. Just because the Golden Globes is one of Hollywoods wackier awards shows doesnt mean Philly cant take a rooting interest in the choices of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. East Oak Lanes Leslie Odom Jr. on Wednesday was nominated for best actor in a supporting role in a motion picture for his performance as Sam Cooke in One Night in Miami. The Hamilton star also received a nod for best original song as the cowriter, with Sam Ashworth, of Speak Now from One Night in Miami. Allentown native Amanda Seyfried, who played Marion Davies, the longtime companion of William Randolph Hearst, in Netflixs Mank, was nominated for supporting actress in a motion picture. Mank, a film about the writing of Citizen Kane that starred Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz, led the balloting with six nominations, including for best picture, best actor for Oldman, best director for David Fincher, best score, and best screenplay for Jack Fincher, the directors late father, a retired journalist who wrote eight drafts of the script before his death in 2003. Another Netflix production, The Trial of the Chicago 7, received five nominations. Hulus Palm Springs, which starred Cherry Hills Cristin Milioti opposite Andy Samberg, was nominated for best musical or comedy motion picture and for Sambergs performance. Philadelphia native Becky Sloviter was a producer on the movie. Unsurprisingly for a year in which few Americans left their homes to go to the movies, streaming dominated the nominations, with Netflix in the lead with 42 nominations, 22 in film categories and 20 in television. When the Globes are telecast Feb. 28 on NBC, Upper Darbys Tina Fey will be back for a fourth time as cohost with Amy Poehler. This time, however, shell be on the East Coast, broadcasting from the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, while Poehler will be at the Globes usual spot, the Beverly Hilton ballroom in Beverly Hills. Winners will be making their acceptance speeches from all over the world. A complete list of nominees can be found here. The Associated Press 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. 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. Smartphone companies have been launching their devices in China without Google Mobile Services since all Google platforms are banned in the Asian country. However, users were usually able to download them if they were planning to use the phone outside Mainland China or through a VPN. Sadly, Xiaomi users in China no longer have a straightforward option for doing so. Support staff for MIUI has announced that starting this month, Mi and Redmi phones, purchased without pre-installed GMS, will no longer be able to freely download them. Devices that will be affected by this change are mainly China-only phones like the mighty cameraphone Mi 10 Ultra, the Redmi K30 Ultra, and the Redmi 10X series. Users who want to have GMS are advised to go for third-party services like the CoolAPK platform that allows sideloading apps. There are plenty of enthusiasts that prefer to buy phones from China and then import them to their home countries either due to the lower cost or because they liked a model that's not available in their country. They still have to rely on other platforms or adopt the non-Google life, something that Huawei is trying to do for the past two years. Source (in Chinese) | Via Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. 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 controversial plan to eliminate the merit-based admissions policy at one of the top public high schools in the country sparked an emotional response Tuesday from both critics and supporters who pleaded with the San Francisco school board, which appeared set to pass it. Four of seven board members introduced the measure at a special meeting Tuesday, saying it was time to do something about the lack of diversity and pervasive systemic racism at Lowell High School. The debate reflects a long-fought societal battle over the idea of rewarding merit and hard work versus the need to enhance equity and opportunity for students disadvantaged by circumstances beyond their control. For decades, the school has pulled some of the top academic students in city, primarily basing admissions on grades and test scores, and it has consistently sent graduates to some of the top-tier universities in the country. The proposal, which is up for a vote on Feb. 9, would upend that system, making admission to Lowell the same as other district high schools, which is primarily based on a random lottery. Board member Jenny Lam said that while she supports Black students and their effort to address long-standing racism at Lowell, she said she cannot support the hurried pace to pass the measure. She said her focus is on reopening schools and coping with learning loss due to distance learning. District officials have long tried to diversify Lowell by giving some students an edge in admissions if they came from certain middle schools with disproportionate enrollment of low-income families or students of color. The current admission process also holds 30% of spots for those who dont make the competitive cut but meet minimum academic standards and have the support of principals. Of Lowells 2,900 students, 51% are Asian and Asian American, 18% are white, 12% are Latino or Hispanic, 6% are Filipino and Filipino American and 2% are African American, with the rest being either of two or more races or other/not reported. About a third of students are from low-income families, compared to about half for the district overall. By comparison, the districts overall enrollment is 33% Asian and Asian American, 28% Latino or Hispanic, 15% white, 6% African American, 4% Filipino and Filipino American. Facing an uphill battle against what appeared to be a done deal given the boards majority support, critics called on the elected officials to slow down, saying there is too much at stake to rush through a decision in one week, and questioned whether a lottery system would eliminate racism, something that is prevalent in other schools and across society. I hope were not throwing the baby out with the bath water, said Marc Lowe, a Lowell alumni. I can understand there can be instances of racism at the school. But is it the school, the admission policy or other reasons? Parent Whitnie Narcisse, a Lowell alumna, said she fears for her Black husband and Black sons in San Francisco generally. A lottery is not going to fix racism at Lowell or in San Francisco, she said. Several speakers, including students, said the school has long been a lifeline for low-income, academically motivated students who cant afford elite private schools. San Francisco resident Victor Seeto suggested the board expand the idea of merit to include initiative, courage, essays, helping their families, but still selectively admit students. I think that merit should be a way of separating out the students who would benefit from the experience of Lowell, he said. Supporters, however, said it was time the board finally recognized the pain and bigotry students of color face. The proposal comes after a recent incident at Lowell in which students were subjected to anti-Black slurs, pornography and anti-Semitic comments in an online forum. The investigation into who posted the images is ongoing. Students have said racial epithets are used and they are subject to questions about their qualifications for being at the academically select school. No offense, but how did you get into Lowell? a classmate asked one Black student, who posted the experience on social media under the hashtag BlackatLowell. I think its really, really time for change, said Lowell student Jessi Yu. I know that this resolution is really controversial and I want to say Im really really proud of my elected leaders. The San Francisco Alliance of Black School Educators wholeheartedly supports the measure, said representative Virginia Marshall. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. For more than 30 years, Lowell has brutalized mentally our African American students, she said. If passed, the measure would make permanent a temporary change to a lottery admission to Lowell approved by the board to address the lack of test scores and grades because of distance learning during the pandemic. The proposed changes at Lowell are the latest in a series of actions by the school board to address systemic racism as the country grapples with a reckoning of a racist past and present. The board recently voted to change 44 school names associated with racism, oppression and slavery, including Lowell High School, named after poet and critic James Lowell. Last year, the school board unanimously supported an effort to obscure a historic mural of George Washingtons life because it contains offensive images of slavery and Indigenous peoples. The board has also adopted policies in recent months and years to support Black, Latino, American Indian and Pacific Islander curricula and other programs, including additional staffing for those efforts. The Lowell proposal also includes the creation of a community coalition to oversee an equity audit and form a plan to address the ongoing toxic racist abuse that Black and other students of color have experienced at Lowell, according to the language. In the measure, the board also noted that state law prevents comprehensive high schools from using selective admission and that a return to the merit-based policy would violate the law. There are other high schools in the state that use similar merit-based criteria but admit the top academic achievers at every middle school, for example, to ensure a more equitable policy. The Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP, noted that Lowells Black students make up less than 2% of enrollment. The boards effort is one step trying to do something to correct the problem, he said. Im appealing to our population to look in the mirror. I have witnesses for 45 years now of Lowell High school not being kind to Black students and their families, Brown said, adding the board doesnt need to take more time on it. How much time do we need to be inclusive? Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker House Speaker: House fully supports SIS efforts to reflect true image of Egypt House of Representatives Speaker Hanafy el-Gebaly said the House stands four square behind the State Information Service (SIS) 's efforts to convey the true image of Egypt and fend off all terror groups' allegations meant to smear the State. During a meeting on Wednesday 3/2/2021 with SIS Chairman Diaa Rashwan, the House of representatives speaker reiterated the MPs full respect to all journalists and appreciation of their role. Rashwan also congratulated Gebaly on his election as the new speaker of the House of Representatives. He further highlighted the SIS's role in facing up to false reports fabricated to skew the nation, distort its image and undermine its stability, especially in the freedoms and human rights domains.The House's two deputies to the speaker MP Ahmed Saad Eddine and MP Mohamed Aboul Enein took part in the meeting. MENA The student believed to be the first Briton to catch coronavirus had drugs in his system when he died after 'never getting over lockdown in China', an inquest heard today. Connor Reed, 26, from Llandudno, North Wales, caught the virus while teaching English at a school in Wuhan in November 2019, and claimed he drank hot toddies to help him beat the illness. After being found dead in his room at Bangor University in October, where he moved to study Chinese and linguistics, his heartbroken mother revealed he never got over the 'hardship' of contracting the virus after he was forced to spend over 20 weeks in a 'harsh' Chinese lockdown. Opening an inquest at Caernarfon, coroner Kate Sutherland said he hadn't been seen for some time by his friends and they eventually entered his room. Mr Reed was lying on the floor, between the desk and his bed. A post-mortem examination gave the provisional cause of death as respiratory failure due to broncho-pneumonia due to 'combined drug toxicity.' The coroner said: 'The investigation into Connor Reed's death is ongoing and the inquest will be adjourned.' Connor Reed pictured with his mother Hayley. His heartbroken mother revealed that Connor never got over the 'hardship' of contracting coronavirus after he was forced to spend over 20 weeks in a 'harsh' lockdown in China Mr Reed's family, who live in Australia, spoke of their heartbreak of being unable to attend his funeral. Parents Rod and Hayley Reed had to watch the service on a screen with children Morgan, 17, and Oliver, eight. His father said: 'You'd think we would have felt disconnected from Connor because we were so far away, but I didn't feel that way at all. 'It was just nice that we were at least able to see him. Afterwards, we had a glass of wine and talked about all the incredible things he did in his life.' Writing for the Daily Mail in November, Mr Reed described his symptoms, initially putting the illness down to a bad flu. 'I feel dreadful. This is no longer just a cold. I ache all over, my head is thumping, my eyes are burning, my throat is constricted. The cold has travelled down to my chest and I have a hacking cough,' he wrote at the time. He went on to describe how he made himself a 'hot toddy' to help ease his symptoms. 'I don't smoke and I hardly ever drink. But it's important to me to get over this cold quickly, so that I can stay healthy for work. For medicinal purposes only, I put a splash of whisky in my honey drink. I think it's called a 'hot toddy',' he wrote. Mr Reed went to hospital after developing a chest infection, but went on to make a recovery from the illness. According to his mother Hayley, who lives in Brisbane, her son never got over the 'hardship' he endured after contracting the virus. Speaking to The Sun, she said: 'Over the last six months he endured a lot of hardship in China contracting Covid and having over 20 weeks lockdown under strict conditions. 'He endured more lockdown than anyone we have even known - 16 weeks harsh lockdown in Wuhan, two weeks in Australia and a further three weeks in the UK. 'We are both broken-hearted that his adventures came to an end at Bangor University where he was studying for a degree in Chinese language with what looks like a tragic accident.' Connor Reed, 26, from Llandudno, North Wales, caught the virus while teaching English at a school in Wuhan in November 2019, and claimed he drank hot toddies to help him beat the illness Speaking of her son's ambitious nature, she said: 'To say Connor had a sense of adventure was an understatement. 'When he told us he was going to learn Chinese we didn't really believe him but he knuckled down and went on his own to China and in a few years was speaking fluent mandarin.' In an online post after his death, Mrs Reed wrote: 'It brings me great sadness to announce our beautiful son Connor Reed has passed away in a tragic accident at Bangor University at the weekend. 'He will be so greatly missed by his brothers, family and friends. He had such a wonderful smile, enthusiasm and love for life. 'We are blessed to of(sic) had you in our lives if only for a very short time. Rest in peace our darling.' This is the comical moment a playful cat gets stuck on a curtain as its owner delivers a speech to her class online. Footage captured in Fayetteville, Arkansas, shows the feline's owner taking part in her public speaking class on her laptop when she is upstaged by her hapless cat who begins to climb up the curtain. Unbeknown to the student, a drama begins to unfold behind her when her cat's left claw hooks onto the curtain as the animal tries to climb onto the couch. The trapped cat tries to free itself from the curtain and a struggle ensues as the student continues speaking to her class. The unnamed owner was oblivious to the cat's plight until she reviewed the footage. The students delivers her public speaking speech to her class in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the cat begins to climb up the curtain The feline emerges from the curtain and tries to climb down onto the couch but soon realises it is stuck It revealed the cat struggling to free itself from the curtain and the student's roommate crawling along the floor and failing to stay out of shot as she went to rescue the trapped pet. During the clip, which was filmed on January 21, the student delivers her public speaking speech to her class. The curtain behind the young woman begins to move as her cat makes its way up. As the cat tries to climb onto the couch, its claw hooks onto the curtain and the feline begins to flail around. Moments later, the student's roommate crawls along the floor and fails to stay out of shot as she attempts to rescue the helpless cat. The student told Viral Hog: 'I was giving my public speaking speech online and in the middle of my speech, my cat got stuck on my curtains. 'She was flailing around for a while and I was so focused on my speech I didn't even notice. 'Finally, my roommate crawled to the rescue mid-speech. I didn't have any idea any of this had happened until I rewatched it at the end.' The feline begins to flail around on the couch and tries to pull its claw from the curtain INDIANAPOLIS, Ind (WEVV) "Small businesses are really the backbone of the economy in Indiana and really any economy", said Jasper State Representative Shane Lindauer. And right now as we close in on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, that backbone needs more propping up. That's why state representative Shane Lindauer of Jasper has co-authored a bill to add $30 million from the general fund to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb's Small Business Restart Grant. It's a program specifically designed to offer grants to small businesses with one hundred employees. I've got numbers from small businesses that have been impacted in my area and the district I represent", said Lindauer. "And so I know that the program that has been in existence is helpful.I think most entrepreneurs never look for a handout, they're looking for that hand up and I think that's hopefully what that does." Mary Rosek, the bookkeeper and salesperson at SouthWest Graphix on Franklin Street, a business that sells school and business logo clothing and products know that feeling all too well. "Not as busy as we'd want it and the community just feels weird that we just can't do anything", said Rosek. "A lot less tee-shirts made for purposes for runs and everything has been cut back and everything and that's kind of hurt us." Mary believes Lindauer's bill would help provide a bridge for small businesses like her's get to a better place. "I think it would help the day to day business stuff," said Rosek. "With this economy going like this now, it would help tremendously." Now Southwest Graphix isn't the only business feeling the bite from the Coronavirus pandemic economy. In fact, most of the businesses here on Franklin Street have told me their business is down about 20 percent on average, though most of them have been able to survive making changes here and there. However, all of them agree, they can't wait to return to normalcy and business as usual. "Since we're getting the vaccine, so hopefully people will get out and start shopping and actually try stuff on", said Rosek. "I certainly would like to think we'll get back there", said Lindauer. "The intent of the bill is to help us get back there." A mum who tragically lost her unborn child after a speeding drunk driver high on drugs crashed into her car has renewed her desperate calls for the law to be overhauled. Sarah Milosevic was two days from giving birth when a drunk and drug-affected driver ploughed into the family car minutes from home after a trip to the shops south of Brisbane in August 2014. Her unborn daughter Sophie didn't survive. Ms Milosevic and her husband Peter launched the Sophie's Law campaign to recognise unborn babies killed in a criminal act after the driver responsible for the crash that killed their baby girl escaped a jail sentence. The Milosevics are campaigning for Queensland legislation to be changed to acknowledge unborn babies killed in a criminal act. Their unborn daughter Sophie (pictured) was killed in a crash in 2014 Their campaign has fallen on deaf ears in the Queensland government, despite countless emails and an online petition which attracted more than 100,000 signatures. The grieving couple have reopened their Change.org petition in the wake of the Alexandra Hills tragedy in Brisbane on Australia Day which claimed the lives of Kate Leadbetter, 31, her boyfriend Matthew Field, 37, and their unborn son Miles. The alleged driver, 17, has been hit with a string of charges including two counts of murder, but is unlikely to be charged over the death of baby Miles. Ms Milosevic has since been in touch with Ms Leadbetter's heartbroken family and has renewed calls for the law to be changed. 'We were devastated to hear what happened as it brings us back to our own experience and the pain we went through,' Ms Milosevic told Daily Mail Australia. 'We always renew the campaign at the start of each year, which everyone has been talking about in the wake of what happened last week.' More than six years on, Ms Milosevic still remembers the fateful day her world changed forever. Her husband, their toddler Jorja and her stepson Nicholas, then 10, were also in the car. 'It was just a normal day. I'd spent the day helping out my grandparents and taking them to appointments and was exhausted by the afternoon as I was two days from being induced,' she recalled. 'We were coming from the shops and were turning the corner into our street. I looked to my left and said to Peter, "That car is going to hit us." 'I knew there was no way Sophie would survive. I couldn't feel any movement.' Ms Milosevic has renewed calls for Sophie's Law to become a reality in the wake of another Brisbane tragedy. Kate Leadbetter, 31, and her boyfriend Matthew Field, 37, (pictured recently) along with their unborn son Miles died after they were allegedly hit by a teenage driver in Alexandra Hills on the evening of Australia Day Peter Milosevic and wife Sarah were moments from home when a drunk driver crashed into them six years ago. They're at the scene where their unborn baby Sophie was killed Ms Milosevic fell in and out of consciousness while she was trapped in the wreckage for two hours as paramedics tried to save her and her unborn baby. Despite a broken back and massive internal injuries, she left Royal Brisbane Hospital just five days later. 'I left out of sheer will, I had a funeral to plan,' Ms Milosevic said. 'I was in and out of hospital for six weeks after the crash. 'Not a day goes by when we don't think of Sophie and the little girl she'd be today had she survived. 'Time doesn't heal our pain.' The Milosevics have since welcomed a third daughter, Olivia, 4. Almost seven years on, she's still angry with the driver responsible for the crash, who was fined $950 and had his licence suspended for five months. He was not held responsible for Sophie's death, despite her being included in Queensland's 2014 road toll. Sarah and husband Peter (pictured) spent precious time with Sophie in hospital after she died in the crash Kate Leadbetter and Matty Field (pictured together) had been dating for four years and were expecting their first child when their lives were tragically cut short on Australia Day She has pleaded with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the state's Attorney General to meet with her to discuss Sophie's Law, which has been tried and tested overseas. It's similar to Zoe's Law, a NSW campaign started by Brodie Donegan, whose unborn daughter died in 2009 when she was hit by a drug driver while walking. 'I'm not doing this just for me or for my baby, I'm doing this so other families can get justice,' Ms Milosevic told Daily Mail Australia. 'The law is ready to go and has been tried and tested overseas.' 'I don't care if it's not named after Sophie, as long as the law is changed.' Ms Milosevic has been left frustrated by her dealings with the Queensland government. 'I want the Premier and the government to sit down and listen to us, hear what we've been through, look at pictures of Sophie and our injuries and see Sophie's ashes,' she said. 'She was a real human being and should be counted.' Ms Milosevic has been inundated with messages since renewing awareness for Sophie's Law on A Current Affair on Tuesday night. The overwhelming public support inspired to her reopen the Change.org petition, where the tally now stands at more 127,000 signatures. Not a day goes by when we don't think of Sophie and the little girl she'd be today,' Sarah told Daily Mail Australia. Pictured is her daughter in August 2014 Sarah Milosevic was 39 weeks pregnant and two days from being induced when a crash claimed the life of her unborn baby. Pictured is the crash scene 'I want all babies of any gestation to have the right to be classed as a human being,' the petition states. 'I want pregnant women protected against acts of violence and against their babies dying because of an avoidable cause. 'Sophie should be alive but because of a careless act caused by a driver that does not care, he holds no responsibility for his action and walks free. 'All babies born past 20 weeks gestation need to have a birth certificate, a death certificate and also a funeral. So why is it that only in a court of law, does a baby have no rights to be counted?' Sarah and Peter Milosevic (pictured) have ramped up their Sophie's Law campaign Terming the military detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar a coup, a senior State Department official on Tuesday said the US is in touch with like-minded allies like India and Japan on the latest developments in the Southeast Asian nation as they have better contact with the military there. Myanmar's military on Monday staged a coup and detained top political figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It was also announced that the military had taken control of the country for one year. We have certainly been in frequent contact with our like-minded allies and partners in the region. You mentioned Japan and India. Those are we're having daily ongoing conversations with them, and we certainly appreciate that some other countries have better contact with Burmese military than we do so we're continuing those conversations, a senior State Department official told reporters during a conference call. The United States on Tuesday said that the Burmese military action is a coup. After a careful review of the facts and circumstances, we have assessed that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's ruling party, and Win Myint, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1," the State Department official said. "We continue to call on the Burmese military leadership to release them and all other detained civil society and political leaders immediately and unconditionally, the official said. The US has denounced in the strongest possible terms Myanmar's military leaders for seeking to reject the will of the people of the country's as expressed in democratic elections on November 8th and for taking control of the government. "We continue to stand with the people of Burma, as we have done for decades, in their efforts to achieve democracy, freedom, peace, and development, said the official. This assessment, the official said, triggers certain restrictions in foreign assistance to the government of Myanmar and the US would undertake a broader review of our assistance programs to ensure they align with recent events. "At the same time, it will continue programs that benefit the people of Burma directly, including humanitarian assistance and democracy support programs that benefit civil society," the official said. The return to civilian rule in 2015 enabled Myanmar to re-engage with countries and businesses across the globe and move beyond relying on others in the region that do not respect human rights and democratic institutions. The military's actions over the last week, and frankly prior to that, have put that progress at grave risk. A very small circle of Burma's military leaders have chosen their own interests over the will and well-being of the people, the official said. The Biden administration, the official said, rejects any attempt by the military to alter the outcome of the November 2020 election in Burma. And, as President Biden has said, we will take action against those responsible, including through a careful review of our current sanctions posture as it relates to Burma's military leaders and companies associated with them. Most importantly, we will continue to stand with the people of Burma, the official saidwe will be conducting a review of all our assistance programmes for Burma. I don't have a timeline for you on that, but we're going to be guided by our longstanding commitment to the people of Burma and their aspirations for democracy, peace, justice, and development, said the official. Calling the military's seizure of power in Myanmar a direct assault on its transition to democracy, US President Joe Biden on Monday threatened to slap new sanctions on the country. . Olympus launches comprehensive global educational platform for healthcare professionals Tokyo / Hamburg, Feb 1, 2021 Olympus Corporation (Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO: Yasuo Takeuchi) today announced the launch of a new comprehensive educational platform designed to provide healthcare professionals (HCPs) all over the world with learning opportunities and training to put their skills into practice and keep them performing at their best. The \Olympus Continuum\ (www.olympuscontinuum.com) platform will empower HCPs at every stage of their career with innovative, premium education and specialized training experiences. The platform builds on the existing Olympus training program, which trains more than 25,000 HCPs annually over 1,400 courses. Chief Medical Officer, Ross D. Segan, MD, MBA, FACS, said: \Healthcare professionals work in a variety of settings and have a multitude of needsand their expectations for training courses have evolved well past traditional skills-based learning. Our new platform connects the continuum of care with the continuum of learning. A truly blended experience, Olympus Continuum maximizes digital self-guided pre-learning, direct in-person training, and post-learning collaboration to support healthcare professional across every stage of their career and to improve patient outcome.\ HCPs using the \Olympus Continuum\ platform will enjoy the following benefits: Comprehensive platform programs covering basic to advanced levels: The Olympus global professional education strategy is to establish a continuum of blended learning that takes HCPs from basic to advanced, providing more educational opportunities/experiences and increasing accessibility through the utilization of technology. Hands-on courses will be provided in our 15 dedicated Olympus training labs, as well as hospitals and other labs all over the world. Beneficial for remote areas, including emerging countries: In some emerging countries and hard-to-reach areas, it has been difficult for HCPs to receive training or enroll in educational programs because of limited course offerings and large geographical distances. \Olympus Continuum\ is a globalized and comprehensive platform of training and education experiences led by healthcare experts from around the world. Effective platform that fits well with current conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic: There was growing demand from healthcare professionals for on-demand, digitally-enabled virtual training and this has increased further during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This new platform exactly meets this demand and provides an excellent combination of virtual and on-site training. Learning opportunities include hands-on courses, online learning, lectures and workshops, peer-to-peer training, accredited continuing education and on-demand learning.* To learn more about Olympus Continuum, visit www.olympuscontinuum.com *Implementation will vary from region to region given market environments. About Olympus Continuum Olympus Continuum is a newly launched educational platform for healthcare professionals that will bring the benefits of digitally-enabled learning to remote regions, as well as those impacted by COVID-19. Basic and advanced training for healthcare professionals will be provided through Olympus training centers and hospitals all over the world. About Olympus Olympus is passionate about the solutions it creates for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. Olympus\-\- Medical business uses innovative capabilities in medical technology, therapeutic intervention, and precision manufacturing to help healthcare professionals deliver diagnostic, therapeutic, and minimally invasive procedures to improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs, and enhance the quality of life for patients. Olympus\-\- Medical portfolio includes endoscopes, laparoscopes, and video imaging systems, as well as surgical energy devices, system integration solutions, medical services, and a wide range of endotherapy instruments. For more information, visit https://www.olympus-global.com/. For questions or additional information, please contact: Europe, Middle East and Africa Matthias Gengenbach +49 4023773 5867 matthias.gengenbach@olympus-europa.com Japan and Asia Pacific Yuka Horimoto +81-90-2490-1071 yuka_horimoto@ot.olympus.co.jp 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. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo, speaks during a press briefing at the Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Wednesday. Yonhap Federal Office of Public Health Bern, 03.02.2021 - The federal government has signed an agreement with German pharmaceuticals company Curevac and the Swedish government for the delivery of 5 million vaccine doses. The federal government has also signed a preliminary agreement with Novavax for 6 million vaccine doses. This gives the Swiss population access to two additional COVID-19 vaccines provided the clinical trial phases and Swissmedic approval run successfully. At the same time the federal government has secured a further 6 million vaccine doses from Moderna. Given that the development and availability of vaccines is subject to such great uncertainty, the federal government continues to pursue a diversified procurement strategy covering a variety of vaccine technologies (mRNA, vector-based and protein-based) and different vaccine manufacturers. The federal government has now secured two new COVID-19 vaccines while also increasing its orders with Moderna. Vaccine based on mRNA technology Like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, Curevac has opted for the novel mRNA technology. mRNA is a type of messenger molecule that carries the instructions for building proteins. These give the cells of the body the necessary information on how they are to produce a virus protein. As soon as the protein is produced in the body, the immune system recognises it as a foreign body and produces antibodies against the virus. The immune response prepares the body to fight the virus. The Curevac COVID-19 vaccine is currently in phase III trials. Provided this phase is completed successfully and Swissmedic grants approval, Curevac will probably be able to deliver direct to Switzerland from the 2nd quarter of the year. Curevac also requires each person to receive two doses of the vaccine. This means that an additional 2.5 million people in Switzerland will be able to be protected from a severe case of COVID-19. The contract with Curevac is based on the delivery agreement between the European Commission and the company. The doses can be ordered by individual states and procured once the vaccine has been approved. Sweden will order the doses for the EFTA states of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland that are not members of the EU and sell them on to these countries at cost price. Third technology in the portfolio Once the final agreement with Novavax has been signed, it will be possible to deliver the protein-based vaccine to Switzerland from the second quarter of 2021 provided the Novavax vaccine is approved by Swissmedic. At two doses per person, the 6 million doses of the vaccine are sufficient for 3 million people in Switzerland. With Novavax, Switzerland now has a protein-based vaccine in its portfolio in addition to vaccines based on mRNA (Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Curevac) and vector technology (AstraZeneca). Novavax's vaccine contains the spike protein of the Covid-19 virus. The immune system forms antibodies against this protein, which prepares it to respond against an infection when it sees the Covid-19 virus. Like Curevac, the Novavax vaccine is currently in the last phase of trials. Additional doses from Moderna The federal government has also signed a further agreement with Moderna for an additional 6 million vaccine doses, increasing the agreed delivery to 13.5 million doses. The Moderna vaccine has already been approved by Swissmedic, and has an efficacy of 95 per cent. The additional doses will be delivered in stages from mid-year onwards. The agreement also enables part of the deliveries to be adjusted and only procured in the first half of 2022. Moderna is already conducting research on a booster designed to protect against future mutations. Broadly underpinned So far the federal government has signed agreements with five vaccine manufacturers: Moderna (now a total of around 13.5 million doses), Pfizer/BioNTech (around 3 million), AstraZeneca (around 5.3 million) and now Curevac (5 million) and Novavax (6 million). The idea behind procuring vaccines from different manufacturers is to make sure that sufficient doses of an approved vaccine are available to the public even if there are delivery problems. Given that the course of the pandemic is so hard to assess, the federal government is still in negotiations with various vaccine manufacturers. Switzerland is also taking part in the international COVAX initiative to gain access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of the Swiss population. At the same time this supports economically weaker countries that are gaining access to COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX initiative. Address for enquiries Federal Office of Public Health, Communication Infoline Coronavirus +41 58 463 00 00 COVID-19 vaccination infoline +41 58 377 88 92 Publisher Federal Office of Public Health http://www.bag.admin.ch Apple is reportedly entering into a partnership with South Korean car manufacturer Kia, for the production of their future electric vehicle the Apple Car. The two companies may enter into a contract on February 17th and will start producing cars that will likely launch in 2024. Apple will also be working with Hyundai for the designing and developing for their first car, using their E-GMP battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform. Talks about the contract have been going on for over a month, and Feb 17th is when it will become signed and official. According to it, Apple will invest 4 trillion won (Approx. $3.6 billion) to set up up production capabilities at the Kia Georgia plant in the United States. Once signed, Kia will be expected to produce nearly 100,000 units per year initially, and it can be expanded to 400,000 units at the max. In related news, Apple will also be working with Hyundai for the development and design of the Apple Car. Specifically, Apple is interested in using their E-GMP battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform. The platform can has two motors, five-link rear suspension, battery cells that can deliver up to 500KM of range and high-speed charging. When the news of Apples rumoured investment came out, Kia saw their stock prices jumping up by nearly 14.5%. In the future, if the deal with Hyundai works out, Apple may look into partnering with General Motors and PSA to expand to other markets. If Apple is successful in bringing their electric vehicle to the market, they will be competing with the likes of Tesla, Lucid Motors, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG. Source | Via 1, 2 Journalist fined for participation in unauthorized rally RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:32 03/02/2021 MOSCOW, February 3 (RAPSI) Moscows Golovinsky District Court on Wednesday fined journalist for the Open Media Dmitry Nikitin 10,000 rubles ($130) for his participation in one of the recent illegal walkouts, the courts press service told RAPSI. The journalist was found guilty of the administrative offence resulted in transport, critical and social infrastructure operation jamming. On Tuesday, head of the Union of Journalists of Russia reported apprehension of 11 media employees most of which were released after the document check. 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. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. High around 75F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Will Ferrell has had it up to here with those smug Norwegians and their EV buying habits. So hes going to do something about it and is taking Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina along for the ride in GMs new 90-second Big Game ad. Perturbed by the fact that more than half of all new vehicles sold in the Scandinavian country are electrically driven (thanks in large part to generous financial incentives provided by the Norwegian government), compared to just four percent of those in the US, Ferrell takes it upon himself change Americas perceptions about EV technology. His solution is simple: show off GMs new Ultium battery technology by hopping into the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq while Thompson and Awkwafina get behind the wheel of the new Hummer EV and heading for Norway. But, in classic Ferrell style, the roadtrip quickly devolves into complete anarchy involving high seas shipping containers, caribou sightings and a wrong turn at Sweden. The ad comes just a couple months after GM announced that it would no longer support the EPAs lawsuit against Californias stringent vehicle emission regulations and is working to release 30 EV models by 2025. President Biden has already signaled strong support for greener transportation tech, having last week revealed plans to transition the federal governments entire fleet of vehicles over to EVs. We are confident that the Biden Administration, California and the US auto industry, which supports 10.3 million jobs, can collaboratively find the pathway that will deliver an all-electric future, GM CEO Mary Barra wrote at the time. To better foster the necessary dialogue, we are immediately withdrawing from the pre-emption litigation and inviting other automakers to join us. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Stressing that the recently released book 'Princestan: How Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten Made India, written by author and journalist Sandeep Bamzai is a serious work of history, Congress MP and writer Shashi Tharoor while launching the book says, "It is a fascinating account of numerous issues which are not well-known and in public domain. "I particularly like the fact that history has been presented with a lot of primary quotations, documentary evidence and recollections of that time. There are many interesting tales, for example that of Nawab of Bhopal, who has not featured in many accounts. "The author has not tried to titillate the reader by elaborating on the much talked about lavish lifestyles and other details of the princes." Published by Rupa Publications, the book which sheds light on Plan Balkan devised by some powerful princes to not join either India or Pakistan in the run-up to Independence, was discussed during the launch event organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi which was attended by the author, Tharoor and Kanchan Gupta (Distinguished Fellow at ORF). The session was moderated by Mitali Mukherjee, a Fellow at ORF. Stating that the book is a tribute to his grandfather, from whom he inherited several important papers and material that were not available in the public domain or any archives, Sandeep Bamzai adds, "It is a tribute to the many nameless and faceless individuals who have been instrumental in making India as we see it today." Tharoor added: "In 'Princestan', Nehru emerges as a strong anti-monarchical figure who put himself on the line, taking on the excesses of princely states like Nabha, Faridkot, and Kashmir head-on. And let us not forget, it's no longer fashionable to publish anything where Nehru is a hero. "I am glad Bamzai has been courageous enough to do that. The material in the book, derived from original research has produced an insightful narrative history of India at this crucial period." Stating that the author has managed to put together a fine work that looks at an aspect of unification of India which has by and large gone unnoticed, Kanchan Gupta added: "Most of the books including by VP Menon have been about forging an alliance of the willing and the unwilling, but nobody had explored the third angle to it, which the author calls the delusion of creating a Princestan." Talking about the documents in the author's custody, Gupta feels that such documents in people's personal collections and those in India Library in London should be in this country under one roof. "We must work towards a 'Freedom Archives Project' where all material related to the independence movement, unification, Partition and Netaji files should be at one place. It can even be a digital archive. The same will give us a sense of history as it was weighed during the closing years of the Raj." The author added that he had several documents which are not part of the national archives or available in the Nehru memorial including the original white paper of Maharaja of Bikaner that led to a scramble inside the chamber of princes. "There was even a chamber of princes created by the British. All the princes and diwans would get together and look at ways to sabotage the Independence Movement. "Yes, it is important that all such important papers were placed in an institution where 20-30 researchers could actually look at the various facets of the movement. There is so much that is still unknown." Adding that he was all for the idea and would push the same, Tharoor said that the Freedom and Partition Archives could be housed in the old Parliament building once the new one was constructed. "And there could be space for the 'Bamzai Collection'." Talking about Nehru's strong anti-monarchy views, which not many are aware of, the author feels that multiple factors drove the same, including the fact that he was educated in England, influenced by Fabian socialism, Annie Besant and George Bernard Shaw. "The tipping point was when returned from England and was incarcerated by the Maharaja of Nabha in 1923. Motilal Nehru had to go to Nabha to get him out. He also went to Faridkot, where there was a Sikh agitation against the Maharaja of Faridkot. However, it was the way the Maharaja of Kashmir treated him, where he was also imprisoned. Ultimately, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai sent a Telegram to Nehru, insisting that he could not afford to spend so much time in Kashmir, as there was much to do for the Independence Movement. Nehru, who had gone there to fight as a lawyer but imprisoned on charges of sedition, returned reluctantly. In the press conference he held after his return, he made it clear that the whole of India was his country, and he should not be prevented from going to any area," says Bamzai. Gupta feels that both Nehru and Patel were impatient men who did not believe in needless niceties. "That impatience continuously shows up in what we now see as a gradual build up to a spat between two main actors of those days. Nehru had his own ideas. If he had such strong conviction about his Kashmir, it is still a mystery why he agreed to a referendum." Adding that 'Princestan' was essentially Churchill's plan which he could not execute as he lost the elections, the author says that he used Wavell and Jinnah who masterminded the keeping 'a bit of India'. "However, when Churchill lost the elections, Lord Mountbatten was made the new Viceroy, who in his own mind was looking for an appropriate timeline to exit. Right through the narrative, one finds that Jinnah is corresponding with Churchill -- directly through a postbox controlled by the latter's secretary. "All this is a part of the documentation that I have. It is Churchill at every twist and turn, being a monarchist himself who refuses that India be decolonised. Of course, the elections turned the tide. When Mountbatten comes to India, he realises that it is no ordinary situation. He has to deal with Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. Not to mention, within the INC, three different ideologies -- Gandhi, Sardar and Nehru." Bamzai also reveals that within the Congress, Gandhi was obsessed with the idea of princes being the trustees and did not allow Nehru to enter the princely domains. "That's how the construct of the All India States People Conference... Nehru used this to unleash Congress workers deep within these princely states and bring in some sort of a democratisation. Sheikh Abdullah was the vice president of the AISPC. "It is actually Nehru opposing Gandhi at various points in history as far as trusteeship is concerned. In 1938, Bose became the President of the Congress party, and in his speech supported Nehru to the hilt that India should be a union -- no provinces or princely states. "Bose again backs him in a speech in 1939, saying that Nehru was right and Gandhi wrong. He played a very important part in the battle against the princes, which is not well-known. Though Rajkot did a lot of damage to him, it is only after this validation by Bose that Gandhi decided to take a slightly different turn." Reacting to Gupta's comments on the strained relationship between Nehru and Patel, Tharoor says that there was a lot of misunderstanding about their relationship. "Though it was not friction free, there was tremendous mutual respect. Patel was in fact the first name in his cabinet. On the eve of Gandhi's assassination, they were both going to meet him to complain against each other, but post the assassination, their relationship was cemented as they said that this is what Gandhi would have wanted them to do. "Also, regarding Article 370, Patel was privy to every decision and it was only after his approval that Article 370 was finalised. That Nehru threw away Kashmir is simply not accurate. Patel was even prepared to keep Hyderabad and let Kashmir go. But Nehru would not even dream of that." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dr. Frank Xie, an associate professor in the School of Business Administration at the University of South Carolina, takes part in a forum on China and communism at the University of Toronto on May 5, 2018. (Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch Times) The Root of Cancel Culture and Its Consequences: Focus Talk Interview Since Election Day, there have been more and more cases of cancel culture. People have been denied services, fired from their jobs, or banned from social platforms because of their political views. Regarding the increasingly alarming topic of cancel culture, Jenny Chang, the host of NTDs Focus Talk, interviewed Dr. Frank Turek from Summit Ministries Online and Professor Frank Xie from the University of South Carolina. When asked about the origins of cancel culture, Dr. Turek asserted that it began with Vladimir Lenin. [Cancel culture] came out of the Soviet Union with Vladimir Lenin. And it came with the whole Marxist movement into the United States, Turek said. [It] does not want to persuade, it merely wants to punish because they view the world in just two categories. Youre either an oppressor or youre oppressed, he continued. And if they consider you an oppressor, theyre going to try and actually oppress you, ironically, theyre going to try and shut you down, theyre going to try and prevent you from actually engaging in the economy or theyre going to get you fired, theyre going to hurt you in some way. Jenny then asked professor Xie, someone who comes from a communist country, about his opinion on the matter and how it parallels the Chinese social credit score system. The cancel culture that we have seen today ties [into] a lot of this violent feature in ancient ostracism, because some people, some person may be isolated, or thrown out of their professional or social circle. This could be in an online situation [or] also in the real world. The term ostracising, he said, is something that grew from Athenian democracy, where someone would be expelled from the city-state for angering a group with whom the person might have disagreements. He then went on to the details of the social credit ostracisation. Xie explained: As someone from communist China, I see a lot of resemblance between these kinds of culture with whats happening, what happened in China during the Cultural Revolution as the Chinese do under communist rule, they have instituted this social credit system, where basically you are measured you are measured against your attitude toward the communist party, your political view. Turek suggested two ways with which he believes cancel culture can be fought. The first, he said, was to not fall for the bait of their taunt. Turek insisted that people need to stay kind and respectful, remembering that every human is made in the image of God. The second thing he suggested is to go to his website summit.org and read the ebook: 20 Things to Say and Do to Fight the Cancel Culture. 03-02-2021 Jan Assmann: Nationalisms and religion fuse in authoritarian regimes Cultural scientist and Blumenberg professor Assmann sheds light at the Cluster of Excellence in Munster on the changing relationships between religion, culture, and politics from Ancient Egypt to the modern age Achievements of Ancient Egypt have long been forgotten With the EU, primordial religious themes such as peace are returning Authoritarian regimes such as Putins Russia, Netanyahus Israel, and Dudas Poland are seeking fusion with traditional religions Press release from 3 February 2021 Prof. Dr. Jan Assmann Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professor Martin Kraft Nationalism and religion are increasingly uniting in authoritarian states around the world, according to renowned cultural scientist and Blumenberg professor Jan Assmann. Putins Russia, Erdogans Turkey, Modis India, Netanyahus Israel, Dudas Poland, Orbans Hungary, and even Trumps USA are examples of this tendency in anti-democratic, authoritarian regimes, said Assmann at the University of Munsters Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics on Tuesday evening. Because nationalism is essentially religious, traditional religion succumbs to such usurpation. This is precisely what happened to the German Christians movement in the Nazi era, Assmann pointed out in his lecture on religion and culture from Ancient Egypt to the present day. Nationalism regards the nation as the most sacred thing. Nationalism is not a substitute religion that, like communism, takes the place of religion. On the contrary, it seeks to ally itself or even fuse with religion. Religion and state are in multiple interrelations in modern societies, according to Assmann, and to claim that modernity left religion behind is a misconception. Secularization does not cause the sacred to disappear from the world. The European Union also bears religious traits: The EU also has a mission; it too has something sacred: namely, to achieve what the catastrophe from which it emerged tasked it to do: ensure peace, freedom, and human rights, said the internationally respected and multi-award-winning Egyptologist. It too is based on a covenant: of European peoples conspiring to achieve this goal; a promise: peace and justice for all; and a faith: faith in the human being, her capacity for global solidarity and the realization that she must achieve the promised goal in order to survive on this planet. Assmann underlined that the present is returning (albeit on a new level) to the primordial themes of religion: creation, peace, and justice. Separation of religion and culture for the first time with Israel in the 6th century BC Assmann has been researching for decades the relationship between religion and politics from ancient cultures to modern societies, and has had a decisive influence on work at the Cluster of Excellence. Entitled Religion and Culture: Egypt Israel Europe, the lecture illuminated the changes in the relationship between religion and culture from antiquity to the present day. In Ancient Egypt, religion was still identical with culture. According to Assmann, religion was all-encompassing and could be expressed by the Egyptian term maat, which included cult, law, and cosmic order. Without the achievements of Ancient Egypt, Athens and Jerusalem Greco-Roman antiquity and Abrahamic monotheism would also be inconceivable, and our present-day Western culture is in turn based on these. To Athens we owe philosophy, science and democracy; to Jerusalem, monotheistic-Trinitarian religion. But it has long been forgotten, he said, how much Ancient Egypt, which preceded Athens and Jerusalem by two thousand years, shaped them, and he outlined its achievements, such as the state and scriptural theory. A new form of religion, one that distinguished between religion and culture, and that subordinated culture to religion, emerged with Israel in the 6th century BC. This new form of religion also freed itself from the state. It distinguished between God and world, and introduced the concept of faith, which overcomes the gap between transcendence and immanence. Christianity, in turn, brought about the age of faith by making the new religion accessible to all peoples and by revolutionizing the Old World through rapid expansion. With the rise of Christianity as a state religion, a dualism of secular and spiritual power emerged, leading to repeated tensions in the Middle Ages. The freeing of religion from the state remained decisive into the modern period, according to Assmann. The setback the emancipation of the state from religion, or secularization began with the Renaissance and the Reformation, and is still not over today. The sacred has not disappeared from the world; it has merely shifted into the nation in the form of nationalism and civil religion, into art in the form of art-as-religion (exemplified by Beethoven), and into nature in the form of pantheism, which does not distinguish between God and world. The programme of the Blumenberg Visiting Professorship also includes a workshop with Jan Assmann on cultural memory in times of digital change and a master class with early-career researchers and advanced students at the Cluster on Religion Violence Memory. Named after the influential Munster philosopher Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996), the Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professorship for Religion and Politics is intended to bring innovative ideas to Munster and to strengthen the Clusters interdisciplinarity. The summer term of 2021 will see the arrival of the social scientist Marc Helbling from the University of Mannheim, whose research is on integration, xenophobia, and the dynamic role of religion in politics. (vvm) The inspection will cover the Joint Forces Operation area, including frontline troops. The President's Office has initiated a combat readiness inspection in the Armed Forces of Ukraine more precisely of units deployed in the Joint Forces Operation zone. The corresponding check, approved by Presidential Decree No. 12 of February 1, 2021, is in line with the year's schedule, the President Office says, commenting on the inspection that comes amid the latest move by President Zelensky to block broadcast of a number of pro-Russian channels, as well as the recent unrest in Russia where rallies are being held in support of the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Read alsoU.S. embassy voices support for ban on pro-Russian TV channels in UkraineAmong other things, the latest check is aimed at identifying factors negatively affecting the level of readiness of Joint Forces to perform tasks assigned, the press service has noted. The inspection team consists of the President's Office officials, staffers with the National Security and Defense Council, Defense Ministry officials, and the Armed Forces command. The team will draw a report following the inspection, to be submitted to president, along with the proposals as to enhancing defense capabilities. Reporting by UNIAN Top adviser to Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Ibrahim Kalin spoke with US President Joe Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan for nearly an hour on Tuesday in the first official communication between the NATO allies since former President Donald Trump left office. Sullivan and Kalin discussed building US-Turkey ties and managing disagreements effectively, according to a White House press release. Relations between the two allies have been remained thorny since Turkeys purchase of Russias S-400 air defense system in 2017, a matter Sullivan discussed with his counterpart on Tuesday. The US national security advisor also voiced his governments support for exploratory talks between Turkey and Greece to resolve disputes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and said Washington supports a planned resumption of United Nations-led talks on the status of Cyprus. The Turkish state-run media reported the pair also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Syria, the two discussed the potential negative humanitarian impact of a renewed Syrian government offensive in Idlib. Kalin also stressed the need to find a solution to the allies disagreement over US support for the Kurdish-led factions in northeast Syria, which Washington armed and trained in the fight against the Islamic State but officials in Ankara consider terrorists. Sullivans call came a day before Ambassador David Satterfield touted the US economic relationship with Turkey in an interview with Anadolu News Agency, raising the prospect of greater investment in Turkish manufacturing. While the path forward is not yet clear, the Biden administration may work to find common ground with Ankara on regional issues before addressing the central problem, the S-400, head on. Liberty Steel Group has completed due diligence on Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and, based on the results, has submitted a firmed up bid for its acquisition , the UK-based steel company told Fastmarkets on January 25. On January 28, ArcelorMittal increased its official offers for HRC to 750 ($910) per tonne ex-works across the EU , up by 20 per tonne from previous offers. And Swedish steelmaker SSAB has been targeting a 40 per tonne price rise, sources said earlier last week.In addition, market sources said that Italian re-roller Marcegaglia has increased its HRC offers to 760 per tonne ex-works.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe , at 712.50 ($862.83) per tonne on January 29, up by 1.25 per tonne week on week, and by 47.50 per tonne month on month.The calculation of Fridays index was based on achievable prices heard at 700-740 per tonne ex-works and bids heard at 700-720 per tonne ex-works.Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Southern Europe , was 700-710 per tonne ex-works on January 27, compared with 700-715 per tonne a week earlier.The assessment was based on achievable prices and the lower end of offers heard at 700-720 per tonne ex-works.Producers bullish tactics have been supported by solid demand and by supply remaining tight, as well as the lack of cheaper imported alternatives for buyers.Producers in the North of Europe have been reported to be offering either late-second-quarter-rolling HRC or to be completely sold out for second-quarter production. Italian steelmakers, in the meantime, have been offering and trading April-May rolling coil, according to market sources.Several market sources said that buyers were struggling to get material from domestic mills and that lead times were getting longer.Buyers were still concerned about possible price decreases later in the first quarter and will therefore try to limit their purchase volumes. But those who need to re-stock will probably have to pay higher prices in the short term.Some market participants preferred to wait and see what the market trend will be in late February, when Chinese mills return from the Lunar New Year holiday on February 11-17.Some lower import offers to the European market also weighed on sentiment. Overseas offers, however, were still not competitive with domestic prices, while lead times were similar or longer than those from European mills.The latest offers of HRC from Russias Severstal have been heard at 699 per tonne cfr Antwerp, including anti-dumping duty of 17.60 per tonne.In Southern Europe, offers of HRC from Japan have been heard at 680-685 per tonne cfr, from India at 680-690 per tonne cfr, from Egypt at 680 per tonne cfr and from Serbia and Russia at 680-700 per tonne cfr.Two sources said that an Italian re-roller has booked several vessels loaded with HRC from China at $700-705 per tonne cfr.Market participants believed that this material was to be processed into hot-dipped galvanized coil for re-export to the UK and the United States. In this situation, anti-dumping duties would not be applied to the material because it will be processed and re-exported, and because of this, the price was not included in the assessment.A dozen EU member states have called on the European Commission to extend the safeguard measures on steel imports that are due to expire on June 30 this year, according to a letter seen by Fastmarkets on January 26.Last week, SSAB said that it no longer planned to acquire the IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands from Tata Steel. On Feb. 8, the Senate will begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump. This trial is unprecedented for two reasons: its the only time a president has been impeached twice, and its the first impeachment trial to occur after a president has left office. But that doesnt mean unusual or unprecedented impeachments have never happened before. Their history offers a helpful guide for understanding the coming weeks and the constitutional basis for the looming trial.So many of the legal limitations on the presidency are theoretical and unwritten because they have never been tested. The country is the longest-surviving democracy in the world, but only 45 men have held the highest office (there have been 46 administrations, as Grover Cleveland served two, non-concurrent terms). Forty-five individuals is a relatively small sample size and presidential behavior generally conforms to certain norms and standards, so Americans dont have to consider new or unprecedented legal questions all that often. We saw this principle tested in the final weeks of President Trumps administration as he considered a self-pardon. The Constitution doesnt explicitly address a self-pardon, so legal experts debated its legality, but there will be no definitive answer until an individual attempts to assert this power and its challenged in court.The Constitution also doesnt explicitly explain the process for impeaching a former president, and it has never been addressed until now. Presidential behavior has prompted the House of Representatives to vote on articles of impeachment only four times in 230 years. Out of those four instances, only one Trumps second impeachment occurred late enough in the administration to raise the question of impeachment after the end of a presidents term in office.When posed with a constitutional question like this one, both historians and legal experts look to parallels in history that might provide some guidance. Here are a few helpful examples that shed light on this tricky issue.First, the impeachment of Judge West Humphreys might be the most accurate comparison. By all accounts, Humphreys was a perfectly competent lawyer, attorney general of Tennessee, and U.S. district judge for the Eastern, Western, and Central Districts of Tennessee. President Franklin Pierce had nominated Humphreys to the judgeship on March 24, 1853, and he might have served peacefully until he retired or died, if not for the Civil War.In June 1861, Tennessee seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Accordingly, the Confederate government created its own District Court for the District of Tennessee and Jefferson Davis (president of the Confederacy), nominated Humphreys as judge. Humphreys accepted this position, but also refused to relinquish his role as the Union district judge for the districts of Tennessee. While Humphreys had no desire to participate in the Union, he also refused to resign in order to prevent a pro-Union judge from taking the seat.Needless to say, Congress didnt take too kindly to that decision. On May 19, 1862, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Humphreys on six charges, including that he endeavor[ed] by public speech to incite revolt and rebellion within said State against the Constitution and Government of the United States. On June 26, the Senate began a quick trial and unanimously convicted Humphreys on five of the six charges that very afternoon. He was removed from office and barred from holding future office.Next, in March 1876, the House of Representatives impeached former Secretary of War William Belknap. Belknap is the first and only cabinet secretary to be impeached, but more importantly for our case, the Senate trial commenced after Belknap left office. The saga actually began in 1870, not long after Belknap took office. He gave Caleb Marsh and Marshs associates the rights to operate a lucrative military trading post at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. For the next five years, Marsh and his associates made a fortune and sent quarterly payments to Belknap, totaling over $20,000 (almost $400,000 in 2021 dollars).Belknap brought about his own downfall through his obviously ostentatious lifestyle. He did not inherit family wealth and his $8,000 government salary didnt go far, yet he hosted extravagant parties in Washington, D.C., and his wife was always decked out in the newest fashions. In early 1876, a House committee opened an investigation and uncovered evidence of the War Department corruption.On March 2, 1876, the House was scheduled to vote on articles of impeachment. Minutes before the vote began, Belknap rode to the White House and delivered his immediate resignation to President Ulysses S. Grant. The resignation didnt stop the House and five days later, the representatives unanimously voted to send the articles to the Senate. The House accused Belknap of criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.In April, the Senate gathered and agreed that it retained jurisdiction over the impeachment process, even though Belknap had left office. Over the next month, it called more than 40 witnesses. On Aug. 1, 1876, a majority of senators voted in favor of conviction for all five articles of impeachment. However, the Senate vote didnt reach the two-thirds majority and Belknap was acquitted.There are more recent examples as well. On Aug. 3, 1990, President George H.W. Bush nominated Samuel B. Kent as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In August 2007, the chief judge of the Southern District announced that Kent would not be hearing cases between September 2007 and January 2008. In August 2008, the reason for Kents absence came to light when he was indicted on three counts of abusive sexual contact and aggravated sexual abuse. In February 2009, Kent pled guilty to obstruction of justice, agreed to retire, and was sentenced to 33 months in prison on May 11, 2009.Kents retirement, salary, and pension prompted impeachment charges. When pleading guilty, Kent intended to retire, but he was only 59 years old. Federal statute provides pensions for judges that serve to 65 years of age. Judges with permanent disabilities can receive early retirement, but in May 2009 the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Kents disability status and recommended impeachment. In order to try and avoid impeachment, Kent submitted his resignation to President Obama, effective June 1, 2010. In the meantime, Kent continued to draw his salary and would have continued to do so until the following year.The House would not tolerate that compromise. On June 19, representatives approved the articles of impeachment and sent them to the Senate. A few days later, a few officials visited Kent in prison to serve him with impeachment trial summons. Kent offered a new resignation letter that would be effective on June 30. With Kents immediate removal in sight and criminal consequences already in force, Congress agreed to end the impeachment proceedings.Each of these cases offers valuable insight for the upcoming impeachment proceedings and demonstrates that there is no such thing as a typical impeachment. Indeed, history especially presidential history is still being written every day. Kerala: Draft National Fisheries Policy 2020: Fishermen voice concern over rising fuel cost February 03,2021 | Source: The Hindu Business Line The spiralling fuel cost is a concern raised by the fishing community and they have highlighted the same as their comments in the draft of National Fisheries Policy 2020, urging the government to take effective steps to tide over the worsening situation. Any national policy on fishing without addressing the problem of rising diesel prices will torpedo attempts to mitigate the expenses and streamline modern methods of fishing, the All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association said. Joseph Xavier Kalappurackal, general secretary of the association, said currently fishing has become a high-cost incurring profession as the price of diesel is being increased every day. Any national policy on fishing without addressing the problem of diesel prices has no nexus with the policy, he said. The association also pointed out that the Covid pandemic has reduced the number of fishing days, leading to drop in fish prices and pushing the folk to virtual penury. The marketing of fish without the interference of middlemen is the urgent need of the hour. The middlemen, auctioneer and the buyer are often one man or a group disguised in different names and exploiting the fishermen. Chinese trawlers The association also highlighted the presence of Chinese fishing trawlers intruding into Indian waters to amass the sea resources. The paradox is that these trawlers light five lakh watt powerful bulbs to lure the fish en masse, while the country's fishing boats are forbidden to use bulbs and fish in the darkness, he said. Narendra R Patil, chairperson of National Fishworkers Forum, said the entire draft NFP 2020 is largely focussed and designed for deep-sea fishers and not for the small-scale fishers. The marine fisheries sector plays a vital role in maritime trade and commerce, and also serves as a significant livelihood for millions of fishing and coastal communities. NEW HAVEN A professor from Southern Connecticut State University will help train library staff members in Kenya as part of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program, according to a release. Elsie Rogers Halliday Okobi, professor of educational leadership and policy studies at SCSU, recently was awarded a fellowship that will take her to United States International University - Africa, in Nairobi, for 90 days. The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program is designed to reverse Africas loss of highly trained natural-born citizens by helping African Diaspora scholars give back to the continents next generation by sharing their expertise, the release said. The program also seeks to develop long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations between universities in Africa and those in the United States and Canada. According to the release, Okobis training topics will include digital reference services, information literacy concepts and establishment of library outcomes and assessment. Having been involved in higher education in the United States for four decades, this award provides me with the opportunity in a small way to give back and contribute to narrowing the digital divide in Africa, as well as help in attainment of United Nations Millennium Development Goals for sustainable development, Okobi said in the release. I hope that my participation will help develop global digital citizens in developing countries. The program is funded by the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the release said. Okobi in 2019 was awarded a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship when she developed and presented a monthlong training program for librarians at the American University of Nigeria to update staff and faculty on digital information skills. 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 GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) shares fell 51.1% and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) shares tumbled 8% on Tuesday as the WallStreetBets-fueled short squeeze appears to be winding down for the time being. A flurry of large option trades in the two highly shorted stocks were mixed in nature on Tuesday as investors decide whether or not the short squeeze is over for good. The Trades: On Tuesday morning, Benzinga Pro subscribers received dozens of option alerts related to unusually large trades of GameStop and Nokia options. Here are a handful of the biggest: At 9:44 a.m., a trader bought 3,181 GameStop put options with a $75 strike price expiring on Friday at the ask price of $12.50. The trade represented a $3.97 million bearish bet. At 10:39 a.m., a trader bought 10,000 Nokia call options with a $5 strike price expiring in January 2023 at the ask price of $1.36. The trade represented a $1.36 million bullish bet. At 10:45 a.m, a trader sold 381 GameStop put options with a $200 strike price expiring on Friday near the bid price at $124. The trade represented a $4.72 million bullish bet. At 11:02 a.m., a trader bought another 10,000 Nokia call options with a $5 strike price expiring in January 2023 at the ask price of $1.40. The trade represented a $1.4 million bullish bet. Related Link: Why Short Sellers Help Keep The Stock Market In Check: 'Pricing Mechanism Is Broken' Without Them Why It's Important: Even traders who stick exclusively to stocks often monitor option market activity closely for unusually large trades. Given the relative complexity of the options market, large options traders are typically considered to be more sophisticated than the average stock trader. Many of these large options traders are wealthy individuals or institutions who may have unique information or theses related to the underlying stock. Unfortunately, stock traders often use the options market to hedge against their larger stock positions, and theres no surefire way to determine if an options trade is a standalone position or a hedge. In this case, given the relatively small size of the largest PayPal trades by institutional standards, they were likely not institutional hedges. Story continues Short Squeeze Volatility: GameStop and Nokia are two of the popular stocks that WallStreetBets and other retail traders have targeted in recent weeks in triggering short squeezes in some of the most shorted stocks on Wall Street. In the past month, shares of Nokia spiked from under $4 to as high as $9.79 before dropping back down to around $4.50 on Tuesday. GameStop, which has the highest short percentage of float of any stock on the market, has been even more volatile. Shares skyrocketed from as low as $17.08 in January to new all-time highs of $483 this week before giving up a large chunk of those gains on Tuesday. GameStop shares were last trading at around $100. Even prior to the pandemic, both companies were struggling. In 2019, Nokia reported just $7 million in profits, its first positive net income since 2015. GameStops 2019 revenue was down 3% and it reported a net loss of $673 million. The WallStreetBets community helped drive a short squeeze in GameStop and other stocks that ultimately led to Robinhood and several other brokers limiting or banning buys of the most volatile stocks. The squeeze also hit hedge funds that were short GameStop and others extremely hard. Melvin Capital reported a 53% loss for the month of January and was forced to take $2.75 billion emergency investment from Citadel and Point72 Asset Management. Benzingas Take: The two largest GameStop option trades are short-term in nature, suggesting they are plays on the current short squeeze. The Nokia call purchases, on the other hand, dont expire for nearly two years and maybe bets on the strength of the companys underlying business. The $1.4 million Nokia call purchase has a break-even price of $6.40, suggesting at least 40.9% upside for the stock over the next two years. See more from Benzinga 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. RM Resources, the established provider of education resources for early years, primary schools and secondary schools, has selected Swisslogs Tornado miniload cranes to power its new build warehouse in Hucknall, East Midlands. RM Resources, a core component of RM, develops and supplies resources which help bring the curriculum to life in both UK and international markets via its two brands, TTS and Consortium. Together with Swisslog and the storage density of its system, RM Resources will be able to consolidate its warehouse operations in the UK, which is currently spread across four different sites. As part of the KUKA Group, Swisslog covers the entire automation value chain with robotic and data-driven automated solutions for forward thinking businesses. Swisslog UKs Head of Sales, Shane Faulkner, says: This project merges four warehouse operations together, while simultaneously allowing sufficient space for RM Resources to expand in the future. Swisslog mini load crane Tornado is the key technology at RM Resources Transportation throughout the solution will be facilitated by Swisslogs QuickMove conveyor. Goods will be conveyed to the Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS), provided by a seven aisle Swisslog Tornado miniload solution. The ASRS will store cartons or totes double deep providing dense but rapidly accessible storage. Automation that provides single touchpoint fulfilment The Tornado solution will feed ergonomic goods-to-person stations, each allowing up to six open orders to be picked at a time facilitating an increased hit rate, improved order fulfilment time, and reduced throughput requirement in the system. With a single level pick-to layout, each goods-to-person station will benefit from one-touch fulfilment, enabling RM Resources to dramatically shorten lead times. Using the one-touch fulfilment concept, only one manual touch is required per order, says Shane Faulkner. It is becoming more and more commonplace in the market, particularly for e-commerce due to the speed and efficiency it provides in delivering to the end customer. Swisslog SynQ software will provide all the necessary WCS functionality, while also integrating with RM Resources WMS & ERP systems. SynQ will deliver greater stock accuracy, as well as increased visibility of order progress. It will also provide RM Resources operators with the ability to pick from available new stock immediately as it enters the warehouse. Fully automated material flow at RM Resources Monique Louis, Managing Director at RM Resources says: We are delighted to be progressing with our plans to consolidate our warehouse portfolio, which will deliver a number of efficiencies across the business as we move to one automated site. We chose Swisslog because of their proven technology, and the quality of their engagement and look forward to working closely with them in the future. Swisslogs work on the site in East Midlands will commence in March 2021 and is due to complete at the start of 2022, to allow RM Resources to work on the curriculum line before the following school year.--TradeArabia News Services After CAD renders and press renders, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (SM-A5260) has been certified by TENAA in China revealing some specifications of the phone including a 6.46-inch display which should be a FHD+ AMOLED screen with support for an in-display fingerprint scanner, 4500mAh battery, Android 11 and the dimensions of the phone. The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is expected to come in Awesome Black, Awesome White, Awesome Violet and Awesome Blue colours, and the renders have been revealed by @evleaks earlier this week. Earlier rumours revealed a 64MP main camera along with ultra-wide, macro and depth sensors, 32MP front camera, Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G Mobile Platform and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage. There are also reports of Snapdragon 720G-powered 4G version. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G rumoured specifications 6.46-inch FHD+ (10802400 pixels) Super AMOLED Infinity-O Display Octa Core (2.2GHz Dual + 1.8GHz Hexa Kryo 570 CPUs) Snapdragon 750G 8nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 619 GPU 6GB, 128GB internal storage, expandable up to 1TB via micro SD card Android 11 with Samsung One UI 3 Dual SIM 64MP rear camera, ultra-wide angle camera, depth sensor, macro camera 32MP front camera In-display Fingerprint sensor Samsung Pay Dimensions: 159.975.18.4mm 5G, Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C 4500mAh battery with 15W fast adaptive charging Both the Galaxy A52 5G and Galaxy A72 5G are expected to be introduced sometime later this February in China and other markets globally. Source 1, 2, 3 Uige The writer Francisco Ngola "Avo Hebo", launched on Friday a literary work entitled "Noite de Cafe" or night of coffee with aim to contribute to the massification of Angolan literature, as well as cultivating the habit of reading. Composed of 59 pages, edited by Rubricart, it is the first work of the writer Avo Hebo and addresses issues related to social injustice, Malanje's culture, love of the beloved woman, fear of death, among other approaches. Speaking to the press at the launch of the work, the author said that the initiative of 42 poems is the result of an inspiration lived throughout his academic training at the Polytechnic Institute of Negage, Uige province, and the readings of literary works by some Angolan authors since 1994. Composed of 59 pages, edited by Rubricart, it is the first work of the writer Avo Hebo and addresses issues related to social injustice, Malanje's culture, love of the beloved woman, fear of death, among other approaches. Speaking to the press at the launch of the work, the author said that the initiative of 42 poems is the result of an inspiration lived throughout his academic training at the Polytechnic Institute of Negage, Uige province, and the readings of literary works by some Angolan authors since 1994. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ethiopia has denied claims by three opposition parties that some 52,000 people have been killed in the fighting between the government defence force and troops loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said on Wednesday that it has stepped up security along its border with to prevent a fresh influx of amid speculation that the coup in the neighbouring nation could push more refugees into this country. "We have secured our border (with Myanmar)," Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen told reporters here. He, however, said that Dhaka did not expect further Rohingya influx, but some friendly Western countries "fear that rest of the would flee to from Rakhine" due to the military coup in Myanmar, he added. His statement comes as officials in southeastern Cox's Bazar that borders Myanmar's Rakhine state said that the paramilitary Border Guard (BGB) has intensified patrols and vigils along the border. military seized the power on Monday detaining the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military coup took place at a time when Bangladesh was spearheading a desperate campaign for safe return of some 1.1 million Momen said Dhaka wants to continue talks with for "advancing the ongoing process to commence Rohingya repatriation". "Our discussion will continue with the Myanmar government, not with any individual, he said. "We did the agreement (regarding repatriation) with the Myanmar government, not with any individual (so) the (repatriation) process should be continued." Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, who fled Myanmar facing military crackdown, often considered as "ethnic cleansing" by many rights groups. In an immediate reaction after the military takeover, Dhaka issued a statement saying as an immediate and friendly neighbour, we would like to see peace and stability in Myanmar. Bangladesh firmly adheres to and promotes democratic ethos, it added. Momen said Rohingya repatriation remained to be Dhaka's top agenda in its relations with Myanmar. "The border situation remains normal but we have enforced an extra security vigil to prevent any fresh Rohingya influx," BGB's 34 battalion's commander Lieutenant Colonel Ali Haidar Azad said in Cox's Bazar. Another BGB official at the frontier town said Bangladesh border guards were "kept alert" as "we will not allow any influx from Myanmar". "We understand the pressures on Myanmar army. If the pressure mounts, they will be forced to take us back," a Rohingya representative, Nur Hossain of Leda Camp, said. Rohingya leader at Jutupalang camp Saiful Islam said the "Burmese military forced us to flee our homes, but we are concerned as they took over the total control". The minister said in previous such influxes repartitions took place in 1978 and 1992 under the Myanmar's military government and "if that time they could do so, why not this time". On January 19, the secretary level tripartite meeting among Bangladesh, China and Myanmar decided to hold the next joint working group meeting on February 4 for advancing the discussion about commencing repatriation of Rohingyas. But, the meeting scheduled on Thursday is uncertain as Dhaka did not communicate with Myanmar officially after the coup. "We were not able to contact with Myanmar as still their (Myanmar's new authority) communication is shut down," the minster said. In the last three years, Myanmar did not take back a single Rohingya despite its pledges. (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 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has declined to rule out the possibility that it will empower the competition watchdog to carry out surveillance on cartels without court permission. The Department is seeking changes to competition law to allow the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to bypass An Garda Siochana and the Courts Service to gather evidence of white collar crimes. The proposed new law the Competition (Amendments) Bill 2021 could include provisions to wiretap telephone conversations, access internet communications and obtain clandestine recordings of private meetings. It is part of a package of measures to strengthen the CCPC's capacity to clamp down on business conspiracies. In an Oireachtas committee hearing yesterday scrutinising the general scheme of the bill, the Department official in charge of competition policy, Clare McNamara, was unable to confirm that the draft law would require court permission to wiretap cartel suspects. Read More Under persistent questioning by Sinn Feins Louise O'Reilly, she only went as far to say that she could not "see us allowing that to happen" and that the drafting would take account of due process. "We want to expand the current power and apply the current safeguards," she said, adding that a garda is already seconded to the CCPC. "The plan is to get as much access to the content of communications as possible." Currently the CCPC is limited in its power to investigate illegal collusion in the business world and can only access communications metadata. A spokesperson for the Department said the drafting process was continuing and "the views of the Office of the Attorney General, the responses to the public consultation and the views of the Joint Committee will all be taken into account in finalising policy decisions". Ms O'Reilly told the Irish Independent she was satisfied with the answers she received in yesterday's hearing. "However, as ever, we wont be convinced until we see the final draft of the Bill to be certain that there is the necessary oversight," she said. "It is important that there is the necessary judicial oversight of any additional powers, not just to ensure that people do not have their rights breached, but also to make sure there are no legal difficulties, of the States own making, that cause cases to falter when they go before the courts." Scientists have found genetic differences between bats killed by white-nose syndrome and bats that survived, suggesting that survivors rapidly evolve to resist the fungal disease, according to a Rutgers-led study with big implications for deciding how to safeguard bat populations. White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006, following its introduction from Europe. The syndrome, caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is arguably the most catastrophic wildlife disease in history. It has led to unprecedented declines in many North American bat species, including the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). "Our finding that little brown bat populations have evolved, which could be why they survived, has large implications for management of bat populations going forward," said lead author Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn, a former postdoctoral associate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick now at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland. "Management decisions, such as whether to treat for white-nose syndrome or protect populations from other detrimental factors, can be informed by knowing which bats are genetically resistant to the disease." "The deployment of vaccines or treatments for the fungus may be most needed in populations with few disease-resistant individuals," said Gignoux-Wolfsohn, who led the study - published in the journal Molecular Ecology - while at Rutgers. "Our study also has implications for other diseases that cause mass mortality. While rapid evolution in response to these diseases is often difficult to detect, our study suggests it may be more common than previously thought." The disease got its name because the fungus, which grows in cold, dark and damp places, sometimes looks like white fuzz on bats' faces, according to the White-Nose Syndrome Response Team led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fungus attacks the bare skin of bats when they're hibernating and relatively inactive. As it grows, the fungus causes changes in bats that make them become unusually active and burn up fat they need to survive winter. Infected bats may do strange things, such as fly outside in the daytime during winter. Before white-nose syndrome arrived in North America, the little brown bat was one of the most widespread bat species. The disease has caused populations to decline by about 78 percent, killing many hibernating colonies. Still, some populations appear to be recovering after significant declines, likely due to increased disease resistance. Scientists sequenced bat genomes from three hibernating colonies in abandoned mines in New York, New Jersey and Vermont to determine whether little brown bats evolved as a result of the disease. They compared the genomes of bats killed by white-nose syndrome to survivors in recovering populations to identify genetic differences that may be responsible for survival. The bats' evolution appears to have particularly affected genes associated with weight gain before hibernation and behavior during hibernation. Rapid evolution may have allowed the remaining bats to keep hibernating and survive infection that killed off millions of other bats. "Evolution is often thought of as a process that happened long ago," Gignoux-Wolfsohn said. "We have found that it has also been happening right in our backyards and barns over the last decade." The scientists are conducting a similar study in Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis). While also affected by white-nose syndrome, this species has experienced lesser declines than little brown bats. ### Rutgers co-authors include Professor Malin L. Pinsky, wildlife expert Kathleen Kerwin and Professor Brooke Maslo, senior author. Scientists at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; and the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis contributed to the study. Whether youre trapped inside because of COVID-19 or the massive snowstorm working its way across New Jersey, moments like these are a great opportunity to sit down and enjoy a binge-watch of that show youve been meaning to catch up with for months (or years). Heres a look at some of the best shows available for streaming right now, along with where to watch: 1. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video): This award-show juggernaut has become a cornerstone of Amazons original programming lineup, with its great cast, impeccable writing, and vivid set and costume designs. 2. The Sopranos (HBO Max): Considered by many to be the finest drama in the history of the medium, this series shaped the mold of gritty anti-hero epic long before the era of Peak TV. 3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Peacock): If Parks & Recreation was set in a police precinct, it would look like this show. Which isnt surprising, considering they both share a creator in Michael Shur. 4. The Expanse (Amazon Prime Video): One of few great modern sci-fi series, this show struggled to find an audience despite enormous critical acclaim until it made its way into Amazons library. 5. The Mandalorian (Disney Plus): Speaking of great modern sci-fi series, The Mandalorian is a classic-style western set in space, combining the trademark excitement of the Star Wars universe with a surprisingly rewarding story about an unconventional family. 6. Bridgerton (Netflix): The latest from super creator Shonda Rhimes follows eight siblings searching for happiness and love amid the ruthless upper crust of London. The series is based on the bestselling novels by Julia Quinn. 7. Killing Eve (Hulu): Phoebe Waller Bridges adaptation of the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings is an unmissable tale of a British intelligence officer hunting a psychotic assassin, and the obsession they develop for each other. 8. Downton Abbey (Amazon Prime Video): This sprawling historical tale of an aristocratic family (and their servants) was such a critical and commercial success that the series was able to launch a movie several years after it concluded. Few modern shows can say the same. 9. This is Us (Peacock): Never has a family drama without guns or dragons been this interested in delivering solid, reliable plot twists. 10. WandaVision (Disney Plus): Considering the presence of characters like Scarlet Witch and Vision, you might think this was a conventional superhero action series, but youd be wrong. The less you know about this one before going in, the better. 11. The Wire (HBO Max): If any show can be considered a successful challenger to The Sopranos claim as the greatest of all time, its this story of the intersection between class, politics, and the police. 12. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Hulu): FX has promoted this series as Seinfeld on crack. Thats probably an understatement. 13. Suits (Amazon Prime Video): One of the longest-running USA Network series for good reason, this legal drama had a lighter heart and a better sense of humor than almost any other show featuring a cast of lawyers. 14. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (Netflix): The story of the hunt for one of Americas most heinous, prolific serial killers, this true crime series does a great job illustrating the paranoia with which one man ripped apart the glamor of Los Angeles in 1985. 15. The Americans (Amazon Prime Video): A modern answer to The Wire, The Sopranos, and Breaking Bad, this series is a beautiful, horrifying look at the human cost of international affairs. Related stories about streaming TV services 5 hidden gems on Disney Plus (for when you get tired of Netflix) How to get a free month of horror movie streaming service Shudder and what to watch with it What is Philo? Price, TV channels, how to get a free trial How to watch HBO Max: What is it? How much does it cost? What movies and TV shows does it have? Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joseph Rejent may be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com. SODERTALJE, Sweden, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Scania has been granted permission by the Swedish Transport Agency to test self-driving trucks on the E4 motorway between Sodertalje and Jonkoping. The tests will occur in collaboration with TuSimple, which is a leader in the development of autonomous vehicles and a key partner in Scania's and TRATON group's investment in this field. The trucks will enter commercial service with the Scania Transport Laboratory and will be loaded with goods for Scania's production operations. The tests will cover technology according to level 4 on the 5-point SAE scale for self-driving vehicles, which means that the trucks are driven autonomously but for safety reasons are supervised by a driver. A test engineer will also be on board during Scania's tests with the task of monitoring and verifying the information which is transmitted to the truck from the sensors that enable autonomous driving. "In both the US and China, tests are already underway of trucks according to Level 4 on public roads, but as far as I know Scania is the first in Europe to test the technology on a motorway and with payload," says Hans Nordin, who is responsible for the Hub2hub project. Later this year, Scania plans to expand the tests to cover the entire route between Sodertalje and Helsingborg. "In the coming years, we also expect to be able to test the technology in other European countries and in China," says Nordin. Scania has been testing self-driving trucks for mining transportation in Australia since 2017. "The experience gained from these tests shows that autonomous vehicles can become a reality in just a few years for transportation in closed areas such as mines and terminals," says Nordin. According to Nordin, so-called Hub2hub transportation - driving on the motorway between reloading centres - is the first kind of transportation on public roads where self-driving trucks can become a reality. "We have come so far in the development of self-driving vehicles that the technology may be ready to be introduced to the market already within the next five years for this type of transportation. However, it will take longer before autonomous vehicles for driving on roads with two-way traffic and in urban environments becomes a reality," concludes Nordin. Scania's partner TuSimple - with its headquarters in San Diego, US, and with facilities in Tucson, Shanghai and Beijing - since its foundation in 2015 has carried out millions of kilometres of tests on motorways to develop the self-driving technology for automation level 4. The company is currently considered to be the leader in the field. A film about the test is available on Scania's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/Q_LVfIEpWEM For further information, please contact: Hans-Ake Danielsson, company spokesperson Tel: +46 08 553 856 62 E-mail: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/scania/r/scania-tests-self-driving-trucks-in-motorway-traffic,c3278498 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/209/3278498/1367216.pdf Scania tests self-driving trucks in motorway traffic https://news.cision.com/scania/i/autonomt3-16-7,c2873856 autonomt3 16-7 https://news.cision.com/scania/i/20139-011,c2873858 20139-011 https://news.cision.com/scania/i/20139-014,c2873859 20139-014 SOURCE Scania During Tuesday's hearing Navalny said the case was meant 'to intimidate a huge number of people' The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner was detained on January 17 when he returned to Moscow from Germany. (AFP file) Moscow: A Moscow court on Tuesday granted a prosecutors' request for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to serve prison time for violating the terms of his parole. Judge Natalya Repnikova ordered a suspended three-and-a-half-year sentence Navalny received in 2014 to be changed to time in a penal colony, an AFP journalist at the courthouse said. Repnikova said time Navalny previously spent under house arrest in the sentence would count as time served, and, according to his team, that would mean at least two-and-a-half years in prison now. Navalny's Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) immediately called for supporters to protest in central Moscow. "We're going to the centre of Moscow right now," it wrote on Twitter, urging supporters to join them. The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner was detained on January 17 when he returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had spent months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in August that he blames on President Vladimir Putin. He was charged with violating the terms of his parole under the 2014 suspended sentence on fraud charges, because he did not check in with the prison service while in Germany. The European Court of Human Rights in 2017 condemned the ruling in the fraud case as "arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable". During Tuesday's hearing Navalny said the case was meant "to intimidate a huge number of people". "They are putting one person behind bars to scare millions," 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 books title refers to a theme of Obamas response to Charleston and to one of the most emotional moments of his presidency: his singing of 'Amazing Grace' during his eulogy at Charlestons Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for one of the victims, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney. New York: The White House speechwriter who helped President Barack Obama work on his response to the Charleston church massacre in June 2015 has a book deal. Cody Keenans memoir is set around the time a white supremacist murdered nine Black parishioners in South Carolina. Grace: A President, His Speechwriter, and Ten Days in the Battle for America will be published in Fall 2022, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media announced on 2 February. Kennan will note that the Charleston tragedy was soon followed by other historic events. Within days, protesters called for the removal of the Confederate flag that had long flown on Statehouse grounds in Columbia, a demand met that July. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court announced two historic decisions, ruling that same-sex marriage was protected under the Constitution and upholding much of Obamas Affordable Care Act. The books title refers to a theme of Obamas response to Charleston and to one of the most emotional moments of his presidency: his singing of 'Amazing Grace' during his eulogy at Charlestons Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for one of the victims, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney. Grace started with a string of tweets on the second anniversary of that week, Keenan said in a statement issued through the Houghton Mifflin imprint Sugar23 Books. At first, all I wanted to do was tell a story to show what this country can be at its best and what writing with Barack Obama is actually like when the stakes are highest. The years since have only added context to how those 10 days help make sense of the broader sweep of American progress and backlash, this clash of two fundamentally opposing visions of America and this feels like the right time to finally sit down and write it all up. Keenan began working with Obama in 2007, when the future president was a first-term senator from Illinois. Keenan served as deputy director of speechwriting during Obamas first term and as director during Obamas second term. Other presidential addresses he worked on included Obamas eulogy for Sen. Edward Kennedy in 2009 and his 2015 speech marking the 50th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday,' when state troopers in Selma, Alabama, beat and teargassed civil rights marchers. As part of the Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, the governments proposal to further liberalise foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indian insurance companies to up to 74 percent from the existing 49 percent cap was announced. This proposal is followed by the raise in FDI limits for investment in insurance intermediaries to up to 100 percent, which was announced by Sitharaman in her maiden Budget speech in July 2019, and effected subsequently in September 2019. Pursuant to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 and the guidelines on Indian owned and controlled dated October 19, 2015, Indian insurers were required to ensure that the control over their affairs and management were with Indian promoters. To this effect, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) permitted foreign investors to retain only such rights, which are protective in nature, and which do not impede the day-to-day operations of the insurer. Despite the restrictive nature of the conditions, it is telling that several foreign stakeholders exercised their ability to hold up to 49 percent in Indian insurance companies. Required Amendments Though the budget speech has made the legislative intent very clear, in order to legally effect the FDI liberalisation proposal, several modifications to the extant regulatory framework will have be carried out. These include: (i) amendment of the Insurance Act, 1938, (ii) amendment to the IRDAI (Registration of Indian Insurance Companies) Regulations, 2000, (iii) amendment to the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, 2015, (iv) amendments (or repeal) of the guidelines on Indian owned and controlled issued by the IRDAI, (v) amendment to the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, and; (vi) amendment of the Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment Policy of India issued in 2020. It is important to keep in mind that all amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938 are required to be approved by both houses of Parliament. In 2014-15, the amendments were first introduced by way of a presidential ordinance as Parliament was not in session. The ordinance was subsequently approved by both houses of Parliament for giving it full effect. We hope that the government and Parliament can act swiftly with these legislative changes. Conditions for Liberalisation of FDI Limits Sitharaman has made it clear that foreign ownership and control of insurance companies shall be allowed with safeguards. While making the announcement, the minister was quoted saying: under the new structure, the majority of directors on the board and key management persons would be resident Indians, with at least 50 percent of directors being independent directors, and specified percentage of profits being retained as general reserves. Further, based on the foreign investment conditions applicable to private sector banks and those prescribed by the government and the IRDAI for allowing 100 percent foreign investment in insurance intermediaries, some of the other safeguards may include restrictions on the related party transactions between the insurance companies and the foreign investor(s) (or their group companies) as well as prior approval requirements in relation to that the insurance companys ability to pay dividends to its shareholders. Conclusion Since the objective of the government is to bring an impetus to FDI inflow in insurance companies, stakeholders will now be very keen to learn the fresh terms and conditions that will act as riders to their ability to own and control insurance companies. A close watch needs to be kept on the various amendments which are now issued and, as usual, the devil shall be in the detail. Sinn Fein TD Pa Daly has used Dail privilege to launch a blistering attack on the actions of gardai in Tralee during the original 1984 'Kerry Babies' investigation and the State's failure to hold anyone to account for what happened to Joanne Hayes and her family. During a debate on appointments to the Garda Ombudsman Commission last Wednesday, the Kerry TD availed of Dail privilege - which affords TDs legal protection to discuss matters that otherwise could not be published under Ireland's draconian libel laws - to deliver a damning indictment of garda handling of the case. Deputy Daly expressly said that, in Tralee Garda Station, gardai had "drafted" and "prepared" statements and then separately "coerced" individual members of the Hayes family into signing them. The Tralee-based TD said he agreed with the Hayes family and their legal team's long-held view that, rather than the 'Kerry Babies Case', the scandal should, in fact, be referred to as the 'Kerry Gardai Case'. While Joanne Hayes and her family have received compensation and formal apologies from the State (see below), Deputy Daly questioned what exactly the State was apologising for given the fact that no-one has ever been held to account for what happened to the Hayes family in Tralee Garda Station in spring 1984. Similarly, while the Tribunal made findings of wrongdoing against the Hayes family - which have now been declared entirely unfounded and incorrect - no official finding of wrongdoing has ever been made against An Garda Siochana arising from the force's actions in the case. Speaking after the Dail debate, Deputy Daly said he had raised the issue as he wanted to ensure that the events of 1984 and what happened Joanne Hayes and the Hayes family were included, for posterity, in the Dail record. "The tribunal set up to investigate the case never explained what it was supposed to get to the bottom of, namely how different family members in different rooms of Tralee Garda station came up with the same statement. I clarified this matter in the plainest terms possible," said Deputy Daly. "Along with the judgement of the High Court in favour of Joanna now being appended to the Tribunal report in the Oireachtas library, this means the Dail record reflects accurately what occurred. This conclusion should give extra impetus for the important task of policing reform to continue so this behaviour cannot occur again." Deputy Pa Daly's full Dail statement on Garda actions in the 'Kerry Babies' case There is one recommendation in the Commission's (on the Future of Policing in Ireland) report that must be reflected in the forthcoming Bill, which is that the new body must be able to look into historical problems and complaints in An Garda Siochana, including retired investigating officers. The recent High Court declaration in favour of Joanne Hayes and her family, the woman at the centre of what was referred to, mistakenly I believe, as the Kerry babies case, was a stark reminder of the wrongs of the past. Joanne, her family and her lawyers have long maintained that the case should have been known as the "gardai in Kerry case" or the "Kerry gardai case". What people tend to forget is that the tribunal was established to discover how Joanne Hayes was charged with murder. An apology has been given by the State but an apology for what? What is the State apologising for? While the tribunal was allowed to be used as a forum for discussion of social mores in the 1980s, it never explained how four or five different members of the Hayes family, in different rooms of Tralee Garda station at around the same time, came up with practically the exact same statement, including in respect of things that were scientifically impossible. Some of the statements were preposterous and there is no other conclusion but that some of the statements were prepared by members of a police service that lacked accountability in the 1980s. The people in north Kerry supported the Hayes family and knew that the statements could only have been drafted by members of An Garda Siochana and that members of the family were coerced into signing them. This case had an enormous effect on trust in gardai in Kerry. There was hardly a conviction in a contested jury trial for 15 years afterwards if there was an issue with Garda credibility. As I have said, some of the findings of the tribunal were preposterous and were seen as an attempt by the State to bury the truth, but the truth will out. We cannot afford a repeat of cases like this, particularly in view of the consequences for the administration and trust in justice. Deputy Pa Daly, Sinn Fein. Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Dail Debate on motion to appoint members to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission 1984 scandal exposed the very worst of Irish society In spring 1984 - almost 80 kilometres apart - the remains of two dead newborn babies were found in Kerry. The first, that of a baby boy with multiple stab wounds, was found on White Strand in Cahersiveen on April 14 ,1984. A major investigation was launched, with gardai drawing up a list of women in the county who were suspected of being pregnant or who had recently left the area. Gardai soon came to suspect that the baby belonged to 25-yearold Joanne Hayes from Abbeydorney. Ms Hayes and members of her family were interrogated at Tralee Garda Station and signed statements admitting involvement in the case of the Cahersiveen baby. A day later, on May 2, the garda case was thrown into complete disarray when the body of Ms Hayes' own baby was found on the Hayes' Abbeydorney farm. It soon emerged that the blood group of the Cahersiveen baby was different to Ms Hayes; to the married man with whom she was having an affair; and to the baby found at the farm. Despite this development - which blew apart the initial theory that had been seized upon by gardai - detectives stuck to their guns. They then introduced a complex and scientifically questionable "hetero-paternal superfecundation" theory with which they attempted to prove Ms Hayes had given birth to twins by different fathers. The Hayes family subsequently withdrew their confessions, and in the wake of the blood group findings, the murder charge against Ms Hayes was dropped. The subsequent 82-day Kerry Babies Tribunal, headed by Justice Kevin Lynch, opened in Tralee on January 7, 1985. The tribunal was set up to investigate the garda handling of the investigation - and how Joanne Hayes had come to be charged with murder - but it would essentially become the trial of the young north Kerry woman. The Tribunal sat in Tralee for six months, during which time Ms Hayes was subjected to repeated, intense interrogations about her private life. Justice Lynch eventually found that Ms Hayes killed the baby on the farm by choking it to stop it crying. This finding was made in spite of state pathologist Dr John Harbison being unable to determine the cause of death. Justice Lynch - whose report generally exonerated the gardai - also rejected claims by the Hayes family that they were assaulted by gardai and that their confessions were forced. On January 16, 2018, that all changed when Killarney Superintendent Flor Murphy held a press conference at Cahersiveen Garda Station. He said that a formal apology from the Gardai would be made to Ms Hayes and her family for the stress and pain they suffered during the investigation. A new murder inquiry was also opened in a bid to identify 'Baby John', the Cahersiveen baby, and his killer. Gardai pored over old case notes looking for clues and local lines of enquiry that, back in 1984, were ignored or never fully pursued once detectives' focus landed on the Hayes family. Door-to-door enquiries were carried out, and scores of witnesses - some who had been interviewed in 1984 and some who had never given statements - were interviewed. DNA samples were also taken from people in the area. In mid-September 2018, islanders were stunned when a large number of gardai descended on Valentia to begin a door-to-door canvass of the entire island. The canvass of Valentia - which saw Gardai carry out interviews and issue questionnaires to some 600 people with homes or holiday houses on the island - was, according to garda sources, based on "a certain line of enquiry". Though the renewed effort to solve the case has been welcomed by media commentators, the same cannot be said of many living in and around Cahersiveen and Valentia. Many are scared to talk openly to the press about the new investigation - understandably given what happened to the Hayes family - but there is a palpable anger that the finger of blame is being pointed at the community. Some argue that the baby might have no connection to the area and that the body could have washed ashore having been dumped almost anywhere along the Munster coast. Others argue that the case will likely never be solved and that Baby John should just be allowed to rest in peace. Three years on, in January 2021, the new enquiry continues, though it seems little progress has been made. At last month's quarterly meeting of the Kerry Joint Policing Committee, Kerry Chief Superintendent Eileen Foster was asked about the status of the investigation. Chief Supt Foster told the meeting she could not provide specific details and said only that the cold case enquiry is "still open" and "active". For Joanne Hayes and her family, their four-decade ordeal was, finally, brought to an end last December when they agreed a 2.5million compensation settlement with the State. Ms Hayes and her family also received formal apologies from the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice for "the truly appalling hurt and distress caused to Ms Hayes and her family". As part of the historic landmark settlement, the Hayes family also secured declarations from the High Court court that all findings of wrongdoing made against them by the Tribunal were unfounded and incorrect. The court also made a declaration that their questioning, arrest, charge and prosecution on dates between April and October 1984 were unfounded and in breach of their constitutional rights. In the Dail library, anyone seeking to examine the Kerry Babies Tribunal Report will now find the document emblazoned with a legal 'health warning' that discounts the document and all of the discredited findings against the Hayes family within it. By Sumita Layek (Reuters) - Silver prices rebounded on Wednesday after an over 8% plunge in the previous session prompted investors to buy in, although the social media-driven rally that started last week appears to have run out of steam. Spot silver rose 1.4% to $26.99 an ounce by 0333 GMT. Prices hit $30.03 on Monday, their highest since February 2013, after small investors responding to social media calls flooded the market in a GameStop-style squeeze. "The (retail) frenzy is dead, it's rolled over," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at ... As well as mourning the loss of her daughter, on Wednesday McNeal said she was preparing to file a police report in an attempt to find her daughters possessions, which she believes were stolen from the SUV before or after it was moved to a tow lot. She said the items were not bagged as evidence and taken by police, but the police have evidence pictures and her items were in the car, McNeal said. And then they werent. Chief of Pakistan Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa seems to have had a change of heart. He no longer wants war with India. He wants peaceful co-existence. Pakistan Army General expressing his desire for peace is a significant development. It could be a hint that the country wants to give up its obsession with Kashmir and tread on the path of peace and prosperity. While addressing a graduation day ceremony at Pakistan Air Force academy in Rawalpindi earlier this week, General Bajwa said, "It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions. But he was quick to add that no one should misconstrue Pakistans desire for peace as a sign of weakness. Its a matter of debate whether Pakistan is weak or strong as the developments that unfurled after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir have proven it beyond doubt that Pakistan can raise the pitch but wont go for a war as the neighbouring country cannot afford it. If General Bajwa means what he is saying, it could become a turning point in the history of the sub-continent. No one wants war. Everyone wants peace and development. But the fact is that Pakistan after losing three conventional wars with India has been fighting a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir for the past three decades and has lost that battle also. The militants sent by the Pakistan Army have not been able to even take an inch of Indias land. After getting killed, these militants were disowned even by their own country. Peace needs to be given a chance, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an honest attempt to end the animosity between the two nuclear neighbours by paying a surprise visit to Pakistan on December 25, 2015. But just a few days after Modi landed in Lahore, Jaish-e-Mohammad militants attacked the airbase at Pathankot and made it clear they wanted war and not peace. The JeM militants carrying out a suicide attack in Pulwama on February 14, 2019, proved to be the last nail in the coffin of the attempts that were being made to establish peace. The Pulwama attack left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead. India avenged it by carrying out an airstrike at Jaish militant camp deep inside Pakistan territory in Balakot. Though Pakistan claimed that no damage was done, but the reports revealed that many militants were killed and their shelter was destroyed. Since Pulwama attack, Indias posture towards Pakistan has changed completely. The Pakistan Army has been on its toes. If it fires one shell, Indian Army retaliates with five. India turning J&K into a union territory has also rattled Pakistan. After that move, Pakistan media started fighting the war within newsrooms and tried to send a message that nuclear bombs are ready to be used. Its for the first time since August 5, 2019, that the Pakistan Army Chief has spoken about peace and reconciliation. If he is really sincere then he needs to be given an opportunity to end the prevailing uncertainty. The entire world is aware about the fact that its the army that runs Pakistan and the politicians are puppets. If the Pakistan General wants peace he has to act. The country has to dismantle the militant camps on its soil and stop supporting the people who preach hatred and violence. General Bajwa can play an important role as all the activities of militants are controlled by the Pakistan Army. If he works towards establishing peace, he would be considered a true statesman. His country is grappling with too many issues and cannot afford a war. To save Pakistan, General Bajwa needs to take concrete steps and stop talking about Kashmir. If he ups the ante, there is every possibility about Pakistan getting a befitting reply and ending up in a big mess. Indias neighbour needs to bear it in mind that it cannot fight a full-fledged war even for seven days. Had Pakistan been in a position to go for a war it would have fought thirty wars in the past three decades, but it has neither got resources nor the skills and weaponry to match the Indian Army. It has got nothing in its arsenal except a few nukes. If these are used it can lead to large scale devastation. Pakistan Army General by talking about peace is not doing any favour to India, but he is helping his own country. The COVID times are about to get over. Once India comes out of it, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) can be next on the agenda as its under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. It is a part of Jammu and Kashmir and has to be merged with it. But things can change if the neighbouring country really works towards peaceful co-existence. Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa seems to have taken the first step by talking about peace. Now, the ball is in Indias court. It needs to give an opportunity to General Bajwa by reducing pressure on Pakistan, and adopting the policy of wait and watch. If Pakistan Army Chief really means business, he would take steps to translate his words into a reality. No one can discount the fact that the historic Kartarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims was opened in November 2019, just a few months after the abrogation of Article 370. At that point of time General Bajwa played an important role. Despite simmering tensions between the two countries, he didnt object to the opening of it. If the Pakistan Army Chief makes a dedicated effort for peace the war clouds that have been hovering over India and Pakistan can vanish, and the situation can change. For the first time in several days, the sun is back out in North Alabama! Northwesterly winds have still kept temperatures down in the mid 40s despite the sunshine. Temperatures will drop quickly into the mid 20s for overnight lows once again tonight. Winds out of the northwest will relax some but will be just enough to add a wind chill factor in the upper teens to near 20 when you wake up Wednesday morning. Sunshine sticks around Wednesday as temperatures rebound just a bit into the upper 40s for highs. Enjoy the quiet weather while we have it. The forecast becomes much more active late week. Clouds return Thursday ahead of a cold front that brings widespread showers Thursday afternoon and evening. Rain could linger into Friday morning, but the bulk of the rain should clear out by midday Friday. Rainfall totals will be around a quarter to half inch for most spots. Colder air will begin to move in as the front passes through. Highs drop from the upper 50s Thursday back into the upper 40s Friday. There remains a good bit of uncertainty with our rain chances for the upcoming weekend. Some data sources keep North Alabama completely dry, while others bring at least some light rain Saturday night and Sunday. We will keep our rain chances for the weekend low until we have more confidence in the forecast. Stay tuned for updates. What we can say with confidence is even colder air moves in late this weekend and early next week. This is all thanks to a mass of Arctic air moving into the US from Canada. Data sources have backed off the extreme cold potential here in North Alabama. However, the early part of next week looks to have very cold mornings in store. Monday morning looks to be the peak of the cold snap, with wind chill values in the single digits possible. The pattern continues to stay active through next week. The boyfriend of missing British hiker Esther Dingley has furiously denied their relationship was on the rocks and says she was 'taken against her will.' Ms Dingley, 37, was last seen on November 22 making her way to the summit of Pic de Sauveguard, a mountain between Spain and France in the Pyrenees. Daniel Colegate, who met her at Oxford University 19 years ago, last night rubbished suggestions that she could have disappeared voluntarily, claiming that a third party must have been involved. 'I am of course aware of the speculation in the media regarding our relationship, stoked by quotations from both police sources and people that met Esther during her time away,' Mr Colegate wrote on Facebook. Esther Dingley (pictured with her boyfriend Daniel Colegate) disappeared on November 22 while solo hiking in the Pyrenees mountains Grainy CCTV footage (pictured) the last recorded movements of Ms Dingley showed her apparently querying the price of seeds with the store manager 'So far I have been loath to even engage with such salacious nonsense, believing that it was nobody else's business. 'All I will say here is that the police officers actually investigating her disappearance have full access to our communications which reflect the truth that our relationship is solid. 'Any comments to the contrary reflect a misunderstanding of that reality.' Among the avenues of the police investigation, was that Ms Dingley may have been looking for a way out of her relationship. This theory was put forward by French Captain Jean-Marc Bordinaro in December, who has been leading the investigation. He told The Times: 'Esther Dingley wanted to continue with her current way of life, journeys in a camper van and sporting activities including hiking, whilst Daniel Colegate seems a little tired of this nomadic life. 'Did [she] want to go off on her own to live her life and organise her own disappearance? There is nothing enabling us to eliminate this working theory. This situation provoked some tensions within the couple, but nothing too much.' But Mr Colegate said last night this was impossible and also ruled out any kind of accident because of Ms Dingley's experience and the favourable weather. 'Those of you who know Esther personally already know of her determination, physical strength and almost-inhuman tolerance for discomfort,' he wrote. 'Even if she had a broken leg, I have no doubt she would have still gotten down the mountain somehow, never mind take action to make shelter and become visible.' He said: 'Regarding suggestions that Esther's disappearance was in some way voluntary, my response remains that she had neither the motive or means to do so. 'She hasn't accessed any funds or been seen anywhere, despite widespread press coverage.' He acknowledged they have an 'unconventional lifestyle' and said they worked hard to support each other, calling it 'a dance of individuality and togetherness'. Mr Colegate denied the idea Ms Dingley would spark a major search operation by vanishing, rather than simply telling him she needed time alone. He said: 'All of which leads me to believe that somebody else has been involved in Esther's disappearance and against her will. 'This is a terrifying prospect and I wish I could believe otherwise, but I cannot.' The last communication from Ms Dingley was a selfie she had sent to her partner (pictured together) from the top of the mountain Mr Colegate has dismissed French police claims that she may have deliberately disappeared because she feared her nomadic lifestyle was about to end Mr Colegate and Ms Dingley beside their camper van. He says he cannot believe that an experience and hardy hiker such as her could have had an accident as the terrain and weather were favourable The couple had lived in Durham before they set off travelling around Europe in a camper van six years ago. Since starting their new life they had hiked through the Alps, flew over the Nile in a hot air balloon, been free-diving in the Mediterranean and adopted a dog. But Ms Dingley had journeyed to the Pyrenees alone, telling a fellow traveller she met a few days before she disappeared that she and Mr Colegate were 'taking a break.' Laura Adomaityte, 27, who lives in Spain and met Ms Dingley at a mountain shelter, was asked by authorities about her 'physical and emotional shape.' Ms Adomaityte said: 'Esther said they were taking a break and didn't know if they were going to get back together again. 'When you're not 100 per cent okay with your partner, you're not going to be totally balanced emotionally. 'She didn't seem desperate to me but the last time we spoke was about a week before she went missing and in that space of time a person can have a lot of highs and lows.' The hiker parked her Fiat camper in a car park in the Spanish town of Benasque on November 15 before setting off on her solo trek around the Pyrenees French police have dismissed the possibility that a third party may have been involved in her disappearance. Pictured: A map showing the likely route she was taking At the time Mr Colegate was house-sitting in France but had been in contact with Ms Dingley by text. One message sent by Ms Dingley said: 'I'm on a col/peak so can't stop for too long. Can't wait to read all your messages. Love you very much XXX having a really good time.' Later she told him that she 'might dip into France' after heading for the Port de la Glere mountain pass. The final time the couple spoke was via a video call. 'We were both very happy to see each other so happy. We were also excited we'd be together again in a few days,' Mr Colegate said. Concluding his Facebook post last night, Mr Colegate wrote: 'All that matters to me and Esther's parents is finding her. We all still hold on to the thin hope that she might still come back to us safely. 'Her face appears to me all the time, whether or not I am occupied with other things. I see her smile, hear her laugh, imagine the warmth and softness of her cheek and feel the touch of her hand. I still talk to her throughout the day. 'In less than 2 weeks it will be our nineteen year anniversary. For almost 2 decades now we have shared almost everything, building a life together that was occasionally challenging but mostly full of joy and love. Without Esther, I cannot imagine my life ever having meaning again.' Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko seems to come off worse anytime he attempts to go head to head with Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho. Not even a mediation process spearheaded by President Uhuru Kenyatta appears able to bring peace between these two. Kibicho and Sonko have consistently battled in the past three years with the politician accusing the high-ranking civil servant of one thing or the other. Here are some of the accusations; 1. Post-election violence - In January 2021, Mike Sonko took to the podium at a political rally and in the presence of Deputy President William Ruto among others, said he and Kibicho had joined hands to plan some of the chaos witnessed during the 2017 general elections. Sonko would further detail he and Kibicho purchased second-hand vehicles and with the help of hired goons donning Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) branded jerseys, proceeded to burn the cars and later level the blame towards the Raila Odinga led party. Kibicho has pleaded innocence and vowed to sue Sonko. 2. ICC claims - In 2020, Sonko sensationally threatened to sue Kibicho at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Via a lengthy post on social media, Sonko claimed to have incriminating evidence linking Kibicho, plus Nairobi Regional Commander Wilson Njega and Nairobi Regional Police Commander Philip Ndolo of evicting residents from their houses in spite of a court order barring the exercise. The ex-governor is yet to make good his threat while Kibicho has so far remained mum. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. 3. Audio recording - In 2019, Sonko shared an audio recording of what he said was the voice of Kibicho portraying him in bad light. On his social media pages, Sonko claimed the PS was plotting to make life difficult for him in office. The PS elected to remain mum at the time. 4. Mainstream media - Still in 2019, Sonko, without backing up his claims, claimed Kibicho was using the mainstream media to tarnish his image. The politician went on to post several newspaper articles detailing allegations of highhandedness and corruption at City Hall as 'proof'. He vowed to cut off advertisements from his county to the media as a result and also promised to sue the media and certain journalists. He failed to live to that promise. 5. EACC probe/bloggers - Sonko again came out to claim that Kibicho was behind his consistent summons to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) in 2019. EACC denied this claim, and accused Sonko of blackmail. Not deterred, Sonko referred to Kibicho as part of a 'deep state' and claimed online bloggers had been hired to harass him online. Luanda Angolan President, Joao Lourenco, Tuesday discussed the outcome of the mini-summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), dedicated to the security situation in the Central African Republic, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The mini-summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) took place in the Angolan capital, Luanda, last Friday. In a statement, the President's Press Secretay said that the two leaders had spoken on the telephone in the mid afternoon. This is the second time, in the two-week interval, that the Angolan head of state and the United Nations secretary general have analysed the problem of political and military instability in the Central African Republic (CAR). Joao Lourenco is currently chairing the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, which will meet again in Luanda in the next few days to continue to discuss the security situation in the CAR. The mini-summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) took place in the Angolan capital, Luanda, last Friday. In a statement, the President's Press Secretay said that the two leaders had spoken on the telephone in the mid afternoon. This is the second time, in the two-week interval, that the Angolan head of state and the United Nations secretary general have analysed the problem of political and military instability in the Central African Republic (CAR). Joao Lourenco is currently chairing the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, which will meet again in Luanda in the next few days to continue to discuss the security situation in the CAR. As of the beginning of 2021, Egypt and the UK are exchanging goods according to a new Association Agreement signed early in December 2020. The agreement replaces the Egypt-EU Association Agreement that previously governed relations between the two countries but had to be discarded with the exit of the UK from the EU. The conclusion of the agreement was imperative to ensure stable and continuous relations between the parties, director of trade in goods at the Ministry of Trade and Industry Iman Refaat told a webinar organised by the British-Egyptian Businessmens Association. In the absence of such an agreement, both parties would have reverted to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) terms of trade, she said, explaining that this would have meant that Egypt would have imposed an average of 19 per cent tariffs on goods imported from the UK while the UK would have imposed an average 5.7 per cent tariffs. The new agreement covers trade in goods, including provisions on technical matters like rules of origin, preferential treatment, and quotas. It also covers trade in services, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, intellectual property, and government procurement. The UK is one of Egypts major trading partners, with total bilateral trade in 2019 reaching 3.6 billion pounds sterling. UK exports to Egypt accounted for 2.3 billion pounds sterling. While Egypt has already ratified the agreement, the UK is in the process of doing so and could finish in February, said Paul Mullard, senior trade policy advisor at the UKs Department of International Trade. The whole point of the agreement was to ensure continuity; hopefully, it does that, Mullard said, adding that it also provides for a dialogue mechanism to tackle any concerns that could come up during implementation. Refaat reiterated that the agreement provides an opportunity to enhance relations on both sides. She said Egyptian agricultural exports had high potential in the UK market, with UK statistics showing that UK imports of fruit and vegetables were 11.5 billion pounds sterling in 2019 vs exports of 1.3 billion pounds sterling. Egypts exports of fruit and vegetables were around 160 million pounds sterling in 2019. According to Refaat, for trade in goods, tariff commitments have been transferred, while for agricultural produce tariff rate quotas have been resized to take into account principles agreed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and historic utilisation rates. Strawberries are an exception, since here Egypt is able to increase the tariff-free volume of quotas. During the negotiations we agreed that the further liberalisation of agricultural produce would be at the top of future agendas, Refaat said. The new agreement is a window of opportunity, according to Ahmed Ezzeddin of Fed International for Industry and Trade, which has been exporting food products to the UK for 30 years and more recently has also been exporting home textiles made of linen and Egyptian cotton. Ezzeddin said that over the past three months there has been increasing interest by UK companies in Egyptian exports. He explained that such companies had earlier sourced their goods from the EU, but because they had been forecasting disruptions when the transitional period was over before the UKs leaving the EU went into full effect at the beginning of last month, they had been looking for new sourcing countries. This is an opportunity for Egyptian companies to grow, he said, adding that there still needed more work to be done to build awareness among British companies through match-making meetings and trade missions. Refaat pointed to the opportunities for the UK if it were to take advantage of Egypts multiple international agreements such as the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA). Egypt is conducting several projects in Africa to enhance its position as a regional hub for international trade and energy, Refaat said, adding that there were many opportunities for UK companies to invest in Egypt and to take advantage of the access the agreements could give UK products in the African market. The UK is a big fan of AfCTA, Mullard said, adding that it had been studying how to use the AfCTA and Egypts bilateral trade agreements to deepen relations between the UK and Egypt and the rest of Africa. Search Keywords: 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. The Idaho Army National Guard announced Wednesday that it has suspended flight operations after one of its UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crashed Tuesday night in bad weather, killing all three pilots aboard. "As of right now, our flight operations have ceased," Lt. Col. Nicole Washington, commander of the Idaho Guard's 1st Battalion, 183rd Aviation Regiment, told reporters Wednesday afternoon. "We can't speculate; we don't know the cause of the accident, whether it was weather-related, maintenance-related or something else happened. At this point, there is a lot unknown." The three pilots, whose identities have not been released, took off from Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, at approximately 6:50 p.m. to conduct a routine training mission in the Nap of the Earth Training Area, where pilots practice low-level flying, according to Col. Christopher Burt, the Idaho Guard's state aviation officer. Read Next: The Air Force's New F-15EX Jet Just Took Its First Flight The crew checked in several times with the flight operations center during the flight; their last contact occurred at 7:45 p.m., Burt said. Shortly after 8 p.m., the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, contacted the Idaho Guard to say it had received an active emergency locator transmitter signal from the aircraft. Two of the aviators were instructor pilots, and one was a "fairly experienced" pilot, Washington said, describing how the aircraft was returning from its training mission. She said the Guard had received no distress call. "There was no mayday," Washington said. "There was weather last night. There was snow." A search-and-rescue ground team of Guard members, joined by Idaho Mountain Rescue personnel, immediately launched to search the aircraft's last known location. Another Idaho Guard Black Hawk flying in the area attempted to search for the crash site in the mountainous terrain, but the rapidly deteriorating weather forced it to return to base, Burt said. Washington said that Guard pilots conduct similar training missions three days a week to stay proficient when flying in mountainous terrain. "For us, the training is extremely important. ... Search and rescue is one of the many versatile missions we are able to accomplish quite frequently, so it's important for us to go out and train to standard and train to be able to operate in adverse conditions," she said, adding that all three pilots were experienced at flying in bad weather. The pilots were wearing night-vision goggles, she said. '[But] last night even with their goggles, illumination was pretty low, so it would be a lot more difficult ... with bad weather, snow, precipitation." The Idaho Guard conducts a detailed risk assessment to consider weather and other factors before any flying mission is approved, Washington said. "There were forecasted showers in the area, and again from what we know now from when they called back to Boise, the weather had started to slowly deteriorate," she said. "Sometimes out in the backcountry, it can start to deteriorate pretty quickly." At approximately 11 p.m., the weather improved enough to allow another aircraft to aid in the search, Burt said. At approximately 12:15 a.m., the search-and-rescue effort located the aircraft and "confirmed that there were no survivors." A unit from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment that was in the area training was scheduled to fly an MH-47 Chinook out to the crash site Wednesday to assist in the recovery of the pilots' remains. The Army Aviation Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, has sent an investigation team, which is scheduled to arrive in Boise on Thursday, Burt said. "The sudden and tragic loss of three of our fellow Guardsmen is extremely heartbreaking," Maj. Gen. Michael Garshak, adjutant general of Idaho and commander of the Idaho National Guard, said at the news conference. Washington said she knew the pilots personally, adding that their loss "leaves a tremendous, indescribable void." "They were an intricate and necessary part of our community, and they will be missed," she said. It's unclear how long flight operations for the Idaho Guard will be suspended, Washington said. "Going forward, we will eventually have to get back to flying once we are cleared," she said. "Certainly, anytime an incident occurs, we take a step back and pause to allow internal reflection on whether it's adverse conditions, weather conditions, what we can do better going forward. "As an organization, we will look at everything we can do to improve anything we could have done differently to reassure not only our aviators, but our aircrew members, all of our soldiers and their families that we are doing things as safely as possible." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: 3 Idaho Guardsmen Die in Second Fatal National Guard Black Hawk Crash This Year THE government has proved wrong circulated social media reports that there were a big number of Covid-19 patients in major hospitals in Dar es Salaam, as evidence points to a normal situation in most of the facilities. The revelations came yesterday after Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Prof Mabula Mchembe, toured two key hospitals in the city. Prof Mchembe made a surprise visit to the Mloganzila Hospital and Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) to get first hand information over what was said on the social media about the Covid- 19 patients. His first leg of the tour was at Mloganzila Hospital, on the outskirts of the Dar es Salaam city where he met with the management to get a report over patients received at the facility before he visited various wards in the facility. Later in the afternoon the PS visited the MNH, where he found out that many of the patients with respiratory problems were those suffering from diseases like hypertension, kidney failure, low blood red count and others. "These diseases also affect the respiratory system; therefore it is not true that these people are Covid-19 positive," the Permanent Secretary clarified. At Mloganzila Hospital, for instance, Prof Mchemba visited three wards and saw patients with breathing complications but each of them had different health problems including kidney failure, hypertension and asthma. "The public, especially social media users should not relate any disease that comes with breathing difficulty to Coronavirus, something which creates tension to others," he warned. He added: "Let's all know that any one of us may become sick and come to these hospitals for treatment, what would you feel when others mock you when you are sick?" The PS said the bad thing was that those who spread those misleading reports were probably relatives or friends of the patients who went to see their colleagues admitted to hospitals. Earlier, at Mloganzila hospital, when briefing the Permanent Secretary, Dr Mwanaada Kilima, Specialist physician and pulmonologist, said from last month the facility received 74 patients whose diseases also affected respiratory systems. So far, 39 have remained after others were treated and discharged. The health workers, she said, were attending to patients as usual until laboratory tests which make them decide specific treatment for the patients, she explained. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. At the MNH, Dr Zuhura Mawona, director of the nursing services department, said the key facility accommodated a total of 1282 patients by yesterday, out of which 90 had diseases that affected their respiratory systems. Spokesperson of the hospital, Mr Aminiel Eligaesha, further explained that during the last five years the facility has made great strides in improving services of intensive care units by increasing the number of ICUs. Initially there was only one ICU with eight beds, but currently there are two ICUs for children and other ICUs were placed according to specialties such as surgical ICU and medical ICU. Mr Eligaesha said due to presence of several ICUs even number of patients in ICUs has increased, contrary to reports that the increased number of patients in the ICU was due to Covid-19. On the other hand, Prof Mchemba challenged the MNH to start producing drips for its own use instead of depending on imported drips. He wondered why the national hospital with over 20 pharmacists and at least 20 pharmaceutical technicians do not have a plant to produce drips, while hospitals like Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) and Bugando Medical Centre have factories for producing the product. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 18:52:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A returning China-Europe freight train from Kazakhstan arrives at the Xinzhu Station of China Railway Xi'an Bureau Group Co., Ltd. in Xi'an City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Feb. 3, 2021. The train was fully loaded with commodities for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, such as flour, edible oil, honey and candies. (Xinhua/Li Yibo) Eric and Candace Johnson say farewell to Bethel Church Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Bethel Church Pastors Eric and Candace Johnson have said their goodbyes to the Redding, California charismatic megachurch as they begin a new season in ministry. In a Monday email to the congregation, the couple, who have been in the leadership position for the past decade, wrote that they had many emotions as they composed their final email message after ministering at the church for 18 years. "It has been the biggest privilege of our lives to serve you as senior pastors over the past decade. Thank you for trusting us in this role and for your continual love, support, and belief. Our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude for all that God has done through the years here. We have all grown so much and we feel extremely rich for the time that weve had together," they wrote. "You will forever be a part of us and we are forever changed because of you. Thank you for being a passionate people after Gods heart and for being extravagant lovers of those around you. Your 'yes' to God has always kept the standard high in our lives and continues to challenge us to grow. Your generosity of heart has been astounding and undoing to us. We believe that this is one of the traits that has paved the way for all that God is releasing through this house. We have seen Him and experienced Him more by being with you." The Johnsons, who are the son and daughter-in-law of Bill Johnson, the senior leader of Bethel, announced their departure days before Thanksgiving, an unexpected move they say surprised even them. The charismatic megachurch, which is known for its popular worship music label and School of Supernatural Ministry, said at the time that the Johnsons were not pressured to resign and that their reason for leaving was not because of any "moral failure, inciting incident, pandemic or political fatigue, theological difference, or issue of health or capacity involved." The couple is planning on taking a sabbatical to discern their next steps. "As we are in this moment of great transition I recognize it's not just us but it's numerous people," Candace Johnson said at a farewell service Sunday. "This has just been a year of shaking. And what I love about shaking is that you get down to what's true and what's right." Eric added that their decision to leave was especially hard because of the quality of people that comprised the staff. "There's something so special about doing what you love with the people you are excited to do it with," he said. The couple added: "We walk forward in confidence in knowing more of who God is. Thank you for being who you are and for loving us so well! We arent saying goodbye, but just transitioning into a new way of relating. We will always be championing you and running with you." Eric Johnson is the author of Christ In You: Why God Trusts You More Than You Trust Yourself. 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 man was injured in a shooting in the Little Woods neighborhood on Tuesday night, according to New Orleans police. Authorities said the man's gunshot wound was not life-threatening. The shooting was reported in the 7000 block of Lawrence Road, but it isn't immediately clear what time shots were fired. Details on possible suspects or a motive were not immediately available. Stay with NOLA.com for more updates. Mario Draghi set to be asked to form new coalition as Mattarella says Italy needs a "high-profile government." Italy's president has summoned former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi for a meeting at midday today, 3 February, after efforts failed to salvage the collapsed coalition of premier Giuseppe Conte. President Sergio Mattarella is expected to task Draghi with forming a government following the resignation of Conte on 26 January and the subsequent failure by party leaders to agree on a new coalition. Italy was plunged into political crisis last month after former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his small Italia Viva (IV) party from the countrys ruling coalition, leaving Conte without a parliamentary majority. Mattarella said last night that it was his duty to appeal to all the political forces in parliament to give their confidence to a high-profile government able to deal promptly with the serious emergencies in progress. The president is against calling early elections and says that Italy requires a government that is fully functional" to deal with the challenges presented by covid-19. He also underlined the health risks of holding polls in the midst of a pandemic. Former ECB chief Mario Draghi The move is likely to end the political career of Conte, one of Italy's most popular politicians, who is not a member of any political party but led an alliance of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and the populist Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S). Renzi's IV party and the PD have pledged support for Draghi who is widely credited with saving the euro zone from the brink of collapse in 2012, famously pledging to do whatever it takes to save the single European currency. However the M5S is against a government led by the 73-year-old economist, while it remains to be seen how the right-wing opposition bloc will react. It looks likely that the centre-right Forza Italia could support Draghi while the far-right Fratelli d'Italia and Lega parties favour elections. There was no immediate comment from Draghi ahead of today's meeting at the presidential palace in Rome. Photo Reuters Il Presidente della Repubblica Sergio #Mattarella ha convocato per domani mattina alle 12 al #Quirinale il Professor Mario #Draghi Quirinale (@Quirinale) February 2, 2021 document The Combined Harare Residents Association in collaboration with residents associations in all provinces, and civic society organizations has launched a national devolution campaign code named #3DCampaign. The main objective of the campaign is to build citizen voice and agency among women and youths in devolution implementation and alignment of local government laws while building alliances and national consensus on devolution The launch of the campaign come at a time when the government of Zimbabwe has developed a Devolution and Decentralization Policy and commenced a process of aligning local government laws with the constitution. Service delivery in Zimbabwe has become a major challenge as most local authorities are failing to provide basic social services which has been mainly attributed to poor financing, corruption, abuse of power and lack of citizens' oversight role on public bodies among others. The campaign intends to cement and galvanize provisions of the constitution that promote self-government of local authorities, and recognition of the right of communities to manage their affairs in deciding their development agenda in the proposed local government legislation. CSOs and Residents Associations that attended the meeting resolved to work together in an inclusive and well-coordinated fashion on the promotion of Devolution in Zimbabwe. Source: Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput are one couple who never shy away from sharing their mushy romance on social media. Netizens love their banter. Shahid Kapoor on Tuesday shared a sexy selfie of himself on Instagram from Goa. In the picture we see Shahid in a sexy crop haircut and giving that intense Kabir Singh kinda look to the cameras. The selfie is smokin hot and the actor captioned the picture saying Boo. Mira Rajput whos probably missing her husband dropped a comment on the post saying, Beau* Now that Asterix mark is probably Miras way of saying that Shahids caption needs to be corrected and changed to beau. Now thats one witty comment and leaves netizens and their fans in an adorable state. Shahid Kapoor is currently in Goa shooting for his debut web show which is being helmed by Raj and Krishna DK. The actor was spending time with wife Mira Rajput in Goa earlier this year, and as his shooting schedule neared, Mira flew back to Mumbai while hubby got back to work. Joining Shahid Kapoor is Raashi Khanna, whos done several South films. Shahid Kapoor has an extensive schedule in Goa and will shoot for a long time in the beach-city. 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 death has occurred of Joe Fitzgerald Late Cois-Ma, Croom, Limerick, February 2nd 2021, peacefully in the wonderful care of all the staff Caherass Nursing Home, Croom. Beloved husband of the late Nellie Very deeply regretted by his sorrowing son John, daughters Martha, Helen, Mary and Geraldine, daughter-in-law, sons-in-law, adoring grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and his friends Private family funeral Mass on Thursday in St. Marys Church, Croom at 12 noon. With burial immediately afterwards in Reilig Mhuire, Croom. Mass will be streamed live on www.croomparish.ie - As per Covid guidelines, while adhering to government directions. Sympathies may be expressed via the link below, mass cards and letters of sympathy can be posted to Daffys Funeral Directors, Croom. May he rest in peace. -------------------------------- The death has occurred of Patrick Foynes Caherconlish, Limerick Patrick, died (peacefully) at University Hospital Limerick. Very deeply regretted by his loving wife Bridget, brothers Harry and Ted, daughters Mary and Ann, son Joe, grandchildren Gemma, Graham and Nathan, great grandson Jack, extended family and friends. A private Requiem Mass, for family only, will take place on Monday (February 8th) at 11am in the Sacred Heart Church, the Crescent, Limerick. Mass will be live streamed (to view click here) Funeral afterwards to Caherconlish Church Cemetery. 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, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick. May He Rest in Peace -------------------------------- The death has occurred of Patrick (Pat) Quinn Tuamgraney, Clare / Bruff, Limerick. Peacefully surrounded by his family at Millford Care Centre after a short illness. Predeceased by his brothers Martin & Mike, sisters Kathleen & Mary. Deeply regretted by his loving wife Margaret, Son Kevin, daughters Caroline (O'Brien), Deirdre (Sharkey), sister Jo, son's in law Damien, Keith, daughter in law Joanne, brothers In law, nieces & nephew's, extended families & friends . Devoted grandad to Anthony, Nollaig, Noah, Lee, Emma, Rian & Rory. Ar Dheis De go raibh a hanam Dilis. A private funeral mass for family will take place in St. Joseph's Church, Tuamgraney, on the 4th of February at 11:30 followed by burial afterwards in St. Coolauns cemetery. Family flowers only by request. For those who wish to attend but cannot, the funeral mass can be viewed on the parish website, www.bodyketuamgraneyparish.ie . Those who wish to leave messages of sympathy to the family can do so in the condolence section below. -------------------------------- The death has occurred of Karl Finucane Churchill, Monaleen, Limerick. Churchill, Monaleen, Limerick and late of Finucane Electrical and Electrical Factors, Crossagalla, Limerick. Karl, passed away peacefully on February 3rd 2021, at his residence, surrounded by his loving family. Beloved husband of the recently deceased Christina (Chris) and dearly loved father of Kevin, Kieran, Cliona and Ciara. Predeceased by his son Conor and his brothers Michael, Vincent, John and Joe. Sadly missed by his daughter-in-law Siobhan and his son-in-law Peter. Cherished grandfather to Jodi, Ellen, Mike, Sean, Anna and Mark. Deeply regretted by his brother Ignatius, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. Karl's Funeral cortege will leave his home on Friday (February 5th) at 12.45pm to arrive for a private Requiem Mass, for family only, at 1pm in Mary Magdelene Church, Monaleen, Monaleen Road, Mass will be live streamed (to view click here) Funeral afterwards to Abington Cemetery, Murroe. After the Mass, Karl's Funeral cortege will travel along Monaleen Road, turning right at Monaleen Stores, proceeding along Peafield Road, turning left at Morrisson's pub and there after to Abington Cemetery. Please observe social distancing. Karls family understand and appreciate that people would like to pay their respects, however, due to the current situation, house and funeral will be private. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the condolence below or cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Cross' Funeral Directors, 2 Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick. May He Rest In Peace ------------------------------------ The death has occurred of Phil O' Neill (nee Walsh) New Street, Limerick. Phil O Neill (nee Walsh) New Street, Limerick and the Park Nursing Home. February 2nd 2021 peacefully in the care of the wonderful staff of the Park Nursing Home. Beloved wife of the late Joseph. Dearly loved mother of Joseph and Ann-Marie. Sadly missed by her loving grandson Colin, extended family and friends. A special thanks to Caroline Harold. May she rest in peace. ----------------------------------- The death has occurred of Patrick Foynes Caherconlish, Limerick. Patrick, died (peacefully) at University Hospital Limerick. Very deeply regretted by his loving wife Bridget, brothers Harry and Ted, daughters Mary and Ann, son Joe, grandchildren Gemma, Graham and Nathan, great grandson Jack, extended family and friends. A private Requiem Mass, for family only, will take place on Monday (February 8th) at 11am in the Sacred Heart Church, the Crescent, Limerick. Mass will be live streamed (to view click here) Funeral afterwards to Caherconlish Church Cemetery. 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, Lower Gerald Griffin Street, Limerick. May He Rest in Peace --------------------------------- The death has occurred of Lena ( Mrs Pop ) Costelloe (nee Ryan) Ballyculleen, Banogue, Limerick. February 2nd 2021, peacefully surrounded by her loving family at her home in her 97th year. Beloved wife of the late Frank, and mother of the late Betty. Very deeply regretted by her sorrowing sons Frank, Harry (President of Gaelic Park, Chicago), Jim (USA), Jack, Christy and Kevin, daughters Helen, Mary (USA), Paula (UK), Siobhan (UK), Nancy (UK), and Catherine (Kit), sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, adoring grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, kind neighbours and her many friends Removal to arrive this Friday at Ss Peter and Paul's Church Banogue, for 12 noon funeral Mass which is live streamed on Banogue webcam via croomparish.ie, with burial immediately afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. As per Covid guidelines while adhering to government directions. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the link below. Mass cards and letters of sympathy can be posted to Daffys Funeral Directors Croom. May her gentle soul rest in peace. -------------------------------------------------- To leave messages of condolences click here: Jon and Gina Gross originally hail from central Pennsylvania -- Gina is from the Harrisburg area and Jon is from Mount Joy -- but they now make their home across the pond thanks to the House Hunters International television program. And audiences can get a look at their new pad when the episode airs later today. The couple was preparing a move to London from New York City, thanks to a career opportunity for Jon. It was too, too, too great to pass up, he said. I got to remain with the company I enjoy working for, and Ive always wanted to live in Europe. So we took the plunge. On a whim, Gina submitted their story to House Hunters International. The two regularly watch the HGTV series and play along, if you will, with the show, she said. When we first got our visas everything moved really fast, said Gina. It randomly popped into my head one day when I was packing. I wonder what the process is like for House Hunters International, because when am I going to do this again? Gina sent in the submission, and sure enough, the producers reached out to help them find the London home that was right for them. They were paired with Richard Blanco for their episode the House Hunters real estate agent that Gina said has always been their favorite and soon set out to find their dream home. But if youve ever watched a program like House Hunters, you know that such a task is easier said than done. Jon said that while they had several overlapping items on their wish lists, finding the right house that met enough criteria for both was still a challenge. We would go to a place and we would only check some of the boxes, but some of the boxes we didnt check were so great that maybe wed overlook some of the negatives. So it was kind of a toss-up. Not every property had every single thing we wanted, so it took some time to discuss and figure it out after the fact. And as fans of the show, those disagreements seemed awfully familiar. When youre [watching House Hunters] in the comfort of your own established home, youre like, what are they doing? This is obviously the best place! Why is she worried about X, Y and Z and why is he complaining about this? But when youre actually in it, you realize why, especially in a different country! Items that may come across as quibbles to some were legitimate deal breakers to the Grosses. Low ceilings and doorways, or a bedroom too small for a king-sized bed, arent going to work out when Jon stands at 6 feet, 7 inches tall. Contributors Gina and Jon Gross as seen on their house tour for House Hunters International. Aside from the fact that youre finding your new home you do want to be picky, youre looking for it in a different country where things are not what youre used to, Gina said. So, yeah, you do kind of step into that extra picking role pretty easily. But Richard has heard it all before anyway, so hes used to it! And hashing out the details with a spouse is always going to be a bit more tricky when cameras are rolling and youre surrounded by a film crew. I think Im a bit of an introvert, Jon said. So anytime theres added attention when Im discussing something important certainly it makes it more challenging to articulate what I liked or did not like about certain things. Versus just speaking to Gina on our own Where hed be more candid, probably, Gina added. Right, Jon said. So I would say it was maybe more pressure there. But the crew was great. Everyone around made you feel at home. Gina noted that with the crew around, you were almost trying to convince [them] to take your side. It just kind of gives you a little bit of an audience for things that normally would have no audience, she said, laughing. But of course, the couple came to a decision together, and have been enjoying their new home ever since. The only thing missing (aside from being a trans-Atlantic flight away from their friends and family) is that Londons junk food cant quite compare to Pennsylvanias. I really miss, say, a cheese steak, Jon said. Someone from Philadelphia opened a shop here, but theyre not as authentic as I would like. Middleswarth barbecue chips is a big one, too. You know what I do miss? Gina said. Slurpees. My Rutters slurpees. I crave those. But weve gotten some really nice care packages from our family and friends. Theyve got the Tastykakes and funfetti cake mix and Flaming Hot Cheetos. Its so comforting! The episode of House Hunters International with Gina and Jon airs at 10:30 p.m. Feb. 3. For more information, visit the HGTV website. 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. They're supposed to be looking for love with anyone but each other. But it seemed that Celebs Go Dating's Sophie Hermann preferred the company of DJ Tom Zanetti, as she stunned him by asking him out for dinner in Tuesday's show. After MailOnline exclusively revealed the pair enjoyed a romance during filming earlier this month, viewers saw the Made In Chelsea star, 33, leave Katie Price's ex, 31, staggered by brazenly suggesting they enjoy a date themselves. Cheeky! Celebs Go Dating's Sophie Hermann preferred the company of DJ Tom Zanetti, as she stunned him by asking him out for dinner in Tuesday's show As the stars settled down for dinner, Sophie cheekily asked Tom whether she could enjoy dinner with him instead of having dinner with one of the men brought into the mansion. Tom struggled to hide his excitement, replying: 'Me and you? I'd be down for that, why do I always get so dopey with you? What have you just asked me to dinner. I thought I'd be asking you!' Sophie offered her own thoughts on Tom, speaking in her confessional: 'Each day I really get to know Tom a lot more there's a lot of depth to him I'm warming up to Tom.' Really? Viewers saw the Made In Chelsea star leave Katie Price's ex staggered by brazenly suggesting they enjoy a date themselves Naughty! As the stars settled down for dinner, Sophie cheekily asked Tom whether she could enjoy dinner with him instead of having dinner with one of the men brought into the mansion Despite his attempts to convince her that they shouldn't date, she confidently said: 'Why not? You already asked me out to dinner in my DMs, saying: ''Come on take me to Germany to eat some schnitzel yeah!''' Despite Tom being keen, he was later seen getting cosy with twins Kate and Beth in the hot tub, and confided in Karim Zeroual that he was baffled by Sophie's feelings for him. He said: 'The Duchess is confusing me, she says that and then leaves me out to dry, not twins nothing. I'm just sat floating about in my silk pyjamas again.' Playful: Despite his attempts to convince her that they shouldn't date, she confidently said: 'Why not? You already asked me out to dinner in my DMs' Having fun? Despite Tom being keen, he was later seen getting cosy with twins Kate and Beth in the hot tub Last month MailOnline exclusively revealed that Tom and Sophie had enjoyed a secret romance during their month-long stint in the Celebs Go Dating mansion. Singletons Sophie and Tom started to privately message while living in the 30million Surrey mansion. A TV source revealed: 'Sparks were flying between them from the minute they walked into the mansion. No idea! He later confided in Karim Zeroual that he was baffled by Sophie's feelings for him Bizarre: He said: 'The Duchess is confusing me, she says that and then leaves me out to dry, not twins nothing. I'm just sat floating about in my silk pyjamas again' 'Tom had no idea who Sophie was to begin with and that seemed to be an aphrodisiac for her she loved being teased by him and the banter they shared together. 'They couldn't keep their hands off each other and became the talk of the house, especially when the rest of the cast found out they had been secretly texting. 'Despite coming from very different backgrounds, they really got on and couldn't resist spending as much time together as they could in the house.' Celebs Go Dating continues on Wednesday at 9pm on E4. RTHK: EU could consider using Chinese, Russian vaccines European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for use in the bloc if they "show all the data", lawmakers said. Her remarks came as the EU faces criticism over a slow vaccination roll-out across the 27 nation bloc as supply shortfalls have hampered deliveries. Some European leaders have now expressed willingness to consider using Russia's Sputnik V virus after trial results showed it was 91.6 percent effective. "If the Russian producers, the Chinese producers open their books, show transparency, show all the data... then they could get... a conditional market authorisation like the other ones," von der Leyen told EU lawmakers at a meeting, according to those in attendance. Brussels has said previously the Russian manufacturer has been in contact with the bloc's medicines regulator, but no formal application for market authorisation has been submitted. A commission spokesman said on Tuesday that one of the criteria for the EU contracts for vaccines was that producers had the capacity to make them inside the bloc. So far the EU has signed agreements with six vaccine suppliers, but only the three jabs from Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been approved for use. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. 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. CHINGOLA, Zambia, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government attaches great importance to its bilateral cooperation with China, which will benefit the people of Zambia through improved economic growth, an industry group said on Monday. Chingola Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Fred Musonda said Zambia was benefiting from China in economic development, such as improved trade with the Asian nation. "We have been getting good news from China that the Asian nation wants to import goats and sheep as well as blueberries. This is all through bilateral trade and further China will provide a readily available market for the products," he said. Musonda expressed optimism that China will support Zambia by ensuring that trade between the two countries is strengthened. He said China and Zambia has witnessed strengthened bilateral and political mutual trust since the two countries established diplomatic ties 55 years ago. "China has supported Zambia since time in memorial after Zambia gained her independence from the colonial masters. The Asian country has proved to be a good friend of Zambia since the 1970s," he said. Musonda called on the Zambian government to strengthen its cooperation with China under the proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to Musonda, cooperation on BRI will enable Zambia to improve on infrastructure development which will result into enhanced economic growth. Meanwhile, Peter Daka, a Chingola resident, said China's BRI is an important program that will benefit Zambia, Africa and beyond. "China has a long term foresight. It's not that BRI is beneficial to African countries alone. It will also bring about enhanced trade not only with African states but other developed nations," he said. Daka, a small-scale entrepreneur who has been to China on business trips, said Zambians should tap into the Chinese work culture to improve their standards of living. The local businessman said technology is also an important tool for Zambia to enhance its national development like the case is with China. Zambia should emulate China by embracing technology for national development, he said. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Tasmanian environmentalists have lost a case that sought to end native forest logging in the state, but may launch an appeal. Known as the great forest case, the Bob Brown Foundation lodged the challenge against the Tasmanian government, the federal government and Tasmanian state-owned logging corporation Sustainable Timber Tasmania in the Federal Court last year. Environmentalist and former Greens leader Bob Brown inspects burnt trees that were once home to swift parrots. The foundation said a win would have helped protect the habitat of the critically endangered swift parrot. It argued Tasmanias regional forest agreements were fundamentally flawed and failed to meet the standards of national environmental laws. Regional forest agreements are legal arrangements between states and the Commonwealth under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which is currently under review. [February 03, 2021] Celebrity Chef Alex Guarnaschelli Reimagines Pasta Night With ZENB Pasta Made From 100% Yellow Peas CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ZENB, an e-commerce plant-based food brand on a mission to make plant-forward products more accessible, convenient and delicious, has teamed up with Celebrity Chef Alex Guarnaschelli to reinvigorate pasta night. The partnership comes on the heels of the brand's launch of a gluten-free pasta made entirely from yellow peas for a tasty alternative with more protein and fiber compared to traditional pasta proving you can have your pasta and eat it too. Celebrity Chef Alex Guarnaschelli reimagines pasta night with ZENB Pasta made from 100% Yellow Peas Together, the brand and chef are creating delicious recipes using the healthy pasta alternative to put a spin on traditional pasta dishes. From 10-Minute Buttered, Herbed Elbows that puts a culinary twist on a simple classic, to Rotini with White Clam Sauce and Roasted Garlic that infuses flavor into a popular seaside dish, the ZENB Pasta recipes from Chef Alex allow any home chef to transform their pasta night with more plant-powered goodness. Pasta lovers nationwide can get exclusive access to recipes on www.ZENB.com and by following along with Chef Alex on Instagram (@guarnaschelli) and Facebook (@chefalexguarnaschelli). "ZENB Pasta has a delicious taste and a beautifully 'al dente' texture, making it perfect for pasta night or any time," said Chef Alex. "It goes without saying that we love pasta in my household, and this is a great-tasting, healthy swap that is our new favorite for all kinds of pasta dishes, from classic tomato sauces, to buttery herby sauces, to cheesy goodness. With this tasty alternative you will do a doubletake when realizing it's made entirely from yellow peas it's that good." For the opportunity to cook one of the exclusive ZENB Pasta recipes alongside the food personality, fans can enter the Virtual Cooking Class with Celebrity Chef Guarnaschelli Sweepstakes. One grand prize winner and a guest will receive a private virtual cooking class with Chef Alex, a one-year supply of ZENB Pasta and an autographed copy of Cook with Me, Chef Alex's newest cookbook. Ten runner ups will also receive a one-year supply of the protein-packed pasta and an autographed copy of the chef's cookbook. Aspiring chefs and food enthusiasts alike can enter for their chance to win and view the official rules at ZENB.com/ChefAlex. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 PM ET on February 3, 2021 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on February 28, 2021. Open nly to legal residents of the 48 contiguous US/DC who are 18 years or older. Void where prohibited. Official rules can be found at go.zenb.com/chefalexsweepsrules. ZENB Pasta was introduced in November 2020, offering a healthy pasta that does not sacrifice taste. According to a taste test of 400 consumers conducted by ZENB, more than 80% of participants said ZENB Rotini Pasta tasted the same as the traditional pasta they sampled. Through this collaboration, ZENB and Chef Alex reinforce the idea that taste and health do not have to be mutually exclusive, creating a whole new pasta experience. "Chef Alex is a world-class chef who is passionate about using whole ingredients and making mealtime moments special, which is what we're all about at ZENB," said Christiane Paul, ZENB chief marketing officer, U.S. and U.K. "Our vision is to make the plant-based category inclusive, while creating tasty products that make simple swaps crave-worthy. Our work with Chef Alex emphasizes that products like our gluten-free pasta are a convenient and delicious option for every palate." Available in Rotini, Penne and Elbow, ZENB Pasta contains 17 grams of protein, 11 grams of fiber and 30% fewer net carbs than traditional pasta in each three-ounce serving. First-time purchasers can try each shape with the ZENB Pasta Starter Pack, which is available for $14.99 with free shipping. Larger quantity boxes of 6 ($29.99) and boxes of 10 ($49.99) can also be ordered for delivery. For added convenience, subscribe to receive a 5% discount and free shipping. ZENB Pasta is exclusively available on ZENB.com, where consumers can find more details on the exclusive recipes from Chef Alex and the Virtual Cooking Class with Celebrity Chef Guarnaschelli Sweepstakes. About ZENB ZENB is a plant-powered, direct-to-consumer brand on a mission to make plant-based foods more delicious, accessible and convenient. Using parts of legumes and vegetables that are often thrown away (skin, seeds, stems and all), ZENB products open a whole new world of flavor and nutrition. A global brand with vast presence in Japan and the U.K., ZENB debuted in the U.S. market in 2019 with its veggie-first snack products, ZENB Veggie Sticks and ZENB Veggie Bites, with domestic headquarters in Chicago. Committed to making plant-based products the center of everyday lives, the brand launched a single-ingredient pasta made from yellow peas in November 2020 for U.S. consumers, with plans to grow its meal and snack portfolios. ZENB aspires to improve sustainability and the global environment by thoughtfully selecting ingredients that reinforce this commitment, including its ZENB Pasta made from 100% yellow peas, which have a lower carbon footprint and use less water and fertilizer to grow than the durum wheat used to make traditional pasta. For more information about ZENB and to join the community, visit ZENB.com or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. About Chef Guarnaschelli Chef Alex Guarnaschelli is a world-renowned chef who, after attending La Varenne Culinary School in Burgundy, France, began her international culinary journey training in Paris and New York with some of the world's most acclaimed chefs including Guy Savoy and Daniel Boulud. In 2003, Guarnaschelli became the executive chef at Butter, where she has since created her own seasonal American menu with French and Italian influences. Guarnaschelli first appeared on Food Network in 2006 as a competitor on Food Network Challenge, and since has been part of over 600 episodes of programming on the network. She hosts her own primetime show "Supermarket Stakeout" Tuesday nights at 10 PM EST and is a co-host on the popular daytime show "The Kitchen". Guarnaschelli is a recurring judge on the popular Food Network series "Chopped' and host of the award-winning digital series, Fix Me a Plate. Guarnaschelli bested nine rival chefs to win The Next Iron Chef: Redemption, earing the coveted title of Iron Chef. She has also been featured as a guest co-host on Beat Bobby Flay, with numerous appearances on Guy's Grocery Games, Guy's Ranch Kitchen, Cooking Channel's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and more. Guarnaschelli is also the author of three cookbooks: Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook (2013) , "The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart "(2017) and her newest endeavor 'Cook with Me: 150 Recipes for the Home Cook" released in October 2020. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celebrity-chef-alex-guarnaschelli-reimagines-pasta-night-with-zenb-pasta-made-from-100-yellow-peas-301220753.html SOURCE ZENB [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Prosecutors made no mention of why police initially pulled Mosley over. But according to a police report obtained by the Tribune, the 2010 Volvo SUV he was driving had been spotted leaving the scene of the slaying Jan. 28 of Gregory Jackson III, better known as Lil Greg, a longtime associate of G Herbo who grew up with the star rapper in Chicagos Terror Town neighborhood. By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK David Finchers vision of a bygone Hollywood Mank topped nominations to the 78th Golden Globe Awards on Wednesday with six nods, leading Netflixs overall domination in a pandemic-marred movie year. The film about Citizen Kane co-writer Herman Mankiewicz, landed nominations for best film, drama; best actor for Gary Oldman; best director for Fincher, best supporting actress for Amanda Seyfried; best score; and best screenplay for Jack Fincher, the directors father who penned the script before dying in 2003. Aaron Sorkins The Trial of the Chicago 7 which, like Mank, is a Netflix release came closest with five nominations, including nods for best film, drama; best director and best screenplay for Sorkin; supporting actor for Sacha Baron Cohen; and best song. The other nominees for best film in the drama category were Chloe Zhaos Nomadland, Emerald Fennells Promising Young Woman and Florian Zellers The Father. This image released by Amazon Studios shows Leslie Odom Jr. in a scene from "One Night in Miami." Odom was nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a motion picture on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 for his role in the film. (Patti Perret/Amazon Studios via AP) APAP A year after fielding no female nominees for best director or best feature film nomination for any movie directed by a woman the Hollywood Foreign Press nominated more female filmmakers than it had before. Regina King (One Night in Miami), Zhao and Fennell were nominated for best director, alongside Sorkin and Fincher. Netflix, which topped all studios at the Globes last year, too, led with a commanding 42 nominations, with 22 coming in film categories and 20 in television. The nominees for best musical or comedy film are: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Hamilton,; Music; Palm Springs; The Prom. The nominees for best television series, drama, are: The Crown; Lovecraft Country; The Mandalorian; Ozark; Ratched. The nominees for best television series, musical or comedy, are: Schitts Creek; Ted Lasso; The Great; The Flight Attendant; Emily in Paris. The nominees for best motion picture, foreign language, are: Another Round; La Llorona; The Life Ahead; Minari; Two of Us. This image released by Netflix shows Michael Potts, from left, Chadwick Boseman and Colman Domingo in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Boseman was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture drama on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021 for his role in the film. (David Lee/Netflix via AP) APAP The nominees for lead actor in a drama film are: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal; Chadwick Boseman, Ma Raineys Black Bottom; Anthony Hopkins, The Father; Gary Oldman, Mank; Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian. The nominees for actress in a drama film are: Frances McDormand, Nomadland; Viola Davis, Ma Raineys Black Bottom; Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman; Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman; Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday. The nominees for lead actor in a comedy or musical film are: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; James Corden, The Prom; Andy Samberg, Palm Springs; Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton; Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield. The nominees for lead actress in a comedy or musical film are: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit; Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma; Kate Hudson, Music; Rosamund Pike, I Care A Lot. Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P. Henson hosted the nominations announcement Wednesday morning. The Globes are typically the first major show of Hollywoods awards season, which ends with the crowning of the best picture winner at the Oscars. Theyll retain that distinction, despite being delayed nearly two months, after a surge in virus cases in recent months pushed the Grammy Awards to March. Hollywoods strange and largely virtual awards season lacks the usual kind of buzz and red-carpet glamour that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association annually feasts on. More than perhaps any other award show, the Globes depend on a cavalcade of stars something that wont materialize when the awards are handed out Feb. 28 in a ceremony hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Tuesday that the Globes typically a bubbly dinner gathering with flowing drinks will be held bi-coastally for the first time. Fey will host live from New Yorks Rainbow Room and Poehler will host from the awards normal home, the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. Its expected that nominees will be appear from locations around the world. This years Globes were postponed nearly two months because of the pandemic and to adjust to the delayed Oscars. Those are set for April 25. Last years Golden Globes culminated in awards for 1917 and Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood. The telecast, hosted by Ricky Gervais, couldnt buck the overall ratings trend for awards shows, drawing an average of 18.3 million viewers, down 2% from the previous year. The Associated Press Just last year, as many as 210 individuals, including the twice-impeached former President Trump and 107 organisations were in the running for the coveted prize, which went, mercifully, to the World Food Programme. (Representational Photo:AP) Ever since he upped it from the White House without attending his successor Joe Bidens investiture, there has not been much good news in the Mar-a-Lago Club, Mr Donald Trumps resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Bringing some cheer to the Republican compound is the pro-Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz who, in his standing as a professor emeritus of the Harvard Law School, exercised his option of nominating his clients son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Truth to tell, Kushner did push the envelope in the Middle East while brokering peace, and Israel celebrated its newfound acceptability in the region even as the Palestinians fumed. A red flag around Nobel news should warn us not to get carried away by nominations because everyone and his aunt can send nominations to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Just last year, as many as 210 individuals, including the twice-impeached former President Trump and 107 organisations were in the running for the coveted prize, which went, mercifully, to the World Food Programme. No one can be more at peace than after a good meal and to the credit of WFP it combated hunger while acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict. There is rum irony in the very fact that the Nobel Prize was instituted by the Swede, Alfred Nobel, whose major achievement was the invention of dynamite. In a conflicted world, differences of opinion often rage over the Nobel Peace Prize, which sometimes went to those like Barack Obama who kept his countrys troops in war zones. A healthy cynicism over the Peace Prize reigns in India because the worlds greatest apostle of peace and the progenitor of satyagraha was never awarded one. How does history reconcile to the fact that Mahatma Gandhi is not a Nobel Laureate? But if Black Lives Matter or Greta Thunberg were to receive the 2021 Peace Nobel, we might just conclude that the world is not such a bad place, after all. New Jersey health officials on Wednesday reported another 2,021 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 52 additional deaths as Gov. Phil Murphy announced that restrictions on indoor dining, gatherings and other venues will be eased starting on Friday. Capacity limits for restaurants, gyms and other businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic will increase Friday from 25% to 35% as the outbreak in the state. The move comes just before Super Bowl weekend and also eliminates the curfew ordering bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m. Murphy also announced New Jersey will increase the capacity limits for many public indoor gatherings from 25% to 35%, matching new limits for restaurants and other businesses. Indoor gatherings such as religious ceremonies or services, wedding ceremonies, political activities, and memorial services or funerals will remain at 150. New Jersey has now lost 21,693 residents in the nearly 11-month outbreak including 2,187 fatalities considered probable. The probable fatalities were revised higher Wednesday by 58 deaths. The death toll for January was 2,377 confirmed fatalities, the most in any month since May. The total number of confirmed cases is now 631,309 out of more than 9.4 million PCR tests. There have also been 74,498 positive antigen tests, which the state recently began reporting publicly. Those cases are considered probable and health officials have warned the positive antigen tests could overlap with the confirmed PCR tests because they are sometimes given in tandem. The rate of transmission remained 0.95 for the second day. Any number below 1 indicates the outbreak is slowing. The positivity rate for tests conducted on Saturday was 11.65% out of 23,030 tests. The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus or a suspected case increased for a second straight day. There are 2,986 COVID-19 patients in the states 71 hospitals, an increase of 94 from a day earlier. Hospitalizations are down 23% from a recent high on Dec. 22 and far below the more than 8,000 patients in the initial months of the outbreak. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage VACCINATIONS There have been 837,225 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey so far, according to the states dashboard. Of those, 691,229 were the first of two doses people will receive. Thats out of more than 1.23 million doses the state has received from the federal government, according to a running tally by the federal Centers for Disease Control. VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY ATLANTIC COUNTY - 25,480 doses administered BERGEN COUNTY - 90,656 doses administered BURLINGTON COUNTY - 41,408 doses administered CAMDEN COUNTY - 48,636 doses administered CAPE MAY COUNTY - 12,513 doses administered CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 12,265 doses administered ESSEX COUNTY - 67,441 doses administered GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 28,423 doses administered HUDSON COUNTY - 37,919 doses administered HUNTERDON COUNTY - 11,524 doses administered MERCER COUNTY - 22,943 doses administered MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 61,986 doses administered MONMOUTH COUNTY - 64,177 doses administered MORRIS COUNTY - 61,596 doses administered OCEAN COUNTY - 51,821 doses administered PASSAIC COUNTY - 39,482 doses administered SALEM COUNTY - 4,930 doses administered SOMERSET COUNTY - 32,745 doses administered SUSSEX COUNTY - 13,817 doses administered UNION COUNTY - 40,469 doses administered WARREN COUNTY - 8,328 doses administered UNKNOWN COUNTY - 27,615 doses administered OUT OF STATE - 31,051 doses administered COUNTY-BY-COUNTY NUMBERS (sorted by most new) Ocean County: 45,546 confirmed cases (213 new), 1,581 confirmed deaths (104 probable) Bergen County: 61,012 confirmed cases (211 new), 2,215 confirmed deaths (273 probable) Hudson County: 57,280 confirmed cases (201 new), 1,698 confirmed deaths (173 probable) Middlesex County: 60,742 confirmed cases (193 new), 1,722 confirmed deaths (221 probable) Essex County: 60,680 confirmed cases (136 new), 2,295 confirmed deaths (257 probable) Monmouth County: 45,314 confirmed cases (135 new), 1,175 confirmed deaths (109 probable) Morris County: 28,192 confirmed cases (105 new), 851 confirmed deaths (216 probable) Atlantic County: 17,533 confirmed cases (100 new), 466 confirmed deaths (24 probable) Burlington County: 28,282 confirmed cases (92 new), 640 confirmed deaths (49 probable) Camden County: 36,772 confirmed cases (91 new), 961 confirmed deaths (71 probable) Union County: 44,994 confirmed cases (90 new), 1,493 confirmed deaths (190 probable) Passaic County: 47,823 confirmed cases (78 new), 1,444 confirmed deaths (163 probable) Gloucester County: 19,354 confirmed cases (68 new), 482 confirmed deaths (22 probable) Mercer County: 23,969 confirmed cases (65 new), 783 confirmed deaths (39 probable) Somerset County: 16,573 confirmed cases (52 new), 653 confirmed deaths (97 probable) Hunterdon County: 5,455 confirmed cases (47 new), 93 confirmed deaths (54 probable) Cumberland County: 10,925 confirmed cases (42 new), 292 confirmed deaths (18 probable) Warren County: 5,594 confirmed cases (32 new), 184 confirmed deaths (16 probable) Cape May County: 3,258 confirmed cases (27 new), 143 confirmed deaths (22 probable) Sussex County: 7,023 confirmed cases (16 new), 200 confirmed deaths (57 probable) Salem County: 3,939 confirmed cases (14 new), 135 confirmed deaths (12 probable) HOSPITALIZATIONS There were 2,986 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Tuesday night. Thats 94 more than the previous day and a second consecutive day of more patients. That included 525 in critical or intensive care (nine fewer than the previous night), with 374 on ventilators (eight more). There were also 162 COVID-19 patients discharged Tuesday, according to the states COVID-19 dashboard. Hospitalizations had been slowly declining in recent weeks. Monday marked the first time in eight days the number of people hospitalized increased. The state hit a high of more than 8,000 hospitalizations in April. 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 (31.1%), followed by those 50-64 (23.5%), 18-29 (19.3%), 65-79 (11.1%), 5-17 (7.9%), 80 and older (5.3%), 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 (47.49%), followed by those 65-79 (32.56%), 50-64 (15.52%), 30-49 (4.05%), 18-29 (0.36%), 5-17 (0%), and 0-4 (0.02%). 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 103.9 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.25 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications. The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 26.43 million, and the most deaths, at more than 446,900. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. The business impacts arising from the pandemic forever changed the way we operate businesses. With a rise in working from home and the need to have business-critical information available remotely and in real-time, there is increased pressure on IT leaders to operate efficient cloud-based systems. In fact, a study by AppDynamics found that 75% of Australian technologists believed COVID-19 had created the most significant technology pressure for their organisation that they have ever experienced. A 2020 study also found that more than half of companies have reported a public-cloud based system has improved their ability to meet business targets. The case for a multi-cloud strategy in Australia has undoubtedly been made with the 2020 Global Ransomware Resiliency Report reporting almost two-thirds of Australian companies (57%) are running a multi-cloud environment and use between 15-20 cloud services. The continuing evolution of sophisticated, scalable cloud architectures native and hybrid has meant that organisations can reap the benefits of modern cloud infrastructures and microservices architecture to boost productivity and increase cost savings. However with the benefits of cloud technology comes the logistical headache for many companies as they try to manage highly complex, multi-site, cross-platform deployments, making it difficult for IT leaders, CIOs and CTOs to prove the benefits of moving to the cloud. They must have a seamless way to monitor, configure, and optimise their business's entire technology stack through a single lens. Failure to manage observability can see enterprises stumble and risk negating the benefits of cloud altogether. Scale, adapt and grow with the cloud The benefits of the cloud in terms of flexibility, innovation, collaboration and reduced costs are evident. However, often the move to the cloud has also led to a more complex, distributed application architecture and configuration. Some components remain on-site while the rest move to the cloud, which creates a hybrid architecture that is more challenging to manage. The challenge moves beyond 'lift and shift' applications to managing a fundamental change in how applications are built, deployed and operated. Complexity is normalised when it comes to development, migration, modernisation and maintenance, which adds significant pressure for IT and operations teams. The situation has been further exacerbated by the pandemic, with two thirds (66%) of Australian technologists being asked to perform tasks and activities they have never done before. In recent months, COVID -19 has necessitated an acceleration towards cloud technology, as businesses of all sizes have rapidly embraced remote working and digital-only strategies. Roy Morgan research conducted during the first wave of the virus in Australia found 32% of the population worked from home between April and May 2020, with up to 60 per cent of Australian workers wanting to work remotely for two or three days a week in the future. Without the cloud, the rapid transition to remote operations, uptake in collaborative tools and software and changed workforce behaviour would not be possible. These increasing deployments of infrastructure and applications built for the cloud, coupled with a hybrid cloud landscape, means enterprises are struggling to keep up, and therefore at risk of failing to fulfil their customers' needs. With an increase in IT spending, there's also a need, across the enterprise, to show how these newly implemented cloud-enabled, digital services are driving customer and business value. To succeed in managing multi and hybrid cloud apps, enterprises must be able to observe and track performance and application statuses across platforms and to be able to directly link performance data to increases in productivity and/or revenue increases. The power of observability and monitoring With the right tailored hybrid-cloud management solution, enterprises can track performance and application status across sites and platforms, regardless of whether they are public or private cloud platforms. Observability is critical as it provides the raw, granular data necessary to gain an in-depth understanding of complex and highly distributed systems. With observability, organisations can maintain visibility across their application environment, from a browser session request to a backend database call. AppDynamics auto-discovers the flow of all traffic requests in an IT environment to visualise performance and uses machine learning to automate anomaly detection, reduce MTTR and correlate software and business performance metrics, so IT teams can swiftly diagnose application performance problems. Because the management console responsible for observing and resolving issues sits as a layer of intelligence across all platforms and allows businesses to combine data from and apply policies to any of those platforms companies are still free to choose the best cloud solutions for their individual needs. They aren't locked in to any one cloud solution. They can determine whichever is best for the task at hand. More importantly, businesses can quickly assess how well the infrastructure supports the applications, and spot any bottlenecks and load issues in real-time. It also allows IT teams to dynamically allocate resources and adjust workload placement to optimise performance and costs. By doing that, businesses can avert low-performance situations, leading to bad customer experiences and lost sales. Observability provides validation and fine-grained understanding that highly distributed applications and systems work as they should. Despite the sound business case for holistic monitoring, fewer than 15% of enterprises implement it, something which according to research by Gartner risks putting the benefits expected from $255 billion of investments in cloud-based solutions at risk. Observability offers more intricate views of the technical details required by engineers. To have an effective cloud-based business it is critical to ensure it is working at an optimum level. When a company doesn't have adequate monitoring and/or observability, across its entire IT landscape, the cloud's benefits almost vanish entirely. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday criticised "BJP's brand of politics", and said it was an irony that the Centre did not have funds to bear the travel expenses of migrant workers, but corrupt leaders were flown to Delhi in a chartered plane. The TMC supremo, training her guns at all deserters, said the turncoats would be defeated in the assembly polls. She also asked the fence-sitters in the party to quit her camp as early as possible. The CM, without naming former minister Rajib Banerjee who recently switched over to the BJP alleged that irregularities have been detected in the recruitment of forest department personnel during his tenure and said "shops of corrupt leaders" will be shut after the polls. "A person who was responsible for the recruitment of 'Bana Sahayaks' in the forest department indulged in corrupt methods. We will investigate it. Everything will be investigated. The person, after indulging in corruption, has now joined the BJP. He is now lecturing others," she said. Rajib Banerjee, a forest minister in the state cabinet, crossed over to the BJP last week. He, along with other TMC defectors, flew to Delhi in a chartered plane to join the saffron camp. The feisty TMC boss further claimed that only the "greedy ones" are joining the saffron party. "Those who want to leave the party can go ahead. The doors are open. But if you are in the party, you have to work as a disciplined soldier. Let me tell you, the ones who have switched political allegiance will be defeated in the assembly polls, their shops will be closed after the polls," she said. The BJP can buy some corrupt leaders, but it can never buy a dedicated member or cadre of the TMC, she asserted, while addressing a party meeting here. "There are certain leaders who are lobhi (greedy) and "bhogi" (one who enjoys facilities) They might quit the party, but the dedicated ones will stay," she said. Claiming that MLA tickets are up for sale in the BJP, Banerjee said that her party, on the other hand, "rewards hard work and dedication". She iterated that the BJP had turned itself into washing machine, where "so-called tainted leaders come out clean after joining the saffron camp". Taking a dig at the BJP for sending a chartered plane to fly TMC turncoats to Delhi for induction in the saffron camp, Banerjee said the prime minister owes an explanation to the nation why it could not bear the travel expenditure of migrant workers, even when his government had enough to transport corrupt leaders by air. "During the COVID crisis, we paid for the transportation of migrant workers. The BJP government did not pay any money. The prime minister could not spend money on migrant labourers, who walked hundreds of kilometres to reach their homes. More than 100 such workers have died on roads. "But the Union government has money to fly corrupt leaders to New Delhi in chartered planes. The prime minister should give a reply This shows the BJP governments colours," she said. Terming the BJP as a "party of liars", Banerjee said, "Narendra Modi, before 2014 elections, had promised to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every citizen's bank account, but has anyone received a single rupee yet? The answer is no". The chief minister, raking up the "insider versus outsider" debate, also said that people of Bengal will rule this state, and not those coming from Gujarat. He assured people that they "do not need any certificate from the BJP" to stay in Bengal, and the citizenship law, for that matter, would not be able to evict them from the land they belong to. "All refugee colonies of the state have been recognised by the government. We have already started the process of granting landholding certificates to families No one can oust you from here. You were born here and you are a citizen of this country. You don't need the BJP's certificate to prove your citizenship," she added. Reacting to the CM's assertion against Rajib Banerjee, the BJP accused her of "pursuing vendetta politics to settle scores" with those who have switched over. "When Rajib Banerjee was with the TMC, and part of the state cabinet, he happened to be a person of immaculate character. Now that he has joined the BJP, he became corrupt. "If indeed he was involved in corruption, then why no action was taken against him so far? The people of the state understand such tricks very well," the safron party's state vice-president Jaiprakash Majumdar 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 "second wave" of the coronavirus pandemic has placed much blame on a lack of appropriate safety measures. However, due to the impacts of weather, research suggests two outbreaks per year during a pandemic are inevitable. Though face masks, travel restrictions, and social distancing guidelines help slow the number of new infections in the short term, the lack of climate effects incorporated into epidemiological models presents a glaring hole that can cause long-term effects. In Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, Talib Dbouk and Dimitris Drikakis, from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, discuss the impacts of these parameters. Typical models for predicting the behavior of an epidemic contain only two basic parameters, transmission rate and recovery rate. These rates tend to be treated as constants, but Dbouk and Drikakis said this is not actually the case. Temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed all play a significant role, so the researchers aimed to modify typical models to account for these climate conditions. They call their new weather-dependent variable the Airborne Infection Rate index. When they applied the AIR index to models of Paris, New York City, and Rio de Janeiro, they found it accurately predicted the timing of the second outbreak in each city, suggesting two outbreaks per year is a natural, weather-dependent phenomenon. Further, the behavior of the virus in Rio de Janeiro was markedly different from the behavior of the virus in Paris and New York, due to seasonal variations in the northern and southern hemispheres, consistent with real data. The authors emphasize the importance of accounting for these seasonal variations when designing safety measures. We propose that epidemiological models must incorporate climate effects through the AIR index. National lockdowns or large-scale lockdowns should not be based on short-term prediction models that exclude the effects of weather seasonality." Dimitris Drikakis, University of Nicosia, Cyprus "In pandemics, where massive and effective vaccination is not available, the government planning should be longer-term by considering weather effects and design the public health and safety guidelines accordingly," said Dbouk. "This could help avoid reactive responses in terms of strict lockdowns that adversely affect all aspects of life and the global economy." As temperatures rise and humidity falls, Drikakis and Dbouk expect another improvement in infection numbers, though they note that mask and distancing guidelines should continue to be followed with the appropriate weather-based modifications. This research group's previous work showed that droplets of saliva can travel 18 feet in five seconds when an unmasked person coughs and extended their studies to examine the effects of face masks and weather conditions. The authors are incorporating the previous findings into their epidemiological models. SGX Nifty: Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 58 points at the opening bell. On the macro front, India's exports grew 5.37% YoY to $27.24 billion in January 2021, according to provisional data of the commerce ministry. Imports in January 2021 rose 2% to $42 billion. The trade deficit during the month narrowed to $14.75 billion from $15.3 billion in January 2020. Global markets: Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher on Wednesday following an overnight surge on Wall Street. Japan's services sector shrank at the fastest pace in five months in January. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to a seasonally adjusted 46.1 from the prior month's 47.7, marking the lowest reading since August. US stocks finished sharply higher for a second straight day on Tuesday, helped by gains in Amazon.com and Google-parent Alphabet ahead of their results and by optimism over progress on a US pandemic relief package. Meanwhile, investors will be following stimulus negotiations in Washington, after congressional Republicans made a counteroffer to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan on Sunday. Biden met with those lawmakers on Monday as congressional Democrats moved toward passing a reconciliation bill without bipartisan support. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described the meeting as substantive and productive. Domestic markets: Back home, benchmark indices rallied for the second day on Tuesday, as investors cheered the Union Budget announcements. Positive global cues also lifted the sentiment. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 1,197.11 points or 2.46% at 49,797.72. The Nifty 50 index surged 366.65 points or 2.57% at 14,647.85. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 6,181.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,035.20 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 February, provisional data showed. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers from SINTEF, the Norwegian Polar Institute and the University Centre in Svalbard have collected samples from Arctic crustaceans close to the settlement of Ny-Alesund on the west coast of Spitsbergen. During the spring and summer, they discovered a number of drugs in a variety of different concentrations. "These included ibuprofen from Ibux, diclofenac from Voltaren, antibiotics and an antidepressant," says SINTEF researcher Ida Beathe verjordet. The aim of the project is to study our footprint on the natural worldto measure how much material is discharged, and what significance this has. The results may have an impact on the way in which we manage the Arctic regions in the future. "It's easy to assume that this won't be an issue because there are so few people living in this area. However, the fact is that we found many traces of drugs in the animals," says verjordet. Surprising discoveries The first thing that the researchers noticed was the high levels of ibuprofen in all the animals. "Ibux is a commonly used drug with quite a long lifetime in the environment compared with medications such as paracetamol, which often breaks down very rapidly. So this wasn't such a surprising discovery," says verjordet. "However, what did surprise us was that the concentrations of the drug were so high, considering that the area is so sparsely inhabited." Since crustaceans, such as copepods, occupy the lowest levels of the food pyramid, compounds in the drugs will be passed upwards to larger animals. Copepods constitute the basis for much of the life in the Arctic because they are rich in fats, and are thus essential to building and maintaining the fat reserves of Arctic fish and seabird species. Similarly, finding traces of drugs such as antibiotics and diclofenac wasn't so strange, since these medications are also in common use. "Somewhat more surprising was that we discovered less commonly used drugs such as antidepressants," says verjordet. Only 30 permanent inhabitants Ny-Alesund is populated by service personnel and researchers from ten different countries. There are only 30 permanent inhabitants, but in summer, visiting researchers and seasonal workers can boost the population to as many as 200 people, all of whom are between the ages of 20 and 70, and are generally healthy and in good condition. There will also be some tourists visiting for short periodsthe majority just for day trips. "One of our next steps will be to find out what drugs are used in the area, and to compare the results with what we find in the local sewage and living organisms," says verjordet. "We're particularly interested in examining seasonal variations in order to get an idea of what medications are taken locally compared with what is brought in by the tourists who are only making short visits," she says. Same concentrations as in Troms This study is part of a research project called PharmArctic, which is being funded by the flagship research program Miljgifter at the Fram Research Centre in Troms. The program focuses on generating knowledge about the impacts of environmental toxins on Arctic ecosystems, and is looking into the links between the concentrations of pharmaceutical drugs and cosmetic products and discharges from settlements and tourism in the Arctic. In an earlier study of sewage from the town of Longyearbyen, also on the west coast of Spitsbergen, it was shown that the concentrations of some drugs were equivalent to, or even higher than, those recorded for cities such as Troms, which has a much higher population. The general lack of sewage decontamination due to permafrost and low temperatures is a constant problem in the Arctic, including on Svalbard. "Only 2,500 people live in Longyearbyen, but each year, many thousands of tourists visit for long or short stays, all making their contribution to the substances that get discharged in the sewage," says verjordet. "However, the main reason for the high concentrations is the lack of sewage decontamination in Longyearbyen. Everything is simply discharged straight into the fjord." The general lack of sewage decontamination due to permafrost and low temperatures is a constant problem in the Arctic, including on Svalbard. Ny-Alesund installed a very basic raw sewage decontamination system in 2018, and as part of their future work, researchers will be studying differences in drug concentrations in the samples collected before and after decontamination was introduced. Impact on regulatory governance The project's findings may be used to influence the future management of the Arctic regions, as well as national and international regulatory governance, both on land and at sea. "It's true that cruise ships are not permitted to discharge their sewage close to land, but if the compounds have a long environmental lifetime, they may still cause problems," verjordet explains. At the moment, we know very little about the concentrations and levels of exposure that Arctic wildlife have to pharmaceutical drugs, and how big this problem really is. Are pharmaceutical drugs hazardous to wildlife? The crustaceans from which samples were taken are small planktonic organisms called copepods and amphipods, which live on the seabed and in the water column. "These animals have different ways of life, which in turn influence the types of environmental toxins to which they are exposed and thus how much they ingest," says verjordet. "Amphipods, for example, are benthic organisms that feed on carrion and other organic material that is deposited on the seabed, and may thus be exposed to more of the environmental toxins that accumulate there," she says. To date, the research team has not identified any drug concentrations as being hazardous to Arctic wildlife, though it has been shown that the drugs clearly are ingested. "Since these crustaceans occupy the lowest levels of the food pyramid, compounds in the drugs will be passed upwards to larger animals," says verjordet. "Copepods constitute the basis for much of the life in the Arctic because they are rich in fats and are thus essential to building and maintaining the fat reserves of Arctic fish and seabird species." The drugs in question may impact wildlife in a number of ways. Various other studies have shown that antidepressants alter the behavior of zooplankton and fish, and that this may have an impact on their survival, as well as a number of other effects. "We don't know what the tolerance levels are for Arctic wildlife species," says verjordet. "This is something we will be studying in the future." Too little data and knowledge In the future, the researchers will be analyzing the sewage samples from Longyearbyen and Ny-Alesund that were collected at intervals during the summer of 2020. "Samples of both sewage and seawater have been taken to measure the concentrations of drugs in the water," says verjordet. "The sewage samples will give us an indication of how much is discharged from the settlements during a given season. We have very little data on Arctic wildlife species, so we're hoping that the results from our initial project will provide a basis for more research in this area," she says. The researchers have applied to expand their studies both on Svalbard and in Greenland. Explore further Arctic warming and diminishing sea ice are influencing the atmosphere 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 Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has enacted the National Security and Defense Council decision of February 2, 2021 on the application of sanctions against MP Taras Kozak and television channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK, the press service of the President's Office has reported. "To enact the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of February 2, 2021 'On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)'," the report reads. Taras Kozak, who is believed to be an ally of Viktor Medvedchuk, owns TV channels 112 Ukraine, ZIK, and NewsOne. The following restrictive measures have been imposed against him: blocking of assets (temporary restrictions on a person's right to use and dispose of property belonging to them); restrictions on trade operations; restriction, partial or complete cessation of the transit of resources, flights and transportation through the territory of Ukraine; preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine; suspension of economic and financial obligations; revocation or suspension of licenses and other permits the receipt (availability) of which is a condition for carrying out a certain type of activity; complete or partial prohibition of transactions in securities issued by persons subject to sanctions in accordance with the law of Ukraine on sanctions; terminating the issuance of permits, licenses for import to Ukraine from a foreign state or export from Ukraine of currency values and restricting cash issuance on payment cards issued by residents of a foreign state; prohibition of technology transfer, intellectual property rights. Sanctions have also been imposed for five years against TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, ZIK - Novyi Format, Ariadna TV, TV Vybir, Partner TV and Lider TV, 112-TV Television and Radio Company, Novyny 24 Hodyny, and Novi Komunikatsii. Sanctions against the TV channels include blocking of assets; preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine; suspension of economic and financial obligations; revocation or suspension of licenses and other permits the receipt (availability) of which is a condition for carrying out a certain type of activity; a ban on the use of radiofrequency resources of Ukraine; terminating the provision of services for retransmission/distribution of television programs, the provision of telecommunication services and the use of public telecommunication network, etc. According to Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov, NSDC members at a meeting on February 2 considered imposing personal sanctions on legal entities and individuals residing in Ukraine. "Of the 19 members of the National Security and Defense Council, 17 voted in favor [of the decision], one abstained, and one is on a business trip," he said. op Using geophysical imaging techniques and ground-penetrating radar, a team of scientists from Cornell University and the U.S. National Park Service has confirmed the location of a fort associated with a pivotal battle between Tlingit people and Russian invading forces. The find is preceded by a century of attempts to locate the fort, which the researchers have now identified from its unusual trapezoidal shape. In 1799, the Russian Empire sent a small army to take over Alaska in order to develop the fur trade, but native Tlingit clans successfully expelled them in 1802. In 1804, Russian forces, with the support of their Aleut subjects, returned and fought a major battle against the Tlingit in what is now Sitka. The story of the battle was recorded in Russian sources and passed down in Tlingit oral history. The Tlingit defended Shisgi Noow, or the sapling fort, on a peninsula at the mouth of the Kaasdaheen (now Indian River), which was sheltered from Russian naval artillery by wide tidelands. After an initial engagement that included a failed Russian/Aleut ground assault, the invaders retreated under cover of naval gunfire. The Tlingit victory was short-lived. With gunpowder running low, Tlingit elders decided to abandon the fort during an overnight tactical withdrawal. Russian/Aleut forces razed the abandoned structure, but not before recording a detailed map. The battle, considered a pivotal moment in both Tlingit history and the history of Russian America, resulted in the establishment of a Russian colony on Baranov Island in 1804. This lasted until 1867, when the Russians sold their interests in Alaska to the United States. The forts definitive physical location had eluded investigators for a century, said co-author Dr. Thomas Urban, a researcher in the Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory at Cornell University. Previous archaeological digs had found some suggestive clues, but they never really found conclusive evidence that tied these clues together. To find Shisgi Noow, Dr. Urban and his colleague, Dr. Brinnen Carter from the Shenandoah National Park, the U.S. National Park Service, created a grid to see if the electromagnetic induction methods could spot the potential outline of the fort and then created a small grid for dragging the ground-penetrating radar. Their modern tools picked up the unusual perimeter shape of the fort. We believe this survey has yielded the only convincing, multi-method evidence to date for the location of the sapling fort, which is a significant locus in New World colonial history and an important cultural symbol of Tlingit resistance to colonization, Dr. Urban said. A large-scale survey was necessary to convincingly rule out alternative locations for this historically and culturally significant structure, Dr. Carter added. The teams paper was published in the journal Antiquity. _____ Thomas M. Urban & Brinnen Carter. Geophysical survey locates an elusive Tlingit fort in south-east Alaska. Antiquity, published online January 25, 2021; doi: 10.15184/aqy.2020.241 THE PARENTS: Emily Kleinle, 33, and Aaron Kleinle, 43, of Pennsport THE CHILD: Winona Katherine, 10 months, adopted Nov. 16, 2020 A SURREAL STRETCH: Several days in a Las Vegas hospital, postpartum and in the midst of COVID-19, when they werent allowed out of their room, so they rotated sleeping spaces one on the bed, one in the chair. The bridge was out. The span to Stone Harbor the very place where, on an earlier trip to South Jersey, Aaron had watched Emily run amid splashing waves and thought, Im going to be with her forever was still under repair after damage from Hurricane Sandy. Emily asked for his phone so she could find a detour; Aaron refused, because the phone contained the words he planned to say when he proposed. He suggested they park and go look at the water. On the beach, he handed Emily a small box containing not a ring, but an iPod and headphones. She hit play. The music was by Train, a San Francisco rock band theyd heard numerous times in concert. The song was Marry Me. They did, eight months later, in an epic snowstorm. When Emily had a meltdown news that the tablecloths might not arrive was the tipping point for her stress Aaron broke the dont-see-the-bride-before-the-wedding rule to give her a hug. I realized: It doesnt matter the tablecloths, the snow, the state of emergency. It was that moment when I realized none of that mattered, Emily says. When they met, Emily was an aspiring educator, and she broached the subject of children on their second or third date. The two worked at Amada in Old City she was a hostess there during her senior year in college, and he was general manager and forged a strong friendship through high-adrenaline weekend shifts, creating funny code names for restaurant guests, working in tandem under pressure. The 10-year age difference didnt faze them. She was the most well-versed and well-read 23-year-old Id ever met, Aaron says. In turn, Emily felt drawn to his warmth and gregariousness. His family welcomed her. She coaxed him to travel more, to try kayaking and bike riding. Aaron says hes not fond of change; he worried about how a child would alter their relationship. But Id always thought that with the right partner, I would consider [parenthood]. Emily was that right partner. First, they focused on careers: Emily went back to school for a teaching certificate, then a masters in education, while Aaron worked his way to a management position at Aramark. After four years of marriage, they were ready for a baby. But Emily was plagued with health challenges: an ovarian cyst and persistent periods that could only be stopped with an IUD and hormones. It was a bittersweet choice, she says, ending three years of medical anguish but closing off the possibility of pregnancy. They turned to adoption a prospect familiar for Emily, who has two adopted cousins, but completely new to Aaron. It helped to meet with an attorney who worked with A Baby Step Adoption; she was frank in answering their questions about timelines, finances, the risks of a failed adoption. Aaron likens the adoption process to voluntary couples therapy plus a full IRS audit plus applying for a mortgage. They assembled a profile book that featured their extended families both are close with their parents, and Emilys younger sister had lived with the couple while attending law school along with their three dogs, their love for the city, and their commitment to education. In April 2019, they were matched with a birth mother in Alabama who was due in early October. But shortly before the birth, she stopped responding to Emilys texts; after the baby was born, she decided to parent. It was crushing, Emily says. Were we ready to do this again, emotionally? Could we afford it? We took October off and spent that time recuperating, eating a lot of ice cream. But even at that time of sadness, we both knew we wanted to continue. On Halloween, they submitted their profile to another birth mother, 18 weeks pregnant and living with her boyfriend in Nevada. When they talked by phone with both birth parents, the woman said shed been struck by their values. When I looked at your profile, I thought it was the kind of family I wish I had had, she told them. When the birth mother and her boyfriend broke up, Emily and Aaron helped her find another place to live; they sent her kitchenware, towels, and sheets for the new place. In turn, she texted updates from her prenatal visits, ultrasounds, and pictures. On March 22, in the midst of COVID-19 uncertainty, they flew to Las Vegas. They brought a takeout dinner to the birth mother; they drove up a strangely deserted casino strip. And then they got a call: Im in labor. They picked up the birth mother and sped to the hospital, where only Emily was allowed in as a support person. In the delivery room, she held the birth mothers hand while she pushed. Winona was born two hours later. Emily texted me, and I wept in the backseat of a Chrysler minivan in the parking lot of the hospital, Aaron recalls. The next three days birth mothers in Nevada have 72 hours to sign papers terminating their parental rights were a whirl of emotion. So completely in love but so terrified that its going to come crashing down, Emily says. But the birth mom did sign, then came to the hospital to say goodbye. She gave the family a cross shed made of palm fronds. Emily and Aaron gave her a photo snapped in the delivery room the birth mom and just-born Winona. Another copy of the photo would go in the babys room at home. And thats the image indelible for Aaron, after another week in Nevada and a red-eye flight home: finally settling Winona in her room, which features constellations on the walls and Winnie-the-Pooh on the bookshelves. He came downstairs. Emily and their dachshund, Lola, had crashed on the couch. OK, he thought. Our familys complete now. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company As more variants of the coronavirus continue to emerge, people have started looking for ways to better protect themselves against the virus, including the practice of double-masking. But if youve thought about possibly triple-masking, or wearing three masks over one another, in hopes of greater protection, the answer is: no, just dont do it. Thats so crazy, I dont even know how to address it, said Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease specialist at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, about triple-masking. Three-layer masks, however, are recommended by experts for greater protection from the virus. These masks contain three layers of material, instead of simply layering three different masks on each other. If you were to cut a surgical mask from a hospital in half and cross-section, you would see that there are three layers: an outer layer, an inner layer, and a middle, Cennimo explained. So thats what we want. If you think about it, if you line up the fibers, what youll be doing is cross-hatching the fibers so that you get a better filtration of the air coming out, he said. But thats not the same as putting three masks on, because most masks are multiple layers. Tripling up on masks would likely involve six or nine layers, he said. I mean at some point, youre going to start suffocating yourself, Cennimo said. Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute and Infectious Diseases and presidential advisor, told TODAY it makes common sense wearing multiple masks would be more effective than wearing only one face covering. 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 and thats the reason you see people either double-masking or doing a version of an N95, Fauci told TODAY. Dr. Scott Segal, chair of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, told NBC News that wearing multiple masks may be effective, but uncomfortable. If you put three or four masks on, its going to filter better because its more layers of cloth, Segal told NBC News. But youll be taking it off because its uncomfortable. Like other experts, Segal said 3-ply medical-grade surgical masks usually offered the best protection for the average person, NBC News reported. But regardless of the type of mask a person chooses to wear, experts agree the most important thing is wearing one in general. I just think masking is better than no masking, Cennimo previously told NJ Advance Media. So the more we can get people to do it, the better were going to be. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks eked out modest gains on Wednesday, with strong earnings from Alphabet and Amazon.com as well as positive news related to Covid-19 vaccine supplies and U.S. stimulus plans helping underpin investor sentiment. Google parent Alphabet reported that its quarterly profit rocketed some 50 percent at the end of last year as its digital ad business thrived. Amazon has delivered its largest quarter by revenue of all time, generating $125.56 billion in sales. The rollout of vaccines in many countries is gathering pace, with Russia announcing it would be able to vaccinate 700 million people with the Sputnik V coronavirus jab this year. Mexico plans to import about 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine from India in February. Elsewhere, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients said that 6,500 pharmacies will receive 1 million doses starting next week. On the stimulus front, the U.S. Senate took steps on Tuesday to open the door for Democrats to push through the Covid-19 rescue package on their own, but bipartisanship was absent. The benchmark CAC 40 rose 18 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,580 after climbing 1.9 percent in the previous session. Publicis Groupe shares surged 6.2 percent. After reporting better-than-expected organic growth in Q4, the advertising agency company said it will hand back all of the salary reductions that 6,000 higher-earning staff voluntarily took during the worst of the coronavirus downturn. 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. 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 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) One person died while 65 others were rushed to the hospital following an ammonia leak from an ice plant in Navotas City on Wednesday. Fire authorities said 22 out of the 65 injured were transported to Tondo Medical Center, while the remaining 43 were brought to Navotas Hospital. Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco identified the facility as the T.P. Marcelo Ice Plant and Cold Storage and disclosed that it is owned by his mother and her siblings. Authorities are investigating the cause of the leak. Ang unang ginawa is malikas yung mga tao and number two, masara yung balbula. Susunod na titingnan nila is kung nasira ba yung tubo or human error, Tiangco said in an interview. [Translation: The first thing they did was to evacuate the residents, and then second, close the valve. They will next look into whether the valve was broken, or was caused by human error.] On Wednesday afternoon, residents of North Bay Boulevard South were seen along Road 10 and nearby areas covering their noses due to the foul smell. Ambulances, fire trucks, police personnel, and MMDA enforcers were deployed to the area. A number of residents fainted, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported. The Bureau of Fire Protection said a 44-year-old man died. Exposure to ammonia, a chemical used in refrigeration systems, can result in irritation, severe respiratory injuries, and could be fatal at high concentrations, according to health experts. Around 5,000 residents were allowed to return home at around 8 p.m. after the situation was declared under control. Authorities declared the leak was contained past 10 p.m. ADVERTISEMENT Twelve police officers have been arrested in Mexico following the discovery of 19 charred corpses near the U.S. border, Tamaulipas Attorney General, Irving Barrios, said on Tuesday. The Tamaulipas state police are accused of murder, abuse of power and making false statements. The bodies were discovered on January 22 in a burned-out pickup truck next to other burned cars in the town of Santa Anita in north-eastern Mexico. The people had been shot dead, according to media reports. Among them, according to Barrios, were migrants from Guatemala. Media had reported that almost all of the victims were Guatemalans. Tens of thousands of Central Americans every month flee poverty and violence in their homeland to seek a better life in the U.S. One of the four dead identified so far was a Mexican migrant smuggler, according to Mr Barrios. The possible involvement of other police officers, as well as criminal groups smuggling Central American migrants into the U.S. and fighting for control of the region, is still under investigation, Barrios said. The scale of daily violence in Mexico has been immense since the so-called drug war broke out in late 2006. Currently, nearly 100 murders a day are recorded in the country of nearly 130 million people. In addition, more than 82,000 people are believed to have disappeared. Much of the bloodshed is the work of cartels and gangs involved in drug smuggling to the neighbouring U.S., but they also make money through kidnapping and extortion and often have links to security forces. Only about 3 per cent of crimes reported in Mexico are solved, according to figures from the think tank IEP. (NAN) Perspecta CEO plans to retire after close of Peraton deal Perspecta Chairman and CEO Mac Curtis will retire once that company's transaction with Peraton is completed in the coming months, according to a letter he sent to employees. Peraton, backed by Veritas Capital, completed the first step in its transformation this week when it closed the acquisition of Northrop Grummans IT business. Step two is the pending acquisition of Perspecta, a publicly-traded company where Veritas holds 14.5 percent of the shares. The new company will be called Peraton, whose CEO Stu Shea will continue to lead the company. Curtis, who has led Perspecta and one of its predecessor companies since 2013, announced his retirement in a letter to employees that was released in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is not a goodbye note in anyway -- there is much important work still to do, Curtis wrote. Curtis told Perspecta employees he wanted to make the announcement to squelch any rumors and avoid distractions as the closure gets nearer. Serving as Perspectas chairman and CEO has been the honor of my lifetime, he wrote. I will remain your leader, champion and voice as we navigate through this intricate process together. Curtis said he wants the transition to be smooth and seamless for customers and employees. We have always operated with honesty and transparency, so you should expect nothing less during this process, he wrote. Please continue to focus on serving your customers and proudly representing Perspecta. In an accompanying letter to Perspecta employees, Veritas CEO and Managing Ramzi Mussallam both praised and mentioned how he has worked with Curtis for more than 15 years. Veritas previously owned Vangent, a company Curtis led until its sale to General Dynamics in 2011. Two years after the Vangent sale, Veritas brought Curtis back to run The SI Organization. Veritas created that company through the acquisition of Lockheed Martins Enterprise Integration Group in 2010. Curtis and Veritas later rebranded the company as Vencore, which then became Perspecta when it merged with the public sector business of DXC Technologies and another Veritas property KeyPoint Solutions in 2018. Perspecta became a publicly-traded copmany at that point with Veritas as its largest single stockholder with 14.5 percent of its shares. Perspecta had several large wins in the years since its creation. But the stinging loss came last year when Leidos took the $7.7 billion Navy NGEN network services contract that represented between one-fourth and one-fifth of annual revenue. Despite the loss, the company still held its trailing 12-month book-to-bill ratio above 1. The company also attracted the interest of Jana Partners, an activist investor who saw Perspectas stock as undervalued and a good investment opportunity. It took a 5.9 percent stake in Perspecta. Curtis also thought Perspecta's stock was undervalued and said so to Wall Street analysts. Veritas never lost faith in Perspecta and later began exploring the option of taking the company private, which then led to the deal to combine it with another of its properties. Veritas Capital has been an investor in Perspecta and its predecessor companies for over a decade, Musallam wrote to Perspecta employees this week. We have always recognized Perspecta as a differentiated leader in this space: for its longstanding and intimate customer relationships, its best-in-class solutions and cutting-edge technology, and most of all for its dedicated and extremely talented employee base. The combination of Peraton, Northrop Grumman IT and Perspecta will create one of the largest government contractors in the technology sector with between $7.5 billion and $8 billion in annual revenue. Peraton will become a private company under Veritas ownership. Both letters from Curtis and Mussallam emphasized the important role that Perspectas employees will play in the success of the new company. The notes convey praise and gratitude for the employees but also strike a reassuring tone. The Perspecta workforce will continue to play a critical role in our future success, Musallam wrote. I look forward to working with the other talented leaders of Perspecta, many of whom I know well after years of professional interaction, to serve our customers and markets with dedication and excellence and build a leader in the government technology market. At the close of his letter, Curtis wrote: Our purpose and values are as important as ever and I know we will continue to fulfill and honor them. I promise to put forth my best efforts on behalf of each and every one you in the coming months. I ask you to do the same. Boris Johnson is under growing pressure from Conservative MPs to bring forward the reopening of schools in England after Nicola Sturgeon said pupils in Scotland will return to classrooms from February 22. The Prime Minister has said schools in England will not be allowed to reopen until March 8 at the earliest. But an increasing number of Tory MPs are questioning why the return cannot be accelerated as coronavirus case numbers continue to fall. Boris Johnson is facing a Tory revolt over reopening schools in England after Nicola Sturgeon said pupils in Scotland will start to return to classrooms from February 22 Just shy of 30 Tory MPs are now thought to have backed a parent-driven campaign to reopen schools amid rising concerns about the damage the closures are doing to pupils. The parents' group UsforThem is 'calling on the Government to reopen schools immediately or at the very least to publish the work it has done to show that the schools shutdown is proportionate'. William Wragg, the Tory chairman of Parliament's public administration committee and one of eight MPs who backed the campaign yesterday, told The Telegraph: 'The school shutdown has been damaging children's educational prospects and having a huge impact on their health and welfare.' Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs is pushing to hold a debate in the House of Commons on the need to reopen schools. The move by the group, which includes Robert Halfon, the Tory chairman of the Education Select Committee, will further pile the pressure on Mr Johnson to act. The PM announced at the end of January that he was extending the national lockdown as he confirmed schools would not reopen after half-term on February 22. He said that the 'hope' is schools in England will start reopening from March 8. Ms Sturgeon yesterday announced that schools in Scotland will return on a phased basis from February 22 subject to final confirmation in two weeks' time. Under the plan, if confirmed, all children under school age in early learning and childcare will return. Pupils in Primary 1 to Primary 3 will also be allowed back into school, as will those in the senior phase of secondary school. However, the First Minister said older pupils will only be able to return to ensure practical work important to achieving qualifications is completed, and only between five and eight per cent of any school's roll should be able to return. Some in Whitehall believe the reopening of schools could be delayed even beyond March 8, pointing out that case rates in England are still twice that recorded in Scotland. The Government yesterday announced a further 16,840 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. That is the lowest reported daily total of new cases since December 9, when 16,578 cases were recorded. Tbilisi City Hall will fund higher education fees for an additional 1,000 students from poor families who live in the capital city, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said. According to him, since 2015 up to now only students from poor families have received funding whose score on the social list was 70,000 or less. "Now students from families who have a social vulnerability score of up to 150,000 and less will also receive funding from City Hall," Agenda.ge cited him as saying. Kaladze said funding for each student will be 2,250 GEL annually at a maximum and the exact amount will be dependent on the students university scores and the familys score on the social vulnerability list. He added that City Hall will double the number of students from poor families who will receive funding for their Masters Degree. Kaladze noted that students who have already received 100% funding from Tbilisi City Hall will also receive bonuses on their bank accounts. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Oculus VisionTech Inc. (TSXV: OVT) (OTCQB: OVTZ) (FSE: USF1), an emerging data security provider, through its subsidiary, OCL Technologies (OCLT), today announced after a formal software development review conducted over the past week, that the company remains on track for their upcoming scheduled "Forget Me Yes" (FMY) Beta launch in February 2021. "Forget Me Yes" (FMY) is OCLT's Software-as-a-Service Platform for organizational and individual Right-to-be-Forgotten (RtbF) and Right-of-Erase (RoE) data privacy compliance for structured data. Oculus acquired OCLT last year and is now a primary business focus. (See News Releases dated November 19, 2020 and December 1, 2020) "As 20+ year veterans of custom Salesforce system integration, we are excited to be an active Beta evaluation partner of the new FMY data privacy tool," said Jack Corrao, CEO of Corrao Group. "Data privacy continues to be a high-priority within the Salesforce Enterprise ecosystem." There is no undisclosed material information at the present time that would give reason for the recent increase in trading activity and price with respect to the Company's shares and management is unaware of any other reason for the increase in share price and volume. About Oculus Oculus, http://ovtz.com/, is a cyber security company that creates systems for document and multimedia protection to combat tampering and digital piracy. Utilizing proprietary technology originally created for embedding digital watermarking video-on-demand (VOD) systems, Oculus has created a Cloud-based document protection system based on embedded digital watermarking. The Company's systems, services and delivery solutions include document, still image and motion video digital watermark solutions and documents, photographs (still image) and video content protection. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Oculus was founded by experts in image processing and is operated by an experienced management team. Learn more about Oculus at http://ovtz.com/ or follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/OculusVT) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OculusVisiontech) About Corrao Group The Corrao Group https://corraogroup.com/ has helped hundreds of Salesforce customers customize the platform to their business in order to maximize their Salesforce investment. They have been providing custom Salesforce consulting services including configuration, development, implementation, integration, analytics and ongoing support for Sales, Service, and Marketing Clouds since 2002. Learn more about the Corrao Group at https://www.corraogroup.com/. About OCL OCL Technologies https://www.ocltechnologies.com/, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oculus, is specifically focused on providing enterprise organizations and individuals with highly-secure data privacy tools that provide sustained and continuous global regulatory compliance of data subject rights. Headquartered in San Diego, California, OCL Technologies was founded by industry veteran storage technology experts and is operated by an experienced management team. Learn more about OCL Technologies at https://www.ocltechnologies.com/. For further information, contact: Anton Drescher Telephone: (604) 685-1017 Fax: (604) 685-5777 Website: http://ovtz.com/ TSXV: https://money.tmx.com/en/quote/OVT US OTC Markets (OTCQB): https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/OVTZ/security Berlin Borse: https://www.boerse-berlin.com/index.php/Shares?isin=US67575Y1091 Frankfurt Borse: https://www.boerse-frankfurt.de/equity/oculus-visiontech Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this news release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among others, statements as to the intended uses of the proceeds received from the Offering. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "may", "should", "budget", "schedules", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including risks and uncertainties relating to, among others, the change of business focus of the management of Oculus, the inability of Oculus to pursue its current business objectives, the ability of the Company to obtain any required governmental, regulatory or stock exchange approvals, permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV final acceptance of the Offering and any planned future activities, and obtain the financing required to carry out its planned future activities. Other factors such as general economic, market or business conditions or changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting the Company's industry, may also adversely affect the future results or performance of the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Oculus assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Although Oculus believes that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance those beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consider all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosed in Oculus' periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the United States Securities Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulators. These reports and Oculus' public filings are available at www.sec.gov in the United States and www.sedar.com in Canada. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73502 FLINT, MI Less than a week after Michael Thompson was released from prison - where he served 25 years for a marijuana case - he will now have the opportunity to purchase his own home. Strangers, advocates for individuals, families disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis and others have raised more than $266,000 as of Wednesday, Feb. 3. for Thompson to buy his new dream home. Thompson, 69, was released Jan. 28 from Charles Egeler Reception And Guidance Center in Jackson after serving a quarter-century in prison. A Flint native, Thompson was sent to prison to serve a 42- to 62-year sentence after he was convicted in 1996 of selling three pounds of marijuana to an undercover informant in December 1994. Related: Im happy that Im free: Michigan man released from prison after serving 25 years for marijuana case Im thankful, Thompson said to MLive-The Flint Journal in a phone interview. Thompson said he has a home picked out in Genesee County that would be located near his family. Im planning on moving in as soon as I can, he said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer commuted Thompsons sentence on Dec. 22. A commutation reduces an individuals sentence to a specified term, but it does not nullify the underlying conviction. Related: Man who served 20 years in marijuana case has sentenced commuted by governor Individuals with past drug or felony convictions are usually ineligible for public housing. So Michael is entirely dependent on the support of friends, family and the kindness of strangers to secure a suitable place to live. 100% of these funds will go into a bank account to fund Michaels the *perfect* place Michael has been manifesting since his release, a message reads on the GoFundMe page. The goal amount for the GoFundMe, organized by Deedee Kirkwood, a cannabis activist, is to raise $300,000 to cover expenses for housing, food, a car, gas, insurance, phone, internet, clothes, medical, dental, self care and monthly bills, according to the site. Kirkwood met Thompson over the phone in 2014, around the time when she was just getting her foot in the door with activism work. I have been an advocate for mostly people in prison for life, for marijuana only, Kirkwood said, noting Thompson was one of the first people incarcerated that she formed a relationship with. Her goal is making sure Thompsons message gets heard. Related: Those guys are human beings: Ex-prisoner with commuted sentence urges reform as he walks free All the work that I did has brought me to this moment of working with him, Kirkwood said. When asked if Thompson knew about the fundraiser before it took place, he said he knew he was receiving a lot of love and pointed to the news media, who really put it down. On the day of Thompsons release from prison, the parking lot was full of local media crews and a documentary crew. Writer and civil rights activist Shaun King has been posting frequent updates about Thompsons process of buying the house on his Facebook page. Ive just been blessed, Thompson said. Read more on MLive: I feel like a million bucks: Daughter of Michigan prisoner granted clemency rejoices Michigan prisoner seeks clemency in marijuana case after serving more than 20 years in prison Michigan prisoner seeks clemency in marijuana case after serving more than 20 years in prison Michigan AG horrified by Michael Thompsons 42-to-62 year sentence for 1994 marijuana case Sick with COVID-19, inmate cant get out of prison even with AG, prosecutor backing him Muskegon inmate with coronavirus receives meeting with parole board after AG support Thompson contacts COVID-19 Thompson receive meeting with Parole Board Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:29 am - Washington State Journal The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating a problem already plaguing youth in Washington -- suicide. Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, says HB 1354 is key to finding out why rates of suicide are climbing in Washington and on how to stop the trend. Mosbrucker is proposing the formation of the Washington Youth Suicide Review Team, made up of 12 individuals appointed by the governor. The goal of the bill is to literally lay out every suicide case under 24 in the state of Washington during 2020, Mosbrucker said. And to figure out whats the nexus because kids are struggling...far more than they used to. The team would review medical records, voluntary home interviews with parents and other strategies to discover if any common factors exist among young people who commit suicide. One factor already under scrutiny is the COVID-19 pandemic. A November report from the Centers for Disease Control, indicates the pandemic is having a negative effect on childrens health. Especially with teens right now with COVID, Benine McDonnell, a mother from Yakima, said. There are so many losses in their lives. They cant go to school, they dont have any in-person time with their friends. One of the teams goals is to recommend intervention programs to reach youth earlier in life, but the idea they would have access to medical records raised some concerns during the public hearing on Feb. 1. We appreciate the bills approach to prevention, Jaclyn Greenberg, policy director with the Washington State Hospital Association, said. [But] we hope to see just a few changes in the bill, particularly around strengthening the protections for peoples medical privacy. The bill hasnt been scheduled for a vote yet, but Mosbrucker is confident this is the best step forward and is willing to amend the bill. I want the best bill possible, she said. The one that helps the most people and protects information and families. Whatever keeps kids alive in Washington and across the nation. The 12-member team will be made up of health professionals, law enforcement, people from child protection systems and a family member of a youth who died from suicide. Mosbrucker said shes excited to have survivors on board who want to help. For survivors, like Madison Garcia, now a CNA at Oregon Veterans Home, this is their time to shine as well. This is finally my chance, Garcia said. Not for 5 minutes of fame, but to actually help. At a glance: Gov. Tom Wolfs budget proposal seeks to increase the state employee complement working under his jurisdiction by a net 54 positions, to a total complement of 77,930 full-time equivalent positions. What it means: The governor is calling for some modest shifting around of positions in five state departments or agencies with the largest increase proposed for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. His budget proposes adding 52 positions to fully implement the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. This dropout recovery program helps at-risk youth earn a high school diploma or its equivalent. He also is calling for six employees at the Department of General Services to handle the statewide personal protective equipment inventory. The agency to see the biggest cut is the Civil Service Commission, which is slated to cut four positions. Over the past year, the administration did layoff about 2,500 part-time and seasonal employees and interns due to the states fiscal challenges. But a Wolf Administration official said shrinking the commonwealths workforce further, as some Republican lawmakers seek to do, is not going to provide better services to the people of Pennsylvania. Administration officials also said the governor intends to provide non-represented employees the same size pay increases as their unionized counterparts to avoid the detrimental impacts on recruiting and hiring people to management positions that past pay freezes on non-unionized workers have had. So that means in the 2021-22 fiscal year that come Oct. 1, they will receive a 2.5% pay increase. That matches the increase provided for in the AFSCME contract, which represents tens of thousands of commonwealth employees and has provisions similar to what is in other labor union contracts. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. On the occasion of Sri Lanka's 73rd anniversary of the Independence Day which will be celebrated on February 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa. Based on shared linguistic, religious and cultural traditions, PM Modi reiterated the shared deep-rooted millennia-old ties, according to a statement released by the High Commission of India in Colombo, reported ANI. "He underlined the cooperation between the two nations over the past year, including in the joint fight against the COVID19 pandemic. He further wished that the strong ties between the two nations would be further cemented in the years to come, and contribute to the progress and common prosperity of our peoples," the statement read. READ | PM Modi Speaks On R-Day Violence: 'Nation Shocked At Insult To Tricolour'; Seeks Restraint The High Commission further stated that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the interactions between India and Sri Lanka at the leadership level continued which has resulted into significant strides in the field of development cooperation, trade and economic ties, people to people contacts. READ | PM Modi Speaks To Israeli Counterpart; Affirms Resolve To Strengthen Security Cooperation On January 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the rollout of India's COVID-19 vaccination programme in which healthcare workers from across the country were vaccinated. Sri Lanka's PM Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated the government of India on taking this very important step with massive COVID-19 drive. Congratulations PM @narendramodi and the Government of India on taking this very important step with this massive #COVID19Vaccination drive. We are starting to see the beginning of the end to this devastating pandemic. @IndiainSL https://t.co/fcx8bO7RfV Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) January 16, 2021 READ | 'PM Modi To Inaugurate Govt Projects On Feb 7 In Haldia, Will Hold Jan Sabha': Dilip Ghosh Sri Lanka receives Covishield vaccine gifted by India Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 29, thanked India for its generosity after he received five lakh doses of Covishield vaccine gifted by New Delhi under the 'Neighbourhood First' policy. President Rajapaksa was at the Colombo international airport to receive the consignment of free Indian COVID-19 vaccines which arrived on a special Air India flight. READ | PM Modi Hails 'all-round' Budget 2021; Emphasises Focus On South, East & Coastal Areas (With ANI Inputs) A motorbike rider has been airlifted to hospital after a crash at Noosa Heads. Police believe the 54-year-old crashed on Sunshine Beach Road just before10.30pm on Wednesday when he was entering a right-turn lane near Bicentennial Drive and lost control of the motorcycle. The Victorian man, who suffered a head injury, was taken to Noosa Hospital before he was airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital in a critical condition. He remains in hospital. The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating the crash. 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. WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden's top advisers have spent months building an extensive pipeline of judicial nominees to fill court vacancies throughout the country, attempting to swiftly remake portions of the judiciary and undo one of his predecessor's most significant achievements. President Donald Trump dramatically reshaped the courts over his four-year term with a record pace of nominations, and now Biden - who took part in hundreds of confirmations as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee - is eager to leave his mark with nominees of his own. More than a third of judges nationwide serving on federal appeals courts one level below the Supreme Court are eligible to step back from active service. With Democrats narrowly controlling the Senate - and with the prospect that they could lose control during the 2022 midterms - Biden intends to move quickly to fill openings that arise on courts affecting significant policies, including environmental regulations, gun laws and immigration. The fledgling administration already has at least five circuit court openings to fill. More are expected soon as a wave of retirements or judges taking lighter caseloads comes through, including from those who stayed active through Trump's tenure to avoid having him name their successors. Top officials in the Biden administration say they are placing far more emphasis on judicial nominations and plan to fill slots faster than Democrats have in the past. At the Supreme Court, the administration could face the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, 82, a potential vacancy Biden has vowed to fill with a Black woman. And even as Biden signs a burst of executive orders and presses for a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, senior administration officials view judicial nominees as one area where the president will invest early political capital. "People are approaching this with a different sense of urgency," said deputy White House counsel Paige Herwig, a former Senate staffer who was associate counsel to President Barack Obama and is leading the new administration's effort. "And they understand. They saw what the Trump administration did for four years." The Obama administration was often criticized for not prioritizing nominations, and Trump successfully installed more than 200 judges working with Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who mostly made good on his promise to "leave no vacancy behind." The new administration will take a page from the Trump White House and speed up the process by forgoing the American Bar Association review of candidates in advance of formal nominations. Biden served 14 years as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he and his top advisers have a deep understanding of the importance of the lifetime appointments and the need to move swiftly. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain helped oversee nominations for Biden as chief counsel on the committee as well as in the Bill Clinton White House. Vice President Kamala Harris comes from a legal background and was on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "We have a president who has had the issue of judges and filling vacancies as part of his career for decades," said former senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis.,, who served with Biden on the Judiciary Committee and now leads the American Constitution Society, one of the interest groups recommending nominees for the bench. "I know he cares about it." Judges who are 65 or older and have served at least 15 years on the bench are eligible to take a lighter caseload known as "senior status." Of the more than 60 judges eligible, more than half were nominated by Democratic presidents, according to Federal Judicial Center data analyzed and tracked by Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution. Legal observers expect this pool of judges to lead the way in announcing plans to step back from active service. The former chief of the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Judge Robert A. Katzmann, dated his retirement letter on Biden's first day in the White House. Katzmann, a Clinton nominee, will continue to serve as a senior judge while teaching at the New York University School of Law. Judge Denny Chin, an Obama nominee on the same court, will take senior status in June. And Judge Carlos F. Lucero, a Clinton nominee on the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, announced his plans to step back effective Feb. 1. At the district court level, more than a dozen judges nominated by presidents of both parties announced plans to retire or take senior status in Biden's first week on the job, and there are more than 60 current or announced trial-court openings. "Lots of Democratic appointees have deferred going senior or retiring because Trump was president," said Ed Whelan, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center and a close observer of the courts. "If you're a Democratic appointee disinclined to have a Republican replace you, you were even less inclined to have Donald Trump replace you." The Biden administration got an early reminder of the importance of the courts when it comes to enacting policy. A federal judge in Texas, nominated by Trump, blocked Biden's 100-day deportation "pause" last week in a challenge brought by the state's Republican attorney general. Ahead of the 2020 election, judges nominated by Trump were more likely to rule against efforts to loosen voting rules amid the coronavirus pandemic and side with Republicans seeking to enforce restrictions. When Trump took office in 2017, there were 17 openings to fill on the 13 regional circuit courts, in part because the Republican-controlled Senate had slowed the confirmation process during Obama's final two years. In four years, Trump successfully nominated a record number of young, conservative judges - 30 percent of the appeals court bench, with 54 judges and three Supreme Court justices. He was able to accomplish more in four years than Obama - who had 55 circuit judges appointed and two Supreme Court justices - did in eight. Even before Biden was sworn in last month, incoming White House legal counsel Dana Remus asked senators to immediately prepare to send recommendations for candidates to serve as trial-court judges in their home states. Remus emphasized the need to submit names within 45 days of a new vacancy being announced and the administration's interest in nominees from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. During the Obama administration there was emphasis on creating historic firsts, with the first openly gay federal appeals judge, for example. Some districts got their first female judge or first Black judge. In contrast, 84% of Trump's nominees were White, compared with 64% of those tapped by Obama. Twenty-four percent of Trump's picks were women, compared with 42% of those Obama nominated, according to data compiled by the American Constitution Society, one of the groups trying to increase diversity on the bench. Biden's team is also placing a priority on varied professional experience, not just encouraging prosecutors or nominees from prominent law firms but putting a call out for public defenders and civil rights attorneys, "and those who represent Americans in every walk of life," Remus wrote in a December letter to senators, first reported by HuffPost. Before Democrats secured a slim Senate majority in January, there were questions about whether McConnell, had he remained majority leader, would stymie Biden's nominations. But because Democrats now control the floor schedule, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will be able to follow McConnell's blueprint to tee up an assembly line of lower-court judicial nominees and quickly move nominees to a confirmation vote. Appeals court nominees - and those nominated to the Supreme Court - will still have to go through lengthier 30 hours of debate after a preliminary vote. "All of these judges care deeply about their courts and the administration of justice" and would not have wanted to leave the bench shorthanded with nominations possibly held up in the Senate, said Christopher Kang, chief counsel of Demand Justice, one of the liberal interest groups recommending nominees. But with Democrats in control, Kang said, "now we're in a place where nominations can move more quickly." Unlike in the Obama administration, the Biden White House will not review potential nominees in advance through the bar association. The new administration will consult with the ABA, among others, but the rating of candidates will come after the formal nomination, according to a Biden official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal process for nominations. While the 2022 electoral map favors Democrats hoping to preserve their majority - Democrats are defending 14 seats while Republicans will have to defend 20 - midterm elections can be inhospitable to an incumbent president's party. That gives Democrats another reason to act quickly. Trump and his former White House counsel Donald McGahn drew heavily from a list of nominees assembled by the Federalist Society. Biden's team is fielding recommendations from a broader constellation of interest groups, which might make filling vacancies more complicated. White House officials have been conscious of balancing the desires of several Democratic interest group, while attempting to keep the party united and use judicial nominations as a rallying point, in the same way they have motivated Republican voters for decades. For many Democrats the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg - whose seat Trump filled just before the election - elevated not only the importance of prioritizing the courts but the timing of vacancies. Biden is also planning to soon form a bipartisan commission to within 180 days propose changes for the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary. Among the ideas the commission could study are expanding the Supreme Court and requiring term limits for federal judges. One of Biden's first nominees is likely to fill the anticipated vacancy created on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to serve as attorney general. Garland was already eligible to take senior status, along with three other judges on the D.C. Circuit: David Tatel, Judith Rogers and Karen LeCraft Henderson. The composition of the appeals courts, which typically handle cases sitting with three judges, matters. A full complement of D.C. Circuit judges handled recent high-profile cases allowing a judge to scrutinize the Trump administration's decision to drop its prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump's efforts to shield his tax returns from congressional investigators. The wave of retirements could have a major impact at the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, where one-third of the 15 judges are Democratic nominees eligible for senior status. Among them is Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, perhaps the most influential member of the court. Motz often writes for the majority, as she did when a divided full court revived one of the lawsuits alleging Trump was illegally profiting from foreign and state government payments to his hotel in downtown Washington. On the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, nine of the 29 judges are Clinton nominees eligible to step back from active service. Trump reshaped the court by installing 10 judges on the traditionally liberal bench. Exactly how many openings Biden has to fill will depend in large part on the highly personal decision of individual judges weighing whether to take senior status. There are incentives and drawbacks. Senior judges continue to hear cases, just a smaller number, and still receive their full salary, but without limits on income from teaching, for instance. But senior judges can no longer sit when the full court rehears panel decisions unless they were part of the initial three-judge ruling. The loss in status also typically affects which opinions they get to write and sometimes the location of their judicial chambers - a judge's de facto law office. And there is no question that the timing of the decision matters in the minds of many judges who want a president of their own party to pick their successor and who may have been hesitating the past four years. "We are seeing quite a few vacancies arise now, but I think that they will be staggered overall, in part because judges are sensitive to how these changes affect their circuit," said Marin K. Levy, a Duke University School of Law professor who published a recent paper on incentives for taking senior status. "I expect that there will be more to come in the spring and summer months." J. Michael Luttig, a former judge on the 4th Circuit, said that for judges considering retirement, the party of the president who names their successor is a "significant consideration," but not the only consideration. Luttig was tapped by President George H.W. Bush and stepped down while George W. Bush was in the White House to serve as general counsel of Boeing. Luttig, who was a shortlist Bush candidate for the Supreme Court during the second Bush administration, said it would not have made a difference had the president naming his successor been a Democrat. "I don't believe any judge makes his or her decision exclusively on that basis," Luttig said. "Judges are going to retire or not based primarily on personal considerations." President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his commitment to fulfilling election pledges key among them being the expansion of electricity connectivity, opening up of more roads, and accelerating the growth of small businesses. We want to ensure that every Kenyan has access to electricity both for domestic and for income-generating activities such as welding, hairdressing businesses and milk cooling plants for farmers, President Kenyatta said. The President spoke Monday evening at Kimahuri in Kieni East, Nyeri County where he commissioned a last-mile electricity connectivity project that will benefit 216 households and several public institutions including schools, markets, and health centres. He said over 70 percent of homes in Kenya were connected to the national grid compared to only that 30 percent that had electricity when he took over the nations leadership in 2013. Addressing area residents shortly after switching on electricity in Mama Lydia Njeri Kahuthus house, the Head of State announced Government plans to tarmac the Sagana-Ndathi-Naromoru Road, set up a milk cooling facility, and a hospital in the area. This road will ease the transportation of goods in this area. It will particularly help farmers to access markets for their produce beyond the region, the President said. Once again, the President, who is on a working visit of Central Kenya, reiterated his call for national unity saying that is the only way to ensure the current development momentum is not lost. On BBI, the Head of State rallied area residents to support the law reform process saying its proposals will ensure sufficient resources go to the counties to benefit wananchi. Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe and area MP Kanini Kega also spoke at the launch event that was attended by several Central Kenya leaders. New York City's health commissioner announced on Wednesday he has been infected with the coronavirus. Dr. Dave Chokshi, 39, says he was recently tested, received a positive diagnosis, and has mild symptoms. He was named New York City health commissioner last August after Mayor Bill de Blasio clashed with previous commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. Chokshi previously served in the Louisiana Department of Health during Hurricane Katrina. Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, 39, says he was recently tested, received a positive diagnosis, and has mild symptoms. Chokshi is pictured at a COVID-19 vaccine hubs at the South Bronx Educational Campus on January 9 Chokshi released a statement announcing his diagnosis on Twitter on Wednesday 'In New York City and across the country, COVID continues to circulate in our communities, and all of us are potentially exposed to the virus. A testament to this fact is that I recently got tested and received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19,' Chokshi said in a written statement. 'I now have mild symptoms, but they are manageable. I have been in touch with New York City's Test and Trace Corps to ensure that anyone who was potentially exposed is offered services and care.' Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Chokshi has appeared in scores of public service announcements urging New Yorkers to follow coronavirus protocols for mask wearing and maintaining social distance. In recent months, Chokshi has led the city's efforts in promoting the newly developed COVID vaccines, but there is no record of him getting the jab. As of Wednesday, the coronavirus has claimed more than 447,000 lives across the US, including 27,000 in New York City alone. According to a press release announcing Chokshi's appointment as a health commissioner last year, he was planning to keep seeing patients as a primary care physician at Bellevue Hospital. Chokshi has appeared in scores of public service announcements urging New Yorkers to wear masks and practice social distancing Chokshi is married to a public school teacher and lives with his wife and baby daughter in Queens. It is unknown whether his family members have contracted COVID as well. Chokshi graduated from Duke University summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree before earning a Master's degree in global public health as a Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford. He earned his medical degree with distinction from University of Pennsylvania, followed by a clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He also served as a White House Fellow during the Obama Administration and was the principal health advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Two Egyptian films, Abed and Ten, won awards at the Abu Dhabis Al-Ain Film Festivals third edition, which closed its activities on 27 January. Short film Abed by Medhat Abdullah saw its international premiere at the festival and won Best Film in the Make Your Film in the Time of Corona competition. The film sheds light on an Egyptian community working in the UAE. The plot revolves around Abed, portrayed by Ahmed Ibrahim, who is being bullied due to his cleft lip and as such is experiencing problems when facing the outside world. He feels more confident when wearing a mask amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the film sheds light on the protagonists psychological transformation. Written by Noha Said (Egypt), the film incorporates cast and crew from numerous Arab countries, including Ohoud Al-Nowais (UAE), Abdul-Hamid Al-Balushi (UAE), Omar Abul-Fadl (Syria), Mahdi Boukhris (Morocco), film editor Moataz Abdel-Khalek (Egypt), cinematographer Mahmoud Youssef (Egypt), and score composer Sherif El-Wassimi (Egypt). Directed by young Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Samir, Ten won the Jury Prize in the Falcon Competition for Student Films. The plot sheds light on a poker player who is robbed in his home by a prison escapee. The events revolve around the interaction between two characters portrayed by Mohamed Samir and Mohamed Barakat. The films executive director is Mohamed Farag, and the music is by Amin El-Sharni. Following the win, the head of Egypts Actors Syndicate, Ashraf Zaki, congratulated the Egyptian artists for the recognitions they brought for the country in the UAEs festival. It is worth adding that the Emirati short Athel, starring Egyptian actress Hala Shiha, won the Best Film Award in the Falcon Emirati Short Film competition. The United Arab Emirates Al-Ain Film Festivals third edition took place between 23 and 27 January The festival screened over 370 films in Abu Dhabis Madinat Al-Hadiqah. Founded in 2019 under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan, the festival aims to showcase the talents of the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region. Expanding its programming, the festival also welcomes Arab region directors. Moreover, this year, the festival screened European films which have already been screened in Arab countries. This year, Al-Ain festival was held under the umbrella of the Abu Dhabi Festival. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArtsand on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: Kolkata, Feb 3 : West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused ex-state forest minister and recently-inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajib Banerjee of corruption with appointments in the forest department. The CM said that the allegations will be probed. She said that there have allegations over the issue of appointing several agana sahayak' (helpers) posts in the state forest department when Rajib Banerjee was in-charge. Without naming Banerjee directly, the CM said: "One person has recently switched to the BJP. We have received several complaints against him and found several malpractices on his part. I have ordered a probe on the issue." She said that, unlike the BJP, her party Trinamool Congress does not believe in selling tickets before the elections. "In my party, booth workers are above party leaders. They are my real assets," she added. Banerjee said that she is happy as all rotten elements are leaving the party. She said if there are any fence-sitters left, they can leave Trinamool Congress immediately and join the BJP ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls. "We have seen that greedy politicians were taken to Delhi in a private plane. But hungry migrant workers were stuffed inside trains and sent back to respective states by the Central government during the lockdown," the West Bengal CM said, calling it "unfortunate". She said that election dates would be declared in a week. "People who will not get their Swasthya Sathi cards will be given temporary cards where biometric facility will not be required for the time being. We will update those cards with biometrics later. We don't want people to suffer due to the election commission's code of conduct," she added. TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Tippecanoe County is leading the way for more High Tech Crime Units to be established across the state. A bill authored by District 40 State Representative Gregory Steuerwald is currently making its way through the Indiana Statehouse. "It's a game changer, it solves crimes," said Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington on the units. He testified at the statehouse on behalf of the new legislation. "House Bill 1082 authorizes up to 10 regional high tech crime units through a local prosecutors office," he said. "I'm very proud that our prosecutors office was the first in Indiana and the third in the nation to have a prosecutor run High Tech Crimes Unit." Right now, there are only four units in the state: Tippecanoe County, St. Joseph County, Indiana State Police and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Harrington said the only way Tippecanoe County was able to get their unit off the ground was because local law enforcement agencies agreed to collaborate and train officers to be on the unit. The four HTCU's can also take requests from other jurisdictions to help in their cases. Harrington said the current units are inundated with requests, and some cases have dozens of cell phones, lap tops and other electronics to process. Based on Tippecanoe County's budgeting over the past ten years of having a HTCU, the bill would create a state fund of $300,000 per regional unit per year. This would take the burden off smaller, less funded prosecutor's offices from having to come up with the money on their own to start a unit. The plan moving forward is to link these units close to universities throughout the state, so students can get hands on experience. In St. Joseph County, any Notre Dame student that wants to get trained for the unit can do so. They also want to bring in other civilians to be trained. This would get law enforcement officers currently serving on the units back to their regular duties. "This model is a win-win for both law enforcement, prosecutors offices and the educational system," said Harrington. Sheriff Bob Goldsmith said TCSO was previously involved with our local HTCU, but now they have shifted to Purdue students and civilians. He said the units helps in a wide range of crimes. "It's been useful in homicides, burglaries, child molestation cases," he said. "It's something I'd encourage every community to have." People trained with the units are able to take electronic devices and process them for evidence in a crime, from cell phones to laptops to building security cameras and even police body cameras. Evidence they are looking for includes GPS location, texts, app usage, voice mails and phone calls. The HTCU can only take devices to search with consent of the owner or through a search warrant. "We've solved murders with no witnesses, we've solved murders with no weapon recovered," he said. "It shows who did the crime but just as important, it exonerates people." In several local cases, when Patrick Elliott took his murder case to trial, the key piece of evidence was found by the HTCU. Elliott had audio recorded the moment he murdered his wife in 2017. The HTCU was also able to track his whereabouts after the 911 call, which included a local funeral home. He is currently serving a 75 year sentence for his crime. In Yariel Butler's hit-and-run murder case in 2018, the prosecution was able to use video surveillance of her leaving her job in Frankfort. They tracked her location as she drove up U.S. 52, placing her at the scene of the crime as she hit and killed two people. She is currently serving a seven year sentence for her crime. Harrington said this bill will create a more fair justice system. "To seek the truth, obtain the evidence, to be transparent to the public and be able to show what our decisions are based upon," he said. The bill passed unanimously out of the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee last week. It will go to the House Ways and Means Committee next. President Joe Biden told House Democrats on Wednesday that backing anything less than $1,400 stimulus checks would mean starting his presidency with a broken promise, according to participants on a caucus conference call. Biden said he was open to considering tighter eligibility requirements for stimulus checks but signaled he wasnt willing to reduce the standard of a $1,400 payment outlined in his aid package, the people said. Republican lawmakers have suggested both reducing the amount of the next round of stimulus checks and sending them to a smaller group of Americans. But shrinking the payment means Biden wouldnt be able to deliver his campaign promise of $2,000 payments to many Americans, a total that includes previous $600 payments. Senate Republicans have proposed issuing $1,000 payments for individuals earning up to $40,000 or couples making twice that, and completely phasing out the payments by $50,000 for singles or $100,000 for married couples. Despite those differences, Biden told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Democrats: I think well get some Republicans." Bigger Concern Individuals earning up to $75,000 or couples making up to $150,000 were eligible for the full stimulus payments in the previous two rounds of coronavirus relief enacted last year. Above those levels, the payments phased out gradually. Biden also told lawmakers he was more concerned that they would spend too little on a recovery package rather than too much, addressing reservations among some on Capitol Hill who say his proposal is too costly. He added that lawmakers should act quickly on his plan, which also includes billions for vaccine development and distribution along with a minimum wage hike. Some progressive Democrats are seeking even higher payments, arguing that to fulfill his promise to voters, Biden must increase the checks to $2,000 on top of the $600. The White House has pushed back on that idea. Earlier Wednesday, Biden met at the White House with Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper of Delaware. Principled Stand Theres a difference between compromising on principle and compromising on policy," Carper said after the meeting. The presidents not going to compromise on principle," which is helping people in need, he said. Biden met with additional Democratic senators in the Oval Office later Wednesday. That group included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Democrats on committees related to budget matters, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders. Vice President Kamala Harris also attended. Biden invited reporters into the Oval Office for less than a minute. Earlier Wednesday, Schumer said, Our caucus is eager to discuss next steps, and we are united in our resolve to deliver a rescue plan that delivers the American people the relief they so desperately need." The sessions come a day after Senate Democrats put the $1.9 trillion stimulus plan on a fast track, increasing the likelihood it eventually passes on a party-line vote. And Biden met earlier this week with a group of 10 Republican senators to discuss their counter-proposal, though the talks did not yield a bipartisan agreement. With a 50-49 vote Tuesday, the Senate opened debate on a budget resolution for the 2021 fiscal year, a maneuver that would clear the way for the presidents relief plan to pass in the chamber with a simple majority rather than the 60-vote threshold required for most legislation. The Senate will take up final passage of the resolution on Thursday. The House is voting Wednesday on its version as well. Schumer has said that the process, known as budget reconciliation, is open to GOP participation and the stimulus package can still be tweaked with their input. But he said Democrats wont risk moving slowly or timidly to bolster the economy. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... There is a common misperception improving our environment comes at the cost of our economic well-being. It simply isnt true. We introduced the Clean Fuel Standard Act, Senate Bill 11, to help us advance many of our states ambitions: diversifying our economy, creating new jobs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change. SB 11 creates a statewide clean fuel standard aimed at reducing emissions from our transportation sector the second largest greenhouse gas-emitter in the state by changing the fuels available, not how New Mexicans do things. By requiring fuel providers that refine, blend, make or import fuel used in New Mexico to gradually reduce the carbon intensity of the transportation fuel itself, we can reduce emissions by 4.7 million metric tons in carbon dioxide equivalent by 2040. Thats like taking 44,000 cars off the road every year for 15 years. A clean fuel standard would not apply to retail gas stations or cause cost increases at the pump. A clean fuel standard program also invites economic innovation through a voluntary, market-based credit program. The credit program monetizes greenhouse gas emission reductions and allows businesses who want to invest in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to generate credits. Simply put, one credit generated is equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide reduced. Credits are then sold to fuel providers whose fuels do not meet the standard. The possibilities here are nearly endless: utilities could generate credits through sequestering greenhouse gas emissions; marginal oil and gas wells could generate hydrogen fuel and electricity instead of venting or flaring; farmers and ranchers could harness gases created from their operations for sale to an alternative fuel manufacturer or tap into the power of soil sequestration; municipalities could use wasted landfill and wastewater treatment gas to power electric vehicle charging stations, and the list goes on and on. A report by Adelante Consulting LLC found a clean fuel standard in New Mexico would result in $46.3 million in annual investments in decarbonization projects and significant job growth in the clean energy industry. These are living-wage jobs for New Mexico families. Were already hearing interest from innovative companies that want SB 11 to pass, incentivizing them to expand their operations to or within New Mexico. We would join just two other states, Oregon and California, in offering valuable credits generated by emissions-reducing technology, getting ahead of a slew of other states currently considering a clean fuel standard. Getting in on the ground floor with a clean fuel standard program would entice new businesses to our state making New Mexico more competitive than our neighbors. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But the benefits of a clean fuel standard extend beyond the economic. We also know we must do more to reduce our emissions to combat climate change and meet the goals outlined by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The 2020 Climate Change Task Force report recently released by the governor shows our current and proposed climate policies will make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions, but the state must take further action to reach its science-based goal of a 45% emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030. Plus, seven New Mexico counties are already facing air pollution nearing levels considered unhealthy by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Dona Ana, Eddy, Lea, Sandoval, San Juan and Valencia. The more than 580,000 people that call these counties home deserve to breathe clean air, and we have a responsibility to do what we can to help. Call your legislators today and ask them to support SB 11. The New Mexico Clean Fuel Standard Act is an opportunity to move our economy in a cleaner direction, creating new jobs and encouraging innovation in new and existing industries. Lets demonstrate the answer to environment and economy is not either/or; its both. TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Gun ammunition is incredibly scarce. Shelves are mostly empty, and factories are strained. Greg Grissom is the owner of Trigger Time Indoor Shooting Range in Tupelo. He said ammunition is selling faster than ever. A man firing a Glock mid-shot. 02-02-21. A man firing a Glock mid-shot. 02-02-21. The demand right now is really, really, really great, Grissom said. Everything is hot right now, theyll buy anything that you put out there for them. He explained that the range used to sell ammo to the general public, but had to stop. Now its gotten so hard to get and so expensive that we have to keep all of our ammo here just so that people who come in that want to shoot will have ammo to shoot." He said there are several reasons why. Last year with COVID, and panicking with all the riots and stuff, people got really scared. In addition, he said millions of new guns were sold to first-time buyers last year-and each of those needs at least one box of ammo. Its just not available. He said Winchester over in Oxford is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but still cant pump enough ammo out. I think right now, youve got hoarding going on, Grissom said. People started buying it up as much as they could get as often as they could get. Ammo such as .380 is hard to come by right now. In fact, one worker said if they get any, they dont even sell it to the public for shooting. They keep it exclusively for private lessons. However, 9 mm is a much more common caliber. Demand is still high for it, but a person will likely be able to find it before finding .380. Ive got 6, 7, 8 different distributors, and Ive got no ammo through any of them, Grissom said. And its not just bullets, its also gunpowder and primers, too. Theyre just scarce right now. He said companies produced more ammo last year (2020) than in 2017 and 2018 combined. He added the shortage has nothing to do with the government. --yet. With this administration, you never know, but, right now, its just the demand is greater than the production. One customer said he loves coming to Trigger Time, and added ammo shortages wont keep him from what he loves. Grissom added he heard it could take companies such as Hornady over a year to fully restock their supply after the demand settles down. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. The Defense Ministry published its latest white paper on Tuesday pledging to "expedite" the handover of full operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul. The wording has changed since the last white paper two years ago, when the ministry said the transfer was being "pursued in a stable manner." Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Won In-chul also told his U.S. counterpart the same day that he wants to "speed up" the transfer. But the white paper at the same time shows that North Korea had expanded the number of missile brigades from nine to 13 over the last two years. Why does the government want to speed up the transfer of wartime operational control now that North Korea has massively boosted its nuclear and conventional weapons arsenal? North Korea has nuclear weapons but South Korea does not. If war did break out, the North would surely put its nuclear arsenal to use, and when that happens, the most pressing concern of U.S. and South Korean forces will be finding and neutralizing North Korea's nuclear weapons. Everything rests on that capability, and only the U.S. military can detect and strike North Korea's nuclear weapons. The key military hardware is reconnaissance satellites and surveillance planes, and only the U.S. has them. The South Korean military aims to deploy five spy satellites by 2024 and has already deployed high-altitude reconnaissance drones. But the drones are far less capable than U.S.'. Most importantly, South Korea does not have nuclear weapons capable of responding to a North Korean attack. How could the South even consider regaining wartime operational control of troops, which would put it in charge of the U.S. Forces Korea as well, as long as it remains so dependent on the U.S. military? The U.S. will not agree to hand over control of its troops under such conditions. The security situation on the Korean Peninsula has changed drastically since 2014, when South Korea and the U.S. agreed to the transfer. North Korea is now believed to have 100 nuclear warheads. But President Moon Jae-in is ignoring the countrys security concerns and insists on living up to his campaign pledge of transferring troop control during his tenure. It is vital to assess the capability of the South Korean military before wartime operational control can be transferred. But this has become impossible as all major joint exercises with the U.S. have been halted. The USFK commander has repeatedly voiced concerns that drills aimed at sharpening troop readiness have turned into "computer games." The two sides back in 2014 agreed to the troop control handover on condition that the South Korean military is able to deal with the North's nuclear and missile threats and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula stabilizes sufficiently. None of the conditions have been met. The transfer must take into consideration the possibility that wartime troop control will actually be exercised. The lives of the South Korean people and the very existence of the nation depend on it. Speed must not take precedence over substance. It is simply unrealistic to think that a South Korean military commander would have the power to activate the U.S. nuclear-defense umbrella the moment North Korea decides to fire nuclear weapons. The U.S. is perfectly entitled to insist on remaining in charge if it bears the brunt of South Korea's defense. Any other assessment is cheap populism. NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thinklabs , maker of the smallest, most powerful stethoscope in the world, released today customer insights and company growth that demonstrate the permanent transformations in healthcare delivery catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thinklabs' sales grew by more than 70% in 2020, as digital technologies became increasingly essential to medical practice to both protect healthcare professionals and keep patients safe. "At its core, Thinklabs is an engineering design company, which means that we solve emerging problems -- the more unusual the challenge, the more creative we become," says Clive Smith, founder and CEO of Thinklabs. "The digital stethoscope does what conventional stethoscopes cannot do, and with the pandemic, that universe of problems expanded overnight: Listening to patients through PAPRs, reducing the use of personal protective equipment by listening from outside the exam room, doing patient exams in drive-through clinics, and doing more telemedicine." Smith added that Thinklabs' production had to multiply in the midst of a global supply chain that was under catastrophic stress, stating, "It felt like a world war had broken out. I even went back to read news articles from the early 1940's, which taught me that humans have no idea how long a crisis will last and how deep it will become. It became more clear that we were going to be in this a lot longer than just the time it took to flatten the curve: This was going to be a long haul." Thinklabs' depth of experience in areas from infection control to telemedicine placed it at the center of demand for stethoscopes that could address the sudden changes in medical practice. The Thinklabs One digital stethoscope has a unique form factor that allows for Safe Distance Auscultation, the process by which healthcare workers can listen to patients' hearts and lungs while wearing PPE, or from a distance with the use of external speakers, or earbuds or headphones that fit over or under PPE. The need is global, with increased demand from international markets, which represent over a quarter of Thinklabs' sales. The company has seen significant demand from hospitals that have been overwhelmed with patients in the past 10-12 months. Thinklabs experienced growth across the multiple sectors that it serves, indicating a general increase in demand for digital stethoscopes beyond Covid-specific applications. Additionally, Thinklabs continuously gathers insights from its global customer base of physicians and other healthcare workers. Patterns that emerged in the past year include significant trends, such as one-third of healthcare workers reporting working from home, and physicians indicating that they expect to continue working from home beyond the pandemic. Thinklabs' data also shows nearly half of healthcare workers predict it will take 12-23 months for healthcare practices to return to something resembling pre-Covid practice. "Based on the insights we've gleaned from our extensive network of customers, digital is the new paradigm for the practice of medicine, and the industry will never go back to the way it was before the pandemic -- COVID has truly changed the world forever," says Smith. "We've observed how emergency approaches taken in the early months of the pandemic have become system-wide solutions that are fully integrated into medical practices today." "Healthcare is a sector that is slow to change. The pandemic has been an accelerant: Changes that would have taken years took weeks. Medical practice is going digital, intelligent, and has to go global to work, as the pandemic has shown. An outbreak in one place can be an outbreak everywhere. As human resources don't exist to meet that demand, technology is the only way to scale and reach people," Smith says. "The stethoscope is the icon of medicine. When I designed the Thinklabs One, I knew it didn't look anything like the old icon. That is now a metaphor for all of healthcare -- it will not look the same going forward." About Thinklabs Thinklabs was founded in 1991 by Clive Smith, a pioneering electronic stethoscope designer. Applying unique approaches to circuit design he learned at Caltech, Smith invented a proprietary method for sensing the vibration of a stethoscope diaphragm, setting a new standard for stethoscope acoustic performance. The Thinklabs One marked a paradigm shift in stethoscope form and function a bold move to eliminate the hollow tube styling that predates the American Civil War. This new form immediately took its place in the armamentarium used to fight Ebola, telemedicine and other novel applications. Its functional performance has earned the Thinklabs One more than 300 references in peer-reviewed journal papers authored by researchers around the world. Media Contact Renee Rossi [email protected] SOURCE Thinklabs One Despite being a hit series, "The Mandalorian" Season 2 actually has some noticeable flaws. Compared to its 2019 season, "The Mandalorian" Season 2 offered more shocking events to its viewers. After the current season came to an end, Screen Junkies' released its "The Mandalorian Season 2 Honest Trailer" and revealed its flaws in a hilarious way. With the new video, it can be easily pointed out what went Wrong in the series. Baby Yoda Is Not a Baby "The Mandalorian" cast successfully put glory to the franchise. Unfortunately, it made a big reveal about Baby Yoda's real identity. In Screen Junkies' six-minute review, it mentioned that Baby Yoda's real name is Grogu and how he became a dark character in the new installment. The character showed shocking and questionable behavior, including eating Frog Lady's babies and murdering their foes. Grogu is actually a 50-year-old "infant" member from an unnamed alien species like Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Yaddle. Critics Got Sick of Repetitive Scenes The YouTube video also pointed out the one issue that stirred criticisms. Since its Season 1, the Disney+ series only uses a few storytelling devices. This led the series to offer repetitive scenes in every episode. Because of this, it has been called out for doing the same scenes over and over again and only applying small changes in an attempt to make it look unique. "You know there's a reason we don't eat birthday cake every day [as] Disney keeps feeding us the same thing, and we will reject it," the Honest Trailer narrator said. "Unless it's Marvel or animated musicals or Pixar movies about giving up your dreams. The Maps and Blueprints In most scenes in the series, the characters relied so much on computer maps. The funniest part was when they opted to overuse the "dumb" Stormtrooper trope trying to make action scenes. However, they ultimately failed in defeating the show's heroes. In addition, Razor Crest's landing on Trask looked like an old "Star Wars" film. On the primary monitor of Din Djarin's ship, a circular map with a hexagonal target marking suddenly appeared. The hexagon looked exactly like a Death star--another resemblance to the 1970s style of the original trilogy. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles The over five years that Tukur Buratai used as Nigerias army chief may have been characterised by some successes against Boko Haram, but it was also filled with massive extrajudicial killings of hundreds of Nigerians by soldiers under his watch. Majority of the soldiers and officers involved in the extrajudicial killings were never prosecuted or punished for their crimes, an indication the atrocities were committed with the approval of the army leadership led by Mr Buratai. In fact, in one of the cases, the army murdered hundreds of unarmed civilians and said it did so because they had blocked a road being used by Mr Buratai and thus endangered his life. Mr Buratai, a lieutenant general, was until last week the Chief of Army Staff, a position he held since his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2015. He resigned with immediate effect and also retired from the army, the presidency announced last week, in what was a major shake-up of the leadership of the Nigerian military. Apart from Mr Buratai, the Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ete-Ibas; Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonishakin, all of who were appointed alongside Mr Buratai, by President Buhari, resigned their positions, according to presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina. Mr Adesina also said Mr Buhari accepted their resignation and appointed their replacements. Their resignation came after months of outcry by Nigerians, including the National Assembly, demanding their sack due to the deteriorating security situation in the country. Mr Buhari, however, ignored the calls to kick them out. Until he assumed duty as the 20th COAS in July 2015, Mr Buratai, who was commissioned into the infantry corps of the army in 1983, held sensitive military positions, locally and internationally. The Borno-born officer served at different times as administrative officer at the State House, Abuja; Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji; Commandant, Nigeria Army School of Infantry, Jaji; Director of Procurement, DHQ and Force Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTNF), among others. While being pulled out last Friday, the former army chief commended himself, saying he was leaving the army better than he met it. He said the army under his watch achieved a great feat in the fight against insurgency. Today is a day of appreciation and not a day of stocktaking. But let me put it on record that I left Nigerian Army better than I met it, he said. We have been experiencing pockets of threats here and there, but I can confidently say that no part of Nigeria is ceded to any terrorist group or criminals. He was, however, silent on the ills and controversies that trailed his 67 months in office, especially the extrajudicial killings and massacres of unarmed Nigerians by soldiers. Three of such incidents stand out. Shiite Massacre Under Mr Buratais watch, the army killed hundreds of members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in Zaria, Kaduna State in 2015. About five months after Mr Buratai became army chief, soldiers in his convoy clashed with the Shiites, an Islamic sect in its base in Zaria, Kaduna State. ADVERTISEMENT The raids took place after members of the sect barricaded a road, stopping Mr Buratais convoy and other road uses. The army explained that it used force because the blockade was an attempt on Mr Buratais life, but the group denied attacking him. After killing scores of the sects members on a Saturday afternoon, the army, witnesses said, returned to the Hussainiyyah base of the Shiites, as well as the resident of its leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, in Gyellesu, also in Zaria. Altercations that followed led to the death of more members of the group. Mr El-Zakzaky survived gunshot wounds and was taken away by the military, alongside his wife. Human Rights Watch said in its report that at least 300 members of the Shiite group were killed. The IMN, on its part, said over a thousand of its members were killed by the soldiers in the three days between December 12 and 14, mainly at its headquarters. A judicial panel of enquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government confirmed 349 deaths including a soldier. The 348 Shiites were secretly buried in mass graves by soldiers and the Kaduna government. Since then, the groups leader, Mr El-Zakzaky, and his wife have been in custody and are being tried for their alleged roles in the death of the soldier. No soldier is being tried for the massacre of the Shiites despite calls by Nigerians and international organisations. Lekki shooting On October 20, 2020, men of the Nigerian Army arrived at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos in three Toyota Hilux vans and almost immediately began shooting into a crowd of peaceful protesters who were mostly youth. The youth were protesting against police brutality, particularly the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Witnesses at the scene said they saw at least 15 corpses on the ground, which were allegedly taken away by the army. But the Nigerian Army denied that its personnel fired on protesters. The army initially claimed its men were not at Lekki that night. However, it later admitted that soldiers were deployed on the request of the Lagos State Government. Contrary to multiple evidence presented in different investigations by journalists including PREMIUM TIMES, as well as evidence presented before a Lagos judicial panel of enquiry, the army insists that its personnel did not open fire on the protesters, let alone kill any. Oyigbo killings Shortly after the incident at Lekki tollgate, soldiers from the Armys 6th Division in Port Harcourt went to Oyigbo, a community in Rivers State, mostly populated by the Igbo, and started shooting indiscriminately at unarmed civilians. The soldiers were on a reprisal mission after members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), an Igbo separatist group, killed some of their colleagues. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the soldiers went in fully-loaded military trucks, took strategic positions and started shooting indiscriminately at innocent civilians. The Oyigbo incident is comparable, in its execution, to the massacres in Odi, Bayelsa State (1999) and Zaki Biam, Benue State (2001), under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The official narrative provided by authorities was that the troops were deployed to the town to fish out separatists who murdered soldiers and police officers. Authorities also said the soldiers were there to recover stolen arms. But contrary to the official account, the soldiers took vengeance on defenceless people with a 24-hour curfew in force. The soldiers fired bullets day and night around Oyigbo, indiscriminately targeting unarmed civilians, several of whom were either killed or injured. This made many of the residents to flee to Port Harcourt, the state capital, and neighbouring states like Imo and Abia. Demand for probe Disturbed by the extrajudicial killings during Mr Buratais tenure, some groups have been calling for the probe of former army chief. Nigerias main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, asked the International Criminal Court, INTERPOL and other world bodies to institute investigations into Mr Buratais tenure as army chief. The PDP, in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, alleged that Mr Buratai and the other former military chiefs committed crimes against humanity. Apart from noting their failure to defend the country against insurgents, the party called for an investigation into the extrajudicial killings of civilians reported under the leadership of the former four service chiefs. The PDP urges the ICC to probe the cases of extra-judicial execution of innocent Nigerians, massacre of peaceful protesters, illegal arrests and arbitrary detention of citizens in dehumanizing cells, torture and rape allegedly committed by the military under the outgoing commanders, as detailed in the reports of credible international bodies including the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI), the statement said The PDP urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to issue an official warrant in line with the courts earlier declaration that it has enough evidence to open a full probe on alleged crimes against humanity under the outgoing commanders. The PDP also called on the ICC to launch a full investigation into mass shootings, civilian tortures and village invasions allegedly linked to men in uniform across the country and hold the outgoing service chiefs responsible for their failure to act upon them. Also, the Concerned Nigerians Group said it had instituted a case against the former COAS at the ICC over what it described as human rights violations and crimes against humanity by the army during his tenure. In a letter last Thursday by its Convener, Deji Adeyanju, the group asked the ICC to investigate, arrest and prosecute Mr Buratai to serve as a deterrent to others who have made it a point of duty to indiscriminately abuse citizens human rights in the country. The letter addressed to Ms Bensouda, the courts chief prosecutor, urged the ICC and lovers of democracy and human rights in the world to immediately investigate, arrest and prosecute Mr Buratai. It will be recalled that sometimes in 2015, Lieutenant General Buratai (Rtd) ordered members of the Nigerian Army to kill over 300 defenceless Nigerian Shiite Muslims on the unjustifiable grounds that they touched a generals chest, the group said. That event has been appropriately tagged the Zaria massacre and it has further worsened the insecurity situation in Nigeria. Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant General Buratai (Rtd) ordered the Nigerian soldiers to kill hundreds of Nigerian citizens of South Eastern extraction, in the guise of searching for members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). It is particularly noteworthy to mention that as at the time Lieutenant General Buratai (Rtd) ordered the massacre of IPOB members, the group had not been proscribed by the Nigeria Government. Additionally, we have been able to gather from different independent sources that Lieutenant General Buratai (Rtd) personally ordered the killing of the innocent protesters at Lekki toll gate, Lagos, on October 20, 2020. It is on the basis of the foregoing, among other human rights abuses, that we call on the International Criminal Court and friends of Nigeria to urgently investigate, arrest and prosecute Lieutenant General Buratai (Rtd), to serve as a deterrent to members of the Nigerian Armed Forces and their civilian collaborators who have made it a point of duty to indiscriminately abuse citizens human rights. (BPT) - For individuals living with blood cancer, stem cell transplantation can offer a potential cure. Over the last decade, survival rates for patients who receive such transplants have been improving. However, for a small group of these patients, an allogenic stem cell transplantation may result in another disease called graft-vs-host disease (GVHD), a potentially fatal complication that can appear after stem cell transplantation. GVHD, which can be an acute or chronic condition, marks the start of an unexpected journey for these patients and their caregivers. It is with this in mind that Incyte launched the Incyte Ingenuity Award, which funds innovative initiatives to address the unique needs of the US GVHD community. The inaugural recipient of the Incyte Ingenuity Award is Dr Areej El-Jawahri, on behalf of Massachusetts General Cancer Center (MGCC). Dr El-Jawahri is an oncologist specializing in the care of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at MGCC, and director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Survivorship Program. Through her time as a practicing oncologist, Dr El-Jawahri has witnessed firsthand the challenging journey that patients often endure after being diagnosed with GVHD. Fueled by her passion for cancer research and care, and an in-depth understanding of GVHD, she saw an opportunity to create meaningful change and to support GVHD patients on a more holistic level through the Incyte Ingenuity Award. Her winning proposal for the Incyte Ingenuity Award - The Horizon Mobile App - will help Dr El-Jawahri and her team further advocate for chronic GVHD patients and provide support beyond the walls of MGCC through a patient-centered, multicomponent mobile app that comprehensively address the specific needs of these patients. Over time, this app will teach patients the skills to identify and address symptoms and enrich self-management, all while sharing appropriate resources. Dr El-Jawahri breaks down GVHD, the patient journey and how the Horizon Mobile App seeks to improve the patient and caregiver experience: What is GVHD and how does it occur? GVHD is a potentially fatal medical complication that can appear in a patient who has recently received a transplant from another person. It is most commonly triggered by bone marrow transplants, but it can also occur with solid organ transplants as well. The disease occurs when white blood cells that remain in the transplanted tissue begin to identify the host body as a foreign intruder and begin to attack the host's cells. Many recipients of transplanted tissue have weakened immune systems, which means that their own bodies are often incapable of preventing the attack from beginning. Symptoms of GVHD depend on the type (acute or chronic) and may include skin rashes, gastrointestinal, liver, and lung damage. Over time, the disease may spread to other areas of the body, such as the immune system, exocrine glands, and connective tissue. There are several treatments available for GVHD, including immunosuppressants, like steroids, and other targeted therapies. Can you provide an overview of the award-winning Horizon Mobile App project? How does it seek to support the GVHD community? Through our day-to-day work at MGCC, we recognize the great emotional and physical challenges that chronic GVHD patients face. Many of these patients do not live near a transplant center and therefore struggle to receive support. Also, its very hard for oncologists and primary care providers (PCPs) to recognize GVHD symptoms, and unfortunately, it can be even harder to empathize with and fully understand the journey of individuals with GVHD. We proposed the creation of a patient-centered, multi-component mobile intervention app that addresses the quality of life and care of patients with chronic GVHD. This app, named the Horizon Mobile App, includes an educational game, which will allow a patient character to navigate through a journey as the patient character copes with the condition and monitors progress. The app also aims to provide chronic GVHD patients with strategies for self-management, including understanding when to contact their transplant center for more specialized care. We also want to make patients aware of all resources that they have at their disposal. Our daily work at MGCC has taught us the importance of patient advocacy and empathetic, emotional support. With this in mind, the app helps connect new patients with the GVHD community to lean on those who truly understand what they are going through. Social support is important because patients are rarely able to return to normal soon after receiving a transplant. Lastly, the app will focus on addressing fatigue and will promote holistic wellbeing through the creation of healthy habits, and a comprehensive self-care plan. What does receiving the inaugural Incyte Ingenuity Award mean to you and your team? I speak for all of MGCC when I say that we are immensely proud to be the first recipient of the Incyte Ingenuity Award as our program was created to truly support those living with chronic GVHD. We are also pleased that Incyte recognizes the need to develop a patient-centered approach to caring for people with GVHD, and is helping creative solutions like ours get the support they need to move from an idea into actual execution. When youre caring for someone with GVHD, youre tasked with addressing not only their medical needs, but also their emotional needswhich often can be difficult to assess and quantify. We believe the Horizon Mobile App will help us provide more holistic care to our patients moving forward. Im grateful my team decided to apply for the Incyte Ingenuity Award, because it motivated us to come together to develop a novel and creative solution that addresses all aspects of GVHD patient care. To learn more about this award-winning project, please visit https://www.incyteingenuityawards.com/recipients. Sponsored by Incyte Corporation. MAT-INC-00989 01/21 This sponsored article is presented by Brandpoint. The Supreme Court, on Wednesday (February 3, 2021) rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) to submit a status report in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. The plea was filed by advocate Puneet Kaur Dhanda, stating that the despite lapse of almost five months, the agency is yet to conclude its investigation. The plea sought a direction to the CBI to complete its probe within two months and submit a final report in the concerned court. "The CBI is not acting responsibly in the present case and there is a delay in the conclusion of the investigation of the case," the plea stated. According to reports, the apex court had passed the order for CBI inquiry back in August 2020, prior to which the case was investigated by Mumbai Police. On February 3, 2021, the bench comprising of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, dismissed the plea saying, "We are not going to entertain this. You go to the High Court." The petitioner said, "Even in serious offences like murder, the law stipulates filing of charge sheet in 90 days but in the present case the premium investigating agency has failed miserably in their role and the unnecessary delay in the present case is bringing bad name to the administration of justice not only in our country but across the globe." "On dissatisfaction being shown by the family of the late actor this Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct an enquiry in the mysterious death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput," the plea added. The petitioner urged the court that a fair, competent, impartial and speedy investigation is the need of the hour. For the unversed, Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. He was 34, and was last seen in the romantic drama Dil Bechara. ALSO READ: Bollywood Drugs Case: NCB Detains Late Sushant Singh Rajput's Friend Rishikesh Pawar For Questioning ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput's Cousin And His Associate Shot At In Bihar's Saharsa By Unidentified Gunmen Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 01:07:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's newly formed State Administration Council held talks with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and its affiliated associations on Wednesday, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team. Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, also chair of the council, told the meeting that there will be no restriction on running the regular businesses during the period of state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing stressed the need to strictly boost the preventive and control measures against COVID-19 without affecting the regular businesses and to exert efforts to survive the businesses as the working class is suffering from financial hardships due to the shutdown of some businesses. Only regenerating the businesses can revitalize the revenue streams for employers and employees, he said. Myanmar government leaders and other senior officials of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained by the military in early hours of Monday. The President's Office later declared the one-year state of emergency and the state power was handed over to the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, according to a statement from the military. Enditem 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 woman from Tamil Nadus Salem district was forced to undergo an abortion by her parents as they were unhappy about her marriage with a Dailt man. Renuka Devi, a 19-year-old from Thiruvachoor village, married Perumal, who hails from Ramanathapuram, in August 2020. She was four months pregnant, the News Minute reported. Renukas parents were not in the favour of marriage as the groom was from a different caste. While Renuka belongs to the Vanniyar (OBC) caste, Perumal is from a scheduled caste, the report said. Police said Renuka was first tricked by her parents into reaching their house on the pretext of her mothers illness. The parents locked up as soon as she reached and restricted her movements. They also barred her from contacting her husband. She was taken to a clinic in Attur on January 26 and forced to undergo abortion. She reportedly informed her husband using her brother's phone two days later, after which a police complaint was made by him and Renuka was rescued by a police team. The police arrested the parents and moved Renuka to a shelter home. Bengaluru, Feb 3 : The US flew its B-1B Lancer heavy bomber for the first time in India at the 13th biennial Aero India 2021 on Wednesday to showcase its capabilities. "The Boeing's B1-Bomber flew along with the Made in India Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas during the flying display of various military aircraft at the inaugural event of the three-day air show at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the city's outskirts," a defence official told IANS here. The long-range, multi-role heavy bomber flew to Bengaluru last week from the Ellsworth Air Force base in South Dakota in 26 hours to perform a 'fly-by' at the Indian defence expo. "The supersonic bomber is capable of carrying out missions worldwide from its bases in the US and from forward deployed locations," said the US consulate in a statement here. With conventional payload of guided and unguided weapons in the US Air Force onboard, the massive aircraft is considered the backbone of America's long-range bomber force. Powered by four General Electric F101-GE-102 turbofan engines with afterburner, the Bomber has 137 feet wingspan, 146 feet length, 34 feet height and weighs a whopping 86,183 kg. "The bomber's maximum take-off weight is 2,16,634 kg and it has a capacity to carry 1,20,326 kg and can fly at 900 miles per hour at over 30,000 feet," Boeing said in its factsheet. Nicknamed 'The Bone', the B-1 has been deployed in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. As a major partner, the US is participating in the air show to strengthen its defence ties with India, reflecting its shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Leading US defence firms, including Aerospace Quality Research & Development LLC, Airborn Inc., Boeing, IEH Corporation, GE Aviation, General Atomics, Hi-Tech Import Export Corporation, L3Harris, Laversab India, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Trakka Systems are participating in the maiden hybrid expo amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the spirit of bilateral support, the US Air Force Band of the Pacific based out of Hawaii will perform with Indian percussion (ghatam) artiste Giridhar Udupa at the expo. Mriganka Kumari, Founder, Pratapgarh Collective recently appeared on NewsX for an exclusive conversation, as a part of its special series, NewsX A-List, Mriganka spoke about her brand, the recent controversy around adulterated honey and making India aatmanirbhar. Talking about her brand and its conceptualization, Mriganka said, Pratapgarh Collective was conceived in 2017. I had just finished working in Delhi and was spending a lot of time back home, doing a lot of exhibitions and I happened to meet Dr. Nitin and he educated me through the process which was fascinating. How the raw flower honey is prepared and with the new kind of machinery and technology available, this is something I really wanted to dab into. Also, I was looking to attach myself to the agricultural industry, a cottage industry, which was low in consumption of power, labour and something sustainable and eco-friendly. Thats how it came about. Speaking about the response received since the brand started, keeping in mind the Covid pandemic, Mriganka said, I wanted to launch Pratapgarh Collective in 2019, but like every venture takes time, my website of under construction, I was still designing my packaging, 2020 March is when we launched ourselves and around then the pandemic struck. It was actually a good time for us, a blessing in disguise because I feel a lot of people had a lot of time on their hands, so there was great visibility, people were actually reading the content. People were paying heed to what you had to say, so we had three months to work on our visibility and our outreach in general but Covid did impact us. It had it cons, the mobility was a problem and the courier service was a problem. Even if people were liking the product, how do you get send the product across and also the whole migration was happening so our farmers werent there so, nobody was actually harvesting the honey that time. Of course, with time, things started easing out and it picked up again. Those three months worked. Providing the USP of the brand and talking about how its different, Mriganka said, Coming from a place like Pratapgarh, I feel that Pratapgarh Collective is an extension of me and I live a simple life. Thats what Pratapgarh Collective believes in- simplicity, what you see is what you get. Our philosophy is bee to bottle, farm to table. We dont overheat or over pasteurize our honey, its in the rawest form. We believe in ethical sourcing, we do believe in the bulk game and numbers but, not putting a strain on the supply chain. So, every batch is a small batch made with a lot of labor and love, by a beautiful team. We work very hard and its the purest honey we can provide. Talking about the recent adulterated honey controversy, it impacts on consumers and on Pratapgarh Collective, Mriganka said, Honey is such a food item, which is extremely vulnerable to food fraud. Any sort of adulteration will lower food quality. The easiest thing is NMR which is Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, a five -minute procedure. What it does is, it differentiates the compound mixture. What intrigues me is that you can control the soil quality, but how do you control the air quality. The bees make honey as they do, the process wont change. So, also as a supplier, you have to have your conscience clear, people are trusting you with their health, youre feeding people. Having said that, our honey is over pasteurized or overheated and our single source of nectar is from a mono flower, we do 100% raw flower honey. Speaking about the new emerging trends after, Covid in the industry, Mriganka said, Everything is becoming more virtual and digital, everybody is seeing that shift and working towards that shift and so are we. When youre on Instagram, you use #farmtotable, so what I see that people are now shifting to the old way of living and thats great because thats what Pratapgarh Collective wants to do. We want to celebrate the old age practices, the way we used to live earlier, what you grow is what you get on your table. Theres a big trend in e-commerce, of course, Instagram is used everywhere. Our main work mode is via Instagram and the website. Speaking of Instagram, Mriganka spoke about celebrities, fashion industry, sportspersons endorsing and appreciating the brand. She said, Even when I started, I was extremely confident about my product. I was never intimidated or felt apprehensive in reaching out to people. Of course, I had help from friends and family who work with these people, so access was easier. There were a lot of people, many celebrities who I shot emails at and they were kind enough to reply back. They genuinely liked the product, hence they posted it. Many of them reached out to us via Instagram as well so its nice and also our process into this has been slow and organic. People are reaching out to us because somebodys tried it and they liked the product. Its very overwhelming and nice when that happens. Talking about the citizens of India coming together to support local products to make India truly aatmanirbhar, Mriganka said, This is a great time for local, homegrown brands and startups like myself to grab the opportunity because I feel there is a vacuum and void that can be filled right now. The government is aiding local brands and especially women entrepreneurs. There are subsidiaries in departments the horticulture. I think everyone is now realizing that we need to stop looking at the West and look inward because these things are already there, you just need to appreciate them more and realize the benefit of it. Something as simple as honey had been a part of Ayurveda and we know its benefits. I think its a great time for startups like myself to reach out and grab the opportunities being presented. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. (Newser) The attempt of Long Beach, Calif., to provide grocery store workers with "hero's pay" is ending with two of the city's grocery stores being permanently shut. NPR reports the Long Beach City Council passed an ordinance last month that requires certain large grocery stores to pay local workers an extra $4 an hour for at least the next 120 daysand Kroger said no way. Instead it will on April 17 shutter two "long-struggling" Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores that fall under its umbrella. The Long Beach Post reports the move will impact nearly 200 workers, though it's possible some will be transferred. On top of that, though, is the neighborhood impact: The North Long Beach area near Food 4 Less is considered a food desert, and many locals lack cars with which to drive elsewhere. story continues below "This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city," said a company rep who decried the city's "attempt to pick winners and losers." Kroger defended the moves it has made in support of its employees during the pandemic, including $1.3 billion spent on health protocols and employee bonuses in addition to a $15 Million Helping Hands fund. CBS News reports the California Grocers Association is suing the city over the "unconstitutional" ordinance that it says doesn't comply with a collective bargaining agreement between grocery stores and unionized workers. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia tweeted in reply, "Grocers are making record profits. We go to court this month and we will defend the workers vigorously." (Read more coronavirus stories.) 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 ability to safely welcome leisure travelers back and resume overnight accommodations, outdoor tours, activities, dining and more, is not only a promising sign for the future of travel, but will also be a vital lifeline for saving so many of the businesses and jobs on our small island Following the State of Californias recent lift of regional stay-at-home orders, Love Catalina, the official Catalina Island Tourism Authority, has announced it is once again welcoming leisure travelers. A recovery plan is underway in partnership with local businesses, retail shops, activities and restaurants now open for in-person visitation and outdoor dining. Effective as of January 29, 2021, the updated Los Angeles County Public Health orders allow the additional businesses to reopen with updated protocols. Social distancing and face covering guidelines remain in place at all establishments on the island. The status of key travel and service information can be found below: Transportation: Catalina Express is operating daily passenger ferry service from Long Beach to Avalon; weekend service from Dana Point to Avalon; and weekend service from San Pedro to both Two Harbors and Avalon. Due to the vessels operating at reduced capacity for social distancing, visitors are encouraged to make reservations early to ensure a seat. The Catalina Flyer from Newport Beach will resume service on February 26, 2021. IEX Helicopters is operating with on demand daily flights to the island, seven days a week from multiple Southern California locations. While on the island, Catalina Island Conservancy is resuming limited services of the Wildlands Express shuttle, offering transportation to and from the Trailhead visitors center in Avalon to the world-famous Airport in the Sky and Catalinas backcountry tails. Visitors can view the shuttle schedule and make reservations here. Face masks are required by passengers at all times while waiting to board and while on vessels. Accommodations: Hotels and vacation rentals are open for leisure travel bookings. A list of open accommodations can be found online here. Campgrounds and camping services are scheduled to fully reopen on February 12, 2021. Restaurants: Outdoor dining guidelines have made it possible for many restaurants to reopen. Protocols for outdoor dining also allow some restaurants to set up tables directly on the beach. A list of all open restaurants can be found online here. Retail, Services and Activities: Most services and retail shops are open, along with many recreational activities; a list can be found online here. An online compilation of updates from business and services on the island, including hours of operation and closures, is being updated in real time on the "What's Open" page on LoveCatalina.com. To accommodate smaller group sizes and social distancing, visitors are encouraged to make reservations in advance and verify activities or status directly with the business prior to booking. The health and well-being of our residents and all visitors is the top priority right now, and businesses on the island have done an incredible job of implementing appropriate safety protocols, said Love Catalina President and CEO Jim Luttjohann. The ability to safely welcome leisure travelers back and resume overnight accommodations, outdoor tours, activities, dining and more, is not only a promising sign for the future of travel, but will also be a vital lifeline for saving so many of the businesses and jobs on our small island that relies on tourism. Being open for Presidents Day, Valentines Day and Spring Break is wonderful. For more information about Catalina Island, please visit http://www.lovecatalina.com. Follow along on Facebook @LoveCatalinaIsland, Instagram @LoveCatalinaIsland and Twitter @LoveCatalina_. Travelers are encouraged to share their memories and experiences via social media using the hashtag #LoveCatalina. About Love Catalina: Love Catalina serves as the official Catalina Island Tourism Authority. Originally founded in 1949, the nonprofit comprises over 200 member businesses, working to attract visitors and support the local economy. Love Catalina is governed by an elected board of directors and is funded in part through the collection of Transient Occupancy Taxes. For more information, please visit http://www.lovecatalina.com. [February 03, 2021] Biophytis Announces the Start of Patient Recruitment in Brazil and the USA for Part 2 of the Phase 2-3 COVA Trial ("COVA Study") Patient recruitment in Part 2 of the COVA Study will begin in most clinical centers in Brazil and the United States Interim Analysis of Part 1 is expected in Q1 2021 Results from the full study (Part 1 and Part 2) are expected in Q2 2021 PARIS and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biophytis SA (Euronext Growth Paris: ALBPS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of therapeutics that slow the degenerative processes associated with aging and improve functional outcomes for patients suffering from age-related diseases, including severe respiratory failure in patients suffering from COVID-19, today announces that patient recruitment at most clinical centers in Brazil and the United States will begin for Part 2 of its COVA Study assessing Sarconeos (BIO101) as a potential treatment for acute respiratory failure associated with COVID-19. Enrollment for Part 1 of the COVA Study has been completed with 50 patients recruited in 4 countries: Brazil, the USA, Belgium, and France. Following the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) recommendation to begin the recruitment for Part 2, authorization is being obtained from regulatory authorities (national regulatory agencies and/or central IRB and/or local Ethics Committees) in Brazil and the USA for the start of Part 2. Similar authorizations are being pursued in France, Belgium and the UK. Stanislas Veillet, Chief Executive Officer of Biophytis, said: We are extremely pleased to start recruiting patients for Part 2 at most clinical centers in Brazil and the USA. He added: There continues to be an unmet need for new COVID-19 treatment options for elderly patients, or patients with co-morbidities, who will continue to be at high risk of developing severe respiratory manifestations requiring hospitalization. The COVA Study (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04472728, and EudraCT identifier: 2020-001498-63) is a global, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, group-sequential, and adaptive design two-part Phase 2-3 study assessing Sarconeos (BIO101) in patients aged 45 and older, hospitalized with severe respiratory manifestations of COVID-9. Part 1 of the COVA Study is a Phase 2 exploratory proof of concept study providing preliminary data on the safety, tolerability and activity of Sarconeos (BIO101) in 50 hospitalized patients with severe respiratory manifestations related to COVID-19. The Interim Analysis of Part 1 is expected in Q1 2021, subject to any COVID-19 related delays and the impact of the current pandemic on our operational capabilities. Part 2 of the COVA Study is a Phase 3 pivotal randomized study investigating the safety and efficacy of Sarconeos (BIO101) on the respiratory function from 310 COVID-19 patients (including the 50 patients from Part 1 of the study). The full study results (Part 1 and Part 2) are expected in Q2 2021, subject to any delays in patient recruitment or retention, interruptions in sourcing or supply chain, regulatory authorizations, COVID-19-related delays, and the impact of the current pandemic. About BIOPHYTIS Biophytis SA is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specialized in the development of therapeutics that slow the degenerative processes associated with aging and improve functional outcomes for patients suffering from age-related diseases, including severe respiratory failure in patients suffering from COVID-19. Sarconeos (BIO101), our leading drug candidate, is a small molecule, administered orally, being developed as a treatment for sarcopenia in a Phase 2 clinical trial in the United States and Europe (SARA-INT). It is also being studied in a clinical two-part Phase 2-3 study (COVA) for the treatment of severe respiratory manifestations of COVID-19 in Europe, Latin America, and the US. A pediatric formulation of Sarconeos (BIO101) is being developed for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The company is based in Paris, France, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company's common shares are listed on the Euronext Growth Paris market (Ticker: ALBPS -ISIN: FR0012816825). For more information visit www.biophytis.com Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "predicts," "intends," "trends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding Biophytis anticipated timing for its Interim Analysis of Part 1 and release of full study results. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Biophytis considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the statements contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, delays in patient recruitment or retention, interruptions in sourcing or supply chain, its ability to obtain the necessary regulatory authorizations, COVID-19-related delays, and the impact of the current pandemic on the Companys clinical trials. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Biophytis or not currently considered material by Biophytis. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. In France, please also refer to the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual 2019 Report and the Companys Half Year 2020 Report available on BIOPHYTIS website (www.biophytis.com). We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. This press release was written in French and English; If there is a difference between the texts, the French version will prevail. Biophytis Contact for Investor Relations Evelyne Nguyen, CFO E: evelyne.nguyen@biophytis.com Media contact LifeSci Advisors, LLC Sophie Baumont E: sophie@lifesciadvisors.com T: +33 6 27 74 74 49 Investor Relations LifeSci Advisors, LLC Sandya von der Weid E: svonderweid@lifesciadvisors.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Lao villagers resettled in mountaintop towns to make way for construction the China-backed Namtha 1 Dam in Luang Namtha province in northern Laos have been given houses and other facilities but now have no land to farm, leaving them unable to make a living in their new homes, Lao sources say. More than 10,000 villagers displaced from 37 villages in Luang Namtha and Bokeo provinces have now been moved in a resettlement drive beginning in 2016 and ending last year, and are living in homes in 11 new villages on high ground. All the moved villagers have now settled in but have been left with no land to work, a resident of Resettlement Village No. 1 told RFAs Lao Service on Jan. 29. The problem is that we dont have any land to farm, and we have no fields for planting rice, the resettled villager said, speaking on condition of anonymity. We already have electricity, roads, hospitals, and schools, so everything would be fine if we just had some land, he said. Villagers displaced by work on the Namtha 1 Dam have been resettled on high ground because the low land near their former homes has been flooded, and many have been left to forage for food in mountaintop forests while others slash and burn land on the slopes to try to plant rice, the source said. Were waiting for land allocations, but we dont know when [the authorities and dam developers] are going to distribute it, another resident of Resettlement Village No. 1 said, adding, We need the land now so that we can clear it and prepare it for the coming rainy season. Only a few of us have farmland in areas that havent flooded, but most of us dont, he said. Relocated villagers also need jobs, added a resident of Resettlement Village No. 11. Right now we have no jobs, nothing to do, and no income at all, he said. 'Land difficult to find' Also speaking to RFA, an official in Luang Namthas Agriculture and Forestry Department said that authorities are looking for land suitable for farming that they can distribute. Were looking for land. But its very difficult to find 1,000 hectares of farmable land near the Namtha 1 Dam because the area is mountainous and has no water, he said. An employee of the dams developer, the Namtha 1 Power Co. Ltd., meanwhile said his company is looking for ways to provide land to the villagers in the resettlement areas. But were also looking for other ways to help them make a living. One that would be sustainable would be to help them raise chickens, ducks, and pigs, he said. Water shortages, landslides Villagers moved away from the area of the dam are also facing water shortages, especially during the countrys dry season, with one relocated villager saying, We havent had enough water ever since we moved here, and the water we do have isnt treated. We have to boil it before drinking it. We live on a mountain far away from the Namtha River, another villager said, adding, We have to travel on steep slopes in order to fetch water from the river. Landslides also pose a danger to resettlement areas, with a road and parts of the foundation of one village, the Nam Ou 4 Dam Resettlement Village in Phongsaly province, cracking after heavy rains in August 2019, and several houses threatened with collapse. According to its website, the developer of the Namtha 1 Dam, the Namtha 1 Power Co. Ltd., is a joint venture between China Southern Power Grid International Co. Ltd., which owns 80 percent of the project, and Electricite du Lao, with a 20 percent share. Completed in 2018, the dam sold most of its generated power in 2019 to two Chinese special economic zonesthe Golden Triangle SEZ in Bokeo province and the Boten SEZ in Luang Namtha, bordering China. After 28 years of operation, ownership of the dam will transfer to the Lao government, the developers website says. Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries, with ultimate plans for scores more, hoping to export most of the electricity they generate to other countries in the region. Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the countrys economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers without adequate compensation, and questionable financial and power-demand arrangements. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney. 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. 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. Haiti - News : Zapping... Arnel Joseph shocking revelations... According to a police source, during his hearing on January 25, Gang leader Arnel Joseph revealed the names, dates and sums of money received from his sponsors both in the Government and several big bosses. However, since this information is covered by the secrecy of the investigation, it will still be necessary to wait, if this information is proven, before knowing who it is. To be continued... Senate : Postponement of the National dialogue "Due to certain circumstances, the Senate is obliged to postpone the national dialogue scheduled for February 3 and 4, 2021. I am continuing the steps that will make this essential and essential dialogue possible. We need a project for Haiti," informed Senator Joseph Lambert Elections : discussion on financing Members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe, accompanied by Mathias Pierre, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of electoral issues and relations with political parties and Guy Andre Jr Francois Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, in charge of Citizenship and Patriotism had a meeting with the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the CORE GROUP on the current electoral process, the budget for the elections and the contribution to the basket fund https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32870-haiti-elections-first-contribution-of-$20mm-for-the-referendum-and-the-elections.html from countries friends of Haiti to the process. FBH believes that Moise's term ends on February 7 The Federation des Barreaux d'Haiti (FBH) considers that the constitutional provisions relating to the term of office of Jovenel Moise must be understood in the light of the restrictive interpretation imposed on parliamentarians on January 13, 2020 and considers that the term of President Jovenel Moses is due to end on February 7, 2021, five years from the date of the election. Jacmel : Pre-carnival activities 1 dead and 7 injured In Jacmel, 1 death and 7 injured were recorded on Sunday during the pre-carnival festivities, according to local civil protection officials. EDH message The Directorate General of Electricity of Haiti (EDH) has the advantage of informing the general public that it received, this Tuesday, February 2, a set of heavy equipment that should allow the company to better serve its customers across the country. HL/ HaitiLibre As line of business divisions modernise applications and embrace software-as-a-service - aligned to boardroom transformation agendas - IT executives are approaching an infrastructure crossroads. With change on the horizon, organisations are reassessing ageing data centre infrastructure capabilities in the pursuit of enhanced flexibility, control, scale and performance. Yet challenges remain as IT decision-makers balance laying the foundations for future innovation to keep pace with the business, while assessing current risk levels and supporting the status quo. Such uncertain times are making it difficult for CIOs to commit to long-term strategies, outlined Chris Marshall, founder and managing director of blueAPACHE. In response, businesses must become more agile and align with an infrastructure strategy which allows flexibility, while providing the confidence that IT can respond to market opportunities and challenges with confidence. In looking to the months ahead - and as businesses begin to drive innovation agendas to kick-start recovery efforts post-pandemic - IT priorities are changing at pace across Australia, evident by the transformation taking shape at Frankston City Council. We operated as a traditional on-premises organisation and the move for our workforce to be largely off-site has changed the way we need to network, manage our applications and drive nimbleness in both the delivery of current services and development, explained Chris Rathborne, head of IT at Frankston City Council. With increased focus on speed of services, flexibility and availability, we have had to trim even further our attention to the services that are critical to the organisation and our customers more than ever. As highlighted by Rathborne, the focus on becoming a data driven business has intensified at the local government organisation, which has in turn renewed emphasis on integration and connectivity, cloud ecosystems and the future of IT infrastructure. Workloads across the organisation do fluctuate as do our focus on services and this too has an impact on our data and applications, he added. Our data infrastructure needs to remain dynamic which includes how we build our systems and the flow of data from that which supports applications, through to the provision of reliable decision-making data to the executive in order to lead an organisation through change. In short, Rathborne acknowledged that elements which the business thought mattered must now be reviewed in response to changing market environments. While there is a lot that mattered before, and still does need to be looked at, programs of work now need to be leaner than before to ensure the delivery of critical services and adherence to strict and tighter budgets, he said. Meanwhile, Hugues Brun - manager of Global IT Infrastructure at Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) - documented a sharp acceleration in IT infrastructure projects during the past few months, triggered by increased demand for network availability and remote access. This has highlighted the strength and weaknesses of IT infrastructure and also created opportunities to push new solutions to keep the business on and human safety at high ranks, added Brun, in spearheading local modernisation efforts at the Melbourne-based division of the global cable manufacturer. Delving deeper, such a shift in dynamics also helped reinforce business justification around customer access and information availability, all housed within a secure environment. Then our next challenge is to focus on infrastructure change specific to WAN access while ensuring more solutions are consolidated and easily reachable, Brun outlined. The most challenging aspect facing CIOs is data availability everywhere, added to the responsibility of making it accurate and secure. Therefore, infrastructure is the first step in ensuring availability and reliability are easily manageable, especially given resource restrictions. Moving forward, Brun advised that a sustainable way of following key business trends is to build attractive solutions that can be easily handled by end-users. In the other words, ensure that people are trained and can make and maintain IT solutions, he advised. Training is mandatory to provide two benefits - lighten the solution load for the IT workforce and ensuring the solution aligns with business trends and needs. Addressing CIO challenges Founded in 1998, Australian owned blueAPACHE goes to market as a leading global service provider specialising in the delivery of private, hybrid and public cloud solutions, in addition to security, networking, business continuity and unified communications offerings. Key customers span a range of verticals around the world, including Nous Group, Honan Insurance Group and Berry Street. When modernising data centre operations, how much should CIOs invest? Marshall asked. Especially with the current demands being placed on resources. With outsourcing representing a viable alternative, Marshall also stressed the importance of incorporating platform flexibility to help kick-start agile agendas across Australia. Businesses are seeking a private cloud experience with public cloud economics, he added, referencing the providers emPOWER Cloud which leverages Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) technologies via GreenLake, a consumption-based IT model. IT can keep pace by choosing a partner capable of supporting evolving business requirements through a comprehensive services catalogue. Our industry-leading suite of solutions is built on a validated reference architecture which helps accelerate time to value for organisations. In running a private cloud offering in the form of our emPOWER Cloud, Marshall said blueAPACHE can support customers during innovation and growth projects, removing the added roadblocks associated with ageing underlying infrastructure running modern applications. We are accountable for every aspect of the application delivery supply chain, from hosting and managing the application environment to ensuring excellence in end-user experience, he added. Customers also have assurance that cloud costs will not outpace business revenues because we deliver solutions as-a-service with monthly charges based on consumption. In a move designed to enhance scale, elasticity and agility of price-points, blueAPACHE recently selected HPE to upgrade emPOWER cloud infrastructure, delivered as-a-service via HPE GreenLake. From a technology perspective, the foundation of the infrastructure is built on HPE Synergy composable infrastructure and HPE Primera mission-critical storage, providing high availability, performance and scalability benefits in the process. Most importantly, added Marshall, HPE GreenLake ensures that we have capacity ahead of demand without the need for large CAPEX investments - reserve capacity is always available, but we only pay for what is used. HPE GreenLake puts blueAPACHE infrastructure costs in line with revenue coming from our customers. We dont have over-provision systems ahead of time like before, and when we do need to expand infrastructure, its now much faster and easier. With new cloud infrastructure managed by HPE GreenLake, Marshall said blueAPACHE is free to place 100 percent of engineering talent towards serving customers and meeting hybrid cloud outcomes, backed by dedicated support managers, strategic consultation and on-site operation services. We are completely accountable for the solutions we deliver to customers and having HPE GreenLake here for areas such as systems management and capacity planning is another level of governance to help us be accountable, Marshall added. This allows us to just focus on our business without worrying about our platform infrastructure. The South Korean government said it would provide grants worth KRW23bn (US$21m) for the construction of a testing centre for materials and parts for rechargeable batteries, according to local reports. The ministry of trade, industry and energy said the grants were in line with government efforts to foster the electric vehicle industry as a new engine of economic growth. The centre would provide advanced testing infrastructure to local small and medium-sized companies to test materials and parts to be used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage units. South Korean exports of rechargeable batteries increased by 1.3% to US$7.5bn last year, due mainly to rising demand for EVs in Europe and in the US, while overall exports fell by 5.4% to US$512.8bn. Sales of environment-friendly vehicles in the country, including electric and hybrid vehicles and fuel-cell electric vehicles, jumped by 54% to more than 213,000 units in 2020 according to industry data, driven by generous government subsidies and expanding charging infrastructure. Unfortunately, thats not a joke. After Ram trolled the Blue Oval to pop the hood of the F-150 Raptor, the Dearborn-based automaker hasnt even confirmed if the EcoBoost V6 has more to offer than the previous model. On the upside, the Ford Motor Company did confirm the Raptor R for 2022.Whats a Raptor R? I wish I could answer that question, but once again, Ford is playing hooky with the motoring media and prospective customers alike. The deafening silence doesnt come as a surprise, but on the upside, we already know that eight cylinders are in the pipeline for the newcomer.It remains to be seen if the Predator V8 from the Shelby GT500 is the culprit, but Im willing to bet on it because its the only engine that competes directly with the Hellcat 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 of the Ram TRX. As a brief refresher, the most potent Mustang available today belts out a simply incredible 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet (847 Nm) of torque.Turning our attention back to the 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor, the Baja-style pickup comes with 35-inch rubber as standard and 37-inch tires as an option. The larger shoes enable 13.1 inches (332 mm) of running clearance, 33.1 degrees of approach angle, 24.9 degrees of departure angle, and 24.4 degrees of breakover angle. As far as the ladder-frame chassis is concerned, the only improvement that matters is the five-link rear suspension.Exclusively available as a SuperCrew with the 145-inch (3,683-mm) wheelbase, the Raptor is projected to run out of gas after more than 500 miles (805 kilometers) thanks to a 36-gallon (136-liter) fuel tank. Just like the previous generation, the 2021 redesign is available with a Torsen front limited-slip differential that mirrors the 4:10 final drive ratio of the electronic locking rear diff.When properly equipped, the maximum payload is rated at 1,400 pounds (635 kilograms), while the maximum towing capacity is quoted at 8,200 pounds (3,719 kilograms). Assembled at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan alongside regular F-150s , the all-new Raptor that seems too similar to the old one will be available in showrooms across the nation this summer. Press Release February 3, 2021 Pangilinan: For economy to rebound, drastic changes in govt Covid response badly needed THE government needs drastic changes to make its Covid response competent and graft-free in order for the Philippine economy to bounce back, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Wednesday. "Competent leadership is key. Mula umpisa, sinabi na yan ng Senado. Now, we have to swiftly and effectively implement the Covid vaccination plan -- fully transparent and without graft. Only then will we be able to begin our recovery," he said. Citing the Sydney-based Lowy Institute which scored the Philippines poor in its anti-Covid response, Pangilinan pointed out that Taiwan and Vietnam were among the countries that best addressed the pandemic. "Hindi sila naghintay ng bakuna, maagap sila sa pagsugpo sa sakit," he said, noting that the number of Covid cases in Taiwan is below 1,000, and its Covid-related deaths fewer than 10. Pangilinan stressed that public confidence will not be restored if Covid response remains slow or ineffective. "It has been a year since we had the first confirmed Covid case. We dropped the ball several times already. A year ago, our contact-tracing efforts were abysmal. Our testing took a while to really take off. Even the negotiation for supply of vaccines took several months to start," he said. "Mag-a-anniversary na rin ang quarantine natin sa Marso pero wala pa ring malinaw na game plan. We can only re-open the economy if public confidence is restored. Paano gagaling ang naghihingalo nating ekonomiya kung makupad pa ring kumilos at mabagal umaksyon ang mga kinauukulan?" Pangilinan said. The senator, whose resolution prompted the convening of the Senate Committee of the Whole to probe the country's Covid vaccination plan, calls on the government to step up on its Covid response. "Sabi nga nila, magastos ang incompetence. And this time we're paying the price figuratively and literally. Bilyon-bilyon na ang utang natin. Milyon-milyon na ang nawalan ng trabaho at bumaba ang kita. Milyon-milyon din ang nagugutom. How much longer do we have to wait for the arrival of vaccines when we're averaging over 50 deaths a day?" Pangilinan said. "Kung maayos simula't simula pa ang pagtugon natin sa Covid, di tayo kulelat. The government needs to step up, clear its deliverables, and perform better," he added. The government recently approved IATF Resolution No. 95 or the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for Covid-19 Vaccines" dated Tuesday, January 26. A P82.5-billion budget has been allocated to fund the Covid-19 vaccine deployment program. As of February 2, the Philippines has logged 528,853 cases of Covid-19, with 10,874 reported deaths. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Imperial Valley News Center Chinese National Charged with Criminal Conspiracy to Export US Power Amplifiers to China Chicago, Illinois - An indictment was unsealed this week charging Cheng Bo, also known as Joe Cheng, a 45-year-old national of the Peoples Republic of China, with participating in a criminal conspiracy from 2012-2015 to violate U.S. export laws by shipping U.S. power amplifiers to China. Chengs former employer, Avnet Asia Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company and global distributor of electronic components and related software, agreed to pay a financial penalty to the United States of $1,508,000 to settle criminal liability for the conduct of its former employees, including Cheng. As part of a non-prosecution agreement, Avnet Asia admitted responsibility for Chengs unlawful conspiracy to ship export-controlled U.S. goods with potential military applications to China, and also for the criminal conduct of another former employee who, from 2007-2009, illegally caused U.S. goods to be shipped to China and Iran without a license. This conduct violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) is also announcing today that Avnet Asia has agreed to pay an additional $1,721,000 as part of a $3,229,000 administrative penalty to resolve violations of the Export Administration Regulations. Avnets employees repeatedly falsified documentation in order to send export-controlled goods with potential military applications to China, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the National Security Division. What China cannot develop itself, it acquires illegally through others. This is yet another example of a proxy acting to further Chinas malign interests. We will not abide individuals or business organizations that would seek to harm our national security by illegally providing coveted U.S. goods with potential military applications to Iran or China, said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin for the District of Columbia. We will pursue wrongdoers no matter where they are located in the world. "The People's Republic of China is relentless in its pursuit of U.S. technology, much of which can be used for military purposes, said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. The FBI is just as relentless in identifying and stopping those who violate export controls while doing business with China. Let us be clear, this is not business as usual. It is illegal and individuals and companies will pay a price for such violations." The indictment unsealed today serves as a warning to those who violate export control laws designed to protect our national and economic security, said Special Agent in Charge Michael F. Paul of the FBIs Minneapolis Field Office. The settlement with Avnet Asia announced today represents years of hard work on one of the FBIs highest priorities stopping the illegal export of U.S. technology to China. Regardless of their location, global corporations have a responsibility to follow U.S. law when selling American technology. Criminal and civil penalties await companies and individuals who fail to adhere to laws protecting sensitive U.S. technologies. The Office of Export Enforcement remains committed to enforcing our nations export control laws by investigating domestic and overseas companies who intentionally divert sensitive U.S.-origin dual-use commodities to prohibited end users and nations without the required licenses or license exceptions, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tambrini of DOC Office of Export Enforcements (DOC-OEE) Chicago Field Office. The export of sensitive technology items to China or anywhere else in the world is tightly regulated for good reason, said Special Agent in Charge David A. Prince of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. One of HSIs top enforcement priorities is preventing U.S. military and dual-use products and sensitive technology from falling into the hands of those who might seek to harm America or its interests. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to aggressively target and investigate those who jeopardize our nations security or the welfare of those devoted to protecting it. According to the indictment unsealed today, Cheng was a sales account manager with Avnet Asia, and he operated as a sales representative to a Hong Kong-based customer with whom Cheng had an ownership interest. Cheng submitted paperwork on behalf of the customer to purchase export-controlled U.S. goods, including power amplifiers. Cheng caused false statements to be made to the U.S. manufacturer of the power amplifiers that his customer would use the power amplifiers in Hong Kong when, in fact, Cheng knew that the goods would be illegally shipped from Hong Kong to China. As part of the non-prosecution agreement, Avnet Asia admitted that from 2012-2015, Cheng caused at least 18 separate shipments of export-controlled goods to be sent from the United States to Hong Kong, knowing that the goods were intended to be subsequently shipped to China, and that the value of these illegal exports was at least $814,000. Avnet Asia also admitted that another sales account manager, this one based in Singapore, conspired to violate U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions from 2007 through 2009. The Singapore-based sales account manager helped two Singapore business organizations in their efforts to ship U.S. goods to Iran and China, including by helping to create documents falsely stating that the goods were destined only for Singapore. The Singapore-based sales account manager caused at least 29 separate Avnet Asia shipments of goods to be exported from the United States, knowing that the goods were intended to be subsequently shipped to Iran or China. The value of these goods was at least $347,000. Neither Avnet Asia nor anyone else applied for an export license from U.S. government authorities. If convicted, Cheng would face up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to twice the value of the property involved in the illegal transactions. The facts alleged in the indictment are allegations, and criminal defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The FBIs Minneapolis Field Office, DOC-OEEs Chicago Field Office, and HSI Los Angeles investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Friedman and Thomas A. Gillice, and Justice Department National Security Division Trial Attorney David C. Recker, are representing the United States. Lucknow, Feb 3 : The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a party led by former Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, has decided to join the ongoing farmers' agitation against the three Central farm laws. SBSP President Rajbhar said that his party will hold 'chaupals' in 5,000 villages on February 5 in support of the protesting farmers. "We will discuss the farm laws threadbare and their consequences on the future of farmers. We will also announce our support to the farmers' protest in Delhi and discuss to take it forward," said Rajbhar. Party sources said that there is a strong possibility of other members of Rajbhar's alliance, including the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, also becoming part of the initiative. "The farmers' agitation has already turned into an anti-BJP platform and opposition parties have no qualms in joining in. Farmers from Uttar Pradesh are also pitching in with their support," said a senior SBSP functionary. Meanwhile, hookah panchayats - a traditional forum for discussing key issues (social, financial and political)- have begun in western and central Uttar Pradesh. In these panchayats, elders discuss several issues while smoking hookahs. The Mahapanchayats in Muzaffarnagar, Mathura and Baghpat are now being followed up by the hookah panchayats to strengthen the farmers' movement in Delhi. Prakash Baliyan, a farmer from Badaut, said that the hookah panchayats are working out the modalities to implement the Mahapanchayats' decision to strengthen the ongoing farmers' movement. "We have decided that people from different villages will move to the Ghazipur border on different days so that there is no overcrowding on a particular day. We are drawing up a strategy which will ensure that there is sizeable presence at the protest site at all times. We are prepared for the agitation to continue for quite some time. We will also be taking food and other essential items with us," he said. The farm laws dominated the debate during the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with the ruling BJP urging opponents not to make the farmers' agitation "another Shaheen Bagh" while the Opposition asked the government to repeal the legislation without making it a prestige issue. Several speakers referred to the violence at Red Fort on Republic Day following the tractor rally and cases of sedition slapped against journalists and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned calling Tharoor, who has served as a Minister of State in External Affairs, a "traitor". "If Tharoor is a traitor, then all of us are traitors," he said. Read | No govt job for those who hold protests that turn violent in Bihar The government and the Opposition arrived at a consensus to extend the debate time by five hours to discuss farmers' issue at the beginning of the session. However, AAP did not join the consensus and three of its MPs were marshalled out after they shouted slogans. Initiating the debate, Assam MP Bhubaneswar Kalita said the new farm laws were passed after extensive deliberations in Parliament and that doors are "always open" for farmers so that the stalemate can be resolved amicably. "The government is ready to discuss all issues concerning it. But my appeal to my friends is that they do not make it another Shaheen Bagh," Kalita, a former Congress MP who joined BJP in August 2019, said. Shaheen Bagh is known for the massive anti-CAA protest led by Muslim women but was panned by the ruling BJP and its allies. "The benefits of these three important farm laws have started reaching more than 10 crore people and small farmers. There has been no reduction in the rights and facilities of farmers. Through these agriculture reforms, the government has given new rights to farmers," he said. Azad demanded a withdrawal of the farm laws and asked the government not to make it a prestige issue. He suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make the announcement on the repeal himself. Condemning the Republic Day violence, he said disrespect to the national flag cannot be tolerated and that those involved should be punished. However, he warned against implicating "innocent" farmer leaders. BJD's Prasanna Acharya also condemned the Red Fort incident and demanded an impartial probe, possibly by a sitting Supreme Court judge, saying one cannot just blame the farmers. Read | Holding no informal talks with farmers, barricading is local admin issue: Tomar CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem said the government is not ready to accept the demands of the farmers "even after more than 150 farmers lost their lives in the numbing cold". "Many of the farmer leaders are booked with fake charges in connection with the unfortunate incidents that happened on 26th January, which was equivocally condemned by all the organisations who are part of the peaceful protest. The government is trying to weaken this democratic protest by perpetrating violence and using force," he said. "Even the electricity and water supply to the protest spots are being disconnected by the government. I urge the Government to yield to the demands of farmers and they should withdraw the farm laws immediately," Kareem added. While the laws on investment, enterprises, and funding under the public-private partnership model are appreciated by local and foreign stakeholders. They also await additional guiding documents to manoeuvre their projects effectively and safely through the legal landscape. Safety and compliance are just two of the main factors directing freedom of business in the country The new laws on enterprises, investment, and investment under the public-private partnership model, passed by the National Assembly in June 2020 and took effect on January 1, are all components of Vietnams revised economic institutions. Nguyen Dinh Cung, a member of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Group, however noted that the initial provisions of these laws were still sketchy, as enterprises could only do business in areas that the state allowed. In the future, Cung said, enterprises could participate in many more sectors as the state slowly opens up. Four factors Investment and business are now based on the pillars of freedom of business, equality in activities, safety in operations, and compliance costs. In todays Vietnam, freedom of business is relatively high, but enterprises still lack reliable tools to protect their interests and rights, Cung pointed out. For example, large-scale inspections can cause businesses to shut down. Vietnam already has a Law on Inspection that regulates such operations, thereby helping to avoid arbitrary actions or abuse of authority of agencies and officials. However, overlaps with other laws still exist. Up to now, Cung said that policies and enforcement risks are still high and complex, leaving many businesses in an unpredictable situation that makes even complying with the law a challenge. The cost of compliance, although significantly reduced, also remains high, according to annual reports on the Provincial Competitiveness Index. Moreover, the reduction of compliance costs is only enabled by administrative reforms as there is no suitable institution to systematically reduce such costs. Many businesses that want to implement investment projects do not know where to start, and which regulations should be implemented first, Cung explained. Complicated regulations on procedures for implementing projects may have caused many businesses to give up and halt their investments. While a project may only take 6-12 months to complete, some companies have not completed their investment procedures for several years, thus missing out on opportunities and facing increasing costs and lost profits. With procedures for licensing projects often leading to conflicts because of overlaps and ambiguities, investors are practically scared away from taking on new projects, Cung said. As a result, they may not dare to engage in large-scale investment projects and rather focus on smaller endeavours. As the investment and business laws move into effect, Cung said that the biggest challenge is now complying with them, citing some industries remaining limitations in business freedom such as in legal services, finance and banking, and other areas. Finding the way The new laws largely focus on defining what kind of businesses can be participated in, while the question of how to execute these properly and in compliance with the law remains to be considered, Cung argued. A survey by the Central Institute for Economic Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment across many localities showed that to carry out procedures related to an investment project, it usually takes businesses from six months to three years. This lengthy time is required to carry out land, construction, and environmental procedures in licensing activities, which deprives business often from apparent opportunities and increases costs while reducing possible profits. Those shortcomings have been pointed out by analysts previously but still exist, with some even arguing that they tend to increase. Among such limitations, procedures for implementing investment projects are related to a system of nine different laws, regulating investment, construction, land, and environmental issues, thus creating several barriers for enterprises to execute their projects. Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys Legal Department, said that there is still room for further reforms of investment procedures. The new Law on Investment solves many problems for businesses, but how they can actually apply the laws provisions will largely depend on the guiding decrees that are to be issued soon, Tuan said. Meanwhile, the new Law on Enterprises continues to reform business registrations towards the protection of low-capital investors. Yet, there remain debates about the mechanisms for business households as well as price appraisal regulations and other issues. Policy analysts believe that there are three groups of significant issues that need to be remedied to guarantee the highest efficiency in Vietnams investment and business environment. They relate to market entry procedures; how to manage import-export procedures like customs and specialised management; and procedures for investments. It is necessary to tackle these various issues as they represent a real bottleneck within the business and investment environment, currently hindering the mobilisation and disbursement of investment capital, Cung of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Group said. Vu Tien Loc - Chairman, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Last year saw policy highlights that were highly appreciated by the business community. In particular, the completion and amendments of several policies marked a real breakthrough changing the seemingly difficult regulations to promote the development of private economic groups. However, the business community remains concerned about the new laws as the applied concepts in them are seen by some as outdated, with market entry conditions still facing many problems, and the implementation and promulgation of some policies not being consistent. For example, there is an unreasonable increase in corporate compliance costs, typically intended for sublicences for drivers in the transport business, as well as increased business conditions in price appraisals. In addition, despite many reforms, the regulations on market entry still contain inadequate regulations on business conditions and administrative procedures. Nguyen Sy Dung - Director, Vietnam Mediation Centre As the new laws are enacted, businesses begin to understand how they will directly affect them, including their real impacts and risks. Currently, the biggest problems come from overlapping business laws. If we comply with one law, it may be against another. Some enterprises have not completed procedures for establishing their factory for more than three years as there are contradicting issues in the Law on Investment and the Land Law. The solution to these problems is to change the mindset and revise the law-making process so that the legal flow is supporting the flow of life. If state agencies use and react to the opinions of enterprises, Vietnams legislative activities will become more effective. Solving businesses day-to-day issues will also improve the investment and business environment. Le Dinh Vinh - Manager, Vietthink Law Firm Through the amendments to the Law on Investment, many new points have contributed to solving problems in the application of the law, thus enabling a better life for business owners and investors while meeting international integration needs. The amendments and supplements to the new law solve practical requirements and are highly appreciated by investors. However, there are still problems that have not met their expectations, and it is necessary to continue to review, amend, and complete relevant laws to synchronise them with the new provisions of the Law on Investment 2020. The government should issue decrees guiding the new contents of the law so that those regulations will come to life. Enterprises meanwhile should keep their expectations low as regulations can also be removed again. They should, however, continue to research all relevant laws to enable smooth business operations. David Salt - COO, Logivan Technologies With its large, young population and strong economic growth, Vietnam is an attractive place to do business and the latest regulatory changes represent another positive step for the country. Many businesses work primarily with electronic documents, and therefore, increasing the official recognition affords greater legal protection. At Logivan, like at many other startups, we try to maximise our utilisation of electronic documents for fast and flexible communication between customers, suppliers, and also colleagues. Logivan works with over 60,000 truck drivers so electronic contracts allow us to update pricing, routes, and terms of service quickly and efficiently. We want to be a paper-free organisation, so we will continue moving in that direction as quickly as legislation and other collaborators allow. As Eric Ries describes in his bestselling book The Lean Startup, the chance of succeeding with a new product or business model depends on the number of experiments a startup can perform with the funds available. Electronic documents have a double benefit by reducing the time to create them and test a new business idea while also saving cost. While these changes are a positive step forward, I believe there is still more that could be done on a regulatory level to further advance business and investment. Compared to many other countries, there are large administrative requirements for companies to comply with relevant legislation. This reduces the speed and adds cost at an early stage usually before the business even reaches profitability. Therefore, I look forward to the government continuing to build on these reforms and investigating perhaps in collaboration with Vietnamese startups new ideas to improve the business ecosystem in Vietnam. Hai Anh (VIR) Amended investment law eases pathway to carrying out big business in Vietnam Together with the Law on Enterprises, the new Law on Investment took effect on January 1, with the latter aiming at creating a favourable legal framework to support and promote investment activities and economic development, Australias peak body for emergency medicine has slammed the McGowan Governments failure to control record ambulance ramping, describing the current situation as unsafe and hurting the health of West Australians. WAtoday and 6PR have obtained a scathing letter from the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine to WA Health Minister Roger Cook, sent on January 22, that rejects the governments public excuses for the crisis and calls for an urgent expansion of hospital system capacity. Without decisive large-scale action the situation will only continue to worsen in the coming years and months and patients will suffer and even die as a result, the letter says. Doctors say a lack of resources is putting Perth patients at risk. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola It also claims the governments announced plans to expand emergency department capacity by 75 beds are nowhere near ambitious enough to make an impact on the ramping crisis. The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Venture X to create a strategic partnership allowing for the launch of a tourism dedicated start-up accelerator. As the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly jeopardised the tourism industry worldwide, the accelerator programme seeks to fortify the position of global tourism from Jordan and push the national plan for the revival of the tourism, according to a JTB statement. The tourism industry is one of the hardest hit sectors with nearly 75 million jobs at risk globally, the statement said. Under these circumstances with greater virus curtailment measures such as compulsory Covid-19 tests and quarantine for tourists from the worst affected areas the travel experience is likely to get more gruelling, tiresome and demotivating. This situation creates even more job uncertainty for those directly associated with the sector, such as workers in the transport and hotel industries, noted the statement. Jordans tourism industry made great strides in the preceding years with a wider acknowledgement and interest from all corners, the statement said. The accelerator will be a highly selective, equity based three-month programme for the most promising technology start-ups, or pre-scaleups that can power the travel and tourism industry, the JTB said. The accelerator programme will be looking for the very best in innovation and are particularly interested in companies that are developing solutions to future-proof the travel and tourism industry and help tourism companies thrive in the new normal brought about by Covid-19, the statement said. The selected companies will gain unparalleled access to work with some of the regions and the worlds most important industry players. They will undergo a three-month intensive accelerator programme identifying a potential pilot project and scope, followed by three months of pilot implementation with selected industry partners for the top 10 companies, according to the statement. The programme will be looking for promising start-ups and pre-scaleups that can attract quality tourists to Jordan, future-proof travel and tourism businesses in Jordan for the new normal brought about by Covid-19 and generate productivity gains and cost savings for tourism businesses, among other criteria. Managing Director of the JTB Abdul Razzaq Arabiat said: This partnership is a response to the challenges ahead, and my team, is going to assist these projects by using our media and marketing tools. Managing Partner of Venture X Yousef Hamidaddin said: The pandemic is going to change the tourism industry. Innovative solutions will allow people to continue to travel and explore, which represents an opportunity for entrepreneurs and start-ups. - TradeArabia News Service Twenty-five years since she made her debut, Bridget Jones is still causing a sensation and making us laugh out loud. So far in our riotous series, shes had a toe-curling liaison with Daniel Cleaver, dressed up as a Bunny Girl and endured a disastrous first day at work as a TV reporter. Today, she embarks on trying to create the perfect dinner party for Mark Darcy . . . Tuesday, 3 October 8st 12, alcohol units 3 (v.g.), number of times said word b*****d in last twenty-four hours 369 (approx.). Tuesday, 3 October 8st 12, alcohol units 3 (v.g.), number of times said word b*****d in last twenty-four hours 369 (approx.). Pictured: Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary 7.30pm Complete panic stations. Mark Darcy is coming round to pick me up in half an hour. Just got home from work with mad hair and unfortunate laundry crisis. Oh God, do not have anything to wear. 7.50pm Oh God oh God. Still have not washed hair. Will quickly get into bath. 8.00pm Drying hair now. V. much hope Mark Darcy is late as do not want him to find me in dressing gown with wet hair. 8.05pm Hair is more or less dry now. Then just have to do make-up, get dressed and put mess behind sofa. 8.15pm Still not here. V.g. Keen on a man who comes round late, in stark contrast to people who come round early, startling and panicking one and finding unsightly items still unhidden in the home. 8.30pm This is weird. Does not seem like him to be more than half an hour late. 9.00pm Cannot quite believe it. Mark Darcy has stood me up. B*****d! Thursday, 5 October 8st 13 (bad), chocolate items 4 (bad), number of times watched Firemans pole video 17 (bad). 11am Oh no. Oh no. On top of humiliating standing-up debacle, found self horrible centre of attention at morning meeting today. Right, Bridget, said Richard Finch. Im going to give you another chance. The Isabella Rossellini trial. Verdict expected today. We think shes going to get off. Get yourself down to the High Court. I dont want to see you climbing up any poles or lamp-posts. I want a hard-headed interview. Ask her if this means its OK for us all to murder people every time we dont fancy having sex with them. I had no idea, not even a glimmer of a clue, as to what he was talking about. And now I must set off to meet scary camera crew at the law courts in five minutes to cover and report on a story on the television without having the faintest idea what it is about. 11.05am Thank God for Patchouli. Listen, right, you realize he didnt mean Isabella Rossellini at the meeting, didnt you? Hes thinking of Elena Rossini, right. Oh, thank God and all his angels in heaven above. Elena Rossini is the childrens nanny accused of murdering her employer after he allegedly subjected her to repeated rape and effective house arrest for eighteen months. 7.30pm. Mark Darcy is coming round to pick me up in half an hour. Pictured: Colin Firth in Bridget Jones's Diary 3pm Cannot believe what just happened. Was hanging around outside the High Court with the camera crew waiting for the trial to end. So I whispered to the cameraman, who was really nice, if he thought it would be OK if I nipped to the shop for 5 minutes and he said it would be fine. When they heard I was going to the shop, a lot of reporters asked me if Id bring them fags and sweets and so it took quite a while working it all out. I was just standing in the shop trying to keep all the change separate with the shopkeeper when this bloke walked in obviously in a real hurry and said, Could you let me have a box of Quality Street? as if I wasnt there. It was Mark Darcy all dressed up in his barrister outfit. Where in the name of a**e were you last night? I said. I might ask the same question of you, he said, icily. At that moment the camera assistant burst into the shop. Bridget! he yelled. Weve missed the interview. Elena Rossinis come out and gone. Did you get my Minstrels? Missed it? I said as soon as I could steady my breathing. Missed it? Oh God. Ill be sacked. Did the others get interviews? Actually, nobody got any interviews with her, said Mark Darcy. Didnt they? I said, looking up at him desperately. But how do you know? Because I was defending her, and I told her not to give any, he said casually. Look, shes out there in my car. As I looked, Elena Rossini put her head out of the car window and shouted, Mark, sorry. Bring me Dairy Box, please, instead of Quality Street? So where were you last night? asked Mark Darcy. Waiting for bloody you, I said between clenched teeth. What, at five past eight? When I rang on your doorbell 12 times? Yes, I was . . . I said, feeling the first twinges of realization, drying my hair. Maybe you should get a quieter hairdryer or begin your toilette a little earlier. Anyway. Come on, he said laughing. Get your cameraman ready, Ill see what I can do for you. Oh God. How embarrassing. 3pm. Cannot believe what just happened. Was hanging around outside the High Court with the camera crew waiting for the trial to end. Pictured: James Callis , Sally Phillips , Shirley Henderson and Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary 9pm Cannot believe how marvellously everything has turned out. Have just played the Good Afternoon! headlines back for the fifth time. Good Afternoon!: the only television programme to bring you an exclusive interview with Elena Rossini, just minutes after todays not guilty verdict. Our home news correspondent, Bridget Jones, brings you this exclusive report. I love that bit: Our home news correspondent, Bridget Jones, brings you this exclusive report. Ill just play it back once more, then Ill definitely put it away. Wednesday, 1 November 8st 13lb 8oz (yesss! yesss!), alcohol units 2 (v.g.) calories 1848 (g.). Just called Jude to discuss the Mark Darcy scenario. She said the answer was obvious: I should have a dinner party and invite him. Its perfect, she said. Its not like asking him for a date, so it takes away all the pressure and you can show off like mad and get all your friends to pretend to think youre marvellous. Jude, I said, hurt, did you say, pretend? Friday, 3 November 9st 2 (humph), alcohol units 2, calories 5245. 11am V. excited about dinner party. Have bought marvellous new recipe book by Marco Pierre White. The secret of sauces, he says, lies in real stock. One must boil up large pans of chicken carcasses then freeze them in form of ice stockcubes. Cannot believe have not realized this before. People will flock to my dinner parties, enthusing, Its really great going to Bridgets for dinner, one gets Michelin star-style food in a bohemian setting. Mark Darcy will be v. impressed and will realize I am not common or incompetent. Monday, 20 November 8st 12 (v.g.), alcohol units 3, calories 200 (effort of going to supermarket must have burnt off more calories than purchased, let alone ate). 7pm Have to start preparations tonight as working tomorrow. 8pm Ugh, do not feel like cooking. Especially dealing with grotesque bag of chicken carcasses: completely disgusting. Trouble is, Marco says am supposed to tie flavour-enhancing leek and celery together with string but only string have got is blue. Oh well, expect it will be OK. 11pm God, stock took bloody ages to do but worth it as will end up with over two gallons, frozen in ice-cube form and only cost 1.70. Mmm, confit of oranges will be delicious also. Now all have got to do is finely slice 36 oranges and grate zest. Shouldnt take too long. 1am Too tired to stay awake now but stock is supposed to cook for another two hours and oranges need another hour in oven. I know. Will leave the stock on v. low heat overnight, also oranges on lowest oven setting, so will become v. tender in manner of a stew. Tuesday, 21 November 8st 11 (nerves eat fat), alcohol units 9 (v. bad indeed), calories 3479 (and all disgusting). Just called Jude to discuss the Mark Darcy scenario. She said the answer was obvious: I should have a dinner party and invite him. Pictured: Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason 9.30am Just opened pan. Hoped-for two-gallon stock taste-explosion has turned into burnt chicken carcasses coated in jelly. Must go to work. Am going to leave by four, then will think of answer to soup crisis. 5pm Oh God. Entire day has turned into nightmare. Richard Finch gave me a real blowing-up at the morning meeting in front of everyone. Bridget, put that recipe book away for Gods sake. Fireworks Burn Kids. What about that kid who had his penis burnt off by bangers in his pockets back in the sixties? Where is he now? Bridget, find me the Fireworks Kid with no Penis. Ugh. I was just grumpily making my 48th phone call to find out if there was a burnt-off-penis victims support group when my phone rang. Hello, darling, just called to say bye before I go, said Mum. Go? Go where? Oh. Ahahahaha. I told you, Julio and I are popping over to Portugal for a couple of weeks, just to see the family and so on, get a bit of a suntan before Christmas. But the thing is, darling, Im just on my way to the airport now, and Ive forgotten my bankers card. Such a nuisance. I was wondering . . . You couldnt possibly lend me some cash? I mean not much, just a couple of hundred quid or something so I can get some travellers cheques. Im in the middle of work, Mum. Cant Julio lend you some money? She went all huffy. I cant believe youre being so mean, darling. After all Ive done for you. I gave you the gift of life and you cant even loan your mother a few pounds for some travellers cheques. But how am I going to get it to you? Oooh. Well, actually, as luck would have it Im ever so close, so if you just pop out to the NatWest opposite Ill meet you there in five minutes, she gabbled. I was waiting for my money to come out of the cashpoint, when I spotted her scurrying towards me, wearing sunglasses, even though it was p***ing with rain, and looking shiftily from side to side. Oh, there you are, darling. You are sweet. Thank you very much. Must dash, going to miss the plane. Bye! she said, grabbing the banknotes from my hand. Whats going on? I said. What are you doing here when its not on your way to the airport? How are you going to manage without your bankers card? Why cant Julio lend you the money? Why? What are you up to? What? Ill be fine, darling. She gave her special brave smile. 7pm Just got home. Right. Soup will be absolutely fine. Will simply rinse jelly off chicken carcases and boil them up with cream in the soup. 8.30pm All going marvellously. Mark Darcy is being v. nice and brought champagne. Have not done main course yet apart from fondant potatoes but sure will be v. quick. Anyway, soup is first. 8.35pm Oh my God. Soup is bright blue. 9pm Love the lovely friends. Were more than sporting about the blue soup, Mark Darcy and Tom even making lengthy argument for less colour prejudice in the world of food. Why, after all, as Mark said just because one cannot readily think of a blue vegetable should one object to blue soup? Never mind, anyway. Main course will be v. tasty. 9.15pm Oh dear. Fondant potatoes were meant to be ready ten minutes ago and are hard as rock. Aargh aargh. Just looked in fridge and tuna is not there. What has become of tuna? What? What? 5pm .Oh God. Entire day has turned into nightmare. Richard Finch gave me a real blowing-up at the morning meeting in front of everyone. Pictured: Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary 9.30pm Thank God. Jude and Mark Darcy came in kitchen and helped me make big omelette and mashed up half-done fondant potatoes and fried them in the frying pan in manner of hash browns, and put the recipe book on the table so we could all look at the pictures of what chargrilled tuna would have been like. At least orange confit will be good. Looks fantastic. 10pm V. sad. Looked expectantly round table as everyone took first mouthful of confit. There was an embarrassed silence. Is it marmalade? said Tom eventually. Horror-struck, took mouthful myself. It was, as he said, marmalade. Realize after all effort and expense have served my guests: Blue soup; Omelette; Marmalade But no sooner was the horrible meal cleared away than the phone went. It was Dad. Im sorry, Bridget. Im afraid theres been some rather bad news. Your mother and Julio are wanted by the police. Had to sit down and get my breath back. Whats happened? I managed to get out eventually. Im afraid they possibly, and I pray, without your mothers knowledge have defrauded a large number of people, including myself, and some of our very closest friends, out of a great deal of money. We dont know the scale of the fraud at the moment, but Im afraid, from what the police are saying, its possible that your mother may have to go to prison for a considerable period of time. Oh my God. So thats why shes gone off to Portugal with my two hundred quid. Apparently Julio, using your mother as as it were front man, has relieved Una and Geoffrey, Nigel and Elizabeth and Malcolm and Elaine (oh my God, Mark Darcys parents) of quite considerable sums of money many, many thousands of pounds, as down payments on time-share apartments which never existed. Not a penny of your mothers and my savings or pension fund remains. I also was unwise enough to leave the house in her name, and she has remortgaged it. We are ruined, destitute and homeless, Bridget, and your mother is to be branded a common criminal. After that he broke down. Una came to the phone, saying that she was going to give Dad some Ovaltine. Replacing the receiver, I slumped against the wall. Immediately though, Jude appeared with a glass of Grand Marnier. What happened? she said. I told her the whole story, pouring the Grand Marnier straight down my throat as I did. Jude didnt say a word but immediately went and fetched Mark Darcy, who started to pace around the room firing questions like a top barrister. Whats being done to find her? What are the sums involved? What is the polices involvement? Where is your father now? Would you like to go to him? Will you allow me to take you? It was pretty damn sexy, I can tell you. Mark decided the best thing would be if he got his driver to take him and me up to Una and Geoffreys. It was all very dramatic. Found myself feeling guilty, since part of self despite horror was hugely enjoying the fact of normal business being suspended, everything different from usual and everyone allowed to throw entire glasses of sherry and salmon-paste sandwiches down their throats in manner of Christmas. Was exactly the same feeling as when Granny turned schizophrenic and took all her clothes off, ran off into Penny Husbands-Bosworths orchard and had to be rounded up by the police. Reports from the WHO team in Wuhan reveals compelling new evidence in their investigation. Once thought to be far fetched, but this time, the virus might have come from a lab. The World Health Organization is going to ground zero of the Coronavirus and where it began, Wuhan. Ground zero for the COVID-19 The specialists from the WHO looking into the speculative origins of the COVID-19 pandemic have found unique data. Other inputs from the team members are that more progress is coming, they said. The biggest news is that the virus may have been manufactured in a lab, told Sky News. According to Dr. Peter Daszak, he told an outlet that the team is acquiring new information. Citing that, it gives clues to track down the COVID-19 origins more. So far, except for China as the source of the "CCP Virus," nothing else is known. The team went to the Huanan seafood market, where the first cases last year came from. It is where the first cluster of COVID-19 patients was discovered. Going to the market, the specialists asked questions from those concerned, like market managers. Other sources of information were the vendors selling in the area. One more source is the immediate community nearby. The first anniversary of the deadly pandemic The mission's arrival in China is precisely a year from outbreaks beginning. They were supposed to arrive earlier in China, but it was delayed due to Chinese authorities' access permission. Still, cited that Chinese scientists were doing their research in the meantime. Daszak said the WHO team in Wuhan is finding more data to be discovered. Also read: Coronavirus Origin: Is It Really a Bio-weapon Created in a Wuhan Laboratory? He added that new data is shared with them that has not been available to the World Health Organization. Furthermore, they are sharing ideas to consider possibilities not considered before. Research-wise, some developments will be pursued. Offering the observation that is contrary to what people think, China wants to help in the investigation. Wuhan Institute of Virology The WIV, according to narratives, is the place where the first generation of the virus escaped. According to the researchers who worked there and worked with coronaviruses, there is no way to leak. But, the team is not done yet, and that possibility is still up in the air. Specialists are aware of the conspiracy theories and hypotheses of the notorious WIV Lab in the narratives. One of the objectives is to ask the right questions regarding the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The data leads are where the team will go, whatever conclusion the international team of specialists ends up. From the suspected source to other places not expected, they will go to find a relevant conclusion. Daszak mentioned he has worked with Dr. Shi Zhengli, who is connected to the WIV, immediately he said there would be no impartiality. Supervision by Chinese authorities The World Health Organization probe is anything but free because the specialists are kept isolated to keep them protected. Some say it is not genuine but staged said critics of China. One point is, why visit a museum when tracking down clues is more critical? gins. Related article: Wuhan Lab Director Denies Claims That Coronavirus Escaped From Lab @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has banned three television channels from operating in Ukraine by revoking their broadcast licences and blocking assets after accusing them of being pro-Russian. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) condemned what they called "an extra-judicial and politically motivated ban and a blatant attack on press freedom that must be urgently reversed". TV broadcasters ZIK, NewsOne and 112 Ukraine have been forced off the air for a period of five years following a decision by Zelensky that critics said stifles freedom of speech. The three broadcasters employ around 1500 people, whose jobs are now at serious risk. There was no official justification for the ban, but Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter that Ukraine supports freedom of speech but not propaganda financed by the aggressors. The measures include the blocking of broadcasters' assets, the prohibition of using radio frequencies in Ukraine and a ban on finance operations within the country, among others. The three affected broadcasters were previously blamed by the Ukrainian government for being under malign Russian influence and threatening the information security of Ukraine. In a statement, the National Union Of Journalists Of Ukraine (NUJU) said: "Independent, uncensored media, freedom of speech, freedom of expression are the distinctive feature of any democracy. We call on the authorities to respect this freedom, taking care to reliably protect Ukraine's information space". The Independent Media Trade Union Of Ukraine (IMTUU) urged the government to develop a clear legal framework for the division of propaganda resources and media and claimed this politically motivated decision can pave the way to dictatorship and undermine democracy. You cant fight your most malicious and insidious enemy resorting to his methods, the union said. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: This arbitrary and politically-motivated ban is unacceptable in a democracy. The ban puts at risk the job of hundreds of media workers that have nothing to do with their media owners political affiliations. The IFJ calls on the Ukrainian authorities to lift the ban and respect freedom of information and speech. EFJ General Secretary, Ricardo Gutierrez, said: Banning broadcasts is one of the most extreme forms of restricting media freedom. These bans should only be applied in very exceptional circumstances. States have a positive obligation to guarantee effective media pluralism. The manner in which the licensing process is applied must provide sufficient guarantees against arbitrariness, including the proper reasoning by the authority of its decisions denying a broadcasting license. It seems clear that the presidential ban is not at all in line with international legal standards on Freedom of Expression and the broadcasting media". State health officials confirmed another 2,186 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the number of active cases statewide to 64,431. Officials also confirmed another 53 COVID-related fatalities, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 14,415. Wednesdays case load is based on 91,693 new molecular tests, according to the Department of Public Health. There are 1,635 patients hospitalized in Massachusetts with COVID-19, including 335 patients in intensive care, 203 of whom are intubated. The seven-day average of positive tests is 3.30%. There have been a total of 504,564 cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts since the pandemic began roughly a year ago. The latest numbers come the day another mass vaccination site, located at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Danvers, went online. Speaking at Fenway Park, the states second mass vaccination site, Gov. Charlie Baker said 654,104 doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine have been administered to Massachusetts residents, with more than one million distributed to providers. Fenway Park began delivering vaccines to eligible groups on Monday, delivering roughly 1,200 shots so far. Officials anticipate that 500 shots will be given out at the ballpark every day this week, with capacity ramping up to more than 1,000 doses a day a day next week. We expect that this site certainly should ramp up to doing about 8,000 doses a week in the not-too-distant future, Baker said on Wednesday. At Gillette Stadium, health officials have administered 23,000 doses of the shot, and at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, 2,741 doses have been given out, Baker said. Officials are looking to bring seven mass vaccination sites online in the coming weeks. Total COVID cases by county: Barnstable County: 8,920 Berkshire County: 4,569 Bristol County: 51,164 Dukes County: 792 Essex County: 78,059 Franklin County: 1,797 Hampden County: 37,731 Hampshire County: 5,791 Middlesex County: 103,162 Nantucket County: 1,089 Norfolk County: 41,091 Plymouth County: 36,608 Suffolk County: 72,287 Worcester County: 60,056 Related Content: At the same time that authorities were working to keep Suu Kyi in detention, hundreds of lawmakers who had been forced to stay at government housing after the coup were told Wednesday to leave the capital city within 24 hours and go home, said a member of Parliament from Suu Kyis party who is among the group. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared drawing the attention of the military. When investors in Apollo Global Management learned last week that the firms chief executive had paid $158 million to the registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, they hardly blinked. After the private equity firm announced the figure, revealed by an outside investigation, its stock rose nearly 7 percent. That was a far different response from three months ago, when shares plunged over concerns about the financial ties between Mr. Epstein and the chief executive, Leon Black. Apollo soothed investors nerves with its announcement that Mr. Black, one of its founders, will step down as chief executive and that the firm will expand its board. Mr. Black will remain chairman. A more important test could come the next time Apollo seeks to raise money from the 1,500 pension plans, foundations, sovereign wealth funds and other institutions that invest with it. These limited partners fuel its ability to carry out corporate buyouts, extend loans to companies and make other investments. The Supreme Court Wednesday observed that it would consider laying down a protocol to be followed for projects like road widening which require cutting of trees so that there is minimum damage to the environment. The apex court also said it did not consider it tenable that if road is less than 100 km then Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is not necessary. The observations came while hearing a plea relating felling of over 350 trees for construction of railway over bridges (ROB) and widening of National Highway-112 from Barasat to Petrapole on the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said the protocol would make sure that alternatives adopted for the project are less damaging to the environment. A four-member committee constituted by the top court informed it that before implementing a project of national importance environmental impact assessment is desired and this has not been done in the project under consideration. The committee said that the State authorities are considering project under consideration as an independent project which is affecting a distance of 59.2 km only. "According to a circular issued by MoEF, if a road project have length less than 100 km, in that case there is no need to get EIA from any government agency. Such argument, in present case, is an attempt to circumvent the law of the land. "We feel deriving such conclusion is erroneous and needs rethinking on the part of the state of the West Bengal.. According to the committee members EIA should be taken up before starting the project related work," the panel said. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, referred to the MoEF notification and said that in Char Dham project roads were divided in smaller segments in order to avoid EIA. The court said," Prima facie, we don't consider it tenable that if road is less than 100 km then EIA is not necesaary. The whole environment is our land of everybody. There is no question of this government and that government." The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on February 18. The apex court had earlier formed a committee of environment experts to suggest an alternative to felling of over 350 trees for construction of railway over bridges (ROB) and widening of National Highway-112 from Barasat to Petrapole on the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. The five-member committee is headed by Dr Soham Pandya of the Centre of Science For Village, Wardha. Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) had earlier said that no alternatives were explored and permission was granted to fell the trees, which are heritage ones aged around 80-100 years. He had said everyone knows about global warming and there is study which says if the vegetation is not protected then in next 10-20 years the human species will be in danger. The Calcutta High Court on August 31, 2018, had paved the way for widening of the national highway and allowed felling of over 350 trees for widening of Jessore Road, which connects the city to Petrapole on the Indo-Bangladesh border, on the condition that five trees will be planted for each tree cut. The NH-112 or Jessore Road is an important link between India and Bangladesh and the state government had undertaken a project to widen it. Hundreds of old trees line both sides of the road, some of which were decided to be felled for the purpose of widening of the road. A PIL was moved before the high court challenging the state''s plan to fell the trees. After arguments for several months, the high court allowed felling of 356 trees at five places from Barasat to Petrapole border along the Jessore Road. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Pune : Feb 3 (IANS) Amid a political uproar, the Maharashtra Police has booked students' leader Sharjeel Usmani for his controversial anti-Hindu and other comments and inciting communal passions, officials said here on Wednesday. The Swargate Police Station early this morning filed a First Information Report (FIR) based on a complaint by a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Secretary, Advocate Pradeep Gawade on Tuesday. Speaking at the Elgar Parishad held here on January 30, Usmani, a former student leader of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had made certain remarks which the complainant said hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. Among other things, Usmani said: "Aaj ka Hindu Samaja Hindustan mein Hindu Samaj buri tarike se sadd chukka hai (The Hindu community has badly degenerated in today's India)", sparking off a furore in political circles. Taking strong umbrage at these remarks, the complainant lodged the complaint following which the Swargate Police registered the FIR invoking the Indian Penal Code Sec. 153(A), which concerns offences related to spreading communal hatred. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leaders of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis (Assembly) and Pravin Darekar (Council) had demanded that Usmani should be booked under sedition charges for his statements. The BJP also warned in an ultimatum that if no action was taken against Usmani within 48 hrs, the party would launch a statewide agitation. State Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal had slammed Usmani's remarks while Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had assured that if anything objectionable was found in the student activist's utterances, suitable action would be taken. Usmani had earlier been arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police for his alleged role in the clashes that erupted outside the AMU campus during the CAA-NRC agitation in 2019. The annual Elgar Parishad was organized by the Bhima-Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerana Abhiyan, on Jan. 30, to coincide with the 5th death anniversary of the late Dalit scholar from University of Hyderabad, Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide on January 17, 2016. Others who attended or addressed the conference this year included Arundhati Roy, ex-IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, ex-Judge B. G. Kolse-Patil, retired IPS officer S.M. Mushrif. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aruvant Sciences, a private company focused on developing gene therapies for rare diseases, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted Priority Medicines (PRIME) designation to ARU-1801, a one-time investigational gene therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD). "PRIME designation from EMA highlights the importance of ARU-1801, administered with only reduced intensity conditioning, for the treatment of individuals with severe sickle cell disease," said Will Chou, M.D., Aruvant chief executive officer. "With PRIME, we will be able to work closely with EMA on the development of ARU-1801, with the goal of rapidly bringing this potential cure to SCD patients in Europe." PRIME was created by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to enhance support for the development of innovative medicines that target an unmet medical need and demonstrate the potential to achieve relevant clinical outcomes on morbidity, mortality or underlying disease progression. The PRIME designation offers enhanced early interaction with companies developing promising medicines, to optimize development plans and speed up evaluation. PRIME focuses on medicines that may offer a major therapeutic advantage over existing treatments, or that benefit patients without treatment options. ARU-1801 was designated PRIME status based on clinical data from the MOMENTUM study, an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of ARU-1801 in patients with severe sickle cell disease, that demonstrate meaningful, durable reductions in disease burden. About ARU-1801 ARU-1801 is designed to address the limitations of current curative treatment options, such as low donor availability and the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) seen with allogeneic stem cell transplants. Unlike investigational gene therapies and gene editing approaches which require fully myeloablative conditioning, the unique characteristics of ARU-1801 allow it to be given with reduced intensity conditioning ("RIC"). Compared to myeloablative approaches, the lower dose chemotherapy regimen underlying RIC has the potential to reduce not only hospital length of stay, but also the risk of short- and long-term adverse events such as infection and infertility. Preliminary clinical data from the MOMENTUM study, an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of ARU-1801 in patients with severe sickle cell disease, demonstrate continuing durable reductions in disease burden. The MOMENTUM Study Aruvant is conducting the MOMENTUM study, which is evaluating ARU-1801, a one-time potentially curative investigational gene therapy for patients with SCD. This Phase 1/2 study is currently enrolling participants, and information may be found at www.momentumtrials.com which includes a patient brochure, an eligibility questionnaire and information for healthcare providers. About Aruvant Sciences Aruvant Sciences, part of the Roivant family of companies, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing gene therapies for the treatment of rare diseases. The company has a talented team with extensive experience in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of gene therapy products. Aruvant has an active research program with a lead product candidate, ARU-1801, in development for individuals suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD). ARU-1801, an investigational lentiviral gene therapy, is being studied in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, the MOMENTUM study, as a one-time potentially curative treatment for SCD. Preliminary clinical data demonstrate engraftment of ARU-1801 and amelioration of SCD is possible with one dose of reduced intensity chemotherapy. For more information on the clinical study, please visit www.momentumtrials.com and for more on the company, please visit www.aruvant.com. Follow Aruvant on Facebook, Twitter @AruvantSciences and on Instagram @Aruvant_Sciences. About Roivant Roivant's mission is to improve the delivery of healthcare to patients by treating every inefficiency as an opportunity. Roivant develops transformative medicines faster by building technologies and developing talent in creative ways, leveraging the Roivant platform to launch Vants nimble and focused biopharmaceutical and health technology companies. For more information, please visit www.roivant.com. SOURCE Aruvant Sciences Related Links https://www.aruvant.com YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani discussed on February 2 the situation in the region with Armenias Consul General in Erbil Arshak Manukyan, Safak news reports. During the meeting the Armenian Consul General highly valued Mr. Barzanis efforts in fighting for the freedom and rights of Kurdistans people. The sides highlighted the importance of expanding the relations between the Iraqi Kurdistan and Armenia. On March 13, 2017, the President of Armenia signed a decree on establishing Consulate General of Armenia in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan. The Consulate opened already in 2020. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan FILE - Morgan Wallen arrives at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn. on June 5, 2019. Wallen has apologized after a video surfaced showed him shouting a racial slur. The video, which was first published by TMZ on Tuesday night, showed him outside a home in Nashville, Tennessee yelling profanities. (AP Photo/Sanford Myers, File) PHOTO:AP Photo/Sanford Myers, File Morgan Wallen Apologizes After Racial Slur By The Associated Press NASHVILLE - Country star Morgan Wallen has apologized after a video surfaced showed him shouting a racial slur.The video, which was first published by TMZ on Tuesday night, showed him yelling profanities outside a home in Nashville.Wallen said in a statement to TMZ that he is embarrassed and sorry.He said there's never an excuse for such language.Wallen's new record has topped the Billboard 200 chart for three weeks and his hits include Whiskey Glasses.But he's apologized repeatedly for mistakes and stumbles, like the time he was removed from a Saturday Night Live performance for violating COVID-19 protocols.In response to this latest incident, Big Loud Records has announced they are indefinitely suspending Wallen's recording contract. CMT network has also announced they are pulling all of his videos from their playlists and programming. Vihiga Governor Wilbur Ottichilo on Tuesday reaffirmed his allegiance to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), days after party top officials met his deputy Patrick Saisi. Dr Ottichilo was not privy to the meeting between Dr Saisi and ODM National Elections Board head Catherine Mumma in Mbale last week.He emerged yesterday to say that he is an ODM life member number 93.There have been murmurs of the party sidelining Dr Ottichilo and that it could be shopping for his replacement in the elections next year. Talking too much Dr Ottichilo said he has been a member of the party for 15 years, publicly assuring the ODM leaders and members of his commitment. "I am the longest serving member of ODM in Vihiga County. I have heard some saying my support for the party is uncertain," he said in Mbale. "I am a life member. I may not be talking too much but everyone listens when I do." Dr Ottichilo said the party is still vibrant in Vihiga and that its structures are fully functional. "There should be no doubt about my stand," said Dr Ottichilo, who plans to defend his seat. During the meeting with Dr Saisi, Ms Mumma said membership recruitment would begin soon, adding that the party register would also be updated. Vihiga is perceived to be leaning towards the Musalia Mudavadi-led Amani National Congress. After the meeting, Dr Saisi said the recruitment would show that the party is still strong in Vihiga. Karnataka is contemplating to ban hookah bars in the state, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Tuesday in the Assembly. "Few hookah bars operate as part of restaurants while some are standalone in cities such as Bengaluru and Mysuru. Youngsters throng these places. We are seriously thinking to ban hookah bars," Bommai told the Legislative Assembly during Question Hour. He added that Karnataka was planning to study other states that have banned hookah bars. "We need the cooperation of urban local bodies such as BBMP as they are the licensing authorities," he said, adding that authorities had booked over 70 cases against hookah bars in Bengaluru alone so far this year. Bommai was responding to a question by Congress' Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy during the Question Hour in the Assembly. She alleged that drugs were available in hookah bars and cafes. "Karnataka needs to have sustained action against drugs. It shouldn't become seasonal when it gets media coverage only once in a while," she said. JD(S) Magadi MLA A. Manjunath also complained that his constituency had seen mushrooming of hookah bars and cafes after the police started a crackdown on drugs in Bengaluru. Bommai assured the Assembly that the government's 'war on drugs' will continue. "Drug abuse is present from slums to the elites, educated to the illiterates," he said. "Drug abuse can seen from slums to even among educated people as an addiction. It is a family issue and we are taking it seriously. We are constantly fighting this. We are going after synthetic drugs found in chocolates and tablets and we are looking to root out how they are coming. We are constantly tracking the dark web and the drug peddlers," he explained. The minister contended that they (authorities) were constantly raiding and filing cases on hookah bars. "We will discuss with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities and bring in the law for this." Bommai added that in order to make the ban successful, there has to be cooperation between the state government and urban local bodies like the BBMP as they are the licensing authority. "War on drugs should be a people's movement and teachers and parents should be careful about their students and wards. I urge everyone to join hands in this war against drugs," Bommai appealed. He added that earlier, only ganja was seized. "But, we are going after synthetic drugs in the form of tablets and chocolates," he said, adding that the number of cases against drugs has gone up from 127 in 2016 to 2,786 in 2020. MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Today's modern consumers are more entwined and involved on social media than ever before, with some research putting the daily time spent on social media by adults at almost two and a half hours. Although websites, SEO, and direct marketing have their place, businesses can't afford to take a singular 'if we build it they will come' approach. In 2021 and beyond, savvy businesses need to be where their target audience spends the majority of their time online. And in today's market landscape, that place is on social media platforms. A Channel Primed for Hyper-Growth According to Next Level Marketing, social media marketing offers a unique opportunity never before available to businesses, on a grand scale. These platforms know the people on their platforms better than those individual's own friends in many cases. Access to unparalleled data combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning empowers marketers to uncover hidden gems and unique opportunities while avoiding costly mistakes. But it's not just about the data. In 2021 more than 3 billion people are expected to be on social media, with Facebook currently owning 1.4 billion of that market share. This gives businesses unparalleled direct and immediate access to an audience of epic proportions. A More Engaging and 'Connected' Channel Today's consumer is savvy, research-oriented and often seeks out information from multiple sources before making a buying decision. Over 80% of purchase decisions incorporate a search engine query, with social media the second-highest driver of purchase decisions at 68%. This makes both organic SEO on Google as well as a strong social presence so powerful, with one channel reinforcing the other. Although Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns on other mediums can be quite profitable, according to Next Level Marketing, "Paid Social Media is different. Campaigns on social help your audience to 'connect' with a brand and have a more personalized experience that is engaging, fun, emotionally driven, and shareable." All factors that businesses know drive the type of trust and relationships needed to turn prospects into raving fans and loyal customers. Next Level Marketing's Paid Social Media Services Managed and executed by a highly talented team of certified social media marketing specialists, NLM's paid social media campaigns are designed to synergistically complement their clients' marketing mix while driving key performance indicators (primarily sales). 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Services Provided as Part of Campaigns Include: Creation of social media pages and/or optimization of existing pages Optimization for engagement and conversion Bio optimization, content creation, multimedia (photos, videos) Reputation management and reviews Curated weekly posts and engaging content Cross-marketing and syndication making use of hashtags Crafting of attention-grabbing social ads Campaign planning, execution, and management Optimizing for maximum ROAS (return on ad spend) Fine-tuned conversion tracking to demonstrate value and yield key insights About Next Level Marketing Next Level Marketing is one of the nation's leading marketing firms, backed by an impressive resume of documented client results that speaks for itself. Having worked with businesses ranging from local mom and pop operations to multinational Fortune 500 companies, Next Level Marketing is agile, capable and ready to tackle any challenge. Next to Google, social media platforms are the second most frequented digital mediums online, presenting an incredible opportunity to connect and engage with prospective customers at scale. NLM helps local businesses leverage these platforms to their advantage, driving sales while keeping costs low. Those interested in achieving similar results or who are interested in learning more about how NLM can help their business or brand are encouraged to reach out via their official website. CONTACT: Company Name: Next Level Marketing Contact Person: Tomas Gallo Email: tomas@nextlevelsem.com Phone: (844) 740-5010 Address: 2125 Biscayne Blvd, Miami FL 33137 Website: www.nextlevelsem.com SOURCE: Next Level Marketing View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627693/Next-Level-Marketing-Discusses-the-Importance-of-Paid-Social-Media-Marketing-for-Businesses Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Wednesday referring to more than 100 Romanian nationals stranded at Cancun airport in Mexico that it was an "unfriendly attitude" on the part of the Mexican officials, adding that he asked for urgent clarification of the reasons for such decisions, according to AGERPRES. Aurescu said that at this moment there are 114 Romanian nationals at the airport in Cancun, and 102 had been returned to Romania. "We are deeply concerned about the situation faced by citizens planning a vacation in Mexico and who are affected by the recent decisions of the Mexican authorities. It is inadmissible what is happening; it is an unfriendly attitude on the part of the Mexican officials towards Romanian nationals. This is a situation that risks leading, as far as Mexico is concerned, to loss of tourists, money and credibility as a travel destination because of such actions," the minister told a news conference. Aurescu said he urgently requested clarification of the reasons for these decisions. "I will send today, in my turn, a message to my Mexican counterpart in which I will reiterate that such decisions cannot be arbitrary, they must be very clearly substantiated, based on individual assessments, on a case-by-case basis. We have requested and will continue to call on the Mexican side for a transparent and predictable approach to the regime of foreign tourists in Mexico, especially in the current pandemic context," Aurescu said. He mentioned that Romanian tourists stranded at the airport will be provided with assistance, including from the Romanian Consulate in Miami. "I have raised with the Mexican officials the issue of waiting conditions for return. Romanian nationals reported that the interviews were conducted only in Spanish, reported abusive behaviour by border police, lack of water and food, as well as improper places in which they are kept," Aurescu said. He pointed out that steps had been taken with Germany's Lufthansa airline to send a larger aircraft to bring the 114 Romanian citizens to Europe. "The fact that a sovereign state can decide on access of foreigners to its own soil must not and cannot violate their rights in the process of implementing such decisions and must avoid offensive situations. Romanian nationals must not be discriminated against in any situation; they must be treated with respect, they must not be put in difficult situations, even if we are talking about a situation in which, based on well-founded reasons - if that is the case in this situation - a Romanian citizen is denied entry to another country. Pending clarification of the situation (...), we are urging Romanian nationals to avoid travelling to Mexico for the time being," added Aurescu. Several Romanian tourists have been stranded at the Cancun airport, with Mexican border authorities seizing their passports and mobile phones without explanation. Zanzibar TOURISTS visiting Zanzibar are guaranteed of safety after police announced increased patrol in tourist attractions, including beaches. The police have also established a 'diplomatic police unit' that will be tasked with maintaining the safety of people visiting the Indian Ocean semiautonomous archipelagos. Commissioner of Police Mohamed Haji Hassan informed the media on Monday, that impromptu police 'stop and check' on vehicles carrying tourists has been stopped indefinitely. The exercise has caused inconveniences to tourists driving from the city to the upcountry. "Police are supposed to maintain the safety of citizens and visitors, we have reviewed our operations on issues linked to tourism, and have decided to stop the impromptu inspections of vehicles carrying tourists, and instead inspection will be carried out at specific areas/police stations in each region. We want the visitors to enjoy their stay in the country," CP Hassan said. He revealed police inspection on vehicles carrying tourists will be carried out at Jozani forest (South Unguja region), Mahonda (North Unguja region), and Mwera in Urban West region as he directed the police traffic to abide by the changes. The police announcement follows complaints from drivers and tourists' operators against impromptu stop by police and road blocks along the way to tourist areas. Police changes also come as the number of arrivals from abroad has soared. According to the police commissioner, the establishment of a diplomacy police unit will provide specialised security for tourists and Diplomats; coordinating all rapid responses; and conduct foot and mobile security patrols. Mr Omar Khatib- tourists' vehicle driver welcomed the changes in police operations as regard to tourism business, "We are happy because spontaneous police inspections were bad to our business because of unnecessary delays on the way." In a meeting with President Hussein Mwinyi recently, stakeholders in the tourism sector raised concerns over several inconveniences, as he directed respect authorities to find solutions to the challenges as soon as possible. A host of big names including Colin Firth, legendary American director Stanley Tucci and British filmmaker Steve McQueen have been unveiled as the star attractions at this years Dublin International Film Festival. The trio will join some well-known domestic talent in what promises to be an online celebration of the power of film to bring people together and explore the world in new ways. Running from March 3-14, the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival (VMDIFF) has been re-imagined to bring audiences the best of new films and old classics in a safe environment. Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth will return to the festival for a post-show discussion after the Virgin Media Opening Gala presentation of drama Supernova. Read More One of the highlights will be the in-conversation event between 12 Years a Slave director McQueen, and one of Irelands leading film makers, Mark OHalloran. "Since my first film, Hunger, I have formed many special bonds with my Irish collaborators," said McQueen. "I look forward to talking to Mark about storytelling, and to a virtual visit with my friends in Ireland." The curtains will also go up on the Irish selection that includes Rachel Careys dark comedy Deadly Cuts as this years Virgin Media Closing Gala; Cathal Nallys gangster comedy Be Good or Be Gone, Ivan Kavanaghs Son; Tadgh OSullivans acclaimed To the Moon; Piotr Domalewskis moving exploration of the Polish/Irish experience I Never Cry, and horror comedy The Boys from County Hell from Chris Baugh. Grainne Humphreys, Festival Director, said it had been a very different selection process this year. But as we finally announce the programme Im extremely proud of this years line-up there are some lovely premieres and previews, some old favourites and some wonderful discoveries and debuts from around the world, she said. There is depth and diversity in the new world cinema programme, exciting new talent in the Irish programme and a dynamic documentary section. She added: We have reached out to old and new friends to join us for our online presentation and the guest list is growing every day. I hope that this years programme will excite and delight both our regular attendees and attract new audiences to this years celebration of the best of independent cinema. Its been a long climb to get here but we believe the view is worth it. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 05:45:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM -- Israel has decided to expand the COVID-19 vaccine campaign to the entire population over the age of 16, starting Thursday, the state's Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. The vaccination campaign in Israel began on Dec. 20, 2020, and was intended in the first phase for medical staff, people aged over 65, and chronic patients. (Israel-COVID19-Vaccination) - - - - DAMASCUS -- A total of 19 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed on Wednesday by an Islamic State (IS) attack in the Syrian desert in central Syria, a war monitor reported. Some 11 of the slain fighters were pro-government fighters while the rest were Syrian soldiers, who were attacked by the IS in the desert region in the eastern countryside of Hama province in central Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Syria-IS-Attack) - - - - KHARTOUM -- The Council of Transitional Period Partners in Sudan on Wednesday declared the delay of announcing the new government to early next week. The council held a meeting on Wednesday, chaired by the Chairman of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the council said in a statement. (Sudan-Gov't-Delay) - - - - KUWAIT CITY -- Kuwait will stop the entry of non-Kuwaitis to the country for a period of two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Tareq Al-Mezrem, the Kuwaiti government spokesman, said Wednesday. He made the announcement after an extraordinary meeting of the Kuwaiti government which was held Wednesday evening to discuss the public health situation and the latest developments related to coronavirus. The two-week ban will start on Feb. 7, he said. (Kuwait-COVID19) Enditem Kwara State Government yesterday got a legal green light to proceed with building on the controversial Ile Arugbo land in Ilorin, with the court striking out the Senator Bukola Saraki's case challenging government's takeover of the land. Justice Abiodun Adewara of the Ilorin High Court struck out the Saraki's case for "lack of diligent prosecution." The judge struck out the case after the appellants -- Saraki's Asa Investment Limited -- again failed to call any witness to support their claim that the choice land belonged to the firm said to be owned by the late Dr. Olusola Saraki. After many years of using the land, which is located in the heart of the capital city, the government reclaimed the land in December 2019 and went ahead to clear the land ahead of its use for construction of another government secretariat. The government had said the land originally belonged to the public but was controversially transferred to a firm owned by Saraki without any payment made to the government or document issued for that purpose. The Saraki family in turn challenged the government's decision by filing a court case to keep ownership of the land, claiming they have documents to prove ownership of the property. After many months of legal back-and-forth, Justice Adewara yesterday struck out the case after the claimants again failed to call their witness or tender documents to prove ownership of the land. Earlier on Monday when the case came up for hearing, Counsel to the claimants Abdulazeez Ibrahim had told the court that a joinder to the case, Alhaji Sanusi Babaeleku has suddenly died, leading to the court striking out the name of the deceased. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. When the case resumed yesterday, Ibrahim said they were replacing Alhaji Babaeleku with one Alhaji Abubakar Oluwatoyin, a request that the court granted and then asked them to proceed with their case by calling their other witnesses. The counsel however said they were not prepared to proceed because their lead counsel, Dr. Akin Onigbinde (SAN), who he claimed has the relevant documents to proceed with the case, had just lost his mother and was preparing for the burial. Counsel to the Kwara State Government, Mr. Salman Jawondo however drew the attention of the court to what he called a deliberate attempt to delay the hearing and dispensation of the case after more than one year, urging the court to dismiss the case for lack of diligent prosecution. He cited the previous failings of the claimants to prosecute their case, an observation that the judge said was valid and therefore struck out the case "for lack of diligent prosecution by the claimants." Jawondo has said the government is willing to press counter claims of ownership of the land against the Asa Investment Limited. The court has adjourned to 17 March, 2021 to hear the counter claims. Fielding questions from reporters after the court session, Ibrahim said, "no cause for alarm. We will brief our lead counsel who will in turn brief his clients. "That is not the end of the case. We have options of either to appeal against the judgment or to come back again for relisting of the matter. The matter was struck out on merit because the case has not been heard." Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Corporate treasurers fed up with rock-bottom returns on their cash are about to get another pitch from the world of crypto.Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the digital-asset firms behind the so-called stablecoin dubbed USDC that is pegged 1-to-1 to the dollar, has cooked up an alternative for the legions too conservative to follow the likes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into Bitcoin. Park your extra cash in USDC and earn as much as 7% annually through high-yield accounts, the marketing says -- more than 10 times the return on an ultra-safe 1-year Treasury bill.The idea may be appealing to some treasurers who were initially seduced by the big gains in crypto, especially following Bitcoins roughly 40% decline since mid-April. Stablecoins such as USDC are gaining increased attention because of their ability to maintain their pegs during the wild crypto price swings, suggesting they could actually serve as a store of value. Even so, not all long-term digital market observers are convinced.If companies wish to put their corporate reserves into a stablecoin and that is fully audited, it is like putting their money in a bank account which is what they normally do, John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. However, if the account is paying out a higher yield than bank account yields, then it is not merely invested in some risk-free asset.Heres how Circles program will work: Treasurers would open a digital-dollar account where the companys fiat money is converted into USDC and interest is paid out in USDC. The yield is generated by Circle lending the digital dollars to a network of institutional investors that are willing to pay an interest rate for access to additional capital.The companies would lock in their return when the account is opened, similar to a bank certificate of deposit. Circle plans to offer accounts with maturities ranging from one month to a year, with no early withdrawals allowed. Rates available will be updated on a weekly basis, depending on demand for USDC loans.Thats a bit tamer than the strategy first highlighted last year by MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who advocated pouring company reserves into Bitcoin because he said the dollar is being debased by surging inflation. Musks February announcement that Tesla Inc. had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet helped fuel the rally that took the largest cryptocurrency to a record in April before it lost more than one-third of its value.Corporate reserves are not for investing in stocks, going to Vegas, or something more volatile and more rigged against you like Bitcoin, Griffin said.With few companies outside the crypto realm following MicroStrategy, Tesla and Dorseys Square Inc. into Bitcoin, Circle hopes that stablecoins may be the next logical step. The company is working with Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders.The service will be first made available in the U.S. and Switzerland, and will launch imminently, Jeremy Allaire, Circles CEO, said in an interview. Thousands of businesses are already on the waiting list, according to Circle.We are seeing the opportunity for the treasury use-case grow a lot, Allaire said.Other providers of stablecoins are rolling out similar offerings. On May 26, Gemini exchange -- the brainchild of the Winklevoss brothers -- said investors can earn up to 7.4% annually on Gemini dollars through a program called Gemini Earn. The Gemini token is also pegged to the dollar and its reserves are held with State Street Bank and Trust, the largest financial custodian in the world. Each month, the dollar deposit balance is examined by BPM LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm.USDC reserves are attested to monthly by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and published online.Various small crypto lenders already offer yield accounts for different coins, including less regulated stablecoins like Tether.For these products, appropriate users would be people who invest in junk bonds or similar risky lending, said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and writer for Bloomberg Opinion. It might offer a better risk-adjusted return than alternatives. . . or not. But whatever it is, its not a savings account in the way most people understand that term.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. 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. Antibody cocktail drugs that offered 'great hope' in treating Covid may be ineffective against worrying new variants of the virus, research suggests. Lab tests found the experimental treatments, known as monoclonal antibodies, failed to neutralise strains which emerged in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The drugs are derived from cloning a single antibody, a virus-fighting protein, found in people who've recovered from Covid. Scientists make thousands of copies of the antibody in a lab before injecting them into people who struggle to mount a natural immune response. One of the most promising monoclonal antibody candidates, made by Regeneron in the US, was used on Donald Trump on October 2 last year during his Covid battle and may have helped him recover. Another, developed by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, is currently being trialled in NHS hospitals as part of a massive Government-backed study into new Covid treatments. Data around the drugs' effectiveness on the new variants is limited, there are only two pre-prints in South Africa and China, but both strongly indicate they will not be successful. The South African pre-print suggested Regeneron and Eli Lilly were ineffective against the South African and Brazilian strains, but they did not look at the Kent variant. However Regeneron said data shows their treatment works against the South African variant. And the Regeneron antibody cocktail, which consists of two highly-potent neutralising antibodies, was effective at neutralising the variant first identified in the UK. The three new variants all have key mutations on their spike protein which change the way they look to the immune system and allow them to slip past some antibodies. It's thought that because monoclonal antibody treatments are based on one single type of antibody that was effective against the original strain of Covid, they are less able to recognise the new strains. Whereas during Covid infection in a healthy person, several different types of antibodies and T cells are sent to clear the infection as part of a larger immune response. It means even if some of the antibodies can't recognise the new strains, others will. Promising antibody drugs that are being trialled in the UK and were used on Donald Trump during his Covid battle might not work against new variants, scientists say All three therapy contenders from Brentford-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), American biotech firm Regeneron and Eli Lilly fail in the face of one or more of the variants The specifically-engineered antibodies can work in a vaccine-like way, protecting a patient from severe disease, or can help to stimulate the patient's immune system to attack antigens. Pictured: Regeneron, New York Researchers are now tasked with finding 'conservative' regions of the virus that do not mutate so they can be targeted with antibodies. Pictured: Eli Lilly, California Dr Nick Cammack, who heads up the Covid-19 therapeutics accelerator at the Wellcome Trust in London, told The Guardian: 'The challenge came at Christmas when these new variants appeared the South Africa and Brazil ones particularly. 'The changes the virus makes in its spike proteins actually throw off these antibodies.' The treatment by GSK is still effective against the South African and Brazil variants, according to Dr Cammack, but is not against the UK strain that emerged in Kent. WHAT IS MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THERAPY? Monoclonal antibody therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses monoclonal antibodies (mAb). It's given as an injection under the skin or through a drip into a vein. The treatment works in many different ways. It can work in a vaccine-like way, protecting a patient from severe disease, or can help to stimulate the patient's immune system to attack antigens. Hybridoma technology is one method for producing large numbers of monoclonal antibodies - identical antibodies that are clones of a unique parent cell. The process starts by injecting an animal, such as a mouse, with an antigen that provokes an immune response. B cells produces antibodies that bind to the antigen. These antibody producing B-cells are then harvested and used to culture more antibodies. The monoclonal antibodies are screened against their ability to work, with initial experiments in animals. Major technological advances have made the discovery and development of mAb therapies quicker and more efficient, deriving the antibodies from humans and not animals. Scientists can create a mAb that is specific to almost any antigen, and are working on one for the coronavirus. The spike protein on the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the primary target being explored for potential Covid-19 monoclonal antibodies. The aim is that by targeting the spike protein, the antibody will be able to neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus, therefore stopping it from infecting healthy cells. A particularly interesting avenue is giving them to people who arent infected yet as a preventative tool. If the antibodies are potent and long-lasting enough, they could provide sufficient protection for a period of time before a vaccine is found. Research and development is underway to create antibodies for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and different types of cancers. But many are already in use both in the US and UK. Since 2008, 48 new mAbs have been approved, contributing to a total global market of 61 mAbs in clinical use at the end of 2017, according to the US FDA. Advertisement That is a blow for Britain because the Kent variant is already the dominant strain in the UK. The N501Y on the Kent variant makes it at least 50 per cent more infectious than regular Covid and early data in the UK suggests it is also 30 per cent more deadly. Dr Cammack added: 'So here we are with a virus that makes a change that actually helps it stick to the cell even better. So these monoclonals are lost.' The South African and Brazilian variants, have a mutation called E484K, which is also on the spike protein that many antibodies would normally target. This mutation has already been proven to hamper the current wave of vaccines, but not enough to make prevent people from getting protection. In another worrying development this week, the E484K mutation was found in 11 cases of the Kent variant, suggesting that strain is evolving again. Researchers are now tasked with finding new regions of the virus other than the spike that do not mutate so they can be targeted with antibodies. Dr Cammack explained that mass sequencing and genetic sequencing of the virus from around the globe is needed to determine what the changes are and where the 'conservative' regions can be found. The monoclonal antibodies are still effective against the original virus and have been used in Europe and the United States - but because the new strains have an 'evolutionary edge' over that strain, scientists anticipate it was peter out in the coming months. An early trial on 20 patients in the US suggested the new GSK antibody treatment, known as Vir-7831, was safe and did not cause any adverse health effects on the old variant. Monoclonal antibodies were thrust into he spotlight after it was announced that former US President Donald Trump was given an experimental cocktail of the proteins made by Regeneron following his Covid-19 diagnosis. Although it wasn't approved, the company agreed to supply a single dose for Mr Trump at the request of his physician under 'compassionate use' provisions. Monoclonal antibodies are already being used to treat tetanus, Ebola and diphtheria and are described as 'one of the most powerful tools in modern medicine', according to a recent Wellcome report. However the treatment, which is being trialled against HIV, is expensive and can be difficult to make so wealthy countries have only seen the benefits of them. It comes as another 33 cases of the troublesome South African Covid variant have been spotted in Britain, health chiefs revealed yesterday amid growing fears over mutant strains that experts say could make vaccines less effective. Public Health England claimed 143 people have now been struck down with the variant since it was first discovered on British soil in December including five in Scotland and nine in Wales. None have been found in Northern Ireland. Officials also announced they have found 11 cases of the Kent coronavirus variant which carries an extra mutation in Bristol. CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Grow Lights Market with Covid-19 Impact and Analysis by Offering (Hardware, Software & Services), Installation Type (New and Retrofit), Application (Greenhouses, Vertical Farms), Sales Channels, Spectrum, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to grow from USD 1.2 billion in 2021 to USD 4.9 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 32.2% during the forecast period. The key factors fueling the growth of this market include increasing government support for the adoption of solid-state lighting technology and controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) practices, growing investments in projects related to vertical farms and greenhouses, and rising adoption of indoor farming in urban areas. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=68944493 The hardware segment of grow lights market to hold larger market share between 2021 and 2026 The hardware segment of the grow lights market, by offering is estimated to hold larger market share in 2026. The key factors for the growth of the market are the increasing number of new lighting installations in greenhouses and vertical farms and the growing support of governments of different countries promoting the adoption of CEA facilities. The cannabis segment to register highest CAGR during the forecast period The cannabis segment of the grow lights market, by cultivation, is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The legalization of cannabis production is gaining momentum in different parts of the world as lawmakers globally are working toward this process. This is certainly going to benefit all categories of cannabis growers, and at the same time, manufacturers of LED grow lights are expected to benefit the most from this. Cannabis is also considered as a high value crop by growers and hence the cultivation of cannabis is growing at a faster pace. The new installations segment to hold larger market share from 2021 to 2026 The new installations segment is estimated to hold a larger share of the grow lights market from 2021 to 2026. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the extensive deployment of LED grow lights in new vertical farms and greenhouses. Strong government support for adopting CEA practices and surging awareness regarding the benefits associated with LED grow lights are also expected to contribute to the growth of this segment during the forecast period. The interlighting segment to register highest CAGR during the forecast period. The interlighting is a relatively new concept, and the market for interlighting grow light systems is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period owing to the increasing awareness about the benefits of this lighting technique. For example, interlighting provides greater light efficacy, which results in higher yield compared to toplighting as the design of interlighting grow light system allows a plant to absorb light rays from the entire spectrum. Browse in-depth TOC on "Grow Lights Market" 202 - Tables 76 - Figures 271 - Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=68944493 Europe to hold largest share of the grow lights market between 2021 and 2026 Europe is projected to register largest market share of the grow lights market from 2021 to 2026. The growth of the market in this region can be attributed to the fact that the region has the strongest economies in the world, along with flourishing industries that lead to increased capital investment capabilities. This region has been using grow light systems for the past few decades to grow plants in commercial greenhouses. The use of grow light in this region is gradually increasing from being a supplemental lighting source to becoming the primary source of light in indoor operations. The population of Europe has expanded rapidly in recent times, and countries are importing fruits and vegetables in a frozen form from external markets in Africa and Asia. Indoor horticulture is gaining rapid momentum in some major countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and France in this region to obtain fresh produce from locally cultivated farms. This factor is expected to generate massive demand for grow light systems in the near future. Technological developments in artificial grow lights have led the government in the European region to favor efficient and eco-friendly technologies such as LED and have implemented rigorous resolutions to ban the use of incandescent bulbs. Signify Holding (Netherlands), OSRAM (Germany), Gavita (Netherlands), Valoya (Finland), California Lightworks (US), Helliospectra AB (Sweden), LumiGrow Inc. (US), Hortilux Schreder (Netherlands), Eye Hortilux (US), ILUMINAR Lighting (US), GE Current, A Daintree Company (US), PARsource (US), GE Lighting, A Savant Company (US), Hubbell (US), and Agrolux (Netherlands) are the key players in the global grow lights market. These players are increasingly undertaking strategies such as product launches and development, expansions, partnerships, contracts, and acquisitions to increase their market share. Related Reports: Vertical Farming Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Growth Mechanism (Hydroponics, Aeroponics, and Aquaponics), Structure (Building Based and Shipping Container), Offering, Crop Type, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 Smart Greenhouse Market by Type (Hydroponics and Non-Hydroponics), Covering Material Type (Polyethylene, Polycarbonate, and Others), Offering (Hardware and Software & Services), Component, Cultivation, End User, 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. 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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/grow-lights-market.asp Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/grow-lights.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg AG Nessel Joins Coalition to Ensure Attorneys General Can Continue to Fight Robocalls AG Nessel Joins Coalition to Ensure Attorneys General Can Continue to Fight Robocalls Ryan Jarvi 517-599-2746 Attorney General February 3, 2021 LANSING Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently joined a bipartisan coalition in taking action to ensure state attorneys general can continue to fight illegal robocalls through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The coalition of 35 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in Lindenbaum v. Realgy arguing that the TCPA robocall ban was enforceable from 2015 to 2020. "As attorneys general, we are at the forefront of this fight and we have seen firsthand the threat that illegal robocalls present to our states residents, Nessel said. These calls are a public nuisance and have the potential to cause real financial harm for millions of people. The TCPA must be upheld so we can continue holding these bad actors accountable for their illegal practices. In 2015, President Barack Obama signed into law a government-debt exception to the TCPA. The exception allowed for calls and texts to collect on debts owed or guaranteed to the federal government. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated that exception and severed it from rest of the TCPA. Later, a district court ruled in Lindenbaum v. Realgy that because part of the law was struck down, the TCPA is invalid in its entirety and cannot be used to hold robocallers accountable for their actions between 2015 and 2020. This argument has been made by a number of robocallers in federal courts recently. The brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, asks the court to reverse the lower courts ruling. The brief argues that the Supreme Courts 2020 decision made clear that the invalid government-debt exception did not affect the TCPAs primary robocall ban. It further argues that the district courts decision was inconsistent with basic principles on severability. The attorneys general have several ongoing enforcement actions under the TCPA, and invalidating the law on a technicality would let robocallers off the hook which was not the intention of the U.S. Supreme Court. The bipartisan coalition argues that aside from the government-debt exception, the rest of the TCPA can and must be upheld so it can be enforced. In January 2020, people received more than 4.7 billion robocalls nationwide. That same month, about 128 million were placed with Michigan residents. Attorney General Nessel is joined in filing this brief by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. The Douglas Mwonzora led MDC-T has accused police of conniving with some party activists to arrest its newly elected leader over claims of misappropriating party funds. Mwonzora, who was MDC-T secretary-general before his disputed victory in the December 27 2020 election, is accused of squandering nearly $6 million in party funds. Some disgruntled party activists are said to have reported the alleged theft to the police. However, party acting information and publicity secretary Witness Dube insists his boss's hands were clean on the matter. "Our financial dealings were above aboard," he said. "We are surprised that the police are being driven by certain activists who have been unsuccessfully trying to extort money from the organisation. "Equally shocking are the Whatsapp chats circulating where certain members of the police are seen strategising with some of the activists who have no locus standi to represent the party." Dube added, "To show that there is malice in the handling of the matter, internal and confidential correspondence of the police has been leaked to the media. "We appeal to law enforcement officers not to be drawn into the internal politics of the party. "Our leaders are willing to cooperate with law enforcement in whatever investigations they are doing." Dube insisted the issue was adequately dealt with during the chaotic extraordinary congress. "The extraordinary congress dealt with the issue of these allegations and concluded that they are false. "They were just part of a smear campaign against one of the candidates. It (EOC) went on to resolve that an independent external audit of all the monies be done. "The Finance and Administration committee is sitting this week to appoint the auditors. We also know that these allegations are all meant to forestall the external audit as ordered by the congress," said Dube. The European Union expects Ukraine not to adopt a bill containing proposals to introduce localization requirements in the field of public procurement, as it contradicts the Association Agreement, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas has said. According to an Ukrinform correspondent, he said this at a meeting of the commission on coordinating the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. "We expect the Ukrainian side to refrain from adopting legislation that does not comply with the Association Agreement. This applies to the proposal to introduce requirements for localization in the field of public procurement," Maasikas said. On January 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal regarding the need to comply with Ukraine's international obligations when amending the legislation in the field of public procurement. In this context, the head of state drew attention to a number of initiatives that provide for the removal of the procurement of goods and services in various fields from the scope of the law of Ukraine "On Public Procurement" in general or from the scope of its individual provisions. op Police leveled their first formal charge against Myanmars ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, members of her party said Wednesday, giving military authorities who staged a coup a legal reason to detain her at least through the middle of the month. The charge that Suu Kyi was in possession of illegally imported walkie talkies came to light two days after she was placed under house arrest and appeared to be an effort to lend a legal veneer to her detention, though the generals have previously kept her and others locked up for years. The military announced Monday that it would take power for one year accusing Suu Kyis government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. Suu Kyis party swept that vote, and the military-backed party did poorly. National League for Democracy spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge against Suu Kyi that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He also said the countrys ousted president, Win Myint, was charged with violating the natural disaster management law. A leaked charge sheet dated Feb. 1 indicates they can be held until Feb. 15. It was clear that the military were going to look for some legal cases against the leaders of the National League for Democracy and especially Aung San Suu Kyi to actually legitimize what theyve tried to do, said Larry Jagan, an independent analyst of Myanmar affairs. And that is really a power grab. Police and court officials in the capital Naypyitaw could not immediately be contacted. At the same time that authorities were working to keep Suu Kyi in detention, hundreds of lawmakers who had been forced to stay at government housing after the coup were told Wednesday to leave the capital city within 24 hours and go home, said a member of Parliament from Suu Kyis party who is among the group. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared drawing the attention of the military. The coup was a dramatic backslide for Myanmar, which had been making progress toward democracy, and highlighted the extent to which the generals have ultimately maintained control in in the Southeast Asian country. In response to the coup, Suu Kyis party has called for nonviolent resistance, and scores of people in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, honked car horns and banged on pots and pans on Tuesday night in a protest. Supporters of the military have also staged demonstrations. Medical workers have also declared they wont work for the new military government in protest of the coup at a time when the country is battling a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with a dangerously inadequate health system. Photos were shared on social media showing health workers with red ribbons pinned to their clothes or holding printed photos of red ribbons. There were also protests in neighboring Thailand, where Khin Maung Soo, a Myanmar national, said Wednesday that he was demonstrating to show the world that we are not happy with what happened. He added: We want to the world to know, and we want the whole world to help us too. The takeover marked a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country toward democracy and then became its de facto leader after her party won elections in 2015. Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army during her years in detention. But after her shift from democracy icon to politician, she worked with the generals and even defended their crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, damaging her international reputation. The international community, which had enthusiastically supported Myanmars nascent democracy, now faces a test. The United States has threatened sanctions and has labeled the takeover a coup. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday but took no action. The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 leading industrial nations on Wednesday issued a statement calling for Suu Kyi and others to be released and for power to be restored to the democratically elected government. While in power, Myanmars new leader said the military government plans to investigate alleged fraud in last years elections. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing announced the moves Tuesday at the first meeting of his new government in the capital, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. While the military has cited the governments failure to properly investigate allegations of electoral irregularities as one of the reasons for the coup, the state Union Election Commission has said there were no significant problems with the vote. Analysts have said the landslide victory of Suu Kyis party may have caught the military by surprise and made the generals concerned that it had too much power, even though the constitution had been carefully written to ensure the military maintained significant control, including with an allocation of 25% of the seats in Parliament. Min Aung Hlaing also said that COVID-19 containment measures taken by Suu Kyis government would be continued. Myanmar has confirmed more than 140,600 cases including some 3,100 deaths. Its health care infrastructure is one of the weakest in Asia, according to U.N. surveys. A statement issued Wednesday in the name of the executive members of Suu Kyis party said that authorities began raiding the partys offices in Mandalay and other states and regions on Tuesday and seized documents and laptop computers. The statement on the Facebook page of party spokesman Kyi Toe said locks were broken at several offices. It denounced the raids as illegal and demanded that they stop. Short link: Granger School District The Granger School District has transitioned to virtual learning for all pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students through Feb. 16, said Belle Vargas, assistant to the superintendent. The change comes after a staff member with multiple close contacts with other employees tested positive for COVID-19. School holidays elongate the cautionary closure, Vargas said. "Those involved were essential to the operations of Granger School District but did not work directly with students," she said. "All impacted staff have been notified and are quarantining following the guidance of the Yakima Health District." Small groups of high school students receiving in-person instruction will continue to meet on campus, she said. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Join the Socialist Equality Party For information on joining the SEP or building a section of the ICFI in your country, fill out the form below. Someone from the SEP will contact you. Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan discussed bilateral ties over the phone on Tuesday, an official statement said. Besides Turkey-U.S. relations, the top officials discussed Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Upper Karabakh, Syria, Libya and the COVID-19 pandemic during the nearly 1-hour-long conversation. The two officials agreed on strengthening political dialogue regarding Syria and Libya, and noted that a joint and effective fight was essential to confront terror groups. The latest situation in northwestern Idlib city of Syria was also discussed, with the officials arguing a new influx of refugees would trigger regional instability and humanitarian crisis that require tangible and quick measures. Furthermore, the exploratory talks between Turkey and Greece are expected to contribute to the peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to the statement. Kalin and Sullivan agreed to strengthen the NATO alliance, and to take steps that boost regional and global peace and stability. Both officials highlighted importance of strengthening Turkish-U.S. ties in the coming period, staying in close contact, and using dialogue channels open for constructive cooperation. According to the statement, Turkey also welcomed the U.S. decision to return to the Paris Agreement and it is of great importance to have international solidarity in the context of fighting climate change. The statement concluded that joint efforts were essential to resolve disputes through a new perspective, regarding issues such as Turkey's S-400 procurement, its removal from the F-35 fighter jet program, and U.S. support to YPG which Turkey views as the Syrian offshoot of PKK terror group, Anadolu Agency reported. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 00:40:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that the international community should create a sound external environment for Myanmar to properly resolve the differences. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing when answering a question on the situation in Myanmar. He said that the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday held internal consultations on the situation in Myanmar, and China participated constructively in relevant discussions. "The international community should create a sound external environment for Myanmar to properly resolve the differences," Wang said. "All actions taken by the Security Council should be conducive to Myanmar's political and social stability, peaceful reconciliation and avoid exacerbating tensions and further complicating the situation." China was baffled and shocked by the leak of internal documents under discussion at the Security Council, he said, adding that this is not how the Security Council runs its work, nor will it be conducive to the solidarity and mutual trust of the Security Council members. Wang refuted allegations that the political change in Myanmar may have taken place with China's support or acquiescence. He said such allegations are untrue. "As a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, China hopes that all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitutional and legal framework, and maintain political and social stability." Enditem Doctors Said Boy Would Not Walk, Talk, or Leave the NICU, Now Hes a Thriving 7-Year-Old A mother of two was told upon the birth of her son with a special condition that he may not walk, talk, or leave the NICU. However, the broken-hearted woman vowed to love her baby unconditionally, and now seven years later, the little boy has not only defied the doctors prognosis but hes thriving. I had Thato when I was doing my second year at the University of Johannesburg, 28-year-old Nomsa Mavimbela, of Evaton, South Africa, told The Epoch Times via email. I was so scared of how my mom would take the news, given that she is a single parent who was unemployed. Although her mother was disappointed initially, she advised Nomsa to remain calm and focus on her studies. I did exceptionally well that year, Nomsa, now a chemical engineer, reflected, and all because of [the] zeal I was getting from my boy. Baby Thatomeaning Gods willwas born prematurely at 28 weeks weighing just 1.38 kilograms (approx. 3 pounds). I collapsed the first time I laid eyes on my baby, his mother recalled upon seeing him for the first time. He was so tiny with tubes [over] almost his entire body. Yet Nomsa was over the moon, excited to hold her baby despite the trials that lay ahead. [D]octors said he will not make it, she explained, sharing her story with the South African Facebook group #ImStaying; they also said he will not be able to walk and talk and NICU had become his home. Thato was diagnosed with a condition called hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain causing the head to grow bigger than its normal size, sometimes even up to the size of a watermelon. The condition could also lead to brain damage, impaired vision, loss of coordination, and urinary incontinence; and if it isnt given attention, it could be fatal too. I was shattered, Nomsa told The Epoch Times. I had so many questions because I had never come across anyone with the condition. Thato remained in the NICU for six weeks following his birth, battling jaundice and respiratory problems. At the age of 7 months, he was fitted with a VP shunt to relieve pressure in the brain caused by fluid accumulation. Nomsas supportive mother reminded her to stay strong and love her baby unconditionally, because God knows why he had to be different. Nomsa looked only to the future, and her son continued beating the odds. When he started school I was worried about how others were going to treat him, she admitted. Finding an affordable special-needs school that could cater to Thatos needs was also a challenge, but now at the age of 7, Thato is the only student at his school with his specific condition. Despite all that he has gone through, Thato, according to his mother, is a confident child. He never says, No, Im different so I cant play with others, Nomsa explained. Thato will always approach kids at play, and if the group abandons him for being weaker than his peers, he will simply continue playing on his own. He is the most loving and caring child Ive ever known, regardless of the hate given to him at times, Nomsa said. However, for Nomsa, the most challenging part of raising a child with special needs, she shared, is watching them face lifes difficulties and wishing you could swap positions with them. The loving moms personal philosophy is to be the change you want to see in the world. For her, this means loving and accepting her son for who he is so that the rest of the world can follow her lead. She also credits her husband for echoing her sentiment. [My husband] has been such an amazing soul, she said of the man who has accompanied Thato to every single doctors appointment. He is raising our son so effortlessly. Thato had his VP shunt reviewed by a neurologist in March 2020, who discovered that it was blocked and not working properly. He still experiences coordination issues and struggles to read, but he can do everything the doctors said he may never do. He walks and he is very talkative, he can even run and jump now, Nomsa marveled. Thatos extraordinary journey, lasting seven years and counting, has taught Nomsa that the world would be a better place with more love, acceptance, and education. Let us stop with the bullying and shaming, she implored. If you dont know about the condition, ask. Let us love our kids and teach them that its okay to be different, she reflected. Always remember that God gives His toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. This story was last updated in February 2021. 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: TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter In Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs staged a walkout demanding a discussion exclusively on the farmers issues In Rajya Sabha, Opposition parties had given notice under rule 267, calling for the suspension of business of the day to discuss the ongoing agitation by farmers on Delhi borders. (Twitter/ANI) New Delhi: MPs of the ruling and Opposition parties remained deadlocked on Tuesday on the issue of the three contentious farm laws and did not let Parliament function even as the government, which has taken a hard stand against the ongoing protests, said that it will not give compensation to the families of farmers who have died during the ongoing agitation against the new farm laws. In a written reply to a question in Parliament, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that during discussion with farmers' unions the government had "appealed many times that children and elders including women should be requested to go home in view of the cold and Covid situation and other hardships." He, however, informed the Lower House that the government is negotiating with the farmer unions. In Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs staged a walkout demanding a discussion exclusively on the farmers issues, and in Lok Sabha, MPs rushed to the Well of the House demanding that the three laws be scrapped, forcing the House to be adjourned twice before finally being adjourned for the day. Minutes after proceedings began in Lok Sabha, Congress MPs, terming the three laws as anti-farmer, walked to the Well of the House asking the government to withdraw these laws. They were soon joined by TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Saugata Roy. SAD MP and former minister in NDA government Harsimrat Kaur too stood in protest holding a placard. Despite Speaker Om Birlas request to raise these issues during Question Hour, sloganeering continued, forcing the adjournment. Later, at 7 pm, when the House resumed, Om Birla asked BJP member Locket Chatterjee to initiate the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address amid sloganeering by the Opposition members. However, Opposition members continued to protest. In Rajya Sabha, Opposition parties had given notice under rule 267, calling for the suspension of business of the day to discuss the ongoing agitation by farmers on Delhi borders. These parties included the Congress, TMC, CPI, CPI, NCP and RSP. Rejecting their demand, chairman of the Rajya Sabha, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said that the issue can be raised during the discussion on motion of thanks to the Presidents address. The President, he said, had referred to the farmers agitation. Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the farmers have been camping for more than two months and the issue needs to be discussed. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) said the House is not aware of what is going on between the government and farmers and should discuss the issue separately from the Motion of Thanks. We want a discussion on a specific issue, he said. While CPI leader Elamaram Kareem said water and electricity supply to the protest sites has been cut, DMKs Tiruchi Siva said farmers have been sitting on roads for over two months in the bitter cold and the issue needs to be discussed separately. After this the Opposition walked out. When the House reconvened, the Opposition members rushed to the Well of the House demanding a discussion and the House was adjourned twice for one hour each and was finally adjourned for the day. The Opposition is insistent that a specific time be allocated for discussion on the farmers issue and should not be clubbed with the motion of thanks on the Presidents address. BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TROUVER, a youthful new brand in the Xiaomi ecological chain focused on performance, trendsetting design, and quality, has released its Finder Robot LDS Vacuum Mop in Europe. A smart all-in-one vacuum cleaner, Finder provides a new generation of customers with intuitive and hygienic home cleaning during periods of self-isolation. Boasting a completely hands-free operation, Finder relieves the pressure of daily cleaning tasks at a time when young people are spending more time at home than ever before. The robot vacuum cleaner is equipped with a Laser Distance Sensor (LDS) unmanned navigation system, two-in-one sweep and mop feature, and powerful suction - enabling an effective and efficient all-purpose cleaning experience. Finder's LDS system achieves smarter navigation during the cleaning process with higher accuracy and greater range. Using 5.2Hz adaptive scanning and 2080 times per second laser ranging, the system can run a full 360-degree scan of a house up to a 6-meter radius. Real-time and dynamic planning, powered by TROUVER's self-developed Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm and dual-core processor, ensures no areas of the home are missed and even delivers customized cleaning plans for individual home layouts. At the same time, the sweep and mop 2-in-1 feature frees up valuable time, and the ultra-strong 2000Pa suction power enables deep cleaning of the entire home. With four suction modes, a brushless motor and unique sealed air ducts, Finder easily maintains strong suction at all times and can capture tiny particles on the ground including dust, hair and debris. Meanwhile, the mop was developed with new materials for an enhanced cleaning effect: super-fine soft fiber catches even the smallest of fragments, while hard fiber scrubs away at stains on the ground. Combined with its 270mL water tank that is suspended from the device body, Finder can mop closer to the ground for a more thorough clean. "At TROUVER, we explore new avenues of science and technology with the vision to bring high-quality products to more people around the world. Together with the Xiaomi Mi Home(Mijia) App, the Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner delivers a truly intelligent hands-free cleaning experience. Users can manage the vacuum remotely using the app to adjust suction power control, manage the map, set up virtual walls, adjust power settings, and more. These connected features deliver an enhanced cleaning experience to free the user to enjoy more time at home doing what they love," said Weisheng Zhang, President of TROUVER. A young, fashion-forward and trendy brand designed for the new generation of customers, TROUVER combines its innovative core technology with cutting-edge global design trends, and materials science. TROUVER's vision is to create next-level products that combine powerful core tech for the young generation, and boasts a 300-strong R&D team whom have extensive industrial experience of aerospace science and research development. A truly global product, TROUVER's Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner has already been launched in a number of markets including Germany, Russian, Thailand and South Korea. TROUVER plans to release its Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner in more countries throughout 2021, bringing efficient hands-free cleaning to more young people around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.trouver-tech.com/index_en.html About TROUVER TROUVER belongs to an important leading enterprise of the Xiaomi ecological chain - Dreame Technology. Pioneering in technology, industrial design, art, and fashion crossover as well as supply chain matrix, TROUVER is committed to creating next-level products that combine powerful core technology for young people. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1430220/image1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1430221/image2.jpg The Russian Consulate General in New York requested the Office of Foreign Missions of the US Department of State to take measures to ensure its safety after acts of hooliganism were committed outside its building. An anti-Russian rally was held outside the building at 14:00-20:00 local time. An unidentified participant threw a can of paint at the building. "The building sustained material damage. This act of hooliganism could have been hazardous for the consulates visitors and staff," TASS cited the diplomatic mission as saying. "We made numerous attempts to contact the New York police, but they did not consider it necessary to arrive for restoring order," the consulate continued. "On Tuesday evening, we sent an address the Office of Foreign Missions, demanding to ensure safety." Russian diplomats said that starting from January 18, the Consulate has been experiencing troubles with phone service. "Some of the key [phone] lines are still down," the consulate said. "We report to the phone company and to officials again and again, but they constantly cite technical issues." In late January, Russian diplomats said the Consulate had problems not only with stationary phone lines, but with cellular connection as well. The diplomatic mission stressed that it never experienced such problems before. ADVERTISEMENT The Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Philip Ogbadu, on Wednesday, led some police operatives to a forest along the Benin bypass, in search of the killers of a U.S.-based Nigerian, Dennis Abuda, who was killed on Saturday by his abductors. The slain Mr Abuda, who is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was abducted along the Benin bypass by unknown gunmen alongside other members of his family who were travelling with him to Lagos to catch a flight to the U.S. The Abudas were said to have left Fugar, in Etsako Central Local Government Area in the early hours of Saturday in a Toyota Sienna with registration number, LAGOS, SMK 606 GQ, when they were ambushed by the gunmen. He was reportedly shot by his abductors after he slumped while being forced to march into the forest. The identities of the others who were also abducted are David Oghieakhe, Richard Bologi, and a lady simply identified as Mrs Comfort. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the body of the deceased was discovered in the forest on Wednesday, while his three abducted relatives were released on Tuesday after an undisclosed ransom was paid. Firefight One of the abductors was killed during a gunfight with the police inside the forest, while three others were apprehended, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The police spokesperson in the state, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the development, said operatives of the command were still in the forest searching for the other abductors. Once we gather more information, we would let you know, but it will be premature to give out information because we are dealing with criminals, Mr Nwabuzor said. David Agabi, a member of Mr Abudas family and the National Secretary-General, Fugar Progressive Union, confirmed the death of the U.S.-based Nigerian. He said. We wish to announce the death of Prince Eloniyo Dennis Abuda in the custody of the abductors, who kidnapped him and others on Saturday 30th of January 2021. Others have been released safely. Further details will be released by the family or as they become available. But another family member, who did not want his name mentioned in the report because he was not authorised to speak on it, said the deceased was killed after it was discovered that he could not walk anymore. The kidnappers didnt want to leave him behind as they were afraid that he would reveal their hideout to security agencies and so decided to shoot him. After killing him, they proceeded with the ransom negotiation and got the money. So sad. What a reason to kill a fellow human being, he said. Advertisement Uber-wealthy Manhattanites who paid as much as $88million to live in a 1,400ft tall residential skyscraper are now complaining that the building suffers from leaks, flooding, creaking walls, faulty elevators, and rising common charges caused by repairs. The 96-floor building at 432 Park Avenue, whose construction was completed in 2015, was the second tallest skyscraper in New York City behind One World Trade Center. Located on Billionaires Row, known for its cluster of residential skyscrapers overlooking Central Park, the tower attracted buyers like Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, among others. It has taken cutting-edge technology and engineering breakthroughs to allow the construction of 1000-ft tall super-skyscrapers which are now beginning to shoot up in Manhattan. But one of the key selling points of the new building - its height - also appears to be causing problems. Strong wind gusts at higher altitude are causing the structure to sway, affecting elevators and cables, while the free flow of air into garbage chutes, doorways, and hallways creates an orchestra of loud, spooky noises that reportedly dampen quality of life. The sway of the building is also wreaking havoc on piping and plumbing as residents continue to complain of leaks and floods, The New York Times reports. One potential buyer, billionaire tequila mogul Juan Beckmann Vidal, was in contract for a $46.25million apartment on the 86th floor in 2016 when a catastrophic water flood caused major damage to units on the 83rd, 84th, 85th, and 86th floors. Residents of 432 Park Avenue in New York City, once the tallest residential skyscraper in the world, have complained of faulty maintenance issues that have caused leaks, flooding, and noise Eduard Slinin, a resident who was elected to the condo board last year, told his neighbors that insurance costs rose by some 300 per cent in two years. Slinin wrote a letter to neighbors citing two water related incidents from 2018 that cost the building $9.7million to fix. Slinin is seen right with his wife, Gala Slinin, in New York City in this undated file photo In 2016, Juan Beckmann Vidal (left), the billionaire chairman of the company behind Jose Cuervo tequila, was in contract for a $46.25million on the 86th floor in 2016 when a catastrophic water flood caused major damage to units on the 83rd, 84th, 85th, and 86th floors. When Vidal tried to back out of the deal, he demanded his $11.56million deposit back. Harry Macklowe (right), the real estate developer who helped build 432 Park Avenue, refused, prompting Vidal to file suit. The lawsuit was settled quietly a year later 432 Park Avenue is among several residential skyscrapers located on Billionaires' Row - a cluster of high-end multi-billion dollar development projects on or near West 57th Street and which overlook Central Park When Vidal, who owns the Jose Cuervo tequila brand, tried to back out of the deal, he demanded his $11.56million deposit back. Harry Macklowe, the real estate developer who helped build 432 Park Avenue, refused, prompting Vidal to file suit, according to Curbed. The lawsuit was settled quietly a year later. One of the buildings developers, CIM Group, told The New York Times that the structure is a successfully designed, constructed and virtually sold-out project and that the firm is working collaboratively with the condo board. Like all new construction, there were maintenance and close-out items during that period, the board said. DailyMail.com has reached out to CIM Group for comment. The property manager at 432 Park Avenue, FirstService Residential, declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com. A-Rod and JLo bought a 4,000 square foot unit in 2018 for $15.3million - only to sell about a year later for $17.5million. Among the famous celebrities who bought properties at 432 Park Avenue are Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez (seen above in New York in 2018). The two bought a 4,000 square foot unit in 2018 for $15.3million - only to sell it the next year for $17.5million They decided to sell the property because they reportedly wanted something bigger for their four children. According to Page Six, the couple did not have any complaints about the building. In 2016, the penthouse on the 96th floor was bought by Saudi billionaire Fawaz Alhokair for almost $88million. Of the 125 condominium units in the building, just two are now available for sale, according to the official web site for the property. Despite the glamorous image, however, residents and developers behind the skyscraper that cost $1.5billion to build are blaming each other for shoddy maintenance issues that are not uncommon in more run-down, older apartments, according to the Times. One tenant, Sarina Abramovich, told the Times that she and her husband, Mikhail, paid almost $17million for a 3,500sq ft apartment on one of the high floors in the building in 2016. When she arrived at her new residence on the first day, she was shocked to see that both her new apartment and other parts of the building were still under construction. According to Page Six, A-Rod and JLo decided to unload the property because 'they need something bigger for the family' The image above shows a room inside JLo's and ARod's three bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom condo that they eventually sold in 2019 The image above shows a bathroom at the 86B residence in 432 Park Avenue in New York City in January 2017 They put me in a freight elevator surrounded by steel plates and plywood, with a hard-hat operator, she said. Thats how I went up to my hoity-toity apartment before closing. Things just kept getting worse from there, according to Abramovich. The building has suffered from several leaks and floods, two of which were reported in November 2018, according to the Times. On November 22, 2018, a flange, which is a ribbed collar that connects piping, burst around a high-pressure water feed on the 60th floor, causing a flood. Abramovich said that water seeped into her apartment several floors below the leak, causing some $500,000 in damage. Just four days later, the building general manager reported a water line failure in which water leaked into the elevator shafts. The damage forced two of the four residential elevators to be out of service for weeks. DailyMail.com has reached out to the other developer, Macklowe Properties, for comment. Other residents have also said that their properties suffered severe, costly damage as a result of maintenance issues. According to engineers, the problems affecting 432 Park Avenue have become commonplace at other residential skyscrapers where severe wind gusts at higher altitudes cause the buildings to sway. In October 2019, management at 432 Park told tenants that one of their fellow residents was entrapped for nearly 90 minutes after high-wind condition forced the elevator to get stuck. One engineer told the Times that wind-induced sway leads to cables in the elevator shaft shifting around, which can cause slowdowns or shutdowns. The engineer said that other supertall buildings have reported similar problems. The strong wind gusts also cause spooky noises as air flows between doorway and elevator shafts and metal partitions between the walls sway from side to side, residents report. The condo on the 36th floor boasts oak floors, 12.6-foot ceilings, large windows, and views of Central Park There is even a large gym for the famously in-shape couple. The complex includes free weights, treadmills, benches, and other exercise equipment During an owners meeting that took place in 2019, residents reported that garbage tossed about in a trash shut sounds like a bomb and that they could frequently hear creaking and banging noises from their apartments. Residents say that the maintenance issues were compounded by the increasing common charges, which rose some 40 per cent in 2019 due to what management said was rising insurance premiums and repairs. Eduard Slinin, a resident who was elected to the condo board last year, told his neighbors that insurance costs rose by some 300 per cent in two years. Slinin wrote a letter to neighbors citing two water related incidents from 2018 that cost the building $9.7million to fix. Slinin declined comment when reached by DailyMail.com. Residents were also unhappy that they were forced to pay more money to use the in-house private restaurant run by star chef Shaun Hergatt. When the building opened, residents had to spend $1,200 per year for the privilege of eating there - though all meals had to be paid for separately with the exception of breakfast, which was free. This year, however, residents must pay $15,000, even though the restaurant has cut back its operating hours due to the pandemic. To make matters worse, breakfast is no longer free. Abramovich told the Times that she has refused to cover the recent increase in common charges. As a result, she has incurred $82,000 in late fees and interest. She said her decision to speak out was motivated by principle and that she wasnt concerned that the value of her property might suffer as a result. Everything here was camouflage, she said. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never bought. The building is seen above during its construction phase in December 2013. At the time its construction was completed, it was the tallest residential skyscraper in the world A view of New York city to east from the 75th floor of 432 Park Avenue is seen above on October 15, 2014 The image above shows a view to the north and Central Park from the 75th floor at 432 Park Avenue in October 2014 Some residents have started to point fingers at each other as others have threatened to sue the developers. One group of residents commissioned an engineering firm, SBI Consultants, to study mechanical and structural flaws. According to the Times, SBIs initial findings showed that 73 per cent of the buildings mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components did not conform with the developers drawings. Nearly a quarter of the issues observed even presented actual life safety issues, according to Slinin. Though SBI declined to comment to the Times, Slinin later downplayed the initial findings, telling the Times that the mechanical issues were minor things. DailyMail.com has reached out to SBI for comment. Abramovich added: 'I was convinced it would be the best building in New York. 'Theyre still billing it as Gods gift to the world, and its not.' Two caretakers were arrested in the January 2020 death of 3-year-old Tarika Carter in Harris County, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Tuesday. Shawanda Harris, 35, and Huey Hamilton, 52, have been taken to Harris County Jail on a charge of injury to a child. Harris' bond was set at $150,000. The total bond for Hamilton, who also was charged with possession of a controlled substance, was set at $255,000. The results of this study - which has not yet been peer-reviewed - indicate vaccines will also slow the spread of the virus from person to person. Photo: PA Media. A single dose of the Oxford vaccine may reduce transmission of coronavirus by two thirds, according to a new study which provides a major boost to the UKs recommendation that the second jab should be delayed for up to 12 weeks. Researchers said that the first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab offers protection of 76% up to three months and may reduce transmission by 67% with efficacy rising to 82.4% after the second dose 12 weeks later. The data from the study by the University of Oxford, which has not yet been peer reviewed, supports the four to 12-week prime-boost dosing interval that many global regulators, including the UKs, have recommended. Before these results, little was known about how effective the Covid-19 vaccines were at preventing transmission of the disease. The findings indicate that those who have been vaccinated are not only protected from the disease, but that they are not likely to pass on the virus to anyone. It also suggests the vaccine eliminates severe illness, as none of those in the study were admitted to hospital with coronavirus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: This is a hugely encouraging study and further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease. This report shows the Oxford vaccine works and works well. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the data from the study was really encouraging. Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial and study co-author, said: These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) and EMA (European Medicines Agency) to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine. A former chair at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, Dr Gillies OBryan-Tear, said the results were the first definitive estimate of the impact of vaccination on transmission rates. If the effect on transmission is confirmed for the Pfizer vaccine too, this would be very positive, he said. The study came as Public Health England (PHE) said it was investigating strains of coronavirus in the UK which have developed a mutation that has been worrying scientists. Eleven cases in the Bristol area have been identified as the variant that originally arose in Kent but are now showing the E484K mutation. A cluster of 32 cases in Liverpool also have the same mutation but relate to the original strain of coronavirus that has been around since the start of the pandemic. The South African variant which also shows the mutation is under investigation in at least eight postcode areas of England where cases not linked to travel have been found. A PHE spokesman said: PHE is monitoring the situation closely and all necessary public health interventions are being undertaken, including enhanced contact tracing and control measures. The E484K mutation has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing people contracting Covid-19. However, public health experts believe current vaccines will still be effective against strains with the mutation, although at a lower level, and are good at preventing severe disease. FREDERICTON - Compliance officers are still catching businesses in New Brunswick with inadequate COVID-19 operational plans or no plan at all, nearly a year after companies were required to create them. FREDERICTON - Compliance officers are still catching businesses in New Brunswick with inadequate COVID-19 operational plans or no plan at all, nearly a year after companies were required to create them. Tim Petersen, vice-president prevention at WorkSafeNB, says the government agency's officers have issued about 900 compliance orders and 80 stop-work orders since March 2020. New Brunswick's provincial flag flies in Ottawa, Friday July 3, 2020. Nearly a year after New Brunswick businesses were required to have an operational plan in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic, compliance officers are still finding businesses with faulty plans or no plan at all. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld "Those are instances where the workplaces haven't had any plan or any real idea what they need to put in place, and we've identified that has put people at significant risk in that moment," Petersen said in an interview Tuesday, about stop-work orders. Most of the stop-work orders have been issued since the start of 2021, he added. Petersen said his officers help businesses create COVID-19 plans and will often spend hours with a business owner to ensure they understand the rules and can comply. "The intent is not to catch people, it's to help them out," he said. WorkSafeNB offers templates on its website that businesses can use to complete their plan. He said there has been one instance in which a business was charged for refusing to comply; that case is before the courts. Petersen would not comment on the specifics of that case but said legislation includes fines of up to $250,000 for non-compliance. He said officers have conducted inspection blitzes in areas of the province where the number of COVID-19 cases have been high, adding that many of the stop-work orders have been given as a result of the blitzes. Fredericton Chamber of Commerce CEO Krista Ross said her organization has encouraged its members to follow the rules and that she is surprised to hear some businesses in the province are not complying with health orders. The Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton chambers joined forces at the start of the pandemic last year to develop a guide, which included details on how to create an operational plan. "We certainly have been talking to our members, which is more than 1,000 businesses and organizations in Fredericton, that this is a necessity," Ross said in an interview Wednesday. "It is a requirement to being open and we strongly encourage them to have these in place." Ross said the Fredericton Chamber will remind its members to comply. "It is a plan for how to operate your business safely during times with COVID and how to deal with situations as they arise," she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021. The U.K. has recorded almost 4 million cases of COVID-19, with over 100,000 deaths. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it has found six more cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in the country. This is the same variant currently causing anxiety in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. The Director-General of NCDC, Chikwe Iheakwazu, while speaking at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, said the cases were detected from samples collected from Osun and Kwara states by scientists at Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. "On 30th of January, our partners at ACEGID detected the B.1.1.7 variant in six additional samples - five from Osun and one from Kwara State. This is the variant of concern that first emerged in the UK," he said. "The five in Osun is most likely related to the fact that this is where ACEGID is and where they get a lot of samples from. In total, we have detected the B.1.1.7 variant in seven cases within Nigeria." Mr Iheakwazu said the development implies community transmission of this variant of concern, hence the need to scale up on genomic surveillance. "Specifically, we have begun sequencing positive samples among travellers from the UK and South Africa, who test positive on the seventh day of testing. "We are developing a protocol to sequence more samples from across states at ACEGID and our sister-agency NIMR. This is in addition to our capacity at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory," Mr Ihekweazu said. He, however, said it is unclear if the new variants are leading to increased transmission recorded in some countries. "We are all aware that with increasing transmission, the virus is adapting to the human population leading to what is known as variants of concern." "In most countries, it is still not clear if the variants of concern are leading to increased transmission, or if the increase in cases is as a result of poor adherence to public health and social measures," he said. He explained that an additional layer of response required to understand the variants of concern is with genetic sequencing and genomic surveillance. The BBC quoted top British health officials as saying there was no evidence the new variant was more deadly or would react differently to vaccines, but it was proving to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible. COVID-19 variants The new variant detected in the UK in September and dubbed "lineage B.1.1.7" has triggered the current exponential spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, leading to a travel ban on the UK by some countries and a stay at home order. The UK has recorded almost 4 million cases of COVID-19, with over 100,000 deaths, data from Worldometers.com shows. Over 45 countries have so far identified the UK variant, with experts warning that more countries could report sharp increases in cases in the coming weeks, the BBC reported. Precautions Amidst high concerns of the rapid spread of the new variant, some countries are taking proactive measures to prevent importation of new cases of the virus. The Nigerian government earlier announced new travel rules for passengers coming in from the United Kingdom and South Africa. "Effective from Monday, December 28th, all passengers coming into the country from the UK and South Africa on direct flights, must use the Nigerian International Travel Portal to register, fill in the health questionnaire and must upload a negative COVID-19 PCR result with a validity of not more than five days and must pay for a COVID PCR test at day seven of arrival in country without which they will not be allowed to board the flights," the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, had said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He noted that a special register would be opened at the airports for passengers from these two countries specifically to track and ensure they present for COVID test on day seven. Mr Aliyu said the country was concerned about the emergence of the new variant in the UK and the additional mutate that was described as coming from South Africa. He noted that Nigeria's system for travels in terms of ensuring the safety of citizens and preventing the importation of cases is one of the most strict. "If you do not present a travel permit, the airlines are being directed not to board. "So if you are coming into Nigeria from the UK and South Africa, it is in your best interest to familiarise yourself with the Nigerian International Travel Portal," Mr Aliyu had said in December. Yes, along most or all of the coast Yes, but only places where an entry fee can cover their cost No, people can continue swimming at their own risk Vote View Results (@FahadShabbir) The Nicaraguan Health Ministry registered Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, told the Sky News broadcaster Wednesday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) The Nicaraguan Health Ministry registered Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, told the Sky news broadcaster Wednesday. Nicaragua became the 18th country in the world to approve Sputnik V. 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. on Wednesday said it was opposed to any strong resolution by the UN Security Council condemning the military coup in and insisted that any action by the community should not escalate the tensions and complicate matters. Myanmar's military on Monday took control of the country for one year and detained top political figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. along with Russia reportedly blocked efforts by the at its consultative meeting on Tuesday to issue a strong statement condemning the coup. Asked what has proposed at the meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here on Wednesday that the community should create favourable conditions for settling the issues between military and Suu Kyi. The held its internal consultation on China has participated in the consultation. China is a friendly neighbour to Myanmar," Wang said. We hope all sides in Myanmar can take into account national interest and people's interest to uphold political and social stability, he said. The community should create favourable conditions for settling the issues. Any action by the international community should contribute to Myanmar's political and social stability, instead of escalating tensions and complicating matters, he insisted. Wang also expressed shock over the leak of the internal document discussed at the informal consultation meeting of the "We are shocked by the leak of the internal document. We don't believe this is good for internal solidarity and mutual trust in the security council," he said. China is one among the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council and shared close relations with military junta when it ruled the country for over two decades and later with Suu Kyi after she came into power in 2016 following long years of incarceration. During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar last year, the two countries signed 33 deals, especially on the implementation of the USD nine billion China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which will allow Beijing direct access to the strategic Indian Ocean. (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.) He denies the offences and claims to have acted in self-defence, his lawyer confirmed A woman was allegedly attacked with a meat cleaver after a row flared during sex, a court heard yesterday. Police claimed she sustained wounds to her hand and chin as she tried to fend off an assault at her home in north Belfast. Carson Sheridan, with an address at Orchard Street in the city, is accused of carrying out the attack on Sunday night. The 19-year-old appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court to face charges of possessing an offensive weapon and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He denies the offences and claims to have acted in self-defence, his lawyer confirmed. Referring to the woman's version of events, a PSNI constable said she had been sharing a few drinks with the defendant. "The detained person (Sheridan) became angry during sex, went downstairs and lifted a meat cleaver from the living room," the officer claimed. "He started to shout and hit the living room walls and banister with the cleaver. "He then smashed the injured party's laptop and guitar." It was alleged that the woman tried to take the blade from him, ending up on the floor with it under her. According to her account Sheridan began kicking and punching her about the head and body. "He then sat on top of her, placed one hand around her neck, got the meat cleaver off her and started swinging it about," the officer said. "He stated 'I will kill you' and cut the injured party's chin and her hand as she stuck her hands up. He managed to cut three of the fingers on the left hand, causing deep lacerations." Sheridan left the house on a bicycle, the court heard, but was detained by police a short distance away. Opposing bail, the constable cited the risk of witness interference following what he described as an "unprovoked attack". Defence solicitor Mark Crawford said Sheridan had been in a brief, "dysfunctional" relationship with a woman 10 years older than him. Mr Crawford contended that her home has been attacked by local paramilitaries due to suspected drug-taking activity. "He (Sheridan) has given a full account, warts and all," the lawyer added. Granting bail to the accused, District Judge Fiona Bagnall ruled he must live at an address approved by police. She banned him from contacting the alleged victim and imposed an exclusion zone. Sheridan is due to appear back in court in four weeks time. On the day of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, it is planned to hold a parade with the involvement of military equipment, as well as the arrival of the leaders of many partner states is also expected the press service of President Volodymyr Zelensky reported following a meeting with government representatives. "This year we have special anniversaries of the tragic pages of our history, as well as of the moments and outstanding Ukrainians we are proud of. We will pay special tribute to the 80th anniversary of Babyn Yar and the 35th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. But the history of Ukraine is not only a tragedy. I am glad that this year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Lesya Ukrainka. We will worthily remind you of this outstanding personality of world scale. And we will pay special attention to both the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of Ukraine and the 30th anniversary of independence. Let's show that Ukrainians have something to be proud of," the President stressed. It is noted that a parade involving military equipment will be held on Ukraine's birthday, along with other events. In addition, a festive concert will take place in the evening. Thus, each ministry will present a special, outstanding project in its field, which will contribute to the development of Ukraine. In addition, leaders of many partner countries of Ukraine are expected to arrive. The head of state also noted that all events should not only focus on history, but also show the important directions for the development of the future of our country. "There should be not only 30 years of experience, but also a look at the next 30 years. The concept of unity and strengthening the image of Ukraine as a full-fledged partner in the international arena remains important," the President stressed. In addition, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of independence, the Crimean Platform summit will be held with the involvement of Ukraine's international partners, which, according to the president, will have historical value. "We will unite the efforts of all countries that help solve the issues of the people of Crimea and the de-occupation of the peninsula," Zelensky said. There will also be events dedicated to strengthening interstate relations and developing cultural diplomacy. An Auckland woman has been sentenced to Intensive Supervision for 12 months and 100 hours community work for smuggling succulents and endangered cacti into New Zealand. The woman was a seller and trader of succulents and cacti on TradeMe. Judge McIlraith took a sentencing starting point of 15 months imprisonment. MPI Regional Team Manager Compliance Investigations North, Simon Anderson, says most people do the right thing when it comes to biosecurity at the border. This sentencing serves as a good reminder that anyone who smuggles plants or other endangered species into New Zealand can expect to be prosecuted. Its important to remember that bringing unauthorised plants into the country by any method, whether smuggling through the border in person or receiving products by mail, puts New Zealands biosecurity at risk. Wenqing (Wendy) Li, 38, pleaded guilty to charges related to two separate incidents at the Auckland International Airport when returning from China to her Auckland home. The goods seized were of a high commercial value. She was sentenced in the Manukau District Court yesterday. On March 24, 2019, she strapped stockings containing 947 succulents and cacti on to her body and attempted to smuggle them into the country. The cacti included eight endangered and threatened species. The plants were worth over $10,000. After being noticed by a detector dog, Ms Li tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her offending by disposing of items in the airport toilets. MPI officers prevented the evidence being destroyed and conducted a full search of the toilet area where a large amount of plant material was found, including three stockings filled with succulents and cacti in one of the rubbish bins inside the mens toilet. In a separate offending on July 23, 2019, Ms Li was found in possession of 142 unauthorised seeds hidden in two commercially packaged iPad covers in her luggage, as well as over 200 plant pots and garden ornaments wrapped in mouldy wet paper. The plant pots were also found to contain a snail and two pieces of tree fern stem. Biosecurity NZ takes its role of protecting New Zealand from biosecurity threats very seriously. Our country is fortunate to be free of many of the invasive pests and diseases found in other countries. The Department of Conservation, New Zealand Customs, and the Ministry for Primary Industries all work closely together on cases involving the trade in endangered species and treat such cases as very serious offending, especially when detected in New Zealand. Our economy and way of life is dependent on keeping these threats out of the country." Evidence contents of black stocking. Stockings filled with succulents. Succulent with writing on leaves. The community is banding together to support the family of a much-loved St. James man whose life ended far too soon. The community is banding together to support the family of a much-loved St. James man whose life ended far too soon. Kyle Fritsch, 33, was driving home from work around 4:15 p.m. on Weds., Jan. 20 when an oncoming semi collided with his minivan on CentrePort Canada Way. SUPPLIED PHOTO Kyle and Selena Fritsch pictured in happier times. Kyle died Jan. 20 after a motor vehicle accident on CentrePort Canada Way. Kyle was rushed to the hospital but he died from his injuries, leaving behind his grieving wife Selena and three kids six-year-old son Jack, 17-year-old stepdaughter Angelina and 18-year-old stepdaughter Aliyah. "Family was his No. 1 priority and he always put us before himself. He loved being a dad more than anything and he would spend all his free time with Jack," Selena Fritsch said. "They were just so close. Kyle spent a year at home with Jack shortly after he was born and they did everything together. Jack was the most important person in his life. Its been hard." Kyle also built close relationships with both stepdaughters after entering their lives more than a decade ago. "He was quite young when he came into our family and he took it on without any hesitation. He was involved in all their big moments," Selena said. "He picked up Aliyah from work every day, and they really enjoyed those rides together. Angie and Kyle had such similar personalities that youd think they werent step-related." Selena also appreciates how her husband was always supportive of her dreams. In January, she returned to university to pursue a master of business administration program. However, she has now decided to put her studies on hold. "He was a very loving, caring and empathetic person. He loved to help as much as he could," Selena said. "Hed come home and tell stories about ways he had helped people in his day. He also liked to be the funny guy. He was always joking." His creativity shone through, particularly at his recent job in a print shop. "He would print clothing and really enjoyed making designs. He also really loved photography and would come home with pictures of things that he created or repurposed," Selena said. "He had recently fallen in love with running. It was something that brought him peace. He also enjoyed going to Gimli, where my parents have an RV." Because Kyle didnt have life insurance, Selenas long-time friend Jill Dyson has set up a GoFundMe page called "Kyle Fritsch (Blackburn) Memorial & Family Support" to help tide the family over during this difficult period. "Everyone is having a very hard time and theyre taking it moment by moment," Dyson said. "Selena needs to focus on grieving and adjusting instead of thinking about how to pay the bills month to month. It will be one less thing to think about if shes not worried how shes going to make rent." For Selena, these efforts have helped to lighten her load at a dark time. "Im so grateful for the support. Everyone has been so kind, and the GoFundMe page has been very comforting with the loss of income. People I know have been reaching out, and Im amazed by the kindness of strangers," she said. "The community has also been so wonderful with providing meals and I really appreciate that. Its nice to not have to worry about cooking right now." While Selena wades through her grief, she makes one request of those who may have encountered her husband. "Id like to ask anyone who knew Kyle to just keep talking about him and keep his memory alive," she said. "If anyone wants to share stories and memories about him, that would mean a lot to me. I miss him so much." The Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that more than Rs 124 crore was spent in the last three years on media campaigns for tourism promotion in the country. The information was given through a reply by Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel to a written question by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs Bhaskar Rao Nekkanti and Prashanta Nanda. Patel said that different media campaigns are conducted by the Ministry of Tourism to promote domestic tourism in India. In the last three years, campaigns in the print media, television, online, radio, theatre and SMSes were run. Patel said Rs 25,70,95,135 was spent in 2017-18, Rs 65,25,12,193 in 2018-19 and Rs 33,27,44,370 in 2019-20. Thus, in last three years, Rs 1,24,23,51,698 was spent on media campaigns related to tourism. The Minister said that media plans are received by the Ministry of Tourism through the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, Doordarshan, and National Film Development Corporation. This campaign is run for all the states of India and not any particular state. This is the fourth in a "Letter to President Biden" series aimed at conveying policy recommendations in an open letter from politicians, scholars and experts to the new U.S. president following his Jan. 20 inauguration. ED. By Kim Sang-woo Dear Mr. President, It is with great relief and the most heartfelt joy in which I extend my congratulations to you and Vice President Kamala Harris on your inauguration. Unfortunately, however, the damage that has been done to the United States by Trump's presidency during the last four years seems to be quite serious. And the world is wondering can the U.S. repair democracy in crisis? The most shocking incident was early last month when a mob encouraged by Trump broke into the Capitol, halting the process to affirm you to succeed to the presidency and forced Vice President Mike Pence, legislators and staff to flee for their lives. The bad news is that the events demonstrated to Americans and to the world the fragility of democracy in the U.S. That fragility is unlikely to go away even with a successful Biden presidency. A record number of Americans voted in the November election, a rate not seen in more than a hundred years. An unusual number of these votes were cast, not on election day itself, but in pre-voting and by mail individual state laws define the terms under which citizens vote. That electoral process led to all sorts of accusation of election fraud without any real proof. Despite the pandemic, the result was the extraordinary turnout 81 million votes for you and 74 million for Trump which translated into significant win for you in the Electoral College. Both candidates won more votes than any previous presidential candidate. Nonetheless, Trump, over the past two months tried to persuade his followers that his election defeat was the result of massive fraud and that his supporters should prove his victory. As a result, a large number of voters continued to believe that Trump won the election. Indeed, Trump's 74 million votes is an astonishing number for a candidate widely viewed as controversial, if not radical, by a significant part of the U.S. and global elite. Since the sorry episode was televised, there is little doubt as to what happened on Jan. 6. And most certainly the rioters and Trump should be prosecuted. But we should also ask whether the people who are advocating "treason and sedition" are not contributing to the problem? This could also be said about the call by some Democrats to remove from office their Republican counterparts who supported Trump during the ratifying of your Electoral College victory. Can the incoming administration and the ruling party really ignore 74 million voters without consequence? Is Trump what defines those voters, or is there something else? There has been a lot written since the attack on the Capitol about the failure of American democracy. Really? Is there a credible counter-case to the rejection of Trump's accusation by the courts as well as by the Electoral College process and the Congress which worked admirably, despite the pressure of the mob? Perhaps we should be celebrating the strength of U.S. institutions, and wondering how to make them better. How to sustain the enthusiasm of 150 million voters, and to transform the anger and fear that motivated many of them into mutual respect and shared vision. I think many agree that American democratic processes designed in the 18th century urgently need to be updated and modernized for the 21st century. What role can technology play? How to regulate the power of social media in forming opinions and reinforcing partisanship? How to narrow the trust gap between people and politicians, between people and institutions? How to make government more accountable? What do we make of Trump? Was he cause or symptom or simply a one-off accident? How did he capture the hearts and minds of so many Americans? Is it simply that they are wrong, and should be ignored, as some argue? If Trump is a symptom, what is the disease and how do we cure it? If Trump was an accident, will he (and Trumpism) just fade away like a bad memory once he is gone? What happens in the U.S. inevitably affects countries around the world, because of it's influence and power, as well as the structure of the global system. But the U.S. is not the only democracy struggling with deep political partisanship, lack of trust in institutions, people who feel unrepresented by politicians, rising inequality, and deep fear of how their social realities will be shaped in the 21st century. And the pandemic was a kind of pressure cooker which accelerated and intensified the stresses and strains that challenge our democratic futures. In this vein, during the U.S. presidential campaign, you supported the claim that Trump posed a grave threat to American democracy and promised to discard his affinity for autocrats and to restore democracy as a guiding light for America's approach to the world. President Biden, although you will not be the first president to emphasize democracy in U.S. foreign policy, you will have the chance to do so in a fundamentally new way by bringing together major democratic powers to focus on fixing problems in their own societies. And during the presidential election, Mr. President, you had talked of convening a Summit for Democracy in the first year of your administration the original idea was to defend democracies against threats from authoritarian states. However, under the current circumstances, this original idea should be reconsidered at a time when humility and the awareness of the problems in our own democracies is required. It makes sense, therefore, for democracies to cooperate, but instead of focusing on external threats, they should focus on the internal problems they jointly face as democracies. These problems are what made them vulnerable to foreign interference in the first place and so, a coalition of democracies should be a "pro-democracy" a group advancing ambitious initiatives that both strengthen democracy and revive confidence in democratic governments. It should be about reforms. And the member states should set certain targets to meet in order to continue to be a member. The idea of spreading democracy to the whole world should continue, but it also means that we should be more patient and realistic about it. At the end of the day, the question is whether our democracies as they now function are able to sustain the basic social contract between citizens and their governments. One thing we know is that it is time for profound change for the better. And I sincerely hope that You, Mr. President and the U.S. will lead the democratic world by being the model example for us to follow. I wish you good health and success in all your endeavors. Yours most respectfully, Kim Sang-woo Kim Sang-woo (swkim54@hotmail.com) is a former lawmaker and is currently chairman of the East Asia Cultural Project. He is also a member of the board of directors at the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation. TORONTO, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caldas Gold Corp. (TSX-V: CGC; OTCQX: ALLXF) announced today that it has received official notification from the Agencia Nacional de Mineria (ANM) confirming that the 30-year extension of its Marmato mining contract 014-89M has been approved and has been registered in the Colombian National Mining Registry. Serafino Iacono, Chairman and CEO of Caldas Gold, said, We are very pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the mining title extension process. Marmato is a world class project and our significant investment in the future expansion of its underground mining operations will benefit all stakeholders including our investors, the nation of Colombia, the Department of Caldas and the local community at Marmato. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who were involved in this process over the last two years, including the Minister of Mines and the President and staff of the ANM. About Caldas Gold Corp. Caldas Gold is a Canadian junior mining company currently advancing a major expansion and modernization of its underground mining operations at its Marmato Project in the Department of Caldas, Colombia. Caldas Gold also owns 100% of the Juby Project, an advanced exploration-stage gold project located within the Shining Tree area in the southern part of the Abitibi greenstone belt about 100 km south-southeast of the Timmins gold camp. On November 23, 2020, Caldas Gold announced it had entered into a transaction with a group of investors, principally referred by Aris Gold Corporation, that resulted in a C$85 million private placement completed on December 3, 2020 and will result in changes to the management and the board of directors of the Company as well as a change in the Companys name to Aris Gold Corporation. The net proceeds of the Aris Gold private placement, the management and board changes and the Company name change will all occur once certain escrow release conditions are met, including completion of the Marmato mining title extension. Additional information on Caldas Gold can be found on its website at www.caldasgold.ca and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance of Caldas Gold. Forward-looking statements in this press release, which are all statements other than statements of historical fact, include, but are not limited to, anticipated business plans or strategies. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Caldas Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the other risk factors as described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form for the financial year ended December 31, 2019 dated as of August 17, 2020 which is available for view on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Caldas Gold disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The mining industry must step up efforts to provide employment, business and training opportunities to people in communities in which mining companies operate, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. "It is important that our commitment to transformation extends beyond compliance, but is understood as creating shared value and prosperity for the people of South Africa." Addressing the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba, held virtually on Tuesday, the President said the mining sector should strive for greater sustainability, competitiveness and transformation. "Mining companies should foster an inclusive approach to all aspects of mining, from ownership to participation in management and also to procurement. There should be greater inclusion of women and women-owned businesses in all these areas," President Ramaphosa said. He said mining companies should strive to incorporate and actively implement environmental, social and governance standards into all aspects of business decisions and operations. "The social and labour plans are critical to ensuring that mining communities benefit from mining activities in their areas, so that no-one is left behind." South Africa wants to promote greater exploration and beneficiation in minerals and upstream petroleum activities, especially in developing the domestic and regional gas market. "To grow existing mining activity we are working with industry to formalise small scale and artisanal mining, revitalise sterile mines and discover new minerals, especially those that are critical for the economy of the future," the President said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Infrastructure By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Health and safety The President emphasised the importance of a safe working environment for workers in the industry. "We must continue to ensure that the health and safety of mineworkers remains a priority, but this must also apply to mineworkers' families. The mining sector, like every other sector in the economy, must continue to ensure that workplace observation of public health protocols like handwashing, wearing masks and social distancing becomes the norm." He said all workers should have access to personal protective equipment. "As we embark on a COVID vaccination programme that is unprecedented in its scale and reach, we must work together to ensure that workers who need the vaccine receive it. I am immensely encouraged by the positive sentiment from the mining industry, as expressed by the Minerals Council, towards the vaccine rollout," the President said. He said mining companies are well-placed to support the vaccine programme given their experience with managing Tuberculosis and HIV among their employees. "Mining leaders must confront and take decisive action to help the industry reduce fatalities, injuries and occupational diseases, " President Ramaphosa said. Kisii The Gusii Council of Elders has condemned politics in funerals after an ugly incident in Kisii where two politicians fought publicly on Tuesday. Dagoreti MP Simba Arati and South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro engaged in a fist fight during the funeral of Abel Gongera, the father of Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi. The council Chairman James Matundura said the incident was shameful and disrespectful to the bereaved family. "We condemn the act of mourners talking so much politics, quarrels, calling others names in funerals and even fighting," Matundura said. The council has threatened to ban politics in funerals. "The young generation has gone beyond boundaries of not respecting the dead,"said Matundura. The council noted Burial is a cultural event that must be respected. "Mzee Abel Gongera father to our Deputy Governor was a wonderful man who helped his community, he gave his land to the church and school and successfully brought up his family but it is unfortunate his good deeds were forgotten," said Matundura. Osoro and Arati fought on the podium, during a funeral service attended by Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Trouble started when Arati rose to speak and castigated the hustler nation, the movement spearheaded by the Deputy President on empowering the youth and that is when Osoro shot up and went engaged him in a fist fight before they were separated by leaders present and their bodyguards. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The brief exchange temporarily halted the funeral. So charged was the venue that youths allied to Ruto and those supporting Odinga kept chanting slogans. And following the chaotic scene, Kisii Governor James Ongwae barred politicians from making speeches. Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga ejected from the podium. When he rose to speak, Odinga called for unity in the country, urging Kenyans to support the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which was borne out his peace agreement with President Uhuru Kenyatta. He castigated Ruto's hustler movement, saying it is not a solution to the challenges facing the youth in the country before he left to address a roadside rally at Daraja Mbili in Kisii town. The Deputy President on his part defended his movement, saying there was need to empower small business people to earn a living because "this is not the time to depend the government to fund big campanies to create jobs for kenyans." "I supported both President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013 and Raila Odinga in 2007 but this time round I will support the hustlers because they will not disappoint me," said Ruto. Ruto and Odinga have both expressed interest in vying for the presidency in 2022 when President Kenyatta's second and final term comes to an end. 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 Robinhood, a no-fee trading app, has lowered the barrier of entry into the market for many. In the tech world, you hear a lot about making the user experience of an app as frictionless as possible: that is, making the interaction or transaction free of hassle or barrier. As simple as, say, opening a social media account. The success of Robinhood helped create a frictionless way for large numbers of investors to weigh into the share market and surprise institutional investors in the process. Just as social media has democratised speech, Robinhood, has democratised investment, and with it, democratised market power and volatility. If backing a bricks-and-mortar retailer to spite Wall Street is a form of troll-investing, expect it to continue. After all, for Redditors what is the difference between short-selling firms releasing reports on companies whose stock they anticipate falling - which help prompt a fall - and a crowd of stock inexperts using memes to drive momentum that pushes up shares? Disruption is celebrated in markets - now the sharemarket is getting a taste of the disruption itself. Credit:AP Both use information to move the market. One is based on detailed research, the other on mass mobilisation through sentiment. But both approaches use information to achieve a result. The difference is one of scale and temperament. The blend of tech, investment and society have, through Robinhood and Reddit, created a new battalion of investors, newly armed with knowledge - however imperfect - giving them a lever to pull on shares, and by extension on the market. Some have made parallels between the internets role in GameStop stock to Trumps rise and disruption of US politics. To the degree that Trumps campaign was helped by an army on Reddit (with an unknown number from outside the US), this is true. Likewise, mass mobilisation on Reddit may mark a rebalancing of the power between main street and Wall Street. As NPR Planet Moneys Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi said: this thing we all just witnessed was, if anything, a kind of light switch moment, where all of a sudden, WallStreetBets bros along with the rest of us have realised that they have this powerful tool, that by swarming together, individual investors have the power to move the market and force the hand of major financial institutions. Loading The culture clash would be disturbing news for the mavens of Wall Street. And yet here the sense of payback is profound. The US public, for years, has borne the brunt of tech innovation and disruption in the job market, seeing whole companies, and industries vaporised by change with no clear pathway for wage earners left in its place. Now, its Wall Streets turn to experience this. Loading None of this should be a complete surprise. During the Dotcom bubble in the late 1990s, the rise of Yahoo Finance and other websites were based on the expectation that the internet would allow everyone to trade shares, just as everyone uses search engines today. Two decades later, here we are, finally. The cultural, technical, and economic barriers have disappeared. What wasnt anticipated is how destabilising the situation could be. The sentiment of some Reddit-linked traders is likely caused as much by feelings of exclusion from prosperity, as inclusion in their social media community. As journalist Hope King, speaking on Slate Daily podcast explained: One of the frustrations and whats really driving some of this F--- You mentality is because its another group of people who have felt left out. And if you listen to them if youre reading between their lingo on these forums, these are people who really feel hurt. And for the first time, they have a say. The Robinhood app on a smartphone. Credit:Bloomberg To understand the depth of the anger, one might look back beyond 2008 to the 1980s, when the political class increasingly deferred to the needs of the market as a sort of proxy for real democracy. As British author William Davies has written, in that time: an ideal had developed that, so long as markets were relatively unimpaired by government intervention, they could become the organising principle of an otherwise disorganised, unplanned, even ignorant society. If the free market became the organising principle in democracies, why wouldnt there be a sense of aggrievement by those who were disadvantaged by it, but who had previously had little say in its function? The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed telecom regulator Trai to ensure "complete and strict" implementation of the regulation issued by it in 2018 for curbing unsolicited commercial communications (UCC). The high court also directed the telecom service providers (TSPs), which included state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone, to ensure they strictly comply with the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preferences Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018 issued by Trai. With these directions, a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh disposed of a plea by One97 Communications Ltd, which runs online payment platform Paytm, alleging that telecom operators are not blocking "phishing" activities over various mobile networks. Phishing is a cyber crime where people are contacted by e-mail, phone calls or text messages by someone posing as a legitimate representative of a organisation to lure them to part with their sensitive data, including banking and credit card details and passwords. The direction by the bench came after senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for One97 Communications, told the court that it may dispose of the matter by directing Trai and the TSPs to implement and comply with the TCCCP Regulations. The counsels for the TSPs, during the brief hearing, told the bench that they were complying with the regulations and would continue to do so. The bench, thereafter, said, "We direct Respondent 2 (Trai) to ensure complete and strict implementation of the TCCCP Regulations of 2018 and other related regulations issued from time to time to prevent unsolicited commercial communications over the networks of the TSPs. "We expect Respondent 2 to strictly implement the regulations and in case of any violation, action would be initiated in accordance with the regulations". Also read: Pichai, Nadella, other tech CEOs congratulate Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy for new roles Also read: Who is Andy Jassy, the next CEO of e-comm giant Amazon? WASHINGTON The federal government will launch a new effort to send COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies in hard-to-reach communities next week, increasing the availability of supplies across the country and in New York. About 6,500 pharmacies will receive shipments of the vaccines directly from the federal government next week. The list of pharmacies that will receive shipments bypassing the state includes national brands such as Walgreens, CVS and Walmart; and independent locations. On Feb. 11, CVS will start vaccinations at 32 New York locations, including Batavia, Bethpage, Clinton, Cooperstown, Eastchester, Glenville, Hamburg, Hudson Falls, Kingston, Mattituck, Owego, Queensbury, Saratoga Springs, Stony Point, and Westfield. CVS was already providing vaccines in Center Moriches and Blasdell using doses supplied by the state. The federal government will provide CVS stores in New York a limited roll out of about 20,600 total doses. Residents should be able to begin scheduling vaccine appointments as early as Feb. 9 by registering online or calling customer service. Starting Feb. 12, Walgreens will administer COVID-19 vaccines in medically under-served areas vulnerable to the virus. The pharmacy chain will administer 10,700 COVID-19 vaccinations at 120 stores in New York State and 18,600 COVID-19 vaccinations at 170 stores in New York City. Walgreens declined to provide store specifics Tuesday. Like at CVS, the vaccinations will be given out by-appointment-only, which can be scheduled online. In addition, the White House will increase shipments to states by 5 percent, after another 16 percent increase this week. Federal authorities have also arranged to ship special syringes to vaccine administrators that will allow them to extract an extra dose of the vaccine from every vial. The expansion of vaccine availability reflects the increasing production of vaccine doses by Pfizer and Moderna, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said Tuesday. Limited supply of the vaccine has been the chief complaint of health and government officials across the country and in New York as they try to immunize millions of at-risk, elderly people. About 7 million New Yorkers are currently eligible for the vaccine, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the 300,000 vaccines provided weekly to the state is not enough to keep up with demand. I just got off the phone with the White House and we are getting more we are getting more for the local governments and the pharmacies," Cuomo said Tuesday during a news conference. "And so now there is additional flexibility, and Im leaving it up to local governments to make the determination of what fits them best. While the nor'easter dumping snow across the East coast has forced the cancellation of some vaccine appointments in New York and other states, the storm has not delayed any federal shipments of doses, Zients said. The White House is also using the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pump billions of dollars to states to speed immunizations, support testing and other coronavirus response efforts. Zients announced that FEMA will start reimbursing states for all COVID-19 costs going back to the start of the pandemic. Previously, some costs were only eligible for 75 percent reimbursement. Zients estimated this change will cost the federal government $3 billion to $5 billion. Over the past two weeks, FEMA has committed to pay $1.7 billion to 19 states to reimburse them for the costs of vaccinating their residents. Some states, including New York, have estimated their full cost of vaccine distribution, reached an agreement for FEMA to pay for it and received an advance payment of half the funds. New York and FEMA agreed last week that the projected cost of vaccine distribution in that state was $934 million. Zients discussed these changes with governors on a phone call Tuesday morning, as President Joe Biden's administration tries to amp up communication between states and the federal government on vaccination. To help the national rollout, Biden has also directed FEMA to establish federally run mass vaccination sites and mobile outreach units around the country. New York is currently administering vaccines at hospitals, local health departments and some pharmacies. Zients said Tuesday the CDC will bypass states to select additional pharmacies to ship the vaccine to, targeting those in minority, urban and other hard-to-reach communities. The list will include pharmacies run by Walgreens, Duane Reade, CVS, Walmart, Sams Club, Rite Aid, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Publix Super Markets, Costco, Safeway, Star Market, Shaws, Acme, Randalls, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Winn-Dixie and other independent pharmacies. Not all locations of these pharmacies will receive doses next week. Walgreens and CVS helped lead efforts to vaccinate nursing home residents across the country. Walgreens was one of the first pharmacies to begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations in December to long-term care facility staff and residents, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to support the federal government and CDC in expanding access to these vaccines, said John Standley, president of Walgreens. Our pharmacy teams have already provided nearly two million COVID-19 vaccinations and stand ready with their expertise to help educate and vaccinate additional Americans, including those in rural and underserved communities. Over 1.9 million vaccine shots have been administered in New York to date, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. "Without a significant increase in the supply, then its all posturing," Cuomo said Tuesday. "The Black community doesnt have enough. It doesnt. The Latino community doesnt have enough. It doesnt. The disabled community doesnt have enough. ... You do the best you can with what you have, but lets recognize the reality. Biden also placed orders for 200 million more doses to arrive in the summer and promised states reliable forecasts of how many doses will be shipped to them a few weeks in advance. In December, Congress included about $8 billion to fund national and state vaccine distribution efforts in its COVID-19 relief bill. Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes an additional $160 billion for a national vaccine program, including $20 billion to support distribution. More funding for vaccine distribution has bipartisan support in Congress, although Bidens full rescue plan is considered too large by many Republicans. Democrats in Congress want to pass this plan as soon as this week using a budget process called reconciliation that would allow them to pass the legislation without Republican votes. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio -- New housing developments in inner-ring suburbs like Parma Heights dont come along very often. Thats why Cleveland Custom Homes President Jeffrey M. Crawford is excited about the recently announced American Dream Series at Lincoln Village, located on the east side of Stumph Road just south of Snow Road. Its important to know were a luxury builder thats bringing home ownership to a bigger pool of people, Crawford said. We acquired land in Parma Heights knowing its more of a blue-collar city. Were talking about brand-new homes starting at $229,000 where residents can own property. In Parma Heights, people are paying $800 to $1,300 to rent or lease. They can spend about the same amount of money and have a brand-new home, he said. Mayor Michael P. Byrne said a new home project in the city is special. Were pretty much built out in Parma Heights, so to get 12 brand-new single-family homes is exciting, Byrne said. The Lincoln Village housing development includes 12 new homes coming to Stumph Road in Parma Heights. (Courtesy of Cleveland Custom Homes) At just over two acres, Lincoln Village features 12 single-family ranch homes with layouts at roughly 1,250 square feet. Each home boasts an open floor plan, two full baths, three bedrooms, a full basement and an attached garage. Crawford noted that the starting price is less than half of the average new home being built in Greater Cleveland today. We serve the market, we dont dictate it, so we call it value engineering, Crawford said. We designed it in such a way that its still quality and nice, but people who dont have a custom budget or a luxury budget can own their own home now. Originally zoned for six fourplex condos -- with two such adjacent properties built in 2014 -- the land had been vacant for a while. Crawford said when he reached out to Parma Heights officials, their interest in the project included a 10-year tax abatement. We were already offering a great opportunity for homeownership, but then you throw (in) a 10-year tax abatement and its a slam dunk, Crawford said. While Parma Heights Finance/Personnel Director Katie Iaconis couldnt assign a dollar figure to the economic development incentive, she did note that the 50 percent property tax abatement will last for 10 years. Its just an added incentive to see the development become a reality after two prior developers were never able to come through to build either concept, Byrne said. As far as interest in Lincoln Village is concerned, Crawford said so far, roughly a dozen people have reached out. It looks like well be digging our first one as soon as March, Crawford said. We plan to have this started and finished before the end of the year. Read more news from the Parma Sun Post. A fire at the Napier barracks in Kent has shone a light on the barbaric conditions in which the Conservative government is holding hundreds of asylum seekers. The fire broke out Friday afternoon, destroying a building and leaving roughly 300 people housed in the barracks without electricity, heating or drinking water. Many of the asylum seekers suffering these conditions are sick with COVID-19, following a massive outbreak in the barracks in January which saw at least 120 people test positive. Only a limited number of those falling ill were transferred to hotels. Conditions in the camp were ripe for an explosion of infections. There are 16 housing blocks at the camp which house dormitories of up to 28 people, with only hanging sheets to divide the beds. Each block has two toilets and showers, and the men eat in a communal canteen at which 13 people at a time gather around two tables. The fire breaking out at the Napier barracks (credit: Care4Calais) Residents have repeatedly raised concerns about hygiene and lack of access to healthcare, including psychological services. They have reported several attempted suicides and cases of self-harm. Most have been living in these conditions for four months, having originally been promised their asylum claims would be processed within a month. In a recent confidential report for the government, the Red Cross described similar appalling conditions at Penally barracks in Wales, home to more than a hundred asylum seekers. Dozens of humanitarian and migrant rights organisations, legal and medical professionals have demanded the closure of the barracks. Asylum seekers have carried out repeated protests against the inhuman conditions. Some residents have been on hunger strike and others have slept outside, in freezing temperatures, rather than risk infection in the crowded dormitories. Last December, a man at Penally had to be hospitalised as a result of his hunger strike. Several demonstrations have warned of the risk of a COVID outbreak. Napier resident Jafar, from Iran, said in early January, The danger of the virus spreading in here is huge. When infections took hold, the government responded by blaming the asylum seekers and locking them in the camp. Residents were told not to leave the site under any circumstance, on pain of arrest. The canteen was closed but the men were required to queue for food, switched from hot meals to sandwiches. Nothing was done to alter the dormitories. Minister for immigration compliance, Chris Philip, made the reprehensible statement, It is incredibly disappointing that prior to this a number of individuals refused tests and have been either refusing to self-isolate or follow social distancing rules, despite repeated requests to do so The asylum seekers responded with an open letter, which stated, When we are becoming more and more mentally vulnerable and physically ill due to the Covid outbreak in Napier Barracks, the Home Office, specifically its secretary, Priti Patel, and the minister for immigration, Chris Philip, are intentionally ignoring us and trying their best to cover up the disaster which is happening in this army camp. It continued, We are all sharing the same space, we breathe in the same room, and there is no way we can practice social distancing. The letter concluded by drawing attention to the asylum seekers position as oppressed workers: no one chose to leave the country that they were born in, no one chose to leave their family and loved ones behind. We came to this country to save our lives There are fathers, sons and husbands here. There are nurses, teachers, engineers and talented people and yet we have been treated like criminals or prisoners. The fire has been met with a vicious government response. Kent police say it started following a disturbance at the barracks. Riot police were mobilised alongside firefighters on the Friday afternoon and fourteen people have since been arrested. Volunteers attempting to deliver food and blankets over the weekend say they were turned away by police officers, who said they were treating the site as a crime scene. Home Secretary Priti Patel delivered an outraged nationalist rant, declaring, The damage and destruction at Napier barracks is not only appalling but deeply offensive to the taxpayers of this country who are providing this accommodation while asylum claims are being processed. This type of action will not be tolerated and the Home Office will support the police to take robust action against those vandalising property, threatening staff and putting lives at risk. This site has previously accommodated our brave soldiers and army personnelIt is an insult to say that it is not good enough for these individuals I am fixing our broken asylum system and will be bringing forward legislation this year to deliver on that commitment. Clare Mosley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, told the Guardian, For a British home secretary to accuse and castigate ordinary people when the facts of this incident are not yet even known is shocking and disturbing. It shows a senior government minister operating at the gutter level of gossip and hearsay, and at a time of heightened anxiety and tension across society, she should be ashamed of herself. But make no mistake, this not simply a careless, off-the-cuff emotional response. It is a misleading, opportunistic smoke screen concocted to deflect attention from the multiple warnings she has had about what was clearly going to happen at Napier barracks. Patels comments are another example of how the Tory party is basing itself politically on far right, fascistic forces. Internal Home Office documents seen by the Independent regarding the use of disused army barracks to house asylum seekers state that they are not analogous to British citizens in need of welfare. They argue that providing less generous accommodation to these vulnerable people is justified by the need to control immigration and to not undermine public confidence in the asylum system. By public confidence, the Home Office means the support of Britains far right. The decision to use the barracks as asylum centres came less than a month after the government apologised for an operational failure for placing asylum seekers in a hotel. This came in response to former United Kingdom Independence Party, Brexit and now Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage posting a video outside the hotel claiming illegal migrants were living there. Farages action was part of a campaign of fascist intimidation in which groups like Britain First stormed hotels thought to be housing migrants to interrogate and harass the residents. Around the time the barracks were being established as asylum residences, Labour peer Lord West, a retired Royal Navy Admiral, said migrants should be put in a concentrated place, whether it's a camp or whatever. The governments destruction of basic human rights and embrace of fascistic politics is coupled with an escalating campaign of censorship. One day before the fire, journalist Andy Aitchison took photos of a protest held outside the barracks where fake blood was thrown at the gates and demonstrators held signs reading Close Napier now and There will be blood on your hands. The photos were shared widely online. Six hours later, Aitchison was arrested by five police officers at his home, on suspicion of criminal damage. His phone and camera memory card were seized, and he was held at the police station for seven hours before being released on bail. He has been told not to return to Napier until the case is concluded. Aitchison told the Independent, It feels like a light has been shone on them and theyve got the sledgehammer out. Its censorship: if you dont toe the line, we shut you down. This is not the first attempt to suppress information about what is happening at Napier. Last November, volunteers at the barracks were told to sign confidentiality agreements, underpinned by the Official Secrets Act, preventing them from speaking about conditions they observed. There is huge popular opposition to the governments treatment of asylum seekers. A petition from campaign group Freedom from Torture, Close asylum camps, save lives, has received more than 21,000 signatures. Defending migrants and refugees requires the construction of a socialist movement in the working class. The attack on asylum seekers is part of a global turn to fascist forms of rule, of which the January 6 attempted coup in America is the highest expression. This turn is bound up with the pandemic crisis, which has drastically worsened social inequality, seen workers all over the world thrown into poverty and necessitates a fresh savage assault on living conditions. Only the combined force of the international working class can confront these dangers and advance the right of all workers to a good standard of living in whatever country they choose. Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala says the government has offered comedian Eric Omondi the role of tourism ambassador. Balala who spoke to Nairobi News exclusively said that the comic was lying and that the only thing he knows is that he has seen an email from Omondi requesting a meeting. Balala's comments come a week after Omondi, while appearing as a guest on Radio Maisha's Konnect Show, claimed he was in talks with the government to replace British supermodel Naomi Campbell as Magical Kenya International Tourism Ambassador. This the CS says that it was not true. "Yes I have seen an email he sent to my office requesting for a meeting but he did not specify what the meeting was about. I receive hundreds of emails from people requesting to be Tourism Ambassadors," said Balala. Last month, the Tourism CS appointed British supermodel Naomi Campbell as the Magical Kenya International Tourism Ambassador. Balala said Campbell's appointment to promote Kenyan tourism abroad is meant to strengthen the domestic market and not take away anything from it. The news of her appointment stirred controversy among Kenyans with many expressing their displeasure on social media. The CS faulted people who have castigated the ministry for failing to appoint a Kenyan to the post, saying they make appointments while targeting specific markets. Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong'o also joined in and responded hours after Balala defended the ministry's decision to pick a British supermodel as Kenya's tourism ambassador. "I know everybody is asking why not Lupita. Lupita has commitments and her managers cannot allow us to access her. We've spent the last five years looking for Lupita," Balala said. Lupita hash-tagged her response to the Ministry of Tourism telling it she was available, #Imrightherebaby #alternativefacts accompanied with a picture of her laughing ironically. "Me when I hear the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism has been looking for me for fives years," she captioned her tweet. Nollywood actor Prince Chukwuemeka Ani is currently battling severe health conditions. Ani is down with Chronic sore of the anus and... Nollywood actor Prince Chukwuemeka Ani is currently battling severe health conditions. Ani is down with Chronic sore of the anus and diabetes and now pleading for financial support from Nigerians. The ailing actor has been at Dr. Lugard Hospital in Owerri, Imo state, since the 7th of December till date. The cost of his treatment is put at about N2.8 million, which the actor cant afford alone at the moment. While speaking from his sickbed, Ani said: Ive been in this hospital since 7th of December, for a major surgery and at the end of the surgery it expanded to a very dangerous one. Im soliciting help from my people, my members, my friends, well wishers, and those that love me so much. Ani added that: The bill is too much, I cannot carry it alone. Your contribution will go a long way to pay for the bill. Im still taking medication in the hospital. He noted that some members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria have come to visit him. He said: I thank you all, for those who have contributed I thank you, for those who have not, I also thank you. I know I shall join u soon on set to continue to shoot. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 A look at the drone that penetrated Russia's "most secure" zone to reveal the scale of the controversial "Putin Palace" property. Partway through the bombshell video by Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) showcasing "Putin's Palace," some of the more than 100 million viewers noticed an unusual device featured on-screen for a few seconds. From a small inflatable boat bobbing off the coast of southern Russia, Georgy Alburov, a member of Navalnys FBK anti-corruption organization, explained that they were about to film "legendary" aerial footage of the palatial property with a drone. The video then cuts to a circling quadcopter with a distinctive orange color scheme. That drone was made by Autel Robotics, a small American company with a mixed reputation. Some users have described the quadcopters flying "like a brick" and complained of them drifting off course during flight. Autel's more well-known competitor is DJI, a Chinese-based drone company so far ahead of the competition that in 2020 the companys products accounted for 77 percent of all drones sold in the United States. No other company had more than a 4 percent market share. So why was an Autel drone chosen by Navalnys team? Alburov remains in prison after being detained on January 21 and other prominent FBK members have either been either jailed or are in hiding. But Navalny says during the video that the filming team "tried four times" and succeeded only once in getting footage. That suggests a no-fly zone above the palace may have prevented more reliable DJI drones from entering the airspace there due to "geofencing." Geofencing is a kind of phantom "wall" that extends from the ground up and physically prevents drones from entering restricted airspace. Drone pilots approaching a no-fly-zone geofence receive warnings on their controllers before the drone stops and hovers at the edge of the territory. Since 2015, when a DJI Phantom drone crashed into the lawn of the White House, the company has come under increasing pressure from governments to limit where users of their drones can fly. Meanwhile other, less-prominent drone makers have been able to avoid adding the same stifling software-enforced limitations. Heather Hall Williams, an American drone photographer, told RFE/RL that she switched from a DJI to an Autel drone after repeated problems with geofencing, saying it was frustrating to be in compliance with [aviation] regulations, but my drone wouldn't launch because the manufacturer software decided otherwise. 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. Lawmakers are planning to amend the law to criminalise the hustler versus dynasties narrative by having it classified as hate speech. The National Assembly's national security committee led by Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange wants the National Cohesion and Integration Act amended to include class as a basis for incitement and discrimination. The committee at the weekend ended a two-day retreat in Mombasa to go through Bills that will be tabled in Parliament when it resumes in February and an amendment to the Act is in the offing. "The NCIC (National Cohesion and Integration Commission) had requested for strengthening of the Act to make it harsher so as to deter hate speech. As part of that strengthening, incitement along class lines will come up," Mr Koinange told the Nation. The law mostly touches on discrimination and incitement on the basis of ethnicity, race, nation and religion. Address class issue But MPs now want the class issue explicitly addressed saying the hustler vs dynasty narrative should be treated as hate speech with the potential to pit Kenyans against each other. "There is no difference between those inciting people along tribal lines and those doing so along class lines. The law needs to catch up with new forms of hate," said Mr Koinange. The narrative is mostly being propagated by supporters of Deputy President William Ruto who have christened themselves as hustlers to portray themselves as identifying with the downtrodden and champions of their plight. Privilege and power They have branded the political wing led by President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga as the dynasties, suggesting they have grown in privilege and power. "We have started witnessing splashes of violence based on the hustler vs dynasty narrative. It is very dangerous and can plunge the country into chaos," Mr Koinange said. He warned that the narrative is likely to drive the country into civil strife and prevailed upon the DP and his supporters to desist from using it lest it boomerangs on them. The MPs' team has summoned Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i and NCIC commissioners to appear before it today (Tuesday). 'Kicks of a dying horse' But the DP's allies, Jubilee Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany and Belgut MP Nelson Koech, dismissed Mr Koinange's comments, terming them "the last kicks of a dying horse". "These people should be men enough and accept that we have a better narrative--of wanting to include everybody in government decisions and the idea that we need to uplift the poor before we talk about the positions of the few at the top--and come up with a counter and then we meet at the ballot. Why are they scared? Raila Odinga has been calling hustlers taka taka (garbage). Why are they scared of them then?" Mr Kositany, who is also the Soy MP, asked. Mr Koech termed the move by Mr Koinange as a desperate action, saying the security committee should instead focus on the situation in Kapedo, Baringo County. "The Hustler Nation is not a divisive tag. To the contrary, it is a clarion call for unity. For the first time in post-independence Kenya, there is sense of unity among Kenyans drawn from humble backgrounds irrespective of tribe. The hustler tag is a story of similar origin and current state of lives shared by the majority of Kenyans," Mr Koech said. "Their end is nigh however much they attempt to clutch at straws," he declared. Polarise the country In Kisumu, NCIC commissioner Dorcas Kedogo at the weekend also cautioned that the hustler versus dynasty talk could polarise the country and trigger violence between the rich and the poor. The commissioners and a team from the secretariat were in Kisumu County to promote peaceful coexistence. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "While the narrative has been developed by politicians, the middle class will be the easy target for the poor masses who interact with them on a day-to-day basis," she cautioned. Vet aspiring candidates The NCIC also said they want to vet and issue clearance to candidates vying in the next elections. NCIC commissioner Phillip Okundi said they are lobbying for an amendment to the Leadership and Integrity Act to mandate the commission to vet aspiring candidates by subjecting them to integrity tests in compliance with Chapter Six of the Constitution. "Just like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations among others, NCIC will also play a role in the vetting of political aspirants," he said. Mr Okundi indicated that they have deployed monitors across the country and cautioned politicians against issuing inflammatory statements that could incite Kenyans into violence as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and 2022 campaigns heat up. [February 03, 2021] Bourns Acquires Kaschke Components RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today announced that its newly-formed subsidiary has acquired all shares and interests of the various entities comprising the Kaschke Group with its headquarters in Gottingen, Germany. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Kaschke is a market leader in the field of customized magnetic components and ferrite cores. The company was founded by Kurt Kaschke in 1955 and became known for its high competence in the development and production of application specific magnetic products. The Kaschke mission to use their ferrite core knowledge base for the development of solutions tailored to specific customer requirements matches Bourns' culture of innovative design. "As one of the few companies that has the capability to design and build ferrite core materials as well as manufacture complex inductive components, Kaschke will bring to Bourns the experience and creativity needed to solve customers' complex application challenges," said Gordon Bourns, Chairman and CEO of Bourns. "We are excited to welcome Kaschke to the Bourns organization to combine our capabilities and build stronger customer relationships." Al Yost, President and Chief Operating Officer at Bourns, said "This acquisition is an important element in Bourns' strategy to strengthen our inductive technology capability and broaden our portfolio of innovative magnetic products." "The combination of Kaschke and Bourns will enable the development of a full portfolio of products tha will help our customers meet the challenging EMI filtering requirements of the next generation power supplies in the automotive, industrial and new energy markets," said Silke Baumgartner, President of Kaschke Components. "I'm delighted to form an alliance with Bourns, a company with a history and core values that are fully aligned with Kaschke's." About Kaschke Components Kaschke is a European market leader in the field of customized inductive components and ferrites. The company's headquarters and ferrite production facilities are located in Germany. In addition, Kaschke has had local manufacturing operations in Tunisia for over 40 years. Additional company and product information is available at www.kaschke.de. About Bourns Bourns, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and supplier of position and speed sensors, circuit protection solutions, magnetic components, microelectronic modules, panel controls and resistive products. Headquartered in Riverside, California, USA, Bourns serves a broad range of markets, including automotive, industrial, consumer, communications, low to medium risk medical***, audio and various other market segments. Additional company and product information is available at www.bourns.com. Bourns and the Bourns logo are registered trademarks of Bourns, Inc. and may be used only with the permission of Bourns and proper acknowledgement. Other listed names and brands are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ***Bourns products have not been designed for and are not intended for use in "lifesaving," "life-critical" or "life-sustaining" applications nor any other applications where failure or malfunction of the Bourns product may result in personal injury or death. See Legal Disclaimer Notice http://www.bourns.com/docs/legal/disclaimer.pdf. Agency Contact: Annette Keller - Keller Communication (707) 947-7232, annettekeller1984@gmail.com Company Contact: David Scofield - Bourns, Inc. (951) 781-5054, david.scofield@bourns.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bourns-acquires-kaschke-components-301221727.html SOURCE Bourns, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HubSpot , the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire The Hustle, a media company that produces a newsletter, podcast, and premium research content. The move will give HubSpot more ways to offer its community of scaling companies valuable content across a broader range of topics and a more diverse set of media. "For many customers, their first introduction to HubSpot is through our educational blog, Academy, and YouTube content, not our software. More recently, our customers have started to seek out news and trends-based content across new forms of media like podcasts, newsletters, and research," said Kieran Flanagan, SVP of marketing at HubSpot. "By acquiring The Hustle, we'll be able to better meet the needs of these scaling companies by delivering educational, business, and tech trend content in their preferred formats. Sam and his team have a proven ability to create content that entrepreneurs, startups, and scaling companies are deeply passionate about, and I'm excited to bring them on board to take that work to the next level." HubSpot has built a large community around its educational content, with seven million people each month reading the company's blogs and hundreds of thousands viewing HubSpot videos on YouTube. HubSpot's Academy is another source of education for its community. More than 100,000 people take lessons every month, and over 300,000 people have received a HubSpot certification. By acquiring the Hustle, HubSpot will be able to better serve the needs of their customers and community by giving them the content they want on the medium they love. "I started The Hustle with the mission to help give business builders the information they needed to put their dent into the world and change how media companies operate. By joining the HubSpot team, we'll take that mission to the next level to build the best business content networks in the world," said Sam Parr, founder of The Hustle. "I know the HubSpot team shares our commitment to creating high quality content to help companies scale, and I can't wait to get started." The Hustle's daily email was started in 2016 and keeps its more than 1.5 million readers informed with topical stories and perspectives, distilling complex business stories into entertaining news items. The Hustle's subscription platform, Trends, and podcast, My First Million, give entrepreneurs insights, data, and best practices to help scale their companies. About HubSpot HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that provides software and support to help businesses grow better. The platform includes marketing, sales, service, and website management products that start free and scale to meet our customers' needs at any stage of growth. Today, more than 95,000 customers across more than 120 countries use HubSpot's powerful and easy-to-use tools and integrations to attract, engage, and delight customers. Named Glassdoor's #1 Best Place to Work in 2020, HubSpot has been recognized for its award-winning culture by Great Place to Work, Comparably, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc., and more. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA with offices in Dublin, Ireland; Singapore; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; Berlin, Germany; Bogota, Colombia; Paris, France; Ghent, Belgium; San Francisco, CA; and Portsmouth, NH. Learn more at www.hubspot.com . SOURCE HubSpot Related Links http://hubspot.com Caitlin Stasey is no stranger to posting raunchy photos on social media. And the former Neighbours star, 30, set pulses racing yet again on Tuesday as she stripped down to sheer underwear for an Instagram snap. Caitlin flaunted her toned midriff as she stood in front of her bedroom mirror in the knickers and an equally see-through longsleeve top. 'You never wanna be the hottest at the orgy': Former Neighbours star Caitlin Stasey set pulses racing yet again on Tuesday as she stripped down to sheer underwear for an Instagram snap She wore her brunette hair in a bob while standing barefoot in the middle of the room. 'You never wanna be the hottest person at the orgy,' she captioned the post. Caitlin recently filmed drama series Bridge and Tunnel for the Epix cable network. Oh my! Caitlin recently filmed drama series Bridge and Tunnel for the Epix cable network. In November, the actress gave viewers a raunchy behind-the-scenes glimpse from the set In November, the Australian actress gave viewers a raunchy behind-the-scenes glimpse from the set. She went topless, showcasing her bare derriere and a hint of her chest. Standing in a lounge room with her hair in hot rollers, she appeared surprisingly at ease as an artist drew a black love heart on her bottom. Another day at the office! Standing in a lounge room with her hair in hot rollers, she appeared surprisingly at ease as an artist drew a black love heart on her bottom The star also patiently waited as a second artist drew on her chest. 'WATCH MY NEW SHOW 'BRIDGE & TUNNEL' ON @epix JANUARY 24th!!!! THANK YOU,' she encouraged fans. Directed by Edward Burns, Bridge and Tunnel is a 'dramedy' set in 1980 in New York. No butts about it: It comes after Caitlin drew attention to her personal life last May after she shared a birthday message to writer and director Rose Chirillo It follows a group of college graduates setting out to pursue their dreams in Manhattan while remaining close to their Long Island hometown. It comes after Caitlin drew attention to her personal life last May after she shared a birthday message to writer and director Rose Chirillo. Caitlin posted a series of suggestive photos on Instagram, and captioned one snap of Rose lifting up her red dress: 'Have you guys ever even met my wife?' In an interview on the feminist website Herself in January 2015, Caitlin revealed she was a 'lesbian'. Interestingly, she was in a relationship with a man at the time. Speaking to the podcast Radical Australians, Meaningful Conversations in June last year, she described herself as sexually fluid. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce urged the Legislature on Tuesday to pass legislation that would create a commission to study congestion pricing and impose new fees on Uber and Lyft rides. Pradip Gavade, a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had filed a complaint with Swargate police station against Usmani for hurting religious sentiments Pune: A case for allegedly "promoting enmity between different groups" was registered against Aligarh university alumnus Sharjeel Usmani in Pune on Tuesday in connection with his speech at the recent Elgar Parishad conclave. The opposition BJP in Maharashtra had demanded action against Usmani, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments. A case under section 153 (A) of the IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground religion, etc) was registered against him, said Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta. Pradip Gavade, a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, BJP's youth wing, had filed a complaint with Swargate police station against Usmani, he said. Further investigation is underway, Gupta added. The Elgar Parishad conclave took place in the city on 30 January this year. The gathering was also addressed by writer Arundhati Roy, Justice (retd) BG Kolse Patil and former IPS official SM Mushrif, among others. Three years ago, several Left-leaning activists were arrested by the police for alleged naxal links following the December 2017 Elgar Parishad conclave and the caste violence at Bhima Koregaon war memorial the next day. Earlier in the day, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had demanded action against Usmani, alleging that he "insulted sentiments of the Hindu community". Australias stock market pushed up to new 11-month highs on Wednesday, buoyed by strong fourth quarter results from US technology giants and the ongoing hunt for yield amid record low interest rates. Utilities, financials, and healthcare stocks all out-performed and the real estate sector enjoyed its best performance since mid-November as investors looked for pockets of the markets with steady returns rather than strong growth. The ASX jumped 0.9 per cent on Wednesday. Credit:Louie Douvis Materials dragged as the iron ore price descended from recent highs with BHP shedding 2.2 per cent and Rio Tinto 1.1 per cent. The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9 per cent to close 62 points higher at 6824.6, just a shade below the 11-month high reached on 25 January. At one point during trade the index reached 6852.9, the highest intraday level since 26 February, 2020. The market was boosted by positive returns on Wall Street, with Amazon and Alphabet Inc both reporting better than expected results in the US shortly before trading started on the ASX. The buy now, pay later sector was shaken by a report suggesting UK regulators may introduce tighter rules, leading to a 1.6 per cent fall in Afterpay. At a speech in Canberra, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe confirmed the target cash rate would not lift from 0.1 per cent for about four years, leading to concerns among some investors about over-heating in the housing market and risky assets. Chief investment officer at the $21 billion funds advisor Crestone Wealth, Scott Haslem, said ultra-low rates were trapping investors in equities because the returns in other assets were so low. He also worries regulators would soon have to intervene in rising house prices. He also warned that social volatility may increase under the current setting. Zero interest rates for multiple years is not a policy that is particularly supportive of income and wealth distribution, he said. Because in a world of zero interest rates, what goes up is assets. People that own the assets are typically the more wealthy parts of the global economy. So social unrest, or social disillusionment, is likely to be a feature of the landscape for years to come. The biggest movers on the ASX200 was Virgin Money UK, up 14.6 per cent, and Corporate Travel, up 6.4 per cent. Media companies Nine Entertainment (which publishes this paper) and News Corporation reached all-time highs on the ASX as their online real estate subsidiaries, Domain Holdings and REA Group ballooned to new highs. Gold miners saw the biggest losses with Northern Star falling 4.2 per cent and Saracen Minerals falling 4.1 per cent. A merger between the two came into effect on Wednesday. The Australian dollar improved 0.4 per cent against the greenback to US76.18c. KITOV ONE inspection system Hanan Gino, the CEO of Kitov states: We value our strategic partnership with Mitutoyo which will allow us to integrate our software platform into the most advanced manufacturing environments that are constantly seeking to achieve high quality control. Mitutoyo Corporation, a leading global company specializing in measuring instruments and metrological technology, headquartered in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan, and Kitov, a developer and provider of automated smart visual inspection software solutions, headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel, announced today the signing of a partnership agreement. The agreement will enable Mitutoyo to integrate Kitovs technologies across its metrology solutions. As part of the agreement, Mitutoyo will invest and become a shareholder in Kitov. The agreement also establishes the framework for joint-development of new solutions that combine Mitutoyos measurement technologies and Kitovs planning and inspection technologies. Kitovs proprietary AI, Robotics, and Computer Vision technologies allow complete semantic understanding of the part or product under inspection including its 3D structure and components. This results in automated highly reliable and cost-effective visual inspection and measurement solutions that significantly improve quality control and reduce manufacturing costs. While constantly striving to identify the best complementary technologies for our leading metrology systems, we have been seeking for an effective technology that can help us to fully automate and further enhance our measurement and inspection solutions. Kitovs technology is an advanced and innovative solution that meets Mitutoyos high standards, says Yoshiaki Numata, Mitutoyo President. Hanan Gino, the CEO of Kitov states: The Kitov solution is already deployed by leading electronics, automotive and aerospace manufacturers in Europe, China, USA, Mexico and Israel. We are proud to team up with Mitutoyo, a global leader in the metrology industry and we are delighted to have the opportunity to introduce our unique technology to this industry. We value our strategic partnership with Mitutoyo which will allow us to integrate our software platform into the most advanced manufacturing environments that are constantly seeking to achieve high quality control. About Mitutoyo Corporation Mitutoyo is a global leader in the field of precision measuring equipment. As a comprehensive manufacturer of precision measurement instruments, the Mitutoyo name is known around the world. Mitutoyo products have a leading market share both in Japan and overseas and continues to be the choice across industries and nations. Major companies all over the world put their trust in Mitutoyo. For more information about Mitutoyo, visit https://www.mitutoyo.co.jp/eng/ About Kitov Systems Ltd. Kitov is a supplier of smart visual inspection solutions for a broad range of production lines in the electronics, defense, aerospace, automotive, and medical device industries. Kitov develops a fully automated, universal, and flexible 3D visual inspection system that can be trained by a non-expert in a fast and intuitive manner to inspect a large variety of products. For more information about Kitov, visit http://www.kitov.ai VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pure Extracts Technologies Corp. (CSE: PULL) (OTC: PRXTF) (XFRA: A2QJAJ) (Pure Extracts or the Company), a plant-based extraction company, focused on cannabis, hemp, functional mushrooms, and the rapidly emerging psychedelic sector, is pleased to announce that it recently completed its new company registration with the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) and received its Company Code. This has allowed Pure Extracts to submit a Class 1 Natural Product Number (NPN) application for a functional mushroom product, which the Company expects will be the first of several NPN applications that it submits in 2021. Pure Extracts plans to sell functional mushroom wellness products through its newly incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary, Pure Mushrooms Corp. Sales will take place direct-to-consumer through an e-Commerce portal that the Company is establishing, and the brand will be called Pure Mushrooms. Pure Extracts is exploring ways to optimize the use of its existing extraction equipment for functional mushroom products and in the near-term will be utilizing a co-packer to meet the demands of its customers. Pure Extracts CEO, Ben Nikolaevsky, remarked, The functional mushroom wellness sector is experiencing tremendous growth and consumer awareness, we remain very excited about our new Pure Mushrooms brand. We look forward to getting our first product in consumers hands by the end of Q1 2021. About Pure Extracts (CSE: PULL) (OTC: PRXTF) (XFRA: A2QJAJ) The Company features an all-new, state-of-the-art processing facility located just 20 minutes north of world-famous Whistler, British Columbia. The bespoke facility has been constructed to European Union GMP standards aiming towards export sales of products and formulations, including those currently restricted in Canada, into European jurisdictions where they are legally available. On September 25, 2020, Pure Extracts was granted its Standard Processing License by Health Canada under the Cannabis Act and the Companys stock began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) on November 5, 2020. Find out more at https://pureextractscorp.com/. For further information please contact Empire Communications Group at (604) 343-2724. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Ben Nikolaevsky Ben Nikolaevsky CEO and Director The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information, including about the timing and completion of the Private Placement, the proposed use of proceeds of the Private Placement, the filing of a preliminary short form prospectus, the receipt of CSE approval and the listing of the Warrants. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. American pop star Rihanna recently extended her support to the farmers' protests in India. Now, Bollywood actor Diljit Dosanjh has expressed his gratitude towards Rihanna in a unique way. Diljit took to his Instagram story and shared a picture of her song, 'Run This Town'. Soon after, Diljit also shared a Punjabi proverb on Twitter and wrote: "Jaat Di Kohr Kirli, Shateeriyan Nu Jaffe... (which in English means that your status in life is rather insignificant but you know how to talk big)." For the unversed, Rihanna had shared a news report about the internet blockage in Delhi due to the farmers' protests and had written, "why aren't we talking about this?!." Apart from Diljit, Kangana Ranaut also reacted to Rihanna's tweet and said, "No one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like USA... Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies." Meanwhile, Richa Chadha has shown gratitude towards Hollywood celebrities' support by replying to a troll who questioned their integrity and knowledge. Richa wrote, "First they'll have to Google them and that's some serious werk werk werk werk werk werk...Musical noteMultiple musical notesWoman shrugging." On the other hand, director Hansal Mehta, shared a picture of Rihanna and wrote, "Meet Swara Bhaskar. @ReallySwara". In another tweet he added, "Part of the award waapsi, tukde tukde gang. Libru (not to be mixed with Libran) Congress agent who is lying about being a poor farmer." B-town celebs like Taapsee Pannu, Sonu Sood, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Divya Dutta and Neha Sharma also retweeted Rihanna's tweet to show support. Notably, apart from Rihanna, YouTuber Lilly Singh, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the UK Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe and the US House Representative Jim Costa, as well as Meena Harris, author and niece of the US Vice President Kamala Harris shared tweets about the farmers' protest in India. Farmer groups from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been camping on Delhi borders in protest against the new farm laws for the last two months. The groups have demanded the central government to repeal the farm laws. ALSO READ: Rihanna & Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Bring International Attention To Farmers' Protest In India ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Lashes Out At Pop Star Rihanna For Her Tweet On Farmers' Protests; Calls Her 'Fool' The acrimonious exchanges of insults between the ruling NRM, which won the January 2021 presidential election, and the losing opposition National Unity Platform has further diminished the already remote prospects of talks to resolve the impasse over elections. According to NUP insiders, there are efforts initiated by foreign groups to have both President Museveni and his fiercest challenger in the January poll Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu to sit down for talks. "They are establishing contact with the president to see how the country moves forward after a bitter election. Even at NUP, there have been a number of meetings to try and convince Kyagulanyi to talk to Museveni," an insider said. The Observer has learnt that the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries, has a delegation in the country, sent to broker a peaceful resolution to the impasse brought on by the dispute over election results. Another person close to Kyagulanyi, who declined to be named to speak freely, confirmed that indeed there are people who have talked to their principal about the need for dialogue. He, however, declined to name names. "That option is very risky for him [Kyaggulanyi], he fears to be misunderstood if he were to speak to [president] Museveni," the source said. Interviewed for a comment, NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi confirmed the party has received suggestions for dialogue with Museveni. However, Ssenyonyi said accepting to speak to Museveni presupposes there is something personal between him and Kyagulanyi. NUP IS SKEPTICAL "There are people who try to reach out but we have consistently said there is nothing personal between Kyagulanyi and Museveni that they have to iron out. These are matters of the country; so, if there is going to be any kind of talks, it must be by Ugandans and about Uganda," Ssenyonyi said. He said NUP is also skeptical of Musev-eni's intentions. "We are not interested in talks with Museveni if the aim is to throw money here and there or positions. Him saying he will drive and meet us wherever we will be; we are not interested in such an arrangement that doesn't involve all Ugandans," Ssenyonyi said. Speaking during the weekend Capital Gang political programme on Capital FM, Ofwono Opondo, the government spokesperson, said people calling for talks are nothing but hawkers aiming to make quick money from foreigners who will bankroll the negotiations. He said Ugandans willingly voted for President Museveni and, therefore, there is no issue between him and the opposition that requires negotiations. Last week, President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni said he doesn't need anyone to mediate a political solution between him and his opponents. This proclamation came two weeks after the Electoral Commission declared him as the winner of the hotly contested January 2021 presidential election. Museveni polled 58% of the 10 million votes cast. His closest rival and runner-up, Kyagulanyi polled 35%. Kyagulanyi has since dismissed the results as fraudulent and has run to court. Until Monday last week, he was under house arrest. According to security officials, he was considered a national security threat. Before the High court ordered an end to the army and police siege of Kyagulanyi's home, a number of prominent leaders had called for national dialogue to calm tempers. Monsignor Charles Kasibante, the vicar general of Kampala Archdiocese, used his opening prayer during celebrations to mark NRM's 35th year in power to implore the president to reconcile with his opponents for the good of the nation. "As Ugandans, we all need to reconcile ourselves with one another at all costs. Forgive each other for whatever went wrong on both sides and reconcile with those who have different views from ours. As religious leaders, we request that Hon Robert Kyagulanyi has his freedom of movement and expression; let us promote general reconciliation with each other and one another," Kasibante said on behalf of the archbishop of Kampala Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. In response, Museveni said he didn't need any mediators because he knew where opposition members stay. "I don't want any mediation; everybody knows my address, I know the address of these opposition people, I can drive there and we talk. We don't need any mediation; it's an insult to tell me about mediation," Museveni said on January 26. Before elections, a team from Buganda had offered to calm tempers heightened by the highly militarized political campaigns. But the Shs 15bn price tag scuttled the effort. The president reportedly declined to pay before seeing some results. A LOOK BACK After the equally contentious 2016 general election, which former FDC presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye claimed to have won, there were efforts to reconcile the two men who had faced off in elections four times. The efforts were led by the Women's Situation Room [WSR] and later joined by the Elders' Forum. Speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, one person at the center of the talks said the efforts started almost immediately after the election. The Women's Situation Room is an Africa-wide platform for women and youths, which plays an active and direct role in peace and conflict prevention. It started in 2011 during the Liberian presidential and parliamentary elections. It is made up of prominent women and whenever there is an election, these, women travel to support each other. So it was WSR that first established contact with President Museveni and asked whether he would be willing to talk to Besigye. He immediately accepted and their next move was to contact Besigye who also broadly accepted talks that would especially result in Uganda having a transitional government. Museveni appointed Prime Minster Dr Ruhakana Rugunda and Minister Mwesigwa Rukutana as his contact persons. Besigye appointed FDC Secretary General Na-than Nandala-Mafabi and the former leader of opposition Wafula Oguttu as his main contact persons. The WSR had active participation from former Judge Mary Maitum and the former Vicar of All Saints Cathedral, Rev Diana Mirembe Nkesiga. The other women were mainly from outside the country. Besigye's team insisted on having structured dialogue between him and the president. They would write down their demands and positions, which WSR would take to government and then return days later with the government stand. Museveni had two major demands; to meet Besigye personally and also for him to denounce violence. Besigye demanded an international audit of the election results as the first step for him to continue with the talks. "Surprisingly, Museveni had accepted to look into those results because it seemed the pressure was too much on him," the source said. But Besigye refused to commit to personally meeting Museveni. "He feared to be misunderstood because you know, Museveni is very cunning, he will take pictures with you to send a signal to especially investors who are mostly worried about the instabilities in the country, that everything is OK," the source said. With the talks on the right track albeit through the exchange of documents, they were joined by Sweden, as the mediator. FDC had rejected Rev. Nkesiga as mediator. But as the parties came close to signing the final agreement after a painstaking exchange of documents, the talks were abandoned. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Asked why, the source said the situation in the country had gone back to normal. "Now the military was off the streets, Ugandans had gone back to business as usual and Museveni was not under any form of pressure. So, as they neared the end, that's how they ended," the source said. HAS BOBI WINE PUSHED MUSEVENI TO THE WALL? Unlike Kyagulanyi, Besigye refused to commit to non-violence. He kept on talking about defiance and civil disobedience as means through which to take on Museveni. However, last week Kyagulanyi categorically said he has no Plan B like many of his party members had said after winning local government positions. Even the USA and UK diplomats asked him not to engage in violence but seek all legal means to challenge the results. "I have never said there is plan A or B; how many people have heard me say the word plan B. The only plan we have is to remove Museveni from power through legally accepted plans," Kyagulanyi said moments after his longtime ally David Lule aka Selector Davie was arrested two days to elections. He said throughout the 10 days in detention, his captors kept asking him about Kyagulanyi's Plan B. "I was badly tortured for days when they were asking me about things I don't know," Lule said. For now, Kyagulanyi is headed to the Supreme court to prove the January 2021 presidential election was stolen. This is a long shot to the presidency but nonetheless, Kyagulanyi says at least he will not only be able to expose the Electoral Commission and President Museveni but also the lack of judicial independence. Trinity School of Midland is pleased to announce that three students have qualified for the Association of Texas Small Schools Bands 3A-4A all-state bands: Alex Khouri, tenor sax; Shine Yang, trumpet; and Mitchell Sharum, percussion. More than 10,000 high school band students from across Texas auditioned in 22 different regions for a place in their respective all-region bands. The top chairs in each region advanced to one of the five area auditions held across the state and only 306 of these 2,398 students were selected for all-state honors. The ATSSB All-State Bands will meet in rehearsals in Melissa on June 9-12 and will present concerts beginning at 9 a.m. on June 12 in the Melissa Performance Hall. The popular marching band festival and competition held during Fiesta each year has been canceled. The next time marching band students will be showcased among the Fiesta festivities could be as late as April 2022. After the Battle of Flowers Association decided Monday to cancel its annual parade, the association announced Tuesday the band festival, which hosts more than 5,000 area high school students in a marching band competition and performance, would also be canceled this year. We feel strongly that (the festival) is unlikely to continue at the level in which our participants and spectators expect after the school year has ended in June 2021, said Battle of Flowers Band Festival Vice President Cameron Armstrong. We look forward to striking up our bands again in April 2022. The citys annual 10-day Fiesta celebration was postponed from April to June 17 due to the citys growing coronavirus numbers. But some events, like the Flambeau parade, were outright canceled. It comes at a time when our city and the rest of the world are continuing to fight a disease that has the ability to adversely impact the health and well-being of both spectators and participants in both our parade and band festival, said Battle of Flowers President Anna-Laura Howell Block. The Battle of Flowers parade draws in massive crowds, sometimes topping more than 550,000 visitors, according to the Battle of Flowers website. High school and college students and representatives make up about 70 percent of the parades 12,000 total participants. The band festival itself usually has about 20,000 spectators. For many high school band students, not being able to perform in the festival for the second year in a row is a huge loss, according to James Miculka, the director of fine arts for Northside Independent School District. For some students, thats the most electrifying, most exciting event of their high school music experience, Miculka said. Fiesta isnt Fiesta without music. The first Battle of Flowers parade took place in April 1891, commemorating the fallen heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. About 46 years later, the first band festival was added to the parades programming, according to the associations website. This years theme for the band festival, and the one planned for 2020, was Viva las Flores. Before 2020, the band festival had only been canceled once before in 1942 due to World War II. But, as the theme suggests, the festival will live on. Were still here, Armstrong said. We dont want this wonderful tradition to go away. We are bringing our live coverage of the Wooroloo bushfires to a close for the night. Please say safe out there. For essential information, visit emergency.wa.gov.au. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has warned people in the Avon Ridge and Joshua Mews area it is too late to leave and they are in immediate danger. You must shelter in place or if you are prepared you must actively defend, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services has warned. There is a video from the latest community meeting this afternoon below. Whether you are in lockdown or have been personally directed to quarantine for COVID-19, you must do whatever you need to do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Visit emergency.wa.gov.au, call 13 DFES (13 3337), follow DFES on Twitter: twitter.com/dfes_wa, Facebook: facebook.com/dfeswa, listen to ABC Local Radio, 6PR, or news bulletins. A bushfire emergency warning is in place for people in parts of Millendon, The Vines, Bailup, Ellenbrook, Gidgegannup, Walyunga National Park, Henley Brook, Upper Swan, Aveley, Avon Valley National Park, Wundowie, Belhus, Baskerville, Bullsbrook, Wooroloo, and Brigadoon in the shire of Mundaring, Chittering and Northam and the City of Swan. You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes. WHAT TO DO: Sorry! This content is not available in your region Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Corporate treasurers fed up with rock-bottom returns on their cash are about to get another pitch from the world of crypto.Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the digital-asset firms behind the so-called stablecoin dubbed USDC that is pegged 1-to-1 to the dollar, has cooked up an alternative for the legions too conservative to follow the likes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into Bitcoin. Park your extra cash in USDC and earn as much as 7% annually through high-yield accounts, the marketing says -- more than 10 times the return on an ultra-safe 1-year Treasury bill.The idea may be appealing to some treasurers who were initially seduced by the big gains in crypto, especially following Bitcoins roughly 40% decline since mid-April. Stablecoins such as USDC are gaining increased attention because of their ability to maintain their pegs during the wild crypto price swings, suggesting they could actually serve as a store of value. Even so, not all long-term digital market observers are convinced.If companies wish to put their corporate reserves into a stablecoin and that is fully audited, it is like putting their money in a bank account which is what they normally do, John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. However, if the account is paying out a higher yield than bank account yields, then it is not merely invested in some risk-free asset.Heres how Circles program will work: Treasurers would open a digital-dollar account where the companys fiat money is converted into USDC and interest is paid out in USDC. The yield is generated by Circle lending the digital dollars to a network of institutional investors that are willing to pay an interest rate for access to additional capital.The companies would lock in their return when the account is opened, similar to a bank certificate of deposit. Circle plans to offer accounts with maturities ranging from one month to a year, with no early withdrawals allowed. Rates available will be updated on a weekly basis, depending on demand for USDC loans.Thats a bit tamer than the strategy first highlighted last year by MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who advocated pouring company reserves into Bitcoin because he said the dollar is being debased by surging inflation. Musks February announcement that Tesla Inc. had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet helped fuel the rally that took the largest cryptocurrency to a record in April before it lost more than one-third of its value.Corporate reserves are not for investing in stocks, going to Vegas, or something more volatile and more rigged against you like Bitcoin, Griffin said.With few companies outside the crypto realm following MicroStrategy, Tesla and Dorseys Square Inc. into Bitcoin, Circle hopes that stablecoins may be the next logical step. The company is working with Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders.The service will be first made available in the U.S. and Switzerland, and will launch imminently, Jeremy Allaire, Circles CEO, said in an interview. Thousands of businesses are already on the waiting list, according to Circle.We are seeing the opportunity for the treasury use-case grow a lot, Allaire said.Other providers of stablecoins are rolling out similar offerings. On May 26, Gemini exchange -- the brainchild of the Winklevoss brothers -- said investors can earn up to 7.4% annually on Gemini dollars through a program called Gemini Earn. The Gemini token is also pegged to the dollar and its reserves are held with State Street Bank and Trust, the largest financial custodian in the world. Each month, the dollar deposit balance is examined by BPM LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm.USDC reserves are attested to monthly by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and published online.Various small crypto lenders already offer yield accounts for different coins, including less regulated stablecoins like Tether.For these products, appropriate users would be people who invest in junk bonds or similar risky lending, said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and writer for Bloomberg Opinion. It might offer a better risk-adjusted return than alternatives. . . or not. But whatever it is, its not a savings account in the way most people understand that term.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. ISTANBUL - The dean of the prestigious Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Melih Bulu said he has "no intention" of resigning after hundreds of students protested against his appointment, which was decided a month ago by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "The students have assumed an attitude that limits the freedom of others", the appointed dean said. "It was necessary to take measures", he added, commenting with journalists the police crackdown on demonstrations over the past few days in which protesters demanded his resignation. According to authorities, over 170 people were arrested during demonstrations organized in Istanbul and Ankara. At least 30 university members are still detained. New protests have been announced over the next few hours. A proposal to allow medical marijuana in Alabama was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning. Senate Bill 46, called the Compassion Act, was proposed by Republican State Sen. Tim Melson of Florence. It passed by a vote of 8-3. The bill will now go to the senate floor. The proposal calls for establishing an 11-member Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission to license growers, oversee cultivation, implement regulations and oversee dispensing of medical marijuana to patients who qualify for a medical cannabis card. Melsons bill won approval by the senate last year but died when the legislature shut down early due to COVID-19. This years bill is the same, along with amendments added on the Senate floor last year. Its encouraging to see lawmakers making progress towards legalizing medical marijuana in Alabama, Karen OKeefe, state policies director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment, which is tracking the bill. It is morally wrong to continue to treat Alabamians who suffer from serious medical conditions as criminals for using a substance that is now legal in 36 states. However, we urge lawmakers to revise the provisions of the bill that create significant barriers for patients and their physicians. To qualify for the program, patients would have to be diagnosed with one of about 20 conditions, including anxiety, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and intractable pain. Patients with chronic pain could only be recommended medical marijuana in cases where conventional therapy has been ineffective. The bill prohibits using raw cannabis, smoking, vaping and candy or baked good products. Patients would be allowed to purchase capsules, lozenges, oils, suppositories and topical patches. There would be a nine percent gross proceeds tax on medical marijuana sales. After covering costs of administering the program, 60 percent of revenue would go to the states general fund and 30 percent would go to research into the medical potential of cannabis. Patients, health professionals and medical cannabis businesses would receive legal protections preventing them from being penalized for activities authorized by the state. For physicians to be able to recommend cannabis to patients, they would have to complete a four-hour continuing education course and pass an exam, with refresher classes every two years. Regulators would require seed-to-sale tracking and laboratory testing. Similar medical marijuana proposals are gaining traction in the South. Mississippi in November voted to approve a medical cannabis reform initiative. Medical marijuana was already next door to Alabama in Florida. Other Southern states that allow it are Arkansas, Louisiana and Virginia. In 2016, Alabama passed Lenis Law, allowing patients who suffer seizure disorders or other debilitating medical conditions to use a product that comes from the marijuana plant. The law decriminalized cannabidiol, derived from cannabis, for those with certain medical conditions in Alabama. That law expanded on Carlys Law, passed in 2014, that authorized a UAB study on using cannabidiol to treat seizure disorders. 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. GLEN CARBON The village is on the verge of getting a new place to get some java and some pastries to go with it. Scooters Coffee requested site plan approval with a parking variance Tuesday during a special planning and zoning commission meeting. The commissioners unanimously approved the plan for a standalone building to be located at 4208 State Route 159, south of Cottonwood Road. It would be the first Scooters Coffee in Illinois. Javad Khazaeli spoke in support of the concept. His family owns the property Scooters wants for its coffee facility. I grew up in that house; we moved there in 1987, he said. I went to Leclaire School, my brother and sister went to Edwardsville High School. We all grew up in that house. He said after they first moved in, there were residential houses on both sides of the street. Over the years since then, more of those houses developed into commercial or retail property. Now were one of two homes that are still there, he told the commissioners. My parents bought another property in the area and they lived there until my father passed away. For a time, the Khazaelis rented the home but then quickly discovered a lack of renter interest due to all of the surrounding development. Through the years, weve had multiple people make offers on this house to turn it into commercial property, especially when the Bank of Edwardsville came in next door [to the north] and weve gone down the path, close to closing with several but their funding falls through, he recalled. Since his father died, carrying the house has been a financial burden on the family. He believes the Scooters Coffee plan is ideal for this property due to the amount of passing traffic and vehicles could make right turns in and out. This plan, when we saw it, it just screams for this property, he said. Dan Forslund, who represented the Scooters Coffee corporate office and owner Robert Semptimphelter of 1818 Development LLC in Edwardsville. He said the building would comprise 556-square-feet and be a free-standing building. He said its not modular but permanent with a foundation. The concept sells gourmet coffee and pastry products in a drive-through only model, Forslund explained. Customers cannot park on our site and were not proposing walk-up service due to safety reasons. One of the benefits of maximizing the east-west linear footage of the site is space for a stack of 15 to 16 vehicles before they would spill onto northbound 159. He noted that Scooters average service time is between one minute and 45 seconds and two minutes and 12 seconds per vehicle and most Scooters locations have timing systems. Forslund said there is no dine-in service and the size of the building constricts employees to four per shift, four regular parking stalls, one handicapped and two bicycle stalls more than suits Scooters needs. Forslund said they plan to hire one full-time manager and possibly one full-time assistant manager plus 10 to 12 hourly employees. Its a much faster speed of service versus a fast-food restaurant, where youre ordering more items and you may not be sure of the menu, he said. People after theyve been there once or twice, they order the same beverage and it is a much faster service. Forslund added that if there are no handicapped employees on a shift, since this is private parking, they would allow other, non-handicapped employees to park in that stall and in the space marked for handicapped egress/ingress, giving the site a maximum of six possible parking stalls. There will be dedicated left- and right-hand turn lanes to prevent backups into the main queue. Trustee Mary Beth Williams asked Forslund if the site is large enough to include an escape lane for those who change their minds after ordering, dont have cash, etc. I would have to consult with our engineers if this site is big enough, he replied. My fear is wed be encroaching further into the detention area so, right now, we are not proposing an escape lane. The earliest this site plan would go before the village board for approval is Feb. 9 or it may appear on the Feb. 23 agenda. To learn more about Scooters Coffee, click here. Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at 618-659-5735 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. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has joined forces with Council areas across Northern Ireland to urge local entrepreneurs to Go For It in 2021 with the support of the Go For It Programme. The Go For It Programme has supported over 7,200 would-be entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland in the last three years. This project is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme. The Go For It programme is delivered free of charge by a team of experienced business advisors across Northern Ireland. It provides expert advice and help with developing a robust business plan, covering everything from financial forecasting to marketing and long-term sales growth. The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Alderman Mark Fielding, said: The Go For It Programme, delivered by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, helps candidates create a business plan tailored to their business idea, focusing on important elements such as financial forecasting and accounts, sales and marketing, and how they can potentially access funding. This tried and tested business plan provides candidates with a blue-print for building a successful and sustainable business model, and it gives them the final push they need to finally launch their business. So if youre thinking about starting a business in 2021, I would encourage you to get in touch and seek the support that the Go For It Programme provides. Dr Eugene McGuckin, Programme Manager, Northern Ireland Business Start Up Programme said: The Go For It Programme continues to be a fantastic asset in helping entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland access the advice and support they need to develop a business plan. Over 7,200 new business plans in three years is a remarkable milestone, and local Councils are really proud that so many entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity to establish the business of their dreams with the support of the Go For It Programme. If you have a business idea youd like to develop or if you are thinking about starting a business call 0800 027 0639 or visit: visit www.goforitni.com. When clinical trials to test the first vaccines for COVID-19 began last year, Harriet A. Washington remembers medical journalists decrying the fact that too few Black people were signing up and that their absence could skew the results, even delay the vaccines. But noticeably missing from the reports, Washington said during the University of Miamis inaugural Climate and Racial Justice Talk on Monday, was any supporting documentation. So, the acclaimed medical ethicist, science writer, and researcher requested data from Johns Hopkins University, which showed that about 10 percent of the participants in the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech trials were Black peoplewho constitute more than 12 percent of the U.S. population. Calling 10 percent representation a very respectable showing, Washington said Black people were obviously not failing to show up. We were told that, but the data told us something different, she told a virtual audience of more than 300, making her point by adding her own pointed questions. How useful is hearing this if youre not talking about other ethnic groups? she continued. Youre saying that African Americans were reluctant to sign up, but vaccine skepticism is rife in this country and most vaccine skeptics are white, not black. Why was their no interrogation or focus on whites refusing to sign up? Henderson In a far-ranging virtual conversation with Dr. Armen Henderson, an assistant professor of medicine at the Miller School of Medicine, Washington demonstrated why Henderson said she was the ideal person to kick off the series aimed at inspiring a new generation of antiracism and climate justice scholars and advocates. Through a social justice grant awarded by the University of Miami Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge (U-LINK), Henderson and other members of his U-LINK team hope to create a climate justice course, and a network of scholars and researchers who can collaborate with community partners to address the impacts of racism that are likely to be exacerbated by warming temperatures and rising seas. And Washington has devoted her long and prolific career to researching and documenting the consequences of such historic race-based policies and practices in housing, health, and the environment. One of her first books, Medical Apartheid, exposed the medical establishments shameful history of exploiting Black people, who in the name of research, endured surgery without anesthesia, forced sterilization, and testing of potentially deadly medications. Her latest book, A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind, attributes the reported IQ gap between Black and white people to race-based policies and practices that relegated people of color to communities where toxic waste, pollution, and insufficient sanitation continue to expose them to metals, neurotoxins, poor nutrition, and infection-causing pathogens that rob their intellectual power. Referencing her exhaustive research on the subject, she said on Monday that although poor people are at risk from environmental hazards, race remains the single most important predictor of exposure to environmental harms. Although a lot of the dialogue, a lot of the talk, is focused on poverty, the reality is its not poverty, its race, she said, noting that middle-class Black people who earn $50,000 to $60,000 a year are more exposed to environmental toxins than poor white people, who earn an average of $10,000 a year. Thats dirt poor, right? You cant get much poorer than that. And yet they dont have as much exposure as middle-class African Americans. So its not all socioeconomics, but race that is driving these risks, she said. Very often we invoke climate change and it is devastating, including its effect on health. But for many people of color in this country its not climate change, its climate, period. As such, she said, Black people arent eagerly joining forces with environmental groups that are concerned about such things as maintaining water purity or wild areas in their pristine state. All of that is important and good, but it doesnt have anything to do with the survival concerns of many people of color, she said. They dont always have the luxury of worrying about preserving wild areas. Theyre worried about the lead in their water. Theyre worried about the poisons they breathe in every day. Theyre worried about the coronavirus, COVID-19, decimating their communities. But, Washington said, she is heartened by the growing awareness among quote unquote white groups like the Sierra Club, that are beginning to understand how interwoven environmental racism is to their causes. As she noted, five years ago, the Sierra Club elected its first Black president, Aaron Mair, an epidemiologist for the New York State Department of Health who has long been involved in the environmental justice movement. I think thats a good thing, Washington said. Stronger together. Were beginning to see a shared ground. And thats exactly what the antiracism/climate justice U-LINK team is determined to builda strong and collaborative platform for equitably addressing the consequences of historic racism as South Floridas climate continues to change. To register for and learn more about the forthcoming Monday evening dialogues, visit the Climate and Justice Talk Series, which will feature Miami Climate Justice Leadership, on Feb. 22; Miami Climate Justice Activism, on March 22; and Energy and Housing Justice in a Changing Climate, on May 3. All the events are on Mondays, and all are being held at 6:30 p.m. Dublin-listed Open Orphan has opened a new quarantine clinic in London. The new site is based in Whitechapel, directly opposite the Queen Mary BioEnterprise Innovation Centre (QMB) which is home to Hivivos a subsidiary of Open Orphan 24 bedroom FluCamp site. The Whitechapel Clinic will act as an extension of Hvivos current QMB site. The new facility has the capacity for up to 19 quarantine rooms and will be used as an additional unit for human challenge trials and volunteer recruitment screening. Cathal Friel, executive chairman of Open Orphan said: "Our newest quarantine unit greatly increases our capacity to facilitate Hvivo's pipeline of upcoming studies. Our QMB clinic is now close to full capacity until December 2021, and as such, the newly renovated, state of the art Whitechapel Clinic will allow us to increase our study capacity substantially in the year ahead. Also on Wednesday, Open Orphan said it has received notice of exercise of warrants by investors who participated in the Venn loan note financing in December 2018. In 2019 Open Orphan acquired Venn Life Sciences in a reverse takeover. The total amount of this exercise is 19,653.91 (22,291). The 2018 Venn loan note has now been fully repaid and the current outstanding debt and loans owed by Open Orphan is 319,000 (361,808). Europe-focused Open Orphan specialises in rare disease and so-called orphan drugs treatments for medical conditions which, because they are so rare, few pharmaceutical companies pursue research into. The company was founded in 2017 with the aim of becoming a leading specialist contract research pharmaceutical services business. Open Orphan and its subsidiaries have completed 860 studies in the past five years. As at 27 October last year the company had cash of 21.5m (24.3m). Open Orphan has offices in London, Dublin, Paris, and Breda in the Netherlands. The company completed its IPO on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges in June 2019 via the reverse takeover of Venn Life Sciences raising 4.5m (5m) at 5.6p. At the request of members of the General Assembly, any of the 177 state legislators who wish to be inoculated will be allowed to receive their vaccine in phase 1b, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement Wednesday. The state of Illinois has urgent and vital business that must be addressed, and we hope that the General Assembly will engage in a robust and productive schedule in coming weeks and months. The Centre has set up a committee to suggest reforms in criminal laws and sought suggestions from state governments, courts and bar councils, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the committee set up to suggest reforms in the criminal laws is headed by the Vice Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi. The Ministry has also sought suggestions from States, Union Territories, Supreme Court, High Courts, Bar Councils and various Universities and Law Institutes on comprehensive amendments in Criminal laws. Singapores covid tracing law View Full Image Singapores covid tracing law Singapore passed legislation that will allow the government to use Covid-19 tracing data in certain criminal investigations, formalizing legal powers that had sparked unusual controversy. The government introduced its TraceTogether technology last year during the early months of the pandemic, promising the data collected would be used only for coronavirus containment. Then in January, Singapore disclosed the apps data had been tapped for a murder investigation and said it planned legislation to support such efforts, reports Bloomberg. The measure allows access to contact tracing data under seven categories of serious crime including murder, rape and drug trafficking. It also covers other contact tracing systems like SafeEntry, a national digital check in system which provides a record of people who enter and exit venues. The bill was passed late Tuesday evening and the changes are expected to come into force in the middle of February. GOP faces Cheney decision View Full Image GOP faces Cheney decision United States House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met with hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as Republicans wrestled over how to handle a bipartisan outcry over her endorsement of outlandish conspiracy theories and of violent, racist views. Aides to McCarthy and Greene offered no immediate comment after the two spent around 90 minutes together in his Capitol office Tuesday night. Their session came as the GOP faced unrest from opposing ends of the party's spectrum over Greene and Rep. Liz Cheney, whom far-right lawmakers want to oust from her leadership post after she voted to impeach President Donald Trump. The strife underscores Republican fissures as the party seeks a path forward two weeks after Trump left office as the only twice-impeached president. House Republicans are effectively deciding whether to prioritize the former presidents norm-shattering behavior and conspiracy theories and retain the loyalty of his voters over more establishment conservative values. Former ECB chief may lead Italy View Full Image Former ECB chief may lead Italy Italys president is expected to ask Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief credited with saving the euro, to try to lead Italy through the coronavirus pandemic after last-ditch talks among squabbling politicians failed to produce a viable new coalition. Draghi's name has emerged as a potential premier in recent weeks as political turmoil combines with the health and economic emergencies. But it is not clear which parties in Italy's deeply fractured parliament would support an administration he would head. Italys bonds rallied, sending the 10-year yield to a two-week low at 0.58% and narrowing the premium over its German counterpart seven basis points to 107, the lowest since Jan. 12 at 8:15 a.m. in Rome. Futures on the benchmark FTSE MIB index jumped 2.7%. Kremlin critic jailed in Russia View Full Image A Russian court jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny A Russian court jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, ignoring the West in a ruling the opposition politician blamed on President Vladimir Putin's personal hatred and fear of him. The Moscow court handed Navalny a three-and-a-half-year sentence, but his lawyer said the anti-corruption blogger would actually serve two years and eight months in jail because of time already spent under house arrest. His lawyers said they would appeal. The decision, which followed nationwide protests calling for Navalny's release, will further strain relations with the West, which is considering imposing sanctions on Russia over its handling of the case. The United States, Britain, Germany and the EU urged Moscow to immediately free Navalny, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Washington would coordinate closely with allies to hold Russia accountable. Russia has suggested that Navalny is a CIA asset and has told the West to stay out of its domestic affairs. Hong Kong security law triggers an exodus View Full Image Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020 Nearly 11,000 Hong Kongers moved to Taiwan in 2020almost double the number of a year earlierafter Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the city, reports AFP. Democratic Taiwan has long attracted Hong Kong people seeking an alternative to their city's frenetic pace and sky-high rents. But a new security law has accelerated an exodus, and the number of Hong Kongers granted short-term residency soared to 10,813 from 5,858 in 2019, according to Taiwan's National Immigration Agency. The previous record was 7,506 in 2014 during the financial hub's pro-democracy "Umbrella Movement". Taiwan's Liberty Times newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying the number of arrivals would have been higher if not for coronavirus border restrictions. Taiwan does not have an asylum or refugee law, nor does it accept refugee applicationsfearful of a potential influx from the authoritarian mainland. Hong Kongers can, however, apply to live on the island through other channels, including investment visas. Curated by Sohini Sen. Have something to share with us? Write to us at feedback@livemint or tweet to @shohinisen Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. By Rick Karlin | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. New Yorks four state-licensed casinos could seek a tax break this year but to do so they would have to prove they are suffering financially. And a consultant hired by the state believes they should have to explain what the casino operators would use the tax savings for. The proposal for potential casino tax breaks is tucked deep in Gov. Andrew Cuomos 2021-22 budget plan. It calls for letting the rate fall to as low as 25 percent for slot machine revenue if casinos can explain their financial stability without the break and provide a complete examination of all financial projections. Taxes on slot machine revenues currently vary from 37 percent at the del Lago casino in Waterloo and Tioga Downs in Nichols to 39 percent for Resorts World Catskills and 45 percent for Rivers in Schenectady. The budget proposal is similar to a possible tax cut that a consultant, the Pennsylvania-based Spectrum Gaming Group, in recent weeks made as part of a wide-ranging report on the states gaming industry. We suggested the state consider letting operators petition for tax relief, said Mike Pollock, managing director at the consulting group. He added that We suggest that the burden be on the operator to demonstrate that tax relief is in best interest of state and operator. Pollock added that any savings from a tax break should be used to enhance the facilitys marketability through new capital spending. That way, the state would protect against a casino from simply pocketing the money and sending it to their home offices. Rivers officials have noted that their 45 percent slot tax was the highest in the state, as well as higher than the relatively new MGM casino in Springfield, Mass., where the tax is 25 percent. They also welcomed the concept of a tax break, given the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed the facilities down over the summer. Our priority at Rivers is the economic viability of Schenectady and the well-being and job stability of our 1000 team members. We look forward to working with the Governor and the legislature to pull out of this economic crisis, the company said in a prepared statement. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented economic disaster to the City of Schenectady and the state of New York, so we are encouraged that the Governors budget prioritizes stabilization of the upstate casinos, and the preservation of casino jobs. Pollock explained that the differing tax rates across the state reflect the different demographics of upstate New Yorks diverse regions. Rivers is located in the most densely populated sector, in the Albany- Schenectady- Troy area. Tioga is in the Southern Tier, del Lago is between Syracuse and Rochester, and Resorts World is in the Catskill Mountains. The COVID-19 pandemic, which closed casinos for part of 2020, has scrambled their finances and the tax receipts that they generated. At Rivers, for instance, the casino generated $9.8 million in revenue in September 2019, paying $5 million in taxes. In September 2020, just after they re-opened under limited capacity after being closed for the summer, the net revenue was $4.8 million, yielding $2.9 million in taxes (All the casinos also pay a flat 10 percent on table games). An upstate tax break may also tie in with plans to eventually license three casinos in New York City. That is scheduled to happen in 2023 but given the budget pressures put on the state from the COVID-19 pandemic, the state may want to speed things along. Indeed, the governors proposed budget acknowledges that, calling for the state Gaming Commission to this year issue a Request for Information that would Inform the commission for the purposes of determining: the appropriate size and scope of development, the value of the gaming facility license, and the process that should be used in award consideration. There have been calls by New York City real estate developers to speed the casino licensing process, which could help offset the office vacancies created by the pandemic, which has led to thousands of people working from home. The upstate casinos were initially given a head start to help them get established, since there is so much more population in the New York City area. The Spectrum report, with its call for capital improvements in return for a tax break, was started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Spectrum Vice President Joseph Weinert said the pandemic has highlighted the possible need for a tax break. The challenges raised by the pandemic and the attendant closures, he said, made it more critical, particularly raising questions as to whether some properties might need such consideration to remain going concerns. 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. Every now and then a politician comes around with views so crackpot - the word used by the Australian Medical Association president to describe MP Craig Kellys interesting COVID opinions - that you have to ask: how the hell is this guy in Parliament? With the eager assistance of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thats how! Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly has been reprimanded by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Kelly, member for the Sydney seat of Hughes, has long tangoed with the more marginal opinion-holes of the internet, ranging from climate change scepticism, to his assertion that coral islands float. Kelly is also an expert on foreign policy. On the 298 people killed aboard flight MH17, shot down by the Russians, he told Sky News in 2018, If some of the things that Russia has gotten away with in the past has to be slightly looked over, well Im sorry, thats the price that we have to pay sometimes to have good relations going forward. Australian ice cream brand Streets has delighted shoppers with a sweet new range of Golden Gaytime popcorn. There are two new decadent flavours to try - including the original toffee and chocolate - both covered in the classic vanilla biscuit crumbs. 'A popped time is a Gaytime! Golden Gaytime Popcorn - the iconic combination of Gaytime vanilla biscuit crumbs and toffee you love, now in irresistibly morsels of popcorn,' the description read. The popcorn has been spotted at a handful of Coles supermarket stores, but the range officially launches nationally from Monday, February 15. Australian ice cream brand Streets has delighted shoppers with a sweet new range of Golden Gaytime popcorn (pictured of the original toffee flavoured popcorn) Two foodies, from Melbourne, who blog under Food Finds Geelong, rated the products a nine out of 10 after they got to try the new popcorn range. 'This collaboration is so cool and we really haven't had something like this in Australia before! We love caramel and other sweet popcorn so we might be bias... but we loved this,' they wrote. 'It doesn't taste exactly like a Golden Gaytime but there is a resemblance, lots of creamy toffee coated popcorn with milk chocolate drizzle as well as creamy vanilla biscuit coated popcorn. 'The chocolate ones are good too with hints of caramel flavour but we definitely prefer the original - but overall they both have great texture, lots of coating, fun packaging and they're the perfect snack.' There are two new decadent flavours to try - including the original toffee and chocolate (pictured) - both covered in the classic vanilla biscuit crumbs Hundreds of shoppers are already excited to get their hands on the new creations, with one woman tagging her partner in the post about the new launch, saying: 'Either come home with multiple packets or don't come home at all.' 'Shut up and take ALL my money,' another said, while one added: 'This is the happiest day of my life.' Meanwhile, many joked the 'tempting' treats could ruin their fitness goals, with one woman saying: 'Here I am trying to lose weight and they bring these out.' Analyst Mayank Mamtani noted the robust clinical benefit observed following treatment with Foralumab US investment bank has reiterated its buy advice and US$8 a share price target for Tiziana Life Sciences ( ) ( ). The update followed positive data from a study assessing the use of Tiziana's nasally administered monoclonal antibody treatment in patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). Analyst Mayank Mamtani noted the robust clinical benefit observed following treatment with Foralumab, particularly in delaying disease progression. Interestingly, patients treated with monotherapy Foralumab demonstrated better results when compared to patients that were also treated with Dexa [a corticosteroid used in one cohort], he noted. See the results below: The fully human anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAB) proved to be safe in the group of 39 patients that were assessed by a team that included researchers from the prestigious Harvard Medical School. In a statement, lead scientist Dr Thais Moreira said: We are delighted to see that patients treated with nasally administered Foralumab showed a positive trend in the reduction of lung inflammation, and supportive data indicating significant reduction in cytokine IL-6 and C-reactive protein. In addition, there are indications from patients who reported that treatment with Foralumab rapidly improved the smell and taste sensations that are frequently lost with the severity of COVID-19 disease. Nasally-administered Foralumab is thought to work by improving the immune system by stimulating the bodys regulatory T cells. It is also believed to dampen cytotoxic (harmful) T cell responses in the nasal and respiratory tract, the primary sites of the COVID-19 virus. As such, Tizianas scientists think Foralumab may be effective in treating new coronavirus variants from the UK, Brazil and South Africa because it does not attack the disease directly but modulates its effects on the immune system. Zak's highlights a potentially new approach The drug is the first monoclonal antibody that can be dosed nasally or orally due to its ability to affect systemic immunity via the epithelial lining of the nose, respiratory tract and gut. This marks it out as different to mAB innovations such as ( ) COVID-19 treatment, which is directly injected. Zaks Small-Cap Research, which initiated coverage Tuesday, said: The positive results reported this morning suggest that this approach was indeed successful. This is important because the scientific concept underlying this therapeutic approach may be useful for treatment of COVID-19 and its newly identified variants in UK, South Africa and Brazil. The shares, which have more than doubled in value since mid-December, were up 15% in early Wall Street trading. But at US$4.39, the stock would have to rise a further 83% to hit the US$8 target. Organisers of the LAMMA show have cancelled this year's event due to 'ongoing uncertainties' surrounding the pandemic. The 2021 agricultural machinery show, due to take place 25-26 May at the NEC in Birmingham, has been called off. The event's organisers said the safety of visitors and exhibitors was their top priority. The LAMMA show is seen as a key part of the British farming industry's annual event calendar. It has a reputation as a launch pad for a host of machinery from the UK and across the globe. The 2020 show took place on 7-8 January, just weeks before the coronavirus started to spread across Europe. "As you can all imagine, this decision has not been an easy one to make as we fully understand how key the show is to the entire industry," said Kate Walsh, event manager. "After listening to the concerns of stakeholders and being fully appreciative of all the associated planning and work that goes into getting ready for a show like this, a decision had to be made." Looking ahead, the LAMMA Show is set to return to Birmingham on 11-12 January 2022. It follows a string of other show cancellations, including the Fife Show, Suffolk Show, Ayr Show, Royal Norfolk Show, Royal County of Berkshire Show and NSA Scotsheep. The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) has announced this year's Royal Welsh Show will not go ahead. 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. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The FBI said Tuesday it is investigating a double homicide after the deaths of two soldiers found shot on Fort Bragg. The bureau announced Tuesday that it is joining with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command in seeking information from the public in connection with the deaths of Timothy Dumas Sr., 44, and Master Sgt. William Lavigne III, 37. Both men were discovered on the North Carolina base on December 2 last year. They were each due to appear in court and had reportedly been under investigation for selling drugs at the time of their deaths. A statement from the North Carolina post said the bodies were found in a training area and that their deaths were not related to official unit training. According to the FBI news release, a gray 2016 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck belonging to Lavigne was found at the crime scene near Manchester Road in Cumberland County. A dark colored 2015 Dodge Ram pick-up truck belonging to Dumas was found abandoned at another location, the news release said. The FBI said they are trying to piece together a timeline for the two men before their deaths. It is understood LaVigne died of gunshot wounds; Dumas cause of death is listed as gunshot wounds to the chest and head. The bodies of Master Sgt. William Lavigne II (left) and Army veteran Timothy Dumas (right) were both discovered on the North Carolina base on December 2, sending shockwaves through the military The bureau announced Tuesday that it is joining with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command in seeking information from the public in connection with the deaths of Timothy Dumas Sr., 44, and Master Sgt. William Lavigne III, 37 According to the Fayetteville Observer, Dumas was 'supposed to appear in Forsyth County District Court on December 17 for charges of breaking and entering, communicating threats and impersonating a law enforcement officer.' In that case, Dumas allegedly kicked down the door of an apartment before he told the male occupant that he was a police officer and made a series of threats. Meanwhile, Lavigne was reportedly set o appear in Cumberland County District Court on January 15 for a hit-and-run charge.'= The two cases have not been linked by reporters or law enforcement officials, and it is unknown how close Lavigne and Dumas actually were to one another. An Army official told CBS News that 'investigators suspect that it [their deaths] was a double homicide resulting from a drug deal gone wrong'. Both men were discovered on the North Carolina base on December 2 last year. They were each due to appear in court and had reportedly been under investigation for selling drugs at the time of their deaths. Timothy Dumas is left, William J. Lavigne is right Fort Bragg, covering nearly 172,000 acres, is one of the world's largest military complexes, according to its website. It has approximately 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members Another defense official told the network that both Lavigne and Dumas had 'been under investigation for using and selling drugs'. It was also revealed that Lavigne was allegedly responsible for the fatal shooting of Green Beret Mark Leshikar during an altercation back in 2018. In a report with Connecting Vets and Radio.com, Leshikar's family revealed how Lavigne had allegedly shot Leshikar dead inside his home two years ago but was never charged, despite inconsistencies in his account of the incident. Lavigne had claimed that 33-year-old Leshikar, with whom he had been good friends, came at him with a screwdriver. Sgt. First Class Mark Leshikar (pictured) was shot dead by Lavigne in March 2018 by Lavigne cops said the shooting was justifiable despite inconsistencies in Lavigne's story Yet he initially told cops that Leshikar had killed himself, and in another version of events, said that he could not see Leshikar's hands and would not have known if he had a screwdriver, according to Connecting Vets. An investigating officer from the 1st Special Forces Command wrote in a memorandum that Lavigne was not credible in his retelling of the incident. However, the command still ruled that Leshikar's death was in the line of duty. The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office also declared Leshikar's death as a 'justifiable homicide'. Leshikar's sister Nicole Rick told Connecting Vets that Lavigne and Leshikar were best friends but would often argue and both were involved in taking drugs. Leshikar had a desk job in Fort Bragg after suffering from a traumatic brain injury due to an improvised explosive device detonating near him. He had served in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. His family said that he became addicted to Tramadol which he was prescribed to treat his brain injury and began to self-medicate with Valium. Both men allegedly used cocaine. 'I knew about Mark's drugs, I knew about Billy's drugs,' Leshikar's mother Tammy Mabey told Connecting Vets. Lavigne would go on to have another brush with the law the following year. In February 2019, he was charged with a felony for allegedly harboring an escapee but his court date, and the charge, later disappeared from the records. Lavigne enlisted in the Army in 2001 and deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the Global War on Terrorism. In 2007, he graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned to the 1st Special Forces with a follow-on assignment to US Army Special Operations Command. Dumas served in the Army from 1996 to 2016. A dark colored 2015 Dodge Ram pick-up truck belonging to Dumas was found abandoned at another location, the news release said According to the FBI news release, a gray 2016 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck belonging to Lavigne was found at the crime scene near Manchester Road in Cumberland County In February 2019, Lavigne was charged with a felony for allegedly harboring an escapee but his court date, and the charge, later disappeared from the records (pictured above) WRAL reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, that one body was found lying flat on the ground. The other was wrapped in a blanket near a pickup truck. Fort Bragg, covering nearly 172,000 acres, is one of the world's largest military complexes, according to its website. It has approximately 57,000 military personnel, 11,000 civilian employees and 23,000 family members. The base was already in the news in early December last year after an autopsy report revealed that Fort Bragg paratrooper Spc. Enrique Roman Martinez who went missing during a camping trip with fellow soldiers in May had been decapitated. Later that same month Sergeant Keith Lewis, 31, fatally shot his heavily pregnant wife in front of their three-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide, police said. In October, Fort Bragg made headlines when a civilian worker on the base lewdly replied to pornographic content from Fort Bragg's official Twitter account, which was later deleted. Sergeant Keith Lewis, 31, fatally shot his heavily pregnant wife Sarah in front of their three-year-old daughter before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide, police said. Vanessa Guillen, left, the 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier who went missing for months before her remains were found in July. Fort Hood soldier Elder Fernandes was found hanging in August last year A few weeks prior, tragedy struck on the base in North Carolina when Staff Sgt. Jason Lowe, 27, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division took his own life. Lowe's was the tenth suicide the 82nd Airborne Division has endured so far this year, a number that stood at four last year. In 2018, six division paratroopers took their own lives; four did so in 2017. Fort Bragg is just the latest Army base to face intense scrutiny in recent months, joining the likes of Fort Hood, where Vanessa Guillen was murdered, and Fort Bliss where a soldier was charged with the sexual assault of a soldier from his unit who was found dead almost exactly one year later. Pfc. Christian G. Alvarado, a soldier listed in the 1st Armored Division at the Texas base, has been formally accused of three sexual assaults. Among them, Alvarado is accused of raping 19-year-old Pfc. Asia Graham while she was unconscious on December 30 2019, at Fort Bliss. On New Year's Eve 2020 Graham, 19, was found dead in her barracks. Staff Sgt John D.S. Bailey, 27, took his own life at an on-post residence at Fort Bliss, after his father said his son's 'demons overcame him.' Eleven soldiers then fell ill after drinking antifreeze thinking it was alcohol while on duty during field exercise at the troubled base. The Inventory Management Software market will register an incremental spend of about USD 1.23 billion, growing at a CAGR of 9.10% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Inventory Management Software sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample pages This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005339/en/ SpendEdge has announced the release of its Global Inventory Management Software Market Procurement Intelligence Report (Graphic: Business Wire) Key benefits to buy this report: What are the market dynamics? What are the key market trends? What are the category growth drivers? What are the constraints on category growth? Who are the suppliers in this market? What are the demand-supply shifts? What are the major category requirements? What are the procurement best practices in this market? Information on Latest Trends and Supply Chain Market Information Knowledge centre on COVID-19 impact assessment SpendEdge's reports now include an in-depth complimentary analysis of the COVID-19 impact on procurement and the latest market data to help your company overcome sourcing challenges. Our Inventory Management Software market procurement intelligence report offers actionable procurement intelligence insights, sourcing strategies, and action plans to mitigate risks arising out of the current pandemic situation. The insights offered by our reports will help procurement professionals streamline supply chain operations and gain insights into the best procurement practices to mitigate losses. Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers: Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for Inventory Management Software market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Inventory Management Software pricing levels, pros and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfil their category objectives. For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers Click Here To access the definite purchasing guide on the inventory management software that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis: Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my Inventory Management Software TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable? How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes? Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities? To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free. Some of the top inventory management software suppliers listed in this report: This inventory management software procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. Microsoft Corp. SAP SE Oracle Corp. Blue Yonder Group Inc. Zoho Corp. Pvt. Ltd. Revel Systems Inc. Dubai Holding LLC Unleashed Software Ltd. 3PL Central LLC Vend Ltd. This procurement report helps buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their inventory management software requirements by answering the following questions: Am I engaging with the right suppliers? Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers? Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for? What are the inventory management software category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx? Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005339/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 19:13:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- As many as 32 chairpersons and the members from 11 different constitutional commissions in Nepal took the oath of office in the presence of President Bidya Devi Bhandari in her office on Wednesday. Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana administered the oath of office to those appointed as chiefs of different commissions and the newly appointed chiefs then administered oaths to their members. The Constitutional Council led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had made the recommendations of 38 people in the commissions on Dec. 15, 2020. "The 32 chairpersons and members took the oath in presence of President Bhandari," Bhesh Raj Adhikari, chief personal secretary to Bhandari, told Xinhua. The meeting of the Council was boycotted by Speaker Agni Sapkota and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who as a leader of the opposition is a member of the council expressing dissatisfaction over Oli's decision to call the Council's meeting without consultation. Though the Council had recommended 38 names, six didn't take appointments rejecting the offer. They were critical towards the move of Oli to dissolve the House of Representatives. Those who took the oath have assumed their offices on Wednesday. The appointee includes Prem Rai, former home secretary, as the chief commissioner of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse Authority which is entitled for corruption control in the Himalayan nation. Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission, Women Commission and Dalit Commission among others that were vacant for a long time also have got its chairpersons and members. On the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli, President Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives on Dec. 20 last year. Enditem ADVERTISEMENT Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has said the quit notice he recently issued to herdsmen in the states forest reserves was targeted at foreign herders. Mr Akeredolu spoke during the visit to his office by Zonal Coordinator, Zone F of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Dora Amahian, on Tuesday. He said while it is not wrong to say kidnappers and killers terrorising the state for the past months are Fulani, he is convinced that they are not Nigerians. They might be Fulani but they are not Nigerians, the governor said. Mrs Amahian oversees the affairs of the NIS in Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Ogun States. Mr Akeredolu encouraged the NIS to be more critical in the way they secure land borders to ensure that foreigners do not penetrate into various states with the aim to steal or kill. We all know what this service is established to do. Its clear to us. The number of people who come into Nigeria through the land border is becoming alarming. READ ALSO: Akeredolu orders herdsmen to vacate Ondo forests within seven days Knowing your efforts to secure our borders, we are worried about some foreigners that come in and are almost permanent in our forest reserves. I know a number of criminal activities that are being perpetrated in our reserves that are done by foreigners. I think there must be collaborations; collaboration with other security agencies. That way, you can function well and achieve more result. Collaborate with security agency like Amotekun. In her reaction to the governors comment, Mrs Amahian applauded Mr Akeredolu for the cordial relationship between him and the immigration service. She said the governor has passion for good governance and delivery of dividends of democracy which has been seen in the peaceful co-existence of the diverse people of the state. Secret jailhouse letters traded between a convicted terrorist and a Melbourne woman accused of recruiting for Islamic State have been read aloud in court as one of the women fights to be released back into the community. Hadashah Saadat Khan, 23, is said to have professed her love for her fellow inmate and discussed dying in the name of Allah before the pair were captured together on CCTV in the prison yard. Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday that prison staff seized the letters late last year from inside the cells of Ms Khan and a fellow inmate known as Prisoner S, who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for an attack on another person in the name of jihad. I love you to infinity and beyond. I think about you all the time, one letter to Prisoner S read. Senior Constable Jan-Paul Antemes, a federal agent with the Australian Federal Police, told the court that in other letters and cards, believed to have been sent between May and November 2020, Ms Khan expressed her support for martyrdom and the use of physical violence against others. Over the past day, February 2, eight ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas. "The Russian occupation forces used snipers weapons to fire at Ukrainian positions near Shumy (41km north of Donetsk). A sniper seriously wounded a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite the medical assistance provided, he died at the hospital. The JFO Command expresses its sincere and deep condolences to the family and friends of the deceased soldier," the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports. The armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from 120mm mortars, heavy machine guns and small arms outside Pivdenne (40km north-east of Donetsk); a grenade launcher near Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk); automatic mounted grenade launchers and small arms in the area of Zaitseve (62km north-east of Donetsk); automatic mounted and tripod-mounted anti-tank grenade launchers near Pavlopil (25km north-west of Mariupol); and snipers weapons outside Vodiane in the Sea of Azov area. Also, the enemy used a UAV to drop two VOG-17 grenades near the Joint Forces positions in the area of Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk). The drone was suppressed by electronic warfare equipment. The OSCE representatives were informed about all the facts of ceasefire violations through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC). Today, February 3, no ceasefire violations have been recorded. ish Ipsos in Jan 2021 has made two strategic acquisitions of MGE Data (a leading player in Out-of-home (OOH) measurement) and Fistnet-Dotmetrics (Croatian digital audience measurement player) in January 2021. These acquisitions further consolidate and provide an update to our existing offerings, in the fast-changing area of audience measurement, as it is our constant endeavor to provide clients with the best-in-class solutions to their business problems, said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India. Ipsos Paris office has revealed the specifics of both the deals: MGE Data Acquisition Ipsos has acquired the majority stake in the Czech Republic-based MGE Data, a leading player in Out-of-home (OOH) measurement with unparalleled capabilities in consulting, data analytics, application development and technical solutions in the mobility, geo-marketing and media research fields Founded in 1996, MGE Data operates out of several locations in the Czech Republic. It comprises a team of geo-spatial experts and engineers specialized in Out-of-home measurement who design, develop and manufacture equipment and solutions for mobility, geo-marketing and media research applications. Ipsos and MGE have a long-established relationship dating back to 2007, when both companies were awarded the Route contract in Great Britain with a sophisticated combination of GPS, frequency algorithms and modelling of complementary data. Today, Route is one of the most advanced OOH solutions globally and became the industry reference when expanding the combined offer globally. The partnership has also proven decisive in the recent appointment by OMA, Australias Outdoor Measurement Association, to update its audience measurement system MOVE (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure). The upgraded system will cover all formats, be a national model and measure Digital Out-of-home signs. Ipsos is a global leader in out-of-home audience measurement and has designed audience measurement systems in other markets such as France, Sweden and Brazil, in addition to Great Britain and Australia. With the acquisition of MGE Data, the combined offer will be expanded to fifteen countries, contributing to the generation of audience data on close to 1.5 million frames and substantially diversifying the market expertise. Amongst these countries are Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Mexico, Chile and the UAE. Didier Truchot, Ipsos CEO & Chairman said: The association of Ipsos leadership in research with MGEs advanced spatial data science expertise will bring clients an unparalleled offer in Out-of-home audience measurement. David Strnad, Chief Executive MGE Data, commented: Since 2007, our partnership has been a source of success and allowed us to bring together our complementary skills and capabilities across many markets globally. Joining the Ipsos family is therefore a natural progression for MGE Data. Liz Landy, Ipsos Audience Measurement Global Service Line leader, said: Digital and mobile technology have changed both the medium and the measurement possibilities. The integration of MGE Data significantly enhances and accelerates our continuing push towards new solutions in a fast-changing landscape. Fistnet-Dotmetrics Acquisition Ipsos has acquired Fistnet d.o.o, the Croatian-based company who engineered the digital audience measurement platform Dotmetrics. This acquisition seals a longstanding and fruitful collaboration between Ipsos and Fistnet in the Adria region, where Dotmetrics has seen great success in measuring and reporting digital audiences. With new enhancements, the platform has been deployed by Ipsos for Iris solution, becoming in 2021 the official source for Online Audience Measurement adopted by UKOM. Founded in 2012, Fistnet comprises Big Data audience measurement experts and software engineers. With the Dotmetrics platform, the company has been at the forefront of digital audience measurement, seamlessly tracking and reporting internet traffic to participating websites and apps with improved accuracy of device identification over other methods. Facing a range of forces making identification of devices increasingly complex, Fistnet has been able to stay ahead in a constantly changing environment. Fistnet have also developed a powerful reporting engine and dashboard. Directly connected to multiple data sources, it allows clients fast and flexible analysis of the data. Didier Truchot, Ipsos CEO & Chairman commented: At Ipsos we are proud to work with Fistnets pool of talented and experienced site-centric technologists, software engineers and modelling experts. Together, we will accelerate the development of our advanced web and mobile measurement solutions. Tomislav Fistric, CEO Fistnet, stated We are happy to become part of the Ipsos family, which we already know and love. With Ipsos, we will create incremental value for clients by combining the experience and footprint of Ipsos with Dotmetrics expertise. Liz Landy, Audience Measurement Global Service Line Leader said: The integration of Fistnet allows Ipsos to continually adapt to the changing demands of site-centric data collection, manipulation and reporting. A widowed wife was heartbroken after her husband died from COVID-19 just two days after beating cancer. Husband died of COVID-19 after beating prostate cancer Eugene Courtney, 63, contracted the coronavirus days after he survived prostate cancer. His wife, Kim Courtney, 61, said she was "totally empty" after he passed away three weeks of being diagnosed with COVID-19. The couple, who is married for 13 years, celebrated Eugene's victory over prostate cancer on January 4. Still, the great grandad suddenly fell ill two days later and was immediately sent to hospital by ambulance. Eugene had suffered from a heart attack, as per doctors at Royal Lancaster Infirmary's belief. However, further tests revealed that he contracted coronavirus. Days later, Eugene was placed on a ventilator to save his life as his condition rapidly deteriorated. The great-grandad struggled to breathe on his own, and his kidneys were failing, The Sun reported. After hearing her husband; s' final words, Kim was left feeling 'totally devastated.' Eugene said to Kim, "Don't worry wee woman, I love you." Eugene's wife thought "nothing bad" could happen to them after he beat cancer, but the worst had already passed. On January 28, Eugene passed away after 18 days in the hospital. In his final moment, Kim never left Eugene and held his hands for almost two hours after he passed as the woman "didn't want to let him go." Read also: Teen Wakes up from Coma Unaware of the Pandemic and That He Caught It Twice Grandad remains positive while fighting prostate cancer Kim admired Eugene's positivity when he got prostate cancer, even if she thought that was the most devastating thing. She was very happy when the grandad beat cancer and felt nothing wrong could happen again. But then Eugene became so ill, which Kim had never seen before. "It was the most difficult thing I've ever had to go through," she said. It was just two days after they celebrated the all-clear from prostate cancer when Eugene fell ill. Kim and Eugene were married for 13 years. "I kept telling myself he was going to make it but when I walked into the ICU for the first time and I saw all the patients I was terrified," Mrs.Courtney said. In April 2020, the grandad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he kept his spirits up and said that he and Kim could 'fight anything head on' as long as they were together. Read also: Miracle Baby: 15-Weeks Premature Withstands Odds, Beats E.Coli, Sepsis, COVID-19 After He was Born The couple made an offer on a bungalow where they planned to retire and live their golden years while he was going through radiotherapy treatment at Royal Preston Hospital, as per Daily Mail via MSN. They also planned to buy a motorhome and would travel around Europe together during the warm summer months. But the widow said she needed to rescind the offer to now make for Eugene's funeral. The grandmother to ten said getting bad news like that would just let you forget it. "I remember one day he just held me and started crying." According to Metro, the grandad even promised Kim that he would have at least their twenty best years together as he put a brave face and said he would beat it. On Valentine's Day in 2004, the couple met when Eugene surprised his future wife at the Shell garage where Kim worked as a cashier with flowers, sparkly shoes, and a teddy bear. At the time, Eugene was a taco driver who would see Kim often, but his advances failed until November that year when they shared a kiss on a night out. In 2008, they tied the knot, which Mrs.Courtney describes as the 'happiest day' of her life. "He was the kindest, most lovely soul in the world. The love of my life," she said. For grandma, Eugene was generous and has never thought of himself and would only think about what Kim wants and what he thought would make her happy. Mr.Courtney, who is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, had six children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Read also: Could Cats, Dogs Pass COVID-19 to Humans? Scientists Say They Should be Vaccinated, Too! @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The business model also greatly reduces operating costs and space requirements typically associated with running this type of business, making the car buying experience a lot more efficient for all stakeholders Summer Atlantic Capital is proud to announce our engagement with Upincar as its newest client. Upincar is at the forefront of transforming Chinas Electric Vehicle (EV) and automotive industry by consolidating different brands and services into a single venue. Upincar has developed its brand by expanding its physical presence through franchising and flagship stores and strives to be the world's largest EV dealership. Currently, they have over 800 locations throughout China, Southeast Asia, and South America. Upincar has successfully revolutionized automobiles sales through their unique business model, allowing customers the ability to create and customize their EVs on the spot. The customers choices regarding the vehicles body, color, upgrades, etc., are shown utilizing a sizable screen, allowing the customer to see a life-sized version of the EV they have created in-store. The vehicle that the customer has designed is then assembled at Upincars facility and delivered shortly after. Upincar also offers a range of related services, including access to their charging and quick in-and-out battery exchange and evaluation stations strategically located throughout China, financing programs, extended warranty, insurance coverage, and much more. Upincar has transformed the car-buying experience by incorporating the latest technological advances and has streamlined operations in its domestic market while quickly gaining market share. This innovative business model can be replicated in other countries where car dealerships do not have these capabilities to greatly reduce personnel and inventory costs. Upincar is now looking for strategic opportunities abroad and has engaged Summer Atlantic Capital to explore expansion alternatives and capital market opportunities. Sebright Chen, Chairman & CEO of Summer Atlantic Capital, said the following about this new alliance: We are very impressed with Upincars achievements and believe the business model has great potential to be replicated in other countries. A company with Upincars demonstrated success has the potential to access the US capital markets, where valuations for online car dealerships are at a premium. Upincar stands out from its competitors by assembling cars at their own facilities, allowing for a customizable car to be delivered very quickly compared to the industry average while simultaneously reducing expenses for car dealerships and franchise owners. Upincar also improves the car buying experience by eliminating sales pressure and providing fixed car prices, along with a one-stop-shop for financing, insurance, warranty, and more. The business model also greatly reduces operating costs and space requirements typically associated with running this type of business, making the car buying experience a lot more efficient for all stakeholders. About Summer Atlantic Capital Summer Atlantic Capital is a Hong-Kong based entity with a sister company, Summer Atlantic China (our private equity group) based in China, and a North American subsidiary, Summer Atlantic US. We focus on discovering companies with advanced technologies that are beneficial to the Chinese market. We work with the owners of these technologies to structure JV partnerships with strategic Chinese entities or individuals that have expertise in the respective field. In addition, Summer Atlantic arranges for the necessary capital to finance the joint ventures, which could include direct participation by our sister company, Summer Atlantic China, private individuals, business entities, or even state-owned funds. Summer Atlantic evaluates the feasibility of these technologies and how they could potentially enhance the Chinese consumer while at the same time simultaneously adding GDP growth into the Chinese economy. Summer Atlantic takes an active role from the formation of the JV all the way up to and including operations and the development of an exit strategy for the JVs shareholders. Summer Atlantic Capital consists of a growing core team of over 25 executives with C level experience across a wide range of industries interacting with some of the worlds largest corporations. Our Executive team prides itself on their proven track record and rolodex of relationships throughout industry and government. Summer Atlantic Capital US (Our US subsidiary) works with the developers of advanced Chinese technologies by helping them enter the US and European markets by identifying the best regulatory pathways, strategic partners and financing opportunities to ensure a smooth expansion strategy. http://www.SummerAtlantic.us / http://www.SummerAtlantic.com About YOUPIN Automobile Service Group Co., LTD Upincar YOUPIN Automobile Service Group Co., LTD or Upincar, is committed to building Chinas largest vehicle integrated solution provider. Operating with over 800 sales locations worldwide Youpin automobile group, together with the main vehicle and battery manufacturers, supporting service providers, banks, and other industrial chain enterprises, has built an intelligent sharing, network interaction power exchange industry platform and established an ecological operation system. Upincar has completely transformed the traditional supply chain and operating model in the auto sales market through a technology-driven approach to revolutionize the retail experience of buying a car and associated services. Our 2021 sales forecast will capture almost 10% of the Chinese EV auto market, making us the worlds largest retail channel for automobiles. A group of Connecticut legislators is part of a region-wide push to move the entire northeast of the United States off Eastern Standard Time. If successful, and if other states from New York north go along, Connecticut would use Atlantic Standard Time instead, and do away with Daylight Saving Time in the process. In effect, the region would be on Daylight Saving Time for all 12 months up from almost eight months now. I just think its a practical means to handle something that we dont need anymore, said state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague. Osten signed on to the initiative this year, but state Rep. Kurt Vail, R-Stafford, has been submitting a similar bill for five years running. His initial purpose was to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, he said, so he had to choose. Should the state stay in Eastern Standard Time or move an hour forward into Atlantic Standard Time? He chose the latter. Were on the eastern-most tip of Eastern Standard Time, he said so darkness comes earlier than in the rest of the time zone. The bill would not actually change anything for most of the year. The next time we spring forward, as the saying goes thats March 14 this year Connecticut would just stay there, not falling back again in November, or ever. During those eight months, as Osten noted, Were already on Atlantic Standard Time. Moving to Eastern time for just four months makes no sense, Osten said. It doesnt have any practical effect on the times of school or jobs or commerce. Even if the state legislature were to pass the proposal and Gov. Ned Lamont was to sign it into law, it would not take effect until other states, including New York and Massachusetts, did the same. Those other states have had similar proposals raised in their respective legislatures, and each bill is tied to similar bills in other states. So, Massachusetts wouldnt move forward without Rhode Island, which wouldnt move forward without New Hampshire, and so on. Even then, the federal government would have to give its blessing, Vail said. That might cause some issues, particularly for people who live in western New York state, which is north of Pennsylvania, or for people who commute from New Jersey into New York City. But there are other oddities in the United States map of time zones. In Indiana, for example, you can drive from Central to Eastern and then back to Central without ever leaving the state. Time zones often bisect states in strange ways. You have to draw the line somewhere, Vail said. When the Massachusetts legislature debated the idea in 2017, the result was a study into the effects of Daylight Saving Time. That study showed increases in heart attacks and car accidents in the week following both time shifts in the spring and fall. Theres a lot of health issues with it, Vail said. Obviously the world doesnt rotate differently but our bodies are programmed to this time frame. Theres just no need for it anymore, he said. I dont know that there ever was. For state Rep. Quentin Phipps, D-Middletown, the effects of Daylight Savings Time on people who suffer from mental health issues like depression are particularly resonant. I think this is a way to help those that suffer from seasonal affective disorder, he said. Phipps and Vail, a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican, Used to sit next to each other in the legislative chamber, Phipps said. We often had conversations where we saw things differently. But Phipps said, this is not a partisan issue. Vail agreed. We certainly disagree on lots of issues. Theres no party line on this, he said. There are Republicans that are against it and Democrats that are against it and vice-versa. Overall, I think the general consensus is that it just makes sense at this point. When the bill came to the legislature in 2019, there were objections from the sporting community, which argued vehemently against the proposal. Such a change would be extremely disruptive to viewers and listeners, who currently enjoy access to a mix of local and national programming which is available in the Eastern Time Zone, according to testimony submitted to the legislature by Michael Ryan, president of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association. Ryan wasnt the only one. I believe this is a completely absurd idea. What a nightmare it would be to be out of step with the rest of the Eastern Time Zone, Jane Stephens, a resident of Bolton, told the legislature at the time. I hope the legislature would deal with important issues facing the state and stop wasting time with ridiculous nonsense like this bill. Vail argues that the present situation is just as absurd: Can you imagine if we never had daylight savings and then I proposed moving the clocks? Daylight Saving Time started during World War I in the United States and other countries, as a way to save energy by extending the time of day when the sun set. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered year-round Daylight Saving Time, in effect putting the East in Atlantic time. Neither Vail nor Phipps, both of whom expressed passion about the issue, said it was a priority, particularly this year as the state still struggles to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and balance a budget thats more than $1 billion per year out of whack. This is something that should be done but I understand if this is not a priority that we take up in the legislature at this exact moment, Phipps said. Vail echoed that sentiment, but in stronger terms. We certainly have bigger things were going to be focusing on this year, he said. But as long as Im a state Rep I will be pushing this issue. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, falling and staying asleep was never difficult for Shoshi Aronowitz, a 33-year-old nurse practitioner who lives in South Philadelphia. I need a lot of sleep, she said. I dont really like the way I feel if I dont sleep enough. My partner would always joke that as soon as my head hits the pillow, its done. But that changed over the last year, as Aronowitz, like so many others, dealt with increased stress from the pandemic. She began waking up in the middle of the night, fully alert. Falling back asleep became extremely difficult because her brain was very much just chugging along, thinking about my family getting sick or my career, Aronowitz said. If I ever had a bad nights sleep before, I knew that I was going to be able to sleep well the night after, she said. Now, even if I dont sleep and am tired, the next day this all happens again. For many people, the pandemic affected their sleep as they adjusted to significant changes in daily schedules and experienced increased stress. Some, like Aronowitz, struggled with COVID-somnia, while others were able to sleep more deeply or longer because they had more flexible work or school schedules. Sales for melatonin supplements, said to boost the hormones that tell the body when its time to sleep or wake up, increased 42.6% from 2019, according to Nielsen, a global marketing research firm. In a September study published in the journal Sleep Medicine, 25% of respondents reported that their sleep quality was worse, due to stressors such as caregiving, job loss, and COVID-19 symptoms. Another study published in November in the European Journal of Public Health analyzed smartphone data and found that people in the U.S. and 16 European countries had delayed their bedtimes during the pandemic and slept longer than usual. Jennifer Goldschmied, a clinical psychologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said the combination of uncertainty and isolation has contributed to an increase in stress for most people. Those feelings often increase physiological arousal, which makes sleeping more difficult. Many of her patients have reported waking up in the middle of the night and experiencing stress dreams, she said. Despite the fact that [the pandemic] has gone on for a long time, theres still a lot of uncertainty, Goldschmied said. With vaccines rolling out, theres a light at the end of the tunnel. But people dont know how long that tunnel is. To make falling and staying asleep easier, Goldschmied recommends practicing a wind-down time of 30 minutes to an hour before bed. During this period, the focus should be on relaxing and people should avoid news and social media, she said. It can be helpful to dim the lights, she said. Light is a really strong cue for our bodies. So if you shut off a couple of lights, it will really help start that sleep process. Its also important to consistently wake up at the same time, even on the weekends, Goldschmied said. And while the temptation to get some rest during the day after one bad night of sleep can be strong, napping can trigger a cycle of chronic insomnia, which can affect how the immune system functions, she said. Goldschmied said to think of a nap in the same way you would a predinner snack, in that it makes you less hungry for sleep later. Even though you think youre trying to make up for the night before, what youre actually doing is interfering with the night after, she said. It all starts to contribute to worse sleep the next night. On the other hand, the pandemic has helped some people develop healthier sleep patterns. Kyle Cassidy, a 54-year-old photographer based in West Philadelphia, had struggled with insomnia for most of his life up until the pandemic. I traveled an awful lot before. I was on a plane, often twice a month, going somewhere to photograph something, he said, which greatly affected his ability to form a sleep schedule. His doctor prescribed Lunesta to help. But because he could control how he spent his time at home more, Cassidy was able to stop taking Lunesta two months ago. He noticed he began falling asleep faster than usual with the help of a white noise machine and audiobooks, and being more rested has boosted his productivity during the day. Ive been tired at appropriate times, he said. The pandemic has given me a routine, which I didnt have before. Jeff Roser, a 34-year-old delivery driver for UPS, has also slept better during the pandemic. Because of a big increase in deliveries in recent months, which has led to longer hours, Roser said he feels a lot more tired at the end of the day. Before the lockdown, he often slept only five or six hours a night before powering through the next day. On weekends, he often socialized with friends, which meant staying out late. But now, since theres not a lot to go out and do, Im sleeping eight to nine hours now and can feel that my body is more well rested throughout the day, he said. I didnt realize how good it feels until getting a full eight hours consistently. Once you feel rested, you wonder what youve been doing with your life up until that moment. For those who are struggling with sleep persistently, Goldschmied recommended seeking out a behavioral sleep specialist. She said that treatment for insomnia, although not easy to follow, can be addressed in as little as six to eight sessions. Supplements like melatonin, although helpful for short periods of time, can be a get rich quick scheme, she said, because the effects tend to decrease over long-term usage. Dont suffer if youre struggling with sleep, Goldschmied said. There are ways to sleep better that dont need to be medication-based. Sleep is important and we need to invest in it. When I learned that former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. was part of former President Donald Trumps new legal team, I just shook my head and thought, Of course he is. Castor, who has been a Montgomery County commissioner, Pennsylvanias solicitor general, and, briefly, acting attorney general, is most famous for not prosecuting Bill Cosby in 2005, and seems to have more professional resurrections than a cat has lives. Hes a well-known player in state and local politics and always seems to surface when you least expect it. I couldnt help but think how alike Castor and former President Trump are, if for no other reason than their contentious relationships with the press. Both relish being the center of media attention but bristle under the scrutiny that attention brings them. Yet Castor is willing to subject himself to that scrutiny time and again because he loves the limelight, no matter how much its glare exposes his own flaws. Its impossible to predict how Castors relationship with Trump and the legal proceedings will play out or how well hell click with David Schoen, Trumps other attorney, but as someone who covered Castor as a journalist for many years, I know that wherever he goes, controversy follows and, given the strong personalities of both men, this situation could get very interesting. READ MORE: 5 things to know about Bruce Castor, the Montgomery County lawyer now repping Donald Trump I first got to know Castor back in the late 1990s, when he was then-Montgomery County District Attorney Mike Marinos first assistant and I was a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. I always seemed to be assigned to call him after hours when wed missed one of their news conferences, so he was never very happy to hear from me and never shy about letting me know. He vowed to stop talking to me for good in 2001 after I questioned him about how he handled a sticky situation involving the son of a federal judge. Thirteen years later, he actually sent me an email reminding me of that pledge when I reached out to him for a comment for a story. Despite being shut out by Castor, I kept covering criminal cases in Montgomery County and there were plenty of them. Then came the biggest story of all: In January 2005, Bill Cosby was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, a headline-grabbing case if ever there was one, and one I worked on from the very beginning for the Daily News and later People magazine. Castor was uncharacteristically silent at first. When he finally did speak, he made it clear how flawed he thought the case against Americas Dad was and treated Constand more like a suspect than a victim throughout the investigation. When I reported that Constand had taped phone calls that proved she was telling the truth and that she hadnt accepted Cosbys offer of financial compensation, he told reporters he could have me arrested for writing about these illegal wiretaps, as he insisted on calling them, though they werent illegal and later became evidence in both of Cosbys trials. Castor even called into Michael Smerconishs radio show when Smerconish invited me on to talk about my exclusive interview with a second accuser, California attorney Tamara Green, and proceeded to lash out at me. (You can hear part of that call at the end of episode one of my podcast based on my book, Chasing Cosby.) In his new role as Trumps lawyer, Castor will face the national media Trump has been tangling with for years, and lets just say he hasnt always handled that type of attention very well. READ MORE: Pa. Republicans are stumped by Trumps pick of Bruce Castor for his impeachment defense. Others see a natural choice. After Cosby was charged with Constands sexual assault in 2015 (the same case Castor declined to prosecute in 2005), reporters wanted to get Castors reaction, but he wasnt talking, so one intrepid reporter decided to try to track him down at his home. Its something journalists do all the time in the course of doing our jobs, but apparently it was the first time in 30 years of public life (his words) it had happened to Castor and he was not happy about it. He posted a warning on his public Facebook page, saying any reporter who went to his home without an invitation quite literally takes his life into his own hands. The reporter will never know the danger he was in. So reporters: never even consider coming to our house uninvited, especially on a work day when my wife is alone, except for Mr. Ruger. (For those unfamiliar with guns, a Ruger is a firearm.) It was a shocking tirade, even for him, but Castor loves the media when he can control what theyre doing and reporting and, well, you see what happens when he cant. Im guessing thats a trait that has endeared him to Trump. With Castors history of clashing with Republicans and Democrats alike (a Harrisburg Patriot-News article summed up Castors history nicely in an article with the headline Everybody hates Bruce Castor and the acting attorney general doesnt care) the new partnership between Castor and Trump, not to mention his co-counsel, could be a bit of a roller coaster ride. I would love to ask Castor how he thinks it will go, but Im pretty sure hes still not speaking to me. Nicole Weisensee Egan is an investigative journalist, author of Chasing Cosby, host and executive producer of the podcast based on the book and the coauthor of Victim F, due out in June. To see more of her work go to NicoleWeisenseeEgan.com. OTTAWA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Seventy percent of health care workers in Canada who participated in a recent crowdsourcing initiative reported worsening mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Statistics Canada on Tuesday. Participating health care workers who worked in direct contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 and those who experienced restrictions or conditions on the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) were more affected than others. A previous study from Statistics Canada has shown that Canadian adults aged 18 and older reported lower self-perceived mental health than before the pandemic. Some 18,000 health care workers filled out the crowdsourcing questionnaire, which was open for completion from Nov. 24 to Dec. 13, 2020. Health care workers include workers who provide health care services directly to individuals, technical support to medical staff, and support services within a health care setting. Eight months into the global pandemic, 33 percent of participating health care workers reported fair or poor mental health, 33 percent reported good mental health, and 33 percent reported very good or excellent mental health. Some 70 percent of health care workers reported that their mental health was "somewhat worse now" or "much worse now" compared with before March 2020. Among participants, 40 percent reported working in direct contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. Of these workers, 41 percent were nurses, 31 percent were other health professionals and 12 percent were personal support workers or care aides. Over 77 percent of health care workers who reported working in direct contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 reported worsening mental health compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, among health care workers who did not work in direct contact with people, 62 percent reported that their mental health was somewhat or much worse than before the pandemic. In addition, 63 percent of those working in direct contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 reported that their days were quite a bit or extremely stressful, compared with 44 percent of participants who did not work in direct contact with people. Appropriate PPE-such as masks, face shields and N95 respirators-is essential for reducing infection risk. For the month before they participated in the crowdsourcing initiative, 47 percent of health care workers reported that they did not have any restrictions or conditions on the supply of PPE. However, 31 percent of participants reported that they extended the use of PPE beyond normal practice, 18 percent were required to reuse PPE they had previously worn without decontamination, and 11 percent needed to supply their own PPE. Almost 30 percent reported that their access to PPE was subject to some restrictions, such as requiring permission to access PPE. These reported PPE access restrictions could be attributable to a combination of inventory control measures put in place by health care settings and ongoing shortages in the supply of PPE. Health care workers citing no restrictions or conditions on the supply of PPE reported better mental health and stress outcomes than participants who experienced restrictions or conditions. Ulster Bank staff have expressed "fury and frustration" at the lack of clarity from NatWest over the future of its Irish operations, according to the Financial Services Union (FSU). More than 500 employees of the bank attended an online meeting this afternoon as part of the union's campaign to save Ulster Bank, which is under strategic review by its owner, NatWest. Among the options being considered is a wind-down and closure of the unprofitable bank to release billions in capital to its UK parent. But staff haven't been told anything to date about the progress of the review, which is expected to conclude before NatWest publishes 2020 results on February 19. "NatWest's lack of communication with staff around this strategic review is disrespectful and has caused considerable stress and uncertainty for them," said John O'Connell, FSU general secretary. "This was highly evident at today's meeting, where staff expressed fury and frustration at how they and their customers are being treated." The FSU is meeting Ulster Bank CEO Jane Howard tomorrow to discuss the situation. Mr O'Connell said he was seeking "clarity" about the bank's actual plans for the 4,000 employees of Ulster Bank and said it was "not a sustainable position for the bank to continue with its existing line". The union also called on the Minister for Finance and the Central Bank to make statements about recent reports that Ulster Bank was heading for closure. The FSU has been lobbying hard since last summer on the issue, having meetings with Finance Minister Paschal Donohue and Ireland's European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness to press its case. However, nothing has yet come of its efforts to bring political pressure to bear on NatWest, which is majority-owned by the UK government. All indications so far suggest that NatWest is leaning towards a wind-down scenario, which would likely take place over several years. NatWest has reportedly retained Goldman Sachs as a strategic adviser for the review. Last year the Irish Times reported that the bank was in discussions with private equity group Cerberus about a sale of the entire Ulster Bank loan book. Last week it was reported that PTSB had appointed Morgan Stanley to prepare a bid for Ulster Bank's SME loan book a move that would help ease concerns that the closure of Ulster Bank would limit competition in that segment. Fuel poverty is an issue for north Kildare, according to a TD. Speaking on Sinn Feins Dail motion to tackle fuel poverty and protect people on PUP, Reada Cronin, TD, said the government should move immediately to extend the fuel allowance to all on PUP, double the payment for two weeks in February for all qualifiers and introduce an emergency fund (5 million) to tackle what she called the social poison of utility debts and arrears. Maynooth based Deputy Cronin said there are too many people in north Kildare spending their days in their coats inside their homes, because they cant afford to put on the heating, including those among the 475,000 getting the PUP last week. She said it is impossible for many to heat and eat and people are worried about their physical and emotional health as a result. Deputy Cronin highlighted how the Dail was discussing an 80,000 salary top-up for a public service worker in one breath and in the next, how other workers in Naas, Celbridge or Maynooth cant afford to turn on the heating in their homes.There is something radically wrong here. Deputy Cronin said: Weve swapped the metaphorical Cold House of the Mother-and-Baby Homes for the literal cold house where working families and our elderly wear their coats indoors, or go to bed early, simply to keep warm. Imagine watching your children miserable, not able to get comfortable, because theyre just too cold. Imagine being an older citizen, unable now to sit on the bus or train to keep warm, but too worried about money to put on the heating. This is not our tenement society of the teens and 20s of the last century, grown men and children hunting for pieces of coal. This is a successful society where luxury City pads lie empty while our Tent Cities are full and proud, hardworking families are grateful for the dark so no-one sees Vincent de Paul arriving. Were a successful society where theres money to burn on public overruns, while people with asthma, COPD, bronchitis suffer exacerbations because of the cold of their home. And still more suffer cold-induced stress, anxiety, depression. Deputy said Sinn Feins is proposing anyone on the PUP would also get the Fuel Allowance. And a double-payment of that allowance be paid to all who qualify, for a fortnight in February. Its cold and miserable out there. She said the Governments handling of Covid19 is laying bare the fault-lines of our society. Its stripping away the veneer of our compassion, our modernity. Its quarantining our people in the cold. They deserve better and we must do better by them. With this motion we can. Amid all the controversy which erupted after she mocked pop star Rihanna for supporting the farmers' protests in her tweet, Kangana Ranaut next turned her attention towards her upcoming film Dhaakad and penned an appreciation post for her team. The Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi actress posted a bunch of photos from a coal mine, where she had rehearsed for an action sequence for Dhaakad and tweeted, "This is an appreciation tweet for my team, they are prepping for months for an action sequence at coal mines, while I make my guest appearance there only for a lazy rehearsal our Chief @RazyGhai practically living at the location for past few days." This is an appreciation tweet for my team, they are prepping for months for an action sequence at coal mines, while I make my guest appearance there only for a lazy rehearsal our Chief @RazyGhai practically living at the location for past few days ( cont) 1/2 pic.twitter.com/NQfCYhdtsY Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) February 3, 2021 She continued in her next tweet, "This kind of passion and commitment that artists and technicians express, it is never just for money, then what is for? Why these crazy artists forget even their well being or human limitation and do what they do? Well most artists don't know and it's okay that way #Dhakaad." This kind of passion and commitment that artists and technicians express, it is never just for money, then what is for? Why these crazy artists forget even their well being or human limitation and do what they do? Well most artists dont know and its okay that way #Dhakaad pic.twitter.com/02O0gU9aPX Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) February 3, 2021 Speaking about Dhaakad, the makers have roped in Tetsuo Nagata, an award-winning Japanese cinematographer based in France, along with highly acclaimed international crew to make this Kangana starrer a 'world-class spy thriller'. The film based on child trafficking and crimes against women, has Kangana playing the role of an officer named Agent Agni. Helmed by Razneesh Ghai, Dhaakad also stars Arjun Rampal and Divya Dutta in pivotal roles. Recently, the makers had unveiled Kangana, Arjun and Divya's first look posters which generated a lot of curiosity among the audience. The spy thriller is scheduled to hit the theatrical screens on October 1, 2021. ALSO READ: Dhaakad New Poster: Kangana Ranaut Slays It With Her Fierce Avatar; Film To Release On October 1, 2021 ALSO READ: Kangana Ranaut Lashes Out At Pop Star Rihanna For Her Tweet On Farmers' Protests; Calls Her 'Fool' The TV channels, which have been blocked by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, constantly caused damage to the national security of Ukraine during the war. What "freedom of speech" is it about? The President of Ukraine signed the decision of the National Security and Defense Council dated February 2, 2021 late in the evening of the same day. Such prompt actions in Ukraine are rare and mean a lot. The NSDC decision with a neutral title "On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)", in fact, concerns an issue that has been raised in Ukraine for a very long time. It is also an eloquent fact that the current government relies on the decisions made by the previous government the 2018 Law and the Resolution of the Parliament. The ultimate goal is the same - to block the broadcasting of Medvedchuk's TV channels, which have long and consistently poisoned the consciousness of the Ukrainian audience in the interests of Russia, a country that has been waging an aggressive war against Ukraine for seven years in a row. How Viktor Medvedchuk, a friend of Putin, managed to concentrate such a propaganda fist under his influence and to organize a scheme of its generous funding from Kremlins cash boxes is a separate issue. We will note only that the SBU, investigative journalists, and social networks have spoken and continue to speak about this a lot and convincingly, sometimes emotionally. The fact that such a decision is already ripe and overripe is evidenced by the instant reaction of society, namely social networks and prominent Ukrainian publicists. As of the morning of February 3, the number of comments could not be counted. Therefore, we will focus on fundamental issues. Why sanctions and why against Taras Kozak? Sanctions are something that comes into effect immediately. Of course, Ukraine is a rule-of-law state, and they can be challenged in court, and Ukrainian courts are far from being an example of justice. But if the opposite had happened and the state had started with the courts, then this process, as practice shows, would have taken years and, moreover, would have served as a permanent information pretext for the same anti-Ukrainian propaganda attack. That is, the information war unleashed by the Kremlin would have gained a new impetus. Taras Kozak Citizen of Ukraine Taras Kozak is a nominal beneficiary of legal entities against which sanctions have been applied, in particular, LLC ARIADNA TV, LLC NOVYI FORMAT TV, LLC TV VYBIR, LLC TV and RADIO COMPANY 112-TV, LLC LIDER TV, LLC PARTNER TV, LLC NOVYNY 24 HODYNY, and LLC Novi Komunikatsii. Kozak is Medvedchuk's closest partner, and he is clearly not investing his own money in propaganda channels. The SBU has repeatedly warned about the sources of this funding. In fact, the West is well aware of how the Kremlin is doing this. The 2016 U.S. presidential election, the UK referendum on leaving the EU, and the 2017 Catalan independence referendum are some of the most famous examples, some of which have already been officially investigated. Kozak is under the full influence of Medvedchuk, who, in turn, is following instructions from Moscow. This is convincingly evidenced by the monitoring of the 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK TV channels. So what are they broadcasting? This is open anti-Ukrainian propaganda, which has repeatedly become the reason for lawsuits by the state regulatory body, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting. Its main narratives were "Maidan is a revolt against the legitimate government, and it must be desecrated", "Crimea and Donbas are not Moscows aggression and annexation, but salvation from killings and disorder on the part of Kyiv", "Ukraine professes Nazism", "Ukraine is not a state, but a U.S. colony under foreign control," and so on. How long could Ukrainian TV viewers tolerate this filth? A rhetorical question. Surprisingly, they did it so long. What do sanctions give? In some ways, this is similar to the well-known historical fact that the mafia godfather in the United States, Al Capone, was imprisoned in the United States not for murder and robbery, but for tax evasion. The occupied districts of Donbas are the patrimony of mafia business, through which the relevant figures from Ukraine and Russia communicate on economic issues. There, in particular, money is earned, which finances Medvedchuks channels. Therefore, "terrorist financing" is a well-founded basis for imposing sanctions, namely blocking of assets; preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine; suspension of economic and financial obligations; revocation or suspension of licenses and other permits the receipt of which is a condition for carrying out a certain type of activity; a ban on the use of radiofrequency resources of Ukraine; terminating the provision of services for retransmission/distribution of television programs, the provision of telecommunication services and the use of public telecommunication network This is an exhaustive list, isnt it? Legal grounds are lawful and systemic First of all, this is the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions", adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of the eighth convocation in 2018; and also the resolution of the same parliament "On approval of proposals for the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)" dated October 4, 2018, which is still in force. They mentioned legal entities - license holders on the basis of which the TV channels from the "pool" worked. And they are described in the resolution as follows: "... in the activities of legal entities (...) there are systemic signs of imitating the discursive practices of Russian imperial-chauvinist propaganda, manifestations of propaganda and the spread of the ideology of terrorism are constantly recorded." Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Law "On Sanctions" reads as follows: "Sanctions can be applied by Ukraine in relation to () entities engaged in terrorist activities." Making money on criminal schemes in the zone of military conflict is also mentioned there. So we have come full circle. Medvedchuk is not an independent figure either In addition, the NSDC already introduced sanctions based on this law. On April 28, 2017, a decree of the then president was promulgated, which imposed sanctions on 1,228 people, including citizens of Ukraine. And the sanctions were similar to the current ones - blocking of assets - restricting a person's right to use his property. The TV channels from the "pool" de jure belong to Taras Kozak. These TV channels have long been used exclusively for participation in Russia's disinformation campaigns against Ukraine, and this was coordinated by Russia. Sanctions against Taras Kozak and his legal entities are a decision on national security. In the conditions of the war unleashed by Russia, which also continues in the information space, not reacting to this is a violation of the Constitution. What will happen to them now? The law "On Sanctions" does not say that there should be a court verdict against Taras Kozak, which establishes guilt in terrorist activities. Russia's hybrid aggression against Ukraine is ongoing. During the war, it is necessary to respond quickly and adequately. And if you're not ready to shoot, don't show the weapon to the attacker. Financing activities through schemes that allow the occupiers to "earn," in particular, through coal supply schemes, is a fact that should not go unanswered. Ukraine's SBU Security Service is also aware of propaganda companies' constant communication with representatives of the aggressor state. Isn't this terrorist activity? Sanctions are not part of litigation, they are not a verdict. Sanctions are a weapon used for defense, for the prompt elimination of a specific threat. Therefore, they have to be applied without delay. There have been many reports in Ukraine about how the media pool of Medvedchuk's TV channels is managed. Taras Kozak is, in fact, a fictitious person controlled by Medvedchuk. But Medvedchuk himself is not an independent person. He is the administrator of illegal Russian property in Ukraine and works exclusively in the interests of the Kremlin and on its instructions. Respective investigations were earlier conducted by the Schemes program (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). That is why the sanctions mechanism is the first thing that should be applied in such circumstances to protect national security and the interests of Ukrainian society. What are the prospects for appealing sanctions in court? If someone in Ukraine believes that their rights have been violated, then going to court is their inalienable right. Of course, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the Ukrainian system that still needs to be reformed. There are well-founded claims to its impartiality along the entire vertical - from, say, Shevchenkivsky District Court to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. However, the level of this high-profile case does not provide much room for maneuver "behind the scenes." And there is obvious transparency and soundness of the arguments of the decision taken by the National Security and Defense Council in the interests of Ukraine, the facts of the TV channels working in the interests of the aggressor state. Therefore, it will be difficult for Kozak's lawyers to substantiate the line of objection in court. What about "freedom of speech"? This, apparently, will be the basis of the lawyers' claims and the fuss on the part of Medvedchuk's party members. So let's dig into details. In general, we have a great opportunity to finally distinguish between the concepts of "freedom of speech" and "hostile propaganda."It seems that even the professional media environment has clearly understood this. The vast majority of well-known experts supported the decision of the National Security and Defense Council. Dozens of broadcasters are operating in Ukraine What about the pool's audience? Maybe their rights have been violated? There are different people there, but there is a sad fact: there are enough of them who are pro-Russian and therefore anti-Ukrainian. For them, the dirt that is being dished on Ukraine is a balm to their spirit. But there are at most 15% of such people in Ukraine and therefore it's necessary to think about the vast majority of Ukrainians whose national feelings "Medvedchuk's pool" regularly fills with dirt. In addition, dozens of broadcasters are operating in Ukraine. Only three TV channels that worked against Ukraine and at Russia's expense have stopped working. Unfortunately, there are also broadcasters in Ukraine to which such an audience can easily pass. They work on the basis of a single agenda, dictated from a well-known country. By the way, it would also be good to analyze their work. Of course, people have the right to express their own opinion and their own assessments. Maybe they would at least learn to choose words? And maybe they would not take money from the aggressor and the terrorist? But the real threat to freedom of speech is fakes and targeted disinformation campaigns aimed at promoting false narratives and justifying Russia's aggressive actions. So the decision on sanctions is also logical in this context. People who call themselves journalists should not forget about giving different points of view and not serving their owners as if there is no one else in the country. Dmytro Peresichenko, Kyiv Dr Reddy's shares surged 5% today making it the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 cases in trial results published by The Lancet, a leading medical journal. In September 2020, Dr Reddy's had partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and for its distribution rights in India. Experts said the Phase III trial results meant the world had another effective weapon to fight the deadly pandemic and justified to some extent Moscow's decision to roll out the vaccine before final data had been released. The Sputnik V vaccine is the fourth worldwide to have Phase III results published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals following the shots developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. Russia approved the vaccine in August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot. It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. Dr Reddy's Laboratories had last month received approval from the Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 3 clinical trial for the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said production had started in India and South Korea. And Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, was testing the vaccine against new variants of COVID-19 and the early signs were positive, he added. On Tuesday, Mexico approved the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V for use Tuesday, just hours after the publication of early results. A dozen countries have already approved the Russian vaccine for use. Currently, the vaccine's clinical trials are underway in the UAE, Egypt, Venezuela and Belarus, while it has been registered in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Bolivia and Serbia for inoculation. (With Agency Inputs) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. This is the heartwarming moment a group of penguins take a 'field trip' around a zoo in the snow - and meet a polar bear. The seven penguins, who are native to the Antarctic region, were taken on a winter tour to visit the polar bear named Kali, who hails from the Arctic, at Saint Louis Zoo. The occasion saw the two species, who hail from opposite poles of the planet and would never have encountered each other in the wild, meet for the very first time. The group, which consisted of two king penguins called Ethel and Elliot and five gentoo penguins named CJ, Oshie, Sunny, Double, and Trouble, also visited two grizzly bears called Huck and Finley during their visit. The polar bear named Kali, who hails from the Arctic, meets a penguin, who is native to the Antarctic region, for the very first time at Saint Louis Zoo The group, which consisted of two king penguins called Ethel and Elliot and five gentoo penguins named CJ, Oshie, Sunny, Double, and Trouble, take a walk through the snow Marija Elden, the zoological manager of birds at the Missouri attraction, said the friendly penguins 'really enjoyed the adventure.' She added that Kali, Huck and Finley were very curious and found the surprise visit from their penguin neighbors 'enriching'. During the clip, which was filmed on January 27, the penguins waddle through the snow and take in their surroundings as a zookeeper keeps a watchful eye over them. The group then approach Kali at the glass side of his pool and the animals gaze at each other with curiosity. Elsewhere a group of penguins walk over to the two grizzly bears and watch the creatures walk back and forth inside their enclosure. Ms Elden said: 'The penguins normally reside indoors at the climate-controlled penguin and puffin coast habitat, but they are given the option to participate in spontaneous winter walks.' The penguins waddle through the snow and take in their surroundings during the tour of the zoo A group of penguins walk over to the grizzly bears Huck and Finley at the Missouri zoo In a statement the zoo wrote: 'Today, our king penguins Ethel and Elliot, along with gentoo penguins CJ, Oshie, Sunny, Double, and Trouble, took a quick field trip in the snow to visit their neighbors, polar bear Kali and grizzly bears Huck and Finley. 'Through the cooperation of our Bird and Carnivore animal care teams, our penguins were able to get up close to see the polar and grizzly bears. The penguins willingly approached. 'These penguins reside indoors at Penguin & Puffin Coast and are given the option to participate in spontaneous winter walks that are enriching for the birds. 'The walks are not pre-scheduled and do not occur on any regular basis. King and gentoo penguins are native to the Antarctic region.' Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday took potshots at the Centre for multiple layers of barricading and putting up barbed wires and nails at Delhi borders to keep farmers from entering the National Capital. The four-time chief minister said it will be better if the government puts up barricades for the terrorists on the country's borders. She also demanded the Centre to withdraw the three agricultural laws and end the farmer agitation that had continued well beyond two months. Due to the government's attitude towards the protesting farmers on the demand of withdrawal of three agricultural laws, especially on the borders of Delhi, the important issues of urgent work and public interest in the budget session of Parliament is being affected from day one. The Center should normalize the situation by fulfilling the demand of farmers, Mayawati tweeted on Wednesday. In a separate tweet, the BSP chief said, Also, the tremendous barricades of barbed wire and nails etc have been done on the borders of Delhi to create panic among millions of protesting farmers, which is not appropriate. It would be better if such arrangements were made for terrorists on the borders of the country. BSP has been opposing the newly introduced farm laws and making demands to withdraw them. In a strong stand against the government on the issue of farmers unrest over the three farm laws, BSP had boycotted the Presidents address in Parliament ahead of the Budget session. Mayawati had said the party boycotted the address due to the governments indecisive attitude and refusal to take back the three controversial farm laws. She also termed the Presidents address as highly disappointing" for the farmers. Claiming that the farmer leaders were innocent and were not involved in the violence that broke out in Delhi on Republic Day, Mayawati had warned the Centre against making them scapegoats. U.S. President Joe Biden has signed several executive orders on Tuesday to address several of the Trump administration's immigration policies. Biden has also signed an order introducing a task force on Tuesday to reunite families. The president has also signed an executive order that reviews the "Migrant Protection Protocols." Meanwhile, the said task force will be led by the secretary of Homeland Security. The task force will also work to identify the children and parents or guardians who were separated at the border, as well as facilitating and enabling reunification of children with their families, according to a USA Today report. In addition, the said task force will provide a report to the president on recommendations to ensure that the general government does not have policies in place that separate families, according to a senior administration official. Biden said as he signed the executive orders in the Oval Office that he is not making new law, adding that he is just eliminating bad policy. Related story: Biden Signs New Executive Orders on Food Stamps, Stimulus Checks, and Federal Minimum Wage Executive Orders on Immigration Many of those parents that were separated from their children were deported to Mexico and Central America without their children. Advocates said that more than 600 children were separated from their families, according to a CBS News report. An administration official said that the task force will also look at case-by-case basis whether separated families can be eligible for parole, visas, or other immigration benefits to allow their reunification. Another order addressed the processing of asylum seekers along the border with Mexico, as well as committed the Biden administration to helping curb the poverty and violence that trigger U.S.-bound migration from Central America. Officials were also ordered to consider revoking several Trump administration's asylum limits. The order also directed a review of the Trump's administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, which more than 70,000 asylum seekers were ordered to wait outside the U.S. territory while their cases are still pending. Children Separated from Their Families U.S. immigration authorities separated more than 1,500 children from their parents at the Mexico border during the Trump administration. The American Civil Liberties Union said on Thursday that this brings the total number of children separated from their family since July 2017 to over 5,400. The ACLU said that the Trump administration told its attorneys that 1,556 children were separated from Jul. 1, 2017 to Jun. 26, 2018, according to a New York Post report. This was when a federal judge in San Diego ordered that children in government custody be reunited with their parents. However, children from that period can be difficult to find as the government had inadequate tracking systems. ACLU volunteers are searching for some of them and their parents by going door to door in Guatemala and Honduras. During the 12-month period, those who were separated from their parents 207 were under five-years-old, according to ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. ACLU filed a lawsuit to stop family separation. Meanwhile, five were under a year old, 26 were a year old, 40 were two years old, 76 were three years old, and 60 were four years old. Read also: Biden Administration Orders DHS to Pause Deportation for 100 Days New York, US (PANA) - The United Nations Secretary-General, on Tuesday, voiced grave concerns over the crisis in Ethiopias Tigray region and underscored the need for urgent efforts to protect populations at risk STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. As Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday, restaurant workers are among those recently added to the COVID-19 vaccine eligible list. That green light brought up two major questions among those in the boroughs food industry: Will the bosses make the vaccine mandatory? And how does it work for undocumented personnel? Cuomo had said in his press conference, I think everybody should get the vaccine. Its a practical problem of supply and demand. You have many communities that are deserving on the vaccine. At the moment, COVID-19 vaccines have been classified as emergency authorizations and are in limited supply, says the NYC.gov website. It also notes that there are no government mandates that say vaccinations are mandatory. A casual poll of 20 Staten Island restaurant owners from various points of the Island illustrated that 70% would recommend employees to get the shot. Danielle Nugent of Bloom Cafe in Rosebank expressed the general sentiment of those surveyed: Bloom will not require the vaccine but we will recommend it to our staff. A South Shore operator said, We are working on it right now as we speak but I will not require it but recommend it. Our whole staff has already discussed it and they all want to get vaccinated. I already wrote letter for my guys to prove that theyre restaurant workers. They all want to do it. He added a quip, Lets see how NYC screws this up, too. We will not be requiring vaccinations but definitely recommending them, said John Gorga, general manager of temporarily closed Navy Pier Tap Room, Navy Pier Prime and Pastavino at the Urby complex in Stapleton. Another proprietor who owns multiple food venues said, No, I would not require the vaccine. Two restaurant owners in those polled expressed hope that the city dispenses mobile units or an expeditious setup geared specifically toward restaurant workers. Another offered, Im not getting vaccinated anytime soon. It really hasnt been tested and Im not feeling confident. Also, the fact that the government wants to mandate it makes me very nervous. I believe that it should be an individual choice to vaccinate. And everyone should have that choice immigration status shouldnt matter. UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS Executive Director of El Centro in Port Richmond Michelle Molina said, El Centro began making appointments for immigrant food workers when category 1b opened in January. More than 50 Staten Island emergency food workers received vaccines thru the state and NYC vaccine sites on Staten Island. Molina continued, We have no doubt that with our assistance in registering and capturing appointments for them, they will rapidly complete the vaccination process. We already have our Test and Trace staff visiting restaurants to collect the names of those workers ready to vaccinate. El Centro can be found at Elcentronyc.org. Molina underscored the importance of receiving the shot. She said, Vaccinated restaurant workers will assist in the reduction of COVID transmission and severe symptoms of COVID post transmission in those vaccinated workers. Vaccinated restaurant workers will provide for a healthier work force as the restaurants reopen. Restaurants are set to reopen at 25% capacity on Feb. 14. Is the vaccine available to the undocumented laborer? A spokesperson for the mayors office responded, COVID-19 vaccines are available to people of all immigration statuses. Your immigration status does not matter to us and you will not be asked about it at the vaccination site. Is COVID-19 vaccination a public benefit? A spokesperson said, No. COVID-19 vaccination is not considered a public benefit under the public charge rule. Getting vaccinated will not negatively impact you or your familys immigration application. The vaccination is available to New Yorkers 16 years or older. Since data is shared with the CDC, only ones date of birth, ZIP code, race, ethnicity and gender are collected at sites. Proof of eligibility is required (a self-attestation) and those wanting the shot must fill out an NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Form. The mayors office guidelines say, Essential workers prioritized for vaccination must show proof of employment in New York, such as an employee ID card, a letter from their employer or affiliated organization or a recent pay stub (depending on specific priority status). If age is the deciding factor for a person, they must show proof with a drivers license or non-driver ID card, IDNYC, birth certificate, valid passport, permanent resident card, certificate of naturalization, life insurance policy with birthdate or marriage certificate with birthday. As per the NYC. gov website, proof of residency can include a state or government-issued ID (including IDNYC and NYS drivers license), statement from landlord, current rent receipt or lease or mortgage records. If those are not available, the city recommends two of the following: statement from another person, current mail and school records. To find a vaccine site, go to nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or by phone at 877-VAX-4NYC (877-829-4692) and press 1 when asked. Lynsey Bennett speaking to media outside the High Court after she settled her case. PIC: Collins Courts A MOTHER-of-two who is seriously ill with cervical cancer has settled her High Court action over the alleged misinterpretation of her cervical smear slides. Lynsey Bennett (32) sobbed as a letter of regret was read out in the court from the head of CervicalCheck national screening programme. Outside court Ms Bennett said she can now focus on her own fight to stay alive for as long as she can. She said she was relieved that her legal battle was over and she has security for her girls and their future. Unfortunately, I probably will not be here much longer. It is just I will be able to have some peace knowing it is sorted. Read More In a statement she said: To my daughters Zoe (12) and Hailee (7), I hope I have done enough to secure you both a future free of financial worries and that even with me not here to guide you, you can both pursue your dreams. She cried as she stated: And always remember, Mammy loves you. X National Screening Service CEO Fiona Murphy said she wished on behalf of the CervicalCheck Programme to express our deep regret to you and your family. I wish to acknowledge the many challenges that you have faced as a result of your diagnosis. I appreciate that this has been a very difficult time for you and your family and I hope you find some solace with the conclusion of this process. Ms Murphy said she hoped the settlement will give Ms Bennett and her family some level of comfort, peace of mind and security. The letter concluded: With deepest regret. Ms Bennett, Ennybegs, Killoe, Co Longford had sued the HSE, Irish testing laboratory, Eurofins Biomnis Ireland Ltd, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin and US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, New Jersey. She had a smear test on February 3, 2010 which was sent to Eurofins Biomnis in Dublin. The test, it was claimed, came back as negative and another smear test was recommended in three years. On December 16,2013, she had another smear test as part of the national cervical screening programme. This sample was sent to US lab Quest Diagnostics and it was claimed came back as showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. A smear test in 12 months was recommended. On December 2,2014, she had another smear test and the sample was reviewed by Quest Diagnostics. It is claimed the result came back negative and she was advised by CervicalCheck that no abnormalities and a repeat smear in a year was recommended. It is claimed Ms Bennett had another smear test in January 2016 which was tested at the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics and she was told no abnormalities had been detected and she would be reminded to have her routine smear test in three years time. Eleven months later, it is claimed, she went to her GP complaining of bleeding and was referred to hospital. In January 2017, invasive cervical cancer was diagnosed, and Ms Bennett had to have a hysterectomy and other surgery. In March 2018, she was found to have a recurrence of the cervical cancer. It is claimed there was an alleged failure to correctly report or diagnose and an alleged misinterpretation of Ms Bennetts smear samples. Ms Bennetts cancer, it was claimed, was allowed to develop and spread unidentified, unmonitored and untreated until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in January 2017. The claims were denied. The settlement was reached after mediation into the night. The details of the settlement are confidential. Her counsel Jeremy Maher SC instructed by solicitor Gillian OMahony told the court Ms Bennett had secured the future for her children. A trust will now be set up for the children. Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said Ms Bennett was a person of great courage. The judge said her legal team had achieved a very good settlement. KIMT NEWS 3 - Education Minnesota is saying the North Star State can do much better when it comes to caring for and educating young children. Today they released a list of recommendations to improve early childhood education. For 18 months, Education Minnesota and Kids Count On Us have been researching ways to fix what they call a "chaotic and inequitable system" for caring and teaching children from birth to four years old. Among the recommendations are creating a new state agency to oversee early education and child care, with regional hubs directed by educators and community members. Education Minnesota also wants free pre-kindergarten to be made available statewide. The group also wants more funding for child care. For low-income families it would be free. Others would pay no more than 7% of their incomes towards child care. Education Minnesota President Denise Specht says workers in early education also need to have a pay raise. "No one charged with nuturing the next generation of Minnesotans, whether in a classroom or a day care, should be paid poverty wages," said Specht. She also said the pandemic has made the problems of the early education system even worse, widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. As part of the study, Education Minnesota examined programs in states across the country, which they say offer more comprehensive and equitable care of children. You can read the full report here. San Francisco school district officials denounced on Wednesday a city lawsuit claiming they violated state law regarding the reopening of schools, calling the allegations frivolous, petty and embarrassing. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed the legal action earlier in the day, said he decided to take the school board and superintendent to court for failing to do their jobs by not having a specific plan to get students back into classrooms. Superintendent Vincent Matthews said Herreras allegations have no merit. We absolutely have a comprehensive plan, he said. We are reassessing different parts of the plan, but the plan is still there. He added the lawsuit was a distraction. This isnt helpful when were all in this together, he said. To turn on those of us trying to solve this is not helpful whatsoever. The unprecedented lawsuit is the latest volley in an ongoing battle over when and how the citys public schools should reopen for its 52,000 students. The district late last year said the first schools would reopen at the end of January, but later canceled that plan because of ongoing labor negotiations. Herrera said that instead of focusing on reopening classrooms, board members voted to rename 44 schools and are looking to alter the admission process to Lowell High School. Private and parochial schools in San Francisco have figured it out, Herrera said in a statement. In-person instruction needs to be the Board of Educations singular focus not renaming schools that are empty, or changing admission policies when teachers arent in classrooms. Its unfortunate we have to take them to court to get it figured out, but enough is enough. Public health officials have offered a path to reopening since September, including providing small cohorts of the most at-risk students access to school sites. More than 100 private schools have reopened in the city, with nearly 16,000 students back in class full or part-time, Herrera said. Yet, not a single SFUSD student has set foot in their schools in 327 days for in-person instruction, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit addresses whether the district created a specific Learning Continuity and Reopening Plan as required by state law. Herrera alleges the districts plan is vague, with plans that include rethinking time and space for classroom instruction. It is a plan for a plan, he said. Matthews said Wednesday the district has a comprehensive dashboard with the steps required to reopen. He said the district is ready to reopen the first schools for the youngest and most at-risk students, but lacks the final step in the plan: an agreement with the teachers union and other labor groups. The districts teachers union also panned the lawsuit. United Educators (of San Francisco) is very disappointed that the City has chosen to attack rather than support the school district, union President Susan Solomon said. The legal challenge was one of many across the country over the reopening of schools, but the only one involving a city suing a school district. In other cases, parents have sued districts or the state or labor unions have sued to prevent the reopening of schools. Were in a once-in-a-century pandemic situation that has created some never-seen-before challenges to our public education system, said John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm. Unfortunately at the moment, a lot of our society and our political leaders are frozen in terms of figuring out how to move forward. Whether the courts will weigh in on reopening city schools is uncertain. Courts do not want to get in the business of being superintendents of education and are often deferential to decisions of public school boards, said Bill Koski, a Stanford law professor specializing in educational law. But this is as much an issue of public health as an educational issue, Koski said. Courts may feel more comfortable wading into public health waters. Steve Sugarman, a UC Berkeley law professor, said the lawsuits limited scope seeking only a more specific plan, rather than a judicial order to reopen the schools is a subject the courts can probably address, but that may not accomplish much. The trial judge could tell the school district to come up with a plan. ... Its a first step, Sugarman said. But its still contingent on the union agreeing to send the teachers back in, he said. Still, San Francisco parents, city officials and others cheered the lawsuit, saying they are angry and frustrated at the lack of clear communication and specifics needed to get school open again. Matthews told families recently that its unlikely middle and high schools will reopen this school year. Im glad that the city is suing them, said parent Joya Pramanik, whose daughter is a sophomore at Lowell High School. Our kids are suffering and this is going to be a scar in their lives. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Mayor London Breed has grown increasingly impatient with the districts pace in reopening to students and supported the lawsuit, even though her education adviser, Jenny Lam, is on the school board and now a defendant in the case. This is not the path we would have chosen, but nothing matters more right now than getting our kids back in school, Breed said in a statement. The city has offered resources and staff to get our school facilities ready and to support testing for our educators. To help struggling families and students, the city sponsored in-person learning hubs across the city at community centers to help vulnerable students navigate distance learning, but those were staffed by after-school and community organizations. School board President Gabriela Lopez said Wednesday that the city has not helped the district enough with testing and teacher vaccinations despite requests. Health officials do not require vaccinations for schools to reopen, but Lopez and Matthews suggested that schools wouldnt reopen without them. She said the city is playing politics, which is not helpful in reopening schools. This is an embarrassing day for San Francisco, Lopez said. Yet just a month ago, San Francisco officials announced a partnership with the school district to offer testing to teachers, starting at the district office and then expanding to other sites, with funding provided by the city. While Matthews criticized the citys lack of help in testing and vaccines Wednesday, a month earlier he thanked the city for their expertise and additional resources. The city-funded program started testing teachers and other staff in January, but suspended it after concerns were raised over the accuracy rate from the testing provider, Curative. The district is looking for another company to do the testing, with guidance and support from the city. Meanwhile, San Francisco public schools are seeing significant learning loss, especially among students of color and those from low-income families, although Lopez declined to address that recently, saying instead that students are learning more about their families and their cultures, spending more time with each other. National and state health officials have increasingly called for classrooms to bring back students given the negative impact of distance learning, including academic declines and mental health issues. Many public schools in surrounding counties have been open for months with little to no in-school transmission. Gov. Gavin Newsom has also urged schools to reopen, saying they can safely do so. We have many, many districts that have schools open and have been able to do it safely, he said, adding that teacher vaccinations arent required to get students back to class, which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoed Wednesday. We can safely reopen schools as we process a prioritization of vaccination to our teachers. Jill Tucker and Bob Egelko are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @bobegelko In this handout photo taken from a footage provided by Moscow City Court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny shows a heart symbol standing in the cage during a hearing to a motion from the Russian prison service to convert the suspended sentence of Navalny from the 2014 criminal conviction into a real prison term in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Moscow City Court via AP) Russia Rejects Western Criticism Over Navalnys Prison Term MOSCOWRussian authorities on Wednesday shrugged off the massive rallies against the jailing of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and rejected Western criticism as hysterics as activists reported more than 1,400 new arrests in the crackdown on protesters. A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Navalny to prison for two years and eight months, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from a nerve-agent poisoning. The ruling immediately ignited new protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg that followed massive rallies over the past two weekends. Speaking in court, Navalny denounced the accusations against him as fabricated and driven by President Vladimir Putins fear and hatred, saying that the Russian leader will go down in history as a poisoner. Asked to comment on Navalnys speech, which was shared widely on Russian social media platforms, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that its not up to him to determine Putins place in history. Like Putin, Peskov avoids mentioning Navalny by name. Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner who is Putins most determined political critic, was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from his five-month convalescence in Germany from the poisoning which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement and claim they have no proof that he was poisoned despite tests by several European labs. This handout photo published by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on his Instagram account, shows himself and his wife Yulia, posing for a photo in a hospital in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 15, 2020. (Navalny Instagram/AP Photo) As the court ruling was read, Navalny smiled to his wife, Yulia, who attended the hearing, and traced the outline of a heart on the glass cage where he was being held. Everything will be fine, he told her as guards led him away. She thanked supporters on her Instagram, saying there are so many good, strong, and fair people who support Alexei and myself that there is no way to step back and there is nothing to fear. We will win anyway, she said. In addition to imprisoning Navalny, authorities put his brother and several close associates under house arrest. Police also have detained scores of journalists who covered the protests. On Wednesday, a court sentenced Sergei Smirnov, the editor-in-chief of Mediazona, a top online news outlet focusing on political repression and human rights abuses, to 25 days in jail on charges of making calls for unsanctioned protests for retweeting a post mentioning protests. Smirnov denied the charges, and several leading independent media outlets protested his jailing and demanded his immediate release. The prison sentence for Navalny and Russias tough police response to peaceful protests drew harsh criticism from the United States and European Union nations. Police officers detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 31, 2021. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo) People attend a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 31, 2021. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Moscow to immediately free Navalny and those who were detained during protests. Even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we will coordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens, he said. French President Emmanuel Macron called Navalnys conviction unacceptable and called for his immediate release. A political disagreement is never a crime, said Macron. The respect of human rights, like that of democratic freedom, is not negotiable. Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert on Wednesday reiterated the German leaders call for Navalnys immediate release and an end to the police crackdown against anti-government protesters. Seibert told reporters that the Moscow courts ruling was far from the principles of rule of law, noting that it was based on Navalnys earlier conviction, which the European Court of Human Rights had deemed arbitrary and a breach of Navalnys rights to a fair trial. The German government condemns this systematic use of violence against peaceful protesters, he said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media during a statement about the latest developments in the case of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 2, 2020. (Markus Schreiber/Reuters) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday rejected the Western demands as arrogant and improper, saying that Moscow will not be moved by Western hysterics that go overboard or mimic boorish rhetoric. Those who mistake our polite manners for weakness make a grave mistake, he added. He accused the West of double standards, defending the Russian police response to protests as much milder than some police action against demonstrators in Western countries. Lavrov said he sent EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell videos proving that point ahead of his visit to Moscow later this week. More than 1,400 people were detained late Tuesday and overnight, including 1,170 in Moscow and more than 250 in St. Petersburg, when demonstrators took to the streets to protest the courts order to send Navalny to prison, according to the independent OVD-INFO group that documents arrests. Police brutally beat scores of peaceful protesters and used tasers against some in a show of force apparently intended to intimidate the opposition. Asked about the police violence, Putins spokesman Peskov told reporters that unsanctioned protests warrant the tough police action. Undoubtedly, such activities must be suppressed quite harshly, he said. By Vladimir Isachenkov She's been met with criticism over the past few weeks after her feud with former co-star Yewande Biala resurfaced. But Lucie Donlan put the drama behind her as she modelled Savage X Fenty in a series of raunchy Instagram clips on Tuesday evening. The Love Island star, 22, turned up the heat as she posed in baby blue lingerie sets for her latest social media posts. In her element: Lucie Donlan put the drama surrounding Yewande Biala behind her as she modelled Savage X Fenty in a series of raunchy Instagram clips on Tuesday evening Showcasing her incredibly toned figure, the surfer, who is currently dating 2020 winter contestant Luke Mabbott, was the picture of confidence in the two-pieces. For one look, the media personality stunned in a sheer bra and a matching thong, decorated with floral printing throughout. A tiny halterneck top held together by a chunky 'Savage' chain was worn for her second outfit, complementing her incredible frame. With her tresses styled in loose waves, the bombshell rounded things off with a full face of make-up. Wow-factor! The Love Island star, 22, turned up the heat as she posed in baby blue lingerie sets for her latest social media posts Looking good: For one look, the media personality stunned in a sheer bra and a matching thong, decorated with floral printing throughout Working it: A tiny halterneck top held together by a chunky 'Savage' chain was worn for her second outfit, complementing her incredible frame Late last month, scientist Yewande, 25, branded Lucie an 'oppressor' and claimed she had 'stripped her of her identity' by asking to call her by another name, after the pair's secret dispute recently emerged. In a candid interview, the influencer claimed 'mispronouncing names is another form of racism' after Lucie claimed she 'bullied her'. The reality star detailed her experience of fearing others attempting to pronounce her name from a young age before being reminded by her family to own her title with pride. In a piece for The Independent, Yewande detailed the anxiety she felt waiting for teachers to say her name when she was young, revealing one took five months to learn how to say it correctly. Awkward: The media personality has been met with criticism over the past few weeks after her feud with Love Island co-star Yewande, 25, (pictured) resurfaced The TV star admitted she told her mother she was planning to give her children 'European names' before being told that there was 'power' in accepting and using her own name with pride. She explained the definition of 'microaggression' before claiming it is a form of oppression that enforces the differences between two groups. The Irish beauty explained: 'When someone doesn't take the time to learn the proper way to pronounce another person's name, or worse intentionally mocks it for being ''too difficult'' to pronounce, or tries to ascribe another name to make themselves feel comfortable it can come across as malicious. 'There is a longstanding history of forced assimilation as a way to maintain the power structure. 'Dominant groups dismissing certain names as ''too hard'' is tied to racism and other forms of oppression. So, when you address me, say my name ''Yewande'' and yes, it is important.' Speaking to MailOnline, the blonde was determined to put an end to the feud and was adamant her inability to pronounce Yewande's name in a challenge was an 'accident' after the discovery of old Instagram comments by Reddit. Lucie said: 'These are really old comments dug up purely to incite a row between two females. 'So, when you address me, say my name': In a candid interview, the influencer claimed 'mispronouncing names is another form of racism' after Lucie claimed she 'bullied her' 'In this day and age and with everything going on in the world, we should all be sticking together not attacking each other. 'I've been sent death threats which are incredibly scary as you can imagine. I said on the show I had trouble pronouncing Yewande's name, it's just what I'm like. 'And I asked if I could use a shortened abbreviated version of her name instead as a term of endearment there's nothing sinister to it. 'I regret how just a few old comments said 18 months ago has snowballed like this and got out of hand, and drummed up some needless negativity. Can we all just move on from this please?' 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. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the ouster of American forces from neighboring Iraq would be the best response to the US killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani. The Iranian commander died in a US airstrike outside Baghdads international airport last January. Zarif made the comments at a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Tehran on Wednesday. The top Iranian diplomat expressed gratitude to the Iraqi side for its legal pursuit of the Soleimani case, with hopes that those behind the heinous crime will face punishment through judicial proceedings. Hussein also sat down with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. We hope the new US administration will reconsider its policy and find that its military presence in the region harms security, Rouhani said in a less confrontational tone compared with his previous statements about cutting off the US feet from the region. The Iraqi foreign minister declared that Baghdad is relentlessly following up on the pullout of foreign forces through negotiations. Irans pledge has remained unchanged 13 months after Soleimani's death,: a harsh revenge that Tehran says will be complete only when all US boots are off the ground across the Middle East. Irans judiciary has come up with a list of 48 individuals accused of involvement in the assassination. The countrys hard-liners have also issued specific death threats against former US President Donald Trump, who ordered the airstrike. Those hard-liners have also criticized the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi for dragging its feet on the matter, arguing that the new leadership in Baghdad prioritizes Washington over Tehran. Unlike most of his predecessors, Kadhimi has sought to reassert Iraqi sovereignty, especially with regard to Iran's support for certain Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) there. Some of these groups are accused of targeting American interests and attacking the US Embassy building in Baghdad with Iran-supplied rockets, though Tehran categorically denies providing them. With such strikes becoming more frequent in the past few months, the Kadhimi administration's relations with the Islamic Republic have been tense. It was not publicly known whether the Iraqi foreign minister addressed the topic during his February trip to Tehran. But back in September, amid an uptick in PMU attacks, Hossein paid a similar visit to relay a message from the Iraqi premier to Rouhani regarding the Islamic Republics activities on the soil of its neighbor. The 2021 General Election was marred by gross human rights violations that denied people access to justice and law, a new report has said. The report dubbed "Trends and impact of the 2021 elections on human rights, access to justice and rule of law" reveals that the January 14 polls fell short of the international standards of a free and fair election. In the election week alone, the report states that 67 people were arrested and detained on allegations of disobeying lawful orders, inciting violence, and interfering with the electoral process. "These episodes of violence have continued to generate contention among sections of the public concerning the fairness and credibility of the general elections," reads the report. Lawyers under their Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET) released the report yesterday which revealed that many Ugandans especially Opposition leaders, political supporters, and activists mainly the youth, human rights defenders, and other victims had their rights abused. The report indicates that prior to elections especially during the campaign meetings and on the election day, there were deliberate attacks on the media by security agencies where journalists sustained injuries while executing their role. "Media and the right to freedom of expression was further curtailed ahead of the General Election with irrational government directives and decisions. These, among others, included stringent guidelines issued by the media council related to accreditation of media before covering elections, the shutdown of the Internet and all other communications channels before, during, and after elections," the report reads in part. Other violations include the right to protection from torture where several incidents were witnessed especially against presidential candidates running on Opposition ticket as well as journalists. The report also states that right to life was violated when 54 people were killed during the spontaneous protests that broke out in Kampala and other districts in November 2020 following the arrest of then National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine. While presenting the report yesterday at their headquarters in Kampala, Dr Sylvia Namubiru, the LASPNET chief executive officer, observed that a total of 511 cases of election offences and human rights violations were received and handled by a team of rapid response lawyers instructed by LASPNET. "We contend that despite Uganda having a robust legal framework on elections, implementation of such laws by institutions responsible remains weak due to political interference and growing impunity amongst security forces," reads the report. Dr Namubiru explained that the report was a result of the organisation's interest in election activities where they documented election related violence and its impact to inform advocacy for improved service delivery. "The state has a duty to promote and protect human rights in all circumstances. We aver that the state and its actor undermined its responsibility such as what happened during the election period and the fact that we went into the elections without a substantive chairperson of the UHRC despite the calls to have one," she added. Govt reacts The acting chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Dr Katebalirwe Amooti, could not comment on the report saying he had not seen a copy. But the rights body has since said despite some glitches, the January 14 presidential and parliamentary elections were free and fair. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "Based on the extensive observation of the polling exercise that was done countrywide as well as verified reports that were received from the media, contacts from other observers both nationally and outside the country, the commission has concluded that the presidential and parliamentary polling exercise was carried out within a secure, peaceful and tranquil atmosphere which enabled a free and fair outcome," Dr Katebalirwa said. The deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech, dismissed the report at a news conference as uncalled for since there is nothing that is being done by the security forces. "Those issues of violations, deployment and fear are not true and uncalled for. Our national security is entirely our obligation. It is up to us to protect our democracy and peace that we are enjoying," said Maj Gen Lokech. A local GP has launched a blistering attack on the state of the health service here. The family doctor said the hospital waiting list crisis had become so severe that a growing number of patients she suspects have cancer are only able to get a diagnosis by going to an emergency department. In one particularly alarming case, she made three 'flag' referrals for a patient throughout the pandemic before their condition deteriorated to the point where they had to be rushed to hospital. She also said some of her most vulnerable patients had been failed by the rollout of the vaccination programme as people aged between 65 and 69 had been getting their jab ahead of her housebound patients. The GP revealed she spent Saturday morning vaccinating patients, who were too frail to attend a vaccination clinic, in her own time after her district nurse said she had not been trained to administer the jab. She explained: "I didn't want to leave my patients waiting any longer. It feels like the whole service is crumbling around us, it doesn't feel safe. I have never seen morale as low in my career. "We are only getting dribs and drabs of the vaccine, it feels like we have to beg for vaccine, we don't know how much we're going to get and then we find out the trusts are vaccinating people between 65 and 69 while we haven't even vaccinated our housebound patients yet. "These are people who are most vulnerable to this virus and they have carers coming in and out of their house. I think finding out the 65 to 69 cohort was able to get the vaccine ahead of them was the biggest insult. It's a shambles, I'm embarrassed to be a part of it and I feel so badly let down. The GPs have been let down and the patients have been let down. "We spend so much time looking after patients who are waiting for hospital appointments. They are angry and I don't blame them, but the problem is they put the blame on us a lot of the time. To be honest, quite often the only way I can get them sorted is by having them admitted to hospital, but none of my patients want to go to hospital because they're scared of the virus. I have had a number of patients I'm quite worried about refusing to go to hospital. "I haven't had a day off since July, you can't get a locum to come and cover, and there are a lot of practices like mine that are in the same position. It's not sustainable." The Department of Health said the Health Minister recognised the significant contribution made by GPs during the pandemic and had approved a 2.8% uplift to pay and staff costs. It also said district nurses were trained to administer the vaccine, and added that tackling hospital waiting lists was a priority for Robin Swann. 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. After a lengthy debate, the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission narrowly voted to rezone a parcel of land on Lexington Road to allow for a new student housing development and new affordable housing in a special called session Tuesday evening. A year ago, Krishna Ella was simply known for running a small Indian pharmaceutical company with a reputation for scientific rigor. Then came the pandemic that put the scientist and his family at the center of one of the worlds loudest furors over a coronavirus vaccine. In June last year, Indias drug regulator permitted Ellas firm -- Bharat Biotech International Ltd . -- to develop a homegrown vaccine in record time. Since then the company has been buffeted by controversies ranging from unrealistic government schedules to sporadic reports of adverse reactions. Matters came to a head last month after the government approved its shot before the completion of final human trials. That fueled a revolt across the breadth of India with many at the frontlines of the pandemic -- particularly health-care workers -- refusing the companys injection. Two weeks in, Indias national vaccine rollout has fallen flat with little over half the targeted number of people coming forward for shots -- hesitation thats largely being blamed on the hasty approval of Bharat Biotechs shot, which is still deep in Phase III trials. From the US to the Norway, vociferous debates over the efficacy and safety of Covid-19 vaccines have beset pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc and governments the world over are battling anti-vaccine sentiment. Yet, experts say India never registered significant resistance to inoculations until now. The stakes are particularly high because the South Asian country is racing to inoculate 1.3 billion people across villages and crowded slums while grappling with the worlds second highest number of infections. There are many unanswered questions because of the total opaqueness and lack of accountability," said Dinesh Thakur, a former pharmaceutical executive known for exposing fraud at the Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. One thing is abundantly clear: They have successfully now created a significant anti-vaccine movement in India." The use of the Bharat Biotech shot -- called Covaxin -- has drawn particular ire because Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has distributed it alongside AstraZenecas inoculation, which completed final tests. Luck of the draw and location determine which shot Indias frontline workers get, leaving many fearful they could end up taking an injection yet to be fully vetted. They have compelled them to take Covaxin," said Dayanand Sagar, the Bengaluru-based president of a resident doctors body that represents 5,000 medical workers across the state of Karnataka. Health workers should be given a choice." Both New Delhi and Bharat Biotech have vigorously defended the vaccines safety, with health officials taking Covaxin injections on camera. In a December interview, Suchitra Ella, the companys co-founder and Krishnas wife, said they have acted within the law of the land." A spokesperson for Bharat Biotech and Indian government officials didnt respond to requests for comment. Many believe the speed of its vaccine has been driven by nationalistic political forces pushing for a swadeshi" -- or locally made -- shot, along with the firms own ambitions to be a frontrunner. Both things are aligning here, government pressure and the companys internal competitive drive," said Prashant Yadav, a healthcare supply-chain expert at the Center for Global Development in Washington. In a January press conference, Krishna Ella, the 65-year-old chairman, angrily argued the criticism had become political" and used a 41-page slide-show with early and mid-stage data to prove his vaccine is safe and effective. His bigger rival, Serum Institute of India Ltd., is churning out a billion doses of AstraZenecas shot, and Ella bristled with indignation at the idea that a UK-sponsored vaccine wasnt being questioned as deeply. Indian companies are targeted by everyone in the world," said Ella, who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It hurts us as scientists -- we dont deserve that type of bashing." Last year, as rich nations showed signs of snapping up scarce supplies of leading vaccine candidates, India sought its own local champion. Besides Serum, only a handful of domestic manufacturers have the capacity to pump out hundreds of millions of doses, making Bharat Biotech an obvious choice as others tied up with foreign developers. The company has supplied the Indian government and the World Health Organization with billions of life-saving vaccines for diseases ranging from polio to rotavirus and typhoid -- its three main revenue earners. Bharat Biotech threw itself into work on Covaxin, a two-dose shot based on well-trodden technology that uses part of a dead virus. The Ellas son Raches a US trained scientist was given responsibility for early trials. During an expert seminar at the end of October the younger Ella said he didnt condone emergency licenses to push out inoculations before final trials were complete. I dont believe in that personally and even Bharat Biotech doesnt believe in that either." So the company raised eyebrows when it filed Covaxin for Indian emergency authorization in December without completing enrollment for Phase III trials joining the first set of applicants, including AstraZeneca and Pfizer, which both of which already had preliminary final-stage efficacy data. Minutes from January meetings showed that Indias drug regulatory agency at first insisted on seeing efficacy data for Covaxin, before relenting and approving it for a vaguely defined restricted use in clinical trial mode." While its unclear who or what caused regulators to relent, the chain of events flummoxed scientists. It also jarred with the account of a company that had always played by the book previously, according to Bloombergs interviews with more than a dozen investors, ex-employees and industry experts. In all that they have done so far theyve always gone by following protocols, building the right partnerships, having the right kind of science available to them," said Gagandeep Kang, a professor at Vellores Christian Medical College, who worked on clinical trials for Bharat Biotechs rotavirus vaccine, which was hailed by Modi in 2015 as a prime example of Indian innovation. I really dont understand what the need was to jump the gun for this vaccine." It wasnt the first controversy around the shot. Indias medical research body promised Covaxin would be ready by Aug. 15 last year: The anniversary of national independence from British colonial rule. Suchitra told Bloomberg that was a communication slip." Then reports emerged of some adverse reactions. Residents in the town of Bhopal one of the trial sites said they took the injections in return for 750 ($10) and that some couldnt read consent forms because they were illiterate. One participant also died on Dec. 21, nine days after a Covaxin shot. In a statement last month, Bharat Biotech said the death was due to cardiac arrest from suspected poisoning, which is under police investigation. Initial reviews suggest the death wasnt related to the shot, the company said, adding that the payments were in line with Indian trial reimbursement rules and that nobody was induced. The vaccines advocates have pointed to a peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal in January that said Covaxins first human test covering 375 people showed tolerable safety outcomes and enhanced immune responses."Many remain to be convinced. At Mumbais Sir J.J. Hospital, the only facility in the city administering Covaxin, around 35% to 40% of the 100 people called in daily are showing up, according to Lalit Sankhe, the doctor heading up the vaccination efforts there. Most senior doctors there have since taken the shot, Sankhe said, adding that he has also been injected and suffered no side effects. The debate now has the potential to fuel wider vaccine skepticism as the Ellas sign global supply deals. Bharat Biotech has agreed to ship Covaxin to Brazil and work with a company for approval in the US Whatever Covaxins ultimate legacy, it will leave an indelible mark on Krishna Ellas reputation as a scientist. Im 65," he said in a December interview with Bloomberg TV. Before I die I want to make some impact on the public health of the world." 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. New stem cell therapy in dogs -- a breakthrough in veterinary medicine Dogs have been faithful human companions ever since their domestication thousands of years ago. With various improvements in veterinary medicine in the past decades, their life expectancy has increased. However, an unfortunate side effect of this longevity, much like in humans, has been an increase in the occurrence of chronic and degenerative conditions. In humans, modern efforts to fight such diseases have culminated in the development of regenerative therapies, largely based on stem cells. These "baby" cells have the potential to differentiate and mature into many specialized cell types-- called "pluripotency." By transplanting stem cells and guiding their differentiation into desired cell types, researchers are effectively able to regenerate damaged tissues, thereby reversing the course various complex diseases. Although this technology is widely studied in humans, the potential for stem cell therapy in dogs is lacking. To this end, a research team from Japan, led by Associate Professor Shingo Hatoya from Osaka Prefecture University, has been working on isolating "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPSCs) from canine blood samples. iPSCs are a type of stem cell that can be "programmed" from a developed (or "differentiated") cell by introducing a specific set of genes into them. These genes code for proteins called "transcription factors," which induce the change from a differentiated to a pluripotent stem cell, which then have the ability to mature into various cell types. iPSCs can proliferate very rapidly, providing a reliable supply of suitable stem cells for regenerative therapies. "We successfully established an efficient and easy generation method of canine iPSCs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells" explains Dr. Hatoya. He highlights the significance of these findings for veterinary science, stating he hopes that in the near future, "it may be possible to perform regenerative medicinal treatments in dogs." These findings were published in the journal Stem Cells and Development. The previous attempts by these scientists to generate iPSCs from canine blood cells, using viral "vectors" to deliver the pluripotency-inducing transcription factors, were not as effective as hoped. Therefore, in this study, they tested a different combination of inducing factors, which they believe were key to harvesting the full potential of these cells. Most importantly, the researchers needed to control how the reprogrammed cells replicated in the host body. Viral vectors that encode pluripotency-inducing transcription factors can be used to infect cells obtained from the blood and convert them into iPSCs; however, the researchers needed to be cautious: because these vectors integrate into the host genome, re-expression of these pluripotency factors in the host cell can cause tumor formation when these cells are transplanted in patients. To avoid this, the team developed "footprint-free" stem cells by using a particular type of viral vector that can generate iPSCs without genomic insertion and can be automatically "silenced" via "microRNAs" expressed by the cells. Then, they grew these cells in a special type of medium that contained various factors enhancing their pluripotency (including a "small-molecule cocktail"). Indeed, these cells grew and successfully developed germ layers (which form the basis of all organs). Fascinatingly, these findings have paved the way for an easy stem cell therapy technique for man's best friends. "We believe that our method can facilitate the research involving disease modeling and regenerative therapies in the veterinary field," says Dr. Hatoya. Furthermore, the authors also believe that additional research into regenerative therapies for canines might have some ripple effects for human medicine. "Dogs share the same environment as humans and spontaneously develop the same diseases, particularly genetic diseases." Translating findings from one field to another might mean veterinarians are able to find treatments, maybe even cures, for some of the diseases that still plague humanity. ### About Osaka Prefecture University, Japan Osaka Prefecture University (OPU) is one of the largest public universities in Japan. OPU comprises three campuses, with a main campus in Sakai, Osaka. With four colleges for undergraduate students and seven graduate schools, the university offers stellar education in a myriad of fields like engineering, life and environmental sciences, science, economics, humanities and social sciences, and nursing. Not just this, the university also houses various international students, who can enrich their lives with opportunities for internships and exchange programs. In April 2022, OPU will unite with Osaka City University (OCU) to form Japan's largest public university, University of Osaka (tentative name: undergoing approval). For more details, please visit: OPU: https:/ / www. osakafu-u. ac. jp/ en University of Osaka (tentative name): https:/ / u-of-osaka. jp/ About Associate Professor Shingo Hatoya from Osaka Prefecture University Dr. Shingo Hatoya is an Associate Professor at the Department of Advanced Pathobiology of the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science at the Osaka Prefecture University. Holding both PhD and DVM degrees, he specializes in research on canine and feline stem cells and their applications in regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine. This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Last month, jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation released a video expose detailing a $1.35 billion residential complex on the Black Sea coast that was allegedly built for President Vladimir Putin's use. Navalny's team called the massive project "the worlds largest bribe. The video has been viewed more than 100 million times and the outrage it sparked has been a driving factor in protests that have swept Russia since Navalny's return from Germany in January following treatment for a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning he blames on Putin. The allegations about the complex were first made by whistle-blower businessman Sergei Kolesnikov in 2010. More details about the lavish project trickled out in subsequent years. Putin on January 25 denied that he or his family owned the so-called palace, although the Navalny video merely claimed the complex had been built by "friends" of the president for his use. A few days later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that neither Putin nor his family "have anything to do" with the Black Sea complex. On January 30, Arkady Rotenberg, a longtime friend of Putin's whose construction company is involved in many state-related infrastructure projects, suddenly announced that he owned the property. RFE/RL's Russian Service has found documents that confirm that a company that has worked on dozens of government projects, including the installation of secure communications in the Kremlin and the development and implementation of the country's electronic voting system, participated in outfitting the complex, which is located near the settlement of Praskoveyevka just south of the Krasnodar region resort town of Gelendzhik. The firm, a publicly traded company called Saturn that is part of the Sistema financial group, reported in its 2012 annual report that during the previous year it had carried out work at the Kremlin, the hotel Dagomys and the Rus health-care facility owned by the presidential administration, the Moscow city administration building, the Russian government headquarters, and numerous other high-profile state facilities. The firm installed secure communications for the Moscow mayor's office and a secure situation room at the Russian government headquarters, known as the White House, the annual report said. The firm also developed a security perimeter for the presidential administration building on Moscow's Staraya Ploshchad, which was denounced by local preservationists. Saturn representatives did not respond to repeated requests to comment for this article. According to the document, Saturn also worked on a "Pension" -- in Russian, Pansionat, written with the first letter capitalized -- in Praskoveyevka. The "Putin palace" project has been referred to using that exact term in numerous documents, including the floor plans presented in Navalny's video and a government list of civil-aviation facilities that includes the complex's heliport. The 'Pension' In Praskoveyevka In a 2011 interview with Kommersant, presidential chief of staff Vladimir Kozhin also referred to the "Pansionat" at Praskoveyevka, saying it was being built with "private investment." Kozhin mentioned, however, that the Dagomys hotel and the Rus sanatorium were being reconstructed at state expense as part of the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The Saturn document indicates that the firm was working at that time at all three locations. The documents also indicate that almost all of Saturn's business was carried out on the basis of government contracts. There is another firm called MTU Saturn, which is registered at the same Moscow address as Saturn. According to the Kontur.fokus business database, MTU Saturn is owned by Saturn and a firm called RTI Sistemy. MTU Saturn General Director Vyacheslav Lozinsky told RFE/RL that his company was not a subsidiary of Saturn, but that it existed "in parallel." "We have never worked in Praskoveyevka," he said. MTU Saturn's website, however, shows considerable overlap in the work and the clientele of the two firms. "The majority of our orders are carried out for the Federal Protection Service, the Federal Security Service, the Defense Ministry, the Special Programs Department of the presidential administration, the Interior Ministry, the Emergency Situations Ministry, the presidential administration, and other security agencies," MTU Saturn's website says. The Federal Protection Service (FSO) guards government facilities and senior officials, including their residences. MTU Saturn reports it installed the secure communications system at the Kremlin. The Saturn annual report states the firm carried out security work at virtually all major federal-government facilities, "creating for them telecommunications and security systems." If Putin did spend time at the Praskoveyevka complex, the facility would require the kind of secure communications and high-level security systems that Saturn and MTU Saturn regularly install in government buildings. Just One Of Many? In 2007, Saturn marked its 50th anniversary. The company was originally part of the Kaskad research and production corporation, a Soviet-era enterprise that still exists and specializes in radio and other communications systems as well as computerized management solutions. The firm created communications and management systems for Russia's strategic missile forces. In the late 1980s, Saturn developed and implemented Russia's state lottery system. In 2005, Saturn and MTU Saturn were acquired by the Sistema financial group. Nikolai Zaitsev, who was MTU Saturn's general director until 2018, said in a 2007 interview that "recently...we have added work at the residences of the head of state, both in the Kremlin and in several other locations." In 2012, former Deputy Prime Minister and opposition politician Boris Nemtsov -- who was shot dead near the Kremlin in 2015 -- published a report called The Life Of A Galley Slave, which listed 20 residences that he believed were at Putin's disposal. At least four of the properties in the Nemtsov report, including the Praskoveyevka complex, also appear in Saturn's 2012 annual report. Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by Mark Krutov and Sergei Dobrynin of RFE/RL's Russian Service Teaching children in a way that encourages them to empathise with others measurably improves their creativity, and could potentially lead to several other beneficial learning outcomes, new research suggests. The findings are from a year-long University of Cambridge study with Design and Technology (D&T) year 9 pupils (ages 13 to 14) at two inner London schools. Pupils at one school spent the year following curriculum-prescribed lessons, while the other group's D&T lessons used a set of engineering design thinking tools which aim to foster students' ability to think creatively and to engender empathy, while solving real-world problems. Both sets of pupils were assessed for creativity at both the start and end of the school year using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: a well-established psychometric test. The results showed a statistically significant increase in creativity among pupils at the intervention school, where the thinking tools were used. At the start of the year, the creativity scores of pupils in the control school, which followed the standard curriculum, were 11% higher than those at the intervention school. By the end, however, the situation had completely changed: creativity scores among the intervention group were 78% higher than the control group. The researchers also examined specific categories within the Torrance Test that are indicative of emotional or cognitive empathy: such as 'emotional expressiveness' and 'open-mindedness'. Pupils from the intervention school again scored much higher in these categories, indicating that a marked improvement in empathy was driving the overall creativity scores. The study's authors suggest that encouraging empathy not only improves creativity, but can deepen pupils' general engagement with learning. Notably, they found evidence that boys and girls in the intervention school responded to the D&T course in ways that defied traditional gender stereotypes. Boys showed a marked improvement in emotional expression, scoring 64% higher in that category at the end of the year than at the start, while girls improved more in terms of cognitive empathy, showing 62% more perspective-taking. The research is part of a long-term collaboration between the Faculty of Education and the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge called 'Designing Our Tomorrow' (DOT), led by Bill Nicholl and Ian Hosking. It challenges pupils to solve real-world problems by thinking about the perspectives and feelings of others. The particular challenge used in the study asked pupils at the intervention school to design an asthma-treatment 'pack' for children aged six and under. Pupils were given various creative and empathetic 'tools' in order to do so: for example, they were shown data about the number of childhood asthma fatalities in the UK, and a video which depicts a young child having an attack. They also explored the problem and tested their design ideas by role-playing various stakeholders, for example, patients, family-members, and medical staff. Nicholl, Senior Lecturer in Design and Technology Education, who trains teachers studying on the University's D&T PGCE course, said: "Teaching for empathy has been problematic despite being part of the D&T National Curriculum for over two decades. This evidence suggests that it is a missing link in the creative process, and vital if we want education to encourage the designers and engineers of tomorrow." Dr Helen Demetriou, an affiliated lecturer in psychology and education at the Faculty of Education with a particular interest in empathy, and the other researcher involved in the study, said: "We clearly awakened something in these pupils by encouraging them to think about the thoughts and feelings of others. The research shows not only that it is possible to teach empathy, but that by doing so we support the development of children's creativity, and their wider learning." The gender differences charted in the study indicate that the intervention enabled students to overcome some of the barriers to learning that assumed gender roles often create. For example, boys often feel discouraged from expressing emotion at school, yet this was one of the main areas where they made significant creative gains according to the tests. In addition to the Torrance Tests, the researchers conducted in-depth interviews with pupils at both the intervention school and a third (girls-only) school who also undertook the asthma challenge. This feedback again suggested that pupils had empathised deeply with the challenges faced by young asthma-sufferers, and that this had influenced their creative decisions in the classroom. Many, for example, used phrases such as 'stepping into their shoes' or 'seeing things from another point of view' when discussing patients and their families. One boy told the researchers: "I think by the end of the project I could feel for the people with asthma... if I was a child taking inhalers, I would be scared too." Another responded: "Let's say you had a sister or brother in that position. I would like to do something like this so we can help them." Overall, the authors suggest that these findings point to a need to nurture 'emotionally intelligent learners' not only in D&T classes, but across subjects, particularly in the context of emerging, wider scientific evidence that our capacity for empathy declines as we get older. "This is something that we must think about as curricula in general become increasingly exam-based," Demetriou said. "Good grades matter, but for society to thrive, creative, communicative and empathic individuals matter too." Nicholl added: "When I taught Design and Technology, I didn't see children as potential engineers who would one day contribute to the economy; they were people who needed to be ready to go into the world at 18. Teaching children to empathise is about building a society where we appreciate each other's perspectives. Surely that is something we want education to do." ### The study is published in the journal, Improving Schools. Advisor to the head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podoliak says that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky acted according to the law, enacting a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), which meets the interests of the people and the task of protecting the state and national security. Podoliak emphasized in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that the presidential decree on the enactment of the NSDC decision against the 112.Ukraine, ZIK and NewsOne TV channels was issued on the basis of Article 107 of the Constitution of Ukraine, and the NSDC decision is based on the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions", proposals of the Verkhovna Rada (resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of October 4, 2018 No. 2589-VIII) and the Security Service of Ukraine. "In previous years, sanctions based on this law and the relevant decisions of the NSDC were already imposed. So, on April 28, 2017, a decree of the then president was published, which enacted the NSDC decision containing a list of 1,228 persons against whom our state applied sanctions. Some of these people are citizens of Ukraine. Accordingly, this experience of imposing sanctions against citizens of Ukraine on the basis of the Law 'On Sanctions' already exists," said the advisor to the head of the President's Office. According to him, this decision will not raise questions from those who carefully analyze Russia's disinformation activities against Ukraine. "Sanctions were imposed against Medvedchuk's channels [chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life], because there is confirmation of their financing from other states, they are carrying out anti-state information policy and propaganda in the interests of the Russian Federation. The way how in due time the ownership was transferred to the companies that hold the corresponding television licenses raises serious questions," Podoliak explained. He also stressed that the decision of the NSDC and the presidential decree relate to the issue of national security, and "in the conditions of Russia's aggressive actions, including in the information space, it would be unconstitutional to refrain from sanctions against such a person and such companies working practically for Russia." At the same time, the Office of the President declares that nothing threatens freedom of speech in Ukraine. "If Taras Kozak believes that his rights have been violated, he has the right to go to court. But the full transparency and the decision taken by the NSDC in the interests of Ukraine, and the activities of TV channels from the Medvedchuk pool in the interests of Russia suggest that then it will be difficult for Taras Kozak to justify something in court," Podoliak said. A Chinese food-focused rival to Uber Eats has made unilateral cuts to its workers pay and booted a delivery driver off its platform after he launched a small strike in protest, leaving him without an income. In a message to riders obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, HungryPanda this week issued new pay rules, adding to reduced rates if drivers do not wear a uniform and a direction riders must work for other companies in an apparent effort to claim their delivery riders arent employees. HungryPanda worker Yang Jun, who goes by James, was thrown off the platform after organising a protest. Credit:James Brickwood The move typifies a larger fight between unions and gig economy companies over how their workers should be classified, be it employees, who typically cannot have their pay unilaterally changed, or independent contractors, whose flexibility and lower cost are key to the sector but lack minimum wage and workers compensation. Yang Jun, 50, said he had worked for HungryPanda in Sydney for about a year, working 10 or 12 hour days, seven days a week to provide for his wife, four children and elderly parents in China. Over that time he had seen his base pay drop by about $500 a week, from a previous rate of about $1500 before costs and tax. Liberty U. apologizes for on-campus snowball fight that didnt follow COVID-19 rules Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Liberty University Acting President Jerry Prevo has apologized for participating in and organizing an on-campus snowball fight this week in which participants were photographed without facemasks or social distancing. Prevo explained in a statement posted to Libertys website on Tuesday that as snow fell on much of the East Coast this week, he encouraged students at the Lynchburg, Virginia-based evangelical institution to participate in a large snowball fight on campus Sunday. I messed up, stated the schools acting president, who took over after the departure of the controversial former president, Jerry Fallwell Jr., last year. We did not think through or communicate the need to wear facial coverings and remain 6 feet apart in compliance with Virginia Governors Executive Orders for the suppression of the spread of COVID-19 or even our own COVID-19 Operations Plan. And the size of the group was not in compliance either. According to Prevo, the school failed to enforce the guidelines that we have followed routinely and sincerely for these many months. He added that the snowball fight was not done with a heart of defiance. I and my leadership team apologize for not leading our students to abide by COVID-19 protocols during this event, he continued. I am truly sorry for how this activity may put our students and university in a negative light. Prevo also explained that the university also removed social media posts related to the snowball fight. We hope to foster more fun and excitement for our students in the days ahead, but we will do so while abiding by our health and safety protocols, concluded the administrator. There is a set of guidelines and practices'' listed for on-campus students on Liberty's website. Among those guidelines are mandatory face mask-wearing at student gatherings, the social distancing of at least six feet, washing hands often, covering coughs and sneezes and monitoring ones health daily. In response to the snowball fight on campus, some Lynchburg residents raised concerns about the event and the virus's potential spread to local health officials, The Lynchburg News & Advance reported. The local newspaper reported that there were at least 118 complaints related to Liberty lodged with the Central Virginia Health District since Sunday. As following the public health guidelines is essential to containing this pandemic, we share the complainants concerns about the potential for COVID transmission and are consulting the [Virginia Department of Health] central office on our response, population health manager Lindsey Lockewood told the News & Advance in an email, adding that it is unclear when health officials will take action over the alleged violations of safety protocols. In March of last year, Liberty received media scrutiny when it announced that thousands of students could return to campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic and government lockdowns. Then-President Falwell explained at the time that the institution was confident that the campus would be safe from an outbreak and that they intended to adhere to public health guidelines. So we're really not operating as a university, except online. Im just thankful we have the resources and cooperation of our staff so we are well equipped to do this, stated Falwell last year. While some colleges basically threw their hands up and just shut down and left the problem for somebody else to deal with, Liberty's executive staff rolled their sleeves up. In response to New York Times stories claiming that allowing students back on campus resulted in multiple students contracting the coronavirus, Liberty sued the news publication and accused it of defamation. This article was originally published by the Institute of Current World Affairs in D.C. This is not a sentence against him, but against all of us. Thats how Ilya Klishin, a prominent Russian former journalist, described a Moscow courts ruling yesterday sentencing opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison for nearly three years. Though widely expected, it still sent shockwaves through the countrys politically engaged liberal class, drawing comparisons to the historic 2003 jailing of ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Vladimir Putins chief opponent. Hundreds of Muscovites hit the streets late Tuesday to protest the ruling, but the overwhelming presence of riot police turned downtown into a virtual gauntlet. More than 1,000 people were arrested. Advertisement The stakes have never been higher for Russias already badly beleaguered oppositionnor has the governments room for compromise been narrower. The Kremlin, says Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at Kings College London, has come to the conclusion that coercion is a better strategy for them than persuasion. Advertisement Advertisement Discontent boiled over late last month after Navalny was arrested upon his return to Russia from Germany, where hed received treatment after a nearly fatal nerve agent poisoning Western governments, among many others, believe was ordered by the Kremlin. Further angered by Navalnys release of a bombshell investigation into what his team claims is a billion-dollar Black Sea palace built for Putin, tens of thousands of people turned out in scores of cities across Russia over the past two weeks to decry endemic corruption and selective justice. Thousands were detained, some brutally, while Navalnys allies promised more civil disobedience. Advertisement Reports from the ground suggested the demonstrations were something special, reflecting a level of anger not seen during earlier rounds of unrest. In contrast to the occasionally sanctioned and mostly peaceful opposition rallies of 2011-2012 in Moscow (which I covered firsthand), protesters this time appeared emboldenedperhaps because nearly a decade has passed without the slightest sign of political liberalization, or because they were motivated by their peers in Belarus whove doggedly continued turning out against their own strongman almost six months after last years disputed election. Indeed, most agree the boldness of Navalnys confrontation with Putin has surpassed that of any other opposition figure in Russia, while his political acumen and organizational power remain unmatched among his peers. He has inspired many young Russians fed up with the stodgy, Soviet nature of Putins lifetime rule and the international isolation it has brought with it. Advertisement Advertisement Yet time and again, whether during the massive rallies of nine years ago or the scattered socioeconomic protests around the country more recently, his system has persisted amid periodic spikes of discontent. Unlikely as it may seem, experts say its precisely these kinds of challenging moments that help the Putin regime develop its remarkable resilience. He has built his power methodically, said Gregory Feifer, a veteran Russia watcher and former NPR correspondent in Moscow. Hes done it by trial and error. A quick look at recent history might help explain why. Consider, for example, the almost-sudden collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991: Although presaged by economic crisis and social malaise, it was largely facilitated by elites who no longer bought into the Communist system. But Putin has built a social and political structure bound by corruption at every level, says Feifer, author of Russians: The People Behind the Power, ensuring that precious fewfrom ordinary citizens to high-level members of his security clansee incentives to shaking up the status quo. Advertisement At the elite level, according to democracy watchdog Freedom House, the state is closely intertwined with powerful economic oligarchs, who benefit from government patronage in exchange for political loyalty and various forms of service. That graft trickles all the way down to the bottom, with private businesses routinely targeted for extortion or expropriation by law enforcement officials and organized criminal groups. The result is a self-sustaining system built on broad societal buy-in, whether many Russians like it or not. Advertisement The power of Putins security apparatus has also helped. Judging by their gratuitous violence against protesters in recent weeks, Russian riot police have learned from their Belarusian counterparts in using force to frighten away dissatisfied citizens (though have not yet reached the same level of brutality). While keeping Navalny locked up, especially during Septembers parliamentary elections, serves a clear political purpose, its also demonstrative. The goal, wrote Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya on Twitter, is to make Navalnyand othersrealize that they face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. Advertisement Navalnys imprisonment is undoubtedly a test for Russias opposition. On one hand, Greene says, his movement has built a disciplined grassroots network that may well continue humming along even with its leader behind bars. On the other, the authorities likely wont shy away from continuing to harass activists or locking them up. But the current moment may also be deeply revealing for the countless ordinary Russians who, despite their possible distaste for Putins crude autocracy, have stayed politically uninvolved or otherwise silent over the years. Then theres the ardent base the Russian leader cultivated by stoking a culture war pitting a solid nationalist-minded majority against an increasingly marginalized and insular liberal class. Feifer, who followed Putins rise in Russia as a fellow for the Institute of Current World Affairs (where he is now the executive director and where I work as an editor) highlights the important role societal elites played in either tolerating or enabling Putin at the outset. Back then, in the early 2000s, many prominent cultural and political figures rallied around the gray former KGB operative and reveled in his promise to lift Russia from what he characterized as the ruin of the 1990sa refrain he regularly raises today. Advertisement Dampened by years of street rallies, online chatter and muckraking journalism, some of his shine has since worn off. But however inspiring Navalnys movement may have been in recent years, its still far from convincing enough Russians to divest from a rigid system theyve known for at least two decades. Thats not to say the system is unbreakable; the catastrophic lack of public investment and economic diversification, as well as increasing isolation on the world stage, means it is almost certainly unsustainable. But although the lack of public mandate also makes Putins rule brittle, there are few signs that reform or collapse is imminent. Like many of his peers, Klishin, a former editor at Russias only independent TV station, is wondering how long hell need to wait before figures like Navalny are allowed to play a meaningful role in his countrys political life. Even worse, he told me the morning after the ruling, Russias current rulers have kids. As the repression continues, he adds that it amounts to a wake-up call addressed to the silent majoritywho may find it increasingly difficult to bury their heads in the sand. You are either against unmotivated police brutality, unjust pseudo-justice and repression, he says, or you support it. But how many Russians will begin asking themselves that question? Authorities at the central bank have ordered all banks to immediately terminate business relationships with 65 individuals suspected of foreign exchange fraud valued at 13 billion Br. The list includes three businessmen who were found to transfer, in multiple transactions, from 1.1 billion Br to over three billion Br in three months. The authorities have also notified the banks to cut ties with customers suspected of making repetitious account-to-account transactions. Sent to the banks on January 22, the letter stated that the due diligence carried out showed that the individuals in question allegedly committed forex trading fraud in values ranging from 21 million Br to 3.2 billion Br. Signed by Solomon Desta, a vice governor at the central bank in charge of financial institutions supervision, the letter stated that the alleged illegal transactions took place at 10 banks. Almost half of the transactions were reported at Wegagen Bank, followed by Lion International Bank and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). Abyssinia, Awash, United, Berhan, Abay, Addis and Cooperative Bank of Oromia were also included in the list with one to five transactions taking place at each. The highest alleged foreign currency fraud was made by an individual named Mohammed Ali, totaling 3.2 billion Br through Wegagen Bank. The second and the third highest values, amounting to three billion Br and 1.2 billion Br, were recorded at Cooperative Bank of Oromia and CBE, respectively. For the financial sector's safety and soundness, there are basic requirements that banks know their customers and conduct due diligence, according to Solomon. "However, there were gaps from the banks in complying with these requirements," Solomon told Fortune. After observing these gaps, the central bank, along with the Financial Intelligence Centre of Ethiopia, carried out the investigation and due diligence in its regular supervision activities, according to him. Solomon adds that on top of failing to comply with the requirements, the central bank observed that some banks work with unlicensed financial institutions with no physical presence in the country. "Our mandate is to order the banks to cease services to these individuals," he said. "We left the remaining to law enforcement bodies. We've transferred the list of the individuals and detailed information to the Federal Police for further investigation." The letter stated that a huge sum of money was withdrawn and credited from and to the banks through illicit transactions in addition to foreign currency fraud. Repetitious daily account-to-account transfers made by a few individuals were traced, according to the letter. About 531 million Br was debited from banks via illegal transactions, according to the letter. Twenty-three individuals made 30,290 transactions through six bank branches located at border cities, namely Togochale, Qefira, Bullae, Hartishek, Sulul and Jehedin. The letter also asserted that through 9,580 transactions, 218.2 million Br was credited into the banking system by 33 individuals at different bank branches. Eighteen individuals have also withdrawn 414.8 million Br through 8,047 transactions. The central bank has also reported that it has identified individuals that made multiple account-to-account transactions between July and September. During this period, 20,178 account holders made more than 1.4 million transactions, according to the central bank. Last May, the central bank put a cash withdrawal limit on individuals and businesses. Individuals were allowed to withdraw 100,000 Br daily and a million Birr monthly. Businesses were permitted to withdraw 300,000 Br a day and a maximum of 2.5 million Br a month. In October the central bank altered the directive and decreased the daily withdrawal limit to 50,000 Br and 75,000 Br for individuals and businesses, respectively. Following the currency demonetisation process carried out in September, the central bank has outlawed local money transfer services and the depositing of cash into third-party accounts. It allowed only account-to-account transfers. A few weeks ago, the central bank issued another circular that restricted account transfers to just five a week. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Legal Affairs Banking By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The latest letter from the regulatory bank ordered all of the commercial banks to refrain from opening an account for the listed individuals and from commencing any business relationship with them. "The customers have been reasonably suspected of engaging in suspicious transactions that include the undertaking of multiple transactions to various recipients for illegitimate and unlawful purposes," reads the letter. The central bank has also informed the banks to strictly address all shortcomings, including those in technological systems, policies, controls and procedures directed by the anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism proclamation and directive. The banks were notified to rectify the issues by the end of this coming April at the latest. Other than imposing financial penalties, the central bank will issue "cease and desist" orders to the banks to stop rendering remittance services altogether, as well as suspend and remove members of management if they fail to comply with the guidelines, according to the letter. Guest Column Power Grab Brings Myanmar to Standstill Military trucks and armored personnel carriers are deployed in Naypyitaw on Feb. 3, 2021. / The Irrawaddy Myanmars military has seized control of the country after detaining de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other politicians in a pre-dawn raid Monday morning. There have been massive detentions in this military round up: all key politicians, the regional chief ministers, the top leadership of the governing National League for Democracy (NLD), most national and local members of Parliament, and hundreds of pro-democracy and human rights activists. Little is known about their whereabouts at present, though it appears that the Ladyas she is knownis under house arrest. But there are widespread fears about her continued safety and the other detainees. The power grab by the army follows months of heightened tension between the military and the civilian government in the aftermath of last Novembers election. This tension escalated significantly during the past week, with the country hurtling headlong into a serious confrontation. Since the middle of last week there have been substantial troop movements in the capital Naypyitaw and the main commercial city Yangon. Tanks and armored vehicles have been patrolling both cities. Routes out of Yangon and Naypyitaw have been blocked off at times. Both cities experienced large, rowdy demonstrations of pro-military supporters over the weekend. Ostensibly this was a conflict over the election results which are being strenuously disputed: the NLD convincingly won, according to the body that oversees electionsthe Union Election Commission (UEC)but the military and its political partners are alleging vigorously that the vote was rigged. Two pro-military partiesthe Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the Democratic Party for National Politics (DPNP)have even taken their case to the Supreme court to get redress for their complaint. On Friday, they applied to the Supreme Court for writs against the UEC on the basis of their evidence of election fraud. After hearing opening arguments, the court deferred its verdict for two weeks. There is no doubt that the electoral processespecially the voter listswas significantly flawed. Although local and international monitors agreed that the election was poorly run they believe the outcome was legitimate. The military is alleging that it has evidence of over 10 million cases of voter irregularities and fraud in Novembers polls, and is demanding the election commission release the electoral roll for cross-checking. According to the military there are more people registered on the countrys voter lists than the total population. The military has declared a state of emergency in reports and video messages broadcast on its own channel, Myawaddy TV. It also announced the creation of a caretaker government, led by the current vice president, former general Myint Swea military stalwart who was appointed by the army to the post back in 2016who has also been named as the new president; the transfer of all executive, judicial and legislative power to the commander-in-chief for the next 12 months; fresh elections; and the handing of power by the interim government to the winner of that election. Despite this draconian move, the army continues to insist it is acting legally and according to the Constitution. Its statement cited Article 417 of the Constitution, which permits a military takeover in the event of an emergency that threatens Myanmars sovereignty, or that could disintegrate the Union or national solidarity, which the army contends prompted it to act. As a pretext, the military is using the UECs alleged failure to address the huge irregularities in the November election, which the Tatmadaw said endangered the sovereignty of the people. The statement also claimed that the wide-spread protestslargely in support of election fraud claims, much of which was instigated by the militarywere threatening national stability. But this is flawed, for while the military says the takeover is constitutional, there has been a gross sleight of hand: Section 417 is supposed to be initiated by the President in consultation with the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC). The section says, the President may, after coordinating with the National Defense and Security Council, promulgate an ordinance and declare a state of emergency. But even then there are ambiguities, as the Constitution vaguely suggests it only has a coordinating role in regard to states of emergency. Officially the NDSC is made up of the President, two vice presidents (one from the military) the speakers of the two houses, the foreign minister, the army chief and his deputy and the three military-appointed ministersborder affairs, defense and home affairsgiving the military the majority in a vote. But the armys claim that the NDSC, in a meeting Monday morning, approved the state of emergency is spurious. The meeting in fact only included the six military representatives, chaired by Vice President U Myint Swe in the Presidents absence. The vice president can only deputize for the president in the event of his resignation, death, permanent disability or any other cause. Given that he has been detained, and his whereabouts are unknown, this is stretching legal niceties. Sources close to the NLD say the party is contesting the legality of U Myint Swes elevation to president, suggesting he has no legal power to revoke President U Win Myints authority and cannot legitimately be president. In the meantime there is public confusion, insecurity and uncertainty throughout Myanmar. So far the expected outburst of public protests has not happenedthough there have been a few sporadic rallies in Yangon already. In part that is because the NLD leadership and many of the pro-democracy activists have also been detainedand originally called on supporters to desist from public demonstrations. However, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi left a handwritten letterprepared in anticipation of her detentionwith other leaders of the NLD, according to senior party members, U Kyi Toe and U Win Htein. In it she urged her supporters not to accept the situation and protest peacefully against the coup. She suggested the militarys actions returned the country to a dictatorship. She insisted that the Tatmadaw (Myanmars military) clearly contravened their own Constitution, the election results and the will of the people. So although as yet the new military junta has not outlined its proposed plans for the next 12 months, nor appointed a cabinet, it has made clear its priorities. The Tatmadaw will govern to protect the economy, manage the COVID-19 crisis and finalize the peace process, according to its latest statement. The intention is to restore normality to peoples lives as quickly as possible: reopen factories, businesses, restaurants and schools, said a source close to some senior military figures. The idea is to de-dramatize the situation, and show how much more effective a government it is to the NLD. But many independent analysts and diplomats in Myanmar are skeptical, pointing to the NLDs overwhelming electoral victories in the 1990, 2015 and 2020 electionssuggesting that wont change in a years time, especially if the charismatic leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains in charge of the party. Larry Jagan is a specialist on Myanmar and a former BBC World Service News editor for the region. This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Coup Means Huge Losses for Thailands Border Trade Myanmars Medics Launch Civil Disobedience Campaign Against Coup China and West Differ Over Term for Myanmars Military Rule Freshman Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville continues building his staff. The Republican senator today announced the appointment of three key staffers who will handle military, veterans, NASA, and national security issues for his office. The three will coordinate with Alabamas armed forces and veterans; the Department of Defense; Congressional authorizing and appropriations committees; defense communities; and industry partners. The state of Alabama plays a critical role in our countrys national security with five military bases and our defense industry partners, according to a statement from Tuberville. From our Army Aviators at Ft. Rucker in the Wiregrass, to our airmen coming through Maxwell in Montgomery, to our missile defense and testing at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, to our shipyard in Mobile our state is a proud home to thousands of reservists, multiple guard units, and so many veterans who have proudly served their country. Morgan Murphy will serve as Senior Advisor for national security, foreign affairs, and intelligence matters. A Birmingham native, Murphy is a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Col. (Retired) Brian Naugher will oversee the interaction with all Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Emergency Management entities in the state as the Senior Defense Liaison. Naugher is a native of Opelika and now resides in Guntersville. Prior to joining Tubervilles staff, he served as commander of the 226 Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and Joint Task Force Tarpon. Ashley Satterfield will assist with constituent correspondence and legislation relating to military and veterans issues as the Military Legislative Correspondent. A native of Decatur, Alabama, Satterfield brings extensive background knowledge catering towards the aerospace and launch industry from her time spent working with United Launch Alliances Governmental Relations Department in D.C. KYIV. Feb 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The draft law on dual citizenship in Ukraine does not provide for any persecution of Ukrainian citizens who also have a Russian passport, said a co-author of the bill, Dmytro Mykysha, a deputy from the Servant of the People faction. There is a myth that supposedly we will persecute all citizens with Russian passports. No, for citizens who have one more foreign passport, or maybe several, we will provide the opportunity to come and voluntarily declare them," the MP said during a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday. At the same time, he suggested that it is possible that between the first and second readings the draft law will be amended on the lines for submitting the declaration of receipt (availability) and termination of foreign citizenship (allegiance). "We will expand some terms, in particular period for which it is necessary to declare them," he said. As reported, on January 25, three MPs from the Servant of the People faction, Oleh Dunda, Oleksandr Aleksiychuk and Dmytro Mykysha, registered three bills that would permit to have dual citizenship. In bill No. 4640, the authors propose to amend law on citizenship, which provides citizens of Ukraine with the right to obtain citizenship (allegiance) of a foreign state without losing the citizenship of Ukraine. The proposed changes also allow foreigners to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing the citizenship of their country. In addition, it is proposed to introduce a declaration of the presence (absence) of foreign citizenship (allegiance) and keeping records of Ukrainian citizens who have citizenship of other states. Bill No. 4641 provides for the establishment of criminal liability for failure to inform a citizen of Ukraine of the citizenship (allegiance) of the aggressor state. For this it is proposed to punish with imprisonment from two to five years. At the same time, bill No. 4642 proposes to amend the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and provide for the imposition of a fine from 20,000 to 20,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens (from UAH 340,000 to UAH 510,000) for violating the deadlines for submitting a declaration of receipt (availability), termination of foreign citizenship (allegiance) or the submission of deliberately false information in the declaration. The military government that seized power in Myanmar will get along well with its authoritarian neighbor China in the long term, despite historical misgivings, and grow closer if international sanctions isolate the Southeast Asian state from Western powers, observers say. Myanmar's military took control of the country Monday and declared a year-long state of emergency. Civilian de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, was detained in the power shift, prompting condemnation from Western governments. China might fumble at first to work with the new Myanmar leader, Min Aung Hlaing, because the military resents China's involvement in a now suspended hydropower dam, cross-border shipments of Myanmar's natural gas and other influence over the economy in the past 20 years, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. The professor said the two sides will eventually move forward because, unlike leaders in the West, China's communist government feels no domestic pressure to condemn another authoritarian state. "China is an all-weather friend, and you can see that when countries take an authoritarian turn, like Myanmar just did this week," he said. "It's to China's advantage because China does not have the democratic trappings and conditions on domestic governance, so it can be any kind of regime and its fine with China." In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday his government was still trying to understand the "situation" in Myanmar. China is Myanmar's "friendly neighbor," Wang said as quoted on the ministry website, and "we hope all parties in Myanmar can settle disputes and maintain social and political stability by using the constitution and the laws." The military takeover stemmed from November's parliamentary elections. The then-ruling National League for Democracy won in a landslide over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. The military, which ran Myanmar for nearly 50 years before the first democratic government emerged after 2011 under Aung San Suu Kyi, raised accusations of voter fraud. China and Myanmar fundamentally got along before the recent events, though Myanmar was pursuing stronger ties with Japan and the West at the same time to offset Chinese influence. Tributes have been paid to a tragic mum-of-two who died in hospital today after an alleged assault in Dublin city centre on January 20. Urantsetseg Tserendorj (48), who was originally from Mongolia but working and living and Dublin, was hospitalised on January 20. She suffered serious injuries following an alleged assault and robbery near Custom House Quay, Dublin 1, at around 9.30pm. A 15-year-old has since been charged in relation to the incident. Local Independent councillor Nial Ring said the tragic news brings in to focus the need to tackle knife crime in the area. There are over 2,000 Mongolian citizens working in Ireland and a huge number live around the inner city, as did Urantsetseg, and all they want is a better life for themselves and their families. Urantsetseg lived in the area with her daughter (her son moved abroad to study). This tragic news again bring into focus the necessity and indeed obligation on us all to tackle this problem. On Monday night Dublin City Councillors backed a motion to get the Minister for Justice to set up a task force on knife crime and demanding that the bill Jim O'Callaghan put before the Dail recommending doubling of the knife crime/carrying sentence be enacted. It is incumbent on us to follow up and ensure these initiatives are carried out., he said. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and with the grieving Mongiolian community. Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis, Mr Ring added. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:25:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has commended Zambian President Edgar Lungu over his commitment to bilateral relations between the two countries. Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Jie said Tuesday China was glad that bilateral cooperation has remained sound and resulted in the achievement of milestones in the health sector. The Chinese envoy was speaking during a virtual meeting with Zambia's Minister of Health Jonas Chanda, according to a release from the ministry. He further said China was currently hosting about 5,000 Zambian students, another mark of sound relations between the two countries. He further assured of China's continued support to Zambia in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. On his part, the Zambian minister expressed gratitude over the continued support offered by China and other cooperating partners to the health sector. The support, he said, has resulted in enhancing human resource development and technical support in many sectors including health. He further commended China for pledging to enhance their support in the provision of oxygen, a critical commodity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem [February 03, 2021] Orange Announces the Opening of Nine Orange 5G Labs to Enable Economic Players to Bring 5G Uses to Life According to an Orange (News - Alert) study conducted with GlobalWebIndex, 72% of companies currently say they expect their operator to provide support regarding 5G to test, experiment and develop ahead of time. The Orange 5G Labs initiative meets this demand and aims to help economic players to better understand the opportunities, value and utility of 5G. There, they will be able to test their current solutions and services and think about new uses while taking advantage of an ecosystem to co-innovate and already start changing their business model and processes. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005458/en/ Orange is launching this initiative by opening a real network of Orange 5G Lab sites in France and abroad in 2021 (Credit: Orange) "We believe that 5G will drive business competition and regional development. This is why Orange is involved in a co-innovation approach focused on 5G to create the uses of the future. Having a local presence close to these players is a key part of the Orange 5G Labs initiative, to support the digital transformation of economic players and to help everyone take advantage of 5G's potential," said Michael Trabbia, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Orange. Orange 5G Lab - sites close to local ecosystems Orange is launching this initiative by opening a real network of Orange 5G Lab sites in France and abroad in 2021. It will be deployed in the regions to best meet the needs of local authorities and companies - start-ups, SMEs, big companies - regardless of their sector. In France, seven sites will host all the companies and local authorities, regardless of their sector. The Orange 5G Lab site in Chatillon (Paris region) is opening today. The others will gradually open in six other French towns: Lille, Lyon-Charbonnieres, Marseille, Paris-La Defense, Rennes and Toulouse. Certain sites will specialise in a specific field but will not be devoted exclusively to this area. For example, the Lyon lab, located at the Campus Region du Numerique at Charbonnieres-les-Bains, will be focused on Industry 4.0, and the Cur Defense site in the Customer Innovation Centre will be more focused on Orange Business Services' (News - Alert) major clients. The initative will also be rolled out in European countries where the Group has a presence during the first half of 2021. An Orange 5G Lab will open in Bucharest in Romania in partnership with the University Politehnica of Bucharest to foster the development of commercial projects, research and innovation. In Belgium, the lab will be located near the Orange Industry 4.0 campus in the Port of Antwerp. In this Orange 5G Lab, different use cases that have already been developed in collaboration with industrial partners in the port will be demonstrated, such as the augmented worker or critical communication systems. In addition, a 5G challenge for start-ups and developers will start in Spain at the end of February to develop new applications. The winners will be supported by the Orange 5G Lab initiative, including access to experts and 5G equipment in France. Services and support provided to economic players The services provided are based on: a programme to learn about 5G and the uses made possible through demonstrations and activities. It is supplemented by a website - 5glab.orange.com and a series of thematic and educational webinars. the opportunity for the players involved to test their products and services in a 5G environment ahead of their deployment or on the commercial network, under real conditions. They will be able to rely on 5G equipment of the future (augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, routers, 5G devices, 5G modules). In addition to the 5G environment, Edge computing functionalities will also be provided in some Orange 5G Labs to test services requiring a shorter response time for instance. The companies will be supported by Orange technical, network and product experts and the entire Orange 5G Lab ecosystem providing synergies and additional resources. In addition to the 'bricks-and-mortar' sites, virtual digital access will also be set up to enable all relevant players to effectively collaborate remotely. Companies that are interested, regardless of whether they are Orange customers or not, can talk to their preferred contact or identify themselves on the 5glab.orange.com site. The Orange 5G Lab initiative is a concrete illustration of the 5G communication campaign Orange has just launched: 'The most innovative thing about 5G is what we'll do with it'. About Orange Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications carriers with a turnover of 42 billion in 2019 and 143,000 employees as at 30 September 2020, of which 83,000 are in France. The Group has a total customer base of 256 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2020, including 212 million mobile customers and 21 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 26 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In December 2019, the Group presented its new "Engage 2025" strategic plan, which, guided by social and environmental accountability, aims to reinvent its operator model. While accelerating in growth areas and placing data and AI at the heart of its innovation model, the Group will be an attractive and responsible employer, adapted to emerging professions. Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN). To find out more (online and via your mobile device), go to: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com or to follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) : @orangegrouppr. Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005458/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A man has been charged with assault after he allegedly slapped and kicked a woman at a bubble tea store. The 39-year-old man, believed to be a customer, was arrested on Tuesday evening after footage of the alleged assault went viral and sparked outrage online. He allegedly assaulted the 20-year-old female inside the store on Gouger Street, Adelaide, last Friday night. A man has been charged with assault after he allegedly slapped and kicked a woman at an Adelaide bubble tea store The alleged incident occurred at a Gouger Street, Adelaide business last Friday night South Australia police said in a statement they will allege the man assaulted the woman by striking her in the face and kicking her in the stomach. The man was bailed to appear before Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 7. The woman was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment. The video of the alleged incident showed a young female speaking in Mandarin to a man in a grey shirt before a second man wearing a black shirt walked into frame. A translation posted by viewers of the clip claimed the young woman accused the man of using free labour. Police investigations remain ongoing. Matt Hancock was today urged to ensure every vulnerable Briton gets their second dose of Oxford Universitys coronavirus vaccine within 12 weeks amid fears they may receive less protection if their top-up is delayed. A landmark study last night showed a single dose of the jab made alongside drug giant AstraZeneca was 76 per cent effective at preventing coronavirus symptoms after three months. But researchers admitted they are still not sure whether the single dose offers any protection past the 12-week mark when the second jab must be given under the UK's roll-out plans. Layla Moran, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Covid, called on the Health Secretary to 'guarantee' the most vulnerable will not miss out on doses. 'To ensure no one is left behind, the Government should ring-fence vaccine supplies for the clinically vulnerable right now, while it has stocks, to prevent a crisis further down the line,' she told MailOnline. And virologist Professor Lawrence Young appealed to ministers to ensure all second doses were rolled out within 12 weeks, saying 'you would not want to leave it much longer than that'. In a bid to get wider vaccine coverage more quickly, Britain's regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the shot to 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions and deaths. But as the drive enters its ninth week there are concerns that the target may not be met amid 'lumpy' supply of vaccines and some of the most vulnerable may have to wait for a second dose. It comes as Boris Johnson today praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid amid calls for No10 to get a grip on the 'lackadaisical approach' to dishing out jabs on Sundays. Layla Moran, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Covid, called on the Health Secretary to 'guarantee' the most vulnerable will not miss out on doses. Virologist Professor Lawrence Young said he would not want to leave the second dose much longer than 12 weeks Research found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was 84% effective at preventing Covid-19 with doses 12 weeks apart and it appeared to get better the further apart the doses were (shown graph top left, how the protection level changed based on the dose spacing). And it also proved that there was a high level of protection from disease for weeks and even months after even just a single dose (bottom graph, showing how the efficacy of the vaccine remained high for almost 100 days after dose one) GOVERNMENT KNEW SOUTH AFRICAN COVID VARIANT WAS IN UK IN DECEMBER The Government knew the troublesome South African Covid variant was spreading in England in December but did not launch a mass testing drive to find cases until this week. On December 22, the first two people with the variant in the UK were discovered by Public Health England and neither of them had been to South Africa but contracted the virus from someone who had. Another case without travel links was then discovered on January 5, which PHE now admits needed 'further investigation'. Eight more were found on January 26. No10's frantic door-to-door testing campaign began properly yesterday one week after the discovery of those eight to try to thwart the spread of the virus in at least eight areas across the country. But critics have claimed it is too late to try to contain the variant now and that it was 'astonishing' that a greater effort hadn't been made earlier. The dates provided by Public Health England are the ones marking when the virus was sequenced, meaning the 11 people were actually infected days or possibly even weeks earlier. By the time community testing had begun, scientists said the virus could already have spread to multiple other people in every area. Another expert added: 'The variant genie is well and truly out of the bottle.' Advertisement Calling on the Government not to further stretch the time between doses, Professor Young from Warwick Medical School said: 'I do worry that even though we have really good efficacy after one dose - we do need to ensure that people have the second. 'The thing about the Oxford result is that nobody that was vaccinated after a single dose was hospitalised after the 22 days period so that is great news. 'But I think we need to make sure that people are fully protected so I think that second dose is really important.' He added that although the rollout was impressive ministers should be careful not to 'take their eye off the ball', as some feared happened over the summer which aided Covid-19's resurgence in the winter months. The scientific community remains divided over whether the gap between doses can be stretched, although there is now growing consensus it could be expanded beyond three weeks. Some experts have cautioned the Covid-19 jabs have not been tested with longer gaps between doses, meaning top medics cannot be sure of their effectiveness. But others say there is already a wealth of research suggesting the space between doses could be pushed even further. Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, even suggested it could be extended to six months, although he added it was 'preferable' to keep it within 12 weeks. 'I appreciate the argument that you don't want the time to slip further, but scientifically I'm not sure it is quite the issue some people are making it,' he said. 'You wouldn't want to stretch it for more than six months but three is probably okay. 'It is not the case that the window is suddenly slammed shut after the first dose. It closes slowly and so as long as you get in while it's open that's okay.' Vaccination clinics are already starting to get set to offer second doses, with the drive entering its 12th week in the second half of February. Dr John Williams, a GP working at a Covid-19 vaccine clinic in the East Midlands, told MailOnline their team was organising for some patients to come back eight weeks after their first dose. But he added as they were coming from different counties, there were some differences in the gap being advised by local groups. A second GP in the region, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline they were concerned it was not possible to get details of deliveries more than a week in advance - meaning they could face insufficient stocks for second doses. Mr Hancock has blamed 'lumpy supply' for blips in Britain's rollout, after ministers revealed plans to hand out jabs during the night were going to be scrapped. Yet figures show a sharp drop-off in uptake on Sundays. For example last Sunday there were 46 per cent fewer jabs administered compared to the day before dropping from almost 600,000 to 320,000. Think-tanks have accused clinics of taking a 'lacksidaisical approach' to inoculations on the last day of the working week, and called on them to keep 'firing on all cylinders at every single point'. It comes as Britain's coronavirus vaccination drive continues to ramp up. Pictured is Lesley Mitchell, 75, receiving his first dose of the jab at Newmarket Racecourse, Suffolk Mixing doses has also been forbidden by the UK's medicines regulator, meaning those who receive a Pfizer/BioNTech jab as their first dose should also get this as their second. This will leave clinics reliant on getting the same supplies a second time round for organising second doses, in order to avoid asking patients to wait longer. Studies on natural infections have suggested immunity against the virus could last beyond six months, meaning the same beneficial effect could also be reflected in vaccines. The UK Biobank yesterday estimated nine in 10 Covid survivors have protection against re-infection for at least six months. The Oxford study was a huge boost to the UK's immunisation drive, after the EU and regulators in Germany and France insisted there was 'insufficient data' to back Britain's approach. They found the vaccine had an efficacy of 54.9 per cent when it was administered in two doses within six weeks of each other. But this rose to 82.4 per cent when the second dose was pushed back 12 weeks or more. Boris Johnson tweeted yesterday: 'Really encouraging data from a new study today shows the Oxford/AZ vaccine provides significant protection against the virus.' Mr Hancock described the findings as 'hugely encouraging', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' The strategy has helped make Britain a world-leader in vaccinations, with 10million people now injected with at least a single dose of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's jab. The Acetic Acid Market is poised to experience spend growth of more than USD 2.47 billion between 2021-2025 at a CAGR of over 3.75%. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Request free sample pages This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006253/en/ SpendEdge has announced the release of its Global Acetic Acid Market Procurement Intelligence Report (Graphic: Business Wire) Read the 120-page research report with TOC and LOE on "Acetic Acid Market Procurement Intelligence Report, Pricing Outlook in Geographies that include APAC, North America, South America, and MEA, and insights into best practices to optimize procurement spend." SpendEdge's reports now include an in-depth complimentary analysis of the COVID-19 impact on procurement and the latest market data to help your company overcome sourcing challenges. Our Acetic Acid Market procurement intelligence report offers actionable procurement intelligence insights, sourcing strategies, and action plans to mitigate risks arising out of the current pandemic situation. The insights offered by our reports will help procurement professionals streamline supply chain operations and gain insights into the best procurement practices to mitigate losses. Information on Latest Trends and Supply Chain Market Information Knowledge centre on COVID-19 impact assessment Insights into the Market Price Trends Suppliers in this market have moderate bargaining power owing to moderate pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants. Buyers can benchmark their preferred pricing models for acetic acid Market, Procurement, Management with the wider industry information and identify the cost-saving potential. Insights to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their Acetic Acid Market requirements. This procurement report answers the following questions: Am I engaging with the right suppliers? Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers? Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for? What are the Acetic Acid Market category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx? To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment, Subscribe Now for Free. Insights into strategies that will help buyers optimize their category management practices. The report answers the following questions: What should be my strategic procurement objectives, activities, and enablers for the Acetic Acid Market category? What negotiation levers can I pull for cost-saving? What are Acetic Acid Market procurement best practices I should be promoting in my supply chain? Some of the top Acetic Acid Market suppliers enlisted in this report This Acetic Acid Market procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. CELANESE Corp. Eastman Chemical Co. LyondellBasell Industries NV Wacker Chemie AG SINOPEC Corp. BASF SE PetroChina Co. Ltd. Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) GNFC Ltd. SABIC DuPont de Nemours Inc. Hydrite Chemical Co. Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006253/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us Told from the perspective of Balram, a poor, lower-caste Bihari hired as a driver for an abroad-returned couple, The White Tiger is, among other things, also a play on the idea of the selfless servant, a trope popularised by Indian pop-culture, in particular Hindi cinema. Theres a scene in Ramin Bahranis The White Tiger, adapted from Aravind Adigas eponymous 2008 Booker Prize-winning novel that drives home the central pledge that tethers a servant to their master in India: dogged devotion. After Ashok (Rajkummar Rao), the New York-returned heir of an affluent Indian family finds out that his wife, Pinky (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) has abandoned him and decamped to America in the wake of an unforeseen tragedy, he flies into a fit of rage. His anger is predominantly directed at his driver Balram (a sensational Adarsh Gourav), who drove Pinky to the airport. It can be argued that Balram, unaware of domestic tensions between the couple, was simply doing his job. But Ashok chooses to see it as an act of betrayal, as a matter of Balram going behind his back and siding with Pinky even though his loyalties should lie foremost with Ashok, his employer. What ensues is a frenzied physical altercation between the two men that eventually culminates into Balram overstepping his boundaries and slighting Ashok. Over the next two days, all communication ceases between Ashok and Balram. Had he gone back to America and not told me?, Balram wonders as he waits to hear back from Ashok, fearful that his indiscretion might have cost him his job. When he finally gathers the courage to show his face to his employer, he finds a grief-stricken Ashok on the floor inebriated, in immediate need of tending. In that moment, the humiliation that Ashok underwent at Ashoks hands becomes a mere footnote; what takes centrestage is his duty toward serving his master. In the following minutes, its as if Balram shifts gears, busying himself to clean up after Ashok like a frantic mother caring for a newborn baby. In a way, this sequence underlines the crucial difference between an employee and a servant: an employee works for someone else, but a servant devotes their life to someone else. If an employee co-exists with their employer, a servant is meant to live for their master. To that end, Indian servants dont have employers, they are owned. Released on Netflix last month, The White Tiger is at its heart, a capitalist fable, a reckoning of two Indias encroaching on each other. But told from the perspective of Balram, a poor, lower-caste Bihari hired as a driver for an abroad-returned couple, the film is also a play on the idea of the selfless servant, a trope popularised by Indian pop-culture, in particular Hindi cinema. In Indian society and in depictions in Hindi cinema, a servant has always been identified by their subservience; by their willingness to go out of their way to serve their master at the cost of humiliation or even self-erasure. Its perhaps why even when servants have been indispensable in innumerable narratives in Hindi cinema, theyve always existed in the fringes (think Daijaan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... or Kantaben in Kal Ho Naa Ho). Thats not the case in The White Tiger, where Balram is given the reins of the story what the viewer sees is effectively, his version of the events that drastically alter the course of his life. Thats not just a shift in point of view, but also of a correction of gaze: usually, a servants voice is not even one that as a culture, were trained to recognise. In that sense, The White Tiger, although flawed and timid, is an antidote, simply because it is built on excavating the desires of an Indian servant. The politics of devotion as well as its payback forms the crux of the film. For instance, Bahrani explores the selflessness expected out of servitude through its limitations, which in this case is Balram realising that his duty of serving his master poses a conflict to his own personal aspirations of rising above in life. Most movies usually lead us to believe that domestic freelancers have no option but to live out a life in submission but The White Tiger pokes its needles deep, revealing that in an unbalanced society, its easier to take away options from the oppressed than it is to give them rights. The class struggle in the film is then, both personal and political. To that end, The White Tiger also foregrounds the cruel irony of devotion by crafting itself as a story about payback. Balram turning on Ashok isnt primed up to be a shock, but instead as an eventuality. The thing about an employer demanding devotion from his subjects is that no display of it will ever be enough for him. In the film, Balram arguably displays the highest form of devotion by agreeing to take blame for a tragedy to save the family from the untoward consequences. Yet, is this devotion that comes to cost him when Ashok blames him for not stopping Pinky from leaving him. If anything, the film shatters a long-held idea that loyalty is the ultimate reward and reframes it as a form of violence. Watching that scene play out in The White Tiger, I instantly thought of Rohena Geras Sir, another 2021 release that revolved around a domestic servant. Although the scope of the film a tender indictment of the connections lost amid the webs of class hierarchy is entirely different from The White Tiger, the language of devotion is exactly the same. The film tells the story of Ratna (Tilottoma Shome), a young, widowed help who works at the house of Ashwin (Vivek Gomber), her America-returned employer who is recovering from a wedding cancelled at the last-minute. Throughout the course of Sir, the viewer is privy to Ratnas obedience from time to time: she is thoughtful, agreeable, and ultimately selfless. But theres one scene that captures the full extent of her devotion. Despite being vegetarian, Ratna cooks mutton curry for Ashwin in a bid to lift up his spirits. It becomes evident that this is the first time she is cooking meat: she maintains a distance from the mutton even as she prepares it, takes ample care to taste only the curry, and keeps referring to a handwritten recipe to confirm that the dish is on the right track. Yet, her diligence, the very act of going against her beliefs, ends up accounting for nothing when Ashwin comes back home and informs Ratna that he is not hungry and wont be having dinner. Ultimately, devotion is yet another thankless form of labour, a truth that as The White Tiger proves, the Indian upper-class would rather not have their servants find out. Over 16 opposition parties had demanded a five-hour standalone discussion on the farmer protests, which the government agreed to increase to 15. The discussion will take place in the Rajya Sabha, where Question Hour has been suspended for two days. New Delhi : The farmer protests will be discussed for 15 hours in parliament, the government agreed today in a breakthrough in its talks with the opposition. Pralhad Joshi, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, made the announcement after agreeing to the opposition's demand. "Since the government has accepted this proposal we are ready for a discussion," said Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress. There will be no Question hour and private members' bills will not be taken on Friday to accommodate the discussion on farmers who have been protesting since November on highways outside Delhi against three central laws that they believe will drastically reduce their income by taking away guaranteed minimum prices for their crops and by leaving them open to exploitation by big corporates. This follows after Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma on Wednesday gave a suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha over the ongoing farmer agitation against Central agri laws. Several other opposition parties including Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India-Marxist MPs also moved suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha over ongoing farmer agitation. The Opposition on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected the 'suspension of business notice' to discuss ongoing protest over the contentious farm laws. Lok Sabha also witnessed three adjournments on Tuesday as opposition parties protested against the new farm laws. Dhaka, Feb 3 : A large majority of countries on the index recorded a decline in their total score compared with 2019 amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the average global score falling from 5.44 in 2019 to 5.37 to hit an all-time low. The 2020 result represents a significant deterioration mostly brought about by government-imposed restrictions on individual freedoms and civil liberties that occurred across the globe in response to the pandemic, the report said Bangladesh made a 'marginal' improvement in terms of upholding democratic norms which pushed its overall score up to 5.99 to rank 76th on Democracy Index 2020, from 80th place with a score of 5.88 a year ago, the bdnews24 reported. The South Asian nation, however, is still classified as a hybrid regime and lags behind neighbouring India, which slipped two places to 53 with an overall score of 6.61 as a result of democratic backsliding under the leadership of Narendra Modi, according to the EIU. The increasing influence of religion under the Modi premiership, whose policies have fomented anti-Muslim feeling and religious strife, has damaged the political fabric of the country while the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 continued to fuel riots in 2020, the report said. However, one of the biggest country downgrades involved Myanmar which fell down the global rankings by 13 spots to 135 as a result of 'mass voter suppression', particularly in the volatile Rakhine state, during the November 2020 elections. In 2020, the regional score deteriorated to its lowest level since 2013 as official measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic led to some of the most severe constraints on individual freedoms and civil liberties in the world. China, Singapore, South Korea and others went much further than the rest of the world in tracking and policing their citizens and locking them down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, more than half of the countries in the region recorded a fall in their total score. Meanwhile, the US' performance across several indicators changed in 2020, with the negatives outweighing the positives, as the country, which ranks 25th, retained its "flawed democracy" status. Increased political participation was the main positive stemming from the politicisation of the coronavirus pandemic, movements to address police violence and racial injustice, and elections that attracted record voter turnout. Meanwhile, the biggest winner in this year's Democracy Index, measured by the change in both its score and rank, is Taiwan, which was upgraded from a "flawed democracy" to a "full democracy", after rising 20 places in the global ranking from 31st place to 11th. In western Europe, France and Portugal moved from the "full democracy" category to the "flawed democracy" one, with only three countries -- Italy, Turkey and the UK - improving their scores in 2020. Norway retained the top spot in the 2020 Index while North Korea remained at the bottom. The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: "full democracy", "flawed democracy", "hybrid regime" or "authoritarian regime". NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- When it comes to tasty frozen treats, Brusters Real Ice Creams tagline is A Scoop Above The Rest. Come this spring, North Olmsted residents will get a chance to find out for themselves when the franchise opens at a former Firehouse Subs located at 27048 Lorain Road. Tiger Najjar grew up in North Olmsted and now -- along with his business partner and childhood friend Dr. Ramez Assad -- is proud to bring the artisan ice cream store to the city. I have five children that all attend North Olmsted Schools and all participate in community activities, said Najjar, a 1996 North Olmsted High School graduate who also owns and operates a Mobil Gas Station in Strongsville. Ive witnessed the community grow over the years, and love living here. Its home. This is why Im excited to open this business in my hometown, he said. The roughly 3,000-square-foot building is currently under renovation. When finished, the store will have inside seating, patio tables and benches, as well as roll-up garage doors. There also will be a drive-thru for ice cream lovers on the run. We thought it would be a great location, said Westlake resident Assad, who owns a dental practice in Elyria. Theres no real major ice cream in North Olmsted. This is premium ice cream. Brusters Ice Cream is part owners of a dairy farm. Theyre able to get very fresh dairy delivered to the franchisee as often as we need it. The batches of ice cream are made fresh daily. Were kind of likening it to the farm-to-table concept, but were calling it from cow to cone. We pride ourselves on quality. Wait until you taste it. Expected to open in late April or early May, the North Olmsted Brusters Real Ice Cream will pull from more than 150 recipes of smooth ice cream made from real ingredients. The North Olmsted location will boast at least 24 fresh flavors daily, as well as offer yogurt, sorbets, ices, sherbets and non-dairy items. The large variety of premium flavors and artisan desserts are made right in the store, where they are served in crunchy, handmade waffle cones or as customized sundaes, candy-filled blasts and thick milkshakes. Each location also offers customized cakes and pies. Based in Bridgewater, Pa., Brusters Real Ice Cream has nearly 200 independently owned locations in 22 states, Guyana and South Korea. Assad is optimistic that local ice cream consumers will share the same experience he and his partner had when traveling to the nearest Brusters Real Ice Cream in Columbus to try out the tasty treat for the first time. We fell in love as soon as we took a bite, Assad said. Its just premium ice cream. All of the ingredients are fresh. We tasted a good dozen flavors when we were in Columbus and ended up bringing six pints home. In fact, weve actually been ordering from one of the reps who brings the ice cream on dry ice to Cleveland. Added Najjar: Whether residents love ice cream like me, its a team celebrating a victory or just a couple out for dessert after dinner, I believe this business will be a great asset to the community -- a place where families can enjoy fresh-made, quality ice cream. Read more news from the Sun Post Herald. 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 State missed a 12-day window of opportunity to vaccinate vulnerable nursing home residents and staff, 369 of whom died from Covid-19 last month alone. A total of 1,543 staff and residents in care homes have now lost their lives to the virus. That's almost half of the 3,418 death toll from Covid-19 to date. The figures, revealed at the Oireachtas health committee, came as the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed a further 101 deaths. That is the highest number it has reported on any single day of the pandemic so far. Of those deaths, 83 were in January and the rest this month. One of those whose deaths was announced last night was just 19 years old. On a more positive note, the number of new infections dropped below 1,000 for a second time in a week with 879 cases confirmed last night. During the third wave of the pandemic, the number of Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes has increased fivefold, from 34 in mid-December to 193 by the end of January. Dr Kathleen MacLellan, assistant secretary at the Department of Health's social care division said high case levels everywhere affected the homes. Yvonne O'Neill, national director of community operations at the HSE, said the high level of infections over the Christmas period had created immense challenges in the safe, effective delivery of services in the nursing home sector. However Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, criticised the gap between the vaccine arriving in Ireland on December 26 and the first nursing home vaccinations on January 7. We do feel a critical window of opportunity was missed. With nursing home residents the most susceptible to the virus, just 10% of the initial 77,000 vaccinations administered by mid-January were within nursing homes. Every day is vital for our nursing home residents and staff. HSE data shows 7,925 vaccinations were given in residential centres, but 69,378 to healthcare workers by January 13. Speaking after the hearing, Mr Daly said: It is a legitimate question. Should we, and could we, have moved faster? There are nursing homes saying to me now we were so close [before Covid-19 hit]." Nursing homes are also currently facing a staffing crisis. The committee heard there are now almost 2,000 staff on Covid-leave from 100 nursing homes nationally. There are 200 HSE staff redeployed to the homes including 60 to private homes, even though they make up about 80% of the sector. Mr Daly said: Staffing is the predominant emergency that presents today across our health services. He said within homes with outbreaks, available staff are going to extraordinary lengths "at huge personal sacrifice" to ensure continuity of care. A Santa Maria couple that runs a family care center has sued Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services for placing a foster child into their home who had been accused of sexually assaulting other children, according to a lawsuit filed last month in Los Angeles federal court. column It would look like there is nothing the Buhari government or the President himself does that will satisfy his critics. But while I would not deny there are opponents like that who would never be satisfied with what the President does no matter the merit of his actions, I am also inclined to think that the President is most times the cause of his own troubles given his preference to sit as if on his palms watching as things rot before him. His failure to do the right thing at the right time is a malady he must overcome if he wants to be treated differently by Nigerians, especially opponents whom he provides fodder for their cannon of criticism. Take as example the recent change of service chiefs who have long outlived both their usefulness and welcome - exhausted men long overdue for retirement and who would rather be home but for the rigid insistence of the President who chose to keep them in office against all wise counsel. The change Nigerians wanted in the so-called security architecture of the country finally came and many must wonder if it was in response to the renewed clamour from Nigerians in the wake of the tension created by herdsmen/farmers clashes in the Ibarapa region of Oke Ogun in Oyo State. One cannot link this to the insurgency and banditry in the North. Those look like hopeless cases to which Abuja and governors of the states concerned have resigned to fate, opting for the easy route of appeasement or simply looking away from the events, terrible as they are. No, nobody can explain the logic behind Buhari's removal of the former service chiefs at this time or if it was to accept that the majority of Nigerians who had sometimes with tears in their eyes sought the sacking of the chiefs had been right all along. But presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in his usual feline complacency, said the change was done "in due time". What Adesina meant by his resort to Biblical register is known only to him, but "in due time" would suggest the President's action was carefully planned, that there was a threshold beyond which he would not have allowed things to degenerate further before changing his security chiefs. Was that threshold crossed last week? Did President Buhari have to wait until the unspeakable carnage that came in the wake of the security failures and breakdown around the country before deciding it was time to allow the brass hats go home? After how many thousand deaths? As the Yoruba would say, when a man spends three years learning the rudiments of madness, at what point would he run into the market naked? At what point would he start chewing raw wood? And when Buhari finally decided to move "in due time", booting out his weary chiefs by appointing news ones, he did it without seeking legislative assent for the new appointments. This is not the first time Buhari would be making appointments requiring legislative approval. It is, unfortunately, not also the first time he would do so without first seeking legislative support. The President and his minders seem to be so fixed in their alpha and omega ways that the idea that there are other co-equal arms of government apart from the executive often comes to them as an afterthought. When people criticise this, it is given a political slant where it is not categorised as hate speech. The fact that government continues to make the same mistakes over and again, leaving room for alike partisan and non-partisan critics to take pot shot at it does not invalidate the criticisms made. Nor does calling such criticism political make them so. It is government that must step up its game and move beyond what one might call unforced errors. The Buhari government has a host of well-known lawyers of established legal acumen, including the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. Attempting to seal appointments which the Constitution says require legislative approval six years into an elective administration is sheer executive foolishness. This is trite knowledge that the APC-led Buhari administration manages to bungle ever so often. It is an unnecessary embarrassment to the likes of the VP and Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour, who had himself spearheaded activities against previous governments that sought to behave unilaterally. It might be argued that the President has written to the National Assembly on the appointments of the new service chiefs. But this was after the likes of Femi Falana and many other Nigerians had raised their voice to condemn the patent violation of the Constitution. Yet there is an Abubukar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, right there in the Presidency. Even as things stand now, the confirmation of the new service chiefs by the Senate is already reduced to a fait accompli as the former chiefs have with fanfare and in their eagerness to take their exit handed over the instruments of their offices to the new men who have effectively taken over. The appointments have been signed, sealed and delivered. When the new chiefs appear before the Senate it would be simply to "take a bow" and go home. Who dares overturn an appointment already made by "Mr. President"? Talk of a rubber stamp Senate or National Assembly and you find the one presently headed by Ahmed Lawan, who amid a raging pandemic led party "faithful" and no less than 14 governors of the APC to accompany the President on a wasteful journey to his home state to revalidate his membership of their party, a totally avoidable "super spreader" event. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. This action is coming from the same government and president that only a couple of days before signed off on an order seeking to enforce the use of face mask and observance of other non-pharmaceutical protocols for the containment of COVID-19. The President himself has not been a regular user of face masks, the use of which he now wants to enforce on Nigerians. Has leading by example suddenly gone out of fashion? I mean the contradictions are simply too many, irrational and mind-boggling. When government regularly threatens Nigerians with another lockdown, it came up with a non-starter of a demand that Nigerians obtain a national identity number within a limited period, setting off unnecessary panic among a people now compelled to crowd the few available registration centres. Government has created a wonderful avenue to ensure the spreading of a deadly disease and yet affects innocence as it goes about breathing fire and brimstone about an impending lockdown. Yet Femi Adesina warns of plans of a smear campaign against Buhari by opposition elements. Muhammadu Buhari needs no opposition. Representative image Praveen Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, currently serving as Additional Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been appointed the officiating Director of the countrys premier investigative agency with immediate effect. Praveen Sinha (file image The two-year term of incumbent director, RK Shukla, ends on February 3. Sinhas appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, the government said. Praveen Sinha, IPS (GJ:88) Additional Director CBI shall with immediate effect look after the duties of Director CBI.. till the appointment of a new Director, or until further orders, a note issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions read. Shukla, a Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer, was appointed to head the agency in 2019 after the then CBI Director Alok Verma was removed by the government following an ugly spat with his deputy Rakesh Asthana. Sources said the agency will get a full-time director in two weeks. BSF chief Rakesh Asthana, NIA chief YC Mody and CISF chief Subodh Jaiswal and Kerala DGP Loknath Behera are among the contenders for the top job. The full-time CBI chief will be picked in the meeting of the high-powered committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is presently vacant. TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) About 1 in every 5 high school students reported they used electronic cigarettes in a 30 day period last year. That's according to the CDC. "There are a lot of dab pens, which is like marijuana," said Lafayette Jeff Junior Draiden Robinette. "Juul was a big one, but I haven't seen those in years." Robinette said vaping is a common habit in his school. "It's super common," he explained. "Like in the bathrooms during the breaks and stuff." It doesn't stop in the bathrooms. Robinette said it's happening in classrooms too. "They have it in their hoodies and they just, like, take a hit off it and then they blow the smoke into their hoodies or they swallow it," Robinette said. Tippecanoe School Corporation Student Resource Officer Aaron Gilman said he isn't surprised. Lafayette Jeff Principal Mark Preston said it's a problem there too. "I would say on a normal year, non-COVID, it's probably a couple of times a week that we deal with it," Preston said. "Those would be the situations in which we're able to catch the student or be made aware of. It doesn't mean it's not going on that we're not aware of it." However, Gilman said it's not just happening at the high school level. "We actually have seen it at the middle school level as well," Gilman explained. When a student is caught both corporations said it's handled at an administrative level with disciplinary action. Then, the SRO issues the student a citation. However, both corporations are taking steps to educate students about the effects of vaping among teens. "We've got a relationship with our health teachers and we try to get in there for at least that section of their classes so we can talk with them specifically about the down and dirty on vaping," Gilman said. Gilman and Preston said education should continue at home. "I think it's really important to communicate with your kids and have that open dialogue is most important," said Preston. "It really does fall on parents to step up and really be engaged in what their kids are doing," added Gilman. "To ask questions." What if you've asked the questions and still worry your teen is vaping? Here are a few things you can look for: Check your teen's car for not just the device, but the pods and coils or even garbage from packaging. Unusual chargers can also be a sign. Gilman also encourages parents to educate themselves on the different types of devices available. "Once you become familiar with it, you know what to look for now," Gilman said. However, it's not just illegal, it can be dangerous. According to the CDC, most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. The highly addictive chemical can harm adolescent brain development. Also, some ingredients in e-cigarette aerosol can cause lung damage in the long-term. These are risks that Robinette takes seriously, which is why he says no to vaping. "My mom is a nurse," Robinette said. "So, she shows me articles and stuff and talks to me about like actual real-life scenarios that she's had, and how it leads to stuff that's like not good." The West Lafayette Community School Corporation told News 18 they have less than 10 vaping related incidents annually. Discipline ranges from citation to suspension. Coming up Thursday on News 18 at six, a local doctor discusses the health risks associated with teen vaping. We'll also hear from a local vape shop owner and what he's doing to keep his products out of teenage hands. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. February 12 signifies the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Various folk activities are held across the country to welcome the New Year. On the public square of Huawu Village in an ethnic Miao Township, Xi talked to villagers who were participating in festive activities, and extended his New Year's greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country. A model of poverty alleviation Guizhou, which used to be a provincial-level region with the biggest population of poor people, has lifted more than 9 million people out of poverty since 2012 with the gross domestic product (GDP) topping 1.78 trillion yuan (276 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited Qianxi County, Bijie City where he inspected the ecological environment of a major tributary of the Wujiang River and visited local residents in Huawu Village. The village is a case in point in the nation's massive poverty relief endeavor. It was lifted out of poverty in 2019. Bijie, tucked deep in the karst mountains of Guizhou, used to be one of China's most impoverished cities. Backed by the central government and other state organs, the city cultivated the land first, turning barren mountains into a luscious green. Then under the guidance of experts, villagers started to develop agriculture, breeding industry and rural tourism. Bijie has turned confrontation with nature into a win-win result and managed to rise above the poverty line. President Xi has called Bijie's success story "a model of China's poverty alleviation drive." A major victory Amid COVID-19, China has accomplished its tasks for winning the battle against poverty and met the UN's poverty alleviation goal 10 years ahead of schedule. Through eight years of sustained work, China has lifted all rural poor population under the current standard out of poverty with nearly 100 million poor people shaking off poverty. China has removed all poor counties from the poverty list, and eradicated absolute poverty and regional poverty. Poverty alleviation has always been a primary concern for President Xi, who reiterated that "no single poor area or individual shall be left behind." Original article: here. SOURCE CGTN 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. Facebook is an important tool for Akin Olla, a West Philadelphia socialist activist. Hes used the platform to organize protests outside statehouses, promote his podcast on revolutions, and share his columns criticizing President Joe Biden. Hes the social media manager for a left-leaning nonprofit that trains activist groups. But Olla, 30, found that vast platform used against him a few weeks ago. As Facebook grappled with the fallout from the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the company restricted Ollas ability to communicate with others. It was part of Facebooks widespread security measures to prevent violence on Inauguration Day. It remains unclear why Facebooks action swept up Olla. He regained full access to Facebook after 10 days, but the experience left him uneasy. He was hesitant to write his next column for the British daily the Guardian about racism at the FBI, believing his activism had drawn Big Brother-like attention. It just feels weird to know that Facebook has me on some sort of list, Olla said. While bitter complaints over Big Tech and its censorship have become a staple of conservative media, Ollas example shows that left-wing social-media users have been targeted, too. Companies such as Facebook are facing pressure to moderate content thats extremist, inaccurate, and inappropriate. At the same time, others worry such restrictions will limit free speech on the privately owned platforms that have effectively become online public squares. Caught in the middle are users who think their accounts are mistakenly flagged as dangerous, and are unnerved for being targeted. Its both scary how much power Facebook has and what gravity its decisions have, said David Greene, civil liberties director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights group that has criticized Facebook. But its also a tremendous tool at the same time. So I think the policy challenge is, how do you preserve the tool without vesting so much power in someone you dont necessarily trust? The issue reached a flashpoint last month when Twitter banned Donald Trump, then president, after the insurrection. Social media companies have recently purged their platforms of right-wing conspiracy theorists and some of Trumps allies, including the CEO of MyPillow. Facebooks moderation policies came under scrutiny again last week when it said it mistakenly removed some left-wing accounts, including the Socialist Workers Party. Less attention was given to Facebooks actions on an untold number of less notable users. To prevent violence on Inauguration Day, the company said it blocked the creation of events near the White House, U.S. Capitol, and statehouses, according to a Facebook blog post. The company barred anyone outside the U.S. from organizing any events in the country. Facebook temporarily restricted some Americans, too, based on signals, such as repeat violations of the companys policies, the blog post said. Those users couldnt create live videos or make Facebook groups, events, or pages. Olla said he couldnt communicate in existing pages or groups, either. He still had access to other features, such as sharing photos or messaging individual users. Olla had no previous policy violations, according to a message he received from Facebook. Yet the company wouldnt consider his appeal, he said. A Facebook spokesperson initially told The Inquirer that restricting Ollas account was a mistake, then said the action was correctly taken, but didnt explain why. Facebook spokesperson Kristen Morea said the security measures reflected signals and that Facebooks action were taken at scale. But she declined to say how many users were restricted or what other signals Facebook used to identify potentially risky accounts. She initially said some people may have been mistakenly restricted, before saying the action on Ollas account was correct. She declined to discuss Ollas case in detail. A computer algorithm tasked with finding troubling accounts could use a persons Facebook friends or the pages they follow as data points, said Jason Thatcher, a Temple University professor of management information systems. An algorithm could also look for words or phrases to predict violence, but they are still far from perfect. A phrase like battleground state would likely be deemed innocuous, for example. Make this state a battleground, however, could be concerning, Thatcher said. They try to build the algorithms to be able to detect those nuances, and usually that requires a person to help it, he said. But again, Facebook was under lots of pressure to act fast. Olla thinks Facebook may have flagged him for his left-wing views calling for radical change in the U.S. government. Ollas page is filled with references to revolution, criticisms of Biden, and at least one post suggesting that riots when paired with peaceful protests can cause effective social change. That post followed the looting that occurred last summer in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. Its pretty absurd, Olla said, noting that he trains activist leaders in nonviolent protest strategies and didnt want to his employer to be publicly identified so it could be attacked online. The idea of me interfering with the inauguration in that fashion just doesnt really make sense. Ollas comments certainly didnt attempt to incite imminent lawless action speech that isnt protected by the First Amendment, according to legal experts. But the Constitutions protections apply to government actions, not private ones. The widely used social media platforms are acting under a less speech-protective standard than the constitutional one, said Amanda Shanor, a Wharton assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics. As a private company, at least under current First Amendment law, Facebook probably can do almost anything that it wants in terms of regulating speech on its website, she said. Free speech and tech experts said Facebook was likely sifting through enormous amounts of data quickly to prevent a repeat of the deadly riot in Washington. In normal circumstances, moderators could carefully review accounts before taking action. And the company may be feeling pressure from advertisers and government regulators, who are already scrutinizing the social media giants. I think Facebook made a really good decision to put a pause, Temples Thatcher said. Slowing down the speed at which the conversations occur and slowing down the speed at which dissemination occurs, encourages what we call slow thinking, which is more rational. However, Facebook is not consistently and clearly communicating the logic and policies driving its technical solutions, Thatcher said. Greene, of the EFF, said Facebook should be more transparent about its general moderation practices and with users about their specific cases. The companys new oversight board last week found Facebooks moderation policies were poorly communicated to the public and overturned moderators decisions in four of five cases it reviewed. The cases covered topics ranging from users incorrectly quoting the Nazi Joseph Goebbels to a breast cancer campaign that showed pictures of womens nipples. Olla regained full access to his Facebook the same day The Inquirer asked about his case, though the company said the temporary restrictions were already scheduled to end that day. Over the coming months, the companys oversight board will consider Trumps Facebook suspension, which remains indefinite. The public has until Feb. 8 weigh in. Study authors Samantha Chan, Samie Ly, Jordyn Mackie, and Serena Wu are recent University of Alberta Bachelor of Science in Radiation Therapy graduates. Credit: Jordyn Mackie In an upcoming issue of the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, published by Elsevier, undergraduate researchers from the University of Alberta's Radiation Therapy Program in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry describe how LGBTQ2SPIA+ patients face unique cancer risks, including fear of discrimination, higher incidence of certain cancer sites, and lower screening rates, resulting in more cancers detected at later stages. To discover the knowledge, attitudes, and practice behaviors of the healthcare professionals treating these patients, the authors surveyed Radiation Therapists (RTs)key members of the cancer treatment team who are responsible for planning and delivering radiation therapy. In addition to the highly technical aspects of the job, RTs explain procedures, answer questions, comfort patients, and provide emotional support during the treatment journey, making these professionals a natural point of education and support for LGBTQ2SPIA+ patients. Results suggest there are knowledge gaps and inconsistencies when caring for this patient population. Over 70 percent of respondents were unfamiliar with all terms associated with LGBTQ2SPIA+, and the same percentage were unsure if specific resources were available for the LGBTQ2SPIA+ population at their cancer center. This uncertainty affects the care given to these patients, either limiting RT's interactions with this community or being unable to provide specific side effect management education, a crucial part of the RT role. Despite clear evidence of the RT community desiring LGBTQ2SPIA+-specific care, a significant portion of respondents stated that all patients should be treated equally, and therefore no practice adaptation is required. Most respondents reported being comfortable caring for the LGBTQ2SPIA+ community, despite the majority also asserting that they have had inadequate education in this area. However, the survey found an overall willingness to improve practice behaviors, with 86.9 percent of total respondents interested in receiving more education on this topic. As one respondent stated: "I can't really think of 'how' I am actively creating a safe environment for disclosing their sexual orientation, nor do I know how to properly create that environment....I can definitely say that I am non-judgmental of their life choices if it comes up in conversation, etc., but I really don't know what more I should be doing, admittedly. Further training or information on how to better create a safe environment for patients would be beneficial." The authors conclude that future research should examine the experiences of LGBTQ2SPIA+ patients from their perspective. To provide truly patient-centered care, LGBTQ2SPIA+-targeted resources for both patients and radiation therapists need to be considered a priority. Explore further Patient experiences in medical imaging and radiation therapy: The importance of skilled patient care professionals More information: Samantha Chan et al, A survey of Canadian radiation therapists' perspectives on caring for LGBTQ2SPIA+ cancer patients, Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences (2021). Samantha Chan et al, A survey of Canadian radiation therapists' perspectives on caring for LGBTQ2SPIA+ cancer patients,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmir.2020.12.002 Rwandans on Monday, February 1, marked the 27th Heroes Day, with celebrations being held virtually owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Discussions to observe the day, which were held on different media platforms, revolved around the theme, "Our Heroism our Dignity". On the same day, President Paul Kagame paid tribute to the fallen heroes, as he reminded Rwandans that what the country has achieved is a result of their sacrifice. "The nation we have is a result of their sacrifice. These are the values we must pass on to the next generations," the head of state said in a Tweet. This was a departure from the normal practice where every year, he leads several top government officials and diplomats accredited to Rwanda to lay wreaths at the National Heroes' Mausoleum in Remera, where many of the national heroes are laid to rest. However, due to the existing restrictions imposed to curb the virus, there were no ceremonies around the country. In his message, Kagame called upon Rwandans to support each other especially as the country looks to strengthen the fight against the pandemic. "This pandemic has shown us that we are all capable of heroic acts. As we continue the fight against Covid-19 we thank the frontline health workers, the security services for their heroic sacrifice and call on every citizen to keep each other safe," he added. Every year, Rwandans celebrate their heroes who portrayed values such as proven integrity, patriotism and bravery, setting a good example, truthfulness and love for others. During an interview, Edouard Bamporiki, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth and Culture, told The New Times that Rwandans, especially the young people have a lot to learn from the fallen heroes, besides 'just' celebrations. "The fallen heroes completed their mission, and left a legacy behind. They demonstrated to us that it is possible. Rwandans, especially the youth should be inspired to emulate the same," he said. Bamporiki encouraged parents to nurture their children in a way that they are ideologically informed about the country's vision. Bamporiki shares similar sentiments with Jackie Kalisa, a human resource practitioner who noted that the heroes' day should not be just about celebrations, rather as a reminder of courageous men and women who risked their lives for a better country. "The heroes we celebrate not just on February 1, but everyday are men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country, they risked their lives for us to gain back our dignity and that alone should be a lesson to us the young people." She added, "So let's not just celebrate and honour them but keep in mind that what we have today is a result of their sacrifice and we should do our best to sustain it and even do better. They laid a foundation but now it's us to ensure that Rwanda is what they wanted it to be. And that can only be done by doing our best for our country." According to Kalisa, being a hero in today's society is viewed differently. "In my opinion, it's doing the right thing, be it for your country or your family. More of serving with a purpose and sacrificing a few things for the best of the people around you and being responsible and taking ownership in whatever you do." Similarly, Davis Rugamba, an entrepreneur pointed out that Rwandans have the benefit of enjoying their country because someone (unknown) sacrificed themselves. "As youth, we are called to own what was left behind and build a better society. But in reality, this is not the case. I think Heroes' Day reminds us of such responsibilities." Meanwhile, Ines Ghislaine, media practitioner observes that, more than anyone, young people should ponder on their responsibility as the future leaders of the country. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Rwanda By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. She shared the experience of Rwandan heroes saying that in the same way today's youth should feel encouraged to be visionary. "Their main task is to be visionary and set goals that will positively impact the Rwandan society." Ghislaine added that it is time teenagers dispel the myth that a wealthy family is a promised destination. For Eugene Rwubaka, social media influencer, the great stories of Rwandan heroes have for long proved that there is meaning in taking responsibilities, and having the courage to pay the ultimate sacrifice in fighting for the unity of Rwandans. "The stories also teach us that truth and justice are worth dying for. They are reasons beyond the self to live and die for." He added, "In today's society, a hero is the one who stands with, and affirms our heroes, anyone who defends and fights vigorously for the common good, and anyone who is on the frontline in promoting accountability." The financing sees the company meet its capital commitments for the Stage 1 development of the flagship Sonora Lithium project in Mexico. Bacanora Lithium PLC ( ) said it has successfully raised USS$65mln via an equity funding comprising a share placing and a retail offer. Some 106.9mln new shares are being issued at a price of 45p each, a 19.6% discount to Tuesdays mid-market closing price. Chief executive Peter Secker, in a statement, noted that the funding was the final piece in the company's financing commitment to bring Stage 1 of Sonora into production. This successful fundraising will allow the company to achieve its ambition of becoming an international lithium production company, Secker said. He added "this successful fundraising which will allow Bacanora to meet its capital commitments for the development of our flagship Sonora Lithium project in Mexico and commence our transition from exploration company to lithium producer by 2023." This is a major achievement for the company, and I thank all parties involved including our joint venture partner Ganfeng, which has shown further support for Bacanora by proposing to exercise its pre-emption right beyond this fundraising to maintain its position as our largest shareholder, Secker said. The share placing was arranged by Citigroup, and WH Ireland which placed some 101.3mln of the new shares. Some 5.6mln new shares were sold via the platform in the retail offer, to contribute US$3mln. Chinese stakeholder Ganfeng Lithium, which owned a 25.7% shareholding prior to the funding, has stated its intention to potentially exercise its pre-emptive right to buy additional new Bacanora shares, up to a maximum of 29.99%. This remains subject to approval from certain Chinese authorities. Secker commented: "Bacanora, as stated previously, represents one of London's few listed pure-play lithium development companies and we, along with Ganfeng, are working tirelessly to unlock the substantial value for shareholders. TAIPEI, TAIWAN The military government that seized power in Myanmar will get along well with its authoritarian neighbor China in the long term, despite historical misgivings, and grow closer if international sanctions isolate the Southeast Asian state from Western powers, observers say. Myanmars military took control of the country Monday and declared a year-long state of emergency. Civilian de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, was detained in the power shift, prompting condemnation from Western governments. China might fumble at first to work with the new Myanmar leader, Min Aung Hlaing, because the military resents Chinas involvement in a now suspended hydropower dam, cross-border shipments of Myanmars natural gas and other influence over the economy in the past 20 years, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University. The professor said the two sides will eventually move forward because, unlike leaders in the West, Chinas communist government feels no domestic pressure to condemn another authoritarian state. China is an all-weather friend, and you can see that when countries take an authoritarian turn, like Myanmar just did this week, he said. "It's to Chinas advantage because China does not have the democratic trappings and conditions on domestic governance, so it can be any kind of regime and its fine with China." In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday his government was still trying to understand the situation in Myanmar. China is Myanmars friendly neighbor, Wang said as quoted on the ministry website, and we hope all parties in Myanmar can settle disputes and maintain social and political stability by using the constitution and the laws. The military takeover stemmed from Novembers parliamentary elections. The then-ruling National League for Democracy won in a landslide over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. The military, which ran Myanmar for nearly 50 years before the first democratic government emerged after 2011 under Aung San Suu Kyi, raised accusations of voter fraud. China and Myanmar fundamentally got along before the recent events, though Myanmar was pursuing stronger ties with Japan and the West at the same time to offset Chinese influence. On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to take appropriate action and review possible sanctions against Myanmar. Australia, Britain, the European Union, India, Japan and Singapore have aired their own concerns this week about the stability of the Southeast Asian country. Only Western governments feel sentimental longings for democratization in Myanmar, said Oh Ei Sun, Southeast Asia-specialized senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. If the West imposes severe sanctions, then maybe the Myanmar military will have no choice but to turn to China, Thitinan said. Diplomatic isolation and the thirst for foreign investment to stimulate the impoverished countrys economy would drive Myanmar toward China, analysts say. China became Myanmars biggest trading partner in 2011, replacing Thailand, with imports and exports worth $5.3 billion that year. China mainly ships raw materials and equipment for investment projects, while Myanmar sends minerals to China. A 2,200-kilometer land border facilitates their trade. Now after this coup we need to see how the junta handles ties with the United States, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei. Thats to say that if the United States adds pressure on Myanmar, then the junta will definitely think of a way to approach Beijing and tighten relations. Even without sanctions, today's political, trade and investment ties will probably keep their current course, analysts believe. Myanmar needs economic development aid to relieve poverty. China counts Myanmar as one in a network of countries around Eurasia where it's building infrastructure to open trade routes. China will remain Myanmars most important economic partner because it has the longest land border (and) its got the biggest investment, said Alistair Cook, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. When Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi recently visited General Min Aung Hlaing, now military leader, he indicated that China would continue to back Myanmar in safeguarding its sovereignty, national dignity and legitimate rights and interests on a development path suited to its own national conditions. But the Myanmar juntas relations with China will fray if festering border problems get worse under any military crackdown. For example, both sides are grappling with a slew of new casinos that are located in Myanmar but heavily used by Chinese nationals from just across the border and known for spawning crime. China is building a border fence to curb the problem. An end to fragile cease-fires between Myanmars government forces and armed ethnic groups living near China could further influence Chinas relationship with the new junta if people start streaming across the borders, Cook said. Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi who is commonly referred to as Bobi Wine has filed a petition at the Supreme Court in Kampala seeking to cancel President Yoweri Museveni's recent electoral victory. The country's electoral commission declared Museveni, who has been in power for the past three and a half decades, winner of the January 14 election after he garnered 59% of the vote. Bobi Wine scooped 39%. "We want the poll cancelled and repeated," said George Musisi, lawyer for Bobi Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP), told local media. Wine, 38, a pop star and lawmaker, has consistently rejected the results and said he believed his victory was stolen. Musisi said his client was asking the court to overturn the results on several grounds including widespread use of violence. "There was outright ballot-stuffing, there was intimidation of NUP agents and supporters, some were arrested on the eve of the election, there was pre-ticking of ballots," he said. Bobi Wine faces an uphill task in his bid to convince the courts as petitions to the results of all four previous elections won by Museveni have been dismissed by the country's highest court. Police in Myanmar announced their first charge against the countrys ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, members of her political party said Wednesday. The military removed Suu Kyi from office in an overthrow Monday and restricted her to her home. Suu Kyi is charged with possession of illegally imported radio devices called walkie-talkies. The military declared a one-year emergency rule after the overthrow. It accused Suu Kyis government of not investigating reports of wrongdoing in recent elections. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy, NLD, had won the election easily, with the military-backed party receiving little support. NLD spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge against Suu Kyi. If found guilty she could face up to three years in prison. Kyi Toe also said the countrys former president, Win Myint, was charged with violating Myanmars natural disaster management law. Both politicians can reportedly be detained until February 15. It was clear that the military were going to look for some legal cases against the leaders of the National League for Democracy and especially Aung San Suu Kyi to actually legitimize what theyve tried to do, said Larry Jagan. He is an independent expert on Myanmar politics. Police and court officials in the capital could not immediately be reached. Also Wednesday, an unidentified NLD lawmaker told the Associated Press that hundreds of members of the ousted Parliament are under order to leave the capital within 24 hours. The lawmakers had been detained in government housing since the overthrow. The NLD has repeatedly called for nonviolent resistance since the overthrow. Many people in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, protested in the night. Some people also demonstrated in support of military rule. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former political prisoner. The military rulers of Myanmar detained her for about 20 years as she pushed for democratic reform in Myanmar. After her political party won elections in 2015, she became the countrys leader. Suu Kyi worked with the generals who kept considerable governing power as democracy was established in the country. She received severe international criticism after she defended the militarys campaign against Rohingya Muslims beginning in 2017. The United States has threatened Myanmar with sanctions in reaction to the overthrow. The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting about the issue Tuesday. Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations released a statement Wednesday calling for the release of Suu Kyi and others. It also demanded that rule of Myanmar be returned to the democratically elected government. General Min Aung Hlaing led the overthrow and declared himself Myanmars new leader. On Tuesday, he said his government plans to investigate charges of voter wrongdoing in last years elections, reported the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. The countrys election officials had found no major problems with the vote. Experts have said that the strong NLD election victory may have frightened the generals. General Min Aung Hlaing also said that COVID-19 containment measures taken by Suu Kyis government would be continued. However, medical workers have announced that they will not work for the new military government. Myanmar has confirmed more than 140,600 cases including some 3,100 deaths. Its health care system is one of the least developed in Asia, the United Nations says. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story management - n. the process of dealing with or controlling things or people actually - adv. as the truth or facts of a situation legalize - v. to make legal or legitimate sanctions n. measures taken by a nation to coerce another to conform to an international agreement or norms of conduct, typically in the form of restrictions on trade We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. The Delhi high court halted Future Groups sale of its assets to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), handing a tentative win to Amazon.com Inc., which is locked in a bruising battle for dominance with billionaire Mukesh Ambani, in Indias lucrative retail market. On Tuesday, the court ordered Kishore Biyanis Future Retail Ltd to maintain status quo on the assets until the pronouncement of the reserved order". The court said it was prima facie of the view that a Singapore tribunal order, which asked the company owned by Biyani not to proceed with the deal, was enforceable in India. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat In its petition, Amazon alleged that the 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Industries violates its investment agreement with Future Group that barred the company from selling its assets to Mukesh Ambanis conglomerate among other specified entities. The courts observation that the Singapore tribunal order is enforceable in India is a significant victory for the American e-commerce giant, controlled by billionaire Jeff Bezos. Amazon had approached the Delhi court on 25 January with a plea seeking detention of Future Group founders, including its promoter Kishore Biyani, and seizure of their assets for violating the tribunal order. The tribunal passed an interim order favouring Amazon in October, barring Future Retail from taking any steps to sell or encumber its assets. The respondents (Future Retail) are directed to file an affidavit to place on record the actions taken by them after October and the present status of all those actions, within days. All the concerned authorities are directed to maintain status quo with respect to matters of violation of the order dated 25 October and shall file the status report with respect to the present status within 10 days (of) the receipt of this order," ruled justice J.R. Midha. The judge said a detailed order specifying the reasons will follow soon. Biyanis Future Group, which needs to complete the deal without delay to prevent a possible bankruptcy, has been caught in the fight between two of the worlds wealthiest men. At stake is control of Indias retail market, estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025, amid a surge in online shopping. Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart together control over 80% of the Indian e-commerce market and have been competing to make inroads into the traditional retail market in India. In a statement, Amazon said: We have utmost respect for the Indian legal system and appreciate the interim order of the honble Delhi high court to uphold the enforceability of the emergency arbitrators order and maintain status quo." While a Reliance Industries spokesperson declined to comment, Future Group said, the company is legally advised that the basis of the interim award of the emergency arbitrator has been superseded by the judgement dated 21 December, passed by the learned single judge, Justice Mukta Gupta. The company will explore all legal remedies and take appropriate steps to pursue the scheme of arrangement". On 21 December, a single-judge bench of the Delhi high court allowed the deal to go through, subject to regulatory approvals. The order upheld the Singapore ruling and declined Futures plea to stop Amazon from approaching regulators to bar the Reliance-Future deal. The Competition Commission of India had approved the deal in November, and the Securities Exchange Board of India gave its conditional nod last month. Future Retail has already approached the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai, for approval of the deal. feedback@livemint.com Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The prominent Swapo politician who was arrested for rape and is expected to make an appearance in the Okahandja Magistrate's Court soon is alleged to have attacked his 21-year-old victim on 17 and 18 January after they had had drinks together. Allegations have also emerged that he may have spiked her drinks to induce a stupor. According to those close to the victim, the suspect was drinking with the victim and her friend and it is alleged that he had sex with the friend but later turned his attention to the complainant. "She (the victim allegedly) sent a message to a close friend telling her that she woke up to find the suspect on top of her. The friend threatened to report the matter to the victim's mother if she did not report the matter to the police," a source said. The suspect, whose name can only be revealed after he appears in court, was arrested at Okahandja yesterday. He is expected to appear in the Okahandja Magistrate's Court today or on Thursday morning. Police spokesperson Kauna Shikwambi confirmed the arrest of the politician. "The alleged incidents occurred on two different dates, 17 and 18 January, when the suspect had sexual intercourse with the victim while she was under the influence of alcohol," said Shikwambi. According to Shikwambi, a formal complaint was only registered on 26 January, when the victim reported the matter to the police. The incident happened at Okahandja and an investigation was launched by the Otjiwarongo police Gender-based Violence Protection Unit, which led to the politician's arrest. Mission Impossible star Simon Pegg has been banned from driving for six months today after his 66,000 Mercedes was caught doing 63mph in a 40mph A-road. The 50-year-old actor was clocked well over the speed limit on a camera on a north London dual carriageway - his fourth speeding offence within the last three years. Pegg already had nine penalty points on his licence and the four points imposed for the latest offence triggered the automatic ban at Wimbledon Magistrates Court. Simon Pegg, pictured behind the wheel in Hot Fuzz, has been banned from driving for six months today after being caught doing 63mph in a 40mph zone Magistrates heard that Pegg, who has also appeared in Doctor Who, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was snapped by a speed camera clocking up 63mph along the A41 in Hendon in his Mercedes GLE 500 at around 11am on January 20 last year. He declared his weekly income as 3,800 and was fined 660. He did not appear in person but was legally represented, having previously pleaded guilty. Pegg, who lives in a 3.7 million eight-bedroom home in Hatfield, Herts, was also ordered to pay 85 in costs and a 66 victim surcharge. Magistrate Ms Deborah Drakesmith announced: 'We have listened carefully to what has been said and looking at the guidelines we are going to endorse his licence with four penalty points, making thirteen penalty points and will disqualify him from driving for six months. 'The 63mph reading in near the top end,' she added, telling the absent Pegg's lawyer Mr Richard Saynor: 'I am sure you will give him the disqualification warning as to how serious it is to drive while disqualified.' Mr Saynor told the court: 'Mr Pegg pleads guilty and takes full responsibility for the offence and accepts the points imposed will lead to the risk of disqualification. 'He specifically instructed me that he does not want to use up the court's time arguing there are exceptional circumstances he should not be disqualified. 'The driving ban will cause him difficulties, but they will not be exceptional. The court was told the driving ban would have an impact on Pegg's wife Maureen, pictured together at the Mission Impossible: Fallout premiere in 2018 Pegg was snapped by a speed camera clocking up 63mph along the A41 in Hendon in his Mercedes GLE 500 (such as the one pictured) at around 11am on January 20 last year 'He accepts the court will make a driving ban and it is something he accepts head-on. 'You will see in his letter to the court the charity works he undertakes and the impact a disqualification will have on others, particularly the strain it will have on his wife and the increased responsibilities she will have as well as running a household. 'He is aware that the ban will cause difficulties not only for him, but for others. He does need to drive in his professional life. 'It is something he deeply regrets and he wants to apologise to others affected by his ban.' Oxfam's Celebrity and Ambassador manager Genevieve Willis wrote a reference for Pegg, praising his charitable work, along with his 'warmth, decency and generosity.' In a 2018 interview with Top Gear magazine, Pegg described his love of driving and cars, and said: 'It's something I relish being able to do.' Stock Investment in 2021 Finding the Best Stocks to Invest in Everyone wants to try their luck in the stock market. It gives them the chance to get some extra bucks that they can throw in their savings account. But the stock trading game is not an easy one to play. You have to be really strategic and resilient, and the stock market will be your cash cow. As a beginner in stock trading, your biggest challenge is to find the best stocks to invest in. The stock market keeps changing every day. There is a wide range of investment opportunities to choose from. You have to pick the one thats most profitable for you. But how exactly do you do that? Here is a quick guide to get you started. Mark your boundaries (budget, risk, interests) First of all, you need to see where you stand as an investor. What is your budget limit? How much risk can you take? And, most importantly, what interests you? The answers to these questions will give you a rough idea of where you can invest in the stock market. You dont even need outside help to get that idea. This is a personal research phase before you jump the gun on buying any stocks. So,go ahead and mark your stock boundaries. Lay down your options As you are probably new to the world of stocks, youll need professional help in this. So, you can either talk to an expensive financial advisor, who takes hundreds of dollars for a 5 minute counselling session. Or, you can try an online stock screener tool that gives you a thorough research of the stock market and finds you the best investment opportunities to put your money in. The best stock screener tool will save you a lot of time and help you find the most profitable stock options as per your needs. You can customize your search results by price, revenue, interest, and so many other filters. You can also reach out to other investors through the stock screener investor community. Interacting with more experienced investors will help you navigate through the stock market. Their financial advice will also give you more confidence in investing your money. Evaluate your top picks Once you get a list of best stock investment opportunities with the help of the stock screener and the investors community, its time for you to evaluate your top picks. Do a background check on the parent companies, their performance, and yearly returns. Also, find out how many investors are putting their money in those companies and how are they performing in the recent months. Check out which companies are having the most earnings in the last two or three months and why. If a company is doing something right, you will find out by the growth of its earnings. But that does not necessarily mean that the growth trajectory has to be exponential. No, even small but regular earnings growth is a positive sign for you to take a shot and invest in the company. Another important detail that you should check about these companies is their debt-to-equity ratio. Every company carries a debt, even Amazon. But the actual performance indicator is its debt-to-equity ratio. So, make sure you watch out for companies that have higher debt levels relative to their equity because thats not good. When you do this research on all the top companies on your stock list, you can picture yourself investing your money in each of those companies and getting the profit. Itll be easier for you to choose one or two stock options when you have clear pictures of their outcomes in your head. Welcome to the world of stock investment! The stock market is not always a fair play, but a mind game. As an investor, you should be ready to take your chances on your hard-earned money with a bold heart and a speculative mind. With the right stock screener tool and strategy, you can easily find the best stock opportunities. When you do, place your bets and hope for the best. But remember, always make an informed decision before investing your money. By Boris Dzhingarov 2021 Copyright Boris Dzhingarov - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday to hover near 11-month highs as expectations of tighter supply outweighed pandemic-related concerns. An unexpected draw in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks also fueled hopes for demand recovery. Brent crude for April settlement rose 0.4 percent to $58.02 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.8 percent at $55.1. The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week ending January 29. Analysts had predicted an inventory build of 446,000 barrels for the week. Gasoline stocks and distillate inventories also fell, bolstering hopes of a recovery in the fuel demand. Oil cartel Opec and its allied producers, including Russia has forecast that the market will be in deficit in 2021. Investors look ahead to the OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting scheduled for today and the release of the EIA crude oil inventory report for further direction. 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. By State Rep. Mary Jo Daley, D-Montgomery Lets toss aside political affiliations for a moment and look at the messages weve recently seen and heard from elected leaders. Lets consider the tone and the energy and the audience. And, yes, lets consider the actual words, specifically the meaning behind them. The year 2021 isnt even a month old but our nation and our commonwealth have already seen and heard such starkly different brands of messaging. Domestic terrorism and the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were fueled in large part by divisive rhetoric, much of it originated and echoed by elected officials here in Pennsylvania. Former President Donald Trump has been impeached a second time because of his active participation in spreading lies about the 2020 election both before and after Election Day. Notably, he demonstrated his unwillingness to publicly admit defeat and continued espousing the lies that ultimately culminated in five deaths directly related to the Jan. 6 events. Exactly two weeks later, a new administration was sworn into office, as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath in a subdued celebration at the besieged U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The nation was told of the devastating milepost of more than 400,000 Americans dead because of COVID-19 just days earlier. From the stage, though, the speakers and performers including President Biden and youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman boosted hopefulness, togetherness and unity to a citizenry badly in need of those words. If you watched with an optimistic mind and open heart, it was impossible to avoid tears of joy, exhales of relief. Sadly, the moments of togetherness existed only briefly and, for some, perhaps not at all as disruption, cruelty and lawlessness again escalated. On the day after the Montgomery County Democratic Committee headquarters in Norristown was shot up by a gunman where, fortunately, nobody was injured we read state Rep. Daryl Metcalfes tirade posted on his official Facebook page. He called on patriots to unite together to defeat these leftists who have gained power through corruption. These are frightening words from a veteran politician, a senior member who chairs the highly important House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee. Later that same day, state Rep. Jeffrey Pyle, chairman of the House Liquor Control Committee, on his personal Facebook page, posted a disgusting transphobic joke about our capable, dedicated and hard-working secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine. This came in response to Dr. Levine being selected by President Biden as his nominee for assistant secretary of health, an honor not just for Dr. Levine but for our entire state. (Editors note: Pyle later apologized.) I wonder to whom these men are directing their rage and their hateful, hurtful so-called jokes? How and why has it gotten to this point where these types of words this vengeful and incendiary type of messaging is becoming more common? The 2020 presidential election inspired more voters than ever before, arguably because of the stark difference between the presidential candidates. The former president is a polarizing figure who divided our country. Across this nation, a majority of voters chose change rather than a continuation of polarization. In Pennsylvania, the gerrymandered PA House and PA Senate districts did not see any big shifts as the majority party maintained its control of the General Assembly while two statewide offices were flipped from Democratic to Republican. Elected officials and the courts did not find widespread credible instances of fraud and certified the election as free and fair. And here we are: Truth matters. Words matter. Votes matter. Politics has never been about universal agreement. This is a world for debate, for contrasting opinions, even for different interpretations of data and figures. But it should not be a home for hate, for lies and disinformation, for propaganda. If we are to work together for the betterment of our commonwealth and our nation, a mutual respect, honesty and decency must guide us. State Rep. Mary Jo Daley, who was first elected in 2012 to represent the 148th Legislative District in Montgomery County, serves as Democratic chair of the Tourism & Recreation Development Committee and the Womens Health Caucus. Cadiz Muere un guardia civil atropellado por dos jovenes que huian de los agentes a la entrada de Jerez Obsess over customers, ignore the stock market and know the difference between good and bad failure are among the Amazon leaders leadership maxims In building one of the worlds biggest and most influential companies, Jeff Bezos developed a distinct leadership ethosone he often ruminated on in his annual letters to Amazon.com shareholders, other writings and interviews. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat His management principles over nearly three decades at Amazons helm have touched on everything from sleep (get eight hours) to when best to have meetings (not before 10 a.m.) The common thread through his maxims has been the emphasis on staying relentlessly innovative, a philosophy that has fueled Amazons dominance across multiple industries as well as its hard-charging work culture. Here are some of his most influential leadership lessons and other nuggets of advice: Make a small number of high-quality decisions Mr. Bezos says he goes to bed early, rises early, and schedules high IQ" meetings before lunch, all in the service of making a few clear, smart decisions each day, he told an audience at the Economic Club of Washington in 2018. If I have three good decisions a day, thats enough," he said. They should just be as high quality as I can make them." Obsess over customers Mr. Bezos frequently attributes Amazons success to the companys obsession with giving customers what they want. From Amazons early days, he would place an empty chair in meetings to prod executives into thinking about how their decisions would affect customers, he recounted in the Economic Club of Washington interview. And when Mr. Bezos considered expanding the business beyond books and music, he emailed a random group of 1,000 customers, asking what they wanted to buy on the site. From their responses, he concluded he could sell just about anything on the internetwhich is exactly what hes done. Innovate. Then innovate some more. Amazon was ranked the best-managed company in the U.S. in 2019 by the Drucker Institute, a leadership-focused think tank based at Claremont Graduate University in California. One factor that helped Amazon unseat Apple Inc. was the companys intense focus on innovation. As Drucker researchers found, Amazon outpaced other firms in patent applications, trademark registrations and spending on research and development. The company abandons patent applications at a higher rate than others, a sign of its commitment to move past obsolete technology. Mr. Bezos himself is named on dozens of Amazon patents. If you get it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. And that yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive," Mr. Bezos wrote to employees on Tuesday, referring to Amazon innovations such as customer reviews, Alexa, and one-click shopping. Embrace failure Failure and innovation are inseparable, Mr. Bezos has said, noting that theres a difference between good failure and bad failure. If we build a new fulfillment center and its a disaster, thats just bad execution," Mr. Bezos writes in Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos." But when we are developing a new product or service or experimenting in some way, and it doesnt work, thats OK. Thats great failure." Most meetings are pointless. Make them matter. Mr. Bezos is well-known for his insistence that meetings be productive. To facilitate that, he requires presenters to write a memo, no longer than six pages, that is circulated and silently read at the start of a meeting by everyone present. Mr. Bezos praised the memo process in one of his letters to investors: Some have the clarity of angels singing," he wrote. They are brilliant and thoughtful and set up the meeting for high-quality discussion." Employees have said they spend weeks perfecting their memos, a process that sharpens ideas and improves decision-making and discussion. Ignore the stock market Focusing on the daily gyrations of company shares is a losing game, or at least a waste of energy, Mr. Bezos said at the Economic Club in 2018. He said hes been telling employees the same thing for decades: When the stock is up 30% in a month, dont feel 30% smarter, because when the stock is down 30% in a month, its not going to feel so good to feel 30% dumberand thats what happens," he said. Never spend any time thinking about the daily stock price. I never do." 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. Remember those high school classes you knew youd never use in life? Well, at a new school scheduled to open in September, students can choose to skip them. Beyond School, founded by educators Paul Gaita and Joe Timpanaro, will offer high school students an alternative to the traditional method of classroom learning, sort of a homeschooling/Montessori hybrid where students can focus on their own interests. Its a replacement for high school, but more so a replacement for homeschool, said Timpanaro, a teacher at University Charter High School in Jersey City. If a parent or student at a traditional school, if they are not fitting in well, if theyre frustrated with the mandates, they can send their child to us. We are more of a learning cooperative. The Beyond School founders had planned to open for the 2020-21 school year, but they had pushed their plans back one year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Theyre aiming to start with 20 students who would be mentored by Gaita and Timpanaro at space inside St. Matthews Church in Downtown Jersey City. Since its just the two of us and volunteers who would be working, we want to keep the class, the mentor/teacher-student ratio small, said Gaita, who currently teaches eighth grade at the Oliver Street School in Newark, one mentor for 10 students. Gaita and Timpanaro say their students will be self-directed. The student is the source of what they want from their education, and we build from there, said Timpanaro, who noted that Beyond School will allow students to find their passion and then concentrate on it. The educators said they came up with the idea for the school when they worked together at the charter school in Jersey City. They saw that Montessori schools generally end with eighth grade, and they think there is a market for those students and the homeschooled students entering high school. Parents feel like if a kid wants to go to college or enter the military or do something in the work force, they are going to need the high school education, Gaita said. And its tricky for them to find a place where they can extend that homeschooling environment when they go to high school. One of the major differences between Beyond School and traditional high schools is that Gaita and Timparano wont be giving out grades. What struck me working in a high school was how students get grades, but they dont retain any information, Gaita said. We want to change the motivation from grades to actual learning. Timpanaro noted that grades dont exist, but for the college-bound student we would prepare a portfolio for the college, so essentially we would be kind of grading them. The student would have to do a writing sample, so we would have to grade that. Since its not funded with public money, Beyond School will be charging $10,000 a year tuition. We really just want to cover our costs, Gaita said. The ultimate goal is to be fully funded by private donors, Timpanaro said. We are working on a fundraising campaign to get some monthly donors and contributions but for students who cant afford it, there would be a sliding scale of tuition. For parents considering the alternative school setting, Timpanaro says It is really up to the student because we are mostly self-directed, so its how much do you trust your child? We can work with you to get him or her where she or he wants to be. Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai Korea Times file Hana Bank's W200 bil. coal investment in Indonesia violates IFC's green principles By Lee Kyung-min Hana Financial Group is coming under mounting criticism for making a hefty investment in coal power plants in Indonesia, financed by its flagship affiliate, Hana Bank. Hana is the only one among Korea's top five financial groups that has yet to renounce investing in fossil fuels. According to Solutions for Our Climate, a Seoul-based climate change advocacy group, Recourse, its Amsterdam-based non-profit peer organization (NGO), filed a petition with International Financial Corp. (IFC), claiming the Korean lender violated the Green Equity Approach (GEA), a key IFC principle of green investments. The GEA calls for financial services firms to outline a low-carbon initiative in return for IFC investments, with the long-term goal of reducing coal-related assets to zero by 2030. The petition was to contest a 200 billion won ($179 million) investment made through the lender's Singapore and Indonesian subsidiaries to finance the Jawa 9 and 10 plants in Banten Province, Indonesia, a decision which the Dutch group considers highly problematic since Hana received a $15 million investment from the IFC for the promotion of GEA in 2019. "Hana Bank has invested in a variety of coal projects, including the Jawa plants, that are accelerating climate change," Recourse director Kate Geary said according to the local advocacy group. "Hana Bank should abandon its coal-driven business portfolio as soon as possible, since its investor of over 50 years, IFC, has adopted a de-carbonization move." An official from the local group said Hana is "clinging" to the fossil fuel business already renounced by its four local competitors, as well as large firms responding to global initiatives to advance environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). "The Indonesia project led by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has already been found to be unprofitable in a feasibility study commissioned by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). Hana's refusal to join the green movement is highly worrisome with its investments still expanding in coal-related businesses. Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyoo Korea Times file A policeman has lost his job and been fined nearly $700 for giving a mentally distressed man cannabis during a police raid. Former Port Augusta constable Tyson Schrapel, 25, was attending a firearms audit in February last year when the man became agitated and asked for his 'medicine'. The man had been assessed as being at risk and had become visibly distressed at the suggestion he would be transported to hospital under the Mental Health Act. Schrapel removed seized cannabis from an exhibit bag and gave it to the man along with a bong with the intention to calm him down, forcing a detective to intervene. The 25-year-old former constable appeared at court on Tuesday, and pleaded guilty to one count of administering or supplying cannabis to another person and was not convicted Schrapel reported the incident to his supervisor when he arrived back at the station and was initially suspended from his role and then terminated. The 25-year-old former constable appeared at court on Tuesday, and pleaded guilty to an offence under the Controlled Substances Act and was not convicted. Magistrate Jane Basheer described the offence as a 'misguided act of kindness' and said there was no court punishment as harsh as the loss of his policing career, NCA Newswire reported. 'You lived for your work and to serve your community, both in your profession and also as a community volunteer in events that included fundraising for charity'. 'You've paid an enormous price for what is, after all, one momentary error of judgment', Ms Basheer said, calling the young police officer 'inexperienced'. Mr Schrapel removed the seized cannabis from an exhibit bag and gave it to the man with the intention to calm him down and avoid a confrontation South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens was not as forgiving. Mr Stevens has defended his decision to sack the officer, calling the incident 'a very sad set of affairs', ABC News reported. 'It was a bad decision, it came with significant consequences, and I regret that he had to lose his job over this. I don't think he was a bad police officer', he said. The Commissioner described Mr Schrapel's actions as a fundamental breach of his oath to office, and said police officers are obligated to use their powers wisely. He also said South Australian police officers are required to uphold a 'strong stance against the supply of illicit drugs'. 'This was a significant mistake. There are some mistakes you can't come back from.' The government approved today the amendment regarding the three-month extension until March 31, 2021 of the deadline for the withdrawal of the proceeds of a 250 million euro IBRD loan granted for the reform of the Romanian healthcare system. "The Decision of the Finance Ministry was adopted at today's meeting regarding the approval of the amendment agreed between the Government of Romania and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the Loan Agreement to support the healthcare sector reform project - improving the quality and efficiency of the health system. The amendment refers to the temporary extension by three months of the deadline for withdrawing the proceeds of the 250 million euro loan, specifically until March 31, 2021," the Finance Ministry informs in a release on Wednesday. By a letter dated November 20, 2020, IBRD confirms its acceptance of the temporary extension of the withdrawal deadline by about 3 months, respectively until 31 March 2021. IBRD is now expected to confirm the final extension of the deadline by up to 4 years (until 2024). The four-year extension would allow the completion of the project activities, including the severe burn care center of the Timisoara County Hospital, which is now in the design phase. According to the Finance Ministry, the current project will be continued with additional IBRD funding that will be contracted in the near future to allow the construction of another two severe burn care centers, one at the 'Grigore Alexandrescu' Children's Emergency Clinical Hospital, the other at the Targu-Mures County Hospital. The loan agreement has four components: strengthening the supply of medical services; improving the management and governance of the health sector; strengthening the public health system to respond to the COVID-19 crisis - a component introduced in 2020 in the context of the pandemic-generated needs; and the project management. "We asked the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to agree to the extension until 2024 of the deadline for the withdrawal of the proceeds from the 2014 Loan Agreement in amount of 250 million euros. We obtained the agreement for the temporary three-month extension of the deadline, from the initial deadline set forth in the agreement - December 15, 2020, until which just a little over half of the available funds had been accessed. We have thus unlocked another 124 million euros that will be set at the disposal of the Health Ministry to support projects aimed at improving the quality of medical services and the efficiency of the Romanian healthcare system in this period where the financial resources are so important for the best management of the Covid-19 crisis," said Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare. The Health Ministry has the entire authority and responsibility for the project's implementation. The 250 million euro Loan Agreement between Romania and IBRD intended for the reform of the healthcare sector was signed on June 17, 2014; the Agreement was ratified by Law No. 179/2014. About 126 million euros have been withdrawn from the loan so far. The deadline set out in the initial loan agreement was 15 December 2020. In order to adapt the loan agreement's provisions to the current needs of the sector, the request was referred to the IBRD on November 3, 2020 for the restatement of the loan agreement as follows: extending the deadline for the withdrawal of the loan proceeds by up to 5 years and increasing the loan by 150 million euros to allow the construction of two large-size severe burn care centers at the 'Grigore Alexandrescu' Children's Emergency Clinical Hospital and the Targu-Mures County Hospital, as well as other medical equipment procurements. It was agreed with IBRD that the restatament be carried out in 2 phases. The first phase consists of the extension of the current loan withdrawal deadline by 4 years, and in the second phase an additional financing of 150 million euros will be contracted, subject to a separate loan agreement. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Advertisement An interior designer feels 'frustrated and powerless' after being left stuck with a guest from hell who moved into her family home for a short holiday more than three months ago and is refusing to leave despite not paying. Micki Hacking, 46, has been asking Marty Black to pay up or leave her 800,000 five-bedroom cottage in Gloucestershire but he has not done so and is now boasting, 'I'm not going anywhere'. He is allegedly exploiting the coronavirus crisis to stay for as long as possible - landing her with bills worth thousands and the prospect of losing the house because she can't pay the mortgage. Ms Hacking has been told it could take months' worth of costly legal action to evict the 61-year-old due to Covid-related court delays, so is trying to persuade him to leave of his own accord to save her from financial ruin. Mr Black - who has sent 1 by bank transfer and then 1,300 in cash 'as a goodwill gesture' but still owes tens of thousands of pounds - claims to be Ms Hacking's tenant. Rules introduced early in the Covid pandemic require landlords to give tenants six months' notice before starting legal action to evict them. These protections are not available to people overstaying at holiday homes. Ms Hacking says he has repeatedly threatened her and she feels 'violated' at the thought of him inside her house - which she uses as a family home but lets out for short stays when she needs to be in London for work. Mr Black, who sports a shaved bowl haircut, presents himself as a multi-millionaire business mogul with interests ranging from cryptocurrency to helicopters and, somewhat ironically, lettings. However, a MailOnline investigation today raises serious questions about the claims he has made about his business empire and career. Micki Hacking, 46, (seen on the right with her son, Tom) has been asking guest from hell Marty Black (left) to pay his bills or leave her property in Gloucestershire but he has failed to do so and is boasting, 'I'm not going anywhere' Mr Black is allegedly exploiting the Covid crisis to stay for as long as possible - landing her with bills worth thousands and the prospect of losing the house because she can't pay the mortgage. Pictured: The home in a picturesque Gloucestershire hamlet Ms Hacking, who has a 12-year-old son, Tom, bought the spacious home in a quiet Gloucestershire hamlet back in 2016. She spoke of her pride about the property on BBC One show Escape to the Country, which she appeared on last year. She purchased the idyllic retreat as a family home but works in London and lets it out to holidaymakers to provide an income to support her and Tom following her divorce. Mr Black has repeatedly vowed to pay his bills but not done so. His actions have left Ms Hacking in a state of emotional turmoil and fearing for her financial future. 'I am so stressed I can't sleep,' she told MailOnline. 'He's turned the gates off so nobody can go in and he's been rude to the neighbours. He is a horrible man and has been abusive and threatening. What can you do if someone overstays at a holiday home? A holiday home owner whose guests refuse to leave or fail to pay for their stay can apply for a court order to evict them. This process can take anything from a few weeks to several months, depending on several factors including how busy the courts are. The legal costs for doing this can sometimes be covered by a holiday home insurance policy. Overstaying guests at holiday lets are not covered by protections brought in during the coronavirus pandemic to protect tenants with a formal agreement to rent the property for a certain period. In this case, the landlord must give the renter six months' notice before starting legal action to evict them, although there are exceptions for cases including antisocial behaviour or domestic abuse. Advertisement 'I'm a single mother and I can only keep the house by letting it out to holidaymakers as a business. I've explained to him that I face the prospect of financial ruin due to his actions but he just doesn't care. 'We would now be living in the house if it wasn't for him and would have spent Christmas and New Year there. 'We're now in stalemate where he gets to stay in my house and I have to deal with it until the courts allow us to evict.' Mr Black - who adopted his name by deed poll - first booked the house for two weeks on October 16 through the holiday lettings website Character Cottages and used his credit card to pay the fee. Towards the end of his stay he asked to extend the booking, but then said he could not pay due to cash flow issues. 'I said that he needed to give me his home address, ID and references, but he didn't send anything,' Ms Hacking said. 'He then wired through 1, which he said was to check that the bank transfer system was working. 'That was the beginning of the biggest nightmare I have ever had. No more money ever came through. 'I phoned him and he threatened me, saying ''you shouldn't get on the wrong side of me'' before stopping taking my calls.' Unable to contact Mr Black, who is living with his girlfriend and a young child, Ms Hacking drove from London to Gloucester to speak to him. 'He said 'I'm good for the money, I'll pay you,' Ms Hacking said. 'But, more than three months since Mr Black moved in, he has still not sent any further payment and is refusing her repeated requests to leave. 'He has told me ''I'm not going anywhere'' and sent me screenshots of legal pages from the government website,' Ms Hacking said. Ms Hacking has been told that if she chose to try and evict Mr Black it could take months' worth of 'costly and time-consuming' legal action. She is trying to persuade him to leave to save her from financial ruin Mr Black's car was seen parked outside the house in Gloucestershire. He has closed the gate and is not allowing workmen to enter Mr Black is knowledgeable about the law and has been using it to remain in the property as long as possible without paying, Ms Hacking said. 'He knows every single thing about the law and is aware exactly what he is doing,' she said. MailOnline attempted to contact Mr Black at the property and left behind a detailed series of questions, including about the claims he has made about his business career, but is yet to receive a response 'There's such a backlog in the courts it's going to take me months to get him removed. 'He has called the police about me five times and falsely accused me of ''harassment'' so not only is he crippling me financially he is also trying to manipulate the police into making me the one on the wrong side of the law. 'This isn't about people that can't afford it. It's being manipulated by people who understand everything and how to manipulate the law to benefit themselves.' Ms Hacking has now had to pay 6,000 of legal costs and fears being unable to keep up with mortgage payments. 'I don't know if I'll ever feel safe in the house again - I can't stop thinking about all the personal stuff that is in there,' she said. 'It is a real family home and has photographs of me and my child. He's been in there for such a long time that he's probably been everywhere that you can go. 'I feel personally violated by the thought of him still being inside there.' MailOnline contacted Black over the phone. He refused to discuss his failure to pay or anything about his business interests. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' he replied when asked about his failure to pay for his stay. He then said: 'This is a private matter,' before later adding, 'print what you like I'm not bothered'. MailOnline attempted to contact Mr Black at the property and left behind a detailed series of questions, including about the claims he has made about his business career, but had not received a response nearly a week later. Guest from hell's shares in mysterious companies 'worth hundreds of millions', a 'fake' American mansion and a struck-off accountant Former European bank chief Mario Draghi agreed Wednesday to try to form a non-political government to steer Italy through the coronavirus pandemic after last-ditch negotiations among political parties failed to produce a viable governing coalition. Italian President Sergio Mattarella met with Draghi, who is credited with having saved the euro during Europe's debt crisis, and gave him a mandate to try to form a new government to replace caretaker Premier Giuseppe Contes coalition of the 5-Star Movement and Democratic Party. Draghi told reporters he accepted the mandate knowing that Italy faces the multiple challenges of a health care crisis, a national vaccination campaign and an economic recession and at the same time will have extraordinary" resources from the European Union to try to help the economy relaunch. It's a difficult moment," Draghi, 73, said. Appealing for unity from Italy's squabbling political forces, he added: We have the chance to do a lot for our country." 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 Conte was forced to resign last month after ex-Premier Matteo Renzi pulled ministers of his small, centrist Italy Alive party from Contes government. Renzi, whose nickname is il rottamatore, or the demolisher, complained among other things about Contes plan to spend more than 200 billion euros ( $240 billion) in EU pandemic recovery funds and loans. During his tenure at the European Central Bank, Draghi became known as Super Mario." He had been rumored as a possible choice to lead a non-political government if Conte was unable to find enough parliamentary support to continue leading Italy. Negotiations among political parties failed Tuesday. Draghi to the rescue, said Christopher Dembik, senior European economist at Germany's Berenberg bank, predicting that Draghi would eventually succeed in forming a broad-based government. His greatest hurdle, though, will be securing support from the 5-Star Movement, the biggest political block in the Italian Parliament and the senior partner in Conte's government. The 5-Stars had insisted on Conte remaining premier and bitterly resented Renzis power play that brought him down. Five-star leader Vito Crimi said the movement would only support a political government. As such, it will not vote in favor of a technical government headed by Mario Draghi, Crimi said in a statement. For the 5-Stars, a Draghi government imposed by Mattarella poses an almost existential dilemma. The anti-establishment, populist movement emerged as a potent political force in part as a response to Italys last technocratic government led by Mario Monti, in 2011-2013. Under Conte, the 5-Stars had led two successive governments starting in 2018, allying first with the right-wing League and then the center-left Democrats. Markets and analysts reacted positively to a possible Draghi mandate, with borrowing costs sinking and the Milan Stock Exchanges benchmark FTSE MIB index rallying 2.7% in early trading. A government headed by a high-profile and respected figure like Draghi is likely to be seen, especially by market investors, as a very good solution in the short term," UniCredit analysts said in a note. A somber Mattarella told the nation Tuesday night that he essentially had no choice: While an early parliamentary election was a necessary exercise in democracy, calling one would be ill-advised at this crucial time in Italys history, the president said. Italy, with over 89,000 confirmed virus deaths, has the second-highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe after Britain. It is trying to ramp up its vaccination campaign and must report back to the EU how it plans to spend the recovery funds. It is therefore my duty to make an appeal to all the forces in the parliament so that they grant the confidence to a high profile government not linked to any political force, Mattarella said. Renzi, who was premier from 2014-2016, blamed Contes forces for the failed negotiations to find a new coalition and governing program, saying they had rejected his proposals. He made clear he was pleased with the outcome, praising Mattarellas wise decision. Now everyone of good will must welcome President Mattarella's appeal to support the government of Mario Draghi," he said Wednesday. Viva Italia." The right-wing opposition, which had been leading the polls prior to the government tumult, still pressed for an early election, though the Forza Italia party of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi indicated its support for a high-profile government. Draghi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained economist, led the Italian central bank from 2005-2011 when he was tapped to lead the European Central Bank, a job he held until 2019. Prior to that, he had been a vice chairman and managing director at Goldman Sachs International in London and an executive director at the World Bank. He is perhaps best known for his intervention as ECB chief during the peak of Europes debt crisis in 2012. As Italy was facing unsustainably high borrowing costs that threatened its financial stability, Draghi said in July 2012 that the central bank was ready to do whatever it takes within its mandate to preserve the euro. It proved to be a turning point for Europe. Italy, the third-largest economy in the European Union, nevertheless had been heading into a recession even before it became the first country in the West to be hit hard by COVID-19 last February. The ensuing economic devastation has only made matters worse, with gross domestic product falling 8.8% last year and nearly 450,000 jobs lost, national statistics agency ISTAT reported this week. Italys borrowing costs in respect to the benchmark German bund dropped considerably on Wednesday, signaling markets approval of Draghi as Italy faces the enormous task of spending billions in EU recovery funds. Italy needs to turn to the markets regularly to keep up with payments on the second-highest debt to gross domestic product ratio in the eurozone. Italy has historically been unable to spend all the EU funds at its disposition due to its inefficient bureaucracy. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- NIO and Red Star Macalline, a leading Chinese furniture retailer, signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on Feb. 2 to jointly build EV charging and battery swapping stations. NIO, Red Star Macalline signing agreement; photo credit: NIO Under the agreement, two parties will co-build 60 EV charging and battery swapping stations in 2021. The furniture retailer will support NIO in construction site and online operation, so as to help the EV maker significantly improve its energy supply service quality. NIO, Red Star Macalline signing agreement; photo credit: NIO Through the strategic cooperation, NIO will accelerate the deployment of energy supply business, further facilitating users in EV charging and battery swaps, said Shen Fei, vice president of NIO. NIO built 7 battery swapping stations in January 2020 and plans to launch another 12 before the Chinese New Year, according to a local media outlet. At the NIO Day held in early Jan., NIO launched its 150kWh battery pack and second-generation battery swapping station. The newly-unveiled battery pack employs the solid-state battery technology, boasting an ultra-high energy density of 360Wh/kg thanks to the in-situ solidification hybrid electrolyte, the inorganic pre-lithium Si/C composite anode and the nao-coating nickel-ultrarich cathode. This battery would increase the range of the new ES8 to 850 km, the ES6 to 900 km, the EC6 to 910 km and the ET7 to 1,000 plus km. NIO's second-generation battery swapping station can accommodate 13 batteries, allowing for up to 312 swap services per day. Additionally, NIO EVs are able to automatically park into the station. NIO said it expects the number of its battery swapping stations in China to total 500 by 2021. The startup attempts to newly deploy 300 second-generation battery swapping stations this year, according to Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO. 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. [February 03, 2021] Exchange Bank Announces Shari DeMaris as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Exchange Bank (OTC: EXSR) today announces Shari DeMaris as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Ms. DeMaris joined Exchange Bank in October 2020, working with Greg Jahn, Exchange Bank's EVP/CFO of 18 years, in anticipation of his retirement on January 15, 2021. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005897/en/ Shari DeMaris, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Exchange Bank (Photo: Business Wire) "Shari brings to this position an impressive set of executive management and financial skills," said Troy Sanderson, president and chief executive officer. "Her abilities make her an excellent fit to round out our leadership team." An Iowa native, Shari brings over 23 years of technical accounting and financial leadership experience within financial institutions to her role as Exchange Bank's EVP and chief fiancial officer. The foundation of her career was built in public accounting, first with Arthur Andersen and then McGladrey (now RSM). For the last 15 years, Shari has been with Hills Bank and Trust headquartered in Hills, Iowa. As their chief financial officer, she helped to grow the bank to its current $3.3 billion and led a 12-person finance and accounting team. Shari is a licensed CPA with bachelor's degrees in both Accounting and Spanish from DePaul University and the University of Iowa, respectively. Active in her community, Shari has served as chair and board member for both the Iowa City Area Development Group and the Chamber of Commerce, has been board chair for the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and was a mentor for the Youth Leadership Program. About Exchange Bank Headquartered in Sonoma County and founded in 1890, Exchange Bank is a premier community bank with assets of $3.1 billion. Exchange Bank provides a wide range of personal, commercial and trust and investment services with 18 retail branches in Sonoma County, a commercial branch in Roseville, and trust and investment offices in Santa Rosa, Roseville and Silicon Valley. The Bank's legacy of financial leadership and community support is grounded in its core values of Commitment, Respect, Integrity and Teamwork. Exchange Bank is a 15-time winner of the North Bay Business Journal's (NBBJ) Best Places to Work survey, a recipient of the 2020 North Bay Community Philanthropy Award and the 2019 Healthiest Companies in the North Bay Award. NorthBay biz magazine named Exchange Bank the 2020 Best Consumer Bank and Best Business Bank. The Petaluma People's Choice Awards named Exchange Bank the Best Local bank and the North Bay Bohemian's Best of 2019 Readers Poll named Exchange Bank the Best Business Bank and Best Consumer Bank. Exchange Bank can also be found in the NBBJ's Book of Lists as a leading lender and wealth management advisor-retaining the #1 position in SBA 7(a) lending in Sonoma County for 2020. www.exchangebank.com. Member FDIC - Equal Housing Lender - Equal Opportunity Employer View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005897/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Brazilian woman living in Co Kildare has described her struggle to obtain a work visa in Ireland. Janice Reis de Oliveira, who has an Irish-born son (13) returned to Ireland in February last year, a few weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Janice said she is depending on the support of friends at the moment as she cannot secure work as a cleaner without a work visa. She said: "I didnt expect that the pandemic was going to happen, and now it is 11 months later and there is still no answer from the Government about a visa. "They have requesting the documents and I have posted them all. I'm not getting any social welfare payments from the Government because my visa is still not sorted. "I cant go back to Brazil because I will lose my place in the process. "We are depending on the help of friends." Janice has appealed for help from solicitors, organisations or politicians about what to do next. She added: "We are in friend's house, my son is sharing a bed with me, we just need a place, or any idea or help. "We have friends praying and trying to help us. "Im a mum and Im just panicking. I heard this lockdown could go until April. I just need a small place to live with my son until my visa is sorted." If you can help Janice, please email: reis.janice@gmail.com. Vladimir Putin - Mikhail Klimentyev / Pool Sputnik Kremlin This was first published in The Telegraph's Refresher newsletter. For more facts and explanation behind the weeks biggest political stories, sign up to the Refresher here straight to your inbox every Wednesday afternoon for free. Whats the story? It was the race the Kremlin was desperate to win. The global effort to find and develop an effective vaccine for the coronavirus was not just a matter of life and death for the countries that took part: it was a matter of national pride. Yesterday interim trial data showed that the Russian vaccine, known as Sputnik V, is almost 92 per cent effective against symptomatic Covid after two doses, bringing it in line with many of the jabs that have been developed in the West. Phase three trials reported by the Gamaleya National Research Centre, which developed the vaccine in Moscow, show little or no side effects in 20,000 participants. The Russian vaccine works in a similar way to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab: by placing the genetic material of Covid-19 into a harmless adenovirus, then injecting it into the patient. So-called viral vector vaccines are easier to store and cheaper to produce making them more convenient than spike protein jabs, like the Pfizer and Moderna offerings. For the Russian government, the apparent safety of the Sputnik vaccine represents not just a national and public health victory but a relief, since authorities began distributing the vaccine before the results of the trials. More than 1.5 million people, including the Telegraphs Moscow Correspondent Nataliya Vasilyeva, have already received it. That gamble appears to have paid off. Ian Jones, professor at the University of Reading, and Polly Roy, professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, yesterday pointed out that the jabs development has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated, they said. Story continues Another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19. Others are more circumspect. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has been reluctant to address the news about Sputnik V, despite his enthusiastic support for Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca. In a briefing with reporters yesterday, the Prime Ministers spokesman insisted any comment on vaccines was a matter for scientists, not Downing Street. Asked why Mr Johnson had not yet welcomed the news, the spokesman would not comment further. Mr Johnsons reluctance to welcome the news was shared by his Cabinet, who made no mention of the vaccine all day. Looking back That could be explained by the fact that the news follows months of anxiety about the UKs own vaccine rollout, which began with the first NHS jab in December. Russias first dose, meanwhile, was injected in August. Vladimir Putin, the President, announced on television that his daughter was one of the first to receive it. The Russians have not been shy about treating the development of the jab as a competition, either. The products name is a reference to Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be launched from Earth. That satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, and marked both a major turning point in the space race and bitter defeat for the United States. For UK politicians, who pride themselves on their world-beating international comparisons, Russias vaccine success is problematic, while the timing of the announcement could not have been worse. Hours later, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, issued a statement condemning the Russian courts for their imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician who returned to the country following a near-miss poisoning with a toxic nerve agent, thought to have been carried out by Russian intelligence services. Anything else? All that could mean the UK is unlikely to want to cooperate with Russia on the rollout of its jab but Russian scientists have already suggested a partnership with Britain. Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the group that funded Sputnik V and a close ally of Mr Putin, said combining a shot of his vaccine with one of the AstraZeneca jab could actually work better because immunity gets stronger. This idea, called heterogeneous boosting, is at the core of the Sputnik vaccine because we use two different shots and we believe this is the best way to fight with mutations and this also fosters a partnership between different vaccine manufacturers, he told the BBC. The proposal presents ministers with an interesting diplomatic question, as well as potential concerns about vaccine efficacy and logistics. Mixing supplies of Sputnik and AstraZeneca would mean unprecedented co-operation between public health bodies between the two countries. Before coronavirus, the last major incident Public Health England dealt with was the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury by Russian GRU agents, which marked a significant cooling of relations. Elsewhere, both countries also want to use vaccines as a diplomatic tool overseas. With supplies running short and almost all manufacturers based in richer countries, inoculations could become a major source of soft power for the states that have funded their development including both the UK and Russia. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has already announced the UK will use its war chest of more than 400 million vaccines to help poorer countries around the world once Britons have been protected. Russia, meanwhile, has taken tens of millions of orders from Egypt, Nepal, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina for Sputnik. Both will likely use vaccines to strengthen their influence in regions of diplomatic interest, as well as through politically neutral schemes like the WHOs Covax. The Refresher take The development of any new vaccine is a boon for the global fight against coronavirus because the disease will not be brought under control until it has been tackled everywhere. But the apparent success of the Sputnik V jab presents Russias Western rivals with an interesting dilemma: to embrace and support Mr Putins vaccine and consider combining it with their own, or to continue to ignore it. Mr Johnsons current strategy, to continue to talk up Britains successes while jealously guarding its supplies for the first-phase rollout, will come to an end when all UK adults have received their doses. What he and others do next about Sputnik V could mark a major shift in Russias relationship with the West and in the course of the pandemic. State House, Freetown, Tuesday 2 February 2021 - Academic Staff Associations of Universities and Polytechnics in Sierra Leone have promised to call off their industrial actions and resume classes on 3 February 2021 after accepting on Tuesday commitments made by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio on behalf of government. According to the agreement between government and University of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology, Njala University, Milton Margai College of Education and Technology and Freetown Teachers' College, strategic discussions would continue on governance and quality assurance in the higher education institutions. Government met almost all of the demands, key among which was to review the proposed 50% salary adjustment, by providing another 25% salary increase for all tertiary institutions effective 1 April 2021 in addition to the 25% already made in the 2021 budget, thereby meeting the proposed demand. On the issue of waiving tax on leave allowances, the Government, represented by the Ministries of Finance and Technical and Higher Education, observed that that would go against Section (1)(s) of the Income Tax Act 2000 as amended, which states that: "Any leave allowance in excess of the gross monthly salary shall be subject to income tax at the existing highest marginal tax rate for individual income tax". "Given the legal implications highlighted above, Government cannot, therefore, waive income tax on leave allowances given its adverse impact on overall revenue generation of Government and the bad precedent that will be created for the wider public service," the document reads. Minister Technical and Higher Education, Professor Alpha Tejan Wurie as chair of the meeting, described it as a special event and an opportunity for the representatives of the Academic Staff Associations to meet the President in his capacity as Chancellor of public universities of Sierra Leone. He noted that the lecturers were not hungry for money but they actually wanted to leave a better life. Vice-Chancellor of EBK University and team lead for the negotiation committee, Professor Edwin Momoh, thanked President Bio for being patient with them and described the meeting as a turnaround for their institutions because of a listening President who attended to their concerns. "We are pleased to meet the President and to better articulate our challenges, especially our conditions of service. We are very hopeful, as the first meeting with Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh was also a productive one. We have no doubt about President Bio's commitment to education as the engine for human development," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Sierra Leone Education By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Dr Williette James, who is President of the Academic Staff Association of USL also thanked the President for intervening through the Vice President, adding that they had decided to embark on the strike actions because their plea for a better condition of service had not been looked into since 2019. "We are now happy that the talk and do government has listened to our plea. We are smiling, even though all we had asked for was not featured. We believe that at this stage of the negotiation we must reconsider our actions, the students and go back to the classrooms," she noted. In his remarks President Bio thanked the lecturers for choosing such a noble profession, even though they had had challenges, adding that his decision to engage them was the best way to go to encourage them to put politics aside and think about the bigger picture of development. He also emphasised that his government had prioritised human capital development, the reason why government and ASA should think of making the universities an enviable place of work that would attract many bright minds from other countries around the world. Australia will turn its attention towards clinching a trade agreement with Israel in a deal that would boost innovation, cyber security and defence. Federal Trade Minister Dan Tehan will prioritise a deal between the two nations in the coming months as negotiations between the governments reach critical stages with the United Kingdom and the European Union. Trade Minister Dan Tehan hopes to fast-track negotiations for an agreement with Israel by the years end. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Tehan said he was keen to work very quickly this year on finalising a scoping study for an Israel-Australia free trade agreement by July with the hope to move to something of more substance by end of the year. A similar feasibility study to scope the benefits of beginning trade negotiations with European Free Trade Association countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland will also be undertaken this year. 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. Imperial Valley News Center Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson Issues Statement on the Shootings of FBI Special Agents in Florida Washington, DC - This morning FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger were killed in the line of duty and three other agents were wounded while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation in Sunrise, Florida. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the following statement: We mourn the tragic loss of two of our FBI colleagues who were killed today in the line of duty, said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones and with their three colleagues who were shot in todays devastating events. On this dark day, we pay tribute to the brave men and women of the FBI who put their lives on the line every day in support of our mission. We will never forget the ultimate sacrifice made by these special agents. (Newser) A 11-year-old boy who had been shot five times was able to name the man who killed his family before he died, police in Minnesota say. TeKeith Svyone Jones, 26, has been charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, D'Zondria Wallace, 30, and her two children, 14-year-old La'Porsha and 11-year-old Ja'Corbie. Police say that when they were called to the family's St. Paul apartment Saturday, the mother and La'Porsha had been shot dead but Ja'Corbie was still alive, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. D'Zondria Wallace had been shot twice and her daughter 10 times. According to court documents, when the boy was asked who shot him, he whispered "Keith." story continues below Ja'Corbie died during emergency surgery hours later. "I know that Ja'Corbie fought to stay alive to say it was his mom's boyfriend," cousin Jeanette Whitehall tells the Star Tribune. "Now Coby can rest." Weeks earlier, Wallace had told relatives that she had broken up with Jones but was worried about his increasingly violent and jealous behavior. Police say they located and arrested Jones on Sunday, KTSP reports. He initially denied shooting Wallace and her children, but later said he had done it to "save" them, pointing upward and telling investigators "they can go up there and be holy," according to court documents. He told police that he's "not a monster" and he "kissed them all." (Read more Minnesota stories.) EVERY team that has held a lead in this season's Premier League title race has struggled to maintain the pace - and now we are about to find out if Man City can take the pressure. The title is City's to lose now, and they could have a seven-point advantage over Liverpool after tonight's game with Burnley, after Jurgen Klopp's champions opened the door for them in recent weeks. Now we wait to see whether Pep Guardiola and his players have what it takes to stay on top or whether they will bottle it again when the pressure is applied, as they have done on several big occasions over the last 18 months. At least City know they won't have it all their own way now, as Liverpool confirmed their blip was over with impressive wins against the London duo of Tottenham and West Ham in their last two games. Yet, that only repaired some of the damage that was done during last month's alarming run of form for Klopp's players. Expand Close Pep Guardiola's team are in a rich vein of form / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pep Guardiola's team are in a rich vein of form Defeats against Southampton and Burnley, coupled with draws against West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle, kicked a hole in Liverpool's title defence and they need some help to get back into the race. That help need to come from City, as the Guardiola's side are the only team likely to finish ahead of Liverpool this season. Manchester United panicked when they went to the top of the table last month and they have been shown up as little more than top four contenders in their last two games. Tottenham had a month at the top, but they have fallen off the rails badly in the last few weeks, while the same could be said of Chelsea. Everton even had a burst at the top and their fans were giving me all kinds of abuse on Twitter for a few weeks, but they have gone very quiet now! Now we get a chance to see if City can take the heat, beginning at Turf Moor tonight. When I tell you the aggregate score in matches between these two sides over the last three seasons is 28-2 in City's favour, with a couple of FA Cup hammerings thrown into that calculation, it would suggest this might not be the night Guardiola's men slip up. Yet how will they handle it if Liverpool beat them at Anfield on Sunday, before facing games against Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham? Spurs and Arsenal have decent records against City in the last year or so, and West Ham are in good form, even though Liverpool dealt with them comprehensively last Sunday. So, the next month will tell us a lot about City and whether they have the mental strength and quality to deal with the reality that they are now the title favourites. Expand Close Sheffield United's Oliver Norwood heads clear of Man City's Fernandinho / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sheffield United's Oliver Norwood heads clear of Man City's Fernandinho They have injury problems of their own, as Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero are missing for the next few weeks and without those two, Guardiola's side has struggled for goals. Yet, they appear to have clicked into gear over the last few weeks, with Liverpool's slide in fortunes giving them all the encouragement they needed to step into the opening that was created. Read More I'd expect City to win comfortably tonight, but their big tests lie ahead and it looks like Liverpool are ready to start the long pursuit to catch them at the top after the traumas of the last few weeks. Part of me wonders whether Liverpool would be so far behind in the title race if Klopp had been allowed to bring in a couple of central defenders on January 1, as I suggested he should have done. Yet that's not the way Liverpool's owners work, as they try to bring money into the club from player sales before they commit too much the other way. The loan signing of Ozan Kabak from Schalke and a deal to bring in a lad in from Preston were hardly big financial commitments and Klopp now has to try and work his magic with the tools he has at his disposal. At least he has some defenders to work with now - and that could mean Liverpool will get their midfield back in full working order ahead of the City game. Jordan Henderson has been a big loss in the engine room when he was required to fill in as defensive cover, and the same could be said of Fabinho, who is a class act in his natural midfield role. It's hard to see them getting through the rest of this season without a few more slip-ups and if that happens, City may be ready to capitalise again and cement their position as title favourites. I expect Liverpool to beat Brighton at Anfield tonight and then all eyes will fall on the big one against Manchester City next Sunday. 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. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. With shipments of coronavirus vaccine still trickling in, health officials in Klamath County say that they are beginning to schedule vaccinations for seniors 80 and older this weekend a few days before Oregon's official eligibility opens on February 8. Klamath County Public Health said that it distributed doses to several clinics throughout the County on Tuesday morning, earmarked for people age 80 or older. Both public health officials and a spokesperson from Sky Lakes Medical Center underlined that these doses are extremely limited. "Not everyone who wants a vaccine will receive one immediately," Klamath County said. "Please continue to be patient." Sky Lakes said in a statement that it would be holding a special clinic for this group on Saturday, February 6, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first floor of the Collaborative Health Center, at 2821 Dagget Avenue on the Sky Lakes campus. These doses are available by appointment only. "We continue to schedule appointments for those in phases 1a and 1b for other dates and times, and will have additional dates available for seniors as vaccine is available," the healthcare provider said. Klamath County Public Health said that it has made doses available by appointment at the Merrill Clinic and Bonanza Clinic. Klamath Open Door clinic will be contacting eligible patients directly for appointments. Vaccine eligibility for the 80 and older population formally begins on February 8, with the 75 and older population following on Feb. 15. Public health officials estimate that there are 5,000 people in Klamath County aged 75 and older, and it will take several weeks to complete this group. For eligible seniors to make an appointment at one of the listed locations, see details below: Sky Lakes Medical Center Call the COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center at 1-833-606-4370 to schedule (open Wednesday, February 3rd, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. the rest of the week). Merrill Clinic Call to schedule at (541) 798-5073. Bonanza Clinic Call to schedule at (541) 545-1820. Twitter said last week that it had suspended more than 300 accounts engaged in spam and platform manipulation, as the farmers tractor rally went violent in the national capital on the 72nd Republic Day. (IANS file photo) document The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Tandi Mahambehlala, has said the arrival of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from India signifies the success of South Africa's approach to bilateral and multilateral relations. Ms Mahambehlala said: "We congratulate the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, through its missions abroad, for their candid vaccine diplomacy. This has been demonstrated through its successful initiation of negotiations, which secured the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines for South Africa. We also extend our gratitude to the friendly government of India, a true friend in need and a trusted partner in the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] formation, for prioritising South Africa to receive its first batch of the vaccine to fight the pandemic." The Chairperson applauded the cabinet decision to endorse and nominate the "Cuban Medical Brigade", which is deployed throughout the world, for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. "We thank these gallant heroes and heroines of Cuba for their selfless and unwavering sacrifice to assist the world in the fight against the coronavirus." About 200 Cuban doctors are deployed in South Africa to help in the fight against Covid-19. Ms Mahambehlala said the arrival of the vaccines is significant and testament to the success of South Africa's diplomatic relations. "The importance of diplomacy has once again been proved and is apparent for all to see during this era of the pandemic outbreak. The country under the capable stewardship of President Cyril Ramaphosa should work hard and enhance bilateral and multilateral relations with countries and multinational pharmaceutical companies that have shown capability in manufacturing the vaccines." On Monday, President Ramaphosa led a government delegation to welcome the arrival of the first batch of Astrazeneca vaccines from India. The vaccine has undergone successfully trials at Oxford University with South Africa's scientists making valuable contributions. Ms Mahambehlala pointed out that South Africa should make the vaccine available to immigrants and neighbouring countries, and appreciated President Ramaphosa's successful chairing of the African Union during a period that coincided with the outbreak of Covid-19. The committee also noted South Africa's successful two-year term membership of the United Nations' Security Council, which has now come to an end. NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for information leading to the arrest of key accused in farmers tractor rally violence on January 26. According to reports, the Delhi Police has announced Rs 1 lakh reward for information leading to the arrest of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh. The police have announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 each for the arrest of Jajbir Singh, Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Iqbal Singh for their alleged involvement in Jan 26 violence. According to Delhi Police, all those named in its FIRs were allegedly involved in hoisting a religious flag (Nishan Sahib) at the Red Fort and the violence which was witnessed on the Republic Day. Delhi Police has also intensified its investigation into the violence and the mayhem unleashed during the farmers tractor rally on January 26 and launched a massive search against 12 rioters identified by it. According to the reports, the police have started identifying the rioters who were responsible for the violence on January 26 in the name of farmers tractor parade. The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, which is investigating the case, has begun taking the help of the forensic team to identify the rioters being held responsible for the violence in the national capital on the Republic Day. The Crime Branch has found several videos of the violence during the farmers tractor rally on January 26. The Delhi Police, with the help of the forensic team, has been able to identify the blurred faces of the rioters from those videos. The police have zeroed in on 12 people who can be seen carrying sticks and rods during the farmers tractor rally on January 26. These miscreants, according to the police, had indulged in violence and attacked policemen at many places, including the Red Fort, during the tractor rally. The Delhi Police is trying to clean those photos with the help of the forensic team to identify those rioters so that they can be arrested and booked for the January 26 violence. The forensic analysis of these photos and videos will help Delhi Police in bringing out the truth behind the farmers tractor violence and expose the real culprits responsible for the mayhem during the Republic day. The Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava on Tuesday (February 2, 2021) defended the heightened security measures at the national capital borders and said that they have strengthened barricades so that they cannot be broken again. "I am surprised that when tractors were used on January 26 to attack policemen and barricades were broken, no questions were raised at that time. What have we done now? We have just strengthened the barricades so that they are not broken again," the Delhi Police Commissioner said. The statement came after Delhi Police put multi-layered barricading, iron nails on road, barbed wires, iron rods between cemented barriers and deployed DTC buses and extra personnel on the ground at the farmers' protest sites. Shrivastava also visited the police personnel who were injured during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on Republic day. He lauded them for exercising utmost restraint in the face of 'violent' behaviour while persuading the farmers to follow designated routes. The top cop said the force remained firm, yet polite while performing their duty in such a hostile situation. Shrivastava was accompanied by senior police officers, including Special Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Sanjay Singh and Joint Commissioner of Police (Western Range) Shalini Singh. Delhi Police informed a total of 510 police personnel were injured during the incident. It has so far registered 44 FIRs against protesters in connection with the violence and arrested 122 people. Notably, thousands of farmers have camped at Delhi's borders and are demanding a rollback of these three 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 New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Howard Quayle said: "Saddened to learn the news of Captain Sir Tom Moore's passing. He was a beacon of light in the darkest of days, a true hero and inspiration in Britain, the Isle of Man and beyond. A remarkable legacy." "My thoughts are with his family and loved ones." He died yesterday in hospital, having recently tested positive for coronavirus. Chocolate doesnt care that your hair is overdue for a trim or that sweatpants have become part of your unofficial work-from-home uniform. Chocolate also doesnt care about your age, sexual orientation, race or relationship status. Whether youre single as a pringle or living the coupled life, the chocolatiers from Connecticuts Chocolate Trail have a sweet treat for you to enjoy by yourself, with your love or with the family. Valentines Day is a prominent chocolate shopping day, and as Castle Hill Chocolate owner Erica Sullivan said, when you think Valentines Day, you think chocolate. Castle Hill Chocolate / Contributed photo Sullivan said her shop offers a variety of confections to share with a sweetheart and that the artisanal shops signature bonbons are the most popular item for Valentines Day. Each bonbon is hand painted with bright colorful designs and features flavors like cookie dough ganache, Italian red wine ganache, classic salted caramel, strawberry, cinnamon bun and ruby champagne, just to name a few, she said. Carmen Romeo, president of Fascias Chocolates in Waterbury, said Valentines Day is one of the biggest holidays for her company. Besides traditional heart boxes of chocolates, we feature long stem chocolate dipped strawberries and other seasonal novelties such as molded heart shapes, a heart shaped peanut butter cup and our regular confections in a variety of Valentine themed packaging, she said. When asked if she had a favorite confection, Romeo said its too difficult for her to choose. I can never answer which chocolates are my favorites because that is like saying which child is my favorite it very much depends on the day, or even time of day! she said. Rita Lara from Mystic Sweet Shop said her store specializes in truffles and European style molded chocolates. Asked why it's nice to give a chocolatey treat to a Valentine, Lara said she thinks it's an act of sharing joy. With the way the world is right now, I personally feel that no one moment should be wasted, she said. So showing one's affection for your loved ones, gives our lives more meaning. Mystic Sweet Shop / Contributed photo In Westport Aarti Khosla creates artisan chocolates with a variety of flavors from Paris to Punjab at Le Rouge by Aarti. Chocolates are the language of love the world over, she said before adding that the shops champagne and bourbon French truffles and the open truffle flowers are the most popular around Valentines Day. Karen F. Munson, president of Munsons Chocolates, said her business is celebrating 75 years of confections this year. While our customers will find a collection of timeless confections like truffles, chocolate cordial cherries and original almond toffee, we also have some trending new treats, said Munson, whose business is based in Bolton and has eight stores throughout the state. Munson added that she thinks it's extraordinary to see how many customers come in to order a loved ones favorite treat for years. Munson's Chocolates / Contributed photo They often have been buying the exact same chocolates for their someone special for decades. It could be a parent, grandparent, child or spouse. Whether it's dark chocolate raspberry creams, milk chocolate pecan turtles or heavenly hash bark; every customer has a story to tell and each chocolate they pick is a part of that story, she said. I think this year, more than any other, chocolate proves to be a delicious and nostalgic escape. In Bethel, Noteworthy Chocolates help folks share a loving message with their other half through their engraved confections. Noteworthy Chocolates / Contributed photo We absolutely love helping people share their love and friendship for each other through chocolate. We don't say often enough how much we care for each other and sending something sweet every once in a while truly goes a long way, Sam Mauro from Noteworthy Chocolates said. It warms hearts, it makes people smile, and who doesn't love chocolate? tinamarie.craven@hearstmediact.com Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Many surgeries today are performed via minimally invasive procedures, in which a small incision is made and miniature cameras and surgical tools are threaded through the body to remove tumors and repair damaged tissues and organs. The process results in less pain and shorter recovery times compared to open surgery. While many procedures can be performed in this way, surgeons can face challenges at an important step in the process: the sealing of internal wounds and tears. Taking inspiration from origami, MIT engineers have now designed a medical patch that can be folded around minimally invasive surgical tools and delivered through airways, intestines, and other narrow spaces, to patch up internal injuries. The patch resembles a foldable, paper-like film when dry. Once it makes contact with wet tissues or organs, it transforms into a stretchy gel, similar to a contact lens, and can stick to an injured site. In contrast to existing surgical adhesives, the team's new tape is designed to resist contamination when exposed to bacteria and bodily fluids. Over time, the patch can safely biodegrade away. The team has published its results in the journal Advanced Materials. The researchers are working with clinicians and surgeons to optimize the design for surgical use, and they envision that the new bioadhesive could be delivered via minimally invasive surgical tools, operated by a surgeon either directly or remotely via a medical robot. Minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery are being increasingly adopted, as they decrease trauma and hasten recovery related to open surgery. However, the sealing of internal wounds is challenging in these surgeries." Xuanhe Zhao, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT "This patch technology spans many fields," adds co-author Christoph Nabzdyk, a cardiac anesthesiologist and critical care physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "This could be used to repair a perforation from a coloscopy, or seal solid organs or blood vessels after a trauma or elective surgical intervention. Instead of having to carry out a full open surgical approach, one could go from the inside to deliver a patch to seal a wound at least temporarily and maybe even long-term." The study's co-authors include lead authors Sarah Wu and Hyunwoo Yuk, and Jingjing Wu at MIT. Layered protection The bioadhesives currently used in minimally invasive surgeries are available mostly as biodegradable liquids and glues that can be spread over damaged tissues. When these glues solidify, however, they can stiffen over the softer underlying surface, creating an imperfect seal. Blood and other biological fluids can also contaminate glues, preventing successful adhesion to the injured site. Glues can also wash away before an injury has fully healed, and, after application, they can also cause inflammation and scar tissue formation. Given the limitations of current designs, the team aimed to engineer an alternative that would meet three functional requirements. It should be able to stick to the wet surface of an injured site, avoid binding to anything before reaching its destination, and once applied to an injured site resist bacterial contamination and excessive inflammation. The team's design meets all three requirements, in the form of a three-layered patch. The middle layer is the main bioadhesive, made from a hydrogel material that is embedded with compounds called NHS esters. When in contact with a wet surface, the adhesive absorbs any surrounding water and becomes pliable and stretchy, molding to a tissue's contours. Simultaneously, the esters in the adhesive form strong covalent bonds with compounds on the tissue surface, creating a tight seal between the two materials. The design of this middle layer is based on previous work in Zhao's group. The team then sandwiched the adhesive with two layers, each with a different protective effect. The bottom layer is made from a material coated with silicone oil, which acts to temporarily lubricate the adhesive, preventing it from sticking to other surfaces as it travels through the body. When the adhesive reaches its destination and is pressed lightly against an injured tissue, the silicone oil is squeezed out, allowing the adhesive to bind to the tissue. The adhesive's top layer consists of an elastomer film embedded with zwitterionic polymers, or molecular chains made from both positive and negative ions that act to attract any surrounding water molecules to the elastomer's surface. In this way, the adhesive's outward-facing layer forms a water-based skin, or barrier against bacteria and other contaminants. "In minimally invasive surgery, you don't have the luxury of easily accessing a site to apply an adhesive," Yuk says. "You really are battling a lot of random contaminants and body fluids on your way to your destination." Fit for robots In a series of demonstrations, the researchers showed that the new bioadhesive strongly adheres to animal tissue samples, even after being submerged in beakers of fluid, including blood, for long periods of time. They also used origami-inspired techniques to fold the adhesive around instruments commonly used in minimally invasive surgeries, such as a balloon catheter and a surgical stapler. They threaded these tools through animal models of major airways and vessels, including the trachea, esophagus, aorta, and intestines. By inflating the balloon catheter or applying light pressure to the stapler, they were able to stick the patch onto torn tissues and organs, and found no signs of contamination on or near the patched-up site up to one month after its application. The researchers envision that the new bioadhesive could be manufactured in prefolded configurations that surgeons can easily fit around minimally invasive instruments as well as on tools that are currently being used in robotic surgery. They are seeking to collaborate with designers to integrate the bioadhesive into robotic surgery platforms. "We believe that the conceptual novelty in the form and function of this patch represents an exciting step toward overcoming translational barriers in robotic surgery and facilitating the wider clinical adoption of bioadhesive materials," Wu says. 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. Sentenced: Alexei Navalny (centre) speaks to a lawyer from the glass cage in the Moscow court yesterday. Photo: Moscow City Court/ AP Alexei Navalny was sentenced yesterday to almost three years in prison as a Moscow court locked up the main foe of the Kremlin in defiance of mass protests and Western condemnation. He smiled and shrugged as the judge said he had violated parole terms on a suspended sentence for embezzlement. The opposition leader (44) was accused of missing parole hearings while he was recovering in Germany from poisoning with Novichok nerve agent. Standing in a glass cage for defendants, he drew a heart on a wall for his wife. Supporters, who have taken to the streets in huge numbers over the past two weekends, called for immediate protests in Moscow, where the entire neighbourhood around the court was sealed off by riot police. Western leaders were quick to denounce the verdict. The EU, the UK and the US called for Mr Navalnys immediate release, with Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, calling it deeply concerning. Read More Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, said: Todays perverse ruling targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible shows that Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community. After the ruling, police clad in riot gear descended on the central square in the Kremlin where Mr Navalnys allies had called for protests, while four Moscow underground stations were immediately shut. Mr Navalnys daring return from Germany last month had put the Kremlin in a bind: whether to jail him and risk massive protests, or release him and appear weak in the eyes of Russias mighty security services. In a fiery speech prior to the ruling, Mr Navalny issued a warning to Vladimir Putin, saying that the attempt to kill him would come to haunt the Russian president. However hard he tries to posture himself as a great world leader, he would come down in history as a poisoner, he said. We had [Tsar] Alexander the Liberator, Yaroslav the Wise now we will have Vladimir the Poisoner of Underwear. Mr Putin was forced into a rare denial by Mr Navalnys claim that he owns a $1bn (830m) property on the Black Sea coast, purchased through corrupt means. The Russian president said that the opulent seaside home was owned by an old friend of his, who was turning it into a hotel. In 2013, Mr Navalny was given a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in a trial viewed as political, while his brother was also sent to jail. The opposition leader then spent a year under house arrest, and he will now have to serve nearly three years in prison unless yesterdays ruling is overruled during appeals. Mr Navalny told the court that his persecution is driven by Mr Putins personal enmity. I mortally offended him by surviving, Mr Navalny said in his final argument. Then I offended him even more by refusing to live in hiding. Several European laboratories independently confirmed that Mr Navalny, who fell suddenly sick on a plane from Siberia to Moscow on August 20, had been poisoned with the Soviet-made Novichok nerve agent. The Kremlin denied any involvement in the attack, with top officials offering contradictory theories over what had happened. Ahead of the verdict yesterday, Mr Navalny also thanked his supporters and called for more protests. I very much hope that this trial wont be perceived as a message for people to get scared, he said. On the contrary, this is not a show of strength: all those riot police, this cage. You cant jail millions and hundred thousands of people. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that there was no reason Mr Navalnys detention should affect Russias relations with European countries. We hope that such nonsense as linking the prospects of Russia-EU relations with the resident of a detention centre will not happen, he told reporters. A grade 1 learner at Jakob Soul Primary School in Stampriet was a lucky recipient of a wheelchair donated in kind from the Hardap governor Reverend Salomon April. The eight-year-old Sara Senoritha Skrywer, who is unable to walk due to a disability in her feet after she sustained an injury to her legs when she was seven months old, finds it difficult to attend school as she has to crawl her way to the classroom. According to her father, Abraham Skrywer, Sara was just an infant when she fell off the bed she was sleeping on. "She sustained injuries and was unconscious for six months in the hospital. After she somewhat recovered from her injuries we realised that her feet were suddenly paralysed and she could not walk," Skrywer narrated. He however does not know the medical name of the condition that paralysed his daughter's feet but was advised to take her to a private hospital for Sara to be properly diagnosed and possibly receive treatment. Skrywer said both he and his wife are unemployed and are struggling to get funds to book their daughter for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The MRI costs N$7 000 according to Skrywer. "We have been struggling in the past years to secure funds to pay for the scan but this year my wife decided to approach the governor's office for any assistance," said Skrywer. Upon hearing about Sara's ordeal from her parents, governor April, who himself has a physically challenged daughter, asked his daughter to donate one of her wheelchairs. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Children Aid and Assistance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "I spoke to my daughter and asked her if she could assist her fellow sister to walk with ease from home to school. She then informed me that she would donate one of her chairs," said April. Skrywer added that although Sara is a happy child who gets along well with her peers, she struggles to crawl for a long time and hence they feared taking her to a formal school would pose a challenge. This year, the family decided to enrol Sara in grade 1 at Jacob Soul Primary School, which caused uncertainty at the school as the school is not equipped with the proper infrastructure that caters for learners with physical disabilities, such as Sara. According to the school principal, Sara is not the only disabled learner at the school but she is however the only learner who is wheelchair-bound. Skrywer added that because their daughter relies on them for many things, he and his wife have to be at her disposal during school hours whenever she needs assistance such as when visiting the toilet. "We have to make sure that we are available all the time to take Sara to the toilet or whenever she needs assistance so that she doesn't disturb the teacher from her lesson. Luckily our house is only three minutes away from the school so we are always available," said Sara's father. According to the regional education director Gerard Ndafenongo, the ministry is in the process of improving all schools in the region to be equipped with wheelchair-friendly facilities for learners to access classrooms freely. Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were spotted arriving back in Los Angeles this past Friday. The reality TV icons had been enjoying a 'Girls Trip' to Turks And Caicos with their sisters and daughters before flying into their hometown. After emerging from the aircraft Kim, 40, could be seen showing off her famously taut midriff in a blue crop top and matching sweats. Sizzling: Kim Kardashian (pictured), Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were spotted arriving back in Los Angeles this past Friday She could be seen with her daughters North, seven, and Chicago, three, both of whom she shares with her third husband Kanye West. 'Kimye' also share two sons called Saint, five, and Psalm, one, but Kim wrote on Instagram over the weekend that the vacation had been a 'Girls Trip.' Meanwhile last Friday on her return to town Kylie showed off her knockout legs in a pair of skintight short shorts and slipped into a flowing white top. She carried what appeared to be a cream jacket that complemented her outfit and even opted for a mask in a matching color. There's Kourt: The reality TV icons had been enjoying a 'Girls Trip' to Turks And Caicos with their sisters and daughters before flying into their hometown Sizzler: After emerging from the aircraft Kim, 40, could be seen showing off her famously taut midriff in a blue crop top and matching sweats Homecoming: She could be seen with her daughters North, seven, and Chicago, three, both of whom she shares with her third husband Kanye West Details: 'Kimye' also share two sons called Saint, five, and Psalm, one, but Kim wrote on Instagram over the weekend that the vacation had been a 'Girls Trip' Kylie was leading along her daughter Stormi, who celebrated her third birthday this Monday just a few days after returning to town. The vacation to Turks And Caicos included Kim and Kourtney's younger sister Khloe Kardashian as well as Kylie's big sister Kendall Jenner. Based on Kylie's Insta Stories on Saturday she seemed to have returned to the Tranquility villa where she also a family trip for her 23rd birthday last summer. The sprawling 11-bedroom property is made for 16 guests and is currently listed on Airbnb as costing upwards of a whopping $30,000 a night. Meanwhile: Last Friday on her return to town Kylie showed off her knockout legs in a pair of skintight short shorts and slipped into a flowing white top Leggy legend: She carried what appeared to be a cream jacket that complemented her outfit and even opted for a mask in a matching color Baby mine: Kylie was leading along her daughter Stormi, who celebrated her third birthday this Monday just a few days after returning to town Kylie shares her little girl with her rapper ex-boyfriend Travis Scott with whom she has an amicable co-parenting relationship. Meanwhile Kourtney has three children - Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six - with her sizzling former fiance Scott Disick. Scott, 37, is now dating Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin's 19-year-old daughter Amelia Hamlin, a model who has been open about her history with anorexia. Swanking about: The vacation to Turks And Caicos included Kim and Kourtney's younger sister Khloe Kardashian as well as Kylie's big sister Kendall Jenner Old favorites: Based on Kylie's Insta Stories on Saturday she seemed to have returned to the Tranquility villa where she also a family trip for her 23rd birthday last summer Making it work: Kylie shares her little girl with her rapper ex-boyfriend Travis Scott with whom she has an amicable co-parenting relationship However Kourtney and Scott have remained very friendly and even used to vacation together with their children and his previous girlfriend Sofia Richie, 22. In a new trailer for the final season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kendall said that Kourtney and Scott are 'definitely made for each other.' Kourtney is currently rumored to be dating Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who has been friends with her for a long time. What a time: Kim went on her latest holiday with her children amid a swirl of reports that she is on the verge of divorcing Kanye whom she married in 2014 Kim went on her latest holiday with her children amid a swirl of reports that she is on the verge of divorcing Kanye whom she married in 2014. Recently a Page Six insider alleged that the upcoming last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians will show the 'Kimye' marriage on the rocks. The source claimed that 'the Kardashians intend to go out with a bang. Theyve filmed Kim discussing her marriage problems. But everybody involved is on a nondisclosure agreement, because the finale wont screen until later in 2021.' The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A decision by the Education Minister to scrap an algorithm that led to 37% of A-levels being downgraded last summer could have been taken months ago alongside other parts of the UK, a union has said. In determining final pupil grades for A-level, AS and GCSE exams, schools will be using work students have completed while learning remotely, as well as work completed in class. The minister said that CCEA would provide schools with tests to be used in pupil assessment from April. "These resources will be re-purposed papers, providing unseen questions and an associated mark scheme," he added. While he stressed that "they are not exams and should not be treated as such," the decision marks a dramatic U-turn from last November, when the minister was scathing as Wales announced a similar decision. A teaching union said that, looking back, a decision on the handling of grades could easily have been made at that time. Justin McCamphill, NASUWT's national official for Northern Ireland, said that while the announcement on grading was welcome, there were questions over why it had not happened three months ago. "What we're left with now is probably the best option, but it's an option that could have been taken long ago. We're now essentially in the same position as Wales was three months ago," he explained. After Wales cancelled examinations in November, Mr Weir said he wanted to make it clear he would not be following suit. "It now appears young people in Wales will face externally set examinations and these will be taken earlier than usual. There is a high degree of uncertainty across the Welsh system about what will happen," he added. With schools now set to be supplied with CCEA exam papers to assist assessment, a similar scenario could play out in Northern Ireland. The minister was warned that the onus was on him to provide clarity for this year's grading. Mr Weir told the Assembly yesterday that lessons had been learned from the mistakes of last summer and that this year the schools themselves would calculate grades. CCEA, Northern Ireland's exams board, will then review how the schools awarded grades to pupils to "ensure fairness and consistency". "More weight has been given to the professional judgment of teachers and this year there will be no statistical standardisation using an algorithm," Mr Weir confirmed. "There will be a direct link between the grade awarded and the actual work completed by the learner." Alliance education spokesman Chris Lyttle MLA said the impact of disrupted learning on pupils must be addressed. "The minister needs to outline how he plans to mitigate the impact of out-of-school learning on students ahead of these assessments," he added. Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan called for clear details on examinations to be communicated more effectively. "I am pleased that Mr Weir intends to place a greater level of trust in the professional judgment of our teachers," Mr Sheehan said. "Now, effective communication of the new arrangements to teachers, students and their families is required to ensure the mistakes of last year are not repeated." The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said that the proposals stopped short of what it had hoped to see. "The union called for external assessments to be provided and marked by trained examiners, which would have more closely replicated normal practice," added union official Kevin Daly. "It now follows that requiring teachers to collate, assess and moderate evidence in order to provide a grade will result in additional work for already hard-pressed staff. "Teachers must have time made available to them and the minister must provide additional funding for the provision of substitute teachers to avoid further loss to teaching and learning." However, Secondary Students' Union of Northern Ireland president Cormac Savage said there was relief amongst students. "These are excellent proposals which meet the needs of our students in every regard. The direct link between evidence and grading means students will be safe in the knowledge their grades are reflective of what could've been achieved under normal circumstances," he added. "We are particularly delighted that the minister has chosen to trust our teachers over algorithms." Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 amalgamates over 10 labor laws to consolidate into one comprehensive act. It was passed by the Indian parliament and received the presidents assent in September 2020. Rules to implement the Code are expected to be finalized in the next few weeks. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code) is one of three new labor codes that will consolidate the bulk of labor legislation in India and streamline labor compliance besides expanding the social security net for workers. More importantly, the new labor codes seek to bring uniformity to the way labor laws are implemented in the country. This has been a much promised reform by Prime Minister Narendra Modis government and finally appears to be at the last stretch before coming to fruition. Since labor is a concurrent subject under the Indian constitution, it can be legislated upon by both federal and state governments, contributing to the existing framework of convoluted labor laws and notifications, many overlapping in their applicability and jurisdiction. Depending on the situation, this has removed safeguards for, both, employers and employees, due to ambiguous interpretation or limited scope of implementation. The new labor codes will subsume several labor laws at various levels of government; they are grouped into four categories to ease classification and clearly delineate the types of legislation they will subsume and their legislative goal. The four codes cover industrial relations, wages, social security, and worker health, safety, and welfare. In this article, we briefly spotlight key features of the OSH Code, including use of legal terms, duties of employers, rights of employees, important regulatory directives, and compliance obligations. Businesses should prepare their organizations for once the Code comes into effect or risk being found incompliant. Speaking to the media on January 12, the Labor and Employment Secretary Apurva Chandra stated that the labor ministry were looking to finalize the rules under the codes by January-end. Key definitions under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code The following terms have had their definitions amended under the new labor code: Contract labor: Defined as a worker who is deemed to be employed in an establishment or connected to the work of an establishment upon being hired by a contractor for such purpose, regardless of the knowledge of the principal employer. The scope of this definition excludes workers (besides part-time employees) who are regularly employed by the contractor for any economic activity whereby such workers employment is governed by mutually accepted employment standards and benefits of periodical increment in pay and other welfare incentives. Provisions of the Code that pertain to contract labor would only apply to establishments that hire 50 or more contract laborers. Establishment: Defined as: (i) any place with 10 or more workers where any industry, trade, business, manufacturing, or occupation is undertaken; or (ii) a motor transport undertaking, newspaper establishment, audio-video production, building or other construction work, or plantation with 10 or more workers; or (iii) factory in which 10 or more workers are employed; or (iv) a mine or port or vicinity of port where dock work is carried out. Employee: Defined as a person employed and paid wages by an establishment to do any skilled, unskilled, manual, operational, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical, clerical, or other work. The definition has been made consistent in all the four codes. Employer: Defined as a person who employs (directly, or through any person, or on behalf of any person) one or more employees in their establishment, and includes, inter alia, the person or authority that has the final control over the affairs of the establishment (or contractor). Factory: Definition is expanded to 20 workers for premises where the work process uses power and 40 workers where the work process uses no power. Principal employer: Defined as: (i) any person responsible for the supervision and control of the establishment where contract labor is employed or engaged; or (ii) the owner of the factory/establishment and/or manager of the factory/establishment. Hazardous process: Defined as any dangerous process or activity in relation to specific industries (Schedule I of the OSH Code) where special care must be taken so that handling or processing raw/intermediate/finished/bye-products, etc., could cause: (i) material impairment to the health of the employed persons; or (ii) pollution of the general environment. Wages: Defined as consolidated remuneration, comprising salaries, allowances, or money payable to a person in return for their employment and includes basic pay, dearness allowance, and retaining allowance, if any. Wages do not include (i) bonus; (ii) value of accommodation or light, water, medical attendance; (iii) employer contribution towards any pension or provident fund; (iv) conveyance allowance; (v) sum paid to employed person to reimburse special expenses; (vi) house rent allowance; (vii) overtime allowance and (viii) gratuity, etc. Worker: Defined as any person employed in any establishment to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical, or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, and includes working journalists and sales promotion employees, but does not include the following: (i) who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950, or the Army Act, 1950, or the Navy Act, 1957; or (ii) who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison; or (iii) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or (iv) who is employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wage exceeding INR 18,000 per month or an amount as may be notified by the federal government from time to time What are the duties of employers under the OSH Code? New establishments covered by the OSH Code must register themselves (within 60 days of commencement of the Code) with registering officers appointed by the appropriate government. Establishments already registered under any other federal law will not be required to register again. Every employer is directed to undertake the following obligations by the OSH Code: Ensure that the workplace is free from hazards can cause injury or occupational disease to the employees and comply with the OSH Code and the governments directions on the same; Provide free annual health examination or testing, free of cost, to certain classes of employees; Provide and maintain, as reasonably practical, a working environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the employees; Issue letters of appointments to employees; and Ensure that no charge is levied on any employee for maintenance of safety and health at workplace, including the conduct of medical examination and investigation for the purpose of detecting occupational diseases. Further, the Code directs employers with respect to factories, mines, dock work, building and other construction work, or plantations to ensure: (i) safety arrangements in the workplace and absence of risk to health in connection with the use, storage, and transport of articles and substances; (ii) provision of such information, instruction, training, and supervision as are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all employees at work, etc. Similarly, the Code lays out that it is the duty of the architect, project engineer, or designer responsible for any building or construction work or the design of any project relating to such building, to ensure that due consideration is given to the safety and health of the building workers and employees involved in the construction, operation, and execution of such projects at the planning stage itself. The employer must provide a hygienic work environment with adequate ventilation, sufficient space (to avoid overcrowding), potable drinking water, arrangements for separate washrooms, etc. The Code also provides a uniform threshold for welfare provisions to be available at all establishments, such as a canteen, creche, first aid, welfare officer, etc. The Code also directs the government to notify working hours for various classes of establishments and employees and for women workers. For overtime, the prior consent of workers is required along with the payment of overtime wage. No worker in an establishment will be allowed to work for more than six days a week, except as provided for by the Code. Every worker is entitled to one day of leave for every 20 days of work in a calendar year. The Code also safeguards the rights of inter-state migrant workers by ensuring that they are also provided all the benefits available to a worker by the contractor under various labor laws. Further, the employer of every applicable establishment is required to pay to every inter-state migrant worker, a lump sum fare, to enable the journey to and from their native place and the place of their employment. What are the duties of employees as prescribed by the OSH Code? Every employee at the workplace shall: (i) take reasonable care for the health and safety of themself and other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at the workplace; (ii) comply with the safety and health requirements specified in the standards; (iii) co-operate with the employer in meeting the statutory obligations of the employer under this Code; (iv) if any situation which is unsafe or unhealthy comes to their attention, as soon as is practical, report such situation to their employer or to the health and safety representative; (v) not willfully interfere with or misuse or neglect any appliance, convenience, or other thing provided at the workplace for the purpose of securing the health, safety, and welfare of workers; (vi) not do anything, willfully and without reasonable cause, to endanger or potentially endanger themself or others; and (vii) perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the appropriate government. What are the rights of employees under the OSH Code? The OSH Code provides every employee the following rights: (i) Obtain from the employer, information relating to the employees health and safety at work and communicate to the employer any concern regarding inadequate provision for protection of the employees safety or health in connection with the work activity in the workplace, and if not satisfied, to the inspector-cum-facilitator; (ii) If they have reasonable apprehension that there is a likelihood of imminent serious personal injury or death or imminent danger to health, they may bring this to the notice of the employer directly, and simultaneously bring the same to the notice of the inspector-cum-facilitator; (iii) The employee should note that once the existence of such imminent danger is established, the employer is obliged to take immediate remedial action and send a report of the action taken in response to the inspector-cum-facilitator; and (iv) Even if the imminent danger / apprehension about the same by the employee(s) is not accepted by the employer, the employer must refer the matter to the inspector-cum-facilitator whose decision on the question of the existence of such imminent danger shall be final. What are the relevant authorities under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code? National and state-level Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board The OSH Code directs authorities to set up a National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board that will advise the federal government on matters relating to (i) standards, rules, and regulations to be declared under the OSH Code; (ii) implementation of provisions of the OSH Code; and (iii) issue of policy relating to occupational safety and health; and any other matters referred to it. The OSH Code also provides for the constitution of a similar state-level advisory board. Inspectors-cum-Facilitators They are appointed by the appropriate government and can inquire into accidents and conduct health and safety inspections. They are conferred special powers with respect to factories, mines, dock-works, buildings or other construction works, and oversee the prohibition of work in hazardous environments. Safety committees These may be formed in certain establishments, and for certain classes of workers, by the appropriate government. These committees will aim to function as a liaison between employers and employees. For specialist advice regarding doing business in India and/or training to ensure your organization is compliant under the upcoming labor codes, please feel free to contact our professional service advisors at india@dezshira.com. Somalia on Tuesday killed three Al-Shabaab members who carried out a mortar attack aimed at targeting a high-level government delegation in the central city of Dhusamareb, local media reported. A barrage of mortar shells fired by the militants on Monday injured a police officer and civilians in Dhusamareb, where the Somali president and prime minister arrived to attend a conference on the country's next elections. According to the Somali state-run broadcaster, security forces shot dead three attackers, including a senior al-Shabaab member, and injured another. They also arrested two attackers. The state television showed pictures of the arrested militants. It also displayed heavy machines guns and other weapons seized from the al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group. The attack came a day after al-Shabaab terrorists killed at least 10 people, including a retired army general and former Defense Minister Mohamed Nuur Galal in the capital Mogadishu. Earlier this week following pressure from the international community, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed called on regional leaders to attend a three-day consultative summit in the city to resolve outstanding issues over the holding of timely and credible elections in the country. The president's mandate will expire on Feb. 8, and the country has already missed the deadline for parliamentary elections twice. The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami congratulates two of its brilliant students who recently achieved extraordinary heights at the prestigious New Zealand International Brass Festival Solo Competition. Jason Donnelly, B.M. 21, a senior in the Instrumental Performance program was named first prize winner in the Professional Artist category and Kendra Luedke, B.A.M. 23, a sophomore studying for her Bachelor of Arts in Music placed second in the Young Artist Category."I am incredibly proud of how consistent Jason Donnelly and Kendra Luedke have become with every detailed aspect of their playing and with their preparations for international competitions such as these, states Dr. Arron Tindall, Frost Schools Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium. Its remarkable that they are both doing this during their undergraduate years. The results are showing for many in the tuba/euphonium studio as there have so many big wins in competitions and earning jobs in the last few years. They are truly building themselves here at the Frost School of Music!"In commenting on how his education at Frost helped him prepare for this moment, Jason Donnelly stated: Frost has engrossed me in an environment of talented performers, educators, and students who are dedicated to their craft. I am motivated and inspired by these people every day. The fantastic specialized instruction I receive at Frost has been absolutely paramount to my artistic successes and I look forward to learning more from this environment.Kendra Luedke stated: Being among so many talented and supportive peers and mentors in my studio with the Frost School as a whole continuously motivates me to practice harder and work towards bigger goals as a musician. Marie D. De Jesus/Staff photographer The search is on for the owner of a bracelet possibly containing human ashes that was found at William P. Hobby Airport. An Arizona woman said in a viral Facebook post that she found the silver bracelet with a heart-shaped charm marked with a thumbprint in a bathroom in the Terminal 2 area of the airport. She said in the Friday post that she believes that the design of the piece indicates it is holding the remains of the owners loved one. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! [February 03, 2021] Halliburton to Provide Digital Solutions for Kuwait Oil Company Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) today announced it was awarded a contract from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to collaborate on their digital transformation journey through the maintenance and expansion of digital solutions for their North Kuwait asset. It will allow KOC to accelerate their data-to-decisions cycle by designing and operating digital twins of the field to automate work processes, supported by DecisionSpace 365, a cloud-based subscription service for E&P applications. Built on an open architecture, DecisionSpace 365 will help KOC engineers' model, optimize and deploy intelligent work processes to plan, forecast and optimize production and asset operations. The open architecture integrates Halliburton and third-party technologies to enhance operational performance and increase ultimate recovery. "We are excited to collaborate with KOC on their digital transformation initiatives and build on our previous work to increase reservoir recovery and production," said Nagaraj Srinivasan, senior vice president of Landmark, Halliburton Digital Solutions and Consulting. "By using cloud computing, IoT and real-time technologies to drive new ways of working, we can improve production planning, scheduling and enable virtual and autonomous reservoir optimization." About Halliburton Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy indutry. With approximately 40,000 employees, representing 130 nationalities in more than 70 countries, the company helps its customers maximize value throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir - from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production throughout the life of the asset. Visit the company's website at www.halliburton.com. Connect with Halliburton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005051/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Developer Abe Atiyehs quest to develop a 5-acre property at Center Street and Dewberry Avenue in Bethlehem was dealt a legal win in Pennsylvanias Commonwealth Court. Atiyeh pitched an 80-bed psychiatric hospital on the property by Bethlehem Catholic High School. But the city zoning officer denied the application on the grounds that Atiyehs proposed development was actually a treatment center, not a hospital. Treatment centers are not legal uses in the citys institutional zoning district. The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board in 2018 voted to uphold the zoning officers ruling. Atiyeh appealed the decision to Northampton County Court, which upheld the 3-2 zoning board ruling. Atiyeh then appealed the county court ruling to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, which just ruled in his favor. The court agreed with Atiyehs argument that the zoning hearing board was too strict in its interpretation of the zoning ordinance and it did not consider relevant evidence outside of the initial application. The court also found the citys ordinance governing hospitals to be flawed as it sets up a catch 22. To obtain a building permit, a proposed hospital must be licensed as such by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the ruling states. Yet, hospitals cannot be licensed until they are built and they cant be built without a permit. The developer said Tuesday hes pleased to have prevailed in court on the psych hospital. Now, the company must study the market demand and project feasibility again, he said. When Atiyeh first pitched the project, there was demand for up to 100 beds in the area. Atiyeh said he also plans to file a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city seeking damages. His plans projected the hospital generating a $2.5 million net income each year, so over several years that could mean substantial damages, Atiyeh said. This is a protected class, he said of psychiatric patients. ... We feel the city intentionally blocked this project because they did not want us there. On Wednesday morning, Mayor Bob Donchezs office said the administration has not had an opportunity to meet and discuss the ruling due to the snowstorm. Administration officials do plan to determine the citys next step later this week. The project has a long history. Back in 2013, the city planning commission approved a hospital on the property, with the caveat it could not be a treatment center. The exact hospital use had to be approved by the zoning hearing board. Atiyeh contends the proposed private psychiatric hospital is not a residential treatment facility and therefore allowed under the use approved by the planning commission in 2013. Atiyeh filed for the zoning permit to comply with the conditions of the 2013 approval. Hes long contended that the city zoning officer erred when she decided the proposed hospital was actually a treatment center. The Commonwealth Court judges agreed. In 2016, the developer inked a deal with Arcadia Healthcare -- a for-profit mental health care provider -- to build a $25 million behavioral health facility on the site. But the plans were met with opposition from neighbors and abruptly pulled ahead of a planning commission meeting. Then in May of 2017, Atiyeh submitted a proposal almost identical to his 2013 approved plans where the hospital was now called a psychiatric hospital. He filed an appeal and is waiting for a hearing on that appeal. The submission came just hours before city council took its first vote to restrict where such hospitals can be built in the city. Council later voted to change city zoning so that behavioral health facilities and psychiatric hospitals are categorized as treatment centers, meaning they would require special approvals by the zoning hearing board and only be allowed in certain areas. They didnt want them at this location under any circumstances, Atiyeh said. So, their discrimination started when they blocked us and pulled psych hospitals out of an institutional use as a standalone facility. Atiyehs morphing plans for the property at the corner of Dewberry Avenue and Center Street have long put him at odds with neighbors, Bethlehem Catholic High School officials and the city. The developer has proposed apartments, a drug and alcohol treatment center and various iterations of a hospital. Currently, Atiyeh is trying to get the propertys zoning changed to make way for the German grocer Lidl to build a supermarket on the property. The Bethlehem Planning Commission rejected his request to create a zoning overlay district on the site to allow a grocery store on the property. The property is zoned for institutional uses like educational, medical and health facilities or other public institutions like parks. A grocery store is not allowed. Back in September, Bethlehem City Council rejected another of Atiyehs zoning requests for the site. That wouldve permitted grocery stores on this property -- plus every other property citywide that is zoned Institutional. Council members labeled the request to change the institutional zoning district citywide as an overreach. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Captain Sir Tom Moore should be honoured with a permanent statue on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, says Nick Knowles. The DIY SOS presenter, 58, said an image of the fundraising veteran swathed in the Union flag would be a constant reminder of positivity for the nation. He befriended Sir Tom who died on Tuesday morning aged 100 after testing positive for Covid-19 when he was called in to help build a fence around the Army veterans home to retain some privacy amid the glare of the worlds media. The fourth plinth, which was built in 1841 but remained empty due to a lack of funds, has been home to a rolling commission of public artworks for the last two decades. Knowles said Sir Tom should be honoured in the same way Winston Churchill was following the Second World War. He told the PA news agency: We have been wondering what to do with the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square for a long time. Maybe we have finally decided what we should actually do with the fourth plinth. Maybe have a picture of Captain Tom up there. We could give him a wave every time we pass through the capital. Even when he was under siege in the nicest possible way but under siege no less from the worlds press, he never complained a jot. He was always ready to do an interview, to go that extra mile, because he realised that as the money was flooding in it would make a massive difference. Expand Close A recent sculpture installed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square (Philip Toscano/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A recent sculpture installed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square (Philip Toscano/PA) Knowles said the statue would be a symbol of positivity that we can refer back to regularly. He added: That is my suggestion. Lets get a statue of him up on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square and let that be a focus for positivity. There are various demonstrations and events that happen in Trafalgar Square and to have him overlooking all those things, it would be nice for people to look up and see somebody who is a constant reminder of positivity. Knowles, who took part in Im a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2018, finishing sixth, said Sir Toms legacy would be one of hope. He told PA: When we get out the other side of this we are going to be talking about this pandemic for years and years to come. There is a statue of Churchill who did what he did during the Second World War when the country was in crisis, and there are various other mementos and points of reference for us to look back at various times and say, That is how we got through. It would be nice to have something of that kind put up there. Tinnitus can be made worse by Covid-19 according to a study by Anglia Ruskin University. 40% of people with tinnitus who developed coronavirus symptoms experienced a worsening of their tinnitus, researchers found. Further research also shows that tinnitus has been identified as a common symptom in ongoing symptomatic Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 syndrome. And while research by Specsavers shows that as many as 94% of people are aware of tinnitus, only 6% know about the link with Covid, something which is of concern for more than half of people when becoming aware. Tinnitus is the perception of noises in the ear that sound as if theyre internal, rather than coming from an outside source. Sounds can include ringing, buzzing, whistling, humming and hissing, and can be constant or occasional and occur at different volumes. While it isnt a condition in itself, it is often a symptom of something underlying, such as age-related hearing loss, an ear injury or a circulatory system disorder but it is very common and most people will have experienced tinnitus at some point. Research shows that almost a fifth (19%) of 18-34-year-olds have experienced tinnitus, increasing to almost a quarter (24%) of 45-54-year-olds and a third (33%) of those aged 65 and over. Specsavers Ireland Audiologist, Orla Walsh, says: "Tinnitus is very common and can occur at any age. Although it is more common in people who have a hearing loss or other ear problems, it can also occur in people who dont suffer with a hearing loss, particularly if they dont protect their hearing. "People who work in noisy environments should always make sure that they are wearing hearing protection, especially those who work with amplified music, loud machinery and those who are exposed to loud bangs. "You also need to exercise caution when youre wearing headphones - to stay safe you should never listen to your music above 60% volume and you should give your ears a break every hour or so too." A variety of support is available for tinnitus sufferers depending on symptoms. "If you have tinnitus sounds pulsating in both or just one ear, our advice would be to discuss this with your GP," says Ms Walsh. "If you have symptoms of both tinnitus and hearing loss, the use of hearing aids is often successful in managing and improving your symptoms. Our expert audiologists are happy to provide a free hearing test to help you understand more about your hearing, what steps you can take and the best hearing aid options for you. "For people who have symptoms of tinnitus but dont have hearing loss, there are many techniques to help manage or alleviate them. A great source of information and support can be found at HSE website," says Ms Walsh. "While there is currently no cure for tinnitus, there are a number of measures that you can take to make life more bearable. Hearing aids can be helpful, particularly for those who already have some hearing loss, as can cognitive behavioural therapy and the use of background noise in quiet situations. This could include sounds such as music, the radio or natural sounds in the environment." Tuesday, 02 February 2021 20:04:07 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo Chilean mining company CAP Group said it was forced to halt activities at its Huasco pellet plant as well as shut down its Port of Guacolda II due to demonstrations. The company told the Chilean securities exchange commission that workers and unions associated with Axxintus, which is part of Grupo Empresarial Ultramar, have blocked the roads that access three CAP Group sites. CAP Group said it isnt involved nor has any interest or association with the demonstrations, which are related to the workers' annual contract negotiations. However, due to the blockades, CAP Group had to shut down its Huasco pellet unit, which is owned by its subsidiary Compania Minera del Pacifico S.A. The blockades also affected its Port of Guacolda II. Additionally, the companys other subsidiary, Port Las Losas, is unable to load or unload cargos at the port. Both the Port of Guacolda II and the Port Las Losas are located in the Huasco region. CAP Group said it had been using a railroad to transport key products from its Los Colorados mine to supply its Compania Minera del Pacifico S.A pellet unit in Huasco. However, due to lack of safety for the companys workers, the company said it can no longer use such a route. Red Rock Resources on route to exploration after priority licences win The award of three priority licences in Australias highly prospective Ballarat has been described as 'game changing' for awardee (RRAL). The gold exploration focused joint venture between Red Rock Resources ( ) and ( ) now has 215 sq km of granted tenements, forming an outer ring around Ballarat and along the Ballarat trend. Red Rock Chairman Andrew Bell tells Proactive London that with the licences granted, the JV can embark on active exploration and explore the opportunities these assets present including sales, partnerships, farm outs and the frequently advertised listing of all or part of the RRAL assets. Prosecutors want US authorities to release Twitter data from a loyalist activist accused of plotting to subvert a Stormont inquiry into a billion pound property deal, it has been claimed. Jamie Bryson told a court he intends to resist any alleged attempt to obtain the material by citing journalistic privilege. The development emerged ahead of his legal bid to have the case against him thrown out. Mr Bryson, 31, denies a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office on dates between September 1-24, 2015. Former Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay, 38, and party member Thomas O'Hara, 36, are accused of the same offence. The case relates to a Stormont probe into the 1.2bn sale of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama)'s Northern Ireland property portfolio to US investment giant Cerberus. In September 2015 Mr Bryson gave explosive evidence to the Finance Committee examining the deal. Using parliamentary privilege, he made an unsubstantiated allegation that Peter Robinson, the then DUP First Minister, was set to profit. Mr Robinson strenuously denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he neither expected nor received any money from the sale. At the time Mr McKay was chair of the Finance Committee and seen as a rising star within Sinn Fein's ranks. But a year later he stood down as an MLA for North Antrim and quit the party. Police launched an investigation into the affair following a complaint by senior DUP figure Lord Morrow. A decision was then taken to prosecute Mr Bryson, of Rosepark in Donaghadee, Co Down; Mr McKay, of Loughan Road in Dunnamanagh, Co Tyrone; and Mr O'Hara, from Lisnahunshin Road in Cullybackey, Co Antrim. It centres on an alleged conspiracy to subvert the Finance Committee's proceedings by giving evidence that should not have been permitted in open session. Mr Bryson is attempting to have the charge against him dismissed before trial, with a preliminary investigation into the evidence listed for next month. During a review hearing at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday he claimed prosecutors have applied to the Department of Justice in the United States for access to his Twitter data. Mr Bryson contended that the alleged move raises issues about "journalistic privilege". He also confirmed his intention to argue that the case should be halted on human rights grounds. Outside court he claimed: "There are serious issues under Article 7 and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. "I have massive concerns about the proportionality of any application for private data of an individual, and I understand the Department of Justice in America is resisting handing over potential Twitter data due to my status as a journalist, as determined by the High Court." FREEBORN COUNTY, Minn. - Five juveniles were taken into custody Tuesday after a reported vehicle theft. The Albert Lea Police Department said it worked with the sheriff's office in a vehicle pursuit before the suspects fled on foot. All five were arrested and held on various warrants and charges. They were later taken to Anoka County pending court. 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. Dubai, Feb 3 : The UAE is building up its capacity to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine in the future, and the country's position is to provide as much support as it can to the international community, said Farida Al Hosani, official spokesperson for the UAE health sector. "There has been a lot of expectation from the UAE of different stakeholders. Our leadership position is to provide as much support to international community. However, we are not a vaccine manufacturer and we are building up capacity for future manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccine as well," Al Hosani said during a panel discussion on Tuesday. "A long-term strategic vision is there to support international community. We are having many conversations on how best the UAE can support different countries with the vaccine supply network, infrastructure, sharing knowledge and other different means." She said the UAE's strategic priority is to secure the vaccines for residents as early as possible, through discussions with various vaccine manufactures, Khaleej Times reported. "The UAE has been working during the whole Covid-19 period to provide aid and support to different countries through international collaboration. The UAE leadership has been trying to work out a balance between ensuring the availability of vaccine for our society and also working with international community to ensure availability to other countries. "We are engaged in the discussion with other countries on how to support with logistics parts of the vaccine as the UAE has strong infrastructure, strong international connectivity and storage facilities. We are already regional hub of many pharmaceutical vaccines for commercial use," she said during the webinar. Organised by Atlantic Council, the online panel discussion also involved Manaf AlQahtani of the Bahrain National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus, and Shoshy Goldberg, the Government Chief Nursing Officer at the Israeli Ministry of Health. The webinar aimed to explore and learn from the experiences of the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, which are among the leading countries in the vaccine rollout. Replying to a question about how to maintain balance between keeping the Covid-19 under control and also opening up the economy, Al Hosani said this is definitely a challenging formula. "However, I think one thing we all agree on is that vaccination definitely helps revive the economy and we are aiming to reach a level of herd immunity through vaccination. This will support positively to our economy," she said, adding that the more the UAE vaccinates people, the faster it can go back to a normal life and reopen tourism. "Therefore, we are working at the local and international level to ensure that the public health standards and protocols are adhered to. We update the standards and protocols based on every new research, whether it is related to medical practices, quarantine or isolation. The UAE's overall strategic approach to Covid-19 has been very unique, with a focus on expanding testing and early detection and intervention. This really brought up good results and we passed through very stable stages of Covid-19 last year. Hopefully, this will also help decline in the number of cases this year," she said. Al Hosani also noted that the UAE's public and private healthcare providers are connected to electronic medical records, which enable the authorities to monitor and assess different indicators. "We are seeing good progress on a daily basis. Technology and innovation are definitely one of the main enablers of success of vaccination in the UAE. We conducted a couple of surveys to see the acceptance of the community and based on this, we rolled out the campaign. We could see the level of acceptance from the beginning was good, higher than expected," the official said. Working with Bahrain, Israel Al Hosani noted that the UAE has been closely working with Bahrain and Israel to learn from their experience and also to share the UAE's experience with them. "We have been working closely with Bahrain. We consider ourselves as one team from the technical and political side to deal with Covid-19. We have been working with Bahrain in clinical trials of phase 3 for Sinopham vaccine. This helps exchange knowledge and experience with other countries. It is totally new experience for all of us," she said, adding that the UAE is having discussion with authorities in Jerusalem on how it can avoid and at the same time overcome the challenges of the pandemic. "We believe working closely with international society will help us better understand Covid-19 and expedite the research to have better control of the disease." Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 The teenage daughter of a woman who lost her life to her addiction to alcohol and drugs said a detox centre is essential for Londonderry. Louise O'Doherty White (40) battled for many years with her addiction to alcohol which later included drugs and had tried valiantly many times to get sober for the sake of her three beloved daughters, Tamzin (18), Farrah (10) and Lola-May (8). Sadly Ms O'Doherty White passed away on January 16 this year having never won that battle, but daughter Tamzin hopes a detox centre could become a reality in Derry so that others like her mother will be saved. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Tamzin said: "My mother was everything to me, she was my best friend, my rock, but above all else she was my mother and I would do anything to have her back. We were so incredibly close, we went everywhere together and I talked to her about everything that was going on in my life. "She was a beautiful person inside and outside and also had great compassion towards other people - she had a real heart of gold. "There is a lot of addiction in my wider family but my mother tried so hard to get sober but she just couldn't. We all knew she hated being the way she was. "In 2015, when I was 12 and going into First Year at school she started drinking really badly but in 2019 she started dabbling in drugs. "It was hard on us but without the addiction she was the best person ever and during these times, she was like Wonder Woman. "She tried so hard to get better, she went to the Northlands Centre, White Oaks, she went to AA and she went to counselling but she could have been still with us if there had been a detox centre. "She wanted the help and she wanted to live so much, but the help she needed wasn't here. "She didn't want to die but the drink took her life and we are left broken-hearted." A previous high profile campaign to establish a detox centre in Derry was launched in February 2014 following the recovery of the body of Andrew Quigley (20) who had also sought help with his addiction. Ms White said the need for such a centre in Derry is even greater now. She continued: "I am doing this in memory of my mammy but also for the people of Derry because I know how much the people of Derry need this detox centre. "Andrew Quigley was my cousin and I remember the start of the detox campaign so our family is well aware of how important it is that a centre is in Derry. "We have been crying out for a detox centre for years but it still isn't here. I truly believe there is the support and will amongst the people of Derry for a detox centre but it never happened. "I hope this is the year and this is the time that the powers that be listen to the people of Derry and find a way to open a detox centre in this city where it is badly needed." 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 arrival and rollout of vaccines in war-ravaged Syria may initially cover only 3% of the population in the first phase, a World Health Organization official said Tuesday. Akjemal Magtymova, said Syria is eligible to receive the vaccine for free through the global COVAX effort, aimed at helping lower-income countries obtain the shots, but gave no details about when the first shipment was expected to arrive or how many doses it would contain. The COVAX rollout is expected to begin in April. Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued Tuesday, urged international aid groups to do all they can to help secure the widest and most equitable distribution of vaccines possible across Syria, including all areas controlled by different groups. It accused the Syrian government of repeatedly withholding food, medicine and aid from political opponents and civilians and said there were is no guarantee that the two million people living in rebel-controlled northeast Syria would receive the vaccination. The Syrian government has said very little about its vaccination plans. Syria's health minister said earlier this month that among the most important conditions for Syria's acquisition of the vaccine is to ensure that it does not "impact Syria's sovereignty". Magtymova said the Syrian government's application under the COVAX facility would cover 20 per cent of the population, but the number of doses to cover this might not come immediately. She said Syria was expecting allocation of the AstraZeneca vaccine as it cannot manage the type of cold chain required to preserve the Pfizer vaccine, due to its fragile health system. According to John Hopkins university Syria has had 14,096 coronavirus infections and 926 deaths. In addition, more than 21,000 people have been infected and nearly 400 have died in opposition-held areas in northern Syria. Testing remains low, with WHO providing the Health Ministry with medical and lab equipment and testing kits. Magtymova said Syria saw its numbers peak mid-August and was now witnessing a second wave that started around mid-December, adding that numbers were currently plateauing. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.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. 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 The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), has cautioned the public to desist from investing and patronising Chy Mall. A statement issued by Madam Faustina Lartey, Head of Public Affairs of EOCO, for the Executive Director of EOCO, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said EOCO since the middle of last year, was monitoring the activities of a Chinese Company called Chy Century Heng Yue Group Limited/Sairui E-Commence Ghana Limited. It said the Company, which was registered as an online trading and marketing services also solicited and took/received funds through investment packages from its customers with a promise of guaranteed returns/margins of various percentages over a fixed short period of time. The Statement said the Company operated a Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme and cautioned the public against engaging in such transactions. It said Chy Mall, in its operations, allowed customers to purchase a product online from the virtual shop through a free registration; customers then purchased an investment package that ranged from GH770 to GH9,240. In addition, customers earn money by operating a trading account by owning an online shop and trading in Chy Mall goods in the shop and engaging in the networking referral system simultaneously or without engaging in the networking referral system, it said, continuing that Chy Mall is operating illegally. The statement said Chy Mall was neither registered by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It operates an E-Commerce which comes under Payment Systems and Services Act 2019 (Act 987) and regulated by BoG. It said Chy Mall also solicited and took deposits or placements of funds from the public, promising guaranteed returns over a fixed period, which was into securities, regulated by SEC. It recalled that the SEC on January 08, cautioned the public that the Company had not been licensed to carry out any Capital Market activity, including; investing or trading for returns. The statement stated that the EOCO in line with its mandate to prevent and detect organised crime would continue to monitor developments with online investment with the view to ensure that citizens were protected from scammers and fraudsters. The public is hereby duly warned, it stated. 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 JACKSON, MI Its been one year since Tanova Ross family last saw her and they still have no answers as to what happened. The family knows little more than they did Feb. 2, 2020, when Ross, 33, was last seen at Americas Best Value Inn, 830 Royal Dr., in Blackman Township, mother Tinny Ross said. Ross left all her belongings in the motel room, including her phone and wallet, Tinny Ross said. Her foot might have been found in the Grand River in September, but the family is still waiting to hear the results of a DNA test, which may take six months, Tinny Ross said. Like this foot, is it my daughters? she said. Is it? Or is it not? I shouldnt have to wait this long to get an answer. In the meantime, her family is left grappling with her absence. Ross never went a day without talking to her now-15-year-old daughter, family said. Its unbearable, said father Linnie Ross. Its crazy, every day I wake up, Wheres she at? Why would she leave her daughter? Unless somebodys holding her or has killed her, they wouldnt have been able to keep her away from (her) daughter. About 35 people gathered Tuesday night to demand answers for unsolved missing person cases and murder cases. They released balloons that said, Forever in hearts and lanterns with personalized messages into the night sky Feb. 2, alongside the Grand River near the intersection of Pearl and Mechanic streets. The family of Cameron Kasprzycki joined the memorial. Cameron, 14, was fatally shot Feb. 21, inside his home in the 500 block of Orange Street. No one has been arrested in the case. We know as much as we did when it first happened, sister Makenzie Kasprzycki. We dont really know anything. Its like my brothers lost in a file of papers. Related: Half of Jackson Countys 2020 homicides have no criminal charges issued The families say they just want answers and justice. Its impossible to have closure and fully mourn their loved ones without those answers, they said. You got to have closure, Linnie Ross said. You got to have answers. Its hell. The lack of answers is intolerable, her family said. Police said they have no updates in the case. People need to start demanding answers from police and elected officials, Ross sister Tamara Sherlin said. She organized the memorial in two days and plans to have more events once the weather is warmer. I didnt want to just do it for mine, Sherlin said. I wanted to do it for the others... (My) heart bleeds for them. People need to recognize that the pain of losing a loved one without answers will affect everyone in some way, Sherlin said. She said asking for police and the justice system to solve these cases will help with future cases. It will be at their back door, no matter the economic status you have, no matter your background, it will affect you eventually, Sherlin said. I think as of right now, its affecting every area. We need to clean it up and it needs to start with the justice system. Theyre public servants They need to start doing their job. Now is a time we need to hold people in the justice system at every level accountable. They need to do the job theyre being paid for. Leaning on other families who are also looking for answers has been helpful, Whitney Kasprzycki said. The memorial allowed everyone to support each other. Related: Family of teen shooting victim says theyre being harassed, plans memorial Camerons family said they experienced harassing phone calls and texts in the months after his death. Those messages finally stopped, and his mother, Nicole Harris, was finally able to fully grieve in November, she said. She was looking through photos and realized it had been nine months since she could talk to him. As they wait for answers, the families have to find ways to continue their lives. Tinny Ross hasnt been able to sleep well and has lost weight since Ross went missing. Shes concerned about how the continued lack of answers will affect her physical health. My heart is broken in a million pieces that just keep breaking into more pieces, Tinny Ross said. Read more from MLive: Man threatens family member with shotgun, refuses to leave Jackson home, police say New link coming to Falling Waters Trail by summer More action needed to address flooding near Cascades lagoons, residents say 1,200 free dinners shared on first day of Consumers Energy, Jackson meal distribution program 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: Delhi Police on Wednesday issued a notice to Centre and the Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp in connection with a PIL filed against the firm over its controversial privacy policy. The High court had sought a reply from both the Centre and WhatsApp in this regard. The PIL filed by a lawyer, challenging the new privacy policy of WhatsApp, states that it is illegal and violates the right of privacy of individuals. Alleging that WhatsApp has put a Damocles sword on its users to accept its new privacy policy, the plea said that the updated policy virtually scrutinises the personal profile of a user by 360 degree. In his plea, advocate Chaitanya Rohilla, alleged that the new norms, which are mandatory for the users to accept by February 8, also jeopardises the national security of the country by sharing, transmitting and storing the users' data in some other country. The petitioner alleged that WhatsApp is integrating people into Facebook so that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram (another subsidiary of Facebook) all become part of one package. During a previous hearing in the case, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva had remarked that WhatsApp is a private application and a person can opt out of it and use some other app if there were concerns about privacy and sharing of information. Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing WhatsApp, refuted the allegations of sharing of data and breach of privacy, and informed the high court that the new privacy policy has itself been deferred till April. Live TV There have been 94 more Covid-19 related deaths and 1,013 new cases confirmed by the Department of Health today. Some 47 of these deaths occurred in February, 44 occurred in January, 2 in December and 1 in November. The median age of those who died is 82 years and the age range is 36-100 years. This brings the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state to 3,512 and the total number of cases to 199,430. Read More This comes as hundreds of nursing home residents are still without their Covid-19 vaccination after being hit by another wave of infection as the virus spiralled out of control in the new year surge. One in three of the Covid-19 deaths in January was a nursing home resident. The extent of the death toll in such homes, reaching 1,543 since the start of the pandemic, was revealed at the Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday. Yesterday, a record 101 Covid-19 related deaths were confirmed, with the youngest being 19-years-old. Some 83 of these deaths occurred in January and 18 in February. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said the high number of deaths is due to the surge of infection from several weeks ago, and that we have a long way to go. He added: The best way to honour those who have died from COVID-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice. What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly paid his respects to the 101 people whose coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed yesterday. Appearing on Virgin Medias The Tonight Show, he said: Its heart breaking, its 101 men and women of a lot of different ages. Its 101 families tonight who are mourning and not only are they mourning but they are having to mourn at a time when no one can mourn the way they want to, it is really tough. Our thoughts are with them, with the friends and family of all of those people. Myanmar's doctors have vowed to shut hospitals across the country as public protests intensified amid calls to defy the new military regime that took control of the government and seized civilian leaders in a coup on Monday. A "Civil Disobedience Movement" started by pro-democracy activists including medical professionals announced on social media Wednesday that more than 70 hospitals and medical departments would stop work in protest of what it called an "illegitimate" government. Another campaign initiated by lawmakers saw residents in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, bang pots and honk car horns on Tuesday evening to show their opposition to the coup. They are planning similar events daily and want to expand the campaign to other big cities like Naypyidaw and Mandalay. Calls to resist the government mark an escalation in tensions between supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since Monday along with other top party officials and the military, which has declared a yearlong state of emergency and warned people not to cause unrest. Protests have in the past been violently quashed under military rule. The army has "ruthlessly" staged a coup and is "putting their own interests above our vulnerable population who have been facing medical, economic, and social hardships during this global pandemic," reads a statement posted to the Civil Disobedience Movement Facebook page, which has gained more than 160,000 followers since it was started on Tuesday. The group pledges to only take direction from Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party. "We do not recognize them as our government." A lawmaker from the NLD said citizens had suffered for decades under the previous army-led dictatorship. "We don't accept any type of military rule for any reason," said Aung Kyaw Kyaw Oo, who is one of the organizers of tonight's event in Yangon, where there's expected to be a mass rendition of the national anthem. "We hope to do this every single day until the military accepts that we no longer want military rule." One of about 400 lawmakers being held in detention at a compound in the capital since Monday, he said the group was told they could return home as long as they do not leave their residences. The party's central executive committee wrote in a statement that the military on Tuesday conducted "illegal" raids on several regional offices during which it confiscated documents and computers. Military spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun didn't answer several calls seeking comments for this story. In a country that has struggled to get Covid-19 under control -- with more than 140,000 total cases -- officials sought to dampen concerns that its vaccination plans would be affected by the protests. Myanmar was ready to go ahead with its inoculation program, and was set to receive 2 million doses from India on Feb. 11 and a further 4.2 million doses from Covax by the end of this month, the director of emerging infectious disease at the Ministry of Health and Sports, Khin Khin Gyi, said Wednesday. But virus experts warned the closure of medical facilities could exacerbate the problem. "If doctors walk out, clearly that will adversely affect the health system," said Raina Macintyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Australia. "If people are not getting tested and isolated the virus will spread more rapidly." The Nifty50, barring initial volatility, remained strong for the rest of the day and ended at record closing high on February 3, continuing Budget-driven uptrend for third straight session. Banking & financials, auto, metals, IT and Pharma led the rally. The broader markets also joined the bull run with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap 100 indices rising over 1 percent each. The index formed candle which resembles Hanging Man kind of pattern on the daily charts, and continued its higher highs - higher lows formation of the last three sessions. A Hanging Man is a bearish reversal candlestick pattern which is usually formed at the end of an uptrend or at the top (8.5 percent rally from its recent low of 13,634 recorded on February 29). In a perfect 'Hanging Man' pattern either there will be a small upper shadow or no upper shadow at all, a small body and long lower shadow. Experts feel the pattern indicates some consolidation or trend reversal in the coming sessions, but in case of uptrend, the upside seems to be capped around 15,000 mark. Mazhar Mohammad of Chartviewindia.in advised traders not to create fresh long side exposure and remain neutral. India VIX rose by 1.74 percent from 23.34 to 23.74 levels. The Nifty50 opened higher at 14,790 and hit an intraday low of 14,574.15, but after that initial volatility, the bulls gained control over Dalal Street and the index hit a record high of 14,868.85 before signing off the session at 14,790, up 142.10 points or 0.97 percent. "Albeit Nifty50 continued its surge with new life time highs, it registered a Hanging Man kind of formation which may be hinting that rally is nearing its peak for the near term," Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist Technical Research & Trading Advisory at Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol. "Interestingly, despite this kind of sharp upmove withessed from the lows of 13,596 levels to a high of 14,868, momentum oscillatots are completely presenting a different picture as Daily MACD is still remained on sell mode where as RSI continued with lower tops while some other leading momentum indicators reaching overbought zones," he said. Hence, things look ripe for the market, from current levels, either for correction or consolidation in next couple of trading sessions, he feels. Though weakness in this regard will be confirmed on a close below 14,574 levels, considering indicator set up, upsides may remain capped around 15,000 mark if bulls manages to push the index beyond 14,869 levels in next session, he said. The option data indicated that the Nifty could see a wider trading range of 14,400 to 15,200 levels in coming sessions. On option front, maximum Put open interest was seen at 14,000 followed by 13,500 strike while maximum Call open interest was at 15,000 followed by 16,000 strike. The noticeable Put writing was seen at 14,000 and 14,500 strikes while some Call writing was visible at 16,000 and 15,500 strikes, followed by unwinding in 14,500 strike. Bank Nifty opened gap up at 34,555.60 and continued its northward journey to hit a record high of 34,908.05 levels. The index closed with gains of 490.50 points or 1.43 percent at 34,758.40 and formed a bullish candle on daily scale with longer lower shadow indicating bulls are in full form. "The index is forming higher top - higher bottom from the last four sessions. Now it has to hold 34,500 to witness an upmove towards 35,000 and 35,500 levels, while on the downside support seen at 34,000 and then 33,500 levels," Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said. Positive setup was seen in Shriram Transport Finance, PFC, Cholamandalam Investment, Bharat Electronics, Escorts, TVS Motor, IOC, Cipla, Bank of Baroda, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Axis Bank, LIC Housing Finance and Bharti Airtel while weakness was seen in Marico, Sun TV Network, Pidilite Industries, Maruti Suzuki and Colgate Palmolive, he added. AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators 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. After Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was sentenced to prison, there's now speculation about where he will serve his time -- with one prison-reform campaigner raising fears for his life. More broadly, with mass protests across Russia being brutally suppressed, other opposition leaders are also considering both how to prepare for the future -- and how to ensure their own safety. Journalist Union President Mousa Abdel Nour has spoken out for the first time since Hala al-Jarfs arrest, according to Al Etihad Press. President of the Journalists Union in Damascus, Mousa Abdel Nour, commented on the arrest of journalist Hala al-Jarf, in the Unions first official statement on the matter. Abdel Nour said, during a radio interview, that TV anchor, Hala al-Jarf, has been arrested, pending investigation, since last Tuesday, due to her social media activity, and that the matter is currently being monitored. We visited her at the Criminal Security Department and looked at the legal conditions surrounding the arrest. Without giving details about the reasons for the arrest, Abdel Nour stated that it has been confirmed by the concerned authorities that there is a clear violation on Facebook, and therefore legal measures have been taken. He added, If the case is transferred to the judiciary, then, naturally, the latter will request that the Union be part of the process, highlighting the role of the Union, which is to examine the legality of the case and defend the journalist, whether the media outlet is state-owned or private. When asked about Information Minister Imad Sarahs recent statement that no journalist should be arrested, Abdel Nour said, I imagine what the minister meant is that journalists should not be arrested if the particular case is related to publishing, in writing, through media outlets. Syrian journalists always fall into the trap of cybercrime, as we wait for a new media law according to which journalists are held accountable. The Ministry of Interior published news about the arrest of eight people, on charges of dealing and communicating with suspicious websites. The ministry did not mention the full names of the detainees. However, Al Etihad Press learned from private sources that one of them, whose initials are H.J., refers to Hala al-Jarf, and that the reason for the arrest is working with the Nour Aleppo page, which publishes corruption files. 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. Successful completion of A$8million placement issue provides funding for phase 1 and phase 2 development of a multi-phased development of existing gas discoveries across the companys assets in the North Sea. The company issued 1,000,000,000 new ordinary shares to the vendors of Hartshead. s ( ) (OTCMKTS:PGNYF) has completed the transaction with the vendors of Hartshead Resources Limited to acquire the remaining 78.4% interest in Hartshead that it did not already own. As a result of the transaction, Hartshead is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANA, which is transformed into a new UK North Sea gas development company. The company also completed a heavily oversubscribed placement at a price of 2.5 cents per share which has raised a total of $8 million. Ansila received strong interest from investors, including demand from a UK institutional fund manager and a UK high net-worth professional investor. Transformed into a gas development company Anslia chief executive officer Chris Lewis said: The completion of this transaction and capital raise will see Ansila Energy transformed into a gas development company with ready to develop projects on the UK continental shelf. The next twelve months will see us invest in the planning for the Phase I field development, move the portfolio closer to production and create significant value for shareholders and stakeholders alike. There are multiple milestones to reach in the coming months and we look forward to progress on all fronts and keeping shareholders fully informed along the way. Offshore Licensing Round Hartsheads success in the UKs 32nd Offshore Licensing Round resulted in the formal award of five contiguous blocks in the Southern North Sea (HRL License), with four existing discoveries totalling 354 (billion cubic feet) BCF of 2C Contingent Resources. Out of the A$8 million raised through the placement, A$7 million enables Ansila to fully fund the work programme commitments of Phase I operations through to the preliminary field development plan submission and the additional A$1.0 million raised enables Ansila to progress work on the Phase II assets as part of a multi-phased development of existing gas discoveries. In addition to the Phase I and Phase II fields, the awarded license area also contain a Phase III exploration portfolio with 141 BCF of 2U Prospective Resources in two drill-ready exploration prospects. Phase 1 workstream Work on Phase I projects is already underway and will focus on selecting the optimal development concept to take forward to the preliminary field development plan (FDP)/Front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage gate. The Phase I FDP project will incorporate subsurface, drilling & completion, facilities, pipelines, HSE and commercial analysis and planning. The deliverables from the project will be well placement and design, frac design, production forecasting, facilities concept framing, host facility requirements, economic analysis and development concept evaluation and selection. In parallel with this, Hartshead plan to initiate contact with third party host facility owners to discuss access to spare capacity in order to enable transmission of Hartsheads produced gas to the onshore gas processing facilities and sales point. Hartshead is currently in discussions with several oil and gas field development service providers to award key project work covering the FDP project, to be carried out during the coming twelve months. Key official appointments As part of the transaction, existing executive directors of the company will now take on specific management roles. Christopher Lewis has now been appointed as chief executive officer and Andrew Matharu has been appointed as a chief financial officer. The company intends to enter into executive service agreements with Lewis and Matharu concerning these appointments on terms acceptable to the parties which are usual for executive appointments of this nature. Portland, OR, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global solar energy market generated $52.5 billion in 2018, and is expected to generate $223.3 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 20.5% from 2019 to 2026. The report provides a detailed analysis of changing market dynamics, major segments, top investment pockets, regional landscape, value chain, and competitive scenario. Surge in demand for alternate energy sources and supportive government policies for rooftop installations of solar panels drive the growth of the global solar energy market. However, rise in tariff plans by governments hinder the market growth. On the other hand, increase in investments in R&D for development of high-efficiency third-generation solar modules provides opportunities in the next few years. Download Sample PDF (400 Pages with More Insight): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/117 Covid-19 Scenario: Daily activities of solar energy plants came to halt due to lockdown imposed by governments of many countries. In addition, there has been lack of sufficient manpower. The installation of new solar modules for different application stopped during the lockdown. Moreover, maintenance activities of already installed modules have been postponed. During the post-lockdown period, operations of solar energy plants and installation of new modules began. The daily activities are expected to get back on track. The report offers detailed segmentation of the global solar energy market based on technology, solar module, application, end use, and geography. Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Solar Energy Market Request Here Based on technology, the photovoltaic system segment is estimated to witness the highest CAGR of 25.1% from 2019 to 2026. However, the parabolic troughs segment, which is sub-segment of the concentration solar power systems segment, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% during the forecast period. Based on solar module, the report segments the global solar energy market into monocrystalline, cadmium telluride, polycrystalline, amorphous silicon cells, and others. By application, the market is divided into commercial, residential, and industrial. Based on region, the market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America is estimated to portray a CAGR of 19.0% from 2019 to 2026. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the largest CAGR of 25.0% during the forecast period. Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/117 Leading Players: Leading players of the global solar energy market analyzed in the research include Abengoa Solar S.A., Wuxi Suntech Power Co. Ltd., Acciona Energia S.A., Esolar Inc., Bright source Energy Inc., Kaneka Corp., Gintech Energy Corp., Canadian Solar Inc., Sunpower Corporation, and Tata Power Solar. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Get more information: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Similar Reports: Solar Street Lighting Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast , 20202027 Solar Hybrid Inverter Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Solar Thermal Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Smart Solar Power Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 Global Airport Solar Power Market - Opportunities and Forecast, 2020-2027 DSC Solar Technologies Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027 About Allied Market Research: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP, based in Portland, Oregon. AMR provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. AMR introduces its online premium subscription-based library Avenue, designed specifically to offer cost-effective, one-stop solution for enterprises, investors, and universities. With Avenue, subscribers can avail an entire repository of reports on more than 2,000 niche industries and more than 12,000 company profiles. Moreover, users can get an online access to quantitative and qualitative data in PDF and Excel formats along with analyst support, customization, and updated versions of reports. Contact us: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free (USA/Canada): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-446-1141 International: +1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com A former Health Minister and Member of Parliament(MP) for Sefwi Wiaso, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie has disclosed that the creation of vaccines actually started in Africa. He says though the methods of its application were crude, they proved to be very effective when they were applied in the olden days to fight smaller diseases like smallpox and other African diseases. Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained the whites got to know about it when our forefathers introduced it during their slave trade period and they were found to be effective. "If Africans have invested a lot into its studies, the vaccine for even COVID-19 might have been found in Africa," he added. Research has shown that masking up contributes about 70 percent of the fight against the disease, and if we are all to follow the simple instructions of the safety protocol the numbers will tumble highly. The more reason I have proposed that we visit though controversial schools under trees system to protect the students. According to him basic research has shown that another effective way of fighting the disease is an open-air system where there is proper ventilation and the open-air system through the schools under trees system will help if we try that approach. As of February 01, 2021, no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were registered in Ghana, as against the 1,583 cases the previous day. So far a total of 416 casualties and 61,236 recoveries have been recorded in the country. Overall cases have reached its highest at 67,010, with Greater Accra the most affected region. On January 31, 2021, the highest daily increase in cases was recorded in Ghana at 1,583. Watch video below 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 Stephen K. Bannon, who received a last-minute pardon from former President Donald J. Trump after being indicted on federal charges of defrauding donors to a border wall, may yet face state charges in connection with the same scheme. The Manhattan district attorneys office has begun investigating Mr. Bannons role in the fund-raising project for the wall and is also considering opening an investigation into Ken Kurson, who was also pardoned by Mr. Trump after he was charged with federal crimes related to cyberstalking and harassment, according to three people familiar with the matter. The decision to open an investigation into Mr. Bannons conduct and to consider doing so in the case of Mr. Kurson a friend of the former presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner came after Manhattan prosecutors reviewed the list of the 143 pardons and commutations issued in the last hours of Mr. Trumps term in office, one of the people familiar with the matter said. The presidents power to pardon only applies to federal crimes, not state ones. In his final weeks in office, Mr. Trump embarked on a spree of pardons and commutations, using the clemency powers of his office to help friends and political allies who had become entangled with the criminal justice system, including his longtime adviser Roger J. Stone Jr. and his former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn. Children are assisted by their mother as they navigate online learning resources during pandemic lockdown measures in Huddersfield, England, on March 23, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images) Will the Home-Schooling Trend Continue Post-Pandemic? When Alberta mom Tina Teerling decided to home-school her five children this past fall, her goal was to give them back a sense of normalcy and remember what life was like before the pandemic. But now, after nearly five months of home-schooling under her belt, shes considering continuing even after the pandemic is over. Its a better fit for her family and values, she says. Ive come to realize that traditional schooling doesnt line up with our values, said Teerling, whose children range in age from 3 to 9. I want our children to grow up and be able to critically think for themselves, to evaluate information they are given, not just recite it, and to be in search of information. We are following our own program that is parent-led, she adds. Overall it has been an extremely positive experience. As scores of parents were thrust into home-schooling for the first time due to the pandemic, the experience sparked a home-schooling sea change that could have staying power, says Patty Marler, a spokesperson for the Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada. Marler recently spoke with over 100 families to gauge their pandemic home-schooling experience, and said manysurprised by their successare planning to stick with it. [The pandemic] has exposed people to home-schooling like never before, said Marler, who homeschooled all of her four kids starting in the 1990s. People I think have a greater respect for it as a real, valid, educational option for their children, and many people are experiencing many of the benefits. Although exact figures are hard to come by, through data cobbled together from provinces, education departments, and home education associations, Marler estimates that the number of families that have chosen parent-directed home-schooling has doubled in the last yearfrom around 100,000 in 2019 to 200,000 in 2020. Online School vs Parent-Led Home-Schooling Marler notes that the school-directed online learning format that became prevalent over the past year is a much different experience than parent-directed home-schooling. She says frustration with virtual learning is causing some parents to consider taking the lead role in their childs home education. Many [parents] said that the March-to-June digital learning experience was so frustrating for them that they knew they had to try something different, she said of the parents she spoke with. So they decided to forge their path and attempt home-schooling, because they knew the fall would look the sameand they are so glad that they did. A common frustration for parents was the many hours children were required to sit in front of a screen for online learning, which is even harder for young children, she said. Many parents also complained of the workload involved in monitoring assignmentsoften while trying to manage working from home themselves. This was especially difficult for parents dealing with multiple children and grade levels. Calgary-area mom Samantha Shannon says that although distance learning has been a positive experience overall for her 7-year-old son Lochlan, who is on the autism spectrum, its been difficult for her to find support for his special learning and behavioural needs. With much of the usual extra-curricular activities cancelled due to pandemic measures, she says her son also has too much free time and many competing needs to manage. Im teachers assistant, Im special education aide, Im gym teacher, she says. Plus you have the cleanup, and preparing for any science or art classes and all the extra time to scan in and submit assignments. Lochlan Shannon, aged 7, reads to his younger brother Landon at home in Airdrie, Alberta, as part of his home learning amid the pandemic. (Courtesy Samantha Shannon) Marler says the difference between school-led distance learning and parent-directed home-schooling is that parents dont need to follow a pre-set formula, and can instead develop a plan tailored specifically to their childs and familys needs. This means, for example, choosing curriculum or extracurricular projects that align with their childs interests, following schedules that fit the whole family, or instructing multiple children together. Flexibility a Key Benefit Martina Kranjcevic, a mother from Sunnyslope, Alberta, who started home-schooling her two children aged 4 and 6 in September 2020, said she is surprised that its been a success and plans to continue after the pandemic threat has passed. The flexibility that comes with home-schooling has been key in that decision, which has many advantages for their farming family, she says. It takes less time, our schedule is more flexible, she says. We can focus on areas where our kids need help. We can add other things as we choose. We farm, so we have more time at seeding and harvest. Kranjcevic notes, however, that it takes a lot of planning and prep work if parents want a completely customized curriculum. Meanwhile, Marler says there are so many home-schooling resources available online now and parents can choose what works best for them as long as students can meet provincial requirements. Since parents are teaching one or several kids instead of managing a large classroom, they tend to get through the curriculum much faster, which allows for more flexibility, she says. She also noted that several of the home-schooling parents she spoke with continue to work or have home businesses, and have fine-tuned their home-schooling over the past year to work within their situation. Jada-Lynn Muncaster in Lacombe, Alberta, is currently home-schooling her three children aged 5 to 7. She says she finds it stressful to ensure her kids get a well-rounded education at home, but will ultimately stick with it because it allows them more time with their dad, who often works away. This way, when he is home we can take a day off to visit [with] him, she said. Marler also heard from parents who said their kids who used to struggle in an institutional environment due to factors like special learning needs, anxiety, depression, health problems, or bullying are thriving in the home setting. And as outbreaks of COVID-19 force schools to close with little warning, home-schooling can offer stability for parents worried about the pandemics impact on their childs education, she says. The Muncaster family. (Handout) Marler says a lot of the initial struggles she heard about from home-schooling families was due to a lack of confidence at the start while navigating a new way of doing things. Now, a year into the home-schooling experiment, she said she rarely hears those issues come up. Shes also hearing similar stories from other home-schooling organizations. Many parents are surprised by how well things were going for them and these comments were coming from parents no matter what the ages of the kids whom they are now home educating, Marler said. This is a consistent message that is coming up more and more in discussions with home-schooling organizations across the country. This $20 a month donation gives you full online access to all four of our local papers - Sonoma West, The Healdsburg Tribune, Windsor Times and Cloverdale Reveille - and will help the paper survive. This renews automatically, and we will charge your card monthly until you tell us to stop. Thanks for going above and beyond! Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar have come out in support of the Central government on the issue of ongoing farmers' protests in Delhi, urging Indians not to fall for "propaganda". A day after international pop star Rihanna and environmental activist Greta Thunberg tweeted in support of the protests, Devgn and Kumar took to Twitter to call for an "amicable resolution" and "to stand united". Asking Indians not to fall for propaganda against India, Devgn said it is important to stand united without any "infighting". Don't fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. Its important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda - Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) February 3, 2021 Also read: It's Rihanna vs Kangana on farm protests Sharing a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Kumar said it is evident that efforts are being undertaken to resolve the issues of farmers, who constitute an "extremely important" part of the country. He urged Indians to support an "amicable solution" and not pay attention to those creating differences. Farmers constitute an extremely important part of our country. And the efforts being undertaken to resolve their issues are evident. Let's support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropagandahttps://t.co/LgAn6tIwWp - Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) February 3, 2021 Earlier in the day, the Indian government had reacted strongly to comments by "foreign individuals and entities" on farmers' protests. "Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible," the MEA said in its statement. On Tuesday, Rihanna had questioned the suspension of internet services at the protest sites in Delhi, while Thunberg had supported the farmers' protests. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 - Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting for over two months on the borders of Delhi against three new farm laws enacted by the Centre. While farmers claim that the laws will benefit corporates, the government has said it will raise the income of farmers by offering them better marketing alternatives and agriculture technologies. The protests took a violent turn on January 26 during a tractor parade planned by farmers, resulting in clashes between police and the protestors. Also read: 'We stand in solidarity': After Rihanna, Greta Thunberg supports farmers' protest Also read: Farmers' protest causes Rs 600 crore loss in toll collections; debt worth Rs 9,300 crore at risk: ICRA [February 03, 2021] SharperLending Partners with Integra Software Systems To Deliver Real Estate Appraisals to Lenders via Appraisal Firewall Mortgage technology provider SharperLending Solutions announced today that it has partnered with Integra Software Systems to integrate the Appraisal Firewall web-based real estate appraisal software to Integra's Loan Origination System. The direct-data integration speeds loan origination and processing by providing mortgage bankers, community banks and credit unions working in Integra with seamless access to Appraisal Firewall, where they can manage their own appraisal process to order and receive completed residential and commercial appraisals, work with their trusted local appraisers, run QC, access the Verisite mobile appraisal and property inspection solutions, AVMs, AMCs, and more. Appraisal Firewall is the first appraisal vendor of its kind to complete a full system to system integration and be available to lenders within Integra. The partnership enables Integra's lender clients to get completed real estate appraisals faster, reduce appraisal costs and turn-times, and access a variety of valuation solutions for diverse lending products All of this is done within the Integra LOS "EPIC" to avoid process interruption and reduce training time. "This integration delivers Integra's lenders critical appraisal process efficiency by significantly reducing turn-times and costs while lessening the impact of lockdown restrictions on lenders and appraisers," said David Chiappe, President of SharperLending Solutions, the company behind the Appraisal Firewall technology. "We are excited to partner with Integra to provide additional velocity to their lenders' origination process with a full suite of automated enterprise-level appraisal technology solutions." "We were initially attracted by Appraisal Firewall's reputation in the market and feedback we received by some of our customers," said Michael Picker, SVP of Sales and Marketing. "After viewing the efficiencies and reduction in turn-times we were excited to offer the Appraisal Firewall integration to our customers. We look forward to the partnership and continuing to offer lenders any loan, anywhere functionality." For more than 20 years, Integra has provided banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies with innovative fintech solutions. Integra's industry leading LOS "EPIC" processes various loan types with complete documentation and automation. Mortgage, consumer, or commercial LOS functionality can be implemented for all three channels or separately into already existing operations. Last year, Integra's technologies processed more than 480,000 loans. About Integra Established in 1996 and headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, Integra Software Systems offers a powerful, browser-based loan origination solution, EPIC, to address challenges and increase operational efficiencies within Mortgage, Consumer, and Commercial Lending for retail, wholesale and correspondent lenders. EPIC spans point-of-sale to post-closing and secondary market. For more information about Integra Software Systems contact 615.595.0900, sales@integraloantech.com or visit www.integraloantech.com. About SharperLending Solutions SharperLending Solutions is a leading technology provider to the mortgage industry. SharperLending provides financial technology software solutions to channel partners and lending institutions to increase efficiency, mitigate risk, and offer affordability. The company's proven technology has processed more than two billion secure mortgage transactions. The company has three major platforms under its corporate umbrella: Appraisal Firewall residential and commercial appraisal platform, the XpertOnline credit platform and the EPN loan origination and settlement services platform. For more information, call (800)452-1174 or visit www.SharperLending.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005072/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HPD A 10-year-old boy has been found after he went missing Tuesday afternoon while riding a bike in west Houston, officials said. Tyler Hamilton was last seen around 3 p.m. near his residence on the 12900 block of Briar Forest Drive, according to a missing persons report. Additions to auto accident rules ease insurers responsibilities The government has issued Decree No.03/2021/ND-CP on compulsory insurance for civil liability of motor vehicle owners, which will come into effect from March 1. The main focus of the decree is the addition of cases in which insurances can refuse to compensate for. Along with seven existing regulations, insurers will no longer indemnify for damage if accident-causing vehicle drivers have alcohol levels in their blood or on their breath, or if they have been found to have used banned drugs. Tran Nguyen Dan, director of the Institute of Insurance and Financial Risk Management said that he agreed on updates, which should contribute to lowering incidents involving drugs and alcohol in traffic. However, if the accident-causing drivers do not have the capacity to compensate for victims, it is still unsure as to who will be in charge of protecting and compensating for victims, Dan said. Thus, it is necessary to add a special regulation relating to compensation for victims in such cases. Notably, the insurers could build a fund to provide humanitarian aid for the victims, Dan said. Decree 03 also added numerous regulations on compulsory insurance for civil liability of motor vehicles owners. Notably, people can be granted an e-certificate when they buy compulsory insurance. Regarding two- and three-wheel motors and motorbikes regulated by the Law on Road Traffic, the insurance period is at least one year and a maximum of three years. In addition, Decree 03 also clarifies preliminary compensation on damage in term of health and life, simultaneously simplifying files for compensation. Elsewhere, insurers are ramping up their automobile and accident insurance products, while enhancing their customers experience in a synchronous approach. For instance, US insurer Liberty Insurance Vietnam provides a wide range of suitable services, including personal automobiles, specialty lines, reinsurance, and commercial automobiles, to name a few. Specifically, the firm is working with e-wallet MoMo to offer an online insurance platform for cars in a bid to bring safety to customers in a more convenient setting. Other foreign lenders such as Shinhan Bank Vietnam and HSBC Vietnam are also cooperating with locally-invested Bao Viet Insurance to introduce hassle-free driving vehicle insurance with many attractive benefits and competitive premium rates. Other significant players in the auto liability coverage and financial protection regarding accidents include Bao Minh Insurance, PVI, PTI, Bao Viet, and Pjico. What is more, the new decree also mentions that both Vietnamese and foreign insurers can consider an increase in the levels of insurance premiums. Thus, from March 1 insurers are allowed to proactively increase their premium by up to 15 per cent compared to the prescribed premium based on accident history of each motor vehicle, and risk-accepting capacity of the insurance firm. Hooray for Governor Ron DeSantis. Florida is joining Poland in taking strong action against censorship by leftwing Big Tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Governor DeSantis outlined the measures that Floria will take to protect the free speech of its citizens: - allow citizens to sue Big Tech companies if they are victims of censorship - mandatory opt-outs for users on Big Tech's content filters - allow state AG to sue Big Tech for censorship under Unfair Business Practices Act - disclosure requirements under election law for Big Tech that favors certain candidates - daily fines for deliberate prioritization or suppression of political candidates or causes - $100,000 per day fines for suspension of a candidate for public office from a platform Governor deSantis is presenting this legislative package to Florida's Republican controlled General Assembly. Poland's government has put forward a legislative package that would create a special court that could order a Big Tech company to restore censored speech of Polish citizens that does not violate Polish law, and if the Big Tech company does not obey the order to restore the speech, then it would be fined a million euros per day per occurrence. Six Hamilton County Commission members have signed a document saying they want the Legislature to change the law that ties their pay to that of the county mayor. If approved by the Legislature, the commissioners would then be able to set their own pay. Signing the letter were David Sharpe, Warren Mackey, Tim Boyd, Katherlyn Geter, Chester Bankston and Randy Fairbanks. Not signing were Chairman Chip Baker, Greg Martin and Sabrena Smedley. Commissioner Fairbanks said, "The six years I have been on the Commission, we have given our county employees a raise in five of those years. Our employees are a valuable asset to Hamilton County and deserved all of those raises. The problem I have is every time we give our employees a raise, the county commissioners also get a raise, because of a resolution that was passed several years ago. That is a backdoor way of giving ourselves a raise. If our pay is increased, we ought to have to bring it up in an open meeting and vote on it like we do every other resolution we pass. Hamilton County is the only county out of 95 counties in Tennessee that is set up this way. How can 94 counties think this is the wrong way to calculate commissioners pay? That is the reason I think we should do as all the other counties and vote, in an open meeting, if our pay is to be raised." County Attorney Rheubin Taylor forwarded the document on to Patsy Hazlewood, who heads the county legislative delegation. Six signatures were needed in order to move it on to the legislature and will be needed to ratify it if the change is passed by the legislature. Commissioners currently make about $24,500 per year, with the chairman getting $5,000 more and the vice chairman receiving $2,500 more. Each time the county mayor gets a raise, the pay of the County Commission goes up by the same percent. Also, pay of the mayor of Chattanooga and the nine City Council members are tied to that of the county mayor. No other Tennessee county has a similar pay setup. A similar letter sought by then-Commissioner Greg Beck and with eight signatures in all went to the legislature in 2015. However, legislators refused to act, pointing out that the commissioners had not voted openly on the issue before making the request. There was no vote on the current pay effort at Wednesday's County Commission meeting. Attorney Taylor said the process had been to forward the letter to the legislators. The letter says: An Act Amending the Compensation Received by Hamilton County Commissioners Amend Tennessee Code Annotated Section 5-5-107 by deleting in its entirety subsection (b)(2) which presently is applicable only to Hamilton County. Said subsection reads, "Upon adoption of a resolution by a two-thirds vote of its membership, the county legislative body of any county having a population of not less than 285,000 or more than 286,000 according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census shall fix the salary of the members of the county legislative body by June 30, 1999 to become effective July 1, 1999. On July 1, 2000, and each July 1 thereafter, the compensation for members of the county legislative body shall be adjusted to reflect the same percentage increase the county executive of such county is to receive." By deleting said subsection, Hamilton County would be covered by the same general Provisions that affect all other counties in Tennessee. We the undersigned members of the Board of Commissioners for Hamilton County, Tennessee, do hereby evidence our approval of the heretofore attached proposed legislation by fixing our signatures herein below, and commit to adopt said legislation when presented to the County Commission upon its passage by the Tennessee General Assembly. This 2nd day of February, 2021. LOS ANGELES: Reactions from nominees for the the 78th Golden Globe Awards. All spoke to The Associated Press in phone or video interviews: I think this is the greatest day of my life. 12-year-old Helena Zengel, nominated for best supporting actress in a film for News of the World. Ive been doing home-schooling with an 8-year-old and 5-year-old. Anyone who has been doing home-schooling for the better part of a year deserves some little boost in morale. If you want me to make you a paper snowflake I can make you a really beautiful one. Hugh Grant, 60, nominated for best actor in a TV comedy for The Undoing. Weve been praying, weve been hoping, weve been dreaming, but even in our wildest dreams we didnt think something like this could happen to people from Eastern Europe. Maria Bakalova, who became the first Bulgarian Golden Globe nominee with her nod for best actress in a movie musical or comedy for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm." I feel like there are some hidden gifts in this difficult time. With the awards this year, I think some of the bigger films that might have been released this year or taken up a lot of an audiences bandwidth got pushed so I think its an opportunity to shine a light on some smaller movies. I think you can always find the opportunity in the obstacle. Riz Ahmed, nominated for best actor in drama film for Sound of Metal. Its wonderful to be reminded there are other people out in the world, cause I havent seen anyone, just a few people at the grocery store." Bob Odenkirk, nominated for best actor in a TV drama for Better Call Saul," in a phone interview. This is a recognition of the Black population in the UK. This shows that anything is possible, no matter what background youre from. Your stories are important. It can reach the world stage and be recognized and appreciated. Steve McQueen, director of Small Axe, nominated for best limited series or TV movie. Im in Tel Aviv while receiving the news and getting so many messages from so many people all over the world. but so many from Israel too, and it really feels like a historical moment of course for the country but also for myself as an actress it is just the greatest honor. Shira Haas, who became the first Israeli actor to be nominated for a Golden Globe with her nod for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for Unorthodox. Im so hyped. Id love to play it off cool and pretend like Im just nonchalant about it. But Im just so hyped. Nicholas Hoult, nominated for best actor in a TV musical or comedy for The Great." Everything I learned from Hamilton prepared me for the challenge in One Night in Miami. Regina Kings beautiful film. Im really just thinking about what the last half decade of my life has meant, and how the last 5 or 6 years are staring back at me. It feels good, but its heavy stuff. Leslie Odom Jr., nominated for best supporting actor in a film and best original song for One Night in Miami." More than anything, Im just so grateful that this film has been reaching people. We didnt underestimate what it meant that this little film would be going on Netflix. This is something that affects women everywhere and also its an unflinching look at grief. Vanessa Kirby, nominated for best actress in a drama film for playing a woman who loses a baby during birth in Pieces of a Woman. I had every intention of getting up to watch the nominations, but I just couldnt get to sleep last night and finally fell asleep around 4am. But I was woken up by a great phone call from my publicist. Aaron Sorkin, nominated for best director and best screenplay for The Trial of the Chicago 7. My heart jumped to the roof. Tahar Rahim, nominated for best actor in a drama film for The Mauritanian. Researchers at Oxford University released new results from their vaccine, which is being manufactured by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, showing it gives 76% protection for three months after just one dose. Testing also reveals that those vaccinated are much less likely to transmit the disease, which will help stem the continuing spread of the virus. The good vaccine news comes amid worrying discoveries by scientists over a mutation in the coronavirus variant identified in Britain that makes it more resistant to the vaccines. The mutation, dubbed "Eeek" by scientists, alters the part of the virus targeted by most vaccines and antibodies - making it stealthier. The coronavirus vaccine developed by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca significantly slows transmission of the virus and a single dose offers substantial protection for up to three months, new data from Oxford University shows. Researchers from Oxford, which helped AstraZeneca develop the vaccine, published a preprint of their analysis, which is currently under review at the British medical journal The Lancet. In the paper, the researchers detail that a single standard dose of the vaccine is 76% effective at protecting against symptomatic covid-19 for the first 90 days post-vaccination. The immune system builds the protection 22 days after vaccination, the paper says, and shows little evidence of waning before the end of the three-month period. Analyses of covid PCR swabs in the British population also suggests that the vaccine "may have a substantial effect on transmission of the virus with 67% reduction in positive swabs among those vaccinated," the university said. If verified, infection rates could drop much quicker and offer a swifter way out of the pandemic. The results were hailed as "absolutely superb" by British health secretary Matt Hancock, the BBC reported Wednesday. Meanwhile, a new study says the majority of people infected by covid-19 develop antibodies that last for at least six months, likely offering temporary protection against reinfection. Scientists from UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research group, measured the levels of previous infection in population groups across Britain for a period of six months. The researchers said that 99 percent of some 20,000 participants who had tested positive for the coronavirus retained antibodies for three months after being infected - and 88% retained them for six months. "This discovery provides an early indication that the antibodies produced following natural infection, and potentially following vaccination, may protect most people against subsequent infection for at least six months," UK Biobank said in a statement Wednesday. The scientists cautioned that it was too soon to discuss longer-term immunity to the virus. The British government's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance called the results "useful confirmation of the maintenance of antibodies" that would "allow a further understanding of the disease impact over time." The researchers said that they found antibodies in greater proportion in young people compared to older participants. It was unclear, however, if people who had the antibodies or were previously infected could still carry and transmit the virus. "We still do not fully understand how long protection from antibodies may last, and we know people with antibodies may still be able to pass the virus on to others," James Bethell, a minister involved with health issues in the government, said in a statement released with the study. It was also unclear if the antibodies from previous infections would protect individuals from contracting one of the new, more transmissible variants of the virus. "While the findings offer some promise, now is not the time for complacency," said Bethell. "Right now, it remains vital for everyone to stay at home, even if you have had COVID-19 in the past, so we can stop the spread of the virus, protect the NHS [National Health Service] and save lives." Some of the suspected stolen goods recovered by the gardai in the raids today A 37-year-old man who was arrested in the Crumlin area of the capital this morning is suspected of being one of the main players in a 6m international invoice redirect fraud being directed from Ireland. The Nigerian national is being questioned under anti-gangland legislation as is a 37-year-old woman who is originally from Ghana who was arrested in the Santry area of Dublins northside. They are being held at Pearse Street and Kevin Street Garda stations. The arrest of the duo by detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) is considered highly significant and brings to 10 the amount of people arrested as part of the fraud squads Operation SKEIN. The arrests happened after detectives followed the money trail after two companies one based in Dubai and the other in Hong Kong were duped out of 55,000 due to separate invoice redirect frauds. Expand Close Some of the suspected stolen goods recovered by the gardai / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Some of the suspected stolen goods recovered by the gardai Invoice redirection fraud happens when a person or a business fall prey to requests, purporting to emanate from trusted suppliers or service providers, into believing that a beneficiarys bank account details have been changed. As a result, funds that are due to be paid out are transferred to a fraudulent account. Officers from the GNECB established that the 55,000 had ended up in the bank account of a Co Monaghan based woman who is closely associated to the man who was arrested yesterday. Further investigations showed that 33,000 of this money was used to make high end purchases in the Grafton Street area of the capital between last St Stephens Day and December 31. This included designer clothes, perfumes, alcohol, laptops, mobile phones, watches and other products. Following a detailed surveillance operation and the analysis of CCTV in the city centre, detectives were able to identify the 37-year-old Nigerian and raid his Crumlin home this morning where they recovered virtually all the goods he had bought in his spending splurge. Gardai are satisfied that he is high up on the food chain in terms of this organised criminal gang and what proves that really is that he was freely able to spend the money that came from those two latest thefts, a senior source pointed out. The fact he was using a bank card to buy all those products shows that he was no mere money mule for the organisation, the source added. While 10 arrests have now been made so far as part of Operation SKEIN, the GNECB have identified 90 suspects resident in Ireland and are satisfied that 5m of the stolen 6mhas been laundered through Irish bank accounts. Gardai announced details of the arrest operation today. The property seized is believed to have been purchased via the proceeds of Business Email Compromise (BEC) / Invoice Re-Direct Frauds which occurred in Asia during December 2020. The purchases were made in Dublin over the Christmas period in 2020, a spokesman said. He said the two suspects were being held in Kevin Street and Pearse Street Garda Stations where they can be held for up to a week. New York: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged to mobilise enough international pressure on Myanmars military to make sure that this coup fails. The Myanmar army detained the countrys leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others on Monday in response to election fraud, handed power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing, and imposed a state of emergency for one year. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Credit:Getty We will do everything we can to mobilise all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails, Guterres said during an interview broadcast by The Washington Post. It is absolutely unacceptable after elections - elections that I believe took place normally - and after a large period of transition. We live opposite a school. During the first lockdown it was shut, and the eerie silence of the playground is one of my most haunting memories of that time. Now, though, it is open, and at breaktime little voices fill the air. My nine-year-old daughter can see all the pupils from our kitchen table, her new classroom. And I know what she is thinking. That these children, mostly the offspring of our wonderful NHS key workers, are happily in classrooms alongside patient teachers smiling encouragingly at them while she is stuck at home learning from a woman who has the teaching skills of Kevin the Minion from Despicable Me. Except that Kevin is more patient. He probably wouldnt lose his temper every ten minutes while sucking air in through his teeth as he passively-aggressively mumbles Why cant anyone else empty the bin? Have their arms fallen off? Homeschooling is undoubtedly one of the most stressful elements of these uncertain times. Lorraine Candy reflects on homeschooling throughout the pandemic. Pictured: Lorraine and husband James with their children Sky, Grace, Henry and Mabel Such disordered family days feel never-ending. Mondays start well, on Wednesdays you hit a wall of worry and by Friday youre mentally and physically exhausted. And were the lucky ones. My husband James and I are both in work and in good financial and physical health. We have four children: our daughter Sky, 18, is at university studying engineering but the rest aged 17, 14 and nine are at home. The two older children are at private schools and mostly Zoom learning face-to-face with teachers; our youngest, Mabel, is at a London state school and grappling with Microsoft Teams guided by Mum and Dad. We are blessed to have enough devices for our children to learn from, but I know this is not the case for those families struggling in cramped conditions and without laptops. The Government has given almost 900,000 computers to those in need, and the Mails own Computers for Kids campaign has raised just under 7 million so far. But Ofcom reckons up to 1.8 million children are without them. Homeschooling is undoubtedly harder for the parents of these children, but all mums and dads find supervising lessons at the kitchen table overwhelming. For me, humour has proved to be the parenting tool that will get me through. To that end, Ive kept a light-hearted diary of our homeschooling week. Maybe itll make you fell less alone because we are all just making the best of the worst of times and muddling through. MONDAY Who will win the newly instigated Family Member Of the Week award? The bar is low. Ive initiated this comedy prize to raise spirits. Last week was gruelling: balls were dropped, homework forgotten, books left unread and screen time woefully unmoderated. Work kept us up late at night after lessons, then insomnia came for all of us. Lorraine (pictured) said her eldest teen celebrated her 17th birthday in the kitchen and has been slogging away on screen for A-level exams There was some swearing and shouting, one family member would have benefited from a personal hygiene for beginners course on the curriculum and another may need to review his theory of minimal assistance as an educational aid. Im obviously clutching at straws but perhaps a potential award will work as a reminder for us all to stay upbeat. Like the golden possibility of a mention in school assembly? Dad thinks he is the favourite because he has a more relaxed attitude to schooling and is less of a time-keeping fun sponge than Mum. He doesnt nag people to eat vegetables, get dressed and clean their teeth. And he can do maths. This is a homeschooling super-power, so he thinks hell get the most votes. I am a maths moron but I am the one who knows where all the spare rubbers and rulers are. I own the only black Sharpie pen that works. I can locate the snacks hidden to stop them being eaten five minutes after weve put the shopping away. I can do arts and crafts and, despite leaving a Cornish comprehensive at 16, I seem to know most of the Shakespeare storylines. But I am also the one bogged down by the familys emotional to-do list, the one constantly buoying up everyone elses low mood and reminding our teenagers that things will get back to normal soon, which is obviously a fib. When I tell my eldest teen enthusiastically about the FMOW Awards she just mutters: Oh my God, Mum, what is wrong with you? and I am reminded bleakly that this thing is so much bigger than all of us. She hasnt seen her friends for weeks, she celebrated her 17th birthday in the kitchen with two over-50s (us) and, now in Year 12, has been slogging away on screen for A-level exams she may or may not take. A made-up joke award wont help her. TUESDAY Lorraine revealed she's been writing a book and hosting a podcast, while her husband James works from home for an insurance company (file image) Im discovering that old patterns of competitive couples parenting are starting to re-emerge. Remember those newborn days when a sleep-deprived you bickered with your partner over whose job/health/chores were more important and, thus, who deserved an uninterrupted night? Its starting to happen again as we compete for space at the quietest table in the house. While James works from home for an insurance company, Im writing a book and hosting the weekly podcast Postcards From Midlife both tricky when you are interrupted 19 times an hour to answer questions about lunch and clean socks. Every room at home seems to have someone in it buried under a mound of exercise books and empty crisp packets. By lunchtime today, my 14-year-old son Henry has blocked me on WhatsApp after I gave him some biscuits in my PJs while his Zoom video was turned on (so embarrassing); Mabel, the nine-year-old, keeps asking: When is Dad free?; and my eldest, Grace, has accused me of standing too close to her in the kitchen. All tempers are frayed. While Mabel would never dare tell a teacher she just doesnt feel like it today, she has no qualms saying it to Mum. The questionnaire on Crime And Punishment has defeated her and, frankly, our stab at Macbeths letter to Lady Macbeth has all the imagination of the Go Away note Ive left for cold-callers on our gate. The circle of dread is rotating endlessly on her old computer as Microsoft Teams loads slowly. By the time we get to our PE lesson (star jumps, running on the spot), were both more murderous than the Scottish queen and I dont need a calculator to figure out I must get up at 5am tomorrow to get all my work from today finished. Teachers will have a long-term goal in mind for all this learning, while parents have no idea what the point is of knowing square roots and word suffixes. I simply dont know the answer when my youngest asks: Why am I learning this? My husband disappears for two hours to wash the back patio in the rain: a classic example of helpful-not-helpful distraction activity common in lockdown parenting. I take a deep breath and do the daily I am grateful that... reminder: Thank God I am now only schooling a nine-year-old and supervising two teens. Parents of pre-schoolers and newborns are the real heroes. Ditto single parents. WEDNESDAY Lorraine (pictured) said on Wednesday, she stays off the WhatsApp groups where other parents seem to be doing it much better than her This is always the worst lockdown day of our week. We hit what we call the Wednesday Wall. Today, I stay off the WhatsApp groups where other parents seem to be doing it much better than me. I wander round the house emptying bins, replacing loo rolls and scraping old Pop Tarts off the carpet wondering if all those Instagram influencers are right about the joy of meditation. I Google helping teenagers sleep, and even Mabels Year 5 Assembly on screen makes me tearful. Last lockdown, I made a lower intestine out of a pair old pink tights stuffed with wet porridge oats. It was a Year 4 homework highlight. I only knew how to do this because of BBC Bitesize (a godsend). Lockdown No 1 felt like an adventure but there is no sense of adventure this time round. Were emotionally ragged; weve lost people and missed people. Many of lifes monumental moments have been cancelled or ruined. Theres been sadness and grief. The rollercoaster of anxiety, stress and knife-edge news bulletins has beaten parents down. And the news homeschooling may last until Easter is overwhelming. Another epidemic is sweeping the country; one of loneliness and declining mental health, especially among our young people whose hearts have been broken as hopes for their immediate future are dashed. Under this blanket of bad news, mums, dads and carers have had to summon up the enthusiasm to make homeschooling fun. But to throw ourselves at it in the manner of the nations PE teacher Joe Wicks? On a Wednesday? We really dont have it in us. Neither the state nor the private schools my children are at seem to have been charged with offering ideas to make home learning in front of screens more enjoyable. There is no Minister for Good Times sweeping in with thoughts on how to rally round cheerily every day as parents. But today I am just grateful I am not an actual teacher, trying to teach both those in school and at home. THURSDAY Lorraine said she got a stream of adverts for tutors on social media on Friday (file image) Dad is unavailable for maths so its my turn. I have been up since 6am so Im tempted to pay my 14-year-old to do the nine-year-olds sums for her. But as a parent, you should try to model the behaviour you want from your kids (as the experts would say). And honesty is a good parenting policy. However, I cant do double-digit long division. A rage rises in me as Mabel and I try to thrash it out. Its impossible. My patience has gone and I leave the room feeling inexplicably tearful. No one told us that homeschooling would trigger in us all those buried feelings of uselessness that we ourselves encountered at school, did they? It seems were teaching our own kids while trying to soothe the kids we once were. In the end, the teens come to my rescue on the maths front and were all back to normal (whatever that is now). Then two of Mabels fish die and the dog is sick under the kitchen table. It was an old Pop Tart. FRIDAY Im getting a stream of adverts for tutors on Facebook and a follower on Twitter reminds me my maths teacher at school was called Mr Gilbert. I can still hear him commanding me to stop talking, which explains things. But spirits are lifted today and a better routine is emerging. Im ignoring the fact the kitchen looks like weve been burgled by 2pm and weve FaceTimed all the school friends the kids havent seen. Were doing the best we can. Were not as good at this as teachers, but we dont have to be do we? This week, though, I have learnt the following: When the going gets tough, go outside. Sometimes we abandon lessons for a walk. Your childrens well-being is the most important thing. Also, weve splashed out on luxury biscuits. I know sugar is bad for kids yaddah yaddah, but as rewards go for assignments accomplished, millionaire shortbread is very effective. Cut some slack. The teens have benefited most from this with extra long lie-ins, but the family member who asked for peas in a separate bowl from the bolognese was indulged for the first time ever. Food assumes a premium status during these weird times so spoiling a fussy eater is a treat I can live with (occasionally). Screen time is high and Im fine with that. Children and adolescents need connections to their friends and this is how they find it. So we have stopped arguing over screens apart from no phones in bedrooms after 10pm. Opting out of competitive homeschooling is sensible. I refuse to discuss it with other parents. Weve concluded that the mantra we can do hard things is the way forward. Mums and dads cannot fix this situation for their kids, but psychologists are always keen to remind us that children are more resilient than we think if you are alongside them with patience, kindness and empathy. And, yes, Dad won Family Member Of the Week. Were a family fuelled by tea, and he makes a good cup of tea. You dont get that at school, do you? Every winter, San Antonios school districts, charter networks and private schools launch carefully planned recruitment campaigns meant to attract the attention of local parents eager to find the right school for their children. Schools typically open their doors for information sessions, tours and open houses, where parents can ask questions, meet teachers and administrators, see what the classrooms and facilities look like and, ultimately, decide which schools they want to apply to or register for. But during the pandemic, the in-house recruitment event is out of the question. Schools are generally closed to visitors to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, and large in-person school fairs have not happened here since last March. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio school districts see remote learning stretching way into next year It makes it harder for a parent to envision, Would my kid fit in in this classroom? said Inga Cotton, founder and executive director of San Antonio Charter Moms, a nonprofit that helps local families navigate their school options. They cant see the space, they can't meet the teachers as much as they want and it just takes a leap of faith. Both parents and school leaders have had to get creative and turn to new strategies to try to reinvent the process at a time when more parents are looking to change schools and school administrators are desperately trying to recoup pandemic-induced enrollment losses. Its definitely more challenging and more stressful this time around, said Amanda Flores, 39, a mother currently searching for new schools for both of her children, who will be 3 and 6 years old by the fall. Before, it was fun. Now its kind of like Im racing against time when I dont know what the process looks like. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox Ayla Dehghanpoor, director of marketing and communications for Families Empowered, a nonprofit dedicated to helping parents in Austin, Houston and San Antonio find and apply to schools, said the process this year has been overwhelming for many parents, even those who have gone through it in previous years. This pandemic, this is something that has never happened to these parents before, so they cant make guesses based on the past, Dehghanpoor said. Thats why right now were working as hard as we can to push information out there, because we know this is not easy for parents. For most schools, recruitment season stretches from around November through February. Parents interested in traditional public schools generally register their children at their neighborhood school, where they are guaranteed a spot, but can usually opt for a different in-district school if they prefer. Charter schools and private schools, however, tend to have a limited number of seats available, so interested parents have to apply. Most in-district choice schools, like magnet schools or those with P-TECH or International Baccalaureate programs, also require applications. Since the pandemic began, schools have produced virtual versions of in-person information sessions, tours and open houses. Depending on the school, parents can sign up for an online slot and attend individual or group sessions from their home. Schools also have scaled up their mailers, phone outreach to individual families, website photos and videos and social media presence to spread the word about their programs, facilities and safety protocols. And with most in-school events now too risky, many schools rely more heavily on word of mouth by currently enrolled students and their parents. Harmony Public Schools three campuses in San Antonio offer weekly virtual open houses and tours and have been hosting socially distanced events like drive-in movies in school parking lots, in part to keep our current families as happy as we can and (let them) do the recruitment for us, said Erika Trevino, a student recruitment coordinator for Harmony in San Antonio. In the past, it was all about going out to the community, reaching out to families and talking to them directly, Trevino said. What were trying to do right now is switching that into recruiting from within ... and weve been very successful at that. Harmony has seen a 12 percent increase in applications among its San Antonio schools compared to this point last year, Trevino said. In addition to going virtual, some school districts are starting their registration period weeks earlier than usual to give parents additional time to explore their options and allow the schools to better anticipate their enrollment numbers for next school year, said Patricia Baumer, executive director of the Office of Access and Enrollment Services in the San Antonio Independent School District. As she prepared for SAISDs registration period, which begins Monday, Baumer represented the district at the SA Virtual School Fair on Saturday, a first-of-its-kind event hosted by Families Empowered, San Antonio Charter Moms, San Antonio School Finder and other school choice organizations. It was conducted entirely via livestream and Zoom. The four-hour fair had representatives from about 80 schools, traditional school districts and charter networks across San Antonio talking with parents about their campuses and programs. Parents could join the Zoom rooms of schools they were interested in and skip the others. It wasnt that hard to convince the schools that it was worthwhile, Cotton said. Even though its an experiment, theyre really trying to reach families and they feel like a lot of their usual channels are cut off. The goal was to bring the schools into families living rooms and allow parents to participate as much or as little as they wanted, hopefully making the process easier and quicker for them, Dehghanpoor said. We really wanted to make sure were setting parents up for success when theyre choosing the school their child will attend for the next school year, especially after being thrust into such a weird situation for the last year here, she said. For Flores, attending the virtual fair was an opportunity to get advice from school reps and find a firmer footing in the school search process, she said. Following a recent move, her family has been considering schools in SAISD and East Central ISD, as well as Compass Rose Academy. The fair gave her some knowledge and connections she felt she had been missing, she said. This is going to open doors for me and it really reassured me so much, Flores said. I feel more confident in making my decision moving forward and I feel like I have support. andy.picon@hearst.com | Twitter: @andpicon When Workshop opened with Tex-Mex purveyor Juan Luis in one of its stalls, owner John Lewis didnt scan the 10,000-square-foot room from his post and cackle that one day it would all belong to him. But thats exactly whats come to pass. Juan Luis later this year will occupy the entirety of the food court space at 1503 King St., which Lewis plans to transform into a full-service restaurant. It was slightly scary thinking about it, but its the perfect spot, and weve been looking, said Lewis, who last year resurrected the Juan Luis concept as a trailer on Lewis Barbecues patio, two years after ending his Workshop stint. A full normal restaurant is just not doable out of a trailer. At a "full normal restaurant," for example, Lewis can serve sopapillas and mesquite-grilled steak. Workshop last week announced it plans to shut down this spring, blaming a flawed business plan that even popularity couldnt surmount. The venue had built up a loyal following since celebrating its grand opening on May 5, 2017, with 99-cent margaritas from Juan Luis. We will greatly miss Workshop, but we think its a serendipitous turn of events that one of its first alumnus replaces it, property owner Stephen Zoukis of Raven Cliff Co. said in a statement, predicting the restaurant will bring even more nighttime energy to the complex. Lewis confirms the newest iteration of Juan Luis will have a pretty huge bar program, featuring large format selections evocative of West Texas. The menu will also be regionally grounded, listing grilled quail, seafood and beef fajitas alongside the enchiladas and other homespun plates that have helped make the Juan Luis trailer a hit. Its been going real good, Lewis says of the trailers first few months. The only times its not good is when its a downpour. Sign up for our food & dining newsletter. We publish our free Food & Dining newsletter every Wednesday at 10 a.m. to keep you informed on everything happening in the Charleston culinary scene. Sign up today! Email Sign Up! While the sit-down Juan Luis will include an outdoor seating area, guests in inclement weather will be able to take shelter in a dining room designed by Betsy Berry, who also designed Lewis Barbecue. Weve got some really cool ideas that are kind of wild, Lewis says. Were trying to make it a really fun space close to what Lewis does, but even more happy and fun. One aspect of the design thats already worked out involves a sophisticated tortilla-making machine with a griddle. That contraption will be placed behind glass so customers can see it press flour tortillas and spit out triangular corn chips. Prior to settling on his tortilla methodology, Lewis toured multiple tortilla factories in Texas and California. He also found the restaurants chef and bar manager in Texas, although he declined to reveal their names because of their current job situations. With the right people and equipment in place, including a mesquite grill suitable for cowboy cooking, Lewis says hes confident that the forthcoming Juan Luis will be more authentic. Then he corrects himself: No. It will be authentic. Back at Lewis Barbecue, the Juan Luis trailer will continue to operate until the permanent restaurant opens. At that point, the adobe-surfaced trailer will become a New Mexico chili cheeseburger shack, serving five types of burgers, "Christmas" cheese fries with red and green chile sauce, and ice cream sundaes. Looking forward to a future Juan Luis in our own brick-and-mortar spot! Lewis texted in 2018 when Juan Luis left Workshop. He now says fans can look forward specifically to September, assuming the renovation goes as planned. I wanted to have a good house, and here it is, Samah Mansour, a 35-year-old housewife living in the Haj Sallam village near Farshout in the Upper Egyptian Qena governorate, told Al-Ahram Weekly, providing concrete testimony of some of the results of Egypts Decent Life initiative. Mansour said she used to feel shy about inviting anyone to her house. The charity in the village improved the house by building ceilings, painting the walls, and building a proper bathroom and kitchen. Life has totally changed for the better as a result of the Decent Life initiative, and things will never be the same as before, Mansour added. Decent Life is an initiative launched by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in 2019 to improve the standard of living and quality of life for the neediest villages in rural Egypt. The second stage of the initiative, launched in December 2020, targets a total of 1,500 villages inhabited by 18 million people. The National Project for the Development of Egyptian Villages is part of the larger Decent Life initiative. Mansours husband, Abdel-Rahim Ahmed, 44, added that he benefits from the governments Takaful and Karama cash-transfer programmes. I receive LE430 a month, he said. Ahmed used to work in construction in Libya, but returned after a head injury. Now he is no longer able to work and visits a doctor in Cairo. The charity in his village helps him pay the physicians fees, and it hopes to be able to offer his wife a sewing machine so that she can work from home and raise the income of the family. According to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Developments mid-term report monitoring and evaluating the impact of the Decent Life initiative, Egypts total appropriations directed to the villages of the first phase of the Decent Life presidential initiative amounted to LE5.5 billion directed to 1,901 interventions, including LE3.3 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20 and LE2.2 billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year. The first phase of the initiative, until the end of 2020, included 143 villages in 46 centres in 11 governorates, and the number of beneficiaries reached 1.8 million. Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Said said that 255 medical convoys, 1,335 surgeries, the provision of 538 prosthetic devices, 5,420 eye operations, 16,500 pairs of glasses, the establishment and development of 12 health units, with 56 more to be completed by 2020/21, were all part of the initiative. The idea is a partnership between Egyptian civil society and the Ministry of Social Solidarity. Doaa Mabrouk, founder of the Baseera Foundation for the Visually Impaired, a NGO, participated in the first phase of the initiative and is looking forward to the second phase. The foundation participated in some of the villages in Sohag governorate in Upper Egypt, where it examined around 35,000 people and all school children, offering 5,000 glasses and 2,000 eye operations. University professors of ophthalmology donated eye operations for patients, and equipment and physicians were sent to villages that suffer from 90 per cent poverty rates, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), she said. We offered them the best medical services and raised awareness about eye health among rural health visitors and school and nursery teachers, Mabrouk said. Civil society played an important role in improving the villages. The report also indicated improvements in educational services by about 12 percentage points, with such services being provided in three deprived villages and the development of seven nurseries. Forty-five schools were established or developed under the initiative, including 717 classrooms. Some 127 schools operated for 1,493 semesters during 2020-21, the report said. For Mansour, education is a main way to development and a better life, and she herself spent five years in a one-classroom school after preparatory school. We need a secondary school in the village to send my daughters to, because we feel worried about them if they go out of the village alone, Mansour told the Weekly. A Development first: The Decent Life initiative is a first in Egyptian history. It is the first comprehensive programme for rural development in the whole of Egypt. Developing the countryside is based on institutional social dialogue through committees that represent citizens youth, women, NGOs, and all the active people in the local community organised by the relevant governors, Walaa Gad, manager of the central unit of the initiative at the Ministry of Local Development, said. The first aspect is infrastructure and social services, such as roads, gas, clean water and sewage, public lighting, and communication facilities, Farid Abdel-Aal, a professor at the Institute of National Planning, told the Weekly. The first stage is determining the needs of each house and street in the village and then deciding priorities and planning the budget and timescale for implementation. This also requires determining implementation standards accurately. Every two weeks a meeting is held, and a monthly report is sent to the Ministry of Social Solidarity, he said. The second aspect is economic development and creating new job opportunities. The third aspect is social security and social development, Abdel-Aal said. In the first phase of the initiative, sanitation coverage improved by about 46 percentage points. This was achieved through the installation of 706 domestic sewage tanks, 1,559 domestic sewage connections, and water networks 7km long. Some 1,637 household connections have been installed, 49 groundwater wells have been constructed and developed, and sewage services connected to 21 villages. Such services will be delivered to 55 villages in 2020-21. Regarding decent work and economic growth, the report indicated that small projects worth LE438 million and 71,000 job opportunities had been provided in the governorates of Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Qalioubiya, Minya, Aswan, Luxor, and Al-Wadi Al-Gedid. The report also reviewed the impact of the initiative on sustainable cities and communities. According to indicators, 11,600 houses were improved, 160km of roads were paved, and 11 veterinary units were established. The initiative installed 11,000 lamp posts, established and developed 21 youth centres and playgrounds, and established and developed nine social units. Cooperation between the private sector, civil society, and the Ministry of Social Solidarity succeeded in working for the good of the people in rural areas. The prime minister manages the committee responsible for implementing the initiative and insists that all the materials used in the development should be locally made, Gad said. Choosing the poorest and neediest villages in the initiatives first phase depended on measuring the rates of families depending on women, the rate of poverty, the size of the population, and the rate of services coverage, especially clean water and sewage. Villages that witness social problems like sectarian problems and illegal emigration were also targeted. In the second phase of the initiative, 51 centres have been chosen according to development indicators, and a further 1,500 villages will be covered. Housing Minister Assem Al-Gazzar is following up on the second phase and preparations to provide sanitation services to the villages covered while giving rural residents opportunities to participate in implementing them. The initiative covers 174 centres from a total of 189 in the three years to 2023-24. In the second phase, 51 centres will be covered, which means developing all the villages in them, Al-Gazzar said. The rest of the centres are border governorates that have special development needs, he said. One main challenge that faces the initiative is time, he said. The good news is that this is a national project, and all ministries are cooperating with the whole community to achieve targets and finish by due dates, Gad told the Weekly. Fifty-five million people will benefit from the Decent Life initiative, Ali Fathi, chair of the comprehensive development sector at the Misr Al-Kheir Foundation, a NGO, told the Weekly. He added that when people find that their rights are respected and their needs fulfilled, their loyalty to the country will increase. The first phase of the initiative included 143 villages in 11 governorates. Misr Al-Kheir participated in developing 37 villages in the four governorates of Minya, Sohag, Assiut, and Qena, Fathi said. Developing human beings was an essential aspect of this initiative, he added, and had been taken into consideration when implementing the initiative. Job opportunities were offered to young people, and residents were willing to participate in all activities, including cleaning and planting trees. Ismail Abdel-Galil, a former chair of the Desert Research Centre in Cairo, told the Weekly that the kinds of trees that used to be planted in Egyptian villages should be planted by the banks of canals, to a depth of six or seven metres. Rural residents should have trees like sycamores and other trees to add a romantic atmosphere and help reduce water evaporation from canals. They will also help to clean up the canals and bring back the beauty to Egyptian villages, Abdel-Galil concluded. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: David Schwimmer jokes that in more normal times he has no trouble making dinner reservations at the best restaurants. For the affable and self-deprecating chief executive of the venerable 300-year-old London Stock Exchange, sharing a name with one of the stars of the comedy show Friends is just curious happenstance. Much of the time when the other Schwimmer was making people laugh, the LSE boss was in Moscow doing deals for his former employer Goldman Sachs in a newly capitalist Russia. Out of sight: LSE boss David Schwimmer has been strangely anonymous since taking over from his high profile predecessor Xavier Rolet nearly two years ago Schwimmer has been strangely anonymous since taking over from his high-profile predecessor Xavier Rolet nearly two years ago. The latter left after a ferocious row over the failed merger with Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt. As leader of one of the City's great pillars, 52-year-old Schwimmer largely has been confined to barracks as he relentlessly pursued a grander and much more alluring global prize in the shape of the trading platform and analytical powerhouse Refinitiv the markets arm of what used to be Reuters. The timing of the completion of the 20billion deal on the last trading day of January could not be better as the City goes it alone outside the European Union. In his first interview since the deal completed, the Yale graduate and Harvard Law School alumnus is enthusiastic. 'We think it [the transformed LSE] is going to be a terrific outcome for the markets, for market participants and shareholders. It will be a global company with capabilities across multiple asset classes. 'It will be an international business headquartered in London and we will be able to work with companies, insurers and governments all over the world. 'We will have a presence in 70 countries and serve customers in twice that number. 'We'll have thousands of people in America, thousands of people in Europe, thousands of people in Asia.' Schwimmer's palpable excitement about being part of the global Britain project should resonate on Downing Street. The Refinitiv deal runs counter to the idea that, cut off from the European Union, London's status as one of the world's great financial centres will be diminished. The LSE boss is scornful of the attitude that Brussels is taking towards the City now we are outside the EU. He finds it baffling that whereas EU regulators 'have granted equivalence to markets in New York and in Hong Kong and in Australia they have chosen, I think for the politics of Brexit, not to grant equivalence to venues in the UK'. In his view this is even more bizarre in that at present Britain is 'more' equivalent than other trading hubs. A New Yorker, who moved to London in 2018 to take the LSE job, he spent most of his years at Goldman Sachs on developing market infrastructure around the world. As with so many overseas newcomers to Britain, he seems more committed to the City and London living than some of the old guard. He has chosen to base himself, his wife and two sons in the centre of town. Schwimmer's first tangible experience of potentially disruptive EU behaviour came last month when trading in some 5billion of euro denominated shares such as Santander migrated from the LSE to Continental-based exchanges. Schwimmer says the LSE was fully prepared for this and had set up a version of its proprietary Turquoise multi-lateral trading platform in Amsterdam to trade stocks in the EU. The Refinitiv deal runs counter to the idea that, cut off from the European Union, London's status as one of the world's great financial centres will be diminished He suggests the big loser from this tussle is Europe itself since there is a 'fragmentation of liquidity that is bad for the market' and it will 'make trading more expensive for buyers and sellers'. When the LSE originally announced its ground-breaking deal to buy Refinitiv from New York investment management firm Blackstone, it was widely criticised for handing the private equity colossus an easy profit. Schwimmer disputes the analysis, arguing that in the first year of ownership the deal should add 30 per cent to earnings. In his ambition to establish a bigger international presence, Schwimmer wants to make it easier for UK and overseas tech start-ups to go public in London. The recent queue of buoyantly received City public offerings, including The Hut Group, Dr Martens and Moonpig, has rekindled belief in London as a good place to bring firms to market and create tech unicorns breakthrough firms valued at more than 1billion. In particular Schwimmer would like to ease the listing rules so that tech companies could gain premium listings and a potential place in the FTSE 100 share index without having to give up a structure with a dominant founder shareholding. At present at least 25 per cent of the shares in a new floats must be offered to outside investors. 'We think it's important to maintain very high corporate governance standards,' Schwimmer says. But London needs to be 'more in line with other jurisdictions' such as New York and Hong Kong. The LSE's idea for bridging the gap is 'sunset provision' which places a time limit on two-tier type share structures. Schwimmer does not hide his frustration at some of the obstacles he is facing as he seeks to bring 'fantastic companies' to the market. He is politely critical of the Investment Association (IA), representing the UK's traditional long funds, which has opposed any relaxation in its submission to former EU commissioner Lord Hill's official review of London listing requirements in the post-Brexit era. He says: 'Many members of the IA do acquire shares in dual class companies in other markets around the world including New York, Hong Kong and elsewhere. So we have concerns about being constrained in our own market by people taking an ideological approach to corporate governance.' Much of the last year for Schwimmer has been spent persuading investors of the wisdom of the Refinitiv deal and guiding it through some formidable regulatory obstacles, from Beijing to Brussels. Most of this has been done from home in the Covid-19 era. Schwimmer has only been in the Stock Exchange's offices at Paternoster Square in the heart of the City for four days all in September since the first lockdown began in March 2020. The business 'is working well remotely' he says. But he can't wait to be back in the thick of things as the 17th century exchange rediscovers its global mojo. YEREVAN, 3 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 3 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.95 drams to 520.15 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.94 drams to 625.58 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 6.84 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.89 drams to 709.74 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price stood at 31097.6 drams. Silver price stood at 493.85 drams. Platinum price stood at 18662.4 drams. ERLC Pres. Russell Moore to receive Defender of Religious Freedom Award Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be honored for his work in religious freedom activism. The Religious Freedom Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, will honor Moore with their 2020 Defender of Religious Freedom Award at a virtual ceremony to be held on Nov. 21. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and a former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, will present the award. This marks the second year that the Institute has bestowed their Defender of Religious Freedom award, with the first being in 2019 to Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia. The Institute announced its decision to honor Moore in September, explaining that the award was being given for his work tackling religious freedom issues as head of the ERLC. Moore defends the religious liberty of all people. He challenges believers to be better public witnesses to their faith, and he challenges secularists to have greater appreciation for the importance of religion in American public life, stated the Institute. In a statement released as part of the September announcement, RFI President Tom Farr said that Moore was a brilliant, winsome, and tireless advocate for religious liberty. Baptists played a major role in the Founders determination to guarantee the free exercise of religion for every American and every American religious community, stated Farr. Moore represents the best of that tradition. Reaching deep into the treasury of Scripture, he demands soul freedom for each of us, so that we might seek the truth in freedom, unhindered by government or any human agent. During his time as head of the ERLC, Moore has been critical of infringements on religion, regardless of their source, at times garnering controversy for his stances. In 2014, Moore told a group of reporters that he believed the Obama administration displayed a shocking audacity when it comes to restricting religious liberty. The comment came soon after the United States Supreme Court had granted Hobby Lobby Stores a religious exemption to the controversial Obama-era birth control mandate that required faith-based business-owners to pay for birth control. I think there's a general attitude on the part of the [Obama] administration that's very troubling when it comes to religious liberties, said Moore at the time. We cannot see this case as settling the issue once and for all. We have to remain diligent to articulate why religious liberty is in the common good of all people. In 2016, Moore garnered pushback from some within the SBC for his decision to have the ERLC intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim community attempting to build a mosque on Church Street in a historic part of Bernards Township, New Jersey. In response to failed efforts to have him removed as head of the ERLC over the amicus brief, Moore explained that protecting the rights of Muslims was beneficial to the SBC. When you have a government that says 'we can decide whether or not a house of worship can be constructed based upon the theological beliefs of that house of worship,' then there are going to be Southern Baptist churches in San Francisco and New York and throughout this country who are not going to be able to build, explained Moore at the time. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended entry from 20 countries, ranging from some neighbouring states to the United States, in a bid to curb a jump in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced the "temporary suspension" would be effective from 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The ban applies to neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in the wider region, to Lebanon and Turkey. In Europe, the ban includes Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. Elsewhere, as well as the US, it applies to Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and South Africa. Saudi citizens, as well as diplomats and health workers coming from those countries, will be allowed to enter the kingdom "in accordance with the precautionary measures", it added. The announcement comes after Saudi's health minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah warned on Sunday that new coronavirus restrictions could be imposed if citizens and residents do not comply with health restrictions. Saudi Arabia has reported more than 368,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 6,400 deaths, the highest among Gulf Arab states. Daily infections dipped below 100 in early January, from a peak of nearly 5,000 last June. However, new daily infections have tripled since then, with 310 cases reported by the health ministry on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 17 after receiving the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The health ministry said the programme would roll out in three phases, starting with people over 65 and those with chronic ailments, or who are at high risk of infection. But last month the ministry said it was forced to slow the rollout due to a delay in vaccine deliveries. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A fire broke out in the Uttam Galva Metallics steel plant near Wardha in Maharashtra on Wednesday. As per the latest reports, at least thirty-eight workers have got injuries after they came in contact with hot air and coal particles from a furnace of the steel plant. Among the 38 workers, two have been critically injured and they have been shifted to Nagpur hospitals for treatment. While the other 36 workers have been shifted to nearby hospitals, Wardha District Collector Vivek Bhimanwar informed news agency PTI. The workers sustained burn injuries after coming in contact with hot air and coal particles from a furnace, he said. Uttam Metallics is located at Bhugaon village, around 10 km from Wardha town and is among the largest manufacturers of cold rolled steel and galvanized steel in western India. The company is into the business of procuring hot rolled steel. In galvanized coils it specialises in making ultra-thin sheets. Also read: 'Neither accurate nor responsible,' says Centre after Rihanna, Greta extend support to farmers protest Also read: RBI releases framework for risk-based internal audit of NBFCs, UCBs YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The extraordinary session convened by the government has kicked off in the Parliament. 2 issues are on the agenda of the session. The lawmakers will debate the bill on making changes and amendments to the Judicial Code, the Laws on Social Assistance, State Pensions, etc. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan The UN and Washington are urging foreign troops and mercenaries to leave Libya. Letting the Libyans decide their own destiny and exercise sovereignty over their lands would be the latest move towards a stable political transition process in the war-torn country. However, the rampant, deeply rooted network of foreign forces and mercenaries backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey are showing no signs of leaving the country soon. UN Envoy Stephanie Williams said flights carrying military cargo were continuing to both sides, undermining the cease-fire agreement. She called on all foreign fighters and mercenaries who were supposed to leave Libya by 23 January to leave now. A ceasefire deal concluded in Geneva on 23 October also provided for the withdrawal of foreign troops to set the stage for national elections in late December. Libyas rivals agreed to a UN-brokered ceasefire that included the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya within three months. Since then, however, no progress has been made. Violence has recommenced. Last week, CNN showed satellite images of Russian troops digging tens of kilometres near the frontline coastal city of Sirte. In apparent disregard of the ceasefire last December, Turkey extended its authorisation for troop deployment in Libya by 18 months. The North African country is now divided between two rival administrations, each backed by an array of militias and foreign powers. An administration backed by military commander Khalifa Hafter rules the east and south. This is supported by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. A UN-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, controls the west, and that is supported by Turkey. Experts and analysts unanimously agree that Russia and Turkey are not likely to leave Libya due to deep, entrenched interests in the country. There is no sign of Turkey, Russia or the UAE leaving Libya in the near future, Talmiz Ahmad, a former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE told Al-Ahram Weekly. No withdrawal timetable is set for that regardless of the calls being made by the UN or the US, and I expect they will make every effort to expand and consolidate their influence in the divided country. Explaining the interests of the countries supporting the rival administrations in Libya in Tripoli and Tobruk, Ahmad said, Turkey has both ideological and strategic interests. It supports the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Government of National Accord in Tripoli as an ideological partner; Libya is also important for its strategic outreach into the Mediterranean. For Russia, on the other hand, There are strategic and economic interests as the country may be Russias gateway to a presence in the Mediterranean, perhaps by providing bases on the coast, in addition to other economic interests that include energy and infrastructure projects. Despite the fact that Russia and Turkey are supporting different ideologies in Libya, according to Ahmad, they still can accommodate each others interests. He stressed that the main divide is between Egypt and Turkey, as the latter is supporting a Muslim Brotherhood-ideologised government in Libya. Ahmad emphasised that reconciliation initiatives between Libyas conflicted parties can happen under two scenarios. The first is a Turkey-Egypt rapprochement arranged by Russia, a move that backs the stability of the country. Egypt as a neighbouring country already has direct security concerns in Libya due to the long porous border they share. The second scenario is a real agreement between Tripoli and Tobruk, without foreign involvement, one that calls for statesmanship -- prioritising national interest, a united army, acceptable arrangements for the production and sale of oil and transparency relating to national revenues and expenditure. Continued violence between warring factions in Libya is undoubtedly hindering peace talks sought by mediator states like Egypt and Morocco who all through January have been intensifying efforts to bring the Libyan rivals together to the table. The various foreign forces staying in Libya create space and rhetorical justification for spoilers to act against the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, Nathan Vest, a research assistant at RAND Corporation, told the Weekly. Moreover, the withdrawal of forces may create a vacuum in the security landscape, according to Vest, with foreign troops deployed along the Jufra-Sirte line of contact and in military bases in the east and west. He mentioned that after the withdrawal of Russias Wagner mercenaries last May, Hafters forces suffered a rapid disintegration. The same scenario may happen along the Jufra-Sirte line. Leaving Libyans alone to decide their future was the core of the UN talks last week. Its essential that all foreign troops and mercenaries move back and leave the Libyans alone, because the Libyans have already proven that, left alone, they are able to address their problems, the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated. However, setting a Libyan transition process in motion would require a neutral third party or parties working with the internationally recognised Libyan government and the main insurgent forces will need to ensure the foreign troops withdrawal process as one primary step to start Libyan-Libyan talks, John Parachini, a senior international and defence researcher at RAND, told the Weekly. Stopping Russian and Turkish meddling in Libyan affairs will not be easily achieved and will require internationally agreed on actions. Guaranteeing a stable political transition with no upsurge of violence requires third party forces to monitor and help maintain public order during the transition period, Parachini said. Halting by now entrenched Russian and Turkish powers in Libya wont be an easy task and will need international coordination, he added. According to Claudia Gazzini, the International Crisis Groups consulting analyst for Libya, there are two main reasons for the delay on the withdrawal of foreign military forces from Libya. The first is domestic-related: each warring side in Libya is heavily reliant on foreign forces to defend themselves against an attack from the rival coalition, so they wont risk the foreign withdrawal without consolidation of each partys positions, Gazzini told the Weekly. The other reason is tied to the interests of their respective foreign backers. Both Turkey, which supports the Tripoli-based authorities, and Russia, which supports the Hafter-led coalition, have strategic long-term ambitions in Libya and are unlikely to pull out voluntarily before safeguarding their own interests. The withdrawal of foreign forces from Libya is but one of many steps necessary to stabilise a country divided between two rival military coalitions. There is a need for a unified Libyan military apparatus, and this wont be easy to reach, Gazzini stated. The political forum currently underway is supposed to bring to power a new three-man Presidential Council that is supposed jointly to appoint the top commander of the military, but this is unlikely to be a smooth process, she added. Civil war has torn the oil-rich country since the NATO-backed uprising that ousted long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and after many rounds of negotiations the warring factions have failed to reach a settlement. With about 20,000 foreign and mercenary troops still in Libya, the UNs latest reports confirmed that Turkeys mercenaries are Syrian fighters loyal to Ankara while Russia sends mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organisation. The UN estimates the cost of the conflict since 2011 has been $578bn (424bn) so far. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: 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. A construction crew installs new sections of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier as seen from Tijuana, Mexico, on Jan. 11, 2019. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Supreme Court Cancels Arguments in Immigration Cases at Biden Administrations Request The Supreme Court granted the Biden administrations request on Feb. 3 to cancel upcoming oral arguments over two legal challenges to former President Donald Trumps signature immigration-related policies. The cases, now held in abeyance pending possible settlement discussions, dealt with the construction of a wall on the nations southern border to stem the flow of illegal aliens, and Trumps policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are adjudicated. The Supreme Court had only agreed to hear the cases on Oct. 19, 2020, after the Trump administration sought a review of lower court decisions. Trumps term in office ended Jan. 20. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has changed the executive branchs priorities, moving away from the immigration law enforcement efforts favored by the previous administration. Hours after becoming president, Biden signed Presidential Proclamation 10142, in which he declared that building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution, describing the project as a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security. The document revoked Trumps Presidential Proclamation 9844 of Feb. 15, 2019, that declared a national emergency concerning the Southern border and invoked the National Emergencies Act. Trump ordered $2.5 billion in military drug interdiction funds redirected to the wall construction project on the U.S.Mexico border. Trumps declaration stated that the border remained a major entry point for illicit narcotics. The Department of Defense (DOD) was directed to support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in securing the southern border and taking other necessary actions to stop the flow of deadly drugs, a government brief stated. On Feb. 25, 2019, the DHS formally requested the DODs help with the construction of fences, roads, and lighting to block drug-smuggling corridors on the southern border. The DOD approved the request with respect to seven projects in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Lawmakers attempted to override Trumps emergency declaration but failed, leaving the government without lawfully appropriated funds to spend and leading to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, running from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019. In July 2019, the Supreme Court allowed the government to proceed with construction while the case worked its way through the appeals courts. Bidens new proclamation provides that the funding will no longer be used to build the wall. The case dealing with the wall, Biden v. Sierra Club, was previously titled Trump v. Sierra Club. The other case, Mayorkas v. Innovation Law Lab, dealt with a challenge to the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico program that required non-Mexican asylum-seekers appearing at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their claims to be adjudicated. The appeal was previously titled Wolf v. Innovation Law Lab. The so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, which were approved by Congress and signed into law during the Clinton administration, hadnt been used until then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced in December 2018 that they would be implemented. The goal, she said at the time, was to curtail the so-called catch-and-release system, in which individuals made fraudulent asylum claims knowing they would be allowed into the United States and would be able to stay for years before their court appearance, which many ended up not attending. Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates. Instead, they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico, Nielsen said. Lower courts had ruled against the policy, but the Supreme Court previously allowed enforcement to continue while litigation over its lawfulness was pending. Under Biden, DHS issued a memorandum providing that, effective Jan. 21, the Department will suspend new enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), pending further review of the program. Aliens who arent already enrolled in MPP should be processed under other existing legal authorities. On Feb. 2, Biden signed three new executive orders aimed to undo Trump-era immigration policies. One of the documents, Biden said during a ceremony at the White House, orders a full review of the previous administrations harmful and counterproductive immigration policies, basically across the board. WOONSOCKET (dpa-AFX) - CVS Health Corp. said it will offer COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible people at a limited number of CVS Pharmacy locations across 11 states. It will start with approximately 250,000 total doses, which is sourced directly from the federal government through the pharmacy partnership program. The select pharmacies will start offering COVID-19 vaccinations from February 11, with appointments available through booking as early as February 9. With more than 90,000 health care professionals including pharmacists, licensed pharmacy technicians, and nurses, CVS Pharmacy said it is well positioned to administer 20 million to 25 million shots per month. Out of the total initial supply, the state of California has been allocated 81,900 vaccine doses, followed by 38,000 for Texas, 26,000 for Virginia, 21,600 for Massachusetts, 20,600 for New York and 19,900 for New Jersey. South Carolina will receive 15,300, Maryland 11,000, Connecticut 6,800, Hawaii 4,400 and Rhode Island 3,400. CVS Health is also working with Indiana and Ohio to provide in-store vaccinations to eligible populations using state allocations. It added that other states may also choose the same option, which is separate from the federal pharmacy partnership program but can run concurrently. The health care company is planning to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to additional states as and when it receives more supplies of the vaccine. There are nearly 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide, with almost half located in communities ranked high or very high in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index. The company said vaccines in a retail setting will be offered on an appointment-only basis via CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. Those who don't have online access can contact the company's customer service. CVS Health has already administered the first round of COVID-19 vaccine doses to nearly 8,000 skilled nursing facilities. The second doses are more than 60 percent complete and will be fully completed within the next three weeks. According to the company, first doses at all long-term care facilities that selected CVS Health to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, totaling more than 40,000, will be complete by mid-February. In October last year, the U.S. government had inked a public-private Pharmacy Partnership with CVS and Walgreens to provide and administer COVID-19 vaccines to protect vulnerable American residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF) nationwide with no out-of-pocket costs. These include skilled nursing facilities (SNF), nursing homes, assisted living facilities, residential care homes, and adult family homes. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX CVS HEALTH-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 00:33:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has donated medical supplies worth 346,000,000 Mongolian Tugriks (about 120,000 U.S. dollars) to Mongolia to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Mongolia's Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The medical supplies include respiratory ventilators, masks and protective suits, the ministry said in a statement. As of Wednesday, Mongolia has reported a total of 1,859 COVID-19 cases, more than 1,400 of which were locally transmitted. The Asian country has so far recorded at least two COVID-19-related deaths since confirming its first case of COVID-19 in March, 2020. Enditem Lorries in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs site in Duncrue Street, near Belfast port (Brian Lawless/PA) The European Commission vice president is set to travel to London next week to discuss the trade issues that have emerged between Britain and Northern Ireland post-Brexit. Maros Sefcovic and UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove held a half-hour virtual meeting with Northern Irelands First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill on Wednesday evening. The crunch talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol were arranged amid mounting tensions over post-Brexit trade. Speaking after the meeting, Sinn Feins Ms ONeill said the vice president of the commission was emphatic that there was no intention by the EU to cause difficulty when it moved to suspend part of the Northern Ireland Protocol. He put his hands up and said they had made a mistake and that they moved to rectify that mistake very quickly Michelle O'Neill on Maros Sefcovic Ms ONeill said Mr Sefcovic wanted to state very clearly that the EU had no intention to cause any political difficulty with the move last Friday. He put his hands up and said they had made a mistake and that they moved to rectify that mistake very quickly, she said. Ms ONeill said Mr Sefcovic apologised on behalf of the commission and asked the leaders to judge the EU on its track record in terms of its support for the peace process both financially and politically. He was very gracious in his apology around that and recognised that it caused some tensions, she said. I accept that apology in the way in which it was intended, she added. Expand Close European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Ms ONeill also said Mr Sefcovic was focused on finding solutions. He was very clear in terms of the rigorous implementation of the protocol and expects that to be adhered to but he did recognise were only six weeks into the protocol, Ms ONeill said. There are flexibilities inbuilt which he thinks havent even had a chance to work out yet. She welcomed his commitment to visit London to find ways to resolve the issues that have developed, adding that she believed it was a very pragmatic and very constructive way to move forward. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:05:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- By removing all its national-level poverty-stricken counties from the list, China has made a major victory in fighting poverty. The following are some facts and figures on China's poverty reduction. Over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening up, more than 700 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty, contributing to more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction. By the end of 2020, nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents had escaped poverty since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, and all 832 national-level poverty-stricken counties had shaken off poverty. Despite the unprecedented impacts brought by COVID-19, China removed the remaining 52 counties -- mostly in remote areas in the southwestern and western regions -- from the poverty list as scheduled last year. According to different causes of poverty, China explored a slew of targeted and scientific alleviation measures, providing poor households with customized plans. The measures include developing industries and relocation. China also develops ecological poverty-relief programs, including ecological compensation and government-sponsored afforestation projects. For example, forestry authorities nationwide have recruited a total of about 1.1 million forest rangers from impoverished households since 2016. More than 20 million people shook off poverty through such programs, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Other policies include providing medical insurance and aid, developing microfinance programs, establishing online platforms for selling agricultural products from poverty-stricken areas. The government at various levels has also mobilized resources nationwide to help poverty-stricken regions. Since late 2012, China has selected over 500,000 cadres as the first CPC secretaries of villages and has sent more than 3 million cadres to impoverished villages to battle poverty on the frontline. China has decided to set a five-year transition period for counties that have shaken off poverty to consolidate and expand its poverty alleviation achievements and to prevent people from falling back into poverty again. The country has pledged to advance rural vitalization in the new development stage. The strategy will help improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture and deepen rural reforms and enhance the integrated urban-rural development. Enditem Excellency Ambassador, Distinguished Members of the Executive Board and Member States On behalf of UNDP management, I would like to thank Director Oscar Garcia and his team at the Independent Evaluation Office for its evaluation on UNDPs support to climate change adaptation. UNDP welcomes the evaluation and notes the important findings where it can draw lessons as we move forward towards the next Strategic Plan. I am pleased to present you with UNDPs management response on the evaluation in the interests of time, I will not go into all the details. UNDP support for Climate Change Adaptation The UNDP portfolio, with over 1.2 billion in projects, has directly increased livelihood resilience for more than 19 million people, brought over 873,000 ha of agricultural land under resilient practices, enhanced food security for over 6.3 million people, improved access to drinking water for 2.3 million people, protected over 16,000 km of coastline (including $1 billion worth of infrastructure assets); protected over 45,800 ha of marine area; and improved access to early warnings for over 13 million people. Since 2008, UNDP has supported 75 countries in integrating adaptation into development policy, planning and investments and supports enhanced adaptation targets and priorities through countries Nationally determined contributions (NDC). Reflection of evaluation findings UNDP welcomes the key conclusions from the evaluation that speak to UNDPs extensive support and valued contribution to supporting vulnerable countries in building their resilience and adapting to climate change and appreciates the recommendations for strengthening its approach. [Recommendation 1: UNDP needs to accelerate its attention to mainstreaming consideration of climate risks across its entire development portfolio]. UNDP accepts 1 recommendation acknowledging that climate risk-screening is important to be applied to assess climate exposure and design strategies to mitigate risks. Within the adaptation offer, UNDP has applied rigorous analysis of climate risks and climate assessment and climate-risk screening are essential parts of the updated Social and Environmental Standards (SES), effective, January 1st 2021. Building on this, we will: Include additional guidance on Climate Assessment and climate-risk screening in the updated SES Toolkit; and; Build a cadre of experts on the SES climate change and disaster risk standard in the regional hubs [Recommendation 2: UNDP should establish a system for tracking all investments that have significant climate change objectives, ensuring these are provided with appropriate technical support, oversight and visibility as part of UNDPs adaptation portfolio and as a basis for strengthening internal collboration.] UNDP accepts recommendation 2, noting that in 2020, UNDP conducted a mapping of ongoing projects in the adaptation portfolio and incorporated this data in the internal monitoring tool for portfolio analytics and lessons learning. Building on this and its project marker system, UNDP will: Introduce a mechanism to track ongoing and pipeline projects with significant climate change objectives to enable the provision of coordinated technical support and oversight [Recommendation 3: UNDP should take steps to reduce fragmentation across its climate change adaptation programming, to more effectively achieve intended benefits at scale.] UNDP accepts recommendation 3, noting it is important to clarify that the issue is not that there is fragmentation of offer or expertise; rather that UNDPs investment in its adaptation offer has primarily been sustained by VF financing. UNDP has been working to advance adaptation strategies and solutions across countries and communities, irrespective of the funding sources. UNDPs adaptation offer is also evolving to support transformative, high impact, at-scale programming by countries and communities. To further these efforts, UNDP will: Develop regional and programmatic approaches for integrated solutions on adaptation Consolidate and communicate its adaptation offers in key domains (including agriculture food, water, and ecosystems) [Recommendation 4: UNDP should improve the technical underpinnings of its adaptation service offer in each sector, with special attention given to strengthening capacities in disaster risk reduction.] UNDP partially accepts recommendation 4. UNDP fully recognizes the complementarities and potential for synergies across the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction domains. To further ongoing efforts, UNDP will: Articulate a Resilient Recovery offer under which will integrate green and adaptive considerations. Design joint programming and normative guidance for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation projects Design joint programming and normative guidance for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation projects Design programmatic investments for agriculture/food security in collaboration with other partners, including UN system agencies [Recommendation 5: UNDP should expand its adaptation support in small island developing states.] UNDP accepts recommendation 5 and recognizes the special challenges of SIDS and alongside the real potential to turn the most pressing challenges into opportunities alongside SIDS collective commitment towards transformational change and global action. Through its SIDs offer UNDP will expand its support through the design and implementation of at least 5 adaptation projects by mobilizing public and private sector finance. [Recommendation 6: UNDP should establish clear priorities for private sector engagement on climate change adaptation.] UNDP accepts recommendation 6 noting that it has been steadily increasing private sector engagement in adaptation. UNDP is developing a structured approach for engaging the private sector in climate change adaptation and will strengthen its work by: Refining the climate change adaptation strategy for private sector engagement Scaling up support to promote enterprise development; and Developing risk finance and insurance as part of an expanded adaptation engagement with the private sector [Recommendation 7: UNDP should strengthen the gender equality dimensions of its policy and capacity related support in adaptation-related programming.] UNDP accepts 7 recommendation and notes that it has made strong progress and built solid results in advancing gender equality and womens empowerment through its adaptation-related programming and will continue to strengthen efforts through: Refining gender-responsive approaches to UNDPs adaptation policy and programming; Increasing visibility and promote the use of gender, climate change and adaptation methodologies and tools [Recommendation 8: To better coordinate across an increasingly complex portfolio of environment projects, including for climate change, UNDP should take steps to upgrade its information management system and avoid running separate/ parallel information systems for specific programme portfolios.] UNDP partially accepts recommendation 8. As UNDP is migrating the existing Atlas system to a new ERP cloud system, UNDP will take the opportunity to further align data points between the new ERP and its dedicated systems for aspects of vertical fund management, PIMS+, and explore opportunities for further integration. UNDP will also introduce a small number of indicators in the results framework for the Strategic Plan 2022-2025 to capture its climate change adaptation work. UNDPs forward-looking climate change adaptation support. In conclusion, building from its strong track record and demonstrated success UNDPs forward-looking adaptation strategy will: Drive a diverse geographic and thematic focus. Focus on integrated solutions and nexus areas to advance development action through climate action, including disaster risk reduction and adaptation and cross-cutting solutions across mitigation and adaptation, for example, along with new emerging themes in adaptation around health, urban resilience, insurance and climate security. Expand its engagement with a wide range of partners, including multilateral development banks, national development banks, private sector entities, United Nations organizations and academia. Design more multi-country programmes for countries with similar climate risks and adaptation needs, helping countries address systematic barriers to adaptive action, beyond the national context, to increase impact; Continue to build on its contribution to advancing global dialogue and commitments to adaptation; and Continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to building back better. Thank you. Legendary story, Rising star, and Asias brightest economy count among the praise from international organisations in relation to Vietnams economic development over recent years. Producing rolled steel for export in JFE Shoji Steel Co., Ltd in Hai Phong. (Photo: VNA) Legendary story, Rising star, and Asias brightest economy count among the praise from international organisations in relation to Vietnams economic development over recent years. Vietnam is said to be a global success story, with economic growth among the highest worldwide over the last decade. It has enjoyed important and comprehensive economic achievements across fields, creating breakthroughs in the 2016-2020 period and highlighting the achievements during its 35 years of Doi Moi (renewal). The achievements can be attributed to the sound leadership and direction of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat and Party Committees at all levels. The Partys leadership during this term has been clearly demonstrated through the principles, strategies, and official documents of the 12th National Party Congress as well as a series of other important decisions issued by the Party Central Committee and the Politburo. Many important Party Resolutions were issued during the last tenure, with the two most outstanding relating to developing the private sector into an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy and to perfecting the socialist-oriented market economic institution. The Politburo also issued three resolutions on building national industrial development policies to 2030 and a vision to 2045, on a number of guidelines and policies to actively participate in the fourth Industrial Revolution, and on the orientation of the National Energy Development Strategy to 2030 and a vision to 2045. Among the Governments priorities to implement the resolution of the 12th National Party Congress, improving the quality of the socialist-oriented market economy institution and promoting administrative procedure reform were placed at the top. During its five years of implementing the resolution, Vietnam posted a range of achievements and breakthroughs. The countrys economic restructuring and growth model transformation were conducted firmly, with more positive and practical changes made. Vietnam basically completed and exceeded its set targets for four consecutive years, from 2016 to 2019, with results improving every year. It has posted among the highest economic growth in the world and stable macro-economic factors, and promoted institutional reform. These are attributed to the joint efforts of the entire political system, business community, and people under the leadership of the Party. Associate Prof., Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh said that although there were still some shortcomings, the last five years was a period of success for Vietnams economic development, with a strong change in the economic structure. The private economy is gradually becoming a driving force in promoting national economic growth and now contributes 40 percent to the countrys GDP. Digital transformation and the application of digital technology in the economy are developing strongly. Beside its economic achievements, Vietnam also posted commendable results in socio-cultural development and ensuring social welfare. Living standards have been improving, with average per capita income now standing at 2,750 USD. Vietnam has also recorded outstanding achievements in international integration over the last five years. It has signed 15 free trade agreements (FTAs) to date and negotiated two others. Strategic partnerships have been established with 16 countries, and comprehensive strategic partnerships with 11 others. It has joined over 500 bilateral and multilateral agreements across fields. Up to 71 countries have recognised Vietnam as a market economy. International economic integration has helped Vietnams international trade activities thrive, according to Dr Nguyen Duc Kien, Head of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Group. From an importing country, Vietnam has worked to balance its imports and exports and now regularly posts a trade surplus, Kien said. Joining FTAs with major economies has helped it diversify its external economic relations and build a more reasonable market structure not overly dependent on any particular market. This contributes to improving trust among foreign investors in Vietnams stability and economic potential. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Vietnam has created a legendary story in poverty reduction, with a human development index (HDI) of 0.63 in 2019, ranking it 118th out of 189 countries and among the group of countries with the highest HDI growth. It was also ranked 8th on a list of the worlds best economies to invest in 2019, up 15 places compared to 2018, while its competitiveness was ranked 67th out of 141 countries and territories by the World Economic Forum, up 10 places compared to 2018. According to the UN Sustainable Development Report 2020, Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country to achieve five UN action targets. Amid the gloom of the world economy in 2020 due to COVID-19, Vietnam emerged as a remarkable and proud bright spot. Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong has stressed that never before has our nation had the fortune, strength, position, and prestige it has today. These successes are not accidental, but the result of self-reliance, self-resiliency, flexible policy responses, and tireless efforts by the Vietnamese Party, Government and State, as well as the entire business community and the people. VNA Vietnams bright economic outlook in 2021 2020 is a tough year for Vietnam, yet the economy has reaped remarkable achievements. Experts have been optimistic about Vietnams economic growth in 2021. The new partnership is an integral part of Rwandas NTD Strategic Plan to eliminate schistosomiasis and other NTDs as a public health problem by 2024 Merck, a leading science and technology company, and the END Fund have announced their partnership to provide Rwanda with 8 million additional tablets of praziquantel per year. The tablets are needed for treating adults endangered by schistosomiasis and will complement Mercks annual donation for the treatment of school-aged children. The new partnership is an integral part of Rwandas NTD Strategic Plan to eliminate schistosomiasis and other NTDs as a public health problem by 2024. Back in 2007, more than a decade ago, Merck committed to the fight against schistosomiasis. Today we are taking another important step to eliminate this deadly disease in Rwanda together with the END Fund, said Belen Garijo, Vice Chair of the Executive Board and Deputy CEO, Merck. Mercks donation also represents a significant contribution to the Deworming Innovation Fund, a four-country initiative of the END Fund to progress towards the elimination of schistosomiasis and intestinal worms in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Through the Deworming Innovation Fund, it will allow our partners in Rwanda to reach more underserved communities with NTD treatments. This supports the government of Rwandas efforts to end schistosomiasis as a public health problem, which in turn leads to better educational and economic outcomes, said Ellen Agler, CEO, END Fund. Merck and the END Fund announced their partnership on the occasion of the second World NTD Day on January 30, 2021. The World NTD Day is supported by over 230 international partners to raise awareness for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and to call for action to put an end to these diseases. To date, the company has donated more than 1.3 billion tablets of praziquantel, enabling the treatment of 520 million school-aged children. Schistosomiasis is a chronic condition and one of the most common and most devastating parasitic diseases in tropical countries. It is estimated that more than 240 million people are infected worldwide and that around 200,000 people die from it each year. The disease is transmitted by parasitic flatworms and the infection rate is particularly high among school-aged children. Giant's story began in 1936 when founders N.H. Cohen and Sam Lehrman opened Washington D.C.'s first grocery store. Today, Giant operates 164 stores, 153 full-service pharmacies, 82 full-service PNC Banks, and 24 Starbucks locations in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Always innovating to fit all the ways today's busy customers want to shop whether in store or online Giant's home delivery service, Giant Delivers, and 144 Giant Pickup locations offer even more convenient options right at shoppers' fingertips to get the best product and prices, whenever and however they want it. Committed to growth and innovation to support its local communities, Giant has also recently expanded its sales and merchandising operations at its Prince George's County headquarters, adding 31,000 square feet of existing space resulting in the creation of 70 new jobs. "Reflecting on our 85th year is even more poignant knowing that our Giant Food family and our communities faced unprecedented challenges in 2020. I am proud that our legacy of community service continued and that our team never wavered in our commitment and service to our customers and to helping those in need," said Ira Kress, President of Giant Food. "As we extend our hands and hearts into many different initiatives and programs year over year - we have proudly remained at the center of our communities and hope to continue to remain a trusted leader for our convenience, integrity, quality, and service in our exciting 85th year and beyond." Celebrating 85 Years of Giving Back Over the eight and a half decades since it opened its first store, Giant has continued to support its communities fighting hunger, improving the lives of children, and building healthy communities. Giant supports local organizations and nonprofit partners through initiatives and programs including its annual hunger box campaign, annual holiday giving program, regular food and essential supplies donations, engaging and supporting the military community, and raising funds for pediatric cancer, among many others. With the help of the entire Giant family, its customers and support from the Giant Family Foundation, Giant will donate over $5M in monetary support to its local nonprofit and organization partners throughout its 85th year. Giant also gives of its time, and its associates will celebrate the 85th anniversary by supporting organizations in need. On Friday, February 5th Giant associates volunteer at partner nonprofits, Maryland Food Bank, Food Bank of Delaware, and Martha's Table to assist in various ways including packing food for individuals and families who are struggling with hunger. Today, Giant also announces a total donation of $960,000 through the Giant Family Foundation to be distributed to its five Feeding America food bank partners; Capital Area Food Bank, Maryland Food Bank, Food Bank of Delaware, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, and Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, as well as Martha's Table, to support their initiatives in addressing child hunger. An additional $100,000 will be donated to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), to support military families that have recently lost a loved one in service. "Giant has been a pillar in communities across the Mid-Atlantic region for decades, offering nutritious, fresh groceries while supporting local organizations like the Maryland Food Bank every step of the way," said Carmen Del Guercio, Maryland Food Bank President and CEO. "We are grateful for Giant's extensive partnership and support of our initiatives over the years, helping us create innovative solutions to combat food insecurity across our state. On behalf of the Maryland Food Bank, I want to personally congratulate Giant on 85 years of success in building a business that prioritizes the needs of its customers while serving its communities with compassion and care." "Giant has played a pivotal role in our efforts to alleviate hunger in Delaware and we are grateful for their support and the impact they make on local communities," said Larry Haas, Food Bank of Delaware Chief Development Officer. "Giant Food has been a valued partner for many years, providing funding for our Joyful Food Markets, nutrition classes, and critical COVID-19 relief," said Kim R. Ford, President and CEO of Martha's Table. "Health and wellness are a primary focus of Martha's Table's mission, and together with the support of Giant, we're making sure that Washingtonians have access to the resources that will allow them to thrive." Enduring Commitment to Health and Wellness As one of the first retail locations in Washington, D.C. to help play a critical role in administering the COVID-19 vaccine for essential healthcare workers, Giant and its team of in-store pharmacists have worked to maximize access to the vaccine quickly and efficiently. Giant Food is currently working closely with local city and state health departments to support the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in specific stores throughout its region. In 2020, Giant also led the charge in bringing extremely vital flu vaccinations to customers in the region by creating its first mobile flu clinic, in an effort to reach as many individuals and families as possible and provide them the opportunity to receive the recommended flu and other necessary vaccines. Giant's team of expert in-store nutritionists also offers a range of nutrition services for associates and customers including personalized online consultations, virtual nutrition classes, digital resources, and even virtual challenges to foster connections and offer guidance for ways to stay active and healthy while consumers continue to stay at home. Throughout the height of the pandemic, Giant continued to be steadfast in making food and essential products available in-store or online through Giant Pickup and Giant Delivers. Giant continues to expand Giant Pickup locations and make Giant Delivers services available to more communities as it navigates the needs of customers during an unprecedented time. For more information, visit Giantfood.com. SOURCE Giant Food Related Links http://Giantfood.com With refineries and chemical plants along Houstons Ship Channel as a backdrop, Texas Republicans on Tuesday made a stand against the Biden administrations energy plans. Houston-area Reps. Kevin Brady and Dan Crenshaw gathered with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, seven other Republican lawmakers, and oil and gas company representatives at Enterprise Products Partners to focus their response to the Democratic president. President Joe Bidens energy agenda, they said, will eliminate oil and gas jobs, shrink the industry and damage the nations economy. Biden is launching an attack on our nations oil and gas workers, including the hundreds of thousands here in Texas, Brady said during a news conference after their roundtable, which was closed to the media. Thats why today, Im joining my Republican colleagues in Houston to stand up for our workers. Biden has already canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S., temporarily halted new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters, and said he hopes to end industry tax breaks. Bidens choice for Energy secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, told senators at her confirmation hearing last week that the presidents plans would create more jobs in clean energy than the jobs that might be sacrificed. FACT CHECK: Fact-checking claim that Biden ban will kill 120,000 Texas jobs The lawmakers from Texas on Tuesday, however, criticized Biden for what one said was a deliberate effort to eliminate oil and gas jobs. Millions of Americans are jobless thanks to the pandemic, Brady said. President Bidens top priority, while defeating the virus, is getting Americans back to work. So it is troubling that in his first weeks in office, he took steps to deliberately kill more than a million good-paying jobs. Many are blue-collar. Many of them are union. Many of them are here in Texas. The oil and natural gas industry directly employs almost 2.6 million Americans and supports 9.8 million jobs in America, according to the American Petroleum Institutes most current numbers. If Biden were to ban existing in addition to new leases on federal lands and water something the administration has not said it would do Texas would lose 120,000 jobs, the API said. EDITORIAL: Biden sends the right message on energy - even for Texas Our biggest concern is that we believe the administration is leading us towards more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards, said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers. It places hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of government revenue for education and conservation programs at risk. McCarthy echoed Sommers concerns, saying enough jobs have been lost already amid the pandemic. We will put in solar panels. That's the answer to the American essential worker that we need? McCarthy said. Crenshaw also expressed his frustration at Bidens plans, saying they would give less-regulated nations such as Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia far more industry weight. Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox President Biden says, well, they'll just go find a solar panel job. On average solar panel jobs pay less than oil and gas jobs, he said. The Democrats say that's just the price to pay for saving the world. Ed Hirs, an energy fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, said the Republicans echoed a letter from Texas Democrats in the U.S. House last week urging Biden to rescind his leasing moratorium while the economy recovers from the downturn. But the GOPs job loss estimates, Hirs said, just dont add up. The industry has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the last four years, he said. We can't lose what they say they are going to lose in oil and gas without going negative. The simple math does not work. But Hirs criticized Bidens numbers, as well. On the flip side, the Biden administration is truly exaggerating the number of jobs that green energy will create, he said. Electricity is not yet a substitute for gasoline or diesel in transportation. It will happen over time. But no edict from Washington is going to make it happen in the next four years. marcy.deluna@chron.com Susannah Constantine has admitted she would down up to a bottle-and-a-half of wine every evening as a 'functioning alcoholic' - and would wake up in the morning 'praying the four horsemen would come and take me away'. The London-born TV star, who lives in West Sussex, told how she was 'very controlled' about her drinking and would crack open the vino at six o'clock on the dot each night. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Susannah, 58, admitted the 'shame and guilt' when she woke up in the morning was 'overwhelming', and claimed it was a very lonely place to be in. 'Probably every single day I would drink, it got to the stage where I was drinking a bottle to a bottle and a half, and I think there'll be a lot of listeners who will think, "Well that's what I do" and they might not be an alcoholic but it's how the alcohol affects you,' she told host Emma Barnett this week. Susannah Constantine has admitted she would down up to a bottle-and-a-half of wine every evening as a 'functioning alcoholic' - and would wake up in the morning 'praying the four horsemen would come and take me away' 'I would wake up in the morning, trying to recall how I'd been and what I'd done, and then the feeling of shame and guilt was overwhelming. And I think... that was when I understood I had a serious problem with alcohol.' Asked if those mornings were 'pretty rough', the mother-of-three replied: 'They were, I'd wake up and I'd just pray that the four horseman would come along and take me away. 'It was very lonely, and I think as a high-functioning alcoholic and someone who is holding down a family and a job, it's a very lonely place to be because you are putting forward the charade that you're OK and you're managing, but inside you're dying and you can't share that with anyone.' Susannah, whose mother was also an alcoholic, first revealed she has a drinking problem in November last year, and told how she has been in recovery for seven years. Susannah, pictured in 2005 with husband Sten Bertelsen, first revealed she has a drinking problem in November last year, and told how she has been in recovery for seven years She admitted on My Mate Bought A Toaster, a podcast hosted by comedian Tom Price, that her husband Sten Bertelsen was forced to bear the brunt of her 'passive aggressive' behaviour. On Woman's House, she recalled an 'eternally shameful' incident at a party when someone approached Sten and told him to take her home because she could barely stand, to her 'eternal shame'. 'And then another time, we were on holiday, and I blacked out and fell and broke two transverse processes in my back,' she went on. 'That's when I asked for help, and as a high functioning female alcoholic it's very difficult to ask for help. But I did, and that saved me.' Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour , Susannah, pictured in 2013, admitted the 'shame and guilt' when she woke up in the morning after drinking was 'overwhelming', and claimed it was a very lonely place to be in Susannah told Emma she didn't seek to 'numb' her feelings with drink, but did so because she 'really enjoyed it'. She revealed that sometimes she drank because she was 'bored', adding: 'If I was doing something and I'll think "Oh well I'll just have a few drinks", and everything became more fun and more exciting until it didn't.' Last week Susannah appeared on Jeremy Vine on 5 and said she thinks she's about to lose her driving licence after 'totting up' too many points. 'I might have to take up a bicycle,' she exclaimed. 'I have too many speeding fines and what's known as a totter I keep getting points on my licence. 'I got two in one journey when I was going down to Cornwall on the A3O3 and I was only 2mph over on one stretch and 4mph over on another.' Susannah has previously expressed her disdain for cyclists and even joked that she would run over her own husband if she saw him out on his bike. There is a real, present and urgent health crisis in WA, afflicting mainly the elderly and vulnerable. It is not COVID-19. It is known by its shorthand ambulance ramping but that clinical-sounding term doesnt do much to convey the reality. There is no daily press conference about the scores of people receiving dangerous health outcomes because of ambulance ramping. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola That reality is delayed care for the sick and injured: a frail senior citizen, lying in pain on the floor for hours after a fall, then waiting longer still on a hospital gurney to be admitted to an emergency room. Or an infant with a fever and seizures whose parents anxiously count the seconds for an ambulance to arrive. A senior nurse who has been caring for Covid-19 patients for almost a year has urged the public to protect themselves from the virus. Sister Liz Moore is a ward sister in the post-intensive care Covid step-down ward at the Nightingale facility at Belfast City Hospital. She said patients in the third wave of the pandemic seem to be more ill, spend longer in intensive care and take longer to recover. Expand Close A woman wearing a face mask walks past an entrance to Belfast City Hospital (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman wearing a face mask walks past an entrance to Belfast City Hospital (Brian Lawless/PA) Our youngest patient was discharged last week, he was 34, a young gentleman with no previous history and he was so ill, she said. It takes weeks for them to recover, weeks and months. She described the patients that she cares for who come out of intensive care as very sick, and often unable to do anything for themselves, from eating, swallowing, drinking, walking and talking. Most of our patients have been in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and some of these patients had no underlying medical conditions, she said. Expand Close Robin Swann (left) alongside Sister Liz Moore, Belfast Trust, during a coronavirus media briefing at Parliament Buildings (Liz Moore/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Robin Swann (left) alongside Sister Liz Moore, Belfast Trust, during a coronavirus media briefing at Parliament Buildings (Liz Moore/PA) Some spend up to 66 days in intensive care and still require oxygen for weeks and months, while some become unwell and have to return to intensive care. She described the recovery as very challenging We must remember during this time our patients and families havent seen each other for a long long time, and it is such a difficult time for them all. The patients during this time only see us the team, in our PPE with our masks and visors. It has been a tough time for everyone. We are tired but we are determined to keep going and provide care for all our patients to get through this awful time. This pandemic is ongoing. You may catch this virus, you may feel a bit unwell, you may lose your taste, you may lose your smell, you may have no energy. Or you may be one of those patients who become very unwell, and they end up in intensive care, and then come to our ward for recovery. We must all protect ourselves, each other, and our amazing health service. Wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance, obey the rules and get the vaccine. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh began Aero India 2021 with a proclamation that India is no longer in just Make in India mode but that it is ready to make for the world. Speaking during the inauguration of the 13th edition of the air show on Wednesday, the defence minister said that Indias huge investment in the aerospace market had paid dividends in the form of major aircraft developments. The crux of the shows flypast which occurred shortly highlighted homegrown aircraft such as the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), the Advanced Light helicopter and the LCA Tejas. This years Aero India revolves around the countrys indigenous rotary wing platforms, around the theme, conceive, indigenize and collaborate. The selection of indigenous platforms which participated in the fly-past lent weight to Singhs statement that the countrys defense manufacturing sector was on-par with the international arms market. International supplied rotor aircraft such as the Boeing Apache and Chinook were conspicuously absent at the air show. India has made huge investments in the aerospace market and as result, India is marching past Make in India and is making for the world, Rajnath said, adding later the homegrown industry has reached an inflection point. The trajectory is upwards from now on, he said. The government has set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 crore in the field of Defence manufacturing, including export of Rs 35,000 crore in Aerospace and Defence goods and services, by 2025, Rajnath said. The Defence minister told international attendees that the government had instituted a series of policies to help the country sell its military hardware to foreign customers. Among the improvements cited by Singh were a series of defence policies. A new high-level committee authorised to enable faster approval of military exports and what the minister described as a significant jump in the ease of doing business. Our international standing in the ease of doing business is 63 out of 190 countries worldwide, which is significantly better than 2019 when we were at 77th place. Our aim is to make India one of the biggest members of the worldwide defense network he said. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa pointed out that the state accounts for 65% of the countrys aerospace-related exports while 67% of all aircraft and helicopter for the armed forces are manufactured in the state. Karnataka is also the first state in the country to come up with an aerospace policy. Our proposed investment is Rs 14,700 crore which has the capacity to employ 10,600 people, he said. Simon Coveney is a man who will rarely use one word where three dozen can be poured in. But he was momentarily lost for words when asked a tricky question this week. If Phil Hogan was still Irelands Commissioner, would the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol have been used in the bitter EU versus AstraZeneca vaccine export ban row? Since Mr Hogan was responsible for trade, and had been up to his oxters in the Brexit details over almost five years, would he not have strangled at birth the idea of Brussels invoking emergency powers on the North which caused dismay in Dublin, Belfast and London? The Foreign Affairs Minister was nonplussed for a moment which can seem like a fortnight on radio. I think that discussion is kind of an abstract one to be honest. I mean I dont know the answer to that question, he faltered in his reply to RTEs Claire Byrne. But while the question is complex it is far from abstract. On the one hand Hogan, as trade commissioner up to last August 26, had a crucial role in signing off on trade laws last spring, relating to Covid protective clothes and equipment, which were measures somewhat similar to the latest EU import limitations on vaccines. His successor in the trade portfolio, Valdis Dombrovskis, the former Latvian prime minister, was also closely involved in the trade aspects of the benighted package announced on what turned out to be Ursula von der Leyens Long Bad Friday and which triggered a big blame game. But it is most unlikely that a more experienced or better-connected Irish Commissioner could have stopped this one before it hit. Mr Hogans successor could not stop it and neither could anyone else for the very good reason that few knew about it until it was vastly too late. Absolutely no Irish person was consulted about this proposal until it was a fait accompli. There was never any attempt to attach an Irish political earth wire. Nobody on the Irish Commissioners team was informed in any kind of time, one Brussels official told the Irish Independent. The press conference to announce the measures was scheduled in parallel with the process to approve them by the European Commission. It represented a total systems failure. Read More Its five days after EU President von der Leyen moved to invoke the Northern Ireland Protocol in efforts to prevent the North being used as a backdoor to sneak EU-made vaccine supplies into the UK. Despite her midnight about-turn, she is seen as having triggered a Northern Ireland crisis in efforts to tackle a vaccine supply crisis. In the hot-house that is EU Commission HQ, a nasty game of pass the parcel has kicked off. An early attempt by some of Ms von der Leyens staff to blame Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis proved ill-judged. The Commission boss will not find it easy to pass this parcel and shes under direct attack from her predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker. Its unusual for a senior office holder to publicly attack his or her immediate successor. But he did just that in a speech on Tuesday night when he criticised the EUs sluggish vaccine roll-out and suggested that an "EU-first approach was reminiscent of a certain Donald Trump. Last night she was called upon to give an account of herself to the main political groupings, but calls for her resignation are rather rhetorical and exaggerated for now at least. The reality is that she still has support from Berlin and Paris. She was trying, perhaps a little too hard and artlessly, to do their bidding in curbing movement of AstraZeneca vaccines, after the company failed in EU supply pledges. Right now the Commission President is getting it from all sides. To her critics, it is a lesson in humility, and a reminder that she needs to stop trying to run the Brussels machine with just the help of a handful of advisers. A wonderful 500,000 was pledged yesterday by a charitable trust that said: We cannot stand by and let a generation slip through the net. The registered charity, set up to serve the needs of society, preferred to remain anonymous. But its generous donation will start work straight away helping the Daily Mails crusade to get laptops to lockdown pupils. A spokesman said: This is a time of national crisis and the Daily Mails campaign struck a chord with the trustees. 'We are delighted to make funds available for a campaign that meets one of our key strategic aims to support the educational development of all young people. A charity organisation, which has chosen to remain anonymous, has pledged 500,000 to the Mail Force laptops-for-children campaign. Mail Force laptops in the hands of Moston Fields pupils and (back right) head Sarah Murray One of the first to get a device was the Brady household where screen time was being rationed because just one tablet is shared by Jess, eight, Paul, seven, and Paige, three Struggling with just a small touch screen on a smart phone is not the best way to connect with her online classes, admits Mercy Ezomo-Oghagbon 'During these unprecedented times it is not enough to sit on the sidelines or leave it to government organisations to meet the crises facing many families. Charitable trusts and foundations that have benefitted from good financial returns in the last few years must try to go over and above their normal levels of support. 'We cannot think of a better way to invest in the future than to support young people, and these young people are in need of essential equipment in order to access an education. Generous Daily Mail readers have opened their hearts to give a staggering 1.2million in little more than a week to help get pupils online in lockdown. More than 673,000 has been donated online, plus 500,000 in cheques ranging from 5 to 5,000. Others have dialled the donations phone line or sent a text. The donations which total 1,245,460 came with humbling messages of support, many from grandparents and retired teachers. Last (but not least) to get his device was Luca, ten. He and brother Rocco, seven, have been having to share an iPad. Oldest sibling Charlie has his own PC Readers generosity, combined with gifts from businesses as well as a fabulous 500,000 from one charity alone, takes the overall total raised to an incredible 6.4million. Mail Force, the charity originally set up to get PPE to the NHS, is using the funds to buy new laptops for schoolchildren and refurbish used ones donated by companies. Readers said they trusted Mail Force to get the job done. Among the letters sent with cheques, Jennie Dawson from Lincoln said: I am one of the many who have been asked to shield. I have had my vaccination thanks to the very clever scientists who developed it so who knows, out there somewhere among all these children there will be another budding genius ready to help the human race hope this cheque will help with another laptop. Another, signed A Grandma, said: My grandchild has access to two computers, so please give this money from my pension to support the children who are not so lucky. Mother Mercy Mensah, 45, and her delighted daughter Debrah Abolarinwra, 10, after receiving a laptop from Mail Force earlier this week St Pauls Church in Heaton Moor, Stockport, sent money raised from a jam sale, while the Alfred and Beatrice Weintrop Charitable Trust gave 5,000. Beryl Comben from Chatham, Kent, wrote: I was seven when the Second World War started. I know what it is like to have your education put at risk. Good luck with your campaign. Mail Force is working with the IT specialists the Government uses to kit out laptops ready for schools. The campaign has won plaudits from head teachers, unions and parents, and was praised in the Lords yesterday by education minister Baroness Berridge. A third of families say they do not have enough computers for their children to follow online lessons. The Department for Education aims to get 1.3million laptops to schools and said yesterday 927,000 had been delivered. The laptops donated by Mail Force come on top of these. 5.45AM, BOXED AND READY TO GO: Another consignment of Mail Force laptops 6.30AM, EARLY START: It is still dark when the laptops leave the depot to meet their new young owners 11.19AM, TIMELY: The precious consignment is unloaded at Moston Fields Primary... ... along with a delivery from the Department for Education Retired head teacher Rosemary Anderson, of Northamptonshire, wrote: Anything that helps with childrens learning can only be a good thing. Thank you for setting this up to give the support they need. Grandfather David Gullery donated 100 with the message: How can you say no to a fantastic effort from the Daily Mail. Well done. Many of those sending in cheques had already donated to Mail Forces PPE campaign. Elisabeth Scarff said: Well done Daily Mail, once again you have come up trumps. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: Mail readers know that every child should have access to world-class education. Your generosity shows the commitment of this country to our young people. Your donations, raised in such a short space of time, will make a real difference. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani government is grossly violating the implementation of the terms of the interim measures applied by the European Court of Human Rights over the case of the Armenian prisoners of war, Armenias Representative before the ECHR Yeghishe Kirakosyan told Armenpress, adding that they are constantly voicing about the Azerbaijani violations aimed at increasing pressure on the official Baku. At this stage the Court is already discussing the possibility of moving the issue to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: it leads to the political body also based on the fact that Azerbaijan is cooperating very badly or is not cooperating at all with the Court and is not providing information. Even if Azerbaijan sends anything relating to the prisoners of war, it sends not so completely, without details. Therefore, we as well constantly insist that the Court moves the issue to the agenda of the Committee of Ministers because we think that its time for the issue of POWs to be discussed at this platform, he said, adding that there will be more pressures on Azerbaijan at this platform. Asked why Azerbaijan is trying to present the POWs as terrorists, whether it tries to prolong the process or there are other concerns, Mr. Kirakosyan stated that it is Azerbaijans tactics to present the POWs as a terrorist, trying to justify the delay of the legal process. According to him, with such steps Azerbaijan is also trying to present itself with the status of a victim to the international community. This is an absurd attempt. Its obvious that with such behavior they are trying to remove the suspicions from them as they have used mercenaries, extremist terrorist groups and others during the whole war, and now they are talking about terrorists. I think this is a tactics to deviate the attention, but they will have no success, Yeghishe Kirakosyan said. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan When the toll of AIDS first became clear in the 1980s, activists banded together to demand research, funding, and other action. When HIV infections increased among Black Americans and other racial/ethnic groups, civic and media organizations joined advocates and government agencies to mobilize their communities. As powerful treatment and prevention tools emerged in recent years, places from New York City to East Baton Rouge, Louisiana mobilized to deliver them effectively. In the same way, collaboration and mobilization are the keys to ending the epidemic today. Our success will depend on coordinated action by all stakeholders, from community leaders to medical providers, federal agencies to local health departments, people with HIV to people who could benefit from prevention services. MALARIA DENGUE TB PLAY SECOND FIDDLE TO COVID-19 Although India has worked relentlessly towards developing innovative testing solutions for COVID-19 throughout last year, the timely detection of a number of other infectious diseases has been sidelined. In India, the range and burden of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis, leprosy, HIV infection, typhoid, hepatitis etc., are enormous. In fact, inadequate containment of the vector has resulted in recurrent outbreaks of dengue fever and re-emergence of chikungunya virus disease and typhus fever. If India can develop more than 20 different diagnostic tests or devices in a single year to fight COVID-19, many more such innovations can be brought to effectively detect other infections looming in our country. The CEO of SolarWinds has revealed hackers in a massive suspected Russian cyber attack had access to the firm's emails for at least nine months. Hackers gained access to software made by the Texas-based company, and used it as a springboard to penetrate federal government networks. Solarwinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna said the hackers accessed at least one of the firm's Office 365 email accounts by as early as December 2019, and then moved to compromise other Office 365 accounts within the company. 'Some email accounts were compromised,' Mr Ramakrishna told the Wall Street Journal. 'That led them to compromise other email accounts and as a result our broader [Office] 365 environment was compromised.' This is the latest development in the two-month investigation into a sprawling cyber espionage campaign that U.S. lawmakers have labeled a national security emergency. Solarwinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna said the hackers accessed at least one of the firm's Office 365 email accounts by as early as December 2019, and then moved to compromise other Office 365 accounts within the company Suspected Russian hackers gained access to software made by the Texas-based company, and used it as a springboard to penetrate federal government networks. Pictured: SolarWinds headquarters in Austin, Texas The hack, which came to light in December last year, struck eight federal agencies including the FBI and Pentagon and numerous private companies in an unprecedented breach. U.S. intelligence agencies publicly attributed it to Russian state actors. Moscow has denied involvement in the hack. SolarWinds is still trying to understand how the suspected Russian hackers breached their network and when exactly it occurred. Mr Ramakrishna believes the hackers could have accessed the firm's Office 365 accounts earlier than December 2019 and used this as a gateway into the company's systems. The company's internal investigation has involved searching scores of data to understand how the hack, which went undetected for more than a year, happened. 'We have been evaluating mountains of data,' Mr Ramakrishi said. SolarWinds is still trying to understand how the suspected Russian hackers breached their network and when it occurred GOVT AGENCIES KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN TARGETED BY HACKERS SO FAR Pentagon Treasury FBI Department of State Department of Homeland Security Commerce Department National Institutes of Health Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Los Alamos National Laboratory Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Secure Transportation Advertisement The security breach occurred when hackers snuck malicious code into recent versions of SolarWinds' premier software product, Orion. SolarWinds have since revealed they have traced the hackers back to October 2019, which is five months before they executed the main breach. The hackers are believed to have tested their ability to insert malicious code into the company's network management software on October 10, 2019. Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency which is investigating the attack, said the attack may have affected more than 18,000 customers using SolarWinds software in 2020. While Orion was a major avenue for the hack, investigators last week revealed the cyber attack may be greater than first realised, as a third of federal agencies and private firms hit by the cyber attack had no direct connection to SolarWinds, according to Mr Wales. 'This adversary has been creative. It is absolutely correct that this campaign should not be thought of as the SolarWinds campaign,' he told the Wall Street Journal. 'This is a pretty significant incident,' said Adam Meyers, senior Vice President of Intelligence at CrowdStrike Holdings, a company which is investigating the SolarWinds hack. 'Frankly I don't even know that we've scratched the surface on this thing.' On Tuesday, people close to the investigation told Reuters that another group of hackers - suspected to be linked to China - exploited an unrelated flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp to help break into U.S. government computers last year. Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (above), said a staggering 30 per cent of federal agencies and private firms now known to have been breached had no direct connection to SolarWinds Two people briefed on the case said FBI investigators recently found that the National Finance Center, a federal payroll agency inside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (UDSA), was among the affected organizations, raising fears that data on thousands of government employees may have been compromised. The software flaw exploited by the suspected Chinese group is separate from the one the US has accused Russian hackers of being involved in. Security researchers have previously said a second group of hackers was abusing SolarWinds' software at the same time as the alleged Russian hack, but it has now emerged China is suspected to be connected. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing investigations, said the attackers used computer infrastructure and hacking tools previously deployed by state-backed Chinese cyberspies. Reuters was not able to establish how many organizations were compromised by the suspected Chinese operation. A USDA spokesman said in an email 'USDA has notified all customers (including individuals and organizations) whose data has been affected by the SolarWinds Orion Code Compromise.' In a follow-up statement, a different USDA spokesman said the NFC was not hacked and that 'there was no data breach related to Solar Winds' at the agency. He did not provide further explanation. The Chinese foreign ministry said attributing cyberattacks was a 'complex technical issue' and any allegations should be supported with evidence. 'China resolutely opposes and combats any form of cyberattacks and cyber theft,' it said in a statement. On Tuesday, people close to the investigation told Reuters that another group of hackers - suspected to be linked to China - exploited an unrelated flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp to help break into U.S. government computers last year SolarWinds said it was aware of a single customer that was compromised by the second set of hackers but that it had 'not found anything conclusive' to show who was responsible. The company added that the attackers did not gain access to its own internal systems and that it had released an update to fix the bug in December. In the case of the sole client it knew about, SolarWinds said the hackers only abused its software once inside the client's network. SolarWinds did not say how the hackers first got in, except to say it was 'in a way that was unrelated to SolarWinds.' Although the two espionage efforts overlap and both targeted the U.S. government, they were separate and distinctly different operations, according to four people who have investigated the attacks and outside experts who reviewed the code used by both sets of hackers. While the alleged Russian hackers penetrated deep into SolarWinds network and hid a 'back door' in Orion software updates which were then sent to customers, the suspected Chinese group exploited a separate bug in Orion's code to help spread across networks they had already compromised, the sources said. The side-by-side missions show how hackers are focusing on weaknesses in obscure but essential software products that are widely used by major corporations and government agencies. 'Apparently SolarWinds was a high value target for more than one group,' said Jen Miller-Osborn, the deputy director of threat intelligence at Palo Alto Networks' Unit42. 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. Soil sampling and mapping results from Imperial to Picacho expected in March 2021 Detailed soil sampling around initial gold anomalies for Mesquite-Imperial in Q1 2021 Infill IP geophysics from Mesquite (Equinox - EQX:TSX, EQX:NYSE) to Imperial in H1 2021 First pass IP geophysics between Imperial and Picacho in H1 2021 Permits for drilling to expand resources and make new discoveries expected in mid-2021 Low-cost drilling to test shallow, high priority new discovery targets planned in H2 2021 Long Valley Exploration Work Program and Milestones Permit for resource growth drill program expected in Q1 2021 Drilling shallow gold resource expansion and high-grade underlying sulphide targets in mid-2021 Mapping and sampling newly staked 16,000 hectare land package to identify new gold targets Follow-up IP geophysics to define fault structures on new gold anomalies in H2 2021 Scott Trebilcock, CEO of KORE states, "KORE is focused on exploration growth in its US assets after delivering value across the portfolio in 2020. Shareholders can look forward to value creation from low-cost exploration. Both projects have shallow well defined resources with high return preliminary economic assessments and have a multitude of resource expansion targets defined from their 2020 field work. In addition, KORE controls the entire gold district around Imperial and a large claim area around Long Valley. Both areas have shallow, high priority drill targets to make new discoveries with low-cost scout drilling programs." Mr. Trebilcock continues, "In parallel with growth by exploration, KORE will continue to advance Imperial towards a production decision. KORE is on a path to be a mid-tier gold producer, with up to 350,000 ounces of gold per annum of production between Imperial and Long Valley combined." KORE is prepping its highest priority targets and is anticipating updates as the Company's exploration team confirms next steps in the coming weeks. Imperial Exploration Details Imperial has a mineral resource estimate with a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), released April 6, 2020, having the following highlights: Robust economics: C$ 642 million NPV5%* post-tax with 52% IRR at US$1,600 per ounce gold NPV5%* post-tax with 52% IRR at per ounce gold Low capital intensity project with only US$ 143 million pre-production capital cost pre-production capital cost 146,000 ounces gold per year over 8 years for 1.2 million ounces total production; and Technically simple project: shallow open pit, run-of-mine heap leach with existing infrastructure. KORE is pursuing value enhancement over the PEA through resource expansion and exploring the Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District (the "District"), a 28 km gold trend centered on Imperial. The three main deposits - Mesquite, Imperial and Picacho - were all discovered by outcrop, while the remainder of the District is under alluvial cover and is largely unexplored. Figure 1 shows the Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District claims. KORE is using IP geophysics to interpret controlling fault structures that host mineralization in the District's deposits and look under the alluvial cover. Soil sampling from dry riverbeds (arroyos) is being used to further prioritize drill targets on the fault structures. First past IP was completed in H1 2020, first over the Imperial deposit and then stepping out toward Mesquite. Having the intact Imperial deposit to "tune" or "fingerprint" the geophysical signatures, greatly enhances the confidence to target new discoveries under the alluvium along the trend. Details of the work were released January 7, 2020 and April 29, 2020. Interpreted faults traced were traced continuously from Mesquite to Imperial. KORE followed up the IP geophysics in H2 2020 with mapping and first pass soil sampling for the entire 28 km Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho trend to further define discrete drill targets, which was completed as recently as this past weekend. Results from the Imperial-Mesquite portion of the District were released December 8, 2020. Figure 2 depicts the western half of the District (Mesquite-Imperial) with three large exploration areas - Mesquite East, Ogilby and Imperial West. Samples from the Imperial area are at the lab and samples from Imperial-Picacho are being prepared for the lab. Results are expected in several batches through Q1 2021. KORE plans to follow-up on the identified soil anomalies with further detailed soil sampling grids and infill geophysical surveys in H1 2021. KORE is currently permitting a 168 pad drill program via a Plan of Operations ("PO") process with the Bureau of Land Management local office. Permits are expected in mid-2021. Drill testing of the highest priority targets is planned to start in H2 2021, subject to permitting. Long Valley Exploration Details Long Valley has a mineral resource estimate with a positive PEA, released October 27, 2020, having the following highlights: Robust economics: C$ 376 million NPV5%* post-tax with 48% IRR at US$1,600 per ounce gold NPV5%* post-tax with 48% IRR at per ounce gold 102,000 ounces gold per year over 7 years for 0.7 million ounces total production; and Technically simple project: shallow open pit, heap leach with nearby infrastructure. Long Valley's shallow mineralization has an array step-out drill targets in all directions. The project can be further expanded with new discoveries on the recently staked claims, see release dated December 1, 2020 and as depicted in Figure 3, that have the potential to host parallel mineralized structures, similar to the one that hosts the current resources. Additional mineralization could extend mine life, reduce capital intensity, and generate higher project economic returns modelled in the positive PEA. An summary of oxide expansion targets is included in Figure 4. Additionally, as a fully intact epithermal deposit with a large at surface footprint, Long Valley has the potential for high-grade sulphides in the underlying feeder structures. Discovering high-grade sulphides would open up additional development pathways for Long Valley, such as underground mining. A summary of sulphide expansion targets, interpreted feeder structures, is included in the KORE news releases dated January 30, 2020 and March 24, 2020. KORE is currently permitting a drill program at Long Valley. The permit has been in process since mid-2020 and permits are expected in Q1 2021. KORE plans a low-cost drill program to test the highest priority oxide and sulphide targets in 2021. Drilling planned for mid-2021, subject to the US Forest Service permitting timelines and permit conditions. KORE is also planning an IP geophysics survey in H2 2021 to define new structures on the recently staked claims on which to target new discoveries. KORE is committed to operate within the stringent environmental and labour standards of California. KORE plans to concurrently reclaim drill pad locations and ensure measures are taken to mitigate any impacts to biological and cultural resources. KORE has designed the drill programs to maximize the existing public road/trail network in the area so as to limit any new disturbances, and the Company will be adjusting our drill pad locations as needed to avoid any sensitive sites should any be encountered. About Imperial Gold Project KORE owns 100% of the Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho District which consists of 26,323 acres on 1,007 claims capturing the entire 28-kilometer trend from the operating Mesquite mine (Equinox Gold - TSX:EQX) to the closed Picacho mine and including KORE's Imperial project as depicted on Figure 1. The Imperial resource, which was the subject of a highly successful 2020 Preliminary Economic Assessment released April 6, 2020, is located roughly in the center of the District. KORE is planning to move the Imperial PEA mine plan into permitting in mid-2021 once they have received drilling permits. In the District, gold is hosted in local fault structures related to a series of regional faults connecting the known District deposits. Those three District deposits (Mesquite-Imperial-Picacho) were discovered in exposed outcrops and from placer workings. The rest of the District is covered by alluvium and has never been systematically explored using modern techniques. Imperial is a structurally controlled intermediate sulfidation epithermal gold deposit. The 100% oxide gold deposit is currently defined at 2.44 kilometer long and up to 0.75 kilometer wide and is open both along strike and downdip. It is hosted in a shallowly southwest dipping, amphibolite grade metamorphic rock suite along a west-northwest trending low-angle regional thrust fault system. The thrust fault system controls the regional geometry of mineralization. East-west striking, post-mineralization normal faults control the property scale geometry of mineralization. Geophysical characterization of the deposit and regional controlling structures is an essential component of exploration for additional resources. About Long Valley Project Long Valley is 100% owned epithermal gold project located in Mono County California as depicted in Figure 3. The Long Valley deposit is an intact epithermal gold deposit with a large 2.5 km by 2 km oxide gold footprint. The deposit was the subject of a highly successful PEA released October 27, 2020. The Long Valley deposit is an intact low sulphidation epithermal gold/silver deposit, hosted within a melange of fine to coarse volcanogenic sedimentary lithologies. Mineralization at Long Valley has developed due to a combination of deep-rooted fault structures and a resurgence of rhyolite within an active caldera. The Hilton Creek Fault structure transects and served as a fluid conduit for interaction with the underlying hydrothermal system, while the rhyolite resurgence caused brittle fracturing of sediments and created voids or traps for mineralization and gold deposition. The combination of these factors yields strongly altered kaolin and quartz-hematite zones that are the primary host for gold mineralization. The Hilton Creek Fault remains underexplored on-strike north and south and several parallel structures have been defined using geophysics, the eastern one hosting some of the current mineral resource and the western one being unexplored. Long Valley is therefore open to new oxide discoveries in all directions. * Conversion of the NPV 5% for Imperial and Long Valley at C$1,600 gold uses 0.7 US$ per $C. About KORE Mining KORE is 100% owner of the Imperial and Long Valley gold projects assets in California. Both projects have positive economic assessments put KORE on the path to up to 350,000 ounces of gold production. KORE is supported by strategic investor Eric Sprott who owns 26% of KORE's basic shares. KORE management and Board are aligned with shareholders, owning an additional 38% of the basic shares outstanding. KORE is actively developing its Imperial Gold project and is aggressively exploring across its portfolio of assets. Further information on Imperial and KORE can be found on the Company's website at www.koremining.com or by contacting us as [email protected] or by telephone at (888) 407-5450. On behalf of KORE Mining Ltd "Scott Trebilcock" Chief Executive Officer (888) 407-5450 Investor Relations Arlen Hansen, KIN Communications 1-888-684-6730 [email protected] Technical information with respect to the Imperial Gold Project and Long Valley Project contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Marc Leduc, P.Eng, who is KORE's COO and is the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical matters of this news 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 this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects", "intends", "indicates" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: final results of future exploration work, including further mapping and sampling and the timeline for completion, the results of thePEAs for both the Imperial and Long Valley projects, including future opportunities, , the projected NPV for both the Imperial and Long Valley projects, permit timelines, and the ability to obtain the requisite permits, the market and future price of and demand for gold, , and the ongoing ability to work cooperatively with stakeholders, including the all levels of government. Such forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: risks related to exploration and development activities at the Company's projects, and factors relating to whether or not mineralization extraction will be commercially viable; risks related to mining operations and the hazards and risks normally encountered in the exploration, development and production of minerals, such as unusual and unexpected geological formations, rock falls, seismic activity, flooding and other conditions involved in the extraction and removal of materials; uncertainties regarding regulatory matters, including obtaining permits and complying with laws and regulations governing exploration, development, production, taxes, labour standards, occupational health, waste disposal, toxic substances, land use, environmental protection, site safety and other matters, and the potential for existing laws and regulations to be amended or more stringently implemented by the relevant authorities; uncertainties regarding estimating mineral resources, which estimates may require revision (either up or down) based on actual production experience; risks relating to fluctuating metals prices and the ability to operate the Company's projects at a profit in the event of declining metals prices and the need to reassess feasibility of a particular project that estimated resources will be recovered or that they will be recovered at the rates estimated; risks related to title to the Company's properties, including the risk that the Company's title may be challenged or impugned by third parties; the ability of the Company to access necessary resources, including mining equipment and crews, on a timely basis and at reasonable cost; competition within the mining industry for the discovery and acquisition of properties from other mining companies, many of which have greater financial, technical and other resources than the Company, for, among other things, the acquisition of mineral claims, leases and other mineral interests as well as for the recruitment and retention of qualified employees and other personnel; access to suitable infrastructure, such as roads, energy and water supplies in the vicinity of the Company's properties; and risks related to the stage of the Company's development, including risks relating to limited financial resources, limited availability of additional financing and potential dilution to existing shareholders; reliance on its management and key personnel; inability to obtain adequate or any insurance; exposure to litigation or similar claims; currently unprofitable operations; risks regarding the ability of the Company and its management to manage growth; and potential conflicts of interest. In addition to the above summary, additional risks and uncertainties are described in the "Risks" section of the Company's management discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 prepared as of April 27, 2020 available under the Company's issuer profile on www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserve. It is uncertain if further exploration will allow improving the classification of the Indicated or Inferred mineral resource. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. SOURCE Kore Mining Related Links http://www.koremining.com A lot can happen in 100 days. Jacksonville School District 117 students hit the mark Tuesday of reaching the 100th day of classes. Those at Jacksonville High School decided to celebrate the milestone in an odd and challenging school year. Math teacher Kathleen Beard said the staff wanted to recognize the hard work under trying conditions that students have faced as they adapted to changes because of the pandemic. The 100th day is usually celebrated at the elementary level, but it isnt usually something we do at the high school, she said. We thought with everything going on this year, us being in person 100 days was something to celebrate. Beard said students have had to handle an ever-changing environment while trying to learn something that hasnt been easy for the all students. This gives them a little break from the daily grind and a pat on the back for all that theyve done, she said. Throughout the week, students will be participating in a scavenger hunt and there will be drawings for prizes. The scavenger hunt has students looking for various items throughout the building, such as quotes or pictures. We want to highlight all the good things they are doing, all the good things theyve done, Beard said. Students, faculty and staff will also be able to submit random acts of kindness. Beard said they can submit something theyve done, something theyve seen done, or something that has happened to them. Those random acts will be compiled so people can see what others are doing around the school. Our kids accomplish so much more than just their school work, Beard said. With everything going on, we just felt the need to celebrate. Fire investigators in New London, Conn., issued their report today regarding the circumstances that led to the death of former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh last year. Hsieh was staying with friends at a home at 500 Pequot Ave. in New London, when a fire broke out on Nov. 18 in a shed where he was sleeping. He later died of smoke inhalation on Nov. 27. More from Footwear News The New London Fire Marshals Office, working in collaboration with the citys police department, interviewed witnesses and studied audio and video recordings from the property and found that the exact cause of the fire remains undetermined. However, in his report, Fire Marshal Vernon Skau presented four different hyphotheses for the fires source, including a portable propane heater found in the shed, as well as discarded smoking materials and candles located near the origin point. The last hypothesis suggested the fire might have been started by Hsieh through carelessness or as an intentional act. The report further noted, There is physical evidence to lead investigators to theorize that Hsieh could have been impaired or intoxicated at the time of the fire. At the scene, investigators found bottles of Fernet Branca, a marijuana pipe and whipping cream containers, which according to reports, Hsieh had allegedly been using to inhale nitrous oxide. In late November, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Hsiehs death an accident. The internet visionary is credited with revolutionized the footwear industry and the way that shoes are sold. He stepped down from the helm at Zappos last year, but left an indelible mark with big ideas that changed how businesses operate and treat their customers and employees. The news of his passing last year was met with an outpouring of love both from his Zappos family and from friends throughout the footwear community, who shared with FN memories of the executives genius and abundant generosity. Fred Mossler, who worked alongside Hsieh to build Zappos, told FN, Tony was always about sharing. Even back to the early days, when we moved to free shipping and no one was offering it, we asked what would happen if other companies start doing it. Tony said that would be great because that would just make for a better customer experience. It was never about what was best for Zappos. It was about what was best for the human condition. Sign up for FN's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Congress on Wednesday cited instances when even the British empire had to withdraw certain laws due to farmers' agitation, and asked the government not to confront the farmers as they are the backbone of the country. Participating in the motion of thanks to the President's Address, leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The Congress was with the government in its fight against the enemies like China and Pakistan but confronting farmers is not good." "When the Britishers withdrew many laws, why not us and I request the Prime Minister to withdraw the three farm laws and find out the people who are missing after the January 26 incident," he added. The Congress leader condemned the incident at the Red Fort and asked for strict action against them but demanded that false cases should not be pursued against the farm leaders. The Congress also said the cases registered against the Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and journalists should be withdrawn. While speaking on Kashmir, Azad said that not once the late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked for bifurcation of the state but the government has done that and converted it into a union territory. Azad said, "When the state government was there, there was much development, less militancy and law and order problem was low." He said, "Tourism was down in the state and people were sitting at home, education has been finished in the state, how there could be development without schools. And because of Internet issues online classes could not be conducted." He congratulated the government for conducting the District Development Council (DDC) polls in J&K. The Congress leader said the people were unhappy due to scrapping of Article 370. Azad said, "I request the Prime Minister to restore the statehood of J&K and conduct elections." Earlier, the opposition agreed to discuss the motion of thanks prior to the discussion on contentious farm laws and it was decided to increase the time of the discussion unanimously. Leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The government has cited that there is no ritual of discussing anything before the President's motion of thanks, so all the opposition has agreed to discuss the thanks motion and take up the farmers issue later," The Chairman after the proposal of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi agreed on the broad consensus in the House and agreed to raise the timing of the discussion to 15 hours to discuss the farm laws. -- Syndicated from IANS Award-winning actor, writer, producer and director Ben Stiller took advantage of a snow day Tuesday to chat with a group of Central New York students about his film career and briefly revive one of his most famous impressions. Keith Newvine, an English teacher at West Genesee High School, tells syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that it all started when fellow West Genesee educator Dan Callahan came up with a lesson plan based on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The 1939 short story by James Thurber was adapted into a 2013 movie directed by and starring Stiller as a daydreaming Life magazine worker who goes on a real-life adventure. Newvine reached out to Stiller a couple times on Twitter, asking if he could meet virtually with students from the Syracuse area to discuss the story and his filmmaking process. @RedHourBen responded and connected Newvine with his assistant, who set up a video chat. More than 300 people tuned in on Zoom and YouTube, including students from Fayetteville-Manlius High School, Baldwinsvilles Baker High School, West Genesee, and Corcoran High School in the Syracuse City School District. Participants also included Thea Yurkewecz-Stellato at SUNY Geneseo and Heather Waymouth at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. In this video still provided by West Genesee High School teacher Keith Newvine, actor-filmmaker Ben Stiller meets virtually with Central New York students over Zoom on Feb. 2, 2021. It was kind of amazing because most of us grew up with his movies. At first everyone was kind of shocked to see Stiller, said West Genesee student Sarah Hardin. She said she even briefly embarrassed her mom by asking Stiller about Robert De Niro, his co-star in the Meet the Parents films. Another student also asked Stiller about his Bruce Springsteen impression, which he famously performed on the Emmy-winning The Ben Stiller Show in the early 90s. Stiller also spoofed The Boss in a Saturday Night Live skit in 2011 and happily repeated his comedic take on the rock legends enthusiastic counting for the virtual audience Tuesday. Much of the discussion focused on adapting text to film, as well as the creative process, storyboarding, directing and cinematography. Baker High School student Aidan Micho said that hes a big comedy fan and grew up with Stillers movies, which include Zoolander, Dodgeball, and Tropic Thunder. He said hes interested in a film career and Stillers early work in sketch comedy has been a big influence. The biggest thing from listening to him was the way that he described the balance between writing comedy and writing the sort of coming-of-age movie type drama. And making both work at the same time, Micho said. West Genesee student Krystian Lata said Stiller also gave advice for overcoming procrastination, something the filmmaker said celebrities can struggle with, too. Stiller talked about how he found inspiration where he grew up and different places and different environments. It was definitely like a wake-up call... its weird (how) our culture looks at famous people, Lata said. We all, like, worship celebrities but at the end of the day he gave us mentorship just like any other mentor in our lives and talked to us like he was really out to help us. He was really down-to-earth. He knew what he was talking about, classmate Joshua Farrell added. School was canceled Tuesday due to the weather, but it was also a snow day for Stiller and his creative team so he was able to chat for nearly an hour and a half. Stiller even shouted out Syracuse, telling the students that his late father, former Seinfeld star Jerry Stiller, was a Syracuse University graduate. What a great way to spend a #SnowDay. Thanks to @konewvine and all the teachers and students ( film makers and writers) from up in the Syracuse area for a chance to talk about the creative process, Stiller tweeted afterwards. Stiller, 55, has more than 150 film and TV credits including Reality Bites, The Cable Guy, Theres Something About Mary, the animated Madagascar films, and the recent television series Escape at Dannemora. His upcoming projects include the Apple TV+ workplace thriller Severance, starring Patricia Arquette, Adam Scott, Christopher Walken and John Turturro. Newvine, whos working on his Ph.D. at Syracuse University, said Stiller was so gracious he probably wouldve chatted for hours more. Newvine hopes the experience teaches students that social media which is how he connected with Stiller in the first place can be used to promote change, not just division, as well as create connections and positive relationships. I want youths to see that the world is bigger than right here and right here on their screen, Newvine said. To bring Ben Stiller, whos a big hero to these kids and to the adults, on their screen really makes the global a little bit more local. 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. After losing director Stephen Daldry last fall, Universal Pictures is back in business with a new director for their long-awaited Wicked adaptation, Jon M. Chu. Daldry had insisted on shooting Wicked in London, with the lack of stage space available and Universal's insistence on moving quicker than he was comfortable with cited as the reasons for him backing out, according to Deadline. Chu's schedule freed up last month as well, when he backed out of directing Disney Plus' Willow pilot. Wicked director: After losing director Stephen Daldry last fall, Universal Pictures is back in business with a new director for their long-awaited Wicked adaptation, Jon M. Chu Stage: Daldry had insisted on shooting Wicked in London, with the lack of stage space available and Universal's insistence on moving quicker than he was comfortable with cited as the reasons for him backing out, according to Deadline The 41-year-old director is expecting a baby with his wife Kristen Hodge this summer, and Disney kept pushing production due to COVID-19 issues. The timing worked out perfectly for Chu and Universal, who he previously worked with on the 2015 adaptation Jem and the Holograms. There is no word on when production may begin, though it seems timing worked out for the best for both the studio and director. Expecting: The 41-year-old director is expecting a baby with his wife Kristen Hodge this summer, and Disney kept pushing production due to COVID-19 issues Universal has been involved in this project before the stage production even came together. The play is based off the 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, who had released the film rights to Universal after the novel's publication. Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz convinced the author to release the stage rights and film producer Marc Platt to produce the stage play. Play: The play is based off the 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, who had released the film rights to Universal after the novel's publication The musical, which is told from the perspectives of the various witches in the Land of Oz, debuted on Broadway in October 2003, the start of an incredible 17-year run that is still going, though currently halted due to COVID-19. Wicked won three Tony's, including one for Idina Menzel for her portrayal of Elphaba, a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the West. The musical is currently the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history, becoming just the third Broadway production to surpass $1 billion, alongside The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. Broadway run: The musical, which is told from the perspectives of the various witches in the Land of Oz, debuted on Broadway in October 2003, the start of an incredible 17-year run that is still going, though currently halted due to COVID-19 Hit show: The musical is currently the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history, becoming just the third Broadway production to surpass $1 billion, alongside The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King Winnie Holzman, who wrote the Wicked book on Broadway, is teaming up with Schwartz to write the adapted screenplay, with Platt producing. Chu most recently directed the Warner Bros. smash hit Crazy Rich Asians, and his new film, an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical In the Heights, debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on June 18. The filmmaker is also attached to direct two sequels to Crazy Rich Asians, based on Kevin Kwan's book sequels China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. Another musical: Chu most recently directed the Warner Bros. smash hit Crazy Rich Asians, and his new film, an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical In the Heights, debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on June 18 Vietnam detects new Coronavirus strain with combined features of UK, Indian ones 29 May 2021 | 2:20 PM Hanoi, May 29 (UNI) Vietnam has detected a new strain of the coronavirus that combines characteristics of the UK and Indian variants, national Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday. see more.. Jaishankar meets Blinken, discuss COVID-19 relief, Indo-Pacific 29 May 2021 | 11:52 AM Washington, May 29 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday met his US counterpart Antony Blinken in-person here and discussed the COVID-19 relief, coup in Myanmar, climate change and strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. see more.. COVID cases in Brazil rises by 67,467 to over 16 34mln 28 May 2021 | 3:51 PM Brasilia, May 28 (UNI) The number of COVID-19 cases in Brazil has increased by 67,467 to 16,342,162 within the last 24 hours, the national Ministry of Health said. see more.. German President Steinmeier to run for 2nd term 28 May 2021 | 3:35 PM Berlin, May 28 (UNI) German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday announced that he intends to run for the second term. see more.. 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. FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairfax County-based BidExecs, a ProposalHelper company, is the first and only service provider to launch a global franchise in the bid and proposal industry. With a decade of proven performance, major investments in core intellectual property leveraging emerging technologies, BidExecs is about to shake-up the bid and proposal solutions industry. This Fairfax County company is laser focused on not just creating a global brand but also achieving a core service commitment building communities of contracting companies across U.S. Fairfax County "We have grown-up in Fairfax County this has been our home for over a decade and frankly we don't think we would have been as successful as we are had we not been in this county. But we have global aspirations," said Reena Bhatia, CEO and founder of BidExecs and ProposalHelper. What BidExecs offers touches every local community. "Innovation in business can come from any direction, and I want to congratulate Reena Bhatia and BidExecs for their work to innovate in the bid and proposal industry," said Victor Hoskins, President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. "Being home to business people with this kind of energy is why Fairfax County and Northern Virginia continue to be a center of innovation and a great place to begin and grow a company." Disrupting the market is not new to Bhatia. She has defied the naysayers and spearheads changes in the bid and proposal industry. When asked why franchise? Bhatia says: "I have one goal innovate and propagate. The more we share, the stronger we get." BidExecs franchise offers professionals the first and only one of its kind business consulting platforms at an extremely affordable entry point. Bhatia continues: "Veterans, SES Government employees they have a wealth of knowledge. Until now as a consultant the only option was to struggle in the gig economy. Not anymore by being a BidExecs franchisee, we offer them a platform to continue supporting their communities while building wealth for themselves." As a franchisor, BidExecs provides entrepreneurship opportunities to transitioning military/veterans, transitioning government employees, and to independent consultants who want to be part of a global platform. Imagine the power of a global network right at the fingertips of your local BidExecs Executives. Through BidExecs, businesses of all sizes will now have access to vast wealth of resources at extremely affordable prices. Every BidExecs franchisee will have the full backing and support from its headquarters based in Herndon, Virginia. Fairfax County is more than an innovation ground for tech companies. The resources and support offered by the county stems innovation across some really unexpected arenas BidExecs is a classic example. No one has ever created a franchise in the bid and proposal industry before. Launched during the pandemic, BidExecs' inaugural franchisee is ready to serve Houston, Texas with overwhelming interest from candidates not just across the U.S. but also across South Africa, Asia, and Middle East. BidExecs Franchising LLC is independent and privately held company located in Fairfax County, Virginia. It's the only one of its kind to offer franchising opportunity in the bid and proposal industry. For more information on franchising, visit www.bidexecsfranchising.com and share your information. Media Contact: Samantha Kiesel Email: [email protected] Phone: (224) 408-0124 SOURCE BidExecs Jammu, Feb 4 : One Indian Army jawan was killed in action after Pakistan resorted to unprovoked shelling on Indian defence positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday. Sepoy Laxman, who was critically injured in firing from across the border, later succumbed to his injuries. Paying tribute to the fallen jawan, the army said that he was a brave and highly motivated soldier. "Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the LoC in Sundarbani Sector in Rajouri district. Our own troops responded strongly to the enemy fire. In the incident, Sep Laxman was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries," the army said in a statement. "Sep Laxman was a brave, highly motivated and a sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," it added. There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. Pakistan has been targeting defence positions in Kirni, Qasba and Mankote sectors in Poonch over the last few days. The Indian Army says that it is giving a befitting response to Pakistani aggression. On January 21, Havaldar Nirmal Singh was killed in action during unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Krishnaghati Sector in Poonch. The Mountain States TRUSTED news source. Click here to stay informed and subscribe to The Charleston Gazette-Mail. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Learn more about HD Media GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Near white-out conditions and frigid temperatures will arrive in Michigan by Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. Residents planning to travel this weekend should expect worsening conditions to begin during the Thursday evening commute and continue into Friday. Snowfall will create low visibility and snow may quickly coat roads west of U.S. 127. Conditions will further deteriorate by Fridays morning commute with blowing and drifting snow, strong wind gusts and near white-out conditions possible particularly west of U.S. 131, according to the NWS. RELATED: 3-day weather rollercoaster starts bright and ends bitter Temperatures are also expected to fall rapidly by Friday morning with wind chills falling near zero. These conditions mean road treatments will become less effective, according to the NWS. High temperatures in the teens and single digits are possible while low temperatures will be in the single digits or a little below zero. Wind chills below zero are expected eventually, especially late Saturday night through at least Tuesday The NWS is also warning that theres a potential for ice jams in Michigan rivers late this weekend and into next week. Some rivers are expected to quickly ice over. The early-February storm is part of wintry weather that is expected to continue in the Midwest until early March, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok. Thus far, its been far from a frigid winter across the Midwest, and the lack of ice covering the Great Lakes is evidence of that, Pastelok said. However, late-winter and early-spring cold blasts could increase ice development on the Great Lakes. We do have more cold air coming in February and into early March, Pastelok said. He added that spring in the Midwest could play out like a bit of a roller-coaster ride, and conditions can change dramatically from chilly in March and April to unusually warm in May. We do think its going to get pretty wet later in March and April, Pastelok said. READ MORE Thursday weather: What to expect for first day of storm New weather forecast map shows next 48 hours of snowfall CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a market operator and global trading solutions provider, today reported January monthly trading volume. Monthly Trading Volume January January % December % 2021 2020 Chg 2020 Chg OPTIONS VOLUME (contracts, thousands) Trading Days 19 21 22 Total Volume 257,900 192,418 34.0% 234,872 9.8% Total ADV 13,574 9,163 48.1% 10,676 27.1% FUTURES (contracts, thousands) Trading Days 19 21 22 Total Volume 5,169 5,787 -10.7% 3,365 53.6% Total ADV 272 276 -1.3% 153 77.8% U.S. EQUITIES EXCHANGE MATCHED VOLUME (shares, millions) Trading Days 19 21 22 Total Volume 43,351 25,920 67.2% 34,841 24.4% Total ADV 2,282 1,234 84.8% 1,584 44.1% U.S. EQUITIES OFF-EXCHANGE MATCHED VOLUME (shares, millions)1 Trading Days 19 21 22 Total Volume 2,119 N/A N/A Total ADV 112 N/A N/A CANADIAN EQUITIES MATCHED VOLUME (shares, thousands)2 Trading Days 20 N/A 21 Total Volume 1,272,741 N/A 1,054,171 20.7% Total ADV 63,637 N/A 50,199 26.8% EUROPEAN EQUITIES ( millions) Trading Days 20 22 22 Total Notional Value 133,420 148,825 -10.4% 127,125 5.0% Total ADNV 6,671 6,765 -1.4% 5,778 15.4% EUROCCP (thousands)3 Cleared Trades 88,241 N/A N/A 83,965 5.1% Net Settlements 740 N/A N/A 744 -0.6% GLOBAL FX ($ millions)4 Trading Days 20 22 22 Total Notional Value $704,130 $739,020 -4.7% $719,116 -2.1% Total ADNV 35,207 33,592 4.8% 32,687 7.7% 1U.S. Equities Off-Exchange data reflects Cboe's acquisition of BIDS Trading effective on December 31, 2020. 2Canadian Equities data reflects Cboe's acquisition of MATCHNow effective on August 4, 2020. 3EuroCCP data reflects Cboe's acquisition of EuroCCP effective on July 1, 2020. 4As of January 2021, Global FX metrics include Spot and SEF products. ADV= average daily volume ADNV= average daily notional value Cboe Global Markets Average Revenue Per Contract/Net Revenue Capture Updated This Week The company plans to report its average revenue per contract and net revenue capture data for the three months ended December 31, 2020, in its quarterly earnings news release, which is expected to be issued on Friday, February 5, 2021. The 2020 data sheets available on the website will be updated to include this information. January 2021 Volume Highlights Options Total combined volume at Cboe Global Markets' four options exchanges set a new single-day volume record on January 27 , with 18.5 million contracts traded. , with 18.5 million contracts traded. ADV in Cboe Volatility Index options (VIX ) was more than 662,000 contracts, up 34 percent from January 2020 , and up 68 percent from December 2020 . options (VIX ) was more than 662,000 contracts, up 34 percent from , and up 68 percent from . ADV in S&P 500 Index options (SPX) was more than 1.2 million contracts, up 15 percent from December 2020 . . Options on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) set a new monthly volume record with more than 48,000 contracts traded. MXEF options also set a new monthly ADV record with more than 2,500 contracts traded representing $337 million in average daily notional value. in average daily notional value. Options on the MSCI EAFE Index (MXEA) set a new monthly ADV record with more than 920 contracts traded, representing $194 million in average daily notional value. EAFE Index (MXEA) set a new monthly ADV record with more than 920 contracts traded, representing in average daily notional value. ADV on each of Cboe's four options exchanges increased compared to a year ago: Cboe Options up 28 percent, Cboe BZX up 85 percent, Cboe EDGX up 82 percent and Cboe C2 up 52 percent. ADV across each of the exchanges also rose compared to December 2020 . . Cboe BZX Options Exchange set a new monthly ADV record with 3.9 million contracts traded. The exchange also set a new single-day volume record on January 27 , with nearly 6 million contracts traded. , with nearly 6 million contracts traded. Cboe EDGX Options Exchange set a new monthly ADV record with 1.5 million contracts traded. Cboe C2 Options Exchange set new monthly total volume and ADV record with nearly 27 million contracts and 1.4 million contracts traded. C2 Options also set a new single-day volume record on January 29 , with 1.8 million contracts traded. Futures ADV in VIX futures was more than 247,000 contracts, up 77 percent from December 2020 . . ADV in Mini VIX futures (VXM) was up 91 percent from December 2020 . Approximately 2.5 million contracts have traded in total since launch on August 9, 2020 . . Approximately 2.5 million contracts have traded in total since launch on . Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index (IBHY) futures set a new monthly ADV record with more than 1,300 contracts traded, representing $200 million in notional value. On January 27 , IBHY futures set a new single-day volume record with 6,733 contracts traded, representing $979 million in notional value. in notional value. On , IBHY futures set a new single-day volume record with 6,733 contracts traded, representing in notional value. Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index (IBIG) futures set a new monthly ADV record with more than 430 contracts traded, representing $65 million in notional value. On January 28 , IBIG futures set a new single-day volume record with 1,283 contracts traded, representing $191 million in notional value. North American Equities Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange set a new monthly total volume record with nearly 23 billion shares. The exchange also set a new monthly ADV record with 1.2 billion shares traded per day. Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange set a new single-day volume record on January 27 with more than 2 billion shares traded. with more than 2 billion shares traded. Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange market share reached a 52-week high on January 27 , capturing more than 8 percent of the market. , capturing more than 8 percent of the market. Cboe's new retail priority offering on Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange hit a new high for monthly ADV of more than 437 million shares traded, up 56 percent over December 2020 . European Equities Cboe Europe's Dutch venue, Cboe NL, reported a record ADNV of 4.9 billion, up from 0.03 billion in December 2020 , following a successful transition of activity in EU-listed securities post-Brexit. , following a successful transition of activity in EU-listed securities post-Brexit. Cboe Europe Periodic Auctions reported ADNV of 1.2 billion, up 31 percent from the 924 million in December 2020 . . Cboe LIS, Cboe Europe's block trading platform, reported ADNV of 422 million, up 58 percent from the 268 million in December 2020 . About Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE) provides cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to market participants around the world. The company is committed to defining markets through product innovation, leading edge technology and seamless trading solutions. The company offers trading across a diverse range of products in multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S., Canadian and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global foreign exchange (FX) and volatility products based on the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX Index), recognized as the world's premier gauge of U.S. equity market volatility. Cboe's subsidiaries include the largest options exchange and the third largest stock exchange operator in the U.S. In addition, the company operates one of the largest stock exchanges by value traded in Europe, and owns EuroCCP, a leading pan-European equities clearing house. Cboe also is a leading market globally for ETP listings and trading. The company is headquartered in Chicago with a network of domestic and global offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia, including main hubs in New York, London, Kansas City and Amsterdam. For more information, visit www.cboe.com. CBOE-V BZX, Cboe, Cboe Global Markets, Cboe Volatility Index, CFE, EDGX, VIX, and XSP are registered trademarks and Cboe Futures ExchangeSM, C2SM and Mini VIXSM M are service marks of Cboe Exchange, Inc. or its affiliates. S&P 500 and SPX are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC and has been licensed for use by Cboe Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Any products that have the S&P Index or Indexes as their underlying interest are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor's or Cboe and neither Standard & Poor's nor Cboe make any representations or recommendations concerning the advisability of investing in products that have S&P indexes as their underlying interests. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates do not recommend or make any representation as to possible benefits from any securities, futures or investments, or third-party products or services. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. is not affiliated with MSCI, Russell, iShares or IHS Markit. Investors should undertake their own due diligence regarding their securities, futures, and investment practices. This press release speaks only as of this date. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. disclaims any duty to update the information herein. Nothing in this announcement should be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell any securities or futures in any jurisdiction where the offer or solicitation would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Nothing contained in this communication constitutes tax, legal or investment advice. Investors must consult their tax adviser or legal counsel for advice and information concerning their particular situation. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates make no warranty, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties as of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness or timeliness, the results to be obtained by recipients of the products and services described herein, or as to the ability of the indices referenced in this press release to track the performance of their respective securities, generally, or the performance of the indices referenced in this press release or any subset of their respective securities, and shall not in any way be liable for any inaccuracies, errors. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates have not calculated, composed or determined the constituents or weightings of the securities that comprise the indices referenced in this press release and shall not in any way be liable for any inaccuracies, errors. Futures trading is not suitable for all investors and involves the risk of loss. That risk of loss can be substantial and can exceed the amount of money deposited for a futures position. You should, therefore, carefully consider whether futures trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances and financial resources. You should put at risk only funds that you can afford to lose without affecting your lifestyle. For additional information regarding futures trading risks, see the Risk Disclosure Statement set forth in Appendix A to CFTC Regulation 1.55(c) and the Risk Disclosure Statement for Security Futures Contracts. The iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index and the iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index (the "Indexes") referenced herein are the property of Markit Indices Limited ("Index Sponsor") and have been licensed for use in connection with Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index Futures and Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Futures. Each party to a Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index Futures or Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Futures transaction acknowledges and agrees that the transaction is not sponsored, endorsed or promoted by the Index Sponsor. The Index Sponsor makes no representation whatsoever, whether express or implied, and hereby expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use), with respect to the Indexes or any data included therein or relating thereto, and in particular disclaims any warranty either as to the quality, accuracy and/or completeness of the Indexes or any data included therein, the results obtained from the use of the Indexes and/or the composition of the Indexes at any particular time on any particular date or otherwise and/or the creditworthiness of any entity, or the likelihood of the occurrence of a credit event or similar event (however defined) with respect to an obligation, in the Indexes at any particular time on any particular date or otherwise. The Index Sponsor shall not be liable (whether in negligence or otherwise) to the parties or any other person for any error in the Indexes, and the Index Sponsor is under no obligation to advise the parties or any person of any error therein. The Index Sponsor makes no representation whatsoever, whether express or implied, as to the advisability of purchasing or selling Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index Futures and Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Futures, the ability of the Indexes to track relevant markets' performances, or otherwise relating to the Indexes or any transaction or product with respect thereto, or of assuming any risks in connection therewith. The Index Sponsor has no obligation to take the needs of any party into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Indexes. No party purchasing or selling Cboe iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index Futures or Cboe iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Futures, nor the Index Sponsor, shall have any liability to any party for any act or failure to act by the Index Sponsor in connection with the determination, adjustment, calculation or maintenance of the Indexes. iBoxx is a service mark of IHS Markit Limited. The iBoxx iShares $ High Yield Corporate Bond Index and the iBoxx iShares $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index (the "Indexes") and futures contracts on the Indexes ("Contracts") are not sponsored by, or sold by BlackRock, Inc. or any of its affiliates (collectively, " BlackRock"). BlackRock makes no representation or warranty, express or implied to any person regarding the advisability of investing in securities, generally, or in the Contracts in particular. Nor does BlackRock make any representation or warranty as to the ability of the Index to track the performance of the fixed income securities market, generally, or the performance of HYG, LQD or any subset of fixed income securities. BlackRock has not calculated, composed or determined the constituents or weightings of the fixed income securities that comprise the Indexes ("Underlying Data"). BlackRock is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the prices and amounts of the Contracts, or the timing of the issuance or sale of such Contracts or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Contracts are to be converted into cash (if applicable). BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration or trading of the Contracts. BlackRock does not guarantee the accuracy or the completeness of the Underlying Data and any data included therein and BlackRock shall have no liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions related thereto. BlackRock makes no warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by Markit or its affiliates, the parties to the Contracts or any other person with respect to the use of the Underlying Data or any data included therein. BlackRock makes no express or implied warranties and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the Underlying Data or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall BlackRock have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits) resulting from the use of the Underlying Data or any data included therein, even if notified of the possibility of such damages. iShares is a registered trademark of BlackRock Fund Advisors and its affiliates. SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Related Links http://www.cboe.com The newly appointed chief executive of SolarWinds Corp. is still trying to unravel how his company became a primary vector for hackers in a massive attack revealed last year, but said evidence is emerging that they were lurking in the companys Office 365 email system for months. The hackers had accessed at least one of the companys Office 365 accounts by December 2019, and then leapfrogged to other Office 365 accounts used by the company, Sudhakar Ramakrishna said in an interview Tuesday. Some email accounts were compromised. That led them to compromise other email accounts and as a result our broader [Office] 365 environment was compromised," he said. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat It is the latest development in the eight-week investigation into one of the worst breaches in U.S. history. SolarWinds, previously a little-known but critical maker of network-management software, is still trying to understand how the hackers first got into the companys network and when exactly that happened. One possibility is that the hackers may have compromised the companys Office 365 accounts even earlier and then used that as the initial point of entry into the company, although that is one of several theories being pursued, Mr. Ramakrishna said. Investigators are trying to determine how widespread the damage has been. So far only several dozen victims have been identified, but the attack could have ultimately affected close to 18,000 of the companys customers. The internal investigation has involved searching through tens of terabytes of logfiles and other data in an effort to retrace the steps of a hacking operation that went undetected for more than a year, Mr. Ramakrishna said. We have been evaluating mountains of data," he said. Ultimately the response to the incident will end up costing SolarWinds millions of dollars, said Mr. Ramakrishna, who had been pegged as SolarWinds next chief executive when the hack was discovered, but didnt start at the company until Jan. 4. My attitude was to come in and assess first and figure out what we needed to do," he said. Since taking over, Mr. Ramakrishna has revamped the companys software development processes and brought in outside cybersecurity experts to help respond to the breach, including Chris Krebs, formerly the Department of Homeland Securitys top cybersecurity official, and Alex Stamos, formerly Facebooks chief security officer. Investigators describe the hack as one of the worst in U.S. history because of its sophistication, scope and the way it undermined the trusted relationship between technology providers and the products they make. The attackers crafted a way to turn SolarWinds own software update into a kind of digital Trojan horse. So far, the investigation has found that the hackers were running tests on SolarWinds internal build systems, used to assemble the companys software updates, in September 2019. The build system was then used to create a malicious software patch that SolarWinds says it shipped out to fewer than 18,000 customers in 2020. The U.S. government has publicly blamed Russia, which has denied responsibility. Last month, President Biden instructed his director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, to conduct a review of Russian aggression against the U.S., including the SolarWinds hack. Dozens of SolarWinds customers, including major technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc., were affected by the incident, as well as the departments of the Treasury, Justice, Energy, Commerce, State, Homeland Security, Labor and Energy. On Tuesday, people familiar with the investigation said that another group of hackersa group linked to Chinathat had accessed the Agriculture Departments networks, exploited an unrelated and less serious flaw in SolarWinds software to further target the organizations computer systems. The Agriculture Department attack was reported earlier by Reuters. A spokesman for the Agriculture Department disputed aspects of the Reuters story but didnt clarify whether any part of the department had suffered a breach related to SolarWinds software. Mr. Ramakrishna said that SolarWinds was already investigating a single report of hackers exploiting this bug when it learned of its own compromise last December. While SolarWinds network management software, called Orion, was itself a major avenue of attack by the hacking effort, it wasnt the only one. Last week the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that about 30% of the hackers victims had no direct connection with SolarWinds itself. This is a pretty significant incident," said Adam Meyers, senior vice president of intelligence at CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., a security company that SolarWinds hired to investigate the hack. Frankly I dont even know that weve scratched the surface on this thing." 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. Drug, Gun Trafficking Investigation Nets 3 Arrests By West Kentucky Star Staff MCCRACKEN COUNTY - A joint investigation between the Kentucky State Police and the McCracken County Sheriff's Department led to the arrest of three Paducah residents on Wednesday.On January 28, detectives with the McCracken County Sheriff's Department received a tip indicating that 29-year-old Joshua R. Luna was trafficking in methamphetamine and firearms.Authorities said Luna is a convicted felon with multiple felony convictions for previous methamphetamine and theft charges.McCracken detectives learned that the Kentucky State Police were also investigating Luna. Based on the information both agencies had acquired, authorities obtained a search warrant for Luna's apartment.Detectives executed the search just after midnight and reportedly found Luna standing over a toilet attempting to dispose of suspected methamphetamine and a knife. Authorities said the investigation uncovered other suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, two handguns, a large number of gun parts, and a do-it-yourself silencer.While searching the apartment, detectives located 29-year-old Samantha D. Gagnon and 43-year-old Steven J. Cotton.All three were arrested and lodged in the McCracken County Jail.Luna is charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, tampering with physical evidence, and possession of drug paraphernalia. More state and federal charges against Luna are likely.Cotton and Gagnon were charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.The McCracken County Sheriff's Department was assisted on the scene by the Kentucky State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Mayfield Police Department. Detectives also consulted with the Department of Homeland Security. Three railway workers were killed when their train smashed into a tow truck at a crossing in Upper Egypts Assiut, the Egyptian National Railways said in a statement on Wednesday. Photos of the scene show that the tow trucks winch penetrated the trains locomotive. The victims were the drivers assistant and two workers on board the locomotive, the statement added. The statement has not revealed if the tow truck had a driver when it was struck by the train. A security report circulated by local media said that two man were also injured in the incident, but did not say if they were onboard the locomotive or the truck. The train was heading from Cairo to Aswan, according to the Egyptian National Railways. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WASHINGTON House Republicans decided Wednesday to stand by two GOP lawmakers who have polarized the party, voting to retain Rep. Liz Cheney as their No. 3 leader and saying theyd fight a Democratic push to kick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off her committees. In a 145-61 secret-ballot vote, House Republicans overwhelmingly rebuffed a rebellion by hard-right conservatives to toss Cheney, R-Wyo., from leadership after she voted last month to impeach then-President Donald Trump. Hours earlier, after Democrats slated a House vote for Thursday that would remove Greene from her committees, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ridiculed them for it. His comments signaled he was dismissing bipartisan demands that the hard-right Georgia Republican be punished for her online embrace of racist and violent views and bizarre conspiracy theories. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The decisions over Greene and Cheney have subjected the GOP to a politically agonizing test of its direction as it moves beyond the Trump presidency. Since Trump grudgingly vacated the White House last month, the party has been ideologically adrift as its struggled over whether to embrace his norm-busting divisiveness or the partys more traditional, policy-oriented conservative values. But as Wednesdays internal showdowns concluded, McCarthy and the House GOP decided against punishing two of their most high-profile women, whose views enrage opposite ends of the partys spectrum. The moves were typical of McCarthys preference to avoid ruffling feathers as he charts his path to someday becoming House speaker. You know what thats going to mean? he told reporters after the lengthy evening meeting. Two years from now, were going to win the majority. Thats because this conference is more united. Weve got the right leadership team behind it. But each of the GOPs wings remains concerned that the other is leading them down the wrong path, and to some, the days outcome seemed more an uneasy truce than a full-on peace treaty. This is about the direction of our party and whether or not were going to be a majority whos dedicated to just one person or were going to be a united Republican majority, said Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R-Wash., who with Cheney was among just 10 House Republicans to back impeaching Trump. Cheney is a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and a fixture of the party establishment, and she is viewed as eager to rise even higher in Washingtons GOP hierarchy. Deposing her from the leadership would likely have dealt a devastating blow to her career. It also would have served as a warning shot to traditional conservative Republicans hoping to diminish Trumps hold over the party. I wont apologize for the vote, Cheney told her colleagues in the closed-door session, according to a person familiar with the session who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. During a break in the session, McCarthy told reporters hed defended Cheney inside. People can have differences of opinion. Thats what you can have a discussion about. Liz has a right to vote her conscience, said McCarthy, whod previously given no clear signal about whether hed support his lieutenant. Attendants said Greene and the conspiracy theories shes embraced came up during the closed-door meeting, which participants said was spirited, with long lines of speakers at the microphones. Some said Greene apologized to her colleagues, though there were conflicting, vague versions of exactly what shed said. She was contrite. And I think she brought a lot of people over to her side, said conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. The days action began when the Democratic-led House Rules Committee cleared the way for Thursdays vote punishing Greene. After that meeting, McCarthy released a statement saying Democrats were choosing to raise the temperature by attempting a partisan power grab. He condemned Greenes past endorsements of conspiracy theories after weeks of saying little critical of her and said the first-term congresswoman had recognized in a private conversation that she must meet a higher standard as a lawmaker. I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward, McCarthy said. Greene has shown support for calls to violence against Democrats, bizarre fictions about faked school shootings and unfounded QAnon theories about Democrats joining in child abuse rings. Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said lawmakers would send an awful message if they took no action on Greene. If this is not the bottom, I dont know what the hell is, McGovern said. Around two-thirds of House Republicans voted to back Trumps effort to overturn his November election loss just hours after his supporters deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol that led to his impeachment for inciting insurrection. Yet Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP senators have lambasted Greene, reflecting worries that her wing of the party cannot win statewide Senate races. Despite McCarthys support, a House vote over Greenes committee roles was expected to be a political ordeal for many Republicans. It would force them to go on record defending or punishing the unapologetic, social media-savvy Greene. She burst onto the national political scene after just a month in office and with enthusiastic support from Trump. Even during the effort to punish her, she has lashed out at Democrats and raised money on the controversy. Republicans appointed Greene to the Education and Labor Committee, a decision that drew especially harsh criticism because of her suggestions that mass school shootings in Connecticut and Florida could be hoaxes. Greene is also on the Budget Committee. McCarthy said Democrats turned down his offer to move Greene onto the House Small Business Committee instead. Its unusual for party leaders to strip lawmakers of committee assignments, which can help them address their districts needs and raise campaign contributions. In 2019, House GOP leaders removed Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who had a history of racist comments, from the Agriculture and Judiciary panels after wondering aloud in a New York Times story about when the term white supremacist became offensive. He lost the Republican primary for his seat in 2020 and is out of Congress after serving nine terms. In online videos and through supportive likes on social media, Greene has voiced support for racist beliefs, calls for violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama and other false theories. The Senate plans to begin its impeachment trial of Trump next week. In a procedural vote, all but five GOP senators voted to scuttle the proceedings, indicating that his conviction is unlikely. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company 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. Hun Sen staged a putsch in 1997 and orchestrated a soft coup in 2017 by dissolving the opposition. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) salutes during an inspection of troops at a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Jan. 24, 2019. Netizens in Cambodia took to social media Tuesday in the wake of a military coup in regional neighbor Myanmar to lambast their countrys government for its own authoritarian rule and to draw comparisons between the takeover and moves by Prime Minister Hun Sen to solidify power. On Monday, Myanmars military, the Tatmadaw, dissolved parliament in a bloodless coup that gave it control of the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the democratically elected government and whose ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide of 2015 and 2020 elections, was taken into custody along with other party leaders. The putsch, which saw General Min Aung Hlaing declare a one-year state of emergency, drew condemnation from Western governments and the United Nations, although neighboring countries such as China and Thailand offered more tepid responses, suggesting that the situation amounts to internal affairs. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for more than three decades, issued a similar statement on Monday, saying he was not interested in the situation in Myanmar. In Yangon, the president and advisors were arrested, but Cambodia wont comment on the internal issues of other countries that are members of ASEAN or other sovereign nations, he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar is our friend in ASEAN. We only broadcast the news; we dont comment on it. The coup and Hun Sens comments led to a barrage of comments on Facebook by Cambodians who drew parallels to life in their own country, which Hun Sen has ruled since 1985. Some posted photos juxtaposing Hun Sen with Min Aung Hlaing, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-chaa retired Royal Thai Army general officer who has led Thailand since orchestrating a military coup against the government in 2014. After losing U.N.-backed elections in 1993 and threatening to lead a secessionist movement, Hun Sen served as Cambodias Second Prime Minister alongside Prince Norodom Ranariddh until he staged a violent coup in 1997 and took over leadership of the nation. Critics of the Prime Minister have referred to more recent events in Cambodias political history as a form of soft coup. Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in November 2017, for an alleged plot to overthrow the government. The ban of the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the countrys July 2018 general election. Noting similarities In a post on Tuesday, Cambodian Facebook user Vin Da said that superpower democracies should clean dictators off the face of the earth because they steal power from voters. His comments were echoed by Facebook user Hay Vanna, who wrote that people who love democracy dont need coups. Another Facebook user named Ly Ratanak Raksmey noted that the youth of Myanmar had dared to stand up to dictators ahead of the 2015 transition from junta rule to a democratically led government and suggested Cambodian youths should follow in their footsteps. Netizens noted the similarities between the Tatmadaw coup and Hun Sens actions 1997 and 2017, while others suggested that, because Hun Sen had himself grabbed power, he was too ashamed to comment on the situation in Myanmar. Responding to comments on social media, CPP spokesperson Sok Ey San told RFAs Khmer Service that the ruling partys continued hold on power following the 2017 ballot bore little resemblance to the coup in Myanmar because Hun Sens government was formed by elections. Cambodia never had a coupthe opposition party acknowledged their guilt and was dissolved by the Supreme Court, so that is why they fled the country, he said. But political commentator Kim Sok told RFA that both the Tatmadaw and Hun Sens party had solidified power via coup. He said Cambodias ruling party is holding an ongoing coup against the country to remain in control. Criticism [from Facebook users] reflects Cambodias reality, he said. Hun Sen and Myanmars military leadership is the same. [Hun Sen] didnt get power from the elections. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. 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. A medical staffer carries out COVID-19 testing on a resident at a public health center in Gwangju, Wednesday. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye Concerns are growing here over a possible fourth wave of COVID-19 infections after the health authorities said they were seeing a consistent increase in the number of people infected with new variants of the coronavirus, which are known to be more transmissible. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Wednesday that it had confirmed as of Tuesday 39 cases of extra-contagious variants of COVID-19 since last October Of the 39, 27 were from the United Kingdom, followed by seven from South Africa and five from Brazil. Adding to concerns is that five patients were infected with the new variants in Korea, unlike the others who arrived from abroad. "The five cases show the increasing possibility of the spread of the new variants within local communities," a KDCA official said. "We will expand new variant testing to those who have not traveled overseas." Leitrim's Fianna Fail councillors believe that their party leader should not make a trip to the US at this time given the current global pandemic. Cathaoirleach, Cllr Mary Bohan, the longest serving Fianna Fail member in Leitrim County Council ,said that she believes that it would be inappropriate for An Taoiseach to travel to the USA for St Patrick's Day this year. I don't think anybody should be travelling internationally at this time. It is too dangerous, she said. I think that Micheal Martin should do a virtual meeting to mark the occasion (St Patrick's Day) and travel to meet President Biden at a later stage when it is safe to do so, she said. I believe that Ireland has a very special relationship with the US and I don't believe that, under the current circumstances, Micheal Martin not travelling to America for St Patrick's Day, would harm that relationship. Cllr Paddy O'Rourke said he did not see An Taoiseach making the trip to the USA next month. I can see why (An Taoiseach) is anxious to restart our relationship with the White House given that it was clear the last president didnt appreciate the importance of it, said Cllr O'Rourke. Whereas President Biden's views, particularly on Northern Ireland, need to be acknowledged and (we need to) show our appreciation for his support. But we dont have to be physically in the White House to do so. His party colleague, Cllr Caillian Ellis, said without a doubt I do not agree with (An Taoiseach) leaving the country during a lockdown. There is definitely a strong Irish connection with the US which we are proud of, but I think that we can still honour that connection on St Patrick's Day this year without travelling to America and we can build on that connection when this pandemic is over. Cllr Sean McGowan said while he would love to see Ireland represented in the White House on St Patrick's Day it would not be appropriate for An Taoiseach to go in the current climate. Covid is still with us and it has ramped up in recent weeks. If I was talking to (An Taoiseach) I'd tell him not to travel at the moment, do it virtually. This message to stay at home at this time was also supported by Cllr Justin Warnock who said that he doesn't believe that An Taoiseach will travel to the USA this year but said it would be the wrong message to send out if he did go. I believe he will not be going and will clarify his position shortly. Cllr Paddy Farrell said he also feels this isn't the time to travel to the US adding I wouldn't be in favour of (An Taoiseach) travelling there at the moment. I think there are more important things he needs to do here at home. Imperial Valley News Center Federal Court Restrains Pharmacy and Two Individuals From Dispensing Opioids or Other Controlled Substances Tampa, Florida - A federal court in Florida issued a temporary restraining order enjoining a Tampa pharmacy and two of its employees from dispensing opioids and other controlled substances, the Department of Justice announced today. In a civil complaint unsealed in the Middle District of Florida, the United States alleges that WeCare Pharmacy, its pharmacist owner Qingping Zhang, and pharmacy technician Li Yang, and another related corporate entity, L&Y Holdings LLC, repeatedly dispensed opioids in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The complaint alleges that over a period of several years, the defendants dispensed highly addictive and highly abused prescription opioids while ignoring red flags that is, obvious indications of drug diversion and drug-seeking behavior. U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven granted the governments request for a temporary restraining order, which was filed along with the complaint. Pharmacists have an important role in ensuring that prescriptions for controlled substances are legitimate, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Justice Departments Civil Division. The Department of Justice will work with its partners to enforce the law where evidence shows pharmacists abdicated their responsibilities when dispensing these powerful drugs. Medical professionals, including pharmacists, must utilize the best methods of efficacy and accountability when dispensing and distributing dangerous medications, said U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez of the Middle District of Florida. Failure to comply with our federal laws and standards places the public at great risk and cannot be tolerated. We intend to work with our law enforcement partners to hold responsible parties accountable for their actions and keep our citizens safe. Pharmacies and their pharmacists have the responsibility to flag suspicious prescriptions written by doctors for highly sought after opioid medications, in order to prevent them from being dispensed, said Special Agent in Charge Keith Weis of the Drug Enforcement Agencys Miami Field Division. When they fail to carry out this important responsibility, the dispensing of opioid medication becomes a real threat to the health of legitimate patients, and also gives pill seekers a steady supply to either fuel their addiction or illegally distribute them in our communities. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed to take steps required to resolve red flags and ensure the legitimacy of prescriptions before filling them. According to court documents, the prescriptions dispensed by the defendants often involved highly abused opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and hydromorphone, almost always in the highest-strength formulations generally available. The complaint alleges that the defendants repeatedly filled prescriptions written by a particular doctor without examining the red flags those prescriptions presented. The complaint seeks civil penalties as well as a permanent injunction against the defendants. The claims made in the complaint are merely allegations that the United States must prove if the case proceeds to trial. The United States is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean P. Keefe, and Trial Attorney Scott Dahlquist of the Justice Departments Consumer Protection Branch. The investigation is being conducted by the DEA. Oleksii Liskonih/iStockBy LUIS MARTINEZ, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- The Navy's broad internal look to address racism and sexism in its ranks has made recommendations to do more to keep minorities and women in the force, particularly in the higher officer ranks where African American officers are under-represented. The review, known as Task Force One Navy, designed to address any systemic inequalities in the Navy, was triggered by the racial reckoning last summer that followed the death of George Floyd. We have fallen short in the past by excluding or limiting opportunity for people on the basis of race, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender or creed," said Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations who ordered the review last June. "Our Navy must continue to remove barriers to service, and most importantly, be a shining example of a workforce centered on respect, inclusive of all," Gilday said. "Simply put, all Sailors uniformed and civilian - and applicants for accession to the Navy must be treated with dignity and respect above all else." Conducted over six months and based on surveys and interviews of close to 1,000 enlisted sailors and officers, the task force's report makes close to 60 recommendations to address the retention of minorities and women in the ranks. While the percentage of women and minorities serving in the Navy has increased over the last two decades, the report found that retaining them in the ranks has been a struggle. The report's authors are encouraged that one in five junior officers are minorities and women, opening up the possibility of greater diversity among the senior ranks in 20 years. Still, concerns were raised about what might happen if they do not stay in the Navy. From 2005 to 2015, there were 30 African American admirals in the Navy, but those numbers have dwindled to only eight in the last five years. "If minorities/females arent promoted and retained beyond 12 years of service, the pool of talent to compete for senior leadership positions will not appreciably change," according to the report. How to recruit and retain those key populations is a focus for Navy leaders. "One, we need to bring more diversity in the front door, and two, we need to make sure that we keep that diversity," Vice Adm. John Nowell, the chief of naval personnel, told reporters ahead of the report's release on Wednesday. "If we're not bringing enough diversity in the front door, it's causing a problem for us 20 or 30 years from now," Nowell said. "My big takeaway was that a deliberate formal process, to never let your eye off the target, is critical." To that end, the report makes recommendations to incentivize recruitment and retention among minorities and women, including expanding the payment of student loans for officers, investing in science and mathematics programs to encourage interest in Navy programs, collaborating with minority fraternities and sororities and promoting respect and inclusion across all ranks. Multiple listening sessions with sailors across the Navy provided the team with anecdotal insights that highlighted what they saw as potential disparities. "Respect, empathy, skepticism, training, accountability, and the silence of leadership" were the main themes heard at the sessions, according to Rear Adm. Alvin "Bull" Holsey, who was one of the review's leaders. Force Master Chief Huben Phillips, another of the review's leaders, said the issue of respect quickly became the top theme of the discussions. "It was the respect connected to 'they don't see me, or they don't understand me' and that was highlighted throughout," Phillips said. The senior enlisted sailor for the Navy's personnel office noted that commanders at the sessions struggled "with having that conversation" and did not realize how complex that discussion could be. "In every session, there's a good number of folks who said 'nothing's gonna change,'" Holsey said. "So we're committed to making sure this happens." To that end, one of the task force's key recommendations is the addition of "respect" to the Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment. "The goal of this initiative is to influence and encourage active and reserve service members, government service civilians and contractors within the (Department of the Navy) to embrace and embody the new Navy core value of respect in every aspect of the Navy and our culture," said the review. But a key factor will be earning the trust of sailors that the Navy is committed to change, said Phillips. "The more sailors start to see and believe that we are truly committed to excellence in the fair treatment of all, then more of those things that (Adm. Nowell) talked about are going to be exposed," Phillips said. "Then that covert behavior is going to be brought to the light and we're going to eradicate it from our Navy." Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 21:24:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- An international team arrived on Wednesday in Yemen's southern port city of Aden to investigate the deadly bombings that struck the city's airport at the end of December 2020, a government official told Xinhua. A UN plane landed at the Aden International Airport carrying "senior international experts" to investigate "the missile attack on the city's sole airport," the local government source said on condition of anonymity. The source confirmed that the experts instantly inspected the site of the bombings at the airport upon their arrival and interviewed officials in charge of the targeted airport. The investigating team, accompanied by local security forces, headed to the presidential palace in Aden to meet the Saudi-backed Yemeni government based in the city, he added. Aden's sole International Airport was struck by three huge explosions on Dec. 30 last year, upon the arrival of the new power-sharing government members from Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. The deadly bombings against the airport killed and wounded more than 130 people, including local officials, civilians, military personnel, and three employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross. In mid-January, pro-government Interior Minister Ibrahim Haydan declared during a press conference in Aden that "the preliminary results showed evidence that Iranian and Lebanese experts were behind the missiles used in the terrorist attack." Haydan headed the investigation committee which was formed by Yemeni President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi following the airport attack. He noted that his committee had collected information from different sources and discovered that the ballistic missiles were launched from a site in the Houthi-controlled area 135 km away from the airport. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused the Houthi rebels of being behind it. Senior officials of the Houthi group denied it and blamed on Yemeni military factions linked to the Saudi-led coalition in the government-controlled southern provinces. Aden is considered Yemen's temporary capital where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has been based since 2015. The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa. Enditem Lucknow, Feb 3 : Prahlad Modi, the younger brother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sat on dharna at the Lucknow airport on Wednesday evening, demanding the release of his supporters who have been arrested. Sitting at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Prahlad Modi, who is the Vice President of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers' Federation (AIFPSDF), questioned the functioning of Lucknow police and even threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if his supporters were not released. He said that he had come to Lucknow from where he was scheduled to visit Prayagraj, Sultanpur and other districts. "Is there a law in Uttar Pradesh that prevents people from welcoming someone who has come to their city? I want a copy of that order. Some policemen told me that there were orders from Prime Minister's Office too. I want to see that order as well," he told reporters. He further said, "Unless I am shown copies of the orders, I will not move from here. I have also decided to proceed on a hunger strike." Senior officials are rushing to the airport to meet Prahlad Modi. Are you sure you want to delete this post? President Biden, told the House Democratic Caucus that he would be willing to compromise on who will be eligible for the next stimulus check. However, he remained firm on the size of the $1,400 check. This came during a call with House Democrats during their first meeting since Biden took office. One of the things that stood out to me was what Biden said. I am not going to start by breaking a promise to the American people, the president told House Democrats. This was his message to Democrats as they prepared to deliver the president's first legislative priority, his relief plan. A plan that so far lacks support from Republicans in congress. Currently centrist Democrats and GOP lawmakers are calling for stricter income limits on the stimulus checks. Biden was willing to compromise on that, but that alone. I can understand why lawmakers have dug their heels in on eligibility. It makes sense. But I must say it is good to see a president WILLING to work with congress to get important things done for the American people. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 19:36:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Police officers guard one of the entrances to the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 3, 2021. Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will be remanded in detention until Feb. 15, a National League for Democracy (NLD) official confirmed on Wednesday. (Photo by Haymhan/Xinhua) YANGON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will be remanded in detention until Feb. 15, a National League for Democracy (NLD) official confirmed on Wednesday. The police sued President U Win Myint under the National Disaster Management Law and State Counsellor Suu Kyi under the Export and Import Law, Kyi Toe, an information committee member of the party, said on his social media account. Police documents which were spread on social media, said President U Win Myint and his family met people on the NLD's campaign trail on Sept. 20 last year ahead of the November general elections, and was charged with breaching COVID-19 related measures under the Natural Disaster Management Law. Suu Kyi was charged under the Export and Import Law as hand-held radios that were illegally imported and used without permission were found in the search of her residence in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw. The police requested to a court for detention of the two leaders for 15 days from Feb. 1 to 15, stressing "to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel" as reasons. The military and police sides have yet to make any official statement so far. The NLD posted a statement on its social media page on Wednesday, demanding the release of the detained leaders including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Suu Kyi, acknowledge the results of 2020 general elections and stop any disturbances which are hindering the process of convening the third parliamentary session. The president and state counsellor were detained by the military, along with other NLD officials early Monday. The President's Office later declared a one-year state of emergency and the state power was handed over to the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, according to the military's statement. Enditem Coming off a tour of the mass vaccination site at Bostons Fenway Park, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state expects to offer roughly 55,000 new appointments for the first dose of the vaccine next week. Between the state, pharmacies and other options, eligible Massachusetts residents will be able to sign up for up to 120,000 appointments. But the vast majority of mass vaccination sites are in Eastern Massachusetts. While lawmakers have complained there are few options for communities of color and seniors who live west of Worcester, Baker called for patience as the rollout for the public ramps up. Im not happy with where we are. I know a lot of other people arent either, Baker said. We have work to do and we know that one of the best things a good manager does is recognizes and understands that they have a problem and then bust their butt to figure out how to fix it. The Republican governor did not elaborate on what problems he recognized, but he said hes in talks with officials in some parts of the state, including the Cape, to launch mass vaccination sites in areas that dont have any. Baker said the state is working on improvements to the website, which is now searchable by zip code. Baker also said the state is working on setting up a call center to field appointment requests. We all know that vaccines are a big part of the way out of this pandemic, and its good to see that so many people want to get a vaccine, Baker said, but since theres currently a limited supply its important that we manage our process and try to see if we can serve the people who are most at risk first. As of Monday night, Baker said more than 654,000 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. But lawmakers say sites have been placed in predominantly white communities near Boston, making these options less accessible to older residents and communities of color, especially west of Worcester. Western Massachusetts lawmakers, including Sen. Eric Lesser, called for more vaccination options in Hampshire and Franklin counties in a letter to the Baker administration dated Monday. Lawmakers also called for a more user-friendly web portal, a phone option for reservations, a mobile vaccine unit for people who cant travel to the sites and other resources to ensure geographic equity. Massachusetts is seeing a slight decline in COVID-19 during the second surge. State health officials reported 1,963 new cases Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases to 67,650. Another 45 people died due to coronavirus-related complications, bringing the total number of statewide deaths to 14,362. 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. On the cold morning of November 19, 2013, Union Bank manager Jyothi Uday was in a tearing hurry. She was on the 6.30am shift and had rushed into the nearby Corporation Bank ATM kiosk to withdraw money it was her daughters birthday and there were celebrations planned in the evening. Since the booth at Corporation Circle was in the same lane as Jyothis bank branch, she wanted to withdraw the cash before her shift began. As soon as she entered the ATM kiosk, a sturdy man barged in and pulled the shutters down. He demanded money from Jyothi and threatened to kill her. When she protested, he pushed her to the wall, pulled out a machete from his bag and attacked her, hitting repeatedly on her head. She fell unconscious and the attacker fled with Jyothis wallet containing some money, bank cards and her phone. The gory CCTV camera grabs aired by television channels all through the day shook the city and exposed the vulnerability of ATM kiosks to such attacks. After multiple operations on the head and months of hospitalisation, Jyothi was back on her feet. The investigation into the case, which hit a dead end after three years, came back to life in 2017 when a murder case was registered in Andhra Pradesh and the attacker confessed the Bengaluru crime. He was subsequently arrested and identified as Madhukar Reddy, whom Jyothi was quick to pick out. "I had seen him for about five minutes when he attacked me. I can never forget that face. When I saw him in the identification parade, I could immediately spot him despite different positions. He was the man," said Jyothi, a day after Reddy was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by the city civil and sessions court. On Tuesday evening, the court delivered its verdict in what it called a "spine chilling, brutal attack" case. Following this incident, security was provided to every ATM booth in the city along with installation of security cameras. Subsequently, several police teams were formed to nab the accused but the case hit a dead end. However, after a man was picked up for a murder-for-gain crime in Madanapalli, during interrogation he confessed to the Bengaluru ATM case. The dots and lines were joined and Jyothis case which was closed under a C-report was reopened. A charge sheet was filed, the trial began and reached its logical conclusion on Tuesday. "This incident was blown out of proportions by the media then. I feel the accused may have escaped from the city due to this. The police did a good job by cracking the case and the court has delivered an excellent judgement. I have forgotten the incident and dont want to look back. I was treated by a great team of doctors at BGS hospital under Dr Venkataramanas leadership. My bank supported me financially with hospital bills. I would call this incident my fate and would never want to relive that day. I am a very strong person and fought through this," said 51- year-old Jyothi, sitting in her managers chair at Union Bank, JC Road branch. This verdict is also a victory for the-then Ulsoor Gate assistant commissioner of police CE Thimmaiah who filed the charge sheet. Thimmaiah, now with the CID, recalls building the case files. "This case was closed without any evidence. When we got some information from Madanapalli police about the accused, we knew that we could crack the case. He was taken into our custody and the victim identified him immediately. Madhukar Reddy was an elusive man who was always on his toes and moving. This was a reason why he was not caught despite committing heinous crimes. We sent the samples to FSL, went into the DVR of the CCTV and completed all the required processes to finalise the charge sheet against Reddy. On the sunny Wednesday morning, when Jyothi walked into the bank, her casual demeanour, a slight limp notwithstanding, displayed how this middle-aged lady fought for her life and lived through a horror. PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSE: LCI) today reported financial results for its fiscal 2021 second quarter ended December 31, 2020. "For the fiscal 2021 second quarter, net sales exceeded our expectations, and adjusted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA were in line with our estimates," said Tim Crew, chief executive officer of Lannett. "We accomplished these results even though we continued to see new competitive approvals on certain key products and experienced certain out of the ordinary items, which negatively impacted our gross margin. Of course, there has also been an overall decline of total prescriptions related to the ongoing pandemic, which we expect will reverse in time. Further, our potentially durable, high-value pipeline assets in our portfolio continue to progress. So, while these immediate competitive pressures, along with the discontinuation of certain product lines noted below, have caused us to revise down our full-year guidance, we remain optimistic for our mid- and longer term growth prospects. "Turning to our balance sheet, in November we used a portion of our existing cash to pay down, in full, our Term A Loans, which will lower our annual interest expense and principal payments, going forward. In December, we established a new $30 million revolving credit facility, further enhancing our financial flexibility. "At quarter end, as previously disclosed, we made the decision to rationalize our product offering by discontinuing certain lower margin product lines. As a result, when combined with declines in key products, our expectation for the second half of fiscal 2021 compared with the first half is for our net sales to decrease but gross margin percentage to remain approximately the same." For the fiscal 2021 second quarter on a GAAP basis, net sales were $133.9 million compared with $136.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Gross profit of $0.8 million, or 1% of net sales, included a $16.6 million inventory write down associated with the discontinued product lines and $5.0 million to fully expense the cost to renew a product distribution contract. This compares with gross profit for the prior-year second quarter of $41.3 million, or 30% of net sales. During the fiscal 2021 second quarter, the company recorded non-cash, asset impairment charges of $198.0 million, primarily related to the write down of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals. Net loss was $171.9 million, or $4.36 per share, compared to net income of $5.1 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. For the fiscal 2021 second quarter reported on a Non-GAAP basis, net sales were $133.9 million compared with $136.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Adjusted gross profit was $31.1 million, or 23% of net sales, compared with $50.2 million, or 37% of net sales, for the prior-year second quarter. Adjusted interest expense decreased to $10.5 million compared with $13.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Adjusted net income was $3.2 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared with $11.7 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the fiscal 2020 second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal 2021 second quarter was $24.0 million. Guidance for Fiscal 2021 Based on its current outlook, the company revised guidance for fiscal year 2021, as follows: GAAP Adjusted** Net sales $480 million to $500 million, down from $520 million to $545 million $480 million to $500 million, down from $520 million to $545 million Gross margin % Approximately 14% to 16%, down from approximately 23% to 25% Approximately 24% to 26%, down from approximately 29% to 31% R&D expense $26 million to $28 million, down from $29 million to $32 million $26 million to $28 million, down from $29 million to $32 million SG&A expense $58 million to $60 million, down from $59 million to $62 million $52 million to $54 million, down from $55 million to $58 million Restructuring expense $4 million $-- Asset impairment charges $198 million $-- Interest and other $53 million to $54 million, unchanged $41 million to $42 million, unchanged Effective tax rate Approximately 27% to 28% Approximately 26% to 27% Adjusted EBITDA* N/A $75 million to $85 million, down from $100 million to $110 million Capital expenditures $10 million to $15 million, down from $15 million to $20 million $10 million to $15 million, down from $15 million to $20 million **A reconciliation of Adjusted amounts to most directly comparable GAAP amounts can be found in the attached financial tables. Conference Call Information and Forward-Looking Statements Later today, the company will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET to review its results of operations for its fiscal 2021 second quarter ended December 31, 2020. The conference call will be available to interested parties by dialing 800-447-0521 from the U.S. or Canada, or 847-413-3238 from international locations, passcode 50088413. The call will be broadcast via the Internet at www.lannett.com. Listeners are encouraged to visit the website at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the scheduled presentation to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A playback of the call will be archived and accessible on the same website for at least three months. Discussion during the conference call may include forward-looking statements regarding such topics as, but not limited to, the company's financial status and performance, regulatory and operational developments, and any comments the company may make about its future plans or prospects in response to questions from participants on the conference call. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures This news release contains references to Non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, which are financial measures that are not prepared in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP). Management uses these measures internally for evaluating its operating performance. The Company's management believes that the presentation of Non-GAAP financial measures provides useful supplementary information regarding operational performance, because it enhances an investor's overall understanding of the financial results for the Company's core business. Additionally, it provides a basis for the comparison of the financial results for the Company's core business between current, past and future periods. The Company also believes that including Adjusted EBITDA is appropriate to provide additional information to investors. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered only as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for or as a superior measure to, financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Detailed reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included with this release. Non-GAAP financial measures exclude, among others, the effects of (1) amortization of purchased intangibles and other purchase accounting entries, (2) restructuring expenses, (3) non-cash interest expense, as well as (4) certain other items considered unusual or non-recurring in nature. *Adjusted EBITDA excludes the same adjustments discussed above, as well as additional adjustments permitted under the company's existing Credit Agreement. About Lannett Company, Inc.: Lannett Company, founded in 1942, develops, manufactures, packages, markets and distributes generic pharmaceutical products for a wide range of medical indications see financial schedule below for net sales by medical indication. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lannett.com. This news release contains certain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future events or future business performance. Any such statements, including, but not limited to, successfully commercializing recently introduced products and launching and successfully commercializing additional products in fiscal 2021, achieving cost savings from the recently announced restructuring and cost savings plan, the potential material impact of COVID-19 on future financial results, and achieving the financial metrics stated in the company's revised guidance for fiscal 2021, whether expressed or implied, are subject to risks and uncertainties which can cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, the difficulty in predicting the timing or outcome of FDA or other regulatory approvals or actions, the ability to successfully commercialize products upon approval, including acquired products, and Lannett's estimated or anticipated future financial results, future inventory levels, future competition or pricing, future levels of operating expenses, product development efforts or performance, and other risk factors discussed in the company's Form 10-K and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. These forward-looking statements represent the company's judgment as of the date of this news release. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. FINANCIAL SCHEDULES FOLLOW LANNETT COMPANY, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands, except share and per share data) (Unaudited) December 31, 2020 June 30, 2020 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 34,224 $ 144,329 Accounts receivable, net 160,131 125,688 Inventories 122,204 142,867 Income taxes receivable 64,570 14,419 Assets held for sale 2,678 2,678 Other current assets 23,993 13,227 Total current assets 407,800 443,208 Property, plant and equipment, net 173,157 179,518 Intangible assets, net 163,488 374,735 Operating lease right-of-use asset 8,650 9,343 Deferred tax assets 132,409 117,890 Other assets 14,767 11,861 TOTAL ASSETS $ 900,271 $ 1,136,555 LIABILITIES Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 42,670 $ 32,535 Accrued expenses 4,092 14,962 Accrued payroll and payroll-related expenses 8,946 16,304 Rebates payable 43,791 38,175 Royalties payable 20,782 20,863 Restructuring liability 161 27 Current operating lease liabilities 2,115 1,097 Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt 39,345 88,189 Other current liabilities 1,770 2,713 Total current liabilities 163,672 214,865 Long-term debt, net 578,483 592,940 Long-term operating lease liabilities 9,233 9,844 Other liabilities 19,625 16,010 TOTAL LIABILITIES 771,013 833,659 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Common stock($0.001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 40,832,843 and 39,963,127 shares issued; 39,504,777 and 38,798,787 shares outstanding at December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, respectively) 41 40 Additional paid-in capital 326,939 321,164 Accumulated deficit (179,738) (1,291) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (595) (627) Treasury stock(1,328,066 and 1,164,340 shares at December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, respectively) (17,389) (16,390) Total stockholders' equity 129,258 302,896 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 900,271 $ 1,136,555 LANNETT COMPANY, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) (In thousands, except share and per share data) Three months ended Six months ended December 31, December 31, 2020 2019 2020 2019 Net sales $ 133,920 $ 136,110 $ 260,399 $ 263,452 Cost of sales 124,488 86,663 216,675 164,319 Amortization of intangibles 8,657 8,153 17,246 15,181 Gross profit 775 41,294 26,478 83,952 Operating expenses: Research and development expenses 5,644 6,906 12,183 15,846 Selling, general and administrative expenses 13,730 17,421 28,866 38,729 Restructuring expenses - 192 4,043 1,580 Asset impairment charges 198,000 - 198,000 1,618 Total operating expenses 217,374 24,519 243,092 57,773 Operating income (loss) (216,599) 16,775 (216,614) 26,179 Other income (loss): Loss on extinguishment of debt - - - (2,145) Investment income 43 430 88 1,159 Interest expense (13,496) (16,694) (27,982) (35,986) Other 28 (735) 5 199 Total other loss (13,425) (16,999) (27,889) (36,773) Loss before income tax (230,024) (224) (244,503) (10,594) Income tax benefit (58,076) (5,308) (66,056) (3,521) Net income (loss) $ (171,948) $ 5,084 $ (178,447) $ (7,073) Earnings (loss) per common share: Basic $ (4.36) $ 0.13 $ (4.55) $ (0.18) Diluted (1) $ (4.36) $ 0.13 $ (4.55) $ (0.18) Weighted average common shares outstanding: Basic 39,443,441 38,605,052 39,257,211 38,457,159 Diluted (1) 39,443,441 40,557,503 39,257,211 38,457,159 (1) Effective with the 4.5% Senior Convertible Note issued on September 27, 2019, the diluted earnings per share was calculated based on the "if-converted" method. LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP REPORTED TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (In thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) Three months ended December 31, 2020 Net sales Cost of sales Amortization of intangibles Gross Profit Gross Margin % R&D expenses SG&A expenses Asset impairment charges Operating income (loss) Other loss Income (loss) before income tax Income tax benefit Net income (loss) Diluted earnings (loss) per share (j) GAAP Reported $ 133,920 $ 124,488 $ 8,657 $ 775 1% $ 5,644 $ 13,730 $ 198,000 $ (216,599) $ (13,425) $ (230,024) $ (58,076) $ (171,948) $ (4.36) Adjustments: Amortization of intangibles (a) - - (8,657) 8,657 - - - 8,657 - 8,657 - 8,657 Cody API business (b) - (84) - 84 (3) (28) - 115 - 115 - 115 Depreciation on capitalized software costs (c) - - - - - (1,051) - 1,051 - 1,051 - 1,051 Asset impairment charges (d) - - - - - - (198,000) 198,000 - 198,000 - 198,000 Write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory (e) - (16,623) - 16,623 - - - 16,623 - 16,623 - 16,623 Distribution agreement renewal costs (f) - (4,966) - 4,966 - - - 4,966 - 4,966 - 4,966 Non-cash interest (g) - - - - - - - - 2,973 2,973 - 2,973 Other (h) - - - - - (553) - 553 - 553 - 553 Tax adjustments (i) - - - - - - - - - - 57,784 (57,784) Non-GAAP Adjusted $ 133,920 $ 102,815 $ - $ 31,105 23% $ 5,641 $ 12,098 $ - $ 13,366 $ (10,452) $ 2,914 $ (292) $ 3,206 $ 0.08 (a) To exclude amortization of purchased intangible assets primarily related to the acquisition of KUPI (b) To exclude the operating results of the ceased Cody API business (c) To exclude depreciation on previously capitalized software integration costs associated with the KUPI acquisition (d) To exclude asset impairment charges primarily related to the KUPI product rights intangible assets (e) To exclude write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory related to the discontinuance of certain product lines (f) To exclude the consideration recorded to renew the Company's distribution agreement with Recro Gainesville LLC (g) To exclude non-cash interest expense associated with debt issuance costs (h) To primarily exclude the reimbursement of legal costs associated with a distribution agreement (i) To exclude the tax effect of the pre-tax adjustments included above at applicable tax rates (j) The weighted average share number for the three months ended December 31, 2020 is 39,443,441 for GAAP and 41,074,706 for the non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share calculations LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP REPORTED TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (In thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) Three months ended December 31, 2019 Net sales Cost of sales Amortization of intangibles Gross Profit Gross Margin % R&D expense SG&A expense Restructuring expenses Operating income Other income (loss) Income (loss) before income tax Income tax expense (benefit) Net income Diluted earnings per share (i) GAAP Reported $ 136,110 $ 86,663 $ 8,153 $ 41,294 30% $ 6,906 $ 17,421 $ 192 $ 16,775 $ (16,999) $ (224) $ (5,308) $ 5,084 $ 0.13 Adjustments: Amortization of intangibles (a) - - (8,153) 8,153 - - - 8,153 - 8,153 - 8,153 Cody API business (b) - (206) - 206 (85) (161) - 452 - 452 - 452 Depreciation on capitalized software costs (c) - - - - - (1,058) - 1,058 - 1,058 - 1,058 Decommissioning of Philadelphia sites (d) - (303) - 303 - - - 303 - 303 - 303 Restructuring expenses (e) - - - - - - (192) 192 - 192 - 192 Non-cash interest (f) - - - - - - - - 3,563 3,563 - 3,563 Other (g) - (209) - 209 - (135) - 344 630 974 - 974 Tax adjustments (h) - - - - - - - - - - 8,111 (8,111) Non-GAAP Adjusted $ 136,110 $ 85,945 $ - $ 50,165 37% $ 6,821 $ 16,067 $ - $ 27,277 $ (12,806) $ 14,471 $ 2,803 $ 11,668 $ 0.27 (a) To exclude amortization of purchased intangible assets primarily related to the acquisitions of KUPI and Silarx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (b) To exclude the operating results of the ceased Cody API business (c) To exclude depreciation on previously capitalized software integration costs associated with the KUPI acquisition (d) To exclude the costs related to the decommissioning and shutdown of the Philadelphia manufacturing and distribution sites (e) To exclude expenses associated with the Cody API Restructuring Plan (f) To exclude non-cash interest expense associated with debt issuance costs (g) To primarily exclude a settlement related to a shareholder derivative lawsuit against certain current and former officers and directors of the Company (h) To exclude the tax effect of the pre-tax adjustments included above at applicable tax rates (i) The weighted average share number for the three months ended December 31, 2019 is 40,557,503 for GAAP and 46,198,445 for the non-GAAP earnings per share calculations. Effective with the 4.5% Senior Convertible Note issued on September 27, 2019, the diluted earnings per share was calculated based on the "if-converted" method. LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP REPORTED TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) (In thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) Six months ended December 31, 2020 Net sales Cost of sales Amortization of intangibles Gross Profit Gross Margin % R&D expenses SG&A expenses Restructuring expenses Asset impairment charges Operating income (loss) Other loss Income (loss) before income tax Income tax expense (benefit) Net income (loss) Diluted earnings (loss) per share (k) GAAP Reported $ 260,399 $ 216,675 $ 17,246 $ 26,478 10% $ 12,183 $ 28,866 $ 4,043 $ 198,000 $ (216,614) $ (27,889) $ (244,503) $ (66,056) $ (178,447) $ (4.55) Adjustments: Amortization of intangibles (a) - - (17,246) 17,246 - - - - 17,246 - 17,246 - 17,246 Cody API business (b) - (158) - 158 (5) (455) - - 618 - 618 - 618 Depreciation on capitalized software costs (c) - - - - - (2,102) - - 2,102 - 2,102 - 2,102 Restructuring expenses (d) - - - - - - (4,043) - 4,043 - 4,043 - 4,043 Asset impairment charges (e) - - - - - - - (198,000) 198,000 - 198,000 - 198,000 Write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory (f) - (16,623) - 16,623 - - - - 16,623 - 16,623 - 16,623 Distribution agreement renewal costs (g) - (4,966) - 4,966 - - - - 4,966 - 4,966 - 4,966 Non-cash interest (h) - - - - - - - - - 6,250 6,250 - 6,250 Other (i) - - - - - (1,504) - - 1,504 - 1,504 - 1,504 Tax adjustments (j) - - - - - - - - - - - 67,453 (67,453) Non-GAAP Adjusted $ 260,399 $ 194,928 $ - $ 65,471 25% $ 12,178 $ 24,805 $ - $ - $ 28,488 $ (21,639) $ 6,849 $ 1,397 $ 5,452 $ 0.13 (a) To exclude amortization of purchased intangible assets primarily related to the acquisition of KUPI (b) To exclude the operating results of the ceased Cody API business (c) To exclude depreciation on previously capitalized software integration costs associated with the KUPI acquisition (d) To exclude expenses associated with the 2020 Restructuring Plan (e) To exclude asset impairment charges primarily related to the KUPI product rights intangible assets (f) To exclude write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory related to the discontinuance of certain product lines (g) To exclude the consideration recorded to renew the Company's distribution agreement with Recro Gainesville LLC (h) To exclude non-cash interest expense associated with debt issuance costs (i) To primarily exclude the reimbursement of legal costs associated with a distribution agreement (j) To exclude the tax effect of the pre-tax adjustments included above at applicable tax rates (k) The weighted average share number for the six months ended December 31, 2020 is 39,257,211 for GAAP and 40,915,504 for the non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share calculations LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP REPORTED TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED INFORMATION (In thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) Six months ended December 31, 2019 Net sales Cost of sales Amortization of intangibles Gross Profit Gross Margin % R&D expense SG&A expense Restructuring expenses Asset impairment charges Operating income Other income (loss) Income (loss) before income tax Income tax expense (benefit) Net income (loss) Diluted earnings (loss) per share (k) GAAP Reported $ 263,452 $ 164,319 $ 15,181 $ 83,952 32% $ 15,846 $ 38,729 $ 1,580 $ 1,618 $ 26,179 $ (36,773) $ (10,594) $ (3,521) $ (7,073) $ (0.18) Adjustments: Amortization of intangibles (a) - - (15,181) 15,181 - - - - 15,181 - 15,181 - 15,181 Cody API business (b) - (1,928) - 1,928 (505) (375) - - 2,808 - 2,808 - 2,808 Depreciation on capitalized software costs (c) - - - - - (2,117) - - 2,117 - 2,117 - 2,117 Decommissioning of Philadelphia sites (d) - (1,292) - 1,292 - - - - 1,292 - 1,292 - 1,292 Restructuring expenses (e) - - - - - - (1,580) - 1,580 - 1,580 - 1,580 Asset impairment charges (f) - - - - - - - (1,618) 1,618 - 1,618 - 1,618 Non-cash interest (g) - - - - - - - - - 7,571 7,571 - 7,571 Loss on extinguishment of debt (h) - - - - - - - - - 2,145 2,145 - 2,145 Other (i) - (417) - 417 - (2,224) - - 2,641 (336) 2,305 - 2,305 Tax adjustments (j) - - - - - - - - - - - 9,110 (9,110) Non-GAAP Adjusted $ 263,452 $ 160,682 $ - $ 102,770 39% $ 15,341 $ 34,013 $ - $ - $ 53,416 $ (27,393) $ 26,023 $ 5,589 $ 20,434 $ 0.49 (a) To exclude amortization of purchased intangible assets primarily related to the acquisitions of KUPI and Silarx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (b) To exclude the operating results of the ceased Cody API business (c) To exclude depreciation on previously capitalized software integration costs associated with the KUPI acquisition (d) To exclude the costs related to the decommissioning and shutdown of the Philadelphia manufacturing and distribution sites (e) To exclude expenses associated with the Cody API Restructuring Plan (f) To exclude impairment charges primarily associated with an operating lease right-of-use asset (g) To exclude non-cash interest expense associated with debt issuance costs (h) To exclude the loss on extinguishment of debt primarily related to the partial repayment of the outstanding Term Loan A balance (i) To primarily exclude accrued separation costs related to the Company's former Chief Financial Officer as well as gains on sales of assets previously held for sale, partially offset by legal settlements (j) To exclude the tax effect of the pre-tax adjustments included above at applicable tax rates (k) The weighted average share number for the six months ended December 31, 2019 is 38,457,159 for GAAP and 43,723,412 for the non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share calculations. Effective with the 4.5% Senior Convertible Note issued on September 27, 2019, the diluted earnings per share was calculated based on the "if-converted" method. LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS TO ADJUSTED EBITDA (UNAUDITED) ($ in thousands) Three months ended December 31, 2020 Net loss $ (171,948) Interest expense 13,496 Depreciation and amortization 14,375 Income tax benefit (58,076) EBITDA (202,153) Share-based compensation 1,991 Inventory write-down (a) 20,609 Asset impairment charges (b) 198,000 Investment income (43) Other non-operating loss (28) Distribution agreement renewal costs (c) 4,966 Other(d) 668 Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP) $ 24,010 (a) To exclude write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory primarily related to the discontinuance of certain product lines (b) To exclude asset impairment charges primarily related to the KUPI product rights intangible assets (c) To exclude the consideration recorded to renew the Company's distribution agreement with Recro Gainesville LLC (d) To primarily exclude the reimbursement of legal costs associated with a distribution agreement, as well as the operating results of the ceased Cody API business LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTED INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) ($ in millions) Fiscal Year 2021 Guidance Non-GAAP GAAP Adjustments Adjusted Net sales $480 - $500 - $480 - $500 Gross margin percentage approx. 14% to 16% 10% (a) approx. 24% to 26% R&D expense $26 - $28 - $26 - $28 SG&A expense $58 - $60 ($6) (b) $52 - $54 Restructuring expense $4 ($4) (c) - Asset impairment charges $198 ($198) (d) - Interest and other $53 - $54 ($12) (e) $41 - $42 Effective tax rate approx. 27% to 28% (1%) (f) approx. 26% to 27% Adjusted EBITDA N/A N/A $75 - $85 Capital expenditures $10 - $15 - $10 - $15 (a) The adjustment primarily reflects amortization of purchased intangible assets related to the acquisition of Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("KUPI"), write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory related to the discontinuance of certain product lines, and consideration recorded to renew the Company's distribution agreement with Recro Gainesville LLC (b) The adjustment primarily excludes depreciation on previously capitalized software integration costs associated with the KUPI acquisition (c) To exclude expenses associated with the 2020 Restructuring Plan (d) To exclude asset impairment charges primarily related to the KUPI product rights intangible assets (e) The adjustment primarily reflects non-cash interest expense associated with debt issuance costs (f) The adjustment reflects the impact of tax credits and deductions relate to expected annual pre-tax income (loss) as well as the impact of the CARES Act, which allows the Company to carryback the expected taxable loss into a prior fiscal year, where the statutory tax rate was 35% LANNETT COMPANY, INC. RECONCILIATION OF NET LOSS TO ADJUSTED EBITDA (UNAUDITED) ($ in millions) Fiscal Year 2021 Guidance Low High Net loss $ (197.6) $ (189.1) Interest expense 53.0 54.0 Depreciation and amortization 55.0 55.0 Income taxes (73.4) (73.9) EBITDA (163.0) (154.0) Share-based compensation 9.0 9.0 Inventory write-down 27.0 28.0 Asset impairment charges 198.0 198.0 Restructuring expenses 4.0 4.0 Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP) $ 75.0 $ 85.0 LANNETT COMPANY, INC. NET SALES BY MEDICAL INDICATION Three months ended Six months ended ($ in thousands) December 31, December 31, Medical Indication 2020 2019 2020 2019 Analgesic $ 3,572 $ 2,111 $ 6,692 $ 3,995 Anti-Psychosis 13,317 22,697 26,345 50,730 Cardiovascular 16,336 23,972 36,050 45,579 Central Nervous System 24,614 19,331 47,139 38,588 Endocrinology 9,496 - 12,729 - Gastrointestinal 18,575 18,313 35,675 35,275 Infectious Disease 23,044 18,078 44,976 29,973 Migraine 6,083 10,878 15,773 20,021 Respiratory/Allergy/Cough/Cold 2,267 3,075 3,693 5,781 Urinary 1,361 1,233 2,819 1,668 Other 8,410 9,934 16,044 19,796 Contract Manufacturing revenue 6,845 6,488 12,464 12,046 Net Sales $ 133,920 $ 136,110 $ 260,399 $ 263,452 Contact: Robert Jaffe Robert Jaffe Co., LLC (424) 288-4098 SOURCE Lannett Company, Inc. Related Links www.lannett.com Oxford University and AstraZeneca plan to have a new Covid vaccine ready by the autumn to tackle new variants of the coronavirus, they confirmed today. Growing evidence suggests that a mutation first found in the South African variant of the virus, and now cropping up elsewhere, can reduce how well current vaccines work because it changes the shape of the spike protein that the jabs target. And to overcome this, jab manufacturers say they are already working on updating their vaccines because they need to be extremely specific to offer the best form of protection. The Oxford/AstraZeneca team, makers of one of the world's most advanced vaccines so far, say they will have their adapted version ready and manufactured before the end of 2021. Oxford's Professor Andrew Pollard, who is leading studies of the jab, said it would be a 'short process' compared to making the original vaccine from scratch. The update could be used either as a booster for people who have already had a different vaccine or it could be used on its own for those who are still unvaccinated. AstraZeneca's executive vice-president, Sir Mene Pangalos, said today: 'We're very much aiming to have something ready by the autumn this year.' The announcement comes after the team got a huge boost to their jab development from a study published last night that suggested it can cut transmission by up to two thirds and a single dose can prevent 76 per cent of severe illnesses for three months, with that rising to 82 per cent after the second dose. In another ray of hope from Oxford's research, Dr Andrew Pollard one of the lead Oxford researchers said he is confident the current jabs will still prevent severe Covid in people who get infected with mutated variants of the virus. He admitted the South African strain 'will have a big impact on the immune response from all the vaccines', suggesting the jab may not be as effective in curbing spread. But he says it is possible that it will morph to become like other coronaviruses that just cause a common cold or 'mild' infections. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, named ChAdOx1, is one of the most advanced in the world and has already been given to millions of people and data suggests it can stop transmission of the virus as well as severe Covid-19 disease KENT VARIANT FOUND WITH MUTATION FROM SOUTH AFRICA STRAIN The Kent Covid variant has started to mutate further to become more like the one that evolved in South Africa in what scientists have dubbed a 'worrying development' that could make vaccines less effective. One of the key mutations on the South African and Brazilian variants appear to make the virus more able to resist immunity that has been developed by past infection or from the current vaccines. And this mutation has now been found at least 11 times in different cases of people infected with the Kent variant, Public Health England revealed, raising fears it could become a permanent feature of the British strain. Both the Kent and South African variants already share one mutation, named N501Y, which makes the virus spread faster. And if this mutation, named E484K, sticks around as well the variants could become extremely similar. E484K has been concerning scientists because it changes the shape of the virus's outer spike protein in a way that makes it difficult for the body to recognise it if it is only used to looking for older versions of the virus without the mutation. This could raise the risk of reinfection or reduce how well vaccines work but top Government advisers insist jabs should still be effective. The jabs, however, have been made to specifically target an older version of the virus that didn't have the mutation, meaning that major changes to the virus might make it less able to spot and fix to it. SAGE adviser Professor Calum Semple suggested yesterday that the risk of the Kent variant and other versions of the virus continuing to evolve was 'inevitable' and 'will occur in time', and this mutation would likely be part of that. Speaking about the threat, Professor Ravi Gupta, an infectious diseases expert at Cambridge University, said: 'The number of sequences is low at present, though enhanced surveillance is being undertaken by PHE. There may be more cases out there given how high transmission has been. We need to continue vaccinating and drive down transmission.' Advertisement Professor Andrew Pollard told a media briefing: 'I think the actual work on designing a new vaccine is very, very quick because it's essentially just switching out the genetic sequence for the spike protein, so for the updated variants. 'Then there's manufacturing to do and then a small-scale study. 'All of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use rather than for having the clinical trials run.' Vaccines are likely to have be updated over time to cope with mutated variants of the coronavirus because they make specific molecules to target the virus. One of the main ways the immune system destroys viruses but not the only one is by using antibodies, but these are generally unique to every different virus and must be made from scratch. Vaccinating someone introduces a part of the virus to the body so the immune system can mould antibodies to it and then store them in case it comes into contact with the real, live virus in the future. When the virus mutates and changes shape as its spike protein has in coronavirus cases caused by the South Africa variant and the ones found in Brazil and Kent these antibodies can become outdated and less successful at targeting the virus. Top Government advisers insist the current crop should still work but may be slightly less effective. If the immune system has a weaker line of defence against the virus because of this, it raises the risk of people getting reinfected or getting sick despite having been immunised. Developing new vaccines based on this changed version of the virus should overcome this problem. Professor Pollard said it was 'very difficult to know' which mutations and variants would pose the biggest problems by the autumn this year. But he said: 'At this moment, researchers are looking at current variants that are dominating... I suspect that this is going to be an ongoing challenge to follow what the virus is doing.' The main worrying variants at the moment are B.1.1.7, found in England; B.1.351, which emerged in South Africa; and P.1, from Brazil. The South African and Brazilian variants both have a mutation called E484K, which changes the spike protein in a way that makes vaccines less effective. A study in South Africa found that 48 per cent of blood samples from people who had been infected in the past did not show an immune response to viruses with this E484K mutation. One researcher said it was 'clear that we have a problem'. And cases of the English Kent variant have also been found with the same mutation, although it is not yet a permanent feature of that strain. Professor Pollard said earlier today that he expects the E484K mutation and future changes to the virus to reduce how well the current vaccines work. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'That mutation is a really interesting one because it is in a bit of the spike protein that most of us try and make antibodies against, and so its highly likely that that will have a big impact on the immune response from all the vaccines... 'I think all developers are looking at updated vaccines at this moment so there will be vaccines that are tested and thats a relatively short process in order to make sure that we are prepared if these mutations result in ongoing severe disease. 'But I think there is a bit of hope in that, when we look at studies that have been done of the vaccines from any country in the world, including those with the variants, if they look at severe disease in those studies then were still seeing very good protection.' For two months Billy, a half-breed dog a couple of years old, hasnt seen his owner, hospitalized since November due to a coronavirus infection. For the past months Billy has been standing in front of the door of his house in Dorno, near Pavia, waiting for his owner to come back. Also read: Covid-19 in Italy: what you can and can't do in a yellow zone It's impossible to move him, except in the evening when the grandchildren of Marco Maiolani, 55 years old volunteer of the Civil Protection, manages to convince him to go back in his house. Also read: Italy - Rome's Fiumicino airport to host major covid-19 vaccination hub The story is reported by Provincia Pavese. In the morning, he comes out again and and goes back to wait. "I miss him a lot. He's a priceless and irreplaceable company," explains his owner who, after spending a long time at San Matteo Hospital, also in the intensive care unit, has now been transferred to the Maugeri Institute for rehabilitation. "Just a little more patience - he says - and then I'll be back to normal. I can't wait to be able to pet my Billy." Ph: Corriere News: ANSA If it exploded last time, try, try again. They did, and it exploded again. On Tuesday, a test flight of SpaceXs Starship, a huge next-generation spacecraft that Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of the private rocket company, dreams of one day sending to Mars, came to an explosive end. That brief flight, to an altitude of about 10 kilometres and then back to a landing pad, appeared to again demonstrate how the mammoth rocket would tip over on its side as it descended in a controlled belly flop back toward a landing. SpaceXs second Starship test flight ends in another fireball. Credit:YouTube But when the prototype fired its engines to right itself back to a vertical orientation, it appeared that one engine did not properly ignite, and Starship hit the ground at an angle, disintegrating in a fireball, leaving a cloud of smoke rising over the test site, which is in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville. The journalist Edouard Perrin, one of the individuals at the centre of the LuxLeaks affair, appeared before the Court of Appeal in Metz on Tuesday. The verdict will be handed down on 25 March. This hearing before the Court of Appeal, a consequence of the LuxLeaks case, was a "real issue on the freedom to inform", according to Edouard Perrin, journalist for the French television show "Cash Investigation". Perrin is at the origin of the revelations in the tax evasion case which brought to light the practices of the Luxembourg audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). In November 2014, PwC had the computer equipment of the whistleblower Raphael Halet seized at his home in France and proceeded to access his correspondence with Perrin. In order to carry out the seizure, PwC obtained an order signed by the Metz special court for interim measures to enter Halet's home. Perrin, who was accused and then acquitted during the LuxLeaks trial in Luxembourg, decided to take the audit firm to court in November 2017 for a clear breach of confidentiality of sources with the goal of having the order quashed. The French journalist explained that this action had only one aim: that a judge could never again sign this kind of document. He also pointed out that the judge who did so in this case later admitted that she would not do it again. Following Perrin's action, the public prosecutor initially took the view that this was a clear violation of the secrecy of sources, enshrined in the 1881 bill since 2010, and essential for an investigation of this magnitude. However, to general bewilderment, the Metz district court, on the other hand, dismissed the journalist in February 2018 and fined him 3,000. At the end of the hearing on Tuesday, Perrin was still asking himself many questions: Why did a judge sign an order allowing this seizure? Why was the violation of the confidentiality of sources recognised in the first instance, and above all why did the public prosecutor's office subsequently decide to completely reverse its position? Perrin stated that, after Tuesday's hearing, he was not at all confident. The same arguments were put forward by PwC's lawyer, whose pleadings, Perrin pointed out, contained at least two lies. One concerning the initial application in which his name was allegedly not mentioned, which was not true, and the other concerning Halet's status as a whistleblower, currently under consideration before the European Court of Human Rights, contrary to what PwC's lawyer claimed, Perrin countered. The National Union of Journalists (SNJ), which supports Perrin and is represented by Dominique Pradalie, declared that is ready and prepared to continue the fight, stating that it is "unbelievable" to be forced to go to court to have this order quashed. The SNJ notes that what this affair showed is that a company can legitimately take the law into its own hands and "ensure that the secrecy of its business takes precedence over the secrecy of sources and the general interest". This is, according to the union, opening up the path to a never-before-seen lack of transparency in terms of revealing dubious company practices. The appeal process could lead to a disturbing jurisprudence for the practice of the journalist's profession, and therefore for democracy as a whole. The accounts of both parties' lawyers and a few words from the prosecutor were on the agenda of Tuesday's hearing. The verdict will be handed down on 25 March. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. By Ritah Kemigisa Police confirmed Wednesday that at least 10 people had died and 33 others seriously injured after a grisly accident involving five vehicles along Fort Portal-Kasese highway on Tuesday night. The 9pm accident occurred at Kihogo along HimaRugendabara road, according to eye witness accounts. The section of the highway is still under re-construction. The accident involved five cars including a Canta truck carrying a coffin and mourners from Bundibugyo District that were headed to Maliba sub county for burial. It is reported that the truck rammed into a Noah car which was also rammed into by two other lorries that were en route from Fort Portal city before another vehicle from Kasese crashed into the four. The Red cross spokesperson Irene Nakasita tells Kfm that as of last night, 10 bodies had been recovered from the car crash scene. She says five survivors were rescued and are currently nursing wounds at Kilembe hospital. Editors note: This story was updated on February 4, 2021 to reflect police clarification on the number of casualties. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Over 26 global industry leaders, specialists, and experts will attend the International Defence Conference 2021, which will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, on February 20. The event, held as hybrid event for the first time in its history, will be held both at the ADNOC Business Center, as well as virtually through global platforms. Participants will discuss the Prosperity and Development of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology and the Protection in the Era of the 4IR. The Conference is organised by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) and the Tawazun Economic Council (Tawazun), in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and the General Command of the Armed Forces of the UAE. The conference will run on February 20 from 8:00am to 14:00pm. The globally leading defence exhibitions, IDEX 2021 and NAVDEX 2021, will open the following day and run from February 21 25, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The Conference will open with a speech by His Excellency Mohammed Bin Ahmad Al Bawardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs in the UAE. His Excellency will highlight how the UAE plays a key role in advancing the global defence sector. Four main sessions will follow, which both local and international experts will participate in. Prominent speakers include His Excellency Suhail Bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, His Excellency Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and His Excellency Eng. Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Ohali, Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first session, held under the title Exploring innovative opportunities in supply-chain ecosystem management beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic, will welcome His Excellency Suhail Bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, His Excellency Eng. Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al Ohali, Helmut Rauch, CEO & President of Diehl Defence, and Tim Cahill, Senior Vice President at Lockheed Martin International. This session will be moderated by Badr Al-Olama, Executive Director Aerospace, Mubadala Investment Company. The second session, held under the title Protecting AI and other 4IR technologies in the age of collaboration and diffusion, will be attended by His Excellency Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama; Micael Johansson, Chief Executive Officer at Saab Group; Heidi Grant, Director of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency in the United States of America, and Eric Papin, Executive VP Technical and Innovation Officer, Naval Group. As for the third session, it will be held under the title 'Strengthening the Defence industries R&D in an increasingly dynamic global context'. Participants on this session will include: His Excellency Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and Managing Director of EDGE; His Excellency Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council; Dr. Uzi Rubin, Senior Researcher at the Jerusalem Institute of Strategy and Security; Kim, Yoon Seok, Deputy Minister Office of Military Force and Resource Management in South Korea; and Lieutenant General (rtd) Theodoros LAGIOS HAF, General Director of General Directorate for Defence Investments and Armaments (GDDIA). This session will be moderated by Dr. Noah Raford, Chief of Global Affairs, Dubai Future Foundation. The Conference concludes with the fourth session entitled A holistic view on Cyber Security Resiliency during the era of Digital Transformation. Speaking at the session will be: His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government, and Vice Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, AVSM, NM, Director General Naval Operations. This session will be moderated by Dr. Bushra Al Blooshi, Head of Research and Innovation at the Dubai Electronic Security Centre. The closing remarks of the International Defence Conference will be delivered by Dr. Yehya Al Marzouqi, Vice Chairman of the Conference Organising Committee, and Advisor to the CEOs Office at Tawazun Economic Council. Commenting on the upcoming edition of the Conference, Brigadier General Eng. Khalifa Ali Al Kaabi, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the International Defence Conference 2021, said: We are proud to welcome global leaders in the defence industry to Abu Dhabi. They will take part in this pioneering event that will emphasise how co-operation and collaboration are critical in facing ongoing technological challenges. Through these sessions, participants will be able to discuss developments across defence, security, and technology, looking to strengthen defence systems and infrastructure. In short, this conference enables the global sector to adopt the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Al Kaabi added: This conference will be organised during the recovery phase from COVID-19. It shall mark the beginning of new growth opportunities for the wider sector, as we look to the future. Through discussing these pressing global issues and challenges, companies and entities can develop new opportunities, take critical decisions to support governments, and promote the national economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. Saeed Bin Khadim Al Mansoori, Executive Director at Capital Events, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, commented: At ADNEC, we look to transfer and localise knowledge in the UAE through attracting global expertise. The International Defence Conference brings together participants and experts from these vital sectors, enabling them to meet and do business. Such events demonstrate why Abu Dhabi is the regional capital of the business tourism sector. Our nation has earned the confidence of the international community as a safe global destination. We have proactively handled the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to contain the risk of its spread. Now, the UAE is ready to host the world, once again. As we look to welcome delegates from across the globe, ADNEC will implement a wide range of measures which ensure that conference participants and delegates remain safe, following leading international standards. Both ADNEC and the organising committees of IDEX and NAVDEX exhibitions and the International Defence Conference continue to coordinate with the UAEs authorities in implementing the highest standard of safety measures for all. All attending IDEX, NAVDEX, and the IDC will be required to have a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before entering either the conference or the exhibitions. In addition, social distancing measures and the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) is being mandated across exhibitions and conference facilities.--TradeArabia News Service Update: Alabama State Troopers say the crash involved one vehicle and killed an Elkmont woman. It happened at approximately 6:45 p.m. Tuesday. Troopers say Kimberly Michele Carter, 52, was fatally injured when the Chevy Silverado she was driving left the road, hit a ditch and overturned, ejecting her. They say she was not using her seat belt and died at the scene. A passenger in the Silverado was injured and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Troopers say alcohol is suspected to be a contributing factor to the crash. From earlier: The Limestone County coroner says there was a fatality in a wreck on Tuesday. Were told it happened at Sandlin Road and Fain Road. Weve reached out to Alabama State Troopers for further information and will provide updates. As he looks to Pennsylvanias post-pandemic future, Gov. Tom Wolf is returning to familiar ideas: more money for schools, paid for with more tax dollars. On Tuesday, Wolfs administration unveiled highlights of the budget proposal hes expected to deliver to legislators Wednesday. It features an extra $1.5 billion for public education in what would be the biggest financial boost for schools since he took office in 2015 accompanied by a roughly 50% increase in the personal income tax rate. While sweeping proposals from earlier in his tenure fell short amid stalemates with the Republican-led legislature, the Democratic governor appears to be renewing his push for broader changes to Pennsylvanias taxation system as the pandemic continues to upend the states public schools. The plan which also includes tax credits that officials said would exempt two-thirds of Pennsylvanians from the increase was cheered by public education advocates, who said it would steer needed resources to underfunded schools and marked a step toward addressing stark funding gaps between districts. But it appeared likely to face opposition in the legislature, where some GOP lawmakers immediately criticized the tax increase. Proposing middle-class tax increases during a pandemic shows how out of touch Gov. Wolf is and how he is not taking Pennsylvanias return to normal seriously, said Jason Gottesman, spokesperson for House Republicans. Wolf administration officials said Tuesday that the governors proposal would raise Pennsylvanias personal income tax rate from 3.07% to 4.49% as of July 1. Tax credits would be expanded, though, and most Pennsylvanians will have their taxes remain the same or get a tax cut, they said. Under the plan, for instance, a married couple with two children and less than $84,000 in income would qualify for a tax cut. Were going to stop asking working families to pay the same tax rate my family does, Wolf, who was a multimillionaire business owner when he was first elected, said in a statement. I want to help working families get ahead by reducing their taxes. The changes to the income tax rate would yield the state an additional $3 billion, officials said enough to underwrite the new spending on schools. READ MORE: Federal aid is keeping Pa. schools afloat, but state will need to step up with funding, report says Wolf proposes to add more than $1.3 billion to the main state subsidy for public schools close to a 20% increase over the current $6.8 billion in aid. But his plan isnt limited to adding money. Wolf would redistribute all existing aid through a state formula that directs funding to needier school districts. He would then spend most of the new funding $1.15 billion to ensure no schools lose money in the redistribution. Thats a big change: Currently, only 11% of state education aid is distributed through the formula, and most money is given out based on what schools received in the past. Because Pennsylvanias public schools are funded primarily through local taxes, advocates say the states failure to more fully use its formula has contributed to wide disparities between wealthy and poor communities. We think this is a huge step in the right direction, said Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center, which along with the Public Interest Law Center is representing plaintiffs suing the state over school funding. For years, our system has allowed the students who need the most to get the least. An analysis commissioned for the plaintiffs last year found Pennsylvania schools that are inadequately funded most of the states districts need an additional $4.6 billion. Wolfs budget proposal wouldnt close that gap, Klehr noted. READ MORE: Pennsylvania schools need an additional $4.6 billion to close education gaps, new analysis finds Wolfs plan also includes an additional $200 million for special education, a proposal Klehr and other advocates highlighted as particularly important, after years of costs there outpacing increases in state aid. The governor also renewed his call for changes to charter school funding, including for cyber charters which are privately run but funded by school districts based on enrollment and which have drawn a surge of new students amid the pandemic. The governor is demonstrating his commitment to public education and we are hopeful and cautiously optimistic that this focus will shine a light on the many long-standing issues that need to be addressed in public education, said Nathan Mains, chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Neither his association nor others representing public school officials commented directly Tuesday on Wolfs plan to redistribute aid through the states funding formula. Some said they were waiting to review additional information. A spokesperson for Senate Republicans declined comment until after Wolfs budget address, though some individual lawmakers voiced disapproval. Nothing new with the governors progressive tax proposal, tweeted Sen. Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland). Its a typical cookie-cutter mantra that we hear over and over from the left wing of that party. Pennsylvania has one of the lowest personal income tax rates in the country in part because it has a flat rate rather than a graduated rate based on income level. The state cant maintain that tax rate and expect to have a modern state with a quality education system, said Donna Cooper, the executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth and onetime policy chief under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. While theres a knee-jerk reaction against raising taxes, she said, the proposal would shield lower-income Pennsylvanians from increases. Given the ongoing court challenge to the states school-funding system, lawmakers may be forced to confront the funding problem, Cooper said. They could wait until a court ruling though by then, she noted, some of them will be Republicans who want to run for governor. For Wolf, the 2021-22 budget will be the second to last he delivers during his tenure, and maybe the best chance to make lasting impact. We will defeat COVID, but we cant yet say when it will be safe for life to return to normal and its hard to know what normal will even look like, he said in his statement Tuesday. But I refuse to tell any young family in Pennsylvania that they just happen to be starting out at the wrong time that, with everything going on, 2021 just isnt going to be the year we get around to lifting the barriers that stand between them and the future they hope to provide for their children. 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. 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). Together, the brand and chef are creating delicious recipes using the healthy pasta alternative to put a spin on traditional pasta dishes. From 10-Minute Buttered, Herbed Elbows that puts a culinary twist on a simple classic, to Rotini with White Clam Sauce and Roasted Garlic that infuses flavor into a popular seaside dish, the ZENB Pasta recipes from Chef Alex allow any home chef to transform their pasta night with more plant-powered goodness. Pasta lovers nationwide can get exclusive access to recipes on www.ZENB.com and by following along with Chef Alex on Instagram (@guarnaschelli) and Facebook (@chefalexguarnaschelli). "ZENB Pasta has a delicious taste and a beautifully 'al dente' texture, making it perfect for pasta night or any time," said Chef Alex. "It goes without saying that we love pasta in my household, and this is a great-tasting, healthy swap that is our new favorite for all kinds of pasta dishes, from classic tomato sauces, to buttery herby sauces, to cheesy goodness. With this tasty alternative you will do a doubletake when realizing it's made entirely from yellow peas it's that good." For the opportunity to cook one of the exclusive ZENB Pasta recipes alongside the food personality, fans can enter the Virtual Cooking Class with Celebrity Chef Guarnaschelli Sweepstakes. One grand prize winner and a guest will receive a private virtual cooking class with Chef Alex, a one-year supply of ZENB Pasta and an autographed copy of Cook with Me, Chef Alex's newest cookbook. Ten runner ups will also receive a one-year supply of the protein-packed pasta and an autographed copy of the chef's cookbook. Aspiring chefs and food enthusiasts alike can enter for their chance to win and view the official rules at ZENB.com/ChefAlex. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 PM ET on February 3, 2021 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on February 28, 2021. Open only to legal residents of the 48 contiguous US/DC who are 18 years or older. Void where prohibited. Official rules can be found at go.zenb.com/chefalexsweepsrules. ZENB Pasta was introduced in November 2020, offering a healthy pasta that does not sacrifice taste. According to a taste test of 400 consumers conducted by ZENB, more than 80% of participants said ZENB Rotini Pasta tasted the same as the traditional pasta they sampled. Through this collaboration, ZENB and Chef Alex reinforce the idea that taste and health do not have to be mutually exclusive, creating a whole new pasta experience. "Chef Alex is a world-class chef who is passionate about using whole ingredients and making mealtime moments special, which is what we're all about at ZENB," said Christiane Paul, ZENB chief marketing officer, U.S. and U.K. "Our vision is to make the plant-based category inclusive, while creating tasty products that make simple swaps crave-worthy. Our work with Chef Alex emphasizes that products like our gluten-free pasta are a convenient and delicious option for every palate." Available in Rotini, Penne and Elbow, ZENB Pasta contains 17 grams of protein, 11 grams of fiber and 30% fewer net carbs than traditional pasta in each three-ounce serving. First-time purchasers can try each shape with the ZENB Pasta Starter Pack, which is available for $14.99 with free shipping. Larger quantity boxes of 6 ($29.99) and boxes of 10 ($49.99) can also be ordered for delivery. For added convenience, subscribe to receive a 5% discount and free shipping. ZENB Pasta is exclusively available on ZENB.com, where consumers can find more details on the exclusive recipes from Chef Alex and the Virtual Cooking Class with Celebrity Chef Guarnaschelli Sweepstakes. About ZENB ZENB is a plant-powered, direct-to-consumer brand on a mission to make plant-based foods more delicious, accessible and convenient. Using parts of legumes and vegetables that are often thrown away (skin, seeds, stems and all), ZENB products open a whole new world of flavor and nutrition. A global brand with vast presence in Japan and the U.K., ZENB debuted in the U.S. market in 2019 with its veggie-first snack products, ZENB Veggie Sticks and ZENB Veggie Bites, with domestic headquarters in Chicago. Committed to making plant-based products the center of everyday lives, the brand launched a single-ingredient pasta made from yellow peas in November 2020 for U.S. consumers, with plans to grow its meal and snack portfolios. ZENB aspires to improve sustainability and the global environment by thoughtfully selecting ingredients that reinforce this commitment, including its ZENB Pasta made from 100% yellow peas, which have a lower carbon footprint and use less water and fertilizer to grow than the durum wheat used to make traditional pasta. For more information about ZENB and to join the community, visit ZENB.com or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. About Chef Guarnaschelli Chef Alex Guarnaschelli is a world-renowned chef who, after attending La Varenne Culinary School in Burgundy, France, began her international culinary journey training in Paris and New York with some of the world's most acclaimed chefs including Guy Savoy and Daniel Boulud. In 2003, Guarnaschelli became the executive chef at Butter, where she has since created her own seasonal American menu with French and Italian influences. Guarnaschelli first appeared on Food Network in 2006 as a competitor on Food Network Challenge, and since has been part of over 600 episodes of programming on the network. She hosts her own primetime show "Supermarket Stakeout" Tuesday nights at 10 PM EST and is a co-host on the popular daytime show "The Kitchen". Guarnaschelli is a recurring judge on the popular Food Network series "Chopped' and host of the award-winning digital series, Fix Me a Plate. Guarnaschelli bested nine rival chefs to win The Next Iron Chef: Redemption, earing the coveted title of Iron Chef. She has also been featured as a guest co-host on Beat Bobby Flay, with numerous appearances on Guy's Grocery Games, Guy's Ranch Kitchen, Cooking Channel's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and more. Guarnaschelli is also the author of three cookbooks: Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook (2013) , "The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart "(2017) and her newest endeavor 'Cook with Me: 150 Recipes for the Home Cook" released in October 2020. SOURCE ZENB Related Links https://zenb.com This week virologist Ben Neuman answers questions from readers. Before most of us knew what a coronavirus even was, Neuman was one of the worlds top experts on them. Hes science-world famous for growing SARS-type coronavirus in the lab and is a professor of biology, and Global Health Research Complex Chief Virologist at Texas A&M University. Soon after the discovery of the virus now shaking our world, he served on the panel that named it. (Officially, its not the rona. Its SARS-CoV-2.) This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Lots of people had questions about new variants of this coronavirus. Could you talk about what a variant is? Why are some more infectious than others? This is a whole thing where the public perception of what a virus is and does is different from what a virus actually is and does. The public tends to think of a new strain, a new variant, as one thats a little bit different and somehow just so much better at doing everything than the old version. But viruses are not that clean and tidy. About one out of every two or three copies that the virus makes of itself will have some kind of mistake an extra base, or one base missing. Something will change just randomly. So no matter which virus strain you catch, within just a few hours a couple rounds of replication that strain has actually made every possible variant that can exist under the sun. So what are these new variants? Well, theyre kind of like the center of that cloud of virus thats spreading. The virus operates as an entire squad of these little mutants that kind of cooperate without communicating. Its a very strange thing called a quasi-species. So heres the thing: To replicate itself, the virus is running all these little assembly lines under whatever conditions it finds in a cell. Getting as much product at the end as possible as many virus copies as possible is all about lining up the assembly lines. But a virus doesnt have dials that let it turn up and down some of the machinery that its running. Those genetic changes, the mutations, let it adjust. Certain mutations will make each machine run a little bit slower or a little bit faster. Thats whats really going on. Now, to answer your question in a way that people understand: The new variant seems to be one that has completely replaced the old variants. The UK had these strains called 20A and the 20B. Each of these is a loose confederation of viruses that are more or less the same. When you get a COVID-19 test, the lab is only looking for a little part of the virus that doesnt change, so that test doesnt tell you which strain you have. When a scientist gets around to sequencing the genome of the virus strains, then they will pick up a batch of just random positives, read them out and see whats been going on. The last time I looked, you have to plunk down about $1,000 per sequence. So maybe every month or so this happens. Thats what happened in the UK: They looked once, and it was 20A and 20B; they looked again in a month or two, and all of a sudden, those strains were almost gone. Theyd been replaced by this new thing. MORE FROM LISA GRAY: Shed had COVID-19. She didnt think she could get it again. More from Lisa Gray News Should kids still wear masks? Texas Children's chief... That suggests that this strain is spreading a little faster or a little more widely or at least, that its out competing with the other coronavirus strains that are out there. The thing is, we dont know what that means. A viruss life is very hard. This thing has to get made in a cell that tries to kill it. It has to get past an immune system. All this sticky mucus is trying to trap it and destroy it. Then the virus has to get out into the world probably by hanging in a little droplet for just long enough that somebody else can breathe it in. And then it has to go through that process in reverse to get into the new persons cells and multiply. Its not always one particular kind of mutation that gives a virus greater fitness. A mutation might mean that virus does things more slowly. Or that it does them more quickly. Or its more stable. Or its more primed and ready to go. All the mutations will give the virus different properties, slightly different options. Honestly, the only way to really figure out what this variant does is the real-world experiment that were all doing right now. So we dont know how these variants are physically different from the older versions? No, we know exactly where the differences are. There are 28 differences in the genome. There are a couple mutations up in a protein called nsp1. Those might lower the amount of disease the virus causes. We think nsp1 is one of the things that is stomping on a part of our immune system that tries to set off alarm bells the interferon system, the way that your cells let other cells know something bad is happening and they need help. The variant has also got problems down the thing called open reading frame 8 that nobody really knows all that much about. It seems to have the same sort of effect in us that it does in bats: Its maybe about shutting down the interferon system. So probably, that change makes the virus a little less able to evade our immune system, and a little less dangerous. Then theres a whole host of mutations in the spike gene. Theres one right at the tip of the spike. The part of the coronavirus spike that binds to the human cells receptor looks sort of like a wishbone, the kind that you would grab after Thanksgiving dinner. One of these mutations is there, so its going to affect the part that actually clamps down onto the spike. And that may indeed, make the virus either more stable or less stable, faster or slower at binding particular receptors. Thats the possibility. But we have to wait till the experiments are done. Theres just a lot about this virus that we dont really understand. That particular change its called the N501Y mutation has been circulating in the U.S. since spring, and it has not taken off in the U.S. So most likely its not that mutation alone thats driving this spread. The difference could be due to people infected with that strain at one or two super spreader events. You can only spread the virus you happen to have, and if you just happen to be the most popular person that the COVID party, then yeah, everybodys gonna get your personal strain. Fantastic, right? Or that variants presence could be due to a lot of this stuff. We dont know. But I do know everybodys worried about it. The South African version is almost identical: one has 28 mutations compared to the original, one has 29. About every two weeks a new mutation comes in. Thats just what these viruses do. We expect 30 mutations a year, its been a year, and weve got a 29 mutation variants circulating. That is exactly business as usual for a coronavirus. So the viruses may be becoming more infectious but less deadly? Possibly. Viruses dont necessarily want to kill you. Viruses are generally optimized for whatever produces the most new viruses. And a dead person doesnt do that. We think these viruses are probably optimized for living in a bat. And whereas we have an immune system with lots of different components, bats rely very, very heavily on this thing called type one interferon. And so to survive on the bat, you have to be really good at shutting down type one interferon. I think at last count, there are seven different parts of this virus that are all dedicated to smashing type one interferon. Thats perfect for the viruss long term survival in the bat: The bat doesnt get sick, and the bat continues to spread the virus. But people are not bats. We have a different immune system. Weve only got a little bit of interferon, but its still really important. So when the virus turns that off in us, you get this long, lingering illness, which is what leads to the cytokine storms and other immune problems. Several people are asking whether you should get the vaccine if youve already had COVID-19. Yes. Definitely. Why? What happens in your body if youve already had COVID-19 but then get the vaccine? We put the vaccine into an arm muscle because we know that buried in each of your tissues, there are little sentinels. Something like one out of every 15 cells in the body is a white blood cell of some kind part of that immune system family. Theyre in your muscles; theyre circulating in your blood; theyre in your organs all over the place. What we want to hit is called a dendritic cell. If we manage to inject one of those with either a bit of protein or a bit of messenger RNA thatll make a protein, the cell will make a little bit of the protein, harvest it, cut it into little pieces, learn how to recognize it, and go show it to the rest of your immune system. Eventually its going to find some sort of cell able to recognize this. Then it gives it a little reward, kind of like a piece of candy but, you know, in immunological terms (laughs). The dendritic cell just keeps showing this little piece of the virus until its got a whole horde of cells that are ready to go out and hunt down just this one thing. It cant react to anything else. Theyre totally focused on COVID. Youre building up that little army. From about two weeks after the first dose of vaccine with either of the mRNA vaccines the Pfizer or the Moderna it looks as though you have enough immunity to get at least short-term protection. On HoustonChronicle.com: How do you get a COVID-19 vaccine? In Texas' rollout, it's a game of luck and chance. So why have two doses? Well, they looked, and you get a boost of about 10 times as much protection. It boosts up your immunity. Whatever the level your immunity starts at, its going to go downhill either slowly or relatively quickly, but we think its at a pretty predictable rate. If you start higher, it takes you longer to get down to the bottom. Now, if youve already had COVID, thats fine. Effectively, COVID acted like your first vaccination, so your first shot of vaccine is going to be a boost. If youve had COVID, you might be able to get away with a single-dose boost we dont know but why not take both of them? Theres no way that this can harm you. It is only training a population of cells. They are very loyal, good little soldiers, and they are out there to protect you. Jef Rouner asks, How do you respond to someone who says COVID has a 99.9% survivability rate? You say, Well, youre off by tenfold. And then, you go into COVIDs other effects. At the beginning, there was one paper that said that the fatality rate was something like 0.1 to 0.3%. That was based on a relatively small amount of data from California back when we werent doing a good job of testing. But later, much, much, much larger data sets put the fatality rate at somewhere around 1 or 2%. A 1% fatality rate is a big deal, right? Oh, my goodness, yes. We would not tolerate anything else in our lives that had a 1% fatality rate. And its not just the fatality rate, though we tend to obsess about that. But many people the studies ranged from 20% up to around 50% have what looks like long-lasting or permanent heart damage. I mean, its too early to say permanent, but it looks like the permanent heart damage that youd see from other causes. There is also damage to the brain. They call it COVID brain informally. We dont know whether that cognitive function ever comes back. And theres a lot of other bad stuff. Theres damage to blood vessels, those things that are going to be under pressure for the rest of your life. COVID has caused quite a number of aneurysms, which is a ballooning in one of those vessels, a weak spot that is eventually going to break. So when it comes to COVID, Nietsche is completely wrong. Even if it does not kill you, it makes you very, very much weaker. So you should definitely avoid it. A question from Rebecca Estrada: Ive heard that up to 40% of people are asymptomatic. Is that correct? How much should I worry about this? Great question. There is still some unsettled science. So heres what we know. There are some studies, like the early ones on the cruise ship, where they could literally test every single person that came off that ship and see exactly how many have the virus and exactly how many have symptoms. Weve found in a lot of animal models that you wont see any symptoms in the animals, just like you dont see symptoms in the people, but there is a little bit of damage that goes on in the animals lungs. You wouldnt notice that necessarily. Some people are going through a lot every day with allergies and whatever else, so they may not notice a particularly mild case. Younger people are more likely to be asymptomatic. Or really, its not asymptomatic. Its low symptomatic, or dont-bother-to-tell-people symptomatic. The number 40% seems to be in the right ballpark, Ive heard as high as 50%; 40% seems reasonable. There are other kinds of studies, like one Im involved with. They take saliva samples from random people and check them, so you get a real nice little cross-section of the population or of the population thats willing to spit in a tube, anyway. We have some little studies like that. We dont have a giant study like that. But from the little studies, it does look as though one in three or maybe one in two virus-positive people dont have enough symptoms that they notice. We also have evidence from situations where some of those asymptomatic people have been the only person who has COVID, and the virus has spread. So we can logically conclude that they probably spread the virus. So your not having symptoms doesnt mean that you wont infect anyone else. And it doesnt mean that you wont have symptoms down the line. We get people that relapse-remit. You get all kinds of crazy things with this disease because the disease is coming more from your immune system its not so much the virus itself as the way the immune system is set off by the virus. Thats also why we have such a hard time with the treatments for people on a ventilator or who have severe COVID. You can stop the virus, but once the virus has set off the chain reaction in the immune system, its the chain reaction that you have to stop. And we do not have a good way to do that. At all. Amy Hoster Richards asks, If I get the vaccine, could I still get COVID and be asymptomatic and spread it? This is possible. The true answer to this is, We dont know. The reason why we dont know is because they didnt set up the clinical trials that way. To check for that in a clinical trial, you could give everybody the vaccine or give half of them the vaccine, half a placebo; or maybe give half other vaccine and then you could test everyone every week and see who gives back a positive test. Then youd know whether vaccinated people can be asymptomatic carriers. That is not what Pfizer or Moderna did. What they did was to say that anybody who feels sick should go get a test, and then anybody who gets a positive test will be recorded. Later on, they will unblind the study and figure out whether you had the placebo or the vaccine. So all we know is that fewer people get sick when they have the vaccine. Olga Luiza Dentzien-Keller has a related question: Is it true that the vaccines have been shown to prevent disease but not infection? And if so, how do we achieve herd immunity? Lets start with the first part: Do the vaccines prevent disease but not infection? In animal models, we have examples of both. With something like a ferret, you can reinfect it again after about a month, and even though its infected, it doesnt get sick, doesnt get disease, the second time. Its like the first infection vaccinated the animal against the second one. But all the animal models get really, really mild disease, so they are not great points of comparison for the human disease, which is severe. We have yet to find a really good animal model. People are working hard on this, but it is it is tricky stuff. So what about herd immunity? Can we achieve it if vaccines prevent sickness but not infection, so people are still spreading COVID? Herd immunity is one of these squishy epidemiological concepts that exists as a formula in a mathematicians brains and occasionally in papers with those formulas. Out in the world, the way well know that weve reached herd immunity is that the virus will just go down. Even though people arent necessarily doing anything different, new cases will continue to plummet because the virus has nowhere to go, cant find places to spread. MORE FROM LISA GRAY: COVID expert Peter Hotez worried Texas down to its 'last arrow' with vaccine Herd immunity theoretically could be achieved through vaccination if either the virus cant infect immunized people, or if it can infect them but then cant spread to anyone new. But as we just discussed, we dont know for sure whether the virus actually prevents humans from getting infected or from spreading the virus. I think the experiments were done the way they were to get them done as fast as possible. Eventually, a year or two from now, we will probably have great studies that will answer all these questions. Herd immunity with these vaccines is a calculated gamble, I would say but I feel like rolling these particular dice. Is anyone testing vaccines now to see if they prevent infection? No, no, nobody is doing that. You have to do these enormous studies say, with 45,000 people in them. So to do that study, youd have to get 45,000 people to show up to be tested at a set time every single week, or maybe twice a week. Thats hard. In these experiments, in the the vaccinated group, somewhere between 10 and 15 people actually end up with the virus; and in the unvaccinated group, its only something like 100 people. So you are doing tons and tons of work for very little actual usable data. And I think it just seems like a lot of work and a much slower path to approval. To get full-on approval, and not just the stopgap emergency approval that all the vaccines have, theyll probably have to do studies like that later on. Olga Dentzien-Keller also asks: If you had the opportunity to choose which vaccine to take, would you take one of the mRNA vaccines (Moderna or Pfizer), or would you take the AstraZeneca? And why? I know that Dr. Peter Hotez previously stated that hed take any vaccine, but Im looking for specifics. I like the mRNA vaccines. But if Im king of the world in charge of vaccines, I would want to mix and match. Each company does its own trials, so we dont yet have any studies about whether you can do the first immunization with mRNA and the second immunization with an adenovirus-vectored vaccine like the Johnson & Johnson or the AstraZeneca or even the Russian one. Theres a trial like that going on in the UK, but its not done yet. The reason I would want to go with different types of vaccine is that each of the vaccines is going to reach a different population of cells in a different way. With the mRNA, you are just blasting it out, delivering it to any random cell in the vicinity, hoping that one of those happens to be a dendritic cell. Its basically like youre leafleting every single door hoping that one guy buys a pizza. Thats really effective, I should point out. It seems like it shouldnt get the job done. But it does. People buy pizzas! These vaccines are pretty awesome. The AstraZeneca model hides a little piece of DNA DNA instead of RNA, but basically the same thing. It hides the DNA inside a little Trojan horse, which is the hollowed-out shell of a thing like a cold virus. That will then look for a particular set of cells that have a thing called the CAR, the chimeric antigen receptor. Dendritic cells are one of the cells that have that receptor. So the vaccine will hit those but also some other populations of cells, some of which may also be able to do maybe half as good a job as a dendritic cell. You probably wouldnt have hit some of those with the mRNA vaccination. Basically, I want to buy as many lottery tickets as possible. I want as many possible ways to be protected as I can get. I would build the immunity with an mRNA vaccine, then sustain it with an adenovirus one. The adenovirus ones have lower success rates in the trials weve seen, but I think that just means theyre not great at doing that one thing at just saturating all the dendritic cells in an arm muscle, but they still probably have some use. Vivian Ho asks, I understand that SARS-COV-1 does better in cold temperatures. Does it both last longer and multiply faster in the cold? Is it more likely to multiply in your nasal passages when its cold outside? There are two layers of this answer. One part is the same reason why you put your meat in the refrigerator and not on the counter. Once the virus comes out, it is just like a little piece of meat. It comes from an animal cell. Its made of all the same stuff as you are, and it will break down in 100 different terrible ways, all of which mean no more virus. Cold prevents that from happening to a large extent, and by inhibiting a whole bunch of bad things that could happen. But there is another point there, and that is from a Volker Thiel paper from spring. He found that SARS-COV-2, the thing that causes COVID, grows pretty well in the upper respiratory tract where its a little cooler because were exchanging with room temperature air, although room temperature is a little different depending where you are. The original SARS virus, SARS-COV-1, needed that bottom-of-the lung atmosphere, 37 degrees Celsius, high humidity. It did not do well in the upper respiratory tract. So SARS-COV-2 is growing in a place that makes it easier to catch, easier to spread and more likely to take hold. Thats why its spreading so fast. So should we do anything to change the temperature of the air we breathe? You would have to change your body temperature. While it is possible to do that if youre David Blaine (laughs) it is generally not medically advisable. Changing the room temperature in your house makes a very small difference. Homeostasis is the word: Your body tries really hard and spends a lot of energy to keep everything the same, no matter where you are or what youre doing. While were talking about temperatures: Lary Sides wants to know, If the Pfizer vaccine is stored at negative 80 degrees Celsius, will I get a brain freeze when injected? (Laughs.) The question is, How cold do you need to store this mRNA vaccine? Pfizer is going old-school. Back when I was taught, it was, If youre going to work with RNA, you need to douse everything with sodium dodecyl sulfate. You need to wear gloves on top of your gloves. You need to wear some kind of masks so you dont breathe out RNA-destroying enzymes. And whatever you do, you want to keep that thing at about minus 80 degrees or else bad stuff happens. On HoustonChronicle.com: COVID-19 in communities of color could cost Texas $2.7 billion in excess medical spending Moderna is working with an essentially identical product, but theyve got maybe more a laid back California approach. Theirs doesnt have to stay as cold as Pfizers because theyre putting a lot more mRNA in their vaccine. So even if you lose half of the material before it gets to you, youre still getting a little more than with the Pfizer. But basically those vaccines are the same. They do the same thing. So back to the brain freeze: That shot isnt going into your body at negative 80 degrees Celsius, right? (Laughs.) Definitely not. Its going into you at nice room temperature. Another question from Vivian Ho: If a person gets a COVID vaccine during the day, is it okay to have an alcoholic drink that evening? (Laughs) I was going to say, Booze it up! but thatd be classic bad advice. I dont know of any reason why you shouldnt have a drink. I dont know of any interaction between a messenger RNA and a dendritic cell and ethanol or ethylene glycol. So as far as Im aware, I think having a drink is just fine. Youre not supposed to drink when taking certain medications because they use the same enzymes that you use to break down alcohol. In those situations, its like you get a crowd coming through the door. Thats why bad things happen. But the vaccine is not related to that process. So yeah, I think youre okay to celebrate. Have one for me! Heres my own question: What research are you working on now? I am about to start some research. We have ordered some SARS-COV-2. You can order coronavirus? You can. There are places. You need certificates upon certificates, and everybody up to the CEO and down to the lowest minion has to sign off on it. Im going to be at an animal facility, along with a couple of chemists with something like 100 or 150 drugs apiece, each of which looks as though its going to do some good. They want to test the drugs against the virus in cells, and they want to test them against the virus in something like a mouse. Its going to be really interesting work, and I hope we come up with something that does some good. It looks as though COVID is going to be around for a while. Have you read any interesting research lately? So much! The neatest thing was on the CDCs influenza page. We should be about a third of the way through flu season right now, and the curve is just not there. Flu is almost completely suppressed. Its at the lowest level that Ive ever seen. Its at the lowest level on any of these charts showing the last seven or eight years, since theyve been keeping really good stats. That is really cool. It looks as though flu was a relatively easy out. We could have stopped flu at any point during the last I-dont-know-how-many years. By staying home and washing our hands? By staying home, washing our hands and occasionally wearing a mask. Flu is an easy out. Unfortunately, COVID is a hard out. Anything else we should be thinking about? The vaccine papers are, and they are written in a way that I think is meant to be read by non-scientists. Theyre designed to be really, really accessible. They have these big infographics. The beautiful thing is, for the first time, they made both Pfizer and Moderna show essentially the same data on the same graph with all the same bars on the sides, so that you can directly compare the two. It turns out that theyre about the same, because the two products are just about identical. But that is nice to see. Everybodys been doing their own version of a test, either accidentally or on purpose, doing the tests in ways that are just different enough that you cant quite compare them. Maybe now we can all just get along. To submit questions for future Q&As with experts, follow Lisa Gray on Facebook. lisa.gray@chron.com, facebook.com/lisa.gray.94402, twitter.com/LisaGray_HouTX [February 03, 2021] MDxHealth Shareholder Transparency Declarations NEWS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION 3 February 2021, 7:00 a.m. CEST IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM 3 February 2021 MDxHealth SA (Euronext Brussels: MDXH) (the "Company" or "MDxHealth"), a commercial-stage innovative molecular diagnostics company, announces today in accordance with Article 14 of the Belgian Act of 2 May 2007 on the disclosure of important participations in issuers of which shares are admitted to trading on a regulated market and regarding miscellaneous provisions (the "Belgian Transparency Act"), that it received the following notifications of significant shareholdings as a consequence of the capital increase announced on 21 January 2021 and completed on 26 January 2021. Soleus Capital Management, L.P. notified MDxHealth that the number of shares with respect to which Soleus Capital Management, L.P. can exercise voting rights actively crossed above the threshold of 5% of the outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth on 26 January 2021. Notably, it follows from the notification by Soleus Capital Management, L.P. that 6,300,000 shares of MDxHealth, representing 5.32% of the 118,469,226 outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth, are held through Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P. The notification also stated that the voting rights attached to the shares are exercised by the investment advisor Soleus Capital Management, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, at its discretion, in the absence of specific instructions, that Soleus Capital Master Fund, L.P. is a limited partnership formed in the Cayman Islands, that Soleus Capital Management, L.P. is controlled by a sole general partner, Soleus GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and that Soleus GP, LLC is controlled by its sole member, Mr. Guy Levy. Biovest NV notified MDxHealth that the number of shares with respect to which Biovest NV can exercise voting rights passively crossed below the threshold of 10% of the outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth on 26 January 2021. Notably, it follows from the notification by Biovest NV that 11,090,257 shares of MDxHealth, representing 9.36% of the 118,469,226 outstanding shares and voting rights of MDxHealth, are held through Biovest NV. The notification also stated that Rudi Marien controls Biovest NV, that Biovest NV participated to the capital increase of 26 January 2021, and that befre the capital increase, Biovest NV held 9,979,146 shares out of a total of 90,691,449 shares (11%). For further information, reference is made to the information published on MDxHealth's website (http://www.mdxhealth.com/investors/shareholder-information). Pursuant to the Belgian Transparency Act and the articles of association of the Company, a notification to the Company and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is required by all natural and legal persons in each case where the percentage of voting rights attached to the securities held by such persons in the Company reaches, exceeds or falls below the threshold of 3%, 5%, 10%, and every subsequent multiple of 5%, of the total number of voting rights in the Company. About MDxHealth MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Company's tests are based on proprietary genetic, epigenetic (methylation) and other molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urologic cancers, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. The Company's European headquarters are in Herstal, Belgium, with laboratory operations in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and US headquarters and laboratory operations based in Irvine, California. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on social media at: twitter.com/mdxhealth, facebook.com/mdxhealth and linkedin.com/company/mdxhealth. For more information: MDxHealth info@mdxhealth.com Important information The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx and SelectMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Attachment ENG [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] An SAS soldier has been critically wounded in a dramatic parachuting accident during a secret night-time operation against Islamic State in Iraq. The trooper crashed to the ground at high speed following a mid-air collision with a US special forces soldier on the same operation who was also severely injured. Both men had jumped from planes at 18,000ft and went into freefall, sky-diving before opening their parachutes. They then smashed into each other in the darkness, their parachutes became entangled and they plunged to Earth. The horrific accident, which came as British and American special forces were dropped into the target area, triggered a major rescue operation. The stranded men were lying in agony and fearing capture by IS jihadists in enemy territory. They managed to radio for help and within minutes dozens of heavily armed SAS and Delta Force troops scrambled onto CH-47 Chinook helicopters at a secret base. They flew to the crash site and sprinted across rocky ground to form a protective circle around the injured men. The elite British and US soldiers trained their weapons on the surrounding hillside for any movement by IS gunmen. An SAS source said: A team of SAS and Delta Force soldiers jumped at night from a transport aircraft cruising at around 18,000ft. It was a High Altitude Low Opening (Halo) jump which is preferred for covert insertions. After jumping they accelerated in the freefall stage to a terminal velocity of around 120mph. The insider explained: At this stage they were breathing with the assistance of oxygen supplies. United States Army Special Forces soldiers parachute from an Air Force C-130 aircraft (File image) All the parachutists were relying on night vision goggles. The coming-together, which could have killed both guys, happened after they had pulled their chutes. One or perhaps both of the injured jumpers could have become disorientated or may have been studying the navigation board strapped to his chest when the collision occurred. The source said the parachute canopies were very delicate and partially deflated. Their lines also became entangled and both men were spiralling out of control. They made emergency landings at high speed, hitting the ground very hard and suffering severe lower limb and back injuries. In spite of their injuries they remained calm and radioed for help. But it must have been pretty nerve-racking waiting for the Quick Reaction Force to arrive. The incident involving the SAS soldier, from A Squadron, happened late last month near Baiji, 130 miles north of Baghdad. It came as allied forces launched a new offensive against IS strongholds. The Daily Mail understands the injured pair required oxygen supplies on the helicopter flight back to their base. Meanwhile, the crash site was cleansed for any allied equipment and their parachutes were recovered. The pair were flown to a US military hospital in Germany for treatment. Sources said an intelligence gathering operation by British and US special forces resumed after the dramatic accident. The incident involving the SAS soldier, from A Squadron, happened late last month near Baiji, 130 miles north of Baghdad (File image) Days later, RAF Typhoon jets targeted IS cave complexes in a mountain range nearby. Bombs destroyed entrances to the caves. UK forces are said to be increasing their mission tempo against IS after a Covid-induced lull. However, it is estimated that British operations still killed more than 100 fighters, including UK-born jihadists, in the first half of 2020. In 2018 SAS sniper Sergeant Matt Tonroe, 33, was killed by US friendly fire on secret operations in Syria against IS. Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesman would only say: We do not comment on Special Forces. 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Under the terms of the Brexit deal, the region is remaining in the EU Single Market for goods and applying EU customs rules at its points of entry - Belfast Port, Larne Harbour, Warrenpoint Port, Foyle Port, and Belfast International Airport. All goods: EU customs declarations and extra checks are now required on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Under the Northern Ireland protocol, all goods passing from GB to NI are subject to EU customs rules, with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks applied to 100 per cent of food entering the region. Sanitary and phytosanitary checks: Goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain are subject to EU controls to protect animal, plant or public health. Customs staff may make documentary, identity or physical checks at points of entry. Regulated plants and plant products include 'all plants for planting, root and tubercle vegetables, most fruits, cut flowers, seeds, leafy vegetables, second hand machinery which has been used for agricultural, forestry, horticultural or soil preparation/cultivation purposes and wood, wood products, bark and wood packaging material', it adds. Chilled meat: Sausages and other chilled meats were granted a specific six-month grace period from EU checks to enable their import from GB to continue until June, using temporary certificates. Parcels: There is also a three-month grace period that means the majority of parcels sent to Northern Ireland from GB do not need customs declarations. Again, that is due to change in April. Retail goods: Goods from certain food suppliers, such as supermarkets and their trusted suppliers, can enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain. They benefit from a grace period, through to 1 April 2021, from official certification for products of animal origin, composite products, food and feed of non-animal origin and plants and plant products. They must also be destined solely for sale to end consumers in supermarkets located in Northern Ireland, and they cannot be sold to other operators of the food chain. Medicine: In regard to the movement of medicines from GB to NI, there is a 12-month grace period in place, with new regulatory processes due in 2022. The protocol will also put restrictions on the movement of pets between GB and NI, including the need for rabies vaccines. Those restrictions will come into place in the summer. Travelling with pets: Any person travelling from Northern with a pet to Britain and returning to NI, will be required to adhere to the EU requirements for travelling into the EU/NI from a Part II listed country. If travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and not returning to NI, with your pet, there are no documentary or health preparations, though there is a law requiring dogs are microchipped at eight weeks old. Advertisement Soaring tensions in Northern Ireland over Brexit have sparked the British government's anger at the EU today, and demands for the trade rules between Britain and the province to be relaxed. Checks at Northern Irish ports on goods travelling between Britain and the province were suspended yesterday after anonymous threats from hardline loyalists were sent to EU and UK customs officials. But although police say paramilitaries were not involved, tensions in the province are set to get worse as post-Brexit grace periods end and stop some goods from Britain entering Northern Ireland at all. Michael Gove will meet European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic tonight to demand several post-Brexit grace periods are extended. Currently, all parcels entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain will be subject to customs checks from April and sausages and other chilled meat imports must meet EU standards from June. All other goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain are currently subject to EU customs checks. The Minister for the Cabinet Office will urge the EU to ditch a technical and legalistic approach to the protocol and to ask for extra time to resolve problems. He warned that if solutions were not found, the government would consider using 'all instruments at its disposal' - comments that raise the prospect of a unilateral move to suspend aspects of the protocol. The loyalist threats centered on three customs checkpoints at the Northern Irish ports of Larne, Belfast and Warrenpoint where EU officials oversee checks that goods entering Northern Ireland have customs declarations and can enter the EU's single market. That has led to disruption with some businessmen claiming that 'forms which a fortnight ago took 15-20 minutes now take 3-4 hours'. The frontier checkpoints are manned by UK Border Force officials and their checks are overseen by EU officials on a rotating list of member states. It comes amid fury at the EU for threatening on Friday to suspend the post-Brexit trade agreements in an attempt to stop coronavirus vaccines travelling from Ireland to the UK. The European Commission's proposal on export controls last Friday would have struck at the heart of the protocol's main function - to facilitate a free-flowing Irish border - by placing restrictions on vaccines moving into Northern Ireland from the bloc. The threat by Brussels united Britain and Ireland in condemnation of the EU for appearing to undermine its commitment to the Good Friday peace agreement. However, the episode has inflamed the anger of loyalist elements who are unhappy at customs checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland, which has caused shortages and is viewed as the erection of a hard border in the Irish Sea. Many unionists and loyalists are against the protocol because they believe it has created an economic barrier between the region and the rest of the UK, undermining the constitutional integrity of the Union. Anti-Brexit graffiti opposing 'a border in the Irish Sea' has appeared across the province recently, including on the front of the offices of local politicians. Masked UVF men were also caught on video putting on a 'show of strength' in East Belfast yesterday - although police say this was related to an 'internal UVF dispute' and not directly linked to the Brexit issues. At the Northern Ireland points of entry: UK and Northern Irish customs officials overseen by EU officials on rotation from different member states ask hauliers arriving from Great Britain what they are transporting; The hauliers are asked to present certificates proving they are destined for Northern Ireland; UK officials then inspect goods, ensuring they meet EU standards even though Northern Ireland, though part of the EU's single market, is not a member state of the EU; Many delays are caused by UK customs officials checking 100 per cent of plant-based products, including fruits and vegetables, and in particular ensuring they are free of 'diseases and pests'; Machinery used for agricultural, horticultural or soil preparation, such as diggers, are also checked to ensure they meet EU standards. This has seen diggers which have traces of British soil turned round and prevented from crossing into Northern Ireland; Hauliers who are providing goods from supermarkets and their trusted suppliers benefit from a grace period until April 1, 2021 from official certification for animal products, but must ensure the goods are destined for sale to consumers in supermarkets in Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Boris Johnson today promised Arlene Foster the UK Government will 'do everything we can' to make trade to Northern Ireland smoother as he demanded the EU take 'urgent action' to relax checks on goods. He spoke to the First Minister of Northern Ireland this morning amid a worsening row over post-Brexit customs checks which has seen loyalists threaten port workers. Mr Johnson's comments came ahead of a crunch meeting this evening between Mr Gove, Mr Sefcovic, Mrs Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill to discuss the furore over post-Brexit trade checks. A leaked letter from Mr Gove to Mr Sefcovic sent ahead of the meeting revealed he told his EU counterpart the bloc had made a 'grave error' and that it had 'profoundly undermined the operation of the protocol and cross-community confidence in it'. Mr Gove called for a waiver for traders moving goods between Northern Ireland and Britain to be extended to January 2023 to ease disruption, according to The Telegraph. Mrs Foster earlier claimed problems at the border were being caused by British officials implementing customs checks 'to the Nth degree'. The DUP leader also hit out at EU demands, arguing that the checks went far beyond the phytosanitary vetting to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases and pests, giving an example of potatoes with British soil on being blocked at the border by officials. She told the Telegraph: 'One of the most offensive things, I have to say, for a lot of us here in Northern Ireland is that we're told that soil from Great Britain cannot make its way across the Irish Sea over to Northern Ireland. 'So if you're buying, for example, seed potatoes, well, that's a real problem because the seed potatoes may have British soil on it and you can't possibly bring that into Northern Ireland.' DUP MP Gavin Robinson told MailOnline he did not believe that customs checks had intensified since the EU vaccines row last week, but said that officials at the ports 'start from a high bar'. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney today argued 'Brexit is the problem that is causing all of this disruption' but added: 'Of course we are looking for ways in which the protocol can be implemented with less friction.' The Northern Ireland was designed to maintain the principles of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland's open border with Ireland by keeping the region in the UK's customs territory and the EU's single market. In practice, it has led to delays and in some cases the ceasing of trade in some everyday goods originating in Britain. UK Border Force officials overseen by EU customs officials on a rotating list of member states checking goods coming into Larne Port in Northern Ireland from Great Britain Checks at Northern Irish ports on goods travelling between Britain and the province were suspended yesterday after threats were sent to EU and UK customs officials. Pictured, police checking a driver's Covid-19 test documentation at the Port of Dover on January 4 In East Belfast, a band of masked men paraded through Pitt Park in daylight in a show of strength linked to rising tensions - though this is an 'internal UVF dispute' Graffiti on the A2 outside Carrickfergus in Belfast Menacing graffiti has been sprayed on the offices of local politicians, with Alliance MP Stephen Farry tweeting a photo of graffiti on his constituency office reading 'RIP GFA' - a likely reference to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brokered to end The Troubles His colleage Kellie Armstrong, the Alliance MLA for Strangford, tweeted a photo showing the words 'stay out' sprawled over her office window How post-Brexit Northern Ireland customs rules are giving hardworking residents a headache Lorry carrying frozen carrots and mixed herbs waits for EIGHT DAYS to board a ferry to Northern Ireland 'because of missing paperwork' Peter Summerton, of McCulla Refrigerated Transport, said: 'It's absolutely criminal what has been allowed to happen' A lorry carrying frozen carrots and mixed herbs has been waiting for clearance to board a ferry from Birkenhead to Belfast for eight days. Six separate customers, supermarkets and corner stores have other consignments on truck, all stuck in Lymm because the paperwork for a single pallet of carrots is missing key information required by EU customs checks. A report by the Guardian reveals that in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, the haulage firm's operations team have had no luck in persuading the British supplier that the carrots ordered on December 27 are now classed as an export to Northern Ireland. They are supposed to be accompanied by a litany of EU customs documents and certificates before the trailer can be cleared to board the ferry at Birkenhead. Peter Summerton, managing director of McCulla Refrigerated Transport, said: 'It's absolutely criminal what has been allowed to happen between these two islands that have traded with each other for so long.' Scottish potato seed merchant banned from exporting spuds to Northern Ireland or the EU 'is losing 125,000 per year in trade' Iain Barbour, who manages family-run JBA Seed Potatoes, is apoplectic that it is now illegal to send seed potatoes to any EU country or Northern Ireland A Scottish potato seed merchant who has been banned from exporting potatoes to Northern Ireland under EU rules could lose up to 125,000 per year in trade. Iain Barbour, who manages family-run JBA Seed Potatoes, is apoplectic that it is now illegal to send seed potatoes to any EU country or Northern Ireland. The business at Rosefield Farm, Annan, is the current world record holder for the highest number of different potato varieties on offer, at 667. Mr Barbour told the Daily Record: 'Value wise its about 75,000 to 125,000 of business we will not be able to service anymore. 'There is no way around it as all seed potatoes must now be accompanied by a plant passport. All my passports are GB only so they are not valid anywhere else at the moment.' Sarah-Jane Laing, chief executive at Scottish Land & Estates, said: 'Most within the Scottish farming and food sectors will view the trade deal with the EU as positive news at a time when the risk of a no deal Brexit was edging closer.' Digger 'banned from entering Northern Ireland for having soil on its tracks' due to rules on British soil being brought to province Seamus Leheny of Logistics UK said a business bringing machinery back from Great Britain was barred because 'there was soil on the tracks of the digger' Strict EU phytosanitary checks around British soil being brought into Northern Ireland has seen a digger temporarily banned from entry to the province. Seamus Leheny of Logistics UK said a business bringing machinery back from Great Britain was barred because 'there was soil on the tracks of the digger'. 'The digger wasn't allowed to come to Northern Ireland until it was fully power-washed and cleaned,' he claimed. 'My understanding is that the digger was inspected and soil was found beneath the mat, and that had to be cleaned out.' Mr Leheny said it is an issue which must now be considered by the UK-EU Joint Committee. The checks are understood to have been carried out by Daera officials. He also called Dublin port a 'minefield for trucks arriving from GB', telling the BBC: 'One Northern Ireland operator had two loads arrive on Tuesday night and only got released at 22:30 GMT on Thursday night. 'For over 48 hours the drivers were left living in the vehicles with operators incurring costs by the hour.' Colin Holmes, a specialist haulier handling second hand agricultural machinery, told the News Letter that for years there had been a requirement to wash farm equipment before bringing it into Northern Ireland. However, visual inspections have now become more onerous and bureaucratic - and that was pushing up prices. He said that it was now necessary to obtain a new 'wash certificate' with each item of machinery there is 'a wee bit of leeway on it at the minute, that's coming to an end'. Guidelines published on the department's website state 'second hand machinery which has been used for agricultural, forestry, horticultural or soil preparation/cultivation purposes' is part of 'regulated plants and plant products' requiring Phytosanitary Certificates from Great Britain confirming it is 'free from relevant pests and diseases'. Anyone buying such machinery must register as an 'importer' with the EU. TUV leader Jim Allister described the situation as 'beyond parody'. Scampi brand warns border delays are 'starting to bite' as seafood industry faces delays and increased costs over customs rules Scampi brand Whitby Seafoods has claimed that the customs rules hurt companies who are reliant on fresh-caught fish to be moved seamlessly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Stock photo used Customs rules requiring British businesses to notify customs in advance of moving goods across the Irish Sea are 'really disadvantaging' fish suppliers. Scampi brand Whitby Seafoods has claimed that the customs rules hurt companies who are reliant on fresh-caught fish to be moved seamlessly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Its sales and marketing director Laura Whittle told the Grocer that there are fears if a load is rejected at the border, the company could lose 'hundreds of thousands of pounds'. 'Customs have a requirement that they will have full visibility of the load we're bringing across by 10am the day it's being brought over [to Northern Ireland],' she said. 'Our scampi tails are still in the water then. We bring them across at 11pm, so they're not even caught [by 10am]. It's fresh food, so there's a very fast turnaround. We don't want that product out of the water a long time before it's processed and frozen because it could deteriorate.' She added that all of Whitby's scampi was processed at Kilkeel, County Down, before being frozen, because two-thirds of the langoustine Whitby derives scampi from was landed in Northern Ireland. Once processed, the product is then transported back to its North Yorkshire base for distribution. 'Weakened by Covid-19, and the closure of the French border before Christmas, the end of the Brexit transition period has unleashed layer upon layer of administrative problems, resulting in queues, border refusals and utter confusion,' said Donna Fordyce, CEO of Seafood Scotland. Advertisement A traffic marshall checks the documents of a freight lorry driver at Waterbrook Park facility in Ashford as hauliers get used to life under the post-Brexit trade deal A truck driver hands over paperwork to a policeman before entering the Port of Dover Alliance councillor in Bangor, Connie Eagen, posted an image of graffiti on a wall which read: 'Banger says no to Irish Sea border' A Unionist poster against a possible UK internal border is attached to a post at the Port of Larne in County Antrim on February 2, 2021 Michael Gove (left)and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic will hold a virtual meeting with First Minister Arlene Foster to ease growing tensions Boris Johnson promised Arlene Foster the UK will 'do everything we can' to make trade to Northern Ireland smoother as he demanded the EU take action to relax checks on goods What is 'last resort' Article 16 and why did the EU threaten to invoke the 'nuclear option' last week? Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol allows either the EU or the UK to override part of the Brexit trade agreement in relation to border controls in Northern Ireland. The protocol itself was designed to avoid a re-emergence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. But in the deal, both parties agreed to a get-out clause, which could be used if the protocol was thought to be causing 'serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties'. However the EU threatened to invoke the clause, to put measures on vaccines coming from the EU to Northern Ireland. The move was introduced during a huge row between the UK and EU over vaccines supplies, with Brussels accusing the UK of 'hijacking doses'. The row started after Oxford vaccine maker AstraZeneca announced it would not be able to supply as many vaccines as it had first hoped to the EU by Spring. It exploded last Friday when Brussels said it would trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement - thereby creating a hard border on the island of Ireland - and take other measures to stop supplies of the Pfizer vaccine from reaching Britain. The aim of this move will be to prevent the possibility of the UK bringing vaccines into Northern Ireland 'through the backdoor', by using the controls-free border to bring in vaccines from the EU. Boris Johnson called an emergency meeting at No 10 to decide the UK's response, then spoke to the Commission President just before 10pm to set out his demands and warn EU chief Urusal von der Leyen her actions could threaten the Irish peace process. They spoke again at 10.30pm when Ms von der Leyen agreed to issue a climbdown message that 'there should not be restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities'. Advertisement Asked about the threats to staff at ports, Mr Coveney told Newstalk radio: 'Of course it is a worry and the safety of staff must come first and that is what happened yesterday. 'I think there is some uncertainty as to the level of threat there, certainly the PSNI have confirmed that this does not involve loyalist paramilitaries. 'But clearly there is a lot of tension and Friday didn't help that when the commission made a serious mistake by signalling an intention to trigger Article 16 of the protocol. That should not have happened.' The DUP yesterday announced a series of political moves aimed at undermining the protocol. Its strategy includes opposing any protocol-related legislation at the Stormont Assembly and refusing to participate in any exchanges with the Irish Government related to the operation of the protocol. Sinn Fein described the DUP's attempts to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol as 'reckless'. The European Commission swiftly backtracked after facing intense criticism for attempting to hinder the free flow of movement across the Irish border in respect of vaccines. At ports in Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint, customs staff were withdrawn following Mid and East Antrim Borough Council's concerns over the safety of 12 workers. They had been the recipients of 'sinister and menacing behaviour', including graffiti which described port staff as 'targets'. A spokesperson for Daera told MailOnline that the suspension of customs checks by border staff remains in place, saying: 'The Department continues to liaise with the PSNI and other partner organisations in considering when physical checks may resume. Any decision will be based upon a formal threat assessment.' The PSNI are to hold talks with border agencies and the Northern Irish government later today about the physical Brexit checks that have been in place since January 1. 'The safety of staff working at points of entry is of the utmost importance to us,' said PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan. 'Where we have any credible information we will share that with our partners and take appropriate action. 'We have increased patrols at Larne Port and other points of entry in order to reassure staff and the local community.' MP Stephen Farry told PoliticsHome: 'The threats against staff doing their jobs around checks at the port of Larne are totally unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with staff who are only doing their jobs. Boris Johnson threatens to override Brexit deal to prevent a border in the Irish Sea Boris Johnson during PMQs today Prime Minister Boris Johnson today said he is willing to override part of the Northern Ireland Protocol to ensure that there is no post-Brexit trade barrier down the Irish Sea. DUP North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said his constituents had been made to feel like foreigners in their own country. Urgent action from the European Union is needed to resolve the problems, Boris Johnson acknowledged. The agreement on post-Brexit trade to keep the Irish land border open has caused disruption to goods travelling from the rest of the UK but progress has been made in recent weeks. Mr Johnson said: 'We will do everything we need to do, whether legislatively or indeed by triggering Article 16 of the protocol, to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea.' Article 16 is part of the post-Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland following the EU's customs rules. It is designed to allow the EU or Britain to intervene unilaterally if the protocol is causing a major problem within its borders. The Democratic Unionists have been pressing for it to be invoked in response to strains on east to west trade which emptied some supermarket shelves temporarily following the end of the post-Brexit transition period and interfered with the transit of parcels. Mr Paisley told the House of Commons: 'Prime Minister, you say that your commitment to Northern Ireland is unshakeable. 'But I speak for all of my constituents today when I tell you that the protocol has betrayed us and has made us feel like foreigners in our country. 'Tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard.' The Prime Minister spoke to Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster on Wednesday morning. A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister said that we needed urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits in full from the UK's exit from the EU.' They discussed their shared concern that processes established in the protocol were ignored when Brussels threatened on Friday to override part of the deal and stop coronavirus vaccine supplies crossing the border from the Republic. The Prime Minister told Mr Paisley: I utterly share the frustration of the honourable gentleman about the way the EU, in particular, the EU Commission, temporarily seemed to call to use the protocol in such a way as to impose a border contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, and contrary to the letter of the Good Friday Agreement.' The Prime Minister urged that coordinated work with Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove continues to ensure the protocol worked in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. A DUP spokesman for Mrs Foster said Mr Johnson had indicated he wanted to resolve the outstanding issues by the end of next month. 'The Prime Minister indicated that he was deeply shocked 'by the cavalier approach adopted by the EU' last Friday and without consultation,' the party statement said. 'He recognised that such actions by the EU undermines the authority of the protocol.' The DUP added that it was plain the protocol was being used in an 'absurd' way. Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said it was time for steady, calm and measured leadership from all political parties amidst unionist discontent. 'Our businesses and citizens deserve certainty and I am committed to working to provide that.' Advertisement 'People need to dial down the rhetoric around the Protocol. The rule of law must be maintained'. The DUP has been vociferous in its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol's operation. The party's North Antrim MP Ian Paisley condemned the threats to staff but said the protocol was 'bound to cause these problems'. 'Such tactics have no place in a democracy,' he said. 'This is the sad reality of those who imposed terms on Northern Ireland without the consent of the delicate community balance which exists here. The protocol was bound to end in tears and here we have society's structure falling apart. 'When (former Irish premier) Leo Varadkar shamefully distributed copies of border posts being blown up in Newry 30 years ago around EU Commission members, he demonstrated that violence and the threat of violence has a seat at the table. 'At the heart of progress in Northern Ireland has been cross-community consent. Those who thought they could impose something against the will of every unionist are now reaping the seeds of division they have sown. 'The protocol was bound to cause these problems given the triumphant approach by republicans and nationalists and the wilful ignorance that 50 per cent of the population was opposed to the protocol.' Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim, said: 'The fettering of trade between GB and NI has now regrettably led to threats against staff at both Larne and Belfast Ports. These threats must be condemned without equivocation and I welcome support from all parties to withdraw staff.' Louise Haigh, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said the threats were 'deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable' and that 'these workers - all workers - have a right to work free from fear'. She said: 'There is simply no justification for threats and intimidation. Calm is now needed and everyone has a responsibility to dial down the rhetoric and ensure the safety of people in Northern Ireland'. Outgoing Stormont minister Edwin Poots said 'it is a time for calm heads and a time for wise behaviour' as he warned the protocol had 'certainly created a lot of tension in the community'. The senior Democratic Unionist, who stepped down at midnight ahead of undergoing cancer treatment, said: 'Ultimately the people who are doing their jobs, who are going to their work, are not their enemies. 'They are people who are simply carrying out a job, whether it is the Department of Agriculture, the local council or Food Standards Agency.' The former agriculture minister added: 'Those people should be allowed to do their jobs in peace. Any threat against them should be withdrawn and allow people to carry on their duties.' Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Peter Johnston, said: 'We have seen what I would describe as deeply troubling graffiti and a very notable upping of community tensions towards the NI Protocol, particularly in recent days. 'The health and wellbeing of our staff is always this Council's number one priority and that is why the decision has been taken to withdraw them from their work at the Port with immediate effect until we have very real assurances and full confidence that they can go about their duties without fear, threat or concern for their wellbeing.' Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said in a statement: 'Trade unions on behalf of Council members of staff assisting with checks at the Port have raised serious concerns around the safety of staff and have sought reassurance on what measures are in place to keep staff safe.' Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan of the PSNI told MailOnline: 'I am concerned about signs of tension within the community in recent weeks. We've seen graffiti at various sites and other forms of intimidation on social media. Our investigations into these incidents are ongoing. 'In relation to an anonymous piece of information claiming paramilitary involvement in threats, I have briefed partners that we have no information to substantiate or corroborate these claims at this time. 'Keeping people safe is our priority and the safety of staff working at points of entry is of the utmost importance to us. 'We will continue to work closely with our partners to provide them and their staff with support. We have increased patrols at the points of entry in order to reassure staff and the local community.' In a sign of growing tension, masked men with suspected ties to the UVF marched through East Belfast in a show of force and intimidation, local media reports. The scene was condemned by politicians across the spectrum, with MP Gavin Robinson saying that 'over the last couple of weeks, there has been a number of worrying incidents in East Belfast'. 'Homes attacked, families intimidated and our community living in fear,' he said. 'Today we saw a severe escalation of that in Pitt Park. It has to stop. East Belfast deserves better. The PSNI need to get a grip and show such action will not be tolerated.' Sinn Fein Group Party Leader on Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Councillor James McKeown, said: 'Our staff will step away from this work and will only return when we are totally satisfied it is safe and right for them to do so. 'There are simmering tensions within the local community at present and we will not stand by and let our staff be targeted when they are just doing their jobs.' Justice Minister Naomi Long told MailOnline: 'The footage yesterday of a masked gang walking through Pitt Park in East Belfast has both shocked and disgusted me. An anti-Brexit sign near the entrance to Larne Port in Northern Ireland Animal and food product inspections at Northern Ireland's Belfast and Larne ports were stopped 'with immediate effect' last night over safety fears for staff The decision came after a local council agreed to remove 12 of its staff at Larne port due to 'an upsurge in sinister and menacing behaviour in recent weeks' A police investigation was launched after the words 'all border post staff are targets' (pictured) appeared spray painted on a wall in Larne, County Antrim, on Thursday Last month graffiti appeared near to the ports, with one message saying 'No Irish sea border' and another 'Ulster sold out!' Michael Gove will hold crisis talks TODAY to urge Brussels to relax trade rules between Britain and Northern Ireland following loyalist threats at ports Michael Gove will hold a meeting with EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill later today Michael Gove is set to hold crisis talks with Brussels' chiefs and Northern Ireland leaders today in a bid to defuse growing tensions in the wake of last week's vaccine exports fiasco. Mr Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic will hold a virtual meeting with First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill to discuss the ongoing furore over post-Brexit trade checks. The Minister for the Cabinet Office is expected to push for trading rules between Britain and Northern Ireland to be relaxed. Mrs Foster and senior DUP colleagues held a separate virtual call with Boris Johnson this morning ahead of the early evening engagement with Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic. It comes amid rising anger at the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol which was agreed in the Brexit divorce deal and which requires regulatory and customs checks on goods entering the region. Advertisement 'Our communities have had enough of the intimidation and the fear that they create. This is yet another example of the coercive control these gangs seek to impose on communities and we must all work together to ensure that we disrupt their activity and end the harm that they perpetrate on families and communities including young and vulnerable people.' A PSNI spokesperson said: 'Police responded to reports of suspicious masked men in the vicinity of the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, on Tuesday 2nd February. Officers attended and enquiries are continuing.' In North Belfast last night, Danny McClean - who had links to dissident republicans - was gunned down by violent extremists outside McGrath's Bar last night. He had been lured to a meeting and had been staying in a nearby bail hostel having been freed on remand last year. Police had warned him he was under threat in February 2019 when graffiti appeared around west Belfast naming him as a 'tout' after ONH leaders learned of his British Army past, according to the Belfast Telegraph. First Minister Arlene Foster condemned the killing and sent her condolences to Mr McClean's family. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill told the BBC: 'At the heart of that is going to be a grieving family who lost a loved one last night and our thoughts are very much with the family. 'The police will have a job of work to do. This is not something that is acceptable at any level in our society and I think that anyone with information should come forward to the PSNI and assist with the investigation.' Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker condemned the shooting. 'This is horrific news for a family to receive and the community is rightly shocked,' he said. 'Those responsible for this shooting have absolutely nothing to offer our community. Local residents should be allowed to live their lives without the threat of violence.' 'The community does not support these actions. There is no place for violence on our streets.' Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery said: 'We received a report around 8.15 pm, that a man had been shot in the Cliftonville Road area of the city. 'Officers attended, along with colleagues from NIAS. Sadly, a man has been pronounced dead. 'We would urge anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have any information which may assist us with our enquiries to contact 101 or alternatively information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.' STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A pair of studies suggest that people who previously had COVID-19 had high antibody levels after receiving just one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the New York Times reported. In one study posted online Monday, which has not yet been peer reviewed, researchers found that people who had a previous coronavirus infection experienced fatigue, headache, chills, fever, and muscle and joint pain after their first dose more frequently than those who had never been infected and received the first immunization. Additionally, the study found people who were previously infected had higher antibody levels after both first and second doses of the vaccine. A second study that focused on healthcare workers after their first vaccination found that they had antibody levels comparable to the amounts seen after the second dose in people who had never been infected. Some researchers said the studies point to the possibility for those with previous infection to only needing one vaccine dose a distinction that could stretch a vaccine supply that has been strained so far. I think one vaccination should be sufficient, Florian Krammer, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an author on the study, told the New York Times. This would also spare individuals from unnecessary pain when getting the second dose and it would free up additional vaccine doses. Others are expressing more caution. We dont take FDA approvals of, say, a chemotherapeutic drug and then just throw out the dosage schedule, E. John Wherry, director of the University of Pennsylvanias Institute for Immunology, told the New York Times regarding the possibility of changing plans to change the number of required doses. The potential for altering standards for previous coronavirus patients could create a really tricky precedent, he said. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. The Wisconsin pharmacist who removed 57 vials, each containing jabs for at least 10 vaccinations of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine from hospitals refrigerators and voluntarily destroyed them, believes the earth is flat, said FBI. As per the Daily Beast report, Steven Brandenburg, the overnight pharmacist at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin believed that the COVID-19 vaccine would cause harm to people and even make them infertile and implant them with microchips. However, detained for destroying more than 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, federal authorities reportedly said that his belief in baseless claims goes beyond just the vaccine or COVID-19. Court documents also reveal that the Wisconsin pharmacist believes the Earth is flat and the sky is not real. Brandenburg has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to charges of attempting to spoil Modernas COVID-19 vaccines. According to the US media outlet, Brandenburgs debunked beliefs were revealed to the court after searching his phone, computer, and other items by the FBI. Reportedly the documents also include interviews with Brandenburg and Aurora Medical Center pharmacy technician Sarah Sticker. The pharmacist believed that sky is actually a shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God. The FBI search warrant was obtained by the media outlet, that FBI had filed earlier this month requesting the permission to analyse Bradenburgs belongings following his arrest in December 2020. The US federal authorities have accused the 46-year-old of intentionally destroying at least 570 doses of vaccine by removing a box containing the vials from the refrigerator at Advocate Aurora Health Systems, twice when he worked the night shift. As per the report, Brandenburg knew taking the vials out of the refrigerator would tamper the doses as they can only survive for 12 hours outside of refrigeration, claim prosecutors. Read - Police Identify 1 Killed At Wisconsin Mall, Search For Teen Read - 1 Dead, 1 Injured In Wisconsin Mall Shooting; Suspect Fled Other claims in the 26-page filing by FBI The media outlet stated that the warrant application filed in the federal court by FBI Special Agent Lindsay Schloemer relayed other delusions that Bradenburg thinks are true. Reportedly, the Wisconsin pharmacist insists that the microchipped COVID-19 vaccine would turn off peoples birth control and make others infertile. FBI stated that Brandenburg was convinced the physical world around him was not what it seemed. Daily Beast cited the 26-page filing by Schloemer saying, Some of the conspiracy theories Brandenburg told [the coworker] about included: the earth is flat; the sky is not real, rather it is a shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God, and Judgment Day is coming. Further, Sticker, who had alerted the authorities on finding unrefrigerated vaccines in December 2020, told the authorities that Brandenburg carried a handgun in case the military came to take him away. Read - Police: 2 Hurt In Wisconsin Mall Shooting; Suspect On Loose Read - As Wisconsin's Johnson Weighs Future, Trump Ties Take A Toll Six months ago Beirut exploded - pulling Lebanon into abyss Wounded never healed in territory hostage of power (by Lorenzo Trombetta) (ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 3 - The remains of the grain silo of Beirut's port is still standing, a monument of the tragedy that occurred six months ago, on August 4. Over 200 people died and more than 6,000 were injured in one of the most powerful non-nuclear accidental explosions in history, equaling one-twentieth of the power created by the bombing of Hiroshima. Nevertheless, no atomic bomb caused the deflagration generated instead by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate abandoned for seven years in hangar number 12. So far, the Lebanese investigation has been unable to determine what caused the fatal explosion. Journalistic reports have made several hypotheses: from an Israeli air raid on what was defined as an explosive depot of Hezbollah, to an accidental mistake during welding work on one of the metal sheets of the shed number 12. However, no proof has corroborated any of these theories. Among the 204 victims was an elderly Italian woman who had been living in Beirut for decades. There were children, youths and young women, dozens of workers from Syria, Bangladesh, Egypt and other countries. The bodies of nine victims have never been found. Many of the 6,500 wounded were disfigured in the face or other parts of the body by glass, wood or metal splinters. Like blades, these splinters lacerated forever - at 18:08 of an ordinary summer day during a pandemic - the lives of many families in the low-income districts of Geitawi and Rmeil, in the slum of Karantina, in the nightlife district of Mar Mikhail, in Gemmayze road with its traditional houses, among the gazebos of anti-government activists in Martyrs' Square, athe stores of the rebuilt suq of Beirut near a new building, made by the studio of famous architect Zaha Hadid, which was also damged. Already afflicted by an unprecedented economic crisis in the last 30 years that began in October 2019 with dramatic consequences, many residents of Beirut and Lebanon do not believe in the local judiciary and in the ongoing investigation. So far, some 30 medium and low-ranking officials from the port and security services have ended up in jail. Beirut prosecutors in December formally charged for "negligence" and "errors" the outgoing premier Hassan Diab and three former ministers. The four, however, refused to be questioned, citing institutional immunity. Diab had resigned after the explosion but the power system, slammed as corrupt by the movement of popular protest, has so far succeeded in gaining time without even appointing a new government. French President Emmanuel Macron, who travelled to Beirut twice in just a few weeks after the tragedy, has in the past few days announced that he intends to return to the Lebanese capital to try to end the institutional stalemate. Meanwhile Tripoli, the other Lebanese port in the north of the country, is once again the stage of a violent protest over the absence of State aid for the population. As in Tripoli, people in other parts of the country are exhausted by the plunging economic situation, aggravated by measures to contain Covid. "They are starving us after setting us on fire", screamed a demonstrator in Tripoli during a recent protest, referring to the economic crisis and the flames that six months ago left an indelible sign on a country already pulled into the abyss. (ANSAmed). At a glance: Gov. Tom Wolfs 2021-22 budget keeps spending level for the state-owned universities, along with Penn State and other public universities. What it means: Wolf is proposing no change in spending for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees the 14 state-owned schools, including Shippensburg, Millersville and West Chester universities. Wolfs proposal keeps spending at $477 million for the system. The state systems governing board had requested an increase of $35 million. The system is dealing with formidable financial challenges and declining enrollment and is exploring the combination of some universities. There is no change in funding for Penn State, Temple, Lincoln and Pittsburgh, the four public schools sometimes referred to as state-related universities. Penn State would get $242 million under Wolfs plan, while the Pennsylvania College of Technology would get $26.7 million, which would also remain flat. The governors budget proposes essentially flat funding for the states community colleges. Wolfs plan would direct $245 million to community colleges, an increase of $1.4 million. That additional money is directed toward a new community college in Erie. Wolf is also proposing to tap $199 million from the states horse racing fund to pay for scholarships. The plan is dubbed the Nellie Bly Tuition Program. Wolf introduced the plan last year but didnt get legislative support. Wolf had been promoting the program right before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic. Colleges have dealt with steep financial challenges due to the pandemic, including additional costs of implementing new safety measures. With some colleges offering many courses remotely, they are seeing less revenue in room and board. The states agency that helps students pay for colleges would get $309.7 million under Wolfs proposal, a reduction of $1 million. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency had not asked for an increase, only requesting that Wolf keep funding level. In September, PHEAA said the agency expected to be able to maintain its maximum grant award of $4,525 for the 2021-22 year. The state grants, awarded on the basis of financial need, require no repayment and help students reduce the amount they have to borrow. 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. On a consolidated basis, Jubilant Foodworks' net profit jumped 21.71% to Rs 123.91 crore on 0.2% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 1,069.3 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 20.3% to Rs 165.12 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 137.26 crore in Q3 December 2019. Total tax expenses for the quarter jumped 16.18% to Rs 41.20 crore as against Rs 35.55 crore in Q3 December 2019. EBITDA stood at Rs 280 crore in Q3 FY21, growing 10% from Rs 254.40 crore in Q3 FY20. EBITDA margin during Q3 FY21 stood at 26.2% improving from 23.7% in Q3 FY20. Profit margin during the quarter was at 11.6% as compared to 9.5% in Q3 FY20. On a standalone basis, net profit jumped 20.6% to Rs 125.1 crore on 0.2% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 1057.2 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Revenue from operations in Q3FY21 grew sequentially by 31.2%. Domino's witnessed complete sales recovery during the quarter backed by continued strong growth momentum in delivery and takeaway channels which grew by 18.5% and 64.3% respectively. The company opened 57 new stores including 50 new Domino's stores - highest-ever in a quarter - remain on track to open 100+ new Domino's stores in FY21. The company's system sales recovery improved to 100.3% in Q3 FY21 as compared to 82.3% in Q2 FY21. Store sales growth (SSG) stood at (1.7%) in Q3 FY21 as against 5.9% in Q3 FY20. SSG refers to the year-over-year growth in sales for restaurants opened before previous financial year. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth stood at (0.2)% in Q3 FY21 as compared to (25.8)% in Q2 FY21. LFL sales growth refers to the year-over-year growth in sales for non-split restaurants opened before previous financial year. Jubilant Foodworks' liquidity strengthened further during the quarter. Total cash & cash equivalents, bank deposits and investments increased to Rs 951.70 crore as on 31 December 2020, rising from Rs 827.80 crore as on 30 September 2020. Commenting on the performance for Q3 and 9M FY21, Pratik Pota, CEO and whole time director, Jubilant Foodworks said, The resilience of our business was tested like never before over the last nine months, and we are gratified to see that our strategy for navigating the crisis worked. We turned the corner decidedly in Q3 withDomino's returning to growth, driven by strong momentum in Delivery and Takeaway channels. Our strong on-ground execution, consumer-relevant innovations, continued investments in Digital, disciplined control on costs and a ramp-up in new stores all helped us deliver a strong performance last quarter. We are now shifting gears and preparing for an exciting period of growth ahead. Shares of Jubilant Foodworks fell 1.95% to Rs 2,646.05. Jubilant Foodworks is India's largest foodservice company. Its Domino's Pizza franchise extends across a network of 1,314 restaurants in 285cities (as of 31 December 2020). The company also enjoys exclusive rights to develop and operate Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in India, has in operation 27 restaurants across 8 cities in India (as of 31 December 2020). JFL has ventured into Chinese cuisine segment with its first owned restaurant brand, 'Hong's Kitchen', which serves 2 cities with 7 restaurants in India (as of 31 December 2020). Recently, the Company has added Indian cuisine of biryani, kebabs, breads and more to the portfolio by launching Ekdum! with 3 restaurants in Gurugram. The company has also begun offering their brand-owned ready-to-cook range of sauces, gravies and pastes, 'ChefBoss'. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [February 03, 2021] Haier Smart Home Tops 2020 Global Smart Home Invention Patent Rankings, Empowers Scenario-based Ecosystem Innovation QINGDAO, China, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ -- The world's leading home appliance brand and smart home ecosystem builder Haier Smart Home, ("Haier", SHA: 600690; DE: 690D, HK: 6690) tops incoPat's 2020 Global Smart Home Invention Patent Ranking for the fourth times with 2034 patent applications. The Haier Smart Home is a global leader in contributing to intellectual property. The company has applied for more than 60,000 patents worldwide, including more than 38,000 inventions. It also holds 12,000 registered invention patents in more than 28 countries. "We are proud to have not only many but also quality patents in 2020. Thanks to ur pioneering research and development Haier Smart Home has gained global-leading intellectual property achievements. Now with operators, software developers and hardware equipment manufacturers joining the smart home ecology, we are seeing a huge market of potentially trillions, and it is important for us to keep innovating and moving forward." said Wang Ye, Vice President and General Manager of Smart Home of Haier Home Appliance Industry Group. "Based on our patent strategy, we have used inventions innovatively to land usage scenario in a demonstration of its global ecosystem. Such innovation has a focus on consumer experience jointly created by our ecosystem partners." The Haier Smart Home has created a "10+N" innovation ecosystem connecting 10 research and development centers around the world and its open innovation platform HOPE. The ecosystem enables instant interaction between users and resources, making it possible for the company to generate scenario-based smart home solution sets for consumers. The innovation of its ecosystem has empowered Haier Smart Home to be a top choice for consumers around the world. In 2020, for the twelfth consecutive year, Haier ranked first in the global retail sales volume of large household appliances, according to the sales data released by world's leading research organization Euromonitor International. Other sales success include: Global top sales in refrigerators for the thirteenth consecutive year Global top sales in washing machines for the twelfth consecutive year Global top sales in freezers for the tenth consecutive year Global top sales in wine cabinets for the eleventh consecutive year About Haier Founded on April 1989, Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (formerly Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd., Shanghai: 600690) is the world's leading home appliance maker. The Company boasts seven world-class brands including Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances-US, Fisher & Paykel-New Zealand, AQUA-Japan, and Candy-Italy. According to Euromonitor International's 2020 Global Major Appliances Brand Rankings, Haier's retail sales volume of large household appliances ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years. Haier Smart Home is also a Fortune Global 500 company. Haier Smart Home focuses on the continuous improvements of the best user experience so as to provide consumers with smart home solutions, create full-scenario smart life experience, and offer design and function options customized for and by users. For more information, visit: http://www.haier.net/en/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/haier-smart-home-tops-2020-global-smart-home-invention-patent-rankings-empowers-scenario-based-ecosystem-innovation-301220986.html SOURCE Haier Smart Home [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] NEW HAVEN The Justice Department on Wednesday dropped its lawsuit against Yale University that had accused the university of illegally discriminating against Asian-American and white applicants. A spokesman for the Justice Department said an investigation into whether Yale complies with all anti-discrimination laws is continuing. The lawsuit was filed in October by the Trump administration, after notifying Yale in August that a two-year investigation had found the university had violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Justice Department said in its filing it was dismissing the action voluntarily. Senior U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. ordered the dismissal later Wednesday. Yale is gratified that the U.S. Justice Department has dropped its lawsuit challenging Yale Colleges admissions practices, Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart said in a statement Wednesday. We are also pleased that the Justice Department has withdrawn its notice of violation of Title VI and its notice of noncompliance. The Justice Departments decision in August 2020 to issue the notice of violation unexpectedly and precipitously cut off an exchange of information that Yale looks forward to resuming. Yale had said the Justice Department had not received all of the information it requested before filing suit and was rushing into its decision. Yale President Peter Salovey on Wednesday said in a statement, I am pleased that the department has decided to drop its lawsuit and has withdrawn its notices of violation of Title VI and of noncompliance. Instead, the department will resume the compliance review that it set aside last fall in favor of litigation. Yale welcomes the chance to share information with the department, confident that our admissions process complies fully with decades of Supreme Court decisions. Todays news comes at the start of a new semester, which is a time of reflection and recommitment to Yales mission of educating future leaders who will serve all sectors of society. Our ability to realize this shared mission relies on an admissions process that looks at the whole applicant: where applicants come from, what they have accomplished, and what they hope to achieve at Yale and after graduation. In this way, we create an incoming class that is richly diversewith invaluable benefits to our students, faculty, and community. In a statement, a Justice Department spokesperson said it was dropping the lawsuit in light of all available facts, circumstances, and legal developments and notified Yale on Wednesday that it had also withdrawn its August determination letter that the university discriminated based on race and national origin. The Justice Departments investigation claimed that Yale used race as a factor in multiple steps of the admissions process and that Yale racially balances its classes. The Supreme Court has ruled colleges and universities may consider race in admissions decisions but that it must be limited in scope and time. Schools also must be able to show why their consideration of race is appropriate. Students for Fair Admission of Arlington, Va., unsuccessfully sued Harvard University for allegedly discriminating against Asian-American applicants. The group, led by Edward Blum, lost its appeal in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group had filed a motion to intervene as an additional plaintiff against Yale, but Haight denied that motion on Jan. 19. In a press release, Blum said, It is disappointing that the Department of Justice withdrew from this important lawsuit which had exposed Yales illegal use of quotas to achieve racial and ethnic proportionality. It is important that this lawsuit continues to be vigorously litigated through the courts during the coming months and years if necessary. Using race and ethnicity in college admissions decisions is unfair, unconstitutional and is fraying the social fabric that holds our nation together. Blum said Students for Fair Admissions plans to file a new lawsuit against Yale in the near future. John Brittain is a professor in the University of the District of Columbias law school and a Norwalk native who has been involved in the Sheff v. ONeill school-desegregation case and other civil rights cases. This was the first time that the Justice Department brought suit against a university and with that kind of discriminatory power of the Justice Department, the Biden administration determined that it was not a good use, a good case, a good administration of justice, Brittain said. The lawsuit brought by the Justice Department was more political than it was judicial. He said the suit was brought without any finding of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights. According to Yales undergraduate admissions office, 45 percent of the 1,267 first-year students this year are white, 20 percent are Asian American, 14 percent are Hispanic/Latino, 13 percent are African American, 2 percent are Native American and 9 percent are international students. Yale admitted 6.6 percent of 35,220 applicants to the class of 2024. The Associated Press contributed to this story. edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 00:46:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A woman collects a swab for a coronavirus test at a temporary COVID-19 testing facility set up in Ealing, a district in western London, Britain, on Feb. 2, 2021. The British government will extend mass testing as more coronavirus "mutations of concern" were found in parts of the country, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday. Around 80,000 people live in the eight areas in England, including Surrey, London and Kent, have been targeted for the urgent testing. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua) LONDON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The British government will extend mass testing as more coronavirus "mutations of concern" were found in parts of the country, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday. Hancock said 11 cases were identified in Bristol and 32 in Liverpool, so the government will extend the urgent door-to-door testing currently underway in eight areas amid fears of community transmission of COVID-19 variant related to South Africa. "In all these areas it is imperative that people must stay at home and only leave home where it is absolutely essential," he said in a statement to the House of Commons (lower house of the British parliament). "When your local authority offers you a test you should take up the offer, because we know that one in three people with coronavirus have no symptoms but can still pass it on," he said. Around 80,000 people live in the eight areas in England, including Surrey, London and Kent, have been targeted for the urgent testing. Those over 16 years old are asked to take tests whether they have symptoms or not. Hancock reiterated there is "no evidence" the variant related to South Africa is any more lethal, but it is believed to be more transmissible. "We have to come down on it hard -- our mission must be to stop its spread altogether," the health secretary said. Early study has suggested that the variant related to South Africa is more transmissible and there are signs it could make vaccines a little less effective, according to the BBC. In a bid to reassure the public, the British Department for Health and Social Care said: "There is currently no evidence to suggest this variant is more serious than others, or that the regulated vaccine would not protect against it." Britain aims to deliver a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first dose by autumn. 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 Police carryout followup enquiries following a fire at the Multi Cultural Association on Donegal Pass on January 21st 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) It took more than 50 firefighters to get the blaze at the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association (BMCA) centre on Donegall Pass under control .Photo Stephen Davison/Pacemaker Press Two men arrested over the arson attack on the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association building have been released on bail pending further enquiries. The pair - aged 42 and 49 - were held on Wednesday after a search of a property in the south of the city. A 40-year-old man has been charged with two counts of criminal damage to vehicles in the Donegall Pass area of south Belfast in October last year. He will appear in court next month. The devastating fire at the former church broke out on Thursday, January 14. The organisation said it was left heartbroken after the attack. There was widespread condemnation of the incident, including from the first and deputy first ministers. Thousands have been raised in a fundraising campaign. Detective Inspector Rachel Miskelly added: While our investigation is ongoing, we are continuing to appeal for information about the arson incident, which is being treated as a hate crime. The fire, which resulted in serious damage to the building, is unacceptable and we are working tirelessly to identify those responsible and put them before the courts. I would also remind anyone who has yet to come forward with information, that the independent charity Crimestoppers, is offering a reward of up to 5,000 to anyone providing information directly and anonymously to Crimestoppers, which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons linked to the arson. Information can be given to detectives directly by calling 101 quoting reference number 1626 of 14/01/21. You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ Alternatively, to stay anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on Freephone 0800 555 111 or complete their simple and secure anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org." A North Annville Township couple is accused of beating their young son, denying him water for periods of time and forcing him to sleep in only a diaper on a cold basement floor until he was taken to the hospital with hypothermia, prosecutors said. Robert and Stephanie A. Duncan have five adopted children, all of whom faced graphic punishments, restrictions, and the denial of basic, necessary sustenance at the hands of the couple, according to a statement from Lebanon County Prosecutor Pier Hess Graf. The children range from 6 to 15 years old. The Duncans 11-year-old son was taken Jan. 13 to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center after he was found unresponsive and hypothermic in the familys basement, in which he lived full-time with two other siblings, according to Graf. Prosecutors said the boy had unusually low blood pressure and bruises on his neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, hip and genitals. Investigators said doctors told them he did not have a pre-existing condition and the injuries didnt appear to be accidental. The boy showed signs of serious bodily injury resulting from exposure to cold, significant fluid restriction, possible ingestion of a sodium-containing liquid such as diluted bleach, and physical abuse, according to prosecutors. He would have died if he had not received emergency medical care, doctors reportedly told investigators. The childs significant hypothermia could only be caused by prolonged exposure to extreme cold, Graf said. Stephanie Duncan told authorities the boy went to bed the night before with only a headache. Investigators said she could not explain his weakened state or low blood pressure. Further investigation found the Duncans had a caste system for doling out abuse among the children, Graf said. The three oldest children were abused the most and lived in concrete rooms in the basement with few personal belongings, according to Graf. The 11-year-old suffered near daily torment, but all four sons were beaten and strangled, Graf said. The children told investigators the Duncans also slapped their 6-year-old daughter in the mouth. When the investigation began, the Duncans put a space heater and a mattress with bedding in the 11-year-olds otherwise bare room, according to Graf. In reality, she said, a livestream video camera in his room showed him lying facedown on the bare floor wearing only a diaper a week before he was hospitalized. Both defendants actively mislead medical professionals and investigators about [the childs] home life and reasons for his hospitalization, Graf said. On Christmas 2019, he received a letter from Santa that said he was on the naughty list for peeing and pooping and wouldnt get any gifts that year, according to an affidavit of probable cause. For Thanksgiving, the boy was fed peanut butter and carrots instead of the familys holiday meal, the court documents said. The day her son was taken to the hospital, Stephanie Duncan found him unresponsive in his room unable to speak, walk or stand, according to Graf. Prosecutors said she grabbed L.D. by the neck and dragged him upstairs. He threw up anything he ate, and a thermometer reading showed his temperature was low, Graf said. Hours went by before the Duncans sought medical help for their son, Graf said. In the meantime, Robert Duncan removed the lock from his sons door, and Stephanie Duncan told the children to lie if they were questioned by authorities, prosecutors said. However, according to Graf, each child said theyd watched their parents attack their siblings over minor instances, such as taking too long to drink water or complete a chore. The affidavit said the Duncans kept guns locked in the basement, and that Stephanie Duncan threatened to shoot one of the children. The 11-year-old was rarely allowed to leave his room, even to go to the bathroom, Graf said. She said he frequently urinated on his floor and when he did, Stephanie Duncan forced him to clean it up with bleach. According to prosecutors, Stephanie Duncan poured the bleach on his head if he complained. The boy sometimes went days without water and survived on oatmeal, peanut butter and carrots, Graf said. Prosecutors said Robert Duncan once choked him when he caught him stealing water from the sink. A lock on the 11-year-olds door kept him from escaping or his siblings from freeing him, Graf said. She said Stephanie Duncan ordered the children to remove the basements light bulbs at night, forcing the three oldest children including the 11-year-old to sleep in pitch blackness. [The boy] thus spent every night alone, cold, and naked on a concrete floor in utter darkness, Graf said. All of the children were monitored in their bedrooms with livestream video cameras, according to prosecutors. Graf said the Duncans forced the children to run in place for hours if the couple found them sleeping in a position they found inappropriate. As parents, the defendants had the duty to protect, care for, and unconditionally love their children. They violated every aspect of their duties and instead created a household of unspeakable fear, violence, torment, and abuse. [The 11-year-old] slept every night alone, in an empty room, on an ice-cold concrete floor. He received no parental love or comfort. All of our victims suffered at their hands for years with no hope or end in sight, Graf said. Unable to escape or rescue one another, they each at young ages resigned themselves to merely survive. Lebanon Countys Children and Youth Agency was granted custody of the children on Jan. 15 and removed them from the Annville home. The 11-year-old boy remained hospitalized at that point. Robert and Stephanie Duncan were charged Tuesday multiple counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiring with one another. They remain in Lebanon County Prison on monetary bail while they await preliminary hearings. The explorer sees exciting greenfield potential and its now planning first pass exploration ( ) said it has been awarded five new licences in Central Cameroon which significantly expand the companys footprint in the country. The explorer highlighted that the new acreage alongside three other licences awarded to Orioles partner Reservoir Minerals Cameroon represents a contiguous, district-scale land package. It spans some 3,592 square kilometres (km2) of what it described as highly prospective geological terrane. Oriole noted that an initial programme of desktop remote sensing and regional-scale stream sediment sampling will kick off in the first half of 2021. The programme will seek to identify targets for future exploration. As first movers in Cameroon, and with further advanced exploration ongoing at our Bibemi and Wapouze projects in the north of the country, we are extremely pleased to have received formal approval for these additional new licences in central Cameroon, said Tim Livesey, chief executive in a statement. "Based on our in-house prospectivity analysis in 2019, this district-scale grassroots licence package was identified as having significant potential to host orogenic-type gold mineralisation. We believe that this contiguous package of nearly 3,600 km2, offers exciting greenfield potential and we look forward to commencing our first-pass exploration programmes during the first half of the year, he added. The licences have an initial three-year term, starting a possible nine-year exploration tenure. Many booked tours to the northern provinces for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday have been postponed or changed amid the resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the area two weeks before the holiday, travel firms have said. Tourists visit Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh. VNA/VNS Photo Tours to the northern provinces saw strong demand for the Tet holiday as visitors from the tropical south sought to experience cold weather in the north. A representative from Saigontourist said that customers were told about tour cancellation and postponement policies when they booked tours. Most customers from HCM City with tours to the northeast and northwest regions chose to cancel their bookings, while other customers switched destinations to Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands in the south and to Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Yen in the central region, the representative said. A representative from Fiditour- Vietluxtour said that customers in HCM City had agreed to shift to short-distance destinations such as Vung Tau, Phan Thiet and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta to replace their cancelled tours. Most travel firms have put in place different scenarios depending on the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, and are offering different policies on tour cancellations and postponements. Nguyen Ngoc Tan, general director of Saco Travel, said demand for tours from HCM City to the northeast region for Tet holiday have been strong due to stronger tourism cooperation between HCM City and the northeast region. The outbreak in the north, however, has resulted in many cancelled tours or changes to other places, Tan said. Most customers asked travel agencies to refund their cancelled tour and some group tours agreed to switch to a more appropriate time to travel, he said. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, deputy director of the marketing department at Vietravel, said the company has prepared plans to adapt to any COVID-19 development. Customers are advised to change their destinations or ask for travel vouchers that will be valid to April 30, Khanh said. VNS MEXICO CITY (AP) Money sent home by Mexican migrants rose 11.4% in 2020 to a new high despite the coronavirus pandemic, Mexicos central bank reported Tuesday. BBVA bank said in an analysis report that this was the fifth straight year the remittances, as the money is know, set records. The $40.6 billion that migrants sent home to Mexico in 2020 was equivalent to the combined entire budgets of the Mexican government's education, health, labor, welfare and culture departments. As a source of foreign income, remittances earn Mexico more money than oil exports or tourism and are exceeded only by manufacturing exports. About 98.5% of Mexico's remittances are sent from the United States, almost all by bank or wire transfers. Despite a controversial proposal before Mexico's Congress to make the central bank buy all cash dollars that wind up in Mexican banks a move that would supposedly help migrants only about 0.7% of remittances enter the country in cash. The flow of remittances in 2020 compared to $36.4 billion sent in 2019, and included $4 billion in March alone, a record for a single month. The rise was much better than other countries, which have seen drops in remittances because of job losses or reductions in hours due to the pandemic. Most Mexican migrants live and work in the United States, where unemployment has surged because of lockdowns. Given the big drop in the value of the peso so far this year, remittances sent in dollars will go much further. The western state of Jalisco is now the Mexican state that gets the most remittance money, displacing neighboring Michoacan, which long topped the list. Slain U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick lay in honor in the building he died defending, allowing colleagues and the lawmakers he protected to pay their respects and to remember the violent attack on Congress that took his life. Sicknick died after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 against the mob that stormed the building and interrupted the electoral count after then-President Donald Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to fight like hell to overturn his defeat. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Sicknick, who died the next day, was injured while physically engaging with protesters, though a final cause of death has not yet been determined. President Joe Biden traveled to the Capitol to pay tribute to Sicknick shortly after the ceremony began Tuesday night, briefly placing his hand on the urn in the center of the Capitol Rotunda, saying a prayer and sadly shaking his head as he observed a memorial wreath nearby. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of other congressional leaders also paid their respects. The arrival of Sicknicks remains at 9:30 p.m. was solemn, with dozens of Capitol Police standing at attention as his urn was carried up the Capitol steps. There was a viewing period for his Capitol Police colleagues overnight, and lawmakers were to pay tribute at a ceremony Wednesday morning. A ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery was planned later in the day. Members of Congress remain shaken by the riots and are grappling with what it means not only for the future of the country, but for their own security as elected representatives. While lawmakers were united in denouncing the riots, and Trumps role in them, the parties are now largely split on how to move forward. The attack led to uncertainty, fear and political turmoil in Congress as Biden began his presidency. House Democrats impeached Trump a week after the attack, sending a charge of incitement of insurrection to the Senate, where Republicans are unlikely to provide the votes necessary to convict him. At the same time, the building has been cut off from the public, surrounded by large metal fences and defended by the National Guard. Sicknick, 42, of South River, New Jersey, enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, then deployed to Saudi Arabia and later Kyrgyzstan. He joined the Capitol Police in 2008. Like many of his fellow officers, he often worked security in the Capitol itself and was known to lawmakers, staff and others who passed through the buildings doors each morning. There are still questions about his death, which was one of five as a result of the rioting. As the mob forced its way in, Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, two law enforcement officials said. He collapsed later on, was hospitalized and died. The officials could not discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Investigators are also examining whether he may have ingested a chemical substance during the riot that may have contributed to his death, the officials said. Bidens tribute Tuesday evening stood in stark contrast to Trump, who never made a public expression of sorrow over the officers death or took any responsibility for the attack. Pelosi and Schumer announced last week that Sicknick would lie in honor, saying his heroism helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice, they said, reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve. Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues on Tuesday that the Capitol Police demonstrated extraordinary valor on Jan. 6 and urged members to pay their respects to Sicknick. She has also encouraged members to take advantage of trauma resources available to congressional employees. She said protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers who work there is a highest priority and that there will be a need for extra money to do so. During the assault, many of the insurrectionists called out for members, including Pelosi. They also targeted Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the building to preside over the electoral count. The insurrectionist attack on January 6 was not only an attack on the Capitol, but was a traumatic assault targeting Members, she said. Sicknick is only the fifth person to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, a designation for those who are not elected officials, judges or military leaders. The others who have lain in honor were John Gibson and Jacob Chestnut, Jr., two officers who were killed in a 1998 shooting at the Capitol; civil rights leader Rosa Parks, who died in 2005; and the Rev. Billy Graham, who died in 2018. Victorian health authorities are investigating a transmission of the UK variant of COVID-19 within one of the states quarantine hotels, after the virus jumped from a hotel room to a guest in the opposite room. The states public health team believe viral particles may have exited the room of a family who all later tested positive. Somehow, the virus either lingered in the air or attached itself to a hard surface, which then caused a woman in another room to contract the same strain of COVID-19. Authorities are reviewing CCTV footage and conducting environmental testing at the Park Royal Hotel at Melbourne Airport, including a further review of ventilation systems to ensure the virus did not carry from one room to another. A member of the family recalled opening the hotel room door - either to collect food or put out laundry - at the same time as someone in the room opposite opened their door. CCTV footage has not shown any occasion on which members of the two rooms exited their rooms simultaneously. Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi accepted a request from Italy's head of state to try to form a government that will tackle the twin emergencies of the coronavirus pandemic and a devastating recession. Draghi, who played a pivotal role in steering Europe out of its sovereign debt crisis, took on the mandate of premier-designate with conditions -- a normal procedure in Italian politics -- after meeting head of state Sergio Mattarella at the presidential palace in Rome. "Overcoming the pandemic, completing the vaccination campaign, offering answers to citizens' daily problems, relaunching the country," Draghi said after the announcement. "These are the challenges we face." Draghi, 73, will now sound out leaders of political parties as he tries to forge as broad a parliamentary majority as possible. Outgoing Premier Giuseppe Conte failed in a comeback bid following the defection of a junior ally and Mattarella turned to Draghi after warning Italy could not afford to go through an election campaign amid the current crisis. Draghi also said Italy has "the extraordinary resources" of the European Union behind it, and said he's confident that a spirit of unity will emerge from talks with party leaders. Italy's 10-year yield was 8 basis points lower at 0.57% after earlier falling to 0.54% while the benchmark BTP-bund spread was at 105 basis points compared with a five-year low at 102 points earlier. The country's parties are divided on a Draghi-led government. He can count on the backing of the center-left Democratic Party, the second-biggest force in Conte's former alliance, as well as centrist, pro-European groups. The center-right Forza Italia party of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi could also support Draghi, although its lawmakers are divided. Salvini's Dilemma Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant League, the biggest party in the center-right bloc, has left the door ajar for a Draghi government. "The problem isn't the name of the person," Salvini told daily Corriere della Sera. "The point is what he wants to do and with whom." Salvini said the priority for Italy should be to avoid tax increases, and reiterated his call for early elections in May or June. But the Five Star Movement, the biggest force in parliament and Conte's main backer in the last government, has refused to support Draghi. Vito Crimi, political leader of the group born as an anti-establishment force, said past administrations led by technocrats had created "extremely negative consequences for Italian citizens." The ever-fractious Five Star could, however, find itself split over the issue, with some lawmakers possibly agreeing to back Draghi. If Draghi is confirmed as premier, his agenda will be dominated by the pandemic -- which has caused almost 90,000 deaths in Italy -- and a faltering vaccination campaign. He'll also have to come to grips with a debt-plagued economy that shrank 2% in the last quarter of 2020, the worst performance among large European countries. Another key item on the agenda: how to manage and spend the country's 209 billion-euro ($252 billion) share of the European Union's recovery package, the issue which led ex-Premier Matteo Renzi to pull the plug on Conte's government. A trained economist, Draghi is credited with shoring up the euro at the height of the debt crisis in 2012 with his "Whatever it takes" speech. He started the quantitative-easing program of sovereign debt purchases which has subsequently been expanded to become a key tool in supporting the European economy during the pandemic. Draghi ended his eight years as the helm of the ECB in 2019, and ever since he's kept pundits guessing on whether he'd consider a role in Italian politics. Possible finance ministers in a Draghi-led cabinet include Fabio Panetta, an ECB executive board member, and Carlo Cottarelli, a former International Monetary Fund executive who nearly became premier himself in 2018, daily la Repubblica reported on Wednesday. Kuwait will launch in June this year its first satellite, from the United States. The satellite will be launched on the second Vigoride demo mission onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Arabian Aerospace reports. The launching program is successfully undergoing functional testing, the online media notes. These tests verify the satellites ability to perform all tasks as expected, including power management, attitude determination and amp; control, communications, and error recovery. During functional testing, a hardware-in-the-loop simulation was carried out to emulate in-orbit conditions both virtually and physically, said Nada Alshammari, director of educational programs at the Dubai-based Orbital Space. The space mission is to help empower students to contribute to the advancement of satellite communication technology, and to prepare them as future professionals to operate the next generation of communication satellites, Alshammari added. The Kuwaiti satellite reportedly completed its space qualification tests in September 2020 at CIRA Italian Aerospace Research Centre. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 15:41:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SANAA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Fighting erupted between the Yemeni army and the Houthi rebels in the port city of Hodeidah on Wednesday morning, local residents said. Dozens of families in al-Minkim village of al-Durayhimi district in the south of Hodeidah were caught in the crossfire, the residents in the port city told Xinhua. Rockets and artillery shells were used by both warring forces in the clashes in the vast farms around the village, they said. Hodeidah has seen a shaky cease-fire between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since they reached a UN-sponsored truce in Stockholm in December 2018. The Yemeni port city is under the control of the Houthis, while the government forces have advanced to the southern and eastern districts. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi militia stormed several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The United Nations is trying to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the Arab country to the brink of famine. Enditem The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has approved the first president of the nation's second fully-fledged, interest-free bank (IFB), Hijra. Dawit Keno, who has been serving at Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) as vice president in charge of resources & credit management, was named Hijira's CEO as of January 27, 2021. Dawit has three decades of experience at CBE under his belt, where he started his career as a customer service officer. He then landed a management position as a district manager in Jimma where he served for three years. Dawit later moved to Addis Abeba in a managerial role before being appointed vice president. Before moving to Hijra, he served for four months as VP of resource & credit management, a year as VP of financial management, and another year as VP of banking operations at CBE. He was appointed after fulfilling the central bank's directive that requires chief executive officers of banks to have at least a decade of experience in the banking industry, five of which in a managerial position. His natural growth in the industry made him an appealing candidate for the board directors, according to Mukemil Bedru, the board chairperson at Hijra, which secured a pre-formation license in June 2019 and obtained 9,000 shareholders who have subscribed for 1.2 billion Br worth of shares, of which 650 million Br is paid. "Dawit's experience in credit, which is a tough area for banking, is another reason for the appointment," Mukemil said. Frezer Ayalew, director of banking supervision at the central bank, confirmed Dawit's appointment. The new CEO will be in charge of operationalising the Bank, human resource recruitment, especially executive team members; procurement of core banking and digital banking technologies; and setting up the Bank's offices and branches. The appointee's last focus area is preparation of policy and strategy documents needed for the commencement of operations. Dawit sees the novelty of fully-fledged, interest-free banking as an obstacle. He believes that potential customers will need time and convincing to subscribe to Hijra's services. But he also believes that the mode of banking bears a great opportunity for the sector. Bringing the community seeking interest-free banking into the mix will have a positive contribution toward the country's economy and the community as well, according to Dawit. Hijra originally anticipated being operational at the beginning of the Ethiopian new year. Still, the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the process of appointing its first CEO contributed to the delay, according to Mukemil. The Bank had previously nominated Nuri Hussein, IFB vice president at CBE, to be the founding president of the Bank. The organisers forwarded the appointment to the central bank to get approval; however, it did not materialise after Nuri withdrew from the candidacy. Dawit's new management team is expected to review and update existing documents prepared by consultants and the founders, who have almost completed compiling policy documentation and branding work. "We're getting ready to open our doors with several branches over the next two or three months as the only compliance left was the appointment of a CEO," said Mukemil. The unavailability of skilled personnel in interest-free banking and the procurement of technological banking solutions requires a high amount of forex, which will be burdensome for a newly formed bank, according to Mukemil. Ibrahim Dawd, an expert in IFB with more than 12 years of consulting experience, agrees that interest-free banking in Ethiopia has its fair share of challenges. Initiated a decade ago by Zem-Zem Bank, the formation of an interest-free banking system went through various challenges. Promoters of Zem-Zem started the process following the legislation of the interest-free banking proclamation. But their attempt did not materialise after the issuance of a directive that limited IFB to window service only. The Bank finally received and operational licence in September 2020 "At the time, there were barely any experts on IFB," said Ibrahim. "Since then, however, 11 banks have started adopting IFB through window banking services." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia Company Banking By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. However, a year and a half ago, the central bank issued a directive that allows full-fledged IFB service, triggering many banks including Zem-Zem, Hijira, Zad, Kush, Huda and others to start the establishment process. Ibrahim believes that there are more professionals than in the past, but it is still hard to find skilled personnel for managerial positions. Another barrier Hijira and other interest-free banks will soon face, according to Ibrahim, is the procurement of core banking technology that is fitting for an IFB. "Most core banking systems are not designed to accommodate IFB," he explained, adding that there are only a handful of companies providing core banking systems specifically designed for IFB per Sharia Law. "It is a global problem," said Ibrahim. "What the tech companies do is tweak the conventional core banking system." Ibrahim recommends that it is important for the Bank to work with companies who design core IFB solutions widely used in Middle Eastern 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. OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Infrastructure plays a critical role in building our country and growing our economy. The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is a cornerstone in the Government of Canada's plan to build transformational infrastructure in the public interest, create good jobs, and move ambitiously to net zero emissions by 2050. The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, has written to Tamara Vrooman, the newly appointed Chairperson of the Canada Infrastructure Bank with an updated Statement of Priorities and Accountabilities. This Statement sets out the Government's expectations for the Bank's activities across five priority areas: public transit, green infrastructure, trade and transport, broadband, and clean power. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is already making progress in these priority areas as it implements its Growth Plan, which aims to invest $10 billion over the next three years in strategic initiatives such as zero-emission buses, energy efficient building retrofits, agricultural irrigation, broadband, renewables and energy storage. These investments will help grow our economy, create good jobs and build inclusive communities and support Canada's climate goals. To advance the Government's commitment to close the Indigenous infrastructure gap and support the prosperity of Indigenous communities, the Government has set a target for the CIB to invest at least $1 billion in total across its five priority sectors for revenue-generating projects that benefit Indigenous Peoples. The Bank recently announced a partnership for the Oneida Energy Storage project, an example of the ambitious projects this new investment target may unlock. As the Government undertakes Canada's first ever national infrastructure assessment, the CIB will provide advisory services to help identify needs in Canada's built environment, particularly with respect to the role of the private sector and investment community. This work will complement the Government of Canada's overall efforts on sustainable infrastructure and building back better. Quotes "The Canada Infrastructure Bank has all the key elements in place to deliver jobs, growth and nation-building infrastructure for Canadians that drives us to a net zero future. With new leadership and clear priorities, including a new commitment to identify opportunities to invest in major projects in partnership with Indigenous Peoples, I'm confident the Bank will help drive Canada's economic recovery and build the infrastructure we need for Canada's long-term success." - The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Quick facts As part of the Government's historic Investing in Canada Plan, the CIB was established as an innovative financing tool to address our country's significant infrastructure needs, and has been allocated $35 billion to support infrastructure projects across the country and attracting investment from private partners to those projects. and attracting investment from private partners to those projects. The CIB is a Crown corporation that operates at arm's length from Government. Statements of Priorities and Accountabilities are used by Ministers to communicate government priorities and expectations to Crown corporations. While the government sets the priorities for the CIB, the CIB's Board of Directors is responsible for the organization's ongoing governance and supervision of its business, final investment decisions, and forward-planning and strategic direction. Like other federal Crown corporations, the CIB is accountable to the Government, Parliament and the public through a corporate plan and annual report. $10 billion over the next three years in infrastructure projects that will help Canadians get back to work and is expected to create approximately 60,000 jobs across the country. Recently, the CIB announced its Growth Plan to investover the next three years in infrastructure projects that will help Canadians get back to work and is expected to create approximately 60,000 jobs across the country. Associated links 2021 Statement of Priorities and Accountabilities Canada Infrastructure Bank Government of Canada's Investing in Canada Infrastructure plan 2017 SPA Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Web: Infrastructure Canada SOURCE Infrastructure Canada For further information: Chantalle Aubertin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, 613-941-0660, [email protected]; Media Relations, Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected] Related Links www.infrastructure.gc.ca The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times 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. Fueled by the power of a family's love, Toyota's 60-second Big Game ad "Upstream" features Team Toyota athlete Jessica Long's incredible journey, which began when she was adopted by an American couple from a Russian orphanage. The spot takes viewers on a trip down memory lane of Long's childhood, which, in turn, would help lead her to become the second most decorated Paralympian in U.S. history. "'Upstream' highlights Toyota's mission to shine a light on athletes like Jessica who work tirelessly every day to pursue their passion and inspire people around the world to reach their full potential," said Lisa Materazzo, group vice president, Toyota Marketing, Toyota Motor North America. "We are grateful to Jessica and her family for their willingness to allow us to share such a personal part of their story." "Upstream" will air in the first position (A) in the commercial break before the 2-minute warning in the second quarter. The spot ends with the uplifting line, "We believe there is hope and strength in all of us" referencing Jessica's extraordinary journey, Toyota's belief in Respect for People, and aims to inspire others. Additionally, "Upstream" represents the values Toyota shares with the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, and the athletes who inspire people around the world to reach their full potential. The 60-second spot features Long swimming through milestone scenes over the course of her life, starting with a depiction of the Russian orphanage from which she was adopted. The camera then cuts to her parents (played by actors) receiving the emotional call that they would be adopting a baby girl, but with the news that her legs would need to be amputated due to a rare condition. The scenes following show a young swimmer depicting Jessica, hands on hips ready to compete, knowing she's different from other children, yet remaining resilient. The spot continues with Jessica competing in her quest to greatness, overcoming all obstacles as she becomes a Paralympic legend. "I love that the spot highlights not just the gold medals and accomplishments but the challenging journey to get there," said Team Toyota athlete and U.S. Paralympian Jessica Long. "Perseverance, grit and overcoming the odds contributed to my success and my hope is that people feel inspired and uplifted by this emotional spot." "Upstream" was created by Toyota's agency of record, Saatchi & Saatchi, in partnership with Dentsu and directed by Tarsem Singh. Click HERE to view the :60-second "Upstream" spot. For images and credits please click HERE. As a company that is committed to improving the communities in which it operates, Toyota is also taking the platform provided by the Big Game to air a five-second message that encourages people to practice social responsibility by following CDC guidelines such as: wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and, getting the COVID-19 vaccine, when available. This follows a Community Service Announcement (CSA) that the company produced last year to bring awareness and credible information to the African American and Hispanic communities around the country, which are among the hardest hit by the virus. To learn more about Team Toyota Athlete and Paralympian Jessica Long, please click HERE. About Toyota Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships. Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 36,000 in the U.S. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 30 million cars and trucks at our 9 manufacturing plants, 10 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021. To help inspire the next generation for a career in STEM-based fields, including mobility, Toyota launched its virtual education hub at www.TourToyota.com with an immersive experience and chance to visit many of our U.S. manufacturing facilities. The hub also includes a series of free STEM-based lessons and curriculum through Toyota USA Foundation partners, virtual field trips and more. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com. Media Contacts: Leigh Anne Sessions Toyota Motor North America 469-292-5849 [email protected] Marissa Borjon Toyota Motor North America 469-292-6395 [email protected] Jana Hartline Saatchi for Toyota 310-738-4612 [email protected] For customer inquiries, please call: 800-331-4331 SOURCE Toyota Loading The Pfizer vaccine was approved for use in Australia last week and the first shots will be administered later this month. Professor Pouton and his team believe that with sufficient government support an mRNA vaccine production line could be up and running within months. Local laboratory equipment company ATA Scientific says the equipment can be imported and it is absolutely possible to build a facility. There are many questions left to answer, and other scientists are sceptical such capacity could be brought online in the short term but all agree that it is important for Australia to get into the mRNA game at some point. If we got started, and worked up that capability, there is no reason why we couldnt be manufacturing one of these existing vaccines under licence. And that would really help the flow of [vaccine] doses to Australia, Professor Pouton said. Loading Its not yet clear exactly what technology would be required to manufacture Pfizer or Modernas COVID-19 vaccines under licence, but both companies have worked with Precision in the past, Mr Davis said. He said technologies such as Precisions were already available for import into Australia, and could be used to develop a local manufacturing facility for RNA technologies. This could be for the production of COVID-19 vaccines and other emerging genetic medicines. This [is] an opportunity to create a genetic medicine facility in Australia which can create or pivot to vaccine production. Lets make Australia the genetic medicine hub of the world. Professor Pall Thordarson, chief investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano Science and a member of the effort said it was not a question of whether we can do it, but when. We have all the expertise we need in this country. What is needed is the right investments and partnerships. We are working carefully to ensure that will happen. But there is no guarantee yet. CSL have been contracted by the government to make 50 million doses of AstraZenecas viral vector vaccine at the companys Broadmeadows facility. CSL has said there is a low likelihood it could prepare its facilities in time to make mRNA vaccines under licence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has indicated it would consider investment in mRNA technologies in the future, however. It declined to comment on Wednesday. Australia does not have local mRNA manufacturing facilities. A 2017 report prepared for the Defence Department warned our lack of vaccine infrastructure could leave us short in the event of a pandemic. To achieve onshore production for existing vaccines, Australia would also have to reach an agreement with those companies. A Pfizer spokeswoman said it was working to expand its manufacturing capacity, both internally and by signing contract manufacturers. Other scientists backed the need for investment in mRNA vaccines but were sceptical it could be done in a realistic time frame. I dont think we can. I think its too late. But it shouldnt stop us from doing something for the future, said Professor Trent Munro, director of the University of Queenslands unsuccessful effort to build a vaccine for COVID-19 . I am very wary about companies who say they can do large-scale commercial manufacturing as opposed to those companies that actually can. Thats a big difference, he said. Australia needs to figure out ways to attract more large biotech here, so we have the established manufacturing capability on shore. Other than CSL, most of the other presence we have had here has been slowly shut down and moved offshore. Associate Professor Archa Fox, an mRNA researcher at the University of Western Australia and president of the RNA Network of Australia, said the plan totally has a reasonable chance of success. Loading It could be up and running within a year. In Canada, they are pushing forward with this. Professor Fox said she and several senior scientists had been canvassing companies and sites across Australia to establish capacity, with sites mooted in Western Australia, NSW, Victoria and Queensland. There are several different irons in the fire. It seems like a no-brainer, that we should be getting into and investing in this space, she said. Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivers a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, in Nanning, in southern Guangxi, China, on Nov. 27, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Ahead of ASEAN Conference, Chinese Regime Prepared for PR Disaster Scenarios Since 2003, the Chinese regime has held the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, an annual meeting to encourage trade and investment between China and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In 2019, Beijing themed the meeting around promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, its ambition to increase influence through funding infrastructure projects throughout Southeast and central Asia, eastern Europe, and the African continent. Recently, the Epoch Times obtained internal documents revealing how Chinese authorities tried to avert public relations disasters by setting up emergency protocols for the meeting. They also made arrangements to make sure public opinion about the event was positive and prevent participants from expressing negative views. Despite the preparations, authorities still found that the event lacked professionalism, according to the documents. Emergency Scenarios One of the files was an emergency management comprehensive exercise plan for the opening ceremony of the 2019 summit. The event was held from Sept. 21 to 24 in Nanning city, of Chinas southwestern Guangxi region. The authorities set up an on-site emergency command leadership team to respond to PR emergencies, along with 19 emergency management teams to respond to any issues on the ground. Authorities also held a rehearsal on Sept. 17 to prepare. The document listed 18 different types of emergency situations and how the teams should deal with them. In the event that the stage collapses, the meeting would be terminated. An emergency team would be responsible for guiding an evacuation of the people on stage, and ask to stop all Chinese media coverage. If any foreign leaders fainted or felt sick on stage, the webcast would be terminated. The conference logo, promotional film, or other images would be shown on the webcast instead. If guest speakers made comments that were not favorable to cooperation, on-site language interpreters should stop translating right away, and an emergency management team would play alternate music, terminate the live webcast, and take guests away through the nearest exit immediately. If audience members threw objects onto the podium, a team would arrest people first and take them away from the ceremony, switch the playback screen, and terminate the webcast. Security staff in front of the podium should also block the objects with umbrellas in their hands, the document stated. If the audience shouted slogans, pulled out banners, or distributed leaflets, a team would take the people away from the scene, play alternate music immediately, switch the screen, and terminate the webcast. Problems The Epoch Times also obtained a November 6, 2020 document from the business summits command center, assessing problems that came up during the 2019 summit. The document stated that although the team made a lot of emergency preparations, the summit still ended up with multiple problems. For example, under the category of foreign protocol work, the document mentioned that the Indonesian trade minister was at the back of the line during the welcome banquet, indicating the protocol work was unprofessional. In the exhibition area, the document noted that there were unqualified domestic exhibitors, space partitions were not placed properly, and some booths got misclassified which industry sector they belonged to. For the foreign exhibitors, the command center assessed that their quality needed to be improved, and that the exhibition area couldnt meet the needs of the ASEAN countries. It also noted that foreign business associations did not actively participate in the exhibition, while some foreign representatives were not qualified enough. In the area of attracting investment, the document stated that some exhibits, such as those on construction materials, construction machinery and transport vehicles, and smart energy, had a relatively small number of buyers. There werent enough on-site visitors and there was difficulty in recruiting foreign buyers overall, it noted. Public Opinion The Epoch Times also obtained documents related to the November 2020 business summit, which was again held in Nanning with virtual and in-person events. In Oct. 20, 2020 meeting notes on the work of news and propaganda, local authorities noted that control of public opinion should be strengthened and media promotion should be done well, in order to create a strong and warm atmosphere for upcoming events. In Oct. 26, 2020 meeting notes, local authorities said that we must further prevent foreign forces from carrying out unfavorable propaganda online or offline during the summit, and stabilize the overall social situation in the region. The term social stability is often used by Chinese authorities as a euphemism for stifling dissent. EDWARDSVILLE Like everyone else, Dr. Paul Malcharek is tired of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. But that doesnt mean its going away anytime soon. I thought that by last summer or maybe into the fall, it would be over, and we would all be back too normal, but this has been a lot longer than we all thought, said 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. No one has immunity to it, so its able to spread a little more than what we expected, but none of us have ever lived through a pandemic. As much as Malcharek would like to throw away his mask and declare an end to the pandemic, he and other local medical experts know that day is still months away. Dr. (Anthony) Fauci (chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden) mentioned late summer (as an end date for the pandemic) and I would be surprised if its any earlier than that, said Dr. Lowell Sensintaffar, a family physician for HSHS Medical Group in Shiloh. The vaccine has to get out there and the president has said that he wants to get vaccinations to everybody by late summer and that would require almost two million vaccines a day, but right now were not at one million. That means theyre going to have to ramp up production, but the bottleneck is finding the mechanisms to actually get it to people in that number. This whole initiative is unprecedented, and the logistics are herculean, to put it mildly. Progress is being made, both nationally and locally. On Thursday, the Madison County Health Department announced that it is starting COVID-19 vaccinations for those eligible under Phase 1B, with vaccinations by appointment only. Still, the logistics of mass vaccinations are proving to be a challenge. Right now, whether real or not, the perception is that as a nation, our health systems are underdelivering on what people expected, said Dr. Loren Hughes, a family physician and former healthcare executive from Edwardsville, and another member of the Madison County Health Advisory Committee. The supply of vaccine is just not here in the amounts we need, even though locally, we have the capacity to deliver it to our residents. We are only getting two or three thousand doses a week here in Madison County and thats actually up from where it was initially. The federal government sends the vaccines to the states, where they then distribute them to individual counties based on population. Our county allocation is split between our local hospitals and the public health department, Hughes said. Another 500,000-plus doses of vaccine have been sent to Illinois nursing homes under the federal agreement with CVS and Walgreens. Over 1.2 million doses of vaccine have been sent to our states county health departments, hospitals and select pharmacies. Illinois recently signed agreements with Jewel-Osco, Walgreens, and Hi-Vee to administer vaccines across the state, but they are having the same supply problems as county health departments. Weekly vaccination clinics for the appropriate recipients will be held at various locations by appointment only. Locations include Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville and Lewis and Clark Community College Commons in Godfrey. The message we need to put out is patience, patience, patience. Production and delivery are improving, and we will ultimately get a shot to everyone who wants the vaccine. We need to think in terms of months and not days, Hughes said. If the vaccine does begin to arrive in much larger numbers, it is likely that county health officials will require assistance in its distribution. Madison County Public Health Director Toni Corona has a finite staff. The county health department has been receiving much-appreciated help from other community partners, such as SIUE, Lewis and Clark Community College, Chestnut Health Systems, and Southern Illinois HealthCare to name a few, Hughes said. Madison County also has an award-winning program called the Medical Reserve Corps which is a voluntary group of medical and non-medical individuals who have the desire to serve our communities in times of need. If you are interested in helping, the Madison County Health Department website (www.madisonchd.org) has the information you need to apply. Malcharek and Sensintaffar have already taken their vaccine shots and can testify to the vaccines efficacy and safety. The first vaccine I had almost no effects whatsoever, Malcharek said. The second vaccine I had a few body aches and pains for 24 hours and I was a little tired that day, but I was able to work. The next day when I woke up, I had no problems. There are 16 people on my staff and 15 of them have had both vaccines already. Nobody had more than just some achiness for a day or a little bit of fatigue. Sensintaffar, who put together a list of frequently asked questions, entitled COVID Vaccine Concerns, understands why some people may be hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. But Sensintaffar encourages people to get vaccinated, not only for themselves, but for the safety and health of others. There is a lot of misinformation out there, but hopefully, people will get the vaccine, Sensintaffar said. There is a new variant of the virus, whether its from South Africa or Great Britain, and it may not be more lethal, but it is more infectious. That means that our herd immunity target has probably just been raised from 60 to 70 percent up to 70 or 80 percent. We cant get everybody out of 330 million people (in the U.S.) immunized and there are two things working against us one, a lot of people are refusing the vaccine; and two, there is no approved vaccine for our children, who are 16 and under. Hughes is hopeful that time, experience, and manpower will solve many of the logistical issues related to vaccine distribution. I think eventually you will see walk-in mass vaccination clinics along with private offices in locations where providers have the facilities to store the vaccine properly, Hughes said. Most pharmacies will likely be giving out COVID vaccines and nursing homes will continue to vaccinate residents. By the time we get to Phase 1C, which includes most Americans, I dont think you will be standing in line at a single public health clinic. There will be lots of opportunities, like the flu shot. As more people get vaccinated in Phase 1B, Hughes expects to see the number of COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations drop accordingly. I would not be surprised to see a 60- to 70 percent drop in the national COVID death rate in the next few months once nursing homes and other high-risk populations get vaccinated, Hughes said. The community spread rate may still be high because of unvaccinated people not always taking the precautions they should. I think it will be summer before we see COVID spread slowing down rapidly. Right now, it appears the single biggest spreader incidents are occurring within the four walls of our homes, from family member to family member or close friends. Hughes is especially concerned about trying to stop the damage that the coronavirus has inflicted on minorities. We know that minorities are at a higher risk of catching the virus, spreading it, ending up in the hospital or unfortunately dying of it, Hughes said. Studies have shown that about 27 percent of Americans, in general, are not going to take the shot, but the refusal rate in the minority population will be nearer to 35 percent. Much of that is due to uncertainty or mistrust of the medical community, access to care, historical experiences, and economic factors. A major role for the Madison County Health Department is to make sure that we are available to our most vulnerable populations and that no one or any community is left at risk. Despite the challenges, Hughes is impressed with the medical communitys response to the pandemic. As bad it this seems right now, what we are witnessing in public health is a defining moment in America, Hughes said. From a pandemic with little warning, to the development and distribution mechanisms of a new type of vaccine in less than one year, will define our public health systems long into the future. The first wristwatch, the model no. 2639 was a treasure trove of ingenuity right from its origins in 1810. Breguet was inspired by this innovative watch and by the client, Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, who commissioned it, for its iconic contemporary collection. Today, for its new creation dedicated to women and to love, the House of Breguet has designed a new system protected by several patents. A mechanism changes the heart shape of the minute hand off-center at 6 oclock depending on its position on the oval dial. Its curves stretch as the hand moves across the top half of the dial, and become more rounded at the bottom. A real heart that beats... Touches of vermilion red add to the intensity of the lines of the hours chapter, the leather strap, and the crown, which is adorned with a ruby. This luxurious and exclusive composition is brought to perfection with rose gold and diamonds. This model is presented in an envelope clutch bag finished in grained calfskin leather and dyed vermilion red to match the clock. Reine de Naples Coeur Amour Infini Breguet Celebrating Delicacy and Romance For the face of this new Reine de Naples, Breguet has opted for understated elegance. The heart-shaped minute hand moves over a sapphire-crystal dial, lacquered in white. Its tip, marked by a subtle red heart, indicates the minutes on the hours chapter, punctuated by tiny hearts every five minutes. For better readability, something dear to Breguet, the quarter numerals are distinguished by their size and their outline, lacquered with vermilion. The hour, indicated by a drop of purple lacquer, appears in the center through a window. The rose gold of the dial flange and bezel is set with 128 diamonds. The setting of the folding buckle, also in gold, echoes the brilliance of the case, amounting to a total of approximately 0.94 carats. Reine de Naples Coeur Amour Infini Breguet The Magic of a Vibrant Heart, an ode to love The latest invention of the House of Breguet is a minute hand composed of two independent arms, capable of twisting thanks to a set of gears to create a heart that is extended at 12 oclock and more rounded at 6 oclock. Equipped with an oval-shaped cam mirroring the curves so characteristic of the Reine de Naples the mechanism allows each of these arms to move at different speeds. This innovation, created exclusively for the Reine de Naples, is protected by four patents. The sapphire-crystal caseback of the rose gold case reveals the movement of the caliber, the 78A0. On the gold rim, the individual number of the watch is engraved, recorded in the archives of the House of Breguet, which have been maintained since the end of the eighteenth century. With the Reine de Naples Cur, Breguet conjures up the magic of love, thanks to an innovative hand that traces a heart of ever-changing shape. The delicate and unexpected combination of technique and romanticism. 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 accelerated growth is a direct result of our global payroll partnership with businesses who have chosen iiPays proven solution to centralize and standardize their payroll systems across multiple countries, said Bob Foster, iiPay Chief Executive Officer Integrated International Payroll (iiPay), a market leader in cloud-based global payroll, received the distinguished honor of being selected for the second consecutive year as a winner of the 2020 Dallas 100TM Awards from the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business. iiPay earned this award based on its impressive growth rate, being among the fastest-growing, most dynamic privately held companies in the Dallas area. For 30 years, the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business and the Dallas 100TM sponsors have celebrated the innovative spirit, determination and business savvy of area entrepreneurs. The award recognizes the diversity, creativity and resolve it takes to create and sustain a successful business in todays globally competitive environment, said Simon Mak, the Linda A. and Kenneth R. Morris Endowed Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at SMU Cox. These companies are the unsung heroes of the Dallas-area economy and are entrepreneurial dynamos. iiPay was selected for this distinguished recognition based on several key criteria, including being an independent and privately held corporation with an outstanding three-year growth rate. iiPay has achieved total sales growth of 400 percent since 2016. This growth rate is a direct result of continued focus on strong partnerships with its existing clients, new client wins at a rapid pace, and a talented team committed to client service excellence. We are honored to receive this prestigious award based on the trust in iiPay by large global enterprises that have contributed to our outstanding growth rate. This accelerated growth is a direct result of our global payroll partnership with businesses who have chosen iiPays proven solution to centralize and standardize their payroll systems across multiple countries, said Bob Foster, iiPay Chief Executive Officer. Multinational payroll has changed immensely as companies grow globally, face increased compliance complexity, and endeavor to reduce the challenges associated with different currencies, legislation and languages by country. Those evolving trends for iiPay include an expanded offering and innovation roadmap for clients as well as a database of legislation changes in over 170 countries, which leads to greater governance and compliance. Additionally, iiPay is investing in increased automation and enhanced analytics capabilities. With centralization, iiPay enables global payroll leaders to focus on more decision making through analytics versus manual administrative tasks. The iiPay global team works tirelessly and demonstrates an extraordinary level of commitment to ensure payroll success for our global clients. We recognize that global payroll brings unique complexities and compliance challenges that require continued investment in technology innovation, process discipline, and an intense focus on changing the global payroll experience for our clients, said Curtis Holmes, iiPay Chief Operating Officer. Our innovative solution provides increased transparency, scalability, and visibility to clients in our never-ending quest to be the trusted partner and authority for global payroll. About iiPay: iiPay is a service-focused global payroll provider, driven by their innovative cloud-based technology. iiPays technology solution empowers Payroll, HR and Finance professionals through advanced data management, analytics and business intelligence functionality, enabling the user to access and report on any global data at any time. Focused on outcomes, iiPay reduces complexity, centralizes and simplifies multi-country payroll processes, and ensures compliance in every country for their clients. iiPay are focused on being more than a payroll vendor; instead, they strive to be a true partner and an extension of their clients payroll team, rather than an external provider. iiPay currently provide fully managed global payroll services in more than 170 countries. iiPays relentless focus on service and software enhancements and the continued expansion of their footprint reflects the vision of the company to simplify global payroll and the ambition to Pay the Planet. NEW DELHI : India disagrees with the US Trade Representatives (USTRs) conclusion that the 2% tax on foreign digital businesses that New Delhi introduced last April was unreasonable or discriminatory," commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said. The USTR probe report on Indias e-commerce tax that warned of withdrawing trade concessions or imposing duties on exports from India stemmed from the fact that US companies now dominate the tech industry, Wadhawan said in a post-budget news briefing. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat We certainly conveyed our point (of view), and we do not agree with that conclusion," Wadhawan said, referring to the findings of the USTR probe. If there is an economic benefit from certain jurisdiction, then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction. That old argument of permanent establishment does not work," Wadhawan said, explaining that a taxable physical business presence was no longer relevant in an industry where digital services can be delivered remotely. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is also moving in that direction. If you have an economic presence and economic gain, you must have taxation in that jurisdiction," Wadhawan said. Currently, discussions are on at OECD for a more equitable global tax regime encompassing digital economy, but the previous US administration suspended talks last year. The USTR probe report, released in January, described the 2% taxcalled equalization levydiscriminatory because it exempts Indian companies and targets non-Indian firms. The report had also said that of the 119 companies that it identified as likely liable under the digital services tax, 86 or 72% were US companies. The US governments protest stems from that countrys dominance in technology and digital services, whether it is Facebook, Google or Amazon, he said. If you have billions of dollars of revenue in a jurisdiction, you have to pay taxes. France and other countries have also taken similar measures," Wadhawan said. In spite of this, enthusiasm for talks for a new trade pact with the US has not dampened. Bilateral discussions are always on. We have a thriving and robust partnership with the US and that will continue to grow. Whatever bilateral issue is there resolving them is an ongoing process," the official said. Taxing digital economy is one of the steps taken by the Modi administration to widen its tax base at a time tax revenue receipts were below targets. In its budget for FY22 presented on Monday, the government recast import duties to encourage domestic manufacturing industry and aid economic recovery. The commerce ministry will very soon announce finer details of an export incentive scheme which will be available to exporters with effect from January, the official said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Government threats to curtail the Human Rights Act are a mistake and risk making things worse, a former Supreme Court president is warning. A review has been launched after long-standing Conservative protests that the legislation is being exploited to, for example, prevent the deportation of foreign-born criminals. But Baroness Hale who delivered the landmark verdict that Boris Johnson had shut done Parliament illegally in 2019 strongly defended the Act for giving Britons vital protections. I don't think there's a problem and I don't think there's any need to fix it, she told the joint human rights committee. Recommended PM attacked for vaccine plant visit despite warning of Covid outbreak And I can't myself think of a fix that could make things better, as opposed to potentially making things worse. The Human Rights Act had brought rights home by allowing UK citizens to bring cases alleging their human rights have been violated in this country. That must be a good thing, compared with having to take the United Kingdom to Strasbourg, to the European Court of Human Rights in order to get a remedy, years after the event and not a very effective one, Baroness Hale said. A former Court of Appeal judge, Peter Gross, is chairing a panel of legal experts to examine the way in which judges rule on protections in the Human Rights Act. It will also consider whether domestic courts are being unduly drawn into areas of policy, rather than leaving that to Parliament. The review follows repeated Tory pledges to radically alter the Act or get rid of it altogether. The 2019 election manifesto promised to update it. Campaigners fear the aim is to limit protections for asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups, while Labour has accused the prime minister of using the cover of the Covid-19 pandemic to attack human rights. Baroness Hale also dismissed the argument that the Act passed by Tony Blairs Labour government undermined UK sovereignty, pointing out the rulings of judges did not change the law. The Act does not operate as a constraint on parliamentary sovereignty, she told the MPs and peers. The most the court can do is make a declaration of incompatibility. And that leaves it entirely up to Parliament to decide what, if anything, to do about it. Announcing the review in December, the justice secretary Robert Buckland, said: Human rights are deeply rooted in our constitution and the UK has a proud tradition of upholding and promoting them at home and abroad. After 20 years of operation, the time is right to consider whether the Human Rights Act is still working effectively. Sir Peter said his review will entail an independent process of careful reflection to consider its workings, together with whether and, if so, what, reforms might be justified. China, through its Zimbabwean embassy, last week donated face masks to media houses and at least 35 practicing journalists in Mashonaland West province. The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) Mashonaland West chapter sourced the masks. The donation is expected to protect journalists working on the frontline to help disseminate COVID-19 information. The media fraternity has lost journalists who have succumbed to the second wave of the pandemic. Recently, ZBC diplomatic correspondent, Janet Munyaka, veteran journalist Charles Kawadza and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) secretary general, Foster Dongozi succumbed to the virus. ZUJ Mashonaland West secretary general, Paul Pindani said the masks were going to safeguard journalists from the virus. "We received 10 boxes of surgical face masks from the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe. Journalists bear the brunt daily to provide news articles but some lack enough PPEs," said Pindani. He said each media house and practicing journalists received its share of the donation. The Chinese embassy's Economic and Commercial Counsellor Mr Xiaoming Zou during the recent donation of PPEs to Chinhoyi High School promised to support the media. He said the Chinese embassy was concerned about the effects of the pandemic in Zimbabwean schools and the media fraternity. A day after a court dismissed a suit challenging its demolition of Ile Arugbo, a property used by the late political kingmaker of Kwara state, Olusola Saraki, to host his supporters, the state government on Wednesday resumed clearing of the disputed land on which the property is sited. The state government demolished the property in 2020, claiming the land on which it was built was illegally acquired. It said the land was originally designated for the construction of the second phase of the state secretariat. Children of Mr Saraki, Bukola and Gbemisola, accused Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, whose election in 2019 ended the Sarakis 20 years of unbroken control of government in the state, of trying to destroy their fathers legacy. Afterwards, Asa Investment Ltd, a firm owned by the late politician, claimed ownership of the land and sued the state government to assert its ownership and seek redress for the demolition of the property. But on Tuesday, a high court judge, Abiodun Adewara, struck out the suit on the grounds of lack of diligent prosecution. Mr Adewara struck out the suit and adjourned till March 17 for the hearing of the defendants counterclaim. Fresh demolition Meanwhile, in the early hours of Wednesday, witnesses told our reporter that the government sent a bulldozer between 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to clear the land. Reacting to the fresh development, the legal team of Asa Investments Ltd described it as reckless, illegal and glaring impunity. In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, the lead counsel, Akin Onigbinde, said he was surprised that the state government took its action less than 24 hours after the court fixed March 27 for hearing of its counterclaim. Counsel to the Government of Kwara State, on record of Court at previous sittings of Court, had given an undertaking not to destroy the property until the dispute is determined. It was also surprising that on a single day, the Court granted an application to Asa to substitute the name of Alhaji Sanusi Baba-Eleku, a co-claimant with Asa Investment Ltd who died recently with another, being Alhaji Abubakar Oluwatoyin, and before allowing the new party to file his witness statement on oath as required by law, the Court struck out the case of Asa Investment Ltd without allowing the new party the opportunity to even put forward his case to Court for adjudication, and Kwara State Government overreached judicial process to further destroy the property during the pendency of hearing. The lawyer said it was wrong for a party to a suit to take action which seeks to tie the hands of the court. Mr Onigbinde said the state government, by its action, has violated the undertakings it made in open court in previous sittings not to interfere with the rest of the case. This action, taken in the dead of the night, will be challenged appropriately. We will not allow a government, which should symbolise democracy and rule of law to be the one acting with impunity or seeking to subvert the course of justice, the statement read. But the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaiye, said the government only reaffirmed its ownership of the land following the court ruling of Tuesday. The government had since last year January taken possession of the land, which belongs to the people of the state. The government only stayed action on it out of respect for the judicial proceedings instituted on the land, especially the temporary injunction of the court, he said. On Mr Onigbindes claim, Mr Ajakaiye said the temporary injunction restraining the government from doing anything on the land was lifted on August 7, 2020, but that the government only chose to stay action out of respect for the ongoing court case. With yesterdays court ruling striking out the case for want of diligent prosecution, the government has today restarted the clearing of the land, Mr Ajakaiye told our reporter. ADVERTISEMENT Flash The Chinese Embassy in Manila donated on Tuesday 2,000 Huawei computer tablets to help students with "blended learning" in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian handed over the Huawei tablets to Philippine Education Secretary Leonor Briones in a ceremony at the Malacanang presidential palace. Huang said the donation of brand-new computer tablets was meant to help students hurdle the challenges brought about by virtual learning. "The donation is intended to help the (Filipino) students overcome the difficulties of distance learning and help them gain access to (virtual) learning resources amid the pandemic," Huang said. The Philippines is implementing the "blended learning" method after the government imposed a temporary ban on face-to-face classes as the country grapples with a steady increase of infections. Under blended learning, teachers teach students through various means such as online, TV, radio, and printed materials. Ambassador Huang said the Chinese Embassy will continue to support Philippine education "to the best of its ability," adding the embassy will continue to implement the Chinese Government Scholarship and Chinese Ambassador Scholarship projects to help students from the Philippines. Briones welcomed the donation, saying it showcased the long-term valued friendship between China and the Philippines, and the donation is also substantial support to the government's blended learning. She said the government will distribute the Huawei tablets in remote schools located "in geographically isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict-affected areas. The Philippines is also willing to learn from China's successful experience in promoting online education, Briones added. China has continuously provided well-needed medical supplies to the Philippines through multi-channels, including 150 sets of high-flow humidifiers, 130 ventilators, 252,000 test kits, and over 1.8 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE). Many Chinese local government agencies, enterprises, and civil groups in the Philippines have donated nearly 10 million pieces of PPE and other medical supplies to different local government units across the archipelago. The Chinese Embassy and consulates have donated over 40,000 "friendship packages" containing assorted relief goods to Filipino families across the country to help them get through the trying times. The embassy and the consulates donated 4-million-renminbi (619,000 U.S. dollars) worth of disaster relief materials to the areas stricken by two destructive typhoons last year, directly benefiting over 200,000 Filipino people. A decision taken for "humanitarian reasons". The captain remains in custody. The Pasdaran had blocked the ship on charges of pollution; billions of Iranian dollars frozen by Seoul over US sanctions at stake. The Pentagon recalls the Nimitz aircraft carrier from the Gulf waters. Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - With a decision dictated by "humanitarian reasons", Iran has decided to free the crew members, with the exception of the captain, of the South Korean freighter MT Hankuk Chemi, stopped last month in the Persian Gulf for " environmental pollution". On January 4, a patrol from Pasdaran (the Revolutionary Guards) stopped the ship near the Strait of Hormuz and placed the 20 sailors of different nationalities under arrest for alleged environmental damage to the waters. The sailors originate from South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. The ongoing clash between Tehran and Seoul over billions of dollars in assets of the Islamic Republic and frozen by South Korea following US sanctions on Iran are among the reasons that led to the docking of the merchant ship. The punitive measures were imposed by the previous US administration led by Donald Trump, which had a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran and withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. Now the first steps of the new Democrat administration of Joe Biden are awaited. Thus far it has seemed willing to reconnect the channels of dialogue signalled by the decision taken by the Pentagon in these hours to recall the aircraft carrier Nimitz after nine months of patrolling the waters of the Gulf, to "observe" Tehran's moves closely. In a note, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh confirmed the release of the sailors "at the request of the South Korean government and with the collaboration of the judiciary" of the Islamic Republic. At the moment there is no further news on the fate of the crew or whether they have already left the country, while the captain will remain in Iran to guard the boat still blocked in port. Tehran is one of the main suppliers of oil to South Korea. However, the imposition of US sanctions wanted by Trump effectively blocked sales. According to Khatibzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was informed in recent days by his South Korean counterpart that Seoul would be making "maximum efforts" to release the funds as soon as possible. WOODSTOCK, Ill., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime Law Group, LLC today announced the hire of attorney Jean Butler. At Prime Law Group we seek out to work with the most qualified and professional lawyers this county has to offer, Jean is no exception. Jean practices mainly in family law dealing with divorce, parentage, and child support among many other things. Jean is also a prosecutor for the Village of Island Lake in McHenry County where she works on traffic violations, hit and runs, and DUI's. Jean did not envision herself becoming the lawyer she is today. Jean started school at Elgin Community College, intending to pursue a degree in journalism. While attending ECC a professor advised her that instead of pursing such a narrow degree, a broader degree in International Studies at DePaul University could leave her with more options. While in Chicago, attending DePaul, a professor encouraged her to get into law, stating a Juris Doctorate would benefit her greater than a master's degree in political science. Jean Graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2015 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar Association later that same year. Besides just her professional and educational experience, Jean's personal experiences allow her the ability to be an even better family law attorney. Jean has a blended family with four children and is proudly married to a former Marine, Austyn. Jean and Austyn have a four-year old son. Jean's two teenage daughters are from a previous marriage and she has a twelve-year old stepson. This being her case allows her to better understand her role as a family law attorney and that compassion, patience, and common sense are required attributes. The addition of Jean Butler to Prime Law Group not only benefits the firm, but it also benefits her clients. If marriage counseling did not reconcile your marriage, or is not practicable, Jean is ready to help you through your next transition in a dignified manner with compassion and understanding. To Learn more about Jean, click here. Jean Butler Prime Law Group, LLC. 815- 338- 2040 Ext. 106 [email protected] Prime Law Group, LLC is a full-service law firm from business to litigation with over 100 years of combined experience, our lawyers have the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the most complex situations. Let us help you with your next family law matter. 815-338-2040 SOURCE Prime Law Group, LLC Related Links www.primelawgroup.com Full results from Friday's state track meets Get your full results from the AA, A and B boys and girls state track meets here. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 16:29:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of health on Wednesday confirmed one newly detected COVID-19 case, with its total number rising to 45. Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepaserd Sayamoungkhoun, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday that the new case is a 20-year-old woman, who returned to the country from Thailand. The patient, a Lao national, travelled from Thailand and arrived in southern Laos' Champasak province on Jan. 31. She went to a quarantine center by a bus with another 35 passengers. The patient is treated in a designated hospital in Champasak province, said Phonepaserd. As of Thursday, 104,542 suspected cases have been tested in Laos. Among the 45 positive cases, 41 have recovered. Laos announced its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24 last year. Enditem SEYMOUR The towns superintendent submitted his letter of resignation to the Board of Education during its meeting Tuesday night. In a video of a portion of the meeting, posted by the Valley Independent Sentinel on YouTube, the board confirmed it would accept the contract for Superintendent Michael Wilson for the 2020-21 school year and that it would accept Wilsons resignation. I wish you good luck in your future educational career, said Ed Strumello, BOE chair. The resignation is effective June 30. Wilson did not say whether he had another job lined up. He had faced pressure from parents who wanted the district to move from hybrid to full time in-person learning. BOE member Fred Stanek praised Wilsons management of the school district through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I know that this has not been easy, Stanek said. I think Mr. Wilson has handled the COVID situation and the structure of the school district during this situation in an exemplary manner, and his team has done a great job. Stanek said he has been disturbed by comments made by some members of the public regarding Wilsons handling of the schools throughout the pandemic, without expanding further. He commended Wilson for striving to keep the community as safe and healthy as possible. Wilson was a longtime administrator in the Ansonia school system before he was selected as superintendent of Seymour Public Schools in 2017. He served as assistant superintendent of Ansonia schools since July 2013. Before that, he was assistant principal at Ansonia High School. His teaching career started in Greenwich in 1999. The ruling Communist Party's splinter faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' and Madhav Kumar has announced a country-wide general strike against Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli-led government on Thursday. Opposing the government's move of administering oath of office and secrecy to newly appointed members of various constitutional bodies, the splinter faction of the ruling party decided to stage a general strike, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, spokesperson for the party, said on Wednesday. Transport service, markets, educational institutions will be shut down during the strike, he said. At a press meet organised at the party office at Parisdanda on the outskirt of Kathmandu, Shrestha claimed that their general strike will be peaceful. On Wednesday morning, Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana administered the oath of office to almost four dozen people in various constitutional bodies in the presence of President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Following the dissolution of parliament, the newly appointed members of constitutional bodies took oath of office and secrecy without parliamentary hearing, breaching the normal procedures. Shrestha termed the appointment of the office bearers and members of various constitutional bodies by caretaker Oli government as unconstitutional and said that it shows autocratic tendency of the government. The caretaker government has no right to make new appointments and also reshuffle the cabinet, he said, pointing to the latest cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Oli. "We are compelled to go to the street to oppose the government's unconstitutional move," he added. plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after 68-year-old Oli, known for his pro-China leanings, in a surprise move dissolved Parliament, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda. His move to dissolve the 275-member House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by Prachanda, also a co-chair of the ruling party. Oli, who is the chairperson of a faction of the NCP, has said he was forced to dissolve the House after knowing that the Prachanda-led faction was planning to file a no-confidence motion against him and introduce an impeachment motion against President Bhandari. Oli-led CPN-UML and Prachanda-led NCP (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections. (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.) [February 03, 2021] SafeBreach Named Frost & Sullivan Company Of the Year In 2021 SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SafeBreach , provider of the leading continuous security validation platform to validate security controls, visualize security risk and prioritize remediations, today announced it is the recipient of the Frost & Sullivan 2021 Global Company of the Year Award for the global Breach and Attack Simulation Market. "SafeBreach's platform creates synergy between disparate security solutions to reveal an organization's actual risk and promote cross-functional mitigation efficiency. Customers can quantify risk based on business impact, set goals for reducing the risk, and build a data-driven strategy to reach the goals, and track the progress," says Swetha R K, Industry Analyst for Frost & Sullivan's Cyber Security Practice. "Frost & Sullivan applies a rigorous analytical process to evaluate multiple nominees for each award category before determining the final award recipient. SafeBreach excels in many of the criteria." For awards, Frost & Sullivan identifies companies that consistently develop new growth strategies based on a visionary understanding of future market trends, and address new market challenges and opportunities. This recognition is reserved for companies at the innovation and growth forefront in their respective industries. Recognized companies consistently grow their leadership position by continually innovating and creating new products and solutions and expanding their market reach to serve customer needs in an ever-evolving market. Criteria considered for the Company of the Year award include: visionary innovation and performance, addressing unmet needs, financial performance, product value, brand equity and customer experience. Frost & Sullivan notes that SafeBreach aims to transform the way the industry pproaches security operations by empowering security leaders to use security technologies to the fullest extent instead of buying new tools every year. By running SafeBreach's continuous security validation platform, security leaders can report on their organization's security posture in real-time with a prioritized list of action points and can enable security professionals to drive down risks that hold the greatest impact on the business. "We are thrilled to be recognized by Frost & Sullivan for this award and are humbled by this strong validation of our technology vision, market momentum and customer-centric business model," said SafeBreach CEO and Co-founder Guy Bejerano. "SafeBreach changes the cybersecurity game by making it simple to continuously validate an enterprise's security controls and maximize their effectiveness to reduce cyber-risk to the organization. This data-driven approach empowers CISOs and their teams to invest and continuously focus and recalibrate their security strategy on the areas with greatest risk to the business." For the coming year, SafeBreach plans to continue expanding its sales and marketing team to manage the high demand for its platform in the U.S. and new territories as well as its product offering. The Frost & Sullivan report can be downloaded here . About SafeBreach: SafeBreach is the world's most widely used continuous security validation platform in enterprise companies. The company's patented platform empowers CISOs and their teams to validate security controls, maximize their effectiveness, and drive down risk. SafeBreach provides a "hacker's view" of an enterprise's security posture by continuously validating security controls and presenting findings in customized dashboards to enable stakeholders to cleanly focus on the biggest risks to the organization. SafeBreach automatically and safely executes thousands of attack methods to validate network, endpoint, cloud, container and email security controls against its Hacker's Playbook, the world's largest collection of attack data broken down by methods, tactics and threat actors. Data from SafeBreach validations can improve SOC team responses and empower management teams to make smarter decisions to better manage risk and invest resources. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company is funded by Sequoia Capital, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, OCV Partners, DNX Ventures, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, PayPal and investor Shlomo Kramer. For more information, visit www.safebreach.com or follow us on Linkedin . Media Contact: Danielle Ostrovsky Hi-Touch PR Ostrovsky@hi-touchpr.com 410-302-9459 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safebreach-named-frost--sullivan-company-of-the-year-in-2021-301221120.html SOURCE SafeBreach [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KIIS FM presenter Kyle Sandilands has revealed the incredible amount he's been fined by his employer, the Australian Radio Network, for taking sick days. Speaking on Wednesday's radio show, the shock jock, 49, revealed he's had to shell out 'about a quarter of a million dollars' over the years for failing to show up at work. 'You know how you get sick days every year? My accountant told me that I'm over all before February,' Kyle said during an interview with comedian Kate Langbroek. 'It's been p***ed away for nothing!' KIIS FM's Kyle Sandilands, 49, revealed the staggering amount he's been fined by his employer for taking sick days on Wednesday 'Then the fines system that they put in place here for me [kicks in].' 'Anyway I realised that about a quarter of a million dollars had been p***ed away for nothing!' Kyle said however, that's he's trying not to take as much time off. Expensive habit! Speaking on Wednesday's radio show, the shock jock, 49, revealed he's had to shell out 'about a quarter of a million dollars' over the years for failing to show up at work 'I'm here most of the time,' Kyle said. The fines are nothing for Kyle, who claimed back in 2018 that he gets paid a whopping $45,000 a day to host his KIIS FM breakfast show. He appeared on Hit 105's Stav, Abby and Matt when he made the revelation. It came after Matty Acton revealed he once got a $220 speeding fine when he was filling in for Kyle one day when he called in sick. 'I heard that whinging as well yeah,' Kyle said, adding. 'Do you want me to spare you that money? I earn $45,000 a day so I'm happy to pay it.' Raking it in! It's previously been reported that Kyle and Jackie O are earning a whopping $20million each over a period of five years He continued: 'I'll pay it for you, it's the least I can do!' It's previously been reported that Kyle and Jackie O are earning a whopping $20million each over a period of five years. In 2016, claims surfaced that Kyle and Jackie had signed a five-year contract with ARN to earn $5million a year, depending on ratings. It was reported by The Sydney Morning Herald that, before the pair left Southern Cross Austereo, their contracts were worth just $1million a year. Meanwhile last month, Kyle made headlines when he failed to show up to work on time after accidentally sleeping in. Late: Last month, Kyle made headlines when he failed to show up to work on time after accidentally sleeping in He then blasted a gossip journalist live on air who called him 'unAustralian' for his history of arriving late or calling in sick to work. Reading out a portion of the scathing column on air, titled 'The most UnAustralian Australians of the Year', Kyle bit back: 'How unAustralian is this list?!' While the column claimed the list was written with 'tongue firmly planted in cheek', Kyle, 49, slammed gossip journalist Andrew Hornery for being 'a hater'. Among several other media personalities and politicians, Kyle was listed for his 'Services to Indolence'. 'There is no sense here, this guy just makes lists of people he hates,' Kyle claimed. 'And, you haven't missed a day of work for like six months,' Jackie added. Daily Mail Australia has contacted KIIS FM and ARN for comment, in relation to this story. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. The Carter Center will train fellows on effective mental health reporting and support them as they report on a mental health topic of their choice. ATLANTA (Feb. 3, 2021) The Carter Center, a global leader in mental health, is pleased to announce that applications for journalists who are U.S. citizens and residents are now being accepted for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. Selected fellows will join a top-notch cohort of more than 225 fellows awarded over the past two decades. The yearlong, non-residential fellowships aim to equip journalists with resources to produce compelling and balanced reporting on mental health and substance use issues and to develop a diverse cohort of journalists who can effectively report on the topics across evolving and emerging platforms. The application for the 2021-2022 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism is available at cartercenter.org/mhjfellows. Applications must be completed and submitted online. The deadline is Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Fellows will be announced Wednesday, July 14, 2021, on the Center's website. The 2021-2022 fellowship year begins in September 2021. See other important dates and deadlines here. Too often we only hear about mental health in the news following a crisis or tragic event. Yet every day, millions of Americans living with these illnesses go to work, care for their children, and contribute to their communities, said former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter. They are valuable members of society, and their stories deserve to be told. Each U.S. fellow is awarded a $10,000 stipend, intensive training and networking on behavioral health reporting, with the opportunity to connect with advisors and fellows. Fellows from across mediums pursue a range of innovative journalism projects that tackle some of societys biggest behavioral health challenges and seek to drive change in their communities and help reduce stigma through storytelling. Fellows are selected by a committee of current and former journalists, mental health experts, and the Fellowship Advisory Board, with an emphasis on diversity across ethnicity, geography, mediums, and the communities their fellowships project will cover. Shedding light on under-reported issues and driving change Fellows undertake timely projects that have a significant impact on their communities regarding mental health and substance use issues. In the past, projects have affected changes in services and public policies. Previous projects have investigated problems with psychiatric boarding in hospitals that eventually led to a state Supreme Court ruling; inspired policymakers in a major American city to allocate millions of dollars to address homelessness; and exposed the complex and devastating mental health and substance use challenges faced by returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Fellowship projects have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. They also have earned Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists, Public Radio News Directors Inc., the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance for Mental Illness. The fellowship program is part of the Carter Center's Mental Health Program, which works around the world to improve access to mental health care and reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses. The program is committed to providing journalists with the tools they need to report on behavioral health and distributes a Journalism Resource Guide on Behavioral Health, so journalists can accurately cover stories that include behavioral health. Fellows reporting is curated on @CarterFellows on Twitter. For more details on how to apply, read and review our Frequently Asked Questions. For additional inquiries not covered in the FAQs, please email carterfellows@cartercenter.org. Contact: Rennie Sloan, rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org +1-404-420-5129 ### About The Carter Center A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 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. 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. On those desks as well as the ones where the shots are given, an array of small flags of different colors can be used to notify a patient they have an available spot, or alert a technician if they are having computer trouble or running low on supplies. [February 02, 2021] TROUVER Launches Superconvenient 'Finder' Robot Vacuum Cleaner for Customers in Europe BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TROUVER, a youthful new brand in the Xiaomi ecological chain focused on performance, trendsetting design, and quality, has released its Finder Robot LDS Vacuum Mop in Europe. A smart all-in-one vacuum cleaner, Finder provides a new generation of customers with intuitive and hygienic home cleaning during periods of self-isolation. Boasting a completely hands-free operation, Finder relieves the pressure of daily cleaning tasks at a time when young people are spending more time at home than ever before. The robot vacuum cleaner is equipped with a Laser Distance Sensor (LDS) unmanned navigation system, two-in-one sweep and mop feature, and powerful suction enabling an effective and efficient all-purpose cleaning experience. Finder's LDS system achieves smarter navigation during the cleaning process with higher accuracy and greater range. Using 5.2Hz adaptive scanning and 2080 times per second laser ranging, the system can run a full 360-degree scan of a house up to a 6-meter radius. Real-time and dynamic planning, powered by TROUVER's self-developed Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm and dual-core processor, ensures no areas of the home are missed and even delivers customized cleaning plans for individual home layouts. At the same time, the sweep and mop 2-in-1 feature frees up valuable ime, and the ultra-strong 2000Pa suction power enables deep cleaning of the entire home. With four suction modes, a brushless motor and unique sealed air ducts, Finder easily maintains strong suction at all times and can capture tiny particles on the ground including dust, hair and debris. Meanwhile, the mop was developed with new materials for an enhanced cleaning effect: super-fine soft fiber catches even the smallest of fragments, while hard fiber scrubs away at stains on the ground. Combined with its 270mL water tank that is suspended from the device body, Finder can mop closer to the ground for a more thorough clean. "At TROUVER, we explore new avenues of science and technology with the vision to bring high-quality products to more people around the world. Together with the Xiaomi Mi Home(Mijia) App, the Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner delivers a truly intelligent hands-free cleaning experience. Users can manage the vacuum remotely using the app to adjust suction power control, manage the map, set up virtual walls, adjust power settings, and more. These connected features deliver an enhanced cleaning experience to free the user to enjoy more time at home doing what they love," said Weisheng Zhang, President of TROUVER. A young, fashion-forward and trendy brand designed for the new generation of customers, TROUVER combines its innovative core technology with cutting-edge global design trends, and materials science. TROUVER's vision is to create next-level products that combine powerful core tech for the young generation, and boasts a 300-strong R&D team whom have extensive industrial experience of aerospace science and research development. A truly global product, TROUVER's Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner has already been launched in a number of markets including Germany, Russian, Thailand and South Korea. TROUVER plans to release its Finder Robot Vacuum Cleaner in more countries throughout 2021, bringing efficient hands-free cleaning to more young people around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.trouver-tech.com/index_en.html About TROUVER TROUVER belongs to an important leading enterprise of the Xiaomi ecological chain Dreame Technology. Pioneering in technology, industrial design, art, and fashion crossover as well as supply chain matrix, TROUVER is committed to creating next-level products that combine powerful core technology for young people. SOURCE TROUVER [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] From left, Regina M. Rodriguez, Kristin Bronson and Kirk Taylor are among the seven Coloradans that the states U.S. senators have recommended the Biden administration consider for three high-profile justice posts. Rodriguezs photo is courtesy of WilmerHale. The publishing of Lionel Messi's most recent contract, which was signed in 2017, has led to El Mundo's feature being the most-discussed topic in Spain in the last few days, and now there are even more details emerging. As part of the 555,237,619 euro deal over four seasons, there are certain things that Barcelona wanted Messi to do on top of his displays on the pitch and being a marketable asset off it. According to El Mundo, Barcelona demanded that Messi, in exchange for signing the biggest contract in the history of sport, should 'integrate into Catalan society and culture'. This is in the articles of the first clause (1.2.7), and Barcelona were doing their all to try and improve Messi's Catalan. This demand was on the same level as 'adopting a suitable personal conduct and rhythm of life' or to not to engage in doping. Messi accepted, but in the event that Catalonia became independent, he would become a free agent. In addition, the Copa Catalunya matches were not considered official matches and therefore did not count. An experimental cancer drug derived from a poisonous plant could stop Covid-19 in its tracks, researchers believe. Nottingham University academics claim thapsigargin should be effective against the coronavirus behind the pandemic and others that cause common colds. The drug, derived from the 'deadly carrot' thapsia plant which is deadly to cattle and sheep and found in the western Mediterranean, is being trialled against prostate cancer. But researchers testing the treatment on animals have found it may be able to stop infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes Covid. Experimental cancer drug thapsigargin derived from derived from the 'deadly carrot' thapsia plant (pictured) could stop Covid-19 in its tracks, researchers believe Trials also found the drug which humans will be able to take as a pill if proven to work to be effective against coronaviruses that cause the common cold, as well as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza. Researchers believe the drug's effectiveness against a range of respiratory viruses could make it particularly useful in the coronavirus pandemic. Rather than targeting coronavirus specifically, the antiviral could be used to inhibit the development of a range of viruses that trigger similar symptoms. What is 'the 'deadly carrot' thapsia plant and how has it been used in medicine? The 'deadly carrot' thapsia garganica in bloom Thapsia garganica is a flowering plant found in the western Mediterranean coasts. The plant has long been used in traditional medicine, including as a pain reliever in Algeria. But it gained its common name, the deadly carrot, from its toxicity to sheep and cattle in ancient Greece Thapsigargin is a chemical compound isolated from the plant, which has been used in cancer research. Johns Hopkins University oncologist Samuel Denmeade spent 15 years engineering the compound from the plant. In cancer research, the drug was found to be effective by passing through cell membranes and shutting down calcium pumps. Trial have found it to be safe in humans at much higher dose levels than required for its antivral use. To induce an antiviral state, a much smaller dose of the drug is needed. Advertisement This broad applicability could also make the drug effective against future 'Disease X' pandemics, according to researchers. Professor Kin-Chow Chang, one of the lead researchers, admitted that more testing is 'clearly needed' no evidence exists that it will work on humans. But he said 'findings strongly indicate thapsigargin and its derivatives are promising antiviral treatments against Covid and influenza'. The antiviral was found to be effective at blocking symptoms when used before or during active infection in petri dish tests and on mice. It costs around 76 ($104) per 1mg for use in experimental research currently but its cost would reduce drastically if it went into full production. Flu antivirals can require between 200mg to 800mg per dose. The compound could be readily made in bulk in laboratories, rather than harvesting directly from the plant, and stored without deep freezing requirements. No antivirals have yet been approved for coronavirus and only a handful of drugs have been proven to cut the risk of dying in critically-ill patients. Antivirals licensed for flu target a part of the virus to stop or slow down its ability to make copies of itself inside infected cells. But thapsigargin works by triggering a range of host cellular responses rather than targeting the virus itself. In other words, the drug makes cells better able to fight off invading viruses using the immune system's natural ability. These responses disrupt the reproduction cycle of the virus at several places at the same time, preventing the virus from replicating and taking hold. This makes the drug particularly valuable against new strains because mutations in one part of the virus' reproduction cycle should not reduce its effectiveness. Lab tests on cells showed the drug stopped a virus from making new copies of itself within just 30 minutes and it did not wear off for two days. Professor Chang said: 'Whilst we are still at the early stages of research into this antiviral and its impact on how viruses such as Covid-19 can be treated, these findings are hugely significant. 'The current pandemic highlights the need for effective antivirals to treat active infections, as well as vaccines, to prevent the infection. 'Given that future pandemics are likely to be of animal origin, where animal to human (zoonotic) and reverse zoonotic (human to animal) spread take place, a new generation of antivirals, such as thapsigargin, could play a key role in the control and treatment of important viral infections in both humans and animals.' The study was a collaborative project by the University of Nottingham (pictured), the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), China Agricultural University and the Pirbright Institute Professor Mark Woolhouse last week suggested another pandemic-causing 'Disease X' could be around the corner - and it is a matter of 'when, not if'. The expert in infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh said that pandemic flu is at the top of the list for outbreaks to be concerned about, but he added that there is a whole range of other viruses to be aware of. Mr Woolhouse revealed he and other colleagues got the World Health Organisation to add Disease X to its list of priority diseases four years ago. He said: 'We thought that the next emerging pandemic might be a virus that we don't even know about yet quite frankly we thought it was the most likely scenario.' Indian military specialists have arrived in Russia and began their training in operation of the S-400 Triumf missile air defense systems, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Deputy Director Vladimir Drozhzhov said during the Aero India 2021 expo. "Indian specialists have arrived in Russia in January and began training in operation of this system," TASS cited him as saying. Drozhzhov disclosed that shipment of S-400 "proceeds according to the schedule." "The first regiment is expected to be shipped before the end of this year," the official said. New Delhi announced its intention to purchase the S-400 in 2015. The contract on shipment of five regiment kits for $5.43 billion was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putins visit in India in October 2018. Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2021 6:53 pm OLYMPIA A state COVID-19 relief bill that would allocate $2.2 billion in federal funds passed the House of Representatives on Monday, meaning some financial assistance is one step closer for businesses and families struggling because of the pandemic. The proposal allocates the state's federal stimulus fund to business assistance grants, school assistance, rental assistance, vaccine administration and COVID-19 testing. The early action was a priority for Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats and Republicans alike who want to get relief to Washington residents within the next few weeks. "We're not going to solve all of our state's problems with this one bill, but it's $2.2 billion that will go out quickly to help residents across this state in areas where they are really struggling," House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, of Covington, said during the floor debate. The plan, which passed 61-36, is considered the first step in economic recovery post-COVID. Lawmakers still have to pass a budget for the next biennium that will likely address longterm funding related to the pandemic. After moving quickly through the House, the early relief will be heard in Senate committees this week and likely get a vote on the floor early next week. The plan includes: * $714 million for school assistance, including $46 million for private schools * $618 million for public health, including $438 million for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing * $68 million for vaccines * $365 million for housing, including rental assistance * $240 million for business assistance grants * $65 million for immigration services * $5 million for food assistance * $50 million for child care assistance * $26 million for food assistance "This is not prefect," said House Appropriations Chairman Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane. "This is what we can do right now to take a first step toward eliminating the anxiety, the distress, the horror that this pandemic has brought to our state." Most of the money had strict allocation guidelines from the federal government, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, told The Spokesman-Review. Much of what's allocated will build on programs that already exist and began with the first round of federal money last year. Republicans also released a plan that would have provided more money for relief, using the state's Rainy Day Fund. Rep. Drew Stokesbary, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said his plan was bigger and more urgent than the Democrats' but acknowledged they had many of the same priorities. Republicans argued this package doesn't provide enough relief, adding it only uses federal funds when it could use state funds, such as the Rainy Day Fund. "It's not raining, Mr. Speaker," Stokesbary said in his floor speech. "It's pouring." Ormsby said Democrats did not choose to use the Rainy Day Fund yet because there is still so much uncertainty surrounding the economy in the coming months. Republicans also introduced amendments that would've increased funding for child care centers, school assistance and employment insurance reimbursement. "These amendments that are being offered tonight do more," Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, said. "They bring forth more to help immediately." Rep. Jenny Graham, R-Spokane, said the bill falls "very, very short" of what her constituents want. "They want more, and they want it now," she said. None of the amendments passed. Sullivan said passing the amendments which would have increased the amount of money spent but could have slowed the passage of the bill. After the funding in the bill is allocated, $9 million in the state's COVID-19 relief fund will be left. Democrats, who hold the majority, argued many of the issues in the amendments will be addressed through bills later this session, and this package is just the first step. ------ Virgis Lithuania Virgis was born and raised in a small town in Lithuania under the communist regime. In this context of poverty and hypocrisy, Virgis realized from an early age the importance of having real moral and spiritual values. Intelligence, culture and belief constitute a defence against the regime for his mother who sent him to art school when he was 12 years old. This was his first experience with art. There he discovered the culture and the arts of the free countries of the West: his vocation as an artist was born. Naturally he turned to study art at the University, and after graduation he became an art teacher at a secondary school. The Gorbachev regime somewhat freed society and Virgis could finally indulge in its creation. In the 90s, he began offering his work in various local exhibitions. At the time, the artwork of Marc Chagall was the inspiration of a great majority of his work. The meeting with two French artists, Anne de Beaufort and Michele Volsy, was a milestone in his artistic life, and Virgis instinctively changed the nature of his work and devoted himself to abstract painting. He uses oil paint on canvas to express emotions and feelings: fear, grief, joy or worry. For Virgis, these feelings are as abstract as real as life. Today, artists like Stanley F. Kline, Robert Motherwell, Pierre Soulages and Dubuffet are references for Virgis. He is a professor of painting and graphic art in an art school in Lithuania. Virgis finds inspiration in his environment and what it conveys. His painting is sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter. Through his abstract work he speaks of the uncertainty of life. The difficult context in which his vocation as an artist was born determines all his work and gives it its strength and depth. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 20:49:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The head of a government agency that stores and distributes medicines to all government health institutions was on Wednesday dismissed following reports of distribution of substandard medical kits. Medical Stores Limited (MSL) Managing Director Chikuta Mbewe has been dismissed from his job following recent revelations that substandard medical kits, including leaking condoms, were distributed to health facilities starting from September last year. James Kapesa, the agency's chairperson said the agency has operating procedures that require that commodities issued should be of high quality, adding that the diversion from the required standard requires urgent attention. "MSL's principal activity is the storage and distribution of efficacious and safe medicines and medical products to the public health facilities. In view of what happened in the recent past, action has been taken to ensure that remedy is done according to the provisions of the law," he told reporters during a press briefing. The distribution of the substandard medical products, supplied by a local pharmaceutical firm, HoneyBee Pharmaceuticals, has stirred rile in the country with increased calls for the firing and arrest of all those involved. So far, former health minister Chitalu Chilufya and his permanent secretary Mulalelo Kakulubelwa have also been dismissed. The country's medicines regulator has since recalled over 30 medical products supplied by the firm. Enditem Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. AI in Drug Discovery Market Landscape One of the years most prominent market stories: Global AI in Drug Discovery Market 2020, illustrates some hopeful signs of repositioning as the investors have dwelled in rising stocks. The stocks of AI in Drug Discovery, after the end of the lockdown period, imposed owing to deadly Coronavirus, wavered with a bang as most of the vendors have started businesses all over the world. On this note, Market Research Future presents a report on the market in which it stated that the global AI in Drug Discovery Market market would make a benchmark with 40.8% growth from 2019 to 2025. At this pace, the global market will generate revenue of USD 2,015.1 Million by the end of the year 2025. FREE SAMPLE COPY OF AI in Drug Discovery Market Research Report- Global forecast till 2025@ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ai-drug-discovery-market-9393 AI in Drug Discovery Trends and Opportunities Artificial Intelligence (AI) is projected to provide productive avenues in the healthcare industry. The implementation of AI has helped with reducing the researches and development gap in the drug manufacturing process and also in the targeted manufacturing of the drugs. Owing to these aspects, biopharmaceutical industries are tending towards AI to enhance market share. This is an influential factor fueling the growth of the global AI for drug discovery market. The escalating pressure on the drug manufacturer to reduce drug prices is yet another factor expected to boost the AI for drug discovery market. This is all due to Al reduced the failure rate of clinical trials, and eliminated research and development costs in drug discovery. Apart from this, there has been a regular increase in the number of patients suffering from chronic diseases globally, and pharmaceutical companies are investing high in the development of various drugs. Artificial Intelligence has been able to assist manufacturers by offering a solution to complex situations. In the current scenario, AI is providing many novel analytical approaches for the design and development of novel products, which is another reason behind the markets exponential growth. More factors, such as the flourishing healthcare sector coupled with manufacturers approach towards lowering the manufacturing cost associated with drug development, have also recorded to be reasonable for the markets growth. Besides, escalating investment by significant players in biopharma companies and rising public and private partnerships for R&D activities are more critical factors expected to boost the growth of the target AI in Drug Discovery market in the future. In the case of point, back in the year 2019, GlaxoSmithKline plc, a multinational pharmaceutical company, invested US$ 300 Mn in 23 and Me, a gene testing company. The deal, in the current time, is expected to facilitate the company to access the database related to DNA related to relations between genes and diseases. This factor will further help in the development of novel products as well as the AI drug discovery market. On the contrary, the factor of the scarcity of skilled healthcare professionals has been considered as a hindering factor and anticipated to slow down the growth of the global AI for the drug discovery market in the future. AI in Drug Discovery Market Segment Review By the segment of product type, the market has included software and services By the segment of molecule type, the market has included Large Molecule and Small Molecule. By the segment of technology type, the market has included machine learning, deep learning, and others. By the segment of indication type, the market has included Immuno-oncology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases, Metabolic Diseases, and others. By the segment of the application, the market has included target identification, candidate screening, drug optimization and repurposing, de novo drug designing, and preclinical testing. By the segment of End-User, the market has included pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, research centers, and academic & government institutes. AI in Drug Discovery Market Regional Landscape Americas and its Countries such as the US and Canada have been at the vanguard of the healthcare industry over the years. The rising number of big AI platform developers in the region is one of the primary reasons for the express growth of the AI in the drug discovery market in the region. Some top AI platforms such as Google AI, Microsoft Azure, and TensorFlow have adopted the Big Pharma companies for utilization in the drug discovery procedure. Europe is the second-largest market for AI in drug discovery after the Americas. Rising R&D activities in the pharmacy sector and high demand for AI solutions by Big Pharma companies are other factors expected to boost the augmentation of the regional market. Peak pharma companies have made partnerships with AI service providers to integrate AI technologies into the drug discovery process. The growth of the Asia-Pacific AI In Drug Discovery Market is attributed to the escalating demand for effective drug discovery solutions. Many startups are working to integrate AI applications in drug discovery. Some of these startups are Adagene, Mozi, Accutar, Xbiome, Elucidata Corporation, Deep Intelligent Pharma, CaroCure, and Interprotein, among others. With the rapidly upward pharmaceutical market in the Asian region, probably, the approval of the AI technologies in the majority drug discovery protocols will take place in the forecast period. Top Players The top players are Microsoft Corporation, Google (A Subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.), IBM Corporation, Atomwise, Inc., Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Inc., BenevolentAI, Cyclica, Bioage, Envisagenics, Owkin, Inc., Verge Genomics, and Berg LLC. Obtain Premium Research Report Details, Considering the impact of COVID-19 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ai-drug-discovery-market-9393 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. New Delhi: An international conspiracy to defame India in view of the ongoing protest by farmer unions on the border areas of Delhi has come to the fore. Climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg has come out in support of the ongoing farmers protest against the BJP-led Central government's new agri laws. READ | DNA Exclusive: Greta Thunberg exposed; Zee News unmasks her motive to target India's democracy over farmers protests Greta Thunberg tweeted, We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. She also shared a document through her Twitter handle showing clearly a sinister conspiracy to defame India on the international fora. The five key points of the document are: 1. Participate in (or organise an) on-ground protest: Share solidarity Photo/Video Message by email preferably by January 25 (solidarity messages for farmers at Delhis border). 2. Digital Strike: #AskIndiaWhy Video/Photo Message - On or Before 26th January. 3. Twitter Storm on February 4,5 2021: Share solidarity Photo/Video Message by preferably by February 5, latest by February 6. 4. Contact a local Representative: It is paramount to put international pressure on Indias Government. 5. The document also names two big business houses as they allegedly manufacture wealth by working hand-in-hand with the current Regime to exploit the worlds people, lands, and culture. The Swedish climate activist extended her support to the farmers and their movement after pop star Rihanna came out in support of the protesting farmers. Earlier, Rihanna posted a Tweet about the farmers' protest with a news update and captioned the post asking her followers and fans using the trending #FarmersProtest hashtag. why arent we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest, Rihanna said. Notably, farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 2020 against the three newly enacted agricultural laws. Australian regulators have decided to place no upper age limit on use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine despite reports of dozens of deaths among the elderly in Norway. Australias Therapeutic Goods Administration said in a statement Tuesday that it received reports on January 14 of about 30 deaths in more than 40,000 elderly people vaccinated with Pfizer. Follow our LIVE blog for latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic But it added that no causal link between vaccination and deaths could be established. The agency says that elderly patients can receive this vaccine and there is no cap on the upper age limit. 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 regulator last month gave provisional approval for the use of the Pfizer vaccine in Australia and the first doses are due to be administered to people aged 16 and older in late February. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here 'Dangerous' and 'growing': Michael Brown warns about the rise of Christian anti-Semitism Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment During the Passover observance in 2019, 19-year-old John Earnest allegedly walked into a synagogue in Poway, California and opened fire, killing one worshipper and wounding three others. It was later revealed that Earnest was an active member of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church congregation and specifically believed that he was doing God's will by killing Jews. The revelation that the lone suspect in the mass shooting was a devout Christian stirred reactions from many, including author and columnist Michael Brown, a proponent of Messianic Judaism and host of the nationally syndicated radio show, The Line of Fire. In his latest book, scheduled to be released Tuesday, Christian Antisemitism: Confronting the Lies in Todays Church, Brown documents a new resurgence of anti-Semitism within American churches. Brown wrote about what he saw on social media from self-identified Christians and rhetoric espoused by modern Christian ministries and some theologians. This is a book I wish I didnt have to write, Brown told The Christian Post in an interview. Sadly, there is a real rise in anti-Semitism in the church, even in America. I felt I had to write the book to demonstrate what was happening, he added. The rising tide of anti-Semitism in the church today. This includes the rise of replacement theology, the notion that the Church has replaced Israel as the new chosen people, with God no longer having any plans for modern Jews. Below are excerpts from a conversation CP had with Brown about Christian anti-Semitism and its apparent growing strength. CP: You have written about anti-Semitism in the Church before; notably the 1992 book Our Hands Are Stained With Blood. How does this book differ from your earlier works? Brown: This book focuses on whats happening now. The earlier book,Our Hands Are Stained With Blood: The Tragic Story of the "Church" and the Jewish People,came out in 1992, remained in print continuously until 2019 when we put out a new updated edition of the book. And in doing so, that was very jarring because I was confronted with what had grown in recent years and how some of the dangerous trends of the past were back today. So Christian Antisemitism, the new book, picks up where Our Hands Are Stained With Blood left off. It gets much more in-depth into the wrong theology behind it. It traces some of the current conspiracy theories in the Church today about the Jewish people. It gets much deeper into the contemporary issues that the first book touched on. CP: Given at one point you write in the book that no amount of evidence will dissuade someone who hates the Jewish people, who do you see as your intended audience? Brown: I want to reach, in particular, any committed Christian on the planet. I know that there are secular readers who will find the book interesting. I know that there are nominal Christians who will learn from it. But I want to try to get every committed Christian, whatever their background or denomination, to read this and to recognize that lies are being told about the Jewish people, that the Jewish people are being demonized as a whole, that a wrong theology is being established even by people who have good intentions and who themselves are not anti-Semitic. Perhaps, along the way, by Gods gracious intervention, there will be people who read the book who are anti-Semites and some of them are Christian. Im hoping that their eyes will be opened. But I understand it will take Gods grace because the evidence itself will be overruled. When you have a particular view of someone and then someone else produces contrary evidence, you turn the evidence around: That just shows how clever they are, that just shows how deep the deception is. And thats why I say the presentation of facts is not going to help someone who has bought into lies. That being the case, I do have hope that those who are sincere will read this and have their eyes opened, and then perhaps theyll be able to help their friends and others who have fallen into the grip of anti-Semitism. CP: Why do you believe there has been an uptick in Christian anti-Semitism within the past couple of years? Was it always there, but just dormant? Or is it fresh? Brown: Theres several factors. One, it never goes away. On a certain level, Jew-hatred is a default attitude of fallen human beings. Its just part of the way things are because of Gods choosing of the Jewish people for a purpose. Obviously, weve often fallen short of that purpose, but choosing us for a purpose means that there will be a demonic hatred against the Jewish people, just like there is a demonic default hatred against the followers of Jesus. But a few things have happened. One is the Holocaust is much more distant. Its not something that is actively in the memory of most Americans and of many Christians. Secondly, the rebirth of the modern state of Israel is no longer perceived as a miracle: The Six-Day War, Jerusalem coming back into Jewish hands. For many, thats just old news and not only so. The state of Israel is perceived to be an apartheid state, a genocidal state. Evil Israel; thats a major narrative people [are] grow up with. And some of the old theologies can rise up again: the replacement theology that says Gods finished with the Jewish people. So, its a bunch of things that have grown over the decades and they have resurfaced again in dangerous form. CP: Chapter six, titled The Truth about the Talmud, was centered on refuting false anti-Semitic claims about the Jewish text, the Talmud. How important is it for Christians to not believe falsehoods about other religions' holy books, be it the Talmud or the Quran or others? Brown: Its very important. We base our lives on truth. And therefore, we have to accurately assess things based on truth. Someone has said that its wrong to compare the best of your religion with the worst of the religion of others. And what well do is well ignore all the biblical verses that can be taken out of context. Well ignore the atheist attacks on the Bible and say, theyre misguided. But then well turn and use the same standard on the religious literature of others. If were going to differ with the Talmud, lets do it rightly. Theres much to differ with. I categorically reject the authority of the Talmud. That being said, it is mischaracterized by anti-Semites continually. False impressions are given about it. So, where we differ, let us differ honestly. Otherwise, what happens is we incite hatred against the Jewish people based on taking statements, sayings out of context and then giving the impression that thats what all Jews believe. It would be just as if we read certain portions of the Quran and concluded that all Muslims are terrorists and that the nominal Muslim next door to you actually wants to blow up your house. CP: You devoted a fair amount of attention to refuting replacement theology. How pervasive a problem do you believe replacement theology is in the American church? Do you see it as more prevalent in some denominations than others? Brown: Yes, its very prominent. It is certainly growing. It is very dangerous. It is more to be found in what would be called the mainstream denominations so Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Methodist, etc. It is less found in Charismatic circles or in some aspects of evangelism. But the fact is its there. Its certainly there in Catholic theology. Those that hold to it dont like to be put in the category of holding to replacement theology. They would rather say they believe in fulfillment theology or put another name on it. But the end result is the same: the promises that God once gave to the Jewish people as a people no longer apply to them, but rather apply to the Church. And once you begin to say that, then God is finished with Israel, God is through with Israel as a nation, as a people. And you can even see the Jewish people as people forever cursed or rejected by God. Once you begin to see those things, now you make God into a liar if He can make promises to a people and then completely change His mind. And it undercuts so much of the Gospel message. I point out in Christian Antisemitism that Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem for a reason. Hes not coming back to any other city on the planet but to Jerusalem. And thats where Hes going to establish His kingdom because he will fulfill His promises to Israel and the Jewish people. So Im hopeful that the book will open many eyes and also encourage many to pray for the salvation of the Jewish people because my great goal as a Jewish believer in Jesus is to see the Church provoke Israel to envy. Thus far, its been quite the opposite. 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 Meet Adele Edmonds, a world traveler who is not afraid to take on a challenge. Originally from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Edmonds always knew UC was the place for her. She saw the importance of strong co-op and study abroad programs and made sure to take advantage of these opportunities every chance she got. During her time at UC, she studied in Paris, Belgium, Mexico and Chile. After graduating in 2014 with dual degrees in Marketing and International Business, Edmonds worked with Lidl, a German grocery store chain, where she helped open stores in the U.S. After nearly four years with Lidl, she was looking for a change of pace and decided to take full-time Spanish lessons in Panama City, Panama. After completing her lessons, Edmonds moved back to the U.S. where she was hired at Barnes & Noble in New York City. Edmonds started as a Manager of Cafe and was promoted in October to Director of Merchandising, Cafe where she oversees all 580+ cafe locations at Barnes & Noble. Read on to learn more about Adele Edmonds and her journey. Abortion facilities in Texas lose funding through the Medicaid program starting today, Wednesday, Feb. 3. According to Breitbart, federal funding for abortion will no longer be available through the Medicaid program starting today. Planned Parenthood requested funding and reimbursement for its services and clinics, but was denied by the state. As per the Catholic News Agency, The executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, Jennifer Allmon, praised Texas for its persistence in legislature. The state insists that while abortion seems to be the only option for most low-income women, there are actually several options that exist without resorting to killing unborn babies. "There are hundreds of providers throughout the state of Texas willing to serve poor women with authentic healthcare services that are not also peddling abortion," Allmon explained. Allmon also added that the Texas Pregnancy Care Network has a list of providers throughout the state that can make referrals to Medicaid providers that "can offer genuine healthcare to women in need." After a five-year long battle, the state of Texas was finally able to block funding to Planned Parenthood facilities after the lower district court's decision was overruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in November. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton revealed an undercover video of Planned Parenthood's unlawful conduct in fetal tissue extraction for their own research purposes which includes several federal law violations further solidifying their decision that the abortion organization is not "qualified" to receive Medicaid funding using taxpayers' money. In 2019, undercover journalist David Daleiden posed as the head of a procurement company for fetal tissues. The Texas Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast agreed to sell aborted baby livers to Daleiden for $750 each. To lose funding now for their abortion facilities would be a big blow for Planned Parenthood. In their latest annual report, the organization received over $600 million of reimbursements and grants through the Medicaid program for rendered "government health services." Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson took to Twitter to express that they will "fight back against any politician who doesn't prioritize expanding accessible, affordable quality health care." On the other hand, pro-life activist Abby Johnson who was a former manager at Planned Parenthood said that the organization has been repeatedly caught abusing the system. "As much as abortion advocates will cry this decision hurts the poor and oppressed, Planned Parenthood has been repeatedly caught abusing the very same medical program that is indeed supposed to help low-income families." Aside from defunding Planned Parenthood, the Texas GA also announced the Senate Bill 8, a state law that now prohibits dismemberment abortions in the second trimester is passed to "protect and foster respect for unborn life." Dismemberment is one of the worst methods of abortion where an abortionist uses different instruments to dismember an unborn baby's limbs prior to its extraction to the uterus though the Center for Reproductive Rights call it "the safest and most common" method for second trimester abortions. A few years before, Texas Governor Greg Abbott already signed a law that "prohibits the State Employee Charitable Campaign and its Policy Committee from entering into a taxpayer resource transaction with an abortion provider or an affiliate of an abortion provider." The World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering in Davos is an annual conference for entrepreneurs, thought leaders and policy makers to exchange ideas about the burning economic and political issues of the day. A microcosm of the world's influential minds, the conference provides an ideal locale for multilateral interaction and cooperation, which are the cross-cutting themes embedded right in the foundation of the WEF. The topics of the event are keenly awaited because they mirror the aspiration of leaders to achieve economic miracles and set priorities to address challenges. The latest Davos Agenda event was held virtually at the end of January under the theme: "A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust." The discussion recognized that the world is faced with two gigantic simultaneous challenges, the first being to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control and the second being to tackle climate change. Both challenges are global in scale and hence not confined to a particular nation or region. The sheer magnitude of the two threats leaves no option but for countries to closely cooperate. In the face of the daunting challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity was forced to realize that cooperation with others is the need of the hour. The key lesson of the pandemic is whether we like or not, we are all part of a global village, and our worries are the same. The Davos Agenda showcased this lesson by offering a forum to discuss the issue with an open mind and also highlight solutions. The major takeaway is that multilateral cooperation is needed in the face of current and future challenges. The other global challenge we all face, and which also resonated at the Davos Agenda summit, is climate change. The very survival of the humanity is at stake and the only way forward is to deal with the threat through multilateral efforts and consensus building. China has always upheld multilateralism and rallied against protectionism, isolation and anti-globalization. The latest example is its readiness to share its expertise in defeating the coronavirus and to even offer its vaccine to other nations. Recently, Pakistan has received half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated from China. Providing the vaccine to other nations is yet another manifestation of China's support for the global struggle to control the pandemic and restore normalcy. China has demonstrated on several occasions that it supports a multilateral approach to solve international problems, including fighting poverty, economic recession and terrorism. Under multilateral frameworks, it is all the more important for countries, particularly major countries, to coordinate their interests, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and reach a consensus on development. This approach will not only help countries rebuild mutual trust in the post-pandemic era, but also ensure concrete progress as soon as possible in specific areas such as global trade and economic cooperation. China has taken concrete actions to safeguard multilateralism, such as proposing initiatives and building institutions. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are prime examples. It has also been hosting international expos and investment conferences to promote global rule-based integration, and open up gradually and systematically, so as to build a favorable environment for foreign businesses. China has proved with its actions that it is resolute in pursuing global cooperation which is needed to achieve economic prosperity for the entire international community. It will also continue to support a multilateral approach to address the myriad of problems faced by the world. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. 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, February 3) The author of the controversial Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act said the government failed to properly implement the law's intent. Former senator JV Ejercito, who crafted Republic Act 11299 which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019, said concerned government agencies could have made more information campaign in what the law provides and how it will benefit drivers and save children's lives. "They were not able to do this that's why there is furor in the past few days," Ejercito told CNN Philippines' The Final Word on Wednesday. Motorists cried foul over the sudden implementation of the law last February 2. It private vehicle owners to use child seats for children aged 12 and below with height of up to 150 centimeters or 4'11'', to ensure their safety and prevent traffic-related deaths and injuries. The uproar was aggravated when Land Transportation Office National Capital Region chief Clarence Guinto said in a morning show that parents should buy a bigger car for a 12-year-old child taller than 4'11". He has since apologized for his remark and clarified that children taller than 4'11" may use seat belts instead of the mandated car seats. Ejercito emphasized the spirit of the controversial measure is to protect children's lives inside vehicles. He cited a 2018 Department of Health study where road crashes are the second leading cause of death among children in the country, behind drowning. The former senator added the economic cost of buying child seats is justifiable since drivers can purchase vehicles. "The life of a child is priceless. There are reasonably priced car seats available, as long as those are approved by DTI (Department of Trade and Industry)," said Ejercito, who elaborated there is no need to buy high-end car seats. Ejercito also clarified the provision of directing government officers to install child car seats in vehicles was inserted in the guidelines when he was no longer senator. "I'm not aware of this particular provision until I saw the IRR (implementing rules and regulations). It may raise some suspicion of corruption because there's no need for that," Ejercito said. "As long as you follow the instructions of (installing) child car seats, you can already install it by yourself." The former lawmaker also supported the delay in the law's implementation amid the COVID-19 pandemic as many are struggling financially. Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Libiran on Tuesday said transport authorities favor the postponement of the full implementation or enforcement of the new law, adding the LTO may implement new guidelines in six months or longer until the end of the global health crisis. RELATED: Motoring expert: Law requiring child car seats 'very good' for safety but ill-timed during pandemic The storm drain, where Noah Donohoe had last been seen alive Police have launched an investigation into how access was gained to a storm drain where the body of Belfast teenager Noah Donohoe was discovered. The 14-year-old's body was found in the storm drain on June 27 last year. He was last seen in the north Belfast area six days earlier. Police said the new investigation would centre on "access to the storm drain network, convenient to Premier Drive/Northwood Road in north Belfast, which is owned by the Department for Infrastructure". "Police are working in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and Public Prosecution Service and have informed the Donohoe family of the development," a PSNI spokesperson said. The investigation will take place in addition to the coroner's investigation into the teenager's death. Expand Close Noah Donohoe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Noah Donohoe The PSNI said last year they believed Noah entered the north Belfast drain. He had cycled to the area from his home in south Belfast and, shortly before he went missing, was seen with no clothes on. Prior to that, he was seen falling off his bike in Shore Road. Noah's disappearance led to a wide-scale search operation across Belfast, involving police, community rescue teams and the local community. Police have said there was no reason to suspect foul play in his death, but Noah's family have continued to call for answers. Last week deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she had "grave concerns" regarding the police investigation into the death. She met with PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne to discuss the matter. I have met with the Donohoe family, continue to engage with them and they have my full support in terms of getting truth and justice around what happened to Noah," the Sinn Fein vice-President said. I think any mummy in that position that Fiona (Noahs mother) is sitting in today, not having answers about what happened to her wee boy, could not fail to be heartbroken. We will all do and should do everything we can to make sure that every piece of information is uncovered and that Fiona has the answers that she needs to have. Market indices closed at record highs on Wednesday after touching lifetime highs in early session in line with positive global equities. Extending gains for the third session after Union Budget 2021, Sensex ended 458 points higher at 50,225 and Nifty gained 142 points to 14,789. Sensex has closed above the 50K mark for the first time ever today. Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time highs in early trade as investors were enthused by a Budget aimed at economic recovery amid Covid -19 crisis. Sensex and Nifty hit lifetime highs of 50,526 and 14,868 during today's session. Earlier, Sensex and Nifty hit fresh record highs of 50,184 and 14,753, on January 21. IndusInd Bank, followed by Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, M&M, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank were among the top gainers. On the other hand, Maruti, Kotak Bank, SBI and UltraTech Cement were among the losers. Yesterday, Sensex ended 1,197 points higher at 49,797 and Nifty gained 366 points to 14,647. Overseas, Asian stocks rose on Wednesday following an overnight surge on Wall Street. Chinese services PMI data will be released later in the day. US markets gained yesterday backed by strong quarterly earnings reported by Amazon and Alphabet. Meanwhile, investors will be following stimulus negotiations in Washington, after congressional Republicans made a counteroffer to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan on Sunday. European markets opened higher as investors hope for an economic recovery post-pandemic and as retail trading frenzy in stocks like GameStop waned. On markets closing --Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said," We have been successful in getting past 14753.55 which was the previous high recorded by the Nifty. We should now target 15000-15100 and given the strong bullish tone, we could achieve this during the course of the February series. While we have good support at 14200-14300, a buy on dips strategy would be most appropriate." Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited said," The market witnessed to extend the gain further after the decisive breakout of the Nifty 50 Index level of 14750. the market is likely to hold the momentum and reaches the level of 14950-15000. The level of 14730-14750 act as a support zone from the short-term perspective. The momentum indicators like RSI, MACD to stay positive supporting our view that the upside movement is likely to continue. " Rupee settled on a flat note, up 1 paisa to 72.95 per US dollar. Traders remained cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy outcome to be announced on Friday. After Budget 2021-2022, macro data, ongoing corporate earnings season and global market performance will impact stock market movement this week. Share Market News Live: Sensex hits new high, Nifty above 14,750; Asian Paints, Titan, HDFC top gainers Stocks in news: Tata Consumer, V-Mart, Infosys, Future Retail, JSW Energy, Tata Motors The province is driving forward with several COVID-related initiatives this week Manitobans can now access a vaccination calculator and can look forward to getting vaccinations at their local health-care provider. Advertisement Advertise With Us The province is driving forward with several COVID-related initiatives this week Manitobans can now access a vaccination calculator and can look forward to getting vaccinations at their local health-care provider. The calculator manages age, whether a person is First Nations, living in a care home or other congregate living arrangements. There are no choices to include health issues. The calculator can be found at: bit.ly/2MOUSkx Meanwhile, Health and Seniors Care Minister Heather Stefanson announced that the province is getting ready to deliver vaccines at doctors offices and pharmacies, when those vaccine doses are available. According to the news release, the government is partnering with organizations representing Manitoba physicians and pharmacists and their members to prepare for the provinces vaccine rollout of new vaccines once they are approved for use in Canada. "We are confident in the work of our supersites and focused immunization teams with the current approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. But we now anticipate that new vaccines that do not need to be frozen could become available in Manitoba in the days and weeks ahead, once they are approved by Health Canada and distribu tion begins," Stefanson stated in the release. "To prepare, we are asking physicians and pharmacists who are interested in providing this kind of care for their patients to take part in the registration process so we can identify and create a list of front-line providers who are able and willing to provide COVID-19 vaccines once they are available." Asked what Manitobans should prepare for in the future, as relates to vaccinations, acting deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal offered some thoughts. The Brandon Sun asked Atwal how this vaccine compares to changing annual influenza vaccines. "With influenza, I think were all aware of influenza. Its a seasonal flu virus that typically takes hold in the Northern Hemisphere Lets say in the month of December and can have ups and downs with that virus for two to three months time," Atwal said, adding the influenza strain changes a bit every year, "That vaccine program has been running for years. Many, many years. So, we look to see what circulating strains there are of the virus in the Southern Hemisphere, then we typically we see those same strains come to the Northern Hemisphere during our winter, so we make vaccinations for them." Atwal said COVID-19 is similar. "Its a virus. The one difference, at this point, is its a new virus. Its a novel virus. Weve never been exposed to the virus. Thats why its a pandemic and thats why its causing a lot of harm and a lot of hospitalizations because no ones ever been exposed to it," said Atwal. "Is there that possibility something like COVID becomes seasonal? Thats a hard question to answer. We cant predict the future. Obviously, we see some genetic variants out there. Thats been in the media." So far, variants havent been found in the province. "But is there a possibility of something like that occurring? We wont know until time goes on," said Atwal. "At this point, its too early to say because its only been literally less than a year into the pandemic. We havent really gone through another season of it." Stefanson noted in her news release that approval dates and supply volumes for vaccines are currently speculative, but the province has been working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, the Manitoba College of Family Physicians, the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba, Doctors Manitoba and Pharmacists Manitoba. "Doctors are ready to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to Manitobans, building on their extensive expertise administering all other types of vaccines," stated Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Cory Baillie. "Manitobans have been calling their doctors about the new COVID-19 vaccines and seeking advice from the trusted health-care provider who knows their personal medical situation, and now theyll be able to get the vaccine from them too." Similarly, pharmacies are on board with vaccine delivery. "Pharmacies are one of the easiest ways for Manitobans to get their COVID-19 vaccination safely and close to where they live or work," stated College of Pharmacists of Manitoba president Wendy Clark. Manitobas vaccine implementation task force will be seeking registrations from pharmacies and medical clinics that are willing and able to provide COVID-19 vaccines. According to the release, once the application is received, qualifying medical clinics and pharmacies will be contacted with a package of information including training materials as needed. The news release also noted the initial demand for vaccines may exceed the available supply. But Stefanson stated a framework has been developed to guide how much vaccine is shipped to providers and when those shipments will take place. Guidelines will include COVID-19 case numbers and epidemiology in a community, the proportion of eligible Manitobans served by the medical clinic or pharmacy, the providers capacity to administer the vaccine, and if people have access to the vaccine at other locations, such as supersites and focused immunization teams. Atwal would not speculate about the future. But he said public health officials are looking at movie theatres and museums, and other such venues. "But we are looking at all those things at the present time, looking at risk, and again, this is all going to be up to Manitobans. Are Manitobans complying? Are Manitobans, and businesses, doing what they need to do to mitigate risks and make sure that they are putting in those measures, theyre doing those things to limit interactions with people?" Atwal said. "If those case counts continue to stay low, and our hospitalization numbers look good or start trending down Are we able to do more? And I think there is that opportunity. But again, itll all depend over the next little bit of time, obviously." Atwal did make it clear, however, that Manitobans actions impact pandemic health orders. mletourneau@brandonsun.com 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. WEEKLY ENFORCEMENT UPDATE The province reported a total of 159 warnings and 56 tickets issued for the week of Jan. 25-31, including: 42 $1,296 tickets to individuals for various offences; and 14 tickets to individuals for failure to wear a mask in indoor public places. Officials advise that 31 of the 42 $1,296 tickets issued last week were in relation to gatherings in private residences or outdoors. All retail establishments are now open for business provided they maintain physical distancing and occupancy limits. Since enforcement efforts began in April, a total of 2,758 warnings and 899 tickets have been issued, resulting in more than $1.2 million in fines to businesses and individuals. In addition to a $298 fine for not wearing a mask in indoor public places, fine amounts for violating public health orders have been set at $1,296 for tickets issued to individuals, including sole proprietorships and partnerships, and $5,000 for tickets issued to corporations. Source: Province of Manitoba TUESDAYS COVID-19 UPDATE The COVID-19 update from the province on Tuesday saw no deaths announced due to a data reset. The province reported 83 new cases, but one case was removed due to a data corrections, bringing the new case total to 82. The new cases are as follows: five cases in the InterlakeEastern health region; 53 cases in the Northern health region; five cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region; two cases in the Southern HealthSante Sud health region; and 18 cases in the Winnipeg health region. The five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate was 7.6 per cent in the province, and 4.1 per cent in Winnipeg. Lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba total 29,733. The province reports 3,421 active cases and individuals who have recovered total a reported 25,480. The province also reported 99 people are in hospital with active COVID-19, as well as 155 people in hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require care, for a total of 254 hospitalizations. Twenty-four people are in intensive care units with active COVID-19, as well as 12 people with COVID-19 who are no longer infectious but continue to require critical care, for a total of 36 ICU patients. In the PMH region, there are a reported 157 active cases, with 1,777 recovered. There are four active cases hospitalized, and seven people hospitalized who are no longer infectious. There are two patients in ICU. The region has seen 51 deaths. Brandons active case count is 31, with 913 recovered and 21 deaths. On Monday, 1,410 tests were completed, for a total of 480,277 since February 2020. Source: Province of Manitoba A Tralee woman who grew up in Nazareth House in Tralee, and who was also interned in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, is calling for all state institutions to be included under legislation currently being drafted around possible state intervention on certain inappropriate burial sites in institutions. Catherine Coffey O'Brien is leading the ongoing campaign to ensure that the graves at Bessborough are 'marked and respected'. Following the recent publication of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes, covering 18 institutions, including Bessborough, women who were former residents, and who believe there are children buried on the grounds, are calling for the graves of the children who died at Bessborough to be identified. The Commission's report found that 923 children died at Bessborough (10 per cent of children born there) but stated that it was unable to find out where the children were buried. A thousand women from Kerry were sent to Bessborough, according to the Commission report. Catherine, who gave testimony to the commission, claims that maps were provided for potential burial sites. "Maps were provided, I can't understand why they were not addressed," said Catherine. "How many women are mourning babies but have no place to go... I hope and pray that graves at Bessborough are preserved and protected. We want closure...We want to move on with our lives," she said. Her calls for graves to be reviewed at Bessborough, which was run by the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, comes as planning is sought for two developments on the site of the former Cork Mother and Baby Home.One was refused planning on Tuesday by Cork County Council . The other is with An Bord Pleanala. Catherine is part of the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance Survivors group - a group which has made a submission on the proposed developments. The group has also made a submission on the General Scheme of a Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill. This proposed legislation provides for the phased forensic analysis and possible re-interment of remains at former institutional sites like the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, County Galway. However, at present, it does not cover all institutions but survivors groups such as the Cork Alliance Survivors Group are calling for all institutions in the state to be included; not just mother and baby home homes, but also industrial schools and other state institutions including Nazareth House Orphanage in Tralee run by the Mercy Sisters. A campaign has long called for an investigation into the possibility of unmarked graves at Nazareth House and now submissions have been made to include this in the Burials legislation "We want to address unmarked graves in the burial act. We want all institutions included," said Catherine. Catherine believes the legislation would then allow all sites to be inspected and graves to be marked. "There would be a legal obligation there then to access the lands in all institutions...We are not jumping to foregone conclusions, we want all sites of former institutions accessed," said Catherine. "We have a duty to those women and their babies to be acknowledged in death. "We have to do the right thing by the mothers and their babies." Submissions to the burials legislation closed on January 10. Catherine escaped from Bessborough when pregnant and ultimately kept her child. She has been reading the recent Commission Report and is critical of the 'narrative' of the report and, in particular, she feels that the Collaborative Forum, which was set up to enable former residents to identify, discuss and prioritise the issues of concern to them during the investigation, 'failed'. She feels their methodology left a 'lot to be desired' and was not representative of what survivors wanted. She said the report is 'generalised', with 'some nuggets of information', but she insisted that the fight must go on for the graves to be 'respected' into the future. Nazareth House must be investigated too Survivors of Nazareth House Orphanage in Tralee have added their voices to calls for graves in state institutions to be 'mapped, preserved and respected', following the publication of the Commission of the Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. While the Tralee orphange is not one of the 18 institutions covered in the Commission Report as it was not a Mother and Baby home, as a former state institution, caring for children, survivors feels it should come under state investigation. Survivors Unite At Last has made a submission to the Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill. This proposed legislation provides for the phased forensic analysis and possible re-interment of remains at former institutional sites. "We believe every institution has women and children buried there," said Maurice Patton O'Connell from Cahersiveen, a survivor of Nazareth. He was put in there at six months of age and was boarded out to southwest Kerry at 10. "We want graves respected." 1K Shares Share The intensive care unit nurse was worried the COVID-19 vaccine would kill her. In the past, just minutes after getting the influenza vaccine, she had hives, wheezing, and throat swelling. Her life-threatening reaction only resolved after an epinephrine injection and monitoring in the emergency room. She vowed never to get another vaccine. With the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, she reconsidered her stance. Now she was in my clinic, and together we considered the options: Not get the vaccine even though she regularly cares for COVID-19 patients and remain unprotected from the novel coronavirus, or get the vaccine, and possibly risk another life-threatening reaction. As an allergist/immunologist, I assured her that, with a proper evaluation, it was safe to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, even with a history of a severe allergy. Millions of people in the United States have allergies to foods, medications, and/or bee stings. Whats more, many of these people have experienced anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction whose symptoms include not only hives and throat swelling, as in the ICU nurse, but also facial swelling, vomiting, a dangerously low blood pressure, or even loss of consciousness. After the COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use in England in mid-December 2020, the media breathlessly reported that two health care workers had anaphylaxis to the vaccine on day one of administration. When the COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out in the United States two weeks later, similarly alarmist news sites documented instances of allergic reactions. Moreover, on January 17, a large cluster of reactions was reported in San Diego, so officials temporarily halted the administration of more than 300,000 Moderna vaccines, at a time when the supply was and continues to be disconcertingly limited. Even though vaccine allergies are rare literally one in a million people were understandably nervous. Misinformation was rife on social media. As a result, physicians were deluged with messages and phone calls from patients, concerned their history of allergies prevented them from safely receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. For COVID-19 vaccine allergies, the mechanism and the exact chemical causing these responses are still unknown. One likely culprit is polyethylene glycol (PEG), a component of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. PEG is commonly found in medications, cosmetics, and food, though allergy to PEG, prior to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, was exceedingly rare. So how does this translate practically? Because most allergies, such as to food and medications, have nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccine reactions, the vast majority of people with severe allergies can get the COVID-19 vaccine, followed by a 30 minute observation period in a medical facility equipped to treat anaphylaxis. However, a person with a history of allergic reactions to a vaccine or injectable therapy should be evaluated by an allergist, who can review the components in the causative vaccine or injectable therapy, and perform skin testing to determine if there are any allergies to PEG. The skin tests are usually done on the arms and, contrary to popular belief, not that painful. If the skin tests show no reactivity to PEG, the person can receive the COVID-19 vaccine, monitoring for 30 minutes afterward. In the future, when the vaccine supply is more plentiful, allergists may be able to give the COVID-19 vaccine to a vaccine-allergic person through the administration of rapidly increasing doses. Recent reports from the CDC, released four days ago, are encouraging. The rate of anaphylactic reactions is 2.5 per million for the Moderna vaccine, and 11.1 per million for the Pfizer vaccine. Of note and we dont know why over 90 percent of anaphylactic reactions occurred in women. Most importantly, out of more than 14 million administered COVID-19 vaccines, there have been zero deaths associated with allergic reactions, largely because anaphylaxis is completely treatable with epinephrine injections. Some people, especially after the second vaccine, will get fevers, chills, and muscle aches. This is not an allergic reaction, but rather well-known side effects of the vaccine physical evidence that the immune system is mounting a robust response. The ICU nurse agreed to skin testing, which was negative to PEG. She got her first vaccine without problems, and eagerly awaits her second one in a month. Shes now more confident she can care for COVID-19 patients, without ending up in the ICU as a patient herself. As she pointed out, she wont die from an allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine. But getting the vaccine will prevent her from dying of COVID-19. Charles Feng is an allergy and immunology physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. St. Pius X High School may soon have to find a new home, according to a letter sent by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe announcing that it may be forced to sell the West Side campus as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. The letter sent to members of the St. Pius community by Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester in January said the schools campus, as well as buildings used by archdiocesan staff, may be sold as a result of the Archdiocese of Santa Fes Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2018 following hundreds of settlements with victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy members. We deeply regret the distress that this possible marketing of the campus will cause in the St. Pius X community of students, parents, alumni, staff and the surrounding communities, Wester wrote in the letter. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Wester said bankrupt organizations are required to monetize assets deemed non-essential to the organizations primary mission and the St. Pius campus and archdiocesan buildings fell under this category. He said church staff are looking at ways the archdiocese can monetize the campus to avoid listing it on the open market, but he did not provide details. However, If the sale of the current site is unavoidable, we may have to find an alternate location for the high school, Wester said in the letter. In such a case, marketing will take significant time, and so we hope and anticipate that SPX will continue at its current location at least through May 2022. It is not known what current steps are available to keep the school at its current location and the Journal was unable to reach the Archdiocese for comment Tuesday. News of the possible sale of the campus and buildings came as a surprise to some members of the St. Pius community, with commenters on social media expressing sadness over the potential sale. This is the saddest SPX news in a while, wrote one person. The school facility is the asset that has to be liquidated to pay for the sins of a few. Under the Chapter 11 reorganization, the church is allowed to continue operations while liquidating some assets in an effort to compensate victims of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members. The 2018 petition for reorganization listed the total of all archdiocese assets at $49 million, including nearly $32 million in real estate. In addition to assets held by the archdiocese, nearly $60 million in property is held in trusts for parishes in the archdiocese. Founded in the basement of St. Charles Borromeo Church in 1956, the parochial Catholic high school has grown to a current enrollment of just under 700 students, according to the schools website. In 1988, St. Pius moved from its Uptown location to the former campus of the University of Albuquerque at 5301 St. Josephs NW. Editors note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the year St. Pius moved into its West Side location. The school purchased the property at 5301 St. Josephs NW in 1986, but moved into the property in 1988. 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. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kicking off his Recall Road Trip against Governor Gavin Newsom, Joe Collins and partners 1776 Forever Free and Recall Gavin Newsom 2020 collected hundreds of signatures at the Los Angeles City Hall on Sunday. The South-Central LA native will be visiting the largest cities in the state of California in an effort to collect the remaining signatures to remove Newsom from office. View Event Recap Video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LOhPMGI_cIwXNY5ix-vY5TB6LOGK3b2D/view?usp=drive sdk Joe Collins - US Congressional Candidate in CA 43 The Navy Veteran was joined by hundreds of California residents whose lives have been drastically changed by Newsom's inability to keep the state afloat. Regardless of political party or beliefs, people gathered in front of the municipal center to share the hardships they have faced ever since Newsom took office. For the past 2 years, California has had a rise in jobs leaving the state, failing schools, homelessness and crime. Newsom has mismanaged the state's budget and has failed to be the leader the state and people need during a global pandemic. It's time for change and a better leader. Collins will continue his 28 day road trip all across the state of California, where residents will be able to start the initiative to recall Newsom. People will get to enjoy food vendors, live music and words of encouragement from Collins and his team as they promise Californians a better future. Upcoming Dates San Diego City Hall Feb. 3rd - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Chula Vista City Hall Feb. 6th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Oceanside City Hall Feb. 7th - 12pm -2pm - Irvine City Hall Feb. 10th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Los Angeles City Hall Feb. 13th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Long Beach City Hall Feb. 14th - 12pm -2pm - Riverside City Hall Feb. 17th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Ventura City Hall Feb. 20 - 12pm - 2pm City Hall Feb. - Ontario City Hall Feb. 21 - 12pm - 2pm City Hall Feb. - Glendale City Hall Feb. 24 - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Bakersfield City Hall Feb. 27th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Fresno City Hall Feb. 28th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - San Jose City Hall March 3rd - 12pm -2pm City Hall - San Francisco City Hall March 6th - 12pm -2pm City Hall - Sacramento City Hall March 7th - 12pm -2pm For more information on the campaign of Joe Collins for Congress, visit www,joecollinsforcongress.com/ or follow him at: Contact: Brittani Daniels Deputy Campaign Manager [email protected] (310) 617-9974 SOURCE Joe Collins for Congress Related Links http://www,joecollinsforcongress.com live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More After a delay of two years, Bajaj Auto will commercially launch its first electric three-wheeler in the second half of the 2022 financial year (FY), a top company official said. The Pune-based company, which is the market leader in the passenger three-wheeler segment - also known as auto rickshaw - had earlier planned to launch the vehicle in 2019, followed by the introduction of its first electric two-wheeler. While the electric Chetak, which was launched in January 2020, ultimately became the first battery-powered vehicle by Bajaj Auto, the introduction of the electric three-wheeler was postponed. The COVID-19 pandemic became the biggest reason for the delay in the launch of the Bajaj electric three-wheeler as there was widespread shortage of battery cells and the common aversion of commuters to use three-wheelers for fear of contracting the disease. While the two-wheeler segment has returned to pre-COVID levels, the demand for three-wheelers is getting back on track too with the reopening of schools, offices and other commercial spaces like shops and malls. Bajaj is thus planning a range of electric three-wheelers for roll-out. In addition, the company is also working on the electric version of the Qute, the quadricycle which Bajaj Auto had launched a few years ago. Rakesh Sharma, executive director, Bajaj Auto said, We are actively pursuing a broad programme of building three-wheelers and the Qute on our electric platform. The market will see a range of electric three-wheelers making their appearance commercially the next financial year, in the second half. As of FY20, Bajaj Auto had a market share of 57 percent of the three-wheeler segment. The organised electric passenger three-wheeler space is dominated by Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M). Italian auto brand, Piaggio, also entered the segment nearly two years ago. Lohia Auto, Kinetic Green and Atul Auto are some of the other players from the organised sector. TVS Motor Company, another major competitor in the petrol three-wheeler space, is set to enter the segment with an electric three-wheeler in 2021-22. The prototypes are under test. We can address range anxiety and operational profitability for the drivers. The issue is less about launching an electric three-wheeler, which can be very easily done. But we want to study it carefully and capture all the positive developments in terms of cost reductions, Sharma added. Due to the large presence of unorganised players who import the electric three-wheeler in parts from China, the exact market size in India of electric three-wheelers is not known. In FY19, the segment sales of electric three-wheelers at 6.3 lakh overtook even the fossil-fuel powered three-wheeler sales at 5.72 lakh in the same year, as per data shared by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle (SMEV). The boom in demand for electric three-wheelers is due to the low costs of ownership and operation. As per estimates, the running cost of an electric three-wheeler is around Rs 0.5 per km compared to Rs 4-5 for a petrol-powered three-wheeler. With the ever-increasing price of fossil fuels, three-wheeler owners have favourably switched to battery-powered three-wheelers to save on costs. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Genesis Metals Corp. (TSXV: GIS) ("Genesis" or the "Company") today reports assay results from the final 5 holes (1,320 metres) drilled as part of its recently completed 2020 Phase II (25 hole, 6,208 metre) diamond drilling program. The Chevrier Gold Project is located in the eastern Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Central Quebec. All holes reported herein are from the Mole zone, located ~750 metres northeast of the Fox zone where a number of the previously reported Phase II high-grade drill holes were located. Highlights include*: 40.89 g/t gold over 3.40 metres in hole GM-20-88 starting at 41.20 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 10.03 g/t gold over 15.10 metres starting at 37.05 metres down hole ( Photo 1 ) in hole GM-20-88 starting at 41.20 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying starting at 37.05 metres down hole ( ) 4.89 g/t gold over 3.80 metres in hole GM-20-88 starting at 157.00 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 1.10 g/t gold over 37.25 metres starting at 132.05 metres down hole in hole GM-20-88 starting at 157.00 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying starting at 132.05 metres down hole 114.0 g/t gold over 1.00 metre in hole GM-20-89 starting at 137.00 metres down hole in hole GM-20-89 starting at 137.00 metres down hole 2.69 g/t gold over 9.75 metres in hole GM-20-89 starting at 225.25 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 1.43 g/t gold over 33.00 metres starting at 216.00 metres down hole *Insufficient drilling has been completed to definitively determine true thickness; true thickness is estimated to be between 65-90% for holes GM-20-87 to -91 based on angle to core axis and 3D interpretation The objective of the Phase II program was to continue drill testing the extensions and down plunge continuity of newly recognized high-grade gold shoots within and near the Chevrier Main deposit area (1.2 km by 0.2 km), and to delineate their boundaries and mineralized volumes within and below the pit shell from the 2019 mineral resource estimate. Results included in this news release are all from the Mole zone, located on Figure 1. Genesis Metals CEO Dr. David Terry stated, "We are very pleased that drilling at the Mole zone, approximately 750 metres northeast of the Fox zone, has intercepted multiple high-grade gold intervals, both near surface and at deeper levels slightly below the 2019 mineral resource pit shell. Future drilling will test the extent of the new high-grade shoot at Mole. We will be updating our Chevrier Main deposit model to reflect the new 2020 drilling results in addition to the sampling of approximately 800 metres of historic core, in order to plan the appropriate next exploration steps in the area. Meanwhile we are excited to move forward with an initial drill test of Till Targets #1 and #2 east of the Chevrier East deposit this winter." Significant weighted average intercepts are presented in Table 1 and individual drill hole descriptions are provided below. Drill hole locations are shown on Figure 1; all holes reported herein are also shown on cross and longitudinal sections with links below. Table 1: Weighted Average Intercepts from GM-20-87 to 91 Hole ID Zone From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Gold (g/t) GM-20-87 Main - Mole 4.55 7.00 2.45 1.33 27.85 37.10 9.25 2.02 including 32.00 33.50 1.50 8.67 57.20 60.50 3.30 3.77 including 58.20 59.20 1.00 7.47 96.70 97.20 0.50 4.15 101.70 107.75 6.05 2.63 including 102.25 103.75 1.50 7.67 124.00 127.58 3.50 1.40 GM-20-88 Main - Mole 4.40 13.50 9.10 0.60 37.05 52.15 15.10 10.03 including 41.20 44.60 3.40 40.89 132.05 169.30 37.25 1.10 including 137.95 143.00 5.05 2.46 and including 157.00 160.80 3.80 4.89 173.50 189.00 15.50 0.85 GM-20-89 Main - Mole 137.00 138.00 1.00 114.00 173.70 179.00 5.30 1.09 216.00 249.00 33.00 1.43 including 225.25 235.00 9.75 2.69 including 226.25 229.25 3.00 4.82 259.33 274.70 15.37 1.34 GM-20-90 Main - Mole 8.80 15.00 6.20 1.38 21.80 34.50 12.70 0.65 214.90 219.62 4.72 0.59 GM-20-91 Main - Mole 9.00 11.20 2.20 1.42 173.00 175.50 2.50 1.56 186.05 188.40 2.35 2.28 * Insufficient drilling has been completed to definitively determine true thickness; true thickness is estimated to be between 65-90% for holes GM-20-87 to -91 based on angle to core axis and 3D interpretation; intervals column may not add due to rounding; **Length weighted average grades are calculated with un-capped gold assays. Average widths are calculated using a 0.10 g/t gold cut-off grade with up to 3 m of internal dilution of zero grade; narrow intervals that meet these criteria may not be reported. The Genesis technical team has recognized a previously under-explored and poorly defined higher-grade component to the Chevrier Main gold deposit. A new 3D geological and mineralization model is being completed to better represent the distribution and geologic controls on higher-grade gold mineralization. This model was utilized to inform the planning and execution of Phase I and Phase II drilling programs in 2020. The Company completed a total of 8,710 metres of diamond drilling in 34 holes in 2020, including the Phase I program which was carried out and reported on earlier in the year (June 2 and July 7, 2020 News Releases). Results for the initial 20 holes (4,999 metres) of the Phase II program were reported in the Company's November 26, 2020 News Release and January 21, 2021 News Release. Drill Hole Descriptions: Drill hole location and orientation details are provided in Table 2 below and locations are shown on Figure 1. Cross sections and longitudinal sections are also provided for GM-20-87 to 91 via the links below. Table 2: Drill Hole Details for GM-20-87 to 91 Hole ID Sub-Zone Easting Northing Elevation Depth Dip Azimuth GM20-87 Mole 535,305.9 5,497,714.9 371.5 228.0 -43.6 155.0 GM20-88 Mole 535,305.9 5,497,714.9 371.5 237.0 -53.5 138.0 GM20-89 Mole 535,303.9 5,497,814.8 373.5 357.0 -43.6 150.0 GM20-90 Mole 535,273.9 5,497,852.4 374.0 270.0 -54.2 125.0 GM20-91 Mole 535,273.9 5,497,852.4 374.0 228.0 -44.8 135.0 *All coordinates referenced to North American Datum 1983 UTM Zone 18N Mole: Holes GM-20-87 and -88 were drilled from the same pad location at southeast azimuths and dips of -43.6 and -53.5, respectively. The holes were designed to target several potential extensions to mineralized zones intersected in historic holes. Both 2020 drill holes intersected multiple discrete mineralized zones (14 in GM-20-88) with core lengths from sub-metre to 33.00 metres, ranging from near surface to 189 metres down hole. The holes cored variably strained gabbro intercalated with intervals of lapilli tuff. Mineralized intervals are characterized by quartz-ankerite-chlorite veins and veinlets enveloped by strongly developed sericite, fuchsite, leucoxene (in gabbro) and carbonate alteration of the host rocks as well as variable (up to 8%) disseminated pyrite and minor chalcopyrite. Multiple vein orientations, local stockwork development and folded vein geometries are common in the mineralized intervals. GM-20-87 intersected a number of zones including 8.67 g/t gold over 1.50 metres starting at 32.00 metres down hole, within 2.02 g/t gold over 9.25 metres starting at 27.85 metres down hole (Figure 2). Hole GM-20-88 intersected two significant zones including 40.89 g/t gold over 3.40 metres starting at 41.20 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 10.03 g/t gold over 15.10 metres starting at 37.05 metres down hole (Photo 1) in addition to 4.89 g/t gold over 3.80 metres starting at 157.00 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 1.10 g/t gold over 37.25 metres starting at 132.05 metres down hole (Figure 3). Hole GM-20-89 was collared 100 metres north from the GM-20-87/88 pad and was drilled at a -43.6 dip toward the southeast. Five discrete mineralized vein zones were observed with similar characteristics and host rocks to the holes described above. Significant results included 114.0 g/t gold over 1.00 metre starting at 137.00 metres down hole, and 2.69 g/t gold over 9.75 metres starting at 225.25 metres down hole, within a wider zone assaying 1.43 g/t gold over 33.00 metres starting at 216.00 metres down hole (Figure 4).Figure 5 is a longitudinal section cut perpendicular to holes GM-20-87 to -89 along section line A-A' on Figure 1. Holes GM-20-90 and -91 were both drilled from the same pad, located 44 metres north-northwest of GM-20-89, to the southeast at -54.2 and -44.8 dips, respectively. Both holes cored predominantly gabbro with lesser lapilli tuff, intermediate volcanic rocks as well as diorite dyke. Mineralized zones are characterized by quartz-ankerite veins with up to 5% disseminated pyrite, enveloped by sericite-chlorite-fuchsite-leucoxene alteration. Multiple vein orientations, local stockwork development and folded vein forms are common. Both holes intercepted a low grade near surface mineralized zone as well as several deeper mineralized zones (Figure 6 and Figure 7).Figure 8 is a longitudinal section perpendicular to holes GM-20-90 and 91 along section line B-B' on Figure 1. The +290 square kilometer road accessible Chevrier property covers a 15-kilometer segment of the Fancamp Deformation Zone, along which zones of gold mineralization are associated with high strain domains in predominantly mafic intrusions and volcanic rocks. The property is contiguous with the high-grade Monster Lake gold project and 20 kilometers northeast of the new IAMGOLD Corporation/Vanstar Mining Resources Inc. 3.1 Moz Nelligan gold discovery. For additional details on the Chevrier Project, 2020 results and plans for 2021 please refer to the Company's website. The Company will continue to monitor the evolving COVID-19 situation and intends to comply with all government directives. Genesis Metals Corp. has enacted protocols designed to inhibit the spread of the COVID-19 virus to safeguard the health and safety of local communities and its workforce. Methodology and QA/QC The analytical work reported on herein was performed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. of Ancaster, Ontario, an internationally recognized analytical services provider. All samples are analysed for gold using standard Fire Assay-AA techniques. Samples returning over 5.0 g/t gold are analysed utilizing standard Fire Assay-Gravimetric methods. The Company follows industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Chevrier project, with a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate, and standard samples were inserted into the sample sequence sent to the laboratory for analysis. Genesis detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data. Qualified Person The Qualified Person for this news release for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 is Andre Liboiron, P. Geo., Exploration Manager. He has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this news release. About Genesis Genesis Metals Corp. is a member of the Discovery Group of Companies, an alliance of public companies focused on the advancement of mineral exploration and mining projects with a proven track record of generating shareholder value through responsible, sustainable, and innovative development. Discovery Group companies have generated over $500 million in direct and indirect expenditures resulting in over a billion dollars in M&A activity, with notable recent successes being the sale of Northern Empire Resources Corp. to Coeur Mining Inc. and the sale of Kaminak Gold Corp. to Goldcorp Inc. Current Discovery Group member companies include: Great Bear Resources Ltd., Bluestone Resources Inc., ValOre Metals Corp., Ethos Gold Corp., Fireweed Zinc Ltd., Kodiak Copper Corp., and K2 Gold Corporation. Genesis Metals Corp. is a gold exploration company focused on advancing its Chevrier Gold Project in the prolific Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "David A. Terry" President, CEO, and Director Suite 1020, 800 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6 Telephone: 604-646-8356 Email: js@genesismetalscorp.com Website: www.genesismetalscorp.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. Certain disclosure in this release, including statements regarding the anticipated timing for receipt of survey and till results; the Company's exploration plans; constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") for the purpose of applicable securities laws. 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, including that the Company is able to obtain any government or other regulatory approvals required to complete the Company's planned exploration and development activities; that the Company is able to procure personnel, equipment and supplies required for its exploration and development activities in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that actual results of exploration activities are consistent with management's expectations; that the current price and demand for gold will be sustained or will improve; that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, among others, the risks related to the inability to obtain required regulatory approvals on a timely basis or at all, that the risk that actual results of the Company's exploration activities may be different than those expected by management; delays in receiving survey and till results or obtaining any required government or other regulatory approvals; inability to procure required equipment and supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; the nature of mineral exploration and mining and the uncertain commercial viability of certain mineral deposits; the Company's lack of operating revenues and risks related to dependence on key personnel. 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73520 TERMIZ, Uzbekistan -- An Uzbek blogger critical of the local government in the southern Surxondaryo region has been arrested on charges that relatives say are trumped up. Otabek Sattoriy was charged by the Interior Ministrys investigative department on February 1 on extortion charges. That came days after Sattoriy was taken from his home on January 29 by plainclothes security officers, his sister Farangiz Alimova told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service on February 2. Alimova provided RFE/RL with security-camera footage of the moment of her brother's detainment. Alimova cited the blogger's lawyer as saying that Sattoriy had been charged with extorting cash and a mobile phone from unnamed individuals. According to Sattoriy's relatives, a court in Termiz ruled on February 1 to place Sattoriy in pretrial detention. They insist the charges against the blogger are fabricated. The 40-year-old blogger has been known as a harsh critic of the region's governor Tora Bobolov. Sattoriy's popular video blog Halq Fikiri (People's Opinion) has been streamed on his Telegram and YouTube channels for some time. In one of his recent postings, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the "crackdown." A South Korea-born Sydney man said he was connected to Kim Jong-Un, called North Korea his motherland and communicated in code in a bid to sell missiles and other materials, the NSW Supreme Court has been told. But each attempted deal was a failure, the court heard and according to Chan Han Chois lawyer on the first day of his trial on Wednesday, the 62-year-old from Eastwood was little more than a bag of hot air. Chan Han Choi arrives with supporters to the King Street Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday. Credit:Steven Saphore Mr Choi, who arrived at the Supreme Court flanked by supporters wearing t-shirts emblazoned with his face on the front and Free Chan Han Choi on the back, is the first person to be charged under Australias weapons of mass destruction laws enacted in 1995. The seven charges relate to five alleged transactions in which the prosecution says Mr Choi attempted to sell missiles and other military equipment, coal and iron from North Korea to other jurisdictions; and attempted to buy Iranian petroleum on behalf of North Korea. Each of the alleged transactions contravened United Nations sanctions, the court heard. LA JOLLA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 2, 2021 / TONOGOLD RESOURCES, INC. (OTC PINK:TNGL) ("Tonogold," "us," "our," "we," or "the Company") advises of the following: Since our November 17, 2020 update, we have pushed forward the early stages of our $7 million drill exploration program aimed at proving the existence of significant gold and silver mineralization in the Comstock District located in the vicinity of Virginia City and Gold Hill, Nevada, approximately 40 kilometers southeast of Reno. Tonogold recently secured 100% control of 3 kilometers of the Comstock Lode's 5 kilometer strike length from Comstock Mining, Inc. DRILL PROGRAM SUMMARY : Drilling began on September 8, 2020. Tonogold has two drill rigs on site, one reverse circulation (RC) and one core. To date, the drillers have completed six holes: four on the Gold Hill section of the Comstock Lode and two on the Occidental/Brunswick Lode. Figure 1. Known mineral systems and drill collar locations: Figure 2. Longitudinal Section showing Drill targets in the Gold Hill section of the Comstock Lode: Gold Hill drilling encountered mineralization verifying the geologic model and supporting documentation compiled by Tonogold. However, as predicted by our historical research, ground conditions have proven very difficult, slowing drilling and negatively impacting sample recovery. Drilling on the Occidental/Brunswick Lode is very encouraging, verifying previous drilling and expanding known mineralization. The Occidental/Brunswick exploration program will now begin infill and expansion drilling of the mineralization. Description of holes completed or in progress : Drill Hole Target Area Hole Type Azimuth Inclination Total Length (m) TC-001 Comstock (Overman) RC 330 -50 396.2 TC-002 Comstock (Overman) RC 0 -90 446.5 TC-003* Comstock (Belcher, Deep) RC precollar 312 -65 304.8 TC-004* Comstock (YellowJacket, Deep) RC precollar 280 -63 443.5 TC-001D Comstock (Overman) Core 0 -90 221.9 TC-002D Comstock (Kentuck, Deep) Core 280 -67 615.1 TC-003D Occidental/Brunswick Core 0 -90 67.1 TC-004D Occidental/Brunswick Core 0 -90 45.7 TC-003-D1* Comstock (Belcher, Deep) Core tail 312 -65 118.6 * in progress or pending completion with core Story continues Summary of results received from completed drill holes : Hole No. From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) TC-001 368.81 370.34 1.52 0.424 1.4 TC-001 373.38 374.91 1.52 0.651 1.9 TC-002 333.76 336.81 3.05 1.134 19.15 TC-001D 22.86 24.38 1.52 0.531 12.2 TC-001D 27.43 28.96 1.52 0.482 3.9 TC-001D 181.36 182.88 1.52 0.355 32.5 TC-002D 579.13 580.65 1.52 0.303 4.3 TC-002D 596.20 597.72 1.52 3.43 2.1 TC-003D 7.92 32.92 25* 13.49 48.4 including 13.41 18.59 5.18* 57.9 77.2 and 51.21 57.3 6.09 0.367 2.5 * no recovery 14.63 - 15.09 m, 18.59 - 18.9 m, and 29.26 - 30.48 m. Assays pending for intervals above the primary mineralized zones in holes TC-001, TC-002, and TC-002D; see body of press release for detailed descriptions. DETAILS OF TONOGOLD'S DRILLING PROGRAM : GOLD HILL - Tonogold's primary exploration target is the Gold Hill section of the Comstock Lode. To date, we have completed three holes on the old Overman ground (one core hole (TC-001D), and two RC holes (TC-001 and TC-002)) and one core hole on the old Kentuck Mine (TC-002D). We have also pre-collared two other holes targeting zones of suspected mineralization in the old Belcher and Yellow Jacket mines (TC-003 and TC-004). On the Overman ground, hole TC-001 was drilled as an angle hole but shallowed over its length and was terminated (as discussed in the news release dated November 17, 2020). Hole TC-002 was completed from the same pad as a vertical hole. Both TC-001D and TC-002 encountered zones of quartz veining that showed the presence of weak gold and silver mineralization. We interpret both holes as representing the Silver City and Comstock lodes just south of their intersection. (See results table above.) On the Kentuck ground, difficult drilling conditions greatly slowed progress with core hole TC-002D. The hole intersected the quartz veining associated with the Comstock Lode's hanging wall at a depth of 575 meters. From that point, the hole passed through the Comstock structure for 30.8 meters, from a depth of 575 meters to 605.8 meters. Tonogold expects the structure's true width to be between 85% and 90% of the downhole intersection. Assay results returned values ranging to 3.43 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") over 1.52 meters against what we believe to be the lode's footwall. (See results table above.) South of TC-002D, the drillers pre-collared hole TC-003 (cross section below). Significant ground water was encountered and resulted in the premature termination of the pre-collar at a depth of 305 meters. A core rig is currently advancing the hole (as TC-003-D1) in order to test a zone of suspected gold and silver mineralization in the old Belcher Mine. This is Tonogold's first hole targeting a specific, high-probability target identified by our historical research. This level hasn't been prospected or mined since the deep levels of the Gold Hill mines were lost to an underground flood in the early 1880s. Among other relevant evidence, our research uncovered a Belcher Mine report published in the Mining & Scientific Press in 1886 that states, "exploration on the 1,750 [foot] level shows the ore to continue into the submerged depths below." Hole TC-003/TC-003-D1 aims to test the mineralization described in that report (see Figure 3 below). Figure 3. Cross Section of Hole TC-003/TC-003-D1: North of hole TC-002D, Tonogold has pre-collared hole TC-004 to a depth of 444 meters (see Figure 4 below). This hole targets another specific location of suspected gold and silver mineralization identified by our historical research in the old Yellow Jacket Mine about 600 meters below the surface. The core rig will continue this hole through its intersection with the Comstock Lode once it has completed hole TC-003-D1. Figure 4. Cross Section of Hole TC-004: We have received additional permits for further drill locations that will allow us to test other high-priority targets identified by our historical research in the Gold Hill section of the Comstock Lode above the Sutro Tunnel. The Sutro Tunnel is the long adit built in the nineteenth century to drain the Comstock Lode to a depth of approximately 500 meters below the surface. We are also currently filing additional permits. OCCIDENTAL/BRUNSWICK LODE In addition to the Comstock Lode, Tonogold has a second exploration target on the Occidental/Brunswick Lode, where prior drilling showed the presence of gold and silver mineralization. The Occidental/Brunswick Lode is a parallel structure lying about 1.0 to 1.5 kilometers east of the main Comstock. During the nineteenth century, approximately 34,000 tonnes of mineralized material was extracted from the Occidental Mine at an average head grade of approximately 40 g/t gold equivalent. Accordingly, Tonogold added to its control of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode in 2020 by securing an option on a group of claims covering the lode's southern extensions. Tonogold now controls nearly 4 kilometers of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode's strike length. The owner of the claims on which Tonogold recently secured an option conducted a small-scale reverse circulation drill program in 2018. Those holes demonstrated the presence of significant near-surface oxide gold and silver mineralization (see results table below). Consequently, Tonogold has developed a second exploration program to confirm and expand on those results. Summary of results from the 2018 RC exploration of the Occidental/Brunswick Lode : Hole No. From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) I18-05 30.48 33.53 3.05 3.73 19.97 and 39.62 44.20 4.57 0.51 NSI and 65.53 91.44 25.91 1.18 14.07 including 65.53 80.77 15.24 1.59 20.25 I18-06 28.96 30.48 1.52 4.06 9.4 and 39.62 48.77 9.14 0.41 4.08 and 54.86 60.96 6.10 0.84 NSI I18-07 33.53 35.05 1.52 1.18 9.31 and 44.20 70.10 25.91 1.01 NSI including 51.82 65.53 13.72 1.48 NSI I18-08 42.67 53.34 10.67 0.84 11.16 including 48.77 51.82 3.05 1.48 11.65 and 60.96 70.10 9.14 1.55 7.42 including 60.96 62.48 1.52 5.9 27.34 also 73.15 76.20 3.05 0.59 NSI I18-09 6.10 10.67 4.57 1.13 7.013 and 36.58 74.68 38.10** 1.79 11.186 including 47.24 48.77 1.52 6.09 29.55 and 50.29 51.82 1.52 16.53 17.05 I18-10 57.91 62.48 4.57 0.67 5.63 and 64.01 68.58 4.57 0.39 NSI and 85.35 88.39 3.05 0.71 NSI and 108.21 109.73 1.52 0.5 NSI and 114.30 120.40 6.10 0.45 NSI I18-11 54.86 59.44 4.57 0.91 NSI including 56.39 57.91 1.52 2.16 NSI and 99.06 124.97 25.91 0.85 NSI which includes 100.59 102.11 1.52 4.38 NSI I18-12* 7.62 39.62 32.00 6.9 27 including 7.62 21.34 13.72 15.06 54.5 which includes 9.14 15.24 6.10 31.06 93.85 and 51.82 57.91 6.10 5.7 6.5 including 53.34 54.86 1.52 20.89 15.72 I18-13 1.52 4.57 3.05 1.13 NSI *I18-12 is the hole twinned by TC-003D ** No recovery 60.96-62.48 m NSI = No significant interval True thickness of mineralization estimated to vary from 20% to 100% of the interval length, with an average of about 77%. The first phase of Tonogold's Occidental/Brunswick Lode exploration encompasses 22 holes with an initial budget of approximately $600,000. The first two holes of this program were completed in December 2020. The first of those holes (TC-003D) confirmed known existing high-grade mineralization by drilling within 2 meters of 2018 hole I18-12. The distribution of grades in reverse circulation drill hole I18-12 indicated the possibility of down hole contamination in portions of the mineralized interval. While our recent results did not completely eliminate that possibility, TC-003D did confirm the presence of a wide near-surface, high-grade mineralized zone and a narrower low-grade zone at depth. The most significant interval averaged 57.9 g/t Au and 77.2 g/t silver ("Ag") over 5.18 meters. Details of the mineralized intervals encountered in TC-003D are summarized in the following table: Hole No. From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) TC-003D 7.92 32.92 25* 13.49 48.4 including 13.41 18.59 5.18* 57.9 77.2 and 51.21 57.3 6.09 0.367 2.5 * no recovery 14.63 - 15.09 m, 18.59 - 18.9 m, and 29.26 - 30.48 m. True thickness estimated at approximately 80% to 85% of interval length. After completing hole TC-003D, Tonogold stepped 23 meters to the northwest and completed a second core hole (TC-004D). Preliminary results indicate the near-surface mineralized zone encountered in TC-003D was intersected in TC-004D. Final assay results for hole TC-004D are pending. Should results of Occidental/Brunswick exploration warrant, Tonogold plans to expand exploration of the structure with an eye toward defining resources. If successful, Tonogold anticipates that those resources could be processed at the existing processing facility in American Flat, which Tonogold has exclusive rights to operate under a long-term lease arrangement. Tonogold's QA/QC procedures : Drill core is logged for geology, photographed, and marked for sampling on breaks averaging 1.52 meters in length. Following logging, the core is sawn in half with one half placed in labeled sample bags and sealed for delivery to the assay lab. RC samples are collected on 1.52-meter intervals in labeled sample bags and generally contain a split. Representative chips from the intervals are logged for geology. Both core and RC samples are stored at a secure facility prior to transport to the assay lab. Certified standards, blanks and duplicate samples are inserted in the sample series at the rate of one each per every 20 samples. Samples are delivered to ALS Minerals' lab in Reno, Nevada where they are dried, crushed and pulverized. Gold analysis is performed at the Reno facility utilizing a 30-gram fire assay with an AA finish (Au-AA23). Samples containing greater than 10 g/t Au are reanalyzed utilizing fire assay with a gravimetric finish (Au-GRA21). Silver analyses are completed at ALS Minerals' Lab in Vancouver, Canada using a four-acid digestion with an AAS finish (Ag-AA61). Samples containing greater than 100 g/t Ag are reanalyzed utilizing a four-acid digestion with an ICP-AES finish (Ag-OG62). Results for standards, blanks and duplicates are monitored for precision, accuracy, and contamination upon receipt of assays. Qualified persons : Brian Metzenheim, (MMSA-QP), VP of Exploration for Tonogold Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has designed and supervised the work completed for Tonogold Resources outlined in this news release. The technical content disclosed in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Metzenheim. Mr. Metzenheim is not independent of Tonogold as he is in the position of VP and holds incentive warrants. Steve Ristorcelli and Steve Weiss of Mine Development Associates, Inc. (MDA), a division of RESPEC, are qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The technical content disclosed in this press release and derived from the 2018 Technical Report titled 2018 Updated Technical Report on Gold-Silver Mineralization at the Ida Claim Group, Silver City Mining District, Storey and Lyon Counties, Nevada: History, Geology and Exploration and dated September 4, 2018 has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Ristorcelli and Weiss. Both Mr. Ristorcelli and Mr. Weiss are independent of Tonogold. SOURCE: Tonogold Resources, Inc View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/627525/Tonogold-Resources-Inc-Corporate-Update Steve King, the Republican former congressman from Iowa, must feel robbed. Two years ago, he was stripped of all his committee assignments after asking, in an interview with the New York Times, White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization how did that language become offensive? The Republican Party threw its weight behind Kings primary challenger, and he was whisked off the national stage. Since then, standards have changed. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is every bit as bigoted as King and 10 times as unhinged. By now, you have surely heard her theory that California wildfires might have been caused by a space laser controlled by Jewish bankers. That wasnt Greenes first foray into anti-Semitism; in 2018 she shared a notorious white nationalist video in which a Holocaust denier claimed that Zionist supremacists have schemed to promote immigration and miscegenation. Recently, Greene met with a far-right British commentator, Katie Hopkins, who has described migrants as cockroaches and said she doesnt care if they die. Greene told her, I would love to trade you for some of our white people here that have no appreciation for our country. She described the results of the 2018 midterms as an Islamic invasion of our government. Greene endorsed calls for the execution of prominent Democrats, and agreed with Facebook posts claiming that the Parkland and Sandy Hook school shootings were hoaxes. She harassed one of the Parkland massacres young survivors. As it happens, this week House Republicans are seeking to punish a prominent woman in their ranks but it is not Greene. A big chunk of the House Republican caucus is reportedly trying to oust Liz Cheney of Wyoming from leadership because she voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House leader, is meeting with Greene, but it is far from clear that he will act against her because she represents much of their partys base. When the New Yorkers Charles Bethea met a group of Greenes local supporters last year, they were generally familiar with QAnon and several agreed that Democrats are controlled by Satan. There is a reason Kelly Loeffler, who needed to get out the pro-Trump vote, touted Greenes endorsement when she was trying to hold on to her Georgia Senate seat. Some decent Republicans imagine they are in a battle for their partys soul. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who like Cheney voted to impeach Trump, recently started a PAC devoted to fighting the forces that led to Greenes rise and the Capitol rampage. The time has come to choose what kind of party we will be, he said in an introductory video. The thing is, Republicans already have chosen. Just look at the partys state affiliates. On Jan. 4, the Arizona GOP retweeted a Stop the Steal activist who had pronounced himself willing to give my life to overturn the election. Said the partys official account: He is. Are you? An Arizona lawmaker has since introduced a bill that would let the Legislature, controlled by Republicans, override the presidential vote of the states increasingly Democratic citizenry. The Oregon Republican Party approved a resolution suggesting that the Capitol siege was a false flag attack. The Texas Republican Party has adopted the QAnon slogan We are the storm as its motto, though it insists there is no connection. Greene is not the outlier in this party. Kinzinger is. American conservatism particularly its evangelical strain has fostered derangement in its ranks for decades, insisting that no source of information outside its own self-reinforcing ideological bubble is trustworthy. If you are steeped in creationism and believe that elites are lying to you about the origins of life on Earth, it is not a stretch to believe they are lying to you about a life-threatening virus. If what you know of history is the revisionist version of the Christian right, in which God deeded America to the faithful, then pluralism will feel like the theft of your birthright. If you believe that the last Democratic president was illegitimate, as Trump and other birthers claimed, then it is not hard to believe that dark forces would foist another unconstitutional leader on the country. There was a moment, after the Capitol riot, when it seemed as if a critical mass of the Republican Party was recoiling at what it had created. But the moment passed, because it would have required the partys putative leaders to defy too many of their followers. Sen. Mitch McConnell floated openness to convicting Trump in a Senate trial but ended up voting that such a trial was unconstitutional. On Monday, Politico reported that if Republicans dont strip Greene of committee assignments, Democrats will try to do it, bringing the issue to the House floor. Republican members will have the chance to distance themselves from her. If they dont, it will be because they know she belongs. 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. MILAN, FEB 3 - A 75-year-old homeless man who froze to death at a Milan rail station last week had assets in the bank as well as a decent monthly pension, Corriere della sera newspaper reported Wednesday. Umberto Quintino Diaco disappeared from his Calabrian mountain home at the age of 17, and went on to work in Munich, Italy's biggest selling daily said. "He decided to become a ghost forever", family members said. It is not known exactly how he made his money. But at the time of his deth he had over 100,000 euros in his bank account along with 19,000 euros in stocks and shares, as well as enjoying a monthly pension, from his job in Munich, of 750 euros, the Milan-based daily said. He also owned a house in Calabria and two vans, with their insurance fully paid up. When he was found dead in his makeshift bed at Milan's Porta Garibaldi train station Thursday he had 1,235 euros in cash on him. His sister Chiarina told Corriere "we looked for him but he never wanted to be found". Diaco's assets were found at Catholic charity Caritas's post box, the only service he used despite insistent requests by aid workers to get more help and get off the streets. (ANSA). The long drought in the gold price, stretching from 2012 until 2019, created a landscape almost devoid of new projects. Junior explorers were starved of cash with the survivors devoting scarce funds to survival rather than exploration and there were few new entrants to the listed gold explorer universe, either in Australia or Canada. Thus, the pipeline of new projects had run dry by 2019 when a spark of life was seen again in the gold price but even existing projects had seen little work done in exploration and even less in resource definition or expansion. It was into this market that the team at Panther launched themselves in late 2019 bringing to market a portfolio of Australian and Canadian exploration assets, to which they have subsequently added extra territory. This opens the way for various outcomes: developing to production, generating value uplift by proving up projects then on-selling or slicing & dicing via listings on either the TSX or ASX or both. Ten more Capital Region residents have died due to COVID-19 complications, but new daily cases of the virus continue to fall, data released Tuesday show. The regions latest victims included four Albany County residents, including two men in their 60s, a woman in her 80s and a woman in her 90s; three Columbia County residents; a Schenectady County man in his 90s; a Warren County nursing home resident who was in their 80s; and a Saratoga County resident. The fatalities pushed the regions known death toll from the disease past 900 on Tuesday. Although new cases of the virus continue to fall across the region, deaths are occurring at their fastest pace yet. After last springs wave of infections killed some 300 people, it took over five months for the region to cross 400 deaths (Nov. 27), 26 days to cross 500 (Dec. 23), 15 days to cross 600 (Jan. 7), eight days to cross 700 (Jan. 15), 10 days to cross 800 (Jan. 25) and eight days to hit Tuesdays 900-death milestone. A total of 905 residents from across the eight-county area are now known to have died from COVID-19, with 38 percent of their deaths reported in 2021 alone. Officials are hoping that the recent decline in new infections will lead to a slowing of deaths. On Monday, the regions seven-day rolling average for new daily infections dropped to 486 down from 532 the day before and a high of 1,009 observed Jan. 10. The regions seven-day positivity rate dropped to 4.7 percent Monday down from 4.9 the day before and a high of 10.2 on Jan. 7. In Albany County, a total of 99 new cases of the virus were confirmed among residents overnight, marking the second day in a row that the county has seen daily caseloads in the double-digits and the second time since late November that cases have not topped 100. While Albany Countys number of new daily infections and percent positive rate continues to decline, were still not out of the woods yet, County Executive Dan McCoy said. COVID is not done with us, which is made clear by four more of our residents losing their lives to this horrible disease overnight. The best way to protect yourself and others is by wearing a mask, social distancing and avoiding private gatherings with people outside of your household. Hospitalizations inched up for a second day in a row this week, after eight straight days of declines, with Capital Region hospitals reporting 422 coronavirus patients as of Monday. Thats up from 416 the day before, but down from a high of 553 reached Jan. 19. The chart shows daily hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the eight counties of the Capital Region. Graphics by Cathleen F. Crowley and Bethany Bump/Times Union (About the data) Vaccine update Meanwhile, providers continue to work to vaccinate people against coronavirus despite limited supplies of the vaccine. As of Tuesday, 84 percent of the 137,840 doses received by Capital Region providers had been administered, according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos office. Federal supply to the state is expected to increase to 20 percent for the next three weeks, Cuomo said. Local health departments say they are having trouble advising residents on where exactly to receive the vaccine as a number of pharmacies that have received doses have not publicly reported that information. This has been very difficult and we understand the frustration, Warren County Health Services Director Ginelle Jones said Tuesday. We are requesting that our pharmacies please call us so that we can help streamline the registration process for our seniors. CVS Health announced Tuesday that it will begin to administer COVID-19 vaccines to people 65 and older starting Thursday, Feb. 11 at 32 locations across New York. That includes four retail pharmacy locations in the Capital Region in Glenville, Saratoga Springs, Hudson Falls and Queensbury. As more supply becomes available the company will expand to more locations and offer additional appointments, it said. For CVS Pharmacy locations that will begin to offer vaccinations on Feb. 11, appointments will become available for booking as early as Feb. 9 as stores receive shipments of vaccine. Patients must register in advance at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app, and people without online access can contact CVS customer service at 1-800-746-7287. Walk-in vaccinations without an appointment will not be provided. From the window in his Shipyard condominium, Dean Talanehzar likes to sit and watch the backhoes and bulldozers pushing dirt around for the next phase of San Franciscos biggest development project. While the coming building wont be particularly big 77 units out of 12,000 planned on a former Navy base and nearby Candlestick Point he is heartened because the developer is bullish enough to keep working despite the pandemic and the unresolved toxic cleanup issues in the surrounding parcels. Its encouraging to see construction progressing, said Talanehzer, who is the head of talent for a South of Market software company. Three years after a cleanup scandal that was reported extensively in The Chronicle brought the project to a standstill, the redevelopment of the first phase of the 750-acre former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has quietly been revived. So far 505 housing units have been completed, with 102 of them below market rate. In addition to the 77 condos just starting construction, design and permitting is under way on 409 other units, which include three buildings of 100% affordable units and a 224-unit mostly market-rate complex. The total first phase there are five phases altogether will have 1,428 housing units, 29% them affordable, as well 26 acres of parks. We have been working on this community for 15 years we want to make sure we have enough inventory, said Garrett Chan, who heads up sales for Lennar Corp., which is building the condos. Sally Oerth, acting director of the citys Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, the agency that oversees the project, said it is committed to staying on track to deliver hundreds of high quality, thoughtfully designed affordable homes for low-income families. With many San Franciscans facing unprecedented hardship coming out of the pandemic, we know that the Bay Areas housing affordability crisis continues, she said. The fact that any progress at all is being made at the Shipyard is surprising, given the three years of acrimony, scandal and lawsuits over the cleanup of the property, which has cost the federal government more than $1 billion. While the hilltop area being developed was used for Navy officer housing and has been ruled free of hazardous pollutants, the acreage down the hill ranks as some of the most contaminated property in the United States, tainted by radioactivity and high levels of toxic heavy metals like manganese, arsenic and vanadium. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 In 2017 a group of whistle-blowers who had worked on the cleanup went public with allegations of frequent cheating on the project. They said soil from areas of the property known to be clean were switched with dirt from heavily contaminated areas, and that truckloads of contaminated soil were removed from the site without being scanned for radioactive material. Two former radiation control technicians for Tetra Tech EC, the company that oversaw the cleanup of the former top-secret nuclear test lab on the site, pleaded guilty to federal charges of destruction, alteration or falsification of records. After that, lawsuits came in bunches. Master developer FivePoint Holdings sued the Navy, saying it had conducted grossly negligent oversight of the process. Tetra Tech sued the Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that the government agencies had bowed to political pressure and arbitrarily decided that all investigation and remediation had to be entirely redone. In addition, 83 early buyers at the Shipyard joined a class-action suit against Tetra Tech and Lennar, an affiliate of FivePoint. While the Tetra Tech case is still pending, in August Lennar and its affiliates agreed to pay $6.3 million to the homeowners, who alleged that the developer misled them about the status of the cleanup, thus diminishing their home values. The allegations of fraud prompted the Navy to retest portions of the site, setting the overall redevelopment back by five years or more and delaying the creation of thousands of housing units. While the bulk of the former shipyard was supposed to be cleaned up and delivered for development by 2019, the Navy now says the next parcel transfer wont happen until late 2023 and several others wont take place until 2026 and 2028. FivePoint declined to comment. Chan said the last condo buildings were completed in late 2019 and are now 80% sold. Home buyers interviewed said that they did their own research into the history of the shipyard and are convinced that the land they are living on is safe, and that they are willing to gamble that the environmental issues on the adjacent parcels will be resolved eventually. And the Bayview neighborhood remains the citys most affordable, with an average price per square foot of $666, compared to the overall citywide average of $986 a square foot. While the new construction at the Shipyard is more costly than some of the districts older housing stock, its still more affordable than comparable complexes. A new, one-bedroom condo that might sell for $1.4 million 2 miles north in trendy Dogpatch would sell for $700,000 in the Shipyard. A three-bedroom townhouse would sell for a bit over $1 million, about half what it might fetch in an older neighborhood. Talanehzar, who previously lived in Mission Bay, originally bought a 1,400-square-foot condominium for $920,000 in 2016. When a second child came along recently, he and his wife upgraded to an 1,800-square-foot place for $1.1 million. He said the 4-mile trip to his SoMa office is an easy commute, and the Shipyards open space there are overlooks, dog runs, playgrounds and 15 pocket parks offers ample space for his kids to play. Troy Wilson, a real estate agent who lives at the Shipyard and has brokered the sale of three units there, has lived in SoMa and West Portal. He said he moved his family of five to the Shipyard because they were looking for new construction and sunshine. Their three-bedroom flat offers bay views and sunrises to the east, while in the evening they can watch the sun dip behind San Bruno Mountain. The flat is just drenched with sunlight, he said. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle In the past year, Wilson sold a one-bedroom condo to a couple for $529,000, a two-bedroom for $950,000 and a three-bedroom for just under $1 million. Some home buyers who previously would have avoided the Shipyard because of its somewhat remote location and lack of commercial activity now see those as advantages. Before COVID you dreamed about being in one of the old true San Francisco neighborhoods, Wilson Said. But here we are all working from home, and no one is gathering in restaurants or bars like we used to. For now the Shipyard has one glaring downside: the lack of retail. The neighborhoods one store, the Storehouse, closed in May. In a year, construction is supposed to start on a complex that will have 20,000 square feet of retail in addition to 224 apartments. The developer is Tabernacle Development Associates, a group of five pastors from predominantly African American San Francisco churches, said the Rev. Dr. James McCray, who is heading up the project. Related Stories Local Richmond council greenlights plans for housing... McCray said the group started working on the project in 1998, when it was slated for an African marketplace, a concept that vanished years ago as the planned community went through two recessions and multiple iterations. The location at the Shipyard is important, as he hopes entrepreneurs from the adjacent Bayview will fill most of the retail space many of those Black business owners have been priced out as that has neighborhood gentrified Our project has become the bearer of the African American communitys hopes and dreams, brought down to our 3 acres, he said. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC every year to shortlist officers for different services, like the IAS, IFS and IPS The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) released the marks of recommended candidates for its UPSC civil services main examination (CSE) 2019 on its official website at upsc.gov.in. Candidates who appeared in the UPSC civil services exams are advised to visit the website and check the list of recommended candidates. This list is being published after the commission released the final results of CSE in August last year. The final result had as many as 829 candidates in the qualified list. Following this, UPSC had recommended the names of 89 additional candidates from its reserved list. The list that was released on the website now contains the name of the recommended participants. Follow these steps to check the recommended list of UPSC civil services 2019: Step 1: Visit the official website of UPSC at upsc.gov.in Step 2: Search for the link that reads: 'Marks of Recommended Candidates' under the 'Latest Announcements' section on the homepage and click on it Step 3: You will be redirected to another page with the marks of recommended candidates Step 4: Check the entire PDF file for Recommended Candidates (Reserve List) and check your marks Step 5: Download the list to your system for future use. Here is the direct link to the list The civil services examination is conducted by the UPSC every year to shortlist officers for different services, like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS). The entire process is spread in three stages. It begins with the conduct of a preliminary exam, after which qualified candidates are asked to sit for the main exam. Those who qualify the main exam are then called for an interview. The Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba said on Tuesday that it was conducting internal reviews of its business in response to an antitrust investigation by the Chinese government, which in recent months has begun scrutinizing the countrys big internet companies like never before. For many years, the growth of giants like Alibaba was celebrated in China as the fruit of a thriving private sector. Now, regulators in Beijing are more concerned about how the companies size and influence are affecting the interests of their customers and competitors, echoing the scrutiny that Western tech giants like Google face in the United States and Europe. We approach this antimonopoly investigation with a cooperative, receptive and open mind set, Alibabas chief executive, Daniel Zhang, said on a conference call announcing the companys latest financial results. We have a deep appreciation of the significant social and public responsibilities of operating our platform. Beyond complying with regulatory requirements, we will continue to do our best to fulfill our responsibilities to society. Mr. Zhang said Alibaba would say more when the investigation was complete. He gave no indication when that might be. Federal Labor remains opposed to a proposed overhaul of Australias clean energy fund rules aimed at fuelling investment in gas power plants and grid infrastructure despite a shake-up in its approach to climate policy. The Morrison governments proposed changes will establish the $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund, making it responsible for an underwriting scheme to encourage private companies to build new power supply. New Labor climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen says the party will not support changes to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Labor and the Greens have been highly critical that gas projects will be included in the fund, overseen by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, when a project supports the achievement of low emission energy systems. New climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would only support the changes if it is successful in amending the legislation, including rejecting the proposed definition of gas as a low-emissions energy source. 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 An Amber Alert sent to Texans last week warned that a child had been abducted by Chucky, a 28-year-old male with red or auburn hair and blue eyes who stands 3 feet 1 inch tall. His race was given as Other: Doll. The alert, which was sent by email on Friday, warned of a 16-pound suspect wearing blue denim overalls and wielding a huge kitchen knife. It included an image of Chucky, the killer doll introduced in the 1988 slasher film Childs Play, the first of a series of Chucky films. The Texas Department of Public Safety has since apologized, saying in a statement that the alert was sent as a result of a test malfunction. We apologize for the confusion this may have caused and are diligently working to ensure this does not happen again, the department said. Thousands of Russians took to the streets to protest the sentencing of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to a prison term of nearly three years. Russian security forces cracked down hard on the demonstrators on February 2 and the early morning hours of February 3. Independent monitoring group OVID-Info reported police detained more than 1,400 people. Mexico approved the Russian vaccine Sputnik V for use Tuesday, just hours after the publication of early results of an advanced study saying it is about 91 per cent effective. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lpez-Gatell, the government's pandemic spokesman, said the health ministry signed a contract Monday for 400,000 doses of Sputnik V that will arrive this month. That is still a tiny amount for Mexico's 126 million people. It couldn't come a moment too soon. Mexico has been hit so hard that hospitals in the capital were 87% full, and ambulance drivers waited hours to find an open bed for patients. Mexico has reported about 159,500 test-confirmed deaths related to COVID-19, but excess-death estimates place the real toll at well over 195,000. Unfortunately, because of the saturation of the hospitals and the phone lines, we are waiting about three or four hours before they can assign us a hospital, and to get there, said ambulance crew chief Eduardo Vigueras. Vigueras noted patients are sometimes sent to the only available beds at hospitals, far away from the overwhelmed east side borough of Iztapalapa. He said some relatives get angry and aggressive with paramedics because of the delays in treatment. Because some patients are in such bad shape, some families make an even harder choice. Paramedics say they often go to pick up a seriously ill patient only to find their loved ones want to cancel the emergency call, because they know treatment is in such short supply and they may never see their relative again. A lot of people prefer to keep their relative at home, knowing that they are going to die, but with their loved ones there for the last few minutes, hours, days, paramedic Paulina Cervantes said. That desperation was on display Tuesday, when the Mexican government launched a new website for people over age 60 to register for appointments to get vaccines that the country doesn't yet have. So many people logged on that the Health Department apparently didn't have the bandwidth to handle requests. The department's website was quickly overwhelmed and the registration page didn't load, returning a message: Due to the overload of registrations, service has been interrupted. We are correcting and strengthening our infrastructure to avoid such interruptions." The Russian vaccine would become the third to receive emergency approval in Mexico. The regulating agency approved the Pfizer vaccine in December and AstraZeneca's in January. Mexico turned to the Russian vaccine following delays in obtaining others it was counting on. A dozen countries have already approved the Russian vaccine for use, including Bolivia and Argentina, where Lpez-Gatell visited in January to learn more about it. He acknowledged that there had a been a legitimate concern among Mexicans, but that the early results published Tuesday in the medical journal The Lancet should alleviate them. The Russian Sputnik V vaccine is safe, it has 92 per cent efficacy against COVID, it can be used safely and is effective in seniors, Lpez-Gatell said. It allows us now to accelerate the step of vaccination against COVID in Mexico. Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a week ago. Mexico has so far given about 675,000 doses of vaccine, all of them from Pfizer. On Tuesday, a second batch of the active substance in the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Mexico, where it will be packed and distributed through the rest of Latin America. (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.) Himachal Pradesh: How fisheries department is hurting trout farmers by Sidharth Singh February 03,2021 | Source: News Laundry At any government trout farm run by Himachal Pradeshs fisheries department, you can purchase a kg of rainbow trout for Rs 550. Its a simple process, and the farms infrastructure is intriguing enough to attract tourists: An employee walks along one of several cemented raceways, sweeps three fish out with a net, measures their weight, hammers them with a rod, and exchanges them for money. But behind this simple process lurks many complications for private trout farmers. The government must stop competing with us in the same market, said Shakti Singh Jamwal, president of the Trout Fish Farmers Association, Kullu. The government has full-scale infrastructure of large farms and competes with us. If they sell their own fish within the state, then who will we sell to? A fully-equipped trout farm, such as the governments main farm in Kullus Patlikuhal, is infrastructure heavy. It has several raceways and tanks, a hatchery (that costs Rs 25 lakh) to process eggs, and a feed mill that can cost anywhere from several lakhs to crores, depending on the quality and quantity of feed produced to create fish feed. Most trout farmers cannot afford this infrastructure. So, theyre forced to buy hatched trout, or seed, and feed from the government farms in order to grow trout privately and then sell it directly in the market. This means that Himachals trout farmers currently rely on their biggest market competitor uniquely, the government to acquire essential farming components. To better understand the tense relationship between the state fisheries department and trout farmers, Newslaundry spoke to farmers from the districts of Kullu and Mandi, and Satpal Mehta, the director and warden of fisheries in Himachal Pradesh. The issue of infrastructure ownership Rearing trout to a plate-size fish is a highly technical process; an error risks the death of the entire stock. It takes up to two years before a trout is mature enough to be sold, and the entire process requires vigilance. This means farmers need training, and there is a high probability of collateral damage. I am still learning, said Rajinder Kumar, a small trout farm owner in Barot, Mandi. I have only been doing this for three years. I bought 6,000 seeds from the government farm but only 1,000 survived. The selling price for trout is Rs 550 per kg, as fixed by the fisheries department. But with infrastructure expenses and risk, farmers cannot make a profit at this price. The result is farmers raising prices to Rs 700-750 while the government sells the same fish at Rs 550, putting farmers at a competitive disadvantage in the market. The department produces more fish in big farms and sells at a low rate, said Thakur Ram Lal, who has farmed trout for six years in Jogindernagar, Mandi. We produce in small farms and sell at a higher rate. It becomes difficult to market our produce. Satpal Mehta, the director and warden of fisheries, admitted as much over the phone. Yes, you can buy trout at a government farm, it is true, he said. When asked about the interests of the trout farmers, he said, We have many farmers in Himachal Pradesh doing their business well, and they are making increased profit. The department aims to make farmers less dependent on government farms for seed and feed by subsidising the Rs 25 lakh cost of a hatchery, and providing a small feed unit for Rs 4 lakh. We have set up 27 hatcheries on a 60:40 subsidy so far, Mehta said. But farmers dont see this as a good thing. This is not empowerment, its desertion, said the Trout Fish Farmers Associations Jamwal. Small farmers cannot operate the technical science behind a hatchery without long-term training. We must pay Rs 6-7 lakh even after the subsidy, and these small feed units make very poor quality feed. The government must continue to own seed and feed technology and sell its fish only outside the state. For farmers like Kumar in Barot, owning a hatchery is not possible even if he could afford it. I was approached for a hatchery, he said, but I dont have enough land for one. Spike in cost of feed during the pandemic With a two-year process to rear the fish, a disruption in this cycle means an even longer setback. During the flash floods and landslides in Kullu in 2018, many farms, both government and private, were damaged, adding to the financial burden on the farmers. I myself suffered a loss of Rs 10 lakh, said Jamwal. Some in our association suffered damages up to Rs 40 lakh. The government farm in Patlikuhal described by Mehta as the mother of all trout farms in Himachal Pradesh suffered damages of up to Rs 10 crore. According to Mehta, operations only resumed on December 15 last year. The Covid pandemic hit as trout farmers were still recovering from this setback. With markets closed because of the lockdown, farmers were unable to sell their stock on time. The selling weight for a single trout is 350 grams; three fish comprise a kg. But if trout is not sold on time, a single fish can grow to one kg, increasing its price and deterring buyers from purchasing it. On May 14 and 19 last year, the Trout Fish Farmers Association sent two letters to the fisheries department on the impact on Covid-19 pandemic on trout farming community of the state. Farmers are not in a financial position to purchase the seed from the government authorities as of now, the letters said. Out of the associations 70 registered members, they added, only 15 had survived the impact of the 2018 floods. The pandemic would prove to be a death-knell for the rest of us if necessary support is not given to us by the state authorities. So, the letters asked the department to delay the dispensing of seed and first provide Rs 2-lakh per unit/raceway as per provisions already in place, and only then provide feed and seed either for free or at a subsidised rate. In its response, however, the department said it could not hold the seed due to logistical issues caused by the floods and that farmers who had not purchased the seed should do so quickly. It mentioned that 1,74,000 seeds had already been sold to farmers, and did not acknowledge the associations request for subsidy. Notably, this correspondence occurred in the last two weeks of May 2020 the tail end of the lockdown. It costs Rs 4,000 for farmers to transport the seed and feed provided by the government and in May, public transport facilities were still suspended across the country. Moreover, in October, well after these letters were sent, while the cost of seed remained at Rs 4 per fingerling, the feed cost actually increased from Rs 112 per kg to Rs 166. However, when asked how the pandemic has impacted Himachals trout farms, director Mehta said, There has been impact but it is not much because we continued to provide farmers seed. On the increase in feed prices, Mehta countered: We also increased the sale price of trout from Rs 450 to Rs 550 to help farmers earn more. The product cost ranges between Rs 250 and Rs 270, and the ratio of fish sustained per kilo of feed is 1:1.5. So, they can turn a profit. Yet there are issues with the government-provided feed as well. Rajiv Jaswal, a large farm owner who has farmed trout for 20 years, told Newslaundry that hes resorted to ordering feed from coastal states like Andhra Pradesh. Trouts eat floating feed, but the government feed sinks, he said. There is guaranteed waste with the government feed. Out-of-state feed has variety and can actually be cheaper by Rs 16. Jaswal emphasised the need for better feed from the government. Even though some out-of-state feeds are cheaper and sustain trout, they are not very nutritious, he said, and can produce lower quality fish. The best quality feed is not cheaper to import. The government says that giving everyone hatcheries will increase employment, but nobody will do business at a loss, Jaswal said. They can use this money wasted on hatcheries to improve seed and feed quality. Give us good quality material and let us sell good quality fish without competition. As the oldest farmer in Jogindernagar, he added: I have seen many farmers start business here and not survive. Nobody will take losses more than twice. Preventing a dry revolution Under its Blue Revolution mission and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, the Himachal government wants to boost the production of trout in the state. Jamwal agreed that the scope for trout is massive, but pointed out that farmers need government support. If they dont give us good quality feed and good quality seed, and continue to compete with us while having larger infrastructure for them, it will be a Blue Revolution for them and a dry revolution for us, he said. Taking note of their counterparts agitating on Delhis borders, trout farmers in Himachal Pradesh told Newslaundry that their own needs are not very different. Our needs are not different from Punjabs farmers, Jamwal said. The government should set up a processing unit, like a mandi, and acquire trout from us at a set price to sell it with a value addition outside the state. Where else does it happen, that the government makes money from farmers and then competes with them too? The farmers asserted that they must depend on the government for seed and feed. They want a mandi system where the government buys from the farmers so they can focus on growing and selling fish, and not be hampered by hatching the seed. I have to focus on growing my own kids, not my trouts kids! said Jamwal. While most of Indias fish demands is met by southern and coastal states, there is scope for Himachal Pradesh to send trout which specifically needs cold, running freshwater that the region has in abundance outside the state. Mehta said more farmers have to come forward and take up trout culture themselves. But with the department not meeting the farmers needs, the farmers have no way to come forward and make this happen. Advertisement Every state - including Hawaii - will experience below freezing temperatures next Monday due to a polar vortex which will send plumes of arctic air down into the US. The vortex is composed of strong winds that usually circulate in the arctic and do not reach areas further to the south. However, the winds have now weakened, 'allowing frigid air to spill out of the polar region' down into North America, Mashable reports. It will bring the freezing temperatures to at least 85 percent of America. More than 235 million Americans are expected to shiver through the unusually icy weather. In the Midwest, temperatures will plunge as low as -25 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 degrees Celsius). The news comes as comes as millions of residents in the Northeast finally begin digging out of Winter Storm Elena, which brought record breaking snowfall to the region earlier this week. In Mt. Arlington, New Jersey, snow fell consistently from Sunday through Tuesday, dumping a whopping 35.5 inches by Wednesday morning. Every state - including Hawaii - will experience below freezing temperatures next Monday due to a polar vortex which will send plumes of arctic air down into the US This map shows forecast lows headed into next week when the polar vortex is expected to blow down into the US. Below freezing temperatures will be felt in Nashville and Charleston The polar vortex will bring the coldest temperatures of the year to the Midwest, with below freezing temperatures forecast in many areas After Winter Storm Olena dumped snow across the Northeast this week, all 50 states are set to experience below freezing temperatures next Monday due to a polar vortex blowing south from the Arctic. New York City is pictured from the air on Wednesday The Polar Vortex Explained The stratospheric polar vortex is located in the layer that is 5-30 miles above Earth's surface and only appears in winter. Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) are occasions in the winter (~6 times per decade), when the polar stratosphere warms and the winds that normally flow from west to east around the North Pole weaken dramatically and even reverse direction, corresponding to a breakdown of the polar vortex. These SSWs can eventually cause the tropospheric jet stream to weaken, which allows cold air bottled up near the polar cap to escape and expand into the middle latitudes, such as the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia. This cold air has now escaped and is set to hit the US on Monday. Source: Climate.gov Advertisement The National Weather Service reports the number broke a 122-year-old record for most snow in a New Jersey community from a single storm. Residents were finally able to leave their homes on Tuesday, but faced a significant clean-up effort. Two Mt. Arlington locals were seen wading through waist-deep snow trying to shovel out their driveway. Orlena moved north Tuesday, dumping snow in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire before moving up toward Canada. The Weather Channel reports that, as of Wednesday morning, the storm is tracking east of Nova Scotia, but has significantly weakened. On Wednesday, New York City saw its first day of clear skies since the weekend. Orlena dumped more than 17 inches of snow on the Big Apple, forcing the temporary closure of schools, businesses and COVID-19 vaccination centers. The city attempted to reboot on Wednesday, but it was not without problems. Several restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown has their outdoor dining set-ups ruined by the blizzard, with photos of the area showing tents brought down and tables and chairs buried beneath snow. However, Orlena's aftermath did little to keep hardened New Yorkers off the streets. One resident was pictured tucking in to a taco amid piles of plowed snow during the lunch hour on Wednesday. NEW JERSEY: Russell Michelle Hoyer are pictured Wednesday trying to find their driveway under the snow in Mt. Arlington, where a whopping 35.5 inches of snow has fallen since Sunday NEW YORK: A resident of Coney Island is seen walking along the famous snow-covered boardwalk on Wednesday after the storm finally moved through. Snow can be seen covering the sand of the iconic beach NEW YORK: On Wednesday, New York City saw its first day of clear skies since the weekend, and members of the city's Sanitation Department got to work shoveling out streets MASSACHUSETTS: A resident of Wilmington is pictured clearing out his street on Wednesday after the storm moved through MASSACHUSETTS: The storm forced the closure of some COVID-19 vaccination centers earlier in the week. On Wednesday, residents in Boston were pictured back at a re-opened site to receive their shots MASSACHUSETTS: People sit near the ice at the Boston Common Park after Winter Storm Orlena MASSACHUSETTS: On Wednesday, one plucky local wrote words in the ice of Boston Common to s show support for Tom Brady in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. While he no longer plays for the Patriots, it seems Brady still has support of people in the city Indoor dining in New York City is not scheduled to reopen until February 14 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the New York Sanitation Department had their work cut out for them, continuing to plow snow from the roads as drivers got back into their vehicles. 'Snow Laborers continuing work today to remove snow from cross walks, bus stops, step streets, fire hydrants & some bike lanes. Our salt spreaders/plows continuing to readdress snowy conditions & widening city streets,' the Department posted on Twitter. Olena had significantly weakened by Wednesday as it moved up to Canada. NEW YORK: One local was pictured tucking in to a taco amid piles of plowed snow during the lunch hour on Wednesday NEW YORK: Several restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown has their outdoor dining set-ups ruined by the blizzard, with photos of the area showing tents brought down and tables and chairs buried beneath snow NEW YORK: Piles of snow were seen on the sidewalk in Chinatown, where re-opened restaurants were only able to offer outdoor dining options due to the COVID-19 restrictions NEW YORK: The New York Sanitation Department had their work cut out for them, continuing to plow snow from the roads as drivers got back into their vehicles NEW YORK: Restaurant workers in Manhattan's Upper West Side were seen clearing snow from the sidewalk NEW JERSEY: Bob McDonald shovels out his driveway and car in Mt. Arlington on Wednesday, after the town was doused with 35 inches of snow in the past three days NEW JERSEY: Russell Hoyer tries to find his driveway under the snow in Mt. Arlington on Wednesday Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been formally charged with possessing imported walkie-talkies and handshaking during the Covid pandemic, two days after she was detained in a coup. Police said they discovered the walkie-talkies during a search of Ms Suu Kyi's home in Yangon, where she has been locked up since the military seized control on Monday. Ms Suu Kyi, who has not been seen since the coup took place, has been remanded in custody until at least February 15 while investigations are carried out - and could be jailed for a maximum of two years if found guilty. Meanwhile Win Myint, the country's deposed president who is also under house arrest, was charged with breaching anti-coronavirus measures last year by meeting voters on the campaign trail. The army seized power on Monday after detaining Suu Kyi and other leaders in a series of dawn raids after the military declared her November election win fraudulent and has pledged to 'investigate'. The army seized power on Monday after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders in a series of dawn raids The ousted leader has been formally charged with possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies She was charged on Wednesday with an offence under Myanmar's import and export law, with a court signing off on two-weeks remand A similarly unorthodox charge under the country's disaster management law against President Win Myint revolved around him allegedly breaching anti-coronavirus measures Soldiers, tanks and armoured cars are on the streets of major cities after the military takeover on Monday The charges come as opposition in Myanmar grows against the coup which has been condemned by world leaders. Doctors are refusing to work on non-emergency patients in protest against the putsch. Soldiers and tanks are patrolling major cities but the military takeover, which has ended the country's brief experiment with democracy, has not been met with direct action on the streets. But signs of public anger and resistance are growing, with doctors wearing red ribbons and raising three-finger salutes in pictures online, a protest gesture used in the Hunger Games films which was adopted by democracy activists in Thailand. Doctors in Myanmar are refusing to work on non-emergency patients in protest against the military coup Myanmar's soldiers walk near the congress compound in Naypyitaw after detaining leaders and seizing power Medical staff are wearing red ribbons as a show of solidarity and protest against the military takeover Activists were announcing their campaigns on a Facebook group called 'Civil Disobedience Movement' which by Wednesday afternoon had more 150,000 followers within 24 hours of its launch. 'Our main goal is to accept only the government we elected,' Aung San Min, head of 100-bed hospital in Gangaw district told AFP. Dissenters also banged pots and pans and honked car horns in a display of protest against the new regime. Suu Kyi won a huge landslide with her National League for Democracy (NLD) last November, but the military's favoured party won only 33 of 476 seats and declared the polls fraudulent. Dissenters banged pots and pans and honked car horns in a display of protest against the new regime Aung San Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since her capture, won November's election by a landslide The state Union Election Commission four days before the military takeover had declared there were no significant problems with the vote. The US has formally declared the military's takeover a coup and vowed further penalties for the generals behind the putsch. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing appointed himself head of a new cabinet stacked with former and current generals, justifying his coup on Tuesday as the 'inevitable' result of civilian leaders failing to heed the army's fraud warnings. He said his priorities as leader will be an investigation into alleged fraud in last year's elections, Covid-19 and the economy, Doctors are posing for photos and raising three-finger salutes, a protest gesture used by democracy activists in neighbouring Thailand Army chief Min Aung Hlaing (pictured) appointed himself head of a new cabinet stacked with former and current generals The US has formally declared the military's takeover a coup and vowed further penalties for the generals behind the putsch Hlaing, the country's top leader, announced the moves Tuesday at a first meeting of the his new government in the capital, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Wednesday. The military declared a one-year state of emergency and said it would hold new elections once their allegations of voter irregularities were addressed and investigated. The move stunned Myanmar, a country left impoverished by decades of junta misrule before it began taking steps towards a more democratic and civilian-led government ten years ago. But protesting is fraught with risk. People clatter pans and various objects to make noise to protest the military coup in response to a social media campaign Military vehicles and soldiers block the road leading to the parliament in Naypyitaw after seizing power The state Union Election Commission four days before the military takeover had declared there were no significant problems with the election During junta rule, dissent was quashed with thousands of activists - including Suu Kyi - detained for years on end. Censorship was pervasive and the military frequently deployed lethal force during periods of political turmoil, most notably during huge protests in 1988 and 2007. The new government has already issued a warning telling people not to say or post anything that might 'encourage riots or an unstable situation'. The army's actions have been met with a growing chorus of international condemnation although the options are limited for those nations hoping Myanmar's generals might reverse course. On Tuesday the State Department formally designated the takeover as a coup, meaning the US cannot assist the Myanmar government. The army's actions have been met with a growing chorus of international condemnation Myanmar's armed police officers stand guard at the entrance of parliament after the military coup Any impact will be mainly symbolic, as almost all assistance goes to non-government entities and Myanmar's military was already under US sanctions over its brutal campaign against the Rohingya minority. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Union and several other nations have also spoken out. The foreign ministers of the G7 group of some of the world's wealthiest nations said Wednesday they are 'deeply concerned' by the coup. 'We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media,' they said in a joint statement issued from London. 'We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law.' Military vehicles and soldiers block the road leading to the parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on Tuesday Myanmar's military seized power and declared a state of emergency for one year after arresting State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar president Win Myint in an early morning raid The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday also said it was 'deeply concerned about the impact of events on the economy and on the people of Myanmar.' Last month the IMF sent $350million in emergency aid to Myanmar to help battle the coronavirus pandemic. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday but failed to agree on a statement condemning the coup. To be adopted, it requires the support of China, which wields veto power as a permanent Security Council member and is Myanmar's main supporter at the UN. 'China and Russia have asked for more time', said a diplomat requesting anonymity at the end of the meeting, which lasted just over two hours. Both countries repeatedly shielded Myanmar from censure at the UN over the military's crackdown on the Rohingya, a campaign that UN investigators said amounted to genocide. The coup is the first major foreign policy test for US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to stand up for wobbly democracies and defend human rights. In a forceful statement on Monday he said the US would consider imposing fresh sanctions on Myanmar. But Washington is also wary of pushing Myanmar further into China's orbit. 'China is only too happy to step in with material and political support for the Burmese military as part of its ongoing effort to maximize its influence in Southeast Asia,' said Daniel Russel, from the Asia Society Policy Institute. Military vehicles and soldiers guard the entrance to the parliament building in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Myanmar's state newspaper reported that Min Aung Hlaing told Cabinet members that a new Union Election Commission, with what he described as independent and unbiased personnel, would examine voting data to find the correct election results. Min Aung Hlaing also said that Covid-19 containment measures taken by Suu Kyi's government would be continued. Myanmar has confirmed more than 140,600 cases including some 3,100 deaths. Its health care infrastructure is one of the weakest in Asia, according to UN surveys. The general also urged measures to boost the Covid-19-impacted economy, especially the agricultural sector upon which the 70 per cent of the country's population who live in rural areas depend. The takeover marked a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country toward democracy and then became its de facto leader after her party won elections in 2015. Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army during her years in detention. But after her shift from democracy icon to politician, she worked with the generals, who despite allowing elections maintained control of key ministries and guaranteed themselves enough seats in Parliament to have veto power over any constitutional changes. She has also been heavily criticised for her inaction over the Rohingya crisis and has defended the military against accusations of genocide. The Egyptian government is fast tracking a national project that has been too long in the coming, something to which the decline in the rural development indicators testify. This has been due to decades of neglect of the development needs of the Egyptian village. The National Programme for the Development of Egyptian Villages aims to improve the quality of life for all of the countrys 4,741 villages, promising each its rightful share of infrastructural development, public services and income-generating economic projects that will create job opportunities for their inhabitants. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi launched this programme in 2019, in the framework of the Decent Life Initiative, in order to change the face of rural Egypt and raise the standards of living of the 58 million Egyptians who live in the countryside. Over LE 500 billion has been allocated to the programme. In the light of rural to urban migration rates of up to 55 per cent, the government hopes the village development programme will significantly reduce these rates. According to a recent statement by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli, the first stage of the programme targets 143 rural communities in 11 governorates in the 2019-2020 fiscal year and 232 more rural communities in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. A total of 375 villages in this stage, home to approximately 4.5 million people, will soon receive the benefits of 2,180 projects costing a total of LE 13.5 billion. This stage, which is nearly 50 per cent complete, includes bringing 58,000 houses up to the standards of dignified housing through the installation of new roofing and water pipes and wastewater linkups as well as upgrading the communitys potable water, wastewater, drainage, road, electricity and street lighting grids and networks, and other such services. The communities will also be linked by a network of modern roads. The cabinet will meet once a week in order to follow up on the implementation of the various stages and projects of the programme, which experts believe will radically transform life in Egypt as a whole. The prime minister said that 60 per cent of the Egyptian people will feel the fruits economic reform as the many development projects in this programme come to life. The Egyptian government has adopted a multi-pronged development approach. It is expanding urban construction and development projects while modernising old communities where possible, and creating new agricultural, residential and industrial zones. It is simultaneously modernising the means of production with the introduction of new technologies and digitalised processes. We can already see vast progress in urban areas where random development and unsafe housing had prevailed. This urban renewal in fact began before the village development programme. In addition, as part of what has been described as an unprecedented development drive that seeks to deliver the tangible fruits of development efforts to all sectors of society, the government has constructed thousands of kilometres of new roads and repaired and upgraded double that amount in the existing road network. It has also improved the rail and public transportation services and converted public transportation vehicles to natural gas as part of the drive to optimise domestic potential. Infrastructure and infrastructural services are a key element in development and a main draw to direct investment in the local market. They are among the inducements that encourage investors to adopt positive economic and investment positions in the framework of a clear investment map and a comprehensive development vision. With its latest national projects, the Egyptian government has once again underscored the centrality of the Egyptian market as an important investment hub in the Arab world and Africa. This market offers a robust and modern infrastructure, an array of investment incentives and privileges for companies and individuals with serious business projects, access to a vast consumer market and ample possibilities for deals that will enable locally produced products to reach dozens of markets without customs duties or taxes. Rural Egypt will be an integral part of the new gravitational force drawing investors into the race for sustainable development to make life better for all Egyptians. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea seeking action against allegedly Chinese origin fake loan mobile applications. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said: "These are sensitive and high security matters. Make representation to the appropriate ministry." The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, asked the petitioner, Save Them India Foundation to make a representation highlighting these issues either to the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Finance Ministry. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who appeared for the petitioner, submitted before the bench that these Chinese mobile apps are operational in absence of any proper guideline by the RBI and they are violating the citizens' right to privacy. Citing the Digital India campaign, Tiwari emphasized that it is essential to address concerns associated with cyber security. He also cited news reports referring Chinese involvement in spying and surveillance of several top functionaries in the country. The bench, however, reiterated that it is not keen to examine the matter, and instead the petitioner should make representation before the ministry concerned. After a brief hearing in the matter, the petitioner agreed to withdraw the petition. "Learned counsel for the petitioner seeks permission to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to make a representation before the appropriate Ministry. The writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for," said the top court in its order. The plea had sought a ban on China operated digital money lending apps in India. "China's espionage system and spying upon India has developed a new threat and fear of losing our secret valuable information, public policies, defence policies, data hijacking and data theft," said the plea. The petitioner contended that data hijacking and data theft may bring danger to the national security and in future, may lead to a disastrous effect. As over 10,000 Chicago teachers and staff are engaged in a struggle to oppose the citys effort to reopen public schools, the entire US media is waging a campaign to pressure educators to resume in-person schooling. Every major national newspaper in the US, regardless of its political affiliation, has over the past week published statements falsely claiming that schools are safe to reopen. These reports incorrectly assert that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared that schools are safe. They slander teachers by claiming that educators concerns about safety are based on anti-scientific fear-mongering. The crassest expression of this campaign was Tuesdays editorial in the Chicago Tribune, alleging that teachers ignore science. The article asserted that teachers were falsely claiming to be a voice for the children, while actual science is making it harder for teachers unions to continue to justify staying home. The Chicago Tribune editorial echoed the talking points from Fridays editorial in the Washington Post, titled, The covid-19 danger does not lie in the classroom, but in the community. Study after study has shown that schools can be safe, wrote David Brooks of the New York Times. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just attested to this fact, Brooks said, declaring the resistance of educators to schools reopening is a wave of anti-intellectualism sweeping America. All three of these columns base their assertions on a misrepresentation of an opinion piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA ). None of these editorials and op-eds, which breathlessly declare that the CDC says schools are safe, cite the disclaimer at the bottom of the opinion piece to which they are referring: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even the Biden administration, which is at the forefront of the drive to reopen schools in the United States, felt compelled to distance itself from the medias rampant misuse of the JAMA report and another study published in the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) journal. In a press briefing Thursday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki made clear that these were not official CDC guidelines, adding that the CDC hasnt issued the formal recommendations or requirements on how all schools across the country can open. They did a report, as they do reports frequently, based on an area in Wisconsin, stressing the report had extremely limited applicability to urban areas such as Chicago. In reality, the overwhelming preponderance of scientific evidence shows that closing schools, together with other vital social distancing measures, leads to a reduction in the spread of COVID-19. As documented by whistleblower Rebekah Jones and her team at the COVID Monitor, nearly 600,000 students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at K-12 institutions throughout the country. A study published November 19, 2020 in Nature found that closing schools is one of the most effective ways to contain COVID-19. The report, Ranking the effectiveness of worldwide COVID-19 government interventions, noted that school closures in the United States have been found to reduce COVID-19 incidence and mortality by about 60 percent. The Nature article cited a study in July published by JAMA, Association Between Statewide School Closure and COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in the US, which found that school closure was associated with a significant decline in both incidence of COVID-19 and mortality. Another recent study published in Science magazine found that limiting social gatherings to 10 people is the most effective method to contain the pandemic, followed closely by closing schools and universities, then by closing most nonessential businesses. A study published this month by Dr. Simona Bignami of Montreal University and Dr. John F. Sandberg of George Washington University found that infections in children age 10 to 19 preceded the increase in cases among adults age 30 to 49. This means that infected children were infecting their parents, not the reverse. The transmission of COVID among children of school age does not appear to be the consequence, but rather an important determinant of the general level of infection in surrounding communities. In the UK, after children were noted to have higher infection rates than adults in December, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to concede, The problem is schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households. After school districts throughout the US reopened in the summer and fall amid widespread community transmission, there was a massive surge in cases that helped drive the US death toll to more than 450,000. The campaign to reopen schools is all the more criminal now, under conditions where new strains of COVID-19 are taking root in the United States, including some forms that may be more resistant to vaccines. Speaking on Meet the Press Sunday, the public health and infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, a former advisor to the Biden transition team, compared the anticipated surge due to these new strains to a category five hurricane. You and I are sitting on this beach where its 70 degrees, perfectly blue skies, gentle breeze, Osterholm said. But I see that hurricane five, category five or higher, 450 miles offshore. We are going to see something that we have not seen yet in this country, he said. England, for example, is hospitalizing twice as many people as we ever had hospitalized at our highest number. Were all loosening up right now... Weve got to turn that ship around too, Osterholm added. Were really good in this country in pumping the brakes after we wrap the car around the tree. Despite these stark warnings, the Biden administration is flagrantly disregarding the advice of its own former advisor. It is moving full speed ahead with its efforts to reopen schools, with Bidens National Economic Council Director Brian Deese declaring, We need to get the schools open so that parentscan get back to work. The unanimity of the media, whether aligned with the Democrats or Republicans, in demanding that teachers abandon remote learning and resume in-person learning shows how critical the reopening drive is to the social interests of the capitalist class. The financial oligarchy has over the past year given itself trillions of dollars in bailout money, helping to fuel a massive stock market bubble. But this Ponzi schemebuilt entirely for the enrichment of the billionairescannot keep going without constant infusions of the wealth derived from human labor. This is why all sections of the political establishment are united in the declaration that workers must get back to factories and workplaces teeming with COVID-19. Teachers who are fighting against an unsafe return to work are acting on behalf not only of their own interests, but of the interests of society as a whole. Any rational social order would shut down schools and nonessential business until the pandemic can be contained through a combination of mass testing, contact tracing and vaccination, while providing full pay for all employees and allocating the social resources necessary to ensure that children can be educated from home. Parents, members of the community and the working class as a whole should do everything possible to support the stand taken by the Chicago teachers and educators throughout the country. Millions of workers around the US and internationally know that the Chicago teachers are fighting for the entire working class. They need the support of all sections of the working class to continue and expand their struggle. In opposing the ruling classs back-to-work campaign, the Chicago teachers are making clear one fundamental truth: the working class stands for saving lives and containing the pandemic, while the capitalist class and capitalism as a whole demand the sacrifice of human lives for profit. Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held talks with heads and representatives of the UN agencies operating at the country and regional level. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan thanked the representatives of international organizations for expanding partnerships with Turkmenistan. He stressed that cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN is a strategic area of the country's foreign policy. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the implementation of plans aimed at strengthening cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN. In particular, the sides noted the importance of 44 joint documents worth more than 82 million US dollars signed by Turkmenistan and international organizations last December. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the cooperation framework between the government of Turkmenistan and the UN for 2021-2025 in the area of sustainable development. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 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. SUV kWh AWD Spied on German roads in less-than-perfect weather, the all-electric sibling of the GV70 is probably hiding a closed grille under the camouflage up front. Genesis left the daytime running lights exposed, and the same can be said about the taillamps and reflectors. The mismatched trim, such as the side skirts, suggests an early prototype instead of a near-production vehicle.The compact luxuryis hiding the lithium-ion battery on either side of the floor, split by the transmission tunnel. Its hard to imagine Genesis making too many changes over the internal combustion-engined version, which comes from the get-go with an eight-speed automatic transmission.Pictured near the Hyundai engineering center in Germany, the GV70e may also be treated to small changes to the bumpers and a new array of wheel designs. As for the driving range and the number of electric motors, only the people who work on this project are aware of these details.Because its roughly the same length as the Model Y from Tesla, the yet-to-be-announced GV70e needs a battery capacity of approximately 75and a dual-motor option. For reference, the Model Y Long Rangeis good for up to 326 miles (525 kilometers) and starts from $49,990.Customers who arent prepared to make the switch to electric propulsion can opt for a turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 with 375 horsepower over the 2.5-liter four-pot with 300 horsepower. Both versions of the GV70 are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. of A. this summer for the 2022 model year.In addition to the GV70e, the South Korean automaker is also developing a compact-sized electric crossover. Codenamed JW EV but likely called GV60e once it goes official, this model features the E-GMP modular architecture that Hyundai developed for both low- and high-floor applications. Amid the fallout from protracted trade wars and political conflicts between China, the United States and its allies, there stands a bright outlier. Last week, the small nation of New Zealand managed to cut a fresh trade deal with China, expanding the breadth of its more than decade-old free-trade agreement and reducing tariffs on nearly all of its exports to China to zero. Some have even argued that New Zealand could use its friendly relations with Beijing to serve as a mediator to help ease tensions between China and the other four other members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing coalition - the US, Australia, Canada and the UK. Others warn that such an effort would be fraught with difficulty, given the entrenched positions of all parties, and could easily backfire on Wellington. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. As the only Five Eyes member largely free of conflict with China, New Zealand appears to be in a favourable position to act as an "honest broker", said Tan See Seng, a professor of international relations in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. Singapore itself has acted as a third-party facilitator to help defuse several tense political situations in the past, notably at the Wang-Koo summit between China and Taiwan in 1993 followed by the Xi-Ma meeting, again between China and Taiwan, in 2015. These meetings could serve as possible models for New Zealand if it were to become a middleman, though the conditions for Singapore were different than they are for New Zealand. "The question [of New Zealand's position as a broker] is very much in line with Wellington's recent offer to be the middle person for nuclear disarmament, in view of [US President Joe] Biden's purported interest to that end," Tan noted. "[New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda] Ardern's tack toward Beijing as part of New Zealand's 'country-agnostic' approach - although Wellington banned Huawei Technologies' involvement in its 5G networks - highlights New Zealand's different stance [towards China], relative to Australia's. Story continues "So, yes, New Zealand seems well placed to play an honest-broker role between the major powers in select issue areas, and trade and climate change are likely the appropriate ones, given Wellington's obvious strengths in those." What is the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and will it make a difference? New Zealand's credentials bode well for the country to serve as a fair intermediary, Tan added, in particular because the country is not seen as tying its own policy priorities to those of the United States. Wellington's independent foreign policy is also closely tied to its nuclear-free stance, including its willingness to speak out on nuclear testing in the Pacific in the 1970s and '80s and its refusal to allow US nuclear-powered warships to dock in the country in 1985, which ultimately led to New Zealand's suspension from the ANZUS Treaty and a temporary diplomatic rift with traditional allies Australia and the US. As an original member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) that evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, New Zealand could also help China with its membership aspirations. And Ardern's global standing helps, Tan added. "Despite New Zealand joining the international call for an independent inquiry into Covid, and backing Taiwan's bid for a [World Health Organization] observer seat, Ardern apparently waited until many others supported an inquiry first, before backing it," he said. However, New Zealand still needs to earn the trust of the new Biden administration. "There's nothing to prevent NZ from offering its services in brokerage, and it should. But it needs to walk into it with eyes wide open," Tan said. In New Zealand, the views were split. An overarching concern, similar to Tan's, exists over the diplomatically precarious nature of a brokering role. University of Waikato senior lecturer in international law Alexander Gillespie maintains that New Zealand holds a unique position to broker peace, but said it is essential that the country does not act so much as a mediator but rather as a facilitator of events that will get countries' leaders "in a room together at a neutral venue". "It's not about one large goal, like what to do with Taiwan, it's about a process, a neutral venue, and starting to talk to, rather than at, each other," he said. "Fundamentally, I do not see China and the Five Eyes group as enemies. I see disagreements and the need to find neutral ground, to reset the relationship, and to put it all back on a positive path." More "benign" issues such as climate change and post-coronavirus rebuilding could foster some cohesion. Even an international gathering over the conservation of a New Zealand bird, the bar-tailed godwit, could get the ball rolling, Gillespie added. New Zealand willing to arbitrate in Australia-China dispute: Nanaia Mahuta But others were less sanguine. Stephen Jacobi, former executive director of the New Zealand China Council and founder of the New Zealand International Business Forum, put it simply: "We need to manage our relations with larger parties very carefully." "I don't think New Zealand is in a position to mediate in any way between China and other Five Eyes partners, at least not in a formal way," he said. "New Zealand is, of course, hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum this year, and that might provide opportunities for dialogue. "But New Zealand is a small country with its own interests to advance and protect." The perils of being a broker were laid bare on Thursday when New Zealand's trade minister, Damien O'Connor, suggested that Australia show China respect and act with more diplomacy, ruffling feathers in Canberra. In a phone call afterward with his Australian counterpart, Dan Tehan, O'Connor said the "Australia-China relationship would always be a matter for China and Australia". "New Zealand has an independent foreign policy, which allows us to maintain both our closest partnership with Australia and a mature relationship with China," O'Connor said. Grant Duncan, a specialist in political theory and public policy from New Zealand's Massey University, said O'Connor's public comments to Australia were likely unnecessary, especially since New Zealand likes to view itself as an honest broker in the region. "If China casts New Zealand as the good partner to cast shame onto Australia, then that's divisive, and not helpful," he said. In Australia, however, former diplomat Bruce Haigh said New Zealand has shown it can take the lead in resolving conflicts, with the courage to exercise its views independently, as opposed to Australia appearing at times to be taking instructions from Washington. But this was where things could get tricky for New Zealand, or any other country in a similar situation, as it could result in its position in the Five Eyes alliance and with China altered, said Wang Gungwu, a long-respected historian on Sino-Southeast Asian relations. Australia has 'painted itself into a geopolitical corner' with China "New Zealand's good intentions would be appreciated to begin with, but when it comes down to it, I am not sure it would make any difference to the confrontational approach that has dogged us for too long," he said. "The weak link is that it is one of the Five Eyes and may not be seen as really neutral." Wang's perception that the doggedly stiff relations between China and the US could waste New Zealand's efforts was echoed by Zhu Zhiqun, a professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University in the US. He said recent comments by Biden's foreign policy team suggest that the new administration will carry on with Trump's uncompromising policies toward China. New US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has largely agreed with Trump's policies and explicitly expressed America's firm support for Japan and the Philippines in their respective disputes with China, Zhu noted. Moreover, there are no plans for Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak by phone, even though Biden had already spoken to a number of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, he added. "New Zealand or Singapore or any other country, no matter how well-intentioned, is not going to change the rigid, cold-war style of thinking of some countries." The hard-nosed approach, now well in motion, means New Zealand, despite its credentials, would be best advised to steer clear of being a conflict intermediary, said Huang Kwei-Bo, an associate professor of diplomacy at Taiwan's National Chengchi University who has analysed third-party mediations, including the Wang-Koo talks that Singapore helped with. China reckons US democracy is imploding, but Beijing could be missing the point It would be better, Huang said, for New Zealand to take the more subtle approach of showing by example the benefits of a good relationship with China, such as the increasing of people-to-people exchanges and of skilled Chinese migration. "It just needs to demonstrate the mutual benefit resulting from its effort," he said. Bucknell's Zhu said that with the US' China discourse being dominated by China hawks in Washington, a bottom-up approach on both sides, involving grass-roots moderate groups, rather than a top-down approach, could be better at improving relations between the two superpowers. Ultimately, if New Zealand or any other country wanted to contribute to brokering an easing of tensions, pursuing quiet diplomacy would be best, Wang added. "Something dramatic is attractive, but unless that gets quick tangible results, it would end up going nowhere," he said. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright 2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. ADVERTISEMENT Professor Falola asked Obasanjo why he chose individuals who were perceived to be weak to succeed him, perhaps to carve a power niche for himself, even after leaving office. He denied the charge and pointed out that the health certificate of President Umaru Yaradua was vetted by top doctors who pronounced him fit to lead, after a successful kidney transplant. Despite the heavy toll that COVID-19 is taking on communities and families, Professor Toyin Falola has turned the challenge into an opportunity to present socially distanced interviews with eminent personalities. On January 31, he presented a live interview via Zoom with the former Nigerian president, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo. More than one thousand, three hundred people signed in to listen to the interview and ask questions across platforms, from Zoom to Facebook and YouTube. The scene was set with Ghanaian Highlife music, probably Obasanjos favourite, and with the Neo Afrobeat that Falola loves. The increasingly youthful Obasanjo joked that Falola is greying and should start dyeing his hair but careful observers would notice that Obasanjo drank lots of water during the interview, to reveal the secret of his youthful appearance. In answer to the very first question from Mr Dare Babarinsa, one of the founders of Tell magazine, Chief Obasanjo delved into his memory of growing up and why he chose to join the military. He revealed that the military was not a popular career choice back then because, at that time, it was believed that only those who did not do well joined the military. Today, military officers are highly educated at home and abroad and some families now have a military tradition for some children to follow. The military turned out to be an adventure for Obasanjo because the British colonisers posted him to the border with Cameroon to guard against suspected terrorists an apparent reference to the Bamileke warriors who were fighting for independence from France in the 1950s. Obasanjo did not say if he felt like a traitor when he was deployed against fellow Africans who were fighting for independence from colonialism. Obasanjo also shared his observation as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force that was in place when Patrice Lumumba was overthrown, kidnapped and assassinated in the Congo, under his watch. He said that he quickly found out as a soldier that the colonial boundaries were artificial because he saw a group of young men trying to cross the border and he stopped them. They told him that there was no border there because people on both sides were the same culture and that they were only going to get married in the next village. Obasanjo should have known that but his missionary school tried to exclude politics from the curriculum. There was a Nigerian political party that was also fighting for Independence on both sides National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). If he believed that the colonial boundaries are artificial, that must have been why he commendably resolved the Bakassi Peninsula conflict legally with Cameroon without going to war. Obasanjo replied that democracy is the best system of government, even though no system of government is perfect. He indicated that what we have is representative democracy and not the type of direct democracy found in ancient Greek city states because the populations of modern states are too large for everyone to gather in the village square to debate and vote. Obasanjo said that he used his discretion to let the young men cross the artificial boundary. On their way back with their brides, they brought him presents of kola nut and other things. It makes one wonder if that was the origin of the demand for kola at checkpoints by security agents or why Fela Kuti went on to name Obasanjo among the International Tief Tief decades later. Professor Falola asked him why he chose individuals who were perceived to be weak to succeed him, perhaps to carve a power niche for himself, even after leaving office. He denied the charge and pointed out that the health certificate of President Umaru Yaradua was vetted by top doctors who pronounced him fit to lead, after a successful kidney transplant. He also admitted that Peter Odili would have made a stronger vice president and eventual president than Dr Goodluck Jonathan but that Odili had issues with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), making him nominate Jonathan. Professor Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, dean of Faculty of Social Science at Babcock University, followed up with questions about the prospects for and challenges to, liberal democracy in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world. Obasanjo replied that democracy is the best system of government, even though no system of government is perfect. He indicated that what we have is a representative democracy and not the type of direct democracy found in ancient Greek city-states because the populations of modern states are too large for everyone to gather in the village square to debate and vote. He could have added that the Igbo still approximate direct democracy, despite Obasanjos attempt to truncate it by imposing traditional rulers on the radically republican Igbo in 1976, when he was a military dictator. Obasanjo said that he supported the presence of China in Africa but hopes that the Chinese would train Africans to work with them, even if they bring some of their own workers from China for language and communication reasons. He rejected the suggestion that China is our new colonial master and opined that we should seek to increase direct foreign investments from any source without waiting for others to dictate who should be our friends or enemies. He should have taken this a step further and called for Chinese immigrants to be given a path to citizenship in a united and the more powerful Peoples Republic of Africa. Professor Nimi Wariboko of Boston University asked him the significance of his dissertation at the Open University on the theological philosophy of leadership. Obasanjo answered that he saw Jesus Christ as his model of the servant leader. Was Jesus really a servant leader or the Master, the Good Shepherd, the Saviour, according to his followers? It takes a dictator like Obasanjo to see even Jesus as his servant in his doctoral dissertation and still pass the defence, rather than flunk it. Obasanjo should have used the opportunity of the interview to apologise to the Igbo for the genocide against them carried out by officers like himself in alliance with the British government and the Soviet Union that facilitated it with the supply of arms and through the use of starvation as a legitimate weapon of wear. Two young Nigerians students, one in London and another in Abuja, took turns to ask him what Falola predicted would be tough questions. They asked Obasanjo about fairness and justice and what could be done to improve the conditions of people in Nigeria. Perhaps his answers were not satisfactory, because the same question was raised again at the end by Chido Onumah, author of We Are All Biafrans, with reference to the Nigeria/Biafra war and what could be done to finally go beyond the No Victor, No Vanquished principle and bring the hostilities to a final end. Obasanjo answered that fairness demands that even when people do not vote for you, democracy demands that you will be the president of all Nigerians. Instead of saying that you will give more to those who voted more for you, as President Buhari publicly promised, he said that the Yoruba, his own people, did not vote for him in 1999 but that he did not discriminate against them in public appointments. He only head-hunted capable people like Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to help lobby and negotiate for Nigerias foreign debts to be bought back. He joked that someone recently asserted that he is not a Yoruba man and suggested that he is an Igbo man but he does not know what part of his name sounds like an Igbo name. Unknown to him, his surname is pronounced Obusonjo by some in Igbo, meaning, is it only evil? Obasanjo wrongly asserted that only the Igbo who were born after the Biafra war were the ones who seem bitter about the condition of Nigeria. As he rightly knows, it is not the Igbo youth who are waging terrorist attacks against Nigeria in the North-East. Nor are they the ones armed in the Niger Delta to demand resource control, nor are they among those in the Middle Belt, Southern Kaduna, and Western Nigeria waging battles of survival against onslaughts by armed Fulani cattle herders. Obasanjo should have used the opportunity of the interview to apologise to the Igbo for the genocide against them carried out by officers like himself in alliance with the British government and the Soviet Union that facilitated it with the supply of arms and through the use of starvation as a legitimate weapon of war. Obasanjo should support the call for Igbo reparations and also the call for a national referendum on the future of Nigeria, the same way that Scotland has been conducting such a referendum without anyone being shot dead. Biko Agozino is a professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Email: agozino@vt.edu For weeks, the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse was a ground zero for protesters in downtown Portland. The building was extensively tagged and vandalized in nightly demonstrations often punctuated by violence. Now the bill has come due for the cleanup, U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said Tuesday. It amounts to $2.3 million so far for cleaning the courthouse and four other federal properties, Williams said. In addition to the courthouse, the Edith Green-Wendall Wyatt Federal Building, the Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse, the Pioneer Courthouse and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building also were damaged and have undergone repair, he said. Over the summer, the Hatfield courthouse drew hundreds to thousands of protesters night after night. At one point, demonstrators shattered the glass on the doors and threw fireworks into the building. The buildings facade and entry were covered with graffiti. Federal officials said they also must repair or replace mounted security cameras and access control devices that people had vandalized or stolen. Williams said multiple windows in the U.S. Attorneys Office also were broken by metal ball bearings, presumably shot from wrist rockets. Williams said the work to repair the federal properties is ongoing. -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie The UK government has asked the European Commission for an extension to the so-called grace period covering customs checks on supplies moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. It wants the agreement, which covers a three-month period, to be extended until 2023. Because Northern Ireland has a border with the Republic of Ireland, a European Union member state, it has different trading rules to the rest of the UK and companies in Great Britain selling their products into the province have to undergo customs checks. As part of the Brexit trade deal agreed just days before the UK left the EU on 1 January, the two sides agreed a three-month grace period on checks on goods being moved by supermarkets and some wholesale groups from Britain to Northern Ireland to ease the impact of the post-Brexit new rules. However, the weeks after 1 January saw delays at Northern Ireland custom points as firms sending goods over from mainland UK struggled to get to grips with additional paperwork and other administrative controls. This resulted in some supermarkets in Northern Ireland struggling to keep their shelves stocked. And now Northern Irelands customs checkpoints at the ports of Larne and Belfast have been temporarily closed because of concerns about possible security threats to staff. Post-Brexit checks were suspended yesterday (2 February) and EU officials temporarily withdrawn from duties following the discovery of sinister graffiti and concerns individuals had been spotted taking down number plate details. UK Cabinet Office Secretary Michael Gove has now written to the European Commission's vice president, Maros Sefcovic, to ask for urgent political solutions to ensure the situation is not exacerbated by additional border checks being introduced after the end of March. Tension has risen in the province after a row over the supply of Covid-19 vaccines saw the European Commission threaten last week a U-turn on elements of the Brexit withdrawal agreement drawn up to ensure there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland the Northern Ireland Protocol. Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more In his letter to the Commission, seen by just-food, Gove said: "The Protocol is clear that it should impact as little as possible on the everyday life of communities." He called for a "minimum set of steps necessary to stabilise the situation and reassure all parties in Northern Ireland," to be agreed. Gove said: "The arrangements that currently apply to supermarkets and their suppliers must be extended until at least 1 January 2023. The eligibility for these arrangements must also be adapted so that all relevant local businesses and services are able to be included as authorised traders. This must be accompanied by a commitment to rapid work on a proportionate, risk based long-term solution that recognises the very low risk nature of retail movements by trusted traders." He also called for a permanent solution for chilled meat products moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that are otherwise prohibited. "If this in practice requires further time and engagement, then a temporary solution must be in place until at least 1 January 2023," he said. just-food has asked the European Commission for its response to Gove's letter. ADVERTISEMENT Three police officers in Ebonyi State died on Wednesday in a road accident at the Isieke Junction on Abakaliki-Enugu Highway. The Commissioner of Police in the State, Garba Aliyu, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said 10 other police officers sustained injuries in the accident. Yes, I am in the hospital now, we lost three officers while 10 others are under intensive care in the hospital, Mr Aliyu said. The accident occurred while the officers were returning from a peace-keeping mission after a communal crisis in Ezza-Effium, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state, the police commissioner said. A leadership tussle among members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the two communities degenerated into a communal crisis recently. (NAN) The partner of Nick Martins stepdaughter, who was shot in the arm when the former Rebels boss was killed at Perth Motorplex, will remain behind bars after his request for parole was refused. Mr Martin, 51, was fatally shot by a suspected sniper while watching the Outlaw Nitro Challenge at the Kwinana racing venue with his wife and stepdaughter about 8.40pm on December 12. Ricky Chapman in hospital following the shooting at Perth Motorplex. Credit:Nine News Ricky Chapman, who was sitting behind Mr Martin, was struck in the arm by the bullet. Chapman was taken into custody by Operation Ravello officers three days after the shooting for allegedly breaching his parole conditions by associating with bikies. NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DLA Piper represented health insurtech company Sidecar Health in its recent US$125 Series C financing, resulting in its subsequent valuation at US$1 billion. The round was led by Drive Capital and included participation from new investors BOND, Tiger Global and Menlo Ventures, along with existing investors Cathay Innovation and GreatPoint Ventures. Sidecar Health's proprietary app and payment technology allow members to see their benefit amounts for more than 170,000 medical services and prescription drugs before they access care. Members can also view what providers have charged other Sidecar Health members for services, which allows them to comparison shop for care as they would for any other product or service. Members can also pay doctors at the time of care using a Sidecar Health Visa card that pulls payment directly from their plan's claims account, taking advantage of doctors' discounted "self-pay" or "cash" rates and saving them 40 percent or more on healthcare costs. Sidecar Health will use the Series C investment to expand its geographic footprint, grow its team and invest in new insurance products that build on its success in the uninsured market. The first of these will be an Affordable Care Act (ACA) offering for 2022, followed by a product for the self-funded employer market. "It has been our pleasure to work with Sidecar Health and this talented team since formation and in completing this financing round, which led to an impressive US$1 billion valuation for the company. The management team and Board have done an incredible job of quickly building a company that is making a difference for many people, and the funds will support the company's continued growth and help it continue its mission of making health insurance affordable and great care accessible for everyone in the US," said Randy Socol, the DLA Piper partner who led the firm's deal team. "DLA Piper has been our partner since day one and an important advisor throughout our growth and fundraising," said Patrick Quigley, CEO and co-founder of Sidecar Health. "We could not be happier to have such an insightful and experienced team by our side." In addition to Socol (San Diego), the DLA Piper team representing Sidecar Health included associate Ian Hlatky (Los Angeles) and of counsel Nicholas Klein (Washington, DC). DLA Piper's Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice includes more than 200 lawyers in the US who provide strategic counsel to emerging companies in high-growth industries, including healthcare, insurance, biotech, manufacturing, communications, software and semiconductors. Over the last three years, DLA Piper has completed more than 2,100 financings totaling over US$31 billion. DLA Piper's global Healthcare sector consists of a multidisciplinary legal team with niche experience in health-related business and legal issues. The team regularly works with corporations and financial institutions, private investors, private equity groups, venture capital funds, institutional investors and portfolio companies in all types of healthcare transactions. About DLA Piper DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising. dlapiper.com SOURCE DLA Piper Related Links http://www.dlapiper.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. Joe Biden has selected Hady Amr to be Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine. A more accurate title would be Deputy Assistant Secretary of State against Israel and for Palestine. . .and for Hamas. Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, shows why. He points to the following dots that hardly need to be connected: Item: In 2002, discussing his work as the national coordinator of the anti-Israel Middle East Justice Network, Amr wrote, I was inspired by the Palestinian intifada. Item: I have news for every Israeli, Amr ranted in 2002, after Sheikh Salah Shahada, the head of Hamas Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was taken out by an Israeli air strike. Arabs now have televisions, and they will never, never forget what the Israeli people, the Israeli military and Israeli democracy have done to Palestinian children. And there will be thousands who will seek to avenge these brutal murders of innocents. Item: In the same column, written less than a year after 9/11, Amr wrote, we shouldnt be shocked when our military assistance to Israel and our security council vetoes that keep on protecting Israel come back to haunt us Item: Amr has accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and he coordinated an organization that accused Israel of apartheid. Item: Amr was the founding director of the Brookings Doha Center and led it between 2006 and 2010. A New York Times report noted that the institution had forbidden criticism of Qatar. Qatar is a major state sponsor of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. It has been accused by U.S. government officials of being utilized by Al Qaeda and the Taliban for fundraising purposes. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11, operated out of Qatar. He fled after being warned by a member of the Qatari royal family that the Americans were on to him. Item: Over the past few years, Amr has repeatedly urged negotiations with Hamas. When the Trump administration unveiled its proposed peace deal, Amr co-wrote an article declaring that it should be scrapped in favor of focusing on a deal with Hamas. To Greenfields items, I would add this one: Amr sympathizes with Hezbollah and its murderous leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. In 2019, after Nasrallah threatened to launch attacks deep inside Israeli territory, Amr said this : I think Nasrallah feels a great sense of frustration at Israels overwhelming strength and ability to violate Lebanese airspace at will. So in Amrs eyes, the head of the Iranian backed militia that dominates Lebanon through force, who supports terrorism not just against Israel but also against the U.S., is just a frustrated leader trying to protect Lebanon. Not surprisingly, Amr had a minor Israel-related post in the Obama administration. Now, after acting as a Biden bundler in the last election, he will have a major job in the current one. We should expect the hatred Amr has expressed towards Israel, his close ties with Qatar, and his sympathy for Hamas and even Hezbollah to drive his work. And, considering the importance of his new post, we should worry that Amrs work will drive Biden administration Israel policy. Russia's coronavirus vaccine could be used in the EU if it receives regulatory approval, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. "Every vaccine is welcome in the European Union," Merkel told German public broadcaster ARD, praising the "good data" related to Russia's Sputnik V product. Merkel added that she spoke recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the vaccine, Deutsche Welle reported. The Sputnik V vaccine was found to be over 91% effective against COVID-19, according to trial results that were published in medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday. Previously, Russia drew skepticism and criticism for releasing the vaccine to the general population before publishing the phase III trial data. Merkel said Germany will have vaccinated 10 million people by the end of March, and held to her pledge of offering every resident a vaccine by the end of summer. Merkel is due to hold talks with German state leaders on February 14 to discuss the country's lockdown measures. While the leaders will discuss potential reopening scenarios, Merkel warned about a potential resurgence of cases if restrictions are eased too quickly. Close cooperation and periodical exchange of experience with the Russian side is very important for us, and our specialists are now holding active negotiations over the acquisition of the Sputnik V vaccine, she told Sergei Kopyrkin, the Russian ambassador to Armenia, at a meeting in Yerevan. A statement by the Armenian Ministry of Health quoted Avanesian as saying that her government is ready to buy Sputnik V in addition to another vaccine which is due to be supplied to Armenia by the COVAX Facility global partnership supported by the World Health Organization. No other details were reported. The Russian Ministry of Health donated more a dozen doses of Sputnik V to Armenia in November. Then Health Minister Arsen Torosian and other senior officials were among Armenian volunteers who received the vaccine shots at the time. The deputy director of the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gayane Sahakian, said late last month that COVAX will soon deliver the first batch of the relatively cheap vaccine developed by the British company AstraZeneca and Oxford University Sahakian said the Armenian health authorities plan to start vaccinating an estimated 3 percent of the countrys population against COVID-19 by the beginning of March. The first phase of the vaccination will cover medical workers, care home personnel, people aged 65 and older as well as younger people suffering from chronic diseases, added the official. The authorities have so far announced no plans to vaccinate the majority of Armenians. Armenia has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 167,000 cases and at least 3,096 fatalities officially confirmed in the country of about 3 million to date. The real number of cases is believed to be much higher. Ministry of Health data shows that COVID-19 infections have fallen significantly in the last three months even though the authorities have largely stopped enforcing their safety and hygiene rules. The ministry reported on Wednesday that 190 people tested positive for the disease in the past 24 hours, down from more than 2,000 cases a day routinely registered in late October and early November. INDIANAPOLIS (WTHI) A bill requiring the national suicide hotline and human trafficking hotline on Hoosier student IDs is one step closer to becoming law. The bill authored by Sen. John Ford of Terre Haute passed the Indiana Senate on Tuesday with bipartisan support. One in every eight children between the ages six and 12 have suicidal thoughts, and they often do not know who to turn to," Ford said. "This legislation not only provides an outlet for young Hoosiers to turn to but reminds them that it's okay to talk about their struggles." This legislation would require any public middle school or high school that issues student ID cards to provide the phone numbers for the hotline. The bill would only apply to schools that already require student IDs. SB 19 will now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration. Paramedics Carolina Estrada, left, disinfects her partner Elvin Munguia after mobilizing a COVID-19 patient from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Mexico approved the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V for use Tuesday, just hours after the publication of early results of an advanced study saying it is about 91% effective. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the government's pandemic spokesman, said the health ministry signed a contract Monday for 400,000 doses of Sputnik V that will arrive this month. That is still a tiny amount for Mexico's 126 million people. It couldn't come a moment too soon. Mexico has been hit so hard that hospitals in the capital were 87% full, and ambulance drivers waited hours to find an open bed for patients. Mexico has reported about 159,500 test-confirmed deaths related to COVID-19, but excess-death estimates place the real toll at well over 195,000. "Unfortunately, because of the saturation of the hospitals and the phone lines, we are waiting about three or four hours before they can assign us a hospital, and to get there," said ambulance crew chief Eduardo Vigueras. Vigueras noted patients are sometimes sent to the only available beds at hospitals, far away from the overwhelmed east side borough of Iztapalapa. He said some relatives get angry and aggressive with paramedics because of the delays in treatment. Paramedics in hazmat suits move a COVID-19 patient inside a biocontainment unit from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Because some patients are in such bad shape, some families make an even harder choice. Paramedics say they often go to pick up a seriously ill coronavirus patient only to find their loved ones want to cancel the emergency call, because they know treatment is in such short supply and they may never see their relative again. "A lot of people prefer to keep their relative at home, knowing that they are going to die, but with their loved ones there for the last few minutes, hours, days," paramedic Paulina Cervantes said. That desperation was on display Tuesday, when the Mexican government launched a new website for people over age 60 to register for appointments to get vaccines that the country doesn't yet have. So many people logged on that the Health Department apparently didn't have the bandwidth to handle requests. The department's website was quickly overwhelmed and the registration page didn't load, returning a message: "Due to the overload of registrations, service has been interrupted. We are correcting and strengthening our infrastructure to avoid such interruptions." Paramedic Eduardo Vigueras, head of the morning shift, right, disinfects his partner Oscar Reyes after moving a COVID-19 patient to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) The Russian vaccine would become the third to receive emergency approval in Mexico. The regulating agency approved the Pfizer vaccine in December and AstraZeneca's in January. Mexico turned to the Russian vaccine following delays in obtaining others it was counting on. A dozen countries have already approved the Russian vaccine for use, including Bolivia and Argentina, where Lopez-Gatell visited in January to learn more about it. He acknowledged that there had a been a "legitimate concern" among Mexicans, but that the early results published Tuesday in the medical journal The Lancet should alleviate them. "The Russian Sputnik V vaccine is safe, it has 92% efficacy against COVID, it can be used safely and is effective in seniors," Lopez-Gatell said. "It allows us now to accelerate the step of vaccination against COVID in Mexico." A paramedic wearing hazmat gear prepares to pick up a COVID-18 patient, from the Troya ambulance base in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Paramedics Carolina Estrada, left, is disinfected by her partner Elvin Munguia after mobilizing a COVID-19 patient from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Paramedics in hazmat suits move a COVID-19 patient inside a biocontainment unit from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Paramedics in hazmat suits move a COVID-19 patient inside a biocontainment unit from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a week ago. Mexico has so far given about 675,000 doses of vaccine, all of them from Pfizer. On Tuesday, a second batch of the active substance in the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Mexico, where it will be packed and distributed through the rest of Latin America. 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. [February 03, 2021] Carvana Makes Louisiana Debut With The New Way to Buy a Car Leading online auto retailer Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) has debuted in Louisiana, offering as-soon-as-next-day touchless home delivery to Lafayette area residents. Customers can shop more than 20,000 vehicles, finance, purchase, trade in, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery in as little as five minutes. Customers can also sell their current vehicle to Carvana and receive a real offer just as quickly, without even purchasing a vehicle. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005266/en/ Carvana launches in Louisiana, bringing The New Way to Buy a Car to Lafayette, its 267th market. (Photo: Business Wire) Carvana saves customers valuable time and money, allowing them to skip the dealership and shop from the comfort of home or on the go via their mobile device. Carvana vehicles come with a seven-day return policy, giving customers the time to ensure the vehicle fits their life; an upgrade to the traditional test-drive. Lafayette area customers can see how their car handles te quick day trip over to New Orleans or simply take it for a spin to the store to ensure it fits that week's grocery run. Carvana pioneered online car buying, including its patented 360-degree virtual vehicle tour, where customers can view vehicles in high-definition, 360-degree photography, inside and out. Carvana vehicles are Carvana Certified, having passed a rigorous 150-point inspection, have never been in a reported accident and have no frame damage. Features, imperfections and updated information about open safety recalls are listed on every car's vehicle description page. Customers looking to trade in their vehicle, or sell a vehicle, can also skip the dealership by simply entering their VIN or license plate number on Carvana.com, answer a few questions and Carvana can pick up the vehicle and bring them a check, as soon as the next day. "Today's debut in Louisiana means we can offer as-soon-as-next-day delivery of thousands of vehicles to Lafayette area residents, giving them a great selection, at great prices, with great customer service," said Ernie Garcia, Carvana founder and CEO. "Whether you're looking for a Jeep Wrangler or a Honda Civic, we're confident customers in Louisiana will embrace our easy, transparent car buying experience." Carvana now offers as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery to customers in 267 cities across the U.S. About Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana's (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology and exceptional customer service, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online car buying and financing platform. Carvana.com enables consumers to quickly and easily shop more than 20,000 vehicles, finance, trade-in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery or pickup at one of Carvana's patented, automated Car Vending Machines. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005266/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Full results from Friday's state track meets Get your full results from the AA, A and B boys and girls state track meets here. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Rodents running around the kitchen, feces in food and their rotting bodies found inside food storage areas are just some of the conditions former inmates at the Western New Mexico Corrections Facility say they had to live with. After receiving repeated reports about the alleged ongoing rodent infestation at the state womens prison in Grants, the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Susie Zapata and Monica Garcia, who were both released from the prison in 2019, names the food provider at the prison, Summit Food Service, and other prison officials as defendants. The suit asks for monetary damages for Zapata and Garcia due to inhumane conditions of confinement and negligence. It shouldnt take a lawsuit to make a difference, but thats the reality we live here in New Mexico, said Matthew Coyte, attorney and project steering committee member. The prison system doesnt do anything unless you sue them for it. Eric Harrison, a spokesman for the New Mexico Corrections Department, said the department doesnt comment on active litigation. Garcia and Zapata worked in the prisons kitchens and were required to remove rodents caught on glue traps, put them in a plastic bag and stomp on them until they were dead, the lawsuit says. Despite the inmates efforts, rodents still ran rampant in the kitchen. There were holes chewed in dry storage bags and feces in food, the lawsuit says. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In one instance, Zapata and Garcia said they found a dead rodent in stew about to be served. Their Summit Food Service supervisor told them to scoop the rodent out and serve the stew anyway, according to the lawsuit. Another time, a dead rodent was found in a pot of oatmeal that was being served, Zapata and Garcia said. Several women had already consumed the food and began throwing up. Rodents can cause multiple potentially fatal diseases in people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One such disease is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Cibola County has the fourth-highest rate of hantavirus in New Mexico, project Director Steven Robert Allen said. The New Mexico Environment Department also never had an opportunity to properly inspect the facility, the lawsuit says. Usually, the departments inspections are random and unannounced, but the Corrections Department required the Environment Deparment to give advance notice. Despite such notice, the Environment Department still found several rodent-related violations. And the infestation extended beyond the kitchen. According to the lawsuit, women regularly saw rodents running through the cafeteria when they were eating and in the two cellblock units closest to the kitchen. Garcia and Zapata lived in one of the units near the kitchen and regularly had rodents in their cell. They tried to block their doorway, but the rodents would still get in. They want their own justice in court, Allen said. Theyre doing this partly for the women that they left behind in this prison. They still have friends there that are as close to them as family. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Sydney University revealed a budget black hole of $470 million following a 17 percent drop in international students.(Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Pandemic Has Erased 17,300 University Jobs Australias universities are warning further job losses are on the horizon after more than 17,000 people in the sector were left unemployed last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sectors peak body, Universities Australia, estimates about $1.8 billion in revenue was lost in 2020 compared to the year before. Compared to pre-pandemic revenue for 2020, the loss amounts to more than $3 billion. The sector is preparing to lose another $2 billion this year, largely due to international students still unable to travel to Australia. The nations international border was closed last March and is expected to remain shut for most of this year. Universities Australia boss Catriona Jackson says the hit will be felt for years. If an international student didnt enrol in 2020, the loss would be felt for what would have been their entire three or four years at university, she said. No sector can absorb revenue declines this large without staff losses. The loss of any, and every, one of those staff is personally devastating, bad for the university community and Australias knowledge reservoir. Jackson has thanked the federal government for supporting research funding with $1 billion, and said the peak body would continue to push for more support. The sector was effectively excluded from the governments JobKeeper wage subsidy program, despite warnings the decision would lead to huge job losses. Rebecca Gredley in Canberra [February 03, 2021] eccenca and Ontotext Partner to Advance Enterprise Data Management Integration of Ontotext GraphDB and eccenca Corporate Memory powers new capabilities and performance boost LEIPZIG, Germany and SOFIA, Bulgaria, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading semantic technology providers eccenca (developer of Corporate Memory) and Ontotext (developer of GraphDB) partner to facilitate semantic technology for business use cases. eccenca integrates the semantic graph database GraphDB into its flagship software eccenca Corporate Memory. Ontotext and eccenca have teamed up to boost the value of semantic technologies by jointly creating vertical and horizontal enterprise data solutions. "eccenca offers one of the markets most mature knowledge graph based life cycle management solutions," Ontotext CEO Atanas Kiryakov explains the partnership with eccenca. "Its focus and dedication to automation use cases in manufacturing industries is bringing the benefits of knowledge graph technology to the supply chain and the shop floor. Building on eccenca's unique focus on process automation, we are jointly going to expand our offering into IT landscape automation to help organizations unify automation of security, network, cloud and on-premise IT infrastructures." eccenca Corporate Memory provides a multi-disciplinary integrative platform for managing enterprise data related rules, constraints, capabilities and configurations in a single application. The highly extensible, interoperable enterprise knowledge graph platform re-establishes global data transparency in enterprises as well as line-of-business ownership to a complex and dynamic data environment. By making enterprise data both machine-readable and human-interpretable, enterprises are enabled to drive agility, autonomy and automation without disrupting existing IT infrastructures. GraphDB is an enterprise-ready semantic graph database engine combined with content and data analytics capabilities. GraphDB allows users to link diverse data, index it for semantic search and enrich it via text analysis to build big knowledge graphs. GraphDB's differentiators include comprehensive integration with full-text search engines (Elasticsearch, SOLR and Lucene) nd document databases (MongoDB), high-availability cluster architecture proven in business critical deployments spanning across multiple data centers and continents. It also provides efficient reasoning support and numerous analytics plug-ins including semantic similarity via graph- and word-embedding, RDF Rank that determines the importance of the nodes, based on the PageRank algorithm, spatial primitives (e.g. nearby) and others. "Ontotext has been a thought leader in our industry for more than a decade," explains Hans-Christian Brockmann, CEO of eccenca. "Their graph database provides market leading technology both for scalability and performance. Most importantly, Ontotext has matured from providing a mere tech vision to providing a strategy for next generation industry solutions in publishing and life science. It is time for semantic technology to mature from being a technology play to actually becoming a value enabler for industry solutions." Together the two companies are now offering one of the industry's most complete and most mature knowledge graph technology stack. They also provide a broad portfolio of custom industry solutions including Healthcare, Pharma, Automotive, Manufacturing, Financial Services and IT Management. The joint eco-system of Ontotext and eccenca also provides a unique ability to globally deliver custom solutions. Leading consulting partners of both companies include ATOS, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Deloitte, Fujitsu, InfoSys, NTT Data (Everis), MHP, PWC, Tata and Wipro. "The combination of both platforms and our strong partner network will allow enterprises to choose knowledge graph technology with confidence and build the next generation of their solutions Hans-Christian Brockmann adds. On an operational level, users of eccenca Corporate Memory and GraphDB will be able to handle extremely large data volumes and complex modelling tasks. The virtualization capabilities of GraphDB also support our mission to make enterprise data and knowledge graphs absolutely transparent for every user. "Knowledge graph technology allows us to model the most complex and intricate business rules and expert knowledge in a way that is scalable and digitally reusable. Thus it is the basis for advanced automation and AI." Both companies have been enabling enterprises for over a decade to overcome complexity by digitally documenting and automating knowledge management. In 2020, GraphDB was shortlisted as a significant graph database vendor by Forrester Wave while eccenca was named sample vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner Inc. The partnership will enable enterprises to realize the potential of business digital twins by leveraging knowledge-enabled automation. About Ontotext Ontotext is a global leader in enterprise knowledge graph technology and semantic database engines. Ontotext employs big knowledge graphs to enable unified data access and cognitive analytics via text mining and integration of data across multiple sources. Ontotext technology and solutions are spread wide across the value chain of the most knowledge-intensive enterprises in financial services, publishing, healthcare, pharma, manufacturing and public sectors. Leveraging AI and cognitive technologies, Ontotext helps enterprises get a competitive advantage by connecting the dots in their proprietary knowledge and interpreting it, using global intelligence as context.Founded in the year 2000 and headquartered in Bulgaria, Ontotext has most of its revenues from big corporations across US, UK, Mainland Europe and Asia and partners with 5 of the biggest IT Services companies on Earth. https://www.ontotext.com/ About eccenca eccenca is a leading provider of enterprise knowledge graph management software and solutions. Its flagship product Corporate Memory helps companies to master the complexity and dynamics of their knowledge, product and device lifecycles by laying the foundation for data integration, access and reusability across disparate sources. Companies are enabled to manage the rules, constraints, configurations and expert knowledge as well as data in one central application. This empowers customers to digitally scale knowledge for automation and AI applications. eccenca is named Sample Vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner and TOP 10 GDPR Solution Providers by CIOApplications. https://eccenca.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431563/eccenca_Ontotext.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/448827/Ontotext_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Newly Appointed DOJ Official Was Partner of Hunter Bidens Attorney Nicholas McQuaid, the principal deputy assistant attorney general of the United States, was a fellow partner of the attorney that Hunter Biden hired to represent him in the upcoming probe for possible tax and money laundering activities by DOJ. Nicholas McQuaid was appointed on Jan. 21, the day after President Joe Biden was sworn in. He worked for years at the Latham & Watkins law firms New York office as a partner and has represented multiple cases with his colleague Christopher Clark. Christopher Clark is expected to represent Hunter Biden, according to Law.com. McQuaid was also named as acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division. They worked on the same cases right up until McQuaid took the job at the Department of Justice, said Fox News Tucker Carlson, who first reported the news. Court records confirmed Carlsons statement. Latham & Watkins and Clark didnt respond to a request from Fox News on whether McQuaid was ever involved in the work of representing Hunter Biden. So far, there is no public information showing that McQuaid was involved in Clarks representation of Hunter Biden. Even though the investigation into Hunter Biden is being carried out by the federal prosecutors office in Delaware, McQuaid, as the principal deputy assistant attorney general and named acting assistant attorney general for the criminal division, will oversee all criminal investigations, including Hunters. According to federal ethics law and DOJ regulations, McQuaid will not be allowed to work on the investigation of Hunter Biden unless justice ethics officials sign off. While not speaking to any particular matter, a DOJ spokesperson told Axios, all department employees are governed by the departments ethics rules, including rules concerning recusal. McQuaids position is currently temporary, the president has yet to nominate a candidate for a permanent position and go through Senate for confirmation. Continuing its turnaround in earnings during the past few quarters, telecom operator Airtel returned to the black and reported a profit of Rs 853.6 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, (Q3FY21). The company posted a loss of Rs 1,035 crore during the same period a year ago. The loss was Rs 763 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY21). The telco posted its highest ever consolidated quarterly revenue for the quarter under review. The revenue from operations increased 24 per cent to Rs 26,518 crore as against Rs 21,343 crore during the same period a year ago. The revenue was Rs 25,060 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY21). The revenues for India business grew 25.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 19,007 crore. Mobile revenues were up 32.4 per cent year-on-year led by improving realisations coupled with strong customer additions. The overall business revenues increased by 9.2 per cent year-on-year on the back of strong demand for connectivity and solutions. The consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) came in at Rs 12,178 crore with an EBITDA margin at 45.9 per cent - an improvement of 464 bps year-on-year, the company said in a filing. Mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs 166 compared to Rs 135 in the same period a year earlier. Commenting on the performance, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, said: Despite the unprecedented volatility that we have confronted through the year, we delivered another strong performance this quarter. This consistency in performance was across every part of our portfolio, as reflected in market share growth across all our business segments." "This has been made possible due to our agility, the continued re-orientation of our business model and our relentless focus on what truly matters serving our customers. The main highlight of the quarter was the 13 million 4G customers we added in our Wireless business," Vittal further said. Airtel said that the 4G data customers increased by 33.8 per cent year-on-year to 165.6 million and over the last 4 quarters, it has added 42 million 4G customers to its network. "We are also proud to have become Indias first Telco to have demonstrated a live 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. This reaffirms our strategy to win with quality customers," he said. "Digital TV witnessed a growth of 5.8 per cent year-on-year on an underlying basis, led by strong customer additions of 485K during the quarter," the company said in a stock exchange filing. "Homes business segment witnessed a revenue growth of 2.3 per cent year-on-year with highest ever customer additions of 215K during the quarter to reach to a total base of 2.79 million," it said. The net debt of the company stands at Rs 1.25 trillion. Last week, said its network is 5G ready and that the company had successfully demonstrated live next-generation 5G service -- with ultra-high speeds -- over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. Earlier during the day, shares hit a record high of Rs 618.75 a piece, up over 3 per cent on BSE, surpassing the previous high of Rs 611.70 clocked on May 20, 2020. The company's scrip ended at Rs 608.80, 1.53 per cent higher on the BSE. Crude oil exports from the only deep-water port in the United States, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, doubled in January from December to a record high, driven by robust demand from Asian refiners, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting vessel-tracking data it had compiled. Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the only U.S. port capable of handling and fully loading supertankers with 2 million barrels of oil each, saw a total of eight tankers depart for India, China, and South Korea in January. Those tankers, most of them supertankers, shipped a total of 15 million barrels of oil from the Louisiana oil export terminal last monthdouble the volume exported from the port in December and a record-high for the terminal, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. crude oil exports are benefiting from the recovery of oil demand in Asia, as well as from reductions of term supplies to some Asian customers by the biggest OPEC producers, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Saudi Arabia has reportedly announced reductions in crude oil volumes to be supplied to at least nine clients in Asia and Europe for February. The cuts are made for shipments under long-term contracts and concern Aramcos heavier grades. Related: This Year Will Define The Next Decade In The Energy Industry Iraq, OPECs second-largest producer behind Saudi Arabia, has also reportedly reducedquite unexpectedlyits term supplies for 2021 to several major Indian refiners by 10-20 percent. At the same time, the major oil importers in Asia are estimated to have boosted their imports by 7.5 percent month over month in January to 26.14 million barrels per day (bpd), according to tanker-tracking and port data compiled by Refinitiv and cited by Reuters. Chinese oil imports are estimated to have jumped by 33 percent to around 12 million bpd, up from just 9 million bpd in December, Refinitiv data showed. India is also boosting imports, with official government data showing that crude oil imports increased by 9.5 percent in December 2020, while crude oil throughput rose by 0.9 percent compared to December 2019, just before the start of the pandemic. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Report Description A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Kegerator market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Global Kegerator market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Kegerator market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Kegerator market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Kegerator market is projected to expand with healthy CAGR over the period of forecast. Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints& Opportunity of the Market: A kegerator usually helps the user to keep favourite kegged beverage chilled in the comfort of the users home. Commercial kegerator is able to hold a keg or multiple and dispense icy drinks and beverages with perfect pressurized condition. Kegerators are devised to pressurize a keg and distribute the suds through the line to the tap- in the kegerators, no hand pump is required. Request for Report Sample: https://datainsightspartner.com/request-for-sample?ref=599 The global kegerators market would likely to propel by the increasing demand of icy brews at the bards and restaurants as well as in the home. Increasing income, cultural demands additionally help to boost the global kegerators market during the forecast period. On the contrary, the global kegerators market might be restrained due to the technical difficulties of the kegerators, unclear regulatory scenario etc. In addition, impact of covid -19 pandemic, increasing raw material cost etc. also resist the growth of the market in the upcoming period. Strategic alliance among the key players and technological advancement etc. would provide the global kegerators market an opportunity to propel during the forecast period. For instance, the EdgeStar Kegerator is not completely portable, but the product has caster which helps the product to move from one place to another when it is needed. Segment Covered: This market intelligence report on the Global Kegerator Market encompasses market segments based on application, tap, end user, portability, distribution channel and country. In terms of application, the Global Kegerator market is classified into: Beer kegerator Wine kegerator Iced coffee kegerator Kombucha kegerator OThers In terms of tap, the Global Kegerator market is classified into: Single tap Double tap Triple tap Others Based on end user, the Global Kegerator market is classified into: Indoor o Built in o Free standing Outdoor o Built-in o Free standing o Commercial Based on portability, the Global Kegerator market is classified into: Portable Non-portable Based on distribution channel, the Global Kegerator market is classified into: Offline Online By country/region, the Global Kegerator market has been divided into: North America (the U.S., Canada) Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries) Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries) Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries) Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries) Get Request for Table of Contents: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/kegerator-market/599#content Profiling of Market Players: This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as: BEER MEISTER, LLC. Danby FireMagic Arctic King Synek Taprite Turbo Air UBC Group Value Series Versonel VinoTemp New Leaf Other companies are profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Global Kegerator related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report. Report Highlights: In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players. Salient Features: This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Global Kegerator market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, launch of new products, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook Profiling of key market players in the world Global Kegerator market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take decision when it comes to launch of products, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation The world market for Global Kegerator caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Global Kegerator market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion Reasons to buy: v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Global Kegerator market v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Global Kegerator market v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events v Identify key partners and business development avenues v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants Full View of Report Description: https://datainsightspartner.com/report/kegerator-market/599 Mayfield Man Jailed on Meth, Other Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff GRAVES COUNTY - A Mayfield man was arrested on numerous drug charges Tuesday.At approximately 3 pm, detectives and deputies with the Graves County Sheriff's Office stopped a vehicle for an alleged traffic violation.Authorities said the driver, 64-year-old Tommy West of Mayfield, was a person of interest in an ongoing drug investigation.A search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered suspected methamphetamine, 20 alprazolam pills, 15 clonazepam pills, and 3 gabapentin pills.West was arrested and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance third-degree, possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of a controlled substance third-degree, and possession of drug paraphernalia.He was lodged in the Graves County Detention Center. Victorias accommodation industry wants government support to continue for the struggling sector after the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends, as hotel revenue in Melbournes CBD remains at just one-third of pre-pandemic levels. Industry group Tourism Accommodation Australia said the sector was experiencing a two-speed recovery from last years COVID-19 lockdowns in the state, with activity in regional Victoria bouncing back much more strongly than in Melbourne. Lee Davey says mid-week occupancy rates at the 188-room QT Melbourne have plummeted. Credit:Jason South With JobKeeper set to finish at the end of March, both the federal and state governments have confirmed that additional sector specific industry aid was being considered, but details of what might be on offer to the hardest-hit industries have not been settled. The accommodation groups general manager, Dougal Hollis, said city hotels were struggling and had stood down or made redundant significant numbers of workers throughout the pandemic, citing one central Melbourne venue that was down to 175 full-time staff from 330 before the coronavirus struck. Her grandfather Eddie Kelliher was once an Olympic sailor for Ireland and now Daisy Kelliher (33) is set to make a big splash in her own right as the newest crew member on Bravos hit reality series Below Deck. The native of Dublins Glenageary nabbed a coveted role as Chief Stew on board a 54-metre superyacht worth 20m as it sailed around the Adriatic sea in Croatia. She told the Irish Independent how boredom during lockdown prompted her to throw her hat in the ring and audition for the European instalment of the show, which airs on Netflix. The popular franchise first aired in 2013 and has been dubbed Downton Abbey on water, thanks to the level of drama that takes place on the high seas. Chronicling the adventures of the fun-loving crew members as they cater to the every whim of their super-rich charter guests, the new series, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, will debut in America on March 1. Although she said she knew nothing about TV, she has ample sailing experience, given that her grandfather competed in the 1964 Olympics and her family are members of Dun Laoghaire yacht club. I had been let go from my boat during Covid, the yachting world was looking unpredictable and I was stuck at home. Then a few friends texted saying, theyre recruiting for the show, you should do it. "I did it, obviously not thinking I was going to get it. Then one thing led to another and next thing I knew I was flying to Croatia. She said filming the show last July was a cool experience, it was pretty hectic and full-on. It was something that was fun and interesting and different and I didnt know how these reality shows were filmed. I know nothing about TV so it was an awesome experience, she said. Its true what they say about our industry: you work hard to play hard. The days are really intense so as soon as you get a bit of time off youre going to cut loose and enjoy yourself at the end of the charter. Getting the job overseas felt like escapism after the pandemic struck and she said every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of crew and guests alike. She was tested three times a week while charter guests had to quarantine before boarding the yacht. Myanmar army armored vehicles drive past a street after the country declares a one-year state of emergency in Mandalay, Myanmar, February 2, 2021. /Reuters China on Wednesday said the international community should create a favored external environment for Myanmar to properly handle its internal differences. The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on the Myanmar situation on Tuesday, following Myanmar's declaration of the one-year state of emergency and the handover of the state power to the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing on Monday. Speaking of the closed-door meeting, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that China hopes all actions taken by the UN Security Council would facilitate the political and social stability of Myanmar and the peaceful settlement of the problem. Wang stressed that China, as a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, hopes all sides in Myanmar will properly handle their differences and prioritize people's willingness and interests. "We hope that all sides in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability," Wang said. The last Security Council discussion on Myanmar was in September 2020, before the general elections in the country. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The ongoing farmers' protest against the three Central farm laws on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border has something unique to offer, as it's not just the youth who are taking part in the agitation in large numbers, even farmers above the age of 80 are present at the protest site at the Ghazipur border. One such protester named Khem Chand, who is associated with the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), told IANS, "We have no hopes from this government," clearly indicating to the fact that age is not a factor for this octogenarian. Another aged farmer told IANS that the Central government will ultimately have to accept their demands, which are all legal. The zest of these octogenarians clearly shows that the harsh winter conditions in the region have failed to dampen their spirits, and for them age is just a number. IANS spoke to another person named Rajeev Choudhary aged above 80 years, who said, "The government should accept the farmers' demands as they have been protesting for the past two-and-a-half months now." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) today announced that the first patient has been dosed in HERTHENA-Lung01, a phase 2 study evaluating patritumab deruxtecan, a HER3 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC), in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated metastatic or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and platinum-based chemotherapy. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, and accounts for about one-fifth of all cancer deaths globally, with 80 to 85 percent classified as NSCLC.1,2 For patients with metastatic disease, prognosis is particularly poor, as only 6 to 10 percent live beyond five years after diagnosis.3 Approximately 25 to 30 percent of lung cancers worldwide have an EGFR-activating mutation, and it is estimated that about 83 percent of all NSCLC tumors express the HER3 protein, which can be associated with an increased incidence of metastases, reduced survival and resistance to standard of care treatment.4,5,6 There currently are no HER3 directed medicines approved for the treatment of NSCLC. "Our focus is to rapidly and strategically advance the clinical development program of patritumab deruxtecan in cancers where HER3 is frequently overexpressed and is associated with poor prognosis," said Gilles Gallant, BPharm, PhD, FOPQ, Senior Vice President, Global Head, Oncology Development, Oncology R&D, Daiichi Sankyo. "This study will further inform whether targeting HER3 with an antibody drug conjugate may become a potential treatment strategy to overcome diverse mechanisms of EGFR TKI and chemotherapy resistance seen in patients with metastatic EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer." Exploratory biomarker analyses from the ongoing phase 1 study of patritumab deruxtecan in patients with previously treated metastatic or locally advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC were recently presented at the IASLC 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Encore clinical results from this phase 1 study also were presented at WCLC. About HERTHENA-Lung01 HERTHENA-Lung01 is a global, multicenter, open-label, phase 2 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of patritumab deruxtecan in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with an EGFR-activating mutation (exon 19 deletion or L858R) who have progressed after receiving at least one EGFR TKI and at least one platinum-based chemotherapy regimen. The study will randomize patients into one of two patritumab deruxtecan treatment arms in a 1:1 ratio. Patients in the first arm of the study will receive a 5.6 mg/kg fixed dose regimen of patritumab deruxtecan intravenously every three weeks. Patients in the second arm will receive an up-titration dose regimen of patritumab deruxtecan in three week cycles, with a 3.2 mg/kg dose given in the first cycle, a 4.8 mg/kg dose in the second, and 6.4 mg/kg in the third and subsequent cycles. The primary endpoint of HERTHENA-Lung01 is objective response rate (ORR), as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR). Secondary endpoints include duration of response, progression-free survival, disease control rate, and time to response all assessed by both BICR and investigator assessment as well as investigator-assessed ORR, overall survival, safety and tolerability. The level of HER3 protein expression in tumor tissue and its relationship with efficacy will be analyzed. Pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity also will be assessed. HERTHENA-Lung01 is expected to enroll up to approximately 420 patients in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Japan. For more information about the study, visit ClinicalTrials.gov. About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide; there were an estimated 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer and 1.8 million deaths in 2020.1 Most lung cancers are diagnosed at an advanced or metastatic stage.2 Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80 to 85 percent of all lung cancers.7 The introduction of targeted therapies and checkpoint inhibitors in the past decade has improved the treatment landscape for patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC; however, the prognosis is particularly poor among patients who have progressed after treatment with standard therapies. For those who are not eligible for current treatments, or whose cancer continues to progress, new therapeutic approaches are needed.8 The mutationally-activated EGFR tyrosine kinase is a well-established oncogenic driver and molecular target for management of advanced stage NSCLC.9 For patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC, targeted therapy with EGFR TKIs offer higher response rates and progression-free survival compared to chemotherapy.8 However, most patients eventually develop resistance to these therapies, and standard treatment options are limited.10 Clinical resistance to EGFR TKIs has been linked to multiple molecular mechanisms, and in many cases, the underlying mechanism of resistance remains unknown.11,12,13 About HER3 HER3 is a member of the EGFR family of receptor tyrosine kinases, which are associated with aberrant cell proliferation and survival.14 Approximately 25 to 30 percent of lung cancers worldwide have an EGFR-activating mutation, and it is estimated that about 83 percent of all NSCLC tumors express the HER3 protein, which can be associated with an increased incidence of metastases, reduced survival and resistance to standard of care treatment.4,5,6 Currently, no HER3 directed medicines are approved for the treatment of cancer. About Patritumab Deruxtecan Patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd, U3-1402) is one of three lead DXd antibody drug conjugates (ADC) in the oncology pipeline of Daiichi Sankyo. Designed using Daiichi Sankyo's proprietary DXd ADC technology, patritumab deruxtecan is comprised of a human anti-HER3 antibody attached to a topoisomerase I inhibitor payload, an exatecan derivative, via a stable tetrapeptide-based cleavable linker. Patritumab deruxtecan is currently being evaluated in a comprehensive development program across multiple cancers as both a monotherapy and in combination with other anticancer treatments. The development program includes HERTHENA-Lung01, a phase 2 study in patients with EGFR-mutated metastatic or locally advanced NSCLC previously treated with a TKI and platinum-based chemotherapy; a phase 2 study in patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal cancer with progression following at least two prior lines of systemic therapy; a phase 1/2 study in HER3 expressing metastatic breast cancer; a phase 1 study in combination with osimertinib in locally advanced/metastatic EGFR-mutated NSCLC; and, a phase 1 study in previously treated patients with metastatic or unresectable NSCLC. Patritumab deruxtecan is an investigational agent that has not been approved for any indication in any country. Safety and efficacy have not been established. About Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise The mission of Daiichi Sankyo Cancer Enterprise is to leverage our world-class, innovative science and push beyond traditional thinking to create meaningful treatments for patients with cancer. We are dedicated to transforming science into value for patients, and this sense of obligation informs everything we do. Anchored by our DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) technology, our powerful research engines include biologics, medicinal chemistry, modality and other research laboratories in Japan, and Plexxikon Inc., our small molecule structure-guided R&D center in Berkeley, CA. For more information, please visit: www.DSCancerEnterprise.com. About Daiichi Sankyo Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical therapies to improve standards of care and address diversified, unmet medical needs of people globally by leveraging our world-class science and technology. With more than 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for cardiovascular diseases, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo is primarily focused on providing novel therapies in oncology, as well as other research areas centered around rare diseases and immune disorders. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com. ____________________ References: 1 World Health Organization. GLOBOCAN 2020. Lung Cancer Fact Sheet. January 2021. 2 American Cancer Society. About Lung Cancer. Types of Lung Cancer. January 2020. 3 Goldstraw P, et al. J Thorac Oncol. 2016; 11(1):39-51. 4 Zhang YL, et al. Oncotarget. Vol. 7 No 49. 78985-78993. 5 Muller-Tidow C, et al. Cancer Res. 2005;65:1778-1772. 6 Scharpenseel, et al. Scientific Reports. 2019;9:7406. 7 American Cancer Society. Types of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. 2019. 8 Economopoulou P, et al. Ann Transl Med. 2018;6(8):138. 9 Planchard D, et al. Ann Oncol. 2018;29(4):iv192-237. Updated Sept. 2019. 10 Morgillo F, et al. ESMO Open. 2016;1:e000060. 11 Wu, et al. Mol Cancer. 2018;17:38. 12 Papadimitrakopoulou, et al. Ann Oncol 2018;29(8). 13 Remon J, et al. Ann Oncol. 2018;29(1):i20-i27. 14 Mishra R, et al. Oncol Rev. 2018;12:355. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005120/en/ Contacts: Media Contacts: Global/US: Jennifer Brennan Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. jbrennan2@dsi.com + 1 908 992 6631 (office) +1 908 900 3183 (mobile) EU: Lydia Worms Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH lydia.worms@daiichi-sankyo.eu +49 (89) 7808751 (office) +49 176 11780861 (mobile) Japan: Masashi Kawase Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. kawase.masashi.a2@daiichisankyo.co.jp +81 3 6225 1126 (office) Investor Relations Contact: DaiichiSankyoIR@daiichisankyo.co.jp It has been the destination where celebrities have flocked to during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now St Barts is shutting is borders under the instruction of the French government. France announced it will shut its borders to all non-EU countries for all but essential travel and impose travel restrictions on its overseas territories - including St Barts - amid fears over new variants of coronavirus. The local government in St Barts is frantically trying to get their island - which has seen the likes of Amy Schumer, Chrissy Teigen and Sofia Richie visit in recent months - exempt from the restrictions and find an 'alternative solution'. Local officials are frustrated that the French government has gone against their wishes to impose the border controls, which came into effect on Sunday. It has been the destination where celebrities have flocked to during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now St Barts is shutting is borders under the instruction of the French government he local government in St Barts is frantically trying to get their island - which has seen the likes of Amy Schumer (pictured in December), Chrissy Teigen and Sofia Richie visit in recent months - exempt from the restrictions and find an 'alternative solution' Local officials are frustrated that the French government has gone against their wishes to impose the border controls, which came into effect on Sunday, as it will affect their tourism business which has seen celebrities such as Chrissy Teigan (right) and Sofia Richie (left) visit 'Independently of the will of our local authorities to keep St Barts open, the French Government has just decided to put in place new preventive measures against Covid-19 variants,' said Nils Dafau, President of the Tourism Board, in a statement. 'St Barts authorities are right now negotiating with the French government to ease the entry restrictions and find an alternative solution. Our aim is to reopen the island's borders as soon as possible.' The Caribbean island has recorded just 360 coronavirus cases and one death since the pandemic began. 'We have managed to keep it at bay, the situation is well managed and under control,' said Mr Dafau. St Barts had initially been one of the rare tourist destinations which benefited from a host of celebrities flocking to the island for a New Year getaway. St Barts had initially been one of the rare tourist destinations which benefited from a host of celebrities flocking to the island for a New Year getaway. Pictured: Chrissy Teigan with her husband John Legend and two children Celebrities such as Vogue and Spencer Matthews have been visiting in recent months, eager to enjoy the island's restaurants, five-star hotels and spas with minimal Covid-19 restrictions. Celebrities such as Wendi Deng, Sir Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, and Vogue and Spencer Matthews have been visiting in recent months, eager to enjoy the island's restaurants, five-star hotels and spas with minimal Covid-19 restrictions. In St Barts, eateries have limited tables to parties of six and are encouraging social distancing and masks when not seated at a table, but partygoers are free to enjoy the island's bars and restaurants until midnight, shop in designer boutiques and enjoy dozens of beautiful beaches taking a dip in their crystal-clear water. Those looking to travel to the area did not need to quarantine as long as they could provide proof of a negative coronavirus test result on arrival and show no symptoms, or take a test as soon as they land. But now, their hopes of a break have been scuppered. France announced a ban on all non-essential travellers from outside the European Union on Sunday. Two days later, it also banned visitors to St Barts or any other French overseas territories including St Martin, Martinique and Guadeloupe. France has reported among the world's highest virus death tolls, at 75,620, and more than 60 percent of its intensive care beds are occupied by virus patients. Earlier in January, the day-to-day increase in coronavirus cases in the country was gradually declining after hitting a record high of nearly 18,000 on January 6. But the numbers did not drop enough and started to rise again last week. The French government is also worried about the potential impact of the more contagious British variant on the health system, which has been under serious pressure for months. President Joe Biden has inherited a minefield of issues that each deserve his undivided attention. Given events of the last year, Covid-19, the BLM movement and the state of the economy will of course be at the top of his agenda however, the issues of national security and foreign policy will always demand attention. Middle Eastern foreign policy will always dominate American politics. Other than Iraq and Afghanistan, Libya is the most contentious of the USs recent interventions. Libyas geostrategic significance, nestled between the Middle East and Europe has both been a cause for its trade power, given its rich energy resources, as well as its history of troubles and unrest as different actors try to gain control. In 2011, the oil rich country was plunged into civil war following the NATO backed uprising which led to the fall of Col. Gaddafis rule. Catastrophic disasters in Benghazi and Tripoli led to fierce criticism of then Secretary of State Clinton and President Obamas failure to manage the fallout. Now that President Biden has moved into the Oval Office, all eyes will be on what he does next, will we see a continuation of the Trump administrations disengagement policy or will it be a return to the traditional model of American interventionism seen so many times in the past. Speaking to the Associated Press ahead of the inauguration, Fathi Bashagha, the Minister of Interior for the Government of National Accord (GNA) said Libyan hopes were greatly lifted by his victory. Bashagha was one of the first Libyan officials to speak out on Bidens election win. He is pipped to become interim Prime Minister within a matter of days, in a soon-to-be-formed unity government following the ongoing peace negotiations between the countrys warring factions. Despite him being in touching distance of high office, Bashagha himself did not seek out a career in politics. After 10 years serving as a fighter jet instructor, he left the Air Force in 1993 and opened a business importing and exporting auto parts. Having long left his military career behind him, Bashagha, along with all other serving and retired military officers, was summoned to join the judicial committee, known as the Military Council of Misrata after the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011. Initially, he served as Head of the Information and Co-ordinates Department, before becoming spokesman for the Council. He then joined the advisory committee at the National Reconciliation Commission, before being elected to the House of Representatives for Misrata in 2014, an institution he continues to boycott. During this time, he began to emerge as the man most likely willing and able to effectively overhaul the countrys security issues. Things changed following his involvement in the Parliaments Political Dialogue Commission, sponsored by the UN. Bashagha emerged as the stand-out candidate who proved to be best placed to bring together the bitterly opposed sides ahead of the 2015 Skhirat peace agreement. Once he took office in 2018, he threw out the rule book and started from scratch, implementing new policies and turning the old hierarchy on its head, working from the top down. From establishing a professional police force, to launching an app that allows people to report crimes directly, the efforts proved highly successful at reducing crime rates. More importantly, they greatly restricted and minimised the influence of the armed militias that had historically dominated the establishment. As is common in politics, one does not rise from out of nowhere without having the necessary support behind them. For Bashagha, this has previously raised eyebrows given his close ties with Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood. Today, Turkey continues to be a supporter of the GNA but is said to be growing frustrated with moves it considers to be outside their influence. In this case, it seems Bashagha has worked hard to prove his reliability and resolve to address the biggest issues plaguing Libya; terrorism and corruption. He established the Financial Crimes Unit, the first of its kind in Libya, to develop and implement anti-money laundering regulations and anti-terror financing, saving half a billion dollars that was on its way to terror groups and human traffickers. He is the first Libyan government official to openly fight institutional corruption, working with the Attorney General to remove corrupt official from their posts and bring them to justice. In recent years, Bashagha has prioritised the implementation of counter-terrorism campaigns, and has personally worked closely with foreign counterparts to assist in the capture of known terrorists. He played an instrumental role in the capture and extradition of Hashem Al-Obaidi, brother of the Manchester Arena bomber as well as helping to bring wanted human rights trafficker Abdul Rahman Milad into custody. He took a lead in Libyas fight against ISIS, co-ordinating air and ground military operations between the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous forces, AFRICOM forces and the International Counter-Terrorism Coalition in 2014 and has previously applauded US efforts to defeat ISIS militants in Sirte back in 2016. He has openly referenced ongoing co-operation between the two countries and said he hopes the new administration will help the coalition to finally bring an end to the terrorist elements that plague Libya. In the past few months, Bashagha has held meetings with several western counterparts, including the Deputy US Ambassador to Libya. These meetings are not only designed to seek support for his coalition ahead of the December elections, but mostly for guidance and advice. If theres one thing his decade long stint at the heart of Libyan politics has taught him, its that the country does not have the capacity nor the skill to implement these ambitious reforms without external backing. The appointment of a new Ambassador whenever there is a change of administration always brings renewed hope for improved relations, and Bashagha is among those eagerly awaiting to see what direction the Biden administration chooses to follow. 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. Filming has begun in Sydney on Season 2 of comedy series Frayed, written by and starring UK-based Australian Sarah Kendall. Joining the casts this season are Hamish Michael (Rosehaven, Janet King), Jane Hall (Wentworth, Neighbours) and rising talent Emma Harvie (The Letdown, Diary of an Uber Driver) as Emily. Creator, writer and star Sarah Kendall says Im so excited to be home making season 2 of Frayed. The last year has been pretty grim, so were all really grateful for this opportunity to bring back a lot of these frankly appalling characters. ABC TV Head of Comedy Todd Abbott says The first season of Frayed made Australians realise that Sarah Kendall is a true triple threat: writer, performer and fashion icon. The second season promises to make her a fully-fledged national treasure, as a stellar cast and top-shelf production team bring to life the sharp, suspenseful, audacious and flat-out funny scripts she has created. Executive Producer for Merman, Clelia Mountford says: Were delighted to be working with Sarah, the ABC and Sky to bring Frayed and its wonderfully dark humour back for a second season. Sarahs bold writing and vibrant characterisation, combined with the casts fantastic performances received such deserved acclaim for season one, and were excited for audiences to see whats in store as the trail of destruction continues to unfold. Frayed Season 2 will film in both Australia and the UK and airs later in 2021 on ABC TV and ABC iview. In the new 6-part season, we find Sammy (Kendall) and her kids, having made it out of Australia, living in a tiny London flat while she frantically tries to prove that her lawyer, Rufus (Robert Webb), stole her house. Barely able to make ends meet working in exhaust management (shes a secretary in a muffler repair shop), Sammy is desperate to find a way to reclaim her opulent London life. She must also keep her kids far away from Australia and the truth about what happened to their neighbour. Meanwhile back down under in Newcastle, an ambitious cop heads up the missing persons case and simply does not believe Sammys neighbour would just disappear. With Jim (Ben Mingay), Jean (Kerry Armstrong) and Abby (Alexandra Jensen) trying to keep their secret hidden, and con artist Bev (Doris Younane) lurking on the scene, its only a matter of time until Sammy is called back to be a key witness in the case. Also reprising their roles from season one are Diane Morgan (Fiona), as well as Matt Passmore (Dan), George Houvardas (Chris), Frazer Hadfield (Lenny) and Maggie Ireland-Jones (Tess). Frayed debuted on ABC TV in Australia and on Sky in the UK in October 2019. The series was nominated for five AACTA Awards and Kendall also garnered a BAFTA Television Award nomination for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme. Created, and written by, and starring Sarah Kendall, Frayed is produced by Merman Television (Motherland BBC, There She Goes BBC, This Way Up C4/Hulu, Catastrophe C4/Amazon), the production company founded and run by award-winning duo Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford, in association with Australias Guesswork Television (Rosehaven, Get Krack!n, Please Like Me) and Sky Studios. Produced by Nicole ODonohue & directed by Shaun Wilson. Executive Producers are Clelia Mountford, Sharon Horgan and Kevin Whyte and for ABC, Todd Abbott. Frayed Season 2 is a Merman and Guesswork Television production for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Sky Studios (UK). Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW. Creator and Writer: Sarah Kendall. Directed by Shaun Wilson. Producer: Nicole ODonohue. Executive Producers: Clelia Mountford, Sharon Horgan and Kevin Whyte. ABC Executive Producer: Todd Abbott. International sales managed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios. Related Calls to cast aside the Northern Ireland protocol are completely unrealistic, Simon Coveney has said adding it will not happen. Ireland, the EU and the UK have a legal obligation in an international treaty to implement the protocol, the Foreign Affairs Minister said. The protocol is not primarily the problem here, the problem is caused by Brexit, and the kind of Brexit Britain pursued and insisted on, because there were alternatives that would have been much easier to implement. The EU wanted to share a customs union and a single market with the UK, that would have meant no barriers to trade. The EU was willing to support the backstop, Minister Coveney said. The Fine Gael TD said the Irish government will look for flexibility when it comes to the movement of goods into Northern Ireland where appropriate, but said any flexibility must come from within the protocol itself. The UK and EU are set for crunch talks with Northern Irelands leaders over mounting tensions around post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements. Read More UK Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic will hold a virtual meeting with First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill to discuss the ongoing furore over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mrs Foster and senior DUP colleagues will hold a separate virtual call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday morning ahead of the early evening engagement with Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic. Physical inspections on goods entering the region from Great Britain, which are required under the protocol, have been suspended amid threats and intimidation of staff. Mr Coveney said there is a lot of tension in Northern Ireland and in Northern Irish politics in the context of the protocol at the moment. The decision that the European Commission made on Friday has made that a lot worse. While that decision was reversed - and would not have happened at all if there had been consultation - it certainly has triggered a political response in Northern Ireland, which makes implementation of the protocol even more difficult when you have a significant minority of politicians in the North who are saying they will not cooperate with the protocol, Mr Coveney added. This poses real difficulties, the Minister added, coupled with the unacceptable threats to people working in Larne and Belfast Port. Mr Coveney said while the PSNI has stated it is not a wider Loyalist paramilitary issue, he admitted it was still very intimidating for workers there. DUP politician Nigel Dodds said: I think there is a recognition across the board of the damage done as a result of the EU move. Mr Dodds said he welcomed the fact Simon Coveney and others were now not focusing on the rigorous implementation of the protocol and are recognising the problems with it. They were closing their eyes to it up to that point, he told Morning Ireland. Mr Dodds said there were real economic and societal issues at stake and that the significant difficulties of implementing the protocol are now centre-stage. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has accused the DUP of whipping up hysteria after it laid out plans aimed at undermining the Northern Ireland Protocol and warned it will not continue to act as if North-South relationships are normal. Shortly after the DUP announced its five point plan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed Northern Irelands place in the UK will be protected and strengthened. It comes following the EUs move on Friday to invoke Article 16 - which allows either side to unilaterally suspend operations of the protocol if it is causing major problems - to control the export of Covid vaccines into NI. The EU later performed a U-turn on the issue. The NI Protocol was designed to avoid the implementation of a hard border on the island of Ireland by having Northern Ireland continue to follow EU trade rules, thus creating a de-facto border down the Irish Sea, something which has angered unionists. Issues have led to threats against staff carrying out checks at ports in the North. Inspections of goods arriving at Larne and Belfast ports were suspended on Monday and officials withdrawn after sinister graffiti and reports of intelligence-gathering on inspectors. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan held a meeting with officials over the threats on Tuesday and said, while he is concerned over signs of tension within the community recently, there is no evidence paramilitaries are behind the threats. In a statement released yesterday evening, the DUP said the EUs actions regarding Article 16 were revealing and a very significant game-changer for those who have long opposed the NI Protocol. A party spokesperson said the EU has demonstrated the protocol can be changed without prior consultation from the other party, that the EU Commission will act to suit its own interests, and it had lowered the threshold for triggering the mechanism. They added Fridays actions show the arguments for the protocol advanced by the EU were not borne out of principle but rather political opportunism. The revealing actions on Friday by the EU have caused very significant anger and harm within Northern Ireland and has compounded the notion that the EU is playing fast and loose with Northern Ireland, attempting on the one hand to require the UK Government to enforce its obligations whilst being prepared to waive elements of the Protocol when it suits the needs of the EU, the spokesperson said. The DUP said its plan was to: - Not participate in any North-South political engagement on issues relating to the protocol. They added DUP members cannot and will not continue to act as though relationships are normal, - Strive for a united unionist message demanding scrapping of the arrangements, - Attempt to build support for the anti-protocol position at Westminster; and - Launch a parliamentary e-petition with a view to securing enough signatures to force a Commons debate on the issue. Regarding north-south engagement, the DUPs Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC his party will not co-operate with Dublin on implementing the NI protocol for as long as it continues to harm the wellbeing and economic prosperity of Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald TD spoke with Taoiseach Micheal Martin earlier today about the situation. "The majority of people and parties in the north opposed Brexit and worked hard over five years to secure the Irish Protocol. It protects the Good Friday Agreement and it is critical to future economic progress, she said. "The Irish Protocol allows businesses in the north to export to Britain and the EU seamlessly, something that is of huge benefit to the north. It is critical that it is not unpicked and undermined after five weeks in operation. "The position adopted by the DUP is reckless and is not driven by the best interests of the people of the north. I urge them to pull back. "Now is the time for calm leadership and solutions to deal with the disruption which has arisen as a result of Brexit." Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill hit out at the DUPs plans, stating last night: Whilst those of us are calling for calm and resolution the DUP are whipping up hysteria. Businesses do not need more uncertainty; they need stability, they need resolution to any outstanding issues. I look forward to the meeting with the EU Commission tomorrow to seek solutions. Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister tweeted: Our commitment to the people of Northern Ireland and our Union is unshakeable. Recent EU moves have undermined the protocol & understandably provoked concern. Let me underline that, now & in the future, Northern Irelands place in the UK will be protected and strengthened. What is needed is urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with Protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement & ensure that Northern Ireland benefits from Brexit just like every other part of our United Kingdom. Alliance leader Naomi Long said the DUPs proposals would only bring deadlock and misery. The DUP needs to engage with the reasons why the protocol exists which is Brexit and work with the rest of us on achieving mitigations, flexibilities and derogations from it, she added. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Myanmar Vice President Myint Swe poses for a photo after meeting with Yanghee Lee, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, at the President House in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Myanmar military television said Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 that the military was taking control of the country for one year, while reports said many of the countrys senior politicians including Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained. The military TV report said Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing would be in charge of the country, while Myint Swe would be elevated to acting president. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File) 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! 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. Colleges and universities in the Capital Region have a new weapon in the battle against COVID-19. Higher education institutions are seeking approval from the state to set up and operate on-campus vaccine clinics for their faculty, staff, and students as soon as possible. Siena College, which has delayed the start of the spring semester to Feb. 22, is planning a February vaccine clinic for eligible campus employees and is in talks with New York state to possibly serve as a limited vaccine site for students and the wider community later in the spring. "Every time someone gets a COVID-19 vaccine, we all get stronger," President Chris Gibson said in a welcome message. University at Albany has for months been preparing to become a vaccine distribution point for faculty, staff and students in the event that more vaccine doses become available during the semester and eligibility is expanded. Professors were a late-add to phase 1B of the state's COVID-19 vaccine distribution schedule, becoming eligible for the shots on Jan. 11. Many have already been inoculated, a spokesperson for the university said. But it's unclear when college students and other college staff will be eligible for the vaccine. The UAlbany vaccine site is "obviously contingent on both supply and the eligibility of our general student population," spokesman Jordan Carleo-Evangelist said. "Its far from certain at this point that both of those criteria will be met before May 15, but were working to be ready if they are." UAlbany and State University of New York (SUNY) community colleges in the Capital Region had served as community vaccination sites while schools were on break. In-person classes resumed on SUNY campuses on Feb. 1. Russell Sage in Troy has plans to use its faculty and students currently working in healthcare fields to operate an on-campus vaccine clinic for the larger community. "Our application as a vaccination site has been approved, but we have not yet been authorized to request doses," Russell Sage spokesman Doug Gruse said. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo prioritized health care workers and nursing home residents in the first stage of the vaccine rollout, later opening up to the elderly and the essential workers like teachers, daycare workers, and police officers. Not all colleges are equipped to distribute the vaccine. Large research institutions like UAlbany and Troy's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have deep freeze capabilities that can store the Pfizer vaccines. Moderna's formula doesn't require special freezers, making the vaccines more accessible to smaller campuses. Schools with large programs in nursing and other healthcare professions have the advantage of many students and faculty that have already received the inoculations at their place of work. "We also have a large number of nursing students serving as vaccinators and nursing faculty working with them and supervising. These people all have access to vaccines as front-line healthcare workers," said David Hoffman, associate dean for academic initiatives at Maria College. College officials say they have also scaled up the systems set up in the fall to control the spread of the virus. Campuses are providing more testing, more isolation and quarantine housing, and more contact tracers and support staff. "The goal is to collect as much data as possible and react quickly to it based on the advice of experts," Carleo-Evangelist said. SUNY students, faculty and staff across the 64-campus university system who attend in-person are now required to test for COVID-19 on a weekly basis, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced last week. Every school in the region is now requiring to provide a negative test result before they return to school. At the College of Saint Rose in Albany, pre-entrance screenings flagged about 30 positive cases. Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs will operate in a safe shelter mode to allow the college to track any positive COVID-19 cases that emerge during the arrival phase and respond accordingly through contact tracing and containment. "Our return to campus approach, which was developed specifically for our community, is based on health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, the state of New York and Saratoga County Public Health Services," Skidmore President Marc C. Conner said. "Our plan puts us at the very forefront of care and prudence among colleges. During week one, all students will remain in their residence halls or apartments, except to attend classes or go outside for brief exercise. Safe social distancing practices and mask-wearing is required at all times and all meals will be served to go. RPI is continuing its rigorous testing and social distancing protocols, which are guided by an algorithm that projects the spread of the virus based on factors like mask-wearing and daily interactions. "This semesters protocols are nearly identical to those of the previous semester, in which they proved effective," RPI spokesman Reeve Hamilton said. Our job is to use our extensive network of funders to identify a better fit for the prospect; assuring they receive the needed funding while generating on-going revenue for the referring factor. In 2020, Factor Finders, LLC, a leading accounts receivable matchmaker, paid referral sources $108,000. Comprised of 161 unique transactions funded by 28 factors, these are an important contributor to Factor Finders portfolio of funded transactions. In addition to traditional referral sources, a number of leads were referred by factors who (a) identified leads that were not in their sweet spot or (b) were looking to outplace clients who no longer were a good fit for their portfolio. Factor Finders works with many factoring companies who frequently get perfectly good deals that are outside of their sweet spot, said Stephanie Chmielecki, Sales Director at Factor Finders. Our job is to use our extensive network of funders to identify a better fit for the prospect; assuring they receive the needed funding while generating on-going revenue for the referring factor. Factor Finders has referral relationships with bankers, consultants, accountants and factoring companies. About Factor Finders Factor Finders is an Ohio-based B2B funding intermediary that matches business owners with the best funding solution for their unique needs. Industries that benefit from Factor Finders' services include transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing, cable and telecommunications, temporary staffing, and many others. If you would like more information about this program and Factor Finders accounts receivable factoring services please call Stephanie Chmielecki at 216.292.5660, email sales@factorfinders.com or visit factorfinders.com. Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2021 -- Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market Comprehensive Study is an expert and top to bottom investigation on the momentum condition of the worldwide Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity industry with an attention on the Global market. The report gives key insights available status of the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity producers and is an important wellspring of direction and course for organizations and people keen on the business. By and large, the report gives an inside and out understanding of 2020-2025 worldwide Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market covering extremely significant parameters. Key Players in This Report Include, Cisco Systems, Inc., BAE Systems, Fortinet, Inc., Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., IBM, RSA Security LLC, Juniper Networks, Inc., Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Cylance Inc., Darktrace Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/129114-global-artificial-intelligence-in-cybersecurity-market Brief Summary of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity: The artificial intelligence in cybersecurity enhances efficiency and effectiveness of the cyber networks. AI in cybersecurity is used to detect threats and other malicious activities online. The other systems cannot prevent the malware that is created every month, this is where AI can impact positively into providing the cybersecurity by responding in an intelligent way. The cybersecurity companies are programming AI systems to detect viruses and malware so as to run pattern recognition in software. It understands the relevance and consequences of a breach or any change of behavior and develops a real-time proportionate response. Growth Drivers ? Increasing Number of Cyber Attacks, Data Breaches, and Hacking Worldwide ? Need for Cybersecurity with Security Tools for Timely Actions to Prevent Potential Threats Market Trends ? Increasing Use of Cloud Solutions in Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity ? Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity of Social Media Market Roadblocks ? Issues with Unpredictability of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity ? Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Might Pose Greater Threat if Misused The Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market segments and Market Data Break Down are illuminated below: Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market by Type (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Context-Aware Computing, Other), Application (Security & Vulnerability Management, Antivirus/Antimalware, Fraud Detection/Anti-Fraud, Intrusion Detection/Prevention System, Threat Intelligence, Data Loss Prevention, Others), Industry Verticals (BFSI, Government, IT & Telecom, Healthcare, Aerospace and Defense, Other), Deployment (Cloud-based, On-premise), Security (Network Security, Endpoint Security, Application Security, Cloud Security, Others) This research report represents a 360-degree overview of the competitive landscape of the Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market. Furthermore, it offers massive data relating to recent trends, technological, advancements, tools, and methodologies. The research report analyzes the Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market in a detailed and concise manner for better insights into the businesses. Regions Covered in the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market: - The Middle East and Africa (South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, Egypt, etc.) - North America (United States, Mexico & Canada) - South America (Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, etc.) - Europe (Turkey, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.) - Asia-Pacific (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia). Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/129114-global-artificial-intelligence-in-cybersecurity-market The research study has taken the help of graphical presentation techniques such as infographics, charts, tables, and pictures. It provides guidelines for both established players and new entrants in the Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market. The detailed elaboration of the Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market has been provided by applying industry analysis techniques such as SWOT and Porter's five-technique. Collectively, this research report offers a reliable evaluation of the global market to present the overall framework of businesses. Attractions of the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market Report: - The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2014-2018) and forecast (2019-2025) - The report covers in-detail insights about the competitor's overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies - The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market - The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and start-up's details that are actively working in the market - The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario Get 10% 25% Discount on The Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/129114-global-artificial-intelligence-in-cybersecurity-market Key Points Covered in the Table of Content: Chapter 1 to explain Introduction, market review, market risk and opportunities, market driving force, product scope of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market; Chapter 2 to inspect the leading manufacturers (Cost Structure, Raw Material) with sales Analysis, revenue Analysis, and price Analysis of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market; Chapter 3 to show the focused circumstance among the best producers, with deals, income, and Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity market share 2020; Chapter 4 to display the regional analysis of Global Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market with revenue and sales of an industry, from 2020 to 2022; Chapter 5, 6, 7 to analyze the key countries (United States, China, Europe, Japan, Korea & Taiwan), with sales, revenue and market share in key regions; Chapter 8 and 9 to exhibit International and Regional Marketing Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis, Trade Type Analysis; Chapter 10 and 11 to analyze the market by product type and application/end users (industry sales, share, and growth rate) from 2020 to 2026 Chapter 12 to show Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market forecast by regions, forecast by type and forecast by application with revenue and sales, from 2020 to 2025; Chapter 13, 14 & 15 to specify Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source of Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity market buyers, merchants, dealers, sales channel. Browse for Full Report at @: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/reports/129114-global-artificial-intelligence-in-cybersecurity-market Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market research provides answers to the following key questions: - What is the expected growth rate of the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market? - What will be the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market size for the forecast period, 2020 2026? - What are the main driving forces responsible for changing the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market trajectory? - Who are the big suppliers that dominate the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market across different regions? Which are their wins to stay ahead in the competition? - What are the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market trends business owners can rely upon in the coming years? - What are the threats and challenges expected to restrict the progress of the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity Market across different 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. by Austin Bay February 2, 2021 February 2021 reprises a red-line drama, not yet as tragedy and not as farce but definitely as a threat to world peace. The repetition tests the will of President Joe Biden's administration to defend American security and a common-sense understanding of human freedom. On Feb. 1, communist China's top foreign policy guru, Yang Jiechi, gave a speech to a virtual audience hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Yang reportedly told his audience, "The United States should stop interfering in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang" -- western China where Uighurs live -- "and other issues." Yang said these three regions are Chinese "internal affairs." Then Yang added the most nuanced phrase: "They" -- the so-called internal affairs -- "constitute a red line that must not be crossed. Any trespassing would end up undermining China-U.S. relations, and the United States' own interests." "Red line" meaning China's rules. Let's deal with the nuanced reference. Please recall John Kerry derided former President George W. Bush as not being sufficiently nuanced, though Kerry's slur lacked specifics. Here's a genocidal specific. On Aug. 21, 2013, Syria's Assad dictatorship attacked Eastern Ghouta (a rebel-held area near Damascus) with rockets carrying sarin nerve gas warheads. The chemical weapons killed over 1,200 people. The Assad dictatorship's attack violated former President Barack Obama's now-infamous August 2012 "red line" speech in which he forbade the use of chemical weapons against civilians by Assad's forces. Obama said he would not permit a chemical weapons war crime on his watch. Yet he did. When the nerve gas killed, Obama dithered. He didn't enforce his red line. It's 2021. Machiavellians worldwide will credit Yang for constructing a shrewd and early "red line" test of Joe Biden using "cocktail power warfare." Yang's threat comes less than a week after Chinese aircraft intruded on Taiwanese air space. That was a military show of force to test the Biden administration. Yang escalated the diplomatic challenge. Military power, diplomatic challenge? Mix them and you've a cocktail of the military and diplomatic elements of power. But information power is also in play. In the immediate background lurks Hunter Biden and his potentially billion-dollar deal with Chinese communist entities. Scrutiny and analysis and totally relevant preelection examination of the Biden family's financial arrangements with China were suppressed by social media tech titans and anti-Trump mainstream media. Which leads us to the real Machiavellian stroke: Yang exploits America's greatest strategic weakness -- a corrupt press. In strategic terms -- a fancy way of saying the long run -- former President Donald Trump's defeat of the corrupt mainstream media was his most important 2016 election victory. Since 1968, mainstream media bias (a wicked bias favoring leftist Democrats) has been America's most grave strategic weakness. America is extremely powerful. Given America's military and economic power, our enemies pursue "judo strategies" that exploit internal weaknesses. How do you defeat America? You let America defeat itself. Here's the weakness in two nutshells. Nutshell One: America's biased mainstream media won't let Republicans fight and win wars. Nutshell Two: The biased media won't let Republicans win an election, period. Corrupt media outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, CBS and MSNBC pushed the Russia-collusion hoax for over three years. Hoax it was -- concocted by Hillary Clinton's campaign to deflect scrutiny from her utterly illegal disregard of national security rules governing classified information. Oh, yeah. The crooked press portrayed it as an email issue. It was calculated criminal disregard of rules governing the protection of classified information. Hillary Clinton and her campaign knew this, and so did James Comey's FBI, which chose not to indict her. Instead, Comey's FBI and the corrupt media falsely accused the Trump campaign of "collusion" with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The failure to put ex-FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith in prison for his criminal alteration of a legal document is a stain on the Department of Justice. Who is in charge of the DOJ that made the decision in February 2021? Joe Biden. OTTAWA, ON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - The IDB Office of the Executive Auditor selects AuditMap's flagship AI platform to support its assurance and advisory services through comprehensive analysis of financial and non-financial data using Artificial Intelligence. AuditMap Technologies Incorporated (AuditMap.ai) is excited to announce they have signed a license agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The Office of the Executive Auditor will use AuditMap to expand its analytics capabilities including geopolitical, financial and non-financial risks such as trends pertaining to digital and operational activities in public and private sector covered by the IDB Group in multiple languages. AuditMap was built from the ground up to address the sheer amount of data today's auditors must manage and analyze. AuditMap novel AI engine, powered by proprietary deep learning provides auditors with a significant advantage in identifying financial and non-financial issues before they become threats. Developed in conjunction with industry leaders, the AuditMap software as a service (SaaS) platform is a powerful system that solves significant pain points in the market. "Predictive analytics, including machine learning and artificial intelligence services, are essential to sustain and advance the high quality of our audit assurance and advisory services, and to contribute with the IDB Group Board and Senior Management in the achieving social and economic institutional goals in the Latin-American and Caribbean (LAC) Region. The agreement with AuditMap solidified a qualitative jump of our analytics capabilities and certainly support the notion of augmented audit services, including recent improvements into the world of unstructured data analysis, very much in line with our strong innovation and excellence of services commitments with the organization," said Fernando Nikitin, Principal Auditor of the Inter-American Development Bank. AuditMap's solution is key for getting the full picture of business exposures, which has always been a strenuous task for teams to tackle. The AI-powered tool among other things, unlocks the wealth of knowledge held in audit documentation by extracting key statements of interest (e.g. risks trends) while providing an easy-to-use interface to explore them. "We've been working with the Office of the Executive Auditor for the past several months and are very excited to move forward with our license agreement. We are looking forward to learning more as the partnership evolves using AuditMap's AI platform." Said Mathieu Lemay, CEO & Co-Founder of AuditMap.ai. About IDB The Inter-American Development Bank's mission is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, the IDB is one of the main sources of long-term financing for the economic, social, and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research projects and provides policy advice, technical assistance, and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region. About AuditMap AuditMap.ai is a Canadian company that creates tools for the enhancement of human auditors. At our core, we are a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team of professionals, including Ph.Ds in artificial intelligence, and internal audit subject matter experts. We strive to increase audit coverage and eliminate the tedious lifting that bottlenecks your workflow. The AI-powered tool unlocks the wealth of knowledge held in internal audit documentation by extracting key statements of interest (e.g. Risks and Controls). SOURCE Auditmap Technologies Inc. Related Links https://www.auditmap.ai/ Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made it clear what needs to happen for international travel to resume. The PM said before the borders can open the effectiveness of a widespread vaccination program on the pivotal issue of virus 'transmissibility' needs to be understood. 'The key thing that I think is going to impact on that decision is going to be whether the evidence emerges about transmissibility and how the vaccine protects against that,' the PM said in a live Facebook Q&A interview hosted by Newscorp. 'And until we know something about that, I'm not going to lead people on.' Scott Morrison: 'I'm not going to lead people on' about when they can travel overseas until we know more about what vaccines will do Brendan Murphy (left) and Scott Morrison (right) said orders being reopened for overseas travel comes down to what effect vaccines have on the key issue of virus transmissibility Morrison's Department of Health Secretary, Dr Brendan Murphy gave a little more detail - but not much. 'I think it would be if we have really good efficacy in a vaccine, we could start to see some recommendations about restrictions lessening progressively over the second half of this year.' 'But beyond that, I wouldn't want to make a prediction either.' What this means is that officials want to see whether vaccinated people continue to transmit Covid before they make a decision on opening the borders. There have been fears expressed that even vaccination may not stop transmission. While the various vaccines against Covid-19 and its variants do prevent most from developing serious symptoms and dying, the main products may not prevent the virus continuing to spread. Meanwhile, Australia's vaccination rollout plan are being put under the microscope this week. Australia has ordered over 10 million doses of the Pfizer jabs which are expected to roll out in March (pictured: healthworker receiving covid vaccination) Pfizer and AstraZeneca will face an inquiry from politicians wanting answers about Australia's March vaccine roll out (pictured: stock of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine) A limited vaccine rollout - for frontline healthcare workers, aged care workers and hotel quarantine staff - begins this month, before an expansion in March. Coronavirus vaccine giants Pfizer and AstraZeneca are set to face a grilling from politicians hunting answers about Australia's immunisation effort. The Senate's coronavirus response committee will on Thursday hear from two of the companies the federal government has struck a deal with for a combined 63.8 million vaccine doses. There are concerns the rollout could be delayed with the European Union locked in a dispute with the pharmaceutical companies over supplies. But the federal government insists the first Pfizer jabs will start late next month, with the company not flagging complications for the 10 million doses it is contracted to deliver to Australia this year. Australia has struck a deal with Pfizer and AstraZeneca to distribute 63.8 million vaccine doses to the public In Europe, Pfizer is delaying deliveries, while AstraZeneca's initial shipments have been smaller than first promised. The EU is planning to slap export controls on vaccines produced within its borders, including Belgium where Australia's Pfizer order is being made. Pfizer Australia's medical director Krishan Thiru and market access boss Louise Graham will front the inquiry. AstraZeneca Australia's senior medical director Carla Swemmer and market access director Alice Morgan are also due to appear. Therapeutic Goods Administration boss John Skerrit will give evidence about vaccine approval after Pfizer received the green light on Monday. AstraZeneca is expected to become the second vaccine to be granted provisional approval. MABEL, Minn- When inclement weather like tornadoes or floods impact residents, soon everyone in Mabel will know. The city will soon be purchasing a new emergency response siren. Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded it with a $12,500 grant to replace its existing one. "The safety of our community is the number one goal and if this helps with the safety of everybody, I think it's a good thing," said Jeff Rein, Mabel's Public Works Director and Fire Chief. The existing siren is nearly 50 years old, manually operated, has a significant delay when activated, and not everyone living there can hear it. The new one will be remotely controlled, be able to reach the city's limits, and function during power outages. "We got to keep everyone safe," said Rein. Rein hopes to have the new system in place by the summer and plans to link it to the Fillmore County Sheriff's Office to have them send alerts when needed. 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. Future Retail files appeal in Delhi HC To bookmark you need to sign in Future Retail has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court against the impugned order dated February 2 passed by a single judge, the company said in a filing. Future Retail moved the court against status quo order on the deal with Reliance and the hearing will take place on Thursday. Bar and Bench reported that a division bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said that the matter would be heard on Thursday. Mentioning the filing of the appeal, senior advocate Darius Khambata for Future Retail Ltd urged the bench to hear their stay application on Wednesday afternoon itself. "FRL will be saved from insolvency...the matter is coming up tomorrow otherwise..", Khambata said as per the report. Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar for Amazon, opposed the mentioning and stated that the court's procedure ought to be followed. On Tuesday, a single-judge bench of Justice J.R. Midha had directed Future Retail Ltd to maintain status quo in relation to its deal with Reliance. 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. Isla Fisher and her husband of ten years, Sacha Baron Cohen, looked loved-up as they went shopping on The Wedding Crashes star's 45th birthday on Wednesday. The actress, who recently relocated back to her homeland of Australia with her family, put on a stylish display as the couple made their way to an expensive art gallery in Sydney. Isla and Sacha visited the Kate Owen Gallery in Balmain, which has a large collection of stunning works by Aboriginal artists. Picking out a birthday present? Isla Fisher and her husband of ten years, Sacha Baron Cohen , looked loved-up as they went shopping on the actress' 45th birthday on Wednesday Youthful Isla stood out in a colourful eclectic outfit - wearing a layered green and white paisley print dress. She teamed the look with brown leather and beige heels and a denim jacket. The stunning redhead wore her long locks out and over her shoulders, minimal makeup and shielded her eyes with a pair of sunglasses. Turning heads: Youthful Isla stood out in a colourful eclectic outfit - wearing a layered green and white paisley print dress Casual chic: She teamed the look with brown leather and beige heels and a denim jacket Natural beauty: The redhead wore her long locks out and over her shoulders, minimal makeup and a chic pair of sunglasses Meanwhile, Borat star Sacha cut a casual figure in a black and white shirt, which he teamed with grey jeans and sneakers. At one point, the 49-year-old wore a trendy fedora to shield his face from the sun. The pair linked arms as they walked around the streets of Balmain, before heading back to their car. Date day: The pair linked arms as they walked around the streets of Balmain, before heading back to their car Casual: Meanwhile, Borat star Sacha cut a casual figure in a black and white shirt, which he teamed with grey jeans and sneakers On trend: At one point, the 49-year-old wore a trendy fedora to shield his face from the sun The couple, who married in 2010, relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney late last year. And while it's been widely speculated that they moved Down Under to escape the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the US, new reports claim they were actually fleeing America's tumultuous political climate. 'They didn't want to raise their kids in Trump's America,' an insider told The Sydney Morning Herald of the couple's decision to move to Australia on Sunday. Down Under: The couple, who married in 2010, relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney late last year Reports: And while it's been widely speculated that they moved Down Under to escape the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the US, new reports claim they were actually fleeing America's tumultuous political climate The couple relocated to Australia in December, and have since enrolled their three children at a school in Sydney. Sacha had long been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration. Speaking to Variety, the English comedian said he believes that Trump's claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election will have dire consequences in future. A new life: The couple relocated to Australia in December, and have since enrolled their three children at a school in Sydney 'The danger of Trump and Trump-ism will remain. We still have 80 per cent of those who voted for Trump believing the election was stolen and that's a very dangerous figure,' he said. The Ali G actor warned that America risks becoming an 'authoritarian regime'. 'When you have a large body of the population who believe they've been wronged, that segment of the population can be used to do horrific things,' he said. Demi Moore has finally spoken out about her now-infamous turn on the Fendi runway last week - however the 58-year-old failed to discuss the viral reaction to her 'unrecognizable' appearance, or speculation that she had undergone plastic surgery ahead of the show. The actress and mother-of-three stunned spectators when she stepped onto the catwalk at Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris, where she showed off a dramatic transformation that left many questioning whether she'd had cosmetic work to alter her face. In the days since the show, Demi has remained silent about the fierce speculation - and she remained mum about the plastic surgery rumors and her 'unrecognizable' face during a new interview with supermodel Naomi Campbell, although she did briefly address her appearance, describing it as 'special' and 'very magical'. Opening up: Demi Moore has finally spoken out about her now-infamous Fendi runway appearance - however she failed to address rumors that she's had plastic surgery Spot the difference: The 58-year-old stunned spectators during the show, with many saying she looked 'unrecognizable' thanks to her accentuated cheekbones and very plump pout Changes: Demi looked more like her usual self during her post-show interview with Naomi Campbell, however she wore her brunette hair down around her face instead of pulled back 'Truly it didn't hit me until afterwards that it really was a teenage fantasy fulfilled,' Demi said of her surprise appearance in the show. 'I took a moment where I thought, "Oh my God, I literally just walked a runway show with some of the biggest models ever." For me, I literally felt like a little kid.' The Striptease star, who sat down in-person with fellow Fendi model Naomi in Paris shortly after the show, went on to gush about the 'very special' catwalk event, which was hosted without an audience and saw its stars walking down the runway before posing in acrylic boxes. 'It was a very special show,' she continued. 'Even though there was no audience, it felt like there was an audience to me, there was no difference to me. I think also because of the way the set was built, everyone having their own individual boxes, you wont have seen the audience anyway. 'It felt special for me because it felt less that it was entirely about the clothes but it was more about the full story. It felt very magical.' While the catwalk show was clearly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Demi, the actress's appearance on the runway struck a chord with spectators for a very reason. 'Historic': Naomi, 50, celebrated Demi's achievement, with the actress admitting that walking in the show was 'an honor' Memorable: 'It felt special for me because it felt less that it was entirely about the clothes but it was more about the full story. It felt very magical,' Demi said of the show Way back when: Demi (pictured left in 1993 and right in 1996) has long been known for maintaining incredibly youthful looks, having been in the spotlight since the early 90s Rumors: The actress was plagued by reports in the early 2000s that she'd had $250,000 worth of plastic surgery ahead of her appearance in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (pictured) Mere minutes after she made her debut, social media was flooded with questions about her face - with many asking why she looked so different, with dozens suggesting that her transformation may well have come as the result of plastic surgery. Several cosmetic experts agreed with the claims, with board certified dermatologist Dr. Corey L Hartman, founder of Skin Wellness Dermatology in Birmingham, Alabama, telling DailyMail.com that it appeared as though Demi had undergone more than one procedure to alter her face. Noting that he 'did not treat Demi personally', Dr. Hartman disagreed with suggestions that the actress's drastic transformation was done with makeup alone, stating: 'While a lot of this look may be attributed to makeup and lighting, it also appears that perhaps she has had too much fat removed from her buccal fat pads. 'This appears to have caused dermal filler in the cheek to appear too augmented resulting in this dramatically different appearance.' Four other doctors told OK Magazine that Demi's appearance could have been down to her having 'gone overboard with injectable fillers.' Plastic surgeon Ryan Neinstein, who doesn't treat Demi said: Moore was sucking in her cheeks. 'Many young women seek high cheekbones, hollow cheeks and a cross-cheek shadow, which is a popular look on social media and often duplicated with makeup. Changes: After the Fendi show, Demi shared a behind-the-scenes snap in which she looked much more natural (left) The 58-year-old mother-of-three - who boasts 11M social media followers - captioned the picture taken by fellow Fendi catwalker Cara Delevigne: 'Pre-show prep' Something different: During her on-screen appearance with Naomi, Demi looked more natural, although she still flaunted a flawless complexion Pucker up: She also showed off an impressive pout, and accentuated cheekbones 'One of the most obvious signs of facelift surgery is the cross-cheek depression or "joker line," certain surgical maneuvers in a facelift can give this appearance.' In the wake of the uproar over her catwalk appearance, Demi shared several behind-the-scenes snaps from before and after the show on Instagram; in one she seemed to suggest that her taut complexion on the catwalk was given a boost by a rigorous skincare regimen. During her flight to Paris, Demi and her daughter Scout, posed for a photo while doing a face mask - the $1356 Bio Cellulose Facial Treatment Mask from 111SKIN, which promises to 'stimulate collagen production'. Following the fashion show, the Ghost star also shared a photo of herself posing alongside Fendi designer Kim Jones, as well as models Christy Turlington and Kate Moss, both of whom appeared on the catwalk. In the snap, looked much more like her usual self, showing off more natural look, complete with flawless complexion and plump cheeks. As well as discussing her Fendi appearance with Naomi, Demi - who is mother to daughters Rumer, 32, Scout, 29 and Tallulah, 26 - spoke about what it was like to travel to Paris amid the pandemic, revealing how she ensured she was safe. Unconventional: While the show was all glamour, Demi has spent much of lockdown with her daughters and ex-husband Bruce Willis, 65, which raised a few eyebrows. Demi said: 'In fact it was my daughter Scout and the only other person in the cabin we were in was Cara Delevingne. It was literally like a slumber party we were all COVID safe!' While it was Demi's first couture show, she was in good company with the likes of Kate Moss, 47, and her daughter Lila, 18, also gracing the runway. While the show was all glamour, Demi has spent much of lockdown with her daughters and ex-husband Bruce Willis, 65, which raised a few eyebrows. But she said: 'I was really grateful for things slowing down and the time that we had. It worked out that Bruce came and spent time with us it was really a blessing.' She also discussed being the highest paid actress in Hollywood and changing the landscape for women's pay despite having to deal with negativity and backlash. 'I took a lot of heat for it but I'm OK with that because if it made a change for everyone,' she said. 'In this case knowing it made a difference and knowing it made people take a different look at women's value.' Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 New Delhi/Houston, Feb 3 : Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of Occidental, has announced the delivery of two million barrels of carbon-neutral oil to Reliance Industries in India. This transaction, which was arranged in conjunction with Macquarie Group's Commodities and Global Markets group (Macquarie), is the energy industry's first major petroleum shipment for which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the entire crude lifecycle have been offset. This transaction is a first step in the creation of a new market for climate-differentiated crude oil. It is also a bridge to the development of a further differentiated petroleum product, net-zero oil, which Occidental intends to eventually produce through the capture and sequestration of atmospheric CO2 via industrial-scale direct air capture (DAC) facilities and geological sequestration. The transaction is an example of Macquarie's commitment to innovation in the environmental products space and to being a leader in energy transition. The oil was produced in the US Permian Basin by Occidental and delivered to Reliance in India. Macquarie arranged and structured the bundled offset supply and retirement. The offsets were sourced from a variety of projects verified under the Verra Verified Carbon Standard, meeting the eligibility criteria for the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). This project will utilise Occidental's existing Permian Basin enhanced oil recovery infrastructure and its market-leading carbon management expertise to permanently sequester captured atmospheric carbon-dioxide. OLCV expects net-zero oil from DAC to be available to customers in 2024. The two companies also recognise that technology will play an important role in decarbonisation of the industry. Last year, both Occidental and Macquarie had invested in Xpansiv, a technology-based environmental commodities platform and exchange, which was leveraged in this transaction. "We are taking important initial steps to work with our customers in hard-to-decarbonize industries to offer carbon-neutral and other low-carbon products that will leverage our expertise in carbon management to lower their total carbon impact and address Scope 3 emissions," said Richard Jackson, President, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures. "Macquarie is delighted to have worked with Occidental in developing this innovative solution. We look forward to continued collaboration with the company on realizing their ambitious carbon-neutral goals," said Ozzie Pagan, senior Managing Director for Macquarie in the Americas. "Macquarie is working to lead the energy transition through innovation and investments focused on advancing decarbonisation. We seek to develop, along with our clients, actionable strategies today and sustainable innovations for the future," Pagan added. The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Sea Pearl containing the carbon-neutral oil has finished unloading in India. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Anorexia Nervosa has not only a detrimental impact on the people who suffer from the eating disorder, but often a significant financial impact on their carers, new research from the University of Otago, Christchurch, reveals. As part of the Christchurch campus' Summer Studentship program psychology student Shistata Dhakal undertook what is believed to be the first New Zealand study exploring the costs and impacts of eating disorders for those caring for someone with an eating disorder. She was supervised by Associate Professor Jenny Jordon who is an expert in the study of eating disorders. The study was sponsored by the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation. Because anorexia was the most prevalent eating order diagnosis (72.3 percent) among the 137 carers participating in the Summer Studentship study, the researchers focused on these people, all of whomapart from one person who is a spousewere parents of the affected person. Results show the annual income for people caring for sufferers of anorexia, who are severely underweight and fear weight gain, was reduced on average by 27 percent. Nearly a quarter of carers reported that they were unable to work or study at all due to caring for the person with the eating disorder. Most (75 percent) reported their productivity was reduced by about 50 percent of what it was prior to caring for their family member. While the most common treatments received by the sufferers were publicly funded, private treatment was accessed by almost one third of sufferers (29 percent). About half of this group spent more than $10,000 on private treatment costs. Five traveled overseas for additional treatment which had a considerably higher cost. One in ten of those carers involved in the study had to access finance of $10,000 or more for costs incurred. Ms Dhakal carried out the research as part of a Summer Studentship however the study is part of a larger project investigating the costs of eating disorders in Aotearoa. Study principal investigator Associate Professor Jenny Jordan, explains this information is vital for decisions around funding, services and advocacy. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first New Zealand study exploring the costs and impacts of eating disorders for those caring for someone with an eating disorder," Associate Professor Jordan says. "To date, most research has focussed on the person with the disorder, and rightly so given the high risk of death and morbidity rates, along with the long duration of their disorders and intensive treatment required. "This study however, has highlighted the need to recognize the often overlooked impacts on carers. Without this, we can't appreciate the full cost of eating disorders in New Zealand." The average number of days carers needed to take off work because of the caring or treatment needs annually was 61 days. About one third of carers took sick leave, averaging 46.6 days annually. Dr. Jordan explains that most of the carers (95 percent) were women who identified as New Zealand European with an average age of 51 years. "These preliminary analyses indicate the financial costs for those caring for someone with an eating disorder are variable, but vary substantial for some. "These financial impacts are in addition to the other psychosocial impacts on carers, not yet reported from this study. With little research conducted in this area and most existing research focusing on the costs of anorexia, more research is needed on other eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), which will have a different pattern of impacts for those affected and their families." Explore further Mayo Clinic Q and A: understanding binge eating disorder The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono has commissioned the yam storage facility at the Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, Keffi. He said the facility has capacity to store between 45 - 50 Metric Tonnes of yam seed and is estimated to cover 16 hectares of land when planted. Speaking during the ceremony, the minister noted that the huge output of using clean seed yam would boost production, increase earnings of yam farmers and enhance the export of yam from the state. He said the location of the facility inside the university would immensely add value to teaching, research and income generation for farmers in the state, adding that the facility will generate about 200 jobs to the value chain. However, Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Suleiman Bala Mohammed, commended the minister and his team for commissioning the facility. He pointed out that the sum of N35 million was released by the state government to establish an aeroponics system for seed production - a component of yam value chain. He added that the facility would be harnessed to support the federal government's efforts towards improving agricultural productivity, promote research and enhance the economic diversification agenda of the federal government. Separately, Nanono, also visited Shabu Integrated Farms, Kokona where he expressed satisfaction with the storage facilities displayed by RIELA International, an organisation that specialised in manufacturing high quality storage and processing equipment, planning, engineering, assembling and services for efficient and cost effective solutions of grain handling and preservation. Earlier, he paid a visit to the Dangote Sugar Farm housing 68,000 hectares of sugar farm in Tunga, Nassarawa State. The project is expected to change the sugar narrative when operational. 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, Feb 3 : A toughened upcoming ecommerce policy, legal feuds, the imposition of new taxes and widespread anger among the leading retail associations, the road ahead for upcoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy will not be a smooth one in India when he takes over the reins from Jeff Bezos in the third quarter of this year. The fact is that just like Bezos, Jassy also treats India as one of the key growth markets. In 2018, Jassy had said that the Asia-Pacific region has huge potential to write the next growth story for Amazon Web Services (AWS), with India playing a key role in Cloud adoption among both enterprises and the governments. "The business in the Asia-Pacific region is very broad and is growing very quickly. The business is growing rapidly in China, India, Singapore, Australia and South-East Asian countries," he had said during a press conference. In November 2020, AWS had announced to invest Rs 20,761 crore (nearly $2.7 billion) to set up multiple data centres in Hyderabad. This will be the second AWS region within India after Mumbai, which is expected to go live by mid-2022. Last month, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had launched a quantum computing applications lab in the country in collaboration with AWS. In the financial year 2020, the revenue of Amazon Seller Service, the online marketplace unit of e-commerce giant Amazon India, grew by 43 per cent from Rs 7,593.5 crore to Rs 10,847.6 crore. "The company is confident about its future growth," the regulatory filings read. Meanwhile, Amazon Internet Service Pvt Ltd, the Indian unit of AWS, witnessed 58 per cent increase in its revenue to reach Rs 4,215.9 crore in FY 2020. However, the year 2020 has changed a lot for the e-commerce giant in the country. Bezos, who came to India in January 2020 after a gap of six years, had to face intense political heat in Delhi before Mumbai sea breeze cooled him in the presence of sizzling celebrities. Bezos did not get time from any top government functionaries and The Washington Post, owned by him, was blamed for this debacle. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a cold shoulder to the world's richest man then by not meeting him. There were indications that the Washington Post's editorial stance cost him the meetings with top Indian ministers. Traders across the country staged protests under the aegis of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). According to CAIT, more than five lakh traders were present at the country-wide protests. The big Amazon announcements like $1 billion investment for the small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India and creating 10 lakh new jobs by 2025 were not enough to address the traders' ire. Last year, Amazon had acquired a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons, a Future group entity. In August, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of RIL, announced that it is acquiring the debt-laden businesses of the Future Group for Rs 24,713 crore. Amazon said that Future Group violated a contract with it by entering into the sale agreement with the Mukesh Ambani-led retail major. The matter reached various courts, both in the country as well as abroad. In a big relief to Amazon, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Future Retail Ltd to maintain status quo in relation to its deal with Reliance, the Bar and Bench reported. Future Retail Ltd (FRL) said the company, after due approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and no objection from SEBI, had filed the scheme of arrangement before NCLT Mumbai on January 26. The application is yet to be taken up by the NCLT. On Tuesday, the CAIT welcomed the Union Budget proposal to impose 2 per cent extra tax on foreign e-commerce companies like Amazon, whether engaged in business of sale of goods or providing services, acceptance of offer for sale, placing of purchase order, acceptance of purchase order, payment of consideration or supply of goods and services partly or wholly. The provision will be applicable retrospectively with effect from April 1. The trade leaders have demanded that the e-commerce trade in India should be looked into in a comprehensive manner and not only the trading of goods, but all kinds of services availed through any online method should also be brought under the ambit of the proposed e-commerce policy. Jassy, a seasoned tech honcho who has grown AWS to its current position as the biggest provider of public Cloud infrastructure on the planet and a significant driver of Amazon's profitability, is aware of all the complexities to do business in India and the year 2021 will reveal more. She officially confirmed her romance with her new man earlier this month and said she's relieved to no longer go through the 'struggles of single life.' And Ferne McCann's relationship with Jack Padgett has stepped up a gear as she revealed on Wednesday that they are now living together amid lockdown. Speaking on Loose Women, the former TOWIE star, 30, detailed her experience of sharing her home with the model, telling the panel that it is 'strange and wonderful'. Romance: Ferne McCann's relationship with Jack Padgett has stepped up a gear as she revealed on Wednesday that they are now living together amid lockdown Ferne had virtually joined Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards, Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan to discuss her appearance on Celebrity Best Home Cook, but talk soon turned to her love life. Explaining that Jack is now living with her and daughter Sunday, three, she said: 'We decided to do lockdown together which is a really big deal for me, ladies. 'I did lockdown one as a single woman and now I am living with a guy.' Detailing her new experience, she explained: 'It is strange and wonderful and new all at the same time, so yeah, I am happy.' Exciting: Speaking on Loose Women, the former TOWIE star, 30, detailed her experience of sharing her home with the model (pictured), telling the panel that it is 'strange and wonderful' The reality star also spoke about her having therapy and her initial 'embarrassment' at over seeing a therapist for the past few years. She said: 'I always felt quite embarrassed to speak about the fact that I had been seeing a therapist for the best part of three years. 'I feel like there is a stigma in the UK attached to therapy, I almost felt ashamed, its like you have hit rock bottom or had a breakdown. For me that wasnt the case at all, I just wanted to better myself and speak to someone who was impartial. 'It has been a really positive experience, especially in the lockdown. I committed to still having my therapy sessions over Zoom and I cant recommend it enough... If anyone is thinking about speaking to someone or having therapy I would say absolutely go for it because it has been a great experience for me.' Chat: Ferne had virtually joined Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards, Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan to discuss her appearance on Celebrity Best Home Cook, but talk soon turned to her love life Last week Ferne confirmed her new romance with Jack and admitted that she's relieved to no longer go through the 'struggles of single life.' The First Time Mum star told MailOnline she is officially off the market, after being pictured passionately kissing model Jack in South Africa last month. In an exclusive interview, Ferne, revealed she's 'really excited' about her relationship and has enjoyed saying goodbye to life as a single woman in lockdown. New experience: Explaining that Jack is now living with her and daughter Sunday, three, she said: 'We decided to do lockdown together which is a really big deal for me, ladies She told MailOnline: 'I have met someone. But it is early days and I don't want to divulge into too much information. 'We will see. I am excited, I am really, really excited about how this will go and how it will develop. 'Obviously I was single in lockdown so I knew the struggles of single life it was like do you go on the apps? Am I going to meet someone randomly?' Meanwhile, Speaking on FUBAR Radio's Access All Areas recently, Ferne admitted she and Jack have known each other for years and reconnected during lockdown. 'I am really, really excited': Last week Ferne confirmed her new romance with Jack and admitted that she's relieved to no longer go through the 'struggles of single life' Chatting to hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng, she said: 'I'm happy and it's very early days, although I've known him for years. 'I actually met him five years ago. In Marbs, would you believe it Bob. Of course, but yeah, it's early days and I'll just see where it goes.' Ferne, who's a mum to daughter Sunday, three, has been single since May when she and New York-based boyfriend Albie Gibbs went their separate ways. Loved-up: Ferne recently hinted her new romance with Jack isn't so new after all, describing him as an 'old flame' The former TOWIE star split from Sunday's father Arthur Collins, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for GBH and ABH, during her pregnancy. Ferne told MailOnline in October last year she had been using celebrity-dating app Raya to meet her next partner after turning 30 months earlier and asking herself: 'Am I going to be single forever?' She said at the time: 'Turning 30 I had that whole moment where I'm still single as a female, when you're single at 30 you really start to question yourself and you think "am I ever going to find anyone?" This isn't what I planned.' LEBANON, PA / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Legal Risk Services, Inc (LRS) has announced it has entered into a long-term Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Seattle-based social purpose corporation Corrio SBC to provide a nationwide voice messaging technology service for incarcerated people, allowing them to remain in contact with family, friends and professionals. Under the collaboration, Legal Risk Services, Inc will market Corrio's patented voice messaging technology, in all 50 states of the US market, through its wholly-owned trade name People's Justice TelLink Powered by Corrio. "This partnership represents a major milestone in the inmate telecommunications industry, providing incarcerated people across the country with a new way of keeping connected with key support networks and ensuring they are able to access critical legal counsel and financial aid", said Vincent J. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Legal Risk Services, Inc. "As well as serving those in federal and state prisons, we are focused on reaching underserved and hard to reach populations, such as those incarcerated in thousands of county jails across the country." According to the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center, half of all prisoners lose touch with friends and family while in prison, yet research illustrates the importance of maintaining social connections while incarcerated to be successful on release. The partnership further supports Corrio's mission to transform prison communications for inmates and their families, allowing them to sustain relationships with vital outside support networks. "This is a crucial time to enable better communication in correctional facilities since the pandemic has blocked visitations and left incarcerated people feeling very isolated and without regular access to legal counsel," commented Alex Peder, CEO and co-founder of Corrio. "We're excited about this partnership and the opportunity to expand our patented voice messaging technology services nationwide - geographically becoming one of the largest providers of inmate communication services and enabling us to support even more incarcerated people." People's Justice TelLink Powered by Corrio will be available in Spring 2021. For more information visit: www.Tellink.co About Corrio Corrio, SPC (Corrio), is a privately-held Social Purpose Corporation, committed to lowering recidivism through family communication by providing voice, text and other services to incarcerated men and women. Corrio currently operates a patented voicemail, text and email messaging system for inmates, their families, friends and professionals. Corrio messaging works in conjunction with the existing inmate telephone system (ITS). Corrio messaging is available across the United States. About Legal Risk Services Legal Risk Services, Inc (LRS) provides direct-to-consumer legal plan products and services through its nationwide Discount Legal Plan which is authorized to conduct business by the American Bar Association's Group Legal Services Association (GLSA). LRS provides members of the general public with post-arrest and post-conviction criminal defense-related services, as well as family law and immigration defense law matters, through the legal plan's nationwide attorney network. LRS offers its customers flexible financing options so they can pay for their legal fees, which they might not otherwise be able to afford. No other legal plan in America provides its customers a financing option. LRS owns the registered trademark "Discount Legal Plan" and all logos, service marks and the like currently used in the operation of its business. Additionally, LRS is a partner in several other court-related service providers including People's Justice, LLC, a Pro Se (Do-It-Yourself), and Divorces and More. Both are direct-to-consumer legal document providers. LRS wholly-owns Nationwide Virtual Paralegal Services, LLC, a virtual paralegal service for lawyers on a nationwide basis. LRS also wholly-owns Habitats of Hope, LLC, which provides sober living facilities specializing in drug and alcohol addiction-related services for individuals on a pretrial and court-ordered basis. LRS fully-owns a group legal plan trading as "HELP Legal Plan", which provides legal plan products and services on a group basis. LRS also jointly-owns American Prison Advisors, LLC, a prison consulting firm that counsels high-net-worth individuals and business entities facing criminal or regulatory charges on how to best navigate through the investigative or sentencing process. It also offers a digital library of self-help, educational and motivational videos, books and courses to prisons and consumers. LRS jointly-owned People's Justice TV, LLC is a new legal and criminal justice-related media company centered around the criminal justice system, drug and alcohol treatment, immigration, DIY legal services and other court-related matters. Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and are subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for reasons unforeseen. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting, or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Legal Risk Services Inc. and or Corrio SPC to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under U.S. federal securities laws, Legal Risk Services, Inc. and or Corrio SPC undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Contact Information: For Corrio SPC: Liv Allen, corrio@codewordagency.com For Legal Risk Services: Vincent J Smith, VSmith@disclegalplan.com 24 Hour - 7 Day Service CALL: (855) 440-2245 info@discount-legal-plan.com Website: http://www.Discount-Legal-Plan.com Twitter: @DiscountLegalP Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DiscountLegalPlan/ SOURCE: Legal Risk Services Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627739/Legal-Risk-Services-Inc-and-Corrio-SPC-Partner-to-Bolster-Inmate-Communications-Across-the-US (Newser) A British-Iranian anthropologist facing almost a decade in an Iranian prison after speaking out against female genital mutilation and child marriage has made a daring escape. Kameel Ahmady tells the BBC he fled across Iran's mountainous border on foot upon learning his fate was as good as sealed. Ahmady, who was born in Iran and educated in the UK, had pushed to raise the legal age at which Iranian girls can marry from 13 before his arrest in 2019. He was accused of promoting homosexuality in his research and convicted of collaborating with a hostile government, based on claims that he'd once worked for a charity that received funding from the US. Ahmady denies the charges, which he believes was retribution for the British seizure of an Iranian oil tanker. Unwilling to permit himself to endure nine years and three months in prison, "I just simply left" while on bail. story continues below Ahmady, who says he endured "psychological pressure" during three months in prison before his release, filled a bag with supplies as soon as he learned his appeal was being overturned. "I knew I had to smuggle myself out of that train in the mountains," he tells the BBC. He set off on a "very cold, very long, very dark, and very scary" trek over paths used to move contraband from Iraq and Turkey, working his way through 5 feet of snow. People have frozen to death on such routes, or been shot by border patrols. But "I felt I had no other choice," Ahmady tells the Guardian. "I couldn't see myself staying in prison for 10 years and watching my [4-year-old] son from a distance growing up," he adds, per the BBC. Now in London, Ahmady hopes to be a voice for change in Iran. "Nothing good ever came out of conflict and fanaticism," he tells the Guardian. "I say that from personal experience." (Read more escape stories.) Sohan Roy, Founder chairman and CEO of Aries Group of Companies. (Image: Facebook/@SohanRoy) Sharjah-based businessman Sohan Roy has decided to pay salary for homemaker wives of employees at his Aries Group of Companies. Regular salary for unemployed spouses of employees, Roy, a Malayali and prominent Indian businessman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), posted on his Facebook page. The founder and CEO of Aries Group of Companies took this decision as he was impressed by the commitment of his staff and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic that he decided to reward them in a novel way, reported Khaleej Times. The amount of salary to be paid to the wives will be determined by the number of years the employee has been working in the firm, said the report. The management of the company has started collecting the database of wives of its employees and soon the initiative will be rolled out officially, it said. It is payback time for the hard work of the employees and the support provided by their families, which has seen the company during the challenging and uncertain times of 2020, said the report citing Roy. The company did not fire any of its employees or deduct their salaries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report stated. In 2012, Krishna Tirat, then Indian Minister of Child and Women Development Krishna Tirath had put forward the idea, wanting to give a more socially empowered identity to housewives. Recently, the Supreme Court, while declaring compensation for an accident case, also said that the value of work done by a homemaker is not less than the work is done by her office going husband. Inspired by the courts statement, Roy decided to implement it in reality, said the report. According to the report, the firm is already paying a pension to the parents of its staff employees who have completed three years of service. It also provides annual scholarships to children of the employees to study, it added. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times 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. Egypt strongly condemned on Wednesday the killing of four Tunisian army personnel in a landmine explosion in Tunisias Kasserine governorate. Egypt renews its profound condemnation of these despicable terrorist acts, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry stressed Egypts confidence that these [attacks] will not deter Tunisia from uprooting the hateful scourge of terrorism and defeating its supporters. Egypt has also affirmed its full support for Tunisia in the measures it takes to protect its security and stability, the statement added. The army personnel were killed when their vehicle was struck by a landmine explosion in the Moghila area, near the border with Algeria, Tunisian defence ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekry said in press remarks. The mountainous Moghila area is known to be base of operations for the Islamic State-affiliated militia Ajnad Al-Khilafa. The Tunisian army has been conducting offensives against the militia for years. Short link: India has created an air bubble arrangement with Netherlands. This will come into force on 01.11.2020. Indian and Maldivian carriers are now permitted to operate flights between India and Netherlands and carry the following categories of persons on such flights:
A. From India to Netherlands:
i. Stranded nationals/residents of Netherlands, foreign nationals destined for EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and transiting through Netherlands or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise;
ii. Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country before issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger; and
iii. Seamen of foreign nationalities and Seamen holding Indian passports would be allowed subject to clearance from the Ministry of Shipping. Seamen should be destined for countries in the EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.
B. From Netherlands to India:
i. Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan stranded in any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only;
ii. All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and PIO cardholders holding passports of any country;
iii. All foreign nationals (from any country in EU/Schengen area,South America or Africa only) intending to visit India for any purpose (including their dependents on appropriate category of dependent visa) except those on Tourist Visa; and
iv. Seamen from EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.
Passengers traveling on flights from India to Netherlands should be destined for countries in the EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only.Similarly, only passengers originating from countries in the EU/Schengenarea, South America or Africa should be allowed to travel on the flights from Netherlands to India. Information Minister Imad Sara has recognized the importance of the role of national media in the face of disinformation and distortion campaigns, reports SANA. The Media, Communication and IT Committee at the Peoples Assembly discussed on Monday the work plan of the Information Ministry for the coming period in the presence of Information Minister, Imad Sara. Members of the committee hailed the role played by the national media in the face of a fierce media war that targeted the country, stressing the need to enhance and develop media performance to meet the challenges, especially in light of the continued aggression front that targets Syria in the political, media and economic fields. Minister Sara briefed members of the committee on President Bashar al-Assads latest meeting with media cadres, adding that the conversations were rich with ideas and proposals that dealt with political, service, intellectual, and livelihood issues, in addition to combating corruption. In his response to the interpositions and questions raised by committee members, Minister Sara appreciated the important role of the national media, particularly in the face of the social media disorder, disinformation and distortion campaigns, and the war of rumors broadcast by hostile media that aim to target the Syrian state with all its institutions. 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. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool/Getty Images) Sanders, Warner Tapped to Chair Powerful Senate Committees Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will chair the Senate Budget Committee while Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) will take the top post for the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to assignments announced Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced choices for budget chairs and members, a few weeks after Democrats took control of the upper chamber. Sanders takes over from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). Warner takes over from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Other chairs include Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) for the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) for the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee while Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the former ranking member, will chair the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Republicans havent announced Senate committee assignments as of yet. See the full list of assignments below. Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Senator Stabenow Chair Senator Leahy Senator Brown Senator Klobuchar Senator Bennet Senator Gillibrand Senator Smith Senator Durbin Senator Booker Senator Lujan Senator Warnock Appropriations Senator Leahy Chair Senator Murray Senator Feinstein Senator Durbin Senator Reed Senator Tester Senator Shaheen Senator Merkley Senator Coons Senator Schatz Senator Baldwin Senator Murphy Senator Manchin Senator Van Hollen Senator Heinrich Armed Services Senator Reed Chair Senator Shaheen Senator Gillibrand Senator Blumenthal Senator Hirono Senator Kaine Senator King Senator Warren Senator Peters Senator Manchin Senator Duckworth Senator Rosen Senator Kelly Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Senator Brown Chair Senator Reed Senator Menendez Senator Tester Senator Warner Senator Warren Senator Van Hollen Senator Cortez Masto Senator Smith Senator Sinema Senator Ossoff Senator Warnock Budget Senator Sanders Chair Senator Murray Senator Wyden Senator Stabenow Senator Whitehouse Senator Warner Senator Merkley Senator Kaine Senator Van Hollen Senator Lujan Senator Padilla Commerce, Science & Transportation Senator Cantwell Chair Senator Klobuchar Senator Blumenthal Senator Schatz Senator Markey Senator Peters Senator Baldwin Senator Duckworth Senator Tester Senator Sinema Senator Rosen Senator Lujan Senator Hickenlooper Senator Warnock Energy & Natural Resources Senator Manchin Chair Senator Wyden Senator Cantwell Senator Sanders Senator Heinrich Senator Hirono Senator King Senator Cortez Masto Senator Kelly Senator Hickenlooper Environment & Public Works Senator Carper Chair Senator Cardin Senator Sanders Senator Whitehouse Senator Merkley Senator Markey Senator Duckworth Senator Stabenow Senator Kelly Senator Padilla Finance Senator Wyden Chair Senator Stabenow Senator Cantwell Senator Menendez Senator Carper Senator Cardin Senator Brown Senator Bennet Senator Casey Senator Warner Senator Whitehouse Senator Hassan Senator Cortez Masto Senator Warren Foreign Relations Senator Menendez Chair Senator Cardin Senator Shaheen Senator Coons Senator Murphy Senator Kaine Senator Markey Senator Merkley Senator Booker Senator Schatz Senator Van Hollen Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Senator Murray Chair Senator Sanders Senator Casey Senator Baldwin Senator Murphy Senator Kaine Senator Hassan Senator Smith Senator Rosen Senator Lujan Senator Hickenlooper Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Senator Peters Chair Senator Carper Senator Hassan Senator Sinema Senator Rosen Senator Padilla Senator Ossoff Intelligence Senator Warner Chair Senator Feinstein Senator Wyden Senator Heinrich Senator King Senator Bennet Senator Casey Senator Gillibrand Senator Reed (ex officio) Senator Schumer (ex officio) Judiciary Senator Durbin Chair Senator Leahy Senator Feinstein Senator Whitehouse Senator Klobuchar Senator Coons Senator Blumenthal Senator Hirono Senator Booker Senator Padilla Senator Ossoff Rules & Administration Senator Klobuchar Chair Senator Feinstein Senator Schumer Senator Durbin Senator Warner Senator Leahy Senator King Senator Padilla Senator Ossoff Small Business & Entrepreneurship Senator Cardin Chair Senator Cantwell Senator Shaheen Senator Markey Senator Booker Senator Coons Senator Hirono Senator Duckworth Senator Rosen Senator Hickenlooper Veterans Affairs Senator Tester Chair Senator Murray Senator Sanders Senator Brown Senator Blumenthal Senator Hirono Senator Manchin Senator Sinema Senator Hassan Aging Senator Casey Chair Senator Gillibrand Senator Blumenthal Senator Warren Senator Rosen Senator Kelly Senator Warnock Ethics Senator Coons Chair Senator Schatz Senator Shaheen Indian Affairs Senator Schatz Chair Senator Cantwell Senator Tester Senator Cortez Masto Senator Smith Senator Lujan Joint Economic Senator Heinrich Chair Senator Klobuchar Senator Hassan Senator Kelly Senator Warnock An elderly rescue koala who had his eyes removed after a nasty fall has been filmed sniffing out food, as the brave marsupial adjusts to life with a disability. Clarence the koala fell from a tall tree, which left him with eyes that were so badly damaged he couldn't even produce tears. Despite six months in home care, Clarence, who now lives at Port Stephens Koalas, a non-profit rehabilitation centre and sanctuary north of Sydney, it became clear he was severely sight impaired. Clarence, whose full name is Glen William Clarence after a woman called Clare who rescued him, had his eyes removed to reduce the stress associated with having eye ointments applied multiple times a day. Clarence the koala (pictured above) is a popular stalwart at Port Stephens Koalas, a non-profit rehabilitation centre and sanctuary, north of Sydney Footage filmed by the sanctuary showed Clarence using his heightened sense of smell to find eucalyptus leaves to munch on. He is said to use his 'brilliant sense of smell to sniff out the good stuff,' the koala sanctuary wrote on Facebook. Clarence (pictured) had his eyes removed following a fall - and now uses his sense of smell to source food Koalas in Australia are currently considered just a step above from being endangered. Habitat destruction, domestic dog attacks, bushfires and road accidents have all contributed to a declining population. An inquiry in 2020 revealed koalas will be extinct in NSW by 2050 unless there is urgent action taken. Establishing new national parks in identified areas and reducing land clearing are key factors which will aid their long term survival. 'Koalas are an iconic Australian animal recognised the world over and a national treasure which we will do everything we can to protect for future generations,' NSW Environment Minster Matt Kean said last year. ROME, FEB 3 - 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Vito Crimi told the group's lawmakers on Wednesday that he does not like the idea of Italy being led by a technocrat government. "Would a technocrat government have ever been able to have brought in the citizenship wage (basic income)?" Crimi said. "Would it have ever been able to do innovative but costly measures to relaunch the country like the 100% superbonus (for home renovations)? "These are operations that only a political government can do, not a government that needs to balance the books. "A technocrat is not good for the country. We've had our fill of that". Crimi said a technocrat executive would be "cold and calculating". (ANSA). Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Talkwalker, the leading social listening and analytics company, today announced the appointment of Joseph Fuster as its new chief sales officer. In this role, he will oversee the global expansion of Conversational Intelligence enterprise initiatives of Talkwalker in the US, Europe, and Asia. Fuster has a proven track record in developing new markets, partnerships, and transformational solutions in the global SaaS industry. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Customer Experience Cloud at Oracle, driving all aspects of growth and adoption. Fuster's experience also includes global sales leadership roles at SAP, Salesforce, and Siebel. "I am excited to join the Talkwalker team. As our lives become increasingly digital, understanding the 'Voice of Customer' has become more important than ever", states Fuster. "Winning with your customers requires listening and activating the 'Voice of Customer' across the entire customer experience. Conversational Intelligence is key to this activation." "It gives me great pleasure to welcome Joe to Talkwalker. With his help, we will further accelerate the company's growth in the US, Europe, and Asia, while we expand Talkwalker's unified conversational intelligence platform in social listening, consumer intelligence, and customer experience", said Robert Glaesener, CEO of Talkwalker. "His deep knowledge of CX and consumer intelligence will be a key accelerator in our next phase of development." About Talkwalker Talkwalker is a leading social listening & analytics company, helping build brands that are loved. Through our AI-powered social media analytics platform, we gather data from the conversations that happen around your brand - online, in the media, and within your company - to uncover, understand, and action consumer insights. Over 2,000 companies worldwide already use this conversational intelligence to protect their brands, measure their campaign impact, and identify what drives purchase decisions. Talkwalker has offices in Luxembourg, New York, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Singapore, Paris, and Tokyo, with 400+ employees across the globe. It is also the home of Talkwalker Alerts, a free alerting service used by over 500,000 communications and marketing professionals worldwide. Contact: Milena Schmidt, +1-646-712-9441 ext 158, [email protected] SOURCE Talkwalker Related Links http://talkwalker.com Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has banned three opposition news channels with an unprecedented decree. The ban provides for the revocation of broadcasting licenses, TV frequencies and the blocking of accounts for an initial period of five years, the president's office announced early Wednesday. Channels ZIK, NewsOne and 112 channels were immediately shut down in Kiev. The president justified the move by alleging a threat to national security and dissemination of Russian propaganda. In a joint statement, the channels called the ban a "reckoning with inconvenient media." The channels were considered in Ukraine to be the mouthpiece of the pro-Russian party "Opposition Platform for Life," which is anchored in the east and south of the country. According to two recent polls, the party, which has so far only been the second strongest, could expect to win the most votes in parliamentary elections. The decree implemented a decision by the National Security Council, which is made up of lawmakers, and representatives of the judiciary and intelligence services alongside Zelensky. So far, Ukraine has been considered relatively liberal in terms of press freedom, compared to other former Soviet republics. The head of the Ukrainian Union of Journalists, Nikolay Tomilenko criticized the move which he called an "information bomb." "The deprivation of access to Ukrainian media for an audience of millions without a court ... is an attack on freedom of expression," he said. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers announced the beginning of impeachment proceedings against Zelensky. However, the attempt is considered futile as the party only has 44 of the 226 seats it would need in parliament in order to initiate the proceedings. Source: dpa/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 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. 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. On Tuesday, the Democratic House Managers and Donald Trumps legal team released their briefs for the Senate impeachment trial of the ex-president, set to begin on February 9. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on January 13 voted for a resolution to impeach Trump on charges of incitement of insurrection in connection with the January 6 fascist assault on Congress. The attempted coup detat was organized by Trump and his allies with the aim of blocking congressional certification of Joseph Bidens election victory and paving the way for Trump to install himself as dictator. In a demonstration of continued support for Trump, 197 of the 211 Republicans in the House voted against impeachment. Last week, 45 of 50 Republicans in the Senate voted in support of a motion by far-right libertarian Rand Paul to quash the Senate trial on the legally false grounds that it is unconstitutional to convict a president once he has left office. The 80-page Democratic brief presents a devastating, detailed and unanswerable case that Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors by summoning a mob of far-right supporters to Washington D.C. on January 6, the day of the joint session of Congress to formally count the electoral vote, and inciting them to storm the US Capitol, disrupt the procedure and likely seize and kill members of Congress and even Trumps vice president, Mike Pence. The introduction to the Democrats brief begins: This trial arises from President Donald J. Trumps incitement of insurrection against the Republic he swore to protect. The House of Representatives impeached him for that constitutional offense. To protect our democracy and national securityand to deter any future President who would consider provoking violence in pursuit of powerthe Senate should convict President Trump and disqualify him from future federal officeholding Since the dawn of the Republic, no enemyforeign or domestichad ever obstructed Congress counting of the votes. No President had ever refused to accept an election result or defied the lawful processes for resolving electoral disputes. Until President Trump. The introduction continues: As it stormed the Capitol, the mob yelled out President Trump Sent Us, Hang Mike Pence, and Traitor Traitor Traitor. The insurrectionists assaulted police officers with weapons and chemical agents. They seized control of the Senate chamber floor, the Office of the Speaker of the House, and major sections of the Capitol complex. Members and their staffs were trapped and terrorized. Many officials (including the Vice President himself) barely escaped the rioters Hundreds of people were injured in the assault. Five peopleincluding a Capitol Police officerdied. President Trumps responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable. After losing the 2020 election, President Trump refused to accept the will of the American people. He spent months asserting, without evidence, that he won in a landslide and that the election was stolen. Recounting the events of January 6, the document notes that Trump did nothing for hours to stop the rampaging mob or respond to desperate requests from officials to send forces to retake the Capitol. He was reportedly delighted by the bloody events being broadcast live on cable news networks. A section titled Statement of Facts lays out the months-long campaign by Trump to discredit the legitimacy of any outcome that did not result in his reelection, and his post-election claims of a stolen election. It details his efforts to extort federal and state officials to overturn the election results in key swing states. Noting that there were multiple advance warnings of plans for violence by pro-Trump neo-Nazi and militia groups and that many of those heading for Washington would be armed, the brief states: This mobilization was not hidden away in the dead of night. It was widely discussed on websitessuch as TheDonald.winthat, as confirmed by a former White House staff member, were closely monitored by President Trumps social media operation At TheDonald.win, one poster stated: If Congress illegally certifies Biden Trump would have absolutely no choice but to demand us to storm Congress and kill/beat them up for it. The brief goes on to preemptively refute Republican claims that Trump is being victimized for exercising his free speech rights. It then spends some 30 pages reviewing legal and historical precedents demonstrating that public officials can be impeached and convicted after they have left office. The Democrats brief makes an ironclad case for Trumps conviction by the Senate. More than that, it makes clear, while not stating explicitly, that the ex-president and aspiring dictator is a gangster and accomplice to murder who should be prosecuted and put away for life. This makes all the more stark the bankruptcy of the calls by the Democrats and Biden for unity with the Republicans, and their defense of the Republican Party as an institution. They insist on addressing as colleagues a party that has lined up behind Trump and seeks to incorporate and legitimize outright fascists, racists and anti-Semites. It is, in this connection, noteworthy, that the narrative presented in the Democrats brief completely excludes the critical role played by Republican leaders and members of Congress in promoting Trumps Big Lie of a stolen election and providing a political cover for the January 6 insurrection by opposing the certification of the Electoral College vote. There is no mention of the role of Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tommy Tuberville and others in the Senate, and Kevin McCarthy, Mat Gaetz, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, to name a few, in the House in facilitating Trumps effort to overturn the election result. For example, the brief notes the incendiary speeches by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Jr., and Trump at the Ellipse on the morning of January 6, but it makes no mention of Representative Mo Brooks call for the crowd to take names and kick ass at the Capitol. Moreover, the document omits any mention of the ample evidence of complicity in the coup conspiracy of highly placed officials in the military, the police and the FBI. It is now established, for example, that the Trump loyalist installed in the post-election purge to head the Pentagon, Christopher Miller, forbade the Washington DC National Guard two days before the fascist assault to carry weapons or riot gear to in any way interact with the pro-Trump demonstrators. Nor does the document mention Trumps earlier extra-constitutional actions, above all his attempted coup on June 1, 2020, when he mobilized military police to violently attack peaceful protesters in Washington DC and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy active-duty troops to crush anti-police violence protests throughout the country. The brief submitted by Trumps legal team is a mere 14 pages, indicative of the contemptuous attitude of the 45th President of the United States toward Congress and his justified confidence that a large majority of Republican senators will vote to exonerate him. While the brief repeatedly asserts that the Senate trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, without substantiating the claim historically or legally, it does not stop there. It argues that Trump is being victimized for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech and political expressionas though the US commander in chief, with his vast powers of repression, is no different from any private person. In the course of making this argument, which implies that there are no legal or constitutional checks on what a president can say, the brief asserts as true a central pillar of the rigged election lie promoted by Trump and the bulk of the Republican Party. It states: It is admitted that after the November election, the 45th President exercised his First Amendment right under the Constitution to express his belief that the election results were suspect, since with very few exceptions, under the convenient guise of COVID-19 pandemic safeguards states election laws and procedures were changed by local politicians or judges without the necessary approvals from state legislatures. It goes on to assert that the true winner of the 2020 election remains in doubt and Trump therefore denies [his statements] were false. The document makes two further significant and reactionary claims: That Trumps remarks at the January 6 Save America Rally were not an incitement to the crowd to interfere with the counting of the Electoral votes, and that Congress has a right to overturn the electoral vote as certified and submitted by the states: Congress duty, therefore, was not just to certify the presidential election. Its duty was to first determine whether certification of the presidential election vote was warranted and permissible under the rules. The implications of these arguments are far-reaching. They essentially justify Trumps refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and the efforts of his co-conspirators in the Republican Party to illegally reject the slates of electors certified by the states on the basis of the popular vote in each state. They provide a pseudo-legal framework for a continuation of the drive by substantial sections of the ruling class toward dictatorship. When the first GeForce RTX 30-series gaming laptops launched last week, you couldand still canfind abundant stock available for RTX 3070- and 3080-powered machines starting at $1,700 and up. Today, more affordable RTX 3060 laptops hit the streets, but they seem much more scarce than the more expensive models. Nvidias own listing of RTX 3060 laptops highlights only four models, all from MSI: the $1,000 GF65, $1,500 Stealth 15M, a more potent $1,600 Stealth 15M, and the $1,800 GS66. Unfortunately, none are actually available to buy, with all remaining in preorder status. Heading over to Newegg, youll find a couple of MSI RTX 3060 laptops also in preorder status. But good news! A trio of Gigabyte offerings can be purchased right now: the $1,500 Aorus 15G, a $1,600 Aero 15 with a 4K OLED display, and the larger $1,700 Aero 17. Razer also offers RTX 3060-laden versions of its popular laptops with the $1,700 Razer Blade and $2,300 Razer Blade Pro, complete with Razers typical hefty markup. You can buy those today, too. Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series laptops can support Nvidia Max-Q 3.0 technologies like Advanced Optimus, Resizable BAR (pictured) Dynamic Boost 2.0, and Whisper Mode 2.0. Most available GeForce RTX 3060 laptops come in the form of thin-and-light machines, which makes sense as PC makers want to put their best (and most premium) foot forward. That said, two notebooks come close to Nvidias claimed $999 starting price for RTX 3060 laptops: the aforementioned $999.99 MSI GF65, and the $1,100 Gigabyte G5. Both come with blisteringly fast displays144Hz on the MSI, 240Hz for Gigabyte despite their affordable pricing. But sadly, neither model will actually land in your hands for a while yet, with ship dates of March 1 and February 26, respectively. The models you can buy cost much more. Thats a lot better than the abysmal state of desktop graphics cards, which remain impossible to find. Even older models are being price-gouged mercilessly. Nevertheless, it appears that Nvidias RTX 30-series laptop rollout prioritizes pricier hardware over more affordable options, mirroring what weve seen from next-gen graphics cards and AMDs new Ryzen 5000 processors. That might make budget-minded gamers bitter, but with demand for virtually every PC component or gaming gizmo through the roof these days it makes a lot of business sense. Pricier parts mean more profits. If youre hoping to get your hands on a gaming notebook, check out these RTX 3070 and 3080 laptops you can buy right now. Be warned that shopping for gaming laptops is harder now due to some fundamental changes in the RTX 30-series. Former Felda Chairman Isa Samad arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex ahead of the verdict in a corruption case against him, Feb. 3, 2021. A Malaysian court found the ex-chairman of a key state-owned land development agency guilty of corruption and sentenced him Wednesday to six years in prison, saying he had abused his power and public trust. Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, a former politician, was convicted of accepting 3 million ringgit (U.S. $740,500) in bribes to approve the purchase of a hotel in 2014 when he headed the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), an agency set up to eradicate poverty among rural Malay farmers. The court fined him more than five times the amount of bribes he was convicted of accepting, Kuala Lumpur High Court Justice Nazlan Ghazali said while delivering the verdict. The court took notice of the background of the accused, his administration record as well as his involvement in politics where the accused served as chief minister for two decades and also as a cabinet minister. An offense related to corruption is serious, it threatens the nations economy and is a cancer that affects the countrys democratic system, Nazlan said. Therefore, the court orders a six-year prison sentence for each offense faced by the accused and orders for the sentences to run concurrently. He also penalized Isa with a fine of 15.45 million ringgit ($3.8 million). The court granted a stay of execution on the sentence pending the conclusion of an appeal, and allowed Isa to be released on a bond of 1.5 million ringgit (U.S. $370,000) bond. He is required to report to a police station on the first day of every month until the end of the appeal process. Najib appointee to Felda Isa was charged with approving the purchase of the Merdeka Palace & Suites Hotel in Kuching, Sarawak, without the approval from the Felda board of directors on Apr. 29, 2014. He was also accused of receiving nine bribes amounting to slightly more than 3 million ringgit for helping approve the hotels purchase for 160 million ringgit (U.S. $39.5 million). Lead prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz had called for the maximum of 12 years in prison for each of the nine counts Isa was charged with. Defense counsel Salehuddin Saidin requested that the judge show leniency because of Isas age and health. The defense counsel also said that because this was Isas first offense and because he had contributed to the nation, the judge should show some mercy. Isa, 71, is a former Federal Territories Minister and Chief Minister of Negeri Sembilan. He was also a senior member of the United Malays National Organization party, which once suspended him for six years after an internal audit found him guilty of buying votes. The former politician was made chairman of Felda in 2010 by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak. Notably, the judge who heard Isas case was the one who convicted Najib last year on charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money-laundering tied to the looting of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB. In July, Najib was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit (U.S. $52 million). Felda was set up in 1956 under a poverty elimination program. It was the brainchild of Abdul Razak Hussein, Najibs late father and Malaysias second prime minister. The agency was set up to distribute farm land to relocated ethnic Malays so they could cultivate cash crops. Felda resettled 112,635 families between 1957 and 1990, according to the website of FGV Holdings Berhad, the agencys commercial arm. Theres no such thing as a free lunch. This colloquialism is arguably the one most frequently repeated in the economics space. Nothings free. Even the water you drink from the drinking fountain. Someone paid for that public water dispenser. Get it? Though economists focus incessantly on consumption, their acknowledgement that theres no such thing as a free lunch is a rather quiet admission that they sort of get Says Law. All demand or consumption is preceded by production. Nothings free. If you want food, clothing, shelter, and all manner of other material goods, you must produce something of market value first. Your work, or production, is what enables consumption. By extension, consumption is a consequence of economic growth as opposed to an instigator. Some will respond that kids and other dependents get free lunches all the time. Yes they do, but someone, somewhere produced so that they could eat for free. Its a reminder that what we dont spend, as in what we save, hardly subtracts from consumption. Saving is merely a shift of consumptive power to others. This could be immediate family members who are handed the consumptive power for free, or distant individuals who pay workers a rate of interest for the consumptive power they have left over after meeting their own needs. This is worth remembering as members of the left such as Jonathan Chait, Paul Krugman, and Derek Thompson advise President Biden and Congress to go big with their so-called stimulus. They put the cart before the horse. Economic growth is what enables government spending, as opposed to government spending enabling economic growth. Oh, but they so want their economic mysticism to be true! Claudia Sahm aims to make real what is fantasy. In a recent piece for the New York Times, the former Fed researcher advised Biden to Put Economic Relief on Autopilot. Go Big, Sahm says. While the price tag for Bidens proposed spending plan ($1.9 trillion) is indeed big, thats as it should be in the eyes of Sahm. As she sees it, This crisis demands it. But wait a second. Theres no such thing as a free lunch. Though economists, journalists and politicians sometimes act as though abundance can be decreed from the proverbial Commanding Heights, reality invariably intrudes. Just as children and dependents get free things from hardworking parents and grandparents willing to forego some of the rewards of production, and just as there are borrowers of dollars only insofar as there are savers of dollars, there are only recipients of government largess insofar as there are productive workers whose toil is to varying degrees owned by the U.S. Treasury. In Sahms case, she wants to put government spending on a smart autopilot of sorts whereby the more difficult the economic circumstances are, the more total dollars of relief provided by Congress. If people are struggling, Congress can bump up the generosity of their benefits. OK, but these enhanced free lunches are but a consequence of economic growth thats already occurred. Since nothings free, its a basic truth that Congress can only stimulate the depressed if it depresses the stimulated. In the U.S., the above scenario invariably carries a high price tag because Americans are remarkably productive people. Rest assured that Perus political class cant cobble up even a fraction of the aid that Congress is able to summon. This is true not because Peruvian politicians dont want to spend trillions, but because theres once again no such thing as a free lunch. Congress spends big because the U.S. Treasury once again owns a percentage of the work of some amazingly productive people. Ideally these statements of the obvious help us all to understand that while the U.S. Treasury most certainly can extract trillions worth of private production that Congress can subsequently redistribute, none of this generosity with the money of others has anything to do with economic growth. Lest readers forget, production first, then consumption. Sahm cites a paper she wrote while at the Fed that calls for direct payments to people during slowdowns that start as soon as the unemployment rate starts to rise in a way that we know a recession has arrived. Her analysis misses that direct payments to people are only a consequence of reduced payments to the individuals actually creating the wealth. Governments ability to stimulate spending by the unemployed is a direct result of it reducing the spending of those who are employed. Theres no increase. To which Sahm would likely reply that during recessions defined my high unemployment, consumption is the cure for what ails us. In that case, tax or borrow from those unlikely to consume all the fruits of their labor, and hand the proceeds to those who are light on funds, and who will spend the money right away. Except that Sahm is calling for mass wealth redistribution as the unemployment rate starts to rise. This is problematic. For the unemployed. Think about it. Businesses and jobs cant be decreed by economists and politicians any more than abundance can be. In truth, theyre a result of abstinence. Of those with wealth forgoing consumption in favor of savings and investment. Except that Sahm wants government to be a size spender during slowdowns. Shes entitled to her beliefs, but Sahm shouldnt say that increasing spending during periods of rising unemployment will help push unemployment down. If it did, West Virginia would be fully employed perpetually! Back to reaity, only unspent wealth can author economic recovery, but Sahms focus is on making sure government has lots of free lunches to distribute. Yes, but they arent free! All of which calls into question the very notion of Congress putting economic recovery on autopilot. It can do no such thing. Congress can only redistribute the fruits of growth that already occurred. Period. Last month Georgia Love was dumped from what she described as her 'dream job' at Channel 10. But, it didn't take long for the 31-year-old to land on her feet, scoring a new gig at rival network, Channel 7. Posting to Twitter on Wednesday, the former Bachelorette announced the news by sharing a photo of her beaming, holding a 7news microphone. Back to business: The Bachelorette's Georgia Love [pictured] has landed a new gig one month after she was dumped from her 'dream job' at Channel 10 The TV presenter captioned the post 'In some personal news...' and tagged it '@7NewsMelbourne' and #newbeginnings. Details of Georgia's exact role with the network are unknown at this time. The news comes after a network spokesperson for Channel 10 confirmed that Georgia no longer worked for the network in January. Tease: Earlier on Wednesday, Georgia teased her new gig. 'In some personal news...' the presenter captioned the post, tagging '@7NewsMelbourne'. Tough times: It comes after a network spokesperson for Channel 10 confirmed that Georgia no longer worked for the network in January They said in a statement: 'During her time with Network 10, Georgia Love made a valuable contribution as a freelance reporter. 'As with any casual position, the availability of work ebbs and flows with the requirements of the company.' Just days earlier, The Daily Telegraph reported that she'd exited the role under 'mysterious circumstances'. Farewell: They said in a statement: 'During her time with Network 10, Georgia Love made a valuable contribution as a freelance reporter An alleged source told the paper: 'Nothing was really said about it one day a memo just went around saying that "Georgia no longer works here".' The paper went on to claim that Georgia's exit is believed to be part of the brutal COVID-19 cost cutbacks at the network last year, which saw least 25 jobs slashed. Georgia landed what she described as her dream job with the channel in 2017, as a reporter at Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne. Dream gig: Georgia landed what she described as her dream job with the channel in 2017, as a reporter at Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne She wrote on Instagram at the time: 'Eight years ago I did two weeks' work placement at Channel 10 News and absolutely fell in love with the workings of a metro newsroom. 'I knew I never wanted to do anything else with my life. Today, I worked my first day in that very newsroom.' In June 2018, the former reality star announced she would be presenting the weather for Ten Eyewitness News. She also co-owns a business with her fiance Lee Elliott, 39 - a pyjama line called Georgia Elliott. The health minister says people who come to Ireland from abroad to shared accommodation should isolate in their rooms, but the law can only tell them to stay at home. Stephen Donnelly said the public health advice was that those who came into Ireland should stay in their room away from anyone they had not travelled with. However, he said, the regulations, expected to be signed in coming days, "do not extend into the home". The restrictions depended on people's living situation but that those in shared accommodation should stay in their rooms as much as possible, he added. "If you're a family coming home, you are already mixing anyway, so you can continue to mix in the home. Obviously, if you live alone, you can use your whole home," he told the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk. Gardai do not have the power to arrest potential holidaymakers and send them home, he said, but he said guards can fine people 500. The Government would look at introducing this power if people continued to go on holidays despite the fine, he added. "If this kind of thing does begin to happen, given everything this country has gone through ... if people think that they can just say 'advice be damned, I don't care. I'm going away', then I don't care if people are willing to pay the fine, I can assure you government will look at that and we will look at what powers are necessary to deal with that. "Because from my perspective, and I'm sure from your perspective and your listeners' perspective, that is not okay." Mr Donnelly said the situation at nursing homes was "heartbreaking" and "awful". Stephen Donnelly said the public health advice was that those who came into Ireland should stay in their room away from anyone they had not travelled with. However, he did not feel the assertion that the Government could have done more to protect older people was fair. "You have no idea how hard people have worked in the nursing homes," he said. "Staff have done everything that they can. From PPE to testing to working so hard. We can't be blaming people because a highly contagious and deadly disease has made its way into a particular setting. Mr Donnelly said serial PCR testing had been taking place in nursing homes on "either end of the week", similar to the public health guidance around those coming into Ireland. "On rapid testing, I have two pieces of good news. The first is that two tests have been validated for use. "The HSE has bought and distributed half a million of those to healthcare workers. The second is that I've set up an expert group chaired by Professor Mark Ferguson, the country's chief scientific officer, on the expanded use of those." On vaccines, Mr Donnelly said the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) was working with the HSE to determine whether the AstraZeneca vaccine should be given to over 65s when it becomes available. The Tanaiste appeared to offer different advice on quarantine from Minister Donnelly for those who share homes when returning from international travel. When asked if a traveller could socialise with a flatmate who could then go to essential work, Mr Varadkar said: "Yeah, you could, bear in mind, the hierarchy risk at the moment. "So at the moment, if you're somebody who actually has tested positive, at the moment you're required to self-isolate, but if you're a close contact, you're required to restrict your movement so this is the equivalent of somebody who's close contact." A government spokesman clarified to the Irish Examiner, that if you are coming from high risk/variant countries, you are subject to a system of home quarantining at first, as hotels for mandatory quarantine are not ready, and travellers should isolate in their room where possible. If a traveller is coming from non-high-risk country, you can mix with household while in quarantine. Tanaiste rejects reports of concern over mandatory quarantine progress Tanaiste Leo Varadkar. Picture: Julien Behal Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has rejected reports he was concerned about the progress on the new rules for mandatory quarantine. The Attorney General over the last few days confirmed that primary legislation will be required for both when it comes to people coming from those high risk countries as well as people who aren't. "I would be afraid to live in a country that could detain anyone for 14 days against their will, without passing the law, so the fact that requires primary legislation is not a surprise to me anyway. Given our constitution and our human rights," Mr Varadkar said. "We only made a policy decision last week, as to do what we're going to do in terms of mandatory and home quarantine. "If you look back at the interviews that I did last week, I made it very clear that would take a few weeks to operationalize, and then we would need primary and secondary legislation so there's no surprise in that regard. "What I am keen to see is momentum, that we do put these new arrangements in place over the course of the next couple of weeks, because the time we're going to need the most impact is in a few weeks time, when we hope the number of cases will be low and that's where the risk of re-importation or receding is a greater one, Mr Varadkar made the point that of Tuesday's 800 positive cases, "none or a handful" were related to international travel. "But if we get down to the point, sometime in March or April, when we get new cases down to you know 15 or 20 or 10 or whatever, it's really at that point that the risk of re-importation becomes a major risk, as opposed to a risk and we need to make sure that we have all the arrangements in place " SHEFFIELD, Mass., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of a five-year collaboration have finally revealed themselves in Berkshire Mountain Distillers'(BMD) release of the Craft Brewers Whiskey Project (CBWP) a collective partnership which highlights a single-sourced craft brew from a dozen of the country's top brewers in the Northeast. Produced by the region's first legal distillery since prohibition, each whiskey will be blended to 86 proof using BMD's proprietary historic spring water in Sheffield and packaged in custom bottles with brewer-designed labels. Available now at the BMD tasting room, the first batch of Craft Brewers Whiskey was distilled from three popular Massachusetts-based brewers including UFO White Ale from Massachusetts Bay Brewing Co., Spencer Brewery's Trappist Ale and Big Elm Brewing's 413 Farmhouse Ale. "Whiskey is like beer's older cousin: it's taken more time to mature but comes from the same stock. So when Berkshire Mountain Distillers came to us more than four years ago with this project, we knew it'd be a fun way to collaborate with a local distiller to see what our beer could turn into," said Dan Kenary, CEO and co-founder of Massachusetts Bay Brewing Co. "The resulting whiskey does not disappoint." This limited collection of unique BMD spirits will be made available throughout 2021. Scheduled to be released in spring, a second set of three whiskeys will highlight Massachusetts-based brewers Boston Lager from Samuel Adams, Berkshire Brewing Company's Imperial Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale and Jack's Abby Craft Lagers' Smoke & Dagger Black Lager. Whiskey releases in summer and fall will feature celebrated craft brewers across four states including Brewery Ommegang, Captain Lawrence Brewing, Smuttynose Brewing, Long Trail Brewing Company, Two Roads Brewing and Chatham Brewing. Aged at the distillery since 2015, the whiskeys will be released in the order in which they were distilled. Being a limited collection, each whiskey will be sold in the BMD tasting room and then released to select stores and restaurants. For a listing of release dates and events, visit craftbrewerswhiskeyproject.com and follow Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The distillery, located at 356 South Main Street in Sheffield, is open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the BMD website. Click here for a copy of the CBWP poster. Additional photos available upon request. SOURCE Berkshire Mountain Distillers Related Links http://www.berkshiremountaindistillers.com SAN CARLOS, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IncellDx, a leading precision medicine diagnostics company, has filed patents for algorithms identifying immunologic profiles unique to COVID long haulers and patients with severe COVID. IncellDx has developed and patented two distinct algorithms using machine learning, built on a tailored panel of cytokines and chemokines specific for abnormalities in cytokine storm conditions and in chronic COVID patients (often referred to as COVID "long haulers"). These have been submitted for publication (pre-print available through BioRx https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.16.423122v1). The first algorithm generates a severity score based on analysis of hundreds of COVID-19 patients spanning the spectrum of disease severity from mild to critical. The second algorithm derived from the same cytokine/chemokine immune panel, demonstrates that the immunology of long haulers is distinct from active COVID-19. This objective algorithm offers the opportunity for precision medicine to be used by physicians as a guide in the care of COVID-19 patients. Bruce Patterson, M.D., CEO of IncellDx, commented that "Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IncellDx has led the way in using biomarkers to develop precision medicine approaches to therapy including the post-COVID-19 long haulers. A recent preprint of a meta-analysis suggests as many as 80% of individuals infected by COVID-19 may have at least one symptom long after infection." IncellDx, in collaboration with Drs. Ram Yogendra and Purvi Parikh, launched the website www.covidlonghaulers.com on January 29, 2021. The site will serve as a resource for patients and clinicians who are dealing with the long-term complications of COVID-19. The new COVID long hauler index and severity score will likely play an important role in providing clinicians with immunological information that will aid them in caring for these patients. Ram Yogendra, M.D. of the ECA Wellness Center, said that "through our research on chronic COVID, we recognize that there is a significant group of patients who have debilitating symptoms and complications weeks and months after the initial infection. We believe our long hauler index and treatment center are key steps in addressing this growing public health crisis." Purvi Parikh, M.D., Immunologist, Allergist and COVID -19 researcher, stated that "as with everything in this pandemic, many of the devastating and long-term side effects of this virus are mysterious and uncertain. So much attention is paid to the death rate, but we are missing those whose quality of life has been completely changed by this terrible virus. I am happy we are at the start of a journey to help find answers for these COVID patients who continue to struggle months later. " About IncellDx IncellDx, Inc., located in San Carlos, California, is a single-cell, molecular diagnostics company dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare, one cell at a time. By combining molecular diagnostics with high throughput cellular analysis, the company's focus is on critical life threatening diseases in the areas of COVID-19, infectious disease and oncology/immuno-oncology, i.e., cervical, head and neck, lung, bladder, breast and prostate cancers. CONTACT: Chris Meda, 650-777-7630 SOURCE IncellDx, Inc. Actor Hal Holbrook, Who Played Twain, Dead at 95 By The Associated Press NEW YORK - Hal Holbrook, the award-winning character actor who toured the world for more than 50 years as Mark Twain in a one-man show and uttered the immortal advice "Follow the money" in the classic political thriller "All the President's Men," has died. He was 95.Holbrook died on Jan. 23 in Beverly Hills, California, his representative, Steve Rohr, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.Actors across the spectrum mourned Holbrook's passing, including Bradley Whitford, who called him an "incredible actor" and Viola Davis, who wrote "RIP to the always wonderful Hal Holbrook."Holbrook pursued a busy career in theater, television and movies, winning five Emmys and a Tony. His more than two dozen film credits ranged from Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" to Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." He was a steady presence on TV as well, having appeared on such shows as "The West Wing," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Bones."But his most famous movie role was as a key source for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (played by Robert Redford) in the 1976 adaptation of "All the President's Men," the bestselling account by Woodward and fellow Post reporter Carl Bernstein about their investigation of Richard Nixon's administration and the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation.Holbrook played the mysterious informant "Deep Throat" (later revealed to be FBI official Mark Felt) who provided key information to Woodward. The most famous tip, uttered from the shadows of a parking garage "Follow the money" became an instant catchphrase but was never said in real life. The line was invented by screenwriter William Goldman."Follow the money" may have been his most famous film words, but Twain was his defining role. The association began in 1954 when an instructor at Ohio's Denison University gave Holbrook the role as part of a thesis assignment.Holbrook and his first wife, Ruby Johnson, later created a two-person show, playing characters from Shakespeare to Twain. After their daughter, Victoria, was born, he started working on a one-man Twain show while working on the soap opera "The Brighter Day."Holbrook, raised in Cleveland, was 29 when he first performed as Twain (who was portrayed as 70) and eventually developed the role into a two-act, one-man show called "Mark Twain Tonight!," taking it to schools, nightclubs and theaters. He took it to Broadway three times 1966, 1977 and 2005 and won a Tony Award as best dramatic actor for the 1966 version."The truth is that he's been wonderful company," Holbrook told The Plain Dealer newspaper in 2017. "It would be an understatement to say I like him. He never ceases to amaze me. Even after all these years, I'm still stunned by his insight into the human character. So much of what he had to say more than 100 years ago is right on the money for today."In 1959, after years of honing his material in small towns, Holbrook debuted his Twain at an off-Broadway theater in New York to high critical praise. "Mr. Holbrook's material is uproarious, his ability to hold an audience by acting is brilliant," said The New York Times. The New Yorker called it a "dazzling display of virtuosity."Holbrook would tour as Twain with the writer's familiar white suit and white hair whenever he wasn't busy with other acting jobs. He would update the show to fit the times and performed the role by his account some 2,200 times. He hung up the white suit in 2017."He did a ton of work over the years, never less than first-rate, but the Twain performances approached perfection, and they will stay with me forever," tweeted Michael McKean.He was meticulous in his preparations, taking as long as 3 1/2 hours to don his makeup and insisting on oversized stage furniture so that, at 6 feet tall, he wouldn't appear larger than the 5-feet-8 1/2-inch Twain was. He read books by and about the author and scoured newspaper files in search of interviews with Twain and stories about his lecture tours.During a performance on the open-sided stage at Wolf Trap near Vienna, Virginia, lightning flashed and thunder cracked just as Holbrook reached toward the humidor for a cigar. He scuttled backward. A roar of laughter followed. Holbrook looked out over his glasses at the audience. When he could be heard again, he spoke: "He wasn't talking to you."Over the years, Holbrook took "Mark Twain Tonight!" to numerous foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia. His audiences included Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Carter.When he wasn't portraying Twain, Holbrook showed impressive versatility. He was Burt Reynolds' crotchety father-in-law in the 1990s TV series "Evening Shade." He appeared as Abraham Lincoln in two different miniseries on the 16th president and won one of his Emmys for the title role in the 1970-71 TV series "The Senator."Other notable stage credits included "After the Fall," "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" and "I Never Sang for My Father." In 2008, at age 82, he received his first Oscar nomination for playing a lonely widower who befriends young wanderer Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) in director Sean Penn's "Into the Wild."In 1980, he met actress Dixie Carter when both starred in the TV movie "The Killing of Randy Webster." Although attracted to one another, each had suffered two failed marriages and they were wary at first. They finally wed in 1984, two years before Carter landed the role of Julia Sugarbaker on the long-running TV series "Designing Women." Holbrook appeared on the show regularly in the late 1980s as her boyfriend, Reese Watson. She died in 2010. Holbrook was reportedly buried next to her in her hometown of McLemoresville, Tennessee.Holbrook had two children, Victoria and David, with his first wife, and a daughter, Evie, from his second marriage to actress Carol Rossen. He was stepfather to Mary Dixie Carter and Ginna Carter. WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer's plan for $25 billion in grants for struggling restaurants will be included in the COVID-19 relief bill that Congress is preparing to pass in the next few weeks. "Restaurants and bars, like our arts venues, are the places that suffered the most because when people can't go out, they don't go to restaurants," Schumer, D-N.Y., told the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce on Friday. "They need special help, not just the small business help. ... It's one of my very highest priorities." The new program is intended to lift the restaurant industry one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic with grants tied to revenue losses. More than 110,000 restaurants have closed around the country and others are just scraping by. Nancy Bambera, vice president and chief operating officer of DZ Restaurants, which operate three locations in Saratoga Springs, said her revenues are down 50 percent compared to last year, although they've been serving takeout and diners at limited capacity. If this grant were to get passed, it would be a lifeline for many restaurants that cant survive right now," Bambera said. The grant program run by the Small Business Administration would be available to food or drinking establishments that are not part of a chain or franchise operating more than 20 locations doing business under the same name, according to an aide. The grants would cover the difference between a restaurant's revenues in 2019 and revenues in 2020. A cap on the size of the grants has not yet been set. Restaurants could use the grants to cover payroll, mortgages or rent, to set up outdoor seating, provide personal protective equipment, employee paid leave, food and other supplies, or cover debt and other expenses, the aide said. Businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program loans are expected to be eligible. Details of the program are still being finalized. Schumer acknowledged the program is "expensive," but he argued closure of thousands of mom-and-pop restaurants was more harmful to the economy. During the pandemic, the hardest-hit businesses have been the leisure and hospitality sector as well as low-wage and less-educated workers and people of color, the New York Federal Reserve reported in December. Across the region, leisure and hospitality businesses like restaurants, bars and hotels lost the most jobs more than 750,000 from February to April. About 50 percent of those jobs had returned as of October. Restaurants already received some special consideration from Congress, which in December allowed restaurants to get larger second-draw forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans than other business types. But many restaurant owners have been reluctant to take the PPP loans, said Jason Pierce, head of the Albany Restaurant Association. I think you have a tremendous number of restaurant owners who have been hesitant to take advantage of the PPP for fear that they might be required to pay back those funds and youre talking about people who are already in debt because of COVID, said Pierce, who owns Savoy Taproom in Albany, which is currently open only for takeout, and is developing a second Albany restaurant. "Restaurants need a bailout. Schumer has been working on approving more targeted relief for restaurants for months through various legislative proposals. The $25 billion program is far smaller than the $120 billion program that Democrats proposed and restaurant groups advocated for this summer and the U.S. House of Representatives approved in an earlier coronavirus relief bill. Similarly, he championed legislation that established a grant program to help performing arts venues in the most recently passed COVID-19 package. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have already taken steps to pass Democrats' $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal through a budget process called reconciliation, which would not require Republican votes. GOP members countered Monday with a $600 billion proposal, which Democrats have dismissed as too small. Passing the $1.9 trillion plan is a top priority for President Joe Biden. "We hope Republicans will join us, but we are not going to dilute this," Schumer said of the coronavirus package. "We are moving forward under the reconciliation. That is what President Biden wants us to do and that is what we're doing." Gov. Gavin Newsom watches as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is prepared by Director of Inpatient Pharmacy David Cheng at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles on Dec. 14, 2020. (Jae C. Hong-Pool/Getty Images) Newsom, Biden Administration Announce COVID-19 Vaccine Site at Cal State LA LOS ANGELESGov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration announced a pilot project Feb. 3 that will establish a community COVID-19 vaccination site at Cal State Los Angeles. The pilot site is part of the wider effort to establish 100 vaccination sites nationwide in the Biden administrations first 100 days. The Cal State Los Angeles sitealong with a similar site at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseumwill be co-run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state of California through the governors Office of Emergency Services. In the fight against COVID-19, partnership is key, especially when it comes to reaching Californians in underserved areas, Newsom said. These new sites will help us get available supply to some of the California communities most in need. I thank the Biden administration for standing with us as we continue our efforts to safely, swiftly and equitably vaccinate all Californians. Acting FEMA Administrator Bob Fenton said Feb. 3 the two California sites are perfect examples of how FEMA is working around the clock to support state led, federally supported vaccine delivery. Todays announcement is a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to ensure every American who wants a vaccine will receive a vaccine. FEMA will provide resources and federal staffing support, as well as operational support. Cal State L.A. is ready to work with President Joe Biden, Governor Gavin Newsom and their administrations to provide badly needed vaccinations, said Jose Gomez, the universitys executive vice president and provost. Our students and alumni live in communities with some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates per capita in Los Angeles County. Officials said the two California locations were chosen because theyre in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are home to essential workers who have borne the brunt of keeping the economy open over the past year. We are grateful to President Biden and Governor Newsom for marshaling federal and state resources to significantly increase our ability to vaccinate our residents in Los Angeles County, said Hilda Solis, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Our county and in particular our Latinx residents have been absolutely devastated by COVID-19. Establishing this large scale federal-state community vaccination center on the Cal State L.A. campus, in the heart of Los Angeles County and in a hard-hit community, is a welcome signal that we are ramping up at the federal, state, and local level with the practical, boots-on-the-ground solutions we need to put an end to this deadly pandemic. Preparations for both locations is underway, and the sites are expected to be open to eligible members of the public beginning Feb. 16. Registration for vaccine appointments at the Cal State L.A. site will be available online. A lawyer for TV presenter Andrew O'Keefe has claimed his doctor girlfriend 'has a lot to answer for' - as it can be revealed the Seven host had a second encounter with police hours after he allegedly assaulted his lover. O'Keefe's solicitor, Claudette Chua, appeared briefly at a court in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Thursday to defend the star from claims he assaulted girlfriend Dr Orlee Lavee on Saturday evening. 'I have had the opportunity to review the facts of the matter and I will say this: Mr O'Keefe certainly was not the aggressor in this situation and Dr Lavee will have a lot to answer for,' Ms Chau said outside court. It comes as Daily Mail Australia can reveal police and paramedics attended O'Keefe's home on Sunday evening just hours after he was charged and granted police bail. Andrew O'Keefe's lawyer has claimed his alleged victim 'has a lot to answer for' as he fights a common assault charge. Daily Mail Australia can reveal police and paramedics attended his home on Sunday evening and took him to hospital for assessment, hours following the incident at his girlfriend's Randwick unit O'Keefe's defence lawyer Claudette Chua (centre) made a statement to media outside court Emergency services were seen at The Chase game show host's two bedroom unit in Sydney's Paddington. A NSW Police source confirmed that O'Keefe was taken to hospital for assessment. A neighbour said that the popular Seven Network presenter was in the company of police and taken away in an ambulance, claiming he was in handcuffs. In court documents, police alleged that O'Keefe assaulted his partner between 11pm and 11.30pm on Saturday night. Police attended Dr Lavee's Randwick home about 1am, a statement said. O'Keefe was arrested on a nearby street at 3.30am and taken to Maroubra police station. There, he was charged with common assault (domestic violence related) at 9.41am, after six hours in custody. He was granted conditional bail and banned from approaching Dr Lavee under the terms of a provisional apprehended violence order. The callout to Paddington occurred hours later. Dr Orly Lavee was allegedly assaulted between 11pm and 11.30pm on Saturday evening A source close to O'Keefe previously told News Corp that the star was receiving medical treatment in the wake of the weekend's events. 'Andrew is receiving medical treatment in the wake of the incident,' the source was quoted saying. 'He will be defending the charge.' O'Keefe has checking into rehab on several occasions recently and was forced to take a break from The Chase after suffering 'emotional exhaustion'. The former Weekend Sunrise host and his wife Eleanor divorced in 2019 and he made headlines that year for swatting a photographer away with a folder. But he found a new lover in haemotologist Dr Lavee last year and at one point said he was in a 'good place'. Seven confirmed this week that his The Chase contract wasn't renewed at the end of last year and O'Keefe is 'no longer with the network'. The former intellectual property lawyer is perhaps best known as the host of former hit Deal or No Deal. He is the son of NSW Supreme Court Justice Barry O'Keefe and nephew of rock star Johnny O'Keefe. Ms Chua said she wasn't in a position to seek full instructions from O'Keefe about the assault charge 'at such short notice'. O'Keefe supplied a medical certificate showing why he could not appear at Waverley Court today. The case was adjourned for until January 18. Dr Lavee was approached for comment about Ms Chua's remarks. For confidential crisis support, call: Lifeline on 13 11 14. For domestic violence support, call 1800 RESPECT. Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 Boris Johnson today warned that Britain cannot shut its borders completely to prevent mutant coronavirus strains getting in as he denied ignoring SAGE advice. The PM insisted closing off the country altogether was 'not practical' as he clashed bitterly with Keir Starmer in the Commons this afternoon. The Labour leader demanded to know why ministers had not followed the views of scientists two weeks ago that a 'pre-emptive closure of borders or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival' was the only way to stem the flow of variants. But Mr Johnson said the UK had one of the 'toughest regimes in the world' and stressed that 'quarantine hotels' are being brought in for high-risk countries - although he did not indicate when. 'It is not practical completely to close off this country as he seems to be suggesting. What is practical to do is have one of the toughest regimes in the world and to get on with vaccinating the people of this country,' the premier said. The exchanges came after Matt Hancock said UK border rules will get tougher to protect against emerging strains. 'We are also looking to strengthen measures in particular for those countries that have the highest risk,' he said in a round of interviews. But amid fresh signs of tensions in Cabinet, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps struck a different tone as he gave evidence to MPs. He insisted the UK could not do a full Australia-style lockdown with blanket 'hotel quarantine' rules because it was an 'island' and needed food imports. On suggestions the 'red list' of travel ban countries will be expanded, Mr Shapps told the transport committee: 'It might go to more in the future... we simply don't know until the virus decides what it wants to do.' The government moved to bolster the border regime last week, announcing that the ban on travellers from 33 'hotspot' countries will be tightened so returning Britons and the few other permitted individuals will have to go into 'quarantine hotels' at their own expense for 10 days. But the plan was the subject of an extraordinary Cabinet tussle, with Priti Patel and Mr Hancock among those pushing for even tougher action. Ministers will meet tomorrow to consider expanding the 'red list' - which includes South Africa, South America and Portugal as well as the UAE. Officials have also been looking at tightening exemptions to the travel rules, amid concerns that some are being exploited by people seeking to get around the holiday ban. Boris Johnson insisted closing off the country altogether was 'not practical' as he clashed bitterly with Keir Starmer in the Commons this afternoon The border crackdown comes amid fears the South African variant is already loose in the UK, and other more potent mutant strains could lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine drive. PIctured, Heathrow Airport Health Secretary Matt Hancock (left) defended the current 'stringent' measures - but made clear that even harsher arrangements are in the pipeline. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps (right) struck a different tone as he gave evidence to MPs On suggestions the 'red list' of travel ban countries will be expanded, Mr Shapps told the transport committee: 'It might go to more in the future... we simply don't know until the virus decides what it wants to do.' Fears have been mounting that the South African variant is already loose in the UK, and other more potent mutant strains could lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine drive. Senior Tories have joined Labour in calling for the countries covered by the restrictions to be widened, and Nicola Sturgeon turned up the heat yesterday by announcing Scotland will unilaterally force all arrivals to quarantine. In a direct attack on the Prime Minister's strategy, the First Minister said it would not work and called on him to mirror her approach, telling MSPs at Holyrood: 'The firm view of the Scottish Government is that in order to minimise the risk of new strains coming into the country, managed quarantine must be much more comprehensive.' Mr Hancock played down alarm that minister rejected SAGE advice on the need for a border crackdown, saying scientists wanted 'mandatory isolation' for arrivals and that is what had been introduced. 'I am up for strengthening that further and we are looking at that,' he added. However, he repeatedly refused to give any schedule for the introduction of 'quarantine hotels', amid fear that the policy is still weeks away from being ready to implement. Mr Hancock said: 'The government brought in mandatory self-isolation for every passenger coming into this country... now you have to isolate wherever you've come from.' Asked about the quarantine hotel plan he said: 'Obviously we are working on those proposals.' The Cabinet minister went on: 'Of course we are always looking to strengthen these things but we already have very stringent measures at the border.' But Mr Shapps seemed far more reticent as he was grilled by MPs this morning. 'People say ''why don't we just close down and then we'll be safe?'',' he said. 'But, of course, we wouldn't be safe, because we are an island nation unlike Australia or something which is an entire continent and that means that we need to get medicines in, we need to get food in, we need to get our raw materials in, sometimes we have to move people around, scientists and others. 'If we weren't doing these things then we simply wouldn't be combating this crisis. In fact, specifically we wouldn't have had things like the medicines that we've needed or indeed the vaccinations, some of which are manufactured in Europe, only 20 miles away at its closest point.' He added: 'The idea that the UK could completely button down its hatches and remain buttoned down for a year is mistaken. 'But also the evidence that that is the only thing that you need to do, or even the primary thing you need to do, is also pretty shaky.' A leaked Sage document from last month warned that 'geographically targeted travel bans' would not be enough to stop new strains entering the country. Labour seized on the warning, saying ministers should now force all travellers arriving in the UK to undergo ten days of supervised quarantine in hotels. Labour veteran Dame Angela Eagle said the Government had done 'too little and too late to stop the spread of this new and dangerous variant in the UK.' But Downing Street insisted Sage backed Government's proposals. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'Sage did not actually advise the Government to completely close borders or call for a blanket quarantine on travels.Their modelling showed a combination of specific policy options including pre-departure testing and isolation are effective in mitigating the public health risk.' Arrivals from 'red list' countries are set to have to isolate in hotels at their own expense. It is not known if this hotel will be involved in the scheme, which is still being hammered out However, some Tory MPs joined the calls for a tightening of controls to prevent the arrival of Covid strains resistant to the vaccine. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'We are doing a fantastic job in rolling out the vaccine, but there is no point heating the house and leaving the windows open.' Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News: 'I think we should have done this much earlier, but I am pleased that we are doing something. 'I think it is absolutely right that we are bringing in hotel quarantine. 'The trouble with just doing it for a few countries is that someone coming to the UK from Brazil could go via numerous other countries. 'It is very difficult if you restrict it to a small number of countries. So we might need to expand that list significantly as we go forward.' The Cabinet Office is also conducting an urgent review of exemptions from the travel restrictions. One Whitehall source said: 'The exemptions are drawn too widely. At the moment, for example, people can go abroad to look for a holiday home and some are using that to get round the rules on holidays. 'We have got to reduce the flow of arrivals right down. We are making it really tough to travel, but we need to make it even tougher.' vivo S9 to arrive on March 6 as the first Dimensity 1100-powered phone President Klaus Iohannis received on Wednesday visiting Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, with the two officials emphasizing the excellent bilateral relation marked this year by the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Romania and the Kingdom of Spain, the Presidential Administration informs in a release. The Romanian head of state expressed the desire to further strengthen and diversify this cooperation, based on the Strategic Partnership that underlies the bilateral relationship. President Iohannis said that the organization this year of the first joint government meeting will be an opportunity to identify new areas of enhanced cooperation between Romania and the Kingdom of Spain, and stressed, in particular, the need to intensify economic cooperation, mainly by increasing the Spanish investment presence in Romania to an extent that reflects the high level of political dialogue and the strong ties between the two countries, the cited source said. The head of the state also reiterated the importance of the strong Romanian community in Spain, which had a substantive contribution to strengthening the ties between the two countries; Klaus Iohannis also welcomed the way the Spanish authorities have facilitated the integration of the Romanian diaspora. In her turn, Arancha Gonzalez Laya highlighted the important contribution of the Romanian community to the development of the Spanish economy and society. A series of topics on the European and international agenda were also discussed during the meeting, with the shared strategic visions of Romania and the Kingdom of Spain on major issues of common interest being reconfirmed, the Presidency states. At European level, the two interlocutors underlined that the implementation of the 2021 - 2027 Multiannual Financial Framework and of the European Recovery Plan is essential for the re-entering a path of solid economic growth and the operationalization of the double, digital and climate transition. In this context, Klaus Iohannis pointed out that this financial package is only part of the effort the member states need to make in order to build a European Union that is adapted to the 21st century, a resilient, green, digitized Union that is an increasingly important global actor. From the perspective of two states at the two ends of the continent, the Romanian President and the Spanish Foreign Minister stressed that the security and prosperity of the EU are inextricably linked to those of the neighboring states, both eastern and southern ones. In terms of security, Klaus Iohannis welcomed Spain's contribution to strengthening NATO's presence on the Alliance's eastern flank, and also stressed that Romania will continue to act as a strong supporter of the partnership between the EU and the US, which is vital for the security and prosperity of the European continent. AGERPRES Clever business ideas tend to involve a little bit of alchemyturning an annoyance into an opportunity, lead into gold. Early last year, entrepreneur Leo Seigal was helping his friend, buzzy Los Angelesbased designer Jake Arnold, with his Instagram account, and had a thought: Why not turn an overstuffed, unmanageable inbox into a revenue stream? I couldnt believe how many people were DMing him! Every week he would get hundreds of messages from people asking, What should I do with my curtains? Seigal tells Business of Home. My thought was, How do we create a model so that you can help all these people? To test the idea, Seigal pretended to be Arnolds assistant and scheduled a Zoom call with a curious Instagram fan, charging $400 for an hourlong consultation. The price didnt raise an eyebrow, and the client loved it. It went so well that Jake was like, We need to make this into a real platform, theres money to be made here, says Seigal. Almost a year later, the two are launching The Expert, essentially a streamlined, branded version of that early Zoom call. (Its also more expensive: Arnold has upped his rate to $1,250 for an hour.) To provide the design firepower, theyve assembled a murderers row of talent, ranging from Martyn Lawrence Bullard to Leanne Ford to Bobby Berk. At the same time, another L.A.-based entrepreneur, Raad Mobrem, is launching a platform, Intro, with a slightly different spin on the same concept. Together, the two new ventures represent a potential new path forward for the burgeoning e-design industryone that takes the radical step of making designers themselves the most valuable asset. Theres nothing revolutionary about the concept behind The Expert. Last year, as the pandemic shut down in-person meetings and temporarily killed the pipeline for new business, thousands of designers across the country scrambled to find a way to offer virtual services. Some developed a complex process, with digital mood boards and renderings. But, others, like Arnold, simply booked video chats. The idea and the underlying technology are not new. However, by bringing serious star power to the table and streamlining an ad hoc process into a modern e-commerce experience, Arnold and Seigal have struck on a formula they believe has serious legs. Their concept gets at the heart of what people really want from a virtual design experience. Is it a beautiful rendering and a shoppable list of product, or direct access to a design world celebrity? Designer Jake Arnold conducting a consultation via The Expert Courtesy of The Expert There are e-design platforms out there where a random designer in a random place will design a room for youwere very much not one of them, says Seigal. People dont want an e-design service. They follow Jake, they follow Martyn Lawrence Bullard. They want the AD100, Elle Decor A-List designer. They admire their work. The designers on our platform are the ones whose work is on all of our clients inspiration boards. What happens when you build a service around delivering access to top designers? A radically simple platform. The Expert allows clients to browse designers (there are currently 71 on the site) and schedule and pay for a 55-minute consultation via Zoom. Thats it. There are no 3D renderings, no purchasing engines, no checklists of product and no shipping logistics. The site doesnt get involved in purchasing at all. It simply sets up a Zoom appointment and gets out of the way. So far, the results have been encouraging. The Expert soft-launched last fall, and though Seigal declined to provide exact figures, he says the platform has generated six figures in revenue, without spending a dime on marketing. (One of the ingenious aspects of the platform is that the experts come with a significant built-in audience.) In that span, Arnold has conducted more than 30 sessions with remote clients, some as far-flung as Sweden and some as nearby as Brentwood. While the extra revenue is nice, he says one of the happy surprises has been working with superfan clientsa factor that is part of the appeal for designers who are already doing fine financially. Ive always said that I hate that I can only reach out to a certain amount of people, he says. [These consultations] are like what I do every day, but instead of having to do presentations or maybe [the client] is uncertain, these people are holding on to every word I have to say because they have an hour to speak! Theyre taking notes, fully taking in what I have to say. Seigal and Arnold say theyve built the platform with the trade in mind. Designers set their own availabilities and determine their own process for working with clients. Theyre also free to set their own rate (the site takes a 20 percent commission on the fee). Given that many of the featured designers are fairly busy, Seigal says he advised The Experts experts to pick a rate that made them feel comfortable taking time out of their day. The result is some fairly steep pricing. An hour of Bullards time will cost customers $1,500. Ford and Michael S. Smith command the same rate. Admittedly, there's more affordable designers on the platform, but by and large, The Expert is not cheap. Thats partially by design, say Seigal and Arnold, as they want the brand to retain an air of luxury and exclusivity. However, they say that what justifies the price and sets The Expert apart from apps like Cameo is that customers are buying actionable information, not just celebrity access. Sometimes people message, I want to do a session with Jake but thats more than a top lawyer in Manhattan. Why is an hour worth $1,000? says Seigal. The honest answer is that its not about the hour, but everything Jake tells you. The furniture he tells you to buy and not to buy, and all the tips and tricks. He saves people tens of thousands of dollars because they spent that $1,000 getting their questions answered by a true expert. Its an investment. While Arnold and Seigal come to their venture from a design industry perspective, Mobrem is approaching the model from a Silicon Valley mindset, with serious tech bona fides. In the early teens he founded an enterprise software company called Lettuce, which was acquired in 2014 by Intuit and went on to become the basis for QuickBooks online. A couple of years ago, he began working on a new startup, one that would help groups of like-minded people connect and meet up in real life. Then 2020 happened, and the venture hit some obvious roadblocks. Fortunately, he had another idea in his back pocket. I was setting up my home here [in Los Angeles], and I liked doing it myself, but I had so many little questions, he tells BOH. I didnt have an interior designer I could reach out to, and I was thinking, How cool would it be to have someone to get quick advice? Mobrem began developing Intro, which soft-launched late last year. The apps basic format is simple: Users create an account, log in, and browse a marketplace of experts in various categorieswellness, style and beauty, astrology and home decor. They can then schedule and book a 15-minute consultation with their chosen expert (the functionality to book longer consultations is forthcoming). Intro connects clients to designers to get quick advice via video chat Courtesy of Intro The decor category, which Mobrem says is the platforms most popular, currently has seven designers in it, including Nate Berkus, Raili Clasen and Shawn Henderson. Prices range from $39 per session up to $150. (Mobrem says the platform pays designers a percentage of the fee, but declined to provide an exact amount.) Its a pure marketplace. Designers can set their own prices and set their own availability. I think of this as a complementary solutionits not one thats going to replace their main business, but if designers open themselves up to bookings on the platform, theyre getting bookings, he says. Intro is similar in theory to The Expert, but the execution is quite different. Mobrems platform is more mobile-oriented, and the payment, scheduling and video chat are all native to the appcustomers dont have to use Zoom to connect with their chosen expert. It has far fewer design stars, but a more sleek consumer interface. Put simply: Intro feels much more like a product of Silicon Valley than La Cienega. No surprise, then, that Mobrem wants to scale the platform, in every direction. Within the design world, his goal is to allow essentially any designer to use the app to book a consultation with a client. (Intro is currently accepting applications.) If it gets traction, the end result would be a massive marketplace. The most popular and well-rated designers would be elevated and promoted by the platform, while the vast majority would use the app to conduct individual transactions with clients who pop up in their DMs. (The idea being: Sorry, cant take on new projects right now, but hit me up on Intro!) Mobrem sees huge room for growth far beyond the lifestyle categories he has currently staked out. We want to become the place for people to connect and get exceptional advice about anything, he says. The goal is to give everyone access to anyone. Although the two platforms have clear similarities, their underlying propositions are very different. The Expert brings star power and elite cache. Its, in essence, an exclusive club. Clients will pay a premium to buy into it, and other designers will likely hustle to try and get a membership. In that sense, The Expert may ultimately end up being a very healthy revenue stream to a small number of designers. It also may prove difficult to scale. After all, the more members a club has, the less exclusive it starts to feel. (Arnold and Seigal say theyre planning a MasterClass-like education program that will make their experts insights accessible at a lower price to a wider range of customers.) Mobrems creation has less celebrity sizzle and a more democratic model. It may prove more difficult, in an open marketplace like Intro, for a designer to charge $1,500 for an hour of their time. However, the platform may ultimately make it easier for a larger number of working designers to painlessly book consultations. Its possible that both Intro and The Expert can take off and coexist, or that this will be a zero-sum game, or that other entrepreneurs will enter and win the space, or that Facebook will copy the model or acquire everything. Tech entrepreneurship is unpredictable that way. Whatever happens, the platformization of the video chat model for e-design is probably a net good for designers. Heres why. Forget the drama of Laurel & Wolf, forget the millions backing Havenly and Modsy, forget the sad collapse of Homepolish. At base, shaping an e-design business is not much different than a traditional, in-person firm: You have to figure out whether you make most of your money on the design part or the shopping part. Most major platforms are doing the latter. They offer aggressively priced room designs (sometimes as low as $79) and then hope to make a margin on what the customer buys. The end result is a business model that's always going to exert downward pressure on what designers are paid. Sites like Intro and The Expert are the exact opposite. The appeal for clients isnt a hyperrealistic 3D model of a living room or a great deal on a sofa. Its the skill, knowledge and empathy of the designer on the other end of the call. While tech platforms will always have their own incentives, if video consultations become the dominant version of online design, designers may finally be able to claim a bigger slice of the e-design pie. At the very least, they wont be replaced by AI. Who wants to book a Zoom chat with an algorithm? Homepagephoto: A design by Studio Jake Arnold | Jonathan Hokklo Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related and global top news as of 03.02.2021: Protests have been held Wednesday in Yerevan demanding Prime Nikol Pashinyan's resignation, while the parliament was holding a special session. The citizens were marching from the Armenian parliament's building to the main building of the government. The protests ended in Republic Square, at the heart of the capital Yerevan. Police forcibly apprehended several people during this protest, including Gegham Manukyan, a member of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation-ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party. At Wednesdays special session of parliament, the Armenian MPs passed a number of law initiatives in the first reading. These include a package of bills on amendments to the Judicial Code. During the session, the minister of justice Rustam Badasyan noted that the amendments to the Judicial Code propose to separate the oversight over the inter-judicial trial from the examination of the case. Meanwhile, the protests held on Wednesday were aimed exactly against this bill as the initiative proposes to create a special court on issuing arrests. Thus the opposition is sure that this initiative will help the authorities to take the power of the court and arrest the opposition representatives. Azerbaijan has canceled search operations planned in Fizuli, Jabrayil in Nagorno-Karabakh. Meanwhile, the Armenian side found one soldier's body yesterday in Hadrut. To date, the bodies of 1,355 fallen servicemen and civilians have been retrieved. On Tuesday, the Artsakh defense army has reported 116 more casualties of the Armenian side, thus bringing the total number to 2,123. Over the past three years, about 82,000 Armenian citizens have received Russian citizenship. Dividing this by years, it will turn out that in 2018 over 27,000 people have been issued Russian passports, in 201924,000, and in 2020about 31,000 people. Russia has decided to resume air communication with Armenia as of February 15 and on a reciprocal basis. Accordingly, there will be four flights a week between Moscow and Yerevan. South Australia state has recognized Artsakh, condemning Azerbaijan and Turkey. South Australia became the second state in Australia to recognize the rights to self-determination of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). They condemned Azerbaijan and Turkey for their invasion of the country's indigenous Armenians. A 30-year-old mother-to-be died in Yerevan in circumstances yet unknown. Bella Arshakyan, sister of the deceased mother-to-be Nelly Arshakyan, told NEWS.am that Nelly had no health issues. According to her, Nelly called her husband, telling him that had been given an injection, after which her condition sharply deteriorated. "At dawn, my sister died," she added. The clinic, in turn, noted that the woman had suffered some health issues. And based on the diagnosis, she received contraceptive treatment at the clinic. According to them, her spouse was informed of the life-threatening danger to the fetus and the need for urgent abortion. A Moscow court sent Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny to prison for more than two and a half years, prompting protests all over the country. Alexey Navalny was detained two weeks ago upon his return to Moscow from Berlin, where he spent several months recovering from poisoning -an attack he blames on Russian security services and on Russian president Vladimir Putin himself. The court ruled that while Navalny was in Germany, he violated probation terms from a 2014 case in which he had received a suspended sentence of 3,5 years. analysis The toyi-toyi is a high-kneed, foot-stomping dance, rhythmically punctuated by exhaled chants and call and response. It can be observed at almost any kind of protest in South Africa and Zimbabwe today. In South Africa, university students toyi-toyi when they protest against fees, while township residents might toyi-toyi when they object to the presence of 'foreigners'. In Zimbabwe, the opposition party toyi-toyis to protest the ruling party's abuses, while ruling party supporters might toyi-toyi when they want to evict white farmers. Where did this 'dance' come from? Many people associate it with the South African township protests of the 1980s, when young men toyi-toyied as they confronted police or attended political funerals and protests. These images filled the world's TV screens, becoming one of the most recognisable performances of the anti-apartheid struggle. But its origins are in fact much further away, and they tell us about a much longer, global history of political and military struggle. This story played out across Africa, moving from north to south, all the way from Algeria to South Africa, with stops in Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and Zimbabwe along the way. Military camps We explored this history in our research. Our interest in the toyi-toyi did not come from its recent uses, but from our efforts to understand the liberation armies that fought against colonial and white minority rule in every southern African country from the 1960s. These armies have an extraordinary history shaped by the alliances of the Cold War era. They were made up of mostly young men, who left their rural homesteads and townships for training camps that might be in the Soviet Union or Cuba, Algeria or Tanzania, Angola or Zambia. We wanted to understand what this experience was like and what kinds of armies it made. We focused on 'military culture' - that is, the ideas, practices and traditions that give an army character and meaning for soldiers - and how it was instilled through training in all these different places. The toyi-toyi proved a great way of understanding how these men learned what it meant to be a soldier, and how those ideas were transmitted over thousands of kilometres and through dozens of military camps. When the toyi-toyi eventually arrived in South Africa's townships it was something very different from what it had been at the start of its long journey. Algerian roots We interviewed members of the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZPRA, also referred to as Zipra, the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union or Zapu). We learned that the toyi-toyi's origins were located in the training camps set up to support African liberation movements in Algeria in the mid-1960s. Toyi-toyi was thought to be an Arabic phrase and it formed part of the songs and chants that recruits learned. For them, the toyi-toyi was a military drill - certainly not a 'dance' - that they associated with achieving the high level of toughness and fitness required to survive guerrilla war. Its foreign language chants and novel movements expressed the international character of the armed liberation struggle itself. From Algeria, the toyi-toyi moved southward, through training camps in Tanzania and then into Zambia, and in the process it changed. Zimbabwean nationalism It began to take on a nationalist character - the Arabic slogans were replaced with slogans in Zimbabwe's main languages and they were refocused around expressions of loyalty to the party and its leader. This was at a time when there were many divisions that threatened the movement. The toyi-toyi became a way of instilling loyalty and discipline as well as physical strength as many more soldiers started to fight inside Zimbabwe. The military toyi-toyi required hours of high-kneed running in difficult terrain while carrying heavy packs and weapons. ZPRA veterans told us how they had suffered from the toyi-toyi's demands but they also stressed that it had given them tremendous pride in their toughness and helped them to face the terrible demands of the battlefield. They remembered the toyi-toyi as an essential part of their military culture. The toyi-toyi had, however, a different standing in other liberation armies. We can see how the toyi-toyi tells us about how military cultures were remade over time in one army - it can also tell us about how such cultures were transmitted from one liberation army to another. The toyi-toyi arrives in South Africa The main South African liberation army, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), learned the toyi-toyi from ZPRA, in shared military camps in Angola and Zambia and on the Zimbabwean battlefield. The spread of the toyi-toyi in MK shows how extensive these interactions were. But MK soldiers had very different reactions to it. Some denounced the toyi-toyi as a mindless, brutal physical exercise and blamed it for instituting a repressive military culture in MK. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Southern Africa Arms and Armies By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. These critical views of the toyi-toyi did not stop it from spreading throughout MK camps in Angola and from there southwards again into South Africa. One of the main routes for the toyi-toyi's arrival in the South African townships was through MK soldiers who had been captured, held in the infamous Robben Island prison and subsequently released in South Africa. These men were heroes to many young people in the townships. Performing the toyi-toyi was a means through which young men and women could link their protest to the glories of the armed struggle - now in the form of an at times joyous, at times menacing 'dance' rather than a military drill. The toyi-toyi has continued to change its meanings - it has taken on many different political roles for people with no connection to the liberation struggles. By tracing its journey, we can learn how liberation movements' militaries were made - and also how they spread into a much wider political culture which remains significant today. Jocelyn Alexander, Professor, University of Oxford and JoAnn McGregor, Professor, University of Sussex The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Expectations grow for new KCCI chairman SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was chosen Monday as the new head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). He will succeed incumbent Chairman Park Yong-maan after being confirmed at the chamber's general meeting later this month. This marks the first time that the KCCI will be led by a top executive from one of the country's four largest conglomerates Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG. Currently, it is the top business organization for lobbying the government, and is composed of 73 regional chambers of commerce representing 180,000 members from big businesses to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Until 2016, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) was the most influential lobbying group thanks to strong support from the top four chaebol. But the big four quit the FKI in 2017 after the organization was implicated in a political scandal surrounding former President Park Geun-hye. With the FKI losing its power, the KCCI gained traction. Companies' expectations for Chey, 60, are high, given the numerous challenges and uncertainties confronting him amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Needless to say, his biggest task is to inject fresh vigor into the business circle. Our companies are required to remain globally competitive in such new growth industries as electric vehicles, renewable energy and biotechnology. Park Yong-maan praised Chey for being the right fit for the future during the transition period into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Chey also should play the role of "mouthpiece" for businesses gallantly in the face of political power, taking into account that companies are being stifled with cumbersome regulations under the incumbent administration. Under his leadership, SK Group increased its assets to 200 trillion won ($179 billion) from 32 trillion won in 2016, and its ranking jumped from fifth to third. Given this prowess he has shown in management, we have no doubt that Chey will do his utmost to boost win-win cooperation between large companies and SMEs. The Vice Chancellor at Ulster University (UU) has told Derry councillors that under the current funding model it will not be possible to deliver the long-promised target of 10,000 students at the Magee campus. This week UU confirmed that the School of Health Sciences undergraduate programmes will relocate to its Magee campus in Derry from September 2022. The transfer will bring over 800 undergraduate students to the Magee campus. Postgraduate Health Sciences teaching will move to the Universitys Belfast campus at the same time. The programmes will be delivered alongside the new Paramedic teaching provision, and Graduate Entry School of Medicine, both of which are recruiting students for the start of the 2021 academic year. Following the announcement Economy Minister Dianne Dodds said that many people in the Coleraine area had expected the courses to move there and they were left disappointed. I was disappointed that I learned about this announcement only late yesterday afternoon. While I understand that our universities are autonomous institutions, I would have, nonetheless, welcomed an earlier discussion. I will meet with Vice Chancellor Paul Bartholomew shortly and I will be pressing him on his plans for balance across all of the universitys campuses, she added. Derry representatives subsequently questioned the Ministers commitment to the New Decade, New Approach deal which prioritised expanding the Magee campus to 10,000 students. Speaking at a Council meeting on Tuesday evening, UU Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Bartholomew, said there are 4,498 students at Magee this year. He said that was up 85 on five years ago and up 930 compared to 2008/09. However, he skipped over 2014/15 when student numbers at Magee peaked at 5,098, according to a previous FOI lodged by the Derry News. Numbers have therefore dropped by 600 since then. NUMBERS CAP The Professor went on to say that growth to 6,000 students at Magee is achievable by 2022/23 but beyond that will require a different operating environment. To be fully transparent, he said, the maximum student number (MaSN) cap limits the number of young people who can study at NI universities. The UU chief said that cap needs to be lifted to allow for further expansion Lifting the cap would require either more block grant from government to fund more students or for the student contribution to be higher, he added. He suggested a national debate needs to take place around university fees and growth because without a change to the system NI wont be able to afford more students. In the absence of change, he said, young people will continue to study in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. He acknowledged that increased student numbers were absolutely skewed towards Belfast when exam results had to be amended last year. If the MaSN cap is lifted it has to be done in a targeted way to ensure regional equality, he said. The optimum level of growth he pointed to at Magee is 7,000 students by 2029 which is dependent on the MaSN cap being lifted. It will also be informed by where students want to study, he insisted. UU will get around 80m from City Deal monies to build a medical school and research centres. Professor Bartholomew said that isnt money for UU, it is for the benefit of the city but does have indirect benefits for UU and the institution will have to contribute 10 per cent. SDLP Councillor Rory Farrell welcomed the news of Health Science courses but said the One Plan envisaged 10,000 students by 2020. At a recent Executive Committee meeting it was revealed that an updated business case was still to be received by the Department for the Economy, he added. Cllr Farrell asked where the business case is and the timescale for 10,000 students. In response, the Vice Chancellor said youll have heard me dodging the question previously, adding that any additional numbers beyond 7,000 would have to come from other universities and post-graduate study. NO CHANCE Sinn Fein Cllr Mickey Cooper said the MaSN places have to be lifted for Derry alone to deliver growth but conceded that the Economy Minister is not interested in ringfencing for Magee. He argued that post-graduate health science courses also shouldve moved to encourage people to take up employment in the city afterwards. And said a message has to ben sent out that Magee is a positive place to study. Meanwhile, Independent Cllr Paul Gallagher said it was unhelpful for UU in its consultation around Health Science courses to describe Magee as a campus that is not a neutral space. He raised suspicions about UU taking City Deal funds and said that Health Science staff are refusing to move to Derry leading to fears that courses could return to Belfast. Professor Bartholomew said: Theres absolutely no chance it will return within a year or even longer. It is too expensive for us to do that. He explained that it will be difficult for some staff to relocate. Staff will be able to make the decision about what they want to do, he said, and some may not want to move, while others will teach post-grad in Belfast. In answer to a question about Magee only getting students when the Belfast campus is full, he said, because there is 20 per cent less floor space in the Belfast campus compared to Jordanstown any strategic growth must take place elsewhere. In conclusion he made it clear that if the university is asked to grow numbers without a change to the funding model then it will take more time to expand. If in that dip it costs us millions of pounds to sustain that then that is clearly a disincentive. I dont need incentivising to grow Magee. I am well motivated to have that better campus balance. Im motivated to grow Ulster across all its campuses but I probably do need something to change to ensure that Im not perversely disincentivised to do things through the financial model. *THIS STORY WAS CORRECTED ON FEBRUARY 8 TO REFLECT THAT ULSTER UNIVERSITY HAD PROVIDED TWO DIFFERENT FIGURES FOR 2014/15. THE DERRY NEWS HAS NOW CHANGED IT TO THE HIGHER FIGURE OF 5,098 BECAUSE A BREAKDOWN OF FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME NUMBERS WAS INCLUDED. Labour must brandish the Union Jack and dress smartly if it is to win back the trust of voters lost during the Corbyn years, a leaked strategy document argues. The presentation suggests the party must also praise military veterans if it is to retake the red wall seats which turned to Boris Johnson in 2019. Researchers found that voters could not decide what or who Labour stands for. And while voters saw Sir Keir Starmer as the partys biggest asset, they were concerned about him sitting on the fence. Presenting the strategy last month, Labours head of research said voters were confused about what we stand for, and what our purpose is, but also who we represent. While voters saw Sir Keir Starmer as the partys biggest asset, they were concerned about him sitting on the fence His slides, which were leaked to The Guardian, featured comments from the focus groups such as: I dont know anything about the Labour Party at the moment; they have been way too quiet. One Birmingham voter described Labour as two different parties under one name. And an ex-Labour voter from Grimsby said: They are the voice of the students. They have left real people, taxpayers, behind. Labours new strategy is based on extensive focus groups conducted in places from Watford to Grimsby in September alongside UK polls. The presentation suggests displays of patriotism are needed to reinforce the idea the party has changed. Labours new strategy is based on extensive focus groups conducted in places from Watford to Grimsby One slide says: Communicating Labours respect and commitment for the country can represent a change in the partys body language. Among the top recommendations is: The use of the flag, veterans, dressing smartly at the war memorial etc [to] give voters a sense of authentic values alignment. Approached for a response, a senior Labour official said the language came from an agencys research rather than their own phrasing. Clive Lewis, one of Labours most prominent ethnic minority MPs, said: The Tory party has absorbed Ukip and now Labour appears to be absorbing the language and symbols of the Tory party. Sir Keir recently presented a party-political broadcast beside a Union Jack, promising to rebuild our country. ALTON Ameren Illinois has renewed its $5,000 grant to Books for Newborns, allowing for the continued distribution of books to new mothers as well as children receiving outpatient therapy at Alton Memorial Hospital. Books for Newborns is an all-volunteer charitable organization that has distributed more than 12,000 book bags containing more than 50,000 books free of charge since its founding in early 2017. The St. Louis group distributed 2,060 books free of charge to AMH patients during 2020, Ameren Illinois first year of sponsorship of the program. With its 2021 grant, Ameren Illinois has now provided $10,000 in support of the effort. In order to make taxation processes faceless, the National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Centre shall be established with the facility of personal hearing through videoconferencing. To make governance simple for taxpayers and for the Income Tax Department, the government had introduced a series of direct tax reforms providing benefit to taxpayers with an aim to boost the economy by increasing tax collection. In course of these reforms, corporate tax rates have been slashed significantly and the Dividend Distribution Tax too was abolished. Further, to eliminate the burden of taxation on small taxpayers, the government had increased the rebates to lower the tax liabilities. Due to these efforts and reforms in 2020, we have witnessed a sharp increase in the return filers from 3.31 crores in 2014 to 6.48 crore. This Union Budget is focused more on infra, agriculture, power and education sector. However, there are few areas in the direct and indirect taxation where remarkable changes have been proposed. Presently, non-resident Indians (NRIs) are facing difficulty in respect of the taxability of accrued income lying in their foreign account at the time of returning to India or in repatriation to India. This happens due to unequal taxation laws and rates between the earning country and India. In some cases, it leads to double taxation in the hands of NRIs. Further, getting credit in the foreign jurisdiction for additional taxes deducted on the transfer or repatriation is a pain point. To make the process simple and smooth, in Budget 2021 the finance minister has announced some new rules proposed to be notified. By notifying these rules, tax laws will become simplified for NRIs and they will also get credit easily for the tax deducted in India. This will avoid the situation which leads to double taxation. There is another massive push by the government to encourage the Digital India Movement, which is its main focus for quite some time. The government has increased the threshold limit for tax audit from Rs 5 crores to Rs 10 crores for entities who comply with the norms of 95 percent of the transactions in digital mode. To encourage small taxpayers and to increase their numbers, the government has been pushing for eases in tax compliance and tax autonomy. For this, the government has proposed the setting up of a new committee known as Dispute Resolution Committee in order to further reduce litigation for small taxpayers, which will be faceless to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability for those individuals having a taxable income of up to Rs 50 lakh and disputed income of up to Rs 10 lakh. In order to make taxation processes faceless, the National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Centre shall be established with the facility of personal hearing through videoconferencing. The focus of the government is growing and it is committed to providing all kinds of ground support in this process. Remarkably, in this Budget, the government has proposed provisions for providing relief to the taxpayer regarding the reopening of earlier year assessment. The time-limit for reopening of the assessment has been reduced to three years from six years. Even for serious tax evasion cases too--only if there is no evidence of concealment of income of Rs 50 lakh or more in a year with prior approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner or highest level otherwise--there will be no change in the assessment re-opening period of 10 years. To facilitate the small taxpayers, major changes have been announced in Budget 2021: Pre-filing of more data while filing Income Tax Return Before describing the change, let us understand the meaning of Pre-filled data. Pre-filled data means some of the required information is auto-populated from external sources in your Income Tax Return. Currently, the information which is pre-filled in the ITR form is personal information, bank details, details of allowable donation u/s 80G, details of salary income as per your Form 16, details of TDS, TCS and taxes paid as advance tax and self-assessment tax from Form 26AS. In Budget 2021, some more information is notified which will be pre-filled in the Income Tax Return i.e. Details of capital gain arising from the sale of listed securities, details of dividend income and details of interest income received from Bank or Post Office. Exemption from filing ITR Only an individual who is of 75 years of age or more having a pension and interest income is exempt from filing ITR. Moreover, in the case of an Individual of 75 years or more, the liability of necessary tax deduction is now transferred to the paying bank. The writer is Founder and Chairman, HostBooks Ltd Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The government will create a new Code of Conduct to crack down on unfair practices within the UK dairy supply chain following a consultation on the issue. Defra has today (3 February) published a response to last years 12-week consultation seeking views from farmers and processors about how contracts and relationships could be improved. It was launched in June 2020 to explore whether new rules and regulations could be introduced to ensure fairer treatment across the UKs dairy sector. Imbalances of power within the supply chain were believed to be causing instability for farmers, such as where milk buyers have the ability to set and modify the terms of a contract at short notice. According to Defra, the responses to the consultation 'clearly demonstrated' the need to introduce new rules to require certain standards for contracts between those producing and buying milk for processing. The consultation also revealed that the distinctive circumstances in Northern Ireland may need to be reflected in regulations, due to the prevalence of co-operatives and the existing highly integrated cross border supply chain with the ROI. Defra said this would be be considered. A new statutory Code of Conduct will be created for UK dairy sector, using section 29 of the Agriculture Act 2020, to 'increase fairness in the supply chain and help farmers become more competitive'. The new code will seek to provide a 'guiding framework', which establishes minimum standards but also provides businesses with the flexibility to adapt contracts to their individual circumstances. The UK government, along with the devolved administrations, said further engagement with industry remained necessary to develop the standards to be specified within this framework. Defra farming minister, Victoria Prentis said: It is only right that any contracts drawn up between farmers and processors deliver fair conditions across the board. This new Code of Conduct will crack down on unfair practices within the supply chain, supporting the dairy sector and ensuring that our dairy farmers remain competitive as they look to the future. Scottish rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing added that it was an 'important moment' for the dairy industry in Scotland. The dairy mandatory code of conduct consultation demonstrated that Scottish respondents were the strongest supporters of putting transparency into contracts to protect our farmers. "It is very important that we listen to the views of both our hard-working dairy farmers and processors here in Scotland." In a joint statement, the UK farming unions welcomed the announcement, but they said it was 'only the beginning' in changing the structure of how the sector operated. "We hope the whole industry will take on board the results of the government consultation and work collaboratively to find a positive way forward," they said. "Its essential that the UK dairy market is fit for purpose for all parts of the supply chain, supporting innovation and resilience in UK dairy, and supplying quality dairy products for the public to enjoy. Evidence gathered during the Groceries Code Adjudicator Call for Evidence in 2016 highlighted how unfair practices have persisted in the dairy industry. Last years consultation looked at whether regulations could be introduced to ensure farmers are treated fairly within the supply chain. The French guidance differs from that given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union Paris: France's top health advisory body is recommending that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine only be used on people under 65, citing lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people. The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy, because the country has prioritised nursing home residents and people over 75. France had counted on the AstraZeneca vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world. The French guidance differs from that given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. Health authorities in Germany and other countries have raised concerns that the Anglo-Swedish company didn't test the vaccine in enough older people to prove it works for them, and indicated they would not recommend it for people over 65. A South Korean-flagged tanker is escorted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats in the Persian Gulf in this Jan. 4 photo released by Tasnim News Agency. Iran decided to release the crew of the tanker except for the captain, Tuesday, but a probe continues, according to the South Korean foreign ministry. AP-Yonhap 'Tehran calling on Seoul to engage in active negotiations with Washington' By Jung Da-min Iran's decision to release the crew of a seized Korean oil tanker shows Teheran's conflict with the U.S. over sanctions imposed on it has entered a new phase following the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, diplomatic experts said Wednesday.19 The previous day, Iran agreed to release all 19 sailors, except for the Korean captain of the tanker, which the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized in early January. The foreign ministry here announced the news, saying Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun of the decision during telephone talks earlier in the day. While Iran has claimed the seizure was due to the ship polluting the surrounding waters, speculation was rampant that it was due to the Korean government's refusal to release $7 billion belonging to Iran that is being held by two Korean banks because of the U.S. sanctions. International relations experts said the release showed changes in the tug-of-war between Iran and the U.S over the issue of Washington returning to a nuclear deal with Teheran and other countries. They said the intention behind the seizure was to send a message to the U.S. administration, rather than the Korean government. They said Iran is aware that Korea had few options regarding the oil money frozen under the U.S.' sanctions. "Korea happened to be the target of Iran's protest while the ultimate goal was to protest the U.S. sanctions, as Seoul is a close ally of Washington and holds the $7 billion in oil money which has not been delivered due to the sanctions," said Shin Beom-chul, a director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "Since the inauguration of U.S. President Biden, the Iran issue has been made a top priority of the new administration, with multiple messages telegraphed by its top officials including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. With the issue being handled as a top priority, the Iranian government seemed to have felt there was no reason to deteriorate bilateral relations between Iran and South Korea." Experts also said the government's efforts to solve the issue by consulting with Iran through multiple diplomatic channels achieved results but Korea still needs to continue to negotiate not only with Iran but also the U.S. on the matter of the frozen assets. "Iran has sent a message to the government through the release of the sailors that Seoul should actively engage in negotiations with Washington over the Iranian money," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University. Park said it will likely take a long time for the U.S. and Iran to settle their dispute. "U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has called on Iran to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, but the issue of its ballistic missile capability also needs to be up for negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a CNN interview Monday that that the Biden administration has a limited window of opportunity with limited time left to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement," Park said. "The Korean government needs to prepare for similar incidents like the seizure of the oil tanker if the conflict between the two does not end in the near future." A foreign ministry official told reporters Wednesday that Seoul has to consult with Washington on how to use or transfer the frozen oil money, and talks exploring multiple possibilities have been ongoing. The police have arrested a 42-year-old man for allegedly raping his daughter while she was under the influence of alcohol. The man, who is a former regional councillor, is expected to appear in court today or tomorrow. Police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi yesterday confirmed the arrest, saying the alleged crime occurred on two different dates. According to Shikwambi, the 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped on 17 and 18 January this year. "The suspect who is the biological father of the victim had sexual intercourse with his daughter (21) while she was under the influence of alcohol. A formal complaint was only registered on 26 January 2021 after she reported the matter to the police," said Shikwambi. She added that an investigation had then been launched, leading to the arrest of the suspect yesterday. A total of 36 members of the United States Congress on Tuesday issued a letter to Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, urging Islamabad to undertake a full review of acquittal of the accused in the case of 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. This comes after Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered to shift British-born Al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the sensational kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, from the death row cell to a rest house run by the government. 'A full review of the acquittal in case of Daniel Pearl' In a letter to Pakistan envoy Asad Majeed Khan, the US lawmakers said, "In the years since the tragic murder of Daniel Pearl, the US and Pakistan have maintained a robust partnership, particularly in the areas of security cooperation, energy, trade, and investment. We look forward to continuing to work with you to advance this relationship." "Nevertheless, in pursuit of justice for Pearl and the countless others who have been murdered by acts of terrorism, it is incumbent upon us to urge you to do your utmost to ensure that the Government of Pakistan conducts a full review of the acquittal in the case of Daniel Pearl," the letter said. The letter, which was signed by the likes of Ro Khanna and Jim Costa further said, "A statement issued on January 28th by the office of the Attorney General for Pakistan indicates that your government will conduct a full review of the acquittal passed by the Supreme Court. We welcome the decision to file a Review Petition and expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously move to recall the order of acquittal to ensure justice is served." "We expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously move to recall the order of acquittal to ensure justice is served," said Congressman Bard Sherman. US Congress members issue a statement to the Pakistan ambassador Asad Majeed Khan urging the Government of Pakistan to undertake 'a full review of the acquittal in the case of Daniel Pearl.' pic.twitter.com/fu0KXD93zD ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 Pakistan to provide security to Sheikh A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial ordered Sheikh, 46, to be transferred to the general barracks for two days following which he should be shifted to a government rest house by Friday under tight security, where his family will be able to visit from 8 am to 5 pm, officials said. READ | Blinken dials Pak FM Qureshi seeking accountability in Daniel Pearl murder case READ | Pak SC orders security to rest house where Omar Sheikh will stay; permits family access However, he will not have access to a mobile phone or the internet. The government will pay for his family's accommodation and transport. The court said that Sheikh would be under guard and not allowed to leave the place where he would be kept. However, the court again rejected the government's appeal to suspend the Sindh High Court's verdict on the acquittal of the accused and asked it to file an appeal against the high court's decision. Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda. READ | Pakistan minister warns people to get vaccinated at own risk amid Imran's sourcing dilemma READ | Pakistan SC orders Al-Qaeda terrorist let off in Daniel Pearl murder be sent to safe house (With agency inputs) Sea Island Luxury Interior Designer, VPI Design by Dina Varner, discusses creative ways to incorporate different elements to display on a gallery wall, and its visual impact. SEA ISLAND, GA / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / A Gallery Wall is a curated mix of photo, print, fine art, and/or sculpture display. Additionally, lighting and wallpaper can be incorporated to enhance the wall display. The gallery wall can be personalized to showcase the personality of the homeowner, but also can tell a story via the collaboration of the elements chosen. A gallery wall helps add style and character to a home. Breathe life into a home by selecting pieces that have meaning, and a story behind them to make the space inviting and intriguing. This display wall can add sophistication to your decor, while still expressing your interests. Gallery walls can suit any space to create a visually immersive experience. Implement one in the foyer, kitchen, office, library room, living room, and so on. It can also provide a solution to make use of large horizontal, or vertical spaces. A Gallery Wall adds an entirely new layer of complexity, not to mention it transforms a wall into a focal point. About VPI Design by Dina Varner Dina Varner is founder and creative director of VPI Design, an Atlanta and Sea Island Interior Design Firm working with both residential and commercial clients. She and her husband have been in the commercial construction industry for many years. Her inspiration comes from over twenty-five years of collecting and selling art and antiques through venues like Sotheby's, Babcock Gallery, and Christie's. This love of art and antiques started as a passion and has evolved into a successful business. Dina's rich southern heritage, in addition to her love of fashion and travel, also act as her creative influence. The VPI Design team work together with a distinct flair for aesthetic insight into unique designs exhibiting elegance and style. They explore the use of light and texture for an organic appealing experience in every timeless interior. Combinations of art deco, vintage, and contemporary styles are combined to create elegance while simultaneously exuding simplicity and comfort in each living space. Her designers enjoy getting to know their clients personally to create a home that suits their individual taste. Dina believes that every aspect of a room should complement one another to tell a unique story. For more information please visit: ?https://vpi-design.com VPI Design by Dina Varner Contact Name: ?Dina Varner Address:? 120 Interstate North Parkway, Suite 154 Atlanta, Georgia 30339 Website: ?https://vpi-design.com Email: ?VPIDesign1@gmail.com Phone: ?770-422-2000 Instagram: ?https://www.instagram.com/vpidesignatlanta SOURCE: VPI Design View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627607/Top-Sea-Island-Luxury-Interior-Designer-VPI-Design-Explores-the-Visual-Impact-of-a-Gallery-Wall When a COVID-19 outbreak forced Berkeley's Golden Gate Fields to close, the racetrack's doctor offered affected workers the antidepressant fluvoxamine if they wanted to try it. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Early last year, Angela Reiersen, a psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis, took ill with what she suspected was COVID-19. Because of a shortage of tests at the time, she never found out for sure, and she recovered before long. But the experience got her thinking about something. Reiersen had recently seen research suggesting that an antidepressant called fluvoxamine was useful in treating sepsis, a potentially fatal condition in which the body releases a dangerous imbalance of chemicals known as cytokines into the bloodstream in response to an infection. Might fluvoxamine also be effective in treating COVID-19? On March 25, Reiersen sent an email to a colleague, Eric Lenze, also a psychiatrist, asking what he thought of her idea. Lenze was equally intrigued. Fluvoxamine, one of a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, appears to activate a central nervous system protein that plays a role in regulating inflammatory responses. The psychiatrists' working theory was that the drug might be useful in preventing the kind of inflammation that leads to severe illness and lung damage in COVID patients. Dr. Eric Lenze, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of medicine in St. Louis, joined with his medical school colleague Dr. Angela Reiersen to investigate fluvoxamine as a treatment for COVID-19. (Ami Chiu / Washington University) "We developed a study design," Lenze said, "with the first patients enrolled on April 10." The two researchers quickly recruited 152 patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus. About half were prescribed fluvoxamine and half were given a placebo. The university had given the researchers a start-up grant of $20,000. "I naively thought it would be easy to recruit for the study," Lenze said, "but it was not. By May we had spent the money and I was unsure what to do; we only had about 60 recruited." To complete their research and test their theory, theyd need a quick infusion of additional cash. :: In California, Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Steve Kirsch was also thinking about the pandemic. He has a history of giving away some of his millions to good causes, and when COVID-19 began killing people last year, he had no intention of watching the destruction from the sidelines. Story continues Id call it enlightened self-interest, says Kirsch, 64, who survived blood cancer more than a decade ago and feared he was in a vulnerable population as the pandemic spread through the world. I looked at the chance of death if I got COVID and I said, This doesnt look like something I want to risk. Kirsch, who earned his fortune by starting Infoseek and several other companies, consulted with scientists about where his money might do the most good and came up with a plan: funding research into existing drugs that might be effective against the virus. Steve Kirsch, Silicon Valley philanthropist and founder of the COVID Early Treatment Fund (Courtesy of Steve Kirsch) Kirsch laid down $1 million of his own money and tapped colleagues for another few million to set up the nonprofit COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund. Then he recruited a 12-member board of medical experts to review grant applications from researchers. Fifty proposals sailed in, and Kirsch was particularly skeptical of one of them. The one submitted by Lenze and Reiersen. :: The pandemic, in all its deadly fury, has unleashed a global response, with the best minds in far-flung places responding to the call for innovative remedies. Much of the attention has been focused on the large corporations and research groups racing to develop vaccines, often with government support and encouragement. But individual doctors, scientists and philanthropists like Kirsch have also stepped up to supplement and inform government action. Kirschs COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund seemed tailor-made for the research Lenze and Reiersen were conducting, and when Lenze heard about it, he quickly fired off a grant proposal. Kirsch didnt initially buy the idea that a drug often prescribed for obsessive compulsive disorder could be useful in the fight against a virus. But in the end, Kirsch reasoned that Lenze and Reiersen werent asking for much money, and his board thought the scientific rationale for why the drug could help patients with COVID-19 made it worth the gamble. Kirsch himself called Lenze with the news. "They provided about $67,000, so we were able to finish the study," Lenze said. Several weeks later, in August, it was Kirschs turn to get good news. Lenze called with highly encouraging results. The trial had been small, but none of the patients treated with fluvoxamine deteriorated, while six of those receiving the placebo did. Kirsch could hardly contain himself. I said, We gotta tell the world, this is fantastic. :: The researchers initial results were promising enough that the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Assn. accepted a paper on them, which appeared in November. While noting that the sample was small, and the findings preliminary, the paper called the results "clinically significant" and called for larger, randomized trials to establish additional clinical proof of the drug's effectiveness. If it had been up to Kirsch, fluvoxamine would have immediately become a go-to therapeutic tool on the basis of that trial. His Silicon Valley mindset made him impatient to get what he thought of as an "absolutely game-changing" treatment into common use as quickly as possible. Dr. Angela Reiersen joined with Dr. Eric Lenze, her colleague at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, to investigate fluvoxamine. (Ami Chiu / Washington University) But others, including Reiersen and Lenze, felt more research was necessary, despite the strongly encouraging results. Carefully conducted, exhaustive large-scale trials exist for a reason. Taking a shortcut, in this case with a mind-altering drug produced for an entirely different purpose than treating COVID-19, can carry unintended or unforeseen risks. A lot of once-promising drugs prove to be useless or even harmful when they are tested in sufficiently rigorous clinical trials, said Dr. Leigh Turner, associate professor at the Center for Bioethics and School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Some studies, for example, suggested that hydroxychloroquine might be useful in treating COVID-19, and it was widely touted by President Trump and others. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for its use as a COVID treatment in March but later revoked the authorization after further research concluded that the drug's risks outweighed any potential benefits. Turner said well-intentioned examinations of a wide range of medical interventions have taken place all over the world, but so far theres not a great track record of success for treatment of COVID-19. There does, however, appear to be enough evidence to make a plausible scientific case for further study of fluvoxamine, Turner said. :: At the same time that Lenze and Reiersen were beginning their look at fluvoxamine, a psychiatrist in France had noticed something he found remarkable. As the virus raged through every sector of French society, psychiatric patients were not getting sick at the same rate or with symptoms that were as severe. My hypothesis in early March was that antidepressants including fluvoxamine and fluoxetine could work for COVID because of their anti-inflammatory and potentially antiviral properties, said Dr. Nicolas Hoertel, associate professor of psychiatry at Paris University and a psychiatrist at a hospital just outside the city. "I also noticed at this time that almost no patients with psychiatric disorders hospitalized in my unit had symptomatic COVID, whereas many caregivers had COVID symptoms in the unit, Hoertel said. Could it be, he wondered, that the patients were getting some protection from their prescribed antidepressants? Hoertel said he checked with colleagues at hospitals in and around Paris and found others who had made the same observation. He and some colleagues then scanned a database of 15,000 patients at 39 affiliated hospitals and concluded, in a study published in France in July, that antidepressants "could be associated with lower risk of death or intubation in hospitalized patients with COVID-19." Reiersen and Lenze had no idea that doctors in France were sniffing up the same trail. It was Kirsch, eager to find evidence of fluvoxamines promise, who learned of the discoveries near Paris and linked the French and American doctors. We had a great exchange about the potential mechanisms that could underlie the effect of fluvoxamine, Hoertel said. :: Kirsch was ever more determined to spread the word, and got a chance to do so on Nov. 12, when he was the guest speaker at a teleconference arranged by the Harvard Business School Assn. of Northern California. His host was Dr. David Seftel, chief executive of a Bay Area disease diagnosis company called Enable Biosciences and longtime physician at Golden Gate Fields, the horse racetrack in Berkeley. Seftel found Kirschs presentation mesmerizing," but it also turned out to be timely. Shortly after Seftel hosted that conference with Kirsch, there was a large COVID-19 outbreak among employees at Golden Gate Fields, forcing closure of the track. We tested 524 people and 200 came back positive, Seftel said. He suspected the virus spread quickly because so many of the employees live at the track, in close proximity, while caring for the horses. The virus hit all age groups, with a range of severity. I thought, How do I intervene? How do I help these people avoid hospitalization?" Based on the study by Lenze and Reiersen, he decided to offer fluvoxamine to sick employees who wanted to try it. Seftel said 40% of the employees who tested positive for COVID-19 agreed to take fluvoxamine, and what happened over the next two weeks was eye-opening, if not rigorously controlled enough to provide the kind of scientific data produced by an actual study. In the group that got fluvoxamine there were no hospitalizations, and in the group that did not, 12.5% were hospitalized, with one fatality, Seftel said. Seftel said a couple of his patients reported mild nausea and abdominal discomfort, but those disappeared after he slightly altered the dosage. The antidepressant can interact with other drugs a patient is taking and can have side effects, including abdominal discomfort and sleep disturbances. In a pandemic, the question is how much proof is enough and what is the risk-benefit ratio? said Seftel, who noted the current surge of COVID-19 cases and the rising body count. Seftels experience heightened Kirsch's impatience. Why wait any longer? he asked. :: Dr. Robert Siliciano, a scientist in the infectious diseases department of Johns Hopkins University and a member of Kirschs COVID treatment board, says he is quite optimistic about fluvoxamine, but believes a larger study is needed before theres a huge change in treatment recommendations. In St. Louis, Lenze and Reiersen are hustling to complete that larger study. They have recruited symptomatic participants from Los Angeles and elsewhere, with a goal of 800 patients. Anyone interested in learning more or signing up for the trial can do so at stopcovidtrial.wustl.edu. As optimistic as Lenze and Reiersen remain, neither wants to rush the process. If she were to have COVID now, Reiersen says, she wouldnt prescribe the drug to herself. Id prefer to participate in a clinical trial, she says, which would benefit many people and not just me. The COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund is financing the researchers' larger study along with the Skoll Foundation, Fast Grants, Flu Lab and Cures Within Reach. And as it proceeds, Kirsch stands by, as hopeful and as impatient as ever. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Elation at Grandway West is a garden-style property, completed in 2020, with 324 apartments. Located on Franz Road, less than a mile from 99, the Grand Parkway, which provides residents easy access to I-10, the energy corridor, and downtown Houston. Elation's location hosts a diverse employment base with over 15,000 medical jobs and major medical facilities including Texas Children's Hospital , Houston Methodist West , M.D. Anderson Cancer Center , and Memorial Herman Katy Hospital . The community offers six unique one and two bedroom apartment layouts ranging in size from 671 sq. ft. to 1116 sq. ft., with rents ranging from $1040 to $1516 per month. Elation's apartment interiors feature quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, soft-close drawers, halo-lit mirrors, and smart door locks. The community hosts a robust amenity package including three outdoor grilling areas, two swimming pools, a dog park, pergolas with swings, a yoga and spin studio, fire pits, and a Bocce court. Floorplans, photos, and pricing can be found on the property's website. "With this acquisition, Venterra has crossed a new milestone we now have over 18,000 units in our portfolio for the first time," said John Foresi, CEO of Venterra Realty. "Elation was expertly built to a high standard, but we're looking forward to identifying opportunities to further improve by implementing Venterra's customer-focused management platform," added Andrew Stewart, Chairman of Venterra Realty. With a history of long-standing success in the Houston market, Venterra was chosen as the buyer in this off-market transaction, brokered by Matt Philips and Clint Duncan from CBRE's Houston office. The loan was originated by Michael Thompson, Vice Chairman and Co-Head of CBRE's Debt and Structured Finance Team in Houston. About Venterra: Founded in 2001, Venterra Realty owns and manages 64 apartment communities in 11 major US cities that provide housing to over 33,000 people and 12,000 pets. The organization has completed more than $6.4 billion in real estate transactions and currently manages a portfolio of multi-family real estate assets with more than 18,000 units valued at over $3 billion. Venterra is committed to improving the lives of its residents by delivering industry-leading customer experience. Find out more about Venterra Realty and its award-winning company culture at Venterra.com. Contact: Allie Foard Email: [email protected] SOURCE Venterra Realty Related Links http://venterraliving.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. The Egyptian parliament has recently demanded the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities to support Iraq in retrieving its stolen antiquities found in Turkey. On Jan. 31, member of parliament Mahmoud Issam said during an address to parliament, The Egyptian parliament welcomes the cooperation with its Iraqi counterpart in the antiquities field in terms of restoring Iraqi artifacts that were destroyed during the wars and recovering antiquities that were smuggled out of the country toward Turkey in particular. The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry announced Jan. 23 its readiness to support Iraq in recovering its looted and stolen antiquities. On Dec. 24, 2020, Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled al-Anani had agreed with his Iraqi counterpart, Hussein Kazem, to boost cooperation and tap the expertise of archaeologists and restorers in the two countries by exchanging experiences and cooperating for the recovery of stolen and smuggled antiquities. Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry's Department of Recovered Antiquities, told Al-Monitor, There is cooperation between Egypt and Iraq in training Iraqis in the field of recovering looted antiquities. He pointed to Egypts extensive experience in the field of antiquities recovery. We welcome the formation of an archaeological alliance with Arab countries especially those experiencing internal crises and wars such as Yemen, Iraq and Libya in a bid to preserve antiquities and recover smuggled ones, he said. Abdel-Gawad said, Egypt will not allow that the antiquities of a sister Arab country such as Iraq be stolen by another country that seeks to erase the identity of Arab countries and exploit the antiquities of a country with a rich history and civilization such as Iraq. He added, The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities will train Iraqi cadres on how to track down looted Iraqi antiquities in all countries and on the methods of legal prosecution to prove Iraqs eligibility to recover those antiquities." The Egyptian-Iraqi cooperation on the retrieval of smuggled antiquities falls within the framework of Cairo's desires to help Baghdad recover its antiquities, especially from Turkey, which is one of the countries benefiting the most from the smuggling of Iraqi artifacts. The Iraqi authorities announced in 2018 that they had foiled one of the largest smuggling operations of antiquities to Turkey, valued at $13 million. The Iraqi Interior Ministry said at the time that the defendants confessed to being professional smugglers and had an agreement with a person based in Turkey to hand over the antiquities at the Turkish border. Turkey has been displaying several smuggled Iraqi artifacts in its museums, mainly in Ankara. On Jan. 1, 2020, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry successfully recovered Iraqi artifacts smuggled into Turkey that were displayed in the Hatay Archaeology Museum in Ankara. The London-based Al-Arab newspaper reported in an article titled Turkey's museums boast stolen antiquities of Arabs that the Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam displayed in its Oriental pavilion one of the most prominent Iraqi archaeological paintings, consisting of a panel of the Iraqi Babylonian Ishtar Gate. Raafat al-Nabrawi, former dean of the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor, Iraq is facing attempts by Turkey and other Western countries to obliterate its identity by stealing the countrys antiquities. He added, Egypt has not done what other countries, like Turkey, did when stealing Iraqi antiquities. On the contrary, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has worked to return the stolen Iraqi artifacts and Anani officially announced Egypts readiness to restore Iraqi antiquities. In 2017, Egypt returned to Iraq a number of Iraqi antiquities that were confiscated in Egypt. Back then, Anani handed over to the Iraqi ambassador in Cairo 44 antique coins dating back to the royal period in Iraq from the reigns of Kings Faisal I, Faisal II and Ghazi I. Also in 2017, Anani expressed Egypt's willingness to restore the damaged Iraqi antiquities, train Iraqis in the archaeological field and allow Iraq to benefit from Egypt's expertise in preserving its own antiquities and restoring those damaged by terrorist operations. Nabrawi said the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry has the capacity and capabilities to support Iraq in restoring and preserving its antiquities and training Iraqis. He called on the ministry to hold joint archaeological exhibitions with Iraq in both countries. In a related context, Junaid Amer, an Iraqi archaeologist who works at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, said a large number of Iraqi antiquities were stolen or destroyed during the war with the Islamic State that began in 2014. A number of archaeological sites were destroyed and many artifacts were smuggled out of the country at that time. Amer told Al-Monitor, The Egyptian-Iraqi agreement for the recovery of smuggled antiquities is of major importance. Egypt has extensive experience in the field of antiquities, their restoration and recovery. Iraq needs concerted Arab and European efforts to bring back home its [stolen] antiquities and parts of its heritage. Iraqi antiquities have been smuggled to Turkey in light of the crises on the borders with Turkey. This prompted the Iraqi Ministry of Antiquities to conclude an agreement with Turkey [in 2019] to recover Iraqi antiquities, and many antiquities smuggled to Ankara were recovered as a result. Ahmed al-Suhail, an Iraqi journalist at Independent Arabia, said the prevailing chaos in Iraq and the control by several armed groups loyal to a number of countries, including Iran, are behind the phenomenon of Iraqi antiquities smuggling. Suhail told Al-Monitor, Many Iraqi antiquities were smuggled across the Turkish border in light of Iraq's internal crises and the chaos stirred by armed groups. A South Korean-flagged tanker is escorted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats in the Persian Gulf in this Jan. 4 photo released by Tasnim News Agency. Iran decided to release the crew of the tanker except for the captain, Tuesday, but a probe continues, according to the South Korean foreign ministry. AP-Yonhap 'Tehran calling on Seoul to engage in active negotiations with Washington' By Jung Da-min Iran's decision to release the crew of a seized Korean oil tanker shows Teheran's conflict with the U.S. over sanctions imposed on it has entered a new phase following the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, diplomatic experts said Wednesday.19 The previous day, Iran agreed to release all 19 sailors, except for the Korean captain of the tanker, which the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized in early January. The foreign ministry here announced the news, saying Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun of the decision during telephone talks earlier in the day. While Iran has claimed the seizure was due to the ship polluting the surrounding waters, speculation was rampant that it was due to the Korean government's refusal to release $7 billion belonging to Iran that is being held by two Korean banks because of the U.S. sanctions. International relations experts said the release showed changes in the tug-of-war between Iran and the U.S over the issue of Washington returning to a nuclear deal with Teheran and other countries. They said the intention behind the seizure was to send a message to the U.S. administration, rather than the Korean government. They said Iran is aware that Korea had few options regarding the oil money frozen under the U.S.' sanctions. "Korea happened to be the target of Iran's protest while the ultimate goal was to protest the U.S. sanctions, as Seoul is a close ally of Washington and holds the $7 billion in oil money which has not been delivered due to the sanctions," said Shin Beom-chul, a director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. "Since the inauguration of U.S. President Biden, the Iran issue has been made a top priority of the new administration, with multiple messages telegraphed by its top officials including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. With the issue being handled as a top priority, the Iranian government seemed to have felt there was no reason to deteriorate bilateral relations between Iran and South Korea." Experts also said the government's efforts to solve the issue by consulting with Iran through multiple diplomatic channels achieved results but Korea still needs to continue to negotiate not only with Iran but also the U.S. on the matter of the frozen assets. "Iran has sent a message to the government through the release of the sailors that Seoul should actively engage in negotiations with Washington over the Iranian money," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University. Park said it will likely take a long time for the U.S. and Iran to settle their dispute. "U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has called on Iran to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, but the issue of its ballistic missile capability also needs to be up for negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in a CNN interview Monday that that the Biden administration has a limited window of opportunity with limited time left to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement," Park said. "The Korean government needs to prepare for similar incidents like the seizure of the oil tanker if the conflict between the two does not end in the near future." A foreign ministry official told reporters Wednesday that Seoul has to consult with Washington on how to use or transfer the frozen oil money, and talks exploring multiple possibilities have been ongoing. An apprentice plumber fell into a canal and drowned after playing a 'game of chemical Russian Roulette' by mixing ketamine with alcohol, an inquest heard. Matthew Dutton, 22, was left struggling to walk and acting 'like a robot' after he mixed the party drug with alcohol during a night out in Wigan, Greater Manchester last August. The man, who had been watching the Champions League final, was walking home alone later in the night when he slipped and fell into a stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the hearing in Bolton was told. His body was found three days later by a police underwater search team, with tests showing he had 'significant' levels of ketamine in his system on the night he died. Coroner Timothy Brennard issued a stark warning about the experimental use of these drugs as he recorded a verdict of accidental death. Matthew Dutton, 22, was left struggling to walk and acting 'like a robot' after he mixed the party drug with alcohol during a night out with friends in Wigan, Greater Manchester last August. Pictured: Mr Dutton He said: 'Taking any substance capable of leaving you incapacitated, confused and disorientated is akin to playing a game of chemical Russian roulette. 'I am not to judge his actions in taking a drug used by young people to unwind and relax, particularly during a pandemic which has led many young people with time on their hands to seek solace and refuge in recreational drugs. 'But although Matthew did not take an amount of ketamine which was lethal, he became unable to perform the simple task of walking home. He was left incapacitated, confused and disorientated as he tried to walk home, and he fell into the canal and drowned. 'His mother and father have now been left with the consequences of his decision to experiment with recreational drugs that I am told are freely and readily available to younger members of our society. The man, who had been watching the Champions League final, was walking home alone later in the night when he slipped and fell into a stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the hearing in Bolton was told. Pictured: Tributes left to Mr Dutton His body was found three days later by a police underwater search team, with tests showing he had 'significant' levels of ketamine in his system on the night he died. Pictured: Mr Dutton 'Their message is that using drugs has led their son to this tragedy. If one person understands this as a result of reading about this inquest then some good will come out of it.' Mr Dutton had visited the Oak Tree pub in Ince on August 23 last year to watch the Champions League final with his friends ahead of the tragedy. According to Mr Dutton's close friend Callum Jones, Mr Dutton arrived at around 6pm and throughout the course of the night drank approximately two pints of Carlsberg and three alcopops. Mr Jones claimed to have not seen Mr Dutton take any drugs but admitted: 'I knew he'd taken something, he had too much energy and I could tell by his eyes.' Pub licensee, Nicola Fishwick, said that Mr Dutton appeared to be 'tuned in'. She said that he was staggering and that she had taken his car keys from him, because she didn't want him driving home. At around 10pm, Mr Dutton left the pub with his friend Michael Reardon and the pair started to walk down Belle Green Lane. Mr Reardon said that during the night, Mr Dutton and himself had taken ketamine inside his car. He added: 'We met up earlier in day for food, Me, Regan and Matt, then we went to the pub but I'm not sure what time. 'Matt brought the drugs but I don't know where he got it from. We have had it together before, a couple of times on weekends. Not every weekend but sometimes when we have a drinks.' Asked to describe the effects of how ketamine makes you feel, Mr Reardon said: 'Very drunk and very disorderly. 'It gives you a bit of a buzz. You like black out when you mix it with alcohol.' The pair eventually made their way to Manchester Road passing driver Danielle Halliwell who stopped at a zebra crossing to let them pass. She described Mr Dutton as: 'walking like a robot, struggling to put one foot in front of the other.' Coroner Timothy Brennard issued a stark warning about the experimental use of these drugs as he recorded a verdict of accidental death. Pictured: Mr Dutton Ms Halliwell noted that both men appeared to be incredibly drunk and appeared to not be speaking to each other, instead focusing on walking. A police statement, prepared by DI John Davies and read out in court by police coroner's officer Stefan Wilson, states that the last sighting of Mr Dutton was at 10.25pm, heading towards the canal from Manchester Road. The last activity from his phone was recorded at 10.56pm. Mr Reardon said that he has no memory of leaving the pub and said that he tried to call Mr Dutton when he 'came round' and realised he was no longer with him, shortly after 11pm. Greater Manchester Police carried out a search operation to try to find Mr Dutton and spent around 36 hours searching the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. His body was found by an underwater search team, close to Lock 79, Rose Bridge, on August 26. Following a post mortem, pathologist Dr Emil Salmo recorded 'drowning' as the medical cause of death. He said that there were no suspicious circumstances, no sign of third party involvement and no signs that Mr Dutton had attempted to climb out of the canal and failed. Dr Salmo added: 'Drowning can occur very quickly, especially if they go into cold water, as it can lead to reflex cardiac arrest.' A toxicology report prepared by Julie Evans stated that Mr Dutton had alcohol and a significant amount of ketamine in his system at the time of his death. She added: 'There is a possibility of direct toxicity arising from ketamine as an explanation for death, or use could have affected his behaviour leading to the risk of accidental drowning.' Mr Dutton tested negative for all drugs other than ketamine. His mother Jacqueline Peet told the court that Mr Dutton was 'popular' and a 'joker'. She said that he was a 'family man' and had two nephews who he 'absolutely doted on'. Ms Peet agreed with Mr Brennand's assertion that Mr Dutton 'worked hard and played hard', but she said that she did not know the extent of his drug use. She added that she was 'very proud' of him. His father Mark Dutton added: 'I knew that he experimented but I'd had some quite strong discussions about not doing it and he assured me that he didn't. 'He would look forward to the weekend after working hard in the week.' Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Brennand said: 'By reason of the deceased's self induced intoxication, he became incapacitated, confused and disorientated while trying to walk home, falling into the canal and drowning.' In the days following his death, Mr Dutton's sister Lisa remembered the 'caring' and 'devoted' young man. She said: 'The outpouring of love and support that the family have received has been overwhelming. 'Matthew Dutton was the most amazing brother, son, grandson, cousin, nephew, uncle and friend that anyone could have wanted. 'Everyone who knew him knew how much he could annoy and torment but I was privileged to know the kind caring side, who was completely devoted to his nephews and they absolutely adored him. 'Words cannot express how deeply heartbroken the whole family are, all our lives will forever be missing his shining smile and I'd give anything to have him here telling me a dodgy joke or raiding the cupboards.' Senior Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin (C) asks for political asylum in Australia during a rally marking the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, in Sydney, 04 June 2005. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP via Getty Images) CCP Has Very Successfully Infiltrated Australian Universities: Former Chinese Diplomat A former Chinese diplomat who turned whistleblower in 2005 has warned Australian politicians to pay more attention to Chinas infiltration of universities and research institutions, in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry about the national security risks affecting the sector. Chen Yonglin was formerly a senior diplomat at the Chinese consulate in Sydney whose job included monitoring Chinese dissidents before he defected 16 years ago. He has since exposed the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) infiltration tactics in the West. In his submission, Chen said infiltration into universities is an important part of the CCPs Australia policies. Chen lists four vehicles the CCP have used to steer influence in the sector. They are the Confucius Institutes (CI), Chinese Student and Scholars Associations (CSSA), brain drain programs like the Thousand Talents Plan and others, and by compromising academic freedom. China has been very successful in infiltrating NSW [New South Wales] tertiary institutions, Chen said. Confucius Institutes Chen noted the CCPs most successful vehicle for infiltration has been the CIs and Confucius Classrooms which were attractive to top universities and public and private schools. China sees the CI as its agent of soft power, an exporter of Chinese culture and influence, and an important element of the global Grand Propaganda strategy, Chen said. Part of CCP leader Xi Jinpings global propaganda strategy is wielding its influence in the West to tell Chinas story well. In practice, telling Chinas story well looks a lot like serving the ideological aims of the state, Louisa Lim, a former BBC China correspondent-turned-lecturer and author; and Julia Bergin, a researcher for The Little Red Podcast, wrote in The Guardian on Dec. 7, 2018. Chinese leader Xi Jinping unveils the plaque at the opening of Australias first Chinese Medicine Confucius Institute at the RMIT University in Melbourne on June 20, 2010. (William West/AFP via Getty Images) These institutes forbid discussion on sensitive topics such as democracy, Chinas military rise, issues in Tibet, Falun Gong, Uyghur Muslims, Taiwan, the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, and the Hong Kong National Security Law, Chen said. According to Chen, CI students are seen as potentially valuable assets of China in future spy operations and political influence networks. The CI is a Trojan Horse of the CCP planted in overseas tertiary education, not a treasure box delivered from Communist China, he said. Front entrance to the University of Queensland on Jan. 12, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Daniel Teng/The Epoch Times) Peter Hoj, the incoming University of Adelaide vice-chancellor, and former University of Queensland (UQ) vice-chancellor said on Feb. 3 that UQ should never have accepted course funding from the CI while denying the institutes had anything to do with formulating courses. Hoj, who has been criticised for being too close to Beijing, told The Australian that it was a stupid thing to do. When you run a university there are lots of things happening in an institution with 6,000 people, most of whom are independent thinkers. As soon as we learnt about it we said: never again. It was a stupid thing to do, he said. Chinese Student and Scholar Associations The second tier of infiltration identified in the submission was the Chinese Student and Scholar Associations (CSSA). A common feature across university campuses around Australia, Chen said CSSAs are a tool of the Chinese overseas missions to maintain and extend the ideological control that the CCP has over Chinese university students. Funded jointly by Chinese consulates, United Front groups, state-owned enterprise investors, and other CCP institutions, Chen noted CSSAs in Australia were successful in controlling the spiritual world of the majority of Chinese students on campuses. Police outside the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, Australia on May 30, 2015. (Daniel Munoz/Getty Images) He also explained that through the CSSAs, Chinese students are politically organised on Australian university campuses to conduct counter-rallies against anti-CCP protests and pro-democracy lectures and forums on issues like human rights in China. The CSSAs follow the PRC agenda assisting the CCP Grand Propaganda strategy and intelligence collection operations in Australia, Chen said. Further, he explained that many Chinese students are sent to Australia with the purpose of gaining permanent resident status. Sometimes, students are also recruited by undercover operatives to facilitate the CCPs activities in Australia. Academic Freedoms Compromised Another point of concern for Chen was how the CCP can lure universities into satisfying the political agenda of the communist regime by compromising on academic freedom for the sake of maintaining Chinese student enrolments. China uses Australian tertiary institutions to create narratives favourable to the CCP, Chen said. China has sent lots of propagandist scholars to study in Australia and acquired citizenship. Further, he noted examples of incidents between 2004 and 2020, in which Chinese consulates have wielded its tools to influence universities to compromise on Australian rights and freedoms. According to Chen, in 2004, the Chinese consulate in Sydney instructed the University of Wollongongs CSSA to pressure the university to take down a photo with a background that showed a Falun Gong bookstall. Falun Gong is a spiritual meditation practise whose adherents live by the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The practice is currently persecuted in China. Falun Gong practitioners hold a silent demonstration in Belmore Park during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in Sydney, Australia on Sept. 7, 2007 . (Robb Cox/Getty Images) In April 2006, Wei Wu, a tutor and PhD candidate was forced to resign after the CSSA organised an internet campaign, in cooperation with CCP media, against him for posting a note critical of the CCP on the Chinese language social media platform Weibo. In April 2013, the University of Sydney cancelled a planned speaking event by the Dalai Lama due to pressure from the Chinese consulate in Sydney and in August 2020, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) deleted an article critical of the CCPs human rights violations in Hong Kong after online backlash from Chinese students. The article was reinstated following criticism by Australian politicians and in the media. Chen also cited the prominent incident at the University of Queensland in 2019, when pro-CCP thugs attacked Drew Pavlou, then a student, who led a pro-democracy demonstration in support of Hong Kong. The [Chinese consulates] often threaten universities with cessation of cooperation on Chinese student recruitments, Chen said University of Queensland student and human rights activists Drew Pavlou leads a rally at the university campus in Brisbane, Australia, on July 31, 2019. (Faye Yang/The Epoch Times) Australian universities have been criticised for their reliance on Chinese students, but Peter Varghese, the chancellor of UQ and a former secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in 2018 that China has proven to be the easiest answer to the budget pressures facing all Australian universities. In 2018, income from international student tuition fees surpassed income from Commonwealth Supported Places, including HELP. Chinese students also accounted for 50 percent of all international students. Brain Drain Programs In the submission, Chen also urged all Australian parliamentarians to read the Australian Strategic Policy Institutes report, Hunting the Phoenix, on Chinas Thousand Talents Plan, the most well-known of the CCPs brain drain projects which Beijing used to steal intellectual property for its own purposes by recruiting scientists and scholars. Warning that there are many other programs that function similarly in Australiaincluding the Cheung Kong Scholarship Program, Thousand Young Talents Plan, Plan 111, and Fellowship Experts WorkstationsChen noted that the CCP utilises joint partnerships with overseas scientists and researchers to gain access to sensitive technology and innovative research that can be potentially used for the Chinese military. In 2013, the University of New South Wales joined hands with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in setting up a Collaborative Research Fund to sponsor a number of sensitive technology researches potentially useful for the Chinese military, Chen said as an example. The UNSW did not respond to a request for comment. Its webpages for the Collaborative Research Fund are no longer published online. Bob Schoelkopf has had his eyes trained on a 24-hour nature camera on Seal Island, Maine for the last few months. He has been spying on a population boom of gray seal pups and watching their mothers leaving them behind as they descend back into the sea to feed. It will be the pups chance next to waddle into the surf and set off for their first real meal. Up to 500 of the seals may find food near 1,800 miles of coastline and back bays in New Jersey over the next few months, as they have for a millennia or more. Ocean temperatures in the mid-30s this week create an ideal environment. A seal was already spotted by a woman in Ventnor last week, soaking up some sunlight before shuffling back into the water. Schoelkopf, 74, has been watching this migration for the past 45 years. He started his watch with the founding of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting marine mammals survive. The challenge is especially acute for seals, which beach themselves for rest and rejuvenation, but may be mistaken as an animal in distress. You just dont walk up on these animals, Schoelkopf said. Theres a reason for them to be there. Whether it be injury or just trying to dry off for a while, people dont understand. Thats the sad part about it. Schoelkopf said his team of four full-time workers and 300 volunteers respond round the clock to calls for seals and other marine mammals in distress. But he said an equally important part of their mission is to educate the public about what to do if they see a seal laying on the beach over winter months at the shore. Its easy: keep your distance. Experts advise marine mammal watchers to stay at least 100 feet away. We found a harbor seal with a fractured jaw and had been bitten in the hind part by a shark, he said on a recent weekday afternoon. That was down on a beach in Cape May. We had to euthanize him because part of his jaw was missing. Despite the challenges, he said about 90 percent of the seals they treat survive and eventually make their way back north as the ocean warms with spring and summer. We get 500 calls a season, Schoelkopf said. He said the center handles up to 70 seals a season for various issues in their facility in Brigantine, including injuries or as basic as giving them their first meal. Some of the gray seals have never eaten before, Schoelkopf said. Their first exposure to food is with us. We put food into their throat to connect the dots. Schoelkopf said the stranding center intervenes to help seals survive as part of their mission. He said before the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, the carcasses of dead animals on beaches, particularly during migration seasons, were far more frequent. He said it presents a public health danger to burgeoning beach communities. As soon as seals are nursed back to health, they are returned to the ocean. Schoelkopf said they have been known to return them as far north as possible, but rules for returning marine mammals to the ocean vary by state. If theyre harbor seals well release them locally, he said. If they are gray seals well take them up to Sandy Hook to get a headstart up north. Weve actually transported seals all the way up into Canada. Then the Canadians started saying we dont need any more seals. Officials in Massachusetts also complained because they thought the seals encouraged the great white shark population. The movie Jaws was filmed in Massachusetts and based on a fictional shore community in New York. Schoelkopf said he is not concerned about the shark population off of the New Jersey coast. Sharks are always out there, he said. Jersey shore and communities wont admit. Thats what sharks are for. To clean up the ocean. Editors note: This story was updated to correct information about the movie Jaws. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Delhi Chief Minister said on Wednesday that he has received a list of farmers who have been put in different jails in Delhi after the Republic Day incident. The Chief Minister told reporters that a group of agitating farmer leaders had approached him on Tuesday evening and sought help to find these missing farmers. The Delhi government has also circulated a list containing the names of 115 farmers who are reportedly missing. "A group of farmer leaders approached me yesterday to seek Delhi government's help to find these missing famers. Family members of these famers are tensed and they are not able to contact them. The Delhi government is circulating the names of missing farmers who are lodged in different jails in the national capital," he said. Meanwhile, Kejriwal also assured farmers that, if needed, he would meet Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the Centre to reunite these farmers to their families. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Traditionally, we South Africans are adventurous and love travelling and "having fun" and it is no coincidence that our local tourism contributes heavily to our GDP. It is therefore no surprise that, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives in the country and millions worldwide, the event organisers continued with their business from early- to mid-December. Having endured a stressful, long and a travel-limited year, most people were willing to brave the risk of contracting Covid-19 and attend the events. Legal claim the cautionary steps employed by the organisers and whether they were in line with the Covid-19 Regulations and Protocols; floor markings whether they allowed the required social distance; the number of people who attended were the numbers within the legally permitted threshold; compliance officers for the events where there were alcoholic beverages served, it would be negligent not to have compliance officers given the behavioural influence of alcohol; whether temperature was checked at the entrance; and whether necessary enquiries were made to find out if the attendees were positive or had close contact with the infected person, etc. Criminal case past and future medical expenses; general damages; past and/or future loss of earnings or earning capacity. Despite the Covid-19 Regulations and Protocols in place, it would appear as though these events persisted, accelerating a resurgence in the countrys infection rate.In videos and images shared on various social media platforms, there seemed to have been total disregard of Covid-19 protocols in some of these events. Interestingly, shortly after some of these gatherings, the attendees tested positive for Covid-19 e.g. the Ballito Rage Festival was one such 'super-spreader event' where many attendees were reported to have tested positive. On 31 January 2021, it was reported that two attendees knew they had Covid-19 and, subsequently, 848 people at the event tested positive. It then becomes relevant to look at whether there may be any legal recourse for the victims against the organisers.From the onset, it is critical to highlight that there is no blanket approach to the cases, and each matter is decided upon its unique facts. Equally important, consolidation of court cases stemming from the same super-spreader event is possible. Victims of Covid-19 who contracted the virus at these events may have delictual claims against the responsible organisers and/or relevant stakeholders. The success of each case is bound upon its unique facts. The victim will have to prove, on the balance of preponderance, that the wrongful and negligent conduct of the organisers caused him or her harm health-wise and/or monetary wise. All the above-mentioned elements have well-established legal principles and tests applicable in proving them.One of the major stumbling blocks in potential legal action relating to Covid-19 has been the inability to trace how the person contracted the virus given the nature of the virus this makes it almost impossible to prove the factual causal link. In cases of super-spreader events, however, the situation may be slightly favourable to the victims, and the victims may be able to prove the said link with less difficulty. In this regard, the victim may use circumstantial evidence and prove the link on the balance of preponderance. The circumstantial evidence in this instance would consider all the relevant facts and factors such as:Furthermore, with the contact tracing showing the number of attendees who got infected, this can be part of the circumstantial evidence i.e. the more attendees testing positive, the easier it becomes for the victims to prove the link. These are some of the factors for consideration and the facts of the case will dictate whether there is a need for additional factors.Lastly, in some cases it may not be justifiable to legally hold organisers solely responsible and, therefore, the victim may need to shoulder some blame and, thus, the blameworthiness will be apportioned, accordingly.Whilst the conduct of the organisers may attract criminal proceedings, in line with the Covid-19 Regulations, and thus be required to pay fines or face imprisonment, the victims may be able to claim for damages from them. The possible heads of damages claimable include:The applicable head of damages in each case will be informed by the merits of the matter. There may also be claims for loss of support where appropriate.The festive season may have passed but the legal action may haunt the organisers responsible for the super-spreader events. These events did contribute heavily to the spread of the virus culminating to the second wave and the subsequent stricter restrictions.These cases, if brought forward, will probably become litigious and therefore may take long to finalise. In some instances, the parties may agree to settle, and this helps shorten the duration of litigation and lessen the legal costs involved. Also, litigation is naturally costly, and most victims may be unable to afford to litigate. To this effect, it is pivotal to enquire as to the options available to fund litigation, especially for those who cannot afford litigation.Further, the compensation amount will be bound upon the facts of the matter. Those who genuinely believe they may have legal cases must take the necessary steps timeously. 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. Alabama released its COVID-19 vaccine appointment portal Monday afternoon. By Tuesday, appointments to get the vaccine were unavailable in every North Alabama county. Thats really disheartening, I mean, if they set a date for when youre allowed to get the vaccine, but then theyre not taking appointments, thats extremely disheartening for everyone whos waited this long to get one," said Kera Vest. Vest was excited to roll up her sleeve when she found out she'd be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a substitute teacher. However, like many people in North Alabama, she has more questions than answers when it comes to making an appointment on the online portal. Kind of confused, like how are we supposed to get it? Theyre not taking appointments, is it just first come, first serve then?" said Vest. If you aren't having luck with the state's online portal, a spokesperson with ADPH, Dr. Karen Landers, suggests looking at the vaccine clinic dashboard to see if you can make an appointment with one of the private providers. The county health departments in North Alabama are also taking walk-ins while supplies last. "We do expect to open up the portal for more appointments, once we have more vaccines that we know will be coming. And we expect to be able to open up some appointments past the month of February, again, once we know if we have more vaccine available. We do not want people to make appointments if we dont know whether or not were going to receive vaccine to be able to honor those appointments," said Dr. Landers. Dr. Landers wants to remind you that the online portal is only to receive the vaccine from a county health department. Private providers handle their appointments separately. The Biden administration's arrival, after years of turbulent, impulsive, and damaging policies pursued by the Trump administration, was met with new hopes and optimism around the world. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said, "This new dawn in America is the moment we've been waiting for so long. Once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House." In Beijing as well, spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying welcomed the new president saying, "With cooperation from both sides, the better angels in China-U.S. relations will beat the evil forces." Such expressions of optimism were soon backed by moves taken by Mr. Biden, who, within hours of becoming president, committed the United States to rejoining the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement, both major priorities of Europe and China. The world is now in a complicated situation but there can be little doubt that cooperation and engagement between Europe, China, and America is essential to solving the planet's problems. As prime minister, I led Ireland's largest ever trade delegation to China in 2005, and have returned many times since to attend environmental and business forums involving senior members of the Chinese leadership. And every Irish leader is close to the United States with so many citizens of Ireland having emigrated there in the 19th century that all of us have family connections in America. In 2008, I was honoured to be invited to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress where I told the legislators in attendance, "To be an Irishman among Americans is to be at home." Beyond my personal connections to both superpowers, the InterAction Council of former world leaders (of which I am co-chair) has also consistently urged European-American-Chinese dialogue and cooperation to solve the world's problems. So, is this possible as we contemplate the arrival of a new U.S. administration? Europe and China's initial embrace of the Biden administration carries an urgency because there has been no shortage of irritants between Beijing, Brussels, and Washington in the recent past. Trump certainly alienated many of America's traditional allies: The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration not only damaged the spirit of free and open trade, but also harmed American businesses and economic growth. Beyond the trade war launched by Trump against Europe and China, the Trump administration further antagonized Beijing by tightening F-1 student and H-1B skilled worker visas under the guise of keeping out Chinese spies. International relations are not just about treaties, sanctions, and deals; they are also about gestures and people-to-people exchanges. The most damaging aspect of Trump's handling of China was that it combined an inconsistent, incoherent, and disjointed strategy of dealing with China's growing power and influence with a complete absence of awareness or understanding of how to engage the Chinese people and the country's leadership. Trump's approach towards China was noisy outside but empty inside. Europe, in contrast, has always favoured engagement with China over confrontation. After seven years of negotiation, for example, the European Union and China recently announced the signing of a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment that gives European companies greater access and better legal safeguards in their direct investments in China's mainland. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and President Xi Jinping of China jointly appeared on a meeting via video link to announce the conclusion of the agreement on December 30, 2020. Personal relationships matter, both in substance and in appearance, especially in the context of Asian history and diplomacy. With China's apparent willingness to look favorably on Washington, will the Biden administration follow Europe's lead in accepting China as a partner on many fields rather than as a threat on all fields? A key measure of success for President Biden's potential engagement with China will necessarily depend on his relationship with President Xi and senior Chinese leadership, despite current challenges stemming from COVID-19, for high-level diplomacy. Biden must seize the opportunity to proactively engage with President Xi and China's political elites, with a coherent and nuanced understanding about Chinese priorities in international affairs. As President Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." It is only fitting that the new president's inauguration speech focused on unity because it is something that the U.S. desperately needs. Today, the United States is deeply divided, not just on racial differences but in terms of ideologies and partisanship, economic inequalities, and fundamental visions about the role of the United States in the world. The spirit of innovation, partnership, and cutting-edge solutions that once guided U.S. foreign policy has given way to passive, confused, ad-hoc policies on a range of complex challenges facing the international community. Sino-American relations always had ebbs and flows, at times tinged with doses of suspicion, hostility, and anxiety, but the stakes are much higher today, both for Washington and Beijing because the problems confronting us are much greater. From a global pandemic, to growing tides of protectionism, to ageing populations and climate change, both superpowers along with Europe must find a way to carefully build on each other's strengths rather than assigning blame. Finding common ground, as Europe has done, should be a top priority for both Washington and Beijing, because neither can afford the cost of prolonged battle against each other. There are three key priorities for the Biden administration as it looks to repair and renew the U.S. relationship with China. First, President Biden needs a clear vision for the role of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, one based on a careful and balanced assessment of key American priorities. In the recent past, Chinese influence has been actively expanding in the region. Beijing has signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with fourteen other countries in the region. China's Belt and Road Initiative, and Beijing's greater vision for the world, will continue to evolve and move forward, regardless of the person in charge at the White House. Instead of feeling threatened by China, Washington needs its own vision and strategy for the next century. Second, the Biden administration needs to focus on renewing partnerships and alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to restore geostrategic balance. The Northeast Asia region has the highest concentration of military capabilities in the world and the United States has spent billions of dollars throughout its history to promote peace and stability in the region in the past few decades. The United States must actively engage with its allies like South Korea and Japan -- two critical partner nations for NATO -- and renew its commitment towards peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and use multilateralism as a channel for promoting American values and interests. Third, Washington needs to increase its investment in improving American competitiveness. In today's world, where artificial intelligence and advanced communication technologies will dictate our future, the United States needs a long-term strategy in collaboration with its private sector, to properly manage its technological competition vis-a-vis China. Such investment should entail a greater focus on research and development funding, an institutional culture that rewards digital innovation and attracting the brightest human capital. Reversing the damage done by the Trump administration will not be easy. It will take time, patience, and persistence. But the opportunity for a new engagement strategy between Europe, China, and the United States is a precious one, which President Biden and his team should nurture and cultivate. Bertie Ahern is the co-chair of the InterAction Council and former Prime Minister of Ireland. 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! Protesters clash with police at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo) Charges Against Non-Violent Capitol Protesters Should Be Dropped: Matt Braynard Matt Braynard, former director of Data and Strategy for President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign, told The Epoch Times that charges against the non-violent protesters at the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 should be dropped. Anybody that engaged in any violence on January 6, who may have assaulted a police officer or committed serious property damage or vandalism should face serious charges, Braynard said. However, the vast majority of those people have not been charged with such crimes. Theyve been charged with simply walking through an open door to a public building, with no knowledge or no reason to expect that it would be illegal or forbidden. Braynard sent an open letter (pdf) to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on Jan. 29, requesting them to drop all charges against non-violent protesters and not use those few bad apples as an excuse to persecute the peaceful Trump supporters. In the open letter, Braynard pointed out that these charges require a mens rea (mental state) of knowingly entering a federal building without permission. But the majority of the non-violent protesters reasonably believed they had permission to enter, Braynard argued. Braynard pointed out that police officers were seen pulling down barriers and opening doors for the protesters in many cases. Some officers even smiled and took selfies with the protesters. Matt Braynard, the executive director of Look Ahead America, during an interview with The Epoch Timess Joshua Philipp. (The Epoch Times) A timeline of the event was compiled by The Epoch Times which links to videos of this occurring. Whatever their reasons, if youre an innocent person at a rally and you see the door of the Capitol building opened by an officer, it invites you to enter, and you could reasonably expect that you have the right to go through those doors, Braynard said. They had no intention to destroy property or harm anyone. They may have been naive but were not acting maliciously. Whatever the crimes, they do not deserve jail time and to face financial ruin due to legal costs for such a minor offense, Braynard further explained in his open letter. He also alleged that because the DOJ and FBI previously treated protesters differently, out of a sense of fairness and a sense of justice, its important that the Department of Justice drop these charges. In 2018, during the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, many protesters stormed the Senate office buildings, intimidated senators, and tried to prevent it. The protestors were arrested, but only ended up with fines of between $35 and $50, Braynard said. He indicated in his open letter that many of those arrested on Jan. 6, in contrast, have faced $100,000 and even $750,000 bails, and the prosecutors have demanded they be revoked entirely. And then during President Trumps own inauguration in January 2017, over 200 individuals committed violent crimes, including assaulting police officers, destroying police cars, other property damage, and all of them had their charges dropped, Braynard said. Weve seen again and again, people engaging in nothing short of domestic terrorism on the left, using weapons, starting fires, committing serious property damage, assaulting and even murdering police officers, and in many cases being given bail by people like Kamala Harris, and by Joe Bidens presidential campaign, Braynard continued, referring to the protesters during the summer in the name of Black Lives Matter movement. I think that these people are being persecuted solely because of their political beliefs, Braynard added. I think the right course for that is to drop charges. Neither the DOJ nor FBI responded to The Epoch Times request for comments. January 6th was a tragedy, and we mourn the deaths of Georgia, Ashli Babbit, and Officer Brian Sicknick, Braynard said in his open letter. We should not further compound the tragedy through vindictive and selective political prosecutions. Law enforcement should prosecute those who committed violence against police officers or committed serious property damage, while treating the peaceful protesters who wrongfully entered the Capitol with compassion by dropping the charges. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 5, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Ex-Trump Cabinet Member Wilbur Ross Files to Form $345 Million Blank-Check Company Former Trump administration cabinet member Wilbur Ross filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to form a $345 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Ross, who served as former President Donald Trumps secretary of Commerce, filed to form the Ross Acquisition Corp II and is seeking to raise $345 million, the filing revealed. Former Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow, who previously worked for CNBC, will join Ross as director of the committee. A SPAC can raise money from investors to be used for an acquisition of a private company before making it public. We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated on January 22, 2021 and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination, said the SEC filing. Ross and his group added that they havent yet identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any business combination target. The company furthermore stated that it intends to identify a target business with either all or a substantial portion of its activities in Asia, North America, or Europe. Ross will serve as the president, chairman, and CEO of the SPAC. Kudlow will serve as the SPACs director. Other top executives include Stephen J. Toy, Nadim Z. Qureshi, Edward A. Snyder, and Lord William Astorthe English businessman and politician who sits as a Conservative hereditary Lord Temporal in the House of Lords and is also a member of the prominent Astor family. Ross Acquisition stated that it plans to list its units on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ROSS.U. SPACs, known as blank-check companies, had a record run in 2020, raising more than $82 billion through IPOs. In January 2021, 91 SPACs raised $25.09 billion, according to data provider Dealogic. Ross is among a growing list of politicians and government officials who have backed SPACs. Prominent figures including former House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gary Cohn, a former adviser to Trump, have also raised millions through their blank-check firms. Meanwhile, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows joined the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), the group announced last week. The organization is headed by former Republican Rep. Jim DeMint. During my years in Congress and the White House, I repeatedly witnessed the great work of CPI to support conservatives on the Hill and in the Trump administration, said Meadows last week. Often flying under the radar, no group has played a more critical role in helping conservatives stay true to their principles in the hostile Washington swamp. Reuters contributed to this report. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company OKKO Group plans to invest up to $3 million in the Kherson crude oil transshipment terminal acquired in January 2021. "According to preliminary estimates of our experts, the amount of investment in the modernization of the terminal could be up to $3 million," the press service of the OKKO group said, quoting Vice President Yuriy Kuchabsky. The OKKO said that the acquisition of the terminal will help create a powerful logistics base for more efficient and mobile fueling of gas stations in the south and east of Ukraine. In addition, OKKO is taking a major step in diversifying fuel sources. "Having our own port capacity, we get direct access to the Mediterranean market of petroleum products. And in favorable conditions we can increase the volume of fuel imports to Ukraine from Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Turkmenistan and other countries. This is about 150,000-200,000 tonnes annually," Kuchabsky said. The Kherson crude oil transshipment terminal consists of an oil rig, where tankers are unloaded and oil products are stored, as well as an oil depot that has access to the railway infrastructure. The facilities are connected by an oil pipeline. According to the company's estimates, first of all, it is necessary to overhaul the tanks at the facility with the replacement of shut-off and breathing valves; install fire-fighting equipment, gas equalization system; replace the filling station with modern automated equipment. Modernization will make the operation of the oil transshipment terminal safe and efficient, bring it in line with international standards. The press service reminded that in the summer of 2020, two credit lines of $35 million each were opened for OKKO by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation. The company plans to spend part of these funds on the reconstruction of the oil transshipment terminal in Kherson. The implementation of the project will also help create new jobs in the region and increase tax revenues to the local budget. 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. Jenny Louise Cudd plans her Mexican work retreat for four days in February Prosecutors have 'no position' on the request of a woman charged in the U.S. Capitol riot to travel to Mexico's Riviera Maya for a 'company retreat' with employees at the business she owns, according to her attorneys. Jenny Louise Cudd, who runs Becky's Flowers in Midland, Texas, on Monday requested court permission for the trip from February 18 to 21 while she is free on bail pending trial for misdemeanor charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. In their motion requesting permission for the trip, Cudd's attorney's said that her pretrial service officer had no objection to her proposed travel plan, and that prosecutors took 'no position'. USA Today previously reported in error that a U.S. magistrate had approved the travel request, but no such order appears in the online docket, and the newspaper issued a correction saying that the travel request had not been granted as of Wednesday. Cudd was originally arrested on January 13, after photos showed her inside the Capitol and her social posts suggested that she helped break down the door to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Jenny Cudd, on the left of the picture wearing a Trump flag, was among the mob on January 6 Cudd owns Becky's Flowers in Midland, and said on Facebook that she employs nine people The request Cudd submitted to the court had asked permission to participate in 'a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses.' 'Prior to the alleged offense at issue, Ms Cudd planned and prepaid for a weekend retreat with her employees,' her attorneys stated in their court filing. One of the conditions of Cudd's pretrial release was that she not travel outside the continental United States without court approval. Cudd's florist shop has about nine employees. Her court request did not specify where they planned to stay in the Riviera Maya, a stretch of Caribbean coastline on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula that is filled with luxurious all-inclusive resorts. Cudd went viral following the January 6 riot when she made a video from inside the Capitol, saying: 'We didn't knock down any statues, we didn't vandalize anything - but we did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door.' Cudd denies doing anything violent or damaging property and has pleaded not guilty. 'I went inside the Capitol completely legally and I did not do anything to hurt anybody or destroy any property,' she told KWES-TV. She said that she didn't personally go into Pelosi's office or see the breaking down of the door, but was speaking in a collective sense about people at the Capitol. Her attorney, Don Flanary, said that the misdemeanor charges reflected that. 'She's basically just been charged with being there,' he told CBS. 'She did not break into Nancy Pelosi's office. She didn't go anywhere inside or near it.' He added: 'We're pretty confident that the cameras will show she was only in the public portions of the Capitol.' Cudd was one of several political candidates who took part in the siege, along with former US House nominee Rick Saccone of Pennsylvania and recently-elected lawmaker Derrick Evans of West Virginia, who later resigned. Cudd came last in a three-way mayoral race in Midland, Texas, in November 2019, and current mayor Patrick Payton said he was 'saddened' by her involvement in the mob. 'It saddens me. And that's just as far as I'm willing to comment on that. It saddens me,' he said. A large crowd stormed the Capitol as terrified politicians ran for safety Cudd is also a cannabis entrepreneur, with interests in two Oklahoma-based farms. She has said that her flower shop was bombarded with online reviews calling her a terrorist and a traitor, and that she has even received death threats. Cudd is scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing on February 4 before Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather, sitting in Washington DC, where the charges were filed. Cudd is facing up to a year behind bars or a $100,000 fine if found guilty. AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said. Cake, Batter and Roll, Middletown Cake, Batter and Roll in Middletown has created sweet and savory Choc-Cuterie boards for the holiday, with displays of fruit, chocolate, nuts, cookies and even a bit of bacon. The I Love You Berry Much board features sugar cookies, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, blueberries, milk and white chocolate covered pretzels, almonds, chocolate truffles, white chocolate bark and chocolate ganache. The Dont Go Bacon My Heart board has a carnivorous twist, with bacon cookies, chocolate-covered bacon roses, strawberries, raspberries, chocolate covered pretzels, candied walnuts, peanut butter truffles, swirled chocolate bark and bourbon ganache. Each board is $18, and must be preordered by Feb. 10. 860-788-6267, cbrbakery.com. 'Baking is in my blood' says owner of Cake, Batter & Roll Mumbai, Feb 3 : Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday called Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg dumb and a spoilt brat for tweeting in favour of the farmers' protest in India. "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Greta tweeted early on Wednesday, according to India time. Greta's tweet came in reaction to a news piece on the CNN website that reads: "India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police." We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Replying to Greta's tweet, Kangana wrote on Twitter: "No fancy activists will talk about genuine environmentalist our own grandma... but they will definitely promote dumb and a spoilt brat ?@GretaThunberg? who is being used by entire left lobby and in return she gets to skip her education and school." By "grandma", Kangana refers to the 105-year-old R Pappammal, an organic farmer from Coimbatore, who was honoured with the Padma Shri for agriculture this year. No fancy activists will talk about genuine environmentalist our own grandma ... but they will definitely promote dumb and a spoilt brat @GretaThunberg who is being used by entire left lobby and in return she gets to skip her education and school. https://t.co/vbN5yJt897 Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) February 3, 2021 Earlier, according to an IANS report on Tuesday, the CNN news piece had prompted international pop sensation Rihanna to write: "Why aren't we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest." Kangana had immediately retorted by calling Rihanna a fool and a dummy. -- Syndicated from IANS BROOKLYN, Ohio -- A little less than two years after moving into 75,000 square feet at the former American Greetings location, TRG Multimedia is in the process of adding 30,000 square feet to its Brooklyn quarters. When I originally negotiated the lease, which was a big move for us and also a risk, I did so to have space to grow, TRG Multimedia President, Director and Senior Photographer Adam Wilde said. There are two different additional spaces within our building. One is a 15,000-square-foot space thats been held for a possible courtyard that would be a public space. The other one was a 15,000-square-foot expansion within my own space that I have first right of refusal for. That was a space they didnt do any demo to originally. They kind of left it up. So Im moving into that area. Founded in 1983, TRG Multimedia is now one of the biggest multimedia studios -- photography, video, CGI -- in the Midwest, largely serving companies in the home market with commercial imagery for marketing and advertising purposes. Prior to moving from Cleveland to Brooklyn, TRG Multimedia completed a $1.16 million renovation featuring semi-permanent room sets available for customization. The venue boasts drive-in access, 25-foot ceiling height, a set-building workshop, two client lounges and a 10,000-square-foot soundstage. One of the main reasons the company decided on its location in the former American Greetings campus was the ability to expand into adjacent space, Brooklyn Economic Development and Planning Director Jeremy Rowan said. Were excited that TRGs business is thriving in Brooklyn and the company in expanding its operations. This is another example of the economic development success realized through the repurposing of the former American Greetings campus as a multi-tenant property. Since moving into Brooklyn, Wilde said the company has added more than a dozen positions. Currently, TRG Multimedia has 46 full-time employees. Business is great, Wilde said. Were in the right place at the right time. Weve really tapped into something here. The location is fantastic. Weve really had no problems with Brooklyn whatsoever. Theres no crime, Ive got plenty of parking and the space is close to the airport. Its kind of hitting all of the marks. Weve grown much larger and faster than we anticipated. There are future expansion ideas, for sure. Theres potential for us to expand to the left or right to add upwards of 30,000-plus square feet. Were actively examining that and talking to our landlord and seeing what the options are. Read more news from the Parma Sun Post. One-third of COVID-19 vaccines destined for Australia are expected to come to NSW as Premier Gladys Berejiklian lobbies the federal government to put thousands of state quarantine workers at the front of the queue. The sheer number of quarantine and frontline healthcare workers in NSW makes allocating the lions share of vaccine doses to the state a simple equation, several state and federal public health and policy staff told The Sydney Morning Herald. With NSW recording its 17th consecutive day of zero locally acquired cases and Victoria its 28th day on Wednesday, the people at greatest risk of contracting the virus and the greatest need of the vaccines - are those working in close proximity with returning travellers. Ms Berejiklian wants the thousands of police, security guards and healthcare personnel within the states quarantine network to be among the first to receive the vaccines, arguing Sydney bears the largest burden of Australias international arrivals, many arriving from countries where the more virulent variants are fast becoming the dominant circulating strains. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned by a prison term meted out to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, and repeated its call for his immediate release, saying it would coordinate closely with allies about how to hold Russia accountable. "The United States is deeply concerned by Russian authorities' decision to sentence opposition figure (Alexei) Navalny to two years and eight months imprisonment, replacing his suspended sentence with jail time," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. "We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny, as well as the hundreds of other Russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly," he added. A Russian court sentenced Navalny to three and a half years in jail after ruling he had violated the terms of his parole, but said his prison term would be shortened for time he had served earlier under house arrest. Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, was arrested at the Russian border on Jan. 17 after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. "Even as we work with Russia to advance U.S. interests, we will coordinate closely with our allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens," Blinken said. The United States and Russia have agreed to extend the New START strategic nuclear arms control treaty, due to expire on Friday, by five years. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis) CoCID (Compact Cell Imaging Device), a 5.7 million, four-year, pan-European research and innovation project, funded through Horizon 2020, has officially commenced. CoCID is focused on the development of a soft X-ray-based methodology that enables fast and inexpensive three-dimensional imaging of whole internal structure of intact biological cells. The objective of CoCID is to develop a lab-scale, soft X-ray microscope, which can be used as a research tool to help scientists to understand the cellular origin of diseases. The benefits of this compact imaging device will be demonstrated through a series of virology use cases that enable researchers to decipher critical changes in cell morphology induced by viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, in their host cell with the aim to identify possible targets for therapy suppressing virus replication and/or cellular responses of relevance to the virus. The CoCID project is being coordinated by University College Dublin (UCD) with project partners; Heidelberg University Hospital and the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, in Germany, the University of Jyvaskyla, in Finland; the National Centre for Biotechnology and the Alba Synchrotron, in Spain along with SiriusXT, a UCD spin-out company that is licensing miniaturized light source technology from UCD to develop the microscope. "Soft x-ray microscopy (SXM) is an extremely exciting, potentially game-changing technique that will allow us to visualize virally infected cells in exquisite detail," said Assistant Professor Nicola Fletcher, UCD School of Veterinary Medicine. She added, "We will use it to investigate the mechanisms by which the hepatitis E virus, an emerging infectious disease that is transmitted to humans from infected animals, infects cells from different species. The ultimate aim is to explore new treatment options for this important viral infection." Professor Ralf Bartenschlager, a Molecular Virologist at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg commented, "as a virologist working on how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with and alters its host cell, we will greatly benefit from the development of a soft X-ray microscope that allows us to gain unprecedented insights into this intimate interaction. We have previously used several imaging technologies to address the question of host cell reprogramming by viruses, but each technique has its limitations." Dr Pablo Gastaminza, a Principal Investigator in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Spanish National Research Council said, "We have successfully used the synchrotron-based cryo-SXM for visualizing the alterations in cellular organelle morphology and distribution associated with the replication of hepatitis C virus in cell culture. A compact, lab-based microscope would simplify the sophisticated infrastructure while providing new opportunities for a broader use of cryo-SXM as a complementary approach to other microscopy techniques." "SXM will provide an excellent tool for our studies of intranuclear interactions of oncolytic herpes simplex virus," said Dr Maija Vihinen-Ranta, a Virologist and a Principal Investigator at the University of Jyvaskyla. She added "Importantly, the correlative approach, where SXM is combined with fluorescent microscopy, can be used to incorporate the molecular localization of labeled data, e.g. chromatin, capsids, cellular proteins, into a 3D SXM reconstruction of an infected cell." There are only a few cryo-SXT beamlines operating worldwide and therefore the access to the technique is quite restricted compared to other fields. Having laboratory systems which can deliver comparable results, although at a fixed energy, would allow the community to grow much faster and would enable the field to deliver better competitive science." Dr Eva Pereiro, Principal Beamline Scientist, ALBA Synchrotron Light Source "I find the potential of soft x-ray microscopy tremendous. It is like a medical CT scan but instead of a patient, single cells are imaged at the nanometer level," said Dr Venera Weinhardt, a cell imaging expert from the Centre for Organismal Studies at the University of Heidelberg. She added "Project CoCID will help demonstrate the benefits of making this amazing technology available as a laboratory device, ubiquitous in all biomedical research laboratories." "This project award not only helps fund the advancement of our SXT-100 microscope", said Tony McEnroe, CEO and co-founder of SiriusXT, "it also allows us to collaborate closely with European leaders in virology research to demonstrate the benefits of soft x-ray microscopy in progressing their understanding of pathogen infection pathways." Two Atlanta cops who were filmed pulling two black students from their car and tasering them during Black Lives Matter protests last spring have been reinstated. A review board voted to overturn the firings of two Atlanta cops who were filmed tasering and pulling two college students from a car during last year's protests against racial injustice and police brutality. Atlanta's Civil Service Board on Monday ordered the dismissals of Ivory Streeter and Mark Gardner be revoked after it determined that the city did not follow its own personnel procedures. The board, which is made up of five residents recommended by the mayor and confirmed by the city council, said the officers were deprived of due process because they were not given proper notification or adequate opportunity to respond. Both Streeter and Gardner - who had sued the city over their firings - are still facing charges of aggravated assault for the May 30 altercation. Officers confronted Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim, rising seniors at historically black colleges in Atlanta, as they were stuck in traffic after a curfew declared by the mayor during protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Police body camera footage showed the officers shouting at the couple, firing tasers at them and dragging them from the car. Throughout the confrontation, the pair could be heard screaming and asking what they did wrong. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and then-Police Chief Erika Shields decided the two officers had used excessive force and must be fired immediately after video of the confrontation went viral, sparking fierce outrage online. Scroll down for video A review board on Monday voted to overturn the firings of two Atlanta cops - Ivory Streeter (left) and Mark Gardner (right) - who were filmed tasering and pulling two college students from a car during George Floyd protests last May Video showed Gardner and Streeter confronting Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim as they were stuck in traffic after a curfew declared by the mayor on May 30 Streeter and Gardner each received a notice of proposed adverse action on May 31 indicating dismissal effective the following day and citing 'Maltreatment or Unnecessary Force'. That same day, they were served notices of final adverse action effective the next day. Generally, an employee should be given 10 days between the notice of proposed adverse action, such as a firing, and its effective date, the Civil Service Board said in its order. An adverse action can become effective immediately in an emergency situation, but the board found the city did not follow its own guidelines for an emergency situation. Shields, who stepped down as police chief about two weeks after the incident, told the board extraordinary circumstances resulted in the decision to fire the two longtime officers. City officials feared the incident would increase outrage against police. 'The circumstances were exceptional,' Shields testified according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'We did, I did, what I had to do to make sure the city was stabilized.' Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Tuesday noted that the Civil Service Board did not say the officers' conduct was lawful. 'Given the unrest across our city and nation at the time, and the disturbing video footage before us, I still believe that the right decision was made,' she said in an emailed statement. Bodycam video showed an officer pointing his handgun at Young as he sat in his car Pilgrim was seen in the passenger seat of Young's car screaming in terror as an officer aimed and deployed a taser at her Pilgrim and Young speak about their confrontation with police at a news conference on June 1 Rev James Woodall, state president of the Georgia NAACP, said the mayor didn't do enough to work with community leaders to address an unfolding crisis in the city. 'Unfortunately we are seeing the continued failure of Atlanta's Mayor and the newly appointed DNC Vice Chair Keisha Lance Bottoms to address the systematic failures of extra judicial violence against Black Atlantans,' he said Tuesday. The two officers still face criminal charges that the Fulton County district attorney at the time, Paul Howard, announced just a couple of days after the incident. Streeter was charged with aggravated assault for using a taser against Young and with pointing a gun at him, arrest warrants say. Gardner was charged with aggravated assault for using a taser against Pilgrim, a warrant says. Four other officers were also charged. Both Streeter (left) and Gardner (right) are still facing charges of aggravated assault for the May 30 altercation that prompted their firings In an email to the department after Howard's announcement, Shields defended the firing of the officers but questioned the timing and appropriateness of the charges. Newly elected Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who ousted Howard, asked Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr last week to assign the case to another prosecutor, saying actions by Howard made it inappropriate for her office to pursue the case. It will be up to a new prosecutor to decide whether to proceed with the charges. The Civil Service Board reversed the firings 'only on the basis they were not done in accordance with Atlanta City Code,' Atlanta Senior Police Officer TaSheena Brown said in an email, adding that the board didn't determine whether the two violated department policies and the department will determine whether more investigative actions are needed. 'Because Investigator Gardner and Investigator Streeter have criminal charges related to this incident, they will remain on administrative leave until those charges are resolved,' she wrote. Attorney L Chris Stewart, who represents Pilgrim, told the Journal-Constitution he was disappointed by the idea of the officers returning to work. 'The video speaks for itself,' he said. Attorney Mawuli Davis, who represents Young, said his client was 'stunned and saddened' to learn that the officers' firings had been reversed. Lance LoRusso, a lawyer for the officers, told the newspaper the firings resulted from a rush to judgment and said his clients are eager to return to work. Bottoms said this incident and others led to changes in the city's use-of-force policy, 'including de-escalation training and guidance on when and how to intervene in specific situations.' 'It is my sincere hope that these policy changes and additional training for our officers will help eliminate the potentially life-threatening and deadly encounters that have happened in the past,' the mayor said. By Teri Rizvi Afflicted with cabin fever about a month into the pandemic, I tapped out a note to my journalism friends from Ohio University, where decades ago we chased stories and dreams. If your Zoom dance card isnt full, a few of us thought it might be fun to reconnect over drinks and the miles at 5 p.m. on Saturday, I wrote. Seconds later, Scott quipped, Sounds great! Ill pick up the check. Cant wait to see all your tiny smiling faces, responded Dee Dee, signaling the beginning of regular Zoom dates, the rectangles multiplying as old friends join the periodic video calls. I never thought it possible to be cloistered and connected, yet, to my surprise, my relationships today are more intentional and emotionally intimate than ever and I havent stepped foot in a coffee shop to meet a friend in 10 months and counting. Every night, shortly after 5 p.m., my social worker son calls from New York City to chat about his work counseling HIV-positive adults, the latest adventures with Link, his roommates deaf rescue dog and that nights vegan recipe. My phone, markedly quieter before the pandemic, now dings daily with text messages from my college roommates, my older son or friends from across town, on the other side of our rural road or on the opposite coast. Cant sleep! So excited for a new beginning, a neighbor interrupted my sleep with a 5:30 a.m. text on Inauguration Day. Hot Pockets recalled. Thats IT. Thats my bad-news tipping point. Im out, texted a close friend from LA in one of her hilarious messages. And every few weeks, my j-school friends gather to check in on each other, analyze the days headlines and renew friendships that began over all-nighters pulled together producing a daily student newspaper in a small Appalachian college town. Scattered now from Manhattan to Seattle, these are some of the most fascinating people I know curious, inquisitive, compassionate and unfailing in truth-telling. They are the storytellers who will chronicle the unfamiliar road were traversing for the pages of history. Stories as personal as a coronavirus diagnosis or as chilling as an insurrection at the Capitol and the quick impeachment of a U.S. president who encouraged the violence bring us together like hummingbirds to nectar. But its friendship cultivated over 40 years that keeps us moored. We know each other the way children who grow up together know each other, said Anne, a health reporter. Still held largely captive in our homes, we talk about our lives in isolation and playfully tease each other. None of those classes helped you, Larry, because you didnt go to them, Peggy, a contact tracer, told an AP reporter to laughter. Weve come full circle, I told Theresa, a space reporter at Breaking Defense who was carded when she showed up early for senior shopping at her neighborhood grocery store. During our college days writing and editing for The Post, we stood on the cusp of careers that would bring us into the lives of readers. These days we find ourselves peering into each others lives. After her son suddenly lost his job, a friend fought back tears and shared her worry about his future. As writers who respect facts, were dismayed by those in our own families who embrace unfounded conspiracy theories. Choking back disappointment, we cancel Christmas plans with relatives after a new surge in the virus. During these socially distant times, we show up for each other and show vulnerability. Weve learned to be gentle with ourselves. Every video call now ends with two words, Love you! Turning wistful as the conversation wound down one week, Larry quietly urged us to live life without hesitation. The road behind us is longer than the road ahead. Embrace every moment. Find that moment of joy. As I clicked leave meeting on the laptop screen, I realize the pandemic will end eventually, but friendship may be the one immunity that lasts a lifetime. Teri Rizvi Teri Rizvi is founder and director of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop at the University of Dayton, where she serves as executive director of strategic communications. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. A Co Tyrone woman who is publishing her second book at the age of 75 has revealed her 'new' career started after something stirred inside her as she walked through the Great War graveyards in Europe like the Somme and Ypres, seeing the names of hundreds of young soldiers on the headstones. Pheme Glass said the five-day trip with a cross-community peace group to France and Belgium changed her life. Her fascination quickly grew with what spurred young Irish men to fight in a war far from their homes and the sacrifices that they made. She said studying the official wartime records had a profound impact on her as she struggled to comprehend the numbers of local soldiers lost in the war. Pheme - whose name is short for Eupheme, which is Greek for well-spoken - decided to use the conflict and events in her native Tyrone as the themes of her debut novel in 2017, which has now been followed by a sequel. The retired NHS contract monitoring officer's only other literary output had been a volume of her own poetry in Seeds Of Memory in 2013 - dedicated to her mother, who had just died - but she knew a novel would be the ideal for the stories she wanted to tell about the Great War. She called her book The Blossom Or The Bole, with the title coming from a line in WB Yeats' poem Amongst School Children. The book told the story of two fictional teenage boys from the Sperrins, one a Protestant, the other a Catholic, who enlisted in the British Army having lied about their ages to a recruitment officer in Omagh, and it follows their journey through the war. Pheme's sequel, The Blossom Or The Bole 2, takes up the story where the first book left off. Originally from Cookstown, she was writing it when coronavirus threw the world into chaos last year. She said: "When the Covid-19 crisis came I was worried about what would happen to the book if I got the virus. I was determined that I would finish it and that was what drove me forward." Pheme carried out exhaustive research into what was happening in the real world in the early 20th century for both books and, like the first one, she has interspersed her second fictional story with articles and headlines from contemporary Tyrone newspapers to bolster the historical accuracy of her novels. And she doesn't shy away from portraying the grimness of war and the tough rural life that existed in the county over 100 years ago, when tensions over the Home Rule crisis were causing major divisions. She also explores what impact the activities of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Republican Brotherhood were having on society at the time. Pheme said she has always been a voracious reader with a hankering to write, but she was forced to cut short her education at 15 to help her family pay the bills. She recalled: "I cried all the way home after my last day at school, but because my parents weren't terribly well off we all had to work. "I quickly took up a job in a factory - sewing bra straps - but I hated it. "It was like being in prison, and then I looked after a family's children for five years before I got a job in the health service." And it wasn't until she retired that she found the time to throw herself into realising her dream. Pheme says The Blossom And The Bole titles have intrigued many of her readers. She explained: "A chestnut tree is a major part of the story because it was where the two boys in the novel used to play. "The blossom is the flower of a tree and represents the boys' youth, while the bole is the trunk, but the bole is the trunk that represents them becoming men." Pheme got a shock after she sought clearance to use the full Yeats poem in the first novel. She said: "I was told that if the book was published in America or China I would have to pay $900 in copyright fees. "But I had no plans to sell the book there, and there were no similar difficulties about bringing the book out in the British Isles, thankfully." Pheme insists that there will not be a third 'Blossom' book. "People have already begun asking me about another sequel even before they've read the second book, but I keep telling them that writing is hard work when you don't know what you're doing," she laughed. However, she is not ruling out another novel on a different subject, adding: "I would also love to write a script for a play. "I was stage manager for the Omagh Players amateur drama group for about 19 years, and I really loved the craic. "Not so long ago I was involved in a workshop in Carrickmore with the playwright Martin Lynch and it was a wonderful experience. "The play we all combined on came back by public demand." Omagh-born journalist and author Deric Henderson has championed her work. In a foreword he says Pheme's new book captures the "grinding poverty and sectarian tensions" of the era in which it is set. Pheme also hopes her books will open readers' eyes to the reality of the time. More information about The Blossom Or The Bole books can be found at www.phemeglass.com China in Focus (Feb. 2): Fertility App Sued for Data Sharing One woman accuses a smartphone app of sharing data with the Chinese regime. The software helps women plan their pregnancies. Chinese people living overseas finally make their way back to their home country. But citizens there denounce their returncalling them disease-ridden. A major financial services company is going bankrupt. The Chinese firms fall from success comes after officials used it to send money abroad. And Chinas top diplomat encourages the United States to play by Beijings rules. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China. For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter. The suspect in a January shooting that left an ex-girlfriend with critical injuries is now in custody. Chattanooga Police responded to a shooting report on Jan. 23, and found the victim with a gunshot wound in her left leg. She was transported to a local hospital, where an investigator was able to briefly speak with her. Police said the victim told them she and her ex-boyfriend Jimmy Jenkins, 27, had gotten into an argument over her having a new boyfriend. She said Jenkins got into his vehicle and initially drove away, but returned a while later and pointed a handgun at her and another individual. Both were sitting in their own vehicle. She said Jenkins fired at the car multiple times, causing the victim to suffer life-threatening injuries. Police said the witness told them the two were sitting in the vehicle when Jenkins returned and shot at the vehicle. The witness was the one who called 911. Last Thursday, police found Jenkins hiding in the basement of a Milne Street residence. During a recorded interview, police said Jenkins admitted to meeting with the victim on the 23rd, and also to shooting multiple rounds into the victims vehicle. Police said Jenkins apologized for his actions. He is charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated domestic assault, and vandalism. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And Ive looked over. And Ive seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And Ive looked over. And Ive seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!" Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in Memphis the day before his assassination Charles Kelly / The Associated Press Files Martin Luther King Jr., second from right, stands with other civil rights leaders at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. on April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated. Like theatre companies all over the world, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre has been forced to improvise when it comes to creating plays in the era of COVID-19. The company has been quick on its feet to provide a drama that was never previously announced before this month. Playwright Katori Halls The Mountaintop is a two-hander about the final night in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. before his assassination on the evening of April 4, 1968. It will be produced on the mainstage, but will only be accessible in digital format, streaming from Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. to March 14. It will feature local actors Ray Strachan as King and Cherissa Richards as Camae, a motel maid who spends some time with King before revealing a profound secret. The play is directed by RMTCs associate artistic director Audrey Dwyer, who says the scale of the show, with just two performers, was just one of the factors that made it an ideal entry into the companys program. Director Audrey Dwyer "(We were) responding to the COVID crisis by looking at how many people can be on stage in safe ways but also asking: How can we elevate artists in this time? How can we create space for big ideas in our conversations?" The play also falls into Black History Month, which Dwyer calls "a wonderful time of the year for us to reflect on the past, celebrate the enormous achievement of Black artists, inventors, scientists. So to do The Mountaintop at this time is a perfect response to the condition of blackness both in the 60s and how we are addressing it today." The show also allowed cast and crew to rehearse on the stage itself, as opposed to the Zoom rehearsals that have been taking much of the joy out of the process in the past year. Cherissa Richards "Its such a treat to be able to be back in the space," says Richards. "The fact that we are even able to do it at all is a gift," Richards says. "Its so incredible to be able to be in a room creating again." "We all share the same feeling just coming into this building," says Strachan, the first Winnipeg Theatre Award best actor winner in 2018 for his work in the play The Whipping Man. Ray Strachan "For me personally, coming into the rehearsal hall, its just my favourite thing," Strachan says. " I feel like Im my best version of Ray in the rehearsal hall so I am ecstatic to be back." Playing the role of Martin Luther King in his private life presented a challenge Strachan embraced. "MLK is kind of taken off his pedestal in this particular play, so I kind of get to experiment and research and try and figure out what he sounded like behind the scenes," he says. "I find it challenging that way." Tickets for The Mountaintop are $20 (+GST ) and are available starting Wednesday. Tickets can be ordered online at royalmtc.ca. randall.king@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @FreepKing A woman charged in connection with the Capitol riot still wants to go on her planned vacation to Mexico, but she'll need permission first. Florist and former Midland mayoral candidate Jenny Cudd entered the U.S. Capitol with the pro-Trump mob that breached the building on Jan. 6, boasting in a Facebook live stream afterward, "We did break down Nancy Pelosis door and somebody stole her gavel. AFTER JAN. 6: Texas gubernatorial candidate posted photo of noose after Capitol riot, saying 'let 'em hang' On Monday, lawyers for Cudd filed a motion to travel, asking a judge to grant her permission to leave the country for a prepaid vacation to Riviera Maya, Mexico later this month. This is a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses, attorney Farheena Siddiqui wrote in the motion. Ms. Cudd has appeared at her scheduled court appearance, remains in constant contact with her attorney, and has remained in contact with pretrial probation, as ordered. Cudd is on pretrial release after she was arrested and charged with entering and remaining on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct or violent entry on Jan. 13. She needs the court's permission to travel outside of Texas. The federal magistrate's office has not yet granted permission and would not confirm when a ruling could come, USA Today's Jayme Deerwester reports. The motion notes that prosecutors are aware of and take "no position" to Cudd's request. Cudd admitted to breaching the Capitol multiple times on her social media accounts. Cudd streamed to her Facebook page from a hotel after the riot, telling viewers, "F--- yes, I am proud of my actions. I f------ charged the Capitol today with patriots today." She defended her actions in a Jan. 8 interview with local ABC affiliate NewsWest9, saying she didn't personally enter Pelosi's office or destroy anything in the Capitol. She claimed she used "we" to refer to we the patriots. Ive told everybody this: I would do it again in a heartbeat because I did not break any laws, Cudd said. CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., a leader in innovative learning toys for children, announced it has partnered with ClassTag, the leading parent-teacher communication platform and companion to Google Schools, to further its efforts to support families with the tools they need to make learning at home fun for kids. The collaboration includes a sweepstakes to provide one-year memberships of LeapFrog Academy, an interactive learning program, to 10 Pre-K through first grade classrooms. In addition, LeapFrog Learning Experts will be participating in a Facebook Live Workshop, offering parents tips to foster reading and math development. "Parents' needs are continuing to evolve, and we're constantly looking for ways to help them give their children the support they need," said Andy Keimach, President, VTech Electronics North America, LeapFrog's parent company. "Our partnership with ClassTag gives us the opportunity to engage with teachers and parents to offer simple ways to encourage learning at home." LeapFrog Academy is an interactive learning program for children 3-6 years old that guides them on fun Learning Adventures and develops learning skills with 2,000+ games, eBooks, activities and more. Learning Adventures prepare kids for the classroom with a preschool through first grade curriculum that includes activities in fundamental subjects such as math, reading and science along with problem-solving, creativity and social-emotional skills. Designed by award-winning educational experts, LeapFrog Academy tracks a child's learning progress, then provides extra practice in subjects they need help mastering and serves up more difficult activities designed to keep them challenged. "We love offering solutions to help parents and teachers support learning at home," said Bob Lonigro, Chief Advertising Officer, ClassTag. "LeapFrog knows how to make learning fun, and we believe our initiatives will help share that knowledge with our audience." The LeapFrog Academy classroom sweepstakes runs through February 28 and 10 winners will receive a full year subscription of LeapFrog Academy for their entire classroom. Teachers and parents can enter at gleam.io/iqThP/leapfrog-academy-sweepstakes . The winners will be announced March 8. The Facebook Live Workshop will take place on February 4. LeapFrog Learning Experts Dr. Carolyn James and Tiffany Sakaguchi will offer tips and suggestions on how parents can support their child's reading and math development in playful ways at home. Details can be found at www.facebook.com/events/420352839065949/ . For additional support for parents and teachers, visit store.leapfrog.com/en-us/store/go/school-support to find learning products from LeapFrog. About LeapFrog LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is the leader in innovative learning toys for children that encourage a child's curiosity and love of learning throughout their early developmental journey. For more than 20 years, LeapFrog has helped children expand their knowledge and imagination through award-winning products that combine state-of-the-art educational expertise led by the LeapFrog Learning Team, innovative technology, and engaging play turning playtime into quality time that helps children leap ahead. LeapFrog's proprietary learning tablets and ground-breaking developmental games, learn to read and write systems, interactive learning toys and more are designed to create personalized experiences that encourage, excite and build confidence in children. LeapFrog is a subsidiary of VTech Holdings Limited, which is based in Hong Kong. LeapFrog was founded in 1995 by a father who revolutionized technology-based learning solutions to help his child learn how to read. Learn more at www.leapfrog.com . About ClassTag ClassTag is a free communication platform for schools that's designed to fuel and inspire parent engagement, used by over 25,000 schools and 5 million parents and teachers across the U.S. Engineered to provide the simplest and easiest way to communicate, ClassTag combines communications, calendaring and conferences in one platform automatically routing all messages according to parents' preference via email, SMS, app or web and automatically translating into 60+ languages. Media Contact: Lauren Fagan Coyne Public Relations 973-588-2000 [email protected] SOURCE VTech Related Links http://www.vtech.com Integration of Ontotext GraphDB and eccenca Corporate Memory powers new capabilities and performance boost LEIPZIG, Germany and SOFIA, Bulgaria, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading semantic technology providers eccenca (developer of Corporate Memory) and Ontotext (developer of GraphDB) partner to facilitate semantic technology for business use cases. eccenca integrates the semantic graph database GraphDB into its flagship software eccenca Corporate Memory. Ontotext and eccenca have teamed up to boost the value of semantic technologies by jointly creating vertical and horizontal enterprise data solutions. "eccenca offers one of the markets most mature knowledge graph based life cycle management solutions," Ontotext CEO Atanas Kiryakov explains the partnership with eccenca. "Its focus and dedication to automation use cases in manufacturing industries is bringing the benefits of knowledge graph technology to the supply chain and the shop floor. Building on eccenca's unique focus on process automation, we are jointly going to expand our offering into IT landscape automation to help organizations unify automation of security, network, cloud and on-premise IT infrastructures." eccenca Corporate Memory provides a multi-disciplinary integrative platform for managing enterprise data related rules, constraints, capabilities and configurations in a single application. The highly extensible, interoperable enterprise knowledge graph platform re-establishes global data transparency in enterprises as well as line-of-business ownership to a complex and dynamic data environment. By making enterprise data both machine-readable and human-interpretable, enterprises are enabled to drive agility, autonomy and automation without disrupting existing IT infrastructures. GraphDB is an enterprise-ready semantic graph database engine combined with content and data analytics capabilities. GraphDB allows users to link diverse data, index it for semantic search and enrich it via text analysis to build big knowledge graphs. GraphDB's differentiators include comprehensive integration with full-text search engines (Elasticsearch, SOLR and Lucene) and document databases (MongoDB), high-availability cluster architecture proven in business critical deployments spanning across multiple data centers and continents. It also provides efficient reasoning support and numerous analytics plug-ins including semantic similarity via graph- and word-embedding, RDF Rank that determines the importance of the nodes, based on the PageRank algorithm, spatial primitives (e.g. nearby) and others. "Ontotext has been a thought leader in our industry for more than a decade," explains Hans-Christian Brockmann, CEO of eccenca. "Their graph database provides market leading technology both for scalability and performance. Most importantly, Ontotext has matured from providing a mere tech vision to providing a strategy for next generation industry solutions in publishing and life science. It is time for semantic technology to mature from being a technology play to actually becoming a value enabler for industry solutions." Together the two companies are now offering one of the industry's most complete and most mature knowledge graph technology stack. They also provide a broad portfolio of custom industry solutions including Healthcare, Pharma, Automotive, Manufacturing, Financial Services and IT Management. The joint eco-system of Ontotext and eccenca also provides a unique ability to globally deliver custom solutions. Leading consulting partners of both companies include ATOS, BearingPoint, Capgemini, Deloitte, Fujitsu, InfoSys, NTT Data (Everis), MHP, PWC, Tata and Wipro. "The combination of both platforms and our strong partner network will allow enterprises to choose knowledge graph technology with confidence and build the next generation of their solutions - Hans-Christian Brockmann adds. - On an operational level, users of eccenca Corporate Memory and GraphDB will be able to handle extremely large data volumes and complex modelling tasks. The virtualization capabilities of GraphDB also support our mission to make enterprise data and knowledge graphs absolutely transparent for every user. "Knowledge graph technology allows us to model the most complex and intricate business rules and expert knowledge in a way that is scalable and digitally reusable. Thus it is the basis for advanced automation and AI." Both companies have been enabling enterprises for over a decade to overcome complexity by digitally documenting and automating knowledge management. In 2020, GraphDB was shortlisted as a significant graph database vendor by Forrester Wave while eccenca was named sample vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner Inc. The partnership will enable enterprises to realize the potential of business digital twins by leveraging knowledge-enabled automation. About Ontotext Ontotext is a global leader in enterprise knowledge graph technology and semantic database engines. Ontotext employs big knowledge graphs to enable unified data access and cognitive analytics via text mining and integration of data across multiple sources. Ontotext technology and solutions are spread wide across the value chain of the most knowledge-intensive enterprises in financial services, publishing, healthcare, pharma, manufacturing and public sectors. Leveraging AI and cognitive technologies, Ontotext helps enterprises get a competitive advantage by connecting the dots in their proprietary knowledge and interpreting it, using global intelligence as context.Founded in the year 2000 and headquartered in Bulgaria, Ontotext has most of its revenues from big corporations across US, UK, Mainland Europe and Asia and partners with 5 of the biggest IT Services companies on Earth. https://www.ontotext.com/ About eccenca eccenca is a leading provider of enterprise knowledge graph management software and solutions. Its flagship product Corporate Memory helps companies to master the complexity and dynamics of their knowledge, product and device lifecycles by laying the foundation for data integration, access and reusability across disparate sources. Companies are enabled to manage the rules, constraints, configurations and expert knowledge as well as data in one central application. This empowers customers to digitally scale knowledge for automation and AI applications. eccenca is named Sample Vendor for Digital Supply Chain Twins by Gartner and TOP 10 GDPR Solution Providers by CIOApplications. https://eccenca.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431563/eccenca_Ontotext.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/448827/Ontotext_Logo.jpg Vietnams Ministry of Health recorded 28 community-based coronavirus patients on Wednesday, the majority related to two provinces in the northern part of the country. Sixteen of the new infections were confirmed in Hai Duong, five in Gia Lai, four in Quang Ninh, two in Binh Duong, and one in Hanoi. Vietnam reported the first two domestic infections on January 28, having spent nearly two months detecting no community transmission. A total of 329 local cases have been found since then, according to the health ministrys data. Two hundred and forty patients were logged in Hai Duong, 42 in Quang Ninh, 21 in Hanoi, 14 in Gia Lai, three in Bac Ninh, two in Hoa Binh, four in Binh Duong and one each in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, and Bac Giang. Most of the domestically-transmitted infections were linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam. Health officials have conducted aggressive contact tracing as well as targeted testing and lockdowns since the new wave blindsided the country. The health ministry announced one imported case on Wednesday, a 25-year-old Vietnamese who was quarantined upon arrival in Vietnam from Japan on Monday. He tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. The patient is being isolated for treatment in Quang Nam Province, located in central Vietnam. Vietnam is sealing its borders to all international arrivals but it still grants entry to skilled workers, experts, diplomats, and Vietnamese repatriates, who are all subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival. The Southeast Asian country has documented 1,911 coronavirus patients as of Wednesday night, with 1,461 recoveries and virus-related 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. It confirmed 84 local transmissions on Thursday, 62 on Friday, 61 on Saturday, 31 on Sunday, 32 on Monday, and 31 on Tuesday. Vietnam is quarantining nearly 49,000 people who either came into close contact with infected patients or entered the country from pathogen-struck regions. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Now youre left with a group thats grounded because of the virus and the numbers were slashed, said Jason Marks, a union steward for refugee and asylum officers in the Washington area. He said some had quit in recent years, refusing to be swept up in Mr. Trumps tough immigration limits at the southwestern border. Although Congress has maintained a stable level of funding for the State Departments refugee program more than $3 billion annually since 2015 a governmentwide effort to process and resettle people projected it had only $814 million in available funds this year, a reflection of how few people were likely to be welcomed into the United States. By the end of December, fewer than 1,000 refugees had been processed under the 15,000-person cap and placed in American communities, according to State Department data. Mr. Biden is expected to address the issue of refugees during a speech at the State Department scheduled for Thursday. A senior official said Mr. Biden was poised to lift the cap to allow in tens of thousands more people before the end of the 2021 fiscal year in September, but it was unclear when the administration would announce the specific number. Mr. Biden promised during the presidential campaign last year to allow as many as 125,000 refugees annually. Two people familiar with the plan said he was not expected to announce how many more refugees could enter the country in 2021. Instead, they said, the final total would be prorated over the eight remaining months of the fiscal year to welcome more people than Mr. Trump had authorized, but the number would ultimately fall short of 125,000. Gandhinagar, Feb 3 : More than three and a half years after he quit the Congress, former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Wednesday said he desired to return to his old party without any conditions even as there are no indications from the party on his induction. "When Congress veteran Ahmed Patel died, many Congress leaders met me at his native Piraman village and suggested that I rejoin the Congress. Obviously, that was no time for politics; but many congressmen have since then said the same thing to me," the veteran politician said. "I have very good relations with the Congress high command in Delhi. If Congress chief Sonia Gandhi calls me and says that we should work together and you return to the party fold, I will definitely join it unconditionally," Vaghela added. Vaghela quit the Congress in July 2017, claiming that he had been thrown out. Addressing a public rally in a show of strength to mark his 77th birthday that year, Vaghela had claimed that he was a victim of intra-party conspiracy, due to which the party had shown him the door. However, the Congress had denied Vaghela was removed and said that his claim was baseless. Bapu, as Vaghela is fondly called by his supporters, then floated the Jan Vikalp Party and contested all Gujarat Assembly seats in December 2017 elections. All his party candidates however lost their security deposits. In 2019, Vaghela joined the Nationalist Congress Party but left it last year. Before he parted ways with the Congress in 2017, he allegedly made things difficult for late Congress MP Ahmed Patel to secure a Rajya Sabha seat from the state. Six Congress legislators had quit the party before the Rajya Sabha polls and seven MLAs afterwards. In all, 14 of the 57 Congress legislators resigned, following which the party expelled them for six years. These developments just prior to the 2017 Assembly elections impacted the Congress prospects even though it got good public support. The Congress won 77 seats and thus fell short of the 93 seats required to gain power in Gujarat, while BJP formed the government with 99 MLAs. The companys operation in the CY2020 was impacted heavily with COVID-19 restrictions and issues, however, it achieved some milestones and formed a solid base on which to work from in 2021 and beyond once the restrictions are lifted. The company has nine exploration licenses on Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. ( ) has chalked out plans for a robust year ahead as it is working on several initiatives to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions that severely impacted the companys operations in 2020. Although the companys operation in CY2020 was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, it achieved some milestones and formed a solid base on which to work from in 2021 and beyond once the restrictions are lifted. Resource conversion drilling The company has planned further RC-aircore drilling in the higher-grade resource zone on which the project scoping study was based. A program of 350 holes is planned to infill the existing resource drilling and is expected to enable remodelling of the mineral resources in this zone to increase the proportion of indicated category resources. The program will take around 6 weeks to complete, with results and a recalculation of the mineral resource estimate for this zone available within two months of the program being completed. Starting of the program remains subject to local COVID-19 conditions which continue to be uncertain. Increasing the indicated resources in this manner will enable the release of further scoping study results concerning production rates, OPEX, CAPEX and other project parameters that will guide the further development of the project. Metallurgical test work Further metallurgical test work is being planned to optimise the process design and produce larger product samples that have been requested by potential offtake partners. This will begin when further samples in storage in Sri Lanka can be transported to metallurgical test facilities. Offtake discussions The company has been approached by several potential offtake partners on an introductory basis discussing the Titanium Sands resource. Discussions to date have included parties from China, Japan, India and UAE. No formal MOUs or agreements have been entered into at this stage, and subject to the recommendations of the scoping study, the board is continuing offtake discussions with each of the above parties. COVID-19 impact COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka have risen sharply from less than 10 on the 5th of October climbing to over 700 daily cases in December. Titanium Sands is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation but will not start fieldwork until regulatory constraints permit and it is considered safe for personnel to recommence operations. Corporate activities in Australia are being handled in keeping with local recommendations with everything being done via the internet with no significant change from normal. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 16:48:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will intensify the digitalization of public services to eliminate bureaucracy and improve the accessibility of public services, Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene said Wednesday. Oyun-Erdene ordered relevant officials to pay special attention to the issue at a regular government meeting. "We need to further intensify the digitalization of public services in order to eliminate the bureaucracy in the public service or difficulties faced by citizens in accessing public services," he said. Currently, E-Mongolia electronic platform, a one-stop shop for various government services launched in 2020, allows citizens and legal entities to obtain over 180 types of government services through mobile application. The government aims to increase this number to 592 within this year. In the future, Mongolia planned to establish a Ministry of E-development to reduce the number of staff for public services, improve e-education of citizens, develop digital economy, and increase information technology-based products and services, said a government statement. Enditem King County Metro in Washington state has awarded New Flyer an order for 20 additional 60' battery-electric Xcelsior CHARGE heavy-duty transit buses (40 equivalent units or EUs). (Earlier post.) Metro is one of the ten largest transit agencies in the United States, providing more than 122 million annual passenger trips in King County, Washington, and including the city of Seattle. Metros long-term commitment, first announced January 2020, is to achieve a 100% zero-emissions fleet powered by renewable energy no later than 2040. This order follows the completion of an 18-month electric bus evaluation of two 60-foot New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE buses program initiated in 2018. The buses were purchased as option orders off of the Commonwealth of Virginia state contract. New Flyer has delivered more than 1,830 buses to King County since 1979with more than half of them being zero-emission or hybrid electric propulsions on common and proven Xcelsior bus platforms, said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer and MCI. NFI subsidiary ARBOC Specialty Vehicles has also supported Metros commitment to fast, equitable, and reliable service, with 37 low-floor cut-away buses delivered since 2011 including the Freedom, Independence, Liberty, and Mobility models. GREENWICH The town is reporting some progress when it comes to the number of coronavirus cases diagnosed as well as the number of residents who have received vaccines, local officials said Wednesday. We are making progress on the vaccination rates, First Selectman Fred Camillo said. The numbers show that nearly 55 percent of the towns eligible residents including front line medical workers, emergency workers and people over the age of 75 have been vaccinated, he said. As of Wednesday, the town was up to 3,400 residents with COVID-19 since the pandemic began last March, an increase of 175 cases from last week, Camillo said. Also, another resident diagnosed with the virus has died, bringing that number up to 80, he said. The number of active cases examined by the towns Department of Health is at 175, which is down 14 from last week, Camillo said. We are seeing some progress in Greenwich, said Diane Kelly, president of Greenwich Hospital, which was treating 22 patients with COVID-19, a decrease of 17 since last Wednesday. Thats definitely an improvement there, Kelly said, adding that 1,119 patients have been discharged from GH to continue their recoveries. We are very hopeful that we will stay in the 20s or below (for patient levels). But we also want to remind everybody that their part is extremely important and their part is social distancing, wearing their masks, washing their hands and, when its their turn, to please get vaccinated. All five of the patients in the ICU are on ventilators a reminder of how serious the coronavirus can be, she said. The towns four vaccination sites are back in operation after the storm forced many appointments to be rescheduled. Greenwich Hospital is operating its clinics at Brunswick Schools King Street campus as well as at its West Putnam Avenue facility; Family Centers is holding its clinic at Eastern Greenwich Civic Center; and the town is operating a clinic in Town Hall three days a week. To sign up at the clinics run by the town and Family Centers, visit the federal governments Vaccine Administration Management System online at dphsubmissions.ct.gov/onlinevaccine to set up appointments. Greenwich Hospital is using a site set up by the Yale New Haven Health System at www. nhhs.org/covidvaccine. Appointments are required. Only front-line medical workers, emergency workers and residents age 75 and older are currently eligible to receive the vaccine in Connecticut. Kelly said there is a barrier for setting up appointments for people without computers or who are having trouble with their computers. Thats where people need to help their neighbors and help their family and reach out to older people ... to help navigate that, Kelly said. We are seeing large numbers of people sign up. Our process at the Brunswick School and West Putnam is going very well. Weve had no issues, she said. Camillo said sign-ups were going very well at the towns clinic, too. I have not received any complaints, and the people that have reached out have been very, very satisfied, which is great to hear, he said. Demand for the vaccines is expected to skyrocket when the state approves expanding Phase 1b to include essential workers, those 65 and older and younger people with comorbidities. The number of vaccines depends on how much is received each week from the state, which is getting its shipments from the federal government. As long as we get the vaccine, we can give the vaccine, Kelly said. With the current set up, Greenwich Hospital can vaccinate a little more than 1,000 people a day, she said. It is hospital policy that when someone gets their first dose of the vaccine to make sure it has enough supply to provide that persons second dose, Kelly said. Everybody in the country is doing the same thing. We all have to realize we have to work on this together, she said. We know the allotments (of vaccine) are going to be adjusted. And when youre dealing with something of this scale, you have to be able to readjust. We have the same goal. We want to get as many vaccines out there as possible. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Redondo Mitsubishi opened in December 2020 , a bright spot in an otherwise challenging year. Miguel, how have things been going? Redondo Beach is a close-knit community and has been very welcoming! Of course, the timing has been interesting, but it has given us an opportunity to slow down, really listen to what the community wants and needs right now, and do things the right way. A local mother actually stopped by our office while we were finishing construction, to say that she had been keeping an eye on our progress, and that she had an idea for how we could engage the community. She had a 6-year-old daughter that was out of school, missing her classmates, and had a birthday coming up. Her idea? Turn the parking lot into a drive-in movie for the community. We loved the idea, and of course, couldn't let her daughter down, so we found a way to make it happen. That was a night everyone could be proud of and a great introduction into the community. Frank, this is the realization of a dream for you. Tell us about that. I am a first generation American and a second generation car dealer. My father immigrated to Miami from Cuba in the 1950s. His first job was to cold-call people, from the phone book, to come down to the local Chevy dealership and test drive a car. He made the calls from the corner phone booth at his own expense, but if he generated a lead, he got $5 . He worked his way up from there to owning a Chevy dealership of his own. I'll never be able to express how grateful I am for what he did, but I can build on his legacy for my children. Even though my dad came up through Chevy, he always had an eye on Mitsubishi. In his mind, it was a brand for the people safe, reliable, affordable. It stood for the same things we stood for. With the opening of Redondo Mitsubishi, I am fulfilling a dream for myself, but also my father. Miguel, we know that the Mitsubishi Motors brand is special, personal even, to Frank. What stands out about the brand to you? The Mitsubishi family it is a real thing! Opening a new store taking a risk is challenging, especially during a pandemic. From day one, Mitsubishi national and regional leadership have been with us lock step, working to address our immediate needs and understand where we want to go. And, sure, there is friendly competition, but the dealer body has been so supportive always reaching out to check-in or help where they can. Not every brand is like that. Plus, the product is a great fit for the community. Frank said it, but Mitsubishis are affordable and reliable, and by the end of this year, we will have a totally updated or all-new lineup of vehicles on our show room floor. We feel good about putting our neighbors, our families, in these vehicles. As a smaller automotive brand, Mitsubishi Motors has to do things differently to be top of mind for customers. What sort of things are you doing differently? Frank: We understand we have one shot to get it right. Every interaction a customer has with the brand needs to be a positive, or at least constructive, one. That means responding to every online comment, question or review. It means treating customers like family and understanding their unique needs. It means fixing things right the first time and maintaining a high level of trust. The team here is so good at all of these, and I am extremely lucky to be on this journey with them. Miguel: I spoke about the Mitsubishi family that includes an extremely loyal group of current customers. They are excited about the future of the brand and about having a new representation in Southern California . We are working to engage those voices, bring them into our social media, and really build a community around common interests. Frank, what are your goals for the year ahead? And after that? Customer service is our foundation. It has been our focus for the first six months hiring the right people, providing the right training, giving them the right tools to do their jobs well and to build meaningful relationships with customers. If customer service is our foundation, family is our heart. My dad was the kind of guy who worked seven days a week, and that is often what is required in this business. But this year, we have had to be flexible and allow parents and caregivers to work-from-home to show up for things that really matter. We are just as proud of that. Longer term, we want to expand our footprint in the community. There is so much need for time, talent and resources, especially during and in the wake of a pandemic. We want to find the right community partners and give back in a way that only we can. About Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. Through a network of approximately 330 dealer partners across the United States, Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for the sales, research and development, marketing and customer service of Mitsubishi Motors vehicles in the U.S. MMNA was the top-ranked Japanese brand in the J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality study, ranking sixth overall and experiencing the greatest year-over-year improvement of any brand. Located in Franklin, Tennessee, MMNA is a part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Mitsubishi continues to lead the way in the development of highly efficient, affordably priced new gasoline-powered automobiles, while using its industry-leading knowledge in battery-electric vehicles to develop future EV and PHEV models. For more information on Mitsubishi vehicles, please contact the Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at 615-257-2698 or visit media.mitsubishicars.com. Contacts Jeremy Barnes Senior Director, Communications and Events [email protected] Mobile: 714-296-1402 Lauren Ryan Manager, Communications and Events [email protected] Mobile: 404-862-8286 SOURCE Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. Related Links www.mitsubishicars.com Parliament The Rajya Sabha on February 3 allotted additional five hours for discussion on Motion of Thanks to the Presidents address in which the farmers protests and related issues will be discussed. This comes a day after both Houses of the Parliament were adjourned over the Oppositions protests over the farm laws. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi informed the House that there was a consensus to give more time for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. Thus, he said, the Question Hour will be suspended on February 3 and February 4 to make up for the discussions on the issue. The Zero Hour scheduled for February 5 will be suspended as well. Follow our Farmers' Protest LIVE Updates here Leader of the House Ghulam Nabi Azad backed Joshis statement. Azad said that 18-19 Opposition parties wanted to discuss farmers issues in the additional 5 hours allotted for discussion on President's address. This brings the total time slotted for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha to 15 hours. "Normally this is not done. But there is a specific request and broad consensus, hence I am allowing it, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said. February 3 is the fourth business day of the ongoing Budget Session that started on January 29. The first two days which also saw the presentation of Budget 2021, passed off without any protests. The Opposition parties boycotted the president's address on January 29. In his address, President Ram Nath Kovind condemned the violence during the tractors rally on Republic Day while asserting that with the new three agricultural reforms, the government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers. Enacted in September 2020, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector. But the opposition parties allege that the farm laws were brought 'without any consultations with states and farmer unions and lacked national consensus'. Thousands of protesting farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for over two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops. New Delhi, Feb 3 : A top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Member has warned the new Joe Biden administration at the White House not to cross the "red line" and stop interference in the affairs of Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang. In his first speech to an American audience since the Biden administration took office, Yang Jiechi, Director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Politburo of the 19th CPC Central Committee, accused the previous Donald Trump administration of adopting "misguided policies against China" and plunging the relationship into its most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic ties between both the nations. A former foreign minister, Yang told an online gathering of the New York-based National Committee on United States-China Relations that China-US relations now stand at a key moment and both sides need to respect each other's histories, cultures and traditions, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and respect each other's choices of political system and development path. He assured that China has no intention to challenge or replace the US position in the world, or to carve out a sphere of influence. Likewise, he said, China expects the United States to honor its commitment under the three Sino-US Joint Communiques, strictly abide by the One China principle, and respect China's position and concerns on the Taiwan question. "The United States should stop interference in the affairs of Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, which all matter to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and stop attempts to hold back China's development by meddling in China's internal affairs. History and reality have shown time and again that these issues concern China's core interests, national dignity, as well as the sentiments of its 1.4 billion people," Yang said in his address Monday. "They constitute a redline that must not be crossed. Any trespassing would end up undermining China-US relations and the United States' own interests. We in China hope that the US side will fully understand the sensitivity of these issues and handle them with prudence, so as to avoid disruption or damage to mutual trust and cooperation," he added. Just before signing off last month, the Trump administration had on January 19 declared that China, under the direction and control of the CCP government, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said that he believed that this genocide is ongoing, and that the world is witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state. "The governing authorities of the second most economically, militarily, and politically powerful country on earth have made clear that they are engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group, even as they simultaneously assert their country as a global leader and attempt to remold the international system in their image," asserted Pompeo. The Biden administration has so far made it clear that it is in no mood to counter Trump's China policy. While Pompeo's successor at State, Antony Blinken, told the Senate confirmation hearing that he agreed with the genocide assessment - "That would be my judgment as well," he had said - history was made immediately after when Taiwan was represented in an official capacity at the US presidential inauguration for the first time since 1979. Yang in his speech yesterday said that some in the United States are still sticking to the Cold War thinking and perceived China as a threat. He said that their rhetoric and actions have interfered in China's internal affairs, undermined China's interests, and disrupted exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides. Urging United States to rise above the "outdated mentality of zero-sum, major-power rivalry" and work with China to keep the relationship on the right track, he said that China hopes that the new administration will remove the stumbling blocks to people-to-people exchanges, like "harassing Chinese students, restricting Chinese media outlets, shutting down Confucius Institutes and suppressing Chinese companies." The CCP Politburo Member said it was a strategic misjudgment by some in the United States to view China as a major strategic competitor, even an adversary. "There have also been attempts to seek "decoupling" and a so-called "new Cold War". Such moves, going against the trend of the times, have seriously damaged China-US relations as well as the fundamental interests of the two peoples," he emphasized. Yang's hawkish comments would have done more harm than good though. In an interview to MSNBC Monday, Blinken admitted that there was no doubt that China poses the most significant challenge to US than any other country. "We've seen China act egregiously to undermine the very commitments it made during the handover of Hong Kong to - from Britain. And we see people who are, again, in Hong Kong standing up for their own rights, the rights that they felt were guaranteed to them. And if they are being - if they're the victims of repression from Chinese authorities, we should do something to give them haven," the new US Secretary of State made it clear. He further ruffled feathers by asking Beijing to be more transparent in providing and sharing information on Covid-19 pandemic by giving access to international experts and inspectors. "There is no doubt that, especially when Covid-19 first hit but even today, China is falling far short of the mark when it comes to providing the information necessary to the international community, making sure that experts have access to China. All of the - that lack of transparency, that lack of being forthcoming, is a profound problem and it's one that continues," said Blinken. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close MOSCOW, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the registration of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS). The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional clinical trials in the country. Mexico has become the first country of North America to approve Sputnik V and the 17th country in the world. Sputnik V had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia and Armenia. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "We welcome the decision of regulatory authorities of Mexico to register Sputnik V vaccine and include it in the national portfolio of vaccines against coronavirus. Partnership between Russia and Mexico will save many lives and protect the population by using one of the best vaccines in the world. High efficacy of Sputnik V was confirmed yesterday by data published in one of the most respected medical journals, The Lancet." Sputnik V has a number of key advantages: Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in The Lancet , one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19. The Lancet The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years. Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots. The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades. The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine. There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V. The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure. The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1140939/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund_Logo.jpg WASHINGTON President Joe Biden only the second Roman Catholic in U.S. history elected to the countrys highest political office keeps a picture in the Oval Office of himself with Pope Francis. No doubt Biden can count on partnership with the progressive pope as he reverses many Trump-era policies to battle climate change and reform immigration. But support within his own countrys Catholic Church looks more tenuous, and Biden has been given a surprisingly hostile reception from the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference under the guidance of Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez. In the intersection of religion and politics, nowhere does the division between conservatives and progressives in the Catholic Church cleave more deeply than in the United States, as Bidens election reveals. It is extraordinary, said John K. White, professor of politics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, that a Catholic president, instead of being congratulated [by the bishops] and saying well work together, while recognizing differences, that they have only deepened the schism. The rift stems from opposition by many in the church to abortion and same-sex marriage, while others see a broader interpretation of the sanctity of life, promoted by Francis, to include climate change, immigration and fighting poverty. The U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference, the governing body of the church in America, welcomed Biden on inauguration day with a statement praising his piety. But it made a point of noting the new presidents support for reproductive rights. I must point out that our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender, said Gomez, president of the conference. READ MORE: March for Life is more important than ever as Catholic Biden ignores pro-life policies | Opinion Gomez went on to reiterate that abortion remains the bishops preeminent priority, adding: We cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion. Gomez was unavailable for comment on this article, his representatives said. At the Vatican, supporters of the pope were not pleased with the Gomez statement. Francis reacted by issuing a message to Biden, repeating the full-throated support he has given the new president since shortly after his election. Gomez, affiliated with the conservative Opus Dei sect, also met opposition from several U.S. bishops, who said he failed to run the statement by all members of the conference as is required. San Diegos Bishop Robert McElroy indirectly criticized Gomez. Most importantly of all, McElroy said in his own post-inauguration statement, U.S. bishops should encourage our new president: by entering into a relationship of dialogue, not judgment; collaboration, not isolation; truth in charity, not harshness. READ MORE: Philadelphias retired archbishop says Biden should be denied communion over his abortion stance In contrast to Gomezs skepticism about Biden, the conference welcomed the 2017 inauguration of President Trump, despite his three marriages, extramarital affair with a porn star and widely-publicized comment about grabbing women by the genitals. (They later diverged on issues such as immigration.) The right-wing branch of the church enjoyed a warm relationship with the Trump administration. The wife of former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich was given the plum job of ambassador to the Holy See. Trumps Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo last year took the unusual step of criticizing the Vatican in an anti-Francis magazine just weeks before making a trip to Rome. (The pope would not meet with Pompeo.) The rift inside the church is decades in the making, involving liberal guidelines in the 1960s that subsequent conservative popes John Paul and Benedict overruled. Francis has preached a throwback to progressive grassroots social activism and a more inclusive church. Hes elevated bishops like the progressive Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the first Black American to become cardinal, but not those further on the right, like Gomez. Bidens election brought the Catholic divide to the forefront. Bidens hometown parish in Wilmington, Del., has always administered communion to him, but some churches during the campaign refused. A few conservative Catholic leaders have openly raised the highly unlikely prospect of excommunication for the 78-year-old president. This is an inflection point of considerable importance for the church, said George Weigel, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington and conservative biographer of Pope (now St.) John Paul II. It crystallizes a problem that has been building for years. He said Catholic politicians, including Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have sacrificed their right to communion because of their support for abortion rights. This is not about politics, Weigel said in an interview. It is the integrity of the church. Weigel said abortion is unlike other issues. Not every issue is equal, he said. This is not climate change or immigration or taxes. The sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death, is a nonnegotiable part of Catholic self-understanding. Others in the church, especially in the U.S., see the issue differently and more broadly. There are plenty of areas where the bishops and the Biden administration are on the same page and could work together, said Father Thomas Reese, a columnist for the progressive National Catholic Reporter and veteran commentator on the church. It would be a tragedy for the church, the administration and the United States if disagreement on some issues makes it impossible for them to work together on others. Bidens views on abortion and related issues have evolved, from opposition to tolerance, and, some say, to hew more closely to the Democratic Partys platform. Supporters, like White of the Catholic University, who cochaired Catholics for Biden during last years campaign, say the evolution is an integral part of inclusion and the widest manifestation of Catholic charity of inviting more believers to the table. Bidens Catholic faith is central to who he is, White said. Its how he was brought up. Its the priests he knows. Its not going away. Times staff writer Sarah Parvini in Los Angeles contributed to this report. 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. exchange4media hosted the 7th edition of Indian Marketing Awards (IMA) 2020, co-powered by Colors & Kalnirnay, on 3rd February 2021, acknowledging and rewarding brands for excellence in marketing. The virtual awards ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion titled 'The Role of the CEO in Building Brands', featuring Rajesh Ramakrishnan, MD, Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt Ltd; Sarbvir Singh, CEO, Policybazaar.com; Kushal Agrawal, Co-Founder, XOXODAY; and Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor in Chief, BWBusinessworld & exchange4media Group (Session Chair) and a fireside chat with Bharat Puri, MD, Pidilite Industries Ltd and Nawal Ahuja, Co-Founder, exchange4media. The awards recognise the fact that marketing is critical for the organic growth of a business. It plays a key role in creating, communicating, capturing and sustaining value for an organisation. The IMA 2020 was headlined by some of the biggest names in the industry who handpicked marketers, brands and agencies who have achieved great success with effective marketing practices. Despite 2020 being a difficult year, they overcame the hurdles posed by the pandemic to deliver splendid marketing campaigns that created value for their respective organisations. Perfetti Van Melle bagged top honours to win Marketing Team of the Year title. Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Manyavar won gold for its #TaiyaarHokarAaiye campaign under Category Creation. InMobi bagged gold under the category Brand Extension for the work done for Cadburys Mondelez. TATA TEA Premium and TATA Consumer Products Limited won gold under Brand Rejuvenation. It shared gold with Ogilvy & Mather who won for Fevikwik - Phenko Nahi Jodo under Use of Consumer Insight. Ogilvy & Mather also took home gold for Fevicol and FeviKwik under Best Use of TV. MXP Media India Ltd bagged silver for Best Use of Print. Freudenberg Gala won silver metal for Best Use of Radio. Viacom18 Media took home gold for Best Use of OOH for Colors - Naati Pinky ki Lambi Love Story and silver for Best Use of Experiential Marketing for Colors - Shubharamb. WATConsult won both gold and silver for Nikon and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance respectively for the category Marketing on a Small Budget. Cipla and Schbang won gold for Breathefree #InhalersHainSahi campaign under Healthcare & Pharmaceutical category. Bridgestone India took home top honour under Not for Profit Sector/CSR. The grand jury board that delivered the final verdict was chaired by Bharat Puri, MD, Pidilite Industries Ltd. The board comprised industry leaders like (in alphabetical order) Arvind Mediratta, MD & CEO, METRO Cash & Carry India; Anchit Nayar, CEO-Retail, Nykaa; Dinesh Chhabra, CEO, USHA International; Divya Karani, CEO, Dentsu X; Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (Mamaearth & The Derma Co.); Preeti Reddy, CEO-South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar; Rajesh Ramakrishnan, MD, Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt Ltd.; Rohit Gothi, CEO, Hero Cycles Ltd; Sanjay Sharma, CEO, MTR Foods; Sarbvir Singh, CEO, PolicyBazaar; Sanjeev Srinivasan, MD & CEO, Bharti Axa General Life Insurance Co Ltd; Suparna Mitra, CEO-Watches and Wearables Division, Titan Company Ltd; Sushant Dash, President, Packaged Beverages (India, Bangladesh and the Middle East), Tata Consumer Products; Taranjeet Singh, MD-SEA & India, Criteo; Vaishali Banerjee, MD, Platinum Guild India Pvt Ltd; and. Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative. Please find the list of winners here: Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India) (Newser) The remains of Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died from injuries sustained during the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, are lying in honor at the Capitol Rotunda, and on Tuesday night, the president and first lady paid their respects. President Biden, who had already spoken with Sicknick's family members after his death, did not announce his visit until he and wife Jill left the White House minutes after the remains arrived at the Capitol, the New York Times reports. story continues below As Sicknick's remains were delivered, officers from his unit lined up outside. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were on hand, as well as several other congressional leaders, the AP reports. A private memorial was held for Sicknick, 42, but fellow officers and lawmakers will be able to pay their respects before he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery during a Wednesday morning ceremony. Just four other people have lain in honor at the Capitol (the designation is for private citizens; elected officials, judges, and military leaders lie in state): two officers killed in a 1998 shooting at the Capitol; Rosa Parks; and the Rev. Billy Graham. (Read more Capitol riot stories.) 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 New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 2, 2021 / Anthony Brown ("Brown") announces that he has purchased or disposed of the following securities of AMPD Ventures Inc. (CSE:AMPD) (FRA:2Q0) ("AMPD"), which has a head office located at #210-577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, BC, since AMPD became a reporting issuer in October 2019: acquired 105,000 common shares of AMPD (the "Shares") for $0.2680 per share on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") on December 16, 2019; disposed 363,000 Shares for $0.2375 per share on the CSE on January 10, 2020; disposed 2,500 Shares for $0.35 per share on the CSE, on February 5, 2020; disposed 82,500 Shares for $0.35 per share on the CSE on February 6, 2020; acquired 363,000 units of AMPD for $0.2375 per unit, with each such unit consisting of one Share and one half of one warrant, with each full warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional Share for $0.50 per Share until February 7, 2021 through a private placement on February 7, 2020; disposed 600,000 Shares for $0.20 per share through a private transaction on June 12, 2020; acquired 600,000 units of AMPD for $0.20 per unit, with each such unit consisting of one Share and one half of one warrant, with each full warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional Share for $0.30 per Share until June 15, 2021 through a private placement on June 15, 2020 indirectly, through Rabid Publishing Inc., a company controlled by Brown, acquired 240,000 Shares for $0.14 per share on the CSE on August 24, 2020; disposed 1,460,500 Shares for $0.10 per share through a private transaction on December 2, 2020; and acquired 2,460,500 units of AMPD for $0.10 per unit, with each such unit consisting of one Share and one half of one warrant, with each full warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional Share for $0.15 per Share until December 13, 2021 through a private placement on December 14, 2020. Prior to such purchases, Brown owned 3,652,886 Shares and warrants entitling the holder to purchase an additional 2,641,025 Shares, being 8.7% of the outstanding Shares and 15.82% assuming exercise of all warrants held by Brown. Following these transactions, Brown owns 4,667,386 Shares and warrants entitling the holder to purchase an additional 4,352,775 Shares, being 9.64% of the outstanding Shares and 17.10% assuming exercise of all warrants held by Brown. Brown advises that the securities have been acquired for investments purposes. Brown may, depending on the market and other conditions, increase or decrease his beneficial ownership of the AMPD's securities, whether in the open market, by privately negotiated agreements or otherwise, subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions and other available investment and business opportunities. This press release is issued to ensure that all Early Warning Reporting requirements pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 62-104 have been complied with, which also requires a report to be filed containing additional information with respect to the foregoing matters. A copy of the early warning report will be available on SEDAR under AMPD's issuer profile at www.sedar.com and may be obtained upon request from Brown by contacting Brown at the below contact information. (signed Anthony Brown) 872 Keil St. White Rock, BC V4B 4V5 Tel: 604-332-3329 ext. 3 The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: AMPD Ventures Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627527/Anthony-Brown-Acquires-Shares-of-AMPD-Ventures-Inc Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. We don't need deprogramming from the Spectator. https://spectator.us/topic/dont-need-deprogramming/ From the body: "Defining political dissent as a psychological problem is a Soviet trick. They invented a new disease, sluggish schizophrenia and explained that even though the subject might not display any symptoms of ordinary schizophrenia, his unfounded allegations against the government showed it was gradually coming on. Only a madman could possibly dislike the Soviet idyll. American Marxists think the same: only a brainwashed cult-member could possibly support Trump. Wait a minute, theyre Marxists? Katie Couric, CNN, Vanity Fair? Well, yes. As Yoram Hazony explained last August in a brilliant Quillette article The Challenge of Marxism the progressives seeking to overthrow liberalism in America are authentic Marxists, like the Soviets in Russia and the Communist party in China. We need to call them out as such in order to respond effectively." I say, "The liberals are being used like bitches by the marxists in their party and they don't even know it." (Natural News) The prospect of the nations electrical grid being compromised has been a concern for many years, but worries are ramping up as Russia appears to be mastering systems that can overcome the protections that have been put in place to preserve the integrity of the grid. Recent intelligence shows that Russia now possesses a specialized super electromagnetic pulse weapon and warhead that can travel at speeds of Mach 20 and would be able to plunge America into darkness with very little advance warning. The Executive Director of the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security, Peter Vincent Pry, has also warned that China has surpassed American developments in electromagnetic pulse warfare, putting us at a serious disadvantage if they choose to attack us in this manner. Some experts are worried that President Bidens lifting of President Trumps ban on Chinese involvement in the U.S. grid will make it easier for them to attack our electric supply. Pry, who has worked with previous administrations and the Pentagon to prepare for attacks, said that the current political turmoil presents a golden opportunity for an EMP strike, adding: Washingtons impotence and irresolution will invite future, increasingly aggressive cyberattacks. The truth is that enemies of our nation, such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, view the U.S. as an easy target given how much of our economy depends on electricity, the internet and electronic communications. An attack would easily wipe out all of these, putting every American in danger. Pry outlined these advancements in EMP warfare in a new report on Russia. EMP weapons, he says, are exploded very high up in the atmosphere, allowing them to wipe out electric grids and computers across wide swaths of the country in outages that could last longer than a year. The nations large transformers controlling the grid and high-voltage control cables are said to be particularly vulnerable. Transformers take two years to build and cost roughly $7 million each, and we are already behind schedule in having backups ready. This means that if many of our transformers go out at once, as they would in an attack, there is little we can do to restore power in a reasonable time frame. China is working on similar weapons China has been working on an array of weapons including laser beam weapons, counter-space weapons, maneuverable missile warheads, artificial intelligence-directed robots and hypersonic weapons. Their weapons could easily knock out satellites, shutting down GPS networks and the nations most critical communications and intelligence systems. The threat is so concerning that the U.S. Naval Academy has revived a course in celestial navigation after previously deeming it outdated and cutting it from their curriculum. There are also concerns about Chinas WU-14, a hypersonic glide vehicle that is capable of delivering a precision-guided missile at hypersonic speeds from 60 miles above Earth. America is said to be unprepared to defend against such a weapon at the moment. An EMP attack would ruin all of the electronics in the country, impacting power, medical networks, financial networks, transportation, food and water supply, and sanitation; they could even take out the ability of our military to respond. Pry has said that as many as 90 percent of Americans could die in the first year after such an event due to starvation, illness and societal collapse. For this reason, many people are stocking up on appliances that do not need electricity to function, such as solar ovens, wind-up flashlights and hand-powered water pumps, not to mention barter items in the event that credit and debit cards are rendered useless. If you havent already started preparing for a potential EMP attack, its time to take the threat seriously. Sources for this article include: StrangeSounds.org MilitaryTimes.com Heritage.org 404 Mexico has approved emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, just a week after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is battling a coronavirus infection, reached an agreement for its purchase with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Tuesday that the contract calls for millions of doses of the vaccine. Lopez-Gatell said Mexico's contract calls for the delivery of 7.4 million doses between February and April, with more due in May. "This gives us an enormous opportunity to accelerate vaccination in Mexico," said Lopez-Gatell, during a morning press conference before announcing later in the day that Mexican health regulator COFEPRIS had authorized Sputnik V for emergency use. According to data from John Hopkins University, the coronavirus pandemic has slammed Mexico with 159,333 confirmed deaths - the third-most in the world - and 1,874,092 cases. Mexico announced Tuesday the approval for the emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. The government expects to received 7.4 million doses between February and April. Mexico has registered 159,333 confirmed coronavirus deaths - third-most in the world. Paramedics in hazmat suits moved a COVID-19 patient inside a biocontainment unit from his home into an ambulance to be taken to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City on Tuesday Paramedics transfer a 63-year-old patient infected with the coronavirus disease is removed from her home and take to a hospital in Mexico City on January 13 Mexico became the first country in Latin America to officer a vaccine for a virus, rolling out the Pfizer vaccine in December. Lopez-Gatell also announced the second phase of the vaccination process, welcoming people of the age of 60. A website set up for registration crashed Tuesday night after more than 70,000 people had signed up. 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. Mexico is trying to secure as much vaccine supply as possible for its 126 million people following delays of some products amid a global scramble for vaccines. Paramedics in hazmat suits move a COVID-19 patient inside a biocontainment unit from his home to a hospital in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City on Tuesday, the same day the government announced the approval of the emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine Gravediggers on Tuesday buried a victim of COVID-19 at a cemetery in Ecatepec, a city in State of Mexico. As of Wednesday, the virus had killed 159,333 people in Mexico Latin American nations, including Argentina and Mexico, showed an early interest in locking down supplies of the Russian vaccine. In December, the makers of Sputnik V requested to carry out clinical trials in Mexico. Global interest in Sputnik V was bolstered on Tuesday after peer-reviewed results from its late-stage clinical trial were published in The Lancet international medical journal. Sputnik V was 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19, according to those results. Requiring two shots, Sputnik V has been approved for storage in normal fridges, rather than freezers, according to scientists at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow that developed it. Arnulfo Carrillo (left) and Rosa Ortiz (right), who have been married for 50 years, wait to have their three figures of Baby Jesus blessed with holy water at the Purification of Our Lady of Candlemas Chapel in Mexico City Gravediggers place flowers on the tomb of a coronavirus victim at a cemetery in Ecatepec, Mexico, on Tuesday In the meantime, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has been proven to be 94.1% effective against the virus while the Pfizer vaccine has an effectiveness rate of 95%. This ease of transportation and distribution has appealed to Mexico, which has hard-to-reach rural areas and a struggling national healthcare system. Lopez Obrador spoke with Putin last Monday about buying 24 million doses of the vaccine. Lopez-Gatell met Russian officials and gained access to technical files about the vaccine during a trip to Argentina in January. Argentina started rolling out Sputnik V to health workers in December. The South American nation's leader, Alberto Fernandez, became the first president in Latin American to be vaccinated with the Russian shot January 22. Surge in Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga probably from new strains THE SURGE in Covid-19 cases in Zamboanga City may have been caused by new s... Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai affirmed that essential goods for people in the epidemic-hit and neighboring areas will be fully provided. Minister, Head of Government Office Mai Tien Dung Speaking at the cabinet press conference on the evening of February 2 about the solution for ensuring consumption of goods and agricultural products of the people in epidemic areas, Mr. Hai emphasized: "Essential goods will be provided fully for the people in both the epidemic-hit and surrounding areas". Hai said priority must be given to fighting against Covid-19 epidemics, to ensure that the epidemic will not spread. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will coordinate with other ministries and agencies to ensure supply of essential commodities to people in the epidemic-hit areas. However, transport of goods must comply with medical regulations, he emphasized. Minister, Head of Government Office Mai Tien Dung confirmed the same viewpoint on ensuring the transport of agricultural products from the epidemic-hit areas like Hai Duong to others, which must comply with epidemic prevention measures. Regarding the question about the statement made by Hanois Chairman Chu Ngoc Anh: If epidemic outbreak occurs in Hanoi, I promise to take responsibility", Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Hoang Vinh Bao said that the Hanoi Chairman made a very clear promise and took up responsibility. "If epidemic outbreak occurs in Hanoi, he will be responsible. But we have to see if it happens or not, then we will see how to handle it", Mr. Bao said. Regarding the plan to organize firework performances during the upcoming Lunar New Year in some cities, Minister Mai Tien Dung said under the Prime Ministers guidance, localities should cancel all crowded festivals. If they are organized, measures should be taken to ensure distancing and disease control. However, it is the authority of the Chairs of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to decide to hold firework performances or not. Thu Hang - Hong Nhi 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. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), speaks alongside (LR) Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), after a meeting with US President Joe Biden about a COVID relief bill, outside of the West Wing of the White House on Feb. 1, 2021. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) State, Local Aid Remains Roadblock to Bipartisan Stimulus Deal WASHINGTONDemocrats and Republicans are far apart in their proposals for the next COVID-19 relief plan, and funding for states and localities remains one of the biggest differences, as in previous talks. While Democrats want to bail out states, tax revenue data shows that states have actually fared better than expected, raising the question of whether a large federal stimulus is really needed. In his first week in office, President Joe Biden announced a $1.9 trillion rescue plan to combat the economic downturn and the pandemic. The new administrations plan includes $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments to help them meet budget shortfalls. A group of 10 Republican senators proposed spending $618 billion for the relief package, which is about one-third of Bidens plan. The Republican proposal offers no aid to state and local governments. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of the lawmakers who put forward the GOP plan, told reporters that any funding for states and local governments should be based on actual need as opposed to a simple blanket payment of billions of dollars, which in many cases would represent a windfall. Disagreement over state and local aid has been a major contention in Congress, which caused delays in previous negotiations last year. Republicans have accused Democrats of attempting to bail out blue states that have a long history of fiscal problems. State and local revenues are normally vulnerable to economic downturns. However, income tax revenue data showed that the fiscal impact of COVID-19 on state and local governments wasnt as bad as predicted. According to a report by J.P. Morgan on Jan. 29, of the 40 states that report personal income taxes, collections rose by 1.3 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. The weighted average growth was 2 percent, and more than half of the states reported positive growth, including California (5.4 percent), Illinois (1.4 percent), and New York (0.5 percent). Seeing as income tax makes up a significant portion of total tax revenues for many states, this signals stabilization in tax revenue, especially as the labor market has rebounded somewhat in recent months, Peter DeGroot, managing director of J.P. Morgans municipal research, wrote in a report. North Dakota (+14.3 percent), Montana (+11.5 percent), and Colorado (+10.1 percent) reported the highest yearly personal income tax growth. A Brookings Institute study in September 2020 predicted that state and local income tax revenues would be resilient despite the pandemic because employment losses have been unusually concentrated on low-wage workers, whose income tax payment is lower compared to high-wager earners. In addition, the rally in the stock market has sustained capital gains taxes, and fiscal stimulus (unemployment benefit and grants to businesses) provided by the federal government has shored up taxable income. The JP Morgan report also showed that across the 46 states, sales tax collection improved from earlier data in September 2020. Full-year sales tax revenue across states in 2020 declined only 0.26 percent on average compared to 2019. Many states in the Midwest, Southwest, and Central United States saw increases in sales tax revenue, while the Northeast, South, and West experienced declines. Tourism states such as Hawaii (-16 percent) and Nevada (-9 percent) and populous states like New York (-8 percent) saw sharp declines in sales tax revenue. State tax receipts in 2020 for the 47 states showed an average decline of only 0.12 percent compared to 2019, with a weighted average drop close to zero. Overall, 21 of 47 states show positive year-on-year growth of tax receipts, according to the J.P. Morgan report. Despite the pandemic, some states saw unexpected budget surpluses due to federal aid and a rise in state tax revenues. Michigan is one of them. For the 2020 fiscal year, the state is expecting to have a $3.7 billion balance left over, according to The Detroit News. The total cost of five previous COVID-19 relief bills passed over the past year amounts to $3.7 trillion, and, according to a report by economist Stephen Moore, the feds still havent spent at least $1 trillion of the money. The remaining funds include $58 billion for state and local aid, he stated. In a Feb. 2 statement, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called for bipartisan compromise in the pandemic relief bill and urged lawmakers to avoid pursuing long-sought policy goals such as raising the minimum wage, proposed by Democrats. Between the two sides there is more than enough common ground for an agreement. If the majority insists on pushing through legislation using reconciliation then they risk future success on long-overdue priorities including infrastructure, immigration reform, and climate change, the statement reads. Any relief package should be timely, targeted, and temporary, and laser-focused on confronting the current crisis. It should not be used as an opportunity to enact long-sought permanent policy changes. The White House has signaled that the administration is open to negotiation on funding for states and localities. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Feb. 3 press conference that Biden would certainly welcome an offer from Republicans if they have a proposal for state and local government funding. WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, has signed an agreement with JW Therapeutics, a leading cell therapy company, to ensure non-exclusive commercial access to Thermo Fisher's Gibco CTS Dynabeads CD3/CD28. The agreement will support the clinical development and commercial manufacturing of leading CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells) therapies in China, including JW Therapeutics' lead product relmacabtagene autoleucel ("relma-cel"). Relma-cel is an anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for third-line treatment for relapsed or refractory ("r/r") B-cell lymphoma. The therapy's new drug application (NDA) has been accepted by China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Relma-cel is expected to be the first CAR-T therapy to be approved as a Category 1 biologics product in China. The CTS Dynabeads platform is part of Thermo Fisher's proven Cell Therapy Systems (CTS) product portfolio designed to ease the transition from clinical development to commercial manufacturing of T-cell therapies. The CTS product line is a comprehensive portfolio of products designed to work together, from cell isolation/activation and gene transfer to cell expansion, to address cell therapy developers' manufacturing workflow challenges. Thermo Fisher's Gibco CTS Dynabeads provide a scalable platform to streamline therapy development and production while ensuring highly reproducible results. "As JW Therapeutics progresses through the formal acceptance of a New Drug Application (NDA) for relma-cel, and its commercial plans accelerate, we'll be alongside them ready to rapidly scale," said Mark Stevenson, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Our strategy to support partners 'in China for China' ensures that we can provide reliable supply and technical expertise as they scale precision medicines." "This partnership is a natural extension of an already strong collaboration," mentioned Dr. Harry Lam, executive vice president and chief technology officer, JW Therapeutics. "As we approach critical milestones in our commercialization strategy, this partnership will ensure we have the supply to scale up and meet the unmet medical needs of Chinese patients." About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 80,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. About JW Therapeutics Co-founded by Juno Therapeutics and Wuxi AppTec, JW Therapeutics is a leading clinical and pre-clinical stage cell therapy company in China with an integrated platform focusing on developing, manufacturing and commercializing breakthrough cell-based immunotherapies for hematological cancers and solid tumors. JW Therapeutics' vision is to develop innovative cell therapies for the China market to transform the treatment of cancer for Chinese patients. The company has built a comprehensive and differentiated cell therapy pipeline covering both hematological cancers and solid tumors. Its lead product, Relmacabtagene autoleucel ("relma-cel"), an anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for relapsed or refractory ("r/r") B-cell lymphoma, is expected to be the first CAR-T therapy to be approved as a Category 1 biologics product in China. For more information, please visit www.jwtherapeutics.com. Media Contact Thermo Fisher: Charlotte McCormack Phone: 781-622-1202 E-mail: [email protected] JW Therapeutics: Brunswick Group [email protected] Zhou Yi +852 9783 6894 Xiaozhu Xiao +86 13817398201 SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com The United States has urged to end its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. "We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected leadership," Price said during a briefing on Tuesday (local time). He added, "We will counter China's aggressive and coercive actions, sustain our key military advantages, defend democratic values, invest in advanced technologies, and restore our vital security partnerships." Price said that Washington sees its alliances and partnerships as a force multiplier across any range of challenges including the downward spiralling relationship with Beijing. The State Department spokesperson added, "we want to make sure that we are in lockstep with those allies, in lockstep with those partners, and then you can expect that there will be engagement in several areas with " According to South Morning Post, foreign policy leaders and professionals in the United States support the use of American troops to defend in the event of a Chinese invasion, but it is opposed by the majority of the US public, a new survey has found. In a report published on Monday, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs said that most of the more than 900 surveyed opinion leaders - including executive branch officials, congressional staff, think tank scholars, academics, journalists and interest group representatives - favoured a US military defence of in an invasion scenario. These remarks from the State Department come as the United States and Taiwan strengthen their ties, China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war. Wu Qian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defence, on January 28 "warned" the people wanting "Taiwan independence" and said that "those who play with fire will set themselves on fire, and seeking 'Taiwan independence' means nothing but war". Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades. Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. (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.) Northern Irelands leaders have condemned the murder of a man in north Belfast. First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill spoke out following the shooting on Cliftonville Road at around 8.15pm on Tuesday. The man who was killed has been named locally as Daniel McLean, who was in his 50s. Murder investigation launched. pic.twitter.com/pfUlgrr9AL Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) February 2, 2021 Police confirmed they have launched a murder investigation. On Wednesday morning, Clifton Crescent and a nearby guesthouse remained cordoned off. Mrs Foster described the shooting as terrible news for people in the area and expressed her sympathies with the family of the man who died. Expand Close The scene on the Cliftonville Road where a man died following a shooting on Tuesday night. (Rebecca Black/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene on the Cliftonville Road where a man died following a shooting on Tuesday night. (Rebecca Black/PA) Ms ONeill told the BBC: At the heart of that is going to be a grieving family who lost a loved one last night and our thoughts are very much with the family. The police will have a job of work to do. This is not something that is acceptable at any level in our society and I think that anyone with information should come forward to the PSNI and assist with the investigation. Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery urged anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have information about the incident to come forward and assist police with their inquiries. 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 man has been charged in a death that unfolded last month in Independence Heights minutes before he was shot and wounded by a Houston police officer. Andra Foster, 43, is accused of fatally shooting Guadalupe Martinez, 29, and then terrorizing patrons of a nearby convenience store with a gun, charging papers show. The initial Jan. 25 shooting happened near the 8500 block of North Main Street around 2:30 p.m. and police at the time said it was unprovoked. Martinez had been in a car talking to someone, police said. Foster moved on to the corner store and pointed the gun at patrons and then left, court records show. One of the witnesses followed Foster and called police. An officer caught up with Foster in the 100 block of East 44th Street where court records show Foster as living and shot him during an exchange of gunfire. Another witness said Foster lived in the neighborhood and had a history of yelling, screaming and knocking on peoples doors to ask for odd jobs. Foster was critically wounded in the shooting and was booked into the Harris County Jail this week. He is being held without bond until further notice. Foster, whose criminal history includes multiple drug possession charges dating back to 1994, is expected in court Thursday on the murder charge. Foster is also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after being accused of threatening a witness with a gun. He was last week charged with aggravated assault against a public servant after police said he shot at the officer who ultimately wounded him. Authorities in 2019 investigated another police shooting on the same stretch of 44th Street. In that incident, officers shot and killed an armed man after he wounded three others, including his brother, police said. nicole.hensley@chron.com Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News WellMed announced it has dispensed or has scheduled to administer its supply of 9,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses five days after re-opening a scheduling hotline. Daniel Calderon, a WellMed spokesman, said Wednesday that callers to the hotline used to register for a vaccine will hear a recorded message saying all slots are full. NEW YORK and LA JOLLA, CA--A phase 1 clinical trial testing a novel vaccine approach to prevent HIV has produced promising results, IAVI and Scripps Research announced today. The vaccine showed success in stimulating production of rare immune cells needed to start the process of generating antibodies against the fast-mutating virus; the targeted response was detected in 97 percent of participants who received the vaccine. "This study demonstrates proof of principle for a new vaccine concept for HIV, a concept that could be applied to other pathogens, as well," says William Schief, Ph.D., a professor and immunologist at Scripps Research and executive director of vaccine design at IAVI's Neutralizing Antibody Center, whose laboratory developed the vaccine. "With our many collaborators on the study team, we showed that vaccines can be designed to stimulate rare immune cells with specific properties, and this targeted stimulation can be very efficient in humans. We believe this approach will be key to making an HIV vaccine and possibly important for making vaccines against other pathogens." Schief presented the results on behalf of the study team at the International AIDS Society HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P) virtual conference today. The study sets the stage for additional clinical trials that will seek to refine and extend the approach--with the long-term goal of creating a safe and effective HIV vaccine. As a next step, IAVI and Scripps Research are partnering with the biotechnology company Moderna to develop and test an mRNA-based vaccine that harnesses the approach to produce the same beneficial immune cells. Using mRNA technology could significantly accelerate the pace of HIV vaccine development. HIV, which affects more than 38 million people globally, is known to be among the most difficult viruses to target with a vaccine, in large part because it constantly evolves into different strains to evade the immune system. "These exciting findings emerge from remarkably creative, innovative science and are a testament to the research team's talent, dedication and collaborative spirit, and to the generosity of the trial participants," says Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of IAVI. "Given the urgent need for an HIV vaccine to rein in the global epidemic, we think these results will have broad implications for HIV vaccine researchers as they decide which scientific directions to pursue. The collaboration among individuals and institutions that made this important and exceptionally complex clinical trial so successful will be tremendously enabling to accelerate future HIV vaccine research." One in a million For decades now, HIV researchers have pursued the holy grail of stimulating the immune system to create rare but powerful antibodies that can neutralize diverse strains of HIV. Known as "broadly neutralizing antibodies," or bnAbs, these specialized blood proteins could attach to HIV spikes, proteins on the virion surface that allow the virus to enter human cells, and disable them via important yet difficult-to-access regions that don't vary much from strain to strain. "We and others postulated many years ago that in order to induce bnAbs, you must start the process by triggering the right B cells--cells that have special properties giving them potential to develop into bnAb-secreting cells," Schief says. "In this trial, the targeted cells were only about one in a million of all naive B cells. To get the right antibody response, we first need to prime the right B cells. The data from this trial affirms the ability of the vaccine immunogen to do this." The priming step would be the first stage of a multi-step vaccine regimen aimed at eliciting many different types of bnAbs, he says. Promise beyond HIV The strategy of targeting naive B cells with specific properties is called "germline-targeting," as these young B cells display antibodies encoded by unmutated, or "germline" genes. Researchers believe the approach could also be applied to vaccines for other challenging pathogens such as influenza, dengue, Zika, hepatitis C viruses and malaria. "This is a tremendous achievement for vaccine science as a whole," says Dennis Burton, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, scientific director of the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center and director of the NIH Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development. "This clinical trial has shown that we can drive immune responses in predictable ways to make new and better vaccines, and not just for HIV. We believe this type of vaccine engineering can be applied more broadly, bringing about a new day in vaccinology." The clinical trial, IAVI G001, was sponsored by IAVI and took place at two sites: George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C., and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) in Seattle, enrolling 48 healthy adult volunteers. Participants received either a placebo or two doses of the vaccine compound, eOD-GT8 60mer, along with an adjuvant developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK. Julie McElrath, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president and director of Fred Hutch's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, and David Diemert, M.D., professor of medicine at GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences, were lead investigators at the trial sites. "This is a landmark study in the HIV vaccine field, demonstrating success in the first step of a pathway to induce broad neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1," McElrath says. "The novel design of the immunogen, the clinical trial and the molecular B cell analyses provide a roadmap to accelerate further progress toward an HIV vaccine." Wide network of collaborators Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery, supported a wide network of partners conducting complex analyses. The critical assay used to judge the vaccine candidate, epitope-specific single B cell sorting and B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing, was developed and carried out by teams at the NIH Vaccine Research Center, led by Adrian McDermott, Ph.D. (chief of the Vaccine Immunology Program), Richard Koup, M.D. (deputy director and chief of the Immunology Laboratory and Immunology Section), and research scientist David Leggat, Ph.D.; and at Fred Hutch, led by McElrath and senior staff scientist Kristen Cohen, Ph.D. Study design and data analysis were led by staff scientists Allan deCamp, Ph.D., Greg Finak, Ph.D., and Jimmy Fulp at the Vaccine Immunology Statistical Center at Fred Hutch, with assistance from the Schief lab. ### IAVI and Scripps Research developed the vaccine candidate with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an HIV Vaccine Research and Development grant (P01 AI094419, titled "Optimizing HIV immunogen-BCR interactions for vaccine development") from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID) at the NIAID and Scripps Research, and the Scripps Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD). Other collaborating organizations include Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Karolinska Institutet and La Jolla Institute. Research at the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center that contributed to the development of the vaccine candidate, eOD-GT8 60mer, was also made possible by the government of the Netherlands through the Minister of Foreign Trade & Development Cooperation and through the generous support of the American people through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of IAVI and Scripps Research and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government. About IAVI IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV and tuberculosis. Its mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Read more at iavi.org. About Scripps Research Some wage taxpayers/consumers Married couples with two children who earn $50,000 a year will pay no state income tax and up to two-thirds of Pennsylvania income taxpayers will pay less or the same because of expanded income tax forgiveness. School districts Would get $200 million more for basic public school education, $200 million more for special education, $30 million more for early childhood education, $1 billion in redevelopment money from bonds to clean up asbestos, lead and other environmental health hazards in public schools and $229 million in savings from charter-school funding reform. School districts like Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Area, Hazleton Area, Carbondale Area, Mid Valley and Riverside could all see even more state money through a new fair-funding formula. Some property taxpayers Districts that get far more money under the fairer funding formula could sharply cut property taxes. New teachers Minimum starting salaries of $45,000 a year. Scranton, Carbondale Area, Dunmore, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Riverside and many other districts have starting salaries below that. Low-wage earners Proposes boosting the hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 on July 1, and by 50 cents an hour more each July until it reaches $15 an hour by July 1, 2027. Large corporations Net income tax would drop from 9.99 percent to 6.49 percent by 2026. Child care providers/recipients $87.2 million increase in federal funds. Students The budget cuts the maximum amount organizations can charge for administering school tax credits from 20% to 5%, potentially making up to $36 million more available for student scholarships. College students The budget proposes shifting $199 million from horse racing development to a new tuition program for students attending state universities. Most property taxpayers No changes to the system of funding schools with property taxes, except for additional education funding that could limit local tax hikes. Some wage taxpayers At least a third would pay more in state income taxes because theyre not eligible for expanded income tax forgiveness as the states tax rate rises from 3.07% to to 4.49%. Employers If theyre not already paying employees at least $12 an hour. Wolf wants that as the minimum as of July 1 and $15 an hour by July 2027. Large corporations The ones that benefit from the Delaware tax loophole could be forced to pay more in taxes if the loophole is closed. Municipalities Would pay a service for state police protection even if they have their own officers. Charter schools: The budgets charter school reforms would cost them $229 million. BORYS KRAWCZENIUK Some wage taxpayers/consumersMarried couples with two children who earn $50,000 a year will pay no state income tax and up to two-thirds of Pennsylvania income taxpayers will pay less or the same because of expanded income tax forgiveness. School districtsWould get $200 million more for basic public school education, $200 million more for special education, $30 million more for early childhood education, $1 billion in redevelopment money from bonds to clean up asbestos, lead and other environmental health hazards in public schools and $229 million in savings from charter-school funding reform. School districts like Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Area, Hazleton Area, Carbondale Area, Mid Valley and Riverside could all see even more state money through a new fair-funding formula. Some property taxpayersDistricts that get far more money under the fairer funding formula could sharply cut property taxes. New teachersMinimum starting salaries of $45,000 a year. Scranton, Carbondale Area, Dunmore, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Riverside and many other districts have starting salaries below that. Low-wage earnersProposes boosting the hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 on July 1, and by 50 cents an hour more each July until it reaches $15 an hour by July 1, 2027. Large corporationsNet income tax would drop from 9.99 percent to 6.49 percent by 2026. Child care providers/recipients$87.2 million increase in federal funds. StudentsThe budget cuts the maximum amount organizations can charge for administering school tax credits from 20% to 5%, potentially making up to $36 million more available for student scholarships. College studentsThe budget proposes shifting $199 million from horse racing development to a new tuition program for students attending state universities. Most property taxpayersNo changes to the system of funding schools with property taxes, except for additional education funding that could limit local tax hikes. Some wage taxpayersAt least a third would pay more in state income taxes because theyre not eligible for expanded income tax forgiveness as the states tax rate rises from 3.07% to to 4.49%. EmployersIf theyre not already paying employees at least $12 an hour. Wolf wants that as the minimum as of July 1 and $15 an hour by July 2027. Large corporationsThe ones that benefit from the Delaware tax loophole could be forced to pay more in taxes if the loophole is closed. MunicipalitiesWould pay a service for state police protection even if they have their own officers. Charter schools: The budgets charter school reforms would cost them $229 million. BORYS KRAWCZENIUK The Health Ministry confirmed 31 new Covid-19 infections Tuesday evening, including 30 domestic cases from the ongoing outbreak. Eighteen of the new cases are in the northern province of Hai Duong, now the epicenter of the outbreak. Quang Ninh, which neighbors Hai Duong and is also a major Covid-19 cluster, has eight, the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai has three and Hanoi has one. The patients in Gia Lai and Hanoi are related to previous cases confirmed in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, where the first domestic transmissions of the new outbreak were detected on January 28. While the source of transmissions of the ongoing outbreak is yet to be identified, it has been determined that it was caused by the U.K. variant, which has been described as more contagious and having a shorter incubation time. The other case reported Tuesday evening is an imported one, a 43-year-old male Russian expert who landed in Hanoi Monday on AZUR Air flight ZF2074/2078. Six days since Vietnam recorded the return of Covid-19 community transmissions after 55 clean days, the number of infections have jumped to 301, including 224 in Hai Duong and 38 in Quang Ninh. Infections have spread to eight other cities and provinces - Hanoi with 20 cases, Gia Lai with nine, Bac Ninh three, Hoa Binh two, Binh Duong two, and HCMC, Hai Phong and Bac Giang one each. So far, the country has recorded a total of 1,882 Covid-119 cases of which 383 are active. He summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue, the managers wrote. Unlike the first impeachment case against Mr. Trump, which centered on his pressure campaign on Ukraine, this one has bipartisan support and the prosecutors appear poised to make frequent use of Republicans own criticisms of Mr. Trump. Their brief quoted Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach, as well as Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, who said publicly that Mr. Trump provoked the mob. In making constitutional arguments in favor of Mr. Trumps conviction, though, they reached hundreds of years further back, arguing that Mr. Trump had not only prompted violence but threatened the tradition of the peaceful transfer of power begun by Washington. They also cited debates by the founders about who would be subject to impeachment and when, as well as a 19th-century impeachment trial of a former war secretary, to assert that the Senate clearly had a right to try Mr. Trump even after he left office. There is no January exception to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution, the managers wrote. A president must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last. They also insisted that the First Amendment right to free speech could not shield Mr. Trump from responsibility for inciting violence that would seek to do harm to the Constitution, undermining all the rights enshrined there, including free speech. The presidents filing was narrower by design, with a lengthier, more detailed brief due from his lawyers early next week. Still, the contours of their defense were becoming clear. The lawyers said Democrats had misinterpreted Mr. Trumps actions and his intent, denying that he was responsible for the Capitol riot or that he intended to interfere with Congresss formalizing of Mr. Bidens win. They said his words to supporters on Jan. 6 if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore were not meant as a call to violent action, but were about the need to fight for election security in general. 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. 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. CHEYENNE, WY / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / MJ Biotech, Inc. (OTC PINK:MJTV), is pleased to announce, samples of the Covid-19 Rapid Test Kits have been shipped and will arrive this week in The Republic of Namibia. in Southern Africa. Our MJTV Africa sales representative, Invest Africa Global, LLC (IAG), is now expected to finalize the initial orders for the Covid-19 Rapid Test Kits. Having the samples delivered to the potential buyers was the final step in securing the initial orders for the product. After the first transactions are completed, a seamless process will be in place to be able to move quickly on the numerous MJTV global and domestic transactions. IAG will be representing MJ Biotech in multiple jurisdictions on the African Continent. They already has secured several potential business opportunities and enthusiasm for the Covid-19 Antibody Test Kit. For additional information please contact us at info@mjbiotech.us. Safe Harbor Statement: Some of the statements in this press release may be forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. Such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors such as the development of general economic conditions, future market conditions, unusual catastrophic loss events, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. MJ Biotech Inc. does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or updated status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will MJ Biotech. Inc. and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction with the information and/or statements in this press release or for any related damages. SOURCE: MJ Biotech, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627530/MJ-Biotech-Inc-Delivers-Samples-of-Covid-19-Rapid-Test-Kits-to-Multiple-Buyers-In-Africa Former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, said yesterday that Nigeria doesn't need more than N150 billion to procure COVID-19 vaccines. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, said in December 2020 that the federal government needs about N400 billion for COVID-19 vaccines. According to Ehanire, N400 billion would be required to vaccinate 70 percent of Nigeria's over 200 million population at $8 per person. Commenting on the issue when he featured on ARISE Television yesterday, Obi said there are issues of transparency regarding the procurement of vaccines. The ex-governor said Nigeria would not have needed to spend so much in procuring vaccines if its National Vaccine Production Facility was operational. "The issue of vaccine is one that I feel a sense of pain. Nigeria as a country in 1940 established what we called National Vaccine Production Facility domiciled in Yaba, and that was able to produce virtually all the vaccines we used in the days of smallpox, yellow fever and that facility was shut down in 1991 to be refurbished and upgraded. There was nothing wrong with it and till today, that has been the case deliberately so that people can import vaccines and sell to the government. "Now, I hear that we are looking for N400bn. Well, I am at loss. Our budget this year for health is N547bn. I don't know if they are going to take this vaccine procurement from it because if they do, we are left with N147bn. "For the vaccine procurement also, we need to have transparency in the procurement. Today, vaccine in India costs between $2 25 cents to $3. That is an average of $2.75 and if you say you are going to use N400 billion, that is about $1bn. If you divide $1bn by $2.75cents each, that is about 350 million doses which is far in excess of what we need. "World Health Organisation said if you can inject 70 percent of your population, that's it. 70 percent of Nigeria is about 140 million so we are actually looking for 140 million doses. Considering that some other people are going to give us some free, we actually don't need more than 120 million. But even if we're buying 140 million, we just need about three hundred and eighty-something million dollars which is about N150bn to buy it. "If they have a N400bn budget to buy the vaccine, my suggestion is, they don't need to award contracts in this vaccine, let them just call Serum institute in India and plead with them. I am sure they will even give us discount. If they want, I can go for the negotiation. It won't cost more than $2 each." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. On Monday, Enahire said the federal government is expecting 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in February. The Vice Presidential Candidate of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, in 2019 elections also explained why the cash transfer strategies employed by the Federal Government to lift people out of poverty will not work out in Nigeria. Obi said that the planned N5000 disbursement to 24 million people for a period of 6 months will not achieve the desired results of pulling people out of poverty. He argued that for one to be classified as living in poverty, the person will be earning $1.9 or less per day, which is approximately N800. He said that the N800 when multiplied by 30 days amounts to N24,000, thus giving someone N5000 a month, when he needs at least N24,000 to survive, will have little or no effect, talk more of pulling them out of poverty. "Now if you divide N5000 with N400 exchange rate, it will give you $12.50. When you divide $12.50 by 30 days, it gives you 42 cents. So by sharing N5000 per month to them, you are only giving them about 20% of the $1.9 they require to live above poverty. Worse still, you are only paying them the money for 6 months. "Any government that desires to pull its people out of poverty should adopt a properly articulated fiscal and monetary stimulus to support micro, small, medium entreprises and also provide jobs that will pay people at least N25,000 per month", Obi submitted. The number of offices sitting empty in Australias cities has hit double-digit figures for the first time in six years and is rising, with vacancy rates not seen since the dark days of the 1990s recession. At the peak of the countrys last major recession in 1990-91, more than one-fifth of the countrys offices were empty. The office sector was hard hit by COVID. Credit:Joe Armao A report by the Property Council of Australia (PCA) shows the national office vacancy rate has reached 11.7 per cent and may go higher, hit by the double whammy of COVID-wary workers staying at home and a large increase in new office supply. This is an increase from 9.6 per cent in July last year. PCA chief executive Ken Morrison said the flight of city workers was not the primary cause of the sharp rise. While it was not a surprise to see office vacancies increase in the middle of a pandemic, it is the new supply of office space that is responsible for three-quarters of this impact, not reduced tenant demand, he said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SEATTLE Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will give up his title as CEO of the Seattle-based commerce giant by the end of 2021, the company announced Tuesday in a news release reporting fourth-quarter earnings results. Bezos, 57, will transition to the role of executive chair of Amazons board of directors. He will be replaced as CEO by Amazon Web Services director Andy Jassy. Bezos had distanced himself from much of Amazons day-to-day business in recent years. But he stepped back into the helm during the pandemic, during which Amazon recorded its most profitable year ever. In 2020, sales surged 38% to $386.1 billion, while profit roughly doubled to $21.3 billion, or $41.83 per share, from a year earlier. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In a statement, Bezos said that Amazons financial results are the long-run cumulative results of invention. Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition, Bezos said. In an email to Amazon employees, Bezos said he intended to focus on new products and early initiatives, as well as other passions that include the Bezos Earth Fund; Blue Origin, his secretive space venture; and The Washington Post. As much as I still tap dance into the office, Im excited about this transition, he wrote. Ive never had more energy, and this isnt about retiring. As chair of the board, Bezos will remain very involved on new product development and setting Amazons strategic direction, Amazon spokesperson Dan Perlet said in a call with reporters. Jeff is really not going anywhere. Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore and turned it into a retail behemoth. Along the way, he became one of the worlds wealthiest people. Bezos net worth is estimated at roughly $196 billion, according to Forbes, largely held in Amazon stock. With 11.1% of Amazons outstanding shares, Bezos is the companys largest shareholder. Bezos set up the transition to Jassy last summer, when Amazon announced that one of its likely successors, Jeff Wilke, would soon retire. That paved the way for Jassy to take the CEO job. Jassys Amazon career is defined by his leading Amazon into cloud computing, a business the company has come to dominate just as aggressively as it leads in e-commerce. He is an Amazon lifer, having joined the company in 1997 after graduating from Harvard Business School. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have, Bezos said in his email to employees. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence. 2021 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday strongly criticised the Union Budget, saying it was for one per cent of the population and gave a wrong message to China by not significantly raising defence allocation. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said the conditions in India are "dangerous" which require Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take quick action. "It (conditions) requires that the prime minister put money immediately into the hands of our people and revive the economy, it requires that he protects the small and medium businesses who give us jobsit requires a clear message to China that 'you cannot do this with us, you cannot be sitting inside our land and expect that nothing is going to happen," he said. Gandhi argued that what India needed was money in the hands of the people, asserting that the economy can be revived only through consumption and cannot happen from the supply side. "My expectation from the Budget was that government will provide support to 99 per cent of India's population. But this Budget is for one per cent population. You (the government) snatched away money from people in small and medium industry, workers, farmers, forces, and put it in the pockets of 5-10 people," he alleged. If the government would have introduced something like the proposed income guarantee scheme NYAY, given money to small and medium industries, protected them, economy could have been revived, Gandhi said. "Economy will not get revived by the supply side. They are trying again and again and are giving money to one per cent of the population, but the economy will not revive. This is the reality," the former Congress chief said. "China enters into India and takes away thousands of kilometres of our land. What message do you give them in our budget- that we won't increase our defence expenditure. You raised it by Rs 3000-4000 crore. What message did you give? 'You can enter India and do whatever you want, we won't support our defence forces'," Gandhi said. He said that jawans in Ladakh and air force pilots would be feeling that they are facing such an adversity, but the government is not giving them money. "The money which belongs to the forces, it is being given to those 5-10 people. This will not benefit the country," he said. "The commitment of forces is cent per cent, the government's commitment should be 110 per cent. Whatever our army, navy and air force need, the government should give them. What kind of patriotism is this that our army is standing in the cold in Ladakh and 'you are not giving them money'," Gandhi said. His remarks come two days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in Parliament. The overall defence budget for 2021-22 was hiked marginally by around 1.4 percent but there was a nearly 19 per cent rise in capital outlay for military modernisation. According to the 2021-22 budget documents presented by Sitharaman, the allocation for the defence services was increased to Rs 4.78 lakh crore compared to Rs 4.71 lakh crore in the 2020-21 budget. Dolly Parton is, indisputably, a national treasure. She is the rare American pop cultural icon that unites fans across generations, political persuasions, and walks of life. Shes the fast-talking, quick-smiling personification of the American dream, a woman whose humanity and love of her fellow (wo)man has yielded decades of hits and millions in donations to her numerous philanthropic efforts. She is an ally to the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ community, and unafraid to voice her support for the marginalized on stage and elsewhere. Shes an exceptional storyteller, a first-rate performer, a savvy businesswoman, and an excellent sport, whether it comes to collaborating with artists across genres and generations, penning soundtracks for a Netflix coming-of-age tale loosely based on Dolly devotion, or cracking jokes at her own expense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet Parton is also, among these many achievements, human, and therefore fallible. Even she can make the occasional choice thatll raise more than an eyebrowespecially if its at the expense of her own feminist anthem. With her hard-earned status as a culture deity and her indefatigable charm, its easyexpected, evento simply love Parton without question, to shy away from the discomfort of realizing she made an unexpected misstep. Take her most recent of endeavors: her first Super Bowl commercial. On Tuesday, Squarespace debuted its impressive spot for the upcoming Super Bowl, built around a Parton classic. Directed by Damien Chazelle (of La La Land fame), the commercial takes 9 to 5Partons 1980 smash, and the theme song for the workplace comedy of the same name in which she co-starred thats centered on three women teaming up against their sexist, blowhard bigot of a bossand gives it a modern twist. Instead of riffing on the thankless low points of the typical workday, Squarespace opted to celebrate the side hustle one can pursue between the off hours of 5 to 9not 5-9 p.m., mind you, but 5 p.m. to 9 a.m., as confirmed by the press release. Advertisement In the ad, the drab grey cubicle walls, desks, and business casual ensembles of slumped-over professionals at the office are gradually replaced by vibrant dreams made reality as Parton rolls through her updated lyrics. A woman in scarlet workout gear launches a fitness app as Parton encourages her: Youve got passion and a vision/ because its hustlin time, the only way to make a livin! Another, in daffodil yellow, trims a topiary while customizing a website for her landscaping business (Gonna change your life, do something that gives it meaning!). A guy hangs artwork on the walls of his cubicle as he creates a webshop with a website that is worthy of your dreamin! Within a minute, the office is a technicolor dreamlab of possibility for those who can make their side hustle their full-time job if they just dream a little harder (and make those dreams come true with Squarespace). Parton makes a blink-and-youll-miss-it cameo winking from a magazine cover tacked to the office wall, but otherwise, shes absent from the festivities. Advertisement Advertisement On the surface, nothing about this ad is that deep: A Super Bowl commercial remains the holy grail of advertising, her follow your dreams! platitude is well-meaning, and Parton, of course, can do whatever she wants with her music, and work with whomever she likes, without a need for explanation. But to reframe 9 to 5 as a playful hustle anthem is surprisingly off-key, both when it comes to acknowledging the current moment and the original spirit of the song. When I shared the Squarespace spot with a group of friends, one pointed out that 9 to 5 was inspired by 9to5, a feminist labor and advocacy organization founded in the 70s that fought for gender equality in the workplace and continues to do so today. (Jane Fonda, Partons co-star, appears in a new PBS documentary about 9to5 that premiered Feb. 1.) Advertisement Some of 9to5s goals are to ensure just working conditions for women that include paid sick leave, equitable pay, part-time benefits, and considerations for pregnant women that include assurances theyll be able to safely work through the end of their pregnancyall things that are a bit tough to finagle when youre working from dusk to dawn while acting as your own boss and HR department. That this remains a goal of 9to5 after decades of progress is the crux of the problem: It and others are doing the work to close the pay gap and improve working conditions for all women, but the rest of the world has not caught up. Though strides have been made, women still make pennies to the mans dollar, especially women of color. This inequity was the norm before the rise of the gig economywhich often replaces full-time opportunities with freelance or part-time ones while presenting it as a hustletocracy fueled by passionand the coronavirus pandemic, which tanked the economy while forcing women out of the workforce in droves. Advertisement Advertisement So perhaps it is that deep. Its actually antithetical to give Partons 9 to 5 a gig economy makeover for a tech giant to run during the Super Bowlespecially in the midst of a full-blown crisis disproportionately impacting women and communities of color. The commercial will air and the world will move on, but the fact remains that Partonan artist deservedly lauded as one of the most skillful, altruistic, and generous performers of all timediminished one of the most potent, and beloved, messages behind her own work while dressing it up as a tribute. And while the new lyrics are clever, the old ones feel far more in step with what many are living through as they file for unemployment in record numbers, turn their kitchens into bakeries, their cars into cabs, their homes into hotels that stay unbooked and empty: Its enough to drive you crazy if you let it. Dolly, I will always love youbut I will not always love the commodification of your work. Support work like this for just $1 Slate is covering the stories that matter to you. Become a Slate Plus member to support our work. Your first month is only $1. Join Slate Plus He laid out a number of things he would do as mayor. One of them is to restore the budget for youth services in the city budget, and build better relationships with other non-profits and governing bodies like the Fox Valley Park District, our schools, and the Aurora Township government to provide safe places for kids to go after school NEW DELHI : Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd , the operator of the Dominos Pizza and Dunkin Donuts restaurants in India, reported a 22% rise in quarterly profit because of a surge in delivery and takeaway sales. Net profit rose to 123.91 crore in the three months ended 31 December from 101.80 crore in the year earlier, the company said on Wednesday. Consolidated revenue from operations, however, fell marginally to 1,069.27 crore from 1,071 crore due to seating-capacity restrictions in restaurants. Dominos witnessed complete sales recovery during the fiscal third quarter backed by continued momentum in delivery and takeaway channels, which grew by 18.5% and 64.3%, respectively, from the year-ago period, the company said. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat The sales recovery continued in January with overall sales for Dominos growing by 6%. The company witnessed its highest-ever app downloads during the quarter at 7.4 million. We turned the corner decidedly in the third quarter, with Dominos returning to growth, driven by strong momentum in delivery and takeaway channels," said Pratik Pota, chief executive of Jubilant FoodWorks. The company had 1,314 Dominos outlets in India at the end of December. Formats such as delivery and takeaway grew ahead of the dine-in business. For the December quarter, sales recovery for the dine-in business stood at 41.6% of that in the year-ago period. For January, it was 56%. Recovery in dine-in business remains slow because of restrictions on seating capacity in restaurants. On the dine-in channel specifically, the constraint is more on supply than demand. Even today, our capacity in dine-in is constrained at 50%. That is what has held back the recovery significantly," Pota said in a post-earnings conference call. The government recently permitted multiplexes to operate at 100% capacity. The restaurant industry is awaiting similar relaxations, said Pota. When that happens and, of course, with all covid SOPs being followed diligentlywe will see dine-in demand coming back very strongly," he said. The company opened 57 new stores, including 50 new Dominos stores, its highest-ever in a quarter. Jubilant Foodworks had announced the closure of 100 restaurants last year. The company is on track to open more than 100 new Dominos stores in FY21, it said. During the quarter, the company announced the acquisition of a 10.76% stake in Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd, a restaurant chain. The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint, and Jubilant FoodWorks are closely related. There are, however, no promoter cross-holdings. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Conservative Defense of the Second Amendment Falls Short: Needs-Based Defense No Longer Sufficient to Preserve Citizens' Right to Self-Defense The Second Amendment stands at a critical crossroad in America. The future of gun rights in America will likely be decided not decades from now, but within the next few years. It is imperative that conservatives, in particular, who historically have been strongly supportive of the right to keep and bear arms, understand not just the practical benefits to our society from a robust Second Amendment, but the philosophical foundations of gun rights as premised on the protection of our G-d-given, natural rights. Only with this well-armed, well-rounded expertise will supporters of the Second Amendment be properly equipped to mount a successful defense of such rights that increasingly are in danger from activists and politicians of all stripes and at all levels. An Overview A primary reason why America is at such a pivotal point with gun rights is the inaction of the United States Supreme Court. Since its first major Second Amendment case of the modern era in 1939 (US v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), the Supreme Court waited more than 70 years before substantively addressing the scope of the Amendment. In 2008, the Court issued a striking, albeit limited, victory for the right to keep and bear arms when, in District of Columbia v. Heller (U.S. 570 (2008), by a bare majority, it held that the Second Amendment in fact protects an individual right, striking down a District law banning the possession of operable firearms in the home. The Court expanded on its Heller decision two years later in McDonald v. Chicago (U.S. 742 (2010), applying its holding beyond the District of Columbia to all 50 states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Since these cases, however, the Supreme Court has largely returned to its preferred state of quiescence with respect to the Second Amendment (Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016). In the absence of a Second Amendment legal framework going beyond the barebones structure outlined by Heller and McDonald, lower courts, as well as state and local governments, have been left to their own devices in interpreting and applying these foundational cases. The results have been varied and inconsistent. Some states have removed barriers to the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms, going so far as implementing constitutional carry, in which the Constitution is considered the only license needed to carry a firearm outside one's domicile (Constitutional Carry Laws). Other states have gone in the opposite direction, severely restricting the carrying of firearms outside the home. Until the Supreme Court returns to the question of the Second Amendment and definitively clarifies its earlier rulings in Heller and McDonald, this patchwork of gun laws will continue to exist across the nation, vexing both gun rights advocates and everyday gun owners seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Conservatives would be wise, however, not to place trust entirely on the courts as the battle over gun rights plays out. ..... The pandemic has pushed Minnesota mothers out of the workforce in large numbers and, unlike fathers, they have yet to return, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Driving the news: Workforce participation among the state's moms of young kids dropped 11 percentage points in the three months ending in November compared with the same period in 2019, the Fed's researchers found, a higher rate than in neighboring states. The big picture: This new research confirms that working moms in Minnesota and beyond are being hit especially hard by the pandemic. The National Women's Law Center estimates that women across the country have lost a combined 5.4 million jobs since the start of the crisis. estimates that women across the country have lost a combined 5.4 million jobs since the start of the crisis. Here in Minnesota, unemployment benefit requests from women outpaced those from men throughout much of the last year. Yes, but: Economists warn that uncertainty in the pandemic labor market and small sample sizes make it difficult to decipher the full impact on women. Another data set from the Department of Employment and Economic Development shows women's overall workforce participation in Minnesota growing between February and November. Why it matters: Experts worry the uneven toll could undo years of progress toward pay parity and representation, including at the highest levels of leadership. "It will set all those positive movements back," Minneapolis Fed outreach director Ron Wirtz told us, also noting that it generally takes longer to find a job than to lose a job. Driving the trend: Caregiving responsibilities, including distance-learning supervision, and job cuts in female-dominated sectors, such as the hospitality industry. Mothers of young children are more likely than men to report that care responsibilities continue to keep them out of the labor force, according to the Fed. What they're saying: Half of the surveyed members of The Coven, a Twin Cities co-working space and community for women, nonbinary and trans people, said they were doing less paid work but more unpaid labor at home. "[They] are struggling to keep up with the amount of work that is required of parents who are now expected to be teachers," co-founder Alex West Steinman told Axios. The bottom line: A lack of available child care, including schooling options, is a big issue and one that "will affect how quickly labor markets and the economy recover" post-pandemic, the Fed notes. This story first appeared in the Axios Twin Cities newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Pakistan Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said India and Pakistan must resolve the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir "in a dignified and peaceful manner". He said both countries should bring "this human tragedy to its logical conclusion", as per reports. Speaking at a graduation ceremony, Bajwa said that his country is "firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence" and that "it is time to extend peace in all directions". The Pakistan Army chief said Pakistan is "a peace-loving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace". "We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend hand of peace in all directions. Pakistan and India must also resolve the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner." Bajwa was reported as saying that Pakistan will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret its "desire for peace as a sign of weakness". He said Pakistan armed forces are fully capable to thwart any threat. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The United Nations said Tuesday that it had indefinitely delayed an expedition to avert an ecological disaster from a crippled Yemeni tanker holding roughly 48 million gallons of oil, citing what the organization called a failure by Yemens Houthi insurgents to guarantee the salvage teams safety in writing. The announcement came weeks after the team was supposed to have begun technical operations aboard the tanker, the FSO Safer, which has been moored off Yemens Red Sea coast for many years. The 1,188-foot vessel is regarded by maritime environmental experts as a floating bomb, within easy range of the shooting war between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states trying to defeat them in a protracted war in Yemen. After many months, the Houthis granted the United Nations formal permission in November to undertake a salvage operation of the Safer, which has basically been used as a storage vessel and holds four times the oil that spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. The vessels rusting hull and lack of maintenance have only raised the risks of a leak. Stephane Dujarric, the chief U.N. spokesman, said the organization had committed $3.35 million to procure the equipment and personnel needed and had requested that the Houthis provide a letter with security assurances so it could lease service vessels. The operation will require emptying the Safers tanks before it is methodically dismantled and scrapped. WRESTLEPRO ALASKA UPDATE WrestlePro Alaska's Kevin Matthews issued the following update on their April return to the Frontier State: ANCHORAGE EVENT MOVED TO PALMER As expected due to the restrictions in place we are once again forced to relocate our Anchorage event. Rather than cancel it, our friends over at Harley Davidson in Palmer once again came to our rescue (like they did in September) and saved the day. We will now host back to back nights at the Denali Harley - Davidson in Palmer, Alaska which is headlined of course by Tommy Dreamer vs Sami Callihan along with an 8-Man Ladder Match to crown the first ever WrestlePro Alaska Last Frontier Champion! Other talent confirmed will be AEW's Serena Deeb, Anthony Bowens & QT Marhsall, Impact's Fallah Bahh, Former WWE Star Zach Gowen, ROH's Stars Cheeseburger, John Walters & LSG as well as all the WrestlePro regulars! As far as tickets go for those who purchased them for our Anchorage event they will be honored for Palmer Night 2 or you can get a refund. As of right now a few front row remains. Due to the change we will also be lowering our General Admission tickets to $40. All of the changes will be reflected on the website tomorrow at Noon (Alaska time) at WrestleProAlaska.com Reminder DDP will be apart of night 1 on April 9th and you can pre order his Meet & Greet at WrestleProAlaska.com as well. Sponsorship opportunities for one event or the whole tour can also be found at the website or by messaging us directly. 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! Advertisement Joe and Jill Biden paid their respects to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, Tuesday night as his remains lie in honor at the US Capitol - the same building where he was killed while defending the seat of American democracy from attack by the MAGA mob rioters. The president took a solemn moment of silence in front of the urn carrying the cremated remains of the fallen cop, reaching out and touching the wooden box before holding his hand to his heart. He then said a prayer, marking the sign of the cross, before he walked over to a trio of wreaths next to the US and Capitol Police flags. He placed his hand on his heart again and shook his head before taking Jill by the hand as they exited the rotunda. Sicknick will lie in the Capitol rotunda overnight Tuesday and for some of Wednesday while lawmakers and fellow officers pay their respects before he is taken to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery. The officer died January 7 after he was reportedly struck over the head with a fire extinguisher during the violent insurrection on the Capitol the day before. A federal murder investigation was launched following his death but, almost one month on, no arrests have been made. Joe and Jill Biden have paid their respects to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, as his remains lie in honor at the US Capitol - the same building where he died defending the seat of American democracy from the MAGA mob riot The president took a solemn moment of silence in front of the urn carrying the cremated remains of the fallen cop, reaching out and touching the wooden box before holding his hand to his heart Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pay their respects Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer come together to pay their respects The president took a solemn moment of silence in front of the urn carrying the cremated remains of the fallen cop An honor guard carried the urn and a folded American flag up the steps of the Capitol and into the rotunda in a procession starting at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night US Capitol Police Officers place on a stand the urn holding the remains of their fellow officer Brian Sicknick A fellow law enforcement officer breaks down in tears as he visits the urn of his colleague Tuesday night Police officers line the rotunda to see the urn with Sicknick's remains placed under the dome for people to pay their respects An aerial view of the rotunda as people gather to pay tribute to the officer who died in the line of duty last month Lawmakers including Nancy Pelosi, Kevin MCarthy and Chuck Schumer are among those gathered on the steps of the Capitol as Sicknick's remains are carried into the rotunda Biden said a prayer, marking the sign of the cross, before he walked over to a trio of wreaths next to the US and Capitol Police flags The body of Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, will lie in honor at the US Capitol - the same building he died defending. His casket will arrive on Tuesday evening, and stay through Wednesday A motorcade procession brought the remains of Sicknick to the Capitol around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night. An honor guard then carried the urn and a folded American flag up the steps, while Sicknick's fellow officers stood to attention to watch their comrade be carried into the building he had spent more than a decade working to protect. The wooden urn, which was inscribed with his full name and date of birth and death, was placed in the heart of the rotunda next to the flag which had been flown the day the officer died. 'This flag was flown over the United States Capitol by The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, honoring the distinguished life and service of Officer Brian D. Sicknick. January 7, 2021,' read a plaque on the flag. Sicknick's family visited his urn in a private ceremony first and were seen being comforted by Sicknick's colleagues on the steps of the Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer then arrived to pay honor to the cop with other lawmakers including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Pete Aguilar following close behind. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, who replaced Chief Steven Sund after he resigned in the wake of the Capitol riot, paid tribute to Sicknick next, raising her hand to salute the urn. A stream of Capitol Police officers all followed to say goodbye to their colleague who died in the line of duty. A viewing period was reserved for Capitol police overnight, with legislators to pay tribute at a ceremony Wednesday morning. A ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery is planned for later in the day. Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement ahead of the night's procession that the nation was 'united in grief'. 'The U.S. Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick,' they said. 'The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. 'His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.' Hundreds of President Trump's supporters stormed into the Capitol attacking police, smashing windows and sending lawmakers into hiding, after a fiery speech in which Trump urged them to 'fight' his election loss to President Joe Biden. The incident led to Trump's second impeachment; he will face trial in the Senate on a charge of inciting insurrection next week. Since the 1852, the caskets of just three dozen distinguished Americans have been honored at the Capitol. The urn inscribed with 'Brian David Sicknick' sits next to the folded flag in the heart of the Capitol rotunda An honor guard salutes after placing an urn with the cremated remains and folded flag on a black-draped table in the rotunda The president and First Lady hold their hands to their hearts as they take a moment in front of the urn The 42-year-old's family visited his urn in a private ceremony and were seen being comforted by Sicknick's colleagues on the steps of the Capitol Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi waits to pay her respects Tuesday night Members of the military pay their respects to the officer who died in the line of duty last month while protecting the seat of American democracy from attack A placard is displayed with an image of the late US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick on it as people wait for the urn The honor guard carries his remains in the urn into the Capitol where he will lie in honor overnight The family of US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick watch as his remains are carried up the steps of the US Capitol A motorcade procession brought the remains of Sicknick to the Capitol around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night The motorcade brings Sicknick to the Capitol where he will lie in honor - the same building where he sustained the injuries that killed him An honor guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of Sicknick from the motorcade as it reached the Capitol An honor guard carrying the remains of Sicknick toward the Capitol Tuesday night where he will lie overnight before being laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery Members of the police force gathered at the steps to watch their colleague lie in honor in the building they work to protect Two of Sicknick's colleagues carry his remains into the Capitol as lawmakers and fellow officers look on The signs of the January 6 insurrection that cost Sicknick his life were still visible in this smashed window The President and First Lady walking into the Capitol to pay their resects to the fallen officer Tuesday night Officers line the steps to watch the procession as Sicknick's remains are carried into the Capitol to lie in honor Officers pay their respects to their fallen comrade who died protecting the Capitol in the January 6 riot Members of then Capitol Police force stand in line to await the arrival of their fallen colleague Tuesday The rotunda is covered in darkness as family members, lawmakers and law enforcement pay tribute to Sicknick A total of 30 government officials, judges and military leaders have 'lay in state' at the Capitol, including Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. The most recent politician to lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda was John Lewis, whose casket was placed there in July of last year. The category of 'laying in honor' was created in 1998 in order to recognize distinguished Americans outside of the political realm. Sicknick, who died at 42, is the fifth American and third Captiitol police officer to lie in honor. His heartbroken family said they wanted to thank lawmakers for 'bestowing this historic honor on our fallen American hero.' 'We also wish to express our appreciation to the millions of people who have offered their support and sympathies during this difficult time,' they said in a statement. 'Knowing our personal tragedy and loss is shared by our nation brings hope for healing.' The first two citizens to lay in honor in the rotunda were Capitol Police officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John M. Gibson, who were fatally wounded in 1998 by a gunman who ran to the offices of then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay. The other two were civil rights leader Rosa Parks in 2005 and the Reverend Billy Graham in 2018. Hundreds of President Trump's supporters stormed into the Capitol attacking police, smashing windows and sending lawmakers into hiding on January 6 During the siege of the Capitol, Sicknick was pepper-sprayed and hit in the head, according to his father. An ambulance crew resuscitated him twice as he was rushed to a nearby hospital. He died the following day. Pictured: police and protesters clashing outside the building on January 6 Members of the Capitol Police pay their respects to late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick Tuesday night Members of the National Guard salute Sicknick as he lies in honor in the Capitol before he is laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery Law enforcement officers salute as one of their own is carried up the steps to the seat of American democracy The honor guard carrying the urn heads to the Capitol steps. Since 1852, the caskets of just three dozen distinguished Americans have been honored at the Capitol The rotunda at nightfall Tuesday as lawmakers and law enforcement wait for Sicknick's remains Tuesday night In the past 200 years, the caskets of only about three dozen distinguished Americans have been honored at the Capitol Sicknick's body will arrive at the rotunda on Tuesday evening and his fellow officers will begin viewing him at 10 pm The Capitol building is pictured on Tuesday afternoon following preparations for the arrival of Sicknick's casket Members of Congress will be able to view Sicknick on Wednesday morning. There will be a congressional tribute on Wednesday before a ceremonial departure. Sicknick - who had served in the New Jersey Air National Guard- will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. During the siege of the Capitol, Sicknick was pepper-sprayed and hit in the head, according to his father. An ambulance crew resuscitated him twice as he was rushed to a nearby hospital. He died the following day. Sicknick joined the Capitol Police in 2008. Last week, New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman introduced legislation to award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Sicknick 'for giving his life to protect the Capitol and the Members and staff of Congress on January 6'. Sicknick is survived by his parents, Charles and Gladys Sicknick, his brothers Ken and Craig, and his longtime girlfriend, Sandra Garza. From his early days growing up in a New Jersey hamlet, Sicknick wanted to be a police officer. He enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997 They released a statement following his death, paying tribute to the late cop, which read: 'There really aren't enough kind words in any language to describe how sweet Brian was. 'He was truly a lovely, humble soul. We are missing him terribly. 'He was sweet natured through and through. Everyone who met him adored him. 'He also loved his dachshunds dearly, spoiling them, and ensuring they got the best care possible.' From his early days growing up in a New Jersey hamlet, Sicknick wanted to be a police officer. He enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, deploying to Saudi Arabia and then Kyrgyzstan. Joining the Guard was his means to joining law enforcement, his family said. Sicknick joined the Capitol Police in 2008, serving until his death. He was one of five people who died at the Capitol, or from complications sustained in the aftermath. More than 100 people who stormed into the building have now been arrested and are facing federal charges. The FBI is said to be investigating more than 30 people in relation to Sicknick's murder, but no one has yet been charged. Politicians remain shaken by the events, which have led to the erection of eight-foot-high fence around the complex as a temporary measure. Acting Capitol Police chief Pittman called last week for permanent fencing and back-up security forces near the building. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is pictured looking at the coffin of her slain husband President John F. Kennedy as his casket lays in state at the US Capitol in 1963 The first two citizens to lay in honor in the rotunda were Capitol Police officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John M. Gibson, who were fatally wounded in 1998 by a gunman who ran to the offices of then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay The county learns about six days in advance what its vaccine allocation will be for the following week. Relucio said that hopefully, the latest news will be good. We have a vaccine shortfall and we need to stay laser-focused on that, Board of Supervisors Chairperson Alfredo Pedroza said after hearing Relucios update. Napa County as of Tuesday had seen about 23,300 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered. Upton said the county began giving second doses last week, so only a small percentage of that total are second doses. Another twist is California moving toward the My Turn statewide vaccination site. That is to serve as a registration portal for vaccination appointments. My Turn is presently a pilot program in San Diego and Los Angeles counties. Meanwhile, Napa County at https://bit.ly/3towyqy has its own vaccination interest form it uses to notify residents when they can make vaccination appointments. Several supervisors noted the planned transition to My Turn is raising questions among constituents about where they should sign up. Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht asked if the county website will have a link for My Turn. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Health Ministry has advised the citizens and residents not to visit government health centres except when necessary to ensure the safety of everybody. The advisory is within the framework of national efforts in containing the spread of the coronavirus in society. The ministry urged people to book appointments online or through the health centre hotline instead of personally appearing. It also advised visitors not to bring along children when visiting health centres. The ministry said that regular check-ups for schools, women, and minor operations will be postponed and rescheduled, and only emergency dental services will be provided, and all other dental services will stop. It also stated that it will provide a remote counselling service such as follow-up services for chronic diseases and postpartum services. The Primary Health Care called on the public to adhere to infection control instructions inside and outside the health centre to maintain their safety and to adhere to all precautionary measures issued by the official authorities. Dwight McKissic receives letter urging SBC to bid black members 'goodbye and good riddance Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Outspoken African American Southern Baptist Convention Pastor Dwight McKissic, who threatened to leave the SBC over a dispute about critical race theory, recently received a letter that disparaged blacks and urged the convention to bid them goodbye and good riddance! The letter in question was authored by John V. Rutledge, an author who is no longer part of the SBC. The controversial document was sent last Monday and addressed to McKissic, who pastors Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. In recent years the Southern Baptist Convention has been repenting (foolishly) of the sin of whiteness, and has rebaptized itself as an exemplar of diversity, wrote Rutledge, who also sent a copy to managing editor of the Baptist Standard, Ken Camp. Verily, it has brought fruits meet for repentance: a Negro Convention president; a Negro candidate for the pastorate of a white church (FBC, Naples, Florida), five million dollars in seminary scholarship for and only for Negroes; appointive positions reserved for, and elections rigged to install, Negroes. But it has not been enough, Rutledge added. For the Negro, nothing is ever enough. Rutledge, who authored the 2017 book A Church Has Gone To Hell - Southern Baptists: A Denomination in a Decade of Decline, argued that despite various efforts to assist black people, they remain savages as well as defile and diminish every arena in which they parade. Rutledge claims that African Americans are also set on destroying the SBC. It is better, he argued, that the denomination let them all leave. If Negroes [have] come to improve rather than to importune, they would have deployed the alleged-to-exist collective wisdom of black Baptist pastors to pick apart the Baptist Faith and Message, to challenge denominational denial of settled science, to extract the Convention from its unsophisticated doctrines and dogmas of yesteryear. All desperately needed, Rutledge wrote. But those are beyond the Negroes intellectual capacities. Like two-year-olds, they know only how to whine and throw tantrums. The SBC should bid them goodbye and good riddance! The author of this letter, John V. Rutledge, left the Southern Baptist Convention twenty years ago. It is best he did because his words and spirit of his letter to @pastordmack does not represent us at all. It is contradictory to our BF&M and our commitment to human dignity. pic.twitter.com/43OmA9bSwa Ronnie Floyd (@ronniefloyd) February 2, 2021 Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBCs Executive Committee, wrote in a statement on Twitter that Rutledge left the SBC 20 years ago and his views do not reflect the values of the convention. The author of this letter, John V. Rutledge, left the Southern Baptist Convention twenty years ago. It is best he did because his words and spirit of his letter to @pastordmack does not represent us at all, Floyd assured. It is contradictory to our BF&M and our commitment to human dignity. Kyle Howard, a preacher, theologian and Christian counselor who shared the letter on Twitter, said the letter was not an anomaly for black Christians advocating for racial reconciliation in evangelical circles. Beloved, dont be surprised by the date, shock at the date means you havent been listening, Howard stated. Every black Christian I know who has engaged w/ racial conciliation and/or justice work in evangelical spaces has received letters like this, many w/ threats as well. This is our life. Popular black Christian Rapper Lecrae agreed. If People only knew how NORMAL this is for many of us, he replied. The letter comes after the six members of the denominations Council of Seminary Presidents, who are all white, voted last year to condemn racism in any form while also rejecting critical race theory as incompatible with the faith at their annual session last year. The six seminary presidents who form the council are Danny Akin of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Jason K. Allen of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Jamie Dew of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Adam W. Greenway of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Jeff Iorg of Gateway Theological Seminary and Albert Mohler of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler, who is currently among three candidates vying to become the conventions next president, argued that advocacy based on ideas like critical race theory and intersectionality has no rightful place within an SBC seminary. The decision has since sparked an ongoing exodus of black leaders from the denomination as many maintain, as previously noted in SBC Resolution 9, that critical race theory can be a useful analytical tool to help people understand systemic racism. While the council has expressed regret for any unintended offense its statement has caused, Greenway has since defended the position. He argued that some disagreements over the statement are a matter of emotional misunderstandings. Feelings and sentiments are undeniably visceral, but not unimpeachably veridical. Specifically, the CSP statement not only did not deny systemic racism, but reaffirmed denominational condemnations of it, he explained. I want to make this point as charitably but honestly as I can: misconstruing the CSP statements rejection of CRT/I as being synonymous with or code for the SBC seminary presidents denying systemic racism is bearing false witness." Furthermore, when feelings become all-consuming and paramount in determining courses of action irrespective of the facts contained in plain language, we commit the fallacy of eisegesis, or reading into texts meanings we feel or interpretations we want to impose," Greenway continued. McKissic announced last month that he is ending his relationships with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention after SBTC leaders issued a strongly worded, anti-CRT policy that denounces all aspects of critical race theory. McKissic also vowed to leave the SBC if the conventions leaders rescind Resolution 9 on critical race theory passed by messengers in 2019. Last July, Pastor John Onwuchekwa, who pastors the diverse but predominantly black Cornerstone Church Atlanta, announced that his congregation voted to leave the SBC. Last December, Rev. Ralph West of The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas announced that the congregation cut ties with SBC over the recent statement from the seminary presidents denouncing critical race theory and intersectionality. 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. South Africa: Council encourages healthcare workers to register online for COVID-19 vaccine The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has encouraged all healthcare practitioners to utilise the various platforms available to register for the COVID-19 vaccination programme. This call follows the launch of the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS) where clinicians can self-register to get their COVID-19 immunisation, as government prepares for its historic vaccination rollout in the next coming weeks. A self-registration portal, EVDS was launched by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on Wednesday. Health workers are among the first group to be vaccinated, and have been to self-register on http://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za. The HPCSA has also welcomed the National Department of Healths detailed vaccination strategy, and its various roll out programmes that will be phased out across the country. The Council supports the strategy that vaccines have to be made available to all South Africans commencing with frontline healthcare workers, who are the most vulnerable - this is to ensure their protection and that of their families. There is scientific evidence as supported by the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Disease Control that the vaccine is the best defence and is extremely effective. The HPCSA encourages all healthcare practitioners, especially those on the frontline to utilise the various platforms available, both in the public and private sector to register for the vaccination programme, the Council said. Mkhize said more than 34 000 frontline workers have already registered, and those who have so far registered include clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers from both the public and private sectors. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. CHATHAM Last March, artist Steve Lyons began noticing flashes of light on the left side of his peripheral vision. An exam revealed spots on his brain, and he was eventually diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Lyons, who lives in Chatham and has a gallery and studio on Main Street, began treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. After learning about clinical trails for a new experimental treatment at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, he enrolled and was accepted, and in September went to California with his longtime partner, Peter Demers. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor and a long, somewhat problematic rehabilitation followed. But further tragedy struck when both Lyons and Demers contracted COVID-19. On Jan. 10, Demers, who was Lyons' primary caregiver, succumbed to the virus. We were all expecting tough times, but no one ever thought Peter would be lost like this, said Gabriel Beaton, manager of the Steve Lyons Gallery. He's had a rocky course, Meredith Beaton Starr, a close friend of Lyons, said of the artist's misfortunes. Honestly, it's a Greek tragedy. Lyons has been in and out of the hospital since his surgery, and Beaton, Starr and other friends of the artist hope that he will get strong enough in the new few weeks to come back to Chatham, where they believe he will have a much more comfortable recovery. Getting him home won't be easy or simple, however, as he will require medical monitoring during the cross-country flight. There has been an outpouring of support from the community, said Starr. A Go Fund Me campaign to raise money to help Lyons get home exceeded its $25,000 goal in a few days. As of Monday, a week after its launch, the campaign had raised more than $30,000. I know he will do much better when he gets home, said Starr. Being in Chatham is just what he needs now. Lyons can't wait to get home, she said. Beaton said the artist's friends and family realize he would never ask for this sort of help himself, but the circumstances are extreme and they feel a responsibility to do everything they can to give him the best chance to regain his health. Originally from Ohio, Lyons has been painting since he was a child. He began gaining recognition for his coastal scenes and seascapes in 2012, using a technique called impasto which utilizes thick paint to create a dimensionality on the canvas. He has since gained a following, especially in Europe. In 2016 he was named one of the world's top abstract expressionist artists, and he has exhibited in Europe, New York, Boston and Connecticut. People flock to him for his seascapes [and] landscapes, said Beaton, as well as other abstract and still life pieces. It's uncertain when or if Lyons will be able to paint again. He didn't want to acknowledge that he might not paint again, but ultimately he did and laid some groundwork for how to proceeded given that. Lyons left a good inventory of paintings, as well as directions on how to continue with the gallery, utilizing inventory that Lyons left as well as highlighting several other artists whose work is featured there. Already we've begun focusing on reproductions in a bigger way, more prints than we have in the past, Beaton said. Lyons' attitude has been really positive, Starr said, despite struggling with the grief of losing his partner of 36 years, a heartbreaking development. The artist has siblings in Ohio and a son on the Cape, and everyone's kind of working together to get this plan in place for when he gets back, she said. He can't wait to get home. Starr, an occupational therapist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, has been working to set up outpatient support for Lyons upon his return. That's complicated enough, she said, and COVID adds another layer of complexity. Support from the Go Fund Me campaign will help with expenses once Lyons is home, which Beaton is hoping will be in the next two weeks or so. Both the artist and his friend are grateful for the support from both the arts community and Chatham. The outpouring of love and support has been tremendous, for both Peter and Steve, said Starr. It shows the benefits of being part of the community. To visit Steve Lyon's Go Fund Me page, go to gofundme.com and search for Steve's Homecoming. Silver Expectations Given GameStop Price Action and the Reddit Revolution Near the end of 2020, my research team identified trends, pullbacks, and overall upward/downward trends in US major markets as well as those for Gold and Silver. It is time we revisited these early 2021 predictions in relation to what is happening in the markets currently. You can revisit our original publication entitled What To Expect in 2021 Part II Gold, Silver, and SPY. At the time we made these predictions, we were unaware of the global phenomenon, the Reddit #wallstreetbets movement, that was taking place. Our expectations are based on our advanced predictive modeling system and what it sees as the highest probability outcome for price. The recent news that this Reddit group has targeted a number of symbols (GME, AMC, BB, amongst others), as well as SILVER, may change the dynamics/liquidity of the markets very quickly. What we are witnessing is the incredible strength of the retail trader when they act in a pack-form. The retail traders of the world, using a social media platform, have found new strength as the global markets continue to struggle with COVID-19 and institutional weakness. In a way, these retail traders are focusing on an institutionally authorized exploit, like a game exploit, where short-sellers have been permitted to overrun many smaller traders and companies over the past decade or so ever since the Uptick Rule was removed. This has created an environment where excessive risks were allowed by many institutions as short sellers were able to enter short positions far in excess of the floating shares available. With extreme leverage in place, these positions were ticking time-bombs waiting to explode. And then along comes the Reddit group hungry, happy, and en mass. They identify this structural weakness, which was legally allowed to happen, and begin their autist wave of buying these heavily shorted symbols. Be sure to sign up for my FREE webinar that will teach you how to find and trade my BEST ASSET NOW strategy on your own! Gamestop became a shot across the bow for these hedge funds and has sent a liquidity ripple across the global markets. Is the financial system at risk because of excessive leverage, derivatives, and institutional manipulation? What would it take to completely disrupt these hedge funds and what are the consequences of these short-squeeze runs? Is this issue bigger than many people expect? Could it turn into a liquidity trap? These are all questions that are certainly going to be answered over the next 6+ months and no one really has a true understanding of how the deleveraging process will take place. If push comes to shove and institutional shorts are forced into excessive losses, then we may see a bigger corrective trend setup in 2021 as a result of this capital/liquidity trap that has sprung. Now, before we continue to review some of our 2021 expectations, lets review a couple of important charts SPY Must Hold Above Support The following Daily SPY chart highlights the major support channel originating from the March 2020 lows. If this channel is breached, we may begin a deeper downside trend that could align with a volatility/liquidity trap event. Losses generated by these excessive, leveraged, short positions will prompt firms to pull profits from other symbols/sectors. This wave of volatility may be just starting. Silver Targets $55 Or Higher Silver has recently been targeted by the Reddit group as one of the most heavily shorted precious metals on the planet. Currently, silver has rallied above $30 in early trading on Monday, February 1, but has come down closer to the opening (which gapped significantly). If Silver rallies above $35 and continues to trend, $50 to $55 is the next target level. After that level is reached, we move into uncharted territory (above $55) and the skys the limit for Silver and Gold. revisiting our 2021 Expectations Now, onto our 2021 Expectations and how this new dynamic of volatility and liquidity may change things. If the increased volatility and liquidity issue persists beyond February 2021, we would expect the global markets to begin to immediately reflect a transition away from excessive risks and leverage. This would take place by off-loading positions in at-risk and in-profit trades throughout the world to position portfolios in a means to mitigate 3x+ std deviation risks. This deleveraging process may prompt a huge upside move in precious metals because any global deleveraging event, if it aligns with a moderate price correction event, may push institutions to urgently address leverage issues. This urgency, in combination with the retail trader revolt, may prompt an excessive liquidity trap in certain sectors/symbols almost like a flash-rally event. Overall, we believe the global markets will settle back into our expected 2021 ranges although Gold and Silver may rally far beyond our upside 2021 expectations if the Reddit group continue to push Silver higher like they did with Gamestop. So, at this point, be prepared for massive volatility ranges and continued upside price trends in Gold and Silver while the markets address these global institutional and leverage issues. What this means for traders is that we should expect to see some really big trends through almost all of 2021. Most importantly, we will end up with more rational price trends and a potentially reduced leverage environment for many sectors and symbols. This should prompt various market sectors to initiate or resume trends as capital is put to work in sectors that have a stronger growth potential over the next few years. 2021 is going to be full of these types of trends and setups. Quite literally, hundreds of these setups and trades will be generated over the next 3 to 6 months using my BAN strategy. You can learn how to find and trade the hottest sectors yourself with no proprietary indicators or algorithms just by taking my FREE one-hour BAN tutorial. For those who believe in the power of relative strength, market cycles, and momentum but dont have the time to do the research every day then my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you. In addition to trade alerts that can be entered into at the end of the day or the following morning, subscribers also receive a 7-10 minute video every morning that walks you through the charts of all the major asset classes. For traders that want more trading than our 20-25 alerts per year, we provide our BAN Trader Pro subscribers with our BAN Hotlist of ETFs that is updated each day. Happy Trading! Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. New Delhi: Police have announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information that can lead to the arrest of actors Deep Sidhu and three others in connection with the Republic Day violence in Delhi, officials said on Wednesday. Cash reward of Rs 50,000 was also announced for Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and two others. Deep Sidhu Thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre's three farm laws. Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day. Treasure hunters armed with sledgehammers and crowbars have raided a Welsh beach where a four-year-old girl found a 215-million-year-old dinosaur footprint. Lily Wilder was hailed by scientists after discovering the print - described as the 'finest' of its type found in 10 years - on a beach at Bendricks Bay near Barry. But armed vandals have since descended on the beach to get a glimpse of her find - with environmentalists warning of 'several people' trying to remove rocks with sledgehammers. Vandals could face 20,000 fines for damaging the area - which is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Treasure hunters armed with sledgehammers and crowbars have raided a Welsh beach where four-year-old Lily Wilder (pictured pointing at the footprint with her mother Sally, father Richard and baby brother George) found a 215-million-year-old dinosaur footprint Lily, from Llandough, near Cardiff, found the 3.9inch-long footprint when out walking with her father Richard Wilder, 47, last month. The print was made by a two-footed dinosaur currently unknown to science. The creature that created it is thought to have stood about 29.5 inches tall and 8.2 feet long. Experts called it 'the finest impression of a 215-million-year-old dinosaur print found in Britain in a decade'. A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales said: 'We've been made aware of a number of reports of anti-social behaviour this weekend, following the news of a new dinosaur footprint being discovered at a beach in south Wales. 'Around 50 people attended the site near Barry - and although the majority of visitors left no trace of their visit, we've unfortunately received reports of several people trying to remove rocks with sledgehammers and crow bars leading to several areas of the site being damaged. Lily was hailed by scientists after finding the print (pictured) - described as the 'finest' of its type found in 10 years - on a beach at Bendricks Bay near Barry 'The site where the fossil was discovered is an SSSI, which contains geological features that require careful site management in order to protect and preserve them. Lily's mother Sally Wilder, 38, said she initially thought the footprint was carving made by artists. She said: 'Lily saw it when they were walking along and said, "daddy look". 'When Richard came home and showed me the photograph, I thought it looked amazing. 'Richard thought it was too good to be true. I was put in touch with experts who took it from there. 'We weren't even sure it was real. 'I was imagining an artist had gone down and scratched it out, but I knew dinosaur footprints had been found along that piece of coast before, so I just thought I'd ask some people. The ancient print is just over 3.9 inches long and was made by a two-footed dinosaur currently unknown to science, experts said 'I found this fossil identification page on Facebook and I posted it on there and people went a bit crazy. 'It's all been so exciting, discovering that it's actually what they thought it was.' It was inspected after Mr and Mrs Wilder reported the discovery to palaeontologists. Karl-James Langford, of Archaeology Cymru called it 'the finest impression of a 215-million-year-old dinosaur print found in Britain in a decade.' It was located in Bendricks Bay near Barry, Wales, and is the best dinosaur print of its age found in the UK in ten years. He added: 'It's so perfect and absolutely pristine, it's a wonderful piece. 'I would say it's internationally important and that is why the museum took it. I would say it's the best dinosaur footprint found in the UK in the past 10 years.' A spokesman from the National Museum in Cardiff said the detail in the fossil was of great value to science. 'Its spectacular preservation may help scientists establish more about the actual structure of their feet as the preservation is clear enough to show individual pads and even claw impressions.' Chaos Engulfs Congress as Pelosi Shrieks, Pro-Trump Republicans Are the Enemy Within Feb. 2 , 2021 (EIRNS)One would never mistake the U.S. Congress as a place where actual work gets done on behalf of the American people. As Democrats prepare their insane drive to impeach former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosis (D-CA) Jan. 17 charge that the enemy is within the House of Representatives, has exacerbated already sharp divisions and encouraged a vendetta against any Republican who dared to defend, or just side with Trump. Similar polarization is evident in the Senate, where the Senate Ethics Committee is now investigating Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, for the crime of having questioned the election certification during the Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 6, as the Constitution allows him to do. Pelosi now claims that House members will have to pay additional money to protect themselves in their Washington, D.C., offices and in their home states, allegedly because Trump is fanning the flames of violence and insurrection, endangering the safety of House members, while his allies in the House are also threatening fellow legislators, because they want to bring guns onto the floor of the House. Pelosi has ordered the installation of magnetometers outside the House chamber so that no one can enter with weapons. Any member who refuses to be screened will be fined. As former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard warned on Fox Newss The Ingraham Angle Jan. 29, Pelosis remarks are incredibly dangerous, given how divided and on edge the country is. If there is evidence that Members are being threatened, she said, thats serious, and law enforcement should be brought in to investigate. But if theres no evidence to substantiate Pelosis claims, she added, then this is simply inciting further division and further harm potentially, and further destroying the possibility of our country coming together. How dangerous Pelosis remarks are is seen in the hysterical attacks underway to punish or expel Republicans because they support Trump or allege that vote fraud did occur on Nov. 3. One target is Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green, an ardent and outspoken Trump supporter, who won her seat on Nov. 3 with 75% of the vote. In the past she has supported QAnon and made controversial remarks in 2018 and 2019 that she later retracted. But Democrats now want her removed from the House Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee for making incendiary remarks. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) called Taylor-Green a cancer for the Republican Party, who peddles loony lies and conspiracy theories. Yesterday, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, Ted Deutch of Florida, and Jahana Hayes of Connecticut introduced a resolution demanding Greens removal from the two committees, to reduce the future harm that she can cause in Congress, and deny her a seat at committee tables where fact-based policies will be drafted. This is a suitable punishment and a proper restraint of her influence, said Wasserman Shultz, RT reported. Last weekend, Pelosi accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of being the leader of the QAnon party for appointing Green to the two committees in the first place. Wasserman Shultz is warning that if Republicans dont act on the resolution, she will then bring it to the House floor for a vote. According to RT, House Democrats want to actually force a vote on Greenes expulsion, forcing Republicans to take a position on the matter. (Observers with memory will recall Ms. Wasserman Shultzs nasty efforts to undercut the campaigns of Sen. Sanders and Rep. Gabbard on behalf of Hillary Clintons presidential bid in 2016.) ALBANY Shanita Thomas was a mother, an aspiring nurse and a promoter of her friends businesses who wanted nothing more than to see them succeed. Thomas, 35, was shot and killed during a late-night shooting on Saturday that wounded four others. She was pregnant with her third child at the time. It was the second time a pregnant woman was shot at a party in the Capital Region in the last year; the first happened in Schenectady last July. The victim subsequently died. Thomas, who grew up in in the city, knew the impact of gun violence well. The father of her oldest son, Elijah, Jr., was Elijah Cancer. Cancer was a former gang member turned anti-violence advocate for 518 SNUG. He was shot and killed breaking up a dispute at a party on July 7, 2018. No one has ever been charged in connection with his death. Eva Bass became Thomas friend after Cancers death. Thomas and Cancer had dated for years, going back to middle school. Bass friendship with Thomas grew out of the support she gave her after Cancers death, she said. Bass recalled Thomas as a loving, bubbly personality who loved taking pictures. She was the primary provider who tried to give her kids the best life she could. There is a GoFundMe to help with Thomas funeral expenses and support her children. She made sure she took care of her children, took them on vacation, tried to give them experiences other kids didnt get to have, she said. Its tragic how her life was just taken like this. Bass said she wasnt at the party that happened shortly before Thomas death. The party was part of a grand opening for Missunderstood, a boutique shop at 251 Central Ave. that had recently moved. One of Thomas friends had opened it and Thomas was thrilled about it. She was very involved in promoting small businesses in the Capital Region, Bass said. A poster on Facebook promoting the celebration said it would run from 4 to 9 p.m., with music, food, and raffle prizes. City police and codes employees were eventually called to the building around 10 p.m. to shut it down because the event had drawn more than 75 people. Codes staff said the business also did not have the permits it needed and that there were tables set up for gambling. After police broke up the event and ticketed people, Thomas and others took the leftover food to an apartment at 211 Central Ave. Roughly 25 people were there when gunfire started around 11 p.m. Thomas and two other women were taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. Two men later showed up with gunshot wounds from the same shooting. City police said Tuesday the shooting is still under investigation. Ahead of Monday nights council meeting, Police Chief Eric Hawkins shared a few more details with council members on the shooting. From what we understand there were at least two and maybe three individuals shooting at each other in that room, he said. Right now, were trying to figure out who the players are." Hawkins said the department was getting cooperation in the investigation, but it wasn't clear yet if any of those who were shot were targeted by the gunfire, or just innocent bystanders. He blamed the shooting on an on-going dispute between, extremely violent young men in our community. Were fairly confident were going to find out who the players are and well bring those individuals to justice, he said. Thomas death is the second so far this year in the city. Uizaie Brigman, 23, was killed on Jan. 11 while sitting in a car near the corner of Hamilton and Ontario streets. He was shot 17 times. Thomas was also the second pregnant woman to be shot at a party in the Capital Region since 2020. Ieasha "Esh" Merritt was 34 and pregnant when she was shot in the head July 5 in Schenectady. Merritt, who also had a teenage son, was not the intended target of the gunman. Police said the killer opened fire during a gathering at an illegal after-hours club in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood. Merritt died after being taken off life support. Please, people of Trinidad and Tobago, I beg you to take Covid-19 very seriously. I dont want anyone of you to feel the pain I feel. The weight of that tearful plea from Indian restaurateur Gautam Khanna ripped the heartstrings from the body in one forceful pull, on a quiet Wednesday morning in Arima. NAMIE, Fukushima, Japan - Sake brewing in the disaster-hit town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, resumed Monday for the first time in 10 years since residents were forced to evacuate because of the 2011 nuclear accident. Namie brewery Suzuki Shuzoten found shelter in the city of Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture, and has been brewing sake there ever since. But it has also been preparing to once again produce sake entirely in Namie using the town's rice and water. "I want to cheer Namie people up and give something back to my hometown," the brewery's president and master brewer Daisuke Suzuki, 47, said as he ran sake rice through polishing machine. Suzuki Shuzoten was established in the Ukedo district of the port town in the late Edo period (1603-1868). Its signature brand Iwaki Kotobuki is popular as a sake to celebrate a good catch. On March 11, 2011, tsunami from the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the district. Suzuki lost his house and his 170-year-old brewery. On top of that, an evacuation order was issued as the district was affected by the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, seven kilometers south. While evacuating to Yamagata Prefecture, townspeople huddled together in a chilly gymnasium in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture. One of them told Suzuki, "Please brew your sake again one day." Suzuki couldn't say "I can't," even though he no longer had a brewery nor even the yeast that played a decisive role in the taste. The following month, however, Suzuki received a call from the prefecture's research facility saying that it had some of the yeast that had been kept for testing. "I wanted to resume brewing as soon as possible and use it as a foothold for my return," Suzuki recalled thinking. He bought a brewery that was about to close in Nagai, which is 110 kilometers from Namie, and resumed brewing eight months after the disaster. Suzuki tried to re-create the taste of the sake he made in Namie in the snowy city of Nagai, where the water and climate are different. In an effort to improve his skills, he interacted with young sake brewers in Yamagata Prefecture and introduced snow chambers for storage. When an evacuation order was lifted for some areas including the Ukedo district in 2017, Suzuki brought Namie's rice and water to Nagai and brewed a new sake brand named Landmark. Last year, Suzuki applied when Namie issued a call for a brewery operator at a Michi-no-Eki roadside rest area to be constructed under a town project. Suzuki decided to resume brewing in his hometown while also making sake in Nagai. The roadside rest area, which will open in full on March 20, will have a workshop facility where visitors can try their hand at making the town's traditional Obori Soma pottery, the history of which goes back to the Edo period. Suzuki dreams of visitors enjoying his Iwaki Kotobuki in Obori Soma sake cups along with fish caught at Ukedo fishing port for a snack. There was another reason why Suzuki decided to return to his hometown. He wants to show Namie people who remain evacuated how the town is being invigorated. Many Namie people have decided not to return because they've been away so long. "People living away from Namie will be rewarded a little by seeing their hometown being restored," Suzuki said. Investigations editor Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine. Asked when there would be enough women on the nine-seat US Supreme Court bench, the late trailblazing judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously said: When there are nine. The NSW Local Court has not quite achieved this feat, but is within a whisker of a milestone that eludes most courts - gender parity. Robyn Richardson will be sworn in as a NSW Local Court magistrate on February 15. Credit:Nick Moir On Thursday the state government will announce five new magistrates, four of whom are women. It brings the total number of women on the Local Court to 69, one magistrate shy of 50 per cent of the total of 140. Robyn Richardson, a leading criminal defence lawyer in Sydney, is among the appointees and starts on February 15. MBABANE Tisuka TakaNgwane was taken aback when it discovered that occupants of a Kings farm still resided there 15 years after they allegedly agreed to leave in 2005. This has prompted Tisuka TakaNgwane to take the occupants of the farm to the High Court to evict them and demolish their structures. They want the court to order the police to assist the deputy sheriff in evicting them and demolishing their structures. Tisuka TakaNgwane is the custodian of Farm 1 185 (Mbanana) on behalf of the Ingwenyama, held under Deed of Transfer No.7/1979. The General Manager of Tisuka TakaNgwane, Dr Nicholas Nyawo, told the court that Mfanyana Bhembe, Mbhekeni Mavuso, Thita Ngwenya, Dan Lukhele and Leya Dlamini resided on the property and used the fields without permission or consent of the custodians of the farm. Nyawo submitted that the respondents were causing a nuisance to adjacent farm owners who threatened to sue Tisuka TakaNgwane due to their conduct. acknowledged The general manager informed the court that the respondents had no legal right to stay or use the fields since as of September 16, 2004, they allegedly acknowledged and undertook to vacate the farm by July 31, 2005. Following the complaint, we were taken aback that the illegal squatters were still on the farm and we, therefore, issued notices by letters dated November 16, 2020 for them to vacate the farm. The court will note that the applicant is obliged to oversee the running of the farm and that it is maintained in its proper state without damage from intruders as it were. The respondents are, therefore, illegal squatters who have no legal basis to be on the farm, Nyawo submitted. The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Tisuka TakaNgwane is represented by Robinson Bertram. He further stated that Tisuka was entitled to an order evicting the respondents and all other persons holding title under them on the farm. He accused them of interfering with the right of the applicant, Tisuka TakaNgwane, to utilise the farm and also causing nuisance to adjacent properties in circumstances where they are in illegal occupation of the farm. According to Nyawo, the respondents could never be described as farm dwellers as they allegedly had never approached Tisuka TakaNgwane to make a request for permission to reside on the farm. He also alleged that they never entered into any farm dwellers agreement with Tisuka TakaNgwane to legitimise their stay on the farm. failed The applicant has no other alternative remedy other than to seek an interdict as it has failed to agree to anything with the respondents. The respondents are benefitting from the use of the farm in circumstance where applicant is getting no value from them, yet at the same time causing extensive damage to the farm, he added. Gertrude Mavuso, in the residents answering affidavit, said it would be fair if Tisuka TakaNgwane compensated them in the event it insisted on evicting them. She appointed out that Tisuka TakaNgwane attempted to build alternative accommodation for one of the respondents, Leya Dlamini, at Mahlanya. She alleged that the house was built from timber and the authorities felt it was unsafe. The farm occupants denied that they were residing on the farm illegally. Mavuso was the wife of the second respondent, Mbhekeni, who is deceased. Dlamini, according to Gertrude, is also deceased. She confirmed that they had been residing on the farm for a long time and she alleged that when Tisuka TakaNgwane wanted to evict them in 2004, the local authorities intervened. Gertrude said it was not necessary to refer to them as squatters. dignity The term squatters is derogatory and intended to belittle us, while undermining our dignity. We have been occupying the farm long before the applicant came to eject us, she said. She further informed the court that the commission on human rights and public administration some time ago declared moratorium on all evictions. Gertrude further denied that they were causing nuisance to anyone. She narrated to the court that when she got married to Mbhekeni in 1983, she found him staying with his family and they had built a homestead on the farm. She submitted that she resided on the farm until 2004 when they were informed that the land belonged to Tisuka TakaNgwane. She said they reported the matter to the royal kraal under Chief Mlobokazane Fakudze, who allegedly engaged Tisuka TakaNgwane and it stopped bothering us. The matter is pending in court. Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon and turned into an online shopping behemoth, is stepping down as the companys CEO, a role hes had for nearly 30 years. Hell be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazons cloud-computing business. Bezos, 57, will then become the companys executive chair. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994. Credit:AP In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he plans to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. And he said hell have more time for side projects. As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions, he said. An NHS finance worker has won a 10,000 payout after her 'bullying' manager pranked her into thinking she had to give a three-hour presentation to bosses the next day. Carol Hurley was sent into a panic, put important work aside and spent hours getting ready before being told by manager Stella Armstrong she was 'only joshing'. The 'humiliated' 63-year-old from Eastbourne, East Sussex, has now been awarded compensation after it was ruled she had been the victim of 'unacceptable' behaviour as a result of the 'purported joke'. Carol Hurley was sent into a panic, put important work aside and spent hours getting ready before being told by manager Stella Armstrong she was 'only joshing' The employment tribunal heard mother-of-two Mrs Hurley joined East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust as a deputy finance business partner in October 2016 on a 33,000 a year salary. In August the following year, during a period of 'high stress and workload', Ms Armstrong decided to prank her, the hearing was told. She emailed Mrs Hurley to remind her she had to deliver a three hour presentation to the senior management team the next day and even faked a message from another senior executive saying the same. Other colleagues were in on the joke. When Mrs Hurley didn't believe it, a female co-worker told Mrs Hurley she remembered overhearing Ms Armstrong asking her to do it. 'Initially Mrs Hurley did not believe it, then she began to doubt herself,' the panel heard. 'She found it extremely stressful. She stopped her already urgent work...and began working on the presentation. 'At 4pm she left work still believing she had to give the presentation the next day, and expecting to be working on it at home into the early hours.' It wasn't until she had left the office - more than five hours since the prank began - that Ms Armstrong came clean, texting her: 'Only joshing!!!! Have a great day.' Employment Judge Eoin Fowell said: 'There is no possible justification for doing that to a member of staff in any circumstances. But Mrs Hurley was busy, stressed... 'Like many practical jokes, it was not at all funny.' But although she was 'very unhappy about it' and she would have been entitled to resign, the panel noted Mrs Hurley tried to carry on in her job as 'people feel they must try to take practical jokes in good part'. However, in November she decided to complain about it to a senior manager. The tribunal in Croydon, south London, heard that following this meeting 'word got out' and Mrs Hurley began to be 'excluded' and 'ignored' by her colleagues, to the point where they stopped offering to make her drinks. Files were also tampered with or deleted on Mrs Hurley's computer, in what the panel described as 'a particularly disturbing form of revenge or sabotage'. In one incident the contents of her desk drawers were removed. Mrs Hurley's daughter, Adrianna, visited the office after the incident, saying she wanted to see the individuals who were making her mother upset. The workplace fell silent when the pair walked in, everyone buried their heads in their work, and no one spoke, even to ask 'Is this your daughter?', the tribunal was told. Mrs Hurley's daughter, Adrianna, visited the office after the incident, saying she wanted to see the individuals who were making her mother upset (pictured together). The workplace fell silent when the pair walked in, everyone buried their heads in their work, and no one spoke, even to ask 'Is this your daughter?' Ms Armstrong then gave Mrs Hurley what the hearing described as an 'unduly negative' appraisal, which led to Mrs Hurley lodging a complaint against her, saying she had been 'humiliated and bullied'. She also claimed to have received inadequate training. But while the NHS agreed that the prank counted as harassment it said it had not been intentional. Mrs Hurley described the working atmosphere as 'purgatory' and in September 2018 she quit. In her resignation letter - which the tribunal said was a 'measured' description of her experience - she claimed she had been the victim of bullying. She wrote: 'I feel there is an atmosphere in the office which is caused by me being there. I have tried to ignore the feeling of hostility towards me but it causes me to continually feel on edge and defensive.' Ruling that she had been unfairly dismissed, Judge Fowell said Mrs Hurley had been the victim of 'unacceptable' and 'dishonest' behaviour. Judge Fowell said: 'I see this as a connected series of events, beginning with the lack of training...the purported joke, the actions taken to undermine Mrs Hurley...with her team amending or removing her work, the unduly negative appraisal...followed by further isolation and small pranks such as deleting files. 'The attitude of colleagues appears to have followed hard on the heels of the informal complaint about Ms Armstrong.' Mrs Hurley - who now works for Sussex Police - was awarded a total of 9,890.60 in compensation by the tribunal. Following the tribunal decision, she said: 'I was basically bullied while I was there. 'With the prank, she involved everyone in the office, they were backing her up. 'I came back in the next day and everyone else kept asking me 'did you do your presentation?' I ended up in floods of tears at work. 'After I complained about the bullying it just got worse, people in the office wouldn't speak to me and wouldn't make me a drink with everyone else. 'When the complaint was investigated everybody said they didn't realise it was bullying, they just thought it was banter. '[They were] horrible, horrible people, I can't believe people could be so nasty.' More than 1m worth of drugs was seized Gardai are investigating if at least two different west Dublin gangs clubbed together to import and distribute over 1m worth of drugs which were seized this morning. The drugs were found in a number of shipping containers following a detailed search in an industrial unit in the City West area of the capital. This is the same location where officers discovered 5m worth of ecstasy and MDMA last November. Senior sources say that detectives are working on the theory that The Family gang whose stronghold is in the Ballyfermot/Clondalkin area worked with a Tallaght gang in getting the drugs which were discovered today into Ireland. One line of an enquiry is whether a Tallaght criminal aged in his late 20s who previously survived a gun assassination attempt and has served a jail term for a violent high-profile assault may have been involved in importing the drugs along with The Family gang. Over 1m worth of drugs and four imitation firearms have been recovered after armed detectives raided a storage facility in the capital. The seizure includes one of the biggest hauls of crack cocaine that has been seized in recent times. Dozens of gardai were involved in this mornings operation during which a total of 27 storage containers were searched in the City West area. Crack cocaine with an estimated value of 542,000 was seized along with 452,00 worth of cannabis herb. A further 70,000 worth of cocaine along with four imitation firearms was also seized in the raids targeting serious organised crime in southwest Dublin. Due to the nature of the operation members of the heavily armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU) were brought in to help with the searches. No arrests have yet been made in relation to the significant seizure but inquiries are ongoing with a total of 27 shipping containers being searched. The investigation is being led by detectives based in Tallaght garda station where an incident room has also been established. A Garda spokesman said: The operation was led by the District Detective Unit Tallaght assisted by District Detective Unit Rathfarnham, Drugs Unit Tallaght, Burglary Response Unit DMR South, Emergency Response Unit, the Dog Unit and other local units. No arrests were made in this phase of the investigation. An Incident Room has been established at Tallaght Garda Station and the scene is currently being preserved pending technical and forensic examination. Investigations are ongoing, the spokesman added. The bust could be just the latest blow to The Family mob who are led by convicted heroin dealer Brian Grendon (42) and who have been the subject of numerous raids by specialist garda units in recent years. Despite this, sources say that their base continues to grow and that they are typically working with other gangs in arranging the importation and distribution of drugs. Detectives have seized millions in euro in cash from The Family gang in recent months. A source said that such a large seizure of crack cocaine over 542,000 worth is unusual in Ireland but it shows that it is an increasing problem. The number of people treated for crack cocaine use increased by 44pc between 2018 and 2019, according to the report from the Health Research Board (HRB) released last July. Last week, Handelsblatt, a German business daily, dropped a bombshell story that detonated with particular force in the United Kingdom. Citing unnamed sources, the paper reported that senior German officials believed the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZenecawhich Britain is racing to pump into the arms of its oldest residentsto be only 8 percent effective among people over the age of sixty-five, and expected the European Unions medicines regulator to publicly support that assessment. British officials reacted furiouslyone accused Handelsblatt of spreading Russian-style disinformationand AstraZeneca immediately dismissed the story as completely incorrect. The next day, Germanys health ministry said in a statement that there appeared to have been a mix-up: the 8 percent figure, it said, had nothing to do with efficacy, and likely referred instead to the proportion of participants in an older age group in AstraZenecas trial. British media Twitter blew up; there was a measure of schadenfreude, and there were memes. (Thrilled to have started today in Handelsblatts legal department, one read. Now for a cup of coffee and to check Twitter!) The Handelsblatt story dropped in the middle of a broader post-Brexit vaccine row between the EU and Britain. (To oversimplify: AstraZeneca fudged a vaccine commitment to the EU due to a production issue; the EU responded by claiming contractual entitlement to AstraZeneca vaccines made in Britain; Britain disagreed; the EU threatened, explosively, to control the export of Pfizer vaccines to Britain, then backed down.) As the week wore on, more European officials publicly trashed the AstraZeneca vaccine; on Friday, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, told reporters that it appears to be quasi-ineffective on people older than 65, some say those 60 years or older. The Oxford academic who oversaw the development of the vaccine accused Macron of trying to reduce demand to ameliorate the supply issue; a British official told Politico that Macrons comment would get a crank banned from YouTube. Later on Friday, the EUs medicines regulator recommended that the vaccine be authorized for people of all ages; it pointed to a lack of adequate trial data on older people, but said that protection is expected. Germanys public health agency said that it could not recommend the vaccine for older peoplebut it, too, cited a lack of data, not Handelsblatts 8 percent figure. (Following the initial controversy, Handelsblatt stood by its story; its lead reporter, Gregor Waschinski, complained on Twitter that some of its critics likely hadnt read it, adding no hard feelings, German is no fun language to learn. A spokesperson for Handelsblatt did not reply to my requests for comment.) ICYMI: Myanmars embattled press faces a military coup Regardless of the storys accuracy, various journalists criticized Handelsblatt for its anonymous sourcing and lack of data, given the sensitivity of the subject matter. The virus is not a political story suited to the palace intrigue of political journalism, with its briefings and counter-briefings, the New Statesmans Ido Vock wrote. Muddying the waters by throwing around incendiary claims runs the risk of damaging public trust not just in the AstraZeneca vaccine but in the global vaccine effort as a whole. Debates about vaccine coverage are not limited to Europe, eitheras the story has become an urgent worldwide concern, attracting mass interest and roping in legions of reporters who dont typically write about science or medicine, experts and media-watchers have pointed to framing errors that keep recurring. As my colleague Shinhee Kang reported in November, the vaccine-development story was marked, among other trends, by sports-match style commentary and by sensationalized reactions to supposed safety incidents. Now that the story has entered a new phasemass distribution, with its attendant political and logistical messinessthose problems are still apparent, and were confronting new ones all the time. In recent weeks, some experts have criticized news organizations (and other experts) for overly negative coverage of the vaccines currently in use; they are highly effective and constitute a remarkable scientific achievement, the argument goes, and yet, as the Harvard epidemiologist Julia Marcus wrote in The Atlantic, many stories belabor their imperfectionsthe protection they offer not being immediate, the possibility that vaccinated people can still spread the virus, and so onand risk giving the misimpression that the vaccines dont offer much benefit. We are dramatically underselling the amazing vaccines, exaggerating the uncertainties and people trying to emphasize the good news are being drowned out, or worse, Zeynep Tufekci, the sociologist and frequent commentator on the pandemic, tweeted recently. Some experts and science journalists have pushed back on such assessments, arguing, among other points, that clear and prominent communication about vaccines weaknesses and uncertainties is crucial in combating anti-vax propaganda. The overall effect, from consuming coverage, is whiplash, or something like it. Ellen Ruppel Shell, a professor of science journalism at Boston University, told me yesterday that vaccine framing can be schizophrenicalarmism followed by sometimes misleading reassurance. This is true, for example, of many stories warning about vaccines possible reduced efficacy against new variants of the virus, whose scary headlines often belie more nuanced expert assessments and key questions that have yet to be answered. There are going to be many, many variants, Shell said. Im not sure how useful it is for the press to run down each one and ask the eternal question: How bad is this? Tell us right now. Another key theme in coverage of the vaccine rolloutespecially in the UShas been equity. Here, too, there are problems, though they arent exclusively the fault of journalists; as Rachana Pradhan and Fred Schulte wrote for Kaiser Health News last week, US health officials are struggling to collect critically important informationsuch as race, ethnicity and occupationof every person they jab, making it hard to know, for example, whether well-connected people are jumping in line ahead of frontline medical workers. Data that the federal government published this week omitted race and ethnicity information on nearly half of all vaccine recipients so fara crucial gap in our knowledge, since the data for the other half of recipients showed disproportionately low vaccine access among Black and Latinx people. The news about racial disparities in vaccine access is continuous, jarring, and stark, Roxanne Khamsi, a freelance science writer and editor, told me recently. Its getting coverage, but we journalists need to shift from just reporting on the trends to doing accountability journalism and pointing to the racist policies that need to be fixed. Vaccine equity, of course, also has a geographic component, both between US regions and internationally; as richer countries fight for vaccine doses (see above), poorer countries are missing out. As I wrote in December, this situation is both immoral and inimical to richer countries self-interest. It is getting a lot of coverage, but again, there could be more of it, and it could be sharper. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Its hard to generalize, obviously, but its increasingly clear that much vaccine coverage is stuck in conventional journalistic rhythms that dont serve the story well. Given that the pandemic is a once-in-a-hundred-years event, its time for journalists to step back and think about what our priorities need to be, Shell told me. We dont just take notes and put them out there. Almost every piece should have some analysis in it. In the course of this reflection, we need to reckon, too, with the idea that vaccines may not be a magic bullet. Elena Conis, a science historian and journalism professor at Berkeley, told me yesterday that her biggest concern with vaccine framing is that we have rushed to cover, talk, and think about vaccination all while failing to have much harder conversations about other things we can do to keep this epidemic in check. Below, more on vaccines: A lifeline: Last month, CNNs Kerry Flynn spoke with local reportersat the Kansas City Star, the Arizona Republic, the Biloxi Sun Herald, and elsewherewho have been inundated with questions from readers who have questions about the vaccine rollout and havent been able to get answers from official channels. Several reporters told Flynn that the engagement on their vaccine stories has been shocking and that their focus on service journalism has been good for business, though it has contributed to a drop in attention on investigations. Elsewhere, Poynter and the Washington Post both have profiles of CD Davidson-Hiers, a reporter at the Tallahassee Democrat who has become an unofficial vaccine hotline for seniors. Last month, CNNs Kerry Flynn spoke with local reportersat the Kansas City Star, the Arizona Republic, the Biloxi Sun Herald, and elsewherewho have been inundated with questions from readers who have questions about the vaccine rollout and havent been able to get answers from official channels. Several reporters told Flynn that the engagement on their vaccine stories has been shocking and that their focus on service journalism has been good for business, though it has contributed to a drop in attention on investigations. Elsewhere, Poynter and the Washington Post both have profiles of CD Davidson-Hiers, a reporter at the Tallahassee Democrat who has become an unofficial vaccine hotline for seniors. Misinformation: Yesterday, First Draft, a nonprofit that works on countering harmful misinformation, launched a new Vaccine Insights hub, a resource allowing journalists and researchers to monitor the latest trends in vaccine news and misinformation onlineincluding which communities are being targeted, and details of text and email scamsas well as data on vaccine hesitancy. First Draft is also running workshops on best practices for combatting vaccine misinformation; you can find more details on the hub here. Yesterday, First Draft, a nonprofit that works on countering harmful misinformation, launched a new Vaccine Insights hub, a resource allowing journalists and researchers to monitor the latest trends in vaccine news and misinformation onlineincluding which communities are being targeted, and details of text and email scamsas well as data on vaccine hesitancy. First Draft is also running workshops on best practices for combatting vaccine misinformation; you can find more details on the hub here. Who owns the vaccines? Last week, On the Medias Brooke Gladstone spoke with Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, about vaccine supply issues in the US and the intellectual-property framework within which they are occurring. Vaccine developers own a patent, and what that means is that no one else could produce them without getting a license, Baker said. Patents are a form of monopoly. Unless we change the policy, theres not much we could do about that. Other notable stories: ICYMI: The Courts Beat Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. STAMFORD Charter Communications, the provider of Spectrum-branded internet, cable and phone services, announced Monday a multibillion-dollar plan to expand broadband internet access to more than 1 million unserved homes and businesses across 24 states, a project that responds to the escalating demand for online connections during the coronavirus pandemic. Stamford-based Charter intends to invest approximately $5 billion in the initiative, with plans to hire more than 2,000 employees and contractors to support the broadband expansion. The total includes $1.2 billion that Charter won in an auction of the Federal Communications Commissions Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program, which will direct about $20 billion during the next 10 years to finance broadband networks in unserved rural areas. As Americans across the country increasingly rely on broadband to work, learn, access health care and stay in touch with family and loved ones, bringing broadband access to more unserved areas should be a priority for all stakeholders, Charter CEO and Chairman Tom Rutledge said in a statement. Charters new multibillion-dollar buildout initiative further highlights the importance of the sophisticated broadband networks that the U.S. cable industry has built over several decades and the industrys commitment to the local communities it serves. Charter said that in rural areas it would build out a network that would offer to all new customers 1-gigabit-per-second broadband access, with starting speeds of 200 megabits per second. Charter will expand in the following states: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Connecticut is not among the states supported by the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund allottment to Charter. The company serves 36 towns in its home state, mostly in western and northeastern parts of Connecticut. The initiative complements Charters existing buildout plans, which include company-funded funded expansions and a number of state broadband grant projects. In total, Charter serves more than 31 million customers across 41 states. Its infrastructure spans more than 750,000 miles, with the new construction covering about 200,000 miles. The surging demand for home internet access during the coronavirus crisis has sparked major growth for Charter, which added 1.9 million customers in 2020. Historically, the incremental cost of extending wires to very rural residences exceeded the net revenue available. But the pandemic has raised the importance of residential broadband from high to essential, and made customers value it over other alternatives, said David Souder, associate professor and academic director of executive programs in the University of Connecticuts business school. As a manual task, however, it will take some time to implement its not as easy as flipping a switch. Charter officials similarly acknowledged a number of factors such as pole applications, pole replacement rules and related issue resolution processes that could affect the speed of the rural buildout. In parts with sparser populations, broadband providers need to access multiple utility poles for every new home served, as opposed to the multiple homes connected to each pole in denser areas. The more cooperation we have with the pole owners and utility companies, the faster we can connect these communities with high-speed internet services, Rutledge said. We look forward to working with local municipalities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities to ensure that permits are obtained in a timely, fair and cost-effective fashion. Charter said that in the past three years it has invested more than $20 billion in infrastructure and technology, with the goal of providing new services and accommodating more customer traffic. At the same time, it said that it has extended its network to reach nearly 2.5 million new homes and businesses, about one-third of which are in rural areas. Ranking last year as the No. 70 company on the Fortune 500 list, Charter is headquartered at 400 Atlantic St., in downtown Stamford. At the end of 2020, it employed a total of more than 96,000, including about 1,300 based in Stamford. Later this year, Charter plans to start moving into a new headquarters a few blocks away, at 406 Washington Blvd., next to the downtown Metro-North Railroad station. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; Twitter: @paulschott Zelensky comments on his move to block TV channels in Ukraine The Ukrainian leader sees a fight for independence as a fight for the truth and European values. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on his move to block a number of TV channels, saying he strongly supports the freedom of speech, but not propaganda financed by the aggressor country. "Sanctions is a difficult decision. Ukraine strongly supports freedom of speech. Not propaganda financed by the aggressor country that undermines Ukraine on its way to EU & EuroAtlantic integration. Fight for independence is fight in the information war for truth & European values," he wrote on Twitter on February 3, 2021. Read also Pro-Russian Opposition Platform seeks Zelensky's impeachment over TV sanctions Sanctions against TV channels: What is known On February 2, Zelensky enacted a National Security and Defense Council decision of February 2, 2021, to impose sanctions on Member of Parliament Taras Kozak and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, such as 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. After that, the channels were immediately disconnected from broadcasting. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter In this handout photo taken from a footage provided by Moscow City Court, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny shows a heard symbol standing in the cage during a hearing to a motion from the Russian prison service to convert the suspended sentence of Navalny from the 2014 criminal conviction into a real prison term in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. A Moscow court has ordered Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to prison for more than 2 1/2 years for violating the terms of his probation while he was recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny, who is the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, had earlier denounced the proceedings as a vain attempt by the Kremlin to scare millions of Russians into submission. (Moscow City Court via AP) Burma Myanmars Medics Launch Civil Disobedience Campaign Against Coup Yangon General Hospital staff show solidarity as part of their civil disobedience movement against military coup. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy Yangon Medical staff from more than 110 government hospitals and health departments at about 50 townships across Myanmar have launched a civil disobedience movement against Mondays military coup. By Wednesday evening, staff from government hospitals and health departments in around 50 townships had joined the movement against the coup, according to Dr. Hein Wint War, a campaign member. Several hundred doctors and other medical staff are on strike against the coup and other medics are organizing a red-ribbon campaign against military rule while still working. Ribbons are pinned to staff clothing and three-finger salutes are raised to show solidarity with the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD). The gesture was used in Thailand after the May 2014 coup and comes from the Hunger Games films. Dr. Lynn Latyar, a surgeon at the 500-bed Lashio Government General Hospital in northern Shan State, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that 38 out of 40 doctors and 50 out of 70 nurses have joined the movement and are not going to hospital. We totally oppose the coup. This is violence towards our elected government. We totally condemn this violence, Dr. Lynn Latyar said. We hope our people understand. We want everyone to know we cannot serve under an unelected administration. Government doctors are planning to give free treatment to patients with medical records issued by government hospitals at private clinics, he said. Dr. Lynn Latyar said protests will continue against the military until the elected government returns. Another campaigner, Dr. Hein Wint War, called on civil servants, civil society organizations, trade unions and the public to join the movement. Nothing is impossible if we are united, Dr. Hein Wint War said. Dont forget Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who said the country depends on its citizens. The detained state counselor has called on the public to oppose the military coup. The Chair NLD Facebook page hours after she was detained posted: Resist the coup resoundingly. The civil disobedience movement is calling for the release of President U Win Myint, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other government figures. It also called for parliament to convene with its recently elected parliamentarians. Meanwhile, some staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, have joined the civil disobedience movement. Yangon residents on Tuesday and Wednesday nights banged pots and pans to protest against the coup. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Give MPs 24 Hours to Leave Naypyitaw Parties Call on Myanmar Military to Accept Election Results Mobile Internet Connectivity Restored to Western Myanmar ROCKLAND, Mass., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, the healthcare business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved TEPMETKO (tepotinib) following Priority Review for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping alterations. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. The approval is based on results from the pivotal Phase II VISION study evaluating TEPMETKO as monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC with METex14 skipping alterations. "METex14 skipping occurs in approximately 3% to 4% of NSCLC cases, and patients with this aggressive lung cancer are often elderly and face a poor clinical prognosis," said Paul K. Paik, M.D., VISION primary investigator and Clinical Director, Thoracic Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "There is a pressing need for targeted treatments that have the potential to generate durable anti-tumor activity and improve the lives of patients with this challenging disease. TEPMETKO offers an important and welcome new therapeutic option for patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring these genetic mutations." "In recent years, the treatment of lung cancer has seen powerful progress in the understanding of the genetic mutations that lead to tumor growth, resistance and progression," said Andrea Ferris, President and CEO of LUNGevity. "The availability of a new precision medicine for NSCLC with METex14 skipping alterations advances patient access to targeted treatment and underscores the importance of routine comprehensive biomarker testing for patients with this challenging cancer." Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8780451-emd-serono-tepmetko-fda-approval/ TEPMETKO is the first and only FDA approved MET inhibitor that offers once-daily oral dosing and is administered as two 225 mg tablets (450 mg). Patients with metastatic NSCLC should be selected for treatment with TEPMETKO based on the presence of MET exon 14 skipping alterations. "This approval of TEPMETKO by the FDA is an important milestone on our mission to significantly improve the treatment of cancer where MET plays a driving role," said Danny Bar-Zohar, M.D., Global Head of Development for the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Our focus now is to ensure TEPMETKO is accessible to patients in the United States and fully integrated into clinical practice given the important advance it represents for indicated patients as an oral once-a-day precision medicine." EMD Serono, the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, is committed to providing patient access and reimbursement support for eligible TEPMETKO patients through its Oncology Navigation Center (ONC) program in the US. ONC provides a spectrum of patient access and reimbursement support services intended to help US patients receive appropriate treatment access. ONC may be reached at 1-844-662-3631 (844-ONC-EMD1) between 8am-8pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, or by visiting OncNavigationCenter.com . TEPMETKO was the first oral MET inhibitor to receive a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced NSCLC harboring MET gene alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. The FDA completed its review of TEPMETKO under its Real-Time Oncology Review pilot program after previously granting the medicine Breakthrough Therapy Designation. The FDA also recently granted TEPMETKO Orphan Drug Designation (ODD). A Marketing Authorization Application for tepotinib for a similar indication was validated by the European Medicines Agency in November 2020. Applications have also been submitted in Australia, Switzerland, and Canada under the FDA's Project Orbis initiative, which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology medicines among international partners.1 VISION Study Pivotal Trial Results VISION (NCT02864992) is an ongoing pivotal Phase II, multicenter, multi-cohort, single-arm, non-randomized, open-label study investigating tepotinib as monotherapy in 152 patients with a median age of 73 years with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping alterations. Eligible patients were required to have advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring METex14 skipping alterations, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild-type and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) negative status, at least one measurable lesion as defined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 0 to 1. Patients received TEPMETKO 450 mg once daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The major efficacy outcome measure is overall response rate (ORR) according to RECIST version 1.1 as assessed by a blinded independent review committee (BIRC). An additional efficacy outcome measure was duration of response (DOR) by BIRC. Patients with symptomatic CNS metastases, clinically significant uncontrolled cardiac disease, or who received treatment with any MET or hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) inhibitor were not eligible for the study. Data from the primary analysis of the VISION study were previously published online in The New England Journal of Medicine .2 In the study, TEPMETKO demonstrated an overall response rate of 43% (95% CI, 3256) in treatment-naive patients (n=69) and 43% (95% CI, 33-55) in previously treated patients (n=83). Median duration of response (DOR) was 10.8 months (95% CI, 6.9-NE) and 11.1 months (95% CI, 9.5-18.5) among treatment-naive and previously treated patients, respectively. Duration of response of six months or more occurred among 67% of treatment-naive patients and 75% of previously treated patients, and duration of response of nine months or more occurred among 30% of treatment-naive patients and 50% of previously treated patients.3 The safety population included 255 patients with NSCLC positive for METex14 skipping alterations, who received TEPMETKO in the VISION study. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in one patient (0.4%) due to pneumonitis, one patient (0.4%) due to hepatic failure, and one patient (0.4%) due to dyspnea from fluid overload. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 45% of patients who received TEPMETKO. Serious adverse reactions occurring in >2% of patients included pleural effusion (7%), pneumonia (5%), edema (3.9%), dyspnea (3.9%), general health deterioration (3.5%), pulmonary embolism (2%), and musculoskeletal pain (2%). The most common adverse reactions (20%) in patients who received TEPMETKO were edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer With 2 million cases diagnosed annually, lung cancer (including trachea, bronchus and lung) is the most common type of cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer-related death, with 1.9 million mortality cases worldwide each year.4 In the US in 2020, there were an estimated 228,820 new cases of lung cancer and more than 135,000 deaths from lung cancer.5 Alterations of the MET signaling pathway, including MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping alterations, are estimated to occur in 3% to 4% of NSCLC cases.6 About TEPMETKO (tepotinib) TEPMETKO is an oral MET inhibitor that inhibits the oncogenic MET receptor signaling caused by MET (gene) alterations. Discovered and developed in-house at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, TEPMETKO has a highly selective mechanism of action, with the potential to improve outcomes in aggressive tumors that have a poor prognosis and harbor these specific alterations.7 Additional Clinical Investigations: Tepotinib is also being investigated in the Phase II INSIGHT 2 study in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib, and in the Phase II PERSPECTIVE study in combination with cetuximab in patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer having acquired resistance to anti-EGFR antibody targeting therapy due to MET amplification. Important Safety Information TEPMETKO can cause interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis, which can be fatal. Monitor patients for new or worsening pulmonary symptoms indicative of ILD/pneumonitis (eg, dyspnea, cough, fever). Immediately withhold TEPMETKO in patients with suspected ILD/pneumonitis and permanently discontinue if no other potential causes of ILD/pneumonitis are identified. ILD/pneumonitis occurred in 2.2% of patients treated with TEPMETKO, with one patient experiencing a Grade 3 or higher event; this event resulted in death. TEPMETKO can cause hepatotoxicity, which can be fatal. Monitor liver function tests (including ALT, AST, and total bilirubin) prior to the start of TEPMETKO, every 2 weeks during the first 3 months of treatment, then once a month or as clinically indicated, with more frequent testing in patients who develop increased transaminases or total bilirubin. Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold, dose reduce, or permanently discontinue TEPMETKO. Increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) occurred in 13% of patients treated with TEPMETKO. Grade 3 or 4 increased ALT/AST occurred in 4.2% of patients. A fatal adverse reaction of hepatic failure occurred in one patient (0.2%). The median time-to-onset of Grade 3 or higher increased ALT/AST was 30 days (range 1 to 178). TEPMETKO can cause embryo-fetal toxicity. Based on findings in animal studies and its mechanism of action, TEPMETKO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential or males with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with TEPMETKO and for one week after the final dose. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with dual strong CYP3A inhibitors and P-gp inhibitors and strong CYP3A inducers. Avoid concomitant use of TEPMETKO with certain P-gp substrates where minimal concentration changes may lead to serious or life-threatening toxicities. If concomitant use is unavoidable, reduce the P-gp substrate dosage if recommended in its approved product labeling. Fatal adverse reactions occurred in one patient (0.4%) due to pneumonitis, one patient (0.4%) due to hepatic failure, and one patient (0.4%) due to dyspnea from fluid overload. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 45% of patients who received TEPMETKO. Serious adverse reactions in >2% of patients included pleural effusion (7%), pneumonia (5%), edema (3.9%), dyspnea (3.9%), general health deterioration (3.5%), pulmonary embolism (2%), and musculoskeletal pain (2%). The most common adverse reactions (20%) in patients who received TEPMETKO were edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Clinically relevant adverse reactions in <10% of patients who received TEPMETKO included ILD/pneumonitis, rash, fever, dizziness, pruritus, and headache. Selected laboratory abnormalities (20%) from baseline in patients receiving TEPMETKO in descending order were: decreased albumin (76%), increased creatinine (55%), increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (50%), decreased lymphocytes (48%), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (44%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (35%), decreased sodium (31%), decreased hemoglobin (27%), increased potassium (25%), increased gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (24%), increased amylase (23%), and decreased leukocytes (23%). The most common Grade 3 to 4 laboratory abnormalities (2%) in descending order were: decreased lymphocytes (11%), decreased albumin (9%), decreased sodium (8%), increased GGT (5%), increased amylase (4.6%), increased ALT (4.1%), increased AST (2.5%), and decreased hemoglobin (2%). A clinically relevant laboratory abnormality in <20% of patients who received TEPMETKO was increased lipase in 18% of patients, including 3.7% Grades 3 to 4. For more information about TEPMETKO, please see full Prescribing Information, and visit www.TEPMETKO.com. References US Food and Drug Administration. Project Orbis. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/oncology-center-excellence/project-orbis . Accessed February 2021. Paik PK, Felip E, Veillon R, et al. Tepotinib in nonsmall-cell lung cancer with MET exon 14 skipping mutations. N Engl J Med 2020; 383:931-943. TEPMETKO Prescribing Information. Rockland, MA : EMD Serono Inc.; 2021. Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration. Global, regional, and national cancer cadence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017; a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. JAMA Oncol. 2019;5:17491768. American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Lung Cancer. American Cancer Society. Atlanta, Ga. 2020. Accessed at https://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html. Accessed February 2021. Reungwetwattana T, Liang Y, Zhu V, Ou SHI. The race to target MET exon 14 skipping alterations in non-small cell lung cancer: The Why, the How, the Who, the Unknown, and the Inevitable. Lung Cancer. 2017;103:2737. Bladt F, Faden B, Friese-Hamim M, et al. EMD 1214063 and EMD 1204831 constitute a new class of potent and highly selective c-Met inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res . 2013;19:2941-2951. Disclosure: Dr. Paik has provided consulting/advisory services for EMD Serono. All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the USA or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono - the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada - is engaged in the discovery, research and development of medicines for patients with difficult to treat diseases. The business is committed to transforming lives by developing and delivering meaningful solutions that help address the therapeutic and support needs of individual patients. Building on a proven legacy and deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, EMD Serono is developing potential new oncology and immuno-oncology medicines while continuing to explore potential therapeutic options for diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and MS. Today, the business has approximately 1,500 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of 16.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Your Contacts EMD Serono Inc. Media Julissa Viana +1 781 206 5795 Investor Relations +49 6151 72-3321 SOURCE EMD Serono Kenya on Tuesday recorded 153 more coronavirus, bringing the total infections registered in the country since the outbreak of the disease in March 2020 to 101,009. Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said in a statement that the new cases were from a sample size of 3,922, taking the cumulative tests in the country to 1,192,605. From the new cases, 123 of the patients are Kenyans while 30 are foreigners, with 91 being male while 62 are females. The oldest is a one-year-old child and the oldest is 80 years old. Mr Kagwe further said 54 patients recovered from the coronavirus - 35 being from the Home-Based Care Program while 19 were discharged from various hospitals - taking total recoveries to 83,990. The number of fatalities from the virus remained at 1,766 as no death was recorded in the last 24 hours. The Ministry of Health said there are 471 patients admitted in various health facilities countywide while 1,471 are under home-based care. Twenty- seven patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 12 of whom are on ventilatory support and 15 on supplemental oxygen. Another 16 patients are separately on supplementary oxygen with 12 of them in the general wards. Four patients are in the High Dependency Unit. Nairobi continues to lead with number of infections per county as 93 new infection are reported followed by Mombasa 13, Kiambu 8, Nakuru 6, Turkana 5, Kajiado 3, Kisumu 3, Taita Taveta 3, Busia 2, Nandi 2, Trans Nzoia 2, Uasin Gishu 2, Kirinyaga 2, Elgeyo Marakwet 1, Embu 1, Kilifi 1, Machakos 1, Makueni 1, Meru 1, Murang'a 1, Samburu 1 and Siaya 1. Peter Daszak, right, Thea Fischer, left, and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus, arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province, Wednesday. / AFP World Health Organization inspectors on Wednesday visited a laboratory in China's Wuhan city at the heart of a controversial theory that it could have been the source of the coronavirus. The inspection of the Wuhan virology institute, which conducts research on the world's most dangerous diseases, will be one of the most-watched stops on the team's probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sensitive mission, which China had delayed throughout the first year of the international health crisis, has a remit to explore how the virus jumped from animal to human. But questions remain over what the experts can hope to find after so much time has passed. The convoy of cars drove past security to enter a virology institute shrouded in mist Wednesday morning. WHO team member Peter Daszak told reporters that the team was "looking forward to a very productive day and to asking all the questions that we know need to be asked". He later tweeted that it had been an "extremely important meeting today with staff" and a "frank, open discussion." Most scientists think Covid-19 which first emerged in Wuhan and has gone on to kill more than two million people worldwide originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal. But there are no definitive answers so far. The WHO experts stayed inside the institute for nearly four hours, before driving away without stopping to talk to media waiting outside. Police in black uniforms and face masks lined the road to separate the crowds of reporters from the cars. According to the state-run Global Times, the team also visited the P4 lab Asia's first maximum-security lab equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) such as Ebola. There was speculation early in the pandemic that the virus could have accidentally leaked from the biosafety lab in Wuhan, although there was no evidence to back up that theory. Lab theories Then-US president Donald Trump and his supporters seized on those rumors and amplified them with conspiracy theories that China deliberately leaked the virus. The US-secretary of state Mike Pompeo insisted last year that there was "significant evidence" that the virus came from the lab, while releasing no proof and acknowledging that there was no certainty. China has faced criticism at home and abroad for playing down the initial outbreak and concealing information when it first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019. Beijing is now determined to put the focus on its recovery from the outbreak, and the WHO team toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China's recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday. On Sunday the team went to the market where one of the first reported clusters of infections emerged over a year ago, which Daszak tweeted was a "critical" stop. Other stops include the hospital which treated some of the first coronavirus cases. Daszak said in his tweet that the team met Wednesday with Shi Zhengli, one of China's leading experts on bat coronaviruses and deputy director of the Wuhan lab. Shi raised some eyebrows in a June 2020 interview with Scientific American magazine in which she said she was initially anxious over whether the virus had leaked from the facility. But subsequent checks revealed that none of the gene sequences matched the viruses held by the lab, Shi said, adding: "I had not slept a wink for days." She later said she would "bet her life that (the new coronavirus) had nothing to do with the lab", according to Chinese state media. (AFP) 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Catering to a niche population, the global demand for facial bone contouring is expected to remain rather sluggish, through 2019 risks and complications associated with surgeries, premium pricing, and lack of trained professionals being the top three market restrainers. Likely revenue generated through facial bone contouring procedures , carried out globally, is projected to reach a revenue of US $ 409.4 Mn, in 2019 , representing an annual growth of 1.9 percent, as indicated by a recently released market study by Persistence Market Research (PMR ), covering the facial bone contouring landscape. PMR offers a comprehensive analysis of the global facial bone contouring market, for a timeline of eight years, 2018-2026 . Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/25765 Classified into: Zygomatic Bone Surgery Mentoplasty and Genioplasty Rhinoplasty Maxilla and Mandible Surgery Most of the appearance enhancement surgeries are known to be carried out in USA, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Italy, followed by Thailand, Germany, and Colombia. On the other hand, surgeons associated with America Society of Plastic Surgeonssuggest substantial increase in the number of facial done contouring procedures, specially undertaken by those under the age of 30 years. Skewed international beauty standards are increasingly placing younger groups of patients under pressure to look a certain way. However, the growing celebrity culture is the most important underlying reason, driving the demand for facial bone contouring procedures, explained a senior analyst of the company. Regionally, Latin America is expected to remain the most lucrative market for facial bone contouring, followed by APAC. On the other hand, women in MEA opting for rhinoplasty surgeries is expected to be majorly responsible for the facial bone contouring market expansion, in the region. The MEA facial bone contouring market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.3 percent, highest among all regions, over the forecast period, standing at a valuation of nearly US$ 50 Mn, by 2026. PMR Identifies Critical Market Restrainers Risks and post-operative complications in the form of asymmetry, swelling, bruising, and hematoma associated with facial bone contouring procedures. Absence of favorable reimbursement policies for aesthetic surgeries in underdeveloped and developing countries could hamper the adoption of facial bone contouring, as premium pricing of such surgeries remain a key concern. Lack of certified medical professionals, also resulting in malpractices will significantly impact the facial bone contouring landscape, as per the report. Get To Know Methodology of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/25765 Key Surgeries Addressed Using Facial Bone Contouring Classified into: Zygomatic Bone Surgery Mentoplasty and Genioplasty Rhinoplasty Maxilla and Mandible Surgery The report by PMR indicates that zygomatic bone surgeries are expected to dominate the facial bone contouring landscape, in 2019, in terms of revenuewith most of such procedures conducted in Asian countries. The revenue generated through zygomatic bone surgeries is expected to reach a valuation of US $ 125.7 Mn , during the same period. However, maxilla and mandible surgery is poised to represent a relatively higher adoption, compared to zygomatic bone surgeries, thereby growing at a CAGR of 2.8 percent , through 2026. The trend is likely to be followed by rhinoplasty representing an attractiveness index of 1.23, through the forecast period. The maxilla & mandibular surgery segment is the fastest growing segment among the surgery type in APAC considering growing demand of this particular form of facial bone contouring procedure among Asian population. The Asia Pacific region is witnessing increasing popularity of V-shaped chin and 'westernized facial features', thereby, increasing the demand for facial bone contouring procedures in the region. "However, apart from facial bone contouring surgeries performed for beautification reasons, they are also carried out to correct facial bones and repair their functionalities. Application of facial bone contouring to correct any genetic facial fractures or disorders, is also a key driving factor. Access Full Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/25765 Correction of nasal structure for normal breathing and treating cleft palate defects are some common abnormalities considered under the application scope of facial bone contouring ", the analyst explained further. Opportunity Analysis : Persistence Market Research foresees immense growth potential for facial bone contouring in the coming years, considering increase in production of clinically proven products and growing number of patients rejecting 'one size for all' approach and opting for facial-bone specific enhancements with procedures with successful clinical record. Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned four times on Wednesday as the protesting opposition members demanded a separate discussion on the farm laws issue The third day of the Budget Session remained inconducive for debate or any substantial business in the Lok Sabha as Speaker Om Birla struggled to maintain order and had to repeatedly adjourn House within minutes of convening. The Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, witnessed a fiery debate on the farmers' issue after two days of deadlock and repeated adjournment. Members from Opposition parties criticised the government on its handling of the farmers protest, and what they termed an "ego" issue in negotiations with the farmers. The debate could move forward in the House of Elders after Opposition parties agreed to the government's proposal to touch upon the farmers' issue while debating on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. The only party who disagreed with this arrangement was the Aam Aadmi Party which alleged that the Congress had colluded with the Centre to sell out farmer's interests. Party MPs loudly protested in the Well and refused to leave the House despite Chairman's request, following which they were ordered to be removed from the House under a rarely used regulation in the Rajya Sabha rule book. Lok Sabha Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned five times on Wednesday as the protesting Opposition members demanded a separate discussion on the farm laws issue. As soon as the House met at 4 pm, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tried to raise the issue of farmers' agitation, saying that the matter is maligning the image of the country. "We are concerned," he said. Urging members to return to their seats, Speaker Om Birla said they should maintain the dignity of the House or else he will have to take disciplinary actions against those who violate norms. He said the Question Hour is important and it should go on. But Opposition members refused to relent, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 4.30 pm. Following the first adjournment when the house reassembled at 4:30 pm, Chowdhury demanded that there should be a separate discussion on the Presidential address and the farmers' issue. The Speaker said the members should maintain the dignity of the House and return to the seats. He said that sufficient time and opportunity would be given to them to express their views. Birla urged AAP leader Bhagwant Mann to go to his seat if he wanted a discussion and warned him of action. But the Opposition members refused to relent, forcing Birla to adjourn the proceedings again till 5 pm. When the House met the next time, Birla allowed some papers to be laid on the table of the House. But the din had started even before he had taken his seat. The shouting grew even louder as Birla tried to convince the members to allow them to conduct the Zero Hour, a dedicated time when MPs can bring to attention any issue being faced by the people of their constituency. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi told Opposition members that Rajya Sabha members have agreed to discuss farm issues during the Motion of Thanks to President, adding that Lok Sabha should look at a similar solution to the current deadlock. Opposition MPs, however, said they want a separate dedicated debate on the same. When the House reconvened at 9 pm, Minister of State Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal repeated Joshi's proposition stating that it was incumbent upon the House by tradition to pass the Motion of Thanks on President's Address. "It's yours and ours constitutional responsibility. And you had agreed to it in a closed door meeting," Meghwal told Opposition leaders. Choudhury, however, said that the situation faced by farmers were cruel and the government had to give the Parliament the right to debate the biggest issue facing the National Capital. The House was then adjourned for the day just six minutes within convening. Rajya Sabha Several Opposition parties including the Congress and the DMK on Wednesday asked the government to withdraw the three contentious farm laws without making it a prestige issue and not to treat the agitating farmers as "enemies". Participating in the discussion on the Motion on Thanks to President's Address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself should make the announcement on repeal of the laws. Modi was present in the House at the time. Declaring that disrespect to the national flag cannot be tolerated, he also condemned the violence at the Red Fort during the farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day. "I urge the government to withdraw these three bills," he said, and added that the government should set up a committee to find out the whereabouts of people "who have gone missing" during the farmers' protest. The senior Congress leader cited several examples, including one during his own party's rule in 1988, of the government giving in to the demands of farmers. Highlighting the problems which farmers would face because of the new laws, Azad said government should not see repealing of the legislations as a "prestige issue". Describing farmers as "annadata", the Congress veteran said there was no point in confronting them. Instead, the government should focus on other important issues, including on revival of the economy. DMK MP Tiruchi Siva sought assurance from the government and the prime minister on the repeal of the three contentious laws that have led to protests at border points of the National Capital and several parts of the country. He also expressed concern over the manner in which the farm bills were passed last year, but Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said that everything was done according to rule. "As per the demand of our party president MK Stalin, I would urge the government, the prime minister in his reply should assure repealing of these farm laws," Siva said. Attacking the Centre for heavy barricading of farmer protest sites in the National Capital, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav urged the government not to treat farmers as "enemies" and concede to their demand for repeal of these laws. Yadav alleged that the government has become "merciless and cruel' as it is not even been affected by the death of some farmers during the ongoing agitation. Warning that bigwigs in power have to step down when farmers revolt, the SP leader said, "People should not be power-drunk. You should talk with farmers. This is democracy. They are a larger chunk of our population. Please go and convince them... Tell that you will withdraw these laws and bring a new bill." He also demanded the government announce a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to family of those who died during the protest and a government job to their children. "Our farmers are sitting for months on protest. Many farmers have lost their lives due to cold, hunger and other reasons. But the government has become merciless and cruel. Nothing is affecting it. There is no impact," he said. On the security at the three protest sites, Yadav said, "Be it Ghazipur, Tikri or Singhu, roads are cemented with a bed of nails and concrete walls. The security at protest sites is more than (that in) our Parliament. Even at Pakistan borders, such security is not there. Are they coming to attack Delhi?" "Are they (farmers) enemies?" he asked. "Farmers not only feed the country, but those protecting our borders also come from their families. They don't come from families whom you are working for," he told the government. CPM member Elamaram Kareem said these laws were enacted "without proper consideration or taking into confidence the opposition parties". He alleged that many farmer leaders have been booked under "fake" charges after the "unfortunate" incident which took place on 26 January. "It (violence) was condemned by the organisers and the Opposition parties who are part of the peaceful protest," he said and charged the government with trying to weaken the democratic protest by perpetuating violence and using force. "Even electricity and water supplies to the protest sites have been disconnected by the government. I urge the government to yield to the demands of the farmers and withdraw the farm laws immediately," he added. The Aam Aadmi Party, meanwhile, was not happy with this turn of events as it accused both BJP and Congress of cutting a deal to go easy on government in Parliament over farmers' issues. They continued with their protests in the House after which three party MPs were marshalled out and suspended for the day. AAP MPs escorted from Rajya Sabha Three AAP MPs including Sanjay Singh were escorted out of the Rajya Sabha after they disrupted proceedings over the three contentious farm reform laws and refused to heed to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's plea for order. AAP MP @SanjayAzadSln dragged out of parliament for protesting against anti-farm laws. pic.twitter.com/OM8ipVk34T AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 3, 2021 The slogan-shouting AAP members stormed into the Well of the House just as the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of Parliament. Naidu repeatedly asked them to return to their seats and not disrupt the proceedings. But with his requests going unheeded, the Chairman invoked rules of the House to suspend them for the rest of the day and asked them to withdraw from the House. The MPs, however, did not go out of the House and continued raising slogans when the Rajya Sabha resumed functioning. Naidu again asked them to withdraw from the House and upon their refusal, he ordered marshals to escort them out. The unruly scenes started soon after the Chair announced consensus between the government and the opposition on extending the duration of the debate on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the start of the Budget session last week. An extra five hours that took the duration to 15 hours was to allow members to raise the issue of farmers' protests. As the AAP MPs stormed into the Well, Naidu warned that he would name them if they did not go back to their places. When a member is named by the Chair, he or she has to withdraw from the House for the rest of the duration of the day. But the AAP members refused to heed to his pleas. "I am compelled to use Rule 255... Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta, N D Gupta, all of these members are named as per Rule 255. Please withdraw from the House. Please go out of the House," Naidu said as they continued raising slogans. Rule 255 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is regarding 'withdrawal of member'. Under the rule, the Chairman may direct any member whose conduct is in his opinion grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Council, and any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the remainder of the day's meeting. As the AAP MPs did not withdraw, the Chairman said: "Please Marshals, help them to leave the House". As members continued to raise slogans from the lobby after they were removed from the House, Naidu said that they be cleared from there so as not to distract other MPs. Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the three laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act. The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture. Eleven rounds of formal talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions failed to break the deadlock. While unions have stuck to their main demand of repeal of the laws and legal guarantee of MSP, the government has offered some concessions including keeping these laws on hold for 1-1.5 years. Even the Supreme Court has stayed the laws for two months and set up a panel to look into the matter. With inputs from PTI 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. Story Highlights 82% satisfied, down from 90% in 2020 Decline in employment a key factor in the decline Slim majority of Americans are very satisfied; 65% were in 2020 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Eighty-two percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life, down sharply from last year's record high and the lowest since 2013. Gallup has tracked this measure since 1979, when the record low 73% were satisfied with their personal life. Most often, satisfaction has been in the 80% range, with the sub-80% measures tending to come during prolonged, challenging economic times, including in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Great Recession era. Line graph. Eighty-two percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life, down from last year's record-high 90%. The data come from Gallup's annual Mood of the Nation survey, conducted January 4-15. As the trend suggests, regardless of national circumstances, the vast majority of Americans tend to be satisfied with how things are going in their personal life, with only modest variation occurring in the past four decades. The 82% satisfied with their personal life contrasts with the 11% satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. Personal satisfaction tends to have a strong economic component to it. Americans who live in upper-income households, who are working, who view the nation's economy well, and who say they are doing better financially than they were last year are significantly more likely to be satisfied than their counterparts. Americans are less likely this year than last year to rate the U.S. economy positively and to say they are doing better financially. Employment seems to be an especially important factor in explaining the downturn in personal satisfaction this year. Among those who are working, satisfaction levels in 2021 are high and essentially unchanged from a year ago. By contrast, those who are not working -- including unemployed individuals and those who are retired, disabled, homemakers or students -- are significantly less satisfied with their personal life now than last year. The nation's unemployment rate was 6.7% in December, compared with 3.6% one year prior. Changes in Personal Satisfaction by Employment Status, 2020-2021 2020 2021 Change % % Pct. Pts. U.S. adults 90 82 -8 Employed 92 90 -2 Not employed 86 72 -14 Gallup Moreover, as might be expected given the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, significantly fewer Americans are working today than were a year ago -- 52% of those interviewed in the survey say they are working full or part time, down from 59% in last year's poll. Thus, the combination of more Americans not working this year, and greatly reduced personal satisfaction among this group, appears to be a major reason for the decline in the percentage of all Americans who are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life. Percentage Very Satisfied Near Low Point A follow-up question, asked periodically since 2001, measures how strongly satisfied or dissatisfied Americans are with their lives. Currently, 51% are very satisfied, 31% somewhat satisfied, 11% somewhat dissatisfied and 7% very dissatisfied. Last year, a record high 65% were very satisfied. There have been a few instances when the percentage very satisfied was lower than it is now, including a low of 46% in 2011. Line graph. The 51% of Americans who are very satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life is down from 65% a year ago, the high point in the trend. There have been readings lower than the current 51%, including in 2002, 2008, 2001 and 2013. Personal life satisfaction has fallen since last year among employed and non-employed Americans, but the decline has been twice as large among the latter. Fifty-nine percent of working Americans are very satisfied today, down nine percentage points from 68% a year ago. Today 42% of non-working Americans are satisfied, down 18 points from 60%. Bottom Line Americans are generally resilient, as no fewer than 73% have been satisfied with their personal life at any point in Gallup polling over the past four decades. Even amid a pandemic that has upended normalcy, more than eight in 10 are satisfied with how things are going for them, personally, though that is down from a record 90% satisfied last year. Personal satisfaction might continue to erode if the economic problem associated with the pandemic persists. Those in precarious economic situations tend to be less satisfied with their personal life, and the pandemic has put more Americans in peril. The Biden administration has made a coronavirus relief package a priority, trying to build on the aid passed by the Congress during the Trump administration last year. And while President Joe Biden hopes to pass that legislation with a bipartisan majority, his party would be able to do so without Republican help if the two parties cannot agree on a package. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download). Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. Canada on Monday reported its first case of a coronavirus variant that emerged in South Africa that is believed to be more contagious than the original. Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, said the case was found in Peel region outside Toronto and the person does not have a known history of travel or any known contact with someone who has travelled. Viruses constantly mutate but scientists are especially concerned about the emergence of three that researchers believe may spread more easily. One first reported in the United Kingdom was previously confirmed in Canada, and Ontario, the country's most populous province, has dozens of cases now. The variant first found in South Africa was detected in October. Since then, it has been found in at least 30 other countries including the U.S. The discovery comes as the pandemic-weary Ontario government is thinking of reopening schools in Canada's largest city of Toronto and its suburbs. Scientists recently reported preliminary signs that some of the recent mutations may modestly curb the effectiveness of two vaccines, although they stressed that the shots still protect against the disease. The coronavirus has killed roughly 20,000 in Canada. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Burma Myanmar Military Govt Files Cases Against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President Myanmar President U Win Myint (center left) and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (center right). / Presidents Office YANGONThe military regime sued Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under the Export and Import Law and the Natural Disaster Management Law respectively on Wednesday, two days after their detention following a coup. The duo were remanded in custody (from Feb. 1-15) by the Dekkhina District Court in Naypyitaw for further investigationa move to legalize the detentions of the two leaders, who have been in custody since Monday morning. According to the remand request letter submitted by police, the president was sued under Article 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching campaign guidelines and COVID-19 restrictions set by the countrys health ministry. According to the police statement, the 70-year-old president is accused of violating the restrictions by greeting a National League for Democracy campaign rally with his wife and daughter at the gate of his presidential residence in September.The statement claimed that the rally was attended by around 760 people. Even though the ministry set a maximum attendance of 50 people for political campaign events amid COVID-19, other political parties staged mass rallies as well. If found guilty, the president would face a maximum three-year prison sentence. Meanwhile, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in custody since 7.00 a.m. on Monday, is accused of illegal importing and using of radio transmitting and receiving equipment at her residence in Naypyitaw. The devices are widely available on the market in Myanmar. The police said nine ICOMs used by Daw Aung San Suu Kyis security team were found during a search by a team from the Commander in Chiefs Office (Army) on Monday morning. She is accused of breaching the Export and Import Law, which bans the importing of restricted items without permission. If found guilty, the 75-year-old would face three years imprisonment. It is not clear from the remand order whether the President and State Counselor are being held in jails or are under house arrest. Following the lawsuits on Wednesday, Malaysian MP Charles Santiago, chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), described the charges as ludicrous. He called the action an absurd move by the junta to try to legitimize their illegal power grab from Myanmars democratically-elected government, referring to the NLDs landslide victory in Novembers election. We have been here before. ASEAN and the international community all know where this is likely to head: back to a ruthless military dictatorship. They must respond urgently and comprehensively to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and help restore democracy, he said. You may also like these stories: NLD Demands Myanmar Military End Unlawful Raids on Its Offices Mobile Internet Connectivity Restored to Western Myanmar Monticello, IL (61856) Today Clear skies. Low 42F. NE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 42F. NE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. 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. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro will make a decision on the future of his political career next month but has ruled out running for the Senate at the next federal election. Mr Barilaro has repeatedly said he would reveal his plans for his future in the first quarter of this year, after indicating he was considering quitting state politics. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has ruled out running for the Senate at the next federal election. Credit:Rhett Wyman Nine News reported on Wednesday that party figures in the Nationals were looking at whether the NSW leader had the numbers to run for a Senate spot at the next federal election. However, Mr Barilaro told the Herald that it was nothing more than a rumour. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Turkey and its proxy forces in Syria have arrested and forcibly transferred dozens of Syrians to Turkey to face trial under the most dubious and vaguest of charges, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday. Turkish authorities and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) detained at least 63 Arab and Kurdish Syrians between October and December 2019 in Ras al-Ain, the New York-based rights group said. The detainees were then transferred to Turkey and charged under the Turkish penal code, despite their alleged crimes taking place in Syria. The charges include undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the state, membership in a terrorist organization and murder. In October, five of the 63 Syrians were sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to the report. The trials of the other defendants are ongoing and they remain in detention. Not only have these Syrians been illegally transferred to Turkey for abusive prosecutions, but in an extraordinarily cruel move, the courts have imposed the highest sentence possible in Turkey life without parole, said Michael Page, HRW's deputy Middle East director. Turkey took control of parts of northern Syria in an invasion that was sparked by President Donald Trumps sudden decision in October 2019 to pull US troops from the region. Turkey deployed the SNA to push from its southern border the US-backed Kurdish fighters considered terrorists by Ankara. Turkish authorities, as an occupying power, are required to respect peoples rights under the law of occupation in northeastern Syria, said Page. The SNA, formerly known as the Free Syrian Army, consists of both moderate Syrian rebels who formerly fought the Syrian regime and hard-line factions. During the 2019 Turkish incursion into Syria, the SNA was implicated in a series of disturbing videos documenting torture and extrajudicial killings, including the roadside execution of prominent female politician Hevrin Khalaf. The US State Department as well as human rights groups have accused the Turkey-backed group of widespread human rights abuses including kidnapping, torture and rape in the multi-ethnic Syrian city of Afrin and the surrounding areas. In September, a group of United Nations war crimes investigators accused the SNA of killing and maiming civilians with IEDs as well as pillaging and appropriating private land in Kurdish areas. The investigators said the groups transfers of Syrian nationals could constitute the war crime of unlawful deportation. Ankara has previously said it would investigate any potential human rights violations committed by the SNA. HRW said Turkish commanders who knew or should have known about crimes committed by their proxy forces can also be held criminally liable. New Delhi: Pakistan on Thursday voiced its concern over reported sale of advanced weapons to India by other countries. It also said that it would undermine strategic balance in the region. In his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, Pakistan will continue to raise its voice at the international fora which should objectively assess its actions and policies towards South Asian region. There are reports that the United States has cleared the sale of predator Guardian drones to India. Pakistan was alive towards the issue of its national security which would be safeguarded at every cost, Zakaria said. ALSO READ: Pakistan test fires short-range Nasr missile, COAS says launch puts 'cold water' on India's 'cold start' doctrine The spokesperson also rejected accusations about Haqqani networks presence in the country saying it was just rhetoric and effort to shift blame on Pakistan. The killing of a number of commanders of Haqqani network in Afghanistan clearly indicate that the group is based in Afghanistan and not operating from Pakistan, he added. He also rubbished organised presence of any terror outfit including Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Jamaat-ul Ahrar in Pakistan. Talking about US delegations visit led by Senator John McCain, he said that matters relating to Afghanistan were discussed. He repeated Pakistans support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. He alleged that New Delhi was against peace in the war-torn country. The spokesperson also said that there are reports of Indian forces using ammunition containing chemical agents and precursors in Kashmir. We call upon the international community, particularly, relevant International organizations to initiate investigations into these reports, he added. With PTI inputs. ALSO READ: Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz puts Kashmir as pre-condition for talks with India For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. JEFFERSON PARISH MAGNET SCHOOLS: The application window for Jefferson Parish magnet schools focusing on arts integration, international baccalaureate or dual language immersion is open through Friday, Feb. 19. Applications to enroll in a STEM program will be open from Feb. 15 through March 5. Applications will be accepted online and must include the following documents: students birth certificate, proof of residency in Jefferson Parish and the students 2019-20 report card if applying for grade 2 or higher. Magnet school enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. For information, visit jpschools.org/magnetschools or call the admissions office at (504) 349-7792. ST. MARY'S DOMINICAN HIGH SCHOOL: Sydney Raymond, a senior at St. Mary's Dominican High School, is one of the 4,500 candidates in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities. Annually, up to 161 U.S. Presidential Scholars are chosen from among that years senior class. About 600 semifinalists will be chosen in early April, and the Presidential Scholars will be chosen in May. Raymond is the daughter of Drs. Katherine and Sidney Raymond. CHALMETTE HIGH SCHOOL: Posse scholarships have been awarded to five seniors at Chalmette High School: Kine Buie, who will attend Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; Melanie Corral, who will attend Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington; Jedelle Lafuente, who will attend Case Western Reserve in Cleveland; Angel Lee, who will attend Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington; and Arianna Rojas who will attend Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Since 2011, the Posse Foundation has awarded $53.8 million in scholarship money to high school scholars in the greater New Orleans area. The highly competitive scholarships provide about 50 area seniors each year with four-year, full tuition, merit-based leadership scholarships. Each scholarship is valued at $200,000 and matches the recipient to one of the five Posse New Orleans partner institutions: Illinois Wesleyan University, Case Western Reserve University, Tulane University, Villanova University, and the University of Notre Dame. PARENT COMPUTER SKILLS WORKSHOP: Jefferson Parish schools is offering free, in-person computer skills workshops for parents in partnership with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana. Classes will be offered in both English and Spanish and in a socially distant setting. The workshops will cover how to use Chromebooks, smartphone integration, Google Classroom, Google Meet, creating a Gmail account and other apps to help students participating in virtual and traditional learning. Computers will be provided by the district for use during the training sessions. To encourage participation, attendees will be entered to win a Chromebook. The workshop schedule includes: Intro to Google Slides, Docs, Google Forms: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb 9 at Meisler Middle School, 3700 Cleary Ave., Metairie. Intro to Google Classroom, Clever & Google Meet: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb 4 at Terrytown Elementary School, 550 E. Forest Lawn Drive. Intro to Google Slides, Docs, Google Forms: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb 11 at Terrytown Elementary School, 550 E. Forest Lawn Drive. The computer skills workshops are free for caretakers with a child enrolled in Jefferson Parish Schools. To register, call (504) 349-7776 or visit jpschools.org/workshops. 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 FRENCH LANGUAGE EDUCATION: The Dixon Campus of the International School of Louisiana in New Orleans and St. Martins Episcopal School in Metairie are recipients of minigrants from LUnion Francaise to enrich French language instruction and stimulate student interest in French culture in the elementary grades. The ISL Dixon Campus plans to use the grant money for board games for students from kindergarten through second grade to increase conversation skills. At St. Martin's, teacher Mary Kay Beck will use the money to purchase a Bluetooth sound bar, which will give more clarity and reliability when she connects to the lyric-streaming program she uses with her students. NOCCA MUSICAL THEATER: Stogie Kenyatta, writer and performer of the solo show "The World is My Home: The Life of Paul Robeson," presented a virtual master class recently for musical theater students at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. The master class was provided by the Jefferson Performing Arts Society, which hosted performances of "The World Is My Home" on Jan. 23-24 at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center. He shared his insights on writing and creating work, on choosing roles and on how he got started in the performance business. DISCOVERY SCHOOLS APPLICATIONS: Feb. 5 at 10 a.m. is the deadline to apply to a Discovery School for the 2021-22 school year. The deadline applies for prospective students for Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy in Kenner (grades K-12) and the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy in Jefferson (grades K-6). Discovery Schools are open-enrollment public charter schools delivering a curriculum with a focus on health and sciences. To apply, go to www.discoveryapplication.com. For information, visit www.Discoveryhsf.org. To apply, go to www.discoveryapplication.com. MATH AND CODING OLYMPIAD: Registration is open for the 2021 Louisiana Elementary Math and Coding Olympiad, which will be held virtually from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 20. The competition consists of a complex mathematical and coding test that all Louisiana fifth graders can take. Awards are given to both the fifth graders who win and to their math teachers. Registration is free; to register, visit www.lemcolympiad.org/register. ART SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION: "Dreamscapes" is the theme for the 2021 Rau for Art Foundation scholarship competition, organized by M.S. Rau. High school students in the New Orleans area may submit artwork through March 5. The Top 10 finalists will be chosen by a panel of experts, and the works will go on exhibit at www.rauforart.com and in the M.S. Rau Gallery on Royal Street in the French Quarter. Lamin Cham, Officer Commanding the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Brikama Police Station, Tuesday told the Truth Commission (TRRC) that the principal witness in the criminal trial of Lang Tombong Tamba, Modou Gaye and others was tortured by State Security Agents. Mr. Cham said in normal investigations, there should not be any cause of threats but that was not happening at the NIA in those days. He said their investigations on suspects accused of committing treason were not conducive, but intimidating. He told the Commission that some of the suspects that were brought to the NIA were always tortured, saying one Pierre J. Mendy was tortured. "When I was obtaining Pierre's statement, he told me that he had an encounter with Malick Jatta," he said. The witness admitted that some of the suspects were beaten before they gave their statements. He said to allow Pierre to speak to a relative and lawyer respectively was in line with standard practice, but that was a problem. On whether the Panel was allowing suspects to speak to a lawyer before their statements were taken, Cham responded in the negative. "They were not accorded the opportunity to speak to a lawyer before their statements were taken," he expounded. Testifying further, the witness alleged that senior police officers knew that suspects should be given the opportunity to talk to their lawyers before taking statements, but that was not happening. "I saw serious lacerations on Pierre's body," he said. On the issue of the Independent Witness, Cham said he wanted to have an independent witness just to meet the standards, but he was not given the opportunity. He said after hustling for an independent witness, they eventually succeeded in getting Babou Loum and Tijan Bojang. Mr. Cham confirmed that the most notorious 'Junglers' were present during the course of their investigations and they usually wore the Black-Black clothes and put on mask. He said he was never told that the Junglers were the killer squad, but he later knew that they were the killer squad of the former president, adding that the soldiers knew the killers better. "I was supposed to take the statement of one Faring Sanyang, but blood was oozing from his head as a result of a 'Pistol hit' on his head by Malick Jatta," he said. The witness said the environment was not only threatening to the Suspects, but to the Police as well. He said there was a time they were taking statements of the suspects at the NIA and GRTS went there- at the tail end. Cham said it was Momodou Hydara who suggested GRTS to come, but they argued over it before the panel because it may have a negative image on the proceedings. He said the panelists had no choice than to accept. Cham said ultimately, Ousman Sonko, Lang Tombong Tamba and Harry Sambou have the legal responsibility to account for all the rights violations at the NIA. When they were briefed by former Director General, Harry Sambou, that Daba Marena and four others had escaped from State custody, he said the panel was wondering and asked him questions. He said Sambou later advised them that anyone who further asked questions should write to them and sign, but none of the panelists did that. According to Cham, they did not do so because they were afraid of the former president's Junglers and the directors. On the second Panel, the operation was the Freedom Newspaper saga. He said his Operation Commander called him to join Sainey Ndure at the NIA. During the course of the investigations, he said they advised the panel members that those people should not be beaten. "Mr. Abdoulie Kujabi, former Director General of the NIA, could not give statement to the Investigators because of his torture," he said. In 2009, on Lang Tombong Tamba's treason trial, the witness said the panel members were 17, namely, Louis Gomez, late Lamin Sanyang, Lt. Borra Colley, late Sukuta Jammeh, Solo Bojang, Jerreh Gomez, Yankuba Badjie, Buba Biyai, Edrisa Jobe, Sheriff Gassama, Lamin Manneh, Sainey Ndure, Lamin Cham, Assan Badjie and Botto Keita. "Mr. Ebrima Marreh who was the principal witness was tortured before he gave evidence in the case," he said. ASP Cham confirmed that Marreh was brutalized before he served as a Principal witness in Lang Tombong and co trial. On whether the investigations report stated that Ebrima Marreh was beaten before he served as a witness, Cham said the reports were usually written by the NIA. The witness notwithstanding agreed with Counsel Fall that it should have been in the report, but he said at that time no one was there to put that in the report. He said they were afraid of the government of the day then- Yahya Jammeh in particular. He added that it was false when his superiors said they were nice to suspects by giving them tea and coffee. On how he feel for having participated in a process which should have exonerated them, but landed the accused persons in jail, Cham said he felt very bad in doing that, saying it was a crime which determined the investigations. On the issue of manufacturing evidence, Counsel Faal told him that beating Marreh was a clear indication that they manufactured evidence from him because they were not happy with what he said. Cham said he felt very bad and if he could have stopped it, he would have done so. He said this was all happening at the NIA and he felt let down by his superiors. Testifying on the issue of the West African Migrants, Cham said the Ghanaians were intercepted at Barra when they received complaint from Barra that they were seeing unknown people there and as a result they were arrested by the Police in Barra. "The Police in Barra described them as illegal migrants who were going to Europe." After arresting them, they took them to the Navy that night, he said he was called to join the Navy, which he did. Cham said upon arrival, there were lot of service chiefs and they detained them in a hall and later transported all of them to Baba Jobe's residence. During this process, the witness alleged that Musa Jammeh alias Malia Mungou was there and he (Cham) was the most senior police officer on the ground. He said the NIA and the Military were in groups when the West African Migrants were apprehended. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He said these people were alleged to be mercenaries despite unarmed, saying he did not receive any information concerning weapons. Lamin Tunkara, Echen, and Eric Yaw were the three he took to the Major Crime Unit, but he said they were later discharged by the court, but Lamin was rearrested and killed. Cham said he later heard that those transported to Baba Jobe's residence were killed on allegations that they were mercenaries. On the panel on Chief Ebrima Manneh, Cham said he was called by his boss that people were coming to find out about the disappearances of Chief Manneh. However, he said he did not join the panel because he knew that the report for the delegates would just be another cover up which he did not want to be part of. Mr. Cham apologized to victims he contributed in sending to jail. Born in Sukuta in 1971, Cham attended Sukuta Primary School and joined the gendarmerie in 1992. In 1998, he was transferred to Serious Crime until 2002 when he was transferred to Farafenni in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department. He said in 2005, the Major Crime Unit was established by former IGP Ousman Sonko. The unit specialized on capital offences and Executive Directives. "We were investigating directives given to us by our superiors and crimes such as treason, rape cases and murder cases respectively," he said. 1962: The War In The Hills- Sairat Actor Akash Thosar Joins The Cast Of Abhay Deol Starrer Webseries Actor Akash Thosar, best known for starring in the acclaimed Marathi film "Sairat", has been roped in to feature in Disney+ Hotstar series "1962: The War in the Hills", the makers announced on Tuesday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Akash Thosar (@akashthosar) Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, the project is set against the backdrop of the 1962 India-China War. The series, fronted by Abhay Deol, is inspired by true events that happened in November 1962 as it narrates the untold tale of bravery and valour of how an Army of 125 Indians stood against 3,000 Chinese. Thosar will essay the role of Kishan, who is part of the battalion led by Major Suraj Singh (Deol). The 28-year-old actor, who has also starred in the Netflix anthology "Lust Stories", said the series is his dream project. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Akash Thosar (@akashthosar) "Ever since I was a child, I had a dream of joining the Indian Army and I had also tried giving my tests twice to get selected before getting into the movie industry. Not only an Army officer but I also tried to enrol myself in the police services. If I wasn't an actor, my career was definite to be joining the forces to protect our country," Thosar said in a statement here. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Akash Thosar (@akashthosar) The actor said he is "glad" to play a soldier in reel life. "Whenever I wore the uniform I felt differently as if I was actually a part of the Army and would look at myself that way," he added. "1962: The War in the Hills" will premiere on February 26. Q BioMed Inc ( ) CEO Denis Corin tells Proactive it has been awarded a contract with UroGPO, the largest group purchasing organization for urology private practice clinics in the US, to make its bone pain treatment Strontium89 available to doctors. Corin says through the partnership, UroGPO will support the establishment of Strontium89 injections as an added radionuclide therapeutic choice for patients with painful bone metastases from prostate and other urological cancers. Vials with a sticker reading "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken on Oct. 31, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters) Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Slows Virus Spread, UK Study Finds The Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can significantly reduce the transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, researchers from the University of Oxford have found. The transmission is reduced by 67 percent after the first dose of the vaccine, according to an analysis of swabs obtained from UK volunteers. In a paper currently under review at medical journal The Lancet, researchers say that a single standard dose of the vaccine is 76 percent effective at protecting from primary symptomatic COVID-19 for the first 90 days post vaccination, once the immune system has built this protection 22 days after the vaccination, with the protection showing little evidence of waning in this period. Oxford scientists also found that a booster dose given 12 weeks after the first jab increases the efficacy to 82.4 percent, with indications that leaving a longer gap between doses increases effectiveness. Really encouraging data from a new study today shows the Oxford/AZ vaccine provides significant protection against the virus. Im incredibly grateful to all our scientists, NHS staff and volunteers working on our vaccination programme. https://t.co/NZwXJ4W5pp Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 2, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the results as really encouraging. Im incredibly grateful to all our scientists, NHS staff and volunteers working on our vaccination programme, he wrote on Twitter. Health Secretary Matt Hancock also expressed gratitude to the teams at Oxford University and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, adding that vaccines are the way out of this pandemic & we are making fantastic progress vaccinating the most vulnerable. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, along with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, are already being rolled out across the UK. The vaccine developed by U.S. firm Moderna has also been approved but is not yet in use. By Tuesday, more than 9.6 million people had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 496,796 people having also had a booster shot. The #COVID19 Dashboard has been updated: https://t.co/XhspoyTG79 On Tuesday 02 February 2021, 16,840 new cases and 1,449 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the UK. A total of 9,646,715 people have now received the first dose of a #vaccine. pic.twitter.com/e7PQyMZ9nE Public Health England (@PHE_uk) February 2, 2021 The European Medicines Agency has also authorised the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union. However, health authorities in Germany and other countries have raised concerns that the firm didnt test the vaccine in enough older people to prove it works for them, and indicated they would not recommend it for people over 65. French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that his country will only administer the jab to people under the age of 65. The Associated Press contributed to this report. REHOVOT, Israel, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MyBiotics Pharma, a microbiome therapeutics company, announced today that it has received an investment from Mii Fund, a partnership with Maruho Co. Ltd., Japan's preeminent leader in dermatology. MyBiotics will use the funds to advance its microbiome therapeutics pipeline and continue to enhance its unique microbiome platform technologies. In addition, the company is initiating a development program in the field of skin microbiome, leveraging the support of the Mii Fund & Lab, and the relationship with Maruho Co. Ltd, a leading market player in the dermatology market. MyBiotics has developed breakthrough, scalable and robust culturing, fermentation, and delivery technologies for generating a highly stable and diverse bacterial community that can be used to restore microbiome equilibrium. These technologies are effective for single microbes, complex microbial consortia and whole microbiome products, and are integrated with a computational AI platform. "Together with Maruho we are excited about the potential of microbiome-based therapeutics in dermatology and skin care. With the combination of its microbiome productization and delivery platforms and AI capabilities, MyBiotics is perfectly positioned to bring a new category of solutions to unmet needs this space," said Eran Perry, Mii Fund's Managing Director. "The transaction will allow us to strengthen our technology platforms and accelerate the development of our microbiome-based pipeline towards a more significant fund raising planned later this year," stated David Daboush, co-founder and CEO of MyBiotics Pharma. "We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Mii Fund and Maruho, which dominates Japan's dermatology market. This also marks our entrance into the field of dermatology, where we will leverage our technologies to develop novel skin products." About Dermatology and the Microbiome Skin microbiome is an emerging fast-growing field within the human microbiome space, with products under development aiming at addressing a variety of conditions including sensitive skin, dermatitis, adult acne and eczema all aiming at restoring the equilibrium of the skin microbiome. The global dermatology drug market was estimated at 36.82 billion dollars in 2019 and is expected to reach 63.99 billion dollars by 2027, representing a significant opportunity for skin microbiome. About Mii Fund MII invests in dermatology related technologies across different stages seed to growth covering the pharma, biotech, medical device, digital health, and cosmetic sectors. Through the fund's partnership with Maruho, Japan's preeminent leader in dermatology, the Mii Fund aims to bring Israeli innovation in dermatology and skin care to the Japanese market, in effect giving Japan first rights to next generation skin therapies. For additional information, please visit https://www.miiscience.com. About MyBiotics MyBiotics discovers and develops microbiome-based products aimed at restoring microbiome equilibrium for the therapeutics and food markets. MyBiotics' technologies are effective for single microbes, complex microbial consortia and whole microbiome products, and are integrated with a computational AI platform which enables the design of unique microbial consortia and whole microbiome profiles. The Company's pipeline includes MBX-SD-201 and MBX-SD-202, for Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) developed for oral delivery, that may become the first alternative for fecal microbiota transplant (FMT). MBX-SD-202 is planned to enter Phase I clinical studies in 2021. Additional products in the pipeline focus on woman's health, gastro and oncology indications, as well as probiotics and prebiotic programs. For additional information, please visit www.mybiotics-pharma.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. Company contact: Tsipi Haitovsky Global Media Liaison MyBiotics Pharma Ltd. +972-52-5989-892 [email protected] SOURCE MyBiotics Pharma Ltd. Related Links https://mybiotics-pharma.com NAMIBIA missed its Covid-19 vaccine arrival date, and specialty physician Ismael Katjitae yesterday said the expected arrival of the Pfizer-produced vaccine might have been moved from the end of last month to mid March. Health minister Kalumbi Shangula announced in January that Namibia will get its first consignment of Pfizer vaccines through the Covax facility as early as the end of January or beginning of February. "Yes, we did make a statement that we are trying to get this vaccine by the end of last month but unfortunately we have not met that deadline and we are not alone. The dates set by our ministry for the end of January are unfortunately not to be. If you remember, someone from WHO mentioned that it might only be possible in the middle of March," Katjitae said. This new date coincides with the announcement by Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation's regional director for Africa, that the first 30 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will only be distributed in Africa in March this year. Shangula yesterday told The Namibian that he will soon make a public statement on the vaccines as the current Covid-19 regulations are set to expire today. Katjitae said the global competition to get the vaccines is tough because manufacturers say they do not have the capacity to meet the set deadlines. VACCINE ROLLOUT STRATEGY In the midst of the high Covid-19 death toll, the country still has no roll-out plan except that the ministry plans to vaccinate healthcare workers first followed by the vulnerable members of society. Shangula last month said the Covid-19 national vaccine task force is putting mechanisms and logistics in place to roll out the vaccine. So far, healthcare workers and those who are vulnerable to severe Covid-19 infection will receive the vaccine first. The minister said the vaccine will be given to Namibians free of charge because it is a preventive service. "The Covid-19 vaccine is prevention, so it is free of charge. We have never said we will charge people for the vaccine," he said. AFRICAN UNION VACCINE Namibia will also receive a consignment of seven million doses sponsored by telecommunications group MTN, which made a donation of U$25 million to the African Union (AU) for the procurement. AU chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa said this consignment will be made available to countries on the African continent within a matter of weeks. This additional consignment of Covid-19 vaccines will be procured for all 54 African countries through a partnership between the AU and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). COVID-19 DEATHS INCREASE In the last 31 days, Namibia has recorded 144 Covid-19 related deaths as the country has been experiencing an upward trend for a second month. This averages 36 deaths per week on average and five daily in January. Namibia recorded the highest number of deaths on 6 January when 13 people succumbed to Covid-19. The country has been recording deaths consistently last month except for three days. Meanwhile, Shangula on Sunday said there has been a gradual decrease in the number of cases. "We take note of a gradual decrease in the number of cases as indicated by the positivity ratio of 10% recorded today. Our goal is to reach a positivity ratio of 5% and less," Shangula said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Namibia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. NAMIBIA-BOTSWANA VACCINE PLAN Namibia and neighbour Botswana are considering merging their Covid-19 vaccines as well as the logistical plans to have some advantage compared to First World countries. "As you know the procurement of vaccines is scrambled and the stronger countries will be able to get whatever they want and the smaller countries have less leverage. In the interest of our countries, the more united you are, the stronger you are. Also, in terms of quantity, the suppliers will look at those with bigger orders than the smaller ones. If we put our orders together we will attract attention," Shangula explained. Both countries plan to vaccinate each other's citizens in their countries. 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. Monsoon Session: Ruckus over farm bills is to cover their own failures from past, says BJP No timeline set for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha, assembly polls: Govt India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 03: The government has not set any timeline for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the country, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In written reply to a question, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice had examined the issue of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies in consultation with various stakeholders, including the Election Commission. The committee gave certain recommendations in its 79th report, he said. Asked whether the government has set any timeline for implementation of simultaneous elections in India, the minister answered in the negative. The Law Commission under Justice B S Chauhan (retd) had a couple of years ago recommended holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies to save public money. The draft submitted to the Law Ministry had, however, cautioned that holding simultaneous elections is not possible within the existing framework of the Constitution. It had recommended amendment to the Constitution and electoral laws. The Centre has been toying with the idea for quite some time now.The government think-tank, NITI Aayog, had suggested synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and assembly polls from 2024 to ensure minimum campaign-mode disruption to governance. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 21:16 [IST] MBABANE The effects of Cyclone Eloise continue to threaten the lives of emaSwati. In the most recent event, a Toyota Quantum got stuck in the middle of a bridge while its driver was attempting to cross to the other side. The incident happened at an area known as Mhlangeni area, in Bhunya under LaMgabhi Constituency. The driver was attempting to drive through the flooded bridge at the Usuthu River. He was, however, stuck in the middle of the bridge for about an hour. Passengers The incident happened around 6am yesterday, where the driver of the public transport vehicle was driving towards Bhunya to start ferrying passengers who were going to work in the morning. According to a close source, the Quantum transports people along the Bhunya and Manzini route. As usual, the driver was going about his normal duties when he got stuck in the overflowing bridge following the heavy rainfall that the country received last night (Monday night). He was alone inside the vehicle. The Quantum got stuck in the middle of the bridge. At least there was no strong current to force the quantum off the bridge, said the source. Mhlangeni Bucopho Dumisani Mbuli confirmed the incident, stating that he was one of the first people to arrive at the scene. I am a witness to what happened at the scene. I received a call early in the morning, before 8am, informing me that we had to rescue a Quantum driver who was trapped in the middle of the bridge at the dangerous overflowing Usuthu River. We arrived at the scene with a tractor and rope so we could first save the driver. One of us stood at the shallow end of the river and threw the rope to the driver, who was already out of the Quantum. The driver was saved by the rope that we threw at him and later, a team of police officers and scuba divers joined the rescue team and dragged the Toyota Quantum out of the water, he said Mbuli warned other members of the Mhlangeni community, to avoid crossing rivers these days. The Usuthu River is still overflowing from last weeks heavy rains. It is dangerous to cross the river in these times. I plead with people to minimise their travelling, said Mbuli. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the incident at Mhlangeni, stating that some of their officers were deployed to the area to drag the Quantum out of the water. Removed According to our reports, there was only the driver inside the Quantum when the incident happened. He was safely removed together with the vehicle. We, again, warn people to be cautious when crossing rivers during these times because the rains are persisting and rivers are still overflowing, said Mnguni. In the past week, a number of emaSwati, including the countrys renowned traditional healer Eliot Black Cat Fakudze, died after being swept away by the floods. Not only did people die from the floods, but infrastructure, including roads, bridges and some homes, were destroyed. A gang of about 50 youths -- armed with poisoned arrows, machetes and knives -- on Monday evening took Maragua town hostage until dawn on Tuesday, in a show of might. In the process, the gang managed to "change" the official curfew starting time from 10pm to 8.30pm and extended its end time from 4am to 6am. The gang patrolled the streets of the town starting 9pm on Monday and, when it got wind of police patrols, moved to the nearby Rurii and bordering estates before retreating to its cells in Maica Ma Thi and Gikindu villages in the morning. According to Ichagaki MCA Charles Mwangi, the gang has instilled terror in residents "and it is high time the government moves with speed to deal with it". He said that over the past three months, the gang has killed six people, maimed tens of others and contributed to loss of business for many traders "as area security personnel remain clueless on how to reverse this dangerous trend". Mr Mwangi told the Nation that the gang's activities in the town have led to the collapse of many businesses, lowered returns for real estate, and destroyed many youthful lives due to drug addiction. "Worst affected are landlords who are now facing tenant flight in the zones that the gang has taken over, bars that have to compete with unlicensed and cheap liquor on sale in the gang's dens as well as a property market facing a slump owing to bad publicity of the town," said Mr Mwangi. Maragua town residents told the Nation that the gang comprises chang'aa and bhang traders who have taken over Mathare, Soweto and Rurii estates as their operation zones, adding that there are 12 well known retailers, eight wholesalers and 16 peddlers. "All these people and their dens are well known to us and the security officers. It is an industry that is estimated to have a daily turnover of Sh100,000 and some corrupt security officers get a bite of the pie, hence this impunity we are witnessing from the gang members," said a resident who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. According to security officers, the gang is led by John Maina, Abraham Nduba, Alex Macharia and John Gitende who are kingpins in the town's chang'aa and bhang trade. Another confidential source claimed that the gang is managed by a former area administrator in conjunction with another assistant chief who was fraudulently recruited as "the network seeks to consolidate gains in the luxurious illicit brews, narcotics and land fraud cartels in the area." Last week, Maina is said to have confronted Rurago Assistant Chief James Thuo Gachanja at the Maragua open-air market and threatened to discipline him if he ever dared patrol the gang's bases in the town. "I will discipline you if I ever find you in my territory. You stick to where your services are needed and leave my base to me to manage. My customers and my boys do not require your services," he said, to the shock of the traders who were later overheard wondering who between the two is the genuine government. Area Deputy County Commissioner Mawira Mungania said the gang usually riots in the town once officers raid its distilleries in Maica Ma Thi, Gikindu, Rurii, Gititu and Mborokero villages. "The gang is believed to be reacting to an intensive chang'aa raid. Hata wabebe mapanga hatutawachana nao (even if they carry pangas we will not relent)," Mr Mungania told the Nation. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. This came as Maragua Assistant County Commissioner Joshua Okello lamented that "we work hard and arrest some of these characters but the Judiciary hands them very lenient terms to a point where, almost immediately, we find ourselves back to square one". County Commissioner Mohammed Barre said "some very serious investigations are under way to identify the real problem in containing this gang and its activities". Mr Barre urged the public to share information about the gang in real time, their specific operation bases, their identities and time of operation. It is interesting to note that this problem keeps on recurring. The problem must be in our response and action and that is the area we are going to audit to establish the missing links. We cannot have two governments in that area ... one must remain supreme and it is obvious that this gang is the one to give way, no question about that," he said. CAMFED Ghana, as part of its support for entrepreneurs, recently provided 60 young women entrepreneurs with start-up kits, specialist equipment, and training, to enable them to launch or grow their businesses in 2021. As global events continue to impact economies in Africa and around the world, business ventures provide a means for school graduates to support themselves, their families, and communities by creating jobs and prosperity. "Working with our partners, CAMFED is focused on unlocking resources and creating an enabling environment, so that young women are on a steady footing to meet the personal and economic challenges that lie ahead." - Sally Ofori-Yeboah, National Director, CAMFED Ghana. The presentation event and exhibition took place in Accra. The initiative is part of Young Africa Works, the Mastercard Foundation's strategy to enable 30 million young Africans to secure dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. Since CAMFED Ghana started work to boost its ambitions in October 2019, 2,000 young women have been supported under the business start-up scheme, and a further 1,080 young women have been supported with business growth. CAMFED's program titled "Women leading for jobs and prosperity in Ghana" comprises of six components to be implemented over a three-year period. The components of CAMFED's program are: Learner Guide program and bursaries; Transition program; TVET program; Business start-up program; Business growth program; and Co-operatives/rural sales networks. Following the latest call for proposals, CAMFED assessed the business needs of the entrepreneurs and awarded kits and equipment to the successful applicants based on their individual requirements. The items distributed included display fridges, ovens, milling machines, juicers, hairdryers, and textile and embroidery machines. The young women have also been provided with training in business management, packaging and branding, business registration, and bookkeeping. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Women Ghana Sustainable Development By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The event was attended by CAMFED partners, entrepreneurs, training providers, mentors and the media. Aside the presentation of the start-up kits and equipment, there was an exhibition by entrepreneurs, photoshoot and media interviews as part of the event. CAMFED has seen the immense return on investment of supporting young women to transition from school into secure livelihoods, as they provide employment and mentorship for others, and use their resources to send more girls to school. Although many business owners have been facing additional hardship due to the pandemic, those specialising in preserving food, sewing masks, and manufacturing soap, for example, have been able to supply essential items at affordable prices to local community members, as well as donate to those most in need, in a collective effort to weather the storm. 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 Tuesdays morning, president of the National Association of Magistrates, Mauricio Olave, condemned the lynching of a teenager in the commune of Estacion Central, who was detained by a group of people after participating in the theft of a vehicle. While having a conversation with ADN Radio, the judge was emphatic in pointing out that Trying to disguise a lynching with citizen arrest makes us very concerned. Its about a persons dignity, who has indeed committed crimes, but thats what courts are for. To this, he also added to the specific case of the teenager in Estacion Central: We are talking about a minor, and we have to be very careful with the way in which society tries to take justice into its own hands. The magistrate also pointed out that although every person is authorized to stop someone whos committing a crime, and its good to detain and control people who have committed a crime, but then they must be brought to justice. Anything else besides that, its a crime. *Traduccion de Karina Sepulveda ALBANY, N.Y., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EcoChain, Inc. ("EcoChain" or the "Company"), headquartered in Albany, New York, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mechanical Technology, Incorporated, a publicly traded company (OTCQB: MKTY) shares answers to common investor questions. As part of the Company's ongoing efforts to keep investors informed during this dynamic time for the Company, MKTY issued the following shareholder update: On December 23, 2020, the Company wrote to its shareholders to provide a yearend update and a blueprint for its 2021 objectives. During the past several weeks since that letter, we've received numerous questions from our shareholder base. To assure adequate communication with our shareholders, we are releasing this update in a framework to easily address several of the inquiries we have received: Crypto Coin Markets 1) Will EcoChain hold the Bitcoin or Alt coin it mines on its balance sheet? Will EcoChain use any of its cash to buy BTC or other Alt coins? Currently, EcoChain's business plan does not contemplate direct ownership of BTC or ALT coins mined, nor does it intend to use its capital to purchase BTC or ALT coins. EcoChain has announced that it bought land to build out a 25MW ultra-low cost green data center. Although the Company has not yet announced the power cost, its current estimates lead it to believe that the ultimate power cost will be significantly below that of several well-known public companies that also compete in this space. If the Company's estimates are correct, the ultra-low cost will enable EcoChain to optimize its capital deployment since it could easily buy lightly used current generation processors, monetize second and third generation processors and avoid paying a premium and waiting for the latest generation miners. EcoChain expects to have a mix of equipment and supply arrangements that will seek to optimize its return on invested capital. Ultra-low cost power gives EcoChain that possibility. 2) Is the Company concerned about Crypto coin prices and that they may collapse? Crypto prices are volatile. The Company continues to monitor the movement of crypto valuations and its potential impact on its business plan. To that end, EcoChain's plan is to construct ultra-low cost data centers such that they would have been profitable even through the last crypto winter and ideally be poised to weather future periods of volatility and potential significant declines. Furthermore, the Company believes that mining profitability and return on invested capital depends on more than Crypto prices --network difficulty and the cost of equipment are also key variables. That is why rising, static or declining crypto prices don't always directly impact profitability in a straight line Additionally, as noted above, because the Company does not contemplate holding crypto on its balance sheet, we believe our business plan is better suited to deliver more stable returns and hence share prices; however, there are no guarantees that our expectations will be successful. The MKTY Organization, Including Soluna and EcoChain 1) Please describe the relationship with Soluna and how related expenses are billed and passed through the income statement? Soluna is a key technology provider to EcoChain. Brookstone Partners, which owns 39% of MKTY, controls about 62% of Soluna. Any and all agreements between the Company and Soluna are negotiated by independent directors of the Company, directly with the CEO of Soluna and represent arms-length practices. This is more fully described in our public filings. Soluna is paid a per MW annual management fee, a percent of the profits once EcoChain has its capital returned with a pre-specified rate of return, and an initial transaction/set up fee. Soluna does not provide the personnel at the data center that service the physical machines. Soluna directs those personnel. Currently those resources on the ground are retained by EcoChain on a contract basis, but as the Company scales up it will periodically reassess this arrangement. 2) What is the CEO's current compensation arrangement? Michael Toporek is an employee at will. His total cash compensation is $170,000. He is also a Director, and as other directors do, he receives the same compensation in shares and options. Brookstone Partners, an investment firm he helps to manage, controls about 39% of the Company which currently provides sufficient alignment of incentives. Any changes to Mr. Toporek's compensation or our company's relationship with Brookstone or an affiliate of Brookstone, will be prominently reflected in our filings with the SEC. 3) Will EcoChain ever need its own employees, or will all activities always be handled by Soluna? EcoChain continuously assesses its resources and the economics of outsourcing or insourcing. As such, current contract relationships may change with certain activities brought in-house as the Company continues to scale and the economics of insourcing become more cost effective. The goal is to retain the best talent economically. 4) How many Soluna employees are actively working on EcoChain activities? Soluna has four people that are actively working on matters for EcoChain in addition to certain engineers and consultants which are regularly retained. About EcoChain, Inc. EcoChain is engaged in developing and operating ultra low-cost green data centers focused on crypto currency mining. For more information about EcoChain, please visit https://ecochainmining.com/. Forward-Looking Statements for Mechanical Technology, Incorporated: This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this communication, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements herein with respect to the successful execution of the Company's business strategy. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; the availability of financing; the Company's ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; the Company's ability to enter into agreements with any necessary partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of the Company's technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please visit https://www.mechtech.com under News & Events. Contact Information: Lisa Brennan 518-218-2592 [email protected] Kirin Smith, President PCG Advisory, Inc. 646.823.8656 [email protected] SOURCE Mechanical Technology, Incorporated Related Links https://www.mechtech.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 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. Workforce Biden clears out Trump's FSIP appointees President Joe Biden has pushed out Trump nominees on a federal board charged with resolving disputes in union negotiations with agencies. Biden requested that the 10 members of the Federal Services Impasses Panel resign yesterday. Those who did not resign were fired at the end of the day, FCW confirmed. The news was first reported by Government Executive. The panel, part of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, has been the subject of lawsuits brought by unions alleging that the appointments of its board members were unconstitutional because they weren't Senate-confirmed. "FSIP panel members are presidential appointees and the White House is well within its right to dismiss the previous administration's appointees," said Tony Reardon, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, in a statement. "The FSIP is supposed to be comprised of members who are qualified, experienced, fair and neutral. The Trump-appointed panel was none of those things, and its record of nearly always siding with agency management, notwithstanding the record before it, proved its bias." The American Federation of Government Employees also cheered the news. "We look forward to President Bidens future picks issuing just decisions, unencumbered by political interference," AFGE president Everett Kelley said in a statement. New Delhi: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a toolkit document for the ongoing farmers protest against new agri laws. The document shared on her Twitter handle exposed a sinister conspiracy to defame India on the international stage. The climate activist later deleted the tweet from her Twitter handle. READ | DNA Exclusive: Greta Thunberg exposed; Zee News unmasks her motive to target India's democracy over farmers protests This document gives a detailed plan of accelerating the farmers' stir taking place on the outskirts of Delhi. Here is the full document that Greta Thunberg had tweeted: Lucknow, Feb 3 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has sent a proposal to the Centre to build Eklavya Model Residential Schools in Lucknow, Sonbhadra, Bijnor and Shravasti districts in the state. Eklavya schools are currently running in Bahraich and Lakhimpur in the state as well as one is under construction in Lalitpur. The state government has been continuously working to provide better education facilities to the underprivileged children belonging to tribal and remote regions. The state government has already allocated a sum of Rs 48 crore to build an Eklavya School in the Sonbhadra district. In addition to this, it has also sent a proposal to establish three more Eklavya schools in the state with an estimated cost of about 38 crore to provide high quality education to the students of tribal origin. In order to provide quality education in deprived regions, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced to build 750 Eklavya Model Residential Schools while presenting the union budget on Monday. Presently, there are 462 Eklavya Schools across the country. The idea of Eklavya Schools was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to Gujarat's Ekal Vidyalaya Sangathan. 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! Amavubi striker Jacques Tuyisenge will be sidelined for six weeks after suffering an injury during the quarterfinal tie against Guinea on Sunday, January 31, which Rwanda lost 1-0. The 28-year-old forward underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday, February 1st which confirmed the exact nature of the injury. Patrick Rutamu, the national team Doctor said the team captain had suffered a Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain 2nd degree and that from the MRI scan, the player would be out for 4 to 6weeks. "The procedure was a success and he will now undergo a period of rehabilitation. It is envisaged that he will return to the squad within four to six weeks," Rutamu said. Meanwhile, Dr. Rutamu said that Rashid Kalisa suffered muscle endurance but should be fine to play for his club should the league return. Rutamu also added that Thierry Manzi had a minor contusion while Bertrand Iradukunda suffered a minor knee injury but will be fine within days. The national team is expected to return on Wednesday, February 3rd. Two members of a Romanian organised crime gang who made dozens of fake credit cards and used them in Dublin shops in the wake of a deep skim of UK bank customers' details have been jailed. Daniel Almajanu (35) made fake cards using a card reader/writer machine while Albert Gimy Linul (29) visited various shops buying things with the fake cards, including cartons of cigarettes which were then sold on. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that during an extensive skimming operation in the UK a Romanian criminal gang based there used a deep insert skimmer to collect details of customers of the HSBC bank outlets. Both Almajanu and Linul were considered to be members of that organised crime group, the court heard. The court heard that Almajanu made fake cards using this information and then gave the fake cards to Linul. Linul of Prussia Street, Dublin used the cards to buy cartons of cigarettes on a number of occasions in several newsagents in Dublin and these cartons were sold on for profit. Garda Ciaran Ronan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau told the court that Linul stole a total of 1,185 from the UK bank. Passing sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Melanie Greally said evidence was given that these offences represent an offshoot of an organised and sophisticated international fraud. Judge Greally said it was accepted that Linul was operating at a relatively low level. She said Almanjanu was responsible for recruiting his co-accused and played a pivotal organisational role. She sentenced Linul to three years imprisonment and sentenced Almajanu to four years and four months imprisonment. She backdated both terms of imprisonment to the dates the men went into custody. Linul pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing a total of 60 fraudulent bank cards at various locations in Dublin between February 13 and February 14 this year. He also pleaded guilty to eight counts of using a fake HSBC bank card at a number of Dublin shops, ten counts of theft and two counts of attempted theft from HSBC on dates between November 1, 2019 and February 4, 2020. Almajanu, of North Circular Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of having custody of 53 fake bank cards and one count of making 65 fake bank cards at various locations in Dublin between January 1 and February 13 this year. He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a laptop specifically designed to make false cards. Both men were arrested when gardai noticed them acting suspiciously in Temple Bar in February this year. A number of fake cards were found on them and in Almajanu's car. Gardai found more cards in the Prussia Street flat, along with a Lenovo laptop and a card reader/writer machine used for making fake cards. A number of cartons of cigarettes were also discovered. Linul has two previous convictions in Ireland for dangerous driving and handling stolen property and 22 previous convictions abroad - including his native Romania - for theft, fraud and drug offences. Almajanu, who is also originally from Romania, has no previous convictions here, but four convictions in Romania and the UK for similar fraud offences. Olan Callanan BL, defending Linul, said his client was well educated and attended college before he dropped out and worked in construction and car washes. He moved to the UK to work in construction and got involved in low level criminality over there, the court heard. He was deported from the UK and moved to Ireland shortly afterwards, where he got involved in this operation. He has been in custody since last February, is doing well there and is the unofficial barber on his prison floor landing, Mr Callanan said. Aidan McCarthy BL, defending Almajanu, said his client knows what he did was wrong and is remorseful for his actions. He has also been in custody since his arrest. An A400M military transport plane carrying doctors, nurses, and hygiene experts as well as mobile and stationary ventilators takes off to COVID-19 stricken Portugal, in Wunstorf, Germany, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters) A Symbol of Hope: German Military Aid Arrives in Portugal LISBONA German military plane carrying over 20 doctors and nurses together with ventilators and hospital beds arrived on Wednesday in coronavirus-stricken Portugal, where a severe rise in cases has prompted several European nations to offer help. The German team will manage a new unit of eight ICU beds in a private hospital in Lisbon, Hospital da Luz, which was equipped but lacked the staff to operate, Health Minister Marta Temido said at the military base where the plane landed. Eight beds may not sound like much, but it is a lot for a health system under significant pressure, Temido said. The help Germany extended is of great use for a health system facing the challenges we arehighly specialized health professionals. Staff members enter aboard an A400M military transport plane to COVID-19 stricken Portugal in Wunstorf, Germany, on Feb. 3, 2021. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters) The medical team, consisting of eight doctors and 18 nurses, left the military base in northern Lisbon by bus shortly after arrival. The cargo, which includes 150 hospital beds and 50 ventilators, was unloaded after their departure. This is a vivid sign of European solidarity and a symbol of hope, German ambassador Martin Ney told reporters at the military base. Austria has offered to take in 10 to 15 COVID-19 intensive care patients who would be distributed in various hospitals across the country, its ambassador in Portugal, Robert Zischg, told Reuters. The two countries health and defense ministries were in regular contact and it was up to Portugal to decide whether it would accept the offer, he said. Portugals Defense Minister Joao Cravinho speaks during a news conference after German doctors and medical equipment arrived at Figo Maduro military airport in Lisbon on Feb. 3, 2021. (Pedro Nunes/Reuters) Hospitals across Portugal, a nation of about 10 million people, appear on the verge of collapse, with ambulances sometimes waiting in line for hours because of a lack of beds, while some health units are struggling to find enough refrigerated space to preserve the bodies of the deceased. Although daily infections and deaths from COVID-19 in the country on Tuesday retreated further from last weeks records and fewer patients were in intensive care, doctors and nurses are still over-stretched. The island of Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal which took in three COVID-19 intensive care patients last Friday, will also take in another three, its regional government told news agency Lusa. Portugal, which has so far reported a total of 13,017 COVID-19 deaths and 731,861 cases, reported close to half of all its COVID-19 deaths last month as cases accelerated. By Catarina Demony and Michael Nienaber 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 Calls for a civil disobedience campaign in Myanmar gathered pace Wednesday as the United States formally declared the military's takeover a coup and vowed further penalties for the generals behind the putsch. Myanmar plunged back into direct military rule on Monday when soldiers detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders in a series of dawn raids, ending the country's brief experiment with democracy. Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since, won a huge landslide with her National League for Democracy (NLD) last November but the military -- whose favoured parties received a drubbing -- declared the polls fraudulent. With soldiers and armoured cars back on the streets of major cities, the takeover has not been met by any large street protests. But signs of public anger and plans to resist have begun to flicker. Doctors and medical staff at multiple hospitals across the country announced Wednesday they were donning red ribbons and walking away from all non-emergency work to protest against the coup. "Our main goal is to accept only the government we elected," Aung San Min, head of a 100-bed hospital in Gangaw district, told AFP. Some medical teams posted pictures on social media wearing red ribbons -- NLD's colours -- and raising a three-finger salute, a protest gesture used by democracy activists in neighbouring Thailand, while some have chosen to bypass work altogether. "My protest starts today by not going to the hospital... I have no desire to work under the military dictatorship," said Nor Nor Wint Wah, a doctor in Mandalay. Activists were announcing their campaigns on a Facebook group called "Civil Disobedience Movement" which by Wednesday afternoon had more than 150,000 followers within 24 hours of its launch. The clatter of pots and pans -- and the honking of car horns -- also rang out across Yangon on Tuesday evening after calls for protest went out on social media. Military's deadly legacy Army chief Min Aung Hlaing appointed himself head of a new cabinet stacked with former and current generals, justifying his coup on Tuesday as the "inevitable" result of civilian leaders' failure to heed the army's fraud warnings. The military declared a one-year state of emergency and said it would hold new elections once their allegations of voter irregularities were addressed and investigated. The move stunned Myanmar, a country left impoverished by decades of junta misrule before it began taking steps towards a more democratic and civilian-led government 10 years ago. But protesting is fraught with risk. During junta rule, dissent was quashed with thousands of activists -- including Suu Kyi -- detained for years on end. Censorship was pervasive and the military frequently deployed lethal force during periods of political turmoil, most notably during huge protests in 1988 and 2007. The new government has already issued a warning telling people not to say or post anything that might "encourage riots or an unstable situation". On Wednesday, the NLD announced the military had committed "unlawful acts" in the coup's aftermath, raiding their party offices across the country and seizing documents and computers. International censure The army's actions have been met with a growing chorus of international condemnation although the options are limited for those nations hoping Myanmar's generals might reverse course. On Tuesday the State Department formally designated the takeover as a coup, meaning the United States cannot assist the Myanmar government. Any impact will be mainly symbolic, as almost all assistance goes to non-government entities and Myanmar's military was already under US sanctions over its brutal campaign against the Rohingya minority. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Union and several other nations have also spoken out. The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it was "deeply concerned about the impact of events on the economy and on the people of Myanmar." Last month the IMF sent $350 million in emergency aid to Myanmar to help battle the coronavirus pandemic. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday but failed to agree on a statement condemning the coup. To be adopted, it requires the support of China, which wields veto power as a permanent Security Council member and is Myanmar's main supporter at the UN. "China and Russia have asked for more time", said a diplomat requesting anonymity at the end of the meeting, which lasted just over two hours. Both countries repeatedly shielded Myanmar from censure at the UN over the military's crackdown on the Rohingya, a campaign that UN investigators said amounted to genocide. On Wednesday, foreign ministers of the G7 group of the world's wealthiest nations echoed the worries over Suu Kyi and President Win Myint's detention. They called in a joint statement for the military to "restore power to the democratically-elected government and release all those unjustly detained". The coup is the first major foreign policy test for US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to stand up for wobbly democracies and defend human rights. In a forceful statement on Monday he said the US would consider imposing fresh sanctions on Myanmar. But Washington is also wary of pushing Myanmar further into China's orbit. "China is only too happy to step in with material and political support for the Burmese military as part of its ongoing effort to maximize its influence in Southeast Asia," said Daniel Russel, from the Asia Society Policy Institute. Short link: Geneva, Feb 3 : The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday slammed critics of its origin-tracing work on the novel coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and voiced support for the team. Many critics claimed that they "won't accept the report when it comes out," or that there is "other intelligence available that may show different findings" on how the outbreak started, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, told a press conference from the UN agency's headquarters in Geneva. "If you have the answers... please let us know," the Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. It is not responsible "to say you won't accept a report before it's even written" and "you have intelligence that has not been provided," said Ryan, adding that the team in the field deserved international support. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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 state has fined a Springfield restaurant more than $9,000 for violating restrictions meant to protect people from the coronavirus. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday announced it had fined the Along Came Trudy cafe and events center $9,215 for two violations. Its the fourth Lane County business to be fined by OSHA as of Dec. 11. An attorney representing owner Trudy Logan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Along Came Trudy opened for indoor dining in early December despite state prohibitions, sparking multiple complaints to OSHA. The state agency opened an investigation on Dec. 21, but did multiple visual spot checks beforehand and confirmed the restaurant was open for indoor dining, according to a news release. Investigators gathered information through news stories, social media posts and a phone interview with Logan and found she knew of the prohibition on indoor dining in counties with an extreme risk rating, but willingly chose to continue, the release adds. Logan also told inspectors she asks customers to wear face coverings, but does not enforce the requirement if they refuse to do so. There were attempts to thwart the process, according to the release, including armed people who stood outside the business and threatened regulatory agencies and staff. Following the investigation, Oregon OSHA cited the business for two violations: Purposefully disregarding capacity limits imposed by the Oregon Health Authority for establishments in a county designated as extreme risk. This is a willful violation and carries a proposed fine of $8,900. Failing to ensure all customers older than 5 years old and not eating or drinking wore a face covering or other source-control device inside the establishment. This is a serious violation and carries a proposed fine of $315. Michael Wood, administrator for the state agency, said it is OSHAs expectation that employers comply with public health measures that we know are effective at decreasing the risks to workers and reducing the spread of this disease. He added OSHA has been able to resolve most other complaints and concerns about coronavirus regulations constructively and without formal enforcement visits. However, as this case demonstrates, we will continue to carry out enforcement actions where appropriate and particularly where employers knowingly disregard standards, Wood said in a statement. The state had cited three other businesses in Lane County as of Dec. 11th: Cabelas in Springfield: Fined $2,400 in June for failing to provide health hazard controls such as social distancing. I&N Inc., doing businesses as Towne Pump in Veneta: Fined $600 in August for failing to use health hazard controls such as social distancing and face coverings. Lowes on West 11th Avenue in Eugene: Fined $700 in November for failing to make sure customers wore face coverings. Logan has 30 days to appeal the citation. Philippine police said Wednesday they had arrested a U.S. citizen and three Filipino women on suspicion of operating a cybersex ring in Angeles, a city north of Manila. Those arrested were Easton Scot Sanderson, 33, an American, and Filipinas Reinalyn Robles, 22, Jann Arielle Mondejar, 23, and Shirley Martinez, 22, national police chief Gen. Debold Sinas said. Two victims, whose identities were withheld, were also rescued during a raid at a condominium, the police said in a report. The [Philippine National Police] is going after traffickers who prey on women for sexual exploitation. We urge the public to report to us similar illegal activities for immediate police intervention, Sinas said. The American and his alleged accomplices were charged with violating laws on human trafficking as well as cybercrime, in a climate where online exploitation has become more pervasive because of coronavirus lockdowns. If convicted, the four suspects face a maximum sentence of six years in prison for each count. Philippine authorities were already in touch with the Manila-based agents with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to trace the websites on which the group had uploaded criminal material, police said. The governments imposition of stricter regulations to curb an alarming spike in online sexual exploitation amid the pandemic is warranted, said Richard Dy, a spokesman for the Child Rights Network, the largest alliance of agencies pushing for childrens rights legislation. There is, however, a need to overhaul existing laws that deal with Internet service providers as well as offenders who watch criminal and exploitative material thousands of miles away, Dy said. The anti-trafficking law, which does not specifically deal with those who watch child sexual abuse materials online, needs to be amended, Dy said. Child rights violations Cases of online sexual exploitation of children have been rising in the Philippines during the past four years, especially since 2020 as the pandemic forced many children to stay at home, advocates say. The Child Rights Network earlier this week called on President Rodrigo Duterte to rethink his administrations decision to keep children aged 14 years and younger at home as the entire country faces a new and more infectious strain of COVID-19. While we acknowledge that the administration has the safety and welfare of Filipino children in mind, we believe that keeping children confined to their homes does as much or more harm than good, as this situation, which has prevailed for almost a year, is detrimental to their physical and mental health, Dy said. He said that not all homes were safe and this may lead to a whole new spate of childrens rights violations. While the hard lockdowns imposed on a community level have long since been lifted, the stay-at-home rules now aggravate a particular sector children, Dy said. The Philippines has become a global hotspot for sexual exploitation of children on the internet, with cases having tripled over the three years previously, according to a report released last May by the U.S.-based International Justice Mission. It said that 149 of every 10,000 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses linked to child sexual exploitation in 2017 originated in the Philippines three times higher than the rate of 43 of every 10,000 in 2014. The report said 90 cases of online sexual exploitation of children involving 381 victims were investigated between 2011 and 2017. Of these cases, authorities were able to determine the exact length of abuse ranging from two months to four years for only 43 victims. In 2018, a court in Cagayan de Oro, a city in the southern Philippines, sentenced Australian Peter Gerard Scully and his Filipina partner to life in prison for operating a cybersex ring that abused children. [February 03, 2021] 'Quick Nick' Tests Battista Prototype As hyper GT Development Accelerates - Ex-Formula 1 and Formula E racer Nick Heidfeld brings his expertise to the test programme of the Battista pure-electric hyper GT - Heidfeld joins Vehicle Development team at Nardo Technical Center in Italy for his debut Battista test, as engineers fine-tune its bespoke dynamics package - Heidfeld said: "What really surprised me was how natural the Battista feels on the track. We are creating a hyper GT to be enjoyed at all speeds, yet here in Nardo the cornering control and speed we achieved were exceptional." - Track testing enables ongoing refinement and modification of elements including tailored chassis settings, aerodynamics package, torque vectoring and five selectable driving modes - Watch Nick Heidfeld on his debut test of the Battista hyper GT prototype here: youtube.com/watch?v=jyY95MUhBa4 NARDO, Italy, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ -- Legendary racer and Automobili Pininfarina Test and Development Driver Nick Heidfeld has taken the new Battista hyper GT on track for the first time as part of the ongoing prototype development at the Nardo Technical Center in Italy. Heidfeld has played a key role in the development of Battista from the inception of the project. In 2019 he joined Automobili Pininfarina designers and engineers to provide ergonomics feedback on a physical rather than virtual prototype for the first time. Soon after, Nick was in the seat of an advanced dynamic simulator in Italy, with the brief to support dynamic set-up of the 1,900 PS, all-wheel drive electric hyper GT. His unparalleled knowledge and more than 25 years of experience in high performance motorsport continue to support refinement of Battista's bespoke chassis settings and software calibration, ahead of the hyper GT entering production in Italy in the summer of 2021. Nick Heidfld said: "It has been really special to experience the Battista on the track for the first time. With the prototype at an advanced stage of development, we are testing Battista with around 80 per cent of its potential power, the performance and acceleration is already beyond anything I could imagine." "What really surprised me was how natural the Battista feels on the track. We are creating a hyper GT to be enjoyed at all speeds, yet here in Nardo the cornering control and speed we achieved were exceptional. Minimal traction control and torque vectoring are active at this stage of prototype development, yet there is so much grip to exploit." "It was my first time driving on the Nardo handling circuit, so I spent some time looking at films of onboard laps online to familiarise myself with the layout. I quickly realised they would be of little use, because the acceleration of Battista is on another level to even the world's fastest road cars." "To meet our aim of delivering a hyper GT, a car that can be enjoyed anywhere and in all conditions, we are developing Battista with two tyre combinations. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R is our preferred performance tyre and combined with lightweight 'Impulso' wheels it provides an outstanding combination of maximum grip and feel, a perfect fit for a race circuit." "I have to say, that very honestly, driving the Battista prototype far exceeded my expectations. It's like nothing I have experienced ever before. I can't wait to try the Battista away from the track, chasing corners on mountain roads." The Automobili Pininfarina Battista is the most powerful road-legal car ever designed and built in Italy. No more than 150 Battistas will be individually hand-crafted at the Pininfarina SpA atelier in Turin, Italy, with the first cars set to be delivered to clients later this year. For more information, visit automobili-pininfarina.com/media-zone. EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT AUTOMOBILI PININFARINA Automobili Pininfarina is based in operational headquarters in Munich, Germany, with a team of experienced automotive executives from luxury and premium car brands. Designed, engineered and produced by hand in Italy, the Battista hyper GT and all future models will be sold and serviced in all major global markets under the brand name Pininfarina. The new company aims to be the most sustainable luxury car brand in the world. The company is a 100 per cent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd investment and has been named Automobili Pininfarina following the signing of a trademark licence agreement between Pininfarina S.p.A. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Pininfarina S.p.A. will take an influential role in supporting design and production capacities based on their unique 90-year experience of producing many of the world's most iconic cars. ABOUT NICK HEIDFELD Starting his motorsport career in 1994 by racing in the German Formula Ford race series, Nick Heidfeld (43) would go on to race in various competitions before making his debut in Formula 1 in 2000. After more than 10 years at the pinnacle of motorsport, he became the first driver to make the move across to the pinnacle of electrified motorsport, when he entered his first race in Formula E in 2014. With unrivalled expertise in developing and honing the characteristics of performance vehicles, Brand Ambassador Nick has been part of the Automobili Pininfarina Vehicle Development team since the beginning of the Battista programme and played a key role in simulation testing of the pure-electric hyper GT. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431630/Automobili_Pininfarina.mp4 Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431494/Automobili_Pininfarina_Nick_Heidfeld.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431490/Automobili_Pininfarina_Nardo_1.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431493/Automobili_Pininfarina_Nardo_2.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1316779/Automobili_Pininfarina_Logo.jpg View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quick-nick-tests-battista-prototype-as-hyper-gt-development-accelerates-301221051.html SOURCE Automobili Pininfarina [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ... Causing Connection Hitches and Hitting Business Hard The Public Relations Officer of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), Pierre Silva has confirmed to Foroyaa that their personnel working for their Indian Project at Farato cut an internet cable which caused internet black-out on Tuesday afternoon 2nd February, 2021. PRO Silva said the officials of the aforesaid project were digging to lay pipes and "they ran into an internet cable and cut it." Silva's confirmation came after Foroyaa informed him about a credible source who informed this medium that the blackout was as a result of "fiber cut on the internet cable at Farato." The source, who pleaded for anonymity, told Foroyaa that NAWEC officers cut an internet backup cable at Farato while dipping and/or fixing their water pipes. The source added that a technical team was immediately deployed on the ground to ensure they repair the cable and restore the internet back. "But I think the power has been restored," PRO Silva said. According to Silva, he made calls to confirm our insider's information. He said first called the IT Director of NAWEC, but his number was engaged, and so he had to call their managing director (NAWEC), who confirmed to him that it is true that personnel working for their Indian Project were digging at Farato and ran into an internet cable and then cut it in the process and he (MD) was contacted by Qcell. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia ICT By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Meanwhile, several hours of internet black-out has disrupted many businesses, especially those within the Kanifing Municipality. Many work places, which heavily rely on internet to carry out their businesses, suffered the most setbacks. Customer service operators and consumers were among those hard hit. Also, many people couldn't buy cash power as a result of this hitch. "There is an internet problem throughout the country so they cannot sell cash power when there is no internet," NAWEC PRO, Pierre Silva told Foroyaa. It was observed that commercial banks in the Kanifing Municipality and their customers were hit too. Sight of frustrations could be seen in the faces of most customers, especially those who rely on daily withdrawal. Ida Cham, a customer found sitting outside Trust Bank Limited at Westfield, described the internet problem as "frustrating" because she came for withdrawal, but she was told that there was no internet. "I came to withdraw some money for tomorrow's 'fish money' but I felt disappointed after I was told that there was no internet. And I have run out of cash for tomorrow," she narrated. A lady who doesn't want her name to be mentioned, said the bank she went was only rendering services to those who came for deposits. Those who wish to withdraw could not be accorded the opportunity because there was no internet. Views expressed are those of our readers, not us. Need to get something off your chest? Leave a message with your rant or rave at 803-765-0707 x 126 or email RANTandRAVE@free-times.com. Submissions will be edited for length and spelling but not grammar. Please limit emailed submissions to 100 words. Trump just hired his lawyers to defend him at his trial. They are from South Carolina. Go figure. Where else could he find anyone to defend him? This state must be on a mission from god to show just how stupid we are. Hello President Joe Biden, I've got to get a message to you. Please stop cursing. Thank you. To the "64 year old white male and Lexington county resident" (Rant and Rave, Jan. 27) from a 66-year-old white Republican female. Well bless your heart for voicing your kind thoughts about people who do not share your political views. The only New Years resolution I kept so far is taking up ballroom dancing. Yeah. Why is it that on those cooking shows on TV, people are always chewing food and speaking at the same? Gross! My mother would slap me off if my chair. When Mark Sanford (Mr. Argentina) has doubts about the company you keep ... "It's our house!" they yelled. Then they smashed in the windows, threw stuff on the floors, and smeared shit on the walls. Treated it like their own house all right; made themselves at home. Is it just me, or does Moderna sound like the name of a character in a Tyler Perry movie? I dared to lose weight and all I lost was a bunch of money. Little support. The two things you can't eat are white flour and processed white sugar. Stop those two things, walk a mile everyday, and drink a gallon of water and you'll lose weight and not money. At 32, my bride says "I'm done makin' babies; YOU deal with it, son". Yes'm, says I. No mo happy accidents for us. But, lookin' at my fly, I was so afraid. But, brave beyond measure, I ventured to the dick doc. He fixed that problem. Neutered me. Got to the root of the issue. Nipped it ... In the bud. Ain't going to be like old Strom now. This cowpoke's shootin' blanks. Made a vas deferens in my life. Recreating, not procreating. Yeehaw! After taking a bite of food put your fork down. Love is when your new puppy would rather sleep on your old jeans than on his new bed. BLM LGBTQ+ drone pilots are disproportionately more likely to be denied the right to drop bombs on unarmed civilians in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan than their white counterparts. This is an unacceptable human rights violation. The Biden administration must ensure that the drone pilot pool reflects the great diversity of our capitalist empire! The media and congress calls the attack on the capital an insurrection. They should call it what it really is, the white trash riots. The day white trash rose up in support of their suppressors. Imagine waking up one morning and discovering you are a Republican. Can anyone imagine the chaos the world would be thrown into had that idiot Trump had managed to overturn the election? Trump cried fraud before ballots were cast. He cried fraud after ballots were counted and recounted. Courts said no fraud, state election officials said no fraud, his Republican U.S. atty general found no fraud, Supreme Court threw out the case. What is WRONG with these people? Please ask them WHY they want to live under the rule of a dictator? I really would like to know. Now, who is paying their legal fees? Are they just dumb or crazy? When Obamacare was being debated, haters said it would lead to death squads that would kill grandma. To all you haters, it seems doing it your way is making that a fact. The obits are sadly full of grandparents who have died from COVID. Shame on you deniers. Is Dr. Jill Biden going to dance with Jimmy Fallon? We need some fun and lightness about now. We brought 25,000 soldiers to Washington, DC, to be sure we could do inauguration day without a problem. After the former president goes to Florida, he should go to hell. With President Biden we have our first openly gay Cabinet member as Secretary of Transportation. What is more, it is a person probably smarter than three average people put together. Of course the former President demanded no COVID lockdowns to save lives. What was more important? Keeping the economy open so his business interests would not be harmed. You know, Donald Trump is what Donald Trump does. He conned those Qanon people. Period. He conned those Qanon people. Donald Trump is what Donald Trump does. Well, I just wanna say, now that the Biden administration cant open their mouth without talking about CO2, because they think theyre going to change the climate, I would say they need to stop worrying about CO2, and start worrying about the IQ of their administration. Pretty soon is Groundhog Day Whac-A-Mole day. I was very sad to hear about the passing of Cicely Tyson. She was a remarkable actress. BiLo is closing some stores. Maybe customers weren't able to buy low as they thought. Yeah. On Groundhog Day, I thought, That reminds me, my favorite movie is Caddyshack. Yeah. You know, biblically, the Devil goes around consuming, they say like a roaring lion. Now thats the Bible. And you look around at some of these politicians, and this Mrs. Green chick with the Qanon, their good day is when they can really make somebody elses life terrible. That explains how a person can taunt a family member that lost somebody in the Parkland shooting. You understand that she taunted somebody who lost family members in a mass shooting. Their good day is s#!tty in a way thats incomprehensible. Unless you understand the Bible. I think, even after the last raise, my neighbor lady up the street said that she gets $1,300 a month Social Security. And Lindsey Graham wants to decrease that. Call me a liar. But he said theres too much at the debate. Psychology says that if you cant remember something, say it six times and it will sink in. A genius hears something one time and they never forget it. South Carolina will always be white trash. (Repeats sentence five more times.) But dont you forget you dont beat the Lord. I cant understand why people live in Richland County, work in Lexington County, and people live in Lexington County, work in Richland County. I lived in Richland County for 20 years. I got a job in Lexington County, and I moved there closer to my work. Malfunction Junction and all the g#!damn highways are packed with solid traffic. Think about it. To the Republicans who do not believe it was a fair election: Rage on, heathens, rage on. Your day of judgement is just like everybody elses. Its coming soon. Amen. 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. iStock/nevodka (WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- In the ongoing race to vaccinate Americans against the raging COVID-19 pandemic, now complicated with the arrival of several new and more contagious strains, the U.S. government announced that a million vaccines will be shipped to select pharmacies next week. Jeff Zients, White House coordinator on COVID-19, confirmed 6,500 pharmacies will be sent the vaccines on February 11. Zeints said eligible pharmacies to receive the vaccine are Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Sam's Club, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Costco and others. As of Tuesday, it has been confirmed that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population has received one vaccine shot. A report from the Department of Health and Human Services finds that twenty-six million people -- which is 7.8 percent of the population -- were given one vaccine dose. Again, Doctor Anthony Fauci stressed the importance of obtaining a vaccine as several alarming variants are reported daily in different states. Speaking at the International Aids Society conference Tuesday, Fauci said, "We're going to be doing a full-court press on non-pharmacologic interventions [like masks] as well as getting as much vaccine out as we possibly can." Fauci said the nation's aggressive vaccine stance is because the nation is in a race for time. The longer the pandemic goes unchecked, the greater chance of a new and much more deadlier mutation becomes. "It's a very stressful situation ... when you have that much virus circulating, you're going to get a lot of mutations, no doubt about it," he added. "It's almost a race of trying to suppress the level of replication before we get so many accumulation of both the South African and other mutants as well as mutants of our own." COVID-19 has currently infected over 26.4 million Americans and killed over 446,000, reports Johns Hopkins University. The Education Minister has been accused of having a hissy fit over his decision that schools in Northern Ireland can no longer provide Welsh Exam Board qualifications for pupils. The comment came from Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan in Wednesdays Education Committee, and followed the news that the Governing Bodies Association, which represents grammar schools in Northern Ireland, and NI Drama have written to the minister calling on him to reverse his decision. Earlier this week the minister informed schools they could no longer offer WJEC qualifications from 2022. Some 16 exams at A Level and AS Level are affected. In their letter to Mr Weir they said his decision would have a significant and wide-ranging impact on a substantial number on schools. We would urge the department to reconsider the decision regarding the WJEC qualifications and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you should you find it helpful, the GBA said. More than 30 drama teachers and dramatists have also signed a joint letter to the minister from NI Drama saying that the ministers decision would cut down choice for schools and pupils, as an AS and A-level course offered by the Northern Irelands exams board, CCEA, had a different focus to the WJEC qualification. CCEAs performing arts is taught by many of our colleagues in thriving drama departments, but it is a course with a contemporary performance focus, unlike WJEC Drama, which emphasises analysis and a critical written response, they said. This decision therefore puts drama students from Northern Ireland at a disadvantage in accessing third-level education. Mr Sheehan said that the common view is that the minister has had a hissy fit over the Welsh not consulting him in regard to the cancellation of exams earlier this year. and also called for the decision to be reversed. Read More Committee chair Chris Lyttle MLA added that there was now a ground swell of opinion and we may see a change on that, and that the minister would be pressed on the issue when he appears before the committee next week, unless there has been movement before then. Mr Weir has already said he had taken his decision because WJEC did not consult the Department of Education (DE) in Northern Ireland about how it would award pupils results this year after summer exams were cancelled in 2021. Teachers who signed the NI Drama letter said that had not caused any disruption. WJEC have always been supportive, forthright, and forward-thinking, they said. We had faith that a mode of assessment would be arrived at in a timely manner. It is the duty of our representatives to negotiate and to find compromise to ease our way through this difficult pandemic, not to draw-up red lines. As well as drama, schools use Welsh Board examinations for AS and A-levels in subjects including sociology, computer science, physical education, psychology, business, music and economics. Afterpay and Zip Co could be forced to conduct more detailed checks on United Kingdom customers, potentially dampening the industrys growth after a government review said the buy now, pay later (BNPL) boom was putting some customers at risk. As usage of BNPL products surges, investors expect some amount of regulation, and a review for the UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said there was an urgent case for protecting consumers. Buy now, pay later providers offer instalment loans to shoppers, charging merchants or consumers a fee for the service. Afterpays UK operations will face regulation after a review warned of the potential for consumer harm. Credit:Fairfax Media While the review did not specify how the sector should be regulated, analysts said providers could be forced to conduct affordability checks, which may slow down the industrys rapid growth. Even so, most analysts said this would only marginally affect the longer-term growth prospects of BNPL businesses. Citi analyst Siraj Ahmed said requiring BNPL firms to gather more information about their customers was a risk to take-up of the service, but it would not be a material headwind to Afterpay or Zip. While it is unclear what additional checks the BNPLs would need to conduct, the need for additional information from consumers is a risk to the take-up and use of BNPL, Mr Ahmed said. Bangladesh Army chief Gen. Aziz Ahmed (right) looks on during a program at a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia, Coxs Bazar, Nov. 24, 2019. Bangladesh authorities have rejected claims in an investigative report that its army chief is protecting his brothers who fled abroad after being convicted of murder, and that the country has purchased an Israeli-made cellphone monitoring system despite a trade ban with the Jewish state. The Feb. 1 report by Qatari-based television network Al Jazeera alleged that army chief Gen. Aziz Ahmed kept close links with his two foreign-based brothers who are on the run from justice after being convicted of the 1996 murder of a rival political leader. The Al Jazeera documentary also linked Aziz, who is currently on an official visit to the United States, to corrupt deals with at least one of his brothers, who the report said had been able to travel to Bangladesh to meet with the army chief despite being a fugitive. Aziz is a close confidant of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who the report said had previously hired his two brothers Haris and Anis Ahmed as bodyguards when she was opposition leader. It also alleged that the Ahmed clans fortunes have been long intertwined with that of Hasina. Both the Bangladesh foreign ministry and army dismissed the allegations contained in the one-hour Al Jazeera television documentary and accompanying stories. The Bangladesh foreign ministry in a statement on Tuesday described the report as false and defamatory and anti-Bangladesh propaganda. It however did not specifically address any of the charges leveled against Aziz Ahmed in the report. The report is nothing more than a misleading series of innuendos and insinuations in what is apparently a politically motivated smear campaign by notorious individuals, it said, linking them to the extremist group Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the largest Islamic parties in Bangladesh. The Al Jazeera report said Haris Ahmed lives in Hungary under the alias of Mohammad Hasan, while he and Anis Ahmed own a home in Kuala Lumpur. Both fled Bangladesh following their murder conviction, while a third brother was found guilty of the same murder charge and served 20 years in prison before being pardoned by the countrys president. Acryl Sani, Malaysias deputy inspector general of police, said authorities were investigating whether Anis Ahmed was in the country. Officials said they had not received any notification from the Bangladesh counterparts. We have to check it first whether the man is still in the country, if he is wanted by Interpol and so on, Acryl told local reporters on Monday. Al Jazeera said none of the Ahmed brothers nor any of the Bangladesh officials mentioned in the report, including the prime minister, home minister, police-inspector general and police commissioner responded to requests for comment in advance of the reports release. Surveillance equipment The Bangladesh government also dismissed the Al Jazeera allegation that it had secretly purchased surveillance equipment manufactured by an Israeli company which, according to the report, listed Hungary as the country of origin. Al Jazeera alleged that Bangladeshi officers were trained by Israeli experts to use the equipment that can monitor hundreds of mobile phones at one time. The Al Jazeera investigation says that Haris Ahmed was a key figure in this deal. But the Bangladesh Army rejected the claim, saying it was based on false information. The truth is the equipment was procured from Hungary for one of the army contingents due to be deployed in the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission, said Rashadul Alam Khan, assistant director of the Inter Service Public Relations Directorate at the Ministry of Defense. Nowhere in the equipment was mentioned/written that these were of Israeli origin. There is no scope of defense co-operation/procurement from Israel since Bangladesh does not have any formal diplomatic relation with the country. The South Asian nation does not recognize Israel and it is forbidden for Bangladeshi nationals to travel to Israel or engage in commerce with Israelis. US visit U.S. authorities said they were aware of the allegations leveled at Aziz Ahmed, whose was visiting the United States from Jan. 30 to Feb. 12. A Pentagon official said that Aziz Ahmed would be meeting with his American counterpart and other officials, but did not release details of the generals itinerary in the U.S., citing security concerns. We are aware of the allegations in Al Jazeera. As part of our ongoing defense and security cooperation, we host visitors from partner-nation armies, U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Curtis Kellogg told BenarNews on Tuesday. The U.S. and Bangladesh armies share a close partnership, characterized by regular combined training exercises, education and training exchanges, and support to U.N. Peace Keeping Operations. Both of our countries share a commitment to ensuring peace and stability in the region. On Tuesday, the Bangladeshi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request from BenarNews to interview the general or to respond to the allegations surrounding him in the Al Jazeera report. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement with Immohold Hospitality, to introduce the InterContinental Hotels and Resorts brand in Rabat, Morocco. The signing is aligned with IHGs strategy to build on its luxury portfolio and expand into key gateway markets across the MEA region. Expected to open in Q1 2022, the five-star luxury hotel will be situated in the heart of Moroccos capital city. Ideal for business and leisure travellers, the hotel will be perched within Rabats elite diplomatic district in proximity to a number of embassies and government institutions. InterContinental Rabat will feature 156 exceptionally-deisgned guest rooms, 950-sq-m of meeting space, a signature spa and extensive health and fitness facilities. With five distinct dining destinations, guests will enjoy a variety of cuisine, from authentic to contemporary options. Commenting on the signing, Pascal Gauvin, Managing Director, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: We are delighted to partner with Immohold Hospitality to announce the development of our first InterContiental hotel in Morocco. With a strong legacy in the MEA region for 60 years, we are excited to continue the expansion of our luxury offering with the opening of InterContinental Rabat in the heart of Moroccos capital city. As the worlds first and largest international luxury travel hotel brand, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has been pioneering luxury travel to new and iconic international destinations for decades. Each of our hotels is a destination in its own right with a distinctive style and ambience, and as Rabat is a city with such rich culture and heritage, we believe InterContinental Rabat will offer guests a truly unique travel experience. We are excited about this new venture and look forward to welcoming guests to this highly anticipated location in 2022. Sheikh Ali Al Shehri, Owner, Immohold Hospitality, added: We are proud to sign this agreement with IHG, which is a trusted name in the hospitality sector, to introduce their luxury offering to the Moroccan market. I am confident that the strategic location combined with IHGs signature hospitality, will effectively cater to the needs of the modern business and leisure traveller visiting the city of Rabat. We are confident that our partnership will be a success and look forward to opening our doors in the near future. IHG currently operates 116 hotels across seven brands in the Middle East and Africa, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, voco and Six Senses with a further 53 in the development pipeline due to open within the next three to five years. - TradeArabia News Service Wreaths Across America on Wednesday is retelling the tragic yet inspiring story of the World War II sinking of the troop ship Dorchester, the heroic sacrifice of the "Four Chaplains" aboard, and the bravery of the Black Coast Guard steward who gave his life swimming through icy seas to rescue a shipmate. The 368-foot steamship Dorchester, operated by the War Shipping Administration, was part of a convoy that left New York in January 1943 bound for the Army Command Base at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland. After midnight Feb. 3, 1943, the Dorchester was torpedoed by a U-boat in the Labrador Sea off Greenland and went down in 20 minutes, according to official records. Read Next: These Marines Devoted Their Lives to the Corps. Then They Were Singled Out for Having Children A total of 675 of the 904 aboard drowned or died of hypothermia in the frigid waters in what was believed to be the worst single death toll for a U.S. convoy during WWII. On Wednesday, the 78th anniversary of the Dorchester's sinking, Wreaths Across America will pay tribute to those who died with a special Facebook Live event beginning at noon Eastern from the Balsam Valley Chapel in Maine. The Dorchester's loss is remembered most for the sacrifice of the "Four Chaplains" -- two Protestants, a rabbi and a Catholic priest. They were all Army first lieutenants who went down with the ship. When the torpedo hit, the chaplains guided men below decks to the lifeboats and handed out life jackets. When the supply ran out, the chaplains gave away their own life vests to four men who had none, survivors said. They then linked arms, offered prayers and sang hymns as the ship went down. "I could hear men crying, pleading, praying and swearing. I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage to the men. Their voices were probably the only things that kept me sane," survivor William Bednar said in a 1997 interview with The Baltimore Sun. Survivor John Ladd recalled the chaplains giving away their life vests, according to the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation. "It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven," he said. Lt. George L. Fox, a Methodist minister from Pennsylvania; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, a Reform rabbi from New York; Lt. Clark V. Poling, a Reformed Church in America minister from Ohio; and Lt. John P. Washington, a Catholic priest from New Jersey, were each posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart. There were attempts in Congress to award the four chaplains the Medal of Honor, but the efforts did not succeed under the strict guidelines for awarding the medal. Instead, a Special Medal for Heroism was authorized by Congress and awarded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961. When the Dorchester was going down, the Coast Guard cutter Comanche ignored the threat of another U-boat attack and raced through heavy seas to pick up survivors. The Comanche lowered a cargo net, but many of those in the lifeboats were too weak and numbed by the cold to climb aboard. Steward's Mate 1st Class Charles Walter David Jr., 26, of New York City, known for his fierce loyalty to his ship and shipmates despite the second-class status afforded Blacks during World War II, jumped into the lifeboats and began hoisting the survivors aboard. In the course of the rescue mission, Lt. Langford Anderson, the Comanche's executive officer, slipped and fell into the frigid waters. Without hesitation, David dove into the icy sea and swam to Anderson's rescue and brought him to the net. After helping the last survivors scramble aboard, David went up the net himself to the Comanche's deck, but his friend, Storekeeper 1st Class Richard 'Dick" Swanson, could make it only halfway up, after being in the freezing water, according to an account by Dr. William H. Thiesen, the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area historian. From the Comanche's deck, David shouted encouragement: "C'mon Swanny, you can make it." But Swanson couldn't move. David went down the net again and lifted Swanson to safety. Several weeks later, David died of pneumonia at a hospital in Greenland from the hypothermia he suffered during the rescues. "Despite his secondary status in a segregated service, Charles Walter David Jr. placed the needs of others before his own. For his heroism, David was posthumously awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Medal and, in 1999, was recognized with the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity," Thiesen wrote. In 2013, the Coast Guard named a Sentinel-class fast response cutter the Charles Walter David Jr. in honor of his exemplary service. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: WWII Chaplain Who Comforted Sailors in Shark-Infested Waters Awarded Posthumous Navy Cross Researchers at Oxford University in a recent study have stated that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for coronavirus is significantly slowing the speed of virus' transmission. The study published in 'PrePrints with the The Lancet' reveals that administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has "substantially reduced" transmission of the virus. A statement by Oxford University says, "Analyses of PCR positive swabs in UK population suggests vaccine may have substantial effect on transmission of the virus with 67 per cent reduction in positive swabs among those vaccinated." The researchers have noted that this is an important finding which will aid governments to push for mass vaccination, as the immunisation programme will not only reduce the number of deaths caused by COVID-19, but will also reduce the pace at which the virus is transmitted. Researchers write that the vaccine efficacy is "higher at longer prime-boost intervals, and that a single dose of the vaccine is 76 per cent effective from 22 to up to 90 days post vaccination". The researchers explain that vaccine efficacy increased to 82.4 per cent after the administration of the second dose. Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial and co-author of the study, said, "These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA and EMA to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation." Pollard was talking about the approvals given to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine given by United Kingdom and European regulators. Pollard recommends giving people a booster shot within the 4-12 weeks of the administration of the first shot. "It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine," added Pollard. The Indian variant of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - Covishield - was approved by the country's drug regulator in January for emergency use. Serum Institute of India is producing the vaccine in India and it has already been administered to lakhs of people as part of the country's mass vaccination program which commenced on January 16. Also read: Budget 2021: Two more coronavirus vaccines soon, reveals FM Nirmala Sitharaman Also read: Covishield's supply order placed after DCGI approval: Ashwini Choubey Harrison Clarke is the epicenter of knowledge, content and recruitment services for the DevOps/SRE space. Tweet this "DevOps is not just a role within an organizationit's a cultural movement that places more importance on the people involved and helping them collaborate better," said Harrison Clarke CEO Firas Sozan. "We are strengthening our position as the go-to company for DevOps/SRE recruiting. It's a space we're passionate about, both in the infrastructure it serves and the focus it places on transparency and collaboration. If people want to build their DevOps team, they come to us." 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Firas really owns the process end to end and feels personally accountable for your team's success." Today's launch includes the unveiling of Harrison Clarke's new Flagship Partner Solution. This program, built on a monthly subscription model, provides a more efficient and cost-effective way for companies looking to recruit a significant number of DevOps/SRE employees, or even build out an entire team. The program is available by invitation only, enabling a client with larger staffing needs to become a priority partner, in which case Harrison Clarke becomes an extension of their recruitment team and provides a dedicated on-site staff member focused on advising stakeholders about hiring, as well as procuring top-quality candidates. "As a rapidly growing startup building a cloud-native data protection platform, Clumio is always looking for talented candidates that are also a great fit for our collaborative culture," said Kaustubh Patil, vice president of engineering and co-founder of Clumio. "Harrison Clarke has been a true partner in our growth from the start. Firas and his team deeply understand the SRE/DevOps world. We learned early on that we weren't working with simply a recruiting teamthey became an extension of our company and have helped us build out a high-quality DevOps team consisting of top talent that matched our culture." As a major part of its rebranding, Harrison Clarke's redesigned website reflects the company's commitment to making connections and building relationships, offering a more streamlined journey for potential clients and candidates to find, understand, and take advantage of their services. With a simple design that is easy to use, the website now offers the following new features: An interactive Get Started feature that acts as a guide to help visitors discover the best solutions to build their teams feature that acts as a guide to help visitors discover the best solutions to build their teams A Guides section with regularly updated content in the form of articles, guides, infographics, e-books, and white papers that include expert insights into the market section with regularly updated content in the form of articles, guides, infographics, e-books, and white papers that include expert insights into the market A Case Studies page that includes testimonials and case examples from both hiring managers and hired professionals that clearly illustrate what the company has to offer page that includes testimonials and case examples from both hiring managers and hired professionals that clearly illustrate what the company has to offer A Blog that features weekly posts on a variety of topics, including trends in technology, compensation, and hiring in the DevOps/SRE space that features weekly posts on a variety of topics, including trends in technology, compensation, and hiring in the DevOps/SRE space A Live Opportunities page that provides exclusive access to up and coming job vacancies before they become available to the open market The newly designed logo also has special significance, showcasing Harrison Clarke's values. It's a spinoff of the DevOps infinity symbol, incorporating a linked chain which signifies the importance of partnerships. "Our new brand exemplifies quality and simple professionalismsomething we live and breathe at Harrison Clarke," said Sozan. "The partnership program, along with the rebranded site, enhance and complement our current offerings, while also furthering our aim to meet the ever-evolving needs of both clients and candidates. At our core, Harrison Clarke operates on a very simple premise: We connect people in the DevOps/SRE space exclusively to achieve great outcomes." ABOUT HARRISON CLARKE Harrison Clarke is the only dedicated DevOps/SRE recruitment partner in the United States. With a highly committed team of market experts, its goal is to provide both clients and candidates with an exceptional experience by helping companies achieve their hiring needs and identifying unique and life-changing opportunities for professionals. For additional information, please visit https://www.harrison-clarke.com/. SOURCE Harrison Clarke Related Links https://www.harrison-clarke.com/ President Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry took a private jet to a climate conference in Iceland in 2019 and told a reporter it was 'the only choice for somebody like me.' Fox News Channel reported the back-and-forth Wednesday between Kerry and Icelandic journalist Johann Bjarni Kolbeinsson, which had previously gone unreported in the American media. 'If you offset your carbon - it's the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle,' Kerry told Kolbeinsson, who had asked the former secretary of State if that was an 'environmental way to travel.' President Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry took a private jet in 2019 to Iceland to receive a climate award and told an Icelandic reporter, 'it's the only choice for somebody like me who is traveling the world to win this battle,' Fox News Channel reported Wednesday Fox News also reported that Olafur Ragnar Grimsson (left) the chairman of the Board of the Arctic Circle, had been critical of Kerry's (right) mode of transportation to the 2019 conference Kerry pointed out that when he ran Foggy Bottom he negotiated the Paris climate agreement, which Biden quickly rejoined last month after former President Donald Trump pulled the nation out. 'I've been involved with this fight for years. I negotiated with President Xi to bring President Xi to the table so we could get Paris,' Kerry continued, referencing the Chinese leader. 'And, I believe, the time it takes me to get somewhere - I can't sail across the ocean - I have to fly, meet with people and get things done.' 'But, what I'm doing, almost full time, is working to win the battle on climate change, and in the end, if I offset and contribute my life to do this, I'm not going to be put on the defensive,' Kerry added. He didn't explain to the Icelandic journalist how he offset carbon for the trip. Kerry also didn't mention the fact that he could have flown to Iceland from the United States commercially. Icelandair and other carriers fly to the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik directly. Private jets have been estimated to release 40 times the amount of carbon per passenger as standard commercial flights. Kerry received the Arctic Circle award, which was shaped like an iceberg. At the conference, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who led the Arctic Circle Roundtable, criticized Kerry for his mode of travel, Icelandic outlet RUV and then Fox News reported. Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacted to Fox News' reporting on Twitter saying that a 'political Prince like Kerry' would never fly Icelandair commercially, as Gingrich said he and his wife have done as she was recently stationed at the Vatican So did former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, reacting to the Fox News report Wednesday. 'People should quit picking on John Kerry for taking a private plane to Iceland for an environmental award,' Gingrich tweeted. 'Do you really expect a political Prince like Kerry to sit in an Icelandair seat with mere citizens (Callista and I found the salmon they serve was superb)? Of course not.' Gingrich's wife Callista recently served as the Trump administration's ambassador to the Vatican. Kerry, who served in the U.S. Senate from 1985 until 2013, is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, an heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune, who owned a private jet company. As late as 2013, Kerry's executive branch financial disclosures show he owned more than $1,000,001 in assets for the charter company Flying Squirrel LLC, Fox reported. And last month, the right-leaning news channel reported that the FAA's registry still showed a Gulfstream Aerospace that was owned by Flying Squirrel LLC. The company's address is the same as the Heinz Family Foundation, Fox said. Kerry is one of two former Obama-era officials Biden tapped for climate-specific roles in the new administration. Gina McCarthy, the former Environmental Protection Agency head, is now Biden's national climate adviser. Kerry, who served alongside Biden in the Senate, was a surrogate for the Biden campaign when it looked dead in the water, as the now president got fourth place in the Iowa caucuses and then a fifth place in the New Hampshire primary. Like Tom Vilsack, Biden's Agriculture secretary pick, who also campaigned alongside Biden in Iowa, Kerry's loyalty was rewarded with an administration gig. His official role is U.S. Special Envoy for Climate. People Weve Lost Florence Delores Waites 85 years old Lived in South Philadelphia She was a pillar in her community and church who looked out for everyone More Memorials Florence Delores Waites, 85, a former hospital worker, knew everyone in her Point Breeze neighborhood, and as she was the longtime block captain, everyone knew her. Ms. Waites died Monday, Jan. 25, from complications of COVID-19 at her Philadelphia home. She had eight children, including four stepchildren, but everyone in her community, related or not, called her Mom. She was known to feed neighborhood children anytime they stopped by. And, as those children grew up, they sought her advice, including on how to find a good job. Her impact on people was so great, said her sister Minister Jean Waites-Howard. I was visiting her one day when a young man she had recommended for a job came by the house. He said, I wanted you to know, Mom, I got that job. Florence Waites was born in Philadelphia in January 1936, to Eva McCallister and James Harvey Waites. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mother married Samuel Ford, whom Ms. Waites called Daddy. Ms. Waites was the oldest in a large, blended family of 11 because Ford had children from a previous marriage. Her biological father also had other children. In all, she had seven sisters and three brothers. She attended John Bartram High School. Not long after, she wed Charles S. Murphy in 1953. When that marriage ended in divorce, she married Alfred Crenshaw Sr. That marriage also ended in divorce. For about 10 years, Ms. Waites worked in environmental services at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital before she left work because of a back injury, said her son Charles Murphy. Ms. Waites had been a block captain for almost 40 years in the 2000 block of Manton Street, worked with a Point Breeze Town Watch program, and also met with the 17th Police District about keeping the neighborhood safe. She was a great mom. She was a great mom to the neighborhood. She kept us straight and out of trouble, her son said. All the children in the neighborhood called her Mom. As captain, she secured permits for block parties and once hosted a block-party wedding for one of her sons. When she married her second husband, he had four children from a previous marriage. But Charles Murphy said his mother did not distinguish between biological and nonbiological children. She considered them all her own. She was a mother to the world. No one was ever excluded, he said. Any child who came to her, she embraced them. Ms. Waites worshiped at Solid Rock Baptist Church in Point Breeze, where she was a missionary and a Church Mother, a title given to revered elder women in the Baptist church. She enjoyed playing pinochle with friends, traveling, entertaining, cooking, and baking. She once told friends her phone was always ringing off the hook with people calling her for advice. In addition to her sister and son, Ms. Waites is survived by sons Allen, Robert, Reginald, and Calvin; a daughter, Gloria; 30 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; 17 great-great-grandchildren; and four sisters and one brother. Two sons and both former spouses predeceased her. A viewing will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at Solid Rock Baptist Church, 18th and Federal Streets, with a funeral to follow at 10 a.m. Burial will be at White Chapel Cemetery in Feasterville. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Australian Liberal and Labor senators have accused the Chinese Communist Party of unspeakable human rights abuses after first-hand accounts of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture in Uighur detention camps in China were aired by the BBC. The rare testimony, including from a former prison guard, is likely to lead to further scrutiny of the partys practices in Xinjiang, which the US government has labelled genocide. Beijing has accused the United States and its allies of interfering in its internal affairs and dismissed the genocide claims as baseless. One of the centres housing Uighurs in Chinas Xinjiang region. Credit:AP One Uighur woman, Tursunay Ziawudun, who spent nine months in detention and now lives in the US, said she was raped by groups of masked Chinese men and had an electrified stick inserted into her. Another, Qelbinur Sedik, an Uzbek woman who was a Chinese language teacher at one of the camps, said there were four kinds of electric shock the chair, the glove, the helmet, and anal rape with a stick. Three backcountry skiers in southwestern Colorado were found dead on Wednesday, two days after the group they were traveling with triggered a large avalanche, officials said. The skiers bodies were located under more than 20 feet of avalanche debris, but were not removed from the area because of hazardous conditions, the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management said. The three men all served as government officials in Eagle County, Colo., according to a Denver television station, and they were identified on Wednesday in a joint statement from the county and city governments: The families of Seth Bossung, Andy Jessen and Adam Palmer are allowing us to share their names so we can all openly acknowledge their deaths and grieve together. The avalanche occurred Monday afternoon in an area known locally as The Nose, situated between the towns of Silverton and Ophir, according to an initial report of the episode from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Bengaluru, Feb 3 : Barring Rafale of Dassault, fighters of other global aerospace majors such as F-21 of Lockheed, F/A-18 Super Hornet of Boeing, MiG-35 of MiG, Gripe of Saab and Typhoon of Eurofighter are conspicuously absent at the 13th edition of the biennial Aero India 2021 that took off on Wednesday here under the shadow of the Covid pandemic. With the Indian Air Force (IAF) opting for 36 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) Rafale of French aerospace major Dassault at the cost of Rs 59,000 crore, the other five fighters that were regulars in the previous editions of the air show kept away, denying visitors from seeing their daring manoeuvres. "As the IAF has already inducted 8 Rafales into its operational fleet till date, other fourth-generation fighters kept away from the Covid-hit air show, as prospects of India bidding for them are bleak," a defence official told IANS on the margins of the 3-day expo at the Yelahanka air base on the city's outskirts. Moreover, with the government betting on a self-reliant India (Atmanirbar Bharat) and the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) getting the order to supply 83 home-grown Light Combat Aircraft (Teas), the aerospace majors do not find India attractive to pitch for fighter deals in the coming years. "IAF's fighter pilots flew 3 Rafales at the inaugural event in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other dignitaries but did not demonstrate their air prowess and amazing capabilities," said the official on condition of anonymity. The indigenously built LCA, however, was flown by IAF fighter pilot Manish Tolani and demonstrated its strike capabilities and daring manoeuvers. Designed and developed by the city-based state-run Aircraft Development Agency (ADA) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and built by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Tejas is the world's only light combat aircraft. The IAF has already inducted the LCA-1 in its fighter fleet squadron at its Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. The Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on January 13 approved the purchase of 83 Tejas Mark-1A variants, including 10 trainers for the IAF at Rs 48,000 crore from the defence behemoth HAL. This is in addition to the 40 LCA-Mark-1, the IAF has placed an order in 2016 with HAL to deliver for setting up two squadrons of the fighters. The city-based company has delivered 20 Tejas and in the process of delivering the remaining 20. The defence behemoth HAL also flew its fixed and rotary wing aircraft and helicopters in a unique formation titled 'Aatmanirbhar flight' after the government's flagship programme to demonstrate their air prowess. "Our LCA trainer, Hindustan Turbo Trainer (HTT-40), IJT (Intermediate Jet Trainer), Advanced Hawk Mk-132 and Civil Dornier (Do-228) were part of the formation to demonstrate self-sufficiency in the trainer segment," a HAL official told IANS here. The Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter, which HAL made under licence from the Russian aerospace major Sukhoi Aviation Corporation, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) also took part in the flying display. 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. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Passenger Car Antenna 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 Passenger Car Antenna 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Passenger Car Antenna Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31809 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Passenger Car Antenna will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Passenger Car Antenna market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Passenger Car Antenna market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Passenger Car Antenna 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 Passenger Car Antenna market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Laird Harada Yokogawa Kathrein Northeast Industries Hirschmann ASK Industries Suzhong Fiamm Inzi Controls Riof Shenglu Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31809 This study considers the Passenger Car Antenna value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Fin Type Rod Type Screen Type Others Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Sedans SUVs 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 Passenger Car Antenna Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31809 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Passenger Car Antenna consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Passenger Car Antenna market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Passenger Car Antenna 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 Passenger Car Antenna 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 Passenger Car Antenna 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/passenger-car-antenna-market-analysis-by-material-product-key-players-and-industry-analysis-by-2026/ PM Igor Matovic (fifth from the left) laid wreath to the memorial of Milan Rastislav Stefanik during his official visit to France on February 3. (Source: Government's Office via SITA) This is the Wednesday, February 3, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia. Learn about politics, business, and other notable events of the day in Slovakia in less than five minutes. If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you. COVID automat with changes Given the changed epidemic situation currently impacted by the occurrence of new Covid variants, the cabinet agreed on changing some parameters of the COVID automat alert system, which will be launched on February 8. At the same time, the cabinet agreed on introducing mandatory home office for jobs where presence in the workplace is not essential, and changes to home isolation. The cabinet is yet to discuss the border regime and the prolongation of the emergency state and curfew, which expire at the end of this week. It is possible that the curfew will be prolonged and will apply the same conditions and exceptions as now (e.g. a negative test result when going to work or out in nature). Mandatory home office or longer isolation. Cabinet changes anti-pandemic rules Read more Schools will reopen on Monday Kindergartens, special schools and grades one to four of primary schools will reopen on February 8. In-person classes will also be allowed for the final grades of secondary schools. In addition, the cabinet agreed on opening art schools for individual classes, secondary medical schools and their dormitories. Attendance for in-person education will have the condition of a negative test result. While younger children going to kindergartens and grades one to four of primary schools will not have to take a test, a negative test result no older than seven days will be required from one of their parents. Secondary school students will have to show a negative test result no older than seven days before attending in-person classes. School staff will have to be tested. Schools will reopen on February 8 Read more Other coronavirus-related developments Altogether 2,732 of 12,313 tests carried out on February 2 were positive, which represents 22.2 percent . At the same time, out of 111,597 antigen tests, 2,592 were positive (2.32 percent). A further 105 people have died. carried out on February 2 were positive, which represents . At the same time, out of 111,597 antigen tests, 2,592 were positive (2.32 percent). A further people have died. The new curfew rules came into force today . This means that people in districts that reported worse results during the nationwide screening (minus Bratislava and Nitra) have to show a new negative test result no older than seven days when going to work and out in nature. The police have toughened up checks until February 8. . This means that people in districts that reported worse results during the nationwide screening (minus Bratislava and Nitra) have to show a new negative test result no older than seven days when going to work and out in nature. The police have toughened up checks until February 8. Slovakia tries to secure the Sputnik V vaccine . Although the country cannot register its use at the national level, the Health Ministry can issue permission for using the unregistered vaccine. . Although the country cannot register its use at the national level, the Health Ministry can issue permission for using the unregistered vaccine. The first 150,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to arrive on February 9. It can be used to vaccinate critical infrastructure and people younger than 55 who suffer from chronic diseases. Police raided ex-ministers firm The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) entered the premises of the Aston hotel in Bratislava on the morning of February 3, where the family company of ex-minister Peter Ziga resides. The raid is reportedly related to the timber business involving Ziga's family company called Taper. The police are carrying out raids across Slovakia as part of the Drevo (Timber) operation, as Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Michal Slivka confirmed to the private broadcaster TV Markiza. Police raid a company of former two-time Smer minister Ziga Read more Picture of the day: Slovak PM Igor Matovic (OLaNO) is on an official visit to France. Apart from meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, he laid wreaths at the memorial of Slovak native Milan Rastislav Stefanik and met with Christoph Deloire, secretary-general and executive director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). French President Emmanuel Macron holds an umbrella as Slovakia's PM Igor Matovic speaks to the medias before a business lunch at Elysee Palace on February 3, 2021 in Paris. (Source: AP/TASR) Feature story for today: People who have been vaccinated against Covid enjoy an exemption from testing, but when crossing borders they are treated like anyone else. Two weeks after a person has had their second Covid vaccine dose, they are considered fully vaccinated. There were about 10,000 such people in Slovakia at the beginning of February 2021. They are enjoying the benefit of not having to receive testing to gain exemption from the curfew, which applies in Slovakia as part of ongoing mass testing. Instead of a negative test result, they just use their vaccination confirmation. The basic anti-pandemic measures, like wearing a mask, apply to such people just like everyone else; including the crossing of the country's borders. Read more in a story by Nina Hrabovska Francelova. Vaccinated or not, there is just one set of rules when crossing the border Read more In other news Businessman Jozef Brhel , who was detained and faces charges in the Mytnik (Toll Collector) case, was hospitalised on the evening of February 2 , reportedlyin a psychiatry ward. , who was detained and faces charges in the Mytnik (Toll Collector) case, , reportedlyin a psychiatry ward. The Council of Europes Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has expressed disappointment in the slow progress of Slovakia in implementing measures to prevent the corruption of MPs, judges and prosecutors. This stems from a new compliance report assessing the countrys progress in the implementation of 16 recommendations issued in the previous report five years ago. (GRECO) has expressed in implementing measures to prevent the corruption of MPs, judges and prosecutors. This stems from a new compliance report assessing the countrys progress in the implementation of 16 recommendations issued in the previous report five years ago. The number of children younger than 18 who show symptoms of depression rose by 33 percent due to curfew and closed schools, according to Svetlana Sithova, head of the inclusive education department of the Education Ministry. rose by due to curfew and closed schools, according to Svetlana Sithova, head of the inclusive education department of the Education Ministry. President Zuzana Caputova will recall Miroslav Fikar as rector of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU). The controversial decision of the STU senate from late October 2020 to remove Fikar from his post was criticised by Education Minister Branislav Grohling (SaS), but he has no powers in this regard. as rector of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU). The controversial decision of the STU senate from late October 2020 to remove Fikar from his post was criticised by Education Minister Branislav Grohling (SaS), but he has no powers in this regard. The cross-country D1 highway stretch near Zilina , part of which is Visnove Tunnel , will be completed by the Skanska construction company for 225 million by 2023 . The two other bidders, Metrostav and the Strabag consortium, can appeal the decision made by the National Highway Company. , part of which is , will be completed by the . The two other bidders, Metrostav and the Strabag consortium, can appeal the decision made by the National Highway Company. Only 29 percent of working people in Slovakia are able to work from home in Slovakia. It is one of the lowest shares in the OECD, according to an analysis of Eva Sadovska, analyst with WOOD & Company. are able to work from home in Slovakia. It is one of the lowest shares in the OECD, according to an analysis of Eva Sadovska, analyst with WOOD & Company. Slovak MEP Michal Wiezik was elected vice president of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals (IWCA) on February 3. Another Slovak MEP, Martin Hojsik, serves as the groups vice president as well. Also on Spectator.sk: Related article Related article Foreign trade breaks records, revenues in hospitality fall significantly Read more Related article Related article Slovakia interested in the production of coronavirus vaccines Read more Related article The World Health Organization investigators in Wuhan say they have been given data 'no-one has seen before' and have not ruled out that Covid escaped from a lab. Dr Peter Daszak, a British zoologist on the WHO team, said last night that China was being open with them and allowing them to explore wherever the evidence leads. But there are doubts over whether the UN agency which parroted Beijing's false claims earlier in the pandemic has the capacity to uncover the truth more than a year on. The Communist Party is supposed to have granted the WHO scope to explore how Covid-19 jumped from animal to human - the laboratory a possible ground zero. Dr Daszak and his colleagues were seen driving into the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology shrouded in mist this morning. The investigators also met with 'bat woman', Dr Shi Zhengli, a virologist who was one of the first people in the world to identify the novel coronavirus. He told Sky News earlier: 'They are sharing data with us that we have not seen before - that no one has seen before. Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the World Health Organization (WHO) team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease on Wednesday Journalists approach Peter Daszak, a British zoologist who is president of the US-based EcoHealth Alliance, as the WHO team arrive at the lab on Wednesday. He said last night: 'They are sharing data with us that we have not seen before - that no one has seen before. They are talking with us openly about every possible pathway. We really are getting somewhere and I think every member of the team would say that.' Peter Daszak and Thea Fischer arriving on Wednesday. Fischer is a virologist and epidemiologist at University of Copenhagen and Nordsjaelland Hospital, who previously worked at Denmark's State Serum Institute Peter Daszak, who is president of the US-based EcoHealth Alliance, speaks on the phone this morning in Wuhan ahead of the visit to the lab He said in a tweet investigators had met with 'bat woman', Dr Shi Zhengli, a virologist who was one of the first people in the world to identify the novel coronavirus 'They are talking with us openly about every possible pathway. We really are getting somewhere and I think every member of the team would say that.' China's official timeline vs new evidence Official timeline Dec 8, 2019 - Earliest date that China has acknowledged an infection Dec 31 - China first reported 'pneumonia of unknown cause' to the World Health Organisation Jan 1, 2020 - Wuhan seafood market closed for disinfection Jan 11 - China reported its first death Jan 23 - Wuhan locked down Jan 31 - WHO declared 'outbreak of international concern' as China admitted having thousands of cases Feb 23 - Italy reports cluster of cases in first major outbreak in the West New evidence Sep 2019- Blood samples are taken in a lung cancer screening trial in Italy which later test positive for coronavirus Oct-Dec - Rise in 'flu and pneumonia' cases in northern Italy which could be linked to coronavirus Nov - Sewage samples taken in Florianopolis, Brazil, suggest virus was present Nov 10 - Milanese woman has a skin biopsy, producing a sample which later shows signs of the virus Nov 17 - Leaked documents suggest case detected in China on this date Dec 1 - Chinese researchers report an infection on this date in a peer-reviewed study, but it has not been acknowledged by Beijing Dec 18 - Sewage samples taken in Milan and Turin suggest virus was circulating in the cities Jan 2020 - Sewage samples from Barcelona suggest virus was in the city Advertisement Arriving at the laboratory this morning he told reporters outside that his team was 'looking forward to a very productive day and to asking all the questions that we know need to be asked'. Most scientists believe Covid - which has killed more than two million people worldwide - originated in bats and could have been transmitted to people via another mammal. In Washington, the Trump administration repeatedly demanded that the laboratory be probed and last month then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo released new intelligence about the facility. Among the dossiers, were claims that researchers at the lab fell ill in the fall of 2019 with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, that scientists there were working with a bat coronavirus that is 96.2 percent similar genetically to the virus that causes Covid, and that the lab has secret links to the Chinese military. Experts have repeatedly dismissed the idea that the virus was manufactured, and Mr Pompeo did not suggest that Covid was intentionally engineered or released on purpose. Instead, he raised the possibility that it was a natural virus that had accidentally escaped from the lab through sloppy safety protocols. 'Accidental infections in labs have caused several previous virus outbreaks in China and elsewhere, including a 2004 SARS outbreak in Beijing that infected nine people, killing one,' the State Department said in a briefing document. The most shocking revelation in Pompeo's release was intelligence suggesting that workers at the Wuhan lab fell ill with 'symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses' in the fall of 2019, months before the wider outbreak in Wuhan. The WHO experts stayed inside the institute for nearly four hours on Wednesday, before driving away without stopping to talk to media waiting outside. Police in black uniforms and face masks lined the road to separate the crowds of reporters from the cars. According to the state-run Global Times, the team also visited the P4 lab - Asia's first maximum-security lab equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) such as Ebola. There was speculation early in the pandemic that the virus could have accidentally leaked from the biosafety lab in Wuhan, although there was little evidence to back up that theory. China has faced criticism at home and abroad for covering up the initial outbreak and concealing information when it first emerged in Wuhan in December 2019. Journalists are held back by security guards outside the entrance to the lab on Wednesday Vladimir G. Dedkov (L), Peter Ben Embarek (C-back), Peter Daszak (R) and other members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team Security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the WHO Journalists at a fence looking into the P4 Lab in the Wuhan Institute of Virology today But Dr Daszak told journalists on Tuesday the mission was proceeding 'very well', as the group was driven into an animal disease control centre. The Briton told Sky: 'If there are data that point towards any hypothesis, we'll follow the data, we'll follow the evidence where it leads us. If it leads us to a seafood market and a cold chain, we'll follow it there. 'If it leads us to a wildlife farm or a wildlife market we'll go there. If it leads us to a lab we'll go there. Everything's on the table and we're keeping an open mind.' He said they had visited the Huanan seafood market, where the fist cases of coronavirus emerged, and that they were 'seeing new information and it's good, it's very valuable stuff.' Chinese scientists and officials have been keen to point the finger of blame outside their own borders - variously suggesting that the virus could have originated in Bangladesh, the US, Greece, Australia, India, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia or Serbia Multiple countries have uncovered evidence that the virus was circulating months earlier than originally thought. While Beijing has tried to insist this proves the virus originated elsewhere, most scientists still think China was the origin - raising the prospect that communist officials simply hid evidence of the early spread Dr Daszak told the broadcaster: 'We are in the market looking around on our own and asking questions, we are meeting with market managers, with vendors who worked there and people from the community and asking them questions. 'We are talking to people who collected samples from the floor of the market that then tested positive. That's the sort of information we are getting with the person that really matters.' China is also determined to put the focus on its recovery from the outbreak, and the WHO team toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China's recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday. On Sunday the team went to the market where one of the first reported clusters of infections emerged over a year ago, which Dr Daszak tweeted was a 'critical' stop. Other stops include the hospital which treated some of the first coronavirus cases. Researchers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province in February 2017 Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen above. China's ruling Communist Party keeps a tight hold on information and is particularly concerned about revelations about its handling of the virus The head of the WHO Tedros Adhanom (above) has expressed impatience with how long China took to make necessary arrangements for the expert team's visit Shi Zhengli, one of China's leading experts on bat coronaviruses and deputy director of the Wuhan lab, raised some eyebrows in a June 2020 interview with Scientific American magazine in which she said she was initially anxious over whether the virus had leaked from the facility. But subsequent checks revealed that none of the gene sequences matched the viruses held by the lab, Shi said, adding: 'I had not slept a wink for days.' She later said she would 'bet her life that (the new coronavirus) had nothing to do with the lab', according to Chinese state media. Tanzania's government, which has been criticized for its handling of the pandemic, has no plans to rollout Covid vaccines, the health minister says. The comments come days after President John Magufuli warned officials against acquiring vaccines saying they could harm people, without giving evidence. Critics have accused him of playing down the threat posed by the virus. Millions of people have already been inoculated in many countries after the vaccines were given emergency approval. Vaccines are rigorously tested in trials involving thousands of people before being assessed by health regulators. They look at all the data on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines before approving them for use on a wider population. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged Tanzania to consider inoculating its population. Tanzania is one of the few countries in the world to not publish any data on Covid-19 cases. It last did so in May, when about 500 cases and 20 deaths were recorded. The following month, Mr Magufuli declared Tanzania "coronavirus-free". Last month, the president said some Tanzanians had travelled abroad to take the vaccine but "ended up bringing us a strange coronavirus". The comments were seen as an apparent admission that the virus may be circulating in the country. At a news conference on Monday, Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima said: "For now the government has no plans to receive the Covid vaccine being distributed in other countries." The minister urged Tanzanians to take precautions and to use traditional medicine as a way of dealing with coronavirus, although their efficacy to combat the virus has not been scientifically confirmed. A blogger shared photos of Dr Gwajima and other officials inhaling steam and taking a herbal concoction. 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 Don Feinstein, Ph.D., AUSL's Executive Director, stated: "Cardelle is a strong advocate for all students to receive a high-quality education and brings courageous leadership experience to the board. Cardelle and Mike's leadership, combined with Cheri's and Steve's experience, will help AUSL continue the fight to close the opportunity gap that many of our students face." Ms. Spangler is a Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, a premier international law firm founded more than 160 years ago in Chicago, Illinois. During her nearly 25 years at Winston, Ms. Spangler has specialized in complex, high- profile employment litigation, investigations and counseling; consistently has been recognized by legal publications and her peers as a leading lawyer; and has held many leadership positions within the firm. Cardelle has been a member of the AUSL board since since 2012, among other civic and community engagements. Cardelle received a B.A. from Washington University and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law. Ms. Spangler stated, "I am truly honored to have been chosen as Co-Chair of AUSL. This is an exciting time in our organization's history. I look forward to working closely with my fellow Board members, AUSL management, the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools to continue AUSL's unwavering mission of enhancing the educational outcomes of students on Chicago's South and West Side." Mike Zafirovski, AUSL board member since 2010, will remain as Co-Chair with Ms. Spangler. Mr. Zafirovski said "I am thrilled Cardelle accepted the invitation to be a co-chair of AUSL. "She has been a tireless, articulate and highly impactful colleague on the board and I am looking forward to an even closer collaboration in our mission of delivering education and racial equity for our students. Cardelle and I are also energized with the additions of Cheri and Steve to the board. Their unique experiences, broad perspectives, and passionate human rights championing fit well with what we do at AUSL." Mr. Zafirovski is the founder and president of The Zaf Group LLC, a management consulting and investment firm. He is also an executive advisor to The Blackstone Group and is on the Stericycle board of directors. Previously, in a 34-year corporate career he was the CEO or President at Nortel, Motorola, and five GE businesses in the high tech, industrial, consumer, and financial services industries. Mr. Zafirovski is a former board member of The Boeing Company and is a visiting lecturer at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Mike received a B.A. from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Cheri Carter, joining AUSL as a board member, is the Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement (BGE), a position she assumed in October 2019. Cheri is responsible for developing and executing The Boeing Company's charitable giving and employee community engagement strategies. Before her current role, Carter had a lengthy career as a top-level public and private sector executive and political advisor. Ms. Carter worked in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Business Outreach and served as Chief of Staff in the Office of Public Liaison. Ms. Carter also served as Director of External Affairs for the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cheri received her degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Georgia. Ms. Carter stated, "In my role leading Boeing's Global Engagement team, I understand the importance of a quality education. Now, as we grapple with the ongoing impacts of a global pandemic, it is clear to me that equal access to education is more important than ever. This is particularly true in technical areas such as STEM. AUSL has done tremendous work to ensure that students, regardless of their zip code, receive a high-quality, equitable education. I am thrilled to be part of this board and am excited to help continue the great work of this organization." Steve Pemberton, also joining the AUSL board, is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), of Workhuman, a position he has held since December of 2017. Before joining Workhuman, Steve served in senior executive roles for Walgreens Boots Alliance and Monster.com. A frequent presenter on Capitol Hill, in 2015, Mr. Pemberton was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities. Steve is an author and nationally known motivational speaker. Stated Mr. Pemberton, "I am truly excited to join the AUSL board. Their mission-to create neighborhood schools of excellence and to develop highly effective teachers-resonates with me personally and professionally. I've always been invested in matters of education and equality and how the two come together to create opportunity for all. Teachers are lighthouses for many underserved communities. Children need these individuals to be guides and mentors as they seek greater opportunities for themselves. About AUSL The Academy for Urban School Leadership is a nonprofit school management organization that manages three service lines: School management, the Chicago Teacher Residency, and Advisory Services. AUSL's school management team partners with Chicago Public Schools to manage 31 neighborhood Schools of Excellence. The Chicago Teacher Residency was developed in partnership with CPS in 2001, with its first class of residents graduating in 2002/2003. With over 1,100 graduates, the Chicago Teacher Residency is one of the country's early residency programs. AUSL offers advisory services to school districts across the country. Media Contact: Christopher Childers, [email protected] Related Links https://www.auslchicago.org SOURCE Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) Hundreds of property managers across the country are signed up to a private social media page where landlords blacklist tenants despite the claims of bad behaviour being unverified and some posts potentially breaching privacy rights. The Facebook page 'Bad Tenants' has come under fire for landlords posting the identities, passport details and photographs of tenants to its more than 3400 followers. Property managers from throughout the country and at every level within the industry are looking at the social media posts. Renters United spokesperson Robert Whitaker says this is deeply worrying. "Property managers are shortlisting by any mechanism they can. If they have to choose between 20 people, if the name's familiar because they have been seen in this group, they are going to be struck off." He says while a property manager may not be consciously using the list, it can create unconscious bias. Too often, people are discriminated against because of their ethnicity, name, a disability or their appearance, he says. The Property Management Institute of New Zealand declined an interview but in a statement says it does not endorse members joining these pages. It has reminded members they should be following established vetting processes rather than engaging in online and unverified gossip, it says. RNZ contacted some of the big firms, whose members are subscribed to the page. Harcourts turned down an interview. In a statement, Ray White says it does not support the use of unregulated platforms or pages and that should evidence be provided that a franchisee has breached the privacy rights of any tenant it would investigate this. It says Facebook groups have no affect on its existing tenant application, vetting and selection process. Barfoot & Thompson agreed to an interview. Its general manager of property management, Samantha Arnold, says she was not aware their members were signed up to this Facebook page, but that she does not believe it has been used for vetting tenants. "If it is for vetting, it is not ethical and it's definitely not something we would want to be using for verification, at all." Staff have been asked to quit the page immediately, she says. "A bad tenant could be just someone's opinion, and it could be just a clash with the owner. That's exactly why we wouldn't rely on someone else's information, because it's opinion at the end of the day, rather than fact. We would much rather see a tribunal report to see if there have been any rent arrears." But Rob Whitaker says merely telling property managers to stop using the pages does not address the real issue. "What this shows is there is no ethical base to these companies. Their individual agents should already have enough professional ethics to know joining these groups is totally inappropriate. Saying 'we're telling our members to leave that group' doesn't address the broader problem of ethics in this industry." He says he wants to see managers reporting inappropriate posts online. The property management industry is barely regulated. But prior to last year's election, the Labour Party promised to introduce a code of conduct for the industry. In a statement, the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development says work is underway on this and the minister will be given advice in the coming months. In the meantime, the Privacy Commission will be cracking down on information sharing in the rental market. Privacy Commissioner John Edwards says landlords and property managers hold more power in the current rental market, and they must act carefully. "It can effectively lock people out of the rental market on the basis of information they don't know even know a prospective landlord has access to. That would be unfair. "We do see cases where people can be tainted by an association with a co-tenant or abusive partner and that can marginalise people who are vulnerable and disempowered." Edwards says tenants are entitled to know what information a group or landlord has about them. If the landlord or group does not hand it over, or destroys it, that could be a criminal offence. Edwards says the Privacy Commission's focus will be ensuring a high standard of compliance within the sector. -RNZ/Eva Corlett. LUSAKA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming first ever China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo is a chance to work towards ensuring that trade volumes between Zambia and China increase with more Zambians being encouraged to participate in export trade, a Zambian expert has said. Oliver Saasa, a renowned Zambia economist said an export of this kind presents opportunities, and if properly structured, can bring about many economic benefits for Zambia that include increased number of Zambians participating in export trade. According to him, Africa is rich in mineral resources but most of these are exported in their raw form with very little forward linkages in investments down stream. "Essentially you will be looking at what is it that China can do by way of value addition. Speaking of copper for instance, instead of sending it in its raw form to China, we could invite Chinese firms that are into electronics and are using copper imports in processing to set up industries within Zambia," Saasa said. With regard to investment in the agriculture sector, he said Zambia should be looking at ways of encouraging China to invest in Zambia's agriculture sector so that it can export to neighbouring countries and become the breadbasket of the southern Africa region. "Zambia controls 35 percent of the water resources in southern Africa and literally anything grows in Zambia. This makes the country a good place for agricultural investment," Saasa explained. He also pointed out that beyond investments in natural resources, Zambia needs to also look into ways of investing in the tourism sector so as to encourage more Chinese tourists as well as investors. "At global level, China is leading in terms of both opportunities and tourist arrivals because of sheer numbers. This is an opportunity that Zambia can tap into and look at what sort of packages we should have to interest the Chinese market and tourists coming to Zambia and to Africa," Saasa said. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] Although South Africa has eased some preventative Covid-19 restrictions, neighbouring eSwatini, Africa's last absolute monarchy, has run out of body bags and is having a hard time coping with the remains of pandemic victims. Corpses were wrapped in bedsheets for two weeks until body bags were finally procured after complaints by hospital staff who were worried about a heightened risk of contracting coronavirus. A source at Good Shepherd hospital in Siteki quoted by The Times of Swaziland paper said a health worker in the hospital died after being exposed to the virus. "She died while also admitted to the facility after contracting the virus. It is so discouraging because she complained that the shortage of personal protective equipment was a major issue for health workers," according to the source, who did not want to be named. According to the last tally reported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on 31 January, eSwatini currently has 15,283 cases and 538 deaths in a country of 1.1 million. Cases have risen steeply since late December. In an effort to ease the situation and prevent the hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, the UK sent a number of medical professionals in late January to help with the Covid-19 situation. "The team of 11, which includes 4 British medics... will provide urgent training and use their specialist expertise to provide clinical supervision to those treating patients critically ill with COVID-19," according to a British government statement. Mozambique The rise of Covid-19 deaths in Mozambique is disconcerting for the country's health ministry, which recorded its worst month in January. Covid-positive eSwatini Prime Minister taken to South Africa for treatment South African Covid variant can evade antibodies to reinfect, tests show Mozambique recorded 210 deaths from Covid-19 in January, its worst month since the pandemic started, according to the health ministry. The number is more than half of the 367 deaths recorded from the disease. In January alone, 20,012 cases were recorded, more than half of the total of 35,833, according to Africa CDC. South Africa South Africa received its first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. Its arrival, which was announced to great fanfare on South African television on Monday, as broadcasters followed the airplane bringing the doses as it landed at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Southern Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. South Africa's first batch of lifesaving #COVID19 #Vaccine doses have officially touched ground! #IChooseVaccination #VaccineRolloutSA #WeChooseVaccination pic.twitter.com/V8ztEmdSKo -- Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) February 1, 2021 Also on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a rollback of some stricter preventative Covid-19 measures, allowing for beaches to be reopened, as well as the sale of alcohol. The country is still on Code 3 restrictions, but the president has also allowed religious gatherings with limited numbers of people. Ramaphosa also announced that the country had its lowest number of coronavirus daily infections since the beginning of December 2020. South Africa is allegedly the origin of one of the new highly infectious variants, and many countries have forbidden travel from South Africa in order to prevent the spread of the virus. This variant is also reportedly more resistant to vaccines. The government says South Africa's 1.25 million health workers will have priority in getting the vaccine. Africa CDC announced last month that South Africa will receive more than 50 million doses. WASHINGTON - Shortly after his brother won the presidency, Frank Biden, who works for a Florida law firm called Berman Law Group, spoke to a local television station about his tight connection with Joe Biden. "We've all always been close," Frank Biden told WPBF, saying he'd talked to the president-elect just the day before, for his birthday. "But we're closer now." Viewers could hardly miss Frank Biden's employer, since he was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with a "TBT" logo, his firm's shorthand for "The Berman Team." And in Frank's case, the shirt also spelled out another meaning for TBT: "The Biden Team." As President Joe Biden enters his third week in office, the firm where his brother is a "non-attorney senior adviser" has aggressively touted its ties to power - emphasizing the brothers' connection, declaring that their values are aligned, highlighting Biden's policies as it advertises its services, and generally playing up Frank Biden's role even on cases where he is not involved. The White House, which boasts of its strict ethics policy, has yet to publicly issue rules for Biden's family members, even though his relatives' business dealings have created problems for him before. A White House official said a process is in place, involving the counsel's office and representatives of the family, to address potential conflicts of interest as they arise. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that has not yet been announced, declined to provide details. As Biden seeks to break dramatically from the mingling of family and government that characterized Donald Trump's presidency, Frank Biden's activities could muddy the message. At issue is his work at the small Boca Raton-based firm, which long focused on personal injury cases but in recent years has sought to expand its horizons and play on a bigger field, in part by hiring Frank Biden in 2018. After Joe Biden's inauguration in January, Berman Law Group moved swiftly to capitalize on his immigration policy shifts. In a social media post, it highlighted the president's halt to deportations while pitching a "free consultation" to anyone seeking its services. The firm deleted those posts Sunday, hours after a reporter from The Washington Post inquired about them. In a newspaper ad that ran on Inauguration Day, Berman Law Group boasted about a class-action lawsuit it had filed against sugar cane growers, stressing that the case came "against the backdrop of incoming President Joseph Biden Jr.'s commitment to environmental and social justice, a value shared by his brother and Berman Law Group senior adviser, Frank Biden." Several months earlier, as Biden was locking up the Democratic nomination, the firm filed two class-action lawsuits against China for its role in the coronavirus pandemic - in both cases, noting Frank Biden's role at the firm when announcing the suits, though a partner said he was not involved in them. In what one of the partners described to Newsmax as "a multitrillion-dollar lawsuit," the firm demanded to know whether the virus a Chinese weapons lab created the virus. The suit faces long odds, legal experts say, but it has significantly raised the firm's profile. Frank Biden did not respond to an email seeking comment. A White House spokesman said President Biden is committed to ethical behavior by his family as well as his staff. "President Biden has set and maintained the highest ethical standards for himself, his administration, and those around him, and he has pledged an 'absolute wall' with any family member's private business interests," said the spokesman, Michael Gwin. "Any implication to the contrary is flatly untrue and unsupported by the facts." Gwin added that Frank Biden has not consulted with his brother on any business matter, and that no one from Berman Law Group has contacted the Biden team in regard to its legal activities. Matthew Moore, a partner with Berman Law Group, agreed. "We have not spoken with Federal Government officials about any of our cases," Moore said in an email. "There have been no discussions between the firm (including Frank Biden) with President Biden, the campaign, transition, or administration about the law firm or any cases, including China related matters, nor will there be." When it hired Frank Biden in 2018, the firm cited his experience in business and government as a boon for its clients. It recounted his work with nonprofit organizations as well as his stint as a legislative liaison in U.S. Government Printing Office under President Bill Clinton, and it noted his work on Joe Biden's campaigns. "Joe Biden's brother joins The Berman Law Group," said one statement posted by the firm on Instagram at the time, using the original styling of the firm's name. In a March 2019 advertising section in the Boca Raton Observer, also posted to the firm's Instagram account,it said Frank Biden would offer clients "an unrivaled personal network of contacts." During his presidential campaign, Joe Biden was forced to answer questions about his son Hunter's tenure on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, at the same time Biden himself was serving as the Obama administration's point man on Ukraine. Separately, Hunter Biden is now facing a federal investigation over taxes paid on a business venture in China. He has said that he handled his taxes "legally and appropriately." Biden has promised that family conflicts of interest will not be tolerated. "My son, my family, will not be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict," he told CNN in December. Administration officials plan to follow up on the president's words with procedures that would prevent even the appearance of conflicts of interest, a Biden official told The Washington Post last month. But no such policy has yet been announced, and it's unclear how it would be enforced. And it is unclear how such a policy might apply to issues such as the China lawsuits pursued by Frank Biden's firm, which could put him at odds with administration policy or complicate diplomatic relations with the superpower. Joe Biden, 78, is the oldest of four siblings. They include Valerie Biden Owens, 75, his sister and longtime political adviser; James Biden, 71; and Francis Biden, who goes by Frank, 67. Frank Biden has invoked his famous last name in the past - for example, when he was working to help a for-profit company open charter schools in Florida. At the time, he denied using his brother's name to advance his business endeavors. "I never invoke his name other than to tell people I am his younger brother and I love him," he told The Washington Post in December 2011. Frank Biden was hired by Berman Law Group as an adviser about nine months before his brother entered the Democratic presidential primary. At the time, the firm was seeking to expand beyond its traditional focus on personal injury suits to offer a wider range of services including, as the firm put it, "high-profile government relations consulting" led by Biden. A prime example was the firm's launch last year of the lawsuits against China. It was not alone; at least a dozen law firms - and two states - have attempted to sue China on behalf of covid-19 patients. Frank Biden was not involved in the China cases, Moore said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post, although Berman Law Group highlighted his role at the firm in material promoting both lawsuits. The China lawsuits are unusual because congressional action - and the president's signature - are usually required for such cases to move forward, according to two experts in sovereign immunity, which means the issue could land on President Biden's desk. The White House declined to say whether it supports covid-related suits against China. A spokeswoman from the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not reply to an email seeking comment. The two suits were filed as Joe Biden was locking up the Democratic nomination in early 2020. The first - which holds China broadly responsible for the pandemic - does not specify the damages it is seeking. But Jeremy Alters, the firm's chief strategist, told Newsmax they could amount to "trillions" of dollars, and said to Fox News they could come to "tens of trillions of dollars." The second lawsuit accuses the Chinese government of "hoarding, stockpiling and intentionally cornering the market on PPE," or personal protective equipment. Experts said the bar is high for the covid-19 litigation to move forward, but it has already raised Berman Law Group's profile and the firm has been featured in national outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Bloomberg News and the news site Cheddar. "The law group is backed by some big names, including Frank Biden, Joe Biden's brother," a Cheddar presenter said in introducing a segment on the lawsuit. During the interview, Alters - who spoke from an office featuring a blue surfboard - said that "the government would be helpful, but not necessary" for allowing the plaintiffs to seize Chinese assets in the United States. Frank Biden drew fresh scrutiny last week after Berman Law Group ran an "advertorial" in a South Florida business newspaper, highlighting his role with the firm and his connection to his brother. The firm's lawsuit against sugar cane growers and President Biden's support for the Paris climate accords both stemmed from the brothers' environmental values, the ad said. Berman Law Group is based in a one-story pale yellow building with a cherry-red roof not far from the ocean. The firm's online material suggests camaraderie, including a photo of 11 women standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the building last November with the caption "Paralegal Power." The firm was founded by twin brothers Theodore and Russell Berman, and social media posts include frequent testimonials from clients who have been in car accidents. The Berman brothers referred questions to Moore. In July 2018, when the firm hired Frank Biden, it also added former Florida state senator Joseph Abruzzo. The two hires were depicted as part of the firm's move beyond personal injury work into more sophisticated areas. "Bringing on Frank Biden and Joe Abruzzo is consistent with our vision and passion for helping our clients in Florida and throughout the country," the firm said in an ad. The firm said that Frank Biden, in addition to his "unrivaled personal network of contacts," offered clients "the benefits of more than 40 years of service in Washington" and "a deep understanding of federal, state and municipal governments." - - - The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report. began its countrywide vaccination programme on Wednesday, with the first jabs administered simultaneously in all four provinces, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the immunisation drive in capital Islamabad. As per the schedule, frontline health workers are being vaccinated first, followed by the elderly citizens and then the rest. The drive began after half a million doses of vaccines were donated by China on Monday. The nationwide campaign is being held in major cities of all provinces and occupied-Kashmir. At the vaccination launch, Planning Minister Asad Umar, who is also the chair of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said the simultaneous inauguration reflected a united national effort. He praised the health workers for risking their lives to save the people. Advisor on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, on the occasion, said China's Sinopharm has proved its effectiveness. Let me tell you something about the Sinopharm vaccine. Its efficacy is between 79 to 86 per cent, he said, adding that 70 per cent of the population would be vaccinated by the end of the year. He said presently over 500 vaccine centres were administering the vaccines with a capacity of 40,000 people per day and that the capacity would be increased soon. Pakistan's COVID-19 death toll stood at 11,802 on Wednesday, after 56 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours. In the same period, 1,384 new cases were reported, taking the total number of cases to 549,032, according to the ministry of National Health Services. So far, 504,046 people have recovered from the disease in the country. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. Pharmacies Will Start to Get a Big Infusion of Vaccines Moderna wants to add 50 percent more vaccine to each of its vials. A mutation found in Britain might make vaccines less effective, health experts there said. Portugal is running out of hospital beds. Follow our latest coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. A U.S. program aiming to channel a huge number of vaccines through pharmacies will start soon. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:32 - 0:00 transcript White House Will Send Vaccinations Directly to Pharmacies The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Last week, we took steps to increase the amount of vaccine going to states, tribes and territories by 16 percent. Today, we are further increasing that weekly allocation by an additional 5 percent. So for the next three weeks, we will provide a minimum of 10.5 million in total doses per week across all jurisdictions. That means we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. To be clear, this is on top of the 10.5 million doses we will ship this week. I also want to be clear that we are delivering on our commitment to provide states with three weeks forward visibility into supply. This is critical, and weve heard strong feedback from state and local leaders that this is helping give them what they need to plan and get vaccines administered more quickly. Pharmacies are readily accessible in most communities, with most Americans living within five miles of a pharmacy. Thats why were pleased to announce our first phase of the federal retail pharmacy program for Covid-19 vaccinations. This is a key component of President Bidens national strategy, offering vaccinations in Americas pharmacies. Starting on Feb. 11, the federal government will deliver vaccines directly to select pharmacies across the country. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and its an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Credit Credit... John Taggart for The New York Times The federal government will send one million vaccine doses to about 6,500 retail pharmacies on Feb. 11, the beginning of a federal program that will deliver vaccines directly to as many as 40,000 drugstores and grocery stores, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, announced on Tuesday. The programs launch will mark the start of a new stage in the massive vaccination campaign in the United States, gradually shifting a drive which so far has been centered in health care facilities and massive sites like stadiums to smaller, more local settings that will play a crucial role in vaccinating the general public. While some states in recent weeks have begun using a limited number of retail pharmacies to give out some of their vaccine doses, the federal program launching next week will not cut into the doses allocated to states and over time, it will greatly expand the number of sites where eligible people can get vaccines. Still, the launch of the program will be slow at first many pharmacies will not have vaccines at all or will have very limited supply, Mr. Zients said and it will not expand the still limited number of high-risk groups that states have deemed to be eligible to receive vaccines. Eligible patients should check pharmacy websites for availability, Mr. Zients said. Mr. Zients said that the federal government would allocate vaccines under the pharmacy program based on the population of each state and jurisdiction, as it has been doing for vaccines distributed via other channels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also working with states to choose pharmacies in areas that are harder to reach and close to people at higher risk of severe Covid-19, Mr. Zients said. He added that the agency would monitor the program to make sure pharmacies are distributing doses efficiently and fairly. Dozens of national and regional chains are participating, though not all of them will be involved in the first phase of distribution. Among them are CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Meijer, Costco, Jewel-Osco and Safeway. CVS said on Tuesday that it would begin offering vaccines on Feb. 11 in 11 states under the federal retail pharmacy program. Walgreens said on Tuesday that it would do the same on Feb. 12 in 15 states and major metropolitan areas. Both chains had already been giving out shots in long-term care facilities and retail pharmacies in some states. Walmart said last week that it has more than 5,000 stores across its flagship brand and Sams Club locations that are operationally and clinically ready to give out vaccines. The Trump administration first announced the retail pharmacy program last fall. Rebecca Robbins and New data on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine lend support for delaying its second doses. A medical worker preparing a syringe with the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot at a vaccination center in a public hospital in Brasilia on Tuesday. Credit... Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters A single dose of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca provided strong protection against Covid-19 in clinical trials when its second shots were delayed by at least three months, researchers reported on Tuesday. The encouraging results, detailed by Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers in a manuscript that has not been peer-reviewed, lend support to the strategy deployed by Britain and other countries to prioritize providing as many first doses of vaccines as possible without worrying that people will get their second doses later than initially planned. The latest data do not have bearing on the debate over whether to further space out the doses of the two vaccines authorized in the United States, those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, since the data on AstraZenecas candidate cannot be generalized to other vaccines. Some scientists have called on the United States to follow the lead of Britain and other countries that have opted to delay the second doses of vaccines by up to 12 weeks. But U.S. federal officials have resisted, saying such a move would not be supported by the data from clinical trials of the two vaccines currently available across the nation. Tuesdays results could amplify pressure on U.S. health officials to delay second doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, though it has not yet been authorized by the country. The Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers found that a single dose of the vaccine was 76 percent effective at preventing Covid-19. The data measured the three months after the first shot was given, not including an initial three-week period needed for protection to take effect. The vaccine appeared more effective when the interval between the two shots was longer than the originally intended four-week gap. Among clinical trial participants who got two standard-strength doses at least three months apart, the vaccine was 82 percent effective, compared to 55 percent effective when the doses were given less than six weeks apart. A vaccination strategy that spaces out doses by three months may be the optimal for rollout of a pandemic vaccine when supplies are limited in the short term, the researchers wrote. Tuesdays results build on data released late last year, which found that the vaccine was 62 percent effective when given as two standard-strength doses. In those initial findings, the vaccines efficacy was much higher, at 90 percent, when the first dose of the vaccine was given at half-strength. Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers initially attributed the different levels of effectiveness to the lower strength of the initial dose. But they gradually reached a different conclusion: the amount of time between doses was the more likely explanation. The results on Tuesday were not entirely positive. The researchers also reported that a single dose of the vaccine did not protect against the virus spreading without symptoms. However, overall cases of any positive test for the coronavirus, whether symptomatic or not, were reduced by 67 percent with a single dose. The researchers said that pointed to the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is waiting on data from a clinical trial that enrolled about 30,000 participants, mostly Americans. Results from that study are expected later this month. The study is expected to arm AstraZeneca with enough safety data to allow it by around early March to seek authorization to provide the vaccine for emergency use. The United States has agreed to buy 300 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, but neither the company nor the federal government has said when and in what quantities those doses will be available after the vaccine is approved. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Some states in the U.S. are pulling back vaccine doses from the federal program for nursing homes. To speed up vaccination of other eligible people, some states are reallocating doses that were earmarked for nursing homes but were not being used swiftly. Jean Riordan and her husband, Joseph, both 92, prepared to be inoculated at a vaccination site in Minneapolis in January. Credit... Octavio Jones for The New York Times It did not take long for Keith Reed, a deputy health commissioner in Oklahoma, to spot a big logistical problem with the states vaccination rollout. Week after week, Oklahoma was allocating thousands of precious doses to a federal program for nursing home patients that was not using them all. In fact, tens of thousands of doses were sitting untouched in freezers. So his department called an audible. It decided to stop allocating any more of Oklahomas vaccine supply to the federal program, a partnership with private pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens that is meant to immunize residents of long-term care facilities. Instead, they would go to distribution channels that would get them into peoples arms faster. A number of states have made similar moves to shift supplies away from the federal effort, known as the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, a telling example of how chaotic the inoculation effort in the U.S. has been so far. Some of the other states include Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Mr. Reed said the Oklahoma move would do no harm: Walgreens and CVS have assured him, he said, that all nursing home residents in the state who needed and wanted to be vaccinated would have the first of their two shots by the end of the week. The federal program used a formula that turned out to significantly overestimate how many shots would be needed for long-term care facilities like nursing homes, whose residents are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. And another problem arose: A considerable number of residents and, especially, workers at the facilities are turning down the chance to be vaccinated. A study released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in the first month of the program, 77.8 percent of residents and 37.5 percent of workers received the vaccine at the average long-term care facility. The study says the true rate for workers may be higher because some may have been vaccinated in other settings. But, even so, federal officials are particularly concerned about how many workers are refusing inoculation, and have been stepping up efforts to change their minds. Mr. Reed said the doses Oklahoma was taking away from the federal program will be going to thousands of Oklahomans who are 65 or older and do not live in nursing homes. Our goal is to move vaccine from freezers to somebodys arm within seven days of receiving it, Mr. Reed said in an interview last week. We just had a hard time with that amount of vaccine off-limits to us that was set aside for this program, when we could be using that vaccine to go straight to Oklahomans. Advocates for nursing home residents are watching closely for any sign that the moves will impede their vaccinations. If we find that older adults are not getting the vaccines that they need, then thats concerning to us, said Lisa Sanders, a spokeswoman for LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers. A peer-reviewed study finds the Russian vaccine has 91.6 percent efficacy. Administering the Sputnik V vaccine in Moscow last month. A report in the medical journal The Lancet showed that the shots appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times A vaccine developed in Russia, Sputnik V, has been shown to have 91.6 percent efficacy against the coronavirus, according to an analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday. The peer-reviewed results, based on a clinical trial conducted on nearly 22,000 people, showed that the Sputnik V vaccine appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects, according to The Lancet, an early vindication for Russia, which faced international skepticism after the vaccine was approved without the release of data regarding clinical trials. The results bring the number of vaccines whose efficacy is higher than 90 percent to three, and will leave Russia well positioned to deliver a cheap vaccine at home and abroad two shots of the Sputnik V vaccine are necessary, each costing $10. The Sputnik V shots also do not need the deep cold storage that can make some other vaccines logistically challenging to use widely. The study comes after the vaccines developer, the Gamaleya Research Institute, which is part of the Russian Health Ministry, announced in December that the vaccine showed 91.4 percent efficacy. When a Russian health care regulator approved the vaccine in August, becoming the first in the world to do so even though the shots had yet to complete clinical trials, experts raised concerns that the authorities were trying to hastily approve a vaccine without due safeguards. But researchers at the Gamaleya Institute had gone ahead months earlier: The head of the team that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, Denis Logunov, along with some colleagues, administered the vaccine to themselves as early as April, according to a New Yorker investigation. Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Polly Roy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who are both virology professors, wrote in The Lancet, The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But, they added, the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated. Russia began its vaccination campaign in December, and around 50 countries have pre-ordered the vaccine. Use of the Sputnik V vaccine in more than a dozen countries, including Algeria, Hungary, Iran and Venezuela, is set to begin this week. Mexico, which has pre-ordered more than 7 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, has approved it for emergency use, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the deputy health minister who is leading the nations coronavirus response, said at a news conference on Tuesday evening. In December, the Gamaleya Institute announced that it had partnered with the drug maker AstraZeneca to try to combine their vaccines and see if the mixture could increase efficacy. Cuomo expands vaccine eligibility in New York to include restaurant workers. Dining outdoors at Cafe du Soleil on the Upper West Side in Manhattan last month. Credit... Clay Williams for The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Tuesday that local governments could begin to provide coronavirus vaccines to restaurant workers, just one day after he dismissed a debate over expanding vaccine eligibility as a cheap, insincere discussion. Taxi drivers and residents at facilities for the developmentally disabled can also be vaccinated, he said. Mr. Cuomo linked the changes to an increase in the vaccine doses allocated to New York State by the federal government. On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it would bump the supply given to states by 5 percent, which resulted from an expected increase in manufacturing. Now theres additional flexibility, Mr. Cuomo said. And Im leaving it up to the local governments to make a determination of what fits their situation best. The debate over whether restaurant workers should be eligible for the vaccine was kicked off last week, when Mr. Cuomo said he would allow restaurants to New York City to resume indoor dining on Feb. 14. The governor barred indoor dining in the city in December among concerns over a second wave of the coronavirus. At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released recommendations that described eating at indoor restaurants as a particularly high-risk activity, and state contact tracing data suggested that restaurants and bars were the fifth main source of new infections in New York. Still, while hospitalizations and the seven-day average positive test rate have been trending downward in recent weeks, both remain higher than they were when Mr. Cuomo closed the restaurants. New York City is at an extremely high risk level for coronavirus, according to an assessment by The New York Times and public health experts. With indoor dining set to restart just as more infectious variants are spreading across the country, many were concerned that restaurant workers returning to their jobs would be putting themselves at increased risk. On Monday, Mr. Cuomo dismissed the suggestion of expanding eligibility, saying the state did not have the vaccine supply necessary to loosen its criteria and that calling for it to do so was a cheap, insincere discussion. Yes, I would like to see restaurant workers eligible, Mr. Cuomo said. It makes total sense. But what does eligibility mean when you dont have the supply necessary?" On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said that he believed that restaurant workers should be eligible to receive the vaccine immediately. Restaurant workers now are going to be in enclosed places with people eating and drinking, Mr. de Blasio said. Every doctor on this line or anyplace else will say thats an area of concern. N.Y.C.s Covid Metrics Are Dire. Cuomo Is Reopening Restaurants Anyway. Average per-capita case counts in New York City are 64 percent higher than they were in December, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo banned indoor dining. Advertisement Continue reading the main story As Moderna looks to increase the doses in vaccine vials, the White House announces an expected boost in manufacturing. A vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine with 10 doses. Moderna is seeking to pack 15 doses into a vial in the future. Credit... Cooper Neill for The New York Times The upstart drugmaker Moderna is asking U.S. regulators to allow it to increase the amount of coronavirus vaccine put into each vial by as much as 50 percent, arguing that it can speed vaccines to patients by clearing away a simple manufacturing bottleneck: Getting medicine into bottles. The Food and Drug Administration could decide within a few weeks how much more vaccine Moderna, the developer of one of the two federally authorized Covid-19 vaccines, can put into its vials. Moderna says it can raise the number of doses per vial from 10 to as much as 15. The company has already been ramping up production of its vaccine, only to find a bottleneck in the bottling, capping and labeling process. With F.D.A. approval, more doses could start going into each bottle quickly, a welcome boost to the campaign to curb a pandemic that has killed more than 440,000 people in the United States alone. In a statement late Monday, Ray Jordan, a Moderna spokesman, said the constraint on dosage per vial was limiting Modernas output. The Moderna proposal is part of a broader push by the Biden administration to speed vaccine distribution, including by clearing away obstacles in the fill and finish phase of manufacturing. Although the nuts-and-bolts stage receives less attention than vaccine development, it has been identified for years as a constraint on vaccine production. On Tuesday, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, said that the federal government would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states for the next three weeks, a bump of five percent resulting from an expected increase in manufacturing. At a White House news conference, Mr. Zients framed the increase in doses as an accomplishment of the Biden administration, saying that we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. But the uptick in production has long been expected as the companies that make two federally authorized vaccines, one from Pfizer and BioNTech and the other from Moderna, have scaled up their efforts. Last week, the companies increased their supply to the U.S. by 16 percent. Governors were informed of the increase on a call Tuesday morning so that they would have more time to plan for vaccinations, Mr. Zients said, with at three weeks of notice for new allocation numbers a cornerstone of a new effort by the Biden administration to improve a distribution system mired in uncertainty and confusion over limited supply and unused doses. That allows them to plan accordingly and know what staffing to have, he said. I think historically, there had been fluctuation. We are very attuned into not having that fluctuation. Moderna has discussed the possible change of the number of doses in vials with the F.D.A. but has not yet submitted manufacturing data to support it, people familiar with the discussions said. Federal regulators may be receptive to the idea of more doses in each vial, but could balk at the notion of a 50 percent increase. The industry standard has long been 10 doses per vial, and federal regulators may be concerned that the extra punctures by needles of the rubber covering of the vial and the time required to extract more doses could increase the risk of contaminating the vaccine with bacteria. Modernas proposal to the F.D.A. for the dose increase was first reported by CNBC. Packing more vaccine into each Moderna vial is one of a number of options White House and health officials are exploring as they push to expand production before the spring, when officials are expecting a renewed surge of infections from emerging variants of the virus. The maker of the other federally approved vaccine, Pfizer, is unable to increase the amount of vaccine in its vials because its manufacturing is geared toward a particular size of vial that can hold only about six doses. But Modernas vial is big enough to hold more than the 10 doses now allowed. Asked about Modernas proposal, a White House spokesman on Monday said that all options are on the table. Among other efforts, Mr. Zients said that the government had now ensured that specialized syringes were shipped out with Pfizers vials so practitioners could extract a sixth dose from them. Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizers chief executive, told investors Tuesday that the company was now two months ahead of schedule and expected to deliver a total of 200 million doses for Americans by the end of May instead of the end of July. The acceleration is at least partly because the government has decided to count Pfizer vial as six doses instead of five. Prashant Yadav, who studies health care supply chains with the Center for Global Development in Washington, said Moderna might be able to relatively quickly make more of its vaccine if it received the green light to add doses to each vial. But he said it would not be an instant change. I dont think Moderna has a surplus sitting around, he said. Mr. Yadav said the finish-and-fill process is intensely automated, devoted to warding off contamination and precise to the microgram. At top speed, as many as 1,000 vials of vaccine can be filled per minute, he said. He said a 15-dose vial carries a trade-off: It could lead to more wasted doses if the health care professional runs out of people to get inoculated and has to throw out the rest of the doses. But in the midst of a raging pandemic, experts said, that may well be a risk that federal health officials would be willing to take. Sharon LaFraniere and A study shows the variant spreading rapidly in Britain might make vaccines less effective. Researchers at Aalborg University in Denmark analyzing coronavirus samples for the variant B.1.1.7 last month. Credit... Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix, via Reuters A fast-spreading coronavirus variant first observed in Britain has gained a worrisome mutation that could make it harder to control with vaccines, Public Health England reported on Monday. And on Tuesday, a team of researchers reported an experiment suggesting that this mutation might make vaccines somewhat less effective against the variant. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, first came to light in December. Researchers determined that it had rapidly become more common across Britain in just a couple of months. Its spread appears to occur because of its improved ability to infect people. Experiments in test tubes suggest that some of its mutations allow the B.1.1.7 variant to hold on to cells more tightly than other coronaviruses. Since B.1.1.7s discovery in Britain, the variant has been reported in 72 other countries. The United States confirmed its first case of the B.1.1.7 variant on Dec. 29, but is conducting little of the genomic sequencing necessary to track the spread of new variants that have caused concern. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 467 samples of the variant in 32 states. Officials in New York City said on Tuesday that they had identified 13 cases of the variant and were ramping up testing capacity to detect more. In its latest analysis, Public Health England estimated that the variants rate of infection is 25 percent to 40 percent higher than that of other forms of the coronavirus. Some preliminary evidence suggests that it may also cause more deaths. Several lines of evidence suggest that vaccines will work against the B.1.1.7 variant. On Thursday, the vaccine maker Novavax announced that its British trial found no evidence that B.1.1.7 could evade the vaccines defenses. But in South Africa, where a variant called B.1.351 has surged to dominance, the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have both been less effective in trials. That variant has been reported in 31 countries so far. In the United States, it has turned up in Maryland and in South Carolina. Scientists suspect that the B.1.351 variants partial escape from vaccines is largely thanks to a single mutation, called E484K. Experiments indicate that the E484K mutation makes it harder for antibodies to grab onto the virus and prevent it from entering cells. Now it turns out that some B.1.1.7 coronaviruses in Britain also have the E484K mutation. To search for new mutations, British researchers reviewed the 214,159 genomes of coronaviruses that the United Kingdom has sequenced as of Jan. 26. In its report, Public Health England said that they found 11 samples of the B.1.1.7 variant that also had the E484K mutation. Since that analysis, more of these viruses have come to light. NextStrain, a website where scientists gather and analyze coronavirus genomes, now identifies 16 B.1.1.7 variants that carry the E484K mutation. These B.1.1.7 coronaviruses gained the mutation thanks to random copying errors as they multiplied inside of people. The evolutionary tree of the coronaviruses suggests that 15 of the variants descend from one common ancestor that gained the E484K mutation. Meanwhile the sixteenth variant seems to have gained the same mutation on its own. Commenting on Mondays report, Kristian Andersen, a virologist at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said that it was impossible yet to say whether the E484K mutation would make these coronaviruses not only more contagious but more resistant to vaccines. Its much too early to speculate whether it will, so well have to wait for data, he said. Just because the E484K mutation helps the B.1351 variant, the one initially found in South Africa, evade antibodies doesnt mean it will do the same in other variants. Thats because mutations dont have a fixed effect. The impact of a single new mutation to a virus depends on the other mutations that the variant already carries. But in a report posted online Tuesday, Ravi Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues reported an experiment they ran to address exactly this question. They combined the E484K mutation with other key mutations found in the B.1.1.7 variant, the one initially found in Britain. The addition of the E484K mutation made it difficult for antibodies to block the viruses. The researchers wrote that they observed a significant loss of neutralizing activity. However, Dr. Gupta and his colleagues used antibodies taken from people who had received just the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It remains to be seen whether the B.1.1.7 variant with the new mutation, E484K, can evade antibodies after a full vaccination. Nicholas Davies, a mathematical biologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, cautioned that with so few of these new coronaviruses, its hard to say whether they will become more common than ordinary B.1.1.7 variant. But it is striking that the same mutation, E484K, has now been documented arising several times in Britain, as well as in South Africa. Meanwhile, in Brazil, yet another variant has also gained the same E484K mutation on its own. Dr. Davies speculated that the mutation may give the virus an advantage when it is spreading in populations where a lot of people have already been sick with Covid-19. It may be able to evade their antibodies to other variants. E484K may well convey a fitness advantage in settings where there is existing immunity, Dr. Davies said. If so, the virus may be providing the world with a dangerous new example of a common theme in evolution. A good solution can arise more than once such as flight, which evolved in birds, bats, and insects. Evolutionary biologists call this repeated pattern convergence. Its not great to see this mutation in the B.1.1.7 lineage, although I think its no surprise at all, said Dr. Andersen. We should expect that to happen. Dr. Gupta argued on Twitter that the best defense against this convergence is vaccination. By making it harder for coronaviruses to get from person to person, they will have fewer chances to gain the E484K mutation or other dangerous changes. We need to continue vaccinating and drive down transmission, Dr. Gupta wrote. Correction : Feb. 3, 2021 An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a virologist at the University of Cambridge. He is Ravi Gupta, not Rajiv. Portugal has Europes highest death rate and is desperately short of hospital beds. A Covid-19 patient from Lisbon arrived at a hospital in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal, on Friday. Credit... Duarte Sa/Reuters Portugal, struggling to contain an outbreak that has led to the highest death rate in Europe, has rapidly filled the beds in intensive care units established for Covid-19 patients and is being forced to create spaces by diverting spaces meant for other critical care patients. With emergency rooms overwhelmed, particularly in the capital region of Lisbon, hospitals have asked patients to try to treat themselves at home, and the government has reached out to other European countries for assistance. Some patients have also been airlifted to island hospitals or moved to hospitals in regions not as badly affected. For those who do show up at hospitals in Lisbon, they are finding a system on the brink, with scores of people lining up outside and waiting to be diagnosed in idling ambulances parked outside. We are managing the full capacity of the country, Pedro Siza Vieira, the Portuguese economy minister, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. While new infections appeared to be falling in some regions, the outbreak in Lisbon was still raging. We are looking at a couple of weeks that will be difficult, he added. Mr. Siza Vieira himself contracted Covid-19 last month, and about a third of the governments ministers have also caught the illness recently, or had to isolate after being in contact with a person who had Covid-19. Portugal, a nation of about 10 million on the Iberian Peninsula, is in the grips of its worst crisis of the pandemic, and 5,000 people died in January. During the first wave of Covid-19, Portugal was one of the success stories of Europe, after applying a strict lockdown that helped keep its death toll low, particularly in comparison with neighboring Spain. But since Christmas, Portugal has faced a surge in infections and fatalities. Government officials have said that the crisis has been amplified by the spread of the Covid-19 variant first discovered in Britain. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal told a recent news conference that the variant accounted for more than 50 percent of new infections in his country. Mr. Siza Vieira, the economy minister, said on Tuesday, We dont have evidence of the Brazilian variant being significantly active in Portugal while we have evidence that the U.K. variant explains more than half of new cases, particularly in the Lisbon area. However, British officials have expressed their own concern about the spread in Portugal of the variant first discovered in Brazil, leading Britain to announce travel restrictions on its European neighbor. The travel ban was part of wave of new border closures around the world as countries raced to vaccinate their populations while trying to limit the spread of new variants. Whatever is driving infections in Portugal, new cases are only now starting to show signs of slowing after a national lockdown was reinstated in mid-January. The defense minister in Germany, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that the country was preparing to dispatch army personnel and equipment to Portugal, noting that all of those deployed would be vaccinated. And Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria announced on Twitter that his country would welcome some patients transferred from Portugal, without detailing how many. Ricardo Baptista Leite, an opposition lawmaker in Portugal who is also a medical doctor and head of the public health department at the Catholic University of Portugal, said he was grateful for the support. We now have international aid coming in to try to save as many lives as we can, he said. But the time will come to assess what went wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Covid Tracking Project, a trusted source of data, will end on March 7. The Covid Tracking Project, hosted by The Atlantic magazine, was run by a small team of employees and lots of volunteers. The Covid Tracking Project, one of the most trusted sources of coronavirus-related public health data in the U.S., announced this week that it will shut down soon, with its last daily updates coming on March 7, the anniversary of its founding. Hosted by The Atlantic magazine and run by a small team of employees and scores of volunteers, the project is one of a number of nongovernmental efforts that sprang up over the past year to track and document with hard data the scope and trajectory of the coronavirus epidemic, one of the worst public health crises in the nations history, as well as the contours of the government response. It was particularly noteworthy for keeping close tabs on coronavirus hospitalizations, as well as data on testing and newly reported cases in individual states and the nation. The projects co-leaders, Erin Kissane and Alexis Madrigal, said in a statement posted to its website that the federal government was now providing more of the essential real-time pandemic data than the project has been offering. They also noted that a number of nongovernment sources were still delivering outside checks on federal public health data. Among the sources they mentioned were a federal vaccine tracker website and a county-level hospitalization tracker run by the University of Minnesota. Although substantial gaps and complexities remain, we have seen persuasive evidence that the C.D.C. and H.H.S. are now both able and willing to take on the countrys massive deficits in public health data infrastructure, and to offer the best available data and science communication in the interim, they wrote, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Coronavirus Tracking Projects data has been cited extensively by researchers, by the news media (including The New York Times), and by the government itself. The project grew out of an article that Mr. Madrigal, a staff writer for The Atlantic, reported in March along with a colleague, Robinson Meyer. At that time, Trump administration officials were boasting about setting up a robust testing program. The journalists called every state, and could only verify that 1,895 people had been tested up to that point. Bloomberg Businessweek wrote in November that the project was in some ways the quintessential pandemic-era startup, existing almost entirely on Slack, the workplace messaging platform. The headline called the participants, many of whom have never met in person, data heroes. Mr. Madrigal, in an interview on Tuesday, seemed to agree. Its been a real source of strength to see all these different people pull together, even at a time when the country was flailing, he said. After the projects final daily update on March 7, Mr. Madrigal and Ms. Kissane said, the project would spend two more months on documentation, analysis and archival work before shutting down entirely in May. global roundup Iran will receive its first vaccines from Russia, and other news from around the world. A shipment of Russias Sputnik V vaccine will arrive in Iran this week. Credit... Yuri Kochetkov/EPA, via Shutterstock Iran announced on Tuesday that its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine, Russias Sputnik V, would arrive on Thursday. It coincided with a study published Tuesday in a British medical journal that the vaccine was safe and effective. The news could not come at a better time for Iran. Vaccines, like everything else in the Islamic Republic, have been politicized and subject to disinformation from the top down. Irans supreme leader has declared a ban on importing American- and British-made vaccines, saying they could not be trusted. The Iranian health ministry canceled a batch of donated Pfizer doses and said it would import vaccines from Russia and China and co-develop a vaccine with Cuba. For weeks, senior Iranian health officials have publicly argued over whether it was safe to inoculate Iranians with the Russian vaccine because it had not been approved by the World Health Organization or any Western medical agency. Before the Lancet study said that Sputnik V had a 91.6 percent efficacy rate against the coronavirus, several high-profile Iranians had expressed skepticism about it, including Irans top infectious disease official and the head of Parliaments health committee. And 98 physicians from Irans largest union of medical workers wrote a letter last week to President Hassan Rouhani urging him not to purchase the unapproved and unsafe Sputnik vaccine. Other health officials pushed back defending the Russian vaccine, including the health minister and his former spokesman. On Twitter, a hashtag trending in Persian was #buysafevaccines, as many Iranians declared they would reject Russian- and Chinese-made vaccines. In other news from around the world: Chile announced that it has started an ambitious mass vaccination program, with the goal of inoculating five million people by the end of March. For now, it is prioritizing high-risk groups like health care workers, child care home workers, those who work in senior living facilities and older adults. The country said it had received about four million doses of Chinas Sinovac vaccine and expects to receive more than 10 million. New Zealand s drug regulator said on Wednesday that it had provisionally approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine but added 58 conditions, most of which require the manufacturer to supply extra data. Pfizer said last week that the first of the 1.5 million vaccines on order were expected to arrive before the end of February. New Zealands director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, has said that the country will be ready to start vaccinating people as soon as a vaccine arrives. The state of Victoria , Australia, declared the coronavirus technically eliminated on Wednesday for the second time after a month in which no new cases were recorded. The state government also announced a rollout plan for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is scheduled to begin in late February. Frontline health workers will be among those included in the first phase, and nine vaccination hubs will be established at the states major hospitals. This is a significant day in the response of the Victorian community to the pandemic, said Martin Foley, the states health minister. It turns a corner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Tuesday that his government had signed a tentative deal with Novavax to produce the companys coronavirus vaccine at a government facility in Montreal, once the drug and the site are approved by domestic regulators. Canada has a separate agreement to purchase 52 million doses of the Maryland-based companys drug, but its regulators have so far only approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Novavax is expected to deliver results from its Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States in March, and to deliver 100 million doses for use there later this year. Farnaz Fassihi, Sui-Lee Wee, Javier C. Hernandez and A judge ruled that Guantanamo is too risky for hearings in a Southeast Asian bombing case. A prisoner at the Camp 5 and 6 detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2019. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times A military judge on Tuesday indefinitely postponed the arraignment of three prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who were scheduled to make their first court appearance in 17 years of detention, finding that the coronavirus pandemic made it too risky to travel to the Navy base. The Indonesian prisoner known as Hambali, who has been held since 2003 as a former leader of a Southeast Asian extremist group, and two people accused of being his accomplices were scheduled to appear at the war court on Feb. 22. But Col. Charles L. Pritchard Jr., the military judge who was to travel to Guantanamo this week, ruled that the various counsels belief that their health is at significant risk by traveling to the base in Cuba was reasonable. Colonel Pritchard is the most recent military judge to join the Guantanamo military commissions bench, and the latest to postpone a proceeding as too risky in nearly a year of cancellations because of the coronavirus. Pretrial hearings in the death-penalty case against five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been delayed for a year. The judge, court staff and lawyers bound for the hearing began a quarantine in the Washington area over the weekend before a charter flight to the base on Thursday. Once there, the passengers were to be individually quarantined for 14 days under a plan devised by prosecutors to protect those living on the base of 6,000 residents and at the prison from the threat of infection. The case had been dormant throughout the Trump administration, but on the second day of the Biden administration, a senior Pentagon official appointed under the Trump administration who had been put in charge of the military commissions approved the prosecutions. The defendants include Mr. Hambali, who is charged as Encep Nurjaman and accused of being the former leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, and those accused of being his accomplices, Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep and Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, who are Malaysian. The three men were captured in Thailand in 2003 and are charged with conspiring in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, which killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 80. They spent their first three years in the C.I.A.s secret prisoner network before they were transferred to Guantanamo for trial in 2006. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Andrew Yang, now running for N.Y.C. mayor, says he has tested positive. Andrew Yang in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn after announcing his candidacy for mayor in January. He had been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times Andrew Yang, who ran for president last year and is now a leading New York City mayoral candidate, announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. After testing negative as recently as this weekend, today I took a Covid rapid test and received a positive result, Mr. Yang said in a statement. I am experiencing mild symptoms, but am otherwise feeling well and in good spirits. I will quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines and follow the advice of my doctor. More than perhaps any rival in the race, Mr. Yang has been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic, holding numerous events outdoors since announcing his candidacy last month. His approach has generated voter enthusiasm and attracted media attention, but with clear risks. A member of his staff tested positive less than a week after he announced his candidacy. Two other mayoral candidates, Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller whose mother died of complications from Covid-19, and Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, have had to quarantine recently, though they have generally been more cautious about in-person campaigning. An entrepreneur with no previous experience in electoral politics, Mr. Yang mounted a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 that raised his public profile and won him many fans, especially among younger voters. But he never became a significant factor in the race, and dropped out after the New Hampshire primary. In his statement on Tuesday, Mr. Yang said, I will continue to attend as many virtual events as possible, and said he looked forward to hitting the trail again when the time is right. He said his campaign has begun the contract-tracing process. Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine will bring in $15 billion this year. Joseph Cruz, a pharmacy manager, preparing a dose of Pfizers vaccine at a community center in Teaneck, N.J., last month. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times The drug maker Pfizer expects its Covid-19 vaccine to generate $15 billion in revenue this year, executives said Tuesday on a call with investors to discuss the companys fourth-quarter earnings in 2020. Pfizer and other companies have struggled to keep up with the demand for their vaccines, as the United States and countries around the world are scrambling to vaccinate as many people as possible to combat the spread of more contagious variants. In comments to investors on Tuesday, the companys chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, said Pfizer had delivered 29 million doses to the United States by the end of January, and 65 million doses worldwide, and that it expected to manufacture up to 2 billion doses by the end of the year. It shares profits with BioNTech, the German company that developed the vaccine. Dr. Bourla also said Pfizer now expects to deliver the 200 million doses, for about $4 billion, that it had promised to the United States two months ahead of time, by May instead of July. That accelerated timeline can be attributed in large part to Pfizer now counting six doses in every vial of vaccine that it ships instead of five after health care providers learned they could extract an additional dose using special syringes. We foresee no issues with delivering the commitments we have made, Dr. Bourla said. And, in an indication that the coronavirus may be here to stay, Dr. Bourla said he expects the vaccine to become a standard part of its business, given the likely need for booster shots to address waning immunity to the virus as well as variants that could reduce its effectiveness. Pfizer has said that preliminary tests of its vaccine against more contagious variants have shown that it continues to be effective, but suggested that a third shot of the same vaccine may be needed, and the company has also not ruled out changing its vaccine to address the new variants. Moderna, which has developed a similar vaccine, has said it is already working on an adapted booster shot. We believe it is increasingly likely that a durable Covid-19 vaccine revenue stream, like is happening in flu, is a potential outcome, Dr. Bourla said. Captain Tom, the centenarian who raised millions for British hospitals, has died. Captain Tom Moore at his home in September. Credit... Dylan Martinez/Reuters Tom Moore, the 100-year-old British Army veteran whose charity walks raised $45 million and made him a national symbol of pluck during the coronavirus pandemic, died on Tuesday. His death was announced on his Twitter account. Mr. Moore, nicknamed Captain Tom by the British press, had been treated for pneumonia in recent weeks and tested positive for the coronavirus last month, his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, said on Twitter on Sunday. He was taken to a hospital because he needed help breathing, she said, and his condition then deteriorated. Dapper, spry and droll, Mr. Moore ambled his way into the hearts of people across Britain 82 steps at a time the number it took to cover the length of a brick patio beside his garden in Marston Moretaine, a village an hour north of London. He did 100 laps before turning 100 last April. With backing from donors including Prince William, who called him a one-man fund-raising machine, Mr. Moore quickly raised 32.8 million pounds, or $45 million, for the National Health Service. In the process, Mr. Moore became a pop-culture phenomenon, with television appearances, a book deal, a chart-topping song and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who came out of seclusion to bestow the honor in July. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Democrats move to advance Biden stimulus plan through reconciliation, drawing Republicans ire. Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said he would vote to move forward with the budget process. Credit... Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Democrats on Tuesday took the first step to push through President Bidens $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, using a budgetary maneuver that could eventually allow the measure to become law without Republican support. The move advanced the two-track strategy that Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders are employing to speed the aid package through Congress: show Republicans that they have the votes to pass an ambitious spending bill with only Democratic backing, but offer to negotiate some details in hopes of gaining Republican support. We are not going to dilute, dither or delay, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on the Senate floor. Theres nothing about the process itself that prevents bipartisanship. The party-line vote of 50 to 49 set the stage for Democrats to advance Mr. Bidens plan through budget reconciliation, which would allow it to pass with a simple majority vote, bypassing the need for Republican support. (Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, was absent and did not vote.) Theyve chosen a totally partisan path, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, said of Senate Democrats. The vote came the day after 10 Republican senators met at the White House with Mr. Biden seeking a smaller, $618 billion package they said could win bipartisan backing. Some Republican senators considered Mr. Biden receptive to their proposals, but said his chief of staff, Ron Klain, shook his head dismissively during the Republicans presentation, according to a participant in the meeting. Senate Democrats could approve the budget resolution as soon as Friday. On Tuesday, a key Democratic senator announced he would support it: Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is a crucial swing vote, said he would agree to move forward with the budget process because we must address the urgency of the Covid-19 crisis. I will only support proposals that will get us through and end the pain of this pandemic, Mr. Manchin said in a statement. Mr. Manchin also reiterated his opposition to Mr. Bidens proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which could force Democrats to drop it from their legislative package. The budget resolution would instruct congressional committees to draft legislation that could include Mr. Bidens stimulus proposal, which includes $1,400 direct payments for many Americans, funding for vaccine distribution, reopening schools and other measures. More than 100 Democratic lawmakers are also urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Mr. Schumer to repeal a business tax break as part of the economic aid package. The tax cuts in question which center on so-called net operating losses were included in a rescue bill Congress passed in March 2020, as the pandemic spread and the nation was in the midst of a recession. On Tuesday, an influential business group that had welcomed Mr. Bidens initial proposal urged him to work with Republicans on a compromise and to scale back his plans, including providing less aid for the unemployed and scrapping a call for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Luke Broadwater and California prison authorities created a public health disaster at San Quentin, a watchdog report says. San Quentin State Prison had no reported cases of Covid-19 before the state transferred 122 inmates there in May. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 have died, according to state data. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times California state prison health authorities created a public health disaster by pressing lower-ranking prison workers to hastily transfer inmates between prisons in the middle of a coronavirus outbreak, according to a watchdog report released this week. The transfers in May 2020, which were supposed to shift medically vulnerable prisoners away from danger, wound up igniting deadly new outbreaks at the facilities where they were sent, including San Quentin State Prison. The report by the California Office of the Inspector General found that authorities in the California Correctional Health Care Services, which oversees most of the states prison health care, ignored or overruled multiple warnings about the dangers of transferring the inmates. Our review found that the efforts by C.C.H.C.S. and the department to prepare for and execute the transfers were deeply flawed, and risked the health and lives of thousands of incarcerated persons and staff, the report concluded. San Quentin had not reported any cases of coronavirus before late May, when officials ordered the transfer of 122 inmates to San Quentin from another state prison, the California Institution for Men in Chino. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 died, according to state data. Sixty-seven inmates from the Chino prison were transferred to Corcoran State Prison, where a smaller outbreak later occurred, the report said. The inspector general found that 91 of the 122 inmates who were sent to San Quentin eventually tested positive, and two died. In an email response to a request for comment, the state prison health care system acknowledged making some mistakes. The transfers, the statement said, were based on a thoughtful risk analysis using scientific information available in May 2020 concerning transmission of this novel disease. We have acknowledged some mistakes were made in the process of these transfers. The statement said the prison system had made pandemic safety improvements, including increased testing, the use of designated isolation and quarantine spaces, and the enhanced use of personal protective equipment when indicated. The inspector generals report, released on Monday, found that prison health authorities overruled dire warnings from a number of nurses and other lower-ranking health officials about the transfers, including after the authorities were informed that only three of the 189 inmates scheduled for transfer had been recently tested. When concerns were raised about packing dozens of inmates into prison buses for a six-hour trip, a state prison health official brushed them aside, writing, the situation appears to outweigh the risks. The report did not name the official. Marion Wickerd, whose husband, a prisoner at San Quentin, was infected in June, said state prison authorities needed to be held accountable. The transfers were inhumane, and someone needs to take responsibility for what happened, she said. It was wrong. It was dead wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story California aims to speed up vaccines. Motorists lined up for Covid-19 vaccinations and testing in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles a week ago. Now California is working to streamline its vaccination process. Credit... Jae C. Hong/Associated Press As new virus cases and hospitalizations drop and increasing attention turns to the states vaccine rollout, California officials are attempting a fine balancing act between speeding the process up and ensuring that vulnerable populations arent shut out. On Tuesday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the states secretary of health and human services, said in a news conference that the two goals are not mutually exclusive. This notion that we have to make a choice between speed and equity its a false choice, he said. We can do both. But as has been the case throughout the fraught vaccine distribution in the nations most populous state, the details of how both of those goals can be achieved are more difficult to pin down. So far, more than 3.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in California, Dr. Ghaly said. The rate of vaccinations statewide, he said, has been building day by day, since a holiday surge of hospitalizations. According to a New York Times tracker, thats about 7.2 percent of the states population somewhere in the middle of the pack of states. However, the state has not yet released demographic statistics about who received the vaccines, so its unclear whether Latinos or other Californians of color who have been at disproportionate risk have been vaccinated at commensurate rates. Dr. Ghaly suggested state officials were weighing several methods of incentivizing vaccine providers to specifically target vulnerable communities, including paying them to get vaccines into harder hit neighborhoods, rather than forcing residents to go to mass vaccination sites that may be farther away. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced that the state would revamp its vaccine distribution approach in the wake of widespread criticism that the rollout has been confusing and piecemeal. Part of that restructuring involves a plan to enlist two of the states biggest health insurers, Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente, to help with a statewide distribution system that would prioritize equity and would help streamline a patchwork system. And the state launched a website and data portal that officials have said will not only notify Californians when they are eligible for a vaccine and help them make appointments to do so, but would also help collect and share data with federal officials or others who may be working to allocate vaccines. Experts have said that enlisting bigger, more experienced health care providers could help accelerate a vaccine rollout that has been hampered by the fact that its been implemented by already overwhelmed local public health departments. On Tuesday, though, Dr. Ghaly repeatedly declined to share details of the partnerships, beyond that any transitions to new systems would not disrupt existing appointments. Forty-nine states have widened vaccine eligibility. Rhode Island is the holdout. Delivering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence in December. The state has moved more slowly than most others in inoculating its residents. Credit... David Goldman/Associated Press Whether the threshold is 65 or 80, people who meet their states age requirement are eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccination shot in every U.S. state but one. The exception: Rhode Island, the only state still in the first phase of its vaccination campaign, which restricts access to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. If Barbara Diener, 65, had known she still wouldnt be eligible for the vaccine in Rhode Island where she and her husband moved to be closer to family she said they might not have moved there in November from Georgia, where anyone 65 or older can get a shot. We moved here three months ago from Georgia, where everyone I know has been vaccinated, said Ms. Diener, a travel agent. Were a little disappointed that the state of Rhode Island, being as small as it is, just cant get it together. The state health director, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, said last week that Rhode Island was expanding eligibility slowly because the state wanted to make sure that the people most at risk were vaccinated first. In addition to how many people you vaccinate, who you vaccinate matters, Dr. Alexander-Scott said. And thats what distinguishes Rhode Island, and how we are taking this thoughtful approach. Where older adults are eligible for vaccines Most states have started vaccinating older adults, though the minimum eligibility age varies widely. 65+ 70+ 75+ 80+ Not yet prioritizing by age *Eligible only in some counties. Data as recent as Feb. 2. Sources: State and county health departments. Sources: State and county health departments. Ms. Diener and her husband both came down with Covid-19 last March, and her husband was hospitalized for two weeks. They want to get inoculated as soon as they can. But since neighboring states are limiting vaccinations to their own residents, they have little choice but to wait. My doctor is in Massachusetts, because were so close in proximity, but I cant get it in Massachusetts either, Ms. Diener said. Rhode Islands health department said last week that it was starting to vaccinate a small number of especially vulnerable people 75 and older people who are part of a registry indicating that they need extra assistance during an emergency. In about two weeks, the department plans to start making doses available to everyone in that age group. State residents ages 65 to 74 are forecast to become eligible at the end of the month, according to the health departments projections. Dr. Alexander-Scott said the state was being strategic because of its very limited supply of vaccine. The state has administered about 54 percent of its available vaccine doses so far, and has given at least one of the two required shots to 6.5 percent of its population, a lower proportion than most other states. A T-shirt with the Wu-Tang Clan symbol is at the center of a dispute between China and Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing. A T-shirt made for embassy staff members who repatriated Canadians from the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has been criticized by the Chinese government. Credit... Andy Wong/Associated Press To hip-hop fans, it is an instantly recognizable symbol, a flying letter W that represents the Wu-Tang Clan, the New York rap collective. To the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it suggests something else: a bat. And so, when Canadian diplomats in China ordered T-shirts with the symbol behind the word Wuhan, it became a minor diplomatic incident. The Chinese side is shocked by this and has lodged stern representations with the Canadian Embassy in China, demanding that the Canadian side immediately thoroughly investigate the incident and give China a clear explanation, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a news conference on Monday. Bats are considered one of the possible original hosts of the coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and they have appeared in memes about Chinese eating habits that have been criticized as racist. The Chinese authorities have tried to play down the pandemics origins in Wuhan, instead pushing dubious theories that the virus may have emerged earlier in Europe, the United States or elsewhere. A spokesperson for Canadas foreign service told the Reuters news agency that the T-shirt did not depict a bat. The T-shirt logo designed by a member of the embassy shows a stylized W, and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the team of embassy staff working on repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020, the spokesperson said by email on Tuesday. We regret the misunderstanding. Relations between China and Canada have been tense since December 2018, when Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at the Chinese tech giant Huawei who was wanted on fraud charges in the United States. Two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested in China soon after in an apparent act of retaliation. They have been accused of espionage and remain held in China under isolated and harsh conditions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Australians in lockdown are driven from their homes by a wildfire. Flames near a property under construction in Perth, Australia, on Tuesday. Credit... Paul Kane/Getty Images MELBOURNE, Australia Just days after residents of Perth, Australias fourth-largest city, were ordered to stay in because of the coronavirus, some were forced to flee their homes on Tuesday as a ferocious wildfire bore down on the citys outskirts. The blaze northeast of Perth, which began on Monday and was fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions, was out of control by about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, officials said. Residents described a confused scramble in the middle of the night, as they were unsure where they were supposed to go in light of the lockdown rules. We wish it would be either one or the other, not both, Gemma Martin, a 33-year-old hospitality worker who fled with her three children, said of the fire and the lockdown. By Tuesday afternoon, close to 20,000 acres had been razed and dozens of properties had been destroyed. Its still a very, very active and very aggressive fire and very much out of control, said Kevin Bailey, mayor of the City of Swan, a region within the Perth metropolitan area where the blaze had done the most damage. The fire, reminiscent of the infernos that devoured Australias southeast coast more than a year ago, is another reminder that as climate change spurs more frequent and intense natural disasters, Australia and other countries are likely to find themselves dealing with intersecting catastrophes. Perth and the surrounding area were put on a strict lockdown on Sunday because of a single coronavirus case, the first one outside quarantine in the state of Western Australia in almost 10 months. The wildfire started around noon the next day, sparked by a house fire, according to Mr. Bailey, the mayor. Ms. Martin said that while the dual disasters were overwhelming, if anything, last year taught us to be grateful for what we do have, and to be resilient. The Opposition Platform - For Life faction is initiating an impeachment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, MP, co-chairman of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Vadym Rabinovych said. "Today, for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, three leading TV channels have been turned off at once ... The existence of a democratic independent Ukraine is under threat. In the near future, we will hold an emergency party congress, which is to determine our next steps ... We are initiating the procedure for the impeachment of President Zelensky, who mocked the voters, the country," Rabinovych said, speaking from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday. As reported, on February 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky put into effect the NSDC decision, which actually blocked the activities of three TV channels - 112, Newsone and ZIK, which are associated with one of the leaders of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, Viktor Medvedchuk. Shares in Glaxosmithkline sank by Matt Oliver after it warned profits would fall and that it plans to cut the dividend after its break up. As the British drugs group struck a deal to develop new one-shot vaccines for Covid-19 variants, it said profits were expected to fall this year by a 'mid-to-high single-digit' percentage. In another blow to investors, GSK said dividend payments would be reduced from current levels when its consumer arm is spun off in 2022. Glaxosmithkline Boss Emma Walmsley (pictured) said cash was needed to bolster the drug giant's pipeline of medicines Boss Emma Walmsley said the cash was needed to bolster its pipeline of medicines. The company declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 23p per share, taking its full-year payout to 80p overall. After the announcement, shares dropped 5 per cent, or 86p, to 1282p. GSK said its partnership to develop Covid-19 vaccines with Germany's Curevac will aim to tackle emerging coronavirus variants, which scientists fear could be resistant to existing jabs. The firm will also help to make up to 100m doses of Curevac's existing Covid-19 vaccine candidate this year. The deal came as GSK reported full-year sales of 34.1billion for 2020, up from 33.8billion the previous year, while profits rose from 5.3billion to 6.4billion. Even though the pandemic has boosted demand for GSK's over-the-counter painkillers, it has simultaneously disrupted other parts of the business as patients under lockdown havemade fewer trips to doctors and hospitals. That meant that while itsconsumer division posted a 12 per cent rise in sales in 2020, sales at its pharmaceuticals and vaccine divisions fell 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. GSK said it was on track tosplit off its consumer division that includes painkiller Panadol next year. This will result in two companies: A pure 'biopharma' GSK essentially the original pharma and vaccine businesses and a new stand-alone consumer drugs business. Two members of a criminal gang that has been terrorising residents in Zirobwe Sub-county, Luweero District, have been sentenced to 35 years in jail after being convicted of murder. When news of Elimya Kiwanuka Mubiru and Ismah Mutebi's conviction spread in the sub-county, many residents broke into jubilation, saying earlier attempts to have the criminals prosecuted had failed. Another member of the criminal gang, Henry Sande Ekwenyi, survived the 35-year jail sentence that was passed in the January 28 ruling after pleading guilty to charges of murder under the plea bargain judicial system in an earlier court session in Luweero District, another member, Joseph Owor, died while still on remand at Nakasongola prison. The four were jointly charged with one count of murder contrary to Section 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act and produced before High Court judge Anna Bitature Mugenyi. They were accused of murdering 18- year-old Arafat Ssentamu on November 2, 2017, at Kikyusa Village, Bukasa Parish in Zirobwe Sub-county, Luweero District. Prosecution led by Ms Brenda Najjuko stated that at the first trial, one of the accused, Ekwenyi had pleaded guilty to the charge of murder under the plea bargain system and was sentenced to 10 years in jail in November last year, while Joseph Owori had died while on remand at Nakasongola prison in 2019. Mr Abdul Karim Ssetimba, a resident of Wakatayi Village in Zirobwe Sub-county, told Daily Monitor in an interview on Monday that the court ruling had brought some relief to members of the affected families. "We had often failed to come to terms with both the police and courts of law when individuals that the community believes to be serial law breakers are set free on technical grounds. We are happy that the High Court in Luweero has finally resolved the Zirobwe criminality puzzle involving people that have finally been handed a long-term jail sentence. I believe 35 years is a big lesson. By the time the sentence is served, Zirobwe will possibly be a different area in terms of the social and economic setting," Mr Ssetimba said. Mr Ssetimba said the convicts used to threaten revenge on particular residents who dared to participate in their prosecution whenever they secured police bond or court bail. "You could not sleep in your house when they reported back to Zirobwe from lawful custody," he added His story is not different from that of Ms Sarah Tikabula, the mother of the victim, who was gruesomely killed after the convicts masterminded a mob that lynched him on November, 2 2017. The gang alleged that the victim had stolen a motorcycle and some dry coffee beans. Ms Tikabula claimed she had been forced to sell off her home and land, among other properties in Zirobwe Sub-county after the gang made several attempts on her life because she was pursuing justice for her murdered son. "Because the suspects were in and out of jail after court granting them bail, they openly hunted for me. One of my tenants nearly lost her life after she was waylaid by suspected criminals at the entrance to the house she was renting," she said on Monday. "The criminals inflicted deep cuts on her neck. I believe the assault on my tenant was a case of mistaken identity, I was their target because that was the time I used to report back home. I am filled with joy because we have finally got justice from court," Ms Tikabula said. She said the convicts were well known criminal elements in Zirobwe Sub-county, although they had always disguised themselves as coffee dealers. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "A section of the residents were afraid of even coming to court to provide evidence against these people. God has finally answered my prayers through the High Court," Ms Tikabula said after the ruling. Background On the night of November 2, 2017, unknown assailants allegedly broke into the house of a one Kamugisha, a resident of Mpangati Village in Zirobwe Sub-county, where they are said to have made off with a motorcycle and unspecified amount of dry coffee beans, some of which was reportedly traced to Ssentamu's home. However, the victim was not at his home at that time, prompting the accused to moblise a mob that started a man-hunt for him. The mob, armed with clubs and machetes, later found their victim at a nearby place and pounced on him, severely injuring him before police intervened and rescued him. He, however, died on his way to Bombo Military Hospital. By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Feb 3, 2021 - 09:23 | World, All Fears are mounting that Myanmar's political disruption may provide a window of opportunity for China to get closer to the Southeast Asian country, making security ties among democratic forces fragile. Should the United States take a hardline posture against Myanmar's military that seized power on Monday, it would prompt the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member to strengthen relations with the communist power. China's growing proximity to Myanmar could also undermine the "free and open Indo-Pacific" concept initiated by the United States and Japan, apparently designed to promote security cooperation of democratic countries to counter Beijing's rising regional influence. The international community "should work as one to protect Myanmar's budding democracy," but an "excessive response" to the military's coup should be avoided, a diplomatic source said. "If Myanmar takes sides with China, the free and open Indo-Pacific vision may be distorted," the source said, adding, "The United States and Japan should deal with the current problem in a very careful manner." On Monday, Myanmar's military staged a coup and detained the nation's elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Later in the day, new U.S. President Joe Biden, who took office on Jan. 20, warned of re-imposing sanctions on Myanmar, calling the development a "direct assault" on the county's transition to democracy. Washington removed sanctions on Myanmar over the past decade based on progress toward democracy, but the reversal will "necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities," Biden said in a statement. In contrast, China has refrained from condemning Myanmar's latest military coup and calling for the release of Suu Kyi, only expressing hope that differences in the Southeast Asian country will be properly managed "under the constitutional and legal framework." The leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has traditionally tried to deepen ties with Myanmar in the economic and security fields, is believed to be gauging how the neighboring nation's situation will unfold and be addressed globally. "China is a friendly neighbor of Myanmar," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Tuesday. "Any action by the international community should contribute to Myanmar's political and social stability," Wang said, urging other major powers not to resume sanctions on the Southeast Asian country. Myanmar is located right on the path of China's strategic plan to get direct access to the Indian Ocean as part of Beijing's "Belt and Road" project for the development of infrastructure and trade across Asia, Europe and Africa. Related coverage: U.N. Security Council discusses military coup in Myanmar ANALYSIS: With coup, Myanmar risks isolation it escaped decade ago Asian nations to ink big Chinese-backed trade deal on Nov. 15 In January 2020, Xi visited Myanmar and agreed with Suu Kyi that the two nations will boost cooperation under the initiative connecting countries across the globe, which China touts as a modern Silk Road economic zone. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a trip to Myanmar to hold talks with Suu Kyi. China has also put an emphasis on economic and security relations with Myanmar, as it has imported natural resources such as gas and crude oil through pipes from the neighbor. Myanmar, meanwhile, had previously forged ties with China during the era of military rule to prevent bilateral military conflict. Since transitioning to civilian rule in 2011, Myanmar enhanced its relations with Western nations like the United States under a foreign policy that seeks to strike a balance between the two sides. Even under Suu Kyi's leadership, however, the Southeast Asian country has maintained amicable ties with China. As China has stepped up "vaccine diplomacy" in a bid to bolster its clout in emerging nations, it has so far planned to donate novel coronavirus vaccines to 52 countries including Myanmar, called "Asia's last frontier." "For Myanmar, China is a very important neighbor. Their relations are stronger than you think," another diplomatic source in Beijing said. Once the United States or other democratic nations re-impose sanctions on Myanmar, the country would "become more dependent on China," the source said. "In that case, Washington and Tokyo may be compelled to reconsider their regional security policies." Under the two-term Barack Obama administration through January 2017, the United States removed a range of economic and financial sanctions on Myanmar, particularly after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 2015 elections. Obama saw Myanmar's shift to democracy as a key foreign policy achievement, part of the U.S. strategic "rebalance" to Asia. Biden served as Obama's vice president. But the administration of former President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Myanmar military officers over human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine strongly supports freedom of speech, not aggressor-funded propaganda that undermines the country on its path to EU and EuroAtlantic integration. "Sanctions is a difficult decision. Ukraine strongly supports Freedom of Speech. Not propaganda financed by the aggressor country that undermines Ukraine on its way to EU & EuroAtlantic integration. Fight for independence is fight in the information war for truth & European values," Zelensky wrote on Twitter. Coronaviruses (blue) exiting a kidney cell, images captured with a helium ion microscope. Credit: Bielefeld University/N. Frese Scientists at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics have succeeded for the first time in imaging the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus with a helium ion microscope. In contrast to the more conventional electron microscopy, the samples do not need a thin metal coating in helium ion microscopy. This allows interactions between the coronaviruses and their host cell to be observed particularly clearly. The scientists have published their findings, obtained in collaboration with researchers from the Bielefeld University's Medical School OWL and Justus Liebig University Giessen, in the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. "The study shows that the helium ion microscope is suitable for imaging coronavirusesso precisely that the interaction between virus and host cell can be observed," says physicist Dr. Natalie Frese. She is the lead author of the study and a researcher in the research group Physics of Supramolecular Systems and Surfaces at the Faculty of Physics. Coronaviruses are tinyonly about 100 nanometres in diameter, or 100 billionths of a meter. So far, mainly scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to examine cells infected with the virus. With SEM, an electron beam scans the cell and provides an image of the surface structure of the cell occupied by viruses. However, SEM has a disadvantage: the sample becomes electrostatically charged during the microscopy process. Because the charges are not dispersed from non-conductive samples, for example viruses or other biological organisms, the samples must be coated with an electrically conductive coating, such as a thin layer of gold. "However, this conductive coating also changes the surface structure of the sample. Helium ion microscopy does not require a coating and therefore allows direct scanning," says Professor Dr. Armin Golzhauser, who heads the research group Physics of Supramolecular Systems and Surfaces. With the helium ion microscope, a beam of helium ions scans the surface of the sample. Helium ions are helium atoms that are each missing an electronthey are therefore positively charged. The ion beam also charges the sample electrostatically, but this can be compensated for by additionally irradiating the sample with electrons. Furthermore, the helium ion microscope has a higher resolution and a greater depth of field. A kidney cell infected with SARS-CoV-2 under the helium ion microscope (sectional magnification from left to right, a single virus is about 100 nanometres in size): the images indicate that some coronaviruses only lie loosely on the cell as they exit, while other viruses are bound to the cell. Credit: Bielefeld University/N. Frese In their study, the scientists infected cellsartificially produced from the kidney tissue of a species of monkeywith SARS-CoV-2 and studied them in dead state under the microscope. "Our images provide a direct view of the 3-D surface of the coronavirus and the kidney cellwith a resolution in the range of a few nanometres," says Frese. This enabled the researchers to visualize interactions between the viruses and the kidney cell. Their study results indicate, for example, that helium ion microscopy can be used to observe whether individual coronaviruses are just lying on the cell or are bound to it. This is important in order to understand defense strategies against the virus: an infected cell can bind the viruses, which have already multiplied inside it, to its cell membrane on exit and thus prevent them from spreading further. "Helium ion microscopy is well suited for imaging the cell's defense mechanisms that take place at the cell membrane," says virologist Professor Dr. Friedemann Weber, too. He is investigating SARS-CoV-2 at Justus Liebig University in Gieen and collaborated with the Bielefeld researchers on this study. Professor Dr. Holger Sudhoff, head physician at the University Clinic for Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical School OWL at Bielefeld University, adds: "This method is a significant improvement for imaging the SARS-CoV-2 virus interacting with the infected cell. Helium ion microscopy can help to better understand the infection process in COVID-19 sufferers." Helium ion microscopy is a comparatively new technology. In 2010, Bielefeld University became the first German university to acquire a helium ion microscope, which is used primarily in nanotechnology. Worldwide, helium ion technology is still rarely used to examine biological samples. "Our study shows that there is great potential here," says Golzhauser. The study appears in a special issue of the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology on the helium ion microscope. Explore further Helium ions reveal how viruses attack bacteria More information: Natalie Frese et al. Imaging of SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by helium ion microscopy, Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology (2021). Natalie Frese et al. Imaging of SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by helium ion microscopy,(2021). DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.12.13 HERNDON, Va., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Skience, a leading financial services digital enablement solution and consulting provider, today announced the expansion of its national sales and marketing team to accelerate the company's business development efforts. The new hires follow the recent appointments of key executives to senior leadership roles, including COO and President Marc Butler and Executive Vice President, Sales Kyle Van Pelt, as well as important hires to its platform delivery, Salesforce services and client success teams. Mr. Van Pelt said, "In this ongoing remote-work environment, demand for our cloud-based platform solutions and technology services has significantly intensified, with firms recognizing the need to offer increasingly sophisticated, operationally efficient digital solutions to internal teams and clients. This expansion along with the appointments of numerous senior professionals in the preceding months allows us to respond to market interest in Skience and build strong relationships with financial services firms to enhance their digital experiences and resolve their operational pain points." The new members of the team include: Nick Thacker has 17 years' sales experience in the financial services and software-as-a-service industries. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development with Vestmark. Previously he held senior roles with RBC Capital Markets. has 17 years' sales experience in the financial services and software-as-a-service industries. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development with Vestmark. Previously he held senior roles with RBC Capital Markets. Mike Mackey has spent 27 years supporting financial services industry in technologically complex sales positions. He worked with Morningstar, Inc. for the past 15 years, most recently as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for the company's aggregation business. has spent 27 years supporting financial services industry in technologically complex sales positions. He worked with Morningstar, Inc. for the past 15 years, most recently as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for the company's aggregation business. Matthew Reed began his career as a financial advisor and transitioned into sales for financial services and fintech firms. Over the course of the past 15 years, he served in progressively more senior roles, most recently as a Business Development Executive for the Financial Services group at SoftServe. began his career as a financial advisor and transitioned into sales for financial services and fintech firms. Over the course of the past 15 years, he served in progressively more senior roles, most recently as a Business Development Executive for the Financial Services group at SoftServe. Jacob Rouser is a multi-industry marketing strategist with expertise in targeting technical decision makers. Over the past decade, he has built and executed marketing strategies for technology companies, most recently at CodeScience, a product development organization that helps SaaS businesses thrive on the Salesforce AppExchange. is a multi-industry marketing strategist with expertise in targeting technical decision makers. Over the past decade, he has built and executed marketing strategies for technology companies, most recently at CodeScience, a product development organization that helps SaaS businesses thrive on the Salesforce AppExchange. Colby Tallafuss built his career supporting the expansion of data driven technology companies, including Riskalyze, Seamless.AI, and SCANMARKET. Messrs. Thacker, Mackey, Reed, and Tallafuss will report to Mr. Van Pelt. Mr. Rouser will report to Kirsten Ly, vice president, Marketing. Mr. Butler concluded, "Recent enhancements to the Skience platform and innovative technology solutions that we plan to introduce this year require experienced sales and marketing professionals who understand the value of digital enablement in this sector and can tell our story to a wider audience. Attracting this level of talent enables Skience to continue delivering best-in-class solutions and services to financial services firms." About Skience Skience delivers innovative digital strategies and solutions that transform businesses. Skience offers consulting services and an award-winning integrated platform that provides wealth management firms and RIAs an efficient way to unify their technology, increase back-office and advisor productivity, and set the stage for a great client experience. The Skience platform features a streamlined, end-to-end client onboarding and new account opening experience, deep integrations with leading custodial and clearing firms, compliance features, and daily data consolidation. Skience received a 2020 Technology Provider award from WealthManagement.com, a 2020 American Business Awards Silver Stevie award for fintech solutions and was a Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech 100 honoree in 2019 and 2020. Visit Skience.com to learn more. Media Contact: Andrew Wang or Joseph Kuo Haven Tower Group 424 317 4859 or 424 317 4851 [email protected] or [email protected] SOURCE Skience Related Links http://Skience.com Now that the decorations are packed away and Christmas is truly done with, we at Age in Spain are looking forward to the challenges of 2021. We started 2020 with a new project in partnership with the UK Government, to help vulnerable UK nationals living in Spain to secure their residency rights under the UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement. Our national Residency Helpline and outreach services have already directly helped more than a thousand people with information and one to one support. A small staff team and thirty volunteers provide the service and our caseload of people who face multiple barriers due to issues such as capacity, health, income, language or access to the internet, continues to grow. For many UK citizens in Spain, the issue of residency still has not gone away. Many people began the process of becoming resident but are still waiting to conclude the process while others, not least because of the covid19-related delays, were unable to get appointments to even begin the process. The clear message from both the Spanish and UK Governments is that those who were legally living in Spain (ie they met the requirements to apply for residency and can demonstrate this with appropriate documentation) by 31 December 2020 can still apply for residency under the protection of the Withdrawal Agreement. However, we know that peoples on-the-ground experiences can vary widely and Age in Spain is still here to support people who need extra help with the residency process. We are funded by the United Kingdom Nationals Support Fund to provide free support in the following regions: Catalonia, the Basque Country, Aragon, Navarra, La Rioja, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and the Balearic and Canary Islands. Our Regional Coordinator for the Balearic Islands is Giuseppe Monti, whom I know has already been in touch with many organisations on the islands. People can contact the residency helpline on. +34 932 209 741 or email residency@ageinspain.org Please do spread the word that we are still here to help. Casework Our casework service continues to help those who face losing independence and we expect to see increases in referrals during 2021. We have developed new caseworker training and support systems to ensure that, despite continuing Covid 19 restrictions, we can continue to make assessments and coordinate care packages with other welfare organisations to provide the vital support to stop vulnerable people slipping completely through the net. Friendline our new telephone friendship service As important as residency and welfare issues are to many, we are equally keen that Age in Spain continues to serve all English-speaking older people in Spain, whatever their nationality. In that context we are delighted to tell you about Friendline our new telephone friendship service that we launched just before Christmas. Friendship is one of the best ways to help people stay healthy and happy but sadly as we get older we often lose or lose touch with people and making new friends often gets harder. Of course, this is even more true as we live through the Covid19 pandemic. Friendline connects people who would like a regular weekly call with trained volunteers who have similar interests. There is no threshold of need to become a Friendline member. If someone is over 60 and an English speaker then they qualify. One way to think of Friendline is as vaccination against loneliness and isolation it helps prevent the negative impact. Find out more about Friendline at www.ageinspain.org /friendline and help us reach more people. Here is a very brief video about Friendline that we have used to promote the service on social media. Ive lost three hunting spots on corporate timberlands in the last two years. Ive always appreciated the privilege of hunting those lands but knew they could be sold. One sale blocked a road to Forest Service where Ive hunted for over 30 years. The hunt for new spots is hindered by a rash of new No Trespassing signs. Public lands, owned by you and me, are our ace-in-the-hole for recreating. Proposed bills on Fish, Wildlife and Parks Habitat Montana program would ban fee title purchases, put conservation easements under final State Land Board approval and require no net gain of state lands. Who thinks we have too much, much less enough, public land? For 30 years Habitat Montana has been a win-win by negotiating conservation easements that maintain logging while protecting water, wildlife and access. A conservation easement doubled the effectiveness of the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge. Conservation groups transferred tens of thousands of acres of timberlands to agencies in the Stillwater, Swan, Clearwater, Lolo and lower Clark Fork. Over 400,000 acres of timberlands west of Kalispell were just purchased, fortunately, the new owners seem open to discussing options. The purchase of 800 acres near Columbia Falls would protect wildlife and hunting access for youth and hunters with disabilities. The alternative is a subdivision where wildlife and the public arent as welcome. FWP owns 388,000 acres and has 563,000 acres under conservation easement under Habitat Montana, along with state parks and fishing accesses. That is 1 percent of Montana. That is a sore spot for some who dont believe agencies should own any land. FWP has never had a lot of money so it has had to be very strategic, lands had to provide exceptional habitat and/or substantial public access. Landowners may want a conservation easement to keep the family ranch afloat. In some cases, they no longer want to own the lands but want lands theyve nurtured for a lifetime available for wildlife and public access. Proposed lands have to pass extensive analysis, two votes by the FW Commission and have broad public input and support. Were talking places like the Sun River Game Range, Freezeout Lake, Wildhorse Island, Lewis and Clark Caverns, Makoshika, Madison Buffalo Jump and Bannack. These special places are part of the fabric of Montana, preserving history, geology, wildlife, access and drawing visitors who spend money and support jobs. Outdoor recreation is a $7.1 billion force in Montana with Habitat Montana lands a major contributor. But to grow our economy, protect public land and increase public access, Habitat Montana needs additional revenue and no new restrictions on land acquisition or burdensome bureaucracy on conservation easements. Habitat Montana is an intersection of private and public property rights that works to benefit all of us. Montanans should fight any bills that would crimp or undo our best conservation and access program. Jim Vashro is a retired fisheries biologist, president of Flathead Wildlife and Board member of the Montana Wildlife Federation Photo: The Canadian Press World Health Organization investigators on Wednesday visited a research centre in the Chinese city of Wuhan that has been the subject of speculation about the origins of the coronavirus. The WHO team's visit to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a highlight of their mission to gather data and search for clues as to where the virus originated and how it spread. One of Chinas top virus research labs, the institute built an archive of genetic information about bat coronaviruses after the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. That has led to unproven allegations that it may have a link to the original outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in late 2019. China has strongly denied that possibility and has promoted theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere or even been brought into the country from overseas with imports of frozen seafood tainted with the virus, a notion roundly rejected by international scientists and agencies. The institute's deputy director is Shi Zhengli, a virologist who worked with Peter Daszak, a zoologist on the WHO team mission, to track down the origins of SARS that originated in China and led to the 2003 outbreak. She has published widely in academic journalists and worked to debunk theories espoused by the former Trump administration and other American officials that the virus is either a bioweapon or a lab leak from the institute. Following two weeks in quarantine, the WHO team that includes experts from 10 nations has visited hospitals, research institutes and a traditional wet market linked to many of the first cases. Their visit followed months of negotiations as China seeks to retain tight control over information about the outbreak and the investigation into its origins, possibly to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response. Confirmation of the origins of the virus is likely to take years. Pinning down an outbreaks animal reservoir typically requires exhaustive research including taking animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies. One possibility is that a wildlife poacher might have passed the virus to traders who carried it to Wuhan. The first clusters of COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan in late 2019, prompting the government to put the city of 11 million under a strict 76-day lockdown. China has since reported more than 89,000 cases and 4,600 deaths, with new cases largely concentrated in its frigid northeast and local lockdowns and travel restrictions being imposed to contain the outbreaks. New cases of local transmission continue to fall with just 15 reported on Wednesday as Chinese heed government calls not to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday later this month. Birthing a new space telescope takes a long time and a lot of money and inspiration. Astronomers first began pestering NASA for the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope even before that telescope was launched into orbit in 1990. Back then they thought it could cost less than a billion and be ready in the first decade of the 21st century. Thirty years, $8.8 billion, multiple mishaps and budget crises and a threatened congressional cancellation later, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready. NASA plans to launch it into orbit as early as October 31 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket ... The key to the efficient functioning of a bad bank is that it should never be looked at as a funding institution where bad loans are routinely transferred The concept of a bad bank is not new either in the global financial parlance or here in India. A similar concept was floated in the Economic Survey of 2016-17 and was called Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA). It was also one of the few times when the concept was discussed but ultimately not implemented. In this years budget, the establishment of a bad bank has been proposed again. Any bank makes a profit by its lending activities through the difference of interest which it charges between its deposits and loans. Thus, any loan is an asset for a bank, because it generates revenues. However, sometimes the person who has availed the loan from a bank may not be able to repay the loan for a variety of reasons ranging from the financial inability to repay to fraudulently siphoning off the money. This way an asset for the bank which was supposed to generate revenue has actually become a liability because the bank may also not be able to recover even the original amount of money that was lent by it. Hence, this loan becomes bad for the bank and is termed as a Non-performing Asset (NPA). A logical indicator of the financial health of any bank is the percentage of its loans that have become NPA. It is not possible that any bank has no NPAs at all, but it is important to contain them. A high percentage of NPAs is problematic because the banks balance sheet becomes stressed by them and the bank can become too wary of lending. A decline in the total number of loans handed by a bank is then a larger problem for the economy because there will be a shortage of capital for the businesses and they will be forced to cut down on expenditure which will have a negative impact on the economy. As per the RBI data, in September 2020, the percentage of NPAs of public sector banks was around 9.7 percent, which is considerably high as any healthy bank is expected to contain the NPAs under 4 percent. The solution to this is resolving the loans which have become bad or simply providing for them through the profits of the banks. In India, the usual course is that the loans go bad in the banking system and since the majority of the banking sector is held by the government, they receive fresh capitalization from the government every now and then. This breaks one of the most fundamental rules of economics, where is there is private gain at the expense of public risk. It is so because the private person taking a loan doesnt repay it but the government repays it from the taxpayers money. This is obviously a situation that needs to be remedied. The proposed bad bank is not a bank per se. It is an entity that will specialise in resolving bad loans. This is done by equipping the institution with personnel who have specialization in valuations and appraisals and they can quickly tap into the legal framework to recover whatever capital that is possible from a loan that has gone bad. This function may not be performed by the personnel of a commercial bank in a routine manner. The bad bank can in theory recover more money on a bad loan, just because it is only doing that and not the usual functions of the bank. Thus, a commercial bank can put all of its energies in the banking services and not only on recovering loans. Moreover, the mere removal of NPAs from the balance sheets of the banks in itself provides good optics for the bank and its valuation by the market is not hampered. Considering this, one may think that why hasnt it materialised yet, given its advantages. This is so because there are major challenges to the functioning of a bad bank as well. The foremost challenge is the funding of the institution itself, that is the money that the bad bank would need to pay the banks while buying its NPAs. If the government decides to fund it then the original problem of private gain at the public expense is not resolved. Yet, governments in many countries have been known to do that, especially in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. All major economies including the US and the EU funded the bad loans through public money. This model is not desirable for India because the government is already fiscally constrained to do the same, and it has no significant monetary advantages over directly recapitalizing them. Government funding also encourages reckless lending, as the banks would have lesser incentive to do due diligence for a loan because ultimately the government will bear the risk of their decision. Thankfully, the government has ruled out that it will be funding the bad bank for now. The other alternative is to keep the bad bank a private entity. In that case, if the bad bank itself doesnt generate any profits, not many private parties will be interested in the idea. It is thus important to find an efficient mechanism to keep the bad bank leveraged. This is possible if they are able to make sufficient recoveries through auctions, securitization (converting them into sellable securities) and strategic placement (where the bad asset may be most relevant). It is also important that the lending bank should be made accountable for a percentage of the NPA and there should be clear guidelines on the demarcation of risk-bearing of the lending bank and the bad bank. The most critical aspect of any bad bank is swift decision making as the nature of debt is that it keeps increasing with time. It is statistically established that a quicker resolution of debt leads to larger recoveries. Therefore, it is important that the transferring mechanism between the banks, especially the PSUs and the bad bank also happens swiftly. The public sector banks are not known for swift functioning, so that may prove to be challenging for the bad bank. The key to the efficient functioning of a bad bank is that it should never be looked at as a funding institution, where bad loans are routinely transferred, it is instead an institution that can be approached by banks to resolve their NPAs and they have to pay a fee for that from their provisions. Ultimately, the banks shouldnt be able to escape the cost that has been incurred by the system because of the loan going bad. The writer is an Assistant Professor of Law at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times 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. [February 03, 2021] Rocket Software Acquires Amsterdam-Based Uniface, Expanding Application Platform Footprint Rocket Software, a global technology leader that develops enterprise modernization and optimization solutions for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Netherlands based Uniface, a pioneer in accelerating innovation through its low-code application platform. Uniface, its employees, and its products are now part of Rocket, which already has significant operations in the Netherlands. The Uniface low-code application platform is a robust, enterprise-grade platform enabling developers to focus on UX and business logic rather than on coding, thus enabling mission-critical applications to reach the market faster. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the value low-code solutions such as Uniface deliver, including high productivity and agile component-based development, making possible the reuse of existing assets. "Low-code development and digital process automation (DPA) platforms are crucial foundations for business in the COVID-19 world," said Rob Koplowitz, John Bratincevic and John Rymer of Forrester (News - Alert) Research in a report entitled, Navigating the Rapid App Delivery Market: Consolidation and Confusion in the Fast-Growing Low Code and Digital Process Automation Market. "Companies that had low-code and/or DPA platforms responded far better to the demands of the COVID-19 crisis than those that didn't." Thousands of companies in more than 30 countries rely on Uniface software to start, run, and scale their businesses. This acquisition expands the ability of Rocket to develop and modernize mission-critical enterprise applications that deliver legendary business outcomes. Rocket has completed and integrated more than 50 acquisitions since 1990 and is planning further investments in strategic innovation to improve developer ease-of-use and end-user customer experience to unlock the value of legacy Uniface applications. "This isn't just a technological match, but also a philosophical one," said P. Gary Gregory, President of the Database and Connectivity Business Unit at Rocket Software. "Both companies are in their fourth decades and are recognized leaders in their respective fields who share a passion for putting their customers first. Rocket extends our core values of Empathy, Humanity, Trust and Love to Uniface customers and partners. We are excited to welcome a great new team to Rocket as we continue to expand our business around the world by creating legendary outcomes." About Rocket Software Rocket Software empowers organizations to create legendary impact in the world through innovation in legacy technologies. With deep expertise in IBM (News - Alert) Z, IBM Power, and database and connectivity solutions, Rocket provides solutions that power tens of thousands of global businesses, solving real problems and making real-world impact. Rocket is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Forrester Research (News - Alert) , Inc. Navigating The Rapid App Delivery Market: Consolidation And Confusion In The Fast-Growing Low-Code And Digital Process Automation Market By Rob Koplowitz, John Bratincevic and John Rymer, September 17, 2020 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005577/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A circular issued by the Bihar police that apparently warns those aspiring to get government jobs or contracts against participation in demonstrations has triggered a political spat in the state. The opposition likened the administration to dictatorial rulers, even as the department came out with a clarification that the controversy was stemmed from "wrong interpretation" of a paragraph in the missive that ran into many pages. Trouble began with a two-page order of the DGP dated February 01 which was appended along with a circular issued by the states Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Amir Subhani and shared by the police headquarters with the media. Subhani's circular, which was also two pages long, was addressed to the DGP, all heads of department in the state and Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates concerned. Subhani had called for compulsory prior verification of character of vendors before they were awarded any government contracts in order to ensure that those with criminal antecedents were kept at bay. Based on the circular, DGP SK Singhal came out with the order, in Hindi, regarding "police verification report". A five-line paragraph, in bold letters, caught the attention. Roughly translated, it said "any person who gets involved in road blockades, protest demonstrations or other activities that affected law and order and against whom the police issues a charge-sheet for involvement in a criminal activity, must be awarded an adverse entry in character verification certificate". "Such people must be prepared for dire consequences since they would stand deprived of government jobs and contracts", the order added. Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav shared a screenshot of the order on his official Twitter handle and attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar betraying a mix of outrage and mockery. "Nitish Kumar competes with Mussolini and Hitler and says whoever exercised the democratic right to stage a protest against the ruling dispensation will not get a job..how scared is the poor chief minister of 40 MLAs", the RJD leader tweeted. He also shared a news item related to the order which carried an old photograph of the 69-year-old CM pointing an angry finger at prying journalists and remarked "the decree of Bihars Kim Jong-Un". Kin Jong-Un is North Korean dictator. However, when ADG (Headquarters) Jitendra Kumar was asked about the controversy, he said "it is a wrong interpretation. The order does not debar anybody from getting a government job. It simply states that involvement in any objectionable activity will henceforth find a mention in the police verification report". "It will be upto the prospective employers to take a call on awarding contracts or giving employment, in light of their respective policies. Our communication in no way impinges upon the right of a citizen to take part in any demonstration or procession, which is his or her democratic right", the ADG said. "We shall be simply stating the fact of a persons involvement in an activity that might be against the law. We will be giving no opinions about a person in the police verification report", he added. JD(U) MLC and former minister Neeraj Kumar, known for his frequent spats with the RJD leader, came out with an angry statement calling Yadav a "political tourist" - an allusion to his frequent and prolonged trips outside the state. Referring to the RJDs alleged notoriety for having dreaded criminals among its rank and file, the former Bihar minister asked whether Yadav wanted people with tainted backgrounds "to infest the executive as well". NAC SNS . The fire that engulfed San Borja Hospital, one of the major hospitals in Santiago this past Saturday, bears the hallmarks of decades of underfunding and under-resourcing of the public health system by right-wing and left governments alike. Amid an alarming escalation of COVID-19 cases that has national intensive care units at 92 percent occupancy, such avoidable catastrophes can only speed up the collapse of an already debilitated health system. It is due both to good fortune as well as the decisive action and dedication of health professionals and emergency services that no one was injured. Around 300 firefighters, 40 fire engines and emergency vehicles battled the blaze after the alert was raised at around 7 a.m. In less than two hours, health staff evacuated the majority of patients, some 300 in total, to safe areas of the hospital to determine who could be discharged and to transfer others, including ICU patients, to already stretched health facilities across Santiago. A San Borjan doctor from the pediatric wing movingly described how he and other health personnel, some of whom were on vacation, quickly responded to the news that their hospital had caught on fire: I received the news, got dressed and went to the hospital ... the pediatric staff behaved impeccably. There were 19 hospitalized children, all of them were brought down in a calm manner, all of them in order, all of the staff knew what to do, everything as we always learned about transfers. It was a marvel, the commitment of everyone. San Borja Hospital in flames. (Credit: bomberos de Chile) It remains unclear the exact trigger for the fire that started in the boiler room; an investigation is ongoing. The initial report indicated an electrical fault. What is certain is that with years of financial neglect, insufficient maintenance and obsolete equipment, such incidents are bound to happen. This is the conclusion that millions in the country have drawn. A video has gone viral of an angry San Borja worker confronting the Health Minister Enrique Paris while he was giving a press conference in the vicinity. You have done nothing! You come for the TV and for the photo op, nothing else, he said as he was moved along. Film of four hospitals being inundated with rainwater only 24 hours later also went viral. The worst hit was the El Pino Hospital, located in the San Bernardo district. A hospital communique stated that the facility suffered several incidents in its installations. For the most part, these are minor leaks and filtrations. But around 4:00 p.m. there was a major incident in the Maternal Emergency Service (where) the false ceiling broke due to the accumulated water that exceeded the capacity of the rainwater filtration systems. Heavy rains in the Metropolitan Region on Sunday also affected the Buin Hospital, the Padre Hurtado Hospital and the San Borja Hospital. Ivan Gonzalez Tapia is an architect who was involved in an inquiry into the state of the public system under the military dictatorship that was commissioned by the then incoming civilian government in 1989. The center-left Concertacion Coalition, which included the Socialist Party and was supported from the sidelines by the Stalinist Communist Party, held consecutive power from 1990 until 2010. Referring to the tragedy at San Borja, Gonzalez raised in an opinion piece that fires in urban buildings are never the result of unforeseeable natural events: The causes that produce them are, always, what we have been permanently claiming for these and other catastrophes: the lack of planning, management and maintenance. This, which should seem obvious, is not attended to in Chile with the dedication and provision of minimum indispensable means to avoid the risks and catastrophes that adequate planning will always be able to anticipate. The commission Gonzalez had been involved in 1989 verified that in the 17 years of military rule most of the urban buildings had fallen into utter disrepair. He wrote: Among them, the health area stood out for its enormous deficiencies, since out of a minimum budget for their replacement and maintenance, not even half of what was required had been invested. We are not surprised, then, by what happened in San Borja which today does not even have the necessary means to attend to the patients it receives. This is a significant admission from someone aligned to the center-left Concertacion (today the Nueva Mayoria) and an indictment of the entire parliamentary left political caste that has sought to lay the entire blame for the unpardonable state of social and public infrastructure solely on the military dictatorship and its free market economic policies. In reality they intensified these same policies by providing a miserly 4 percent of GDP to the health budget, creating among the worst staff-to-patient ratios in the OECD and a resource and infrastructure-starved public health system. This is the background to the San Borja disaster under conditions where COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising in Chile, today reaching the high incidence rates of last winter in the middle of the summer period. The number of daily cases being reported has reached 4,000. As of January 28 the total number of confirmed and suspected cases reached 821,130, along with 24,429 deaths according to the Health Ministrys latest report. The disaster is compounded by the fact that regional hospitals are sending their critical patients to Santiago as they have no more bed spaces. This is the case for the region surrounding Valparaiso, Chiles second largest city. Both the Carlos Van Buren hospital and the Gustavo Fricke hospital reached 100 percent occupancy, while the mining region of Antofagasta was forced to turn to the Military Hospital due to lack of personnel. Throughout the pandemic the overriding concern of the ultra-right government of President Sebastian Pinera has been to keep profitable sectors of the economy open. His former health minister, Jaime Manalich, who was forced to resign after caught providing false coronavirus figures to the general public, implemented a dynamic quarantining regime that allowed the mining and other export-oriented industries to remain open for business. This led directly to COVID-19 spreading to other regions, especially those with a mining workforce. Where quarantining was implemented, no meaningful assistance was provided to the millions that, either due to being furloughed without pay or working in the informal sector, were forced to break curfews for food or work. This created the conditions for the virus to rapidly spread in the densely populated working-class suburbs and shanty towns of Santiago, Valparaiso and elsewhere. The latest health minister, Enrique Paris, has intensified the governments criminal herd immunity policies that directly contributed to the present second wave. Late last year, the government made the extraordinarily reckless decision to open the country to international tourism. In this whole process, the right-wing government has been aided by the parliamentary left and the Communist Party and Frente Amplio-dominated corporatist unions which agreed to nonessential export industries remaining operational. They accepted a freeze on collective bargaining, wage cuts and the furloughing of workers for the benefit of employers, and they have point blank refused to call any industrial action against poverty, hunger, insecurity and evictions impacting the working class. An indefinite strike called by the health unions late last year was ended as quickly as it began once a sellout deal was stitched up. One of the key demandsthe payment of a paltry COVID Bonus of 200,000 pesos (US$275), reduced from the 500,000 pesos (US$650) originally pledged by the Congress earlier in Junehas yet to be paid. A study published last week by the nurses association evaluating variablessuch as the number of new cases, mortality rates, the characteristics of the second wave in Europe, the governments mismanagement and the vaccination processesconcluded that cases could quadruple by the winter period. But even under this impending cataclysmic scenario they refuse to mobilize the working class. With this track record of criminal negligence and callous indifference on the part of the entire political elite, the working class needs to draw critical lessons and intervene with its own agenda. It must break with bourgeois politics, especially the Stalinist PCCh, the pseudo-left Frente Amplio and the establishment left who are all wedded to parliamentarism and defend capitalist private property. It must reject the domination of the corporatist unions and create new organs of political power that are comprised of and controlled by the rank and file. Only with a revolutionary socialist perspective can the struggle of the working class make any advances. The International Committee of the Fourth International is elaborating a genuine socialist response to the pandemic. We encourage workers and youth in Chile to contact the ICFI to begin this struggle. Kineco Kaman's Manufacturing Facility In addition to a highly impressive reduction in material waste, Plataines technology will bring us to a high level of process automation - a significant benefit for us - leading to higher efficiencies and meet our business goals. -- Gourish Dabolkar, Manufacturing Project Leader at Kineco Kaman Kineco Kaman Composites, a leading manufacturer of composite parts for aerospace and defence applications, has identified Plataines material optimization software solution for significant reductions in material waste. Also, Plataines AI-based digital manufacturing software solution has been short-listed to deliver process digitalization & automation and improve visibility of the production processes - from raw material to finished product. Based in Goa, India, Kineco Kaman is a joint venture that was established between the Kineco Group of India and Kaman Aerospace of the US, in order to address the evolving needs of their global aerospace and defence customers. Plataine was selected thanks to its global reputation of leading an AI-based suite of manufacturing optimization solutions, and its strong proven success with aerospace and defence well recognized companies. Plataines solution will integrate with Kineco Kamans current systems to allow it to automatically and dynamically generate optimized cut plans, as well as improve the kitting and sorting process. Plataines technology will provide an improved picking process leading to optimized utilization of the material inventory, such as the selection remnants for production, wherever possible. The optimized plans and improved resources utilization are expected to ultimately lead to improve on-time delivery and generate 5% material savings. The new system will maintain a complete Digital Thread, eliminating the need for manual paper records, while allowing full traceability from raw material to end product. The result will be improved quality and quality control, assuring Kineco Kaman is always audit-ready an important consideration in such a highly regulated industry. Based on Kineco Kamans preference, the implementation of the cloud-based solution could be handled entirely remotely, ensuring quick and smooth deployment and compliance with any COVID-related restrictions. Gourish Dabolkar, Manufacturing Project Leader at Kineco Kaman, says: In addition to a highly impressive reduction in material waste, Plataines technology will bring us to a high level of process automation, such as the generation of optimized plans and the elimination of manual, paper-based record keeping during production processes. This type of process automation will be a significant benefit for us, leading to higher efficiencies and meet our business goals. Avner Ben-Bassat, President and CEO of Plataine, adds: Kineco Kaman is a multi-national joint venture that has achieved a unique position in the global Aerospace industry. Their existing manufacturing processes are cutting edge, and we are proud to be an integral part of their digital journey with Plataines advanced AI-based optimization methods to support their competitive advantage and sustainability. About Kineco Kaman Kineco Kaman Composites India is a Goa-based multinational joint venture between Kaman Aerospace Group (USA) and Kineco Limited (India). The company was set up to address the growing needs of global aerospace and defence companies; and manufactures advanced composite structural parts and assemblies for aerospace and defence applications using carbon and glass fiber materials and autoclave curing technology. Kineco Kaman employs 129 people and maintains a 70,000+ sq. ft. manufacturing facility. Products include composite parts for aircrafts, helicopters, UAVs, and spacecrafts. The company is certified for AS9100 rev D, ISO 14001, OHSAS 45000 with NADACP NDT (AC 7114), NADCAP Composites & NMMT (AC 7118) and NADCAP Chemical processing (AC 7108) certifications. For more information, visit http://www.kinecokamanindia.com/ About Plataine: Plataine is the leading provider of Industrial IoT and AI-based optimization solutions for advanced manufacturing. Plataines solutions provide intelligent, connected Digital Assistants for production floor management and staff, empowering manufacturers to make optimized decisions in real-time, every time. Plataines patent-protected technologies are used by leading manufacturers worldwide, including Airbus, GE, Renault F1 Team, Stelia North America, Muskogee Technology, IAI, Triumph, General Atomics, TPI Composites and Ethan Allen. Plataine partners with SAP, Siemens PLM, McKinsey & Company, VIRTEK, the AMRC with Boeing, and CTC GmbH (an Airbus Company), and is also a part of the National Composites Centre (NCC) membership network, to advance the Factory of the Future worldwide. For this work, Plataine has received a Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan and Innovation Awards from the JEC and CompositesUK organizations, as well as the Shanghai Society of Aeronautics (SSA). Plataine is ISO 27001 certified for compliance with information security management requirements. For more information, visit: http://www.plataine.com. The widow of car-dealership magnate Ray Brandt filed court papers to evict her family from their Old Metairie compound on Tuesday, the latest escalation of a bitter family battle over control of the massive estate that Brandt left behind when he died in late 2019. Jessica Fussell Brandt filed an eviction petition in the 5th Justice of the Peace Court in Jefferson Parish against her daughter, Julie Hartline; her son-in-law, Darryl Hartline, and Alexis and Zachary Hartline, the two grandchildren against whom she is pitted in a legal fight over an estate valued at more than $300 million. Before Brandts death from pancreatic cancer at age 72, they all shared a compound on Falcon Road that includes two mansions backing up to Metairie Country Club. Jessica Brandt has been trying on and off for months to sell the property, which belongs to Ray Brandts estate, as its executrix. The family members living there have balked, at one point pulling For Sale signs from the lawn. Her move to evict them comes just a week after Jessica Brandt scored a big legal win in her bid to maintain control of her deceased husband's estate -- most notably a lucrative array of auto dealerships and collision centers across Louisiana and Mississippi. A Jefferson Parish judge on Jan. 25 invalidated the last will and testament that Ray Brandt signed weeks before his death in November 2019, and another one he drafted in 2015. District Judge Lee Faulkner Jr. ruled that both wills contained a fatal flaw in the way they were notarized; neither notarization specified that Ray Brandt, the witnesses and notary were together when they signed it. The decision, which is being appealed, appears to leave the fate of Brandts estate to a will he made out in 2010. Unlike the others, that will places Jessica Brandt in firm control of Brandts estate and trust, including the auto dealerships, until her death. Ultimately, Ray Brandt laid out that her grandchildren, whom he legally adopted as adults shortly before he died, would split the estates assets. Jessica Brandt issued a statement through her lawyers after Faulkners ruling, saying she was most pleased with the prospect of her family beginning the healing process. But her eviction filing revealed that, that same day, her lawyers fired off an email re-urging the family to abandon the property by Jan. 31. Regretfully, Ray Brandts widow has chosen to fight, not heal, her own family in the wake of his untimely death, said attorney Randy Smith, who represents Alexis and Zachary Hartline. Instead of respecting Ray Brandts clear wishes, she has rejected efforts to mediate and left her own family no choice but to respond in the courts. 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 The eviction case will be heard Feb. 9. In a statement explaining her decision, Jessica Brandt described multiple citations issued by Jefferson Parish officials for violations at the compound. The most recent citation came Jan. 21, for a trailer and mud buggy parked in a driveway on a vacant lot. When Ray passed away, I allowed my family to continue living at this property and paid the expenses for my family members living there for 14 months, her statement read. As far back as November of last year and then again Jan. 5, I informed my family of the necessity to sell this property. These family members already own two other lovely homes, one in Metairie and one in Fort Beauregard, she added. Following the most recent property citation Jan. 21, we sent a reminder to my family members living there Unfortunately, I had to take the legal step today so I could move forward with the sale of this house. Most evictions across the country are on pause under a U.S. Centers for Disease Control moratorium aimed at keeping tenants in place during the pandemic, but the freeze applies only to those who earn $99,000 or less and have suffered a financial loss. The compound where the family settled seven years ago is valued at more than $8 million. The heart of the legal dispute pits Jessica Brandt against Archbishop Rummel High School Principal Marc Milano, whom Ray Brandt named in his 2019 will as the trustee to oversee the auto group and the rest of his estate until she dies. Milano has accused Jessica Brandt of siphoning money from the estate and attempting to claim an ownership interest in the dealerships against Ray Brandts wishes. In response, Jessica Brandt sued Milano for defamation. On Monday, the grandchildren filed their own legal action, challenging a petition to put Ray Brandts 2010 will into effect. They argued that the trust that Ray Brandt set up in 2015 makes clear that he meant for Milano to oversee the assets. In the wake of the upsurge of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, some traders at the Mallam market still refuses to adhere to the safety protocols put in place to curb the spread. Some traders at the Mallam market claimed that the reopening of schools defeats the purpose of any other protocol, whiles others blame politicians for the upsurge especially political activities during the December 7th Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a tour of the market observed that even though veronica bucket had been placed at the entrance of the market and most stores it was not in use. Most traders also had their mask under their chin, some not wearing at all, and no social distancing, and activities going on as if the disease never existed. In an interview with the GNA, Madam Esinu Goka, said, "Since students are back to school, it means the cases are decreasing, because I believe the President can't endanger the lives of our children if the COVID-19 is still with us". A 28-year-old "kayayoo" told the GNA that, "it's God that protects us, so I can't contract the disease, and besides the mask is not the solution to the problem". A mobile money merchant at the entrance of the market, told the GNA that, "I asked a client to wear his mask before talking to me, and he asked me to show him a victim before he will put it on". She added that, she felts the market was no longer safe, because activities were ongoing normal and the safety protocols were not been strictly adhered to. 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 And State Department officials acknowledged on Tuesday that four of the top generals who organized the coup were already under sanction. Needless to say, those sanctions did not deter them from overturning a decade-long, inching move toward democracy. (It also does not help that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the deposed civilian leader, has had her Nobel Peace Prize-winning reputation irreparably tainted by her defense of a military that has committed atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.) Threatening President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will be even harder. Mr. Biden was part of the Obama administration debate in 2014 about whether the United States should impose its harshest sanctions yet on Russia for its invasion of eastern Ukraine, and whether it should sponsor a combination of a physical and virtual war there. More than six years later, that sanctions regimen has failed in its one goal: to force Mr. Putin to reverse course, remove his forces and cease harassing a sovereign former Soviet state. So when the United States condemned the sentencing of Mr. Navalny, the activist whose poisoning and arrest led to people across Russia to protest more than 10,000 of whom the authorities rounded up there was recognition among Mr. Bidens top aides that, in the words of one of them, that when it comes to the Kremlin, Were pretty sanctioned out. Mr. Bidens aides say the difference now is that they will work hard to coordinate pressure with allies, whose views Mr. Trump largely ignored over the past four years, as he reached for his phone to tweet orders for new sanctions or tariffs. (Rarely were those tweets prompted by human rights abuses.) Mr. Putin, of course, loves nothing more than casting Mr. Navalny and the protesters as instruments of the United States, who are seeking to destabilize the country. The last time the United States came after him so directly for suppressing democratic instincts in Moscow was nearly a decade ago, when the secretary of state at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton, called out his efforts to rig a parliamentary election. Mr. Putin accused her of sending a signal to some actors in our country, and American intelligence analysts later concluded that Russias actions to steal emails from the Democrats and release them to embarrass her in the 2016 presidential election constituted direct retribution. But inside the Biden White House, there is hope that the thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets in protest, electrified by the story of how the government tried to kill Mr. Navalny, may give the United States an opportunity. If executed skillfully and with the help of European allies, Biden administration officials said, many ordinary Russians may welcome sanctions as a sign that the United States is on their side. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 05:52:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SARAJEVO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of illegal border crossings increased in 2020 by 102.37 percent year-on-year, the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BPBiH) said on Wednesday. A total of 11,857 people were detected during illegal border crossings and the majority of them were nationals of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, and Bangladesh, said Zoran Galic, director of BPBIH. Galic met on Wednesday with the members of the BPBiH Expert Board to analyze and discuss their work in 2020 as well as the Annual Work Plan for 2021, with a special focus on illegal migration. BiH was exposed to increased migratory pressure in 2020 and the biggest number of illegal crossings of the state border were noted in the area of Trebinje, Hum, Visegrad, Zvornik and Bijeljina, the cities along the eastern border with Serbia. In 2020, over 24 million people crossed the BiH's state border, Galic said. Enditem Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has appealed to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to forgive popular Yoruba rights act... Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has appealed to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to forgive popular Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, over his recent comments against the monarch. NigerianEye had reported Wednesday that Igboho said the monarch disappointed the Yoruba people when he visited the President, Muhammadu Buhari of recent over the herdsmen crisis rocking the South-West region. The activist, who issued a seven-day quit notice to herdsmen accused of sundry crimes in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State and enforced same, said Oba Ogunwusi failed to convey the pains and displeasure of the Yoruba people to the President during the visit. But reacting in a string of tweets also on Wednesday, Fani-Kayode said, I just spoke with Sunday Igboho and he confirmed to me that what he said about our revered Ooni of Ife was said in the heat of the moment. He expressed his regrets and I was relieved to hear that. To err is human and to forgive is divine. I appeal to Kabiyesi to forgive him. For the record let me state clearly and categorically that no Ooni of Ife, whether living or dead, has ever been a slave of the Fulani and neither will they ever be. I can also confirm that my friend and brother Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo state, is a deeply courageous individual who would never bow before anyone let alone be a slave to the Fulani. We in the South-West must remain united in our quest for liberty and justice and in the face of the common enemy and we must move forward as one. No one can dispute the fact that Sunday has fought hard and done well. He has won the respect of all and sundry in Yorubaland and he has inspired millions of our people all over the world. Let us forgive him for this slip and continue to support and pray for him. 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. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Advertisement As the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. came to end, the nation is seeing signs of progress including plummeting rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and accelerating vaccinations rates. Daily cases have dropped 45 percent since the latest peak on January 11, according to data from the COVID-19 Tracking Project. There were 131,341 new cases reported on Wednesday. Hospitalizations have fallen 26 percent since they peaked most recently on January 12, the data shows, with 96,534 reported in the hospital as of Wednesday. Forty-four states are seeing a decline in cases, Johns Hopkins data reveals, with just Alabama, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, on the upswing. In addition, as the country headed into February, COVID-19 hospitalizations fell below 100,000 for the first time in two months. Currently, 92,880 patients are hospitalized with the virus, the lowest figure seen since November 29 and falling nearly 30 percent from a peak of 132,474 on January 6, according to data from The COVID Tracking Project. The U.S. death toll has surpassed 446,000 - with an average of about 3,200 deaths per day - but experts say fatalities are a lagging indicator and will likely increase over the next couple of weeks before declining as those severely infected over the winter holidays pass away. However, most officials say that, with fewer than two percent of the population fully immunized against the virus, it is too soon to say that vaccines are causing the decline. So the question remains: why are cases falling so fast in the U.S. and can the nation stay ahead of the fast-spreading mutations of the virus? Public health experts believe that the decline in cases is likely a combination of a higher number of people who've had the virus than official counts suggest - meaning as many as 90 million people have antibodies against the virus - and fewer people traveling and holding gatherings than did over the winter holidays. It's not just the U.S., however. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday it has also seen declining new infections globally over the past three weeks. Our World in Data graphs show the daily infection rate has fallen by 30 percent in that period. But Director-General Tedros Adhanom warned against relaxing restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus on the heels of the good news. 'Over the past year, there have been moments in almost all countries when cases declined, and governments opened up too quickly, and individuals let down their guard, only for the virus to come roaring back,' he said. On Wednesday, 110,679 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the U.S., which is much lower than the 215,805 infections that were recorded just three weeks ago The seven-day rolling average of new cases currently sits at 135,904, a 44% decline from the average three weeks weeks earlier and hospitalizations are down 30% from their peak on January 6 Currently, 44 states are seeing a decline in cases with just Alabama, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania trending upward, according to Johns Hopkins data Deaths are running at about 3,150 per day on average, but are a lagging indicator because the people who died in January were mostly infected between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays The U.S. is seeing a similar curve in daily confirmed cases as is seen in the UK, Germany, Canada and even India Dr Ali Mokdad, a professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said there are a number of reasons for the decline in case. One of the reasons for the sharp drop in cases, even if not the primary driver, are vaccines. Despite a slow start, the pace of vaccinations has been increasing. More than 52.6 million doses have been distributed and 32.7 million have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That figure is an increase from 16.5 million on January 20, Inauguration Day. A total of 26.4 million people - about eight percent of the population - have received at least the first injection and six million - 1.8 percent - have been fully inoculated. The average number of shots going into arms in the two weeks since Biden's inauguration has been around 1.3 million per day on average, more than the president's original goal of one million per day but less than his new goal of 1.5 million per day. But these numbers are nowhere near the at least 65 percent required for herd immunity. Experts say the decline in cases is likely due to other reasons instead, such as a higher number of people with natural immunity. So far, 26.4 million cases - eight percent of the population - have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins. However, most experts believe this is a severe undercount and only presents a portion of the true number of infections in the country, and Mokdad says likely another reason for the decline in cases. Recent CDC models estimate that between February and December 2020, there were closer to 83.1 million infections in the U.S. In addition, to the six million cases reported in January, that means an estimated 89.1 million people have contracted the virus since the pandemic began. As more people have gained natural immunity, have been vaccinated against the virus and have cut down on their travel, cases have sharply declined since early January When combined with the number of people who have been vaccinated that comes out to a total of 121.8 million, roughly one-third of the U.S. population who may have some level of immunity against the virus. meaning the pathogen cannot spread as rapidly as it once did. 'The more infections than what has been detected...they are immune so the combination of the vaccine and past vaccine will help us,' Mokdad said. 'People who have been infected are taken out of circulation, basically they are not getting the virus anymore.; He adds that the post-holiday surge is likely over, and is also responsible for the sharp decline. Americans who became infected over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's likely reported their illnesses around early December and early January, when the U.S. saw peaks in total cases and hospitalizations. With the winter holidays over, and no holidays with large spikes in travel expected until Memorial Day in May, public health experts expect that the general public is mostly staying home and not holding large gatherings, which is also driving down the trend. 'People cut down on their travel and put on their best behavior,' Mokdad said. 'And we have seen that in the past, every time cases go up, people are more likely to wear mask and they cut down on their mobility.' In a press conference on Wednesday, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky called the declining numbers 'a consistent downward trajectory for both cases and deaths' and are at 'pre-Thanksgiving levels,' but warned that any gatherings with others will cause contagious variants to spread Mokdad warns that there will likely be a 'slight bump' in cases in April due to new variants from the UK, South and Brazil, so people still need to be vigilant, keep modeling good behavior and continue to become vaccinated when shots become available. 'Even if we see these declines, we shouldn't celebrate yet,' he said, nothing that this led to a surge in cases in late June and early July after a drop in infections in May. 'We should be more vigilant because it's telling us that if we can control this virus if we behave..Stay away each other from other until we reach herd immunity.' Experts say a combination of vaccines, previous infections and the weather as spring and summer approach are going to lead to a decline of cases in wealthier nations The U.S., Europe, and the UK all reached their winter peaks of new daily infections around the same time in mid-January, statistics from Our World in Data show. Cases in the three hard-hit parts of the world likely drove the global daily case rate to its highest point ever, with the seven-day rolling average of new cases reaching 736,396 on January 11. By Tuesday, the average number of new daily cases worldwide had declined by 30 percent to 512,732. Europe's new daily cases have declined from about 250,00 to about 180,000 a day, and the UK - which has been under lockdown since January 6 - is now seeing just 23,355 new cases on an average day, down from its January 9 peak of nearly 60,000. And India, which is second only to the US for the highest number of COVID-19 cases, is seeing a decline, too. New infections have fallen 25 percent in the past three weeks, to just 12,537 on an average day. Daily cases have plummeted from the country's September peak of 93,180 cases a day. Mokdad says a higher percentage of infections in India, as much as 40 percent of the population being previously infected, has led to a decline because the country is heading closer to herd immunity. But COVID-19 case rates there began to plummet far earlier and for different reasons than apply to wealthier nations like the UK and the US. 'In the wealthy countries...countries that are vaccinating right now, so European countries, and the fact they are in the northern hemisphere, the weather is going to turn out to be much better in the coming months,' Mokdad said. 'So a combination of vaccines, previous infections and the weather are going to lead to a decline.' But if the northern hemisphere is going to see a decline in cases as we head into May, June and July, the southern hemisphere will likely see a rise as counties like Argentina, Australia and South Africa head into fall and winter. 'The seasonality will basically help some countries and is going to bea gainst certain countries,' he added. Health experts say COVID-19 vaccines are a factor in the sharp drop in cases but are not the primary cause with about 1.3 million per day on average Only 8% of the population has received their first shot and less 2% are immunized, which are figured not high enough to achieve herd immunity California's 21,451 new confirmed cases on Tuesday are about one-third the mid-December peak of 54,000 and hospitalizations dropping below 15,000 represent a decline of more than 25% in two weeks In California, one of the nation's hotspots since the early days of the crisis, the rates of new infections and hospitalizations continue to fall. The 21,451 new confirmed cases on Tuesday are about one-third the mid-December peak of 54,000. Additionally, the state said the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 slipped below 15,000, which is a drop of more than 25 percent in two weeks. The state said that the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 slipped below 14,850 - a drop of more than 25% in two weeks. Deaths remain staggeringly high, however, with more than 3,800 in the last week. It took six months for California to record its first 10,000 deaths, then four months to double to 20,000. In just five more weeks the state reached 30,000. It then took only 20 days to get to 40,000. On Sunday deaths rose to 40,697, while total cases topped 3.2 million. On Tuesday, New York reported 8,215 new infections and 8,067 hospitalizations. This is down from the record-high 19,942 new cases reported on January 15 and the more than 9,000 hospitalizations reported in mid-January Meanwhile, in New York - the nation's first epicenter - cases have fallen nearly 10 percent over the last week, an analysis of state and federal data reveals. On Tuesday, the state reported 8,215 new infections with a 5.47 percent test positivity rate. This is down from the record-high 19,942 new cases and 6.14 percent positivity rate reported on January 15. 'In the here and now, all the news is good. You look at all the trend lines, it's good,' Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference on Sunday. The state had about 8,067 hospitalizations on Tuesday, which a decrease from the more than 9,000 that were reported in mid-January. However, Cuomo warned New Yorkers that the new COVID-19 variants were still a threat and that people still had to follow mitigation measures like mask-wearing and social distancing. 'For me, I have been through this a number of times, and I anticipate the probability of the future to be ready for it,' he said. Florida recorded 10,533 new cases and less than 7,000 hospitalizations on Tuesday, which is down from nearly 16,000 new cases a day and about 8,000 total hospitalizations early in January Illinois' 2,304 new cases and 2,550 hospitalizations reported on Tuesday are a marked drop for more than 15,000 infections and 6,100 hospitalizations reported in November More states are reporting similar downward trends. In Florida, which was was reporting as many as 16,000 new cases a day early in January, just 10,533 cases were recorded on Tuesday. Additionally, fewer than 7,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, in the state, down from almost 8,000 earlier in January, reported the Tampa Bay Times. The statewide positivity rate decreased to 10.77 percent. And Illinois, health officials reported 2,304 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19,a steep drop from the record-high of more than 15,000 reported in November. The seven-day rolling average test positivity rate, which sits at 3.9 percent, is the lowest figure seen sicne early October and has been cut by more than half from a month ago. What's more, with just about 2,500 hospitalized patients, it represents an 59 percent drop from the peak of 6,175 in mid-November (Reuters) - Ant Group Co has agreed on a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators under which the fintech giant will be turned into a financial holding company, according to Bloomberg News. The plan calls for putting all of Ant's businesses into the holding company, including its technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food-delivery, according to screenshots of the story shared by Bloomberg subscribers on Wednesday. (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by ... She has been lapping up the success of Wonder Woman 1984, in which she plays the lead role. But Gal Gadot was on mummy duty on Tuesday as she headed out with her daughter Alma, nine, in Studio City. The actress, 35, cut a casual yet sporty figure in an oversized white hoodie and black leggings. Doting mum: Gal Gadot was on mummy duty on Tuesday as she headed out with her daughter Alma, nine, in Studio City The hoodie sheathed over Gal's slender figure and was emblazoned with a figure catching a shuttlecock. The Hollywood star teamed the look with black trainers and wore a tiny bag across her shoulder. Gal's eldest daughter, meanwhile, opted for roller skates for the walk. Casually-clad: The actress, 35, cut a casual yet sporty figure in an oversized white hoodie and black leggings Last month Gal, who also has a three-year-old daughter Maya, revealed her husband Yaron Varsano has been working out more since she took on the role of Wonder Woman. 'The only thing that has changed is that he has started training more because I became so strong,' she told HELLO! magazine. 'But no, he is amazing, hes the best.' In an interview prior to the film's release, the Wonder Woman 1984 actress admitted that she finds it difficult to juggle being a mother and furthering her career as an actress. Family time: Last month Gal revealed her husband Yaron Varsano has been working out more since she took on the role of Wonder Woman She told The Sunday Times: 'My biggest goal in life is for balance. Many people, especially working mothers, can relate. When you have kids you want to be with them and spend as much time as you can with them, but you have a career and you need to show up'. The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice actress then recounted an instance where she could not attend a function for her daughter due to the commitments of her work. 'One morning my daughter had a concert and wanted me to come watch her perform. She said, "Why can't you just come late like other moms do?" I said, "Because there's going to be an entire crew and they're not going to have me there to film." Sweet: Gal and her property developer husband married in 2008 and have two daughters Alma, nine, and Maya, three The Patty Jenkins-directed sequel was originally announced in July of 2017, shortly after the initial film's release. It was released digitally on December 15th at the DC FanDome virtual event, with a theatrical debut for the picture following afterwards. Wonder Woman 1984 was made available for streaming on HBO Max, and has since become the service's most successful film of 2020. LONE TREE, Colo., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, announced today the winners of the 19th annual Graeme Clark and the 10th annual Anders Tjellstrom Scholarships. The scholarships, named after two pioneers of the hearing implant industry, recognize Cochlear Nucleus Implant, Cochlear Baha System and Cochlear Osia System recipients in the United States and Canada who uphold the Cochlear ideals of leadership, humanity, and demonstrate high academic achievement. The scholarships are to enable Cochlear recipients to further accomplish their goals through education. Cochlear announces 2021 winners of annual scholarships, recognizing young leaders in the hearing loss community. Tweet this Cochlear announces 2021 winners of annual scholarships. The eight Graeme Clark and Anders Tjellstrom Scholarship winners are exemplary young leaders in the hearing loss community. "We are honored to recognize the accomplishments of these eight exceptional Cochlear recipients," said Rene Courtney, Vice President & General Manager, Recipient Services, Cochlear Americas. "Our recipients are the inspiration behind our innovations in implant technology, and these scholarships are another way we help our young leaders in the Cochlear family reach their full potential as they realize their education and career ambitions. Our scholarship winners have such courageous goals for their careers, ensuring there continues to be more and more representation across society for those with hearing implants, showcasing they can bring so much to the world's future endeavors." The five 2021 Graeme Clark Scholarship winners are: Camryn Dermott , ( James Madison University ) from Roanoke , Va. , ( ) from , Va. Yael Lenga , ( University of Illinois at Chicago ) from Buffalo Grove, Ill. , ( ) from Ethan Morrobel , ( Rochester Institute of Technology ) from Scotch Plains, N.J. , ( ) from Caroline Schneider , ( University of Georgia ) from Atlanta, Ga. , ( ) from Raymond Soto , ( Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University ) from St. Louis, Mo. "I would not be where I am today without my cochlear implants and the decisions my parents made for me when I was a young child. I know how lucky I am that they carefully researched the options for a baby born with a profound sensorineural hearing loss," said Morrobel, Nucleus Implant System recipient and Graeme Clark Scholarship winner, studying mechanical engineering. "While making that decision, they had no idea at the time I would later be diagnosed, along with my brother, with Usher syndrome type 1. I am extremely grateful they made the decision to give me access to hearing as my vision slowly fades. I have had to dream big and work extra hard my whole life to do what most people take for granted. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a pilot; however, once I realized that being a pilot was not a realistic option for me, instead of flying airplanes, I decided I would design them." The three 2021 Anders Tjellstrom Scholarship winners are: Claire Boyer , ( Utah State University ) from Wiggins, Colo. , ( ) from Alexandra Wong , ( Johns Hopkins University ) from Alexandria, Va. , ( ) from Alysa Zhang , ( University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ) from Lakemoor, Ill. "I was born with oval window atresia in my left ear, so the sound never makes it through, resulting in severe conductive hearing loss," said Wong, Baha Implant System recipient and Anders Tjellstrom Scholarship winner, studying neuroscience. "I realized I was different when every kindergarten student silently glared at me because I interrupted story time as my hearing aid squawked like a parrot after rubbing against my hair. From then on, I dealt with my disability by hiding it away. I wasn't brave enough to be proud of who I am. When I was 12, I had surgery for the Baha Connect System. When I left the audiologist's office, I paused in awe then tears slowly trickled down my face; finally, I heard the sounds that people take for granted. I am so grateful for the scientists who created these hearing technologies, and I aspire to be one of them. Nobody deserves to be left out because they are different." About the Scholarships The Graeme Clark Scholarship is named after Professor Graeme Clark, the inventor and pioneer of the multichannel cochlear implant. The Anders Tjellstrom Scholarship is named after Anders Tjellstrom, the research physician in the department of otolaryngology at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden who collaborated with Per-Ingvar Branemark, a pioneer of osseointegration, and Bo Hakansson, to treat the first patient with a Baha device. Each of the students will receive $2,000 per year for up to four years at an accredited college or university, providing $8,000 to each student and $64,000 in total scholarship funds given by Cochlear Americas for this year's winners. Since 2002, Cochlear Americas has awarded $824,000 to 112 college students. A total of 130 applications were received this year. An esteemed panel of judges helped review and select the scholarship winners. For more information about the scholarships, visit Cochlear.com/us/Scholarship. About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. The company has a global workforce of more than 4,000 people and invests more than AUD$180 million each year in research and development. Products include cochlear implants, bone conduction implants and acoustic implants, which healthcare professionals use to treat a range of moderate to profound types of hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has provided more than 600,000 implantable devices, helping people of all ages, in more than 180 countries, to hear. www.cochlear.com/us Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could affect your outcome. Always read the instructions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information. Views expressed are those of the individual. Consult your health professional to determine if you are a candidate for Cochlear technology. Cochlear Limited 2021. All rights reserved. SOURCE Cochlear Limited Related Links http://www.Cochlear.com/US Russias Government approves rules governing support of socially important e-media RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:17 03/02/2021 MOSCOW, February 3 (RAPSI) Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin has signed a resolution establishing the rules governing provision of support to socially important online media outlets and the development of websites being of social or educational significance. The Government reminds that earlier such rules have been annually approved by an order of Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications; since 2021 these powers are vested with the Government where the Ministry for Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media is to directly provide the said support to mass media outlets. Subsidies are to be provided to founders of mass media outlets; the funds may be used to create new programs and shoot documentaries. It is permitted to spend the subsidies for wages and salaries of employees and external professionals and to meet certain other operational expenses, the resolution reads. The competitive admissions framework and respective requirements are to be published on the official website of the Ministry for Digital Development. Bhopal: Amid the Centre-farmers standoff over three the farm laws, the Shivraj Chauhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has said that traders buying crops and not making payments will be thrown in jails. The MP government has already acted against several trading firms over non-payment of dues to farmers after crop procurement outside mandis. Among some stringent actions, district administration in Gwalior had in December 2020 had auctioned the assets of a trader who had defaulted on payments of several farmers after buying crops from them. On Saturday, the Shivraj government transferred Rs 400 crore to around 20 lakh farmers as part of the states contribution to the Kisan Samman Nidhi. On Tuesday, Chouhan in a video conferencing ordered that properties of the said persons should be auctioned and payments be made to farmers, in case anyone buys crops and declines to release payments. n He also told district collectors that those guilty of the offence should be dealt with criminal cases. The chief minister also ordered collectors to get such cases, if any, verified in their jurisdictions so that proper action could be taken in time in case of non-payments. Under the new farm laws, traders outside mandis are allowed to buy crops but in many cases, the they have failed to make payments on time. The district administration has several times in the past taken cognizance of the complaints and also penalised the guilty firms. Chouhan was quick to pay crop insurance dues soon after coming to power in Madhya Pradesh. He has remained a staunch supporter of the laws, stating that these provisions will help grow farmers income in the country. 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. The current geopolitical situation in which the Indian forces remain in a tense face-off with China along the northern border has necessitated the emergency purchases Union Budget 2021 increased the overall allocation for the defence sector by Rs 7,000 crore over the last year to Rs 4.78 lakh crore, which after pensions amounts to Rs 3.62 lakh crore. This includes an increase in the capital outlay to Rs 1.35 lakh crore as compared to the previous years allocation of Rs 1.18 lakh crore (14 percent increase), and this amount will largely go towards fulfilling the emergency purchases done last year during the face-off with China. The emergency purchases are expected to be completed by the end of FY 2021, and hence the increased allocation. Revenue allocation has also increased from Rs 2.18 lakh crore to Rs 2.27 lakh crore. It is worth noting that the pension bill is estimated to be Rs 1.16 lakh crore, down from Rs 1.33 lakh crore. The significant reduction has helped increase the capital and revenue allocation while only marginally increasing the overall expenditure. The current geopolitical situation in which the Indian forces remain in a tense face-off with China along the northern border has necessitated the emergency purchases, which are being reflected in the current years allocation. Any worsening of the situation could probably lead to further allocations as per the situation. It may also be noted that the Chiefs of the three services had been given financial powers of Rs 500 crore to process operational necessity equipment without going through the acquisition cycle. The allocated capital outlay is sufficient to meet the foreseen contractual obligations in 2021. Any upcoming contract for new equipment will only require Budget allocation in subsequent years due to the long delivery cycle associated with defense items. The two major contracts which are likely to be signed off this year are the HAL Tejas MK 1 A (Rs 38,000 crores) which reportedly is likely to be financed by the stake sale of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The other major deals on the cards such as the naval acquisition of carrier-borne fighters and joint manufacturing of C-295 would require only an initial down payment. Depending on how the situation with China plays out, the current year is expected to witness a higher spend on weapons, and other items like ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) Assets (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)), and battlefield situational awareness systems. These could be procured under the special power provided to the Chiefs of the Armed Forces for rapid acquisition. Further, strategic equipment could also be sourced under the newly introduced Leasing category in Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, which would require a lesser upfront capital expenditure. India has already leased MQ 9 UAVs under this category and is reportedly looking at procuring the Light Utility Helicopters. On the other hand, the Indian Air Force is reportedly looking to lease refuellers under the provision. The fine print needs to be seen for evaluation of the impact of the earlier announced Atma Nirbhar reforms. For instance, the Atma Nirbhar reforms had promised a separate allocation for domestic sourcing to promote the indigenous industry. However, the same has not been commented on. While there has been an increase in capital allocation, the absence of any reference to the defence budget by the finance minister (erstwhile the defence minister) in her speech was a bit surprising. The defence industry has a long cycle, and a plan for the current year allocation as well as the long-term plan for capability building/ making up the current inventory shortfall would have been extremely welcome in light of the elevated geopolitical situation. Top 3 expected growth drivers for 2021-22 Leasing option is likely to become popular in light of acquiring much-required assets as the capital acquisition procedure is time-consuming. The leasing option not only reduces the upfront capital expenditure but also the time taken to ensure it is operational. Light Utility Helicopter and refuellers could be next in line after the MQ 9 UAVs Equipment associated with enhanced battlefield operations and situational awareness, for instance, UAVs, communication equipment, weapons, sensors, etc Fine print will determine the boost to indigenous industry; especially the allocation of a separate domestic defence budget. The writer is Director, Aerospace, Defence and Security Practice, Frost and Sullivan LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Unite Group Plc (UTG.L), called as Unite Students, a developer of student accommodation, Wednesday announced an extension to its 50 percent rent discount for students for three more weeks, originally announced on January 11. With this, the total discount period would be seven weeks. The decision follows the Government's continuation of the UK's lockdown restrictions to March 8. In its trading update, the company said it has now collected 91 percent of rent due to date for the 2020/21 academic year. To be eligible for the seven-week rent discount, students are required to be up to date with their rental payments as of February 14. The loss of rental income associated with the additional three-week rental discount is up to 6 million pounds. This is equal to 1.5 pence of EPRA earnings per share for the 2021 financial year. The three-week extension results in a total cost for the seven-week rental discount and tenancy extension of up to 15 million pounds or 4 pence. In a statement, the company noted that all eligible students who applied for the four-week 50 percent rent discount will now receive the additional three-week 50 percent discount automatically. In addition, eligible students will be given a 4-week complimentary extension of their tenancy agreement at the end of the academic year to extend their stay into the summer. The company noted that the rental discount and tenancy extension will be available to all students checked-in but not living in their accommodation between January 18 and March 7. Around half of checked-in students have now returned to Unite Students buildings. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX UNITE-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Algeria, Feb 03, 2021 (SPS) - The Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Ismail Sharqi, announced an upcoming summit of the African Union Peace and Security Council to discuss developments in the Western Sahara file. "The return of the war between the Kingdom of Morocco and the SADR required to move to the discussion in order to reach a solution," Mr. Sharqi said, in an interview made the Algerian national radio. Therefore, the African official added, "The Security and Peace Council of the African Union will hold a summit on the subject in a timely manner, and the Troika might meet in the next few days to come up with ideas and proposals." In this regard, he explained, "The priority of the Council is to try to find a peaceful solution by putting political pressure on countries that still occupy areas of the African continent." Regarding the UN efforts to settle the conflict in Western Sahara, Mr. Sharqi said, "What is also expected is a move by UN to appoint a special envoy, and for the two organizations to join hands to find a peaceful solution to the issue."SPS 125/090/TRA 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 New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Police are holding three people, including a senior security officer and a government official, after they were intercepted ferrying elephant tusks worth Sh5.1 million at Salawa in Baringo Central. Charles Kandagor, Robinson Chelimo and Elijah Kemboi were arrested by police and Kenya Wildlife Service officers at 10pm on Sunday. They were transporting the tusks on two vehicles -- registration numbers KBA 051S and KBZ 221U. Baringo County KWS Warden Peter Lekeren said the seven elephant tusks, weighing 51kg, are valued at Sh5.1 million. "We arrested the suspects following an investigation we have carried out for a long time on trophy dealing in Baringo County. The tusks were in two gunny bags," said Mr Lekeren. "The trio were intercepted at Salawa shopping centre and we suspect they were transporting the tusks to Nakuru," he added. He regretted that a senior police officer, who was supposed to be at the forefront in enforcing the law, was among the suspects. Poachers' days are numbered "The other suspect is a government official. We are saddened that the people who are supposed to be helping in taming the vice are the culprits. They will be dealt with according to the law," said Mr Lekeren. "We are warning poachers that their days are numbered. We are not going to rest until we unravel those who killed the elephants and those involved in the syndicate," said the warden. He suspected that the ivory belongs to elephants killed in Lake Kamnarok game reserve, Rimoi national reserve or the neighbouring Turkana County. The incident happens barely two months after a middle-aged man was arraigned in Kabarnet High Court after he was arrested ferrying two elephant tusks along the Ainabmoi-Barwessa road. The suspect, Matthew Kiptis, was caught by KWS officers transporting the tusks, weighing three kilos, using a motor bike. He appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Paul Biwott. Dubai trade with Indonesia stood at AED5.4 billion ($1.47 billion) in the year 2020, Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs revealed, today as he received HE Hussein Baqis, Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE to discuss means to develop mutual trade and investment cooperation. We look forward to developing means of cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy in the UAE in order to facilitate mutual trade, said Musabih said. In 2020, Dubai trade with Indonesia stood at AED5.4 billion: AED4.42 billion of imports, AED600 million of exports, and AED380 million of re-exports). Major commodities included jewellery, mobile phones, textiles and aluminium, he said. Musabih added: Our efforts to develop trade and customs relationships with Indonesia follow the directives and vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai of developing trade with the Asian countries. Indonesia is one of the developed markets, and from our part we introduce the best customs facilities and services to the Indonesian businesses which seek better access to the European and African markets through our advanced infrastructures in Dubai. Musabih pointed out that the meetings Dubai Customs organizes with the diplomatic missions aim to enable businesses overcome challenges posed by the pandemic. On his part, HE Hussein Baqis, Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE expressed his gratitude for the efforts made by Dubai Customs to develop mutual trade with Indonesia. He said the Indonesian Embassy in the UAE is very interested in more networking with Dubai Customs to help coordinate efforts to benefit from Dubais strategic location in developing Indonesian trade.TradeArabia News Service The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Investigators work at the scene of a suspected mass homicide where at least 5 children were slain in Muskogee, Okla on Feb. 2, 2021 (AP) Oklahoma Man Charged for Fatal Shooting of 6, Including 5 Children An Oklahoma man has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting six people to death, including five children, three to whom he apparently was the father. Twenty-five-year-old Jarron Deajon Pridgeon was arrested on Tuesday. The children were aged 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9. The adult, who succumbed to the gunshot wounds in the hospital, was allegedly Jarrons brother, 24-year-old Javarion Lee, reported Fox. Brittany Anderson, the childrens mother has been hospitalized after being wounded, she is now in stable condition. Newson6 reported that the aunt of the children, Raven Anderson, said that Jarron Pridgeon was the father to three of the children that were killed. He is not a person, he is a monster. And on top of being a monster he is a coward for doing what he did, Raven said. I dont know what kind of person would do that, let alone a person who could take the lives of their own kids. They were great kids, they were smart, full of happiness, energy. They were, they just loved life, Raven added. Honestly it would just be great if everyone just continued to pray. Officer Lynn Hamlin said that Pridgeon lived with the now-deceased together, its still not clear why the gunshots were fired. It was not random obviously because they all did live in this home together, but as far as what all those relationships look like, we just dont know that yet, the officer said, adding that Pridgeon was not cooperative with the police. Police were called to the shooting location at around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, responding to a call claiming that several people had been shot. Police said that they saw a man with a gun who ran from the scene but was soon captured. One of the officers fired a rifle shot, missing him. Muskogee Public Schools published a statement regarding the tragedy, and corroborating that some of the children went to Creek Elementary school. The statement read in part: We regret to inform our Muskogee Public Schools community that two members of our student family at Creek Elementary passed away overnight. Another Creek student was injured in the overnight incident. Muskogee Public Schools was first made aware of the situation early this morning and immediately made arrangements for additional counseling services at Creek Elementary. Our Crisis Team is working with Green Country Behavioral Health to provide grief counseling which will continue throughout the remainder of this week. We encourage any of those students or staff members directly impacted by this incident to seek these services. A GoFundme was established, and an anonymous donor offered to cover the funeral costs. The racism controversy engulfing Collingwood Football Club and outgoing president Eddie McGuire is a fiasco and is concentrating minds on who might replace him. McGuire announced he would depart Collingwood after 23 seasons at the end of 2021. Lets see if he lasts that long. Eddie Maguire and Christine Holgate. Credit:John Shakespeare Investor John Wylie, who finished up after eight years at the Australian Sports Commission last year, is mentioned as a potential successor. So it was fascinating to see Wylies investment business Tanarra touted as potential buyer of Tabcorps $3 billion wagering business because owning a stake in a gaming company is incompatible with presiding over a football club. The optics, for one. Tanarra came out of the gates early on Wednesday determined to stamp out what it called wildly inaccurate speculation, calling a report in the Australian Financial Review false and misleading. It had no basis in truth, now or at any time in the past investors should disregard this story. PM Modi's brother Prahlad stages dharna at Lucknow airport India pti-Deepika S Lucknow, Feb 03: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brother Prahlad Modi staged a dharna at the Lucknow airport on Wednesday, alleging that police did not let his supporters reach there and took them into custody. Police, however, have denied the charge. According to Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport''s Additional General Manager (Operations) Bhupendra Singh, Prahlad Modi arrived at Lucknow by an Indigo flight around 4 pm. He sat on a dharna on the airport premises as he was unhappy over police stopping his supporters from reaching there, Singh said, adding that Prahlad Modi left after an hour and a half. Assam elections 2021: PM Modi to visit state on Feb 07 Prahlad Modi told reports at the airport that he had come to Uttar Pradesh to take part in some social programmes in Sultanpur, Jaunpur and Pratapgarh. "After reaching here, I came to know that the workers who were coming to receive me were held by the Lucknow police and made to sit in a police station. Efforts are on to lodge cases against them," he claimed. Prahlad Modi claimed some police officers told him that there is "an order to this effect from the Prime Minister''s Office". "I felt that it would not be right if my children (workers) are in jail and I am free. Either let them go or I am sitting on a strike at the airport. Some police officers reached here and said there is an order to this effect from the Prime Minister''s Office and I demand to see the copy of the order," Modi said. "Goondagardi will neither help the government here nor the Prime Minister''s office," he added. Prahlad Modi said if police did not give him the copy of the order, he would approach the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Sarojini Nagar police station SHO Mahendra Singh said he has no information about the Modi's supporters. No one has been taken into custody in my area, Singh said, adding that some reports of this kind have, however, had come from Sultanpur district but he had no information about it. When asked if he knew where Prahlad Modi went after leaving the airport, Singh said, "I have no such information and even if we had, it would have been kept secret." Sultanpur SP Arvind Chaturvedi has also denied the charge. However, a youth was arrested for allegedly collecting money in the name of the prime minister''s brother in Sultanpur. The Sultanpur police had received information from the Prime Minister''s Office that one Jitendra Tiwari, also known as Jitu, was involved in forgery in the name of the PM''s brother, SHO (City) Bhupendra Singh had said. Acting on the input, Tiwari was arrested from near Vikas Bhavan on Monday, he had said, adding that the accused's car had a poster of a programme of the prime minister''s brother in Madhavpur on February 4. BJP''s Sultanpur president R A Verma had said a youth had come to him but he did not entertain him. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Need a job? Perhaps working at John Ball Zoo is for you. The Grand Rapids zoo is gearing up for its spring opening by hosting a virtual hiring event to find seasonal employees. A variety of roles must be filled in retail, food and beverage, guest services, experiences, building and grounds, and education. The virtual hiring event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. Interviews for the virtual hiring event will be with leaders from each department in a safe, online environment. Prior to the event, interested candidates need to sign-up for a specific interview time and apply online on the zoos website at www.jbzoo.org/hiringevent. Applicants must be 15 years of age or older. All positions offer competitive pay, free zoo membership and pay increases after 45 days, as well as free admission for themselves and up to 10 guests, plus discounts on purchases. He's been living in Australia for almost a year, and is halfway through filming the Stan Original movie Gold. And Zac Efron seems to have fully embraced life Down Under, as he revealed on Wednesday he was camping in the South Australian outback in a $140,000 Lotus caravan - which he appears to be renting for free as part of a sponsored deal. The Hollywood star, 33, looked like a true blue Aussie in an Akubra hat as he posed outside the luxury motorhome while smiling for the camera. He's a local now! Zac Efron seems to have fully embraced life Down Under, as he revealed on Wednesday he was camping in the South Australian outback in a $140,000 Lotus caravan 'Home sweet home,' he captioned the post on Instagram, then thanked the company which had provided the caravan. Zac's temporary home features a comfortable double bed, a leather sofa and seating area, pop-up TVs, a cooker and hot water. The High School Musical star didn't reveal if his girlfriend Vanessa Valladares, 25, was accompanying him on location. However, she has been spotted visiting him regularly over the past few months. #Spon: The actor, 33, appears to be renting the motorhome for free as part of a sponsored deal Luxury: Zac's temporary home features a comfortable double bed, a leather sofa and seating area, pop-up TVs, a cooker and hot water Room for two: Zac didn't reveal if his girlfriend Vanessa Valladares, 25, was accompanying him on location. However, she has been spotted visiting him regularly over the past few months What's inside Zac Efron's $140,000 Lotus caravan Italian leather lounge seating Slide-out lounge and bedroom One 50" Samsung 4K TV with motorised lift integrated in the furniture Two 32" Samsung TVs Integrated Apollo sound system Fridge and washing machine Bose Soundbar & Blu-ray Player 25L Microwave and Thetford oven Reverse cycle air conditioning Advertisement Stylish: The motorhome features three flat-screen televisions, including a 50 inch with a motorised lift integrated in the furniture Comfort: The caravan has a separate bathroom and wash room area, complete with a shower When Zac isn't filming in South Australia, the pair are based in Byron Bay, where they are believed to be staying at a $22million property the actor bought in September. Meanwhile, Zac may soon be jetting off to Dubai to finalise a 'huge endorsement deal' - and he apparently wants to take Vanessa with him. 'He will travelling with his new Australian team and his girlfriend Vanessa,' a source told Daily Mail Australia. Zac met Vanessa in the middle of last year when she was working as a waitress at Byron Bay's General Store & Cafe. Things are getting serious: Zac met Vanessa in the middle of last year when she was working as a waitress at Byron Bay's General Store & Cafe The Seventeen Again star moved to Australia in March last year in an attempt to escape the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. He now reportedly plans to make the move more permanent, and has signed on for several acting roles Down Under. Last month, it was reported Zac had purchased land in Tweed Valley, a town on the Tweed River in north-eastern NSW, for $2million. He's apparently planning to build a home on the site and settle down with Vanessa. The Stan Original film Gold will be available to stream later this year. Use of waste heat contributes largely to sustainable energy supply. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and T?hoku University in Japan have now come much closer to their goal of converting waste heat into electrical power at small temperature differences. As reported in Joule, electrical power per footprint of thermomagnetic generators based on Heusler alloy films has been increased by a factor of 3.4. (DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.10.019) Many technical processes only use part of the energy consumed. The remaining fraction leaves the system in the form of waste heat. Frequently, this heat is released into the environment unused. However, it can also be used for heat supply or power generation. The higher the temperature of the waste heat is, the easier and cheaper is its reuse. Thermoelectric generators can use waste heat of low temperature for direct conversion into electrical power. Thermoelectric materials used so far, however, have been expensive and sometimes even toxic. Moreover, thermoelectric generators require large temperature differences for reaching efficiencies of just a few percent. Thermomagnetic generators represent a promising alternative. They are based on alloys, whose magnetic properties are highly temperature-dependent. Alternating magnetization induces an electrical voltage in a coil applied. Researchers presented first concepts of thermomagnetic generators in the 19th century already. Since then, research has covered a variety of materials. Electrical power, however, has left a lot to be desired. Scientists of KIT's Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) and T?hoku University in Japan have now succeeded in largely increasing the electrical power per footprint of thermomagnetic generators. "Based on the results of our work, thermomagnetic generators are now competitive with established thermoelectric generators for the first time. With this, we have come a lot closer to the goal of converting waste heat into electrical power at small temperature differences," says Professor Manfred Kohl, Head of the Smart Materials and Devices Group of IMT. Work of the team is reported in the cover story of the latest issue of Joule. Vision: Recovery of Waste Heat Close to Room Temperature So-called Heusler alloys - magnetic intermetallic compounds - are applied in the form of thin films in thermomagnetic generators and provide for a big temperature-dependent change of magnetization and quick heat transfer. This is the basis of the new concept of resonant self-actuation. Even at small temperature differences, resonant vibrations are induced in devices and can be converted efficiently into electrical power. Still, electrical power of single devices is low and upscaling will depend on material development and engineering. The researchers of KIT and T?hoku University used a nickel-manganese-gallium alloy and found that alloy film thickness and the device footprint influence electrical power in opposite directions. Based on this finding, they succeeded in improving electrical power per footprint by a factor of 3.4 by increasing the thickness of the alloy film from five to 40 micrometers. The thermomagnetic generators reached a maximum electrical power of 50 microwatts per square centimeter at a temperature change of just three degrees Celsius. "These results pave the way to the development of customized thermomagnetic generators connected in parallel for potential use of waste heat close to room temperature," Kohl explains. (or) ### Original Publication Joel Joseph, Makoto Ohtsuka, Hiroyuki Miki, and Manfred Kohl: Upscaling of Thermomagnetic Generators Based on Heusler Alloy Films. Joule, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.10.019 To the Publication in Joule (Abstract): https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(20)30508-0 More about the KIT Energy Center: https:/ / www. energie. kit. edu Contact for this press release: Martin Heidelberger, Press Officer, Phone: +49 721 608-41169, martin.heidelberger@kit.edu Being "The Research University in the Helmholtz Association", KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,300 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 24,400 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. Days after the by military, the police on Wednesday charged State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for "illegally" importing at least 10 walkie-talkies. The New York Times reported an official from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party as confirming that the leader has been charged with an obscure infraction: having illegally imported at least 10 walkie-talkies. Myanmar's military launched the on Monday morning and detained the State Counsellor and President Win Myint and other NLD leaders. The surprise use of walkie-talkies to justify locking up a Nobel Peace Prize laureate reinforced the military's penchant for using fine-grained strategy to neutralize its greatest political rival, NYT reported. This military took place after days of escalating tensions between the government and the military in the aftermath of last November's general elections. San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) claimed an overwhelming victory in the polls, securing over 80 per cent of the seats, according to media reports. However, the military and some political parties disputed the results, alleging that the polls were marred by irregularities.According to media reports, the detentions started in the early hours of Monday (local time), with political leaders held in Yangon and other cities across Myanmar, and soldiers said to be out on the streets and at prominent landmarks. (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.) It's difficult to see the Northern Ireland Protocol disappearing anytime soon despite the drama of the past 24 hours. There is concern, anger and frustration among unionists, but this isn't 1974. The political muscle doesn't exist for the Irish Sea border to suffer the same fate as that power-sharing Executive did. With a bit of common sense and flexibility on all sides, the practical problems created by the protocol can be resolved. But the apparent "threats" against workers making Brexit-related checks at Northern Ireland ports are unlikely to succeed. If the Government believes there is a genuine risk to lives here it will simply move the checks to Cairnryan. The Irish Sea border will still exist - it will just have changed location. Those Remainers who massively played up the threat of dissident republican violence if there were North-South customs checks set a very stupid precedent that should have been called out at the time. The New IRA, Continuity IRA, or any of the alphabet soup of IRAs, aren't capable of seriously threatening the peace. But all the hype created then around the shadow of the gunman means that menacing graffiti or social media noises assume a gravity they don't deserve. Political unionism is strongly united against the protocol The DUP, Ulster Unionists, TUV and PUP may disagree on many issues but they all perceive it as a threat to the constitutional status quo. They have certainly turned up the volume of their protests in recent days, and London is now acknowledging their concerns. The DUP has carried out a massive U-turn on its response to the protocol. Its five-point plan to address the "growing crisis" over the Irish Sea border is an attempt to pacify its own grassroots. Many DUP MPs and MLAs have been inundated with angry messages on social media over the past week. The party leadership has also been unnerved by a LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph which shows it down from 31% in the Westminster election just over a year ago, to 19%. The poll put Jim Allister's TUV on 10%. The DUP realises that Allister has been striking a chord with unionist grassroots, who trust him implicitly on such issues. The DUP says it intends to send a "strong signal" to the Irish Government by stopping North-South activities related to the protocol. Nationalists are not pleased at the move, but the DUP is still engaging with Dublin on other issues, including Covid. The party has vowed to oppose all protocol-related measures in the Assembly, but Stormont currently has no real role on this anyway. The party is also launching a Parliamentary e-petition 'Trigger Article 16 - We want unfettered GB-NI Trade'. But at most that will secure it a debate or committee at Westminster. The DUP's proposals certainly create the illusion of action. But, stripped away, is there much concrete there? Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald last night said that the protocol must not be unpicked. "The position adopted by the DUP is reckless and is not driven by the best interests of the people of the North. I urge them to pull back," she said. Yet the DUP's plan does not go as far as doing anything that would jeopardise the devolved institutions. Sinn Fein isn't threatening to walk. Both Arlene Foster's and Mary Lou McDonald's parties know that if Stormont collapsed during a pandemic they would have a heavy price to pay at the next election. The way out of the current mess is surely for the EU to embrace a spirit of compromise and to extend the period of grace on new regulations. The acceleration of the process whereby the EU and UK agree a package of derogations should be a priority. The furore following Brussels' initial move to trigger Article 16 last Friday may actually help. The EU must know it has to start living by the principles of accommodation that it has so long preached to others. If the practical difficulties of an Irish Sea Border are ironed out that would take the heat out of the situation. It won't satisfy those unionists who staunchly oppose the protocol as a matter of ideological principle. But they must wake up to the fact that life changed on December 31, and there's no returning to the old world no matter how much they wish it. ADVERTISEMENT The Federal High Court, in Abuja, has ordered the arrest of Richard Laing, Managing Director, ExxonMobil Nigeria, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a series of tweets on Wednesday. The EFCC stated in the tweets via its verified handle that the judge, Okon Abang, issued the bench warrant against Mr Laing following an application by the commissions lawyer. The commission said it resorted to asking for the arrest warrant since Mr Laing allegedly ignored three successive invitations to answer to procurement fraud allegations. Court Gives EFCC Nod to Arrest Mobil Nigeria MD A Federal High Court, Abuja has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the nod to arrest Mr. Richard Laing, Managing Director, ExxonMobil Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/CUZsj8pQrm EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) February 3, 2021 The tweets read, The Commission is investigating alleged procurement fraud in the Major Integrity Pipelines Project involving Mobile Producing Nigeria as the contracting company, Suffolk Petroleum Services Limited as the main contractor, Saipem Contracting Nigeria, Global Offshore Limited and Van Ord as sub-contractor to SPSL. Suffolk Petroleum Services Limited as the main contractor, Saipem Contracting Nigeria, Global Offshore Limited and Van Ord as sub-contractor to SPSL. At issue, is the fraudulent creation of Change Orders worth over $213 million. ExxonMobil upstream affiliates currently operating in Nigeria are Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. Its affiliates are involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and operate several joint venture concessions and deepwater production sharing contracts which currently focus on major secondary oil recovery projects; natural gas liquids and gas monetisation and significant investment in national content development. A nonprofit organization in Madagascar is using innovative, humanitarian-driven tech solutions for building the worlds first 3D printed schools. To help alleviate hardships, and provide for education for kids amid the global health crisis, Thinking Huts has come up with a design to make learning accessible in places where opportunities for getting an education is marred by deepening financial disparities and the aftermath of a deadly pandemic. American philanthropist and founding CEO of the organization will open doors to the worlds unique 3D printed schools fitted with solar panels and a beehive configuration that allows for the attachment of multiple schools, according to Thinking Huts founder Maggie Grouts statement to the local broadcasters and on the official website. Read: 'View Of Amusement Park: Image Of Human Cell Model Leaves Netizens Mesmerised Read: Google Search Introduces Users To 3D Baby Yoda; Here Is All You Need To Know The non-profit organization, based out of Madagascar runs various programs for the upliftment of the underprivileged communities in Madagascar. With the onslaught of the global pandemic that has caused the largest disruption in education systems, affecting nearly 1.6 billion in more than 190 countries, as per UN data, Thinking Huts has come to rescue as it will erect 3D schools giving the education system a new direction in the country. Worlds first pilot 3D printed school is set to be constructed on a university campus of Ecole de Management et dInnovation Technologique (EMIT), in Fianarantsoa. It will provide learning to the local Malagasy kids in classrooms from preschool through high school for the students, spokesperson for Studio Mortazavi, a San Franciscobased architectural design agency who Thinking Huts partnered with told AD magazine. [Beehive configuration of each 3D printed school will have multiple campus attachments. Credit: Thinking Huts website] 3D school designs The futuristic campuses will have a beehive configuration network with several campuses embedded across one 3D structure. The simple and effective school infrastructure will don a hybrid design with 3-D printed walls and pockets on the pod wall which will contain vertical farms, which the children can even climb. Keeping health safety protocols in mind, the 3D schools will have Plexi partitions on the desks and natural air circulation. The colour of the building constructed out of 3D material which is usually grey will have more pigments from the earth to give a natural effect. The outer shell of the 2 to 3 inch thick walls will have a spiderweb-like structure, according to the Studio, that will have plumbing lines and electrical equipment running through the building. The project is anticipated to be launched by the organization between 2021 to 2022, in the month of December to March in Madagascar, according to Thinking Huts statement. Join the Hive, our humanitarian-driven community funding the first 3D printed school in Madagascarhttps://t.co/KpF1JFPO4t pic.twitter.com/tGGxKXHxJQ Thinking Huts (@ThinkingHuts) February 2, 2021 Read: Harvard Researchers Develop Technique To Create 3D Images Of Human Chromosomes Read: Israel Start-up Creates Worlds First Plant-based Steak With 3D Printing The Centre has transferred and posted 18 secretaries to different ministries and departments while several have been promoted In a major reshuffle, the Centre has transferred and posted 18 secretaries to different ministries and departments while several have been promoted. As is often the case, there is a story behind many of the babus involved in the reshuffle. The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has finally got a new secretary in Deepak Khandekar, who was laterally shifted to North Block from Shastri Bhavan where he was tribal affairs secretary. The post had been vacant for four months. Curiously, the government may soon have to find a replacement for Mr Khandekar as well, since he is due to retire in seven months. There is also much whispering about who will replace A.B.P. Pandey, who retires as finance secretary in the next 45 days. Of the 18 IAS officers involved in the reshuffle, sources say that 13 were appointed as secretaries while five were upgraded to the special secretary in the rank of secretary. They include Praveen Garg, S.S. Sandhu, Anjali Bhawara, J.N. Swain and Anil Kumar Jha. A lot of the buzz has centred around two officers who have been given plum assignments despite rumours that they had been sidelined. The first is 1988 batch IAS officer Alok Kumar of the Uttar Pradesh cadre who has been shifted from his cadre state and appointed Union power secretary. The other is also a UP cadre officer Alok Tandon who has been named secretary, ministry of mines. Arvind Kumar Sharma, who recently took VRS to plunge into the UP legislature, has been replaced in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) by another Gujarat cadre officer, B.B. Swain. Cutting it fine The delay in inviting applications to the post of managing director of Delhi Metro has led to speculation that incumbent Mangu Singh may get yet another extension on March 31, when his second extension ends. Sources say that since Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is a joint venture between the Centre and the Delhi government, the delay in starting the procedure could be because the two governments are unable to decide how to proceed in the matter. Normally, the process is initiated and completed by the state government with the concurrence of the Centre. Seeing as the two governments rarely see eye-to-eye on various issues, this could another of those instances. Meanwhile, Mangu Singh has enjoyed a rather long innings heading the Delhi Metro. He took over from Metro Man E. Sreedharan in January 2012. He was given an extension in December 2016 and another extension in December last year until March 31, 2021, to give the government sufficient time to find a suitable successor. But that clearly isnt happening, say observers. The delay has set off speculation about the governments plans since a clause in the Delhi Metro rules states unequivocally that a suitable person for senior posts must be named before the posts fall vacant. Though there is still some time, by dragging the process the government is cutting it fine, to say the least. Babu who came in from the cold Tukaram Mundhe, a 2004-batch IAS officer known for his frequent transfers and who was kept waiting on posting since August last year, has seemingly come in from the cold, for now. He has been appointed as secretary of the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission. According to sources, this is the Maharashtra cadre officers 17th posting in 15 years of his civil service career! Known for his rule-based work ethic, it is not surprising that he came up against vested interests. Apparently, he has faced threats and had no-confidence motions passed against him in several municipalities where he served. In his last posting at the Nagpur municipal corporation, he was appointed member secretary in the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran in September last year, but the appointment was inexplicably cancelled within days and he was kept waiting for posting. It can be hoped now he will have a more stable stint at his new workplace, but dont count on it! Police in Brazil are investigating the death of a five-year-old girl who was hit by a stray bullet fired by a police officer during a shootout with robbery suspects on Monday. Ana Machado was playing with her cousin outside her home in the Rio de Janeiro town of Niteroi when cops opened fired on five individuals who had been involved in a string of car robberies and cargo thefts, according to online portal Revista Forum. The Military Police said the agents chased after suspects, who continued to fire at the cops before they managed to escape. Ana Machado died Monday after she was struck by gunfire from a police officer who was reportedly involved in a shootout with at least five robbery suspects in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Ana Machado was playing with her cousin outside her home in the Rio de Janeiro town of Niteroi when cops opened fired a five individuals who had been involved in a string of car robberies and cargo thefts. One of the bullets reportedly fired by a police officer struck and killed the five-year-old girl The police officers tended to Machado, who was rushed to Azevedo Lima State Hospital, where she later died despite efforts from doctors to save her life. The officer, who fired the shot that killed Machado and whose name has not been released, was placed under arrest Tuesday, pending an investigation from the 9th Military Police Battalion in Niteroi. The police department also seized the weapons of all of the other cops who were involved in the shooting. A law enforcement official in charge of investigating the deadly incident said the cop did not confess to the shooting, but the interviews with residents and evidence recovered from the scene contradicted his story. Residents and Ana Machado's grieving mother, Cristiane Gomes, claim that the cops were never fired at by the individuals they alleged were involved in the shootout Ana Machado is the fourth child shot and the second one to die in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 According to news outlet G1, Cristiane Gomes claimed that the cops were never fired at after they approached two young men. 'One surrendered, and the police continued to shoot. From there, he managed to hit my daughter,' she said. 'The young man continued saying, 'I am a resident, I am a resident.' I ran to see my daughter who was on the floor. He went to talk to the young man and a policeman said to the other, 'You screwed up, you screwed up.''' Gomes said her daughter was in pain the entire time during the ride in the patrol car on the way to the hospital. 'I said in the car that he had killed my daughter, they kept saying no,' Gomes said. 'My daughter was in agony ... My daughter looked at me, I think she said goodbye to me. I think it was like, 'Bye, mom. I'm going, I can't take it'. She tried, but it didn't work.' Machado is the fourth child this year to be shot in in the Rio de Janeiro region and the second to die. According to non-governmental organization Rio de Paz, 80 children have been been killed by gunfire during the last 14 years in Rio de Janeiro. Jean Gerich wasnt one to sit home. Between her passion for hiking in Portlands wooded parks, her weekly Pilates classes and the water volleyball matches with her team The Plunkers at the retirement home, Gerich was usually on the move. And she was again two Mondays ago, walking more than a mile wearing a mask for the noontime appointment she booked with her massage therapist. She felt a new lease on her active life after receiving her first vaccination for the coronavirus less than a week before on Inauguration Day. Gerich needed treatment on her foot after fracturing her left ankle on a hike last summer, her family and friends said. The massage therapist used to make visits to residents at Holladay Park Plaza but he moved appointments to his Southeast Portland home after the pandemic began. She had just finished her massage and had left there strong and feeling very good -- body, mind and soul, said Marie Navarra, a good friend and neighbor of Gerichs. She was crossing his street, had reached the sidewalk on the other side when she was hit. Gerich was struck by accused hit-and-run motorist Paul Rivas, a 64-year-old behind the wheel of a silver Honda Element, police said. The therapist, Larry Wolfe, ran out when he heard a crash and saw Gerich hurt on the ground near Southeast 19th Avenue and Stark Street. Rivas had driven off but then made a rapid U-turn, headed back toward Gerich, jumped the sidewalk, ran over her and dragged her under the car, Wolfe told police. When a local pediatrician who happened to be nearby approached, a battered Gerich said her sons name, Kyle. Gerich died about three hours later at OHSU Hospital. Kyle R. Williamson was by his mothers bedside and daughter Tessa White was on the phone from Los Angeles. Each relayed their love to her. Gerichs children cant make sense of the nightmarish end to their devoted mothers 77 vibrant years of life. She would have turned 78 on Friday. They have no empathy for the driver, though they believe their mother likely would have. Rivas also is accused of running down and injuring at least six others that day. Police said they dont know of a motive. Williamson and White want people to know that their mothers life was much bigger than this horrific moment. And in the grips of their sadness, they said they take heart in how so many tried to help Gerich. We lost our mom violently, but we also know that a community was traumatized, a neighborhood otherwise going about their normal Monday, said White, 46. They didnt sit there and let it happen. They were there for my mother, and for everyone else. When something like this happens, you kind of lose any kind of faith in the world and in goodness and in humanity, White said. The only saving grace is knowing that someone put a blanket on her and talked to her and those bystanders who went and cornered the driver and wouldnt let him get away. ... We appreciate what they did and thank them for stopping this guy. SHE HAD BEATEN CANCER 5 YEARS EARLIER When police called him about 1:45 p.m. on Jan. 25, Williamson was on the street outside his Beaverton home, watching his daughter rollerblade and his son ride his tricycle. The officer told him Gerich had been injured in a hit-and-run. He texted his sister to call immediately and rushed to OHSU Hospital. He thought maybe his moms legs had been broken. There, amid the chaos of police, doctors and nurses in the emergency room, an officer told Williamson that his mother had been dragged by the car for a block. Thats when I started to know this was going to be a terrible thing, he said. He was led to her room. Gerich -- who had beaten colon cancer five years earlier and who had spent a career healing others as an occupational therapist -- now lay immobile in a hospital bed. Williamson, 41, called his sister but refused to use FaceTime because he didnt want White to see their mother that way, he recalled, his voice breaking with emotion. Gerich was bloodied and lacerated but conscious. We talked and I said, I love you, and she said, I love you, Williamson said. Gerich called her daughter by her childhood nickname, greeting her: Hey, Tessy Bess,' and told her that she loved her. White urged her mother to hold on, telling her she had booked a flight to Portland, was packing and hoping to land at 9 p.m. Gerich was taken to another room. She got a CT scan, received oxygen and morphine, and then her children were told she had died, that she went to sleep very quickly, Williamson said. She succumbed at 4:11 p.m. from the blunt force trauma she suffered. Her son and daughter said their mom knew it was over. It was hard for us to come to terms with, White said. We were trying to understand that. SHE DREW PEOPLE TOGETHER Gerich, a Virginia native, moved to Portland with her first husband in early 1972 and quickly revealed herself as a community builder, drawing people together in all facets of her life, family and friends said. They remembered her as a dynamic woman beloved to her kids and five grandchildren, a camper and hiker throughout the region, a traveler with family, friends or by herself and an enthusiast who shared her love of singing and folk dancing. Gerich went door-to-door in her Irvington neighborhood and jotted down every residents name and contact information and then helped organize summer block parties. She held neighborhood family singalongs in her home, passing out the song book Rise Up Singing' that featured popular folk music from the 60s. The adults joined in, grabbed whatever musical instrument was handy -- harmonica, guitar, tambourine -- as their children played around them. Gerich and her husband were married 14 years before they divorced; Williamson and White were younger than 10 then. After the divorce, Gerich would rent out rooms in her large home and many of her tenants became lifelong friends. On many Thanksgivings, she would visit a local youth hostel and invite a young international traveler to join her family for a holiday meal at their home. For more than two decades, Gerich worked as an occupational therapist with the Visiting Nurses Association. She helped people recover, said Linda Moro, one of Gerichs former housemates who knew her for more than 30 years. She thought it was a privilege to go into peoples homes and work with people to help them learn to adapt whether they were injured or disabled. LETS GO TO THE WOODS! Gerich found love again later in life, when she was two years shy of 60. She was surprised in 2001 to receive a call out of the blue from her high school sweetheart, Jerry Gerich. They hadnt talked in about 40 years. He was going through a divorce and eventually flew to Portland from his home in Northern California to meet her. He just wooed her, her daughter recalled. All he wanted to do was be with her. ... She really needed that. The two married in 2005 at Timberline Lodge and lived together in Jeans Irvington home. The photo on their wedding invitation was of the pair arm-in-arm, smiling and dressed up for a school dance at age 15. Jean wore a lacy white strapless dress; Jerry had on a white jacket, black bowtie and black slacks. Friends said it was their junior high prom, but her daughter thinks it was a Sadie Hawkins dance. They picked up where they left off, Jean Gerich taking her husband to folk dances at Portlands Norse Hall. They also traveled and hiked together. About five years ago, they moved to Holladay Park Plaza, where Jean Gerich took care of her husband through a long-term illness. He died at age 76 in December 2017. Jean Gerich, a 48-year Portland resident, once again found solace in nature as she had throughout her life. She climbed mountains with the local Mazama group, joined friends camping and hiking at Mount Rainier, Trillium Lake and as she got older called up friends to share walks in Forest Park, Oxbow Park and Tryon Creek State Park, always keeping count of her steps. She savored the natural beauty around her, her hiking companions said. Lets go to the woods! Gerich would shout upon meeting up with friends Lilli and Per Zeeberg before the three trekked up through the forest above Johns Landing neighborhood to the Chart House on Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard. As she hiked, she would marvel at her surroundings. Ahh, dont you love those trees, she would exclaim, the Zeebergs recalled. Or, Look at the green ferns! She also loved to swim. Any body of water, her longtime friend Candace Kendall noted. I would literally count backwards to myself when she spotted a lake or an ocean to see how long before shed turn to me and her eyes would sparkle and shed say, Lets go in! Due to her treatment for colon cancer, Gerich suffered from neuropathy in her fingers and feet and it disrupted her balance at times. But she persevered, using walking sticks on her treks. Gerich joined the Zeebergs soon after she was declared cancer-free five years ago on a hike at Washingtons Siouxon Creek. Jean is the kind of person who wants to go around the next corner and the next corner, even though she had to be careful, Per Zeeberg said. KEEP GOING ON As adventurous as Gerich was, she also had a calm, pensive side. She enjoyed reading and meditating and embraced Buddhism. She was a private person, but warm and interested in others, said Jeanne Pace, also a resident of Holladay Park Plaza who was in a book club with Gerich. She was a hiker and a walker and a seeker and a thinker, Pace said. This Thursday, members of the book club plan to have Gerichs children connect to their Zoom meeting so they can hear how Gerich touched her friends. The club was called Last Chapter and focused on books about aging and death. Among the books they read was Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul by Stephen Jenkinson. The book ruminates on how to think about dying well and what that means about living well, Pace said. Its made me not afraid, she said, to think about it and talk about it and reach out to her kids and think about what has meaning for people left behind. Pace is writing a haiku about her dear friend that she plans to read at the clubs next meeting. Gerichs hiking buddies also plan to dedicate a bench in her name along one of her favorite Portland trails. Her family hopes to set up a Nature Conservancy fund in her name. They want to remember her as she was, not in her final hours. White last saw her mother in person last summer when she and her 13-year-old son Dylan and 8-year-old daughter Phoebe Jean, named after Gerich, drove up from California to visit. But White and Gerich talked weekly on FaceTime on Thursday nights. Gerich often would send an advance text saying something like, Yeah, today is Thursday! I get to talk to my daughter! Wlliamson cherishes Gerichs last visit to his home on the Saturday before she was killed. She brought homemade ginger molasses cookies for grandson Ramseys fourth birthday and arranged fresh-cut flowers with 7-year-old granddaughter Lucia. Williamson made fresh lentil soup. We just sat around on our back porch and she just laughed, he said. I remember when she went around the corner and said goodbye and she was laughing and smiling. Its exactly how you would want your last day with your mom to go -- picture perfect. White said she keeps playing a song on YouTube that her mother sent to her in November to help her cope through the coronavirus shutdown. This is the keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going on keep going on song, the chorus goes. If your heart is breaking, I hope its breaking open ... I hope you have enough good memories to last you a long time. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian GREENWICH Town crews worked around the clock, digging out after the biggest snowstorm in Greenwich in years dumped more than 18 inches of snow in the backcountry and 15 inches along the coast, officials said Tuesday afternoon. The storm raged for nearly 24 hours, with heavy snow falling and strong winds gusting from late Sunday into late Monday. The cleanup will continue, Emergency Management Director Dan Warzoha said. Getting the roads open is one thing, and now the next big thing is getting the snow out of the business areas. Weve got to clean the sidewalks and parking spaces on Greenwich Avenue and then do the same thing in Byram, Cos Cob and Old Greenwich. The Department of Public Works will be handling the cleanup, including the mountains of snow from the plowing, after the crews get a break, DPW Commissioner Amy Siebert said. Our folks will be regrouping (Wednesday) morning to gear up for snow removal operations in the commercial business districts around town, Siebert said. The crews started at about 10 p.m. Sunday and didnt stop until Tuesday morning, she said. When the snow removal begins again in earnest on Wednesday, it will be a combination of day and nighttime operations, Siebert said, with the DPWs Highway Division determining the best approach based on conditions Wednesday and into the weekend. The work theyre going to be doing is critical, Warzoha said. First Selectman Fred Camillo also thanked DPW and the Parks and Recreation Department for the around the clock efforts. Cancellations from storm The heavy snowfall postponed the first day of the Board of Estimate and Taxations hearings on the proposed municipal budget, which was set for Tuesday. The storm also closed Greenwich Hospitals COVID-19 vaccination clinics Monday and Tuesday as well as the towns clinic Tuesday. All the appointments were rescheduled at those clinics as well as at the Family Centers Inc. clinic at Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, which reopened Tuesday. Greenwich Hospital will also resume its coronavirus testing services Wednesday. Town Hall and the Holly Hill Resource Recovery Center will also reopen on Wednesday. Few problems were reported in Greenwich during the storm, officials said. The biggest power outage in town impacted 12 customers, and that was quickly resolved, Warzoha said. Impact of storm The extent of this snowstorm was the biggest seen in Greenwich in years, though, Warzoha said. We havent had snow like this and drifting like this in quite a while, he said. It gave our equipment a big workout. Im sure a lot of stuff is going to need maintenance and repairs now. This was a long storm, too, so kudos to all the DPW crews that were out there, and fire, police and EMS who were working through all of this. Everyone performed exceptionally well. By Tuesday afternoon, the town lifted the snow emergency status, which had restricted street parking in designated areas. The state of emergency in town ended at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Greenwich Police Capt. Mark Zuccerella said the town towed only one car during the storm that had failed to comply with the parking restrictions. The officers did a lot of door knocking and calling to get cars moved, Zuccerella said. It is a lot easier to just tow them away, but the officers go above and beyond to have them moved. Town officials had worried about coastal flooding at high tide due to the storms severity, but no problems were reported in Old Greenwich, Riverside and Cos Cob. We didnt have any serious problems, but it definitely was close, Warzoha said. We ended up being fine. Clear sidewalks, hydrants DPW reminded residents to be careful when shoveling their driveways and to follow the law when it comes to clearing sidewalks. Under town ordinance, all Greenwich property owners are responsible for clearing snow and ice off sidewalks along their property. The town prohibits plow contractors from pushing snow from driveways or parking lots onto town streets because it is dangerous and is an impediment to the towns snow removal efforts. The town asked residents who are shoveling sidewalks to also clear nearby fire hydrants. Downtown restaurants with outdoor dining are also responsible for all of the snow cleanup behind the barriers. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 14:17:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close German Chancellor Angela Merkel (1st R) is seen in a televised interview with the German public broadcast ARD in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 2, 2021. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that every COVID-19 vaccine is welcome in the European Union (EU) as the bloc is facing vaccine delivery difficulties. Merkel made the remarks in a televised interview with the German public broadcast ARD program "Farbe bekennen." (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) BERLIN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that every COVID-19 vaccine is welcome in the European Union (EU) as the bloc is facing vaccine delivery difficulties. Merkel made the remarks in a televised interview with the German public broadcast ARD program "Farbe bekennen." "Serbia is vaccinating faster. Serbia is vaccinating with the Chinese vaccine. We have always said that every vaccine trying to obtain approval from the European Medicines Agency is very welcome," said Merkel. "I have spoken to the Russian president about this. Today we read good data from the Russian vaccine," said Merkel, referring to the Russian Sputnik V corona vaccine with an efficacy rate of 91.6 percent, according to the data published on Tuesday in the medical journal The Lancet. The German chancellor affirmed that by the end of summer, everyone in Germany could be able to get at least the first of the two necessary vaccinations. So far nothing has gone wrong with the national vaccination campaign. The vaccines approved so far by the EU are from U.S.-Germany joint venture Pfizer and BioNTech, British-Swedish multinational AstraZeneca, and Moderna from the United States. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Sunday that he is open to the use of vaccines from Russia or China in Germany, while Markus Soeder, minister-president of Germany's Bavaria State on Sunday called on the European supervision body to test Russian and Chinese vaccines "as soon as possible." Europe is now facing a vaccine shortage as pharmacies including AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech are supplying vaccines less than anticipated, drawing public criticism and prompting demands for alternatives. Pfizer and BioNTech said on Monday they would deliver more than 2 billion doses globally this year rather than 1.3 billion as previously announced, including an extra 75 million doses for European countries between April and June. AstraZeneca said it would supply an extra 9 million doses of its vaccine by March, though this will still leave the company well below its original target. Neither increase is expected to have a big impact in the short term. Spain and France said on Friday that they would have to delay new first-dose injections for as long as two weeks to ensure that those who received their first dose can get the second, and Portugal said last week that the completion of its first-dose vaccinations could be delayed by up to two months. Health sector analysts said the delays create serious problems on multiple fronts. "The most immediate impact comes from the thousands of European Union residents dying each day and the tens of thousands infected each day due to the coronavirus," Silvio Garattini, a research scientist and former director of Italy's Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, told Xinhua. "But even more problematic is that the longer the virus is in circulation the more variants will evolve." In an e-mailed response to questions from Xinhua, a senior European Commission official said the slowdown showed the need to have access to vaccines beyond the three already in the pipeline. "Europe needs a broad portfolio of vaccine candidates based on different technological approaches in order to maximize the chances of quickly developing, manufacturing and deploying a vaccine for all Europeans," said the official, who preferred to remain anonymous. For now, Hungary is the only EU member state that has authorized the use of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and the Russian vaccine. No new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases in Chinese mainland After arriving in Wuhan in January, the medical team set up general wards and an intensive care unit (ICU) for COVID-19 patients. Liu was among the first group of doctors who entered t Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Indian Medical Association (IMA), a national voluntary organisation of doctors, on Wednesday expressed shock over the underreporting of data by the Centre on the total number of doctors who have succumbed to the coronavirus infection. On Tuesday, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had said that coronavirus has so far claimed the lives of 162 doctors, 107 nurses and 44 ASHA workers in the country. In a letter to Choubey, IMA President J.A. Jayalal wrote that the Centre's data is contrary to the one released by the association which contained the names of 744 doctors. He further stated that even though doctors suffer a higher viral load and a higher Case Fatality Ratio as a community, they still chose to serve the nation in the best traditions of the medical profession. Besides condemning the apathy of the government of India in verifying the data, the issue of delay in disbursing the solatium for the Covid-19 victims' families was also raised. IMA has made some requests to the government, first is to expedite the process of giving solatium to families at the earliest possible time. Secondly, constitution of a high-powered committee for a thorough study on the entire data of deceased doctors and for all those who had succumbed to be honoured. NASA has appointed its first-ever senior climate advisor, the space agency announced on Wednesday. Gavin Schmidt (pictured above), the director of NASAs Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS), will hold the position until the agency makes a more permanent appointment. Among other duties, Schmidts job will involve communicating and coordinating with the wider scientific community, as well as promoting NASAs climate-related research and technological developments. Naturally, hell also work with the current administration. The appointment of Gavin Schmidt will help ensure that the Biden Administration has the crucial data to implement and track its plan toward the path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, and a healthier, safer, more prosperous planet for our children, NASA said. Even within NASA, the creation of a dedicated climate advisor is a reflection of the Biden administrations all-of-government approach to climate change. On his first day in office, the president signed an executive order that put the US on the path toward rejoining the Paris climate accord. Ahead of his inauguration, he also announced former US Secretary of State John Kerry would serve as special climate envoy for his administration. But it will take more than appointments for the US and the rest of the world to avoid the worst effects of a warming planet. According to the most recent UN Emissions Gap Report, Earth is currently on course for a catastrophic 3.2 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures by 2050. But theres still an opportunity for a course correction toward a more manageable increase provided the US and other countries invest in zero-emissions technologies, cut back on fossil fuel subsidies and implement other policy green initiatives. And the Biden administration has indicated it will pursue those type of policies through its first term. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company 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. Our partnership will help our healthcare partners do the most for their patients to remove financial barriers to care," said Srulik Dvorsky, CEO and co-founder of TailerMed. TailorMed, the leading financial navigation technology company that helps patients and healthcare providers remove financial barriers to care, has partnered with NaVectis Group, a company that prepares medical providers in dealing with the complex aspects of financial navigation services in the healthcare sector. The partnership will bridge the gap in reducing financial hardship and barriers to care that exists for many heathcare providers and patients across the U.S. By utilizing TailorMeds best-in-class financial navigation software, combined with NaVectis Groups best practice, financial navigation training, the goal is to deliver on their aligned mission of tackling patient financial hardship through comprehensive financial navigation services. Patients and their families face higher financial hardship today than ever before. Factors like high out-of-pocket costs, loss of employment, decreased income, and confusion about coverage options has exacerbated the psychological and practical experience known as financial toxicity. Financial navigation is a proven framework to treat financial toxicity by proactively guiding patients through the complex healthcare system and increasing access to care by reducing their financial barriers. We are excited to join forces with The NaVectis Group, who has been on the forefront of advocating for financial navigation programs since its inception, said Srulik Dvorsky, CEO of TailorMed. Our partnership will help our healthcare partners do the most for their patients to remove financial barriers to care. There is a significant education gap in most healthcare settings across the U.S. as it relates to addressing and treating financial toxicity, says Dan Sherman, founder of The NaVectis Group. The goal of this partnership is to help hospitals and treatment centers across the U.S. implement full circle financial navigation services for their patients who experience the trauma of financial toxicity. The NaVectis Group offers training to healthcare providers with building robust internal financial navigation programs and provides ongoing support, supervision, and mentorship to ensure continued growth and development of financial navigation skills. NaVectis Group has established financial navigation programs across dozens of health systems in the U.S. For more information on TailorMed, visit http://www.tailormed.co About TailorMed TailorMed is a healthcare technology company founded to help patients and healthcare providers tackle the financial challenges of care delivery, by making it easier for patients to cover the cost of care. TailorMed has helped over 35 hospitals and 200 clinics across the United States to ensure that patients can afford the care that they need. Learn more at https://tailormed.co. About The NaVectis Group NaVectis was founded in 2011 to tackle the growing need of professionalizing the role of financial navigation in the medical setting. In many healthcare settings across the US the role of financial advocacy has been delegated to staff who have not received the proper training to effectively deal with the complexity of financial toxicity. NaVectis addresses this issue by providing formal training and mentorship to dedicated financial navigators who work within the healthcare system. NaVectis has implemented its financial navigation program in over 50 US hospitals. Learn more: https://navectis.com/ Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that's a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said Saturday. Nguyen Thanh Long said scientists examined the genetic makeup of the virus that had infected some recent patients, and found the new version of the virus. He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus. Deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders in Myanmar following a coup, foreign ministers of G-7 countries on Wednesday asked the military in the country to immediately end the state of emergency and restore power to the democratically-elected government. G-7 countries comprising of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US along with the High Representative of the European Union issued their first joint statement on the military coup in Myanmar. Myanmar's military on Monday took control of the country for one year and detained top political figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media," the joint statement said. "We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law," the statement said. The November election results must be respected and Parliament should be convened at the earliest opportunity, it said. The G-7 countries said that the military's restrictions on information flows are deeply concerning. Civilians, including civil society and the media, must not be subject to reprisals in any form, the statement said. We also call for unrestricted humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable, it said. The foreign ministers recalled their 2019 communique in which they restated their commitment to Myanmar's democratic transition, peace and accountability for human rights violations and abuses. We stand with the people of Myanmar who want to see a democratic future, said the joint statement. analysis Almost a year after the World Health Organisation (WHO) told the South African government that the bodies of those who had died of Covid-19 posed little threat of infection to the living, the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) has acknowledged that there is no need to wrap them in plastic or deny grieving families the opportunity to bury their loved ones as custom dictates. A memorandum issued on 25 January by MAC co-chairs Salim Abdool Karim and Marian Jacobs notes that wrapping the corpses in plastic before burial is "unnecessary" and that simple shrouds may be used instead. It further advises that "the face may be exposed during the funeral proceedings". In responding to the MAC's advice, the Department of Health reported during the last week in January that it was no longer necessary to wrap bodies and coffins in plastic, use biohazard stickers or sanitise the gravesite and mourners' clothes; and that funeral directors would no longer need to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). The new advice to the government comes in response to a spate of exhumations by families distressed that their loved ones had not been buried properly according to tradition under previous harsh rules. Over the past year, many families have been denied the chance to view the bodies which have been wrapped in multiple layers of plastic, leading, in some cases, to the wrong person being buried. In response, the memorandum notes that the previous rules about encasing dead bodies in plastic contravened "certain cultural practices and beliefs" and had led to graves being dug up and bodies being exhumed and reburied "without approval". It emphasises that contrary to popular opinion and previous official guidance issued to funeral parlours, the bodies of those who died of Covid-19 were not contagious after they had breathed their last and released their final fluids. The advice comes in the wake of widespread concern over the doctrinaire nature of the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular its reliance on lockdown measures which have been described as impractical, as well as socially and culturally damaging. A study conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Walter Sisulu University (WSU) for the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) found that regulations issued under successive nationally declared states of disaster had severely restricted how the bodies of loved ones were handled and buried, which created fear and anguish within local communities. In rural areas, funerals are occasions at which large extended families unite to bid farewell to the deceased and usher them on their way peacefully and with dignity to the afterlife. In Xhosa culture, if the funeral is not performed meaningfully and the spirit's smooth passage to the next world has not been guaranteed, the family may need to invest in expensive rituals, including exhumations and reburials, to appease the deceased; and can suffer considerable, long-lasting trauma. However, under the new rules funeral parlours adopted the practice of wrapping bodies in three layers of plastic, which made it difficult to identify the corpse. They also covered the coffin in plastic. In a number of cases, the wrong body was delivered by the funeral parlour and ceremonially buried before the mistake was realised. The lockdown rules instituted at this time further prevented bereaved families from being able to commune with kinship and neighbourhood social networks, which undermined local resilience. The study questioned why the measures being promulgated by the government for the handling of Covid-19 bodies before burials were harsher than those advocated by the WHO in March last year. It further described how they were implemented without any consultation with local communities and against a background of a "moral panic" under which media and government tales of widespread flouting of official lockdown measures at village funerals stigmatised rural populations. Amid great popular uncertainty about the causes and impacts of the new virus, the climate of fear in the Eastern Cape was exacerbated by the implementation of a hard lockdown, under which police tipped over beer drums at rural funerals and made arrests. Night vigils on the eve of the burial, when the coffin was often opened in the house to allow close family to communicate directly with deceased, were banned. Plasticised coffins were sometimes delivered quite late on the day of the funeral itself, or left in the open grave in the yard rather than taken to the tent at the main house where family and mourners were gathered. The HSRC/WSU study found that these actions generated anger and resistance among villagers, who chased away funeral parlour vans, threatening to assault the undertakers for not bringing the deceased to their communities in a respectable state at a proper time. While some of the screaming that came to accompany the arrival of the undertakers, who were visored and clad in hazmat overalls in the belief they were handling highly contagious bodies, stemmed from dread of the white hooded figures carrying the coffin to the grave. Local residents reported feeling abandoned by traditional leaders and government officials, who were seen as ignoring their needs and customs, and talked of how the implementation of the new rules on funerals and the handling of Covid-19 corpses was causing great cultural harm and psychological trauma. Nevertheless, then as now, the government has continued to focus disproportionately on the threat posed by Covid-19 bodies. In July, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane announced that every person who dies in the Eastern Cape would be tested for Covid-19 before their bodies were released to their families. Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa singled out funerals as lethal events at which people contracted the virus - and subsequently died as a result. Even the recent memorandum places the emphasis on enforcement, insisting on the presence of a police officer at any vigil where a body is on display, and pushing for enforcement of the law on illegally exhuming bodies. However, the point - as the present advice also makes clear - is that "transmission at funerals occurs amongst the living", not a result of contact with the dead, as long as basic precautions are followed. In this regard, funerals pose a similar risk to that of parties, if physically-distancing, mask-wearing and hygiene measures are not followed. That it has taken almost a year for an advisory body at the national level to note this indicates some of the problems with the government's approach to the pandemic. For example, as early as April last year, leading South African social scientists called for greater engagement in shaping the mitigation policies being produced by the Government to manage the spread of the virus. They noted the absence of the participation of social scientists in the government's MAC on Covid-19, which initially comprised 51 doctors and medical science academics and focused on producing a "bio-medical fix". Indeed, the present MAC headed by Karim and Jacobs continues to be dominated by medical professional and academics. The approach adopted by the Government, which was identified as being modelled on those promoted by states in the Global North, was also criticised as inappropriate for the material, social and political conditions in South Africa. For many rural residents of the former Transkei, the state's lockdown intrusion, in the name of public health, into a social and cultural space that had previously been almost entirely theirs, as well as the new general restrictions on movement and communality, were experienced as alien and alienating, according to the HSRC/WSU report. The feeling was that the government was "closing the gate" (ukuvala isango) within villages, producing atomised responses to the outbreak at a moment when the need for community solidarity to promote resilience in remote rural areas was particularly great. In this context, the study, which interviewed everyone from traditional and religious leaders and local councillors to nurses, undertakers, gravediggers, the police and the kin of the dead, found that the harsh rules on funerals had been met with significant strategic resistance, with family and community members: no longer reporting deaths to avoid visits from the authorities; opening coffins and viewing and preparing bodies without following the rules; holding night vigils; flouting restrictions on numbers of mourners present at funerals; and holding funerals early so that they could be completed before any officials arrived. At the same time, significant communal responsibility was reported with members of rural communities taking many steps to protect themselves and each other from the Covid-19 outbreak, including by adapting practices around funerals. Following the submission of the present MAC memorandum, key questions that may be on the lips of rural families and villagers in the Eastern Cape are: Why was the frightening practices of denying the bereaved access to their loved ones allowed to persist, when the WHO had already announced that dead Covid-19 bodies were not infectious? Why did it take a spate of illegal rural exhumations across the Eastern Cape in recent months for the state's main advisory body on the pandemic to finally pass judgement on this issue? Meanwhile, the national government remains unsympathetic to the cultural needs of mourners at traditional burials. While lifting some of the PPE and sanitisation requirements, the Department of Health has stated in its response to the MAC's advice: "The human remains should only be conveyed to the deceased's home on the day of the burial and viewing is only allowed under the controlled environment within a mortuary or funeral undertaker's premises." The department says these measures remain necessary to control the spread of Covid-19 among mourners. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. However, this requirement runs contrary to the spirit of the MAC's advice and the WHO memoranda on which it is based, and the respect for traditional practices that they seek to promote. An important aspect of customary burials is the night vigil, which is often held at the home of the deceased's family, and which affords family and community members the opportunity to make peace with the departing spirit of the dead. Accordingly, the HSRC/WSU report recommended that Covid-19 bodies should be allowed to be brought into the home for viewing and communing before going to the gravesite, at the same time as precautions, such as physical distancing, are taken to protect mourners from potentially infecting each other. It is a recommendation which, it is hoped, the Department of Health will adopt. * Leslie Bank, co-author of this blogpost has a forthcoming title in the African Arguments book series with Nelly Sharpley titled: Covid and Custom in Rural South Africa: Culture, Healthcare and the State. Mark Paterson is an independent writer and researcher with more than 25 years experience as a reporter, editor, communications manager and civil-society activist in South Africa, Britain, and China. He has worked on national newspapers in Johannesburg, London and Beijing and has specialist knowledge in a range of socio-economic policy areas in South Africa and the rest of the continent, including in the fields of higher education, governance, inclusive development, urbanisation, housing, conflict resolution, politics, international relations and media. He has contributed to a number of journals and books, including as the co-editor of Africa and the Millennium Development Goals (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015). Leslie Bank is a research director in the Inclusive Economic Development Unit at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa and professor of social anthropology at Walter Sisulu University. He is the co-author of a new volume on South African migration dynamics entitled Migrant Labour After Apartheid: The Inside Story (HSRC Press, 2020), https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/migrant-labour-after-apartheid. Debating Ideas is a new section that aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It will offer debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, on Wednesday will pay an official visit to Romania, according to AGERPRES. The visit will take place in the context of the celebration in 2021 of 140 years of diplomatic relation between Romania and Spain. Moreover, the visit will prepare the first joint meeting of the two governments planned for this year, specifies the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Arancha Gonzalez Laya will meet the head of the Romanian Executive, Florin Citu, at 11.00 am, after which she will have a meeting with her Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, at the end of which the two officials will hold a press conference together. At 3.00 pm, the Spanish head of diplomacy will be welcomed by President Klaus Iohannis, at the Cotroceni Palace. According to the MAE, the visit is the first this year of the Spanish dignitary, who answers thus to an invitation of her Romanian counterpart. In this context, the two ministers will approach a series of topical issues of common interest on the bilateral agenda, and also on the European and international agenda. Arancha Gonzalez Laya is an expert in international trade relations, with more than 20 years of experience. She took over as Minister of Foreign Affairs on January 13 last year, according to the website of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously she worked as an executive manager with the International Trade Centre and held several offices at the European Commission, in which context she negotiated several trade agreements with third countries and supported a series of emergent states. The cooling off period was extended through Thursday, when Mayor Lori Lightfoot insisted the parties were out of time and that an agreement needed to happen that day. But there was no news of an actual deal, nor of consequences that Lightfoot has said would come for teachers, consequences that could trigger a walkout. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Rebel Wilson proved that revenge is a dish best served smoking hot. The 40-year-old actress showed off her incredible weight loss on Wednesday, at the same time she announced her break up from her boyfriend, Jacob Busch. Sharing a photo of herself standing on the steps of her trailer on Instagram, Rebel flaunted her slender figure in a slinky denim dress and a cropped yellow cardigan. Revenge body: Rebel Wilson showed off her incredible weight loss on Wednesday, at the same time she announced her break up from her boyfriend, Jacob Busch Confirming her newfound single status, she captioned the post: 'Lots on my mind... aghhhhhh... #single-girl-heading-to-Super-Bowl!' The Pitch Perfect star first revealed she was dating the 29-year-old multi-millionaire in September, posting a series of loved-up photos with her new beau on Instagram. According to a report by People at the time, they were introduced by a mutual friend in 2019, but their relationship only turned romantic after Rebel returned to the USA after quarantining in Australia last year. Shaping up: In a post on Instagram on January 2 last year, Rebel declared 2020 to be 'The Year of Health', and said she was determined to make 'some positive changes'. Pictured in January 2017 (left) and last week (right) 'They are officially boyfriend and girlfriend. He's a gentleman, has very old school manners and treats her well,' a source told People at the time. Rebel and Jacob enjoyed a series of romantic luxury holidays together during their whirlwind relationship, traveling to far-flung places such as Mexico and Monaco. She hinted at their breakup on Instagram on January 16, writing: 'Been a rough week for so many reasons... but I'm so grateful to have such loving friends and family'. The way they were: The Pitch Perfect star first revealed she was dating Jacob Busch in September, posting a series of loved-up photos with her new beau on Instagram They were last pictured together on December 24, leaving a pre-Christmas ski trip with friends in Colorado. Meanwhile, a source told Page Six on Tuesday that the relationship had 'just run its course'. In a post on Instagram on January 2 last year, Rebel declared 2020 to be 'The Year of Health', and said she was determined to make 'some positive changes'. 'I think what's been really interesting is how other people treat you. Sometimes being bigger, people didn't necessarily look twice at you,' she said after her weight loss. Pictured in December 2019 (left) and last week (right) She subsequently lost a whopping 30 kilos over the course of the year, and told The Morning Crew with Hughesy, Ed and Erin last month that it had been 'interesting' to see how people treated her following her weight loss. 'I think what's been really interesting is how other people treat you. Sometimes being bigger, people didn't necessarily look twice at you,' she explained. She added: 'Now that I'm in good shape, people offer to carry my groceries to the car and hold doors open for you. I'm like, is this what other people experienced all the time?' VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE:XPHY)(OTCQB:XPHYF)(FSE:4XT) ("XPhyto" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that XPhyto Laboratories Inc. ("XPhyto Labs"), its wholly owned Alberta subsidiary, has signed an agreement (the "Agreement") with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation ("Applied") for the synthesis of pharmaceutical grade psychedelic compounds and the parallel development of the standard operating procedures necessary to obtain regulatory approval for the respective commercial production process. The industrial-scale production of standardized active pharmaceutical ingredients is an important part of XPhyto's psychedelic pharmaceutical program as the Company anticipates a shortage of large-scale supply of certain approved and standardized pharmaceutical grade psychedelics. Applied is a not-for-profit institution at the University of Alberta created to support translational drug development for industry and innovators. With an interdisciplinary team of over 30 pharmaceutical scientists, clinicians, regulatory, patent, and market experts, Applied provides industry with access to translational science in a framework that supports commercial success. This includes retention of IP and ownership of work product for the funder, focused and efficient project execution, and regulatory compliant operations. "In late 2020, XPhyto secured a development agreement for the industrial production of psilocybin with a leading German university. Now, with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, we will turn our minds to the industrial production of additional psychedelic compounds," commented Hugh Rogers, CEO of XPhyto. "The Company plans to expand its psychedelic programs in 2021, including scalable production of pharmaceutical grade compounds, drug formulations, and clinical evaluation." Psychedelic compounds are a highly promising new class of drugs with strong potential for the treatment of mental health related medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, addiction, and trauma-related stress disorder. With a psilocybin production program underway in Germany, XPhyto is reviewing several other compounds as potential candidates for its first psychedelic pharmaceutical production program in Canada. Considerations include the medical indication, market demand, projected supply, competition, production process, toxicity profile, delivery method, historic use, and regulatory framework for each potential compound. The Agreement with Applied includes the potential synthesis of a broad range of psychedelic compounds based on the dealing agreement (the "Dealing Agreement") between XPhyto and Prof. Dr. Raimar Lobenberg, announced November 9, 2020. The Dealing Agreement is exclusive to psychedelic research carried out by Dr. Lobenberg, subject to two pre-existing contracts for R&D. On November 3, 2020, the Company announced an agreement with a leading German university for the exclusive development of a proprietary biotechnology process for the industrial manufacture of pharmaceutical grade psilocybin. The Company will provide further information and updates in due course. About XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. is a bioscience accelerator focused on next-generation drug delivery, diagnostic, and new active pharmaceutical ingredient investment opportunities, including: precision transdermal and oral dissolvable drug formulations; rapid, low-cost infectious disease and oral health screening tests; and standardization of emerging active pharmaceutical ingredients for neurological applications, including psychedelic compounds and cannabinoids. The Company has research and development operations in North America and Europe, with an operational focus in Germany, and is currently focused on regulatory approval and commercialization of medical products for European markets. XPhyto Therapeutics Corp.: Hugh Rogers, CEO and Director Investor Inquiries: Mr. Knox Henderson T: 604-551-2360 E: info@xphyto.com Media Inquiries: MC Services AG Julia Hofmann, Andreas Jungfer T: +49 89 210 228 0 E: xphyto@mc-services.eu Forward looking statements This news release includes statements containing forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "develop", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "propose" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and in this release include the statement regarding the Company's goal of building a successful diagnostic, drug delivery, and medical cannabis company. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on the opinions and estimates of management 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 projected in the forward-looking statements, including: that the Company may not succeed in developing a commercial product; that the sale of products may not be a viable business; that the Company may be unable to scale its business; product liability risks; product regulatory risk; general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; currency risks; competition; international risks; and other risks beyond the Company's control. 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 law. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE: XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627558/XPhyto-Announces-Psychedelic-Pharmaceutical-Production-Agreement Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett have received nominations for this year's Golden Globes. On Wednesday, the nominees for the 78th Golden Globe Awards were announced in Los Angeles ahead of next month's ceremony. The Australian actresses will go up against each other after they were both nominated in the same category for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Golden Globe 2021: Nicole Kidman (pictured)and Cate Blanchett have received Golden Globe nominations while other Australians including Margot Robbie have been snubbed Nicole was recognised for her performance in the hit drama The Undoing, while Cate received a nominated for her role in Mrs America. The Undoing tells the story of Grace Fraser (played by Nicole), a psychologist whose husband Jonathan is linked to the death of a parent at their children's school in Manhattan. The actress stars in the HBO series alongside Hugh Grant, Noah Jupe and Donald Sutherland. Nominations: Nicole was recognised for her performance in the hit drama The Undoing while Cate (pictured) received a nominated for her role in Mrs America The show was also listed in the Best Limited Series, Anthology or TV Film category. Meanwhile, Mrs. America is set in the 1970s and tells the true story of the attempt to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in America. The amendment guarantees equal legal rights for all American citizens- regardless of sex. Unsuccessful: Australians overlooked include Margot Robbie (pictured) for her role in Birds of Prey Phyllis Schlafly (played by Cate) led the charge against the amendment, standing against abortion, same-sex marriage and drafting women into the military. However, fellow Aussie Margot Robbie was snubbed for her role in Birds of Prey as well as Toni Collette for I'm Thinking of Ending Things. The nominations were revealed ahead of the virtual awards ceremony that will take place on February 28, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler co-hosting the show virtually from opposite coasts. "We are thrilled to welcome Audrey as a new independent director on our board," said Mark W. Begor, CEO of Equifax. "Her broad legal and business background, involvement in business strategy and operations, as well as her depth of experience in human resources, compliance and government relations, will benefit Equifax as we continue to invest in our cloud data and technology, people and new products to drive new innovation and growth." "Audrey is a strong business leader who brings deep knowledge in corporate governance, gained over decades of significant experience in the legal and human resources fields," said Mark L. Feidler, non-executive chairman of Equifax. "Her background and skill set will be invaluable to the Equifax board of directors in its oversight of the company's continued strategic growth." Since 2014, Tillman has served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Aflac, the U.S.'s largest provider of supplemental insurance, and oversees the company's legal division and functions related to human resources, compliance, government relations, global cybersecurity and the office of the corporate secretary. Tillman joined Aflac in 1996 and has since held roles of increasing significance, including serving as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. Tillman has also been instrumental in Aflac's strategic growth, helping launch Aflac Japan as a standalone subsidiary, and working closely with the U.S. state insurance regulators and Japanese government officials. Tillman has received numerous awards and accolades during her tenure at Aflac, including the 2016 Diamond Award, the highest honor given by the Corporate Counsel Women of Color Association. In 2017, she was named to Black Enterprise magazine's list of Most Powerful Women in Business and Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America. That same year she received the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Corporate Counsel Award and Inside Counsel's Transformative Leadership Awards in the General Counsel of the Year and Insurance categories. Most recently, she was named to Black Enterprise magazine's 2019 Most Powerful Women in Business list for three consecutive years and Women's Inc. 2019 Top Corporate Counsel. Tillman holds a bachelor's of political science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her JD from the University of Georgia School of Law. ABOUT EQUIFAX INC. At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employees, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by more than 11,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 25 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com FOR MORE INFORMATION BEN SHEIDLER [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. Related Links http://www.equifax.com A cyclist bikes past a signboard with an image of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Thein Zaw/AP Photo) Burma Police File Charges Against Aung San Suu Kyi After Coup Burma (also called Myanmar) police have filed charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for illegally importing communications equipment and she will be detained until Feb. 15 for investigations, according to a police document. The move followed a military coup on Monday and the detention of Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi and other civilian politicians. The takeover cut short Burmas long transition to democracy and drew condemnation from the United States and other Western countries. A police request to a court detailing the accusations against Suu Kyi, 75, said six walkie-talkie radios had been found in a search of her home in the capital Naypyidaw. The radios were imported illegally and used without permission, it said. The document reviewed on Wednesday requested Suu Kyis detention in order to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant. A separate document showed police filed charges against ousted President Win Myint for violating protocols to stop the spread of coronavirus during campaigning for an election last November. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election in a landslide but the military claimed it was marred by fraud and justified its seizure of power on those grounds. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the police, the government, or the court for comment. The chair of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Parliamentarians for Human Rights, Charles Santiago, said the new charges were ludicrous. This is an absurd move by the junta to try to legitimize their illegal power grab, he said in a statement. The electoral commission had said the vote was fair. Aung San Suu Kyi (L) Burmas foreign minister, walks with senior General Min Aung Hlaing (R) Burma militarys commander-in-chief, in Naypyitaw, Burma, on May 6, 2016. (Aung Shine Oo/File/AP Photo) Suu Kyi spent about 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010 as she led the countrys democracy movement, and she remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees in 2017. The NLD made no immediate comment. A party official said on Tuesday he had learned she was under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, and was in good health. Party Says Offices Raided The party said earlier in a statement that its offices had been raided in several regions and it urged authorities to stop what it called unlawful acts after its election victory. Opposition to the junta headed by Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing has begun to emerge in Burma. Staff at scores of government hospitals across the country of 54 million people stopped work or wore red ribbons as part of a civil disobedience campaign. The newly formed Burma Civil Disobedience Movement said doctors at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 towns had joined the protest. It accused the army of putting its interests above a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 3,100 people in Burma, one of the highest tolls in Southeast Asia. We really cannot accept this, said 49-year-old Myo Myo Mon, who was among the doctors who stopped work to protest. We will do this in a sustainable way, we will do it in a non-violent way This is the route our state counselor desires, she said, referring to Suu Kyi by her title. Burmas Army Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing speak in Naypyitaw, Burma, on July 11, 2018. (Aung Shine Oo/File Photo/AP Photo) The latest coup is a massive blow to hopes that Burma is on a path to stable democracy. The junta has declared a one-year state of emergency and has promised to hold fair elections, but has not said when. G7 Condemns Coup The Group of Seven largest developed economies condemned the coup on Wednesday and said the election result must be respected. We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained, and to respect human rights and the rule of law, the G7 said in a statement. China has not specifically condemned the coup in its neighbor but the foreign ministry rejected the suggestion that it supported or gave tacit consent to it. We wish that all sides in Myanmar can appropriately resolve their differences and uphold political and social stability, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing. At the United Nations on Tuesday, its special envoy for Burma, Christine Schraner Burgener, urged the Security Council to collectively send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar. But a diplomat with Chinas UN mission said it would be difficult to reach consensus on the draft statement and that any action should avoid escalating tension or complicating the situation. U.S. President Joe Biden has threatened to reimpose sanctions on the generals who seized power. U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tried but was unable to connect to Burmas military following the coup. The military had ruled the former British colony from 1962 until Suu Kyis party came to power in 2015 under a constitution that guarantees the generals a major role in government. Her international standing as a human rights champion was badly damaged over the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in 2017 and her defense of the military against accusations of genocide. By Reuters staff 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Organizers hope a cool event will help downtown Scranton businesses off thin ice. The inaugural Scranton Ice Festival will take place Friday, Feb. 5, through Sunday, Feb. 7. The free, largely outdoor event will feature almost 50 ice sculptures created by Sculpted Ice Works, Lakeville, set up in front of businesses in downtown Scranton from Linden Street to Mulberry Street and along Adams, North Washington, Penn and Wyoming avenues. A small group of community-minded volunteers in partnership with First Friday Scranton, Scranton Tomorrow, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, and Scranton Area Community Foundation put together the festival. Founder Donna Walsh Nasser said it will let the community safely patronize local businesses as well as support the foundations Small Business Relief Fund. Any and all remaining proceeds from the festival and its sponsorships will go toward the fund, which helps small businesses experiencing hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic. The public also can donate at safdn.org. Its such a great way to support the people who are facing such a hard time, Nasser said. Its also going to be such a fun event to attend. Its rare to find someone not affected by the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, and Nasser was no exception. One day, a video popped up on Nassers Facebook feed featuring her son, Patrick Nasser, and his restaurant, Backyard Ale House. He talked about the hardships he and his co-owners brother Bill Nasser, Tony Potis and Eric Miller faced because of COVID-19 and its restrictions and shutdowns. While she had already had seen the TwentyFiveEight Studios video promoting businesses that were suffering, something about it made Nasser cry that morning. I was so moved by it and by the terrible time all of our downtown businesses are facing, and I felt like I had to do something, Nasser said. Then, again on Facebook, she stumbled upon ice luminaries and thought how nice it would be for all the businesses downtown to display them on the sidewalks. She called POSH at the Scranton Club and POSH Life Floral & Events owner Joshua Mast and her daughter, Maggie Martinelli, vice president of administration and operations at the Scranton Area Foundation, who both agreed to help. Immediately, Martinelli began to connect her mother with local organizations that then joined the event. It all came together in just three weeks. I was hoping we would get maybe 10 or 15 sculptures (and businesses), Nasser said. I never thought it would be this big. The event will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including social distancing. Masks are strongly encouraged. Family-friendly activities also are planned, including ice-sculpting demonstrations set to take place in front of city hall. With help from Hilton Scranton and Conference Center and Posture Interactive, musicians will play live from an empty space, and it will be broadcast throughout the city. You wont be able to gather together, but you will be able to hear the music all throughout the downtown, Nasser said, adding that businesses may choose to have sidewalk sales, food and drink specials, or more on the day of the event. Its really neat to see how innovative these businesses have been because of the pandemic. Theyre keeping people safe while making sure theyre still offering their best. The event coincides with the First Friday Art Walk, which exemplifies the collaborative effort of the festival itself. All of the events partnering organizations have been unbelievably generous and amazing to work with, Martinelli said. Most importantly, Nasser said, the day is a win-win for everyone involved. From the organizations that immediately said yes to the businesses who jumped at the chance to get involved to the vendors and all the volunteers to the community, this is such a fun way to give back, she said. Its been a tough year for all of us, and we just need to support each other during this time. [February 03, 2021] Vatic Labs Appoints Todd Hohman as President, Expands Quantitative Trading with New Technology and Investment Hires Vatic Labs, a leading systematic quantitative investment manager, announced today the appointment of partner Todd Hohman as President. Hohman, who joined Vatic in January 2020 and is based in New York, will oversee the firm's growth and operations, as well as head risk management. "Todd is a natural business builder and I'm honored to have him as a partner and now President in supporting Vatic's continued growth and development," said Vatic Labs' Founder and Chief Executive Officer James Chiu. "With Todd's continued leadership and now expanded role, we will remain true to our collaborative and 'team first' approach, focused on creating differentiated trading and investment outcomes, as well as a winning culture that attracts the best and brightest." Hohman has more than 25 years of investment management and trading experience. Prior to joining Vatic, he was a Partner at Goldman Sachs where he held several trading and leadership positions, including Co-Head of Global Systematic Market Making and Head of Global Quant Vol. Before that, he was head of European operations at Hull Trading Company, an independent algorithmic tradng firm and electronic market maker acquired by Goldman Sachs in 1999. Hohman graduated from the University of Illinois and received his M.B.A. from the school's Gies College of Business. In addition to Hohman's appointment, Vatic announced that Dave Handley has recently joined as Chief Technical Officer. Handley has 25 years of technology experience and was formerly Head of Research Development at Citadel LLC and Co-Chief Technology Officer at PDT Partners. Before that, Mr. Handley spent seven years as an Engineering Officer in the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, and earned his engineering and computer science degree from the University of Oxford. Additionally, Chris Grabowski and Alexey Makarov have joined Vatic as a senior developer and senior quant researcher, respectively. Previously, Grabowski was a senior research engineer at Citadel LLC, and Makarov was Head of Quantitative Research, Options Market Making at Two Sigma Securities. Vatic also said that Ben Cohen has accepted a new position as Senior Adviser. A 40-year veteran of the finance and investment management industry, Cohen was the former Chief Administrative Officer at Point72 Asset Management LP. About Vatic Labs Vatic Labs is a systematic quantitative investment management firm where traders, AI researchers, and technologists collaborate to develop autonomous trading agents and cutting-edge technology. The firm is data driven, with machine learning and cutting edge technology piloting their market-making strategies. Learn more at vaticlabs.ai. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005615/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Iran on February 2 agreed to free the 19-member crew of a seized South Korea-flagged ship, both countries said that after a telephone conversation between Tehrans Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his South Korean counterpart, Choi Jong-Kun. Iran had seized MT Hankuk Chemi last month at Bandar Abbas Port city, saying that the vessel violated pollution rules with chemicals. However, it later became clear that Iran had taken custody of the ship at least in part to pressure South Korea, a strong US ally, over the sanctions ordered by former US President Donald Trump. The latest move by Iran is believed to be intended to send an indirect signal to the new Biden administration, which has indicated it wants to avoid a further deterioration in relation with Tehran after they worsened sharply under Trump. According to New York Times, in return for the release of the crew, the South Korean government has said that it pledged speedy action to address Irans complaints about its inability to access $7 billion in Iranian money that has been frozen in South Korean banks because of US sanctions. It is still not clear when the crew members would be released. But, Iran has said that the ship and its captain would remain in its custody, pending an investigation into what the Iranians have described as the violations of maritime pollution law. MT Hankuk Chemi was carrying 7,200 tons of petrochemicals from Jubail in Saudi Arabia when it was intercepted. Following the seizure, South Korea had strongly protested and the ships owner even called Irans accusations absurd. READ: Iran's Hard-line Parliament Rejects President's Budget Draft READ: Iran Ready For New Relationship With US, But The Clock Is Ticking: FM Javad Zarif Humanitarian gesture On Tuesday, Irans Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, described the countrys latest move as a humanitarian gesture. South Koreas Foreign Minister, on the other hand, welcomed the Iranian decision and urged the government to even release the captain and the ship as well. During the conversation between the two nations, South Korea promised action to help address Irans grievances over the impounded funds and it also added that they would consult US officials in Washington over the matter. Meanwhile, relations between Iran and Seoul have been strained since the US reimposed tough sanctions on Iran and banned countries, including major Asian customers, from buying its petroleum. Iran had said that it has at least $7 billion from oil sales trapped in South Korea and the funds are needed to purchase humanitarian goods, including coronavirus vaccine. READ: Rouhani Leads Tributes On Iran Revolution Anniversary READ: Iran Says 'one Signature' Cannot Fix Nuclear Deal, Calls For Relief From US Sanctions Leave it to a native New Yorker to come up with the one of the tastiest, most inspired pimento cheese dishes weve put in our mouth. Pimento cheese pizza. With Conecuh Sausage. And bacon. And jalapenos. It is the genius of Giani Respinto, the chef and co-owner of the Homewood hot spot Pizzeria GM. Respinto started serving the pimento cheese pizza as a specialty item at his restaurant about two years ago, he says, and it hasnt left the menu since. People just loved it, he says. And whats great about it is its something that we can do consistently. Its been on the menu, and theres no reason to take it off because theres nothing seasonal about it. Respinto makes his pimento cheese in-house, combining grated cheddar with diced pimentos, adding a little cayenne pepper, and then binding it with cream cheese not mayonnaise, as most traditional Southern recipes call for. Obviously, you cant put mayonnaise in the (pizza) oven, he says. Its not going to work. Topping the pizza with Conecuh Sausage and Conecuh bacon was a no-brainer for me, Respinto adds. I mean, you could put Conecuh bacon and Conecuh Sausage on a shoe and people would eat it, he says. Add the jalapenos, and youve got the pimento (cheese) pizza. Like I said, he adds, were blessed to live in a state that probably has the best commercial smokehouse in the country, in my opinion, which is Conecuh. I just think its an awesome combination. The gregarious Respinto -- who grew up in the Bronx before the restaurant business brought him first to Florida and then Alabama -- loves to straighten out customers who try to tell him a New Yorker couldnt possibly know the first thing about making pimento cheese. Its always been a lot of fun for me and made for a lot of very interesting and fun conversations with Southerners, he says. Because pimento cheese was invented in New York. Sure enough, as Charleston, S.C.-based food writer Robert Moss detailed in this fascinating history of pimento cheese that he wrote for Serious Eats, the roots of the pate of the South go back to the early 1900s, when Good Housekeeping magazine recommended blending cream cheese and canned pimentos to create a creamy sandwich spread. Eventually, the new spread made its way South, and as the recipe evolved over the ensuing decades, Southerners substituted hoop cheese, and later cheddar, for cream cheese. Respintos pimento cheese pizza blends the best of both of those cultures. We went back to the original base, which was cream cheese and then kind of made a conglomeration of North and South with the cream cheese base and just added the cheddar cheese and the pimentos and all those other good things, he says. While the pimento cheese pizza is available year-round at Pizzeria GM, the restaurant offers another Alabama-centric pie that is served only in the summer -- the Chilton County peach and Conecuh Sausage and bacon pizza with buffalo mozzarella, basil, and Eastaboga Bee Company honey balsamic drizzle. People keep asking me for it in the winter, Respinto says of the peach pizza. I have to keep trying to explain to them: How long have yall lived here? Do peaches grow in the winter? Repinto and his brother, Marco, opened Pizzeria GM in February 2018 next to Patriot Park in West Homewood. The brothers also own GianMarcos Restaurant, an Italian-inspired neighborhood restaurant they opened with their father, Giovanni Respinto, in Edgewood in 2003. In addition to its signature pizzas, the Pizzeria GM menu features small plates, salads, sandwiches, and pasta dishes. Pizzeria GM is at 600 Oak Grove Road in Homewood. The phone is 205-905-3266. Lunch hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and dinner hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Mondays and 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, go here. [To read more good news about Alabama, sign up for our This is Alabama Newsletter.] READ MORE: 21 dishes to eat in Birmingham in 2021 An iconic Alabama steakhouse, and the woman who keeps it going 16 tasty Conecuh Sausage dishes at Alabama restaurants Martins Restaurant: The queen of Alabamas meat-and-threes The Delhi Police has announced a cash reward worth Rs 1 lakh each for information that can lead to the arrest of Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh and Gurjant Singh after allegations that they encouraged mob to hoist religious flags at the Red Fort on January 26. The Delhi Police has also announced rewards worth Rs 50,000 each for the arrest of farm leaders like Buta Singh, Jajbir Singh, Iqbal Singh and Sukhdev Singh over their alleged involvement in the tractor rally violence on the Republic Day. Also read: Farmers' protest causes Rs 600 crore loss in toll collections; debt worth Rs 9,300 crore at risk: ICRA Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said the Delhi government is releasing a list of 115 protesters arrested by police in relation to the Republic Day incident . " They are in different jails of the city. Our government will make every effort to trace the protesters who are missing and I will even speak to the Lt Governor and the Centre if the need arises." Kejriwal's comments followed his meeting with a delegation of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha's legal team, which presented him a list of 29 missing farmers. This delegation also raised the demands of a judicial inquiry into the alleged "conspiracy against the farmers' protest", and a medical board to examine all those incarcerated. Also read: Kangana Ranaut calls Greta Thunberg 'spoilt brat' for supporting farmers' protests On January 26, as the agitating farmers did not follow the prescribed routes and entered Delhi by breaking barricades, leading to clashes with police, and damage of life and property. They also entered the Red Fort and unfurled religious flags. Meanwhile, the leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait has accused the Delhi Police of a conspiracy behind the tractor parade fracas on Republic Day. Tikait told news agency ANI: "The Delhi Police has conspired to do this and it is the main culprit. It barricaded the route allotted to us for the tractor rally and opened Delhi giving way to the farmers to enter the national capital." Also read: Red Fort violence conspiracy to malign farmer unions, alleges farmer leader Rakesh Tikait He added that farmers have been holding panchayats for the last 35 years. "Protests are organised at Jantar Mantar but did any farmer organisation reach Parliament? A man was misled, an announcement was made, and after 13 hours a religious flag was hoisted at the Red Fort. This is being investigated." With agency inputs; by Mehak Agarwal Claremont killer Bradley Robert Edwards has declined to appeal his conviction or life sentence for murdering two women in Perth in the 1990s. A courts spokesman has confirmed that the West Australian Court of Appeal had not received a notice of appeal from Edwards by the deadline of 4pm on Wednesday. Edwards, who terrorised Perth's suburbs for almost a decade, will now almost certainly die behind bars after being jailed in December for at least 40 years and described by the judge as a ruthless predator of vulnerable women. Claremont killer Bradley Robert Edwards (pictured) has declined to appeal his conviction or life sentence for murdering two women in the 1990's The 52-year-old was convicted in September of abducting and killing childcare worker Jane Rimmer, 23, and solicitor Ciara Glennon, 27, in 1996 and 1997. He was acquitted of the 1996 murder of 18-year-old secretary Sarah Spiers. All three women disappeared after a night out with friends in affluent Claremont, with the bodies of Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennon discovered in bushland weeks after they were killed. Ms Spiers' body has never been found but Justice Stephen Hall said the confessed rapist's propensity for violent abductions made it likely that he also killed Ms Spiers. Edwards terrorised Perth, preying on vulnerable women like childcare worker Jane Rimmer (pictured) 23 who he abducted and killed Edwards pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial to sexually assaulting two young women in 1988 and 1995. He showed no emotion after receiving his life sentence, which was greeted with applause in the public gallery including family members of his victims. Justice Hall described Edwards as a dangerous predator who had sought out vulnerable young women and attacked them for his own gratification. 'Your actions were premeditated and executed with pitiless determination and remorselessness for the pain caused,' he told Edwards. The 52-year-old was convicted in September of also killing 27-year-old solicitor Ciara Glennon (pictured) Edwards' 40-year minimum term is the longest ever imposed in WA. He will be 88 by the time he is eligible for parole. The court heard Edwards, who opted not to give evidence during his seven-month trial, had declined to participate in a psychiatric report which might have provided insight into why he carried out his heinous crimes. Edwards committed his first known attack on women in 1988, breaking into the Huntingdale home of an 18-year-old acquaintance and indecently assaulting her as she slept. It provided the crucial piece of evidence homicide detectives needed to arrest him almost 29 years later. He'd left behind a semen-stained silk kimono stolen from a washing line and when it was finally tested in November 2016, DNA matched swabs taken from a teenager he abducted from Claremont then raped at nearby Karrakatta Cemetery in 1995. It also matched cellular material found under Ms Glennon's fingernails, gathered during a violent struggle shortly before her death. Fibre evidence established that both murder victims had been in Edwards' Telstra work vehicle shortly before their deaths. Both young women had died fighting for their lives, Justice Hall said. Socialite Libbie Mugrabi has revealed she would have stayed married to her art dealer ex-husband David but says he filed for divorce which kickstarted their bitter $100million court battle. Mugrabi, 41, settled her divorce with her art collecting ex-husband David, 47, in December. It's unclear how much she walked away with, but she'd asked him for $100million and was 'very happy' with the settlement she received. She said that while her husband was 'very nice' and a 'lovely man', he was too short for her. She didn't give his height, but she is 5ft 7 and he is smaller, she said. She shared her hopes of meeting someone taller to date next. David's Syrian family are worth an estimated $5billion and are legends in the art world. The pair have two children together, Rosemary and Joseph, who are believed to be around 14 and 12. They got married in 2005, a year after meeting at The St Regis Hotel in Aspen, Colorado. In an interview on the ArtLife Podcast with Avery Andon that is now on iTunes, the pair gushed over art, her recent move to Miami and her divorce. Libbie Mugrabi with her ex-husband David in 2010. She says he filed for divorce and that she would have stayed married to him until their kids were 18 but now wants to date a 'tall guy' because her ex was 'too short' Mugrabi in court in 2018. She and David fought for three years over his fortune before they reached an undisclosed settlement in December 2020 She also said that she would have stayed in the marriage until the kids were both 18, but that her ex blindisded her by filing, even though they had been discussing separation. 'I gave David the book, Consciously Uncoupling, three years ago when we were first talking about breaking up. I don't know why...he thought it was funny. 'I meant it - we have two children together, they're beautiful. We are both really lucky. 'We have a great life and there was absolutely no reason to enter a bitter divorce,' she said. She went on to say that she grew up with divorced parents and 'understands it' whereas her ex-husband does not. After her ex-husband, Libbie dated child actor turned Bitcoin billionaire turned presidential hopeful Brock Pierce. She says he too was 'too short' Now, Mugrabi says she is eager to work on her 'lifestyle brand' - Libbie 'My parent are divorced, I know divorce. The problem is he doesn't. He's not from here, he's not American. I don't know what he wanted or wants... I know what I want,' she said. She also said she 'probably' would have stayed married until their children were 18 but that he filed. 'Yeah, probably. We have kids. I think I would have waited until the kids were 18 'He got angry...he got more bitter,' she said. Now that the pair are divorced, she says she wants to move on with someone taller. 'My ex-husband was short. I don't know how I ended up again with a man that was at my height, or shorter. But I did, and I will not go out with a short man again I couldn't wear heels. It worked in the summer, Id go shoeless, but when the fall comes I need a tall guy,' she said. The other 'short guy' she was talking about was Brock Pierce, a child-actor turned bitcoin trader. 'Short men have a Napoleon complex. They aren't happy about their height so they have to make up for it in other ways,' she said. She and Andon also discussed Mugrabi's fear of getting COVID-19, which was the driving force behind her leaving New York City for Miami, where she held a 50-person Art Basel party despite the art festival being canceled due to the pandemic. The party was at the Faena hotel and Libbie - whose parents are plastic surgeons but who says she's been around art her entire life - was seen climbing a Damien Hirst golden unicorn at it. The 41-year-old has moved into a suite at The Setai hotel in Miami where she says she feels 'safe' because there are staff, she knows the owners and 'times are dangerous' She insisted that her guests wore their masks throughout the party except for when they were eating and drinking, but said she will not be taking the vaccine when it becomes available to her. In her interview with Andon, Mugrabi also said that she 'doesn't believe' in plastic surgery and she herself does not need it. 'My family collected art - my grandfather was a pioneer of plastic surgery. He brought something called rhinoplasty to New York City. Mugrabi also says she has not had any plastic surgery, doesn't need it and continues to only use Botox and sugar strands in her face which she says are natural 'I've never had any. I don't believe in plastics surgery... if you need it - I don't need it. I do Botox, I do sugar strings - they're natural - for my face. They build collagen,' she said. She also asked Andon if he 'likes the Black Lives Matter people', and said she does not 'trust' anyone who has COVID-19 antibodies. Mugrabi now lives in a suite at The Setai, which she says she had to 'gut renovate' to her standards when she moved in. She said she feels 'safe' there because she 'knows the owners'. 'I need a very, zen beautiful home. I rented a place here at The Setai... I had to gut renovate it. 'I didn't want to live in South Beach. I only rented for six months. My friends own the hotel so I feel safe there. 'The times are dangerous, we don't know what's going on. I like having the service and I know the owners... it's easy for me right now,' she said. She said her 2020 had been like a 'rollercoaster' and was surprised to be told by Andon that service industries and lower income groups had been 'crushed' by the pandemic. 'Have they? Nobody wanted to give me a discount, so I don't know' she replied. Mugrabi is also profiled in the new issue of Tatler in the UK. She said she spent time in London during 2020, 'when no one wanted to travel' and that she was 'fortunate' to be the 'only person in business' on one flight. Crash Leaves Man Facing Endangerment, Gun Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff , driving on a DUI suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, wanton endangerment of police officer , fleeing or evading police on foot and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Caraway was lodged in the Caldwell County Jail. CALDWELL COUNTY - A crash in Caldwell County Tuesday night left a man facing multiple charges, including wanton endangerment.The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said the single vehicle accident happened at approximately 10:20 pm on Highway 293, near the intersection of Clinton Perry Road.After further investigation, the driver was identified as 41-year-old Shawn Caraway of Princeton. He is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle [February 02, 2021] SOR Turns Brain Inspired Hardware to Robotics PERTH, Australia, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX:SOR) is pleased to report proof of concept work that highlights its printable neuromorphic technology's[1] potential for data processing and self-learning in soft robotics (e.g. touch sensing) and other signal processing applications such as computer vision applications. Early stage results show that in the case of computer vision, the technology uses less power to operate than the human brain (less than 10 watts) and is able to use multiple resistance states with the potential capacity to process multiple points of data. The technology was successfully operated at an ultra-low level of 0.8V and in the microamps range of current. The printable neuromorphic hardware is being developed from the Company's Nanocube Memory Ink technology and conducted in the Nanoionics laboratory at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Artificial neural networks are not uncommon, however most synapse networks exist only as software. The UNSW team is in early stage development of a neural network hardware designed to be printable (low cost), portable, ultra-low power, flexible and semi-transparent. These features are ideally suited to robotics and computer vision applications. For example, the ability to place flexible neuromorphic hardware onto soft robotics in health or manufacturing sectors or devices requiring such low power that battery or energy harvesting technologies (e.g humidity) could potentially be used as a power source. The new artificial synapse fabricated by the team at UNSW has shown significant advancement in lowering power consumption, ability tocontinuously change conductance with voltage pulses (like a biological synapse), encouraging endurance and multilevel switching. These features are important for possible applications such as image processing and smart/intelligent sensors for e-skin and soft robotics. Printable Neuromorphic Memristor A memristor is an electronic memory device that mimics the information-transmitting synapses in the human brain to carry out complex computational tasks. Memristor devices are used for storing as well as processing of information and are known to emulate the memory and learning properties of biological synapses. Nanocube Memristor Emulating the Human Brain A memristor device was fabricated with Nanocube Ink. The artificial synapse on the device were tested for endurance known as long term potentiation (learning) and depression (forgetting). This was done with a programming pulse algorithm to pulse the artificial synapse with a series of positive and negative voltages also known as spikes, mimicking neurons firing in the human brain. Spikes are used to emulate the synaptic weight (conductance) change observed in biological synapses during learning and forgetting phase. The artificial synapse was pulsed for 5,000 pulse cycles (10 positive voltage spikes and 10 negative voltage spikes per cycle), a total of 100,000 spikes and no significant degradation was observed. The synaptic weight (conductance) of the artificial synapse was gradually increasing with positive voltage pulses, indicating the potentiation behaviour and gradually decreasing with negative voltage pulses, indicating the depression behaviour. This shows that the artificial synapse has good potential endurance after repeated learning and forgetting cycles. The memristors were successfully programmed at an ultra-low level of 0.8V with current in the microamps range. The memristors values were successfully ready at 0.1V. Early stage work showed potential to program the memristors as low as 0.4V. The artificial synapse also showed the ability to have multilevel switching, up to 10 resistance states per cell. This is an important feature as neuromorphic computing systems designed for complex applications, such as image processing, require multiple resistance states. This is in contrast with other memory devices that only use two resistance states (high and low) which presents disadvantages in synaptic weight performance such as low accuracy or area efficiency. Collaborative and Further Work The Company will assess a potential program of work between the computer vision and robotics team at subsidiary Stealth Technologies and the materials team at the University of New South Wales to develop a prototype application. Further information will be released as appropriate. Future work will also be conducted to reduce the temperature required in the manufacturing process, fabricate on flexible substrates and to increase the number of memristors or artificial synapses in their thousands to meet requirements of image recognition and tactile touch sensors in robotics. Strategic Elements Background Investors in SOR potentially pay no tax on capital gains from selling their SOR shares as the Company operates under a Federal Government program setup to encourage investment into innovation. Strategic Elements operates as a 'venture builder' where it generates high risk-high reward ventures and projects from combining teams of leading scientists or innovators in the technology or resources sectors. The Company is listed on the ASX under the code "SOR". More information on the Pooled Development Program should be read on the Company's website. www.strategicelements.com.au This announcement was authorised for release by Strategic Elements' Board of Directors. SOURCE Strategic Elements Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The President of Liberia, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah said consensus building is cardinal for the sustenance of peace, development and growth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Addressing the Extraordinary Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, Dr. Weah told his West African counterparts that building consensus inspire oneness and purpose amongst member nations. "There will at times be complex decisions to be made but with oneness of mind and the good of the organization, togetherness is strength that can overcome any force", Dr. Weah reminded the summit delegates. The Summit held via videoconference highlighted the harmonization of ECOWAS participation in the forthcoming African Union (AU) Summit slated for this Saturday and Sunday (February 6 & 7, 2021) in Addis Ababa though via videoconference, and internal reforms within ECOWAS. The Heads of State also discussed ways to enhance trade, commerce and economic activities with the region. Dr. Weah called on his colleagues to unite if they are to conquer piracy and maritime related insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea and terrorism in the region, enhance trade, commerce and economic activities, and scoring success in any undertakings. Both President Weah and Nigerian Vice President Osinbajo admonished their counterparts to work towards addressing the issue of Maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea. Vice President Osinbajo, who represented President Buhari at the summit, said piracy and maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea directly affect trade and commerce in West Africa and must be curtailed. President Weah was joined at the summit by the Ministers Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah (Foreign Affairs), Trokon Kpui (State without Portfolio), Ledgerhood Rennie (Information, Culture and Tourism), Maritime Commissioner, Lenn Eugene Nagbe and Presidential Advisor, Emmanuel Shaw. The Heads of State at the summit unanimously selected candidates to compete for vacant position at the forthcoming African Union Conference. Ghana President Addo Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo will retain his position as ECOWAS Chairman for another one-year stint. The United States is staying in the World Health Organization. Shortly after taking the oath of office, President Joe Biden signed a letter retracting former President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, or WHO. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to discuss the decision by the United States to reverse its withdrawal from the WHO, fulfill its financial obligations, and work as a constructive partner to strengthen and reform the WHO. Vice President Harris emphasized that she and President Biden believe the WHO is vital to controlling COVID-19 and building up better global health and pandemic preparedness. Dr. Anthony Fauci was named the new head of the United States delegation to the 148th Executive Board meeting of the WHO. During remarks at the WHO Executive Board meeting, Dr. Fauci said, I join my fellow representatives in thanking the World Health Organization for its role in leading the global public health response to this pandemic. The Biden Administration also intends to be fully engaged in advancing global health, supporting global health security and the Global Health Security Agenda, and building a healthier future for all people, he said. Dr. Fauci announced the Biden Administrations plans to join COVAX and support the ACT-Accelerator to advance multilateral efforts for COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic distribution and development around the world. COVAXs aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. This is a good day for WHO and a good day for global health, WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus said. In a Tweet he added, "WHO is a family of nations and we are all glad that the United States is staying in the family. A study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that people who have already had COVID-19 may not need both doses of the vaccine to be protected from the virus. The emerging research comes as states, including Maryland, face continued vaccine shortages, leaving the growing list of eligible patients to scramble for few available appointments. But experts say that withholding second doses could present logistical obstacles for an already challenged process. The study, which isnt yet peer reviewed, evaluated antibody responses to one dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines among health care workers who had previously tested positive for COVID-19, compared to that of health care workers who hadnt caught the virus. It included people who had experienced coronavirus symptoms during their infection and people who hadnt. The researchers findings indicated that, in times of vaccine shortage, patients who have had laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infections whether or not they experienced symptoms could justifiably only receive a single dose of the vaccines, and that those patients can be placed lower on the vaccination priority list. As part of the study, researchers drew blood from the 59 participants on the day they got their vaccine, a week later, 10 days later and 14 days later. What we found was that the group that had COVID before had much higher antibody responses than the people who were not infected. Its not surprising. Thats what the hypothesis was. But the reason why we think its particularly relevant is the shortage of vaccine, said Dr. Anthony Harris, professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who co-authored the study alongside associate professor Dr. Mohammad Sajadi. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Harris said. And its continuing. The doctors are following the 59 participants as they get their second doses of the vaccines. The early data is encouraging, said Gigi Gronvall, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. But verifying prior COVID-19 infections in order to redirect second doses could be just another hurdle for a complicated vaccine rollout process that cant handle many more, she said. Every wrinkle that you put into the logistics may make things a little bit more challenging, Gronvall said. For now, people eligible for the vaccine should follow the guidance of health officials and their health providers, she said especially those who didnt receive a positive test confirming that they had COVID-19, or only received an antibody test result. If you dont know that you had COVID if you were werent diagnosed with COVID dont do self diagnosis and then decide you dont need the second shot, Gronvall said. Harris emphasized that the University of Maryland study needs to be replicated, but that it could be helpful for local and national officials as they try to determine how to distribute the vaccine with limited numbers. He said that while a two-dose regimen would be ideal, many places dont have that luxury. The take-home message is basically that if you have a shortage [of vaccine] and if you as a government are trying to decide how to potentially more wisely use a limited number, we think that a single dose of vaccine for people who already have lab-confirmed COVID could be considered, he said. A study completed by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York tells a similar story. That study found that the antibody response to the first vaccine dose in people who previously had COVID-19 is equal to or even exceeds the response after two doses in people who havent had the virus. That study was a bit larger than the University of Marylands. It included 109 participants 41 people who had been infected and 68 who hadnt. Withholding the second dose of the vaccine from people whove already had COVID-19 could also spare them from unnecessary pain, the researchers wrote. Those with previous coronavirus infections reported side effects like fatigue, headache, chills and fevers at significantly higher frequency than those who had never caught COVID-19, the study said. ___ Christine Condon and McKenna Oxenden of The Baltimore Sun wrote this story (c)2021 The Baltimore Sun Visit The Baltimore Sun at www.baltimoresun.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Denton, TX (76205) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum will soon become California's newest mass vaccine site, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. Newsom said in a Wednesday press conference the site at the home to the Oakland Athletics baseball team will be done in partnership with the Biden administration, part of an effort to establish 100 vaccination sites nationwide in the new presidents first 100 days. "The whole idea is to speed up the throughput, the efficiency and maintain an equitable lens in terms of the distribution of the vaccine," Newsom said, speaking from the Coliseum. "Equity is the call of this moment. The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities often left behind are not left behind and are being prioritized in terms of the administration of the vaccine." The site is slated to open Feb. 16 with an initial goal of administering 6,000 doses a day. "We will then build on that," Newsom said. California is also planning to open a vaccine location at California State University, Los Angeles, on Feb. 16 as part of the partnership with the federal government. In the fight against COVID-19, partnership is key, especially when it comes to reaching Californians in underserved areas, Newsom said. These new sites will help us get available supply to some of the California communities most in need. I thank the Biden administration for standing with us as we continue our efforts to safely, swiftly and equitably vaccinate all Californians." The move comes as California's most deadly pandemic surge eases but as the state struggles with vaccine shortages and bureaucratic headaches in a race to vaccinate a sometimes bewildering array of the most vulnerable. The new site is planned to be open to eligible members of the public, who Newsom said will be able to sign up for vaccine appointments using the states MyTurn scheduling system, which is currently in review under a pilot program and is expected to be available to the general public in coming weeks. Both Oakland and Los Angeles will also have two mobile vaccination clinics that can be sent to different locations to help vaccinate people in other areas that otherwise might not be targeted, Newsom said. The sites were picked because they are in what Newsom's administration called some of the nation's most diverse and poor areas. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated California was opening a mass vaccine site at UCLA. The correct location is California State University, Los Angeles. WEAVERVILLE, Calif. Trinity County has moved from the red tier to the less-restrictive orange tier of the States COVID-19 Blueprint for a Safer Economy, according to the state's website. This shift to the orange tier allows more businesses to reopen and some that are already open to increase capacity. The data requirements to qualify for the orange tier include a case rate of 1-3.9 cases per 100,000 residents with a test positivity rate of 2 4.9% or less and 2.2 5.2% health equity metric. The orange tier will allow for Bars, breweries, and distilleries may open outdoors with modifications. Offices to be open indoors with modifications, but still, encourage telework. Cardrooms and Satellite Wagering can open indoors with modification, max 25% capacity. View the PDF below to understand what is allowed in each tier of the State's COVID-19 Blueprint for a Safer Economy: The federal government has disclosed that it is set to dispose of assets recovered from looters across the country. The Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata (SAN), who made the disclosure Tuesday, said that the disposal of the affected assets is in line with the mandate of the committee and the inherent prosecutorial powers of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice. Apata, who doubles as Chairman, Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Assets Forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, however stated that the disposal, which is done in the best interest of the public, would be carried out in a very transparent manner. He disclosed that the committee had already kick started the process on February 1, 2021 with publications in the Federal Tenders Journal and two national newspapers including THISDAY Newspaper. Among the assets listed for disposal include landed properties, plants, machinery, motor vehicles, electronics, furniture and equipment. Others are canoes, boats, barges, ship, jewelry, ornaments and clothing materials. The forfeited assets, the permanent secretary noted, are currently situated in 25 locations across the country. To achieve transparency, Apata told journalists in Abuja that the committee "intends to engage valuers and auctioneers as part of the disposal process". He also stated that members of the committee have completed the Conflict of Interest and Non-disclosure Forms, adding that the committee has also adopted a communication and media strategy to keep the public abreast of its activities. He therefore called on interested persons and/or firms to look out for its publication and "make submissions in the required format and within the specified timelines". File photo of Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao, whose feature film "Nomadland" became a big winner on Jan. 9, 2021 with four trophies at the annual National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards. (Web photo) An adaptation from a 2017 non-fiction book, the film stars McDormand, a two-time Oscar winner, as an out-of-work woman who packs her van and sets off from her small town across the vast landscape of the American West, exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao's feature film "Nomadland" became a big winner on Saturday with four trophies at the annual National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards, and is continuing to sweep the awards circuit in the United States. "Nomadland," an American contemporary Western drama distributed by Searchlight Pictures, was named best film of 2020 at the virtual NSFC's 55th awards voting meeting, and is Zhao's second film after the cowboy drama "The Rider" two years ago. Zhao also nabbed the best director award. Best actress went to Frances McDormand for her performance, and Joshua James Richards walked away with the best cinematography award. It was at least the fifth top prize in film directing this week for Zhao from the country's critics' groups, with the others from the Columbus Film Critics Association, the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, the Alliance Of Women Film Journalists, and the North Carolina Film Critics Association. Poster of the feature film "Nomadland," which became a big winner on Jan. 9, 2021 with four trophies at the annual National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards. (Web photo) An adaptation from a 2017 non-fiction book, the film stars McDormand, a two-time Oscar winner, as an out-of-work woman who packs her van and sets off from her small town across the vast landscape of the American West, exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. Earlier, "Nomadland" had won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, making history as the first to win both honors. Awards have piled up from coast to coast in the United States in recent weeks, putting it on the fast track for Oscar contention. Voting of the NSFC, consisting of 60 prominent movie critics from major papers and outlets across the United States, is conducted via a weighted ballot system this year. Delroy Lindo nabbed best actor for his role in Netflix's war drama "Da 5 Bloods." Eliza Hittman in "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" was awarded best screenplay, and the Romanian film "Collective" won the best foreign language film award. The South Korean film "Parasite" was the best film at the NSFC Awards last year. It went on to make history at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning four top prizes, including the one for best picture. Ryanair has been ordered to remove its infamous jab and go advert after watchdog officials ruled it depicted misleading claims about coronavirus vaccinations. The budget airline encouraged potential holiday-makers to book Easter and summer breaks with the airline by appearing to imply Brits would be immunised by then. The Advertising Standards Authority described the plug as irresponsible after it received 2,370 complaints. Featuring a bottle and a syringe, the advert told viewers: Covid vaccines are coming so book your Easter and summer holidays today with Ryanair you could jab and go. Objections mainly came from people who felt the message suggested that most of the UK population would be able to travel unaffected by coronavirus regulations by summer 2021 not least because the people featured in the ad were in their 20s and 30s. Recommended People with learning disabilities dying at a greater rate from Covid Ordering that the advert which ran in December and January should be remove, the ASA said that due to the complex and constantly evolving" situation, consumers could be "confused or uncertain" and it was important that companies were "cautious". The watchdog said this applied especially to time frames with regard to life in the UK returning to "some level of normality". But it declined to censure the company for being distasteful as some complainants had wanted ruling that the plug was unlikely to have caused widespread offence. It ordered that the advert in question must be removed. The ASA ruling said: "We told Ryanair DAC to ensure their ads did not mislead viewers about the impact that Covid-19 vaccines would have on their ability to travel abroad during Easter and summer 2021, and to ensure their ads did not encourage irresponsible behaviour." Ryanair said the advert had intended to be "uplifting" and encourage viewers to consider a "brighter future" when people could go on holiday with friends and family again. It did not consider the content was insensitive to people who had had Covid-19 or who had lost people to the virus, or to those working on the front line of the pandemic. AI/ML - Voice Interaction R&D Engineer, Siri Understanding Seattle , Washington , United States Machine Learning and AI Summary Posted: Feb 2, 2021 Role Number: 200220561 You will help create groundbreaking technology for large scale systems, spoken language, big data, and artificial intelligence. And work with the people who created the always-on always learning best in class intelligent voice assistant that helps millions of people get things done - just by saying "Hey Siri". Join the Siri Speech team at Apple. The Siri team is looking for a Voice Interaction R&D Engineer to pioneer new ways for users to interact with Siri. You will apply your machine learning skills in diverse computational settings and on a wide range of Apple products. You will collaborate with the Hardware, DSP, ASR, NLU and other teams to solve some of the hardest problems faced by conversational systems and improve the state of intelligent assistants. You will team up with researchers and engineers with a highly diverse skill set, and you will get immense opportunity for collaboration, mutual learning, innovation and exploration. Key Qualifications 3+ years of proven experience with scalable machine learning technologies for speech/voice applications. Depth and breadth of ML expertise, strong solid understanding of ML algorithms (deep learning, classification, clustering, etc.) and applied statistics. Hands-on experience working with machine learning libraries, TensorFlow and PyTorch. Strong programming skills in C/C++ is preferred. Ability to analyze systems, design and implement experiments, improve ML algorithms and models, with a comprehensive thinking bringing algorithms, data, and models together. Familiarity with large-scale data analysis using distributed systems is a plus. Practical experience in using non-audio sensors/signals Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, ability to work optimally in multi-functional teams. Description You will be a part of a team that is responsible for a variety of user-interaction related research and development activities including wake-up word detection, speaker recognition, end-of-turn detection, conversational turn-taking, sensor fusion, and related tools and infrastructure. Our team leverages supervised and unsupervised learning to build scalable technologies that work seamlessly and flawlessly across Apple devices. As part of Siri Understanding, we work very closely with other teams within and outside Siri to help our users interact with Siri in convenient and intuitive ways. You should be passionate about building extraordinary products that are used by millions of people. Attitude and willingness to work hands-on in data collection, experimentation, applying state-of-the-art algorithms, and building and testing tools, is a must. You will be working closely with engineers and scientists from a number of other teams at Apple, and are encouraged to thrive in a highly collaborative environment with rapidly changing priorities. You are excited about applying your technical skills and background in novel and imaginative ways, and be willing to target moonshots! Education & Experience Ph. D. in a Machine Learning or related field, or M.S. with 3+ experience in Machine Learning Daniel Almajanu (35) who has been jailed for sophisticated credit card fraud Gardai have welcomed the jailing today of a major international fraud kingpin who could potentially have made up to 5 m from the cloning of stolen credit cards. Daniel Almajanu (35) and his sidekick Albert Gimy Linul (29) were jailed for four years and four months and three years respectively at Dublin Circuit Court today. They were caught after a special investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). A senior source had told Independent.ie that a laptop which seized by fraud squad detectives as part of the investigation contained the details of up to 1000 credit cards. Each card has potential to make around 3,000 to 5,000 especially in USA where there is no chip and pin facility. Not all the cards would have worked and some would be accepted but there was the potential for this gang to make between 3m and 5m, the source explained. It can also be revealed that such is the scale of his criminal network that Almajanu is a target for the American Secret Service agency who have been working with their European counterparts on attempting to bring him to justice. It is likely that Almajanu could face serious charges in other jurisdictions once he finishes his sentence here, the source added. Almajanu has no previous convictions here, but four convictions in Romania and the UK for similar fraud offences and has been a long term target for agencies including Europol. Gardai believe that Linul was simply working for him. The investigation was led by Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan and his team of specialist officers at the GNECB. Dublin Circuit Court heard that the two members of a Romanian organised crime gang made dozens of fake credit cards and used them in Dublin shops in the wake of a deep skim of UK bank customers' details. Expand Close Albert Gimy Linul (29) visited various shops with fake credit cards, buying items including cartons of cigarettes which were then sold on. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Albert Gimy Linul (29) visited various shops with fake credit cards, buying items including cartons of cigarettes which were then sold on. Almajanu made fake cards using a card reader/ writer machine while Albert Gimy Linul visited various shops buying things with the fake cards, including cartons of cigarettes which were then sold on. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that during an extensive skimming operation in the UK a Romanian criminal gang based there used a deep insert skimmer to collect details of customers of the HSBC bank outlets. Both Almajanu and Linul were considered to be members of that organised crime group, the court heard. The court heard that Almajanu made fake cards using this information and then gave the fake cards to Linul. Linul of Prussia Street, Dublin used the cards to buy cartons of cigarettes on a number of occasions in several newsagents in Dublin and these were sold on for profit. Garda Ciaran Ronan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau told the court that Linul stole a total of 1,185 from the UK bank. Judge Melanie Greally said evidence was given that these offences represent an offshoot of an organised and sophisticated international fraud. Judge Greally said it was accepted that Linul was operating at a relatively low level. She said Almanjanu was responsible for recruiting his co-accused and played a pivotal organisational role. She sentenced Linul to three years imprisonment and sentenced Almajanu to four years and four months imprisonment. She backdated both terms of imprisonment to the dates the men went into custody. Linul pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing a total of 60 fraudulent bank cards at various locations in Dublin between February 13 and February 14. He also pleaded guilty to eight counts of using a fake HSBC bank card at a number of Dublin shops, ten counts of theft and two counts of attempted theft from HSBC on dates between November 1, 2019 and February 4, 2020. Almajanu, of North Circular Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of having custody of 53 fake bank cards and one count of making 65 fake bank cards at various locations in Dublin between January 1 and February 13 . He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a laptop specifically designed to make false cards. Both men were arrested when gardai noticed them acting suspiciously in Temple Bar in February this year. A number of fake cards were found on them and in Almajanu's car. Gardai found more cards in the Prussia Street flat, along with a Lenovo laptop and a card reader/writer machine used for making fake cards. A number of cartons of cigarettes were also discovered. The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved new rules that include hefty fines for any lawmaker who refuses to go through the metal detectors that stand outside the doorways of the chamber. The resolution put into place fines of $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second. Every Republican lawmaker present voted against the measure. After the magnetometers were installed in the wake of the January 6th MAGA riot, several Republican lawmakers got into altercations with security officials as they pushed their way through the metal detectors, not stopping for an additional sweep after they set them off. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the mags installed for safety reasons. She berated Republicans who pushed past U.S. Capitol Police and Sergeant at Arms staff to bypass the security measures. Lawmakers do not have to go through a security screening to enter the Capitol although staff and members of the public do so. 'It is beyond comprehension why any member would refuse to adhere to these simple, commonsense steps to keep this body safe. It is sad that we have been forced to move forward with a rule change imposing fines on those who refuse to abide by these protections, but the People's House must and will be safe, so that we can honor our responsibility to do the People's work,' Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday night. Speaker Nancy Pelosi goes through the metal detectors and she berated Republican lawmakers who objected to the new security measures Any lawmaker who violates the screening rule will be reported to the House Ethics Committee and has 30 days to appeal. The fine will be deducted directly from the lawmaker's paycheck. Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues, called for greater security funding for lawmakers and said a 9/11 style commission would be needed to examine what happened the day of the riot. She also encouraged lawmakers, especially those in the House chamber on January 6th, to record their experiences. Pelosi wrote that she was 'establishing an opportunity for Members to tape their recollections through a video, especially those who were in the Chamber. It may be difficult for Members to share their stories, but it is important to facilitate an accurate personal record and for the healing process for our Congress and indeed, Country.' The speaker berated armed Republican members of Congress last week as 'the enemy within' the House of Representatives. Asked to specific who she meant by the enemy within, Pelosi forcefully responded: 'It means that we have members of Congress who want to bring guns onto the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.' She was referencing GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who, before she was a member of Congress, liked Facebook posts that expressed support for executing top Democrats, including Pelosi. The speaker also was referring to several Republican lawmakers who want to carry guns in the Capitol. Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland is being investigated for trying to bring a gun onto the House floor last week. Lawmakers are allowed to carry guns in their offices and on the Capitol grounds but they are forbidden from bringing firearms into the House chamber. Republicans have objected to the new security measures and have argued they have the right to bear arms. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene set off the detectors when she went through them and had to get wanded by U.S. Capitol Police Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has been adamant about wanting to carry her gun in the Capitol - above, left, Boebert goes through a metal detector outside the House chamber and, right, she speaks on the House floor Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland is being investigated for trying to bring a gun onto the House floor last week GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado has been adamant about wanting to carry her gun in the Capitol and GOP Congressman Madison Cawthorn claimed he was armed on the day of the MAGA riot. Boebert claimed earlier this month that a 'handful' of Republican representatives broke the House rules and carried their firearms on the House floor on the day of the riots. 'Some members were armed, they kind of just had this feeling to bend the rules that day,' said Boebert, co-chair of the Second Amendment Caucus. 'And we kind of all huddled close to the ones who did.' Boebert was among the most high-profile objectors to the metal detectors when they were first installed after the riot. Boebert, who has bragged about her desire to carry her Glock pistol into the Capitol, got into a standoff with police and wouldn't let them search her bag after she set off the security alarm. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who has bragged about her desire to carry her glock pistol into the Capitol, got into a standoff with Capitol Hill police and wouldn't let them search her bag after she set off the security alarm Boebert, who supports QAnon theories and made a name for herself carrying her firearm on the campaign trail, objected to the new metal detectors from the start. On the first day they were installed, she walked through the screening process with her bag, which set off the magnetometer. She refused to hand the bag over to be searched. Capitol Police eventually let her in the House chamber and it appears her bag was not searched before they did so. 'I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, D.C. and within the Capitol complex,' Boebert tweeted after the incident. 'Metal detectors outside of the House would not have stopped the violence we saw last week it's just another political stunt by Speaker Pelosi.' And Cawthorn told his local newspaper, The Smokey Mountain News, he was armed when he was evacuated with the other lawmakers, staff and journalists from the House floor on the day of the January 6th riot. 'Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves,' he said. Freshman Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn claimed he was armed the day rioters swarmed the Capitol, which would be a violation of House rules Cawthorn has posted photos to his personal Instagram account of him holding a rifle Cawthorn, 25, was part of the group of House Republicans who spoke to President Donald Trump's rally of supporters on the National Mall the morning of the riot. He also objected to Congress' certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory. But Cawthorn decried the MAGA mob of insurgents who stormed Capitol Hill, leaving five dead and a trail of destruction in their wake. 'I don't want to over-exaggerate here, but it was the closest I've ever been to 9/11, thinking that a major monument to American success and prosperity is being attacked by people who want to subvert it,' he told The Smokey Mountain News. 'In my mind I was not thinking, wow, Republicans are out there storming, Constitutionalists are out there, storming. I said, 'There is this disgusting and pathetic group of people who are storming the Capitol,'' he said. 'I have no problem calling that out, even though a lot of those people probably would've voted for me. No problem calling that out, because I just, I can't support that.' Cawthorn, the youngest member of Congress, is in a wheelchair as the result of being in a car accident at the age of 18. He thanked two fellow lawmakers - Congressmen Ted Budd and Richard Hudson - for helping him when U.S. Capitol Police evacuated the House floor after rioters made their way into the Capitol. 'They really helped me. They got me down some steps. They moved a lot of the furniture that was used to barricade different doors so I could get through,' he said. He recounted: 'But because I had to take another route, we didn't have our Capitol police escort so there were multiple times we needed to change the route we were taking just to be safe. Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves.' And he noted: 'We stayed hunkered down at another member's office but then I opened the blinds and not to make a pop culture reference I felt like I was watching Lord of the Rings when the orcs were taking over the last stronghold of man.' Forty years ago, reports of a mysterious new illness swept through the gay community. What started as a handful of cases in the US soon spiralled into a worldwide epidemic and, by the end of the 1980s, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids) had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. But decades later, stories exploring the impact on the British gay community have largely gone untold. It was inevitable, then, that Russell T Davies would spark conversations with his powerful new drama, Its a Sin. The show follows the lives of three young gay men, Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander), Roscoe Babatunde (Omari Douglas) and Colin Morris-Jones (Callum Scott Howells) who move to London in 1981. Along with Ritchies university best friend Jill (Lydia West), the group converges in a dilapidated flatshare and set out to explore everything the city has to offer: friendships, house parties, and plenty of wild sex. But as the chosen family embrace their newfound freedom, tragedy looms on the horizon. To date, almost 33 million people around the world have died of Aids. However, four decades after the first clinical diagnosis, those who are HIV positive can live normal and happy lives and, if receiving treatment, they cannot pass on the infection to others. Today, over 100,000 people in the UK are living with the infection. But back then, virtually nothing was known about the virus that would decimate a generation of gay men. I read about it in Gay News, they were talking about a new thing that was happening in America, recalls 62-year-old Russell Wharton, who moved to London from Lancashire in the 1980s. I remember people talking in bars and clubs, not really knowing what it was anyway. You sort of heard about it, but it didnt seem real at that point. I remember people talking in bars and clubs, not really knowing what it was" As conspiracy theories swirled about poppers, meteorites and government programmes to wipe out gay men, people came to their own conclusions. We thought, All you have to do is not have sex with Americans, and youll be fine, says 55-year-old Simon. In 1981, a 49-year-old gay man died of an Aids-related illness in a London hospital, becoming the first person to do so in the UK. As HIV and Aids started spreading, we thought, Just dont have sex with someone from London," says Simon. "As it got closer and closer, you just tried to put up as many boundaries as possible to try and protect yourself. It was only when we started to realise it was all of our problem that we had to own it. As the crisis dawned in the UK, queer publications like Capital Gay pretty much exclusively disseminated useful information, according to 68-year-old author and activist Colin Clews. Meanwhile, the gay community launched campaigns and established systems to support people with HIV/Aids. The London Gay Switchboard, the Gay Medical Association and a nascent Terrence Higgins Memorial Trust held a national conference, he recalls. Switchboard had trained operators taking calls 24/7 and from 1983, the THT also ran a telephone helpline at night. Operators in the London Gay Switchboard phone room in the 1980s (Switchboard LGBT+ Photo Archive) For Colin, the uncertainty around the disease fuelled an acute sense of anxiety. From the minute I learned of the symptoms, I checked every day to see if I had any skin blemishes and, if I did, did they look as if they might be Kaposi's Sarcoma? he recalls, referring to a rare type of cancer seen mostly in people with advanced HIV. Every time I developed a cough there was the fear that it might be pneumocystis pneumonia [an infection that occurs in immune-suppressed people]. You tried to calculate which of your previous sex partners might have had it and remember what kind of sex you had with them. Already public enemy number one, gay men were further stigmatised by the tabloids, which coloured public perception of the crisis. Newspapers with a political agenda vilified gay men for the plague so they could point at someone and therefore isolate it: Its just them, says Simon, who recalls feeling absolute terror as a teenager after The Sun claimed gay people feared revenge attacks following a sexual assault on a young boy. It was a beautiful sunny August day, I was walking past the newsagents, and I just stopped in my tracks thinking, What the hell does this mean for me, the future, and my life? The London Gay Switchboard ran a 24-hour advice helpline (Switchboard LGBT+ Photo Archive) As HIV cases rose, Thatchers government dragged its heels, emphasising the widespread belief that gay men were authors of their own misfortune. There was a lack of funding for treatment, and there was an unspoken assumption that we queer people would manage our own, says Colin. Under threat, the lesbian and gay community came together. Teresa, a 63-year-old then-HIV coordinator at Islington Council and counsellor at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre (LLGC), remembers the solidarity, especially from lesbians. You had people volunteering at The London Lighthouse, the Mildmay and The Food Chain; a big wave of compassion and support and love. But at the same time, there was bitterness, anger and prejudice. At her day job, there was open hostility from staff towards voluntary Aids workers. People would say, Youre the Aids home carer, are you? Why are you doing this? Are you queer?' By the time the UK government launched its infamous AIDS: Dont Die of Ignorance campaign in 1986, it was too late. Because they hadnt been able to tell you how it was transmitted, there was no reason for you to stop doing what you were doing, says Russell. It was terribly messed up. Meanwhile, people started to vanish. Youd go into the pub every week and youd see people there, youd chat to them all the time. And then, suddenly, they just disappeared, and you never heard anything again. Teresa remembers the LLGC, usually thronging with people, growing eerily quiet. We had to shut down the cafe because the people who were cooking and serving had died. It was very traumatic. Teresa, centre, features in an HIV awareness campaign poster (Riverside Health Authority) The darkest period was now upon the gay community. You had the police raiding gay bars and putting on rubber gloves and masks, says Russell. You had friends committing suicide rather than going through all of it. The hospitals were horrendous, you had to gown up to go and see someone, you couldnt touch them, and the bodies were being taken out in black plastic bags. A lot of funeral directors wouldnt accept HIV/Aids bodies, because they thought they could catch it. Terror engulfed the gay community. It was a death sentence, says Simon. There was no cure: you were going to die, it was just a matter of when. Recommended How pandemic Instagram became the worst of us United in rage and grief, many in the gay community threw themselves into activism, including Russell, who became a buddy at the Terrence Higgins Trust. I was so angry at the newspapers, the Conservatives and society for making pariahs out of these poor people that were dying from something that, for a lot of them, they caught in total ignorance. They were being blamed because they were gay men, and therefore they deserved it. I thought, nobody deserves that. The hospitals were horrendous, you had to gown up to go and see someone, you couldnt touch them Russell, 62 By the late 1980s, activists were on the streets demanding accountability from the government. The gay community had started to rally, things like Act Up came about, people had kiss-ins at Piccadilly Circus, and the Pride marches became more politicised, says Russell. Then came the history-changing intervention of Princess Diana, who publicly challenged stigma by shaking hands with an Aids patient at the London Middlesex hospital in 1987. Once it was out in the open and we were talking intelligently about it, it became a different thing, says Simon. Its no surprise that Its a Sin has stirred memories of such a traumatic period. I'm amazed but really pleased that we are finally seeing on television a portrayal of the horrors of the early years of Aids and it's made clear that many of these are manmade, not medical, says Colin. But for those who lived through the crisis, the suffering is impossible to forget. It was a lot of very young people who had a lot of life to be living who were dying, says Teresa. Those people were not just numbers; they were a face, a name, a friend. For HIV testing, support and information, visit the Terence Higgins Trusts website The dissident republican murdered in a north Belfast ambush by his former pals spent five years in the British Army. This was the catalyst for the killing of Danny McClean, who was on bail facing arms charges, by violent splinter-group ONH (Oglaigh na hEireann), of which he was once a senior member. Read More The 54-year-old was kicked out of the gang two years ago amid informant allegations. Another ex-ONH member accused at the same time, Kieran Wylie, was shot dead in his west Belfast home last May. Expand Close Police search the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 3rd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police search the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 3rd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) The murder victims were accused by ONH, which called a ceasefire in 2018, of setting its members up for arrest and betraying arms dumps. Prior to their killings both men strenuously denied the allegations. McClean was gunned down on the Cliftonvile Road on Tuesday evening after being lured to a meeting. He had been staying in a nearby bail hostel having been freed on remand last year. Police first warned him he was under threat in February 2019 when graffiti appeared around west Belfast naming him as a tout. This was after ONH leaders learned of his British Army past. His military records which were obtained by dissident chiefs showed he joined the Territorial Army in 1991 before transferring to the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) in 1994. He stayed with the regiment until December 1996. At the time McClean was living in the seaside village of Killough, just outside Downpatrick. He later moved to the Lagmore area of west Belfast where he fell in with militant republicans while working as a taxi driver. After being arrested in June 2014 following an MI5 house bugging operation, which recorded ONH members planning attacks, he spent 16 months on the dissident Roe 3 wing of Maghaberry Prison. Expand Close Police search the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 3rd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police search the scene of a shooting incident on the Cliftonville Road on February 3rd 2021 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) McClean was later convicted of collecting information likely to be of use to terrorists with a charge of ONH membership left on the books. The court was told he was secretly taped telling a man abducted by ONH: "If you tell anybody, I will come through your front door". It was disclosure from the court case, which involved three other defendants, which led to McClean being identified as a former soldier. ONH leaders were furious with McClean for not declaring his previous RIR membership, an omission that led to graffiti threats and tout allegations made against him. Although frowned upon by dissident hardliners, it is not uncommon to find republicans with British military backgrounds. IRA gunman and 'Nutting Squad' member John Joe Magee, who died in 2002, was an ex-member of the Special Boat Service. In more recent times Gabriel Mackle, who was jailed for eight years in 2014 for possessing Continuity IRA explosives, is a former RIR soldier. Larne-born dissident Ciaran Maxwell is serving an 18-year prison sentence for stealing weapons from his Royal Marine base in England. After the 2016 arrest of the ex-lance corporal, who made bombs for dissidents, police in Northern Ireland and England found 43 weapons hides. New Strains of COVID-19: What Does This Mean for Vaccination? With coronavirus variants from places like the United Kingdom and Brazil now in the United States, more vigilant practices are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus. As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, new strains of the virus have appeared, which has led to questions of how to best deal with these more dangerous variants. A commonly discussed tactic to dealing with the emergence of new coronavirus strains from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa in tandem with the slow rate of vaccinations is to delay the second dose of the vaccine. According to NPR, the variant from Brazil is considered to be the most worrying because its makeup allows the virus to spread more quickly to help it evade the immune system. The variant from the U.K. is considered to be more lethal that the original strain. Dr. Anthony Fauci recommends that people continue getting vaccinated, as viruses cannot mutate if they arent replicated. Along with immunization, the continued practices of using face masks, handwashing and social distancing are cited as the best ways to prevent the spread of these new virus strains. According to Michael Worobey, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, there is no evidence that suggests the variants are resistant to the vaccine. Once we vaccinate everyone, the virus is going to experience a much stronger selective force to come up with new variants that escape immunity to some degree, said Worobey. Where theres a big rollout of vaccines, over the next several months, were going to see that mutation process accelerate. Worobey also noted that as the coronavirus mutates, the vaccine may need to be updated sometime in the future, though it is not known when that will need to happen. One of the countrys largest infrastructure investors has ruled out investing in any new thermal coal assets, after announcing a $C2.8 billion ($2.9 billion) acquisition of an energy-efficient heating operation in Canada. IFM Investors, which manages $148 billion for Australian superannuation funds, announced plans on Wednesday to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Canadian heating and cooling operator Enwave in a joint venture with the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board. IFM head of infrastructure Kyle Mangini says the $148 billion fund will not invest in new thermal coal projects. IFM head of global infrastructure Kyle Mangini said the deal was part of the tremendous shift towards sustainability, adding the fund would not invest in new thermal coal projects. I dont think anybody believes coal has got a long lifespan ahead of it, Mr Mangini said. How long is somewhat up for debate. But youll see that fuel being eased out of the mix and the continued progression towards more renewable energy. A barrister who dealt the chemsex pills that killed his teenage boyfriend told a misconduct hearing that most of the charges against him are rubbish. Henry Hendron, 40, bought 1,000 of mephedrone and GBL from former BBC radio producer Alexander Parkin, 45, to deal in bulk. He gave detailed instructions to his boyfriend Miguel Jimenez, 18, on how to use and package the drugs. Hendron woke up to find Miguel lying dead next to him in bed at his exclusive flat in Londons Temple - the collection of chambers where Britains top lawyers and judges are based. He dialled 999, but the teenager had suffered a lethal overdose of a combination of mephedrone, known as meow meow, and GBL in January 2015. Henry Hendron (pictured above, leaving the Old Bailey in a file photo), 40, bought 1,000 of mephedrone and GBL from former BBC radio producer Alexander Parkin, 45, to deal in bulk During a search police recovered 60 self-seal bags of mephedrone and found Hendrons fingerprints on the jars and envelopes containing the drugs at his flat. The lawyer, who charged up to 1,750 per day for his legal services, at first denied buying and supplying the drugs but admitted using them with Miguel, who he met in August 2014. He was later convicted of dealing the drugs at the Old Bailey. Hendron now denies behaving in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in the profession and in a way which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity'. He also denies failing to be open and co-operative with the regulator. Hendron immediately applied for an adjournment at the beginning of the hearing because his witnesses were not ready, with one of them not being very cooperative. He denies the charges but they cannot be fully reported as the panel elected to skip the laborious task of reading them aloud. One charge relates to a Facebook post offering legal services in 2016. The panel, headed by Judge James Meston, reminded Hendron that he was asked to provide a list of witnesses with outline of their evidence on 10 August last year, but had failed to comply. Harini Iyengar, for the BSB, emphasised their wish to proceed given the time that had elapsed, adding that two self-employed witnesses had lost income while waiting for proceedings to begin. Hendron gave detailed instructions to his boyfriend Miguel Jimenez (pictured right), 18, on how to use and package the drugs. He woke up to find Miguel lying dead at his flat in 2015 She said: It seems like a good opportunity to start so that the BSB can hear its evidence, obviously the BSB is sorry to hear that however he has had the opportunity to produce medical evidence, we have not seen that. Its important to remember that this matter will become increasingly stale, Mr Hendron made an unsuccessful attempt to strike this out which delayed proceedings. Hendron then banged the table and accused the BSB of unfair treatment and delays at the panel, which includes a distinguished retired judge. He said: These issues were four years ago, youre saying lets crack on now. Its taken three and half years to bring this. Out of the blue in January last year I was informed these old proceedings were going to be taken forward. It shocked me, in the interim I was taken to a tribunal, that didnt stick. They sat on evidence, theres no good reason why, they sat on it, non-stop since 2016 when I was suspended. Its been one thing after another, I batted them off, most of them havent got to the tribunal. One thing after another, unrelenting, they think they can sit on them for four years and out of the blue they can pursue them. Why can they delay for four years? It doesnt seem to me to be a right or fair response. Former BBC radio producer Alexander Parkin, pictured above, who Hendron bought the 1,000 of mephedrone and GBL from After retiring to consider what to do, Judge Meston then explained they were refusing to adjourn proceedings due to concerns about stale evidence. He added that delays had also been caused by Hendrons demand that the panel sit in person despite the pandemic, and his Covid scare last week, which was resolved when he produced a negative result. At this point Hendron closed his laptop and put it into his bag, then put his phone into his pocket as if to leave. Taking his head out of his hands he asked for an overnight adjournment to gather papers. When the judge asked why he hadnt brought them, he said I cant explain. He added: Most of the charges are rubbish. If we could start tomorrow at 9am or 10am, I know thats a massive indulgence but I would be grateful for that. When asked if he had much criminal practice work, Hendron said he had done sod all recently. He added: Most of my things are now pro bono to keep my foot in the door. Im a mediator now as well. Witness Charanpal Matharu was sworn in, but no evidence was read out and the hearing was adjourned to tomorrow at 10am for cross examination. In 2017 at the Old Bailey, Hendron was sentenced for supplying drugs and handed a community order with 18 months' supervision and 140 hours unpaid work. Hendron also admitted a charge relating to his conviction and two charges of mismanagement when he was the head of the Strand Chambers in 2013 before the Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service disciplinary panel. He was then suspended by the Bar and Adjudication Service in 2017 for three years following the drug revelations and for not running his chambers adequately. Hendron was back before the tribunal again in 2019 for the decision in a Bar Standards tribunal case over whether he harmed public confidence in the profession after failing to pay a debt of 850. In 2017 at the Old Bailey (pictured above), Hendron was sentenced for supplying drugs and handed a community order with 18 months' supervision and 140 hours unpaid work (file photo) The lawyer was instructed by Yvonne Hobbs in July 2015 but he was unable to represent her in a hearing and was required to reimburse her the 650 when alternative counsel was employed. Hendron wrote her a cheque in June 2016 but when she attempted to cash it in July of the same year it was returned unpaid and she brought the matter before the Legal Ombudsman. In March 2017 the Legal Ombudsman made a preliminary decision saying that Hendron owed the amount plus 200 in compensation. A final decision exactly matching the terms of the preliminary decision was made in April 2017. Hendron was ordered to pay the sum of 850 to Mrs Hobbs by 16 May 2017, but failed to repay the money and was brought before the professional tribunal. Hendron denied diminishing public confidence in the profession and not assisting the Legal Ombudsman. That tribunal found him guilty on both counts and suspended Hendron for three months and prohibited him from carrying out any public access instructions for nine months in 2019. Hendron denies three charges of professional misconduct. The hearing continues. Subsistence farmers in the Oshikoto region are hard at work ploughing their crop fields following good rains in the northern part of the country. Benjamin Petrus from Oshalongo village in Omuntele constituency said he is optimistic about this year's harvest. Petrus further highlighted that some villages are unable to plough their fields simply because they cannot afford to pay for the services of a tractor. "There is definitely rain this year. If someone did not plough it must be because they are lazy or maybe they did not have the tools," said Petrus. He pleaded with government through the department of agriculture to make the subsidised tractor for communal ploughing more accessible to those who cannot afford to hire a tractor from private individuals. "Some people have the will but do not have the money to pay for the tractor. The tractors from the government do not reach everyone and on time," he concluded. At the same village, 80-year-old Ndapandula Fatima continues to wake up early in the morning to work in the field. She lives with her sister, her brother-in-law and their children. The elderly woman jokingly said in Oshiwambo, edimo ola endifa eyoka, loosely translated, "the stomach made the snake walk". This essentially means there is a need to feed themselves, hence the importance to work the field even at her age in order to capitalise on the rain. Another villager who prefers to go by the name Tatekulu, said he only started ploughing late January because his field was submerged with rainwater. "The field is waterlogged and looks like a dam. Maybe in mid-February is when I can really start ploughing and planting the whole field. Even the tractor is ploughing with difficulty," he said. Benchmark indices hit fresh record high in early afternoon trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 580.81 points or 1.17% at 50,378.53. The Nifty 50 index jumped 180.90 points or 1.23% at 14,828.75. The Sensex scaled record high of 50,408.47 while the Nifty recorded an all-time high of 14,845.45. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.54% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.63%. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,742 shares rose and 991 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged. The Union Budget 2021 unveiled on 1 February 2021 supported all the essential aspects of growth by an increase in government spending without an increase in indirect taxes. The Budget offered huge stimulus to infrastructure, capex, healthcare and boosted the credit flow by taking out the toxic assets of the banking system. Increased FDI limit in insurance improved the overall outlook of the sector. Derivatives: The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 2.37% to 23.90. The Nifty 25 February 2021 futures were trading at 14,839.80, at a premium of 11.05 points as compared with the spot at 14,828.75. The Nifty option chain for 25 February 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 15.4 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 34.5 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price. Coronavirus Update: Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,38,66,068 with 22,52,923 deaths. India reported 1,60,057 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,54,596 deaths while 1,04,62,631 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Pharma index jumped 4.12% to 12,870.95. The index added 6.34% in two sessions. Cipla (up 5.51%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 5.38%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 5%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 4.86%) and Cadila Healthcare (up 3.79%) were the top gainers in Pharma segment. Presenting the Union Budget 2021 on 1 February 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the PM Atmabirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana which will spend Rs 64,180 crore on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare over a period of six years. "This will be in addition to the National Health Mission. 17,000 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres to be set up Integrated public health labs to be set up in each district, 3,382 block public health units in 11 states," she added. Stocks in Spotlight: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals jumped 4.01% after the company said it received final approval from the US drug regulator for topiramate extended-release capsules. Glenmark has received final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for topiramate extended-release capsules, 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, and 200 mg. The drug is the generic version of Qudexy XR capsules of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC. The drug is used to prevent migraine headaches in adults and adolescents. It is also used to treat certain types of seizures in adults and children 2 years and older. PI Industries surged 9.02% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 61.4% to Rs 195.40 crore on 36.7% rise in net sales to Rs 1,162.10 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 55.2% to Rs 263.60 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 169.80 crore in Q3 December 2019. Current tax expense for the quarter jumped 45.8% to Rs 66.20 crore as against Rs 45.20 crore in Q3 December 2019. Consolidated EBITDA spurted 48% to Rs 187 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA margin stood at 24% in Q3 FY21 as against 22% in Q3 FY20. 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 launch of a unique project entitled A Time to Remember: A Journey of Reconciliation, by Sr Maeve Brady RSM, will take place online on Wednesday evening, 10 February at 7.30. The event will be hosted by Longford County Library, Heritage and Archives Services and is supported by the Decade of Centenaries Programme. The Clonfin ambush involved the biggest loss of life of any action in Longford during the War of Independence. Four Auxiliaries died. Francis Worthington Craven, their commanding officer, and John Houghton died at the scene; George Bush died after being transferred to hospital in Longford; and Harold Clayton died in Dublin a couple of days later. In recent years, Sr Maeve, whose father Tom participated in the ambush, undertook a very personal journey to remember the four. She describes her journey in the video which will be launched. Speaking about the project, Sr Maeve says, For a long time, I have reflected on the fact that four young men died as a result of the ambush. I strongly believe that we should remember them. In doing so, we in no way diminish our pride in those who fought for our freedom. After the Auxiliaries surrendered, Sean MacEoin, who led the column, spoke with Worthington Craven, who was dying from his wounds. MacEoin promised to have the injured cared for and allow the men to return to Longford. The care shown by the column to the men they had just fought was an act of reconciliation, which was unusual in those times. It is a powerful example to us, and we should be guided by it as we commemorate that period in our history, adds Sr Maeve. Recently, President Michael D Higgins has spoken about the importance of ethical remembering and this project is very much in keeping with that idea. It is important to acknowledge all the casualties of the war, no matter what the circumstances of their deaths, reflects Sr Maeve. The launch of A Time to Remember will be performed by Aughnacliffe native Dr Suzanne Mulligan, who lectures in Moral Theology in the Pontifical University, St Patricks College, Maynooth. If you would like to receive the link to join the event, please email decadeofcentenaries@ longfordcoco.ie or ring 043-3341124 for more information. The presentation will also be made available on the Youtube channel of Longford County Library, Heritage and Archives Services. MIAMI The sun had not come up yet on Tuesday when a group of F.B.I. agents assigned to investigate criminals who prey on children online approached the Water Terrace apartments in Sunrise, Fla., to execute a search warrant, a routine part of the job that is always fraught with risk. What exactly happened in the ensuing minutes is unknown, but a gun battle broke out, rousting neighbors out of bed in the quiet residential community. Law enforcement officials called emergency dispatchers. Multiple shots fired, they reported. Send air rescue. Two F.B.I. agents died and three more were injured in one of the deadliest shootings in the bureaus history. No agent had been shot and killed on duty since 2008. A similarly bloody shootout took place in a Miami suburb 35 years ago, killing two F.B.I. agents and injuring five others. The man being investigated in the case, which the authorities said involved violent crimes against children, had barricaded himself inside the complex and was found dead. A law enforcement official said it appeared that the man had killed himself before agents were able to arrest him. His identity was not released until his family could be notified of his death. 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. CHENGDU, CHINA, Feb 3, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - China is emerging as a pioneer market that leads the global economic recovery in the post-COVID era due to the strong epidemic prevention and control. According to data from Bain & Company, Chinese consumers will make up about half of the world's luxury purchases by 2025, becoming the key engine that drives a rebounding global luxury industry. With the constant upgrade and development of digital technologies, Chinese consumers have been leading the world in both the adaptability to digitalization and the capacity of digital shopping.Chengdu International Finance Square (Chengdu IFS), the mega integrated shopping complex in Southwest China, has gained double-digit growth in traffic and sales for straight seven years despite disruptions wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, per statistics the Chengdu IFS released for its brand renewal and seventh anniversary. Digital empowerment is crucial for this prestigious mall to secure robust growth amid the pandemic's uncertainties.Chengdu IFS has been leveraging industry-leading approaches of digital empowerment and delicacy membership management to better connect brands with consumers. It has been utilizing disruptive solutions such as digital mall, livestreaming, online content and KOC marketing to promote precision marketing and targeted services, thus improving its operational efficiency and member engagement in an all-round manner.Breaking Barriers of Time and Space to Accelerate Online-Offline Business IntegrationSince the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, "livestreaming marketing" has risen as an overwhelming trend for brick-and-mortar businesses to defy the dual limits of time and space - offline department stores, outlets and shopping centers across China have all voluntarily switched to livestreaming, as they look to tap into a new competitive arena and unlock the online sales potentials of their offline assets.When most offline businesses were forced to shut down, Chengdu IFS built on its existing digital platform and private domain traffic to swiftly respond to the livestreaming trend - an innovative approach unchained by time and space - to boost consumption despite restricted visitor access to offline shopping sites.As offline consumer flows gradually recovered, the Chengdu-based mall identified and promoted a new integrated shopping pattern that effectively translated "livestreaming marketing" into "offline sales" - the pattern encourages consumers to join livestreaming studios to collect discount coupons that can be redeemed at offline stores and counters. By making livestreaming the first consumer touchpoint to spur shopping desires online and redirecting potential growth to offline sales, the attempt of online-offline integration has successfully opened up a new portal for brands to engage offline traffic whilst accelerating their business digitalization.Amid the rising trend for offline businesses to embrace live-streaming, Chengdu IFS has also brought into play its unique advantages to launch the one-of-a-kind "CHAO" livestreaming studio, working with resident brands to co-develop a series of livestreaming sessions that focus on varying themes and contents. The trailblazing approach has, on one hand, created synergetic effects among resident brands of the same category, and on the other, fostered a convenient shopping space for consumers that share similar interests and needs. At the same time, the unique model also fills livestreaming studios with stronger emotion and warmth and allows premium services previously reserved for offline shoppers to be enjoyed on the online end - this has successfully resulted in a new pattern of livestreaming marketing that prioritizes the relay of quality lifestyles over the actual sales results.For either trial moves during the outbreak or geared-up efforts after the epidemiological curve, livestreaming marketing has proven effective in helping Chengdu IFS elevate the interaction between its resident brands and consumers, amplify the mall's traffic-based values and brand exposures, and ensure the sustained growth of online sales opportunities while converting online clicks to offline visits. Throughout the whole 2020, Chengdu IFS completed 1,200 high-traffic livestreaming marketing sessions with resident brands that attracted a total of over 100 million online viewers.Leveraging Digital Channels to Pursue New Growth Opportunities with Existing Member BaseWhilst physical businesses enjoy natural advantages in offline traffic, given the intensifying competition and fading appeal of online communication channels, so how to maximize profitability by digging deeper into private domain traffic and high-spending members has emerged as a top priority during the ongoing business transformation.Having acutely observed the prevailing trend, Chengdu IFS wasted no time in launching CHANNEL IFS, a broadcast-style mobile information platform that focuses on "what's trending". By publishing high-quality contents, the platform provides consumers with the most up-to-date fashion trends to relay brand knowledge while stepping up brand exposure.The value-added member service engages consumers by leveraging various marketing phenomena such as Vlog, KOL and brand story, working with different influencers including VIP guests, celebrities, KOLs and industry experts to share cultures and stories behind international high-street brands. Since its inception in 2020, CHANNEL IFS has worked extensively with over 100 brands, taking advantage of the strong influence of KOCs to drive sales of nearly RMB 100 million, and supported 300 high-quality member-only brand workshops, bringing stronger member stickiness and activity under the COVID-impacted "New Normal" while helping brands achieve online-to-offline closed-loop sales.In fact, Chengdu IFS' ever-ongoing transformation to embrace the digital revolution started in as early as 2018, with clear strategies to expand online footprint and integrate smart member service functions. The first such move was the mall's own IFS WeShop digital retail platform - after China introduced harsher anti-COVID restrictions, the IFS WeShop was reinvented with a 24H X 365D retail model. Building on the already activated private domain traffic, the model leveraged the strong influence of KOCs to turn Chengdu IFS' member base into spenders that brought the first round of post-COVID recovery, becoming the new dynamics to drive the physical business community's fast business resumption and eventual explosive growth.Eventually, the synergies of inter-complementary measures and attempts helped Chengdu IFS post robust growth against strong headwinds in the extraordinary year of 2020 - being one of the region's or even the country's top-tier shopping destinations, Chengdu IFS saw its member base increase by 30% last year, while its sale and visitor volumes both grew by double digits for seven years in a row, continuing to be the leader of shopping centers in southwestern China. Despite 2020's great uncertainties, Chengdu IFS fully improved its operational efficiency and member engagement through pioneering digital approaches, while providing new references and inspirations for the digital transformation of the physical business community - locally, nationally and even internationally.Media ContactCompany Name: Chengdu IFSContact Person: Elise DongEmail: elisedong@cdifs.cnTel: 86 28-6939 9766Website: http://www.cdifs.cn/Source: Chengdu IFSCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Anticipation for the upcoming crime drama Bloodlands produced by Line of Duty and Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio ramped up this week as the BBC released a new trailer. The four-part thriller, set in Northern Ireland, stars James Nesbitt as police detective Tom Brannick, who is on the hunt for a serial killer known as Goliath. The 40-second teaser reveals that the evasive murderer is responsible for killing Brannick's wife while he was at large 20 years ago. The BBC One series, directed by Omagh and Dredd's Pete Travis, sees Brannick re-open the cold case after a possible suicide note is found in an abandoned car in Strangford Lough, a large inlet in County Down. Anticipation for the upcoming crime drama Bloodlands, starring James Nesbitt (pictured) and produced by Line of Duty and Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio, ramped up this week as the BBC released a new trailer Suspecting the note could be linked to the 20-year-old investigation, what follows is a 'dogged hunt for a legendary assassin, an explosive cat-and-mouse game where the stakes have never been higher'. The action-packed teaser is typical of a Mercurio drama, with exploding police cars, armed stand-offs and a violent assault on Brannick in an underground car park. Speaking about his involvement, Nesbitt said: 'We have compelling scripts from a brilliant young writer who was raised in County Down, which are very exciting and psychologically complex. I cant wait to start.' Jimmy Mulville, an executive producer on the show, described the series as a 'compelling edge-of-the-seat thriller which couldnt be more timely - adding that it signals the arrival of the 'Irish noir' genre. The four-part thriller, set in Northern Ireland, stars Nesbitt as police detective Tom Brannick, who is on the hunt for a serial killer known as Goliath The action-packed teaser is typical of a Mercurio drama, with exploding police cars, armed stand-offs and a violent assault on Brannick in an underground car park Mercurio is also executive producing the show, and praised new screen writer Chris Brandon who penned Bloodlands. 'Its been incredibly rewarding to discover Chris Brandons work and to witness the development of an outstanding new voice in contemporary television thriller writing,' he said. Meanwhile Brandon revealed he is 'absolutely delighted that the first opportunity I get to tell a story on this scale, it is one that is so close to home and the people and places that raised me'. Bloodlands also features axed Emmerdale actor Asan N'Jie, 25, who played Ellis Chapman in the ITV soap. N'Jie was sacked for threatening to 'knife' Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas at the TV Choice Awards in London in September 2019. Bloodlands also features axed Emmerdale actor Asan N'Jie , 25, who played Ellis Chapman in the ITV soap (pictured) Discussing his role, N'Jie said he will be working with some 'amazing actors' and is 'really looking forward' to the project. The cast also includes Ian McElhinney (Derry Girls, Game Of Thrones), Lisa Dwan (Top Boy, Trust) and Michael Smiley (Luther, Death and Nightingales), Lorcan Cranitch (Fortitude, The Dig), Charlene McKenna (Ripper Street, Vienna Blood), Lola Petticrew (My Left Nut, Come Home), Chris Walley (The Young Offenders, 1917), Kathy Kiera Clarke (Derry Girls, The Pale Horse) and Susan Lynch (Happy Valley, Save Me). There is no release date as yet, but the four hour-long episodes will be broadcast on BBC One soon. Following the release of the trailer, fans took to Twitter to express their excitement, with one tweeting: 'This could be the Murphys Law follow up that weve been waiting 15+ years for.' Following the release of the trailer, fans took to Twitter to express their excitement, with one tweeting: 'This could be the Murphys Law follow up that weve been waiting 15+ years for' 'Love Jimmy Nesbitt in anything!' wrote another, while one commented: 'Looking forward to this.' Meanwhile Line of Duty will also return for its sixth series this year - complete with an extra episode - and reports suggest it will begin airing on BBC One no later than March. Yesterday a witty clip featuring show stars Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar was released, during which the pair discussed the mysterious 'Vella'. Queenslands acting Premier has pointed to migration data showing a surge in new residents as an endorsement of the states pandemic response as he hit out at the Prime Ministers handling of his own party room. Interstate migration data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week, revealed Queensland gained the most new residents during the September quarter while NSW and Victoria went backwards. Acting Premier Steven Miles. Credit:Jono Searle/Getty Images An extra 7200 people moved to Queensland at the same time 4100 people left NSW. Brisbane gained 3200 people through net internal migration, the most of any capital city, while Sydney, with 7800, lost the most. 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 minister responsible for Australia's education sector has expressed disbelief at claims universities have lost more than 17,000 jobs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Alan Tudge said he was 'surprised' at the figures put forward by Universities Australia, as he thought it was around 5,000 jobs lost. 'Still very significant,' Mr Tudge told Sky News on Wednesday. Universities Australia has warned more job losses are on the cards because of the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The sector's peak body estimates about $1.8billion in operating revenue was lost in 2020 compared with the year before The sector's peak body estimates about $1.8billion in operating revenue was lost in 2020 compared with the year before. Compared with universities' pre-pandemic budgeted revenue for 2020, the loss amounts to more than $3billion. The sector is preparing to lose another $2billion this year, largely due to international students still unable to travel to Australia. Mr Tudge says the sector is yet to ask him for more funding. The sector is preparing to lose another $2billion this year, largely due to international students unable to travel to Australia (stock image) He plans to keep a close eye on the situation but brushed over the sector's revenue concerns. 'We are concerned if there are job losses but we also have to understand they've had operating surpluses for many years before this.' The sector was effectively excluded from the government's JobKeeper wage subsidy program, despite warnings the decision would lead to huge job losses. Labor's education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek says the sector should not have been excluded from JobKeeper, pointing to the pivotal role they've played in Australia's virus response. Economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are predicted to be felt by universities for years (stock image) 'It's our universities that we've turned to during the COVID pandemic to ask them to look at vaccines, look at treatments, to look at the way the disease spreads in our community,' she told reporters in Canberra. 'It's universities that we're turning to to train the doctors, the nurses, the epidemiologists as well as the engineers, the computer programmers that we're going to need coming out of the recession.' Universities Australia boss Catriona Jackson has thanked the federal government for supporting research funding with $1billion, and said the peak body would continue to push for more support. The hit from the pandemic will be felt by universities for years. South Australia is close to finalising a proposal on how to bring international students to the state with other states encouraged to suggest plans of their own (stock image) 'If an international student didn't enrol in 2020, the loss would be felt for what would have been their entire three or four years at university,' Ms Jackson said. 'The loss of any, and every, one of those staff is personally devastating, bad for the university community and Australia's knowledge reservoir.' The nation's international border was closed last March and is expected to remain shut for most of this year. Mr Tudge said South Australia was close to finalising a proposal on how to bring international students to the state without taking up any limited spots in hotel quarantine. Other states have been encouraged to suggest plans of their own. In 1935, fascism was on the rise in Europe and Asia, but the world had not yet had to fight its territorial expansion on a global scale. Adolf Hitler had been elected as chancellor of Germany just two years prior, and Hideki Tojo was still six years away from bringing the United States into World War II. But Benito Mussolini, who had been in power in Italy since 1922, was bent on finally conquering Ethiopia. It would erase Italy's failure at the 1896 Battle of Adwa that secured Ethiopia's independence and kept it from becoming a European colony while establishing Italy as a major world power. Leading Ethiopia's young air force was African American pilot John Robinson, a young black activist and aviation enthusiast who would blaze a trail of black men flying into combat against fascist dictators. Every Ethiopian Patriots Victory Day, Ethiopians recognized the service and dedication of Col. John Charles Robinson. As an appreciation to his service to Ethiopia a statue monument was erected at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa. (Tigray Online) Robinson, a former shoe-shiner and warehouse worker, left his home in Mississippi after the 10th grade to earn a degree in auto repair from Alabama's famed Tuskegee Institute. He traveled around the country looking for work, but had a hard time finding someone who would hire a black mechanic. His persistence paid off, and he eventually found himself working in a garage doing what he loved. But he had a new dream: flying. While working in a Detroit garage, he met Cornelius Coffey, a fellow mechanic. The two were inspired by the achievements of Chicago's Bessie Coleman, the first black woman to receive an international pilot's license. Coleman famously encouraged African Americans and women to learn to fly. Coffey and Robinson applied to the Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation in Chicago and were accepted -- until the school learned about their race. The school repeatedly denied Robinson's applications to attend, so he took a job as a janitor and sat in on classes anyway. He was an attentive student, even if he wasn't technically enrolled. He learned so much he was able to build his own aircraft with Coffey, using an old motorcycle motor. It was a feat that finally inspired the school to accept them as students. Soon, Robinson had a pilot's license of his own. He didn't stop there, however. He and Coffey founded an African American flight school, the John Robinson School of Aviation, in Robbins, Illinois, a predominantly black suburb of Chicago. Though the school hired them to teach black pilots, the two were not allowed to use white airstrips. So they built one by hand. African American aviators in Chicago, led by Robinson and Coffey, formed the Challenger Aero Club. Its first plane was purchased for the group by a fellow student, Janet Harmon-Bragg, and they flew training classes from the airstrip until it was destroyed in a storm. After moving to Harlem Airport on Chicago's south side, word began to spread that other black pilots could train there. Many of the U.S. Army Air Forces' future Tuskegee Airmen would learn to fly at Harlem. Robinson soon contacted his alma mater, the Tuskegee Institute, to establish a flying school for African Americans there, when funds were available. The school would be founded in 1939, and after the war, Robinson would be known as the Father of Tuskegee Airmen. That would be his second nickname. His first would come in from flying for the Ethiopian Air Force In 1935, Italy was bullying Ethiopia for territory in East Africa as European powers and the League of Nations looked the other way. Robinson volunteered to go to Ethiopia and fly in service to its emperor, Haile Selassie I. When the emperor learned about his new volunteer, he extended an invitation for Robinson to come and teach his pilots how to fly. John C. Robinson, president of the Challenger Air Pilots' Association, posed standing in front of nose of an Junkers military transport aircraft, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, circa 1935. (National Air and Space Museum) Robinson was appointed commander of the Ethiopian Air Force by August 1935. He didn't have much to work with -- about 19 unarmed biplanes and 50 pilots. But his men were able to fly reconnaissance and resupply missions to Ethiopian troops in the field. They were outmatched by the superior combat aircraft the Italians were flying. Still, Robinsons skill and daring in the air earned him the nickname "the Brown Condor." That October, Italy invaded in full force, and Ethiopia was crushed. The war lasted just seven months before Ethiopia was annexed by Italy. Robinson returned home to the United States, where he received a hero's welcome. Coffey, in the meantime, had befriended an Army Air Corps officer named Noel F. Parrish. Parrish was suitably impressed by the school at Harlem Airport and, by the time the War Department appropriated funds to train black airmen in 1941, Tuskegee University had been training pilots for two years. Parrish was soon named commander of Tuskegee Army Air Field, overseeing the training for the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers Farmers protests have caused inconvenience to residents: Centre India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: The Ministry of Home Affairs has told Parliament that the farmers who are protesting at the Delhi borders have caused inconvenience to the residents of the national capital as well as the neighbouring states. Minister of State for Home, G Kishan Reddy, while replying to an unscarred question said that in any agitation there is financial loss incurred by the people and the governments. Farmers' protest sites at Delhi's borders turned into fortresses Monday as police beefed up security and strengthened barricades. Farmers' Protest: Rakesh Tikait slams Delhi Police, accuses them them of conspiracy behind R-Day violence Workers under the watch of police personnel hooked iron rods between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway at the Singhu border to further restrict the movement of protesters. Another portion of the highway at the Delhi-Haryana border is practically blocked now as a makeshift cement wall has come up there. At Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, there are multi-layer barricades to stop the movement of vehicles. Barbed wire has also been put up to keep off people on foot. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News Protesters have been pouring in as the Bharatiya Kisan Union members and its leader Rakesh Tikait have stayed pitched at Ghazipur's UP Gate, occupying a stretch of the Delhi-Meerut highway since November last year. Mumbai: Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, filmmaker Karan Johar and Suniel Shetty on Wednesday said citizens should focus on the government's efforts to resolve the ongoing farmer crisis rather than paying attention to "half truths" and those "creating differences." Their comments came after the Ministry of External Affairs reacted sharply to comments by international pop star Rihanna, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and others on farmers' protests. Rihanna In a statement, the MEA said a very small section of farmers in parts of the country have some reservations about the farm reforms and a proper understanding of the issue is needed before rushing to comment on the agitation. Rihanna, who has 100 million followers on Twitter and is among the most followed people on the microblogging site, on Tuesday tweeted, "why arent we talking about this? #FarmersProtest, linking a CNN report on the internet shutdown near the protest site. Sharing the MEA statement on Twitter, Akshay said that the efforts by the government to solve the issue are "evident". Farmers constitute an extremely important part of our country. And the efforts being undertaken to resolve their issues are evident. Lets support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences. ????????#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/LgAn6tIwWp Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) February 3, 2021 "Farmers constitute an extremely important part of our country. And the efforts being undertaken to resolve their issues are evident. Lets support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Kumar wrote. Devgn urged the people to be wary of "false propaganda against India or Indian policies". Dont fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. Its important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting ????????#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) February 3, 2021 "Dont fall for any false propaganda against India or Indian policies. Its important to stand united at this hour w/o any infighting #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda" he posted. Johar said the country shouldn''t let "anyone divide us". We live in turbulent times and the need of the hour is prudence and patience at every turn. Let us together, make every effort we can to find solutions that work for everyoneour farmers are the backbone of India. Let us not let anyone divide us. #IndiaTogether Karan Johar (@karanjohar) February 3, 2021 "We live in turbulent times and the need of the hour is prudence and patience at every turn. Let us together, make every effort we can to find solutions that work for everyoneour farmers are the backbone of India. Let us not let anyone divide us. #IndiaTogether" he said. Shetty also shared the MEA on Twitter, saying nothing is "more dangerous than half truth". We must always take a comprehensive view of things, as there is nothing more dangerous than half truth. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda @hiteshjain33 https://t.co/7rNZ683ZAU Suniel Shetty (@SunielVShetty) February 3, 2021 "We must always take a comprehensive view of things, as there is nothing more dangerous than half truth. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda" he said. EVANSTON, Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management has received a transformative gift from Ann M. Drake '84 to establish the Drake Scholar Network, a powerful, intergenerational network of women students, faculty and alumnae fostered through Kellogg. The launch of this formal, global network will underscore Kellogg's long-standing commitment to training future women business leaders. "Kellogg has a long legacy of breaking new ground in the education and professional advancement of women, but there is still much work to be done to address gender-based disparities in the business world," said Dean Francesca Cornelli. "Ann's gift will help reinforce Kellogg's standing as the premier global business school that equips high-potential women to become impactful, inclusive leaders." The Drake Scholar Network will focus on three areas: 1) enhanced educational programming and intergenerational network building, 2) recruitment of faculty thought leaders, and 3) continued scholarship support through the Drake Scholars program, which has provided significant student funding since 2017. In all, over five years the gift will fund a network that reaches more than 5,000 women, a bi-annual women's summit, the recruitment of five to seven new faculty and two full-time staff, and 30 to 35 student scholarships. The new program builds on Kellogg's strong history of supporting, educating and advancing women business leaders. The school's many milestones include the establishment of the Kellogg Center for Executive Women in 2001, the first of its kind at a major business school. In 2010, Kellogg became the first top-ranked global business school to appoint a female dean, Sally Blount '92. Recent milestones include the convening of the inaugural Global Women's Summit in 2018, and in 2019, Kellogg appointed its second permanent female dean, Francesca Cornelli. Drake built her reputation in the logistics and supply chain management field after joining her family enterprise, the former Dry Storage Corporation, in 1990. She grew DSC Logistics into one of the nation's leading supply chain management companies, becoming CEO in 1994, in a male-dominated industry. By the time of its majority sale to CJ Logistics, a South Korean conglomerate, in 2018, DSC Logistics had pioneered "dynamic supply chain leadership," an approach to reducing total system costs, improving service to customers and facilitating growth and change. For spearheading this transformation, Drake received the Committee of 200's Entrepreneurial Champion Luminary Award in 2018. "My experience at Kellogg gave me not only a foundational education to transform my company, but a tight network of women who were crucial sounding boards and partners as I advanced in the logistics industry," said Drake. "With this gift I hope to make that possible for more women, equipping them to pursue, navigate and sustain careers that drive organizational and societal impact and create lives of personal meaning." Throughout her career, Drake has dedicated herself to advancing the careers of women around her. She founded AWESOME (Achieving Women's Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, and Education), a 501(c)(3), in 2013 to help women network and excel in the supply chain industry. In 2019, she founded Lincoln Road Enterprises, which seeks new ways to advance the influence and contributions of women in business, supply chain, engineering and technology, infrastructure and design. Drake pursued her MBA through Kellogg's Executive MBA program to expand her entrepreneurial skill set, learn about large-scale business leadership and take her career to the next level. She has been highly engaged with Kellogg, establishing the Drake Scholars Fund, supporting the Global Women's Summit and leading through Kellogg's Global Advisory Board. In 2018 she received Kellogg's Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Kellogg is home to many renowned faculty conducting research on crucial issues related to gender in business. For example, Kellogg professors Leigh Thompson, Nicole Stephens and Maryam Kouchaki have researched the impact of gender on ethical behavior and punishment for ethical violations. Professor Victoria Medvec has published seminal research on the topic of women and negotiations, finding that although women are comfortable asking for what their teams and colleagues need, many are reluctant to negotiate for themselves. Professor Lauren Rivera's research explores how hiring and performance review practices reinforce inequalities in the workplace. A study by Professor Brian Uzzi, which helped to inspire the Drake Scholar Network, found the most successful female job-seekers rely not only on a wide network of contacts, but also on a close inner circle of women who provide support and gender-specific job advice. "Joining the Kellogg alumni community is a monumental and significant moment in my life and career," said Drake Scholar alumna Dawn Cornelius '20. "It has meant access to a network of incredibly talented individuals who have helped me navigate issues in my current work or solutions for launching my next venture. Being a Drake Scholar gave me the opportunity to complete my Kellogg journey. I continue to be grateful for this support and distinction." Kellogg is very grateful to Ann Drake for spearheading this initiative and leading the way as a role model. The launch of the Drake Scholar Network and Kellogg's continuing commitment to advancing women will ensure the school remains a place where women leaders are empowered to drive significant impact in the global business community for decades to come. Contact: Abby Daniel, 312-515-1146, [email protected] SOURCE Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University Related Links www.kellogg.northwestern.edu Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A proposal to exempt Social Security benefits from New Mexicos income tax narrowly passed a House committee Tuesday with bipartisan support. The legislation, sponsored by five Republican representatives, will head next to the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, potentially its last hurdle before reaching the full House. Republican Reps. Cathrynn Brown of Carlsbad and Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences two of the sponsors described the bill as a way to make New Mexico a more attractive destination for retirees with disposable income and time to serve the community. Retirees make really great neighbors, on the whole, Brown said. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Opponents of the bill said that some Social Security income is already exempt from taxes and that more-targeted tax breaks could be offered to help low- or middle-income retirees. The proposal, House Bill 49, would cost New Mexico about $83 million a year in revenue, according to legislative analysts. The bill advanced through the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 4-3 vote, picking up support from two Democrats. At least four proposals introduced this year call for creating a Social Security tax break. PHILIPSBURG: --- The Government of St. Maarten has decided to lift the travel ban that was placed on the Dominican Republic due to the spread of the COVID-19 variant. Minister of TEATT Ludmilla de Weever announced that the government has decided to lift the travel ban as of February 12th. De Weever said travelers that are residing on both sides of the island are being affected however only residents residing on either side of the island will be allowed on these flights and those persons will need a negative PCR test that was taken no more than 72 hours before boarding the flight. De Weever said that arrangements have been made with laboratories in the Dominican Republic for the PCR tested to be conducted in a timely manner. Harsher immigration law enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leads to decreased use of prenatal care for immigrant mothers and declines in birth weight, according to new Duke University research. Credit: Duke University Harsher immigration law enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leads to decreased use of prenatal care for immigrant mothers and declines in birth weight, according to new Duke University research. In the study, published in PLOS ONE, researchers examine the effects of the federal 287(g) immigration program after it was introduced in North Carolina in 2006. Under 287(g) programs, which are still in effect, local law officers are deputized to act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, with authority to question individuals about immigration status, detain them, and if necessary, begin deportation proceedings. According to the study findings, the 2006 policy change reduced birth weight by an average of 58.54 grams. It also resulted in more births of babies who were small for their gestational age. Those births rose by 2.29 percentage points. In addition, immigrant parents used less prenatal care, meaning they either did not see a health care provider in the first trimester or missed at least half of their recommended prenatal visits. "There are economic costs to adverse birth outcomes, both for children involved and to society," said Marcos Rangel, co-author of the study and professor of public policy at Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy. "The recent uptick in ICE activities under the Trump administration may have long-lasting, harmful effects on U.S.-born citizens." The study is believed to be the first to examine how the 287(g) program affects infant health. Using administrative data from 2004 to 2006, researchers examined birth and maternal health outcomes for immigrant mothers residing in Mecklenburg County before and after the 287(g) program was implemented. They then compared the Mecklenburg data with similar statistics in counties that did not adopt the programs. Mecklenburg is home to the state's largest city, Charlotte. The researchers did not identify why immigrant women used less prenatal care. However, the authors suggest that fear may be one motivation. "If going to the doctor means you might run into ICE, maybe you don't go," said Christina Gibson-Davis, professor of public policy and sociology. "It wasn't the intention of the policy, but pregnant women not getting adequate prenatal care is worrying." To understand the magnitude of the effects, the researchers compared their findings to the benefits of participating in programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). "The adverse effects of the 287(g) program essentially counteracted the beneficial effects of participating in SNAP or WIC," said Romina Tome, an economics researcher at American Institutes for Research and a recent Ph.D. graduate of Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. "Exposure to policies during pregnancy can either be harmful or hurtful. These ICE policies appear to be harmful." Explore further Local enforcement of federal immigration laws affects immigrant Hispanics' healthcare [February 03, 2021] McDermott Expands Energy Transition Portfolio with Green Hydrogen Award HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- McDermott International, Ltd today announced that its CB&I Storage Solutions business has been awarded a contract by New Jersey Natural Gas for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a power-to-gas facility in Howell, New Jersey. The facility will use solar power to produce green hydrogen for injection into an existing natural gas distribution network for home and commercial use. "Green hydrogen is critical to power a carbon-free future," said Cesar Canals, Senior Vice President of CB&I Storage Solutions. "As the energy industry seeks opportunities to reduce its impact on the environment, our proven project execution model is positioned to deliver the next generation of sustainable energy infrastructure." Initial engineering activities are underway in Plainfield, Illinois; project completion is expected in 2021. CB&I Storage Solutions is the world's leading designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks and terminals. With more than 59,000 structures completed throughout its 130-year history, CB&I Storage Solutions has the global expertise and strategically-located operations to provide its customers world-class storage solutions for even the most complex energy infrastructure projects. About McDermott McDermott is a premier, fully-integrated provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. Our customers trust our technology-driven approach to design and build infrastructure solutions to responsibly transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. From concept to commissioning, our expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include more than 30,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels nd fabrication facilities around the world. To learn more, visit www.mcdermott.com. Forward-Looking Statements McDermott cautions that statements in this communication which are forward-looking, and provide other than historical information, involve risks, contingencies and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about backlog, to the extent backlog may be viewed as an indicator of future revenues or profitability, and about the expected scope and value of the project discussed in this press release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous risks, contingencies and uncertainties, including, among others: adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or credit or capital markets;, our inability to successfully execute on contracts in backlog; changes in project design or schedules; the availability of qualified personnel; changes in the terms, scope or timing of contracts, contract cancellations, change orders and other modifications and actions by our customers and other business counterparties; changes in industry norms; actions by lenders, other creditors, customer and other business counterparties of McDermott and adverse outcomes in legal or other dispute resolution proceedings. If one or more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. This communication reflects the views of McDermott's management as of the date hereof. Except to the extent required by applicable law, McDermott undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Contacts: Investor Relations Kevin Hargrove Vice President and Treasurer +1 281 870 5569 KHargrove@McDermott.com Global Media Relations Reba Reid Senior Director, Global Communications and Marketing +1 281 588 5636 RReid@McDermott.com Local Area Media Relations Kallise Clayton Communications and Marketing, CB&I Storage Solutions +1 281 870 5274 KClayton@McDermott.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mcdermott-expands-energy-transition-portfolio-with-green-hydrogen-award-301220656.html SOURCE McDermott International, Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Advertisement Infection rates increased in only four English local authorities last week as lockdown restrictions continued to curb coronavirus transmission. It means just 1 per cent of the country recorded a week-on-week rise of cases in the seven days to January 28, according to Public Health England figures. The areas were Melton in Suffolk, East Lindsey in Lincolnshire, the Derbyshire Dales, and Oldham in Greater Manchester. The other 311 authorities saw the prevalence of Covid-19 wane from the previous week, ending January 21. The national effort to suppress the virus was given another injection of optimism yesterday when a study found the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab had a strong impact on reducing transmission. Analysis also found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the findings as 'absolutely superb', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' Falling case rates finally appear to be reflecting the tough measures wrapped into the third national lockdown, which has now been in force for almost a month. Boris Johnson has reportedly resolved it to be the final lockdown because the biggest vaccination rollout in British history charts a path to easing restrictions. Government sources last night revealed bullish internal targets to give every adult in Britain both doses by the end of August. In other coronavirus developments: A major study found nine in 10 Covid survivors are protected from re-infection for six months; Britain recorded 16,840 Covid cases in lowest daily figure in eight weeks. The 1,449 new deaths also heralded a drop of 11.2 per cent from last Tuesday's toll of 1,631 fatalities; Scientists said an experimental cancer pill derived from a poisonous plant could stop Covid in its tracks; A study found a single shot of Oxford Covid jab is 76 per cent effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from even spreading the disease; Health chiefs spotted 33 more cases of the South African Covid variant in Britain; Only four local authorities recorded more cases in the seven days to January 28 (left) than in the seven days to January 21 (right) Experimental cancer pill derived from a poisonous plant could stop Covid in its tracks, scientists say An experimental cancer drug derived from a poisonous plant could stop Covid-19 in its tracks, researchers believe. Nottingham University academics claim thapsigargin should be effective against the coronavirus behind the pandemic and others that cause common colds. The drug, derived from the 'deadly carrot' thapsia plant which is deadly to cattle and sheep and found in the western Mediterranean, is being trialled against prostate cancer. But researchers testing the treatment on animals have found it may be able to stop infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes Covid. Trials also found the drug which humans will be able to take as a pill if proven to work to be effective against coronaviruses that cause the common cold, as well as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza. Researchers believe the drug's effectiveness against a range of respiratory viruses could make it particularly useful in the coronavirus pandemic. Advertisement The UK's reproduction 'R' rate is believed to have been wrestled down to between 0.7 and 1.1, meaning infection rates are falling or virtually flat. Yesterday 16,840 new cases were recorded, marking the lowest daily rise for eight weeks and offering more evidence that restrictions are inhibiting the spread of the disease. The 1,449 new deaths also heralded a drop of 11.2 per cent from last Tuesday's toll of 1,631 fatalities due to the disease. The PHE data showed Knowsley in Merseyside continues to have the highest infection rate in England, with 922 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 28 the equivalent of 611.2 cases per 100,000 people. However this is down from 898.2 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 21. Sandwell in the West Midlands has the second highest rate, down from 840.6 to 546.8, with 1,796 new cases. Slough in Berkshire is in third place, down from 807.8 to 543.0, with 812 new cases. Devon boasts the three areas with the smallest coronavirus presence, with Torridge only recording 28 cases per 100,000. The national effort to suppress the virus was given another injection of optimism yesterday when a study found the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab had a strong impact on reducing transmission. Research found a single shot of the vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness. The preliminary results of the study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford also found the efficacy from two standard doses of the vaccine administered three months apart to be 82.4 per cent. The results, from more than 17,000 trial volunteers, suggest Britain's vaccination gamble to extend the time between doses from three to 12 weeks has paid off. The Prime Minister tweeted: 'Really encouraging data from a new study today shows the Oxford/AZ vaccine provides significant protection against the virus.' More than 10million people in the UK have now received their first shot of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, putting the Government on track to inoculate the top four priority groups by February 15. Although there is no target for when all adults should receive jabs, Matt Hancock has previously touted autumn as an aim. But privately Government insiders are much more optimistic, with one senior figure telling The Times: 'Theres no secret plan to vaccinate everyone by the end of May but its fair to say that summer isnt seen internally as wildly overoptimistic.' Ministers have ordered a door-to-door testing blitz in these postcodes to stamp out the spread of a more infectious South African variant which could derail the efforts of lockdown in curbing transmission Retired engineer David Woodhead was among the first to be handed a PCR swab kit as part of the door-to-door blitz in Woking Ministers have now ordered a door-to-door testing blitz to stamp out the spread of a more infectious South African variant which could derail the efforts to curb transmission. Another 33 cases of the troublesome variant were spotted yesterday, meaning 143 people have now been struck down with the mutation since it was first discovered on British soil in December. A mass-testing drive to swab 80,000 people in eight areas of England where cases of the South African variant were discovered in people who hadn't been to the country was underway yesterday. Universities minister Michelle Donelan told BBC Breakfast that people in affected areas should be 'thinking twice about their actions', working from home if possible and 'limiting even more' how much time they spend outside their home. The Health Secretary revealed testing would be expanded across two extra parts of England this afternoon in response to the emergence of new variants and the discovery of the South African strain. Mobile testing units and home testing kits are also being deployed to the following areas: Hanwell, west London; Tottenham, north London; Mitcham, south London; Walsall in the West Midlands; Broxbourne, Hertfordshire; Maidstone, Kent; and Southport, Merseyside. Testing to identify cases of the South African variant in Southport, Merseyside, will begin on Wednesday. While in Surrey tests are only for those aged over 18, Sefton Council's director of public health Margaret Jones said anyone aged over 16 within their area can turn up and have a test with no need for an appointment. Single shot of Oxford University's Covid jab 'is 76% effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from spreading the disease' By Connor Boyd, assistant health editor for MailOnline A single shot of Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and may have a 'substantial effect' on transmission, research suggests. In a huge boost to the UK's immunisation drive, analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. When the second dose is administered after three months, the jab's efficacy is bumped up to 82.4 per cent, according to the study, which has been submitted to The Lancet for publication. The results, from more than 17,000 trial volunteers, suggest Britain's vaccination gamble to delay its dosing regimen has paid off. In a bid to get wider vaccine coverage quicker, regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions. Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Really encouraging data from a new study today shows the Oxford/AZ vaccine provides significant protection against the virus.' Ellen Prosser, known as Nell, who is 100 years old, receives the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Nikki Kanani at the Sunrise Care Home on January 7 Analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose A single shot of Pfizer's Covid vaccine might NOT be enough to protect over-80s from South African variant, Cambridge study finds Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine could leave some elderly patients vulnerable to the South African Covid variant, research suggests. Laboratory tests by Cambridge University found that a single shot of the jab might not stimulate a strong enough immune response to kill the new strain in over-80s. Antibody levels only appeared to be protective after a second dose but the researchers admitted the jab is still likely to be 'less effective' when dealing with the E484K mutation on the South African variant's spike protein. Experts believe the mutation which is also present in the Brazilian Covid variants helps the strain 'hide' from the body's natural defences. The news is particularly worrying as the UK Government has this week warned that cases of the South Africa variant are cropping up in people who haven't travelled there, and the same E484K mutation is also appearing on unrelated cases caused by the Kent variant and even older versions of the virus. Top Government advisers and vaccine manufacturers insist the current crop of jabs should still work against the variant when given in the full two doses because the antibodies they make can still stop the disease from taking hold in the body. Antibodies disease-fighting proteins created by vaccines and in response to previous infection are also not the immune system's only layer of defence. Scientists reacting to the findings said now was 'a good time to switch' away from Britain's one-dose strategy, which aims to get wider vaccine coverage quicker. Regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved at the end of December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in a bid to give partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible and drive down hospital admissions. And the strategy has been extremely successful, with 9.6million people now vaccinated with at least a single dose of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's jab. Advertisement The strategy has helped make Britain a world-leader in vaccinations, with 9.6million people now injected with at least a single dose of either Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's jab. Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford's trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the findings as 'hugely encouraging', adding: 'It further reinforces our confidence that vaccines are capable of reducing transmission and protecting people from this awful disease.' Dr Gillies O'Bryan-Tear, of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said the study suggested the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could be the 'holy grail'. He added: 'The data support the recommendation to delay the second dose of the Oxford vaccine out to 12 weeks. 'If these vaccines reduce transmission to the extent reported, it will mean that the easing of social restrictions will be enabled sooner, than if we have to wait for herd immunity, which may never in fact be achieved because of insufficient vaccine population coverage. 'That would be the holy grail of the global vaccine rollout, and these data bring us one step closer.' Since numerous vaccines have been shown to block symptomatic Covid, officials have turned their attention to how effective jabs are at stopping spread altogether. Vaccines that can both prevent serious illness and make a dent in the virus' ability to spread will help drive down Britain's epidemic much quicker. Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, and co-author of the latest analysis, said: 'These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA [the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] and the EMA [European Medicines Agency] to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation. 'It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine.' As part of the latest analysis, Oxford researchers went back through their vaccine trial data - which aimed to test how well the two-dose regimen worked - to see how much protection a single shot provides, and for how long. The research looked at 17,177 participants from three trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa who were monitored weekly throughout the months-long studies They found the vaccine had an efficacy of 54.9 per cent when it was administered in two doses within six weeks of each other. This rose to 82.4 per cent when the second dose was pushed back 12 weeks or more. Scientists are still not certain as to why the longer space between doses provides more protection. One of the prevailing theories is that giving a second dose too soon can interrupt the immune system before it's had the chance to fully process the first one. Creating the initial antibodies and memory cells after the first vaccine can take weeks, which is also why there is a lag before protection is achieved. The finding is significant because Government vaccine advisers have recommended that the second dose can be delayed up to 12 weeks in a bid to get more people protected quickly. Britain came under international criticism, including from the World Health Organization (WHO), for the move because the original vaccine trials did not specifically look at this dosing regimen. Another significant finding in the Oxford study is that the vaccine is likely to significantly reduce transmission of the virus. PCR swabs showed there was a 67 per cent reduction in positive tests in those who had been vaccinated - in another sign the UK's inoculation gamble has paid off. A positive PCR would signal that even someone who is vaccinated and immune to the disease is carrying fragments of the virus in their nose or throat which they could pass to others. Reducing Covid's spread is critical for country's to achieve 'herd immunity', when so many people are immune that a disease peters out. In the coming days, the Oxford researchers hope to also report data regarding the new variants, and expect the findings to be broadly similar to those already reported by fellow vaccine developers. Studies of approved jabs by Pfizer and Moderna have shown that the vaccines can stimulate a strong enough immune response to neutralise the South African and Brazilian variants. But there are still question marks about how protective a single dose of either jabs will be effective against the worrying mutant strains. Results from laboratory tests by Cambridge University published today found that a single shot of the Pfizer jab might not stimulate a strong enough immune response to kill the South African strain in over-80s. Antibody levels only appeared to be protective after a second dose but the researchers admitted the jab is still likely to be 'less effective' when dealing with the E484K mutation on the South African variant's spike protein. Experts believe the mutation which is also present in the Brazilian Covid variants helps the strain 'hide' from the body's natural defences. The news is particularly worrying as the UK Government has this week warned that cases of the South Africa variant are cropping up in people who haven't travelled there, and the same E484K mutation is also appearing on unrelated cases caused by the Kent variant and even older versions of the virus. Romania's New Timber Traceability System Removes Public Transparency On January 31, Romania released a new electronic timber traceability system, an important step in its transition to a fully digital forest sector. Unfortunately, the new system has inexplicably removed all public transparency. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005953/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) Following years of intense public pressure on the government to end the rampant illegal logging that is plaguing the country, the new SUMAL 2.0 traceability system promises unprecedented digital coverage of all aspects of timber supply chains, from forest management, inventories, harvest, transport, and processing. The new digital system transitions Romania's timber sector away from a widely abused paper-based permit and management system, with the tantalizing promise of untangling many of the Byzantine administrative processes faced by companies. Romanian law requires public transparency of a wide range of forest sector information. Prior to the release of Sumal 2.0, the government published data from the original version of SUMAL to Romania's Forest Inspector website and mobile app, which provided Romania's people with real-time data about harvest authorizations and timber transports; the app had thousands of daily users. The release of SUMAL 2.0 had promised that a new range of data would be made transparent, including links between transport and forest permits, authorized boundaries of valid permits, the GPS tracks followed by trucks, and photos of each loaded vehicle. However, instead of making new data available, the government stopped publishing data altogether. There is a good reason why Romanian law mandates public transparency of timber sector data as a tool to combat corruption. Despite numerous massive protests by Romanians and intense scrutiny from the European Union (EU), Romania was once again found to be the most corrupt country in the EU in 2020 by Transparency International, tied with Hungary and Bulgaria. In fact, Romania had the same score it had in 2012, showing a disturbing lack of progress in fighting corruption. In areas where local corruption exists, mafia groups can exert pressure on police and judges through a combination of bribery and threats of violence. In the past few years, six forest rangers have been murdered in Romania, and at least 650 violent incidents against rangers have been reported. Transparency brings thousands of new eyes to bear in support of law enforcement, making it more difficult to cut illegally and sell stolen timber. Alexander von Bismarck, Executive Director of the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), said, "If and only if Romania's government returns public transparency to the country's forest sector data, the new SUMAL 2.0 system can stand as a model for innovative, participatory, and effective forest management. Without this transparency, however, the government risks exacerbating an already dire illegal logging crisis." EIA urges the Romanian government to immediately restore transparency to its forest sector in order to fight the destruction of the largest and most diverse primary forests in the European Union. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005953/en/ Contacts: Lindsay Moran, Head of Communications, EIA-US, lmoran@eia-global.org 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 The federal government will launch a new effort to send COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies, including some that are in hard-to-reach areas, increasing the availability across the country and in Connecticut. About 6,500 pharmacies will receive shipments of the vaccines directly from the federal government next week. In addition, the White House will increase vaccine shipments to states by 5 percent, after another 16 percent increase this week. The list of pharmacies that will receive shipments bypassing the state includes national brands such as Walgreens, CVS and Walmart; and independent locations. On Feb. 11, CVS will start vaccinations at 11 Connecticut locations including Avon, Bristol, Coventry, Glastonbury, Guilford, Hamden, Middletown, North Haven and Uncasville. The federal government will provide CVS stores in Connecticut a limited roll out of about 6,800 total doses. Residents should be able to begin scheduling vaccine appointments as early as Feb. 9 by registering online or calling customer service. Starting Feb. 12, Walgreens will administer COVID-19 vaccines in medically under-served areas vulnerable to the virus, including about 50 stores in Connecticut. Walgreens declined to provide store specifics Tuesday. Walgreens will have 4,400 doses to administer in the near future. Like at CVS, the vaccinations will be given out only by appointments, which can be scheduled online. Data released by Gov. Ned Lamont Monday showed wide disparities in the percent of residents receiving at least the first dose of the vaccine since the program started on Dec. 14. Cities with lower income, largely non-white populations, including Bridgeport and New Haven, showed significantly lower vaccination rates, especially among people age 75 and older who are the first targeted group in the general population. Its unclear how effectively the direct-to-pharmacy program will address those disparities. The announced CVS locations are not in places that have been underserved. To help all vaccine administrators, federal authorities have also arranged to ship special syringes allowing nurses and pharmacists to extract an extra dose of the vaccine from every vial. The expansion of vaccine availability reflects the increasing production of vaccine doses by Pfizer and Moderna, Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 coordinator, said Tuesday. A limited supply of the vaccine has been the chief complaint of governors and health departments across the country and in Connecticut as they try to immunize millions of at-risk and elderly people. While the noreaster dumping snow across the East coast has forced the cancellation of some vaccine appointments in Connecticut and other states, the storm has not delayed any federal shipments of doses, Zients said Tuesday. The White House is also using the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pump billions of dollars to states to speed immunizations, support testing and boost other coronavirus response efforts. FEMA will now reimburse states for all COVID-19 costs going back to the start of the pandemic, Zients announced Tuesday. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, pushed President Joe Biden to make this change in January. Previously some costs were only eligible for 75 percent reimbursement. Zients estimated this change will cost the federal government $3 billion to $5 billion. Zients discussed these changes with governors on a phone call Tuesday morning, as the Biden team tries to amp up communication between states and the federal government on the vaccine. We are in active discussion with FEMA for a variety of vaccine and other reimbursement costs, said Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer, said late Monday. Geballe and other state officials including Lamont have all said the states response has not been slowed by the pace of reimbursement. Lamont has said he would use money from the states reserve fund, now $3 billion, much of which might be needed to fill budget shortfalls over the next two years. Over the past two weeks, FEMA has committed to pay $1.7 billion to 19 states to reimburse them for the costs of vaccinating their residents. Some states, like New York, have estimated the full cost of vaccine distribution in their states, reached an agreement for FEMA to pay for it and received an advance payment of half the money. New York and FEMA agreed last week that the projected cost of vaccine distribution in that state was $934 million. State officials are discussing vaccine funding with FEMA, but no agreement on payment has been reached yet, according to Were not ruling out a similar agreement like New Yorks, said Max Reiss, spokesman for Lamont. However, the concern we have is the potential difference between receiving an advance as opposed to a full reimbursement. There is inherent risk with receiving advance funding as there is potential for a claw-back in the future. But Reiss added, The state will not leave any funding on the table to support residents, no matter the approach. In December, Congress included about $8 billion to fund national and state vaccine distribution efforts in its COVID relief bill. Connecticut will receive an estimated $45 million in vaccine funds from this legislation, according to DeLauros office. Connecticut has so far had one of the most successful vaccine rollouts in the nation when comparing doses administered to the doses received, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, individuals 75 years and older are eligible to get the Pfizer or Moderna shots in the state. The state is administering the vaccine at hospitals, pharmacies, local health departments and mass vaccination sites. As for the CDC shipments that will bypass states, the list of pharmacies will include Walgreens, Duane Reade, CVS Pharmacy Inc., Walmart Inc., Sams Club, Rite Aid Corp., Kroger, Harris Teeter, Publix Super Markets, Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Safeway, Star Market, Shaws, Acme, Randalls, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford Bros Co, Stop & Shop, Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. and other independent pharmacies. Not all locations of these pharmacies will receive doses next week. Walgreens and CVS helped efforts to vaccinate nursing home residents across the country. Walgreens was one of the first pharmacies to begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations in December to long-term care facility staff and residents, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to support the federal government and CDC in expanding access to these vaccines, said John Standley, president of Walgreens. Our pharmacy teams have already provided nearly two million COVID-19 vaccinations and stand ready with their expertise to help educate and vaccinate additional Americans, including those in rural and underserved communities. To help the national rollout, President Joe Biden has also directed FEMA to establish federally run mass vaccination sites around the country and mobile vaccination units. State officials said they were unaware of any plans to erect a federal mass vaccination site in Connecticut, and the state already has more than enough capacity to administer the vaccines its receiving. Biden also gave states a slight boost in the vaccine shipments when he took office, placed orders for 200 million more doses to arrive in the summer and promised states reliable forecasts of how many doses will be shipped to them a few weeks in advance. Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes an additional $160 billion for a national vaccine program, including $20 billion to support distribution. More funding for vaccine distribution has bipartisan support in Congress, although Bidens full stimulus plan is considered too large by many Republicans. Democrats in Congress are looking to pass this plan as soon as this week using a process called budget reconciliation that would allow them to pass the legislation without Republican votes. Staff Writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this story emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia will provide funding to parties and blocs which won 3% or more votes during the National Assembly elections of 2018 in line with the program ''Assistance for political parties and blocs of parties'', ARMENPRESS reports the draft decision is included in February 4 agenda of the Cabinet meeting. According to the program, the ARF will receive 4.3 million AMD, The Republic of Armenia Party will recived 5.2 million AMD, ''Bright Armenia'' Party 7 million AMD, Prosperous Armenia Party will receive 9 million and 150 thousand AMD and My step bloc 48 million AMD. Egypt's flagship carrier EgyptAir is operating six flights to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as last trips to the kingdom before a temporary suspension of entry from 20 countries, including Egypt, goes into effect later today. Five flights are scheduled to take off from Cairo International Airport to Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, and Dammam. Meanwhile, Saudi's Al-Qassim International Airport will receive a flight from Alexandria's Borg Al-Arab airport. Three other flights, which were due to travel from Cairo to Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam on Wednesday evening, have been cancelled. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia suspended entry to the kingdom from 20 countries, except for diplomats, Saudi citizens, and medical practitioners and their families, to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The temporary ban, effective from 3 February, includes people arriving from the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the United States, Britain, South Africa, France, Egypt, Lebanon, India, and Pakistan. In a statement issued late on Tuesday evening, EgyptAir said it will continue to operate flights from Saudi Arabia to Egypt to transport Egyptians and other nationalities during the suspension period. Short link: SACRAMENTO The pace of Californians leaving the Republican Party tripled in the weeks after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, though it represents a tiny drop in GOP affiliation in the state. Between Jan. 6, the day of the Capitol insurrection, and Jan. 27, 33,307 voters changed their registration from Republican to something else, according to data provided by the secretary of states office. Thats an average of 1,514 per day. A plurality of those voters, 37%, re-registered without party preference and 27% joined the American Independent Party, a far-right party that is often mistaken for carrying no affiliation because of its name. Another 23% switched to the Democratic Party. By comparison, 9,469 people, about 464 per day, dropped their Republican registration in a similar three-week period leading up to Jan. 6. Accounting for a slight increase in all changes to voter registration in January, an estimated 18,379 more Californians left the GOP in the immediate aftermath of the Capitol attack than might have been expected, according to voter data expert Paul Mitchell. He called it a blip in a state with more than 5 million registered Republicans. Its something very marginal, said Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc. People can look to it and say thats an interesting tidbit, but I dont think its something thats going to impact any race or any office in the state. Jae C. Hong / AP But changes to voter registration can be a lagging indicator of political trends, Mitchell added, because people dont flip their partisanship as quickly as their opinions. Although the surge of Republican voters changing their party affiliation has already slowed, he said, it could also be a foreshock of more to come. Thats something to watch in the months ahead as the party deals with the fallout of the insurrection. Congress impeached Trump last month for a second time, charging him with inciting the mob of loyalists that attempted to take over the Capitol. A trial is set to begin in the Senate next week. Republicans have largely stood behind Trump so far. Only 10 of 211 GOP members of the House voted for impeachment, and only five of 50 Republican senators voted to proceed with the trial. Other states from Colorado to North Carolina to Florida to Pennsylvania have also reported small upticks in the number of GOP voters changing their affiliation in recent weeks. The California Republican Party declined to comment on the new numbers. The number of Californians dropping their Republican registration jumped from 1,020 the day before the Capitol attack to 2,707 on Jan. 6 to 3,243 the day after. The numbers have gradually declined since. The Bay Area and San Diego, Orange and Sacramento counties made up a disproportionate amount of the affiliation changes compared to their share of Republican voters in the state. California Democrats and independents also switched their party affiliation at a higher rate in January than December, though the increase was much more modest. In the three weeks following the Capitol riot, 17,761 Californians left the Democratic Party, about 807 per day, compared to 12,062, or 548 per day, in a similar period before. The number of non-affiliated voters registering with a political party accelerated from 24,259 before the attack, an average of 1,102 per day, to 36,872 after, about 1,676 per day. Those independent voters overwhelmingly registered as Democrats 57%, compared with 22% for the GOP. As of Jan. 28, California had nearly 22.2 million registered voters, including more than 10.2 million Democrats, more than 5.3 million Republicans and more than 5.3 million voters without a party preference. Democrats have gained more than 51,000 new voters since Oct. 15, the last statewide report by the secretary of states office, while the number of unaffiliated voters has grown by more than 44,000. The Republican Party is still about 16,000 voters ahead of where it was in October. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff 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. CLEVELAND, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) ("Sherwin-Williams") today announced that its Board of Directors has approved and declared a three-for-one stock split in the form of a stock dividend to make the stock more accessible to employees and a broader base of investors. Each Sherwin-Williams shareholder of record at the close of business on March 23, 2021 will receive two additional common shares for each then-held common share, to be distributed after close of trading on March 31, 2021. Trading of Sherwin-Williams common shares will begin on a stock split-adjusted basis on April 1, 2021. About The Sherwin-Williams Company Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial, and retail customers. Sherwin-Williams manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Dutch Boy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, Cabot and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin- Williams branded products are sold exclusively through a chain of more than 4,900 company-operated stores and facilities, while the company's other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers, and industrial distributors. The Sherwin-Williams Performance Coatings Group supplies a broad range of highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets in more than 120 countries around the world. Sherwin-Williams shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: SHW). For more information, visit www.sherwin.com. Investor Relations Contacts: Jim Jaye Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.515.8682 [email protected] Eric Swanson Vice President, Investor Relations Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.566.2766 [email protected] Media Contact: Julie Young Vice President, Global Corporate Communications Sherwin-Williams Direct: 216.515.8849 [email protected] SOURCE The Sherwin-Williams Company Related Links http://www.sherwin.com The American University in Cairo Press released a book titled A History of Arab Graphic Design by Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar, being the first published study on the subject. The 360-page book traces the people and events that were integral to the shaping of the field of graphic design in the Arab world. Examining the work of over eighty key designers from Morocco to Iraq and covering the period from pre-1900 to the end of the twentieth century, Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar chart the development of design in the region, beginning with Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy, and their impact on Arab visual culture, through to the digital revolution and the arrival of the internet, reads the books brief. With text in the English language and 659 colour illustrations, the work showcases how cinema, economic, political, and cultural events gave birth to and shaped the founders of Arab graphic design. Eight chapters of A History of Arab Graphic Design provide a chronological overview of the subject, starting with chapter one: Pre-1900: Sources of Inspiration for Arab Design, where topics of Islamic visual language and early Arabic printing are discussed. Chapter two: 19001919: Artists and Calligraphers: Early Designers, focusing on the foundation of art education in the Arab world, Arabic calligraphy designers, early Arab advertising and Arab philately. All the way to chapter eight: 19902000: Rebirth of Arab Design, showcasing the postLebanese civil war influx of talent and the next generation of designers. The book won a 2021 Prose Award in Art History & Criticism from the Association of American Publishers. ISBN 9789774168918 For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: 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. Angry MPs slammed the 'appalling' decision yesterday to allow gamblers to continue betting thousands of pounds a minute on online slot games. The Gambling Commission announced new measures to tackle addictive web-based casino games, which include slowing down the placing of bets. But campaigners said the regulator had failed to limit the amounts which can be staked each time to match the 2 limit brought in for high street bookmakers. The new rules are designed to make the online games less intensive but they still allow games with unlimited bets every two-and-a-half seconds. The Gambling Commission announced new measures to tackle addictive web-based casino games, which include slowing down the placing of bets (File photo) Slot games visited yesterday by a Daily Mail reporter offered maximum stakes of 100 per spin, meaning losses could hit 2,400 a minute. As there is no legal limit, there is nothing to stop bookmakers offering games with even higher stakes. The Commission's own data shows slot games which are designed to mimic those in real-life betting shops and casinos are responsible for the biggest losses by punters in all online gambling. The average player lost 67 per month, compared with 36 in casinos and 45 betting on real events such as sport. It comes amid fears the pandemic has sparked a surge of online gambling addiction, with people stuck at home betting more than they can afford. The failure to clamp down on online slots is in contrast to gaming machines in high street bookmakers. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith called the Gambling Commission 'toothless, wet and not fit for purpose' and that the announcement was 'kowtowing to the gambling industry' Following a fiercely fought campaign led by the Mail, the Government cut the maximum stake on 'crack cocaine' fixed-odds betting machines (FOBTs) in bookmakers from 100 to 2 in 2019. Of the latest online ruling, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This has proved finally that the Commission is toothless, wet and not fit for purpose this announcement is kowtowing to the gambling industry. If that's the best they can do, it's terrible.' Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for gambling harm, said: 'Until we have parity on stakes both online and on land at 2 the industry will continue to profit from the damage addiction causes.' The Commission's new steps include measures to reduce the intensity of online slots, including banning features that speed up play, or 'autoplay' which allows players to repeatedly bet without clicking the screen. Michael Dugher, of the Betting and Gaming Council, said its members had already introduced 'minimum game cycle speeds of 2.5 seconds, the ending of 'turbo play' and the scrapping of multi-slot play, where a player can place multiple stakes on different games at the same time'. The Government is currently reviewing gambling laws in what is billed as the biggest shake-up in 15 years. Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Growth investment major PSG has closed its inaugural European fund, PSG Europe, on its 1.25bn ($1.5 billion) hard-cap. The fund, which was oversubscribed, received commitments from existing and new PSG investors, including state pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals, said a press release from the growth equity firm partnering with lower middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies. The final close of PSG Europe brings PSG's aggregate capital commitments across the U.S. and Europe to more than $5 billion. Investors in the fund included the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, which committed 64 million in December. According to the release, the London-based PSG Europe team consists of 22 investment professionals advising on fund investments in European growth-stage and lower middle-market software and B2B services companies. PSG's European investment strategy mirrors the firm's buy and build strategy in the U.S., which has a track record of partnering with management teams to scale businesses through organic and inorganic growth, it said. Dany Rammal, Managing Director and Head of the PSG Europe team, said, "The highly fragmented European market presents a significant opportunity for a firm like ours. The strength of our deal sourcing and operational capabilities mean we are well-positioned to partner with founders and entrepreneurs to he...................... To view our full article Click here Working Mom From Nigeria Passes Bar Exam, and Her Happy Dance Goes Viral on Twitter After passing the bar exam, a California mom of four has gone viral for her celebratory happy dance at home wearing sweats and a head bandana, which was posted on social media. For the past 10 years, mom Evelyn has been raising kids and working full time, yet she never gave up her dream of becoming a lawyer. When Evelyn passed the bar exam, her daughter Naeche shared a video of her moms happy dance on Twitter on Jan. 8. (Courtesy of Naeche Nina) My mom finished law school in 2011 and has been studying for the California Bar exam while raising 4 kids and working full time for the past 10 years, Naeche captioned. Today? SHE PASSED THE BAR!!!!!! THATS ESQUIRE NOW! In the video, the jubilant mom can be seen animated, dancing in front of a celebratory conference video call, before kissing a photograph of her late father and saying, I did it for you! I know you are happy. And online viewers seemed to share in her joy, as the video quickly went viral, garnering some 49,000 likes and 8,500 retweets. I keep telling people, You cant give up, Evelyn says in the video. So, I have to practice what I preach. Perseverance. You dont give up trying until it happens! At the age of 18, Evelyn came to the United States with the dream of going to law school. She says she intended to return home to Nigeria after completing her degree, but life had other ideas. I graduated, got my first degree in business management, Evelyn said in an interview with Right This Minute. I tried to get admitted into law school, but of course, that had to be put on hold. She explained that her status as a foreign student complicated matters, and then her father had a stroke, making it difficult for him to send tuition money. Instead of pushing for, or waiting for him to keep sending money, it was decided that I would wait, Evelyn said, adding that her father made her vow to never give up on her dream. Then, life happened, and with a family to take care of, Evelyns dreams took a little longer to achieve than shed first hoped. But she never gave up. After I had my last child, I told my husband I have to do this, she said. I couldnt settle. [Its] something Ive always wanted to do. Plus, her father passed away before he could see her finish law school. I never stopped. I promised him, Evelyn recalled. And her hard work paid off. After studying for 10 years, she passed the bar and can finally live out her dream of becoming a lawyer. I feel relieved, she said. I can sleep all night. Im just relaxed, knowing I dont have to study! Now, Evelyn is thinking of a career in criminal defense but says she has an open door policy on the type of work she does, so long as it helps people. If I can make a difference, thats where Im going to go, Evelyn stressed. 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 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program (Indiana S&W) will hold elections for three district seats in March. The checkoff board, which is responsible for reviewing projects suggested for checkoff funding, is composed of representatives from nine districts. Elections will be held for seats in districts 3, 6 and 9: District 3: Miami, Wabash, Whitley, Allen, Huntington, Wells and Adams counties. District 6: Blackford, Jay Delaware, Randolph, Henry, Wayne, Rush, Fayette and Union counties. District 9: Perry, Orange, Lawrence, Washington, Jackson, Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Scott, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Switzerland, Ripley, Dearborn, Franklin, Crawford, Brown, Bartholomew and Decatur counties. Anyone with questions or interest in learning more about the program and the duties of a district seat should contact council President Ken McMichael at 812-820-1368 or Purdue program advisor Meredith Cobb at 765-426-1195. Nominations must be communicated to Cobb by Feb. 19. Voting will begin in March, and sheep producers in districts 3, 6 and 9 will receive ballots by mail. Indiana S&W asks that producers and others continue to submit funding requests for projects involving the promotion of or research about the Indiana Sheep Industry. More information can be found at iswcheckoff.wixsite.com/indianasheepandwool. The Indiana Sheep and Wool Market Development Program was created to support educational, promotional and research efforts involving sheep in Indiana. Funds for the council are collected from the sale of all sheep in Indiana - 0.5% of the net market price of each sheep sold. All funds collected by stockyards, sale managers, producers and others should be sent to the councils business office at Purdue. More information is on the programs website. Writer: Emma Hopkins-OBrien, 317-607-5664, emmaellenhopkins@yahoo.com Source: Meredith Cobb, 765-426-1195, mcobb2@purdue.edu Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415; Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page TERRE HAUTE, Ind (WTHI) Right now, the Indiana Gaming Commission is reviewing the financing for the Terre Haute casino project. That's the final step necessary before the project can begin. The company will now be known as Lucy Luck Gaming. Chairman Greg Gibson says they'll continue with the Hard Rock Casino branding. Gibson hopes to open the Terre Haute Rocksino sometime in 2022. Groundbreaking for this project had been scheduled for last November. Gibson told us the pandemic delayed several aspects of the project. The Brady Bunch cast at the Grand Canyon, 1971 | Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images During its five-year run, The Brady Bunch got around quite a bit. There was the casts trip to Hawaii, their visit to Kings Island amusement and water park in Ohio, and of course, their journey to the Grand Canyon. Heres what show star Florence Henderson had to say about their visit to the national park, which she called fun, but also nerve-wracking. Florence Henderson loved anything that changed the scenery The cast of The Brady Bunch, 1971 | Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images For the Carol Brady actor, any episodes that called for the cast to be out of the Los Angeles studio where the show was filmed were opportunities to enjoy new scenery. Even dressing up as different characters was a change of pace that Henderson relished. Anytime you could break out of the norm was always fun for us. We always enjoyed it. Get to dress up in crazy costumes, I was Cleopatra once. Robert Reed really loved being Mark Antony, she recalled, or Julius Caesar, whichever he was. Those were fun times. Or when Ann B. got to play her twin, one was in the military. Those were just fun things to do, she said. Henderson on The Brady Bunch in the Grand Canyon The Brady Bunch cast winding down the Grand Canyon | Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images RELATED: Why The Brady Bunch Was Popular With Prison Inmates The actor, who died in 2016, chatted with the Archive of American Television in 1999 about her wide-ranging career as a Broadway and television star. While discussing her years on The Brady Bunch, Henderson touched on the casts 1971 visit to the Grand Canyon. That was just so much fun, Henderson said. I never realized those mules were so gigantic that you get on to go down the canyon. Again, there were nine of us. The mule skinner [mule driver], then Ann B., Robert Reed, all six kids, and I was last. I was kind of scared, Henderson said Henderson expressed that while visiting the Grand Canyon was an incredible trip, her experience with the mules on the canyon paths was one she never wanted to repeat. She described her particular mule as being much too interested in peeking over the canyon, which terrified her. My mule kept leaning over, looking straight down the canyon and eating, she recollected. And I would yell, Al! Help! to the mule skinner. [He said,] Just jerk up on the reins, itll be ok! Well, you know, I was kind of scared. I had to climb a ladder to get on this mule in the first place, she said. My saddle wasnt dry when I got off the mule, Ill tell you that. She laughed looking back on the jarring memory. Ill do almost anything to get a good shot, she admitted. But I dont know if Id do that again. Oil cartel OPEC saw production rise in December, as Libya's energy sector sprang back to life following a ceasefire deal in the war-torn country. Libya, sitting atop Africa's largest proven crude oil reserves, has been ravaged by conflict since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi. As global oil prices remain volatile in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has rattled the world economy, and further rounds of UN-backed peace talks to build on the October ceasefire and resolve Libya's long conflict, what are the prospects for the country's production? - Will Libya return to full output? - Libya is now producing 1.224 million barrels per day (bpd) -- a tenfold increase from an average of 121,000 bpd in the third quarter of 2020, before the ceasefire deal. But that is still below the levels of the Kadhafi era, said Francis Perrin, head of research at the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Affairs. Libya was then producing between 1.5 million and 1.6 million barrels per day, he told AFP. Demand for crude has sunk under the impact of Covid-19 and producing nations have been adjusting output to support prices. Libya's surge has meant production for OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, reached 25.36 million bpd in December, an increase of 278,000 bpd compared with the previous month. Libya is exempt from OPEC's production quotas, so the cartel needs to keep an eye on its output. Libyan petroleum engineer Al-Mahdi Omar, however, said his country's industry was "still in difficulty", despite the spike. "It's a miracle that the oil sector continues to function despite the dilapidation and damage of infrastructure due to war, negligence or sabotage," he said. The oil and gas sector represents around 60 percent of Libya's GDP. - Some facilities still out of service? - In January last year, armed groups loyal to eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar blocked production and exports from Libya's most important oil fields and terminals. They demanded a "fairer" distribution of revenues, which are managed by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli. The GNA is backed by Turkey, while Haftar is supported by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Haftar agreed in September to lift the blockade, several months after the failure of an offensive by his fighters to take the capital. The blockade resulted in lost revenues of almost $10 billion, the National Oil Corporation has estimated. On October 26, just days after the ceasefire was agreed, the NOC said it had lifted force majeure -- external unforeseen elements that prevent a party from fulfilling a contract -- on the last oil facility in the country. And while all Libya's oil fields are back online, the NOC announced earlier this month that a pipeline had been closed for maintenance, causing a drop in production of around 200,000 bpd, Bloomberg reported. "This gives you an indication that the infrastructure in Libya is really in bad shape," Bloomberg quoted NOC chief Mustafa Sanalla as saying. - Room for increased output? - Perrin said there was scope for further improvement to Libya's oil production, "but not immediately". "In the short term, if it manages to maintain its current levels, that would be very good," he said. "The main uncertainty is political." Lifting the blockade has allowed production and exports to rise since September, but "this is part of a temporary agreement, a truce -- it's not a peace deal", Perrin warned. The country is also seeking support from foreign oil companies to help repair its infrastructure, according to Bloomberg. "We are now discussing with our partners how to finance and how they can help us," it quoted the NOC chief as saying. Libyan economist Nouri al-Hammi said the country's oil recovery remained "fragile". "Only fair revenue distribution and the creation of real development opportunities can settle the sector's problems," he said. - Oil revenue on negotiating table? - Distribution of oil revenues in Libya is a thorny issue and crucial to settling the conflict. After a decade of war, the October ceasefire has set the stage for elections at the end of this year. Resources-sharing between Tripoli and the east is "a key element of the discussions between the two parties... It could make or break the nascent truce", Perrin said. It is "a sword of Damocles that hangs over Libya's oil production". Blockades of important sites will remain a constant threat to production "if discussions on revenue-sharing fail to reach a compromise", he warned. For engineer Omar, oil in Libya has been key ever since the discovery at the end of the 1950s of its reserves. "It is at the heart of negotiations between the Libyan adversaries, but also between their foreign supporters," he said. 404 CARLINVILLE Two Carlinville men have created a study of the connections of Abraham Lincoln to Illinois State University in Normal in a work one reviewer has called monumental. Tom Emery and Carl Kasten teamed to produce Abraham Lincoln and the Heritage of Illinois State University, a 280-page book that covers a topic largely ignored in the 156 years since Lincolns death. Kasten is a retired attorney and a 1966 ISU graduate who chaired the universitys board of trustees from 2003 to 2008. He approached Emery about the project; Emery handled the research and writing. At first, we thought it would be around 100 pages, but then Tom kept uncovering more material, and it kept growing. I cannot believe how much information went into this book, Kasten said. I cant tell you how much I enjoyed this project, said Emery, who has won 13 awards from the Illinois State Historical Society. It may be the most fun Ive ever had in writing and research. I think we broke a lot of new ground here, and I loved every minute of it. Lincoln was attorney to the state board of education, which oversaw Illinois State in its earliest days, and wrote the guaranty to secure funding for the university. In doing so, he ensured the university would be located in Bloomington-Normal. Many of the early financial backers of Illinois State were among Lincolns closest allies and friends, including David Davis, who managed Lincolns 1860 Presidential campaign, as well as Jesse Fell and Leonard Swett. The book is available through Kasten, who is directing net proceeds to the ISU Alumni Scholarship Fund and the universitys Pre-Law Fund. To order, send $28.61 to Kasten at 1075 W. Main St., Carlinville, IL 62626. A CT photographer took the shot that became the Bernie Sanders mitten meme by Rob Ryser Sen. Bernie Sanders sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US President on January 20, 2021, at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. Images) Newtown native Brendan Smialowski got a taste of fame after the inauguration when his infamous photo of Bernie Sanders became a viral meme. Its totally been taken out of the context of journalism, said Smialowski, 40, who has covered four presidents and two wars. But Im happy people are having fun with the image. Fun doesnt do the meme justice in some cases. The image of Sanders trying to keep warm on a folding chair at the Capitol has been superimposed everywhere from a Bob Ross painting to The Last Supper. Read more. 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 [February 02, 2021] Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund Announces Distributions Today, Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund (the "Fund"), a New York Stock Exchange-listed closed-end fund trading under the symbol "DEX," declared a monthly distribution of $0.0572 per share. The monthly distribution is payable February 26, 2021, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 19, 2021. The ex-dividend date will be February 18, 2021. The Fund's primary investment objective is to seek current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund invests globally in dividend-paying or income-generating securities across multiple asset classes, including but not limited to: equity securities of large, well-established companies; securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies); debt securities (such as government bonds; investment grade and high risk, high yield corporate bonds; and convertible bonds); and emerging market securities. The Fund also uses enhanced income strategies by engaging in dividend capture trading; option overwriting; and realization of gains on the sale of securities, dividend growth, and currency forwards. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest: (1) at most 60% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers; and (2) at least 40% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers, unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the Manager, in which case, the Fund would invest at least 30% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers; and (3) the Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies). In addition, the Fund utilizes leveraging techniques in an attempt to obtain higher return for the Fund. The Fund has implemented a managed distribution policy. Under the policy, the Fund is managed with a goal of generating as much of the distribution as possible from net investment income and short-term capital gains. The balance of the distribution will then come from long-term capital ains to the extent permitted, and if necessary, a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with 'yield' or 'income'. Even though the Fund may realize current year capital gains, such gains may be offset, in whole or in part, by the Fund's capital loss carryovers from prior years. Under the Fund's managed distribution policy, the Fund makes monthly distributions to common shareholders at a targeted annual distribution rate of 6.5% of the Fund's average NAV per share. The Fund will calculate the average NAV per share from the previous three full months immediately prior to the distribution based on the number of business days in those three months on which the NAV is calculated. The distribution will be calculated as 6.5% of the prior three month's average NAV per share, divided by 12. The Fund will generally distribute amounts necessary to satisfy the Fund's managed distribution policy and the requirements prescribed by excise tax rules and Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. This distribution methodology is intended to provide shareholders with a consistent, but not guaranteed, income stream and a targeted annual distribution rate and is intended to narrow any discount between the market price and the NAV of the Fund's common shares, but there is no assurance that the policy will be successful in doing so. The methodology for determining monthly distributions under the Fund's managed distribution policy will be reviewed at least annually by the Fund's Board of Trustees, and the Fund will continue to evaluate its distribution in light of ongoing market conditions. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution policy. The amounts and sources of the Fund's distributions to be reported will be estimates and will not be provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. About Macquarie Investment Management Macquarie Investment Management, a member of Macquarie Group, is a global asset manager with offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As active managers, we prioritize autonomy and accountability at the team level in pursuit of opportunities that matter for clients. Macquarie Investment Management is supported by the resources of Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY), a global provider of asset management, investment, banking, financial and advisory services. Advisory services are provided by Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust, a registered investment advisor. Macquarie Group refers to Macquarie Group Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For more information about Delaware Funds by Macquarie, visit delawarefunds.com or call 800 523-1918. Other than Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL), none of the entities referred to in this document are authorized deposit-taking institutions for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Commonwealth of Australia). The obligations of these entities do not represent deposits or other liabilities of MBL, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited and an affiliate of Macquarie Investment Management. MBL does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of these entities, unless noted otherwise. 2021 Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006151/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 12:58:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday slammed critics of its origin-tracing work on the novel coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and voiced support for the team. Many critics claimed that they "won't accept the report when it comes out," or that there is "other intelligence available that may show different findings" on how the outbreak started, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, told a press conference from the UN agency's headquarters in Geneva. "If you have the answers... please let us know," he added. It is not responsible "to say you won't accept a report before it's even written" and "you have intelligence that has not been provided," said Ryan, adding that the team in the field deserved international support. Enditem I commend the Governors decision to allow state legislators to get the COVID-19 vaccine in the 1B phase. While part of my job as Speaker is to relay the range of opinions among all House members, it was important that this decision rest with the Governor and his team of health experts, Welch said. The issues and challenges facing the General Assembly are enormous, so this is a welcomed step in the interest of government functionality and safety. Whether or not to get a vaccine is a personal choice for every member, but I encourage those who are at-risk or have vulnerable family members to strongly consider it. Boris Johnson tonight refused to bow to growing Tory pressure to bring forward the reopening of schools in England as he said he intends to 'stick' to his date of March 8 at the earliest for a return to classrooms. The Prime Minister warned that reopening schools too soon could force the country 'into reverse' and threaten the progress made during lockdown. He said his March 8 date represents the 'prudent and cautious approach' and that he does not intend to deviate from it. An increasing number of Conservative MPs are pushing for the PM to bring back schools earlier than planned as coronavirus cases continue to fall while a crucial study found the AstraZeneca vaccine cuts transmission of the disease. Fresh analysis from Oxford University showed the jab offers 76 per cent protection up to three months after the first dose, and can dramatically reduce the potential for passing on infection. Nicola Sturgeon piled the pressure on Mr Johnson yesterday after she said pupils in Scotland will start going back from February 22. Boris Johnson said this evening that he intends to 'stick' to his March 8 date for the reopening of schools Tory MPs seized on a new study which suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine reduced transmission as they argued for reopening classrooms earlier than planned Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of MPs, said schools should only be shut for a 'very good reason' Senior Conservatives seized on the AstraZeneca news to demand the country gets back up and running faster, with huge damage being wreaked on children's education and the economy. Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, pointed to Ms Sturgeon's date for reopening schools and questioned why England couldnot do something similar. The Tory former chief whip said: 'The PM said last week that reopening schools was a ''national priority''. 'Now that Scotland has indicated that schools are likely to return from February 22, there needs to be a very good reason for keeping English schools shut for so much longer.' However, Government sources played down the idea that the timetable could be speeded up, with case levels still high and fears over mutant strains. 'It's March 8, no change,' one said. 'It's good reassuring news about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but steady as she goes.' Mr Johnson echoed the same sentiment at a Downing Street press conference this evening as he said: We have got to make a judgement about the effectiveness of the vaccines in bringing down the death rate and bringing down serious illness. That judgement we are going to make in the week of the [February] 15th. We are going to look at all the data, we have seen some promising stuff from Israel but to the best of my knowledge we are not yet seeing the kind of conclusive data that we need on that key point. Then we want to be waiting to ensure that after February 15 we leave three weeks for all the JCVI cohorts one to four, all those most vulnerable groups... have allowed their vaccination immunity to be acquired and as you know it takes about three weeks for it to properly set in. That speaks to a date of about March 8. Then of course you need to give the schools two weeks notice to open. For all those reasons we think thats the sensible date. I just would say to people who understandably want to go faster, I share that anxiety and that urgency because we fought so hard and for so long to try to keep schools open, I think that was a reasonable thing to do, but what we don't want to do now that we are making progress with the vaccine roll-out and we have got a timetable for the way ahead, we dont want to be forced into reverse. So we think this is the prudent and cautious approach and I think it much better to stick to that. Cutting transmission is the key to lifting the most severe restrictions of lockdown more quickly and means infection levels could come down faster than they would otherwise. However, there is still concern that new variants of coronavirus which reduce the effectiveness of vaccines could slow things down. Earlier, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'We know from earlier trials that the vaccines are safe and effective at protecting the individual. 'We now know that the Oxford vaccine also reduces transmission and that will help us all to get out of this pandemic, frankly, which is why it is such good news that we should welcome.' He told Times Radio the numbers of people in hospital was coming down and deaths would drop. Mr Hancock added the Oxford data suggested 'we can have a high degree of confidence that that will come down quickly'. He also said the data showing that delaying the second dose of the vaccine by up to 12 weeks could increase its efficacy 'categorically' supported the Government's strategy of stretching the time limit between doses. 'This Oxford report is very good news, it backs the strategy that we've taken and it shows the world that the Oxford vaccine works effectively,' he told Sky News. Professor Adam Finn, from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), also praised the Oxford results, saying the finding on transmission was 'very, very good news'. He said he thought 'it points to the fact that all of these vaccines to some extent will be able to reduce transmission', but said there were still issues around new variants of coronavirus. Asked if the new strains showed signs of being vaccine resistant, he told Times Radio: 'Yes, they do and that's something that I guess we've expected all along. 'So it is going to be a game of catch-up going forward the vaccines will continue to work, but as the virus mutates they will work less well and we'll have to adjust them to bring them back up to top-level protection. 'But that's what we do with flu all the time. It's not something that's that alarming or unexpected really, but it is a reality. 'There isn't a silver bullet, we're not going to solve this problem overnight, it's going to take time.' Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial, said his team was working hard to look at how effective the jab was against the Kent variant of coronavirus that has been spreading through the UK, adding that data should be available soon. He said scientists were confident that vaccines will have a good impact against that variant, but that others showing more worrying mutations 'are going to be much more difficult to block from transmission'. However, he told BBC Breakfast that vaccines in general should still protect against severe disease and could be adapted to mutant strains. He said: 'I think one of the things that we know about these new variants is that they are making changes that allow them to avoid human immune responses so that they can still transmit. 'So that does mean that it's likely over time that the virus will find ways of adapting and continue to pass between people despite natural infection and immunity after that or from the vaccines. 'That doesn't mean that we won't still have protection against severe disease, because there's lots of different ways in which our immune system fights the virus it is much more about the virus being able to continue to survive, rather than for it to cause harm to us. 'If we do need to update the vaccines, then it is actually a relatively straightforward process it only takes a matter of months, rather than the huge efforts that everyone went through last year, to get the very large-scale trials run and read out.' Regarding the people who were vaccinated in the Oxford trial but may still be able to transmit the virus, Prof Pollard added: 'There's two questions that need to be asked one is, how much virus are they shedding? And the other is, for how long? 'We're looking at that and we should have an answer to that really important question very soon.' Mr Harper said in a statement issued by the CRG: 'With better and better news by the day on the vaccination rollout and its effectiveness, the Government has got to start addressing its mind to the harms caused by the measures we're putting in place to control Covid, as well as to the harms caused by Covid itself. 'Covid is a deadly disease, however lockdowns and restrictions cause immense damage to people's health and livelihoods and we need to lift them as soon as it is safe to do so.' He added: 'Every hour of classroom learning lost is a tragedy for the nation's children and the schools shutdown is having a huge impact on children's health and welfare. 'Once the top four risk groups have been vaccinated by 15 February, and protected by 8 March, the Government must start easing the restrictions. We've got to demonstrate to the public how the good news about the vaccination rollout translates into a return to normal life. 'The top four at-risk groups account for about 88% of deaths and about 55% of hospitalisations from Covid, and in early January the Health Secretary said to MPs that he would be watching hospitalisation and death rates ''like a hawk''.' By Amanda Fries | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. A last-minute motion for the Senate investigations committee to vote on issuing a subpoena to compel testimony from Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker regarding nursing home coronavirus deaths was squashed and labeled as political by the committees chair Monday. Sen. Thomas OMara, a Southern Tier Republican and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, surprised committee chairman, Hudson Valley Democratic Sen. James Skoufis, when he made the motion to have committee members vote to subpoena Zucker. Long Island Sen. Anthony Palumbo, the only other Republican committee member, quickly seconded the motion and expressed doubt that state officials under Gov. Andrew Cuomo would release accurate information. If it is not done immediately or in the very near future, we would be remiss of our duties because we are the only committee that has this kind of oversight, Palumbo said. According to Senate rules, the chair, vice-chair or a majority of a legislative committee can issue a subpoena, thus the power can be invoked within any committee, not just the investigations committee. Fervor for action has mounted since Attorney General Letitia James released a report last week condemning New Yorks Covid-19 nursing home plan, with Republican legislators quickly re-launching calls for the Legislature to use its subpoena power to get answers. Legislators have been pushing for detailed figures since July, following the state Department of Health releasing a report that absolved the Cuomo administration of blame for thousands of nursing home deaths attributed to Covid-19. Prior to the attorney generals report, Skoufis had said publicly he would subpoena state officials if complete answers and data were not provided during the Legislatures health budget hearing. Shortly after those statements, Cuomos office requested the hearing be rescheduled from Feb. 3 to Feb. 25 to accommodate Zuckers schedule. Skoufis, who has chaired the committee since 2019 and has not shied from using subpoena power in several instances, expressed frustration that OMara had not given him a heads up as to the planned motion, describing the move as an ambush. With all due respect Sen. OMara, I am not going to be lectured or bullied on issuing subpoenas. I have made it clear that this is on the table, he said during the committee held over Zoom. This is a political motion. This committee is not going to be bullied into doing something when we have laid out the roadmap to getting this information. The Hudson Valley Democrat further pointed to his record when it comes to using the power; he has issued 25 subpoenas in two years. The last 10 years of Republican majority rule produced one single subpoena, and that one subpoena was withdrawn, Skoufis said. The previous Republican majority has never really issued a subpoena. They wouldnt know what a subpoena looked like if it hit them in the face. Palumbo and OMara, through the Senate Minority Office, issued a statement after the meeting criticizing the Democrats for their inaction. Skoufis declined to hear the motion because it had not been submitted in writing beforehand, as per Senate Rules Section 8 on new motions. In the wake of the attorney generals report, the failure of the investigations committee to immediately issue subpoenas and demand testimony from Gov. Cuomo and his administration once again completely abandons legislative responsibility, OMara said in a news release. It makes the Senate Democrats complicit in this tragedy. Skoufis expressed confidence in Zucker providing the data legislators seek, particularly after the health department released detailed data last week in response to the attorney generals findings. (Zucker) said he is going to produce the full and complete, audited numbers by the time he has his hearing on Feb. 25. Short of that, I think we ought to compel testimony, Skoufis said. But he released a substantial piece, if not most of the picture behind those numbers, and I think the remaining piece is forthcoming. The organisers of the Rose of Tralee festival are weighing their options before making a decision on the staging of this year's event. Last year, as a result of the Covid crisis, for the first time in the festival's 60 year history, the world famous pageant and its associated festival were cancelled . While the organisers remain hopeful that the Rose of Tralee will take place this year, though possibly in a significantly changed format, a final decision on it will not be made until at least March when the Irish and global pandemic situation becomes clearer. While the event could yet be cancelled for a second year running, Rose of Tralee CEO Anthony has said the festival team is currently looking at a number of options that could allow the festival proceed. These contingency plans, of course, depend on how the Covid situation develops in the coming months and Mr O'Gara said the festival will only proceed if it is safe to do so. At present, the Rose chief said that the situation with the pandemic remains too unpredictable to make any final decision on this year's event. The organisers are exploring a number of options should the event go ahead. One is a smaller scale event potentially involving a smaller number of Rose centres from Ireland and areas less impacted by the pandemic. While it is hoped the current vaccination programme will lead to a significant decrease in virus cases here - and lessen the need for lock-down restriction measures - high Covid levels across the world could still have a major impact on the festival. Usually Rose centres around the world, such as those in the US, UK and Australia, normally select their Rose candidates in March and April. While this may not be possible this year, Mr O'Gara said some international centre selections could be pushed back until May with the festival itself delayed until a later than usual date in the autumn. The possibility of a scaled down event taking place in October is also being explored as an option. In the meantime - ahead of the final decision which is expected to be confirmed and announced within the next six weeks - Mr O'Gara said the Rose of Tralee company is remaining in close contact with RTE and all international Rose centres to get their feedback and keep them updated on any developments. With the festival worth about 7million a year to Tralee, even a scaled down and postponed event would provide an enormous boost to business in the wake of the pandemic. The Founder and Leader of Glorious Word and Power Ministry, Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah has denied prophesying that the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would be elected as the NPPs flag bearer in 2024. In a seriously worded press release issued by the man of God on Tuesday, February 3, 2021, and posted on his official Facebook page, Rev. Owusu Bempah vehemently denied a prophesy ascribed to him that Nothing can stop Bawumia from becoming NPP's flagbearer in 2024. The self-styled nations prophet noted that the purported prophecy has been calculatedly by people he referred to as unscrupulous persons to stage their own parochial agenda. Prophet Owusu Bempah who has been prophesying the outcome of elections since the 90s and holds the belief that outcomes of elections are always determined spiritually before the physical voting takes place, implored the general public and well-meaning Ghanaians to disregard the false story and treat it with all the contempt it deserves. The man of God has referred the false publication to his lawyers to advise on the fake prophecy attributed to him and widely shared by a loyalist of Dr. Bawumia. There is some uncertainty in close quarters of the governing NPP as to who will lead the party in 2024 as its flagbearer. While some are rooting for the Minister of Trade designate, Hon. Alan Kyerematen to lead the party, others are rooting for Dr. Bawumia whom some political watchers have stated that his recent visitation to churches is a desperate attempt to win the hearts of Christians in his bid to lead the NPP in 2024. Political analysts believe if the next leader of the NPP is not chosen rightly it will certainly result in internal wranglings which will jeopardize the chances of the party at the polls. Below is the full statement *FALSE NEWS!!!* The attention of Apostle Dr. Isaac Owusu Bempah has been drawn to a false publication going viral on the internet and social media platforms alleging that Apostle Dr. Isaac Owusu Bempah has prophesied that "Nothing can stop Bawumia from becoming NPP's flagbearer in 2024." The contents of the said publication are false and must be disregarded by all well-meaning Ghanaians. The story has been made calculatedly by certain unscrupulous persons to stage their own parochial agenda. Their intention is to drag the reputation of the man of God into the mud. Apostle Dr. Isaac Owusu Bempah implores the general public and well-meaning Ghanaians to disregarded the false story and treat it with all the contempt it deserves. Further, Apostle Dr. Isaac Owusu Bempah has referred the matter to his lawyers for advice, and we shall suggest to all those peddling false news about Prophet Owusu Bempah to desist from doing so forthwith. Thank you. Source: 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 Britain's health minister on Wednesday defended the country's vaccine roll-out strategy after scepticism emerged in Europe, saying the science supported a decision to give the shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca to all age groups. France, Belgium and Germany are among the European Union countries to recommend that Oxford's vaccine is only given to under 65s, while French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted on Friday as saying that the shot appeared "quasi-ineffective" among those over 65. "That is strongly disputed by the vaccine's developers and the British government," and health minister Matt Hancock defended Britain's approach when asked about Macron's comment. "My view is that we should listen to the scientists ... and the science on this one was already pretty clear, and then with this publication overnight is absolutely crystal clear that the Oxford vaccine not only works but works well," health secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Radio, referring to new data from Oxford. That preprint study showed that the Oxford vaccine had 76% efficacy after a first shot in the 3 months until a second shot was given, and higher efficacy if the second dose was given at least 12 weeks after the first, supporting Britain's decision to extend the gap between doses. However, the study did not give extra direct evidence of efficacy in older people. Asked about Macron's comment, Oxford Vaccine Group chief Andrew Pollard said: "I don't understand what that statement means." "The point is that we have rather less data in older adults, which is why people have less certainty about the level of protection," Pollard told BBC radio. "But we have good immune responses in older adults very similar to younger adults, the protection that we do see is in exactly the same direction, and of a similar magnitude." Britain is well ahead of France and other EU countries in the pace of its roll-out, having approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot earlier and made the change to dosing guidelines to give some protection to more people in a quicker time frame. French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune defended the comparatively slower pace of vaccines roll-out, saying Britain had taken "enormous risks", for instance, in using the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot on older people. "You see, the United Kingdom has taken fewer precautions than ourselves," Beaune told LCI TV on Wednesday. A loyal canine refused to leave his owner's dead body for two days after they became stranded in snow not far from their California home last week. According to Placer County Sheriff's Office, David Deshon's body was found in the snow about 100 yards from a neighbor's Foresthill home with his beloved pooch, Baby Dog, by his side. The 69-year-old had been reported missing on Thursday before his body was found by a search team on Saturday. David's daughter, Shona, told CBS Sacramento, that she believes her father's vehicle got stuck in the snow and he tried to hike up a steep area to get home with his two dogs, Baby Dog and Buddy. 'He tried to hike up 200 feet that way and decided [to] and came back,' Shona said. 'You can see his tracks in the snow.' While Buddy was later found at a neighbor's home, Baby Dog stayed behind with Deshon. Loyal canine, Baby Dog (pictured), refused to leave his owner's dead body for two days after they became stranded in snow not far from their California home last week According to Placer County Sheriff's Office, David Deshon's body was found in the snow about 100 yards from a neighbor's Foresthill home with his beloved pooch, Baby Dog, by his side. Deshon was found with his dog, Baby Dog, while his other dog, Buddy (right), was later found at a neighbor's home David's daughter, Shona, believes that her father's car (pictured) got stuck in the snow and he tried to hike up a steep area to get home with his two dogs, Baby Dog and Buddy, before changing his mind and turning back When first responders arrived to the area, Baby Dog was curled up on Deshon's chest to keep him warm and wouldn't let anyone near him. 'He didn't die alone. He didn't die alone at all,' Shona said, before explaining that rescuers had to get a neighbor who knew Baby Dog in order to lure him away from Deshon's body. Both Baby Dog and Buddy are in the care of Placer County Animal Services. Shona told CBS that she's unable to take both dogs, but feels like she needs to take Baby Dog 'because he is part of my dad now'. Buddy is being treated with antibiotics, but Shona says Baby Dog is suffering from a broken heart. Officials said Buddy will be available for adoption at the facility once he's finished his treatment. 'He didn't die alone. He didn't die alone at all,' Shona said, before explaining that rescuers had to get a neighbor who knew Baby Dog in order to lure him away from Deshon's body Shona said she's unable to take both dogs, but feels like she needs to take Baby Dog 'because he is part of my dad now'. She will be adopting Baby Dog while Buddy will be put up for adoption at the animal services facility A snowstorm hit Northern California, where Foresthill is located, last week. Deputies said they received a call around midnight reporting an individual in distress after their vehicle became stuck along Mosquito Ridge Road. They later identified the caller as Deshon. According to authorities, snowfall and the steep, mountainous terrain of the area made search efforts difficult. Forecasters had warned of heavy snow and strong winds hitting the area before Deshon's body was found. Authorities also deployed the Air Ops Unit after weather conditions improved to aid in the search. Cyber Lawmakers press NSA for answers about 2015 Juniper hack A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling on the National Security Agency to account for its part in the five-year-old breach of Juniper Networks, following a congressional investigation of the company last year. "The American people have a right to know why NSA did not act after the Juniper hack to protect the government from the serious threat posed by supply chain hacks. A similar supply chain hack was used in the recent SolarWinds breach, in which several government agencies were compromised with malware snuck into the company's software updates," the lawmakers wrote in a Jan. 28 letter to NSA chief Gen. Paul Nakasone. The story of Juniper Networks' hack dates back several years. In 2015, the company announced it systems had been breached by hackers who modified code for an encryption algorithm, called Dual_EC_DRGB. The algorithm was made by the NSA and given to the National Institute of Standards and Technology years earlier. Experts outside of government warned that Dual_EC_DRGB contained a backdoor vulnerability, but their warnings were ultimately ignored. "In essence, the hackers changed the key to the pre-existing backdoor that experts had long warned about in the algorithm -- the backdoor remained, but now under the control of the unknown hackers," lawmakers wrote. Lawmakers last year sent a letter to Juniper CEO Rami Rahim seeking answers about the hack. The new letter says Juniper confirmed it added support for the algorithm at the "request of a customer" but refused to identify that customer or confirm if it was a government agency. Juniper also "confirmed that the change to the code made by the hackers in 2012 could be exploited to decrypt customer data. This means that for approximately three years, a sophisticated adversary, possibly a foreign government, likely controlled a backdoor in Juniper's products which could be used to decrypt communications to or from the many U.S. business and government agencies that were using Juniper's products," according to the letter. The lawmakers want the NSA to provide a previously undisclosed report about "lessons learned" from the Juniper hack, detail what actions NSA took afterwards and acknowledge whether the agency knew about the backdoor when NIST certified the encryption algorithm. "What statutory legal authority, if any, would permit NSA to introduce vulnerabilities into U.S. government approved algorithms certified by NIST and to keep those vulnerabilities hidden from NIST?" the letter asks. The letter is signed by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). The lawmakers gave NSA until Feb. 26 to respond. This article first appeared on FCW, a Defense Systems partner site. US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects to the late US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick in the Capitol Rotunda (Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Pool/AP) Slain US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick lay in honour on Wednesday in the building he died defending, as colleagues, members of Congress and the president and vice president paid their respects. Mr Sicknick died after defending the Capitol on January 6 against the mob that stormed the building and interrupted the electoral count after then-president Donald Trump urged supporters on the National Mall to fight like hell to overturn his defeat. The US Capitol Police said in a statement that Mr Sicknick, who died the next day, was injured while physically engaging with protesters, though the cause of his death has not been determined. Expand Close An honour guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of Brian Sicknick and a folded US flag into the Capitol (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Pool/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An honour guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of Brian Sicknick and a folded US flag into the Capitol (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post/Pool/AP) President Joe Biden travelled to the Capitol to pay tribute to Mr Sicknick shortly after the viewing began on Tuesday night, briefly placing his hand on the urn in the centre of the Capitol Rotunda, saying a prayer and shaking his head as he observed a memorial wreath nearby. He was accompanied by first lady Jill Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of other congressional leaders also paid their respects. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, paid their respects on Wednesday, placing their hands over their hearts and then touching the urn. Expand Close An honour guard stands to attention around Mr Sicknicks urn (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An honour guard stands to attention around Mr Sicknicks urn (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AP) A steady stream of politicians and police officers made its way through the rotunda. Dozens of Capitol Police stood to attention as Mr Sicknicks urn was carried up the Capitol steps on Tuesday night. It was the first time an urn, rather than a casket, has been part of a memorial observance in the Capitol Rotunda. Expand Close Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff pay their respects (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Pool/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff pay their respects (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Pool/AP) A ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery was planned later in the day. Members of Congress remain shaken by the riots and are grappling with what it means not only for the future of the country but for their own security as elected representatives. While politicians were united in denouncing the riots, and Mr Trumps role in them, the parties are now largely split on how to move forward. DENVER, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Motto Mortgage brand has been named to Entrepreneur magazine's 42nd annual Franchise 500 list, ranking #147 overall and first in the Miscellaneous Financial Services category. Placement in the Franchise 500 is a highly sought-after honor in the franchise industry. This is the second year in a row that Motto Mortgage has been included in the comprehensive Franchise 500 ranking; in 2020 the brand was ranked at #395. Motto Mortgage has been recognized by Entrepreneur for numerous other awards, including Fastest-Growing-Franchises1 as well as a Top New franchise brand2. "Ranking #147 overall on the illustrious Entrepreneur magazine 2021 Franchise 500 list and first in the Miscellaneous Financial Services category is a remarkable distinction," said Ward Morrison, president, Motto Franchising, LLC. "The incredible gain in our ranking by almost 250 spots year-over-year, especially as a four-year startup, is a testament to the power of the Motto Mortgage brand as a franchise opportunity." Established in late 2016 as the first national mortgage brokerage franchise in the U.S., the Motto Mortgage brand has showcased fast-paced growth and recently celebrated their best stretch of annual franchise sales ever. The brand has more than 125 offices open in over 30 states. Over its 42 years in existence, the Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a research tool for potential franchisees. "2020 was a challenging year for everyone, but it was also a year of unusual opportunity," says Jason Feifer, Entrepreneur editor-in-chief. "Franchises were able to be nimble and innovative, serving the needs of franchisees and customers in ways that will resonate for many years to come. We believe that, when we eventually look back on this time, we'll see it as a moment when many brands defined themselves for the future." Entrepreneur published its latest Franchise 500 list in its January/ February 2021 issue. Both the overall and category ranking are based on an analysis of data, including costs and fees, support, size and growth, brand strength, and financial strength and stability, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2019 to July 2020 of 1,116 participating franchise systems which included three systems in the Miscellaneous Financial Services category. Motto Mortgage, a "mortgage brokerage in a box," offers small business owners a meaningful way to diversify their revenue streams. The Motto Mortgage model not only creates an ancillary business for current real estate brokerage firms, but also offers opportunities for mortgage professionals seeking to open their own businesses and independent investors interested in financial services. Each Motto Mortgage franchise is independently owned, operated, and licensed. About Motto Mortgage The Motto Mortgage network is breaking the mold by giving the power of choice back to consumers with less jargon, more transparency, and even more options to choose from as they shop for the right home loan. With over 125 offices open in more than 30 states, Motto Franchising, LLC's unique national franchise mortgage brokerage model is the first of its kind in the United States. Created to disrupt the mortgage industry, the Motto Mortgage network connects loan originators and real estate agents to provide a seamless, personalized experience and one-stop shop for consumers. Motto Mortgage is the second member of the RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. family of brands. Each Motto Mortgage office is independently owned, operated, and licensed. To learn more about Motto Mortgage, or for license information for a Motto Mortgage office, email [email protected], or visit www.mottomortgage.com/offices. Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Fastest-Growing Franchise based on the net number of franchise units added in the U.S, and Canada between August 2018 to July 2019 according to Entrepreneur magazine's review of units lists and Franchise Disclosure Documents of 1,105 participating franchises across all industries. Motto Mortgage named a 2020 Top New Franchise based on Entrepreneur magazine's analysis of data, including costs, fees, size, growth and brand and financial strength, from franchise disclosure and related documents dated August 2018 to July 2019 of 255 participating franchise systems open for 5 years or less as of July 31, 2019. This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a Motto Mortgage franchise. It is for informational purposes only. We will not offer you a franchise in states or other jurisdictions where registration is required unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration requirements in your state (or have been exempted therefrom) and a Franchise Disclosure Document has been delivered to you before the sale in compliance with applicable law. New York residents: This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can be made by prospectus only. Minnesota Reg. No. F-8089; Motto Franchising, LLC, 5075 South Syracuse St #1200, Denver, CO 80237, 1.866.668.8649. SOURCE Motto Mortgage Related Links http://www.mottomortgage.com 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. ROME, FEB 3 - Finance police from the province of Naples town of Torre Annunziata on Wednesday seized assets worth around 166,000 euros from relatives of a mobster who were allegedly claiming a 'vitalizio' pension for the victims of organized crime. The assets were taken from the wife and mother-in-law of a drug dealer from the Gionta Camorra clan who allegedly illegitimately claimed the pension for 15 years. The pension is meant to go to people affected by 1984 Torre Annunziata massacre in which eight people were killed and seven injured. The mobster's wife said she was single when she made the claim. During subsequent checks, the woman admitted to the marriage but falsely said he had separated from her husband in order to keep getting the pension, the sources said. (ANSA). Spains Equality Ministry has prepared a draft bill that would allow transgender people to officially change their gender with the Spanish authorities and on their ID document, known in Spain as the DNI, without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Under the planned legislation, titled the law for real and effective equality for trans people, an individual aged 16 or over would be able to change their name and gender in the civil registry with a sworn statement no medical check would be required. Sixteen is also the minimum age from which a person can make decisions about hormone treatments. The text of the draft bill also recognizes non-binary people who identify as neither male nor female and proposes eliminating the gender field on their official documents. It would also open access to assisted-reproductive treatment to trans people who are able to reproduce. The PSOE believes the right to gender self-identification could introduce ambitious and legally insecure concepts that change the understanding of sex, gender, identity and equality The legislation was part of a governing agreement signed between the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Unidas Podemos after the inconclusive results of the 2019 general election, and which saw the parties create a coalition government. The Equality Ministry, led by Irene Montero of Unidas Podemos, met with more than 20 different LGBTQ+ and trans collectives to finalize the future law, which is based on an initiative Unidas Podemos presented in 2017. Sources close to Montero say they expect to bring the bill to the Spanish Cabinet in the first half of February. But the draft law has been met with opposition from some womens groups and has also sparked tensions within the coalition government. Last summer, the PSOE criticized the right to gender self-identification in an internal document that was made public by members of the party. The document which was not a formal party resolution said that the concept of gender was being used by certain movements to substitute the very concept of sex. It warned that recognizing the right to self-identify could introduce ambitious and legally insecure concepts that change the understanding of sex, gender, identity and equality. These are the same concerns raised by feminist organizations, such as Against the Elimination of Women, which represents around 100 womens organizations, and Feminist Convergence Movement, which represents 40. Both groups believe that the distinction between sex and gender must be preserved, arguing that gender self-identification eliminates the experience of women. Sources from the government say the draft bill has still a long way to go before it appears before Cabinet. Here are the main points of the draft law, to which EL PAIS has had access. Right to gender self-expression. Spain has allowed an individual to change their name and gender on their DNI without gender reassignment surgery since 2007. But in order to change their gender, a person must provide evidence of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria the discomfort people can feel if their gender identity does not match their body. This is not required under the draft bill for individuals over the age of 16, nor does a person need to undergo any type of medical or surgical procedure. Hormone treatment and minors. In the case of minors, the bill considers allowing hormone blockers at the onset of puberty to help suppress the development of breasts and facial hair, followed by cross-sex hormone therapy testosterone for trans men and estrogen for trans women. The age of consent for hormone treatment is set at 16. Currently, a minor can take hormone blockers when they reach puberty, but often the process takes a long time and the rules vary depending on regional regulation. Minors under the age of 18 also must have parental consent. A banner reads trans rights on the front line at Madrids Pride parade in 2018. Jaime Villanueva Legal defender. The bill gives individuals from the age of 16 the final word on what their gender and name are on their DNI. Minors between the ages of 12 and 16 who want to make a change at the Civil Registry must do so via their legal representative, who is usually a family member. If this family member does not agree with the decision, a legal defender will be named for the minor. Prospective rights. The text allows a person to exercise all the rights inherent to their new condition as a man or woman, but it does not allow these rights to be given retrospectively. The bill outlines that it will not change the ownership of rights and legal obligations that could correspond to a person before their registry change was inscribed, making specific mention of the gender-violence law. Recognition of non-binary people. The text allows an individual for the first time to request that their official documents omit any mention of gender. According to the draft, this is aimed at satisfying the demands of the part of the population who dont identify as either male or female. Assisted reproductive treatment. Under the bill, trans people with the ability to reproduce will have access to assisted reproductive technologies. It also contemplates allowing people undergoing hormone treatment to freeze their eggs and reproductive cells. Sports. For sporting exercises, events and competitions, trans people will be able to participate according to their registered gender, under the draft. Sex verification tests will also be banned. Prisons. The bill gives trans people the right to be treated and separated according to their registered gender should they be incarcerated, unless they believe this will endanger their safety. Education. The bill guarantees the right of trans students to express their gender identity. A students physical image, choice of clothing and access and use of facilities of an education center according to their gender identity must be respected, the document states. Foreigners. The draft law also gives foreign residents in Spain the right to gender self-identification, regardless of their administrative situation. Work. Trans people can face many difficulties when searching for work. To address this problem, the bill establishes incentives for workplaces that hire unemployed trans people, with special difficulties in joining the workforce. English version by Melissa Kitson. The recently released report titled the Smuggling In India Report 2019-20 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) revealed that the Customs and domain experts recently carried out two crucial seizures of items possibly linked to missiles. The first seizure was of a consignment of chemical, which was possibly a dual-use chemical--the one that could be used as a propellant in missiles. The second seizure was a more significant one, as an auto-clave was seized at Kandla port that was routed towards Pakistan's Port Qasim. The autoclave was seized from a Chinese ship named Dai Cui Yun, carried a Hong Kong flag and had left Jiangyin port on Yangtze River in Jiangsu province of China bound for Pakistan's Port Qasim. The seizure of the auto-clave, possibly meant to be used in the missile programme of Pakistan, strengthens the apprehensions that Pakistan is unabashedly indulging in the illegal trade of missiles and violating the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). A senior security official told Zee News. The malevolent intentions of Pakistan can be understood from the fact that the auto-clave, which was misdeclared as an industrial dryer, is notified in the SCOMET list and was found concealed in the bottom cargo of the ship transiting through Kandla. On investigations, DRDO scientists had found that the seized autoclave is used to produce the composite lining for the solid-fuel ballistic missiles- the technology on which Shaheen series missiles function," said a highly placed source revealed to Zee News. On January 20, 2021, the ISPR released a statement on conducting a test of Shaheen-iii missile, directed at revalidating various design and tech parameters of weapon system. Given the fact that Pakistan is entirely dependent on China for its missile programme and almost every Pakistani missile is based on Chinese technology, experts observe Shaheen-III to be based on the design of Chinese missile DF-21A. The Pakistani missile also uses WS$51200 Transporter Erector Launcher, which is manufactured in China by the Wanshan Special Vehicle. Proliferation experts argued that the auto-clave seized at Kandla was meant for similar missile programmes. However, the trend is not new, and the seizure was just a meagre part of the larger traffic emerging from the proliferation trading between Pakistan and China. It was also reported in October 2020 that China's Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and Pakistan Army are working on the speedy installation of a surface-to-air missile system near Lasadanna Dhok in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Reports revealed that besides ten personnel of the PLA, Pakistan Army personnel along with 25-40 staffers are involved in the construction. China is also helping Pakistan to gain a strategic edge over India by assisting in the construction of a similar installation at Chinari in Jhelum district and Chakothi in the Hattian Bala district of PoK. Anadolu Agency also brought to light that a high-tech anti-ship Chinese missile was going to be inducted into the Pakistani Navy this year. Analysts revealed that the missile the CM-302 could travel with three times the speed of sound, could be a major weapon for the Type 054navy ship that China is developing for Pakistan. Though the business of proliferation is not a novel start-up by a couple of countries, it has started booming in the past couple of years as the Pakistan-Turkey alliance has entered into the business of proliferation with China-North Korea coalition, making a group of four traders, who have now established hegemony in the clandestine missile market. Experts have highlighted that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI has acted as the force to constitute the alliance and is brokering the missile deals. As a consequence of the unchecked trading of missile technologies, the European Union nations and other Western countries are now increasingly getting concerned about these developments. Earlier in June last year, an annual report released by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg highlighted, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Syria are still pursuing such efforts. They aim to complete existing arsenals, perfect the range, deployability and effectiveness of their weapons and develop new weapons systems. They are trying to obtain the necessary products and relevant know-how, inter alia, through illegal procurement efforts in Germany. An analysis of the report suggests that bypass countries like Turkey and China could help countries like Pakistan and North Korea that are in the business of illegal and unrestricted proliferation to route their proliferation weapons and parts and help the business to grow. Besides this, the Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Centre), in its report titled The Quadruple Threat: North Korea, China, Pakistan and Iran, explained the transport route of proliferation technologies and weapons and had argued single-use goods related to weapons of mass destruction are clandestinely transported internally along the North Korea-China-Pakistan axis Magnifying the global apprehension on the trafficking of these weapons, the Defense Intelligence Agency of the United States revealed in March 2018 that Pakistan had carried out tests of Ababeel a Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles (MIRV) capable missile, capable of launching several nuclear warheads simultaneously. And as disclosed by The Diplomat, China later confessed about helping Pakistan in building capabilities to develop MIRVs. In a blatant admission of sinister trade designs, China has itself admitted about illegally technology transfers and trafficking of weapons to Pakistan. The Chinese Academy of Sciences admitted in March 2018 about one of its units, Institute of Optics and Electronics, selling a powerful tracking system, capable of speeding up the development of multi-warhead missiles by Pakistan. During the same period, it was reported that Beijing was planning to work on sustainable military cooperation with Islamabad, which also included the production of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and a multi-role combat aircraft. According to Pakistani media reports, General Qamar Javed Bajwa himself oversaw the mechanism. Proliferation experts have highlighted that the roots of this nexus lie in miserabilities of these countries and dates back to four decades. As China, for long, was not included in the WTO, it sought new actors and alternative clandestine markets to dump its products. Hence, in order to meet the requirements of the new market, it looked for new retailers and trade agencies Pakistan and North Korea. The history reflects that China has been transferring the nuclear technologies to Pakistan for the past four decades at least. According to the Federation of American Scientists, as early as the early 1980s, China passed the entire design for a nuclear weapon to Pakistan. Pakistan then later passed the same technology to Libya through the illicit proliferation network established by A.Q. Khan the founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme. Besides, Beijing also supplied weapon-grade uranium to Islamabad that was sufficient to produce at least two nuclear weapons as well as sold components of its high-tech M-11 short-range ballistic missiles to be used in developing nuclear warheads. In the subsequent years, the Khan Research Laboratories set up by AQ. Khan on behalf of the ISI, began supplying missiles to North Korea, bringing massive revenues. Further, reciprocating the help, North Korea helped Pakistan in developing liquid-fuelled Ghauri missile, based on the design of North Korean Nodong. According to the Pakistans Nuclear and WMD Programmes: Status, Evolution and Risks report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the National Development Complex of Pakistan came up with Shaheen-l, using the technology of China's M-9 missile in 1990. By the early 2000s, Pakistan had become a major hub of the clandestine missile market and was selling devices to anti-state groups as well as other countries at cost-effective processes to make huge profits. As the business boomed during the late 1990s and early 2000s, organizations like Nuclear Threat Initiative and FAS reported Taiwan and Hong Kong seized numerous shipments of several tons of ammonium perchlorate, a solid-propellant component, bound for SUPARCO (Pakistans Space Agency) from North Korea and routed through China. There were several seizures across the world whose source or destination was either of the three countries China, Pakistan, and North Korea. In lines of above reports, several reports of the US government including the Proliferation: threat and response 2001 by Office of the Secretary of Defense and the testimony by US Assistant Secretary of State for Non-proliferation, John S. Wolf before the US Senate have unearthed the operating procedure and nexus of China-Pakistan-North Korea nexus. Non-proliferation activists see the boom in the business as the emergence of a new phenomenon, following the swearing-in of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the arrival of Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in 2018. The duo is believed to have taken the business to new heights. Further, the isolation of Pakistan from the Muslim Ummah, rebuttal to China's illicit trade practices as well as aggression with democratic countries and opposition faced by the dictatorial regime of North Korea, have made the trio more depended on each other than ever and have compelled it to pull revenue from the clandestine market of proliferation. A quick look at the above facts highlights that these players have violated not only one, but all the eight points of Guidelines for Sensitive Missile-Relevant Transfer prescribed by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Non-proliferation activists have emphasised that the global community needs to come up with reforms in the MTCR and ensure mandatory implementation of its guidelines. A prominent non-proliferation activist whom we spoke to also suggested that the world should expel these countries from the WTO and the United Nations Organisation if these countries keep violating the MTCR guidelines. House Republicans have slammed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and demanded she 'immediately apologize' for 'demeaning' the US Space Force. Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz both hit out at Psaki Tuesday for what they described as a 'disgraceful' quip about the newest branch of the military where she joked it was 'the plane of today'. Psaki also managed to ruffle more feathers in the briefing room Tuesday when she hit out at a Politico reporter accusing her of 'putting words in my mouth' over the White House's China strategy. This came after it emerged the press secretary has been trying to find out questions from reporters in advance of her press briefings in the two weeks since Joe Biden took office. House Republicans have slammed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and demanded she 'immediately apologize' for 'demeaning' the US Space Forc Psaki was asked in Tuesday's press briefing about Joe Biden's plans for the future of the Space Force, the nation's security space branch which was signed into law in December 2019. She made light of the question appearing to compare it to previous questions about whether the new president will update the color scheme of Air Force One. 'Wow! Space Force - it's the plane of today,' Psaki said. 'It is an interesting question. I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact. 'I'm not sure who that is. I will find out and see if we have any update on that.' Her joke didn't amuse the GOP congressmen who slammed her for using the 'military as the punchline of a joke'. Rogers, the top GOP member of the House Armed Services Committee, blasted Psaki calling her comments 'concerning' and saying she should 'immediately apologize.' 'It's concerning to see the Biden administration's press secretary blatantly diminish an entire branch of our military as the punchline of a joke, which I'm sure China would find funny,' he told Politico. 'The Space Force was passed with near unanimous support in Congress, the same type of 'unity' President Biden is supposedly working towards. Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers (left) and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (right) both hit out at Psaki Tuesday for what they described as a 'disgraceful' quip about the newest branch of the military where she joked it was 'the plane of today Waltz, who is a founding member of the House Space Force Caucus, also hit out at Psaki saying it showed the new Biden administration is not taking China seriously 'Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment.' Waltz, who is a founding member of the House Space Force Caucus, also hit out at Psaki saying it showed the new Biden administration is not taking China seriously. 'This is just another example of the Biden administration not taking China seriously while demeaning the incredible work of Space Force personnel,' Waltz told Politico. He also posted footage of Psaki's comments on Twitter alongside a warning that the Space Force is needed to protect the US from China. 'While the Biden Administration continues to think about whether or not the #CCP is a threat, China is working overtime to become the dominant force in space,' he tweeted. 'We need the professionals, 'SpaceDoD, to keep American's safe.' While not directly commenting on the backlash, Psaki tweeted later Tuesday evening to describe the Space Force as 'important work'. Psaki tweeted later Tuesday evening to describe the Space Force as 'important work' 'We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work,' she wrote. It is not yet clear what the new administration has planned for the Space Force but experts believe the military branch will continue under Biden's watch, reported Politico. The US Space Force is an independent military service branch, dedicated to focusing on missions and operations in the space domain. Its mission is to organize, train, and equips space forces to protect the US in space. The branch was signed into law as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act in December 2019. This came after then-President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to begin planning for a Space Force the previous year. The US Space Force is an independent military service branch, dedicated to focusing on missions and operations in the space domain However while the branch was created under Trump and he often plugged it at rallies, the idea to set up a Space Corps had actually been put forward by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in 2017. The backlash over Psaki's comments came after she also clashed with a reporter in Tuesday's press briefing over the US's relationship with China. Psaki was asked by Anita Kumar if Biden has scheduled a call yet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the president has spoken with several world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Psaki said a call was not scheduled and that the White House was still planning its approach to China. Kumar replied suggesting a strategy was already in place. 'That sounds a lot like the strategy is not to talk to him at this time because you're talking about speaking to allies and making other calls first,' she said. 'Have they requested a call?' Psaki also clashed with a reporter (left) in Tuesday's press briefing over the US's relationship with China as the press secretary told her she was 'putting words in my mouth' Psaki appeared to be rattled by the question firing back: 'I don't have anything more for you. I don't appreciate the putting words in my mouth. 'That wasn't what my effort was. What I was conveying is our strategy here, from the United States, which is to work with our partners and allies and determine what the right time is.' Earlier Tuesday, it emerged that Psaki has been asking for preview questions from reporters - despite promising 'transparency in the White House's dealings with the press, according to the Daily Beast. The attempts to probe for what she will be asked at the on-camera briefings caused such concern that it was raised at a private meeting of the White House Correspondents Association, the Beast reported. Multiple sources said leaders of the White House Correspondents Association, a group dedicated to maintaining journalists' access to the executive branch of government, advised reporters to push back against any of these requests from Biden's press team or to not reply. A report Monday evening revealed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tries to find out and field questions from reporters before press briefings The revelations sparked a debate among journalists who cover the White House, with some claiming it's improper and other's maintaining it's normal protocol among political press teams 'Our goal is to make the daily briefing as useful and informative as possible for both reporters and the public,' a White House spokesperson told DailyMail.com. 'Part of meeting that objective means regularly engaging with the reporters who will be in the briefing room to understand how the White House can be most helpful in getting them the information they need.' The official added: 'That two-way conversation is an important part of keeping the American people updated about how government is serving them.' The revelations sparked a debate among journalists who cover the White House, with some claiming it's improper and other's maintaining it's normal protocol among political press teams. 'To everyone asking why this matters: If Psaki doesn't like your question, she doesn't call on you,' Politico reporter Tara Palmeri posted to Twitter. In Psaki's first week-and-a-half as White House press secretary, she has called on every reporter seated in the briefing room sometimes more than once. Other reporters downplayed the disclosure, and said these protocols are not out of the norm for past administrations and that in pre-Trump White House there had been informal off-camera questions to the press secretary in a 'gaggle' which meant they had insight into the issues reporters were likely to push. Donald Trump's longest-serving White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was known to quiz outlets on their questions before high-profile presidential press conferences or events, two people with direct knowledge outlined to the Daily Beast. THE NEST Rated M, 107 minutes, in selected cinemas Its been roughly a decade since the American indie thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, about a young woman trapped in a cult, showed the world which of the Olsen sisters can act. Since then, weve seen a good deal of that films star Elizabeth Olsen, who can currently be found on the small screen in WandaVision. But Sean Durkin, the films Canadian writer-director, has been much less visible. Carrie Coon and Jude Law star in The Nest. The silver lining is that hes had a good deal of time to mull things over. Durkins long-awaited second feature, The Nest, is not adapted from a novel but it seems like it could have been, in part because he plainly knows much more about his characters than he chooses to reveal: the story is told through a series of vignettes that often end abruptly, with crucial events kept offscreen. The backdrop is the world of commodities trading in the 1980s, on the eve of an era of deregulation that will spell doom for smaller companies and a feeding frenzy for their larger rivals. The go-getting Rory OHara (Jude Law) is a minnow in this pond, even if we accept his claim that he was once, briefly, a millionaire. A senior officer has denied claims that the PSNI is allowing masked men to roam the streets unchallenged. Chief Superintendent Simon Walls told the Belfast Telegraph that officers primary concern in east Belfast on Tuesday was to stop anything happening and protect the public. His comments come after Sinn Fein policing spokesman Gerry Kelly said the PSNI has serious questions to answer about intimidation by a UVF mob. Although no arrests were made at the time, Mr Walls said an investigation is taking place with a view to prosecutions down the line. Read More As soon as police were aware that something might be taking place, we deployed resources and increased our resources throughout a short window of time in that area, he said. Expand Close The scene in the Pitt Park area of east Belfast on Tuesday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene in the Pitt Park area of east Belfast on Tuesday We were there to stop anything from happening and to protect the public. Our primary function was to give people in the area and local people a sense of reassurance that police were there and visible. We were there primarily around public safety. He added: Since that incident we have put some additional resources into east Belfast and we are paying attention to particular areas of east Belfast. Mr Walls said an investigation is now under way to allow police to consider the information and evidence they have and then to move to prosecution. The senior officer said he would not comment on speculation that the primary target for the hooded gang was the home of murdered loyalist Ian Ogle. Its now important that detectives get the time and space to carry out a thorough investigation and part of that will be seeking to understand exactly what the motives for that criminal behaviour were, he said. In a statement, Mr Kelly said: This week we have seen loyalist paramilitaries attempting to exploit tensions around Brexit to advance their regressive, racist and sectarian politics, as well as to exert control in communities. Yesterday afternoon, footage emerged of a group of 40 men linked to the UVF patrolling the streets of East Belfast. The PSNI attended the scene while the UVF mob were still roaming the community and made minimal efforts to intervene. It has been reported that the mob were preparing to attack a home and instead of challenging those involved the PSNI merely shepherded the gang out of the area. Meaningful intervention and action from PSNI in the early stages of this UVF show of strength could have prevented this escalation of events. Mr Kelly added: The PSNI has serious questions to answer over its inadequate response to the initial incident in Pitt Park. Heather Graham is looking back on her time with the late Heath Ledger fondly. The 51-year-old actress shared some unseen photos on Wednesday that were taken throughout the course of their year-long relationship as she called him a 'special person.' The pair dated from 2000- until 2001 before Ledger was tragically found dead at a New York City apartment on January 22, 2008, after accidentally overdosing following months of physical and mental exhaustion. Fond memories: Heather Graham, 51, looks back on her relationship with Heath Ledger as she shares rare photos of the pair during the course of their year long romance in 2000 before he tragically overdosed in 2008 'Going through my photos I found these. Just remembering this time. Heath Ledger was such a special person,' she wrote. The trio of photos provided a more intimate look at the pair's relationship. In one shot Heather could be seen with her arms wrapped around his neck while laying on his shoulder. In another she posted a shirtless selfie of the Australian born actor as he took a photo of himself in the mirror with a film camera. The pair first met in Prague at a nightclub according to author Janet Fife-Yeomans who wrote a biography on Ledger in 2008 called Heath: A Family's Tale. Heather was filming From Hell with Johnny Depp and both were single at the time and 'sparks flew.' Intimate look: The whirlwind romance was short lived as he was then linked to co-stars Naomi Watts and ultimately Michelle Williams with whom he shares a daughter Matilda before he passed One photo posted by Graham shows Ledger visiting her on set of the film shortly after meeting. 'She's my muse. She's a beautiful, beautiful girl. We make each other laugh. She's so funny, that's the key. It's fun. It's a good relationship, and a very truthful one,' he said. The pair flew to his hometown in Perth months after meeting, and she accompanied him on the red carpet at the premiere of his film A Knight's Tale. The whirlwind romance was short lived however and the budding Hollywood hunk moved on with Naomi Watts after meeting on the set of Australian film Ned Kelly. Two years later he fell for yet another costar, dating Michelle Williams after they filmed Brokeback Mountain. Chance encounter: The pair were smitten with each other after meeting in Prague at a nightclub as one photo shared by Heather shows Ledger visiting her on set of her film From Hell which she was shooting at the time; pictured 2000 The pair had their daughter Matilda together in 2005 as he told London's Observer, 'We just fell very deeply into each other's arms. Our bodies definitely made those decisions for us,' adding 'I always knew I would be a young father.' They remained a romantic couple until 2007, but after the breakup Ledger's dark demons seemed to come out and he died just five months later. Reportedly a drug user on and off for years, things came to a head when he was juggling too many films - including his last role The Dark Knight - on very little sleep and he started relying on various cocktails of prescriptions to shut his mind off. 'I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going,' he told the New York Times in an interview in November just two months before he passed at the age of 28. He was ultimately found dead from a lethal combination of six drugs in his system: two types of narcotics, two types of anti-anxiety medicine and two types of sleep medicine. The first edition of the Bahrain Film Festival (BFF) will take place between 1 and 5 April, 2021 under the theme 'Cinema for You'. The festival is organised by the Bahrain Cinema Club and held under the patronage of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA). The first session of the festival was scheduled to take place from 4 to 8 March, 2020, before the postponment of all events locally due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier last year. Prior to the pandemic, the festival had been gearing up to screen 200 films representing directors and producers from 14 Arab countries. A statement issued by the festivals management confirmed that "films that have qualified for the festivals competition in the year 2020 will be automatically transferred April 2021 session." The BFF has also asked that the producers of these films confirm their participation by sending a message to [email protected] with the title of the film, director's name, and country. The festivals management reiterated that it also welcomes submissions of new films through the official website of the festival before the deadline set on 15 March 2021. The films will be screened in five categories: short fiction, documentary, animated films, students' films, in addition to films from Bahrain's Centre of Women Excellence for Women Empowerment (CEWE). The BFF takes into account all precautionary measures linked to the pandemic. Screenings and special events that will not be presented physically will be postponed to a later date in 2021. The details about physical and/or online screenings will be announced at a later point. The BFF is part of the Bahrain Cinema Clubs initiatives and projects as an extension of its film competition held in 2017 and 2018. Founded in 1980 with the aim of spreading film culture and awareness and stimulating the local film movement, the Bahrain Cinema Club is a non-profit cultural institution, operating under the umbrella of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Tuesday dropped charges of escaping from lawful custody against Superintendent of Police, Mr Martin Odero. Mr Odero, a senior police officer in the Field Force Unit, had been arrested in connection to the demolition of St Peter's Church Ndeeba last year. When the case came up before Buganda Road Court Magistrate Tuesday, the state prosecutor Ms Patricia Chingtho presented the letter showing that the DPP Jane Frances Abodo had withdrawn the charges. The magistrate Mr Asuman Muhumuza accordingly discharged Mr Odero. Prosecution had contended that on August 13, 2020, Odero escaped from lawful custody at Railways Police Station in Kampala. Police rearrested Mr Odero later. Mr Odero is also among seven police officers who were arrested by State House Anti-Corruption Unit in connection to the demolition of St Peter's Church in Ndeeba on August 10, 2020. The cops were charged jointly with city businessman Dodoviko Mwanjje, over the church demolition. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Washington state's richest residentsincluding Jeff Bezos and Bill Gateswould pay a wealth tax on some financial assets under a bill proposed by a lawmaker who says she is seeking a fair tax code at a time when so many people are struggling due to the pandemic. Under the bill, a 1% tax would be levied on "extraordinary" intangible financial assets including cash, publicly traded options, futures contracts, and stocks and bondsbut not income. The first $1 billion in value would be exempt from the tax that would apply to residents' taxable worldwide wealth. Forbes magazine says about a dozen of the richest people in the world live in Washington state, including Bezos and Gates, who top the global list after making their fortunes from their respective tech companies, Amazon and Microsoft. About 100 taxpayers in the state have wealth in excess of $1 billion, according to the state Department of Revenue. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Noel Frame of Seattle, said the measure isn't an attack on the state's richest residents. "It actually really isn't about them, it's about the working people of Washington who right now are disproportionally paying for community investments like public education, public health, you name it," she said. "This is about equity in the tax code." Efforts to increase taxes on the wealthy are not new, but no state currently has a wealth tax, according to Jackson Brainerd, senior policy specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Washington state measure "would be the first of its kind if it passes," he said. In New York state, the governor is proposing to raise income taxes on the wealthiest residents but has called legislative proposals there to tax billionaire's assets "unconstitutional." A measure was proposed in California last year that would have created a 0.4 percent yearly tax on a resident's worldwide net worth over $30 million. Frame said her proposal would bring an estimated $2.5 billion to state coffers a year. The tax would be imposed starting Jan. 1, 2022, for taxes due in 2023. The measure received its first public hearing Tuesday before the House Finance Committee, where Frame serves as chairwoman. While the bill doesn't direct any funds to particular programs, Frame points to programs like a tax credit for low-income workers that could benefit from the revenue. Frame is joined by 25 other House Democrats who have signed on in support of the bill, though legislative leaders in the chamber have said it's too early to know if it will pass. Frame said Washingtonone of just a few states without an income taxleans too heavily on its sales tax, disproportionately affecting those with less income. She cited a recent report that found the collective wealth of the nation's billionaires has increased by $1 trillion during the pandemic, at the same time small businesses were closing and a record number of Americans sought unemployment benefits. "I think that the coronavirus has really laid bare the inequity that always was there," she said. "But now people really understand it." Republican Rep. Drew Stokesbary, a fellow member of the committee considering the bill, called the measure "a pretty bad idea," saying that in additional to constitutional issues with targeting one segment of taxpayers over another, billionaires could just choose to move to avoid the tax. "It sets a very troubling precedent," he said. "If 7 million Washingtonians gang up on the nine richest this year, what's to stop us from ganging up on the next thousand richest the next year and so on." A spokesman for Amazon declined to comment, and spokespeople for Gates did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a blog post in late 2019, Gates wrote about inequality and his push for changes in the tax code, including his support of an unsuccessful voter initiative that would have created a state income tax. Explore further Gates richest in tech, as Bezos rises 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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 competent authorities of Ukraine and the Lebanese Republic have agreed on a bilateral form of the export health certificate, which will allow Ukrainian producers to export milk and dairy products to this country. According to the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the form of this certificate can be found on the service's website. Exports of milk and cream from Ukraine decreased in 2020 by a quarter, to 18,600 tonnes in quantity terms and by 21.6% in dollar terms, to $12 million. According to the UN, more than half of Lebanon's population is at risk of food shortage due to Beirut port explosion in August 2020, the country's main food import point. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia noted that Lebanon is highly dependent on food imports and called for urgently rebuilding the grain storage facilities in the port of Beirut. Stanbic Bank has launched a virtual assistant/a chatbot, aptly named "Stan", set to shorten the response time for customer queries as part of the bank's digitisation drive. The chatbot, Stan, has been designed to respond to queries from the bank's social media pages and the webchat service on their website day and night. A chatbot is specialised software that can simulate a conversation (or chat) with a user in a natural language through messaging applications, websites, mobile Apps or through the phone. The bank's head of marketing and communications, Palmer Mugavha, said the launch of the chatbot is in line with the digital bank journey that the Standard Bank Group subsidiary has been on for the last few years. "Our digitisation drive is gathering momentum and we are excited about this latest offering. The launch of Stan enforces our commitment to quality customer experience as it allows customers to receive quicker responses to their queries at any time. As much as digitisation started well before Covid-19, the products we are introducing will definitely go a long way in mitigating against the menacing pandemic as they play a pivotal role in reducing face to face interaction at limited or no cost, while ensuring quality banking service to customers," said Mr Mugavha. Some local players in the banking sector have also introduced the chatbot service, a development which is seemingly becoming a trend as more corporates begin to implement world standard strategies to differentiate their services. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe Banking By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "It has become a trend indeed and, on our part, we are just working towards making sure that our banking services are seamlessly embedded within the daily lifestyles of our customers. We pay close attention to the needs of our clients and respond accordingly", commented Mr Mugavha. "I should, however, point out that our Customer Care Centre remains available to assist should there be need to talk to a consultant, and Stan can speedily escalate inquiries in that instance," he added. Stan comes on board hard on the heels of Stanbic Bank having assumed the full cost of its customers' access to some of its digital banking platforms. Late December last year, Stanbic Bank zero-rated some of their platforms taking on the customer's internet data cost as part of the digitisation strategy aimed at encouraging the uptake of digital banking strategies for convenience and adoption on 1st world banking technologies and practices. "Stan is ready to serve on our social media pages and also on our website. Accessing Stan through these platforms is advantageous to customers as we have zero-rated access to them for all our Econet-subscribing customers, an offer we are working to extend to customers on NetOne and Telecel," said Mr Mugavha. Christian discipleship organization Voice of the Martyrs Korea successfully provided over 23,000 Bibles to North Korean Christians in 2020, a figure they are looking to increase this year. Voice of the Martyrs CEO Rev. Dr. Eric Foley told Mission Network News that now more than ever, Christian Koreans are asking for more Bibles, even more than any year since the organization was founded 20 years ago. The Bibles were first distributed through balloon launches, but since the South Korean government banned the activity in June, VOM has found other ways to help spread the word to those who want to receive it. "God isn't tied to only one particular distribution method," Foley said. "And certainly, the demand for Bibles is never restricted by what governments do or don't do." Foley's Voice of The Martyrs now relies on an underground network of Christians in the northern region that is described as a "complex system" but is effective in sending in Bibles into North Korea. Foley's strategy is two-pronged. He said that patience and a "multi-year approach" is needed to successfully move Bibles into North Korea through the underground network. Instead of looking at short term goals that span a year, the Voice Of The Martyrs, Foley said that the organization is "looking ahead to the next five to ten years." The Voice Of The Martyrs isn't the only organization that has caught heat from the government for their balloon charges, as two other Christian groups are also facing charges. Foley is facing three, as earlier reports indicated that he was charged for a violation of the inter-Korean exchange law, which "regulates commerce between North and South Korea." He was also charged for the balloon launching that resulted in a "national threat," as well as the use of high-pressure gas. Nonetheless, Foley remains optimistic about sending Bibles into North Korea through the balloon launch method. He said, "Balloon launching is still the most cost-effective way to get large numbers of Bibles into the southern portion of North Korea, which is where the greatest concentration of population is. And also, it is where the more affluent, higher-level people in the political environment are." In 2018, Foley argued that the balloon launching activities carried out by the Voice of The Martyrs to send Bibles into North Korea is a legal activity that they announce to the police and not to the media and an activity that is carried out at night using cutting-edge technology to ensure safety. He shared to NK News, "We use the version of the Bible published by the North Korean government, which the North Korean government insists can be read legally by all North Koreans under the DPRK constitution." The efforts of sending Bibles into North Korea by Foley and the Voice of The Martyrs has had a major impact on North Korean Christians. It was reported that North Korean citizens who saw a Bible increased from about 0% to 7.6% by 2014. Foley says that the sharing of Bibles is a "contribution to the peace process" and is looking to increase the amount they send in this year by 30%. 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 A former scout leader who has been jailed for abusing ten boys has called for gardai to find the rest of his "many victims" so that he can "put an end to all of this". David O'Brien (69) of Benburb St, Dublin has been sentenced twice at the Circuit Criminal Court, first in 2015 for sexually abusing six boys and then in 2018 for indecent assault on another four. All the offences occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the Court of Appeal a lawyer acting for O'Brien on Tuesday revealed that the former scout leader is currently before the Circuit Court in relation to another offence. He said his client doesn't remember the names of his "many victims" and is therefore unable to make use of a provision in the Criminal Justice Act that allows a person to admit guilt to offences not before the court to have them taken into account in sentencing. Counsel added that it is virtually impossible for O'Brien to do anything but it is within the power of gardai to find the members of the scouting unit to "hopefully put an end to all of this". At a previous hearing it emerged that O'Brien told gardai in 2016 that he abused 30 to 40 boys during his time as a scout leader. In reply Mr Justice John Edwards said it was not a matter for the three-judge Court of Appeal. The court had earlier heard an appeal by O'Brien against the severity of the eight-year sentence with 16 months suspended imposed on him in 2018. Padraig Dwyer SC for O'Brien said that the sentencing judge, Judge Karen O'Connor, failed to take into account that O'Brien had already served a sentence for offences that were all committed around the same time. The two sentences together totalled 14 years with three years suspended. Mr Dwyer submitted that 11 years in prison is not a typical sentence for the type of institutional sexual offending his client had pleaded guilty to. He also pointed out that his client had come forward to gardai as far back as 1997 and admitted to abusing boys in his care but for reasons unknown no prosecution was ever brought. He further submitted that his client is not accused of any offence since he left the scouts in the early 1980s. Mr Justice Edwards, presiding, with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, dismissed the appeal in an oral judgement. Mr Justice Edwards said the fact there were ten victims with the aggravating factor of a serious breach of trust by a person in authority "could easily have justified a cumulative net sentence of 11 years." He said the sentencing judge was fully alive to the fact O'Brien had already served a sentence and took that into account. Dismissing the appeal, he said the court found no error in principle and added: "On the contrary, our impression is that the sentence was constructed conscientiously and with great care." At the sentence hearing in 2018 Judge O'Connor said the offending was aggravated by the breach of trust and by three of the victims being warned not to tell anyone. She commented that the victims were deprived the innocence of childhood. She said the case was mitigated by O'Brien's guilty plea, his remorse and the fact he co-operated with gardai. Judge O'Connor sentenced O'Brien to two years imprisonment on a single count of indecent assault relating to each of the four complainants. She ordered that these sentences would run consecutively to each other for an effective operating sentence of eight years imprisonment. She suspended the final 18 months of this eight years sentence on condition that O'Brien come under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months post release. In his victim impact statement, which he read out in court, the first victim said that the abuse changed his life forever. The man said that he came from a working class family and his father gave him money to buy a uniform, rucksack and sleeping bag for his first camping trip. He said that he never went back to the scouts after being assaulted on the trip and his father went ballistic due to the apparent waste of money. He did not tell his father about the abuse until shortly before his death. After he finished giving his statement, Judge O'Connor told the man that it was very courageous of him to read out his statement in court and that his father would have been proud of him. The second victim, in a written statement, said he suffered trust issues as a result of what happened to him. He said he knew what had happened to him was not right but could not speak up about it. The third victim declined to make a victim impact statement. The fourth victim said he developed an acid reflux due to stress, which required multiple surgeries. He attributed the condition to abuse he suffered on the scouting trip. Sewer solution inches closer at Halfway Tree Sewer pipes and other construction material are staged at Halfway Tree Mobile Home Park. The parks 113 residents will get sewer service by next summer, the park owner says. Halfway Tree mobile home park residents are getting closer to having longstanding sewer problems behind them, although wet conditions and soil problems have delayed a new sewer line by months. The progress is a little slower than we would like, park owner Tim J. Manson IV said recently. I think a lot of residents were stuck in a pretty bad situation with the septic system going on for almost a decade. They seemed to be thrilled that someone is fixing this. I think its going to be a good thing. Mansons company, Spartanburg-based MVF Halfway Tree, bought the 18-acre park for $3.3 million last May, agreeing to replace failing septic tanks with sewer service from the city of Hendersonville. Were excited about it, Manson said on the new acquisition for his company, which owns several other mobile home parks. The property is fantastic. Youve got some really cool old mobile homes that are not made anymore, if youre into that sort of thing. Residents will see progress, he promised, once the larger line from Erkwood Drive to the park is finished. As we lay these lines, its not like all 113 homes go live, he said, adding that the contractor could probably connect 15 homes a week. The city of Hendersonville, Village of Flat Rock and Henderson County had all urged the state to force the previous park owner to fix the sewer problems. The septic tank problems go back at least three years, when the park was owned by a Florida company, Upchurch Marina. State water quality regulators fined Upchurch $65,000 in July of 2019 after numerous reports of sewage overflow from the failing septic tank. When it bought the property last May, the new owner began work on connecting the 113 homes to the city sewer system. Its been a little slow, said David Dethero, a Flat Rock Village Council member whose home on Rutledge Drive abuts Halfway Tree. Theyve run into some problems evidently. They said June possibly (for hookups). I am disappointed its not quicker. I had 91 inches of rain at my house last year and theres a lot of wetness there and the soil is some kind of problem. City Manager John Connet confirmed that the project had been delayed but was restarting. Theyll resume construction on the line that goes to Erkwood in the next 30 days or so, he said. They ran into bad soil and water so they had to do a redesign. Instead of digging deep open trenches, the contractor will bore underground. As theyre drilling they push pipe through, Connet said. The City Council is expected to take up a settlement on Feb. 4 of its condemnation case to obtain a sewer line easement through vacant land owned by Dr. Tom Eisenhauer. We may have reached a settlement, Connet said. Were very close to it. the council just have to approve it. Manson praised the city for its partnership. The city of Hendersonville and especially (city engineer) Brent Detwiler and John Connet have been just fantastic, he said. We work with a lot of municipalities across the Southeast and often the developer relationships are somewhat contentious. These guys have really got the city first in mind and they work to remove roadblocks and fix problems. Mixed reviews A park resident who lives literally feet from the big dig, where construction crews are running the larger sewer line, said the noise is unbearable. They started eight feet from my head on Aug. 3, said the resident, who did not want to give his name because the new owners made a clause in their rules if you bad-mouth Halfway Tree you can be thrown out. I wake up to dump trucks eight feet from my front window, ten bulldozers from my back window. Although the park owner is covering the cost of hooking up to homes, residents will have their service metered and will pay a water and sewer bill to the city of Hendersonville. Actually were paying for the water system, us each one of us is paying an extra $100 a month to cover it, the resident next to the construction site said. Other residents welcome the sewer fix. Im happy as can be, said Ken Bruland, who was a high school Spanish teacher in Michigan before he became an ocean kayak instructor. The sewer system here is just ridiculous. This park was built back in the 60s and at that time it was a seasonal park only. So they put in like one septic system for three or four houses. They were sufficient until people living here year-round. The demand in these septic tanks is too much. They told us not too long ago wed be hooked up by January. I knew that wasnt going to happen and most other people knew that that wasnt going to happen, Bruland said. If were hooked up by summer, Ill be a happy camper. Dethero, who had raised concerns about the septic tank problems with the Village Council before he was elected, looks forward to the project completion. I have three streams going through my property and theyre all polluted so it would be very nice to get that settled. The "Europe Medical Device Adhesives Market Forecast to 2027 COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Resin Type; Device Type; and Country" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Europe medical device adhesive market is expected to reach US$ 2,937.41 million by 2027 from US$ 1,723.16 million in 2019. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% during 2020-2027. Increasing usage of medical device adhesive and technological advancements in medical device adhesive are driving the market in the region. Additionally, rapid surge in number of minimally invasive procedures and increasing adoption of eco-friendly and biocompatible solutions are likely to fuel the growth of the medical device adhesive market during the forecast period. However, factors such as complications associated with the medical device adhesive are likely to restrain the growth of the market. Medical device adhesive are the adhesives that are manufactured as per the medical grades. They are mainly used for assembling medical devices. They also help to optimize assembly speeds to enable better processing, greater output as well as lowering the associated costs. During recent years, along with the technological developments in medical device industry, the demand for medical device adhesive has also increased significantly. The minimal invasive procedures are the preferred methods that are being adopted over the traditional open surgery methods, such as endoscopy surgeries, endoscopic diagnostic procedures, and robotic-assisted surgeries. The endoscopic surgical process is widely followed for heart, lungs, stomach, and kidney related operations. The post-procedure wounds are sealed with surgical sutures, surgical staplers, sealants, or relevant adhesive tapes. However, due to technological advancements in wound closure methods, medical device adhesives are among the preferred products. For instance, an inguinal hernia is among the most common disorder observed among men and women, with surgical procedure being the only possible treatment. The primary type of operational procedures is open surgery and laparoscopy. According to OECD, there have been about 106,682 laparoscopic repairs recorded for inguinal hernia in Germany in 2017. The wound/cut sealing operations for these procedures usually involve medical sealants; thereby, offering a significant opportunity for market players during the forecast period. The European economy is severely affected due to the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases in the region. Various companies have undergone severe losses in the last quarter of 2019 and have negatively impacted the year 2020. Thus, the European companies are partnering with others to come up with solutions to deal with the pandemic. For instance, Permabond's production facilities in Milan, are allowed to remain fully operational under the life-sustaining business due to its adhesives for medical devices and ventilators at this time, but also due to the many other essential industries that rely on the continuation of supply of its adhesives for their production and operations. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regional medical device adhesive market is moderate. The acrylic segment held the largest share of the market in 2019, and is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period. Growth of this segment is attributed to the as evident use of acrylic solutions in wide range of applications such as dental, assembly of medical devices and equipment. Furthermore, medical grade acrylic is also ideal for use in interior and well as exterior medical applications that include skin tissue adhesives. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Market Landscape 4.1 Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 5. Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Key Market Dynamics 5.1 Key Market Drivers 5.1.1 Increasing Usage of Medical Device Adhesive 5.1.2 Technological Advancements in Medical Device Adhesive 5.2 Market Restraint 5.2.1 Complications Associated with Medical Device Adhesive 5.3 Market Opportunity 5.3.1 Rapid Surge in Number of Minimally Invasive Procedures 5.4 Future Trend 5.4.1 Increasing Adoption of Eco-Friendly and Biocompatible Solutions 5.5 Impact Analysis 6. Medical Device Adhesive Market Europe Analysis 6.1 Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Revenue Forecasts and Analysis 7. Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Analysis and Forecasts To 2027 By Resin Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market, By Resin Type 2019 2027 (%) 7.2.1 Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Revenue and Forecasts to 2027, By Resin Type (US$ Mn) 7.3 Acrylic 7.3.1.1 Overview 7.3.2 Europe Acrylic Market Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Mn) 7.4 Silicone 7.5 Cyanoacrylate 7.6 Polyurethanes 7.7 Light Curing 7.8 Epoxy 8. Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Analysis and Forecasts To 2027 By Device Type 8.1 Overview 8.2 Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market, By Device Type 2019 2027 (%) 8.3 Catheters 8.4 Wearable Medical Devices 8.4.3 Smartwatches 8.4.4 Wristband and Activity Monitors 8.4.5 Patches 8.4.6 Smart Clothing 8.5 Needles and Syringes 8.6 Pacemaker 8.7 Tube Sets 8.8 Masks 9. Medical Device Adhesive Market Revenue and Forecasts To 2027 Geographical Analysis 9.1 Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market Revenue and Forecasts To 2027 10. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Europe Medical Device Adhesive Market 10.1 Europe: Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 11. Company Profiles 3M Henkel AG COMPANY, KGAA Honle AG H.B. Fuller Company Permabond LLC, Inc For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/thxajf. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005734/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com 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 A British-Iranian academic has escaped from Iran on foot in a hazardous getaway through the mountains after he was sentenced to nine years in prison in the country. Kameel Ahmady, a dual national who has angered Iranian hard-liners with his work on sensitive issues like child marriage and FGM, was accused of working with foreign governments, visiting Israel and promoting homosexuality among other charges. He had previously been held in the same Evin prison in Tehran where fellow dual-national prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has also been detained by Iran. But while out on bail last December, he decided to flee the country, trekking through mountains with 'no lantern to light my path but the white snow'. After following the routes used by smugglers from Iraq and Turkey, he evaded Iranian border guards and eventually found his way to London. Kameel Ahmady (pictured), a British academic facing a nine-year prison term in Iran, escaped through the snowy mountains to get out of Iran in December Ahmady did not reveal the exact route he took out of Iran, but said he used routes commonly used by Turkish and Iraqi smugglers Ahmady described his journey out of Iran as 'very cold, very long, very dark and very scary'. 'I just simply left. I packed my bag with shaving kit, a few books of mine and a laptop and I think pyjamas... and warm clothes,' he told BBC radio. Ahmady said he had felt conflicted about escaping Iran, because he felt a 'strong responsibility to stay on and continue my work'. The anthropologist's previous research includes a 2015 study suggesting that thousands of Iranian women and girls had undergone FGM. The study earned him an invitation to speak at a UN panel in Geneva - but his work has also attracted the attention of Iranian authorities. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran says Ahmady has been targeted by hard-liners for his work on 'politically sensitive topics'. 'His research directly contradicts the views and statements of powerful clerics and political and religious conservatives who made and back policies that can expose vulnerable members of society to abuse and exploitation,' the centre said. In 2019, Iran said Ahmady had been detained over suspected links to foreign intelligence services, weeks after his wife first broke news of his arrest. Ahmady spent three months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he said he was subjected to 'so-called white torture, a psychological pressure they put on you.' He was released later that year on bail, but in December 2020 he was sentenced to nine years in prison and handed a $700,000 fine over a range of accusations. A copy of a court judgment released by Ahmady said he was handed an eight-year jail term for co-operating with the 'hostile state' of America. He was also found guilty of possessing alcohol and owning a pepper gas spray, earning an additional six months in prison on each count. But the judgment also laid out 15 pages of allegations about his links to 'subversive' foreign organisations and attempts to influence Iranian lawmakers. These included efforts to increase the age of child marriage, as well as his work on the lives of gay and lesbian people in Iran, where homosexuality is illegal. Ahmady told the BBC that as a dual-national and 'a researcher who was digging up sensitive issues,' he was aware he faced being detained. 'I always knew that I am an attractive and potential asset,' he said. 'But that doesn't mean that I have done anything wrong.' Authorities also accused Ahmady of sending false reports about the country to the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Iran. In addition, he was accused of visiting Israel - also illegal - on behalf of the BBC, but Ahmady says this was a trip to Palestine as a student and took place 15 years ago. Ahmady said the prison term was a 'tool for the Iranian security services and the justice ministry to intimidate and pressure the remaining few people who are working on social issues'. But he said he had decided to leave for the sake of his only child, and because he did not want to let the Iranian regime 'silence a voice that cried out about social problems'. 'My stay in a system that is opposed to any dialogue and concession would have given them a chance to take another human being as a hostage,' he said. Describing his daring escape, the told the Guardian that he he took the paths used by smugglers of goods from Iraq and Turkey, wading through deep snow and evading Iranian border patrols. 'Eventually, in a bitterly cold, dark night, I embarked on a journey,' he said, adding that he did not know whether Iranian authorities had discovered his escape. 'Every hour of that unforgettable night, with every path that opened before me through the tough route, I wondered whether there are any roads more impassable than prejudice, ignorance, tyranny and isolation from the rest of the world. 'Kurds are known to have no friends but mountains; on the night of my departure, with no lantern to light my path but the white snow, I realised again that the mountains were giving me a shelter and aiding me to start a new beginning with even stronger determination.' Ahmady said he did not want to reveal the exact route he took, but after getting out of Iran he managed to find his way back to London where he is now based. 'It's really lovely being back in the UK in such beautiful multi-cultural society where I found myself and learned so much about tolerance and respect for human rights,' he said. 'It's been an incredibly difficult time for me and my family and now it's an opportunity to get on, settle down and rebuild our lives in peace. Kameel Ahmady with his wife Shafagh Rahmani and the child who the academic said gave him a reason to flee Iran He added: 'I am not gone and will never be gone. I will undoubtedly return to the field of my research and studies, even if it be in a land which is so many miles away from my desired target groups. 'I will not put my social, scientific and civil responsibilities down. I will love more, hope more and learn more and do my best to realise the dreams I have for peace and prosperity.' Ahmady is one of numerous dual nationals to have been detained in Iran - which does not recognise the concept of dual citizenship - in recent years amid high tensions between Tehran and the West. In perhaps the most famous case, British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested and jailed on charges of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government. She is currently on temporary release from prison due to coronavirus after serving most of her five-year sentence, but is banned from leaving the country. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport in 2016 and has been kept in solitary confinement for some of her time in prison. She worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, but her family says she was on holiday with her young daughter Gabriella and denies she was plotting against Iran. Nonetheless, she was sentenced to five years in jail for allegedly 'plotting to topple the Iranian government'. A final appeal was rejected by Iran's Supreme Court in 2017, with Iranian media claiming she had planned the 'soft overthrow' of the clerical establishment. Religious Liberties and Parental Consent Under Threat From Victorias Conversion Therapy Ban: Research Centre The act of prayer under the Andrews governments proposed Conversion Therapy Bill could soon land Victorians in jail, thereby violating religious freedom and parental rights, a conservative think tank has said. The report released by Menzies Research Centre comes as the controversial Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill (pdf) is set to be debated in Victorias Legislative Council on Thursday. Under the proposed bill, prayer will be a criminal offence if its purpose is to change or suppress a persons sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill goes further than a similar law passed in Queensland last year, by prohibiting conversion practices that cause injury or serious injury not only in healthcare settings but also in religious settings. A survey of 500 Victorian residents aged 18 and over conducted by the think tank found that while 60 percent of Victorians aged 18 or over support the right to change their gender, only 25 percent think that saying a prayer for a person struggling with gender identity should be a criminal offence; 85 percent reject the right of the government to control the content of prayers. Additionally, almost 90 percent say it is important to be able to speak openly and honestly with a close family member under the age of 18 who is considering changing their gender. While Australians are broadly accepting of individual choices, whether on gender or matters of faith, the proposal to make it illegal to pray for someone is a step way too far for most people, Nick Cater, executive director of the Menzies Research Centre, told Newscorps Herald Sun. Victorian MPs should have the confidence to throw out these proposals that are rejected by a clear majority of voters across the political spectrum. Several religious leaders have also raised issue with the bill, including Melbournes Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli and Bishop Brad Billings of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. (The bill) has some potentially serious unintended consequences in respect to fundamental human rights such as the freedom of speech, the protection of religious belief and freedom of conscience, Bishop Billings said in a statement to AAP. It potentially criminalises the provision of pastoral care and may limit the ability of parents to guide their children. Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes told The Age: The new laws strike the right balance between protecting people from the serious harm caused by change or suppression practices, while respecting the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We consulted closely with survivors, LGBTIQ+ organisations and religious organisations on the legislation to make sure it is effective in stamping out abhorrent change and suppression practices once and for all. Andy Meddick from the Animal Justice Party, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Samantha Ratnam of the Greens confirmed on Feb. 2 they will back the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill. The Victorian Legislative Assembly passed the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill on Dec. 10. An amendment to pause the bill, which the opposition Liberal Party put forward before Parliament closed for the year, failed. All 55 MPs in the chamber voted in favour for the bill, while members of the opposition were not present. AAP contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) One person died while 65 others were rushed to the hospital following an ammonia leak from an ice plant in Navotas City on Wednesday. Fire authorities said 22 out of the 65 injured were transported to Tondo Medical Center, while the remaining 43 were brought to Navotas Hospital. Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco identified the facility as the T.P. Marcelo Ice Plant and Cold Storage and disclosed that it is owned by his mother and her siblings. Authorities are investigating the cause of the leak. Ang unang ginawa is malikas yung mga tao and number two, masara yung balbula. Susunod na titingnan nila is kung nasira ba yung tubo or human error, Tiangco said in an interview. [Translation: The first thing they did was to evacuate the residents, and then second, close the valve. They will next look into whether the valve was broken, or was caused by human error.] On Wednesday afternoon, residents of North Bay Boulevard South were seen along Road 10 and nearby areas covering their noses due to the foul smell. Ambulances, fire trucks, police personnel, and MMDA enforcers were deployed to the area. A number of residents fainted, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority reported. The Bureau of Fire Protection said a 44-year-old man died. Exposure to ammonia, a chemical used in refrigeration systems, can result in irritation, severe respiratory injuries, and could be fatal at high concentrations, according to health experts. Around 5,000 residents were allowed to return home at around 8 p.m. after the situation was declared under control. Authorities declared the leak was contained past 10 p.m. Using vaccines to prevent painful or deadly illnesses in cattle and other livestock is something all farmers are familiar with. We trust the effectiveness of the products, the regulations and testing they go through for approval, and their usefulness in limiting disease on the farm. Yet, Americans living in rural areas are among the least likely to support the newly approved vaccines for preventing COVID-19 in humans. Janice Keene of Memphis, Tenn., who grew up on a dairy farm in Maine, hopes her story of participating in the trial for Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine will help other Americans, particularly those that have worked with livestock, feel safe to receive the immunization. Keenes interest in being part of the trial partially stemmed from her career working with animal health companies that develop livestock vaccines. She witnessed firsthand the stringent processes researchers go through to make sure a product is safe and effective before even submitting it for government approval, which is a lengthy journey in itself. I was blessed to work with so many great scientists and veterinarians who really helped explain the process to me and also instilled in me a great trust in good science and how important that was to all animal health products, she said on a December episode of Farming the Countryside podcast. Back to normal That scientific background made her realize early on in the pandemic that a vaccine would be extremely important to curbing the disease. She was dedicated to making that a reality, and she signed up everywhere she could to participate in a trial. I just had a feeling and a strong belief that my life would get back to normal much faster if I had access to the vaccines, Keene said. I also realize that some people may have been apprehensive about being part of a trial, and I thought that it was just a really important way that I could contribute at this stage of my life and career. In August, she received a call from one of the companies recruiting trial volunteers in her area. After reviewing her health history, the doctor determined that she met the parameters of the study and set up an in-person visit for Keene to receive a treatment. The trial At her first appointment on August 31, Keene explained that she and a group of volunteers, including some healthcare workers, watched a video from Pfizer explaining the processes of the trial and potential side effects. She met with a nurse to discuss her health history again, go through a physical, and do blood work and a COVID-19 test to make sure she hadnt already been exposed. The nurse then administered Keenes injection, which could have been the vaccine or a placebo. In the double-blind experiment, neither the doctor nor the patient knows who receives what. The only person who knows, actually still to this point, whether I received the vaccine or the placebo is the nurse who actually administered the injection, Keene said. Before she left the doctors office, Keene downloaded an app where she reports weekly if she has had any COVID-19 symptoms or exposure. She was also sent home with an at-home COVID-19 test, a thermometer, and instructions on what to do if she was exposed. A bit of soreness in her arm and some aches the following day were her only reactions to the injection. I had some aches and pains, but on Day 2, that all started going away, she said. It actually reminded me of when Id gotten a pneumonia vaccine in the past. Three weeks later, Keene returned for a follow-up visit to receive her second injection and to describe her reaction to the nurse. Because of her mild symptoms, she believes she received the vaccine and not the placebo. Keene went back another month later, and blood was drawn to determine her level of COVID-19 antibodies. Her next blood draws are scheduled for March, September, and a year after that, she explained. Its an ongoing process. Theyll be tracking me for at least two years through this process, she said. Worldwide, about 44,000 people are involved in the Pfizer/BioNTech trial, Keene said. Her understanding is that the company will continue to track the people that received the placebo, too, and let them know to get vaccinated when it is available to them. Background research Keene said she saw many similarities between this trial and ones she worked with for livestock vaccines. Research is, of course, the first step, and in the case of COVID-19, scientists all over the world were working fast and collaborating on this stage of the process early in the pandemic. Once a company identifies that it wants to try to control this virus, theyre going to do what we call basic research. Theyre going to come up with a small group of vaccine candidates that have an antigen thats what they put in a vaccine to create the immune reaction and theyre going to pick what they think will be the best vaccine candidates, she described. From there, the company moves into two phases of development. First, they want to evaluate the safety to make sure its going to be safe for the animal or the person that actually receives the vaccine, Keene said. Then they determine which dose level of the best candidates are going to create the best outcomes for the future. Then they move into Phase 3, and thats the part of the trial that I have been part of with the Pfizer vaccine. At that point, theyre testing their best candidates, but theyre doing it in a much larger population of people or animals, she explained. Theyre going to continue to evaluate it for safety because they want to watch and make sure there arent any potential adverse reactions that they didnt see in that smaller population that they had tested before. Only then can regulatory review and licensing take place. For animals, this is done by USDA, but with human vaccines, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible. FDA will review the trial data presented by the company and also examines the data itself. Keene continued, At this time, FDA is also reviewing the manufacturing facilities and processes, wanting to make sure everything about how that vaccine is packaged and ready to go into the arm of someone is okay. The drug is still monitored after it is released for use. A forever part of the process is what they call post-approval monitoring, Keene said. The FDA, on an ongoing basis, will always monitor the manufacturing processes and the facilities; theyll check vaccines to make sure theyre potent, theyre safe, and theyre as pure as they need to be. If theres ever an adverse event and this happens with animals as well as human vaccines something unexplained, some health issue or health condition that crops up, that has to be reported to the FDA. It then investigates to see if this was caused by the vaccine potentially or just something else that happened to occur. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, more questions will continue to be answered as more trial data comes in. Still, Keene trusts that the emergency use authorization process has done its due diligence. Having gone through the process as a patient, my level of confidence in our U.S. government regulatory authorities is even higher than it was before. I trust the process implicitly, she said. It took huge commitments from governments, from universities, and from companies individually to make this happen, because normally all these steps we just talked about take place sequentially and they take place over a period of years, she pointed out. Since COVID-19 was recognized as such a threat, collecting and analyzing the data was made a top priority, Keene added. The process was also jumpstarted by years of background research developing already approved vaccine-technology platforms that allow antigens to be incorporated into vaccines more rapidly. Its so easy to take for granted the medical tools we have available for animals and humans, Keene concluded. Good science is to thank for these advancements, and that same process is now making the COVID-19 vaccines possible. She encourages everyone to get vaccinated. The only way to achieve herd immunity by not getting vaccinated and exposing everyone to the virus is to accept horrendously large death counts and disability counts from the virus, she said. The best way to protect the people you love is to get the vaccination yourself. UPDATE: Since the recording of the podcast, Keene reports that Pfizer has unblinded its U.S. trial participants, and those that received a placebo injection will be vaccinated by the end of February. She received confirmation that she did get the vaccine itself, and she will continue to participate in the trial to help Pfizer and BioNTech better understand how long the vaccine-induced immunity might last. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021 February 1, 2021 London: James Graham, the man behind shows such as Brexit: The Uncivil War" and Quiz", has created a new show, titled Sherwood" for BBC. Inspired in part by real events, the six-part series is set in the Nottinghamshire mining village where he grew up, BBC said in a press release. The story will see two murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history. Suspicion is rife and the tragic murders threaten to inflame historic divisions sparked during the miners strike that tore families apart three decades before. To solve the murders, police inspectors Ian St Clair, from the local constabulary, and Kevin Salisbury from the Met, must reunite and bury a rivalry that stretches back to 1984, in an attempt to heal wounds, and catch a killer," the official plotline read. Graham reteams with banner House Productions, the company behind Brexit", for the new project. It means the world to have this opportunity to bring the voices of a community I grew up in to BBC One. So much is spoken about the divisions and difficulties in these Red Wall towns, but theyre not always understood. I feel so honoured to be able to tell a fictionalised story about a very real trauma, but with the humour and heart and resilience of the people I know and love there," the writer said. Lewis Arnold is lead director and an executive producer with Rebecca Hodgson serving as the producer. Juliette Howell, Tessa Ross and Harriet Spencer are executive producers for House Productions and Ben Irving will executive produce for BBC. Sherwood" will begin filming later this year in Nottinghamshire. Outback Goldfields (CSE: OZ- FSE: S600) CEO Chris Donaldson joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news about the company which started operating in 2020 and trades on the CSE. It's also now trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany with the ticker S600. Donaldson shares with Proactive more about their recent capital raise that netted 11 million dollars and their projects that are in the Victorian Goldfields of Australia which is seeing another major boom thanks to a massive discovery. Admin gears up as Hisar farmers get set to protest today Punjab MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu hoists black flag at his residence in support of protesting farmers Watch: Stage on which farmer leader Tikait was standing collapses India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: The stage on which the Bharatiya Kisan Union (A) leader Rakesh Tikait and other farmer-leaders were standing collapsed at Jind, Haryana. Farmer leaders fall as stage collapses beneath them: Watch | Oneindia News The incident took place when a Mahapanchayat was underway in Jind. #WATCH | The stage on which Bharatiya Kisan Union (Arajnaitik) leader Rakesh Tikait & other farmer leaders were standing, collapses in Jind, Haryana. A 'Mahapanchayat' is underway in Jind. pic.twitter.com/rBwbfo0Mm1 ANI (@ANI) February 3, 2021 The Kandela khap, which had spearheaded a farmers' agitation in Haryana nearly two decades ago, has lent its support to farmers against the new farm laws. Farmers protests have caused inconvenience to residents: Centre Several other khaps too are backing the agitation. Tekram Kandela said at Wednesday's event, issues including the demand to repeal the farm laws and a legal guarantee of the minimum support price will be taken up. "The Centre should talk to farmers and immediately find a resolution as thousands of farmers have been holding the agitation for months now. The prime minister should himself talk to the farmers to find an early solution," Kandela said. Meanwhile, Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni reached Surewala Chowk in Hisar district''s Uklana and addressed a group of farmers, where he sought their support for the countrywide "chakka jam" called by farmer unions on February 6. Farmer unions on Monday announced to block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the Internet ban in areas near their agitation sites and the alleged harassment meted out to them by the authorities. Comply! Govt to Twitter on farmer protest hashtag Chaduni also criticised the government's move of parking buses to seal the main entry points, putting up multi-layer barricades and checkpoints at the Delhi's Ghazipur border, the new focal point of the farmers' agitation. He said the farmers' agitation will continue till the time the government does not withdraw the farm laws. 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 If youre reading this, online or in print, odds are that you have broadband internet access. And youve probably relied on it, even more than you used to, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic to attend meetings or classes on Zoom; to search for a vaccine appointment; to have groceries delivered. or to binge-watch television on Netflix (Remember Tiger King?). So you can understand why many Texans were heartened by the fact that Gov. Greg Abbott has declared expanding broadband access to all Texans an emergency item for this years legislative session, which began in January. In his annual State of the State address Monday night, Abbott highlighted the crucial role that telemedicine has played in the statewide response to the new coronavirus. Its convenient! Its convenient for both the patient and the doctor, Abbott said. We should seize the opportunity this session to permanently expand telemedicine so that every Texan in every region of the state can benefit from it. To that end, he continued, we need to ensure access to high-speed internet for everyone in the state. From medicine to education to business, broadband access is not a luxury, Abbott said. It is an essential tool that must be available to all Texans. As things stand, it isnt. A November 2020 report from the Governors Broadband Development Council created by legislation in the 2019 session found that some 930,000 Texans do not have broadband access at home. (This is particularly problematic for those who need to attend school virtually, visit a doctor online, or work remotely, either due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other factors, the report notes.) The number who have access in theory but not in practice is even larger than that, according to data from the Census Bureau, which shows that Texans who live in the south and west regions of the state are particularly underserved. The problem is of particular concern to rural Texans, who are both more likely to lack access to broadband providers and more likely to have a need of the services that broadband allows one to access. But there are internet deserts in urban and suburban areas, as well. A 2018 report from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance found that Laredo and Brownsville were the worst connected cities in the entire country, as of 2017; both have also seen some of the highest COVID infection rates in the state. While some may see this as a rural issue, it is not. It is a Texas issue, said state Rep. Angie Chen Button, a Republican of Richardson and longtime Texas Instruments executive who has been working to expand broadband access for several sessions. It is said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The same is true for our technology infrastructure. State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat who represents House District 135 in northwest Harris County, notes that the shift to remote learning, necessitated by the pandemic, has vivified the issue. Cy-Fair ISD trustees last year voted to spend up to $44 million for laptops and access to wireless hot spots so that all the students in the district could get online. Its kind of a key to being able to function remotely for a lot of people, Rosenthal told me. Its just part of modernizing our whole infrastructure. Its an equity thing. A number of legislators, he added, had filed bills related to broadband access even before Abbotts speech, and its an area where he sees the potential for action by the state. Who thinks its not a good idea to expand broadband access? Rosenthal asked, slightly bemused. And perhaps the most intriguing part of Abbotts decision to list broadband access as an emergency item is that it creates the potential for lawmakers to take early action on a bipartisan really, nonpartisan public policy priority. The emergency item designation means lawmakers can pass bills on the subject during the first 60 calendar days of the session and that Republicans, most of whom are keen to stay in the good graces of the governor, have an incentive to do so. Thats all the more true because Abbotts other emergency items are less likely to elicit broad-based support. They are bail reform, COVID-related liability protections for businesses, election integrity, and preventing cities well, were really talking about Austin from defunding the police. (Austin officials did cut the police department budget last year, but the lions share of cuts were from shifting civilian functions to other agencies and establishing a Reimagine Safety fund). Overall, Abbotts State of the State address received mixed reviews, with many Democrats puzzled by the fact that the governor didnt list COVID-19 recovery, overall, as an emergency item. While we agree that improving broadband access and expanding telemedicine are laudable goals, there was more bad than good in the governors remarks, said Manuel Grajeda, Texas strategist for UnidosUS, the nationwide HIspanic civil rights and advocacy organization previously known as the National Council of La Raza, in a statement. Nearly 40,000 Texans have died from the coronavirus, a disproportionate amount of them being Black and Hispanic. Thats true, and recovery from the pandemic is an overarching issue that should be on the minds of all legislators. But tackling the expansion of broadband to all Texans as part of that response is an area where progress is indeed possible, this year, To see such progress from our state government would be welcome. erica.grieder@chron.com Asked when there would be enough women on the nine-seat US Supreme Court bench, the late trailblazing judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously said: When there are nine. The NSW Local Court has not quite achieved this feat, but is within a whisker of a milestone that eludes most courts - gender parity. Robyn Richardson will be sworn in as a NSW Local Court magistrate on February 15. Credit:Nick Moir On Thursday the state government will announce five new magistrates, four of whom are women. It brings the total number of women on the Local Court to 69, one magistrate shy of 50 per cent of the total of 140. Robyn Richardson, a leading criminal defence lawyer in Sydney, is among the appointees and starts on February 15. Crown group, which specialises in defence aerospace maintenance, on Wednesday announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Russian aircraft corporation MiG for providing post-warranty support to the Indian Navy's MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighter jets. The Delhi-based group in a statement said that one of its companies Aviatech Enterprises Pvt Ltd (AEPL) has entered into a "framework agreement" with joint stock company MiG in this regard. Besides defence aerospace maintenance, the group also specialises in repair and operations, and aviation engineering services. The group has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian company United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) for maintenance and servicing of ships. "AEPL will be the in-country authorised partner for RAC MiG for providing post-warranty product support for MiG 29K/KUB aircraft, associated systems, ground support equipment and special to type test equipment in the inventory of the Indian Navy," the statement said. The currently has around 40 MiG-29K (single seat) and MiG-29KUB (double seat) aircraft in its fleet. AEPL's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rear Admiral (retd) Srinivas Kanugo said, "The association of Indian partner, AEPL, in the follow-on support contracts addresses critical maintenance, logistic and supply chain issues on a 24X7 basis, thus enhancing the availability of aircraft and associated systems." The framework agreement has been concluded between AEPL and MiG under an inter-governmental agreement that was signed between India and Russia in September 2019, the statement said. On servicing of navy ships, the group said that its exclusive cooperation agreement with the USC also covers "manufacturing and supply of spares" for the The MoU was signed on Wednesday between USC and OSK India, a company of the Crown group. CEO, OSK India, Commodore (retd) Rakesh Anand said, "The Indian Navy possesses a substantial fleet of Russian warships and submarines which have been acquired over the years." "These ships and submarines require continuous maintenance support so as to be combat ready," 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.) HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe, the ultra-popular restaurant brand specializing in sweet and savory crepes, hot drinks and more, has earned a spot on QSR Magazine's 2021 40/40 List. This impressive placement recognizes Sweet Paris as one of 40 emerging fast-casual restaurant concepts with under 40 locations across the country. The 40/40 List is a signature report produced annually by QSR magazine. Now in its fifth year, the list highlights 40 emerging limited-service restaurant companies with fewer than 40 locations that have potential to become the next big thing. Weighing brand performance, menu innovation, uniqueness of model, and buzz-worthiness, QSR editors choose from among hundreds of submissions every year in selecting an entirely new crop of quick-service and fast-casual restaurant concepts that are resetting the restaurant paradigm and driving the industry forward. "It's rare that you see an emerging restaurant concept that practically owns a category to itself and with seemingly infinite white space, but Sweet Paris is that kind of concept," says Sam Oches, editorial director of Food News Media, publisher of QSR. "Specializing in sweet and savory crepes served in an Instagram-friendly cafe setting, Sweet Paris has established itself as a fresh entry into the fast-casual category, one that taps into consumers' sense of adventure and demand for brands that fit into their lifestyles. With franchising underway, Sweet Paris has an incredible opportunity to take this modern cafe experience to markets all across the U.S. and beyond. That made it an easy decision to include the brand on our 40/40 List." Founded in 2012 by Allison and Ivan Chavez to "Revive the Art of Eating Crepes" one creperie at a time, Sweet Paris has quickly become one of the hottest restaurant franchises in Houston with an extravagant ambiance and delicious food and drinks made of the highest quality ingredients and bold flavors. Sweet Paris' menu contains items to please any guest's appetite, including crepes, waffles, salads, paninis, soups, milkshakes, frozen mimosas, hot espresso and Nutella drinks. Families, friends and couples can enjoy their artful, tasty food and drinks in a beautiful setting for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner or dessert. "We are incredibly excited and grateful to be part of such a celebrated list. An honor like this really speaks to the passionate work and dedication our team puts in every single day," said Allison Chavez, Sweet Paris co-founder. "We are so eager to share our delicious offerings with new guests as we continue expansion across the country." Sweet Paris is seeking Strategic Partners who can partake in the brand's mission to "Revive the Art of Eating Crepes", preferably entrepreneurs with experience in the hospitality or food industry and who are excited by challenges. Strategic Partners receive extensive training and support from the company's executive team, based in Houston, to bring their restaurants to life, including help with real estate selection, buildout, marketing, and more. The brand currently has 11 restaurants and has deals signed to bring Sweet Paris to Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Major metro areas such as New York City, Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles are currently being targeted for growth. For more information on Sweet Paris, visit www.sweetparis.com , and for more information on Strategic Partnership opportunities, please visit www.sweetparisfranchise.com . ABOUT SWEET PARIS: Founded in Houston, TX in 2012 by Ivan and Allison Chavez, Sweet Paris Creperie & Cafe is a fast-growing restaurant franchise specializing in sweet and savory crepes, waffles, salads, hot drinks and more. With its Instagram-worthy interiors and menu items made from the highest quality ingredients and bold flavors, Sweet Paris crafts dishes that are as delicious as they are beautiful. On a mission to "Revive the Art of Eating Crepes," Sweet Paris is seeking qualified Strategic Partners, especially those with a background in hospitality, to expand the concept in new markets. For more information about the brand, please visit www.sweetparis.com , @sweetparis on Instagram and https://www.facebook.com/SweetParisCrepes . For more information on Strategic Partnership opportunities, please visit www.sweetparisfranchise.com . SOURCE Sweet Paris Related Links https://www.sweetparis.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. Nearly 50 South Side residents listed transportation, economic development and access to food as key challenges for the area during the first of four input sessions that will help guide Bexar County decisions on use of federal funds. Public feedback from the meetings this week and next week will help shape the countys 2021-2025 Consolidated Plan, 2021 Annual Action Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice all required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for participation in the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs. A set of draft plans are expected to be developed in May and presented to the public for more input this summer. On ExpressNews.com: Wolff asks rodeo to postpone amid COVID concerns Precinct 1 residents said lack of food availability is especially a problem during the pandemic. The access to food here on the South Side of Bexar County is non-existent, Sandy Oaks Mayor Micki Ball said during the first meeting Tuesday night. Ball said she supports affordable housing initiatives, but also sees a need for capital projects and services to help bring prosperity to more people on the South Side. Economic development and transportation and food access are really critical needs out here, she added. Melissa Mailloux, principal with Mosaic Community Planning, hired by the county to facilitate the process, said the plans and housing analysis will guide decisions on the countys use of CDBG, which covers a big umbrella of infrastructure, services and support to benefit folks with low or moderate incomes; HOME, which is focused on affordable housing; and ESG, designed to aid the homeless or people at risk for homelessness. The housing analysis will identify discriminatory housing practices and examine geographic and demographic patterns, as well as proximity to quality schools, libraries, grocery stores and other amenities. In 2020, the county received $2.4 million in CDBG funds and $700,000 from HOME, Mailloux said. This is your chance to give your input about how youd like to see, really, your money being spent here, she said. Precinct 1 residents also voiced the need for streets, sidewalks, lighting, water and sewer services, wireless internet access, animal control, financial literacy training for first-time home buyers and developer incentives to encourage construction of affordable housing. Some offered praise and called for continued support for the Somerset Senior Citizens Center, which has provided hot meals to seniors in the area during the pandemic, through pickup or delivery services. On ExpressNews.com: New leader will fill Precinct 1 commissioners post A lot of these people, I think Im about the only person they see every day, said Bruce Anderson, who drives a van delivering meals for the center. Its very important to them, and its also very important to us. More virtual meetings, all set for 6:30 p.m., will be held Thursday in Precinct 2, Feb. 9 in Precinct 3 and Feb. 11 in Precinct 4. Residents can join the Zoom sessions at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82787323299, or participate by phone by calling 346-248-7799 (meeting ID: 827 8732 3299). Spanish interpretation is available. People also can take a survey at bexarcountyHUDplan.com, or send comments to info@mosaiccommunityplanning.com. shuddleston@express-news.net ATLANTA, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PrimeRevenue, Inc., the leading platform for working capital finance solutions, welcomes Gavin Cicchinelli as its new Chief Operating Officer. With more than two decades of leadership and executive experience along with a deep understanding of the payments space, Gavin brings a unique focus on improving and strengthening operational strategies and implementing go-to-market growth execution. He will be instrumental in leading transformation across the company's corporate and operational strategies during a time of exciting growth for the company. In addition to driving commercial expansion that aligns with PrimeRevenue's core business, Gavin will explore and deliver key adjacent growth opportunities that will deliver exceptional value for new and existing clients. "I am excited to join a high-growth and rapidly evolving organization at PrimeRevenue, where innovation and curiosity are ingrained in every aspect of the business. I look forward to partnering with the team, customers, and partners to accelerate core and adjacent business growth opportunities. The future at PrimeRevenue is very bright and I look forward to being an integral part of taking this company to the next level," said Cicchinelli. Prior to joining PrimeRevenue, Gavin served as President and Chief Revenue Officer of Integrated solutions at TSYS, a publicly traded global payment processing services company acquired by Global Payments in late 2019. There, he also served as Head of Product and divisional COO before being pulled back into a P&L role. Gavin joined TSYS via acquisition of TransFirst, a privately held provider of payment processing and POS solutions across North America. He held multiple leadership positions within the company, including VP of Sales and SVP of Business Development. At the time of acquisition by TSYS, Gavin was promoted to lead organizational integration efforts as President of Financial Institutions. "Gavin is going to be a great fit with our existing team, and I am confident he will help our organization and our clients take bold and aggressive steps towards achieving our full potential," said PJ Bain, CEO of PrimeRevenue. About PrimeRevenue PrimeRevenue's supply chain finance (approved payables financing) solutions help organizations in 80+ countries optimize their working capital to efficiently fund strategic initiatives, gain a competitive advantage and strengthen relationships throughout the supply chain. As the leading provider of working capital financial technology solutions, PrimeRevenue's diverse multi-funder platform processes more than USD$250 billion in payment transactions per year. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in London, Prague, Hong Kong and Melbourne. Additional information about PrimeRevenue can be found at www.primerevenue.com | Twitter: @primerevenue | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/primerevenue. Contact: Ariane Wolff, (978) 729-3542, [email protected] SOURCE PrimeRevenue, Inc. Related Links http://www.primerevenue.com ( ) is in the process of collating phase-2 reverse circulation (RC) drill assays with downhole density and structural data at the East Sampson Gold prospect within the Silver Swan North Project in Western Australias Goldfields. The company aims to complete metallurgical sighter test-work with master composite analysis during 2021, along with a review of downhole logging and diamond drill data to define structural controls on gold mineralisation. Other key activities include reviewing the geotechnical report on ESD diamond core, undertake air core drilling on historic auger gold anomalies and define a resource model and mineral resource estimate. Excellent progress Managing director Shane Sadleir said: Mohos exploration team continue to make excellent progress at East Sampson Dam. The initial phase-2 RC drill results extend gold mineralisation down plunge at the southern end of the prospect and highlight the potential to discover additional gold mineralisation at the prospect. Phase-2 of the current resource infill drilling program finished in early January 2021 and totalled 45 holes for 3,850 metres of drilling. The drilling highlighted several significant gold intersections. All holes were sampled with a primary and duplicate sample collected on a 1m basis from the cone splitter and samples were analysed at Bureau Veritas Laboratories Perth by 40g fire assay and AAS finish, with certified reference material (CRM) inserted every 33 samples and duplicates assayed every 50 samples throughout the program. Moho continues to experience long delays of up to 8 weeks in receiving assay results from Perth assay laboratories. Additional ESD RC assay results will be reported as they become available. Geophysical logging of RC holes Following the completion of drilling at East Sampson Dam in January 2021, Moho contracted Wireline Services Ltd from Perth to undertake down hole logging with geophysical probes of the 7 diamond holes and 10 RC holes. The output from this work was magnetic susceptibility, density and calliper, as well as televiewer (optical and acoustic) data for each hole. These data will be used to elucidate structural information and rock density to aid resource modelling and planning of further drill holes. Despite having to contend with both public health and economic crises in 2020, this recognition validates that our work and the solutions we delivered to our clients never faltered, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner at PKF OConnor Davies. PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, one of the nations largest accounting, tax, and advisory firms, announced today it has been named to Americas Best Tax and Accounting Firms List 2021 by Forbes. The recognition, which specifically highlights the Firms tax services, reflects an unwavering commitment to exceeding the needs of clients by providing expert and personalized service. Despite having to contend with both public health and economic crises in 2020, this recognition validates that our work and the solutions we delivered to our clients never faltered, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner at PKF OConnor Davies. As our clients continue to encounter change and challenge in 2021, we remain focused on our role as a key ally and partner. Forbes, alongside independent market research institute and statistics platform Statista, constructed its 2021 Best Tax and Accounting Firms List by identifying 278 of the top-recommended firms in the United States according to surveys conducted among tax and accounting professionals and their clients. A total of 250 firms were recommended for their tax services, 200 firms were recommended for their accounting services and 172 firms were recommended for both services. PKF OConnor Davies has 14 offices in six states and continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions on the East Coast. It has supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with tactical external hires. About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full-service certified public accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, 14 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Florida, and Rhode Island and more than 900 professionals led by over 100 partners, the Firm provides a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax, and management advisory services. PKF OConnor Davies is a top-ranked firm according to Accounting Todays 2020 Top 100 Firms list, and the Firm is also recognized as a Leader in Audit and Accounting, a Pacesetter in Growth, and one of the Top Firms in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2021 rankings, PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America, and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. The Firm is the 12th largest accounting firm in the New York Metropolitan area, according to Crains New York Business, and the 10th top accounting firm in New Jersey according to NJBizs 2019 rankings. PKF OConnor Davies is enrolled in the AICPA Peer Review Program and has central memberships in the Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center (EBPAQC), Government Audit Quality Center (GAQC), and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). By consistently delivering proactive, thorough, and efficient service, PKF O'Connor Davies has built long-lasting, valuable relationships with its clients. Partners are closely involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firms seasoned professional staff members employ a team approach to all engagements to provide clients with the utmost quality and timely services aimed at helping them succeed. Continuity of staffing and attention to detail in all client engagements make the Firm stand out among its competitors. PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting, tax, and business advisory services in over 400 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience, and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment. For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com. # # # FP Trending Reliance Jio has rolled out a new version of 2.0.3 of its JioPages app on Android. The company had rolled out the update on Tuesday and it is available for download on Google Play Store. The update brings a lot of new features that include offline view, new languages, and more. Before the update, JioPage users were able to browse content and read the news in 12 languages including English and 11 other regional languages like Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi. The company has now added support for three more languages Punjabi, Assamese, and Odia. For changing the language preference in the app the users will have to visit the bottom menu, followed with settings, preference, select app language, wherein the users can select the preferred language for individual preference. Other than support for more languages, Reliance Jio also added support for new quizzes and games in the app. Users will now get to play quizzes from 16 different categories of Maths, GK, IPL, History, and Politics. Users can access the quiz by accessing the home screen, followed by quiz shortcut, and play the quiz. The update also comes with a reader mode in the JioPages app that offers bigger fonts to make the overall viewing simple. The update will also allow users to go to change the colour of the text, and font size for a comfortable reading experience. Lastly, Jio has also launched the offline view mode by which users will be able to save webpages as PDF or print. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost Ant Group Co has agreed on a restructuring plan with Chinese regulators under which the fintech giant will be turned into a financial holding company, Bloomberg News reported. The plan calls for putting all of Ants businesses into the holding company, including its technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food-delivery, according to a report posted on Bloombergs website. It cited people familiar with the matter as saying that an official announcement could come before the start of Chinas Lunar New Year holiday which begins on Feb. 11. Ant declined to comment. The company, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, was set to make its market debut in November. However, an October speech by its founder Jack Ma in which he blasted Chinas regulatory system kicked off a series of events that eventually led to the suspension of Ants $37 billion IPO. Chinese regulators since warned Ant that they intended to impose tighter regulations on the company. Now a screenwriter in Los Angeles, Porter didnt give much thought back then to the influence his father was exerting on the world outside those chambers. But when the older Porter, a longtime resident of Chicagos Beverly neighborhood, died of cancer Jan. 5 at age 90, his legacy became clear. Eurosets, a leader in the development, production and commercialization of advanced medical devices, announces the full commercial release of its novel ECMOlife system for ExtraCorporeal Life Support (ECLS). This release comes after a successful pre-market clinical evaluation in which critically ill patients were supported by the device for a cumulative period of over 400 days with the longest individual treatment lasting 27 days. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005034/en/ Eurosets ECMOlife system for ExtraCorporeal Life Support (ECLS) (Photo: Eurosets) ECMOlife expands Eurosets' portfolio to provide temporary support to patients in different therapeutic areas, including ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) and Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS). These therapies are used to treat patients suffering from ventricular disease, cardiac arrest or respiratory failure resulting from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), H1N1, SARS, or COVID-19 infections ECMOLife is a life-saving device that is able to temporarily replace the functions of severely compromised heart and lungs. The device acts as an external artificial organ connected to the patient through the main blood vessels and is used in cases where pharmacological therapy is considered insufficient. Featuring a magnetic-levitating centrifugal pump, optimal performance and enhanced biocompatibility, ECMOlife is the most gentle, safe and versatile solution for ECLS. It is also the only device available on the market with an integrated backup system, ensuring greater patient safety and easier management for healthcare professionals even during extra-hospital transports ECMOlife underwent a pre-market evaluation across nine centers in Europe. The device was adopted for treatment of critically ill Covid-19 patients when mechanical ventilation was unsuccessful, as well as patients suffering from post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock, undergoing lung transplant or requiring cardiopulmonary assistance. One of the first centers to use ECMOlife was the University Hospital of Brussels. The ECLS team, led by Prof. Dr. Meir, Head of Cardiac Surgery, Prof. Dr. De Waele, Head of the ICU and Dr. Kurt Staessens, Head of the Cardiovascular Perfusion Group, reported about their experience: "We are really pleased with the performance of ECMOLife. The magnetic levitation technology can reduce the level of hemolysis and the risk of thrombus generation. In addition, the non-invasive monitoring system combined with the unique integrated backup unit may improve patient care, ensuring additional safety in the event of an emergency". "Our mission is to offer new solutions to patients who do not benefit from traditional therapies and ECMOLife is fully in line with these core beliefs", said Antonio Petralia, Executive Vice President CEO of Eurosets. "Our device supported critically ill patients for 6 months since its pre-market clinical evaluation release in Europe and we are now very proud to have it fully available to help patients and clinicians worldwide." www.eurosets.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005034/en/ Contacts: Press Office Ilenia Franchi ilenia.franchi@elettrapr.it +39 3939079914 LEBANON A $750,000 gift will endow new scholarships offered by the McKendree University Division of Nursing. The impact of the COVID-19 virus has dramatically reinforced the need for a health care workforce skilled in community nursing, said Dr. Richelle Rennegarbe, nursing division chair. The Division of Nursing is honored and thrilled to have received a $750,000 donation from Nancye Doros to celebrate the memory of her daughter, Diana Joyce Doros. Because of Mrs. Doros generosity, we will be able to provide $5,000 scholarships to nurses practicing in the field of population health. The $5,000 Diana Joyce Doros Endowed Scholarship will be available each year to qualified nurses who do not receive tuition reimbursement from their employers. Applicants may include nurses working in critical access hospitals, public health departments, primary care provider practices, schools and parishes, home health agencies and hospices. The new scholarship was made possible by the generosity of the late Nancye Doros of Oceanside, California. During her annual visits to the area, she became familiar with McKendree University through a local family friend who serves on the Board of Trustees. She visited the campus, enjoyed events at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts, and recognized the quality and value of a McKendree education, said President Daniel Dobbins. Doros made a $750,000 gift in memory of her daughter, Diana, remembering the nurses who helped and cared for Diana, who had cancer before she passed away in 1994. Mrs. Doros knew the potential and lasting impact her gift would have on health outcomes in communities at the local, state and national levels, said Dobbins. Scholarship applications will be accepted until July 15 for the fall 2021 semester, which begins in August. For information about applying to the McKendree nursing program, visit www.mckendree.edu/bsn or www.mckendree.edu/msn; or call Carol Fairlie, student services specialist, at (618) 537-6507. To be eligible for the Doros Scholarship, a student must be initiating a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program or a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program in population health. What a wonderful opportunity for nurses serving our rural hospitals in Illinois, said Pat Schou, ICAHN executive director. Rarely are there education funds to help student nurses and those nurses seeking advanced degrees so they can work in their rural communities. McKendree University has been a good partner to rural hospitals and educating many of the nurses in our rural hospitals today. Centre sets up 8-member panel to examine need for exempting GST on Covid essentials Give them Nobel: Mahindra on report of UK firm developing pill-based COVID vaccine India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, Feb 03: Sharing a report on a UK-based biotech firm that is working on putting a COVID-19 vaccine into a pill, Indian billionaire businessman Anand Mahindra has referred it as "one of the most vital innovations the world needs". "Don't know if there's any validity in this report. But would the Nobel Academy please give them a Nobel if they succeed?" the Mahindra Group Chairman tweeted. He uploaded what looks like a news piece which claimed that a small biotech firm in West Sussex, England is working on putting a Covid-19 vaccine into a simple pill. The text of the snippet reads: "IosBio, which is based in Burgess Hill, has developed a method of putting vaccines into pill form and is working with a US firm that has made an injectable vaccine that is going through human trials." This pill was seen to be effective in tests on monkeys, it claimed. Turns out, the oral vaccine will begin clinical trials on Americans this month and ImmunityBio is applying for regulatory approval to run tests in Britain too, according to an article in The New Zealand Herald. "A pill-based vaccine would be far easier to transport and administer than injections and could drastically speed up the race to immunise the world's population," the article stated. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News "With our capsule you wouldn't need medical professionals to administer the vaccine, you could send this out on Amazon Prime and have everyone vaccinated by Saturday," iosBio's chief executive Wayne Channing was quoted as saying. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:00 [IST] Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Plant Protein-based Food 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 Plant Protein-based Food 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Plant Protein-based Food Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31806 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Plant Protein-based Food will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Plant Protein-based Food market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Plant Protein-based Food market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Plant Protein-based Food 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 Plant Protein-based Food market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Turtle Island Foods ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Company) Amys Kitchen Atlantic Natural Foods Impossible Foods The Hain Celestial Group Beyond Meat Pacific Foods of Oregon Monde Nissin Corporation Kellogg Company Fry Family Food Pulmuone Holdings Hugli Holding Sweet Earth VBites Food Maple Leaf Foods Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31806 This study considers the Plant Protein-based Food value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Soy Protein-based Foods Wheat Protein-based Foods Pea Protein-based Foods Others Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Vegetarian Non-Vegetarian 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 Plant Protein-based Food Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31806 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Plant Protein-based Food consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Plant Protein-based Food market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Plant Protein-based Food 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 Plant Protein-based Food 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 Plant Protein-based Food 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/plant-protein-based-food-market-analysis-by-material-product-key-players-and-industry-analysis-by-2026/ She was recently accused of breaking Muslim law in the Maldives after posing topless on social media. And Georgia Steel put the recent drama behind her as she uploaded typically sensational images to Instagram on Tuesday evening, following her tropical 'work' trip. The Love Island star, 22, caught the eye as she slipped into a deeply-plunging lingerie set by Boux Avenue during her photoshoot at home. Turning heads: Georgia Steel uploaded typically sensational images to Instagram on Tuesday evening, following her tropical 'work' trip Turning up the heat, the former barmaid stunned in the lace teddy, complete with a low-cut neckline and a backless feature. The reality star commanded attention as she posed up a storm while leaving little to the imagination on her platform. With her glossy locks worn in loose waves, the North Yorkshire native accentuated her features with minimal make-up. Flirty display: The Love Island star, 22, caught the eye as she slipped into a deeply-plunging lingerie set by Boux Avenue during her photoshoot at home All in the details: Turning up the heat, the former barmaid stunned in the lace teddy, complete with a low-cut neckline and a backless feature Radiant: With her glossy locks worn in loose waves, the North Yorkshire native accentuated her features with minimal make-up Last month, the TV personality, who appeared on the 2018 series of Love Island, was apparently abroad 'for work', similar to a horde of fellow reality stars. Her antics abroad have outraged locals as she hopped from Dubai to the Maldives, despite COVID-19 killing over two million people globally, with the UK in a strict lockdown. The Sun reported: '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. 'The resorts could also be in serious trouble if guests like Georgia are found to be generating [nude] images on the premises'. 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. 'Public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. 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.' TEL AVIV, Israel and NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Apiiro, the industry's-first Code Risk Platform, today announced that Larry Maccherone, internationally-recognized author and DevSecOps thought leader has joined its Advisory Board. With $35M in funding from Kleiner Perkins and Greylock in late 2020, the strategic addition of Maccherone comes as the company is experiencing rapid growth. Larry brings extensive experience in driving Digital Transformation using an Agile and developer-first approach and is currently leading the global DevSecOps program at Comcast. Prior to Comcast, Larry served as Principal for his eponymous consulting firm, Director of Analytics and Research at Rally Software, and was a founding director for CyLab at Carnegie Mellon, where he co-led the launch of the DHS-funded Build-Security-In initiative. Larry is a thought leader in agile cultural transformations and believes that Security is an integral part of any DevOps initiative. "Larry Maccerone brings a practical experience in quantifying the impact of Agile development practices. This gives him a unique perspective into how the right approach to security can have a lasting impact on both security and business results", commented Idan Plotnik, co-founder and CEO of Apiiro. "Apiiro was founded on the idea that we can fundamentally change the way we approach application and infrastructure security from design to code to cloud by focusing on the risks that matter. Larry can help us achieve that goal and we're thrilled to have him on the team." "As a developer, I revel in elegant abstractions," commented Larry. "Apiiro has taken what people have previously done as point solutions and created a platform that will let you build in an elegant and secure way. Apiiro is pioneering a new way to empower developers and security architects to understand and manage risk. Providing developers with the knowledge they need to take ownership of the security of their products, from design to code to production, is the way to fundamentally drive success in DevSecOps. Apiiro is inventing an entirely new platform category and I'm excited to help them shape this vision." About Apiiro Apiiro is the industry's first Code Risk Platform to provide complete risk visibility from design to code to cloud, with every change. Apiiro gives organizations a 360 view of security and compliance risks, from design to production, across applications, infrastructure, developers' knowledge, and business impact. Apiiro is backed by Greylock and Kleiner Perkins. www.apiiro.com Contact: Russell Miller pr@apiiro.com 212-266-0078 SOURCE Apiiro AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said. She recently signed on to play a deadly assassin in the Netflix movie The Mother. And Jennifer Lopez executed another stylish look as she stepped out for lunch with fiance Alex Rodriguez in Miami on Wednesday afternoon. The 51-year-old performer wrapped up in a long plaid coat while dining out that the exclusive Bellini restaurant in the Coconut Grove area of South Florida. Nailed it: Jennifer Lopez executed another stylish look as she stepped out for lunch with fiance Alex Rodriguez in Miami on Wednesday afternoon Jenny from the Block opted for a business-casual ensemble as she headed into the eatery wearing a massive plush coat. She wore a camel-colored, long-sleeved turtleneck top which featured neon orange piping along the hem. Not one to pass up a matching moment, JLo protected herself and others amid the COVID-19 pandemic by wearing a nude face mask from Henry. Chic: The 51-year-old performer wrapped up in a long plaid coat while dining out that the exclusive Bellini restaurant in the Coconut Grove area of South Florida Classic: Jenny from the Block opted for a business-casual ensemble as she headed into the eatery wearing a massive plush coat She slicked back her light brown tresses into a tight bun and wore brown tinted lenses over her eyes. The Hustlers star carried a massive black leather tote and added inches to her frame with a pair of chocolate brown booties. Alex dressed down for the afternoon out in a pair of dark jeans with a navy blue sweater and striped button down. It was just another day out on the open road as ARod turned on the camera for his followers to witness a raw performance from Jennifer. Casual: Alex dressed down for the afternoon out in a pair of dark jeans with a navy blue sweater and striped button down Statement piece: The Hustlers star carried a massive black leather tote and added inches to her frame with a pair of chocolate brown booties Never a dull moment: It was just another day out on the open road as ARod turned on the camera for his followers to witness a raw performance from Jennifer Rock out: The pair drove home listening to Foo Fighters and Alex panned back and forth to show Jennifer deeply moved by Dave Grohl's song Best of You The pair drove home listening to Foo Fighters and Alex panned back and forth to show Jennifer deeply moved by Dave Grohl's song Best of You. Lopez plays a killer who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she gave up years ago, while running from dangerous men, Deadline reported earlier this week. In addition to her starring role on the Netflix film, she's also set to produce and Niki Caro is in talks to direct. Also in the works for the actress, is an adaptation of the Isabella Maldonado novel The Cipher, where she will play an FBI agent who gets involved in a serial killer's case after he leaves clues to his murders online. Why is McConnell commenting on McCarthys minions? Photo: Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg via Getty Images Given the extraordinary importance of partisan polarization in Washington and elsewhere, its sometimes easy to forget there are tensions between members of the House and Senate that cross party lines. To put this bipartisan angst simply: Senators tend to view House members as noisy, narrow-minded lilliputians, while House members tend to view senators as self-important windbags. But House and Senate leaders do tend to respect each others turf, so it was unusual and noteworthy yesterday when Mitch McConnell fished in the troubled waters of House GOP politics by issuing not one but two statements. Per the Hill, the first blasted Marjorie Taylor Greene without mentioning her name, but it was unmistakably about her loony lies and conspiracy theories, which he called a cancer for the Republican Party: Somebody whos suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.s airplane is not living in reality This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party. Greene certainly took it personally, responding in a tweet, The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully This is why we are losing our country. Separately, McConnell gave CNN a statement defending embattled House Republican conference chair Liz Cheney, who is under intense fire for voting to impeach Donald Trump: Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them, McConnell said. She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation. Those who view McConnell as a deeply principled if somewhat fearful warrior against Donald Trumps control of their common party will likely hail these statements as twin blows against the MAGA empire as part of a struggle for the soul of the GOP. Im not sold on that. McConnells statement on Greene would have been significantly more powerful had it criticized Greene-adjacent senators like Josh Hawley. Its really no skin off Mitchs nose if a freshman House member gets ostracized or disciplined for her conduct. And if condemning Greene is part of a McConnell bid to push back against the influence of the 45th president, youd think he would have mentioned the mans name, particularly since he so recently voted to dismiss impeachment charges against him. Its likely Greene was just a vastly more convenient target for McConnell than anyone with real power, particularly since she makes your average Trump supporter seem semi-rational. McConnells gratuitous defense of Cheney is more interesting, though it may simply represent the reflexive solidarity of one congressional Republican leadership figure for another. For all we know, McConnell owes some favor to Lizs old man, the former vice-president. The real question is what McConnells House counterpart, Kevin McCarthy, thinks about the Kentuckians intervention. It could be read in two very different ways, depending on what McCarthy himself is planning to do about the Greene and Cheney controversies. If hes hoping to ride it all out and change the subject, then McConnells comments are not helpful to him at all. But if he has decided to rebuke Greene and (as previously indicated) fight the MAGA effort to knock Cheney off his leadership team, then every bit of party support he can get is probably welcome. Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in a written reply to the Lower House, that detection and investigation of offences related to religious conversions is the concern of state governments New Delhi: The central government has no plans to enact an anti-conversion law to curb interfaith marriages, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said issues related to religious conversions are primarily the concerns of state governments, adding that law enforcement agencies take action whenever such instances of violation come to the fore. Reddy said in a written reply that the central government has no plans to enact a central anti-conversion law to curb interfaith marriages. "Public order and police are state subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and hence, prevention, detection, registration, investigation and prosecution of offences related to religious conversions are primarily the concerns of state governments and Union Territory administrations. "Action is taken as per existing laws by law enforcing agencies whenever instances of violation come to notice," he said. "Don't sheepishly follow us, the politicians'," former Member of Parliament for Bantama constituency, Henry Kokofu has advised supporters of political parties in the country. Kwabena Kokofu urged political party supporters to be enlightened about a cause before they support the actions of their party leaders. He made this comment while discussing the ongoing Presidential election petition before the Supreme Court. Touching on the petition, Henry Kokofu reminded Ghanaians, particularly NDC supporters, of the utterances of some leaders in the NDC who declared their Presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama winner of the 2020 Presidential elections but have "changed their tongue" in the Supreme Court. To him, the court case will expose the lies and propaganda of the NDC leadership. "Don't sheepishly follow us, the politicians because when it gets to elections and its related issues, the lies and propaganda are too prevalent. This court case will expose the lies and propaganda. It exposes the allegations leveled against the Electoral Commission and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo," he said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo". 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 Mrs Patricia Rooney, Co-Founder of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature sadly passes away It is with great sadness that we mark the death of Mrs Patricia Rooney. Mrs Patricia Rooney was the inspiration behind the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Along with her late husband Dan she fostered and supported one of the oldest literary awards in Ireland, unique in its time as a private donation. From its earliest years in the 1970s, Patricia took a serious and enlightened interest in the awardees and from 2007 when, at her and Dans initiative, the Rooney Prize was located in the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre, they attended the Provosts ceremony to announce the annual winner. When the prize was celebrated in 2016 during its 40th year Provost Patrick Prendergast remarked: When we speak about philanthropy and the great good it can do, we think of course of the great philanthropists, and particularly today of Dan and Patricia Rooney and the palpable good they have done. For this remarkable and enduring legacy, which has benefited and continues to benefit younger writers, the country is in Patricia and Dan Rooneys debt. May she rest in peace. According to Illinois law, candidate and referendum petitions must be neatly fastened together in book form by placing the sheets in a pile and fastening them together at one edge in a secure and suitable manner, Thomas A. Jaconetty, one of the attorneys appointed to counsel for the electoral board, said during an Electoral Board meeting on Jan. 5. Residents of the northeastern Nigerian city Maiduguri have been struggling with a power blackout for a week after jihadists blew up supply lines, causing water shortages and disrupting businesses and daily life. The attack was the third time in a month that the IS-linked Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group have plunged the city of three million into darkness for days by blowing up transmission lines. Maiduguri's latest troubles came as President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his top four military commanders, in a sudden overhaul after months of criticism over the handling of the country's decade-long insurgency. Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, has been without power since January 26 after the jihadists blew up a power grid just outside the city, according to residents and sources at the power company. Bukar Musa, a welder, has seen his business crippled by the power outage, forcing him to look for menial jobs to feed his wife and three children. "It has been a whole week without a light in the city which has grounded my welding job," the 27-year-old told AFP. "I have now turned to a labourer, assisting a bricklayer for a fraction of what I make as a welder, which is inadequate to feed my family," Musa said. He would usually earn the equivalent of around $6.60 (about 5.5 euros) per day at his workshop. Now, though, he makes around $4 working on building sites, spending a good part of the daily wage on medication for body pains from the labour, he said. Grema Umar's ice-block vending business has also crumbled, forcing him to contemplate begging to feed himself. "I have nothing left, even if power is restored I will have to raise another capital and I don't know how," Umar said. Water lines Even water has become scarce in the city, which relies heavily on motorised boreholes that require electric power to operate. Many households have shut down their boreholes which supply them and their neighbours due to the high cost of diesel to power them, several residents said. Long queues have appeared at the few boreholes supplying water, as residents line up with pails and jerry cans. "The major problem is water scarcity which has hit the city, making it expensive," said Hajara Abdulkarim. The price of a 25-litre (6.6-gallon) jerry can of water has more than tripled, to 25 naira up from seven naira previously, said Abdulkarim, a mother of five. Maiduguri is also home to several internally displaced persons (IDP) camps for people forced to flee their homes by military operations against the jihadists. For now, the outage has not affected the camps, which are lit by solar power installed by charities. The power company said in a statement that it was working "to fix the faulty line and transmit bulk power to our network for onward distribution to end-users." ISWAP and rival Boko Haram jihadist group often target infrastructure, blowing up telecom and power lines in the northeast. Militants also often target army patrols, making the roads in the northeast of the country risky for civilians as well as repair crews from the power company. Nigeria's jihadist insurgency began in 2009. The conflict has since killed around 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes. Posted Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:58 am The Washington Department of Agriculture has launched an investigation into how 200,000 cows at the center of a massive fraud allegation against a Pasco ranching operation may have slipped through its inspection process. The ghost herd is key to a legal fight between Tyson Foods Inc. and Easterday Ranches Inc., which on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Easterdays, one of the largest farming and ranching families in the state, claims in court filings it owes more than $236 million to its top 20 creditors. The Pasco-based ranching and feedlot operation is seeking to reorganize using Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy law amid allegations by Tyson Foods Inc. that the ranch illegally charged the food company for 200,000 cattle that never existed. Court records released Tuesday disclose that the family-run operation faces a mountain of debt that could have a major trickle-down economic impact on veterinarians, farmers, truckers and parts stores that support the Easterday operations. Connell-based attorney Toni Meacham, who also runs a ranching operation with her husband, said she's known the Easterday family for years. She said she's glad that Easterday Ranches filed for Chapter 11 for reorganization rather than for Chapter 7, which would have liquidated the family's holdings. Easterday Ranches President Cody Easterday is "always who I've known to be the figurehead" of the operation, Meacham said. "Debby and Cody have been great for our community. This is a terrible blow for the Columbia Basin." The legal case brought by Tyson describes a modern-day cattle rustling operation that was carried out on paper rather than by masked, horseback villains riding off with a stolen herd. Robbie Parke, manager of the state's Livestock Inspection Program, said a check of records provided by Easterday Ranches Inc. to the state shows no evidence of a missing herd. "What we can see from our records is that the same number of cattle we inspected" arriving at Easterday's Pasco feedlot match the records that Easterday provided indicating that it was shipped to slaughter. However, Parke said that since Easterday's feedlot is one of 11 certified by the state Department of Agriculture, the only physical inspection occurs when a cow arrives at the feedlot. Everything from then on is a paper trail that Easterday managed. If Tyson Foods' allegations of fraud are correct, the scam would be on an unprecedented scale, Parke said. "It's probably one of the biggest (schemes) in state history," he said. The 200,000 head is "close to 20% of our annual head count that we look at. That's enormous." Parke said the state has launched an audit of all of Easterday's records to try to rectify what it submitted versus the allegations Tyson has made . "I don't know if that's a very big deal for Tyson, but it's a big deal for Washington to lose place of 200,000 animals," Parke said. The Easterday family, of Mesa, has for decades operated one of the largest agriculture operations in Washington, with more than 25,000 acres of farmland, a dairy operation and thousands of feeder cattle. In a complaint filed last week, Tyson Foods alleged Easterday Ranches Inc. had defrauded the company over a period of years of more than $225 million by claiming to have purchased, fed and provided about 200,000 cattle that never existed. The food company is seeking immediate legal intervention to protect another 54,000 head of Tyson-owned cattle in Easterday's possession. For several years, Tyson Foods and the Easterday family, led by Cody Easterday, had provided a service by which Tyson would reimburse the Easterdays for the purchase and feeding costs of cattle housed in Easterday feedlots that were then provided to Tyson's meatpacking plant in Wallula. "President Cody Easterday admitted to the fraudulent scheme, and has explained that he concocted the scheme in order to offset over $200 million in losses he incurred in the commodities trading market," Tyson attorney Alan D. Smith wrote in the complaint. As of Oct. 3, Easterday Ranches claimed it had 186,000 cattle valued at about $321 million. Then in November and December, Tyson began to discover discrepancies, according to the lawsuit. "Its investigation, including the admissions of Defendant's President Cody Easterday, showed there were over 200,000 head of cattle that Defendant reported to be in inventory, but which did not exist," Smith wrote. Meacham, the Connell attorney who is not representing the Easterdays, said she can't understand how the alleged scheme could have gone on so long unnoticed. "With the checks and balances, it boggles the mind," Meacham said. "But we haven't seen the other side of the story. The Easterdays have not spoken out. We are in the cattle industry together. I have nothing bad to say about them." The Easterdays were represented Monday in state court by Thomas Buford, of the Seattle law firm Bush Kornfeld. Buford did not immediately respond to requests by phone and email for comment. The Easterday agriculture empire was started in the 1950s by Gail Easterday. He died Dec. 10 when he pulled onto Interstate 182 in Pasco going the wrong direction. A potato truck owned by his own Easterday Farms Inc. smashed into his pickup, killing him. He was 79, according to published reports. Meacham said Gail Easterday "always had a smile and a handshake. It was completely devastating. I can't even begin to comprehend the trauma the family is going through." But as for the legal ramifications, all the companies, farmers and banks that the Easterdays owe money now will begin the process of getting what's owed to them, Meacham said. On Monday, Buford, the Easterday attorney, said in a court hearing that the family's other major operation, Easterday Farm, Inc., will also file for bankruptcy protection. Mecham said she could not understate how important it is that the family is seeking to restructure versus liquidating all their assets to pay off their debts. "They have deeded ground and leases. All those leases would go by the wayside. What is going to happen to the cattle? You would have this tremendous impact on the community and the cattle industry," she said. But under Chapter 11, the Easterdays have employed the Paladin Management Group to restructure the debt. According to the court filings, Paladin's credit restructuring officers will charge up to $795 an hour for their services. "But at least the Easterdays are still going to be there. It brings certainty to their lessees and for the people who work with them and for them," she said. "If not, those people would be out of their money. Those are huge hits, especially in today's economy." ___ (c)2021 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Indias plan to spend its way out of the coronavirus funk is capturing the imagination of stock watchers, with some rushing to revise higher their targets for the nations equity benchmarks. Morgan Stanley now sees an upside of almost 10% from current levels for the S&P BSE Sensex by the year-end, even as the gauge has climbed more than 7% in two sessions, disregarding concern over valuations in one of Asias most expensive equity markets. The budget may further boost the appeal of local stocks for global funds, who have bought shares so far this year while selling Indian debt. But the plan to spend almost $500 billion signals more pain for bond traders. Indias benchmark 10-year sovereign yield extended its advance Tuesday after climbing by the most since May on Monday following the budget, putting pressure on the central bank to step in. Yields on rupee corporate bonds also jumped across the curve a second day. Government spending coupled with reforms and greater privatization thrust could support economic recovery, create earning upgrades in FY22 and thus support Indias premium valuations," according to Rahul Singh, chief investment officer for equities at Tata Asset Management Ltd. India can see superior earnings momentum especially if the budget is successful in reviving the investment cycle," he said. The Sensex has already wiped out the 5.3% loss it suffered last week ahead of the budget event, and is now trading at 22.6 times earnings on a blended basis, versus a five-year average multiple of about 18. Corporate Profits Stock-market sentiment has also been buoyed by the absence of new taxes on the wealthy and corporations in the budget. Traders expect the governments growth push to boost corporate profits, which are already showing signs of a recovery. As the results season continues, most of the 29 NSE Nifty 50 firms that have reported earnings so far have beaten analyst estimates. If the budget measures are executed properly, they have the potential to increase the share of corporate profits in gross domestic profit, and help bring about a new private investment cycle, recovery in domestic equity flows and earnings growth, analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note. Strategists have also added to their bullish views on cyclical stocks. Financials are the top bets at Morgan Stanley, Citi and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., followed by sectors such as infrastructure and industrials. We do not believe high-quality Indian companies valuations are fully factoring in this growth," Nuno Fernandes and Tom Masi, fund managers of emerging equity strategy at GW&K Investment Management LLC., wrote in emailed comments. Indian companies with long duration growth rates are likely to continue to warrant a premium valuation." Spotlight RBI While massive global and local liquidity saw Indian stocks and sovereign bonds rally in 2020, the budget may trigger a divergence in performance between the two asset classes. A lot, however, depends on the extent of the Reserve Bank of Indias support measures. The RBIs open-market purchases have been key to keeping yields anchored despite the governments debt sales. Traders will seek assurance when Governor Shaktikanta Das announces the policy decision on Friday. The RBI has its task cut out to ensure the borrowing program is smooth, Sonal Varma, chief economist, India and Asia, ex-Japan for Nomura Holdings Inc., wrote in a note. Greater support from the central bank may be needed, said Avnish Jain, head of fixed income at Canara Robeco Asset Management. The change in the fiscal path may be negative from the country-rating perspective and adverse comments from rating companies may be bond negative, he said, adding that markets are likely to remain negative in the short term. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Istvan Zahoranszki has been appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Government, in rank of Secretary of State, through a decision of Prime Minister Florin Citu, according to AGERPRES. The decision was published in the Official Journal on Tuesday. This month, Hearst Television is celebrating Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. Were speaking with community leaders, elders those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today. Joseph Powdrell grew up in Crosbyton, Texas, at a time when its schools were still segregated. "I always wanted to experience things like microscopes and stuff like that," Powdrell said. "We had none of that. We simply had a classroom, paper and none of that. And that's when I started to feel like we're missing something here. There was a white high school right down the street from us. They had everything. Biology labs they did everything, and then I'm starting to wonder, 'Why do they have that? ... Why are we deprived of certain things?' And the word 'racism' wasn't mentioned." "So, it wasn't viewed as racism," sister station KOAT reporter Kalyn Norwood asked. "It was just two different life experiences?" "Yeah 'This is suitable for you this is suitable for us,'" Powdrell said. By the late 1950s and the beginning of the civil rights movement, he and his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, hoping for a better opportunity. When it was time for college, he decided to go to the University of New Mexico, running track on scholarship. Norwood asked what Powdrell thought of the civil rights movement as it happened. "I was always impressed with the fact that people weren't taking it," Powdrell said. "I remember on campus, and I'm talking the University of New Mexico at the time, we didn't have an African American studies program. So, students started to engage. We're doing sit-ins that was the latter part of my college career. I was just about out of college at the time, but it felt good. But, the reaction to it. The people who were active in it troublemakers. So, now you have a choice. Do you want to be viewed this way? Or do you just want to just chill?" Norwood asked Powdrell what it was like for him, having seen the civil rights movement play out during his lifetime to then also see another movement happen in 2020. "Those movements in the '60s were, I won't say they were much more violent," Powdrell said. "They appear to be violent because the world didn't want that. America didn't want that kind of visible reaction to what's been wrong. 'We're going to work it out, don't worry about it.'" Norwood asked Powdrell if he thought demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd were similar. "I think similar in the issue," Powdrell said. "The issue was the same. That kind of brutality, I'm seeing that George Floyd, he was like, another one." As the fight for justice and equality continues, he shared a word of wisdom to the next generation. "I would say to your generation, when life is all said and done, what you think about yourself is going to be the bottom line," Powdrell said. "You be who you want to be." Powdrell's family went on to open Mr. Powdrell's BBQ, a restaurant in Albuquerque, which he still runs today. They've had well-known visitors such as Spike Lee and the daughters of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. A new study by Yale researchers found a significant association between the availability of hospital resources -- particularly ICU beds -- and patient mortality during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was especially true at hospitals in the northeastern U.S. which were hardest hit by the first surge of patient cases, according to the study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. "There is a general narrative among people in healthcare that the more resources there are, the better we can take care of patients," said lead author Dr. Alexander Janke, a Yale Emergency Scholar in the fourth year of a five-year combined residency and health services research fellowship. "This study begs the question -- are case fatality rates driven by changes in resources?" According to their findings, the answer is "yes." In an analysis of 306 hospital referring regions (HRRs) in the U.S. from March 1 to July 26, 2020, researchers found that geographic regions with fewer resources per COVID-19 patient -- including ICU beds, intensivists or critical care physicians, emergency physicians, nurses, and general hospital beds -- were statistically associated with more deaths in April, 2020. The study looked at 4,453 hospitals overall. The strongest association was related to ICU bed availability. According to the findings, for every additional ICU bed per COVID-19 case, there was an associated one-fifth decrease in incidence rate of death during the month. According to their estimates, 15,571 COVID-19 patients died at these hospitals due to lack of ICU beds during the month of April. Most of the hospitals with greatest numbers of excess deaths were located in the Northeast, specifically HRRs in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Camden, N.J. The findings provide important insights as, nearly a year later, the country continues to see high rates of COVID-19. As the country enters one of the darkest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, with cases and hospitalizations anticipated to continue unabated in the coming months, the lessons of this work is clear -- our hospital resources are finite, and a failure to implement the policies to prevent hospital overload is certain to result in deaths that could have been avoided." Dr. Arjun Venkatesh, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine and Study Co-Author "Our paper is a worst-case scenario for what resource limitations might mean for mortality," said Janke. "This is a phenomenon that's close to the hearts of everyone in emergency medicine," he added. "Sometimes patients have to wait hours or days to get a bed. Emergency medicine is really good at managing a patient's first few hours of care, but that transition [to an ICU bed from the emergency department] needs to happen." Although Janke noted that it may not be worthwhile for hospitals to have excess resources ready in case of a pandemic, he said that there are opportunities for hospitals to engage flexible transitions to accommodate mass illness events in the near term. The paper found that after April 2020, the relationship between hospital resources and patient deaths was more muted, suggesting that hospitals were able to implement innovations to better manage rising caseloads over time. Yale New Haven Hospital provided one such example, he said. "Yale was especially successful at mobilizing space," he said. "In the [hospital pavilion] where the medical ICU is, whole floors had to be converted to ICU beds. That required additional staffing, both ICU doctors and nurses, as well as overcoming the logistical challenge of clearing floors and creating new negative pressure [isolation] rooms." Such examples, he said, can provide important models for other hospital systems as COVID-19 cases again surge across the country. Travellers who breach soon-to-be introduced mandatory home quarantine laws will faces fines of up to 2,500 and/or a six-month prison sentence. The strict new travel laws are to be introduced in the coming days and will require arrivals to the country to remain inside their homes for up to two weeks. They are to be signed into law by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and are among a suite of measures aimed at clamping down on international travel. The home quarantine rules will replace existing guidelines which require passengers to restrict their movements for a fortnight after they arrive in the country. The laws will apply to all passengers arriving by airline or ferry and gardai will be expected to enforce the regulations. Passengers arriving from South Africa, Brazil and some other South American countries will be told to quarantine at home for a full two weeks, even if they have a negative Covid-19 test result. All other passengers with negative tests will be required to quarantine at home for at least five days, after which they can pay for a Covid-19 test and, if they get a negative result, can leave their home. Essential workers will not be required to quarantine at home if they are arriving into the country for work-related reasons. Legislation to introduce mandatory quarantine in designated centres such as hotels is still being drafted and will not be signed into law for at least another week. Meanwhile, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar raised concerns at Cabinet over the need to progress the introduction of mandatory quarantine for passengers arriving from overseas. Mr Varadkar warned the Government will be vulnerable to public criticism if it does not move quicker on plans to legislate for quarantining. Read More The Fine Gael leader outlined the major logistical challenges involved in introducing a quarantine regime and said more detail was needed on where people will be held, who will police the facilities and how they will be transferred to these centres from airports. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney supported the Tanaistes calls for more action on quarantining. According to sources at the meeting, Mr Varadkar warned the public already believe the Governments quarantine plans are not ambitious enough and said the Coalition will face a further backlash if it does not move quickly to fulfil its commitments on international travel rules. He asked how the public will feel if they get the case numbers down substantially and we dont fulfil our side of the bargain, a source said. Another source said: He was very concerned about the logistics involved in quarantining and said the Government could be vulnerable if more wasnt done. Mr Donnelly brought a memo to Cabinet which gave a brief update on plans for quarantining. Further work is under way to deliver a scheme of mandatory quarantine at designated facilities for certain categories of traveller which will require primary legislation, the memo said. The minister will bring this matter back to Government when the Bill has been finalised. Mr Donnelly also updated the Cabinet on plans to require people arriving into Northern Ireland airports and ports to fill in passenger locator forms if they are travelling across the border to Ireland. He also noted that the fine for breaching Covid-19 restrictions to travel overseas had been increased to 500. Gardai handed out 280 fines at Dublin Airport for breaches of travel rules last week. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 05:51:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIGA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Latvian parliament speaker Inara Murniece is self-isolating after coming into contact with a COVID-19 positive person, her spokesperson Dace Balode said Wednesday. Balode said the speaker will remain in self-isolation for the next ten days, and she will continue to work from home. Murniece will take a COVID-19 test before ending self-isolation, said Balode. Latvia reported another 1,231 COVID-19 cases and 31 more deaths on Wednesday. Since the start of the pandemic, the country has confirmed 68,658 cases and 1,250 deaths. Enditem .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE When Mary Katherine Ray volunteers for Trap Free New Mexico, an organization that opposes trapping of fur-bearing animals in the state, it can be an intense experience. She told members of the Senate Conservation Committee on Tuesday that she receives emails from those whose dogs have been caught in traps, often including graphic descriptions and photographs. Her own dog was caught in a trap on public land near her home in Socorro County. She said its made her hesitant to return to the area. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ It might as well say Keep out, because I never want to hear my dog scream like that again, Ray said. She may just get her wish. A bill that would ban most trapping on public lands in New Mexico cleared its first committee Tuesday, but not without concerns raised by some senators. Members of the Conservation Committee approved the proposed legislation, Senate Bill 32, on a 7-2 vote, with Sen. Gregg Schmedes, R-Tijeras, crossing party lines to vote with Democrats on the bill. The bill will now go before the Senate Judiciary Committee. SB 32, sponsored by Sen. Roberto Bobby Gonzales, D-Ranchos de Taos, would effectively ban fur trapping on public lands in the state, which would include traps, snares and poisons. Much of the outcry has surrounded the accidental trapping of domestic dogs eight have been caught this trapping season, though none fatally. Some activities would be exempt from the bill, including trapping by members of Indigenous nations as part of religious or ceremonial activities. Those caught breaking the law would be guilty of a misdemeanor. But Gonzales told the committee the bills scope would go beyond just preventing domestic pets from being caught in traps it could protect tourists using New Mexicos public lands. We see this as a big safety issue, he said. Although it passed the committee by a comfortable margin, the bill did receive opposition, especially in the form of written public comments. Sixty people submitted comments against the legislation, while five commented in support. Some senators also expressed concern. Schmedes said that although he voted for the bill, he is concerned about its potential implications on wildlife management. This cannot be an issue about (animal) cruelty, he said. This has to be an issue about wildlife wellness in populations, and if we go down the cruelty route, its going to take us away from scientific expertise. Meanwhile, Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, said he thought any restriction on trapping should include private land. If we only allow trapping on private lands, the Department of Game and Fish will just quit dealing with regulating trapping at all in the management of those species, Soules said. Its not the first time in recent years legislators have considered this kind of bill. A similar law made in 2019 was passed by two committees before dying on the House floor. The bill had been introduced not long after Roxy, a blue heeler mix, was killed by a neck snare trap near Santa Cruz Lake in 2018. As a result, many supporters of the 2021 bill have dubbed it Roxys Law. The High Court ruling in favour of Queensland farmers opposing the proposed expansion of the New Acland Coal Mine is a hammer blow to the community, LNP natural resources spokesman Pat Weir says. Resource sector representatives are calling for clarification from the state government over what is needed for expansion of the Darling Downs mine to be approved but Acting Premier Steven Miles said no decisions would be made while the case was before the courts. The New Acland coal mine washplant in Queenslands Darling Downs. An activist group made up of dozens of farmers won a High Court appeal on Wednesday against New Hope, the operator of New Acland Coal Mine. Now New Hope is demanding an urgent meeting with the state government, with chief executive Reinhold Schmidt saying the High Court outcome was disappointing. Death by toxin is by no means a new twist in the way the Kremlin deals with dissidents and perceived enemies, Western leaders have alleged. Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, survived an attempt on their lives in London in 2018 that employed the same nerve agent, Novichok, used on Navalny. In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and fierce Putin critic, was poisoned to death in London after drinking tea laced with polonium. In both cases, U.K. authorities blamed the Russian government for the attacks. He raised a few eyebrows with his mullet hairstyle and handlebar moustache. But it's fair to say that Married At First Sight Australia star's Mick Gould, 33, has been branded something of an unlikely sex symbol following his appearance on the show. The handsome 6ft 5" plasterer and farmer, who lost half a finger while building a fence, is famed for saying 'flamin' galah', and married Jessika Power, 28, in the show. 'Straight out of a 70s cowboy porno!' Married At First Sight Australia's Mick Gould has become an unlikely SEX SYMBOL as 'bloody gorgeous' farmer brings back the mullet and moustache Nothing wrong here: Mick took a visit to the barber's and had a mullet and moustache to 'annoy the missus' after marrying Jessika Power on the cult reality show And while MailOnline won't be giving any spoilers as to whether or not the union lasted, fans across the world would love to walk down the aisle with him. Viewers branded him a 'legend' and 'straight out of a 70s cowboy porno' after he took a visit to the barber's and had a mullet and moustache to 'annoy the missus.' And co-stars Nick Furphy and Mike Gunner both sported tashes during the show in homage to their friendship. Flamin' galah! 6ft 5" farmer and plasterer Mick as branded a 'legend' for his loud shirts, hilarious sayings, facial hair and his love of work boots Fans wrote on his social media: 'Bloody gorgeous!' and 'Bring back the stash!' as they heaped praise on the love god Fans have written on Mick's social media: 'Is anyone else seeing this guy like I am.. straight out of a 70s cowboy porno.' 'Youre a legend! Fav guy on the show!' 'Bloody gorgeous!' and 'Bring back the stash!' 'I actually like the new look, suits u that hair cut.' Get the man a calendar shoot: Mick started off the show with designer stubble and a trim hairstyle, but those rugged good looks remained (as did the loud shirts) Ouch! He was left red-faced at his wedding when his best man gave an inappropriate wedding speech which referenced Viagra. Pictured left, Jessika Power 'You actually really suit this look haha @mick_gould86.' The show first aired in Australia in 2019 and has now come to the UK and Mick revealed what really happened to his missing finger. The down to earth guy from Queensland joked that he was attacked by a dingo while camping before explaining what really happened. Oh, Mick! The show first aired in Australia in 2019 and has now come to the UK and Mick revealed what really happened to his missing finger - he hit it with a hammer 'I went camping on Fraser Island, and we were cooking up a bit of a feed before going to bed one night,' he jokingly told 9Honey back in 2019. '... I had a bit of a sausage in me hand and I fell over and passed out, and one of the dingos come along and bloody chomped on it and bit it.' He went on to explain that the accident actually occurred while he was at home. He said: 'I was fencing at me house actually and it was on a star picket... I'm having a bit of a whack down - as I've pulled up she started to go a bit so I grabbed it... it was like a banana getting hit by a hammer and [shooting] out the sides. While pursuing her bachelors degree in management at a Kathmandu college, Pranisha Shakya learned Ranjana lipi, the script used in writing the traditional Nepal Bhasa, during the Dashain-Tihar break. Being a Newa, she felt that she had to learn the script, and she continued to learn Prachalit lipi, another script used in the language, too. This was her story some 15 years ago, yet memories are still fresh for her. After learning Ranjana lipi, Shakya shortly started teaching the skill to others. She was willing to continue it a bit longer, but life had different plans for her. She got married, moved to Qatar, and then to the United Kingdom, and also had two kids. Now, 15 years later, she is doing the same work of teaching the Nepal Bhasa script in the UK for the last two years, a job that is joyful but filled with challenges. Teaching native in the foreign land Marrying and migrating first to Qatar and then to the UK, Shakya had already stopped using or practising the Ranjana lipi in her daily life. But, at a point of time, she found herself detached from her roots. Worried, she was sad that she could not continue an activity that could save herself from detachment. In the meantime, a new opportunity popped out in front of her on Facebook. In 2018, I saw that a groupWorld Newah Organisation, UK had conducted Ranjana lipi class here in the UK. So I got in touch with them through Facebook. As per her wish, she was offered to be a volunteer for the Ranjana lipi training there, through Pasa Puchah Guthi, UK Chapter. Then, she had to wait about three months before she got to relive her days in Nepal as a teacher and continue teaching Ranjana lipi in a foreign land. She first started working at the organisations cultural secretariat. Later, with some scepticism, she garnered confidence and started teaching herself. Love for culture Nepal Bhasa and its scripts are the pride of Newa culture, says Shakya. It is an art, the more you learn about it, the more it draws you in. It is my personal experience, I have grown to love my culture even more. She believes learning a language is the first step to learning ones culture, history, and the knowledge one gets to pass on and make active contributions. Language gives meaning and helps in the research of the past. So far, she has taken three physical classes with 12 online classes and has participated in many of the presentations and programmes related to Ranjana lipi, recalling her journey every step of the way. During this time, together with Sanyukta Shrestha of Pasa Puchah Guthi, UK, she also made and sold many bookmarks with peoples names written in the Ranjana lipi. Not a smooth ride But, it is filled with struggles, she explains. There used to be people who were not even familiar with basic Nepali alphabets. So, we had to teach them from Nepali alphabets, in Devanagari, before even starting to teach Ranjana lipi. So, we would be holding their hands and teaching them how to write, just like teaching little kids, she says. When one knows the Nepali alphabets, it is much easier to teach them. As many of the letters, like Ka Ba Wa are similar in both languages, it gives us a head start. We categorise the letters based on their complications and types and teach a few letters every day. Even during the Covid-19 lockdown, the effort continued online on Sundays of April, according to Shakya. Compared to the physical classes, where people had to travel long, online classes did bring more people in. We used to get 500+ views on Facebook Live too, she shares, But, the thing about online classes is that we do not know if people are learning and practising the language correctly or not. Her interest clearly lies in the flourishing and promoting of Ranjana lipi, not just in one area but widely. However, her observation tells her that there are so many hurdles to achieve the feat. People are certainly interested, they inquire, they participate and even learn Ranjana lipi, Shakya says, But, it will not make a difference if there is no use of the language after they have learned it. Newa parents in the UK struggle to teach the language to their children; it is much easier for them to converse and understand things in English. Even if they do, apart from the parents, they do not have many opportunities to use the language, and it is likely they will forget it sooner or later. Shakya elaborates the problem, There are no grandparents here to encourage the next generation to converse in our native language. Another problem one might face while learning Ranjana lipi is the lack of resources. We are in a foreign land, so we do not always get the right resources. We brought pens from Nepal to show the students, but mostly we used paints, markers, bamboo pens and crayons to teach and let them practice, she says. Meanwhile, she adds, It has been five years that we have been teaching, but we cannot expect similar effects in people here like in Nepal. She observes that in Nepal as well, many have been discouraged to speak Nepal Bhasa because of the different pronunciation of Ta and Ma. Concerns for coming days Shakya says not just the continuation of the language but the sustainability of the Ranjana lipi classes is in question too. The organisation is a charity and we do not get paid. So, all we are doing is from our hearts, and because we are passionate about it, Shakya says. Whether you talk about Ranjana lipi classes in Nepal or elsewhere, so far, any amount of effort and the campaigns held is solely driven by the emotional attachment they have with the culture or the cause. But, she is hopeful that if they can just tap the right mindset and increase their curiosity, the teaching gets easier and so does the practice, even in the UK. Her personal preference lies in teaching the younger generation. It is great that people of all ages are interested in learning Ranjana lipi. But, realistically, if we teach the younger generation they are likely to learn, practise and keep the culture alive for the next 50 years. SUSANVILLE, Calif. (AP) Authorities say an inmate at California's High Desert State Prison was fatally stabbed in an attack by two other prisoners. Corrections officials say 24-year-old Christian Lepe was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the prison near Susanville. The state says staff observed 26-year-old inmate Ricardo Palmerin start the attack and then another inmate, 27-year-old David Morales, joined in. Officials say officers stopped the attack by firing rubber bullets at Palmerin and recovered two inmate-made weapons. Lepe was serving a nine-year term from Tulare County for assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes. Palmerin was sent to prison from Kings County and Morales came from San Francisco County. An elderly man tripped at the end of a Sainsbury's travelator when his trolley got stuck causing a pile-up of shoppers trying to get down. CCTV footage captured the man heading out of Sainsbury's in Hempstead Valley, Kent, with his trolley loaded with groceries on January 21. But when the front two wheels of the trolley get stuck on the end of the travelator, the man - who has not been named - falls to the floor. An elderly woman behind him is unable to stop herself moving forward as the man struggles on the ground. She too loses her balance and topples over as frantic onlookers rush to get help. No one was seriously injured in the incident. A Sainsbury's spokesperson said the footage was shared online illegally and the supermarket is investigating what happened. An elderly man tripped up at the end of a Sainsbury's travelator when his trolley got stuck, causing a pile-up of shoppers trying to get down (pictured) in Kent In the footage - which has been shared widely on social media - the elderly man is seen approaching the end of the moving platform on his way out of the supermarket. The front two wheels of the trolley get stuck, prompting the man to push down on the handles to lift it up. But he overestimates the pressure needed and trolley flips backwards - with the weight of it sending him toppling to the ground. A woman following him on the travelator tries to stop herself crashing into the man by clutching onto the moving handrails - while desperately shuffling her trolley out of the way. CCTV footage captured the man heading out of Sainsbury's in Hempstead Valley, Kent, (pictured) with his trolley loaded with groceries on January 21 But her efforts are to no avail and trolley becomes lodged over the man's head. As another shopper yanks the trolley away - and terrified onlookers rush to get help - the woman loses her balance and falls on top of the man. The shopper is able to pull the trolley away from the pair as the clip comes to an end. A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: 'Safety is our highest priority and were investigating this incident. But when the front two wheels of the trolley get stuck on the end of the travelator, the man - who has not been named - falls to the floor (pictured) An elderly woman behind him is unable to stop herself moving forward as the man struggles on the ground. She too loses her balance and topples over (pictured) as frantic onlookers rush to get help 'We are in contact with the customers involved who thankfully were not seriously hurt.' The footage highlights the dangers of travelators for elderly or disabled shoppers. Last year, 85-year-old Russell Stubbings from Brisbane, Australia, revealed he was suing Coles Supermarkets after he sustained a suspected brain injury and broke his shoulder from falling down a travelator. CCTV video of the incident shows Mr Stubbings fall onto the moving platform as members of the public rush help the elderly shopper. The trolley continues to wheel itself down the travelator before other shoppers stop it with Mr Stubbings left crumpled on the floor. Mr Stubbings said he suffered a broken shoulder and a brain injury and has been 'disturbed' by the incident ever since. 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 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category has gone in this thirteenth edition to ecologists Sandra Diaz (Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina, and Argentine National Research Council, CONICET), Sandra Lavorel (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine [LECA], Grenoble, France, and Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand) and Mark Westoby (Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia), for "expanding the concept of biodiversity," through "their pioneering work to discover, describe and coordinate the measurement of plant functional traits." Independently and collaboratively, the awardees focused their research on arranging each plant's ecosystem function along dimensions of measurable physical traits, such as height, leaf type or seed size, enabling them to locate patterns in the functional diversity of species at a global level. The catalogue of these functional traits has now become a vast database, added to and used by researchers around the world for such purposes as modelling the impact of global change on ecosystems, and identifying mitigation measures. "The increasingly massive and coordinated trait databases that have been developed [on plant functional traits] are fundamentally changing our ability to predict the consequences of climate change for both the diversity and the function of our ecosystems," in the words of the award committee appointed jointly by the BBVA Foundation and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The "trait ecology" that the co-laureates championed "is improving the design and efficacy of both biodiversity conservation efforts and predictive ecosystem models and theory." Diaz, Lavorel and Westoby, the citation concludes, have made "outstanding efforts to describe and sustain the complexity of life on Earth." Form as function Not all plants can convert sunlight into organic matter with the same efficiency, or reproduce themselves as quickly, or consume the same quantity of water. These different abilities depend on measurable physical traits, and have a major impact on overall ecosystem functioning. This concept of functional biodiversity was already "in the air" by the 1990s, recalls Sandra Diaz in a video interview after hearing of the award. Yet it was not until the new millennium that its study got systematically under way. Diaz herself wrote in a paper published in 2001: "There is a growing consensus that functional diversity, or the value and range of species traits, rather than species numbers per se, strongly determines ecosystem functioning. But despite its importance, functional diversity has been studied in relatively few cases." By then, the three had met at various international conferences, each traveling from a distinct corner of the globe. "We really connected," says Diaz, "and had a great time talking together about the relationship between biodiversity and function." It was from these conversations that the idea took shape to create a global database of shared knowledge, something "quite rare at the time in this field of research," remarked Sandra Lavorel, speaking from New Zealand, where she is currently on a research stay at the Landcare Research Center in Lincoln. The three explained the project to their initially reticent colleagues, who decided to sign up, says Diaz, "basically because they trusted us." This was how they came to play what the committee calls "critical roles in formalizing the study of plant traits, inspiring their colleagues across the planet to share in the effort to measure the functional diversity of plants within and across ecosystems." A database of 200,000 plant species The success of the initiative exceeded all expectations. At the time of writing, the TRY database - its name a nod to the hard task they knew would lie ahead - contains 12 million entries, documenting the functional trait diversity of some 200,000 plant species. The committee was at pains to stress the value of this tool, stating that "trait ecology has allowed ecologists to make common and standardized measurements of plant function in every ecosystem on Earth." Plants perform vital ecosystem functions, like carbon fixation, nutrient acquisition and the accumulation of living biomass. Now, thanks to the TRY database, researchers can project how efficient a plant will be at these or other tasks on the basis of its physical traits. A milestone in their collaboration was the 2016 paper "The global spectrum of plant form and function," published in Nature, which marked the first attempt to classify functional biodiversity by reference to six physical traits. These traits have to do primarily with the size of plants and their components, such as seeds, and the workings of the "leaf economy." Westoby elaborates on this last concept, explaining that "some leaves capture light very 'cheaply', that is, capturing a lot of light for the level of resources they invest, but at the cost of being relatively short-lived. At the other end of the spectrum you have relatively 'expensive' leaves with a low rate of return, but that last for a long time." For Diaz, the great global catalogue of forms and functions set out in 2016 is "the first snapshot of the functional diversity of the Earth's vascular plants." Behind it is the ambition to understand the mechanisms that drive the functioning of each ecosystem. Westoby continues with the analogy: "Ecosystems are a machine where the cogs and the levers and the connecting rods are species. And so being able to understand how those pieces of machinery work is a prerequisite for being able to forecast the consequences of any kind of change in the environment, including those due to stressors of human origin." Mounting a better response to climate change The kind of knowledge provided by the functional approach, and a database like TRY, is already being applied in the design of models to improve ecosystem adaptation to climate change. Lavorel explains that it has been shown, for instance, that slower growing plants are more resistant to drought, a phenomenon set to increase with global warming in regions like the Mediterranean. But at the same time, slower growing crops capture less carbon, so it is important to factor both variables into future adaptation plans. Another research strand is the relationship between plants' functional traits and the production of foods. And one of the connecting threads is pollination: "A large proportion of the world's crops are pollinated by insects," says Lavorel, "and the traits of the flowers of these plants determine which insects will be able to pollinate them, which will ultimately influence their levels of production." In short, understanding each plant's function allows to model how the ecosystem will change in response to environmental changes, providing a key input to conservation planning. "Species are not disappearing randomly," says Diaz. "Some organisms are systematically more affected than others, because they have traits that make them differentially vulnerable. Our work helps generalize which are those vulnerable organisms, and what we lose in terms of ecosystem properties and benefits to people when those species disappear. In this sense, what we do highlights how inextricable are our connections with the rest of living nature." The need to act urgently Asked about today's dramatic rates of biodiversity loss, the co-laureates concur in the necessity of urgent action. "What is at threat is the functioning of the tapestry of life on Earth, of which we all form part, and we cannot expect a reasonable future without it," Diaz warns. "It is not too late to act, but the window of opportunity is rapidly closing. What we do in the next few decades will be decisive." Westoby, for his part, sees species as a precious legacy of the evolution of life on our planet which we must fight to preserve: "On average a species will have a million years of history; through all that time, each one has been solving problems that are somehow unique to it, so when you lose species it's like burning libraries or bulldozing important monuments. It's all of those things, only I would say more severe, because we're talking about the deep history of life on Earth. And we stand to lose really large proportions of species over the next 100 years." Sandra Lavorel too likens biodiversity to "a library of life" that has come gravely under threat before we have even fully understood it: "We all know now that it is absolutely urgent that we reverse the current trend if we don't want to sink the boat that is our current Noah's Ark." ### Laureate bio notes Sandra Diaz (Bell Ville, Argentina, 1961) obtained her PhD from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (UNC), Argentina in 1984. In 1993, she joined the Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biologia Vegetal (IMBIV), a joint center of the Argentine National Research Council (CONICET) and the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, where she has risen to the top academic rank of Investigador Superior. She is also Professor of Community and Ecosystem Ecology at UNC, as well as holding a visiting professorship in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, and heading the international initiative Nucleo DiverSus on Diversity and Sustainability. Author of almost 200 scientific publications and nine books and reports, she is Associate Editor of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and sits on the Board of Reviewing Editors of Science and the editorial boards of other scholarly journals. She has served in leading positions in international projects including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In 2019, the magazine Nature chose her for the "Nature's 10" list of the people who helped shape science in that year. Sandra Lavorel (Lyon, France, 1965) holds a degree in agronomic and biological sciences from the Institut National Agronomique Paris?Grignon and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Montpellier (France). After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Australian National University, in 1994 she joined the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), where she is currently a Senior Research Scientist, leading a research group on "Dynamics of socio-ecosystems in a changing world" at the Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA) in Grenoble (France). She has contributed some 20 chapters to edited books, and published over 225 papers in international journals - notably "Plant Functional Types: Are We Getting Any Closer to the Holy Grail?" (2007) - as well as two authored books. Lavorel has been closely involved in numerous international initiatives, including the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the European Commission's MAES/MESEU project for the assessment of ecosystem services across Europe's member states. Since 2013 she has chaired the Scientific Committee of the French National Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services Assessment, and in 2018 was elected onto the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Mark Westoby (Hayes, Middlesex, United Kingdom, 1947) earned a BSc in Ecological Sciences from the University of Edinburgh in 1970, before going on to complete a PhD in Wildlife Ecology at Utah State University (United States) in 1973. From 1970 to 1974, he worked first as a research assistant with the US/IBP Desert Biome Modelling Group then as a research associate at Cornell University. In 1975, he began his long association with Macquarie University (Australia), where he was appointed Emeritus Professor in 2017. From 2005 to 2016, he promoted and led the Macquarie University Genes to Geoscience Research Centre, working to develop a fusion between genomics, ecology, paleobiology and earth systems. Among his other distinctions, he was elected an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017, and named Scientist of the Year by the New South Wales Government in 2014. He has served actively on boards and committees, most recently as chair of the National Committee for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of the Australian Academy of Sciences from 2013 to 2015. He is author of 317 published articles in international journals. Ecology and Conservation Biology committee and evaluation support panel The jury in this category was chaired by Emily Bernhardt, James B. Duke Professor in the Department of Biology at Duke University (United States). The secretary was Pedro Jordano, Research Professor in the Department of Integrative Ecology at the Estacion Biologica de Donana, CSIC (Spain). Remaining members were Paul Brakefield, Professor of Zoology and Emeritus Director of the University Museum of Zoology at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom); Anna-Liisa Laine, Professor of Ecology in the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich (Switzerland); Joanna Lambert, Professor of Environmental Studies, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder (United States); and Rik Leemans, Professor in Environmental Systems Analysis at Wageningen University (the Netherlands). 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: Xavier Belles Ros, research professor at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE); Marta Coll Monton, tenured scientist at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM); Dolores Gonzalez Pacanowska, Coordinator of the Global Life Area and research professor at the Lopez Neyra Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine (IPBLN); Anna Traveset Vilagines, research professor at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), and Blas Valero Garces, Deputy Coordinator of the Global Life Area and research professor at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE). 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 59 nominees for the Frontiers Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology 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. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Matica Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMJ) (FSE: 39N) (OTCQB: MMJFF) ("Matica" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Matica subsidiary, RoyalMax Biotechnology Canada Inc. ("RoyalMax"), has forwarded its first shipment of cannabis to retailers in the Province of Saskatchewan. "OUESTTM cannabis has been well received in Manitoba and we are please to provide a similar level of innovative premium flower products to our Saskatchewan consumers," says Matica CEO Boris Ziger. "Over the coming months, we hope to have our product in more Provinces." The Company further reports that a 1,000,000 stock option have been granted to a director exercisable at $0.05 for five years from date of grant. About Matica Matica is a multi-faceted, innovative company in the Quebec cannabis space. Its subsidiary, RoyalMax Biotechnology Canada Inc. is a Dorval, Quebec based Health Canada Licence Holder with standard cultivation licence, standard processing, medical sales and sales licences. Matica continues to work with Yunify Natural Technologies, a Quebec based health and personal care research and innovation company to develop proprietary products for Matica and RoyalMax, including topicals and ionic mists. Through its acquisition of Trichome Treats, an award winning chocolatier, Matica and RoyalMax intend on introducing edibles into the RoyalMax product mix. For more information on Matica Enterprises please visit the website at: www.maticaenterprises.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors MATICA ENTERPRISES INC. Boris Ziger Boris Ziger, CEO & Chairman The Company's public filings are available for review at www.sedar.com and www.thecse.com. For further information, please contact Boris Ziger, at: Telephone: 416-304-9935 E-mail: info@maticaenterprises.com Website: www.maticaenterprises.com, www.maticammj.com Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Corporation. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Corporation's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. This news release contains statements about the Company's information that may be made available on the S&P Capital IQ Corporation Records Listing Program and the business of Matica that are forward-looking in nature and as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company 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 the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73472 Virtual Medical "QEBR" has entered an agreement to expand Natural Life outlets in Florida in a joint venture revenue sharing agreement. The Natural Life franchise currently has 4 operating stores and is expanding by opening 10 more Stores in Florida in 2021 with QEBR in a joint venture. Natural Life's Founder, Gabriel Suarez, stated: "Natural Life is eager to join with Virtual Medical in the joint venture. This a significant next step forward in adding to our initiative for the franchise expansion business opportunity. It is exciting to have a proven model like Natural Life join with Virtual Medical to offer this new opportunity to prospects that want to get into the whole health space." Larson Elmore CEO of QEBR commented in endorsing the joint venture that "Natural Life is a great brand for QEBR to collaborate with as this deal gives us an immediate presence in the Southeast U.S. market, as well as the ability to increase our footprint across the USA as we move forward with our planned expansion strategy." This joint venture is expected to duplicate Natural Life's very successful format to establish a larger chain of retail stores that specialize in whole health products and other holistic products such as Kava, Turmeric, Akuamma, Ginseng and Ashwagandha. Natural Life as a company can offer more than 300 CBD products and over 20 brands through its stores and website.Quality and safety are at the forefront, and QEBR is conscious that it needs to ensure that these brands are compliant with all upcoming 2021 regulations. In addition, Natural Life provides its own third-party lab testing (regardless of the manufacturer's own test results). Their attention to quality and safety has led to the successful vetting and approval by Publix supermarkets to be co-located in these big box stores. This store model verifies that a similar model can co-locate in other big chain retailers SEE: https://www.shopnaturallife.com Mr. Elmore added that "this structure will enable the Company to control the quality and breadth of its product offerings, as well as manage, build and support a national distribution network." The potential for growth in the sector is demonstrated by almost all of the sector's public companies enjoying an increase in share prices. Marijuana stocks continued to rally on Wednesday after Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) announced it would acquire GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH), a drugmaker best known for a cannabis-derived medication for epileptic seizures. The $7.2 billion deal was announced after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Sens. Cory Booker and Ron Wyden this week said they would make cannabis reform a priority this year. Larson noted that "this legislation would legalize cannabis at the Federal Level. Many observers believe the Biden administration will support passing this legislation. In that case, the company is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. We would anticipate that if this legislation is passed, it will be a major step forward for the cannabis industry -- already one of the fastest growing industries in the USA." About Virtual Medical International Virtual Medical International, (OTC: QEBR), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has trademarked the brand name "Amsterdam Cafe: Welcome to Your Whole Health". The diversified, multi-channel business model is positioned to derive revenue from product sales through company-owned retail stores, franchise stores, domestic and international franchise activities, third party contract manufacturing, e-commerce and corporate alignments. Virtual Medical International's business model is designed to help consumers improve the health and quality of their lives by making available an array of high quality, CBD-centric products consistent with a healthy lifestyle. To that end, Virtual Medical formed Amsterdam Cafe as a wholly owned subsidiary in order to become a comprehensive, vertically integrated organization within the CBD whole health sector,with plans to acquire and open CDB Stores across the U.S.A. and Europe. See: www.buyamsterdamcafe.com For further information: Contact: Larson Elmore Phone: (216) 345-4567 Email: [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on current facts and analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determined, and assumptions of management. Forward looking statements 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. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors beyond the reasonable control of the Company. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include misinterpretation of data, the Company's ability to raise financing for operations, breach by parties with whom we have contracted, and the possible inability to maintain qualified employees or consultants. For more information please see our website: http://www.qebr.net SOURCE QEBR Related Links http://qebr.net A Union City-based drug ring used family-operated businesses and a network of couriers to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and other narcotics across North Jersey and New York City for several years, authorities announced. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies announced Wednesday a year-long investigation ended with 20 arrests, as well as the seizure of over $1 million worth of narcotics, $118,000 cash, and a loaded firearm. Authorities allege Juan Tejada, 31, of Union City operated the drug ring with his wife, two brothers, and an associate, and even used a family-owned barber shop and used car lot as fronts for the illegal activity. Tejada faces a slew of charges, including two counts of leading a narcotics trafficking network and two counts of conspiracy to manufacture or distribute drugs. This was a large-scale, highly-organized narcotics trafficking network that for years had operated in Northern New Jersey and New York City funneling large volumes of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine onto the streets of our communities, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. (They) used front businesses and counter-surveillance and had built an intricate network they believed was impenetrable by law enforcement, however, this joint agency investigation demonstrates the power and reach of the law in stopping these deadly and destructive narcotics operations, Suarez added. For months, Suarezs office investigated the alleged drug network with members of the Department of Homeland Security, the New York City Police Department, federal prosecutors in New Jersey and New York, as well as the office of New York Citys special narcotics prosecutor. The narcotics were sold primarily in Union City, North Bergen, West New York, Bayonne, as well as municipalities across Essex, Bergen and Union counties, authorities said. Tejada employed couriers to deliver the drugs to his customers, who then sold them throughout the region, according to authorities. The investigation also brought down an alleged fentanyl manufacturer and supplier Juan Carlos Moreno who authorities say produced tens of thousands of fentanyl and fentanyl/heroin pills in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. The drugs were later provided to the Tejada drug trafficking network, officials said. Moreno, 43, was charged with leading a narcotics trafficking network and conspiracy to manufacture or distribute fentanyl. Authorities also arrested Tejadas brothers, Enmanuel, 24, and Jancel, 30, as well as Manuel Rodriguez, 49, and Milka Dominguez, 32 all of Union City. Seven couriers and seven mid-level drug dealers were also charged as part of the investigation, authorities said. Investigators seized more than 9,400 grams of fentanyl, over 3,400 grams of cocaine, and more than 1,700 grams of methamphetamine. Over 800 grams of fentanyl pills and approximately 8 grams of heroin were also recovered during the investigation. The veneer of seemingly legitimate businesses that include a barber shop and a used car lot gave the Tejada family the appearance of normalcy. However, the reality was quite different, said Jason Molina, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Newark. Authorities, however, did not provide the names of the businesses that were allegedly used as part of the drug trafficking operation. Behind the family run businesses was a transnational fentanyl and cocaine trafficking organization. The Tejada brothers and their organization have filled our streets with fentanyl and cocaine, Molina added. That ends today. ADVERTISEMENT Warders from the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, Wednesday told a magistrate that a new directive at the centre forbids the accommodation any inmate who could not show evidence of undergoing COVID-19 test. The warders brought to court three suspects who were accused of assaulting police officers. As a result, the Grade A Customary Court, sitting at Mapo in Ibadan, where they were arraigned ordered that the suspects be remanded in the Mapo police cell for allegedly causing public disorder. The defendants, Oluwaseun Ayola, 33; Yusuf Taofeek, 41 and Adetunji Adeyemo, 45, are facing a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, wilful obstruction, malicious damage and road blocking. The prosecutor, Ayodele Ayeni, told the court that the defendants, with others now at large, committed the crime on January 28 around 10.00 a.m. at Ojaba area in Ibadan. Mr Ayeni, a police sergeant, further said the defendants attacked and tore the mufti dresses of policemen, who were lawfully carrying out their duty. The prosecutor also told the court that the defendants caused a breach of public peace by blocking the road, unnecessarily causing anxiety, shouting and raining abusive words on passers-by and the Police. Mr Ayeni gave the names of police officers attacked by the defendants as ASP Sunday Amolegbe, ASP Olayemi Akomolafe, ASP Matthew Jagunmolu and DSP Ogunsola Odesonmi. He added that the offences were contrary to and punishable under sections 516, 197, 355, 45, 451 and 241 of the Criminal Code Act Cap 38 Vol ii law of Oyo State 2000. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Messrs Ayola and Taofeek pleaded guilty to the charges, but could not fulfil the bail conditions spelt out. Ruling on the suit, the president of the court, Imoleayo Akinrodoye, admitted each of the defendants to N100,000 bail with two reliable sureties in like sum. Mrs Akinrodoye said one of such sureties must be a community leader and the other, not less than a level 10 officer in the Oyo State Civil Service. Considering the COVID-19 test certificate criterion given by the correctional centre, Mrs Akinrodoye ordered that the defendants be remanded at Mapo police cell. She subsequently adjourned the case until February 15 for the continuation of trial. (NAN) Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. A horse is a horse and a bet may be a bet, but the different codes of races start in uniquely different ways that separate one from the other. Despite employing completely different methods to send horses on their way, starters across racing share the same objective: to make sure every horse receives a fair and safe getaway in order to protect the investments of their owners, the integrity of the sport, and the bettors' interests. Anthony "Spike" Ranno, the starter for Thoroughbred (flat) races at Colonial Downs in New Kent, starts the field from a stationary gate with 14 separate stalls, or chutes, that Thoroughbred horses enter one by one. After the final horse loads in, he presses a button that simultaneously rings the starting bell and flips open the magnetic doors. Horses then burst out together and compete in the race. On the other hand, Clarence Martin, who serves as the starter for harness racing at Shenandoah Downs, sits backwards in a moving starter's car with wings on each side traveling up to 30 miles an hour with his face nearly pressed against the rear window. As harness horses approach the moving gate, he makes sure each is in its proper post position spot on the wings before the field is released and the race begins. Graham Alcock, who dispatches runners competing in steeplechase events at Great Meadow, employs a hybrid version of sorts for jump horses, without the benefit of a stationary or movable mechanical apparatus. When jumpers and riders approach a starting box area, they spread out left to right in post order and try to keep a forward motion during the process. When Alcock feels the field is in a fair starting position, he will drop a flag and the race begins. Despite different methods, the goal of each starter is the same. Anthony Ranno starts at Tampa Bay Downs from November through May and has been the starter at Colonial Downs for the last two years. The Massachusetts native leads a team of 13 crew members who load horses safely into a stationary gate, horse by horse. His crew works early in the day and, on race days, stays late. The day begins with horse schooling. Five mornings a week, they set up a starting gate in the chute from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and help horses learn to enter and exit the very confined space. "Preparation of horses prior to race day is critical," said Jill Byrne, Colonial's vice president of racing operations. "Schooling gives young horses a chance to learn how to handle the gate and how to break out of it. This is where it all starts." Later in the day during the races, Ranno, his staff and a small army of other workers move the starting gate into different positions for the various races. Each race is contested at a different distance and often, over rotating surfaces: either the 1-1/4-mile dirt oval or Colonial's signature Secretariat Turf Course the widest grass racing surface in the country which features both an inner and outer turf course. For turf races, his team needs to place a set of boards over the grass so the gate's wheels can roll over them and not damage the surface while getting into position. That involves an additional 12 workers who complement the gate crew. Colonial's famous large and wide track surfaces can pose an occasional challenge. On July 29, 2020, the third race at Colonial was scheduled to be run at 1-3/16 miles over the outer turf course. Ranno, in his tractor, slowly backed the gate up to an opening in the outer rail while two of his team members at the other end of the gate directed and pulled it into onto the boards which had just been laid down. Halfway onto the turf, Ranno received a heads up. The gate was in the wrong spot. It was being set at the 1-1/8-mile distance. The boards that had just been laid down had to be taken up quickly, relocated and placed down again in the proper spot before horses arrived. Once the gate is set, numbers are placed above the stalls being used so the gate crew can load horses and jockeys in properly based on size of the field and program number of each horse. In the minutes before load-in begins, Ranno sits in his tractor seat and studies a program he accesses through InCompass Solutions. His goal however, is not to handicap the field. Anthony Ranno, pictured in front of the starting gate at Colonial Downs in Virginia, also serves as the starter at Tampa Bay Downs in the winter months. Anthony Ranno, pictured in front of the starting gate at Colonial Downs in Virginia, also serves as the starter at Tampa Bay Downs in the winter months. "I look at the program marks that horses have from past races around the country. Some need a handler for their head, some need one for their head and tail, some need open doors to load, and some need to be pushed in. There's all kinds of marks and tricks we use to make the load-in go smoother." "It's all about teamwork," said Ranno, who gathers his group together before each race to go over a specific game plan based on those marks. "Most of these guys have been working together for 25, even 30 years, so everyone knows what to do and how to get the job done. Nobody has to tell each other what to do. They just look at each other and know. Some of us have worked together since the '90s at Rockingham Park, in Boston, and the fair circuit in Massachusetts. Safety is the key," he added. "Everyone has to know how to handle their horse and not get in the wrong spot at the wrong time. You try to do it as quickly as possible, but you also need to take your time so you don't make a mistake." Ten of Ranno's crew members come with him annually from Tampa Bay. The other three come from Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. "Spike and his crew are horsemen first," said Byrne. "It is a very dangerous job, and they are all skilled. That's why they are horsemen first. They understand why a horse reacts the way it does sometimes. And they have to react quickly, think fast and move fast. They need to get along with the horse. They're trying to get a horse into an apparatus that is only three or four feet wide. As a former rider myself, it's critical to have people at the gate that know how to get along with horses instead of fighting with them." Ranno, 44, grew up around the business. His mother was a trainer, and his grandfather rode a pony horse at the track and also had a feed business. Ranno began working on the grounds at the Northampton Fair at the age of 22 and became a member of the gate crew there. Over the years, he tried a couple jobs away from racing, but always gravitated back to the track. "When I first began doing this, it was an adrenaline rush, getting in there and wrestling with the horses," he said. "But then you realize you're working with a horse to get it right and help them do good. We work the younger horses a lot in the mornings, trying to get it to where they load in nice and easy, and leave and not cause any problems. It makes you feel good when someone thinks that a horse is crazy to the point they'll never settle in and do well. Then when they do, there's a lot pride in that. There's no such thing as a bad horse." Allison DeLuca is the long time racing secretary at Tampa Bay Downs, and will begin her third season in that position at Colonial come July. "Spike is very conscious of everything, and he goes 100 percent by the book," she said. "It's especially important at Colonial because there are so many ship-in horses that compete here that his crew is seeing for the first time. He is strict and has a great crew that work for him. He takes it very seriously." Clarence Martin is a former harness trainer who had a stable of 20 horses at one time, but when his daughter graduated high school and left for college 12 years ago, he switched sides of the track and became a starter, though he still conditions several horses. Martin's goal in starting a field of harness horses is the same as Ranno's, but instead of eyeballing them at a standstill, he along with the pacers and trotters are in motion together for about 30 seconds while they line up behind the moving gate and wait for the word "go." The wings of the gate then swing open, and the race begins. Horses in harness racing continue on in the respective gaits at the speed they established before the race began versus Thoroughbreds, which bolt out when the chutes open. Preparations are made on the foldable wings of the Shenandoah Downs mobile starting gate. Preparations are made on the foldable wings of the Shenandoah Downs mobile starting gate. Operating a harness starting gate is a two-person operation. A driver steers the car from the normal front left seat, but the starter actually controls the speed of the car travelling backwards in a sense, looking at the horses while perched in a swivel seat in back facing the car's rear window. "There is an element of danger to it," said Martin. "You've got to be watching every horse in the race, making sure everyone is in the right spot, looking for broken equipment before we holler the word 'go.' We have eight in a race, and you've got to watch every one of them and try to get them all a fair start. You've got to stay alert and watch for anything that shouldn't be happening. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way, but we try to do the best we can do." "A starter that has been a trainer or driver themselves is an asset because they can anticipate different situations that could arise behind the starting gate," said Jack Remy, presiding judge at Shenandoah Downs. "It gives them better intuition on how drivers and horses may react during those times. This also helps them accurately inform the judges of any infractions or situations that occur during the race. They make sure horses are in correct position, that there is no interference behind the gate while taking into account the safety for horse and driver as well as the betting public's interest of a fair start." Martin's first position as a starter was at a fair in Meadville, Pa. Now, he does 21 fairs in that state. He began starting in New York three years ago and now services 11 different fairs there. And he has been the starter at Shenandoah Downs since 2017. "My father trained and I trained," said Martin, "But I wanted to cut back and slow up. The switch turned out to be a good gig. It's made life easier. You're not dependent on a horse to feed you and your family. At the end of the day, I'm still involved but instead of having 20 head, I have three, and another source of income." Not only is he the starter, Martin also builds and supplies his own starting gates. He is finishing his fourth gate this winter. "There's not a lot of people who do this or are looking to get into it," he said. "Some places don't have their own gate, so they rent mine. We'll supply the driver and starter as part of the package. We're very fortunate that we have good drivers everywhere we go and good equipment. We started out with some bad equipment and have upgraded, then upgraded even more." Unlike his Thoroughbred counterpart, Martin does not work extended meets and as a result, travels extensively in season going from fair to fair. "I live in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, but we have many fairs that are in the middle and western part of the state, as far as 5-1/2 hours away. Often times, I'll leave the day before because you never want to risk not making it. This business can be a long, drawn-out affair at times. You do a lot of running. I bought a new truck last spring, and by the time the Shenandoah meet started (mid-September), it had 15,000 miles on it." With all the moving parts, literally, things can go awry on occasion. "Three years ago at Shenandoah, (driver) Billy Carter was coming to the gate and he was just flying," Martin said. "Everyone was on the gate already, and I told him he better take a hold and slow up because we were not going that fast. You just can't take off and leave everybody else because one guy wants to go 100 miles an hour. I hollered at him a second time, and said he better slow up. But the horse kept coming, ducked, went under the gate and kept right on going past us. It wasn't funny when it happened but now when we all look back on it, it was funny. "Another time," added Martin, "We had a horse get his nose stuck in the screen. We had to have a recall and get everybody stopped. We actually had to get out of the car and push the horse's nose back out he was stuck right in." Graham Alcock wants horses to keep moving to an extent at the start of a steeplechase race when they arrive at the starter's box. That "box" is an area defined in the grass by four cones positioned at the corners. Horses walk head to tail from outside to inside across that box until Alcock tells them to turn to face him. If they are within up to two lengths from each other at that point, he lets them go. Even though they are spread across, he wants them to keep a subtle forward motion going at the same time. "You don't want horses standing still because you don't know if they're stuck or not," he said. "They might be standing still, and the rider might be happy with them standing still, but you're not going to know until you ask them to move forward. Being a former rider, a horse moving forward is always the best thing." Alcock, 58, is a former steeplechase rider who many years ago, competed nine seasons on the jump circuit that included the Virginia meets. After giving that up, he became a flat track horse trainer and then a farm manager in Kentucky both of which lasted several years but neither turned out to be long-term. Alcock relocated back to Virginia near Middleburg, took up equine dentistry and has worked on horse's teeth since for the last 24 years. He has also been a starter on the National Steeplechase Association (NSA) circuit for the last eight years after starting out doing point-to-points. He was asked about transitioning from being a participant in the sport to an official. "If you've ridden, it really helps to have an understanding of what the jockeys go through, and to work with them and not fuss around," Alcock said. "They are trying to do the best they can and as a starter, you need to understand that. Sometimes, they push a little and you need to say, 'Back off a bit.' You need to make it a team effort, and not just you as the starter being the boss." Ranno gets one shot to start a field of Thoroughbreds. On rare occasions, Martin will have a recall and try a second time with harness horses due to broken equipment or other factors. Alcock could do the same with jumpers, but he prefers not to. "I like to get it right the first time," he said. "Usually if the first try is terrible, it's not going to get better the second or third time. Things don't improve when you keep coming back. Jockeys get more anxious. Horses get more anxious. If you're walking a horse across and all of a sudden they take off early going 30 miles an hour and prepare to jump, and you end up bringing him back for a restart, it doesn't work out. The horse is wound up, so sending him out again isn't going to make it better. You need to be lenient," Alcock added. "I mess up every now and then. Every now and again, we leave one. Every now and again, we don't make everyone happy. The biggest thing is to work as a team with the jockeys, talk to them and understand them." Graham has such a great relationship with the riders," said NSA president Dr. Al Griffin. "He was one of them. Its not like they load in a starting gate like flat racing. Graham has to orchestrate the start, getting them lined up and all in a position of equal advantage before dropping the flag. Getting the start right is an art, and Graham is a master. Like in flat and harness racing, things don't always go as planned. "The funniest incident I've been part of happened at Colonial Downs," Alcock said. "I lined everybody up, was happy with the start, dropped the flag, and nobody went. Nobody wanted to jump off. I picked up my flags, started walking off the course and said, "Somebody's got to go". As I walked away, I heard the announcer say, "They're off". And now, I'm not sure if they're off or not. I did my job and was happy with the way I left it. The jockeys all got a warning from the steward, who said a start is a start and they need to make it look like a race." Of all the tracks Alcock has started at, Great Meadow in The Plains home of the Virginia Gold Cup Races holds a special place: "I like all the tracks I've worked at, but that one is most special. When you stand there by the finish line and look across the course, it's just unbelievable. It's pretty special." All three starters will be back at work in Virginia in 2021. Ranno will start races at Colonial Downs in New Kent every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from July 19 to Sept. 1, including the Virginia Derby card on Aug. 31. Martin will ride backwards around the harness dirt oval in Woodstock at the Shenandoah County Fair Races and at the Shenandoah Downs pari-mutuel meet this fall, and Alcock will start the Virginia Gold Cup on May 29, the International Gold Cup on Oct. 23, and other NSA meets in Middleburg, Charlottesville and Montpelier Station. (Virginia Equine Alliance) The Newark Police Divisions Crime Stoppers Program is offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of anyone responsible for the shooting of a 2-year-old girl last week. The child was one of three victims who were found shot on Jan. 28 around 11:09 p.m. on Cabinet Street in Newark. A man and a woman were also shot and rushed to University Hospital with the 2-year-old, police said. Our Major Crimes detectives are actively searching for any suspects involved in this senseless shooting, which could have cost this child her life in a split second, said Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose. Thankfully, she is still with us. We are hopeful that offering a reward will result in someone coming forward with information to help us identify the suspects and prevent them from committing more violence against our neighbors. Mayor Ras Baraka previously called the shooting a tragedy and asked police to work around the clock to make an arrest. In a city where we are fighting for police reform, we also need everyone to come together to end the violence that has plagued our community for so many years, Baraka previously said. We need a stronger push and we all have to do our part. Newark police released video of officers responding to the scene and putting the girl into a squad car. The video also showed an adult lying on the ground and being rushed to the hospital. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call the polices 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477). All anonymous Crime Stopper tips are kept confidential and could result in a reward. Anonymous tips may also be made using the police divisions website or through the smartphone app available at iTunes and Google Play. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Nuclear war between the United States and Russia or China is a real possibility because Moscow and Beijing are aggressively challenging world peace in ways not seen since the Cold War, a four-star admiral warns. Admiral Charles A. Richard, who heads the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which oversees Americas arsenal of nuclear weapons, expressed alarm at Russian and Chinese cyber attacks and threats in space. Richard accused Moscow and Beijing of taking advantage of the global pandemic to advance their national agendas. The Navy officer added, however, that at STRATCOM we assess the probability of nuclear use is low. Nonetheless, the US cannot dismiss or ignore events that currently appear unlikely but, should they occur, would have catastrophic consequences, Richard writes in Proceedings, a journal published by the US Naval Institute. Admiral Charles A. Richard, who heads the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which oversees Americas arsenal of nuclear weapons, says that nuclear war with either Russia or China is 'a real possibility' Richard says that the US has grown alarmed at the buildup of strategic capabilities by its Cold War-era rivals. The image above shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) in Brazil in 2019 Both Russia and China have expanded their nuclear arsenals while improving their delivery capabilities. The image above shows a military vehicle carrying the DF-26 intercontinental ballistic missile during a parade in Beijing in October 2019 Richard believes that the Pentagon must prepare for the worst-case scenario even if the likelihood of nuclear war remains low. Until we, as a department, come to understand, if not accept, what we are facing and what should be done about it, we run the risk of developing plans we cannot execute and procuring capabilities that will not deliver desired outcomes, he writes. In the absence of change, we are on the path, once again, to prepare for the conflict we prefer, instead of one we are likely to face. Richard writes that Russia and China continue to build capability and exert themselves globally. These behaviors are destabilizing, and if left unchecked, increase the risk of great power crisis or conflict, according to Richard. We must actively compete to hold their aggression in check; ceding to their initiatives risks reinforcing their perceptions that the United States is unwilling or unable to respond, which could further embolden them. Richard also writes that American assertiveness would send an important, reassuring message to allies who are in harms way. Remaining passive may deny us opportunities to position in ways that underpin one of our greatest strengths: strategic power projection, he writes. Chart shows the number of nuclear weapons believed to be held by each country. Deployed warheads refers to warheads placed on missiles or located on bases with operational forces. Other warheads refers to stored or reserve warheads and retired warheads awaiting dismantlement. China is said to be one of six countries that increased its nuclear arsenal last year, adding 30 warheads to its stockpile. Richard cited the recent SolarWinds cyber hack that US intelligence agencies have blamed on Russia. The Kremlin has denied the allegation. The above image shows a SolarWinds logo outside its headquarters in Austin, Texas The moment an adversarys initiative becomes a fait accompli, the United States would be forced to decide whether to accept their new normal, employ military force to reestablish the status quo, or set our own new normal. The STRATCOM commander notes that it was sobering to observe how Russia and Chinas strategic capabilities continue to grow. GOVT AGENCIES KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN TARGETED BY HACKERS SO FAR Pentagon Treasury FBI Department of State Department of Homeland Security Commerce Department National Institutes of Health Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Los Alamos National Laboratory Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Secure Transportation Advertisement The Russians have been aggressively modernizing its nuclear forces, including its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and its warning systems, according to Richard. This modernization is about 70 percent complete and on track to be fully realized in a few years, he writes. In addition, Russia is building new and novel systems, such as hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered torpedoes and cruise missiles, and other capabilities. Richard writes that Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the world of his countrys nuclear weapons capability when Moscow annexed the Crimea in 2014. He also cited recent Russian military maneuvers in which its warplanes were seen coming into close proximity with American fighter jets over the Mediterranean Sea as well as Eastern Europe. Richard also alluded to the massive cyberhack of US government agencies and private businesses that some have likened to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In late December, the nation's top security agencies including the FBI and the Pentagon were rocked by an unprecedented breach when it emerged SolarWinds had been hacked. SolarWinds is an American firm that develops software for businesses and government agencies to help manage their networks, systems, and information technology infrastructure. The attackers, which US intelligence officials have since said were 'likely' from Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, used Orion, a SolarWinds product, as an open door to break into the computer systems of users. China has sent warplanes almost every day in January to conduct military exercises near Taiwan as preparation for a possible war, reports say. In this file photo on October 1, 2019, Chinese military aircraft fly in formation during a parade in Beijing The attack began as far back as October 2019 leaving hackers free rein to explore the networks of government agencies, private companies and think-tanks for months. Among the government agencies that were allegedly hacked are the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, the Commerce Department, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and others. US intelligence officials have publicly blamed Russia for the attack. In his first phone call with Putin as the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden brought up the hack among 'other matters of concern'. Russia has denied all involvement. Richard also writes that China is on a trajectory to be a strategic peer and that the Peoples Republic should not be mistaken as a lesser included case. The STRATCOM commander writes: Like Russia, it acts aggressively to challenge democratic values and shape the global economic order to its benefit. China continues to make technological leaps in capabilities in every domain. Across its conventional weapons systems, it continues to invest significant resources in hypersonic and advanced missile systems, as well as to expand its space and counter-space capabilities. China, like Russia, harasses US and allied aircraft and forces operating in international airspace and waters like the South China Sea, where Beijing has created islands and placed multiple weapons systems on them. Richard writes that China is expanding its nuclear capability. It will soon be able to launch nukes not just with missiles and submarines but long-range bombers as well, according to the admiral. Further, Chinas nuclear weapons stockpile is expected to double (if not triple or quadruple) over the next decade, he writes. Richard writes that although China has stated that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in any future conflict, this policy could change in the blink of an eye. China has increased tensions with Taiwan by stepping up military activities and declaring that 'independence means war' last week. This photo taken on January 4, 2021 shows Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers assembling during military training in Xinjiang Beijing is pursuing capabilities and operating in a manner inconsistent with a minimum deterrent strategy, giving it a full range of options, including limited use and a first-strike capability, he writes. In Biden's first two weeks in office, China has appeared willing to flex its muscles. Reports have claimed China has sent warplanes almost every day in January to conduct military exercises near Taiwan as preparation for a possible war. The Chinese military aircraft were spotted entering Taiwanese airspace on a total of 30 different days last month, according to Taiwanese media. Beijing's alleged intrusions were considered as 'preparing to fight the possible war through exercises', warned Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times. Earlier this week, China's top foreign policy advisor warned Washington not to interfere in Hong Kong and Xinjiang's affairs after the Biden administration condemned Beijing's policies in the two regions. Yang Jiechi, director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, is the highest-ranking Chinese leader to speak on China-US relations since Biden took office last month. Yang's comments on Tuesday followed criticism from senior Biden administration officials against China's repression of Muslim minorities and its clampdown on Hong Kong. Under the Trump administration, US relations with China plunged to their lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1979, as both sides clashed over issues ranging from trade and technology to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang, and the South China Sea. Yang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, called for Beijing and Washington to put their relations back on a 'predictable and constructive' path. According to the admiral, the US doctrine of strategic deterrence may be rendered obsolete in the face of Russia and Chinas growing capabilities. In this file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with then-US Vice President Joe Biden at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 4, 2013 There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, if they perceived a conventional loss would threaten the regime or state, he writes. Consequently, the US military must shift its principal assumption from "nuclear employment is not possible" to "nuclear employment is a very real possibility," and act to meet and deter that reality, Richard writes. We cannot approach nuclear deterrence the same way. It must be tailored and evolved for the dynamic environment we face. Richard calls on the US government to ensure that America maintains its qualitative military edge over both rivals. 'While this is a sobering picture, it is not intended to discourage; rather, it is meant to highlight reality and reinvigorate a conversation across the enterprise,' Richard writes. 'Our challenges are not insurmountable.' Syracuse, NY Troopers chased a stolen vehicle driven by a 14-year-old at high speeds through Syracuses northern suburbs 11 days ago, eventually catching up after the young driver crashed in Oswego County. What troopers had no way to know at the time of the early Jan. 22 police chase was that at least one of the cars three occupants had allegedly murdered an 84-year-old woman only hours before. Jahkim Robinson, the charged murder suspect, was one of the three 14-year-olds in the stolen car when it crashed in the early hours that Friday. That chase began roughly 12 hours after investigators believe Eva Fuld, the murder victim, had been stabbed and beaten inside her Syracuse apartment. Now, investigators are looking at whether the other teens charged in the police chase also participated in Fulds murder. Only Jahkim has been arrested so far, though police have said in court papers that he wasnt alone during the robbery-turned-murder. At the time of the police chase, however, there was no evidence linking any of the teens to the murder, Trooper Jack Keller told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard on Tuesday. Fulds body had not been found yet. RELATED: Police release boy, 14, after car chase. Days later, they arrest him for 84-year-olds murder just before the chase All three were released after the car chase on non-violent stolen property charges. Under law, such charges against 14-year-olds are automatically sealed and sent to Family Court. That troopers had an accused killer in their custody and let him go only became clear days later, after Jahkim was arrested by Syracuse police for the murder on other evidence, Keller said. City police eventually connected the dots and asked state police for information on the police chase. ...no information was developed during the course of our investigation about Fulds murder, Keller said in an email responding to questions from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. The State Police shared information with the Syracuse Police Departments Criminal Investigation Division upon inquiry, which occurred after the homicide investigation began and arrest was made. Based on that timeline, authorities didnt put together Jahkims alleged involvement in the murder and the police chase until nearly a week after both occurred. Fulds body was not found until Monday, Jan. 25 -- four days after authorities believe the murder happened -- and Jahkim wasnt arrested until Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. How did troopers not know? Jahkim, along with others, is accused of barging into Fulds apartment in Syracuses Grant Village around 4 p.m. Jan. 21. Inside, he and other unknown co-defendants, are accused of stealing her car keys, among other possessions, and murdering the elderly woman before fleeing. Theres evidence that Jahkim had possession of Fulds car after her murder, authorities say. But thats not the stolen car used in the police chase, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said. Jahkim and his co-defendants are accused of ditching Fulds car, which was found the same night that shes believed to have been killed. Then, Jahkim and the two other 14-year-olds somehow came into possession of another stolen car, Fitzpatrick said. Whether the co-defendants in the murder are the same people as the teens found with Jahkim after the police chase remains under investigation. The stolen car with Jahkim and the two other 14-year-olds was first pulled over on Old Liverpool Road in Salina around 4 a.m. Jan. 22 after a trooper spotted that it had no working taillights, Keller said. Instead of stopping, the driver (unknown if Jahkim or one of the others) took off, police said. Troopers gave chase, but stopped after losing sight of the vehicle northbond on Oswego Road (Route 57) in Clay. The same vehicle was spotted again after crashing on Volney Street in the village of Phoenix, Oswego County, Keller said. Thats where the three 14-year-olds were arrested and later released. That investigation did not lead to charges that the teens actually stole the vehicle that night from a town of Camillus residence; only that they had possession of it after the fact. Criminal possession of stolen property is a non-violent felony, which must be sent to Family Court when involving 14-year-old suspects. Keller said he could not release the identities of the suspects in the car chase, given their ages. The DA identified Jahkim as one of the occupants; joining him were one boy and one girl, Keller said. The Arctic Ocean was covered by up to 900 m thick shelf ice and was filled entirely with freshwater at least twice in the last 150,000 years. This surprising finding, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, is the result of long-term research by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and the MARUM. With a detailed analysis of the composition of marine deposits, the scientists could demonstrate that the Arctic Ocean as well as the Nordic Seas did not contain sea-salt in at least two glacial periods. Instead, these oceans were filled with large amounts of freshwater under a thick ice shield. This water could then be released into the North Atlantic in very short periods of time. Such sudden freshwater inputs could explain rapid climate oscillations for which no satisfying explanation had been previously found. About 60.000 to 70.000 years ago, in a particularly cold part of the last glacial period, large parts of Northern Europe and North America were covered by ice sheets. The European ice sheet spanned a distance of more than 5000 kilometres, from Ireland and Scotland via Scandinavia to the Eastern rim of the Kara Sea (Arctic Ocean). In North America, large parts of what is now known as Canada were buried under two large ice sheets. Greenland and parts of the Bering Sea coastline were glaciated too. What was the ice situation like even further North, in the Arctic Ocean? Was it covered by thick sea-ice, or maybe with the tongues of these vast ice sheets were floating on it, far beyond the North Pole? Scientific answers to these questions were more or less hypothetical so far. In contrast to deposits on land, where erratic boulders, moraines and glacial valleys are the obvious landmarks of glaciers, only few traces of vast ice shelves had been found so far in the Arctic Ocean. Geoscientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now compiled existing evidence from the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas, and combined it with new data to arrive at a surprising conclusion. According to their study, the floating parts of the northern ice sheets covered large parts of the Arctic Ocean in the past 150,000 years. Once about 70,000-60,000 years ago and also about 150,000-130,000 years ago. In both periods, freshwater accumulated under the ice, creating a completely fresh Arctic Ocean for thousands of years. "These results mean a real change to our understanding of the Arctic Ocean in glacial climates. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a complete freshening of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas has been considered - happening not just once, but twice," says the first author, Dr Walter Geibert, geochemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute. Thorium is absent in the sediments, so saline water must have been absent Their finding is based on geological analyses of ten sediment cores from different parts of the Arctic Ocean, Fram Strait and the Nordic Seas. The stacked deposits mirror the climate history of the past glacials. When investigating and comparing the sediment records, the geoscientists found that an important indicator was missing, always in the same two intervals. "In saline sea water, the decay of naturally occurring uranium always results in the production of the isotope thorium-230. This substance accumulates at the sea floor, where it remains detectable for a very long time due to its half-life of 75,000 years," Walter Geibert explains. Therefore, geologists often use this thorium-isotope as a natural clock. "Here, its repeated and wide-spread absence is the giveaway that reveals to us what happened. According to our knowledge, the only reasonable explanation for this pattern is that the Arctic Ocean was filled with freshwater twice in its younger history- in frozen and liquid form," co-author and micropalaeontologist Dr Jutta Wollenburg, also from the AWI, explains. A new picture of the Arctic Ocean How can a large ocean basin, connected by several straits with the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, turn entirely fresh? "Such a scenario is perceivable if we realize that in glacial periods, global sea levels were up to 130 m lower than today, and ice masses in the Arctic may have restricted ocean circulation even further," states co-author Professor Ruediger Stein, geologist at the AWI and the MARUM. Shallow connections like Bering Strait or the sounds of the Canadian Archipelago were above sea level at the time, cutting off the connection with the Pacific Ocean entirely. In the Nordic Seas, large icebergs or ice sheets extending onto the sea floor restricted the exchange of water masses. The flow of glaciers, ice melt in summer, and rivers draining into the Arctic Ocean kept delivering large amounts of fresh water to the system, at least 1200 cubic kilometres per year. A part of this amount would have been forced via the Nordic Seas through the sparse narrow deeper connections in the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the North Atlantic, hindering saline water from penetrating further north. This resulted in the freshening of the Arctic Ocean. "Once the mechanism of ice barriers failed, heavier saline water could fill the Arctic Ocean again," Walter Geibert says. "We believe that it could then quickly displace the lighter freshwater, resulting in a sudden discharge of the accumulated amount of freshwater over the shallow southern boundary of the Nordic Seas, the Greenland-Scotland-Ridge, into the North Atlantic." A concept that assumes that enormous amounts of freshwater were stored in the Arctic Ocean and available for rapid release would help understanding the connection between a range of past climate fluctuations. It would also offer an explanation for some apparent discrepancies between different ways of reconstructing past sea levels. "The remains of coral reefs have pointed to a somewhat higher sea level in certain cold periods than reconstructions from Antarctic ice cores, or reconstructions from the calcareous shells of small marine organisms, would suggest," explains Walter Geibert. "If we now accept that freshwater may not only have been stored in solid form on land, but some of it also in liquid form in the ocean, the different sea level reconstructions agree better and we can reconcile the location of the coral reefs with calculations of the freshwater budget." Freshwater release from the Arctic Ocean might also serve as an explanation for some abrupt climate change events during the last glacial period. During such events, temperatures in Greenland could rise by 8-10 degree centigrade within a few years, only returning to the original cold glacial temperatures over the course of hundreds or thousands of years. "We see an example here of a past Arctic climate tipping point of the Earth system. Now we need to investigate in more detail how these processes were interconnected, and evaluate how this new concept of the Arctic Ocean helps in closing further gaps in our knowledge, in particular in view of the risks of manmade climate change," says Walter Geibert. ### Original Publication: Walter Geibert, Jens Matthiessen, Ingrid Stimac, Jutta Wollenburg, Ruediger Stein: Glacial episodes of a freshwater Arctic Ocean covered by a thick ice shelf. Nature (2021), DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03186-y EMBARGOED until: Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 17:00 CET, 16:00 London Time, 11:00 US Eastern Time Impeached Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko will spend two more nights in police cell pending his bail application. Mr Sonko on Tuesday morning denied all 12 charges levelled against him. The charges include assault, robbery with violence and destruction of property linked to alleged forced entry into a property in Buru Buru estate back in 2019. He is accused of assaulting a Mr Alex Kioko, thereby occasioning him bodily harm. He is also accused, along with others not before court, of assaulting Mr Musyoki Kavunda and John Mungai Wanjiru at the same property. He appeared before Kiambu senior principal magistrate Stella Ataambo. The prosecution is seeking custodial orders to: 1. Detain him to conclude investigations 2. Take him to a Mombasa court where he has warrant of arrest for a pending case 3. Prevent him from accessing and intimidating witnesses He was presented in court after spending the night at Gigiri police station. The former county boss had presented himself at DCI headquarters for questioning yesterday after spending the entire morning chasing after a court order to stop detectives from questioning him, but in vain. Sonko had been summoned to record statements with regard to claims he had made about the 2017 poll chaos. He recently alleged that he and Interior Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, were involved in planning some of the hooliganism witnessed during the disputed poll. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The prosecution opposed his release on bail, claiming he would threaten witnesses. They added that Mr Sonko was a flight risk, citing a case in a Mombasa Court which has been pending because he failed to turn up. We are seeking custodial orders to ensure that we transmit the accused to a Mombasa Court where he has a pending matter after he failed to appear in court. We also need time to conclude investigations and have his finger prints taken because he declined to do so at DCI headquarters. We also want to protect the witnesses, Chief Inspector Geoffrey Ndatho told court in an affidavit. The court also heard that the former governor is trying to whip up emotions by claiming that his arrest was political. Mr Sonko was represented by senior counsel John Khaminwa alongside other advocates. [February 03, 2021] Toronto Stock Exchange Welcomes TELUS International TSX celebrates largest technology IPO in Canadian history with virtual market open TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) announced today that TELUS International (Cda) Inc. (TELUS International), a subsidiary of Vancouver-based TELUS Corporation (TSX: T), began trading earlier today under the symbol TSX:TIXT. TELUS International's initial public offering (IPO) and secondary offering are expected to raise US$925 million, making it the largest technology IPO in TSX history by total proceeds raised. The landmark IPO also represents one of the largest in TSX history by total proceeds raised. "TELUS International's IPO marks an historic day for our team members around the world. Over the past decade-and-a-half, thanks to the passion, talent and innovation of our global team, TELUS International has evolved as an organization, demonstrating world leadership in customer service excellence, digital transformation, and heartfelt caring in the communities where our team members live, work and serve," said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. "TELUS International has been a pillar within TELUS' dynamic growth strategy, and as TI begins this next chapter in its journey, the entire TELUS team is thrilled to see our colleagues positioned to realize their goals for future growth, including driving positive outcomes for our customers, shareholders and our communities. We are so proud to support and help drive, the continued exciting evolution of TELUS International." "We are extremely proud to welcome TELUS International, a global leader in next-gen digital services to Toronto Stock Exchange," said Loui Anastasopoulos, President, Capital Formation, Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange. "Momentum continues to build in the TSX technology sector as companies increasingly turn to our markets to gain access to growth capital. TSX is committed to supporting the long-term success of companies like TELUS International, in our work to build on Canada's reputation as an international centre of innovation among entrepreneurs and investors. On behalf of all of us at TSX, congratulations to the entire TELUS International team on this achievement as it takes its place in Canadian business history joining the likes of CN, Manulife and GFL." TELUS International is a leading digital customer experience innovator that designs, builds and delivers next-generation solutions for global and disruptive brands. Their servies support the full lifecycle of their clients' digital transformation journeys and enable clients to more quickly embrace next-generation digital technologies to deliver better business outcomes. "Today is a truly remarkable milestone for TELUS International as our company makes its debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange. We are defining a new business category at the intersection of digital information technology and digital customer experience, and are more excited than ever for what lies ahead for our team members, our valued clients and the communities where we operate as we continue building upon the strong legacy, values and foundation established by our parent company, TELUS," said Jeff Puritt, President and Chief Executive Officer of TELUS International. "The extraordinary circumstances over the last year have clearly demonstrated the power of digital technology as a critical enabler of business success. As an innovative, agile and trusted partner, I believe TELUS International is uniquely positioned to help the brands we serve to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, driving both customer loyalty and growth. I am very grateful for the ongoing commitment of our team and the continued support of all our valued stakeholders as we mark this significant day together." Mr. Entwistle, Mr. Puritt and the TELUS International team celebrated the listing earlier this morning by virtually opening the market. As at December 31, 2020, there were 220 technology companies listed on both TSX and TSX Venture Exchange with a combined market capitalization of $331 billion. About TMX Group (TSX:X) TMX Group operates global markets, and builds digital communities and analytic solutions that facilitate the funding, growth and success of businesses, traders and investors. TMX Group's key operations include Toronto Stock Exchange , TSX Venture Exchange , TSX Alpha Exchange , The Canadian Depository for Securities , Montreal Exchange , Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation , and Trayport which provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, depository services, technology solutions, data products and other services to the global financial community. TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto and operates offices across North America (Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and New York), as well as in key international markets including London and Singapore. For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at www.tmx.com . Follow TMX Group on Twitter: @TMXGroup . This news release is not, and should not be construed as an invitation to purchase the referenced securities or other securities listed on TSX. TMX Group and its affiliates do not endorse or recommend any of the referenced securities nor should any statement in this news release be construed as advice regarding a broad investment strategy. Listing on TSX does not guarantee the future performance of a security or an issuer. Please seek professional advice to evaluate specific securities. SOURCE TMX Group Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Beat the queues and order ahead with Capita3Eats! Explore your favourite eateries across CapitaLand Malls and order online or via the CapitaStar app for takeaways or deliveries to your doorstep. With a place for every taste, it's that easy to satisfy your cravings when you order from Capita3Eats. Los Angeles, Feb 3 : Lebanese-American former adult star Mia Khalifa has extended support to the ongoing farmers' protest in India. "What in the human rights violations is going on?! They cut the internet around New Delhi?! #FarmersProtest," Mia tweeted on Wednesday according to India time. "Paid actors, huh? Quite the casting director, I hope they're not overlooked during awards season. I stand with the farmers. #FarmersProtest," she expressed in a separate tweet sharing a photograph of protesting farmers. Mia's tweet comes following tweets by international pop sensation Rihanna and environmental activist Greta Thunberg expressing their concern for the protesting farmers. Rihanna had tweeted on Tuesday: "Why aren't we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest." "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India," Greta had tweeted early on Wednesday. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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. (Newser) MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell tried to use the company account to get around his ban from Twitterand ended up getting the company account banned as well. A Twitter spokesperson tells Mashable that the MyPillow corporate account "was permanently suspended for violating our ban evasion policy." Lindell, who spread Donald Trump's election fraud claims, was banned last week for what Twitter said was "repeated violations of our civic integrity policy." On Sunday and Monday, the MyPillow account, which normally tweets company promotions, sent out tweets attacking Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. "I know you are tied into the election fraud!" the account said. "You are so afraid of being found out! So many are looking forward to you being brought to justice!" story continues below "Jack Dorsey is trying to cancel me (Mike Lindell) out!" another tweet said. "Jack will be found out and should be put in prison when all is revealed!" Twitter's rules state that when an account holder has been suspended, it "reserves the right to also permanently suspend any other account we believe the same account holder or entity may be operating in violation of our earlier suspension," USA Today notes. Lindell, who is being threatened with legal action by Dominion Voting Systems for claiming that its machines rigged the election, told the Star Tribune Tuesday that the Twitter ban is "part of the continued attacks because I want to get the fraud out there. All is going to be revealed that these machines attacked and stole the election." (Read more MyPillow stories.) FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) The Frankfort Police Department is asking for the community's assistance in locating 16-year-old Patton Favors. Patton is 5 foot 5 inches tall, 125 pounds with blue eyes and blond hair. He has been listed as a run-away, and reportedly last seen in Colfax, IN. Anyone with Patton's location please contact FPD dispatch at 765-654-4431. Over 500 businesses made virtual pitches for grants giving 5,000 to three UK small businesses. The Bshirt, Blakbear and The Economist Educational Foundation crowned winners London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Fintech business lender MarketFinance has today made three grants of 5,000 each to winners of the MarketFinance Business Booster Fund. Over 500 virtual pitches were received and 5 were shortlisted. These businesses were put to a social media vote before three winners were selected. The three winning entries came from ethical breastfeeding clothing brand The Bshirt, smart food labelling specialist BlakBear and independent children's literacy charity The Economist Educational Foundation. Inner city young people's charity XLP and creative agency Collaborative Creations were the other two businesses to make the shortlist. Winners: Lisa Lessaware and Philippa Doyle at The Bshirt. Michael Kasimatis at Blakbear and Harriet Boland at The Economist Educational Foundation To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7234/73554_6b4V49pQ.jpeg Anil Stocker, CEO of MarketFinance commented: "We launched this initiative as a small boost to help the successful businesses pivot, scale or grow in 2021. We want to support more of the UK's hardest working and most exciting SMEs. In addition to the grant, we will offer the time and skills of our expert staff to help their leadership teams. Whether they need tech, marketing, finance or communications support, we will provide the resources to help them get to where they want to go. The winners' applications were highly commended and we wish them all the very best for the year ahead. " On being the first beneficiaries of grants from the MarketFinance Booster Fund, the winners' comments: Lisa Lessaware, co-founder of The Bshirt said: "This means so much to our business. This grant will be used to launch exciting new ethical products to help women breastfeed more comfortably and ultimately for longer." Michael Kasimatis, co-founder at BlakBear said: "We're thrilled to receive this grant. It will help drive the technical and regulatory development. Initiatives like this truly help deliver research and innovation to the market. Thank you, MarketFinance." Harriet Boland, Fundraising & Partnerships manager, at The Economist Educational Foundation said: "We are delighted to receive a grant from the MarketFinance business booster fund! This money will help us grow and reach thousands more young people and enable them to have inspiring discussions about current affairs in schools." The Business Booster Fund was established in December 2020 and forms part of a commitment from MarketFinance to SMEs. The Fund makes grants of 5,000 available to UK small businesses, along with expert advice from MarketFinance's team. The fund has been designed to develop innovative entrepreneurs even further. MarketFinance looked for entrepreneurs that represent our community as a whole, and is keen to support companies that value diversity, inclusion and giving back. Anil Stocker added: "We know that the winners, and all SMEs in general, face challenging times as we deal with both the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic challenges ahead. For that reason, it has been exciting to see a very wide range of innovative approaches from so many applicants to grow their businesses. It was difficult to narrow the awards down to a small number of outstanding winners and we look forward to supporting them with a variety of talent and resources at MarketFinance." ENDS About MarketFinance MarketFinance is a business finance company with offices in London and Manchester. The online platform enables businesses to access a range of flexible finance solutions - quickly and easily. This smart technology is backed by help from real people so business owners can save time and focus on growing their business. Since 2011, MarketFinance has advanced over 3 billion to companies across a range of sizes and sectors, providing working capital and finance for everything from paying staff and suppliers to launching new products or services and accelerating growth. MarketFinance is backed by Barclays, Santander InnoVentures, European venture capital fund Northzone (invested in Klarna, iZettle and Trustpilot), and private equity group MCI Capital (also invested in iZettle, Azimo and Gett). Contact Details MarketFinance Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@marketfinance.com Company Website https://marketfinance.com/ View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/marketfinance-business-booster-fund-announces-first-winners-of-grants-172565120 CBI goes to SC challenging house arrest of two Bengal ministers in Narada case Who will be the next CBI chief? PM Modi-led panel shortlists these three names; Congress protests Narada: On house arrest of TMC leaders, CBI opts out of SC, to go back to HC Who is Subodh Kumar Jaiswal? Former Maharashtra IPS officer apointed as new CBI Director Praveen Sinha likely to be CBI interim director until PM led high-powered committee meets India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: With the tenure of the current CBI chief, R K Shukla's ending today, the government is likely to have an acting chief for now. Sources tell OneIndia that the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister would decide on the next chief and until then an acting chief would be in place. Praveen Sinha, additional director in the CBI will take over as the interim director, sources say. While Shukla will not be an extension, the frontrunners for the top post in the CBI are Border Security Force chief, Rakesh Asthana, NIA chief, Y C Modi, Kerala Police chief, Loknath Behera, ITBP chief, S S Deswal and top Maharashtra cop, Subodh Kumar Jaiswal. Sources say that Shukla will not be given an extension and in order to do so, the high-powered committee will have to meet and take a decision. No such proposal is on the cards, the source also added. The committee headed by the Prime Minister also comprises Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde and leader of the opposition, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News Sinha will remain as interim director until the high-powered committee meets. The committee is unlikely to meet immediately as the Parliament session is on. Gurugram, Feb 3 : To check sex determination tests in Gurugram and adjoining states, the Gurugram Health Department has conducted 14 raids in the last one year, of which eight were conducted in other states and the rest in Gurugram district, health officials said. A raid was conducted on January 29 in south-west Delhi's Najafgarh area in which seven persons, including three women, were arrested and Rs 75,000 recovered from them. "We have instructed our team to keep a strict watch on hospitals and clinics by visiting them on a regular basis and collect information about such wrong practices. In the last one year, the Health Department conducted several raids in Gurugram, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to curb sex determination tests," said Gurugram Chief Medical Officer Virender Yadav. Nearly 107 FIRs were registered in Gurugram district from April to November 2020 under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act and 434 cases are pending in the courts, he informed. However, the health officials said they faced problems during raids in other states. "The police in other states don't support our team during the raids and didn't even register cases. Recently, during a raid in Rajasthan, the local police refused to file a case and even told us not to conduct a raid here but after the intervention of the higher authorities, a case under PNDT Act was registered there," Yadav said. Colombian cement market contracts 2% in December ICR Newsroom By 03 February 2021 Grey cement dispatches in Colombia fell 2.3 per cent from 1.079Mt in December 2019 to 1.054Mt in December 2020, according to the countrys statistics agency, DANE. Cement production slipped 1.2 per cent from 1.191Mt in December 2019 from 1.176Mt in December 2020. Full-year 2020 In 2020 grey cement dispatches declined 10.2 per cent to 11.234Mt from 12.515Mt in 2019. Output from Colombias cement plants decreased 8.9 per cent to 11.849Mt in 2020 from 13.013Mt in 2019. Ready-mix concrete companies reduced their offtake by 23.7 per cent YoYwhile deliveries to construction companies and contractors fell by 10.7 per cent. In the retail sector, dispatches were down 5.2 per cent with other segments reporting a 1.9 per cent drop. Deliveries in the Bogota area were down 23.3 per cent while Cundinamarca saw 21.3 per cent less dispatches. The Bolivar cement market contracted by 19.6 per cent while smaller reductions were reported in Valle del Cauca (-8.4 per cent) and Antioquia (-4.9 per cent). Bulk dispatches were down 16.8 per cent YoY, mainly due to lower volumes being delivered to Bogota (-29.7 per cent), Cundinamarca (-25.2 per cent) and Antioquia (-13.4 per cent). Bagged cement dispatches saw a 7.2 per cent drop YoY, as deliveries to Bolivar and Cundinamarca were down by 22.7 and 18.3 per cent, respectively. Bogota saw a 15.1 per cent drop in bagged deliveries, while Valle del Cauca reported a 9.1 per cent fall. Published under AURORA, Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Three area municipalities and a non-profit organization will save a combined $14.5 million in energy costs over the next 25 years from solar energy projects that are now "Energized" and operating as expected. The Fox Valley Solar Farms are the largest installation of "behind the meter" Solar Power in the Chicagoland area. The announcement was made by Progressive Business Solutions, an Aurora-based Company that developed the projects in conjunction with local Municipal Leaders and Area Non-Profit Organizations. Funds were made available in 2019 and 2020 from the Adjustable Block Program under the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), passed in December of 2016. Area residents, businesses, governmental organizations and non-profits all pay into a renewable energy fund, which is collected on each customer's monthly ComEd bill. All four of the Solar Farms developed by Progressive Business Solutions were selected to participate in the Illinois Solar for All Program, which was highly competitive in that less than 30% of the applications submitted received approval. "We want Industries that create jobs in Illinois to stay in Illinois," said Rep. Keith Wheeler of Illinois' 50th district. "The Fox Valley solar development is a testimony to the job creation engine that solar energy has become in our state over the past few years as a result of the Future Energy Jobs Act. Utilizing the FEJA to lower their operating costs without spending new taxpayer money is a good example of our community's leadership which enabled the building of the largest solar development in our local area. "We are pleased to have delivered on our commitment to develop projects that provide environmentally friendly low-cost power to Fox Valley Communities, but this is just the beginning. We are currently working with Illinois Communities to get them lined up for the next phase of funding, said Chris Childress, Development Director Progressive Business Solutions." Our proprietary development process was the key to 100% of our Solar Fields being accepted in the first phase of the Adjustable Block program. In accordance with the provisions under the agreements, Kendall County, the City of Plano, Fox Metro, and Mooseheart Child City & School built in excess of 7.6 MW of solar power generation capabilities. This generates over 12 million kWh per year and 300 million kWh over the term of the project. For reference, the average home consumes around 10,000 kWh per year. The electric power generated will be used directly by the facilities and lower their operating costs. "No new taxpayer dollars were used to build the Solar Fields." according to Arnie Schramel, Managing Partner of Progressive Business Solutions. "We helped originate, competitively bid the solar field construction, and found the financial resources to fund the projects. The winning bidders will receive Renewable Energy Credits (REC's). Kendall County, the City of Plano, Fox Metro, and Mooseheart Child City & School will receive reduced cost power, which is substantially below market for a period of 25 years." per Mr. Schramel. "We could not have afforded solar without the Adjustable Block Program established by the Future Energy Jobs Act which enabled us to build the field with no upfront cost. Mooseheart invested $11.4 million into school renovations back in 2013 so we wanted to do something out of the ordinary to impact our energy budget." Said Gary Urwiler, Executive Director of Mooseheart Child City and School. Positive Impact for Our Community "Kendall County is continually looking for ways to reduce our operating costs. This will save County taxpayers over $4 million dollars. When Progressive Business Solutions presented a program that allowed us to reduce our costs without any capital investment, we decided it was a good fit for Kendall County and its residents," said Scott Gryder, Chairman of the Kendall County Board. "The City of Plano and Progressive Business Solutions reviewed several potential locations and ultimately decided the best fit was to use vacant land next to the current water treatment plant. The solar field has helped the City save money, reduce our dependence on traditional fossil fuels and provides a good example of how the City of Plano continues to be environmental stewards for today and the future." said Robert Hausler, Mayor, City of Plano. Carbon Emissions Reduction Cost reduction is not the only benefit for the Community. By generating over 300 million kWh during the project, it will reduce Carbon Emissions by over 212,000 metric tons. According to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalency Calculator, that is equivalent to eliminating over 45,000 passenger cars or eliminating 24 million gallons of gasoline. "It is important as a municipal agency that we ensure we leave the earth in better shape than we found it. At Fox Metro, we are continually looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint in a financially responsible manner. This project accomplishes both those goals." said Tom Muth, Executive Director at the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District. How Can My Community/Business Participate? Although the initial funding has been exhausted it is expected that there will be additional solar incentives made available in 2021 or 2022. Progressive Business Solutions is working with area leaders to ensure their projects are ready for approval when funds are made available. There is no fee to develop and present savings opportunities for your review and approval. For more information on the Illinois Adjustable Block Program visit www.illinoisabp.com About Progressive Business Solutions Progressive Business Solutions works with Municipalities, Non-Profits Organizations, and Commercial/Industrial customers to increase their profits by lowering operating expenses, without capital investment. Progressive Business Solutions has saved clients over $400 million dollars. For More Information About Chicagoland's Largest Solar Development Contact: Chris Childress Phone: 630-882-6100 Cell: 630-800-0173 Email: [email protected] Website: www.savewithprogressive.com SOURCE Progressive Business Solutions Related Links http://www.savewithprogressive.com France's top health advisory body is recommending that the only be used on people under 65, citing lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people. The decision could shake up the French vaccination strategy, because the country has prioritized nursing home residents and people over 75. had counted on the vaccine for a large part of its upcoming inoculations, until the company announced delays affecting countries around Europe and the world. The French guidance differs from that given by the European Medicines Agency, which authorized AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in all adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. Health authorities in Germany and other countries have raised concerns that the Anglo-Swedish company didn't test the vaccine in enough older people to prove it works for them, and indicated they would not recommend it for people over 65. (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 Delhi: Ask your grandparents to refer to their doctor about all the medications they take as a study cautions that older adults, who ingest more than five medications, are at increased risk of falls, infirmity ill health and even death. Polypharmacy is the term used when a person takes many (usually five or more) different drugs. Older adults may have problems taking the medications properly and the pills may meddle with a persons ability to function well. The capability of being able to walk well, for example, is a sign of independence and good health for older adults and it may be influenced using too many medications. In a new study, researchers scrutinized how polypharmacy influenced walking while talking. The team examined 482 people aged 65 and older. The studys main aim was to understand how amendments to the brain and our central nervous system happen during aging and how they might have an impact on an older persons ability to walk. The researchers considered all the medications (prescriptions as well as herbal and other over-the-counter supplements) that the participants were taking. The participants took thorough exams checking physical health, mental well-being, and mobility at the beginning of the study and at annual check-up appointments. The results suggested that 34 percent used five or more medications during the study period (June 2011-February 2016); 10 percent used more than eight medications. The participants were mostly in their late 70s. Those, who took eight or more medications, had slower gait when walking while talking. The team inferred that there was an association between polypharmacy and walking speed. They also observed that at their check-ups, older adults should be asked about all the medications they take, including herbal and other over-the-counter supplements. They also suggested that healthcare professionals assess walking speed during regular follow-ups. The research is published in the journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Michelle Thompson, a family medicine physician, at her home in Vienna, Ohio on Jan. 15, 2021. A growing number of programs aim to help doctors, nurses and medical students who are struggling with mental health issues during the pandemic. (Dustin Franz/The New York Times) Abby Ellin Dr. Michelle Thompson knows a lot about self-care. A family medicine physician in Vienna, Ohio, she specializes in lifestyle and integrative care, using both conventional and alternative therapies to help her patients heal. She also teaches medical personnel how to prevent and treat burnout. But despite what she recommends to others, taking care of her own emotional well-being hasnt been easy during the pandemic. When the pandemic hit last March, Thompson, 46, who is also chair of medicine for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Horizon regional health service, was seeing about 25 patients a day in her office, whom she had to convert to seeing via telemedicine overnight, she said. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here 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 In April, she joined an eight-week online mind-body skills program run by Dr. James S. Gordon, founder and executive director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, which since its founding in 1991 has trained nearly 1,000 health care professionals in various self-care measures that they can use in their practices. Gordon, a psychiatrist, started the skills group to help doctors and other health care workers cope with the extra demands and psychological suffering the pandemic has brought. The program included weekly Zoom calls with others on the front lines, along with meditative exercises like drawing pictures, visualizations and guided imagery. It allowed me two hours a week to check in with myself and share my experience with other health care professionals who could relate to the overwhelm and intensity of the pandemic, Thompson said. I never realized the power of group support. Physician burnout has long been a serious concern in the medical community, with roughly 400 doctors dying by suicide each year in the United States. The issue of pandemic burnout among physicians came to the forefront in the early months of the pandemic after the death of Dr. Lorna M. Breen, who supervised the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan. Breen, who had been sick with COVID but working remotely, was later admitted to a psychiatric ward for 10 days. Fearing the professional repercussions of her mental health treatment, she took her own life in April. She was overwhelmed with the volume of death and dying, and she could not keep up, said her brother-in-law, Corey Feist, a lawyer in Charlottesville, Virginia. The industry needs a big cultural change. Feist and his wife, Jennifer Feist, Breens sister, have since helped start the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the emotional well-being of health care workers. The Feists also worked with politicians and a cross section of health care industry experts to develop the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which aims to reduce and prevent burnout, mental and behavioral health conditions and suicide among health care professionals. An October poll of 862 emergency physicians nationwide from the American College of Emergency Physicians and Morning Consult found that 87% felt more stressed since the onset of COVID-19, with 72% experiencing a greater degree of professional burnout. Concerns about family, friends and their own health were among their chief concerns, along with financial and job security and a lack of personal protective equipment. Yet consistent with a long-standing stigma surrounding physician mental health, 45% werent comfortable seeking mental health treatment, citing concerns about workplace stigma and fear of professional reprisal. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association and other professional groups, have formal statements against punishing doctors who seek mental health treatment. The Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, including psychiatric disability, applies to professional licensing bodies. Still, the stigma persists. A growing number of organizations and programs have taken up the charge to help doctors, nurses, residents, interns and medical students who are struggling with mental health issues. Check here for the latest updates on all COVID-19 vaccines Columbia University created CopeColumbia for employees of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Another program called #FirstRespondersFirst, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global and the CAA Foundation, recently unveiled its new mental health initiative, designed to provide support to health care workers in the United States and abroad. The Frontline Workers Counseling Project includes some 500 volunteer therapists in the Bay Area, while the Physician Support Line, started in late March, is a free, national support line of some 700 volunteer psychiatrists who provide peer support. Part of the healing for me is helping other people, said Dr. Lois Kroplick, a psychiatrist in Pomona, New York, who helped run a weekly support group for psychiatrists and psychologists at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, New York, and volunteered with the Physician Support Line. During this same period, Kroplick lost her first grandchild and mother-in-law. The best way to cope with my own grief was to help others, she said. Doctors recognize the growing need for mental health help for others, and for themselves. And as the infection rate continues to climb, many health care workers feel torn between their duty to help patients while also caring for themselves. Elizabeth M. Goldberg is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University and an emergency room physician. In March and April there was this sense that you choose either your patients or yourself and it was your expectation to be there, said Goldberg, 38, who has three young children. Many of us wanted to be there, but I did experience fear and anxiety about going to work. She attended a free support group for health care workers, which she had never done before. It was great hearing other people share similar experiences I had of not sleeping well and worrying about our familys health and talking openly about our anxiety and fear of contracting the illness, she said. Kathleen S. Isaac, 32, clinical assistant professor at New York University Langone Health, created a weekly support group in June for her residents. But not many doctors showed up. Part of that she attributes to time constraints and demanding schedules, but also that many were simply trying to be stoic and power through. Asking for help is less stigmatized in the psychological community, but sometimes I think theres a sense of Im fine, I know what Im doing, she said. Theres such a culture of perfectionism, and its so competitive that people want to present their best self. Its harder to admit theyre struggling. This applies in her own life, too. She talks to friends and colleagues, exercises, goes to therapy and admits to binge-watching the sitcom Thats So Raven to help her unwind. As for Thompson, she credits the Body Mind Skills group with helping her change her own self-care routine, checking in with herself hourly. She said, I ask myself: What do I need? How am I caring for myself in this moment? Do I need a cup of tea? Should I implement some mind-body medicine? This may include soft belly breathing, dancing, mindful eating or just heading outside to get a breath of fresh air. Maybe I just need to use the restroom and need to make time for simple basic self-care needs, she said. This has been the hardest time of my life, and I am super grounded and really well balanced, she added. I am doing OK, but it is constant work and making sure Im staying aware of my own self. c.2021 The New York Times Company An Indian man who was under the impression that he and his family were being harassed and extorted by a group of sophisticated, ruthless hackers learned that the perpetrator was his underaged son. Last month, Indian media reported the case of a desperate man from Ghaziabad who had approached local police about an extortion scheme that he and his family had fallen victims to. Rajiv Kumar complained that his email account had been hacked on January 1st, and that he had been receiving threats and financial demands from a group of hackers ever since. The alleged criminals were demanding Rs 10 crore (one million rupees), or they were going to release sensitive photos of Kumar to the public, and then kill him and his family. Photo: The Digital Artist/Pixabay The man ignored the threatening emails at first, but then the hackers started messing with his phone, changing his number somehow, and then started reaching him at the family home. At one point, Rajiv Kumar realized that the sophisticated criminals were watching him and his family, and following their every move. He panicked and contacted the police. A case was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code including criminal intimidation, insulting modesty of woman and intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, and section 66D of the IT Act. During the investigation, police found that the IP from which the initial extortion email and subsequent messages were sent, had been the same as the victims, which meant that the emails had been sent from inside his house. India Today reports that police questioned Kumars 11-year-old son, and he confessed that he had been the one extorting the family. The 5th grade student said that he had learned about cybercrime by watching YouTube videos and tutorials, and thought that he was clever enough to cover his tracks. The investigation in this case is ongoing. A devout Christian and British actress was cast as the lead actress in a play but was fired following the discovery of an old Facebook post containing Bible verses from 2014. 26-year-old Christian actress Seyi Omooba filed a lawsuit against the production company Leicester Theatre Trust after she was fired due to an old Facebook post containing Bible verses. In 2019, Omooba landed the lead role of Celie in the stage adaptation of the award-winning film, "The Color Purple." However, she was soon let go after her old Facebook post opposing homosexuality was uncovered. "I do not believe you can be born gay, and I do not believe homosexual practice is right, though the law of this land has made it legal doesn't mean it is right," Omooba's Facebook post from 2014 read. She cited bible verses 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Genesis 2:24, writing that while "everyone sins and falls into temptation," people can seek "forgiveness, repentance" and return to loving "how God ordained us to." The Christian actress alleged religious discrimination, a case which was heard by the Central London Employment Tribunal. Christian Headlines reported that Omooba is being represented by the Christian Concern arm of Christian Legal Centre, of which her father, pastor Ade Omooba MBE is a founder. The pro bono legal organization believes that the Christian actress has suffered disctrimination after the Facebook post containing Bible verses was made known to the theater company. The legal group said in a statement that they are looking to expose how "any dissenting views against LGBT ideology, especially Christian beliefs, are currently incompatible with a theatrical career." According to BBC, the theater company responded to the lawsuit, saying that the Christian actress would've eventually "refused the role if she'd known the character was gay." Omooba's lawyers argued that the sexuality of "The Color Purple" character Celie was ambiguous and that their client was comfortable playing that role, as she was "never asked explicitly to play this character as a lesbian." Leicester Theatre Trust insisted that it was the Christian actress who did not confirm with the director with regards to if Celie will be played as a gay character in their stage adaptation of the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, upon which the Steven Spielberg's 1985 film adaptation is based. Pavel Stroilov, who is the representative of Omooba, claimed that in Spielberg's adaptation of "The Color Purple," the lesbian theme is not present at all. It is in no way obvious and was never made clear to claimant that she was expected to play a lesbian character." Stroilov added that it would be "absurd" for the Christian actress to "inquire" with the director, Omooba's employer, to find out whether or not they would "interpret this play differently from Steven Spielberg." The Christian actress whose old Facebook post containing Bible verses became the cause of her dismissal from the play is seeking 128,000 (about $ 154,000) from the Leicester Theatre Trust and her agents Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (Global Artists) on the grounds of religious discrimination. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. For nearly two years, U.S. military members in uniform have prompted anger and resentment in James Dallas Wicker. But Wicker says he feels differently after Kirtland Air Force Base Airman Calvin Cooper was found guilty in the wreck that killed the mother of his two children. Cooper, 22, was found guilty of reckless driving, involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide for hitting and killing 39-year-old Angelica Baca in March 2019 in Southeast Albuquerque. Coopers trial by court martial began last week at Kirtland Air Force Base and concluded with a verdict Tuesday. Cooper opted to have the same panel of Air Force members who found him guilty determine his sentence. The eight-member panel, which is similar to a jury, will convene again Wednesday; at least six panelists must agree on Coopers sentence. Wicker said he believes justice has been served. It has taken two years for me to not be angry every time I see a uniform or when someone mentions the base, Wicker said Tuesday. Today, I realized its the person who wears the uniform, and its not about the uniform. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ This doesnt bring her back, but its now the start of a long healing process. Cooper and three other airmen left the base the evening of March 23, 2019, in Coopers 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX to see a movie. Cooper was driving about 60 mph in a 35-mph zone after turning onto Louisiana from Gibson, prosecutor Capt. Andrew Trejo said during opening statements. Baca, meanwhile, was crossing Louisiana and was standing in between the double yellow lines in the median before attempting to cross to the other side. Cooper struck Baca, instantly killing her, and crashed into the nearby Rising Phoenix apartments. Trejo had argued that Cooper was acting negligently due to the speed at which he was driving. He also said it was common for pedestrians to cross the street this way in this area. But Capt. Victoria Clark, one of Coopers defense attorneys, said Baca was the one who was negligent by not using a crosswalk to cross a busy street. India has once again pressed for the devolution of power to the provinces under the 13th Amendment (13A) of the Sri Lankan Constitution and the system of provincial councils as a meaningful step towards better representation of the island's Tamil minority.During a meeting with Eastern Provinces former chief minister Sivanesaturai Chandrakanthan and former lawmaker Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, India's Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob on Tuesday discussed bilateral cooperation and implementation of the 13th Amendment. Deputy HC Vinod.K Jacob held separate meetings with delegations led by Hon'ble MP S.Chandrakanthan (Pillayan)&Mr. V.Muralitharan (Karuna Amman).Development coop in the East &full implementation of 13th amendment&Provincial Councils were discussed in these meetings. pic.twitter.com/4RlGBrGhwJ India in Sri Lanka (@IndiainSL) February 2, 2021 The 13th Amendment provides for devolution of power to the Tamil community. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13th Amendment which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.However, the Sinhala nationalist parties and the erstwhile Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam vehemently opposed it.While nationalists have decried it as excess sharing of power, the Tamil Tigers criticised it as sharing of only few powers.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has shown inclination to abolish the provisions in a soon-to-be revised Constitution. The ruling Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) allies have mounted a public campaign for abolition of the provincial councils system. The SLPPs Sinhala majority hardliners have been advocating a total abolition of the islands provincial council system established in 1987.In his visit to Colombo last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met a delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) lawmakers with whom he discussed, among other things, the role played by provincial councils in national reconciliation. The TNA is the main Tamil party in the island nation. Jaishankar also met a delegation of the Tamil Progressive Alliance. During a joint media interaction with his counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena in Colombo, Jaishankar underlined India's backing for Lanka's reconciliation process and an inclusive political outlook that encourages ethnic harmony. "As we promote peace and well-being in the region, India has been strongly committed to the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Our support for the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka is longstanding, as indeed for an inclusive political outlook that encourages ethnic harmony," he said. It is in Sri Lankas own interest that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled. That applies equally to the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government on meaningful devolution, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Jaishankar had said. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Unsurprisingly: Huawei is once again copying something and calling it its own, as the company is infamous for its aggressive corporate espionage efforts. In the case of Android, it's an even more straightforward affair considering the operating system's underlying code is open source. Huawei can call HarmonyOS an original creation all they want, but in reality is a rebranded Android fork. Two years ago, Huawei confidently explained that it was ready to give up using Android on its phones and tablets in case the US were to block its partnership with Google. At the time, the Chinese tech giant hinted at the possibility of an alternative operating system developed entirely in-house and capable of supporting the same apps customers enjoyed on Android through the Play Store. Navigating the trade war between China and the US has definitely taken its toll on Huawei and its ability to source software for its devices, which has forced the company to put money where its mouth is. However, it turns out the company is simply copying an older version of Android and slapping its Emotion UI (EMUI) on top of it. Ars Technica's Ron Amadeo got his hands on the Harmony OS 2.0's SDK and was able to try out a "remote" device emulator, which required sending a scan of his passport, ID card, driver's license, and bank card, as well as going through a two-day background check (yikes!). This was arguably excessive on Huawei's part, but after waiting through the bureaucratic ordeal, Amadeo's social score was high enough to allow him the extraordinary privilege of deep diving into Huawei's "all new" mobile operating system. Calling this a fork of Android would be an overstatement, as Amadeo found virtually no difference between Harmony OS (aka Hongmeng OS in China) and Google's Android 10. It's just Android 10 with the EMUI skin, which is precisely what Huawei has been shipping with its latest smartphone lineup. The "About" page has no references to Android, but looking at the open apps, one can easily notice the Android components running the show. Another dead giveaway is the fact that HarmonyOS is presented as "Version 10." Still, one doesn't have to go through all this to find that Huawei's simply using Android and calling it something else. The documentation of Harmony OS is available online for anyone to take a look, but unless you can bear the vague language and the bombastic description of features that are standard on Android (and iOS, for that matter), it's not worth reading even for actual developers. In the documentation, Huawei brags about a new app format that really is just an .apk file with a ".hap" extension, which stands for "Harmony OS Ability Package". Building a ".hap" package is the same process as building an app targeting Android API level 29 -- in other words, Android 10. Huawei's SDK is a carbon copy of Google's Android Studio SDK, but the company was careful not to mention it in any part of the documentation. Bottom line, this looks nothing like what other companies like Amazon have been doing with their own forks of Android (Fire OS), or in the case of Samsung with Tizen which was built from the ground up as a Linux-based mobile operating system. When Huawei revealed Harmony OS 1.0, it described it as a "microkernel-based, distributed OS for all scenarios," which at the time only meant TVs, smartwatches, and IoT devices. The second version of that is nothing like it, but that won't matter for its primary intended market -- China. Huawei intends to release Harmony OS 2.0 alongside its next flagship phones later this year, and by then it will have removed all references of Android. As of writing, Huawei is still among the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world by market share, and has the benefit of being the darling tech company of the Chinese government, whose plan is to bolster its local tech industry until it achieves self-sufficiency. Copying Android was easy enough, since it's open source, but the difficult part will be making high-end chips for its devices once its stockpile runs dry. To that end, Huawei is exploring the idea of building a manufacturing plant in Shanghai, so we'll have to wait and see. 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 Houston police officer failed to identify himself as law enforcement before shooting a man in January 2020 during an undercover operation, according to a civil lawsuit filed Friday in the Southern District of Texas. Officers Aaron Petty and John Sanders were named as defendants, along with the city of Houston. The suit contends that Petty used excessive force when he shot plaintiff Keith Martin, 45, from an unmarked car on Jan. 9, 2020. At the time, police said the plain-clothed officers were conducting an undercover surveillance operation when Martin approached them and attempted to open their unmarked Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Police said one officer opened fire from the vehicle when Martin reached into a backpack to grab what police thought would be a gun. Martins lawyer, Andre Evans, said in the lawsuit that Martin was not armed. He had been offering his car detailing service at the time and did not know he was interrupting a police operation, Evans said. While Martin survived the shooting, he still faces lasting physical and psychological trauma, he said. Martin has requested a federal jury trial. The Houston Police Department referred questions to the city. The city prefers to let a lawsuit run its course in a court of law, instead of commenting publicly on the allegations, according to a statement from Mary Benton, spokeswoman for Mayor Sylvester Turner. Police said Martin approached the officers vehicle around 1 p.m. in a Walgreens parking lot in the 8000 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. The officers were not wearing body cameras at the time. According to the police account, Martin gestured for the officers to get out and, at one point, struck the hood of the truck with his hands. Martin tried to open the driver-side door and said I got something for you, which the officers took as a threat. Evans said Martin was simply trying to offer his services, but the officers did not respond to his attempts. Martin eventually stood in front of the vehicle to get their attention. Petty shot Martin four times through the windshield from the passenger seat, the lawsuit said. The suit noted that Sanders did not draw or fire his weapon from the drivers seat. After the shooting, the officers arrested Martin on a charge of terroristic threats, which was dismissed in June. Martin, a father of three, is now living with family in Houston, Evans said. Two bullets could not be removed from his body. He still suffers from back pain and body aches, Evans said. In addition to the excessive force allegation, the lawsuit contends that Martin, who is Black, was unlawfully arrested and that race played a role in the shooting. julian.gill@chron.com twitter.com/juliangillmusic Nay Pyi Taw, Feb 3 : Police in Myanmar have filed several charges against elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi following Monday's military coup. She has been remanded in custody until February 15, police documents show. The charges include breaching import and export laws, and possession of unlawful communication devices, the BBC reported. Her whereabouts are still unclear, but it has been reported that she is being held at her residence in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw. Deposed President Win Myint, who is believed to be in jail, has also been charged, the documents show -- in his case with violating rules banning gatherings during the Covid pandemic. Neither the President nor Suu Kyi have been heard from since the military seized power in the early hours of February 1. The coup, led by armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing, has seen the installation of an 11-member junta which is ruling under a year-long state of emergency. The military sought to justify its action by alleging fraud in last November's elections, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won decisively. Activists in Myanmar are calling for civil disobedience. Many hospital medics are either stopping work or continuing but wearing symbols of defiance in simmering anger over the suppression of Myanmar's short-lived democracy. Protesting medical staff say they are pushing for the release of Suu Kyi. They are wearing red, or black, ribbons and were pictured giving the three-fingered salute familiar from the Hunger Games movies and used by demonstrators last year in Thailand. Online, many changed their social media profile pictures to one of just the colour red. "Civil disobedience is one of the tactics that the young people in Myanmar are now launching across the whole country," Yangon Youth Network founder Thinzar Shunlei told the BBC. "They're calling for action especially from the civil servants, to stop working for the government, for the military junta." A Facebook group has been set up to coordinate the disobedience campaign. But there have been few signs of major protest. On Tuesday night, drivers honked their horns in the main city, Yangon, and residents banged cooking pots. Myanmar has been mainly calm following the coup, with troops on patrol and a night-time curfew in force. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text NAPLES, FEB 3 - A judge at a minors' court in Naples on Wednesday asked a Nigerian-Italian lawyer to show him his qualifications to prove he was a lawyer. Hilarry Sedu, a councillor on the local lawyers' guild, said he was "disappointed" about the incident but declined to speak of racism. Seddu, who stood unsuccessfully for he centre-left Democratic Party (PD) at the most recent local elections, said "the new honorary magistrate asked me to show her my lawyer's permit, so I did. "Either stunned or stupid, she asked me if I was a lawyer and then whether I had a law degree. "I'm telling you, it was no joke. Impulsive as I am, I was tempted to insult her, but I decided to put the good of the case before me because the lives of my client and her daughter depend on it. "No, it's not racism, just idiocy. "It's the incompetence of an administrative body that doesn't know how to select the private components of the judicial machine". (ANSA). Syracuse, N.Y. -- Beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Onondaga County residents can vie to sign up for 630 appointments to get vaccinated on Thursday against Covid-19. Senior citizens who are on the ONList waiting list should check their email beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, because additional slots at the Thursday clinic have been available for them, County Executive Ryan McMahon said. The shots will be administered at the Oncenter convention center. The small number of available slots reflects a limited supply of 1,200 doses the county received from the state this week, McMahon said. In addition to the open appointments Thursday, the county reserved some of the vaccine to administer Friday to developmentally disabled residents of congregate care facilities, he said. Those residents have already been identified and do not have to sign up. For now, restaurant workers and taxi and Uber drivers are not eligible for vaccines from the county. McMahon said he needs more time to analyze Gov. Andrew Cuomos announcement that vaccinating those groups is optional. Given the slow trickle of vaccine to the county and the high demand, McMahon questioned whether it makes sense to make thousands of additional residents eligible for shots. He said he will talk with restaurant industry representatives to assess how many workers are potentially eligible. The last thing I need to do is make a bad situation worse,' McMahon said. Were not ready to make that decision until we understand the data. There are already tens of thousands of people vying for a limited number of vaccine appointments each week. Roughly 70,000 individuals competed for the 1,000 shots available last week, nearly crashing the county website. This week, even fewer appointments are available. People can sign up online beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. In addition, some of the 10,000 people waiting on ONList will be randomly selected to receive appointments. Do you have a news tip or a story idea? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023 With demand high for the COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. Rep. John Katko is asking three federal agencies to accelerate the distribution in central New York. Katko, R-Camillus, spoke to senior officials representing the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services and Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday. The conversation followed a roundtable with central New York hospital administrators, who told the congressman that they face challenges in obtaining and distributing the COVID-19 vaccine. The federal government is in the midst of increasing its distribution to states, which then send the vaccinations to central New York and other regions. According to the state's vaccine tracker, CNY has received 108,865 total doses and administered 105,776. The region has administered 97% of its total doses received, the highest rate in the state. But there has been more demand than CNY counties, including Cayuga and Onondaga, can meet with its limited allotment. While there are some participating pharmacies where the vaccine is available, those appointments are gone in minutes. Health departments receive doses, but it's a limited supply. In Cayuga County, the health department had to shift to "closed clinics," meaning they aren't publicly announced, because of the limited number of doses. [Statements released by national trade unions AITUC, AIBEA, NTUI and AIFUCTO on the announcement of Indias Union Budget 2021] [1] ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS Founded on 31.10.1920 Founder President, Lala Lajpat Rai President: Ramendra Kumar, Ex. M.P. General Secretary: Amarjeet Kaur Working President: H.Mahadevan 01st February, 2021 Press Release The following statement was issued to the press on 01st February 2021 by AITUC Secretariat. AITUC dubs this years budget another exercise to encourage corporate loot and sale of national assets The budget is repetition of the already announced packages by the Finance Minister in the month of May, friendly to Indian and foreign Corporate with huge concessions, reduction in tax for them and increase in the cess on common man, burdening them more when there is crisis for their livelihood itself. The workers and farmers are ignored in favour of looters of our national assets. The budget continues in the direction of selling our public sector banks, disinvesting LIC upto 75 percent, and pursuing the disinvestment and privatisation moves in the already announced profit making public sector enterprises and further adding in the list. The stated target of raising upto Rs. 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestment of profit making Public Sector Enterprises exposes the motives of and bankruptcy of the government. The allocation in the MGNREGA is actually reduced whereas this had proved to be a great relief to many of the people in the lockdown period who had walked for miles to their villages after loss of jobs and livelihood. There is nothing to suggest for job generation which is the dire need of the time for revival of economy. What is talked about is the indirect job creation through projected Investments, which is no guarantee. The urban employment scheme like MGNREGA is the dire need ignored by the Finance Minister. This budget actually follows the policy to allow the loot of Indian peoples money instead of recovery of huge NPAs. Rather the Finance Minister has declared that the files of more than three years period of income tax defaulters will not be opened. It is clear invitation to the looters of peoples money to continue looting as well as it is giving green signal to those whose loot should be recovered in the interest of common masses. The Finance Minister indicated that the government is going to review 400 already existing exemptions and would make changes. One doesnt know what is in store. There is another tax holiday year for the Start Up projects as well as concessions on their capital gains. Service sector and specially the hospitality industry which suffered during this period heavily, does not get attention in this budget. The excise duty in the service sector has been doubled since 2014. Once again the myth is repeated that with growth, jobs will automatically get created. The experience of the past is that the jobs could be generated even when there was no growth rate and there were times when the growth was there but it was jobless growth. While talking of migrant workers, none of the necessary concerns of theirs was taken note of but the only statement comes about credit relief for housing for another year. The budget doesnt address the issue of fishing community but rather talks of only harbor development. The anti-worker labour reforms which are being vehemently opposed by the trade unions find favour with the Finance Minister. All announcements on infrastructure spending as in the past do not give any guarantee of things getting implemented and the five states are specially targeted keeping forthcoming elections in mind. The budget on health allocation is not only inadequate, but ignores the ground realty of our public health system at all levels needs immediate serious attention. MSME sector was worst affected during pandemic with workers losing crores of jobs but there is no serious attempt by the government for its revival. Here and there some statements in regard to custom duties is neither going to help our general industrial scene nor much help to MSMEs. There is no relief to the farmers rather the government has only announced the increase of threshold for taking loans. It is a cruel joke on the farming community which is already finding itself in tight corner entrenched in debt. The demands of the farmers are totally ignored rather the farm laws are being praised by the government as a boon to them, when they are braving all odds seeking their total repeal. The budget has totally ignored the poor masses and their needs. Once again this Government is batting for the Corporates and abandoning the common masses pushing Indian economy further into mess. AITUC calls upon its unions and the working class in general to this anti people budget. On their nationwide protest on 03rd February for burning of labour codes also burn the budget copies. Amarjeet Kaur General Secretary, AITUC Mob: 9810144958 AITUC BHAWAN 35-36, D.D.U. Marg, Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110002 Telephones: 91-11-23217320 / 91-11-23220264 Fax: 91-11-23222427 E-Mail: aituchq[atgmail.com o o [2] ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION Central Office: PRABHAT NIVAS Regn. No.2037 Singapore Plaza, 164, Linghi Chetty Street, Chennai-600001 Phone: 2535 1522 Fax: 2535 8853 M- 984 00 899 20 Web: www.aibea.in e mail: chv.aibea[at]gmail.com PRESS RELEASE 1-2-2021 Budget more rhetoric again away from realities. Privatisation of Bank and insurance retrograde Bad Bank is bad idea and meant only to remove corporate defaulters from the books of the Banks. AIBEA will launch agitations and strike actions shortly The Budget present by the Finance Minister is once again full of claims and rhetoric and far away from ground realities. It was expected that with the experience gained during the pandemic period, there would be some sensible measures to take our economic forward. But this Budget is again another exercise beating the same track. Governments Economic Survey talks of poverty reduction is the top priority rather than reducing disparity. But figures are coming out that while billionaires have swelled their assets, the poor people continue to grown under poverty. Economic Survey also talks of people spending less money on hospitalization expenses. But everyone knows that this not the indication of improvement in health sector but the fact that people have no money to access the increasing privatized health care system. Our country has the largest population of young people and hence creating jobs for them is the main issue. Already about 120 million people have lost their jobs. In this budget there is no measure to create jobs except some meagre announcements. In this Budget also, the FM has mentioned about doubling the farmers income but the Budget does not spell how this is going to achieved. With Govt. insisting on their Farms Laws, the plight of farmers will further worsen. The Economic Survey also claims that the new Labour Codes are good for the workers. FM has also spoken on the same lines in her speech. But when all trade unions are opposing the adverse changes in the labour laws, the Govt. has not tried to address any of them. The announcement that FDI would be permitted upto 74% in insurance sector is a retrograde measure and unscrupulous foreign investors will play havoc with our people. Similarly, FM has also announced that shares of LIC will be sold away to private hands and amendment to LIC would be done soon. There is also the major announcement that 2 Public sector banks and one general insurance company would be privatized. Banks and Insurance companies deal with peoples money. Privatising them means handing over peoples money to private vested interests. Bad Loans and NPAs in the Banks have been increasing year after year because of corporate defaulters. Instead of taking tough action on them, Government wants to white wash the Balance Sheets by shifting these bad loans from the books of the Banks to the Assets Reconstruction Company or the Bad Bank. This will only benefit the corporate defaulters and remove all the bad loans from public glare and silently write them off. As usual this year Budget is also disappointing. There is no concrete measure to revive and improve the economy and ensure better living conditions for the poor. As regards the Governments proposal to privatise the Banks along with more FDI in insurance sector, sale of shares of LIC, starting a Bad Bank/ARC, etc. AIBEA will shortly decide agitational programmes including strike actions. C.H. VENKATACHALAM GENERAL SECRETARY ALL INDIA BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION o o [3] NEW TRADE UNION INITIATIVE (NTUI) Union Budget 2021: Taxing the working class while Corporates profit from the pandemic February 2, 2021 secretariat The governments annual Economic Survey 2020-21 (ES) released three days ago says India has charted its own unique trajectory. Indeed India has been unique in its unparalleled draconian countrywide lockdown that pushed more people out of jobs and countless more back into poverty than any other county in the world. The Budget Statement of 2021-22 (BS) only confirmed that the government is committed to an institutionalised programme to increase income inequality while allowing for the unbridled growth of corporate private capital. This is the BJPs growth model an economy driven by the sheer brute power of private capital on the back of rising mass poverty. Both the key annual government statements on the state of the economy (ES) and its actions in the year ahead (BS) carefully avoid any discussion on the jobs crisis one that existed well before the pandemic. Who bore the costs of the Pandemic? Just like in the last one, the Finance Minister felt no need to explain in the BS, how and why the fiscal deficit is nearly twice of what it was in the previous year. The government also felt no need to explain where this shortfall in taxes occurred. These are important questions on who is bearing the costs of the pandemic. The shortfall in collection of taxes was: 35% from corporate taxes, 29% from income tax and only 15% from indirect taxes (GST, excise on petrol and diesel). This suggests that companies and the rich who pay income tax suffered more from the pandemic as they paid less taxes than expected. But the poor, who lost jobs, suffered the most during pandemic, also paid way more taxes in proportion to their income than the rich. They not just paid GST on every essential commodity they consumed, the high taxes on petrol and diesel pushed the price up of these commodities further, leading to the poor bear a larger cost of the pandemic. We knew that the poorest suffered the most from the pandemic and continue to suffer, but this budget reveals that even the government extracted more from them during the pandemic. To make it further easier for the rich and super rich of the country, the BS also announced that it will reduce the investigation period for tax evasion from 6 years to 3 years and raise the limit for serious fraud cases to an annual incomes of Rs. 50 lakhs and above. This effectively puts an end to a substantial number of earlier income tax evasion cases. During the pandemic, government did spend a little more food subsidy and for employment guarantee, but the BS makes it very clear that now it is back to business as usual. In the year ahead government will cut back to 2019-20 expenditure on all social protection measures including food subsidy, employment guarantee, anganwadi, mid-day meal programmes etc. Where is our economy today? The assumption that the government is making is that we are where we were one year ago. This is a false claim since the ESs estimates of economic growth for 2021-22 are questionable. Several independent economists have argued that the scale of economic decline for the past year is far greater than the government claims and the pace of recovery will be slower than what again the government claims. Curtailing government expenditure on social protection will not just hurt the most marginalised but will sharply curtail the recovery of demand within the economy which in turn will keep employment levels down and affect the growth rate. It may be recalled that demand was declining for three years in a row before the pandemic and unemployment was at a 50 year high. The pandemic has only sharpened the economic crisis precipitated by the BJP governments policies. The government has only one magic answer to all problems privatise the public sector and monetise public assets including lands and public works highways, electricity lines whatever. The BS announced that it will, in the year ahead, privatise two public sector banks. It has decided this without even naming which banks it plans to privatise. This indicates that there is no rationale or reason other than a brazen commitment to the private sector. The BS makes promises to increase the expenditure on healthcare including a Rs. 35,000 crore vaccination programme. In a country as huge as ours, the financial commitment does not add up. As for the vaccination programme there is no clarity yet on who and how many will be vaccinated. The pandemic has taught governments across the world to address the concerns of emergency, essential and frontline workers. For us, they are the health workers including ASHAs and ANMs, anganwadi workers, municipal workers, transport workers, teachers and so many others. There is money for the much questioned New Education Policy but no money for getting our schools up and running and our children back to school. There are grandiose plans of building new metro lines without any funds to getting the lockdown curtailed public transport system and railways back to peak capacity catering to working peoples needs. The message from this BS is if you suffered so be it. Dont complain, dont expect anything, just get on with it. This is the BJP notion of self-reliance self reliance of individuals, not that of the country, and thus, government opened the insurance industry to complete foreign ownership and control. Election Agenda The government announced a Rs. 100 crores package for tea plantation workers in Assam and West Bengal. It is a welcomed move for tea plantation workers who are beyond destitution and have been so for decades. But exactly how far will this money go: if it is divided equally amongst the 500,000 tea plantation workers in the two states, it is Rs. 2000 per worker for the whole year. Both Assam and West Bengal go to election in the months ahead. What the BJP understands very well is that if you keep people poor then you can buy their votes on the cheap. The Rs 2,000 per worker pre-election fits this story. Who benefited from the Pandemic? The Bombay stock exchange index rose by 5% immediately after the budget speech. The index has risen by 87% since the day the horrific lockdown was announced. The revenues and profits of the largest companies have been growing. And yet the expenditure of these companies on their workers is declining. This tells us a very simple story. Just as the note ban and the introduction of GST did, the lockdown helped large companies take over the business of small and medium businesses and those in the unorganised sector. Small businesses have been wiped out and jobs have been lost while large companies, their super-rich owners and multinationals have gained. The four labour codes and the three new farm laws will make this divide even sharper, as all working people workers and farmers are being pushed further to the margins. Whether it is a worker under the new fixed-term contract or a small or medium-sized farmer with a contract with a large company, everyone, except the few super-rich, are being reduced to the same level of precarity. The BS made several references to that the government is going to double farm incomes by 2022 after in fact cutting expenditure on agriculture. Even if the governments claims are true, the vast swathes of the farming community could not hear this because they are at protest sites on the margins of the countrys capital city with their internet cut off. But the BJP does not think there is anything wrong with it. It wants others to know what it is doing for each one of us. If you object, then you do not understand what is good for you. And if you protest you are an anti-national. Calling this budget a crude expression of the BJPs agenda possibly is anti-national too. Gautam Mody General Secretary NTUI Secretariat B-137, First Floor Dayanand Colony, Lajpat Nagar IV New Delhi 110024, India o o [4] ALL INDIA FEDERATION 0F UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE TEACHERS ORGANIZATION (AIFUCTO) Date: 02.02.2021 PATNA PRESS RELEASE: Central Budget is a shameless capitulation before corporate and market forces: Anti People and Anti Education All India Federation 0f University and College Teachers Organization (AIFUCTO) condemns this year Budget as Anti People and Anti Education and a step in the direction to consolidate the forces of corporatization and privatization of our economy. The budget continues in the direction of selling our public sector banks, disinfecting LIC up to 75% and pursuing disinvestment and privatization moves in the already announced profit-making public sector. In the field of education, there has been speedy implementation of neo-liberal agenda making education more centralized, corporatized, commercialized and communalised. AIFUCTO strongly condemns this Budget on the following grounds; 1.The thrust on implementation of NEP which we consider as an imposition on the collective aspiration of the nation without discussion in the parliament, state legislature and all the stakeholders including AIFUTO will not Save Education, Save Campus, Save Nation. 2. The Budget speaks many things without adequate financing. There has been slashing by 6.13% in the Budget from previous year (Rs.99,300 chores to 93224 crores) Thus relying more on market forces to implement policy matters. Opening of Saint schools through private participation, Glue grant for Research, strengthening of 15000 government schools will ultimately encourage market forces to enter in to the public sector of Education. 3. The announcement to bring Bill for the formation of Higher Education Commissions against all our opposition is a retrograde measure. It is a affront on our federal structure and will centralize all policy initiatives in the hands of the central government. This forum, AIFUCTO apprehends will be an easy tool for ideological and political domination Of BJP Government at the center. 4. There is no measure to fill up the large scale vacant teaching and non-teaching post in the country. There is nothing about the service conditions of contractual, part time and block grant as well as adhoc Teachers. AIFUCTO is of the strong opinion that this Budget will destroy our public-funded education system and our cherished constitutional ethos of a democratic, scientific, secular and inclusive education. AIFUCTO will continue its structure against the NEP 2020 to save education, save Campus and save our nation from corporate and fundamentalist forces. we oppose this Budget tooth and nail because AIFUCTO is convinced it will open the flood gate for loot and plunder of our national assets including the demolition of Public funded education of our Country. Prof.(Dr). ARUN KUMAR General Secretary AIFUCTO o o [SEE ALSO: India: Statement on Union Budget 2021 | All India Kisan Sabha (Feb 1, 2021) http://www.sacw.net/article14546.html ] New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Delhi Police's Crime Branch has arrested a conman, who has duped more than 50 persons on the pretext of providing jobs in foreign countries, police said on Wednesday. Murari Swami, 28, a resident of Rajasthan's Nagaur, who was arrested from Dwarka on Monday, disclosed that he had worked in many countries as waiter, electrician and done other odd jobs. During his stay abroad, he learnt the procedure of getting jobs and also the procedure adopted by many companies in facilitating jobs abroad. Seeing the eagerness and interest of persons who are willing to spend good money to get any kind of job abroad as the jobs abroad are more remunerative than in India, Swami created fake IDs on Facebook and posted advertisement for jobs in foreign countries as well as ads to provide visa assistance. "He also got prepared a fake website of Cyprus and posted on the website sample job letters and sample visas of prospective candidates. After getting money from the prospective persons, he used to tell them that they can check their visa on the official website of the country whereas the said website was hosted by him," Additional CP, Crime, Shibesh Singh said. Swami also used to provide fake job appointment letters, and after getting money from his victims, he used to destroy the SIM card and the mobile handset which was used to cheat to contact them. He was using SIM cards procured on fake IDs for cheating. Police came on his trail on the complaint of a man and his friends whom he promised jobs in Cyprus and visas and charged them Rs 8,20,000. He took their passports for getting visas and told them to check the visa on his fake website of the Cyprus government. According to police, he had created multiple profiles in the name of Mohit Sharma, Sumit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Amit Swami, Akhil etc, and used to share the money he cheated from people with his agents who lured the clients and referred them to him. An amount of Rs 4,07,000, in his bank account has also been frozen. The UN Security Council disagreed on a joint statement condemning the coup in Myanmar but said talks would continue. The 15-member council considered a UK-drafted statement wherein the envoy of the UN Security Council to Myanmar said that the country should "collectively send a strong signal in favor of democracy." The virtual meeting followed Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest and other top politicians by the military in a series of early morning raids on Monday. Armed Forces Leader Min Aung Hlaing took control after. The army stated that its coup was legitimate and was vowed to hold new elections. Arguing with the poll last November was illegitimate without evidence. For one year, a state of emergency will remain in effect, they added. A potential declaration, drafted by Britain, is being discussed by the UN Security Council, which would condemn the Myanmar coup and call on the military to uphold the rule of law and human rights and immediately release those illegally detained, the diplomats said. Such declarations must be decided by consensus. Following the behind-closed-doors video conference meeting that lasted just over two hours, "China and Russia have asked for more time," one diplomat told the AFP news agency. The document, drafted by Britain, would also demand that the state of emergency is lifted and that "democratic standards be adhered to by all sides." According to AFP, there was no mention of sanctions. Human rights organizations condemned the council's inability to take swift action on the Myanmar coup. UN Security Council on Myanmar coup and the factor from China "As Aung San Suu Kyi was confirmed to be in 'good health'," as the security council met, but her location and condition remain unknown. However, it is suspected that she is being kept in Naypyidaw, the country's remote capital, where she has a home. Although Suu Kyi sponsored demonstrations, given the military's reputation for violence and recent crackdowns on peaceful marches, people were hesitant to take to the streets. "I want the soldiers to go back to their dorms and that's why we doctors are not going to hospitals," a 29-year-old doctor in Yangon relayed his opinion to Reuters news agency. Instead, on Wednesday, a campaign of civil disobedience started with workers halting work to demonstrate against the coup at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 cities across Myanmar. On Tuesday night, individuals in Yangon even picked up pots and pans to bang out their anger at the power grab. The UN Security Council's declaration needs China's support, the key supporter of Myanmar in the United Nations and as a permanent member of the Security Council. The Myanmar coup was not denounced by China, though state media described the events of Monday as a "cabinet reshuffle." With Russia's backing, China protected Myanmar from any primary council intervention after a violent military crackdown in the state of Rakhine forced more than 740,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya to flee to where they remain, Bangladesh. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western states have accused the army of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, which they have denied. The United Nations has also raised their fears that the coup may only aggravate some 600,000 Rohingya's plight still living in the country. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [February 03, 2021] Axele Webinar: Optimizing Your Operation Using New HoS Flexibility DALLAS, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axele, LLC, a Transportation Management System (TMS) company, is hosting a webinar, Optimizing Your Operation Using New Hours of Service Flexibility. Attendees will learn how carriers and drivers can use new Hours of Service (HoS) flexibility to improve operation efficiency. Dave Osiecki, a 30-year transportation industry veteran and President of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, will share his expertise and knowledge about the rule changes during the free webinar on February 17, 2021, at 2:00 PM ET. The Hours of Service rule changes are intended to provide greater flexibility for drivers without lowering safety standards, said Ryan Camacho, Director of Business Development, Axele. We believe that it is essential for trucking companies to understand these rules and learn how to successfully navigate them in a profitable carrier operation. In this hour-long event, Osiecki will discuss the four rule changes that came into effect in October 2020, and how these rules will impact businesses. He will answer questions on: What the new rules are and what they mean for your business Short-haul exception Adverse driving conditions exception 30-minute break requirement Sleeper berth provision How these new rules changed from the previous rules How the new rules will impact your business operations How you can use the new rule changes to become more efficient How Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) can help your operations And much more To register for the free webinar, visit: https://optym.zoom.us/webinar/register/6816111903445/WN_eVSLjWEmRASjr47oTDqBcQ. About Axele Axele offers transportation management system (TMS) cloud software for truckload carriers leveraging decades of experience and insights into optimization and automation technology. Launched by Optym in 2020, Axele is the industry's first intelligent, connected solution, built specifically for small to mid-sized truckload carriers. Axele serves for-hire truckload operators and private fleets who haul general freight, dry van, flatbed, and refrigerated loads. The Axele TMS integrates with load boards, ELDs, market rates, maps, and accounting systems, to enable an owner-operator or carrier find better loads, increase profits, and grow their business. For more information about Axele, go to www.axele.com. Media Contact for Axele: Becky Boyd MediaFirst PR (770) 642-2080 x 214 Cell (404) 421-8497 Becky@MediaFirst.Net [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The state of Alabama plans to open a large-scale drive-through coronavirus vaccination clinic in North Alabama. The Huntsville clinic will be one of eight in the state. The Alabama Department of Public Health said in a Tuesday news release the goal is for each location to give 1,000 vaccines per day. The exact location of the Huntsville clinic has not been announced. The departments Dr. Karen Landers told WAAY 31 that logistics will be announced once plans are complete. On Tuesday, the department said the clinics in Anniston, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa will open the week of Feb. 8. Feb. 8 is the day that more people in Alabama become eligible to receive the vaccine, including those 65 and older, teachers, grocery store workers and more. Learn more HERE The state also has released a website (HERE) for residents to make reservations to get vaccines. As of Tuesday afternoon, none of the 10 counties in North Alabama are taking reservations. Stay with WAAY 31 for updates ROME, N.Y. Kris-Tech in Rome is holding a Drive-N-Dine food drive to benefit those in need in the community. The donations will go to the Rome Salvation Army and then be distributed locally. People can bring bags or boxes of non-perishable food items to the Kris-Tech parking lot at the corner of Hangar Road and Otis Street on Tuesday, Feb. 9, starting at 10 a.m. Those who donate food items will receive a $100 gift card to a local restaurant, while supplies last. The company is handing out 500 gift cards to dozens of local eateries, including Delta Lake Inn, Sugarbeets, Teddys, The Savoy and Vignetos. "A lot of people have lost jobs, lost income, lost their health, lost family members over the last 12 months. we are in a position where we can give back," said Graham Brodock, president of Kris-Tech. This is a drive-thru drop-off event, and there is a limit of one gift card per vehicle. Raises $9 million in Share Placement Perth, Feb 3, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy Limited ACN 095 912 002 ( ASX:BPH ) is pleased to announce that it has completed a significant share placement.The placement consists of 69,230,769 fully paid ordinary shares (Shares) at an issue price of $0.13 (13 cents) per share to sophisticated and professional investors under the Company's current ASX Listing Rule 7.1 placement capacity to raise $9 million (Placement). The issue price represents a discount of 20.2% to the 10 day VWAP of the Company's shares prior to their trading halt on 1 February 2021.$7 million of the Placement was managed by Everblu Capital (Lead Manager) who will receive a fee of 6% of the funds raised together with 6 million share options with an exercise price of $0.26 per share and an expiry date of 8 February 2023.A further $1.5 million was placed by 62 Capital who will receive a fee of 6% of the funds raised together with 1,285,714 share options with an exercise price of $0.26 per share and an expiry date of 8 February 2023. An amount of $500,000 was placed by Grandbridge Securities Pty Ltd who will receive a fee of 6% of these funds raised.A cleansing disclosure document will be lodged with ASIC for the issue. It is anticipated that the lodgement of the disclosure document with ASIC and the issue of the Placement shares will occur on Monday 8 February 2020.Mr David Breeze, Managing Director, said: "the Company is pleased to receive funding from a range of investors including existing and new shareholders, and others who participated in the Placement through Everblu Capital and 62 Capital".Everblu said "We were extremely pleased to see the quality of new investors on the register. The level of demand highlights the company's current growth trajectory, and we look forward to BPH continuing to deliver to shareholders. "Sixty-Two Capital said "We are delighted to see the progression of BPH and its investee company and are pleased to be able to continue our support over the last three years"Use of FundsThe proceeds of the Placement will be used by BPH primarily to invest in Advent Energy Limited (Advent). The funds proposed to be invested by BPH will be used by Advent to progress well planning, engineering and environmental approvals for drilling at the Baleen drill target in the PEP11 offshore permit in NSW. It is planned that approximately $5.75 million of the capital raised will be used for this purpose. BPH has previously advised it will underwrite and invest in Advent and will increase BPH's shareholding from 22% to approximately 33% (subject to any required approvals or via an underwriting of an offer by BPH).As previously announced, Advent has submitted to the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) an application to change the current PEP11 permit conditions in order for it to proceed with the drilling. Advent, through wholly owned subsidiary Asset Energy Pty Ltd (Asset), holds an 85% interest and is operator of the PEP11 permit. Bounty Oil and Gas NL ( ASX:BUY ) holds the remaining 15%. This application is in the final decision phase.In addition, the Company expects to use $0.5 million of the proceeds to increase its shareholding in Cortical Dynamics Limited (Cortical) from 16% to 18% to enable it to further develop its Brain Anesthesia Response Monitor (BARM).Capital StructureAs at the date of this announcement, the Company has 583,647,379 Shares and 110,105,281 share options on issue. A further 69,230,769 shares will be issued in the Placement together with 6 million share options issued to the Lead Manager, Everblu Capital, and 1,285,714 share options to 62 Capital.About BPH Energy Limited BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes. The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license. BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise. BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT). Subaru of America, Inc. today reported 46,400 vehicle sales for January 2021, a 0.25 percent increase compared to January 2020, and the best January in the history of the company. "We are proud to report that Subaru of America, Inc. will start calendar year 2021 with an all-time January sales record, an accomplishment we could not have achieved without our dedicated retailers," said Thomas J. Doll, President and CEO. "January was particularly special for Subaru as we announced our continued commitment to helping those who are facing hunger by donating 100 million meals* to Feeding America." January marked the ninth consecutive month of 40,000+ vehicle sales for the automaker. Crosstrek achieved its best January ever with 10,431 vehicle sales. Outback posted a 3.6 percent increase, while WRX/STI posted an 11.2 percent increase compared to January 2020. BRZ sales for January 2021 increased 45.5 percent compared to the same month in 2020. In addition, 13,207 Forester SUVs were delivered in January, making it the top carline by volume. "We exceeded our sales target for January and look forward to continuing the momentum in the coming months," said Jeff Walters, Senior Vice President of Sales. "From our award-winning vehicle line-up, consumers were particularly drawn to the Outback, Forester and Crosstrek, three SUVs that offer safety and reliability ideal for navigating winter weather." Carline Jan-21 Jan-20 % Chg MTD MTD MTD Forester 13,207 13,209 -0.0% Impreza 2,771 3,978 -30.3% WRX/STI 1,555 1,399 11.2% Ascent 4,743 5,606 -15.4% Legacy 1,746 2,471 -29.3% Outback 11,784 11,379 3.6% BRZ 163 112 45.5% Crosstrek 10,431 8,131 28.3% TOTAL 46,400 46,285 0.25% In January, Subaru of America, Inc., joined by its two regional independent distributors, Subaru of New England and Subaru Distributors Corp., announced its continued commitment to supporting people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by helping provide an additional 100 million meals* to Feeding America. This donation is double the automaker's April 2020 donation, in which they helped provide 50 million meals to the hunger-relief organization. Furthermore, participating Subaru retailers nationwide have made supplemental donations to their local Feeding America member food banks, currently totaling an additional 5.7 million meals* to those in need, totaling 105 million meals donated from Subaru. To learn more or contribute, visit: Feeding America. * $1 helps to provide at least ten meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks About Subaru of America, Inc. Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $190 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 40,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do. For additional information visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Dominick Infante Director, Corporate Communications (856) 488-8615 [email protected] Diane Anton Corporate Communications Manager (856) 488-5093 [email protected] Nicholas Saraceni Corporate Communications Specialist (856) 488-3330 [email protected] SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc. Related Links http://www.subaru.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. At an initiative of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Ukraine has imposed sanctions on the Moldovan airline JET4U S.R.L. and the Portuguese JET4U LDA for flying to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in violation of applicable law, according to the press center of the SBU. "Based on the identified violations, the Security Service recommended the National Security and Defense Council to apply the following sanctions to these airlines: suspension of financial and economic obligations, complete cessation of transit of resources, flights and transportation through Ukraine, blocking assets," the press center said in a statement. The sanctions should be in effect until the end of the temporary occupation of Crimea or before the entry into force of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia for damages in connection with the occupation of the peninsula. 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. Power management company Eaton said it has signed an agreement to acquire Tripp Lite, a leading supplier of power quality products and connectivity solutions including single-phase uninterruptible power supply systems, rack power distribution units, surge protectors, and enclosures for data centres, industrial, medical, and communications markets across the global. Founded nearly 100 years ago, the company, which has its headquarters in Chicago, US, sells products to customers in more than 175 countries and boasts a 93,000-strong workforce. On the company move, Eaton Middle East Managing Director Ashraf Yehia said: "This important acquisition will strengthen our power quality portfolio as Tripp Lite specialises in data centre infrastructure and power offerings including UPS, battery packs, UPS battery backups, power distribution units and a broad portfolio of data centre hardware." The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close mid-2021, he added. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio student performance on two statewide assessments has dropped in fall 2020, and fewer students took the tests, according to state data. State assessments, canceled for the spring, returned in the fall. The federal government did not permit waivers for these tests, though the Ohio legislature did pass a bill that will skip state school report card grades for 2020-21, and waived the states Third-Grade Guarantee. Students cannot take tests remotely, so leaders at districts that conducted classes online in the fall needed to figure out how to transport students to buildings and have them take the tests safely. Ohio districts made good faith efforts to complete testing, according to a post on the Ohio Department of Education website, but safety came first. State testing is one of the main ways that Ohio gathers information on student and district performance, and can provide some information on how much learning was lost during the sudden shuttering of schools in the spring and the remote, blended and online school models in the fall. Experts say this state-wide testing can provide some information on the big picture on learning loss, but on an individual level, teachers and districts should consider a more holistic approach to assessing students. The percentage of enrolled students who took the kindergarten readiness assessment dropped from 93% to 78%, and the percentage who took the third-grade English Language Arts test dropped from 95% to more than 81%. The kindergarten readiness test and the third-grade English Language Arts test are important state assessments, and are used to shape a students educational future. This year, 47.6% of participating students for the literacy and language section of the kindergarten tests scored not on track. Last year, 39.7% scored not on track. About 23% of students scored in the lowest performance level, a change of about 1% year to year. Proficiency rates for the third-grade tests dropped 8 percentage points, and more than 87% of districts showed a drop in percent of students scoring proficient or higher. The losses in third grade proficiency were steeper in districts that used a fully remote education model, by about 3 percentage points. Those who did not take the kindergarten tests were more likely to be students with disabilities, English learners, economically disadvantaged or non-white, according to Department of Education data. For third-graders, minority and economically disadvantaged students or those who reside in districts with low average achievement levels, were less likely to take the tests. It is important to emphasize how these results should and should not be used, the Ohio Department of Education post on the data reads. These data provide some clues to generally understanding where students are in their progress. Different groups of students may be in different places. The preliminary participation and assessment data suggest the states most vulnerable students have been most impacted. ... It is important to note these data should not be used to rank districts and should not be compared to previous Ohio School Report Card results. A report on the results by Ohio State University faculty found that average achievement on the third-grade English language assessment fell the equivalent to one-third of a years worth of learning. Research also showed that the student achievement impacts in third-grade English language arts seem to be highest in areas that experienced higher job losses. It appears that COVID-related unemployment explains approximately one-third of the decrease in average test scores statewide, the report reads. The report also notes that test store decline was much steeper in Black students than white. The declines were nearly 50% larger. Economically disadvantaged students also experienced larger losses. Enrollment in public districts also dropped significantly during the pandemic, across the board, with the majority of the losses coming in kindergarten and preschool. Kindergarten dropped by 8% and public preschool enrollment decreased by 27%. Read the full report on the Ohio State University website. Appointment 3 February 2021 Maslina Resort, the brand new Relais & Chateaux luxury property that opened on the island of Hvar, Croatia late summer 2020 just announced that expert hotelier Mr. Denis Martin is coming aboard as their new General Manager.Mr. Martin's extensive, 40-year long, hospitality career includes a wealth of international experience with global brands such as Hilton, Le Royal Meridien, and Relais & Chateaux. Mr. Martin has demonstrated effective leadership by successfully climbing the career ladder in the luxury sector, previously holding the position of Director of Food and Beverage at three world-renowned Thai hotels: The Landmark Hotel Bangkok, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort and Bangkok Marriott Riverside. With an impressive long-standing career in the hospitality industry, he has garnered impeccable taste and broad knowledge of luxury and the hospitality industry. Featuring 33 rooms, 17 suites and three villas, the stunning seaside resort's non-intrusive architecture blends into 30,000 square meters of untouched Mediterranean nature; olive groves, terraced vineyards, and unparalleled views of the Adriatic Sea. New Urban Institute briefs on improving prison-related research | Main | Federal judge in Oregon orders state to vaccinate inmates along with correctional workers The Prison Policy Initiative has this new briefing authored by Tiana Herring that provides some notable data on parole realities in 2022. Authored by Tiana Herring, the full title of the piece highlights its themes: "Parole boards approved fewer releases in 2020 than in 2019, despite the raging pandemic: Instead of releasing more people to the safety of their homes, parole boards in many states held fewer hearings and granted fewer approvals during the ongoing, deadly pandemic." Here is much of the exposition (click through to see data): Prisons have had 10 months to take measures to reduce their populations and save lives amidst the ongoing pandemic. Yet our comparison of 13 states parole grant rates from 2019 and 2020 reveals that many have failed to utilize parole as a mechanism for releasing more people to the safety of their homes. In over half of the states we studied Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina between 2019 and 2020, there was either no change or a decrease in parole grant rates (that is, the percentage of parole hearings that resulted in approvals). Granting parole to more people should be an obvious decarceration tool for correctional systems, during both the pandemic and more ordinary times. Since parole is a preexisting system, it can be used to reduce prison populations without requiring any new laws, executive orders, or commutations. And since anyone going before the parole board has already completed their court-ordered minimum sentences, it would make sense for boards to operate with a presumption of release. But only 34 states even offer discretionary parole, and those that do are generally not set up to help people earn release. Parole boards often choose to deny the majority of those who appear before them. We also found that, with the exception of Oklahoma and Iowa, parole boards held fewer hearings in 2020 than in 2019, meaning fewer people had opportunities to be granted parole. This may be in part due to boards being slow or unwilling to adapt to using technology during the pandemic, and instead postponing hearings for months. Due to the combined factors of fewer hearings and failures to increase grant rates, only four of the 13 states Hawaii, Iowa, New Jersey, and South Dakota actually approved more people for parole in 2020 than in 2019. TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Clover, the top-rated dating app, announced a growth capital financing of $12 million consisting of growth debt from Espresso Capital, and a structured equity investment from an existing investor. Based in Toronto, Espresso provides innovative venture debt and growth financing solutions to leading companies in technology, healthcare, internet & digital media, and other high-growth verticals. Clover Dating App announces $12 million growth capital financing (CNW Group/Clover Inc.) Clover Dating App new Live streaming feature (CNW Group/Clover Inc.) The company plans to use the new funds to accelerate its rapid growth. In fiscal 2020, Clover generated $19 million in revenue from 900,000 paid subscriptions, a 67 percent CAGR over the past three years. Clover's simplicity and versatility have attracted 9 million users in the highly desirable Gen Z (50%) and millennial (42%) demographics. Ninety percent of the app's users are concentrated in major US markets. Clover recognizes that each user is unique and that dating preferences vary. The app offers a wide range of settings, filters, messaging, and video options. Users are free to choose and find their own comfort zones. LIVE, the new video streaming service, allows users to watch live streams, start their own stream, chat, and send and receive gifts. "It is a whole new way of engaging in a dating environment," says Isaac Raichyk, CEO of Clover. "With loneliness reaching new highs, young singles need our service more than ever." According to Cigna, 71 percent of millennials and 79 percent of Gen Z, reported feeling lonely in 2020, a significant increase from previous generations. "Over the past five years Clover has achieved impressive and highly efficient growth," says Mark Gilbert, Director at Espresso. "We are excited to provide the capital to fuel Clover's next growth phase." Pagemill Partners, the technology M&A division of Duff & Phelps, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Clover. About Clover Founded in 2014, Clover Inc, a privately held company, is a leading mobile dating platform dedicated to helping the next generation of singles find meaningful connections. The Clover Dating App attracts millions of singles across the U.S. Clover's highly personalized dating experience helps users find compatible matches faster, with minimal effort. For more information visit www.clover.co or download the app available on iOS or Android. About Espresso Capital Espresso empowers companies with innovative venture debt solutions. Since 2009, we've helped more than 275 technology and healthcare companies, and their investors, accelerate growth, extend runway, and increase strategic flexibility with non-dilutive capital. Learn more at www.espressocapital.com. SOURCE Clover 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. 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. Technavio announces the release of its latest report on the legal cannabis market. The market is segmented by product (medical and recreational) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The report offers an in-depth analysis of recent developments, changes in market regulations, product approvals, product launches, and the market behavior across various segments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006202/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Legal Cannabis Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Get a Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More Legal Cannabis Market: Key Findings Legal cannabis market value to grow by USD 27.89 billion at over 4% CAGR during 2020-2024 89% of market growth to originate from North America during the forecast period Based on the product, the medical cannabis segment will offer maximum opportunities for vendors during the forecast period Legal cannabis market is expected to have a neutral impact due to the spread of COVID-19 Legal Cannabis Market: Growth Drivers The rapid legalization of cannabis worldwide is one of the prime factors driving the growth of the market. Many countries across the world are decriminalizing and legalizing the possession of cannabis. In 2001, Portugal became the first country to legalize the possession of all types of drugs, including cannabis. Some other countries that have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes are the UK, Thailand, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, Peru, Uruguay, and Canada. With many countries legalizing and decriminalizing the possession of cannabis, the growth of the market is expected to accelerate during the forecast period. "Use of advanced techniques in cannabis cultivation and the health benefits of medical cannabis will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Develop Smart Strategies for Your Business: Get a Free Sample Report Now! Legal Cannabis Market: Major Vendors Aphria Inc. Aphria Inc. operates its business through segments such as Cannabis operations, Distribution operations, and Businesses under development. The company offers Cannabis oils such as CHAMPLAIN, RIDEAU, and CAPILANO produced through the Co2 extraction process. Aurora Cannabis Inc. Aurora Cannabis Inc. operates its business through segments such as Cannabis and Horizontally Integrated Businesses. The company offers a line of cannabis products such as THC Drops, 1:1 Drops, and CBD Drops among others. Bhang Corp. Bhang Corp. operates its business through the Products segment. The company offers a line of products such as CBD Crystalline Isolate. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports on Consumer Staples Include: Global Cannabis-infused Edible Products Market Global cannabis-infused edible products market is segmented by product (food and beverage) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Cannabis-based Alcoholic Beverage Market Global cannabis-based alcoholic beverage market is segmented by product (cannabis-infused beers, cannabis-infused spirits, and cannabis-infused wines) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report 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/20210202006202/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 "Europe Nuclear Decommissioning Service Market Forecast to 2027- COVID-19 Impact and Analysis by Reactor Type; Strategy; Application; Capacity and Country" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The nuclear decommissioning service market in Europe was valued US$ 2.68 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 4.29 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2020 to 2027. The growing health concerns due to radioactive emissions from aging infrastructures have compelled the European countries to decommission nuclear power plants that are nearing the end of their operational lives. France and Germany are among the leading countries in the nuclear decommissioning services market in this region. The two countries rely heavily on nuclear power generation; however, the rising demand for power generated from renewable energy sources is propelling the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors in the countries mentioned above. The main countries contributing to the European nuclear decommissioning services market include the UK, Italy, Russia, and the Rest of Europe (Sweden and Belgium). In Germany, the nuclear energy generation sector contributes 12% to the total electricity generation. The country has no plans to construct newer nuclear power plants in the coming years. Germany decommissioned 11 nuclear power plants in the past decade, including Philippsburg nuclear facility that retired in 2019. The German government has laid down its plans to decommission the remaining 6 nuclear power plants by 2022; these plants are Gundremmingen nuclear plant (2021), Grohnde nuclear power plant (2021), Brokdorf nuclear power plant (2021), Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant (2022), Isar nuclear plant (2022), and Emsland nuclear power plant (2022). The decommissioning strategies laid down by the government have been creating business growth opportunities for decommissioning service providers. Commercial power reactors are the most preferred reactors among nuclear power generating companies. The demand for electricity has risen exponentially over the years, and this has led to the significant emergence of nuclear power generators across developed and developing countries. According to the Office of Nuclear Energy, US, there are 450 commercial power reactors worldwide. With the growth in the demand for electricity generated via renewable sources, rise in thermal power plants, and aging of long-established nuclear power plants, the governments are undertaking significant steps to decommission several power plants that are nearing the end of operational life. This is boosting the demand for services offered by the nuclear decommission services market players. The average lifespan of a commercial power reactor is 35-40 years. A large number of commercial reactors operating today are soon likely to reach the end of operational life, and the governments of respective countries have approved the plans for their decommissioning. The cost of dismantling and decommissioning a commercial nuclear power plant is high and requires huge workforce. The Italian nuclear power generation and transmission sector contributes to only 8% of the country's overall electricity generation and transmission. The country had 4 reactors in the past, but it has been decommissioning the reactors following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Italy relies heavily on import of electric power and is the world's second-largest net importer of electricity. Sogin S.p.A., a government-owned nuclear decommissioning service provider, has been engaged in dismantling and decommissioning several nuclear power plants in the country. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 4.4 Additional Customization 4.4.1 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Contracts 5. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Key Market Dynamics 5.1 Market Drivers 5.1.1 Increase in rate of deteriorate nuclear power plant infrastructure across the Europe region 5.1.2 Rise in number of nuclear power plants nearing decommissioning period 5.2 Market Restraints 5.2.1 Potential investment to extend the operational life of the existing nuclear power plant 5.3 Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Addition of automation solution enabled nuclear decommissioning activities 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Maturity of other emerging research and prototype based nuclear power plant 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Europe Market Analysis 6.1 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Overview 6.2 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 6.3 Market Positioning Global Market Players Ranking 7. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Analysis By Reactor Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Breakdown, by Reactor Type, 2019 2027 7.3 Pressurized Water Reactor 7.4 Boiling Water Reactor 7.5 Gas Cooled Reactor 8. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Analysis By Strategy 8.1 Overview 8.2 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Breakdown, by Strategy, 2019 2027 8.3 Immediate Dismantling 8.4 Deferred Dismantling 8.5 Entombment 9. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Analysis By Application 9.1 Overview 9.2 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Breakdown, by Application, 2019 2027 9.3 Commercial Power Reactor 9.4 Prototype Reactor 9.5 Research Reactor 10. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Analysis By Capacity 10.1 Overview 10.2 Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Breakdown, by Capacity, 2019 2027 10.3 Below 100 MW 10.4 1,000 MW 10.5 Above 1,000 MW 11. Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market Geographic Analysis 12. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market 12.1 Overview 12.1.1 Europe: Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 13. Industry Landscape 13.1 Overview 13.2 Market Initiative 13.3 New Product Development 13.4 Merger and Acquisition 14. Company Profiles Babcock International Group PLC Onet SA Orano Studsvik AB NUVIA Group PreussenElektra GmbH NUKEM Technologies GmbH GNS Gesellschaft fur Nuklear-Service GmbH Atkins Sogin S.p.A. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4lmmxx View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005497/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com 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 KYODO NEWS - Feb 3, 2021 - 18:55 | All, Japan, Coronavirus The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the employment and daily lives of foreign workers in Japan, despite their number hitting a record high of around 1.72 million in 2020. Foreign workers who have lost jobs due to the economic downturn are financially struggling as they have not received sufficient support, with labor experts urging the government to offer more help. One such worker is Raquel Garcia, a 45-year-old Filipino who worked at a Sharp Corp. factory in Taki, Mie Prefecture in central Japan until being laid off late last year. Garcia had worked at the plant for nine years as a staffer dispatched by a subcontractor of the major electronic manufacturer. Amid the virus pandemic, Garcia was furloughed by the subcontractor in August, before eventually being laid off in November together with about 100 other employees, mostly also Philippine nationals. "Why are we (foreigners) the first to be fired when companies are in a pinch?" she said. Garcia, who came to Japan in 2003, said the subcontractor only told her business was bad and that there was no prospect of recovery for the time being. With Garcia having to make do with unemployment benefits whose amount is 50-80 percent of the average salary of the past six months of one's previous job, she has had to reduce the amount of money she sends to the two daughters she left behind in the Philippines and now relies on a food bank. "As I barely make ends meet, I just wish I could work," said Garcia. But her chances of finding a new job have been hampered by the fact that her limited literacy skills in Japanese make it difficult for her to get a driving license, limiting her to infrequent public transport in the Mie Prefecture area where she lives. A Mie Prefecture-based labor union, which Garcia belongs to, runs Japanese-language classes for foreigners and lends money to those who want to obtain driving licenses. The union's chairman, Hojo Hirooka, said, "Although the government says it is seeking the coexistence of (Japanese) people and foreigners, it only provides limited support for the latter. It has not taken action." The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, also known as Rengo and the country's largest labor organization, held its first event to provide consultation for non-Japanese workers in January on issues such as trouble related to contracts, salary and other working conditions. One of the participants was a Filipino who has worked for 14 years as a regular employee. The worker complained of unequal treatment of foreigners and expressed fear of being laid off for consulting with somebody about the issue, according to Rengo. Haruhisa Yamaneki, a senior official of Rengo, called for urgent support for non-Japanese workers, saying that while they are in "a weak position" already, many have fallen "into a more difficult situation." The Japanese government has been seeking to boost foreign workers at a time when the world's third-largest economy is coping with a chronic labor shortage caused by the declining birthrate and aging population. The number of foreign workers in Japan hit a record high of 1,724,328 as of October 2020, increasing 4.0 percent from a year earlier. The pace of rise was nevertheless down from a 13.6 percent surge recorded the previous year, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, with the pandemic hitting early in 2020. Most workers were permanent residents or spouses of Japanese, totaling 546,469. The next largest group was technical interns, whose number climbed 4.8 percent to 402,356. Those working under a new visa status created in 2019 to attract more blue-collar workers in labor-hungry industries stood at 7,262. The government-sponsored technical internship program was introduced in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries, but has been criticized as being a cover for companies to import cheap labor from other Asian nations. Yoshihisa Saito, an associate professor of labor law at Kobe University, pointed out that some essential industrial realms, such as agriculture and nursing care, have difficulty in recruiting Japanese workers given the level of salaries and other benefits, creating a need for foreign workers. "To fundamentally solve the problem, it is necessary to establish a better set of working conditions and environment, to make it easier for both Japanese and foreigners to work," said Saito. Insurance adjusting firm Catastrophe & National Claims (CNC) has added Tom Noonan as senior vice president of Strategy & Innovation. In this newly created role, hell help lead strategic planning and accelerate CNCs innovation initiatives. He joins the team with more than 36 years of experience in operations and business development within the claims industry. Noonan began his career with Hartford Insurance in 1985 and has experience building teams and businessesincluding his own insurance adjusting/private investigation firm in 1993. In 1997, he sold his interest in the firm and joined Cunningham Lindsey as an assistant vice president overseeing operations in the West. Noonan also worked as regional manager for American Technologies and director of business development for Rimkus Consulting. Most recently, he served as VP of Strategy and Development for Leading Edge Claims Service. Founded in 1988, Catastrophe & National Claims is an independent adjusting firm offering full assistance to regional and national insurance carriers. It covers property, auto, commercial, flood, private flood, liability, catastrophe, daily and TPA. Topics InsurTech Alabama State Track: Arrows' Mack and Heesch among six area event winners on opening day Watertown seniors Cooper Mack and Maggie Heesch and four other area athletes notched event wins Friday during the opening day of the 2021 State High School Track and Field Meet. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a bunch of petitions demanding an investigation into the tractor rally violence in the national capital on Republic Day and direction to the media not to declare farmers as "terrorists" without any evidence. A bench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian refused to hear the pleas and asked the three petitioners to approach the government with their pleas and make representation there. "We are sure that the government is inquiring into this and taking action. We heard in the press where the Prime Minister said that law will take its own course, we do not want to interfere in it. You can approach the government," the Chief Justice said. Petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari contended that on January 26 "unfortunate incident happened, blames are on both sides but people suffered". When Chief Justice said the government is inquiring about the issue, Tiwari said let not the probe be one-sided. To this, the Chief Justice replied, "Your prayer is based on the fact that it is going to be one-sided. What is an investigation? It has to take all sides into account." Another petitioner advocate Shikha Dixit told the Bench that Police were beaten up and there was violence on January 26 in Delhi. The Bench replied that it cannot look into this issue. It then disposed of the three pleas and allowed their withdrawal with the liberty to approach the government. The apex court also dismissed another petition filed by advocate ML Sharma seeking direction to the media not to declare farmers as "terrorists" without any evidence. Sharma has claimed that there was a planned conspiracy to sabotage the protest by farmers and they were allegedly declared as "terrorists" without any evidence. His plea sought directions to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to register an FIR against BJP leader Sambit Patra and a news channel for false allegations and charges against the farmers by conspiring to term them as "terrorists" for political motives. The petition filed by Tiwari, besides seeking setting up of an inquiry commission, sought directions to the concerned authority to lodge FIRs against individuals or organisations responsible for the violence and dishonour to the national flag on January 26. Another petition filed by Swati Goel Sharma and Sanjeev Newar, prayed for a probe by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) into the tractor rally violence. Live TV KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has announced that the Oxford University Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which arrived in South Africa on Monday, is expected to arrive in the province around 14 February 2021. Outlining KwaZulu-Natal's Vaccine Roll-Out Plan during a virtual media briefing on Tuesday, Zikalala said that the province has developed its own vaccination rollout plan, based on guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and National Department of Health. "Our Plan focuses on the management, distribution and dispensing of the vaccine. Key to the success of this plan is co-operation between the public and private sector, as well as non-governmental, community, and faith-based organisations (FBOs)," Zikalala said. The province has also established a Vaccine Co-ordinating Committee, which includes, amongst others, private hospitals, traditional leaders, eThekwini Municipality, Health Systems Trust, Organised Labour, PEPFAR partners, the academic sector, National Health Laboratory Service, civil society, and the South African Military Health Services. According to Zikalala, all provincial districts across the province have finalised vaccination distribution plans. He noted that the Provincial Command Council will support, monitor and perform oversight over the vaccine roll-out process. "All District Command Councils, led by MEC's and mayors will spend time in districts for the duration of the roll-out and ensure daily accountability and hands on support. The Provincial Vaccine Coordinating Committee, Chaired by the Head of Department for Health, which includes unions, NGO's, traditional healers, academic sector, civil society, and Military Health Care services, has also been established to fast-track implementation," Zikalala explained. Phase 1 The province will follow the phased approach to vaccination, including Phase 1, which is divided into two categories. The two categories include health care workers and support staff, and administrative and other staff. The provincial first beneficiaries targeted include 67 644 public sector health care staff; 9 292 medical doctors, dentists, pharmacists, Emergency Medical Services (EMS); 390 interns; 34 279 nurses; and 20 417 non-occupation specific dispensation (OSD) employees. The beneficiaries also include 2 639 allied health professionals; 366 engineers/artisans; 256 staff providing social services; 14 625 privately contracted staff working in public sector; 5 939 traditional healers; 350 military health care staff; 6 699 NGO sector staff; as well as 360 environmental health practitioners. "A total of 163 256 health personnel from various sectors in KwaZulu-Natal are eligible to receive vaccination during the first phase, as announced by the President. These include 81 000 Health Care Workers (HCWs) in the public sector and 49 000 in the private sector," the Premier said. Vaccination sites identified To date, Zikalala said, the province has identified 91 vaccination sites, which will include all the public hospitals and Community Health Centres (CHCs). "These hospitals and CHCs will be responsible for the clinics, and other sites that are part of the value chain in their catchment areas. Every vaccinated person will be observed for a while before being discharged after being vaccinated," the Premier explained. A communication and social mobilisation strategy has also been developed to ensure that all citizens in the province are well informed about the vaccine and the rollout plan. Decline in new COVID-19 cases Meanwhile, Zikalala said that the province, which is currently the second-highest countrywide in terms of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, has observed a decline in the number of new cases weekly. "The overall percentage change in the number of new cases between 17 - 23 January 2021 and 24-30 January 2021, amounted to a decline of 51%. The actual number of cases was 22 608 in week 3, and 11 099 in week 4, respectively. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Governance Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "Over the past week, the highest number of cases received was 2 079, [and] the average number of cases recorded daily was 1 777 cases per day," Zikalala said. However, Zikalala noted that the second wave has been more severe than the first wave in terms of the deaths in the province, with an average of 75 deaths daily over the past two weeks. The analysis was done using the date the person died, not the date of reporting. Hospitalisation update On hospitalisation, the province currently has 3 601 patients admitted; this includes 2 429 patients admitted in private hospitals and 1 172 in public hospitals, as at 31 January 2021. "Of those admitted, 483 patients required intensive care services. Among those who required intensive care, 211 were being ventilated," the Premier said. 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. (Newser) It was "an awful day in FBI history" on Tuesday, per a former FBI official, after a shooter killed two FBI agents and injured three others while a search warrant on violent crimes against children was being served in a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Now, the two who died while carrying out their duties in Sunrise have been identified, per NBC News. In a Tuesday statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray named Special Agents Daniel Alfin, 36, and Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, who'd dedicated their careers to fighting child pornography. "Every day, FBI special agents put themselves in harm's way to keep the American people safe," Wray said. "Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country." The Washington Post notes that between the two of them, Alfin and Schwartzenberger had almost 30 years of combating child exploitation and abuse. story continues below Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director for the FBI, says carrying out search warrants in cases involving child porn or pedophilia can be a high-risk endeavor. "The risk is elevated because that person's reputation in the community will be lost in that instant," he tells NBC. George Piro, the special agent who heads up the FBI's Miami Field Office, paid tribute to his fallen colleagues at a Tuesday presser. "Dan and Laura left home this morning to carry out the mission they signed up for and loved to doto keep the American people safe. ... They will forever be heroes." Alfin is survived by a wife and child, while Schwartzenberger leaves behind a husband and two children. Wray added in his statement that of the three injured FBI agents, two remain hospitalized in stable condition, while the third didn't need treatment at a hospital, per CBS Miami. The suspect in the shooting is believed to have killed himself at the scene, law enforcement officials say. (Read more FBI agent stories.) Four people suffered burn injuries after an explosion at a tractor-trailer storage facility in Santa Clara on Tuesday evening. Three workers were critically injured and hospitalized with second and third degree burns. The fourth walked himself to the hospital. The blast in the Rye Canyon Loop sparked a wildfire that spread to one acre before it was put out, according to local reports. The explosion was initially reported to be on a movie set, yet a public information officer later confirmed it was in a storage facility, according to NBC Los Angeles. Three people sustained critical burn injuries Tuesday afternoon after a reported explosion on a movie set caused a small brush fire in Santa Clarita, as pictured above Helicopters were able to put out the blaze at an acre by 5.20pm, pictured Three people are in critical condition following an explosion on a movie set in Santa Clarita, California on Tuesdy evening. It sparked a wildfire that is now under control The blast in the Rye Canyon Loop sparked a wildfire that spread to one acre before it was put out, according to local reports. The victims suffered second and third-degree burns The Rye Fire is reported to have been sparked by an explosion at SC Innovation Park The facility has not been named. 'At this time, the public should not be concerned,' SCV Sheriffs Station spokeswoman Natalie Arriaga said of the explosion. Los Angeles County Supervisor told the Santa Clarita Signal the explosion was reported just after 5pm local time. Responding units found a quarter-acre brush fire running uphill. The blaze, dubbed the Rye Fire, was stopped by 5.20pm local time at one acre. No structures were threatened or damaged. A photo posted by the SVC's Sheriff's office after the fire was brought under control showed smoke still rising from the ground in front of the industrial park. The three victims were brought to Henry Mayo Hospital. 'Three burn victims are all being transported to a local trauma center with additional injuries,' said Supervisor Ed Pickett. 'We don't know what caused it, and we are doing an investigation right now.' Responding units found a quarter-acre brush fire running uphill at around 4.45pm The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department asked people to stay clear of the area during the investigation. A hazmat team was also at the scene to assess the situation A photo posted by the SVC's Sheriff's office after the fire was brought under control showed smoke still rising from the ground in front of the industrial park, pictured According to CBS Los Angeles, the initial blast had been caused by a 'pyrotechnic malfunction'. Locals said that it felt like an earthquake. 'I was just working from home and there was this loud boom, and I thought it felt (as) if something were to have hit your house, like a crane or something weird,' resident Amy Mader told Santa Clara Signal. 'I felt it through the walls.' The location of the incident matches that of the Southern California Innovation Park. Locals said that the apparent explosion on the movie set had felt like an earthquake. Pictured, the aftermath of the wildfire sparked by the apparent explosion on a movie set The three victims were brought to Henry Mayo Hospital with second and third degree burns She said that a neighbor had alerted her to the flames on the nearby hill. 'There were helicopters everywhere, just low flying and dropping water,' she added. 'I think they got the fire put out pretty fast.' Aerial TV news footage showed fire crews at a large lot with multiple cargo containers. The location of the incident matches that of the Southern California Innovation Park. It is a popular movie lot filming location, according to the Santa Clarita Film Office website. Sheriff's officials advised residents to stay clear of the area about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. ABC reported that arson and bomb investigators were at the scene searching for the source of the explosion. A hazmat team was also at the scene to assess the situation. 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. South Sudan's government has questioned Transparency International's 2020 report that ranked it the second most corruption country in the world and most corrupt in east Africa. Speaking to The EastAfrican on Tuesday, government spokesman Michael Makuei accused international organisations, including Transparency International, of being corrupt. "It's not enough to say so and so is corrupt without clear evidence. Even the international non-governmental organisations are the most corrupt. I don't say corruption doesn't exist in South Sudan but there is no country in this world where there is no corruption. "And there are no organisations where there is no corruption. So, this idea of people pointing [fingers at] others, accusing them of being corrupt isn't fair. All are corrupt but it's only the level of corruption including the so-called Transparency International is corrupt too," Makuei said. He added that the unity government has put structures in place to fight corruption. "We are working hard to address corruption and that is why we have the anti-corruption commission. For those who say the commission is toothless, those are your opinions," Makuei added. Transparency International's 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked South Sudan the second most corrupt country across the globe with Syria taking the lead. It also ranked South Sudan the most corrupt in eastern Africa followed by Somalia. Widespread In its 2019 report, Transparency International ranked South Sudan the most corrupt country in eastern Africa followed by Burundi. Kenya and Uganda tied in third position, while Rwanda was rated the least corrupt country in the region and the only EAC state to score above the global average rate of 43 points, after garnering 53 points. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Sudan Corruption By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. A 2013 report about corruption in South Sudan, released by The Sentry, indicated that the vice spreads across all sectors of the economy and all levels of government. It said that since independence, the country had taken steps to promote transparency and accountability in its fight against corruption, but that a lack of capacity, resources and political often hampered effective implementation. In September 2019, The Sentry published a report titled "The Taking of South Sudan," which accused regional and international companies of profiting from the conflict in the country. It accused seven of President Salva Kiir's immediate family members of forging partnerships with Chinese-Malaysian oil giants, British tycoons and networks of traders from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Uganda. But Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny dismissed the allegations as biased and not backed by evidence. UN reports In October 2020, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights accused some South Sudanese politicians and senior government officials of embezzling at least $36 million since 2016. In December that year, The Sentry reported that some South Sudanese leaders carried out money laundering and grand corruption through networks in the United Kingdom. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar was higher against its key counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as the U.S. treasury yields advanced after Senate Democrats voted to push through the Covid-19 rescue package without any Republican support. The Senate voted 50-49 to begin the budget reconciliation process on Tuesday. The move enables the Democrats to pass coronavirus relief legislation without any Republican votes. The prospect for fiscal stimulus triggered a selloff in U.S. Treasuries, lifting the yields. Investors cheered news that former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has been asked to form a technocratic government to solve the ongoing political crisis in Italy. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on January 26 after Italia Viva party withdrew its support from the coalition government. Data from the payroll processor ADP showed that U.S. private sector employment increased much more than expected in January. ADP said private sector employment jumped by 174,000 jobs in January after decreasing by a revised 78,000 jobs in December. Economists had expected employment to rise by 49,000 jobs compared to the loss of 123,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The currency held steady against its major rivals in the Asian session, with the exception of the pound. The greenback rose to 0.9001 against the franc, its strongest since December 2. At yesterday's trading close, the pair was quoted at 0.8972. The greenback may possibly challenge resistance around the 0.92 level. The greenback climbed to more than a 2-month high of 1.2005 against the euro, compared to Tuesday's closing value of 1.2043. The greenback is likely to test resistance around the 1.18 level. Flash data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone consumer prices increased for the first time in six months in January. The harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 0.9 percent year-on-year in January, reversing a 0.3 percent fall in December. Economists had forecast an annual growth of 0.5 percent. The greenback reversed from an early low of 1.3683 against the pound, rising to 1.3619. The pound-greenback pair had ended yesterday's trading session at 1.3667. The greenback is seen finding resistance around the 1.35 mark. Final survey results from IHS Markit showed that the UK service sector contracted at the fastest pace in eight months in January due to the impact of restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic on trade and temporary business closures amid the third national lockdown. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply services Purchasing Managers' Index plunged to 41.2 from 50.4 in December. A score below 50 indicates contraction. The flash score was 40.6. The greenback bounced off to 1.2811 against the loonie and 0.7191 against the kiwi, from its prior 2-day low of 1.2763 and a 5-day low of 0.7226, respectively. The next possible resistance for the greenback is seen around 1.34 against the loonie and 0.70 against the kiwi. In contrast, the greenback held steady against the aussie, after having retreated to 0.7624 earlier in the session. The greenback was worth 0.7607 per aussie at Tuesday's New York session close. The U.S. currency ticked up to 105.10 against the yen and held steady thereafter. The pair had closed Tuesday's deals at 104.95. The U.S. ISM non-manufacturing PMI for January will be released at 10:00 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de In Minnesota, there are currently about 60 diseases that all newborns are screened for at birth using a heel prick and a few drops of blood. Of all the screenable disorders combined, newborn infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) is most common, and it is ranked as the most prevalent infectious disease in the U.S. and Europe that causes birth defects, long-term disabilities and deafness in babies. Yet, current routine screening practices do not include monitoring for CMV. The lack of blood spot screening may be due to past studies not showing a good enough detection rate for CMV, using the blood spot test, that would be sufficiently sensitive to justify universal screening. Mark Schleiss, MD, pediatric infectious disease physician with the University of Minnesota Medical School and M Health Fairview, led a study that used improved techniques to show that the dried blood spot taken at birth can, in fact, find CMV infection in the newborn with almost 90% accuracy. The study was recently published in JAMA Pediatrics. This is a major new development in the field and means that automated testing for CMV could be done for this infection using the standard dried blood spot tests that are already obtained on all newborns, using existing infrastructure and requiring no new tests on the baby. Identifying CMV at birth, in turn, allows for earlier intervention that can improve the outcome for these children." Mark Schleiss, Study's Principal Investigator Earlier intervention could improve hearing, speech, language and intellectual/neurodevelopmental outcomes for newborns with CMV. Schleiss will continue his work with the Minnesota Department of Health to encourage that the results are translated into action, by considering adding the CMV screening to all newborn dried blood spot tests currently done in Minnesota newborns. Ultimately, he would like to see it become standard practice nationally. Eric Trump has blasted what he describes as 'double standards' in America after it emerged that the new head of the Justice Department's criminal division worked at the same law firm as Hunter Biden's attorney. Donald Trump's son hit out at the new Biden administration in an appearance on Fox News' Hannity Tuesday night over the apparent ties saying 'can you imagine if my father tried to do that?' Nicholas McQuaid was appointed on Joe Biden's first day in office to serve as principal deputy assistant attorney general and as the acting assistant attorney general for the criminal division in the DOJ. It has now emerged that McQuaid used to work at law firm Latham & Watkins alongside attorney Christopher Clark who hired by Joe Biden's son Hunter in December to represent him in his federal tax probe. Eric Trump has blasted what he describes as 'double standards' in America after it emerged that the new head of the Justice Department's criminal division has ties to Hunter Biden's attorney Trump spoke out about the ties Tuesday slamming the 'double standard' and 'hypocrisy' across the US. 'We've talked about this a million times,' he told Fox. 'The things that get said about me and Don [Jr.] and Ivanka and Tiffany and Barron and our whole family, there is a double standard in this country. There is unequal justice in this country.' The former president's middle son fumed that the DOJ pick was 'frankly disturbing'. 'Can you imagine if my father ever tried to do that?' he said. 'There is unequal balance of justice in this country, and half of America sees it, and it's quite frankly disturbing to them.' Trump claimed 'they tried to manufacture everything under the sun against my father, against all of us' saying that 'even when he's a private citizen they still try to impeach him.' The House impeached Trump for a second time last month arguing that he is 'singularly responsible' for the January 6 Capitol riot that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead. Trump's comments came after Fox revealed McQuaid's apparent ties to Hunter Biden's attorney. Donald Trump's son hit out at the new Biden administration in an appearance on Fox News' Hannity Tuesday night over the apparent connection saying 'can you imagine if my father tried to do that?' McQuaid worked at Latham's New York office from 2017 until his DOJ appointment last month while Clark is a partner at the same office. The two attorneys are said to have teamed up on a number of cases in the firm's white-collar defense and investigations practice and were jointly representing at least one client at the time McQuaid was tapped for the DOJ role, according to Yahoo News. In December, Hunter Biden reportedly hired Clark to represent him in his federal tax inquiry, reported Law.com. There is no indication that McQuaid has had any involvement in Hunter's case. It is also not clear whether the main branch of the DOJ is involved in the investigation into the president's son's affairs which is being led by the US attorneys office in Delaware. Nicholas McQuaid (pictured) was appointed as principal deputy assistant attorney general and as the acting assistant attorney general for the criminal division in the DOJ However the connection is likely to raise questions around conflict of interest and ethics. Under his new acting role, McQuaid is responsible for overseeing the DOJs 600 federal prosecutors. Hunter announced in December he had learned he was under investigation over his tax affairs. The investigation was opened in late 2018 and is said to include inquiries into potential criminal violations of tax and money laundering laws. Biden issued a statement at the time saying he was 'deeply proud of his son'. As well as slamming the 'hypocrisy', Eric Trump also took aim at the Biden administration calling the first 13 days in office 'disastrous for our country' and claiming it has 'cost thousands of jobs'. He hit out at several of Biden's executive orders that backpedal on the Trump administration's orders, including stopping building the US-Mexico border wall, canceling the Keystone pipeline and rejoining the Paris climate agreement. 'The only person happy about the [Keystone] XL pipeline [being canceled] is Warren Buffett,' said Trump. 'Now all the fuel can go across [the US on] trains,' he said, referring to Buffett owning the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company that will be used to transport crude oil between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. It has now emerged that McQuaid used to work at law firm Latham & Watkins alongside attorney Christopher Clark who hired by Joe Biden's son Hunter in December to represent him in his federal tax probe. Pictured President Joe Biden, Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden and daughter Ashley Biden on inauguration day Joe Biden with son Hunter (left) leave the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood last month 'They canceled the wall... who does that benefit?' he continued. Trump went on to say he believes people will 'miss' having his father in office 'really quickly'. 'You go down the list and honestly, I think people are going to miss Donald Trump really quickly,' he said. 'I think they will miss him really quickly because some of these executive orders, 40 in the first day, are madness.' His comments come two weeks since his father left the White House in unprecedented circumstances as he refused to abide by tradition and attend his successor's inauguration and was impeached just days later over his part in the Capitol riot. The Trump clan have since fled to Florida where the elder Trump is now preparing his defense for his impeachment trial. The EV unit of property giant China Evergrande said on Wednesday that it had started trial production of electric vehicles and showed photos and videos of SUVs on a winter road test, in what is the latest Chinese firm aspiring to become the new Tesla. Evergrande said in 2019 that it wanted to become the worlds top EV maker within three to five years, according to Bloomberg. Evergrandes planned manufacturing sites at Guangzhou and Shanghai have launched trial production of EVs, the company said in a statement carried by Bloomberg. The Chinese firm also looks to begin mass manufacturing of its own batteries in the second half of this year. China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, the unit of the property giant Evergrande, raised last month as much as US$3.35 billion from six private investors to fund its ambition to become a major EV player. The financing will help China Evergrande to achieve its strategic goal to become the worlds largest and most powerful new energy vehicle group, the Hong Kong-listed company said in a filing, as carried by South China Morning Post. Evergrande, controlled by one of Chinas richest people Hui Ka-yan, looks to have a vehicle manufacturing capacity of between 500,000 and 1 million vehicles within three to five years, according to the company website quoted by South China Morning Post. Related: A Glimmer Of Hope For Oil Markets To compare, Tesla delivered nearly 500,000 vehicles globally in 2020, while the total production of Tesla models last year was 509,737 vehicles, according to the U.S. electric vehicle makers Q4 production and vehicle update. Chinas Evergrande, however, has yet to sell an electric vehicle, although shares of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group jumped to a record high after the latest funding was announced at the end of January. Evergrandes vehicles, when produced, are set to join an increasingly competitive EV market in China, where Tesla, Nio, and Warren Buffett-backed BYD have established a solid presence. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: By Kang Seung-woo Vincent Brooks, a former commanding general of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), believes that South Korea and the United States must continue their joint military exercises this spring to maintain combined readiness, even as the government here is exploring ways to suspend the annual drills or at least keep them as low-key as possible. Vincent Brooks, former USFK commander / Korea Times file TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry has apologized to a Polish journalist who accused one of the ministry's officers of sexual harassment and pressuring her to write positive articles about the Central Asian nation in exchange for having her press accreditation prolonged. The ministry also said on February 2 that the employee who was accused of sexually harassing journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska had been fired. Pikulicka-Wilczewska, an independent journalist who has worked for The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Diplomat, and Eurasianet, said on Twitter on February 1 that several requests to extend her press accreditation had been rejected over the past six months. She said the Foreign Ministry official dealing with her case had subjected her to sexual harassment, behavior that continued online. The case triggered outrage and calls for Tashkent to investigate, including from Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director of Human Rights Watch, and Tim Torlot, the British ambassador to Uzbekistan. In a Twitter post on February 2, Pikulicka-Wilczewska said that she had been informed that her accreditation would be prolonged and thanked everyone who supported her. "I would like to thank each one of you who supported me in this ridiculous struggle. I've received massive support from everyone online and offline. You guys made it happen. I hope that together we will continue punishing Rustams all across Uzbekistan. You are the power," Pikulicka-Wilczewska wrote. First QO-100 satellite contact from Indonesia Indonesias national amateur radio society, ORARI, reports on the first contacts from Indonesia via the Qatar-Oscar-100 geostationary satellite transponder The contacts took place on Thursday, January 27, 2021. Those involved were Farid Farhan YC1HVZ, Remco den Besten PA3FYM and Rene Stevens PE1CMO. ORARIs report says a team from the Telkom University Telecommunication Engineering Student Association (HMTT) led by Farid Farhan YC1HVZ, succeeded in conducting the first contact from Bukit Moko (Grid square OI33UD), Bandung, West Java with a satellite elevation of 0.8 degrees at an altitude of 1200m+. Over several months Remco den Besten PA3FYM, and Rene Stevens PE1CMO had helped Farid Farham YC1HVZ get equipment operational for use on the QO-100 satellite which has an uplink in the 2.4 GHz band and a downlink in 10.45 GHz. Farids location in Bandung is on the edge of the satellites footprint and he didnt have a clear view to the horizon so Farid had to travel to a location in the hills of Java to get an unobstructed path to the satellite which had an elevation of just 0.8 degrees. An attempt on Monday, January 24, was unfortunately unsuccessful and Farid YC1HVZ returned to the hill on Thursday, January 27, for a test with Remco PA3FYM and Rene PE1CMO. At about 07:40 GMT they heard the first signals from YC1HVZ but Farid couldnt receive the QO-100 signal. Its rainy season in Indonesia, which makes it much harder the 10 GHz downlink has to get through the heavy rain showers which attenuate the signal. After a few tests conditions improved and Farid heard his signal coming back from the satellite and by 07:50 GMT it was possible to make a two-way contact. Rene PE1CMO was the first to receive Farid and the first who Farid received but it was Remco PA3FYM who made the first complete contact exchanging signal report, call and locator, after which Rene has a QSO with Farid. Unfortunately the signal in Indonesia then dropped due to clouds and rain but later it came back and YC1HVZ made six more contacts. Farid hopes to try that location again or go to a location on the beach on the west coast of Java for a DXpedition. Congratulations to Farid, Remco and Rene. See a translation of the ORARI report at https://tinyurl.com/IndonesiaORARI QO-100 information https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/geo/eshail-2/ Unlike fragrances of the past that sit on a vanity or shelf, this new innovation is in an ultra-portable and convenient solid format that is ideal for on-the-go use. The innovative, clear, solid texture melts onto the skin with a velvety soft finish and is enriched with skin-loving ingredients that offer hydration, soothing and antioxidant benefits. The proprietary formulation is the first solid fragrance format on the market to combine fragrance with color and ingredients that are good for the skin, and that are 100% alcohol free. Josh Kirschbaum, CEO of WWP Beauty said "The Essence Collection powered by Scentinvent Technologies truly is the future of fragrance. Our company could not be prouder to partner with the award-winning creators and entrepreneurs of Scentinvent Technologies, Abby Wallach and Caroline Fabrigas, to bring this female-led innovation to beauty brands globally. We know this product is going to disrupt the fragrance industry and empower brands to offer a new, fresh way to let their consumers experience fragrance unlike never before". "We are thrilled to have the full support of Josh and the WWP Beauty team to capitalize on our many years of work in perfecting our Scentinvent Technologies innovations to bring them to the beauty industry on a global scale," said Abby Wallach and Caroline Fabrigas, Co-founders of Scentinvent Technologies, LLC. WWP Beauty is bringing The Essence Collection to the market in the form of three unique collections. Each collection has been designed to target a specific sector of the beauty industry, showcasing how brands in every space can play with color, packaging, and fragrance to further innovate their brands and offerings to their end consumers. WWP Beauty's three collections are divided by a unique scent story and innovative packaging to showcase the company's expansive capabilities in this new sector of the fragrance industry. About WWP Beauty WWP Beauty is committed to developing future-focused, sustainable solutions for the global beauty industry through close collaboration, exceptional agility, and unparalleled scale. The company's full-service offering of formula, packaging and accessories, paired with their in-house manufacturing capabilities allow them to stand out as the source for everything beauty. Through a worldwide team of beauty experts that span across North America, EMEA and APAC, WWP Beauty offers their customers global support at the local level. To learn more, visit our website at www.wwpbeauty.com. Contact: Christopher Dale Turchette Agency (973) 227-8080 ext. 116 [email protected] Megan Gunn WWP (973) 805-6500 [email protected] SOURCE WWP Beauty Related Links https://wwpbeauty.com Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBy BEN GITTLESON and CONOR FINNEGAN, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- President Joe Biden will deliver his first major foreign policy speech in office Thursday during a visit to the State Department, where he is expected to talk about "reclaiming America's role in the world" and restoring values to the center of U.S. foreign policy, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Biden's speech, alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will outline his foreign policy vision and how he will put diplomacy at the center of it, a senior administration official told ABC News -- a point driven home by the fact that the State Department will be the first federal agency he visits as president. He is also expected to take a series of executive actions while there, the official said. The president plans to "thank the men and women of the national security workforce for their service to our country," Psaki added Tuesday. But after four years of former President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts, taunts against the "deep state" department and political retaliation against career diplomats, the agency remains beset by low morale. While many of Biden and Blinken's initial steps and messages have been welcomed, some career officials have expressed concern that career diplomats will be sidelined again under this administration. To that end, Biden is expected to talk about how the administration will support State Department employees' work, according to the senior official, and name career diplomats to senior positions, according to current and former State Department officials. Turning Trump's 'America First' into multilateralism Rolling back Trump's nationalist approach to the world -- which he termed "America First" -- has already become a hallmark of Biden's short time at the White House. He has returned the United States to international agreements and organizations his predecessor left -- including the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization -- and has endorsed a multilateral approach to issues ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to China and Iran. "We can make America, once again, the leading force for good in the world," he declared in his inaugural address. The president will also announce several executive actions at the State Department that are aimed at emphasizing American values in the country's foreign policy, according to the administration official. The official would not provide more details, although one may mirror an order Biden signed his first day in office that emphasized the importance of science to the federal government's decision-making. At the same time, the Biden administration has made clear it believes addressing a series of domestic crises -- the coronavirus pandemic, the economic crisis and calls for racial justice -- should take precedence. "Foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy," Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said last week. "And at the end of the day, right now, the most profound national security challenge facing the United States is getting our own house in order, is domestic renewal." Multiple U.S. policies are under review by the State Department, especially those implemented by Trump and his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, after the 2020 election. Blinken has said the most "urgent" is their designation of the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist group, which imperils food aid and other assistance to the war-torn country on the brink of famine. The administration is also reviewing Trump's tariffs on China and sanctions on Iran, U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Biden to elevate career diplomats amid concerns over appointees The president had originally planned to visit the State Department Monday, but his remarks were pushed back to later in the week because of a snowstorm that hit Washington, according to the White House. But when he does address career diplomats, Biden will have done so far earlier in his term than his two immediate predecessors. Trump visited the agency after one year in office and only after firing his first secretary Rex Tillerson, while President Barack Obama's first speech there was in 2011, three years into his first term in office. That's a welcome sign to many, as were Blinken's welcome remarks on his first full day in office, telling the department's 70,000 employees worldwide, "I will have your back." "It starts with rebuilding morale and trust. This is a priority for me because we need a strong department for the United States to be strong in the world," Blinken said on Jan. 27 -- adding the administration will be investing "significantly in building a diverse and inclusive State Department." So far, the administration has given senior roles to two men and five women, three of them women of color like Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations. But in those positions and down through lower levels, they have so far only named political appointees rather than career officials, and unlike his Democratic campaign opponent Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Biden did not pledge to end the practice, unique to the U.S., of giving wealthy donors ambassadorships. "I'd be hard pressed going back to the Carter years to point to an incoming team that is as well-versed on the department and has such a strong history at the department, including some of the political deputy assistant secretaries they're bringing in," said Michael McKinley, who served as U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Afghanistan, Colombia, and Peru and resigned as Pompeo's senior adviser. "Yes, they're political, but they have a long trajectory in the State Department, and they, of all people, will understand the importance of supporting the career Foreign Service. There will be a significant return to an important role for Foreign Service professionals," he told ABC News. Some of those senior officials are Foreign Service officers who either resigned or were pushed out by the Trump administration, with many colleagues welcoming them back -- but others concerned the message is if they want to obtain senior positions, they're better off leaving the nonpartisan Foreign Service to come back with a political appointment. "That's definitely not gone unnoticed," said one U.S. diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. "It tells us you should've been working for Albright-Stonebridge rather than toiling away somewhere in Foggy Bottom" -- a reference to the consulting firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright where several former U.S. diplomats have worked, including Thomas-Greenfield and Biden's pick for deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman. A senior State Department official pushed back on those concerns, saying that the department's "greatest resource" is "our people" and that Blinken will elevate career officials to senior positions soon. Ambassador Eric Rubin, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, diplomats' union, applauded Blinken and other Biden officials for reaching out already. "They are being very proactive in reaching out and very accessible," Rubin told ABC News. "We look forward to seeing upcoming announcements about career senior Foreign Service officer being selected for senior positions at the department." State Department spokesperson Ned Price hinted at the same, telling reporters in his first briefing Tuesday, "You will see a number of respected career officials assume some of the most senior positions in this building. There's no doubt about that." Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. The eurozone economy shrank in the last three months of 2020 as European countries closed shops and restaurants and restricted travel to try to contain the coronavirus. Economic output in the 19 countries that belong to the eurozone fell 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary estimate by the European Unions official statistics agency said. For the full year, overall output fell 5.1 percent. Economists expect the economy to shrink again in the first quarter of 2021, leading to a double-dip recession. The blocs economy also shrank during the first half of 2020. The decline capped a roller coaster year for the eurozone economy. In the second quarter, gross domestic product fell 11.7 percent as the pandemic took hold, then rebounded 12.4 percent in the third quarter as lockdowns eased and firms adjusted to the crisis. Everything old is new again. The corruptocracy of the Obama administration is back with a vengeance in the White House. Once more, the "S" in "DHS" stands not for security -- but for sleaze. Our nation is back for sale to the highest foreign bidders and their "America last" cronies. Last Thursday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee pushed through the nomination of Alejandro "Ali" Mayorkas to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Six Senate Republicans sided with Democrats in breaking a GOP filibuster: Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Just call them the Senate GOP Traitors' Caucus. "Inclement weather" forced the postponement of the full and final Senate vote scheduled Monday, but the swamp always gets its way come rain, shine, sleet or snow. Seven years ago, I first raised alarms when Barack Obama's shady Chicago crony Mayorkas was tapped for the No. 2 position at DHS. Feckless Senate Republicans surrendered then, as they will again now. Mayorkas' main qualification for the deputy DHS secretary slot was his glorious record of achievement as a top Obama presidential campaign fundraiser in 2008. "Obama bundler" bestowed the same magical powers of access for Ali Mayorkas as "Open, sesame!" did for Ali Baba. Mayorkas will fit right in under the rein of Quid Pro Joe. As I reported during Mayorkas' 2013 confirmation hearings, Mayorkas phoned the Clinton White House while U.S. attorney on behalf of convicted drug dealer Carlos Vignali. Mayorkas joined other high-profile California liberals in the dialing-for-pardons campaign. Vignali's father (also suspected of drug trafficking) had dumped $200,000 in the coffers of Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh, to secure his son's commutation. Naturally, Mayorkas pleaded ignorance of Vignali senior's suspected criminal activity and admitted failure to do his "due diligence." Mayorkas' pardongate "mistake" cost him nothing. Like so many slimy swamp creatures in Washington, he has repeatedly failed upward by design, not accident. As the former head of Obama/Biden's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, allegations of fraud, reckless rubber-stamping and lax enforcement -- from veteran internal whistleblowers --plagued Mayorkas' tenure. Senate Republicans went along with his appointment to the DHS No. 2 slot even though he had been under investigation for his role as a meddling fixer in foreign EB-5 visas-for-sale schemes for 15 months before that nomination. Federal investigators interviewed more than 15 whistleblowers ranging from rank-and-file employees to several senior managers in California and at the D.C. headquarters who accused Mayorkas of bestowing preferential access and treatment to politically connected EB-5 applicants and stakeholders. They detailed how Mayorkas "created special processes and revised existing policies in the EB-5 program to accommodate specific parties" while serving as director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. "Their allegations were unequivocal," the DHS inspector general concluded, and the corruption under Mayorkas was systemic. Reminder: then-Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid pressured Mayorkas to overturn his agency's rejection of expedited EB-5 visa applications for Chinese investors in a Las Vegas casino hotel, which just happened to be represented by Reid's lawyer son Rory. Adjudicators balked at the preferential treatment. Mayorkas steamrolled the dissenters, who reported on shouting matches over the cases. Reid's staffers received special briefings from Mayorkas to update them on the project's progress. One underling called it "a whole new phase of yuck." Meanwhile, in the words of one DHS official at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, Mayorkas "absolutely gave special treatment" to electric car racket GreenTech, which zealously sought EB-5 visas for another group of deep-pocketed Chinese investors. Former Democratic National Committee chair and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe helmed the company after it was spun off from a Chinese venture. Hillary Clinton's late brother, Tony Rodham, spearheaded the EB-5 partnership with GreenTech. Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Mississippi GOP Gov. Haley Barbour both lobbied for approval of the project. McAuliffe whined to then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano when the department's adjudicators rejected the GreenTech deal. In violation of recordkeeping and disclosure rules, Mayorkas met with McAuliffe in February 2011 and then met personally with senior staff to urge the agency to reverse its denials. It did. In 2018, GreenTech filed for bankruptcy after raking in some $141 million from 283 EB-5 investors -- mostly from China. Nobody knows where all that money went. More than 25 questions asked by GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley about Mayorkas' EB-5 interventions remain unanswered five years after the inspector general report lambasted his ethical breaches as "corrosive and destabilizing." Perhaps Joe Biden will appoint ChiCom tool Hunter Biden as the next DHS inspector general to guard the DHS sleazehouse -- with the Senate GOP Traitor Caucus standing by to facilitate the uniparty's sellout of America. Where's a Patriot Party when you need one? COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM Sorry! This content is not available in your region Prime Minister Florin Citu has ordered his control team to investigate the situation at Apele Romane national water authority following a press story on the hire of a young woman without minimum qualifications, according to AGERPRES. "Following the story in the public space, I have asked the Prime Minister's Control Team to investigate the situation at Apele Romane. During my tenure, as promised, I demand professionalism, integrity, competence and transparency. This message is not just for those in management positions, it is for all those who work in the public sector: no convicts in public offices; professionals; no nepotism; no conflicts of interest," Citu wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. According to an investigation by Recorder, a young woman who previously worked as a waitress, then was, in turn, a cafe manager, a manicurist and, an employee of the Vatra Moldovitei Mayor's Office for three days and who claims to have graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry is one of the newest employees of the Prut-Barlad Water Basin Administration. New Delhi, Feb 3 : A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Jamia Millia Islamia seeking action against the Delhi Police for allegedly using excessive force inside the campus in 2019, saying that police personnel were "acting in order to control the law and order situation". The alleged police attack on students took place during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on December 15, 2019. The petition, filed by the varsity administration, claimed that the police had "entered the varsity campus without permission and subjected to brutality with the students". Metropolitain Magistrate Rajat Goyal said that the lack of restraint exhibited by the police and excesses committed in trying to control the situation are "very much related to official duties". The court further said that the actions of police in doing so are clearly connected to their official duties, though "some of the said actions might be questionable". The Metropolitain Magistrate said that it is an undisputed fact that all the respondents were acting in order to control the law and order situation which had emerged in relation to the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. "This court has no hesitation in holding that acts allegedly committed by the respondents fall within the purview of Section 197 of CrPC, being acts committed in discharge of official duties," the court order emphasised. It further said that police acted to control the protests, so as to prevent violence and prevent law and order situation from further deteriorating. "Though it could be argued that while so acting, the police had allegedly exceeded their jurisdiction and used more force than necessary in some instances, it cannot be said, by any stretch of imagination, that the said acts allegedly committed by the respondents were wholly unconnected to their official duty," the order added. Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2021 6:57 pm The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) on Monday told hospitals, clinics and other providers not to provide special access to coronavirus vaccines and warned they may risk supply reductions if caught. "VIP scheduling, reserving doses for inequitable or exclusive access, and similar practices are banned and will not be tolerated," said a DOH email to all enrolled vaccine providers. "If we find out a provider is giving out vaccine inequitably or is doing behaviors listed above or similar, we may reduce or stop allocations to that provider." In stories last week, The Seattle Times revealed that three medical systems in the region Providence Regional Medical Center, Overlake Medical Center & Clinics and EvergreenHealth gave special access to major donors or foundation board members, raising concerns about whether the state could equitably administer vaccine doses. Hospital officials have said they were testing scheduling software or trying to fill vaccine appointments quickly by using familiar contacts. Two of the organizations acknowledged they'd made a mistake in prioritizing influential people. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Friday urged the state to reallocate vaccine doses to community health clinics serving low-income communities of color, something a spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee's office said Friday was already in progress. In response to last week's stories, AFP Advancement Northwest, a local chapter of fundraising professionals that includes those working with hospitals, scheduled an "ethics summit" for Thursday. Daniel Webb, president of AFP Advancement Northwest's board of directors, described the special invites as "a glaring example of unethical behavior." "We care about donors," Webb said. "We can't care about them more than the people that we serve." The DOH's Monday advisory to providers which said vaccines should be distributed in a "fair and equitable manner" outlined the banned practices in broad terms. It barred VIP appointment scheduling; offering special or exclusive appointments; holding back doses for donors, members, employees or friends and family; vaccinating people before they are eligible; and other similar practices. So far, the state has not restricted any provider's vaccine allocation, according to Shelby Anderson, a DOH spokesperson. The Washington State Hospital Association worked with the department on the letter, president Cassie Sauer said in a Monday news briefing. "We've heard also about friends and family events at pharmacies or medical clinics saying you can only get vaccinated here if you're one of our patients of record," Sauer said. "We don't support any of those kinds of special access programs." Inslee is considering an executive order about special access to vaccines and could take action as soon as this week, though nothing has been finalized, according to a spokesperson. Seattle Times reporter Mike Reicher contributed to this report. ___ (c)2021 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. As health care providers are ramping up first doses and preparing to administer second doses for the large, phase 1b contingent of senior citizens and essential workers, they are performing a complicated, logistical dance that involves signing patients up for appointments within the proper time frame, offering help to make sure patients can come to that appointment and carefully tracking inventory to be sure they have the second doses on hand. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Two Shiromani Akali Dal leaders quit their party on Wednesday to join the Shiromani Akali Dal-Delhi, alleging that the Badal family are communalising the farmers' protest for furthering their personal agenda. Harinder Pal Singh and Jatinder Singh Sahani, who are also members of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), also accused the party of deviating from the core policy and ideology on which it was formed and that its leadership had failed to take action against their complaint of corruption in DSGMC. "Badal group has deviated from the core value on which the party was formed. They also failed to act against complaints of misuse and embezzlement of DSGMC funds," they said. They, along with Arvinder Singh Sarna of SAD-Delhi, alleged that Badals are trying to settle their personal score with the Centre and the BJP by giving religious colour to farmers' protest. "First, the Badals had supported the farm bill in the parliament and then Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal even tried to explain the benefits of new farm law to farmers in Punjab. But after opposition from farmers, they started talking against the new farm laws. When they (Badals) started talking against the new farm law, the Prime Minister asked Harsimrat Kaur Badal to quit the union cabinet," Sarna claimed. Sarna also said they want the farmers' concerns to be settled by the government through dialogue and appealed to everyone not to bring religion in it. South Africa: PRASA releases three executives The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has released three executives from their responsibilities as their contracts have come to an end due to effluxion of time. PRASA board would like to thank Rasheeque Zaman, Group Executive: Internal Audit, Zwelakhe Mayaba, Group Executive: Strategic Projects and Tiro Holele, Group Executive: CEOs office for having been of service to the company. We wish them well in their endeavors, PRASA said on Tuesday. This past weekend, the PRASA Board announced that it had embarked on the review of contracts of executives and other senior managers. Pursuant to the review process, it transpired upon analysis of employment contracts of executives that some of them (executives) ought to have left PRASA years ago. All executives at PRASA are employed for a period not exceeding 5 years with no expectation for extension of the employment contract, the agency said. On 29 January 2021, PRASA terminated the employment contracts of the following executives with immediate effect: Martha Ngoye, Group Executive: Legal, Risk and Compliance, Nkosinathi Khena, Chief Operations Office and Pearl Munthali, Chief Executive Officer of PRASA Foundation. "Consistent with the recommendations from the Auditor General, this Board will ensure that systems are put in place at PRASA and the core business of running passenger rail is restored," PRASA said. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. One of the reasons the PSNI is losing quality senior officers is because of disillusionment with the force, it has been claimed. A security source outlined a series of concerns, adding that the haemorrhaging of top line talent would continue. Earlier this week Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray, the PSNI's most senior female officer, announced that she was leaving for a new role as Deputy Assistant Commissioner with the UK's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police. Her departure follows that of Drew Harris (now Garda Commissioner), Stephen Martin (ex-Deputy Chief Constable), Paula Hilman (Garda Assistant Commissioner) and former ACCs Tim Mairs and George Clarke. The well-placed source told the Belfast Telegraph that policing Northern Ireland is "very stressful", saying it is "no surprise that some of these people are taking similar jobs for the same money in the Shires". They added that "it's not a particularly happy ship". The departure of the hugely experienced Gray, following on from Hilman leaving for An Garda Siochana, means the only woman left in a leadership role is Yvonne Cooke, director of Human Resources. "Barbara is a role model," the source said. "She is a calm, sensible head. "She understands Northern Ireland, the complicated community activism, those all-important grey areas." Expand Close Police Federation chair Mark Lindsay / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police Federation chair Mark Lindsay It also means the PSNI has lost its two most senior female officers in the last year. This newspaper understands there are not women coming up behind them in sufficient numbers. Former ACC Alan McQuillan told the Belfast Telegraph that the PSNI faces huge challenges in attracting quality applicants from outside. "It's a great move for Barbara and we may well see her back again as a future potential chief," Mr McQuillan said. "She's gone to London on promotion to get experience there. "When you reach that point in your career you have to make a decision: are you prepared to be mobile and go national, take a job elsewhere and then potentially come back, or do you want to stay in the one force and limit your career? "One of the problems here is the time it takes the [Policing] Board to fill vacancies. They need to get moving quickly to get these vacant posts filled. "Very few people are willing to come across here to work because of the situation they have to work in. "It has to be a better place to work. A lot of people on the outside look at the political situation here and say: 'I don't want to go there'." Police Federation chair Mark Lindsay said it was understandable that ACC Gray was moving on to the next stage in her career after 32 years because "there would be no upward movement in Northern Ireland for the next couple of years". "Such departures are concerning because, for example, in the last process for Assistant Chief Constable we couldn't attract enough applicants for the number of posts available," he said. "The Policing Board needs to look at the package on offer and the role that they're asking ACC's from across the water to take up. "It should be a desirable job, but the constant haranguing in Northern Ireland at all levels of policing is bound to wear anybody down. "People want to move on in Northern Ireland - that much is clear - and for officers, irrespective of rank, to be constantly in the middle of political storms merely undermines the job and deters people." Dolores Kelly MLA said high ranking officers often leave the PSNI for experience to further their careers, but added it was concerning it has lost its two top females in under a year. "It's a sign of the calibre and experience of police officers here that they're offered posts at senior levels in other police services," she said. The SDLP Policing Board member added: "We're concerned about the gender imbalance and lack of diversity, particularly amongst senior ranks. "It's encouraging to see some women come through and I know the Chief Constable is committed and has a culture audit ongoing within the PSNI, which I'm looking forward to hearing the findings of." In response to the Belfast Telegraph, the PSNI said "officers leave the organisation for a variety of reasons, including promotion or retirement". "These are personal decisions taken by those officers," it added. "Whilst we are always sorry to lose senior police officers and police staff colleagues when they retire or move to alternative roles, we also welcome the opportunity that this presents for our emerging leaders. "In terms of representativeness, we have recently made a number of appointments within our chief inspector, superintendent and chief superintendent ranks and it is pleasing to note the progression of female candidates within these promotion processes. "We will also be welcoming our new chief operating officer Pamela McCreedy next month, and will be progressing other senior police staff opportunities across a range of specialisms in the coming months." 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 A staff member keeping watch at a checkpoint in the border city of Suifenhe, in China's northeastern Heilongjiang Province on April 21, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Resident Under Virus Lockdown Stabs a Pandemic Control Volunteer to Death A pandemic control volunteer in northeastern China was stabbed to death on Feb. 3 while attempting to block a resident from leaving his apartment complex. The volunteer, surnamed Zhang, worked as a guard at a residential community in Hulan district, Harbin city. He was stabbed multiple times after he refused to let a resident surnamed Chen leave the complex, as per lockdown rules, according to Hulan district police. Zhang was immediately rushed to a hospital, but was declared dead upon arrival. The north-eastern province of Heilongjiang is one of the heaviest-hit regions in Chinas latest CCP virus resurgence. In the capital of Harbin, many communities are currently under strict lockdown. Lockdown measures at the Kangle community in Hulan district, where the stabbing took place, are among the most restrictive: residents are ordered to stay inside their homes and are forbidden to take a stroll in their community courtyard. The Stabbing Incident The Epoch Times was able to reach several residents in the same community who revealed more details. One resident explained that Chen wanted to go out to buy medicine, but Zhang blocked him at the community entrance. Chen then went back home and returned with a knife, stabbing Zhang several times. This resident also revealed that almost all residents in Hulan district have been ordered to stay at home. Households with COVID-19-positive family members had their front doors sealed with a paper strip to keep everyone inside. Another resident who spoke to The Epoch Times said the community was placed under lockdown since Jan. 19, as it was deemed high-risk. The man added that, in his opinion, its good for people, especially the elderly, to take a walk every day, and there shouldnt be a problem taking a walk in the courtyard as long as people are able to maintain a safe distance. In addition, all residents had to take four COVID-19 nucleic acid tests. Chinese Netizens Reactions The stabbing incident quickly became the most searched topic on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform. Many Chinese netizens left comments expressing their opinions about the stabbing and their frustrations with the lockdown measures. Local authorities are so much into lockdown, and some volunteers are rude and have no sympathy I believe there will be more incidents like this, one wrote. Most volunteers hired to handle pandemic-related tasks are recruited by local authorities. I hope pandemic control staff pay attention to their work manners. Do not use insulting words or take offending actions. You are ignoring other peoples feelings under the banner of pandemic control! If you handle things more humanely, give people kind advice, such incidents can be avoided, another wrote. One netizen who was a store owner shared his experience with pandemic volunteers. Several volunteers came to my store a few days ago. I had a lot of customers before they came in, but almost all my customers left when the volunteers arrived and yelled at them. Then they conducted all kinds of tests inside the store. They seemed to be around 20 years old. I think they are college freshmen or so. Im not against these control measures, however, these volunteers act as if they are officials. These young guys act as if they have high-level authority. Before they left, they appeared very unhappy and yelled at the store employees. I believe there is a reason behind the stabbing incident. The pandemic is driving everyone to insanity, one netizen commented. Another said: I live in the Jinpu community in Dalian city. Our community had been under sealed-off management for nearly a month. On one occasion, when the volunteer didnt allow me to go downstairs to take a walk, I too had the urge to kill him. But I was able to restrain myself in the end. Now, someone else has reached the limits of their endurance. Authorities did not give details about Mr. Chens current situation. Gu Xiaohua, Hong Ning, and Xiao Lusheng contributed to this report. Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19, leave the Hubei provincial center for disease control and prevention, as a group of guards bar people from approaching, in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 1, 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) Wuhan Citizens Doubt WHO Virus Origin Probe Will Lead to Answers As a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) is in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, city residents expressed concerns that the team would not be able to conduct a full probe given local authorities earlier coverup. They also lamented that the team visited a museum exhibit that was a propaganda effort to glorify the Chinese regimes response to the outbreak. Zhang Hai, whose father died from COVID-19 last year, questioned why foreign journalists were not allowed to cover the WHO teams itinerary or interview the experts. Investigating the origins of the virus is an honorable task. Why do they look so sneaky? Zhang questioned. Personally, I dont think the WHO team can get any fruitful or trustworthy results. Before the researchers were set to do fieldwork around Wuhan, Zhang had urged the WHO team to speak with bereaved families like his, who he said were being silenced by local authorities. I believe that they must contact real bereaved families to know the truth of the outbreak, the true process of how the virus spread in Wuhan in January last year, Zhang said. We have no chance to talk to them because the authorities dont allow us. He added that authorities have warned him not to post any sensitive information on social media. Zhang Hai expresses his willingness to talk to the WHO team, at his home in Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei Province, on Jan. 31, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times) Another Wuhan resident, surnamed Yu, said: The WHO team should talk to COVID-19 patients and their families. They should know what Wuhan families experienced, such as how the patients got infected and died. Yu expressed doubts that the WHO team would be able to access vital information for the investigation, because they follow what [Chinese authorities] arrange and only visit and talk to the people who represent the government. She lamented that citizen journalists have been sentenced or detained simply because they wanted to investigate the truth of the outbreak. Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison just because she took some photos on the streets and talked to ordinary people in Wuhan, Yu said. Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, arrive at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, Chinas central Hubei Province on January 30, 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) Itinerary After being quarantined for 14 days upon landing in Wuhan, the WHO team started their investigations on Jan. 29. That afternoon, they visited the Hubei Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital. On the second morning, they visited Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, one of the hospitals that first treated COVID-19 patients in severe condition. In the afternoon, they were brought to a museum exhibit about how Wuhan fought against the virus. On the third day, the team visited Baishazhou market, one of the citys largest wet markets, with a large entourage of Chinese officials and government staff. Then, the team visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the Chinese regime initially claimed the virus emerged. It was sealed off and cleaned by authorities several times last year. A Wuhan resident surnamed Gao said that since the Huanan market and other venues were cleaned thoroughly in the past year, he questioned what the WHO team could really see. All valuable things [the investigation] are gone. I wonder what they can do? Gao said. On Feb. 1, the WHO team visited the Hubei provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Wuhan CDC. On Tuesday, the team visited the Hubei Center for Animal Disease Control and Prevention in Wuhan. On Wednesday, the team visited the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a biosafety level-4 laboratory, and spoke with staff there about their daily work. U.S. officials have posited that the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan virology lab and caused the initial outbreak. Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team, investigating the origins of the COVID-19, visit the closed Huanan Seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, Chinas central Hubei Province on Jan. 31, 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) Patriotism Education Exhibit Chinese authorities have forbidden reporters to approach the WHO team during its Wuhan trip and arrange a large pool of staff to surround the team. So far, the WHO team has revealed little about what they found, aside from a few posts on Twitter with generic information about the trip. For example, WHO team member and president of a U.S.-based global health organization EcoHealth Alliance, Dr. Peter Daszak, tweeted on Feb. 2: Meeting with key staff in charge of livestock surveillance in Hubei Province. Tour of laboratory facilities & in-depth discussion Q&A. Authorities have named the museum the experts visited on Jan. 30 as a place for patriotism education. State-run newspaper Hubei Daily reported on Oct. 30, 2020: The exhibit on the fight against COVID-19 is a vivid and deep patriotism education lesson. The Daily reported that the exhibit was organized by the propaganda department of the CCPs Central Committee, the Hubei provincial government, and other government entities. The 26 museum tour guides were chosen from museums across Hubei, and received comprehensive training in advance, according to the report. Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic leave after visiting a museum exhibition about Chinas fight against COVID-19 in Wuhan, Chinas central Hubei Province on Jan. 30, 2021. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) A Wuhan resident surnamed Jiang told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that the exhibit serves to promote the CCPs rule. The exhibit is promoting the so-called positive socialist energy, which is fooling people to support the Party, Jiang said. The CCP virus outbreak continues to be underreported in China. Authorities themselves have often announced conflicting data. On Feb. 2, the Hubei health commission announced that the province has diagnosed 68,150 patients since December 2019. However, the China national CDC released an investigation report on Dec. 28, 2020, stating that 4.43 percent of people in Wuhan have COVID-19 antibodies in their bloodstream, which means they were infected with the virus before. Meanwhile, 0.44 percent of residents in other cities of Hubei were found with antibodies. Hubei has a population of 59 million, and 11 million of them live in Wuhan, according to the latest official data. Then according to the China CDCs statistics, about 698,500 residents (4.43 percent of 11 million plus 0.44 percent of 48 million) in Hubei have been infected with the viruswhich is more than ten times the number of officially-announced cases. India does not agree with the United States Trade Representative stance that New Delhi's digital taxation policy is discriminatory, Trade Secretary Anup Wadhawan said on Wednesday. "Basically if there is an economic benefit from a certain jurisdiction then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction," Wadhawan told reporters at a news conference. Big U.S. tech firms such as Alphabet's Google and Facebook have opposed a new Indian digital tax. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Pennsylvania will reopen its health insurance marketplace, dubbed Pennie, for a special enrollment period Feb. 15 through May 15 to allow people affected by the coronavirus pandemic to select a new plan. The move is in line with President Joe Bidens decision to reopen the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, as part of his COVID-19 relief efforts. New Jerseys marketplace, Get Covered NJ, will also remain open through May 15. Federal and state lawmakers sought to reopen the marketplaces to support people who have lost jobs and their employer-sponsored health plans during the pandemic. But the enrollment period is open to anyone who wants to sign up for coverage online at pennie.com. The economic and public health implications of the pandemic have been and continue to be destabilizing, impacting the lives of so many Pennsylvanians, Zachary W. Sherman, Pennies executive director, said in a statement. Anyone without health insurance will have more time to sign up through Pennie, giving those eligible access to financial assistance and comprehensive coverage, including for COVID-19 related treatment and services. READ MORE: Pa., N.J. took over their health insurance exchanges from D.C., and that could save you money Close to 338,000 Pennsylvania residents signed up for coverage during Pennies regular enrollment period. Of those, 75,000 were new customers a 9.7% increase compared with last year. This was Pennies inaugural enrollment season. Previously, Pennsylvania participated in the federal healthcare.gov. Becoming a state-based marketplace also allows us the flexibility to provide more time for individuals to receive coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope any Pennsylvanian without health insurance will seek coverage to protect themselves and their families from the cost of COVID-19, said Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman in a statement. READ MORE: Unemployed and uninsured because of coronavirus? You may be eligible for Medicaid. The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the citys push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org. San Francisco, Feb 3 : With Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announcing his decision to step down from his role as CEO of the company, industry CEO and competitors congratulated him on the new responsibilities he will shoulder. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai congratulated Bezos after he announced the decision on Tuesday to move away from its day-to-day operations and become the executive chairman of Amazon's board. Andy Jassy, head of Amazon Web Services (AWS), will to succeed him as Amazon's CEO in the transition set for the third quarter of this year. "Congrats @JeffBezos, best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund. Congrats @ajassy on your new role," Pichai said in a tweet. Nadella said that Jassy's new role is "well-deserved." "Congratulations to @JeffBezos and @ajassy on your new roles. A well-deserved recognition of what you have accomplished," the Microsoft CEO said in a tweet. Microsoft is a competitor of AWS in the cloud computing business. In a letter to employees Bezos said that Jassy is an "outstanding leader." "In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives," Bezos said on his transition. Amazon logged its largest quarter by revenue of all time at $125.56 billion, as online shopping broke all records in the holiday quarter (October-December period) amid the Covid-19 pandemic. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Locals on Wednesday staged a protest against Karnataka government's plan to construct a tree park inside Turahalli, which is believed to be one of the last remaining forests in the outskirts of capital city Bengaluru. The protestors gathered outside the Turahalli forest area and demanded BS Yediyurappa-led government to withdraw its plan. "There is a tree park already adjacent to the forest area. This park of around 40 acres was developed, several saplings planted to ensure nobody enters the main forest area. What is the need for a tree park inside this forest now?," asked Joseph Hoover, a wildlife activist, who was also a part of the protest. The locals first gathered on Tuesday morning when they spotted an earth mover in the forest area and immediately informed the forest officer and the local police. The United Conservation Movement, a campaign to initiate, sustain and grow action for conserving the Western Ghats and other forest areas of Karnataka has written a letter to the forest department, appealing to withdraw its decision to develop a tree park in the reserved forest area. "The mini forest is the abode of more than 120 species of birds, many species of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, bees and wasps. We also have seen spotted deer and wild boar make a visit to this part of the forest. In the name of tree park heavy machinery is being used to destroy the secondary forests," reads the letter, adding, "The forest is also at risk from garbage dumping, which exposes wildlife to various risks, including contracting diseases. Besides, this results in contamination of soil and water." Moreover, a group of activists is set to submit a representation to the Karnataka government if the plan continues. 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. Birmingham-area authors Karim Shamsi-Basha and Irene Latham recently learned that the childrens picture book they wrote together has been named a 2021 Caldecott Honor Book. The Cat Man of Aleppo was published in April of 2020 by G. P. Putnams Sons, with illustrations by Yuko Shimizu. The book had been well received, earning five-star reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. But then, on a Zoom call, their editor told them it was a Caldecott Honor Book like the Oscar of childrens books, Karim said. Its super-validating and just an honor, said Irene. It doesnt get better than the Newbery or the Caldecott. Both awards for childrens literature are presented by the American Library Association. In addition to one Caldecott Medal winner, only four books received the Caldecott Honor Book designation. The winners were announced on Jan. 25. Its by far the biggest thing thats ever happened to me, said Karim, a native of Damascus, Syria, who has lived in the United States since 1984. I never expected anything like this. Inspired by a true story, "The Cat Man of Aleppo" is one of only four Caldecott Honor books for 2021. (Photo courtesy of Karim Shamsi-Basha) The idea for the book came about in 2016, when, while scrolling through Twitter, Irene learned of the big-hearted Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, who had earned the nickname Il Gattaro dAleppo, or the catman of Aleppo. When civil war broke out in Syria in 2012, Alaa, who previously worked as an electrician, had a chance to flee the country but chose to stay in his beloved city of Aleppo. He became an ambulance driver and paramedic as war raged around him. As residents abandoned their pets, Alaa started using what little money he had to buy meat to feed the many stray cats. Eventually, he built a shelter for them that turned into a sanctuary. Meanwhile, news had spread of his rescue efforts, and people from around the world started helping him achieve his dream of saving as many cats as possible. In the midst of such horrifying news every day, that news item was so beautiful, Irene said. She knew Alaa was the perfect hero for a childrens book and she knew just who could help her make it happen. Karim instantly blinked into my mind, she said. I knew he would be a wonderful partner. When she told Karim her idea, he was immediately interested in helping. He contacted Alaa, speaking to him in Arabic. We had to let him know we wanted to write about him. He said he would be honored, said Karim. Alaa also wrote an introduction to the book, which appears in Arabic and English. Remember, he wrote, both people and animals suffer pain, and all of them deserve compassion. Together we can make the world a better place! Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, known as "the cat man of Aleppo," holds a little girl in his orphanage as they react to the news that the children's book about him won a Caldecott Honor. (Photo courtesy of Karim Shamsi-Basha) Their book, The Cat Man of Aleppo, was sold to the publisher within 24 hours, and Yuku Shimizu was hired to illustrate it. She spent several months researching Aleppo and making sure she got the details, from head dressings to shoes, correct. I cant say enough about Yukus illustrations, said Karim. She made our story come alive. For Karim, sharing something so positive about his native Syria made the book a golden opportunity. Humanity can exist in the middle of war, he said. This guys like a saint. Hes just amazing. Thanks to worldwide donations, Alaa has relocated the sanctuary, known as Ernestos Paradise, to the Syrian-Turkish border. He has built a playground for refugee and orphan children who have known nothing but war throughout their lives. And he uses the rescued animals for pet therapy for the children. A cat rests on the desk of a child in Alaa's orphanage in Syria. (Photo courtesy of Karim Shamsi-Basha) As soon as the Caldecott award was announced, Karim notified Alaa, who sent photos of children from the orphanage posing with posters of the books cover. Alaa has never received an actual copy of the book because mail isnt allowed into Syria, said Irene. Its a dream to get all the kids there a copy. I hope the situation will continue to improve. Irene spent a couple of years living in Saudi Arabia as a child and traveled around the world with her family. It really shaped me, she said. I have a huge love for other cultures. I believe so passionately that children need global stories. Syria is so often maligned. This book gives kids an open door to people doing beautiful things. The award is great, and the publicity is great, but I go back to the message that Muslims are human, said Karim, whose late father was poet laureate of Syria. His mother, sister and brother still live there, and life is very, very hard for them, he said. Still, Karim tries to look for the beauty in everything. Love is always there, he said. All you have to do is look for it. For information on how to help Mohammad Alaa Aljaleels efforts to help animals and children in Syria, go to https://myevent.com/Alaawork. This story was edited to correct the link for those interested in making donations. The DUP has said that a "short-term fix or tinkering around the edges" of the Northern Ireland protocol will fail and that Brussels and London must offer a "permanent solution". MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was speaking as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his commitment to the Union was "unshakeable" and he was ready to override elements of his Brexit divorce settlement with the EU to stop Irish Sea trade barriers. A meeting on Wednesday between Arlene Foster, Michelle O'Neill, the Government and the EU was described as "cordial". Sir Jeffrey said that permanent solutions to trade issues were essential. "We need not just a short-term fix or kicking the can down the road," he added. "We need a permanent solution that will ensure we continue to have unfettered access to the UK market and that the EU is able to protect its market. We need that accommodation reached as soon as possible." Sir Jeffrey said the protocol was "damaging the relationship" between Britain and Northern Ireland. "If we're going to see the East-West, Great Britain-Northern Ireland relationship diminished, then we can't be expected to see a situation where there are normal North-South relationships because the two are intertwined - one impacts on the other," he explained. "We need the Irish Government to recognise that it is the totality of the relationships here, including the crucial relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, that has to be preserved and protected, as well as protecting the EU single market." European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic will travel to the UK for talks next week. He said on Wednesday that if all aspects of the protocol were put into practice, he believed that any difficulties so far raised could be resolved. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said that during Wednesday's half-hour virtual meeting, Mr Sefcovic had apologised for the way the commission had temporarily invoked Article 16 last Friday. "He put his hands up and said they had made a mistake and that they moved to rectify that mistake very quickly," she said. Mrs O'Neill said the protocol must be defended: "While imperfect, it protects the Good Friday Agreement, the all-island economy and avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland. "It must be faithfully operated with the least disruption and in a legally operable way which complies with the EU-GB agreement. It should not be used as a pawn by any party to the agreement, or those who oppose it." Speaking in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said: "We will do everything that we need to do, whether legislatively or indeed by triggering Article 16 of the protocol, to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea." DUP MP Ian Paisley told the chamber that the Brexit agreement had betrayed unionists and made them "feel like foreigners in their own country". "Prime Minister, be the unionist we need you to be. Tea and sympathy will not cut the mustard," he said. TUV spokesman Jordan Armstrong accused the Government of making "pathetically weak" requests of Brussels. "As long as we are left in a foreign single market, under a foreign customs code, in a foreign VAT regime and subject to foreign laws which we cannot change, we are no longer an integral part of the UK," he said. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney told the BBC that he recognised there were "serious problems" with the protocol, but he insisted that it should be improved where possible, rather than scrapped. 7/30 No. 7 It had been more than 250 days since Puffing Billy whistled its way through the Dandenong Ranges, its longest time idle since a landslide across the tracks in 1962. Yesterday, with COVID-19 at zero once again, Victorias famous steam locomotive began carrying members of the public once more. Staff and volunteers have spent weeks repairing damaged sections of track and clearing them of fallen trees and undergrowth. Chief executive Steve OBrien said volunteers, many of them retired and part of the Puffing Billy family for decades, were "jumping up and down on the platform" in their excitement to get back to work. Credit:Joe Armao Plans for new Welsh-medium primary school in Wrexham approved subject to review of traffic measures This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2021 Plans to create a new Welsh-medium primary school in Wrexham have been given the go ahead, subject to a review of traffic measures being carried out. Members of Wrexham Councils planning committee held a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss proposals to transform the existing Borras Park Community Primary School site. The application was recommended for approval by a senior officer in the face of objections from neighbours and community leaders over traffic and parking problems in the area. The scheme will result in the current infant school being remodelled to establish a new Welsh medium school for 210 children. Meanwhile, the junior school building will be refurbished and expanded to accommodate all pupils being taught in English. Concerns were raised early in the meeting over the impact on existing road safety issues near the school after local councillor Mike Davies highlighted the results of a recent speed survey. He said: During the period of the survey, approximately 18.7 per cent of those vehicles recorded were travelling in excess of the 20 mile per hour speed limit. In case you havent got your calculators handy, that equates to 1,022 cars per day travelling over the speed limit. Are we really happy with 1,000 cars a day speeding past a site which will potentially house over 700 primary school children, as well as having a busy row of shops. With these figures, Im not just making them up. Government figures show speeds on speed humps are usually 12 to 16 miles per hour so theres obviously a problem. The independent councillor called for the current road chicanes outside the school to be removed as he said drivers were speeding up to get through them. Cllr Davies asked for illuminated speed limit signs to be installed instead, alongside the existing road humps, to deter people from going too fast. Borras Park councillor Debbie Wallice spoke out against the proposals for similar reasons. She said: Id like to put on record that I welcome the proposal for a new Welsh medium school in the Wrexham area. It is vital we do everything we can to support and grow the number of Welsh speakers in our Wrexham community. But I do have several reservations regarding the planning proposal and therefore Im unable to support in its current form. Cllr Wallice said both she and Cllr Davies had been contacted by a number of residents concerned about the implications on traffic and parking. However, a senior officer backed the scheme for approval as he said measures would be introduced to reduce the impact, including staggered start times for each school, extra parking spaces and car sharing arrangements. Cllr Paul Pembertons recommendation that the plans should be approved subject to the traffic calming measures being reviewed was approved by ten votes to six at the end of the debate. The council previously said the new school would be opened in September to meet the demand for Welsh-medium education in the area. By Liam Randall MUSKEGON, MI A manure-to-energy biodigester that will produce about 500,000 gallons of sewage per day is one of two major new customers of the Muskegon County wastewater treatment plant. The Brightmark Energy biodigester is a welcome new customer to the wastewater system that has significantly more capacity than is currently being used, said Dave Johnson, director of the wastewater system that recently was renamed the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center. The biodigester is being constructed at Beaver Creek Farms in Ottawa Countys Polkton Township, and will also serve Den Dulk Dairy Farms in Ravenna and River Ridge Farms in Polkton Township. Construction of a 14-mile sewer main from the Beaver Creek Farm to the wastewater site in Muskegon Countys Moorland and Egelston townships will allow for the addition of another significant customer. Swanson Pickle Company in Ravenna is planning an eventual expansion, and will send an estimated 45,000 gallons of wastewater per day, according to information provided to the Muskegon County Public Works Board. The board last month agreed to take on the biodigester and Swanson Pickle as new directly connected users. Swanson currently trucks sewage to the wastewater site. The biodigester will turn manure from dairy cows and in the future possibly swine into natural gas. The process creates wastewater, which will be pretreated on site before being sent to the countys treatment system. Brightmark Energy is expected to finish the biodigester late this year, said Bill Henke, owner of Beaver Creek Farms. Henke said hes been looking into a biodigester for several years. Currently, the farm operation spreads manure produced by its roughly 3,400 head of cattle on farm fields, he said. The biodigester will remove the smell from the manure, leaving odorless fertilizer solids that will still be spread on fields, Henke said. Ive been looking at it for quite a few years, Henke said of the biodigester. I think environmentally, its a great thing to do. The biodigester will create natural gas that Brightmark, based in San Francisco, California, will sell to energy companies. The wastewater agreement allows for up to 1 million gallons per day from the biodigester, though initially its anticipated to be 500,000 to 600,000 gallons. The agreement is with Polkton Township acting on behalf of Brightmark Energy. Brightmark Energy did not respond to a request for comment. The biodigester will be the second largest customer at the wastewater system behind Camus Water Technologies, which pretreats wastewater from Sun Chemical, Johnson said. It will help offset the loss of wastewater flow from the county systems fourth-largest customer, BASF, which is shutting down its operations in Muskegon Township this year, Johnson wrote to public works board members. The wastewater site has the capacity to handle about 43 million gallons per day, but currently is treating less than a quarter of that, Johnson told MLive. Were thrilled over the whole thing, Johnson said of the biodigester. When they first started talking about it, it was like Will it happen? Will it happen? Will it happen? They had to jump through all these hoopsBut it looks like it will happen. Because of considerable fluctuations in flow to the wastewater plant, its not possible at this point to predict how the addition of Brightmark will affect sewer rates, Johnson said. Beaver Creek Farms is located on 80th Avenue near Taft Street west of Coopersville. Brightmark will pay for the construction of the sewer main from the farm north on 80th Avenue, along Price Road to Sherman Boulevard and then north on Ensley Road and along Apple Avenue to the wastewater site. Johnson said its unclear when that main will be finished, though construction should begin this spring. The sewer main will be about 1.25 miles from the Swanson Pickle Company on Heights-Ravenna Road. The company will construct its own lift station and pipeline to connect to the sewer main, according to information provided to the public works board. Swanson wanted to get in line to send wastewater through that sewer main, which will have limited capacity, Johnson told MLive. Connection to the sewer main will allow for an eventual expansion at Swanson to include final processing and packaging that currently are done by other manufacturers, Johnson wrote to the board. That expansion will create up to 17 new full-time jobs and provide a processing facility for other regional pickle growers, public works board members were advised. Once the expansion is complete, the pickle company will send an estimated 45,000 gallons of wastewater per day though its allotted up to 200,000 per the agreement with the wastewater system. That agreement was entered by Ravenna Township on behalf of Swanson Pickle. That would make Swanson Pickle the 13th largest user of the wastewater site. Currently it trucks about 1,000 gallons of wastewater per day to the treatment site, according to Johnson. Swanson Pickle Company could not be reached for comment. Also on MLive: Rebuke of Capitol attack narrowly approved by deeply divided, contentious Muskegon County board Community effort aims to restore grove of trees behind Muskegon art studio See whos offering COVID-19 testing in Muskegon, Grand Haven and beyond The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A care home resident talks with a carer outside a care home in Scunthorpe, northern England, on May 4, 2020. (Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images) UK Vaccine Milestone Should Trigger Restart of Care Home Visits Say Dementia Advocacy Groups Visits to loved ones living in care homes should re-commence before residents have their second dose of a vaccine against the CCP virus, dementia support groups say. We feel that now the first vaccination has been given, then we very quickly need to get back to meaningful visits, said Julia Jones, co-founder of Johns Campaign, which advocates for people with dementia. Amid the pandemic, many elderly care home residents have died having not had meaningful communication with their relatives for almost a year in some cases, Jones told The Epoch Times. If a husband wants to come and hold his wifes hand, he should be facilitated to do so, not wait another three months, she said. Huge Milestone Moment Joness comments follow Care Minister Helen Whatleys remarks on BBC Radio 4s Today program on Monday that reaching the initial jabs target for most care home residents marked a huge milestone moment in the UKs vaccine rollout. The milestone has been reached just a month after all indoor close-contact care home visits were banned in England as part of the countrys third national lockdown to slow the spread of the (Chinese Communist Party) CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. But the government has no plans for residents to have their second vaccine dose before the target time of 12 weeks, Whatley said. While welcoming the vaccine rollout to care homes, Fiona Carragher, research director at the Alzheimers Society, echoed Joness call for visiting to quickly restart. Its great to see the milestone met to protect care home residents, and we applaud all those who have worked tirelessly to meet it, she said in a statement. The most pressing question now is how and when can care homes restart safe, meaningful visits. Calling for a concrete plan to be put in place to reunite families, she said, Another 12-week wait is unacceptable for people dying of loneliness. Combined with PPE and testing, isnt one jab enough? If not, what else needs to be in place? she asked. Policy Reversal Whatley acknowledged the difficulties caused to families by the care home visiting restrictions. Thats why we took steps in the autumn to really support care homes to open up, she said in the Radio 4 interview. But with the advent of the new more-transmissible variant of the virus in late 2020, those plans had to be put on hold. The medical advice I was given was that we couldnt continue that visiting as we were doing then, she said. The government is currently working on enabling visiting to restart, because I know just how important it is for the health and well-being of those living in care homes and their family who want to visit, she added. Not Able to Hold His Hand Jones said the country needs to quickly get back to that pre-Christmas situation where extra testing and personal protective equipment were provided to care homes, enabling them to facilitate meaningful visits. Theres absolutely no reason not to get back to that now, she said. Just think if it was ones husband and you hadnt been able to hold his hand since last March, and youre not being given any light at the end of the tunnel, she said. And you know that youre not going to have him much longer and all youre told is, when hes dying, you can come in. Well, you want to see him when hes living, not when hes dying. 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. 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 AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Black History Month is celebrated every February. Black History Month is our nation's way of showing recognition for Black Americans' hard work and contributions to society. In light of the Month's importance, former Poet Laureate of Winona, Minnesota, Nicholle Ramsey, has released her first collection of poetry called calling in black, which examines her views on life, mental health, and love, self-discovery, race, and being a woman. "calling in black" book jacket Nicholle Ramsey, former Poet Laureate, Winona, Minnesota This year, coinciding with Black History Month, was Amanda Gorman's powerful presentation during President Biden's Inauguration, which brought attention to poetry as a modern form of self-expression, activism, and performance art. "It is a great time for poetry. Society has a heightened awareness of the value of art and culture, and I am free to express my thoughts and viewpoints in my poetry. To have calling in black published during Black History Month, and to have the opportunity to share my life experiences through this ancient art form, during this pivotal month-long celebration, alongside seismic shifts in racial equality is a dream come true," Ramsey said. "I hope my words reach readers and touch them." Black History Month 2021 theme: The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. (from the website asalh.org) The black family has been a topic of study in many disciplineshistory, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time. The black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations, and continents. Not only are individual black families diasporic, but Africa and the diaspora itself have been long portrayed as the black family at large. The family offers a rich tapestry of images for exploring the African American past and present. Media: Review copies of calling in black are available upon request in both print and ebook formats. To schedule Nicholle Ramsey for a phone, Zoom or email interview call Patrick Hazell, Sweetwood Productions, at (985) 373-5157 or contact [email protected]. SOURCE Nicholle Ramsey Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Russian authorities hit a new lawlessness record by poisoning and then imprisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny. "Russian authorities hit a new lawlessness record by poisoning, then imprisoning Navalny, mass detentions of peaceful protestors in Russian cities. Clearly, Russia isn't willing to respect human rights & freedoms. Must be forced then. This is the task for [the] international community," he wrote on Twitter on February 2, 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. Business Standard pieces for the day talk about different aspects of the One of the biggest announcements in the presented on Monday was the policy on strategic of central public sector enterprises. This would, among other things, give a big push to the overall economic reforms agenda, argues our lead editorial here. The army, short of firepower, but with Rs 3,200 crore more in its capex budget, is likely to focus its procurement efforts on artillery including a repeat order for Pinaka rocket launchers and the K-9 Vajra self-propelled guns that are being built by Larsen & Toubro in India with South Korean technology, writes Ajai Shukla. Read it here. The hope was that, in a year when the government would have more money to fund, India would finally receive measures addressed towards the victims of the pandemic. The Budget failed to provide that, notes our second editorial here To get cancer and then to get COVID and youre told you cant get chemo, your lifeline? That would be crushing to people, she said. Hearing how thankful our patients are to continue their treatments, that keeps us going every day. Even when Im walking patients outside, theyll tell me, Thank you. My family says thank you. I cant say thank you enough. Bridgerton, Tom Hanks and Tenet have been snubbed in the Golden Globe nominations, while James Corden has landed a surprise nod for his turn in The Prom. Here is what you need to know. Snubs I May Destroy You Michaela Coels BBC One drama about sexual assault and consent, which was based on her own experiences, was hailed by critics and became one of iPlayers biggest hits during lockdown. Despite this, she has secured no nominations on the day. Expand Close Christopher Nolan (Andrew Matthews/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christopher Nolan (Andrew Matthews/PA) Tenet Christopher Nolans mind-bending thriller, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, was one of the few new releases luring cinema-goers back into theatres during the pandemic. It was hailed by critics but has failed to impress the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Tom Hanks The Hollywood star was the winner of last years Cecil B DeMille award and has starred in both Greyhound and News Of The World lately. Both failed to make the list. Expand Close George Clooney in The Midnight Sky (Philippe Antonello/Netflix/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp George Clooney in The Midnight Sky (Philippe Antonello/Netflix/PA) George Clooney The Midnight Sky, starring and directed by Clooney, may have scored a nod in the best original score for a motion position category, but elsewhere the Netflix post-apocalyptic drama failed to chime. Bridgerton The Regency-era drama from the Shondaland production company became Netflixs biggest hit after premiering over Christmas. But despite its roaring success, it failed to secure a nomination. The Mandalorian Despite being one of the biggest shows in recent years, the Star Wars spin-off series was nominated only once across all the categories, for best drama television series. Surprises Expand Close James Corden and his wife Julia Carey (Ian West/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp James Corden and his wife Julia Carey (Ian West/PA) James Corden Cordens nomination for best performance by an actor in a motion picture musical or comedy may surprise some. The Late Late Show host was accused of gay face in December following his role in Netflixs musical comedy as a flamboyant and openly gay Broadway diva. Emily In Paris Lily Collins stars as an ambitious American marketing executive who lands her dream job in the French capital. It was a hit for Netflix but divided critics. However, the HFPA has awarded it two nods. There are about 1 lakh new cases of leprosy every year in India, and two lakh cases around the world. AFP Hyderabad: The health of those suffering from leprosy worsened in 2020 and more than 50,000 of them did not have proper access to medicines due to the lockdown. Those who were living in secluded leprosy colonies faced a lot of difficulty as they were already socially deprived and food and other essentials took time to reach them. After the lockdown was lifted, it has been found that the health problems for many of them have increased. There are about 1 lakh new cases of leprosy every year in India, and two lakh cases around the world. India has the highest number of cases and they require special care as they cannot be brought to institutions for fear of spread of infection. For this reason, many of them are also treated separately in secluded areas. Palliative care is a requirement for those suffering from leprosy, and most of it has to be home-based. Y. Sasakawa, World Health Organisations goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, explains, "They have been badly impacted and suffered from an existential crisis. We are now carrying out assessment of their health needs and also awareness about Coronavirus in six states. Among the six states is Telangana. Young people suffering from leprosy are being made aware and urged to follow the safety protocols so that they are protected. The multi-drug regime has cured many of them and the cases are coming down and we have to reach the goal of no leprosy till 2030. The Association of People Affected by Leprosy is the group providing care tips and also safety during the on-going pandemic. The data of how many of them suffered and died is not known as it is not clear whether they were in institutional care or home care. The association is now trying to reach out to its maximum members to collect inputs and also their health and financial status. Nearly 3-in-10 Americans say COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened their faith: Pew Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment More than one-quarter of Americans say that the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened their faith, giving the United States the highest percentage among 14 developed countries analyzed for a new Pew Research Center report. In a report published last week, Pew found that nearly three out of 10 Americans (28%) say that their faith has grown stronger during the pandemic, while nearly four out of 10 say the pandemic has helped strengthen their family bonds. The Pew report drew from data collected via its Summer 2020 Global Attitudes Survey, which was built on interviews conducted among 480,000 individuals in 91 countries. The survey is based on national samples. The U.S. sample consists of a plus or minus 3.7-percentage-point error margin. Spain had the second-highest percentage of respondents, saying that the pandemic had strengthened their faith at 16% From there, it was Italy at 15% and Canada at 13%. Australia, France, South Korea and the United Kingdom in a four-way tie at 10%. Additionally, 28% of American respondents also said they believed the pandemic had strengthened people's religious faith in their country, which was also the highest percentage among the surveyed developed countries. At the bottom of the surveyed industrialized nations was Denmark. Just 2% of Danish respondents said their religious beliefs were strengthened during the pandemic. In Italy, 19% of respondents said that they believed the pandemic had strengthened the religious faith of people in their country. After Italy, Spain and Netherlands tied with 17% of respondents who said that the faith of the people in their country were strengthened. At the bottom was Japan, in which only 5% of respondents felt that the people's religious faith in their countries had been strengthened. Additionally, only 5% of Japanese respondents said their own religious beliefs were strengthened during the pandemic. The United States recently has experienced some trends toward secularization, including a growing share of the population that does not identify with any religion and a shrinking share of people who say they regularly attend a church or other house of worship, the report reads. Still, religion continues to play a stronger role in American life than in many other economically developed countries. When asked how the pandemic has impacted their family lives, Pew notes that about four-in-10 adults surveyed in Spain, Italy, the U.S. and the U.K. said that their relationship with family had been strengthened. In Germany, Japan and South Korea, only about two out of 10 people said the same. Much has been made about the probable long-term impact on religious communities due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdowns. While some have pointed to many churches facing possible closures due to drops in giving and participation, others have noted a growing interest in spiritual matters. Last November, the legal nonprofit Becket released a Religious Freedom Index report stating that Generation Z Americans have relied on faith more than other generations during the pandemic. Drawing from a sample of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 8, the index found that 74% of Gen Z respondents said faith was at least somewhat important during the pandemic, putting them above the 62% average of all generations. The Silent Generation, or those born before the end of World War II, were the second most likely to see faith as at least somewhat important at 64%. Generation X was the lowest at 56%. New Delhi, Feb 3 : A group of 140 lawyers has written to Chief Justice S.A. Bobde requesting him to take suo moto cognisance of the internet shutdown imposed by the Centre at various Delhi borders against the backdrop of the ongoing farmers protest seeking repeal of the three farm laws. The lawyers have urged the Chief Justice that the judiciary should direct the Union Home Ministry to restrain from imposing further internet shutdown in the area around the protest sites. The letter written by lawyers Sitwat Nabi and Abhisht Hela, which purportedly had signatures of 140 advocates, asked the Chief Justice to set up a commission of enquiry to probe into police inaction in controlling the violence and its alleged role in facilitating the mob attack on January 29. The letter sought strict action against the journalists and the news channels involved in spreading provocative content and fake rumours about the farmers and the protest. The advocates have also called for action against local hoodlums who reportedly had engaged in the manhandling of protestors, and journalists at the Singhu border. The lawyers termed the MHA's internet shutdown as gross misuse of power by the Centre. They emphasised that it intervened with the protestors and individuals in exercising their fundamental rights conferred under Article 19 (1) (a). The internet services were suspended at the three border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur and their adjoining areas from 11 p.m. on January 29 effective till 11 p.m. on January 31. This suspension of internet was further extended till 11 p.m. on February 2. Thousands of farmers are protesting against the three farm laws -- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act -- at various Delhi borders since the end of November last year. The Supreme Court had already stayed the implementation of these laws and appointed a committee to hear the farmers grievances. 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! Beitbridge Bureau Tight enforcement of the Zimbabwean and South African curfews has been delaying cargo traffic at Beitbridge, with freight forwarders prevented from moving trucks across the border during curfew hours, although they were allowed to do this in the past. Zimbabwe has a curfew at present between 6pm and 6am, while South Africa's is between 11pm and 4am. As a result, the lack of coordination and tightening of regulations in Zimbabwe has seen commercial trucks piling up on the South African side waiting for the longer curfew to end. In addition, the freight forwarders who process documents for commercial goods in land and at the borders are now closing shop between 3pm and 6pm to observe lockdown regulations. An estimated 40 000 commercial trucks are handled at Beitbridge border post monthly. Some will be in transit to Malawi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Angola and Mozambique. According to several freight forwarders, they resorted to close shop early to avoid continued confrontation with security agencies at the border, who often arrest them or deny them access to the border after 6pm. "In the previous lockdowns, we didn't encounter any problem because the border was operating for 24 hours," said a freight forwarder who preferred anonymity. "Now, our workers are having challenges due to tight security controls on the ground. This is now affecting the movement of cargo especially after 6pm." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ) chief executive officer, Mr Joseph Musariri, said their members were complying with the law by closing within set times. "We have had engagements with authorities over the challenges our members are having inland and the ports of entry, but there is no meaningful change and hence the agents are now closing their offices early," he said. "This is unfortunate, but the clearing agents are correct in knocking off early as per the law. People are worried of being arrested while doing their job of facilitating regional and international trade. They no longer trust verbal assurances." Although he was not available for comment yesterday, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said recently the customs agents should engage their line ministry to get clarity on their status. "We are appealing to South Africa and Zimbabwe to harmonise the curfew times at the border to avoid these delays," said a truck driver identified as Mr Moyo. "We are spending longer than necessary to get passage after 6pm. This is not good considering that we should minimise crowding at all cost." 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. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Qatar Airways has shelved plans to resume operations from Doha to both Sarajevo and Skopje during the summer of 2021. Services to both cities were suspended in March of last year and were initially to be restored on October 25, 2020 before being delayed until late March of this year. However, all ticket sales have now been halted until the start of the 2021/2022 winter season from October 30. Changes remain possible. The Qatari carrier is instead offering one-stop connections to the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia via Zagreb, Belgrade, Vienna and Istanbul in cooperation with Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia, Austrian Airlines and Pegasus Airlines throughout the summer. Qatar Airways has shelved plans to resume operations from Doha to both Sarajevo and Skopje during the summer of 2021. Services to both cities were suspended in March of last year and were initially to be restored on October 25, 2020 before being delayed until late March of this year. However, all ticket sales have now been halted until the start of the 2021/2022 winter season from October 30. Changes remain possible. The Qatari carrier is instead offering one-stop connections to the capitals of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia via Zagreb, Belgrade, Vienna and Istanbul in cooperation with Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia, Austrian Airlines and Pegasus Airlines throughout the summer. The carrier first introduced services to both Sarajevo and Skopje back in 2017 and has maintained them continuously with its Airbus A320 fleet until the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Flydubai will continue to link Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia with the Gulf this coming summer. The hybrid carrier, which has already resumed flights to Sarajevo, will serve the city four times per week during the coming summer while services to Skopje resume on March 29 and will run twice per week. Sarajevo will also see the return of Air Arabia from Sharjah during the peak summer months. Services to the Qatari airlines two other remaining destinations in the former Yugoslavia - Belgrade and Zagreb - will continue to operate into the summer as well, following their resumption in July of last year. Flights to Belgrade will run four times per week with the A320 jet until June, after which they will increase to ten weekly. On the other hand, flights to Zagreb will run three times per week until June, after which it will increase to double daily. Operations to both cities will run with the A320 aircraft. At this point, schedules past June will likely be revised. Former New York Yankees catcher and manager Yogi Berra is known for saying things that on the surface seem silly and shallow, but upon careful consideration have layers of meaning. One of those insights forces us to apply what we know about Black interactions with police officers versus the perceptions that Blacks have of their interactions with police officers and to contemplate which should guide public policy. As the story goes, Yogis third-grade teacher asked him to stand and answer a question for which he was unprepared. Yogi, dont you know anything? She blurted. Know anything? I dont even suspect anything he replied. Whether this exchange actually took place, or whether the teacher ever plumbed the depths of the epistemological meaning of Yogis reply, will never be known. But in this time of BLM, Yogis exchange with his teacher bears consideration. We are saturated with the declaration that ours is a racist society and that a significant portion of our population is subjected to systemic racism. How do we know this? What evidence is there for systemic racism? Some scholars and pundits point to differences in rates of incarceration between Blacks and Whites. How do we know this is a result of systemic racism and not differences in rates of criminality? According to the FBI 2017 Uniform Crime Report, African Americans were arrested in connection with 53% of homicides for which an arrest was made while comprising only 13% of the population. These same scholars and pundits often argue that the disproportionate criminal behavior of African American males comes about because of the poverty that racism creates. But the facts tell us that most poor people, those on public assistance, are not Black. They are White and their rates of crime, though higher than middle-class Whites, are significantly lower than African Americans. It is probably not poverty that causes the differences in rates of criminality. The broadcast deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks and the shooting of Jacob Blake have changed the discussion. These anomalies of police/suspect interactions have been used to make us feel rather than think. We are shocked to see a police officer kneel on the neck of a restrained suspect, or to witness, albeit via video, the shooting of a man reaching into a car, or a fleeing suspect being shot in the back. We human beings are designed, or at least evolved, to see patterns and we sometimes see patterns where none exist. We are told that the outcomes involving Floyd, Brooks, and Blake are evidence of systemic racism, that African American males are being hunted down and killed by a racist, White supremacist system. How are we to know this? Or even suspect this? In 2018 there were over sixty million contacts between police officers and people over sixteen years old. Assuming the rate of contact remains consistent in 2020, the outcomes of Floyd, Blake, and Brooks would represent one in twenty million interactions. I cannot base knowledge, or even suspicion, on this kind of pattern. When confronted by the cold, hard facts of reality, the grievance warriors retreat to their fortress of Lived Experience; namely, that we cannot know the fear and oppression under which African American males live without being an African American male. This argument is difficult to refute because it is subjective and emotivist, but it also weak because it does not mean anything. How people describe how they feel does not tell us anything about reality in general or systemic racism in particular. For about a decade my lived experience was that law enforcement had targeted me. From the time I was sixteen until my mid-twenties I was pulled over and questioned countless times and arrested over two dozen. As a human being wired to seek patterns, I saw a system of oppression. It was also my lived experience that whenever I resisted arrest, I was the recipient of a beatdown. In fact, on one memorable occasion, I was choked-out by the arresting officer while handcuffed and bound at the ankles for merely exercising my First Amendment rights to speech (looking back now I would have been better served by exercising my right to silence). It seems Officer Chauvin, the man who knelt on the neck of George Floyd, transgressed as an officer of the law and a human being. However, the question is, were the actions that caused or contributed to George Floyd's death racist acts? It is also important to note that the question is not whether Officer Chauvin is a racist, but rather, were his actions motivated by racial animus? If It can be established that Officer Chauvin is a racist, that might lead us to suspect that a contributing factor in George Floyds death may have been racism, but we cannot know this. And yet so many are sure. In the case of Rayshard Brooks, a man who was detained for DUI and physically resisted while being placed under arrest, we are told his death was a tragic display of racism. How do we know, or why should we suspect, that his death is attributable to racism? My lived experience is that a physical confrontation with the constabulary will not end well for the person not wearing a badge. In the dozen or so misunderstandings I have had with police that escalated to physical violence, on only one occasion did I get the better of my oppressor. In that incident, it is likely that I wasnt shot because I did not steal a weapon and threaten the officers. In the third incident, at least three Racine Police officers responded to a call involving the violation of a court order and attempted theft of a vehicle. The responding officers confronted Jacob Blake regarding these complaints and attempted to detain him. He resisted, broke free and, according to the responding officers, reached into a vehicle to retrieve a weapon. Mr. Blake was shot several times but survived. In a later interview, Mr. Blake admitted being armed with a knife. On the surface, the constants in all three of these cases are African American suspects and White arresting officers. But there are more meaningful, albeit less utilitarian constants. In all three incidents, the officers were trying to affect an arrest involving a non-compliant or, in at least two of the cases, a combative criminal. My lived experience does not allow me to know, but I can strongly suspect that the actions of Blake, Brooks, and Floyd produced, or at least contributed to the unfavorable outcomes. The reasons these three incidents turned our world upside-down are complicated and difficult to disentangle, but we must try to understand what happened and why. Perhaps if we had the wisdom of a third-grade Yogi Berra, we could have avoided dozens of deaths, billions of dollars in damage, and countless lives changed forever. Public discourse would be more intelligent if we just paused and considered that we do not know everything, or even anything, and that only after considerable thought and reflection should we suspect something. IMAGE: Handcuffs blamed on systemic factors, with added text. Needpix free image. (CNN) -- Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for two weeks, according to her party's spokesperson, two days after the country's powerful armed forces seized control in a coup. Suu Kyi, who was the country's de facto leader under the title state counsellor, was issued with an arrest warrant for breaching the country's import and export laws. National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesperson Kyi Toe, posted on his Facebook account Wednesday that Suu Kyi will be detained until February 15. "According to reliable information, a 14 day arrest warrant was issued against Daw Aung San Su Kyi under the Import and Export Law," he said. Deposed President Win Myint was also remanded in custody under the country's Disaster Management Law, Kyi Toe said. Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint were arrested in pre-dawn raids Monday hours before the military declared that power had been handed to commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing over unfounded allegations of election fraud. A state of emergency was declared for one year. Numerous senior lawmakers and officials in the ruling National League for Democracy Party (NLD) were also detained, with some 400 kept at a guest house in the capital. Cementing its rule, the new ruling junta removed 24 minsters and deputies from government and named 11 of its own allies as replacements who will assume their roles in a new administration. The sudden seizure of power came as the new parliament was due to open and after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, over alleged election irregularities. Suu Kyi's party, the NLD claimed an overwhelming victory in the November 2020 elections, only the second since the end of military rule, taking 83% of the vote, which granted it another five years in government. The country's election commission has repeatedly denied mass voter fraud took place. Analysts have suggested the coup was more likely to do with the military attempting to reassert its power and the personal ambition of army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who was set to step down this year, rather than serious claims of voter fraud. "Facing mandatory retirement in a few months, with no route to a civilian leadership role, and amid global calls for him to face criminal charges in The Hague, he was cornered," Jared Genser, an international human rights lawyer who previously served as pro bono counsel to Suu Kyi, said in a CNN op-ed. On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden formally determined that the military takeover in Myanmar constituted a coup, a designation that requires the US to cut its foreign assistance to the country. A State Department official, speaking on a call with reporters, also said that sanctions in response to the power grab remain on the table. Following the coup, doctors from hospitals across the country prepared to strike in protest, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Assistant Doctors at Yangon General Hospital released a statement pledging their participation in the "civil disobedience movement," saying they will not work under a military led government and called for Suu Kyi's release. Video showed medical workers in Yangon outside the hospital Wednesday dressed in their scrubs and protective gear, while wearing red ribbons. Myanmar's Ministry of Information warned the media and public Tuesday not to spread rumors on social media or incite unrest, urging people to cooperate with the government following Monday's coup. "Some media and public are spreading rumors on social media conducting gatherings to incite rowdiness and issuing statements which can cause unrest," the statement read. "We would like to urge the public not to carry out these acts and would like to notify the public to cooperate with the government in accordance with the existing laws." Anxiety is growing in Myanmar as to what will come next and many in the country have urged the international community to step up government pressure. For more than 50 years, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was run by successive isolationist military regimes that plunged the country into poverty and brutally stifled any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were routinely jailed and tortured during that time. Suu Kyi shot to prominence during her decades-long struggle against military rule. When her party, the NLD, won a landslide in elections in 2015 and formed the first civilian government, many pro-democracy supporters hoped it would mark a break from the military rule of the past and offer hope that Myanmar would continue to reform. "We know that the military cannot be trusted to respect the human rights of people and the rule of law in Burma," said Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. "When the military was last in charge, political prisoners like me were rounded up, sent to prison for decades, (put in) solitary confinement and tortured. We are concerned that if this state of emergency is not reversed, similar things will happen again," added Kyi, who is also a former political prisoner. "There is a fear that the military could continue persecuting officials, activists and crack down on ordinary people. But we have hope that Burma can return on its democratic path." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi detained for 2 weeks under import-export laws following coup" Huntington, WV (25701) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. On Monday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent an hour and a half speaking on Instagram Live about a deeply personal traumatic experience shed recently had. The subject of her talk was the Jan. 6 attack on the nations Capitol, but headlines about her remarks had a different focus: Ocasio-Cortez Says She Is a Sexual Assault Survivor, the New York Times reported. In recounting of Capitol riots, Ocasio-Cortez reveals she is a sexual assault survivor, said CBS News. New York magazines headline was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Im a Survivor of Sexual Assault. CNN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says shes a survivor of sexual assault while describing trauma of Capitol insurrection. Advertisement The reporting mentioned above doesnt deliver much more information beyond the headlines about Ocasio-Cortezs experience with sexual assault, because she didnt provide it. The reference to the experience was a comparatively minuscule part of her monologuea minute or two of nearly 90 minutes on air. She was explicit that she was sharing this fact because she wanted to talk about the trauma of what had happened to her more recently, and she understands that trauma is cumulative. She also made a compelling comparison between the way abusers treat their victims and the way her Republican colleagues have responded to the events of Jan. 6. These people are just trying to tell us, Its not a big deal, and theyre trying to say, Youre making too big a deal over it, Ocasio-Cortez said of her Republican colleagues trying to minimize what happened. These are tactics of abusers, or rather, these are the tactics that abusers use. So when I see this happen, how I feel, and how I felt, was not again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. But anyone who watched the full Instagram Live could tell you that the point of the event was not for AOC to explore her personal history of sexual trauma. It was for her to share her own play-by-play of the insurrection, to explain why she felt her life was threatened multiple times over the course of the day, and to articulate how her previous life experience informed her response to that event. So why did so many news organizations frame their stories around Ocasio-Cortezs admission that she had been sexually assaulted? One possible reason is that Twitter can often seem like the assigning editor for journalists writ large, and the after-hours social media response to Ocasio-Cortezs livestream was indeed focused on the sexual assault comment. This makes sense for Twitter; Ocasio-Cortez is an incredibly popular and charismatic politician, so its not hard to see why her admission about the assault, delivered with a clear refusal to be ashamed about it, inspired support. Advertisement But the job of media outlets isnt to piggyback on Twitter sentimentits to report the news. And yet many of them opted for a framing that feels strange and even reductive considering the urgency and national importance of the story she actually meant to share. Ocasio-Cortez was clearly aware that sharing the detail about her sexual assault history would get press, just as assigning editors were perhaps aware that framing their stories around it would get clicks. But this disproportionate focus reveals a tendency to define women, people of color, and particularly women of color by their personal experiences and particularly their personal traumas, rather than by their beliefs and opinions. That tendency begets another assumptionthat their beliefs and their opinions are probably overly informed by these traumas, which makes them easier to dismiss as purveyors of pure emotion rather than informed thought. The Times story on Ocasio-Cortezs Instagram Live remarks even cited her previous stances on famous political sexual abuse allegations (against Brett Kavanaugh and Joe Biden) as if to imply that maybe we should view these stances differently now that we know that Ocasio-Cortez herself is a survivor of assault. Advertisement What Ocasio-Cortez was trying to do on Instagram Live on Monday night was explain that she was not OK after the attack on the United States government. And that not being OK is a fully appropriate and rational response to the experiences she had. If we are to understand what is happening and has happened to our government, if we are to understand what our lawmakers are being asked to do in the aftermath of Jan. 6, we need to understand the role trauma plays in our brains as we try to process these events. This is why Ocasio-Cortez shared that she is a survivor of sexual assault on Monday night. She was noting that she understands trauma, and she understands the cycle of abuse, and its this understanding that is pushing her to take the actions shes taking nowfrom publicizing what happened to her even when it is clearly painful, to telling Sen. Ted Cruz that she doesnt want to collaborate with him after his refusal to apologize for his role in the incitement. Ocasio-Cortezs admission about her experience of sexual assault is context for her story about the violence perpetrated by the GOP. It shouldnt have been the headline. Cash reward of Rs 1 lakh announced for information on actor Deep Sidhu India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Feb 3: Police have announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information that can lead to the arrest of actors Deep Sidhu and three others in connection with the Republic Day violence in Delhi, officials said on Wednesday. R-Day violence: Delhi police announces reward for information on actor Deep Sidhu | Oneindia News Cash reward of Rs 50,000 was also announced for Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and two others. After Rihanna, Greta Thunberg voices support to farmers protest Thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with the police during the tractor parade called by farmer unions on January 26 to highlight their demand for repeal of the Centre''s three farm laws. Many of the protesters, driving tractors, reached the Red Fort and entered the monument. Some protesters even hoisted religious flags on its domes and a flagstaff at the ramparts, where the national flag is unfurled by the prime minister on Independence Day. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:22 [IST] Ltd (FRL) on Wednesday said it has filed an appeal in the against the status quo order on its Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance. On Tuesday, a bench of Justice J R Midha had directed FRL to maintain status quo in relation to its Rs 24,713-crore deal with that has been objected to by US-based e-commerce giant, Amazon. Following the Tuesday directive, FRL had said it would explore legal recourse. "Further to our letter dated February 2, 2021, please be informed that the company has filed an appeal before Hon'ble High Court of Delhi against the impugned order dated February 2, 2021," FRL said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Emails sent to Amazon did not elicit a response. FRL's scheme of arrangement has already received approval from CCI and no objection from SEBI, following which it had approached NCLT, Mumbai on January 26, 2021. The application is yet to be taken up by the NCLT, FRL had said. Last month, Amazon had approached the seeking enforcement of the interim order of the Emergency Arbitrator (EA) at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that had restrained FRL from going ahead with the deal with Reliance. Justice J R Midha, on Tuesday, said the court was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. "Respondents (FRL) and other respondents are directed to maintain status quo as on today at 4:49 PM till pronouncement of the reserved order," the judge had said. Amazon has sought to restrain Kishore Biyani-led Future Group from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group. The High Court, which heard the matter for four consecutive days, reserved its order on the main petition. It has also directed all other concerned authorities to maintain status quo in relation to the matters which are in violation of the emergency award and to file status report with regard to the present status within 10 days. Amazon had dragged Future Group to arbitration at SIAC, arguing that Future violated their contract by entering into the deal with rival Reliance. On October 25, 2020, an interim award was passed in favour of Amazon with a single-judge bench of V K Rajah barring from taking any step to dispose of or encumber its assets or issuing any securities to secure any funding from a restricted party. After this, the Future Group filed a plea with the Delhi High Court. On December 21, a single-member bench rejected the plea to restrain Amazon from writing to regulatory authorities about the SIAC arbitral order but gave a go-ahead to the regulators to decide over the deal. The Court had also made several observations indicating that Amazon's attempt to control FRL through a conflation of agreements Amazon has with an unlisted unit of the Indian company will be violative of the FEMA FDI rules. Amazon, in its petition, had also sought detention of Future Group founders, including CEO Kishore Biyani, and seizure of their assets as it sought to block the Future-Reliance deal. (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 distressing sight of Winnipegs downtown bus shelters filled with homeless people is a vivid reminder of social problems that demand both short-term and long-term action. The distressing sight of Winnipegs downtown bus shelters filled with homeless people is a vivid reminder of social problems that demand both short-term and long-term action. Theres an immediate need to expand shelter space and open more heated buildings, such as community centres. In mid-winter in Winnipeg, a warm place is not a luxury. Its essential. Never has Winnipegs homelessness issue been so visible literally as it has been during this pandemic winter. The COVID-19 crisis is why an unprecedented number of homeless people are crowded into the glass-walled shelters, putting this citys serious social problems on display for all passers-by to see. Before the pandemic, many homeless people remained largely out of public view. At night, there was usually enough room in the citys shelters to give a cot or a mat to most who needed and sought an indoor place to sleep. Some of those experiencing homelessness chose to sleep outdoors in makeshift communities that, unlike bus shelters, are often concealed under bridges or on well-treed river banks. COVID19 changed the terrain for people living rough. As if it wasnt hard enough already to be homeless, life became even more difficult. During the day, before the pandemic, they could escape the elements inside places such as the Millennium Library, coffee shops and Portage Place Mall, locations that included washroom facilities. COVID-19 changed the terrain for people living rough. As if it wasnt hard enough already to be homeless, life became even more difficult. Shelters, which have had to comply with physical distancing restrictions, reduced the number of residents they could accept overnight. Also, lockdown restrictions closed the usual places where people used to be able to warm up during the day. As a destination of last resort, bus shelters at least provide a bench and some protection from the wind. Some homeless people bring their problems with them, which means it isnt uncommon to see some bus shelters ankle-deep in debris such as empty bottles, food containers and used needles. A person rests in a downtown Winnipeg bus shelter. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files) Its a situation thats acceptable to no one, including those who seek to use bus shelters for their designed purpose but are reluctant to be in close quarters with individuals who display signs of intoxication and are not adhering to pandemic measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing. Some help is underway. Main Street Project has a 24/7 van patrol that offers supplies to people using bus shelters as temporary accommodation. Several church groups offer sandwiches and warm clothing. Increased government funding is supporting about 150 new shelter beds at Siloam Mission and Main Street Project. The province has also earmarked $1.5 million for an isolation space for homeless people with COVID-19. Also encouraging was last weeks revelation that the Millennium Library is hiring a contractor to renovate the librarys lobby to include a "community connection space," where people, including those who are homeless, can get beverages and snacks, and also access mental-health, addiction and shelter supports. Two community-crisis workers will attend the new site, which library-goers will remember as the former location of the Human Bean Coffee & Tea Shop. Such stopgap measures are welcome, but its also urgently necessary for government to simultaneously direct attention at perennial problems such as a lack of affordable housing and a shortage of counselling and facilities for people dealing with mental illness and addictions. In the longer term, Winnipeggers shouldnt forget the heart-rending sight of bus shelters crammed with people who are in dire need. Compassion demands that we remember these images and use them as motivation to propel efforts to address the root causes of homelessness. 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 who assaulted two members of An Garda Siochana by kicking them in the back of their heads - leaving one of them off work for six days - claimed drinking 16 pints of beer had clouded his judgement. Shane Floyd (29) was attending a friends babys christening on the night at The Grey Goose Bar in Drogheda, Co Louth. He had been drinking all day and claimed he had drank 16 pints of beer. At the end of the night, while he was in the alleyway smoking a cigarette, security staff asked him to leave. He then attempted to punch the staff member and gardai, who were passing by at the time, attempted to arrest him. Floyd then kicked Garda James Durkan and Garda Shane OMalley in their heads. The offences of assaulting the two gardai under Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Act happened on October 27, 2019. The defendant, of Elmwood Close in Termon Abbey, Drogheda pleaded guilty to assaulting both members of An Garda Siochana. Read More He has three previous road traffic convictions. At a previous sitting of Drogheda District Court, Gda Durkan gave evidence that in the aftermath of the assault he was sore for a few days but didnt go off sick fromwork. Gda OMalley told the court he was off work for six days, following the assault. My head was sore for a few days and my neck was sore, said Gda OMalley. Defence solicitor Dermot Monahan said the defendant gave two letters of apology to the gardai and staff member of the pub last October. He was at his girlfriends friends babys christening party and drank 16 pints of beer. It was a long day and drinking clouded his judgement, said Mr Monahan. It all happened quickly and he didnt think, Mr Monahan said, adding the defendant regrets it and has a good work history. It all happened in seconds, Mr Monahan said. Mr Monahan said the defendant has 1,000 in compensation to offer. However, Judge Eirinn McKiernan said he is going to have more compensation. These were assaults on gardai. They have a very difficult job. He is going to have to come up with another 1,000, said Judge McKiernan and adjourned the case for finalisation on March 15. An Australian doctor has shared her go-to trick to ensure her children eat enough vegetables every day. Dr Preeya Alexander, a general practitioner from Melbourne, shared a short video on her Instagram page and revealed she grates vegetables to add into certain meals and sauces. On this occasion, the mother-of-two made raita, a South Asian condiment, with grated carrot, cucumber, ground cumin and yoghurt. Scroll down for video Dr Preeya Alexander, a general practitioner from Melbourne, shared a short video on her Instagram page and revealed she grates vegetables to add into certain meals Dr Alexander (pictured with her partner) often shares her healthy meal prep tips on her Instagram page, The Wholesome Doctor 'If your kids love Greek or natural yoghurt you can potentially get veggies in this way if you're having trouble or just want to get in as many as you can!' the GP wrote on her Instagram page, The Wholesome Doctor. 'The ground cumin is the key to deliciousness, perfect as a sauce in wraps, with lamb/chicken or just as is.' The clever tip is ideal for parents with fussy children who don't enjoy eating healthy vegetables. In the video Dr Alexander can be seen grating the vegetables, then places the food in a bowl before mixing with three big scoops of yoghurt and a sprinkle of ground cumin. On this occasion, the mother-of-two made raita with grated carrot, cucumber, ground cumin and yoghurt The clever tip is ideal for parents who have fussy children who don't enjoy eating healthy vegetables In the comments she said the condiment should be eaten within two days. After sharing the helpful trick on social media, others parents praised Dr Alexander and seemed eager to try it themselves. 'Genius, I'm going to do this,' one person wrote, another added: 'I've never tried this!' A third wrote: 'Awesome, thanks for sharing! I will make this tomorrow.' Last year Dr Alexander also shared the exact foods she packs in her three-year-old daughter's lunchbox for preschool Dr Alexander often prepares lamb kofta, wholemeal soft wraps, bite-size cheese, apricot squares and barbecue corn for her toddler girl, who she nicknamed 'Miss S' Last year Dr Alexander also shared the exact foods she packs in her three-year-old daughter's lunchbox for preschool. She often prepares lamb kofta, wholemeal soft wraps, bite-size cheese, apricot squares and barbecue corn for her toddler girl, who she nicknamed 'Miss S'. Fresh produce is also packed into the lunchbox, including farm-grown cherry tomatoes, which were cut in half, and sliced-up apple cucumber. 'For a child Miss S' age - three years old - the recommendation is for two-and-a-half serves of vegetables per day; to reduce risk of childhood obesity and obesity related diseases,' she said on her Instagram page. 'A serve is a cup of raw veg (like what's here) or half a cup of cooked veggies. I try to sneak veggies in with snacks as well to get in as much as possible (green beans, celery or carrot with dip for instance.' Some people want us to believe that America is the worst, most broken and backward country in the world and maybe in the history of civilization. Thats utter nonsense. And its time to stand up and fight back. Anzeige I realize the faddish thing to say these days is that we live in the worst, most broken and backward country in the world and maybe in the history of civilization. Its utter nonsense. I have a few basic litmus tests in my own life: Can I wear a tank top in public? Can I walk down the street holding the hand of my partner, a (beautiful) woman, in many places in America without getting a second glance? Can I wear a Jewish star without fear? I do not take those things for granted. I know very well that in many other places the answers would be different, and my life wouldnt be possible at all. There is no gulag in America Anzeige America is imperfect. (Does it even need to be said?) There is bigotry toward blacks and gays and Jews and immigrants; there is intense polarization; political violence is becoming more regular; elected representatives believe conspiracy theories. All true here as in many other countries being torn apart by the dislocations of the 21st century. But there is no gulag in America. There are no laws permitting honor killings. There is no formal social credit system of the kind that exists right now in China. By any measure, we have achieved incredible progress and enjoy extraordinary freedoms. And yet people arent acting that way. They are acting, increasingly, like subjects in a totalitarian country. These people write to me daily. They admit to regularly censoring themselves at work and with friends; succumbing to social pressure to tweet the right hashtag; to parroting slogans they do not believe to protect their livelihoods, like the greengrocer in Vaclav Havels famous essay The Power of the Powerless. Anzeige These people arent crazy. They are scared for good reason. Lesen Sie auch Meinung presidential elections Its done. Hallelujah! How much does it cost me to log on to Twitter and accuse you, right now, of an -ism? America is fast developing its own informal social credit system, as the writer Rod Dreher has noted, in which people with the wrong politics or online persona are banned from social-media sites and online financial networks. When everything is recorded for eternity, when making mistakes and taking risks are transformed into capital offenses, when things that were common sense until two seconds ago become unsayable, people make the understandable decision to simply shut up. Anzeige Do not nod along when you hear the following: That Abraham Lincolns name on a public school or his likeness on a statue is white supremacy. (It is not; he is a hero.) That separating people into racial affinity groups is progressive. (It is a form of segregation.) That looting has no victims (untrue) and that small-business owners can cope anyway because they have insurance (nonsense). That any disparity of outcome is evidence of systemic oppression (false). That America is evil. (It is the last hope on Earth.) This list could go on for a thousand pages. These may have become conventional wisdom in certain circles, but they are lies. Yet too many good people are sacrificing the common good, and therefore their long-term security, for the sake of short-term comfort. Lesen Sie auch Meinung Bari Weiss Americas sacred inheritance is under attack Its time to stand up and fight back. That means you. Social conservatives. Never-Trump Republicans, and anti-anti-Trump Republicans, too. Lukewarm liberals and libertarians. Progressives who have a little curiosity still left. Exhausted parents who want nothing to do with politics. Joe Rogan stans. Reddit revolutionaries and the hedgies getting crushed. Facebookers and e-mail chainers and Etsy-shop owners and Boomers who still use AOL accounts.Start with the following 10 principles: 1. Remind yourself, right now, of the following truth: You are free. Its true that we live in an upside-down time in which pressing the like button on the wrong thing can bring untold consequences. But giving in to those who seek to confine you only hurts you in the long run. Your loss of self is the most significant thing that could be taken away from you. Dont give it up for anything. 2. Be honest. Do not say anything about yourself or others that you know is false. Absolutely refuse to let your mind be colonized. The first crazy thing someone asks you to believe or to profess, refuse. If you can, do so out loud. There is a good chance it will inspire others to speak up, too. 3. Stick to your principles. If you are a decent person, you know mob justice is never just. So never join a mob. Ever. Even if you agree with the mob. If you are a decent person, you know betraying friends is wrong. So if a friend or a colleague does something you disagree with, write them a private note. Dont be a snitch. Any mob that comes for them will come for you. 4. Set an example for your kids and your community. That means being courageous. I understand that its hard. Really hard. But in other times and places, including in our own nation, people have made far greater sacrifices. (Think of those honored dead who gave the last full measure of devotion.) If enough people make the leap, we will achieve something like herd immunity. Jump. Anzeige 5. If you dont like it, leave it. A class in college, a job, anything. Get out and do your own thing. I fully understand the impulse to want to change things from within. And by all means: Try as hard as you can. But if the leopard is currently eating the face of the person at the cubicle next to yours, I promise its not going to refrain from eating yours if you post the black square on Instagram. 6. Become more self-reliant. If you can learn to use a power drill, do it. If youve always wanted an outdoor solar hot tub, make one. Learn to poach an egg or shoot a gun. Most importantly: Get it in your head that platforms are not neutral. If you dont believe me, look at Parler and look at Robinhood. To the extent that you can build your life to be self-reliant and not 100 percent reliant on the Web, its a good thing. It will make you feel competent and powerful. Which you are. 7. Worship God more than Yale. In other words, do not lose sight of what is essential. Professional prestige is not essential. Being popular is not essential. Getting your child into an elite preschool is not essential. Doing the right thing is essential. Telling the truth is essential. Protecting your kids is essential. 8. Make like-minded friends. Then stand up for them. Two good tests: Are they willing to tell the truth even if it hurts their own side? And do they think that humor should never be a casualty, no matter how bleak the circumstances? These people are increasingly rare. When you find them, hold on tight. 9. Trust your own eyes and ears. Rely on firsthand information from people you trust rather than on media spin. When you hear someone making generalizations about a group of people, imagine they are talking about you and react accordingly. If people insist on spouting back headlines and talking points, make them prove it, in their own words. 10. Use your capital to build original, interesting and generative things right now. This minute. Every day I hear from those with means with children at private schools who are being brainwashed; people who run companies where they are scared of their own employees; people who donate to their alma mater even though it betrays their principles. Enough. You have the ability to build new things. If you dont have the financial capital, you have the social or political capital. Or the ability to sweat. The work of our lifetimes is the Great Build. Lets go. Find all of the most important pandemic education news on Educating N.J., a special resource guide created for parents, students and educators. New Jersey is down to the last few hundred students who still either a computer or internet connection to participate in online classes amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday. The governor announced there are only 413 students across the state who lack one or the other or both. There are just 266 students still needing devices, 132 in need of internet access, and 15 who need both, Murphy said during his regular COVID-19 briefing. To be sure, 413 is still 413 too many. But its a whole lot better than 231,000. As for the students who still need equipment, Murphy said they are not clustered in one specific school or district and that the states Department of Education will continue to work with the educational leaders in these schools to get these students what they are lacking. As recently as November, eight months after the coronavirus pandemic first closed New Jersey schools, about 40,000 students lacked either a computer or internet connection. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The students most likely to be left behind in virtual learning are children of color living in high-poverty areas, David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, said in November. There is simply no justification for even one student in New Jersey not having a device at this point, Sciarra, who advocates for students in low-income communities, said at the time. But Murphy said Wednesday the state is 99.99% there to getting equipment to every student in the state. The governor has been criticized by some advocates for his initial inaction to support students unable to participate in virtual school. The state at first refused to pay for laptops for low-income children, waiting four months after schools shuttered to announce a statewide plan to help finance them. In the absence of laptops or internet access, many students were forced to use cell phones or sit outside of schools to access the buildings wireless networks. An NJ Advance Media investigation found some students simply stopped participating in online school and were promoted to the next grade level anyway. NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Adam Clark contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Melbourne, Feb 3 : Naomi Osaka on Wednesday entered the quarter-finals at the Gippsland Trophy after securing a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Great Britain's Katie Boulter, thus stretching her unbeaten run to 13 matches. "After I lost the first set... I wanted to fight as hard as I can. She was playing really amazing, so I thought that if I lost at the end of the day, it's okay, but I just wanted to give my best effort," the WTA website quoted Osaka as saying on-court after the match. "I like playing long matches because I feel like I can gauge the condition of the court and that my fitness gets better. I played a short match yesterday, so maybe subconsciously, I felt like I needed to play a long match today," she added. Third seed Elina Svitolina also reached the last eight after overcoming former French Open champion and No.13 seed Jelena Ostapenko, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2, in a match that lasted two hour and 12 minutes. "It was a bit windy and it was really tough to find the rhythm, and it's not easy to play against her because she's going for a lot of shots and you have to really be on your toes," Svitolina said. "I was a bit flat in the first set and I wasn't happy with the way I started. Afterwards, I was just trying to make an extra ball back and tried to make a difference on the balls I had a chance on," she added. Svitolina will take on seventh seed Elise Mertens, who defeated Caroline Garcia, 7-6(1), 6-3. Microsoft says that Australia should not use Google anymore. The software provider suggested that the country should use Bing instead since it is also a well-established search engine. The company added that the Australian residents should use it more to improve its capabilities. According to Microsoft News Center Australia's latest report, Satya Nadella, the software giant's CEO, coordinated with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Paul Fletcher, the country's Communications Minister. They talked about the Australian Government's proposed way of addressing the current bargaining power imbalances between Australian news networks and digital platforms such as Google. Why Microsoft suggested using Bing instead Tech Radar reported that Microsoft said its Bing search engine is now ready to become Australia's major search tool. On Feb. 3, Microsoft has thrown its support behind the Australian Federal Government's efforts to pass a proposed media bargaining code. Also Read: Facebook Messenger Now on Oculus Quest: Company Update Allows Users to Download Content Outside the Oculus Store The decision is expected to require tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and other social media platforms to pay Australian news organizations for their content. On the other hand, Microsoft said that it will ensure that those small businesses who would transfer their advertising to Bing will have easier processes and no transfer costs. The software giant said that it recognizes the important role that search advertising plays to more than two million small businesses in the country. The software giant also reiterated that Microsoft will invest in Bing even more so that it can compete with other search engine giants such as Yahoo Search, Google Search, and more. The Australian citizens are also advised to now use Bing more so that the search engine would improve continuously. Why Microsoft's search engine is a great choice Microsoft said that it fully supports the News Media Bargaining Code. This is currently important for small media outlets in the country. It also said that it is willing to adjust to the country's rules even if Microsoft is not subject to the legislation. During the meeting, Microsoft added that it believes the legislation proposal presents a fundamental step towards a more fair playing field for small businesses and large search engine companies. However, these promises can only be ensured once the Australian government agrees to the company's suggestion. For more news updates about Microsoft, Google, and other tech giant firms, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: MediaTek Enters 5G Chip Production Realm with Upcoming M80 Expected Later This Year This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Channel 4 has announced new culinary travel series A Taste of Italy. Channel 4 will partner with Filippo Berio for the new ten-part series, helmed by chef and restaurateur Nisha Katona. Advertisements A teaser shares: "Nisha Katona embarks on a path less travelled to reveal Italys hidden foodie gems. "On a voyage to uncover recipes and ingredients passed down for generations, Nisha shows us a different side of Italy and demonstrates unique, mouth-watering dishes that go beyond pizza and pasta. "Travelling to cities such as Orvieto in Umbria, Bari in the Puglia region and Lucca in Tuscany, Nisha takes in the stunning landscapes and historic architecture of each location, as well as meeting a local chef to learn the regional secrets that influence their dishes. "Nisha teaches us to see Italian cookery in a new and exciting way, inspiring us to try more authentic Italian cuisine for ourselves." Deborah Dunnett, commissioning editor for Channel 4, said: A Taste of Italy is truly escapist television, transporting us to gorgeous, sunnier climes as well as serving up so much mouth-watering food. Nisha is a really clever chef and she has a unique perspective on Italian cooking that I hope will inspire viewers to try new dishes for themselves. Josh Wilson, Managing Director of programme makers Wilson Worldwide Productions, added: To executive produce and be involved in a project that has been filmed during the height of the pandemic has been a great team achievement. Advertisements The series does an amazing job of capturing the culturally diverse and rich history of cuisine in Italy, and Nishas exuberant enthusiasm takes viewers on an exciting journey of discovery through some of Italys known and unknown culinary delights. A Taste of Italy begins on Sunday 14th February at 7:25PM on More4. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Climate change orders issued by President Joe Bidens administration could have a significant impact on New Mexico revenue levels in coming years but are unlikely to affect the states short term cash flow, state officials and economists said Tuesday. In part, thats because more than 6,000 oil drilling permits have been acquired by operators primarily in southeast New Mexico but not yet utilized. We do not believe there will be a major short-term impact, Adrienne Sandoval, the director of the state Oil Conservation Division, told Senate Finance Committee members during a Tuesday meeting. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But she said an extended pause on all new leasing activity on federal lands would eventually lead to a decline in oil production, as about 75% of the oil wells drilled in New Mexico in 2020 were on federal land. In all, more than 40% of New Mexicos roughly $7 billion in general fund revenue comes from the oil and natural gas industries, a figure that has increased in recent years despite attempts to diversify the states economy. Given that budgetary reliance, some state lawmakers and oil industry advocates have expressed concern about the recent federal orders. Just days after taking office last month, Biden issued an executive order to indefinitely pause all new leasing activity on federal lands so the U.S. Department of the Interior can review leasing and permitting processes. In addition, a separate order issued by acting agency secretary Scott de la Vega U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., has been nominated as Bidens interior secretary but not yet confirmed limited the authorization of all new drilling permits for 60 days. Several lawmakers said Tuesday that New Mexico should get federal dollars from the Biden administration to offset the impact of any new restrictions on federal land within the states boundaries. In exchange for us not developing a natural resource, we should be compensated, said Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, calling federal compensation a fair proposition. Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, the Senate Finance Committees chairman, also raised the compensation issue and said lawmakers will have to take a cautious approach to recurring spending levels. As a businessman, businesses will seek the path of least resistance, Munoz said, referring to the possibility that oil companies could halt New Mexico operations. Ryan Flynn, the president and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said a recent survey of group members showed 86% would consider shifting new investments outside of the state if a more lasting leasing ban were to be imposed. Meanwhile, Dawn Iglesias, the chief economist for the Legislative Finance Committee, said information she has received indicates 90% of the federal acreage available for oil and gas leases are currently leased, after several large lease sales in recent years. Canceling three federal lease sales planned for this year if that ultimately happens would cost the state roughly $12 million in direct revenue, she said. But Iglesias also said oil prices and rig counts are currently above the projections state and legislative economists used to craft December revenue estimates. Revised revenue estimates are expected to be released in the coming weeks. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 19:40:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A notice of closing a COVID-19 immunization clinic is seen in Toronto, Canada, on Jan. 25, 2021.(Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Canada should offer China a clear explanation as soon as possible over the malicious customized shirts of its diplomatic staff, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing after a Canadian foreign ministry spokesperson claimed the customized shirts with the "bat" pattern and "WUHAN" lettering were nothing more than a "misunderstanding." Wang said Canada's claims of a "misunderstanding" are unconvincing, stressing that some mainstream Canadian media also admitted that the shirts are printed with bat-like patterns. "We can hardly believe that the individual concerned, as a high-level diplomat who has worked and lived in China for many years, would make such a low-level mistake unconsciously," said Wang. Noting the actions of the relevant Canadian personnel have aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese people, Wang said Canada should take this matter seriously and give China a clear explanation as soon as possible. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Social media reports of the shutdown of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi over COVID-19 fears are not true, To Tu Ha, its acting director, said on Tuesday. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Vietnam last year, Noi Bai has upheld all feasible preventive solutions to ensure safety for passengers and employees, Ha said. Its recent request to put 3,200 staffers working on site through COVID-19 testing, which fanned speculation on social media, is one of the measures to enhance safety during the peak travel season of the Lunar New Year holiday, which is over a week away. The proposal includes mass testing for all staffers working at Noi Bai as well as Ho Chi Minh Citys Tan Son Nhat International Airport, and is meant to rule out transmission risks from service providers at the two biggest aviation hubs of the country, who will come in contact with thousands of passengers during the upcoming holiday season. "Over the past few days, all Noi Bai staffers listed as direct contacts of the outbound passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 in Japan last month had to wear full personal protective equipment, Ha said. So far, all direct and indirect contacts [of the patient] in our personnel have tested negative for COVID-19." Earlier, Noi Bai International Airport sent an official document to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport to request COVID-19 testing from the citys Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control for 3,200 on-site workers at the facility. It is considered a timely initiative to preserve trust and ensure protection for air passengers in the country, the airport boss claimed. The proposal also helps reduce the risk of air service disruption, which could transpire if another case of COVID-19 transmission at the premise forces the shutdown of the whole airfield. In light of the new developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, the airport has prepared action plans to zone out transmission, cooperate with medical agencies, mobilize manpower from other institutions, quarantine staffers, and maintain regular operations for the air services. Vietnam has documented 1,891 coronavirus cases, including 1,003 domestic infections, as of Wednesday morning, with 1,461 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. The country announced the first two local cases on January 28 after having gone nearly two months without any community-based infection. A total of 310 domestic infections have been documented in 10 provinces and cities, including Hanoi, since then, according to the health ministrys data. The majority of the domestically-transmitted cases were linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! New Delhi, Feb 3 : India's Budget 2021-22 provides for pro-growth measures that will support credit quality across sectors in the near term, but at the expense of fiscal consolidation, a report by Moody's Investors Service said. The budget calls for a narrowing of the Centre's fiscal deficit to 6.8 per cent of GDP in FY22 from an estimated 9.5 per cent in FY21. "While the headline deficit projections are larger than we expected, they reflect both credible budgetary assumptions and greater transparency than in past budgets," said William Foster, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer. "The budget's focus on higher capital spending, financial sector reform and asset sales will help stimulate growth, but implementation risks remain and slower fiscal consolidation will constrain fiscal strength over the medium term." As per the report, the financial sector will undergo some credit positive reform under the new budget. "Banks will benefit from the establishment of an asset reconstruction company to resolve legacy problem loans, and public sector banks additionally from an INR200 billion capital infusion." "Meanwhile, the increase in the limit on foreign direct investment in insurers to 74 per cent from 49 per cent will unlock new sources of funding and access to external know-how." "Privatisation of one insurer and two banks will be credit negative for those companies as it will reduce ongoing government support but will make them more market oriented." According to the report, tax incentives and other measures to increase consumption are credit positive for non-financial companies, with stronger demand in the housing and automobile sectors to carry over to other sectors such as steel. "High public spending on highways and railways is also credit positive for infrastructure companies, with capital outlay for highways up 26 per cent from the previous year." "Finally, Indian securitisation transactions will benefit from regulatory changes that will allow for quicker debt recovery, and from interest deductions on affordable home loans that will increase borrower debt servicing ability." ZIMBABWE is set to be one of the first countries to benefit from the Covid-19 vaccines which the Chinese government will soon roll out to 14 developing countries in the fight against the deadly global pandemic. China is also actively participating in the World Health Organisation (WHO)s COVAX initiative to provide vaccines to developing countries. As at February 1, Zimbabwe has reported 1 234 Covid-19 related deaths and a total number of 33 548 cases. Globally, the total number of Covid-19 deaths has exceeded 2,2 million. Posting on his official Twitter page, Chinas Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Guo Shaochun said his country will provide vaccines to 14 countries including Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe will be one of the first 14 countries to receive vaccine aid from China very soon, he said. Already, China has donated half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Pakistan as the world economic giant lives to its commitment of making Covid-19 vaccines, developed and deployed in China, a global public good. Other countries in line to receive shots from China include the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Mongolia, the Palestinian territories, Belarus, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea, according to a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry statement shared by Ambassador Guo. In future, China plans to assist a further 38 developing countries with vaccines, the statement said. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged at the 73rd World Health Assembly in November last year that Chinas vaccines, once developed and deployed, will be made a global public good and help to realise the accessibility and affordability of Covid-19 vaccines in developing countries. China is among the front-runners in vaccine research and development (R&D) with one Chinese vaccine given conditional approval for general public use and several others currently undergoing clinical trials of various stages. The cooperation between Zimbabwe and China reflects the sincere mutual assistance between the two as all-weather strategic cooperative partners. President Mnangagwa last weekend assured the country that no resource will be spared as the country intensifies efforts to procure the vaccine, which would have been recommended by experts to be safe for inoculation among Zimbabweans. The country has a population of around 15 million and to achieve herd immunity, which can be achieved when most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, providing indirect protection to those who are not immune to the disease, at least 10 million Zimbabweans should be vaccinated. Chronicle Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offered incense to several late Party and State leaders at their homes on February 2, ahead of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) festival. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to Party General Secretary Le Duan. He offered incense to Party General Secretary Le Duan, a prestigious leader with 60 years of revolutionary career. Duan served as First Secretary and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee from 1960 to 1986 and dedicated his whole life to the struggle for national liberation and reunification. In memory of Truong Chinh who was elected as Party General Secretary in 1941, 1951 and from July-December 1986, PM Phuc stressed that Vietnams fortune, potential, position and international prestige like nowadays has affirmed the rightness of the countrys renewal cause initiated by Truong Chinh 35 years ago. At Party General Secretary Do Muois home, PM Phuc hailed him as a leader who always paid attention to industrialisation and modernisation, stood consistent with the road to socialism and was close to localities. His stance on national development was close to realties and tapped the countrys potential. PM Phuc also recalled that during challenges, Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu set example and maintained solidarity in the Party, always placed the interests of the Party, country and people above others. In specific conditions, he made constructive, straightforward feedback and dared to take responsibility. In commemoration of Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, who was also Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1955 to 1987, PM Phuc said not only the longest-standing Government leader, the late PM was also an erudite scholar who attached importance to culture and upholding its role in national development. He lauded PM Dong for being a talented diplomat and a leader with contributions to State building and management. In the afternoon of the same day, PM Phuc offered incense to Gen Vo Nguyen Giap, the first General of the Vietnam Peoples Army whose name was attached to the great victory against French colonialists and American imperialists, as well as the cause of national construction and defence. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to Party General Secretary Truong Chinh. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to Party General Secretary Do Muoi. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to PM Pham Van Dong. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc offers incense to General Vo Nguyen Giap VGP/VNA Prime Minister asks for dual focus on Covid-19 fight and economic development Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that besides stamping out the Covid-19 epidemic, economic development must be also a focus. The fate of a statue on the Limestone County Courthouse grounds has made it back into local conversation after a protest and counterprotest were organized for Saturday in Athens. On one side of Market Street, protestors held up signs and waved a Black Lives Matter flag in support of the removal of a Confederate monument that has stood on the courthouse grounds since the early 1900s, saying it honors those who promoted racism and slavery. On the other side, a group of counterprotesters held signs and waved flags in support of the statue staying because they believed it honors Confederate veterans who never made it home from the war. In between, there was talk of finding common ground and making sure history was not erased. I just want this statue to be where it belongs in the history museum, in a Civil War cemetery, somewhere where it deserves to be, not in front of where were supposed to get justice for our people, Diana Isom, who organized the protest, said. Isom said she decided to organize the protest after watching the movie Hidden Figures at a recent Limestone Democrats event. The movie follows the story of three Black women working at NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. Isom said even though segregation is less of an issue now than it was then, she believes monuments like the Confederate statue at the courthouse serve as a reminder that Black Americans will not see equal justice in America. The statue features a note that it is for the Confederate Soldiers of Limestone County, erected by their survivors. A poem on one side of the statue reads, The knightliest of the knightly race, who since the days of old, have kept the lamps of chivalry, alight in hearts of gold. Another side reads, Ennobled by triumph, exalted by defeat. It is the second statue placed on the courthouse grounds in memory of fallen Confederate soldiers. The first statue featured a soldier with his head tilted downward, which many at the time said reminded them too much of the Confederacys recent defeat. However, not everyone agrees with Isoms view, as evident by the similarly sized crowd of counterprotesters who also organized a gathering. Zack Magnusson, who stood with the counterprotesters, said he was there because, as a descendant of not one but seven Confederate soldiers, he viewed the statue as a monument to his ancestors, not what they may have believed. Were here because we have the opposite view from them, Magnusson said of the protesters. They think this monument represents white supremacy and all these terrible things, and they think it should go away, and we dont believe that. ... Its a soldiers memorial. It represents men who answered the call of their state and went to defend it from invasion. Travis Jackson, who served five years in the Army, including 15 months in Iraq, said he does believe the monument remaining on the courthouse grounds is another reminder that white supremacy continues in America. Jackson traveled from Montgomery to Athens to support Isoms protest. When I think of a veteran, I think of representing their country. That means accepting everybody for who they are, regardless of their skin color, he said. Sadly, you dont see that because, due to the Confederacy, they have brainwashed many Americans to think the only veterans that matter are the Confederate veterans. Garth Lovvorn, who stood with the counterprotesters, noted there are monuments all over The Square to represent the veterans from a multitude of wars, not just the Civil War. You walk around The Square, you see the Revolutionary War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan, Vietnam, Civil War, World War I, World War II, fallen police officers, firemen they are all memorials to veterans who did not come home to their loved ones, Lovvorn said. He said he wants to find common ground by adding monuments to the courthouse grounds, such as a monument to the 110th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. Doing so, he said, could also mean a tourist opportunity, as Athens could join other cities in Alabama as part of a civil rights trail that includes Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham. Lovvorn believes having Limestone County on a trail would give history enthusiasts a chance to learn about the Colored Infantry and Confederate soldiers and about Judge James E. Horton, a white judge who set aside a guilty verdict for one of the Scottsboro Boys, nine Black youth who were falsely accused of raping two white women in the 1930s. Limestone County unveiled a statue in 2017 honoring Horton on the west side of the courthouse. Isom also said shed be in favor of new monuments on the courthouse grounds, but for her and those who gathered with her Saturday, it wont be enough until the Confederate statue is relocated. We dont need to honor that, especially at a place thats supposed to conduct equal justice, Remus Bowden said. How can you expect to get a fair shake out of a courthouse thats paying tribute to Confederate principles right outside its doorsteps? Bowden has regularly attended and organized protests over the last year, including weekly protests to have a Confederate statue removed from the Madison County Courthouse grounds. He traveled to Athens on Saturday to support Isom and similar measures being taken in Limestone County. I fight against racism, he said. Thats my call. Thats what I do. Isom emphasized that she doesnt want the statue defaced or for history to be erased. I understand this is history, she said. Every single child, every single teenager, learns history. Even in college, I was required to take World History. ... Everyone has to learn it. Of course, they have to learn it. But it should not be in a place where justice should be served. She gave a similar statement to commissioners at a Limestone County Commission meeting Monday, telling them that statues at the courthouse dont have to be of Black men, just of good men. Please think deeply about this and understand where Im coming from where we are coming from, she said. All I want is Limestone County to be a place where everyone is accepted. She admitted to commissioners that its intimidating to speak before them or to walk past the statue on her way to and from the courthouse, but she planned to continue hosting protests every other Saturday and appearing at each commission meeting until the statue was removed. A legal matter While some monuments on The Square could legally be torn down or relocated by the county, the Confederate statue is protected by the 2017 Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. The act makes it a crime for monuments older than 40 years to be disturbed. The Limestone County Commission has previously relied on that law regarding the monument being on courthouse grounds. Commissioners have encouraged constituents on either side of the matter to continue voicing their opinions and suggestions, but current legislation supports the statue staying, and Commission Chairman Collin Daly has said his oath as an elected official was to uphold the law. If the legislature changes on the law, well worry about that when it comes around, he said in a meeting last June. That change could be coming soon, as two members of the Alabama House of Representatives have prefiled a bill to repeal the Memorial Preservation Act. House Bill 8 would also allow for counties and municipalities to remove historical monuments in their jurisdiction but would require ownership to be transferred to the Department of Archives and History or the Alabama Historical Commission for public display. HB-8 was introduced by Reps. Juandalynn Givan, D- Birmingham, and Anthony Daniels, D- Huntsville. The bill is set to be read today for the first time and referred to the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Givan and Daniels have also prefiled a bill that would require all public schools to include a semester-long course in Black American history in their curriculums. ___ (c)2021 The News Courier (Athens, Ala.) Visit The News Courier (Athens, Ala.) at enewscourier.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ISTANBUL Ongoing student-led protests that have seen more than 300 people detained this week were denounced by several top Turkish officials Wednesday. In some of his most heated remarks on the demonstrations yet, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened protesting students to terrorists, saying state officials would not tolerate the escalating unrest that has sparked sometimes violent rallies in a number of Turkish cities. "Are you students or terrorists who dare to raid the room of the rector?" Erdogan asked during a videoconference Wednesday, referring to demonstrations at Istanbuls Bogazici University Monday, when students rallied near the government-appointed rectors office to call for his resignation. Since Jan. 4, students have been protesting the appointment of Melih Bulu by Erdogan to head Bogazici University, one of Turkeys top educational institutions. Protesters claim Bulu, a longtime member of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party, was undemocratically installed as school rector on Jan. 1 and his appointment infringes on academic independence. Over the last month, demonstrations have grown, drawing support from students at other universities, and police forces quelled rallies in Istanbul Tuesday with tear gas and rubber bullets after governors office issued a protest ban. Images on social media showing protesters being violently detained by police drew an outcry from some Turkish citizens and several opposition party members, who said a disproportionate security intervention had escalated mostly peaceful rallies. Now faced with some of the largest demonstrations since the 2013 Gezi protests, Erdogan and his supporters moved to condemn protesters in an apparent attempt to prevent further rallies. This country wont be a country dominated by terrorists. We will never allow it, Erdogan said Wednesday. This country wont relive incidents such as the Gezi events. Devlet Bahceli, chair of the Nationalist Movement Party and a key Erdogan ally, also criticized the protesters Wednesday, referring to them as poisonous snakes" as well as "vandals and barbarians that should be stopped by whatever means necessary. The comments came after Turkeys Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu made separate claims in televised statements Wednesday that a significant number of detained students were linked to far-left terror groups. Seventy-nine of those arrested are members of terrorist organizations, including the DHKP/C, Soylu said, using the acronym for the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front. He added, "A minority [group] wants to make [Bogazici University] an ideological center. We won't allow this." As the officials condemned demonstrators, about 100 students organized a rally outside Istanbuls Caglayan courthouse Wednesday to call for the release of detained students. Cagatay, a Bogazici student who took part in the rally and gave only his first name, said Soylus comments were not surprising. These are horrible accusations, but weve gotten used to them, Cagatay told Al-Monitor. This government has often defined any form of opposition as terrorist.' Most of this weeks 300 detainees have been released, while 29 remain in detention and 11 were placed under house arrest, according to official statements. In response to the ongoing unrest, the nations leading business group, the Turkish Industry and Business Association, called for peaceful solutions to recent events Wednesday. A growing number of leading opposition politicians have also weighed in, with Republican Peoples Party chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu tweeting a video Tuesday reiterating calls for Bulu to resign. We are faced with a political power holder that has lost its control. It is feeding on tension, Kilicdaroglu said, adding, "I am making an open call to the government from here: Release the children of Turkey and put an end to this tension that you have created." In comments published Wednesday by the Turkish daily Haberturk, Bulu said being the rector of Bogazici University was a long-held dream and he has never thought of resigning amid the month-long backlash. "I initially predicted this crisis would be over in six months and this is what will happen, Bulu told Haberturk. The tension will subside. This crisis can end in six months." Though protests initially began over Bulus appointment conducted through a process introduced in 2016 in which the Turkish president approves one of three rectoral candidates to universities demonstrations intensified following the arrest of two Bogazici students this weekend for displaying a poster depicting one of Islams holiest sites with LGBT flags. Since then, political rhetoric over the demonstrations has taken on broader cultural topics regarding the rights afforded to LGBT and minority communities in the country. Speaking Wednesday, Erdogan said there is no such thing as LGBT and, This country is national and spiritual, and will continue to walk into the future as such. Earlier this week, Bulu drew criticism for blocking the application for the establishment of an LGBT student club at Bogazici over procedural requirements. In press statements Wednesday, he said he held no negative feelings against LGBT individuals and was a person who defends LGBT students. Whether the comments calm current tensions remains to be seen. Cagatay said he and other protesting Bogazici students would continue demonstrating until academic independence is reestablished at the school. We are calling for his resignation, yes, Cagatay told Al-Monitor. But we wont stop protesting if Bulu resigns and then another rector is appointed. We want a democratic election process. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Clear to partly cloudy. Low 41F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 41F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected former McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the fast-food chain seeking to recoup millions of dollars in severance pay because he allegedly covered up improper sexual relationships with employees. McDonald's knew that he had engaged in one, non-physical consensual relationship with an employee when the company agreed to a severance package estimated at $41.8 million in November 2019, both sides agreed. The former CEO argued in his motion to dismiss that the restaurant company had evidence of his other sexual relationships with employees on its computer system so should have been aware of them. Scroll down for video A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected former McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the fast-food chain McDonald's knew that he had engaged in one, non-physical consensual relationship with an employee when the company agreed to a severance package estimated at $41.8 million in November 2019, both sides agreed Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of the Court of Chancery in Delaware, however, said McDonald's was justified in relying on Easterbrook's statements that he had only a single inappropriate relationship when the Chicago-based company ousted him. A lawyer for Easterbrook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McDonald's said it looked forward to proving Easterbrook's misconduct. 'He violated the company's policies, disrespected its values and abused the trust of his co-workers, the board, our franchisees and our shareholders,' it said in a statement. After he was fired, it emerged that Easterbrook had previously escaped censure for another alleged office romance. It later came to light that Easterbrook had reportedly dated Denise Paleothodoros, 46, when she was assigned to the McDonald's account by her PR firm. She says she they reported the relationship to managers and she was moved to another account McDonald's sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after reaching the severance package, claiming he never gave directors a complete picture of his relationships with employees McDonald's sued Easterbrook in August, nine months after reaching the severance package, claiming he never gave directors a complete picture of his relationships with employees. It said that after Easterbrook's ouster, an anonymous tip led to the discovery of dozens of nude or sexually explicit photos of women, including three employees, that Easterbrook sent to his personal email account from his company account. McDonald's said Easterbrook deleted the emails shortly before his ouster, but they remained on a company server. 'This active concealment makes it at least reasonably conceivable the company had no way of knowing the full extent of Easterbrook's misconduct,' Slights wrote. SWANU president Tangeni Iiyambo deems Namibia's current state as the country's darkest hour, attributing it to the constant corruption allegations and the harm the pandemic caused to the economy. "Our country has entered its darkest hour as we go through the menacing clutches of a deadly plague and a three-decade-long rule of corruption and greed, which threatens the viability of our republic," he said. Iiyambo, who was speaking at a press conference yesterday, said the country's "bleeding economy" sees no recovery anytime soon because of corruption and the paralysing pandemic. Despite labelling the economy as "haemorrhaging", Iiyambo wants the government to introduce a basic income grant (BIG) to help the jobless and the impoverished. "If you have an economy that is bad but you have an alternative like BIG whereby each person receives something monthly for a living, I should think that is an alleviatory situation, which can go a long way for the poverty-stricken people," Iiyambo added. Namibia last year introduced an emergency income grant (EIG), which was a one-off payment of N$750, to cushion people who lost income or experienced difficulties during the Covid-19 lockdown periods. Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi then said the government will assess whether there is a need to introduce a grant similar to the EIG. The executive director in the poverty eradication ministry, Esther Lusepani, was quoted saying the government is finalising a feasibility study to determine whether the country can introduce BIG to benefit roughly 1,2 million unemployed people. STATE CAPTURE Iiyambo has further accused Swapo of capturing the state along with foreign investors and wants the ruling party to prove otherwise. "The onus is now on the ruling party and its leadership to prove that there is no state capture in Namibia because, as far as we are concerned, the signs are there and include the phenomena of clientelism, exploitation, state-party fusion, and predation by well-connected elites. "How did it happen that Reconnaissance Energy Africa bought the entire 8,75 million acre sedimentary Okavango Basin with all the rights to it? Be advised that your silence will only fuel damaging speculation and worse," he added. The Canadian oil and gas company, ReconAfrica, has bought rights from Namibia and Botswana to drill for oil in more than 35 000 square kilometres of the Okavango Basin. The exploration sites are within the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Park - the largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation area in the world incorporating protected and communal land in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Iiyambo also argues that the state capture strengthens certain institutions, including the state security apparatus, revenue services and legal oversight institutions whose independence is reduced by placing "network actors carefully in veto positions". Swapo's secretary general, Sophia Shaningwa, did not respond to questions sent to her at the time of going to print. COVID-19 VACCINE Iiyambo wants president Hage Geingob, as well as Cabinet ministers and their deputies to be vaccinated first when the Pfizer vaccine arrives in Namibia. "Comrade president, please take it under further advise that to inspire trust and dispel fear and doubt, your excellency, Cabinet ministers and members of both houses of parliament should volunteer to be vaccinated first in full view of cameras," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Swanu further believes the government has not done enough to debunk the myths around the vaccines, especially referring to the rumour that patients at Katutura are being forcefully vaccinated. These claims were made by forex fraud-accused Michael Amushelelo, who said patients in state hospitals are receiving the coronavirus vaccine and then dying. Health executive director Ben Nangombe rubbished these claims last month, saying Amushelelo is an agent of chaos. "Anybody with rudimentary knowledge about health would know that a vaccine is not something that is used for treatment. It is not given to people who are admitted in hospital. It is administered to prevent a person from contracting a particular infection," Nangombe added. Prosecutors in Wisconsin have filed homicide charges against a teenager who is still on the run in connection with a fatal shooting at a mall that killed his girlfriend's former boyfriend. According to a criminal complaint, 17-year-old Dezman Ellis and the man who died, 19-year-old Jovanni Frausto, were at the Fox River Mall in the Appleton suburb of Grand Chute with friends on Sunday afternoon and had a chance encounter. Ellis was with his girlfriend who used to date Frausto, the complaint said, and the victim was accompanied by his new girlfriend and her niece. Their friends told police that an argument broke out between Ellis and Frausto and that they were threatening to beat each other up, prosecutors said. At one point, witnesses told investigators Ellis told Frausto to 'back up, back up. I'll shoot this place up. I'll kill you,' the complaint said. Prosecutors said Ellis pulled out a gun and shot Frausto, who was wounded in his chest, arm and back. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Dezman Ellis, 17 (left), faces first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety counts in the killing of Jovanni Frausto, 19 (right) The shooting took place on the afternoon of January 31 in the food court at the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute, Wisconsin Heavily armed police officers are seen responding to the scene of the shooting, where Frausto was fatally shot and another man was wounded A bystander, 20-year-old Colt Lemmers, was also struck by gunfire, was treated for an injury to his hip and released from the hospital. Ellis is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. According to the complaint cited by WBAY, Frausto's new girlfriend told the police that they were in the mall food court at around 2.45pm on Sunday when they ran into a group of acquaintances, among them Ellis. The girlfriend said Ellis and Frausto soon 'started to exchange words' over a girl who was with Ellis. Frausto reportedly had dated the girl while she and Ellis were broken up last year. 'Jovanni kept looking back at them and at some point Dezman and Jovanni were near each other threatening to beat each other up,' recounted the witness. 'Dezman told Jovanni to "meet me outside."' The two continued to argue, with Frausto asking Ellis: 'what's your issue, why are you coming up to me, why are you targeting me,' reported Fox11. Frausto was unarmed and tried to run away from his attacker. He was struck in the chest, back and arm Ellis then allegedly threatened to 'shoot up' the mall and pulled out a gun. Frausto, who was unarmed, tried to run away and Ellis gave chase with his gun drawn. A friend of Ellis' told police she saw Ellis' black handgun and heard two shots. She also reported seeing Frausto collapse onto a table, and then fall to the floor. Another person in Ellis' group also confirmed that Ellis was armed with a gun and fired it. Police later recovered two 9mm spent shell casings in the food court, but they have not found the gun. Following the shooting, a friend dropped Ellis off at his apartment, where a witness told police he observed the 17-year-old and his brother loading a blue Dodge Avenger with clothing and other possessions. Witnesses said Frausto, pictured with his mother, Tanya, was killed after an argument over an ex-girlfriend Ellis' brother, Ralph, later told investigators the teen confessed to him that he has shot someone at the mall, reported NBC26. The Dodge Avenger was found abandoned outside a home in Oshkosh on Monday. Four people inside the home were arrested on disorderly conduct charges, but police did not find Ellis there. The four, including a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, an 18-year-old girl and a 37-year-old woman, have since been released. Law enforcement officers continue to look for Ellis and say he is likely armed and should not be approached. Meanwhile, Frausto's mother, Tanya Frausto, has launched a GoFundMe campaign asking for donations to help pay for her eldest child's funeral expenses. 'My heart aches for my baby everyday every second.... this is going to be a long road ahead but Ik [sic] hes by my side to make sure I dont break completely! Jovanni always told me he loved me,' the single mother-of-four wrote in the description. It was the second recent mall shooting in Wisconsin. In November, eight people were injured in a shooting after a confrontation at a mall in Wauwatosa, in suburban Milwaukee. A 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged. The Marura peasant community wants Laikipia County government stopped from evicting them from a piece of land in Laikipia West constituency. In an application certified urgent by Justice Yuvinalis Angima of the Nyeri Environment and Lands court, the over 10,000 community villagers said they were on the verge of being thrown out of their ancestral land. They filed a case through their leaders Mr Peter Kirera as the chairperson of the community and Ibrahim Lesian as the deputy chairperson. The community members sought temporary orders against the county government and the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), stopping them from interfering with their activities, until the case was determined. The land, which lies along rivers Ngare and Narok, stretches across five wards of Salama, Kisiriri, Mutara, Rumuruti and Thome. Since 2018, Mr Lesian, in his plaint, told the court that they have lived in fear after being threatened by the devolved unit through the police. "If the threats are executed, we shall have nowhere to go, live or practice our farming from," said Mr Lesian. Pastoral community He said that they neighboured the recently evicted Kisiriri pastoral community and that in the year 2017, the county government had burnt down properties of its 3,000 members while trying to evict them. Mr Lesian said the government told them that it did not formally recognise the reserve as their land. "Former president Daniel Moi formally allocated and demarcated the subject land for us and we have lived here since then," he told the court. The community also accused the government bodies of holding meetings about the land without their involvement. Mr Lesian told Justice Angima that the respondents held three consecutive meetings in September last year in which they both decided to evict them. He said that they were only presented with the minutes of the meetings afterwards. The case will be heard on January 8, 2021. Newcastle University Students Union has been praised by the farming industry over its move to prioritise food sourcing from local farmers and suppliers. In a motion put before the body, which represents over 20,000 students, members voted to utilise local firms in a bid to reduce food miles and carbon footprint. It passed by some 88%. It comes as thousands of small businesses across the UK have stopped trading because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The motion read: "It is the moral duty of Newcastle University Students Union to support local businesses as this will help boost the economy of Newcastle and improve the livelihoods of residents of Newcastle. "It is in the Student Unions best interests to support local businesses for the benefit of the local area and the students of Newcastle University who may have used these businesses before." The passing of the motion means NUSU resolves to only use the catering services of larger multinational corporations for centrally organised events, if no local alternatives can be found. Societies will also be provided with a list of reputable local caterers to use for their events. The motions proposer Christopher Winter, who is Chair of the council, noted that the North East region was one of the areas hardest hit by Covid. Mr Winter, who studies at Newcastle University, said he had been inspired by calls on Twitter in response to the news that Oxford Student Union had banned meat. Many outraged users argued that rather than banning meat, universities should focus on sourcing their meat and produce from local suppliers. He said: "I think it is vitally important that we lend our support to small, local businesses who often struggle to compete with larger multinational companies. Several university unions, including Oxford and Cambridge, have already opted to remove red meat from the menu, a move which has been criticised by farmers. Students at Edinburgh University and the University of East Anglia rejected moves to ban beef products at their campuses. Asked whether he thought universities should adopt a similar motion to his, rather than implementing blanket bans on meat, he said: "I think that any move to go local is good. "If a union wishes to ban meat then so be it, but I would rather they just switch their supply lines to local caterers and suppliers to help boost their local economy." Since being passed, he has already been approached by students at other universities who have asked for a copy of the motion to introduce similar moves at other campuses around the country. The Countryside Alliance congratulated the students' union for recognising the important function small businesses across the local area played. Spokesman Mo Metcalf-Fisher said: "Rather than implementing illogical bans on meat, like some unions have, this motion will help go a long way to cutting food mileage and support local farmers and businesses who need all the help they can get at this difficult time." With 2021 still young, and hope in the air thanks to new covid vaccines and a new occupant of the White House, we can finally stop covering our eyes in horror and peer furtively into the future. As this new decade unfolds, which countries are likely to be the biggest economic success stories? My bet is on South Korea, Vietnam and Mexico, three countries at markedly different stages of development. South Korea is an advanced economy, while Vietnam is what the World Bank calls a lower middle-income economy, like India or Bangladesh. Mexico, an upper middle-income country like Colombia, Botswana, or Indonesia, is somewhere in between. I predict that each of these economies will outperform others in its cohort over the next 10 years. South Korea is the safest pick of the three. Beginning in the late 1970s, during the last years of Park Chung-hees presidency, its economy gathered steam and sustained a two-decade-long growth run, before hitting the roadblocks thrown up by the 1997 East Asian financial crisis. Rich countries have less growth potential than poorer ones. But among rich countries, South Koreas prospects stand outmainly because of its investment in human capital. With 3,319 patent applications per million population in 2019, South Korea is head and shoulders above other countries. Japan had the second-highest number, with 1,943, while China and the United States had 890 and 869, respectively. In April 2019, South Korea became the first country to launch a nationwide 5G campaign, and South Korean firms plan to capture 15% share of the global 5G market by 2026. Moreover, South Korea has gone some distance toward solving a market failure that plagues all countries: teacher selection. As many studies, such as by Abhijit Banerjee and Andrew Newman, and Oded Galor and Joseph Zeira, have shown, schoolteachers are typically paid less than they should be, which I believe is because the effect of a good education cascades down to future generations. Good teachers are thus a bit like good climate policy: future generations benefit, but they have no influence over todays decisions. South Korea has drawn some of its most talented people into teaching, and school teachers are among the countrys richest people. The story of Cha Kil-yong, who earned $8 million in one year teaching school mathematics online, has few parallels anywhere. President Moon Jae-ins efforts to create a more equitable and inclusive society also augur well. Acts like moving the presidents official residence from the palatial Blue House to a more ordinary government complex in downtown Seoul are symbolic but important gestures. My expectation is that South Koreas per capita income will overtake that of Japan within the next 10 years. Vietnam had a per capita income of just $1,297 in 2010, when it was one of the worlds three fastest-growing economies, along with India and China, both of which were richer. The country maintained its impressive growth rate since then, and its per capita income now exceeds Indias. This success story began in 1986, when the Communist Party of Vietnams Sixth National Congress adopted the Doi Moi policy of moving away from a command economy to a more market-oriented model. In recent years, Vietnam has cut its tariff rates, opened its borders to trade and foreign investment, and invested heavily in human capital. Vietnams impressive management of the covid pandemic has given the economy an additional shot in the arm. The countrys low crude mortality rate of 0.4 covid deaths per million people and 2.9% economic growth in 2020, a year when most economies shrank, are remarkable achievements. The steady inflows of foreign investment that Vietnam is now attracting could make it one of the worlds leading manufacturing hubs. Unlike Vietnam, Mexico is reeling under the pandemic, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), the latest world leader to be infected, must take responsibility for some of the mismanagement. Nevertheless, since AMLO became president in 2018, there has been a resurgence of hope. He initiated what he called Mexicos Fourth Transformation", a progressive economic agenda that aims to promote growth and remove some egregious elite privileges. To emphasize this, AMLO refused to live in the presidential mansion, Los Pinos, opting for a simpler residence. Along with Vietnam, Mexico has the greatest potential to become a global manufacturing hub. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which entered into force last year, can further these three economies integration. In fact, with the US and Canada providing capital and advanced technology, and Mexico marshalling its ample labour force, the region could experience a major resurgence and outcompete China. Now that US President Joe Biden has taken office, trilateral relations should improve. All three nations will benefit, but Mexico will gain the most, because it has more scope for catch-up growth. Finally, there is the puzzling case of India. Until a few years ago, the countrys rapid growth of about 9% per year made it a major global economic success story. But the economy has since slumped, with falling growth from 2016 to 2020its longest slide since independence. Yet, fundamentally, India is one of the strongest emerging economies. It has a world-class information-technology sector, a strong pharmaceutical industry, and a small segment of highly educated workers. The stumbling block is the countrys divisive politics, which have eroded trust and caused the investment rate to fall steadily over the last few years. If India can clean up its political act, it can be a global growth leader. But that is a big if. At least for now, it puts India out of the running when it comes to picking this decades likely economic winners. 2021/Project Syndicate Kaushik Basu is professor of economics at Cornell University Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Opinion I had a little spare time on my hands this week so I decided to perform a valuable public service in the form of floating a few potential candidates for the vacant governor generals post. Unless you have been hiding in a drain pipe for the past month, you will already know that Julie Payette is no longer governor general because it turns out she really didnt want to be governor general in the first place. By all accounts, when it comes to carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Queens representative in Canada, Payette was an excellent astronaut, because shes great working in a vacuum. In considering potential replacements, it is important to keep in mind precisely what a governor general is expected to do. So if anyone reading todays newspaper knows exactly what that is, please send us an email. Many deep thinkers in the media have already expended a great deal of mental energy reviewing potential candidates, but none of them have written a single word from the point of view of someone who has absolutely no idea about the requirements of the vice-regal post. So here are just a few of the amazing Canadians who, in my humble and uninformed view, might make suitable 11th-hour replacements and not cause any of their underlings to burst into tears: 1) William Shatner Shatner possesses the prime quality we are looking for in our next governor general, namely the quality of being a Canadian. If you are going to be truthful, when someone asks you to name the most famous Canadian on the planet, Shatners name is going to be among the first to trip off your tongue, possibly behind only Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking: "Whoa, Doug! Isnt he an ex-astronaut? We have already been down that road." You could not be more correct, but as captain of the USS Enterprise he was responsible for seeking out new life and civilizations and almost never destroyed them. Which is more than we can say for his predecessor. We would also pay to hear Shatner deliver a throne speech in his famously stilted docudrama voice: "As. The. Representative. Of. Her. Majesty. The. Queen." For the record, March 22 is Talk Like William Shatner Day. 2) Fred Penner OK, we all know the problem with Julie Payette was she scared a lot of people, right? Well, that being the case, having her exact opposite, a sort of anti-Payette, might be the smart move to make here. And the exact opposite of mean and scary is Winnipegs Fred Penner, arguably the most iconic childrens entertainer in the country. Freds website describes him as "a gentle giant with kind eyes and an undeniable ability to make you feel good about yourself." And anyone who has met Fred knows that is exactly who he is. He is the man Los Angeles Parent magazine dubbed the "Canadian Minister of Positivity." The highlight of this columnists life came at a charity event a few years back when Fred included his name ("Old Mr. Speirs") in a verse of the iconic song The Cat Came Back. And Fred would love living in Rideau Hall, provided they built him a magical hollow log to crawl in and out of every day. 3) Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling Since Canada is home to the worlds two sexiest Ryans, we might as well take advantage of that fact. Imagine, how proud we will feel as a nation when foreign news reporters stop gushing over how handsome our prime minister is and start sweating profusely over how handsome our dual governors general are. We can imagine someone on CNN saying: "The sexiest governors general in Canadian history just unveiled the governments plan to impose a tax on all Canadians who are less than six feet tall, but no one seems to care because they such DREAMBOATS!" What with being actors, the two Ryans possess the main qualities required for the job: 1) Standing where someone tells you to stand; and 2) reading some words on a piece of paper that someone hands you. Sure, Ryan Gosling did have a little incident in elementary school. He confessed: "When I first saw Rambo I took a bunch of steak knives to school and threw them around at recess time because I thought we were in the movie!" But at least he never YELLED at anyone. 4) Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes If you liked the idea of the two Ryans as governors general, you will love the idea of two of Canadas greatest Olympians moving in to Rideau Hall. With six medals each, Cindy and Clara are tied for the honour of being Canadas all-time most decorated Olympians. Klassen is the only Canadian Olympian to win five medals in a single Games, whereas Hughes is the only person to have ever won multiple medals in both the Winter and Summer Games. Also, Hughes is an advocate for mental health, and Klassen has a street and recreation centre named after her in Winnipeg. Two other key things: 1) They are both from Winnipeg; and 2) They have the widest smiles on the planet and imagine how uplifting it would be to have governors general who use their teeth for smiling as opposed to biting people they dont like. 5) Me Look, I am not trying to suggest that I deserve to be governor general because I am somehow special. No, I deserve to be governor general because I am easily the least special person in the country. No one actually knows what a governor general is supposed to do, and the main thing I do is spend most of the day lying on the couch in the den watching reruns of Star Trek (which is how I came to nominate Shatner). If thats not enough, the one thing the vice-regal is required to do is turn acts into laws by giving them royal assent. And anyone who knows me will gladly tell you I am definitely a royal something. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca A father-of-seven who told gardai he thought he was attending a job interview but ended up taking part in a violent forced eviction has been jailed for three years. Desmond McGrath (50) was part of a gang of seven men, including convicted murderer Declan Duffy and INLA kidnapper Dessie O'Hare, also known as The Border Fox, who falsely imprisoned and tried to evict a family from their home. McGrath also took part in the assault of a security guard who became involved in the incident, punching and kicking the man. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that five of the men involved, including O'Hare and Duffy, were convicted in the Special Criminal Court in 2019. The court heard that O'Hare and Duffy were the ringleaders of the events. Following his arrest, McGrath told gardai that before he arrived at the scene he had been told he was attending a job interview for security work. The court heard McGrath was dressed almost as a bouncer for that reason at the time of the offences. McGrath of Cushlawn Park, Tallaght pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm of John Roche at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, on June 9, 2015. He also pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of both Martin Byrne and Lisa Byrne at the same address on the same date. His 11 previous convictions include larceny and road traffic offences. Passing sentencing today, February 3,, Judge Karen O'Connor said the offence was aggravated by the level of violence against the security guard and the impact the offence had on the family who were falsely imprisoned. Judge O'Connor said the mitigating factors were McGrath's guilty plea, his admissions, his remorse, his difficult background and his efforts to rehabilitate from drug and alcohol addiction. She said a distinction could be made between himself and others who took part in the offences. She sentenced McGrath to four years imprisonment, but suspended the final 12 months of the sentence on strict conditions. At a previous sentencing hearing, Sergeant Eamon O'Neill told Garret Baker BL, prosecuting, that Mr Byrne had worked in the security industry for 25 years prior to the events in June 2015. Mr Byrne was employed as head of security of the Mansfield Group which ran various properties such as Citywest Hotel. Sgt O'Neill said that on the date in question, Mr Byrne attended an office in which O'Hare was present. They were joined by Duffy and five more men arrived including McGrath. Mr Byrne was told by O'Hare that his services were no longer required and that he was to immediately vacate the property at Garter Lane where he had been residing with his family as part of his employment arrangement. Mr Byrne said that if he was given 24 hours he could move his family and his possessions out of the property, but this offer was rejected. He tried to leave of his own accord but he was surrounded, grabbed and bundled into a car by the men. When they arrived at the property the security gates would not open and Mr Byrne was told he would be brought to another place if they did not open. Out of fear for his safety, Mr Byrne suggested driving through the gates, which they proceeded to do. Mr Roche was working as a security guard at the scene and came to see who was at the gate. The group of men then began punching, kicking and stamping on him. The court heard that the other men had begun the assault when McGrath joined in, punching and kicking Mr Roche before stepping away. McGrath went upstairs with Mr Byrne's son when they arrived at the property and monitored his movement in the house, but he did not perpetrate any physical violence against him or any member of the Byrne family. Mr Byrne pleaded to let his family go, after which O'Hare made a remark to Ms Byrne along the lines of say a prayer. Mr Roche was picked up from the ground around this point and brought into one of the adjacent properties. Mr Byrne was told to go into the same house where he observed Mr Roche in a chair covered in blood. He was told that Mr Roche would be dropped to a hospital when they were finished but that Mr Byrne would not need a hospital. Mr Byrne was then pulled into a chair and struck several times to the head. Gardai arrived at the scene and Mr Byrne was told by O'Hare if he did not get rid of them he would get a bullet in the head. Mr Byrne attempted to tell gardai that everything was okay, but they saw he was shaken and had injuries and that his family were in a distressed state. The seven men left and were arrested at later intervals. A medical certificate submitted to court stated that Mr Roche sustained multiple injuries as a result of the assault, including fractures to his right forearm and his nasal bone. Mr Roche did not make a statement to gardai. The court heard that Mr Byrne and his family have been in the Witness Protection Programme since the events in June 2015. McGrath was arrested in Dublin city centre in April 2019. He was the only one of his co-accused to make admissions and he gave an account of his actions, but did not give any details regarding anyone else. Sgt O'Neill agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that it was quite clear that O'Hare and Duffy were the ringleaders. He agreed that both had a significant number of previous convictions, including a conviction for murder on Duffy's part. The sergeant agreed McGrath told gardai he was told he was going for a job interview related to security work. Counsel said his client had been told to dress for that work and was dressed almost as a bouncer. Sgt O'Neill agreed McGrath appears to be first person in the group dealt with outside of the Special Criminal Court. He said he believed McGrath had genuine remorse for his involvement in the offences. The sergeant agreed with counsel that his client had a heroin addiction at the time, but that urine analysis shows he has been clean of opiates for two months. He said McGrath has not come to garda attention since these offences. Mr Clarke said his client has seven children and six grandchildren. He said his client was himself the youngest of 16 children and that his mother died when he was young. Counsel said it appears his client and others were brought in as enforcement so that the people involved would feel more pressure. He said his client was the only one to give an account of his actions to gardai and to show remorse for his actions. He told the court that a prolonged period of adjournment for his client to show that he can remain drug free might be of assistance. (Natural News) As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launches a war against Big Tech censorship, its increasingly obvious that tech giants like Google, Facebook and YouTube will soon have to deliver different content results to the free states where censorship is banned. Yet those same tech giants will simultaneously deliver heavily censored, limited content results to the states run by Democrats, which would be the slave states where the people are enslaved through ignorance and tyrannical oppression. In the slave plantation days of the United States, slave states were the plantation states where slaves werent allowed to learn how to read or write, since learning to read allows a person to become empowered and informed. Similarly, in todays society, the left-wing tech giants, fake news media and Democrat-controlled states also want to keep their people ignorant and uninformed and they accomplish this enslavement through censorship. In the mid-1800s, Harriet Tubman famously ran an underground railroad to free slaves by helping them escape to the Northern free states. Yet today, it is RED states that represent the freedom to read, learn and think, and it is independent publishers and content creators who are the new information underground railroad thats helping people escape the mental slavery of censorship and left-wing reality bubbles founded on delusions and disinfo. Harriet Tubman reportedly ran 13 missions to rescue around 70 slaves. Today, with your help, we are running daily missions to free the minds of millions. The FREE (red) states will help rescue people from the SLAVE (blue) states As Big Tech begins delivering different content results based on the geographic state in which users live, people who live in blue states will be forced to run VPN software to have a red state IP address where they can access all the websites and content thats censored in the slave states. It will be the job of people in the red states to red pill the enslaved people living in blue states, who are brainwashed and indoctrinated by censorship and the fake news media into believing an entirely fictitious, alternate worldview rooted in pure delusions (such as the absurd transgenderism claim that men can get pregnant, or the quack science claim that carbon dioxide is a poison to the planet). In the blue slave states, children are already being taught racism and bigotry, instructed to hate people based on the color of their skin (whites in particular) and to despise the founding principles of their own country. The Democrat party has become the party of intolerance. Red pilling can only come from red states, as blue states are run by Democrats who blue-pill people (which means surrendering to the lies of an entirely false reality, a la The Matrix). New technology will win a victory for human freedom through decentralization and peer-to-peer distribution of content In the long run, information freedom will win because people inherently demand knowledge and free access to information. No one likes to be told, Youre not allowed to read that. Although the current structure of the internet allows central actors to invoke malicious tactics to limit the flow of knowledge and information, new technologies are rapidly emerging that help decentralize information and bypass censorship pinch points. For example, the Tor Project browser TorProject.org allows users to access the so-called dark web of websites that have the .onion extension. The BBC and New York Times are already running their newspapers on the dark web, and Natural News and Brighteon will soon be announcing .onion websites, allowing users to access independent, empowering information even if the malicious globalists start blacklisting entire domain names. (You should download, install and start using the Tor browser right now in preparation for this shift.) In addition, new peer-to-peer technologies will allow us to distribute MP3 files (podcasts), video files, documents, articles and how-to guides without going through any control node of a government or tech company. These efforts even bypass domain registrars and the entire domain name system. We will be announcing these efforts in the near future. Another stunning development that promotes the decentralization of information and computing architecture is called Holochain. It is a technology that sets people free from centralized control systems, and it scales in ways that traditional blockchain cant even approach. You can read about it at Holochain.org or watch this short video for a technical overview: Similarly, the entire open source development community is all about decentralization and knowledge sharing. The Linux community typically promotes the fundamental idea that information should be free (as in beer). Open source developers in France have now released a mature, stable version of PeerTube, which is an open source, peer-to-peer video hosting platform. This software allows people to easily set up their own YouTube alternative and share videos freely. Learn about PeerTube at JoinPeerTube.org And then theres cryptocurrency, which is essentially decentralized money that empowers the people. And thats exactly why the central banks and corrupt governments of the world are attacking it. Cryptocurrency allows individuals to exchange payments without the approval of centralized banks and their tightly controlled transaction systems. When you combine all these technologies, you create an ecosystem of freedom and decentralization that can help people fight against tyranny, censorship and oppression. For example, people can shop on dark web sites (.onion) for CBD products, then pay in Bitcoin, and engage in an honest transaction thats currently frowned upon by banks and governments. Or people who live in countries or states that practice oppressive censorship (such as communist China or the United States under the Biden regime) can use the dark web to anonymously access information websites where they can read real news thats banned by their local government regime. Thus, the real answer to human freedom in the digital age is found in decentralization technologies, all of which are based on mathematical algorithms that describe the topology of the net (such as a holographic topology, or a blockchain topology) as well as algorithms that handle encryption activities. In other words, math can save humanity from tyranny. So if you ever thought math was boring, think again. Math is the answer to privacy, decentralization and freedom from tyranny. Learn more in todays extremely informative Situation Update podcast: Brighteon.com/6a0f4998-251a-4fbf-9ef3-5e02240cbff4 Get each days new podcast at: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport ACTION ITEMS: Things you can do right now to avoid becoming a slave Contact your state governor and attorney general and urge them to fight against Big Tech censorship by levying fines on tech companies that engage in viewpoint discrimination. Demand civil rights protections for conservatives and Christians. Viewpoint discrimination by businesses should be illegal. Download and install the Tor browser from Torproject.org to get ready to access .onion websites, which are censorship resistant. Shift your focus to alternative platforms like Gab, Parler (which will be back soon), Brighteon.com, Bitchute, etc. Stop allowing the tech giants to control what youre allowed to read or share. (Stop using all Google services, in particular.) Speak the truth and call out censorship and viewpoint discrimination against conservatives, Christians and Trump supporters. Make a point to support corporations that protect and promote free speech. Vote with your dollars to support those organizations that will defend your right to speak. Join the pro-human resistance and prepare to be amazed at what youll learn. There is a mass awakening under way, and you can be part of it by simply deciding to be free. 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. HOUSTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AuraVax Therapeutics Inc. (www.auravax.com), a pioneering biotech company developing novel intranasal vaccines and therapies to help patients defeat debilitating diseases including COVID-19, today announced it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the University of Houston (UH) with respect to the intellectual property covering a novel intranasal vaccine and STING agonist technologies. This agreement converts the optioned intellectual property between UH and AuraVax announced on October 12, 2020. "We are excited to rapidly expand our relationship with the University of Houston to advance the development of this novel intranasal approach to tackle respiratory viruses. We plan to stop COVID-19 at its point of entry -- the nasal cavity -- and we believe our intranasal platform represents a differentiated solution that will lead to a vaccine to create sustained immunity to COVID-19 and other viruses," said Dr. Navin Varadarajan, AuraVax co-founder and M.D. Anderson Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston. "AuraVax and its founding team, which includes a UH professor, continue to impress us as a strong partner that is executing against its mission to develop novel vaccines and therapeutics to treat a range of viral diseases. What better cause than to advance the creation of a novel vaccine for COVID-19, which remains the primary challenge facing us in spite of the first generation of approved vaccines. The partnership has my enthusiastic support," said Amr Elnashai, University of Houston vice president for research and technology transfer. "The demand for effective ways of vaccinating against COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases has led us to develop technology that elicits rapid mucosal and systemic immunity. We believe AuraVax has a competitive advantage given the broad immune responses it is generating, its user-friendly delivery mechanism and shelf-life characteristics, which should enable convenient widespread distribution and self-administration application," stated Dr. Varadarajan. About AuraVax AuraVax Therapeutics Inc. ("AuraVax") is a privately held biotechnology company developing a proprietary and differentiated platform of vaccines and therapeutics. Its lead candidate is an intranasal vaccine for COVID-19. The next-generation platform aims to combine the ease of use of "at-home" administration with the ability to deliver comprehensive immunity for use in humans and animals. The technology has been validated for COVID-19 in pre-clinical studies with immunity measured by both B-cell and T-cell responses. For more information, go to www.auravax.com . For additional information about AuraVax, contact Matthew J. Meyer [email protected] +1 415 947-2097 About the University of Houston The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated Hispanic and Asian American Serving institution with enrollment of more than 47,000 students. SOURCE AuraVax Theraputics Related Links http://www.auravax.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. Bling Empire hopes to bring the reality TV format that has helped make E! and Bravo into giants to the streaming world. The series, which showcases the lives of several well-to-do friends in Southern Californian, adds an Asian twist to a tried and true formula. While the show features several memorable characters, few shine brighter than Kim Lee. Kim Lee in Bling Empire | Courtesy of Netflix What is Bling Empire? With Bling Empire, Netflix hopes to capitalize on a void left by the end of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. However, with a predominantly Asian cast, the series taps into a world thats not typically covered by standard reality television. Hoping to do away with the standard artificial fare, the show aims to show the California Residents lavish lifestyles that it covers. From plastic surgery to childbirth, the show takes advantage of Netflixs unfiltered formula to offer something for everyone interested in their exploits. However, while many of the stars seem destined to become household names, Kim Lee is especially memorable as a standout of the first season. Who is Kim Lee? RELATED: Who Is Bling Empire Star Jaime Xie? Lee has been an overseas sensation for many years. The American-born socialite was born into money, but she didnt have an easy path to fame. She started as a model in the LA area and quickly became a favorite in music videos, movies, and television shows, according to IMDb. An accomplished musician, however, Lee wanted to be more. Her career took off, and after hosting several shows in Singapore, like their version of Yo! MTV Raps, she found more success overseas than she ever saw in her native America. Now, shes a successful model and actor, but her favorite job is as a DJ. Bling Empire might be more reality television in a medium thats inundated with shows like it, but Lee hopes that the series can let people meet her as a person. Kim Lee on Kim Lee I have two sides about me, Lee told Esquire Singapore when speaking about her life and perception. My image is this party girl and people seem to think Im stuck up judging from the photos, but I have another side to me that just loves being home with no makeup and family is important to me. When asked what Lee would be doing if she werent a DJ, model, socialite, and occasional actor. Owing to the drive that has made her an already impressive multi-hyphenate, Lee believes that she could have made a big name for herself regardless of what she did, [Id definitely be] running my own business. I have this take charge mentally and love sales and marketing. The older I get, the more confident and interested I am in it, she told Esquire. However, with striking beauty and a drive to be the best version of herself, dont downplay her accomplishments by claiming it has to do with anything but her accomplishments. Acknowledging that sometimes people assume shes just a pretty face that didnt get her fame through any merit but her looks, Lee explained how she used her gifts to get there, not her looks. If youre a female working in a male-dominated industry, that could be hard too as they dont take you seriously and think, Oh, you have this opportunity cause youre pretty. Thats true to a certain degree. I think it helps, for sure, but after that, you gotta really show you got what it takes and the talent, especially in the DJ world, she told the magazine. Whether Lee and the rest of the cast are using the show to bolster their fame or highlight what it is that makes them an intriguing watch. Lee is already an accomplished presence in multiple fields at just 32 years old. Bling Empire highlights this and so much more. Audiences can currently view Lee and the rest of her circle on Netflix Denton, TX (76205) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High near 80F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 22:38:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- For Chinese exporters, the business environment last year was reminiscent of an action movie. It opened with a sudden halt, followed by efforts to cope by expanding the domestic market or switching to the manufacture of epidemic-control equipment, and then ended with rocketing overseas orders and a shortage of containers. Customs data shows that China's exports managed a 4-percent yearly increase in 2020, despite the turbulence, with the total export value reaching 17.93 trillion yuan (about 2.77 trillion U.S. dollars). In December alone, exports surged by 10.9 percent year on year in yuan terms. As the new year gets underway, it is worth watching to see whether such "dark horse" export performance continues into 2021, and how China's foreign-trade landscape evolves. China's foreign trade is expected to maintain steady growth this year, with its scale continuing to expand, according to Liang Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Liang noted that the country's foreign trade reached several historic highs in 2020, despite the headwinds, providing a good basis for its performance in 2021. China remained the world's largest trading nation in goods last year. Over the first 10 months of 2020, China's exports reached a record high of 14.2 percent of the global total, figures from the country's customs administration show. The unexpected export boom was mainly driven by China's position as the first country in and out of the COVID-19 epidemic, with industrial production rebounding quickly, combined with the country's advantages in industrial chains, according to a research report by CITIC Securities. Dubbed the "world's factory," China has been the only country that possesses all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations' industrial classification. A recent report from Alibaba's cross-border B2B trade platform offered vivid details about the diversity of Chinese exports. Foreign buyers chased after a variety of Chinese products amid the pandemic, ranging from mask-production machinery to work-from-home electronic products, and even wigs and paper diapers. Looking ahead, the brokerage company took a positive view on China's export performance in 2021, predicting that an overall demand recovery, driven by vaccine availability and stimulus policies, will lead to an increase in the country's exports. Moreover, new business models such as cross-border e-commerce have emerged as new drivers of China's foreign trade. The latest data shows that China's cross-border e-commerce business saw rapid expansion in 2020, with the aggregate import-export volume surging by 31.1 percent from a year ago. The total number of overseas warehouses has surpassed 1,800, with a sharp increase of 80 percent in 2020. However, the future is still not rosy for China's foreign trade, as the world continues to grapple with resurgences of COVID-19 cases. The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector came in at 51.3 in January, edging down 0.6 percentage points from December. The sub-index for new export orders dropped to 50.2 percent in January from 51.3 percent a month earlier. Yet, the impact of COVID-19 resurgences on China's industrial production may be largely neutral, according to a research note from Huatai Securities, with the decision of many migrant workers to stay put during the Spring Festival likely resulting in an earlier-than-usual resumption schedule after the holiday this year. In this context, the precautionary measures may even benefit the productivity of China's export sector, where orders have been piling up for the next three to six months, the research note added. Enditem I am a biracial young woman whose parents were never married and come from very different cultural backgrounds. My white American mother raised me mainly on her own, with the help of her parents. Because of conflicts and misunderstandings, I had barely any contact during my childhood with my father and his family who immigrated from China to the United States before I was born. But after I started college, I wanted to use my newfound autonomy to develop a relationship with them. But although my father seems eager to have one with me, I was hoping to approach the relationship under the assumption that we are both adults and can talk about our lives almost as equals, getting to know each other through meaningful conversations. He seems, instead, to be focused on offering to give and buy me things, such as money, international vacations, a car, etc. Because I am very fortunate to have everything I need already provided for me by my mothers family, who are well-off, and I dont feel that I need a car or large sums of pocket money, his offers of expensive gifts make me feel uncomfortable, and I usually turn them down, except for allowing him to help with my college tuition. I dont want our relationship to be based on money, and I dont want him to think that the money is what entices me to keep contact with his family. Im concerned, however, that my turning down his money may be offending him or making him feel as if Im rejecting him. My father is an introverted person, and Im worried this might be his only attempt to connect with me. (And although I dont want to reduce this to cultural essentialism, Ive also had friends who grew up in Chinese households tell me that giving money is a sign of love in Chinese culture and that their Chinese fathers are more emotionally removed than the societal expectations of Western fathers.) Is it unethical to expect my father to conform to my expectations of our relationship? Should I accept his gifts and money even though I feel bad about it? Name Withheld Jerry Baker/Freelance In a year marked by an industrywide downturn driven by the coronavirus pandemic, pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter profit of $337.3 million, despite an impairment cost of $800 million on the value of it assets. The Houston-based company reported revenue of $7 billion in the last three months of the year compared with $8 billion in the same period a year earlier. Killeen, TX (76540) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. The document backed by the US, Great Britain and France called for the restoration of democracy and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. Moscow in support of Chinese. China woos the Naypyidaw Armed Forces. Fears in the West that Myanmar will fall into the Chinese orbit. New York (AsiaNews / Agencies) - China yesterday blocked a declaration at the United Nations condemning the military coup in Myanmar. On February 1, the Naypyidaw military took control of the country . Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the civilian government, and hundreds of members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) are under arrest. General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the army, cancelled the recent elections won by the NLD, decreed a state of emergency for a year and formed a new executive. In an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Beijing rejected the document prepared by Great Britain and supported by the United States and France. It called for the restoration of civil authority, the release of democratic leaders and the cancellation of the state of emergency, but not the imposition of sanctions. As a permanent member of the body, China has the right to veto its decisions. Russia has also censored discussion of the military coup in Myanmar. Several humanitarian organizations are calling for targeted sanctions against coup generals, who ended a democratic transition that began 10 years ago. The US has announced the blocking of humanitarian aid to Naypyidaw. Joe Biden has ordered his administration to review the Myanmar policy. Without the restitution of power to the Suu Kyi government, the new US president will re-establish the sanctions that Washington cancelled or softened after the start of the democratic transition in 2011. Japan, however, invites Washington not to close the channels of communication with the military junta. According to the Japanese Deputy Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama, a policy of sanctions and total closure will bring Myanmar even more into alignment with China, strengthening the geopolitical position of the Asian giant in the region. China said it has taken note of what is happening in Myanmar. Beijing has urged stakeholders to "resolve the differences" so that stability is ensured. Some Chinese media have dismissed the crisis as a "government reshuffle". The regime has great interests in the neighbouring country, considered an alternative crossing point to the Strait of Malacca for gas and oil imported from Africa and the Middle East. According to analysts, the Chinese regime had established good relations with Suu Kyi and now wants to maintain an open channel with the Naypyidaw military, with whom they have had moments of tense relations in the past. 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. QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg was trained 'like a dog,' in a clip that surfaced Tuesday as Democrats are poised to remove her from committee assignments over controversial statements. 'So he is very trained, he's like a dog, he's completely trained,' Greene said in an 2019 interview with Georgia Gun Owners executive director Patrick Parsons, who's now her chief of staff. The video, which remains on Facebook, was first unearthed by NBC News. An unearthed video from 2019 shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (left) speaking to Georgia Gun Owners head Patrick Parsons (right), who's now her chief of staff, about her encounter with gun control activist David Hogg. In the new clip she says he's 'trained like a dog' On Wednesday, a video went viral that showed now Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (back left and right) following Parkland survivor and gun control activist David Hogg (left) around Capitol Hill's campus, chiding him for his support of gun control measures TAYLOR GREENE'S BIZARRE CLAIMS The California Camp Fire which killed at least 85 was caused by a space laser linked to the Rothschilds and the state's high-speed rail. PG&E admitted it was caused by a faulty power line and went into bankruptcy to fund a $13.5bn settlement and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin cut off a child's face while she was alive, Clinton wore it as a mask so the terrified child would produce 'adrenachrome' and then organized the killing of a cop who knew about it. The Las Vegas massacre was organized by Democrats to help them ban guns and shooter Stephen Paddock was not a lone wolf. There's no evidence of a plane hitting the Pentagon on 9/11. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre which cost the lives of 17 students was a 'false flag planned shooting.' ' 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.' Seth Rich leaked Hillary Clinton's emails and was murdered in revenge by her aide John Podesta because the emails revealed that a D.C. pizza restaurant had a child-smuggling operation in its basement. It does not even have a basement. The world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and the Q in QAnon exists and is the 'best chance to take them out.' Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett are Muslims. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double. She wasn't the person who posted a call to assassinate Nancy Pelosi to her own Facebook page. Advertisement In it, Greene is speaking about following Hogg around on Capitol Hill, a clip that went viral last week in the aftermath of CNN breaking a story about how the Georgia Republican had indicated support for executing Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Facebook posts. The original video shows Greene following Hogg on Capitol Hill, at one point calling him a 'coward,' and asking the school shooting victim if he realized his classmates wouldn't been killed if the school's guard had been armed. 'Good guys with guns hurt bad guys with guns, they'll kill them, and it will reduce the number of deaths,' she noted. Describing the encounter to Parsons, Greene said Hogg 'does not talk.' 'He only talks when he's scripted,' she said. Greene said Hogg was being followed around Capitol Hill with a 'gaggle of girls' and also female 'handlers' in their 20s and 30s. 'Here they are, they are so naive and they are being so brainwashed into fighting to take away something that protects them as women,' she said of Hogg's female companions. 'I was heartbroken, literally heartbroken. I'm so thankful for my Second Amendment rights.' 'They're fighting to get rid of the right to protect themselves from getting raped,' Greene continued in the 2019 interview. 'I'm looking at this idiot, David Hogg, leading these girls who are clueless, absolutely clueless, into giving up the greatest thing that protects them,' the future congresswoman added. While Greene has expressed beliefs in a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon, that a plane didn't hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and that California's Camp Fire was caused by space lasers, which she connected to the Rothschilds in an anti-Semitic dog whistle, Pelosi's biggest complaint was that the congresswoman expressed doubt that Parkland and Sandy Hook actually happened. Last week, Pelosi went on a tirade because Greene had been placed by Republican leadership on the House's Education committee after saying the massacres had been 'staged.' 'What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing. It's absolutely appalling and I think that the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children,' Pelosi said Thursday. Pelosi said top Republicans were willing to 'overlook' Greene's comments 'when she has mocked the killing of little children,' pointing specifically to the massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the latter of which Hogg attended. Since video of Hogg and Greene's encounter went viral, the now 20-year-old gun control activist has also called for Greene to be stripped of her committee assignments. Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced a resolution that would remove Greene from her committees and a vote is expected Wednesday. Only a majority, which Democrats have, would need to vote yea. That's an easier sell than a separate effort from Rep. Jimmy Gomez to have Greene expelled from Congress. As of Tuesday night, Gomez said he had 68 co-sponsors. Still, that legislation would need two-thirds of the House for passage. A handful of Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have spoken out against Greene, but they remain a small fraction of GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Emergency responders dispatched to a house fire early Wednesday morning in Northeast Hazel Dell discovered a person dead inside the home. The Clark County Fire Marshals Office is investigating the death and cause of the fire. Crews from the Vancouver Fire Department and Clark County Fire District 6 were dispatched at 3:58 a.m. to the 7900 block of Northeast 30th Avenue. The home is near the boundary of Vancouver Fires service area, and a Fire District 6 engine was the first to arrive at the scene, Vancouver Fire spokesman Joe Spatz said. The crew spotted smoke billowing from the front of a manufactured home, he said. Additional firefighters arrived and initiated a search of the home. There had been a fire inside, but by the time of the search, it was only smoldering in a few places. Firefighters focused on hot spots and cleared heavy smoke from the one-story house, Spatz said. Typically, interior fires cause windows to break, allowing more oxygen to enter a building. That didnt happen in this case, so the fire likely was smothered out itself, according to the fire department. Jerzy Shedlock, The Columbian Several ministers of the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, in reaction to the Rihanna and Greta Thunberg's tweet on the farmers protests, said that it was a part of 'international propaganda' and tweeted with hashtags #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda. This was after the Ministry of External Affairs released a statement saying celebrities tweeting on the farmers protests were neither accurate, nor responsible. Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue said in a tweet: "No propaganda can deter Indias unity! No propaganda can stop India to attain new heights!" His tweet was posted with hashtags #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether that were used in the MEA's statement. No propaganda can deter Indias unity!No propaganda can stop India to attain new heights!Propaganda can not decide Indias fate only Progress can.India stands united and together to achieve progress.#IndiaAgainstPropaganda#IndiaTogether https://t.co/ZJXYzGieCt Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 3, 2021 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a tweet said: "Motivated campaigns targeting India will never succeed. We have the self confidence today to hold our own. This India will push back." Motivated campaigns targeting India will never succeed. We have the self confidence today to hold our own. This India will push back. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 3, 2021 Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter, quote-tweeting the Ministry of External affairs statement on the issue, saying, "Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken.#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropagandahttps://t.co/rGJiPvlM4D Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) February 3, 2021 BJP chief JP Nadda said, "We stand together. We stand United against all attempts to malign India through propaganda and fake narratives." We stand together. We stand United against all attempts to malign India through propaganda and fake narratives. #IndiaTogether#IndiaAgainstPropaganda Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) February 3, 2021 Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways VK Singh said, "Times are changing. Influencers on the digital media platforms have immense power when they talk to their followers. One must be mindful of that power and the responsibility that comes with it." Times are changing. Influencers on the digital media platforms have immense power when they talk to their followers. One must be mindful of that power and the responsibility that comes with it.#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda #GenerallySaying pic.twitter.com/WCyMDO2vQa Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) February 3, 2021 Meanwhile, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, and Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, "For 1000 of years India was defeated, occupied, looted & ruled by the invaders not because India was weak but there was always a Jaichand. We need to ask whos behind this international propaganda to defame India." For 1000 of years India was defeated, occupied, looted & ruled by the invaders not because India was weak but there was always a Jaichand. We need to ask whos behind this international propaganda to defame India.#IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/qsgafQrIMb Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 3, 2021 Union Cabinet Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development Smriti Irani too tweeted the statement with the hashtags #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda. Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said, "It is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to derail the process & protests by enforcing their agenda. We saw this on Republic Day & are seeing it again when some public figures are making statements without ascertaining facts & proper understanding of issues." "The reformist legislation relating to agricultural sector were passed by India's parliament after full debate & discussion. The govt has already held 11 rounds of talks with some farmers who expressed their reservations about the laws," he said. The reformist legislation relating to agricultural sector were passed by India's parliament after full debate & discussion. The govt has already held 11 rounds of talks with some farmers who expressed their reservations about the laws.#IndiaTogether#IndiaAgainstPropaganda pic.twitter.com/RRdjyQUfLz Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) February 3, 2021 Bhupendra Yadav, BJP general secretary said, "So people on foreign soil read one article and tweeted against laws made in India. Would have been better had they educated themselves on the laws first. But that would be expecting too much from the liberal cabal." So people on foreign soil read one article and tweeted against laws made in India. Would have been better had they educated themselves on the laws first. But that would be expecting too much from the liberal cabal. #IndiaAgainstPropaganda Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) February 3, 2021 Earlier in the day, the Ministry of External Affairs put out a statement saying that comments by celebrities tweeting on the issue were "neither accurate nor responsible". It was unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26," the ministry said as it called out the sensationalist social media hashtags and comments. 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. UTICA, N.Y. Local nonprofits can apply for up to $5,000 in funding to support health and wellness programs through the Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Community Health Award grants. Any organization in the Mohawk Valley or North Country that offers programs to help improve community health, promote equal health care, support health education or help battle coronavirus are qualified to apply. The companys Community Health Awards demonstrate a corporate commitment to support local organizations that share our mission as a nonprofit health plan, said Eve Van de Wal, regional president at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. These awards complement our existing grants and sponsorships with agencies that work to improve community health in upstate New York. Applications are due by March 5. For more information, or to apply, click here. NORTHFIELD, Ill., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) today reported that it has closed on the acquisition of a fermentation plant located in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "Fermentation is a new platform technology for Stepan Company as we look to commercialize next generation surfactants. Bio-surfactants, produced via fermentation, are attractive due to their favorable biodegradability, low toxicity, and in some cases, unique antimicrobial properties," said F. Quinn Stepan Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stepan Company. Bio-surfactants can be an attractive formulation option for customers in the agriculture, oilfield, personal care and household, industrial and institutional cleaning markets. In March 2020, Stepan closed on the acquisition of NATSURFACT, a rhamnolipid-based line of bio-surfactants derived from renewable sources. NATSURFACT's rhamnolipid technology provides an important new option as customers across markets seek new sustainability targets for their products. "The acquisition of an industrial scale fermentation plant represents the latest step in our bio-surfactant commercialization efforts. With additional investment, we expect to be able to produce 20,000 metric tons per year of bio-surfactants from the site. We look forward to working with our customers to bring these next generation surfactants to the market," Stepan said. 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 company website's Sustainability section at www.stepan.com/sustainability. Certain information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include statements about Stepan Company's plans, objectives, strategies, financial performance and outlook, trends, the amount and timing of future cash distributions, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, Stepan Company's actual financial results, performance, achievements or prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "guidance," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would," "should," "illustrative" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Stepan Company and its management based on their knowledge and understanding of the business and industry, are inherently uncertain. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and stockholders should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There are a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond Stepan Company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Such risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among other factors, the risks, uncertainties and factors described in Stepan Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports and exhibits to those reports, and include (but are not limited to) risks and uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; accidents, unplanned production shutdowns or disruptions in manufacturing facilities; reduced demand due to customer product reformulations or new technologies; our inability to successfully develop or introduce new products; compliance with laws; our ability to identify suitable acquisition candidates and successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; global competition; volatility of raw material and energy costs and supply; disruptions in transportation or significant changes in transportation costs; downturns in certain industries and general economic downturns; international business risks, including currency exchange rate fluctuations, legal restrictions and taxes; unfavorable resolution of litigation against us; maintaining and protecting intellectual property rights; our ability to access capital markets; global political, military, security or other instability; costs related to expansion or other capital projects; interruption or breaches of information technology systems; our ability to retain executive management and key personnel; and our debt covenants. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and Stepan Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: Luis E. Rojo 847-446-7500 SOURCE Stepan Company Its the annual jaunt all Irish politicians dream of. The annual trip to Washington to be wined and dined by the President and to rub shoulders with the most powerful and influential figures in the United States. For one day every year much of the planets attention is focused on our little island and the many great contributions our emigrant diaspora have made to society and the world. It is also an ideal occasion to promote our country and advance our case on the many issues Brexit immediately springs to mind that afflict us or which could be set to cause us some trouble down the road. There can be little doubt, for example, that US Government efforts to have Ireland declared a tax haven a designation we have miraculously managed to avoid despite meeting or exceeding just about every criteria have been stymied in large part thanks to St Patricks Day lobbying in Washington. Similarly, the plight of the, so called, undocumented Irish typically receives some welcome attention from the upper echelons of US politics in mid-March. The IDA would also argue, and often do, that the St Patricks Day visit is also invaluable when it comes to attracting foreign investment. Quite how beneficial the trips are is a matter for debate, but they are certainly useful. Thanks to St Patricks Day, the Taoiseach is one of the only world leaders from a smaller nation that is guaranteed an annual audience with the Leader of the Free World. It is access other leaders would give their right arm for, a fact the Irish Government is well aware of and they are, understandably, loathe to give it up, even for a year. For all these reasons one can see why Taoiseach Micheal Martin is eager for the US trip, and others to go ahead, but there is one extremely simple reason why they absolutely should not Covid-19, the virus that has and continues to kill tens of thousands across the world every week while playing merry havoc with our day to day lives. The Covid crisis will, hopefully, have eased considerably by St Patricks Day, allowing an easing of the lock-down that has incarcerated most of us in our homes since Christmas. Even so, tough restrictions will still be in place and likely will be for many months afterwards. Amid those circumstances, the notion that the Government is still planning an all expenses paid; tax-payer funded junket to Washington beggars belief. While most Irish people will probably still be barred from straying too far from home or seeing loved ones, the Taoiseach will jet 5,439 kilometres to hand Joe Biden a bowl of Shamrock. It is a ludicrous exercise that will do little more than infuriate people and rip the Governments trite were all in it together message to shreds. The Toaiseach seems to be charging head long into a PR and communications disaster that is as avoidable as it is predictable. Its time the Government followed the advice theyve been offering us for almost a year now. Stay at home. ADVERTISEMENT A member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Iju, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Adejuyigbe Daniel, has been killed, the police and sources have said. The killers also reportedly kidnapped the owner of Okeji Farm Settlement, Solomon Akinmeji, also in the same area. Sources say the abduction took place at Atoka farm area of the border town between Iju and Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State. The killing is coming two weeks after the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, issued a notice to herdsmen to vacate the states forest reserves. The order of the governor has not deterred the continued activities of the criminal herdsmen along the highways in spite of commitments from Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association to help check the excesses. An Iju youth leader, Ogundeji Ayodeji, told journalists that the herdsmen had been terrorising the host community for a very long time through abduction for ransom as well as the killing of some of their victims. Mr Ogundeji said Mr Akinmeji was kidnapped on Saturday at his farm, while others managed to escape with bruises. The police in Ondo, however, shed light into the killing saying Mr Daniel, who was an OPC member, was found tied to a tree and shot in the forest. According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Leo Tee-Ikoro, the criminals had kidnapped the farm owner and when the security operatives went after the kidnappers, the dead body of Mr Daniel was found. He said the police were yet to ascertain the identity of the kidnappers. That is what we are investigating, he said. We are yet to know if they are herdsmen or not. He said if the police were certain that they were herdsmen, their leaders would be approached for information. The state government is seeking to register all herdsmen in the state as a way to check the continued criminal activities traced to some of them. On Tuesday, Mr Akeredolu alleged that those perpetrating crimes were Fulanis, but who are not Nigerian citizens. The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Thursday as investors cooled their heels following a red-hot start to the week. Analysts said dwindling momentum on Wall Street was enough to tempt local traders to hit the sideline, with the ASX 200 falling away from the near 11-month highs reached on Wednesday. The ASX fell 0.9 per cent on Thursday. Credit:Tamara Voninski The benchmark index lost 0.9 per cent to 6765.5 as each of the big four lenders pulled back and biotech CSL fell 1.8 per cent. The major miners were mixed despite an uptick for iron ore, with BHP in the dumps and Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals rising. Afterpay was the only other notable gainer at the top of the market, adding 1.5 per cent to $146.31 as part of a wider buy now, pay later rally. A definitive offshore lead was lacking after US stocks finished just narrowly ahead. The US futures market also took a downward turn after lunchtime in local trade. However, TMS Capital portfolio manager Ben Clark said continued strength in US earnings results signalled the ASX would likely resume its onward march soon. He said a continued run of stronger than expected economic data had also boosted sentiment, while the Reserve Banks promise of low interest rates for the next three years has whet the appetite for equities Well see short, sharp dips in the market but they are not going to last, Mr Clark said. The rally weve seen this week really has been driven by a much better than expected earnings season in the US, which has flowed through to us. Were also just seeing more and more signs that the economy is going into a full-blown boom this year. The markets worst session in a week saw all sectors in decline. There were heavy losses for energy giant Origin after the firm trimmed its full-year guidance on a weaker energy market. AGL plunged to a more-than 12-year low after announcing it would make a $2.7 billion writedown in its first-half result for onerous wind farm contracts and the falling value of power generation assets. Zip Co added 2.3 per cent to $8.04 to bounce back from Wednesdays loss, and was joined in the black by other buy now, pay later names including Pushpay and Splitit. Building materials firm CSR touched $5.82 - its highest price since 2008 - while electronics and homeware retailer Harvey Norman also nudged a 13-year peak. Property advertisers REA Group and Domain rose to record intraday highs, as did four-wheel-drive accessories retail ARB Corp, radiology firm Pro Medicus, and jobs portal Seek. Former New York Yankees right-hander Scott Erickson has been charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving in connection to a deadly hit-and-run car accident last year in California. Per ESPN: Investigators told KABC-TV he was racing with Rebecca Grossman on Sept. 29, moments before she struck and killed 11-year-old Mark Iskander and his 8-year-old brother, Jacob, as they crossed the street in Westlake Village, a suburb 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The boys were crossing the street in a marked crosswalk with their parents. Prosecutors alleged that Grossman continued driving, eventually stopping about a quarter-mile from the crash scene. According to ESPN, the 57-year-old Grossman faces charges of murder, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run driving resulting in death. Grossman is free on $2 million bail while Erickson is due back in court on March 16 for his arraignment. Erickson played the last of his 15 MLB seasons with the Yankees in 2006, compiling a 7.94 ERA in nine relief appearances. He also played for the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. Erickson won a career-high 20 games in 1991, helping the Twins win the World Series. He finished second in voting for the American League Cy Young Award that year to Boston Red Sox right-hander Roger Clemens. Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Hitachi Ltd. (HTHIF.PK, HTHIY.PK) reported that its net income attributable to shareholders for the nine-month period ended 31st December 2020 significantly increased to 307.88 billion yen or 318.33 yen per share from 55.15 billion yen or 57.03 yen per share last year. Other expenses for the period was 111.37 billion yen compared to 468.41 billion yen in the previous year. Revenues for the period declined to 5.98 trillion yen from the previous year's 6.34 trillion yen. Hitachi said it will further promote the participation of foreign national, female and non-Hitachi Group human resources in management decision-making. The company said it will appoint Claudio Facchin as Senior Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of the Power Grids Business Unit. Additionally, current Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Lorena Dellagiovanna will be appointed as Hitachi's first female Vice President and Executive Officer, and further accelerate the Hitachi Group's diversity & inclusion initiatives. Through those changes, as of April 1, 2021, four of Hitachi's executive officers will be foreign nationals, three of whom will be working in Japan, the company said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The aircraft are not allowed to enter the Ukrainian airspace. The planes owned by Members of Parliament from the Opposition Platform - For Life Party Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak, who used them to fly to Russia, have been blacklisted in a latest round of Ukrainian sanctions. The relevant decision was made last Friday, the media outlet ZN.UA reported with reference to its own sources in the SBU Security Service of Ukraine. The aircraft were registered in Moldova after the U.S. had announced its plans to impose sanctions against Medvedchuk. Read alsoMedvedchuk travels to occupied Crimea, accompanied by three Ukrainian policemen mediaMedvedchuk and Kozak would use them for trips from Ukraine to Russia after direct flights between the two countries had been suspended, it said. The sanctions provide for a ban for these aircraft to enter the Ukrainian airspace, landings, etc. They are also prohibited from taking passengers on the territory of Ukraine. Sanctions against Kozak and his TV channels: What is known On February 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted a National Security and Defense Council decision of February 2, 2021, to impose sanctions on MP Taras Kozak and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, including 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. After that, the channels were immediately disconnected from broadcasting. Reporting by UNIAN New Delhi, Feb 3 : The government on Wednesday named the Central Bureau of Investigation's Additional Director Praveen Sinha, a 1988 batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, as the agency's interim chief until a new Director is appointed to succeed Rishi Kumar Shukla who has completed his two-year tenure. This is the fourth time since 2005 that an interim chief has been appointed for the country's premier investigative agency. In an order, the Department of Personnel and Training said: "With reference to the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Praveen Sinha, a IPS of Gujarat cadre, Additional Director CBI, shall with immediate effect look after the duties of the CBI Director, vice Rishi Kumar Shukla, IPS (MP: 83) till the appointment of new Director CBI, or until further orders, whichever is earlier." Shukla was appointed as the CBI Director for the period of two years on February 2, 2019 and had taken over the charge on February 4, 2019. His appointment came after the then Director Alok Verma was removed by the government following ugly spat with his Special Director Rakesh Asthana. Shukla, a Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer of the 1983 batch, on Wednesday relinquished charge of Director of CBI on superannuation. Before joining CBI, Shukla has worked as the DGP of Madhya Pradesh for around three years. He also served in various positions in the state, as well as doing a stint in the Intelligence Bureau. It was his endeavour all along to expedite the justice delivery system. Efforts taken by him in this regard led to early conclusion of numerous important trials of heinous crimes resulting in award of exemplary punishment to guilty criminals. Shukla is a Post Graduate in Philosophy and has been decorated with the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2007 and Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999. His two-year stint in the agency was marked by Indian victory with UK courts allowing extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya and India clinching the hosting of General Assembly of Interpol in 2022, coinciding with the 75th year of Independence. According to agency sources, Shukla, a soft-spoken officer, allowed anyone with a grievance in the agency to walk into his office on Fridays. The sources said that during the tenure of Shukla, the agency caught some notorious paedophiles in the country who were running international racket of producing and selling child sexual abuse material on dark web. The source said that CBI made a special branch to deal with the online child sexual abuse cases. Meanwhile, Sinha, a 1988 batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, who came to CBI in 2018, has played an important role in preparing the agency's new crime manual. The CBI's crime manual was revised after 15 years in December last year. The selection committee, comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India S. A. Bobde and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the leader of the largest opposition party in the lower house, is expected to meet in the coming days to decide on the next CBI Director. Earlier in the day, the CBI officials also gave farewell to Shukla at the agency's headquarters here. Shukla also met media persons at the agency's headquarters. Before Sinha, J.K. Dutta, Rakesh Asthana and M. Nageswar Rao had been appointed as CBI's interim chiefs in last 16 years. In December 2005, Dutta was appointed as CBI's interim chief after Uma Shankar Mishra retired. Similarly, in December 2016, Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, was appointed after Anil Sinha retired. In October 2018, Rao had replaced Alok Verma. However, Rao had to leave the post on January 9, after Verma was back as the CBI chief on the orders of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Rao was given the charge of the agency's interim chief on January 10, 2019 until the appointment of a new CBI director after the Selection Committee removed Verma. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Australian Liberal and Labor senators have accused the Chinese Communist Party of unspeakable human rights abuses after first-hand accounts of systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture in Uighur detention camps in China were aired by the BBC. The rare testimony, including from a former prison guard, is likely to lead to further scrutiny of the partys practices in Xinjiang, which the US government has labelled genocide. Beijing has accused the United States and its allies of interfering in its internal affairs and dismissed the genocide claims as baseless. One of the centres housing Uighurs in Chinas Xinjiang region. Credit:AP One Uighur woman, Tursunay Ziawudun, who spent nine months in detention and now lives in the US, said she was raped by groups of masked Chinese men and had an electrified stick inserted into her. Another, Qelbinur Sedik, an Uzbek woman who was a Chinese language teacher at one of the camps, said there were four kinds of electric shock the chair, the glove, the helmet, and anal rape with a stick. CARBONDALE, Ill., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A state-of-the-art self-storage facility is coming together at 710 N. Illinois Ave. thanks to the U-Haul acquisition of the former Southern Illinoisan newspaper production building. U-Haul Storage of Carbondale encompasses one single-story building on a 3.25-acre property. The 48,106-square-feet space was acquired on Jan. 29. Once the building is repurposed, it will offer approximately 400 indoor self-storage rooms with high-tech security features at affordable price points. Climate-controlled units will be available. Renovations are expected to be completed this spring. "This will be a modern, convenient location for our customers," stated Aaron Freeman, U-Haul Company of Illinois president. "Our customers have been asking for more self-storage options in Carbondale. We look forward to expanding our sustainable footprint by reusing a building that has been part of this community since 1946. By repurposing existing buildings rather than constructing new builds, U-Haul is taking the ecofriendly approach to serving our Illinois customers." While U-Haul Storage of Carbondale undergoes renovations, nearby U-Haul facilities and neighborhood dealers are available to serve customers. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Carbondale, just one block away for the new storage addition, is open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Saturday; 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Reserve equipment at uhaul.com or contact Reservations at 1-800-GO-UHAUL. Acquisition of the property was driven by U-Haul Corporate Sustainability initiatives: U-Haul supports infill developments to help local communities lower their carbon footprint. The adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-building materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings. As an essential service provider, U-Haul remains open during the COVID-19 pandemic while offering contactless business programs and enhanced cleaning protocols, including added steps for sanitizing equipment between customer transactions. U-Haul products are used daily by First Responders; delivery companies bringing needed supplies to people's homes; small businesses trying to remain afloat; college students; and countless other dependent groups, in addition to the household mover. Please visit uhaul.com/announcement for more information on how U-Haul is keeping customers and Team Members safe. About U-Haul Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of 22,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 offers secure access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the customer dispatch option on their smartphones and our proprietary Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to approximately 176,000 trucks, 127,000 trailers and 41,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 774,000 rentable storage units and 66.7 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry, and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S. Contact: Andrea Batchelor Jeff Lockridge E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 602-263-6981 Website: uhaul.com SOURCE U-Haul Related Links www.uhaul.com Somali National Army (SNA) has killed three Al-Shabaab fighters who fired mortar shells in Dhusamareb last night in an operation. According to State tv, SNA officers displayed the bodies of the militants including the group's leader in the areas between Elbur and Dhusamareb who was only identified as Abdinassir. Four AK 47s were also recovered in the operation. Several people including a police officer were wounded after mortar attacks targeting Dhusamareb in central Somalia on late Monday. According to locals close to 10 mortar shells were fired in a span of 10 minutes. Dhusamareb is hosting a conference between the country's next leaders over the electoral impasse. The government has not yet commented on the incident. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the resident pointed a finger on Al-Shabaab, An Al-Qaeda linked group fighting Somalia for more than a decade. The militant group on Sunday killed at least 15 people and at least 20 others injured. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility of the attack. Sorry! This content is not available in your region WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AACC is pleased to announce that, as of January 22, it has sold Lab Tests Onlinean award-winning public resource on laboratory testingto the digital health company OneCare Media. With this transition, Lab Tests Online will continue its epic growth and move to the next level of patient health advocacy by coordinating with and expanding upon OneCare Media's existing brands. Clinical laboratory tests provide essential answers to clinicians so that patients get accurate diagnoses and effective treatment, whether it's for a routine illness like strep throat or more serious conditions such as diabetes or cancer. In Lab Tests Online's nearly 20 years of existence, the site has helped more than 470 million people to better understand these tests, empowering patients and their families to make informed medical decisions. This new agreement with OneCare Media will enable Lab Tests Online to expand its scope and reach an even broader universe of consumers about the important lab tests upon which they depend. OneCare Media's existing brands include Testing.com, SleepFoundation.org, OnlineDoctor.com, and OnlineTherapy.com, among other health sites. As with these other health information resources, OneCare will rely upon an expert advisory board to ensure that Lab Tests Online's content continues to be science-based, accurate, and reflective of current data and findings. As part of the sales agreement, OneCare has therefore committed to having no less than a third of the site's successor Editorial Advisory Board consist of AACC members, who are laboratory professionals and leaders in the field. "Lab Tests Online is a critical resource for patients, caregivers, and medical professionals seeking to understand the many lab tests that are an integral part of healthcare," said AACC President Dr. David G. Grenache. "This site is one of AACC's proudest accomplishments and we are thrilled that OneCare Media has chosen to invest in its mission of health advocacy. We look forward to watching Lab Tests Online reach new heights under OneCare's guidance." About AACC Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, AACC brings together more than 50,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, AACC has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.aacc.org. Christine DeLong AACC Senior Manager, Communications & PR (p) 202.835.8722 [email protected] Molly Polen AACC Senior Director, Communications & PR (p) 202.420.7612 (c) 703.598.0472 [email protected] SOURCE AACC Related Links http://www.aacc.org A bushfire alert has been downgraded after triggering a prepare-to-leave warning for residents of a tiny township in Queenslands Fraser Coast region. A Queensland Fire and Emergency alert was issued after 1pm on Wednesday for St Mary, on the edge of state forestry about 30 kilometres south-west of Maryborough. The fire was said to have been likely to impact St Mary at the time, before being downgraded to advice level by 3pm. Currently as at 3pm Wednesday, 3 February a bushfire is burning near Glenbar Road, St Mary. Firefighters are working to contain the fire, the updated alert read. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. 154 Shares Share The day after Christmas, my husband Paul developed a fever, chills, and cough. On Sunday, he tested positive. He probably got sick helping a family member, but well never be certain how the virus invaded our home, rendering us hostage for weeks. Since I wasnt sick, I tried working from home. In between patients, Id peek in on Paul, trying not to disturb him, piled under blankets. He groaned when changing positions. When I asked how he felt, hed reply in barely audible grunts I interpreted as leave me alone. So, that first week, I did. He mostly slept. Doctors like to fix things. I convinced myself there was nothing to do it would run its course. It would be unwise to sit bedside and risk infection from sudden, forceful coughs as I watched his fitful sleep. I didnt like to see him so vulnerable. He didnt really need me. Id soon find out I was wrong. One day, after finishing telemedicine, I removed my noise-cancellation headphones and heard spastic, unremitting coughing. I ran to find Paul, pale and exhausted, eyes full of fear. When I suggested we consider the ER, he balked. He was afraid hed end up on a ventilator a thought that never crossed my mind. I realized then that Paul needed my medical knowledge. Because he was healthy, he simply couldnt make sense of his severe, unremitting symptoms and presumed the worst. I reassured him he didnt need that level of respiratory support. I explained his condition, something I shouldve done from the beginning (which Id naturally have if he were actually my patient). Paul took ibuprofen and acetaminophen around the clock. Despite this, fevers spiked above 104. His body aches were so severe they scared him. My sister, a hospital nurse, told me that her COVID patients lay very still, unmoving. Any shift in position made the pain unbearable. He also couldnt keep up with his fluids everything passed right through him. He threw up what little he ate. I wore a mask around the house and a medical respirator when I was in direct contact with him. When his cough worsened, I wanted to listen to his lungs. I couldnt hear anything with the noisy respirator, so I made him go outside in the snow so I could remove it. He couldnt inhale without coughing and wincing in pain. I put my stethoscope to his bare back and heard crackling. I called the on-call doctor, something I hadnt done in 20 years. He started Paul on antibiotics. More than medical expertise, Paul needed my loving presence. I failed him the first week, but Id change that. Since I was home, Id deceived myself about my availability. I decided to stop working and became his devoted caretaker. He tearfully thanked me. Id left him alone to recover, but he just felt alone. Pauls symptoms fluctuated wildly. On day 11, he still had high fevers and diarrhea. He left bed only to stumble to the bathroom. I took him to the ER and waved as they whisked him away, suppressing the fear they might keep him. I sat in the car updating family members. After an hour, Paul texted to suggest I go home for a while. Knowing our bedroom-turned-sick-ward was in much need of cleaning, I agreed. I slipped on the respirator and gloves and tore the sheets off the bed. I opened the windows and ran the vacuum. Id barely finished washing the sheets when Paul texted me hed be discharged in 20 minutes. I dropped everything (the hospital was 25 minutes away). When I was still 10 minutes out, Paul texted he was heading toward the exit. I drove as fast as I dared, not wanting Paul to wait outside in below-freezing weather. As I neared the hospital, I had to shift lanes to avoid a man shuffling alongside the desolate road. It was Paul. I did a U-turn. He got in, coughing and wheezing. I thought: What were you thinking? You just left the ER with pneumonia! One look at his face, though, turned my outrage to concern. There were three people in the waiting room. He didnt want to risk exposing them. When I pointed out he was nearly a mile from the hospital, he admitted his judgment might be impaired. Two days later, Pauls oxygen dropped to a worrisome 77 percent. His doctor arranged for oxygen delivery. The supportive treatment of COVID is exhausting, chasing symptoms before they rage out of control, waiting helplessly for interventions to work. Two weeks into his illness, Paul still needed fever-reducing medicine every four hours. Attempts to decrease dosing caused high fevers. He took a pill for nausea and one for stomach protection. He took guaifenesin and an antibiotic twice a day and prednisone for bronchospasm. At dinner, he took an aspirin and two routine medications. I made a spreadsheet for this complicated regimen almost 40 pills daily. I dont know how people who arent medically trained manage. Paul gradually improved. On day 19, we took a slow, short walk. His oxygen dropped to 80 percent. Just before heading back inside, I tucked into his arms for a few seconds. We hadnt hugged in twenty days, not that I was counting. Finally, the next day, Paul was released from quarantine. I hugged him for real. I know Im lucky. I never worried Id be fired and wed lose health insurance. I never felt alone, thanks to the support of friends and family. Im forever grateful to the oxygen delivery driver who braved our rural dirt road late one bitter Friday night, likely preventing hospitalization. And, I tested negative three times boosting my confidence in mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social-distancing. The next time a loved one needs caregiving, I wont be pushed away. Ill overcome feelings of inadequacy and show up anyway. Ill remember that when I finally became the caregiver Paul needed, we both felt better. Jen Baker-Porazinski is a family physician who blogs at Pound of Prevention. Image credit: Shutterstock.com ADVERTISEMENT A controversial Yoruba activist and acclaimed warlord, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, on Tuesday, attacked some prominent leaders in the southwest region of the country. Mr Igboho, who spoke during a virtual town hall meeting with the Yoruba in Diaspora on the security issues in the region, alleged that some leaders are sabotaging his efforts to secure the Yoruba land. The meeting started around 11:15 p.m. and ended a few minutes after 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with over 1,000 participants from Nigeria and the diaspora. Mr Igboho, who apologised for joining late at around 12:16 a.m., said he had a meeting earlier with the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, on his eviction notice on Fulani herdsmen. In his speech, Mr Igboho described the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi; former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu; Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde; and Oluwo of Iwo, Abdulrasheed Akambi, as Fulani slaves. He explained that his recent activities aimed at restoring peace and normalcy to Yorubaland without being sponsored by anybody. I am not scared of the police because my fight against herders is to secure our land and I believe that Yoruba people are supporting me. I pray that some Yoruba leaders will also support the cause when their fear is arrested. Yoruba leaders should be able to tell truths to President Muhammadu Buhari on security in Yoruba land. I dont like what Ooni said when he visited Buhari and thats one of the things I discussed with Alaafin earlier. Ooni should not coin his words but boldly tell Buhari what the Yoruba wants. The monarch must have collected dollars. Ooni called me but I dont want to see him. The only king truly supporting this struggle is Alaafin but Ooni disappointed me. He also condemned Mr Akanbi for calling himself an Emir. Yoruba leaders should call Oluwo to order, how can he be calling himself Emir? We just have leaders that are lazy and slaves to Fulanis. They visit Abuja to collect money, we will attack them and destroy their properties soon. Ooni should be dealt with because I am angry. Also, Tinubu and other top politicians in Yorubaland are Fulani slaves. For me, I will not allow myself to be enslaved by Fulanis. They should leave our land. Makinde has also joined the slave train because of second term ambition, he said in anger. ALSO READ: Ogun govt denies inviting Sunday Igboho to state Mr Igboho became notorious in the news late January following his ultimatum to herdsmen in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State to vacate the area. When the ultimatum expired, he led some youth to the house of the Seriki Fulani in the area, where properties worth millions were destroyed. The Seriki Fulani had since relocated to Kwara State with his family. Mr Igboho, on Monday, also visited Ogun State to carry out an eviction of Fulani herdsmen in the state but the state government immediately spoke on the belief that he was invited by the government, highlighting that it did not do so. Although there have been several reports of criminal activities carried out by herdsmen in the Southwest region of Nigeria, the countrys law does not give any citizen the right to expel other citizens or residents from wherever they chose to live or do business in the country. Ministry of Commerce & Industry Anup Wadhawan has stated that the Budget 2021-22 will enhance India's growth in manufacturing, trade and other sectors. The budget extensively and comprehensively envisages several initiatives and areas of focus, aimed at enhancing India's overall competitiveness and manufacturing capacities, which would enable growth, diversification and technological enhancement of India's exports. These cover both ease of doing business in the area of approvals and procedures, and the physical environment for investment, targeting a plug and play eco-system for investors. Briefing the media on the Budget 2021-22 initiatives, he said that one primary area of focus is the creation of a robust infrastructure, logistics and utilities environment for the manufacturing sector. Some of these measures include a scheme for Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA), which will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable the creation of global champions in the sector, benefitting from economies of scale and agglomeration. Seven Textile Parks will be established over 3 years. Wadhawan said that for the promotion of exports from the agriculture sector, the "Operation Green" scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industry, which is presently limited to onion, potatoes and tomatoes, has been increased to 22 perishable items. This would promote creation of infrastructure and value addition for horticulture products. Also, the Budget allocation for the schemes such as Agriculture Export Policy (AEP) and Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) has been enhanced, which will help in the implementation of AEP in States and boost agriculture exports. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Firefighters who responded Sunday evening to the home in the 200 block of Bradwell Road found the bodies of a married couple an 84-year-old man and an 82-year-old woman. The mans body was found on the floor in a living room area, police said. But the woman was found in a vehicle inside the garage, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. First European CS-1 Deployment Advances Natural Language Processing and Data Science Research Across Public, Private and Academic Organisations Cerebras Systems, the pioneer in high performance artificial intelligence (AI) compute, and EPCC, the supercomputing centre at the University of Edinburgh, today announced the selection of the world's fastest AI computer, the Cerebras CS-1, for EPCC's new international data facility for the Edinburgh SE Scotland City Region. Featuring the HPE Superdome Flex Server from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, this leading-edge AI deployment enables the next wave of natural language processing (NLP) and data science research for public, private and academic sectors across the City Region and the UK. "We are proud to announce this audacious infrastructure investment and partnership with the world leaders in AI computing," said Professor Mark Parsons, EPCC Director. "This installation will enable massive breakthroughs in our vision for data science and greatly accelerate our research across genomics and public health, including time-sensitive and pressing issues such as leveraging AI across large models to advance COVID-19 therapeutic research." EPCC will employ a unique combination of the Cerebras CS-1 system, powered by the high-performance Wafer Scale Engine (WSE) processor, and an extremely large-memory HPE Superdome Flex Server system for unprecedented AI scalability and massive data handling capability. This advanced AI supercomputing system will greatly reduce training time, the most time-intensive part of AI, enabling many more ideas to be tested, and will be available in EPCC's new "Edinburgh International Data Facility (EIDF)" for academic researchers and data scientists in the public and private sectors. The EIDF will support the University of Edinburgh's ambition to deliver more Data-Driven Innovation industry partnerships and transform the region into the 'Data capital of Europe,' one of its key ambitions as a partner in the City Region Deal. EPCC's mission is to accelerate the effective exploitation of novel computing throughout industry, academia and commerce. The CS-1 deployment amplifies and extends the reach of that mission for AI applications with local- to global-scale impact. Specifically, this partnership will accelerate AI-powered data science initiatives in the Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland City Region, enabling national-scale genomics research for public health initiatives. It also advances AI research for natural language processing of global academic and industry interest, using deep learning models like BERT in the School of Informatics' Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation. "We are excited to bring our industry-leading CS-1 AI supercomputer, coupled with HPE's advanced memory server, to EPCC and the European market to help solve some of today's most urgent problems," said Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Cerebras. "Our vision with the CS-1 was to reduce the cost of curiosity, and we look forward to the myriad experiments and world-changing solutions that will emerge from EPCC's regional data center." The CS-1 is built around the world's largest processor, the WSE, which is 56 times larger, has 54 times more cores, 450 times more on-chip memory, 5,788 times more memory bandwidth and 20,833 times more fabric bandwidth than the leading graphics processing unit (GPU) competitor. In AI compute, large chips process information more quickly, producing answers in less time. Depending on workload, from AI to HPC, the CS-1 delivers hundreds or thousands of times more performance than legacy alternatives, and it does so at a fraction of the power draw and space. The CS-1 has won numerous awards including Fast Company's Best World Changing Ideas, IEEE Spectrum's Emerging Technology Awards, Forbes AI 50 2020, HPCWire's Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards and CBInsights AI 100 2020. EPCC will use the HPE Superdome Flex Server, a powerful and easy-to-use high performance front-end storage and pre-processing solution for the CS-1 AI supercomputer. This will enable users to employ large datasets and application-specific pre- and post-processing of data for AI model training and inference on the CS-1, allowing the CS-1s WSE to operate at full bandwidth. HPE Superdome Flex Server will be robustly provisioned with 18 terabytes of memory, 102 terabytes of high-performance flash storage, 24 powerful Intel Xeon CPUs, and 12 network interface cards to deliver 1.2 terabits per second of data bandwidth to the Cerebras CS-1. "HPE has a long-standing collaboration with EPCC to develop solutions to some of the most challenging computational problems, and we are excited to be working at this time to provide a highly productive AI platform," said Mike Woodacre, HPE CTO of HPC MCS, HPE. "By tightly coupling a Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine with a HPE Superdome Flex Server In-Memory host, we are aiming to enable researchers to tackle complex AI workloads at unprecedented rates." For more information, please visit the EPCC website or EPCC International Data Facility. About Cerebras Systems Cerebras Systems is a team of pioneering computer architects, computer scientists, deep learning researchers, and engineers of all types. We have come together to build a new class of computer to accelerate artificial intelligence work by three orders of magnitude beyond the current state of the art. The Cerebras CS-1 is the fastest AI computer in existence. It contains a collection of industry firsts, including the Cerebras Wafer Scale Engine (WSE). The WSE is the largest chip ever built. It contains 1.2 trillion transistors, covers more than 46,225 square millimeters of silicon and contains 400,000 AI optimized compute cores. The largest graphics processor on the market has 54 billion transistors and covers 826 square millimeters and has only 6,912 cores. In artificial intelligence work, large chips process information more quickly producing answers in less time. As a result, neural networks that in the past took months to train, can now train in minutes on the Cerebras WSE. About EPCC EPCC is the supercomputing centre at the University of Edinburgh. We provide national supercomputing and data science expertise, resources and facilities to business and academia across the UK and internationally. We host ARCHER2, the UK's National HPC service amongst a number of national supercomputing and research data resources. We are at the heart of the Edinburgh SE Scotland City Region Deal through our design and delivery of the Edinburgh International Data Facility which will host the Cerebras CS-1. We also offer an MSc in HPC and an MSc in HPC with Data Science. See examples of how we spend our time: www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/blog View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005062/en/ Contacts: Kim Ziesemer Email: pr@zmcommunications.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 :60 spot, "ALL-STAR CAST" features one real star, Don Cheadle, and a host of celebrity look-alikes in their seemingly natural elements, playing into the juxtaposition of what's real and fake in the world around us while shining a light on Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer, which boasts some superior stats: zero carbs, 80 calories, zero sugar, and six times filtered to remove impurities. "There is nothing like Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer in the market today. With the perfect combination of zero carbs, zero sugar, no artificial aftertaste and USDA organic certification, this product is the next generation of hard seltzers," said Ricardo Marques, Vice President, Michelob ULTRA. "In a world where most things seem real, sometimes they're not: that's the central theme of our Super Bowl LV campaign, which will certainly entertain as well as educate." The superstar doppelgangers appearing in the new Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer commercial include a "Serena Williams" look-alike whose swing is a bit off, a "Megan Fox" doppelganger glammed up on the red carpet, a stunt double duo resembling "Sylvester Stallone" and "Lucy Liu" in the midst of an action scene, and off-brand versions of both "Maluma" and "Usher" who don't quite have the moves we're accustomed to seeing. The real Don Cheadle swoops in to kick his look-alike -- which happens to be his real-life brother, Colin Cheadle -- off a boat, while calling out the phonies of the bunch and proving that one thing's for certain: Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer is as real as it tastes. "I dig the creative concept and the fact that the product is organic. I'm hyped to be part of the Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer Super Bowl commercial and their product debut," said award-winning actor and producer Don Cheadle. FCB is the lead creative agency for "ALL-STAR CAST." To view the commercial, please visit Michelob ULTRA's YouTube page. Michelob ULTRA reminds seltzer enthusiasts to please enjoy the new USDA certified organic hard seltzers responsibly. Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer is available nationwide in three refreshing flavors cucumber lime, spicy pineapple and peach pear. For more information, visit MichelobULTRA.com/organic-seltzer or follow @MichelobULTRA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. About Michelob ULTRA Introduced in 2002, Michelob ULTRA is currently the fastest growing beer brand in the United States by share and the No. 2 beer in the industry by dollar sales. With just 95 calories, 2.6 carbs and no artificial flavors or colors, it is a superior light beer that celebrates the active, balanced lifestyle of its drinkers that includes both fitness and fun. Michelob ULTRA's choice of grains and extended mashing process leads to its refreshing taste and fewer carbohydrates. It is brewed with the finest barley malt, rice, hops, and a pure-cultured yeast strain, all of which reflect Anheuser-Busch's commitment to brewing quality. Michelob ULTRA reminds you to always drink, and sweat, responsibly. About Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer Introduced in January 2021, Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer is a superior USDA certified organic hard seltzer that is as real as it tastes with zero carbs, 80 calories and zero sugar. Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer will offer three initial flavors including spicy pineapple, peach pear, and cucumber lime and will be available in 12 pack 12oz cans, 24 pack cans and a 25 oz can, wherever Michelob ULTRA is sold. This signature pack will be followed by a second variety pack that will launch later in 2021. Michelob ULTRA reminds you to always drink responsibly. About Anheuser-Busch For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most recognizable beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For More Information: Jessica Thorpe [email protected] Alexandra Amodio [email protected] SOURCE Michelob ULTRA Baguio City (CNN Philippines, February 3) The Department of Education-Cordillera sought to correct learning modules that malign, discriminate, and wrongly depict Igorots. DepEd-CAR Director Estela Carino, an Igorot herself, called the attention of other regions and schools division offices using such modules to make the necessary changes. "When a wrong concept keeps repeated, this might be accepted as the truth that is why need to respond to it right away and for those responsible to correct it immediately," Carino said. Some of the modules that went viral malign Igorots according to their physical appearance and clothing. Carino urged all education stakeholders to help in creating awareness on indigenous peoples and "to be part of the system that correct these learning materials not by bashing or ignoring it." Benguet caretaker Rep. Eric Go Yap also condemned the wrongful depiction of Igorots in the modules, which circulated online. "I urge Secretary (Leonor) Briones to issue a Department Order instructing teachers nationwide to forbid them from using discriminatory statements such as those shown in photos in preparing their modules. This is not the first time that this happened and at this point, the Department should take responsibility," said Yap, who added he will raise the issue in Congress through a resolution and will summon DepEd officials to shed light on the matter. Instead of being enraged by the incident, netizens who have Igorot roots shared their photos wearing traditional Cordilleran attires and attending rituals in the region while posting with the hashtag #im_proud_to_be_an_igorot_challenge. CNN Philippines' Baguio correspondent Lauren Anuma contributed to this report. Amaravati, Feb 3 : Senior YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha MP V.Vijayasai Reddy on Wednesday alleged that Nara Chandrababu Naidu himself was orchestrating attacks on his own party men. He said this after Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) national spokesperson was attacked in Vijayawada on Tuesday. "Chandrababu agitated for conducting Panchayati polls but is struggling to find candidates now. To divert this humiliation from public attention, he is orchestrating attack conspiracies on his own party men," alleged Reddy. He claimed, "What more could be expected from a person who demolished temples? "Chandrababu's case is like a thief shouting that a thief has come. In the investigation, it was revealed that TDP leaders paid Rs 30,000 to the culprits who broke God's idol. TDP conspiracies behind temple attacks are slowly emerging, that's why the yellow gang leader is mum," he alleged while attacking Naidu. Earlier, Naidu alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was resorting to vindictive politics against the TDP leaders over rising anti-YSRCP sentiment in the rural local bodies' elections. He alleged that the arrest of party state president Kinjarapu Atchannaidu marked the peak of YSRCP's vengeful activities amid the election process. "It was clear that CM Reddy has been bent on taking vengeance against the North Andhra region. YSRCP would be there only for two years but the sarpanches would stay for the next five years," he claimed. According to Naidu, the fear of defeat in the Panchayati elections is allegedly causing YSRCP to unleash terror in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam. "In Atchannaidu's native Nimmada village, there were no clashes of any sort for the past 40 years. Now, tensions are being created there only for the narrow political gains. It should be ascertained first as to who has caused the tensions," alleged the TDP supremo. Naidu criticised YSRCP leader Duvvada Srinivas for allegedly storming into Atcahnnaidu's village with his activists and asserted that there was photographic and video evidence of his storming and threatening, brandishing rods, knives and axes. "But, the police did not file any case on the YSRCP gangsters. Instead, false cases were filed against Atchannaidu. Almost all sections of the IPC were slapped on the TDP leaders for no fault of his," he alleged. The TDP supremo also alleged that false cases were filed against Kala Venkatarao and Atchannaidu on the Ramatheertham incident, including other TDP leaders such as Kuna Ravi Kumar and Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu being allegedly implicated in false cases. The opposition leader claimed that Reddy will pay a heavy price for all these alleged oppressive activities as people will teach a strong lesson to YSRCP in the Panchayati elections. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A man has appeared in court after allegedly posing as a police officer to issue fake coronavirus fines to two women. Martin McCarthy, 29, is accused of approaching the elderly women near the Stratford Centre in east London at around midday on Friday. He allegedly told them they had breached coronavirus regulations before escorting them to a cashpoint where he asked them to withdraw 500. The Metropolitan Police said the incident was seen by police officers, who arrested the suspect. Martin McCarthy, 29, is accused of approaching the elderly women near the Stratford Centre (pictured) in east London at around midday on Friday McCarthy, from Bow, in east London, appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with impersonating a police officer and blackmail, and was was released on bail ahead of a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on March 1. The Metropolitan Police have issued a warning to the public to be on the lookout for coronavirus-related scams. Detective Inspector Vince Fedder said: 'Thankfully officers were on scene and quickly dealt with this incident. McCarthy, from Bow, in east London, appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court (pictured) on Monday charged with impersonating a police officer and blackmail, and was was released on bail ahead of a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on March 1 'However, the public need to be aware that some people may well see the current emergency as an opportunity to exploit others. 'I appreciate that these are frightening and lonely times for many people and we want to be careful not to cause further distress or worry. 'However, a general conversation on how to spot a bogus officer may stop someone falling victim to these scams. 'If you think that you, or anyone you know, has been the victim of such a fraud, then please contact police on 101.' Dutch health authorities on Tuesday informed that the COVID-19 cases in the country have declined by 20% over the last week, but warned the new variants are "gaining ground" as they now account for two-thirds of infections. Prime Minister Mark Rutte extended the lockdown for at least a month following the announcement by the health authorities, who cautioned against lowering the guard. Rutte extended the lockdown that the country had imposed 10 days ago, a move that triggered violent protests in the country. Read: Netherlands PM Condemns Anti-curfew Riots, Says 'will Be Treated As Criminal Violence' "The number of infections per day is decreasing and the hospital is also slowly becoming less busy. But new variants of the coronavirus are rapidly gaining ground in the Netherlands. That is worrisome because those variants are more contagious and can lead to a new wave of infections. That is why the cabinet has decided to continue the current lockdown," the Dutch government said on Tuesday. Read: COVID-19: Netherlands Begins First Curfew Since World War II; Travel Ban Comes Into Effect What's in the lockdown? All non-essential stores will remain close in the country, but the government has decided to allow to collect pre-placed orders from February 10 onwards in order to make the lockdown more bearable. The government has urged people to stay at home and work from home and only go out in case of emergency or to buy essential items, such as groceries and medical supplies. The government has said that employers must ensure that employees who can work from home must do so. Read: Netherlands Begin Vaccinations; Last EU Nation To Do So People are not allowed to receive more than one visitor per day and cannot go out more than once a day. Secondary schools will continue to remain close until at least March 1. However, primary schools, daycare, and special schools have been allowed to reopen from February 8 onwards. Employees in education can go for testing on short notice, while parents and childcare facilities have been advised to make sure minimum contact happens during schooling. Meanwhile, nighttime curfew, which sparked protests in the country last week, will be valid until February 10. The cabinet has asked the OMT for advice and based on the evidence further decision will be taken next week. The Netherlands has reported more than 9,82,000 COVID-19 cases and over 14,000 deaths so far. The country has administered nearly 2,50,000 vaccine shots under the European Union's vaccination programme to date. Read: UK Citizens Barred From Entering Netherlands, Germany For Non-essential Travel (Image Credit: AP) ROME, FEB 3 - Nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday FdI would not back former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi as premier and called on her allies, the natonalist League party of Matteo Salvini and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia (FI), party to abstain on any vote for him. FI has voiced support for Draghi while Salvini has said he may listen to his proposals but a general election is best for Italy. With the biggest party in parliament, the populist 5-Star Movement (M5S), mostly against Draghi he does not at the moment have the numbers for a majority in either house, unless the League backs him along with FI. FdI has said it will oppose him. (ANSA). State Forest Rangers recently helped rescue a woman involved in a snowmobile crash, located a lost hiker and rescued an ice climber with a leg injury. The following incidents took place between December and late January. All information below was supplied by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Village of Speculator (Lake Pleasant) Hamilton County Wilderness Rescue: On Jan. 30 at 2:35 p.m., a Forest Ranger received a call from Hamilton County 911 reporting a snowmobile accident in the area of Hatchery Brook Road. Coordinates placed the snowmobiler approximately five miles into the trail system from the nearest road. The 41-year-old woman from Wallington, New Jersey, reportedly lost control of the snowmobile and crashed into trees off the side of the trail, dislocating her shoulder. The Forest Ranger, along with two others and Hamilton County Sheriffs Deputies, Speculator Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and medics from Greater Amsterdam Volunteer Ambulance Corps, responded to assist. Once on scene, medics were able to safely provide first aid to the woman. She was then packaged up and evacuated to a waiting ambulance for transport to a local hospital for further medical treatment. Forest Rangers and Hamilton County Deputies remained on scene to conduct the accident investigation and remove the snowmobile. Town of Dresden, Washington County Wilderness Rescue: On Jan. 9 at 5:16 p.m., DECs Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a 28-year-old hiker from Ballston Spa who became disoriented and lost the trail while hiking Erebus Mountain. Three Forest Rangers responded to assist. Ranger Hess entered the Lake George Wild Forest at the end of Shelving Rock Road while Rangers Donegan and St. Claire entered by boat from the Green Island Maintenance Center. At 9:30 p.m., Rangers located the lost hiker and proceeded to warm her and assess her injuries. The hiker was safely escorted down to the boat for transport back to the maintenance center and given a courtesy ride back to her vehicle at the trailhead. Rangers were cleared of the scene and back in service at 10:55 p.m. Town of Hunter, Greene County Wilderness Rescue: On Dec. 23 at 12 p.m., DECs Central Dispatch received a report of a 64-year-old man from Yorktown Heights with a lower leg injury in the Platte Clove area. Forest Rangers Fox, Brand, Donegan, Jackson, Martin, Petit, Rusher, Seeley, Slade, and Lt. Morse responded to assist the injured ice climber, along with Tannersville Rescue, Hunter Fire Department, Hunter Ambulance, Greene County Paramedics, Ulster and Greene Deputy Coordinators, an off-duty Mohonk Preserve Ranger, DECs Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation, and the Office of Fire Prevention and Control. The climber was evaluated by a medical professional who was recreating in the area and fire department personnel. A Forest Ranger descended into the gorge to provide further first aid and assist in packaging the man into a litter while Forest Ranger Slade rigged a high angle rescue system to haul the climber out of the gorge. The man was then carried out to the road and transported by ambulance to a local hospital for additional medical treatment at 4:15 p.m. High Peaks: DEC Reminds Hikers to Secure Vehicles and Stow Valuables: A series of vehicle break-ins occurred in December at trailhead parking areas along Route 73 in the High Peaks region. DEC and State Police are investigating. Trailhead parking lots are not monitored, and parking is at the users own risk. Remember to lock vehicles before leaving trailheads. To minimize risk, do not leave valuable items in your vehicle. If you must bring them, store them out of sight to avoid attracting attention. If that is not possible, store valuables out of sight. If hikers experience a break-in, report the incident to State Police by calling 518-873-2750. *New York State DEC staff continue to serve in leadership roles at COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites across the state. For information about efforts to vaccinate New Yorkers and to check eligibility for vaccinations, go to New York State Department of Healths COVID-19 Vaccine website. Be sure to properly prepare and plan before entering the backcountry. Visit DECs Hike Smart NY, Adirondack Backcountry Information and Catskill Backcountry Information webpages for more information. MORE UPSTATE NY OUTDOORS Snowmobile through the ice: Orange County man dies, other rider survived DEC decides to offer totally online hunter, bowhunter safety courses indefinitely Snowmobile officials: Knuckleheads who drive off designated trails ruin thing for others UPGRADE YOUR OUTDOOR GEAR Fishing Gear | Camo Face Masks | Hunting Gear | Camping Supplies SpaceXs first all-civilian space flight set for late this year will provide an out-of-this-world fundraising opportunity for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, which says it expects to generate $200 million for cancer research and other causes. And the fund is off to a fast start after $1 million in donations came pouring in less than a day of the flight's announcement. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman who purchased the multi-million dollar flight and pilot the SpaceX Dragon craft to space, revealed the Inspiration4 mission Monday, which will send three people and him to the final frontier. One of the seats is offered in a raffle through St. Jude's and although people do not have to donate to enter, it has brought in many willing to give. Until the end of February, anyone 18 or older can go to St. Judes website to enter for a chance to win a seat on the Inspiration4 and go into space later this year. Those who donate, however, will receive special packages - from 100 entries for anyone giving $10 to a flight in a MiG-29, an authentic flight suit and VIP passes to the launch, as well as 10,000 entries, for those who donate $100,000. The winner will be chosen by random drawing March 1. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman who purchased the multi-million dollar flight and pilot the SpaceX Dragon craft to space, revealed the Inspiration4 mission Monday, which will send three people and him to the final frontier Of the $200 million that St. Jude hopes to raise this year, $100 million is to come from Isaacman, with the rest from donations generated by raffling off one seat on the flight. Richard C. Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude, said the money raised will go toward the Memphis hospitals $1 billion annual operating cost, as well as its global partnership with the World Health Organization. The overarching idea is to raise childhood cancer survival rates around the world from 20 percent to 60 percent by 2030. 'We have this, big audacious goal trying to help kids all around the globe,' Shadyac said. 'This big, audacious campaign is going to help fuel that.' SpaceX partnered with Isaacman with the goal of raising money for St. Jude's. In less than one day, $1 million has been donated. The mission will use one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets 'He and SpaceX want space to be accessible - thats why were going to do the sweepstakes,' Shadyac said. The four-person expedition will take off in SpaceX's Dragon craft late this year from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and orbit around Earth - the length of the flight has yet to be revealed. A St. Jude health care worker has already been selected to take the journey and Isaacman is giving another seat away to a business owner that uses his credit card processing platform, Shift4Payments. Details of the ride in a SpaceX Dragon capsule are still being worked out, including the number of days the four will be in orbit after blasting off from Florida. The Inspiration4 crew will not be going into space blind, but will receive commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity and other forms of stress testing before traveling into the last frontier. One of the seats is offered in a raffle through St. Jude's and although people do not have to donate to enter, it has brought in many willing to give. Until the end of February, anyone 18 or older can go to St. Judes website to enter for a chance to win a seat on the Inspiration4 and go into space later this year Details of the ride in a SpaceX Dragon capsule are still being worked out, including the number of days the four will be in orbit after blasting off from Florida St. Jude's strategy of teaming up with Elon Musk's SpaceX and with Isaacman, the co-founder and CEO of Shift4Payments, a payment processor, is a shrewd way for a nonprofit to capitalize on a potential publicity bonanza, experts say. Deborah Small, a professor of marketing and psychology at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, said the windfall for St. Judes involvement with Inspiration4 would go well beyond the $200 million fundraising goal itself. St. Jude, which specializes in researching and treating pediatric diseases, also stands to increase awareness of its mission. Her research on why people support charitable causes shows that donors generally favor causes that seem genuine and impactful. What's more, she suggested, St. Judes involvement helps cast Inspiration4s mission as a public-spirited one. 'It serves to benefit it by making this more of a societal, beneficial sort of mission,' Small said. 'Its not just a vanity trip for these millionaires or whoever.' 'Theres a bigger justification for it.' The four-person expedition will take off in SpaceX's Dragon craft late this year from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and orbit around Earth - the length of the flight has yet to be revealed The idea of partnering with Isaacman came through Ross Martin, president of the marketing agency Known and a member of St. Judes digital and innovation advisory council. Shadyac said he was struck by the similarity of their world views. 'He cares deeply about making a difference in the world, about helping sick kids,' Shadyac said of Isaacman. 'He was talking to me about inspiring and creating possibilities and I said, `At St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, we take what seems like its impossible and we try to make it possible. ' The third slot on the flight will go to a business owner who uses Shift4 Payments. The fourth seat will go to a frontline healthcare worker at St. Judes hospital to inspire hope about its mission. Inspiration4 should live up to its name for children at St. Judes hospital, Shadyac said. 'I want them to know that strangers from all around the world could potentially come together to help them,' he said. 'Im confident that theyre going to feel that hope and itll inspire them on their journey to battle childhood cancer or other catastrophic diseases.' Shadyac pointed to his wall, with photos of four patients who lost their battles with their illnesses at the hospital. 'Im hoping and praying that the money thats going to be raised around this and Jareds generous gift is going to generate research so that the kids like these beautiful kids stay on this planet and are able to go into space with Jared,' he said. 'I want kids all around the world to be inspired by this and ultimately realize their dreams.' An improvised explosive device killed four Tunisian soldiers patrolling in a mountain region near the Algerian border, Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed Zekri said on Wednesday. The mountainous Moghila area, near the impoverished city of Kasserine, is home to an Islamist militant group that the Tunisian army has been fighting for years. Tunisia faces a small but persistent militant threat, foreign diplomats focused on security say. As well as jihadist cells holed up in remote mountain regions, who have not made successful forays beyond their strongholds in recent years, there is also a threat from militants radicalised online. Last year militants tried to attack the U.S. embassy in Tunis, killing a policeman at a security point with a suicide vest, and months later stabbed two security officers in a knife attack in the city of Sousse. In October, a young Tunisian migrant arrived in France and immediately killed three people in a church. Short link: Its never too early to learn about Rosa Parks, the civil rights icon who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on Dec. 1, 1955. Just ask Tamika Lomax Nealey, a Birmingham woman who took photos of her adorable 5-year-old granddaughter, Paityn Jean Lomax, dressed as Parks for a contest at Princeton Alternative Elementary School. Today Black history was explained hands on to Paityn Jean!! Nealey said in a Facebook post. What better way to teach her about Rosa Parks than taking her and showing her hands on!!! #SheIsRosaParks #SheHadAChoice #FrontSeat #BackSeat #ALLTHESECTIONSWEREOPEN #ThanksRosaParks #BlackHistoryMonth Today black history was explained hands on to Paityn Jean!! What better way to teach her about Rosa Parks then taking... Posted by Tamika Lomax Nealey on Monday, February 1, 2021 Nealey, known to her grandkids as YaYa, told AL.com that PJs photo session included a small but important road trip. We went to Linn Park first and then she asked about the bus that Rosa Parks was told to get up out her seat, Nealey said via a Facebook message. So I took her to MAX bus station and the bus driver was still on the bus, and he told her the story and she took with great pride of being Rosa Parks! Theres no word yet on whether PJ was named the best-dressed Rosa Parks at her school in Birmingham. (The contest) was delayed for some reason and by it being the beginning of Black History Month I thought I would share! Nealey said. SINGAPORE, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1993, Goh Chin Soon traveled to Qingdao with an investment group that had been organized by the former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong. In September of that year, Goh signed a development contract with the Qingdao High-Tech Park Management Committee; Song Fatang, the Executive Vice Governor of Shandong Province, Secretary Yu of the Qingdao Municipal Committee, and Mayor Qin of Qingdao City were all present at the ceremony. Subsequently, investments were made in three projects in Qingdao that year, including Qingdao International City, Qingdao Marina City, and Qingdao International Beer City, covering totally 8,466 mu of land. Overall, the development of 6,000 houses, villas, apartments, and shops began on approximately 600,000 square meters of land. This development quickly attracted even more investment, which caused land prices there to soar. Singaporean-Chinese businessman Goh Chin Soon has filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in a case that could involve corruption and embezzlement in China. In 1993, Goh Chin Soon (front left) went to Qingdao China with a Singaporean investment group and signed a development contract. Singaporean-Chinese businessman Goh Chin Soon filed an arbitration request with the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Then, in April of 2004, the development was suddenly derailed. In an interview in 2008, Goh stated that "corrupt officials, who coveted his success, conspired together to accuse Goh of possessing firearms and even an army." Goh was illegally detained and placed into custody. "The price of the assets skyrocketedthey were big pieces of fat, juicy meat," Goh said. "It is my assertion that certain Qingdao officials, illegal gangsters, and local profiteers took advantage of their positions to abuse the government's power and brazenly colluded with court judges at all levels," Goh further explained in the interview. "The police created several false cases to snatch up my assets, illegally converted the investment in Beer City into debt, and then caused me to go bankrupt in just four days," Goh has stated, showing reports from various Chinese language newspapers in 2008. "My Beer City Company and 463 mu of land worth more than USD 1.54 billion were seized." Although Goh was acquitted and released in December of 2004, the company's assets were seized and the land and assets were transferred by auction during his 7-month imprisonment. According to the investigation, local government officials were involved in the organized crime syndicate. "It is my assertion that the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, the standing committee of the District Committee, the secretary of the Political and Law Commission, the officials of Laoshan District, the head of the Public Security Department, the president of the Laoshan District Court, the vice-president of the Shandong Provincial High Court, and the bank governor were all involved in this case," Goh said, in reference to a press conference in July of 2008. "Some of them were investigated and sentenced, but some are still at large." It has been alleged that in order to prevent this case from affecting its international image, the Chinese side has repeatedly requested through various channels to negotiate with Goh not to disclose the evidence he has and to refund part of the money. However, the amount that has allegedly been offered is far below the actual value of the reported embezzled assets. After Goh filed an arbitration request with the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the ICSID, in turn, formally filed a case at the end of 2020. ICSID is an international arbitration institution for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and states. Goh is now planning to hold an international press conference to file for international arbitration and an indictment against certain alleged corrupt officials in the Chinese government for allegedly robbing foreign investors of billions of dollars of assets. Goh has stated that he has evidence about the people involved in the case, and he continues to caution foreign investors to carefully assess the high risk of investing in China. Contact: Ronni Chua +65-92372211 [email protected] SOURCE Goh Chin Soon The year 2020 was like no other. The world was ravaged by a deadly virus which brought economies of the world to a standstill. The inadequacies of healthcare infrastructure were exposed. We struggled to deal with the pandemic and by the time effective measures were put in place, many lives were lost. We have since braved the pandemic and are now faced with economic recovery. In this light, the nation had pinned all its hopes on the 2021 budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had her work cut out for her. Economic recovery featured as the main star of this year's budget. From the impending COVID-19 vaccination drive to bettering existing healthcare infrastructure to supporting the healthcare/ pharma industry, the expectation was of increased government spending on healthcare from 1.2 per cent of the GDP to 2.5 per cent of the GDP. The public expected reduced out-of-pocket spends and the industry expected reduced taxes/import duties/ GST rationalisation/clearer regulation. Also Read: Budget 2021: Pharma, healthcare expect big sops, higher allocation Expectations were set high. FM Sitharaman's budget stood on 6 pillars. Health and well-being were pillar No. 1., and rightly so. At Rs 2,23,846 crores, the financial outlay towards healthcare saw a dramatic increase of 137% over last year's outlay. Evidence is enough that the government has looked at the healthcare sector and is poised to make it more robust than ever. The allocation of Rs. 35,000 crore towards COVID-19 vaccination spends is demonstrative of the government's resolve to ensure that the Indian populace that has suffered this dreaded disease, suffers no more. The question that remains is how many Indians this outlay would be enough to vaccinate. The FM did say that she would give more. This was indeed a welcome step. That said, the budgetary allocation meets the expectations of the nation. Keeping with the focus on developing our healthcare infrastructure, the words of the FM - Progressively, as institutions absorb more, we shall commit more were just not mere words. The figures spoke for themselves. The allocation of Rs 64,180 crore for infrastructure development as part of the PM AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana is another welcome measure. The decision to develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care health systems, strengthen existing national institutions, and create new institutions, to cater to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases was essentially the need of the hour. This will help the development of our healthcare infrastructure - hospitals, labs, critical care centers, wellness centers, R&D labs and provide much-needed relief to these resources that have, because of COVID-19, been stretched beyond their limits of efficiencies. The support given towards digitisation of health data will help in better data analytics, generation of data-based reports and will make the decision-making process for healthcare delivery systems more efficient and effective. Expectations in this regard seem to have been met. Also Read: Budget 2021: India Inc welcomes tax relief, infra spend fillip Focused outlays on clean water, sanitation, and air have also added to the overall focus on the health and well-being of the public at large. While the budget has met expectations in terms of national vaccination and development of the healthcare sector, some expectations of the industry seem to have been overlooked. The industry was hoping for some relief in terms of reduced cess/ import duties (on medical devices), incentives for local manufacturing, rationalisation of GST slabs (though a function of the GST council), and tax rebates in general. These have not been provided. That said, comfort may be drawn in the fact that no new obligations have been imposed in terms of direct taxes, thus some solace there. Regardless, GST issues can be dealt with by the GST council so all may not be lost just yet. The public had expectations that there would be measures to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure in terms of reduction in treatment rates, prices of drugs, and diagnostic tests. Sadly, they were given a miss. That said, these are all subject matter of legislative control and can be implemented under provisions of laws such as the Drugs Price Control Order 2013 and the like. Solace can however be taken in the fact that the FM did not add any new direct taxes or additional levies on taxpayers. Commendation to be given on that front. An additional disappointment is the lack of attention to the telemedicine/e-pharmacy sector. There were hopes of some mention on this. That said, there is hope in that the government has already expressed its desire to make both of these mainstream by introducing the telemedicine guidelines and the e-pharmacy rules (which should be released soon hopefully). All in all, from a healthcare perspective, the budget has taken care of the bare necessities that are needed to ensure that the healthcare infrastructure of the country is given a booster dose to make it infallible to pandemics like what we are going through and also takes care of the actual vaccine that is needed to enable the public to fight this virus. Health seems to have taken centrestage, next only to defence. Pandemics are the new enemy and India needs to be prepared. Budget 2021 is a good enough step in this direction. Now time will tell how these steps eventually pan out. (The author is Partner, Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.) (UPDATE: New curfew on the table as option for dealing with Flints rash of violent crime) FLINT, MI -- Mayor Sheldon Neeley detailed his plan to reduce violent crime in the Flint at a special City Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2, but he also asked residents fed up with recent gunfire and deaths to join him and police in watching over their families and neighbors. Neeley and Police Chief Terence Green appeared in a virtual meeting of the council -- a session called in response to seven days of violence in Flint that have left four dead and multiple people, including an 11-month-old child, hospitalized in critical condition. Stay watchful. Create community block watches. Create community organizations and groups to ... protect each other, Neeley said. Get to know your neighbor. Create those mechanisms to be able to push back against the violent crime thats happening in our community. Leslie Haney, a 6th Ward resident, told the council members that gunfire has become routine in her neighborhood. Its a regular occurrence, said Haney, who said at least one stray bullet has hit her home. Quincy Murphy, an activist in the Dewey Park area, told council that Flints violent crime cant be blamed on a mayor or police chief. I dont care whos the mayor, Murphy said. That is not going to stop people in the heat of the moment ... These people out in the street need jobs. Flints crime dashboard has not been updated since Jan. 24, but it shows two homicides had occurred by that date compared to no fatal shootings during the same three-plus weeks in 2020. Since Jan. 24, four more shooting deaths have occurred. Green said hes had a plan for fighting crime since he became Flints police chief in September but understands the frustration of citizens. These gunshots at night, I hear them, Green said. These drag races ... I hear them. Its frustrating as a citizen ... There is no way I would stand by and not have a plan and not try to reduce this violent crime ... this lawlessness in the city of Flint. Neeley said Flint hasnt been alone in experiencing increases in crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said officers are taking more guns off city streets -- 655 in 2020 -- than previous years and said his ban on reselling those guns at auction will help create a safer city in the future. The mayor also pointed out a community advisory task force he formed is working as a bridge between residents and police and said the city has more officers patrolling streets today than before he took office. Neeley added the entire community will need to change to lower violence in Flint. Its not people driving in from the out-county area committing these heinous acts of violence., he said. These heinous acts of violence sometimes (are being committed by) our neighbors, our friends, or our relatives ... This is mostly retaliatory type of crimes ... You hurt me, I hurt you. You hurt my family member, I hurt your family member, Neeley said. This cycle of violence needs to stop ... Theres better ways to resolve our issues beyond a gun. Read more on MLive: Flint mayor, police chief and City Council to meet after 5 homicides to start 2021 Shooting in Flint leaves 21-year-old man dead Woman killed, baby critically injured after 5 people shot in Flint COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global workforce transformation solutions provider GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE: GPX) today announced the formation of an Automotive Advisory Board to support its global automotive practice. The move brings together industry thought leaders and experts to provide feedback and guidance on the company's offerings, solutions, and service levels. GP Strategies Automotive Advisory Board members include: Jeremy Anwyl , former CEO of Edmunds.com former CEO of Edmunds.com John Alan Cooper , former Vice President of Aftersales for Ford Europe former Vice President of Aftersales for Ford Europe Ernst H. Lieb , former President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA former President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Dr. Steffen Szameitat , former Director Strategy of the SEAT/Cupra brands of the Volkswagen Group former Director Strategy of the SEAT/Cupra brands of the Volkswagen Group Dave Zuchowski , former CEO of Hyundai Motor America The Automotive Advisory Board improves GP Strategies' global competitive advantage and serves as a sounding board for business leaders on various subjects, including innovation, business development, and strategic opportunities. Board members will consult on brand positioning and new service products, advise on geographic expansion, and evaluate corporate development strategies. "We're proud to have assembled such an impressive team of industry leaders. They provide the voice and perspective of the customer, and have already contributed meaningfully to some new initiatives like our modern learning take on an Automotive Retail Academy and integrated product launch strategies designed for the pandemic age," said Cathy Palochko, GP Strategies Senior Vice President and Global Automotive Industry Lead. "Across more than 50 years in the business, we've built a well-respected presence among automakers and their supporting vendors. The addition of the Automotive Advisory Board helps us reinforce that relevance and sustain it for years to come." Among the advisory board members is Jeremy Anwyl, perhaps best known for his 13 years spent leading Edmunds.com. He believes the automotive industry is at a critical inflection point. "Today's automakers are building amazing vehicles, but that is no longer enough to ensure success. Increasingly, consumers will be looking for integrated transportation solutions and success will require automakers to fundamentally rethink their business models," Anwyl said. "GP is well positioned to help manufacturers tackle this critical transition, and I'm happy for the opportunity to contribute to their important work." John Cooper, board member and former Vice President of Aftersales for Ford Europe, said, "E-commerce in an omnichannel environment is a game changer for the automotive industry, particularly in aftersales; however, most automakers are not ready to take advantage. It's an area I'm particularly focused on, and GP Strategies is leading the charge at a time when the need to change has never been more pressing." Another inaugural member of the GP Strategies Automotive Advisory Board, Ernst Lieb is a globally oriented business leader with operational and leadership experience from stints as President and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Australia Pacific as well as President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA. "I've dedicated my career to establishing cultures of success through operational excellence, and I think GP Strategies' emphasis on workforce transformation positions them perfectly to help OEMs create innovative and market-leading strategies," said Lieb. Each board member brings a highly accomplished outlook to the table, and each uniquely complements one or more of GP Strategies' areas of concentration. Steffen Szameitat, for example, noted, "The ongoing revolution in drivetrains and car software is vast and rapid. To make this transition happen, first top and middle management, then frontline workers need to understand the new technologies and the consequences for the customer. GP with its worldwide infrastructure and multi-industry perspective is a perfect partner to develop such learning ecosystems for European OEMs, importers and retail partners." Rounding out the Automotive Advisory Board, Dave Zuchowski comes with a wealth of expertise in digital retailing solutions. "The conventional automotive dealership model provides the greatest hotbed for potential disruption and workplace transformation in today's business world," said Zuchowski. "Given GP's decades of experience in the field with dealers and in the boardroom with global sales organizations, the decision to join their advisory board was easy. I'm delighted to be part of such a top-notch team." "We're working on several groundbreaking offerings in the automotive space for 2021," added Palochko. "The welcome input and market-driven guidance from Dave, Ernst, Jeremy, John, and Steffen will only serve to strengthen those efforts. We're excited to roll up our sleeves and start building what comes next." About GP Strategies GP Strategies Corporation (NYSE: GPX) is a global workforce transformation provider of organizational and technical performance solutions. GP Strategies' solutions improve the effectiveness of organizations by delivering innovative and superior training, consulting, and business improvement services customized to meet the specific needs of its clients. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, automotive, financial services, technology, aerospace and defense industries, and other commercial and government customers. Additional information can be found at gpstrategies.com. 2021 GP Strategies Corporation. All rights reserved. GP Strategies and the GP Strategies logo design are trademarks of GP Strategies Corporation. SOURCE GP Strategies Corporation The U.S. Senate will hold a historic second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump this month, ending with a vote to determine if he is guilty of inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. As VOAs congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, lawmakers could decide to bar Trump from ever again running for federal office. VOA Khmer's Chetra Chap narrates. NEW DELHI : Tata Motors Ltd, the countrys largest vehicle manufacturer by revenue, will continue to witness sustained recovery in its financials in the March quarter as well as in fiscal 2022 on the back of improvement in operations of Jaguar Land Rover and its domestic commercial passenger vehicle businesses, according to analysts. Stringent cost cutting measures, introduced by the company across business verticals since FY20, will also lead to better performance at operating level. Also Read | The Finance Commission doesnt rock the federal boat The Mumbai-based vehicle maker reported a 67.5% year -on-year increase in consolidated net profit to 2941.48 crore for the December quarter as result of gradual recovery in sales of Jaguar Land Rover vehicles in important markets like China, and improvement in passenger and commercial vehicles business in India. The company had reported a loss of 307.26 crore in the September quarter. Consolidated revenue from operation increased a modest 5.5% to 75,653.79 crore. The topline improved significantly from 5,3530 crore in the September quarter. According to analysts at Motilal Oswal, Jaguar Land Rover could surprise investors on the profitability front as a result of factors like targeted cost-cutting efforts to save 1.5-2.0 billion pounds, improvement in sales of Land Rover, recovery in China market, cost saving on modular vehicles platform and its new plant in Slovakia where cost of production is low. The convergence of the multiple factors stated above could drive recovery in EBIT margins and leave scope for positive surprises on profitability. JLRs targeted transition from the push to pull strategy for volumes, particularly in China, would be a critical variable for margin expansion. We estimate JLRs EBIT margins at 1.7%/4.6%/5.7% in FY21/FY22/FY23E (v/s -0.1% in FY20)," the analysts added. During the quarter, sales of Jaguar Land Rovers luxury passenger vehicles declined 9% year-on-year to 128,500 units but on a month-on-month basis sales improved 13%. Sales of the companys luxury cars in China jumped 19% on a corresponding basis as the economy seems to have recovered compared to some of the other developed markets. For the India business, which houses the commercial and passenger vehicle units, revenue from operation jumped 34.9% year-on-year to 14,360 units as sales of its passenger vehicles zoomed and realisation increased from the commercial vehicle sales. Net loss also reduced by 38.6% to 638 crore. Management re-iterated its hard (ambitious) target of turning net debt free by FY24 and also laid out a strong market share target in domestic PVs of more than 10% (9MFY21:7.8%) driven by new SUV launches (e.g. Safari, Hornbill). Tata Motors remains the market leader in CV business which is witnessing gradual recovery and we expect the industry to clock more than 30%CAGR over FY21-24," said analysts of ICICI Securities in a note. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Decode Your Future with an Online Computer Science Degree from Drexel Drexel University's online computer science programs are designed to prepare you for work on the cutting edge of technology. The curriculum is designed for students with any level of experience or previous knowledge. Choose the program thats right for you. Learn More. A step toward engineering a new generation of powerful quantum computers has been made by a team of scientists and engineers at the University of Sydney, Microsoft and EQUS, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems. The team, which published their findings in the Jan. 25 issue of Nature Electronics, invented a cryogenic computer chip capable of functioning at temperatures near absolute zero, which could enable a new crop of high performance quantum computers capable of performing calculations with thousands of qubits, or more. Qubits are the quantum equivalent of the bits used by traditional computers. Because qubits aren't binary -- they don't process information using zeroes and ones -- they're capable of much faster performance. For a variety of reasons, however, quantum computers, up to now, could only accommodate a few dozen qubits. That's why the new cryo chip, called Gooseberry, is such a breakthrough. The Gooseberry chip (red) sits next to a qubit test chip (blue) and resonator chip (purple). [Credit: Microsoft] "If the chip works as the researchers suggest and can be cost effectively produced, the design could simplify and quicken the development of larger quantum systems," Charles King, the principal analyst at Pund-IT , a technology advisory firm, in Hayward, Calif. told TechNewsWorld. EQUS Chief Investigator Professor David Reilly explained in a statement that to realize the potential of quantum computing, machines will need to operate thousands if not millions of qubits. "The world's biggest quantum computers currently operate with just 50 or so qubits," he continued. "This small scale is partly because of limits to the physical architecture that control the qubits." "Our new chip puts an end to those limits," he asserted. Freezing Out Errors Most quantum systems require qubits to operate at temperatures close to absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius). That prevents them losing their "quantumness," the character of matter or light that quantum computers need to perform their specialized computations. "The environment can influence qubits quite a bit," explained Heather West, a senior research analyst at IDC. "When they're influenced, errors can be introduced," she told TechNewsWorld. "By bringing the environment down to really cold temperatures, it helps to eliminate errors." "The more qubits you have," she continued, "the better performance your computer will have. The problem is that when qubits begin working with one another -- a process called entanglement -- because they're so unstable, they can begin working incorrectly, or decoherently. As you scale up, decoherence increases." She added that there's another advantage to working at close to absolute zero. "To achieve super cold temperatures, you need to work in a vacuum, which helps reduce the environmental effects on the qubits," she said. Gilded Birds' Nest As with any computing device, in order to do anything useful, quantum devices need instructions. That means sending and receiving electronic signals to and from the qubits. With current quantum architecture, that involves a lot of wires. "Current machines create a beautiful array of wires to control the signals. They look like an inverted gilded birds' nest or chandelier," Reilly said. "They're pretty, but fundamentally impractical," he continued. "It means we can't scale the machines up to perform useful calculations. There is a real input-output bottleneck." With Gooseberry all wires are eliminated. "With just two wires carrying information as input, it can generate control signals for thousands of qubits," Microsoft Senior Hardware Engineer Kushal Das, a joint inventor of the chip, said in a statement. Reilly compared the current state of quantum computing to the ENIAC stage of computing in the 1940s, when to do anything useful, a computer required rooms of control systems. "Our industry is facing perhaps even bigger challenges to take quantum computing beyond the ENIAC stage," Reilly said. "We need to engineer highly complex silicon chips that operate at 0.1 Kelvin," he continued. "That's an environment 30 times colder than deep space." A Real Quantum Control System Operating at such cold temperatures means the system needs to operate with an incredibly low power budget, noted Sebastian Pauka, whose doctoral research at the University of Sydney was used to interface quantum devices with the chip. "If we try to put more power into the system, we overheat the whole thing," he explained in a statement. To achieve their result, the team built the most advanced integrated circuit to operate at cryogenic temperatures. "We have done this by engineering a system that operates in close proximity to the qubits without disturbing their operations," Reilly explained. "Current control systems for qubits are removed meters away from the action, so to speak," he continued. "They exist mostly at room temperature." "In our system we don't have to come off the cryogenic platform," he said. "The chip is right there with the qubits. This means lower power and higher speeds. It's a real control system for quantum technology." Quantum Computer Race King noted that quantum computing is still in its infancy. "We're still in the early days, both in terms of building commercial quantum systems and in learning how to program and work with them," he said. "Some great things have been achieved, but there's still a lot of ground to cover before quantum computing becomes commercially viable," he added. Today's quantum computers are primarily used to solve optimization problems. "Those problems can be found in almost any industry," West said. Hodan Omaar, a policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation, a think tank studying the intersection of data, technology, and public policy in Washington, D.C. noted that in Japan, quantum computers are being used to optimize trash pickups. Meanwhile, Volkswagen is using quantum computing to optimize picking the parts for its cars. "They've shown it's more cost effective to use a quantum computer, compared to a traditional computer," she told TechNewsWorld. "For a small set of applications -- mainly optimization problems right now -- quantum computers are showing they're better at doing some kinds of problems," she said. "As quantum computers improve," West added, "they'll be used to solve more advanced problems in fields such as chemistry and pharmaceuticals." "We still have a long way to go," she continued, "but when we get there, we'll be solving a lot of different problems." One of those problems is already pitting one nation against another. "If a country can figure out how to build a quantum computer big enough and secure enough, it could be used to break any encryption," Omaar explained. "That's created a quantum computer race," she said. "If you're a country, you have to be in that race because if another country figures it out first, then you have a huge national security issue." 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. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the central government's response on a petition challenging the new privacy policy of social networking platform WhatsApp. A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology seeking their stand on the plea by March 15. Prior to this, another petition regarding the new privacy policy matter was filed in the court but this is the first time a notice has been issued to the central government in the matter. Notably, WhatsApp has asked users to either give their consent to sharing data with Facebook or lose their accounts after February 8. The policy was, however, put on hold till May 15 due to a massive backlash by the users. The petitioner Seema Singh, through advocate Meghan, argued that impact of the WhatsApp policy can cause a catastrophe with respect to the data of the citizens. The plea submitted that the fissures in law with respect to data are quite conspicuous and a framework to regulate the same is the need of the hour. It has sought a direction from the court to the government to frame rules, guidelines, regulations to protect privacy and data of the citizens from all the apps and organisations operating in India. The court has also been urged to direct the Centre to tell WhatsApp to either roll back their policy or provide an option to opt out of the January 4, 2021 privacy policy and also to provide the users who have accepted the privacy policy to be given another option to choose for themselves. Besides this, the petitioner prayed for the right to seek confirmation, access and rectification, the right to objection, restriction and portability of the data, and the right to be forgotten as being part of Article 21 and intrinsic to the right to privacy. Kathmandu, February 2 One and a half month after the virtual split of the Nepal Communist Party, the faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal has finally approached the Election Commission claiming it is the legitimate side. The partys chairmen Dahal and Nepal, and senior leader Jhala Nath Khanal went to the commissions central office in Kathmandu this morning and submitted the application as per the Section 44 of the Act of Political Parties. Khanal says the party has also presented other documents saying the side holds commands the majority in the divided party. Earlier, the factions central committee meeting on Monday had decided to go to the commission seeking legitimacy. The move comes days after the commission refused to approve the split legally as both factions were reluctant to accept the party had split. Earlier, the KP Sharma Oli-led faction had informed the commission of extending its central committee whereas the Dahal-Nepal faction had removed Oli from the chairpersonship, replacing him with Madhav Kumar Nepal. The Dahal-Nepal faction has already removed Oli even as a general member of the party. They, however, had refused to legally accept the split, refraining from showing their group holds at least 40 per cent of the central committee members, a requirement for a party split as per the law. EBRD 36.9 mn loan supplemented by EU and bilateral donors 35.5 mn grant Overhaul of railways will offer safer and quicker travel for Albanian citizens Boosting regional integration with development of infrastructure and connectivity The first large-scale overhaul of the railway network in Albania is ready to start with the signing of a first contract for rehabilitation works between the state railways and the Italian company INC Spa. The project is supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with a 36.9 million loan and the European Union (EU) with an investment grant of up to 35.5 million under its Connectivity Agenda for the Western Balkans. Additional 2.75 million in grants from bilateral donors have been secured through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. Under the contract more than 34 km of the existing railway track between the capital Tirana and the port of Durres will be rehabilitated. Additionally, a new 5 km-long rail track connecting Tirana city to the Tirana International Airport will be constructed. The rehabilitation will allow for safer and faster travel compared to the current average of less than 60 km per hour. The project will also improve connectivity with in the country and regional integration. Durres is the countrys largest port and an important regional hub for international trade. Matteo Colangeli, EBRD Head of Albania, said: This strategic infrastructure project will make a tangible difference to people and businesses in Albania and across the region. It will improve peoples daily lives and unlock new trade opportunities. As the first investment in the rehabilitation of the railways network in Albania, the project will also contribute to the long-term goal of building green, sustainable and integrated economies in the Western Balkans. Andrea Vera, Head of the Sustainable Economic and Social Development Section at the EU Delegation in Albania said: Investing in infrastructure is necessary to improve connectivity within the Western Balkans and with the EU. Albania needs to undertake the necessary reforms to ensure the integration of transport markets. To date, the EBRD has invested more than 1.5 billion in loans in 110 projects in Albania. The EU support for the transport sector in Albania reaches about 250 million EUR in grants. New York, Venice, the Maldives and other holiday destinations are at risk of being flooded or totally submerged by sea level rise, experts have warned. While cities like New Orleans and Tokyo will face increased risk of flooding, places like the Seychelles and Fiji may disappear beneath the waves entirely. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change will lead to between 1733 inches (3284 cm) of average global sea level rise by 2100. Researchers with financial comparison service Money.co.uk have produced travel posters imagining the impact of dramatic sea level rise on famous destinations. While the wetter vistas they have dreamed up are exaggerated, the artworks draw attention to the plight faced by many coastal areas from rising sea levels. Researchers with Money.co.uk have produced travel posters imagining the impact of dramatic sea level rise on famous destinations, like Hong Kong. While the wetter vistas they have dreamed up are exaggerated (Hong Kong will likely see only 24.3 feet of sea level rise, rather than that depicted) the art highlights the plight faced by many coastal areas Cities like New Orleans and Tokyo will face increased risk of flooding, while places like the Seychelles and Fiji may disappear beneath the waves entirely, the team have warned Hong Kong, which presently is visited by some 56 million tourists each year, could face around 24.3 feet (0.61.3 metres) of sea level rise by 2100, with devastating consequences for its 8.4 million residents and bustling financial sector TOURIST HOT SPOTS AT RISK The areas at high risk of disappearing by 2100 include: French Polynesia Tangier Islands, Virginia Seychelles Maldives Torres Strait Islands Palau Solomon Islands Vanuatu Micronesia Marshall Islands Kiribati Tuvalu Fiji Advertisement 'While sea-level rise is likely to affect hundreds of millions of people throughout this century, certain tourist destinations are at serious risk of completely vanishing by 2100,' the researchers explained. 'In particular, the Small Island Developing States Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu Micronesia, Palau, Seychelles, Maldives, and others are at serious risk of vanishing due to their low lying landscapes.' 'Already, the residents of these countries are having to consider their future homes, and further rising sea levels threaten to displace millions more.' The Republic of the Maldives, for example, could lose as much as 77 per cent of its land area to the sea by 2100, some experts have warned based on predictions that waters could rise by around 3.3 feet (1 metre). 'Although other holidaying hotspots are unlikely to completely disappear, extreme flooding is likely to become a regular occurrence because of accelerated sea-level rise, caused by global warming,' the experts continued. Coastal areas such as those around Alexandria, Cape Town, Miami, Shanghai and Tokyo are likely to be seriously impacted by rising waters, affecting the lives of their residents, local infrasture and tourism. The team imagined a travel poster for the New York of today (left) and of 2100 (right), in which the Statue of Liberty is submerged up to the waist beneath an exaggerated volume of water. In reality, sea levels are expected to rise by some 1733 inches enough, however, to result in an increased risk of flooding New York City (pictured) contains 'the largest population living inside a floodplain', the researchers noted, adding that tens of thousands of people could potentially be displaced by rising waters, especially in low-lying boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens 'Similarly, in global cities such as London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and New York, future visitors may have to take a "Red London boat" to see Big Ben, or go by canal boat to the Empire State building,' the researchers added. New York, for example, could see as much as six feet of sea level rise by the end of the century not enough to submerge the Statue of Liberty up to her waste as in the Money.co.uk travel poster, but certainly a problem for the Big Apple's residents. The city contains 'the largest population living inside a floodplain', the researchers noted, adding that tens of thousands of people could potentially be displaced by rising waters, especially in low-lying boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens. Hong Kong, which presently is visited by some 56 million tourists each year, could face around 24.3 feet (0.61.3 metres) of sea level rise by 2100, with devastating consequences for its 8.4 million residents and bustling financial sector. More information on the research can be found on the Money.co.uk website. 'The Small Island Developing States Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu Micronesia, Palau, Seychelles, Maldives [depicted], and others are at serious risk of vanishing due to their low lying landscapes,' researchers with Money.co.uk warned The Republic of the Maldives famous for its iconic overwater bungalows could lose as much as 77 per cent of its land area to the sea by 2100, some experts have warned based on predictions that waters could rise by around 3.3 feet (1 metre) Former concentration camp prisoners attend a previous memorial service on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. (Dave Thompson/PA) Last Wednesday (27th) was a special anniversary that reminds the world of unspeakable evil. On January 27, 1945 an advance group of scouts who broke away from their unit in Oswiecim in Poland, arrived at the gates of Auschwitz. It was the day that the advancing Red Army began the liberation of the remaining living skeletons at the German death camp. And these first days of February celebrate another important date in the history books. On February 2, 1943 the Germans surrendered to the Red Army at Stalingrad on the River Volga. It was that great victory that allowed the Russians to move west, eventually arriving in Berlin in May 1945. The world is always a dark place when we lose our freedom. I have just read a powerful book about the impending doom of what it means to have our bodies and minds incarcerated by evil. Robert Seethaler's novel 'The Tobacconist' tells the story of a young man, who has the innate goodness and courage to stand up to the all-powerful invading German thugs who arrived in Austria in 1938. Seethaler weaves a story of so many parts around 17-year-old Franz Huchel, who leaves his sleepy Austrian village and moves to Vienna to work in a kiosk that sells newspapers and magazines. It's owned by Otto Trsnjek a former friend of his mothers. Franz grew to respect Otto. He listened to him, picked up tips of the trade and began reading newspapers and magazines. The world-famous neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud bought his newspaper and cigar at the kiosk. On one occasion Franz runs after him to give him his hat which he had left at the Kiosk and so begins a wonderful friendship between 17-year-old Franz and 81-year-old Sigmund Freud. Franz meets Anezka at a fair in the city and instantly falls in love with her, or at least so he thinks. He turns to Freud to discuss his love troubles, who tells him that having worries about women are usually unwise but never unimportant. In a letter he writes to his mother he tells her about his friendship with Freud and that it does not bother him that he is a Jew. All the time in the background there is the ghost of the arrival of German troops in Austria. It's not long before the Nazis turn up at the kiosk and take away Otto. It's the last that Franz sees of him. While most of Vienna is now giving the Heil Hitler salute, Franz refuses, indeed, lets people know his opposition to the growing darkness. He is broken-hearted when he discovers that his old fragile friend Sigmund Freud is leaving for London. Unbeknownst to Freud, Franz stands at the back of the railway station the day that Freud is boarding his train for his journey to London. Goodness and courage stay with Franz Huchel right to the end. In the midst of Austria's overwhelming enthusiasm for the Nazis, the young idealistic man stays loyal to all that is good and right. 'The Tobacconist' is a great read. I strongly recommend it. Farm leaders have warned against lowering food standards following news of the UK formally applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim - Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. The government says that joining the 9 trillion pound partnership will cut tariffs for UK industries like food and drink, at the same time as creating new opportunities for industries like tech and services. Trade between the UK and CPTPP was worth 111 billion in 2019, and it has been growing by eight percent each year since 2016. Ever since the UK voted to leave the EU, the farming industry has been warning about the threat from lower standard food imports unless rules on standards are enforced on them. Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), said previously that a significant percentage of the cost of producing eggs in the UK comes from legislation on food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection. He warned that pursuing a free trade policy with countries with lower standards would result in British farmers being significantly undercut. The government has insisted that it will defend food and farming standards in negotiations for trade deals with other countries, although it has refused to put such protections into law. With the decision to apply to join the CPTPP, the UK will be looking to join a trading relationship with other countries which do not have the same high rules on standards and welfare. Mark Williams said the BEIC would be pressing the government to ensure that the UK egg industry was protected from lower standard imports. While we don't anticipate any significant imports of egg products from the majority of CPTPP member countries, there remain important exceptions such as Mexico, which is a major egg producer and where we are not aware that there is any national hen welfare legislation in place. Mexico is one of the biggest egg producers in the world - the country has some 160 million layers, which are kept in cage systems. More than half of the UK flock are free range birds. A report from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, produced by egg industry expert Peter van Horne, highlighted the importance of tariffs when competing with countries producing eggs in lower welfare systems. Peter van Horne said in his report that, compared to the average level within the EU, the production cost of shell eggs in 2017 were 24% lower in the USA, 22% lower in Ukraine, 14% lower in Argentina and 11%lower in India. On the UKs application for CPTPP membership, Mr Williams said: We will hold the government to its commitment that there will be no lowering of animal welfare standards in any trade deals. "It would be morally wrong for egg products, produced to lower animal welfare standards, to be sold in the UK and this is something that consumers will not accept. "We therefore want the government to ensure that there is no compromise on hen welfare and that the UK's high standards are protected in this or any future trade deals. At this years Oxford Farming Conference, farming ministers of the devolved nations voiced their concerns about possible imports of sub-standard food when they joined Defra Secretary George Eustice. Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy in Scotland; Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs in Wales; and Edwin Poots, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland all expressed their fear that standards could be traded away to secure post-Brexit trade deals. "We are very concerned that cheap imported food post-Brexit may threaten British farming. We argued for legal protections against that, protections that were refused by the UK government," said Mr Ewing. Ms Griffiths added: My colleagues and I in the Welsh government have emphasised no future free trade agreements should undermine the high food safety and production standards we have in Wales." Pressuring is mounting against Liberia's Solicitor General Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephus to recuse himself from a case filed by Liberian business official Mrs. Wilhemina Mulbah- Siaway against her corporate partner Elizabeth Shelley due to the complainant's fear that the top prosecutor's actions make him seem to be compromised. "I am asking the Government through the Ministry of Justice to have the Solicitor General Cllr. [Saymah] Syrenius Cephus recuse himself from this case and let other government lawyers such as the County attorney, Cllr. Edwin Martin who initially approved of this matter to be prosecuted handles this case," Mrs. Mulnah - Siaway told this paper Tuesday, 2 February. "The Solicitor General is already compromised as he has sided with the defendants. Fellow Liberians, I need Justice. I remain and look forward to your Excellency for Prompt Actions into this matter," she notes. Last week Cllr. Cephus snatched away from court's custody defendant Elizabeth Shelley, a foreign national who stands accused by Mulbah Rubber Estates (MRE) General Manager Mrs. Mulbah- Siaway for allegedly doctoring an audit report, inserting unauthorized information in it to justify her claim of corruption against the complainant. Madam Mulbah -Siaway says she entered into a partnership agreement with Grow Liberia International in June 2017 to enable her to build her capacity in terms of aiding her to erect an RSS Plant. On account of Madam Shelley's alleged action, Mrs. Mulbah - Siaway says obtained a awrit of arrest dated 21 January issued by the Monrovia City Court and brought defendant Shelley under the court's jurisdiction Tuesday, 26 January with multiple charges including forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation levied against the accused. But that these criminal charges could not be heard at the City Court because Cllr. Cephus had snatched away the accused from court, bragging in an interview with reporters via mobile phone that he is the one who has the right to issue writ in criminal matters. Besides, Grow Liberia International which Madam Shelley heads, later issued a statement stating that the frivolous, trumped criminal charges brought by Mrs. Mulbah - Siaway against one of its staff are baseless and illegal and were properly dismissed by the competent authority of Liberian state. In apparent counter to Madam Mulbah - Siaway's claims, Grow Liberia explains in a statement dated 28 January that it has invested $2.6 million to help establish in Liberia an industry that will process and add value to rubber farming. The statement notes that the program focuses on improving access to financial services that can help move Liberia from low - value rubber production to high value rubber products. It continues that one of Grow's most valued partners, Mulbah Rubber Estates (MRE) received a cash grant and a loan guarantee as well as technical expertise to help the company move into production of ribbed smoke sheets, a higher - quality rubber product. It says MRE has been the largest recipient of Grow's support in the rubber sector, benefitting extensive introductions to potential buyers as well as the financial and technical help. Grow narrates that all its partners are closely scrutinized, consistent with international standards of governance, which it says includes immediate prompt but fair and transparent investigation of any credible report alleging contractual, governance and ethical breaches by partners or staff. According to Grow, this approach was used in the matter involving MRE, stating that MRE excepted to the findings or action of Grow and subsequently filed a suit at the Civil Law Court which is pending final determination. Grow contends that under the laws of Liberia and nearly every other country, an officer or employee of a corporate entity cannot be held for the action of the corporation, not mentioning one relating to alleged criminal conduct of the corporate entity. But Mrs. - Mulbah argues that the Grow Liberia release fails to say how much of the US$2.6 million was received by MRE to make it the highest recipient. For the purpose of setting the record straight, she says MRE received US$ 50,000, from Grow Liberia toward the RSS project, while MRE secured a loan of US$ 150,000 from Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI). During the project implementation, she recalls that the amount of US$120,000.00 was received by MRE from LBDI, adding that she gave her property value of US$ 251,671.05 as collateral to the Bank (LBDI), for the purple of this loan. Mrs. Mulbah - Siaway contends that the Audit report of Baker Tilly can prove that it was only US$50,000 that was received from Grow Liberia and accounted for. She notes that the initial budget for the factory was US$150,000.00, but based on the instructions from Grow rubber specialists, Derrick Nyumah and international consultant Sarath, MRE was led to demolish and reconstruct the facilities which caused the present value of the factory to swell little more than US$378,425.85. She adds that the excess was spent by MRE, saying Grow Liberia needs to explain how the US$2.6 million was used on the Liberian farmers. She also questions why Grow is using the Solicitor General to prevent the criminal case filed against defendant Elizabeth Shelley, Program Manager of Grow Liberia for forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal facilitation from being heard by the Court when the group claims that its its relationship with partners is "consistent with international standards of governance." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "The heads of Grow Liberia are accused of doctoring an audit report, the auditors have written to say what was sent to me and said about me is not from them and never their findings. What then is the international standard of governance, transparency that Grow Liberia is bragging about?" Mrs. Mulbah - Siaway ponders. Madam Mulbah - Siaway, General Manager for Mulbah Rubber Estate (MRE) and president of the Rubber Planters Association of Liberia, complains of being suppressed by her business partner defendant Shelley, head of Grow Liberia International, to the extent that her business has been unable to operate. Meanwhile Cllr. Saymah Syrenius Cephus says all criminal writs are issued by the Republic of Liberia, noting that nobody in this Republic can issue writ that does not meet the approval of the Solicitor General or the County Attorney in the county in which the action is taken. According to Cllr. Cephus, Madam Mulbah - Siaway's action is a civil action owing to the fact that she says that the audit report had exonerated her of the claim of corruption levied against her by defendant Shelley. Besides, Cllr. Cephus argues that the person that Madam Mulbah - Siaway arrested, defendant Shelley is an expatriate and has some level of diplomatic immunity, therefore she cannot be subjected to Liberian court action. "So as Solicitor General if I were consulted, I would have taken a decision on a way forward," he adds. By Winston W. Parley New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday constituted a delegation which would submit a report to him over communal clashes that took place in North 24 Parganas. The team will also visit the affected area. A team comprising BJP leaders Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi, Satyapal Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya will visit North 24 Parganas. Communal clashes broke out over an objectionable post on Facebook. Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya was stopped by police when they went to meet the families members of deceased. Later, Vijavargiya slammed Mamata government, saying that there is no democracy in Bengal and chief minister Mamata Banerjee should resign from her post. WB Social Media post row:BJP President Amit Shah constitutes a team comprising Om Mathur,Meenakshi Lekhi,Satyapal Singh,Kailash Vijayvargiya ANI (@ANI_news) July 6, 2017 Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to west Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. WB Social media post row: Team constituted by Amit Shah will visit affected area in West Bengal, will submit report to the party's President ANI (@ANI_news) July 6, 2017 The violence between the two communities at Baduria under Basirhat sub-division in the district started last night over the post following which a young man was arrested, the police had informed. Also Read | West Bengal violence: Curfew remains in Basirhat, Baduria; Internet services stay suspended in North 24 Parganas In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused Tripathi of "threatening" her over phone and talking "big on the law and order". For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Illegal fishermen volley between Cambodia and Vietnam by Buth Sela February 03,2021 | Source: Khmer Times Vietnamese and Cambodian fishermen are still illegally fishing in each others territorial waters in Kep province, even though authorities have attempted to crack down on it, an official said yesterday. Theng Borin, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture said at a press conference that recently, local authorities observed there is still illegal fishing in Kep province which is destroying natural resources such as coral reefs and clam habitats. In the past, Vietnamese fishermen came for subsistence fishing not using large-scale commercial boats with electric equipment, because the water in the border area is just two to four metres deep. It is not possible for a boat larger than twelve metres, he said. Borin said the provincial authorities cooperate with Marine Conservation Cambodia and the border police to prevent illegal fishing. He said that in 2020, Vietnamese authorities arrested 25 Cambodian fishermen caught fishing illegally in the border area. Cambodian officials requested their release and the governor of Kep province went to repatriate them. He educated them not to continue illegal fishing before sending them home, Borin said. He said that when there is illegal fishing in Cambodia, authorities detain the Vietnamese fishermen. At the request of the Vietnamese authorities, we release them and send them back to Vietnam, Borin said. 2021 Virtus Media Pte., Ltd. (Khmer Times) Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. 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 pre-planned four-day vacation with employees of her flower shop approved by a judge did not only allow a Capitol Riot suspect to go on Mexico Vacation but also face strong criticism to enter a federal court. The United States District Court in Washington, D.C. was asked by a woman from Midland, Texas, Jenny Cudd, if the Capitol Riot suspect can leave the U.S. and travel to Riviera Maya in Mexico as she described the trip as a work-related bonding retreat for her and her employees. Request Granted With no previous convictions, Cudd denied any wrongdoing, however, she has been charged with two misdemeanor offenses in relation to her participation in the Capitol riot, which includes disorderly conduct and entering a federal building without permission. Attorney Farheen Siddiqui, the lawyer of Cudd told the court that Ms. Cudd has appeared at her scheduled appearances in court, has remained in contact with pretrial probation, as ordered, and also remains in constant contact with her attorney. That is why she mentioned that there is no reason not to grant her client's request. After the report of USA Today, regarding the request that was granted, criticisms on the said decision flooded social media. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro even wrote that a Texas woman is granted permission to go on vacation in Mexico after engaging in an insurrection at the capitol. One Texas woman is granted permission to vacation in Mexico after engaging in insurrection at the Capitol. Another was deported to Mexico after being a cooperative FBI witness to the massacre in El Paso. There are two systems of justice in America. https://t.co/gODV10ZxAS Julian Castro (@JulianCastro) February 3, 2021 He also shared that he thinks there are two systems of justice in America, as another Capitol rioter was deported to Mexico after exhibiting full cooperation with the FBI, witnessing a massacre in El Paso. The former Housing secretary was referring to an undocumented migrant who was deported last week because of unpaid traffic tickets, but she was used as a witness after being present at a mass shooting at Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019. Read also: FBI Agents Shot in Florida, 2 Dead, 3 Wounded Moreover, the CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Bernice King, posted on Twitter that living in a nation where some justify the murder of George Floyd by a police officer's vicious knee, but Jenny Cudd, a Capitol Riot suspect was permitted to go on vacation. Even Shannon Watts, the founder of an anti-gun group, 'Moms Demand Action,' was also acritical of the federal court decision to allow Cudd to go on vacation. According to Newsweek, in a reported interview, Cudd expressed that on January 8, as for her, she had done nothing wrong during the riot as she mentioned that she just went inside the Capitol legally and she did not take any action that hurt anybody or even destroy any property at the Capitol. She also added that what the public is doing is canceling her rights, as she only stood up for what she believes is right, and even emphasized that she would do it again in a heartbeat. As of the moment, social media is still weighing the said decision with critical comments both for the court and Cudd, but the U.S. magistrate who gave the permission to travel to Capitol Riot suspect has not been named in media reports. Related article: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reveals She Was a Sexual Assault Survivor @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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. TEL AVIV, Israel and BETHESDA, Maryland, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: CNBX), a global leader in the development of cancer related cannabinoid-based medicines, announced today that it has obtained interim results for its ongoing in-vivo study evaluating the efficacy of the company's proprietary drug candidate RCC-33 for colorectal cancer in nude-mice. The interim results show a 27% reduction in tumor volume in mice exposed to RCC-33 in comparison with sham control mice. Both groups were inoculated with colorectal cancer cells. Daily doses of intraperitoneal (IP) delivery of RCC-33 or sham were initiated on day 5. Differences in tumor volume between the two groups were first observed after 5 days of treatment (day 10). Interim results of a 27% reduction in tumor volume were recorded after 12 days of treatment (day 17), with p-value=0.022. Study is ongoing. Effect of Cannbics TM RCC-33 on Tumor Development in Mice Inoculated with Human Colorectal Cancer Cells Gabriel Yariv, Cannabics Pharmaceuticals' President and COO said: "Developing innovative formulations to combat colorectal cancer is a worthy cause. Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer worldwide and the second most lethal. That said, 67% of colorectal cancer patients undergoing currently available treatments survive for 5 years or longer. Accordingly, our objective with RCC-33 is to be able to demonstrate its efficacy and enter an official FDA track, eventually reaching a position where we can potentially help a large group of people get better and live longer; this is our ultimate goal and today marks an important step in the right direction." Dr. Eyal Ballan, Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Co-founder and CTO said: "Today's interim results mark an important milestone for the company. Seeing our formulation cause attenuation in tumor growth, in-vivo, and already within 12 days of treatment, is a clear indicator and an encouragement for us to continue with our focus and efforts in the direction we chose and believe in." About Cannabics Pharmaceuticals: Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: CNBX) is a U.S. public company and a global leader in the development of cancer related cannabinoid-based medicines. The Company's R&D is based in Israel, where it is licensed by the Ministry of Health to conduct scientific and clinical research on cannabinoid formulations and cancer. For more information, please visit www.cannabics.com. For the latest updates on Cannabics Pharmaceuticals follow the Company on Twitter @Cannabics, Facebook @CannabicsPharmaceuticals, LinkedIn, and on Instagram @Cannabics_Pharmaceuticals. Disclaimer: Certain statements contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other U.S. Federal securities laws. Such statements include but are not limited to statements identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects" and similar expressions. The statements in this release are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those outlined in the forward-looking statements. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences, including, but not limited to, results of clinical trials and other studies, the challenges inherent in new product development initiatives, the effect of any competitive products, our ability to license and protect our intellectual property, our ability to raise additional capital in the future that is necessary to maintain our business, changes in government policy and regulation, potential litigation by or against us, any governmental review of our products or practices, as well as other risks discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, our latest 10-Q Report filed January 14th, 2021. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement or any information contained in this press release or other public disclosures at any time. Finally, the investing public is reminded that the only announcements or information about Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc., which are condoned by the Company, must emanate from the Company itself and bear our name as its source. For more information about Cannabics: Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. Phone: +1-(877)-424-2429 [email protected] http://www.Cannabics.com Related Links https://www.cannabics.com SOURCE Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. SOURCE Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc. Related Links https://cannabics.com/ Penn also directly addressed his anonymous critics, framing their comments as shameful entries, obscene critiques and a betrayal of epic proportions: And to whoever authored these, understand that in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms. I have taken counsel and here will refrain from using the words with which I would otherwise choose to describe the character of your actions. Actor Sean Penn has lashed out at critics of his COVID-19 vaccine site. Credit: Penn described the two comments as highly visible, but amid 150 reader responses, they would probably not have gained much attention if not for Penns email. Penn co-founded CORE - originally called the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation - after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that destroyed much of the island and killed tens of thousands of people. The group continues to work in Haiti and has since provided humanitarian aid after hurricanes in North Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Last year, the non-profit began providing free COVID-19 testing across the United States, starting with the Dodger Stadium site, where they now have 350 staff members and volunteers. The group is helping to run 47 COVID-19 testing sites across the country, including in Chicago, New Orleans, North Carolina, Georgia and the Navajo Nation. CORE relies on a small amount of government funding and on charitable donations, including a $30 million contribution from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, CORE chief executive and co-founder Ann Lee said in an interview last year. Penn takes no salary from the group, according to its federal tax filings. Penn, 60, shared a photo on Twitter on January 26 of him receiving the vaccine, saying he was a lucky man. The New York Times story chronicled what its like to vaccinate more than 7,000 people a day in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, one of the largest vaccination sites in the country, where healthcare workers, retired record-company executives and even Arnold Schwarzenegger lined up for a shot. CORE workers, some of whom are volunteers, perform nonclinical duties, including directing traffic, signing in patients and coordinating with healthcare staff. One of the jobs involves running blue mini-coolers full of loaded syringes from R.V. trailers to the stations where patients are vaccinated in their cars. One of those runners was Garcetti, seen in the articles photos donning a neon vest with the CORE logo on it, directing traffic and checking in patients on an iPad. Penn, in his letter, defended Garcetti as a leader on every level and an encourager-in-chief. One of the online commenters wrote that the site has a shipping container that serves as a designated space for overworked staff to go cry in. If you cant get in, the commenter wrote, its because staff are crying inside. Mara Buxbaum, a representative for CORE and Penn, provided a sheet of statistics about the operation, which said that staff work in eight-hour shifts and are paid hourly. She said as for the other issues raised by the commenters, Penns internal memo to the staff speaks for itself. Labor officials opened an investigation into the Dodger Stadium site on August 27, when it was still a COVID-19 testing site, federal records show. The investigation was prompted by a complaint, and is listed as open, with no confirmed violations, the records show. No other information was immediately available. Representatives for Californias Division of Occupational Safety and Health did not immediately return requests for comment. The department typically does not provide details of complaints or investigations until cases have been closed. CORE has complied with all requests from OSHA and work everyday with our medical and LAFD partners to ensure a safe and productive operation, Buxbaum, the CORE representative, said in a statement. A person familiar with the matter said the complaint questioned whether there was enough shade at the site for workers, and whether tables were spaced far enough apart to allow for physical distancing. The person, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the issues were resolved. In response to questions about Penn and working conditions at Dodger Stadium, Garcetti spokeswoman Andrea Garcia said only that the city has administered more than 195,000 vaccine doses, or 97% of its supply. The mayor, she said, deeply appreciates the groups working at the site, including CORE. In his email, Penn said that Garcetti had not ordered CORE staff to work excessive hours. Instead, he said, Garcetti gave a directive to LAFD leaders, and then fire leaders requested additional CORE manpower - so the responsibility for extra work, he wrote, falls squarely at my feet. He said the organization does everything in its power to comply with workplace safety regulations and the basic laws of common sense, but that COREs mission may require workers to push that envelope. He added that CORE has strong complaint procedures and endless other internal avenues for productive criticism. He called upon OSHA to use common sense understanding about the demands of the job during the pandemic, and said a disaster-response groups work can never ever be compared like the apples to oranges of other workplaces. When there is a quantifiable urgent need and an unquantifiable supply of vaccine, it should be of no surprise that we would have a day of reckoning where surge crowds and slim staffing merge, Penn wrote. He heaped praise on his staff: You rose up. You did. Not me. All of you. And I will admit something. It made me weep. Not with some stupid self-presumed sense of fatherly pride, but simply a human pride in experiencing that people like you exist. A section of tea farmers in Nyeri have opposed a move to challenge the proposed Tea Bill in a petition that is aimed at preventing the implementation of reforms that seek to improve the tea sector. In a press statement, the farmers claimed that the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) was paying farmers to append their signatures in the petition to derail the process. But the agency's corporate affairs manager Egadwa Mudoga dismissed their assertion, saying that should any of the farmers have evidence, they should use proper channels and table it in court. This comes after 51 factories filed a petition against the Attorney-General saying the Tea Act has far-reaching negative consequences to the farmers, their operations, affairs and the tea industry at large. "They (KTDA) are desperate and that is why they are introducing a case after another to derail the government from applying the regulations," said Mr Paul Waititu, a farmer from Ragati tea factory. Mr Waititu said that farmers are eager for the implementation of the reforms as they will ensure they earn more for their produce but the directors who are opposed to them are "manipulating" farmers to ensure they stay in their managerial positions longer. With the November directorship elections postponed, the farmers want the factories to be run by an interim committee awaiting the March elections. "Their term ended in November but they are still in office running the factories illegally and using their time to derail implementation of the regulations," said Mr Waititu. The farmers want the implementation process hastened so that they can increase their monthly pay from Sh16 per kilogramme to 50 per cent of their total deliveries to their respective factories. According to Kaharo Munyiri, those that signed the petition were not bona-fide farmers, arguing that they should be provided with a list to verify they are farmers from the said factories. MARSHALL, Ill. (WTHI) - The City of Marshall, Illinois has a proposal to consider for purchasing a major plot of land. Velsicol Chemical Corporation operated on nearly 270 acres of land in Marshall for 50 years. Manufacturing stopped at the plant in 1988. Now, the company is trying to sell the property thats located just off of Route 1. Velsicol Chemical Corporation sells polymer additives and chlorinated derivative chemicals. EPA reports show the soil underneath is soaked with various chemicals that do not break down. The situation landed the site on the EPAs National Priorities List for hazardous waste sites in the 80s. The initial listing cited contaminated groundwater and soils. Regulatory agencies approved a remedial plan in 1988. The plant was demolished and the EPA oversaw other clean up and containment efforts. That remediation was completed in 1994. Since then, federal and state EPA officials have conducted five year reviews with the last being in 2018. Each review has found the site to be protective of human health and the environment. The EPA listed the site as ready for reuse and redevelopment in 2010. Just over 185 acres of the 270 acres for sale can be developed on if the City of Marshall purchased it. However, just under 85 acres are either totally restricted, with no development possible, or have limited restrictions. Those are the areas that Marshall City Council member Warren LeFever has concerns about. I am opposed to this project, LeFever stated, It isnt a matter of politics. Its a matter of what is best for the city. LeFever says if the city were to purchase this land, it takes just one lawsuit to bankrupt them forever. The aforementioned remediation covered chemicals that may endanger ground water and soil with cement soil. However, LeFever says his concerns go far beyond that. These maintenance costs go on year after year after year after year after year, he said, You multiply those maintenance costs by 30 for annual costsyouve lost your money. In Velsicols pitch to the City of Marshall, they say the EPA will continue to see Velsicol as liable for past actions. Even still, LeFever says the city is in no position to spend the over $1 million that the nearly 270 acres will cost. What I would like the citizens of Marshall to do is to say, how is all this cost going to affect our property taxes? LeFever continued, Because we would have to take the money out of there or out utilities for operation. LeFever says some may see this as an opportunity for the city to make money with economic development. However, he again mentioned that nearly 100 acres of the land for sale has some level of development restrictions on it. LeFever says he sees no upside for the city or its residents if this land were to be purchased. If theyve got plans, its never been told to the city council, so we dont know of any ideas, LeFever concluded, The theory that this could bring us an incometheres operating cost and liability risk long-term that will take any advantage away. Marshall Mayor John Trefz told News 10 he could not make comment on this potential purchase at this time. Even if this sale goes through, it wont be final until the end of May 2021. The Marshall City Council also must sign off before a decision is made. OTTAWA Canada formally designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist group under its criminal law on Wednesday, a move that could lead to financial seizures and allow police to treat any crimes committed by members as terrorist activity. Government officials said they believe Canada is the first nation to label the Proud Boys a terrorist entity. The events last month in Washington, they added, contributed to the move, which was already under consideration. Since 2018, we have seen an escalation, an escalation toward violence in this group, Bill Blair, the public safety minister, told a news conference, adding that the Proud Boys and 12 other groups added to the list on Wednesday are all hateful, intolerant and, as weve seen, they can be highly dangerous. An official, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said that while information gleaned after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington was a contributing factor, it certainly wasnt the driving force. Have confidence in vaccines, says doctor THAILAND: A medical expert has asked Thais to drop any concerns about COVID-19 vaccines and instead help control the spread of the virus. CoronavirusCOVID-19drugshealthSafety By Bangkok Post Wednesday 3 February 2021, 09:41AM Dr Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, during his press conference through the Facebook account of Mahidol University yesterday. Photo: Screenshot. Dr Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, told a Facebook Live audience the country needed to build up herd immunity to curb the outbreak. Dr Prasit made his broadcast to update his Thai audience after more than 100 million people had been inoculated around the world. He said initial results were promising, with a decreasing number of new infections and less harmful side-effects for those given their jabs. His comments come several weeks after massive inoculation programmes were launched in the US, UK and Israel. Pharmaceutical companies are claiming to have witnessed positive signs about their vaccines safety and efficacy. Dr Prasit cited statistics collected by Our World in Data, which said that 28 million doses had been given to people in the US (6.97% of its population), followed by 23 million doses in China, nine million doses in the UK (12.57%) and 4.66 million does in Israel (33.44%). The UK started rolling out its vaccines on Dec 8 last year and found that its daily tally of new infections had dropped from 62,322 cases on Jan 6 to about 18,000 cases currently, he said. Similarly, the US administered its first vaccine on Dec 14 and its average daily infections had dropped from 265,105 on Jan 6 to 107,816 cases at the end of last month, said Dr Prasit. It is not yet clear that the decrease is linked to the vaccines efficiency but analysis shows that the vaccines have produced non-harmful side-effects so they are quite safe. He said Thai people should therefore have confidence about being vaccinated. Thai people should not be reluctant to have the vaccines. We need to create herd immunity to improve our social and economic growth, he said. If we need to have more tourism activity, we need to have vaccines en masse by the end of this year and the government is working on that. Dr Prasit said that at least 60% of the population should be vaccinated to create herd immunity but that was only an estimate since COVID-19 was still an emerging disease. He also expressed a specific interest in the vaccine produced by Chinese-state-owned company Sinopharm because it had already been approved by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration. The Thai governments plan is to have 26 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine produced by Siam Bioscience by the middle of this year, and 35 million doses delivered directly by the company and two million doses delivered by Sinovac. Advertisement Chris Whitty this evening urged the maskless TikTok user who hectored him in the street to grow up to become like Captain Sir Tom Moore. England's chief medical officer addressed footage showing a young man, who goes by the name of AA Bants, accusing the professor of 'lying' to Britain about the pandemic while queuing at a Westminster street food stall. At the No10 press briefing, he shrugged off the episode as the 'young lad showing off' and said he was taken aback by the attention it had received. Professor Whitty said: 'In terms of being harangued... the odd, young lad showing off occasionally happens. I didn't think anything of it frankly. 'I was very surprised it was picked up by the media as anything of importance. I'm sure he'll become a model citizen in due course and hopefully more like Captain Tom who is the kind of person who I think much more exemplifies the spirit of the UK.' To positive noises from Boris Johnson, Prof Whitty went on: 'He was himself clearly absolutely remarkable but what he was also doing was showing how it is that everybody has responded to this, and that is what it is the nationwide, everybody responding.' MailOnline had earlier revealed that the top medic had brushed off the youth's swipes immediately after ordering his Mexican Lunch. Rory Fischelt, 50, owner of the Santana Grill market stall on Strutton Ground, said today that Mr Whitty was 'really cool' and told him most people are 'really nice' but 'from time to time things like this happen'. The clip shows Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty saying hello to passers-by in Westminster but refusing to be goaded by the man who films him standing in a queue while saying: 'You're a liar. Mandem is a liar. You lie about the Covid-19 cases, man' Mr Fischelt, who has run the stall for seven years, also revealed Mr Whitty buys lunch there once a week and has an 8 'lunchbox' which includes rice, Mexican beans, salad, guacamole and carnitas pork - but with no extra spice. The clip shows Mr Whitty saying hello to passers-by but refusing to be goaded by the man who films him standing in a queue while saying: 'You're a liar. Mandem is a liar. You lie about the Covid-19 cases, man. Stop lying to the TV'. The young man faced a furious backlash today, including from Downing Street which condemned his actions. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'Chris Whitty is an outstanding public servant who has worked incredibly hard and tirelessly to help steer us through what has been a very, very challenging time over the past year. And it is clearly unacceptable that somebody who has done so much is being subject to this sort of behaviour.' It comes as: National hero Sir Captain Tom Moore died in hospital aged 100 after his battle with coronavirus; Britain recorded 16,840 Covid cases in its lowest daily figure in eight weeks as deaths fell to 1,449; Covid-19 cases only rose in four English local authorities last week, Public Health England said; A study found a single shot of the Oxford Covid jab may block seven in ten from spreading the virus; Scotland's top medic blamed its sluggish vaccine rollout on GPs who 'don't all work on Sundays'. Today, Mr Fischelt told MailOnline: 'We were opening for service and Mr Whitty just came for his usual lunch and this young man, who is just young and stupid, he's just a kid, started verbally abusing Mr Whitty, calling him a liar. 'Mr Whitty was really cool. I just asked the young man to walk away. Then he left and I started to talk to Mr Whitty and he was really cool, really cool, 'it comes with the job', he said. Rory Fischelt and his daughter Emilia Fischelt at the Santana Grill stall at Strutton Ground today, a day after the incident Mr Fischelt revealed Mr Whitty buys lunch there once a week and normally opts for a 'lunchbox' which includes rice, Mexican beans, salad, guacamole and carnitas pork (pictured today) 'He said that most people are really nice to him but from time to time things like this happen.' Mr Fischelt added; 'He comes once a week. He gets a lunchbox - rice, Mexican beans, salad and guacamole and carnitas.' 'He's not an anti-vaxxer, he's a very naughty boy!': Furious mother of boy who filmed himself abusing Chris Whitty is appalled by her son's rudeness and has taken away his PlayStation The mother of a teenager who abused Chris Whitty in the street has revealed how she was 'horrified' at her son's rudeness, has taken away his PlayStation and is making him apologise to the Government's Chief Medical Officer. She told MailOnline it was her 15-year-old son who filmed himself repeatedly accusing Prof Whitty of 'lying' to the nation about the pandemic that has claimed 100,000-plus lives. The 47-year-old housewife and mother-of-two revealed she had told her eldest son to make another video apologising to him. She also said she had reprimanded him by taking away his games console but she was not grounding him because 'he is already suffering enough because of the lockdown'. The teenager, who is fond of making short films and has posted several on YouTube, lives with his mother and father - a former warehouse worker - and 12-year-old brother in a council flat in Westminster, not far from where he accosted Mr Whitty. His mother told MailOnline: 'I was horrified when I saw how rude my son was to Mr Whitty. 'That is not how I have brought him up and not the behaviour that I expect from him. 'The video really upset me and has left me feeling very stressed and anxious. I have not slept properly since I saw it because I was so upset at how he spoke. 'I have taken away his PlayStation, which is the thing he loves the most. I have not grounded him because he is already suffering enough from the lockdown and does not go out as much as he used to.' Advertisement Asked if he was shocked by what happened, Mr Fischelt said: 'Yes, because no one should behave that way, but no, because the guy is a public figure so I suppose. 'Obviously we were defending Mr Whitty with the guy, asking him to leave him alone, and the young lad just walked away, and we just proceed to serve Mr Whitty. And asked if anyone else was involved, Mr Fischelt said: 'It just was that young fella. Everybody was just looking, it's just everybody minding their business.' His daughter Emilia Fischelt, 21, who runs the stall with her father, added: 'It happened yesterday. He's a regular customer. He comes here and gets his regular order and is always really pleasant. 'This guy, who was quite young, was calling him a liar and verbally assaulting him. It's just awful on him, especially after everything he's doing. He kind of just kept his cool and didn't say anything. 'He said it happens a lot. My dad just apologised and told the guy to go away. Then he just disappeared. I think he must have seen him walking towards the stall and he was hanging around. 'You know schools are closed at the minute, so teenagers don't have anything to do. It wasn't anything planned or anything, I think it was just for his mates. I think it's sad because (Mr Whitty) is a really lovely guy and he's doing his best. 'He comes here and helps small businesses like ours. A lot of the MPs come to the market and that's why we've been able to stay open. My dad described him as being as cool as a cucumber. Honestly I feel really awful for him with everything that's is going on.' She added said that Mr Whitty is a 'regular' customer and visits the stall around once a week - but he doesn't order any extra spice with his meal. A Metropolitan Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are aware of a video posted to social media showing an incident that is alleged to have occurred in Strutton Ground, Westminster around midday on February 2. 'Police have received a third party report. There is currently no investigation.' It came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock today branded the TikToker 'pathetic' and 'ridiculous'. Asked about the incident at Strutton Ground Market near Victoria Station, Mr Hancock told the BBC: 'I think the individual concerned is pathetic, I think it is ridiculous what he is doing. 'Chris Whitty is one of our greatest living scientists and his advice to the Government all the way through this, and his advice to all of us in the population, has been incredibly smart and thoughtful, and he is a great asset to this nation. The idea that someone would do something as silly as that is ridiculous.' He added: 'Chris Whitty is a scientist of great repute and, frankly, he should be respected by everybody. He's got the big calls right and this man, is not even worth commenting on, this character'. Mr Fischelt, pictured serving a 'lunchbox' today, said that Mr Whitty was 'really cool' and told him most people are 'really nice' but 'from time to time things like this happen' The incident happened on Strutton Ground market in Westminster yesterday lunchtime. The area is pictured today Single shot of Oxford University's Covid jab 'is 76% effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from spreading the disease' A single shot of Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine is 76 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and may have a 'substantial effect' on transmission, research suggests. In a huge boost to the UK's immunisation drive, analysis of the jab trials found the first dose was extremely successful in preventing people from falling ill within the 12-week time window between getting a second dose. When the second dose is administered after three months, the jab's efficacy is bumped up to 82.4 per cent, according to the study, which has been submitted to The Lancet for publication. The results, from more than 17,000 trial volunteers, suggest Britain's vaccination gamble to delay its dosing regimen has paid off. In a bid to get wider vaccine coverage quicker, regulators pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days when the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab was approved in late December. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in the hope that giving partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible would drive down hospital admissions. Advertisement The Department of Health told MailOnline it is aware of the video and is investigating. TikTok appears to have suspended the young man's account. Prof Whitty has become a household name during the pandemic, appearing alongside Prime Minster Boris Johnson at Downing Street briefings while spearheading the fight against the virus. The video led to outrage with Britons and MPs slamming the youth for his abuse of Mr Whitty. Conservative MP Matt Vickers shared the footage on Twitter and said: 'This is appalling, I really can't believe this footage. 'Chris Whitty is doing all he can to help guide us through this crisis and should never be subjected to this abuse.' He also told the Guardian: 'The chief medical officer is working day in and day out to help guide our nation through this unprecedented crisis and I think all of us, no matter your political affiliation can agree the man is doing his absolute best. 'As the clouds of this pandemic continue to part, I think those like Professor Chris Whitty will be seen as heroes who stepped up, did their job and led us through the darkest of hours. 'As for the young man in the video, the less said the better. Perhaps he should be made to volunteer on a Covid ward. Perhaps then he will feel a pinch of shame and embarrassment for his dangerous conspiracies and yobbish behaviour.' Reacting to the video, one person wrote online: 'This is terrible to witness such appalling behaviour and harassment! Chris Witty is a well recognised scientist doing a difficult job. Besides, nobody deserves to be insulted and humiliated like this.' A second said: 'Nasty abusive behavior I'm horrified. Unacceptable.' A third added: 'Politics aside no one deserves to be harassed in the street for doing their job. Just shows the immaturity and lack of respect some have.' As the face of the NHS's virus battle, he has been both championed and criticised by Britons over the course of the pandemic. The harassment of Mr Whitty comes amid a surge of conspiracy theories about the virus. Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, has emerged as a key figure for Covid-deniers. Professor Chris Whitty has become a household name during the pandemic, appearing alongside Prime Minster Boris Johnson at Downing Street briefings while spearheading the fight against the virus. They are pictured together in December Only four local authorities recorded more cases in the seven days to January 28 (left) than the seven days to January 21 (right) Health chiefs spot 33 more cases of South African Covid variant in Britain, 11 people with a separate 'super-mutant' strain in Bristol and a cluster of an evolved virus in Liverpool Another 33 cases of the troublesome South African Covid variant have been spotted in Britain, health chiefs revealed today amid growing fears over mutant strains that experts say could make vaccines less effective. Public Health England claimed 143 people have now been struck down with the variant since it was first discovered on British soil in December including five in Scotland and nine in Wales. None have been found in Northern Ireland. In yet another potential twist to the UK's coronavirus crisis, officials today also announced they have found 11 cases of the Kent coronavirus variant which carries an extra mutation in Bristol. And 32 people in Liverpool have been struck down with the original strain of the virus that has the same mutation scientifically known as E484K. MailOnline understands the cases were spotted three weeks ago. Matt Hancock announced both discoveries in the House of Commons today, revealing that a new door-to-door testing blitz was being rushed to both cities in a last-ditch attempt to stop the mutations spreading further. The E484K mutation also found in the South African and Brazilian variants appears to boost the virus's ability to avoid the immune system, raising the risk of reinfections or the current crop of vaccines being less effective. It has appeared separately in cases of both the Kent variant and on the original version of the virus. Neither are yet being described as new variants but represent physical differences to the virus that could change how it behaves. Advertisement He has been arrested at least twice in 2021 for repeatedly breaching lockdown to protest against lockdown measures intended to slow the spread of Covid-19. On January 2, Mr Corbyn was among 17 people who were arrested for breaching Health Protection Regulations at the demonstration at Speaker's Corner, in Hyde Park. A crowd of between 200 and 300 people gathered to protest against lockdown restrictions and their civil liberties being curtailed. It came after Corbyn was fined and arrested on New Year's Day after leading a New Year's Eve anti-lockdown protest near the London Eye, in the centre of the capital. Mr Corbyn a video of what was dubbed the 'NYE Party of Parties' on his Twitter feed, proclaiming: 'TOTAL SUCCESS! #NYEPartyofParties by London Eye. 'Over 1000 defied all threats +chanted #LetLondonLive! & #Corbyn4London after I announced I will stand for Mayor! Thank you +well done all!' The conspiracy theorist has now been arrested at least five times since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and has received fines totalling more than 10,000. It comes as the UK posted another 16,840 coronavirus cases in the lowest daily rise for eight weeks, according to official figures that offers more proof lockdown restrictions are thwarting the second wave. Department of Health data shows new Covid infections have halved in a fortnight and dropped 16.2 per cent week-on-week. Health chiefs also revealed a further 1,449 deaths, marking a drop of 11.2 per cent from last Tuesday's toll of 1,631 fatalities due to the disease. Deaths have been falling across Britain since January 23. And Government statistics also revealed 10million vaccine doses have now been dished out across the UK, with 9.6million Britons having received their first dose. Ministers are racing to meet their target of inoculating 15million of the most vulnerable by mid-February. Data also shows infection rates increased in only four English local authorities last week as lockdown restrictions continued to slow coronavirus transmission. It means just 1 per cent of the country recorded a week-on-week increase of cases in the seven days to January 28, according to Public Health England figures. The areas were Melton in Suffolk, East Lindsey in Lincolnshire, the Derbyshire Dales, and Oldham in Greater Manchester. The other 311 authorities saw the prevalence of Covid-19 wane since the previous week, ending January 21. ** Do you know the youth or anything about the incident? Please email us at: tips@dailymail.com ** On the same day former President Donald Trumps lawyers argued that his words to the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol were protected by his First Amendment right to free speech, Gov. Ron DeSantis held a hastily called news conference to announce a proposal to penalize social media companies for blocking politicians, even if they incite violence. Weve seen the power of their censorship over individuals and organizations, including what I believe is clear viewpoint discrimination,' said DeSantis as the Senate president and House speaker stood at his side. Under our proposal, if a technology company de-platforms a candidate for elected office in Florida during the election, a company will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidates access to the platform is restored again. The proposed bill, which is still being drafted, asks the Florida Legislature to impose penalties for social media companies whose algorithms are perceived to favor one candidate over another. It builds on SB 520, filed by state Sen. Danny Burgess, that would require the platforms to give a 30-day notice to a user whose account has been disabled or suspended and explain why the user was punished. Although the governor never mentioned the former president, who was banned by Facebook and Twitter after they said he used his accounts to incite violence and disseminate conspiracy theories about the election, the timing of the announcement coincided with the filing by Trumps lawyers in the pending impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. In a 14-page brief, lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor wrote that when the president told his supporters if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore it was not meant as a reference to violent action but was intended to be about the need to fight for election security in general. They also denied that Trump had incited the riot by disputing the election results or by exhorting his followers to action. By contrast, the U.S. House accuses Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors for inciting the violent insurrection. The actions by the House make clear that in their opinion the 45th president does not enjoy the protections of liberty upon which this great nation was founded, where free speech, and indeed, free political speech form the backbone of all American liberties, the defense lawyers wrote. DeSantis, whose allegiance to Trump began when the former president used his Twitter account to endorse DeSantis over his Republican primary rivals in the 2018 Florida election for governor, blasted the big tech oligarchy for being more of a clear and present danger to the rights of free speech than the government itself. He accused the social media companies of having a bias against conservatives because they didnt ban from their accounts the supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both of whom DeSantis said used their accounts to incite violence. They have so much garbage and filth on that platform, all the time,' he said. They did not censor people when they were using those platforms for the rioting that occurred over the summer, so their excuse doesnt hold water. Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who chairs the Florida House Commerce Committee that will draft the legislation, said the announcement was not related to the presidents First Amendment defense, but the bill has been something House Republicans have been considering for months as social media giants started to become more aggressive with issuing warnings and removing people for content that violated their policies.. What were looking at is consistency and transparency,' he said. If you are going to de-platform somebody for inciteful speech or hate speech, then you need to de-platform all of it. What were seeing is arbitrary decisions that are being made. The proposal, which will be released as a committee bill by the House Commerce Committee, would require a technology company that promotes a candidate for office against another to have the value of that promotion be recorded as a political contribution and subject to regulation by the Florida Elections Commission. It also imposes daily fines on a technology company that uses its content and user-related algorithms to suppress or prioritize the content related to political candidates. The proposal would also require companies to allow users to opt out of algorithms that tailor the content they see in their feeds, and the legislation would also allow Floridians and the states attorney general to sue the companies for violating these provisions. DeSantis argued that the proof of the social media companies bias is the fact that the discredited New York Post story on Hunter Biden, which DeSantis says was true, was not amplified. He said he has had threats against him on social media. It only gets taken down if law enforcement tells them to do it,' he said. Theyre not moderating any of that. Their thumbs on the scale. For more than five years, Trump had the ability to catch the worlds attention with the push of a button. But after Twitter and Facebook banned him from the accounts, he lost access to 88 million Twitter followers, 35 million Facebook followers and the ability to use those platforms to elevate his supporters like DeSantis. Floridas governor has not disavowed statements about Trumps discredited claims about the election and has not commented on Trumps post-election efforts to get Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and former Attorney General William Barr to intervene in the election results. On Tuesday, DeSantis was asked if he agreed with the president that the election was stolen from him and that there was widespread fraud. He didnt answer, and instead compared it to Democrats blaming Russia for interfering with the election. So heres what I would say,' DeSantis said. How many people tweeted in 2016, 17, 18, 19 and 20 that Russia stole an election? ... Did any of those people get de-platformed? DeSantis called allegations of Russian collusion with Trump a conspiracy theory not based on fact that was amplified by social media for years. He did not mention that the FBI has charged, and a federal grand jury has indicted, 12 Russian military intelligence officers with computer hacking, stealing documents, and staging releases of the stolen documents to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The nations social media giants have no major rivals, and the governor and legislative leaders made no mention of proposals to end the virtual monopoly status of Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat, said Tuesday that the governors attention should be focused on getting congressional action to reduce the monopoly power of Big Tech, not on attempting to use Florida law to regulate private companies that have a right to write their own rules. Weve got to go back to the basics of: Did the big tech companies become too big? And thats a conversation that needs to be happening on the federal level, she said. Its a disingenuous argument today from the governor and from Republican leadership that are taking this stance. If you want to go after the tech companies, because you feel its un-American, because it doesnt allow for smaller businesses to get involved, that capitalism is stifled, then thats a conversation that we need to be having. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, acknowledged that theres not much we can do as a state to intercede in the power of the technology giants. But we need Congress to act on a nationwide basis,' he said. One issue the governor appeared reluctant to support is a call by Republican Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Joe Gruters to have the governor and Cabinet divest the $8 billion the state has invested in Twitter, Apple, Facebook and Google through the Florida Retirement System, which pays retirees with proceeds from the investments. The returns on Big Tech investments have been enormous, in the last year exceeding 30%, according to the State Board of Administration. The legislation proposes forcing the state to sell those stocks, pay thousands in administrative fees, and lose millions in lost investments. DeSantis said if Florida divested those stocks, it really doesnt protect Floridians and may not affect the companies. Ingoglia said he opposes the idea. The very people that it hurts are the people investing in our pension funds,' he said. 2021 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. An American expat living in Melbourne has been slammed for making 'misinformed' observations about the differences between Australia and the United States. Lara Fourie, 18, moved with her family to the Victorian capital in 2017 and quickly discovered that life Down Under is very different than what she was accustomed to. The student, who has 104,200 followers and 2.9million likes on TikTok, is known for sharing videos detailing the social cues, slang terms and cultural norms that vary from Australian to American shores. But her latest observations have been widely criticised for being factually incorrect. In the clip, which has been viewed 385,200 times since it was uploaded online on January 28, Ms Fourie claims dried grapes are called sultanas in Australia and raisins in America - but they are different types of fruit. Scroll down for video Lara Fourie (pictured in Darwin, NT) moved with her family to Melbourne in 2017 and quickly discovered that life Down Under is very different than what she was accustomed to She says colouring pens are known as 'markers' in America and 'texters' in Australia, however the correct term is 'textas'. Ms Fourie claims the nutritional value of food is measured in calories in America and kilojoules in Australia, yet many Australians insist they have 'never heard' of kilojoules and always go by the calorie amount marked on packaging. Ms Fourie also compares electricity sockets in Australia and the US, noting that American outlets have sockets stacked on top of each other while Aussie versions are side by side. The video has divided opinion, with dozens debunking the bulk of Ms Fourie's commentary. Same, but different: Ms Fourie (left) said dried grapes are called sultanas in Australia and raisins (right) in America, but they are actually two different types of fruit 'Some of these are wrong,' one viewer replied. 'I'm in Aus and they have both kilojoule and calories on most food packaging,' a second added, while a third wrote: 'I'm Australian and I have never heard the word kilojoule in my life.' Others took issue with Ms Fourie's comparison of raisins and sultanas, with one man arguing they are 'two different things'. One woman asked Ms Fourie (pictured) where she is getting her information from as so much of it is mistaken Raisins are made from a range of grape varieties which are dried naturally, while sultanas are made exclusively from seedless green grapes which are dipped in a sugar syrup to accelerate the drying process. Both are sold in supermarkets across Australia. Dozens corrected Ms Fourie's reference to colouring pens, which she said are called 'texters' Down Under. 'They're not spelled texter, it's texta you've got to say it like 'texttuh',' one woman wrote. 'A lot to learn': Viewers slammed Ms Fourie for referring to textas - the Australian term for colouring pens - as 'texters' (stock image) 'You've got a lot to learn. It's textas, and we have calories,' said a second. A third blasted Ms Fourie for making uneducated observations, writing: 'I don't know where you're getting your information from.' Another accused Ms Fourie of lying about living in Melbourne, claiming her mistakes prove she has 'never been to Australia'. Broward County, Fla., sheriff's officers escort a Coral Springs Parkland Fire Department vehicle as it leaves the Broward County Office of Medical Examiner following the killing of two FBI agents during the serving of a warrant in Sunrise, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Deadly FBI Shootout One of Worst Days in Bureaus History, Former Agent Says Two FBI agents were shot and killed and three other agents were wounded early on Feb. 2 as they tried to serve a search warrant at a Florida home, in one of the bureaus deadliest episodes in decades. FBI Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger died in the line of duty while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in connection with an investigation of crimes against children, according to the bureau. The subject of the warrant also died. Marc Ruskin, a former FBI special agent with 20 years of experience in undercover operations and a contributor to The Epoch Times, said it was probably one of the worst days in the history of the FBI. Over the past few years, the Bureau has been heavily politicized due to the actions of the upper management, but this is a real reminder that the field agentsthe ones who toil day and night and put their lives on the lineare still there protecting people, even in this age of defund the police,' Ruskin told The Epoch Times. Marc Ruskin, a retired FBI special agent and author of The Pretender, in New York on Oct. 4, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Ruskin, now retired, worked primarily in undercover operations, for which he was awarded five commendations from the bureau director. He said the only comparable incident in his memory took place in the mid-1980s. In 1986, two agents were killed and five others were wounded in a Miami shootout with two bank robbery suspects, according to the bureaus website. He said he remembers feeling a tremendous shock when he heard the news of that shooting over the radio at the time. The FBI is reviewing the Feb. 2 shooting, which occurred at about 6 a.m. in Sunrise, Florida, according to an FBI statement. Because its an ongoing investigation, the bureau hasnt released any further information. Ruskin said the incident reminds him that there arent many jobs where you have to really fear for your life. He recalled as a young agent sometimes really feeling fear and also questioning why he chose such a deadly career. I was lucky I survived 27 years, with 20 years of undercover work, he said. I was often in fear. Being courageous doesnt mean you dont have fear, it means you have fear and you acknowledge it and you face it. You dont let it overcome you, you overcome it. The public should appreciate what these agents are doing. When you do go to work in the morning, especially when your going to do an undercover meet, or executing a search warrant, you may not come home that night. Thats different from being an accountant or a politician or any other job pretty much. The last fatal shooting of an FBI agent on duty occurred on Nov. 19, 2008, also during the execution of a warrant, according to the website. Agent Samuel Hicks was shot and killed as he sought to execute a federal arrest warrant associated with a drug trafficking organization in Pittsburgh. In a public statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that two of the wounded agents required hospital care and are now in stable condition; the third injured agent didnt require hospitalization. Every day, FBI special agents put themselves in harms way to keep the American people safe, Wray said. The FBI will always honor their ultimate sacrifice and will be forever grateful for their bravery. We continue to stand by our FBI Family, and the families of these special agents, in the days to come, bringing every resource we can to get through this together. Reuters contributed to this 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 City Hall is set to unveil three newly-constructed fire stations before May in a bid to enhance its response to disasters and emergencies in the capital. The three fire stations, located on Kangundo Road, Waithaka and Ruaraka, were completed over a year ago but their commissioning has stalled. The construction of the three fire stations began in April 2018 and they were to be launched in September 2019. Nairobi Devolution Executive Veska Kangogo said the three will now be commissioned before the end of May to add to the two fire stations currently operating in Nairobi. The two functional fire stations are Khoja fire station along Tom Mboya Street in the central business district and another at Industrial Area, which were built before Kenya got independence in 1963. Ms Kangogo said the opening of the three new fire stations had been held up by delays by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to clear a container carrying communications equipment donated by the Belgian government for use in the command centre. However, she said the county government has written to the Ministry of Devolution to follow up on the matter and have KRA expedite the release of the container. The equipment was part of Phase I of a partnership between the government of Belgium and City Hall. The county government received from Belgium through KBC Bank NV-M/s Somati Vehicles, 29 vehicles including firefighting engines, ambulances and a ladder truck, personal protection equipment, breathing apparatus sets and communication systems, among others at a cost of more than Sh1.1 billion. Waiting for KRA "We are just waiting for KRA to release to us the communications equipment. They told us to relist what is inside the containers and we have done so after asking for the list from Belgium," said Ms Kangogo. "We have already finished construction of the fire stations and we are equipping the command centre in Ruaraka. By May 21, 2021, which is the deadline for completion of phase one, all the fire stations should be operational," she said. She said City Hall has already recruited an additional 300 firefighters to be deployed at the new fire stations with 200 more to be added as the county has a shortage of staff to man all the five fire stations. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Infrastructure By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. In September 2019, a report from City Hall revealed that Nairobi had only 120 trained firefighters; 11 retired at the end of that year and 13 in 2020. "The fire personnel will undergo special training in different disaster situations," she said. Kangundo Road and Waithaka fire stations were funded by the World Bank and will serve all the five Embakasi sub-counties as well as Westlands, Dagoretti North and South. Ruaraka fire station, funded by the Belgian government, will serve Roysambu, Ruaraka and Mathare areas as well as a command centre. The Khoja and Industrial area fire stations will serve Kibra, Lang'ata, Kamukunji and Starehe sub-counties. "We are also targeting to add another fire station at Gigiri as part of phase two of our cooperation with the Belgian government. We have already positioned a temporary fire station there," she said. In the second phase, City Hall is set to receive Sh1.2 billion towards a similar project where they will get 30 additional trucks and boats to assist in recovery in case of floods, state-of-the-art machines to pump out water in areas such as Eastlands, mostly affected by floods when it rains, diving equipment as well as special containers to deal with chemical incidents in the city. Around Christmas, Ben Nachum applied to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to offer COVID-19 vaccine doses at his North Philadelphia pharmacy. More than a month later, he has yet to hear back. In mid-January, he submitted his information into the states application process but hasnt heard from them either. There are five pharmacies around me, said Nachum, owner of Patriot Pharmacy. We could easily vaccinate this whole neighborhood if we had the vaccine. He is among dozens of local pharmacists, some of whom have invested in technology improvements and new refrigeration capacity, who have gotten no reply from city officials who must grant them permission to carry vaccine. Across Philadelphia, just two independent pharmacies have been approved to provide COVID-19 doses since the city opened the application process in October, city health department spokesperson James Garrow said. Fifteen pharmacies are in the enrollment process, he said, and 25 more have submitted applications that have yet to be reviewed. Enrollment is a slow process due to reporting requirements and storage and handling, he said. As Philadelphia seeks to recover from the debacle of allowing a group of college students to run a major vaccination initiative, independent pharmacy owners are asking why they have been left out, especially given that they have experience with vaccines and the trust of their customers. Questions go unanswered and applications go unaddressed, they say. READ MORE: Phillys rough COVID-19 vaccine rollout adds challenge to reaching skeptical Black residents: Our reticence is sacred Theres a one-page application for PhilaVax, Mel Brodsky, executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, said of the citys immunization information system, and they send it in and they wait and they wait and they wait. A complicated application Lindsay Dymowski is president of one of the two independent pharmacies in the city approved to carry vaccine. For about two weeks, she said, Centennial Pharmacy Services two locations have been able to vaccinate about 1,000 people a week, most of them health-care workers and some eligible seniors. The approval process was arduous, she said, and she believes she was approved because she started back in the fall. You have to make sure you have the right facilities, the right refrigeration units. You have to do a lot of different checks with them, back and forth, Dymowski said. Its not something that can be done on the fly. On top of all that, Garrow said, businesses also have to demonstrate they can schedule appointments so doses arent wasted, and can report all doses administered to the citys vaccine database within 24 hours. READ MORE: The city trusted a group of college kids to lead its vaccine rollout. But Philly Fighting COVID was full of red flags from the start. Establishing links between pharmacies and that database, he acknowledged, has been an obstacle. Training and ensuring privacy and security are challenges, he said, as are some technical aspects of the system. Pharmacists have become exasperated trying to make their systems compatible with the citys record-keeping, which is necessary to receive approval to carry vaccine doses, Brodsky said. Richard Ost, who applied just this week to become a vaccine provider, said he had the proper record-keeping system installed months ago, but cant get it to work. Hes had challenges getting clear answers from the company running the service and the city. Somethings wrong and we dont know where to turn, said Ost, who owns Philadelphia Pharmacy at Lehigh Avenue and Front Street. Independents unique access Independent pharmacies, which account for the vast majority of the licensed pharmacists in Philadelphia, are an untapped resource as city health officials seek to serve Black and brown citizens who may be reticent about the vaccine for reasons including a history of poor treatment in the medical community. Just 15% of all vaccine doses in the city have gone to Black residents, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said Thursday, though they are 44% of the population. Independent pharmacies like Osts are staples of their neighborhoods, and owners have long relationships with their customers, putting them in a unique position to know whose medical conditions make them a priority for vaccination. Who can do it better than pharmacists? said Ost, whose pharmacy has served Kensington residents for nearly four decades. I know whos the diabetic, I know whos on different drugs, whos immunocompromised. READ MORE: Philadelphia deputy health commissioner resigns following Philly Fighting COVID controversy Dymowski, whose pharmacy is approved to carry vaccines by both the city and the state, said she has seen the benefits of her customers being able to go to their regular pharmacy for COVID-19 vaccination. On a daily basis we get phone calls asking if the vaccines safe, if they should or shouldnt take it, she said. Were able to get to the community quickly and our patient base trusts us. In West Virginia, health officials credited a reliance on independent pharmacies, rather than national chains, for the states ability to inject at least 7.4% of its population with a first dose, the best rate in the country, the Associated Press reported. Philadelphia, which reported 105,306 first doses administered as of Monday, has given an injection to about 6.6% of the citys population. While noting West Virginia is quite different from urban Philly, Garrow said the city does want the independent pharmacies help. We are excited to partner with independent pharmacies in the future and acknowledge that they serve a critical function in their communities, Garrow said. On Tuesday, Farley announced vaccination for people over 75 would begin next week at three ShopRites and 20 Walgreens, and encouraged hospitals to play a role in inoculating the general public. He made no mention, though, of independent pharmacies. Garrow noted that pharmacies need to have enough room to keep vaccine recipients properly distanced while waiting 15 minutes after the injection to ensure there are no adverse effects. Or they could be partnered with businesses to host clinics for workers. Ost says he could provide doses for 200 people a week, and would likely just mention the service to eligible customers when they come in to pick up a prescription. Is 40 a day going to change the world? No, he said. But if you have 150 pharmacists doing it every day then you start making a little dent. Staff Writer Laura McCrystal contributed to this story. This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Nachums name. Although sedans are a dying breed and sporty cars are on a downward spiral, the Blackwings' commercial success shouldnt come as a surprise to you. GM has laid the groundwork to complete electrification, and Cadillac has recently alienated U.S. dealerships over this switch to electric vehicles.Approximately 150 out of 880 dealers said no to selling EVs such as the Lyriq and Celestiq, and I cant blame them for that because legacy automakers are living in the shadow of Tesla. Looking at the bigger picture, not even Tesla has proven its business model because Palo Alto made a bigger profit last year from selling regulatory carbon credits instead of all-electric vehicles.At least in the United States of America, the automotive industry will have to adapt once again after every player embraces the all-electric trend to its full potential. Given these circumstances, the more skeptical among us arent impressed by the electrification strategies of the Big Three in Detroit.There is, however, a second reason as to why Cadillac sold 500 sporty sedans in less than a day. The Blackwing twins are probably the last hurrah of internal combustion for the luxury-oriented brand, and both models are seriously impressive on paper thanks to force-fed V6 and V8 mills.472 horsepower and 445 pound-feet (603 Nm) of torque put the CT4-V Blackwing above the standard version of the BMW M3, which cranks out 473 horsepower and 406 pound-feet (550 Nm). As for the CT5-V Blackwing, make that 668 horsepower and 659 pound-feet (893 Nm) as opposed to 627 horsepower and 553 pound-feet (750 Nm) for the M5 CS.On an ending note, First Edition models differ in only one way from the bone-stock specification. The only dissimilarity boils down to a steering wheel that features a serialized plaque with a five-digit portion of the VIN sequence. The hole was a 360m step-out hole, 15 road kilometres west of the group's Tom-Jason deposits at its huge project It has a huge land package of 946 sq km at its flagship Macmillan Pass property, which is host to the Tom, Jason, Boundary Zone and End Zone zinc-lead-silver deposits ( ) (OTCMKTS:FWEDF) (FRA:20F) has said the first hole into the Boundary Zone West area, discovered last year, at its Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, showed impressive grade and width potential. The hole was a 360 metre (m) step-out hole, 15 road kilometres west of the group's Tom-Jason deposits at its huge project. At a vertical depth of 90m, the hole hit an intersection of 76.5m of 4.22% zinc, 0.34% lead and 25.6 grams per ton (g/t) silver. This intercept included 24.1m of 6.46% zinc, 0.77% lead and 47.5 g/t silver. "This first hole into Boundary West has shown the impressive grade and width potential of the upper sequence. The massive pyrite-sphalerite-galena present in this upper interval demonstrate not just healthy zinc grades, but intriguing silver levels," said CEO Brandon Macdonald. Fireweed said it was now awaiting assays from other holes at Boundary Zone West, including those that also intersected the lower sequence. The company has a huge land package of 946 square kilometres (sq km) at its flagship Macmillan Pass property, which is host to the Tom, Jason, Boundary Zone and End Zone zinc-lead-silver deposits. Tom and Jason already boast a combined resource of 11.21 million tonnes (Mt) of higher confidence indicated resources at 9.61% zinc equivalent (ZnEq) and 6.59% zinc, 2.48% lead, 21.33 (g/t) silver, and there is potential to expand this further. The Boundary zone, Tom North zone and End zone have significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization drilled but are not yet classified as mineral resources. Shares in Toronto zipped up over 13% to C$1.04 each. ---Updates for share price--- Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Maluma has become a huge star in the United States, collaborating with Jennifer Lopez and amassing 57million Instagram followers. But the Grammy nominee's massive fandom might just prove to be deadly, after a recent event. He incited a potential super spreader mob Tuesday, as cops had to shut down his overcrowded meet-and-greet in the Wynwood District of Miami, where he was promoting his new EP. COVIDiots: Maluma incited a super spreader mob Tuesday, as cops had to shut down his overcrowded meet-and-greet in the Wynwood District of Miami Self promotion: He was promoting his new EP 7 Dias en Jamaica at a gallery pop-up The 27-year-old took to Instagram to alert his fans that he'd be making an appearance at a gallery pop-up, making sure to include in parentheses: 'Wear masks.' He stood up through the sunroof of his car as he pulled up on the line, which stretched for blocks down the street. Maluma was swarmed by fans upon his arrival, as he showed off the excited crowd in a video on his Instagram Story. He greeted around 160 fans outside the gallery, before they were let inside the gallery 10 at a time, where social distancing was enforced. Wear masks: The 27-year-old took to Instagram to alert his fans that he'd be making an appearance, making sure to include in parentheses: 'Wear masks.' Worth the wait? Maluma revealed the massive line of fans, which stretched for blocks down the street Grand entrance: He stood up through the sunroof of his car as he pulled up on the line Mob mentality: Maluma was swarmed by fans upon his arrival, as he showed off the excited crowd in a video on his Instagram Story But with more than 1,000 people still in line, the Miami Police Department had to step in to shut down the event, as it violated COVID-19 emergency orders. The Marry Me actor partnered with artist Federico Uribe, who created the cover artwork for his new EP 7 Dias en Jamaica out of recycled plastic pieces. They're auctioning off the art, with 100% of the proceeds going to three different environmental nonprofits in his native Colombia. Maluma announced his EP last week on Instagram, sparking pregnancy rumors as he cuddled up to a woman's stomach, which was scribed in marker with '#7DJ.' He later revealed that he's birthing something else, ahead of the January 29 release, as he said on Instagram Live: 'Yes, I'm going to be a dad! And the baby is born in 30 minutes. Social distancing: He greeted around 160 fans outside the gallery, before they were let inside the gallery 10 at a time, where social distancing was enforced Shut down: But with more than 1,000 people still in line, the Miami Police Department had to step in to shut down the event, as it violated COVID-19 emergency orders Creative collab: The Marry Me actor partnered with artist Federico Uribe, who created the cover artwork for his new EP 7 Dias en Jamaica out of recycled plastic pieces Good cause: They're auctioning off the art, with 100% of the proceeds going to three different environmental nonprofits in his native Colombia Visual album: The Colombian pop star dropped a seven-track EP, along with a visual component on YouTube, inspired by a trip he took to Jamaica Spiritual journey: He explained: 'I did a lot of soul-searching there and came back a different person, completely inspired and having realized that music is not just what I do, it's part of who I am; how I experience and interpret life' 'It's my sixth child... For the people who thought I was going to be a dad. This is my new baby, 7 Dias En Jamaica. This is a project that I've been working on for a long time.' The Colombian pop star dropped a seven-track EP, along with a visual component on YouTube, inspired by a trip he took to Jamaica. He explained: 'Those seven days in Jamaica came at a time when I needed to escape and decompress as I had intensely worked non-stop on my career for seven years and I was questioning if I should even continue doing music. 'I did a lot of soul-searching there and came back a different person, completely inspired and having realized that music is not just what I do, it's part of who I am; how I experience and interpret life.' Maluma recently made history when he posed for the February Issue of Elle, becoming the first man to cover the fashion glossy. The Papi Juancho artist reflected on his year: 'Of course 2020 has been a very difficult year for all of us, but I feel like this was my best year so far, musically, artistically, and personally. I feel like I was reborn.' Big news: Maluma announced his EP last week on Instagram, sparking pregnancy rumors as he cuddled up to a woman's stomach, which was scribed in marker with '#7DJ' The nations highest court will decide the future of a controversial $1 billion pipeline planned in New Jersey, and set a precedent for pipeline construction across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court decided Wednesday that it would hear the appeal of the PennEast Pipeline Company, which plans to build a 120-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale region, across the Delaware River and into Hunterdon and Mercer counties. Bloomberg first reported the Supreme Courts decision. The pipeline now has one last chance to overcome heavy resistance from the state and local New Jersey landowners on its route, who are opposed to its construction. At the heart of the case, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, is a central question: Can a private company seize land owned and protected by the state through eminent domain to build a pipeline? Its a question with national implications, as pipelines are frequently built in the U.S. across state-owned property. PennEast first proposed its pipeline in 2014, selling the project as a necessary tool to bring more natural gas to the Northeast, where demand for the fossil fuel is rising. Critics of the pipeline have said the project is not needed as the regions natural gas demands are already being met by existing supply. Instead, they argue, the pipeline is just a way to build more capacity into the system to accommodate gas extracted through fracking in Pennsylvania. Building the pipeline, they warn, will harm existing ecosystems and contribute to ongoing climate change. To build the pipeline, PennEast has sought to use eminent domain powers to secure land along the planned route. Such authority is typically only granted to government agencies, but the Natural Gas Act, which became federal law in 1938, allows private companies to use the power if they can prove a pipeline serves a public need. In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that PennEast could not use eminent domain powers to seize land owned by the state of New Jersey for pipeline construction. Later that year, PennEast appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and had since been waiting for a decision on whether or not the justices would review the case. The Trump administration threw its support behind the pipeline and urged the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, while New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal Earlier asked the Supreme Court not to hear PennEasts appeal. Tony Cox, the chair of the board of managers for PennEast, applauded the Supreme Courts decision to review the Third Circuit ruling as a step forward in ensuring natural gas infrastructure like this pipeline is able to deliver affordable energy. Congress passed the Natural Gas Act specifically to avoid state and local vetoes of interstate projects found by federal regulators to be in the public need and benefit, Cox said. The misguided Third Circuit ruling in fall 2019 turned nearly 80 years of federal government interpretation and industry practice on their heads. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal welcomed the chance to argue the case in the nations highest court. We firmly believe that a private party like PennEast has no right to condemn state lands in court, and we look forward to pressing our arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court, Grewal said in a statement. When the Court reviews the merits of this case, we believe they will recognize what the Third Circuit did that New Jersey must prevail. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which joined the state in the case, said Grewal has made a strong argument against the pipeline. The [Third Circuits] decision to halt taking of state-owned land by a private party in federal court was well-reasoned. Its a position that should be upheld by the Supreme Court, Tom Gilbert, campaign director for New Jersey Conservation Foundation and ReThink Energy NJ, said in a statement The PennEast pipeline would threaten the health and safety of our communities, private landowners, taxpayer-preserved open space, our drinking water, and significant natural and historic resources. Jennifer Danis, a senior fellow at Columbia University Law Schools Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and part of the team representing the New Jersey Conservation Foundation in the case, said she expects the Supreme Court will uphold the Third Circuit ruling. The Third Circuit honored New Jerseys sovereign right to protect its conservation lands from a private gas pipeline company a right that is based on a substantial body of Supreme Court precedent spanning over one hundred years, Danis said in a statement. We believe that the Court will reach that same conclusion. Outside of the Supreme Court, PennEast still has work to do before construction can begin. The pipeline won a key permit in Pennsylvania in 2017 and was granted federal approval in 2018, but has not been able to secure necessary permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Local officials and residents along the planned route in New Jersey have been vocally opposed to the project. While the case has been pending in Washington, PennEast amended its plans and split the pipeline project into two phases, to allow for the Pennsylvania side of the project to be constructed while the legal questions in New Jersey are sorted out. Meanwhile, the federal approval granted to PennEast in 2018 expired last year. On the day before President Joe Biden was sworn in, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission delayed taking new action on PennEast, leaving the pipeline without a clear green light from the feds. The challenges have cast doubt as to whether or not PennEast will actually be built. Last year, New Jersey Resources, the parent company of New Jersey Natural Gas and one of the primary stakeholders in the pipeline project, announced it would no longer include PennEast in its short-term financial planning. At this time, Cox said PennEast expects construction of the first phase, in Pennsylvania, to begin in 2022, while the second phase is expected to begin in 2024. He cautioned that timeline could be further delayed depending on the regulatory process. We continue to work with all regulators to move the project forward, and meet the well-established needs of our customers, Cox said. NJ Advance Media staff writer Caroline Fassett contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. 2021-02-03 Maeci The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US and the High Representative of the European Union have issued a statement condemning the coup in Myanmar. "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 coup in Myanmar. We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media. We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law. The November election results must be respected and Parliament should be convened at the earliest opportunity. The militarys restrictions on information flows are deeply concerning. Civilians, including civil society and the media, must not be subject to reprisals in any form. We also call for unrestricted humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable. G7 Foreign Ministers recall their 2019 communique in which we restated our commitment to Myanmars democratic transition, peace and accountability for human rights violations and abuses. We stand with the people of Myanmar who want to see a democratic future." Carl Ray Polk Jr. lives in Lufkin and operates ranches in Angelina and Houston counties. Polk was elected as second vice president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 2020. BEIRUT - Six months after the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut, on August 4, which killed more than 200 people, wounded some 6,500 others and damaged one-third of the capital, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is asking for an international investigation, given that the local probe is risking to be covered up. The international non-governmental organization has denounced the fact that the Lebanese judicial investigation has not been able to make significant progress six months after the disaster, which was caused by the apparently accidental explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a hangar of the port. So far, some 30 low and middle-ranking port and security officials have ended up behind bars. The outgoing premier Hassan Diab and three former ministers have been accused by prosecutors of "negligence" and "mistakes" but have so far refused to be questioned by investigators. "The local investigation is blocked and undermined by grave procedural violations, while political leaders are trying to end the investigation", HRW said in a statement. "An independent international investigation is therefore necessary". According to information that emerged over the past months, all Lebanese authorities concerned, from the presidency of the Republic to the prime minister's office and security services, were informed, well ahead of August 4, 2020, of the fact that the ammonium nitrate was in the port. The substance had reached the Lebanese port in 2013 and had never been transferred. "Lebanese authorities publicly promised that the investigation would last five days. But six months later, the public opinion is still waiting for answers", said Aya Majzoub, HRW researcher for Lebanon. The organization also denounced the fact that dozens of middle and low-ranking officials who were arrested remain behind bars, waiting for trial. "Depriving defendants of a fair trial does not help give justice to the victims of the explosion", warned the HRW researcher. "An independent international investigation, along with urgent reforms of the Lebanese legal system, are the best guarantees for people to get the answers they deserve", concluded Majzoub. 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. Residents stand by a fence to block entrance into an alley on Nguyen Khanh Toan Road, Cau Giay District, Hanoi on January 28, 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Nhan. Vietravel chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky is concerned that the latest Covid-19 outbreak could crush the already beleaguered tourism industry. Although the recent surge in Covid-19 cases was not a surprise, it has created much tension for him and the company as the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday nears, Ky told VnExpress. "If the outbreak can be be contained within 10 days as Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam expects, it would be extremely lucky for businesses. But if the spread of the virus scales up, the consequences will be terrible." The Tet holiday, which begins February 10, is typically a period with high demand for domestic travel, in particular among customers in the south wanting to visit destinations in the north like Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province. But the travel company has suspended or rerouted all tours in the north after nearly 300 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the region since January 28. It has also let all its staff stay at home. Ky said that January is usually the time when tour companies focus on advertising their products. However, the atmosphere has been very quiet this year as companies suffer from depleted resources or have left the market. "I dont know if the tourism industry can continue to exist if this outbreak expands on a large scale." Employees have suffered the most as their hopes of returning to work after a challenging year have been dashed. Compared to pre-pandemic times, only half of Vietravel staff are working now. Ky said that the tourism industry has not so far received any major support package, which is what it needs most now. Vietnams tourism industry went through one of the most difficult years in its history last year when the Covid-19 pandemic slashed the number of foreign arrivals by nearly 79 percent to 3.8 million, according to the General Statistics Office. Industry revenues plunged nearly 56 percent to VND17.9 trillion ($771.55 million) as flights were canceled and people became reluctant in making travel plans due to fear of contracting the novel coronavirus. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities reportedly has said the company would work with Hyundai Motor Group on an initial Apple Car model built on the E-GMP electric vehicle platform. According to investor website seekingalpha.com, Kuo wrote Hyundai Mobis would handle the component design and production while subsidiary Kia handled US-based production. The analyst noted EVs contain 40-50 times the amount of parts than a smartphone which would drive Apple to rely on automakers for parts manufacturing, according to the report. Kuo wrote: "Apple's deep collaboration with current automakers (Hyundai Group, GM, and PSA) who have extensive development, production, and qualification experience will significantly shorten the Apple Car development time and create a time-to-market advantage." Apple would focus on the "self-driving hardware and software, semiconductors, battery-related technologies, form factor and internal space designs, innovative user experience, and the integration with Apple's existing ecosystem," Kuo said. Kuo still didn't think the Apple Car would hit the road before 2025, at the earliest. Seekingalpha.com noted the E-GMP platform was unveiled in December. Hyundai says vehicles on the platform can generate as much as 600 horsepower and will be targeted at 300 miles of driving range. The platform will support the EV future for both Hyundai and Kia. Hyundai and Apple in EV partnership talks Smoke from a small fire? Apple and Hyundai... Security officials have sanctioned an MP with the pro-Russian political force and a number of TV channels associated with Putin's political operative in Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has put into force a decision by the National Security and Defense Council of February 2, 2021, on applying sanctions against MP Taras Kozak, who is believed to be an ally of Viktor Medvedchuk, and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, including 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. The sanctions have been introduced for a period of five years, according to the President's Office. The restrictive measures include the blocking of assets, restrictions on trade transactions, restriction, partial or full ban on transit of resources, flights, and shipments across Ukraine; ban on money withdrawal from Ukraine, suspension of the fulfillment of financial obligations; annulment or suspension of licenses and other permits; ban on transactions involving the sanctioned persons and entities' securities; and the ban on technology transfer and handing over ownership rights to intellectual property, Ukrayinska Pravda reports. Background Earlier, back in 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has already set up an interim investigation commission to probe malign Russian influence on the media space through a number of Ukrainian TV channels. Read alsoExposed: Russia's military intel behind "destructive" Telegram channels prominent in UkraineThe channels had allegedly become tools in psyops aimed at undermining defense, demoralizing Ukrainian military, provoking extremism, feeding panic, aggravating and destabilizing the socio-political and socio-economic situation, inciting ethnic and religious conflicts in Ukraine, and otherwise threatening information security of Ukraine. In July 2019, President Volodymyr Zelensky said monopolization of the television space in Ukraine by people with pro-Russian views is inadmissible. "People like Mr Medvedchuk will not be allowed monopolizing our Ukrainian television," added Zelensky. As UNIAN reported earlier, Taras Kozak, who is considered to be an ally of Viktor Medvedchuk, Vladimir Putin's major political operative in Ukraine, operates a bulk of media assets in Ukraine, including three national TV channels: 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK TV. Reporting by UNIAN Sydney, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :Australia's conservative prime minister was forced to bring a vocal party lawmaker to task on Wednesday for spreading pandemic disinformation, after a string of comments that threatened to undermine public safety. Prime Minister Scott Morrison summoned Sydney Member of Parliament Craig Kelly after months of false claims that questioned the safety of coronavirus vaccines, opposed lockdowns and promoted unproven treatments. In a statement after the face-to-face, Kelly said he "agreed to support the government's vaccine rollout, which has been endorsed by medical experts". "I believe that the spread of misinformation can damage the success of our public health response during the pandemic," he said in a statement. Mostly Covid-free Australia has yet to begin its vaccine rollout. Public opinion polls show around three-in-four Australians intend to get vaccinated, but misinformation is widespread on prominent media platforms. Kelly has routinely backed the use of Malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and headlice medication ivermectin as Covid-19 treatments and endorsed other unsubstantiated theories spreading widely in the United States. Despite his claims being publicly rejected by Australia's chief medical officer, Kelly's Facebook following has doubled over the past year, amid regular virus screeds. Kelly's Facebook account -- which had around six million video views and five million interactions in the past year according to data tool CrowdTangle -- currently bears a warning from the social media platform about potential Covid-19 misinformation. In recent weeks, Morrison's Liberal Party has come under increasing pressure from health professionals and other political parties to sanction Kelly, who has also been a vocal climate change denier. But the party has prevented efforts to sanction him in parliament. "We've been very clear to point out where you get your information from. You don't get it from Facebook," Morrison said on Monday when asked to comment on Kelly. Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Braveheart Resources Inc. (TSXV: BHT) (OTCQB: RIINF) ("Braveheart" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that silver by-product credits are becoming increasingly significant to Braveheart at its 100% owned Bull River copper, gold and silver mine project and its 100% owned Thierry Mine Project ("Thierry") copper, nickel and silver project. Braveheart recently announced the completion of a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for Thierry near Pickle Lake, Ontario (see Braveheart press release of January, 14, 2021). A NI 43-101 Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of that press release. The PEA was independently prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. ("P&E") of Brampton, Ontario under the supervision of Eugene J. Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET. The PEA, which resulted in a pre-tax NPV of $373 million and IRR of 23% and was focused solely on mining of the Mineral Resources at the Thierry underground mine, indicates a 14 year mine plan based on a 4,000 tonne per day underground mining and processing operation. The mine plan assumes the potentially extractable tonnage of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources is diluted by 20% and a 90% mine recovery factor is applied. Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources represent 8,131,000 tonnes at 1.46% Cu, 0.18% Ni and 3.7 g/t Ag. Inferred Mineral Resources represent 11,507,000 tonnes at 1.46% Cu, 0.15% Ni and 6.1 g/t Ag. The prior independent National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Thierry Project was completed by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. in February 2012 and is available on Cadillac Venture Inc.'s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The previous 2012 Thierry and K1-1 Mineral Resource Estimates have been reviewed taking into account current metal prices, US$ exchange rate trailing averages and recently updated operating costs. P&E's findings are that the 2012 Mineral Resource Estimates are valid for use in the PEA. Palladium, platinum, and gold do not make material contributions to metal revenues, however silver at Thierry is of sufficient grade to be payable in the concentrates. Typically, smelters will pay for silver in concentrate that is at least 30 g/t or higher. Average silver grade in Thierry copper concentrates is expected to be 56 g/t. Based on the current Thierry underground mine plan 967,000 ounces of silver are planned to be mined from the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource and an additional 2,257,000 ounces of silver are planned to be mined from the Inferred Mineral Resource for a total of 3,224,000 ounces of silver from the mined insitu Mineral Resource. At Bull River the Indicated Mineral Resource is 2,179,000 tonnes that contains a grade of 12.2 g/t Ag totaling 857,000 ounces of silver (see Braveheart press release of January 21, 2019). Additionally, the Inferred Mineral Resource is 513,000 tonnes that contains a grade of 8.7 g/t Ag totaling 144,000 ounces of silver. Total silver in the Bull River Mineral Resource is 1,001,000 ounces. Based on analysis by ALS Minerals in Vancouver, British Columbia, silver in concentrate exceeds the payable threshold. Ian Berzins, President and CEO commented: "While our primary metal at both properties is copper, the significance of silver as a by product credit is becoming increasingly important. We now have more than 4,300,000 ounces of silver in our combined underground Mineral Resources." Qualified person Braveheart's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Berzins P.Eng., who serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company and is a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. About Braveheart Resources Inc. Braveheart is a Canadian based junior mining company focused on building shareholder value through exploration and development in favourable Canadian mining jurisdictions at or near past-producing properties. Braveheart's main asset is the 100% owned Bull River Mine project near Cranbrook, British Columbia which has a current Mineral Resource containing copper, gold and silver. Braveheart's newest acquisition is the 100% owned Thierry Mine project near Pickle Lake, Ontario containing copper, nickel, silver, palladium, platinum and gold. Contact Information Braveheart Resources Inc. Ian Berzins President & Chief Executive Officer M: +1-403-512-8202 admin@braveheartresources.com Website: www.braveheartresources.com For more investor information, please contact Braveheart at: Kevin Shum O: +1-647-725-3888 Ext 702 M: +1-604-376-0323 E: kevin@jeminicapital.com E: info@jeminicapital.com Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain information that may constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about strategic plans, future work programs and objectives and expected results from such work programs. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; and other risks. Forward-looking information is 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 information and the risks identified in the Company's continuous disclosure record. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this news release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. 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 new release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73503 Marks & Spencer has saved nearly 50,000 in a year's rates holiday for a Simply Food store here, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal. The shop on Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast qualified for the relief to help retail survive through lockdowns and the pandemic. Lidl, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's have already restored funds which they saved on a full year's rates relief in the UK as a whole. But M&S has said it will not be repaying the amount it has saved. Unlike the rest of the UK, where all retailers qualified from a year's rates rebate, the NI Department of Finance had excluded food stores of more than 500 sq m. But the smaller-scale Ballyhackamore shop qualified. All businesses here, including large stores, were given a four-month rates holiday early in the pandemic. One resident described the store as "constantly busy," often with a queue at the entrance. The department website gives the shop a net asset value of 90,700, which would leave its annual rates bill at 48,812. An M&S spokesman said: "We are very grateful for the much-needed support Government has provided to businesses impacted by the pandemic - including ours. It has enabled us to support our colleagues and our suppliers, whilst continuing to serve our customers in what have been incredibly challenging circumstances." M&S made a loss for the first time during last year, and has not paid bonuses or dividends. During the spring lockdown, sales were hit by the closure of departments like home and clothing. And shops near travel hubs - such as a store close to Belfast International Airport - have also been badly hit. But M&S is still selling goods like clothing, underwear and beauty products in some stores, despite the latest lockdown. It has said it has closed floors selling non-essentials where possible - except where they are next to a food hall and shoppers have to walk through the department selling non-essentials to reach the food. Glyn Roberts, chief executive of Retail NI, said future rates relief from the department "needs to get to businesses who need it most". He added: "There were Retail NI members who were just over the 500 sq m rule that really did need the relief but didn't get it. It really should only go to business that need it the most and are struggling. All businesses should reflect on whether they need it." He said the Executive should permit click and collect services for customers to order online or the phone, then pick up their goods at a given time. The department announced in November that it is setting 105m aside to extend the rates relief scheme when it expires at the end of March. A spokeswoman said: "Work is ongoing with the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre to identify those business sectors most severely impacted by the economic consequences of the pandemic." Regional rates for businesses have also been frozen for 2021/22. But the department said it would be "illegal" to exclude small or mini-supermarkets from future relief on the basis that they were run by big chains like M&S. A spokesperson said retailers had confirmed that the original rates relief "has been essential to their survival". The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company South Africa has recently launched its very own COVID-19 Electronic Vaccine Data Systems, a self-registration portal and immediately, 34,000 healthcare workers have hurried to sign up. South Africa Launches Self-Registration Portal In a report by News24, South African Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said that the self-registration portal is to help the department guarantee that the vaccines would be delivered at the right time at the right site. Minister Mkhize has also done a live demonstration of the portal this Wednesday morning, February 3, 2021. Based on the report, it seems like the portal is open for healthcare workers only at the moment, which is part the country's phase one of the entire COVID-19 vaccination program, which is also common in various parts of the world to ensure the protection of medical frontliners who are battling face to face with the unseen enemy. As the Electronic Vaccine Data Systems launches, 34,000 health workers have already signed up. According to the health minister, the self-registration portal would only take two minutes to complete and would require less than a megabyte of data to access. Read Also: COVID-19 Study Suggests Pregnant Women Can Pass Coronavirus Antibodies to Their Newborn Infants The Start of Phase One The minister said that the launching of the portal is the beginning of "a complete health information system" that begins with their registration to acquiring certification. "The system can capture the relevant metrics of all South Africans that will be vaccinated; ensure vaccinees, are contactable and alerted to optimize adherence to the regimen, and complete the certification process such that vaccine certificates are easy to obtain for vaccinees and authorities that may require certification," Minister Mkhize said. The department encourages every health worker in the country, whether clinical or non-clinical, private or public, persal or non-persal, to register on the system. It can be accessed via the Health Department's website here. The report also says that funeral workers and traditional healers of South Africa are also encouraged to register as they are part of the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination program. Prioritizing Healthcare Workers To prepare for the registration, it will ask a few personal details, including an active phone number where they can contact and notify the vaccinees of changes or when the vaccines are available as well as their schedule. Details of the workers' employment will also be required After signing up, a confirmation would be sent via SMS through the number provided on the form, three minutes or so after registration. Although anyone can access the self-registration portal, it guarantees that the people who sign up for the first phase are actually health care workers by comparing the data provided by facility data, persal system, employer data, private systems, and other data that are acquired from healthcare regulatory bodies. The minister said that the portal will prioritize healthcare workers for the period of the country's COVID-19 vaccination program phase one. Nevertheless, Minister Mkhize guaranteed that no one will be denied of vaccination even if they have not registered via the portal, although it is still encouraged that every healthcare worker does to help the government how many vaccines will be needed at a site. Related Article: Former UK Vaccine Chief Suggests Faster COVID-19 Medicine Administering Methods This article is owned by Tech Times Written by: Nhx Tingson 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Karin Pietrini, 74, of Oak Park, was among those eager to get the shot. She had been checking websites for hospitals, the Cook County health department and stores like Walgreens and Marianos multiple times a day for close to a week when a friend told her about Walmart. She called and got appointments at the Hermosa store for herself and her husband, Dan. Putting their mental pain aside, a family in Kon Tum Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands region, have decided to donate their teenage sons heart, liver, kidneys, and corneas for medical purposes after the boy passed away due to serious injuries in a traffic accident lat last month. Hoang Van Phong, 19, was severely injured in a road crash on January 28. Phongs parents made different attempts to save their son by bringing him to Ngoc Hoi Regional General Hospital and Kon Tum General Hospital in their hometown, as well as 211 Military Hospital in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Although doctors at the three hospitals explained that there was barely any chance to save Phong, his family did not give up. Phongs parents spent 18 hours transferring him about 1,300km to Viet Duc University Hospital in Hanoi, where he received intensive care for 24 hours, as a last resort. However, no miracle happened as Phongs parents lost their beloved son forever. In the pain of losing their grown-up son, the parents made an exceptional decision that few people could do in a similar situation -- to donate their sons organs to save the sick who are waiting for help to continue their life. With the familys approval, doctors on Monday saved the heart, liver, and two kidneys of Phong for transplantation for four patients while his two corneas were sent to Vietnams Eye Bank. Doctors tried their best to save my child, but no miracle happened for Phong," said Nguyen Thi Yen, Phongs 40-year-old mother. "I only hope that his organs can save others. Viet Duc University Hospital is the largest organ transplantation and coordination center in Vietnam. Over the years, the hospital has performed five lung transplants, 36 heart transplants, 92 liver transplants, and nearly 1,100 kidney transplants, with thousands of people having been saved. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The sailors from a South Korean tanker seized in the Persian Gulf by Iranian troops last month are free to leave the country on humanitarian grounds, Iran's state TV said Tuesday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said a legal investigation into the tanker and its captain would continue. maintains the tanker and its 20-member crew and captain were stopped because of the vessel's environmental pollution, a claim rejected by the vessel's owner. Despite that claim, it appeared the South Korean-flagged MT Hankuk Chemi's seizure in the crucial Strait of Hormuz was an attempt by the Islamic Republic to increase its leverage over Seoul. The move came ahead of negotiations over billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid a US pressure campaign targeting The tanker crew, including sailors from Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, were in custody at the port city of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz. The state TV report did not say whether the captain will be allowed to leave the country or when the sailors might actually be released. South Korea's Foreign Ministry late Tuesday welcomed the decision to release the 19 crew members, saying it hoped Tehran would also free the captain and the ship. A ministry statement said Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, informed his South Korean counterpart, Choi Jong-kun, of the crew's planned release during a phone conversation Tuesday evening. state TV said Araghchi and Choi also discussed the issue of the release of Iran's frozen assets. Choi and his delegation visited Tehran last month to discuss the release of the ship and crew and some $7 billion in Iranian assets from oil sales tied up in the country's banks due to American sanctions. But Iran's foreign minister had told the visiting South Korean delegation that the release of its vessel and crew was a matter for the courts and out of the government's hands. In the South Korean statement, Choi urged Iran to quickly release the captain, a South Korean national, and the seized tanker. The Iranian deputy foreign minister told Choi the captain would be provided with sufficient consular services and receive humanitarian treatment during judiciary proceedings, the statement said. The two vice foreign ministers said their governments took an important, first step toward restoring confidence between and Iran, the statement said. They agreed to restore their countries' traditional, friendly ties of supporting each other when they face difficulties by resolving the issue of the frozen fund. To resolve the frozen funds issue, Choi told his Iranian counterpart that will consult with the US while pushing for unspecified swift steps in areas where it can act unilaterally, the statement said. South Korea and Iran agreed to continue close diplomatic consultations, it said. The head of Iran's central bank has said the country wants to use the funds tied up in South Korea to purchase coronavirus vaccines through COVAX, an program designed to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to participating countries. At the time of the ship's seizure January 5, an official at DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, said that initially, Iranian forces had said they wanted to run an unspecified check on the tanker. As the vessel's captain spoke to company security officials back in South Korea, armed Iranian troops stormed the tanker as an Iranian helicopter flew overhead, the official said. The troops demanded the captain sail the tanker into Iranian waters over an unspecified investigation and refused to explain themselves, the official added. Last year, Iran similarly seized a British-flagged oil tanker and held it for months after one of its tankers was held off Gibraltar. (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.) MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Police have arrested 10 men suspected of drug trafficking in the Muskegon area in an investigation that began with an October 2019 fatal overdose in Norton Shores, records show. Shortly after the death, a suspected dealer warned an undercover police officer, posing as a heroin buyer, about the potential dangers of the drug he was selling. It later tested positive for fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid, along with heroin, an investigator wrote in court records. The alleged dealer told the undercover officer to be careful with that its dropping people, a state police sergeant, assigned to a federal task force, wrote in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District in Grand Rapids. U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said police on Tuesday, Feb. 2, arrested 10 suspects in the Muskegon area for allegedly selling methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine. About 35 local, state and federal investigators took part in the arrests and use of search warrants in Muskegon and Muskegon Heights. Police recovered 339 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 113 grams of fentanyl, 93 grams of heroin and a small amount of powder and crack cocaine, Birge said. Police also seized six handguns, over $20,000 and jewelry worth around $20,000, he said. The West Michigan Enforcement Team, or WEMET, began the investigation after an Oct. 24, 2019, fatal overdose in a Norton Shores home. The victim, who was not named, had ingested multiple substances, including fentanyl and heroin, state police Sgt. Joe Young, assigned to the federal task force, wrote in court documents. Police used the victims cellphone to discover the number for a suspected dealer, who then sold drugs to an undercover officer, records showed. No charges have been filed in the death. Young said that WEMET, state police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigators have been investigating a network of individuals that coordinate drug trafficking activities, the movement of bulk cash, and the facilitation of street violence that frequently includes illegal firearms, assaults, and shootings in furtherance of gang violence in and around the area of Muskegon, Michigan. The suspects are: Zachary John Kennedy, 31, a.k.a. Zeus, distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of aiding and abetting in the distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Brent Wilkerson, 28, a.k.a. Pay, distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and four counts of distribution of heroin; Delando Johnson, 28, a.k.a. Fox, three counts of distribution of heroin; Carl Johnson, 42, a.k.a. Orangebone, and Bones, three counts of distribution of crack cocaine and one count of aiding and abetting in the distribution of crack cocaine; Courtney Harris, 31, a.k.a. Money, distribution of crack cocaine; Daris Jefferson, 32, a.k.a. Smoove, distribution of heroin; Alezay Coleman, 23, a.k.a. Zay, possession with the intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Malik Jones-Smith, a/k/a 9 (age 25) four counts of distribution of controlled substances, including heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. Cory Andre Chandler, 29, and Darrell Jonathon Martin II, 37, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Distribution of controlled substances is generally punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Distribution of methamphetamine carries a penalty of at least 10 years in prison, up to life. While Chandler and Martin have been indicted, the others are named in criminal complaints and will have cases presented to a grand jury for potential indictments. All of them made initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids on Wednesday and await detention hearings. The arrests are part of Operation Interstate Zeus, an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation. Muskegon and Muskegon Heights police assisted in the arrests. Read more: House Republican plan for federal coronavirus response money clears committee COVID-19 pandemic taking a toll on students mental health, district survey shows Michigan reports 1,382 new coronavirus cases and 32 deaths for Wednesday, Feb. 3 Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State is committed to reforming the education sector in the state in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebet has said. Accordingly, the commissioner said the Governor expects all hands to be on deck towards the realisation of this goal. Mrs Etiebet also disclosed that the Governor has approved the resumption of public and private primary and secondary schools in the state for second term 2020/2021 academic session on February 1, 2021. In line with the fight against the second wave of the dreaded Covid-19, she appealed to parents and guardians to ensure their children and wards are properly kitted daily with facemasks in line with COVID-19 safety protocols. "Parents are also expected to provide their children and wards with all the necessary textbooks and writing materials. School authorities are charged to ensure provision of hand-washing facilities including running water, hand sanitizers and thermometers while ensuring that students, pupils and teachers comply with physical distancing within the school premises." She warned that students or teachers who feel sick should not come to school, but seek medical help. "Government will not tolerate lateness on the part of the students or teachers just as students caught loitering during school hours will be punished," she said. The Commissioner reminded the school community that the State's Education Monitoring teams are committed to ensuring that these directive are not flouted. "School authorities are advised to ensure teachers complete their scheduled curriculum for the term in compliance with the State Government's directive. The second term will be concluded on April 1, 2021. The Akwa Ibom State Government encourages school children to be serious with their academics in order to make their parents and the State proud," Etiebet said in a statement. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) The House Committee on Labor and Employment has approved bills seeking to establish a job training program for workers 40 years old and above who are unemployed, poor, or who lack formal schooling. The bills filed by Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Manila Rep. John Marvin Nieto, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas will be consolidated before it goes to the House plenary for further deliberation. During the hearing on Wednesday, Nieto said workers aged 40 and above should be given the chance to learn new skills so they can remain employable in a competitive job market. "Walang diskriminasyon basta dedikado sa tungkulin," he said. [Translation: No discrimination as long as they are dedicated to their responsibilities.] Employers Confederation of the Philippines chairman Edgardo Lacson suggested that a cap be added in the bill on the age of older workers who will be eligible for skills training. He said the increase in the number of skilled older workers could make it harder for younger workers to find jobs. "If we train... 40 years old is okay. But training retirees who have already retired because there's no cap in the older age, they will be competing against the unemployed youth," Lacson said. However, Villafuerte said an age limit is unnecessary since it will be the training agency that will set requirements for accepting applicants who are aged 40 and older. "It is the discretion of the person applying and secondly, the agency," he said. "A 50-year-old na malakas [who is strong] or 55-year-old who has retired can be tapped because sometimes, we need their experience and knowledge and they just need skills training para makakuha ng trabaho [to get a job]." In an op-ed last week, David Lee Preston, himself a child of Holocaust survivors, argued that equating Donald Trump with Adolf Hitler did not trivialize Hitler. But as someone who is also a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I believe that making the Hitler-Trump comparison is a divisive and inciting label that promotes a false narrative. My father, who was living in Berlin in 1938, was pulled out of his uncles mens store, then watched his uncle murdered in the street and his store looted and vandalized. He and his cousin were incarcerated in a concentration camp in Germany, only to be released through pressure from the League of Nations, convincing Hitler at that time to send the Jews who were living in Germany back to their countries of origin. Those same Jews would be exterminated once Hitler invaded those countries. Kristallnacht came about because Hitler and Joseph Goebbels had successfully dehumanized and stirred up the embers of anti-Semitism that he had stoked for more than a decade after he wrote Mein Kampf. None of this, I emphasize, nor anything like it happened in America during the past four years. READ MORE: Is it wrong to compare Trump to Hitler? No. | Opinion Whatever errors in judgment were made by President Trump on Jan. 6 (or during the last four years), the emerging evidence is that the violence of that day had been preplanned and had begun before his fateful words were spoken. For sure, he may be held responsible for not recognizing that his words could embolden those already committed to mayhem and violence. To suggest he is the modern version of Hitler, however, does trivialize and in and of itself incites violence. No one in modern history can be compared to Hitler in his single-minded determination to exterminate Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and any undesirables (yea, deplorables) who did not meet the qualifications for his Aryan and fascist club. Such analogies are obscene and inflammatory. In November, CNNs Christiane Amanpour apologized when she drew parallels between Trumps presidency and Kristallnacht, when she said: I should not have juxtaposed the two thoughts. Hitler and his evils stand alone, of course, in history. My plea to all is to tone down the rhetoric. Avoid labels that are both historically incongruous and inciting to baser or ignorant minds. Criticize and speak your mind in an open discourse; be able to advocate honestly but also to tolerate dissent. Our nation was founded with democracy as its basis and remains a beacon to the world. Be aware that when labels are casually placed upon those with whom you do not agree, do not look like, or do not believe what you believe, you are polarizing and dividing, and in the extreme, it is you who are indirectly causing insurrection, chaos, and anarchy. It is only when unfettered that a true Hitler-like enemy may arise and advance his murderous genocidal agenda against Jews and all other branded enemies of the state. Norman Perlberger is an attorney, author, teacher of Torah and Holocaust studies, former president and founder of Phila. Chapter of Children of Holocaust Survivors, former chairman of FJA Mens Organizations, WCAU newswriter, radio host of God is Listening, and present copresident, Philadelphia Chapter, Zionist Organization of America. Editors note: A previous version of this piece mistakenly characterized Amanpours apology as relating to events on Jan. 6. It has been corrected. President Hage Geingob has called on members of his Cabinet to get out of their "comfort zone" and avail themselves to meet with community leaders, ordinary citizens, media and the business fraternity. Geingob said this while officiating at the opening of the first Cabinet meeting of the year at State House yesterday. "As the constitutional body responsible for the determination of policy, and for directing, coordinating and supervising the activities of various offices, ministries and agencies, we have a huge task ahead of us," Geingob said, warning if Cabinet members do not adopt a progressive approach to executing their duties, then they will not overcome prevailing challenges. The President further told his Cabinet colleagues that citizens were looking to them for leadership and should be able to articulate effective and implementable strategies to get Namibia back on course. "The path towards recovery is a collective effort," he added. Therefore, he said the prime minister, deputy prime minister and Cabinet ministers should regularly engage with traditional authorities, faith-based organisations, large and small businesses, academia, the media and the youth, amongst others, to engage in constructive discourse to identify effective solutions to implementing projects and programmes. "This should be an ongoing process, because as we address existing issues, new problems may arise. The Year of Resilience must be defined by a collective approach to nation building and the challenges we face," said the head of state. "The channels of communication between government and the people must be enhanced so that every citizen can participate in shaping the policies that affect his or her life." As President, Geingob said has made it explicitly clear that he views the public's trust as sacrosanct. "Leading the people of this great nation is the ultimate privilege. My ultimate priority and commitment is to advance the interests of all Namibians," he said. "All of you present here today must share the same sentiment and remain committed to ensuring that our processes, systems and institutions are characterised by greater transparency and accountability." Speaking of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 350 lives and disrupted economic activity, the head of state reminded ministers that many Namibians faced untold loss and made tremendous sacrifices. "We cannot ask others to make sacrifices without making sacrifices ourselves. It is therefore crucial that as a government, we continue to spend wisely and cut costs, wherever possible," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Furthermore, Geingob said, delivery and execution is the key and ministers should not delay implementation of crucial projects through "procrastination and indecision". "I am aware that the aversion towards taking decisive action on the implementation of projects could stem from the fear of being perceived as corrupt, but I have always said that if one is not corrupt, then you have nothing to hide or fear," he said. "Do your job with clear conscience and to the best of your ability. I have stated on several occasions that I believe that corruption is not systemic in Namibia, but perceptions have been created that Namibia is a corrupt society," he added. Tainted image Meanwhile, the President said although corruption is not systemic in Namibia, government recognises that some corrupt officials have tainted the name of our country. "It is therefore important for all citizens to emphasise that corruption in any form, e.g. kickbacks, or percentage commission for the amount of a contract, is unacceptable," he added. He said corruption and perceptions thereof erode public trust in institutions. "We should therefore intensify the fight against corruption in order to ensure that each and every cent earmarked for development reaches the intended beneficiaries," he said. - ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na NS Rajappan, a native of Kottayam in Kerala was recently praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his one-man efforts to keep a lake clean of plastic waste. In his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, "I have seen one more news from Kerala which reminds us of our responsibilities. There is a Divyang elderly person in Kerala's Kottayam, NS Rajappan. He is unable to walk due to paralysis. But his commitment towards cleanliness has not faded." BCCL "For the past several years, he rows his boat in the Vembanad lake and clears all the plastic bottles. Imagine how highly he thinks! We must also take inspiration from Rajappan ji and contribute towards cleanliness as far as possible," he added. Kerala: PM Modi acknowledges NS Rajappan, a differently-abled man based in Kochi, for his effort to fish out plastic bottles from Lake Vembanad, in 'Mann ki Baat' address "I feel honoured to have been mentioned by the Prime Minister in his Mann ki Baat address," says Rajappan pic.twitter.com/gO7FPvmW6N ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2021 For many years now, Rajappan has been traveling across the Vembanad lake on his boat, collecting plastic bottles thrown away into the waterbody. Rajappan who cannot stand on his legs used to make ends meet by selling these plastic bottles to scrap traders. PRO Media The story of Rajappan's silent service for decades came to light last year after a local photographer who was on the lookout for an attractive frame chanced upon him. While talking to the photographer, Rajappan narrated his daily routine and about living on the banks of the river and his struggles to reach the boat, by dragging his feet. But now, after his story was highlighted by PM Modi, there is an outpouring of support for the 72-year-old. Screengrab Sreekumar, an NRI businessman has gifted him a motorboat and another Kerala-based industrialist Bobby Chemmannur has offered to build him a new house. Chemmannur said he had initially planned to buy Rajappan a boat, but since he already got a new one as a gift, he decided to make him a house. [February 03, 2021] Exploring Diverse Perspectives and Requirements for Next Ethernet Rate, TEF 2021 Presentations Available for Download from Ethernet Alliance The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today published presentations from the Jan. 25-29 Technology Exploration Forum (TEF) for on-demand access at no charge. The virtual TEF 2021: The Road Ahead industry event focused on the evolving application requirements, the available technologies and the deployment constraints influencing selection of the next Ethernet rate (or rates). Nearly 500 unique attendees watched the event live, with many attending all five days. To access replays of the keynotes and panel discussions, please visit TEF 2021: The Road Ahead. "Choosing the next Ethernet rate is hard, but we have the world's best people working on it," said Peter Jones, chair, Ethernet Alliance. "Our first virtual TEF event brought together industry experts and stakeholders to consider the needs, technologies and challenges for the next generation of higher-rate Ethernet. We heard broad perspectives and animated discussion covering the latest industry trends, opportunities and problems to solve, and it's evident that this is not a case where one size fits all. As the 'Voice of Ethernet,' the Ethernet Alliance welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the continual evolution of Ethernet and believes the interactions resulting from the TEF will help move the industry forward." Key stakeholders from both Ethernet end users and manufacturers delivered TEF 2021 presentations addressing the varied, interrelated activities and issues in play for the drive toward the next Ethernet rate: Keynotes IEEE (News - Alert) 802.3 Study Group on Beyond 400G - John D'Ambrosia, study-group chair Looking Beyond 400G - A System Vendor Perspective - Rakesh Chopra, Cisco Systems (News - Alert) Panel discussion - Market Need - The Next Rate Moderated by Peter Jones, Cisco Systems and Ethernet Alliance chair Market Drivers for Next Generation Ethernet Speed - Sameh Boujelbene, Dell'Oro What Comes After 400GbE - David Ofelt, Juniper Networks Diverging Needs of Enterprise and Cloud Customers - Vlad Kozlov, LightCounting Panel discussion - New Applications Driving Higher Bandwidths Moderated by Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity and Ethernet Alliance board member Paradigm Shift in Network Topologies - Brad Booth, Microsoft (News - Alert) OIF Considerations for Beyond 400ZR - Tad Hofmeister, Google Co-Package Optics for Datacenters - Rob Stone, Facebook Panel discussion - Beyond 100G Electrical Moderated by Chris Lyon, Amphenol and Ethernet Alliance president Electrical Interfaces beyond 100G - Cathy Liu, Broadcom (News - Alert) Electrical Future Work - Nathan Tracy, TE Connectivity and Ethernet Alliance board member 224G Dual Duplex Signaling over Single Lane Copper Links - Ramin Farjad, Marvell OIF Common Electrical I/O 224G Project Overview - Dave Stauffer, OIF representative Panel discussion - Next Generation Optical Interfaces Moderated by Mark Nowell, Cisco Systems and Ethernet Alliance advisory-board chair Scaling Bandwidth with Optical Integration - Scott Schube, Intel Scaling Architecture for Next Gen Optical Links - Matt Traverso, Cisco Systems Performance Photonics Enabling Next Generation Interfaces - David Lewis, Lumentum Observations on the Rate of Beyond 400GbE, 800GbE and/or 1.6TbE - Xinyuan Wang, Huawei Panel discussion - Test & Measurement: Planning for Performance Moderated by David J. Rodgers, Teledyne LeCroy and Ethernet Alliance events chair Validation Methods for Emerging 106Gbps Electrical and Optical Specifications Relating to IEEE P802.3cu/P802.3ck - John Calvin, Keysight Technologies Recommended Design Practices for the Next Generation Ethernet Rate - Steve Rumsby, Spirent Full Compliance Validation of Next-Gen Transceivers - Francois Robitaille, EXFO AEM, Keysight Technologies, Teledyne LeCroy and Xena Networks sponsored TEF 2021. For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org, follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter (News - Alert) , visit its Facebook page, or follow its LinkedIn company page. About the Ethernet Alliance The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education. The organization's plans for 2021 may be found on the Events page of its website. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005488/en/ [ 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. Tamsen Fadal, a 12-time Emmy winner and Lebanese-American co-anchor for PIX11 News, will host the event, which includes special performances and appearances from artists Nick Maloof , Matt Mardini , Amine J. Hachem, Raneem Imam, DJ Cyril, Yasmine Al Massri and Kenza Fourati . Also attending will be St. Jude faculty member Sima Jeha, MD, Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Region for St. Jude Global, and a St. Jude patient family from Syria. The story of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital begins with Danny Thomas, a beloved American, entertainer and humanitarian born in Deerfield, Mich., who took great pride in his Lebanese heritage. He used his career success to help some of those most in need children dying from life-threatening diseases like cancer. His vision of a children's hospital that delivered pioneering research and lifesaving treatment at no cost to patients struck a chord with generous people, especially with his fellow Americans of Arab backgrounds. Thomas proposed that the second and third generations of Americans from Lebanese, Syrian and Arab heritage unite behind a spirit of gratitude to say 'thank you' to God and 'thank you' to the United States of America for allowing his parents and others the opportunity to come to this country to make a living. Together, they would help take care of some of the world's sickest children by raising the funds to build St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and sustain its growth. In 1957, five years before St. Jude opened, approximately 100 Americans of Arabic-speaking heritage joined Thomas in Chicago to create the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC). The organization's sole mission remains the same today: to raise the funds and awareness needed to support St. Jude. When St. Jude opened in 1962, the overall childhood cancer survival rate was 20 percent. Today, it is more than 80 percent. Yalla, Together for St. Jude will take place on St. Jude Founder's Day to honor the legacy of these original founders while bringing together current and new supporters of the mission: Finding cures. Saving children. Danny Thomas' family legacy lives on not only through Marlo Thomas, but also his other grown children Tony and Terre, and his grandchildren who support ALSAC fundraising and awareness activities year-round. Thanks to community support, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To make a donation and support the Yalla fundraising challenge to raise $50,000, visit stjude.org/yalla . Pre-registration is required for this virtual event. Visit stjude.org/yalla to learn more. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org , liking St. Jude on Facebook , following St. Jude on Twitter , Instagram and TikTok , and subscribing to its YouTube channel. SOURCE ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Related Links http://www.stjude.org Consolidated profit after tax (PAT) attributable to owners for Q3 FY21 stood at Rs 297 crore, down 30.28% compared with Rs 426 crore in Q3 FY20, owing to exceptional write off of exploration block on termination. Consolidated total income for the quarter increased by 6% year on year at Rs 11,788 crore owing to increased sales in solar manufacturing business. Profit before tax (PBT) declined 8.1% to Rs 404.41 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 440.16 crore in Q3 December 2019. The EBIDTA for the quarter increased by 6% at Rs 939 crore owing to increased sales in domestic content requirement segment in solar manufacturing business, leading to better margin. Gautam Adani, the chairman Adani Group, has said: "Adani Enterprises continued its journey towards laying the foundation for several new businesses that the Group is venturing into. These include Airports, Data Centers, Roads, and Water. The fact that Adani Enterprises was able to grow its Revenue and EBIDTA through a year of crisis is a reflection of the resilience of India's economy as well as our confidence and commitment to continue to invest to build our nation's infrastructure." Among its verticals, solar manufacturing volume stood at 285 megawatt (MW), mining services production rose 6% to 5.1 million metric tonnes (MMT), IRM volume increased 5% to 21.4 MMT. The company signed concession agreement for Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram Airports on 19 January 2021. Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 0.36% to Rs 566.15. Adani Enterprises is the flagship company of Adani Group, one of India's largest business conglomerates. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian-American group on Wednesday urged the FBI to investigate the recent desecration of the statue of in the US state of as a hate crime and demanded authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. The bronze statue of Gandhi in the Central Park of the city of Davis in Northern was vandalised, broken and ripped from the base by unknown miscreants last week. The city has registered a case and is investigating the incident. The Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies in a statement also urged President Joe Biden, who has promised to combat hate crime, to confront these growing campaigns against peaceful Indian-American community and India. We call upon the to investigate this hate crime done to intimidate the Indian-American community, the foundation said, as it strongly denounced the outrageous and shocking incident. We urge the City of Davis to bring the perpetrators of this act to justice and reinstall the statue, a source of inspiration for the entire humanity. Davis's city needs to send the right message to the country and the world that these kinds of events won't be tolerated, the foundation said. The City of Davis has condemned the desecration of the Gandhi statue and launched an investigation into it. The city, so far, has not given any details of its investigations. We urge those who are opposing Gandhi's ideology of peace to express their protest in a peaceful and democratic way. It would be better if they can engage in discussions instead of getting engaged in violence, it said. This is not the first time that the statue, donated by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, has been desecrated. It happened in June of 2020 as well, the foundation said. Gandhi is seen as a messenger of peace across the world. Gandhian principles inspired leaders such as Rev Martin Luther King Jr, who visited India to meet Gandhi and called him his "guiding light, it 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.) The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company A lot of folks are flat-out doing this pandemic all wrong. They dont keep their distance, refuse to stay home when possible and consider it an infringement on their freedom to wear a mask. After nearly a year of this madness, they still dont understand they can unwittingly spread the virus to others. Or they just dont care. Everybody gripes about these types, and with good reason. But today, lets recognize some of those who are doing it right. There are thousands of people in this community who've helped minimize the virus spread and pitched in with key assists for everyone else and they deserve our appreciation. Lets start with The Citadel. As you might imagine, a military college with about 2,300 cadets living together in barracks has the potential to become a monumental petri dish. As of Monday, the campus had just 18 positive cases in quarantine. Col. John Dorrian, The Citadels vice president for communications and marketing, says the college unsurprisingly treated its efforts to fight the virus as a military campaign. And even as cases of COVID-19 have spiked in the Lowcountry and pretty much everywhere else, Operation Fall Return has been an astonishing success. Like most colleges, The Citadel went online in March but was determined to get students back on campus for the fall because, well, thats sort of the point of being in the Corps of Cadets. They sacrificed some traditions no parades, for instance and limited off-campus leave. Cadets divide their time between in-person and virtual instruction, and they are subject to weekly, random COVID testing. And, because it could, the college made masks a mandatory part of cadet uniforms. The college learned a lot about containing the virus over the summer when the Marine Corps used the campus as a staging area for new recruits headed to Parris Island. Ultimately, The Citadel spent months preaching a pretty simple suggestion that many others cant seem to get through their heads. If you follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendations, they work, Dorrian says. 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! If only everyone employed such common sense. Unlike some people, the Corps of Cadets (to use another military term) has embraced the suck. They know this isnt an ideal situation, but theyre doing what has to be done to remain on campus and maintain some semblance of normal. Theres a lesson there. A number of local businesses have shown that same fighting spirit. Last week, at a virtual version of its annual Industry Appreciation Luncheon, Charleston Countys Economic Development Department saluted some local businesses that have responded to this crisis like patriots. Brackish, the company that makes those snazzy bow ties, and Kate McDonald Bridal, which makes wedding gowns, put their seamstresses to work making face masks for front-line health care workers at the beginning of the pandemic (when those were in short supply). Extremiti3D made face masks and anti-fogging face shields for nonmedical use. The Bourne Group made face shields for health care workers. And Multiplastics not only made face shields, but clear dividers and partitions for schools, churches and businesses around the state. Summit Worx reconfigured its manufacturing operations to make air purifying respirators for FEMA, which sent them to hospitals dealing with the worst coronavirus outbreaks. You may remember High Wire Distilling, in collaboration with Palmetto Brewing, manufactured sanitizer when there was a shortage early in the pandemic. Turns out they distributed more than 5,000 gallons of sanitizer to fire stations, shelters and charities. And Life Industries Corporation manufactured FDA- and CDC-approved sanitizer for those who couldnt use alcohol-based sanitizers. Finally, Limehouse Produce donated 1,200 boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to the Lowcountry Food Bank in the early weeks of the pandemic, and has since worked with local hospitals to feed people who need it most. Steve Dykes, the countys executive director of economic development, says these companies are nothing short of inspiring, a credit to the county. Our businesses and community came together to respond to challenging circumstances, drawing upon the resiliency, generosity and grit that have always been at the core of this region, Dykes says. And that brings us back to a lesson that Dorrian says The Citadel has taught its entire campus: Its really not about you, its about everybody else. If only that sentiment spread as easily as the virus. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WASHINGTON House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met late Tuesday with hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as Republicans wrestled over how to handle a bipartisan outcry over her endorsement of outlandish conspiracy theories and of violent, racist views. Aides to McCarthy and Greene offered no immediate comment after the two spent around 90 minutes together in his Capitol office. Their session came as the GOP faced unrest from opposing ends of the partys spectrum over Greene and Rep. Liz Cheney, whom far-right lawmakers want to oust from her leadership post after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. The strife underscores Republican fissures as the party seeks a path forward two weeks after Trump left office as the only twice-impeached president. House Republicans are effectively deciding whether to prioritize the former presidents norm-shattering behavior and conspiracy theories and retain the loyalty of his voters over more establishment conservative values. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ At the very moment that Joe Biden is lurching to the left is the moment that the Republican Party is lurching out of existence, GOP pollster Frank Luntz said of the new Democratic president, who is preparing to try muscling a mammoth COVID-19 relief package through the narrowly divided Congress. But pro-Trump forces remain powerful. Weve got millions and millions of woke, motivated, America-first Trump voters that believe in the movement, said John Fredericks, who led Trumps Virginia campaigns in 2016 and 2020. If youre going to keep Liz Cheney in leadership, theres no party. Without action by Republicans, Democrats were threatening to force an embarrassing House vote Wednesday on removing Greene, R-Ga., from her assigned committees. Republicans appointed Greene to the education committee, a decision that drew harsh criticism because of her suggestions that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, could be hoaxes. A House vote on removing her from the committee could be politically difficult for some Republicans. The House GOP Steering Committee, a leadership-dominated body that makes committee assignments for the party, also met late Tuesday but no decision was announced. On social media, Greene has voiced support for racist views, unfounded QAnon pro-Trump conspiracy theories and calls for violence against Democratic politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. McCarthy, R-Calif., has stopped short of criticizing the first-term congresswoman, who was dubbed a future Republican Star by Trump last summer and has remained a firm Trump supporter. McCarthy has long been close to Trump. But hes been criticized by some Republicans, mostly quietly, for relentlessly supporting Trumps fallacious claims of a fraudulent election last November and for not forcefully criticizing Trump for helping provoke the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and others have boosted pressure this week on McCarthy and the House GOP to act. In a statement that didnt use Greenes name, the usually circumspect McConnell called her loony lies a cancer on the GOP. It was the latest indication of his concerns about letting the GOPs most pro-Trump, hardest-right factions gain too much sway in the party. In addition, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., whos been trying to combat the GOPs pro-Trump wing, said he favored removing Greene from her committees, saying Republicans must take a stand to disavow her. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a Trump critic and the GOP 2012 presidential nominee, said Tuesday that Republicans must separate ourselves from the people that are the wacky weeds. On the GOPs furthest right wing, lawmakers were itching to oust Cheney, R-Wyo., a traditional conservative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, from her post as the No. 3 House Republican. McConnell praised Cheney, R-Wyo., as a leader with deep convictions and courage, but House GOP lawmakers planned to meet privately Wednesday to decide her political fate. The looming decisions over Cheney and Greene represent a moment of reckoning for a party struggling with its future. We can either become a fringe party that never wins elections or rebuild the big tent party of Reagan, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of the few elected Republicans who routinely rebuked Trump, said in a written statement. Without mentioning Cheney or Greene, he added, I urge congressional Republicans to make the right choice. But Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., a leader of the effort to oust Cheney, says he has enough support to succeed. Shes brought this on herself, Rosendale said. He said Cheney, who was joined by only nine other Republicans in backing impeachment, was wrong to not forewarn colleagues about her decision. Republicans have said that GOP members would unite against a Democratic move to remove Greene from her committee assignments and that such an effort would help Greene cast herself as a victim of partisan Democrats. As if to illustrate that point, Greene herself tweeted fundraising appeals Tuesday that said, With your support, the Democrat mob cant cancel me, beneath a picture of herself standing with Trump. But Democrats said they think some Republicans will support ousting Green from committees and that a House vote will make McCarthy look weak and further erode GOP support among moderate suburban voters. The handling of Greene and Cheney presented a tricky balancing act for McCarthy. Penalizing Cheney for what McConnell called a vote of conscience on impeachment would be awkward without also punishing Greene. Action against either risked angering the GOPs numerous Trump supporters or its more traditional conservative backers. You cant do the normal political song and dance and appease this side slightly and appease that side slightly, said former Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who lost a 2018 party primary after clashing with Trump. The whole nature of the Trump phenomenon is there is no appeasement. McCarthy has said he supports Cheney but also has concerns, leaving his stance on her unclear. ___ Peoples reported from New York. AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report from Washington. The 2 black bears rescued in Pennsylvania and moved to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, are featured in a new book about the sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to more than 500 large carnivores, including over 200 bears, 70 African lions and 70 tigers. The stories of their rescue, often from heartbreaking conditions, are the focal point of Forever Wild, Forever Home: The Story of The Wild Animal Sanctuary of Colorado. With over 100 color photos, the book is an absorbing, thoughtful and timely story from the sanctuarys founding to the present day. It offers a heartwarming and humorous behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to rescue, rehabilitate and provide lifelong care for those magnificent survivors. Dillan, the Asiatic black bear that was taken from a cage at the Union County Sportsmens Club in Millmont last January, today lives in a large, open, grassy enclosure with his enclosure mate, Lily, a female Asiatic black bear. They live near the enclosure of Ricki, an American black bear rescued in 2014 from a small cage at Jim Macks Ice Cream Shop in Hellam, York County, and a similar enclosure occupied by several tigers rescued from the Tiger King, Joe Exotic. Describing what led them to undertake a book on the sanctuary, Denver authors Melanie and Mark Shellenbarger said, When we first saw the enormous habitats of the sanctuary in 2018 and personally learned about the captive wildlife crisis, our lives were changed forever. Our hope is this book will offer an accessible but deeper look into the nobility of the animals that call the sanctuary home and the heroic labors of those who care for them. A retired university faculty member and a retired business executive, the authors began volunteering at the sanctuary in 2019 and were given unprecedented access to staff and volunteers in researching and writing about the animals who call the sanctuary home. Melanies award-winning book, High Country Summers: The Early Second Homes of Colorado, 1880-1940 was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2012. Weve all been waiting 40 years for this book and are so grateful to Melanie and Mark [Shellenbarger] for the tremendous amount of work they put into it, said Pat Craig, founder and executive director of The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Mixed with humor and occasional tugs at the heartstrings, it details the incredible journey from our humble beginnings in Boulder to being the largest and oldest sanctuary in the world devoted to large carnivores. In the book the Shellenbargers describe Dillans experience: Dillans mouth was a complete disaster, moans Pat. It was absolutely ravaged by widespread infection and long-term decay. Fortunately, dentists at PEIVDF rearranged their schedules to help Dillan within a few days of his arrival at the sanctuary. Dentists removed two canine teeth and all the lower teeth along the front of Dillans mouth and performed root canal therapy on his other two broken canines. Thankfully, Dillans molars did not require extraction, and with the help of medications to get through the post-operative pain, Dillan was eating soft food and fruit juices the next morning. Dillans remarkable recovery was not unusual. The relief of chronic pain often engenders immediate positive changes in temperament, a scenario that plays out time and again at the sanctuary. These are cases where I cant even imagine the pain, Pat admits. But when the pain can be eliminated through prudent surgeries or managed through the appropriate pain medications. You can see the physical change. They are bright and perky, and suddenly they want to do things. Dillan is a case in point; within a couple days his whole demeanor began to change, and he started organizing the toys in his introduction enclosure. Ricki the bear relaxes in her wide-open habitat at the Wild Animal Sanctuary near Denver, Colorado. She was relocated there from a cage at a Pennsylvania ice cream shop in 2015. (Wild Animal Sanctuary) And, about Ricki: Pennsylvania who was so pleased that Ricki had been rescued from the ice cream shop she flow out to see how the black bear was doing in February. Ricki, of course, was hibernating, something that never occurred to the visitor because Ricki had no place to hibernate in her cage in Pennsylvania. The sanctuary, which bills itself as the largest nonprofit carnivore sanctuary in the world, was established in 1980. It provides large natural habitats across its 800-acre public area with a mile-and-a-half elevated walkway and The Refuge, 9,000 acres of multi-acre, wooded habitats. The book is available through the Sanctuary website, and Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others in hardcover, paperback and e-book formats. BEIJING -- Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday met with and held a symposium at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with foreign expert representatives working in China, before the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Li extended festive greetings and good wishes to foreign experts in China and all those international friends who support China's modernization construction. At the symposium, experts from the United States, Italy, Singapore, Nepal, Britain, and France shared their advice and suggestions on topics such as China's economy and finance, basic scientific research, COVID-19 prevention and control, education, scientific and technological innovation, and environmental protection. China's economy made hard-won achievements and posted positive growth in 2020 despite the shocks brought by the COVID-19, Li said, adding that foreign experts also made active contributions. China's economic recovery was attributable to its targeted and effective macro-policies. Market-entity vitality also drove the rallying, Li said. Noting that China still faces complicated and grim situations at home and abroad, and multiple challenges, Li said the country would keep its macro-policies consistent, stable, and sustainable and ensure that its economy runs within a reasonable range. As the largest developing country in the world, China has massive market potential and a long way to go for modernization, the premier said. He stressed that China would handle the relationship between the government and the market through reform and opening-up while forging a new development paradigm. China will further open up to the outside world and absorb all the advanced scientific ideas and research methods that are worth learning, Li said, adding that more foreign experts are welcome to work in the country. Phuket governor urges independent business operators to register for Rao Chana PHUKET: Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew has urged all independent business operators on the island to register to take payments under the Rao Chana (We Win) government subsidy campaign that grants registered citizens B3,500 a month for two consecutive months to help ease financial hardship during the current economic crisis. By The Phuket News Wednesday 3 February 2021, 04:37PM Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew is urging small business operators and self-employed to register to receive payments through the Rao Chana government subsidy campaign. Photo: PR Phuket The move is to support small operators and self-employed people who have unregistered businesses so they can receive payments through the Rao Chana scheme, and allow registered recipients of the campaign to use their services. Gov Narong delivered his plea for business owners to register following a nationwide video conference with Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday (Feb 1). We urge all relevant government organisations to understand the project Rao Chana and inform the people so that they can be aware of the project, said Interior Minister Mr Anupong. Every provincial organisation must accelerate to drive the well-being of people to reduce the cost of living for the people by cooperating with the network of local village headmen to achieve their project as well as for the Damrongdhama Centre [Office of the Ombudsman] to receive complaints from people, especially matters about the Rao Chana project which is using an online system, Gen Anupong further explained. Finance Minister Mr Arkhom confirmed that independent business operators are able to register as people who are entitled to register for the Rao Chana subsidy. Regardless whether they are registered as operators under the Thong Fah business support project [by the Ministry of Commerce], the Khon La Kreung government subsidy campaign, a village fund project, as a community enterprise or just as a natural person, such as tuk-tuk business operators, hairdressers, beauticians, repairmen, seamstresses, construction workers, laundry workers and even homestay operators, Mr arkhon said. Mr Arkhom explained that there was just one condition: that the independent business operator register as a person; they cannot register under their business name as a juristic person. The business owner must not be registered as a juristic person. The operator must have a place of business that can be checked, Mr Arkhom said. Gov Narong also emphasised that the people who can register to use the Pao Tang app to pay for services under the Rao Chana campaign comprised three main groups: Those who have a state welfare card Those who have already registered for the Khon La Kreung scheme, but not government officers and not people who receive support under Section 33 of the Social Security Act Business owners who are not juristic persons, including those providing transport service Independent business operators can register to receive payments under the Rao Chana campaign at the One Stop Service Centre set up by Krungthai Bank at Phuket Community Hall on Narisorn Rd in Phuket Town from today through Friday (Feb 3-5). The centre will open again to help guide business owners through the registration process from Monday through Thursday next week (Feb 8-11), Governor Narong noted. Eligibility extension under consideration Meanwhile, people registered in the social security system are in the pipeline to be eligible to receive the B7,000t money transfer under the Rao Chana (We Win) scheme, says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. Some of the 11 million employees, who are covered under Section 33 of the Social Security Act, have seen their salaries cut by employers without receiving any financial relief from the government, reports the Bangkok Post. The issue is being deliberated by the Finance Ministry and the ministry is also considering including low-income civil servants to be eligible for the governments financial aid, said Mr Arkhom. The amount of financial relief for these target groups and eligibility criteria will be deliberated with the Labour Ministry, he said. Initially, the disbursement process of financial relief will be based on the Social Security Fund information and state-run mobile application, said Mr Arkhom. A Finance Ministry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the criteria for financial relief disbursement will be benchmarked on the Rao Chana scheme. Under a new financial aid scheme, the government will provide a total of B7,000 per person over two months to cover 31 million people affected by the pandemic. Registration has been scheduled for Jan 29-Feb 12 on www..com. Two of the criteria used to screen applicants are their annual income and how much they have in their bank accounts. People who successfully register have until May 31 to spend the money provided. The scheme does not cover social security subscribers, government officials or state enterprise employees. Those who are approved wont be paid cash, however -- the scheme uses a model similar to the Khon La Krueng co-payment subsidy programme, in which the money is transferred via the Pao Tang app and used to buy food, drinks and essential items. As of Saturday (Jan 30), about 7 million people had registered with the Rao Chana economic relief scheme, according to the Fiscal Policy Office. A Bangkok poll, conducted by Bangkok University Research Center, indicated that 72% respondents wanted the help extended to everyone and the registration process made easier. Polling researchers questioned 1,206 respondents nationwide during Jan 25-27 about their views on the scheme. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Danilov made it clear that sanctions against MP Taras Kozak and the 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK television channels were imposed, including on the basis of a number of secret documents received from the Russian Federation. Reacting to the comments of representatives of the Opposition Platform - For Life party that the law on sanctions should be imposed against foreign states or foreign legal entities, or Ukrainian legal entities controlled by foreign legal entities, Danilov said: "Tell me please, who said that these people are not under the control of a foreign state? Wait, it will be soon." In this context, he said some of the documents that were submitted to the NSDC, and on the basis of which sanctions were imposed against MP Kozak and the 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK television channels," the NSDC secretary said that they are secret. "The only thing I can say is that some of these documents are secret, because we are talking about information that we receive from the state, which is currently implementing aggressive plans towards our country," Danilov said. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) -Camino Corp. (TSXV: COR) (OTC: CAMZF) (WKN: A116E1) ("Camino" or the "Company") is pleased to announce new exploration results from its 100% owned Plata Dorada Copper and Silver project ("Plata Dorada" of "the project") in Peru. The Company completed an exploration program in the Fall of 2020 at Plata Dorada and has identified up to 10 mineralized copper and silver veins with channel sample grades up to 5.76% copper (Cu) and 1,500 g/t silver (Ag). The channel samples range in width from 0.2 to 1.4 m across the vein and are located over a distance of 4 km. Individual veins have been mapped with strike lengths up to 380 m, before disappearing under shallow cover. A summary of the significant veins identified, and channel sample results is shown in Figure 1. and summarized in Table 1. The Company recently increased its land position in the area by 1,700 hectares (ha) for a total claim area of 3,800 ha. Photo 1. Chalcopyrite Copper and Silver Sulphide Mineralization at Plata Dorada To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1384/73524_capture.jpg "At Plata Dorada, we have a system of high-grade copper and silver veins spaced over a distance of 4 km. We have just begun to explore at Plata Dorada. Our exploration efforts will focus on identifying additional high-grade vein structures, and determining mineable widths and continuity at depth," said Camino CEO, Jay Chmelauskas. "We've increased our claims around Plata Dorada in a region that has a rich history of colonial mining, new metal mines, and discoveries." Figure 1: Best Results of the Geochemical Sampling Campaign in 2020 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1384/73524_345f9ab6044a982f_003full.jpg Plata Dorada is located 158 kilometers east of the city of Cusco. The project can be accessed by a 2.5 hour drive along a paved highway from Cusco. There are 18th century records of colonial mining activities at several locations within 50 kilometers of Plata Dorada. Numerous pits and shallow underground workings exist on the property as a result of recent artisanal mining activities. Photo 2. Historical Workings at Plata Dorada To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1384/73524_Capture3full.JPG The Plata Dorada project is located in the metallogenic belt described by INGEMMET as Belt III: Cu-Mo-Zn Porphyry-Skarns Belt, Au-Cu-Pb-Zn and U-Ni-Co-Cu deposits, related to Permian-Triassic intrusives (Carlotto et al. 2009); this belt is located along the Eastern Cordillera and part of the Sub-Andean Zone of the Peruvian territory. One of the most characteristic projects of this metallogenic belt is Ollachea of Minera Kuri Kullu, a subsidiary of Minera IRL. The Ollachea project is considered an orogenic gold deposit with an indicated mineral resource of 1.4 Moz Au according to its 2012 NI43-101 report; this project is located about 60 kilometers SE of the Plata Dorada project. Exploration work at Plata Dorada in the Fall of 2020 consisted of several field visits to identify new vein structures, with over channel 70 samples tested for metal content by Camino. The results of this program were integrated with results and data from a channel sampling program undertaken prior to 2016 by Minquest Peru, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Camino. The Company now plans to continue to develop a 1:2000 geological map and model of the vetiform structures to define exploration drill targets. Figure 1. and Table 1. show samples collected by Camino Corp. in 2020 and historic samples with grades of copper >= 1% and silver >=15g/t. The veins dip North-West and North-North-East between 45 to 82 and have individual strike lengths in excess of 100 m before disappearing under shallow cover. Sample No. East North Elev. Area Prospect Channel Width (m) AZ Dip Silver (Ag) g/t Copper (Cu) % Sampling Info. 2 278040 8495365 3,954 DORADA SUR 0.2 330 75NE 18 2.78 New vein 56 280001 8495809 4,291 HITHZA II 0.6 58 2.78 New vein Hist_MARC027 280446 8496546 HITHZA II - 20 1,500 3.13 Historic Hist_MARC024 280455 8496526 HITHZA II - 20 433 1.32 Historic Hist_MARC028 280479 8496585 HITHZA II - 20 1,500 8.57 Historic Hist_MARC025 280479 8496555 HITHZA II - 20 400 1.85 Historic Hist_MARC029 280488 8496578 HITHZA II 0.3 20 323 1.95 Historic Hist_MARC013 280503 8496657 HITHZA IV 0.5 20 222 2.45 Historic Hist_MARC012 280504 8496661 HITHZA IV 0.7 20 1,030 2.47 Historic Hist_MARC021 280505 8496598 HITHZA II 0.5 20 586 1.86 Historic Hist_MARC016 280513 8496616 HITHZA II 1.5 20 1,430 1.45 Historic Hist_MARC030 280647 8495706 HITHZA II 0.6 140 56 6.93 Historic Hist_MARC031 280668 8495699 HITHZA II 0.6 140 42 5.97 Historic Hist_MARC032 280684 8495685 HITHZA II 1.0 140 27 2.36 Historic Hist_MARC033 280690 8495661 HITHZA II 0.5 140 117 3.51 Historic 53 280697 8495678 4,412 HITHZA II 0.8 345 68NE 39 1.51 New Sample Hist_MARC034 280715 8495654 HITHZA II 1.0 140 19 0.99 Historic Hist_MARC035 280732 8495618 HITHZA II 0.5 140 93 2.72 Historic 28 281289 8496214 4,375 HITHZA II 0.5 38 3.38 New vein 30 281683 8496325 4,246 TALI 1.4 10 45E 36 1.49 New vein 11 281950 8496998 4,010 TALI 1 0.3 190 60SE 1,500 5.76 New vein Hist_MARC007 282270 8496653 TALI 1 0.4 140 31 1.54 Historic Hist_MARC005 282280 8496665 TALI 1 0.5 140 17 1.01 Historic 32 282309 8496630 4,023 TALI 1 1.0 0 75SE 15 1.42 New Sample 31 282314 8496569 4,047 TALI 0.5 20 70W 21 1.25 New Sample Table 1. Channel Sample Results in 2020 and Historic Sampling at Plata Dorada The 2020 channel samples were collected and analyzed by ICP-61, with digestion by four acids for 33 elements and fire assay for Au. About Camino Minerals Corporation Camino is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. The Company is focused on advancing its high-grade Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru towards potential resource delineation and new discoveries. In addition, the company has commenced field studies at its silver and copper Plata Dorada project. The Company seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminominerals.com. Kenneth C. McNaughton, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is a Director of the Company and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this document. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD /S/ "Jay Chmelauskas" President and CEO For further information, please contact: Camino Investor Relations info@caminominerals.com Tel: (604) 608-4513 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking disclosures in this release, 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. Forward-looking information in the release includes the prospectivity of Plata Dorada and Los Chapitos for future exploration, and drilling planned at Plata Dorada or the Los Chapitos copper project and that actual results of exploration and engineering activities are consistent with management's expectations. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking information in this release is subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Such risk factors include, among others, that actual results of the Company's exploration activities will be different than those expected by management, that the Company will be unable to obtain or will experience delays in obtaining any required approvals and the state of equity and commodity markets. 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 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/73524 MYANMAR-POLITICS A vendor walks past banners featuring Aung San Suu Kyi on Jan. 30, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Suu Kyi was arrested and her government overthrown in a military coup two days later. Credit - Sai Aung MainAFP/Getty Images The news that Aung San Suu Kyi had been overthrown in a Feb. 1 coup spread through Myanmar like a shockwave. Most of the citizens 100% depend on her, says Kyaw Kyaw, a 28-year old LGBTQ rights campaigner who lives in Yangon, the Southeast Asian nations largest city. Everyone was frustrated and scared. Myanmars elected civilian leader was idolized even before she came to power. During the 15 years that the junta kept her under house arrest, many secretly kept pictures of Suu Kyi in their homes. After her release, her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won control of the government in 2015 elections, ending decades of military rule. She scored an even more resounding victory last Nov. 8, with the NLD claiming more than 80% of the vote. The countrys fragile push for democracy has always centered around Suu Kyis immense popularity. Now that the military has Suu Kyi in detention againreports say at her official residence, under trumped-up charges of keeping seven unauthorized walkie-talkiesits unclear whether anyone else is capable of uniting resistance to the generals, who have imposed a year of emergency rule. When she disappeared, nobody knew what to do, says Kyaw Kyaw. Tatmadaw in control The truth is that the military never really lost control. Despite the ostensible democratic reforms in recent years, the Tatmadawas Myanmars armed forces are officially knownretained powerful influence, including control of the defense, border affairs and home affairs ministries. The countrys 2008 constitution guarantees the military 25% of seats in parliament and veto power over any constitutional amendment. Read more: Myanmars Military is Cracking Down on All Forms of Dissent The coup came after military-backed parties were humiliated in last years elections, with the generals alleging widespread problems with voter lists. But international and domestic observers said the polls proceeded without major irregularities, and the countrys election commission said there was no evidence to support the militarys claims. Story continues The Tatmadaw decided otherwise, and has said it will run a new election once emergency rule has ended. But, its not clear whether it will stick to the protocols that allowed relatively free elections in recent years. How far the military goes in its latest power grab will hinge on how compliant detained civilian leaders are, and the scale of any protests that may take place in response to the coup, says Dan Slater, the director of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. Aung San Suu Kyis tarnished record It remains unclear whether Suu Kyi and her NLD will be allowed to contest any new elections. The woman once called a beacon of hope by President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent resistance against the junta. After her release in 2010, she became an icon of human rights, mentioned in the same breath as Gandhi or Mandela. With the help of the U.S. and other nations loosening economic sanctions, she ushered her country through a series of democratic and economic reforms. A road building program, and increasing access to electricity from 34% of the population to 50%, improved daily life for many. Then came a spectacular fall. Domestically, her failure to push through constitutional reforms, which she had promised in order to lessen the militarys hold on power, caused rumblings. Some activists argued that civil liberties had actually been eroded under her watch and held protests. But it was Suu Kyis defense of the military over 2017 atrocities committed against the Rohingyaa mostly Muslim ethnic minority that live in western Myamarthat made her a subject of international scorn. U.N. investigators determined that the violent campaign of arson, rape and murder was carried out by the Tamadaw with genocidal intent. Suu Kyi publicly rejected the accusations, defending her country against charges of genocide at the Hague in 2019. To those in the outside world who deified her, it was a breathtaking betrayal. Amnesty International had bestowed its highest honor on her but revoked it in 2018 in light of her shameful betrayal of the values she once stood for. The portrait of her that once hung at Oxford University, her alma mater, was quietly placed in storage. Whats next for democracy in Myanmar? Medical workers wearing face masks and red ribbon tags raise the three finger salutes in protest against the military coup on Feb. 3, 2021 at Yangon General Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar. Aung Kyaw HtetSOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images Wai Wai Nu, a Rohingya activist now living in the U.S., says that Suu Kyis defense of the military means that support for her will likely not come from the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, of which there are more than 100. We felt betrayed, she says. Students and young activists may work together to mobilize a response to the coup, she adds, but It doesnt necessarily mean we are supporting Aung San Suu Kyi personally. We are standing up for what is right for the country. There are some signs of resistance in the country, with reports that doctors and nurses in as many as 70 hospitals across the country are refusing to work in protest. A large youth group has also called for a campaign of civil disobedience. On Feb. 2, Yangon residents, including Kyaw Kyaw, stood at open apartment windows and walked through the streets banging on pots and pans as motorists in the streets honked their horns. Some chanted: Long live Mother Aung San Suu Kyi! Read more: How Myanmars Fragile Push for Democracy Collapsed in a Military Coup But activists say that COVID-19, will make it difficult for mass street protests to happen. The country has had more than 140,000 recorded cases and is battling to contain the outbreak, with restrictions limiting the size of group gatherings in place until the end of February. The history of military crackdowns also makes protesting perilous; thousands of people were arrested and as many as 200 people were killed during the suppression of 2007 demonstrations, according to advocacy groups. There isnt really [any protest going on here], Ye Yint Thu, a university student who lives in a city near the border with Thailand. I want to participate, but if I do it alone, I might be arrested. Many people, many generations still believe Suu Kyi is the only hope says Thinzar Shunlei Yi, one of the countrys leading youth activists. But she says things are changing, with some young democracy supporters wanting to advance the cause without Suu Kyi and her huge personality cult at the helm. We want equality leadership, we want a real democracy led by real people, not by one person or one group, she says. We look beyond Aung Sang Suu Kyi. Some long-time Myanmar watchers say no one should be writing her off just yet. Whether in government or in prison, Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the most powerful people in the country, says Mark Farmaner, the director of the advocacy group Burma Campaign U.K. But Kyaw Kyaw, the LGBTQ rights campaigner, says that Suu Kyis latest imprisonment has been a wake up call. A lesson learned is we should not depend on a person. We should depend on a political structure. With reporting by Emily Fishbein / Falmouth, Mass., Kyaw Hsan Hlaing / Yangon, Myanmar and Suyin Haynes / London Syracuse, N.Y. Ben Walsh has asked the Working Families Party for its nomination for mayor as he seeks a path to re-election in November. Walsh, who is not registered with a political party, said he will also keep pursuing efforts to secure his own line on the ballot. As an independent with a proven track record of putting the needs of the people of Syracuse ahead of party politics, I see strong alignment with the Working Families Party, Walsh said Tuesday. I admire and share their commitment to inclusive governance and creating opportunity for all and I look forward to participating in their process. The party will hold interviews with mayoral candidates this Saturday, Feb. 6. Both of the Democratic mayoral candidates -- Khalid Bey and Michael Greene -- will also interview with WFP this weekend, according to David Knapp, chair of the partys local club. The local committee has about 30 active club members who will vote on mayoral candidates later this month, Knapp said. Many of those members are registered Democrats, Knapp said. The party has typically endorsed Democrats. As a political independent, Walsh either needs the blessing of an established party or needs to collect a huge sum of signatures from voters to get on the ballot this year. The Working Families Party is one of only four parties with a permanent ballot line this year, along with the Republicans, Democrats and Conservatives. Changes to state election law last year eliminated all other minor parties from the ballot last year, including the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and the Independence Party. Knapp said his party is aiming to grow its organization in upstate New York and is interviewing candidates for scores of local positions. The WFP endorsement would give Walsh a surefire line on Novembers ballot. Without it, hell need to rely solely on his efforts to make his own line. In the 2017 election, Walsh secured three lines on the ballot. He was endorsed by the Reform Party and won a write-in campaign for the Independence Partys line. Both of those parties lost ballot access due to new rules last year. He also collected nearly 2,500 petition signatures to create his own line with the Upstate Jobs Party. Walsh has said he plans to pass petitions to create his own ballot line again this year. Its still unclear how many petition signatures Walsh will need to collect for that. In 2017, he needed 1,349 signatures. The threshold is determined by the number of registered voters in the city, and is usually a moving target. Last year, however, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order drastically reducing the number of signatures candidates needed to collect to qualify for the 2020 ballot. It was an effort to stymy the spread of Covid-19, especially in the early days of the pandemic. Going door-to-door seemed a likely way to spread germs. The state Senate passed a bill last week slashing thresholds for candidates seeking to get on a partys ballot line by 70% this year. That means Democrats and Republicans will need to collect fewer signatures later this winter when they pass designating petitions. But the bill, sponsored by Sen. Rachel May, did not address the independent petitions a candidate needs to create his or her own line. The deadlines for those petitions come later in the political season than party petitions, so its possible more legislation could come. Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has not acknowledged the recent appointments issued by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, as no consultations were held with the southern authority on the matter, the STC spokesman, Ali al-Kathiri, told Sputnik MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2021) Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) has not acknowledged the recent appointments issued by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, as no consultations were held with the southern authority on the matter, the STC spokesman, Ali al-Kathiri, told Sputnik. "Since the signing of the Riyadh agreement in 2019 between the government and the council, the situation has changed. And so when nominations are put forward, consultations should be held with everyone, with the council, in particular, as it mainly concerns us in the south. In this regard, the recent appointments run counter to the spirit and provisions of the Riyadh agreement," al-Kathiri said during his visit to Moscow, when asked about appointing the head of the Shura (Consultative) council and the attorney general by Hadi. No one has the right to oblige the southern people "to follow such decisions" and carry out appointments that trigger a backlash, the spokesman added. "We will not consider any decisions taken without consulting the Transitional council," al-Kathiri said. Along with that, the spokesman believes that the nation's leader, who has been in Saudi Arabia for a long time and cannot return to southern Yemen to govern the country due to the security situation, has the opportunity to return without any issues, and nothing is threar him. In mid-December, Hadi announced the creation of a new power-sharing government consisting of 24 ministers in line with the terms of the Riyadh peace deal. The new cabinet is supposed to sit in the temporary capital of Aden, as the official capital of Sanaa has been under control of Houthi rebels since 2014. Yemen has been facing an armed conflict between the Hadi-led government and the Houthi rebels since 2014. The government forces are backed by a military coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia. The STC presence, which has maintained control over parts of southern Yemen, including Aden, is regarded as a clog in the wheel of peaceful settlement. A man in his 20s has been arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of terrorism offences. The British man, who had arrived on a flight from Turkey, was apprehended by counter terrorism detectives in a 'pre-planned operation' at around 6.10pm today, said the Met Police. He was arrested on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts - in relation to alleged offending in Syria - encouragement of terrorism and dissemination of terrorist publications. The suspect remains in custody at a police station in south London. The British man, who had arrived on a flight from Turkey, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport, pictured above, in a 'pre-planned operation' at around 6.10pm today (file photo) In a statement, the force said: 'Counter terrorism detectives have arrested a man at an airport in London in a pre-planned operation. 'Officers from the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command arrested the man, aged in his 20s, at Heathrow Airport at approximately 18.11hrs today, Wednesday, 3 February.' The Met Police added: 'The Section 5 arrest relates to suspected offending in Syria. 'The man - a British national - had arrived on a flight from Turkey. 'He was arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and taken into custody at a south-London police station, where he currently remains.' Sickening allegations have emerged about a tradesman who was arrested at his home on Sydney's leafy north shore over an alleged paedophile ring. Ohrin Banas, 26, remains behind bars after he was arrested by Australian Federal Police at his home in a quiet Lane Cove cul-de-sac last month. He was the 17th man charged as part of Operation Arkstone, a large-scale AFP investigation into an online network of alleged child sex offenders. Banas was charged with three counts of controlling or possessing child abuse material and two counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material. Australian Federal Police officers (pictured) arrested a man at Lane Cove home as part of Operation Arkstone, a national investigation into child sex offenders Ohrin Banas (right) was charged with a string of sickening offences, including one count of bestiality. He's pictured being arrested and escorted from his home by AFP officers The labourer was also charged with one count of bestiality and committing an act of indecency after a dog was allegedly sexually abused at the home. Documents tendered to court allege the offending occurred between December 12 and the day of Banas' arrest on January 14, NCA NewsWire reported. The dog was removed from harm at the time of Banas' arrest. The Australian Federal Police later released footage of the arrest, which shows a handcuffed Banas being escorted from his home by officers while police searched the address. A mobile phone allegedly containing child abuse material was seized to be examined. Banas appeared in Hornsby Local Court on Tuesday on unrelated charges. He will remain behind bars until his next appearance in Hornsby Local Court on March 10. Banas faces up to 15 years in jail if he's found guilty of the bestiality and child abuse charges. Investigations under Operation Arkstone continue. The nationwide operation has led to the arrests of 11 men in New South Wales in the last 12 months. Banas was also charged with a string of child abuse material offences. Pictured are police examining alleged evidence on his mobile phone at the Lane Cove home in January 'Our investigators have been combing through every image, video and communication since Operation Arkstone began, to find and bring to justice those who carelessly abuse and forever traumatise our children,' AFP Detective Superintendent Ben McQuillan recently said. 'We are continuing to examine the evidence seized throughout the investigation and have not ruled out the possibility of further arrests.' Anyone with information about this alleged network or people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The Biden administration and California will set up a mass coronavirus vaccination site at the Oakland Coliseum, officials announced Wednesday, an effort intended to deliver thousands of daily inoculations to underserved communities. The site one of the first mass vaccination locations in the nation set up through the federal government is expected to open Feb. 16. It will be able to deliver about 6,000 doses a day, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference outside the Coliseum. Equity is the call of this moment, Newsom said. The reason this site was chosen was the framework of making sure that communities that are often left behind are not left behind, theyre prioritized in terms of the administration of these vaccines. The site will be open to people who are eligible to get vaccinated under Alameda County rules, but there will no restrictions based on residence and the goal is to make it a regional resource, according to Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Office of Emergency Services. The stadium, located in a lower-income area of East Oakland, is just off Interstate 880 and is connected to BART and Capitol Corridor train stations. Officials are planning to reserve blocks of time at the Coliseum for people served by community clinics and other organizations that work with populations who may not be getting vaccinated elsewhere. Those include low-income people, communities of color and the elderly. The Coliseum is among the first of 100 new mass vaccination sites that the Biden administration aims to establish nationwide in its first 100 days. Another site announced Wednesday was at California State University Los Angeles, located in East Los Angeles. Jeff Zients, President Bidens COVID-19 response coordinator, said both sites were chosen because they were in communities severely affected by the pandemic. These sites in California are just the beginning, Zients said. In addition to the permanent locations, officials announced two mobile vaccination clinics linked to the sites that will be able to go into the community. The state previously announced mass-vaccination locations at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Petco Park in San Diego and the Cal Expo fairgrounds in Sacramento. Federal employees will mostly staff the site, from agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Defense Department and Health and Human Services. Newsom said the Governors Office of Emergency Services would also provide workers for the site and we will be hiring local people, he said. The state has cleared vaccine providers to inoculate health and other frontline workers, nursing home residents and people over 65, though many counties are still focused on people 75 and older because of vaccine shortages. Alameda County has said that starting next week, it will begin offering vaccines to people who are at least 65 years old, as well as emergency services workers, teachers and child care providers, and workers in the food and agriculture industry. The Coliseum remains the home of the Oakland As. The teams scheduled home opener is April 1, though its unclear whether any fans will be allowed to attend games in California. People can register for the vaccine on the states MyTurn scheduling system, though appointments may not be available yet locally. Newsom said widespread vaccinations could start when we move away from the pilot to a full-scale operation. The states vaccine rollout has been sluggish since doses became available in December, though the pace has recently improved. Newsom said that California is now averaging more than 1 million vaccinations per week, tripling the rate of a month ago, and that its biggest constraint is the limited supply of doses coming from the federal government. We recognize what you recognize there are parts of this state that are running out of vaccines, where theyre throttling back in terms of their dose allocation, the governor said. The federal government doesnt have the doses to support states like ours at the scale we all would like to see. California is set to receive 1,060,000 doses of the vaccine this week, which Newsom called encouraging. But he added that no one is satisfied with the pace of distribution of these vaccines. Of course, we have more work to do. Alameda County, he said, had done particularly well with vaccine distribution, administering over 90% of vaccines delivered. It is unclear whether that figure includes private health care systems, which get their own supply of vaccine. The Newsom administration said last week that the state would give the job of managing the vaccine distribution to Blue Shield of California, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente, though it has shared few details. Newsom said Wednesday that more information about the arrangement would be released Feb. 15. He dismissed concerns that the deal, which was negotiated without a competitive bidding process, had been influenced by the longstanding political support Blue Shield and Kaiser have provided to the governor and his preferred causes. Their capacity to do data analytics, their capacity to hold providers accountable, to do some payment processing and incentives, is second to none, he said. They have the kind of scale, they have the capacity, they have the allocation distribution mind-set that we were looking for. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report. Tal Kopan and Alexei Koseff are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan, @akoseff A jilted boyfriend stabbed his glamorous ex to death after seeing her on a Tinder date with another man. Cruise line worker Cristina Ortiz-Lozano, 28, was killed in the 'frenzied' attack after being followed home by Abdelaziz El Yechioui Ourzat, 30. Winchester Crown Court heard he had pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility. Jurors were told Ourzat was caught on CCTV 'hiding in the shadows' outside a pub where Ms Ortiz-Lozano had met a man she had matched with on the dating app. He allegedly stalked the couple as they returned to her house in Portswood, Southampton, before marching inside. Cristina Ortiz-Lozano, 28, was killed in the 'frenzied' attack after being followed home Police at the scene in Portswood, Southampton, Hants where Cristina Ortiz-Lozano was killed As her date waited oblivious outside, Ourzat stabbed her to death 23 times with a kitchen knife. Prosecutor Kerry Maylin told Winchester Crown Court that Ourzat, 30, was 'a jealous ex-boyfriend in a fit of rage who conducted a frenzied attack on her, quite simply because she had gone out with a male, not Mr Ourzat, on the night of the killing'. The jury heard that the couple met at school in Spain and had been together for about 12 years before Miss Ortiz-Lozano dumped Ourzat, who is of Moroccan descent, when he was arrested for drink driving in August 2019. Ms Maylin said she 'couldn't deal with his volatility and his drunkenness' any longer. At the time, they were living together in Southampton, Hants and she was working for the Norwegian Cruise Line. Mr Ourzat was a baggage handler for Port Skills at the city docks. The court heard that when Spaniard Miss Ortiz-Lozano told Ourzat to leave, he went on a rampage around the house, damaging the bedroom and bathroom they shared, ripping light fixtures and radiators out of the walls. The case was being heard at Winchester Crown Court, which is currently undergoing repairs He was arrested for criminal damage and then allegedly breached his bail by sending her emails in which he called her a 'whore'. Following the breakup, Miss Ortiz-Lozano met another man, Vincente Breso-Biosca, on Tinder and went on a date with him in September 2019 to Sprinkles ice cream parlour and the Giddy Bridge pub in Southampton. Ms Maylin showed the jury CCTV images of Ourzat watching the couple as they sat outside the pub and said he was 'hiding in the shadows' so that they did not see him. The court heard how he went to Tesco, bought some flowers and took these to Miss Ortiz-Lozano's house, before returning to the pub and going inside. Ms Maylin said that Miss Ortiz-Lozano saw him and immediately asked Mr Breso-Biosca if they could leave. On the way back to her house she explained that she had seen her 'abusive' ex-boyfriend and that he wasn't allowed near her due to his bail conditions. 'Mr Ourzat clearly followed them,' Ms Maylin said. 'He is seen on CCTV following them on the opposite side of the street and he loiters or hangs back at road crossings.' Ms Maylin told the jury that when Miss Ortiz-Lozano went inside her house she was followed by Mr Ourzat. Mr Breso-Biosca was unsure what to do so he stood outside the doors but, on hearing shouting and screaming, he went inside. 'He saw Miss Ortiz-Lopez already lying on her back on the kitchen floor, with Mr Ourzat crouching over her with a knife in one hand and his other on her throat,' Ms Maylin said. 'She had her eyes open but he believed her already dead, she was not moving. 'He described Mr Ourzat turning towards him, shutting the door and continuing his assault on Cristina Ortiz-Lozano.' She added that Cristina Rodriguez-Lopez, Miss Ortiz-Lozano's friend and house mate, was asleep but was awoken by 'loud voices' and heard Mr Ourzat screaming Miss Ortiz-Lozano's name 'as if he was calling her back'. There were three Air BnB guests staying at the house and one of them had pushed their wooden bed up against the door in fear, the court heard. Police who attended the scene described the kitchen as an 'extensively blood stained room' with 'bloody hand prints on the walls'. The court heard how Miss Ortiz-Lozano suffered stab wounds to her chest, neck and abdomen and had 'defensive' wounds on her arms, 'where she raised her arms in front of her body in an attempt to protect her torso and her neck'. Ms Maylin said that Ourzat - who is being assisted in court by a Spanish translator - had told the police that Miss Ortiz-Lozano had invited him into her house before they got into an argument. He denied following her that night and alleged that she had stabbed him first. The trial continues. Amsterdam & Partners represents the former prime minister of Mongolia to defend against what he says are bogus criminal charges related to a huge mining project. Chimediin Saikhanbileg, who headed Mongolias government from 2014 to 2016, is currently in the US. Amsterdam is charged with publicizing the political retaliation campaign against its client and highlighting the declining state of the rule of law in Mongolia. The Economist reported Jan. 28 that Mongolias prime minister and his government resigned following anti-government demonstrations. The magazine noted that the resignation of Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh may be a ploy to better position him for a run for the presidency in the June elections. LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WHEN: Saturday, February 6, 2021 TIME: 10 am Pacific, 12 pm Central, 1 pm Eastern REGISTER TO ATTEND: https://rancheradvocacy.org/summit/ BROADCAST LIVE at https://www.facebook.com/JaneVelezMitchell https://www.facebook.com/rancheradvocacyprogram FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/682496209103588/ The public is invited to take part in this crucial conversation. Register now! On Saturday, February 6th, leaders in the plant-based movement will join with ranchers and farmers to answer one of the most important questions of our time. WHAT CAN FARMERS DO, ON THEIR LAND, TO THRIVE WITHOUT USING ANIMALS? The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp relief the growing problems with today's animal agriculture system: slaughterhouses becoming COVID-19 hotbeds, workers infected, the mass animal killing system backed up, farmers told to "depopulate" the animals they raised. Many have begun to seriously consider alternatives to animal agriculture. STRATEGIZING ALTERNATIVES AND HOW TO TRANSITION TO THEM To answer that question, Rowdy Girl Sanctuary in Texas is hosting this summit through its Rancher Advocacy Program in conjunction with the JaneUnChained News Network. It will feature leading names in the plant-based movement: Brett Christoffel of All Y'alls Foods, Geoff Whaling of the National Hemp Association, Lee Recht of Aleph Farms, a cell-based meat company, Claire Smith of Beyond Animal, John Lewis, the Badass Vegan, Geraldine Starke of Refarm'd, Laura Reese of Agriculture Fairness Alliance, Peter Albrecht of Villands Vanga Vegantradgard, a vegan farm, Rowdy Girl's Renee King-Sonnen, JaneUnChained.com journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell and the Wildes, a farming family transitioning to a non-animal model. FROM CHALLENGES TO SOLUTIONS There are many challenges: tradition, family, community pressures, onerous contracts with giant meat corporations, debt, and infrastructure. Mushrooms, hemp, solar, bamboo, veganic dirt, micronutrients: these are some possible alternative products and income streams. The Summit will also tackle macro solutions to fund these transitions, like the formation of plant-based cooperatives and green bonds. REGISTER FOR THIS LIVE AND INTERACTIVE EVENT The Summit will be broadcast from the JaneUnchained News and Rancher Advocacy Program Facebook pages and shared across numerous platforms. The public and the news media can also attend via zoom, allowing them to ask questions of the speakers. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND THE ZOOM. PLEASE REGISTER AT: https://rancheradvocacy.org/summit/ SPONSORS Lead sponsors include: Miyoko's Creamery, VegFund, Free from Harm, V-Dog, JaneUnChained News Network, Mercy for Animals, It's Jerky Y'All, A Well-Fed World, Aleph Farms, Shine and Soaps for a Cause. Rowdy Girl Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Contact: Renee King-Sonnen EMAIL - [email protected] PHONE - 979-314-9925 SOURCE Jane UnChained News Related Links http://www.janeunchained.com OAKLAND (BCN) Oakland city councilmembers voted unanimously Tuesday to force large grocery stores to raise some workers' pay by $5 per hour. The ordinance was passed as an emergency ordinance, so it takes effect immediately. It covers stores over 15,000 square feet in size and that have 500 or more employees nationwide. An employee who is entitled to minimum wage and works either full or part-time qualifies for the pay increase. "We are in an emergency," said Councilmember Noel Gallo, who co-sponsored the ordinance with council President Nikki Fortunato Bas. Oakland has about 2,000 grocery workers and most are Black, Hispanic and/or women. Workers some time ago approached Bas about drafting the ordinance. "I was really moved by their stories," Bas said before the vote Tuesday afternoon. She said that grocery workers have been working non-stop, indoors for the duration of the pandemic. Workers told Bas they were scared because they cannot control whether customers stay six feet from them, among other risky behavior. Bas said the extra pay will give workers an incentive to keep working and the extra money they may need if they must quarantine. The California Grocers Association opposed the ordinance. Similar ordinances have passed in Los Angeles, Seattle and in Long Beach. Two large food stores in Long Beach closed following the passage of an ordinance there, leaders of the association said. "We just think it's unfair, unprecedented and untimely," Ron Fong, president and CEO of the association said in an interview. Grocers don't like that city councils are mandating what stores must pay their workers, Fong said. Bas and other ordinance supporters say that grocery chains are making enormous profits, a claim Fong disputes. He said grocers saw an uptick in buying when the pandemic hit in March of last year, but since then volume has returned to normal. "They can't afford this," Fong said. Research by The Brookings Institution shows that 13 of the largest retail and grocery stores in the nation earned a combined $17.7 billion more in the first three quarters of 2020 than in 2019. That is a 42 percent increase, the researchers found, adding that many of the top companies earned billions during and because of the pandemic and have passed little onto their workers. One company in Oakland did raise worker pay. Lucky Supermarkets raised pay by $2 per hour, which means it would only have to raise wages by $3 more, according to the ordinance. But Bas said because workers there are in a union, the store can get a waiver. Stores with workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement do not have to comply with the ordinance, Bas said. The ordinance is temporary, sunsetting when Alameda County reaches the yellow tier, also known as the least restrictive tier, in the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Several people spoke before the City Council in favor of the ordinance. "We really need to support our essential workers," said Liz Suk, interim executive director of Oakland Rising, which educates and mobilizes voters in Oakland's flatlands to pursue change. Grocers in Oakland covered by the ordinance are Cardenas Markets, Foods Co., Lucky Supermarkets/Save Mart Supermarkets/FoodMaxx, Grocery Outlet, Safeway, Smart and Final, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods Market, according to a news release by Bas's office. San Jose city councilmembers on Tuesday evening were considering an ordinance similar to Oakland's. 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. AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators 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. Georgia officials have launched an investigation into whether Trump lawyer Lin Wood voted illegally during the 2020 presidential election. Goergia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, is investigating whether Wood, who championed the former president's claims of voter fraud, was actually a resident of the state when he voted, WSB-TV reported. Wood confirmed to WSB-TV that he has 'moved out of Georgia' but claims it has nothing to do with investigations into him. WSB-TV reporter Justin Gray posted screenshots sent by Lin Wood that said he has changed his residency to South Carolina Gray reported that Wood is since under investigation for possible voter fraud after the email was revealed 'I have been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April,' Wood told WSB-TV. Sources at the secretary of state's office told the outlet hours later that the email Wood sent to WSB-TV reporter Justin Gray caused them to launch an official investigation. 'If a person removes to another state with the intention of making it such person's residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such person's residence in this state,' reads Georgia law for determining residency, cited by election investigators. Wood said in a subsequent email to Gray that he has been a resident of the state since 1955. 'I changed my residency to South Carolina yesterday. This is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger,' Wood wrote. Lin Wood, left, is reportedly under investigation by Georgia officials who are trying to determine if he was actually a resident of Georgia Wood claimed to the outlet that he did not vote in the January runoff because he said it was a not a legitimate election, repeating the claims of voter fraud he championed on behalf of Trump. The State Bar of Georgia is also investigating two complaints against Wood, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He could face disbarment or other penalties. The Georgia bar has asked Wood to take a mental health evaluation under a rule that allows the governing body to order medical or psychiatric evaluations and treatment when a lawyer may be impaired or incapacitated, Georgia bar general counsel Paula Frederick told the outlet. Wood told multiple outlets via the Telegram app that he will decline any request for an exam. Wood and Georgia Republicans have been at odds since the November 3 election. Wood, right, is seen during a press conference with attorney Sidney Powell, who has been sued by Dominion The lawyer had filed a lawsuit in the state that sought to overturn the results of the election by challenging the constitutionality of election procedures implemented ahead of Senate runoff elections that was dismissed by a federal judge in December. Wood has previously suggested former GOP senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as Governor Brian Kemp, should be arrested for election fraud and urged Republicans not to vote in the state's run-off - which they ultimately lost. Last month, it was revealed that Wood is being investigated by the Secret Service for allegedly calling for Mike Pence to face the firing squad. Wood also had his Twitter account removed for a series of provocative tweets, including false claims that the Capitol riot had been staged by Antifa. Wood then switched to Parler, the 'free speech platform', to continue his rant before the platform ultimately shut down. February was supposed to be the month in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was going to launch a victory tour in the Gulf states, accompanied by an entourage of businessmen and journalists. It was supposed to celebrate a powerful campaign in the month before the fateful elections, and illustrate that the campaign theme that Netanyahu is a leader in a league of his own when compared with his numerous, small-time political rivals. This was to be accompanied by pictures of Netanyahu at poignant, historic ceremonies opening Israels new embassies in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. However, his original plans to hop between Arab capitals are being shelved. Instead, Netanyahu will spend the coming weeks in Israel making efforts to halt the COVID-19 virus that hasnt been vanquished despite the country's successful vaccination drive. The prime minister is savvy enough to know that during a domestic crisis, his place is in Israel and not making flamboyant, flashy visits when dozens of Israelis are dying every day from the coronavirus. On Feb. 1, Netanyahus office announced that the scheduled three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain which had already been postponed twice has been dramatically shortened. Netanyahu will fly to Abu Dhabi only, for a lightning visit of only three hours. The historic Feb. 9 trip will include just one meeting with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. The official ceremonies for the opening of the embassies in the Emirates and in Bahrain will not be held. Or at least not in Netanyahus presence. Still, Netanyahu hopes to profit from this short visit, which will take place only 24 hours after a court hearing regarding the prime ministers trial. This way, Netanyahu will be able to deflect attention from discussion of the bribery charges against him to his great diplomatic coup. But this will be only small consolation. President Donald Trumps resounding defeat has meant that Netanyahus golden days in the White House are over. In the last two years during Netanyahus campaigns, Trump lavished him with expensive diplomatic gifts, such as the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The apex was, of course, in September at the White House when Israel signed the establishment of diplomatic relations with the UAE and Bahrain. The festive ceremonies, and the pictures of Trump, Netanyahu and foreign ministers Emirati Abdullah bin Zayed and Bahraini Abdullatif al-Zayani starred on the front pages of the worlds newspapers, and in Israel the imagery became a symbol of the diplomatic powers of the prime minister. It was his winning card vis-a-vis his numerous political rivals, who were forced to praise the prime minister for his historic process that changed the face of the entire region. There were also agreements with Sudan, Morocco and now also Kosovo that Netanyahu can brag about. Nevertheless, due to bad luck, all these diplomatic achievements are being sidelined by the somber mood in Israel brought about by COVID-19 health issues and economic losses. The country is deep into its third lockdown, and people still dont see positive effects of the recent mass vaccination process. Then there is the changing diplomatic arena. In the recent past, Netanyahu could rely on Trump to give him a tailwind before elections. But now that President Joe Biden is in the White House, it is a totally different story. Two weeks have passed since Biden was sworn in. Yet as of Tuesday morning (Israel time), Netanyahu had not been privileged to speak to the new American president on the phone. Meanwhile, it is reported that the new president has found time to talk with a long list of world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Israeli media points the blame for this on the prime minister, and reminds the public that even President Barack Obama talked with Netanyahu in his first days in the White House. To make things worse for Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi received a phone call from his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Ashkenazi congratulated Blinken in his new position in the Biden administration. The two of them discussed strategic regional topics, the continuation of broadening the circle of peace, the Iranian threat and additional topics. The current interpretation of all this is that Bidens White House is letting Netanyahu sweat and is in no hurry to help him in his election campaign. The reasons, of course, involve residual resentments from the remote past and the not-so-remote past, including Netanyahus complicated relationships with Obama and his then-Vice President Biden. To that we add Netanyahus special relationship with Trump, enemy of Biden. Netanyahu had felt at home in Trumps White House, and had much influence in molding Trumps policy in the Middle East. The people in the new administration certainly have not forgotten how Netanyahu delayed in congratulating Biden for his victory in the Nov. 3 election. Although Biden was announced as the electoral college winner Nov. 7, Netanyahu waited 12 hours to send his blessings on Nov. 8 much later than most leaders, and at the beginning avoided calling Biden president-elect. Meanwhile, a picture of Netanyahu standing next to one of Trump decorates the first page of Netanyahus Twitter account. Now everything has changed. Foremost is the controversy regarding a return to the nuclear agreement with Iran. The Biden administration has espoused a policy diametrically opposed to Israel's stance and to Netanyahus doctrine in the last decade. The unequivocal statement of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi last week against a return to the nuclear agreement irritated quite a number of people in Washington. Israel has a saying that every weekend has its Sunday night. In other words, every celebration is followed by the bill. The golden age of Netanyahu and Trump is over and is being replaced by diplomatic relations that are much more official, even cold. Until Trumps departure from the White House, he had been Netanyahus lucky charm or X-factor with the Israeli public. This public learned to admire, even love the American president who went out of his way to embrace Israel. Now Netanyahu faces his Sunday night, in a period when he desperately needs a Trump-style diplomatic embrace or diplomatic gift. Instead, cold winds now blow his way from Washington. Jind : , Feb 3 (IANS) To gather support and build up momentum for the farmers' agitation, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday reached a village near here in Haryana to address a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Jind district where he was given a grand welcome by tens of thousands of people to extend solidarity. Tikait was accompanied by state Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) President Gurnam Singh Chaduni. Kandela 'khap' President Tek Ram, the organiser of the 'mahapanchayat', said all 'khaps' or community courts were participating in it. "We have made arrangements for the attendance of 50,000 people," he told the media. A day before attending the 'mahapanchayat', Tikait said the farmers protesting against the three central farm laws will take out a pan-India tractor rally if the government doesn't listen to them. Earlier too, Kandela has been a centre of farmers' agitation. The farmers had launched an agitation from Kandela in 2002, demanding waiver of electricity dues. Interestingly, after the Delhi violence on Republic Day, the farmers' agitation has shifted from Singhu and Tikri, where Punjab unions are camping, to Ghazipur where Tikait is holding the fort. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text BARNWELL As U.S. Rep. Tom Rice prepares to fight for his political life after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, the Myrtle Beach Republican may have to do it without a particularly vigorous defense from some of his longtime friends in Congress. The Post and Courier asked all seven other Republicans in South Carolina's congressional delegation what they thought of Rice's impeachment vote, whether they felt the S.C. GOP executive committee's decision to censure him was appropriate, and whether they would support him in a contested GOP primary next year. Most of them offered some praise for Rice's overall record in Congress, but none criticized the censure, and just one U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of Springdale was willing to say at this early stage that he would stand by Rice against primary challengers. The only member who did not respond at all was U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan of Laurens. The responses underscore the politically perilous situation Rice now finds himself in after becoming one of just 10 Republican House members to vote for impeachment, as well as the enduring influence Trump holds over both Republican voters and their elected officials. "In normal times, members of a delegation support their co-partisans when running for reelection," said Jordan Ragusa, a College of Charleston political science professor who specializes in studies of Congress. "But these certainly aren't normal times." Already, two state lawmakers have announced they are eyeing potential GOP primary campaigns against Rice, and more potential challengers are expected to emerge in the weeks ahead. Ragusa suggested the lawmakers would likely be wary of criticizing the S.C. GOP's censure because they would not want to draw the ire of the party themselves. "For many of these members, they're in districts that are so reliably Republican that the only way that they lose is in a primary, not in a general election," Ragusa said. "And so, for better or worse, they have to worry about the base that has more intense opinions on these kinds of matters and are more attentive to day-to-day politics." Like many other South Carolina political observers, Wilson said he was shocked by Rice's vote and initially believed it was a mistake. He said he wished Rice had talked to him about it in advance. But Wilson added that he would encourage the voters in Rice's Pee Dee district to consider the fact that, other than impeachment, Rice has one of the most pro-Trump records in Congress and helped advance what Trump considered one of his signature legislative achievements, a sweeping tax overhaul. "I strongly disagree with what he did, but he's just a wonderful person," Wilson said. "I would look at his voting record. There may be a vote that people object to, but look at the whole voting record." Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Most members responded with similar statements to the one issued by U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-Greenville, who said he does not agree with Rice on impeachment but has "a tremendous amount of respect for him as a fellow legislator and colleague." "He has been a valuable, conservative member of the South Carolina delegation for years, and his position on the Ways and Means Committee has been a huge asset to our state," Timmons said. "Ultimately, the decision on who represents South Carolinas Seventh Congressional District will be up to the voters of (the district)." U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, said the impeachment stemmed from "an unprecedented event" the riots at the U.S. Capitol that impeachment supporters argue Trump incited and each member had to reach their own determination about the constitutionality of the process. "I may disagree with Congressman Rices decision on impeachment, but I support his vision of limited government and the work hes done for South Carolinians over the years," Mace said. After working with Rice for years, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's spokesman Brad Traywick said the senator knows Rice to be "a man of conservative principles." But Scott disagreed with Rice's impeachment vote and believes it is up to the voters in his district to pick their congressman, Traywick said. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Rice "has been a great Congressman and valuable member of the South Carolina congressional delegation." He did not comment on the censure or say whether he would endorse Rice in the primary. While the primary is still about 16 months away, Rice spoke in support of Graham at his 2020 reelection campaign kickoff event in Myrtle Beach 14 months before Graham faced three GOP primary challengers. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman's spokesman Austin Livingston said that while the Rock Hill Republican, "obviously has a different view on impeachment, he knows Rep. Rice to be a solid conservative in the House, and a very strong proponent of President Trumps policies over the last four years." "Both Rep. Rice and the SC GOPs Executive Committee have done incredible work for our state and the Republican Party over the years, and Rep. Norman is confident this will continue to be the case going forward," Livingston said. Rice, for his part, said he does not expect his working relationship with the other South Carolina Republicans to change. "We have a delegation of good people working hard to lift South Carolinians," Rice said. "Generally, we align on issues. When we don't, we debate, we vote, we shake hands and move on to the next." Three days after the S.C. GOP's decision to censure him, Rice said party Chairman Drew McKissick still had not called him to talk about it directly. Rawalpindi, Feb 3 : Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said Pakistan is a peace loving country that had rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace. He also emphasised that Pakistan and India should resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue in a dignified manner. Gen Bajwa said this while congratulating the graduating cadets at PAF Academy on Tuesday, the Geo TV reported. The graduation ceremony of 144th GD (P), 90th Engineering Course and 100th AD courses was held at Pakistan Air Force (PAF) academy Asghar Khan and Bajwa was the chief guest on the occasion, said the Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a press release. Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan was also present at the ceremony. While addressing the graduating cadets, Gen Bajwa said that Pakistan stands firmly committed to the ideals of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. "It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions," he remarked. Pakistan and India should also resolve the longstanding issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion, the army chief emphasised. "However, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness," he added. The Army chief said that Armed Forces of Pakistan were fully capable and prepared to thwart any threat. The immaculate coordination and harmony displayed by all the three services in operations against the enemies of Pakistan had brought great improvement in the internal security environment, he said. The Army chief specially commended the critical role played by Pakistan Air Force in the War on Terror. "The outstanding courage and professional excellence displayed by brave air warriors of Pakistan Air Force during Operation Swift Retort is a manifestation of our resolve and capability. "The whole nation is proud of its Air Force and I earnestly hope that PAF will scale new heights of glory and excellence in the years to come," Gen Bajwa said. He hailed the presence of cadets from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for training at PAF Academy Asghar Khan. "This is a manifestation of warm fraternal ties between Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our Defence Forces indeed." "We are proud of the strong bonds of Islam, brotherhood and cultural communion that bind us together," the Army chief said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 17:19:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A worker delivers boxed meals at a sub-district office in Tonghua City of northeast China's Jilin Province, Feb. 2, 2021. "The city is slowing down to curb the pandemic, but we're not closing up. Instead, we're busier than ever," said Zhao Hongxia, general manager of Jiahe Catering Company. The company was originally a boxed meal supplier for primary and secondary schools in Tonghua City. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in Tonghua, the company has accepted a new task of providing meals to front-line staff and people under quarantine. More than 30,000 boxes of meals are sent by the company every day all cross the city. The company now has over 130 employees, whose daily work covers processing, making, packaging and distribution of the meals. To ensure food safety, more than 80 employees in charge of processing have all been temporarily living in the company since Jan. 15, and strictly following the epidemic prevention requirements. Zhao's own office has also been converted into a temporary dormitory. "We hope to contribute as much as possible in this special period to support those medical workers and other staff on the front line," said Zhao. (Xinhua/Xu Chang) A police timeline can be revealed which details TV host Andrew O'Keefe's alleged assault on his doctor girlfriend on Saturday evening. A charge sheet obtained by Daily Mail Australia revealed that O'Keefe is accused of assaulting haemotologist Dr Orly Lavee between 11pm and 11.30pm on Saturday. That is an hour-and-a-half before NSW Police officers from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command arrived at Dr Lavee's Randwick unit, about 1am, following an alleged commotion. O'Keefe was then picked up on a nearby street about 3.30am, according to a police statement, when the outgoing host of afternoon game show The Chase was taken to Maroubra Police Station. It wasn't until 9.41am when the common assault (domestic violence) charge was laid against O'Keefe in the official police system - suggesting a long night. A police timeline can be revealed of Andrew O'Keefe's alleged assault on his doctor girlfriend Orly Lavee at her home in Sydney's east O'Keefe was charged with assaulting his girlfriend, Dr Orly Lavee (above), at his Randwick home in the early hours of Sunday morning. Friends said she was left feeling 'pretty ordinary' At some point afterwards, O'Keefe was reportedly hospitalised, although it is not clear what for. A representative has told News Corp that O'Keefe will fight the charge. The revelations come as Daily Mail Australia revealed O'Keefe had turned to Buddhist-style silent meditation in his bid to fight his demons over the past year-and-a-half. 'He was eager to fix himself,' an industry insider said, adding: 'He was quite open about (the silent retreat) at Seven.' He has also put himself into rehab on several occasions, leading to delays in the filming of his popular game show. TV industry sources confirmed that O'Keefe was dumped from The Chase at the end of last year, about November. His contract expired but was not renewed, although Seven staff were vague about his future until this week, when a spokeswoman confirmed he was 'no longer' with the network. The 49-year-old father-of-three's recent troubles have been well-documented. O'Keefe himself has even drawn parallels between his own issues and his rockstar uncle Johnny O'Keefe, who died of an accidental drug overdose at 43. 'Ive struggled a little bit in that regard lately I suppose,' O'Keefe told his own network in a 2019 interview. 'Life has thrown a few things at me that I wasnt quite prepared for. I wasnt quite as resilient as I imagined Id be.' He separated from wife Eleanor in 2017, was infamously pictured kissing a brunette during a night out in Tasmania in 2018, and divorced his partner in 2019. O'Keefe divorced his wife Eleanor last year. Above, at a red carpet event together several years ago O'Keefe was famously filmed kissing a mystery brunette woman during a night out in Hobart, Tasmania in 2018. A friend captioned thee image as 'deal or no deal' O'Keefe has repeatedly taken leave from The Chase to fight 'health issues'. On one occasion, his agent attributed his disappearance to 'emotional exhaustion'. Just last year, O'Keefe said he was on right track. He filmed several episodes of his afternoon game show and stepped out with his new girlfriend. A source said O'Keefe's silent retreat occurred about 18 months ago. 'I'm not the least ashamed to admit I've struggled at times over the last year with issues around my mental health, but thanks to the excellent support of friends, family and expert clinical practitioners, I'm in a very good place at the moment,' O'Keefe said then. O'Keefe will face Waverley Local Court on Thursday morning. Thirty four minors arrested at unauthorized rally in Moscow of February 2 flickr.com/ Alexander Lyubavin 16:48 03/02/2021 MOSCOW, February 3 (RAPSI) Thirty four minors were arrested during an unauthorized rally held in Moscow on February 2, member of Russias Civic Chamber Commission on Development of Information Community, Mass Media, and Mass Communications, Director of the Internet Safety League Yekaterina Mizulina informs citing the Interior Ministry. Massive campaigns seeking to involve children in unauthorized actions, sometimes with the use of extremist calls, have been registered since 2018, when the issue was first raised by her organization, Mizulina said addressing participants of the public hearings on the prevention of involvement of minors in unlawful activities via social networks, hosted by the Civic Chamber. According to Mizulina, every second Russian teenager is being affected by destructive social media content. A recent survey of about 100,000 children carried out by the Internet Safety League demonstrated that 82% of the respondents believed the use of internet was not safe enough, Mizulina stressed. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Education has backed an initiative to hold cyber security lessons for children. U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said assessing the threat of domestic terrorism and failures that allowed rioters to storm the U.S. Capitol are top priorities as he assumes leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. In a call with reporters Wednesday, Peters said the U.S. faces a range of security issues requiring close attention, including white supremacist violence, cyberattacks from foreign adversaries, distribution of the coronavirus vaccine and border defense. Peters said the committee will keep a particular focus on the growing threat of domestic terrorism, starting with a comprehensive report on violent extremism. Right now there is insufficient data from the federal government, which has to change, as to how many domestic attacks have we actually had and who were they conducted by, Peters said. We know many of these groups are right now being incited by the insidious ideology of white supremacy, of antisemitism, of anti-government, and its one that we must address swiftly, but also comprehensively. The committee is also responsible for oversight of FEMA, which is assisting states in distributing COVID-19 vaccines. Peters said hes talked with President Joe Biden about the need to provide consistent information about vaccine shipments to local governments struggling to meet the high demand. Peters noted that the Department of Homeland Security identified violent extremism as one of the top threats to the country in last years annual security assessment. The DHS report stated that extremists will continue efforts to exploit fears associated with COVID-19, the presidential election and social grievances to incite violence and intimidate targets. Some U.S.-based violent extremists have capitalized on increased social and political tensions in 2020, which will drive an elevated threat environment at least through early 2021, the report states. Violent extremists will continue to target individuals or institutions that represent symbols of their grievances, as well as grievances based on political affiliation or perceived policy positions. The Senate committee will also hold hearings on how Capitol Police responded to the Jan. 6 riots, Peters said. DHS issued another warning in January after the bloody Capitol riots, stating domestic extremists represent a heightened threat in the weeks after Bidens inauguration. DHS cautioned violence could stem from anger about Bidens electoral victory, COVID-19 restrictions, racial tension and perceived grievances fueled by false narratives. Peters said the mob of rioters that broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were fueled by dangerous rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and repeated by other elected officials. False information about the election was also promoted by the Senate homeland security committee, Peters said, pointing to a hearing held in December 2020. Peters clashed with then-chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., during the contentious hearing, as Peters accused Johnson of giving a platform to conspiracy theories about the election. This is terrible what youre doing to this committee, Peters said to Johnson at the time. Peters said its too early to predict whether new policies or legal tools are needed to investigate domestic terrorists. For now, the focus is on identifying the extent of the threat, he said. Peters expressed frustration that the previous administration ignored domestic extremists that appeared at protests and hatched a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year. Biden pledged to defeat a rise of political extremisms and white supremacy during his inaugural address. The president requested an assessment of the threat of domestic extremism from the director of national intelligence last month. Biden said there should be no tolerance for extremist white supremacist groups menacing our communities during an October 2020 campaign speech in Michigan. He also drew a comparison between Islamic terrorists and the armed militia members arrested for planning to kidnap Whitmer. Its the sort of behavior we might expect from ISIS, and it should shock the conscience of every American to see that sort of twisted thinking take root here at home, Biden said in Detroit. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Who are Michigans militias? Armed patriot groups resurface during anti-government climate Report finds 25 hate groups in Michigan as extremism becomes mainstream Body camera video shows Michigan man attack police with hockey stick at Captiol riots The following is an opinion piece. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo is still planning on carrying out a semblance of its annual celebration starting next week. Even as Houston just announced the cancellation to their already postponed event dates. Even with Fiesta San Antonio announcing they're postponing to mid-June. Even with the Archdiocese of San Antonio ditching the traditional cross for a sprinkle of ashes for upcoming Ash Wednesday services. Even with most other regional rodeos hanging up their collective chaps. Even as new variants slightly creep throughout the U.S., including the U.K. variant that's somehow more likely to spread. Even after a diplomatic letter sent by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, just weeks after losing one of his best friends to Covid-19, the rodeo is still slated to go on. Regional performers and cheesy ACDC tribute bands are lined up. The annual cattle drive was shelved because of Covid-19. Limitations have been set for attendance. And they got rid of the freakishly long corn dogs and over-the-top snacks and the carnival. So why are we going through this exercise when only 4,000 people are expected to attend each day totaling some 56,000 over the course of just over two weeks? The fun of it all is gone. We run the risk of remembering the rodeo like we did in years past and comparing it to its 2021 counterpart. The energy from close to 60,000 attendees will be gone. The bigger-than-life belt buckles and glitzy rhinestones won't shine as bright with less rodeo-goers present. San Antonians won't wander around in turkey leg-induced stupors, covered in powdered sugar that has cascaded from a freshly fried mound of funnel cakes. As the mayor currently pleads for San Antonians to not gather outside their households this Super Bowl weekend, it seems counterintuitive taking in a show inside a smaller, indoor arena just a few days later. For its part, the organization has released a response to Wolff's letter. The safety of our rodeo athletes, patrons and volunteers is of utmost importance to our sporting event that raises funds to help educate the youth of Texas, said Lauren Sides, communications and public relations manager for the rodeo. The precautionary measures we are implementing during the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo not only adheres to, but also exceeds current local and state health guidelines. Yes, masks are required for those in attendance (and available through their shop), and temperature checks will be conducted at the gates (though their efficacy has long been contested throughout the pandemic), but it's hard to have confidence in the event's safety protocols when there is not a single mention of Covid-19 on their site (the lone mention is found in a link that leads to the the extended version of their safety protocols). As we sail past the 450,000 mark of those who passed from the disease this week, having Covid-19 buried seems like an odd play that's left me and other San Antonians asking "What in tarnation?" Correction: The post reflects the actual projected number of attendees over the course of the rodeo. Hong Kong: Post LNY class arrangements set Kindergartens, primary, secondary and tutorial schools can arrange students to return to campuses on a half-day basis after their Lunar New Year holidays, with the number of students capped at one-third of the total. The Education Bureau made the announcement today, saying that the class arrangements were decided upon after taking into account the latest COVID-19 epidemic developments, expert advice and the preparedness of schools. The bureau said it understands that schools and parents very much hope the students can have more time for face-to-face classes so that they will not be deprived of learning opportunities and their social, physical and mental development will not be hindered due to the prolonged fight against the epidemic. It earlier arranged the COVID-19 Targeted Group Testing Scheme for all school staff and staff of special school boarding sections. Some schools have participated actively in the scheme. Based on this experience, the bureau is of the view that if schools can arrange all teachers and staff to undergo regular virus testing once every two weeks, they will have the conditions to fully resume half-day face-to-face classes. The schools concerned need to conduct and complete the tests within 14 days before the resumption of face-to-face classes and submit applications to the bureau. The arrangements are also applicable to tutorial schools. The bureau will issue letters to inform schools of the detailed arrangements within days. Before the full resumption of face-to-face classes, schools are reminded that they should implement measures to sustain students' learning at home through flexible use of various teaching modes. During this period, schools should remain open to take care of those students who have to go back to school because of the lack of carers at home. Schools should also arrange for staff to be on duty to handle school affairs, answer parents' enquiries and take care of those students who have returned to school. They should also ensure that the campus environment is clean and hygienic. This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. document In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most MercifulYour Excellency, Dear Brother Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Fraternal Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to welcome my brother, His Excellency President Tshisekedi and the accompanying delegation to his second country, Egypt, on his first visit to Cairo, wishing them all a pleasant and fruitful stay I would like to seize this opportunity to express our deep appreciation for the historical relations between Egypt and its people on one side and DRC on the other through common eternal and historical ties. These bonds date back to the periods of national liberation in our African continent countries during the past century. These have also been embodied in the special relations that brought Egypt and DRC leaders together over decades. I have conducted with my brother President Tshisekedi fruitful and constructive bilateral talks during which we exchanged visions and views over many issues of common interest in order to reflect our political will towards strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields; thus allowing an optimal use of our capabilities for serving the interests of our two countries. We had also affirmed our determination to take our relations to broader horizons of bilateral cooperation. This is supposed to be done through increasing the rates of trade exchange and encouraging the Egyptian investments in the DRC, not to mention agreeing on the importance of activating the joint committee between the two countries at the earliest opportunity. We have also agreed to intensify cooperation in the fields of transferring Egyptian expertise, providing technical support and building the capacities of the national cadres in the sisterly DRC in various sectors. Our discussions also dealt with enhancing the existing cooperation between the two countries in the field of water resources and irrigation as well as our joint efforts to maximize the benefit of the River Nile resources. We emphasized Egypt's vision based on the River Nile as a source of cooperation, development and a common lifeline for the Nile Basin Countries. We also reviewed the latest developments concerning the Renaissance Dam issue and the current negotiations to reach a binding legal agreement regarding filling and operating of the dam. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Egypt Governance Congo-Kinshasa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. I also reaffirmed during the talks on Egypt's firm stance concerning the support of all peace and stability efforts in the sisterly DRC. Egypt will also continue to work transparently due to its friendly and brotherly considerations to support the Congolese national efforts that aimed at enhancing internal peace and stability. This will open the development and prosperity perspectives for all the Congolese people and keep the state's bodies, institutions and capabilities to continue the path of the institutional democratic transformation. Ladies and Gentlemen, The visit of my brother, President Tshisekedi, took place right before announcing his Excellency as the president of the African Union, so I would like to emphasize our full support for his Excellency during his presidency of the Union and our confidence in his wise leadership of the joint African action. In addition, I would like to assure his success in leading the continent during that stage, which is witnessing a number of challenges, on top of which is enhancing the efforts of containing the outbreak of the Coronavirus, eliminating the threat of extremism and terrorism, as well as activating the economic and trade integration among the countries of Africa. Dear President Felix Tshisekedi, I was pleased to meet you and I am looking forward to more close cooperation between both countries that will result in benefits for us and for our African continent. I hope welfare, stability and prosperity for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I renew my welcome to you Mr. President and your delegation in your second country, Egypt. Thank you 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. Tamil Nadu: Thanjavur fishers want high-speed boats confiscated February 03,2021 | Source: The Times of India Fishermen from Thanjavur and Pudukottai have demanded that the government take steps to confiscate the mechanized high-speed boats operating along their coasts, and arrive at a permanent solution in this regard. A Thajudeen, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation at Mallipattinam, said at a consultation meeting of Thanjavur, Pudukottai district mechanized boat fishermen association at Peravurani that there has been an agreement among fishermen on fishing by both mechanized and country boats. Accordingly, mechanized boats could fish for three days and and country boats for four days a week in Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram coasts. However, fishermen on high-speed boats from other districts have been violating the agreement, leaving the local fishermen high and dry. The association appealed to the government to do the needful to instruct these fishermen to follow the 40-year-long agreement. A resolution was also adopted at the meeting condemning the Sri Lankan navy for sinking the boat of TN fishermen killing four of them on board. The meeting expressed displeasure at the human rights commission remaining mute spectator to fishermens issues. 2021-02-03 Maeci The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US and the High Representative of the European Union have issued a statement condemning the coup in Myanmar. "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 coup in Myanmar. We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media. We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law. The November election results must be respected and Parliament should be convened at the earliest opportunity. The militarys restrictions on information flows are deeply concerning. Civilians, including civil society and the media, must not be subject to reprisals in any form. We also call for unrestricted humanitarian access to support the most vulnerable. G7 Foreign Ministers recall their 2019 communique in which we restated our commitment to Myanmars democratic transition, peace and accountability for human rights violations and abuses. We stand with the people of Myanmar who want to see a democratic future." Whether it's on your way to the gym, or on an expedition to the beach, many people use backpacks to carry their personal items. While backpacks are very practical, they can cause huge strain on your back and shoulders. But help could soon be at hand, in the form of a new backpack that reduces the strain on the wearer by 21 per cent. The smart piece of equipment is made with two elastic materials which alleviate some of the weight from the rucksack by reducing vertical movement of what is inside. Also embedded in the new-age backpack is an electric generator which produces power from the movement of the wearer's body to power and charge devices. Its designers believe the backpack could be especially useful for athletes, explorers and disaster rescuers who work in remote areas without electricity. A prototype backpack has been built which reduces the strain on the wearer by 21 per cent. The smart piece of equipment is made with two elastic materials reduce vertical movement and uses this to create electricity HOW TO RELIEVE BACK PAIN The following tips may help reduce your back pain and speed up your recovery: stay as active as possible and try to continue your daily activities this is 1 of the most important things you can do, as resting for long periods is likely to make the pain worse try exercises and stretches for back pain; other activities such as walking, swimming, yoga and pilates may also be helpful take anti-inflammatory painkillers, such as ibuprofen remember to check the medicine is safe for you to take and ask a pharmacist if you're not sure use hot or cold compression packs for short-term relief you can buy these from a pharmacy, or a hot water bottle or a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a cloth or towel will work just as well Although it can be difficult, it helps if you stay optimistic and recognise that your pain should get better. People who manage to stay positive despite their pain tend to recover quicker. Source: NHS Advertisement Energy-harvesting backpacks have been around for some time, but none which actively reduce the total load, the researchers say. The latest iteration uses elastic materials to suspend a carrying section within the backpack which smoothes out the up and down bumps by 28.7 per cent. As a result, the weight is held steadier for longer and this helps take the load off the neck, shoulders and back of the wearer. Conversion of movement from the bag's frame into electricity was 14 per cent efficient, the researchers say. This was enough to power LEDs, an electric watch and fluorescent tubes, the researchers found. The prototype could be 'especially useful' for athletes, explorers and disaster rescuers, who work in remote areas without electricity, the developers say. Study author Dr Zhong Lin Wang, of Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, said: 'Previously, researchers have used triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) to make energy-harvesting backpacks, but those bags had relatively low power outputs and they didn't provide added benefits, such as load lightening or shock absorption. 'We wanted to design a prototype that overcame these limitations.' Dr Zhong Lin Wang added: 'Backpacks are widely used in everyday life for the hands-free carrying of loads. 'Over time, however, walking or running with a heavy sack can cause back and neck pain. 'Also, backpackers in wilderness areas or even those in cities who don't have access to a charger might wish for a bag that could harvest the mechanical energy of walking to power portable electronics or health-monitoring sensors.' Making the bag more energy efficient so it can charge phones and sensors is the next hurdle, the researchers say. Dr Wang said: 'Once some challenges, such as improving the energy conversion efficiency, are overcome, the backpack has promising potential as a power source for small-scale wearable and portable electronics, GPSs and health care sensors.' Conversion of movement from the bag's frame into electricity was 14 per cent efficient, the researchers say. This was enough to power LEDs, an electric watch and fluorescent tubes, the researchers found. Pictured, a schematic of the smart backpack's various layers Other models have used springs to harness energy from the backpacks' bounce instead of rubber. But this adds weight to the bag. Being able to reduce the load while producing energy could benefit people who spend long periods of time in remote and hostile environments, like scientists or soldiers. The findings were published in the journal ACS Nano. 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. India might grant emergency use authorisation to Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine this month or the next. "India is a key partner in terms of production of vaccine and we expect that there'll be a restricted emergency use order for the Sputnik V vaccine...this month or next. After that we will be able to start our vaccine delivery to India," Kirill Dmitriev, Russian Direct Investment Fund chief told ANI. Russian Direct Investment Fund (Russia's sovereign fund) is marketing Sputnik V vaccine in foreign countries. Earlier, The Lancet had stated that Russia's experimental COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V is 91.6 per cent affective against coronavirus infection. These results are based on Phase 3 trials of the vaccine in which 20,000 people had participated. "The data published by The Lancet shows that Sputnik V is one of only three vaccines in the world with the efficacy of over 90 per cent but outperforms them in terms of safety, ease of transportation due to storage requirements of 2 to 8 degrees, and a more affordable price. Sputnik V is a vaccine for all mankind," Dmitriev added. Russia was the first country to officially launch a COVID-19 vaccine, it did so back in August 2020. Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry. "The Russian vaccine is based on a well-researched human adenoviral vector platform which has proven to be safe, with no long-term adverse effects in more than 250 clinical trials over decades," said Dmitriev. The Russian COVID-19 vaccine is unique as it uses two different human adenoviral vectors for delivery of outer coat genetic material of the coronavirus to the human body. "This approach provides for creation of a stronger and long-term immunity as compared to vaccines, using one and the same component for both doses," Dmitriev added. Also read: Pichai, Nadella, other tech CEOs congratulate Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy for new roles Also read: Who is Andy Jassy, the next CEO of e-comm giant Amazon? Mountain zebra near the Kuiseb River in the Namib Desert. Credit: Oliver Halsey In the Namib Desert in southwestern Africa, the Kuiseb River, an ephemeral river which is dry most of the year, plays a vital role to the region. It provides most of the vegetation to the area and serves as a home for the local indigenous people, and migration corridor for many animals. The overall vegetation cover increased by 33% between 1984 and 2019, according to a Dartmouth study published in Remote Sensing . The study leveraged recent drone imagery and past satellite imagery to estimate past vegetation cover in this linear oasis of the Kuiseb River, a fertile area in the middle of one of the driest deserts on the earth. The findings are significant, as this is the first study to reconstruct decades of vegetation change over a long stretch of the river, rather than at just a few sites. The research was based on a senior thesis project by Bryn E. Morgan '17, first author of the study, who has a bachelor's degree in geography and chemistry from Dartmouth, and is now a Ph.D. student in the WAVES Lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She first visited the Namib Desert, which is located along the coast of Namibia, in 2015 as part of the environmental studies foreign studies program , led by study co-author Douglas T. Bolger (envs.dartmouth.edu/people/douglas-thomas-bolger), a professor and chair of environmental studies at Dartmouth. Morgan returned to the region on her own in 2016, to conduct this research while working out of the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute and continued this work after graduating from Dartmouth. The study area consisted of a 112-kilometer stretch of the lower Kuiseb River, which was comprised of 12 sites along the river, each of which was 500 meters wide. At each site, Morgan flew one to four unmanned aerial vehicle or drone flights to capture images of the woody vegetation cover along the river. One drone flight would take images with true color and then another flight would take images with false color using near infrared wavelengths of light, which are outside what our eyes can see. False color imagery allows one to distinguish vegetation from sand and soil, and differentiate the various types of vegetation and how healthy it may be. Bryn Morgan flying a drone for a research project on the Kuiseb River in the Namib Desert. Photo by Oliver Halsey. Credit: Oliver Halsey The drone imagery revealed that five species of trees are part of the vegetation cover in the area: Acacia (Vachellia) erioloba, Faidherbia albida, Euclea pseudebenus, Tamrix usneoides, and Salvadora persica. A. erioloba and F. albida have been named national conservation priorities and their pods are an important food source to the livestock of the Topnaar (Aonin), the indigenous people who live along the Kuiseb River. The Kuiseb also serves as a habitat and migration corridor for many animals, including the mountain zebra, leopard and ostrich. Based on the 2016 data, the research team created a model that calculated the fractional vegetation cover of the lower Kuiseb River based on raw reflectance values. By matching past satellite images for the previous 30 years to the present-day imagery, and then applying the same model, the team was able to estimate past and vegetation cover. "Essentially, the drone data worked as a bridge from the ground to what the satellite was seeing," explains co-author Jonathan Chipman, director of the Citrin Family GIS/Applied Spatial Analysis Laboratory at Dartmouth. "Our methods in the study provide a model for how ecologists can combine modern drone imagery and historic satellite data to reconstruct past environmental change." The results showed that one area of the Kuiseb River located between 110 and 140 kilometers upstream from the Atlantic Ocean in the terminal alluvial zone, which is typically dry but within the reach of floods and where soil sediments are deposited, not only had the highest vegetation but also had the most positive change in vegetation cover over the study period. "Our findings demonstrate that vegetation cover in the lower Kuiseb River has been, on average, increasing for more than three decades," says Morgan. "As a result, we provide new insight into not only the long-term change in the hydrology and ecology of this system but also into how ephemeral rivers in desert landscapes might be responding to global change." The research team examined the climate and hydrological records to see if increased precipitation between 1984 and 2019 may explain the overall change in vegetation cover; however, the records did not show such steady increases in precipitation. According to the co-authors, the increase in vegetation cover may reflect a long-term recovery from the drought in the Namib Desert during the early 1980s, which could be investigated by using coarser-resolution satellite data prior to 1984. Explore further Landslides have long-term effects on tundra vegetation More information: Bryn E. Morgan et al. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover Change in a Large Ephemeral River: Multi-Sensor Fusion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Landsat Imagery, Remote Sensing (2020). Bryn E. Morgan et al. Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Cover Change in a Large Ephemeral River: Multi-Sensor Fusion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Landsat Imagery,(2020). DOI: 10.3390/rs13010051 Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey will be expanding its COVID vaccine distribution program to include some houses of worship and community centers. Murphy said the move will help the state reach more people in communities of color. We will be working directly with our communities of faith to turn houses of worship and other community gathering places into vaccination centers for local residents essentially bringing the vaccines to them, Murphy said. We undertook these partnerships throughout last spring and summer to ensure access to COVID testing, and we are going to follow this model for COVID vaccination. Weve had a lot of extraordinary leadership with our faith leaders as it was with testing, he said. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) will help the state execute the plan. Murphy said he will be visiting Mary McCleod Bethune Life Center in Jersey City next week as members receive vaccinations. Bethune Life Center was a COVID testing site the site last spring. We know this virus has had an outsized impact on our Black and Brown communities, and in communities that have been historically under-resourced, especially in terms of medical care, Murphy said. This is, after all, Black History Month, and I think that we all share a common goal of using this month wisely to help make COVID-19 history. Bethune Life Center has been administering vaccines for four weeks already, said Kim Scalcione, press secretary for Jersey City. She said they originally asked for 1,000 doses from the state to start, but they havent received that many. It received 500 doses in the first week, 300 in the second, 500 in the third and 700 in the fourth week, she said. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 The Palestinian Authority (PA) began administering COVID-19 vaccines received from Israel on Tuesday, as some US lawmakers continue to comment on Israels vaccination policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians. The Palestinian Ministry of Health began administering the vaccine to frontline medical workers in the West Bank, the PA-run WAFA News Agency reported. Israel gave 5,000 vaccines to the PA this week, according to The Associated Press. WAFA did not report where the vaccines came from. The rate by which Palestinians have been vaccinated compared to Israelis is a source of controversy. Israel has the highest vaccination rate of any country in the world and began the drive in December. Israel has administered 58.83 vaccine doses per 100 people, according to Our World in Data Our World in Data. Vaccines typically require two doses to be completely effective. The Palestinian territory the West Bank, on the other hand, only began giving out the vaccines today. Israel controls the West Banks borders. Internally, it is divided between Israeli military and PA control. The United Nations considers the West Bank occupied by Israel, though Israel disputes this. The PA has diplomatic recognition from numerous states in the region and around the world. Israeli settlers in the West Bank received vaccines at the same time as other Israeli citizens. Ethnic Palestinians who are Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents of Israeli-controlled Jerusalem received the vaccine alongside Jewish Israelis. Palestinian residents of Hamas-run Gaza have yet to be vaccinated. The PA has been working on securing vaccines since at least early January. The discrepancy between vaccination rates in Israel and the Palestinian territories has led to criticism, including from some in the US Congress. Democratic Illinois Rep. Marie Newman said last month that Israel has a moral obligation to ensure Palestinians get the vaccine. Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, from New York, addressed the issue in a letter to the Israeli consulate in New York on Monday. Bowman called Israels fast roll out commendable and said he was heartened to learn that Israel had transferred doses to the PA. The entire population in the West Bank and Gaza must also be covered, said Bowman. Newman and Bowman were both elected in 2020. Bowman is one of several relatively young progressives in Congress who hold pro-Palestine positions on the conflict. He defeated longtime House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel in the Democratic primary. Engel was a staunch supporter of Israel. ADVERTISEMENT A lawyer has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop Mohammed Adamu from continuing to functioning as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) after attaining the maximum 35 years of service on February 1. Maxwell Okpara, in his suit filed on Wednesday, wants the court to compel President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) to immediately name Mr Adamus replacement. The President, Mr Adamu, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) are the four defendants sued by the plaintiff in the suit challenging the validity of Mr Adamu remaining in office after February 1. Mr Adamu, 59, who joined the police force on February 1, 1986, has remained in office after he attained the maximum service period of 35 years. Suit Mr Okpara asked the court to determine if, by virtue of section 215 of the Nigerian Constitution and section 7 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, Mr Adamu could validly continue to function as the Inspector General of Police not being a serving member of the Nigeria Police Force as from midnight of February 1, 2021. Citing the same constitutional and statutory provisions, Mr Okpara also asked the court to determine if the failure of President Buhari and the NPC to appoint the new IGP since February 1 does not constitute abdication of their duties. In his prayers, he asked the court to declare that Mr Adamu cannot lawfully continue to function as the Inspector-General of Police and that all actions taken by him thereafter are illegal, null, void and constitute a breach of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Act. The plaintiff also asked the court to declare Mr Buhari and the NPC guilty of abdication of their duties by their failure to appoint a new IGP since February 1. He also asked for an order restraining Mr Adamu from further parading himself as the Inspector-General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or exercising any form of command over the Nigeria Police Force not being a serving police officer. He urged the court to issue an order mandating Mr Buhari to immediately appoint Mr Adamus replacement. The respondents have not filed their response to the suit. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! The Police Command in Kogi state has introduced a "rescue me App" in the state to help citizens under attack by criminals as it plans to swoop on them in their nefarious activities to make life unbearable to citizens in their environment. The Police Public Relations Officer for the command, DSP William Ayah, in a statement made available to correspondents on Monday added that the aim of APP was to aid the timely intervention of security forces at crime scenes to safe affected citizens from the criminals. The app is available on Google Play Store and IOS app store. as well as the Nigeria Police National Command Control Safety Centre official website www.npfc4i.com adding that it is free. "To this end, the Kogi State Police Command hereby urges members of the public to maximize this opportunity by downloading the app, as a mechanism for crime prevention and control. "Remember, security is everybody's business, therefore, ensure you make use of this to prevent you from being a victim of crime," he said. IDLIB, Syria On Jan. 25, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said it had monitored a spike in the death toll resulting from the clashes that took place in Daraa a day earlier, considered the heaviest since the Syrian regime took control of the southern governorate in 2018. On Jan. 24, clashes broke out between forces of the Syrian regimes elite 4th Division affiliated with Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Islamist fighters in western Daraa, resulting in the death of 11 members of the 4th Division. The clashes erupted after the 4th Division launched an attack against Liwa Fajr al-Islam (Dawn of Islam Brigades) led by Khaldoun al-Zoubi, after the latter refused the 4th Divisions demands to hand over heavy weapons and leave to northern Syria. The 4th Division had set its demands following the bloody events in Tafas on Jan. 13, when violent fighting broke out between the Zoubi clan and the Kiwan clan, resulting in the deaths of four people from both sides. Another person was also killed by stray bullets. The SOHR report added that Liwa Fajr al-Islam members captured three members of the regime forces on Jan. 14, attacked a checkpoint of the 4th Division north of Sahem el-Golan in the Daraa countryside, and seized a checkpoint that the 4th Division had erected on the Nafea-al-Shajara road within the Yarmouk Basin. The Central Committee created in 2018 and made up of former Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters and local tribal elders in the western countryside of Daraa met on Jan. 24 with officers from the 4th Division, in the presence of the Security Committee (an operation room affiliated with the regime that includes leaders from the Syrian army and its units, as well as intelligence officers) and the Russian Military Police. During the negotiations with the Central Committee, the regime demanded the deportation of a number of wanted people to Idlib and the areas under the control of the FSA factions in northern Syria, or else the forces would storm the city of Tafas and arrest the wanted men. An activist from Tafas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the regime gave the wanted men a grace period until Jan. 28 to either surrender or leave town. The source said the wanted men namely include Mohammed Jadallah al-Zoubi, Abu Tariq al-Subaihi, Abu Omar al-Shaghouri, Iyad al-Ghanim, Iyad Jaara, Mohammed Ibrahim and their families, all of whom the regime accuses of being affiliated with jihadist organizations such as the Islamic State or Hurras al-Din. In this context, journalist Jawad al-Abdullah from Tafas told Al-Monitor, The Central Committee, which is made up of former leaders of the [opposition] factions, notables in the area and some intellectuals from the countryside of Daraa, is negotiating with the regime forces represented by the 4th Division. There are no FSA-affiliated armed factions in the countryside of Daraa since the settlement agreement in 2018; only a few individuals carrying light and medium weapons [were allowed to stay] in virtue of said agreement, under an understanding with the Russian mediators. Abdullah added, Those who clashed with the regime forces were former revolutionaries from several factions that were previously active in Daraa before the 2018 settlement. The regime is threatening to wage a fierce war, and the Russian side hinted at resorting to the Russian air force. This is a major shift in the Russian position, which was the sponsor of the settlement agreement in 2018. Deputy head of the Horan Revolutionary Council Ismat al-Absi, who resides in al-Bab in northern Syria, told Al-Monitor, The recent developments in Tafas are part of an ongoing series of treachery by the regime as it tries to circumvent prior agreements and wants to secure potentially explosive areas in Horan (in southern Syria) before the upcoming presidential elections. The regime wanted to compensate for its failure in the town of Kanaker (in southern Syria), as it failed to deport or arrest some of the wanted people there. The regime does not adhere to reconciliation agreements and their clause, just as Russia cannot be the executioner and sponsor at the same time. The situation in Horan never calmed down despite the settlement agreement, and jihadist groups are exploiting such crises to find themselves a foothold and we may witness activities by these groups in the future. Absi stressed that negotiations between the Central Committee and the regime have not been fruitful as of yet. Meanwhile, a session that was due to be held on Jan. 27 was delayed until further notice. In a Jan. 26 report, SOHR noted that a Russian-sponsored agreement in the area would end the tension in Tafas, provided that the heavy weapons of fighters and former faction leaders are handed over. According to sources cited by SOHR, no one would be forced to leave except for one prominent leader Subaihi, who hails from the town of Atman in western Daraa and he will be deported to northern Syria and accompanied by former fighters and leaders who wish to go there. Meanwhile, some journalists and analysts rejected the SOHR report about reaching a settlement agreement in Tafas. Syrian researcher Bassam Jaara tweeted on Jan. 26, The Central Committee agrees to reject the regime's condition to deport the six opposition members and their families to northern Syria. For his part, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Rahhal tweeted on Jan. 26, In response to the SOHR report regarding the agreement between the South and the regime under Russian auspices: No agreement has been reached, and the decision to reject [the demands] was taken unanimously by the town of Tafas, the western countryside of Daraa and Daraa al-Baladm [represented by] the Central Committee, leaderships, and popular figures. [They] agreed on the principle of: We live together or die together, with the total rejection of Irans and Hezbollah's control of the area. Reliable independent sources from Tafas told Al-Monitor that a cautious calm has prevailed in the town, awaiting the outcome of negotiations between the Central Committee representing Tafas and the regime forces. The sources said that warplanes believed to be Russian flew over Tafas in an attempt to pressure the Central Committee to accept the regimes conditions for calm. Sources in Tafas told Al-Monitor that the regime is still mobilizing members of the 4th Division around Tafas. But, according to the sources, the regime has informed the Central Committee that it will not invade the city if Mohammed Qassem al-Sobhi, one of the men wanted by the regime, remains in his current location. Also, the regime has demanded that medium weapons used as anti-aircraft be handed over and an agreement on settling the situation of the other wanted men is reached. The sources expect the regime forces to enter the city at any moment. 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. Three National Guard pilots have been killed in helicopter crash in Idaho. They were flying in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when it went down Tuesday evening south of Lucky Peak near Boise. The Idaho National Guard said in a statement the three personnel were participating in a routine training flight when they were killed shortly after 8pm. Lt. Col. Christopher Borders told ABC the weather conditions at the time were 'poor'. He added: 'There was snow. It's been poor conditions on and off throughout the period. It hampered our initial air search efforts when we were notified that the emergency locator had triggered. 'As as result we immediately launched a ground crew to search. At approximately 11 p.m. the weather improved enough to launch another aircraft to commence the air search. 'And after midnight tonight, approximately 12:15 a.m. our search and rescue crew located the aircraft and confirmed there were no survivors.' Three National Guard pilots have been killed in helicopter crash in Idaho. They were flying in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when it went down Tuesday evening (stock image) The Idaho National Guard said in a statement the three personnel were participating in a routine training flight when they were killed shortly after 8pm Col. Christopher Burt, the Idaho Army National Guard's state aviation officer, said the aircraft was last contacted at 7:45 p.m. The Idaho National Guard said: 'Once the Emergency Transmitter Locator device aboard the aircraft was activated shortly after 8 p.m., his team immediately initiated emergency aircraft recovery procedures, which included air and ground search and rescue crews. 'At approximately 12:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, crews located the aircraft and personnel. The cause of the accident is unknown and an investigation will begin promptly.' The identities of those killed have not yet been released. Maj. Gen. Michael Garshak, commander of the state's National Guard, said: 'This is a tremendous loss to the Idaho National Guard and our community. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones as we work through this tragedy.' 3 1 of 3 Glens Falls Foundation Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Photo provided Show More Show Less 3 of 3 WAMC/Northeast Public Radio's February Fund Drive mobilized listeners to help provide a one-night stay for homeless individuals in an emergency shelter. The WAMC Locked Boxed officially opened Feb. 1 with a goal of reaching the $1 million mark by the end of the day. Beginning at 9 a.m., the station fundraised live on-air and reached the goal by 11 a.m. WAMC started and ended the entire Locked Box and Fund Drive in just one morning. Given COVID-19 limitations, WAMC was, once again, unable to have a traditional Fund Drive. Instead, the Locked Box and Fund Drive were combined into one with the help of limited WAMC staff to field calls and online donations. Paula and Michael Freed of Grand Rapids, Michigan, have committed $500,000 toward the creation of the Granville Community Foundation fund at the Glens Falls Foundation. The Freeds, who are originally from Granville, made a $250,000 donation in December, to create the GCF, and have announced a challenge for 2021, whereby they will match 50% of every donation made during the year up to an additional $250,000. The goal of the GCF is to evaluate local needs and opportunities and to fund projects that address broad areas of community development, education, art & culture, environment, health or social needs, according to the Glens Falls Foundation. After promising a new era of "trust and transparency," it's now come out that the Biden administration is stage-managing even its spin. According to the Daily Beast: If you're a reporter with a tough question for the White House press secretary, Joe Biden's staff wouldn't mind knowing about it in advance. According to three sources with knowledge of the matter, as well as written communications reviewed by The Daily Beast, the new president's communications staff have already on occasion probed reporters to see what questions they plan on asking new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when called upon during briefings. So now for Team Biden, it's all pick and choose. And according to the Beast, the White House spin is only to better serve us all: "Our goal is to make the daily briefing as useful and informative as possible for both reporters and the public," a White House spokesperson said. "Part of meeting that objective means regularly engaging with the reporters who will be in the briefing room to understand how the White House can be most helpful in getting them the information they need. That two-way conversation is an important part of keeping the American people updated about how government is serving them." Translation: Got a question about ice cream? Glad to answer. Got a question about Hunter's business dealings? To heck with you, deplorable. The press conference format of supposedly spontaneous ask-and-answer from officials and reporters is now a relic, left in place just for show. Get ready for lots of dog and ice cream questions to follow. And that's bad stuff. Number one, Biden already has a lapdog press eager to flatter and fawn. He's locked reporters in closets in the past and still manages to draw only the most flattering of questions and coverage. Apparently, he can't trust even the people asking those. Number two: This isn't doddering Biden living in fear of being caught in a senior moment. This is Biden's tried and polished professional press team, the people who should be up to the task of taking all comers. Somehow, they're not. They're afraid. They've already made quite a few embarrassing mistakes. Now they imagine they can fix this by literally picking and choosing which questions to answer and which questions to ignore. Seems that merely pre-selecting reporters to call on in press scrums, which they did before, is just too dangerous. Now they've got to see all questions in writing, the better to control the news. That's not a press conference they've got. That's a trained-seal flipper-beating show. Number three: Probably worst of all, there's very little pushback from the press. The Daily Beast, a left-wing house organ with Bernie Sanders sympathies, did manage to put out its piece with leftist reporter sources. But they're a relatively small boutique operation. Where's the outrage from the corporate media? The New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and the nets? Where are the angry tweets from reporters? Where's the thundering rage from the Columbia Journalism Review? Fox News, which is one of the few to pick up the story, noted that the White House Press Association, which was always quick on the draw on controversies surrounding President Trump (one of which was letting an OANN reporter into Trump briefings), is now curiously silent. On the far more serious matter of pre-screened questions, which affects them directly, they've got nothing to say. It rather makes them sound like court eunuchs. Nevertheless, there seems to be a remnant of discontent, given that the Beast had its sources, and they undoubtedly weren't conservatives. Fox News reported murmuring under the surface from some, with nobody wanting to be named. Kind of like red China. Or the old Soviet Union. Here's three things the press can do to counter this if it has any measure of self-respect: One, refuse to show up. Let the press briefing room go empty. This will take some unusual coordination, but if the press can manage it, especially without warning, it will say much. After that, accompany it with a thundering condemnation from the White House Press Association about the pre-screened cherry-picking questions, and the meaning will be clear and noted on the global stage. Two, this has a whiff of the old Soviet satellite states of Eastern Europe, a hint of Milan Kundera: everyone go to the press briefings, and everyone ask solely ice cream questions. Make them even stupider than ice cream questions; make them questions about whether Biden's shoelaces are comfortable. Send the message that if only stupid questions will be answered, then only really stupid questions will be asked. Make Psaki play catch-up. Make it embarrassing for Psaki. Three, and this might be most useful of all: Come in to the White House press briefing room, and do the job normally. Everyone submit written questions, but after the spin-show ice cream questions are answered, publish a list of all the actual questions submitted, the better to report the matter of which issues are being stonewalled. That would yield actual news to report upon, meaning reporters doing their jobs. Bottom line here is that Biden is a fraudulently elected president, now attempting to cover up his original sin with now fraudulent press conferences. He has to do that; he knows the truth can't come out. No president should be afraid to answer reporter questions. Biden is doing this because on so many things he has no answers. His laughable defense of Hunter Biden's emails, claiming that the presidential son did "nothing wrong," is his basic go-to brush-off. And Biden is brushing off a lot these days; his flip answer to Fox News's Peter Doocy about what he discussed with Russia's President Putin is example. Jen Psaki's GameStop answer about Janet Yellen's speech earnings from bigfoot banks and hedge funds, all summed up as Yellen being a female Treasury secretary, is yet another. This is an administration that can't let questions be asked lest the truth get out. And that's disgusting. Image: Screen shot from The Hill/Hill.TV video via shareable YouTube. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form New Delhi: National Conference on Thursday said that party legislators will boycott the rest of the legislative session as a protest. The National Conference issued a statement in this regard alleging that the protest against the governments conspiracies to trample the aspirations of the people by demolishing the states special status. On Wednesday, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah dubbed passing of resolution over GST implementation in the state as a sham and questioned there was absolutely no clarity on constitutional safeguards for the state. Jammu and Kashmir: National Conference legislators will boycott remaining part of the legislative session as a protest: NC Statement ANI (@ANI_news) July 6, 2017 "With absolutely no clarity of what 'constitutional safeguards' the BJP-PDP government in J&K has agreed with the centre, the sham resolution passes," Omar had written on Twitter. Protest against the Governments machinations to trample the aspirations of the people by demolishing the States special status: NC ANI (@ANI_news) July 6, 2017 The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had adopted a resolution for implementing the GST in the state amid protests by the NC and the Congress. Also Read: Former J-K CM Omar Abdullah praises PM Modi's statement on cow vigilantism For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Earlier warnings of more snowfall this weekend on Staten Island are no longer looking as ominous, an AccuWeather forecaster said Wednesday. There remains a slight chance if things come together that borough residents could see more accumulation Sunday, though its looking more like flurries at this point, said senior meteorologist Carl Erickson. The storm is likely going to stay off to our south, he said. According to the National Weather Services seven-day forecast, theres a 60% chance of rain and snow Friday after a clear and sunny Thursday. High temperatures listed at 39 and 43 degrees on Thursday and Friday respectively could help in melting the snow already on the ground. Staten Island received between a foot and 15.5 inches of snow from Sunday to Tuesday, depending on where you live. More than 17 inches of snow fell on New York City in the citys largest snow event since 2016. But in terms of how weather patterns are trending Wednesday, residents shouldnt have too much to be worried about, Erickson said. Bengaluru, Feb 3 : Karnataka chief minister B. S. Yediyurappa on Wednesday subtly batted in favour of Bengaluru as the metropolis best suited to hold biennial Aero India Shows. Delivering his speech at the 13th Aero India Show in presence of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Yelahanka air base here, Yediyurappa said, "I thank the union government for considering to hold this popular event amid pandemic fears. This is in a way affirmation of Karnataka's capabilities to hold events (Aero India) of this magnitude." He added that over the 25 years Bengaluru has with help of successive governments created adequate infrastructure to hold events of this scale. "Bengaluru is not only an IT hub but also conducive for the Aerospace industry. Bengaluru's share in defence exports is 67 per cent while in Aerospace sector, we contribute 65 per cent of the nations' exports. Therefore, Bengaluru has all the paraphernalia to organise such an event," he contended. According to him, besides infrastructure, Bengaluru is also home for reputed research and development centres and prestigious institutions which teach this subject. "In order to encash this huge potential, way back in 2008 itself the then (ruling BJP) government formulated an Aerospace policy and also established a 10,000 acre aerospace park near Kempe Gowda International Airport (KIA)," he explained. He also added that Karnataka had already cleared two aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) projects that will be established in Bengaluru and Hassan airports respectively. The Chief Minister also asserted that Karnataka had become a green power surplus state. "Our renewable energy sources are producing more electricity than other means of power generations. With big green power generation (solar and wind) parks coming up across the state, Karnataka is a power surplus state now, " he said and invited more and more MSME units to come up to tap the enormous potential aerospace industry has thrown open. Rabat The Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, on Wednesday signed in Rabat a letter of intent for the organization of the 24th Session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Marrakech during the 4th quarter of 2021. The signing of this letter of intent confirms the commitment of both parties to organizing this global event, said Fettah Alaoui at a working session with Pololikashvili, who is on his first official visit to Morocco as SG of the UNWTO. This signing, which coincides with the start of vaccination campaigns across the world, gives a strong signal and a message of hope to the international tourism community and to Moroccan tourism stakeholders in particular, she added. Morocco was one of the first countries on the continental level to launch its vaccination campaign, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, noted Ms. Fettah Alaoui, adding that this campaign is taking place in a climate of mobilization of all the components of the population and with very encouraging results. She also recalled the measures taken by Morocco, under the enlightened vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to fight against this crisis and which placed the health of citizens, the preservation of jobs and the boosting of economic activity at the heart of its concerns. Morocco is proud and honored to bring together the family of tourism in Marrakech in 2021, she said, underlining the full mobilization of its ministry in collaboration with the concerned stakeholders to ensure the success of this global tourism event. For his part, Pololikashvili said that the next UNWTO General Assembly that Morocco will host in 2021 will be historic and no effort will be spared to make it one of the most successful post-pandemic events. The Marrakech meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the future of the tourism sector, which has been hard hit by the health crisis, he pointed out, adding that the member states of the organization and representatives of the private sector will be invited to take part in the event. The Kingdom of Morocco was officially chosen as the host of the 24th Session of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in September 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Duchess of Cornwall has revealed how her love of books was inspired by her father, Major Bruce Shand, who was the 'best read man she's come across, anywhere'. Camilla, in a video recorded for her online book club The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room, said her father, a decorated officer who fought with the 12th Lancers, 'devoured books'. The duchess, 73, thought to currently be based at the Prince of Wales' country home, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, explained that being read to in her early childhood sparked her lifelong love of reading. The footage, released on Instagram, included a black and white image of Camilla's father as a young man. Scroll down for video The Duchess of Cornwall (pictured) has revealed how her love of books was inspired by her father, Major Bruce Shand, who was the 'best read man she's come across, anywhere' Camilla, in a video recorded for her online book club The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room, said her father, pictured as a young man, 'devoured books' Camilla said: 'I think it certainly came from my father, he was probably the best read man I've come across, anywhere. I mean, he devoured books. 'And so he read to us, as children. He chose the books and we listened. And I think... the love of books was ingrained in us, because, you know, it was there from such an early age.' Major Bruce Shand, who died in 2006 at the age of 89, was a strong source of support for Camilla, and she has previously spoken with pride of his military service. He was awarded two Military Crosses during the Second World War and was also captured and became a prisoner of war. The duchess has previously described him as a 'brilliant storyteller' who 'read to us each night and transported us into different worlds'. The duchess, 73, thought to currently be based at the Prince of Wales' country home, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, explained that being read to in her early childhood sparked her lifelong love of reading. Pictured, Camilla and her father Bruce Shand leaving Westminster Abbey, London, in 2003 How Camilla's father Major Shand became a Second World War hero - and survived a PoW camp The Duchess' father, Major Bruce Shand, joined the army in 1937 as a cavalry officer with the 12th Lancers and went onto become a decorated war hero The Duchess' father, Major Bruce Shand, joined the army in 1937 as a cavalry officer with the 12th Lancers and went onto become a decorated war hero. In 1942, already decorated with the Military Cross and bar from the early campaign in France, but by then serving in North Africa, he was praised by Churchill during a surprise morale-boosting visit by the Prime Minister. Churchill spotted his medals and remarked: 'You're a very young man [to have won two medals]. How splendid. But you look so thin.' Soon after, he was posted to the Libyan desert to face the might of Rommel's tanks in the battle of El Alamein. Later, he described an encounter with the Germans in which his sergeant and the driver of their armoured car were both killed. Himself already wounded, he managed to jump on to another scout car, but was once again hit. He recalled in his memoirs, Previous Engagements: 'Something like whiplash stung my cheek and Sergeant Francis beside me slumped to the bottom of the car with a large hole in his chest, killed instantly... 'I do not remember hitting the ground. A buzz of German voices greeted my return to consciousness.' Shand spent the rest of the war at Spangenburg PoW camp: 'It wasn't Claridge's, but at least the reception was warming,' he recalled. In fact, the regime was grim and the wait for release long and demoralising, though Shand sat it out with his usual stoic charm. Major Shand seated in front of Camilla's children, Laura and Tom Parker-Bowles, and with Prince Harry, Prince William, Prince Philip and the Queen, and the wedding of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in April 2005 Major Shand was daughter Camilla's 'rock' during turbulent periods in her life. Pictured, father and daughter leaving the Ritz Hotel in London in 1995 Advertisement Camilla holds seven patronages related to literature, including the National Literacy Trust, and has presented the prestigious Booker Prize for a number of years. Her first four choices for her Reading Room are Dame Hilary Mantel's The Mirror And The Light, William Boyd's Restless, Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak. Last week, Camilla hailed a 'renaissance of reading' during the coronavirus pandemic, once people had got over the initial shock of being 'locked down, locked up, locked in'. The Duchess of Cornwall also admitted last month that she is an 'entrenched technophobe' but said she was compelled to start her online book club by 'moving letters' she received during the first lockdown. The Duchess of Cornwall (pictured) last month admitted that she is an 'entrenched technophobe' but said she was inspired to start her online book club by 'moving letters' during the first lockdown Camila revealed her motivations for launching her new virtual 'reading room' which has already attracted more than 30,000 literary enthusiasts to her Instagram site @duchessofcornwallreadingroom The royal said that she felt part of a 'universal community of reading souls'. Writing in The Times, she added: 'Notwithstanding my advanced age and entrenched technophobia, I thought the best place for us to meet one another might be online.' Camilla said that at the start of the first national lockdown she compiled a list of her own favourite 'desert island books' which, much to her delight, opened up discussion of other literary classics with readers around the world. She continued: 'The most moving letters were those from people who described how books had been their lifeline. Camilla revealed the first four personal picks for her new initiative which are The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel; Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens; Restless by William Boyd; and Elif Shafak's The Architect's Apprentice (pictured) 'In some cases, their only company for weeks has been characters in novels. Reading was comforting for us, making us laugh, taking us on journeys that we could not undertake in the flesh and, crucially, reminding us that we are not alone. 'We found a community in reading at a time when we were, sadly but necessarily, unable to be with those we love.' She resolved to set up an online platform which she said 'explores the magical world of books; the extraordinary people who write them; and the emotional, social and educational benefits of reading'. Camilla is following in the footsteps of TV presenters Richard and Judy by launching her own book club. A stunning portrait (pictured) of the Duchess of Cornwall was released ahead of the announcement of the royal's Reading Room book club's first four titles The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room will be a 'celebration of literature' and, she hopes, a hub for literary communities around the world. Four of her recommended books will be unveiled each season. Hillary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light is the conclusion to her Wolf Hall trilogy, based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, and was eight years in the making. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is set in the desolate marshlands of the North Carolina coast and tells a coming-of-age story through the eyes of an abandoned child. The New York Times described it as a 'painfully beautiful' first novel. The Duchess of Cornwall's Reading Room will be a 'celebration of literature' and, she hopes, a hub for literary communities around the world By contrast William Boyd's spy story Restless explores the wartime adventures and peacetime intrigues of Russian emigre Eva Delectorskaya, who is recruited for the British Secret Service in 1939. Lastly, The Architect's Apprentice is described as a 'dazzling and intricate' tale from Elif Shafak, set in 16th Century Istanbul. Each recommended book will be accompanied by exclusive content from the authors, as well as the duchess herself, to spark conversation and debate. Since joining the Royal Family, Camilla has made the issue of literacy - particularly in children - one of the cornerstone of her work. The Russians have a centuries-long tradition of government corruption. During the 1990s there was one brief moment during which democratic reforms were attempted, but they failed. By 2000, with the rise of Vladimir Putin, Russia returned to its bad old ways. The current political contest between Putin and Alexei Navalny needs to be understood in the context of Russian society and politics. In Russia today, there are no white knight reformers; just competing factions. Navalny was arrested at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport as soon as he landed on Sunday January 17 from Germany. Amnesty International immediately declared Navalny to be a prisoner of conscience. In their reportage, Deutsche Welle portrayed Navalny as a brave hero facing trumped up charges. President Biden complained to Putin about his treatment of Navalny and the mass arrests of his followers during their telephone conversation on January 26. Alexei Navalny is not necessarily innocent of the charges brought against him by the Russian state, however. According to Russian news service Lenta.ru, Navalnys arrest was not political; he violated the terms of his ongoing probation for charges of embezzlement and money laundering. Take for instance the Kirov Case. According to Neva Segodnya (Neva Today) Internet Gazette, between May and September 2009, while working as an advisor to the Kirov regional governor Nikita Belykh, Navalny partnered with Director Petr Ofitserov of Vyatka Forest Products Company and Vyacheslav Opalev, Director of the local bank, Kirovles KOGUP, in order to illegally harvest 10,000 cubic meters (over 13,000 cubic yards) of timber valued at over 16 million rubles ($500,000) on state forest land managed by the Kirovles State Unitary Enterprise in Kirov. Since there was insufficient evidence to convict, the investigator decided to dismiss the case in April 2012. Subsequently a complaint was filed against the termination of the case, which was then reopened in Moscows Basmanny District Court. Navalny refused to testify until Basmanny District Court ruled on the case. One complication in the case is that the person who had originally accused Navalny in 2009 of stealing timber, Vyacheslav Opalev, was later revealed to be an accomplice. In late 2012 Navalny, Opalev, and Ofitserov were charged under Articles 33 and 160 of the RF Criminal Code, Large-Scale Embezzlement of Other Peoples Property. Vyacheslav Opalev pleaded guilty in court on 24 December 2012 and entered into a plea-bargain agreement ahead of the trial. Opalev was given a four-year suspended sentence. After an investigation lasting several years, Alexei Navalny and partner Pyotr Ofiterov were finally tried and convicted in January 2013. Navalny then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR intervened, ruling that Navalnys rights had been violated since the trial was a politically motivated, arbitrary interpretation of the law. After the ECHR ruling, Russias Supreme Court overturned the verdict because of corpus delicti; the evidence was missing. Of course, the material evidence in this case mainly consisted of the trees that had been cut down years ago. The Supreme Court ordered the gathering of additional evidence, followed by a retrial. Yet since no retrial ever took place, Navalny and Ofiterov never established their innocence in a court of law. Another instance of fraud implicating Navalny involved the Russian division of Yves Rocher. Navalnys brother Oleg headed the Internal Mail department of FSUE Russian Post. He and Alexei registered what was essentially a shell company, the Main Subscription Agency LLC -- in Cyprus. The involvement of Cyprus, home of the Russian oligarchs beloved Limassolgrad, is enough to prove he was up to no good. Oleg Navalny convinced Yves Rocher Vostoks General Director Bruno Leproux to seal a shipping contract with the Main Subscription Agency instead of Russian Post. Yet these services were rendered at an inflated cost, and the actual shipping was contracted out, as the Main Subscription Agency totally lacked the ability to provide shipping services. The final charges filed against the Navalny brothers in Basmanny District Court were for embezzlement of more than 26 million rubles (nearly $850,000). Both were found guilty of fraud and money laundering. Alexei received a suspended 3.5-year prison sentence, with five years probation, later extended for a year; he appealed. The European Court of Human Rights eventually ruled in this case, in October 2018. While the ECHR failed to discover a political motive in the criminal prosecution of Alexei and his brother Oleg in the Yves Rocher case, the ECHR decided that Navalnys rights were still violated in that he could not receive a fair trial; he was awarded compensation in excess of 80,000 (nearly $100,000.) During 2020, Navalny repeatedly violated the conditions of his probation, under which he was obliged to sign in at the Criminal Executive Inspectorate (UII) of the RF Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS) twice a month. Then Navalny was poisoned with Novichok while en route to Moscow -- most likely, by the FSB. He was immediately transported to Berlin for treatment on August 22. The requirement to appear at UII was suspended while he was being treated in Germany. However, in October 2020 the government learned that Navalny had been discharged from the German clinic on September 23, and he could not provide any acceptable reason for failing to resume his scheduled registration appointments at the FPS per the terms of his probation. It was due to his sustained violation of the terms of this probation that Alexei Navalny was legally detained at Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17. According to an Arkhangelsk newspaper Ekho Severa, a criminal case under RF Criminal Code Article 159, part 4, Large-Scale Fraud, was initiated against Alexei Navalny in December 2020. The charge is that 356 million rubles ($4.67 million) of the 588 million rubles ($7.7 million) collected in donations to Navalnys numerous non-profit organizations was embezzled and used to buy personal property, luxury goods, and holidays abroad. Navalny is not accused of being the embezzler, but as the head of these charities, he is legally liable. The corporate thief is his former Regional Director for the Arkhangelsk Region Dmitry Sekushin. One strong indication that the charge has teeth is the fact that Navalny had replaced Sekushin in July 2019 with Andrey Borovikov. Sekushin had allegedly been pocketing the proceeds from fundraising rallies for the Shies Project, a land reclamation project to clean up an illegal dump in a remote wooded area of Arkhangelsk, next to the Shies Rail Station. Site cleanup will take at least fifteen years, after which the Shies Eco-Tekhnopark, is to be developed there in stages, providing Arkhangelsk with a wholesome family recreation destination. Navalny is being held through February 15 to give Putins Kremlin time to try and finally make the many embezzlement and money-laundering charges against him stick. Image: Evgeny Feldman / Novaya Gazeta Cork County Council has this evening closed a section of road in East Cork due to concerns around a subsiding building. A section of the R629 at River Street in Cloyne has been closed due to part of a three-storey building and a section of an adjoining property subsiding. Part of the R629 River Street Cloyne has been closed as a precaution due to section of a 3-storey building and adjoining property subsiding. Signed local detour in place via the Cloyne Relief Road (Pairc Na hAbhann). pic.twitter.com/Q5KvcPVLTJ Cork County Council (@Corkcoco) February 3, 2021 A signed local detour will be in place via the Cloyne Relief Road. Cork County Council has said this closure is on a "precautionary basis until further engineering assessments are completed". WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Grocery giant Kroger Co. is planning to close two of its stores in Long Beach, California to avoid a mandatory pay hike of $4 per hour for front-line employees in hazard pay for working during the coronavirus pandemic, multiple reports said. The decision was taken after the Long Beach City Council last month passed a Hazard Pay law requiring some supermarkets to pay the temporary hike for the risks associated with the pandemic for at least the next 120 days. The company will close its Ralphs store and its Food 4 Less store in the city on April 17. Reports quoted Kroger as saying 'As a result of the City of Long Beach's decision to pass an ordinance mandating extra pay for grocery workers, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close long-struggling store locations in Long Beach. This misguided action by the Long Beach City Council oversteps the traditional bargaining process and applies to some, but not all, grocery workers in the city.' Kroger also warned that it could close down more stores as many cities across California are considering whether to mandate hazard pay for grocery workers. In January, Long Beach became the first city in California to approve the hazard pay ordinance. The law requires supermarkets with at least 300 employees nationwide and more than 15 employees within Long Beach to pay an additional $4 per hour to their local employees. Kroger has invested $1.3 billion since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic as rewards to employees as well as to implement safety measures. The company has also launched $15 Million Helping Hands fund. Los Angeles City Council has voted recently to pass an ordinance that requires grocery stores and drug retail stores to pay an additional $5 per hour to their non-managerial employees. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX KROGER-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.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. The United Nations top court ruled Wednesday that it has the jurisdiction to consider a case brought by Iran challenging sanctions imposed by the Trump administration. A majority of the 16-judge panel rejected US objections to the three-year case, which seeks the overturn of crippling economic sanctions. International Court of Justice presiding judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said Wednesday that the Hague-based court "finds consequently that it has jurisdiction ... to entertain the application filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised the ruling as another legal victory for Iran. Iran has always fully respected int'l law. High time for the US to live up to its int'l obligations, Zarif tweeted Wednesday. It could take years for the world court to render a final judgment on the case, and even then, its rulings arent enforceable. The case dates to July 2018, when Iran sued the United States after President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Tehran argued the crushing US sanctions violated the Treaty of Amity signed by the two countries in 1955. Lawyers for the United States described the Iranian lawsuit as baseless and argued that the international court lacked jurisdiction because the 1955 treaty was signed prior to Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. But in a preliminary ruling in October 2018, the UN court unanimously agreed that the United States should lift sanctions impacting the delivering of goods related to food, medicine, aviation and humanitarian services to Iran. The Trump administration responded by withdrawing the United States from the friendship treaty, accusing the Iranians of long ignoring it. The courts decision comes as President Joe Biden seeks to revive diplomacy with Iran. If Tehran returns to full compliance under the deal, Biden has pledged to lift sanctions and rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations over a longer and stronger deal. Iran in 2018 began violating its terms of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which placed restrictions on the quality and quantity of Irans stockpile of enriched uranium. Last month, Iran said it was enriching uranium at 20% purity at its Fordow plant in breach of the pacts 3.67% limit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently that Irans breakout time the time it would take to produce the amount of fissile material needed for a single nuclear weapon has been reduced to a few months. Blinken warned that could drop to a matter of weeks if Iran continues lifting nuclear restraints. NASA has been exploring Mars since the 1960s, pushing the frontier of innovation to get to the red planet and discover its secrets. This new technology has often found other uses here on Earth as well. Credit: NASA Even as the Perseverance rover approaches Mars, technology on board is paying off on Earth. A laser-light sensor that can identify bacteria in a wound may sound far-fetched, but it's already becoming a reality, thanks in part to NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The technology is going to Mars for the first time on Perseverance, which will touch down on the Red Planet this month, but it's already detecting trace contaminants in pharmaceutical manufacturing, wastewater treatment, and other important operations on Earth. That's not the only technology headed to Mars that's already paying dividends on the ground. Here on Earth, these innovations are also improving circuit board manufacturing and even led to a special drill bit design for geologists. Giving Geologists a Break Honeybee Robotics has been working on robotic missions to Mars and other planetary bodies since the 1990s, including a number of projects funded by Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. One of the key contributions to come from that work has been sample collection technology, including a drill bit for extracting rock cores. Half a dozen coring bits developed from research that started more than 20 years ago are now in space for the first time, ready for use in the rover's turret, or "hand," at the end of its robotic arm. On Earth, after drilling a core with a hollow bit, a geologist usually uses a screwdriver or other tool to break the sample off and pull it out. This can result in a fragmented or even contaminated sample. A robot required something different. New York-based Honeybee came up with a breakoff tube nested within a coring bit. After the core has been drilled, the breakoff tube rotates relative to the bit, shifting its central axis and snapping off the core. Unlike other breakoff methods, such as pinching the base of the core, the breakoff tube applies pressure along the length of the sample, reducing the risk of fragmentation. Honeybee has supplied grinders, scoops, and other sampling systems that flew on previous Mars missions. This is the first time the company's coring bit technology is going to Mars, because it's the first time NASA has planned a future mission to bring samples of the Martian surface back to Earth. Perseverance will collect and package those samples. "It's the key part of the sample return mission," said Keith Rosette, who managed the rover's sampling and caching system for JPL. "You truly can't collect a sample on Mars if you don't have a drill bit that can retrieve it." Honeybee Robotics designed its rotary percussive corer drill to collect rock samples on Mars. The version thats flying on the Perseverance rover has key differences, but they share a novel technology for breaking off core samples, which Honeybee has now made available to geologists on Earth. Credit: Honeybee Robotics While getting a sample return vehicle home from Mars will pose a host of challenges, it will let researchers do virtually unlimited testing with a wide array of instruments, Rosette said. "Rather than trying to bring all those instruments to Mars, it's less challenging and even more valuable to bring samples back." Meanwhile, Honeybee has commercialized its patented breakoff bits in coring toolkits for geologists on Earth. The bits can be used with a standard drill, making the technology easy and affordable, said Kris Zacny, Honeybee vice president and director of exploration technology. Honeybee has also been in talks with companies interested in using the bits for nuclear disaster remediation where it is too dangerous to send in human investigators, Zacny said. "If there are concrete tanks that are leaking, for example, then robots can go in and take samples to check radiation levels." The technology was invented by Honeybee's late Chief Engineer Tom Myrick. "Tom would have been extremely proud that his invention made a difference to planetary missions," said Zacny. Home Videos from Mars Collecting samples for return to Earth isn't the only first that engineers have planned for Perseverance. For the first time, NASA has built a system that could send back high-quality video of a rover's dramatic entry and landing sequence. While the Curiosity rover sent back a series of compressed images showing the Martian surface during descent, Perseverance's entry, descent, and landing package includes six high-definition cameras and a microphone that aims to capture all the drama of the "seven minutes of terror" between hitting the outer atmosphere and touching down. In addition to watching the planet's surface, the cameras are positioned to watch the parachutes unfold and also to look back at the descent stage and down at the rover as the two separate. The camera components are off-the-shelf models, but the circuit board that manages their interface and power was designed by JPL. It was then built by San Francisco-based Tempo Automation. Founded in 2013, just after NASA announced the Mars 2020 mission, Tempo used the work to improve its manufacturing processes. As its name suggests, Tempo Automation's focus is rapid, automated production of printed circuit boards, even in small batches. One set of tools the company offers to that end is the process for making every component "traceable," to keep track of who touched it and what was done to it at each point in the board production process, as well as which component lot the piece came from. This information makes it easier to zero in on the cause of a problem and see what other boards might have been affected, said Tempo cofounder Shashank Samala. Even as NASA's Perseverance rover approaches Mars, technology on board is paying off on Earth. Credit: NASA Spinoff To meet JPL's stringent documentation requirements, Tempo added X-ray images, ionic cleanliness data, and data from an automated optical inspection for every component, all of which is now part of the company's standard procedure. A tool unique to Tempo is what it calls fabrication simulationsoftware that translates a computer-aided design (CAD) model into a photorealistic representation of what the final board will look like. A team was prototyping the tool when the JPL work began in early 2018, and that work helped them complete it, said Samala. It debuted the following year. The simulation lets customers check their designs for any issues or flaws before production begins, he said. "A simple mistake can cost a lot of money and time." While it was conceived to help customers finalize their designs, the company discovered that it was useful in-house as well. The manufacturing process can result in discrepancies between the original CAD model and the final product, Samala explained. The simulation "serves as a source of truth on the factory floor, to communicate the designer's intent. The first thing we look at is the simulation." He said delivering a product that met NASA standards has helped the company get into several other space systems, including satellites and rockets. Meanwhile, Chris Basset, who designed the circuit board at JPL, looks forward to the moment the camera footage is beamed back from Mars after Perseverance's landing Feb. 18, 2021. "This is so far outside of what we usually do that it's super-exciting," he said. "I can't wait to see those images." Ultraviolet Lasers Scan for Chemical Clues Another technology whose roots reach far back into NASA's Mars Exploration Program is also flying for the first time on Perseverance and has many potential applications here on Earth. When two longtime colleagues founded Photon Systems in 1997, research showed incredible promise for spectrometersdevices that use light to determine a sample's compositionoperating at deep-ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths. These had the potential to identify a bacteria or detect even the slightest chemical traces. But sources for light in the 220- to 250-nanometer range were too large, heavy, and sensitive to environmental interference, and had many other issues. More than 20 years of NASA funding has helped Photon Systems bring down the cost of deep-ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and shrink it to a handheld size. One of the companys deep-UV lasers is flying to Mars for the first time aboard Perseverance. Credit: Photon Systems William Hug and Ray Reid set out to develop a miniature, lightweight, rugged deep-UV laser source for spectroscopy in the field. Their first outside investment came in 1998 from a pair of SBIR contracts with JPL, which was interested in a spectrometer that could detect nucleic and amino acids, organic materials that are foundational to all known life. Since then, the Covina, California-based company has received a number of NASA SBIRs, mostly with JPL, as well as funding from NASA programs aimed at developing instruments for planetary and astrobiology science. Now the space agency will get the first big returns on its long investment in the technology: Perseverance is equipped with the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument, which uses a Photon Systems laser to spot previously invisible clues in its search for signs of past life on Mars. While the team doesn't expect to find bacteria on Mars, organics that exist in the near surface can be identified using SHERLOC. On Earth, the same technology can be used to identify organics for a variety of other purposes. Deep-UV photons interact strongly with many materials, especially ones containing organic molecules. This results in higher detection sensitivity and greater accuracy when compared with infrared or even visible-light laser sources. Deep-UV spectroscopy has been done in research labs, but Hug and Reid came up with a construction that was far smaller, simpler, and cheaper to build than any existing alternative. "Deep-UV lasers start at $100,000. That's why they're not used in industry," Hug said, noting that laboratory instruments using the technology might take up three laboratory tables and take a month to set up. One major challenge has been the level of perfection the technology requires. The same sensitivities that enable tiny, high-energy wavelengths to detect even a virus make them vulnerable to the slightest defects. A microscopic imperfection in a lens or other surface can disrupt or scatter them, and Hug said it has taken advances across multiple industries to meet the necessary standards. Photon Systems focuses on two types of spectroscopy where deep-UV laser sources provide major advantages over longstanding spectrometer technology, and SHERLOC will use both. Fluorescence spectroscopy observes the light that most organic and many inorganic materials emit when excited by certain ultraviolet wavelengths, just like detergent glowing under a black light. Each emits a distinct spectral "fingerprint." Raman spectroscopy, on the other hand, observes the light that a molecule scatters, some of which will shift to different wavelengths due to interaction with molecular bond vibrations within the sample. These shifts in wavelength can be used to identify the materials in a sample. The higher-energy photons of UV light elicit a much stronger Raman scattering signal from organic molecules than lower-frequency light. And because deep-UV light isn't present in natural fluorescence or in sunlight, using these very short wavelengths eliminates sources of interference. In recent years, the company has started developing the technology into products, including handheld sensors and devices that monitor personal exposure to contaminants, as well as lab equipment. Their biggest markets now are in the pharmaceutical, food processing, and wastewater treatment industries, said Hug. Deep UV can identify and measure certain compounds at much lower concentrations than any other method, offering unprecedented precision in quality control, whether measuring the active ingredients in pharmaceuticals or ensuring the cleanliness of machinery and facilities. What looks like a photo of a printed circuit board is actually a computer-generated simulation based on computer-aided design files for a board-to-be. Tempo Automation developed this fabrication simulation capability while working on a circuit board for the system of cameras and a microphone designed to record the Perseverance rovers Mars atmospheric entry, descent and landing. Credit: Tempo Automation In wastewater treatment, the technology can identify and measure contaminants, letting the operator tailor the treatment process and save on power for ozone infusion and aeration. "For a small wastewater treatment plant, the whole system pays for itself in less than a month," Hug said. An application the military has invested in is identifying bacteria and viruses. Figuring out which bacteria are present in a wound, for example, would help pinpoint the right antibiotic to treat it, rather than using broad-spectrum antibiotics that risk causing drug resistance. And rapid, affordable deep-UV spectroscopy holds promise for medical research, from diagnostics to identifying proteins, peptides, and other biological material. "NASA has been a constant companion in our journey to date, and the laser is only part of the story," said Hug. "It's also the deep-UV Raman and fluorescence instruments we built for NASA and the Department of Defense over the years that are now providing breakthroughs for pharma, wastewater, and water quality in general, and now clinical testing for viruses." On Mars, SHERLOC will look for organic materials and analyze the minerals surrounding any possible signs of life so researchers can understand their context, said Luther Beegle, principal investigator for SHERLOC at JPL. This will provide more details about the history of Mars and also help to identify samples for return to Earth. The instrument, which also includes a camera capable of microscopic imaging, will be able to map a rock's mineral and organic composition in high detail, providing lots of important data. "We're going to make a brand-spanking-new measurement on Mars," Beegle said. "This is something that's never even been attempted before. We think we're really going to move the needle on Mars science and find some great samples to bring back." Explore further NASA's Perseverance rover 22 days from Mars landing Amaravati/New Delhi, Feb 4 : A team of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday and submitted a slew of complaints ranging from alleged offences against democratic institutions, capital trifurcation, corruption and others on Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. "Attack on media, attack on courts, attack on judges, attack on the Opposition. We told all these. Attack on election commissioner. These are all democratic institutions," said TDP MP Jayadev Galla after submitting the complaints to the Home Minister. Since coming to power, Galla said the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) has been allegedly violating the Constitution and is hell bent on destroying the four pillars of democracy, legislature, executive, judiciary and the media. "We have briefed him (Amit Shah) and submitted a representation on the deteriorating law and order, increasing attacks on religious places, harassment of victims and opposition party leaders by filing illegal cases, rampant corruption and involvement of YSRCP in various scams in the state," the MP said. He said Shah listened to them patiently, and asked for clarifications, and assured them that he would look into the alleged cases listed in the representation for appropriate action. The TDP team also apprised Shah on the alleged temple attacks and highlighted about the 7-year-old video of pastor Praveen Chakravarthy. The MPs told the Home Minister that the three capitals plan is allegedly a design to destroy Amaravati which they called a national asset. The TDP team claimed that corruption is widely prevalent in the state in the form of alleged illegal mining and the sale of sand, allocations favouring a company in which the chief minister's wife holds shares and others. The Opposition leaders claimed the Andhra Pradesh government failed in administration and continuity of governance, including allegedly losing investors' confidence. "The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh till the month of September, 2020 was accused in more than 30 cases. About 11 cases are registered by the CBI. He is also accused in six cases lodged by the ED. Currently, the CM is on conditional bail," the MPs mentioned in a note submitted to Shah. In this alleged background, the Parliamentarians appealed to the Central government to intervene and restore Constitution functioning and its machinery in the southern state. "Further, it is also vital to conduct an enquiry into various irregularities being carried out by the state government in order to plunder public money. Your timely intervention would instill confidence," the MPs claimed in their plaint to Shah. Murray Police Warn of New Phone Scam By West Kentucky Star Staff MURRAY - The Murray Police Department is warning residents of a new phone scam.Someone in the community told the Murray Police Department they received a call from a person claiming to be an officer with the Murray Police Department. In the call, the scammer used the names of Murray officials to appear legitimate.The scammer demanded money to prevent an arrest warrant from being issued for the victim.Authorities say they will never contact anyone and demand money if an arrest warrant has been issued for that person. Burma China and West Differ Over Term for Myanmars Military Rule Military trucks and armored personnel carriers are deployed in Naypyitaw. / The Irrawaddy YANGON While western nations have condemned the coup in Myanmar, the Chinese state-owned avoids the term, referring instead to a major cabinet reshuffle. The US State Department called the military take-over and detention of civilian leaders a coup which would trigger restrictions in American assistance to Myanmar. Washington will review its assistance programs to ensure they align with conditions, it added. However, the US will continue programs that directly benefit civilians, including humanitarian assistance and democratic programs, it said. The State Department added that it will continue to call on Myanmars military to unconditionally release all detainees, saying the coup puts democratic progress at grave risk. A very small circle of Burmas military leaders have chosen their own interests over the will and well-being of the people, the statement said. On Wednesday, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US and representatives of the European Union also condemned the coup. The G7 foreign ministers called on the military to end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically elected government, release all those unjustly detained and respect human rights and the rule of law. It said: The November election results must be respected and Parliament should be convened at the earliest opportunity. China has failed to condemn Myanmars military, which formed a new cabinet largely made up of current and former generals, along with some members of its political proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. Chinas Xinhua News Agency labeled the militarys action a major cabinet reshuffle and did not refer to the seizure of power. In early January, Beijing dispatched its foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Myanmar as a part of his first Southeast Asian tour of the year. He expressed Chinas support for the new government and its hope to accelerate the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during the next parliamentary term. In his congratulatory statement, Chinese President Xi Jinping said under Daw Aung San Suu Kyis leadership Myanmar would enjoy greater achievements and realize prosperity. In a press briefing, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry, called for stability in Myanmar, hours after the coup. He said Beijing hopes all parties can properly handle differences constitutionally, safeguarding political and social stability. Myanmar plays a vital role in the BRI, particularly providing China access to the Indian Ocean through the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State. Xi has repeatedly called on Myanmar to cooperate on the practical implementation of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is part of the BRI. China has made several efforts to start CMEC projects but none are yet to get off the ground under the NLD. The NLD government showed a cautious approach to the BRI projects, saying that it must ensure they are commercially viable and follow Myanmars development plans. The NLD has sought third parties to review whether the BRI projects are commercially viable and whether the Chinese proposals are reasonable, including their cost. You may also like these stories: Mobile Internet Connectivity Restored to Western Myanmar Parties Call on Myanmar Military to Accept Election Results Myanmar Military Give MPs 24 Hours to Leave Naypyitaw 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. As its contribution to Discover Pittsfield's 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival, Jacob's Pillow is hosting a virtual dance party, Dance On!, Feb. 20, 8-9 p.m., on Zoom. Proceeds from donations will be equally divided between Berkshire Immigrant Center in Pittsfield and Volunteers in Medicine in Great Barrington. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company News Denver, Colorado - Curtis Arganbright, 43, a former Westminster Police Department (WPD) officer, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Denver, Colorado, to 72 months in prison and three years supervised release. In addition to his prison sentence, Arganbright will forfeit his law enforcement certification and be required to register as a sex offender. Arganbright previously pleaded guilty to one count of violating the civil rights of a woman whom he sexually assaulted. The Department of Justice will not tolerate law enforcement officers who use their authority to prey on vulnerable victims and sexually assault them, said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory B. Friel of the Civil Rights Division. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases in an effort to secure justice for the victims of these reprehensible crimes and ensure that perpetrators who use their unique power to take advantage of others are held accountable. Curtis Arganbrights heinous conduct not only victimized a person in his care, it shattered the publics trust given to him as a police officer, said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn for the District of Colorado. This sentence is important because it demonstrates my commitment and that of this office to hold accountable those in positions of authority and to seek full justice for victims. Curtis Arganbright abused his power and authority as a peace officer to terrorize and victimize a member of our community while on duty. Such behavior damages the publics trust in law enforcement officials and is contrary to the oath we all take. The dedication of our agents, our partners at the Broomfield and Westminster Police Departments, and the U.S. Attorneys Office demonstrates our commitment to holding all law enforcement officials who abuse their power and violate the constitution accountable for their actions, said Denver FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider. The FBI takes allegations of civil rights and color of law violations extremely seriously and will always seek justice for the victims and our community. According to court documents, Arganbright worked as a police officer for WPD in August 2017. While on duty in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2017, Arganbright responded to a call of a theft at St. Anthony Hospital. After hospital personnel declined to press charges against the victim, Arganbright agreed to drive the victim home. During the transport home, Arganbright pulled off the main road and sexually assaulted the victim. The Denver Division of the FBI conducted the investigation, with substantial assistance from the Broomfield Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Fields of the District of Colorado and Trial Attorneys Maura White and Katherine DeVar of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Pharmacies Will Start to Get a Big Infusion of Vaccines Moderna wants to add 50 percent more vaccine to each of its vials. A mutation found in Britain might make vaccines less effective, health experts there said. Portugal is running out of hospital beds. Follow our latest coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. A U.S. program aiming to channel a huge number of vaccines through pharmacies will start soon. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:32 - 0:00 transcript White House Will Send Vaccinations Directly to Pharmacies The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Last week, we took steps to increase the amount of vaccine going to states, tribes and territories by 16 percent. Today, we are further increasing that weekly allocation by an additional 5 percent. So for the next three weeks, we will provide a minimum of 10.5 million in total doses per week across all jurisdictions. That means we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. To be clear, this is on top of the 10.5 million doses we will ship this week. I also want to be clear that we are delivering on our commitment to provide states with three weeks forward visibility into supply. This is critical, and weve heard strong feedback from state and local leaders that this is helping give them what they need to plan and get vaccines administered more quickly. Pharmacies are readily accessible in most communities, with most Americans living within five miles of a pharmacy. Thats why were pleased to announce our first phase of the federal retail pharmacy program for Covid-19 vaccinations. This is a key component of President Bidens national strategy, offering vaccinations in Americas pharmacies. Starting on Feb. 11, the federal government will deliver vaccines directly to select pharmacies across the country. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and its an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states in the next three weeks, and would also send some doses directly to retail pharmacies. Credit Credit... John Taggart for The New York Times The federal government will send one million vaccine doses to about 6,500 retail pharmacies on Feb. 11, the beginning of a federal program that will deliver vaccines directly to as many as 40,000 drugstores and grocery stores, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, announced on Tuesday. The programs launch will mark the start of a new stage in the massive vaccination campaign in the United States, gradually shifting a drive which so far has been centered in health care facilities and massive sites like stadiums to smaller, more local settings that will play a crucial role in vaccinating the general public. While some states in recent weeks have begun using a limited number of retail pharmacies to give out some of their vaccine doses, the federal program launching next week will not cut into the doses allocated to states and over time, it will greatly expand the number of sites where eligible people can get vaccines. Still, the launch of the program will be slow at first many pharmacies will not have vaccines at all or will have very limited supply, Mr. Zients said and it will not expand the still limited number of high-risk groups that states have deemed to be eligible to receive vaccines. Eligible patients should check pharmacy websites for availability, Mr. Zients said. Mr. Zients said that the federal government would allocate vaccines under the pharmacy program based on the population of each state and jurisdiction, as it has been doing for vaccines distributed via other channels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also working with states to choose pharmacies in areas that are harder to reach and close to people at higher risk of severe Covid-19, Mr. Zients said. He added that the agency would monitor the program to make sure pharmacies are distributing doses efficiently and fairly. Dozens of national and regional chains are participating, though not all of them will be involved in the first phase of distribution. Among them are CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Meijer, Costco, Jewel-Osco and Safeway. CVS said on Tuesday that it would begin offering vaccines on Feb. 11 in 11 states under the federal retail pharmacy program. Walgreens said on Tuesday that it would do the same on Feb. 12 in 15 states and major metropolitan areas. Both chains had already been giving out shots in long-term care facilities and retail pharmacies in some states. Walmart said last week that it has more than 5,000 stores across its flagship brand and Sams Club locations that are operationally and clinically ready to give out vaccines. The Trump administration first announced the retail pharmacy program last fall. Rebecca Robbins and New data on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine lend support for delaying its second doses. A medical worker preparing a syringe with the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot at a vaccination center in a public hospital in Brasilia on Tuesday. Credit... Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters A single dose of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca provided strong protection against Covid-19 in clinical trials when its second shots were delayed by at least three months, researchers reported on Tuesday. The encouraging results, detailed by Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers in a manuscript that has not been peer-reviewed, lend support to the strategy deployed by Britain and other countries to prioritize providing as many first doses of vaccines as possible without worrying that people will get their second doses later than initially planned. The latest data do not have bearing on the debate over whether to further space out the doses of the two vaccines authorized in the United States, those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, since the data on AstraZenecas candidate cannot be generalized to other vaccines. Some scientists have called on the United States to follow the lead of Britain and other countries that have opted to delay the second doses of vaccines by up to 12 weeks. But U.S. federal officials have resisted, saying such a move would not be supported by the data from clinical trials of the two vaccines currently available across the nation. Tuesdays results could amplify pressure on U.S. health officials to delay second doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, though it has not yet been authorized by the country. The Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers found that a single dose of the vaccine was 76 percent effective at preventing Covid-19. The data measured the three months after the first shot was given, not including an initial three-week period needed for protection to take effect. The vaccine appeared more effective when the interval between the two shots was longer than the originally intended four-week gap. Among clinical trial participants who got two standard-strength doses at least three months apart, the vaccine was 82 percent effective, compared to 55 percent effective when the doses were given less than six weeks apart. A vaccination strategy that spaces out doses by three months may be the optimal for rollout of a pandemic vaccine when supplies are limited in the short term, the researchers wrote. Tuesdays results build on data released late last year, which found that the vaccine was 62 percent effective when given as two standard-strength doses. In those initial findings, the vaccines efficacy was much higher, at 90 percent, when the first dose of the vaccine was given at half-strength. Oxford and AstraZeneca researchers initially attributed the different levels of effectiveness to the lower strength of the initial dose. But they gradually reached a different conclusion: the amount of time between doses was the more likely explanation. The results on Tuesday were not entirely positive. The researchers also reported that a single dose of the vaccine did not protect against the virus spreading without symptoms. However, overall cases of any positive test for the coronavirus, whether symptomatic or not, were reduced by 67 percent with a single dose. The researchers said that pointed to the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is waiting on data from a clinical trial that enrolled about 30,000 participants, mostly Americans. Results from that study are expected later this month. The study is expected to arm AstraZeneca with enough safety data to allow it by around early March to seek authorization to provide the vaccine for emergency use. The United States has agreed to buy 300 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine, but neither the company nor the federal government has said when and in what quantities those doses will be available after the vaccine is approved. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Some states in the U.S. are pulling back vaccine doses from the federal program for nursing homes. To speed up vaccination of other eligible people, some states are reallocating doses that were earmarked for nursing homes but were not being used swiftly. Jean Riordan and her husband, Joseph, both 92, prepared to be inoculated at a vaccination site in Minneapolis in January. Credit... Octavio Jones for The New York Times It did not take long for Keith Reed, a deputy health commissioner in Oklahoma, to spot a big logistical problem with the states vaccination rollout. Week after week, Oklahoma was allocating thousands of precious doses to a federal program for nursing home patients that was not using them all. In fact, tens of thousands of doses were sitting untouched in freezers. So his department called an audible. It decided to stop allocating any more of Oklahomas vaccine supply to the federal program, a partnership with private pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens that is meant to immunize residents of long-term care facilities. Instead, they would go to distribution channels that would get them into peoples arms faster. A number of states have made similar moves to shift supplies away from the federal effort, known as the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, a telling example of how chaotic the inoculation effort in the U.S. has been so far. Some of the other states include Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Mr. Reed said the Oklahoma move would do no harm: Walgreens and CVS have assured him, he said, that all nursing home residents in the state who needed and wanted to be vaccinated would have the first of their two shots by the end of the week. The federal program used a formula that turned out to significantly overestimate how many shots would be needed for long-term care facilities like nursing homes, whose residents are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. And another problem arose: A considerable number of residents and, especially, workers at the facilities are turning down the chance to be vaccinated. A study released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in the first month of the program, 77.8 percent of residents and 37.5 percent of workers received the vaccine at the average long-term care facility. The study says the true rate for workers may be higher because some may have been vaccinated in other settings. But, even so, federal officials are particularly concerned about how many workers are refusing inoculation, and have been stepping up efforts to change their minds. Mr. Reed said the doses Oklahoma was taking away from the federal program will be going to thousands of Oklahomans who are 65 or older and do not live in nursing homes. Our goal is to move vaccine from freezers to somebodys arm within seven days of receiving it, Mr. Reed said in an interview last week. We just had a hard time with that amount of vaccine off-limits to us that was set aside for this program, when we could be using that vaccine to go straight to Oklahomans. Advocates for nursing home residents are watching closely for any sign that the moves will impede their vaccinations. If we find that older adults are not getting the vaccines that they need, then thats concerning to us, said Lisa Sanders, a spokeswoman for LeadingAge, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers. A peer-reviewed study finds the Russian vaccine has 91.6 percent efficacy. Administering the Sputnik V vaccine in Moscow last month. A report in the medical journal The Lancet showed that the shots appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects. Credit... Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times A vaccine developed in Russia, Sputnik V, has been shown to have 91.6 percent efficacy against the coronavirus, according to an analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday. The peer-reviewed results, based on a clinical trial conducted on nearly 22,000 people, showed that the Sputnik V vaccine appeared to be safe and did not cause serious side effects, according to The Lancet, an early vindication for Russia, which faced international skepticism after the vaccine was approved without the release of data regarding clinical trials. The results bring the number of vaccines whose efficacy is higher than 90 percent to three, and will leave Russia well positioned to deliver a cheap vaccine at home and abroad two shots of the Sputnik V vaccine are necessary, each costing $10. The Sputnik V shots also do not need the deep cold storage that can make some other vaccines logistically challenging to use widely. The study comes after the vaccines developer, the Gamaleya Research Institute, which is part of the Russian Health Ministry, announced in December that the vaccine showed 91.4 percent efficacy. When a Russian health care regulator approved the vaccine in August, becoming the first in the world to do so even though the shots had yet to complete clinical trials, experts raised concerns that the authorities were trying to hastily approve a vaccine without due safeguards. But researchers at the Gamaleya Institute had gone ahead months earlier: The head of the team that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, Denis Logunov, along with some colleagues, administered the vaccine to themselves as early as April, according to a New Yorker investigation. Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Polly Roy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who are both virology professors, wrote in The Lancet, The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticized for unseemly haste, corner cutting, and an absence of transparency. But, they added, the outcome reported here is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated. Russia began its vaccination campaign in December, and around 50 countries have pre-ordered the vaccine. Use of the Sputnik V vaccine in more than a dozen countries, including Algeria, Hungary, Iran and Venezuela, is set to begin this week. Mexico, which has pre-ordered more than 7 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, has approved it for emergency use, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the deputy health minister who is leading the nations coronavirus response, said at a news conference on Tuesday evening. In December, the Gamaleya Institute announced that it had partnered with the drug maker AstraZeneca to try to combine their vaccines and see if the mixture could increase efficacy. Cuomo expands vaccine eligibility in New York to include restaurant workers. Dining outdoors at Cafe du Soleil on the Upper West Side in Manhattan last month. Credit... Clay Williams for The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Tuesday that local governments could begin to provide coronavirus vaccines to restaurant workers, just one day after he dismissed a debate over expanding vaccine eligibility as a cheap, insincere discussion. Taxi drivers and residents at facilities for the developmentally disabled can also be vaccinated, he said. Mr. Cuomo linked the changes to an increase in the vaccine doses allocated to New York State by the federal government. On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it would bump the supply given to states by 5 percent, which resulted from an expected increase in manufacturing. Now theres additional flexibility, Mr. Cuomo said. And Im leaving it up to the local governments to make a determination of what fits their situation best. The debate over whether restaurant workers should be eligible for the vaccine was kicked off last week, when Mr. Cuomo said he would allow restaurants to New York City to resume indoor dining on Feb. 14. The governor barred indoor dining in the city in December among concerns over a second wave of the coronavirus. At the time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released recommendations that described eating at indoor restaurants as a particularly high-risk activity, and state contact tracing data suggested that restaurants and bars were the fifth main source of new infections in New York. Still, while hospitalizations and the seven-day average positive test rate have been trending downward in recent weeks, both remain higher than they were when Mr. Cuomo closed the restaurants. New York City is at an extremely high risk level for coronavirus, according to an assessment by The New York Times and public health experts. With indoor dining set to restart just as more infectious variants are spreading across the country, many were concerned that restaurant workers returning to their jobs would be putting themselves at increased risk. On Monday, Mr. Cuomo dismissed the suggestion of expanding eligibility, saying the state did not have the vaccine supply necessary to loosen its criteria and that calling for it to do so was a cheap, insincere discussion. Yes, I would like to see restaurant workers eligible, Mr. Cuomo said. It makes total sense. But what does eligibility mean when you dont have the supply necessary?" On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said that he believed that restaurant workers should be eligible to receive the vaccine immediately. Restaurant workers now are going to be in enclosed places with people eating and drinking, Mr. de Blasio said. Every doctor on this line or anyplace else will say thats an area of concern. N.Y.C.s Covid Metrics Are Dire. Cuomo Is Reopening Restaurants Anyway. Average per-capita case counts in New York City are 64 percent higher than they were in December, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo banned indoor dining. Advertisement Continue reading the main story As Moderna looks to increase the doses in vaccine vials, the White House announces an expected boost in manufacturing. A vial of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine with 10 doses. Moderna is seeking to pack 15 doses into a vial in the future. Credit... Cooper Neill for The New York Times The upstart drugmaker Moderna is asking U.S. regulators to allow it to increase the amount of coronavirus vaccine put into each vial by as much as 50 percent, arguing that it can speed vaccines to patients by clearing away a simple manufacturing bottleneck: Getting medicine into bottles. The Food and Drug Administration could decide within a few weeks how much more vaccine Moderna, the developer of one of the two federally authorized Covid-19 vaccines, can put into its vials. Moderna says it can raise the number of doses per vial from 10 to as much as 15. The company has already been ramping up production of its vaccine, only to find a bottleneck in the bottling, capping and labeling process. With F.D.A. approval, more doses could start going into each bottle quickly, a welcome boost to the campaign to curb a pandemic that has killed more than 440,000 people in the United States alone. In a statement late Monday, Ray Jordan, a Moderna spokesman, said the constraint on dosage per vial was limiting Modernas output. The Moderna proposal is part of a broader push by the Biden administration to speed vaccine distribution, including by clearing away obstacles in the fill and finish phase of manufacturing. Although the nuts-and-bolts stage receives less attention than vaccine development, it has been identified for years as a constraint on vaccine production. On Tuesday, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White Houses Covid-19 response coordinator, said that the federal government would allocate a minimum of 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states for the next three weeks, a bump of five percent resulting from an expected increase in manufacturing. At a White House news conference, Mr. Zients framed the increase in doses as an accomplishment of the Biden administration, saying that we have increased supply by more than 20 percent since we took office. But the uptick in production has long been expected as the companies that make two federally authorized vaccines, one from Pfizer and BioNTech and the other from Moderna, have scaled up their efforts. Last week, the companies increased their supply to the U.S. by 16 percent. Governors were informed of the increase on a call Tuesday morning so that they would have more time to plan for vaccinations, Mr. Zients said, with at three weeks of notice for new allocation numbers a cornerstone of a new effort by the Biden administration to improve a distribution system mired in uncertainty and confusion over limited supply and unused doses. That allows them to plan accordingly and know what staffing to have, he said. I think historically, there had been fluctuation. We are very attuned into not having that fluctuation. Moderna has discussed the possible change of the number of doses in vials with the F.D.A. but has not yet submitted manufacturing data to support it, people familiar with the discussions said. Federal regulators may be receptive to the idea of more doses in each vial, but could balk at the notion of a 50 percent increase. The industry standard has long been 10 doses per vial, and federal regulators may be concerned that the extra punctures by needles of the rubber covering of the vial and the time required to extract more doses could increase the risk of contaminating the vaccine with bacteria. Modernas proposal to the F.D.A. for the dose increase was first reported by CNBC. Packing more vaccine into each Moderna vial is one of a number of options White House and health officials are exploring as they push to expand production before the spring, when officials are expecting a renewed surge of infections from emerging variants of the virus. The maker of the other federally approved vaccine, Pfizer, is unable to increase the amount of vaccine in its vials because its manufacturing is geared toward a particular size of vial that can hold only about six doses. But Modernas vial is big enough to hold more than the 10 doses now allowed. Asked about Modernas proposal, a White House spokesman on Monday said that all options are on the table. Among other efforts, Mr. Zients said that the government had now ensured that specialized syringes were shipped out with Pfizers vials so practitioners could extract a sixth dose from them. Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizers chief executive, told investors Tuesday that the company was now two months ahead of schedule and expected to deliver a total of 200 million doses for Americans by the end of May instead of the end of July. The acceleration is at least partly because the government has decided to count Pfizer vial as six doses instead of five. Prashant Yadav, who studies health care supply chains with the Center for Global Development in Washington, said Moderna might be able to relatively quickly make more of its vaccine if it received the green light to add doses to each vial. But he said it would not be an instant change. I dont think Moderna has a surplus sitting around, he said. Mr. Yadav said the finish-and-fill process is intensely automated, devoted to warding off contamination and precise to the microgram. At top speed, as many as 1,000 vials of vaccine can be filled per minute, he said. He said a 15-dose vial carries a trade-off: It could lead to more wasted doses if the health care professional runs out of people to get inoculated and has to throw out the rest of the doses. But in the midst of a raging pandemic, experts said, that may well be a risk that federal health officials would be willing to take. Sharon LaFraniere and A study shows the variant spreading rapidly in Britain might make vaccines less effective. Researchers at Aalborg University in Denmark analyzing coronavirus samples for the variant B.1.1.7 last month. Credit... Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix, via Reuters A fast-spreading coronavirus variant first observed in Britain has gained a worrisome mutation that could make it harder to control with vaccines, Public Health England reported on Monday. And on Tuesday, a team of researchers reported an experiment suggesting that this mutation might make vaccines somewhat less effective against the variant. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, first came to light in December. Researchers determined that it had rapidly become more common across Britain in just a couple of months. Its spread appears to occur because of its improved ability to infect people. Experiments in test tubes suggest that some of its mutations allow the B.1.1.7 variant to hold on to cells more tightly than other coronaviruses. Since B.1.1.7s discovery in Britain, the variant has been reported in 72 other countries. The United States confirmed its first case of the B.1.1.7 variant on Dec. 29, but is conducting little of the genomic sequencing necessary to track the spread of new variants that have caused concern. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 467 samples of the variant in 32 states. Officials in New York City said on Tuesday that they had identified 13 cases of the variant and were ramping up testing capacity to detect more. In its latest analysis, Public Health England estimated that the variants rate of infection is 25 percent to 40 percent higher than that of other forms of the coronavirus. Some preliminary evidence suggests that it may also cause more deaths. Several lines of evidence suggest that vaccines will work against the B.1.1.7 variant. On Thursday, the vaccine maker Novavax announced that its British trial found no evidence that B.1.1.7 could evade the vaccines defenses. But in South Africa, where a variant called B.1.351 has surged to dominance, the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have both been less effective in trials. That variant has been reported in 31 countries so far. In the United States, it has turned up in Maryland and in South Carolina. Scientists suspect that the B.1.351 variants partial escape from vaccines is largely thanks to a single mutation, called E484K. Experiments indicate that the E484K mutation makes it harder for antibodies to grab onto the virus and prevent it from entering cells. Now it turns out that some B.1.1.7 coronaviruses in Britain also have the E484K mutation. To search for new mutations, British researchers reviewed the 214,159 genomes of coronaviruses that the United Kingdom has sequenced as of Jan. 26. In its report, Public Health England said that they found 11 samples of the B.1.1.7 variant that also had the E484K mutation. Since that analysis, more of these viruses have come to light. NextStrain, a website where scientists gather and analyze coronavirus genomes, now identifies 16 B.1.1.7 variants that carry the E484K mutation. These B.1.1.7 coronaviruses gained the mutation thanks to random copying errors as they multiplied inside of people. The evolutionary tree of the coronaviruses suggests that 15 of the variants descend from one common ancestor that gained the E484K mutation. Meanwhile the sixteenth variant seems to have gained the same mutation on its own. Commenting on Mondays report, Kristian Andersen, a virologist at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said that it was impossible yet to say whether the E484K mutation would make these coronaviruses not only more contagious but more resistant to vaccines. Its much too early to speculate whether it will, so well have to wait for data, he said. Just because the E484K mutation helps the B.1351 variant, the one initially found in South Africa, evade antibodies doesnt mean it will do the same in other variants. Thats because mutations dont have a fixed effect. The impact of a single new mutation to a virus depends on the other mutations that the variant already carries. But in a report posted online Tuesday, Ravi Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues reported an experiment they ran to address exactly this question. They combined the E484K mutation with other key mutations found in the B.1.1.7 variant, the one initially found in Britain. The addition of the E484K mutation made it difficult for antibodies to block the viruses. The researchers wrote that they observed a significant loss of neutralizing activity. However, Dr. Gupta and his colleagues used antibodies taken from people who had received just the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It remains to be seen whether the B.1.1.7 variant with the new mutation, E484K, can evade antibodies after a full vaccination. Nicholas Davies, a mathematical biologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, cautioned that with so few of these new coronaviruses, its hard to say whether they will become more common than ordinary B.1.1.7 variant. But it is striking that the same mutation, E484K, has now been documented arising several times in Britain, as well as in South Africa. Meanwhile, in Brazil, yet another variant has also gained the same E484K mutation on its own. Dr. Davies speculated that the mutation may give the virus an advantage when it is spreading in populations where a lot of people have already been sick with Covid-19. It may be able to evade their antibodies to other variants. E484K may well convey a fitness advantage in settings where there is existing immunity, Dr. Davies said. If so, the virus may be providing the world with a dangerous new example of a common theme in evolution. A good solution can arise more than once such as flight, which evolved in birds, bats, and insects. Evolutionary biologists call this repeated pattern convergence. Its not great to see this mutation in the B.1.1.7 lineage, although I think its no surprise at all, said Dr. Andersen. We should expect that to happen. Dr. Gupta argued on Twitter that the best defense against this convergence is vaccination. By making it harder for coronaviruses to get from person to person, they will have fewer chances to gain the E484K mutation or other dangerous changes. We need to continue vaccinating and drive down transmission, Dr. Gupta wrote. Correction : Feb. 3, 2021 An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of a virologist at the University of Cambridge. He is Ravi Gupta, not Rajiv. Portugal has Europes highest death rate and is desperately short of hospital beds. A Covid-19 patient from Lisbon arrived at a hospital in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal, on Friday. Credit... Duarte Sa/Reuters Portugal, struggling to contain an outbreak that has led to the highest death rate in Europe, has rapidly filled the beds in intensive care units established for Covid-19 patients and is being forced to create spaces by diverting spaces meant for other critical care patients. With emergency rooms overwhelmed, particularly in the capital region of Lisbon, hospitals have asked patients to try to treat themselves at home, and the government has reached out to other European countries for assistance. Some patients have also been airlifted to island hospitals or moved to hospitals in regions not as badly affected. For those who do show up at hospitals in Lisbon, they are finding a system on the brink, with scores of people lining up outside and waiting to be diagnosed in idling ambulances parked outside. We are managing the full capacity of the country, Pedro Siza Vieira, the Portuguese economy minister, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. While new infections appeared to be falling in some regions, the outbreak in Lisbon was still raging. We are looking at a couple of weeks that will be difficult, he added. Mr. Siza Vieira himself contracted Covid-19 last month, and about a third of the governments ministers have also caught the illness recently, or had to isolate after being in contact with a person who had Covid-19. Portugal, a nation of about 10 million on the Iberian Peninsula, is in the grips of its worst crisis of the pandemic, and 5,000 people died in January. During the first wave of Covid-19, Portugal was one of the success stories of Europe, after applying a strict lockdown that helped keep its death toll low, particularly in comparison with neighboring Spain. But since Christmas, Portugal has faced a surge in infections and fatalities. Government officials have said that the crisis has been amplified by the spread of the Covid-19 variant first discovered in Britain. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal told a recent news conference that the variant accounted for more than 50 percent of new infections in his country. Mr. Siza Vieira, the economy minister, said on Tuesday, We dont have evidence of the Brazilian variant being significantly active in Portugal while we have evidence that the U.K. variant explains more than half of new cases, particularly in the Lisbon area. However, British officials have expressed their own concern about the spread in Portugal of the variant first discovered in Brazil, leading Britain to announce travel restrictions on its European neighbor. The travel ban was part of wave of new border closures around the world as countries raced to vaccinate their populations while trying to limit the spread of new variants. Whatever is driving infections in Portugal, new cases are only now starting to show signs of slowing after a national lockdown was reinstated in mid-January. The defense minister in Germany, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that the country was preparing to dispatch army personnel and equipment to Portugal, noting that all of those deployed would be vaccinated. And Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria announced on Twitter that his country would welcome some patients transferred from Portugal, without detailing how many. Ricardo Baptista Leite, an opposition lawmaker in Portugal who is also a medical doctor and head of the public health department at the Catholic University of Portugal, said he was grateful for the support. We now have international aid coming in to try to save as many lives as we can, he said. But the time will come to assess what went wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Covid Tracking Project, a trusted source of data, will end on March 7. The Covid Tracking Project, hosted by The Atlantic magazine, was run by a small team of employees and lots of volunteers. The Covid Tracking Project, one of the most trusted sources of coronavirus-related public health data in the U.S., announced this week that it will shut down soon, with its last daily updates coming on March 7, the anniversary of its founding. Hosted by The Atlantic magazine and run by a small team of employees and scores of volunteers, the project is one of a number of nongovernmental efforts that sprang up over the past year to track and document with hard data the scope and trajectory of the coronavirus epidemic, one of the worst public health crises in the nations history, as well as the contours of the government response. It was particularly noteworthy for keeping close tabs on coronavirus hospitalizations, as well as data on testing and newly reported cases in individual states and the nation. The projects co-leaders, Erin Kissane and Alexis Madrigal, said in a statement posted to its website that the federal government was now providing more of the essential real-time pandemic data than the project has been offering. They also noted that a number of nongovernment sources were still delivering outside checks on federal public health data. Among the sources they mentioned were a federal vaccine tracker website and a county-level hospitalization tracker run by the University of Minnesota. Although substantial gaps and complexities remain, we have seen persuasive evidence that the C.D.C. and H.H.S. are now both able and willing to take on the countrys massive deficits in public health data infrastructure, and to offer the best available data and science communication in the interim, they wrote, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Coronavirus Tracking Projects data has been cited extensively by researchers, by the news media (including The New York Times), and by the government itself. The project grew out of an article that Mr. Madrigal, a staff writer for The Atlantic, reported in March along with a colleague, Robinson Meyer. At that time, Trump administration officials were boasting about setting up a robust testing program. The journalists called every state, and could only verify that 1,895 people had been tested up to that point. Bloomberg Businessweek wrote in November that the project was in some ways the quintessential pandemic-era startup, existing almost entirely on Slack, the workplace messaging platform. The headline called the participants, many of whom have never met in person, data heroes. Mr. Madrigal, in an interview on Tuesday, seemed to agree. Its been a real source of strength to see all these different people pull together, even at a time when the country was flailing, he said. After the projects final daily update on March 7, Mr. Madrigal and Ms. Kissane said, the project would spend two more months on documentation, analysis and archival work before shutting down entirely in May. global roundup Iran will receive its first vaccines from Russia, and other news from around the world. A shipment of Russias Sputnik V vaccine will arrive in Iran this week. Credit... Yuri Kochetkov/EPA, via Shutterstock Iran announced on Tuesday that its first batch of Covid-19 vaccine, Russias Sputnik V, would arrive on Thursday. It coincided with a study published Tuesday in a British medical journal that the vaccine was safe and effective. The news could not come at a better time for Iran. Vaccines, like everything else in the Islamic Republic, have been politicized and subject to disinformation from the top down. Irans supreme leader has declared a ban on importing American- and British-made vaccines, saying they could not be trusted. The Iranian health ministry canceled a batch of donated Pfizer doses and said it would import vaccines from Russia and China and co-develop a vaccine with Cuba. For weeks, senior Iranian health officials have publicly argued over whether it was safe to inoculate Iranians with the Russian vaccine because it had not been approved by the World Health Organization or any Western medical agency. Before the Lancet study said that Sputnik V had a 91.6 percent efficacy rate against the coronavirus, several high-profile Iranians had expressed skepticism about it, including Irans top infectious disease official and the head of Parliaments health committee. And 98 physicians from Irans largest union of medical workers wrote a letter last week to President Hassan Rouhani urging him not to purchase the unapproved and unsafe Sputnik vaccine. Other health officials pushed back defending the Russian vaccine, including the health minister and his former spokesman. On Twitter, a hashtag trending in Persian was #buysafevaccines, as many Iranians declared they would reject Russian- and Chinese-made vaccines. In other news from around the world: Chile announced that it has started an ambitious mass vaccination program, with the goal of inoculating five million people by the end of March. For now, it is prioritizing high-risk groups like health care workers, child care home workers, those who work in senior living facilities and older adults. The country said it had received about four million doses of Chinas Sinovac vaccine and expects to receive more than 10 million. New Zealand s drug regulator said on Wednesday that it had provisionally approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine but added 58 conditions, most of which require the manufacturer to supply extra data. Pfizer said last week that the first of the 1.5 million vaccines on order were expected to arrive before the end of February. New Zealands director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, has said that the country will be ready to start vaccinating people as soon as a vaccine arrives. The state of Victoria , Australia, declared the coronavirus technically eliminated on Wednesday for the second time after a month in which no new cases were recorded. The state government also announced a rollout plan for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is scheduled to begin in late February. Frontline health workers will be among those included in the first phase, and nine vaccination hubs will be established at the states major hospitals. This is a significant day in the response of the Victorian community to the pandemic, said Martin Foley, the states health minister. It turns a corner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said on Tuesday that his government had signed a tentative deal with Novavax to produce the companys coronavirus vaccine at a government facility in Montreal, once the drug and the site are approved by domestic regulators. Canada has a separate agreement to purchase 52 million doses of the Maryland-based companys drug, but its regulators have so far only approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Novavax is expected to deliver results from its Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States in March, and to deliver 100 million doses for use there later this year. Farnaz Fassihi, Sui-Lee Wee, Javier C. Hernandez and A judge ruled that Guantanamo is too risky for hearings in a Southeast Asian bombing case. A prisoner at the Camp 5 and 6 detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2019. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times A military judge on Tuesday indefinitely postponed the arraignment of three prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who were scheduled to make their first court appearance in 17 years of detention, finding that the coronavirus pandemic made it too risky to travel to the Navy base. The Indonesian prisoner known as Hambali, who has been held since 2003 as a former leader of a Southeast Asian extremist group, and two people accused of being his accomplices were scheduled to appear at the war court on Feb. 22. But Col. Charles L. Pritchard Jr., the military judge who was to travel to Guantanamo this week, ruled that the various counsels belief that their health is at significant risk by traveling to the base in Cuba was reasonable. Colonel Pritchard is the most recent military judge to join the Guantanamo military commissions bench, and the latest to postpone a proceeding as too risky in nearly a year of cancellations because of the coronavirus. Pretrial hearings in the death-penalty case against five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been delayed for a year. The judge, court staff and lawyers bound for the hearing began a quarantine in the Washington area over the weekend before a charter flight to the base on Thursday. Once there, the passengers were to be individually quarantined for 14 days under a plan devised by prosecutors to protect those living on the base of 6,000 residents and at the prison from the threat of infection. The case had been dormant throughout the Trump administration, but on the second day of the Biden administration, a senior Pentagon official appointed under the Trump administration who had been put in charge of the military commissions approved the prosecutions. The defendants include Mr. Hambali, who is charged as Encep Nurjaman and accused of being the former leader of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah, and those accused of being his accomplices, Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep and Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, who are Malaysian. The three men were captured in Thailand in 2003 and are charged with conspiring in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, which killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 80. They spent their first three years in the C.I.A.s secret prisoner network before they were transferred to Guantanamo for trial in 2006. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Andrew Yang, now running for N.Y.C. mayor, says he has tested positive. Andrew Yang in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn after announcing his candidacy for mayor in January. He had been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times Andrew Yang, who ran for president last year and is now a leading New York City mayoral candidate, announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. After testing negative as recently as this weekend, today I took a Covid rapid test and received a positive result, Mr. Yang said in a statement. I am experiencing mild symptoms, but am otherwise feeling well and in good spirits. I will quarantine in accordance with public health guidelines and follow the advice of my doctor. More than perhaps any rival in the race, Mr. Yang has been campaigning extensively in person despite the pandemic, holding numerous events outdoors since announcing his candidacy last month. His approach has generated voter enthusiasm and attracted media attention, but with clear risks. A member of his staff tested positive less than a week after he announced his candidacy. Two other mayoral candidates, Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller whose mother died of complications from Covid-19, and Maya Wiley, a former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, have had to quarantine recently, though they have generally been more cautious about in-person campaigning. An entrepreneur with no previous experience in electoral politics, Mr. Yang mounted a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 that raised his public profile and won him many fans, especially among younger voters. But he never became a significant factor in the race, and dropped out after the New Hampshire primary. In his statement on Tuesday, Mr. Yang said, I will continue to attend as many virtual events as possible, and said he looked forward to hitting the trail again when the time is right. He said his campaign has begun the contract-tracing process. Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine will bring in $15 billion this year. Joseph Cruz, a pharmacy manager, preparing a dose of Pfizers vaccine at a community center in Teaneck, N.J., last month. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times The drug maker Pfizer expects its Covid-19 vaccine to generate $15 billion in revenue this year, executives said Tuesday on a call with investors to discuss the companys fourth-quarter earnings in 2020. Pfizer and other companies have struggled to keep up with the demand for their vaccines, as the United States and countries around the world are scrambling to vaccinate as many people as possible to combat the spread of more contagious variants. In comments to investors on Tuesday, the companys chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, said Pfizer had delivered 29 million doses to the United States by the end of January, and 65 million doses worldwide, and that it expected to manufacture up to 2 billion doses by the end of the year. It shares profits with BioNTech, the German company that developed the vaccine. Dr. Bourla also said Pfizer now expects to deliver the 200 million doses, for about $4 billion, that it had promised to the United States two months ahead of time, by May instead of July. That accelerated timeline can be attributed in large part to Pfizer now counting six doses in every vial of vaccine that it ships instead of five after health care providers learned they could extract an additional dose using special syringes. We foresee no issues with delivering the commitments we have made, Dr. Bourla said. And, in an indication that the coronavirus may be here to stay, Dr. Bourla said he expects the vaccine to become a standard part of its business, given the likely need for booster shots to address waning immunity to the virus as well as variants that could reduce its effectiveness. Pfizer has said that preliminary tests of its vaccine against more contagious variants have shown that it continues to be effective, but suggested that a third shot of the same vaccine may be needed, and the company has also not ruled out changing its vaccine to address the new variants. Moderna, which has developed a similar vaccine, has said it is already working on an adapted booster shot. We believe it is increasingly likely that a durable Covid-19 vaccine revenue stream, like is happening in flu, is a potential outcome, Dr. Bourla said. Captain Tom, the centenarian who raised millions for British hospitals, has died. Captain Tom Moore at his home in September. Credit... Dylan Martinez/Reuters Tom Moore, the 100-year-old British Army veteran whose charity walks raised $45 million and made him a national symbol of pluck during the coronavirus pandemic, died on Tuesday. His death was announced on his Twitter account. Mr. Moore, nicknamed Captain Tom by the British press, had been treated for pneumonia in recent weeks and tested positive for the coronavirus last month, his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, said on Twitter on Sunday. He was taken to a hospital because he needed help breathing, she said, and his condition then deteriorated. Dapper, spry and droll, Mr. Moore ambled his way into the hearts of people across Britain 82 steps at a time the number it took to cover the length of a brick patio beside his garden in Marston Moretaine, a village an hour north of London. He did 100 laps before turning 100 last April. With backing from donors including Prince William, who called him a one-man fund-raising machine, Mr. Moore quickly raised 32.8 million pounds, or $45 million, for the National Health Service. In the process, Mr. Moore became a pop-culture phenomenon, with television appearances, a book deal, a chart-topping song and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who came out of seclusion to bestow the honor in July. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Democrats move to advance Biden stimulus plan through reconciliation, drawing Republicans ire. Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said he would vote to move forward with the budget process. Credit... Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Democrats on Tuesday took the first step to push through President Bidens $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, using a budgetary maneuver that could eventually allow the measure to become law without Republican support. The move advanced the two-track strategy that Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders are employing to speed the aid package through Congress: show Republicans that they have the votes to pass an ambitious spending bill with only Democratic backing, but offer to negotiate some details in hopes of gaining Republican support. We are not going to dilute, dither or delay, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on the Senate floor. Theres nothing about the process itself that prevents bipartisanship. The party-line vote of 50 to 49 set the stage for Democrats to advance Mr. Bidens plan through budget reconciliation, which would allow it to pass with a simple majority vote, bypassing the need for Republican support. (Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, was absent and did not vote.) Theyve chosen a totally partisan path, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, said of Senate Democrats. The vote came the day after 10 Republican senators met at the White House with Mr. Biden seeking a smaller, $618 billion package they said could win bipartisan backing. Some Republican senators considered Mr. Biden receptive to their proposals, but said his chief of staff, Ron Klain, shook his head dismissively during the Republicans presentation, according to a participant in the meeting. Senate Democrats could approve the budget resolution as soon as Friday. On Tuesday, a key Democratic senator announced he would support it: Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is a crucial swing vote, said he would agree to move forward with the budget process because we must address the urgency of the Covid-19 crisis. I will only support proposals that will get us through and end the pain of this pandemic, Mr. Manchin said in a statement. Mr. Manchin also reiterated his opposition to Mr. Bidens proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which could force Democrats to drop it from their legislative package. The budget resolution would instruct congressional committees to draft legislation that could include Mr. Bidens stimulus proposal, which includes $1,400 direct payments for many Americans, funding for vaccine distribution, reopening schools and other measures. More than 100 Democratic lawmakers are also urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Mr. Schumer to repeal a business tax break as part of the economic aid package. The tax cuts in question which center on so-called net operating losses were included in a rescue bill Congress passed in March 2020, as the pandemic spread and the nation was in the midst of a recession. On Tuesday, an influential business group that had welcomed Mr. Bidens initial proposal urged him to work with Republicans on a compromise and to scale back his plans, including providing less aid for the unemployed and scrapping a call for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Luke Broadwater and California prison authorities created a public health disaster at San Quentin, a watchdog report says. San Quentin State Prison had no reported cases of Covid-19 before the state transferred 122 inmates there in May. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 have died, according to state data. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times California state prison health authorities created a public health disaster by pressing lower-ranking prison workers to hastily transfer inmates between prisons in the middle of a coronavirus outbreak, according to a watchdog report released this week. The transfers in May 2020, which were supposed to shift medically vulnerable prisoners away from danger, wound up igniting deadly new outbreaks at the facilities where they were sent, including San Quentin State Prison. The report by the California Office of the Inspector General found that authorities in the California Correctional Health Care Services, which oversees most of the states prison health care, ignored or overruled multiple warnings about the dangers of transferring the inmates. Our review found that the efforts by C.C.H.C.S. and the department to prepare for and execute the transfers were deeply flawed, and risked the health and lives of thousands of incarcerated persons and staff, the report concluded. San Quentin had not reported any cases of coronavirus before late May, when officials ordered the transfer of 122 inmates to San Quentin from another state prison, the California Institution for Men in Chino. Since then, more than 2,240 San Quentin inmates have been sickened with the virus and 28 died, according to state data. Sixty-seven inmates from the Chino prison were transferred to Corcoran State Prison, where a smaller outbreak later occurred, the report said. The inspector general found that 91 of the 122 inmates who were sent to San Quentin eventually tested positive, and two died. In an email response to a request for comment, the state prison health care system acknowledged making some mistakes. The transfers, the statement said, were based on a thoughtful risk analysis using scientific information available in May 2020 concerning transmission of this novel disease. We have acknowledged some mistakes were made in the process of these transfers. The statement said the prison system had made pandemic safety improvements, including increased testing, the use of designated isolation and quarantine spaces, and the enhanced use of personal protective equipment when indicated. The inspector generals report, released on Monday, found that prison health authorities overruled dire warnings from a number of nurses and other lower-ranking health officials about the transfers, including after the authorities were informed that only three of the 189 inmates scheduled for transfer had been recently tested. When concerns were raised about packing dozens of inmates into prison buses for a six-hour trip, a state prison health official brushed them aside, writing, the situation appears to outweigh the risks. The report did not name the official. Marion Wickerd, whose husband, a prisoner at San Quentin, was infected in June, said state prison authorities needed to be held accountable. The transfers were inhumane, and someone needs to take responsibility for what happened, she said. It was wrong. It was dead wrong. Advertisement Continue reading the main story California aims to speed up vaccines. Motorists lined up for Covid-19 vaccinations and testing in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles a week ago. Now California is working to streamline its vaccination process. Credit... Jae C. Hong/Associated Press As new virus cases and hospitalizations drop and increasing attention turns to the states vaccine rollout, California officials are attempting a fine balancing act between speeding the process up and ensuring that vulnerable populations arent shut out. On Tuesday, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the states secretary of health and human services, said in a news conference that the two goals are not mutually exclusive. This notion that we have to make a choice between speed and equity its a false choice, he said. We can do both. But as has been the case throughout the fraught vaccine distribution in the nations most populous state, the details of how both of those goals can be achieved are more difficult to pin down. So far, more than 3.5 million doses of vaccine have been administered in California, Dr. Ghaly said. The rate of vaccinations statewide, he said, has been building day by day, since a holiday surge of hospitalizations. According to a New York Times tracker, thats about 7.2 percent of the states population somewhere in the middle of the pack of states. However, the state has not yet released demographic statistics about who received the vaccines, so its unclear whether Latinos or other Californians of color who have been at disproportionate risk have been vaccinated at commensurate rates. Dr. Ghaly suggested state officials were weighing several methods of incentivizing vaccine providers to specifically target vulnerable communities, including paying them to get vaccines into harder hit neighborhoods, rather than forcing residents to go to mass vaccination sites that may be farther away. Gov. Gavin Newsom last week announced that the state would revamp its vaccine distribution approach in the wake of widespread criticism that the rollout has been confusing and piecemeal. Part of that restructuring involves a plan to enlist two of the states biggest health insurers, Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente, to help with a statewide distribution system that would prioritize equity and would help streamline a patchwork system. And the state launched a website and data portal that officials have said will not only notify Californians when they are eligible for a vaccine and help them make appointments to do so, but would also help collect and share data with federal officials or others who may be working to allocate vaccines. Experts have said that enlisting bigger, more experienced health care providers could help accelerate a vaccine rollout that has been hampered by the fact that its been implemented by already overwhelmed local public health departments. On Tuesday, though, Dr. Ghaly repeatedly declined to share details of the partnerships, beyond that any transitions to new systems would not disrupt existing appointments. Forty-nine states have widened vaccine eligibility. Rhode Island is the holdout. Delivering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence in December. The state has moved more slowly than most others in inoculating its residents. Credit... David Goldman/Associated Press Whether the threshold is 65 or 80, people who meet their states age requirement are eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccination shot in every U.S. state but one. The exception: Rhode Island, the only state still in the first phase of its vaccination campaign, which restricts access to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. If Barbara Diener, 65, had known she still wouldnt be eligible for the vaccine in Rhode Island where she and her husband moved to be closer to family she said they might not have moved there in November from Georgia, where anyone 65 or older can get a shot. We moved here three months ago from Georgia, where everyone I know has been vaccinated, said Ms. Diener, a travel agent. Were a little disappointed that the state of Rhode Island, being as small as it is, just cant get it together. The state health director, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, said last week that Rhode Island was expanding eligibility slowly because the state wanted to make sure that the people most at risk were vaccinated first. In addition to how many people you vaccinate, who you vaccinate matters, Dr. Alexander-Scott said. And thats what distinguishes Rhode Island, and how we are taking this thoughtful approach. Where older adults are eligible for vaccines Most states have started vaccinating older adults, though the minimum eligibility age varies widely. 65+ 70+ 75+ 80+ Not yet prioritizing by age *Eligible only in some counties. Data as recent as Feb. 2. Sources: State and county health departments. Sources: State and county health departments. Ms. Diener and her husband both came down with Covid-19 last March, and her husband was hospitalized for two weeks. They want to get inoculated as soon as they can. But since neighboring states are limiting vaccinations to their own residents, they have little choice but to wait. My doctor is in Massachusetts, because were so close in proximity, but I cant get it in Massachusetts either, Ms. Diener said. Rhode Islands health department said last week that it was starting to vaccinate a small number of especially vulnerable people 75 and older people who are part of a registry indicating that they need extra assistance during an emergency. In about two weeks, the department plans to start making doses available to everyone in that age group. State residents ages 65 to 74 are forecast to become eligible at the end of the month, according to the health departments projections. Dr. Alexander-Scott said the state was being strategic because of its very limited supply of vaccine. The state has administered about 54 percent of its available vaccine doses so far, and has given at least one of the two required shots to 6.5 percent of its population, a lower proportion than most other states. A T-shirt with the Wu-Tang Clan symbol is at the center of a dispute between China and Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing. A T-shirt made for embassy staff members who repatriated Canadians from the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has been criticized by the Chinese government. Credit... Andy Wong/Associated Press To hip-hop fans, it is an instantly recognizable symbol, a flying letter W that represents the Wu-Tang Clan, the New York rap collective. To the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it suggests something else: a bat. And so, when Canadian diplomats in China ordered T-shirts with the symbol behind the word Wuhan, it became a minor diplomatic incident. The Chinese side is shocked by this and has lodged stern representations with the Canadian Embassy in China, demanding that the Canadian side immediately thoroughly investigate the incident and give China a clear explanation, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a news conference on Monday. Bats are considered one of the possible original hosts of the coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and they have appeared in memes about Chinese eating habits that have been criticized as racist. The Chinese authorities have tried to play down the pandemics origins in Wuhan, instead pushing dubious theories that the virus may have emerged earlier in Europe, the United States or elsewhere. A spokesperson for Canadas foreign service told the Reuters news agency that the T-shirt did not depict a bat. The T-shirt logo designed by a member of the embassy shows a stylized W, and is not intended to represent a bat. It was created for the team of embassy staff working on repatriation of Canadians from Wuhan in early 2020, the spokesperson said by email on Tuesday. We regret the misunderstanding. Relations between China and Canada have been tense since December 2018, when Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at the Chinese tech giant Huawei who was wanted on fraud charges in the United States. Two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested in China soon after in an apparent act of retaliation. They have been accused of espionage and remain held in China under isolated and harsh conditions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Australians in lockdown are driven from their homes by a wildfire. Flames near a property under construction in Perth, Australia, on Tuesday. Credit... Paul Kane/Getty Images MELBOURNE, Australia Just days after residents of Perth, Australias fourth-largest city, were ordered to stay in because of the coronavirus, some were forced to flee their homes on Tuesday as a ferocious wildfire bore down on the citys outskirts. The blaze northeast of Perth, which began on Monday and was fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions, was out of control by about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, officials said. Residents described a confused scramble in the middle of the night, as they were unsure where they were supposed to go in light of the lockdown rules. We wish it would be either one or the other, not both, Gemma Martin, a 33-year-old hospitality worker who fled with her three children, said of the fire and the lockdown. By Tuesday afternoon, close to 20,000 acres had been razed and dozens of properties had been destroyed. Its still a very, very active and very aggressive fire and very much out of control, said Kevin Bailey, mayor of the City of Swan, a region within the Perth metropolitan area where the blaze had done the most damage. The fire, reminiscent of the infernos that devoured Australias southeast coast more than a year ago, is another reminder that as climate change spurs more frequent and intense natural disasters, Australia and other countries are likely to find themselves dealing with intersecting catastrophes. Perth and the surrounding area were put on a strict lockdown on Sunday because of a single coronavirus case, the first one outside quarantine in the state of Western Australia in almost 10 months. The wildfire started around noon the next day, sparked by a house fire, according to Mr. Bailey, the mayor. Ms. Martin said that while the dual disasters were overwhelming, if anything, last year taught us to be grateful for what we do have, and to be resilient. New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands, the state attorney general charged in a report Thursday that dealt a blow to Governor Andrew Cuomos oft-repeated claims that his state is doing better than others in protecting its most vulnerable. The 76-page report found an undercount of more than 50%, backing up the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that focused on the fact that New York is one of the only states in the nation that count residents who died on nursing home property and not those who later died in hospitals. Such an undercount would mean the states current official tally of 8,711 nursing home deaths to the virus is actually more than 13,000, boosting New York from No. 6 to highest in the nation. While we cannot bring back the individuals we lost to this crisis, this report seeks to offer transparency that the public deserves, Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. The report from a fellow Democratic official undercut Cuomos frequent argument that the criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes was part of a political blame game, and it was a vindication for thousands of families who believed their loved ones were being omitted from counts to advance the governors image as a pandemic hero. Its important to me that my mom was counted, said Vivian Zayas, whose 78-year-old mother died in April after contracting COVID-19 at a nursing home in West Islip, New York. Families like mine knew these numbers were not correct. Cuomos office and the state health department have not responded to repeated requests for comment. James has for months been examining discrepancies between the number of deaths being reported by the states Department of Health, and the number of deaths reported by the homes themselves. Her investigators looked at a sample of 62 of the states roughly 600 nursing homes. They reported 1,914 deaths of residents from COVID-19, while the state Department of Health logged only 1,229 deaths at those same facilities. One unnamed facility, for example, had an official death toll of 11 but the attorney generals probe found that 40 had actually died. APs analysis in August concluded that the state could be understating deaths by as much as 65%, based on discrepancies between its totals and numbers being reported to federal regulators. That analysis was, like James report, based on only a slice of data, rather than a comprehensive look. To date, despite public records requests from the AP and repeated pleas from state and federal lawmakers, New Yorks health department has yet to produce the full number of nursing home residents who died in hospitals as well as the nursing home property. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker has said several times that the state is working on such data. State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who has blasted the Cuomo administration for its incomplete death count, said he was sadly unsurprised by the report. Families who lost loved ones deserve honest answers, Rivera said. For their sake, I hope that this report will help us unveil the truth and put policies in place to prevent such tragedies in the future. Cuomo, who last fall released a book touting his leadership in dealing with the virus, has not been shy about using New Yorks lower nursing home death count to make the argument that his state is doing better than others in caring for those in such facilities. Theres also no doubt that were in this hyper-political environment so everybody wants to point fingers, Cuomo told CBS This Morning in October. New York, actually, were number 46 out of 50 in terms of percentage of deaths in nursing homes 46 out of 50. So, yes, people died in nursing homes. but 46 out of 50, its not a predominantly New York problem. The attorney generals report also took aim at New Yorks controversial March 25 policy that sought to create more space in hospitals by releasing recovering COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, which critics contended was a driving factor in causing nursing home outbreaks. James report said those admissions may have contributed to increased risk of nursing home resident infection and subsequent fatalities, noting that at least 4,000 nursing home residents with COVID-19 died after that guidance. But James report said the issue would require further study to conclusively prove such a link. New Yorks health department released a much-criticized report last summer that claimed the March 25 policy, which was reversed in May, was not a significant factor in deaths. James review also found that a lack of infection controls at nursing homes put residents at increased risk of harm, that homes with lower federal scores for staffing had higher fatality rates, and that a broad measure Cuomo signed in April shielding nursing homes and other health care providers from lawsuits may have actually encouraged homes to hold back on hiring and training. As the pandemic and our investigations continue, she wrote, it is imperative that we understand why the residents of nursing homes in New York unnecessarily suffered at such an alarming rate. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New York Senior Care Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 (Natural News) A few months ago, some infectious disease experts began warning that it would extremely difficult, as the COVID-19 pandemic lingered into the fall, for frontline healthcare providers to determine if sickness was due to the novel coronavirus or good, old-fashioned influenza. The reason, they said, is that in many respects, flu symptoms could and would mimic COVID-19 symptoms. But according to one epidemiologist, that problem has been solved by the powers that be: Simply reclassify flu cases as COVID-19 illnesses that way, flu cases will go down this year while Joe Bidens authoritarian Democrats get to continue justifying perpetual lockdowns and theft of our liberty and freedom. Per Just the News: Rates of influenza have remained persistently low through late 2020 and into 2021, cratering from levels a year ago and raising the puzzling specter of sharply reduced influenza transmission rates even as positive tests for COVID-19 have shattered numerous records over the last several weeks. Where have all the flu cases gone? Epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski thinks he can answer the riddle. Influenza has been renamed COVID in large part, Wittkowski, the former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University, told the outlet. There may be quite a number of influenza cases included in the presumed COVID category of people who have COVID symptoms (which Influenza symptoms can be mistaken for), but are not tested for SARS RNA, he added. Such patients, he explained, also may have some SARS RNA sitting in their nose while being infected with Influenza, in which case the influenza would be confirmed to be COVID. You know, like when you die from a gunshot wound or a car accident but just happen to test positive for the novel coronavirus, its listed as a COVID death. But dont just take our word for it or that of Wittkowski; the governments own data shows that something fishy is going on, which has been par for the course when it comes to misrepresenting the threat of this virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recent weekly influenza surveillance tracker, cumulative positive flu rates from late September to mid-December only stands at 0.2 percent, according to clinical labs that test for the virus. That compares to last years very typical 8.7 percent cumulative. Weekly comparisons of data from last year and this year show an even starker difference: A year ago this week, the positive flu rate was 22 percent, but this year its just 0.1 percent. Some have attempted to explain the humongous difference in flu infections by claiming that mask-wearing, social distancing, and even lockdowns are making the difference. Timothy Sly, an epidemiology professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, told the outlet that the reduced incidence of seasonal influenza is almost certainly due to the protection that a large proportion of the population has been using for many months. Those measures, he said, are designed to be effective against any airborne respiratory virus. And Holden Maecker, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, agreed. I feel pretty confident that the COVID-19 mitigation measures have caused the reduction in flu cases this year, he told Just the News. Masks, social distancing, and hand washing are all effective counter-measures against colds and flu. Really? Thats just BS; if that were true, then COVID cases wouldnt be spiking at all, anywhere especially in liberty-free zones like New York and California. But Maecker had an explanation for that, too. Asked why COVID continues to spread but the highly contagious influenza bug isnt, he said: I think its because (1) there is less pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the population, whereas most of us have had vaccines and/or previous bouts with flu; and (2) the SARS-CoV-2 virus seems to spread more easily than influenza, including more aerosol transmission and super-spreader events. Flu transmission is almost entirely close-range droplets and hand-to-nose or eyes contact. AgainBS. Were being lied to once again about COVID so the authoritarians in our society can continue justifying the elimination of our freedoms. See more reporting like this at Pandemic.news. Sources include: JustTheNews.com NaturalNews.com WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has signed three executive orders seeking to give a humane face to the country's immigration system by reversing the Trump Administration's policies that separated thousands of migrant families at the US-Mexico border. A key action is the creation of a task force to find parents and children that remain separated by the Trump Administration. The task force, chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, will make recommendations to the President and federal agencies regarding steps that they can take to reunify such families. This Order also revokes former President Donald Trump's Executive Order that sought to justify separating children from their parents. It is estimated that between 600 and 700 children were separated from their undocumented parents as they crossed the border from Mexico to find a better living in the United States. Speaking before signing the first Executive order, Biden said, 'We're going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families.' The second order addresses the root causes of migration to the United States' southern border and creates a humane asylum system. The Biden Administration will begin implementing a comprehensive three-part plan for safe, lawful, and orderly migration in the region. The order directs DHS to take steps to end the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which had led to a humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico. The government will ensure that Central American refugees and asylum seekers have access to legal avenues to the United States. This Executive Order also directs a series of actions to restore the U.S. asylum system, including by rescinding and directing agency review of a host of Trump Administration proclamations, rules, and guidance documents that have effectively closed the U.S. border to asylum seekers. The third order requires U.S. federal agencies to conduct a top-to-bottom review of recent regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to the nation's legal immigration system. It also rescinds Trump's memorandum requiring family sponsors to repay the government if relatives receive public benefits, instructs the agencies to review the public charge rule and related policies, and streamline the naturalization process. Biden said the three executive orders that he signed Tuesday are going to strengthen the U.S. immigration system, building on the executive actions he took on day one to protect DREAMers, repeal the ban on Muslim nations, and to better manage the country's borders. Referring to criticism over the new President signing a large number of executive orders instead of legislation, Biden said, 'I'm not making new law; I'm eliminating bad policy.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has approved a new, slimmed down government as the Central Asian nation moves forward less than four months after a public uprising ousted the country's rulers for the third time since 2005. The new government was sworn in on February 3 after Japarov endorsed the parliament's approval of Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov's cabinet. The 42-year-old prime minister, who previously led Kyrgyzstan's Account Chamber, told parliament that the new government has been trimmed considerably -- listing 16 Cabinet members compared with the previous 48 members. Kyrgyzstan has been in crisis since parliamentary elections in October led to protests that triggered the toppling of the government and the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov. Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest. He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has steadfastly denied the charge. Japarov, 52, was elected as president last month after scoring a landslide victory in an election that international observers said "generally respected" fundamental freedoms even though the vote was not "fully fair." Japarov was sworn in last month. A British teenager, who has been in a coma for 11 months, has woken up with no knowledge of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that engulfed the world. 19-year-old Joseph Flavill suffered a severe brain injury after being hit by a car while walking near his home in Tutbury, Staffordshire, on March 1, 2020. He has been in the hospital ever since in a state of coma. After the accident, Flavill was rushed to Leicester General Hospital where he spent six months in a coma and later was shifted to Adderley Green, a neurological rehabilitation centre in Stroke-on-Trent four months ago. The teenager has caught COVID twice while in hospital, once while he was in coma and another after waking up, but recovered both times and now, he has emerged from a stage-two coma. This implies that he has no knowledge of the events that took place in the last year, including the global pandemic. During COVID restrictions, only his mom was allowed to visit him in the hospital. On his 19th birthday, she visited him but had to maintain social distancing. His family now struggles as they wonder how to explain the recent events to him and make him aware of the new normal that includes social distancing, lockdowns and virus. The Sun reports that his aunt Sally Flavvill said that he is progressing well and has taken amazing steps and has started moving his limbs when he is instructed to and trying to engage with blinks and smiles. She shared that when he opened his eyes, he wasnt responding to anything but over the last few weeks hes taken amazing steps and is making really good progress. Daily Mail reports that due to COVID restrictions, his family cant visit him and they are communicating through Facetime, to which his Aunt said that, his face lights up when he sees his friends and family on the phone. She added that his accident was before the pandemic began and its almost like he slept through the whole pandemic, she wonders how one can explain the pandemic to someone who has been in a coma. His family now wants him to start his physiotherapy which had halted due to Covid. Before the accident, Joe was to receive his gold Duke of Edinburgh award at the Buckingham Palace. His friends and family have collected around 33,000, to help cover his costs of treatment. Republic Day tractor parade: Supreme Court refuses to hear pleas on R-Day violence India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Feb 03: The Supreme Court Wednesday declined to hear on a plea seeking setting up a panel headed by a former to court judge to conduct a time-bound probe into the violence during tractor rally in Delhi on the Republic Day. A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, asked lawyer Vishal Tiwari to give a representation to the central government for taking necessary action. Breakthrough: Govt-Opposition to discuss farmer protests for 15 hours "We are sure that the government is inquiring into it (violence) and they are doing it. We have read statement made by the Prime Minister in the press that the law will take its own course. That means they are inquiring into it. We do not want to interfere in it at this stage," said the bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian. Tiwari sought setting up of a commission headed by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the incident. The apex court also refused to entertain two similar pleas related to the tractor rally violence and asked the petitioners to file representation with the government. 'Why aren't we talking about this?', Hollywood star Rihanna backs farmers protest Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News The tractor parade, that was held on January 26, was set to highlight the demands of farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with the police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and several journalists, including Rajdeep Sardesai, have moved the Supreme Court to challenge the FIRs against them over their tweets on the January 26 violence during the farmers' tractor march here. Delhi Police had filed a case against Tharoor, Sardesai, The Caravan and others on January 30 on a complaint by city resident Chiranjiv Kumar, who claimed that Tharoor and others "misled" people on the death of a protester in central Delhi's ITO when thousands of farmers swarmed the area. Earlier, Tharoor and six journalists were booked by the Noida police for sedition, among other charges, in connection with the violence. Journalists Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath also moved the top court on Tuesday evening to challenge the cases filed against them on charge of posting misleading tweets on the Republic Day violence. The Madhya Pradesh Police too has filed a case against Tharoor and six journalists over their alleged misleading tweets in this regard. On January 26, a section of protesting farmers deviated from the agreed route of their tractor rally and clashed with the police in several parts of the capital. TEL AVIV - A first contact between the Biden administration and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) occurred over the past few days when the minister for public affairs, Hussein a-Sheikh (a close collaborator of President Mahmoud Abbas), spoke on the phone with Hady Amr, an advisor to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In a Facebook post, a-Sheikh wrote that bilateral issues and the political situation were discussed. He added that more talks are expected in the future. For its part, the broadcaster Voice of Palestine reported that Premier Mohammed Shtayeh also spoke with Amr although details of the conversation were not revealed. Contacts between PNA leaders and the administration of Donald Trump ended in 2017 and now Democratic leaders are trying to revive dialogue. According to media reports, issues connected to the resumption of humanitarian aid for Palestinians are expected to be discussed in the preliminary phase of talks. Gov. Tom Wolf, in proposing what may be the largest increase in the state personal income tax ever, is effectively trying to reverse engineer the states existing flat tax rate into a graduated tax system. The governor is proposing to raise the states personal income tax from 3.07 percent today to 4.49 percent, starting in July, netting the state close to $3 billion annually. For some individuals, it would represent a 46.3 percent increase in the states personal income tax rate. But its all structured in a way that only the top-third of state wage-earners would actually pay more, and most would pay less or see no change in their tax rate, according to the Wolf administration. Its a big step forward in making our very unfair tax system a little bit more fair, said Marc Stier, director of the liberal-leaning Pennsylvania Budget & Policy Center. Only about the top third of Pennsylvania families will see an increase. Its a fairly modest increase at a time when income inequality has been growing greatly for 30 years and even more so because of the pandemic. It seems like a very fair adjustment to our tax system and a way to raise revenue that are very much needed for our schools. The Democratic governors plan would require the approval of the Republican-controlled General Assembly and GOP lawmakers have shown no appetite for tax increases. The governor will present his budget message by video at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Along with the proposed change in the personal income tax, the governors proposal calls for investing billions of dollars into Pennsylvania schools and workforce development initiatives. It calls for more than a $1.3 billion increased investment in basic education funding; a $200 million increase for special education; $25 million more for Pre-K Counts and $5 million more for Head Start. It also proposes to increase the minimum teacher salary to $45,000 from the decades-old minimum of $18,500. Additionally, he is calling for a severance tax on natural gas drilling to fund a workforce development plan; a hike in the states minimum wage to $12 an hour on July 1 and raising it to $15 by 2027; legalizing marijuana and taxing it as another revenue source; and some government reform measures. He also is proposing some criminal justice reforms including providing support and training for county level public defenders and court-appointed attorneys and providing direct state representation for indigent death penalty defendants at the appellate level. The governor is also proposing compensation for wrongfully convicted individuals at a rate of $50,000 per year for each year behind bars. But under Wolfs tax forgiveness expansion plan, an estimated 40 percent of state tax filers would see a net tax cut, and another 27 percent would see no change, according to materials shared with the House Democratic Caucus Tuesday. The governor would do this by dramatically expanding the states existing tax forgiveness program - which currently refunds part or all of the state income taxes paid by about one-fifth of the states lowest-income households into a much bigger refund machine. Under the program, all Pennsylvanians pay their usual payroll tax. The tax forgiveness is applied when annual tax returns are filed, lowering tax bills for those qualified and often resulting in a refund. Wolf, in talking points accompanying the budget plan that will be formally released Wednesday, said that under his proposal, the income ceiling for full tax forgiveness would be lifted to the point where a family with two school-age children making $50,000 or less would see no income tax liability. That income ceiling is currently $32,000. According to the administrations figures, state tax bills would be status quo under the new plan for that same family of four up to about $84,000; households making more than that would start to see their tax bill increase. The tipping point for a single person would be $49,000 in annual income; $64,000 for a married couple with no dependents; and $69,000 for a single parent with two school-age children. It would provide meaningful relief to families that really need it, said Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the liberal-leaning Keystone Research Center. This is going to benefit a lot of families that are right on the edge of being able to cover a barebones family budget, he said. You are helping the right families with this proposal because these are families that have no choice but to live paycheck to paycheck because of what it costs for rent, food, health care, the basic necessities, and clothing. For a family of four earning $50,000, wiping out state income tax liability is a savings of $1,535, or just under $30 per week, which Herzenberg said for them is real money. A family of four making $75,000 would see their tax bill drop from $2,303 at present, to $1,684 under Wolfs plan, which is a drop of $619, or almost $12 per week. The flip side is some would pay more. High-wage earners and most small business owners would pay more, and in some cases a lot more, just as they already do in many of Pennsylvanias neighboring states. According to figures provided to the House Democratic Caucus Tuesday, a family with three children and an annual taxable income of $100,000 would pay $522 more per year than they do now; a single person making $75,000 would fork over an additional $1,065; and a husband and wife with no dependents making $90,000 would pay $1,278 more. Gordon Denlinger, director of the National Federation of Independent Business in Pennsylvania, said most small businesses are taxed at the personal income tax rate instead of corporate tax rate that the governor is proposing to reduce. So this would be another blow to this segment of the states economy that they could ill afford at this time. The NFIB is strongly opposed to any tax increase that lands on small business and we were disappointed to see Governor Wolf propose a hike in the personal income tax, Denlinger said. At a time when small businesses are in bad financial shape, Governor Wolfs idea is the wrong idea at the wrong possible time. Wolfs overall budget plan was received warmly by the House Democrats, sources familiar with discussion said, with members pleased that the governor was trying to address priorities like the need for more school funding, ridding aged school buildings of asbestos, lead and mold, and raising the states minimum wage. Many Democrats said that with priorities within reach, they are willing to try to sell the tax plan to their constituents. The problem is, Wolf and his Democratic allies also have to sell this plan to very tax-resistant Republican majorities in both the state House and Senate who are likely to oppose what would be the largest, raw-dollar tax increases in state history that after all the elaborate tax-shifting is expected to result in a $2.96 billion net increase in revenues to the state. Nate Benefield, vice president of policy analysis for the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation, for one, hopes the Republican majorities slam the brakes hard on this plan. Now is not a time to raise taxes and certainly not taxes thats going to affect our small business owners and families who are struggling to get back to work, he said. Im not sure the Legislature is going to take him seriously. Hes a lame-duck governor who hasnt really talked to legislative leaders in months. It should be noted that while the 46% increase in the personal tax rate is substantial, it would still leave Pennsylvania among the lowest of the nine states with flat tax rates like Pennsylvania has. Currently, the state has the lowest of the nine. This proposed increase would bump Pennsylvania into the seventh spot out of nine with only Indiana at 3.23% and Michigan at 4.25% being lower. Pennsylvanias overall state and local tax burden, including income, property and sales taxes, equates to 9.7 percent of average annual income according to an analysis done by the financial news service 24/7 Wall St. last year, just a notch below the 9.8 percent national average. Some states have income tax rates that rise based on income, while some states have no income tax. But Wolf, in remarks shared by his staff Tuesday, portrayed his plan as a way to make Pennsylvanias tax system fairer, noting that at present working class and low income families pay exactly the same rate as the states most well-off residents. He sees the reforms in his budget plan as a way lift boats by having the wealthiest pay a bit more. I refuse to tell any young family in Pennsylvania that they just happen to be starting out at the wrong time that, with everything going on, 2021 just isnt going to be the year we get around to lifting the barriers that stand between them and the future they hope to provide for their children, Wolf said. Most of all, I think your familys future is important enough that we ought to just have this argument right now instead of putting it off until next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. Mayfield Man Charged with Kidnapping Woman By West Kentucky Star Staff GRAVES COUNTY - A Graves County man was arrested Tuesday night on kidnapping and wanton endangerment charges. The Graves County Sheriff's Office said deputies received a report that a woman that was possibly in a dangerous domestic situation. Deputies determined that 48-year-old Chad Jones of Mayfield had pointed a firearm at the victim. Jones had also allegedly put the gun in the woman's mouth and forced her to get in a vehicle and travel back to his home. Jones was arrested and lodged in the Graves County Jail. He's charged with kidnapping adult and 1st degree wanton endangerment. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie will auction off a painting by former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he gifted to US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt shortly after the two planned how to topple Nazi Germany. The auction house Christies announced the news on Monday. The painting is expected to fetch up to 2.5 million ($3.4 million) in an auction. Winston Churchill painted "Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque" in Marrakech, Morocco, after attending the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, during which he and US President Roosevelt formulated the next stage of their strategy to defeat Nazi Germany. Read more| Angelina Jolie Opens Up About The 'difficult Few Years' After Split From Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie prepares to sell Winston Churchill's painting Credit: Kristle Wigglesworth/AP Photo As reported by AP News, the image of the 12th-century mosque in Marrakech at sunset, with the Atlas Mountains in the background, is the only painting that Britains World War II leader completed during the 1939-45 World War II conflict. The two leaders visited Marrakech after the conference so that Churchill could show Franklin Roosevelt the citys beauty. The painting was made after the two leaders agreed to only accept an "unconditional surrender" from the Axis powers, a strategically significant statement of intent from the two wartime figures. Read more| 'Death On The Nile' To Be Postponed Amid Armie Hammer's Abuse Sandal: Report In a statement to AP News, Nick Orchard, head of Christies modern British art department said: "Roosevelt was blown away by it (the painting) and thought it was incredible. He loved the dry air, the light, the sun and the way it played on the landscapes, he said. And thats absolutely visible here in this painting. You can see the long shadows and the turning purple of the mountains and the deepening of the sky classic sunset time." He said Churchill captured the view in the wonderful, evocative painting and gave it to Roosevelt as a memento of the trip. Churchill was a keen amateur artist who completed some 500 paintings after taking up painting in his 40s. Orchard said that the light in Morocco and over Marrakech was something that Churchill was passionate about and painted again and again. Read more| Rihanna Enters Farmers' Protest Fray; Remarks On Current Escalation At Delhi's Borders The painting was sold by Roosevelts son after the presidents death in 1945 and had several owners before Jolie and her former partner Brad Pitt bought it in 2011. The couple separated in 2016 and have spent years entangled in divorce proceedings, amidst speculation about the division of their extensive art collection. The couple were declared divorced in 2019 after their lawyers asked for a 'bifurcated judgment', meaning that two married people can be declared single while other issues, including finances and child custody, remain. The painting is being sold by the Jolie Family Collection, as part of Christies March 1 modern British art auction in London. Nick Orchard stated that the auction house was hopeful it could set a new record for a Churchill work. The record price at auction for Churchill is about 1.8 million (pounds) for a painting that, in my view, is not as important as this, he said. And I think this is probably his most important work. Besides owning a painting by the late British PM, Angelina Jolie also has two tattoos inspired by Churchill. Read more| Chadwick Boseman Earns 2 Nominations For NAACP Image Awards 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. Emmerdale star Claire King has admitted she's glad she no longer has to film racy sex scenes after her character Kim Tate's raunchy past. The actress, 58, said she's prefer to have a 'few less fat rolls and lines' if she were to film anymore bedroom scenes, after they were banned by bosses due to new social distancing guidelines. Claire made a return to Emmerdale as the villainous Kim in 2019 after a 20-year absence, and despite being less keen on any on-screen antics, is still causing mayhem in the village with her scheming ways. She's done! Emmerdale star Claire King, 58, has admitted she's glad she no longer has to film racy sex scenes after her character Kim Tate's raunchy past Claire told The Sun that there have been hints of secret liaisons between her character Kim and Will Taylor, any smooches are off-limits due to new filming restrictions. She said: 'I'm glad I don't have to do bed scenes. It was bad enough when I was 25 but now? No! 'I'm in my late fifties and would like a few less fat rolls and fewer lines. So let's not. Let's use our imagination instead. 'Kim is like Marmite you love her or hate her. Or you love to hate her! But I go with anything I am given. It's only a soap and it reflects village life.' Not for me! The actress said she's prefer to have a 'few less fat rolls and lines' if she were to film anymore bedroom scenes Keep away! It comes after soap bosses banned any steamy kissing or bedroom scenes due to new social distancing guidelines Kim's list of male conquests proves to be a long one, with her first husband Frank Tate throwing her out after discovering she'd been having an affair with stockbroker Neil Kincaid. The pair remarried before ending things again when she once again cheated with farmhand Dave Glover, but she eventually got revenge by faking her own death and watching Frank succumb to a heart attack. Kim's second husband Steve Marchant was thrown behind bars after she framed him theft, while her third husband Graham Foster was murdered last year. Scheming: Kim's list of male conquests proves to be a long one, with the soap villain faking her own death before leaving the soap in 1999 (pictured with Chris Tate) Evil: After being dumped by her first husband Frank Tate, twice, she returned to the village to watch him die of a heart attack In reality Claire's love-life has been far less stormy, as she's been dating a Yorkshire businessman for 13 years, but is yet to reveal his identity. The star was married to her former Emmerdale co-star Peter Amory, but they split in 2004. Despite her secretive romance, Claire said she's in no rush to marry her long-term partner, but has previously wound him up with jokes about 'walking down the aisle.' Staying in the village? Actress Claire was coy when asked about her future on the soap, saying she'd certainly be sticking around till her contract expires in the summer The screen star added that she's never been happier in her personal and professional life, and so prefers to steer clear of social media to avoid online trolls. Claire added that since the pandemic began she's become more focused on caring for her elderly parents, as well as her own health, after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 28. And while Kim is still in the midst of yet another scheme, actress Claire was coy when asked about her future on the soap, saying she'd certainly be sticking around till her contract expires in the summer. Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7pm, with an extra episode on Thursdays at 8pm, on ITV. The 29-year-old man accused of falsely imprisoning a woman at her home and threatening to kill her has been released on High Court bail, it has emerged. The case was listed for a video link appearance by the accused man from prison today but Judge Sean O Donnabhain was told that the man had been released on High Court bail. The case against Jamie McKenzie was in the trials list at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. However, it was not possible to arrange jury trials because of the Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions. For that reason Judge O Donnabhain adjourned the case until April 13 to see if it would be possible to set a trial date at that stage. Detective Garda Margaret Ryan charged Jamie McKenzie of Dun Eoin, Carrigaline, County Cork, with false imprisonment, threat to kill and aggravated burglary while armed with a kitchen knife. It was previously alleged that the incident that gave rise to the charges occurred over a two-hour period at a family home on March 28, 2020 at Cedarwood Grove, Carrigaline. The first of the three charges accuses McKenzie of false imprisonment of a woman at a house at Cedarwood Grove on contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. The second count under the same act states that without lawful excuse he made to her a threat intending her to believe it would be carried out, to kill or cause her serious harm. Finally, he is accused of committing a burglary and at the time having with him a weapon of offence, namely a kitchen knife. 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. PETERBOROUGH, N.H., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LotLinx, the automotive industry's leading Vehicle Marketing System, announced today an expansion of their all-encompassing inventory marketing platform with the release of TURNX. The /AI/-powered solution brings real-time pricing, demand, and competitor data right to a dealer's desktop, eliminating digital waste and maximizing profit potential. The product release comes at a pivotal time for LotLinx as it expands its mission to solve dealership marketing inconsistencies and aims to operationalize the vehicle sales process from the point of acquisition. Powered by LotLinx /AI/, the browser extension leverages in-market data to provide VIN-level insights on any internet site hosting a VIN, including Vehicle Details Pages and Search Results Pages. This readily-available data is intended to aid dealers throughout the acquisition, pricing, and marketing processes. TURNX provides insight into active buyer demand, letting dealers know if, and when, the time is right to move on a new unit. Dealers leveraging the in-site extension can accelerate inventory turn by understanding the level of marketing necessary to sell each unit - before they buy. VIN-level campaigns can be launched directly from the browser extension; and dealers can avoid routine, calendar-based markdowns by proactively pricing new and used inventory based on unbiased pricing recommendations. TURNX creates full transparency between a dealership's management, sales, marketing, and inventory departments, allowing each department knowledge of the vehicle details at any point in time. "TURNX not only brings real-time buyer demand data at the VIN level to the general manager's desktop, but to the entire dealership," says Lance Schafer, LotLinx GM of Product & Technology. "This is the kind of data that will allow dealers to become VIN-aware and help them make more effective and profitable decisions." The company will be releasing TURNx to dealers who visit the virtual LotLinx Booth during the 2021 NADA Show. Dealership owners, managers, and principals can request meetings at the virtual booth February 4th to the 11th or by visiting www.lotlinx.com/NADA2021 and be entered to win a Whistling Straits weekend getaway at Destination Kohler. If you're not attending the show but are interested in gaining early access to TURNx, visit www.lotlinx.com/extension. About LotLinx: LotLinx is the automotive industry's leading Vehicle Marketing System. Founded in 2012 and based out of Peterborough, NH, LotLinx harnesses today's industry data to develop a specific marketing plan for each vehicle on a dealer's lot. With a proven track record of progressing dealers to #1 in their markets, LotLinx is committed to providing precision-level marketing that accelerates inventory turn, increases gross margin, and returns control back to the dealer. To learn more about LotLinx, please visit www.lotlinx.com or email [email protected] . Media Contact: Mary McDonnell, [email protected] SOURCE LotLinx Related Links https://www.lotlinx.com Two Delhi-based sisters moved the Allahabad High Court Wednesday claiming the ownership of five-acre land allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. The petition before the Lucknow bench of Allahabad HC was filed in the court's registry and is likely to come up for hearing on February 8. Rani Kapoor alias Rani Baluja and Rama Rani Punjabi have said in the writ petition that their father Gyan Chandra Punjabi had come to India during partition in 1947 from Punjab and settled in Faizabad (now Ayodhya) district. They have claimed that their father was allotted 28-acre land in Dhannipur village by the Nazul Department for five years which he continued to possess beyond that period. Later, his name was included in the revenue records, the petitioners have said. However, his name was struck down from the records against which their father filed an appeal before the Additional Commissioner, Ayodhya, which was allowed, they have claimed. The petitioners further claimed that the consolidation officer again removed their father's name from the records during consolidation proceedings. Against the order of the consolidation officer, an appeal was preferred before the Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Sadar, Ayodhya, but without considering the said petition, the authorities have allotted five-acre of their 28-acre land to the Waqf Board for the constructing of mosque, they said. The petitioners have demanded the authorities be restrained from transferring the land to the Sunni Waqf Board till the pendency of dispute before the settlement officer. The state government has allotted five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board in Dhannipur village for construction of mosque in compliance with Supreme Court direction on November 7, 2019 in the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri mosque title suit. Because Niles is home to many seniors, the librarys patrons tend not to be early adopters of tech trends, she said. For example, the library is still hanging on to its collection of VHS tapes for patrons who feel more comfortable with them. A federal judge said Wednesday that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. may have been criminally reckless in failing to cut down a pine tree near where a deadly wildfire started last year west of Redding. U.S. District Judge William Alsup made the comment at a virtual hearing about whether he should require PG&E to more carefully account for the state of tree trimming work when deciding whether to turn off power lines to prevent wildfires. The judge is trying to prevent a repeat of the circumstances that led the Zogg Fire to start in September and kill four people, destroy more than 200 buildings and burn more than 56,000 acres in Shasta and Tehama counties. PG&E has not officially been blamed for the fire, but authorities are investigating whether one of the companys power lines was the cause. Alsup oversees PG&Es probation arising from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. He has proposed expanding the companys probation conditions to require explicit consideration of vegetation conditions along power lines when deciding whether to cut electricity because of fire risk. He has indicated that such a requirement might have forced PG&E to turn off electricity near the Zogg Fires origin and therefore avoid the blaze. Of particular concern to Alsup has been a single gray pine that he said was leaning over the power line suspected of starting the fire. State officials seized part of the tree in their investigation. Alsup said it was reckless, maybe criminally reckless, for PG&E to have left the tree in place. He said it was particularly alarming because gray pines have a shallow root system. You probably dont know that, but I know that, Alsup told a PG&E lawyer at the hearing. That tree was a clear and present danger to the line, and whoever made the decision to leave that tree up should be looked at very carefully. Kevin Orsini, a lawyer for PG&E, said the companys foresters did not identify the tree in question as at imminent risk of failure. The judge did not rule on whether to impose the new conditions on PG&E or accept an alternate plan proposed by the utility. He said he would issue an order within two weeks. PG&E has warned that Alsups proposal could lead the company to intentionally turn off power to many more people than it otherwise would during extremely dry and windy weather. So the company has suggested narrowing the new requirements to focus specifically on the presence of trees that have already been identified as needing work. But if PG&Es alternate plan were in place at the time of the Zogg Fire, the power line in question likely would have remained energized. That did not sit well with Alsup, who questioned whether the companys proposal does any good at avoiding the kind of death and destruction caused by Septembers fire. Attorneys for two PG&E customers have put forth their own proposal that seeks to improve the companys data- and record-keeping and upgrade the technology it uses when deciding which trees near power lines need work. One of the lawyers, former state utility regulator Catherine Sandoval, told Alsup she believed PG&E had engaged in recklessly poor record-keeping and had done such a terrible job with tracing information. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. Unless we improve both their record-keeping and analysis, we're not going to get to the problem that I have come to believe drives their criminally reckless behavior and really creates a thread that ties from San Bruno through a lot of these wildfires, Sandoval said at the hearing. Orsini said some of Sandovals remarks did not fully account for the companys current status through no fault of her own. Alsup said he would need need to give PG&E and others involved in the case a fair chance to comment on the proposals offered by Sandovals team before he could consider implementing them. As he weighs his next steps, Alsup is mindful of the fact that his time as PG&Es probation judge is running out. The company was sentenced to five years probation in 2017, giving the judge about one more year to oversee the situation. Since the San Bruno explosion, Alsup said PG&E has been a terror t-e-r-r-o-r to the people of the state of California. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris British Parliament's Petitions Committee will consider a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons complex on the issue of farmers protests and press freedom in India after an online petition attracted over 106,000 signatures. While the list of signatories for the e-petition also reflects a signature of Boris Johnson, in his capacity as a west London Conservative Party member of Parliament, Downing Street on Wednesday categorically denied that the UK Prime Minister had signed the petition. India has called the remarks by foreign leaders and organisations on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted", asserting that the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi issued a statement on Wednesday to highlight that the Parliament of India had passed "reformist legislation" for the agricultural sector, which "a very small section of farmers" have some reservations about and therefore the laws have been kept on hold while talks are held. Emphasising that the protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity, the MEA in its statement said some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country. "Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. "The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible," the MEA statement said following some high-profile celebrities tweeting over the agitation by farmers. In London, a UK government spokesperson said, "Media freedom is vital for the protection of human rights and journalists all around the world must be free to do their job and to hold authorities to account without fear of arrest or violence." "Free press plays a crucial role in our democracies and the government are putting their full weight behind this including through our membership of the Media Freedom Coalition," the spokesperson said. The petition on the official Parliament petitions website, entitled Urge the Indian Government to ensure safety of protesters & press freedom', calls on the British government to make a public statement on the "#kissanprotests & press freedoms". All e-petitions on the Parliament website that cross the 10,000 signatures mark require the UK government to make an official statement and any petitions that cross 100,000 signatures must be considered for a debate. The House of Commons said the government's response to the petition is expected later this month and the debate is under consideration. "Petitions that receive 100,000 signatures will be considered for a debate in Parliament. Debates in Westminster Hall where petitions debates take place are currently suspended, but Committee will make an announcement on scheduling this debate as soon as possible," a House of Commons spokesperson said. Some of the signatories of the petition reflect names of cross-party parliamentarians including Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MPs Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill, who have been particularly vocal over the issue on social media and most recently raised concerns over the blockage of "water, electricity and internet" to protesting crowds. Meanwhile, the Indian Journalists' Association (IJA) in the UK joined other international media organisations to express concern over the arrest of journalists covering the farmers' protests and urged the Indian government to ensure the safety of journalists in the country. "The freedom of press is an important pillar of any democracy and authorities must ensure that journalists are able to do their jobs reporting accurately and without bias however challenging the circumstances, it said in a statement. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November last year, demanding the government to repeal the three farm laws and legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. Digital transformation ministry in talks with PayPal, Netflix on operational launch in Ukraine The ministry is also negotiating with Stripe. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Screen Australia has announced funding for ABC and ViacomCBS / Netflix titles. Two feature films, three television dramas, one childrens series and one online project share in $5.9 million of production funding. The projects include ABC anthology drama series Fires set during last summers devastating bushfires, Season 2 of Frayed and Spreadsheet, a comedy about a single woman and her database of potential sexual partners for ViacomCBS. Also funded is Kids Drama Dive Club, a 12-part teen mystery drama for Network 10 and Netflix. Screen Australias Head of Content Sally Caplan said, Its fantastic to kick off 2021 with such a great sample of the premium dramas that have been greenlit across the country. Its testament to the resilience of the screen industry to have so many projects move into production during such a challenging period. She added, Im also looking forward to bold new comedy Spreadsheet, from emerging creator Kala Ellis teaming up with talented writers Romina Accurso, Rhys Nicholson, Darren Ashton, Matilda Brown and Michelle Law. Fires: A six-part drama for the ABC inspired by extraordinary accounts from people who survived the catastrophic fire season of 2019/20. A serialised anthology, Fires weaves character studies based on true stories into a narrative about the biggest fires of this century. Each episode is based around reports from ordinary people caught in the unimaginable and the impossible choices they were forced to make. From volunteer firefighters risking everything, to families who lost homes and loved ones; from people who had to make agonising decisions about whether to stay or flee, to those who found themselves responsible for the lives of friends and strangers Fires tells the story of how one summer changed us forever. The writing team, led by showrunner/writer Belinda Chayko (Safe Harbour) includes Jacquelin Perske (The Cry), Mirrah Foulkes (Judy and Punch), Steven McGregor (Mystery Road) and Anya Beyersdorf (Eden). Fires is produced by Elisa Argenzio (Lambs of God) and executive produced by Tony Ayres (Stateless), Andrea Denholm (How To Stay Married) and Liz Watts (The King). This project is financed with support from the ABC and supported by Film Victoria through the Victorian Screen Incentive and Regional Location Assistance Fund. Frayed Season 2: A six-part second season for the ABC and Sky Studios from Merman and Guesswork Television. Season two picks up back in London, where the lives and secrets of the Cooper family unravel further as they deal with the ramifications of season ones explosive finale and their Australian past insists on catching up with them. Returning for the second season is series creator, writer and BAFTA-nominated actor Sarah Kendall, director Shaun Wilson, producer Nicole ODonohue and executive producers Kevin Whyte, Clelia Mountford and Sharon Horgan. The series is financed with support from Screen NSW and international sales will be managed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios. Spreadsheet: An eight-part comedy series for Viacom CBS about recently divorced, hectically busy mother-of-two Lauren who is looking for sex without commitment. With the help of her best friend Alex, the Spreadsheet is born: a database of options to sleep with. Lauren is determined to prove women can play men at their own game, from mastering casual sex, to a career, her family and her own sanity. The creative team features creator and writer Kala Ellis, writers Romina Accurso (The Heights), comedian Rhys Nicholson, Darren Ashton (Here Come The Habibs), Matilda Brown (Lets Talk About) and Michelle Law (Homecoming Queens). Spreadsheet is produced by Andy Walker (The Kettering Incident) and executive produced by Catherine Nebauer (Hardball). This project is supported by Film Victoria through the Victorian Screen Incentive, and ITV Studios will manage international sales. Dive Club: A 12-part teen mystery drama for Network 10 and Netflix. Filmed in Port Douglas, Queensland, the series centres on teenage divers Maddie, Lauren, Anna and Stevie. When Lauren goes missing after a cyclone, the group are plunged into a search that raises more questions the deeper they dive. Dive Club is written by Georgia Harrison (Rip Tide), Claire Harris (Zelos), Adrian Powers (Paper Champions), Caera Bradshaw and Drew Jarvis, and directed by Rhiannon Bannenberg (Rip Tide), Christine Luby (This Little Love Of Mine) and Hayley McFarlane (Swimming for Gold). The producers are Steve Jaggi (Rip Tide) and Spencer McLaren (Swimming for Gold). Made by The Steve Jaggi Company, this series is a Netflix and Network 10 co-production, with support from Screen Queensland. Related The Montclair School District has filed suit against the union that represents its teachers, the Montclair Education Association, over the unions decision to not have elementary teachers return to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit aims to get teachers back into school buildings by barring the union from organizing its members to refuse in-person learning. The suit, filed Tuesday, comes after schools did not reopen for in-person learning as they were scheduled to on Jan. 18 due to a shortage of staff. Both sides have reported continued negotiations since then. But, the suit called the actions of the education association, an illegal strike...which prevents the public school district from educating its students in person as required. It is the first known lawsuit in the state by a district over a unions COVID-19 concerns delaying a return to in-person classes. Montclair School District Superintendent Jonathan Ponds sent a letter to the school community earlier Tuesday with comments on the decision to file a lawsuit. The status quo cannot continue; therefore, and with the support and direction of our Board of Education, I see no other option but to instruct our legal counsel to file a lawsuit against the MEA for a physical return to school, he said in the note. It is with a heavy heart that I take this action, having only served the community, the parents and guardians, my teaching staff, and students since July 2020. A spokesman for association said its attorneys, Gail Oxfeld and Randi April, were reviewing the suit and all its corresponding documents and did not have a comment at this time. However, the associations president did respond to Ponds latest letter to the community. We are extremely disappointed in the district, for failing to provide requested documentation, for sowing seeds of doubt and resentment between parents and educators, and for violating our mediation process, Montclair Education Association President Petal Robertson said. And, as for going to court, the superintendent has threatened us with litigation time and time again, despite our many requests to handle our differences through restorative practices. The disagreement between the district and its teachers became heated on Jan. 15, when the Montclair Education Association called for elementary teachers to continue with remote instruction after the union said it had not received proof of building updates, including fixes to ventilation systems. The district was required to implement health and safety precautions by the state as schools reopened in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the lawsuit, its engineering consultant, EI Associates, conducted a district-wide ventilation assessment, with the exception of the Charles H. Bullock School which was built in 2010 and has code compliant ventilation. It decided to implement the short-term actions recommended in the assessment and all other school buildings were made in compliance with applicable code requirements for the ventilation of the spaces, the suit stated. However, the union argued that the improvements were not enough. ...Our elementary staff is being mandated to return to their buildings without sufficient training, communication of an effective academic plan for all learners, and any evidence that the building is able to support the healthy learning environments needed to teach all of our students safely, the union said in a release last month. Union representatives said last month that they met with Ponds via Zoom and requested documentation regarding classroom readiness that they said was not provided by the administration. The union said the meeting was also cut short by the superintendent with many of their questions and concerns left unanswered and unaddressed. The union has maintained that the school is no safer now than it was when the decision to keep schools remote through Jan. 18 was made on Nov. 11. The district has the right to require its employees to perform the official duties for which they are employed, the district stated in the suit. District employees violate New Jersey law and public policy by withholding services pursuant to the strike or concerted refusal to attend work. The suit called for injunctions restraining the union from engaging in, encouraging, or lending support or assistance of any nature to any strike, work stoppage, slow down, or concerted effort to deny the district the required manpower...or otherwise interfering with the opening of in-person learning or orderly operation of the Districts schools and programs, and also asked for damages. My belief is that a reasonable outcome can be developed collaboratively by all the stakeholders with our students best interests in mind, Ponds said. According to an update from Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday, 89 school districts in New Jersey are completely in-person, and 470 are on a hybrid model. Murphy said 213 districts are all remote, a decrease of 57 from last week. 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. The new laws will place limits on the amounts of water that can be taken rivers, lakes and groundwater sources without registration with the authorities. Fair and equitable compensation must be paid to farmers where water abstraction takes place on farmland and results in land sterilisation, crop loss and disturbance, according to the IFA. The call comes as the Government proposes to overhaul the legislation in this area, under pressure from the European Commission over the absence of controls on water abstractions. The new laws will place limits on the amounts of water that can be taken rivers, lakes and groundwater sources without registration with the authorities. However, in a submission to the Oireachtas Committee scrutinising the proposed laws, the IFA said an amendment is needed to better reflect the rights of farmers and makes provision for an equitable package of measures, including compensation where losses arise due to a water abstraction. "Many of these water supplies were provided by farmers free of charge to their communities and were subsequently gifted at no cost to the state. "The matters raised in this submission necessitate a response, which recognises the losses incurred by landowners, as they facilitate the common good in the provision of a water supply to their local communities," the IFA said. The IFA raised 'serious concerns' in relation to what is proposed in relation to compensation including the provision of a limit to any claim for compensation to within two years of the authorised abstractions commencing. "This would allow the State to side-step its existing obligations to farmers, resulting in a haphazard approach across the country by differing local authorities and many compensation issues remaining unresolved," it said. The IFA also raised concerns over the proposed extended powers of Irish Water to take a water supply beyond land it owns or acquires. It says the new laws fail to adequately provide for the necessary package of measures and framework, including compensation where such powers are exercised. Environmental groups have also been critical of the new laws claiming the majority of water abstractions will remain unmonitored and unregulated. Sinead OBrien Coordinator for The Sustainable Water Network has described the proposed laws were very much light-touch regulation and would very likely fail to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. "The Bill is a long way off providing meaningful monitoring or controls of the extraction of our most precious resource. It sets exemption thresholds so ridiculously high that the majority of water abstractions would remain unmonitored and unregulated, including agricultural and commercial abstractions," she said. Famous Couples Whose Relationships Have Stood the Test of Time 10 Pairs of Celeb Lovebirds With the Most Unbreakable Bonds in Hollywood Hot Hollywood couples come and go so often that it becomes an almost celebratory public event when their relationship hits the tabloids for being well, still intact. But with all the messy breakups, theres remained a handful of celebrities whose relationships have managed to outlive a get together/split timeline many onlookers have become all too familiar with seeing. RELATED: Hollywoods Finest Couples That Called It Quits Without Warning From A-class sweethearts whose relationships have spanned decades to couples you may not even know existed, here are 10 celebrity couples whose relationships have stood the test of time. GettyImages She was only 16 when Goldie Hawn laid her eyes upon the 21-year-old Kurt Russell on the set of Disneys The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band in 1966. Their romance wouldnt begin until reuniting while filming Swing Shift in 1983, but close to 40 years later, and Hawn and Russell are still happily together despite never getting legally married. GettyImages Tom and Rita first crossed paths on the set of ABCs Bosom Buddies during the 1980s while Hanks was still legally married to his first wife. While sparks flew hard on set, it wouldnt be until 1988 a year after Hanks divorce was finalized that the two made it official by getting married. Now, after 33 years and a couple of COVID diagnoses later, the two are as happy as ever. To be fair, its biologically impossible to be unhappy around Tom Hanks. GettyImages Kyra Sedgwick has the distinct pleasure of telling friends and family her degree of separation from Kevin Bacon is effectively zero. Married for more than 30 years, Kyra first laid eyes upon Kevin in a play during the early 70s, but was reportedly not into him. About a decade later, the two re-met while shooting the PBS film Lemon Sky, giving way to a lost-lasting marriage that began in 1988. GettyImages Its a match made in 1995s version of heaven, which definitely includes floppy hair and midriff-showing shirts. Playing opposite each other in horror classic I Know What You Did Last Summer, the two were officially set up through a mutual friend who conveniently couldnt make it, leading to a more-than-20-year romance that just cant be killed. Unless theres a wooden stake involved, you know, because of Gellars penchant for vampire slaying and such. GettyImages Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham have decades of love between them with a marriage spanning more than 30 years. Thats more than everyone born in 2000 has been alive! Theyve got that classic celebrity meet-cute. He was an entrepreneur, she was about to become one of the most influential women in the world, they met at a charity event, and you know the rest. GettyImages One day in 1971, Michael Caine and a friend were watching TV when a Maxwell House commercial came on. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Caine had just laid eyes upon a) some terrible coffee and b) his future wife. The woman was a 25-year-old Guyanese actress and model named Shakira Baksh. After finding out Baksh lived closeby, Caine sought her out, courted the runner-up Miss Guyana and got married. Now, 48 years later, the couple is still together and hopefully drinking better coffee. GettyImages Samuel L. Jackson seems like the kind of guy whos hard to pin down. Latanya met Sam while she was a student at the all-female Atlanta's Spelman College (Jackson was enrolled at the then all-male Morehouse College) in 1970 and married 10 years later. Now, after being together for 50 (!) long years, the two have a daughter named Zoe and a pledge to never go to sleep angry with each other. GettyImages This Is Spinal TapRolling Stone. Curtis recalls the moment she saw Guest wearing a plaid shirt and a waggish smirk, telling her friend she was going to marry that man. The friend knew Guests agent, set the two up for a date, and 37 years later their relationship is still at a solid 11. GettyImages It says a lot about you as a person when your relationship can forge on after blaming a cancer diagnosis on too much oral sex, but thats just true love, baby! Married for more than 20 years, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones love story technically begins in 1998 after Douglas spotted (and subsequently fell in love with) Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro. A month later, the two went out for drinks where Douglas confided in Zeta-Jones that he was going to be the father of her children. Welp, he was right. The two married and had a son named Dylan Michael and a daughter named Carys Zeta. GettyImages Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell arent just known as Hollywoods Golden Couple because of their shared genetic disposition towards blonde hair, but rather a beautiful relationship thats lasted over ten years. The two met at a dinner party in 2007, and even though Bell reportedly felt no sparks whatsoever after meeting Shepard, the two fell in love in 2009 during the filming of When in Rome. In March 2013, the couple welcomed their first daughter and got married shortly after. You Might Also Dig: Figure 1. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels mediate early warning system of motile phytoplankton in face of hydrodynamic turbulence. Shown here are cells of different ROS levels (reddish hue indicates a high ROS level), as a result of exposure to turbulent cues simulated in the lab. In weak and mild turbulence, phytoplankton resort to ROS-mediated adaptive migration; while under strong turbulence conditions, motility is switched off, resulting in lasting impacts on biological fitness and photosynthetic efficiency. Credit: University of Luxembourg Physicists from the University of Luxembourg, together with scientists from Sweden, Israel and Switzerland, have established mechanistic links between physiological stress and migratory behavior in aquatic photosynthetic microorganisms in the face of turbulence. Phytoplankton, aquatic microorganisms that teem our lakes and oceans, are indispensable in holding our ecosystem in balance, more so during the rapidly shifting patterns we encounter in our environment today. Crucially, as primary producers, phytoplankton convert energy from the sunlight into organic carbon, positioning themselves critically at the base of the aquatic food webs. Yet to date, we lack a mechanistic understanding of how emerging turbulent landscapesa consequence of changing climateimpact phytoplankton behavior and fitness. The ground breaking results, published in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide unprecedented insights into the fate of the marine microorganisms through changing climatic conditions. Turbulence is stressful, but the plankton seem prepared Phytoplankton are microscopic photosynthetic organisms which form the base of most aquatic food webs, regulate the global biogeochemical cycles, and by transferring CO 2 from the atmosphere to the oceans, produce half of the world's oxygen. As discussed in a recent talk at the TEDx University of Luxembourg event, many species of phytoplankton are motile and often migrate in response to gravity: upwards toward light during the day, and downwards at night, toward higher inorganic nutrient concentrations. In doing so, cells are exposed to varying levels of hydrodynamic turbulence. Turbulence has long been known to drive phytoplankton fitness and species succession: motile species dominate in calmer environments and non-motile species in turbulent conditions. Yet a mechanistic understanding of the effect of turbulence on phytoplankton physiology and migratory behavior has been lacking so far. Microbial SOS: An exquisite biomechanical early warning system Prof. Anupam Sengupta, ATTRACT Fellow and head of the Physics of Living Matter Group at the University of Luxembourg, has now led an international team of scientists from Sweden, Israel and Switzerland, to bridge this long-standing gap in marine microbial ecology. By combining techniques in physics, fluid mechanics and microbiology, Prof. Sengupta and his colleagues have quantified the accumulation of physiological stressmeasured by fluorescence labeling of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in phytoplanktonas they get swirled around in a specially designed whirlpool that mimics ocean turbulence (see the ocean-in-lab technique in action here). The authors reveal the mechanistic link by mathematically modeling the experimental data, linking physiological stress with the swimming statistics. The novel results demonstrate an exquisite biophysical mechanism whereby phytoplankton integrate the turbulent cues over time via stress signaling, and then harness their biomechanical stability for sensing the intensity of turbulent cues, to ultimately trigger adaptive migratory behavior (Figure 1). The work follows from Prof. Sengupta's pioneering discovery, reported earlier in the journal Nature (Sengupta et al., Nature 2017), that nearly 50% of motile phytoplankton species adapt to turbulence by rapid diversification of migration strategies. Anticipating species survival in a changing climate Emerging climatic trends are altering the hydrodynamic landscapes of our oceans and lakes, thus impacting microbial behavior, survival and global primary productivity. By linking turbulencean unavoidable environmental perturbationto photosynthetic efficiency and biological fitness, this work advances our ability to predict long term ramifications of climate change by accounting for the global feedbacks between modified ocean currents and plankton-mediated primary productivity. With his team of cross-disciplinary scientists, Prof. Sengupta is currently studying phytoplankton speciesboth motile and non-motileunder more realistic settings, where cells experience a combination of both biotic and abiotic stressors, in addition to turbulence. "This will allow us to capture ecologically relevant scenarios, and understand how these tiny marvels of nature adapt to their dynamic environments. The discovery of the stress-mediated early warning strategy will prove consequential to understand how phytoplankton species cope (or crash) as turbulence attributes alter, and thus shed light on which species will successfully proliferateincluding those which we observe in our local water bodies in Luxembourgas we experience changing climatic conditions," explains Prof. Sengupta. Explore further These tiny oceanic creatures are essential to tackling climate change Jind (Har): A "mahapanchayat" attended by Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday renewed the call to repeal the new farm laws. According to initial reports, nobody was hurt when the dais constructed at Kandela village in Jind district collapsed under the weight of the people gathered on it. Farmers' protest Tikait has been mostly camping at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border since the protests over the central laws intensified, with farmers massing just outside the national capital two months ago. The large gathering at Jind's Kandela village was attended by several khap leaders. The event was organised by the Sarv Jatiya Kandela Khap headed by Tekram Kandela. Tikait appealed to people not to panic after the stage collapse and addressed them. Farmer unionsFive resolutions were passed at the mahapanchayat , including the demand to repeal the contentious farm laws, legal guarantee of the minimum support price for crops, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, farm loan waiver and the release of farmers arrested after the Republic Day violence. Addressing the gathering, Kandela said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should directly hold a meeting with agitating farmers. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Blue Thunder Mining Inc. (TSXV: BLUE) (OTCQB: BLTMF) ("Blue Thunder" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Donna McLean as the Company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective immediately. Ms. McLean replaces the Company's outgoing CFO, Orin Baranowsky, who will remain as a consultant to the Company to ensure an orderly transition and to provide support to Ms. McLean. Robert Cinits, President and CEO stated, "I want to thank Orin for his commitment and many contributions to the Company and we wish him the best in his future endeavours. I would also like to welcome Donna MacLean as our new CFO. She brings a depth of experience in financial reporting and business management that will be of great benefit to our Company." Ms. McLean has more than 30 years experience and has served as CFO and Controller for numerous publicly-traded and private companies, including a number of mineral exploration companies. She serves as Senior Accountant with Grove Corporate Services Ltd. that provides governance, accounting, and administrative services to small-cap public and private companies in Canada. Ms. McLean will be joined by Mr. Igor Zonenschein, Manager of Governance and Regulatory Affairs with Grove Corporate Services, who will be assuming the role of Corporate Secretary for the Company. About Blue Thunder Blue Thunder (TSXV: BLUE) (OTCQB: BLTMF) is a gold exploration company that controls 100% of a large land position near Chibougamau, Quebec. The Muus Project covers approximately 51,000 hectares in five separate blocks of prospective ground in the eastern part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The Project is considered particularly prospective for gold mineralization, as a series of prominent ductile and brittle fault-sets transect the Property, including the Guercheville and Fancamp deformation zones, both of which are associated with numerous past and currently producing precious- and base-metal mines in the District. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Robert Cinits President and CEO Blue Thunder Mining Inc. 401 Bay Street, Suite 2100, P.O. Box 55, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2Y4 (647) 848-1009 " Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, anticipated exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, the ability to complete the required permitting, the ability to complete the exploration program and drilling, 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: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties. This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in the Chibougamau District in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits, and the results of any mining thereof, on adjacent or similar properties, are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties or any potential exploitation thereof. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73529 Guwahati, Feb 3 : A government school building along Assam's border with Mizoram was damaged after a powerful bomb exploded in Hailakandi district in southern Assam on Wednesday, the police said. The police said that the blast triggered at Kachurthal area of Hailakandi district badly damaged the school walls, water tank and boy's toilets of the Muliwala Lower Primary School. The police said that no one was injured in the blast as it occurred in the early hours, much before the school opened. The police are yet to identify the miscreants involved in the explosion. A probe is underway. Hailakandi district's Deputy Commissioner Megh Nidhi Dahal and Superintendent of Police Pabindra Kumar Nath have visited the blast site. Additional security forces have been deployed in the tension ridden area. There was tension along the Assam-Mizoram border for many weeks in October and November last year, causing injuries to many people in different incidents in Cachar and Hailakandi districts in Assam and Mizoram's Kolasib district. Many makeshift huts were burnt down in these border skirmishes. Mizoram shares a 164.6 km border with Assam. A series of meetings between the two states and the Central government have been held since 1995 to resolve the boundary problems but the inter-state issues remained inconclusive. When Pete Buttigieg was confirmed as President Joe Bidens U.S. transportation secretary, Twitter was full of congratulatory messages. Rep. Andy Kim, however, had more than a happy note. He posted a picture of them together during their days as students, enjoying a beer with two other friends. Before he was the Mayor or the Secretary, he was just a college kid with high hopes. Couldnt be more proud of my friend @PeteButtigieg. Excited to see the bridges youll build and the road ahead. pic.twitter.com/McTrNYwRNk Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) February 2, 2021 Kim, D-3rd Dist., and Buttigieg studied in London together in 2005 as Rhodes Scholars. (Kim was recommended for the prestigious scholarship by none other than another former Rhodes Scholar, Cory Booker.) They attended each others weddings, hung out together during Bidens inauguration, and even made sure to find time during the presidential campaign of the candidate known as Mayor Pete to get together. Today, Kim is a second-term congressman and Buttigieg is the new U.S. transportation secretary. Were both excited, Kim told NJ Advance Media. We grew up together in college bars and cafes talking about politics in a theoretical way, what we think should be happening in in our country, what would we do. Both wound up in public service, Kim in Congress by way of the State Department and the National Security Council, and Buttigieg in the Biden administration after serving in the U.S. Navy Reserve, becoming mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. When Buttigieg was deployed to Afghanistan, he first called Kim, who had worked there for Gens. David Petraeus and John Allen. I told him what to expect, Kim said. I told him how things were. The two were introduced by a mutual friend in 2004 who knew they were both working in Washington and both had been accepted into the prestigious program at Oxford University. At the time Buttigieg was working as a consultant and Kim at the U.S. Agency for International Development. At Oxford, they spent a lot of time together at the start. At an orientation session, Kim happened to be standing next to a female student, and told Buttigieg that he was going to ask her out for coffee. Kim did and she said yes. The woman, Kammy Lai, is now his wife. Lai told the story of how they met at their wedding, with Buttigieg there. And Kim was present when Buttigieg married his husband, Chasten. I remember the moment he told me about Chasten, Kim said. It was very early on and it was really sweet to hear him talk about somebody who was a person who made him laugh and a person he liked to be around. When he traveled to South Bend for the wedding, Kim said, it was Mayor Pete who showed him around. When Buttigieg ran for president, however, Kim joined most of New Jerseys prominent Democrats, including the entire congressional delegation, in supporting Booker, now a U.S. senator from his home state. Once Booker ended his campaign, Kim endorsed Buttigieg. Its a very rare and unusual experience to have such a good friend running for president, Kim said. Kim said Buttigiegs new role was a good fit. This is going to be a great job for him Kim said. When he was mayor, he worked very hard on infrastructure in his own city. He is a very thoughtful, very pragmatic person, someone who really thinks about big picture strategy. As transportation secretary, Buttgieg can expect to hear from his friend about New Jerseys top infrastructure priority: the Gateway Tunnel project under the Hudson River so the existing tubes can be closed to repair the damage caused from Hurricane Sandy. Im not above doing my best to be able to press the priorities for the state, he said. Gateway will be a game-changer, not just today or tomorrow but for decades to come. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company 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. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Brook A. Reno, 39, of 123 Douglas St., White Hall, was arrested at 2:23 p.m. Tuesday on a retail theft charge. Raina D. Tarver, 37, homeless, was arrested at 7:09 p.m. Monday in the 200 block of West College Avenue on charges of possession of a controlled substance, illegal possession or transportation of liquor by a driver, driving while license is revoked or suspended, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and having an obstructed windshield. THEFTS, BURGLARIES A credit card was stolen from a residence in the 200 block of Howe Street, according to a report filed at 11:09 a.m. Tuesday. OTHER REPORTS Someone used a counterfeit $1 bill at a business in the 900 block of West Morton Avenue, according to a report filed at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday. Greene County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Tasha C. Peters, 32, of Wrights was booked into Greene County Jail at 4:09 a.m. Tuesday on a disorderly conduct charge and on a Jersey County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court. Rachel A. Roberts, 36, of Greenfield was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:39 p.m. Monday on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended. Ashton B. Shanks, 22, of Carrollton was booked into Greene County Jail at 2:10 p.m. Monday on a charge of criminal damage to property. Dakota S.L. Castleberry, 26, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 1:04 p.m. Monday on a violation of an order of protection. William E. Johnson, 85, of Alton was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:57 p.m. Saturday on charges of driving under the influence and improper lane use. Ryan L. Werner, 42, of East Carondelet was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:52 p.m. Thursday on charges of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and driving while license is suspended. David A. Rudolph, 43, of Greenfield was booked into Greene County Jail at 8:59 p.m. Thursday on charges of aggravated fleeing or eluding a peace officer, reckless driving, resisting a peace officer and criminal trespass to a building. Carrollton Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Curtis L. Douglas, 25, of Patterson was booked into Greene County Jail at 9:30 a.m. Monday on a charge of delivery of methamphetamine. White Hall Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Christian A. Mercer, 25, of Roodhouse was booked into Greene County Jail at 12:22 a.m. Tuesday on a charge of driving under the influence. Shauna M. Whitten, 45, of Medora was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:12 p.m. Monday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing identification. Christopher N. Raines, 39, of Bethalto was booked into Greene County Jail at 11:36 a.m. Monday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a narcotic instrument and on warrants from Jersey County and St. Louis County in Missouri accusing him of failing to appear in court. Jeffrey T. Taylor, 53, of White Hall was booked into Greene County Jail at 7:27 p.m. Friday on a charge of resisting a peace officer and on a Greene County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court. Jersey County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Eric L. Gettings, 52, of Fieldon was arrested Thursday on a charge of driving while under the influence. Quindarion L. Wright, 20, of St. Louis was arrested Friday on a charge of obstructing justice. Mary E. Johnson, 34, of Jerseyville was arrested Thursday on a theft charge. Neil L. Proffer, 59, of Jerseyville was arrested Friday on a charge of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine. Sandy A. Lafferty, 44, of Cottage Hills was arrested Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Tina M. Cox, 55, of Jerseyville was arrested Jan. 26 on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Scott Cousins A barrister couple say they are facing a 400,000 legal bill in a court battle with their 73-year-old neighbour over an inch-wide water stain on her ceiling. Lawyers Anthony Orchard QC and wife Jacqueline said the row with neighbour Helen Orkin over the stain - which is 'just a few centimetres wide' - has raged for years. Ms Orkin is suing the couple for 2,200 in damages and wants them to fork out between 15,000 to 30,000 to fix the leak in the flats in Hampstead, London. But Mr and Mrs Orchard - who run a legal consultancy firm together - say Ms Orkin should share the cost of fixing it, and claim case could rack up 400,000 in legal bills. In 2002, the couple moved into their flat - worth an estimated 758,000 - on the exclusive Hampstead street, where houses cost over 3million. Lawyers Anthony Orchard QC (right) and wife Jacqueline (left) said a row with neighbour Helen Orkin over the stain - which is 'just a few centimetres wide' - has raged for years Mr Orchard specialises in criminal law, defending high-profile cases including Mick Philpott who killed his six children in a house fire in 2012. He was paid nearly 57,000 for defending him. Their downstairs neighbour Ms Orkin - who already lived at the flat when the couple moved in - said water dripping from the terrace of the Orchards' flat onto her ceiling was making her life a misery. Ms Orkin is suing the barrister couple, demanding damages of 2,200 to repair her ceiling and an order that they are responsible for stopping the cause of the leak. But the two lawyers are vigorously defending the case, claiming the pensioner should share the cost of making the terrace watertight. Jacqueline Orchard, representing herself and her husband, told Judge Heather Baucher that the claim being brought against them by their elderly neighbour is 'pointless' and is costing a fortune. Ms Orkin is suing the barrister couple for 2,200 in damages and wants them to fork out between 15,000 to 30,000 to fix the leak in the flats (pictured) in Hampstead, London Asking the judge to strike out Ms Orkin's claim, she said: 'This is a claim for 2,200 for a damp patch on a ceiling. 'The total costs between the parties are likely to be 300,000 if not more, and all Ms Orkin is seeking is in effect 2,200. 'In reality, it's a damp patch of a few centimetres in diameter that on a few occasions has resulted in a few drops of water on the carpet. 'It's an intermittent problem that occurs only in extreme weather conditions, such as when snow melts or when there is a named storm. 'The remedy she seeks is her ceiling repainted and whatever the underlying problem is to be dealt with. 'In terms of the actual physical damage, it's at the lower end of the scale....there is not a serious issue to be tried here,' she said, dubbing the action against her and her husband 'wasteful litigation.' She said what Ms Orkin wants is a 2,200 repair to her ceiling, plus work to fix the leak, which Mrs Orchard says will cost 15,000 to 30,000. 'The repairs here are not expensive,' she said. 'There was no need for the claim to be brought.' And she went on to insist that she and her husband are not solely responsible for the cost of carrying out the work to make their terrace watertight. She told the judge the cost of the repairs should be borne by a management company jointly controlled by all three leaseholders of the flats at the property. 'This is a shared building and all residents must pay their way,' she said. 'It matters not where the water is coming through. This is a natural hazard. 'It is the responsibility of all three of us leaseholders to effect repair. It's a shared responsibility to keep it waterproof. 'Those who seek to share the benefit should also share the burden on principle of reasonableness among neighbours,' she said. Jonathan Ross, representing Ms Orkin, told the judge that the inconvenience the leak is causing to the pensioner goes way beyond what the Orchards claim. 'When it rains hard it leaks through to Ms Orkin's bedroom. It leaked yesterday. My client is nearly 80 years old,' he said. 'There is a serious issue to be tried. There is continual water penetration. Sometimes water leaks three times a month into the main bedroom,' he added. Refuting the argument that the claim is not serious, he said: 'My client wants to have a flat she can peaceably enjoy. Damages is secondary.' He told the judge that covenants contained in the leases on the three flats make each tenant 'responsible for their own demise' whilst the management company is responsible for repairs to the common parts. He added that an independent surveyor had investigated and concluded in his report that the source of the leak is the Orchards' terrace. 'It is not the management company's responsibility to do the work [...] the responsibility is the Orchards',' he said. 'We have spent legal costs arguing this way beyond the actual cost of the remedial work. 'It is not Ms Orkin that is responsible [for] the costs being incurred - it is the guerrilla tactics of the Orchards. 'Their tactic is to frustrate and delay the process so the works don't have to be done at their cost. 'This is the only way my client had to seek to get the matter remedied. 'Everything that Mrs Orchard has said we deny,' he concluded. Mrs Orchard - insisting the pensioners claim should be struck out - replied: 'It's not about who owns which little part of the building, it's about shared responsibility. 'It's pointless litigation in the sense of the amount of money which is being spent on this.' Judge Baucher refused the Orchards' strike-out application, saying: 'Mrs Orchard says this is a mere staining on the ceiling and the costs are out of all proportion, in a bracket between 200,000 and 400,000. 'Ms Orkin says she has suffered water ingression which she finds very distressing and hoped she would not have to endure another winter with water ingress. 'A court should not simply strike out a matter because the litigation is going to be expensive. The right and proper course is for this case to proceed to a hearing,' she concluded. The case has now adjourned until a later date. press release Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Women and Girls by Soldiers (article 2) Ugandan soldiers deployed in the Central African Republic have sexually exploited or abused at least 13 women and girls between 2015 and 2017, including at least one rape, and threatened some victims to remain silent. The Ugandan military was deployed in the country between 2009 and 2017 as a part of the African Union's Regional Task Force to eliminate the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group. Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Uganda Human Rights Watch interviewed a total of 13 women and 3 girls in early 2017, who described exploitation or abuse, including rape, since 2010 by Ugandan soldiers in the southeastern town of Obo, where Ugandan forces were based, and heard credible accounts of other cases. Two of the women were girls when the exploitation or abuse took place. Two women and one girl said that soldiers threatened reprisals if they told Ugandan and United Nations investigators about the abuse. Fifteen of the women and girls interviewed said they became pregnant, but in each case the soldier who fathered the child left the country and has not provided any support. The 16 cases documented by Human Rights Watch clearly under-represent the full extent of sexual exploitation and abuse by the Ugandan forces, not only because sexual violence is generally underreported, but also because others, including the UN and local health workers, have documented cases of rape and sexual slavery.[1] In January 2017, the BBC reported cases of rape by Ugandan soldiers in the Central African Republic, including of a 12-year-old girl who gave birth.[2] The Ugandan military said at the time that it conducted an investigation in Obo and found no evidence of wrongdoing. Several women and girls told Human Rights Watch that Ugandan military investigators had interviewed them over the past year, but that there was no follow-up and they had no information about the investigation. Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of Uganda: What steps are being taken to investigate and prosecute instances of serious misconduct including sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by members of the Ugandan military who are or have been deployed abroad? What training exists on sexual exploitation and abuse for soldiers serving in the armed forces or UN or African Union peacekeeping operations? What standard of conduct is in place regarding sexual exploitation and abuse for members of Uganda's armed forces and what measures are being implemented to ensure this standard is upheld, whether in Ugandan operations or UN or African Union peacekeeping operations? What measures have been taken to ensure an increase in the number of women employed within the military, police, and peacekeeping operations? Protection of Education from Attack (article 10) As recognized by this Committee in its General Recommendation No. 30, attacks on students and schools, and the use of schools for military purposes, disproportionately affect girls, who are sometimes the focus of targeted attacks and are more likely to be kept out of school due to security concerns.[3] The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment that provides countries the opportunity to express political support for the protection of students, teachers, and schools during times of armed conflict;[4] the importance of the continuation of education during armed conflict; and the implementation of the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.[5] The African Union Peace and Security Council has urged all of its member states to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration.[6] As of January 2021, 106 countries have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, including 28 African Union members. Uganda has yet to endorse this important declaration. As of December 2020, Uganda was contributing 652 military staff officers, experts, police, and troops to UN peacekeeping operations around the world. Peacekeeping troops are required to comply with the UN Department of Peace Operations "UN Infantry Battalion Manual" (2012), which includes the provision that "schools shall not be used by the military in their operations."[7] Moreover, the 2017 Child Protection Policy of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Department of Field Support, and Department of Political Affairs notes: United Nations peace operations should refrain from all actions that impede children's access to education, including the use of school premises. This applies particularly to uniformed personnel. Furthermore ... United Nations peace operations personnel shall at no time and for no amount of time use schools for military purposes.[8] Uganda's peacekeeping staff are deployed in Somalia and South Sudan -- both countries where attacks on students and schools and the military use of schools by local parties have been documented.[9] In October 2020, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child issued a general comment on children and armed conflict in Africa, in which they stated that "the African Union and other relevant African inter-governmental organizations that authorize peace support operations should adopt an explicit ban on the use of schools in their operations."[10] Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of Uganda: Why has the government of Uganda not yet endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration? Are explicit protections for schools or universities from military use included in any policies, rules, or trainings for the Uganda People's Defence Force? Will the government support the position taken by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and call on the African Union and other relevant African inter-governmental organizations that authorize peace support operations to adopt an explicit ban on the use of schools in their operations? Privatization of Education (article 10) Between 2004 and 2019, the share of Uganda's national budget allocated to education shrunk from 20.3 percent to just 10 percent-well below the regional average of 16 percent and international standards of 20 percent.[11] Underfunding has led to a widening of the financing gap in meeting ever-growing educational needs, as the population of school age children tripled between 1997 and 2014.[12] With already constrained budgets stretched even thinner, teacher absenteeism and the lack of schools in some localities posed severe obstacles to children's access to quality education. Instead of compensating for any negative consequences engendered by the reduction in allocations, the government has increasingly relied on the private sector to provide education. Privatization has not been matched with an adequate regulatory and monitoring framework. In a rush to implement and roll out the Universal Secondary Education policy in 2007, the government initiated a public-private partnership program with private schools to absorb the increasing number of students, without specifying social accountability safeguards or quality standards. The government did not regulate fees in private or public-private partnership schools, which often charge high prices that are out of reach of low-income households. In turn, it reduced investment in secondary schools, leaving children with few options for quality education in public schools.[13] The rapid privatization and expansion of the Universal Secondary Education public-private partnership provoked substantial educational disparities. Evidence by civil society organizations shows that privatization in Uganda discriminates against children from low-income households and especially girls, reinforcing social and economic inequalities.[14] The probability of completing primary school is higher in urban than rural areas and increases with the relative wealth of the student's household. Only 5 percent of girls from the poorest quintile attend secondary school, compared to 35 percent from the richest quintile.[15] Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of Uganda: Why has the share of the national budget allocated to education dropped by 10 percentage points between 2004 and 2019, which makes it significantly lower than both regional averages and international standards? What steps are being taken to ensure primary education is genuinely free and access to free secondary education is treated as an urgent and immediate priority rather than as a goal to be realized progressively over time? What steps are being taken to empower girls to attend school, address girls' dropout rates and adopt measures to retain girls in school, especially girls from low-income households? [1] "Central African Republic: Ugandan Troops Harm Women, Girls: Repeated Sexual Exploitation and Abuse," Human Rights Watch news release, May 15, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/05/15/central-african-republic-ugandan-troops-harm-women-girls [2] Catherine Byaruhanga, "'I was 12 when I was raped by a Ugandan soldier'", BBC News, January 26, 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-38737824 (accessed January 15, 2021) [3] UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, General Recommendation No. 30, Access to Education, U.N Doc. CEDAW/C/GC/30 (2013), para. 48. See also African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, General Comment on Article 22: Children in Situations of Conflict, (2020), para. 78. [4] Safe Schools Declaration, May 28, 2015, https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/departementene/ud/vedlegg/utvikling/safe_schools_declaration.pdf (accessed January 23, 2020). Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Women Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. [5] Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, March 18, 2014, http://protectingeducation.org/sites/default/files/documents/guidelines_en.pdf (accessed January 23, 2020). [6] African Union Peace and Security Council, "Ending Child Marriages Press Statement," June 13, 2017, https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/sites/violenceagainstchildren.un.org/files/documents/political_declarations/africa/press-statement.ending.child_.marriage.13.06.2017.pdf (accessed January 18, 2021) [7] United Nations Infantry Battalion Manual, 2012, section 2.13, "Schools shall not be used by the military in their operations." [8] UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Department of Field Support and Department of Political Affairs, "Child Protection in UN Peace Operations (Policy)," June 2017. [9] Education Under Attack: 2020, The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, 2020, https://protectingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/eua_2020_full.pdf [10] African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, General Comment on Article 22: Children in Situations of Conflict, (2020), para. 77. [11] World Bank Group, "Economic Development & Human Capital in Uganda: A Case for Investing More in Education," May 2019, http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/925741559163051034/pdf/Economic-Development-and-Human-Capital-in-Uganda-A-Case-for-Investing-More-in-Education.pdf (accessed January 15, 2021) [12] Ibid. [13] Lena Simet (Human Rights Watch), "From Pioneer to Laggard: Disinvestment and Privatization of Education in Uganda," commentary, NORRAG, November 23, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/23/pioneer-laggard#_edn1 [14] The Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, "Alternative Report Submitted by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights and the Global Initiative for Social and Economic Rights," October 204, http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a6e0958f6576ebde0e78c18/5ab294e72483d636f1909c81/5ab294fe2483d636f1909fa6/1521652990500/2014-10-10_ISERGIESCR-Uganda_CESCR.pdf?format=original (accessed January 15, 2021) [15] Government of Uganda, "Demographic and Health Survey 2016," 2016, https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR333/FR333.pdf (accessed January 15, 2021) Amid a slow build of reckoning on race and racism within the past decade, Houston area colleges have emphasized the need for African and African American Studies programs. Universities such as Rice and Prairie View A&M have made strides to establish a program like that of the University of Houston, which hosts the states oldest Black Studies program and one of only two in the state. Now, academics across Houston are looking to pool their resources and talent, creating an academic organization committed to elevating and expanding African and African American Studies scholarship across their campuses. If you go The Southeastern Texas African and African American Studies Consortium, composed of Prairie View A&M University, Rice University, Texas Southern University, will host its first virtual event "The History of African and African American Studies in Southeastern Texas" on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. To register for the event, visit Rice's website. See More Collapse Just ahead of Black History Month, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Texas Southern University and UH announced the creation of the Southeastern Texas African and African American Studies Consortium a partnership that will aim to expand such studies during a time of growing interest in the field. It allows us to come together and amplify the work were all doing so were not working in silos anymore, said Melanye Price, endowed professor of political science at Prairie View A&M, in a written statement. And I think what that will allow us to do is to bring really interesting programs, conferences, lectures and all of those things to our community both our campus communities and the Greater Houston community. Anthony Pinn, founding director of Rices recently established Center for African and African American Studies, said the consortium will capitalize on the untapped potential of the four colleges and allow for more dialogue across the campuses. It seemed to be things that we could do together for African American Studies that we could not do isolated at our individual campuses, said Pinn, who also serves as Rices Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities. The group has already discussed creating a curriculum that cuts across campuses, teaching students what is happening at other institutions and giving additional perspectives on program material, Pinn said. Shared benefits Price, who is also director of Prairie View A&Ms planned Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice, said the pairing of predominantly white institutions such as UH and Rice with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) such as Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern can be beneficial all around. Students at mostly white colleges can increase their experience or knowledge on multicultural and racial issues, and students at HBCUs, which have been historically active in fights against inequality, can have more exposure to other campuses, Price said. Securing grants that will enable the universities to generate research projects bigger than any one institution is also a major priority, Pinn said. The timing is also crucial, Pinn notes. With social justice and race issues at the forefront of a national policy debate following events such as the police killing of George Floyd last year, its a unique historical moment, he says. People are realizing the need to address issues of race in ways that are creative and productive, Pinn said. For us at Rice, its only now that we have an institutional development that really allows us to participate in this conversation. Rice two years ago launched its Center for African and African American Studies, which has since expanded its African Studies minor and developed an introduction course and a new graduate certificate program. UH recently lost its director James L. Conyers, who died on Jan. 25. Conyers began teaching at UH in 2002, and served as one of the founding members of the consortium, which he described as an exciting opportunity to share research, pedagogy and institutional developments, according to a university release. On HoustonChronicle.com: James Conyers, director of UH's African American Studies program, dies at 59 Being around smart people who are doing good work thats always a perk, Conyers said. Virtual talk planned Prairie View A&M, one of two public historically Black universities in Texas, has taken steps toward establishing its own African American Studies program first launching its African American Studies Initiatives with a speaker series in 2019. The program, which is backed by a $1 million grant, will be housed in the future Simmons Center, which has received at least $1 million in personal donations and will launch virtually Feb. 10. It will allow us to participate in national and international conversations on the development of African and African American Studies, Pinn added. The consortium will hold its first event a virtual panel discussion on The History of African and African American Studies in Southeastern Texas on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Panelists will include Nicole Waligora-Davis, associate professor of English at Rice, UH historian Gerald Horne, and Cary Wintz, a distinguished professor of history at Texas Southern who also directs TSUs masters program in history. Wintz recently returned to TSU from a yearlong stint with the Air Force Academy, where he taught the academys first African American history class. Pinn said the consortium will likely convene and host events virtually or remotely for the remainder of the semester and summer, with hopes of offering a blend of in-person and online events in the fall all of which will depend on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. But the schools have taken some positives from educating students during the pandemic. One thing we learned is that we can harness a much larger audience with virtual or online services, Pinn said. Geography is not an issue and we dont want to lose that, but we also recognize theres a deep value of allowing people to come together. Our goal is to blend the two. brittany.britto@chron.com "While we are in crisis mode frequently with our clients from hurricanes to wildfires the pandemic is unlike anything we have encountered," says Ray Kowalik, chairman and CEO of Burns & McDonnell. "Engineers are known problem solvers, and that helped us pivot and uncover solutions to the numerous challenges the pandemic was presenting to our clients and communities. Even though we had hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projects cancel, our employee-owners stepped up and found new ways to solve our clients' challenges and have a record sales year. Our unwavering dedication to work with an entrepreneurial mindset is critical to success especially in times like these. The employee-owners we promoted exemplify the values that have been critical to our success and growth." Mike Fenske has been promoted to president in the Global Facilities Group, which he had led as general manager since 2013. Under Fenske's leadership, the Global Facilities Group has grown annual revenues 30% each year, from $76 million to $725 million. The group now employs over 700 employee-owners nationwide. Fenske joined the firm in 1992 as part of the firm's aviation business. Since then, he has held numerous leadership roles in a variety of industries. He has been instrumental in the expansion of the firm's design-build capabilities across markets, including manufacturing, industrial, commercial and mission critical. New senior vice presidents include the following employee-owners: Renita Mollman After serving as general manager of the California offices for Burns & McDonnell for more than a decade, Renita Mollman became chief administrative officer in 2020. In this role, Mollman leads many of the firm's operational departments, including human resources, corporate marketing and the Burns & McDonnell Foundation, among others. Mollman began her career as a civil engineer at Burns & McDonnell in 1988 in Kansas City, providing aviation design and construction services across the U.S. In 2009, she was promoted to general manager for the California region and in 2011 was promoted to vice president. Under her leadership, this regional team grew from just a few employees to more than 250, the firm was named a best place to work seven times in Southern California, and revenue nearly quadrupled. Steve Nalefski As general manager of the Environmental Services Group at Burns & McDonnell, Nalefski leads more than 450 professionals dedicated to helping clients determine their most effective and cost-efficient environmental solutions. With 35 years of experience, Nalefski has focused his career in environmental management consulting, with an emphasis on environmental assessment and remediation. A registered geologist in multiple states, he led project teams on complex cleanup programs worldwide, most notably in the petroleum and chemical industries. Nalefski joined the firm five years ago from a global engineering firm. Breck Washam Breck Washam is general manager of the St. Louis office for Burns & McDonnell. He joined Burns & McDonnell in 1990 as a mechanical engineer and has held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his 30-year tenure. Since being selected to lead the office in 2007, Washam has grown the regional team to more than 260 employee-owners, creating new opportunities for the firm and delivering high-quality engineering and construction solutions regionwide. Under his leadership, Burns & McDonnell has consistently been recognized in St. Louis as a Top Workplace, a Healthiest Employer, a leading philanthropic firm and one of the largest engineering firms. New vice presidents and members of the Burns & McDonnell officer group include the following employee-owners: Karen Bray is director of process and project development for the Oil, Gas & Chemical (OGC) Group, leading and managing approximately 100 process engineering employee-owners across the firm's offices. Prior to her current role, Bray led the firm's chemicals group for five years, building a successful business from the ground up that now represents one-third of the OGC Group's work. Since joining Burns & McDonnell in 2002, Bray has worked with clients in the chemical, midstream and refining industries. A process and project engineer for the first nine years, Bray spent time in the field during both the design and construction phases of engineer-procure-construct projects. Hyun Kim, since joining Burns & McDonnell in 2006, has served in the role of lead engineer, project manager, department manager and currently is the Transmission & Distribution operations director in the firm's Houston office. He oversees multiple business lines within the office and leads nearly 250 employee-owners to create growth and development opportunities. In his 29 years of experience, Kim has been involved in the engineering, design and construction of electrical generation, transmission and distribution systems. His experience ranges from designing low- and medium-voltage switchgear and motor controllers to high-voltage substations to automation to relay settings to EPC execution and testing and commissioning. Matt Olson is managing director of the firm's Telecom Group. In his role, Olson helps utility clients develop networks that support their entire organization. This includes helping them understand how to manage information; designing systems in 3D models; and designing multimillion-dollar, utilitywide fiber networks. Olson is an electrical engineer specializing in telecommunications systems and carrier network design, converged network architecture, and network management systems (NMS). In his 20 years of experience, he has supervised the design of more than 1,000 substations of packet network deployment, planned network construction with hundreds of nodes being installed per year, and delivered the applications cutover onto them in as little as a few months. He's also developed industry-leading documentation systems that allow for fast, cost-effective and holistic document management. For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of 7,600 engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities with more than 55 offices, globally. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned company and proud to be on Fortune's 2020 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn how we are on call through it all. Contact: Mary Young, Burns & McDonnell 816-809-2677 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & McDonnell Related Links www.burnsmcd.com A species of baleen whale that is native to the Gulf of Mexico, called Rice's whale, is already threatened by extinction even though it's only just been properly identified. US experts unravelled 'a complex species puzzle' with an analysis of a Rice's whale skull, which revealed key morphological differences compared with other baleen whale species. Rice's whale, which makes its home solely in the Gulf of Mexico, was once considered a subspecies of Bryde's whale and was known as 'Gulf of Mexico Bryde's Whale'. Although it is now accepted as a distinct species and rechristened Rice's whale, scientists warn there are fewer than 100 of the creatures left in its native waters. Significant threats facing Rice's whale are oil spills, vessel strikes, ocean debris and entanglement in fishing gear. Rice's whale also has a very small population size and limited distribution, which increases the species' vulnerability to such threats. NOAA Fisheries announces scientific research paper that describes a new species of baleen whale in the Gulf of Mexico - Rice's whale (pictured). All baleen whales have a filter-feeding system inside their mouths instead of teeth, which they use to collect shrimp-like krill, plankton and small fish from the sea GET TO KNOW RICE'S WHALE Weight: Up to 60,000 pounds (30 tons) - about five times as heavy as an elephant Length: Up to 42 feet long Feeding system: Baleen Baleen whales have a filter-feeding system inside their mouths instead of teeth Location: Gulf of Mexico in the Southeast United States. Life expectancy: Undefined (closely related species reach sexual maturity at nine-years-old and can live about 60 years). Status: Endangered Threats: Vessel strikes, ocean noise, energy exploration, development and production, oil spills and responses, entanglement in fishing gear, ocean debris. Advertisement When it was known as Gulf of Mexico Bryde's whale, the species was listed as endangered but with this new name it retains its protected status under the Endangered Species Act. It is also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. To date, there are fewer than 100 Rice whales remaining, making them critically endangered. If the name Rice's whale is formally accepted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Committee on Taxonomy, NOAA Fisheries will go through the regulatory process to update the name used in the endangered species listing. 'The discovery is exciting and will allow them to better understand and protect this rare baleen whale,' said NOAA in a statement. Classifying the species correctly goes back about 30 years NOAA scientist and co-author of this new study Dr Keith Mullin and colleagues had been studying the whales at sea since the 1990s. In 2008, NOAA Fisheries scientist and study author Dr Patricia Rosel had examined genetic data obtained from samples collected on vessel surveys in the Gulf of Mexico and saw that it was quite different from other whales. Dr Rosel authored a genetic study in 2014 that revealed Rice's whale (or Gulf of Mexico Bryde's Whale as it was known at the time) likely represented a distinct species or subspecies of whale. Now, Dr Rosel and colleagues have provided the first morphological examination of a complete skull from these whales. Dr Rosel identified diagnostic characteristics that distinguish it from the other closely-related baleen whale species. The most noticeable morphological difference in the new species, as compared to its closest relatives, is found in the creature's skull. Scientists performing a necropsy on a Rice's whale that washed up at Everglades National Park in January 2019 NOAA's Dr Patricia Rosel photographs Rice's whale type specimen. Lead author of the article, NOAA Fisheries scientist Dr. Patricia Rosel, provided the first morphological examination of a complete skull from these whales 'The size and shape of the skull is similar to the other members of the Bryde's whale complex,' Dr Rosel told MailOnline. 'The distinguishing characteristics are in the shape and orientations of several bones in the top of the skull that are located around the blowhole.' Dr Rosel was able to examine the skull of a Rice's whale in 2020 after one stranded in Florida off Everglades National Park in January 2019. External body measurements were taken to compare to measurements from other whales, including those measured by staff with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington from a whale that was previously stranded in North Carolina. Following the examination and necropsy by NOAA Fisheries biologists and members of the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the whale remains were buried. A few months later, a team from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History unearthed the whale remains. NOAA's Dr. Patricia Rosel examines Rice's whale type specimen at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History They took it for cleaning at the Bonehenge Whale Center in North Carolina and then transported the whale skeleton to their warehouse outside of Washington, D.C. Last year, Dr Rosel worked with Dr Tadasu Yamada, a co-author on the study and a scientist from the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan. They were able to take a closer look at the type specimen of the whale at the Smithsonian and identify differences that distinguish it from other whale species. Genetic data provided 'a second line of evidence' supporting the species' uniqueness. Together, the morphological and genetic data finally confirm to the scientific world that these whales represent a new species. Both the common name and the scientific name of the species (Rice's whale, Balaenoptera ricei) are in honour of renowned American biologist Dale Rice who had a 60-year career in marine mammal science. Rice, who died in 2017, was the first researcher to recognise that the new species is present in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr Rosel and her team have detailed their analysis in a scientific paper published in Marine Mammal Science. 'Recently, a new, evolutionarily divergent lineage of Bryde'slike whale was identified based on genetic data and was found to be restricted primarily to the northern Gulf of Mexico,' they say. 'Here, we provide the first morphological examination of a complete skull from these whales and identify diagnostic characters that distinguish it from the other mediumsized baleen whale taxa.' 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. Heres whats happening Monday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.: THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY: The deadliest month of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. has drawn to a close with certain signs of progress: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are plummeting, as vaccinations are picking up. The question is whether the nation can stay ahead of the fast-spreading mutations of the virus. The U.S. death toll has climbed past 440,000, with more than 95,000 lives lost in January alone. Deaths are running at about 3,150 per day on average, down by about 200 from their peak in mid-January. The coronavirus pandemic has cut instruction time in the nations schools by as much as half, and many middle school and high school teachers have given up on covering all the material normally included in their classes. Instead, they are cutting lessons. English teachers are deciding which books to skip. History teachers are condensing units. Science teachers are often doing without experiments entirely. Certain topics must be taught because they will appear on important exams. But teachers are largely on their own to make difficult choices what to prioritize and what to sacrifice to the pandemic. Americans desire to get outdoors during the pandemic despite the winter cold is creating a season unlike any in more than two decades for the snowmobiling industry. From Maine to Montana, its becoming difficult to find a new snowmobile for sale. And the rental fleets are booked up. The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association said the U.S. represents the worlds biggest market for snowmobiles and Canada isnt far behind, together combining for more than $30 billion in annual sales. According to data through Jan. 31 from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. did not increase over the past two weeks, going from 217,703.1 on Jan. 17 to 148,412.9 on Jan. 31. The seven-day rolling average for daily new deaths in the U.S. also did not increase over the same period, going from 3,324.9 to 3,153.3. The expectation should not be that theres an immediate, dramatic shift," Andy Slavitt, the White Houses deputy COVID-19 coordinator said in response to expectations for a potential boost in vaccine distribution if Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 shot is approved by the FDA. ICYMI: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is acknowledging that Black and Latino New Yorkers are receiving COVID-19 vaccines at far lower rates than white or Asian residents. Data released by the citys health department shows that 48% of the city residents who have gotten at least one vaccine dose are white. Thats far higher than the roughly one-third of the citys population that is non-Hispanic white. Just 11% of vaccine doses administered to New York City residents went to Black people and 15% to Latinos. The vaccine numbers are incomplete because about 40% of people who have been vaccinated in the city havent provided demographic information. Still, the figures mirror vaccination data from other cities and states. ON THE HORIZON: The coronavirus immunization campaign is off to a shaky start in Tuskegee, Alabama. Area leaders point to a lingering distrust of medicine linked to a 40-year government study there that used unknowing Black men as guinea pigs to study syphilis. Several people in the mostly Black city are trying to set an example by getting vaccinated. One of those is Black attorney Fred Gray, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the men affected by the syphilis study that resulted in a $9 million settlement. The now-90-year-old Gray stresses that the syphilis study and the COVID-19 vaccine are completely different. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) NEW HAVEN A city man remained hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday after a Tuesday night stabbing, according to police. Police and fire units responded to a 911 call about a person stabbed inside a Norton Street apartment building between Edgewood Avenue and Stanley Street just after 6 p.m., Capt. Anthony Duff said Wednesday. First responders met the victim in the front courtyard of the complex. Duff said the 22-year-old New Haven man suffered a stab wound to the side of his abdomen. He said medics treated the man at the scene and rushed him to Yale New Haven Hospital with life-threatening injuries. After undergoing emergency surgery, Duff said the victim was listed in critical condition at the hospital. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 203-946-6304. Callers can remain anonymous. A special Kildare theatre project, Fractured, is being released on podcast on February 21. Down at Heel Productions has battled Covid restrictions since early last year to produce the drama series. Having had to abandon its initial plans for live stagings, it managed to record and edit eleven episodes of Fractured - A Family, A Nation, A Dream, before lockdown. It will start releasing them, as podcasts, on February 21 to coincide with the Maynooth ambush. Down at Heel spokesperson, Martina Reilly, said: We are releasing one a week, the hope being that by the time we get all eleven out, lockdown will have eased and we can record the rest. The podcasts, which have been created in fifteen minutes blocks, are free. Fractured is a set of stories about a fictional family living through the War of Independence and the beginnings of the Civil War in Maynooth. Its sponsored by Kildare County Council through a Creative Ireland Bursary. Everyone involved is from Kildare, writers, actors and techies. There are up to 45 actors and 13 directors. Martina said everyone has been working for nothing basically and they would love to be able to pay them something in the future. The project was originally due to begin live in May 2020. The aim was to produce two years of free plays for the inhabitants of Maynooth and the wider Kildare area. Martina said: The plays are not just plays, put together they become a theatrical soap opera, telling the story of the fictional Barry family, living through the War of Independence and the beginnings of the Civil War in the Kildare of 1920 - 1923. Two episodes of Fractured were to have been performed twice a month in site specific public locations, starting in May 2020 and finishing up April 2023. These venues included Brady's pub, which had been prepared to donate their space for free. As it turned out, the public performances had to be abandoned and podcasts had to be created. One of the options for the podcast was recording at the Maynooth Conference and Accommodation Centre. They were confined to six people using the room at a time and had to break the scenes so they could accommodate four to five actors. We decided to create eleven episodes to start with and we rewrote the series for radio, said Martina, one of four Kildare writers involved - the others were Claire Joyce, Joe Bergin and Brendan Farrell. Martina, author of adult and children books said :Fractured has mystery, love, sacrifice and intrigue - all the stuff of good drama. The podcasts start on February 21 and can be heard on Down at Heels Facebook page as well as other platforms. At some stage, when Covid restrictions are lifted, they hope to bring some episodes live, including one from the first meeting of Kildare County Council. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Louisiana will receive potentially thousands of extra doses of the coronavirus vaccine steered to Walmart pharmacies under a program announced by President Joe Bidens administration. Louisiana's health department said Tuesday that is has opted into the White House program to distribute 1 million doses directly to retail pharmacies. Louisiana will use 56 Walmart pharmacies around the state for the federal program. The pharmacy initiative starts Feb. 11. Whatever vaccine doses those Walmart pharmacies will start receiving through the federal program next week will come on top of the other Pfizer and Moderna doses shipped directly to the state each week to divvy up on its own. Page Content The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (VSA), Richard Panneflek would hereby like to inform the public of the new variants of the COVID-19 virus circulating around the world. Three of these new variants have shown to be more infectious than the original COVID-19 strains and have originated from South Africa, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. If left uncontrolled, these new variants can lead to an exponential rise in hospital admissions and deaths within a few weeks. If they are introduced to St. Maarten, it will have a severe impact on our health services and resources. The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) is closely monitoring the presence of the new COVID-19 variants on St. Maarten. They are collaborating with St Maarten Laboratory Services (SLS) to send weekly samples to RIVM in the Netherlands for genotyping. This way the specific strain of the COVID-19 virus can be determined. Among the first batch of 10 samples from COVID-19 patients from St. Maarten that were sent last week, none of the new variants were detected. Minister Panneflek urges everyone to take heed of the mandatory guidelines implemented for your safety. It is your civic duty to protect yourself and your family, as we are still amid the COVID-19 pandemic. IMA refutes Centre's data on doctor deaths, says 744 died of Covid The Indian Medical Association (IMA), a national voluntary organisation of doctors, on Wednesday expressed shock over the underreporting of data by the Centre on the total number of doctors who have succumbed to the coronavirus infection. On Tuesday, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had said that coronavirus has so far claimed the lives of 162 doctors, 107 nurses and 44 ASHA workers in the country. In a letter to Choubey, IMA President J.A. Jayalal wrote that the Centre's data is contrary to the one released by the association which contained the names of 744 doctors. He further stated that even though doctors suffer a higher viral load and a higher Case Fatality Ratio as a community, they still chose to serve the nation in the best traditions of the medical profession. Besides condemning the apathy of the government of India in verifying the data, the issue of delay in disbursing the solatium for the Covid-19 victims' families was also raised. IMA has made some requests to the government, first is to expedite the process of giving solatium to families at the earliest possible time. Secondly, constitution of a high-powered committee for a thorough study on the entire data of deceased doctors and for all those who had succumbed to be honoured. 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. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Heres some good news: the vast majority of the unchurched are receptive to an invitation to church. The problem is that few active churchgoers reach out to their neighbors and friends. The mission field across North America is ripe for harvest, but many of the workers lag in apathy. Some workers are lazy, and their apathy is correctly labeled hypocrisy. Worse than apathy, however, is hostility. Christians that breed enmity are worse irritants. In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul uses severe words for the religious people that bite, devour, and destroy: its better to be castrated. I do not want to be excessively harsh, but its constructive to consider the potential negative impact its worse than having no impact. Hypercritical legalism is a clear example of how to turn people off, but there are other, less blatant turn-offs as well. In our research, weve heard from the unchurched on things believers do that makes them bristle the most. Here are a few of the most abrasive turn-offs. Confuse me. Talk about all the dirt at your church. Drudge up meaningless conflicts. Air dirty laundry in public forums and in the media. File frivolous lawsuits against other believers. Gossip about other churchgoers. Treat other Christians badly. In short, confuse the unchurched with blatant disregard for the Golden Rule. Mislead me. Unevangelistic pastors lead churches to reach out less. Unfriendly church leaders set the tone for an unfriendly church culture. Leaders should model the correct behavior. When they dont, it is a huge turn off for people on the outside. Sell me. Encourage people to show up for a bunch of unconnected church activities. Dont have an underlying mission for church functions. Neglect to connect how the church does ministry with the purpose of the body. Worse yet, lead a person to believe that your church is something its not. Selling a facade only disappoints when people get inside. Pretty packaging fools no one. Patronize me. A majority of seekers desire biblical depth. They do not want to be mollycoddled with trite spiritual answers to lifes tough questions. Dont fear telling the truth but do so without an air of superiority. Spiritual arrogance is a huge turn off for the unchurched. Avoid me. Treat others like lepers. Dont invite them to your house. Dont befriend anyone outside the church walls. Almost 80% of adults would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious or spiritual beliefs, even if they did not exactly see eye-to-eye with the friend. Unfortunately, these conversations occur far too infrequently. Bore me. The unchurched see no reason to consider a church if the congregation does not take their primary mission of the Gospel seriously. We serve a Risen Savior! We know the Answer to lifes most important question! A ho-hum attitude and a lack of celebratory worship makes for a boring church. I do not like dwelling on the negative. The list of church turn-offs is long. And its much easier to point out all the things wrong in the church than actually make positive steps toward impacting a community for Christ. So take a moment and do a quick inventory of potential turn-offs in your ministry, then focus on the positive ways to be salt and light in your mission field. Originally published at Church Answers The government says it has aimed making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. That cannot happen based only on the performance of the biggies. It will be unwise on the part of the government to put all its eggs in the trickle-down theory basket and ignore the small players. (Photo:PTI) The larger message the 2021-22 budget finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented on Monday is that the government is eying big investment that will create jobs and bring in prosperity. It expects the V-shaped recovery the pandemic-hit economy is expected to record will provide for the huge borrowing and the resultant fiscal deficit. Its a gamble the government has taken. A tough one, at that, in these times, and the finance minister cannot be faulted for it. However, two sins of the budget one of commission and the other of omission have struck that jarring note. The first is the huge allocation of funds to create infrastructure in four poll-bound states. Tamil Nadu gets RS 1.03 lakh crore for national highways in the state while the neighbouring Keralas allocation for a similar purpose is RS 65,000. West Bengal, another state that will have Assembly elections in April-May this year, gets RS 25,000 crores while Assam has been sanctioned funds for 1,300 km highways. Some of the projects to be undertaken with this money are already in the pipeline and it could be timely for the Centre to enter with the money bag. But the obvious message it sends out to the voters is that there is a benevolent ruler sitting up there to shower favours is unfair and undemocratic. This is not the first time that the NDA government picks states for such largesse: Bihar was promised a special package running into lakhs of crores when it went to polls in 2015 but parties there complained later that it never materialised. It will be for the newly-elected chief ministers of these states to pursue on the budgetary promises lest they will be made answerable by their own people. The act of omission is with regard to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). While the government was keen on the recovery of the large industries, the segment which roughly contributes 30 per cent of the countrys GDP and employs about 11 crore people got a short shrift with an allocation of a mere RS 15,700 crore. The pandemic has killed 1.5 lakh people in India last year but many times that number of MSME units died in the period or are in a critical stage, and rendered crores of people jobless. The government has through its five packages tried to extend a financial lifeline to them but the people who represent the industry have a different story to tell. According to them, only 55 lakh of the roughly seven crore units less than 10 per cent have been able to avail the sops. This means that a lot many of them will return to life only if the government made a determined effort to do so. The government says it has aimed making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. That cannot happen based only on the performance of the biggies. It will be unwise on the part of the government to put all its eggs in the trickle-down theory basket and ignore the small players. The government must do a rethink on its approach towards the sector. Media personality Amina Abdi Rabar has opened up on how she fainted at work for donning a waist trainer aimed at checking her body size after giving birth. She had elected to don the waist trainer weeks after giving birth in a move she says was partly influenced by the public perception of her weight gain. "There is the pressure that you put on yourself as mum which needs to stop, I remember when I just gave birth and I didn't want to look like that, I got this belt that I was wearing, I heard about it when I was watching keeping up with the Kardashians. I was wearing it 24/7 and this one morning I fainted, and I was rushed to hospital I couldn't breathe. They found out, and I told my husband not to tell my mum. People walk around with this belt, and you can't breathe, all for what!" Amina asked. The radio and tv presenter adds that being a mother comes with new experiences, challenges, and transitions and further notes that new mothers go through a lot of changes after giving birth and owe no one an explanation. "I thought it was because that was my first child, I was like I didn't know anything. It was so painful, people lie they just show you this beautiful amazing life, all these planned photoshoots when the baby is not crying and throwing themselves on the floor, people just show you a very different side of it. People just need to tell you it's so difficult, and it doesn't matter how much money you have, or you can get like 10 nannies, the whole process whether you gave birth or its adoption it a whole different transition to how you used to live." "Your body is changing, you are hormonal all the time, you are breastfeeding, and it's not enough, it's a lot and the people who are telling you they are not stressed, they are lying." She added. Amina's sentiments come days after State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena was trolled over her recent weight gain. -- 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. 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. Lagos and Abuja United State Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), has inaugurated the Early Grade Reading (EGR) Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM) in Igbo and Yoruba Languages:' Ka Anyi Guo' and 'Je Ka Kawe'. The material were developed to improve reading outcomes amongst Nigerian children from primary one to three and promote the use of mother tongue in early grade education . Speaking at the public presentation held recently, via Zoom, the Chief of Party USAID Northern Education Initiative (NEI) Plus, Mr. Nurudeen Lawal expressed delight about the initiative noting that children across the country, will be able to read in their mother tongue. The development of the materials, he said, follows the successful implementation of Ma Karanta! and Let's Read! EGR Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMS) across northern Nigeria. According to him, "Like the Ma Karanta and Let's Read, the Ka Anyi Guo! and Je Ka Kawe!, pupil books and scripted teacher's guides, reflect evidence -based practices for EGR and align with the national curriculum. These materials are developed to improve reading outcomes and promote the use of mother tongue among Nigerian children." He said he believes that once the reading culture of children are increase, you have reduced poverty level across the world. The Edecutive Secretary, NERDC, Professor Ismail Junaidu recalled how the materials were developed through a joint collaboration of different stakeholders in the education sector, adding that it was designed to impact positively on the improvement of reading ability among Nigerian children, thereby boosting educational development. "With the mandate for curriculum development, NERDC led a team of consultants, writers and representatives of key parastatals in the education sector to develop the Igbo and Yoruba reading materials. They have no doubt come at the right time. After all, the aim is to improve children's reading performance and Nigeria is a committed partner in this effort. They were developed through global best practices following the guidance of seasoned education experts in teaching curriculum and language development, " he stressed. He said it is critical for all education stakeholders to ensure that teachers at the primary level receive the support they needed to help our children learn to read, adding that teachers must guide pupils to learn and practice reading using this text inside and outside the classroom. "Parents must also support their children to read and practice at home every day and ensure that they have access to this material in the affected states, as well as be lifelong learners." Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Books By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The Mission Drector, USAID, Dr. Anne Patterson said the development of this resources has presented her office with an opportunity to build foundational reading skills among children thereby contributing to developing a new generation of leaders equipped to help Nigeria meet the challenges ahead, adding, "with the quality of these materials, I have no doubt that more Nigerian children will have the literacy skills to fully understand the information to read and easily put it into good use. She commended the Ministry of Education for its leadership as well as the contributions of education practitionals who were involved in the process of the development of the materials. " We all know the importance of education and no country can rise above the quality of its education. An investment in the quality of education of the children is an investment that secures a bright future for the nation, "Patterson said. The Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajuba who inaugurated the reading materials commended the laudable achivements of USAID, NERDC and those who have contributed towards the succesful development in line with the national policy on education, adding that his ministry will continue to partner with USAID to provide basic education to promote self reliance. Matt Hancock's obsession with the film Contagion - where the world battles for limited vaccine supplies to head off a deadly pandemic - 'helped inspire him to prioritise Britain's jab rollout'. In the 2011 thriller starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, a fast-moving mystery virus kills tens of millions worldwide as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tries in vain to stop the outbreak. Now a former Department of Health and Social Care adviser has revealed how the film's depiction of the vaccine rollout, in which jabs are handed out using a lottery based on birth dates, stood out in particular to the Health Secretary. The comments follow the UK passing the landmark of 10million vaccine doses last night, sparking hopes that the whole population could be covered by early summer - months ahead of the September target. Health Secretary Matt Hancock pictured taking a coronavirus test at a new Covid-19 testing facility for staff who have to travel to their offices in the Houses of Parliament in London The ex-adviser told Sky News: 'He would keep referring to the end of the film. 'He was always really aware from the very start, first that the vaccine was really important, second that when a vaccine was developed we would see an almighty global scramble for this thing.' But a source told The Guardian that Mr Hancock used the scene as an 'illustrative example' - and not as a method for the UK to copy in its vaccine programme. The source said: 'The UK vaccine effort was in no way built on the epidemiological model of watching a film it was an illustrative example. 'He would say: "Weve all seen Contagion, right?" It was helpful.' Referring to the film, Ian Lipkin, the chief scientific consultant for Contagion, added: 'The whole idea was to try to inform people about what they needed to anticipate.' Gwyneth Paltrow starring in 2011 movie Contagion, in which doctors and medical researchers scramble to track a highly contagious, lethal virus as it moves from Hong Kong to the US A still from the 2011 film Contagion. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure Fans of the film have previously pointed out eerie parallels with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A flashback in the movie shows just how the fictional virus emerged - with a bat in China infecting a pig that was later handled by a chef who came in contact with Paltrow's character, who became Patient Zero. The movie, directed by Steven Soderbergh, was generally praised by the scientific community for accurately depicting how a doomsday epidemic scenario might play out. The film is said to have been modelled on the 2003 SARS outbreak, depicting what might happen if that virus had been even more deadly and contagious. Meanwhile, the Government has revealed another 352,935 jabs were administered in 24 hours as the huge push continues, taking the total into eight figures. Kate Winslet pictured in the film Contagion. Fans of the movie have previously pointed out eerie parallels with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Around three million people aged between 65 and 69 will start to be sent letters, meaning that some areas may be able to offer vaccines to those below the age of 70 before February 15 - when the four most vulnerable groups should have been covered. The news suggests that the UK is on track to surpass its goal of offering jabs to all over-70s by mid-February. Some in Whitehall are reportedly hopeful that the whole adult population will be provided with doses by the beginning of May. However, other government sources said that could be too optimistic, telling MailOnline that supply constraints alone are likely to rule it out. It would require an average of around 500,000 doses to be administered every day for the next 12 weeks. DUBLIN, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Low-Power Geolocation Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Product, Service, Geolocation Tech (LPWAN, BLE, UWB, WiFi), Application, Industry, Patents, Funding, Customer Analysis - Analysis and Forecast, 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global low-power geolocation market is projected to grow from $24.88 billion in 2020 to $64.80 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.10% from 2020 to 2025. The growth in the low-power geolocation market is expected to be driven by the increasing adoption of low-power geolocation technology, rising demand for improved real-time location tracking system, and increasing measures for improving operational efficiency. Low-power geolocation has garnered the attention of all industry types, which include logistics and transportation, healthcare, power utilities and oil and gas, agriculture, consumer electronics, and others to increase their operational productivity and work efficiency. Catering to logistics and transportation industry, a low-power geolocation solution collects the real-time temperature and vibration data through proximity sensors to track the shipment progress, thereby ensuring no damage being caused to the sensitive devices. Another critical application of geolocation solution in the logistics industry is the monitoring of warehouse infrastructure and distribution centers through long-range wireless connectivity, when implemented at the premises, allows optimized space utilization at its warehouse units. With the evolution of low-power geolocation solutions in the healthcare industry, the doctors can keep track of the patients through the patients' health information and disease indications, which are used as the primary data source for analyzing the health of any patient. Low-power geolocation solution using artificial intelligence helps the doctors and surgeons in predicting the emergency condition of patients such as cardiopulmonary and respiratory arrest by real-time monitoring of the patient's health. Therefore, the doctors can take precautionary measures before the conditions get worse, thereby assisting in proper treatment procedures for the patients. Impact of COVID-19 on Global Low-Power Geolocation Market In the initial months of 2020, majorly all industries and business organizations across the world were affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which created nationwide lockdowns, resulting in a majority of the industries and commercial facilities to shut down their production and operational activities. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in restricted movements with minimum human involvement. With such restrictions in place, there is an urgent requirement of a technology that can automatically track the shipments of essential commodities, so that it gets delivered at the desired location on time. As a result of the closure of facilities and industries, the requirement for tracking the industrial assets has been essential. At times of lockdown, these systems have helped the industries to monitor the assets in real-time operating remotely due to unavailability of the workforce. On the contrary, the supply chain of equipment required for the operation of low-power geolocation got affected, owing to which the growth of the low-power geolocation market is also expected to experience a downfall in the particular year. Competitive Landscape The competitive landscape of the low-power geolocation market consists of different strategies undertaken by major players across the industry to gain market presence. Some of the strategies adopted by the low-power geolocation providers are partnerships, and collaborations, new product launches, and business expansions. Among all the strategies adopted, partnerships and collaborations have been the most prominent strategy adopted by the low power geolocation providers. Most of the low-power geolocation providers have numerous tie-ups with various communication solution providers and other technology providers. The industry landscape is quite competitive because of the market dominance of the few players in the market. Therefore, innovation and development have been the key factors for large scale growth in this market. The low-power geolocation providers are entering into strategic partnerships and expanding their businesses to increase their customer base and their overall global footprint. Regional Market Dynamics The low-power geolocation market holds a prominent share in various countries of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Japan, and the Middle East and Africa. North America is at the forefront of the global low power geolocation market, with a high market penetration rate in the U.S., Canada, and others, which are expected to display robust market growth in the coming five years. During the forecast period, the Asia-Pacific and Japan region is expected to flourish as one of the most lucrative markets for low-power geolocation. The Asia-Pacific and Japan region is expected to exhibit significant growth opportunities for low-power geolocation due to the increasing digitization, which has led to increased adoption of low-power geolocation in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and India, thereby increasing the adoption of low-power geolocation across organizations. Business Dynamics Business Drivers Increasing Need for Fleet Management Across Industries Rising Demand for Improved Real-Time Location Tracking System Increasing Necessity of Improving Operational Efficiency Business Challenges High Cost of Deployment Privacy and Security Risk Business Opportunities Arising Adoption of LPWAN Protocol for Asset Tracking Introduction of Next-Generation Device Trackers Adoption of 5G Across Industries Business Strategies Product Development and Innovation Market Developments Corporate Strategies Mergers and Acquisitions Partnerships, Collaborations, and Joint Ventures Industry Outlook Investment and Funding Landscape Patents Analysis Patent Analysis (by Status) Patent Analysis (by Company) Patent Analysis (by Low-Power Geolocation Offering) Stakeholders Analysis Low-Power Geolocation Impact Matrix and Analysis Impact of Low-Power Geolocation Contribution to Low-Power Geolocation Investable Opportunity Associations and Consortiums Use Cases of Low-Power Geolocation Quality Management Cattle Monitoring Workforce Management Production Optimization Standards and Protocols Zigbee PROFINET Wi-Fi LoRaWAN Thread Customer Analysis and Segmentation Key Customer Problem Statements Key Customer Segments Logistics and Transportation Power Utilities and Oil and Gas Healthcare Consumer Electronics Agriculture Competitive Benchmarking & Company Profiles Actility S.A. Sigfox S.A. Cisco Systems Inc. STMicroelectronics N.V. Hoopo Semtech Corporation Senet, Inc. Nestwave SAS Kerlink S.A. Favendo GmbH Carius TECH spol. s.r.o (Chipfox) Digital Matter Zozio Tracktio Ubiscale SAS SAGEMCOM For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5238095/low-power-geolocation-market-a-global-and?utm_source=CI&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=jq9d77&utm_campaign=1495448+-+Global+Low-Power+Geolocation+(LPWAN%2c+BLE%2c+UWB%2c+WiFi)+Market+to+2025%3a+Arising+Adoption+of+LPWAN+Protocol+for+Asset+Tracking+%26+Rising+Demand+for+Improved+Real-Time+Location+Tracking+System&utm_exec=chdo54prd 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: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com She has extended her break in Mexico after explaining to her followers it is 'first and foremost a work trip'. And Chloe Sims sent her followers green with envy on Wednesday as she posted a sizzling swimsuit snap while sunbathing on the beach in Tulum. The TOWIE star, 38, managed to find time in amongst her hectic schedule to lap up the sunshine in the plunging one-piece which teased a hint of her surgically-enhanced cleavage. Cheeky display: Chloe Sims sent her followers green with envy on Wednesday as she posted a sizzling swimsuit snap while sunbathing on the beach in Tulum The reality star donned a straw fedora hat and a glamorous make-up look as she took shelter from the heat of the sun under a cabana. She captioned the post: 'SOME THINGS ARE NOT IN WORDS'. It comes after Chloe revealed she had extended her 'work trip' to Mexico, with the television personality staying at a luxury hotel with her teenage daughter Madison and cousin Frankie Essex. Working hard: It comes after Chloe revealed she had extended her 'work trip' to Mexico amid the furore of influencers jetting abroad while the nation is in lockdown Chloe's sister Demi Sims has also jetted to the country to be with her new girlfriend Francesca Farago, who even flew her dog over. Celebrities and influencers have been flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it establishes itself as the latest COVID getaway destination. The country, which is not yet on the UK's travel red-list, appears to be the new destination of choice for global jet-setters and could rocket in popularity after travel from influencer magnet Dubai was banned on Friday. Lapping up the sun: Celebrities like Chloe have been flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it establishes itself as the latest COVID getaway destination Popstar Dua Lipa, and model Lottie Moss are among those that have been pictured in the Central American country in recent weeks. Travel abroad is now banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced last week, as she criticised influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world'. While not on the UK's travel red-list, Mexico has been one of world's counties hardest hit by the coronavirus. The country recorded 18,670 newly confirmed coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total to 1.84 million, although testing has been limited - as has its vaccination rollout. Travelling abroad has been banned from the UK unless an individual has been legally permitted to do so, with the Government explicitly saying that 'travel abroad for holidays and other leisure purposes' is illegal. In addition, people coming from countries on the UK's 'red-list' have been banned from entry, except for British and Irish nationals who are required to self-isolate in government-provided accommodation for 10 days upon their return. Actress Rania Yassin, daughter of the renowned late Egyptian actor Mahmoud Yassin, revealed on her Facebook page on Tuesday that her father was included in the culture ministry's 'Lived Here' initiative. The initiative aims to commemorate names of renowned figures by placing signs on the building where they lived. 'Lived Here', which has already installed almost 500 signs since its launch in 2020, is implemented in cooperation with the National Organisation for Urban Harmony. In her Facebook post, Rania Yassin thanked all the authorities involved in placing the sign commemorating her father, such as the Council of Ministers, the Information and Decision Support Center, the National Authority for Civil Coordination, and the Ministry of Culture. Mahmoud Yassin was born on 2 June 1941 and died on 14 October 2020. Prior to his graduation from the Faculty of Law at Cairo University (1964), he joined the National Theatre in 1963, where he was first a narrator of several plays, before acting in dozens of plays on stage. He was served as the director of the theatre in the 1970s. From the National Theatre, Yassin embarked on an illustrious film career. He starred in tens of movies, plays, and radio and TV series, dominating the lead role for most of the 1970s and 1980s. Yassin became one of the most popular romantic film stars, starring in films such as Al-Khayt Al-Rafia (The Thin Line), Hob Wa Kibriya (Love and Pride), and Al-Rosasa La Tazal Fi Gayby (The Bullet is Still in my Pocket). While beloved for portraying romantic characters, Yassin did not shy away from dramatic and psychological roles. In the 1990s, Yassin shifted his career to television, starring in series like Abu Hanifa Al-Noa'man, Did Al-Tayyar (Against the Current), and Souq Al-A'sr (Afternoon Market). His memorable roles include Where is My Mind (1974); Mouths and Rabbits (1977); Ascent to the Abyss (1978); and A Nose and Three Eyes (1972). His key works on TV included The Whirlpool (1972); Cairo and the People (1972); and Tomorrow the Flowers Will Blossom (1984). He was the recipient of multiple awards for excellence throughout his career, including the Ismailia Festival Award and the Tashkent Festival Award in 1980, the Arabian Cinema Award in 1984, the Algiers Festival Award in 1988, and so many more. Yassin was an honorary president of the Cairo Radio and Television Festival in 1998. In 2005, he was chosen by the United Nations as a Goodwill Ambassador for the fight against poverty and hunger. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArtsand on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Short link: The court asked the French state to pay each of the four organisations that brought the action a symbolic euro each, a common practice in France (Michel Euler/AP) The French state failed to take sufficient action to fight climate change, a court has ruled in a case brought by a group of non-governmental organisations (NGO). The Paris administrative court, in its ruling, recognised ecological damage linked to climate change and held the French state responsible for failing to fully meet its goals in reducing greenhouse gases. President Emmanuel Macron, who has been vocal about his support for climate change action, pushed in December to beef up the European Unions 2030 targets to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 55% compared with 1990 levels up from the previous 40% target. Expand Close Vehicles in Paris during a pollution spike (Michel Euler/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vehicles in Paris during a pollution spike (Michel Euler/AP) But Oxfam France, Greenpeace France and two other organisations say Mr Macrons lobbying for global climate action is not backed up by sufficient domestic measures to curb emissions blamed for global warming. France is missing its national targets that had been set under the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb climate change, and the country has delayed most of its efforts until after 2020. The court ruled there was a link between ecological damage and deficiencies by the state in respecting its own goals. It decided that awarding money was not appropriate in this case. Instead, reparations should centre on fixing the failure to respect goals for lowering greenhouse gases. The four NGOs who brought the case called the decision a first historic victory for the climate as well as a victory for truth, saying that until now France had denied the insufficiency of its climate policies. Expand Close French president Emmanuel Macron has been vocal about his support for climate change action (Justin Tallis/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp French president Emmanuel Macron has been vocal about his support for climate change action (Justin Tallis/PA) The court gave itself two months to decide on measures to repair the problem and stop it from getting worse. But it did ask the French state to pay each of the four organisations bringing the action a symbolic euro each, a common practice in France. The government said in a statement that it took note of the decision, and provided a list of actions in the pipeline to allow France to respect in the future the objectives it set. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal went further, acknowledging that the country had fallen behind on its goals. Its perfectly fair to say that our country has been lagging behind these past years in the fight against climate change, he said. But he added that we are tackling these issues. Among other things, he cited 30 billion euro (26 billion) earmarked for greener energy policies. Up to 76 per cent of youth in Kampala Metropolitan area believe they are immune to Covid-19, a research report has revealed. A study done last year by Makerere University's Dr Florence Nansubuga in Kampala and Wakiso districts shows that while most of the youth had received enough sensitisation about the deadly disease, most believed that it could not infect them. "We found that majority of the youth (94 per cent) had sufficient knowledge about Covid-19 while more than 76 per cent believed that they were not susceptible to the coronavirus," the report that was released yesterday at Makerere University. The report is titled 'Wandering along the Covid-19 Corridors: Examining the Social Distancing Prevention Measure among the Restless Youth In Uganda.' A total of 298 youth participated in the study. However, evidence shows that Covid-19 affects both young and old people although severe cases are more in the latter. An earlier study titled "Demographic Characteristics of first 54 persons with Covid-19 Infection Admitted to Hospitals in Uganda" indicates that 67 per cent were aged 0 to 39 years . Dr Henry Kajumbula, the head of infection prevention and control on the Ministry of Health Scientific Advisory Committee, said although young people are at lower risk of becoming sick, they increase the risk of Covid-19 transmission to the vulnerable groups. Kampala Metropolitan area continues to contribute the highest number of infections. Dr Nansubuga said the major source of complacency among young people to observing social distancing is their negative attitude. "Among the youth, social distancing behaviour is perceived as a barrier rather than a benefit," she said. Dr Nansubuga urged health workers and other officials involved in Covid-19 response to focus on engaging the young people to find a common ground. "Information about Covid-19 pandemic has ignored the social practices, values and routine habits that influence the expected behaviour in the community," 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. COMMUNITY EVENTS CARNIVAL TREASURES: Friends of the Cabildo will present "Hidden Treasures of the Louisiana State Museum: Carnival Edition" on Zoom at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10. Wayne Phillips, curator of costumes and textiles for the Louisiana State Museum, will provide an in-depth, firsthand look at Carnivals of years past, with a recording available for those who cannot attend the live showing. The cost is $30, with discounts for members. To register, contact Jason Strada at the FOC office at (504) 523-3939 or visit www.friendsofthecabildo.org. URBAN LEAGUE OF LOUISIANA: Strategies for influencing policy decisions to help African American and other communities will be discussed during the free Empowerment and Policy Conference, organized by the Urban League of Louisiana and the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 26-27. Topics will include economic opportunity, health equity, criminal justice reform, voter education and engagement, and education equity. To register, visit urbanleaguela.org. LULING HYDRANT TESTING: The Luling Volunteer Fire Department has hired a third-party company to flush and test fire hydrants within its jurisdiction. Testing began Jan. 25 and takes two or three weeks to complete 22 hydrants per day. This test, required by the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, is vital in maintaining or possibly lowering current insurance premiums. To clear tap water left cloudy by the testing, run the water for three to five minutes. To report problems, call the EOC at (985) 783-5050. COALITION TO RESTORE COASTAL LOUISIANA: Cypress plantings to restore and sustain Louisiana wetlands are planned for Buras and Violet during the next few weeks. The Communities Restoring Urban Swamp Habitat. or CRUSH, project of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is organizing planting events on these dates: Friday, Feb. 5, at the Central Wetlands Unit in Violet Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Central Wetlands Unit in Violet. For information, visit crcl.org or call (225) 767-4181. 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 FUNDRAISERS METAIRIE HUMANE: A Pawdi-Gras pastalaya drive-thru dinner to benefit Metairie Humane will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 6 in the parking lot of the Ark Animal Hospital, 4211 Jefferson Highway. Plates of pastalaya, tossed green salad and bread will be available for $12. Desserts will be sold separately for $2 each, or six for $10. To reserve a plate, call (504) 458-0531. Payment can be made using Venmo to Jami Hirstius, or paid on the day of the event. Metairie is a no-kill, all-volunteer, nonprofit dog rescue group and shelter. MEETINGS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Vernon N. Landry Chapter 1398 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association will meet for lunch at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, in the Sicilian Room of Rocky and Carlos Restaurant, 613 St. Bernard Highway, Chalmette. Those at the meeting will practice social-distancing and wear masks. CLUB FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES: Children between ages 5 to 7 with physical disabilities, and their friends, will gather to learn, play and make friends when the Tricord Club meets from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Snoopy Classroom at Parkway Presbyterian Preschool, 6200 Camphor St., Metairie. This nonprofit club meets twice monthly and helps children and youth with mobility issues grow up to be confident, independent members of society who have ongoing friendships with their peers and God. Future meetings will be Feb. 27, March 13, March 27, April 17, April 24, May 8, May 22, June 5 and June 19. At each meeting, there will be a speaker, a service project and a nondenominational Bible study. To register, go to www.tricord.club or call (504) 473-7871. VIRTUAL CULINARY BOOK CLUB: "Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original" and "The Taste of Country Cooking" will be the topics when the virtual culinary book club of the New Orleans chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier International holds a Zoom meeting at 1 p.m. Feb. 20. The meeting will feature special guest Sara B. Franklin, the editor behind the anthology. Attendance is free, but a $5 donation is suggested to support the group. To register, visit www.facebook.com/lesdamesnola. Future topics include "Rebel Chef" by Dominique Crenn on March 20. Westpac has lost a High Court appeal over a breach of financial advice laws, after running a telephone campaign encouraging customers to roll over their superannuation savings into a bank-owned fund. The High Court on Wednesday dismissed Westpacs appeal over the long-running case, launched against the bank after it gained $650 million in extra funds under management through a call-out to customers that the bank claimed was a form of general financial advice. Westpac lost its appeal over a long-running case concerning a superannuation sales campaign. Credit:James Alcock The case against Westpac, launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), alleged the telephone sales campaign between 2013 and 2016 broke the law because customers were in fact given personal advice, which is required to be in the best interests of the customer. The Federal Court ruled unanimously against the bank in a 2019 decision, but Westpac challenged in the countrys highest court by arguing the advice was general in nature. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Credit: Shutterstock The independent review of Australia's main environment law, released last week, provided a sobering but accurate appraisal of a dire situation. The review was led by Professor Graeme Samuel and involved consultation with scientists, legal experts, industry and conservation organizations. Samuel's report concluded Australia's biodiversity is in decline and the law (the EPBC Act) "is not fit for current or future environmental challenges". The findings are no surprise to us. As ecologists, we've seen first hand how Australia's nature laws and governance failure have permitted environmental degradation and destruction to the point that species face extinction. Even then, continued damage is routinely permitted. And the findings aren't news to many other Australians, who have watched wildlife and iconic places such as Kakadu and Kosciuszko national parks, and the Great Barrier Reef, decline at rates that have only accelerated since the act was introduced in 1999. Even globally recognizable wildlife, such as the platypus, now face a future that's far from certain. To reverse Australia's appalling track record of protecting biodiversity, four major reforms recommended by Samuel must be implemented as a package. 1. Setting standards One of the many failings of Australia's environmental laws is there has never been a point beyond which no further impacts are acceptable. The government almost never says "enough!", whether it's undermining wetlands for a new mine, or clearing woodlands for agriculture. Species continue to suffer death by a thousand cuts. For example, the original distribution of the endangered southern black-throated finch of southern and central Queensland has shrunk to less than 10% due to land clearing and habitat degradation. Yet, further clearing was approved for coal mines, housing developments and sugar cane farms. Land clearing and cattle grazing are among the threats black-throated finches face. Credit: Stephanie Todd, Author provided Biodiversity offsets, which aim to compensate for environmental damage by improving nature elsewhere, have for the most part been dreadfully ineffective. Instead they have been a tool to facilitate biodiversity loss. The centerpiece of Samuel's report are proposed new National Environmental Standards. These would provide clear grounds for drawing a line in the sand on environmental damage. Legal, rigorous enforcement of these standards could turn around Australia's centuries-long record of destroying its natural heritage, and curb Australia's appalling extinction ratewhile also providing clarity and certainty for business. Vital features of the standards Samuel recommends include: avoiding impacts on the critical habitat of threatened species avoiding impacts that could reduce the abundance of threatened species with already small and declining populations no net reduction in the population size of critically endangered and endangered species cumulative impacts must be explicitly considered for threatened species and communities offsets can only be used as a last resort, not as a routine part of business like they are at the moment. Under the proposed National Environmental Standards, any new developments would need to be in places where environmental damage is avoided from the outset, with offsets only available if they're ecologically feasible and effective. 2. Greater government accountability The federal environment minister can make decisions with little requirement to publicly justify them. In 2014, then environment minister Greg Hunt controversially approved an exemption to the EPBC Act for Western Australia's shark cull. This was despite evidence the cull wouldn't make people safer, would harm threatened species and would degrade marine ecosystems. Hunt could shirk the evidence, deny the impacts and make a politically expedient decision, with no mechanisms in place to call him to account. Tiger sharks and white sharks were targeted in the WA cull. Credit: Shutterstock Samuel's report states the minister can make decisions that aren't consistent with the National Environmental Standardsbut only as a "rare exception." He says these exceptions must be "demonstrably justified in the public interest," and this justification must be published. We think this epitomizes democracy. Ministers can make decisions, but they must be open to public and robust scrutiny and explain how their decisions might affect environments and species. Improved accountability will be one of the many benefits of Samuel's proposed independent Environment Assurance Commissioner, which would be backed up by an Office of Compliance and Enforcement. Samuel says these must be free from political interference. These are absolutely critical aspects of the reforms. Standards that aren't audited or enforced are as worthless as an unfunded recovery plan. 3. Decent funding Samuel urges improved resourcing because to date, funding to protect species and the environment has been grossly inadequate. For example, experts recently concluded up to 11 reptile species are at risk of extinction in the next 50 years in Australia, and limited funding is a key barrier to taking action. And it has been proven time and again that lack of action due to under-resourcing leads to extinction. The recent extinction of the Christmas Island forest skink, the Christmas Island pipistrelle, and the Bramble Cay melomys were all attributable, in large part, to limited funding, both in the administration of the threatened species listing process, and in delivering urgent on-ground action. We need only look to the COVID pandemic to know when faced with emergencies, the government can rapidly deploy substantial sums of money for urgent interventions. And we are well and truly in an environmental emergency. Spending to care for the environment is not a cost that delivers no return. It's an investment that delivers substantial benefits, from creating jobs to cleaner water and healthier people. Victorias grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla) is one of 11 reptile species identified as at risk of extinction. Credit: Michael Mulvaney/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4. Increase ecological knowledge Engaging experts is key to achieving Samuel's long-overdue proposed reforms. He calls for the immediate creation of expert committees on sustainable development, Indigenous participation, conservation science, heritage, and water resources. This will help support the best available data collection to underpin important decisions. Ultimately, though, much more investment in building ecological knowledge is required. Australia has more than 1,900 listed threatened species and ecological communities, and most don't even have active recovery plans. Ecologists will need to collect, analyze and interpret new, up-to-date data to make biodiversity conservation laws operational for most threatened species. For example, while we know logging and fires threaten greater gliders, there's still no recovery plan for this iconic forest possum. And recent research suggests there are actually threenot simply onespecies of greater glider. Suspected interactions between climate change, fire and logging, and unexplained severe population declines, means significant new effort must be invested to set out a clear plan for their recovery. Samuel recommends Regional Recovery Plans be adequately funded to help develop some knowledge. But we suggest substantial new environmental capacity is needed, including new ecological research positions, increased environmental monitoring infrastructure, and appropriate funding of recovery plans, to ensure enough knowledge supports decision making. Cherry picking recommendations condemns our species Samuel's report has provided a path forward that could make a substantial difference to Australia's shocking track record of biodiversity conservation and land stewardship. But Environment Minister Sussan Ley's response so far suggests the Morrison government plans to cherry pick from Samuel's recommendations, and rush through changes without appropriate safeguards. If the changes we outlined above aren't implemented as a package, our precious natural heritage will continue to decline. Explore further 5 ways to improve theplan to protect Australia's threatened wildlife This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Were bringing our live coverage to a close for today. Thank you for joining us, please stay safe. For the latest emergency information, visit emergency.wa.gov.au, call 13 DFES (13 3337), follow DFES on Twitter: twitter.com/dfes_wa, or Facebook: facebook.com/dfeswa. There is also a video from Parks and Wildlife Service deputy incident controller Greg Mair from with a community meeting update for the Wooroloo bushfire below. DFES advises if you are in the area of Wilson Road and Chittering Road in Bullsbrook, enact your bushfire plan now. People in or around Clenton Road and Berry Road, Gidgegannup and Shady Hills Estate and East Bullsbrook are in the immediate danger area and it is too late to leave. You must shelter in place, or if you are prepared you must actively defend. Among todays headlines: Since the harvested heart had to be transplanted to a recipients body in two hours, the best resources had to be put in place The 21-kilometre distance crossing 16 stations was covered in less than 30 minutes and with minimal disruption to traffic along the route. By arrangement Hyderabad: To transport a donor organ from a hospital in LB Nagar in the suburbs to another one at Jubilee Hills, officials used the Hyderabad Metro Rail for the first time ever on Tuesday. As per an arrangement, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited ran a special service to transport the heart of a 45-year-old brain dead patient that was harvested at the Kamineni Hospital and rushed to the Apollo Hospital. A heart organ transplant team from Apollo Hospital came to Kamineni to examine the condition of the heart and carry out the mandatory procedures along with Jeevandan officers. Since the harvested heart had to be transplanted to a recipients body in two hours, the best resources had to be put in place to quickly transport the donated organ. Afer harvesting the heart, the team led by Dr A.G.K. Gokhale travelled by road from the Kamineni Hospital to the Nagole Metro Rail station, where a green channel had been created. From there, they took the special service, which ran non-stop, to the Jubilee Hills Checkpost station, from where they rushed to Apollo Hospitals via another green channel. The only passengers on this service were the doctors and the heart. The heart was harvested at 3.30 pm and by 4 pm it was at Apollo Hospitals. The 21-kilometre distance crossing 16 stations was covered in less than 30 minutes and with minimal disruption to traffic along the route. The average speed of the train was 40 km per per hour. Metro Rail authorities had kept all their stations on guard through the public announcement system of the movement of special train. K.V.B. Reddy, managing director of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited, said, I must thank both Kamineni and Apollo Hospitals for reahing out to us with this request. We have taken all safety measures during the transportation. 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. New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, who is known for candid and forthright views, has now taken a dig at his own party over rising fuel prices. Expressing displeasure on fuel prices a day after the Union Budget 2021, the firebrand BJP MP compared fuel prices in India with that of Nepal and Sri Lanka while invoking characters from Ramayan. "Petrol Rs 93 in Rams India, Rs 53 in Sitas Nepal and Rs 51 in Ravans Lanka," the BJP leader tweeted. Swamy who is known for no-nonsense approach when it comes to expressing his views, is apparently not happy with the rising petroleum prices in the country. Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices in the metro cities remained unchanged for the sixth consecutive day. In Delhi and Mumbai, the petrol prices are at Rs 86.30 and Rs 92.86 per litre respectively. Diesel, on the other hand, was steady at Rs 76.48 per litre in the national capital and Rs 83.30 per litre respectively, the highest among all four metros. Earlier on Monday, the government had ruled out the possibility of a hike in fuel prices after the imposition of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess in the Budget presented yesterday. There will be no increase in petrol and diesel prices. There will be no additional burden on people. The cess has been imposed to re-constitute the taxes. The government has reduced excise, and has started new agricultural cess, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said. Live TV AS the white pirogue drifted in the waters just off Belle Garden in Tobago early yesterday morning, fishermen working nearby knew something was wrong. What they saw in the small vessel stunned them. Fourteen bodies, all of them male, along with a skull and other skeletal remains, were piled inside the vessel as it floated four miles off Belle Garden, police confirmed. The bodies were all clad in tracksuits and green rain jackets and were severely decomposed, police investigators said. Revoking of countervailing duty (CVD) and (ADD) on stainless steel products would give a free hand in dumping cheap imports to the country, industry officials said on Wednesday. In the Union Budget for FY22, Finance Minister announced revoking of countervailing duty on imports of flat products of stainless steel, originating in or exported from Indonesia. The problem stainless steel industry faces is that it is mistaken to be part of the steel industry. It is not. It is a separate industry, which is facing dumping from already since 2017. This move by the government will only give it a free hand to dump in the country via Indonesia, K K Pahuja, president of Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), told Business Standard. All steel is iron based, but stainless steel contains chromium at 10 per cent or more by weight. While steel is susceptible to rust, stainless steel is rust resistant. Due to this, stainless steel finds application in areas of high corrosion where steel cannot survive. With demand expected to be strong due to thrust on infrastructure projects, traders are expected to stock up cheap imports creating huge inventories in the coming months ahead of an anticipated demand boom in the sector, said a senior official of a large stainless steel producing company. State-owned (SAIL), and Jindal Stainless among others are some of the players of the stainless steel industry. has 7-8 times of stainless steel capacity of India. By revoking the duty, it makes matters only worse for the domestic market. We will be making representations to the government to undo this. It is a disaster, explained Pahuja. However, not all action taken for the iron and steel industry in the Budget has been unfriendly. The reduction of customs duty on steel scrap by 2.5 per cent to nil augurs well for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). "Reduction of customs duty on scrap will help bring the cost of imported raw material down by around Rs 500 to Rs 600 per metric tonne which will be further beneficial for the MSME industry and reduce their production cost of steel by around 1.5 per cent. This will help strengthen the MSME industry to better compete in the domestic market as well as and provide the opportunity to enhance their market share in the country," said Satish Kumar Agarwal, chairman and managing director at Kamdhenu Group. Kamdhenu is largely in TMT bars, which find wide application in construction and infrastructure projects. The Rajasthan-based company is also into structural and colour coated steel. Meanwhile, a reduction of customs duty to 7.5 per cent on semis, flat, and long products of non-alloy, alloy, and stainless steels has no impact on both steel as well as stainless industry. For stainless steel, the duty was already at 7.5 per cent and hence there is no impact of the same, said stainless steel industry experts. "Exemption of duty on steel scrap and reduction of customs duty on steel products would benefit the MSME sector. However, the reduction of customs duty on steel products will have no significant impact on the steel industry as most of the steel imported into the country today comes from countries with whom we have an FTA (Free Trade Agreement) and hence they enjoy zero import duty," said T V Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director at Maryland County Following protest by women thru the streets of Harper City, Maryland County, demanding justice for the recent posting of nude pictures of a female student of the Tubman University in the county, the chairperson of the campus-based Student Unification Alliance has condemned the act. Protesting women carried placards early Thursday morning, January 28, 2021 along the streets and later moved to the Harper Police Station, where they demanded the living body of the alleged suspect, noting the alleged act has publicly disgraced womanhood. The women's protest followed Police arrest of suspect Raymond PK Bardio, Jr, a son of a prayer woman in PleeboSodoken District. Suspect Bardio has been charged and sent to court in Maryland County for allegedly posting the nude pictures on social media. The 23 years old suspect is a resident of Pleebo, Maryland Electoral district#2 and a well-knownfacebooker under the pseudonym, Pretty-boy Raymond (HOPE Bardio). Chairman JashusMusu said it is saddened to have watched the disheartening videos of the female student on social media. He noted that the devilish act performed by the suspect is evil and must be brought to justice to avoid a recurrence. According to him, for days now the social media has been saturated with the exposure of womanhood, something that's forbidden, and also an act that warrants life imprisonment and traditional punishment. "I know the psychological disorder it might taken on the victim, trauma reposed in her cerebellum right now, she can't stand the fist of the way it went; the victim is seriously undergoing an uncontrollable trauma, a situation she'll for ever remember in her life", he said. Chairperson Musu noted that any man who knows and understands the primary objective for which God created woman will never in his rational mind go that far even if a woman gives him an opportunity to have a view of her private [parts] pride. He said it's yet to believe if this act was actually demonstrated in the right minds either by the victim or the suspect. Musu lamented that it's worrisome to see womanhood disgraced in such manner and worse of all, even females have had the bravery to share the nude pictures with males as a means of joviality without shame. "Our sisters who found it pleasurable in sharing those abominable things (nude) should recollect and think, and it's never the way to go as humans of the same gender", he added. The SUA boss wants such awful behavior abolished, calling on Marylanders to rise up against social injustice by exposing perpetrators. Justice is the tool that will contain such bad act, justice is the only guiding principles against the perpetrator, justice is the only waymaker now we beseech. Our sisters, aunties and mothers' pride must be respected by all. Whatever way we may think of doing bad things, our womanhood should reign as a prestigious thing to be respected and hailed, he said. "God's creation of woman was a great ideal to foster partnership between a man and a woman, noting the Bible spoke uniquely how man's rib bone was taken from him while asleep, and that proves the importance of a woman, as such we should all uphold that as a moral principle." At the same time, Musu warned women to be careful and uphold their integrity. He said women should now prioritize material things and sell their pride, saying if you do such, no loving and caring man will ever respect your dignity. According to sources, suspect Bardio's arrest was executed after a tipoff by close colleagues, who have been following many of his posts on the social media in the district. Speaking to this paper over the weekend, some of the aggrieved women disclosed that suspect Bardio, Jr had allegedly created a page with the name Deng De Bos. They explained that suspect Bardio used the alleged page to communicate with the victim whose nude pictures were posted on the social media. Although the victim herself hasn't spoken publicly concerning this worrisome and shameless act, but close family sources confirmed she and the suspect had communicated on social media. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Legal Affairs Education By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The family sources continued that the victim has in her possession other confidential communications that she had with Deng De Bos on Messenger, including her nude pictures that were posted on the internet. Though the sources didn't explain what exactly might have caused the victim to send her nude pictures to suspect Bardio, they said the nude pictures seen on social media have shocked the victim, as her situation has been widely discussed in the County, prompting them as family among the angry women to seek speedy trial, maintain that they won't rest until justice prevails in the matter. "We as women, we can't sit and see our colleague going through this life time stigma and worry", they said. "If justice can't be served then we as women of Maryland County will take the law into our own hands because the suspect is a child, and he was born by a woman, so he needs not to treat a woman in such manner", they stressed. King of the sequel. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images Presidential impeachment trials were once historic rarities. Those who impeached Bill Clinton had to look back over a century to hoary precedents from Andrew Johnsons trial. Even the first impeachment of Donald Trump required members to look back to what now seems like a distant era of comparative bipartisan comity and consensus of the Clinton impeachment. For Trumps second impeachment trial, which begins on February 8, very little historical research is needed the same defendant will be on trial in the Senate. The nine House managers prosecuting the case today were all in office for the last trial only one year ago, and several were on the judiciary and intelligence committees that investigated Trump for abusing his powers by holding up U.S. aid for Ukraine as a quid pro quo for Kiev to launch an investigation into the Bidens. The jury will be almost entirely the same: 90 of the 100 senators were in office for the first Trump trial. Two of the House managers from the first Trump impeachment, Jason Crow and Zoe Lofgren, told Intelligencer about what it was like to try to prosecute Trump before the Senate and to try to persuade Republican senators to convict the leader of their party. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two trials is, as Crow noted, that the senators are not just the jurors but they are also the victims of the crime and the trial is going to be held at the crime scene. Unlike the first trial, which involved trying to prove that Trump extorted the Ukrainian government, there isnt a need to establish the basic fact of the Capitol riot he incited on January 6. I dont think we need to spend a lot of time talking about what happened because we were all there, said Crow, a combat veteran who helped fellow lawmakers escape the mob from the House gallery. But whats really important is to provide context for how we got there, how the president incited this and brought about the mob that day, which is a story that goes back weeks and months prior to the events of that day. Lofgren, who served as a House Judiciary Committee staffer during the impeachment investigation surrounding Watergate and was a member of the committee during the Clinton impeachment, noted that this was a much different case than the past impeachments because so much of it was in the open. He incited a mob to go overturn the constitutional process, said Lofgren. Its on tape, the tweets are out there. The challenge for this trials managers is how can they persuade the 17 Republicans necessary to join with the 50 Democrats in the Senate and convict Trump. On a procedural vote earlier last week, 45 Republican senators potentially signaled opposition to the trial moving forward, representing a return to a more partisan view of Trumps conduct than the near-universal condemnation in the immediate aftermath of the assault on the Capitol. Youre speaking to the senators as jurors, Lofgren said, but youre also aware that the public in the United States and around the world is looking at what youre saying and making judgments. Lofgren added that public opinion influences the senators. There is a feedback loop to the extent the American public reaches a conclusion and communicates that to their employees, the Senate, and it could theoretically have an impact on what senators do. However, Lofgren noted that the House managers will still have to play to the individual senators just as a lawyer would try to appeal to specific jurors in the courtroom. I tried to engage senators, not the same ones every time but to pick up clues of how they were reacting, who they were paying attention to, and what seemed to draw their attention the most, she said. I think if you were presenting a case in court youd do the same thing with jurors but obviously this is very different because it is a political process and not a strictly legal one. Lofgren also said that she would talk to senators during breaks on the trial. I would always hang around not to lobby senators because that would be inappropriate but we had a couple of bills we passed, I figured Im here on the floor, I can ask them about the Farm Worker Modernization Act. She noted while I was doing it several Republican members told me they thought I had done a good job and they appreciated how I presented the case. I thought that was very courteous of them. The trial, though, wasnt just what happened inside the Senate chamber: It included extensive preparation, and Crow noted that in some ways it was similar to a regular trial. You have a war room and everyones crammed late into the night, early in the morning preparing speeches, reviewing documents and when we would do it all sit in the same conference room around the same table writing remarks, preparing for the next day, shooting ideas across to one of another. But all that preparation could also be for naught as new information about the riot arrives. Crow said that during the first trial there were new facts coming out on a daily basis, ranging from the allegations of Ambassador John Bolton to relevant documents literally being released while we were sitting on the Senate floor. Crow recalled one instance where a tranche of documents was released in response to a FOIA request and we printed them out that day, I took them out to the floor that evening and talked about them within a couple of hours of being released. Crow thought the same thing will happen in this trial as well because investigations are ongoing were getting new facts and information every day. There will be no overlap between the managers from the first Trump impeachment and the second one. However, Crow, in particular, said hed been talking to several of the new managers about his experience, citing Diana DeGette and Joe Neguse as well as lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin by name. Looking back at her experience in the first trial, Lofgren was left only with the regret that the senators did not convict Trump then, noting that even without being allowed to call witnesses, there were Republicans who told her that they proved their case. I regret that they didnt convict then because they would have saved the country a lot of trauma from what he did in the year since they failed to convict. It was just more of the same, only worse. She added, It was quite predictable. Pipeline 3 February 2021 Located on Mahe's Anse a la Mouche beach, famed for its calm and shallow waters, this resort is set to bring a new sense of vibrancy to the oceanfront community. Significant investment is going into developing the facilities of the surrounding beach, including a boutique shopping village. The resort will offer 120 locally inspired guestrooms and space to accommodate more intimate meetings and events. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 10:25:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Hong Kong's newly issued stamps, staying true to tradition, are based on artefacts modelled after the year's zodiac animal to bring festive joy. (Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Post) HONG KONG/MACAO/SYDNEY, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Post offices have released new sets of stamps to welcome the Year of the Ox, which is great news for stamp lovers. Lunar New Year is the most important Chinese festivity that follows a 12-year cycle with each year associated with one zodiac sign of an animal. This latest issue by the Hong Kong Post comprises four stamps, a stamp sheetlet and a silk stamp sheetlet. (Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Post) A man shows his stamps bought at the Macao Post on Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) The Macao Post issues its new series of stamps to mark the Year of the Ox, Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) People purchase stamps at the Macao Post on Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) People purchase stamps at the Macao Post on Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) A man purchases the newly issued stamps at the Macao Post on Jan. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) A woman shows her commemorative coins and stamps at a post office in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei) CENTER VALLEY, Pa., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympus announced today that it supports the finalized guidance recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicating that laparoscopic power morcellation in gynecological procedures must be conducted with an approved containment device. The final FDA Guidance on Power Morcellator labeling requires that all power morcellators currently marketed in the U.S. will require revisions to contraindications and indications for use such that the morcellator be used only with a compatible, FDA-cleared containment device. Currently, Olympus is the only company with such a containment device. "Physicians now have a clear and safe choice for their patients. The use of an FDA-approved containment system allows the safe use of power morcellation in appropriate patients," said Dr. Jubilee Brown, Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at Atrium Health. "Fortunately, since there is a containment system with a proven track record,i eligible patients can undergo minimally invasive surgery and be more likely to avoid the risks of open surgery."ii, iii Indications for use have also been clarified to reflect those women who can be appropriately treated using contained morcellation. This modification removes ambiguous language related to women with fibroids who are of "peri-menopausal status" to "women with fibroids who are pre-menopausal and under age 50," a change supported by data to support higher risk of occult fibroid cancers in the older of those age brackets. The FDA continues to advise that power morcellation should not be used in post-menopausal women or with any women with a known or suspected malignancy. In addition, final label modifications also recommend information on labeling that uncontained morcellation can spread benign tissue, which can potentially result in repeat surgeries. The previously issued Safety Guidance was also updated to reflect these modifications. From the time of the PneumoLiner's DeNovo clearance in 2016, Olympus has sold its PK Morcellator only together with the containment system. In addition, Olympus has made the PneumoLiner available to physicians choosing an alternate to the Olympus morcellator, provided there was device compatibility. Olympus has also supported the elimination of the term "peri-menopausal," based on feedback from physicians that the term was too broad to determine patient eligibility. In addition, as has now been acknowledged by the FDA, Olympus has long held that containment is a useful means of reducing the spread of benign tissue into the abdominal cavity, in which pathologies (like fibroids) may regrow when tissue or cells are inadvertently left behind, potentially resulting in further surgeries for these patients. A recent study examining the impact from the FDA's original warning regarding morcellation in 2014 found that hospitals that had banned morcellation after FDA warnings -- wherein doctors who once performed high volumes of minimally invasive laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy were forced to perform open hysterectomy were seeing the complication risk increase when cases shifted considerably toward open abdominal hysterectomy.iv "This move by the FDA, based on the published data pertaining to morcellation and including new requirements to pre-screen patients and use appropriate patient selection, means that many more women will benefit from a minimally invasive approach to surgery," said Manisha Shah-Bugaj, Vice President, General Manager, Global Gynecology, Olympus Corporation of the Americas. "The FDA has provided added protection by requiring contained morcellation as a risk mitigation approach." With the new guidance, Olympus will be updating its product labeling to reflect the FDA's guidance. Those interested in the Olympus Contained Tissue Extraction system or PneumoLiner should contact their Olympus sales representatives for more information or visit https://medical.olympusamerica.com/products/contained-tissue-extraction-system. About Olympus Medical Systems Group Olympus is passionate about the solutions it creates for the medical, life sciences, and industrial equipment industries. Olympus' Medical business uses innovative capabilities in medical technology, therapeutic intervention, and precision manufacturing to help healthcare professionals deliver diagnostic, therapeutic, and minimally invasive procedures to improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs, and enhance the quality of life for patients. Olympus' Medical portfolio includes endoscopes, laparoscopes, and video imaging systems, as well as surgical energy devices, system integration solutions, medical services, and a wide range of endotherapy instruments. For more information, visit www.medical.olympusamerica.com. About Advanced Surgical Concepts Advanced Surgical Concepts (ASC) works closely with surgeons and specialist clinicians to conceive of new approaches to performing surgeries. In so doing, ASC designs and develops new medical devices in order to standardize the methods by which particular surgeries or diagnostic procedures will be performed. For more information, visit ASC at http://www.advancedsurgical.ie/. i FDA allows marketing of first-of-kind tissue containment system for use with certain laparoscopic power morcellators in select patients. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-allows-marketing-first-kind-tissue-containment-system-use-certain-laparoscopic-power. Published April 7, 2016. ii An open letter to the FDA regarding the use of morcellation procedures for women having surgery for presumed uterine fibroids. AAGL. https://www.aagl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/open-letter-to-FDA-re-morcellation-with-cities.pdf. iii Siedhoff MT, Wheeler SB, Rutstein SE, Geller EJ, Doll KM, Wu JM, Clarke-Pearson DL. Laparoscopic hysterectomy with morcellation vs abdominal hysterectomy for presumed fibroid tumors in premenopausal women: a decision analysis. J Obstet Gynecol. 2015;212:591.e1-8 iv Xiao Xu, PhD, Vrunda B. Desai, MD, Jason D. Wright, MD, Haiqun Lin, MD, PhD, Peter E. Schwartz, MD Cary P. Gross, MD. Hospital Variation in Responses to Safety Warnings about Power Morcellation in Hysterectomy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. December 22, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2020.12.1207 SOURCE Olympus Medical Systems Group Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Plenary deliberations on the amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution will begin in the House of Representatives next week, after its passage in the constitutional amendments committee. House panel chair Alfredo Garbin said in a briefing on Wednesday that they are ready to submit the committee report on the proposed amendments to Resolution of Both Houses 2 to the Committee on Rules to schedule the plenary debates. The resolution was earlier filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. "Umaasa tayo by next week this will be in the plenary. Mahaba 'yung diskusyon doon, mabibigyan lahat ng pagkakatong magsalita," he said. [Translation: We are hoping that by next week, this will be in the plenary. Discussion will be long, but everyone will be given a chance to speak up.] A total of 64 lawmakers voted to adopt RBH 2 during a committee hearing on Tuesday. Three lawmakers opposed the measure while three abstained. RBH 2 seeks to insert the phrase "unless otherwise provided by law" in parts of the Constitution to lift restrictive provisions in certain areas such as national patrimony and economy; education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports; and general provisions of the charter. Lawmakers earlier said this was primarily aimed to boost the country's economy that has suffered a blow due to the pandemic. The committee agreed to exclude from the resolution the proposed amendment to Section 7 of Article 12 which would have allowed foreigners to own land in the country. RELATED: House committee adopts resolution on charter change No Plan B without Senate's support Meanwhile, Garbin admitted that they do not have a back-up plan in case the measure fails to hurdle the Senate plenary. He said both chambers have not yet agreed to meet and discuss the issue, but that the House leadership is hoping the Senate will give the needed measure a chance. Critics, including a number of Senators, have questioned the timing and the manner by which charter amendments are being pursued. They pointed out the move is ill-timed as government is still struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Under our Constitution, the process of proposing amendments to the Constitution would be by a constituent assembly, by a constitutional convention, or by peoples initiative. The Constitution cannot be amended by mere legislation, " Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, a vocal critic of the measure, said in an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday "If you want to liberalize the nationalistic provisions of the Constitution, you should be able to provide the parameters how long should be the equity, if there is any, or should we remove this specific requirement. But it should not be delegated to the Congress," he added. Garbin, meanwhile, stressed that the sentiments of Filipinos will be considered through a plebiscite to be held in 2022 in time for the elections, to also disprove speculation that they will touch on political amendments. CNN Philippines' Xianne Arcangel and Glee Jalea contributed to this report. Centre sets up 8-member panel to examine need for exempting GST on Covid essentials Centre says 162 doctors died Of COVID-19, medical body puts number at 734 India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 04: The Indian Medical Association has expressed shock at the central government stating in Rajya Sabha that 162 doctors died due to coronavirus in the country. It appealed that a high-power committee be constituted by the government to do a thorough study of the entire data of doctors who have died, and that all those who had died due to the disease will be honoured. Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had on Tuesday informed the Upper House of Parliament that COVID-19 has so far claimed the lives of 162 doctors, 107 nurses and 44 ASHA workers in the country. In a letter to Choubey, IMA president JA Jayalal stated that the Centre's (COVID-19 fatality) figures were contrary to the data released by the medical body, according to which 734 doctors lost their lives due to the disease, of which, 431 were general practitioners. Also, 25 doctors who died were below the age of 35, it said in the letter. Why vaccine is a must in fight against Coronavirus? Dr Randeep Guleria explains JA Jayalal, in his letter, also stated that doctors suffer a higher viral load and Case Fatality Ratio as a community. "They still choose to serve the nation in best traditions of the medical profession. The Government of India failed to acknowledge this fact and give due significance and recognition," the letter stated. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) also condemned the "apathy" of the government in verifying the data and "delaying disbursement of solatium for COVID-19 martyrs' families". "We are writing to you at this juncture to appropriately endorse the hard work and contribution by our doctors in flattening the COVID curve in India. We fervently appeal to you to expedite the process of giving solatium to families at the earliest possible time. "We appeal that a high-power committee should be constituted by the government to make a thorough study of the entire data of deceased doctors and all those who had succumbed shall be honoured," the letter added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, February 4, 2021, 0:50 [IST] Supermarkets kept the cost of in-house baked bread at Sh50, forcing bakers to reverse the recent Sh5 increase in the price of their loaves. Bakers had adjusted their price two weeks ago to sell at Sh55 for a 400 gramme loaf, while supermarkets maintained the cost of in-house baked bread at Sh50, with budget-sensitive consumers opting for the cheaper option. Most supermarkets in Nairobi bake their own bread, which they sell alongside the loaves from other bakers. Processors attributed the increase--the first in four years-- to high cost of wheat flour and other ingredients such as cooking oil. "The market has forced bakers to reduce the price as customers opted for cheaper bread as an alternative," said Bimal Shah, managing director of Broadway Group of Companies. Mr James Ng'ang'a, a shopkeeper in Nairobi's Shauri Moyo Estate, said he stopped stocking some of the price adjusted brands after customers refused to fork out more for bread, leaving him with huge unsold stocks. "Customers would settle for less known brands leaving the ones that they are used to because of the Sh5 increase," he said. "I was subjected to losses after being forced to sell at the wholesale price before the expiry date to salvage my costs. As such, I have stopped stocking these bread brands." The decision to reverse the prices has placed millers at a crossroads as they have to weigh options on their margins and turnover of their stocks in the wake of rising cost of wheat at the international market. A tonne of wheat has increased by 30 percent to Sh33,000 from Sh25,300 sparking a rally both on bakers and standard flour. The price is expected to rise further after Russia, which supplies the bulk of wheat to Kenya introduced a new tax on exports. Wheat millers want the government to abolish the 10 percent duty on wheat and return it to zero-rated VAT status in order to cushion consumers against the rising cost of international prices. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:24:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUSCAT, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Oman's health ministry will launch on Sunday a campaign targeting a new segment of society as part of its COVID-19 vaccination drive, the official Oman News Agency reported on Wednesday. The campaign targets people aged above 65 in all governorates of the sultanate, the ONA quoted a health ministry statement as saying. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 134,685, while the fatalities hit 1,532. Oman started its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Dec. 27, 2020. Enditem Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Funding for the programme comes from a series of innovative and practical fundraising activities organised by Generali Vietnam Funding for the programme comes from a series of innovative and practical fundraising activities organised by Generali Vietnam. In addition, many Generali Vietnams staff and agents also participated in the blood donation drive organised in January in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. At the doorstep of the Year of the Golden Ox, Generali Vietnam collaborated with the National Fund for Vietnamese Children to organise the Tet Am Cho Em programme, reaching out to Lao Cai, one of the most impacted provinces by the recent extreme and damaging cold spells in Northwest Vietnam. Specifically, volunteers from Generali Vietnam organised an outreach charity trip to visit and deliver gifts to 300 disadvantaged families of Hmong, Dao, Nung, Tay, and Phu La ethnicities in Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province. The programme aims to share the burden with the childrens families so they can enjoy a warm, fulfilling, and happy New Year. Each gift set includes cash, a warm jacket, necessities and a Sinh Con, Sinh Cha (Born Children, Born Parents) parenting booklet. Volunteers from Generali Vietnam and the National Fund for Vietnamese Children come to visit and directly present gifts to underprivileged families The programme attracted the participation of many Generali Vietnam staff and agents via various innovative fundraising activities such as contributing their footsteps via the GenVita digital health ecosystem, donating charity auction items, cash and warm clothes, as well as volunteering to support at the local event. In addition to Tet Am Cho Em, many staff and agents of Generali Vietnam also participated in the annual blood donation drive jointly organised by the company and Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, contributing to the blood bank to support medical treatment and life-saving activities. At Generali, our community activities are organised regularly with a sustainable and practical approach to positively contribute to the society, said Tina Nguyen, Generali Vietnam CEO. These programmes have always been wholeheartedly supported by our staff and agents. I am immensely proud of the spirit of philanthropy and the culture of giving that we have here at Generali. Generali CEO Tina Nguyen and Generali Vietnam staff contribute to the blood bank to support medical treatment and life-saving Generali Vietnam and CEO Tina Nguyen have recently been granted organisational and individual commendations from the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in recognition of their outstanding contributions to Vietnamese childrens well-being and protection in 2020, including the parenting education programme Sinh Con, Sinh Cha. Also in 2020, Generali Vietnam was awarded the Saigon Times CSR 2020 certification. Other notable community programmes organised by Generali in 2020 include Sat Canh Ben Mien Trung (Standing Side By Side with Central Vietnam) emergency relief plan and the longstanding scholarship programme Cung Em Den Truong (Your Companion to School) supporting underprivileged school children with good academic performance across the country. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Cho Doo-soon, one of Korea's most notorious sex offenders, leaves a probation center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 12, after being released from prison earlier in the day. / Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok By Jun Ji-hye The government of Ansan City has approved for Cho Doo-soon, one of Korea's most notorious child rapists, to receive money as part of the basic livelihood security program, enabling him to receive about 1.2 million won ($1,075) per month in welfare allowances, according to city officials, Tuesday. Cho, 68, applied for the welfare assistance program a few days after he returned to his home in the Gyeonggi provincial city, following his release from prison in December, claiming that he and his wife were suffering financial difficulties. The city government approved the application at the end of last month, with the first payment being made in the same month. Cho's application for welfare assistance has provoked anger from members of the public who said it was inappropriate to provide financial assistance to the sex criminal using taxpayers' money. "We could not reject the application, as the couple's conditions met legal standards," a city official said. City officials said Cho satisfied the conditions qualifying him for the government allowance, as he is over 65 years old and categorized as a senior citizen who is incapable of work. His wife is under 65, but has faced difficulties finding a job due to health problems, in addition to her "high-profile" husband. Since the news about Cho's application for welfare assistance was made known, several petitions have been posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, calling on the city government to deny support funds to the sex criminal who left his victim with permanent internal injuries. Among those, one petition posted on Jan. 8 by a person who introduced himself as "an ordinary man working for a company," has garnered support from more than 83,000 citizens as of Wednesday afternoon. "I have paid my taxes honestly, hoping for the country to take good care of its people. But I asked myself why I have to pay taxes when I learned of Cho's application for welfare assistance," the petitioner wrote. "I want to ask why we have to give living expenses to someone like this monster who spent years in prison and already wasted taxpayers' money there." Cho was released from prison on Dec. 12, after serving a 12-year term for kidnapping an eight-year-old girl and violently and repeatedly raped her in a church bathroom in Ansan in 2008. The victim sustained severe injuries including intestinal ruptures, leading to permanent physical damage. The latest COVID-19 patient in Hanoi had visited a cafe in the Bui Vien area in Ho Chi Minh City when he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the capitals Center for Disease Control said in a report on Tuesday night. The patient, 45-year-old N.A.S., is a notary who came into close contact with an infected patient at Notary Office No. 3 at 6 Duy Tan Street, Dich Vong Hau Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi on January 27, according to the centers epidemiological investigation. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. His test result was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday morning. Twenty-two people have been identified as his direct contacts at Notary Office No. 3, all of whom have tested negative once. S. took a Vietnam Airlines flight to Ho Chi Minh City at 6:30 am on January 29, he recounted in the epidemiological investigation. The man sat in a cafe in the Bui Vien area in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City from 9:00 am to 10:00 am but he claimed he could not remember its address. Bui Vien is a busy neighborhood where many foreigners lived before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Very few foreigners frequent it now as Vietnam has closed its borders to foreign visitors since March last year, only allowing entry to certain people like international experts and diplomats. The patient visited relatives at 5/20 on Truong Son Street in Tan Binh District at 11:00 am and stayed at theirs for 30 minutes, before walking to nearby Tan Son Nhat International Airport. He arrived in Hanoi at 9:00 pm on board a Bamboo Airways flight. He had also come into contact with multiple people in Hanoi, which has recorded 21 local infections since last week, prior to his diagnosis. Vietnam has documented 1,891 coronavirus cases, including 1,003 domestic infections, as of Wednesday morning, with 1,461 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. The country confirmed the first two local cases on January 28 after having gone nearly two months without any community-based infection. A total of 310 domestic infections have been logged in ten provinces and cities, since then, according to the health ministrys data. The majority of the domestically-transmitted cases were linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam. The country announced 84 local transmissions on Thursday, 62 on Friday, 61 on Saturday, 31 on Sunday, 32 on Monday, 31 on Tuesday, and nine on Wednesday morning. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Artist impression of an exoplanet. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO One of the properties that make a planet suitable for life is the presence of a weather system. Exoplanets are too far away to directly observe this, but astronomers can search for substances in the atmosphere that make a weather system possible. Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Groningen have now found evidence on exoplanet WASP-31b for chromium hydride, which at the corresponding temperature and pressure is on the boundary between liquid and gas. The study is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. While space probes scan the planets and moons around our Sun for extraterrestrial life, there are hundreds of billions of other stars in our galaxy, most of which probably also surrounded by planets. These so-called exoplanets are too far away to travel to, but we can study them with our telescopes. Although the spatial resolution is usually insufficient to make a picture of an exoplanet, astronomers can still get a lot of information from the fingerprints the atmosphere leaves behind in the light rays of the host star. From those fingerprintsso-called transmission spectraastronomers deduce which substances are in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. Those could one day give an indication of extraterrestrial life. Or they can show that there is a condition for life, such as a weather system. For the time being, however, this type of research is limited to giant planets close to their stars, so-called hot Jupiters. These planets are too hot to expect life, but they can already teach us a lot about how possible weather systems work. A research team from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Groningen has now found evidence for a substance at the boundary between liquid and gas. On Earth this is reminiscent of clouds and rain. First author Marrick Braam and his colleagues found evidence in Hubble data for chromium hydride (CrH) in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-31b. This is a hot Jupiter with a temperature of about 1,200 C in the twilight zone between day and nightthe place where starlight travels through the atmosphere towards Earth. And that happens to be around the temperature at which chromium hydride transitions from liquid to gas at the corresponding pressure in the outer layers of the planet, similar to the conditions for water on Earth. "Chromium hydride could play a role in a possible weather system on this planet, with clouds and rain," says Braam. It is the first time that chromium hydride is found on a hot Jupiter and therefore at the right pressure and temperature. Braam: "We should add that we only found chromium hydride using the Hubble space telescope. We did not see it in the data from the ground telescope VLT. There are logical explanations for this, but we therefore use the term evidence instead of proof." When Hubble's successorthe James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)is launched later this year, the team plans to use it for further investigation. "Hot Jupiters, including WASP-31b, always have the same side facing their host star," says co-author and SRON Exoplanets program leader Michiel Min. "We therefore expect a day side with chromium hydride in gaseous form and a night side with liquid chromium hydride. According to theoretical models, the large temperature difference creates strong winds. We want to confirm that with observations." Co-author Floris van der Tak (SRON/UG) says, "With JWST we are looking for chromium hydride on ten planets with different temperatures, to better understand how the weather systems on those planets depend on the temperature." Explore further Astronomers see unexpected molecule in exoplanet atmosphere More information: Marrick Braam, Floris F. S. van der Tak, Katy L. Chubb, and Michiel Min, 'Evidence for chromium hydride in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter WASP-31b', Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2021. Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics Marrick Braam, Floris F. S. van der Tak, Katy L. Chubb, and Michiel Min, 'Evidence for chromium hydride in the atmosphere of hot Jupiter WASP-31b',, 2021. Wednesday is scheduled to bring heavyweight updates from both sides of the Atlantic, while the macro diary is scheduled to see new PMI data from the UK and US service sectors The mid-point of the week will see pharma and telecoms dominate the UK corporate calendar with trading updates expected from both GlaxoSmithKline and Vodafone. There will also be yes on the US earnings season later in the day as numbers are expected from big hitters including music streaming giant ( ) and computer chip maker Qualcomm Inc ( ). Meanwhile, the macro calendar is scheduled to see PMI data from both the UK and US services sectors. Injection of results from GSK ( ) is releasing its fourth-quarter results mid-week where the market is eager to read an update on the COVID-19 vaccine developed with Sanofi. A new study will begin in February with a final trial in the second quarter and regulatory submissions in the third, so if it goes well it will be available later in 2021, though it will be months behind competitors /BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford/AstraZeneca. Analysts will also focus on the sales numbers, which will indicate how the FTSE 100 firms new drugs are helping to compensate for the loss of patent protection on older ones. The drugmaker previously said momentum has tailed off because lockdowns are limiting visits to doctors and hospitals. Earnings per share will also be eyed after the company said in October they would come in at the lower end of the forecast range of down 1-4%. Analysts at AJ Bell said guidance for 2021 will be very important considering consensus forecast is currently for pretty flat adjusted EPS at 116.4p. Finally, shareholders will want to hear on dividends, where an unchanged full-year payment of 80p per share is expected. GlaxoSmithKline shares are down by a quarter over the past year This seems odd when in light of the rush to defensive stocks as the pandemic broke just under a year ago and how GlaxoSmithKline is the worlds leading provider of vaccines: it has a 30% global market share and produces and distributes about two million vaccines a day worldwide for everything from meningitis to whooping cough and from hepatitis to flu, analysts at AJ Bell said. Possible reasons for the turgid share price performance include the companys recent pedestrian earnings and dividend growth profile, some lingering concerns among analysts about weak dividend cover, and also disappointment that the company seems slow off the mark in the race to beat COVID-19. Vodafone calls in with update Telecoms giant ( ) will issue a trading update on Wednesday, with analysts hoping the company will continue to see an improvement in top-line growth and maintain its guidance for the full year of earnings (EBITDA) of between 14.4-14.6bn. Analysts at UBS said they expect the companys service revenues to fall 0.14% in the third quarter, a reduction from the 1.3% and 0.4% declines in the first and second quarters respectively. Meanwhile, investors may be eyeing any updates from the company on the ongoing challenge by the government of India to Vodafones US$2bn tax rebate awarded to it by an independent tribunal in the Netherlands. Vodafone was awarded the payment in September when an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that Indias tax breached an investment treaty agreement between India and the Netherlands, however, an Indian official has said the South Asian country will challenge the ruling in Singapore. Significant announcements for Wednesday, February 3: Trading announcements: ( ), ( ) Interims: PLC ( ) Economic data: UK services PMI, US services PMI, US non-manufacturing PMI Mr Seoud who is widely known as Jimmy Vegas was a director and licensee of Surfers Paradise strip club Toybox Gentlemens Club owned by Mr Buckley, until they fell out dramatically in 2019 and their more than decade-long friendship also ended. Mr Seoud lost an unfair dismissal claim against Mr Buckley. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have chosen to publish excerpts from the recording because of the public interest in revealing allegations of domestic violence, death threats and potential involvement in criminal activity by a well-known and influential business figure. Im now quite distressed about whats going to be revealed. Jen, I could go to prison. Proceeds of crime Ill lose everything, Mr Buckley can be heard saying in the recording. This is so f---ing critical Ill probably have to hire someone to kill him ... OK, Ive already made those programs to do it, just in case ... Im not going to go spend the rest of my life in prison Id rather f---ing shoot him and kill him. Mr Buckley does not discuss the specifics of the alleged conduct he is concerned about. In an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court, Mr Buckley accuses Ms Cole of conspiring against him to obtain financial gain by distributing the recording. Credit:Instagram Ill be arrested, Ill be in jail ... I dont know what hes got ... I had to make a decision on that club, what was going on there. Ill go to jail that way or I might go to jail this way. Why could he put you in jail? I dont understand, what have you done? Ms Cole asked. Years ago, stuff. I think hes got messages of it but I havent got it. Im not going to jail, OK ... Ive been trying to warn you what Ive got to do ... Youre not getting the message clear ... Hes got shit on me. Whats doing now after he got fired, hes gonna bring this shit out, he said. Mr Buckley said while he was confident he could win any legal action brought by Mr Seoud about the club, its the other stuff I dont know what hes got. Over the course of the recording, Mr Buckley repeatedly verbally abuses, insults and threatens Ms Cole over what he claims is her feuding with associates of the couple who Mr Buckley believes could be used as witnesses in any future legal case . What I care about is not going to prison for the next 10 years ... Dont f---ing nag me. Im gonna hit you, Im going to really hurt you, Mr Buckley shouted at Ms Cole during the recording. Mr Buckley then calls an associate to describe what he has done. Ive almost f---ing strangled Jen then. When Mr Buckley discovered he was being recorded, he took Ms Coles phone. Ms Cole can be heard pleading for Mr Buckley to stop assaulting her before the recording ends. The Ages and the Heralds decision to publish the details of the recording has come shortly before a legal move by Mr Buckley to prevent its further distribution to prevent what he believes may cause damage to his reputation and the UltraTune brand. Mr Buckley founded the Ultra Tune empire in 1979 and now oversees more than 270 franchises that turn over $220 million annually. The 60-year-old is also chief executive of Ultra Thoroughbred Racing, which operates a Kilmore stud farm with more than 250 horses. Actress and model Pamela Anderson, pictured here with Mr Buckley, has featured in Ultra Tunes controversial advertising campaigns which have attracted regular complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau. Credit:Instagram In an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court, Mr Buckley accuses Ms Cole and Mr Swords a former employee of his horse racing empire of conspiring against him to obtain financial gain by distributing the recording. He alleges that Ms Cole, who is the mother of his two-year-old daughter and separated from Buckley in December last year, wanted him to leave a third of his estate to their child, while providing her with an annual stipend of $300,000. At this time she also said that if I was to leave her she wanted $10 million otherwise she will release recordings of our private conversations and destroy me, Mr Buckley said in the affidavit. I am a well-known public figure and Ultra Tune is a well known national business. If these private recordings are made public it will attract widespread negative media coverage, according to the affidavit. Ms Cole declined to comment. Mr Buckley also claims in the affidavit that Mr Swords resigned from Ultra Thoroughbred Racing in December last year and was paid $17,000 in entitlements after two-years employment. Shortly after his resignation, Swords started threatening me. He called me and told me that unless I gave him $400,000 he will destroy me, Mr Buckley wrote in the affidavit. 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 Courtesy, Republican Accountability Project Sen. Ted Cruz is responding to the 100 billboards across Texas featuring his face with the word "resign." A spokesperson for the Cruz camp shared the following statement Tuesday evening. 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 purpose of this article is not to require a hunter to make a choice as to whether he should provide the most expensive funeral for his beloved coon dog or his faithful wife. The Coon Dog Cemetery is located seven miles west of Tuscumbia, Alabama in Colbert County on U.S. 72 near Cherokee, Alabama. Turn off the highway onto Alabama 247 and travel approximately 12 miles before turning right onto Coon Dog Cemetery Road and follow the signs. Eighty three years ago a hunter by the name of Key Underwood buried his dog, a coonhound named Troop, in an old hunting camp where the two of them had enjoyed coon hunting for years. As a result other hunters also buried their favorite coon dog and erected appropriate headstones in the animal's name and often with other epitaphs such as He wasnt the best, but he was the best I ever owned! Thus the cemetery came into being and today is run by a five-member Board of Friends of Coon Dog Cemetery of which only two are coon hunters, cousins, Lee Hatton and Frank Hatton. Dogs must meet three stringent requirements to qualify for burial in the cemetery: (1) the owner must certify that this dog is a purebred coonhound; (2) a witness must declare that the deceased is a coon dog that has been hunted; and (3) a member of the local coon hunters organization must be allowed to view the coonhounds body and certify it to be a purebred. One restriction is that mixed breed or pet dogs are not allowed to be buried in the graveyard. A one-time perpetual care fee of $100 is due prior to burial and at least one photograph of the coon dog must be provided to the Board. The headstones range from basic wood and metal monuments up to elaborate marble engraved stones similar to ones found in upscale human cemeteries. Supporters claim that it is the only cemetery in the world specifically dedicated to the preservation of the memory of coonhounds. The cemetery was inaugurated on Labor Day in 1937 so on that date every year a large celebration is held with bluegrass music, buck dancing, barbecue and a liars contest. Admission is free to the public but donations are accepted to meet the $234 monthly upkeep fee. Hats and T-shirts with the Coon Dog Cemetery logo are available for purchase and raffle items are auctioned off to raise additional upkeep funds. Belt buckles with coon dog designs and coonskin caps similar to those worn by Davy Crockett and Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver in his political campaigns are available for purchase. Each gravesite is decorated with an American flag as a gesture honoring the deceased. Politicians are often in attendance but no active politicking is allowed. The cemetery has grown to be the final honored resting place for over approximately 400 coon dogs. The hallowed ground has been memorialized in a song by Travis Wammack titled Coon Dog Cemetery and the cemetery was featured in the movie, Sweet Home Alabama. Loyalties and feelings run high in the coonhound community. One long time coon hunter once had a wife. She felt like the long nights away from home by her husband tracking coons had gotten out of hand. Finally, she told him, Its either me or the dogs. After the divorce the dog owner became engaged to a lovely lady who accepted her fiance's love of his coon dogs and their relationship became quite content. The Labor Day celebration for 2020 had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus epidemic; plans for the 2021 event are already in the works. Mark your calendar for 2021 to take a trip to the only coondog cemetery in existence. (Dont forget to bring your lawn chairs.) * * * 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) City council on Wednesday approved an agreement with the Texas General Land Office that will give the state agency control of the citys Hurricane Harvey home repair program, or about one-third of its federal recovery funds. Mayor Sylvester Turner and Land Commissioner George P. Bush agreed on the new plan last month after publicly fighting for control of the home repair funds since April last year. Council had to OK the agreement before it could be sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for approval. Federal housing officials will have 45 days to approve the deal once the General Land Office submits it. The new terms leave the city with $835 million to administer most of its existing Harvey housing programs, including its largest remaining one, an effort to repair and construct affordable multifamily housing projects. The city also 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. And it will receive an additional $10 million to reimburse homeowners who paid out-of-pocket for home repair work. The deadline to apply for reimbursements was Dec. 31, but Houston Housing Department Director Tom McCasland has said he plans to seek an extension from federal housing officials. Meanwhile, state officials will now oversee the citys more-than-$400 million program to repair or replace single-family homes damaged in the storm. By the end of December, the city had finished rebuilding or rehabilitating 164 single-family homes and sent out 119 reimbursement checks, a far slower pace than the single-family home program operated by the General Land Office in the 48 counties affected by Harvey outside Harris County. GLO officials have argued they could hasten the speed of Houstons single-family program if it were placed under their control. Turner fought the state agencys attempt to take control of the funds, filing a lawsuit that went to the Texas Supreme Court in which he argued GLO officials were purposely slow-walking the citys program to strengthen their argument for taking it over. The GLO has denied the claim. The citys single-family program also prioritizes low-income, disabled and senior residents, which Turner and McCasland say is harder and slower but necessary to ensure the most vulnerable storm victims receive help. A Chronicle review of the GLOs home repair program last year found that 62 percent of applicants approved for home repairs through last July made less than half of the area median income, or roughly $38,000 for a four-person household. In Houstons program, 80 percent of accepted repair applicants made less than that amount. If the citys reimbursements to homeowners who funded repairs themselves are removed, making the comparison more akin to the states repair program, the figure rises to 91 percent. Under the new plan, 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 will keep $72 million from its single-family program to wrap up existing projects. Turner did not comment on the agreement at Wednesdays council meeting. Council members Mike Knox and Greg Travis voted against the deal without comment. Councilmember Tiffany Thomas, who chairs councils Housing and Community Affairs Committee, said she is happy to be back in partnership with the GLO and lauded the new agreement. One of my goals as (chair of the housing committee) has been to advocate for equity and to ensure that we, as a city, receive our fair share in federal funds to properly assist our homeowners and tenants, Thomas said in a statement. This $835 million agreement that has been reached with the GLO is a terrific development worth celebrating and will provide the appropriate budget for the City of Houston to follow through on our duty to assist not only homeowners who were affected by Harvey, but to assist renters and homeless individuals, as well. jasper.scherer@chron.com Chino Valley fire paramedic Cory Whitworth, left, gives Karen Flick the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site, Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, on Tuesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) As California looks to ramp up efforts to immunize its millions of residents against COVID-19, health officials say they continue to run into a stubborn hurdle: the inability to secure a sufficient and reliable stream of vaccine doses. The problem is twofold, officials say. First, there's a limited supply to begin with, and some areas of the state, including Los Angeles County, have actually seen their shipments shrink over the last few weeks. Second, both of the currently available vaccines require two doses taken weeks apart. So, the more initial doses that are doled out, the bigger the need will be for follow-up shots down the line creating a chokepoint that constrains how many new people can begin the vaccine regimen. Recently, some people seeking a first shot have even had their appointments canceled because vaccines were in short supply or needed for second doses. The supply of vaccine, we acknowledge thats going to be our rate-limiting step, Dr. Mark Ghaly, Californias health and human services secretary, said during a briefing Tuesday. We always hope for more, we continue to work with the federal administration to push for more, but that will be one of our biggest challenges. Healthcare workers, first responders and residents and staff in skilled nursing facilities were the first groups eligible to receive the vaccine in California. That changed in mid-January, when Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded the pool to include people 65 and older. While some greeted the news that older Californians who have fallen severely ill and died from COVID-19 at distressingly disproportionate rates were being given a place in line, the states move came amid dwindling doses, and sparked chaos and confusion as some counties moved quickly to allow seniors to enter their queues, while others did not. In L.A. County, older residents were able to schedule vaccine appointments beginning the week of Jan. 18, meaning second doses will have to start going out next week. Story continues However, the number of doses the county receives has been inconsistent and trending downward. For the week of Jan. 11, L.A. County received 193,950 vaccine doses; the following week, it received only 168,575 doses and only 146,225 doses the week after that. As of Jan. 25, the county had received nearly 1 million vaccine doses and administered almost 800,000. Given the relatively scarce supply, vaccines will need to increasingly be set aside for second doses leaving fewer shots for people looking to begin the regimen. Last week, the L.A. County Public Health Department, acting at the request of the California Department of Public Health, recovered 10,000 doses from Ralphs pharmacies that were intended for upcoming appointments allocating them instead to support the countys mass vaccination sites. While a spokesman for the supermarket chain said only people seeking their first dose would be affected and that those scheduled to get their second dose would still get their shots, the episode underscored how the need for second doses is overriding overwhelming demand for initial inoculations. The move also added to confusion among residents older than 65. According to the county, those who received their first shot at Ralphs before Jan. 27 will get a call or email from the pharmacy to schedule their second dose. Those inoculated after that date will be given appointments for their second dose when they get their first dose. The vaccine shortage is not just in L.A., either. Kaiser Permanente was forced to cancel more than 5,000 appointments for seniors in Santa Clara County because of limited supplies. In what Kaiser Permanente spokesman Marc Brown called a very unfortunate development, the hospital failed to receive the vaccines it anticipated when people had booked appointments for late January and early February. Brown said staff members had scheduled people for the vaccine based on previous deliveries and guidance from the state and county. We understand the frustration this causes, and we are continuing to do all we can to increase the supply of vaccines, working in partnership with county, state and federal governments, Brown said in an email in response to questions from The Times. Despite the persistent problems that have dogged the rollout, however, there are some signs that California may be starting to build momentum. About 7.4% of Californians have received at least one dose, data compiled by The Times show, and the state has administered almost 63% of the doses that have been delivered so far a dramatic improvement from a week ago. Additional groups are also starting to get their shots. Cal State Long Beach started its vaccination program Tuesday, with the top priority being personnel working on campus and staff and faculty 65 and older or who have high-risk medical conditions. These educators and staff have been working on campus, and we are getting folks vaccinated to ensure we can get our campus fully reopened safely, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia wrote on Twitter . Workers at the Union Rescue Mission on skid row also escorted some of their older homeless clients to be vaccinated Tuesday. They were very excited and relieved to have a chance to be vaccinated, said the Rev. Andy Bales, president and chief executive of the mission. Bales said about seven men received their shots Tuesday, but the hope is to get 40 seniors men and women their first dose this week. For a time, it appeared that L.A.'s homeless population had largely escaped the ravages of the pandemic. But this latest surge was different and left no group in the hard-hit county unscathed. Its been alarming, Bales said. And I know, for me, its felt like COVID-19 has been closing in around us, and really, it seems like its been figuring out its way around every precaution. I know thats what a lot of our guests feel as well. Ghaly said that the state is continuing to work through updating vaccine prioritization and that additional details could be released in the next week. He emphasized, though, that equity will be a cornerstone of Californias approach. This notion that theres a choice that we have to make between speed in vaccinations and equity, this is not a choice, he said. This is a false choice. We can do both. However, the concept of moving to an age-based formula has already drawn criticism from groups representing some essential workers and disabled people. Though he didnt offer specifics on what changes may be coming, Ghaly said, we are leading our vaccination effort by focusing on protecting those who have the highest risk and those who may suffer the worst consequences from COVID and that the state is working with the disability community, working with those who take care of individuals with serious chronic conditions, beginning to galvanize around a policy that we will announce later. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that law will take its own course, as it declined to entertain a PIL urging it to issue directions to register FIR against persons or organisation responsible for dishonouring of the national flag at the Red Fort on Republic Day. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde said the government is already inquiring into the matter and it is apparent that it will also take necessary action. The Chief Justice said: "We read PM statement in press that the law will take its own course." While addressing arguments on violence unleashed on Delhi streets amid the tractor rally on Republic Day, the Chief Justice stressed that the court is not condoning it. The Chief Justice said, "We are sure government is inquiring into it and taking appropriate action." The top court also declined to entertain another PIL seeking directions for an NIA probe against anti-social elements, part of the tractor rally, who engaged in violence on the streets of the national capital on Republic Day. The plea, filed through advocates Shashank Shekhar Jha and Manju Jetley Sharma, said the attack on the Red Fort and the national flag on Republic Day needs immediate attention. "The protestors cannot be allowed to put the government and people at ransom and undertake violence in the name of protest. The freedom of expression and protest cannot be absolute and must consider the rights of others," said the plea. The petition also sought directions for constitution of a judicial commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a Special Investigation Team, which should be monitored by the top court. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The House saw members trooping into the Well to protest against the three contentious laws, following which the Rajya Sabha was briefly adjourned New Delhi: Three Aam Aadmi Party members were marshalled out of Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked them to withdraw as they trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans against the new farm laws. The three MPs - Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta and ND Gupta - have been asked to remain absent from the House for the remaining part of the day. Invoking Rule 255 (withdrawal of member), Naidu asked the three members to withdraw from the House. The chairman also adjourned Rajya Sabha proceedings briefly till 9.40 am. MASON CITY, Iowa - Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is looking to expand academic options for students in the Hawkeye State. Senate File 159 would shift some taxpayer dollars allocated towards public school funding through private schools. It would establish a 'student first scholarship' for kids in certain public schools that are getting help from the Every Student Succeed Act and want to attend a private school, as well as creating a charter school program, and make open enrollment available for all Iowa students. Christy Bram and Jenni Anderson are teachers at North Iowa Christian School, and whose children also attend school there. They feel that the bill would help put the private school on equal financial footing with public schools, and allow more freedom of choice for parents. "We all make the commitment to pay tuition for our kids. It would greatly impact a lot of our families and students who may choose to come to North Iowa Christian School," Bram says. "All the tuition that we get right now is either given from different organizations or parents and scholarships that we offer here, but it would be nice to be able to get...some technology things or to be able to have that extra funding coming in would be a blessing ," Anderson says. However, Mason City superintendent Dave Versteeg is concerned about what the bill could mean for public schools, as it could impact enrollment and funding. "Public schools are overseen by publicly elected citizens, citizen boards who are required to report academic results to the general public. We have annual public financial audits, we're transparent about our expenditures. This bill does not allow for private schools to be held in the same transparency standards for either financial or student achievement. And I think taxpayers have the right to know how their funds are being used." While Mason City schools would not be directly impacted if the bill passes, as none of the district's schools currently meet a designated criteria this scholarship would be eligible for, he feels that if the program is expanded, it could lead to consequences. "I think if public dollars are going to be spent, the same rules that apply to my school should apply to that school." The bill passed the Senate last week, and is now being considered in the House Education Committee. EU greets Zelensky's move to block TV channels over propaganda in Ukraine envoy An official stance will likely be announced during the prime minister's visit to Brussels on February 11. Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium, Representative of Ukraine to the European Union and European Atomic Energy Community Mykola Tochytskyi has said the European Union greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's move to block a number of TV channels over pro-Russian propaganda in Ukraine. "Already today, since the morning, and since yesterday evening, the European Commission and the External Action Service reacted very approvingly to yesterday's decision of the National Security and Defense Council on our sanctions. And there is already an unofficial reaction. However, I think we will hear an official reaction during the prime minister's visit to Brussels [to a meeting of the Association Council on February 11]," he said at a meeting of the Commission for coordination of the implementation of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Read also Pro-Russian Opposition Platform seeks Zelensky's impeachment over TV sanctions Sanctions against TV channels: What is known On February 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted a National Security and Defense Council decision of February 2, 2021, to impose sanctions on Member of Parliament Taras Kozak and a number of TV channels Kozak owns, such as 112 Ukraine, NewsOne, and ZIK. After that, the channels were immediately disconnected from broadcasting. Commenting on the decision, Zelensky said he strongly supports the freedom of speech, but not propaganda financed by the aggressor country. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Indias journey from a milk deficit country to one of surplus has been momentous. Initiated in 1970, Operation Flood was arguably the worlds most ambitious dairy development programme that transformed India into one of the largest milk producers. India's milk production rate in the past few decades has, in many ways, been symbolic of the upward trajectory of the country's economy and influence. The per capita availability of milk in 2018-19 was 394 grams per day as against the world average of 302 grams. Between 2016 and 2019, the annual milk production in the country registered a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 6.4 per cent. Today, with an annual production of 187.75 million tonnes (as per 2018-19 data), India accounts for about 22 per cent of the world's milk production. However, India is yet to join the ranks of major milk exporting nations, as much of what we produce is directed towards meeting domestic demands. So, to unpack the issues facing our dairy sector, it is pertinent to dive deep and list out the factors that have been hampering the productivity levels of our cows. The dairy sector assumes a great deal of significance on account of multiple reasons - for one, it has to do with the socio-cultural affinity towards cows and dairy products in large parts of the country, and as an industry, it employs more than 70 million farmers. However, the crying need of the hour is for us to identify ways in which we can enhance the return on investment for our farmers. Recent data indicates that indigenous cows produce 3.01 kg of milk per cow per day while the yield of exotic crossbred cows is 7.95 kg. This implies that, overall, the average productivity output of indigenous cattle (both non-descript and high yielding indigenous breeds) is only 1099 kg per animal per year, while for cross-bred cattle average productivity is 3073 kg per animal per year. So, the magic word is 'cross breeding'. Cross breeding has taken off in a big way because of the advancements in reproductive technologies like In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer process, and artificial insemination. Out of these processes, IVF and artificial insemination have proven to be the most popular and effective methods. The NAIP (Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme) Phase-I was launched by Prime , Narendra Modi in Mathura on September 11, 2019. Every animal in the programme was assigned a 12-digit unique identification number under the Pashu Aadhar scheme to ensure accuracy in tracking - the animal is monitored continuously from the period of artificial insemination till the birth of the calf. Building upon the first phase of the programme, NAIP Phase-II was initiated on the 1st of August 2020 with an allocation of Rs 1090 crore in 604 districts covering 50,000 animals per district and is on track to be completed by the May 31, 2021. Under the programme, 9.06 crore artificial inseminations will be performed in 604 districts and is expected to lead to the birth of 1.5 crore high yielding female calves. Consequently, 18 Million Metric Tonnes of additional milk will be produced, as average productivity will be enhanced from 1861 kg per animal per year to 3000 kg per animal per year. Until now, Artificial Insemination (AI) technology has been the most used method in India, but its success hinges upon accuracy in heat detection and timely insemination. And this is where In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technology will prove to be more effective. IVF has become a helpful tool in crossbreeding as under this technology semen from different bulls can be used to fertilise each oocyte from a collection, that in turn enables greater genetic diversity from a single cow. Projects for the establishment of 30 IVF labs have already been sanctioned, and 15 labs have been made functional thus far. In the past six years, the Animal Husbandry and Dairying sector has received a great deal of impetus under the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision of 'Make in India' and towards becoming an 'Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat'. In keeping with our ethos of 'Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan' the marriage of rural farming with the latest innovations in technology will usher in unprecedented transformations in our dairy industry. (The writer is presently the Secretary at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy. Views expressed are personal) Khartoum The head of the new UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, Volker Perthes, arrived Khartoum on Tuesday to take up office, the mission's press liaison has announced. Dr Perthes was received on behalf of the Sudanese government by Ambassador Omer El Sheikh, head of the National Executive Committee for Coordination with UNITAMS. The UNITAMS main office will be based in Khartoum with regional offices in Darfur (El Fasher, Zalingei, Nyala), South Kordofan (Kadugli, Kauda), Blue Nile state (Ed Damazin), and eastern Sudan (Kassala, Port Sudan). 12 foreign staff and four Sudanese will form the UN presence on the ground for UNITAMS start-up. He also mentioned there will be a total of 269 staff in total, including experienced national staff in all offices. As a precaution against COVID-19, Perthes will remain in quarantine for a week before he embarks on a schedule of meetings with national authorities, partners, and colleagues. "I am looking forward to working with the transitional authorities and the great people of Sudan," Perthes said on his arrival. "UNITAMS has been established, and I will devote my energy to supporting Sudan to achieve its goals of democratic transformation, peace, and economic recovery." Perthes holds a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Duisburg in Germany, has 25 years of experience in academia, research, international relations, and diplomacy, as well as expertise in conflict resolution and regional geopolitics. Before his current appointment, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and previously as Senior Adviser to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, the UNITAMS statement says. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Sudan International Organisations By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. UNITAMS On June 3 last year, the UN Security Council (UNSC) decided on the establishment of UNITAMS in response to an official request by the Sudanese government to provide a Chapter VI peace support operation to Sudan. The request was sent to the UN Secretary-General on February 27, At the time, Sudan's Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok explained that his government "requested assistance in the form of a mission that helps us to address transition issues, chief among which is financing the implementation of the peace agreements that are imminent, such as the establishment of schools and hospitals. The four main tasks of the mission, as mentioned in UN Security Council Resolution 2524, are to assist the political transition, progress towards democratic governance, in the protection and promotion of human rights, and sustainable peace; to support peace processes and implementation of future peace agreements; to assist peacebuilding, civilian protection, and rule of law, in particular in Darfur and the Two Areas; to support the mobilisation of economic and development assistance and coordination of humanitarian assistance. The UN has allocated $34 million for the first year's budget. State Track: Arrows' Mack and Heesch among six area event winners on opening day Watertown seniors Cooper Mack and Maggie Heesch and four other area athletes notched event wins Friday during the opening day of the 2021 State High School Track and Field Meet. During the December quarter, the company completed a share placement with support from institutions and existing shareholders, made business changes and reduce debt to support growth in the year ahead. ( ) is working on maintaining growth in 2021 building over better than expected cash receipts from customers for CY2020, coinciding with the release of the VSN. During the December quarter of 2020, the company completed a share placement with the support from institutions and existing shareholders, and renewed focus in overseas markets particularly China to support growth. The company ended the CY2020, with cash receipts of $16.6milion, 25 times increase over the CY2019, coinciding with the release of the VSN, representing a pleasing outperformance of the $15.3 million guidance. Netlinkz received $16.3million during CY2020, with a further $0.3 million late payment received by SSI Pacific in the first week of January. Significant and growing market opportunities Netlinkz executive chairman and CEO James Tsiolis said: Netlinkz is incredibly proud of the CY2020 result. We have a great product, for which there are significant and growing market opportunities, and a focused go-to-market strategy. The next 12 months are about scaling sales in the highest leverage markets in a capital-light manner. Business focus and strategy The company has continued to focus its capital toward its highest leverage growth opportunities and core strengths, in its pursuit of achieving cash flow break-even whilst maintaining growth in 2021. Besides, the Australian operational cash burn has been reduced to approximately $0.5 million per month from January 2021, with further cost savings under review. The investment in the China business is paying off, evidenced by the impressive growth in its first year of operation, making it the engine room of the Netlinkz business. The business is focused on growing its licensing fee base, improving margin and strengthening the AOFA balance sheet to win other large initiatives to generate long term recurring revenue. The company is rolling out partner technologies underpinned by the VSN, including customer-funded proof of concept deployments in Japan, Hong Kong, India and Australia. Progress in China operations The companys core focus in CY2020 has been on establishing the company, its engineering, consulting, systems design, integration capabilities and the VSN product. The China business is a success, evidenced by it delivering $12 million of cash receipts in its first 12 months of operation. The core benefits and functionality of the VSN have enabled the Group to partner with LNS and attract interest from multi-nationals and government organisations in numerous countries. Cash receipts in China were $4.2 million for the quarter slightly less than the previous quarter which is attributable to the holiday period. The group continues to work on strategies to meet this challenge and in addition to continuing engagement with large corporates. ASEAN operations The partnership with LNS International is a key strategic initiative aimed at diversifying sources of larger-scale clients whilst requiring no capital outlay. The first phase of the partnership is to focus on ASEAN countries. LNS is a sales organisation with offices throughout the APAC region, including China and Japan, and is committed to providing a dedicated sales force focused on selling total solutions to customers underpinned by Netlinkzs products and services. LNS and the company are participating in tenders exceeding $600 million, which is the basis for the aspirational revenue target for this partnership of $ 15 million in the first 12 months. The rest of the world The Australian operations generated $1 million of cash receipts from customers during the quarter, primarily from sales of the Netlinkz secure international connectivity solution. Our first initiative in India, via Natsoft and the IoT Lab in India, is exploring client opportunities leveraging the Australian teams expertise. Australian overhead is resourcing and supporting market testing and demonstrations, including proofs-of-concept. VSN product update The company is now seeing increasing interest in the VSN across ASEAN and other geographical markets, with the recent challenges faced by numerous governments highlighted in the recent SolarWinds attack. The VSN product provides the enhanced security to help prevent many of these attacks and also to remediate areas which have already been compromised. Netlinkz is actively involved in design and discussions with some government clients looking to enhance security, especially on their current IPVPN platforms. As such, product development in the December 2020 quarter included sourcing a new hardware platform for global markets and associated certifications for 5G, as well as specific industry certifications. Corporate development The December 2020 share placement was a success and the company was pleased with the high level of interest and support it received. The result was a significant reduction in the convertible note overhang on the stock and a material improvement in the net assets of the business. Convertible note redemptions totalled $12.7 million as on December 31, 2020 with a further $0.3 million redeemed in January 2021. As a result, the total value of convertible notes outstanding is $0.9 million. The composition of the board has stabilised and represents a breadth of skillset which will be invaluable in delivering this focused strategy. Changes in the companys board During the quarter, Hualin Zhang Mr Zhangs position has changed from executive director to non-executive director. Zhang will continue to provide valuable advice and insight to the company in the capacity of non-executive director. Bruce Rathie elected to withdraw his nomination for election as a director at the annual general meeting due to competing business interests and other professional commitments. An Oklahoma woman is suing a man who shot her four times in the back as she tore down a Nazi flag flying outside his home. Kyndal McVey, 26, says she has been left with 'mental and physical pain and suffering' following the incident, which occurred outside Alexander Feaster's property in the small town of Hunter in June last year. She is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages. According to police, McVey was attending a party across the street from Feaster's home in the early hours of June 28, 2020 when she decided to remove one of two Nazi flags she noticed out front of the residence. A sheriff's report states that Feaster, 45, was lying in wait and pulled out his AR-15 before firing several shots at McVey as she ran away from his home after pulling down the flag. Kyndal McVey (left) says she has been left with 'mental and physical pain and suffering' following the incident, which occurred outside Alexander Feaster's property in the small town of Hunter in June last year She was struck in the lower abdomen and legs, before police found her lying in a ditch when they arrived at the scene following a distressed 911 call from fellow partygoers. McVey spent several weeks in the hospital and required multiple surgeries. Feaster was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He was eventually released on $75,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on March 5. In the meantime, McVey has filed a civil suit against Feaster, seeking damages for lost time, medical expenses, and 'change in physical and mental condition'. McVey was attending a party across the street from Feaster's home in the early hours of June 28, 2020 when she decided to cross the street and remove one of two Nazi flags she noticed out front of the residence However, Feaster has claimed that he is the victim in the incident. He claims he 'acted in self-defense' when shooting McVey, believing he was in 'imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.' His assertion comes despite the fact McVey was unarmed and was running away from his residence when she was struck by the bullets. Feaster has further claimed in court documents that he is a 'patriotic citizen' and 'loyal American' who served in the military. He said the swastika flags outside his home 'were associated in the public's consciousness with the Third Reich and National Socialism'. Feaster argued that McVey should have been charged with theft, trespassing, public intoxication and a hate crime. Russia will resume air service with Azerbaijan and Armenia that was suspended last year amid the pandemic, starting February 15, the Russian government's press service said. "It has been decided to resume international air service on a reciprocal basis with Azerbaijan (Moscow-Baku, two flights per week) and Armenia (Moscow-Yerevan, four flights per week) starting February 15, 2021," TASS cited the statement as saying. A respective decision was made by the coronavirus response team, according to the press service. The number of regular flights to Kyrgyzstan (Moscow-Bishkek) will also be increased on a reciprocal basis from one to three per week starting February 8. Russia suspended all commercial passenger flights to other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. A gradual resumption of international air service started last summer. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Its Wrong: BC Hospice Executives Decry Looming Closure of Facility A Vancouver-area hospice is closing due to its refusal to offer medically assisted death, and its hospice society vice-president says the process of how things came to this point feels very violating. The Delta Hospice Society (DHS) had a 35-year lease and a service agreement with the Fraser Health Authority to operate a 10-bed hospice. Its lease and service agreement were revoked because of the facilitys refusal to offer medical assistance in dying (MAiD) on-site, a requirement by the health authority. As a result, the Irene Thomas Hospice in Ladner, B.C. will close, and the society will lose the facility it raised $8.5 million to build in 2008. The building sits on land owned by the health authority, which has given the DHS until the end of March to vacate the hospice. Last February, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced that the province would cancel $1.5 million in funding for the Irene Thomas Hospice effective Feb. 26 this year, at which time operation of the facility would transfer to Fraser Health. Danielle Martell, vice-president of the DHS, a non-profit that opened 30 years ago, has strong feelings about the turn of events. It is extortion, its theft, its wrong, its a violation, Martell told The Epoch Times. The government is coming in and simply stealing our assets. It feels violating on behalf of our membership and on behalf of the society. We have built this society, we have protected this society [that has] provided palliative care in the city of Delta. The hospice has served layoff notices to 19 full-time staff. On Jan. 14, Fraser Health served notices to patients that they have to move. The patients have a choice to move to nearby Mountain View Manor, which has 10 hospice beds, or to another hospice of their choice. They barged into the hospice, they didnt tell the board at all about what they were doing, Martell said. They told our patients that they were going to have to move out of their beds and go over into the long-term care facility at the hospital next door and they could move now or they could move on Feb. 24. The Epoch Times reached out to Fraser Health for comment, without success. After MAiD came into effect in 2016, Irene Thomas Hospice patients who chose to end their lives were transferred to a nearby facility for the service. DHS president Angelina Ireland believes MAiD and palliative care should remain separate. Why dont they just go make a MAiD house in any community that will support it? No one is stopping them. There is room for both an authentic hospice movement and a MAiD movementthey are two different streams of end-of-life care that the market will bear, Ireland said. Even though all the palliative care associations in the world, including the WHO, state palliative care does not include euthanasia, Canada is spearheading a revolution in the discipline that will do to every palliative care facility in Canada what has been done to the Delta Hospice Society. They will steal assets, eliminate dissenters, and usher in the dawn of a new palliative care ethos. MAiD will be expanded if Bill C-7 passes. The federal legislation would make the procedure available the same day anyone requests it if their death is reasonably foreseeable. It would also make euthanasia available 90 days after request for those whose death is not reasonably foreseeable. Ireland says when patients first arrive at the hospice they often dont feel well either physically or emotionally, but that state soon improves. After a few days with us their medication is sorted out and they feel better, the hope has returned that this portion of their experience can be very good for themselves and their family. But with C-7, the worst day can be their last day, she said. Palliative care physician Dr. Neil Hilliard, representing DHS, testified before a Senate committee on Feb. 3, asking that Bill C-7 be amended to make palliative care facilities into safe spaces free of obligations to offer MAiD. According to a joint statement by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians, MAiD is not an extension of palliative care nor is it one of the tools in the palliative care basket. National and international hospice palliative care organizations are unified in the position that MAiD is not part of the practice of hospice palliative care. The statement also says that Less than 30 percent of Canadians have access to high-quality hospice palliative care, yet more than 90 percent of all deaths in Canada would benefit from it. It notes that MAiD is involved in less than 1.5 percent of all deaths in the country. Martell says governments have a financial incentive to promote MAiD because it costs about $400 to administer, whereas palliative care has someone in a bed for weeks or months. She said B.C.s decision to force palliative care facilities to provide MAiD has already caused a mass exodus of palliative care workers from the system. She said membership in the DHS has swelled from 150 to 8,000 since the controversy began, and that the societys work will continue. Palliative care involves spiritual care. It involves things like counselling and bereavement services and services for children and youth, volunteer services. So well still be providing a lot of those services to our community, and we provide those services free of charge, she said. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) held today at the Royal Defence Force Training Centre a graduation ceremony for new recruits, in the presence of Assistant Chief of Staff for Human Resources Major General Shaikh Ali bin Rashid Al Khalifa. The graduation ceremony was held in conjunction with the kingdoms celebrations of the BDF anniversary on February 5. The ceremony started with a recitation of some verses from the Holy Quran which was followed by a speech given on the occasion. Then, a briefing was given on the session and the training stages. After that, the graduates presented a field military parade for the infantry and many practical applications before taking the legal oath. At the end of the ceremony, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Human Resources presented the graduates and top achievers with their certificates and prizes of appreciation, commending the efforts of the officers, trainers and graduates in achieving the requirements of the session successfully. The graduation ceremony was attended by BDF senior officers. New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said no foreign government has supported the farmers' protests in the backdrop of the passage of agri laws by Parliament, though there were few "motivated protests" and a comment by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In response to a question in the lower house of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Minister of State in the MEA, V Muraleedharan said, "No foreign government has given support to the agitation of Indian farmers against three bills passed by Indian Parliament", pointing out, "In Canada, UK, USA, and in few European countries, protests by a few motivated PIOs (Persons of Indian origin) on issues related to the Indian Farm Bill have been reported." The only world leader to make a public comment on the issue was Canadian PM Justin Trudeau which was strongly slammed by India. The Canadian Ambassador to India Nadir Patel was summoned by MEA and a strong note of protest was handed over. MEA MoS highlighted the Canadian PM's comments were taken up with the "Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and New Delhi and conveyed that such comments pertaining to the internal affairs of India are unwarranted, unacceptable" and "would damage India-Canada bilateral relations." From India removing the special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, CAA protests or farmers agitation, New Delhi has always sharply reacted to any reaction by foreign entities and reminded them that they have no locus to react on the country's internal matters. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 04:19:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that it has decided to expand the COVID-19 vaccine campaign to those over the age of 16. Meanwhile, Turkey's total cases of COVID-19 surpassed 2.5 million with over 8,000 new cases were added. Israel reported 7,860 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the tally in the country to 667,216, while its death toll reached 4,928 after 42 new fatalities were added. The vaccination campaign in Israel began on Dec. 20, 2020, and was intended in the first phase for medical staff, people aged over 65, and chronic patients. Since then, the vaccine eligibility age has been gradually reduced, and currently people aged 35 and over are being called to get vaccinated. The health ministry decided to expand the vaccination, starting from Thursday, to all above 16 years old. So far, more than 3.27 million people have been vaccinated in Israel, or 35.2 percent of the country's population. Turkey confirmed 8,102 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of positive cases in the country to 2,501,079. The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 117 to 26,354, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,387,384 after 8,314 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours. The country started mass vaccination of health workers against COVID-19 on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine. More than 2,400,000 people have been vaccinated so far. According to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, the country sees a significant increase in the number of cases reported with the new strain of the COVID-19. Iran reported 6,870 new COVID-19 cases, raising the country's overall count to 1,438,286 infections. It added that 79 new deaths related to the coronavirus were registered, pushing the death toll to 58,189 in the country, while 1,229,391 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from hospitals. Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki announced on Wednesday that the country will start receiving AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses in February. In Iraq, the total nationwide number of cases rose by 1,317 to 623,072, while the death toll from the infectious virus rose by 11 to 13,079. Its tally of recoveries rose by 1,275 to 595,869. Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi warned on Wednesday that the health authorities might reimpose health restrictions, including a nationwide curfew, if coronavirus infections continue to increase. Morocco reported 774 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 473,047. Recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 451,780 after 933 new ones were added, while the death toll rose to 8,323 with 14 new fatalities during the last 24 hours. In Oman, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 134,685, while the fatalities hit 1,532. Oman's health ministry will launch on Sunday a campaign targeting a new segment of society as part of its COVID-19 vaccination drive. The campaign targets people aged above 65 in all governorates of the sultanate. Kuwait's COVID-19 cases increased by 756 to 167,410, while the death toll rose by one to 961. The Kuwaiti Health Ministry also announced the recovery of 557 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 159,543. Qatar announced 396 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 152,491. Meanwhile, 191 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 146,302, while the fatalities remained 249 for the third consecutive day. Jordan reported 1,280 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the tally in the country to 330,474. It also recorded 10 deaths from the virus, increasing the death toll to 4,344. There are currently 8,912 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan. Lebanon registered the highest daily increase in the number of deaths from COVID-19 by 89 to 3,315, while its number of infections increased by 3,320 to 309,162. Lebanon's Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said on Wednesday that the ministry will buy vaccines from different sources and citizens have the freedom to choose their preferred vaccine. Algeria reported 275 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the North African country to 108,116. The death toll from the virus in Algeria rose to 2,900 after two new fatalities were added. Meanwhile, 208 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 74,000. Algeria on Wednesday decided to relax lockdown measures in 19 provinces, including capital Algiers. Enditem Temptation of sensation: MEA slams foreign individuals for comments on farmer protests India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 03: Following the comments made by some foreign individuals on the ongoing farmer protests, the Ministry of External Affairs said that it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups are trying to enforce their agenda on the protests. The Parliament of India, after a full debate and discussion, passed the reformist legislation relation to the agricultural sector. These reforms give expanded market access and provides farmers with greater flexibility to farmers. They also pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming. Breakthrough: Govt-Opposition to discuss farmer protests for 15 hours A very small section of farmers in parts of India have some reservation about these reforms. Respecting the sentiments of the protesters the government of India has initiated a series of talks with their representatives. Union Ministers have been part of the negotiations and eleven rounds of talks have already been held. The government even offered to keep the farm law on hold and none other than the PM has made this offer, the MEA said. Yes it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests and derail them. This was egregiously witnessed on January 26. A cherished national commemoration, the anniversary of the inauguration of the Constitution of India was besmirched and violence and vandalism took place in the Indian Capital, the MEA further added. She of these vested groups have also tried to mobilise international support against India. Instigated by such fringe elements, Mahatma Gandhi statues have been desecrated in parts of the world. This is disturbing for India and the civilised society everywhere. The Indian police forces have handled these protests with utmost restraint and it may be noted that 100s of men and women serving in the police have been physically attacked and in some cases stabbed and seriously wounded, the MEA said. We would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of India's democratic ethos and polity and the efforts of the government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse, the MEA said. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News Before rushing to comment on such matters we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate or responsible. The multi-layered barricading, barbed wires and roadblocks at Delhi's borders to "threaten" protesting farmers is not appropriate and the Centre should fulfil their demand of repealing the new agri laws, Bahujan Samaj Party chief said on Wednesday. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said that "due to the government's attitude towards the agitating farmers, who are demanding the withdrawal of the agricultural laws, essential work of the Budget session of Parliament and discussions on special issues of public interest are getting affected". Cement barriers, barbed wire, spikes on roads and policemen in large numbers dominate the farmers' protest sites on Delhi's borders at Singhu and Ghazipur, while both Houses of Parliament faced repeated adjournments on Tuesday as Opposition members disrupted proceedings, demanding a discussion on the central agri-marketing laws enacted last September. The Centre should work towards normalising the situation by fulfilling the demand of the farmers, said in a tweet in Hindi. "At the same time, the barricading, barbed wire and nails (on roads) etc. on the borders of Delhi to threaten families of lakhs of agitated farmers is not appropriate. Instead of this, it would be better if such action is on the borders of the country to stop terrorists," she said in another tweet. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at the capital's borders for over two months against the laws. They are demanding that the government repeal the 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.) Democrats are the party of make believe. Through their domination of the media, academia, Hollywood, and growing swaths of corporate America, they successfully peddle propaganda as reality. They insisted President Trump was a dictator and a treasonous ally of Vladimir Putin who refused to denounce white supremacy. They dismissed questions about the business dealings of President Bidens family as Russian disinformation that had been totally discredited. When investigations and fact checks revealed those claims to be false, they just kept on repeating them. Tell a lie long and loud enough and many accept it as truth. Having secured the White House and control of the Senate in the last election, Democrats and their allies are adding a strong dose of intimidation to their campaign of deceit. They are using social media to silence dissent from their views while creating blacklists to make it difficult for their opponents to find gainful employment. In a sign of how far gone they are, many journalists at influential outfits are now questioning the wisdom of the First Amendment and calling for government regulation of speech. As cancel culture spreads, they gaslight the public by denying that it is happening. At the same time they argue that Republicans must be silenced and even deprogrammed because they are delusional liars. To conservative ears, the national discourse often boils down to this: Are you going to believe us or your lying eyes? The caricature of conservatives certainly describes some people on the right. Sen. Mitch McConnell has spoken out against his partys lunatic fringe. But there is little evidence they enjoy meaningful support. The Jan. 6 criminal assault on the Capitol was a disgrace, but it was also widely condemned by Republicans a stark contrast to Democrats who have largely ignored or even celebrated the repeated violence perpetrated by antifa. Casting that action as an attempted coup pretending the mob could have gained control of the government is deceitful propaganda aimed at smearing 74 million Trump voters. U.S. history is full of examples of movements that many Americans considered dangerous. Usually these were progressives who fought for unions, and marched for civil rights, and demanded an end to foreign wars. Most people see those causes as worthy, even though communists were interspersed among the activists ranks. We also now see that the suppression they provoked was shameful. As future Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis noted in 1913, sunlight is the best of disinfectants; the way to defeat dangerous ideas and behaviors is to expose them to reason. This is a foundation of our pluralistic democracy. History reveals two main reasons why factions seek to limit speech: first, because it is an effective means to quash dissent and second because they wont or cant defend their own ideas. Todays Democrats and their allies are driven by both rationales. Their control of most communication channels has empowered them to spread narratives that delegitimize their opponents by caricaturing them as racist conspiracy theorists. It may be impossible to change the minds of those who embrace the accuracy of that portrayal, but it is worth asking: If your view is true, why advance so many mistruths to support it? For Democrats this propaganda coup is a twofer: As it marginalizes Republicans, it keeps the focus off the ramifications of their own ideas and politics. Their argument boils down to this: Let us do what we want because otherwise those Neanderthals will be in charge. This strategy is increasingly essential for Democrats as they advance leftist ideas that are hard to support through fact-based metrics i.e. reality instead of ideology. Democrats are the party of activist government. Their core progressive idea the plinth course of their Great Society programs is that the combination of vast federal resources and elite expertise can solve most of societys problems. There have been some successes credit progressives and libertarians for helping advance the rights of marginalized groups. But the last half-century has also seen the breakdown of the nuclear family, continuing hopelessness and blight in many cities, and the failure of public schools to raise educational achievement despite massive increases in per pupil spending. While many African Americans have entered the middle class since the 1960s, blacks still lag behind other Americans in a wide variety of measures of health and wealth despite massive government interventions. The reasons for these failures are myriad and complex. The rise of a competitive global economy, for example, has gutted manufacturing jobs and depressed low-skill wages. But the bottom line is that many progressive programs have not delivered on their promise of prosperity and opportunity for many of the groups they specifically aimed to help. This is a particular problem for Democrats because African Americans remain their core voting base. The demonstrable shortcomings of their efforts help explain why they have embraced the concept of systemic racism and sound their incessant alarms about white supremacy despite Americas significant progress toward social justice. The message: Our programs would have worked but for rampant racism. Unable to change the facts, they work to alter the definition of reality. President Biden codified this make-believe style of government on his first day in office when he signed the Modernizing Regulatory Review memorandum. As the government seeks justifications for new controls on society, it directed agencies to fully account for regulatory benefits that are difficult or impossible to quantify. Difficult or impossible to quantify? Translation: make em up. This is just the latest, frightening evidence that the party that claims to embrace science, facts and truth is driven by ideology. When youre running a make-believe society, its no wonder you have to silence dissent. Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo, in Russia in 2019. Somalia has opened urgent talks with regional authorities to avoid a constitutional crisis. The Horn of Africa nation looks certain to miss a February 8 deadline to elect a new president. Somalia's president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohammed, has convened an urgent 3-day meeting with federal state leaders. The conference in Dusamareb, some 400 km (250 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, is an attempt to break an election deadlock and avoid a constitutional crisis. The mandate of President Mohamed Abdullahi, commonly known as Farmajo, expires on February 8. Somalia's president is elected by the country's lawmakers made up of 275 members of parliament and 54 senators. But Somalia has failed to hold the necessary ballot to chose new lawmakers, so no new president can be elected. Under its current indirect election system, 27,775 electoral delegates -- who are nominated by traditional clan elders -- vote for members of parliament while state legislatures elect the senators. The legislative and parliamentary votes originally scheduled for 2020, have been postponed twice because of wrangling over election details between the central government in Mogadishu and the semi-autonomous federal member states. "We are expecting to have amicable and open discussions for a fruitful solution to unlock the deadlock and create hopes to the people of Somalia regarding the election issues," said Somalia's information minister, Osman Dubbe. Election won't happen before end of Farmajo's mandate Even if an agreement is reached in Dusamareb, it is "very clear" that the election can't happen by February 8, said Omar Mahmood, Senior Analyst for Somalia at the Crisis Group think tank. Horn of Africa expert Matthew Bryden agrees. "I don't think there's any chance at all of elections taking place before the end of this government's mandate," said Bryden, Senior Strategic Advisor at Sahan, a research institute with a focus on the Horn of Africa. "Parliament's mandate already expired last month and the president's last day in office is less than a week away. And there have been no preparations, no agreement on the type of electoral process that's supposed to happen," he told DW from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The UN in Somalia said it welcomed the Dusamareb conference and urged those attending to come to an agreement on how the elections should proceed. Fears that constitutional crisis could trigger violence Hussein Sheikh-Ali from the Hiraal Institute, a Somalia-based security think tank, sees the meeting as a "last chance" and "last hope" to resolve the election impasse. Hussein warned that if federal and regional leaders failed to finalize the disputed electoral models at Dusamareb, "Somalia will enter and uncharted territory where we are going to have a president who will have no mandate and a parliament with no mandate." "So it's going to be in deep constitutional crisis unless it's solved within days," he said in a phone interview from the Somali capital Mogadishu. "We are living in a very fragile and fragmented nation where clans are armed, where there are armed groups, which are more powerful than the government, controlling most of the country." Analysts worry that even if federal and regional leaders reach a deal over the election model, it could quickly disintegrate in the same way that an election road map agreed to in September 2020 fell apart. Somalia has been marked by over two decades of warfare and political instability following the removal of President Siad Barre in a 1991 coup. The central government controls only a part of Somali territory and relies on the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, AMISOM, to confront a violent insurgency from the militant Islamist group al-Shabab, and the less potent Islamic State (IS). In the days before the emergency election meeting, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu, which killed at least nine people. Somalia's divisions intensify under President Farmajo Somalia extended elections in both 2012 and 2016 without severe political fallout. Somali watchers fear, however, that this time is different because of the extreme lack of trust between President Farmarjo's government and the federal states and opposition groups. Many Somalis had high hopes for Farmajo when he won his first term as president in 2017. He has made some progress towards debt relief. He also brought federal states together to sign a historic national security policy to reform and integrate regional and federal military and police forces -- although this has not yet been implemented. But under President Farmajo's watch, tension between the central government in Mogadishu and the federal states has increased, analysts say. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Somalia Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "This center-periphery competition has absolutely been exacerbated under the Farmajo administration," Somalia analyst Omar Mahmood told DW. "Unfortunately, the country seems to be more divided than than before." This was partly inflamed by federal government efforts to install its candidates of choice in regional legislatures -- a move viewed by analysts as President Farmajo maneuvering to secure a second term. Horn of Africa expert Matthew Bryden said the nation of some 15 million people, "is politically more fragile now than when Farmajo took office." Bryden is highly critical of the president's term. "Having had four years to prepare the ground for elections, Farmajo really hasn't presented any kind of plan or proposal or done any work, which is what led us to this very dangerous political and constitutional crisis at the moment," he said. "So I'm afraid the balance sheet weighs heavily against President Farmajo. There's very little in his favor." Mohamed Odowa in Mogadishu contributed to this report. HOBOKEN, N.J., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Presidents' Day, Avocado Green Mattress makers of organic and eco-luxury sleep products is launching exclusive savings on mattresses, natural pillows, and 100% FSC-certified, real wood bed frames. Customers can take advantage of $200 savings on Avocado's Latex Mattress and Luxury Crib Mattress with code FLAG200 at AvocadoMattress.com. Avocado's hybrid Green Mattress and Vegan Mattress are also on sale customers can save $100 with the code GREEN100. Verified front-line workers, like nurses, doctors, and emergency medical technicians, as well as military, educators, law enforcement, and firefighters, are all eligible to receive an additional discount of $50 on any mattress. 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As a Climate Neutral Certified business, Avocado is the world's first mattress brand to achieve net-negative carbon emissions across its entire business scope. As long-standing members of 1% for the Planet and recipients of their inaugural Pinnacle Award, one percent of all revenue is donated to environmental nonprofits on an annual basis. Learn more at AvocadoGreenMattress.com. If you would like more information, please contact Jessica Hann at [email protected]. SOURCE Avocado Green Mattress Related Links https://www.avocadogreenmattress.com The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company [February 03, 2021] Ascom Secures Substantial US Distribution Agreement With Primary Systems Ascom secured a master agreement in the US with its distribution partner Primary Systems to provide the purpose-built Ascom Myco 3 DECT (News - Alert) smartphone to the US market. The contract is an important strategic win with a total value of several million dollars. The master distribution agreement is set for a duration of four years until the end of 2023, during which Ascom (News - Alert) will deliver 8,000 Ascom Myco 3 DECT smartphones to Primary Systems, based in Missouri. Primary Systems will then resell the devices to end-customers in healthcare and other enterprise sectors like retail and manufacturing. The Ascom Myco 3 smartphone helps streamline workflows, support faster responses and deliver context-rich information to mobile users. It can operate on DECT and Wi-Fi networks to offer the best of both worlds: the renowned reliability and telephony quality of DECT, and the smartphone apps and services enabled by Wi-Fi. "Our new agreement strengthens our long-standing relationship with Ascom since 2002 by continuing to align Primary Systems' clinical and IT services with Ascom's ability to develop and quickly deliver best-in-class mobility solutions," said Steve Potts, President of Primary Systems. "The Ascom Myco 3 DECT smartphone will provide facilities with a smartphone device capable of closing digital information gaps between devices, hospital systems and clinical care teams while delivering the reliability hospitals expct from a DECT system. This partnership provides real world solutions for the problems that North American healthcare facilities face today." Kelly Feist, Managing Director of Ascom Americas, said, "This distribution agreement with Primary Systems demonstrates the potential Ascom has to provide our solutions on a wide scale in the competitive US market. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Primary Systems as we deliver our leading-edge Ascom Myco 3 DECT devices to organizations in healthcare and enterprise sectors." About Ascom Ascom is a global solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions. The vision of Ascom is to close digital information gaps allowing for the best possible decisions - anytime and anywhere. Ascom's mission is to provide mission-critical, real-time solutions for highly mobile, ad hoc, and time-sensitive environments. Ascom uses its unique product and solutions portfolio and software architecture capabilities to devise integration and mobilization solutions that provide truly smooth, complete, and efficient workflows for healthcare as well as for industry and retail sectors. Ascom's global headquarters is in Switzerland with its North American office in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company operates businesses in 18 countries and employs approximately 1,300 professionals worldwide. Visit www.ascom.us and follow @AscomNA on Twitter and Ascom Americas on LinkedIn (News - Alert) for news. About Primary Systems Established in 1976, Primary Systems, Inc. is a US-based healthcare solutions provider focused on improving clinical process management through the use of technology and consulting services. Their mission is to help clinical teams achieve lasting improvements in both their clinical processes and patient satisfaction by creating an ongoing clinical team engagement. Primary Systems is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and has customers throughout the US and Canada. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005677/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 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. European Metals Holdings Ltd's (LON:EMH)(ASX:EMH) Keith Coughlan caught up with Proactive's Andrew Scott following the news it's raised A$7.1 million. He says Luxembourg green energy fund, Thematica Future Mobility, participated in the raise with a A$5 million contribution. Coughlan adds that the funds will assist in further development of the Cinovec project and to introduce strategic institutional investors as they progress towards making a final investment decision and full funding. Scores of homeless people who have been living in tents under Interstate 37 near downtown were ousted Wednesday morning as a crew working with the city of San Antonio removed abandoned belongings and cleaned the area. Some residents of the tent camp gathered in small groups and sat along the curbs of Brooklyn, Nolan and Austin while tents and other personal items that had been left behind were put into a long trailer that was nearly full within an hour after the sweep started about 9 a.m. At one point, an outreach worker with Christian Assistance Ministry who was helping connect displaced people with community resources found a 6-week-old baby in a tent. The outreach worker and other officials spent several hours talking with the babys mother and trying to determine how long the infant had been at the camp. About 1:30 p.m., Child Protective Services took custody of the baby, leaving the 23-year-old mother in tears. A spokeswoman for CPS said a temporary hearing will take place in the next 10 to 14 days, at which point a judge will determine whether the infant should remain in CPS care or return to the mother. Outreach workers said seeing a baby in a homeless camp is pretty rare. A baby shouldnt be in this environment, said Valerie Salas, director of homeless services at Christian Assistance Ministry, who discovered the baby. Dawn White-Fosdick, president and CEO of CAM, said her staff knew the mother was pregnant but were unaware that she had given birth. She must have recently had the baby and has been keeping it a secret in the tent area, White-Fosdick said. There were whispers of a baby, but we had not seen it. Due to this abatement and cleanup, Valerie was able to find the baby. ... We would not have known to do so if this area was not being cleaned out. The camp downtown was a growing concern for city officials. Since November, it had increased from a few tents to dozens and dozens, stretching for several city blocks, the largest inside Loop 410. It had become a stark visual reminder of the people without shelter during the raging coronavirus pandemic. Last week, city workers counted about 85 people living in the camp, but others estimated it was closer to 100. The removal of the camp had been scheduled for several weeks but had been postponed several times while city workers and other outreach workers tried to connect people to housing and other community resources, such as Haven for Hope, the citys homeless shelter near downtown. I know that there are folks in the community on both sides who will see this as a good thing or a bad thing, said Patrick Steck, assistant director of Human Services at the City of San Antonio. Its never a decision we take lightly. Its something weve documented the need for. I hope people understand that. District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, who represents the downtown area, said outreach workers with the city do a great job connecting people experiencing homelessness with community resources. Still, he said, the city needs to do more. The question is, where did all these people go? Trevino asked. I dont think anybody knows the answer to that question. Until we adopt a housing-first strategy, this is going to happen over and over again, he added. How can we make sure the people have the resources they need? Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan, who also represents parts of the downtown area, criticized the decision to push people out. We have been working with the Hope House, Under the Bridge Ministries on getting assistance for these families, only to see that today they have been totally displaced. This is not a display of compassion that they deserve. We had requested for dumpsters, port-a-potties, showers and more care resources. Even though outreach and notification had been given to the families, this is not how we should be treating our most vulnerable. Theres too much money and resources for this to be the images we see today. Camp grows The camp first emerged in late November or early December, as more people who typically congregated in churches and other nonprofits during cold nights struggled to find a place to stay. White-Fosdick said city officials made the short-term decision to allow folks to camp underneath the overpass due in part to the shortage of places to convene. (A city official said there was shelter availability for everyone at the camp as of Wednesday.) In years past, churches and other nonprofits opened temporary warming places at night where folks could go inside, White-Fosdick said. These are not as available because of social distancing issues. The camp continued to grow as some residents, concerned about the homeless, began giving out tents, she said. But concerns about crime began to emerge. Desiree Garcia, who had a tent under the overpass, said it wasnt uncommon to hear gunshots at night. Two weeks ago, a homeless man was shot in the neck and staggered over to the drive-thru loading area at the San Antonio Express-News building along Avenue E. Investigators were unable to determine, at least at first, where the shooting occurred, but some suspected it was near the camp. The man is recovering at a hospital. Garcia, along with others who were moved from the camp, said they still felt relatively safe there. Its the quietest place in the city. Its the only place I can fall asleep comfortably, said Samuel Espinoza, 26, who has been homeless off and on for eight years. Ive never seen any criminal activity, he said. If it gets loud, everyone takes care of it. Not violently, of course. They just tell people they have to leave. City acts As reports of crime surfaced, city officials decided it was time to clear the camp. There were concerns about the amount of trash and human waste. Sometimes, workers would find drug paraphernalia strewn about. Streck said city officials and other community workers had warned people in the camp about the impending cleanup several times in the last three weeks. That effort intensified last week. Morgan Handley, a homeless outreach specialist with Centro San Antonio, said outreach workers with Centro, Christian Assistance Ministry and other nonprofits visited the camp Jan. 27 to offer services. The outreach workers returned twice Tuesday, officials said. About 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, they arrived with suitcases, duffel bags, trash bags and other receptacles for people to remove their things. Texas Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the underpass, came about 9 a.m. to clean up, Handley said. Handley said many people wouldnt accept the offer of aid. She knew of only two: one went to Haven for Hope; the other entered a rehabilitation facility. Typically, people just move right back in after the cleanup, but these cleanups will now happen weekly, officials said. Salas, with CAM, said she hopes the offer of help encourages them to move forward with their next step, whether going to a shelter or getting treatment for mental health issues. We want to help with the transition, she said. What remains While many people living under the highway were able to gather all their belongings, some were upset they werent given more time to pack. Lilly Ryan and Ken Mayhew didnt grab their tent in time. It was removed by the cleanup crew. They only gave us five minutes to pack, said Craig McIver, 60. I had a problem with that. McIver lay on a blanket in the grass Wednesday afternoon surrounded by his mattress, a duffel bag and a box of candy canes. He, like others, had little interest in many of the resources he had heard of. A lot of us dont want to be in a confined area, McIver said, as he took a bite of a candy cane. We like being outside. Garcia said she would rather live on the streets, where workers couldnt control her life. She said she wasnt sure what she was going to do next. Maybe, she said, she would return to the camp. Staff photographer Kin Man Hui contributed to this report. eeaton@express-news.net The remains of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who lost his life in the Jan. 6 riot by supporters of President Donald Trump, were brought to the U.S. Capitol for one last time Tuesday night. He will lay in honor overnight. Among those who came to pay their respects was President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Sicknick, a native of South River, died from injuries sustained in the insurrection, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Four others also died and Trump was impeached a week later for an unprecedented second time on charges of inciting the riot. His former colleagues and congressional leaders stood in silence on a blustery winter Washington evening as two members of the police honor guard carried Sicknicks remains in a wooden urn and a folded American flag up the stairs on the Capitols East Front and into the Rotunda. A procession of masked Capitol Police officers, two abreast, then followed, along with congressional leaders, who held their hands over their hearts as the remains were carried into the chamber. Those in attendance included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and House Republican Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, according to pool reports. Capitol Police officers stood in a semicircle surrounding the table where the flag and urn were to be placed, saluting as the remains were carried in. I join with my colleagues and members of the Capitol Police force in grieving the loss of one of their fellow officers, Schumer said on the Senate floor earlier in the day. May his memory live forever as a model of service to our nation, selflessness in the line of duty, and courage in the face of danger. And in a letter to House Democrats on Tuesday, Pelosi said: Officer Sicknicks sacrifice, and the heroism of the Capitol Police force that day, bring honor to our Constitution and our democracy. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Arrival & Lying in Honor in U.S. Capitol Rotunda - LIVE on C-SPAN https://t.co/bWSbyOIcII pic.twitter.com/0LeviD6Y4W CSPAN (@cspan) February 3, 2021 Capitol Police were given the chance to pay respects to their fallen officer Tuesday evening. One at a time, they came to the table and saluted. Later in the evening, some members of the New Jersey Air National Guard who served with Sicknick entered the Capitol to pay their respects, according to pool reports. Members of Congress will be able to join them from 7-9 a.m. Wednesday, with a congressional tribute scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at which Pelosi and Schumer are scheduled to speak. The departure ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. as Sicknicks remains are taken to Arlington National Cemetery, where he will be interred. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., and Don Beyer, D-Virginia, have introduced legislation to posthumously award Sicknick the Congressional Gold Medal. Sicknick joined the Capitol Police in July 2008 after six years in the New Jersey Air National Guard. He was credited with helping to save the lives of lawmakers who were hurried out of the building into a safe room after the Capitol was breached by the mob while the lawmakers were certifying the electoral votes that would make Joe Biden president. After the rioters were cleared out, a majority of House Republicans, including 2nd Dist. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, voted against certifying the votes. Hours before the riot, Trump told supporters at a rally to fight like hell and if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. The Senate is scheduled to begin its trial next week. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. tvN's newest drama, "Devil Judge," finally confirmed its main cast! The upcoming drama aims to convey a message about justice through a live courtroom show, where everyone can be involved and participate. Honorable and the "devil judge" Kang Yo Han will appear in the middle of chaos and confusion, a savior of individuals who need his help but can also be a demon who wears the law's mask. Ji Sung, GOT7 Jinyoung, and More: "Devil Judge" Boasts an Impressive Cast On Feb. 3, tvN announced to the public the confirmed actors who will be part of the upcoming drama, namely Ji Sung, Kim Min Jung, GOT7's Jinyoung, and Park Gyu Young. "Doctor John" star Ji Sung will be portraying Kang Yo Han, a head trial judge who is always ready to hunt down villains. He is the "devil judge" inside the court who wears the mask of the law to punish all the people who keep on committing injustices in the society. Aside from his charismatic visuals, Yo Han hides a mysterious personality that he cannot show to anyone yet. Kim Mi Jung is Jung Sun Ah. She is an executive director of a foundation and will be the mortal rival of Kang Yo Han. With her gorgeous physical appearance and brilliant brain, it is not impossible for her to be a passionate and persistent leader, who commands and controls the nation with her strong connections with the biggest name in different industries including Kang Yo Han. Meanwhile, returning on the small screen is actor and GOT7 member Park Jinyoung. He is set to play the role of associate trial judge Kim Ga On. His presence seems to be the only hope in a dystopian world. When he was still a child, he has a painful past: Kim Ga On lost his parents. Due to lack of support, he worked hard on his own and pursued a career in the court. He is persistent when it comes to work, but in the process of observing Kang Yo Han as a respected judge will lead him to confusion. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" actress Park Gyu Young will be portraying the character of Yoon Soo Hyun, a police detective in a regional investigation unit who is determined on the search for Kang Yo Han's secrets. Kim Ga On and Yoon Soo Hyun are long time friends. They grew up like brothers and sisters. Even though she has a charming and easy going personality, Kim Ga On is the only person who cannot recognize her charms. "Devil Judge" to be Helmed by "Children of Nobody" Director, Choi Jung Gyu "Devil Judge" will be premiering in the second half of 2021. It will be directed by Choi Jung Gyu, the man behind "Children of Nobody," and will be penned by writer Moon Yoo Suk, who wrote the magnificent script of "Miss Hammurabi." Are you ready for another intense and entertaining drama inside the court? 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 Medical illustration of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. (CDC Public Health Image Library) Physicians and researchers with the Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center at the University of Florida, and the UF College of Pharmacy, used a novel treatment regimen to cure a patient of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in less than half the normal time. They reported their case study in the January issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Tuberculosis is an ancient disease affecting the respiratory system that like COVID-19 is spread by airborne droplets. But in the case of TB, its an acid-fast bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that rides in aerosols from one human host to another. Globally, TB disease is the leading cause of death from an infectious pathogen and is second only to COVID-19 in the number of deaths it causes. TB has not been highly prevalent in the US for several decades, but cases occur regularly at low levels. Tuberculosis remains a large concern in many parts of the world, however, and drug-resistant strains are on the rise everywhere. As of 2017, at least 20% of TB cases globally were resistant to at least one first- or second-line drug, and around 10% of these multi-drug resistant cases were extensively drug-resistant against some second-line defense drugs or all of them. The field of TB has been slow to improve since the first antibiotic effective against TB was recognized in the 1940s, says the reports first author, Connie Haley, M.D., M.P.H., who is an affiliate faculty member in UFs College of Medicine. And tuberculosis patients who become infected with TB strains resistant to existing drugs have very limited treatment options. Haley is also a medical consultant for the Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center, which is one of four Tuberculosis Centers of Excellence funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. Some patients cant tolerate existing treatments, which can last up to two years, Haley notes. Others lose their hearing as a side effect, or can develop renal or liver toxicity. In Africa, they have a saying, Better deaf than dead, Dr. Haley says. But as a clinician, I feel its unacceptable to ask a patient to risk severe disability in exchange for a cure. Haley worked with UF physicians, pharmacists, and researchers along with David Ashkin, M.D., affiliate UF faculty, Medical Director of the SNTC and Medical Director of the Florida Department of Health to cure a patient with extensively-drug resistant TB using a novel regimen recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The team says that, to the best of their knowledge, they were the first providers to use this new treatment regimen in the US outside of a clinical trial. Since this case, close to 40 patients in the US have undergone similar care. It took one-third of the normal time, with fewer side effects, and it saved her life, Dr. Haley says. Drug-resistant TB Patients who have drug-susceptible TB disease can typically be cured after six months using an effective regimen as long as one drug, rifampin, can be used for the full duration. Rifampin is currently the most effective drug against TB, killing the bulk of organisms that are actively replicating as well as the harder-to-eradicate semi-dormant or persister organisms that can cause recurrent TB, Dr. Haley says. In multi-drug resistant TB, the infecting TB organisms are resistant to rifampin and isoniazid; and in extensively-resistant TB, there is also fluoroquinolone resistance and at least one injectable medication (such as amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin) which renders these patients very hard to cure. Without rifampin, TB can require treatment for 18-24 months, since other first-line drugs do not have the same sterilizing action, Dr. Haley says. And currently recommended second-line drugs often have worse side effects, so we have clearly needed something else. A clinical trial completed in 2019 found that a six-month oral regimen of three drugs bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid, known as BPaL was effective in curing extensively drug-resistant TB in 90 percent of enrolled participants. Based on these results, the FDA approved the new BPaL regimen for use in the US in August 2019. All three drugs in the BPaL regimen work strongly against actively replicating M. tuberculosis organisms, but like rifampin, both bedaquiline and pretomanid can also kill perisisters, enabling a shorter treatment to cure the patient. Test results had shown that samples of M. tuberculosis obtained from Dr. Haleys patient had mutations indicating that her strain was extensively drug-resistant. Dr. Haley and her team received FDA clearance to use BPaL with their patient, who was also being treated for locally advanced cervical cancer when she was diagnosed with TB. The regimen was so new that the pretomanid was not available in the US and had to be shipped from overseas. Prior to this new regimen, a diagnosis of extensively drug-resistant TB meant that there were no drugs that were likely to be effective or tolerated by the patient, Dr. Haley says. Its really a huge breakthrough. Individualized drug therapy A co-author to the case report, Charles Peloquin, Pharm.D., directs UFs Infectious Disease Pharmacokinetics Laboratory in the College of Pharmacy. The lab was critical to the teams success. Peloquin, who is also a faculty member in UFs Emerging Pathogens Institute, specializes in therapeutic drug monitoring, or TDM. His lab uses an analytical chemistry technique called LC MS, or liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. The method allows for a patients drug regimen to be tailored individually. The lab monitors drug concentrations in the patients serum and then recommends adjustments to the size or frequency of the doses. This approach allows the clinicians to analyze how a patient absorbs, metabolizes and clears a drug, which allows them to find the right dose early during treatment and optimize outcomes. One of the BPaL drugs, linezolid, is effective but carries a risk of concentration-related adverse drug reactions. TDM allows clinicians to balance the competing goals of giving enough of a drug to kill the bacteria that cause TB, but not so much drug that the patient is harmed. Dr. Haley says the patient is the first in the US to receive the BPaL regimen in conjunction with therapeutic drug monitoring. The team published the case study to further clinical knowledge of how BPaL therapy can be individualized. BPaL is still so new that in another country, this patient would have had no cure, Dr. Haley says. We wanted to share our work because if clinicians dont implement new scientific discoveries into practice, then the benefit is lost. UFs Southeast National Tuberculosis Center provides expert medical consultation without charge to any provider in Florida, as well as those in the Southeast, Midwest, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands who would like assistance managing complex patients with TB or latent TB infection. Consults can be requested at 1-800-4-TB-INFO or via the web at https://sntc.medicine.ufl.edu/home/index#/. Providers in other states outside of the SNTC jurisdiction can also receive free expert medical consultation from one of the other CDC-funded TB Centers of Excellence. Written by DeLene Beeland Read More Read Charles Peloquin's bio. The disciplining of a series of high-ranking officials, including incumbent and retired ones, shows that the fight against corruption and wrongdoings in the last five years has been accelerated under the motto there are no restricted zones, no exceptions in the corruption fight as instructed by Party Secretary General and State President Nguyen Phu Trong. Party Secretary General, State President Nguyen Phu Trong: "Once the furnace is already hot, even fresh firewood will burn". At the national conference to summarize the Party's inspection and supervision work in February 2017, Mr. Trong said: It is absolutely not a pleasure to discipline our comrades. On the contrary, I feel very broken-hearted and painful about this. But we still have to do this and discipline some individuals, for the sake of our progress, so that others wont make violations." Anti-corruption has become a movement and a trend in the society. Once the furnace is already hot, even fresh firewood will burn. No one can stay outside. Even if they want, they cannot do that. And that is success, Mr. Trong said at the 12th plenum on anti-corruption held by the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control on July 31, 2017. Party Secretary General, State President Nguyen Phu Trong: If someone feels hindered and discouraged, he needs to set aside, so that other people can take this work. At a meeting with voters before the 4th session of the 14th National Assembly on October 12, 2017, he raised a question: "Have the cadres been disciplined seriously enough? Previously, we said having a bath from shoulder down, now from head down. People are supporting [anti-corruption]. And we have to go ahead, not stop." He said fighting against corruption makes the situation better, not worse, and it is necessary so that officers become enlightened and do not repeat the same mistakes. On November 29, 2017, at a meeting with Hanoi voters after the 4th session of the 14th National Assembly, Mr. Trong emphasized that fighting corruption is not just done through the call for peoples consciousness and ideology education, but also by laws. Power is locked up in the cage of mechanisms and laws. When assigning the authority to you, it is also necessary to use a rod so that you cannot, dare not and dont want to engage in corruption, he said. Party Secretary General, State President Nguyen Phu Trong: Good fame will exist forever. Dont be eager for titles, positions, material things and fortune, especially when you have power in hands and there are so many flatterers around you." If someone feels hindered and discouraged, he needs to set aside, so that other people can take this work, he said at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee on April 10, 2018. He denied that anti-corruption may discourage cadres and that no one wants to continue their work. The head of the Party and the State affirmed that this thinking is wrong. Showing strong determination to clean and purify the apparatus, speaking at the conference of the Standing Commission of the Public Security Central Party Committee on November 28, 2018, Mr. Trong said: Good fame will exist forever. Dont be eager for titles, positions, material things and fortune, especially when you have power in hands and there are so many flatterers around you." In January 2019, Mr. Trong reaffirmed the Party and the States determination to fight against corruption and uphold the motto of there are no restricted zones, no exceptions in the corruption fight, no matter whoever they are. Addressing the closing remarks at the 11th meeting of the 12th Party Central Committee on October 13, 2019, mentioning the high-ranking leaders disciplined at the beginning of the tenure, Mr. Trong said: It is really painful, but we cannot help doing this, there is no other way! All for the common cause of the Party, the country, and the people." Party Secretary General, State President Nguyen Phu Trong: "Corruption in politics, ideology, morality and lifestyle is extremely dangerous. We have to strengthen the fight against this in the immediate time. You need to live in a way so that you wont feel regret when you leave the world. At a meeting of the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control on November 25, 2020, he stressed that anti-corruption must not only be in the field of business, but also in political thoughts, morality and lifestyle. "Corruption in politics, ideology, morality and lifestyle is extremely dangerous. We have to strengthen the fight against this in the immediate time. You need to live in a way so that you wont feel regret when you leave the world, Mr. Trong said, stressing that honor is the most sacred and noble thing. At many meetings with voters in Hanoi, Mr. Trong repeatedly affirmed that when fighting against corruption, it is necessary to be decisive, serious and humanitarian as well. According to the Party Secretary General and State President, covering up errant cadres will damage the Partys prestige, while handling cadres mistakes will only make the Party stronger. The battle will help regain the Partys prestige. He said: The weak sectors must be corrected immediately, and the broken links must be replaced at once." Party Secretary General, State President Nguyen Phu Trong: Disciplining some individuals to save many other people. It is necessary to continue to do this harder and stronger in the time to come". The report at the national conference reviewing anti-corruption work in 2013-2020 held on December 12, 2020, showed that in 2013-2020, Party committees and inspection committees at different levels disciplined more than 131,000 Party members. Since the beginning of the 12th tenure alone, more than 87,000 cadres and Party members have been disciplined for violations, including 3,200 Party members related to corruption. Notably, these included 110 cadres under management of the Party Central Committee, including 27 Party Central Committee members and former members; four members and former members of the Politburo, and more than 30 generals in the armed force. This was a breakthrough in the Partys inspection and discipline. The Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control alone has monitored and directed more than 800 cases in three levels. Of these, it has directly monitored and instructed 133 cases, and 94 serious corruption and economic matters of public interest. To date, 86 cases with 814 defendants have been put into trial at first instance. Of these, 18 cadres under the central management face criminal proceedings. These include one Politburo member, seven members and former members of the Party Central Committee, four Ministers and former Ministers, and seven generals in the armed force (one person may have two titles). At this conference, Mr. Trong said: Disciplining some individuals to save many other people. It is necessary to continue to do this harder and stronger in the time to come under the spirit of Uncle Ho: cutting off a few wormy branches to save the whole tree." He hopes all Party and State cadres will uphold the sense of responsibility and lead the fight against corruption. The leaders and former leaders disciplined in recent years include Dinh La Thang, Hoang Trung Hai, Nguyen Duc Chung, Le Thanh Hai, Nguyen Van Binh, Ho Thi Kim Thoa, Vu Huy Hoang, Tran Vinh Tuyen, Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Trieu Tai Vinh, Tat Thanh Cang, Bui Quang Vinh, Le Manh Ha, Senior Lieutenant General Phuong Minh Hoa, Bui Van Thanh and Tran Viet Tan. Huong Quynh General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: "What I do not polish myself" Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong has been re-elected as the General Secretary of the Party Central Committee for the 2021-2026 term. 13th National Party Congress makes headlines around Asia The results of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), with Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected as General Secretary of the 13th Party Central Committee, have made headlines around Asia. 71% of young adults in US support some form of limits on abortion: poll Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A new poll conducted by a national pro-life advocacy group finds unexpectedly strong support for the pro-life movement among millennials and members of Generation Z. Students for Life of America, a national organization with campuses at schools and colleges nationwide, released the results of a survey compiled as a project of SFLAs Institute for Pro-Life Advancement. The project surveyed 800 registered voters nationwide between the ages of 18 and 34 from Jan. 7 to Jan. 11. The results have an error margin of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points. Respondents were asked to provide their views on abortion policy. About 30% of respondents identified themselves as Republicans, while 36% were Democrats and 34% were independent. The survey found that more than 7 out of 10 expressed support for limits on abortion. Far from embracing Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Party Line, Millennials and Generation Z have a more nuanced view of abortion that embraces a number of pro-life positions, SFLA President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement. When asked for their position on abortion, 19% of respondents said that abortion should be allowed at any time during a womans pregnancy and for any reason. Another 19% said that abortion should be legal only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Meanwhile, 15% responded that abortion should be legal for any reason, but not after five months of pregnancy when the fetus is viable and can feel pain. Another 15% of respondents asserted that abortion should be prohibited in all circumstances. The poll found that 14% support keeping abortion legal for the first trimester of pregnancy only. Less than 1-in-10 respondents (8%) maintained that abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother. Additionally, 9% said they were unsure. Almost half (45%) of those surveyed expressed opposition to the idea of forcing all Americans to fund abortions through their tax dollars. The survey came shortly before unified Democratic control of the federal government took effect last month. Members of the Democratic Party have signaled a desire to do away with the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing measure that prevents the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. A majority (53%) of respondents opposed the funding of abortions overseas using federal tax dollars. Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden reversed President Donald Trumps Mexico City Policy barring the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions in other countries. A plurality (47% to 38%) of young Americans polled by SFLA said they support bans on abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as around six weeks gestation. Many states have passed heartbeat bills. But they have quickly been met with resistance from the judicial branch. When asked about 1973s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, 41% of respondents expressed support for the decision compared to 22% who opposed it. However, young Americans' views changed dramatically when they were given more details about the consequential Supreme Court decision. When told Roe allows abortion to occur throughout all nine months of pregnancy, opposition to the landmark decision rose to 57% among those surveyed, while support dropped to 30%. Respondents remained divided over whether the Supreme Court should reverse Roe and send the issue of abortion back to the states. About 44% support reversing Roe while 36% do not. This number is extraordinary considering Planned Parenthood claims that Roe is popular and that 77% of the American people oppose reversing it, said Hawkins. Issue by issue, the perspectives of young American voters targeted for abortion are very different from the talking points of the powerful abortion lobby. And there is common ground for those who want to find it. A plurality (44%) of respondents told SFLA that they support a policy requiring women to have an in-person exam before taking the abortion pill. By a more than 2-1 margin (55% to 23%), young Americans surveyed support requiring abortion pills to be picked up in-person. The abortion lobby has used the coronavirus pandemic to push for making chemical abortions available by mail. While long-standing federal regulations prohibit women from obtaining abortion-inducing drugs by mail, a federal judge suspended a Food and Drug Administration requirement that women need to see a doctor before obtaining abortion drugs. The judge claimed that the rule presented an undue burden during the pandemic. However, the Supreme Court reinstated the FDA rule last month. The Students for Life poll results mirror the findings in another poll conducted by Marist on behalf of the Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus. That poll, released last week, found that 76% of Americans support at least some restrictions on abortion. About 71% of young Americans told SFLA that they support abortion restrictions in some form. Despite what you may hear, the facts prove that Millennials and Gen Zers are not looking for an extreme abortion agenda over the next four years, Hawkins wrote in an op-ed published by Real Clear Politics. Instead, like many Americans, they express a more nuanced point of view that should be taken into account by those who will be facing these voters in two years. Crescencio Velasco Covarrubias, 45, of Button Willow, Calif., was arraigned this week on multiple felony counts of insurance fraud after allegedly failing to disclose prior work-related injuries in order to collect undeserved workers compensation benefits. Covarrubias filed a workers comp claim for an injury he sustained on June 26, 2017, while employed at a retail warehouse center. Covarrubias alleged he injured his left ankle, foot, heel, and back when he misstepped while sweeping. As part of the claims process, Covarrubias was responsible for reporting any prior injuries, as they could have affected the outcome of the current claim. An investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance reportedly revealed on Nov. 11, 2010, Covarrubias filed a workers comp claim, processed by a different insurance company, for a bilateral knee, neck, and back injury, along with left foot and ankle injuries. Those injuries were reportedly sustained when Covarrubias was driving a tractor shuttle loaded with almonds and was struck by another tractor shuttle. Covarrubias injuries were treated by his primary treating physicians and he received a $90,000 settlement. The investigation into the June 2017 injury claim reportedly found that Covarrubias not only failed to report the November 2010 injuries, but when specifically asked, he denied any prior injuries to his left foot, ankle or back. Covarrubias fraudulent statements reportedly resulted in a loss to his employers insurance company of more than $87,000. If Covarrubias would have reported the injuries from November 2010, the insurance company would have conducted an investigation and likely denied or modified the current claim, thereby preventing Covarrubias from receiving benefits he was not entitled to, according to CDI(. Covarrubias self-surrendered and was arraigned on January 7. He is scheduled to return to court on March 15. The Kern County District Attorneys Office is prosecuting this case. Topics California Workers' Compensation Fraud opinion What next for disgraced Nigerian - born Cllr. A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike is the big question being asked here after President George Manneh Weah finally has seen the unceasant public pressure and accepted the resignation of the expelled lawyer, ending his controversial leadership at the Liberia Anti - Corruption Commission (LACC). Despite resigning Monday, 1 February, some Liberians suggest that the disgraced official should face prosecution to account for statements and actions while he was under oath at a Senate confirmation hearing last year in his bid to chair the National Elections Commission (NEC). While only the Supreme Court of Liberia can disbar lawyers, Liberian lawyers here are also required to be in good standing with the Liberian National Bar Association to enable them to appear before courts for the practice of law. But the LNBA expelled Cllr. Nwabudike's membership on 19 June last year, saying he became member of the LNBA through fraudulent means. The LNBA revealed to the public that a perusal of his various passports showed his birth dates as October 19, 1960, October 2, 1963, October 2, 1965 and October 2, 1969. But in his petition before the Civil Law Court, Cllr. Nwabudike complained that since his admission as member of the Supreme Bar as Counsellor - At - Law on 21 June 2002, he has been and continues to be in good standing, serving the LNBA as its Secretary General. Ahead of his resignation, student advocates from the University of Liberia held protests to compel the disgraced official to leave the integrity institution, but he held onto power. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Liberia Legal Affairs Corruption By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He finally resigned Monday, but the information appeared to have only been rumored until President Weah finally accepted the resignation Tuesday, enabling the Nwabudike to leave the job. A statement issued by the Executive Mansion Tuesday says President Weah has accepted the resignation of Nwabudike, having received the letter of resignation earlier on Monday, 1 February. The Executive Mansion says President Weah thanked Nwabudike for his services to his Country, Liberia while receiving the letter of resignation. Cllr. Nwabudike's resignation takes effect as of 26 February. He was appointed LACC's Chairperson in October 2019. Cllr. Nwabudike was in 2018 appointed Chairperson of the Governance Commission (GC). And then months ahead of the 2020 senatorial elections, Cllr. Nwabudike was again appointed to chair the NEC, a position that sparked the controversies surrounding his citizenship status as Liberian. He failed flat to prove that he is a naturalized Liberian, subsequently denying him of the NEC job and also causing him to lost his membership with the LNBA. In the letter of resignation as LACC chair, dated 27 January, 2021, Cllr. Nwabudike Thanked President Weah for affording him the opportunity to serve in his government. "The monumental progress made by the Government in the fight against corruption, both in the public and private sectors, is being marred by public debate of my person rather than what contribution I can make towards the economic development of our country", Cllr. Nwabudike said in his letter of resignation. SpaceX on Tuesday crashed its second Starship prototype in South Texas, continuing its fast-paced cadence of flying, failing and fixing. The launch of Starship SN9, standing for Serial No. 9, occurred less than two months after SN8 launched from the Boca Chica SpaceX facility outside of Brownsville. During both flights, three Raptor engines ignited and the vehicle began to climb upward. The engines were intentionally shut down one at a time, causing the Starship prototype to enter a horizontal, belly flop-like position. Then the engines were supposed to reignite and flip the vehicle for a gentle vertical landing. But both SN8 and SN9 landed hard and in flames. First high-altitude launch: SpaceX Starship prototype reaches new heights before hard, fiery landing in South Texas Weve just got to work on that landing a little bit, John Insprucker, principal integration engineer for SpaceX, said on Tuesday while providing commentary for the companys live video of SN9. This is a test flight. The second time we have flown Starship in this configuration. Weve got a lot of good data and the primary objective to demonstrate control of the vehicle in the subsonic reentry looked to be very good. SN9 traveled more than six miles above South Texas. SN10 is already at the launch site, waiting for its chance to stick the landing. SpaceX is developing the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket to carry people to the moon, Mars and beyond. SpaceX founder Elon Musk talks passionately about making humans a multi-planetary species. But SpaceX got caught in regulatory crosshairs, which ultimately prevented SN9 from launching last week. Prior to the companys high-altitude SN8 launch in December, SpaceX sought a waiver to exceed the maximum public risk allowed by federal safety regulations. The Federal Aviation Administration, which issues licenses for commercial launches, denied the request. SpaceX proceeded with the launch without demonstrating that the public risk from far field blast overpressure was within the regulatory criteria. SpaceX was pleased with the SN8 test in December, but the FAA was not amused. It suspended Boca Chica testing that could affect public safety until SpaceX completed an investigation, including a comprehensive review of the companys safety culture and operational decision making, and proposed corrective actions to protect public safety. As such, the FAA halted SpaceX from launching last week. And this prompted a tense back-and-forth between Musk and the FAA. Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure, Musk said on Twitter. Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars. In return, the FAA said it would not compromise safety. While we recognize the importance of moving quickly to foster growth and innovation in commercial space, the FAA will not compromise its responsibility to protect public safety, the FAA said. We will approve the modification only after we are satisfied that SpaceX has taken the necessary steps to comply with regulatory requirements. Ultimately, the FAA granted its approval late Monday. In a statement, it said SpaceX complies with all safety and related federal regulations and is authorized to conduct Starship SN9 flight operations. Following the SN9 launch, the FAA said it would oversee an investigation of Tuesdays landing. Although this was an uncrewed test flight, the investigation will identify the root cause of todays mishap and possible opportunities to further enhance safety as the program develops, the FAA said. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. More SpaceX news: SpaceX, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman invite the public to apply for ride into space I cannot think of any other example where a commercial space company has violated a launch license intentionally, Jared Zambrano-Stout, director of congressional and regulatory policy for the law firm Meeks, Butera & Israel, told the Chronicle. On Twitter, he said its important that the FAA enforces launch licenses. This protects the public and the long-term viability of the launch industry. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company India on Wednesday invited global defence and aerospace companies to set up manufacturing units in the country taking advantage of various initiatives taken by the government in the field. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India offers unlimited potential in defence and aerospace. "Aero India is a wonderful platform for collaborations in these areas. The Government of India has brought futuristic reforms in these sectors, which will add impetus to our quest to become Aatmanirbhar," Modi wrote on Twitter. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India-2021, the country's premier defence and aerospace show, at Air Force Station at Yelahanka here, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh invited global companies in the field to set up manufacturing units in the country by taking advantage of various initiatives taken by the government. Since 2014, Singh said, the central government has brought in many reforms in to create a conducive ecosystem for exports, Foreign Direct Investment and offset discharge. "I have been informed that about 540 exhibitors including 80 foreign companies, Defence Ministers, Delegates, Service chiefs and officials from more than 55 nations are participating in the event. It reflects the growing optimism of the global community", he said. Despite the constraints posed by the global pandemic, Singh said he is pleased to see such a large number of participants in this years event. "The Aero India 21 will display the vast potential of India, and the multifarious opportunities that our country offers in the field of defence and aerospace sector. It also promises to be the World's First Ever Hybrid Aero and Defence exhibition", the Minister added on Twitter. (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.) Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2021 9:00 am Churrell Maguire couldnt have found a better job. It was 2013, and the then Olympia resident had just earned her certified nursing assistant (CNA) license when she began caring for a Tumwater couple who would forever hold a special place in her heart. I love them, and they love me, Maguire said last week from the cozy office she and her husband of two years Chris Maguire erected in August adjacent their rural Yelm home. Stenciled on the office wall behind Maguires desk is her professional raison detre: It reads Heart 2 Heart Homecare, the caregiving business she inaugurated in January. Maguire, 31, who co-owns Heart 2 Heart with her grandfather and is the businesss president and primary administrator, has worked in health care for the past 16 years, much of it as a CNA private contractor. That independent role allowed her to be her own boss, so to speak, and fit perfectly with her vision for the future. Shed begun her career working as a CNA with Catholic Community Services, but after about a year, she yearned to spread her wings and fly solo. Right away after I received my CNA I decided I wanted to open my own health care business, said Maguire, who graduated in 2010 from Nation High School, an online institution that offers high school diploma programs, and then received her CNA license from Simmons & Holliday in Olympia. Her first clients were Ed and Rosemary, a longtime married Tumwater couple who had lived together for 56 years as though any other existence would simply have been unheard of. The couple suffered from Alzheimers disease and required daily 24-hour care. Ed would die about a year after Maguire assumed their care, but Rosemary now in her late 80s is still very much alive. So, too, are perhaps her most distinguishing characteristics: a radiant smile and an operatic voice that often breaks into arias whenever it darn well feels like it. But though Maguire who worked as Ed and Rosemarys lead caregiver adored the octogenarians, their care would eventually take its toll. Maguire attended to the couples needs for four years, routinely working 24-hour shifts three-to-seven days a week. Her responsibilities included attending to their ADLs, or activities of daily living, which might routinely include providing meals, bathing, dressing, brushing teeth, helping maintain bladder and bowel control and more. She also monitored the couples vitals, took them on daily adventures, such as to the Olympia Senior Center, and assisted with daily range-of-motion exercises, among other responsibilities. And since she didnt formally live with the couple, she also trained other caregivers to fill in for her when she needed time off. It was a wonderful four years, a span of her life shell never forget, but it eventually wore her out. I sacrificed my personal life, because she (Rosemary) needed me and I loved her, Maguire said. The job, ironically, became more difficult after Ed died. She (Rosemary) couldnt stop asking, wheres Ed?, and that was the hardest part taking care of her after Ed died. It didnt help that the youngest of Maguires two daughters Aubree, now 4 began suffering in late 2016 from serious fevers that progressed for seven months. It was more than Maguire could take, so in 2017 she was forced to make a necessary but heart-wrenching decision she would have to leave Rosemary. After that time with the Tumwater couple, 24-hour shifts were really hard for me, she said. I decided that I had to find another client I could care for during the day, so I could take care of my sick child at night. After that, Maguire cared for a woman suffering multiple sclerosis who required daily medical assistance and help with a variety of ADLs. To date since 2013, Maguire has cared for 10 different clients for periods of three months to a year at a time. Ive stayed working all the time, she said. Maguire, born in Orange County, California, actually began her caregiving career much earlier though she was yet to be professionally trained. At age 16, she moved from Orange County to Shelton where her mother and grandparents were living, and her caregiving instincts quickly kicked in once she arrived. My motivation for caregiving was to take care of my grandmother and grandfather, she said. And Ive been caregiving ever since. Tumwater resident Jorjana Pedersen, 61 Ed and Rosemarys daughter has watched over the years as Maguire edged toward opening Heart 2 Heart and has marveled at the caregivers empathy, professionalism, and resolve. Churrell provided care to my mom and dad as if they were her own parents, Pedersen wrote last week via email. ... She has a unique sense of the emotional and psychological needs of others and skillfully used encouragement and positive strategies to ensure my parents' daily routines and needs were met. Every aspect of her care was done with the utmost respect to my parents. Those sympathetic qualities the same ones shell insist her Heart 2 Heart caregivers embrace will work hand-in-hand with Maguires business acumen to ensure Heart 2 Heart thrives, Pedersen believes. Churrell is a forward thinker who is very effective at creating systems and procedures to accomplish her plans, Pedersen wrote. Setting up a homecare business has been a goal of hers since 2013 when she started caring for my parents. Since that time, I have watched her work diligently, step by step, to accomplish it. Maguires goal for Heart 2 Heart is simple, but illuminating. I want to reach more people in our community by holding our caregivers to a higher standard, she said. I am a caregiver, too, and I understand the rawness of peoples real struggles. As a caregiver you become very close to your clients and many times become the most important person in their world. Heart 2 Heart offers two levels of non-medical services: companion care and home health aides (HHA). Companion caregivers provide a variety of services, such as taking clients to appointments, running errands, preparing meals, housekeeping and more, but dont provide hands-on care. Thats left to the home health aides, who are trained and licensed through the state Department of Health. They provide skilled services such as bathing, shaving, medication assistance, toileting assistance and other personal care. Some caregivers may also have CNA licenses and have been more rigorously trained than HHAs are able to offer clients even more skilled care. So far, Heart 2 Heart has seven caregivers on file, but only two clients one in Yelm, the other in Puyallup. COVID-19 has put a temporary crimp on the companys initial fortunes. I just think that a lot of people are scared, and rightly so, of having people in their homes because of COVID-19, Maguire said. Ideally, she wants Heart 2 Heart to routinely service at least 100 clients, but even though shes extensively advertising the businesss services, getting the companys name out there in the middle of a pandemic has proven challenging. Because of COVID-19 its hard due to the restrictions, she said. We cant get to the part of the community we want to, and its harder to be recognized as a local agency when nobody knows who you are, yet, and you launched your business during a pandemic. That said, however, a current Heart 2 Heart clients family lauds the companys service. The client, a 65-year-old woman in unincorporated Pierce County who lives with her husband, receives care from a Heart 2 Heart staff member from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week. She suffers from intermittent spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH), a condition in which the fluid pressure inside the skull is lower than normal. SIH can cause severe headaches and other symptoms such as nausea, vertigo and tinnitus. The womans husband, Bruce Hutfless, 67, a senior software engineer who works full time from home, hired Heart 2 Heart to care for his wife during the day because his work didn't allow him to give her the attention she needed. I have been extremely pleased with the quality of care my wife has received from Heart 2 Heart, he said by phone last week. They were able to find someone on short notice, and the person they sent hit it off with my wife, and having that personal connection with your caregiver helps. Shelton resident Katrina Hasch, the womans daughter who was previously a CNA has known Maguire for many years and trusted her new company to properly care for her mother. Her faith has been rewarded. Heart 2 Heart has been far above and beyond my expectations, she said last week. The care that has been given to my mother is better than anything I have heard about or witnessed in the past. Maguire is confident that with a little help from above Heart 2 Heart will eventually thrive and continue to offer the quality of care Hasch describes. I have faith in God and his plan, she concluded. I know that if I stay consistent with my dreams and passions He will answer my prayers and provide. Licence awards create new mining district for Oriole Resources ( ) has been awarded five new licences in Central Cameroon which significantly expand the companys footprint in the country and potentially creates a new mining district. The explorer highlighted the new acreage alongside three other licences awarded to Orioles partner Reservoir Minerals Cameroon represents a contiguous, district-scale land package spanning some 3,592 square kilometres of what it described as highly prospective geological terrain. Chief Executive Tim Livesey and Chief Financial Officer Bob Smeeton tell Proactive London about the fluid carrying gold mineralisation in the targets and the company's ability to fund exploration ambitions. Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - AllStar Health Brands Inc. (OTC Pink: ALST), a specialty pharmaceutical and nutritional supplements company, is pleased to announce it has signed an Agreement with a Consulting group intending to Distribute the COVID-19 suite of testing capabilities and reporting Software AllStar Distributes for TPT Medtech. The new territories include South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Angola and Portugal. "Our goal is to quickly build on the model we have begun in Jamaica, and now offer rapid and reliable testing solutions to various sectors of the South African economy, including testing in the vast mining industry as well as other sectors of the economy such as tourism and the public in general," remarked Dr. Daniel Bagi, CEO of AllStar. "We offer a full range of solutions, including the mobile testing labs which can be set-up at the entrance to mines, complete with all the current testing solutions available: PCR, Antigen, and Antibody tests as well as the QuikPASS and Check & Verify software to ensure the testing is validated across several accepted platforms. The added benefit of the software is that once vaccinations begin, the results will also be available on the individual's "COVID19 passport". We view acceptance and launch in South Africa as a springboard into other countries in Africa, so we are working towards having South Africa as our entry point into the Continent," added Dr. Bagi. About AllStar Health Brands Inc. AllStar Health Brands is a specialty Health Care Products Company dedicated to improving health and quality of life by offering select products, including medical devices, nutritional supplements, over the counter remedies and medicines all across the globe. AllStar's goal is to bring additional products to the market and provide new, innovative options for better health and wellbeing. AllStar is a Nevada Corporation established in 2017, and headquartered in Miami, Florida. For more information, please contact Investor Relations at: (305) 423 7028. Safe Harbor Statement Statements about the Company's future expectations and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. The above information contains information relating to the Company that is based on the beliefs of the Company and/or its management, as well as assumptions made by any information currently available to the Company or its management. When used in this document, the words "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plans," "projects," and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current view of the Company regarding future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties noted. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or projected. In each instance, forward-looking information should be considered in light of the accompanying meaningful cautionary statements herein. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful performance of internal plans, the impact of competitive services and pricing and general economic risks and uncertainties. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73568 Michaels is among the restaurants in Stockbridge that will get propane heaters funded through a state grant announced Tuesday. The Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District announced that one of its staff members is a probable positive COVID-19 case. The district is coordinating closely with the Huron County Health Department to assure our communitys health and safety, superintendent George Rierson said in the announcement. The staff member identified is not a teacher and the district was notified of the probable positive on Monday morning. The district performed contact tracing with the health department and identified all close contacts through video to identify those who were around the individual for a cumulative 15 minutes. Families of a small number of students have been contacted with instructions for their child to quarantine. The schools did not close. We have not received confirmation the person is positive, Rierson said. If they are not positive, those who are quarantined will be notified they can come back. If a family has not been contacted, their child has not been in close contact with the individual and not required to quarantine. With this latest case, the USA School district has now had 10 students and 10 staff members since Oct. 27 either test positive for COVID-19 or be probable for it. Rierson said this was the second possible infection since classes resumed after the Christmas break. The superintendent added there is little indication of any coronavirus spread in the district and that the cases are likely from outside contact. The World Economic Forum said Wednesday that its annual meeting, which has already been postponed and moved from Switzerland to Singapore, will be pushed back again due to pandemic-related challenges. The annual gathering of the world's political, economic and business elite is traditionally held each January in the Alpine village of Davos. While a virtual meeting of world leaders was held last month, the physical meeting had already been moved due to the Covid-19 crisis and rescheduled to take place in Singapore in May. But on Wednesday, organisers said it would now be postponed again until August 17-20. They stressed in a statement that they remained "confident of the measures in place to ensure a safe and effective meeting," adding that "local transmission of Covid-19 in Singapore remains at negligible levels." But, they said, "the change to the meeting's timing reflects the international challenges in containing the pandemic." "Current global travel restrictions have made planning difficult for an in-person meeting in the first half of the year," the WEF said. "Furthermore, differing quarantine and air transport regulations have increased the lead time necessary to ensure that participants globally can make arrangements to join." WEF stressed the importance of its 2021 meeting, pointing out that it would "be the first global leadership summit to address the challenges of recovering from the pandemic and laying the basis for a more inclusive and sustainable world." "It will bring leaders face-to-face to focus on shaping solutions to the most pressing challenges of our times." Klaus Schwab, the WEF founder and executive chairman, said the meeting would "provide the place for leaders from business, government and civil society to come together to address the steps for global recovery." This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The comments section is closed. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to letters@nytimes.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A damaged utility pole with wires down on Richmond Avenue is causing a traffic issue in Graniteville late on Wednesday morning. Richmond Avenue is partially blocked with caution tape and traffic is being directed onto Christopher Lane. Wires are lying on the top of a tractor-trailer truck and FDNY is on the scene. A source at the scene said that the truck hit overhead wires and that damaged the pole. MTA bus routes including the S44, S59, SIM4 and SIM33C are detoured because of the damaged utility pole. Southbound S59/SIM33C/SIM4 and westbound S44 buses will operate along Arlene Street between Lamberts Lane and Merrill Avenue. Caution tape completely blocks Richmond Avenue heading toward Forest Avenue and partially blocks traffic on Richmond heading toward Victory Boulevard. More information will be posted when it becomes available. With shattered dreams of a Sh20 billion skyscraper in Nairobi that would have been Africa's tallest building, a court battle for the spoils is the only other reminder of the ambitious project. Had everything gone according to plan, construction of Pinnacle Tower, an envisioned masterpiece rising a breath-taking 300 metres in the skies, would have been completed last year, but today only a deep excavation is at the site in Nairobi's Upper Hill area. A series of legal battles and exit of financiers have now left White Lotus Projects in disarray and a mountain of debt, with German firm, Peri Formwork Scaffolding, hot on the building developer's heels over a Sh197 million debt. Sh187 million debt Last week, High Court judge Alfred Mabeya allowed the German firm to pursue a Sh187 million debt for supplied formwork -- temporary moulds in which concrete is poured during construction -- that was not paid for. Curiously, White Lotus Projects did not make any appearance in the case filed by Peri Formwork, and the court issued a summary judgment based on the German complainant's statement and evidence. Peri Formwork told Justice Mabeya that in 2018, White Lotus acknowledged receipt of the equipment and invoices. White Lotus faced difficulty in paying Peri Formwork, and it eventually paid only USD700,000 (Sh77.1 million) out of the Sh264 million owed. Peri Formwork obtained a court order directing White Lotus to transfer the equipment to a storage facility in Nairobi. The German firm would sell some of the equipment to third parties, and it recovered USD317,465 (Sh34.9 million). But the German firm incurred additional costs of USD121,291 (Sh13.3 million) in storage costs. Justice Mabeya has now allowed Peri Formwork to recover Sh187 million for the equipment and an additional Sh10 million as damages. Free to engage auctioneers If White Lotus is unable to pay up, the German firm will be free to engage auctioneers. "Since the Peri Formwork's evidence was unchallenged, I hold that the Peri Formwork was able to proof, on a balance of probability, the existence of the said contract, its performance and the breach thereof. Accordingly, the court finds that Peri Formwork has proved its case. Peri Formwork is awarded the sum of USD1,705,158.22 claimed and Sh10,000,000 general damages," Justice Mabeya held. White Lotus partnered with the Hass Petroleum Group's, Jabavu Village, for the Pinnacle Tower project. They contracted one the world's largest construction companies in the world, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), on March 9, 2017 for the project. The entire project was to cost Sh20 billion. Three weeks after bringing CSEC on board, White Lotus inked a deal with Peri Formwork Scaffolding to supply equipment that would ensure the Pinnacle Tower stood 300 metres in the sky. White Lotus had already secured a deal with US-based Hilton Worldwide (formerly Hilton Hotels) to run a five-star establishment within Pinnacle Tower. The German company supplied formwork worth USD2.4 million (Sh264 million), and sent invoices to White Lotus. Started crumbling But by then, the Pinnacle project had already started crumbling, largely over the burden of financiers backing out and a court case over a piece of land that White Lotus planned to use for storage of construction equipment. A legal battle over the use of the land dragged construction as court orders temporarily stopped any use of the land. And when the courts in 2018 found that construction had proceeded, Justice Samson Okong'o ruled that White Lotus and its officials -- Mahat Mohamud Noor and Raju Poosapati -- were in contempt of court. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Kenya Infrastructure By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The sentencing for contempt of court was to happen in 2019. When Mr Poosapati failed to show up, a warrant of arrest was issued against him. Four-way battle Before White Lotus came into the fray, the land being used for storage of construction equipment was already at the heart of a four-way battle. The Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme has been fighting Ugandan tycoon James Mugoya's Kingorani Investments, a trust started by former United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan and a company identified as Pelican Engineering, in court papers. A White Lotus official last year told the Nation that the company had moved to a different land parcel and was in the process of signing a deal with a financier. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Puntland leader Said Abdullahi Deni has re-routed to Adado town in Galgadud region due to insecurity. Deni was travelling by air but the flight took an emergency landing as a security precaution. He was escorted by security forces with a bulletproof vehicle and is travelling to Dhusamareb city to join other leaders including president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo for talks to end a dispute over upcoming elections. The meeting between Somali federal and regional leaders is expected to open on Tuesday in Dhusamreb city and discuss ways to bring to an end to the differences over the upcoming election. On late Sunday night, a barrage of mortar shells targeting Dhusamareb injuring several people including a police officer. The three attackers were on Tuesday killed by Somali military including the group's leader in the areas between Elbur and Dhusamareb. Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility of the attack saying president Farmaajo was their target. BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TROUVER, a youthful new brand under Xiaomi ecological chain will officially launch its POWER 11 cordless vacuum for the European markets. Focused on performance, trend-setting design and quality, TROUVER's new vacuum will be available on Amazon, eBay and Aliexpress. "The COVID-19 pandemic has caused consumers to become more diligent and conscious of cleanliness in the home, particularly those living in highly-affected areas. In response to the need in this market, we have launched the POWER 11: a powerful yet affordable cordless vacuum that supports deep cleaning for the whole house. With its strong suction power and industry-leading filtration system, POWER 11 picks up some of the toughest challenges for vacuum cleaners including pet hair, dust and mites - all in one lightweight device," said Weisheng Zhang, President of TROUVER. Lightweight and versatile, the POWER 11 is ideal for deep cleaning the entire home to provide dust-free stay-at-home experience during lockdowns. Weighing just 1.4kg, the sleek and ergonomic design of the POWER 11 makes cleaning a breeze. Attached flat mouth suction head and brush ensuring effective cleaning of corners, cracks and crevices, while fabric cleaning brush enables to deep clean bed and sofa that prevent dust or mite caused allergy. With one click, the stick vacuum quickly transforms into a handheld vacuum and back again to deliver ultra performance on multiple cleaning scenarios. Powered by TROUVER'S AERO4.0 digital motor, the POWER 11 reaches a rotational speed of up to 100,000RPM - generating more suction power than most corded vacuums. In addition, the POWER 11's core technology boasts up to 60 minutes of fade-free suction, which enables most users to efficiently clean their whole house in a single charge, while the battery pack can be replaced with a single press of a button. The vacuum also boasts three different power modes, so users can select the right cleaning mode by the large LED color dashboard for the right task, with the right balance of power and run-time. Once the cleaning is done, users simply press a button to release the dust bag for a hygienic no-touch emptying process. As a core brand in Xiaomi ecological chain, TROUVER meets Xiaomi's supply chain matrix needs with powerful technological products designed for a new generation of customers. TROUVER's products are created using aviation-level? technology created by a 300-strong R&D team consisting of aerospace engineers and incorporate patented technology across numerous fields including high-level motors, robotics, aerodynamics, noise reduction, and more. The brand also boasts a design-led philosophy to its product to create slick, bold designs that are tailor-made for trend-setters. Combining with edge-cutting innovation and fashion design, TROUVER is also endorsed by the British Butler's Guild, an industry leader in high-class cleaning services. About TROUVER TROUVER belongs to an important leading enterprise of Xiaomi ecological chain -- Dreame Technology. Pioneering in technology, industrial design, art, and fashion crossover as well as supply chain matrix, TROUVER is committed to creating next-level products that combine the powerful core technology for young people. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431258/Power11_____9.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1431259/Power11_____2.jpg Amin Mohammad passed away in Craigavon Area Hospital on Wednesday. Tributes have poured in for a popular Co Armagh pizza shop owner following his death. Amin Mohammad, who owned Paolos Pizza on Lurgans High Street for many years, passed away on Wednesday at Craigavon Area Hospital. He is survived by his wife Naureen and children Nadim, Stefan, Shantelle, Dean and Amin. Known as Paolo to his customers, Mr Mohammad lived in Waringstown after moving to Northern Ireland. An extremely popular man in the Lurgan area, Mr Mohammad was loved by all of his customers, many of whom he called a gentleman. The office of Upper Banns DUP MP Carla Lockhart is located next door to Paolos Pizza. In a Facebook post, Ms Lockhart paid tribute to a Lurgan legend. So sorry to hear of the passing of my good friend Paolo, she said. A Lurgan legend is how I have heard him described and that just sums him up. A gentleman who genuinely made the best pizza and chips around. At election time he fed my troops often and was such a support to me and the office team. My thoughts and prayers are with Naureen and Paolos entire family circle. Such a loss to our community. A much loved man. Hundreds of tributes were paid to Mr Mohammad on social media, while many passed on their condolences to his family. One wrote: So sorry to see this. Paolo will be missed by so many. Thoughts are with his family. Such a genuine, lovely man. Another added: So sorry to read this. He was so friendly and kind any time we were in the shop. Sending condolences to his lovely wife and family. Due to the current government health restrictions, Mr Mohammads funeral will be strictly private. Turkish police have seized more than 9 tons of bootleg alcohol, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday. The hefty amount of illegal liquor was in four warehouses in Istanbul. Police also seized 318 liters (84 gallons) in the central province of Malatya. They arrested five people in relation to the alcohol, including one foreigner, according to Anadolu. Bootleg alcohol refers to the illegal transfer or sale of alcohol. It could be alcohol that is falsely labeled, does not adhere to legal limits or is sold without supervision from authorities. Turkey allows alcohol consumption, but high taxes on alcohol in recent years have created a large market for illegal homemade and counterfeit alcoholic beverages. There were dozens of deaths related to such alcohol in October, which prompted calls for the government to lower the taxes. Islam forbids alcohol consumption and the taxes on alcohol are supported by the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party. Many people in the Muslim world drink, however. Raki, an anise-based liquor, is the national drink of Turkey. Neighboring Arab states have a similarly popular alcohol called arak. Late last month, police seized more than 1,000 liters (264 gallons) in the western province of Manisa, Anadolu reported. Nearly all of the elected officials in metro signed on to the effort to bring federal jobs to Kansas City. However, inside the Beltway, they regard the move as a legacy of Prez Trump. And so, against the interests of the local economy and so many people who would profit from good paying jobs . . . So-called "public radio" champions a story informed by D.C. political hacks. Read more . . . Maynooth University (MU) research has found that seven out of 10 of teachers reported feeling more stress and six out of 10 reported a decline in wellbeing during the first six months of the pandemic. It also finds that despite experiencing stress, 80% teachers reported having experienced positive psychological growth. The Lessons Learned: The experiences of teachers in Ireland during the 2020 pandemic research conducted in October 2020 when students had returned to schools, explores teachers experiences of the first six months of the pandemic, from the March 2020 lockdown onwards. The factors that contributed to teachers stress included issues with students who found it difficult to settle back into face-to-face teaching after the first lockdown, and a perception that remote teaching impacts their work-life balance. MU said the report is based on the participation of over 400 teachers, who completed a survey in October 2020. The majority of participants were teachers in post-primary schools (53%), followed by primary schools (39%), primary and secondary special schools (5%) and teachers on secondment in management organisations (3%). One of the recommendations of the report was for the establishment of a committee - a citizens assembly where all the bodies involved in education including DES, policy makers, management bodies, unions, parents, teachers, and students would meet with an aim to focus on resolving emerging issues in education. Majella Dempsey, Associate Professor at Maynooth University Department of Education commented; This report gives a snapshot into the work of teachers during the pandemic demonstrating their professionalism in adapting to new ways of teaching. It confirms the need for social contact in teaching and learning. Teachers were happy to be back teaching in September, and talked about how happy their students were also, however, they had on-going concerns for their safety, about meeting curriculum requirements and about exam classes." Dr Jolanta Burke, Chartered Psychologist, Assistant Professor at Maynooth University Department of Education stated, Despite higher levels of stress and lower levels of wellbeing, our teachers keep going for the sake of our children. Their tenacity in overcoming the myriad of obstacles they face, along with the high levels of resilience they display is exemplary. I would love to see the Department of Education, schools, and the management organisations take more action to focus on teachers personal wellbeing. After all, they need to put on their masks first before they can assist others." MU said the report examines the challenges they reported and the impact of teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic on their mental health and wellbeing. It also finds that despite experiencing stress, four out of five teachers reported having experienced positive psychological growth. Furthermore, teachers expressed increased confidence in their online teaching abilities and the use of technology in light of their Covid-19 teaching experience. Six out of 10 teachers would integrate technology more into their teaching and were more prepared to use online and blended options. The factors that contributed to teachers stress included issues with students who found it difficult to settle back into face-to-face teaching after the first lockdown, and a perception that remote teaching impacts their work-life balance. The factors that did not impact teachers stress were their self-belief in having the skills to do their job, and re-establishing classroom norms and routines. A third of teachers said they would work closer with parents post-COVID-19. Teachers who reported the most significant decline experienced more stress and greater need for school to focus more on their wellbeing. Also, they reported that they spent more time re-establishing classroom norms and behaviours after the first lockdown. The aim of the report is to inform policy and practice, yielding four key learnings. Curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment have changed significantly new measures are required to support education during- and post-pandemic. The pandemic took a toll on teachers mental health active supports are necessary to alleviate their stress. Despite high levels of stress and lower levels of wellbeing, most teachers made their challenges meaningful and kept going. In the world of silos caused by social distancing rules and a myriad of restrictions, teachers ask for more open communication between all parties involved in education. The report suggested several recommended changes based on the insights of the participants and research findings. One of these recommendations was for the establishment of a committee - a citizens assembly where all the bodies involved in education including DES, policy makers, management bodies, unions, parents, teachers, and students would meet with an aim to focus on resolving emerging issues in education. The other research recommendations included: Enhanced funding for psychological services for teachers Enhanced funding to address the digital divide for schools Planning for targeted supports for teacher wellbeing Further research on the impact of the pandemic on education and school communities A full copy of the research report is available to download here - Dempsey, Majella, and Burke, Jolanta (2021) Lessons Learned: The experiences of teachers in Ireland during the 2020 pandemic. Project Report. Maynooth University. Democrats are finally taking full control of the Senate after a power-sharing agreement has been reached between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. 'I am happy to report this morning that the leadership of both parties have finalized the organizing resolution for the Senate,' Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. 'We will pass the resolution through the Senate today, which means the committees can promptly set up and get to work with Democrats holding the gavels.' The announcement comes after two weeks of deadlock between the leaders. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced from the floor Wednesday that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had struck a power-sharing deal, which gives Democrats control of committee chairmanships Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the body, is now Senate minority leader and Republican committee chairs will become ranking members as Democrats assume control of the upper chamber's committees With an organizing resolution agreed to by leadership of both parties, Democrats will fully take control of the Senate on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced from the Senate floor Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer talks on his flip phone as he arrives on Capitol Hill Wednesday. His party will fully take control of the Senate later Wednesday once lawmakers vote on the power-sharing deal The set-up is nearly identical to the 2001 deal that was crafted the last time the Senate was evenly split. Back then, bills and nominations were sent to the floor even if they received tie votes in committee, as most committees will have an even number of senators from each party. Schumer and McConnell agreed that committee budgets and office space would be divided evenly between the parties. Democrats took control of the upper chamber once new Georgia Democrats, Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, were sworn-in and once Vice President Kamala Harris, the party's tie-breaker vote, was inaugurated. Her replacement in the Senate, California Sen. Alex Padilla, was also sworn-in on January 20, inauguration day. Ossoff and Warnock were the winners of the January 5 run-off races in Georgia, which tilted control of the body, but only gave Democrats 50 seats to the Republicans' 50 seats - which is why a power-sharing deal needed to be crafted. The lack of one has been holding up Democratic President Joe Biden's cabinet nominees' confirmation hearings, including for his pick for attorney general, Merrick Garland. Democrats hadn't been able to take over committee chairmanships. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was still in control of the Judiciary Committee, pushed off an initial Garland confirmation hearing on February 8, due to former President Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial. Early on in negotiations, Republicans wanted assurances, in writing, that Democrats wouldn't kill the legislative filibuster. Previously both Democrats and Republicans have pursued the 'nuclear option,' wiping away the filibuster - in which 60 votes are needed for cloture - for lower-tier judges and then Supreme Court judges. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in October with just 52 votes. If Democrats did kill off the legislative filibuster, it's possible Biden's big-ticket items, like a climate change package, could get through. Democrats in the House and Senate are already poised to use reconciliation, a process that allows for a bill to pass in the Senate by just a majority, to get through Biden's first legislative package, the proposed $1.9 trillion COVID rescue bill. On the Senate floor Wednesday, Schumer mentioned that tackling climate change would be a major Senate Democratic priority and he would be deploying a 'whole-of-Senate approach.' 'I have already instructed the incoming Democratic Chairs of all relevant committees to begin holding hearings on the climate crisis, in preparation for enacting President Biden's Build Back Better agenda, which includes major climate legislation,' Schumer said. 'It is long past time for the Senate to take a leading role in combating the existential threat of our time, climate.' Schumer said he was willing to hold discussions with Republicans to find 'common ground' on the issue. 'And most importantly, I look forward to propelling this chamber into action on a crisis that concerns not only all of our futures, but the futures of our children and grandchildren,' the New York Democrat said. 'It's our solemn obligation to leave behind a planet upon which future generations can grow and prosper.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 03:47:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KHARTOUM, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, vowed to support Sudan's bid to achieve democratic transformation, peace, and economic recovery, said the UNITAMS on Tuesday. Perthes arrived in Khartoum early Tuesday to take up his functions as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sudan and Head of the UNITAMS, it said in a press release. "I am looking forward to working with the transitional authorities and the great people of Sudan," Perthes was quoted in the press release as saying. "I will devote my energy on supporting Sudan achieve its goals of democratic transformation, peace, and economic recovery," he added. The mission explained that Perthes would remain in quarantine for seven days to ensure he is COVID-19 free before starting a schedule of meetings with national authorities, partners and colleagues The UN official is looking forward to working with the UN family at large and its partners in supporting a peaceful transition to democracy in Sudan, as mandated by UN Security Council resolution 2524. On June 4, 2020, the UN Security Council adopted the resolution to establish a political mission in Khartoum to support the transitional period in Sudan. Sudan entered a political transition process after the Sudanese army ousted former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following a popular uprising that lasted for months. On Aug. 21, 2019, Sudan started a 39-month transitional period under a transitional government comprising military and civilian officials. Enditem House Republicans Urge Senate to Delay Confirmation of Bidens Commerce Pick Over Huawei A group of House Republicans on Tuesday called on their fellow Senate colleagues to delay the confirmation of President Joe Bidens pick for Commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, until the president clarifies whether he backs keeping Huawei on a restricted trade list. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the coalition of almost two dozen Republicans in releasing a statement that outlines the threat they say the Chinese telecoms equipment giant poses to national security. The statement highlights the groups concerns over statements Raimondo made during her nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Jan. 26. She vowed to protect U.S. telecommunications networks from Chinese companies but declined to commit to keeping Huawei on the blacklist. #Huawei is inextricably tied to the CCP and poses a national security threat. Its beyond concerning that Governor Raimondo and the Admin have failed to commit to keeping the company on the Commerces Entity List. Her confirmation should be halted until we have a concrete stance. https://t.co/xb0gwH9yHt Rep. Steve Womack (@rep_stevewomack) February 2, 2021 The Trump administration previously placed Huawei on the Commerce Departments entity lista trade blacklistdue to national security concerns. The fact that the Biden Administration has still refused to commit to keeping Huawei on the Department of Commerces Entity List is incredibly alarming and dangerous, the House Republicans said in their statement. We urge those Senators who have a history of calling for Huawei to remain on the Entity List to stick to their principles and place a hold on Ms. Raimondos confirmation until the Biden Administration clarifies their intentions for Huawei and on export control policies for a country that is carrying out genocide and threatening our national security. They added, There have been repeated, bipartisan calls to keep Huawei on the Entity List in the past, with Members on both sides of the aisle referring to the company as a national security threat. Then-President Donald Trump steps off Marine One to board Air Force One before departing Harlingen, Texas on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist by former President Donald Trump in May 2019. He also led a global campaign to convince allies to exclude it from their 5G networks. Washington has long said Huawei equipment could be exploited by Chinas communist regime for espionage or to disrupt communication networks. U.S. officials have pointed to laws in China that compel companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies when asked. Huawei, which was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former officer in the Peoples Liberation Army, the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has denied these allegations. There is no doubt that Huawei, a pawn of the #CCP, is a threat to our national security. The Senate should hold on Gov. Raimondos confirmation until the Biden Administration clarifies its intentions for Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party. https://t.co/GIQDhPJPs5 John Joyce (@RepJohnJoyce) February 2, 2021 When pressed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). on Jan. 26 on whether certain companies would remain on the blacklist, Raimondo said she would consult with lawmakers, industry, and allies and make an assessment as to whats best for American national and economic security. Chinas actions have been anti-competitive, hurtful to American workers and businesses, coercive, and, as you point out, theyre culpable for atrocious human rights abuses, Raimondo told Cruz at the time. So whether its the entities list, or tariffs, or countervailing duties, I intend to use all those tools to the fullest extent possible to level the playing field for the American worker. Tom Ozimek contributed to this report. A lawsuit filed by the owner of a Chicago hotel and its rooftop bar will put to test a request by the Illinois Insurance Department that insurers disregard any slowdown caused by COVID-19 when calculating business income lost due to civil unrest last spring. ECD-Great Street DE, owner of TheWit hotel and the Roof lounge, alleges that Zurich American Insurance Co. ignored a June 8 bulletin by Insurance Department Director Robert H. Muriel that says carriers adjusting business-interruption claims caused by civil unrest should base payouts on business activity levels that eliminate the impact of COVID-19. Instead, Zurich has brazenly used the pandemic to its own advantage by severely deducting business interruption loss owed to ECD on the basis of COVID-19, the lawsuit states. ECD-Great Street is seeking cover for $14,826,973 in income it says it lost when it was forced to close its lobby for four months and cut off access to the lounge and a restaurant after rioters and looters smashed windows, ransacked the lobby and set fire to a police vehicle in front of the hotel. Zurich has paid only $1,483,895, according to the lawsuit. TheWit, a 27-story hotel with 310 guest rooms, opened in 2009 on the Loop, a downtown Chicago elevated light-rail line that encircles the business and theater district. The building is known for a chartreuse lighting bolt that extends down the west side from the top floor to street level. On May 30 last year, TheWit was at the epicenter of rioting that erupted during protests of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Rioters smashed custom-made glass panes that encircled the hotel lobby, stole or destroyed furniture in the lobby and adjacent State & Lake Restaurant and set fire to a police sports-utility vehicle that spread and destroyed granite landscape planters. The state Insurance Department issued Company Bulletin 2020-15 in response to the riot. Insurers were asked to treat any claims caused by civil unrest as a catastrophic event and give policyholders the benefit of the doubt. The bulletin also asked carriers to calculate lost business income as if COVID-19 were not a factor. The lawsuit says managers of TheWit were not able to reopen the hotel until Oct. 1. The closure eliminated revenue from hotel rooms as well as the ground-floor restaurant, a full-service spa and the 27th floor Roof lounge. The summer months usually are filled with high-margin private events. The hotel alleges that Zurich did not make a $100,000 advance payment on its claim until July 8, more than a month after the riot. The carrier made two additional payments later, but made the checks out the wrong payee, the lawsuit says. Zurich was also to slow approve a renovation budget submitted by its contractors, causing further delays, the suit says. ECD-Great Street says a Zurich consultant, MDD Forensic Accounting, submitted a flawed preliminary estimate on room revenue lost because of the damage. That estimate also completely ignored revenues from food and beverage sales at the hotel bar and restaurant. Whats more, MDD had included a massive discount its calculation of loss revenues to account for reduced sales due to COVID-19, directly contradicting the Insurance Departments bulletin, the lawsuit says. ECD-Great Street says Zurich is applying that COVID-19 discount even as it denies claims from policyholders seeking cover for revenues lost during government-ordered shutdowns. In short, in the most cynical fashion, Zurich is using the pandemic as a shield and a sword by denying US businesses coverage for their lost income resulting from COVID-19 while simultaneously leveraging the pandemic to wipe out coverage for other catastrophic losses and business closures, including those resulting from the May 30, 2020 events of civil unrest, the suit says. If Zurich has its way, COVID-19 will turn out to be a serendipitous boon to its bottom line. Whether the Insurance Departments bulletin has any any sway over the how the hotels revenue losses are calculated remains to be seen. Policyholder attorney Angela Elbert with Neal Gerber Eisenberg in Chicago noted in a June 12 blog post that the departments bulletin was labeled as a request. She said the department has limited ability to require insurers to adjust claims in accordance with these guidelines. The hotel filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, but Zurich removed the case to the U.S. District Court in Chicago. The ReedSmith law firm in Chicago is representing ECD-Great Street in the lawsuit. Partner Kevin B. Dreher declined to comment on the pending litigation. Zurich is represented by Alexander William Ross with Clyde & Co. He did not respond to a request for comment sent Tuesday afternoon. Health official: 'I am hopeful for the brighter days ahead' VICTORIA - Almost three million drivers in British Columbia will receive COVID-19 insurance rebate cheques next month that average about $190 each, Premier John Horgan said Tuesday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix look on as Premier John Horgan talks about the next steps in B.C.'s COVID-19 immunization plan during a news conference at the legislature in Victoria on January 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito VICTORIA - Almost three million drivers in British Columbia will receive COVID-19 insurance rebate cheques next month that average about $190 each, Premier John Horgan said Tuesday. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia will return $600 million in net savings to policy holders in March because there have been fewer accidents and claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, Horgan said during a news conference. "During the early days of COVID, there were calls for a rebate or a refund to drivers as a result of reduced activity on our roadways, which led to fewer crashes, fewer claims, fewer injuries and fewer costs to ICBC," he said. Horgan said the one-time rebate cheques are "the largest single give-back to policy holders in Canada through COVID-19." The Opposition Liberals said in a statement the $190 rebate falls short of what drivers in other jurisdictions have received during the pandemic. Mike Morris, the critic for public safety and solicitor general, said other insurers in Canada provided policy holders with rebates averaging $280. "Although this is welcome news for drivers, it should have happened months ago and it's confusing why it will take another six weeks to deliver," he said. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, who is the minister responsible for ICBC, said the rebate cheques will go to drivers who held policies last year from April 1 to Sept. 30. He said the rebates will range from $25 to $400. "This comes as a result of balancing lower claims costs during the pandemic with other considerations, such as lower premium revenues," he said. "The vast majority of people who insured their vehicles in the early months of the pandemic will see on average a rebate of $190." Farnworth's ministry said in a statement ICBC received 35 per cent fewer crash claims than expected, including fewer injury claims. But the drop in claims costs were partly offset by lower revenues from premiums as drivers made changes to their insurance policies, held off on renewals or cancelled, said the ministry. The ministry said the estimated impact of fewer claims was $720 million, but premium revenue was down $120 million, resulting in the net saving of $600 million. The rebate amounts to about 19 per cent of the premiums drivers paid for coverage during the April 1 to Sept. 30 period, said the ministry. Just a few years ago, the NDP government described the finances of the public auto insurer as a financial dumpster fire. Shortly after the NDP government took office, Attorney General David Eby blamed losses at the corporation of more than a billion dollars on the former Liberal government. He accused the Liberals of siphoning off the profits to put in general revenue. ICBC has been working over the past two years to bring costs down, leading to higher income, Horgan said. "I know many of you who have been following these issues over the past number of years will be shocked to hear that rather than being in the red, ICBC is in a favourable financial position," he said. Horgan said the rebate cheques are separate from ICBC savings that are due in May, when drivers will see a drop in rates of about 20 per cent or around $400 each. Those rate cuts are part of the government's move to a so-called enhanced care model that limits lawsuits and increases treatment benefits for people injured in accidents, he said. "We wanted to make absolutely sure that we were keeping ICBC on sound footing as we build a new enhanced model we've been working on for the past three years," Horgan said. The New Democrats announced the move to an enhanced care model that places a $5,500 cap on accident payouts in February 2018 after the losses were revealed. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2021. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said the rebate cheques will range from $50 to $400. Oregons coronavirus vaccine equity group is to meet in secret Tuesday to evaluate the groups work over the last month after the state shut down public access following weeks of open meetings. Oregons Vaccine Advisory Committee was charged with recommending who should be vaccinated after the governors priority groups, with an emphasis on tackling health disparities that stem from structural racism. But the groups final recommendations last week appeared rushed and some committee members expressed frustration with the process. A spokesman for the health authority defended the decision to prohibit media or members of the public from viewing Tuesdays 5:30 p.m. meeting, saying the group accomplished its original function at its Thursday session. The committee has completed its official duties and fulfilled its purpose of making recommendations about vaccination order to the Oregon Health Authority, spokesman Rudy Owens said in an email Tuesday. OHA is now working on planning for implementation of the committees recommendations. OHA will conduct an evaluation with VAC members of the committee process. The committee has met publicly eight times, including a meet-and-greet Jan. 5 that was open to the public and recorded for public viewing. The advisory group recommended Jan. 28 that people with underlying conditions, front-line workers, people in custody and people living in low-income and group senior housing should get vaccinated next. At about 1.2 million, or 28% of the Oregon population, the committees final list encompasses far more people than current vaccine supplies can accommodate in the near future. State and local officials will likely have the final say in who among the groups priority populations will get vaccinated when, state public health director Rachael Banks indicated during the last meeting. The Oregon Health Authority last week said staff would review the operation and legal dimensions of the recommendations before referring them to Gov. Kate Brown. The committee has an optional meeting on Feb. 2 to discuss implementation issues, the health authority announced in a news release Friday. But state officials now say thats not the intended subject of Tuesdays meeting. An agenda for the 5:30 p.m. session lists only debrief and evaluation. The state will release a summary of the Tuesday discussion, a health authority spokesman said. The group had previously suggested that Black, Indigenous and other people be vaccinated after the governors priority groups. But last week, health officials said the agency couldnt allocate resources based solely on race or ethnicity, so the committee removed those groups from the priority ranking. The recommendations did include a statement of intention acknowledging structural racism and pressure from systems that are not ready to center this truth about the ways structural racism impacts the health of Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities. -- Fedor Zarkhin; fzarkhin@oregonian.com; 503-294-7674 Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Cambodian counterpart Pan Sorasak attend Wednesday's online meeting for FTA negotiations between the two countries. Yonhap South Korea said Wednesday it has clinched a free trade deal with Cambodia, the latest in a series of its free trade pacts to revitalize its ailing exports amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Cambodian counterpart Pan Sorasak held a virtual meeting and declared that Seoul and Phnom Penh have completed FTA negotiations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The FTA will pave the way for the two countries to overcome challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and seek sustainable economic growth," Yoo said. Cambodia is South Korea's 60th-largest export destination. Major exports include beverages, textiles and cargo trucks. South Korea mostly imports clothes and shoes from the Southeast Asian nation. The two countries plan to hold an official signing ceremony in the near future. The pact also needs a parliamentary approval. South Korea and Cambodia launched feasibility studies on the FTA after holding a summit in March 2019. The first round of negotiations kicked off in July last year. Under the deal and also when combined with the upcoming Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Cambodia will lift tariffs on 93.8 percent of all products, with South Korea eliminating duties on 95.6 percent. South Korea has been rolling out what it calls New Southern and New Northern Policies, which center on expanding trade ties with emerging nations and reducing its reliance on China and the United States, which take up roughly 40 percent of annual exports. South Korea already held an FTA with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but it has been pushing for separate agreements as well to seek closer ties. Seoul kicked off FTAs with Singapore in 2006 and Vietnam in 2015. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. The country's exports to the bloc, meanwhile, edged down 15.2 percent on-year in January to US$8 billion amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Seoul currently awaits the official launch of the RCEP later this year, which covers ASEAN and its dialogue partners South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. South Korea and Indonesia signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last year, which now awaits parliamentary approval. The CEPA is equivalent to a free trade agreement but focuses on a broader scope of economic cooperation. It is negotiating with Malaysia and the Philippines as well. Last year, South Korea's outbound shipments came to $512.8 billion, down 5.4 percent from 2019. (Yonhap) Imperial Valley News Center Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Endangered Species Act New York - A New York man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to selling a mounted leopard, which is an endangered species. Michael T. Merisola, 62, of Buffalo pleaded guilty Jan. 29 to one count of violating the Endangered Species Act before U.S. Magistrate Judge Chelsey M. Vascura. According to his plea, in August 2019, Merisola posted a photograph on his Instagram page that included a mounted leopard in the background. An undercover special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service communicated with Merisola about buying the leopard from the defendant. The two discussed the illegality of buying/selling a leopard across state lines. Merisola said he wanted $4,200 for the leopard, and the undercover agent traveled from Ohio to Buffalo to see the mounted animal and make a down payment to purchase it. Merisola later accepted the remaining payment and shipped the leopard from New York to Ohio. Leopards are classified under federal regulations as threatened or endangered wherever they are found. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous of the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Adam C. Cullman from the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division are prosecuting the case. Agbaou is an open-pit mine with carbon-in-leach processing Following the news, broker Canaccord repeated a 'Buy' rating on Endeavour Mining and a target price of C$48 ( ) (OTCMKTS:EDVMF) (FRA:E5Y1), the West-Africa focused miner, is to sell its 85% stake in non-core Agbaou gold mine in Ivory Coast to Allied Gold Corp for up to C$80 million, so it can concentrate on high-margin, long-life core assets, it told investors. Agbaou is an open-pit mine with CIL (carbon-in-leach) processing. In the first nine months of last year, the asset generated 76,713 ounces of gold at an AISC (all-in sustaining cost) of $1,013 per ounce. The sale is expected to conclude on March 1 this year. "Agbaou has been a highly cash generative asset, which facilitated the organic development of Hounde and Ity, and given that it has now become non-core to Endeavour, we firmly believe that this transaction is in the best interests of all of Agbaou's stakeholders, including the government of Cote d'Ivoire, local communities and the employees themselves," said Sebastien de Montessus, chief executive at Endeavour. "This transaction will ensure mining activities can continue for many years to come through the creation of the Bonikro-Agbaou complex." Private African operator Allied Gold owns the nearby Bonikro mine and once the deal is complete, the new Bonikro-Agbaou operation will comprise multiple open pits and two processing plants with a total milling capacity of over five million tonnes a year. Endeavour will receive C$20 million in cash payable in the first quarter this year, and C$40 million of Allied Gold shares, which could be sold back by Endeavour. There is also a contingent payment of up to C$20 million, composed of C$5 million for each quarter of 2021, where the average gold price exceeds US$1,900 per ounce. Endeavour retains a net smelter royalty (NSR) royalty on ounces produced in excess of the Agbaou reserves,, which were estimated at the end of 2019. The NSR royalty will be based on a sliding scale, as follows: 2.5% NSR if the gold price is at least US$1,400 per ounce; 2% if it is at least US$1,200 and less than US$1,400. The royalty will be 1% if the gold price is at least US$1,000 per ounce and less than US$1,200 per ounce, and 0% if the gold price is below US$1,000 per ounce. Following the news, broker Canaccord repeated a 'Buy' rating on Endeavour Mining and a target price of C$48. It predicts production at Agbaou ending in 2022. The broker currently values the Ivory Coast mine at C$166 million at spot gold, implying a purchase price of around 0.5 times' net asset value (NAV). Canaccord forecasts 2020 production for Agbaou of 105,000 ounces at an all-in-sustaining cost (AISC) of US$1,031 per ounce. Notably, the mine represents just around 3% of the broker's mining NAV for Endeavour. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com New Delhi, Feb 3 : Bigg Boss 10 contestant Swami Om passed away on Wednesday morning. The self-proclaimed godman breathed his last at his residence in Ghaziabad. He was 63. Swami Om battled Covid three months ago, following which he reportedly had some ailments and was undergoing treatment at a Delhi hospital. Covid made him extremely weak and the 63-year-old reportedly suffered from paralysis a few days ago following which his condition worsened. "Due to paralysis, half of his body was paralysed", Swami Om's friend Mukesh Jain's son told Zee Media confirming the news of his demise. He further informed that the death happened due to paralysis. The Bigg Boss 10 contestant will be cremated on Wednesday afternoon at Nigam Bodh Ghat in Delhi. Swami Om had a controversial stint at the 10th season of the reality television show hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. The makers had evicted him after the self-proclaimed godman did the grotesque act of throwing urine on housemate Bani J. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Great Thunder Gold Corp. (CSE: GTG) (OTC Pink: GTGFF) (FSE: M4KQ) is pleased to announce that it has signed a drilling contract with Diafor Inc. of Abitibi, Quebec. The contract is for a minimum of 2,000 metres and may be extended if required. This reconnaissance drill campaign is targeted to follow up on 3 parallel electronic-magnetic conductors identified in 2020's airborne survey of Great Thunder Gold's Southern Star Property in Quebec's Fenelon Gold Camp. Great Thunder Gold's 2021 Reconnaissance Drill Program Plan Map at Southern Star To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7129/73479_690af0f494eddacc_002full.jpg The area is in the north part of the Southern Star Property and has seen only limited drilling. The targets to be drilled are located approximately 9km south of Wallbridge Mining's Tabasco and Area 51 gold zones (Fenelon Property). Great Thunder Gold's neighbour is currently conducting a 170,000-metre drilling program and 4,800 metres of underground development at their Fenelon deposit. They most recently reported strong wide intersections and sub-intervals of high-grade gold. About Great Thunder Gold Great Thunder Gold is a junior Canadian mining exploration company focused on exploration and development along the Detour Gold trend in Quebec. The Company is one of the largest mineral claim holders next to the leading Wallbridge Mining. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, GREAT THUNDER GOLD CORP. "Blair Naughty" President & CEO Investor Relations Email: info@greatthundergold.com Direct Line: (236) 513-4653 www.greatthundergold.com Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statement This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other 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 by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73479 Story Highlights 89% in Myanmar were satisfied with their personal freedom in 2019 67% said the country's media had a lot of freedom 51% reported they had internet access This analysis features results from Gallup's surveys in Myanmar between 2012 and 2019. Gallup will release the results from its 2020 surveys in Myanmar within the next several days. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The military coup in Myanmar this week likely means the end of the country's transition to democracy. It also threatens to curtail the personal freedoms that many in Myanmar have come to embrace since they last emerged from military rule: In 2019, nearly nine in 10 (89%) adults in Myanmar reported feeling satisfied with the freedom they have to choose what they do with their lives. Line graph. In 2019, 89% of Myanmar's residents said they were satisfied with the freedom in their lives, while 10% said they were dissatisfied. People's sense of freedom evolved in Myanmar as the country slowly started to transform from decades of military dictatorship to democracy. In 2011, the military government opened the long-isolated country up to the wider world, allowing internet access, freeing political prisoners, permitting peaceful demonstrations and allowing opposition parties to take part in the 2012 parliamentary election. In the wake of these reforms, 65% of Myanmar residents said they were satisfied with the freedom they have to choose to do what they want with their lives. Satisfaction only continued to rise after that. In Gallup's 2016 survey, conducted after the now-detained Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy (NLD) political party to victory in the country's first free elections in 2015, 87% were satisfied with their personal freedom. Satisfaction remained at or slightly above that level through 2019. Most Myanmar Residents Saw Country's Media as Free At the time of the coup, the army took international and domestic television and radio stations, as well as the state broadcasters, off the air -- leaving many in the country deliberately in the dark. Prior to the coup, 67% in Myanmar said the country's media had a lot of freedom. This is substantially higher than the 53% who said the same in 2012 -- after the government ended its practice of censorship. However, it is down modestly from the trend-high 74% registered in 2016, coinciding with the reported erosion of press freedom in the country. Line graph. Before the military coup in early February, 67% of Myanmar's residents in 2019 said their country's media had a lot of freedom, and 19% said they did not. Internet Access in Myanmar Had Been Increasing Prior to Coup Cut One of the first moves by coup leaders in Myanmar has been to curb the ability of the country's residents to communicate with each other and the wider world by cutting off media in the country, as well as access to the internet. Before the coup, internet access in Myanmar had been expanding, with 51% saying they had access in 2019. Line graph. Before the recent military coup, 51% of Myanmar's residents had access to the internet, up from 36% in 2016. Under military rule, residents of Myanmar had long been denied access to the internet, only gaining this freedom in 2012. In Gallup's first survey on the issue, 2016, roughly a third of the country's residents had internet access. However, over the last few years, access grew steadily. Bottom Line Since absolute military control of Myanmar ended in 2012, freedom for residents of the country had gradually expanded but remained fragile. People in Myanmar were increasingly satisfied with their freedoms, and likely, their growing access to the wider world, through increased internet access. The country appeared on a rocky road to becoming more democratic, but the Feb. 1 military takeover throws that future into question. Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi, who has been the international face of democracy in the country, has been detained by the military, who have declared a state of emergency that will last at least one year. The actions of the military plotters have already rolled back many of the perceived freedoms that had been instituted over the past decade. Watch news.gallup.com for new analysis of Gallup's data collected in Myanmar in 2020. For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works. Mr. Alhagie Lang Ceesay, alias Kebba Dibba, told the TRRC on Tuesday 2nd February, 2021, that he was tortured by the former president's henchmen and the personnel of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) officers. Born in 1969 in Salekeni, he worked as Nurse in various parts of the country, including Basse Health Centre. Ceesay appeared before the Truth Commission in connection with his encounter with a group of Youths in Abuko Area and his subsequent encounter with the NIA. Ceesay said on 12th August 2012 while on his way to pick up his belongings, he saw a vehicle in front of him and he horned so that the driver would allow him to pass. However, he said a group of people pounced on his vehicle and asked him to stop and allow cattle to pass. This was around Abuko. According to him, when he attempted to explain to the people that he was rushing to cross the Ferry as he was supposed to be at Dakar Hospital the following day, those people, who stopped him began beating him with sticks. They were about 20 in number. He said he had a knife in his car which he mainly used to slaughter his ram during Tobaski. During the course of the commotion, Ceesay said he pulled that knife and held one of them and told him that he can slaughter him there, but he was not out for trouble. Mr. Ceesay testified that the said cattle belongs to Yahya Jammeh and upon arrival at Banjulinding Police Station, the police stopped him and asked him whether he had a weapon in his car and he responded in the affirmative. He said he was arrested at Banjulinding Police Station. He said he was told that he had a problem with Kanilai Family Farm led by Badou Bojang, whom he said after listening to him intimated to him that it was a misunderstanding. He said he was beaten at the Banjulinding Police Station, but he did not specify the people, who beat him. "Most parts of my body were swollen including my neck," he said. The witness said after the incident, one Immigration Officer named ASP Alagie Ceesay told him that he was instructed to arrest him. Upon his arrest, they locked him up in a cell and he stood there the whole night, and the following day one Jobarteh took him to Abuko Station and handed him over to them. "I told the station officer that I did not sleep the previous night and asked him to permit me to go home, rest and return to the Station after breaking my fast," he said. According to the witness, he was allowed to go home and when he reported back to the station, the SO made a call and within 10 minutes, a black tinted vehicle arrived with late Louis Gomez and one Ebou Sanyang from the NIA. He said on their way to the NIA headquarters, Ebou Sanyang, sat in his vehicle and told him to be patient with the NIA. Witness Ceesay said upon arrival at the NIA, he was detained in a cell where he found two bottles, one of them was containing urine while the other one was empty. Mr. Ceesay recollected that he was later taken out of the Cell and one Pa Bojang told him to sit down and when he sat down, they surrounded him. One of the officers asked him to remove his shirt while others grabbed his legs and hands and they began beating him seriously. Ceesay said while the beating was ongoing, his torturers were recording his statement at the same time. Thereafter, they told him that if he was asked whether he was beaten, let him respond in the negative. "One Buba Jatta told me they have seen the truth, but can't do anything about it," he said, adding that the NIA knew about his torture. The witness revealed that he was held at the Bambadinka Cell and while there, the NIA gave him an empty bottle to urinate in. Mr. Ceesay testified that his torturers we're smelling alcohol and they were the ones who hurt him. He said he got lacerations on his body because of the torture. "I later came to know that they were the Junglers," he revealed. The veteran nurse disclosed that he was later taken before a Panel and among the members of the Panel were General Saul Badjie and one Gajaga who told him that they were sent by Yahya Jammeh to interrogate him. During that process, they place a recorder and recorded his entire narrations. He said the former Deputy Director General at the NIA, late Louis Gomez, told him that he would be released because they had nothing against him. "I was held incommunicado for 4 days, I did not have access to a lawyer, neither my family. While in detention, one of my brothers came to the NIA and both of us cried together for the first time we saw each other since I was held at the NIA," he said. According to him, NIA Operatives Lamin Ceesay and Ebou Sanyang escorted him to the Serious Crime Unit of Gambia Police Force. However at the Police Headquarters, the Police were reluctant to take the case because it was 'below' them, which warranted him to be taken back to Abuko Station. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He said upon his arrival, the officer assigned to take his statement refused to complete it, which warranted him to write his statement by himself. Still lingering within the Police, the SO of Abuko contacted the Bundung Station, where he was later transferred to and subsequently granted bail. Mr. Ceesay said he was later told that he intended to stage a coup against Jammeh's government. "I was told that it was Pa Bojang who alleged that I was involved in a coup," he said. Mr. Ceesay was ultimately prosecuted and found wanting and was ordered to pay a fine of D1000 in default to serve one-month in prison. "I eventually went to exile in Senegal and was there for 6 and a half years and only came back to The Gambia in 2017," he said. On the impact it had on him, Ceesay said his eldest son died and his family also got scattered. In his concluding remarks, he appealed to the Commission to consider his health status. EDWARDSVILLE To date, Madison County Health Department has administered more than 15,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses and stresses patience as the rollout is expected to take several months. We understand people are frustrated trying to get vaccine appointments, Chairman Kurt Prenzler said. We assure everyone there will be enough vaccines for those who live and work in Madison County to receive one. Prenzler said that as the eighth largest county in the state, an estimated 50,000 people are eligible for Phase 1B. As of today, more than 15,000 doses have been administered in the county. Madison County Public Health Department Director Toni Corona said on Thursday the county is opening up its online scheduler and phone number for individuals to schedule a vaccination appointment who did not complete the survey in January. She said for those who did complete the survey there is no need to do anything and the health department will contact the person when its their turn. Residents should know it could take time to get an appointment, Corona said. Due to the number of people desiring the vaccine, it will take months to get all individuals scheduled. Additional dates and times will continue to be added o the online scheduler as the vaccine is received. The state allocates the number of vaccines given to the county. The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting that the countys current inventory is 12,592 doses, which all have been allocated. As of Wednesday, IDPH reported the countys inventory includes 10,674 doses for the local health department (health department clinics and hospitals) and 1,918 doses for the community-based sites (Walgreens and CVS.) The vaccination process requires people to take two doses at different times. The idea the county is sitting on any vaccine is false, Corona said. All the vaccine doses are accounted for and the appointments to administer them are scheduled for the near future. Corona told the Health Advisory Committee on Tuesday that the state plans to call in the National Guard to assist with upcoming vaccination clinics. She said that the county remains in the midst of a pandemic response and people should still take precautions even after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. Visit https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php for more information. Lucknow, Feb 3 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is all set to attempt creating a world record during the Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations, when around 50,000 children from all districts will recite 'Vande Mataram' from 10 a.m on February 3 to 12 noon on February 4. The state government plans to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records with this feat. Vinay Kumar Pandey, director, secondary education, said that at present, this record is held by a gathering of 20,000 who sang it together. As part of the preparations, thousands of students are making their videos by reciting the first stanza of 'Vande Mataram' while standing in the salute pose. They are required to send these clips to their respective schools, after which these videos will be uploaded on a link that will be made available by the Guinness Book of World Records. Jagdish Gandhi, founder of the City Montessori chain of schools, said that a large number of students from all school campuses will recite 'Vande Mataram' in a bid to enter the record books on Chauri Chaura Diwas on February 4. The Guinness world record team will share a link at 10 a.m on February 3 for the schools to upload all videos by February 4 till 12 noon. They will assess the videos, and after verification, issue a certificate. The district inspector of schools (DIoS), Mukesh Kumar Singh, has held meetings with principals in this regard. Additional chief secretary (secondary education), Aradhana Shukla, said: "We are expecting a large number of videos from schools across UP." The UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad has asked principals of secondary schools to prepare students for the exercise. They have been asked to ensure that the chosen students learn 'Vande Mataram' and are able to recite the same flawlessly with correct pronunciation. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Cookies op Tweakers Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers is onderdeel van DPG Media en maakt gebruik van cookies, JavaScript en vergelijkbare technologie om je onder andere een optimale gebruikerservaring te bieden. Functionele en analytische cookies die door Tweakers zelf geplaatst worden, worden gebruikt om de website goed te laten functioneren, bezoekersstatistieken bij te houden en a/b-testen uit te voeren. Ook kan Tweakers hiermee het gedrag van bezoekers vastleggen en analyseren. Cookies kunnen daarnaast worden gebruikt om op Tweakers advertenties te tonen die aansluiten bij je interesses. Daarbij kan gebruikgemaakt worden van bezoekersprofielen die door derden zijn opgesteld. 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Oregon Coast Classic Still Virtual Published 02/02/21 at 6:26 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Cannon Beach, Oregon) With vaccinations still in early stages and herd immunity to COVID-19 an indistinct future date, many bigger festivals on the Oregon coast are not quite ready to commit to returning to normal. Thus, the Cannon Beach Chamber recently announced the 57th annual Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest will once again be a virtual summer of sandcastles as it was last year. (Above: one of last year's winners, Team Mai Tai Crew) The chamber did release the kickoff date, however: June 5. Once more, the virtual competition is intended to be a COVID-safe alternative during a time that will still require physical distancing for public safety. However, the chamber said you should start sketching out your dream sand creation for the 2021 season now. The committee is working on COVID-safe small celebratory events to accompany the virtual contest, such as music. More details will appear in the coming months on the Sandcastle Contest web page and Facebook page for updates. Cannon Beach has hosted this Oregon Heritage Tradition event since 1964. Until the COVID pandemic it had been held every year. Like 2020, this year still demands caution, explained Chamber Executive Director, James Paino. The health of our community, volunteers, competitors, and attendees must come first, he said. Rather than a one-day, large-crowd event, the virtual contest goes the entire summer so more builders can safely participate. Volunteer and Committee Chair Debbie Nelson said the fun will continue all summer until September 6. Its fun to come across a sandcastle while walking on the beach, she said. We have encouraged past teams to come create and build on their own through September 6th. I cant wait to find the sandcastles and sculptures they build. Supporters and collectors can buy 2021 limited edition posters and other merchandise when they become available online and in-person at our Information Center. Event URL: For more information and to view all the 2020 entries visit the event web page www.cannonbeach.org/sandcastle. MORE PHOTOS BELOW Also see N. Oregon Coast History: Tsunami Tragedy Started Cannon Beach's Sandcastle Festival Hotels in Cannon Beach - Where to eat - Cannon Beach Maps and Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest in the '60s, courtesy Cannon Beach History Museum More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is bringing back college memories for Angi Stalnaker and a lesson she learned from a beloved political science professor at the University of Alabama. She recalled her professor, Bill Stewart, writing down the names of the Republican and Democratic senators who, prior to the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, indicated how they would vote before the trial started. Those who did have their minds made up beforehand, Stalnaker recalls Stewart saying, violated their oaths. Its stuck with me for over 20 years, said Stalnaker, a GOP strategist based in Montgomery reflecting on the lesson from Stewart, who died last month. I know everyone talks about the political side of it that some votes are pre-known. Whether or not that person is a Republican or a Democrat or what state they are from, they were all sworn to uphold the oath of the Constitution. That means every senator, if they take their oaths seriously, has to listen to the evidence and decide based on that. Most political pundits predict a mostly party-line vote following the upcoming Trump impeachment trial. For Alabama Republicans like Senators Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville, acquittal votes appear to be a foregone conclusion. Both senators joined 43 other Republicans to vote last week on an unsuccessful measure declaring the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional because Trump no longer is in office. Principle versus partisanship But unlike Tuberville, who is a freshman member of Congress, Shelby is participating in his third impeachment hearing. Shelby is one of only six Republicans in U.S. history to participate in three impeachments. And of those six, only Maine Senator Susan Collins voted to acquit Clinton in 1999 on both articles of impeachment. The only other standout among the six Republicans was Shelby, who sided with nine other Republican senators on a vote to acquit Clinton on a charge of perjury. The six Republicans, last year, joined their GOP colleagues to acquit Trump during his first impeachment trial on charges of abuse of power and obstructing justice stemming from allegations that he solicited foreign influence during the 2016 presidential election. The latest impeachment trial, which starts on February 9, includes a single count of inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the death of five people including a Capitol police officer. The House impeached Trump on January 13, and nine Democratic impeachment managers believe Trump was singularly responsible for the deadly riot. Long-serving senators, like Senator Shelby and others who participated in the 1999 Clinton impeachment trial, cast many critical votes over the course of decades in office, but only a few are legacy votes making the first couple of paragraphs of the eventual obit but impeachment might well make that short list, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The apparent motives for an impeachment vote say, principle versus partisanship may highlight the senators character for good or ill. The senior GOP senators and who have participated during the three impeachments include Shelby, who trails seniority within his caucus by only Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. The others are Collins, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo. Five of the six senators, excluding Collins, represent states that voted for Trump during the 2020 presidential election. On the Democratic side, those participating in their third Senate trial include: Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Washington Senator Patty Murry, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed and New York Senator Chuck Schumer. All seven Democratic senators voted to acquit Clinton on both charges in 1999; and all voted to convict Trump in 2020. Most political scientists believe Trumps impeachable offenses are more egregious than Clintons offenses, which revolved around his sex life. Both of these things are dissimilar in the type and gravity in (comparison) with Clintons lies about his sex life, said Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law school professor and impeachment expert. They are just barely comparable except they all involved impeachment. For anyone who voted to convict Clinton, but acquitted Trump on either of these (impeachment cases), its a pretty gross level of hypocrisy. Trial lawyer instincts Grassley, McConnell, Inhofe, and Crapo voted to convict Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice during the 1999 proceeding, which revolved around the ex-presidents denial and alleged cover up of a sexual relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Senates votes on both articles against Clinton fell well short of the two-thirds needed for conviction. Shelbys split impeachment vote generated criticism at the time, but it also occurred long before social media became a dominate force in public life where criticism flourishes against those who vote against the majority of their political party. After the 1999 vote, one newspaper article pondered the odds of Shelby leaving the Republican Party. Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University, said Shelbys vote reflected on his trial lawyer instincts coming back. Shelby, before he entered politics in the early 70s, was an attorney. Hes had trial lawyer instincts at times hes voted a few times that raised the eyebrows of the bankers by showing a flair for consumer protection and a slight dose of populism, said Brown. Shelby, following his 1999 vote in the Clinton case, said he didnt feel as if the House of Representatives prosecution managers met the burden of proof in the perjury count. He said the obstruction of justice count was the strongest case. Shelby, 21 years later, voted with his Republican colleagues in the Senate excluding Utah Senator Mitt Romney in voting to acquit Trump on both articles of impeachment against him. Brown said he doesnt believe the forthcoming impeachment votes will hover over Shelbys legacy once he leaves office. The 86-year-old senator is up for re-election in 2022, but its unclear whether he will seek another six-year term. Brown said unlike other Alabama senators who had longevity in the upper chamber Lister Hill (1938-1969) and John Sparkman (1946-1979) Shelbys tenure does not include a legacy of legislative accomplishments. Rather, Shelby is known more as the king of pork barrel, said Brown. If you need someone to go into the (federal) budget and find a way to help your program, Richard Shelby has done this early and often, said Brown. Roar of the crowd But does a potential looming retirement offer Shelby afford the Tuscaloosa lawmaker the political freedom in the forthcoming impeachment vote? He has more political freedom than many of the others, but hes constrained by the fact that hes a career politician, said Brown. They love the roar of the crowd. Like all politicians, he doesnt want the crowd booing him. Political scientists in Iowa and Idaho home to Grassley and Crapo, respectively also believe that longevity in office doesnt necessarily lead to bucking the party on an impeachment vote. Of the two, Crapo, who is 69 years old, is the most likely to run for re-election in 2022. The vast majority of Republican voters in Idaho strongly supported Trump; and there are simply not enough Democrats here for him to feel remotely threatened in the general election, said Charlie Hunt, a political science professor at Boise State University. Idaho voters backed Trump by 30.9 percentage points over Joe Biden last year. Alabama voters backed Trump by 25.46 points. Hes far more likely to get a strong primary challenger from a conservative Trump Republican if he votes to convict than he is to get a serious challenger of any kind from a Democrat if he votes to acquit, Hunt said. Regardless of how consistent an acquittal decision would be with his Clinton impeachment vote, or last years impeachment vote against Trump, the political dynamics here I think are quite clear for him. Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, said he doesnt see Grassleys impeachment vote affecting his legacy. Grassley is 87 years old and will also be up for re-election in 2022. He has not indicated whether he will retire. I would think that for both Grassley and Shelby, one vote near the end of their careers (if that is the case) wont be something that affects their legacy much, said Hagle. Its just too easy to dismiss the trial as either unconstitutional or political payback on the part of Democrats. Hunt said the fact that Trump is no longer in office gives Crapo and other Republicans an out for voting to acquit. Constitutional questions Shelby and Tuberville, in statements to AL.com, believe the case is not constitutional. Their view, and those of the other Republicans, is the opposition of more than 150 constitutional scholars who say the Constitution permits the impeachment of a former office holder. Its happened before: In 1876, William Belknap tried to avoid impeachment by resigning as Secretary of War. The House voted on his impeachment anyway, and the Senate concluded it had the power to try, convict and disqualify former officers. Belknap was not a former president, the constitutional scholars pointed out, but the Constitutions impeachment provisions apply to presidents, vice presidents, and civil officers alike. Blair Taylor, spokeswoman for Shelby, said the Constitution does speak of removing a sitting president not a private citizen. She noted that Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over the hearing. That role will be taken on by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Republicans are claiming a conflict of interest because Leahy voted to convict Trump on both articles of impeachment last year (he voted to acquit Clinton on both counts against him in 1999). Nevertheless, because the trial is scheduled, Senator Shelby will sit as a juror and hear the evidence, Taylor said. Tuberville, in a statement he made to reporters at the Capitol recently, said he didnt want to see the impeachment trial move forward. If we do this, we are going to be trying to impeach somebody who lives in Florida now. Hes a regular citizen like you and I. Allen Linken, assistant professor of political sciences at the University of Alabama, said he doesnt believe its mutually exclusive for senators to say an impeachment is not constitutional and then to later vote for conviction. I dont see a path to have 67 votes to convict President Trump, he said, adding that he anticipates the final vote to be very close to the constitutionality question. Five GOP senators joined with the Democrats on the constitutionality question. To continue the political thought, a 55-45 impeachment vote would be significant because it would be the most votes for conviction that a president received from his party, said Linken. Stalnaker, the GOP strategist, said thats why its important for the trial to move forward with open minds from the senators and heeding the advice from Stewart during the 1999 trial. The trial, itself, could be unpredictable after Trumps legal team was completely changed one week before the trial begins. To make a decision for or against before theyve seen a trial is a violation of their oath and an affront to the judicial system of the United States, said Stalnaker. That goes for both Republicans and Democrats. Related content: Trump names 2 lawyers to impeachment defense team, one from Alabama How an Alabama man went from Obama supporter to dying in the Capitol insurrection Technavio announces the release of its latest report on the indoor air quality solutions market. The market is segmented by product (equipment and services) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The report offers an in-depth analysis of recent developments, changes in market regulations, product approvals, product launches, and the market behavior across various segments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006222/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Indoor Air Quality Solutions Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Get a Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More Indoor Air Quality Solutions Market: Key Findings Indoor air quality solutions market value to grow by USD 9.54 billion at over 6% CAGR during 2020-2024 33% of market growth to originate from APAC during the forecast period Based on the product, the equipment segment will offer maximum opportunities for vendors during the forecast period Indoor air quality solutions market is expected to have a negative impact due to the spread of COVID-19 Indoor Air Quality Solutions Market: Growth Drivers The need for smart air quality monitoring equipment is one of the prime factors driving the growth of the market. The rise in indoor pollution levels across the world has increased the demand for efficient indoor air quality management products in residential and commercial buildings. Besides, the growing importance of indoor air quality management led by rapid urbanization has been crucial in driving the demand for indoor air quality solutions. "Rising demand for portable air quality monitors and technological advances will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Develop Smart Strategies for Your Business: Get a Free Sample Report Now! Indoor Air Quality Solutions Market: Major Vendors 3M Co. 3M Co. operates its business through segments such as Industrial, Safety and Graphics, Health Care, Electronics and Energy, and Consumer. The company offers indoor air quality monitoring kits, air and vapor barriers, and air filters. Aeroqual Ltd. Aeroqual Ltd. operates its business through segments such as Outdoor products, Indoor products, and Ozone products. The company offers portable indoor air quality monitors and fixed indoor air quality monitors. Some of the key offerings include SM70 Fixed Indoor Air Quality Monitor, Series 900 Fixed Indoor Air Quality Monitor, and Series 930 Fixed Indoor Air Quality Monitor. Camfil AB Camfil AB operates its business through segments such as General Ventilation Filters, EPA, HEPA, and ULPA Filters, Molecular Filters, Air Cleaners and Purifiers, High Temperature Filters, and Others. The company offers air purifiers and filters for fitness centers, garages, restaurants, and shopping malls. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports on Consumer Discretionary Include: Global Indoor Air Quality Meters Market Global indoor air quality meters market is segmented by product (portable and fixed) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Air Purifier Market Global air purifier market is segmented by technology (HEPA, electrostatic precipitators, ionizers and ozone generators, and others) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report 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/20210202006222/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/ Stripper turned Covid-19 conspiracy theorist Eve Black has revealed she has moved into a convent with nuns to get 'closer to God'. Black, whose real name is Eugenia Limberiou, went viral in July for filming herself driving through a Melbourne police checkpoint in defiance of lockdown laws. The 28-year-old became a national disgrace after performing the stunt and uploading the video to Facebook, where she was largely slammed. She was dramatically arrested days later in Carlton by police who were allegedly forced to smash in her car window. Following her arrest, Black was exposed as a topless waitress and stripper who has performed at swingers parties in Melbourne. Now the Covid denier claims she is on a path to religious enlightenment and is living with nuns to build her relationship with God. Eve Black (pictured) caused national outrage after filming herself drive through a lockdown blockade in Melbourne in July Documenting her new journey, Black has shared a series of posts on Instagram of her time inside the nunnery, where she is 'relearning womanhood'. 'I have been staying in an orthodox convent. Its super serene I am feeling very serene,' she wrote online. 'I wanted to spend some time being closer to God and be away from the world and spend some time with some wonderful sisters. Nuns are way cool actually.' A picture posted on Wednesday shows Black wearing a long, baggy pink dress, shawl and a cross around her neck. 'Things that once felt modest no longer do. Im not saying Ill never wear anything form fitting ever again,' she wrote. 'But since my stay in the convent, Im definitely feeling like I want to continue honouring God by not accentuating my curves so much.' Black gloated in last year's Facebook video about making it through a Melbourne Covid-19 roadblock without telling officers where she was going. Eve Black, real name Eugenia Limberiou, was once a popular stripper Black has been documenting her new religious journey online (pictured), revealing she is living with nuns 'to get closer with God After that video went viral, the 28-year-old tried the same trick again in the inner-city suburb of Carlton but was far less successful, leading to her arrest. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews lashed out at the Black at the time, declaring the COVID restrictions were not about human rights. 'This is about human life', he said. Black is faces fines up to $10,000 after being charged with several offences, including failing to provide her name and address and breaches of directives from the chief health officer. She is due to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court next month. WASHINGTON : Terming the detention of Myanmar 's top civilian leaders by the military "a coup", a senior State Department official has said that the US is in constant touch with regional allies like India and Japan on the latest developments in Nay Pyi Taw as the two countries have better contact with the military in the Southeast Asian nation. Myanmar's military on Monday took control of the country for one year and detained top political figures, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We have certainly been in frequent contact with our like-minded allies and partners in the region. You mentioned Japan and India. We're having daily ongoing conversations with them, and we certainly appreciate that some other countries have better contact with the Burmese military than we do, so we're continuing those conversations," a senior State Department official told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. The United States categorically said the military action in Burma is a coup. After a careful review of the facts and circumstances, we have assessed that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burmas ruling party, and Win Myint, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February 1," the State Department official said. Myanmar was called Burma before 1989 when the ruling junta, backed by the armed forces, changed its name. This was done to maintain the country's global image after a total crackdown on a pro-democracy movement. "We continue to call on the Burmese military leadership to release them (the elected leaders) and all other detained civil society and political leaders immediately and unconditionally," the State Department official said. The US has denounced in the strongest possible terms Myanmar's military leaders for seeking to reject the will of the people as expressed in democratic elections on November 8 and for taking control of the government. However, the Myanmar military has justified the seizure of power, saying the government had failed to thoroughly investigate the claims of voter fraud in the polls. "We continue to stand with the people of Burma, as we have done for decades, in their efforts to achieve democracy, freedom, peace, and development," said the US official. This assessment, the official said, triggers certain restrictions in foreign assistance to the government of Myanmar and the US would undertake a broader review of its assistance programmes to ensure they align with recent events. "At the same time, it will continue programmes that benefit the people of Burma directly, including humanitarian assistance and democracy support programmes that benefit civil society," the official said. The US is providing nearly USD 135 million in bilateral assistance to Burma in the financial year 2020. Now, a small portion of that is expected to fall under sanctions. The return to civilian rule in 2015 had enabled Myanmar to engage with countries and businesses across the globe and move beyond relying on actors in the region that do not respect human rights and democratic institutions. The military's actions over the last week, and frankly prior to that, have put that progress at grave risk. A very small circle of Burma's military leaders have chosen their own interests over the will and well-being of the people," the official said. The Biden administration, the official said, rejects any attempt by the military to alter the outcome of the November 2020 election in Burma. And, as President Biden has said, we will take action against those responsible, including through a careful review of our current sanctions posture as it relates to Burmas military leaders and companies associated with them. Most importantly, we will continue to stand with the people of Burma," the official said. ...we will be conducting a review of all our assistance programmes for Burma. I dont have a timeline for you on that, but were going to be guided by our longstanding commitment to the people of Burma and their aspirations for democracy, peace, justice, and development," said the official. Calling the militarys seizure of power in Myanmar a direct assault" on its transition to democracy, US President Joe Biden on Monday had threatened to slap new sanctions on the country. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. 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 President Hage Geingob says the growing public perception that Namibia is a corrupt country should not be used to measure the country's corruption rate, as it is based on people's opinions. The president said this during the opening of the first Cabinet meeting of the year yesterday, while taking a swipe at the media for not publicising a new Afrobarometer report which paints Namibia in a good light. The report ranked Namibia second after Cabo Verde as the top two Africa countries where citizens rarely pay bribes to access public services. The report, which covered 18 African countries, including Namibia, was released on 26 January 2021. It states that developing countries lose US$1,26 trillion a year to corruption, theft and tax evasion. According to the report, only 7% of Namibia's population stated that they had to pay a bribe in exchange for public services during the previous 12 months. The public services considered by the survey include the police service, obtaining a government document, medical care and assistance at public schools, among others. Geingob said the new rating on bribery was "very important" to debunk certain perceptions about the state of corruption in Namibia. The president used the new rating to back his claim that there was no systemic corruption in the country. "Systemic corruption is when you have to pay to get services. Not ... what you think is corruption. Systemic is when the system only works when money is paid for services. Here they are saying Namibia and Cabo Verde are the two countries in which you don't have to pay for services," Geingob said. The president criticised the media. "The report is out and you have it. Why don't you use it. It's very interesting. It tells me a lot. Had the report said Namibia is one of the corrupt countries, it could have been front page in the dailies and on NBC," he said. The report, however, states that corruption perception in Namibia increased to 74% in the last 12 months. It states that Namibians held this perception "even though survey fieldwork in Namibia was completed before the #Fishrot corruption scheme was exposed in November 2019". It also states that Namibia dropped 26 points in terms of positive assessments of the government's handling of corruption. Despite this, Geingob maintained that corruption was not as rife in Namibia. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He said the 74% perception of corruption in the country was the opinion of Namibians. "If you ask a person if there is corruption in Namibia, they will say yes. Perceptions are based on opinion. Now you have a case in the Fishrot (scandal), now you say it is worse," he said. The president said he recognises that some corrupt officials have tainted the country's name. He empasised that corruption in any form, including "kickbacks or percentage commission for the amount of a contract, is unacceptable", while adding that the government will intensify the fight against corruption in order to ensure that each and every cent earmarked for development reaches the intended beneficiaries. Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood said the president should concede that Namibia has a corruption problem and set out his plans for tackling it, rather than being defensive. Hopwood said systemic corruption was indeed present in Namibia and exists "at the top level of society". "Fishrot is an example of systemic corruption whereby a secretive system for allocating rights and quotas enabled corruption to take place. Our corruption problem is certainly more significant than there being just a few bad apples," he said. Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah said the president should not rely on the Afrobarometer report as conclusive evidence that we don't have systemic corruption. "Corruption is corruption, whether systemic or not, and has negative consequences for the country. I don't think the debate whether corruption is systematic or not is helpful in our quest to stamp out corruption," he said. An Indian-American Congressman sought an FBI investigation on Tuesday into the desecration of a statue of in California, even as several other lawmakers condemned the act of vandalisation. A bronze statue of Gandhi in the Central Park of the city of Davis in Northern California was vandalised, broken and ripped from the base by unknown miscreants last week. The city has registered a case and is investigating the incident. "I condemn this malicious act in the strongest terms and I call upon the FBI to investigate it as a possible hate crime intended to intimidate Indian-Americans, among others," Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said. "The desecration of a statue of Gandhi, who championed peace and non-violence and who continues to influence countless non-violent struggles for justice including in America, serves as a sad reminder of how important his teachings remain," he said. In a separate statement, Congressman Ami Bera condemned the vandalisation of the statue. "Peaceful and non-violent protest, which was championed by civil rights leaders at home and abroad, including Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi, is a hallmark of American democracy. "The strength of our country lies in our diversity, but also in our ability to peacefully express our opinions and differences. Vandalisation and destruction of property is unacceptable and has no place in our society," he said. "Gandhi stood for peace, nonviolence, and justice. We are better than acts of hate like this," tweeted Congressman Josh Harder. Congressman Pete Session said the statue of Gandhi was donated by the government of India to all Americans as a symbol of peace. "This hate crime must not be tolerated. Restoration of this great statue must be done," he tweeted. (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.) 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 Sir Keir Starmer once boasted of supporting the abolition of the monarchy, a newly rediscovered video revealed today - as Labour was urged to become more patriotic to win back voters. The Opposition leader was caught on camera in 2005 discussing the irony of being appointed a Queen's Counsel - a senior barrister - for a film about a court case he was involved in. In a clip unearthed by the Guido Fawkes blog the then 39-year-old human rights lawyer said: 'I got made a Queen's Counsel, which is odd since I often used to propose the abolition of the monarchy.' In the years since the interview Mr Starmer's views appear to have softened however. In 2014 he accepted a knighthood in the New Year Honours after five years as Director of Public Prosecutions. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles in April that year. And when the issue of the monarchy was raised last year in the Labour leadership election he said he did not want it abolished but he would like to 'downsize it'. The release of the 16-year-old clip comes as Labour under his leadership was encouraged to use patriotism to get closer to voters who fled the party under his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. The strategy, presented to officials by the party's head of research last month, suggested Sir Keir pose with the union flag and military personnel, according to a leaked 'rebranding' plan. It suggested Sir Keir makes 'use of the flag, veterans' to convince disaffected former voters that Labour reflects their values. There was also a reference to 'dressing smartly at the war memorial' - an apparent swipe at Mr Corbyn notoriously wearing a scruffy-looking anorak to the Cenotaph wreath-laying in 2018. In 2014 he accepted a knighthood as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and was invested in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles In a clip unearthed by the Guido Fawkes blog the then 39-year-old human rights lawyer said: 'I got made a Queen's Counsel, which is odd since I often used to propose the abolition of the monarchy.' The Labour leadership seem to have taken the rebranding advice to heart already, with Sir Keir Starmer seen against the backdrop of the union flag for speeches and party political broadcasts over recent weeks In a warning sign for Sir Keir, although he is seen as a positive asset for the party focus groups showed voters have noticed his habit of 'sitting on the fence'. The Labour leadership seem to have taken the advice to heart already, with Sir Keir seen against the backdrop of the union flag for speeches and party political broadcasts over recent weeks. Meanwhile, Sir Keir looks to be trying to shake off his reputation for facing both ways on issues like Brexit, including by demanding blanket Covid 'quarantine hotel' rules for UK arrivals, and making a bold call for teachers to be prioritised for vaccinations over half-term. Labour insisted the presentation was based on in-depth research by the Republic agency dating from September, and was not written by party officials. However, sources praised the report as a 'really interesting and strong piece of work'. A spokesman for Sir Keir aid the document had not been endorsed by the party. Refusing to be drawn on specifics in the leaked memo, he told reporters: 'The first point to make clear is that it is not a Labour Party document. 'It was a document produced by an external agency about the Labour Party - it was created by a third party and the recommendations in that report are their recommendations. 'It is not right to say it was presented as our strategy. That is not what it was and to claim otherwise is wrong. 'We will write our own strategy and that will be a strategy focused entirely on how do we restore trust and how do we win in 2024.' Asked to respond to a focus group remark mentioned in the report suggesting Sir Keir had been 'sitting on the fence' on issues, his spokesman gave a list of examples where Labour had challenged the Government, such as on bringing in tighter border controls to block new variants of coronavirus from entering the country. According to the Guardian, party officials were told during the presentation last month that voters were confused about 'what we stand for, and what our purpose is, but also who we represent'. Comments from focus groups included that Sir Keir 'needs to stop sitting on the fence'. His tendency not to take a firm stance has fuelled a perception that Labour is 'not being forthright and honest about where we want to be'. One Birmingham voter slapped that it was 'two different parties under one name', while in another damning sign of the Corbyn legacy a Grimsby resident said: 'They are the voice of the students. They have left real people, taxpayers behind.' The report was based on focus groups from Watford to Grimsby conducted in September along with nationwide polling. One slide said 'communicating Labour's respect and commitment for the country can represent a change in the party's body language'. There was also a reference in the report to 'dressing smartly at the war memorial' - an apparent swipe at Mr Corbyn notoriously wearing a scruffy-looking anorak to the Cenotaph wreath-laying in 2018. Another recommendation was: 'The use of the flag, veterans, dressing smartly at the war memorial etc give voters a sense of authentic values alignment.' Mr Corbyn's record of having campaign for unilateral disarmament and against all major British military interventions since the Second World War was seen as toxic for Labour during his time in charge. It culminated in Boris Johnson winning an historic majority by demolishing the party's traditional 'Red Wall' heartlands. This week Sir Keir fronted a party political broadcast beside a union flag, as he promised to 'rebuild our country'. The party is also believed to be using flag-branded header images in emails more often. However, the approach has sparked alarm from some on the Labour Left. Norwich MP Clive Lewis, himself a former soldier, told the Guardian: 'The Tory party has absorbed Ukip and now Labour appears to be absorbing the language and symbols of the Tory party.' He added: 'It's not patriotism; it's Fatherland-ism. There's a better way to build social cohesion than moving down the track of the nativist right.' Germany on Tuesday welcomed the commencement of talks between Greece and Turkey, who have been at loggerheads for the past several months over the mining rights in the Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus border issue. German Foreign Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Germany sees itself playing a "mediating role" in the conflict as she urged all parties to avoid any further escalation. Karrenbauer also held talks with Greek and Cypriot counterparts after meeting the Turkish foreign minister in Berlin on Tuesday. Read: Turkey President Erdogan Condemns 'LGBT Youth', Accuses Them Of 'vandalism' Karrenbauer said the important thing is that dialogue has reopened again as she hoped a conclusion could be reached in the coming months. The conflict in the region reignited last year after Turkey sent a research vessel escorted by warships in the Mediterranean Sea to look for energy resources. The area is disputed as it is claimed by both Greece and Turkey. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have imposed sanctions on Turkey, which Ankara sees as taking Athens' side in the ongoing conflict. Read: Outcry, Arrests In Turkey Over Mecca Poster With LGBT Flags The recent talks come after a five-year hiatus following negotiations that began in 2002 and lasted until 2016. Last year, Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan called for a "two-state solution", saying federation could no longer be a valid model for a solution. Erdogan also visited the Turkish-Cypriot side last year, garnering criticism from the internationally recognised government in the south. However, Erdogan has welcomed the recent commencement of talks, saying it's a "signal of a new era". Read: Tentative Start To Turkey-Greece Talks After Year Of Strife Greco-Turkish relations Ankara-Athens relations suffered a major blow in the 1970s after Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus following the nationalist movement on the island demanding unification with Greece, which the Turkish-Cypriots were opposing. Turkey invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, days after a group of Greek Cypriot nationalists staged a failed coup against the then Cypriot President backed by the Greek military junta in Athens. After the invasion, Turkey expelled Greek Cypriots from the part of the island it had occupied. Read: Turkey's Erdogan Says Extra 10M Doses Of Chinese Vaccine Due (Image Credit: AP) The European Commission will allow Ireland flexibility to set a new reduction period under the Beef Emergency Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme, it has been confirmed. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue last week wrote to the commission seeking flexibility to offer farmers the choice of changing the reduction year from the existing period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 to a new period of January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. However, the new reduction period will only apply to those farmers who opt to apply for the change. Farmers that are currently on track to meet the 5pc nitrogen reduction targets can use the original reference period ending June 30 this year. Minister McConalogue said: I welcome the decision by the European Commission to allow Ireland to amend the reduction period under the BEAM scheme for those who require it. "As the European Commission is a significant funder of BEAM, it was critical that they were consulted on Irelands proposed change. This was a key priority of mine since taking office as I understood the challenge some farmers had in meeting the 5pc nitrogen reduction element of BEAM. The option of a new reduction period now gives those farmers who want it a second opportunity to meet the nitrogen reduction requirement of the scheme, he said. The minister said he will now intensify engagement with farm organisations and agricultural consultants to ensure their members and clients are fully informed of the requirements of the scheme and the new reduction period. "My Department will be writing to all of the scheme participants shortly giving updated nitrogen figures to clearly inform them of what they need to do meet the requirements of the scheme and will also be giving advice on how and when they can opt to change the reduction year, he said. Department failure Last week, ICSA Beef Committee chairman Edmund Graham contended that the source of the BEAM problem is not the timeframe, but rather administrative issues at Department level in relation to dates and figures on farmer progress in reducing nitrates levels. Speaking at the associations AGM he said: We don't have up-to-date figures on how were performing on our nitrates levels which makes it very hard for a farmer to keep on top of the scheme. "Several months into the scheme we only received two letters with rolling averages, but we don't have accurate figures to reflect how we're performing on nitrates. "So no matter what date is set by the commission, unless the Department can get timely figures to farmers there is absolutely no point changing the dates. That is the whole issue. "To be honest the Department officials have failed us on this, they have not been able to give us the figures and thats where the problem lies, said Mr Graham. The EU and Government-backed beef support package announced in 2019 saw 77m paid out to 33,445 farmers. Last month, it emerged that some 18,000 livestock farmers were deemed not to be compliant with the rules of the scheme. A mother has been charged with the murder of a newborn baby who was found unconscious in a bathtub in western Sydney. Emergency services were called to a home in the Blacktown suburb of Shalvey around midday on Tuesday, where they found an eight-week-old girl unconscious in a bath. The newborn was taken to Westmead Children's Hospital but could not be revived. A 35-year-old woman was arrested at the home and taken under police guard to Westmead Hospital for treatment and assessment. She has since been charged with murder and refused bail during a bedside court hearing. The baby's 35-year-old mother was arrested, charged with murder and refused bail on Wednesday The child's father is believed to have arrived home and found the baby before discovering her mother in a distressed state outside. Police believe the child may have been in the bathtub for as long as two hours before being discovered, 7News reported. Devastated family members were seen hugging and crying in the street outside the home on Tuesday, as police cordoned off the crime scene. A family friend said the baby girl was 'bubbly, adorable' and always smiling. The woman will appear before Mount Druitt Local Court on March 31. The military coup that took place in Myanmar early on Monday morning took the world by surprise The military coup that took place in Myanmar early on Monday morning took the world by surprise. It was generally assumed that the second free election on November 8, 2020, despite the quasi-democratic constitutional arrangement with the Army retaining control over the security agencies, was merely strengthening democracy. The world was distracted by US President Donald Trump refusing to concede defeat after the November 3 presidential election and the re-spiking of Covid cases across the developed world. The Myanmar Armys allegations about election fraud were thus largely ignored. If the coups occurrence should not have been a surprise, its timing and reasons need examination. The timing was dictated by both domestic and international factors. The new Parliament was meeting on February 1 to endorse the election results. Aung San Suu Kyis party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had bagged 396 out 476 seats, constituting 83 per cent, after a 70 per cent turnout. The countrys constitution allows the Army to nominate a quarter of the seats, but the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), that it backed, won merely 33 seats. This lopsided verdict tilted the balance of power, maintained precariously over previous five years, in the NLDs favour. Moreover, the Army chief, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, is retiring in the next three months. He and his family are rumoured to have a vast network of businesses, for decades the bane of military rule. The principal international factor would be the taking over of US President Joe Biden. Gen. Hlaing and three colleagues were sanctioned by the Trump administration in December 2019 for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2016-17. The Biden administration is likely to be even more strict in enforcing human rights and international humanitarian law. In retirement, the good general would have perceived an existential threat to himself, his family and business interests. This is despite Ms Suu Kyi having even blotted her international image as a defender of human rights, in protecting the Army against charges of genocide, by deposing before the International Court of Justice. The charge had been brought by Gambia, a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). China would be the obvious beneficiary of the coup as its modus operandi of suitcase diplomacy works best when decision-making is opaque and autocratic. Moreover, as its international isolation increases, the Myanmar regime will be driven even deeper into Chinas embrace. This is despite Ms Suu Kyi courting China even to the extent, it was speculated, of making the generals nervous. China can now expect more seamless cooperation and the expansion of China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), mirroring to Indias west the CPEC running through Pakistan. This happens as despite assurances secured by external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during his three-day visit to Sri Lanka last month, Sri Lanka has just reneged on the Trincomalee oil storage deal. The politically resurrected Rajapaksa clan is deepening its old China alliance. As a former envoy to that nation, Mr Jaishankar will have some explaining to do on how India has lost traction to a rival power. The international reaction to the Myanmar coup has been along expected lines. The United States proclaimed that it opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections. US secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged that they stand with the people of Burma in their aspirations for democracy. Finally, President Biden has urged international community to come together in one voice. British PM Boris Johnson, already on the backfoot over Chinas repression in Hong Kong, condemned the coup as unlawful and asserted that the vote of the people must be respected and civilian leaders released. Australia also intoned with similar sentiments. The European leaders were quick to condemn the coup but are likely to take longer to build a consensus on action against the junta. Unsurprisingly, China simply refused to go beyond noting the events. Indias reaction was interesting as it joined the international outcry. In the past, India has oscillated between supporting the democratic forces in Myanmar and engaging the juntas to safeguard its crucial interests, such as the issue of Indian insurgents taking refuge within Myanmar. In fact, Ms Suu Kyi, despite having been educated in India, seems to harbour residual resentment over being mostly abandoned by India during her decade and a half of internment. Two issues complicate Indias approach to the new developments. One, the BJP clearly sees the Rohingya issue almost entirely via the religion prism, as it plays well in its politics in Assam, in the past, and now in West Bengal. The arrest and internment of persecuted neighbourhood Muslims, illegally in India, links directly to the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act, which only provides succour to non-Muslims. Thus, the question arises to what extent the Indian government might be willing to go to condemn the genocide by the Myanmar Army and join the international community in sanctioning them. Of course, the release of elected leaders and restoration of democracy has now become the main issue. The other point is the conflict generally between the governments domestic politics, increasingly majoritarian, and its foreign policy where India has traditionally stood beside nations espousing liberal democratic values, including treatment of all citizens equally, whatever their faith, caste or creed. Can this charade be maintained without India being called out for its hypocrisy? For instance, this schizophrenia was obvious when on Mahatma Gandhis death anniversary Saturday, a hashtag on his assassin Nathuram Godse was trending on the social media without a word of criticism from the government. However, the government simultaneously made a strong demarche to the United States about the vandalising of Gandhijis statue in Washington. India has had good links with the Myanmar Army. In October 2020, India gifted a Kilo-class submarine to Myanmar. Indias vaccine diplomacy also covers that country. Currently, the emergency declaration is for one year. The military junta is claiming that it was only to restore constitutional rule and hold fair elections, as different apparently from the one in November. India is now caught between Biden administrations call for united action and the traditional Indian policy of playing both ways. But, more than ever before, India will find the balancing more difficult, caught between its domestic political biases, its claimed strategic ties with Washington, its worry over the Chinese ascendancy in a vital neighbourhood as well as its dependence on whoever runs Myanmar for the security and development of its northeastern region. (Newser) Scores of people in Myanmar's largest city honked car horns and banged on pots and pans Tuesday in the first known public resistance to the coup led a day earlier by the country's military. What was initially planned to take place for just a few minutes extended to more than a quarter-hour in several neighborhoods of Yangon, the AP reports. Shouts could be heard wishing detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi good health and calling for freedom. "Beating a drum in Myanmar culture is like we are kicking out the devils," said one participant who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals. Several pro-democracy groups had asked people to make noise at 8pm to show their opposition to the coup. story continues below A senior politician and close confidante of Suu Kyi also urged citizens to defy the military through civil disobedience. Win Htein, a leader of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, spoke Tuesday from a small party office in the capital, Naypyitaw, not far from where hundreds of lawmakers elected in November national polls were detained when the military seized power Monday in a lightning takeover. "The curse of the coup is rooted in our country, and this is the reason why our country still remains poor. I feel sad and upset for our fellow citizens and for their future," the former political prisoner said. President Biden called the militarys actions "a direct assault on the countrys transition to democracy and the rule of law and threatened new sanctions. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Tuesday but took no action. (An aerobics instructor unwittingly filmed the start of the military takeover.) The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee in the United States held its second public meeting of 2021 on Saturday, January 30, to discuss the fight against the Biden administrations drive to reopen schools as the coronavirus pandemic reaches a new and deadlier phase. The meeting was held as thousands of Chicago educators were battling efforts by Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot to resume in-person classes in the nations third largest school district. The meeting was attended by nearly 200 people, most of them educators from all across the United States, as well as Europe, Latin America and Asia. Leading members of the Socialist Equality Party addressed the meeting as did rank-and-file educators from Chicago, Alabama and Pennsylvania. Also speaking were a nurse in Southern California, the current epicenter of the pandemic in the US, and a Baltimore Amazon worker, who called for a common fight with teachers against unsafe conditions. Also attending were members of rank-and-file safety committees, which have been set up by educators in Northern California, San Diego, Los Angeles, Texas, Chicago, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Detroit and New York City, along with Germany and the United Kingdom. Members of committees set up by autoworkers, Amazon and other workers also took part. Evan Blake, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site, opened the meeting by outlining the devastating impact of the coronavirus on society: at least 3,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US every day in January, amounting to nearly 10,000 lives lost in this country alone. Internationally, the figure stands at 386,000 dead in January, an average daily death rate of 12,800 people and climbing. Scientists have warned for months that the more that the virus spreads, the more it changes and the more that it changes, the greater possibility that it will evolve and become less susceptible to vaccines. The logic of the situation, Blake said, is that the new more infectious variants threaten to vastly expand the spread of the pandemic, further saturating hospitals beyond their capacity and leading to a massive increase in deaths. The most irrational and backwards measure to take at this stage of the pandemic would be to reopen schools and businesses, but that is exactly what is happening, the speaker noted. Trump was the most blatant supporter of herd immunity, speaking for the most ruthless and reactionary sections of the ruling class, Blake said. Biden has now taken up this mantle and is spearheading the drive to reopen schools. This has been expressed most sharply in Chicago, where the fight by educators to prevent the reopening of schools has become a major focal point of the class struggle in the US. Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson are desperately trying to force educators back into the classrooms. For its part, the Chicago Teachers Union, which is fully integrated with the Democratic Party, has sought to maneuver with the Lightfoot administration every step of the way. Blake emphasized that the resistance of Chicago educators is seen as a threat by the entire ruling class because reopening schools is the essential linchpin to the campaign to reopen the broader economy and to compel parents to return to unsafe workplaces. Early on in the pandemic, he recalled, Trump and his supporters mobilized far-right organizations and armed militias to storm state capitols in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states to demand an end to lockdowns and any public health measures that undermined business activity. This was the prelude to the January 6 fascist coup attempt. But rather than opposing this fascist threat, Biden has called for unity with Trumps Republican co-conspirators. Its entirely possible, Blake noted, that the death toll could surpass one million, unless the working class intervenes. The opposition of teachers has to become part of a broader movement of workers in the US and internationally to save lives. The purpose of our rank-and-file committees is to serve as a force of opposition to the union bureaucracies, to create a framework for educators and all workers to be able to exert their own independent interests, and really to serve as organs of working class democracy and a voice for all workers. The next speaker, Dr. Benjamin Mateus, gave a detailed report on the emergence of the new more virulent strains of the virus and repudiated the false claims by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the corporate media that schools were not major centers for the transmission of the deadly virus. The slides from Dr. Mateus' presentation are available here. The widely publicized CDC report was based on a sample of small rural districts in Wisconsin, where all students wore three-layer cloth masks, and conditions were overseen by researchers which was not representative of real-life conditions. A series of scientific reports in Canada, India and other countries found that closing schools was one of the surest ways to prevent community transmission. A teacher from Chicago, a leading member of the Chicago Rank-and-File Safety Committee, said Mayor Lightfoot wanted people back at work and was demanding that schools reopen so parents could return to work. It is an issue of childcare for them, not education, the teacher said. The Chicago Public Schools only agreed to discuss reopening plans once a large group of teachers, the K8 teachers, refused to return this past week, she said. The Chicago Teachers Union did not organize any action when the district started phased resumption of in-person instruction, starting with pre-K and cluster teachers on January 4. The unions are not going to protect all of us, she said. Joining the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee is how we must fight. This is why only we can defend ourselves. No one is going to save us. There must be a nationally coordinated response to stop all the reopenings, and it has to be organized independently of the unions. James, a former paraprofessional in the Detroit Public Schools and a member of the Michigan Rank-and-File Safety Committee, said city officials were rushing to resume in-person schooling by early March. This is being driven, not by the needs of children, he said, but the needs of GM, Ford and other auto companies, which have been bitterly complaining about high absentee rates among workers caring for their children. He said the committee was fighting to unite teachers and autoworkers in a common fight to close schools and halt nonessential production. A member of the Alabama Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, a teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, told the meeting she had gained a lot of courage from just listening and hearing about what others are doing. She described how the struggle of educators in her district had developed when a teacher started a Facebook page, and colleagues began to express their fears and concerns about returning back to school in unsafe conditions. Soon educators were standing in front of the superintendents office. It was a bold statement here in Alabama, for anyone to do anything like that, she said. Another educator from Montgomery said the reaction of district officials was, How dare you all stand up to us? You do what we say. No, you cant do that. She said broad areas of the workforce in Alabama need to protect themselves for COVID infection. There are Hyundai and Mercedes plants here where people are just working and dying, and nobodys saying anything about it. Walmart and grocery stores are open, and theyre still playing sports. Tania, an educator and member of the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, noted that there is an average of 1,200 deaths per day in the United Kingdom, which had the highest per capita death rate in the world. She said this was not accidental since it was Boris Johnsons government that first launched the criminal and reactionary social policy of herd immunity, which enabled the uncontrolled spread of the virus and the circulation of the new variant. Some 400,000 members of the National Education Union attended a mass online meeting demanding protection on January 3. Tens of thousands of teachers refused to turn up to work the following day on January 4, across primary schools. It was in response to this action by educators that the lockdown was finally announced, the very same evening. The unions, she continued, which were totally compromised throughout the pandemic by their refusal to organize any action to defend their members, are now attempting to posture as defenders of teachers and support staff. The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee in the United Kingdom is advancing the call for independent action by workers to demand the closure of schools and nonessential industries with full compensation, Tania concluded. Gregor Link of the Network of Rank-and-File Committees in Germany and a writer for the World Socialist Web Site said Germany had been hailed as a model for how to cope with the pandemic, but now Germany and Europe were seeing levels of death at rates that resembled those in a major war. In January alone, Germany recorded more than 40,000 deaths, surpassing the US death toll in relative terms. Hospitals and crematoria have become overloaded. This was a direct result of the yearlong campaign by the political establishment to keep schools open as long as possible and always reopen them as soon as possible. In response, he said, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the Socialist Equality Party in Germany have begun organizing biweekly online meetings of students, teachers and parents to prepare for a Europe-wide school strike and a broadly based general strike. Speaking next was Zac Corrigan, who reported on the 2018-19 teachers strikes in West Virginia and other states for the World Socialist Web Site. The strikes, he said, broke out independently of the union among teachers, who organized themselves in Facebook Messenger groups and met in person independently of the union and decided that they were going to launch a mass walkout. And thats what they did. But the teacher unions did everything they could to stop the strikes in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago and other areas from coalescing into a nationwide strike against austerity and inequality. The unions, aided by such forces as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), then sold out the strikes. If teachers had rank-and-file committees back then, he said, which would have united educators and all sections of workers, the outcome would have been totally different, he said. Elizabeth, a nurse in Long Beach, near Los Angeles, spoke next. This has hit LA very, very hard, she said, and as for nurses, the hospitals don't provide enough PPE, just like whats happening with teachers. She spoke of the law in California that only allows so many patients per nurse and how California Governor Newsom has allowed that to be overridden, so that nurses are responsible for more patients that they are able to care for. Summing up the meeting, Jerry White, the labor editor of the WSWS, said the devastating death toll from the virus in every country revealed the class structure of society and the thoroughly outmoded character of capitalism, a social system that sacrifices human life for profit. White asked the audience to consider the role of the unions and of pseudoleft organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America. They tell workers and teachers to expend our energy appealing to the powers-that-be, to the Democratic Party, to those who defend the opposite class interests. Maybe we can appeal to their conscience, and they'll change their minds, they say. No, they wont. Only the working class produces societys wealth, and they are determined to pump out the profits from workers to pay for the massive bailout of Wall Street, no matter how many workers die. White said that the Hunts Point Produce Market strike in New York City and the current struggle of the Chicago teachers were part of the growing worldwide response of the working class to the pandemic. What is decisive is building the leadership necessary to reorganize society based on human needs, not private profit. He closed the meeting by urging everyone to support the World Socialist Web Site, which was the international voice of the working class, and to join the Socialist Equality Party. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Two traders who allegedly packed soil in Sh1 million sugar bags and made a delivery to their client have been charged with attempting to cheat at a Makadara Law Court. Khalif Abdi Noor and Ezekiel Omeka are accused of packaging 300 bags of 50 kilos with black cotton soil purporting it to be genuine sugar from Butali Sugar Company worth Sh1, 395000 with intent to cheat Omar Mohammed. They allegedly conspired with others to execute their mission and delivered the soil to Mohammed's store in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on January 29. They used a lorry that is still being sought by the police after Mohammed discovered the 300 sugar bags contained soil. The two denied the charges before Makadara chief magistrate Angelo Kithinji. Omeka claimed he is a mobile phone technician and was arrested because Noor is his neighbor and he was repairing his phone before they were found together. Kithinji freed them on a Sh400,000 bond with an alternative cash bail of Sh300,000. Hearing of the case will start on June 29. The F-15EX fighter just completed its maiden flight. The Boeing-made jet took off from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in Missouri just before 2:00 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, company spokesman Todd Blecher said in an email. The aircraft, flown by Boeing test pilot Matt "Phat" Giese, was airborne for approximately 90 minutes before it returned to the airport, the company said in a release. During the flight, Giese tested the avionics, systems and software while a team monitored the data in real time to grade the jet's performance, the release said. Read Next: Top Marine General: We Need to Get Comfortable with 'Throwaway' Equipment The "successful flight proves the jet's safety and readiness to join our nation's fighter fleet," said Prat Kumar, Boeing vice president and F-15 program manager. "Our workforce is excited to build a modern fighter aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. Our customer can feel confident in its decision to invest in this platform that is capable of incorporating the latest advanced battle management systems, sensors and weapons due to the jet's digital airframe design and open mission systems architecture." The Air Force is expected to take delivery of the first two jets at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, by the end of March. The remaining six aircraft should be delivered in fiscal 2023, according to the service. The F-15EX will be the service's first fourth-generation fighter program in more than 20 years. In July, the service awarded Boeing an estimated $1.2 billion contract to acquire the multirole F-15EX fighter -- considered a "fourth-plus-generation" jet. The contract covers the eight jets, including initial design, development, test and certification, plus spare parts and support equipment, training and technical data, and delivery and sustainment costs. According to Boeing, the F-15EX will be able to "launch hypersonic weapons up to 22 feet long and weighing up to 7,000 pounds." The company has said the fighter will be equipped with improved avionics and radars and could carry more than two dozen air-to-air missiles. By comparison, F-15s can carry four AIM-9 Sidewinder and four AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or eight AMRAAMs. Equipped with "the world's fastest mission computer," the F-15EX will also feature the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, or EPAWSS, which will heighten its threat assessment and survivability with advanced electronic warfare technology, the company said in the release. The first eight F-15EX aircraft will be based at Eglin because of the testing wing at the base. The service has said the aircraft's most significant upgrade will be its open mission systems architecture, allowing its software to be upgraded and installed more easily compared to its aging F-15C/D cousin, which the service has been on a quest to replace. Officials voiced concerns in 2017 about the older Eagle model's longevity. "We are already having serious problems with that airframe, with metal fatigue within the longerons on the side of the aircraft," then-Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said during a May 2019 forum. The Air Force expects to keep a well-rounded mix of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft through the 2030s, including the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, A-10 Thunderbolt II and F-15 Eagle/Strike Eagle, officials have said. It intends to build an inventory of at least 144 EX aircraft over the next decade, but the contract with Boeing gives the Air Force the option to purchase up to 200. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Air Force Awards Boeing $1.2 Billion for 8 F-15EX Fighters CHARLOTTE (dpa-AFX) - Bank of America said Wednesday that it will triple its affordable homeownership initiative to $15 billion through 2025, aiming to help more than 60,000 individuals and families to purchase homes. It was first launched by the company in 2019 as a $5 billion initiative. The company said it has already helped about 21,000 individuals and families purchase a home through affordable loans and over $180 million in down payment and closing cost grants. Bank of America said that, when grant programs are used, homebuyers receive on average of about $14,000 to help with their home purchases. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX BANK OF AMERICA-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de A panel of Ministers, comprising Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, will take the final call on the number of public sector companies that will be retained in each of the strategic sectors, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. The government in the Budget unveiled the Disinvestment/Strategic Disinvestment Policy and identified four sectors -- Atomic energy, Space and Defence; Transport and Telecommunications; Power, Petroleum, Coal and other minerals; and Banking, Insurance and financial services -- as strategic sectors, where bare minimum CPSEs would be retained. The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in other sectors would be privatised. NITI Aayog would be working on the preliminary list of CPSEs, which could be taken up for strategic disinvestment. The Secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), which manages government equity in public sector companies, said that the strategic disinvestment policy is an important directional shift and gives a broad idea to the private sector about which companies could be up for sale. "The idea is bare minimum will be retained. There the GoM has been constituted, which is an Alternative Mechanism (comprising) Finance Minister, Road Transport Minister and Minister from the Administrative Ministry. The Alternative Mechanism will decide which is the bare minimum that would be retained in any particular sector. "The strategic sectors have been classified in four broad baskets -- national security, critical infrastructure, energy and minerals and financial services," Pandey told in an interview. He said bare minimum to be retained means rest can be privatised, or can be closed, or merged, or made subsidiary of another CPSEs. "So, there is a very big restructuring of the public sector that is taking place. This is a policy which will operate over a period of next few years. That opens up the work of the government and indicates to the private sector what the government has in mind. We need private sector interest to revive in order to do capital formation," Pandey added. The government has budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including two PSU banks and one general insurance company, in the next fiscal year beginning April 1. For the current fiscal, the revised target has been set at Rs 32,000 crore, lower than Rs 2.10 lakh crore set in the previous Budget. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the government's CPSE stake sale programme in the ongoing fiscal. The government is targeting to conclude strategic sale of BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd, in the next fiscal. Besides, Initial Public Offering of LIC too would be launched and a strategic sale process of two PSU banks and one general insurance company would be initiated. The Budget has said that a revised mechanism would be brought in to ensure timely completion of closure of sick or loss making CPSEs. "Closure is taking a lot of time, DPE (Department of Public Enterprises) is working on how closure can be done quickly," Pandey said. The Union Cabinet last month approved closure of loss-making state owned Scooters India. In 2018, the government had invited expression of interest (EoI) to sell its entire stake with transfer of management control in loss-making Scooters India. The Centre made several efforts in the past to find buyers for Scooters India and nurse the ailing firm back to health, but they have not yielded results. Also Read: 32 states, UTs implement 'One Nation One Ration Card', says Centre Credit: CC0 Public Domain Despite repeated charges of anti-conservative bias from former President Trump and other GOP critics, Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube are not slanted against right-leaning users, a new report out of New York University found. Like previous research, "False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor Conservatives," concludes that, rather than censoring conservatives, social media platforms amplify their voices. "Republicans, or more broadly conservatives, have been spreading a form of disinformation on how they're treated on social media. They complain they're censored and suppressed but, not only is there not evidence to support that, what evidence exists actually cuts in the other direction," said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, which released the report Monday. The report lands as a unifying argument is taking shape that major forces in American societybig media, big government, big businessare muzzling conservatives. That argument intensified after the major social media platforms suspended Trump out of fear he would incite violence following the U.S. Capitol attack. "There is a broad campaign going on from the right to argue that they're being silenced or cast aside, and that spirit is what is helping to feed the extremism that we are seeing in our country right now," Barrett said. "We can't just allow that to be a debating point. It's not legitimate. It's not supported by the facts." Many groups across the political spectrum feel their opinions and perspectives are under siege when social media platforms moderate content, researchers say, but it's difficult to make the case that these platforms are biased against any one group since the platforms disclose so little about how they decide what content is allowed and what is not. For their part, Facebook and Twitter say their platforms strike a balance between promoting free expression and removing hate, abuse and misinformation. They acknowledge making enforcement errors but insist their policies are applied fairly to everyone. Conservative author Denise McAllister does not see it that way. And she's called on the social media platforms to stop moderating speech altogether. "This is a platform, right? You don't need to act like mama Twitter or mama Facebook. Just let people say what they are going to say, whether it's true, false, whatever," she recently told U.S. TODAY. "You have to just trust the people as individuals and not to try to impose power because you are going to do it inconsistently." CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last week that Facebook would no longer recommend political and civic groups to users and would downplay politics in people's News Feeds. Vast majority of conservatives say social media censors them A recent poll shows that majorities in both parties think political censorship is likely occurring on social media, but that belief is most prevalent on the political right. Nine in 10 Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party say it's at least somewhat likely that social media platforms censor political viewpoints they find objectionable, up slightly from 85% in 2018, according to an August report from the Pew Research Center. The perception that social media platforms censor conservatives is regularly circulated by Fox News hosts, GOP lawmakers in congressional hearings and online pundits. That, in turn, has intensified GOP calls to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields social media companies from legal liability for what their users post and gives platforms immunity when moderating "objectionable" content. Democrats, including Biden, criticize pandemic, election misinformation Bipartisan support to restrain the vast power held by a handful of large corporations grew during the Trump administration and shows no signs of ebbing as Democrats retake the White House. Social media platforms have been judged harshly by both parties for how they policed content over the past year, from the COVID-19 pandemic to election-related misinformation and disinformation. Democrats, including Biden, say the social media platforms don't restrict or remove enough harmful content, particularly hate speech, extremism, hoaxes and falsehoods. They have called on companies to play a bigger and more responsible role in curating public debate. Those on the right say these platforms have too much latitude to restrict and remove content and target conservatives based on their political beliefs. Those grievances boiled over when Facebook, Twitter and YouTube suspended Trump's accounts, citing the risk that he would use his social media megaphone to incite more violence before the end of his term. After being permanently suspended from Twitter, Trump accused the company of "banning free speech" in cahoots with "the Democrats and Radical Left." (c)2021 U.S. Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Ryanair have defended their recent advertisement promoting bookings for Easter and summer holidays, claiming it is both factual and accurate as vaccines are currently being rolled out. The advert, which aired in the UK and Ireland, encouraged consumers to book foreign travel with the airline after having received vaccinations, using the tagline jab and go. The advertising campaign shows young people engaging in activities such as diving into a pool and being served at a restaurant with no masks being worn or social distancing being observed. Read More Complaints were made by people who felt the advert was misleading as it suggested most people would be vaccinated by spring or summer and therefore be able to travel abroad and that being vaccinated meant no longer having to follow health restrictions. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK agreed to remove the advert after receiving 2,370 complaints since it first aired on St Stephens Day, making it the third most complained about of all time. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) said it received 106 complaints, 92 of which related to Irish media outlets who aired the controversial advert. The airline hit back at the ASAs decision to pull the advert from UK and Irish channels, describing it as a baseless ruling. A Ryanair spokesperson said: The ASAs ruling flies in the face of the UKs successful vaccine rollout, however even though this ruling is baseless, Ryanair will comply with it and the Jab & Go adverts will not run again. In a statement issued today, Ryanair claimed that all advertising by other airlines, tour operators, and travel agents for travel or holidays this Easter and summer should also be banned. Not only are vaccines coming but the UK Government have confirmed that all high risk groups (over 70s) and frontline healthcare workers will be vaccinated by mid-February, which gives UK customers more confidence to book for Easter and Summer, and if their travel plans change then no change fee applies, the statement said. The ad ban comes just days after Dr Tony Holohan ruled out the possibility of foreign travel for Irish people this summer. Speaking at a briefing on Monday, Dr Holohan said: I dont think we are heading for a summer where millions of people from this part of the world can be heading to beaches that are other than in their own localities. Dr Holohan added that while he appreciated everyone wanted a traditional summer break away, he doesnt believe it is realistic this year. Read More Washington: A coronavirus mutation that appears to limit the protection of vaccines against infection has appeared in the United Kingdom, which is already struggling with a highly transmissible and apparently more lethal virus variant. The worrisome mutation, at a site on the virus RNA called E484K, has drawn scrutiny from infectious-disease experts, who have given it the nickname Eeek. In addition to its appearance in the UK variant, it has been seen in variants that spread rapidly in South Africa and Brazil. It has also been identified in recent days in a handful of cases in the United States. An electron-microscope image of the COVID-19 virus. Credit:CSIRO The mutation alters the structure of the virus spike protein - the target for vaccines and many naturally produced antibodies. The mutation may help the virus to elude detection and make neutralisation by the human immune system less efficient. In effect, it makes the virus stealthier, a great concern to vaccine developers, who seek to train antibodies to zero in on recognisable invaders and destroy them. What readers should do Readers: We reached out to Fraudwatch columnist Elliott Greenblott, who has written extensively on identity theft, on what Vermonters should do if they suspect their personal information may be compromised by the 1099 breach. Recipients of 1099s from the State of Vermont should check the form received to be certain the details are correct. The full name and Social Security number is easy to verify. To the extent possible, determine if the amount displayed is correct. The Vermont Department of Labor is resending all 1099s this week. If you receive a letter from the State of Vermont where the name and address on the envelope do not match, dont open it. If you discover a problem after opening the letter, keep it and await further instructions from the department. Generally, this sort of problem unintended release of personally identifiable Information happens frequently. The organization responsible for the breach is obligated to report it and in many cases will provide remediation in the form of credit monitoring. This situation can result in identity theft so it calls for diligent monitoring of credit cards and financial statements. It is also a good practice to establish credit freezes with the major bureaus if you have not done so already. After two and a half months of no in-person dining, a few Midland restaurants are tentatively opening their doors once again this week. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services epidemic order which prohibited in-person dining to curb the spread of COVID-19 ended Sunday night. On Monday, restaurants were allowed to reopen dining areas with some restrictions. Cherie Murray, manager at the Boulevard Lounge, said Monday was a good day and operations are continuing to run smoothly. Kitchen and front managers make sure employees and diners are following proper protocols and diners patiently wait in their cars until their tables are ready. The Boulevards take-out business has been mostly steady, though stronger on the weekends, with customers traveling from around the region to support the restaurant. It feels wonderful. Were very appreciative of our customers who keep coming back, Murray said. We couldnt be more pleased by the support from our customers. In its Jan. 22 epidemic order, MDHHS requires that restaurant staff must wear masks and diners must also wear masks except if they are eating or drinking. Names and contact information must be collected to help with contact tracing. Restaurants can operate at 25% capacity with tables spaced six feet apart and need to seat six people or less. Some eateries, including the Boulevard, have additionally requested that diners limit their stay to 60-90 minutes in consideration of other customers waiting. Having so many tables, we want to turn them so everyone has a chance to dine in, Murray stated, adding that they have 10 tables available at a time. Pizza Sams opened on Monday with 25 seats available to diners, and every other booth blocked off. Gus Wojda, owner and general manager, said the staff has been doing its best to maintain social distancing and wearing masks, and diners have been very compliant with the regulations. He said going out and eating in restaurants is good for peoples mental health, especially those who are struggling with not seeing friends and family, and he hopes business can get back to normal soon. Everyone in the restaurant and bar industry is doing everything they can to make things safe for customers and staff alike, Wojda said. Although Wojda was happy to reopen, he reported that in-person business was a little slower than he liked, since many have not returned to the downtown area to work and wont be coming in for lunch. While Pizza Sams is built for take-out and delivery, Wojda is concerned about other local eateries, and he encourages Midlanders to shop and eat local. Theres a lot of people struggling to keep their businesses and livelihoods going, Wojda said. Some not reopening dining rooms until strict restrictions lifted Restaurant shutdowns and dining restrictions have certainly been difficult for many area restaurants. Some, including Basil Thai Bistro, are keeping their dining areas closed and conducting business through take-out orders. Ken Scarmeas, manager of Basil Thai Bistro, explained the restaurant has been closed for in-person dining since last March. With only 70 seats, Scarmeas feels 25% capacity isnt enough to open their dining area. He is open to the possibility of opening when MDHHS allows eateries to open to a 50% capacity. We have a good takeout business. It hasnt been too bad, Scarmeas said. Other restaurants, however, have closed permanently due to the strain on business, including Oscars Bar & Grill in downtown Midland. The hospitality industry and its sizable workforce has suffered far worse than its peers from this pandemic, losing nearly 3,000 restaurants and employing 200,000 fewer workers than a year prior," stated Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association in a news release. "It also stands to gain the most from a proficient and expedited vaccination schedule, which is why we contend that there is no more important step the governor can take to get Michigans economy back on track than restoring public confidence in Michiganders ability to safely dine and travel. If everybody would follow the guidelines and what the governor says, we (could) reopen even to 50% or full capacity, added Murray. Law Offices of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Associated Students Incorporated of Cal Poly SLO, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. The Los Angeles employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against Associated Students Incorporated of California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, alleging the company violated California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Associated Students Incorporated of Cal Poly SLO, is currently pending in the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, Case No. 20CV-0672. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here. According to the lawsuit filed, Associated Students Incorporated of Cal Poly SLO allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages, as well as allegedly failed to provide legally required meal and rest breaks. As a result of rigorous work schedules, PLAINTIFF was allegedly from time to time interrupted by work assignments while clocked out during what was suppose to be off-duty meal periods. DEFENDANT obtained consumer reports allegedly without proper authorization because the authorization and disclosure form signed by PLAINTIFF allegedly failed to comply with the requirements of the FCRA, ICRAA, and CCRAA. PLAINTIFF was allegedly unaware the authorization being signed included a credit check, as the authorization language was unclear. The inclusion of the extraneous information in the background check disclosure and authorization form allegedly violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Investigating Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, and the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act. For more information about the class action lawsuit against Associated Students Incorporated of Cal Poly SLO, call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today. Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct. ***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT*** A woman who killed her abusive husband who beat, raped and tortured her for years is facing life in prison after prosecutors said the crime was not self-defence. Melek Ipek, 31, shot her husband dead on the night of January 7 when she managed to reach his rifle, threaten him with it and shoot as he approached. But Turkish prosecutors said the incident, which took place in the couple's home in the district of Dosemealti of the southern Turkish city of Antalya, was not self-defence. Melek was repeatedly tortured by her husband during the course of their 12-year marriage and was threatened with death if she dared report him to the police, so she never did. Melek Ipek, 31, shot dead her husband after enduring 12 years of being tortured, raped and beaten by him in their home in the southern Turkish city of Antalya Melek faces life in prison after Turkish prosecutors refused to believe she shot dead her abusive husband Ramazan Ipek (left), 36, in self-defence The incident happened after Ramazan beat and raped his wife while threatening to kill her and their two children, 9 and 7, local media reported. During her testimony, Melek said her abusive husband told her: 'A protection order will not save you, I will testify against you and even if they lock me up, I will kill you and the children when I am released. When I have killed you, I will mince your bodies and feed you to the dogs so that no one even knows you are dead.' On the night of the incident, Ramazan reportedly beat her so badly that she said she was truly afraid for her and her children's life. He then handcuffed her in a fetal position, raped her, and cut her several times with a machete, before heading out and threatening once again to kill her when he came back, according to local media. Melek was charged with the deliberate murder of her husband by the Antalya 3rd High Criminal Court in early January Once she was left alone, Melek managed to get hold of his rifle and pointed it at her husband when he appeared at the door. Refusing to listen to Melek, who told him to stay back, he moved towards her which is when she fired the rifle. After the incident, Melek was placed in custody as the investigation unfolded. She said: 'I did not want him to die, despite everything, but I had no choice. If he didn't die then my two daughters and I would have been killed.' The incident took place in the couple's home in the district of Dosemealti of the southern Turkish city of Antalya on January 7 Melek was charged with the deliberate murder of her husband by the Antalya 3rd High Criminal Court in early January. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life imprisonment, according to an indictment bearing the signature of Public Prosecutor Haki Celiker. The prosecutor stated that the incident was not self-defence. Meanwhile, a petition calling for Melek to be released and allowed to continue caring for her children, appeared on Change.org. Currently, 42,000 have signed the petition, which is only 8,000 short of the 50,000 signatures goal. They became Instagram official earlier this year. And Brian Austin Green brought his new lady love, Sharna Burgess, to the opening of his ex-girlfriend's vegan restaurant opening in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The 47-year-old actor was spotted hugging Tina Louise as she welcomed the couple to the second location of her female-owned eatery, Sugar Taco. Good times: Brian Austin Green brought his new lady love, Sharna Burgess, to the opening of his ex-girlfriend's vegan restaurant opening in Los Angeles on Tuesday night Brian kept things casual in a light grey pair of distressed skinny jeans and a matching denim jacket. He sported a black T-shirt and tied his whole look together with a pair of classic black-and-white checkerboard Vans. Sharna matched her beau in a gorgeous black-and-white plaid coat worn on top of a black mini dress. Friends: The 47-year-old actor was spotted hugging Tina Louise as she welcomed the couple to the second location of her female-owned eatery, Sugar Taco Boss: Tina looked stellar in a tight white tank top and pleather slacks, paired with sky high green velour booties She added inches to her petite frame with a pair of knee-high black boots and carried a small leather purse. Tina looked stellar in a tight white tank top and pleather slacks, paired with sky high green velour booties. Once inside the festive eatery located in the Sherman Oaks area of the San Fernando Valley, the couple toasted to Tina's new venture with margaritas. So nice: Once inside the festive eatery located in the Sherman Oaks area of the San Fernando Valley, the couple toasted to Tina's new venture with margaritas Happiness: Tina shares part ownership of Sugar Taco with Daniella Monet, Jayde Nicole and Emily Sears Brian and Sharna went public with their relationship on Instagram just three weeks ago with a loved up post from Cabo San Lucas. Green was linked to Tina briefly last year after splitting from estranged wife, Megan Fox, who filed for divorce in November following 10 years of marriage. The former couple share three children together and she has since moved on with Machine Gun Kelly. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company RESIDENTS of a housing estate in Tullamore have written to local public representatives demanding action on anti-social behaviour and related issues. In the submission sent to councillors and TDs, residents of Church Hill say there are significant anti-social behaviour problems within the estate. There is excessive noise especially during night time hours where residents are unable to sleep due to the activities ongoing in certain sections of the estate, including loud music and general noise making, outlines the statement. It also alleges that there has been damage to cars and windows of houses in the estate. The residents also highlight litter issues throughout the estate especially general rubbish and open fires. Addressing problems relating to Covid-19 restrictions, the residents claim there is extensive movement of people who are not residents into the estate which is creating a higher risk of the virus spreading. They also maintain that there has been a huge increase in the number of caravans which are occupied. The residents call on public representatives to raise the issues they have highlighted with council officials, the council's environment section, the Gardai and litter warden. This matter has been ongoing for a long time and is starting to become a permanent situation to the long term detriment of Tullamore and the residents of the estate, outlines the submission. It concludes; It would be worthwhile to see if the local councillors of all parties could take a stand on this issue. Meanwhile, a resident of the Chancery Lane area has also contacted the Tribune concerning the large volumes of rubbish which are being dumped on the green area there. It is understood that the matter is being investigated by the litter warden and that council officials visited the area and Church Hill in the past few days. Referring to the Chancery dumping, Cllr Declan Harvey appealed to the environment section of Offaly County Council to take action. NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With misinformation continuing to undermine public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines, WebMD today announced that it has launched the WebMD Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Center to help combat inaccuracies with facts. The Center will provide reliable vaccine resources and online tools to help consumers make informed decisions, driven by science. The Center features articles and videos on topics including vaccine myths and how they take root , public health challenges , and the role of social media in misinformation. Medscape, a division of WebMD Health Corp. and the leading source of medical news and information for healthcare professionals globally, will feature content and resources at its Covid-19 Resource Center , including vaccine overviews, late stage vaccine development updates, and news on vaccine research. "While reports show increasing receptivity to getting a Covid vaccine, about 1 in 5 Americans still say they are not planning to get one, or would only if required ," said John Whyte, MD, WebMD's Chief Medical Officer. "The issue of vaccine hesitancy is also of particular concern in communities of color , which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus." Joining Forces with HealthGuard WebMD and Medscape have also joined with corporate, nonprofit and media leaders in a global public service campaign, VaxFacts , to identify and counter misleading vaccine information. Led by HealthGuard , the campaign features a browser extension that flags health hoaxes, provides credibility ratings for hundreds of websites, and guides users to sources that offer trusted information. The tool is a new service from NewsGuard, developed by two veteran journalists in 2018 to combat misinformation in the news. So far, HealthGuard has flagged nearly 400 websites for publishing misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccines. In an interview on Dr. Whyte's video series, Coronavirus in Context, Steven Brill, the co-CEO of HealthGuard said, "When you take all those issues of unreliability and trustworthiness.and combine that with the subject of healthcare, all those dangers (of misinformation) multiply." Click here for Dr. Whyte's interview with Brill: https://www.webmd.com/coronavirus-in-context/video/steven-brill About WebMD Health Corp. WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, Jobson Healthcare Information, prIME Oncology, MediQuality, Frontline, Vitals Consumer Services, Aptus Health, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD, Medscape, CME Circle, Medpulse, eMedicine, MedicineNet, theheart.org , and RxList are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries. About Internet Brands Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal, and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites are a leader in their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com . SOURCE WebMD Health Corp. Related Links http://www.webmd.com Gov. Tom Wolfs $37.8 billion budget is big, bold and unlikely to pass as envisioned by the Democratic governor. Wolfs spending plan calls for a dramatic increase in the income tax for some individuals, the prospect of tax cuts for others and a huge influx of money for schools. His plan includes familiar proposals to raise the minimum wage and impose a tax on natural gas drilling. Republican lawmakers, who control both sides of the General Assembly, have shown no appetite for raising the income tax or adding a natural gas tax. Wolf argues its necessary to help the state bounce back from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic lawmakers contend the governors plan offers sorely needed relief to taxpayers with modest income and critical investments in schools. PennLives reporters have combed through the governors spending plan to show what it would mean for the commonwealth and why some have serious reservations. Heres a roundup of PennLives coverage with links to our stories for more details and perspective. Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf, shown in this November 2020 photo, has proposed a $37.8-billion spending plan with changes in the state income tax, more money for schools and a tax on natural gas drilling. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com The income tax: Likely the proposal that has gained the most attention, Wolf wants to raise the income tax from 3.07% to 4.49%. Only the top one-third of earners would pay more, Wolf argues. He proposes expanding the tax forgiveness program so that 40% of all residents would pay less, while about a quarter would see no increase. This analysis explains how it would work, why supporters say it would help those in need and why critics say its a bad plan at the worst possible time. Public schools: Wolf aims to use the added revenue from the income tax to provide an increase of more than $1.3 billion for basic education programs and an additional $200 million for special education. Some school officials also support the Wolfs administrations plan to direct more money to school districts in need. Colleges: Higher education institutions have faced serious financial challenges due to the pandemic. The governors plan doesnt cut funding but it also doesnt include the increase some colleges were seeking. Minimum wage and natural gas tax: The governor aims to raise the states minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 per hour this year. Eventually, he aims to see the minimum wage rise to $15 per hour by 2027. The governor also aims to impose the tax on natural gas drilling, an idea he has pitched for years unsuccessfully. This time, Wolf is calling for the natural gas tax to finance economic recovery programs. Taxes: In addition to the governors proposed income tax hike, Wolf is seeking to reduce the states corporate tax rate. Wolf says his plan will close a loophole that allows multi-state corporations to evade paying that tax by incorporating a holding company in another state. State police: Once again, Wolf is proposing a fee for communities to finance the state police. Wolf in the past has targeted towns that rely on state police and dont have their own local departments. Wolf is now asking every community to pay a fee. The governors address: Wolf made his pitch for his spending plan to lawmakers in a novel manner. For more than a century, governors typically deliver their budget proposals before lawmakers in the Capitol. Citing the coronavirus pandemic, Wolf delivered his address via video from the Governors residence. You can watch that video here and get a rundown of highlights of the spending plan. Environment: In addition to the proposed natural gas tax, Wolf aims to use proceeds from the states participation in a greenhouse gas emissions credit program to help displaced power plant workers. There is more money for a few programs, notably safe water, but the budget doesnt address staffing shortfalls. State workforce: The governor is proposing a slight bump in the size of the state workforce. The Wolf administration laid off about 2,500 last year due to financial stresses. The General Assembly: Wolf is not proposing any increase - or reduction - to support the states legislative operations. Pennsylvania has the second largest state legislature in America. Libraries: The states libraries dont see an increase in the governors plan, but they avoid a cut. Museums: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission would see a reduction in dollars, albeit a modest cut. Staff writers Jan Murphy, Charles Thompson, Wallace McKelvey, Ivey DeJesus and David Wenner contributed. U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered a review of asylum processing and the legal immigration system, part of a major effort to reverse many of the restrictive policies put in place by former President Donald Trump. Here's what Biden has done so far to roll back Trump's policies since taking office on Jan. 20: ASYLUM AND REGIONAL MIGRATION Biden on Tuesday issued three executive orders dealing with asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, legal immigration and reunifying families. The asylum-focused order mandated a review of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a controversial program that pushed 65,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico to wait for U.S. court hearings. The Biden administration has stopped adding people to the program but it has not yet outlined how it will process the claims of those already enrolled. LEGAL IMMIGRATION Biden's executive order on legal immigration called for a review of a Trump-era rule that made it harder for poorer immigrants to obtain permanent residency in the United States. The review of the so-called public charge rule is expected to start the process to rescind it, according to two people familiar with the plan. FAMILY REUNIFICATION Biden on Tuesday created a task force to reunite migrant families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by Trumps 2018 zero tolerance border strategy. The task force, which will by led by U.S. Department of Homeland (DHS) Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, will consider the possibility of issuing visas or using other forms of immigration relief to reunite separated families. IMMIGRATION REFORM AND 'DREAMERS' Biden sent an immigration reform bill to key lawmakers on his first day in office that would provide an eight-year pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million people living in the country unlawfully. The proposal would also offer permanent protection for young migrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as "Dreamers." Started by former President Barack Obama, the program provides deportation protection and other benefits to approximately 645,000 people. Biden faces long odds to win over enough Republicans in a closely divided Congress to pass the bill, congressional aides, experts and advocates told Reuters. TRAVEL AND VISA BANS On his first day in office, Biden rescinded Trump's controversial travel ban blocking travelers from 13 mostly Muslim-majority and African countries. Trump issued the ban shortly after taking office in 2017, sparking protests and legal challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a revised version of the ban in 2018. During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump also issued proclamations blocking the entry of many temporary foreign workers and applicants for green cards. While Biden has criticized the restrictions, he has not yet moved to reverse them. INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT Biden on his first day in office repealed a 2017 Trump executive order that intensified U.S. immigration enforcement within the country. Following Biden's rescission, the then-acting DHS secretary issued a memo that outlined new priorities for enforcement. The memo called for immigration officers to prioritize national security threats, people who arrived in the United States on or after Nov. 1, 2020, and people with certain criminal convictions who are determined to be a public safety threat. The DHS memo also ordered a 100-day pause on many deportations so that DHS could focus its resources on border management amid the coronavirus pandemic. The state of Texas challenged the deportation moratorium in court days later and a federal judge temporarily blocked it on Jan. 26. BORDER WALL After taking office, Biden immediately paused construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, with some exceptions, and ended an emergency declaration that helped authorize funding for it. Biden also directed a review of the legality of funding and contracting methods used for wall construction and supported plans to redirect funding. 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. Harry Dunns alleged killer was employed by an intelligence agency in the US at the time of the crash that killed him, which was especially a factor in her departure from the UK, a court has heard. Alexandria district court in Virginia was told Anne Sacoolas and her husband Jonathan Sacoolas worked for the US State Department and fled the country due to issues of security. The revelations came out during Sacoolass application to dismiss a civil claim for damages against her made by the Dunn family on Wednesday. The suspects barrister, John McGavin, told the court he could not completely candidly explain why the Sacoolas family left the UK, adding: I know the answer, but I cannot disclose it. Family spokesman Radd Seiger told the PA news agency that UK authorities must urgently investigate whether she had diplomatic immunity at the time of the incident. Mr Dunn, 19, was killed when a car crashed into his motorbike outside US military base RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in August 2019. Sacoolas, 43, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the US government and was able to return home around three weeks later. She was charged with causing the teenagers death by dangerous driving, but a Home Office extradition request was rejected by the US State Department in January last year. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Both the Donald Trump administration and new President Joe Bidens officials have described that decision as final. On Wednesday, the court heard that one of the reasons Sacoolas had not returned to the UK was a fear that because of the media attention, she would not have a fair trial. Mr McGavin said she was currently apologetic and has accepted responsibility for the accident. The Dunn familys barrister in the US, Agniezska Fryzsman, told the court the British Government had written to the court to endorse their claim. The claim from Sacoolass own barrister about her employment at the time of the crash has raised the question of the diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf. Harry Dunns parents have brought a civil claim for damages against Sacoolas (Aaron Chown/PA) Under agreements at RAF Croughton dating back to 1995, anyone working at the base from the US as part of administrative and technical staff would have immunity pre-waived, meaning they would not be immune from criminal jurisdiction. In a short statement issued after the hearing, Mr Seiger told PA: Given the admission in open court by Mrs Sacoolass counsel that she was employed by US intelligence services at the time of the crash, the UK authorities must now urgently reinvestigate whether she had diplomatic immunity. They have to investigate given that employees had their immunity pre-waived under the 1995 RAF Croughton legal agreement. The case was adjourned until a further hearing at the same court on February 17. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: The UK High Court has found that Anne Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity while in the country under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. After five years of diplomatic discussions and joint efforts with US authorities including the Department of Homeland Security, Egypt has succeeded in recovering a collection of 5,000 artefacts from the Museum of the Bible in Washington. The objects had been held at the museum since its opening. Egypt has been seeking to repatriate the objects, which were smuggled out of the country from illegal excavations. The artefacts include painted funerary masks, fragments of wooden coffins, a set of portraits of the dead, the heads of stone statues, Coptic manuscripts of prayers written in both Arabic and Coptic and Arabic alone, and fragments of papyrus with texts in Coptic and Greek as well as in ancient Egyptian hieratic and demotic scripts. Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, supervisor of the Repatriation Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, said the objects had not been taken from archaeological storehouses or museums but had been smuggled out of the country after being illegally excavated. The objects are now at the Coptic Museum in Cairo for restoration and will be part of a forthcoming exhibition. They will also be examined by the committee responsible for exhibition displays to select some of them for display in other museums. Abdel-Gawad said that over the past two years Egypt has successfully repatriated 5,694 artefacts and 21,660 coins from Italy, the Czech Republic, the US, Sharjah, Kuwait, France, Cyprus, Britain, and Germany. Among these was a collection of 425 artefacts from the United Arab Emirates dating to various eras of ancient Egypt. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, had decided to return the artefacts in a gesture of appreciation to Egypt. The collection includes objects from the Pre-Dynastic era as early as 4,000 BCE, from the old, middle and new kingdoms, and from the Ptolemaic, Graeco-Roman and Coptic eras, along with rare stone, ceramic, and bronze figurines of ancient Egyptian deities like Isis and Amon-Ra, coloured wooden sarcophagi, human and animal mummies, and accessories made of alabaster. Egypt also received an ancient Egyptian relief from London that had been stolen and illegally smuggled out of Egypt. Abdel-Gawad said that the department had succeeded in locating the artefact by following up on the websites of international auctioneers. The relief was originally displayed in the open museum of the Karnak Temples in Luxor and carries the cartouche of king Amonhotep I. *A version of this article appears in print in the 4 February , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Federal Labor remains opposed to a proposed overhaul of Australias clean energy fund rules aimed at fuelling investment in gas power plants and grid infrastructure despite a shake-up in its approach to climate policy. The Morrison governments proposed changes will establish the $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund, making it responsible for an underwriting scheme to encourage private companies to build new power supply. New Labor climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen says the party will not support changes to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Labor and the Greens have been highly critical that gas projects will be included in the fund, overseen by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, when a project supports the achievement of low emission energy systems. New climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would only support the changes if it is successful in amending the legislation, including rejecting the proposed definition of gas as a low-emissions energy source. After a bumpy start in the coronavirus response, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, secured a major win in June, placing the bureaucracy she leads at the heart of the European Unions pandemic response. She was entrusted with cutting deals with pharmaceutical companies to provide vaccines for the 450 million people in the bloc. When the rollout finally started just after Christmas, a sense of relief took hold in Brussels: The work of the commission, the European Unions executive branch, was largely done; now individual member states were in charge of putting vaccines in the arms of citizens. But barely a month into the rollout, which was shaping up to be significantly behind Britain and the United States, Pfizer and then AstraZeneca informed the commission that they would not deliver doses as promised, mainly because of production problems. While the issue with Pfizer appeared limited and manageable, the situation with AstraZeneca escalated into an all-out vaccine war between the European Union and Britain. The company had been smoothly delivering vaccines to Britain, just as it informed the bloc that it would slash 75 percent off its promised first-quarter delivery volumes. The Jersey City Public Schools can use district funds to pay for two teachers performing union work full-time, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. In an opinion delivered by Justice Anne Patterson, the high court reinstated the trial courts initial ruling allowing the practice known as release time. An appellate court had reversed that decision, setting up a state Supreme Court showdown that had implications across New Jersey. The Conservative watchdog group, the Goldwater Institute, filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Jersey City taxpayers against the school board, the school district and the Jersey City Education Association (the teachers union) in 2017. The group, based in Arizona, argued in its lawsuit that the district violated the state constitutions gift clause by allowing JCEA President Ron Greco and Vice President Tina Thorp to stay on the district payroll while solely working on union business. The JCEA represents more than 3,000 teachers in one of the largest school districts in the state. The state constitutions gift clause prevents local governments from giving any money or property, or loan its money or credit, to or in aid of any individual, association or corporation. Together, Greco and Thorp earned more than $200,000 annually. Thorp died last June. The ruling said the state Legislature empowered the boards of education to govern teachers compensation and release time is a tool used to accomplish the goal. We concur with the trial court that the Board did not violate the gift clause of the New Jersey Constitution when it agreed to the release time provisions in the (collective negotiation agreement), the opinion reads. We conclude that the release time provisions serve a public purpose and are so consonant with the accomplishment of that public purpose that they do not offend the gift clause. Goldwater Institute Director of National Litigation Jon Riches said he is disappointed to see the courts decision in this case. He said release time raises serious constitutional concern across many states. Public resources should be put to public use, not to advance the private interests of labor organizations, Riches said. And we stand ready to work with policymakers in New Jersey and elsewhere to eliminate this taxpayer abuse and require that government employees perform the jobs they were hired to perform, rather than work to advance special interests at taxpayer expense. Norma Fernandez, the districts deputy superintendent, said Thorp, an elementary school teacher, and Greco, a crisis interventional teacher, were splitting their days between the classroom and union business while the issue was in the courts. As we continue to review the judgment, the Jersey City Board of Education will sit with the Jersey City Education Association to ensure that we are in compliance with the guidance issued by the New Jersey Supreme Court, BOE President Mussab Ali said. If the court had affirmed the appellate court decision, it would have created a ripple effect at school districts around the state that also have union representatives whose salaries are paid by the taxpayers. The JCEA is an affiliate of the New Jersey Education Association. NJEA President Marie Blistan, Vice President Sean M. Spiller and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty in a statement commended the state Supreme Court for its decision. They said since the beginning the case had no merit. NJEA officials said the frivolous lawsuit was filed by well-funded, out-of-state special interests pursuing a radical anti-union agenda that is out of line with the values we hold dear in New Jersey. It is well established that employees and employers have the right to collectively bargain the terms and conditions of employment, the NJEA said. The contract provisions at issue in this matter were part of the legal collective bargaining agreement. New Jerseys public schools are rated the best in the nation. Perhaps these out-of-state groups should spend their time learning from our success instead of trying to undermine it. She is back to work after Filming for Brassic's third season came to a halt again late last year due to a COVID-19 outbreak. And Michelle Keegan was giving it her all as she shot scenes for the show in Manchester on Tuesday, once production was given to green light to resume. The actress, 33, who plays Erin Croft on the Sky One series, donned a sexy leopard print money with a padded coat as she was dragged from a car in what looked to be a drunken fight scene featuring a scuffle near a car. Wow! Michelle Keegan was giving it her all as she shot scenes for the show in Manchester on Tuesday, once production was given to green light to resume Michelle looked amazing in the ensemble, yet it was not her looks that stole the show and was instead her epic acting skills amid the brawl. In her tiny mini skirt and knee-high boots, Michelle was upping the sex appeal while she was thrown around and surrounded by co-stars. Her animated expressions made for the perfect scene as she was pushed and pulled in all directions before attempting to rush into the car. Filming on Brassic had only just resumed following a Christmas break, but members of the cast and crew were believed to have tested positive for the virus. MailOnline contacted representatives for Sky One for comment at the time. Wah! The actress, 33, who plays Erin Croft on the Sky One series, donned a sexy leopard print money with a padded coat as she was dragged from a car in what looked to be a drunken fight scene featuring a scuffle near a car Wah! She was zipping around the set in dramatic style Safety first! She wore a facemask in between scenes Hard at work! She was throwing herself wholeheartedly into the role Get in! And run! She was every inch the action woman Michelle was forced to stop filming last year to isolate as she was exposed to COVID. While she had come into contact with the virus, she had not contracted it. A source told MailOnline: 'Michelle had to take time away from the Brassic set once again and has been laying low in Essex with her husband Mark Wright. 'She only missed one day of filming. But she needed to isolate after she came into contact with someone in Manchester who had it. 'Luckily it all happened very quickly and Michelle did not return to the Brassic set before isolating. So it didn't affect filming too much. 'She has spent last two weeks in total isolation. She will go back to filming at the end of this week.' Keeping out the chill: She held an umbrella later on Legs eleven! She wore her brunette locks in long loose waves Let me in! She was ensuring she was in full dramatic mode as she smashed on the cab window Legs eleven! She looked sensational Meanwhile, her husband Mark Wright, 33, recently revealed his father Mark Snr is still 'not completely better' and that his family were 'worried for his life' while he was in hospital battling coronavirus. The former TOWIE star's parents Mark. Snr, 64, and Carol, 60, announced on New Year's Eve they had been struck down by Covid-19. Mark also revealed that two of his uncles are currently in hospital due to the virus, with his uncle Eddie, 65, the father of his reality star cousin Elliott, in a coma and intensive care unit (ICU). Help! She was looking sensational as she headed out of cab while in her character's trademark look A moment off: She then headed into a car and looked serious for a moment After pop star Rihanna, seen at the 51st NAACP Image Awards, presented by BET, at Pasadena Civic Auditorium Feb. 22, 2020 in Pasadena, Calif., came out in support of the protesting farmers, actress Kangana Ranaut called the singer a fool. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET; IANS photo) ADVERTISEMENT Nigeria on Tuesday reported 1,634 new COVID-19 cases. The new daily figure, which indicated a sharp increase from the 676 infections reported in the previous 24 hours, raised the total number of cases in the country to 133,552. Also, at least six people died from COVID-19 on Tuesday in Nigeria, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced Tuesday night. The latest death toll, which indicated a significant drop from the 21 deaths reported on Monday, raised the fatality in the country to 1,613 in total. About 76 lives were lost to COVID-19 complications last week, a seven per cent reduction when compared to the previous weeks record of 82 fatalities, official records showed. Specifics The 1,634 new cases were reported from 26 states Lagos (440), Anambra (160), FCT (158), Rivers (134), Abia (103), Oyo (90), Enugu (81), Osun (73), Gombe (54), Kwara (50), Ogun (32), Plateau (32), Akwa Ibom (31), Ondo (24), Borno (23), Delta (23), Ebonyi (21), Taraba (21), Bayelsa (16), Kaduna (15), Nasarawa (13), Jigawa (12), Bauchi (11), Kano (11), Zamfara (4) and Sokoto (2). Lagos led in Tuesdays tally with 440 new cases, followed by Anambra with 160. Of the over 133,000 new cases, a total of 107,551 patients have recovered across the country. Meanwhile, there are nearly 25,000 patients still receiving treatments in isolation centres. Since the pandemic broke out in February last year, the country has carried out 1,302,410 tests. As Nigeria continues to record relatively high cases of infection, the presidency has warned against violations of safety guidelines issued to curtail the spread of the virus. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has also called on the Nigerian government to strictly enforce compliance with all COVID-19 safety protocols put in place to limit the spread of the virus. The Nigerian government on Monday said it may suspend flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and The Netherlands due to the new COVID-19 protocols introduced by both countries for incoming travellers. Nigeria will receive 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines before the end of February, according to authorities. 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. Russias special envoy for Syria has conducted a secret meeting with Assad and guarantors of the Astana process, according to Asharq al-Awsat. The Kremlins special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, who frequently travels to Damascus, carried out a secret visit to the Syrian capital at the end of last week. Accompanied by senior generals, he met with president Bashar al-Assad, but why didnt Moscow announce such a trip? The obvious reason was because the Syrian Constitutional Committee was meeting in Geneva and because Damascus and Moscow are still trying to bridge the divide between them. The deeper reason has to do with the understanding in the Idleb province and ensuring that they hold amid the deteriorating military situation in southern and northeastern Syria. It is imperative that the ceasefire hold with the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House and as Syria prepares to hold presidential elections in July. Russia strongly supports the elections and wants it to serve as a turning point for Damascus ties with other countries. Converging views After meeting Assad in Damascus, Lavrentiev headed to Geneva to follow up on the Constitutional Committee talks. He also met with the guarantors of the Astana process and the United Nations envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen. The guarantors Russia, Iran and Turkey appeared to be on the same page regarding the developments in the war-torn country. Their assessment of the Constitutional Committee talks was the same, with the three countries emphasizing the need that they continue despite the slow pace of work and failure to reach a breakthrough. They stressed the need to commit to this political accomplishment, refusing to set a timeframe for it to complete its work. The process, they said, is a purely Syrian affair led by Syrian figures. Before their meeting, the guarantors assessed the results of the fifth round of the five-day constitutional talks, which amounted to a cultural seminar and not political negotiations, which are their main purpose. The government delegation continued to stall by demanding more discussions and preparations before beginning to draft the constitution. It sought more talks on sovereignty, Syrias borders, national symbols, Arabism, a secular state, decentralized governance and a stance on Turkish and American occupation. The head of the opposition delegation, which lost its Moscow and Cairo platform representatives, had traveled to Geneva with the conviction that talks would get underway over the drafting of the principles of the constitution and reaching an agreement on the work mechanisms of the future committee talks. Pedersen watched the disputes unfold, relaying his observations to the guarantors. At the end of the committee talks, he frankly spoke to the media about his disappointment with their failure to make any progress. The envoy, who is known for choosing his words well, was on the verge of openly blaming the government for the failure. Both delegations submitted documents with their proposals, with the government representative rejecting the oppositions suggestions, to the envoys dismay. Significantly, Pedersen did not set a meeting for the next round of committee talks. Rather, he opted to omit the date in an effort to exert some pressure on Moscow and Damascus to reach a complete deal that includes a date for the next round, work mechanisms, the drafting of the constitution and coordinating stances between the government and opposition delegations. Military arrangements Lavrentiev, meanwhile, was observing the widening gap between Syrian parties and the rapprochement between the three guarantors. He is aware that France is seeking to declare the failure of the Constitutional Committee and that the Biden administration is pushing for achieving political legitimacy to its Kurdish allies. He is also aware of the pressure being exerted on Pedersen to explore new options to implement UN Security Council resolution 2254. Damascus was supposed to play a more cooperative role, at least on the surface, which prompted his visit to the Syrian capital. The trip, however, was also related to developments on the ground and gains sought by the Russian army. The frontlines remain unchanged in Idleb due to the understandings between Moscow and Ankara, but three fronts are heating up in other parts of Syria: Daraa, Suweida and Hassakeh. In the western Daraa region, generals at Russias Hmeimim airbase attempted to mediate between the local negotiations committee and the Fourth Armored Division, of Bashars brother Maher, to reach an understanding that would avert a military operation against Tafas. Talks have stalled and deadlines have ended to reach an understanding in a region that is subject to the 2018 American-Russian agreements, with Israeli approval. These agreements were drafted by officials from the Barack Obama administration, and who are now part of Bidens administration. The predominantly Druze region of Suweida, meanwhile, is no stranger to tensions. This is the first time however that its grievances are so openly laid bare. Reports have said that head of the military security branch, Louay al-Ali, had insulted Druze spiritual leader Bahjat al-Hajri. Other reports said that Hajri had demanded an official apology and Alis dismissal. Another significant report said that Hajri and Assad had also held talks. That report was not officially announced, but pro-Damascus media confirmed that Assad had inquired about Sheikh Hajris health, underscoring national unity. He was also quoted as saying that the offender only represents himself. Ali was later allegedly sacked and replaced by Ayman Mohammed. None of these developments were officially declared. Local sources in Suweida said that these issues go beyond the provinces borders. They explained that Damascus seeming leniency and exposure of the tensions was prompted by Russia in an effort to win over the residents and factions of Suweida and steer them away from Iran and Hezbollahs influence. Tehran and the party are trying to impose their presence in the area, which diplomats believe will harm the greater picture in terms of relations between Washington, Moscow and Tel Aviv in their approach towards Iran. In the northern Hassakeh region, tensions are high between the forces of the Kurdish autonomous administration and the regime. The Kurdish forces have surrounded Damascus troops in the security zone in Hassakeh, prompting the regime to retaliate by surrounding Kurds in Aleppo and Qamishli. The Russian officers in Hmeimim again intervened to contain the tensions. They achieved some breakthroughs by persuading both sides to carry out a prisoner swap. However, tensions continue to persist. Taking in the broader picture, the situation in Hassakeh will weigh on relations between Moscow, Washington and Ankara. The situation does not bode well for Turkey because Biden has appointed officials to his administration who sympathize with the Kurds, have been hurt by Russia and are suspicious of Ankara. Western officials believe that the above mentioned issues were on the table during the Syrian-Russian talks. Some were addressed during Lavrentievs visit. Damascus, meanwhile, continues to escalate its rhetoric against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces and western sanctions as it prepares to hold the presidential elections in the summer. At the same time, it is mending relations with its old allies, demonstrated in Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdads telephone talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and the condemnation of the illegal economic sanctions. 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. INDUSTRY INSIGHT How unified communications supports flexible work COVID-19 changed the face of the government workplace in 2020, with more employees and contractors working remotely than ever before. The work from anywhere, anytime trend, vastly accelerated by the pandemic and innovative, cloud-based digital workforce tools, offers unprecedented flexibility and benefits for agencies and workers alike. The question for IT and network managers is how to best support this and other vital, modern business and communication tools now and in the future. Legacy methodologies and technologies simply cannot keep up. A solution is unified communications systems. UC provides a flexible, cloud-based platform that allows the workforce to effectively and seamlessly communicate and collaborate regardless of their location and the devices they use. UC systems combine all the necessary tools an agency needs in a central location that everyone can access. This includes applications that allow employees to take and place phone calls, conduct video conferences, access all instant messaging and internal communication platforms and plenty more. This provides a number of benefits to government agencies: Centralized communication. Maintaining multiple systems for different aspects of the work environment only makes collaboration more difficult for remote employees and IT staff. Making sure everyone stays in sync is difficult, which is why having a UC infrastructure that houses all communication tools on a single platform is so useful. Scalability. When lockdowns hit, organizations that hadnt tested remote work found their internal communication tools could not handle suddenly being used by some or all of the workforce at the same time. Fortunately, cloud-based UC platforms can quickly scale to meet demands, meaning sudden changes are easily accommodated. Anywhere access. UC systems work across devices, from desktop computers and laptops to tablets and smartphones. Since theyre cloud-based, employees can access these tools from anywhere and work on business documents without worrying about local storage. Document management and reporting. UC tools allow agencies to host all their files and documents in the cloud, making them easily available for both access and collaboration. Employees always have access to the latest version of a file, and a digital trail of revision requests makes it easy to see who contributed what and when. Increased productivity. Since everyone can collaborate on the same document in real-time, sending files back and forth and relying on someone to merge all the changes is no longer required. Instead, employees can concentrate on the document at hand without worrying about overwriting others changes. UC also prevents files getting lost or the delays from files only being accessible to a single person. Interoperability. Employees are not required to use any specific device to access their work, and all or most of the UC tools available to employees will work on any platform, from a smartphone to a desktop computer. This provides incredible flexibility when it comes to giving employees the choice of when and where they work. Flexible work environments. With flexible work ranked among the top priorities for employees, UC gives staff the flexibility to stay productive on their own schedules by consolidating business tools in a central location and replicating virtually all the processes they need to collaborate on projects and reach out to constituents, contractors and other partners. Voice and video communication. UC tools feature voice and video communication that can easily be used by individuals or entire teams. Employees can hop in a group voice chat, optionally turn on video capture and talk and see one another as if they were all sitting around the same table. Easy onboarding. UC makes it easy to keep track of new employees or contractors and get them up-to-speed with current business projects quickly. New team members have immediate access to both work documents and the tools needed to work and communicate with other team members. Suitable for internal and external communication. UC systems work well for collaboration with both internal and external partners. They allow file owners to share and grant others granular access rights to agency documents and other resources, allowing staff to specify who can access and edit specific files. Clearly, UC supports a flexible, efficient, anywhere, anytime work environment, but the advantages dont stop here. By combining multiple communication and productivity functionalities in a single, integrated, cloud-based platform, agencies can decrease spending on premises-based equipment, the physical space required to house it, as well as administration, maintenance and upkeep. AHMEDABAD, India, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited today announced the expiration and results of its previously announced tender offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") any and all of its outstanding US$500,000,000 3.95% Senior Notes due 2022, CUSIP: Y00130 HS9, ISIN: USY00130HS90 (Regulation S) and CUSIP: 00652M AC6, ISIN: US00652MAC64 (Rule 144A) (the "Notes"). The Tender Offer expired at 5:00 p.m., New York time, on 2 February 2021 (the "Expiration Time"). At the Expiration Time, valid tenders had been received with respect to US$319,574,000 of the Notes. Additionally, instructions for tenders pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures described in the Tender Offer Memorandum dated 26 January 2021 with respect to US$3,687,000 of the Notes were received. The Company has accepted for payment all of the Notes validly tendered prior to the Expiration Time. Such tendering Noteholders will receive the purchase price in the amount of US$1,032.3 per US$1,000 principal amount of the Notes tendered and accepted for purchase, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the settlement date, which is 3 February 2021 (interest on any Notes tendered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures will cease to accrue on 3 February 2021 and will be settled on 5 February 2021). The Company will arrange for cancellation of all Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase following purchase by the Company, and any Notes not validly tendered will remain outstanding and accrue interest in accordance with their terms. Following the cancellation of validly tendered Notes, US$180,426,000 of the Notes will remain outstanding. Documents relating to the Tender Offer are available at https://bonds.morrowsodali.com/adaniports. Subject to market conditions and obtaining all relevant government and other approvals, the Company may choose to exercise its right to optionally redeem any Notes not purchased by the Company in the Tender Offer, at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the redemption date, plus an applicable "make-whole" premium, pursuant to the terms of the Trust Deed. The Company will calculate the amount of the applicable "make-whole" premium five business days prior to the redemption date and notify the Noteholders promptly thereafter. This announcement does not constitute a notice of redemption under the optional redemption provisions of the Trust Deed. Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Actual results may differ materially from these statements. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expect", "intend", "may", "will", or other words or phrases of similar import but these are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such expectations might not prove to be correct. Statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any responsibility to update or revise such statements. Investor and Media Contact: Roy Paul Adani Group Tel: 91-79-25556628 [email protected] The Company has appointed Morrow Sodali Limited ("Morrow Sodali") to serve as the information and tender agent for the Tender Offer. Questions regarding the Tender Offer should be directed to Morrow Sodali at the contact details provided. Documents for the Tender Offer, including the Tender Offer Memorandum and Notice of Guaranteed Delivery, are available at the Tender Website: https://bonds.morrowsodali.com/adaniports and may also be obtained by contacting Morrow Sodali by telephone in New York: +1 203 609 4910 , London: +44 20 8089 3287 and Hong Kong: +852 2319 4130 or by email at [email protected]. Disclaimers This announcement must be read in conjunction with the Tender Offer Memorandum. No offer or invitation to acquire or exchange any Notes is being made pursuant to this announcement. This announcement should not be considered as an advertisement, invitation, offer, sale or solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or purchase any securities, whether by way of private placement or to the public in India. This announcement, the Tender Offer Memorandum and any related documents do not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell securities in any circumstances or jurisdictions in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration pursuant to the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, or an exemption from registration. SOURCE Morrow Sodali All of Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. Needles Are Made in South Korea WILMINGTON, Mass., Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. has exciting news to share, our new e-commerce site is now live. "We are proud to offer customers worldwide a new way to shop for our products safely and conveniently. Qualified customers with proper licensing can easily and securely register at our e-commerce site. This is great news for the worldwide medical community! Spectra Medical Device's first priority is patient safety. The quality and innovation of our products is second to none," stated Tony Arrigo, President and CEO of Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. Spectra's products available on our e-commerce site: Needles - Epidural, Spinal Echogenic, PNB Single Shot, RF-Radio Frequency, Introducer Epidural, Spinal Echogenic, PNB Single Shot, RF-Radio Frequency, Introducer All of Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. needles are made in South Korea . Sale of single packed and sterile needles in South Korea will be made directly (offline) through Spectra Sterile Needles Korea, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. Other Products - Day Masks, Surgical Masks, Hand Sanitizers, and Safety Scalpels Spectra's pharmaceuticals products available only in the USA on our e-commerce site: Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection, USP, 1% 5mL Single-Dose Ampules/Vials Bupivacaine Hydrochloride in Dextrose Injection, USP, 0.75%, 8.25%, 2mL Single-Dose Ampules Sodium Chloride Infections, USP, 0.9% 5mL and 10mL, Single Dose Ampules How It Works: Once registered, qualified customers will receive login information, allowing them to purchase a wide variety of our products directly from the e-commerce user friendly site. Please click on the link below to get the e-commerce site or the Shop Now button on Spectra Medical Devices website and go directly to our e-commerce site. Throughout the purchasing process, Spectra Medical's customer representatives will be readily available to assist you. Our sales team can be reached at (978) 657-0889 or email at sales@spectramedical.com. http://store.spectramedical.com E-Commerce Site Shipping Information: With our new automated inventory system, products will be promptly shipped internationally to countries where we have a CE Marking or Marketing Authorization. Shipping costs are automatically calculated and added at check-out based on product destination. Customers will receive emails with tracking codes and expected delivery information to keep them informed throughout shipment and delivery. Spectra Medical Devices works with our customers to ensure the entire buying process is successful. We are confident that Spectra's customers will enjoy the ease of use and convenience of the new E-Commerce site. Who We Are: Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. is one of the largest procedural needle manufacturers in the world, with substantial market share in over 50 countries. Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. utilizes the latest state-of-the-art manufacturing and inspection systems, along with over 225 years of experience in manufacturing needles. Spectra operates five manufacturing plants worldwide with 300 employees. Corporate headquarters are located in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Spectra Medical Devices, Inc. was founded in 1995 by Tony Arrigo. Spectra has been granted several US patents for specialized needle processing and products. For questions on Spectra's e-commerce site, contact the sales department at (978) 657-0889 or email sales@spectramedical.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1429465/Spectra_Logo.jpg Contact: Peggy Rose Public Relations peggy@peggyrose-pr.com +1-617-835-7673 Ready to rejoin Cong to fight BJP in Gujarat: Shankersinh Vaghela India oi-Deepika S Ahmedabad, Feb 03: Former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela, who had quit the Congress in 2017 after remaining in it for two decades, on Wednesday said he was ready to return to the party without any pre-conditions to fight the ruling BJP in the state. Vaghela, 80, who currently heads a little-known political outfit called the the Praja Shakti Democratic Party (PSDP), issued a statement in which he claimed that many Congress workers and leaders have been urging him to return to the party. However, before Vaghela''s statement, the state Congress earlier in the day denied as "rumours" the reports that he wouldrejoin the party in the coming days. Vaghela had quit the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls. Two years later, he had joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. However, in June last year, he had resigned from the NCP due to some differences and floated the PSDP. In his statement, Vaghela claimed that many Congress workers urged him "with tears in their eyes" to rejoin the party when he was at Piraman village in Bharuch district last year to attend Congress leader Ahmed Patel''s funeral. "Apart from these workers, many Congress leaders have been insisting that I should join Congress. I am ready to join the Congress without any pre-conditions to fight the BJP. I have no problem in joining Congress. I will take an appropriate decision after meeting madam Sonia jee and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi," the senior leader said. Before Vaghela''s statement, state Congress spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar said, "I have learned from the media that Vaghela is joining the Congress. I want to clarify that there is no such thing as of now. As far as I know, Vaghela has not contacted any of our leaders for the comeback. I think only Vaghela can shed light on these rumours." Vaghela''s party has already announced that it will not field its candidates in the upcoming local body polls in Gujarat in order to stop the anti-BJP vote division. Vaghela had started his political career with the BJP. After the BJP came to power in the state in 1995 and chose to make Keshubhai Patel the chief minister instead of him, Vaghela engineered a split in the saffron outfit and became the CM in 1996 with outside support of the Congress. Later, he joined the Congress and served as Textile Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. While in the Congress, he had also served as its state unit president and Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 18:45 [IST] Before she was elected as chairwoman of the Labor Party, it seemed that Knesset member Merav Michaeli lived in a dreamland. For many months her party, which was the beating heart of the Israeli left for decades and once ruled the country, had faded such that its disappearance from the map in next month's elections seemed practically an established fact. Attempts to recruit politicaly-attractive candidates to save the party focused on male candidates such as former Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, but they did not succeed. It seemed hardly anyone believed in the party anymore, and certainly few thought that Michaeli a woman most identified with feminist battles would be the one to resuscitate the political corpse. But then a miracle happened that no one expected. Michaeli saw the potential and waged a battle in court that forced the party to hold primary elections. It was the first step; 10 days later she won big in the primaries to lead the party. Since then, Michaeli has been the most interesting item in the center-left camp and in the political system. A poll conducted by Channel 13 this week found that she could bring in eight Knesset seats while Defense Minister Benny Gantzs party might barely win four seats and indeed might not even cross the 3.25% vote threshold. The poll showed Michaeli is taking his seats. Thus, Michaeli has become the person most sought after by all the male heads of parties on the left, some of which probably wont pass the vote threshold if her numbers stay high. Former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon announced his retirement from politics after he couldnt muster support for his party. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, a celebrated fighter pilot who created a new party, appears on his way out because his poll numbers are well below the vote threshold. Huldai announced that he is willing to be No. 2 on Michaelis list, but it turns out that she is in no rush to accept the offer, just the opposite. It seems that Michaeli wishes to forge an independent route and rehabilitate the party into an alternative ruling party in the coming years. She hasnt spared harsh criticism of Gantz for joining Netanyahu, so theres no chance she would connect with him. Regarding former Yesh Atid Knesset member Ofer Shelah who was Yair Lapids No. 2 until recently and created a new party, which then crashed in the polls she said in an interview published on Ynet, Were talking. The prevailing assumption by Israeli pundits is that nothing will come out of it, but what remains is Michaelis use of the plural feminine in this statement, as is her practice in every speech or press interview since she became a member of Knesset more than a decade ago. Speaking in the plural feminine, which seems like an amusing gimmick, is a conscious act that emerges out of a feminine battle tied to the grammatical rules of the Hebrew language, which conflict with her worldview. Michaeli explained in the past from the Knesset dais that she speaks in the plural feminine because I protest that the Hebrew language is so gendered and that according to its rules of grammar, even if there is one man in the room the plural becomes male that is that Im erased entirely. Michaeli, 54, has been a well-known figure in Israel for more than three decades, since she was a star broadcaster during her military service on Army Radio. From there she continued to thrive on television and radio, and on these platforms led a feminist agenda long before the explosion of social networks. On one news talk show she presented on television, she took off her shirt and remained in her bra, to the shock of the channels owners. She did so in protest of a radio interview by one of Israels senior journalists that she thought was conducted in a manner insulting to women. The uproar was loud ultra-Orthodox politicians protested but Michaeli was not moved and did not apologize; it made for an iconic moment in the history of television and gender in Israel. At that time she created the feminist organization Ezrat Nashim to advance the establishment of support centers for survivors of sexual assault. In her personal life she is also a considered a fervent feminist: She has never married or had children out of a conscious choice. She has been with her partner, the well-known television personality Lior Schleien, for more than a decade, living in separate homes. In 2012 she gave a Ted talk in which she explained why the institution of marriage should be wholly abolished, since it is an economic and status arrangement that benefits men. Perhaps because of all this, Michaeli has never been considered for leadership in a country that worships militarism and in which governments are composed with the support of the ultra-Orthodox. She has gained great respect as an articulate and diligent politician who stuck with leftist policy agendas and has not folded these flags, but was thought of as a strange bird. The worship of generals in politics as well, as part of Israels challenging security situation, has helped keep Michaeli in the feminist box, although she served for a time as a member of the prestigious Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Knesset. This has all changed in recent days. It seems that Michaeli was more or less the only person who believed that this voice has a place in the crazy political system, in which the left has been crushed and hasnt succeeded in posing an alternative to the right. She correctly identified that in Israel theres a public on the left that seeks to find a real political home, especially after the trauma when the promising center-left party Blue and White ended up joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From the moment she won the primaries to head the Labor Party she made several brave moves. The first was to demand that Labor ministers Trade and Economy Minister Amir Peretz, whom she replaced as chairman, and Welfare Minister Itzik Shmuli immediately resign from the government. They refused and left the party. Both said that with the March elections, theyll take a break from politics. Its not clear how the election in Israel will end up, whether Netanyahu will continue to survive or who would replace him, and what results the Labor Party will achieve. What we can say already is that Michaeli has saved the party from certain death, and won herself a central place in the leadership of the reviving left. The AstraZeneca vaccine has come under scrutiny over its effectiveness for elderly people Britain on Wednesday seized on a new study that said the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine significantly reduces virus transmission and is highly protective after a single dose, after stinging criticism about its effectiveness from EU leaders. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, vindicated its massive vaccination drive, which has so far seen some 10 million people receive a jab. "It does show the world that the Oxford jab works, it works well," he told BBC radio. "It slows transmission by around two-thirds, so it categorically supports the strategy that we're undertaking." The European Medicines Agency has recommended the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab for adults of all ages last weekmore than a month after independent regulators in the UK gave it the green light. But several countries have advised against administering it to older people. Germany said it will not advise over 65s to get it while Italy's medicines agency recommended alternatives for people aged over 55. President Emmanuel Macron, who is under pressure for the slow roll-out of jabs across France, claimed the vaccine was "quasi-ineffective" for the over-65s. But the vaccine developers refuted his claim, saying the uncertainty was driven by a lack of data in older age groups rather than any evidence that it did not work. "From an immunological perspective, the older adults seem to respond in a very similar way to younger adults," Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca's executive vice-president of biopharmaceuticals research and development, told a webinar Wednesday. More data on older people should be available within weeks with the completion of a US trial and early results from Britain's vaccination drive, added Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group. Dosing schedule The study by Oxford University found that those who had been vaccinated with a single dose were 67 percent less likely to test positive with a PCR test, "suggesting the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission". It also provided backing for the UK's strategy of administering as many first doses of vaccine to high-risk groups as possible and allowing a 12-week interval before the second dose, which has been criticised by some experts. The other vaccine already being rolled out in the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, was designed to be administered with a shorter interval. "We are confident that the 12-week dosing schedule is the right one for both of the vaccines that we're using in the UK," Hancock said Wednesday. Researchers found that a single dose was 76 percent effective in preventing virus symptoms after 22 days and for up to 90 days, while it did not prevent asymptomatic illness. It was more effective to wait 90 days than to administer the second dose, researchers found, "providing further support for current policy". The survey covered 17,177 participants in Britain, Brazil and South Africa over the period up to December 7, 2020. None of the participants were hospitalised. Variant fears Britain has ordered some 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which is cheap to make and being sold at cost price. It can also be stored at fridge temperature, while the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine requires extremely cold storage. AstraZeneca hopes to have its "next-generation" vaccine, which will also target new mutations, ready by the end of this year, in time for winter, according to Pollard. Britain has been one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 108,000 deaths from 3.8 million cases. A highly transmissible variant strain forced another lockdown from early this month, with wide concern about the spread of a variation identified in Kent, southeast England, and another from South Africa. Health officials this week began increased testing in eight areas across England where nearly a dozen cases of the variant were identified. But opposition parties have criticised border controls, arguing they were not strict enough to stop the spread of new variants coming into the country. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the decisions made during the Feb. 2 meeting. CHICO, Calif. - The Chico City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 2 had members discussing several ongoing issues in the city. Among the list is a possible sewer partnership with the Town of Paradise, homelessness, and final reading of the ban on the needle distribution program. Paradise, Chico Sewer Partnership Chico City Council unanimously voted to pass a motion that allowed for Chico and Paradise to begin a $300,000 study into the sewage project. Paradise Town leaders are hoping to get help from the City of Chico in finding a regional solution to its sewer problems. The Town of Paradise is continuing its efforts to help the community recover after the Camp Fire. The goal is to get the Chico City Council to allow for the city manager and attorney to come up with an agreement with the Town of Paradise to facilitate work and grant-funded payments to have a direct connection from Paradise to the water pollution control plant in Chico. RELATED: BILL INTRODUCED TO HELP PARADISE SEWER AND WATER PROJECTS "They are coming down at tonight's meeting and they are going to ask the city council if the city council is amenable to looking at a regional solution," said Chico City Manager, Mark Orme. "So it will be able to share what that vision looks like because, yes, it would potentially be a pipe that would come down the hill and connect to the city's wastewater treatment plan so we will see where the council goes with it." Orme said the Town of Paradise has secured $300,000 for the City of Chico to support staff hours needed to conduct the initial work. Plans for Chico's Homeless The Chico City Council will also hear several new options Tuesday night for sheltering the homeless. One of them, to turn the Silver Dollar BMX track into a campground. Orme is asking for $600,000 from the general fund to make this happen. The city will also consider a potential Park and Ride safe parking site on Highways 32 and 99 where people can sleep in their cars overnight. Councilman Scott Huber said it is time for the city to step up and provide the homeless with somewhere to go. RELATED: LOCAL SHELTER IN CHICO STEPPING UP TO HELP HOMELESS FORCED OUT OF PARKS I think what we are hearing from the community, from all sections of the community is they want us to take care of the homelessness issue," said Huber. "Here we are. We have got seven options for taking care of part of it. If the council can't approve part of those seven issues, then my question is does the council really want to solve any of of those things. The city will also consider using $250,000 in general funds to support the efforts of the Chico Housing Action Team also known as CHAT to secure a long-term lease for a shelter site. CHAT said they are currently in the process of building 20 tiny homes for the homeless population. Needle Distribution Program The City Council voted 5-2 to permanently ban needle distribution within Chico city limits. The two denying votes were Huber and Councilmember Alex Brown. Orme said before the meeting, it will just be the final reading of the ban for the needle distribution program. Huber said before the meeting, he had some concerns about this program no longer existing. RELATED: CHICO CITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS BANNING NEEDLE DISTRIBUTION All the counselors agree that we do not want syringe waste in our parks and in our common areas," said Huber. "Where we disagree is on the value of these types of programs for getting people long-term assistance to get them off of drugs and they do. It has been proven in many reports that when you connect people through a syringe exchange program that a higher number of them will eventually get off drugs than people who don't have access to those programs. Action News Now asked city leaders if they have any plans to implement other programs to help those struggling with addiction and they said they are hoping the county will step up and make this happen. While some councilmembers think this is a county issue, Huber believes the city needs to step in and do something. APIA Scholars Welcomes Five New Members to its Board of Directors "We are excited to have these five join our efforts to support our Scholars," --- APIA Scholars President & Executive Director, Noel Harmon, Ph.D. Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholars (APIA Scholars) has elected new members to its Board of Directors: Nancy Lee, Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman of The Walt Disney Company; William F. L. Moses, Managing Director, Education, at The Kresge Foundation; Nidhi Munjal, Vice President of International Partnership Services at Walmart; Wally Suphap, Writer, Lawyer and Advocate at Columbia University; and Jason Wong, Vice President Treasurer and Investor Relations at Tiffany & Co. Nancy, William, Nidhi, Wally and Jason are excellent thought leaders and advocates for the higher education needs of the APIA community, and we are honored to welcome them to our Board, said APIA Scholars President & Executive Director Noel Harmon, Ph.D. As we continue to navigate the many challenges and opportunities of our new normal in 2021, we are excited to have these five join our efforts to support our Scholars. We look forward to the diverse leadership perspectives that Nancy, William, Nidhi, Wally and Jason will bring to the table. These new Board members will bring insights and experience to further APIA Scholars vision of a world where all Asian and Pacific Islander Americans have access to higher education and resources that cultivate their academic, personal and professional success regardless of their ethnicity, national origin, or financial means. APIA Scholars Board Member Nancy Lee is Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff to The Walt Disney Companys Executive Chairman, Robert A. Iger. In her previous role, Ms. Lee served as a Director in the Corporate Strategy and Business Development Group. She managed M&A transactions, including the acquisition of Lucasfilm, and key strategy initiatives on a global basis. Prior to joining Disney in 2011, Ms. Lee was an Associate in the Technology, Media and Telecom investment banking group at Goldman Sachs & Co. Ms. Lee serves on the board of directors for National Geographic Partners. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA from the University of Chicago. William F. L. Bill Moses serves as managing director for The Kresge Foundations Education Program, which supports postsecondary access and success for students living with low incomes, as well as first-generation and underrepresented students in cities. Bill leads the teams continuum of domestic and international grant activities from developing program strategy, reviewing preliminary ideas, and helping grantees develop proposals or initiatives, to awarding funding and monitoring existing grants. Before joining Kresge, Bill served as executive director of The Thomas J. Watson Foundation and as a senior analyst at the Investor Responsibility Research Center. He also worked as a research officer at TechnoServe and held various administrative positions in Alaskas state legislature and the federal government, including the U.S. Embassy in Cape Town, South Africa. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College, Bill holds a masters degree in international relations from Yale University. He is the author of A Guide to American State and Local Laws on South Africa and co-author of Corporate Responsibility in a Changing South Africa. Bill is a member of the National Advisory Board of the College Promise, the Steering Committee of the Africa Grantmakers Affinity Group, and the Leadership Committee of the Detroit College Access Network. APIA Scholars Board Member Nidhi Munjal is Vice President of International Partnership Services at Walmart. She represents Walmart in overseas markets, including India, Argentina and Brazil, and leads its efforts to create value for local partners and customers in a world where physical and online retail is converging. Nidhi has excelled in a variety of roles in her 13 years at Walmart. She was most recently vice president of global people transformation, with responsibility for shaping how the companys vast associate base experiences corporate processes and technology. Earlier, she engaged with suppliers and merchants worldwide as senior director of systems process and analytics with the Responsible Sourcing and U.S. Compliance teams. She has also worked in India, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa to enhance country operations by streamlining and integrating processes. Nidhi helped spearhead Walmarts entry into India in 2007, leading systems development and deployment. Nidhi also helped lay the framework for Walmarts global sustainability efforts, coordinating stakeholder groups and developing mechanisms for feedback, collaboration and reporting. An inspiring leader who combines a people focus with in-depth technical knowledge, Nidhi holds a Bachelor of Science in Operations Management and Information Systems from Northern Illinois University, along with a Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Management Information Systems from North Central College, Illinois. APIA Scholars Board Member Wally Suphap is a lawyer, writer, and advocate. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, Wally was raised in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California. Wally has fifteen years of international corporate legal experience in private practice and as in-house counsel. He practiced as a corporate finance attorney in the New York and Hong Kong offices of international law firms, including Clifford Chance, Skadden Arps, and Latham & Watkins. Most recently, he served as Vice President in Legal and Compliance at Morgan Stanley Asia. He is dual qualified in New York and Hong Kong. Wally is co-founder of the Hong Kong LGBT+ Attorneys Network (HKGALA), the first and largest network for LGBT+ legal professionals and law students in Hong Kong. As a queer Thai-American, Wally is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, and minority rights and representation. He was recognized as a Top 10 Diversity Consultant on the 2020 Global Diversity List published by The Guardian and ranked in the top 5 on the 2018 and 2019 OUTstanding Top 50 Global LGBT+ Future Leaders Lists, published by the Financial Times and Yahoo! Finance, respectively. Wally holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in Economics and Political Science from Columbia College and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. He currently resides in New York City, where he is pursuing creative writing studies at Columbia University and serves as an Executive Committee member on its LGBT+ Pride Alumni Network. APIA Scholars Board Member Jason Wong joined Tiffany & Co. in March 2017 as VP Treasurer. During 2019, his role was expanded with the addition of the Investor Relations duties for the Company. He previously worked in Finance for a consumer products company (Jarden Corporation / Newell Brands) for 12 years and served as a CPA with EY for the 12 years before that. At Jarden/Newell, he most recently spent a year in Prague on assignment as Chief Administrative Office Europe. At Tiffany, Jason is responsible for all Treasury, Cash Management, Risk Management, Credit and Collections, Accounts Payable, Capital Markets, AML and Investor Relations matters. Jason also co-leads the Asian heritage employee resource group (InspirAsian ML) for the NY/NJ area. Outside of Tiffany, Jason serves as a Board member at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY, served on an advisory committee for Restore NYC (an NYC not-for-profit), looks forward to traveling again and exploring culinary experiences. The APIA Scholars Board of Directors provide counsel and establish policies that further the organizations growing programmatic, scholarship, and research portfolio. APIA Scholars recently added Dr. Julie Ajinkya to its executive team. In her role as Senior Vice President reporting to President, Noel Harmon, Ajinkya will guide the research agenda for the future of APIA Scholars. For more information on Dr. Julie Ajinkya and her position, please view the full press release. For more information, contact Katrina Breese at kbreese@apiascholars.org. ALBANY In the months before 2-year-old Kyra Franchetti was murdered, her mother warned that the toddler's father was unstable, suicidal and stalking her. But Family Court officials on Long Island were largely dismissive of the allegations that Jacqueline Franchetti had made about her former boyfriend. During an unsupervised weekend visit in July 2016, Roy Rumsey shot Kyra twice in the back, set his home on fire and killed himself. In the years since her daughter was murdered, Jacqueline Franchetti has become a dogged advocate for reforming New Yorks Family Court system. It's a period during which more children have died at the hands of their parents, despite similar warnings during Family Court proceedings that abuse was taking place or that violence could be imminent. Last week four and a half years after Kyras death legislation was introduced in the state Assembly that seeks to fix problems in New Yorks Family Court system and prevent future tragedies. "Kyra's Law" was introduced by Queens Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, a Democrat who listened to Franchetti deliver emotional testimony in a 2019 hearing. "Tragically, countless children in New York have been injured or murdered at the hands of a parent who is seeking to cause pain and trauma to their intimate partner," Hevesi wrote in the bill memo outlining the legislation. "Yet courts continue to discount or minimize the risks posed in cases where domestic violence is present, dismissing allegations of domestic violence or child abuse as an attempt by one parent to win custody from the other." Previous reporting: Children died despite warnings in New York Family Courts Cuomo commission to examine key Family Court officials Key details were left out of report on 1-year-old's killing When there is a custody dispute in New Yorks Family Court system, judges decisions about whether parents should be granted custody or visitation rights have long been dictated by an overriding standard: the best interest of the children. Hevesis bill seeks to offer children greater protection by creating detailed criteria prioritizing the health and safety of children over other "best interest" factors. For instance, it requires that when a party alleges child abuse or domestic violence, Familiy Court must conduct an evidentiary hearing and make a finding regarding the allegations. If the court finds a pattern of domestic violence or child abuse, the judge would have to award sole custody to the non-offending parent. That provision of Hevesis bill is similar to proposed legislation introduced last year by Queens state Sen. James Sanders. But Heveis bill also goes farther on several fronts. It addresses one of the most controversial aspects of Family Court proceedings in New York and across the country: the concept of parental alienation. Research finds that courts often err in awarding child custody or visitation to abusers due to the debunked theory of parental alienation, the theory that when parents allege that a child is not safe with the offending parent, they are doing so illegitimately, to alienate the child from such parent, Hevesis bill memo states. Joan Meier, a law professor at George Washington University, last year published a study that examined the outcomes of nearly 4,400 custody cases across the country. It found that when mothers alleged any type of abuse, and fathers responded by claiming "parental alienation," mothers were twice as likely to lose custody than when fathers did not claim an alienation defense. Hevesis bill restricts parents from using such theories or labels in court, a provision that will likely receive pushback from "father's-rights" groups in New York. The Hevesi bill also addresses economic inequalities between parents that can slant the legal playing field in favor of the more affluent parent. And the measure would add training requirements for Family Court judges and other court personnel in the dynamics of domestic violence, to be developed and offered by experts on domestic violence and child abuse. Any judges or other court professionals handling custody proceedings in which one or more of the parties have alleged domestic violence or child sexual abuse would have to complete training at least once annually. The training would be developed by the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and include lessons about the tactics commonly used by one party to induce fear in another party or child, as well as the increased risk of escalating violence that occurs during child custody proceedings. It is critical for judges and court personnel who hear child custody and visitation cases involving domestic violence or child abuse receive consistent, comprehensive training in the dynamics of domestic violence, trauma, coercive control, the harm courts may cause children by relying on non-scientific theories such as parental alienation, Hevesi states. Hevesi's bill is one of several now active in the Legislature aimed at increasing child safety in Family Court. Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's budget briefing book states that the governor plans to convene a "blue-ribbon commission" to examine the role of forensic evaluators, mental health professionals who recommendations heavily influence judges' decisions in custody disputes. In the end, emerging from the great big ocean wearing a blue swimming cap and goggles -- and having swum roughly 110 miles in 52 hours and 54 minutes -- Diana Nyad still had enough strength to walk ashore Monday. Failing four times over the years, on her fifth and final attempt this weekend, the 64-year-old Nyad officially became the first swimmer to go the distance from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. Upon reaching shore at Smathers Beach in Key West, Fla., Nyad had three things to tell the mob of onlookers who had watched her achieve a lifelong dream. One is, we should never ever give up, said a slightly dazed Nyad, whose slurred remarks were received with a roar by the crowd. Two is, youre never too old to chase your dreams. Advertisement Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but its a team, Nyad concluded and then was taken away on a stretcher for medical examination. The crossing from Cuba to Florida has been attempted several times before, often punishing swimmers with jellyfish stings, sunburns, blisters and hallucinations. Australian Susie Maroney, then 22, used a shark cage to complete the crossing in 1997 and fainted on live television after reaching the beach in Florida. Another Australian, Penny Palfrey, then 49, made it 76 miles north of Havana last year before calling it quits; she was then hospitalized to receive IV drips and pain pills to deal with dehydration, jellyfish stings and a blistered tongue. Nyad, beating back worries over possibly having caught a cold, left Hemingway Marina in Havana on Saturday morning with a small flotilla of support staff, which included kayakers and shark divers to protect her from jellyfish and sea trash that might hinder her swim. By Monday morning, on an official website that tracked the swim, Nyads staff reported that her tongue and lips had become swollen and that her doctors were concerned about her airways. The waters had also gotten so cold at night that Nyad had not stopped to eat in the hopes that continuing to swim would keep up her body temperature. In a 2011 live chat with the Los Angeles Times, Nyad said that in her first attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, she lost 29 pounds in less than two days of swimming before she had to stop. The weight loss was inevitable, she said, in that swimming uses up more calories than shes able to take in during a swim. That raises the question of why one would attempt such a punishing feat in the first place. Advertisement I am stunned, at age 61, at how fast it all flies by, she said in the chat, explaining her motivation to keep going. My mom just died. We blink and another decade passes. I dont want to reach the end of my life and regret not having given my days everything in me to make them worthwhile. Two miles from the end of the swim Monday morning, Nyad stopped to address her support crew. This is a lifelong dream of mine and Im very very glad to be with you, she told her team, according to an update on her website. Some on the team are the most intimate friends of my life and some of you Ive just met. But Ill tell you something, youre a special group. You pulled through; you are pros and have a great heart. So lets get going so we can have a whopping party. Here are some tweets from after Nyad reached shore. Advertisement Hundreds waiting to greet @diananyad right now #xtremedream @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/42Pwkric7b Julia Bagg NBC 6 (@JuliaBaggNBC6) September 2, 2013 Photo from @diananyads crew after the 64yos historic swim from Cuba to Florida. #XtremeDream pic.twitter.com/jQSzMsM4J2 Gio Benitez (@GioBenitez) September 2, 2013 Diana Nyad rocks. The 64 yr old is first to finish 110 miles swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage! pic.twitter.com/VPOaEOyoOr Judy Maggio (@judy_keyetv) September 2, 2013 She is here! @diananyad #xtremedream come true @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/UOFqdWBXSp Julia Bagg NBC 6 (@JuliaBaggNBC6) September 2, 2013 Advertisement Just off the phone w/ #DianaNyad . She sounds strong, grateful, funny & fully enamored with life. More & more in awe of this #XtremeDream ! Diana Nyad (@diananyad) September 2, 2013 Congratulations to @DianaNyad. Never give up on your dreams. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 2, 2013 Congrats to Diana Nyad! What an amazing accomplishment and an inspiring demonstration of perseverance! Vicki Tremper (@vbtremper) September 2, 2013 Does Diana Nyad know you can fly from Cuba to Florida by connecting through Mexico? Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 2, 2013 Advertisement ALSO: Utah police officer killed in shooting; 2 people wounded Search for buried bodies underway at Florida reform school Save the gun law bars North Carolina cops from destroying guns Advertisement Follow L.A. Times National on Twitter The road to an associate degree wasn't easy for Anabel Rivas. She took a nontraditional path to college. She lived with her father in Mexico until the age of 16. They had a troubled relationship, and she was eventually put out of the house and lived on the streets of Mexico. However, this past December, Rivas graduated from Midland College with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Health Information Management and is now looking forward to entering MCs nursing program in the fall. A genuine caretaker, Rivas always wanted to become a nurse. She entered a nursing program in Mexico and worked there for three years. "I went to nursing school in Mexico and got married, she said. "We had financial problems. I became pregnant with my oldest child." School, work and raising a young family put stress on her marriage, resulting in divorce. In search of a better life, Rivas eventually left Mexico with her two children when she was 20 years old, following her boyfriend from Mexico to Eagle Pass. "Language was a barrier to becoming a nurse in the US," she said. "When I moved to Eagle Pass, I worked in housekeeping at a hospital for four years. I had no English skills, two children and I worked full-time. As a result, I could not go to school and pursue my dream of becoming a nurse." Rivas relationship with her boyfriend ended poorly, and she moved to Midland three years ago from Eagle Pass. Alone and pregnant with her third child, she and her two children entered Safe Place of the Permian Basin, located in Midland. "I had no money, no family support, no house, Rivas explained. It was just me, my children and God. It was very challenging." In the shelter, the staff would only speak to her in English, so she began taking English as a Second Language classes at the Midland College Cogdell Learning Center. It was a first step toward her dream. As Rivas learned English, she enrolled at Midland College in the Health Information Management program. "I did not feel that my English was good enough to go into nursing," she recalled. "So I decided to pursue a major where I could be close to that profession until my English improved." Her passion and love have always been nursing. A 2020 recipient of the Midland College Bill Pace Cogdell Scholarship, Rivas now has the resources to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse. Outreach & Bill Pace Cogdell Scholarship Coordinator Josie Samaguey understands the drive that brought Anabel Rivas to Midland College. "Anabel has shown herself and her children that hard work, perseverance and faith are what it takes to accomplish any goal," Samaguey said. "Her heartwarming personality goes hand in hand with the health care goal she is pursuing. I am so proud of Anabel." Once Rivas finishes her nursing degree, she plans to stay in Midland and raise her family. "My children and I love it here, Rivas said. Midland has been very supportive." Rivas said that she would give this advice to other students who have a dream and want to go to pursue higher education: "Sometimes we have a fear of the future. We ask ourselves what if I am not going to make it? We always have time it passes anyway. There are consequences to the decisions we make in life. Education is a benefit for our children. If you want to make a better life for yourself and your children, education is the key." The Board of The Warehouse Group Limited today announced its intention to pay a fully imputed special dividend of 5 cents per share. In recent trading updates the Group has highlighted stronger than expected trading performance, in particular over the Christmas trading period. Group Chair Joan Withers said the FY21 performance to date reflects a combination of elevated consumer demand, better overall gross margin across the Group of circa 170 basis points and operational improvements implemented over the last two years. Given this elevated trading performance and following the decision not to pay a dividend for FY20, we have now decided to pay a special dividend of 5 cents. In confirming the special dividend, the Board paid tribute to all The Warehouse Group employees. Group CEO Nick Grayston said, sales performance to date has been well above expectation and is a testament to our team members and the improvements they have made in our stores, distribution and fulfilment centres, and our support offices. We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of each of our team members over what has been an incredibly busy and difficult period, said Mr Grayston. A decision on an interim dividend has yet to be made and will be announced with the H1 result on 25 March. The Warehouse Group reaffirms guidance for the half year result of Adjusted Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) exceeding $90m, before accounting for the impact of repaying the wage subsidy. Please see the link below for more details: The Warehouse Group to pay special dividend Source: The Warehouse Group Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. 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Related News: EROAD Limited (NZX: ERD) Better Positioned for Future Growth Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) Full Year Results to 31 March 2021 28th May 2021 Morning Report Radius Residential Care Limited (NZX: RAD) Announces First FY Results as a Listed Company NZ Automotive Investments Limited (NZX: NZA) Delivers Net Profit Above Guidance for FY21 Smartpay Holdings Limited (NZX: SPY) Preliminary Full Year Result Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) FY2021 Results Announcement Gentrack Group Limited (NZX: GTK) Half-Year Results Pacific Edge Limited (NZX: PEB) Financial Results for the 12 Months to 31 March 2021 Asset Plus Limited (NZX: APL) Financial Result for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 Nicholas Hernandez, a labor leader who marched with Cesar Chavez in the 1970s and was a founding member of the Ronald McDonald Charities San Diego, died May 15. He was 73. Hernandez was one of six brothers and eight sisters. He was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, in 1946 and grew up helping his father plow the field. When the family moved to Barrio Logan when he was seven, Hernandez brought that work ethic with him. To pay for a private education at Saint Josephs grammer school, Hernandez got a job. Advertisement He started working when he was 12 years old sweeping outside Perkins Super Market to pay his own way through grammar school, said his wife, Connie Hernandez. Connie Hernandez, who also grew up in Barrio Logan, met her future husband at a dance in the War Memorial Building in Balboa Park in the 1960s. She was 17. He just came up and asked me to dance, she said. Its like they say, the rest is history. They married two years later, after Nicholas Hernandez came back from the Vietnam War, where he earned two Purple Hearts. The medals hang next to photos from Hernandezs time in Vietnam decorating the familys living room. Hernandez worked as a carpenter with the Carpenters Local 220. He quickly climbed the ranks of union leadership and became heavily involved in activism during the 1970s. Hed often joke that his labor activism was predetermined. It was in his blood, hed say, because he was born on Labor Day, said his daughter, Carina Hernandez. Activism was a family affair. The Hernandez children walked picket lines for as long as they can remember. Weekend outings involved registering people to vote outside grocery stores, Carina Hernandez recalled. Advertisement At the time, Hernandez was one of the few Latino labor leaders in San Diego. He helped drum up support for Cesar Chavezs boycotts and the famed Chicano activist often stayed in Hernandezs house with his two dogs, Boycott and Huelga. During one of the visits, Hernandezs son got in trouble at school for telling a teacher that he met Cesar Chavez. The teacher thought the boy made the whole thing up. He was in the third grade and said, Cesar Chavez slept in my room last night, so they called me and said he was making up stories, Connie Hernandez said with a laugh. But he wasnt. Cesar Chavez, left, the founder of Farmworkers of America, was friends with Nick Hernandez, San Diego labor leader and community activist. (Connie Hernandez ) Advertisement Hernandezs support was instrumental to the movement, said Dolores Huerta, a civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association with Cesar Chavez. In those days, it wasnt easy to support the Farmers Union because people were critical, she said. A lot of people were not willing to help, including people in labor. Hernandez didnt simply offer token support, he actually lobbied on behalf of the UFW by talking with other labor leaders in the region and participating in the boycotts, Huerta added. In 1976, the tragic death of Hernandezs four-and-a-half-month-old son pushed the family to another type of activism. After a Leukemia diagnosis, their son Matthew was given less than six months to live. Advertisement At that time, parents werent allowed to stay in the hospital overnight, so Connie and Nicholas had to fight to be with their son 24 hours a day. After Matthew died, the Hernandezes met other parents in similar situations. The families came from all walks of life, connected only through cancer. They heard of a charity that offered families of children being treated for cancer a home-away-from-home and decided to open one in San Diego. The Ronald McDonald House Charities offers parents and siblings of sick children a place to stay and offers basic needs so they can better focus on caring for their loved one. To build the original Ronald McDonald House, Hernandez called painters, cement masons, plumbers and electrical workers to provide most of the labor costs for free. Advertisement It was amazing what they were able to get done, said Chuck Day, president and CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charities San Diego. Hernandez remained active in the nonprofit until his death. He taught adult education classes and often brought his students to the house to teach them the value of giving back. He also served on the board, spread awareness and recruited volunteers for the organization, Day added. He always felt that of all the work that he had accomplished professionally or as a volunteer, that was what he was most proud of because it was a legacy for our son Matthew, Connie Hernandez said. That kept his memory alive. Today, there are three Matthews in the Hernandez family, including Carinas son. Advertisement Sadly, the same disease that took Matthew also claimed Nicholas Hernandez. He died of undiagnosed cancer. By the time doctors discovered it, the cancer was already at stage four. Hernandez leaves his wife, four children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson. The family will hold a funeral service at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 24, at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Barrio Logan. That church is part of the Hernandez family history. Nicholas grew up a few blocks away from there, he and Connie were married there and they baptized their children in that church. Advertisement Hes very proud of the fact that he was from Logan because there arent a lot of success stories that come out of there and hes one of them, Connie said. Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter Marrakech Minister of Health Khaled Ait Taleb, welcomed, Tuesday in Marrakech, the great mobilization and adherence of citizens to the national anti-Covid19 vaccination campaign since its launch by HM King Mohammed VI. In a statement to press on the sidelines of a visit to several vaccination centers in the Marrakech-Safi region as part of the national vaccination campaign against Covid-19, the minister also expressed his satisfaction with the good organization of this large-scale operation, which is taking place under excellent conditions, thanks to close coordination between all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior. "Citizens continue to flow to the Covid-19 vaccination centers," he noted, saying that the vaccination operation is taking place in conditions marked by fluidity in the said centers thanks to a strict organization and to the mobilization of all stakeholders. The minister stressed that this inflow has enabled Morocco to reach more than 200,000 people vaccinated so far, "a very honorable and very satisfactory number" which is expected to increase over the coming days. Ait Taleb also called for respecting barrier gestures, which will allow this vaccination campaign to achieve all its objectives, emphasizing the importance of the second dose of the vaccine within the framework of the immunization of citizens. In addition, the minister emphasized the close link between the epidemiological situation and the anti-Covid-19 vaccination operation, because as long as this situation is clearly improving, the vaccination campaign will make it possible to achieve efficiency from the point of view of collective immunization to overcome this health crisis. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Morocco By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Ait Taleb's visits concerned the level 2 rural health center in Skhour Rhamna, the Benguerir multi-sports complex (Rehamna province), the "Al Massira" urban health center (Marrakech prefecture) and the center of urban health of Tahanaout (Al Haouz province). During these visits, the minister, who was accompanied in particular by the regional director of health in Marrakech-Safi Lamia Chakiri, and the provincial delegates of health of Rehamna, Marrakech and Al Haouz, inquired about the running of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the Marrakech-Safi region. The vaccination campaign is a real response to end the acute phase of the pandemic. This national operation, of unprecedented scale, aims to provide the population with a vaccine as an appropriate means of immunization against the virus and of controlling its spread. In accordance with the High Royal Instructions, the vaccination campaign will be free of charge for all citizens, the objective being to immunize all components of the Moroccan people (30 million to vaccinate about 80% of the population), then reduce and eliminate cases of contamination and death due to the epidemic and contain the spread of the virus, with a view to a gradual return to normal life. Innovation is changing and as a result we are seeing the amalgamation of technology with creativity for the benefit of everyone. According to this article on, technology can help us understand what makes a creative concept resonate and deliver that story in a way that is meaningful and relevant to the audience. So there's no disagreeing with Tilesh Bhaga when he says "We live in the best possible time for what I love, it's crazy!" You're a creative technologist at Grey. Could you briefly explain what your role entails? Whats really behind your mask - literally and figuratively speaking? Growing up, what did you want to be? How did you end up working in the advertising industry? What excites you most about the industry The most exciting thing I can see is that every company in the world is in one way or the other becoming a tech company. This can be seen with the likes of Burger King. Our industry is thus being tasked with helping every single brand match the idea of servicing their offering, whilst being tech savvy and innovative. Advertising is moving from being traditional advertising, to becoming a tech company/advertising hybrid. Its an inventors playground! What's a typical work day routine? This can be seen with the likes of Burger King. Our industry is thus being tasked with helping every single brand match the idea of servicing their offering, whilst being tech savvy and innovative. Where are you based during lockdown? When you're not busy working, what do you do? How do you socialise these days? My favourite form of socialising is done through video calls on Discord as I am terrified of the virus and rather be safe than sorry. What's your favourite meme/gif of all time? Are you watching any series? Reading any books at the moment? What is the first thing you plan to do - if and when the lockdown lifts? 2021 has just begun. What's next for you? I love pushing myself to try everything I've always wanted to. I catch up with Tilesh to find out what goes on behind the scenes of a creative techie...The role of a creative technologist is to assist the business in all things tech. I am either researching up-and-coming tech innovations that we can use for our clients or I am being brought into briefings to see how best to execute an idea or elevate an idea through the use of technology.Very literally, my mask will hold either a beard or an extreme baby face, depending on the day. Figuratively the mask is stuck onto an introverted yet explorative tech head who's very obsessed with dance and Harry Potter. I'm also a hopeless optimist and love all forms of creativity.Well, initially my child-self had invented the role of "computerist", unfortunately the demand for the made up role was too small, so I moved on to wanting to become a 3D animator, as 3D design was my first love, starting at 10 years old.During my studies of multimedia, I was offered a bursary by a company called Trudon, which had a small digital agency called Leads Machine. I was intending to work in the development field, but after getting a taste of advertising at a small agency, I made my way to TBWA and fell in love with it.My day will start off with some coffee to remind me why I am alive. From there I make my way to my sectioned off home office and I check all my emails and plan what needs to get done for the day. I'll then quickly scroll through my various tech platforms to see if there's any exciting new tech or software we can use. After that it's usually just a mish-mash of meetings and me brainstorming solves for briefs I've been a part of. I also eat food at lunch time.I've been based in Johannesburg during lockdown.I have many hobbies in my life. I am either dancing which was one of the other careers I wanted to have, doing some 3D design, recording my podcast with my friends (It's called "Two Wrongs and a Writer", if I'm allowed to plug myself) or coding something for fun.My favourite all time meme is Nickelback's famed Chad Kroeger singing "Look at this Graph" and then staring at you blankly. It still kills me to this day!The series I am currently watching isso I can cry all the time, and the book I am currently rereading is Kevin Hearts. One of my all-time favourites.So a bit unconventional I suppose, but I need to plan to go to Goldreef city. It's one of my happy places in the world.2021 will be another year of trying new things. First thing is becoming more knowledgeable with the latest tech. Then I'm starting a tech based fashion company with a friend, I am pushing my podcast to become a paying job and I am going to try and make my 3D art another form of income.Alongside that, I'm me getting married this year too! Philadelphias Will Smith will be playing history teacher on Netflix this month as host and executive producer of Amend: The Fight for America, a six-episode documentary series about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Ratified in 1868, the amendment, among other things, established that people in the United States are entitled to equal protection under the law. And by defining citizenship as all persons born or naturalized in the United States, it effectively included formerly enslaved people among the countrys citizens. We are living in unprecedented days as a society, as a country, and as a human family, Smith said in a statement released by Netflix. I believe that the cultivation of personal and historical understanding is the imperative spark igniting the flames of desperately needed compassion and healing. ... A deeper understanding of the 14th Amendment is a critical jumping-off point. Among the actors participating in the series, which will premiere on Feb. 17, are Mahershala Ali, Sterling K. Brown, Laverne Cox, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Randall Park, Pedro Pascal, and Yara Shahidi. Other participants include such experts as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, and law professor Kimberle Williams Crenshaw. Larry Wilmore is also an executive producer on the project. A new legislative session in Harrisburg and state budget negotiations for the coming months, following Gov. Tom Wolfs budget address Wednesday, bring opportunities for elected officials to end gross overpayments to Pennsylvanias cyber charter schools to ensure that these schools are held to the same financial accountability standards as public school districts. Recent reporting in the Scranton Times-Tribune revealed a stunning lack of state oversight over the taxpayer dollars that have been poured into cyber charters over the past two decades. Six of Pennsylvanias 14 cyber charter schools have never been audited. Commonwealth Charter Academy, the largest cyber charter in the state with an expected $270 million budget for 2021, was last audited in 2012. Cyber charter schools are projected to receive more than $980 million in taxpayer-funded tuition payments in the 2020-21 school year. With no state oversight, the opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse are staggering. READ MORE: Cyber charter enrollments are surging. School districts are picking up the tab. Pennsylvanias newly elected auditor general, Timothy DeFoor, must lay out a calendar to audit every cyber charter school, beginning with those that have the largest budgets. The commonwealth audits brick-and-mortar school districts every three years to ensure that they are using taxpayer dollars properly. These audits are publicly posted for taxpayers to view. It is past time for the Auditor Generals Office to end the special treatment that has been bestowed on cyber charter schools and audit them regularly. The General Assembly must also take action to eliminate enormous overpayments to cyber charter schools. Pennsylvanias system for funding cyber charters defies common sense. Cyber charters receive the same tuition payments from taxpayers as brick-and-mortar charter schools even though they have none of the brick-and-mortar expenses. No school buildings to heat or grounds to maintain. No costs for custodians and maintenance workers. No buses for students. And the list goes on. While school districts continue to face brutal struggles with increased mandated costs and reduced local revenues as a result of COVID-19, the pandemic has been a financial boon for cyber charters. An enrollment spike combined with tuition rate increases pursuant to the states current charter school policy means school districts are projected to pay cyber charters more than $980 million this school year a 51% increase over last year. Cyber charters will also receive nearly $60 million from spring and winter federal COVID-19 aid for schools and millions in federal PPP grants. The evidence that cyber charter schools are awash in excess taxpayer funding that they waste has been in plain sight for years. Taxpayer-funded advertisements abound on billboards, radio, and television. They are ubiquitous on phone apps and on Facebook. And this advertising is not cheap. A 2019 Right to Know request filed by Education Voters of PA found that in 2018, a single charter school, Commonwealth Charter Academy, spent more than $7 million on advertising and promotion, including $850,000 on a three-month campaign to increase enrollment. READ MORE: Cyber charters transformed my struggling kids. Why do Pa. politicians want to change my choice? | Opinion In addition, recent Right to Know requests obtained by the Times-Tribune revealed that one cyber charter spent nearly $1,000 per student on advertising in 2019. The paper also documented that cyber charters spent taxpayer money to purchase cell phones and Target gift cards for students and to provide families with cash payments. And in November, when many school districts were struggling to pay for PPE and the additional staff necessary to safely open schools while following social distancing safety protocols, Commonwealth Charter Academy was at the Harrisburg Reverse Holiday Parade showing off a robot dog that sells for $75,000. While this robot was an eye-catching recruitment tool for CCA, Pennsylvanians might wonder if school funding would have been better spent hiring a full-time teacher, counselor, or nurse to work with students. Pennsylvanians are paying higher school property taxes in every corner of the state to fund lucrative contracts with communications firms and expensive advertising campaigns while students in their own district schools lack the counselors, teachers, and support they need. READ MORE: Cyber charters may benefit from pandemic, but that doesnt mean their students do | Editorial This is wrong. Charter school funding reforms are at the top of Gov. Wolfs education priority list. It is time for the Republican-led General Assembly to follow his lead, stand up for taxpayers, and support financial accountability and a rational system of funding for the cyber charter school sector. If these schools are really worth every penny, let them prove it. Susan Spicka is the executive director of Education Voters of PA. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 22:40:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Anti-aircraft missiles were launched at an Israeli drone while it was flying over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. An Israeli army spokesperson said that the incident occurred during "routine military UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) activity over Lebanon." The missiles were "fired toward the UAV," the spokesperson said, adding that "the aircraft was not hit and continued its mission as planned." Lebanese media reported that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese armed group and political party, fired a missile toward the aircraft while it was flying over southern Lebanon. Earlier this week, Hezbollah said it shot down a drone in southern Lebanon. Enditem Higher Education Minister Uday Samant said the Uddhav Thackeray govt has decided to relax the 75% compulsory attendance due to the ongoing COVID situation in the state Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant announced that universities and colleges will reopen in Maharashtra from 15 February onwards. According to a report by India Today, the classes will be held on a rotational basis and 50 percent attendance has to be maintained. The report added that Samant had earlier said that the government would soon announce its decision regarding the reopening of colleges in the state in a day or two. The report added that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was expected to sign off on the date for colleges reopening after the discussion conducted on 1 February with the Vice Chancellors. The government will soon issue a list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to all colleges and universities in the state for reopening. Colleges in Maharashtra have been closed for 10 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Maharashtra government has also allowed all cities to reopen schools for students of classes 5 to 12, except for Mumbai. According to a report in Hindustan Times, Samant said that the government has decided to relax the 75 percent compulsory attendance due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the state. The report added that earlier in January, vice-chancellors of all public universities in Maharashtra demanded resumption of actual classroom teaching in colleges. The vice-chancellors of the universities had demanded the restarting of normal classes in a meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Koshyari called the government's stand on reopening of colleges ironical and said if schools can reopen for children studying in classes V-VIII, universities and colleges too should resume classroom teaching. You might be wondering how to get tested for COVID-19 from the safety of your own home, knowing your test is as accurate as possible? Getting tested for the rapidly spreading Rona is at the top of everyones to-do list right now. For people who understand the risk, to themselves or others, of leaving their homes, better solutions for testing are available. Based in Chicago, RapidRona is a team of multi-disciplined experts passionate about creating a platform that connects the patient-consumer to smarter and safer diagnostic testing. Their new system for getting a COVID-19 rt-PCR test provides a unique process that facilitates a completely at-home test with a guaranteed 48-hour turnaround time. This article will discuss RapidRona's Self-Collection Kit, as well as their process for testing for COVID-19. What Is The rt-PCR Testing Process? The rt-PCR test is considered the gold standard for testing because it tests for the actual viral genetic material, where other tests test for pieces of the virus (antigens) or effects caused by the virus (antibodies). As a result, if someone tests positive on the antibody or antigen they need to do the rt-PCR test anyway. RapidRonas process can be broken down into four steps, the first of which is ordering your rt-PCR test kit online. You will be asked to create an account to log in, enter your necessary personal details and do an eligibility questionnaire. RapidRona will secure a doctors requisition for you and the test will be delivered to your doorstep via a 2-Day Express at no cost to the patient or a 1-Day premium shipping. The second step involves collecting your sample by logging into your account and registering at Collect My Sample. A full step-by-step instructional guide will lead you through the collection of your sample. This process not only allows you to stay in the comfort and safety of your own home, but also saves on costs associated with doctors visits. The third step involves requesting pickup by the courier, who then overnights your sample, at ambient temperatures, to authorized laboratories to expedite your results. The testing samples are strictly used for rt-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA - this detects the presence or absence of genes from the SARS-CoV-2. The fourth step involves receiving an email notification that you can view your test results, doctors requisition, and receipt 24/7, also available to download. From the time your test is picked up by the courier, you are guaranteed results within 48 hours or your money back. If you test positive, a physician from the healthcare network will be in contact with you to discuss the results, alternatively, any queries are welcome for discussion. FDA EUA Approval The RapidRona Self-Collection Kit received their Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA on 23 November, 2020. This gives full authorization to the patient to receive the test at home and perform the self-collection of nasal swab specimens using the instructions in the kit and online. RapidRona collaborates with a network of authorized laboratories certified under the CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) of 1988, 42 U.S.C. 263a, which gives them permission to perform high complexity tests at acceptable requirements. Their use of the Self-Collection Kit has been validated and reviewed by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) to verify its accuracy. The kits are for use by prescription only, and for in vitro diagnostic use only, which is why RapidRona takes care of prescription and lab qualification for the user. RapidRonas mission is to make the testing process as easy and fast as possible, helping the patient-consumer stay safe and tucked up at home, attempting to eliminate all contact or exposure to the COVID-19 virus. The Self-Collection Kit consists of a 3 nostril swab, which is also less complex and invasive than the deep nasopharyngeal brain-tickling swabs that have been used at hospitals (spreading as much fear as the virus itself). Order Your Test Today For more information about RapidRona and to order their Self-Collection Kit, visit their website to create an account to order a test or read more about the testing process and various resources and information provided about COVID-19. (Newser) The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with Germany in a dispute involving the heirs of Jewish art dealers and the 1935 sale of a collection of medieval Christian artwork called the Guelph Treasure. The collectioncalled the Welfenschatz in German and dating to the Holy Roman Empire, per Politicois said to now be worth at least $250 million. The heirs argued that their relatives were forced to sell the collection of gold and silver artworks, including elaborate containers used to store Christian relics, intricate altars and ornate crosses, for below market value amid Nazi pressure in the run-up to World War II. The heirs originally pressed their claims in Germany, but a German commission found the artworks sale was made voluntarily and for fair market value. A suit was then filed in the United States, reports the AP. story continues below Germany and the state-run foundation that owns the collection, which is on display in Berlins Museum of Decorative Arts, argued the case did not belong in American courts. Foreign nations generally cannot be sued in US courts, although there are exceptions spelled out in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The heirs tried to claim the sales fell under the heading of genocide because they came at what they asserted was an initial stage of the Holocaust. But Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in an opinion for a unanimous court that "the heirs have not shown that the FSIA allows them to bring their claims against Germany. We cannot permit them to bypass its design." Roberts wrote that Americans would be "surprised ... if a court in Germany adjudicated claims by Americans that they were entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars because of human rights violations committed by the United States Government years ago." (Read more US Supreme Court stories.) Tanzania Says It Has No Plans to Import Covid-19 Vaccine Tanzania's health ministry is urging citizens to practice hygiene and use traditional medicine to treat Covid-19. In addition, the country's health minister, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, is reported to have said: "For now Tanzania has no intention of importing any of the vaccines being reported in other countries until we are satisfied they have been clinically proven to be safe." But Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the head of World Health Organisation (WHO) in Africa, has urged the country to ramp up public health measures. In a tweet, Dr Moeti said: "Science shows that #VaccinesWork and I encourage the government to prepare for a Covid vaccination campaign." The country has a controversial history with regard to the novel coronavirus. The East African notes that President John Magufuli announced the country to be Covid-free in mid-2020 in a public address in the capital city Dodoma, saying God had answered the country's prayers. The country received a shipment of Madagascar's self-proclaimed plant-based novel coronavirus remedy on May 8 despite WHO warnings that its efficacy was unproven. Tanzania last posted novel coronavirus updates on April 29 when the national caseload stood at 509 with 21 deaths and 183 recoveries. The first vocational school in Oniipa will soon open its doors to serve local inhabitants and Namibians at large. Nile Vocational Training Centre will give hope to those who only have grade 9 or grade 10 secondary school certificates or even those with industrial experience and without formal qualifications. "People with industrial experiences without formal qualifications will be considered for admissions in the field of their expertise," said Maria Antonius, the liaison officer. Technical courses range from air-conditioning and refrigeration, auto-mechanic, bricklaying and plastering, welding and fabrication, agriculture, office administration and cosmetology, among others. The tuition fees will range from N$1 950 to N$8 000. "Students who enrol with our institution should expect quality education and training. We will give all the necessary support to those with the passion of becoming successful entrepreneurs who will positively contribute to the Namibian economy and eradicate poverty," said Antonius. She further added the vocational training centre has a competitive advantage as they have established a commercial workshop that will employ the graduates. "This workshop will employ the trainees from internship programmes to graduate trainees where they will get wages in preparing them to start their own businesses and or become productive instructors within the school or outside," she said. "Our application file for accreditation is still with the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), which is the custodian of all vocational schools in Namibia. Students do not need to doubt because registration is a process and the institution cannot be given an approval by NTA without students being enrolled and start classes." Qatar has announced new funding for Palestinians in Gaza. The $360 million grant was requested by both Palestinians and the Israeli government and will go toward salaries, funding electricity and alleviating poverty. The grant encompasses provision to purchase fuel to run power stations for electricity, assist impoverished families and pay for salaries of thousands of employees, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman conveyed in an email to Al-Monitor and other media outlets. The Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas. Israel controls its air and sea borders as well as its land border with Israel. Gaza also has a land border with Egypt. Hamas and the Israeli military fight one another off and on but also negotiate on some issues, including prisoner exchanges. Qatar has a history of using its wealth to assist Palestinians. Qatar began a grant to Gaza in 2018 and has renewed it continuously since then. The grant was approved again last month. Gaza is highly impoverished and has chronic and long electricity shortages. These conditions create a need for foreign assistance. The Gulf state has given more than $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians since 2014. The assistance has helped with rebuilding schools and providing electricity, the spokesman said. Qatar lacks formal diplomatic relations with Israel but has mediated cease-fires between Israel and Hamas in the past, most recently in August. Hamas originated in the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood. Qatars support for Hamas and other affiliates of the Islamist organization was a major reason for the Gulf diplomatic crisis between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Qatars renewal of the Gaza grant came days after it reconciled with Saudi Arabia and other Saudi-allied Gulf states in January. Qatar has maintained a relationship with Israel, despite its support for Hamas. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said Israel will be involved in the delivery of Qatari aid to Gaza. The grant will be sent and distributed in close coordination with the Israeli government, he 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. Natural gas futures eased to Rs 208.90 per mmBtu on February 3 as participants increased their short positions as seen by the open interest. Natural gas price slipped 0.2 percent on February 2 on the NYMEX. Natural gas pared losses after a gap down opening in the afternoon session. The gas price touched the high of $3.005/mmBtu in intra-day trade on February 2, but lost momentum and ended lower. The prices have rallied sharply in the last few days as severe cold weather in US Northeast increased heating demand, while weather forecasts pointed towards colder weather in coming days. Kshtij Purohit, Product Manager Currency and Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd, said, The weather is expected to remain much colder than normal for the next 6-10 days. It may become slightly milder during the coming 15 days. Supply rose last week due to higher exports from Canada. Natural gas has support at Rs 197 levels and below it may come down to Rs 193 levels. MCX iCOMDEX Natural Gas Index fell 42.40 points, or 1.60 percent, to 2,607.86. In the futures market, natural gas for February delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 211.60 and an intraday low of Rs 205.20 per mmBtu on the MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 169 and a high of Rs 219.80. Natural gas delivery for February slipped Rs 3.70, or 1.74 percent, to Rs 208.90 per mmBtu at 14:37 hours IST with a business turnover of 10,818 lots. Natural gas delivery for March edged lower Rs 2.50, or 1.19 percent, to Rs 207.30 per mmBtu with a business volume of 2,459 lots. The value of February and Marchs contracts traded so far is Rs 1,824.83 crore and Rs 76.92 crore, respectively. Natural gas seems to have lost momentum near $3/mmBtu level and we may see some more correction amid positioning ahead of inventory report on February 4, according to Kotak Securities. At 09:10 (GMT), the natural gas price was up 1.10 percent quoting at $2.85 per mmBtu in New York. For all commodities-related news, click here : 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. Relatives of a man accused of stabbing two Shreveport hospital employees Monday told media outlets in north Louisiana they fear he might also be responsible for a killing at a New Orleans gas station a day earlier. Authorities have not publicly confirmed a link between the two cases, though the New Orleans Police Department has sent detectives to Shreveport to investigate. But the attacks share two unique elements: Each involved a machete and a dilapidated, green Saturn Vue. The suspect jailed in connection with the hospital attack, 27-year-old Zaokoye Chatman, also physically resembles the man New Orleans police want to question in connection with the slaying of Donald Cargo on Sunday in the Lower 9th Ward. Cargo died after an unknown man hacked him across the neck with a machete and drove off in a green Saturn Vue with extensive front-end damage, New Orleans police said. Police in Shreveport told media outlets there that a machete was used in the attack of the hospital employees and that the suspect drove a green Saturn Vue. Chatman remains in custody in north Louisiana after being booked in connection with the stabbings at Shreveports Ochsner LSU Health. A New Orleans police spokesperson said investigators on Tuesday were still trying to determine whether there was enough evidence to tie Chatman to Cargos death. However, one of Cargos brothers, Randell Cargo, said detectives had been less coy during a private conversation with him, telling him that they just have to connect the dots before clearing the case. Randell Cargo added that he does not think his brother had previously met Chatman. It was just something random, Randell Cargo said. It wasnt his fault. It couldve been anybody. Cargo, a 59-year-old former petroleum refinery worker, was standing near the gasoline pumps outside a convenience store in the 5100 block of St. Claude Avenue when another man approached and began arguing with him. The other man pulled a machete from his pants leg and swung it at Cargos neck, killing the father and grandfather from the St. Bernard Parish community of Meraux, police said. The attacker then jumped into a beat-up, green Saturn Vue and headed east on St. Claude, toward St. Bernard Parish, police said. Within hours, police released security camera images of the man and car allegedly involved in Cargos murder. The Saturn Corp., which manufactured the Vue, a compact SUV, has been defunct for a decade. TV report highlights similarities between Lower 9th Ward machete killing, Shreveport hospital attack The machete-wielding man who killed a former Meraux refinery worker outside of a Lower 9th Ward gasoline station on Sunday may have attacked a 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 Police in Shreveport told media outlets that Chatman who possibly has mental issues showed up at Ochsner LSU Health around 2:25 p.m. Monday armed with a machete and seriously injured two employees, one of whom is his mother. Neither employees injuries are considered life-threatening. Police said Chatman fled in an older green Saturn Vue. The Shreveport Times reported that Chatman turned himself in after going to a Veterans Affairs hospital in Shreveport. Police booked him into jail on a count of aggravated second-degree battery. A KSLA-TV reporter late Monday wrote that he watched as a truck outside that VA hospital towed away a green Saturn Vue with heavy front-end damage. KSLA-TV also reported being told by Chatmans family that Chatman was wanted for a deadly machete attack in New Orleans. When shown the surveillance camera images from New Orleans, family members told the station that they recognized Chatman, an Army veteran who served in Iraq. Sometimes he gets out of his mind because he doesn't take his medication, Chatman's uncle, Anthony Chatman, told reporters. He still thinks hes in Iraq. Citing an unidentified police source, another Shreveport media outlet, KTBS-TV, reported that a fight with "a significant other" prompted Chatman to drive from Colorado to New Orleans. He allegedly then drove to his hometown of Shreveport, KTBS reported. A Shreveport police spokesperson on Tuesday declined to confirm whether Chatman was suspected of murder in New Orleans. Randell Cargo said Chatmans military record and potential mental health problems should not be a defense, noting that most people with psychiatric conditions are not violent. Thats no excuse, Randell Cargo said. Im a veteran, too Im on medication, I take my medication because Im responsible for my own actions. Youre grown, and youve got to do what youve got to do to take care of yourself. Carlie Kollath Wells and WWL-TV's Paul Murphy contributed to this report. Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:19:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- Nearly 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have set this year's economic growth target at more than 6 percent. -- The keywords at China's local legislative sessions, such as 5G use, digital currency, and carbon peak, highlight the country's new momentum for its high-quality growth. BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- As of Wednesday, most provincial-level regions had held their annual legislative sessions, putting forward new keywords in their development blueprints for this year and the coming five years. The new buzzwords, such as 5G use, digital currency, and carbon peak, highlight the country's new momentum for its high-quality growth in line with China's new development philosophy and paradigm. GROWTH TARGETS Nearly 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have set this year's economic growth target at more than 6 percent. Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong provinces, among the country's major economic powerhouses, aimed for a more than 6 percent expansion in 2021. The growth targets of other provincial-level regions generally range from more than 6 percent to more than 9 percent. Central China's Hubei Province, hit hard by COVID-19 last year, and the southern Hainan Province targeted a double-digit growth of more than 10 percent. The local growth targets showed the resilience and potential of China's economy. It adds certainty to the world amid a global recession, said Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. Growing 2.3 percent year on year in 2020, China's economy will likely see a faster recovery and mild transitions in macro-policies in 2021, a year of multiple challenges at home and abroad, according to Zhang Yuxian, an expert with the State Information Center. DUAL CIRCULATION The "dual circulation" development pattern, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, was another keyword phrase in this year's local government reports. Liaoning Province in northeast China said it would actively integrate its development into this paradigm, building itself into a central hub for economic and trade cooperation in Northeast Asia. The province will also introduce new reforms in its free trade zone and accelerate Sino-German and Sino-UK industrial park construction. An exterior view of a service center in Kunming Area of China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province on Jan. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) Southwest China's Yunnan Province will beef up efforts to advance reform and opening-up by relying on its free trade zone. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also unveiled plans to apply for a free trade zone in their government work reports this year. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would increase the cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This would be favorable for Yunnan to expand opening-up, said Ma Yong, head of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. CARBON PEAK Amid the country's all-out efforts to meet its 2060 carbon-neutral target, provincial authorities said they would formulate action plans to achieve carbon emission peaks by reducing emissions and expanding renewable energy usage, among other measures. Shanghai aims to bring the city's carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2025. It would be five years ahead of the national target of 2030, according to the municipal government. Electricians check photovoltaic solar panels in Sheyanghu Township of Baoying County, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Bo) Liaoning province said it would compile and implement an action plan for carbon emission peaks through developing renewable energy such as solar and wind power, afforestation, and promoting the carbon trading market. Provinces such as Jiangsu and Guangdong also vowed to take the lead in peaking their carbon emissions. The office of China Emissions Exchange (Guangzhou) in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (China Emissions Exchange (Guangzhou)/Handout via Xinhua) China has announced that it will strive to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060. One priority is to adjust energy and industrial structures to meet the carbon peak target, and it is necessary to take a differentiated and inclusive approach, experts say. DIGITAL CURRENCY Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong plan to promote digital currency pilot applications in their local government work reports. Beijing will accelerate innovation demonstration zone construction for fintech and professional services. The city will also advance the pilot use of digital currency, Mayor Chen Jining said. He made the comments while elaborating on the significant tasks this year in the municipal government work report. Guangdong plans to support Shenzhen in building a pilot zone for digital currency innovation. Shenzhen, Beijing, and Suzhou have all piloted the digital yuan since last year. Efforts are underway to include more people in this fast-developing digital era, making daily life easy and digital payments more secure. 5G USE China is accelerating its pace to construct information infrastructure for the 5G era to boost production and consumption upgrades. Passengers' body temperature information is displayed on the monitor of a 5G body temperature screening system at Nanning East Railway Station in Nanning City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Feb. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Lu Boan) Guangdong will have 220,000 5G base stations by 2022, with its 5G users reaching 60 million. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plans to build 20,000 5G base stations this year and expand the 5G network in cities, counties, and townships. Southwest China's Guizhou will support the applications of 5G and artificial intelligence. The opening of the World 5G Convention in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province on Nov. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Deng Hua) 14th FIVE-YEAR PLAN The year 2021 marks the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with the country embarking on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country. The local legislative sessions also reviewed and adopted the provincial-level 14th five-year plan outlines. The economic growth targets and measures to implement the national development strategies and policies are included in the local 14th five-year plans, with high-quality development, innovation, and opening-up among the most significant aspects of regional development blueprints. ANTI-POVERTY CAMPAIGN In 2020, all the remaining poverty-stricken counties across the country were delisted despite the COVID-19 impact, marking a decisive victory in the country's tough battle against poverty. Villagers are seen at a square in Simola Wa Village in Qingshui Town of Tengchong City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Places such as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan have announced measures to consolidate the poverty reduction outcomes and promote rural vitalization at the local legislative sessions. A sales assistant (L) and a resident relocated from a poverty-stricken area observe a batik product at a batik workshop in Danzhai County of Guizhou Province in southwest China, Dec. 1, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Ying) Yunnan plans to build 100 demonstration townships and 10,000 "beautiful villages" among its efforts to vitalize the rural areas and improve the rural residents' living environment. (Written by Ma Xiaoran, Li Laifang, Xu Yang, Zhang Yujie, Wang Qin'ou, Yao Bing, Li Zheng, and Sun Renbin; video reporters: Yao Bing, Chen Xinbo, Dainzin Nyima Kukchu, Sun Yang, Jiang Zhaochen and Yao Yu; video editor: Wu Yao) Patna, Feb 3 : The Patna police has finally managed to make the first arrest in connection with the sensational murder of IndiGo airline official Rupesh Kumar Singh, 23 days after the crime. Patna SSP Upendra Sharma said the accused identified as Ritu Raj (29) committed the crime as revenge over a road rage incident involving Rupesh Singh in the last week of November, 2020. Ritu Raj along with three of his accomplishes executed the murder of Rupesh Singh without knowing his original identity. The accused himself confessed to the crime before the media. "It was a very complicated case of murder with very few clues. We have scanned over 600 CCTV cameras and DVR to find the accused. Footage was matched before we zeroed in on the accused," Sharma said. As per the confession of the accused, he nearly met with an accident on November 29, 2020 at LJP office located near Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan Airport. "The accused was taking a u-turn and speeding vehicle of Rupesh Singh came at the same time. The accused claims that he narrowly avoided an accident but the IndiGo official (Rupesh Singh) was involved in a heated exchange of words with him followed by which he also slapped him three to four times," the SSP said. Ritu Raj claims that despite his pleas to stop Rupesh thrashed him. Rupesh also wanted to take him to the police but Ritu Raj managed to flee. He did not want to get involved in a police case as he was travelling on a stolen bike. "Following the incident, the accused remembered the registration number of Rupesh's vehicle and decided to take revenge for the incident. Ritu Raj was involved in stealing bikes and cars in Patna and his target area was around Rajvanshi Nagar, Vidhan Sabha, Bailey Road. While he was sipping tea at Rajvanshi Nagar Hanuman temple a week after the incident, he spotted the vehicle of Rupesh Singh. (The place was a frequent route between Patna airport and apartment of Rupesh Singh located at Punaichak). The accused followed him but was unable to execute the murder. He confessed that he made three to four attempts to locate the apartment of Rupesh Singh," Sharma said. On January 12, the accused along with his three associates on two bikes went to the gate of Rupesh's apartment. When Rupesh's SUV reached the gate at 6.58 p.m., all four accused approached his SUV and open fired on Rupesh. Ritu Raj himself claims that he fired at him from close range. Though he doesn't remember the number of gunshots he fired," the SSP said. "I fired from close range till he died on the spot. The idea was to escape from the crime scene as soon as possible," Ritu Raj said. "The accused did not know till that night about who he had killed. He got the information about the deceased from the newspaper the next day. He then realised that the person he killed was Rupesh Singh, the station head of IndiGo Airlines and an important person in the city. Ritu Raj escaped to Ranchi by bus on January 13. He stayed there at the railway station, abd other places in the city. He also stayed at his relatives in Ranchi and Patratu. He returned on Monday and we have arrested him on Tuesday," the SSP claimed. Despite pressure from the UKs climate change advisors, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons office says it will not intervene in Cumbria County Councils decision to approve the countrys first new deep coal mine in 30 years. The government interrupted the development of West Cumbria Minings Woodhouse Colliery project, in north-west England, in October while it decided whether to call in the application or hand the decision back to local authorities. Cumbrias council announced in January it had received confirmation that the decision to allow the coal mine would not be reversed. Since first proposed, the project has faced steep opposition from environmental groups urging the government to intervene and block it. They claim the new coal mine would emit 8 million tonnes of carbon annually, undermining the countrys pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. As the UK prepares to host the COP26 climate summit in November, considered the most important climate negotiations since the Paris agreement in 2015, the chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has called on planning minister Robert Jenrick to reconsider the projects approval. CCCs chair Lord Deben said in a letter to Jenrick that while it was not the councils role to act as a regulator or a planning authority, he would urge the minister to consider further the UKs policy towards all new coal developments. The Johnson administrations difficult position echoes a bigger conundrum, writes Bloombergs columnist Akshat Rathi. Many countries are trying to balance their desire to contribute to the global fight against climate change against domestic pressures to exploit their own natural resources. Net-zero goal questioned The planned mine is expected to produce as much as 3.1 million tonnes of metallurgical coal a year until 2049, one year before the country must have net zero emissions. While the UK will use some of that coal in its steel industry, 85% of it is marked for export to Europe. In that period, the mine will provide 500 jobs, but the CCC also expects it to add about 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent of emissions each year. Of course, job creation is absolutely vital to communities but we must look forward to the jobs of 21st century, not back to those in declining industries, Greenpeace UKs policy director Doug Parr said in a statement. If we want to avoid dangerous climate change, giving the go-ahead to a new coal mine takes us in completely the wrong direction, Friends of the Earth said in a separate statement. A study by the center-right think tank Bright Blue, published in October, shows that most in the UK are skeptical about achieving the net-zero target by 2050. Englands last operating deep coal mine, Kellingley, closed in 2015 and the countrys last coal mine stopped operating last year. By Mining.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In this April 3, 2014 file photo giant machines dig for brown coal at the open-cast mining Garzweiler in front of a smoking power plant near the city of Grevenbroich in western Germany. World leaders breathed an audible sigh of relief that the United States under President Joe Biden is rejoining the global effort to curb climate change, a cause that his predecessor had shunned. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File) Germany's economy minister says the country beat its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% last year compared to 1990 levels. Peter Altmaier said figures show Germany's emissions of planet-heating gases were 42% lower in 2020 than three decades ago, confounding warnings that the country couldn't meet its goal. While the coronavirus pandemic helped reduce emissions, Altmaier said the target might have been achieved anyway even without the drop in economic activity because of the lockdown. Altmaier said the figures proved those wrong who had doubted the country would meet its goal. "We have now achieved it, not just because of corona but because emissions trading worked," he said. Companies in the energy and industrial sectors are allocated a certain number of emissions in Europe. These can either be used or sold, providing a financial incentive to reduce emissions. Starting this year, Germany also introduced a national emissions trading systems for the heating and transport sectors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed a target to reduce emissions across the European Union to 'net zero' by 2050, meaning the amount released into the atmosphere can't be greater than the amount captured again by natural or artificial means. Scientists say achieving that goal will help prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times. Separately, the German government agreed Wednesday to increase the share of renewable fuels in the transport sector to 28% over the next decadedouble the target set by the European Union as a whole. Greenhouse gas emissions in Germany's transport sector have hardly declined since 1990 as more and cars cars hit the road, outweighing the effect of more efficient engines. The government's plan, which needs to be approved by parliament, includes incentives for the use of electric cars, hydrogen and biofuels made from renewable sources. Environmental groups said that the plan only requires the phaseout of palm oil for biofuels by 2026. Palm oil currently makes up a fifth of the biofuel used in Germany. Airlines will be required to use at least 2% synthetic kerosene by 2030. Explore further EU set to meet two of its three 2020 climate goals 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The UK government is in talks with the European Commission over an indefinite ban on the export of certain types of live shellfish to the European Union. As part of the post-Brexit trading rules, UK fishermen have been banned from selling live bivalve molluscs mussels, oysters, clams, cockles and scallops to EU member states. Only ready-to-eat shellfish can now be exported. Under rules which came into force on 1 January, the molluscs must be treated in UK purification plants before being shipped to the EU. Previously the purification process could take place in the destination country. The UK fishing industry said it the new rules will have a marked impact as it does not have enough purification tanks ready and the process can slow exports, making them less viable. In a statement sent to just-food, the UK governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: Live bivalve molluscs such as oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops can continue to be exported to the EU if theyre harvested from Class A waters or cleaned, or have cleared end product testing in the UK. "We will continue to raise the issue of live bivalve molluscs not ready for human consumption with the EU, to ensure the trade can continue securely." According to UK broadcaster the BBC, the UK government previously said it thought the restrictions on exports of bivalve molluscs would end on 21 April but the Commission wrote to leading UK companies on 13 and 19 January to tell them the current arrangement would be in place indefinitely. just-food asked the Commission for a response to this story. An EC spokesperson said: "Import into the EU, from third countries, of live bivalve molluscs which are intended for placement on the EU area market (and also Northern Ireland), for human consumption, is allowed only if they originate from classified areas and meet all the sanitary requirements for molluscs destined for immediate human consumption." Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more The spokesperson added: "The Commission can confirm that it has informed the British shellfish industry that the above mentioned requirements are not temporary and are now applicable to all shellfish imported from the UK." Jagame Thandhiram, the Dhanush starrer has been creating headlines after the rumours regarding its OTT release started doing rounds. The OTT release reports hadn't gone well with the Dhanush fans and cine-goers, who bashed the makers for the same. However, the latest reports suggest that Jagame Thandhiram might get a theatrical and OTT release on the same day. Yes, you read it right. If the reports are to be believed, the production banner Y Not Studios has been rethinking the decision to release the film on the OTT platform, after receiving extreme backlash from the audiences. So, the banner is now considering the possibilities of releasing Jagame Thandhiram on theatres as well as OTT platform, on the same day. Recently, it was reported that the leading man Dhanush had a fallout with producer Sashikanth after the streaming rights were sold to Netflix. According to the grapevine, both Dhanush and director Karthik Subbaraj are extremely unhappy with the film going the OTT way. Jagame Thandhiram: Dhanush & Producer Sashikanth Not On Talking Terms Over Film's Netflix Release? The final decision on releasing the film in theatres and OTT platforms together will be made, only after the theatre owners consider the possibilities. That is the reason why the makers are keeping mum on the release on Jagame Thandhiram, even after getting bashed by the netizens from the past couple of days. Coming to the project, the gangster thriller marks Dhanush's first collaboration with Karthik Subbaraj, who is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of contemporary Tamil cinema. The motion poster and songs of Jagame Thandhiram have totally raised the expectations over the film, which is unarguably one of the most-awaited releases on Tamil cinema in 2021. Also Read: Dhanush Fans Slams Jagame Thandhiram Makers After Karnan Team Announces The Theatrical Release Jagame Thandhiram Gearing Up For An OTT Release; The Dhanush Starrer To Release On Netflix? New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday named three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members -- Sanjay Singh, N.D. Gupta and Sushil Gupta -- for causing disruption in the proceeding of the House. The Chairman exercising the powers named the three MPs and asked them to withdraw from the House as other political parties agreed to discuss the farm laws in the motion of thanks of the President. The AAP members forced adjournment for a short period and the House reassembled at 9.40 a.m. Earlier the opposition agreed to discuss the motion of thanks prior to the discussion on contentious farm laws and it was decided to increase the time of the discussion unanimously. Leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The government has cited that there is no ritual of discussing anything before the motion of thanks so all the opposition agreed to discuss the thanks motion and take up the farmers issue later." The Chairman after the proposal of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi agreed on the broad consensus in the House and also gave nod to increase the timing of the discussion to 15 hours to discuss farm laws. Earlier, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma gave suspension of Business notice on farm laws while Rajiv Satav gave zero hour notice on the issue. DMK's T. Shiva gave a zero hour notice on the issue of Sri Lankan Navy harassment of Indian fishermen as Rajya Sabha is scheduled to take Motion of Thanks of the President speech. The opposition on Tuesday forced the Upper House to be adjourned for the day after Chairman Venkaiah Naidu rejected a suspension notice given by the opposition on the farm laws. The rejection did not go down well with the opposition members who raised slogans before the Chairman's podium. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text ST. LOUIS, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch, the country's largest brewer and a leading American manufacturer, today announced it is planning to invest more than $1 billion over the next two years in its facilities to drive economic prosperity in communities across the U.S., further fortify its operations, and strengthen its connections with consumers. The commitment comes at a time when the country begins looking forward to recovering from the job losses and economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Anheuser-Busch and our brands have always been there for the times that matter, and it matters now. This past year has required that we all adapt in unexpected and challenging ways, but our connection and commitment to supporting our people, communities and partners remains unchanged," said Michel Doukeris, CEO of Anheuser-Busch. "Right now, our big dream is the recovery of our country. It's the reopening of our neighborhood restaurants and bars, it's cheering on our favorite teams and gathering together in person. We are here to find a better way to lead a safe and strong recovery, and we're starting by investing across our U.S. supply chain to protect the industry and the millions of people who rely on it for their livelihoods. These investments are immediate and happening now." This capital expenditure program across 26 states will expand Anheuser-Busch's U.S. operations, support ongoing industry job creation and retention, stimulate economies in communities across the country, and enable sustainable innovations. Nearly $100 million of this planned investment will go towards sustainability projects including solar panel installments, water treatment and other similar initiatives over the next two years. "I want to thank Anheuser-Busch for investing in New Jersey during this challenging time in our nation's history," said Governor Phil Murphy. "We appreciate all that Anheuser-Busch has done to help those in need during the pandemic, from donating hand sanitizer to making significant capital investments in our beer industry. Anheuser-Busch first opened their Newark plant 70 years ago and we in New Jersey recognize that this is a company clearly committed to helping us to safely recover from this unprecedented public health and economic crisis." Anheuser-Busch owns and operates more than 120 facilities across 27 states and employs more than 19,000 hardworking people. The beer industry in the U.S. creates more than 2.1 million jobs and generates more than $328 billion in economic activity each year. The pandemic put a strain on every business and every industry, and the manufacturing sector is no different. "Anheuser-Busch's bold, historic investment in manufacturing and American jobs will drive economic growth and create promising new opportunities. It is yet another example of manufacturers keeping our promises in recent years to invest in our people and our communities," said Jay Timmons, CEO, National Association of Manufacturers. "This investment will help American families, put people back to work, strengthen communities and support our economic recoverywhile also advancing critical sustainability goals. Anheuser-Busch, in the tradition of the greatest manufacturers in America, is dedicated to building our country's future, and the NAM is grateful for their continued partnership and extraordinary leadership." "We are committed to protecting peoples' livelihoods across our entire supply chain from farmers and bartenders to truck drivers and team members in our own facilities," said Dave Taylor, U.S. Chief Supply Officer at Anheuser-Busch. "As the only brewer and alcohol manufacturer that can make an impact of this magnitude, we take this responsibility seriously. We know that when our communities get stronger, our country gets stronger, and that's a step towards recovery. By investing in these communities and their capabilities, we're ensuring that together, with all of our partners, we can brew and deliver great beer for many years to come." To reinforce the company's focus on its role in the recovery, today Anheuser-Busch unveiled its first-ever corporate Super Bowl commercial, called "Let's Grab A Beer." For many people, dreaming big means looking forward to better times and being with friends and family again. The film reminds people of life's meaningful moments big and small when being together matters most, and the role A-B's products can play as a connector and a catalyst. The ad will reintroduce Anheuser-Busch as a company whose heritage as a brewer is the foundation for serving up a better way to make a meaningful impact far beyond the products it sells. "The insight comes straight out of real life as so many people are just longing to be together with their friends and family again," said Marcel Marcondes, CMO, Anheuser-Busch. "So, while the spot shows many of the brands in our portfolio in different situations, the beer is not the hero of the ad. The people are. Now more than ever, it's become clear just how much people miss getting together. As the leader in the beer category, we felt the responsibility to tell that story." ANHEUSER-BUSCH'S HISTORY OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT Today's announcement represents the next phase in a period of extensive, ongoing investment by Anheuser-Busch, which totals almost $6 billion over the last decade. It is just one part of the economic activity the brewer is helping drive as the nation looks towards a new normal. The brewer proudly supports the U.S. agricultural community, sourcing the majority of its ingredients from more than 900 American farms. Its products are made with 100% U.S. corn and rice, and 98% U.S. barley. Anheuser-Busch is also supporting the recovery of the bar and restaurant community that is the heart and soul of our communities and a critical part of the nation's economy. To lift up bars and restaurants impacted by COVID-19, Anheuser-Busch donated over $2 million in partnership with the U.S. Bartenders Guild, the James Beard Foundation and others to support the bar and restaurant industry that has been so devastated. The brewer also joined the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Revival Campaign as the exclusive beer partner to support safe and successful re-openings across the country, and through Stella Artois, committed $2.25 million to the ServSafe Dining Commitment. In April 2020, Anheuser-Busch began leveraging its unique production capabilities to produce hand sanitizer at its Baldwinsville, NY and Los Angeles, CA breweries. Leveraging its wholesaler network and collective logistics expertise, the brewer donated more than 500,000 bottles to support critical relief efforts across 20 states and Washington, D.C. Ahead of the November election, Anheuser-Busch also donated more than 8 million ounces of hand sanitizer to polling sites across the country to help ensure the safety of voters and election workers. Most recently, Budweiser, one of Anheuser-Busch's flagship brands, decided to forgo its in-game Super Bowl airtime and reallocate its advertising dollars to help support vaccine awareness and education in partnership with the Ad Council through various marketing efforts throughout the year. Read more about Anheuser-Busch's support of COVID-19 recovery efforts here. About Anheuser-Busch For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most recognizable beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook and Instagram . SOURCE Anheuser-Busch Related Links http://www.anheuser-busch.com Streetwise: Residential Architecture Of The Outside Lands by Frank Dunnigan February 2021 Homes in the west side of San Francisco possess many different styles, depending on the era of construction. Whether single-family or multi-family unitsincluding houses, flats, apartmentsthere were usually some standard features present. APARTMENT HOUSES Although most home construction in the western neighborhoods involved single-family homes, there were also numerous low-rise three-story apartment buildings (no elevators required at the time of construction in the 1920s/30s/40s). In addition, many larger buildings of 5+ stories were also built in areas both north and south of Golden Gate Park, including eleven high-rise towers of 13 stories each at Parkmerced after World War II. BUILT-IN ICE BOXESMany early Doelger homes featured the convenience of built-in ice boxes. With a space-saving design, these units were constructed within a wall of cabinets, and included a drain to the outside, thus eliminating the old issue of having to empty a catch basin of melted ice before it overflowed onto the floor. I can still remember my grandmother using an ice box in her Doelger home on 21st Avenue near Rivera in the 1950sas she patiently sat at home, waiting for the regular ice delivery until my parents finally persuaded her to buy an electric refrigerator. BATHROOM TILEWORKTiny octagon-shaped floor and wall tiles, often in a pale-blue-and-white color scheme were standard in many 1920s bathrooms. By the 1930s, however, larger tiles in a kaleidoscope of pastel colors, often trimmed in black, dark brown, or forest green began appearing in newer homes. BUILDERSNumerous construction companies contributed to the settlement of the western neighborhoods over the years. Among the larger firms were Doelger, Galli, Gellert Brothers, Stoneson Brothers, Sunstream Homes, and Rousseau Brothers (with highly stylized storybook facades). Here is a listing of some of the many designs offered by Doelger over the years plus an image of Rousseau homes along 36th Avenue in the Sunset: https://www.outsidelands.org/doelger-types.php CAN OPENERSPrior to the 1960s-era popularity of electric can openers, virtually every home featured a wall-mounted hand-crank can opener in the kitchen. CENTER PATIOSWith most homes built touching one another, a center patio (sometimes located on the side of house adjacent to the kitchen) offered much-needed daylight and fresh air to multiple interior rooms along with additional skylights throughout the home. Eventually, many of these patios were covered over with glass skylights, minimizing fresh air, but creating an interior solarium for plants. CHRISTMAS LIGHT FRAMESNeighborhoods that celebrated the holidays with outdoor lighting often utilized custom-built wooden frames that outlined the front windows with lights. These were stored in the garageoften hung from hooks on the ceilingand passed down from one owner to the next. CONCRETE WASH TUBSMost garages once contained twin concrete wash tubs in the era before automatic washing machinesone for washing the clothes and one for rinsing them. These also provided hours of amusement for kids and sailboats on rainy days, often leading to parental shouts from upstairs: Do I hear water running down there? COOLERSConstructed as part of kitchen cabinetry, coolers were built with open-slat shelving and a screened vent to the outside. With cooler weather in the western neighborhoods, these allowed for storage of fruits, vegetables, and other semi-perishable items in a space with natural ventilation, rather than having to store them in the relatively small refrigerators of the past. DISHWASHERSFor most of us growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, these were non-mechanical and known as children. DOOR RELEASE HANDLESFor 1920s/30s homes with glass-paneled entry doors at street level and an interior staircase to the main level, there was often a 12-inch mechanical door-release lever at the top of the stair case so that the resident could open the front door to visitors without having to descend and climb the stairs each time. ENTRANCESEarlier homes (left) often had outside entrance stairs while later homes (right) often utilized tunnel entrances for access. The tunnel entrance became particularly popular circa 1940 as multiple builders sought to increase the interior square footage of home on lots that were a standard 25 x 120 feet in size. By 1960, these tunnel entrance homes were thought to be susceptible to burglary because the front doors were completely hidden from street view. This is why they were often the first homes to be outfitted with locked wrought-iron entry gates, now a familiar sight in the western neighborhoods. IRONING BOARDSA built-in amenity in many 1930s/40s-era kitchens, these units were concealed behind a tall, narrow dooroften with a small fireproof metal box built beneath for storing the iron itself. These units fell into decline by the 1960s when many clothing items were produced with wrinkle-free fabrics. Many of the original ironing boards were transformed into shelving units for spices, canned goods, or knick-knacksand sometimes entirely walled over during kitchen renovation projects. FIREPLACESWhile central gas furnaces eliminated the most basic need for a fireplace, many homes continued to feature this amenity. Whether used or not, the fireplace was often the preferred photo location for first-day-of school, prom, holiday, and family gathering images such as the one in this 85-year-old home in the Parkside that formed a backdrop for hundreds of images over the years. FLATSSan Franciscos post-World War II housing crunch led to the construction of many more flatsessentially two full-sized homes stacked one on top of the other. These helped to relieve the post-War housing shortagethough no one ever relished carrying groceries from the garage to the top floor unit. GARAGESThe growth in automobile ownership, particularly in the post-World War I era, helped bring about the inclusion of garages in new home construction from that point on. In many parts of the Richmond and Sunset Districts, front porches are a rare home amenity, likely because of the often-foggy weather. Still, every block had some older residents who enjoyed sitting at an open garage door while keeping an eye on the comings and goings of nearby neighbors and exchanging greetings with them. Neighborhood icon Jack Goldsworthy, long-time owner of the classic brick Mohawk service station that used to be located at the SE corner of 16th & Irving, was a regular presence at his adjacent home on 16th Avenue until his passing in 2012 at the age of 86. Read more: https://www.outsidelands.org/goldsworthy-gas.php LAUNDRY CHUTESGiven the design of most homes with the living unit over the garage, laundry chutes were a popular amenity and also provided a convenient method for torturing smaller siblings. LAWNSAs late as the 1970s, many San Francisco homes still had well-maintained tiny strips of lawn in the front. After several seasons of low rainfall beginning circa 1977, thousands of lawns, both front and back, were replaced with concrete, mulch, or rocksor simply left as a dead patch of dirt and weeds. In an effort to improve neighborhood appearances and to reduce the amount of rainwater runoff into the sewer system, the City instituted a Front Yard Ambassador Program for the Sunset District in 2014. Read more: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sunset-residents-give-new-life-to-formerly-paved-front-yards-with-drought-tolerant-landscaping PUSH-BUTTON LOCKSMany local homes relied on San Francisco manufacturer Schlage Lock Company, located on Bayshore Blvd., for the glass doorknobs with push-button locks used on thousands of bedroom and bathroom doors. RUMPUS ROOMSThis vintage term referred to a finished room (often with an attached half-bathroom) constructed on the garage level of a home. Often outfitted with knotty-pine paneling, these were rainy-day playrooms, guest rooms, party rooms, and places of escape for teens who relished independence from other family members. Many were outfitted with an old piano, elaborate bar set-ups and record players for pre-World War II entertaining. Read more: https://www.outsidelands.org/streetwise-knotty-pine.php SPLIT BATHROOMSMany home builders included the convenience of split bathrooms in their floor plans, with a toilet and small sink in one room, while the tub, shower, and full-size basin were in a separate room. This proved to be a much-welcomed amenity when homes filled up with baby-boomer children in the 1950s and 1960s and someone really had to go at the same time that another family member was using the tub or shower. STOVESWhether Wedgwood, Tappan, OKeefe & Merritt, or other brands, the most popular stoves in the neighborhood were natural gas, though electric ranges began to emerge in newer construction and as part of kitchen remodels beginning in the late 1950s. TELEPHONESMostly black Bakelite material with a rotary dial, kept on a built-in shelf in the hall. Homes had exactly ONE line and perhaps an extension phone in the garage. When a family had multiple kids in the 1950s, the rule was usually FIVE MINUTES PER CALL. The introduction of extra-long telephone cords allowed lovelorn teens a brief bit of privacy when trying to arrange a date for the school dance. Some larger families (I know of one such with 9 children, living on 10th Avenue near Judah in the 1960s) resorted to installation of a second line in the name of family harmony. These were often listed in the telephone directory beneath the parents listing as CHILDRENS TELEPHONE. TRADE ENTRANCESA small side door, adjacent to the garage and usually kept unlocked, led to a separate walkway (separated from the garage by a solid wall) up a wooden staircase to a door adjacent to the kitchen. This was essential in the days when homes had daily deliveries of ice, wood, coal, groceries, and many other goods and services. Gradually, these entrances were bolted out of security concerns, and today, many of them serve as entranceways leading to old rumpus rooms that have been converted into living units. Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places! JERRY GARNER, chief of police for the city of Corinth, is a veteran of nearly 50 years spent in law enforcement. He holds a masters degree in administration of justice and has authored 12 books and over 200 articles on law enforcement topics. [February 03, 2021] Blighter Surveillance Systems Targets US Defense and Security Market for Growth Opportunities CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blighter Surveillance Systems ('Blighter', www.blighter.com), the British designer and manufacturer of electronic-scanning radars and surveillance solutions, has announced the appointment of the consulting firm JGW Group (www.jgwgroup.com) as its US in-country strategic partner to support the company's expansion into the US defense and security market. Blighter has built its industry-leading expertise in electronic-scanning radars for wide area surveillance solutions and counter-UAS systems, over many years, and has a strong reputation, track record and customer base. As a world-leader in the development and manufacture of electronic-scanning radar and surveillance solutions, Blighter will be exploring further opportunities to support the US Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security in the ongoing fight against rapidly developing adversaries. This will build on Blighter's proven successes having already become a valuable partner of the US Department of Defense with the delivery of their A400 series radars as part of the AUDS CUAS platform for deployment to military and CNI bases over the last three years. The increasing need for border security, perimeter protection and surveillance systems to address the threat caused y drones, has resulted in record growth for the company with opportunities for expansion into the US market. This builds on the existing expertise of Blighter which has seen them providing advanced border security in high-risk regions for decades, including providing surveillance systems for the South Korean Army to monitor the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). "The demand in the US market for radar surveillance capabilities in defense and critical national infrastructure protection is increasing rapidly and is a key platform for Blighter's strategic international growth," said Angus Hone, chief executive officer, Blighter Surveillance Systems. "This appointment will be important for our success in the US and will enable us to build brand awareness, broaden our stakeholder engagement with customers and industry partners, and to identify new business opportunities in this key market. We are delighted to be taking this proactive step in expanding our presence in the US." Blighter continues to develop and extend its product range to keep at the forefront of radar capability and to meet the growing global need for effective technical solutions to counter the malicious use of drones. In Q4 2020, Blighter launched the latest in its range of market-leading radars, the A800 3D drone detection radar for land, air and sea surveillance. Andrew Wilson, President, JGW Group said: "The JGW Group is honored to be appointed by Blighter Surveillance Systems Limited to represent them in the US Defense and Civilian sectors. Our tag line of "Taking Technology to Market" is very much representative of what Blighter brings to these US market sectors. They have developed technically advanced radar modules that will support missions on land, sea and air at competitive rates. We at JGW see a bright future for Blighter with many of the top OEM's who are integrating these systems for government programs of record." About Blighter (www.blighter.com): Blighter Surveillance Systems employs 40 people and is located near Cambridge, UK. Blighter designs and manufactures world-beating 2D and 3D electronic-scanning ground-based radars, which can accurately detect drones, people, vehicles and boats at large distances. Its radars are key sensors in surveillance and counter-drone applications and are used in more than 35 countries around the world, delivering 24/7 security protection along national borders and coastlines, at military bases, and to protect maneuver force missions when deployed on military land vehicles and trailers. Blighter's radars also play a key role in guarding critical national infrastructure (CNI) sites such as airports, power plants and oil and gas facilities. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] California California Department of Motor Vehicles FBI Seattle Anita Gore Steve Gordon U.S. Postal Service (TNS) Personal information for possibly millions ofdrivers may have been accessible to hackers this month after a company contracting with thesuffered a security breach earlier this month.Law enforcement and theare investigating a ransomware attack that targeted Automatic Funds Transfer Services, acompany that handles billing and statement processing, and may have exposed DMV vehicle registration records that contain names, addresses, license plate numbers and vehicle identification numbers, officials said. In general, a ransomware attack infects and locks down a computer or network and demands a payment in order for the system to work again.The breach could potentially affect all Californians who registered a vehicle within the last 20 months, with an estimated 38 million records compromised, DMV spokeswomansaid. DMV systems have not been breached, the agency said. Officials did not specify how many people might be affected."We are investigating this recent data breach ... in order to quickly provide clarity on how it may impact Californians," DMV Directorsaid in a statement. "We are looking at additional measures to implement to bolster security to protect information held by the DMV and companies that we contract with."The DMV immediately stopped all data transfers to the company after being notified of the potential breach.Representatives for Automatic Funds were not available for comment. The company's website was down "due to technical issues" on Thursday.Gore said customers' social security numbers, payment information, birthdates, voter registration information, immigration status and driver's license information was not compromised because the DMV did not share this data with the vendor.The DMV has contracted with Automatic Funds since 2019 to cross-reference customer's addresses with thedatabase to ensure vehicle registration renewal notices are mailed to the correct address. The agency said it is initiating an emergency contract with a different company to prevent service interruptions.DMV officials are reviewing the company's processes to determine what security enhancements are needed to prevent future breaches."While the DMV Investigations branch has no indication at this time that information accessed by the ransomware attack on AFTS has been used by the attackers for any nefarious reason, the DMV urges customers to report any suspect activity to law enforcement," Gore said. Proud to announce that I will be taking over as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 117th Congress, Durbin said in a statement on Twitter. This moment in history demands much of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Im honored to lead my colleagues as we face these challenges. While addressing the graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Air Force's Asghar Khan Academy in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bajwa said it was time to extend 'hand of peace' but added that Pakistan will not allow 'anybody to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness' Islamabad: Pakistan and India must resolve the Kashmir issue in a "dignified and peaceful manner", Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Tuesday. General Bajwa was addressing the graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Asghar Khan Academy in Risalpur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to the Army. "Pakistan and India must resolve the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir...," he said. Pakistan is a peace-loving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace, he said. "We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions," he said. "However, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness," Bajwa said. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Emphasising on the need to protect the environment from various developmental hazards, the Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised the rule for no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for road projects up to 100 kms. The Chief Justice emphasised the true value of trees need to rationalised and their cost should be built into the cost of the project. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian was astonished to learn that there is no requirement of EIA for road stretches below 100 km. The Chief Justice said: "Show us the law which says this why it (EIA) is not necessary?" When counsel said that it was a government rule, the Chief Justice replied: "We would like to question this notification (no EIA for road stretches up to 100 kms). You cannot destroy the environment by cutting down trees. Prima facie, we do not consider it to be tenable. We will ask somebody to challenge it, or will issue notice." The top court emphasised that the whole environment is for everybody. Citing the flaws in the rule, the bench said it is not correct to go by the assumption that in a 100 km project, there would not be any damage to the environment. "We do not agree that if the project is less than 100 km, you don't need EIA," it reiterated. The Centre's counsel then clarified that state governments are supposed to decide on the EIA for road projects below 100 kms. The observation from the Chief Justice came during the hearing of a petition opposing felling of hundreds of heritage trees by the West Bengal government near Kolkata and the Bangladesh border for the construction of a railway overbridge (ROB). The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), which moved the top court against tree felling for the project, had said the agencies concerned did not explore the alternatives and the permission was granted to fell heritage trees, which were aged around 80-100 years. The top court had appointed a four-member expert committee in January last year to examine the matter which included heritage trees on Jessore Road. Citing the cost/benefit analysis of cutting down 300 trees, the committee said: "The cost of micro nutrients + compost + biofertilizer + oxygen for 300 trees felled 100 years before their natural age is Rs 2.2 billion, which is more 2x the cost of the project. In this computation, the cost of the tree products is held at current prices and the real value over time would obviously be much higher than Rs 2.2 billion." The Chief Justice cited this value of trees to advocate Prashant Bhushan, who was representing APDR, and asked him to draw a protocol where governments explore possibility of using either railway or waterways, instead of cutting trees. "The value of each tree has to be rationalised, and the cost of trees should be included in the built into the cost of the project," noted the bench. The bench also remarked the aspect translocation of trees should also be explored. At this stage of the matter, Bhushan cited the non-requirement of EIA for roads below 100 kms and the court made critical remarks against this rule. Bhushan said when such projects are sanctioned, an EIA is carried out and it is taken into account for giving an environmental clearance. The bench queried: "Can you still give us a note on protocol showing provisions of environmental law? It also if the government decides to 'Go East', then why not consider the existing sea routes and railway network, instead of felling trees. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on February 18. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) This weeks batch of new products includes Irelands Valeo Foods taking Rowse honey into the UK chocolate spreads category and Nestle is launching Lilys Kitchen pet food in China. Valeo takes Rowse honey brand into chocolate spreads Ireland-based Valeo Foods has taken its UK honey brand Rowse into chocolate spreads. It has launched ChocoBee, which is made from just honey and sustainable cocoa. The new product marks Rowses first foray beyond honey. Kirstie Jamieson, the brands marketing director, said: We know consumers are looking for a chocolate spread that not only tastes great but delivers on their desire to choose sustainable products, meaning no palm oil and 100% sustainably-sourced ingredients. Its a very versatile product suitable for both vegetarians and coeliacs that can also be stirred into porridge or added to hot milk to make a delicious hot drink. Rowse ChocoBee is already on sale in Asda with other retailers due to follow this month. It has a RRP of GBP2.49 (US$3.40) for a 340g jar. Last week, UK broadcaster Sky News suggested Valeo owner CapVest could be set to put the business up for sale. Nestle launches Lilys Kitchen in China Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more The Swiss giant has opened up a new market for the UK pet-food business it acquired last year. A deal with distributor Penefit International has seen Lilys Kitchen products go on sale through online retailers Tmall and jd.com. London-based Lilys Kitchen said it expects China to become one of the main export markets for the business and foresees particularly strong demand for its cat-food products. Lilys Kitchen products are sold in more than 30 countries outside the UK, including across Europe, select markets in the Middle East and in Asia. The brand has carved out a foothold in Asian markets including Japan and South Korea. Bel Group launches plant-based alt-cheese product Nurishh in UK Frances Bel Group has launched a plant-based Camembert cheese alternative in the UK in the shape of Nurishh. The lactose- and gluten-free product has been approved by the UKs Vegan Society. It is being sold in Sainsburys for GBP3.50 (US$4.77) for a 140g tub. Nurishh is made from ingredients including coconut oil and sunflower protein. Fazer addresses kids health with Minis cereals, snacks Fazer Group is responding to parents concerns over salt and sugar with plans to roll out what the Finnish food manufacturer claims are more healthy versions of its Minis brand, specifically directed at children. The new line-up of Fazer for Minis cereals, crisps and milk drinks are due to hit supermarket shelves this spring, with special attention paid to the amount of salt, sugar and fibre. Fazer said it expects to launch more of the Minis products later in the year. Fazer for Minis Oat Chips (150 grams), which are both milk- and lactose-free, will be available in two flavours, Sour Cream & Onion and Taco. The Sour Cream & Onion flavour contains 6.9% sugar, but only 2% added sugar. The Taco flavour contains 5.5% sugar, but only 3% added sugar. The salt content is only 0.7%. Fazer for Minis Oat Stars cereal (400g), also milk- and lactose-free, offers two options, oats and cocoa, with 15g of sugar and a salt content on 0.8%. Fazer for Minis Milk Drink (2.5 dl) is lactose-free and will come in cocoa and mango. The mango-flavoured drink contains no added sugar, only the natural sugar of the fruit and milk. The cocoa-flavoured drink has a sugar content of 6%, but only 1.2% of it is added sugar. Most of the sugars come naturally from milk. The salt content is 0.1%. Fazer said the Minis cereal and drinks have been granted the Finnish Heart Associations Heart Symbol. Almost every third Finnish parent has a guilty conscience about serving unhealthy snacks, and 40 percent would like to offer healthier and tasty options for their children, said Erika Aaltonen, brand Manager at Fazer. Snacks are an integral part of the lives of families with children. No matter how healthy the products are, children wont eat them if they dont like the taste and structure. TANAISTE Leo Varadkar has urged Northern Ireland to take advantage of the current situation amid ongoing tensions over the post-Brexit deal that avoids a hard border. Mr Varadkar said that companies that produce goods in the North have full unfettered access to British and EU markets and suggested this was not currently being exploited. It comes amid calls from the DUP for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped after the EU controversially tried to invoke Article 16 to nullify the protocol before it swiftly reversed its decision last Friday. Speaking today, Mr Varadkar acknowledged issues with the protocol and its functioning but said the North should take advantage of the post-Brexit arrangements. I think everyone appreciates that there have been some real practical difficulties in implementing it and thats evident from the fact that some supermarkets in Northern Ireland have had difficulty with supplies. There are issues we are dealing with every day, from yields to steel through to pets and all sorts of different issues, he said. Read More What the Irish Government wants to do is work with British government, the European Commission, and work with the Northern Ireland Executive, if they can come together on this to iron out and sort out some of those problems. He said the Government never wanted any trade borders and said they were a direct consequence of Brexit and that checks would have been avoided if the UK had remained in the customs union and single market. He said it was much more practical and much easier for checks to take place at ports in Northern Ireland and said the only way to change this was a cross-community majority in the Northern Assembly. That doesnt exist, thats the reality of the situation. Mr Varadkar said the European Commissions suggestion it would invoke Article 16 of the protocol last week was wrong, shouldnt have happened and was reversed quickly, but he said it would be equally wrong of the UK to do so. I believe they wont. I dont see Article 16 being invoked again either in Brussels or in London, he said. He continued: I would also hope that people will work with industry in Northern Ireland to take advantage of the current situation. Bear in mind somebody can produce goods in Northern Ireland, and they have full unfettered access to both the British market and the (EU) single market, and that's actually one of the bonuses for Northern Ireland that I think people, perhaps, are not exploiting to the extent they could. Mr Varadkar condemned threats against staff working at ports in Northern Ireland. I think any of us have to condemn utterly anyone who would threaten to do violence to somebody in the course of their work, whether they're a customs official working for the government, whether they're a member of the security forces or the police forces. There's no justification for anyone making any threats of violence to anyone when it comes to this issue. He was speaking at the launch of the first call for applications under the Governments 100m agrifood sector, which has been badly exposed to the impact of Brexit. Up to 70m is available under the first call of the Enterprise Ireland-administered scheme which is open to large, medium or small enterprises who process or market primary meat and dairy products. Eligible projects must have total eligible capital expenditure of at least 1m up to a maximum of 25m and grants of up to 5m can be availed of. It will help companies to explore new markets and diversify, Mr Varadkar said. He said the fund was multi-annual with the 100m spread over a number of years and there would be other funds to help the sector, including a Brexit adjustment fund of 1bn which is not yet allocated. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said he hoped there would be benefits for all those along the supply chain, but particularly farmers. Applicants will have to demonstrate that their projects will underpin sustainable food production. Green Party junior minister in the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett said the environmental impacts of each project will be taken into consideration. Fine Gael junior agriculture minister Martin Heydon said the past few weeks had not been easy for the agrifood sector but that the new scheme would help it to grow new markets. This new fund is a timely support for the Irish agrifood [sector], he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 23:42:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed on Wednesday by an Islamic State (IS) attack in the Syrian desert in central Syria, a war monitor reported. Some 11 of the slain fighters were pro-government fighters while the rest were Syrian soldiers, who were attacked by the IS in the desert region in the eastern countryside of Hama province in central Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said the battles are still taking place in the desert region combining a triangle of areas between the Hama, Aleppo, and Raqqa provinces in addition to the desert region of Homs and Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria. Since March 2019, 1,270 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters have been killed in the IS attacks in the desert. Additionally, 703 IS militants have been killed in the same period, according to the observatory. The IS has lost key areas across Syria but is now positioned in the sprawling desert region and carry out frequent attacks on Syrian military positions. Enditem NOTE: This story has been updated for attribution and clarity. A woman who tipped off police that her husband was planning on attacking government officials weeks after the Washington, D.C., riot said he had the means to do it, according to court documents. Kenelm L. Shirk III, accused of threatening to kill federal leaders, was stopped by state police on Jan. 21, police said. The Ephrata lawyer was found with an AR-15 rifle, two handguns, a large quantity of ammunition (including 30 rounds of .380 bullets), rope, gloves, and about $5,000 in several rolls of $50 bills, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Shirk was arrested at a Sheetz near Shippensburg. He was not only planning on harming D.C. officials, but his wife said he also had threatened her, according to the affidavit. The couple had had an argument about the election, but charging documents do not specify when the fight occurred. Shirk lives in Cornwall, Lebanon County. Authorities issued a bulletin about 8:20 p.m. on Jan. 21, according to LancasterOnline, which first reported the story. Thats when police pinged Shirks phone to locate him, according to the affidavit. Troopers along Interstate 81 south were able to intercept him. He was stopped at about 8:25 p.m. Shirks silver 2020 Subaru Forester was surrounded by police at the Sheetz gas pumps and they took him into custody. After he was detained, the 71-year-old underwent a mental evaluation at WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital. A nurse, who has been in the medical field for 16 years, told police she thought Shirk sounded serious about killing his wife and others, the affidavit said. The nurse said she did not want to see it on the news and feel like she was responsible. Documents showed the nurse relayed to authorities that Shirk made comments about shooting government officials in their front yard. This along with his comments about not being afraid to die made her afraid. According to the affidavit, the nurse reportedly found 50, quarter-sized plastic crosses in a bag in Shirks briefcase. The nurse notified the FBI after she found a to-do list in Shirks briefcase, which included on one side of the list, guns, ammo, ropes, tools, meds, magazines, according to the court documents. He has been in Franklin County Jail since Jan. 22 without bail on two counts of terroristic threats. Shirks preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 8 before Chambersburg District Judge Glenn Manns. Read more from PennLive Pa. woman charged in U.S. Capitol riot said she wanted to shoot Nancy Pelosi in the friggin brain: report An Irish satirical site has poked fun at a poor Offaly border town minding its own business, but the locals are taking it in good spirits. 'Man actually lives in Portarlington of his Own Free Will' is a story on the www.irelandoncraic.com website. "A 36 year-old man who doesnt seem mental or anything has said that he actually lives in the town of Portarlington of his own free will. Brian Delaney swears he has not been relocated there as part of a witness protection programme or anything like that and claims that he actually likes the place. "'I know everybody else lives here because they grew up here and dont have the money to leave but I think the place has a certain charm to it. I particularly love how all the buildings look like theyre about to collapse.' "Records show that in the last year alone 27 people died of boredom in Portarlington and those numbers continue to rise. Local councillor Barney Fitzmaurice told us the deaths have nothing to do with the current lockdown. "Mr. Fitzmaurice said the local council are currently waiting on a decision from An Bord Pleanala to approve plans to have Portarlington demolished and rebuilt." Read the full story here. The community Facebook page Love Portarlington shared the link, and said "something we had to share, best laugh we had in ages". Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 00:40:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ACCRA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of 20 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in schools in the Greater Accra region two weeks into reopening, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said here Tuesday. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director General of the GHS told the media in a press conference that there is also a limited outbreak of the virus in some schools in the Upper West and the Western regions of the country. The GHS announced last Thursday that three COVID-19 cases had been recorded in some schools in the Western and Upper West regions. All school levels in Ghana resumed teaching and learning in January this year after almost nine months of closure due to the outbreak of the pandemic. Ghana's total confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday stood at 67,782. Total active cases stood at 5,515 with 424 deaths recorded across the country. Enditem Up to 450 doses of the Pfizer jab have been wasted after a fridge was 'accidentally switched off' overnight at a vaccination centre. The vaccinations had to be binned after the 'power-related issue' with a fridge at Montgomery Hall in Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, last month. Ninety vials of the vaccine, each containing up to five doses, were wasted after the fridge was turned off by mistake, the Press Association reported. It comes as Matt Hancock today claimed he pushed the Government into the massive order for 100million doses of Oxford University's Covid vaccine instead of the originally planned 30million, saying he refused to 'settle for less'. The vaccinations had to be binned after the 'power-related issue' with a fridge at Montgomery Hall (pictured) in Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, last month Staff are understood to have discovered the vials had been kept at the wrong temperature when they checked the fridge early in the morning of January 8. Vaccine supplies were diverted to the hall so all patients due to receive their first dose at the site could still have it, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said. A CCG spokesman said: 'Following a power-related issue with the fridge at a vaccination service site, a number of Pfizer vaccine vials were compromised as a result of not being stored at the required temperature overnight, which meant staff were unable to administer that batch of vaccines. 'However, thanks to our partners across Rotherham, we were able to ensure all patients booked in at the site received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as planned.' Vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be stored below 8C in a fridge at vaccine centres for a few days after they have been removed from cold storage at minus 70C. Vaccine supplies were diverted to the hall so all patients due to receive their first dose at the site could still have it, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said. Pictured, vaccines in a fridge at a centre in Newcastle Guidance from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) now states that up to six doses can be extracted per vial, though this was not policy at the time of the incident. More than 10.1 million coronavirus jabs have been given in the UK so far, according to Government data, including 9.6 million first doses. Meanwhile, the Health Secretary said a landmark study published last night, which showed a single dose of the jab is 76 per cent effective for 12 weeks and that two-doses can cut transmission of the virus by up to two thirds, meant 'people right around the world can be confident in this Oxford vaccine'. The results have piled further pressure on Boris Johnson to end the lockdown. Tory backbencher John Redwood said the findings were 'more reason to plan [a] safe return to work and school'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today hit back against French President Emmanuel Macron's claim that the Oxford vaccine was 'quasi-ineffective' for elderly people, as he said last night's research makes it 'absolutely crystal clear' that the jab works. Dr Andrew Pollard, the lead investigator of Oxford's study, said of Mr Macron's comment: 'I don't understand what the statement means' Dr Andrew Pollard, who was the lead investigator on the Oxford trial, said today that vaccine makers would have to adapt to the ever-mutating virus but he hoped these original vaccines would give strong enough to immunity to prevent severe illness. Speaking about a concerning mutation first found on the South African variant and apparently capable of reducing the effectiveness of vaccines or natural immunity, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'That mutation is a really interesting one because it is in a bit of the spike protein that most of us try and make antibodies against, and so its highly likely that that will have a big impact on the immune response from all the vaccines... 'I think all developers are looking at updated vaccines at this moment so there will be vaccines that are tested and thats a relatively short process in order to make sure that we are prepared if these mutations result in ongoing severe disease. 'But I think there is a bit of hope in that, when we look at studies that have been done of the vaccines from any country in the world, including those with the variants, if they look at severe disease in those studies then were still seeing very good protection.' Yesterday 16,840 new cases were recorded, marking the lowest daily rise for eight weeks and offering more evidence that restrictions are inhibiting the spread of the disease. The 1,449 new deaths also heralded a drop of 11.2 per cent from last Tuesday's toll of 1,631 fatalities due to the disease. The PHE data showed Knowsley in Merseyside continues to have the highest infection rate in England, with 922 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 28 the equivalent of 611.2 cases per 100,000 people. However this is down from 898.2 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 21. Sandwell in the West Midlands has the second highest rate, down from 840.6 to 546.8, with 1,796 new cases. Slough in Berkshire is in third place, down from 807.8 to 543.0, with 812 new cases. Devon boasts the three areas with the smallest coronavirus presence, with Torridge only recording 28 cases per 100,000. On February 1, the UK passed the landmark of 10million vaccine doses, amid hopes that all adults could have received Covid jabs by the end of August. The government revealed another 352,935 jabs were administered in 24 hours as the huge push continued this week, taking the total into eight figures. Around three million people aged between 65 and 69 will start to be sent letters, meaning that some areas may be able to offer vaccines to those below the age of 70 before February 15 - when the four most vulnerable groups should have been covered. Forty nursing students from neighbouring Kerala have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting authorities to seal their college here as a precautionary measure on Wednesday, official sources said. The direction to seal the Aaliyah Institute of Nursing at Ullal in coastal Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, bordering Kerala, was given by the city municipality. Municipal Commissioner Rayappa said 40 students from Kerala studying in the college tested positive for COVID-19 after which the district health officer, nodal officer and himself visited the college and issued the order. The area has been sealed and other students have been isolated from the infected, he said. The step has been taken as a precautionary measure and people need not panic, Rayyappa added. All students from Kerala, which is still witnessing high caseload compared to several other states, including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have been directed to take the mandatory COVID-19 test before attending college. . BRIDGEPORT Scott Wilderman, president of Career Resources, is used to helping people find jobs. But now his nonprofit will be undertaking another mission: Helping elderly residents obtain the coronavirus vaccine. Career Resources is joining City Halls efforts to simplify the complicated process of registering online with the federal Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS, to schedule an appointment to receive two necessary doses. Currently only healthcare and emergency responders and people 75 years and older qualify. Beginning Friday at the senior apartments at Harborview, Career Resources will offer a mobile classroom typically used for job training and recruitment for computer access and hands-on assistance to older residents seeking to use VAMS. I think I know technology pretty well. I could understand it, Wilderman said Tuesday of his own experience helping his mother-in-law sign up for her vaccination. But its not the most user-friendly mechanism for anybody. Rowena White, Bridgeports director of communications, agreed. She said VAMS requires a computer, the internet and an email address, things that the most vulnerable population in the state and the city may not have access to. Besides Career Resources mobile classroom which is borrowed from another Bridgeport nonprofit, The WorkPlace White said the city is also assisting the elderly through its senior center hot line, 203-576-7993. That phone number is manned Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And, White said, municipal staff will be available at the city-run mass vaccination site at Central High School, which is open Wednesdays and Saturdays, to also register patients. It will take approximately an hour for each individual to go through the entire process from start to finish, she said. Wilderman said given the limited space within the mobile classroom, Harborview is taking appointments from its tenants to ensure all of the social distancing guidelines required to stop the spread of coronavirus will be followed within the vehicle. Future stops at other locations around the city will be announced. He cautioned that this is a new undertaking. Were going to try it, he said. We figure doing something is better than doing nothing. Wilderman added anyone wishing to volunteer their time and experience in helping with the vaccination registration effort can email him at wilderman@careerresources.org. Bridgeports effort to ramp up elderly vaccinations comes as data released by the state shows how much work remains across Connecticut, but particularly in heavily-populated urban areas, to provide shots to the 75 and older age group even as officials plan to open up the process to other categories. As of Feb. 1, 1,613 first vaccination shots had been administered to Bridgeports 6,914 seniors who are 75 and above. Were going to work with you to help you do better, Lamont said of the cities Monday. Were going to help catch up there, and make sure this incredibly vulnerable population gets their dose. I would like to think that within 10 days, two weeks, were going to be making available the vaccines to the 65-and-above group as well. White noted that Bridgeport is not only the most populous city but does not have as many nursing homes/long-term care facilities as other municipalities, where the operators can more quickly register their buildings populations and administer shots. Our seniors are individuals on their own, she said. However Bridgeports vaccination program is also moving ahead without a health director. Lisa Morrissey suddenly resigned from that position in early January. She could not be reached for comment. Before launching a months-long search for her replacement, Bridgeport decided to hire a health consultant to analyze that department and also help manage the continuing COVID response. White said interviews of consultants are underway and were looking forward to having an announcement soon. Ludwig Spinelli is head of Bridgeport-based Optimus Healthcare, which has been running a vaccination site at Hall Neighborhood House. Spinelli said one challenge is predicting the availability of doses. No one wants to schedule more appointments than you think you're going to have vaccine. Then youve got to call the people and cancel, he said Tuesday, adding: The state has been very supportive of trying to get us more vaccine. He also echoed the concerns about VAMS: A lot of the seniors dont have access to computers, email. So they need some guidance. Spinelli noted there could also be some fear or hesitation on the part of individuals to obtain their shots. We didnt have 100 percent of our staff take it, he said. We had about two thirds. ... We cant force people. We recommended it. The (Optimus) leadership took it. Some people may just be afraid. I had mine. Knock on wood it didnt bother me at all. BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (NPC) is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the German Bundestag, and make joint efforts to build a broader and more solid bridge of win-win cooperation between the two countries, a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday. Wang Chen, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, made the remarks when co-chairing a video conference between the NPC and the China-Bridge association with Hans-Peter Friedrich, vice president of the German Bundestag. He said that under new circumstances, unswervingly promoting the development of China-Germany all-round strategic partnership and China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership is not only in the interests of the two countries, but also of great significance for promoting China-EU cooperation and jointly responding to global challenges. Wang said the NPC is willing to deepen exchanges and cooperation with the German Bundestag, support the China-Bridge association in strengthening mutual understanding and enhancing consensus with the Chinese side, and make joint efforts to build a broader and more solid bridge of win-win cooperation between the two countries. Friedrich said that Germany and China have common interests in a wide range of fields including economy and trade, industry, and climate change. The China-Bridge association will be committed to promoting dialogue, exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. Police in Bungoma have in their custody a high school student accused of killing his father on Sunday night at Khayinga Village in Kanduyi Constituency. Brian Wekesa, 21, is said to have attacked his father, a 45-yr-old Jua Kali artisan, with a machete, inflicting fatal injuries. According to police, the father had gone to his sons house to inquire about his habitual absenteeism from school. The deceased is said to have found his son enjoying a romantic moment with a lady. Enraged at the fathers intrusion, the 21-yr-old suspect landed on him with blows and kicks, before inflicting deep cuts on his head and arms with a machete, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) indicated. Members of the public responded to distress calls by the suspects father but they were too little, too late; the man had already bled to death. The suspect, a form four student Kisuluni Secondary School, fled the scene but police later tracked him down to a friends house. Police expect to arraign the suspect today to face murder charges. Maharashtra COVID-19 tally more than 5 lakhs; Daily cases still under 30,000 Toolkit used by BJP to target opponents, says Sanjay Raut Maharashtra Lockdown-like Covid curbs to continue beyond June 1, unlocking to be in phased manner Ballot papers for elections in Maharashtra? Bill likely in state assembly's Budget session India oi-Madhuri Adnal Mumbai, Feb 03: The Maharashtra government is exploring the options to reintroduce ballot papers as a mode of conducting elections, and may introduce a bill during the state assembly's Budget Session, which is likely to start from March. Maharashtra Speaker Nana Patole said he has asked the state legislature to frame a law to give voters the option of using ballot papers besides EVMs in the local governing bodies'' and state Assembly polls. According to a statement issued on Patole's Facebook page, one Pradeep Uke from Nagpur had moved an application in this regard before the Speaker and accordingly, a meeting was held to discuss the same at Vidhan Bhavan here. State Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, the state's chief electoral officer Baldev Singh and others were also present for the meeting, the statement said. BJP appoints in-charges for poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam Speaking to PTI, Patole said,"I have asked the state government to frame a law in this connection. The state government can frame a law. In the past, doubts were raised during the elections (about EVM tampering)." Voting is a fundamental right and one should have the option of casting vote using ballot papers or EVM, he said. Several parties, including the Congress, had in the past urged the Election Commission to revert to the ballot paper system, alleging tampering of EVMs in polls. Representing the applicant on Tuesday, advocate Satish Uke said it is the right of voters from the state to have the option of casting their votes via ballot paper as well. According to the statement, he said it should be left to people to decide whether EVMs or ballot papers are trustworthy and it is the legislature''s responsibility to frame a law keeping in mind public sentiments. Several opposition parties across the country have in the past alleged tampering of EVMs and demanded reverting to the ballot paper system. However, the BJP had previously hit out at the opposition parties for raising doubts over the credibility of EVMs. Farmer Protest: After Rihanna and Greta support farmers' protest, Govt reacts sharply| Oneindia News In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are in power under the aegis of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, while the BJP is in the opposition in the state. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:47 [IST] The number of offices sitting empty in Australias cities has hit double-digit figures for the first time in six years and is rising, with vacancy rates not seen since the dark days of the 1990s recession. At the peak of the countrys last major recession in 1990-91, more than one-fifth of the countrys offices were empty. The office sector was hard hit by COVID. Credit:Joe Armao A report by the Property Council of Australia (PCA) shows the national office vacancy rate has reached 11.7 per cent and may go higher, hit by the double whammy of COVID-wary workers staying at home and a large increase in new office supply. This is an increase from 9.6 per cent in July last year. PCA chief executive Ken Morrison said the flight of city workers was not the primary cause of the sharp rise. While it was not a surprise to see office vacancies increase in the middle of a pandemic, it is the new supply of office space that is responsible for three-quarters of this impact, not reduced tenant demand, he said. New Delhi: Saudi Arabia has suspended the entry of travelers from nearly 20 countries in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The nation issued the statement saying that it will be temporarily suspending flights from over 20 countries, including India, with the exception of diplomats, Saudi citizens, medical professionals and their families. The suspension which comes into effect from Wednesday (February 3) includes travellers from United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Germany, the United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Pakistan, Argentina, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, France, Egypt, Lebanon, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Turkey. The ban is also imposed on the travellers who transited through the above-mentioned 20 countries within 14 days prior to their planned journey to the country. The step was taken as part of precautionary measures imposed by the Ministry of Health. The ban was announced just days after Oman, Saudi Arabias neighbouring country, delayed the reopening of its borders. Even though the country has mentioned that the ban on the flight is temporary, they have given no indication of how long it will last. At least 310 new positive cases were recorded by the health ministry day before the ban. As per the state-run news agency, the cumulative total of people tested positive of COVID-19 stands at 368,639 on Wednesday; whereas over 6,000 lives were claimed by the virus. Live TV United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed concern in a statement Tuesday about the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region, saying "urgent steps" must be taken. The Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss the topic, according to diplomats. Ireland, Estonia, France, Norway, Britain and the United States requested the closed-door meeting, the diplomats said. "The Secretary-General remains seriously concerned over the situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia," Guterres's statement said Tuesday. He emphasized the need for the partnership between the Ethiopian government and the UN to alleviate civilian suffering. Guterres called for "continued urgent steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation and extend the necessary protections to those at risk." The UN chief also welcomed Ethiopia's positive reception of recent visits by the high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi, undersecretary-general for security and safety Gilles Michaud and the executive director of the World Food Program, David Beasley. Two refugee camps in northern Tigray, Hitsats and Shimelba, which are near the conflict, are still not accessible to either the UN High Commission on Refugees nor the Ethiopian agency in charge of aid for these populations. The UN is particularly worried about the possibility of targeted assassinations or kidnappings by Eritrean soldiers, whose presence in Tigray is widely reported, despite denials from Addis Ababa. Grandi, the UNHCR head, visited Ethiopia, including the Mai Aini refugee camp, over the weekend for the first time since the conflict began in November. The camp is one of two camps in southern Tigray the UN has been able to access. In November Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered military operations targeting leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional ruling party, a move he said came in response to TPLF-orchestrated attacks on federal army camps. Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, declared victory in late November when federal forces took the Tigray capital Mekele, though leaders of the TPLF remain on the run and have vowed to fight on. Short link: Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. (Natural News) More doctors are speaking out about the harms of new COVID-19 vaccines. Cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, M.D., Ph.D. is one of them. Dr. Noorchashm says that the covid-19 vaccines will almost certainly cause an antigen-specific immune response; however, if viral antigens are present in the tissues of recipients at the time of vaccination, the vaccine-augmented immune response will turn the immune system against those tissues, causing inflammation that can lead to blood clot formation. This destructive auto-immune effect could do significant damage to endothelial cells of elderly patients who already suffer from cardiovascular disease. There have already been numerous reports of unexplained cardiovascular fatalities following covid-19 vaccination across Norway, Germany, the UK, Gibraltar and the United States. Vaccine causes recently-infected persons to experience autoimmune vascular damage Dr. Noorchashms findings are consistent with the research findings of Dr. J. Patrick Whelan, M.D., Ph.D., who shared similar concerns with the FDA in early December of 2020. Whelan warned that a recently-infected patient who is subject to covid-19 vaccination is likely to suffer from autoimmune attacks along the ACE-2 receptors present in the heart, and in the microvasculature of the brain, liver and kidney. The risk is doubled because two shots are required. It is a well documented fact that SARS-CoV-2, the Wuhan coronavirus, readily targets humans through the vascular endothelium. The virus is known to enter into endothelial cells through the ACE-2 receptor on the endothelium. Because of this unique gain-of-function, one of the medical emergencies that may occur in covid-19 patients is thromboembolic complications (formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel). If viral antigens are present in the endothelial lining of blood vessels, then the vaccine will cause an antigen-specific immune response that attacks those precious tissues, potentially causing cardiovascular events. The research warns that the vaccine is almost certain to do damage to the vascular endothelium, especially in the elderly. This vaccine-induced endothelial inflammation is certain to cause blood clot formation with the potential for major thromboembolic complications in a subset of such patients, he warns. Dr. Noorchashm concludes, Therefore, it is my respectful request that FDA, in collaboration with Pfizer and Moderna, immediately and at the very minimum, institute clear recommendations to clinicians that they delay immunization in any recently convalescent patients, as well as any known symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers and to actively screen as many patients with high cardiovascular risk as is reasonably possible, in order to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, prior to vaccinating them. FDA and CDC must act now to prevent cardiac events caused by covid-19 vaccines An advocate for ethics, patient safety, and womens health, Dr. Noorchashm has written his concerns out to the FDA and the drug companies, Pfizer and Moderna. He is calling for better screening of recently-infected individuals who are lining up to be vaccine recipients, to ultimately mitigate vaccine damage. Elderly populations with a history of cardiovascular issues are at greatest risk to this potentially deadly vaccine injury. The doctor is calling for more comprehensive informed consent about this serious health effect. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have an ethical responsibility to convene emergency meetings and establish new guidelines for vaccine administration, before more people are harmed. Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, director and president emerita of Childrens Health Defense, wrote: Ignoring these valid and scientifically supported warnings from leading physicians may result in hundreds of millions of people suffering potentially deadly injuries or permanent damage following vaccination. The public is losing confidence in vaccination because the FDA and CDC continue to ignore the role that vaccines play in the pathology of multiple disease processes. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com TheLancet.com PubMed.gov PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday called for amendments to the laws and regulations to accommodate Kiswahili language in delivery of court judgments. Dr Magufuli asked the Judiciary and the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs to make necessary amendments to the existing laws to incorporate the national language, Kiswahili, in judicial matters. The Head of State insisted that it was important to deliver court judgments at all levels in Kiswahili, which is a common language to all Tanzanians. Dr Magufuli said it was dismaying that 60 years after independence, the Judiciary of Tanzania has continued to write and deliver judgments in English, which is a colonial inherited system. "We must be proud of our own language, it is high time we use Kiswahili in delivering court judgments at all levels," stressed President Magufuli. The president was speaking shortly after the swearing in of Judge Zephrine Galeba whom the Head of State promoted on Monday to become Justice of the Court of Appeal of Tanzania. President Magufuli refuted claims by some experts that Kiswahili language lacks enough vocabulary to accommodate legal terms, saying in 1999 a team of lawyers prepared a legal Swahili language dictionary, which translated a number of terms to Kiswahili. "In 1999 a team of lawyers did a good job, they came up with a Kiswahili language legal dictionary, which could be used in delivering judgments in Kiswahili language," he noted. Dr Magufuli said delivering judgment in Kiswahili language guarantees understanding between the two parties in court. He asked the court to consider making changes, saying that would ensure justice to Tanzanians. "We believe that the court is the only place where justice is obtained, therefore to make everything clear, the judgment must be delivered in a language well understood by everyone," said President Magufuli. He said for years, wananchi have been complaining over the use of English language in delivering judgment whereas some are robbed of their rights due to poor comprehension of the language. According to Section 13 (i) of the magistrate's Courts Act, 1984, the language of primary courts shall be Kiswahili. The language of courts of a resident magistrate and of district courts shall be either English or Kiswahili, or as the magistrate holding such court may direct; save that in the exercise of appellate, revisional or confirmatory jurisdiction by a district court (in which case the record and judgment may be in English or Kiswahili), the record and judgment of the court shall be in English. Dr Magufuli told Chief Justice Prof Ibrahim Juma that his name will go down in history by making the crucial changes in judgment delivery. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Tanzania Entertainment By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Moreover, Dr Magufuli expressed his disappointment with the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Ministry's poor follow up on recruiting new staff for the country's courts. He said in 2020, his office approved 200 employment opportunities for court servants but until yesterday, the opportunities were still vacant. "Last year, I approved 1000 employments for doctors, the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children immediately employed the said number of doctors, then I approved 8000 employment opportunities for teachers and the ministry concerned utilized the opportunities. The situation is different with the Ministry for Constitution and Legal Affairs, I want you to change," he said. Earlier, Chief Justice Prof Juma said the Court was doing everything in its capacity to ensure judgments are delivered in Kiswahili language. He said at least 50 regulations will soon be presented in Kiswahili language. However, the Chief Justice said the translation process will take long since it involves working on technical terms that need to incorporate people from various professions. 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. Electrons (shown in green) are present in a layered material called electride. Fluorine ions (bright yellow) can easily replace the electrons and hop from one site to another to enable a better electrode for fluoride intercalation batteries. Credit: Rohan Mishra Lab, Washington University In an effort to curb the rise in overall carbon vehicle emissions, the state of California recently announced a plan to ban new sales of gasoline-powered vehicles in less than 15 yearsif the current governor's order holds strong. Now, thanks to supercomputers funded by the National Science Foundation such as Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego and Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), the research community has been making progress on developing more reliable and efficient electric cars and light trucks as well as other products by focusing on the batteries that power them. Three such university teams that recently were given allocations on these supercomputers include researchers from UC San Diego, Washington University in Saint Louis, and Washington State University. "We have been working on making lithium-ion batteries longer lasting and faster charging for many years," said Shyue Ping Ong, associate professor of nanoengineering at UC San Diego. "Comet was crucial for performing the calculations to elucidate the unique lithium insertion and diffusion mechanisms responsible for the high-rate capability in a new anode material we are developing." This new Li 3 V 2 O 5 anode, which is a safer alternative to the typical graphite anode found in today's lithium-ion batteries, was the focus of Ong's recent publication in the journal Nature. The study was co-authored by UC San Diego's Sustainable Power and Energy Director Ping Liu, who explained that this new anode approach can be cycled for more than 6,000 times with negligible capacity decay, and can charge and discharge energy rapidly, delivering over 40% of its capacity in 20 seconds. This means that future lithium-ion batteries could provide greater than 70% more energy than current ones. Specifically, the anode proposed and studied by Ong and Liu is known as a disordered rocksalt anode. "This Comet-enabled computational discovery points the way to other anode materials operating under the same mechanism," said Ong. "Access to high-performance computing resources obviates the need for my group to buy and maintain our own supercomputers so that we can focus on the science." Details about this project can be found in this UCSD News article. Could Lithium-Air Batteries Be Another Solution for Future Vehicle Power? Another possibility for more efficient electric car power is the lithium-air battery (Li-air), which would be an attractive alternative as it converts oxygen in the air to electricity. While it is not on the market, it could be more popular by offering some of the highest specific energiesenergy per kilogram of batteryand therefore increase a vehicle's range per charge. Researchers such as Rohan Mishra at Washington University in Saint Louis, along with collaborators at University of Illinois Chicago, recently made great strides in their work by creating new two-dimensional alloys that may lead to highly energy-efficient Li-air batteries with excellent stability over numerous charge-discharge cycles. "Lithium-air batteries can provide high-energy density that makes them excellent for electric cars," said Rohan, a computational materials scientist and assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science. "We have just synthesized several alloys that would allow for great progression in the development of these batteries to be feasible for manufacturing. These alloys were synthesized with guidance from intensive calculations completed on Stampede2 at TACC and Comet at SDSC." Now that Mishra and his colleagues have a better grasp on how these alloys react with one another, they will focus on further improving the energy efficiency of these batteries. Mishra and his colleagues published their latest findings in the Advanced Materials journal. Additional information about their alloy development can also be found in this Washington University article. More recently, Mishra's team identified a family of rare compounds called electrides that can enable stable and rechargeable fluoride ion batteries. Fluoride ion batteries can help overcome issues related to the limited supply of lithium and cobalt used in current Li-ion batteries. These findings were published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A and more information can be found in the article from Washington University. Improved Lithium-Sulfur Batteries Offer A Third Option Although lithium-sulfur batteries have been available for many years, they are slow to charge and must be frequently replaced. The high theoretical capacity, energy density, and low cost of sulfur has drawn more attention to this battery type as a potential answer to the future of electric-powered vehicles. "Lithium-sulfur batteries hold great promise to meet the ever-increasing demands for high energy density power supplies," said Jin Liu, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering at Washington State University. "Our recent study demonstrated how slight molecular changes to current designs can greatly improve battery performance." Liu's study, published in Advanced Energy Materials, included experiments that were first simulated on Comet and Stampede2. The molecular-scale detailed simulations and follow-up experiments showed that short-branched proteins (proteins composed from short-length amino acid residues) were much more effective in absorption of polysulfides compared with long-branched proteins, suppressing shuttling of polysulfides and resulting in increased battery performance. "The proteins, in general, contain a large number of atoms and the protein structures are extremely complex," said Liu. "The molecular simulations of such systems are computationally extensive and only possible using supercomputers such as Comet and Stampede2." Explore further How short circuits in lithium metal batteries can be prevented document The Portfolio Committee on Tourism, (National Assembly), welcomes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday of the adjustments to the level 3 lockdown restrictions. "The committee has noted the difficulties that businesses in the tourism industry are experiencing since the lockdown, with many hospitality businesses having closed or are partially opened for business, thus impacting on job security. The adjustments to the level 3 lockdown regulations is welcomed, as together with the disbursements of the Tourism Equity Fund, the industry would have some relief," said the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, Mr Supra Mahumapelo. The committee notes that the opening of beaches, dams, rivers, parks and swimming pools, which have adjacent accommodation and restaurants or fast food outlets, would be able to operate their businesses again. Visits to wine farms have been a major highlight for both international and domestic tourists and opening these to tourists will save jobs and assist the economy to recover to a certain extent. The hospitality industry, restaurants and bars will benefit from the new curfew hours. As the levels of infections and deaths decline, the Chairperson cautions the public to be vigilant at all times and to continue to wear a mask, maintain social distancing and to sanitise. Is Becerra's Office Really a Virus Hot Spot? COVID-19 Creates 'A System That's Buckling' Stricter Coronavirus Rules, Then Lawsuits Short-Staffing Leads to Honor System (TNS) A year after the first COVID-19 case hit California, the state agency in charge of policing warehouses, offices, factories and other workplaces is woefully understaffed and significantly undercounting the number of employees who have fallen seriously ill or died as a result of the coronavirus.California employers reported only 1,600 serious worker illnesses or deaths to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/ OSHA, from the start of the pandemic through mid-December, according to data obtained bythrough a Public Records Act request.The agency's inspectors determined that only 779 of those serious or deadly infections were actually contracted in the workplace. That represents a tiny fraction of the 3.2 million people who have tested positive for the disease in California, and less than 2 percent of the more than 41,000 who have died from it.Worker-safety advocates and elected officials say the absence of a reliable count of serious on-the-job infections by Cal/ OSHA creates significant consequences. The agency relies on employers to self-report workplace infections, and the incomplete statistics could put workers and their families at greater risk because the state has no clear picture of where COVID-19 workplace hot spots may have flared up."It's troubling; it absolutely is troubling," said state Sen. Jerry Hill, D- San Mateo, who co-authored legislation last year strengthening workers' compensation protections for employees who contract COVID-19 on the job.Cal/ OSHA officials "have a responsibility to make sure ... those employee environments are safe," Hill said. "We want to guarantee the employer is doing everything possible. ... That's where Cal/ OSHA has to have accurate data."While state inspectors have responded to thousands of complaints and levied fines against some workplaces that failed to report serious cases, a long-existing staffing shortage has hindered that process. There were 107 job openings posted for the department as of Friday.Asked about overlooked infections, Cal/ OSHA spokesman Luke Brown said: "We cannot speculate about the number of cases that have not been reported to Cal/ OSHA."The agency's database includes employer names, inspection numbers and dates that the businesses reported to the state serious illnesses defined by Cal/ OSHA as cases that resulted in deaths or hospitalization. It is the most detailed official glimpse into how the coronavirus has seriously harmed employees in California.But it's far from a complete portrait. The database identifies only businesses that have volunteered information to the state. Workplace researchers, health experts and lawmakers all agree the data is likely missing swaths of essential workers who were seriously sickened at work."Obviously, that is way under the experience that has been reported daily about the huge numbers of serious illnesses and deaths among vulnerable communities who are people who have not been able to shelter at home," said Laura Stock, director of UC Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program.Taken as a whole, the Cal/ OSHA database creates an improbable portrait of significant COVID-19 cases in the workplace. Only four serious, confirmed illnesses have been recorded at poultry processing plants an industry that, in reality, has been a well-known hot spot for COVID-19. Just 77 serious cases have been tallied across all of California's agriculture, meat and poultry sectors.Meanwhile, the California attorney general's office in Sacramento has 17 cases recorded.According to Cal/ OSHA's data, Sacramento County had 51 confirmed workplace infections. That's second only to the 220 cases reported in Los Angeles County one of the nationwide epicenters for COVID-19. More than 16,000 Angelenos have died and more than 1 million have contracted the diseases, according to Los Angeles County health officials."If you're not paying attention, and documenting where and why people are getting sick and dying, (the virus) doesn't just stay in the workplace," said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health. "It goes back to families. It goes back to whole communities."Since the pandemic began, Cal/ OSHA has levied some $2.7 million in fines on more than 100 employers that have violated rules related to COVID-19, from improper safety planning and physical distancing to missing plexiglass dividers. Some employers have been fined $5,000 for failing to report illnesses and deaths to the very database the state uses to monitor where there are workplace-related hospitalizations or deaths.The lopsided reporting of the most serious suspected cases, deaths and major illnesses, and a de facto honor system for companies to report problems, are the latest in a line of failures at the state's long-struggling worker safety department, critics said."It's a major, major problem," said Mitch Steiger, a legislative advocate for the California Labor Federation, which represents 1,200 unions and 2.1 million workers across the state. "And under COVID-19, there is every indication that this problem has gotten worse."Employers ranging from grocers to government bureaucracies are required by law to report each workplace COVID-19 infection that results in an employee's hospitalization or death. But unlike a traditional workplace injury caused by someone falling down or being struck by equipment, for example it can be difficult to prove an employee got sick at work.Uncontrolled community spread makes it easier for employers to argue workers were infected at a grocery store or restaurant and avoid Cal/ OSHA reporting. Hill's legislation, SB 1159, creates a "presumption" designed to make it easier for sickened employees to receive workers' comp payments.Separate rules under AB 685 mandate that employers report workplace outbreaks. As of Monday, the California Department of Public Health, which says it will make the outbreak information available online, had not done so.In a review of death certificate data, researchers from UC San Francisco recently found that working-age adults have experienced a 22 percent increase in mortality during the pandemic. The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, found significant increases in deaths among essential workers in agriculture, transportation and manufacturing."If indeed these workers are essential, we must be swift and decisive in enacting measures that will treat their lives as such," the authors concluded.Yet those same industries have minimal representation in the Cal/ OSHA hospitalization and death data, despite the state's use of strict reporting requirements for serious illness and injury. "Employers must immediately report fatalities and serious injuries or illnesses that occur in the place of employment, or in connection with employment," the rules say.Attorney Hollie Rutkowski of the Compensation Law Center, a Sacramento law firm that represents injured workers, said she was dismayed to hear about Cal/ OSHA's data on serious workplace infection."You'd think they'd be the major player to monitor cases (in) workplaces," Rutkowski said. " OSHA is supposed to monitor places that have outbreaks."The Department of Industrial Relations, which houses Cal/ OSHA, declined's request for an interview for this story. In an emailed response to questions, spokesman Brown acknowledged the challenges the department has been up against during the pandemic.But, he said, the serious workplace illness and death data "does not reflect the entire picture of Cal/ OSHA's COVID-19 enforcement efforts."Cal/ OSHA has opened 1,992 COVID-19 related inspections in the past year, Brown said. Nearly a quarter were for the healthcare sector, 15 percent were in agriculture, 13 percent in manufacturing and 12 percent in retail.Unsurprisingly, nearly half of the reported serious worker illnesses in the Cal/ OSHA database stem from healthcare facilities including hospitals and long-term care centers. Another 10 percent stem from law enforcement, such as sheriff's offices in Riverside, Fresno and Alameda counties and employees of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Yet the state's data is so incomplete that a chain of car dealerships in greater Sacramento turns up as one of the premier hot spots for serious workplace COVID-19 cases.A total of eight serious illnesses linked to the workplace were recorded at the Future Ford and Future Nissan dealerships in Roseville and Sacramento, along with another case at a Future dealership in Clovis. Executives with parent company Future Automotive Group didn't respond to requests for comment.Also high on the Cal/ OSHA list are the California Department of Justice offices in Sacramento, where 17 cases were reported. The department is led by Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has been nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, putting Becerra on the front lines of the Biden administration's response to the pandemic.A spokeswoman for Becerra said the AG's office reported cases that likely included infections that actually occurred outside the workplace "out of an abundance of caution." The spokeswoman said the 17 cases weren't all serious, despite them showing up on the state's serious illness and death database.On the other hand, well-publicized major outbreaks barely make a ripple on Cal/ OSHA's list if they show up at all.Last May, a frozen-foods manufacturer in Tulare County, Ruiz Foods, scaled back production after 174 employees were infected with the coronavirus, a story that made headlines in the San Joaquin Valley.It was unclear whether any of the workers became seriously ill. Ruiz Foods' name isn't listed among the employers on Cal/ OSHA's list, which is limited to serious cases of COVID-19. Officials with Ruiz declined to comment for this story.At the same time, poultry processor Foster Farms is listed as having six serious workplace COVID-19 infections in Cal/ OSHA's records, even though more than 600 workers have been sickened at the company's plants in California.At one plant alone the Foster chicken plant in Livingston more than 400 workers have become ill, according to a lawsuit filed in December by the United Farm Workers. The lawsuit says nine workers have died of COVID-19 and accused the company of ignoring social-distancing protocols and failing to provide workers with masks. Foster called the lawsuit "without merit."Separately, about 200 cases have been reported at a Foster plant in Fresno, according to the. At least four have died.Ira Brill, vice president of communications for Foster Farms, said workers have indeed fallen ill and died at their chicken processing plants, but blamed community spread. Brill disputed Cal/ OSHA's database, however, which showed the company had reported only 10 serious illnesses or deaths last year, six of which were tied to the job. He said they had reported at least 21 deaths and two hospitalizations to date to Cal/ OSHA, the bulk of which he estimated occurred before Dec. 15.Brill said Foster Farms had not reported COVID-19 related illnesses and deaths prior to September because it was unclear to them whether an illness was considered a workplace accident. That changed when their Livingston plant was shut down and the state clarified the rules, Brill said."Once the issue of, did they have to be reported, was resolved, we fully filled them in," he said. "So I don't get why the database wouldn't say 21. It would have been prior to September when they could have said there were deaths that haven't been reported."So far Foster hasn't been hit with fines or other disciplinary measures, according to Cal/ OSHA records, although investigations often take months to complete.Farm labor leaders said they've been disappointed in Cal/ OSHA's response to the pandemic. Case in point: a major outbreak last year at Primex Farms, a pistachio processing plant in Kern County, where dozens of workers were infected.Cal/ OSHA investigated and slapped the company with multiple fines, including a $5,000 penalty for failing to report two cases in which workers were admitted to a hospital with a "COVID-19-related illness."But Armando Elenes, secretary-treasurer at the United Farm Workers, said the state wasn't particularly aggressive and seemed to rely heavily on organizations such as the UFW for information."You have to provide things on a silver platter," he said. "I'm not sure if it's a resource issue or what, but it feels like an uphill battle." Workers told him that the company staged a "dog and pony show" for Cal/ OSHA inspectors. Primex officials didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.Cal/ OSHA fined the company $27,500 a figure that Elenes dismissed as "peanuts." The agency also fined two of Primex's labor contractors $11,250 each H&R Labor Contracting and Jacobo Farm Services. Another Primex labor contractor, United Staffing Associates, was fined $27,500.Employers who are accustomed to reporting serious injuries to the state, including government agencies and hospital chains, have continued to do so, the data shows. But the records are also revealing in how much appears to be undercounted or missing.Grocery store workers in California have only been hospitalized or killed 14 times during the pandemic because of workplace infections, according to the state's data. New and used car dealers in the state, by comparison, reported 17 serious illnesses or deaths.About 77 people who harvest crops or process meat and poultry were hospitalized or killed.But those and other industries that are widely believed to be contributing to the crisis are likely operating under the radar, said Stephen Knight, executive director of Worksafe, an employee-rights advocacy group."We have a system that's buckling under the pressure of a 100-year event," Knight said, referring to the cascade of challenges with the state regulator group and swaths of workers who either do not know their rights or are discouraged from exercising them. The under-reporting is shocking, given the scope of hospitalizations and deaths in the state, he said."It has mixed up a deeply problematic picture, a broken picture of what's happening in our state right now," he said. "We can't properly respond to this pandemic or prepare for the next pandemic without that information.""The main thing that Cal/ OSHA needs is more inspectors," said Steiger, with the California Labor Federation.Steiger estimated that employers reported only about half of serious workplace injuries or deaths before the pandemic. That percentage has likely plummeted as the pandemic has affected every sector of the economy. Gaps in the data, he said, are troubling because a lack of reporting goes hand in hand with subpar worker protections, lackluster benefits and dangerous outbreaks that spread among employees and across a community."These all tend to come together in one big batch," Steiger said. "And that's where the problems really get out of hand before anyone even knows that they're happening."At the same time, when Cal/ OSHA does crackdown on employers, it's often met with resistance. On Nov. 30, the agency implemented emergency rules that, among other things, require employers to exclude from the workplace all employees "who had COVID-19 exposure." Employers also must arrange for on-the-job COVID-19 tests for any employees who might have been exposed. Advocates said it was a move in the right direction.In response, the agency was hit with two lawsuits one by the California Farm Bureau Federation and other farm groups, the other by a collection of business groups such as the National Retail Federation.Both lawsuits say the new regulations create enormous burdens on small businesses.Among the business plaintiffs is Relles Florist, a well-known flower shop in midtown Sacramento. The lawsuit says Relles, where an employee tested positive over the summer, could suffer "devastating" losses if another worker becomes infected and droves of workers have to be sent home.The suit says owner Jim Relles "is keenly aware that, despite all of his best efforts, a future outbreak is a very real possibility. He cannot control what his employees and customers do when they are outside of his store."For its part, Cal/ OSHA has struggled for years with staff turnover and hiring process problems.The department reported 84 vacancies, mostly at district offices, as of Sept. 30, 2019, just a few months before the pandemic. About 460 across the entire department remained "dedicated" to workplace safety. "Ensuring Cal/ OSHA is adequately staffed is a top priority," officials wrote in a recent federal report.That number jumped to more than 130 vacancies by the middle of last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.Gov. Gavin Newsom said the pandemic had put "unprecedented strain" on the department. In his proposed budget released last month, Newsom pledged an additional $14.4 million to bring on 70 new workplace safety inspectors. The positions would be added by mid-year but only after the department "meets its hiring goals."Brown, the Cal/ OSHA spokesman, said the agency has made improvements in hiring and filled 32 enforcement vacancies since the fall. Seven more are in the final stages, and another 25 are in the pipeline.As its staffing problems continue and pandemic pressures increase, the agency has increasingly relied on employers reporting their illnesses voluntarily.Last July, the office manager at Sacramento accounting firm Stroub Thompson Noble was stricken with COVID-19 while at home. She unwittingly brought the disease into the office and infected her boss, Paul Stroub. His symptoms were mild, but the manager died.While Stroub was undergoing testing, a Sacramento County health worker urged him to make a report to Cal/ OSHA. The recommendation made him feel anxious about potential consequences for the firm."I was scared," Stroub said in an interview. "What would happen to me?"But he contacted the agency anyway, and about a week later, Cal/ OSHA staged a surprise inspection at his office. A second surprise inspection soon followed.Stroub was pleased with what he considers a quick response from a heavily-burdened agency, but also wonders about all the employers who didn't report."I don't know how Cal/ OSHA would know about COVID cases unless someone self-reported," Stroub said. Representative image (PC- MoneyControl.Com) The year 2020 saw two historic events in Indian school education. The first was the release of a National Education Policy (NEP) after 34 years. The second was the large scale closure of schools due to COVID-19, affecting 270 million children. Thus, there were expectations that the Budget 2021 would provide financing on both fronts, to make the NEP an implementable plan, and additional resources to prevent dropouts and support safe reopening of schools. However, Budget 2021-22 disappoints on both fronts. There are a few positives in the Budget. This includes the development of professional standards for teachers, standardisation of sign language across India and proposal of a holistic progress card for students. However, given the unprecedented nature of the crisis, the Budget has three major omissions. One: Lack of additional allocations for re-enrolment of out of school children. A survey by Oxfam India shows that 80 percent children in government schools could not access education during this time. Due to the prolonged gap in access to education, it is feared that a third of the students might not return to school. Initial media reports show that schools are experiencing low attendance rates (40-50 percent) after reopening. However, the Budget has failed to allocate additional resources to support re-enrolment drives and accelerated learning programmes for out-of-school children. The World Bank estimates that the learning loss will cost India $400 billion in reduced future earnings, wherein girls and children from Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim communities are likely to be disproportionately affected. It is disappointing that at this crucial juncture, the allocation for the National Education Mission in 2021-22 is lower than the actual amount spent in 2019-20. Two: Lack of focused resources for safe reopening of schools. Given that 40 percent schools were used as quarantine centres and only 54 percent schools have adequate WASH facilities, parents are apprehensive about sending children to school after they reopen. A pre-budget survey by the Fight Inequality Alliance India found that 97 percent people want additional funding for adequate sanitation and hand-washing facilities in schools to ensure safe reopening. However, the Budget fails to provide additional resources for strengthening WASH facilities in schools, which is likely to negatively impact attendance of students, further increasing the learning loss, especially for the most marginalised children. Three: Lack of clear financial outlay for implementing NEP. The Budget proposes strengthening 15,000 schools to include all components of the NEP. This constitutes a mere 1 percent of the total government and government-aided schools in India. Further, no additional allocations have been made to fill the 17 percent teacher vacancies, without which the NEP implementation is impossible. The Budget also fails to meet the NEPs recommendation of allocating 6 percent of GDP on education, without providing any indication of when this target would be met. As we begin our gradual recovery from the pandemic, it is unfortunate the Budget has chosen to prioritise incentives and subsidies for other sectors over the education of Indias children. 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. HOBOKEN, N.J., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Noteworth , a first-of-its-kind virtual care delivery platform, today announced its partnership with CentraState Healthcare System to extend the continuity of care for patients in the community. CentraState recently implemented Noteworth to launch multiple programs to expand their care delivery, including telehealth and remote prevention and care management capabilities for diabetes and hypertension. "Having worked with various vendors for over 20 years, Noteworth is at the top of my list. Not only are their products aiding our patients, the process improvements have allowed our staff to see more patients in the same number of hours," Brian Dusheck, Director, Ambulatory Applications at CentraState Health System. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CentraState had to quickly adjust the way they triaged, evaluated, and cared for patients to an approach that did not rely on in-person office visits. Within one month of implementation, Noteworth digitized CentraState's care curriculum and enabled the healthcare system to successfully deploy a digital medicine offering, reducing the need for in-person visits and making virtual care possible. "I found Noteworth was extremely user-friendly for clinicians and patients across all ages," said Family Practice of CentraState physician Jaclyn Guilano, MD, MS, FAAFP. "There are so many benefits to digital health, but it has to be delivered in a way that doesn't intimidate patients or interrupt the care team's workflows. The technology needs to be seamless Noteworth has proven to be simple and seamless." Through the Noteworth platform, CentraState can provide their patients with care options that offer accessibility, convenience and empower patients to leverage technology in a way that makes them feel comfortable about managing their health. Additionally, clinicians now have more comprehensive and holistic data to monitor patient conditions and ensure patients remain committed to their therapies. "At Noteworth, we believe that digital medicine is the future of healthcare delivery," said Justin Williams, Co-founder and CEO of Noteworth. "We are proud to work with CentraState to improve healthcare outcomes for patients and support clinicians to better serve their patient population." The platform has been successful in improving access to care. Noteworth and CentraState are now working together to expand the programs to serve more patients and clinicians across the healthcare system. To learn more about Noteworth, visit our website. About Noteworth Noteworth is a digital healthcare SaaS pioneer dedicated to driving change and modernizing the way health systems and providers deliver and coordinate patient care. Noteworth's interoperable platform allows organizations to harness multiple streams of patient data into a centralized view to streamline care coordination between interdisciplinary teams and foster collaboration across stakeholders for greater visibility and accountability to establish alignment on care plans and organizational initiatives. Unlike disparate point solutions, our HIPAA-compliant platform enables care teams to leverage all domains of the virtual care spectrum, including care management, patient engagement, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), medication management, and telemedicine. This powerful combination of patient engagement and behavioral interventions with built-in alerts increases touchpoints and passes key information to clinical staff to facilitate proactive interventions, improve clinical outcomes, boost patient satisfaction, and decrease care costs. Noteworth is a privately held company headquartered in Jersey City, NJ. For more information, please visit www.noteworth.com About CentraState Healthcare System CentraState Healthcare System is a fully accredited, not-for-profit, community-based health system that provides comprehensive health services in the central New Jersey region. In addition to offering a full range of leading-edge diagnostic and treatment options, CentraState serves as a valuable health partner focused on the latest ways to prevent disease, promote healthy behaviors, and help people of all ages live life well. Based in Freehold, CentraState is comprised of a 284-bed acute-care hospital, a vibrant health and wellness campus, three award-winning senior living communities, a charitable foundation, and four convenient satellite health pavilions. The system also offers a family medicine residency and geriatric fellowship training program in affiliation with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Among its many honors and accreditations, CentraState is one of only 2 percent of hospitals nationwide to earn Magnet designation for nursing excellence four times. To learn more, visit centrastate.com . Media Contact Danielle Scotto Lumina Communications for Noteworth [email protected] SOURCE Noteworth Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) terminated journalist Nabela Qosers three-year civil service contract, citing an ongoing investigation into her reporting as justification. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), condemn the political interference in RTHK and calls for the journalist to be fully reinstated. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (2nd R) waits for questions from the media as Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung (3rd R) and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah (R) look on during a press conference in Hong Kong on September 5, 2019. Credit: Philip Fong / AFP The 35-year-old program officer for RTHK regularly aimed hard-hitting questions to Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and other government officials in the live-streamed press conferences during the months-long pro-democracy protests in 2019. Her work, particularly, also drew the ire of pro-government supporters. RTHK later launched an investigation into Qosers conduct after receiving complaints but cleared her of any wrongdoing. However, the public broadcaster reopened a probe into Qosers case in September 2020, and her probation period as a civil servant was extended by 120 days until the end of January 2021. On January 21, Qoser was informed by RTHK that her civil service contract was being terminated, and she was offered a three-month short-term contract instead. Qoser has already completed her three-year probationary services. On January 28, more than 60 RTHK employees protested outside the public broadcasters headquarters against the unfair treatment of their colleague. Qoser later accepted the short-term contract. The HKJA said: The new investigation is clearly political intervention with the RTHKs personnel matters that involved editorial staff. It involves political pressure from political parties, some media with official background and government officials. The HKJA is deeply concerned about the matter. We worry journalists being punished for having raised tough questions will create a chilling effect. The IFJ said: The IFJ condemned the political interference in RTHKs personnel matter and call on the public broadcasters management to urgently revisit and withdraw its unfair treatment of Qoser. Since midnight, enemy forces have not attacked Ukrainian troops. The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported one killed in action (KIA) amid eight violations of the latest ceasefire agreement by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Tuesday, February 2. "In the past day, February 2, eight 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 February 3, 2021. In particular, the Russian Federation's armed formations fired proscribed 120mm mortars, heavy machine guns and rifles near the village of Pivdenne. Sniper fire toward Ukrainian positions was also recorded near the village of Shumy. "A member of the Joint Forces was seriously wounded by an enemy sniper. The defender was provided with medical assistance, but unfortunately, it was impossible to save him. The Joint Forces' Command expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends," it said. Read alsoTCG delegation spox opts for soft language on latest truce breachesAlso, the occupiers fired an under-barrel grenade launcher near the village of Krymske, as well as automatic grenade launchers and rifles near the village of Zaitseve. What is more, the invaders used automatic and anti-tank grenade launchers near the village of Pavlopil, as well as sniper rifles near the village of Vodiane. And finally, an enemy UAV was spotted crossing the contact line near the town of Avdiyivka. Before it was jammed, it had dropped two VOG-17 grenades over the Joint Forces' positions. The violations were reported to OSCE representatives through the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) on the ceasefire and stabilization in Donbas. Since midnight, enemy forces have not attacked Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian military say the situation is under full control. 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, 2020. 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. Ukraine has reported more such violations over the latest period. Reporting by UNIAN The mega merger of (PSBs) has led to a turmoil as the state-owned banks do not have the necessary talent for specialised functions like risk management and new financial technologies, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance said in its report. PSBs are also going through considerable turmoil because of the mega mergers; this will require even closer assessment of human resources to ensure that sufficient management talent is available for the PSBs as they seek to streamline and expand their operations, according to the report of the committee, chaired by BJP MP Jayant Sinha. From April 1, 2020, ten PSBs were amalgamated into four, taking the total number to 12. After the merger exercise, Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, and United Bank of India combined to form one lender; Canara Bank took over Syndicate Bank; while Union Bank of India amalgamated with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank. Indian Bank subsumed Allahabad Bank. With the new privatisation policy announced in the Budget, the government has announced that four broad sectors, including banks, will have bare minimum government presence with the remaining being privatised, merged or subsidiarised with other CPSEs. The panel also said the government should fully clarify the functioning of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB), and the BBB should assist PSBs in acquiring and retaining such specialised talent. Strengthen PSB competitiveness The parliamentary panel also raised concerns on the depressed market valuations of state banks. PSBs continue to have very low price-book multiples and their market valuations remain depressed. The committee notes that the PSBs do not appear to have differentiated strategies that will enable them to compete effectively, said the report. Apart from the mega mergers, the Department of Financial Services should also prepare a comprehensive plan on how to strengthen PSB competitiveness, the report said. Low valuations imply that banks will find it difficult to raise equity through the markets, it said. As a result, if NPAs increase yet again due to adverse global trends, significant funding will be required from the government to keep PSBs appropriately capitalised. On this observation, the government replied that it has adopted a measures to reform PSBs, and strengthen their competitiveness, which include industry-linked improvement in turnaround time, digital banking services, competitive pricing, customer-need driven marketing strategy and reach, prudential lending and effective loan life-cycle management. Bengaluru, Feb 3 : India plans to spend 130 billion dollars on military modernisation in the next 7-8 years to strengthen its security apparatus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday. Speaking at the 'Aero India' show here, the Minister said: "We have taken many steps to strengthen our security apparatus recently. Domestic manufacturing of bigger and complex defence platforms has now become the focus of our policy under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. We plan to spend 130 billion dollars on military modernisation." To achieve the twin goals of self-reliance and exports, he said, a target has been set to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 crore, including exports worth Rs 35,000 crore in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2024. He pointed out that India holds the potential to become a reliable supplier of defence equipment to many friendly nations. "We have a strong and diversified Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises sector, having more than 5,000 active units," the Minister said. Talking about 'Aero India', he said that India today offers a unique opportunity in defence and aerospace manufacturing. "This opportunity comes as a 'sangam' or confluence of rising demand, greater innovation, conducive policies and maturing ecosystem in defence and aerospace manufacturing sector," he said. The Minister said that in aviation sector, the air show and aviation exhibition is one of the brightest galaxies which offers a wide variety of options, solutions, partnerships and, most importantly, opportunities. Singh expressed gratitude to the Defence Ministers of Maldives, Ukraine, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Comoros and Madagascar, who were present on the occasion, and others who joined in virtually. About 540 exhibitors, including 80 foreign companies, defence ministers and delegates, services chiefs and officials from more than 55 nations are participating in the event. "It reflects the growing optimism of the global community," he said. In order to maximise the reach and participation, the event was planned in a hybrid format with a concurrent virtual exhibition that will integrate seminars, B2B interactions and others. He said that 2020 was a challenging year for the entire world and saw adverse impact on the lives and livelihood of the people as well as industrial growth and economy of many countries. The Minister said that despite the constraints caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, large participation was witnessed in this year's air show. Singh also pointed that the existing supply chains, developed by aerospace and engineering firms, an investor-friendly government, with simplified procedures and fast-track business approvals through single-window mechanism combine to make Karnataka a very attractive destination for the industry. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text As thousands of National Guardsmen filled the U.S. Capitol after the deadly Jan. 6 attack by loyalists of former president Donald Trump, reporters spotted several lawmakers sidestepping newly installed metal detectors and brushing off police and security in the building. Such a move now could cost a lawmaker up to $10,000 in fines, with the Democratic-led House of Representatives on Tuesday night voting 216-210 in favor of tougher enforcement of a half-century-old law outlawing weapons on Capitol grounds. All but three Democrats, and no Republicans, voted to fine those who sidestep security measures $5,000 for a first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses. The rules are the rules, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the Rules Committee chairman, said in a speech on the House floor. McGovern depicted Republicans who have shrugged off the added security measures as elitists. Some are acting as though by being elected to Congress, they have been anointed to some sort of special club one that gets to pick and choose what rules to follow, the Democrat said. McGovern didnt name lawmakers, but cited Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who pledged that she WILL carry my Glock to Congress, and others who had either touted being armed in the House chamber or been stopped by Capitol Police while carrying. These metal detectors are manned by the same police officers who saved our lives during the insurrection, while risking their own, McGovern said. Yet some members on the other side have disrespected these Capitol Police officers, verbally abused them and pushed them aside and disregarded their orders. The Washington Post reported that Boebert and others refused to hand over their bags after setting off the metal detectors. HuffPost and The Washington Post reported that lawmakers including Reps. Louie Gohmert, Ralph Norman, Randy Weber and Russ Fulcher walked past the machines on their way to the chamber. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement after the House vote, noting members have a solemn responsibility to honor the service and sacrifice of the Capitol Police for the valor that they showed that harrowing day. The attack on the Capitol followed a rally near the White House, where Trump repeated false claims that the election was stolen from him and urged followers to march to the Capitol and fight like hell as Congress prepared to certify President Joe Bidens victory. The breach left five dead, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sitnick; two other officers have died by suicide following the attack. Yet, just days after the assault, many House Republicans began disrespecting our heroes by refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our Congressional community safe including by dodging metal detectors, physically pushing past police, and even attempting to bring firearms into the chamber, Pelosi said. It is beyond comprehension why any Member would refuse to adhere to these simple, commonsense steps to keep this body safe. In a tweet to set the record straight, Boebert on Monday said she has never taken my gun onto the House floor. Her chief of staff emailed other staffers on Tuesday calling the fines unconstitutional, according to the Washington Post. The House Ethics Committee will make any fines against lawmakers public following notifications from the sergeant-at-arms, The Hill reported. The fines cannot be covered by campaign funds or out of the congressional office budget. Related Content: Complaints are that there is little of research-oriented efforts or creation of a scientific temper among the students. The matter came to a head after some parents lodged a complaint with the state government about the drift in JNTUK. (DC Image) KAKINADA: The state government has issued a directive to professors, associate professors and assistant professors of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTUK) to take their work seriously and begin taking classes in accordance with the UGC guidelines. JNTUK was a reputed educational institute with many experts in different technical fields forming the core of the faculty. For the past few years, the overall quality of teaching is suffering due to several reasons. Many senior members of the teaching faculty are paying more attention to grabbing key posts and playing internal politics. Many parents are concerned over the way the institution is going from bad to worse. The whole burden has fallen on the ad hoc teaching faculty, while the experienced regulars played around. Professors take lakhs as salary and yet doing little of academic work, it is alleged. Complaints are that there is little of research-oriented efforts or creation of a scientific temper among the students. The matter came to a head after some parents lodged a complaint with the state government about the drift in JNTUK. Special chief secretary to the Education department, Satish Chandra, took a serious note of the complaints and issued a directive to the teaching faculty that each of them should teach students at least four hours a week in their respective subjects. Meanwhile, some directors met Satish Chandra and explained to him the UGC and AICTE guidelines and agreed to take his instruction seriously. University Vice Chancellor M. Ramalinga Raju said classes are being conducted as per UGC norms and he was monitoring it. University registrar Ch. Satyanarayana said the credit has been reduced to 160 from 220. According to sources, as per present schedule, the permanent faculty should take classes for at least three hours a week for B.Tech courses and two hours for M.Tech in their respective subjects and attend two lab lessons every week. Not many among students and parents are convinced that the teachers will take the instructions seriously. JNTUK rector GVR Prasada Raju said strict monitoring would be done from now on. The classes taken by the permanent faculty should be recorded both orally and via CCTV. Sources said the burden on ad hoc faculty will be reduced if this is resorted to. Former Nairobi Governor will remain behind bars until Thursday when the court will determine whether he can be released on bail or not. In the meantime, he will cool his heels at the Gigiri Police Station. Sonko appeared before a Kiambu court on Tuesday and denied a raft of charges including assault, causing actual bodily harm, robbery with violence, and destruction of property. The charges relate to an incident in Buruburu in 2019 where the politician stormed what he said was a building that had been illegally demolished in a bid to rescue the owners from more loss. But Police say he assaulted Musyoki Kavunda and John Mungai at the scene. Charles Karori, Evans Obaga, Paul Kahiga, George Chege, Paul Macharia Nderitu, Joel Kinja, Musyoki Kavunda, and John Mungai also sustained injuries during the stand-off Sonko who's fallen out with President Uhuru Kenyatta following his impeachment by the Nairobi County Assembly and Senate last December, was also charged with an additional count of forcibly entering a private property without a search warrant. Sonko appeared before Kiambu senior principal magistrate Stella Ataambo after spending a night at the Gigiri police station. The prosecution had sought orders to have the controversial politician detained pending a conclusion of the investigations. The court heard that Sonko is also needed in Mombasa after an arrest warrant was issued against him. His latest woes commenced after he claimed to have participated in destroying property alongside government operatives in the aftermath of the contentious 2017 general elections. Poor Richards Restaurant, pictured in January, has not reopened since it closed more than six months ago in July on North Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs. A new round of pandemic restrictions in late November sent the unemployment rate much higher in December in the Springs. Emmy-winning producer Justin Theroux took his Pit Bull Kuma for a stroll in Manhattan's Washington Square Park on Tuesday after the nor'easter dumped nearly 2ft of snow on the city. The D.C.-born 49-year-old's canine companion - whose name means 'bear' in Japanese - looked adorable in his black puffer vest, matching boots, and golden collar. Justin bundled up in all-black winter attire - beanie, top coat, hoodie, skinny jeans, and boots. When you gotta go, you gotta go! Emmy-winning producer Justin Theroux took his Pit Bull Kuma for a stroll in Manhattan's Washington Square Park on Tuesday after the nor'easter dumped nearly 2ft of snow on the city Squeeee! The D.C.-born 49-year-old's canine companion - whose name means 'bear' in Japanese - looked adorable in his black puffer vest, matching boots, and golden collar Theroux made sure to protect himself and others from the coronavirus by wearing a black face mask. COVID-19 is spiking nationwide, with a reported 1.43M confirmed cases in New York State (613K in NYC) leading to 43,354 deaths as of Tuesday. The Joe Biden supporter famously adopted Kuma from Austin Pets Alive in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2018. Man in black: Justin bundled up in all-black winter attire - beanie, top coat, hoodie, skinny jeans, and boots Mandatory: Theroux made sure to protect himself and others from the coronavirus by wearing a black face mask 'Melted': The Joe Biden supporter famously adopted Kuma from Austin Pets Alive in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2018 (pictured Monday) Fun game: Theroux also posted to his Instagram some of the snow sculptures he came across on his walk, and he invited his followers to come up with names for them On Monday, Justin - who boasts 868K followers - shared a rare childhood snap of himself with his cousin Louis spending their summer in Cape Cod. Theroux sat for an interview on Monday with the 50-year-old Englishman on his BBC podcast Grounded. In it, the At Home with Amy Sedaris guest star discussed his massive shirt collection, starring in two David Lynch films, and writing screenplays. 'Good times': On Monday, Justin (L) - who boasts 868K followers - shared a rare childhood snap of himself with his cousin Louis (R) spending their summer in Cape Cod '#SXSW2021': Justine Bateman's feature directorial debut Violet - in which Theroux plays The Voice - premieres next month at the postponed South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX (pictured in 2019) Premieres later this year on Hulu! The At Home with Amy Sedaris guest star will also portray Adrian alongside Ilana Glazer (L) in John Lee's Rosemary's Baby-inspired horror flick False Positive (pictured on set in 2019) Justine Bateman's feature directorial debut Violet - in which Justin plays The Voice - premieres next month at the postponed South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, and Laura San Giacomo also star in the drama about a disillusioned film development executive, who discovers her guiding voice is lying to her. Theroux will also portray Adrian alongside Ilana Glazer in John Lee's Rosemary's Baby-inspired horror flick False Positive, which premieres later this year on Hulu. 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. Amazons billionaire founder Jeff Bezos is handing over the reins at the tech giant to long-term team member Andy Jassy as his empire focuses on the cloud and looks to space. As Amazon has grown from the online book seller Mr Bezos started in 1994 to the $US1.7 trillion ($2.23 trillion) market juggernaut it is today, Mr Jassy has been there for much of the journey, having started with the company in 1997 straight out of university. Amazons new chief executive, company veteran Andy Jassy. Credit:Nate Cochrane Mr Jassy, 52, has risen to prominence within the company running Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing arm, since its inception in 2003. The division is vital because of its role in running much of the worlds internet economy, powering everything from Netflixs streaming service to Atlassians enterprise software . AWS revenues grew to $US12.7 billion ($16.8 billion) during the fourth quarter of 2020, and the unit is by far the largest source of profits for Amazon. Months after inking distribution agreement with Harley-Davidson , two-wheeler manufacturing company Hero Motocrop on Wednesday announced that it will set up separate vertical to drive its new business of Harley products and merchandise distribution. Hero MotoCorp has commenced wholesale dispatches of Harley Davidson products to the dealers from January 18. Ravi Avalur has been appointed as the Business Unit Head of the new vertical. Ravi will report to Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO, Hero MotoCorp, the company said in a regulatory filing. Avalur has joined Hero MotoCorp from Engines and Engine Components manufacturer Cooper, where he was the Head of Strategy and International Business. Prior to Cooper, Ravi was the Managing Director at Ducati India. The team in the new business unit for Harley-Davidson vertical also includes four executives from Harley's erstwhile India operations, Hero MotoCorp stated. Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp has on-boarded 11 existing Harley-Davidson dealers in key geographies across the country. Furthermore, Hero MotoCorp will also expand the service, parts and accessories business beyond the 11 cities currently covered by the newly appointed dealers, to a pan-India level through its extensive dealer network, it added. "With customer-centricity and commitment to globally benchmarked sales and aftersales service as their focus, Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson are committed together to providing a smooth and hassle-free ownership experience to the existing and future Harley Davidson customers in India," Hero MotoCorp said. Details of new model launches will be shared closer to launch dates. Harley-Davidson Motor Co. in September, 2020 had decided to exit India, its departure dropping the curtain on a troubled stint in a lucrative market for two-wheelers. After 11 years of operations in India, Harley said that it is discontinuing sales and production operations in India as part of a global restructuring plan. However, in October, Hero MotoCorp announced a distribution agreement with Harley-Davidson for the Indian market via which, Hero will sell and service Harley motorcycles in the country. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Mumbai, Feb 3 : Actress Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday appreciated the commitment of the team of her upcoming spy thriller Dhaakad, and shared a video where she is rehearsing for an action sequence in a coal mine. "This is an appreciation tweet for my team, they are prepping for months for an action sequence at coal mines, while I make my guest appearance there only for a lazy rehearsal our Chief @RazyGhai practically living at the location for past few days," Kangana wrote on Twitter. "This kind of passion and commitment that artists and technicians express, it is never just for money, then what is for? Why these crazy artists forget even their well being or human limitation and do what they do? Well most artists don't know and it's okay that way," she added. The actress shared photographs of the crew from the mine where she rehearsed for the sequence. In a video, Kangana can be seen practising a fight sequence with her action directors giving her instructions. Kangana will play the role of Agent Agni, while Arjun will be seen as the antagonist in the film, which is touted to be a world-class spy thriller. Arjun's character is named Rudraveer. The film is directed by Razneesh Razy Ghai, and slated to release on October 1, 2021. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category TROY, Mich., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) today announced it has been awarded a three-year supply agreement with Lion Electric, a Canadian manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles. Meritor will supply Lion Electric Class 8 tractors with its Blue Horizon 14Xe integrated ePowertrain. Production is scheduled for mid-2021. "Lion Electric is driving the future of sustainable mobility in the commercial vehicle space, and Meritor is proud to provide Lion Electric with electric powertrain technologies that meet the needs of its next-generation tractors," said T.J. Reed, vice president of Global Electrification for Meritor. "This award is a testament to the commitment we've made to investing in advanced technologies, so we can continue being a trusted partner and supplier of electrification technologies for the industry." Meritor's 14Xe all-electric, fully integrated, commercial electric powertrain for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, will be produced in Asheville and Forest City, North Carolina. About Meritor Meritor, Inc. is a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets. With more than a 110-year legacy of providing innovative products that offer superior performance, efficiency and reliability, the company serves commercial truck, trailer, off-highway, defense, specialty and aftermarket customers around the world. Meritor is based in Troy, Michigan, United States, and is made up of more than 8,600 diverse employees who apply their knowledge and skills in manufacturing facilities, engineering centers, joint ventures, distribution centers and global offices in 19 countries. Meritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MTOR. For important information, visit the company's website at www.meritor.com. SOURCE Meritor, Inc. Related Links http://www.meritor.com The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Bikie boss Toby Mitchell bashed his socialite mate because MAFS star Stacey Hampton claimed he was talking smack about him, the victim claims. The Mongols president admitted to drunkenly slapping Anthony Hess, 39, in the head three times outside a Melbourne cafe on October 4. Embarrassing CCTV footage shows him suddenly attacking Hess before slipping over in his designer slides and needing three friends to haul him to his feet. Hess at the time told Daily Mail Australia the scuffle was over a 'misunderstanding' and he wanted the charges dropped. But he now reveals the whole debacle was started by the Married At First Sight fan favourite Hampton stirring up trouble. Hess became Married at First Sight star Stacey Hampton's best friend until their ugly falling out in July, and took her to meet Mitchell on one of her trips to Melbourne Hess pictured in hospital where he was treated for a suspected facial fracture, but refused to make a statement to police He claims his one-time inseparable best friend told Mitchell he had called him a 'dog' and a 'c**t' behind his back, sending him into a rage. The pair, who have been close friends for eight years, were drinking outside Gilson cafe in South Yarra with other Mongols including top lieutenant Mark Balsillie. 'We were all drinking and having a good time, everyone was in good spirits and enjoying the restrictions lifting and the nice weather,' Hess said. Mitchell then called Hampton, whom he was friends with via Hess, on FaceTime and the trio briefly caught up on the video chat. The career criminal then wandered away from Hess and continued to talk to Hampton, before things turned ugly moments later. 'Toby came up behind me and said "Stacey said you called me a dog and a c**t" and then immediately hit me in the side of the head,' Hess claimed. 'I'm still shocked he believed someone he met one or twice through me, over someone he's known for eight years. 'Stacey has been spreading rumours about me to my friends for months, she's obsessed.' Hess claims claims his one-time inseparable best friend Stacey Hampton (pictured) told Mitchell he had called him a 'dog' and a 'c**t' behind his back, sending him into a rage Hess (centre) flew to Los Angeles after Mitchell's arrest in October and was spotted at the Ritz Carlton hotel with former Neighbours star Scarlet Vas (far right) and socialite Stephanie Mal Hampton and Hess had been feuding for several months after their very public friendship ended with an ugly falling out in July. The reality TV star did not respond to requests for comment from Daily Mail Australia. Hess said after Mitchell hit him he ran out of the cafe onto the road, tripped and fell on to a car. 'The driver drove me to the hospital, even though I insisted I was okay,' he said. He chalked the incident up to a drunken 'misunderstanding' between mates on 'another wild night' and thought nothing more of it. 'I was just a drunk hot mess and things had become a bit crazy but I didn't except the police to be involved and Toby to be charged,' he said. 'I asked the police not to charge Toby as we were both drunk and the situation escalated.' Hess did not make a police statement and jumped on a flight to Los Angeles the day after Mitchell was arrested to avoid being questioned by detectives. Hess and Mitchell have been close friends for eight years, as seen in this photo from that time Mitchell shared a video of the view from his South Melbourne flat with the caption 'from a jail cell to a dream in a day', and a photo of a wad of cash returned to him in a sealed evidence bag Hess, who was given special permission to leave Australia despite the travel ban, said he was staying in the U.S. for some time to 'let the whole thing blow over'. Detective senior constable Lauren Kane claimed in October that Hess refused to make a statement because he was 'in fear for his life'. Police instead seized his medical records, which indicated he was treated for a suspected facial fracture at The Alfred Hospital. Mitchell pleaded guilty to assault in exchange for charges of affray and intentionally causing injury being dropped. He also pleaded guilty to a second assault charge over another punch-up in Southbank on November 15 where he was knocked out. More humiliating video showed the brief fight where a 'street kid' dressed like a 'lumberjack' knocked Mitchell on his behind - just as the Hess incident ended. Mitchell was banned from associating with his fellow Mongols or going within 150m of the cafe as a condition of his bail Mitchell threw a haymaker at the man after picking a fight for no apparent reason, but was punched square in the face and went down like a sack of potatoes. Police in an earlier court appearance mocked the supposedly fearsome bikie as having a 'glass jaw' in being defeated so easily. The bikie looks set to walk from the embarrassing fracas with little more than a fine if he behaves himself over the next six months and seeks alcohol and anger management treatment. Magistrate John Bentley agreed to defer sentencing Mitchell until September after Corrections Victoria asked for a month-long adjournment to properly assess him for a community correction order. Hess famously defeated Roxy Jacenko in court early this year when the PR queen tried to slap him with a restraining order. He is [pictured 'flossing' in celebration outside court Mitchell, who often taunts police and shows off his flashy lifestyle on social media, celebrated his release on bail after his arrest Instagram within hours. 'Who said you can't get in trouble during Covid,' he wrote. He then shared a video of the view from his South Melbourne flat with the caption 'from a jail cell to a dream in a day'. Rap song F**k Tha Police by American group N.W.A played in the background. Another photo showed a wad of cash returned to him in a sealed evidence bag. Hess famously defeated Roxy Jacenko in court a year ago when the PR queen tried to slap him with a restraining order. She accused him of writing 'Roxy is a c**t' on the wall of her Paddington office after a heated argument at one of her speaking events, which he denied. The process for registering for the COVID-19 vaccine can be simple for some and a total nightmare for others. Hearing feedback from the community, especially elderly residents, about how difficult it is to make an online appointment for the vaccination, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi decided to do something about it. Too many people in our community have to jump over digital hurdles and navigate a confusing patchwork of websites to sign up for this potentially life-saving vaccine, and that is not acceptable, Cocchi said. On Thursday the Hampden County Sheriffs Department All Inclusive Support Services center in Springfield will begin taking phone calls from Western Massachusetts residents who have questions or difficulties registering for the vaccine. Anyone who is eligible and needs help signing up for the vaccine can call the center from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 413-278-5584. If the call goes to voicemail, clearly leave your name and a phone number. Although it is preferred to set up a meeting via phone, the center will also accept walk-ins at its facility inside the WW Johnson Life Center at 736 State St., in Springfield. Face coverings are required for in-person visits. The Hampden County Sheriff's All Inclusive Support Services will help residents register online for the vaccine. My team will be helping anyone in our community, particularly our senior citizens, get signed up in accordance with the state Department of Public Healths vaccine eligibility timeline. It shouldnt be this hard. But instead of pointing out problems from the sideline, we are standing by ready to be part of the solution, Cocchi said. Gov. Charlie Baker said the state is working on improvements to the website featuring locations, which is now searchable by zip code. Baker also said the state is working on setting up a call center to field appointment requests. State officials said Wednesday there are currently 125 vaccination sites in Massachusetts, with 165 sites expected by mid-February. Over 120,000 appointments will be made available this week. Information about locations, eligibility and booking is available at mass.gov/COVIDvaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine is being offered free of charge. The shots are currently only available to those eligible in Phase 1 of the states guidelines, as well as residents age 75 or older, who are the first priority group in Phase 2. Anyone calling the sheriffs help line should have their personal information on hand, including ID, date of birth and health insurance card, if insured. Vaccination sites are offering one of the two vaccines approved by the Federal Drug Administration for emergency use. Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses several weeks apart. The sheriff departments social services program began in 1996 under then Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr. with an aim of reducing recidivism by helping former inmates with services ranging from mental health and substance use disorder counseling to job placement and housing assistance. In 2019 Cocchi expanded the center as a community resource to help anyone in need. The vaccine assistance program is the latest initiative to engage the community and offer a hand where a need exists, Cocchi said. Related content: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced on Tuesday that he will be stepping down as CEO during the third quarter of this year. He will instead serve as the executive chair of the companys board, focusing on new products and early initiatives. Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, is set to replace Bezos. Since founding the company in 1994, Bezos has grown Amazon into a hulking behemoth worth $1.7 trillion that encompasses a ubiquitous delivery service, Whole Foods Market, Prime Video, Audible, and Twitch. While Bezos says hell still be involved in the company to some extent, he plans to direct his attention to his other pursuits outside the company. Advertisement As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions, Bezos wrote in a letter to Amazon employees. Ive never had more energy, and this isnt about retiring. Im super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have. Advertisement Advertisement Heres a look at the other projects that Bezos says he will focus on after stepping down. Day 1 Fund Bezos launched this $2 billion philanthropic fund in 2018 with the aim of supporting nonprofits combating homelessness and establishing a network of preschools in underprivileged communities. The organization has given tens of millions of dollars to dozens of nonprofit groupsthough, as Vox noted, Amazon has been instrumental in killing bills dedicated to alleviating homelessness. Bezos Earth Fund The $10 billion environmental fund, founded in February 2020, is dedicated to backing scientists, activists, NGOs, and others. In November, Bezos announced that the fund would be donating $791 million to 16 groups, including the World Wildlife Fund, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Nature Conservancy. Bezos has a small team, including partner Lauren Sanchez and staff from his personal office, working to decide how to distribute the funds. Blue Origin Bezos founded the private aerospace company in 2000 and has poured billions of dollars into it. In a 2018 interview with Business Insider, he claimed that Blue Origin is the most important work that Im doing and that he was liquidating $1 billion per year of Amazon stock to invest in the company. The solar system can easily support a trillion humans. And if we had a trillion humans, we would have a thousand Einsteins and a thousand Mozarts and unlimited, for all practical purposes, resources and solar power unlimited for all practical purposes, he said at the time. Blue Origin is aiming to fly its first passengers into space as early as April. The Washington Post Bezos purchased the storied newspaper from Slates parent company in 2013 for $250 million. Since then, Bezos has helped to multiply its web traffic, and the paper has hired hundreds of people, won awards for reporting on the Trump administration, and turned a profit. At the same time, though, there have been questions about conflicts of interest when the Washington Post inevitably has to cover the CEO, though both Bezos and editor Marty Baron have said that there is a strict separation between the editorial team and the papers owner. The 10,000 Year Clock Bezos didnt specifically mention the clock in his farewell letter, but the device will surely take up much of his attention in the coming years. Installation of the $42 million clock in multiple rooms carved out of a West Texas mountain began in 2018. The clock will tick once a year and chime once in a thousand. Its a special Clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking, Bezos wrote of the device, which will be 500 feet tall and derive its energy from Earths thermal cycles. Another patient who had been hospitalized at the "Matei Bals" Institute in the ward affected by the fire on Friday died, according to a release of the Health Ministry sent on Wednesday to AGERPRES. "The Health Ministry was informed this morning, about a death among the patients who were in Ward V of the 'Matei Bals' National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bucharest during the fire of January 29, 2021. It is about a patient aged 84, transferred after the fire to the 'Elias' University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest," reads the release. The patient was diagnosed with a severe form of SARS-CoV-2 and had multiple comorbidities. The forensic investigation will determine the causes of death, the quoted source added. Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. LAGOS, NIGERIA / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / MDXi, a MainOne company is the largest commercial data center in West Africa offering enterprise-grade colocation and cloud services across the region. The company launched its operation in 2015 and currently provides colocation and Cloud services to a mix of the leading Banks and International Oil companies in Nigeria. Recently, Trobexis an international logistic management solution company chose MDXi to deploy their solution for an international oil & gas company in Nigeria. "We chose MDXi as our infrastructure partner because of the company's regional footprint and competitive pricing! A key differentiator is MainOne's presence in various West African countries and the opportunity to build a long-term strategic partnership." said Jonathon Tilsley, Director Trobexis PTY Ltd., Head Strategic Partnership Opportunities, EMEA. Trobexis PTY Ltd. currently leverages the Azure Stack at MDXi to provide their Enterprise Workforce Logistics Management System application, TrobexisOne, to an International Oil Company with stringent data compliance standards, security and performance requirements. For many businesses, remotely launching services in West Africa can be a daunting challenge. Prior to the move to MDXi, the TrobexisOne application had been deployed in public Azure cloud infrastructure. According to Jonathon Tilsley, deploying TrobexisOne at MDXi was a seamless experience "We deployed everything remotely without having any member of our technical team on ground. The rollout was timely, and the plan was adhered to. Our experience deploying our TrobexisOne application at MDXi has been excellent. We have never deployed this application in a hybrid environment and the team was able to lead us down the path to help us achieve our desired outcomes. We got the application for the International Oil Company (IOC) ready before the live date." However, beyond deploying applications, maintaining world class SLAs to customers requires a high degree of process integration and collaboration between teams. Jonathon Tilsley explains that "From a support perspective, the MainOne team was very helpful, the response and support were very timely. Throughout the roll out of the application, the project has been excellently supported." More about MDXi MDXi is West Africa's leading commercial data center, cloud and interconnection operator with Tier III certified facilities in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire. The core of its business is to deploy highly available infrastructure where organizations can access unmatched performance at lower costs, while meeting local data sovereignty requirements without sacrificing flexibility or control. Contact: marie@apo-opa.org SOURCE: MDXI View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627595/Trobexis-chooses-MDXi-to-deploy-Applications-in-West-Africa-on-Azure-Stack Photo: The Canadian Press A court has put the brakes on a Canadian Security Intelligence Service request to collect foreign information, ruling a proposed technique would stray beyond the spy service's legal mandate. The service was seeking court warrants so it could gather intelligence in other countries, from a location inside Canada, to help an unnamed federal minister. The spy service is allowed to collect information about threats to national security anywhere in the world, but there are limitations on gathering intelligence unrelated to security outside Canada. Section 16 of the CSIS Act allows the service to collect, within Canada, foreign intelligence relating to the capabilities, intentions or activities of any foreign state, as long as the information-gathering is not aimed at Canadians. Parliament imposed the "within Canada" requirement because collecting foreign intelligence in other countries could harm Canada's international relations. In a newly released decision, Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson found the service's proposed use of the investigative powers did not meet the "within Canada" requirement of the law. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! War crimes judges on Thursday deliver their verdict in the case of Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan child soldier turned top commander in the Lords Resistance Army, a rebel group known for extreme violence and forcing women into sexual slavery. Ongwen, 45, faces 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and could be imprisoned for life if convicted. Judges will not address sentencing on Thursday. The ruling at the International Criminal Court will be the first dealing with crimes by the LRA, New York-based Human Rights Watch said. It highlights the difficulty of trying somebody who, as a conscripted child soldier, is both an alleged perpetrator and a victim. His lawyers have asked for acquittal. Led by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, the LRA terrorized Ugandans for nearly two decades as it battled the government of President Yoweri Museveni from bases in the north of the country and in what is now South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. The case at the ICC focused on 2002-2005, when prosecutors said members of the LRA carried out crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, torture, pillaging and the conscription of children under the age of 15 for fighting. After being abducted by the LRA as a boy, Ongwen worked his way up to a commander, overseeing the Sinia Brigade, one of the groups four main operational units with up to 800 fighters. Detained in 2015, he remains in the courts custody. His 3.5-year-trial ended in March 2020. Ongwens lawyer says the brutal life in the LRA affected his mental health and his capacity to make independent decisions. When Ongwen was abducted he had no option, he was made a slave. That slavery continued until he left the bush, lawyer Krispus Odongo told judges in closing arguments. But prosecutors countered that Ongwen was an adult at the time of the alleged offences and cannot be excused of responsibility. Ongwens case is extremely complex because under the law you have either a victim or a perpetrator and anything in between is very difficult to squeeze in, said Barbora Hola, senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. In 2004, the Ugandan government referred the conflict with the LRA to the ICC, the worlds first permanent tribunal for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Short link: 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. Lucknow, Feb 3 : In a departure from tradition, former bureaucrat-turned-MLC, Arvind Kumar Sharma, has been allotted a bungalow in Dalibagh colony by the estate department. A government spokesman confirmed the allotment of the bungalow to Sharma by the estate department. First time legislators are usually allotted flats and with Sharma being given a bungalow, it is now certain that he would soon be given a ministerial position. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had constituted a committee headed by parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna for taking the final decision on allotment of bungalows to ministers, MLAs and MLCs. Sharma, who resigned as secretary, MSME at the Centre to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, is a known Modi loyalist having worked with him for nearly 20 years in Gujarat and Delhi, and hence it is being said that he would get a plum portfolio in the state cabinet. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text 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 COVID-19 pandemic is like a ruthless magnifying glass, exposing the vicious inequities at the core of our society. Those affected most have been the overlooked communities who had already been disproportionately struggling before the virus, like minorities, the urban and rural poor, the working class, prisoners, and the elderly. Unfortunately, due to a long-standing combination of systemic racism, disinvestment, and questionable policy decisions, the built environment around us exposes virtually the exact same inequities. In marginalized places, so many buildingsfrom public housing to schools to hospitalsare substandard, out-of-date, falling apart, or simply not built at all. These neighborhoods also suffer from uneven investments in public space, infrastructure, and basic services. Theres a dire cost: Unequal access to healthy, safe surroundings has been linked by study after study to higher instances of poverty, obesity, asthma, depression, traffic collisions, malnutrition, social fracture, and crime, and more pronounced impacts from environmental hazards like natural disasters, pollution, heat waves, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Addressing these blatant spatial disparities must be a major moral imperative for the Biden administration and our new Congress. But the benefit of remedying these injustices goes further: It could be a major driver of our economic rebound. Lets call it the spatial equity recovery: significant enhancements to buildings, streets, and public spaces that could create jobs, seed economic opportunities, drive productivity, and dramatically cut costs related to health, crime, and more. While reconfiguring much of our built world is admittedly ambitious, now is the perfect moment to take this step. Our economy is stagnant and uncertain; unemployment remains high; the president is already preparing a major infrastructure plan, and hes begun issuing executive orders designed to help narrow our racial equity gap; the pandemic has proved just how vital the design of our communities is to all of us; and the Black Lives Matter movement has made it impossible to keep ignoring historic wrongs. Rebuilding the fabric of our neighborhoods through a singular initiative with exponential benefits is something all of usDemocrats and Republicans, myriad agencies, and residents of all types of neighborhoodscan rally around. Advertisement Sadly, the opportunities to rethink and repair our inequitable built environment are endless. In housing, for example, we face a nationwide shortage of more than 7 million affordable units due to barriers like funding shortfalls and restrictive land use policies. Incentive programs like block grants and tax credits dont go nearly far enough in creating ample, humane housing while our chronically underfunded public housing stock is one of the most degraded in the world. Public schools in underinvested areas are equally troubled. In its latest Infrastructure Report Card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. school facilities a D+ grade, assessing 24 percent of school buildingsmost in poor urban and rural neighborhoodsas fair or poor. The same can be said for our prisons, with their cold, hard interiors, poor ventilation, little natural light, and outdated design emphasizing punishment over rehabilitation. Thats not to mention poorly designed or unkempt senior facilities, medical clinics, community centers, and so on. Advertisement Advertisement Beyond buildings, many marginalized people lack access to green spaces, public plazas, and other opportunities for healthy recreation and social cohesion. Parks are strapped with budget shortfalls and maintenance issues at all levels, and, according to the Trust for Public Land, 100 million Americans dont have a park within reasonable walking distance from their home. Poorer neighborhoodsoften encased in concretehave temperatures ranging from 4 to 6 degrees hotter than those of better-off residents. Neglected places also suffer from crumbling, inadequate infrastructure. Not just roads and bridges but community-level infrastructure, too. This includes street design features, like lighting, sidewalks, outdoor seating, and street trees, as well as pedestrian-friendly fundamentals like curb cuts, bike lanes, and improved crosswalks (pedestrians in low-income neighborhoods are three times more likely to be killed in a traffic collision than those in higher-income areas). Neighborhoods also need effective utilities, like clean water, broadband, reliable energy, and well-managed trash, and basic amenities, like access to healthy-food stores and proper medical facilities. These gaping disparities result in areas that are often unsafe, uncomfortable, and lacking opportunity. They become detriments to well-being, community, and prosperity, not producers of them. Advertisement Advertisement Addressing these long-standing built inequities could have a profound impact. The revitalization of long-neglected areas could create thousands of construction jobs, putting peopleespecially those in underserved neighborhoodsto work creating and rehabilitating buildings, parks, and infrastructure. It could also create an engine for small-business development, employment growth, and increased tax revenue (for instance, a recent Brookings study found that increased walkability augmented neighborhoods retail revenue by 80 percent). The subsequent wealth and well-being could, in turn, help ramp up productivity, bolster education funding, and save trillions on costs associated with health care, climate change, and crime. (For example, every year we spend more than $100 billion treating chronic diseases tied to obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and poor quality community-level infrastructure; most of those health issues affect underserved populations.) Advertisement Fixes to buildings and community infrastructure could also bring wider, intangible benefits, like improvements in mental health, social cohesion, and community stability. And if new structures and landscapes adhere to aggressive green building standards, we could facilitate better air quality, declines in greenhouse gas emissions, and the mitigation of environmental hazards and natural disasters. So how would we implement a spatial equitybased recovery? First, it will require ramping up spendingespecially in underserved placesfor community-level infrastructure like schools, parks, main streets, and water systems, and for reimagining obsolete highways, bridges, and viaducts into community assets, such as the reclamation of former railways as public pathways. Second it will entail seeding communities through housing assistance, community development grants and financing, small-business loans, targeted opportunity zones, community restoration funds, and land trusts. While we believe this approach would have widespread appeal, Democratic control of the White House and Congress means funding for many of these efforts could be feasible through budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority. Advertisement Advertisement To fairly, effectively, and cost-efficiently distribute these resources, we need to employ a holistic process, replacing our outdated, piecemeal approach to spatial justice via three pillars: cooperation, technology, and community. Cooperation means breaking through our existing siloes of research, entrepreneurship, and governance, and collaborating across diverse fields ranging from urban planning and engineering to public health and even national security. For instance, the green stormwater management project proposed for Lower Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy not only tackled environmental hazards and mitigated climate change but offered much-needed green and public space. Likewise, rebuilding main streets means funding public buildings but also investing in local businesses, schools, and housing. Nothing should stay in its own box anymore. To make sure it doesnt, we need a dedicated Office of Spatial Equity within the White House to coordinate policies, programs, and funding across all federal agencies corelated with the built environment, including those in charge of housing, transportation, education, health, energy, defense, justice, economic development, and environmental protection. Advertisement The second pillar of the spatial equity recovery is technology, which can help us not only quantify disparities in the built environment but also identify optimal local infrastructure investments. For instance, the city of Philadelphia, working with Marielas company, State of Place, is extracting urban design data (such as the presence of street trees, lighting, and public spaces) from digital street images to identify neglected areas. They are then employing predictive analytics to prioritize improvements that mitigate issues like heat waves, crime, and chronic disease. Other initiatives could utilize air and water sensors, smartphone apps, and geographic information system temperature mapping to gauge environmental degradation in specific neighborhoods, then use so-called digital twin citiescomputer-created models of the city itselfto simulate the impacts of potential solutions. To integrate and fund these types of tools (and to ensure their ethical application), the Office of Spatial Equity would need a chief innovation officer, who would work closely with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The third major pillar of the spatial equity recovery is working with communities to shape solutions, rather than dictating from above. This doesnt mean we cant involve experts. But those experts need to leave their offices and labs and collaborate with constituents. This approach has been lent various nameslike community-based participatory research or translational research. At its essence, it pairs researchers and community members as equal partners in identifying and solving problems. Such bottom-up approaches can help mitigate the threats of gentrification and displacement historically tied to previous recovery efforts. The post-COVID, postGeorge Floyd world also requires that these approaches acknowledge the trauma caused by damaging planning policies and offer opportunities for healing. One example is Destiny Thomas dignity-informed community engagement, which has, among many other efforts, helped reduce pedestrian and bicyclist deaths in Los Angeles while simultaneously addressing neighbors concerns about overaggressive traffic enforcement. Advertisement Biden has not yet submitted his next economic recovery proposal, which he has said will make historic investments in infrastructure. On his website, however, his Build Back Better plan echoes (albeit in preliminary, piecemeal fashion) some of the suggestions weve outlined, like employing data, involving the community, and connecting racial justice with economic and environmental recovery. This is a good start. But we believe that spatial justice shouldnt just be part of building back better, it should be at its core, facilitating a systematic, efficient, and implementable framework connecting vital issues like climate change, public health, economic development, mobility, education, safety, and well-being. Advertisement The spatial equity recovery makes a just built environment the backbone of our countrys long-overdue economic, environmental, and racial justice reset. Yes, this is a bold step, but being bold has lifted us up in the past. Government investment and resources helped pull us from the Great Depression. It created many of our libraries, hospitals, museums, parks, public buildings, schools, and universities, and seeded Silicon Valleys rise. Its time for the government to step up again, righting decades of unfair policy, bringing our physical surroundings into the 21st century, and delivering exponential return on investment, both economically and socially. Good spaces make our lives better. The spatial equity recovery will do that for all of us. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. 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. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. President Biden's ventriloquist, Barack Obama, will make every effort to scuttle or damage the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab nations. Those efforts will fail thanks to the sage counsel and logistical cooperation of President Trump's trusted adviser, confidant, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his loyal and effective secretary of state, Michael Pompeo. From 1967 until the advent of President Donald Trump, every single administration put forth peace plans that airbrushed the terror and genocidal ambitions of Israel's Arab enemies and predicated a gratuitous demand that Israel accept concessions and territorial withdrawals in exchange for "recognition of its right to exist." The Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords, and the Gaza withdrawal were clones of each other. No sober democracy would have accepted those terms from tyrants, and no good-faith American president would have demanded them. However, the Israeli governments of Menachem Begin, Itzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, and Benjamin Netanyahu did so, and each agreement was followed by unrelenting terror against hapless civilians. The dead were cynically referred to as "casualties of peace." Enter President Donald Trump, who, breaking with tradition, relied on Jared Kushner, David Friedman (America's ambassador to Israel), and Secretary Pompeo, rather than on the standard recommendations from the military and State Department officials. In the summer of 2020, President Trump, burdened with the pandemic and unrelenting Democrat efforts to destroy his administration, helped broker the historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which was only the third peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country. Pompeo then began to shuttle diplomacy to the region to persuade other Arab nations and Israel to begin negotiations and diplomatic exchanges. As a former congressman from Kansas, Pompeo had strong bonds with Israel, and the Arabs admired his military experience and warnings of the threat of militarized Iran. For his part, Jared Kushner reassured Israel that it would retain its military edge and he shifted Middle East politics, which had obsessively focused on the Palestinian Arabs, to the economic and strategic benefits flowing from exchanges with Israel. A new and younger Arab population was tired of old grudges and welcomed Kushner's resolve to solve current problems. Scolds will argue that Arab nations have a history of flouting agreements and treaties. So what? The worst that can happen is that diplomats will be recalled and insults hurled, and the international media will flood the news with recriminations blaming Israel. Nothing gained? Unlike previous agreements, nothing lost. What's the bottom line? The old paradigm for making peace by territorial withdrawals and inimical concessions is now relegated to the dustbin of history. Furthermore, the accords have coattails that have occasioned more agreements with many other formerly hostile nations. The architect of this new Middle East policy is Donald J. Trump, but the two loyal soldiers who helped devise and implement the plan deserve credit and gratitude. press release Greetings everybody. I conclude tonight my fifth visit to Ethiopia as UN High Commissioner for Refugees and at the outset I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government for having facilitated his visit, and for the exchanges that I have had with its members, starting with the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the President, the Minister of Peace and other officials. Ethiopia, as you probably know is one of UNHCR's most important partner countries, a country in which we have worked for decades, and more importantly a country, and that's the reason why we've been here for so long, that has hosted for those decades millions of refugees: 800,000 - 900,000 at the current count. And not only that, but Ethiopia is a country that has been quite exemplary in many aspects of refugee assistance, and it is for this reason that have 2019, I came to Addis to invite the Prime Minister to be one of the five co-convenors of the Global Refugee Forum that we held in Geneva at the end of that year. That of course was due to some very innovative policies inaugurated by this Government here in Ethiopia in respect of refugees, both at the legislative level and the operational level. The purpose of my visit of course here was to follow up on the very critical situation that has developed as we all know in the past couple of months in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, with the focus on the overall humanitarian situation in the region, but also in particular on the situation of Eritrean refugees that are hosted there. I think you have all seen statements that I have made in the past few months. I thought that the time had come, and the Ethiopian Government agreed, that the time had come for me to come and exchange frankly, as I did, views on the situation and looking at the way forward. I did not of course meet only the leadership of the country, but I also met my UN colleagues, NGOs international and national, Civil Society Organizations, refugees themselves, and other diplomats, donor partners and other important actors here on the ground. I would like to add that I was also able to travel to the Mai Aini refugee camp in southern Tigray, together with the Minister of Peace and the Director General of ARRA. ARRA is the Ethiopian National Refugee Organization, our counterpart in the country. This took place on Saturday and I want to thank the Government for that. My conclusion before I take off tonight. The humanitarian situation in Tigray, I think I will say something that everybody knows, but I think it's important to repeat it, is extremely grave. People need all possible forms of support: food items, non-food items, medicine, clean water, shelter. The closure of the banking system, of the telecommunication system has added to the hardship of thousands of people, so the restoration of services is a very big priority and the United Nations as you know also estimates that hundreds of thousands, figures are difficult put forward in this situation, have been displaced and continue to be displaced. There has been some progress in the security situation as we have heard from the government, although some isolated or scattered incidents continue to happen, but of course we have observed, and in some areas we continue to observe, violence carried out by various armed elements and militias, but also as often is the case in these military situations, by criminal elements and this has resulted in looting, in violence, sexual violence, in rape. Unfortunately, as you know, also six humanitarian workers have lost their lives in in recent weeks. So, the first message that I have shared, I must say to receptive ears of the Prime Minister, to Deputy Prime Minister and other interlocutors is very important: conflicts impact severely on civilians and whilst it is not in my place to make more political judgments, this is not my role, I have a responsibility to tell the Government that we're here to help minimize and eliminate the impact on civilians of these situations. There are many people, as we saw in Mai Aini, and other colleagues have seen in other places that have been very severely traumatized and need support, and what we have heard from the provisional authorities in Tigray, there was by the way another UN mission that visited Mekelle on the same day in which I was in Mai Aini, led by the Under Secretary General for Security of staff, and that mission focused on that particular aspect of our work and there was a very strong appeal by the temporary authorities for more help to come on the part of the international community to help address these needs. The same is heard by many colleagues of mine in the UN and among the NGOs from line ministries from the Health Ministry, the Water Ministry, that we need to step up assistance. The situation as I said is very grave is very urgent. Without further action it will get worse. I do want to appreciate what the government is already doing to address this situation, and reiterate that the UN and the international humanitarian community is ready to help and step up and I think that this step up, and they said this to the Prime Minister, is very important if we want to avoid a further widespread suffering of people. In my experience if you don't attend to this escalating humanitarian crisis the needs become so acute and so big and huge that it is much more difficult to address. We still have time, I guess, in spite of all the suffering that has already happened, to intervene now and this is why I really welcome the very constructive discussions in this respect that we've had with the Government. It is very positive that clearances were obtained in recent days to deliver cargo to the warehouses in Tigray in particular in Mekelle. I think that the next step is really to make sure that these goods, this cargo, food in particular, but also non-food item gets out and gets to the people who need it in the civilian population in all parts of the country, and I was very happy to hear the Deputy Prime Minister talk about the need to make joint assessments between the UN, the NGOs and the Government so that we can further refine our intervention. We talked a lot about needs, relief, access. Now we need to become more specific, where it is possible to do it and most urgent, we need to go there and do it and this needs some assessment and needs movement. This of course leads me to the very important issue that I have been discussing very frankly with the Government and that my colleagues here have been discussing with the Government for quite some time since the agreement in November: access is fundamental for the UN and NGOs. There are 16 UN agencies and 25 NGOs that have submitted requests for clearances. What I have discussed with all interlocutors, the Minister of Peace, Deputy Prime Minister but also the Prime Minister, is the importance to have an access management system, a clearance management system, that is fast, that is efficient and as close to the field operations as possible. I mean my experience in these situations is that the situation can be easily volatile, insecurity can move, so it is important that these procedures are very agile that they ensure the security of humanitarian workers. This is an important responsibility of the government and the government is taking it seriously, but that it does not limit access to the point where access is insufficient, as it is the case right now. So, we need to strike a balance there, and I think that we need to put in place, and I heard, clearly, from the Deputy Prime Minister a commitment that these access procedures will be very quickly made as flexible and effective as possible, and we will follow up on that. On the specific issue of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, as I said on Saturday I visited the Mai Aini refugee camp. You know, I think everybody knows, but for the sake of those who don't know, there were four refugee camps, Eritrean refugee camps in Tigray before the beginning of November: two in the north Hitsats and Shimelba and two in the South of the region, Mai Aini and Adi Harush. We visited the southern ones in fact Mai Aini one of the southern ones, and we met and spoke together with the Minister of Peace and her delegation, we met and spoke to the refugees residing. Some, most of them have resided for many years, maybe up to ten years in Mai Aini, but we also were able to meet some of the almost 3000 refugees that have now been relocated or have relocated themselves from the other two camps Hitsats and Shimelba. Now we know that, everybody knows, that in those two camps they were theater of conflict they have suffered severe destruction of infrastructure and damage and also most likely severe abuse on the refugees that were caught in the crossfire especially at the beginning of the operation and that those refugees have fled. This was a very traumatic situation for them in particular but also for the refugees in Mai Aini and Adi Harush who expressed to us their fear for their future. They said we don't want to have the same situation happen here, and I was glad to hear the Minister of Peace assure them several times that the situation in these two southern camps was secure, they were welcome there and that they would be supported and assisted. Those that we spoke to that were coming from the two other camps reported issues of very much concern to us. They reported that they had been cut off, as we know, from support and assistance for several weeks. Some of them told us and told the Minister that they had resorted to eating leaves because there was no other food, but they also spoke about, especially at the beginning as I said being caught in the crossfire that was at the beginning of the military operation, and they also spoke of infiltration of armed actors in the camps, of killings, abductions and also some forced return to Eritrea at the hands of Eritrean forces present in the areas. Others reported that other refugees had chosen themselves to return to Eritrea given the insecurity prevailing in the area. We heard many reports, not just on Saturday but also on other occasions and of course this is a situation of great concern these abuses and the strong appeal that I made to the Government, and I think this came loud and clear during our visit, is that it is very important that these abuses if they still happen, it is very difficult to tell without access, must be put to an end. Especially deportations are of course as we know quite a violation of international law as I have flagged to do the authorities. Now the priorities therefore are as follows looking forward: first of all, I raised this and we had very frank constructive engagement with the government on this issue, it is urgent that we get back in touch with those refugees that are still dispersed from Hitsats and Shimelba. We estimate they might be somewhere between 15 and 20,000 people, perhaps a little less, that are dispersed in areas where we do not have access. Whilst relocation to the southern camps continues, I think that we need to accelerate that operation, and in order for that to be accelerated and bring people to safety away from the insecure areas it is important that we the ARRA, the Ethiopia Refugee Organization with our support that we have access to those areas. The Prime Minister told me that he understood very well this important priority for us, that he would personally follow up to ensure that this would happen, and we discussed this in more detail with the Deputy Prime Minister. So, we will continue to follow up on this particular issue. Meanwhile, another big priority is to scale up assistance in Mai Aini and Adi Harush because they will be receiving more people. ARRA has told us that they will negotiate with local authorities to find the space to accommodate a larger population and we will continue to work together to ensure that. Now there is a broader issue of course, generated by these allegations of violence and abuse that refugees I would say Eritrean refugees all over the country as we heard in Mai Aini, as we hear here with urban refugees in Addis Ababa, all over the country are now in a situation of anxiety and fear. They fear that the hospitality and protection that Ethiopia has given them for a long time is going to shrink or diminish and I have raised this in all my meetings, and I am happy to have heard that this is not the case. The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Peace, told me that the commitment of Ethiopia to protect Eritrean refugees continue to be undiminished and I think it is important that this is known and repeated to send a message to reassurance to all refugees around the country. I want to add a few elements. As you know last November after the beginning of the military operation, I went to Sudan at the border with the Ethiopia to meet the Ethiopian refugees who were afraid of the situation in Tigray and that were crossing over into Sudan. That number by the way has now exceeded 60,000 refugees. What I heard there, and I spent quite some time, a couple of days, speaking to the refugees in a way mirrored what we heard from some of the Eritrean refugees but of course in a slightly different context. We heard of course the fear of fighting, this is a very natural fear of any civilian population but we also heard the fear of abuse and violence not at the hands of the Federal forces but at the hands of militia, irregular militia, and I shared this view with the authorities today. Most of them, I have to tell you, most of them told me that they wanted to return to Ethiopia fairly quickly and of course UNHCR stands ready, and we discussed this today with the authorities, to support this return provided of course it is a free and voluntary choice of the refugees, something that Ethiopia fully respects but I also advised the government here that we must address this issue of abuse by individuals or by groups if we want to encourage these people to return. It is very important that the Government says and continues to say that people are welcome back. I think that if this issue of violence is addressed, the Deputy Prime Minister explained to me how a plan is being rolled out to diminish any irregular violence and reestablish law and order in the area, I think that this would constitute a good context for people, it will encourage at least some people to go back feeling safe feeling that they have the security and support that they need. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia International Organisations Refugees By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Let me repeat it again many people want to return. They are missing or have missed the harvest their left behind the houses belongings they have fled many times in haste, so it is important that this is addressed as a matter of urgency. It is also as part of the peacebuilding process which I heard the Government is intending to embark upon after the military operation or even now as the military operation continues, I think it is important also to address these allegations that we have heard of violence at the hands of militias, of foreign forces, of others. I was very pleased to hear even in the camp when I visited with the Minister of Peace and then from other authorities a commitment by the Ethiopian Government to investigate what has happened. My main priority, our main priority, is to gain access to deliver aid and protection, ensure the safety of everybody now but it is also important, and I have seen it in so many conflict situations, that also what has happened might be addressed in full transparency. This is not my mandate, this is something more in the domain of human rights, but my strong recommendation having seen this over and over again, is that the Ethiopian government in full transparency conducts this investigation, this investigation needs to be as impartial and credible as possible, to fulfill what they need to fulfill, bring to accountability the people that may be accountable whichever side or whichever group they belong to, but also at the same time to ensure that there is a due process of redress for what has happened to reassure the civilian populations that have been impacted. By the way, you know, there is a lot of noise on social media in the public domain around these issues. When you visit like I did on Saturday, you realize that the situation is very complex, that there's been a lot of crossfire, a lot of violations on all sides, and all this needs to be impartially investigated by those who will do it, and I think it is very important as the impact of the conflict on civilians or of the operations on civilians is investigated that refugees are also included in this investigations. My final point is that the Government is rightly concerned that we need resources to respond to this crisis, and I would like to flag and to continue to run all other operations humanitarian and development operations in this country. I remind you that UNHCR alone with ARRA is dealing with South Sudanese refugees in Gambella, with Somali refugees in the Somali region, with Sudanese refugees in Assosa, that although the IDP population in the country has decreased in other regions other than Tigray there are still areas of IDP operations that need to be supported and I think that for this of course international assistance is necessary. I told the Government that access to people in need, presence of international organizations in support of the national effort, all these will be very welcome sign of building costs and encouraging the international community to support also financially the operations of the Government, of the United Nations, and of NGOs. You know that the United Nations has appealed for one 170 million dollars specifically for operations in Northern Ethiopia, there has been a good response, 65% has been funded, but we need more to come through because the needs in my opinion will escalate as we go forward. In Sudan as well we have appealed for the refugees there for about $150 million, almost half of that amount has been contributed including a recent and very substantive American contribution but once again we need to have those efforts supported until we come to a solution of this crisis and hopefully we move forward along all the directions that I have outlined. Many thanks. As expected, the Justice Department, now under the control of Joe Biden, has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Yale for discriminating against Whites and Asian Americans on the basis of their race. I wrote about that suit here and here. The Justice Departments complaint demonstrates the magnitude of Yales race-based disfavoring of Whites and Asians. According to the complaint, which is based on the DOJs lengthy investigation of Yales undergraduate admissions process, Blacks in the tenth decile (the top one) are admitted to Yale at a rate of 60 percent. By contrast, Whites are admitted at a rate of 20 percent and Asians at a rate of only 14 percent. Because Yale is a highly selective college, few applicants of any race or ethnicity are admitted from the third decile or below. However, in the fourth decile, Blacks are admitted at a rate of 12 percent about the same rate at which Asians in the tenth decile (the top one) are admitted. The admission rates for Whites and Asians in the fourth decile are just 2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. In the fifth decile, Blacks are admitted at a rate of 21 percent about the same rate as Whites in the tenth decile. For Whites and Asians in the fifth decile, the admission rates are just 4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. In other words, Blacks with slightly below average credentials in relation to other applicants stand about the same chance of being admitted to Yale as Whites and Asians whose credentials place them in the top 10 percent of the applicant pool. Thats blatant racial discrimination. Its also fine with the moderate Biden administration. By contrast, nearly three-fourths of Americans believe that race shouldnt be a factor in college admissions, according to a Pew Research survey. Fortunately, the DOJs dismissal isnt likely to let Yale off the hook. Edward Blum of Students for Fair Admissions promptly announced that his group will file its own anti-discrimination lawsuit against Yale in the coming days. Students for Fair Admissions has already sued Harvard for race discrimination in admissions. It is also challenging racially discriminatory admissions practices at the University of North Carolina and the University of Texas. The Harvard suit was unsuccessful at the district court and court of appeals levels. However, I expect that Students for Fair Admissions will ask the Supreme Court to hear the matter. As Blum said in a Students for Fair Admissions press release: Since the impressive victory of Armenias non-violent Velvet Revolution in 2018, the early euphoria and enthusiasm in support of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has waned considerably. As International Politics and Society writes, after posting gains in democratisation, capped by a long overdue free and fair election in December 2018, the Armenian government embarked on a popular campaign to combat corruption. But Prime Minister Pashinyan overreached, launching an effort to not only reform but also reconstitute the court system. Amid the so-called court crisis, Armenia was then overwhelmed by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, which quickly expanded from a public crisis into an economic disaster. Against that backdrop, the unexpected loss in the war for Nagorno Karabakh by November 2020 triggered an unprecedented political crisis in Armenia, with democracy under assault, reform imperiled, and the political fate and future of the Pashinyan government now very much in question. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict has both defined the political discourse and driven the development of modern politics in Armenia. As a conflict that first erupted in the waning days of the Soviet Union, the Karabakh issue predates modern Armenian independence. And for every Armenian government since independence, Nagorno Karabakh has served as a fundamental pillar of politics. The relevance of the Karabakh conflict has not only shaped the development of Armenian statehood but, under previous Armenian governments, has also fostered shortcomings in democracy and tolerance for corruption, often excused by a dubious justification based on the imperatives of wartime national security. The long shadow of Karabakh Given the role of the Karabakh conflict as a foundation for Armenian politics, the unprecedented defeat in the war for Nagorno Karabakh has forced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan into new and unchartered political terrain. Moreover, since an unprecedented military defeat and unexpected loss of territory that included significant parts of Karabakh in November 2020, the Armenian government faces a lingering political crisis that only continues to reverberate throughout Armenian society. The domestic political challenge to the government, with calls for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign, is both less and more than it seems, however. On the one hand, the political vulnerability of the Pashinyan government is neither as serious nor as significant as recent developments suggest for two reasons. First, despite the initial shock of the Prime Ministers acceptance of a Russian-brokered agreement that ended the war with an Armenian capitulation, demonstrations against the government have been largely ineffective. And despite the frustration and shock over Armenias defeat in the war, the political opposition remains deeply unpopular and widely discredited. In a display of desperation over determination, the oppositions attempts to leverage dissent and discontent into street protests have failed, both in terms of much fewer demonstrators and with a lack of any alternative policy position. The oppositions stubborn reliance on outdated tactics and maximalist demands for the resignation of the democratically elected government and the appointment of a transitional government selected by the opposition are impractical and implausible. Against this backdrop, even the need for a snap election is not enough to either satisfy the opposition or to salvage their unpopularity. Many still see the disparate opposition as driven more by its own self-interest than any defense of national interest, effectively just pursuing a campaign to regain power. Moreover, a second reason that the political challenge is less acute lies in the absence of any credible rival or alternative to Pashinyan. In fact, Pashinyan had no choice and little alternative but to accept the Russian agreement. It was the only feasible way to save lives and salvage what remained of Nagorno Karabakh. In this context, the fall of Shushi, the second largest city in Karabakh, came to be the turning point, making any further fighting unsustainable and risking the complete loss of Karabakh. Deeper political deficiencies Nevertheless, although the threat from the political opposition may be insufficient to force the resignation of the Prime Minister, the political future of the Pashinyan government is certainly an open question. The weakness of the governments position is driven by two broader factors. First, Pashinyan has become increasingly stranded in unchartered political waters, as no political leader or party has ever faced the challenge of governing without the essential element of domestic discourse and public policy. Second, and somewhat ironically, the political fate and future of Prime Minster lies more in his own hands than in the actions of the opposition. More specifically, Pashinyans rather reckless and impulsive style of leadership has done more to undermine his standing than anything that the opposition has done or said. Although determined to resist demands for his resignation, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sought to diffuse the crisis. His initial response, consisting of a sweeping dismissal of six cabinet ministers followed by the presentation of a six-month action plan of policy measures, was largely dismissed as doing little to demonstrate accountability. As the crisis continued, however, the Pashinyan government slowly began to accept the need for a snap election. This belated acknowledgement means a contest later this year, to replace a parliament more than two years before the expiration of its mandate. Thus, with a lingering political crisis only exacerbating a deepening political polarisation, the necessity for a new election stands out as the most constructive way to resolve the dissent and division. And a fresh mandate from a new parliamentary election would be based on the recognition that the political landscape has changed dramatically. By seeking a fresh mandate, the government is expected to secure a reduced, but still working majority of seats in the new parliament. For the opposition, the snap election will be a challenge, as they face a difficult time in garnering any significant number of seats given their lack of popular standing and their failure to offer any alternative policies. In that context, the strength of the governments position is driven as much by the lack of any credible rival or political alternative than by any deep appeal or support, however. Thus, Armenia is now poised to enter a new period of politics, as both the beginning of the end of Armenian politics defined by the past narrative, and as the end of the beginning for the early euphoria of support for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his embattled government. As the Alabama state lawmakers are expected to discuss prison reform, we're taking a look at the 2015 Prison Reform Act's impacts on county sheriff's offices and jails. "I don't think it was realized when the bill was passed, what kind of financial impact it would have on the counties," said Marshall County Sheriff Phil Sims. A report from the Association of County Commissions in Alabama agrees with Sheriff Sims. They add the 2015 Prison Reform Act caused unintended financial impacts for sheriff's offices as they're forced to house more state inmates. "It's an issue for every county right now and the state has a lot of decisions to make. They're in a rock and a hard place," said Sims. Sims says right now, his jail is overcrowded. The jail is supposed to house 200 inmates, but they're housing 290. More than 60 of those are state inmates who haven't been picked up because of the pandemic. According to the report, in Marshall County from 2014 to 2020, they saw a more than half a million dollar jump in costs to operate the jail. "As a taxpayer, it does bother me that the offenders aren't being transported," said Steve Cook, Marshall County taxpayer. Sims noted that pre-pandemic, they would typically house about 10 state inmates and the state was good about picking up those inmates within or around 30 days. A Marshall County Commission representative says their internal data on how many state inmates the jail housed doesn't go back before the act was passed, so it's hard to compare. A total of 36 members of the US Congress on Tuesday issued a letter to Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, urging the country to undertake a full review of acquittal of the accused in the case of 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. In a letter to envoy Asad Majeed Khan, the US lawmakers said, "In the years since the tragic murder of Daniel Pearl, the US and have maintained a robust partnership, particularly in the areas of security cooperation, energy, trade, and investment. We look forward to continuing to work with you to advance this relationship." "Nevertheless, in pursuit of justice for Pearl and the countless others who have been murdered by acts of terrorism, it is incumbent upon us to urge you to do your utmost to ensure that the Government of conducts a full review of the acquittal in the case of Daniel Pearl," the letter said. This comes after Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted in 2002 of orchestrating the abduction and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said in a statement that the US is prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the US, a position that the lawmakers strongly supported. The letter, which was signed by the likes of Ro Khanna and Brad Sherman further said, "A statement issued on January 28th by the office of the Attorney General for Pakistan indicates that your government will conduct a full review of the acquittal passed by the Supreme Court. We welcome the decision to file a Review Petition and expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously move to recall the order of acquittal to ensure justice is served." "We expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously move to recall the order of acquittal to ensure justice is served," said Congressman Sherman. Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the authorities to shift terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in Pearl's murder, from a death cell in the Karachi Central Prison to government rest house within the next two or three days. The country's apex court also ordered authorities to ensure the complete security of the rest house, Geo News reported. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court resumed hearing on Tuesday on the petition filed by the Sindh government seeking review of the apex court order to release the terrorist in connection with the journalist's murder case. The apex court, on Monday, had extended the detention of Sheikh by one day on the request of the Sindh government to review his release. Sheikh was one of three terrorists released by India in 1999 in exchange for a hijacked airliner. In 2002, Pearl, the 38-year-old journalist of The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan to investigate a story of terror groups' links to Al-Qaeda. (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 Ministry of Culture and Information Policy asks YouTube to close the pages of the NewsOne, ZIK, 112 Ukraine television channels on this platform. "The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy will send to YouTube the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine regarding sanctions against the NewsOne, ZIK, 112 Ukraine television channels with a request to close their pages on YouTube. After all, these channels are broadcast, satellite or Internet represent an information threat to the national security of Ukraine, since it is not a media outlet or an ordinary broadcaster, but part of the propaganda war of Russia against Ukraine," Tkachenko wrote in the Telegram channel. The minister said that YouTube is guided by its own policy to close the channels, but expressed confidence that the popular platform should know exactly who and how finances and produces hostile content. Cat Deeley enlisted the help of her doting husband Patrick Kielty to dye her hair at home on Sunday. And the star showed off the impressive results of the DIY colouring session as she arrived for work at BBC Wogan House on Wednesday afternoon. Cat flaunted her flawless locks, ready for her stint covering Steve Wright's Radio 2 show. Looking fab! Cat Deeley enlisted the help of husband Patrick Kielty to dye her hair on Sunday. And she showed off the impressive results as she arrived for work at Radio 2 on Wednesday Cat's newly dyed locks were styled into perfect loose waves for her day at work. Meanwhile the always-stylish star flaunted her long legs in racy PVC trousers. She added buckled boots and kept things chic up top with a blush-coloured roll-neck jumper layered under a pristine white coat. On Sunday the TV presenter, 44, shared a hilarious video to her Instagram story, joking that 'Fernando', aka Patrick, 50, was about to open his salon. Gorgeous! Cat's newly dyed locks were styled into perfect loose waves for her day at work Cat resorted to using a home kit to dye her hair with salons closed for potentially months longer under current lockdown rules. The mother-of-two captured their amateur set-up, with Patrick wearing a protective white apron and gloves as he prepared to apply the colour to his wife's hair. Cat swung the camera around to reveal the mix of hair dye, saying: 'We're listening to Michael Ball and that is about to go on my head.' In a separate clip, Cat leaned forward wearing pyjamas while her comedian husband applied the dye to the underside of her hair. She filmed the video with a pink love heart filter and asked her husband, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on Sunday, if this was how he expected to spend his birthday. Racy! Meanwhile the always-stylish star flaunted her long legs in racy PVC trousers. She added buckled boots and kept things chic up top with a blush-coloured roll-neck jumper Welcome to the salon! Cat resorted to using a home kit to dye her hair on Sunday with salons closed for potentially months longer under current lockdown rule Patrick turned to the camera, joking: 'I mean, it's probably the greatest birthday I've ever had - especially with that filter.' Cat and television host Patrick have been married since 2012 and are now parents to sons Milo, four, and James, two. The pair had been friends for years before their friendship turned to romance thanks to Patrick's major gesture, after first striking up a bond while co-hosting Fame Academy back in 2002. The mother-of-two recently shared a clip of her homeschooling with son Milo and she said she was 'losing her mind' while stuck indoors. Home salon: The TV presenter, 44, shared a hilarious video to her Instagram story, joking that 'Fernando', aka Patrick, 50, was about to open his salon Lockdown birthday: Patrick, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Sunday, turned to the camera, joking: 'It's probably the greatest birthday I've ever had' Birmingham-born Cat and her family recently moved back to the UK after living happily in Los Angeles for over 14 years. They put their Beverly Hills mansion on the market for $4.9 million (3.8 million), in August 2020, and are now living in north London. Cat recently revealed the 'catalyst' for the family's departure was the terrifying moment Patrick and their eldest son narrowly avoided a public shooting incident at the Century City Mall. Speaking on the Made By Mammas podcast in December, she said: 'It was always kind of in our minds that we would, at some stage or another you know, come back. 'The main factor was friends and family because we will never get this time back again. True love: Cat and Patrick met when they presented Fame Academy together in 2002 and remained friends for almost a decade, before they married in 2012 'But there was definitely a moment where Paddy and Milo were caught up in a [] they were shopping at Westfield shopping centre and theyd gone to Shake Shack to have a burger and it was just like a treat after school, and they got caught up in what they thought was a live shooter. 'They all kind of got pushed into toilets and into the kitchen, and people were screaming, and I had to go and get them, and I didnt realise what was going on.' She continued: 'It was only when I was driving up in my car that I realised the enormity of it as I saw like, six helicopters circling and news teams and SWAT squads. It was very, very scary.' Despite the gun culture in the US, Cat said that was not the reason why they left the country. She explained: 'It definitely wasnt the reason, but it was one of the reasons and quite possibly a catalyst for it, you know.' Data breaking down how the coronavirus vaccine is being distributed across New York state is hard to come by, but from what is known thanks to information provided by New York City and seen through anecdotal reporting one thing is clear: some of the same inequities that have made low-income communities of color bear the brunt of this pandemic are making it more difficult for them to access the vaccine. Last weekend, New York City released demographic data on its vaccinations, showing that among adults who received at least one dose and noted their race or ethnicity, 48% were white, while only 15% where Latino and 11% were Black, even though the city is 29% Latino and 24% Black. The takeaway? Black and brown New Yorkers are getting shorted again. Public health experts said that to achieve a more equitable rollout of the vaccine, New York state and local governments need to do a better job of bringing the vaccine to the people in those hard-hit neighborhoods, instead of expecting people to overcome the barriers to getting their jab. That requires making it easier for people to sign up for appointments, prioritizing residents of the hardest hit neighborhoods for appointments in those neighborhoods and bringing the vaccine directly to people. New York is already starting to take some of those steps. The release of that data followed reporting by The City showing that at a vaccination site in Washington Heights a largely Hispanic neighborhood most people in line appeared to be white suburbanites, and Spanish-speaking guides were hard to find at the site. New York state has so far released only minimal demographic vaccine data only releasing a racial breakdown for hospital workers vaccinated in the 1A eligibility group despite calls to disclose data for the much wider group of New Yorkers who have now been vaccinated. Gov. Andrew Cuomos office has said that that data is being collected, and a larger dataset will be made available once state officials are comfortable with its accuracy. Meanwhile, a bill from Rep. Grace Meng calls for a national breakdown of demographic vaccination data. Despite the dearth of information on just how inequitable the rollout of the vaccine has been, the early signs are not promising, reflecting stark disparities between white communities and Black and Latino communities. The latter represent the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Across the country, Black and Hispanic Americans are dying from COVID-19 at roughly 2.8 times the rate of white people. New York is not alone here; many of the states and cities that have started to release demographic breakdowns show similar patterns, with people from white and wealthier communities having an easier time accessing the vaccine and taking up a greater share of appointments. In New York, the inequitable distribution observed so far likely has a few explanations, public health experts said, but its hardly surprising. New York took the equality approach everyone has equal access to everything, Melody Goodman, associate dean for research at the New York University School of Global Public Health, said of New Yorks vaccine rollout. But often, that means that some people are going to be more likely to take it up... Just putting it out there is not the same as getting it to where it needs to be. While part of the challenge New York confronts is in convincing disadvantaged communities that the vaccine is safe especially because of a historical distrust of health care providers stemming from systemic bias against people of color in the healthcare system hesitancy about getting the vaccine is just a part of the challenge. Public health experts said that not enough has been done to make it easy for people of color and low-income residents to learn about the vaccine, easily sign up for an appointment and eventually get vaccinated. Part of that has to do with New York not relying enough on its health departments in its rollout of the vaccine, Goodman said. As The New York Times reported earlier this week, the state health department has seen an exodus under Cuomo, as some health officials reportedly felt underutilized despite their expertise in public health. Rather than rely on the vaccination plans that the state health department had collaborated on with local health departments, Cuomo has relied mostly on hospitals for the rollout. We often marginalize public health. Even in this public health crisis we've been marginalizing the experts. We've not been giving our public health departments the infrastructure to do the work that they've been doing this entire time, Goodman said. Instead weve been giving it to more commercial entities. Reaching underserved communities and communicating essential information about the vaccine are functions local health departments are well-equipped, and in fact designed, to handle, she said. Facing the same problems as New York, some other states and localities have started to refocus their vaccination efforts on reaching disadvantaged communities. One North Carolina county is prioritizing vaccinating older people who live in ZIP codes with the highest rates of COVID-19. When releasing new appointments for vaccinations, Washington D.C. has started restricting the first day of reservations to residents of ZIP codes with the highest infection and fatality rates. Other cities are starting pop-up vaccination clinics in Black churches and community centers, and Baltimore is going door-to-door in housing complexes for seniors, The New York Times reports. Similar efforts have started in New York. At vaccine sites located in 33 hard-hit neighborhoods, New York City will prioritize appointments for residents of those neighborhoods, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday. New York state has also launched pop-up vaccination sites in public housing developments and churches, delivering vaccination kits to those sites and working with local partners such as the health network SOMOS to administer the vaccine. In just over two weeks, weve deployed pop-up vaccination clinics to 27 public housing developments and churches statewide, which have administered shots to nearly 10,000 New Yorkers in communities of color, Cuomo spokesperson Jack Sterne wrote in an email. Dozens more pop-ups are planned in the coming weeks, Sterne said, with the goal of setting up 300 sites in communities of color. Actions like these are moving in the right direction, public health experts said, but theres more that New York state and local governments can do. Here are a few of the steps New York could take to bring the vaccine to underserved communities and ensure that all New Yorkers especially those hardest hit by the virus are getting vaccinated: Stop relying on an online system for signing up to get the vaccine As COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expanded last month, sign-ups for vaccination appointments were largely relegated to online booking and information websites developed by the state and New York City, which have experienced glitches and have been frustrating and time-consuming to use. Just as importantly, theyre ill-suited to reach the very people that New Yorks leaders have said its important to reach.Think about the fact that part of who we said we wanted to vaccinate first was older adults, and then we rolled out an online system, Goodman said. Thats not to say older adults cant use the internet, she noted, but its insufficient as a primary tool for signing up to get vaccinated especially when trying to sign up older adults with less education, wealth, free time or English language skills. The state and city each have phone lines too, but people have gotten stuck on hold on those or experienced calls dropping. These options not only disadvantage those without internet access, but those who dont work from home or otherwise have a white-collar job that allows them to constantly check a website or call back in hopes of finding an available slot. Instead, New York should be meeting people where they are to spread information about the vaccine and get them signed up for an appointment. Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, suggested having workers devoted to helping older New Yorkers or those without internet access find and sign up for vaccine appointments. That includes making information about signing up available in all languages that New Yorkers speak, she said. Community centers, churches and schools could be used as sign-up hubs, too. The state has also said its working with nonprofits and community groups to register people at community vaccine hubs. A New York Times editorial also suggested sending public health workers door-to-door to help people book appointments. The faith-based strategies make sense, as long as theyre safe. The door-to-door strategies make sense, said Derek Griffith, a professor in the department of Medicine, Health & Society at Vanderbilt University. Talking to folks from those communities and asking them, What kind of things would reach people that are having difficulty accessing this kind of information? Reserve spots for local residents at community vaccination sites Cuomo has committed to creating more pop-up vaccination sites at public housing developments, churches and other community centers, and that is a first step in directly reaching unserved residents, experts said. But to take it a step further, vaccine sites in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods should prioritize appointments for residents of that neighborhood as New York City announced it would start doing. Guillermo Chacon, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, founder of the Hispanic Health Network and a member of New York states Vaccine Equity Task Force, said that after The City reported on suburban New Yorkers flocking to a vaccine site in Washington Heights, he and other members of the vaccine task force put pressure on the city to start restricting who is able to get those appointments. Now, those kinds of restrictions have to be put in place statewide, he said. If the intention is to bring a vaccination center to a Black or Latino neighborhood, we cannot allow people from outside those neighborhoods to just show up and then get appointments, Chacon said. Cuomo has said hes open to this approach. I do not have a problem with restricting the site when you are targeting a problematic community, by positivity (rate) or lack of coverage, he said last week. Of course, this would be an easier challenge to confront if New York werent faced with a scarcity of vaccines and a ticking clock on the doses themselves before they expire. I would just say go door-to-door in communities and vaccinate people. But we don't have enough vaccines to even do that, Goodman said. Still, there doesnt necessarily have to be a choice made between making sure the vaccine gets to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, and making sure the most vulnerable New Yorkers have easy access to it. You can achieve rapid enrollment, but you have to be attentive to who is rapidly enrolled, El-Sadr said. And by going to the community, by going out there and facilitating and situating vaccination sites, and facilitating people coming to these vaccine sites, we can achieve both. Collect and produce complete demographic data on vaccinations Perhaps the easiest first step New York could take in achieving equitable vaccine distribution is ensuring the complete collection and timely publication of data about vaccinations broken down by categories including race, ethnicity and geography. It is urgent to receive data on race and ethnicity at the state level, Chacon said, noting that the state has yet to release that data. Thats the other side of the coin to help us to be more responsible and focused about where to put energy. Goodman said it shouldnt be hard to collect and report this data. While the minimal data we have now gives us an idea of how inequitable vaccinations have been so far, theres still a lot we dont know. The fact that so much of the data is missing means that we have an idea of what the picture is, but we really don't know, she said. It could be better than what we think it is, but it actually could be a lot worse. WITNESSES have started to testify behind closed doors in the trial of a man accused of carrying out violent attacks on girls in the Windhoek area and committing a series of sexual crimes from December 2012 to October 2018. The trial of Gavin Gawanab (27) began before judge Dinnah Usiku in the Windhoek High Court on Monday, when Gawanab denied guilt on 23 charges - including three counts of rape, three counts of attempted rape, four charges of attempted murder and several counts of assault and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Gawanab and his defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji did not give a plea explanation to the court. With several of the prosecution's witnesses in the trial being minor girls, the court has been hearing the testimony of witnesses behind closed doors so far. The state, represented by deputy prosecutor general Innocentia Nyoni, is alleging that Gawanab carried out attacks on girls and women in Windhoek and on farms close to the city on seven separate occasions over a span of nearly six years. In the first incident, he allegedly strangled a girl in a shack on a farm in the Windhoek district on 22 December 2012, undressed her and tried to rape her, before neighbours who had heard the girl crying rescued her. The second incident is claimed to have taken place at the same farm on 14 May 2013, when Gawanab allegedly threatened to stab two people, assaulted and strangled a girl, and tried to rape her. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Namibia Legal Affairs By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Gawanab is further charged with having broken into a room in the Havana area of Windhoek on 26 September 2015, and strangling and raping a girl who was in the room. Another incident is alleged to have happened in the Havana area on 2 September 2016, when Gawanab is claimed to have stabbed someone with a knife and forced a woman into a room where he tried to rape her before he was disturbed by people who were looking for her. In other charges faced by Gawanab, he is accused of having robbed and raped a woman while she was on her way home at night in the Havana area on 29 April 2017. The last incident over which he is being prosecuted took place at a farm near Windhoek on 26 October 2018, when Gawanab allegedly tried to murder a girl by strangling her, and allegedly also raped her and assaulted her by cutting her with a knife. Gawanab was arrested near the end of October 2018, and has been kept in custody Source: AP Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines, including to other countries. Police in Beijing and in Jiangsu and Shandong provinces broke up the group led by a suspect surnamed Kong that was producing the fake vaccines, which consisted of a simple saline solution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The vaccines were sold in China and to other countries, although it was unclear which ones. The group had been active since last September, according to state media. China has already reported the situation to the relevant countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing Tuesday. The Chinese government highly values vaccine safety and will continue to take efforts to strictly prosecute any counterfeits, fake sales and illegal business, and other related actions that involve vaccines, Wang said. At the same time, China will strengthen our law enforcement cooperation with the relevant countries, to earnestly prevent the spread of this type of illegal and criminal action. He did not offer further details. China has a long history of vaccine scandals resulting from manufacturing issues as well as business practices. In 2016, police arrested two people who were in charge of a ring that sold millions of improperly stored vaccines across the country. In response to recent scandals, China reformed vaccine safety regulations and increased criminal penalties for those caught making counterfeits. Domestically, many Chinese citizens did not trust homegrown vaccines and surveys previously showed that trust in vaccines fell after scandals like the one in 2016. However, since the pandemic has struck, confidence has been high. A total of 74 percent of respondents in a recent survey published in Chinese business magazine Caixin said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine if it was available. China has at least seven COVID-19 vaccines in the last stage of clinical trials, and has one that has been approved for domestic use, made by state-owned Sinopharm. Chinese vaccine makers have seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic to go global, with Sinopharm and other Chinese companies making deals or donating their vaccines in at least 27 countries around the world. Domestically, China has given more than 24 million doses of its homegrown vaccine candidates, as part of a mass vaccination campaign. It has so far refrained from giving the vaccine to the most elderly, instead targeting key groups such as medical workers and workers who work in food- related industries, as well as adults between the ages of 18 and 59. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Hal Holbrook, the World War II Army veteran best known for his amazingly accurate portrayal of Mark Twain in the renowned one-man show he performed on stages for more than five decades, has died. He was 95. Holbrooks former wife Carol Rossen confirmed his death. The New York Times said he died Jan. 23 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Holbrooks Tony Award-winning Twain re-creation on Broadway in 1966 was part of an acting career that spanned stage, movies and television. He first encountered Twain when he portrayed the legendary author and humorist in a two-person sketch that was part of a multicharacter revue Holbrook and his first wife took on a high school assembly tour of the Southwest in the late 1940s. By the time Holbrook turned Twain into a one-man show in 1954, he had performed the brief Twain sketch, An Encounter With an Interviewer, some 800 times in front of high school, university and womens club audiences. After developing and performing his one-man Twain show in New York nightclubs and in regional performances as well as performing pieces of his act on The Ed Sullivan Show and other TV programs Holbrook opened Mark Twain Tonight! off-Broadway in 1959. Reviewers were uniformly ecstatic in their praise, calling Holbrooks Twain re-creation brilliant and the show extraordinary. Life magazine called it the greatest theatrical surprise of the year. Holbrook went on to tour the United States, Canada and Europe with his one-man show before bringing Mark Twain Tonight! to Broadway in 1966 to rave reviews. The 41-year-old actors Broadway triumph was the culmination of more than a decade of research into the life, literature and idiosyncrasies of one of Americas best-known literary icons. Holbrook had honed Twains speech: his drawl, his slow, casual delivery on the lecture platform and his way of dropping comic nuggets with what Holbrook called the innocent air of a man who does not realize he has said anything funny. He had perfected the look: the shock of white hair and drooping mustache, along with the age lines, nose and jowls make-up that took more than three hours to apply. He also had refined the costume: a white, three-piece linen suit and black shoes, a maroon cravat with a diamond stickpin, a vintage gold pocket watch with a heavy gold chain, and a small silver penknife that Holbrook used to cut off the ends of the three cigars he smoked during each performance. Most important, Holbrook had made Twains words, taken directly from the authors lectures and other writings, his own. As he ambled on stage, the transformation of Hal Holbrook into Mark Twain was complete. Ladies and gentlemen, he would begin, I wish to present to you a man whose great learning and veneration for truth are only exceeded by his high moral character and majestic presence. I refer in these vague, general terms to myself. A New York Times critic praised the theatrical magic of Hal Holbrook. He brought Mark Twain back to life to stir the laughter and stab the conscience of a public yearning for such a voice as that of the nations one true comic genius. In 1967, a national audience of 30 million watched Holbrooks Emmy-nominated performance in a televised version of Mark Twain Tonight! on CBS. Not wanting to be trapped in the legendary character that made him famous, Holbrook made a point of shaping a varied career as an actor, which included one of his most famous film roles: the mysterious Deep Throat in the 1976 film All the Presidents Men. On stage, he played everything from Shakespeares King Lear to Shylock to Willy Loman. On television, he won Emmy Awards for his 1970-71 dramatic series, The Senator, the 1973 TV movie Pueblo (for which he won Emmys for actor of the year special, and best lead actor in a drama) and the 1974 miniseries Sandburgs Lincoln. He also earned an Emmy nomination for his role in That Certain Summer, a landmark 1972 TV movie about a divorced homosexual father; he had a recurring role as Julia Sugarbakers love interest on the sitcom Designing Women, which starred his third wife, Dixie Carter, as Sugarbaker; and he played Burt Reynolds cantankerous father-in-law on Evening Shade. Among his film credits are The Group, Magnum Force, Julia, Wall Street, The Firm and The Majestic. In 2008, at age 82, Holbrook was nominated for an Academy Award, earning a best supporting actor nomination for the role of a lonely widower in Into the Wild. But Holbrook could never shake his image as Mark Twain reincarnated. Nor did he want to stop doing something that was so enduringly successful and so much fun to do. Holbrook was 29 when he began playing the 70ish Twain in his one-man show, and he stuck with Twain for so many years he eventually became older than the age of the historic character he was playing. To keep fresh, he added new Twain material to the act and, depending on his mood, he often would shift material while on stage. Ive just become more and more impressed with him, Holbrook told the Boston Globe in 1997. The same truths that captured me when I started in 1954 are even more apparent today. Playing Twain, he said, is a genuine pleasure, and its a way of getting things off my chest. Its a catharsis. Lets face it, one of Twains favorite subjects was hypocrisy, and that happens on different levels all the time. Its never out of fashion. As of 2009, he continued to portray Twain on stages 20 to 30 times a year. Born Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. in Cleveland on Feb. 17, 1925, he was the middle child between sisters. (A brother died in infancy.) When he was 2, his mother abandoned the family and, Holbrook later learned, moved to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl. Holbrooks father, a shoe salesman, disappeared a few days after their mother, and Holbrook and his sisters were sent to live with their paternal grandparents in South Weymouth, Mass. At 7, Holbrook was sent to Suffield Academy in Suffield, Connecticut, where, he later said, he and the other students were routinely beaten by the sadistic headmaster. Holbrook developed an interest in theater at Culver Military Academy in Culver, Ohio, where he graduated in 1942. Drawn by the drama department at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Holbrook studied there for a year before being called up for military service in 1943. While serving with the Army Corps of Engineers in Newfoundland, he joined an amateur theater group, where he met actress Ruby Johnston. They were married in 1945. After his discharge, Holbrook returned to Denison University, where both he and his wife majored in drama. In 1947, during the fall of their senior year, Holbrook received a late-night phone call that would alter the course of his life. The call was from Edward Wright, head of the universitys theater department, who said he had been asked by a school assembly booker from Dallas if he had any students who could tour high schools in the Southwest with a show for 30 weeks the next season. As Holbrook recounted in the prologue of his 1959 book Mark Twain Tonight! An Actors Portrait, Wright told the booker he had a young married couple at the university who had a two-person show in which they performed scenes from the lives of famous personalities: Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Alden and Priscilla, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Mark Twain and a few Shakespearean characters as well. Wright told Holbrook the job paid $210 for 12 shows a week, plus $15 for gas and oil. Holbrook told Wright theyd do it, although he and his wife really didnt have such a show. Before the Holbrooks began putting their show together, Wright gave them a copy of Twains An Encounter With an Interviewer, a humorous piece in which Twain pulls the leg of a reporter with no sense of humor. Holbrook recalled that he and his wife began doing the Interviewer sketch for clubs and school groups, and then began adding scenes from Shakespeares As You Like It and other selections. With a $3,000 loan from the president of a bank in Newark, Ohio, who had seen the Holbrooks in college productions, the couple bought material for costumes, stage lights, an amplifying system for musical bridges and a station wagon to transport both them and their cargo. In September 1948, they set out on their school assembly tour of the Southwest. Their audiences improved dramatically over the next three years, Holbrook recalled. They performed their show at womens clubs and small colleges about nine months out of the year and acted in summer stock for part of the summer. In 1954, after moving to New York City, Holbrook landed a continuing role as the reformed alcoholic son of a minister on the TV soap opera The Brighter Day. The job lasted more than five years, during which he developed and performed his solo Twain show. In 2001, while working on his autobiography, Holbrook discovered why he became an actor. I realized there was an imp in me that wanted to say, Here I am. Here I am,' he told The Hartford Courant. The little boy who had been abandoned by his parents, he said, was frightened, but he wanted to be noticed. The twice-divorced Holbrook, who married Carter in 1984, had two children, Victoria and David, with his first wife; and a daughter, Eve, with his second wife, Carol Rossen. Carter died of complications from cancer in 2010. Less than four weeks later, Holbrook returned to the stage, performing Mark Twain Tonight! at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in Southern California. Look, he told the Los Angeles Times shortly thereafter, I need to work. If I dont work, I could sit down and contemplate suicide. My wife was no quitter she would be telling me to get out there to do my work, and thats what Im doing. So thats the main thing to keep working, to keep trying to figure out how to do this job right. This article is written by Dennis McLellan from The Los Angeles Times and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. Nairobi woman Representative Esther Passaris has come to the defence of nominated senator Millicent Omanga who was manhandled in Kisii while attending a funeral on Monday. Passaris condemned the incident while stating that women's bodies should be respected at all times. This she says is regardless of which side of the political divide they (women) are ascribed to. "I am deeply appalled and would like to condemn in the strongest terms possible the manner in which Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga was manhandled yesterday in Kisii. No matter which side of the political divide we're on, women's bodies must be respected at all times," tweeted Ms Passaris. Passaris did not however explain how Omanga's body had been disrespected. Senator Omanga was forcefully ejected from the podium during the burial of Abel Gongera, father to Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi. The incident commenced when she appeared to talk back at Kisii governor James Ongwae at the podium. Omanga went to the podium after an altercation between Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati and South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro that resulted in the two exchanging blows. 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 nearly $900,000 grant awarded to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will be used to explore how kelp aquaculture can remediate negative effects of climate change. The international project is funded by World Wildlife Fund with support from the Bezos Earth Fund. The newly funded project will lay the scientific foundations for a new tool to help restore the health and productivity of our oceans. "This past year has been the warmest on record. At the same time, the global pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity and disrupted Maine's seafood economy," said Senior Research Scientist Nichole Price, the project lead. "It is as important as ever to seek pragmatic, profitable solutions to environmental problems that can also yield nutritious food." Atmospheric carbon dioxide is accumulating at alarming concentrations due to human activity. Some of this greenhouse gas dissolves into the ocean's surface waters, making the water more acidic and less habitable for many marine organisms. Kelp, however, soaks up carbon dioxide like a sponge as it grows. The process can lower the acidity of the surrounding seawater and raise oxygen levels, creating a temporary "halo" area of improved water conditions that can benefit other sea life in the area. Traditionally, research on how marine photosynthetic organisms mitigate climate change and sequester carbon - referred to as "blue carbon" - has focused on seagrasses, salt marshes, and mangroves. "The role of kelp aquaculture has been relatively unexplored, despite its great potential to reduce carbon dioxide concentration and seawater acidity with benefits for the shellfish industry and surrounding coastal areas," said Aurora Martinez Ricart, a Bigelow Laboratory postdoctoral researcher and co-investigator on the project. Alongside partners from the Island Institute and the University of New Hampshire, Price has been working with mussel and seaweed farmers in Maine to test the potential of growing kelp alongside blue mussels - which are particularly vulnerable to increasing ocean acidity. In protected bays, growing kelp can naturally buffer seawater acidity and create an additional product for harvest in the process. "Not only does this give us two commercially viable crops, but it also allows us to increase the positive impact on our local ecosystem," said Matthew Moretti, CEO of Bangs Island Mussels, a Maine farm that has been collaborating with the researchers. "In the face of a rapidly changing environment, this is even more important." The new grant from World Wildlife Fund will allow the researchers to expand their partnerships and research into kelp's positive environmental impacts and potential applications. They will collaborate with new scientists and farmers to monitor water quality during and after the growing season at three kelp farms located in Maine, Alaska, and Norway. The team will track carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nutrient concentrations, as well as basic metrics such as salinity and temperature. The researchers will use this information to create a computer model of water circulation, kelp growth, and resulting water quality changes that will enable them to better understand farmed kelp's impact at the study farms, and predict kelp's effects in other locations. "Seaweed farming has the possibility to provide not only diversification and profit for struggling working waterfronts, but also critical ecosystem services for coastal marine systems," said Price. "However, to earn the social acceptance of aquaculture, we need to rigorously document evidence of these water quality benefits across a range of settings." Global seaweed harvest is projected to reach more than $30 billion by 2025. Cultivated seaweed grows quickly and requires minimal resources, such as land or freshwater, providing a sustainable food source and making it an attractive crop for rural coastal communities facing dwindling wild-capture fisheries. The researchers' peer-reviewed findings will inform farmers, the public, and policymakers. They hope to provide an evaluation of seaweed aquaculture that helps foster positive public interest and develop science-based solutions for the growing industry. ### Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is an independent, nonprofit research institute located in East Boothbay, Maine. From the Arctic to the Antarctic, Bigelow Laboratory scientists use innovative approaches to study the foundation of global ocean health and unlock its potential to improve the future for all life on the planet. Learn more at bigelow.org, and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You are here: World Flash The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to approve Pete Buttigieg as President Joe Biden's transportation secretary. The 86-13 vote has made Buttigieg the first openly gay individual confirmed to lead a Cabinet department in U.S. history. During his confirmation hearing last month, Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation "can play a central role" in rebuilding the U.S. economy, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Buttigieg, 39, is expected to be part of the Biden administration's push for a bipartisan infrastructure package. Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg was a top contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee but dropped out to endorse Biden early in the primaries. In 2014, Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, was deployed for six months to Afghanistan as a U.S. intelligence officer. The U.S. Senate will vote later in the day confirming Alejandro Mayorkas as Biden's homeland security secretary. The upper chamber has previously approved Biden's Cabinet nominees for secretaries of state, treasury, and defense, as well as director of national intelligence. Researchers have given new insights into why people would choose to donate COVID-19 plasma after recovering from the virus, which will be used to support the recruitment of convalescent plasma donors to help treat current COVID-19 patients and support ongoing trials. Researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Psychology, in collaboration with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and the University of Queensland Australia, have been the first in the world to examine the motivations and barriers to convalescent plasma donation in the UK. The findings published in Transfusion Medicine showed that most people would choose to donate as they want to show their gratitude by giving something back after recovering. Convalescent plasma is a treatment being trialed for COVID-19 and involves blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients being transfused into patients who are currently in hospital with the virus. This provides 'passive' immunity as the antibodies against COVID-19 are transferred from the recovered patient to the current patient to support their immune system to fight the virus. The use of convalescent plasma as a treatment relies on the generosity and 'altruism' of those who have recently recovered from the virus to help those currently ill. To enhance the recruitment of convalescent plasma donors - much as blood donors in general - we need to understand what would motivate, or even defer, those who are eligible to be convalescent plasma donors to donate." Eamonn Ferguson, Study Lead Author and Professor, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham The study involved 419 UK residents who indicated they had been infected with COVID-19 and were eligible to donate convalescent plasma. They were asked about their awareness of convalescent plasma, motivations, and barriers to donating. The researchers identified six key motivations - Altruism from adversity, post-traumatic growth, moral and civic duty to help research, patriotism, and control, reluctant altruism, and signaling reluctant altruism. They found the main motivation to donate from these was altruism from adversity - people being grateful to have survived with a sense of pay-it-back and pay-it-forward reciprocity, and moral and civic duty- the morally right thing to do to help family, friends and support research. Barriers to donating were also explored - not well enough, logistics, generic donation fears, lack of trust in institutions, fear of re-infection, infection and process risk to self and others and worry that others will know of COVID-19 infection. Of these, generic fears were the biggest barrier with a fear of needles being a particular deterrent. Professor Ferguson continues: "These results highlight the extreme kindness, generosity, and cooperative spirit of human nature. Even under the adverse condition of a global pandemic, people are willing to help strangers and those who are in need which is borne out of adversity but also a moral sense of what is right. This is a real good news study about the human condition and how we are all there for each other. Indeed, little put people off donating convalescent plasma other than a general fear of needles. The results also suggest several ways that transfusion services to develop recruitment campaigns to attract more convalescent plasma donors. These could focus on simple gratitude interventions, ideas of pay-it-back reciprocity, and moral imperatives. We feel these new and novel findings have the potential to help in the fight against COVID-19 by providing evidence about ways to support the recruitment of convalescent plasma donors that are urgently needed to support ongoing research trials and treatment of patients." Dr. Rachel Thorpe from Australian Red Cross Lifeblood said: "It's incredibly useful for transfusion services to understand that people are willing to donate plasma for research even during a pandemic and that this willingness could be enhanced through increasing public awareness about convalescent plasma and about what is involved in donating plasma." Artists illustration depicting how MESSENGER observed the first meteoroid impact on another planets surface. Particles (neutral atoms) ejected by the meteoroid skyrocketed over 3,000 miles above Mercurys surface, outside the bow shock of Mercurys magnetosphere. There, photons of light turned the neutral particles into charged particles (ions), which one of MESSENGERs instruments could detect. Credit: Jacek Zmarz Telescopes have captured meteoroids hitting the Moon and several spacecraft imaged Comet ShoemakerLevy 9 smacking into Jupiter in 1994. But impacts as they happen on another rocky world have never been observed. However, the MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) mission may have seen an impact take place back in 2013. In looking at archival data from the mission, scientists found evidence of a meteoroid impact on Mercury. While this data isn't a 'no-doubt' photo of the event, it does tell scientists more about impacts and how they affect Mercury's wispy-thin atmosphere. "It's just incredible that MESSENGER could watch this happen," said Jamie Jasinski, a space physicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the lead author on the study, published in Nature Commmunications. "This data plays a really important role in helping us understand how meteoroid impacts contribute material to Mercury's exosphere." Mercury's tiny atmosphere, called an exosphere, has a pressure that's one-quadrillionth of that felt at sea level on Earth. The exosphere forms on Mercury's Sun-facing side from material originally on the planet's surface. Scientists think meteoroid impacts, in part, are responsible for putting such material into the exosphere. Mercurys surface, as captured here in 2013 by the APL-operated MESSENGER spacecraft, is pockmarked with craters that have formed from millions of years of meteoroid impacts. MESSENGER very likely witnessed one of the most recent of these crater-forming collisions in 2013. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington The archival data revealed a strange anomaly: on December 21, 2013, MESSENGER's Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) saw an unusually large number of sodium and silicon ions blowing in the Sun's solar wind, the powerful charged gases that spew from the Sun. Oddly, these particles were traveling in a tight beam, nearly all in the same direction, and at the same speed. Using the particles' speed and direction, the researchers "rewound the clock, tracking the particles' motion back to their source." They found the particles clustered in a dense plume, one that had erupted from Mercury's surface and extended nearly 3,300 miles into space. They estimate the meteoroid was likely just a little over three feet long, which is relatively small. But computer models suggest something that size would create a plume with a height and density closely matching what FIPS detected. Interestingly enough, before the MESSENGER mission, scientists expected the spacecraft would capture some impacts on Mercuryperhaps up to two impacts per year during its four years in orbit. But none were seen in images during the mission, which lasted from 2011 to 2015. Artist view of the spacecraft orbiting the innermost planet Mercury. Credit: NASA But in sifting through the old spectrometer data, the anomaly stood out. "It just shows how rare it is to have the spacecraft at the right place and time to be able to measure something like this," said study co-author Leonardo Regoli, from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Marylandwhere MESSENGER was built and operated. "This was a special observation, and really cool to see the story come together." Perhaps the European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission, which launched for Mercury in 2018 and will approach the planet in late 2025, will be able to capture more meteoroid impacts during its mission. Regoli noted that researchers will need to hone their models before using BepiColombo to make new observations, but the opportunity to see another Mercurian impact would be invaluable, he said. Explore further Small collisions make big impact on Mercury's thin atmosphere More information: Jamie M. Jasinski et al. A transient enhancement of Mercury's exosphere at extremely high altitudes inferred from pickup ions, Nature Communications (2020). Journal information: Nature Communications Jamie M. Jasinski et al. A transient enhancement of Mercury's exosphere at extremely high altitudes inferred from pickup ions,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18220-2 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE, N.M. New Mexicos farmers and ranchers are eligible for federal assistance programs and crop insurance payouts during extreme drought. But sparse rain gauges scattered across the states vast rangelands may not paint an accurate picture of local rainfall. Agricultural producers are then left without data that reflects the drought conditions on their land. With that data gap in mind, the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would direct $3.5 million from the general fund for more than 100 new weather stations across the state. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ House Bill 48 sponsor Rep. Martin Zamora, a Clovis Republican, said more weather stations would help farmers and ranchers make irrigation decisions and access drought relief. In 2019, when ranchers in Guadalupe County bought forage (insurance) policies, the state had very little rain gauges working and in place, so there was a rain gauge used in Ruidoso to measure rainfall in Guadalupe County, Zamora said. That put policyholders out of any claims that they had. The New Mexico State University state climate office has 26 weather stations that measure rainfall and soil moisture. If the bill becomes law, the office will use $2.8 million to construct 111 stations and update 27 stations. An additional $758,000 would cover staff and maintenance. The states network would expand to 3 to 6 stations per county, State Climatologist Dave DuBois said. Stations would update weather data every five minutes, and systems could monitor high winds and hail, in addition to rainfall. Were trying to get caught up and provide more information that is needed for forecasting and providing public safety, DuBois said. Other rural, agricultural states have far more weather monitoring stations than New Mexico: Oklahoma has 120, and North Dakota has 91. State Engineer John DAntonio said better station data could inform New Mexicos water management decisions and modeling. Several agriculture and conservation groups also spoke in support of the bill. It will be a vital tool in farming to get this instant readout, said Walter Bradley, a former state senator and current government relations director for the Dairy Farmers of America. Its great for helping us preserve what water we have. No one spoke in opposition to the bill at Tuesdays committee meeting. Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, is carrying a similar bill in the Senate. Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged people living in the affected areas to adhere to lockdown rules and stay home. "Our mission must be to stop its spread altogether and break those chains of transmission. It is imperative that people must stay at home and only leave home where it is absolutely essential," Hancock told members of parliament Tuesday. Meanwhile, health authorities announced they are also investigating separate cases of the virus with what they described as worrying new genetic changes. The variants, identified in the cities of Bristol and Liverpool, have the same mutation as the South African variant, called E484K. By Tuesday morning, 105 cases of the mutation first seen in South Africa were identified in eight districts across Britain. Eleven of those cases did not have any direct link to international travel, suggesting the variant is being transmitted within the community. Britain launched an emergency program of door-to-door testing in several areas Tuesday following the discovery of hundreds of cases of the coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, which scientists say could be more resistant to vaccines. Britain is still battling a separate coronavirus mutation, first identified in Kent in southern England in September, which has contributed to a deadly second wave of the pandemic. An estimated 107,000 people have died in Britain within 28 days of testing positive for the virus since the pandemic began. Scientists say the variants appear to be more transmissible. Early indications from trials suggest they may also be more resistant to vaccines. "There has been a couple of observations, one from Novavax and one from Johnson & Johnson, which suggest that their vaccine trials were less successful in South Africa than they were in the United Kingdom and the United States," Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Britain's University of Reading, told VOA. "[The mutation] renders antibodies less able to bind to the spike protein of the virus and stop the spike protein acting as a key to gain entrance to our cells." That could affect people's immunity to the coronavirus, both for individuals who have had the infection and those who have been vaccinated. "Even if we roll out a vaccine across the population, getting complete 100 percent coverage will be nigh on impossible," Clarke said. "And the virus will be put under a selective pressure to accommodate and to favor mutations like this, which render it less susceptible to vaccines, or the actions of vaccines." Britain also announced Tuesday it had given a first vaccine dose to more than 10 million people, by far the highest in Europe. It is not yet clear, however, if the vaccines are as effective against the new variants and may need to be modified. Health Secretary Hancock said such work was under way. "We're working with pharmaceutical companies and with the scientists to understand both whether such modifications are needed, where they are needed and how they can be brought to use on the front line as quickly as safely possible." Scientists say the emergence of new variants around the world underlines the urgent need to roll out global vaccination programs and suppress transmission, as even fully vaccinated populations could be at risk as the virus continues to mutate. New Delhi, Feb 3 : Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav accused the government of insensitivity to the farmers, while discussing the three contentious farm laws in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. He said if the government had agreed to send all three Bills to the Standing Committee, then this crisis would not have arisen today. Yadav wondered why there is such tight security on the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders of Delhi which he quipped was even tighter than at Parliament and the India-Pakistan border? "Are the farmers going to attack Delhi?" he asked. During the discussion on the farm laws, Rajya Sabha MP Yadav said, "If the government is ready to withhold the laws for a year-and-a-half, then all the three laws can be abolished in this session by bringing new Bills and before the Standing Committee. If you had accepted the opposition's demand to send all three Bills to the Standing Committee, then this crisis would not have arisen." The SP MP said "the farmers have been protesting for two months. Many farmers have lost their lives due to cold, hunger and other reasons. The government has become so ruthless and heartless that it is not being affected." Yadav raised questions on the construction of concrete walls on the Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders. He said, "Be it Delhi-Ghazipur, Tikri or Singhu borders. Concrete walls have been built after digging the roads. So much security is not even there for Parliament. I have gone to the Pakistan border, even there the security is not this tight." Yadav said, "My question is that you say that we should bring laws for farmers. Farmers say that it is not good for us, then why are you imposing laws? The ordinances came in June. Later came the Bills. Let me give you the example of MSP. Before the ordinance last year, the MSP for maize was Rs 2,200 per quintal. After the ordinance was implemented, it was Rs 1,100 per quintal, while now the MSP is Rs 2,660 for hybrid variety and Rs 1,860 for normal maize." 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. Prachakul only began painting Asian figures a little more than a year ago, after she moved to Lyon and had an identity crisis of sorts. When I was living in Berlin, I kind of felt like, Im Asian, living in Europe, and thats it. But when I got to Lyon, it was really hard. She didnt know many people in the city, which is more homogeneous than cosmopolitan Berlin, and she had to learn a third language. But her sense of isolation led her to become more intentional. I started to focus on what I want to say about myself. What matters to me? she says. Because if the artwork and what I put into it does not matter for me, its not going to matter at all. It was an important turning point, one that gave her practice a vital new bent. Thats when things became really dynamic, she says. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her work changed in other ways, too. Where once shed adhered to a more austere color scheme consisting mainly of ivory, black and icy blues, now Prachakuls palette grew deeper and more varied to accommodate the skin tones of her sitters, as well as dusty pinks, teal green and her favored shade of red. She also switched from oil to acrylic paint, because the latter is easier on her asthma, but this opened up a new method of layering the paint that creates a greater density, lushness and freedom in her work. In oil, everything is so controlled. Im calculating every inch, says Prachakul, But in acrylic, I dont know what is going to happen until it comes to life. Indeed, while these works may portray quiet moments, mini-narratives as evocative as Prachakuls detailed brushwork a woman tilts her head down and looks out over her sunglasses to pose for a picture, another reaches behind her to grab her purse before leaving a dimly lit bar they also feel vibrant and immediate. Adding to this sense are the clothes Prachakul paints her sitters are frequently clad in black, which gives them a realistic feel, or a subject might wear a cotton peasant blouse, its gathers and folds exquisitely rendered, or a white lace one with delicate scalloped edges. She seems to have an innate knowledge of how people dress (and no wonder, since, until recently she supported herself by designing sweatshirts, jumpers and rucksacks printed with images of her art), of how a certain piece can reflect someones entire style and self. The same can be said of Prachakuls work. The thing about Jiabs paintings is that they very much look like Jiab, says Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, co-director of the newly formed Asian American Art Initiative at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, where she is also assistant curator of American art. Its a difficult place to get to as an artist, to make something that looks like only you could have made it. The fact that senior clinicians have raised concerns that serious incidents are getting covered up or downgraded so that an appropriate investigation cant take place is quite simply appalling, he said. When asked whether Local Health Districts were engaging in a cover-up by deliberately downgrading adverse events, NSW Health did not directly answer. However, a spokesperson said NSW Health promotes a just culture, where staff are encouraged to report problems openly and honestly, and learn from mistakes. Reporting and analysis of clinical incidents and sentinel events is an important part of clinical care that health professionals and managers take very seriously, the spokesperson said. This work focuses on finding system issues that lead to service improvements across NSW Health. The NSW Health spokesperson said it had a new incident management system that provided an objective scoring to all clinical incidents notified by staff. Incident reporting is increasing and is testament to the clinical and managerial staff in NSW Health continuously promoting the reporting of incidents, patient safety and system improvement. There are seven Local Health Districts across regional NSW, each with its own clinical governance unit tasked with investigating serious incidents and complaints, and making recommendations to hospitals to improve their quality of care. Incidents that occur in hospitals are ranked according to a Severity Assessment Code (SAC) hierarchy of one to four. The most serious are SAC1 events, which require a root cause analysis to investigate whether systemic problems contributed and that a brief be submitted to the NSW Ministry of Health. The NSW Medical Staff Executive Council said it had been provided with examples from regional doctors of the clinical governance units inappropriately downgrading SAC1 incidents and failing to investigate preventable deaths. Some of the units had a culture of opacity aimed at keeping the Ministry of Health unaware of the LHDs true performance, the council alleged. The council called for an independent review of all SAC1 critical incidents in rural and remote areas and the response to them by the LHDs. Ongoing external audits of the units were needed, it argued. Inquiries commissioned by either NSW Health or by an LHD are paid for by the public and should have greater public transparency of their findings and recommendations, the council said. The council said that even in instances where NSW Health intervened to conduct its own investigation, the problems identified were rarely reported to doctors or the public and the LHD was still in charge of implementing solutions. Loading The problems have often occurred under the direction of the same managers charged with the remedy. Doctors from the major regional centre of Orange in the Central West told the inquiry sometimes no information was given by the Clinical Governance Unit as to why it was downgrading a serious incident. This can change whether a poor patient outcome is investigated at all, the Orange Health Service Medical Staff Council said. Clinicians would like to be more involved in the review of serious adverse events. The council added that more transparency would help rebuild the trust that was eroding away. There is no formal avenue for clinicians to raise issues with the ministry, in the event that they are unable to address them within the LHD, the council said. The husband of the doctor who blew the whistle on the patients death from an infected toenail said the matter was now the subject of a coronial inquiry thanks to the efforts of my wife and a small group of clinicians. However her efforts to reduce the risk of similar outcomes for other patients had been ignored or resisted by hospital administration executives, he said, and she was ultimately forced to leave the hospital. Presentation Girls' Vocational School (PGVS) last Friday held a graduation for the 16th batch of students at a ceremony held at the school grounds in Banjul. This year's ceremony saw 8 students graduating in hair dressing, 38 from home management and 7 from the secretarial department, bringing the total number to 54. The ceremony, which saw students graduating in various vocational skills training, coincided with activities marking the school golden jubilee celebrations. Speaking at the ceremony, Rohey Malick Lowe, mayoress of Banjul City Council (BCC) while expressing delight, extended gratitude to the management of the school for their foresight in better equipping students to acquire skills training. "I am honored and privileged to be part of this historic event today. Moreover, I wish them a successful career in future." she remarked. Fatoumatta Tuma Njie, National Assembly member for Banjul North underscored the importance of vocational training, saying it provides wider opportunities all geared towards contributing to the socio-economic development of the country. Principal of Girl's Presentation School, Rosine Sanyang said for the past years the school has been at the forefront of providing vocational skills training, as part of its broader efforts to arm youth people with the required skills. "The school enrolment has been very encouraging most especially in the home management and hair dressing section. Presentation Girls Vocational School has graduated hairdressers, tailors and secretaries. "I am pleased to inform you that we have 8 students graduating in hair dressing, 38 from the home management and 7 from the secretarial, who are graduating today, bringing the total number of 54 graduands." she said. At the start of the pandemic, experts wasted no time in predicting that Covid-19 would quickly overwhelm Africa. In Kenya, where millions live in crowded slums, the expectation that the countrys limited health services would soon become swamped led to many expats fleeing to their home nations in April. That same month, the United Nations forecast that without intervention, 3.3 million Africans could die from the virus. Isolation units to house hundreds of people were hastily built across Kenya, and protective equipment was stockpiled as medics prepared for the worst. Yet catastrophe was avoided and the huge death toll has not happened. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 21 May 2021 A dog that has been trained to sniff out the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), screens a sweat sample at Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, Thailand REUTERS World news in pictures 20 May 2021 Formula One F1 - Monaco Grand Prix - Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco REUTERS World news in pictures 18 May 2021 Horse-drawn carriages drive through the mudflats near Cuxhaven, northern Germany dpa via AP World news in pictures 17 May 2021 Kanoya Onishi in action during the Cycling BMX Free Style of Tokyo 2020 Olympics test event at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Japan EPA World news in pictures 16 May 2021 Rescuers carry Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as they pull her from the rubble of a building at the site of Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City Reuters World news in pictures 15 May 2021 A ball of fire erupts from the Jala Tower as it is destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza city AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 May 2021 Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers inside the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh AP World news in pictures 13 May 2021 Muslim girls ride on a mini train after attending the Eid Al-Fitr prayer that marks the end of the Holy month of Ramadan at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya AFP via Getty Images World news in pictures 12 May 2021 Israeli artillery fire as the escalation continues between Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border EPA World news in pictures 11 May 2021 Maya Nakanishi competes in the womens long jump - T64 category during a para-athletics test event for the 2020 Olympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo AFP/Getty World news in pictures 10 May 2021 A Palestinian man helps a wounded fellow protester amid clashes with Israeli security forces at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israels takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War AFP/Getty World news in pictures 9 May 2021 Falconer Giovanna Piccolo performs with her Eurasian eagle-owl at 'Roma World' theme park, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Rome Reuters World news in pictures 8 May 2021 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) is introduced as a starter against the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena. USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 6 May 2021 Buddhist monks and believers attend a lantern parade in celebration of the upcoming birthday of Buddha at a temple in Seoul, South Korea Reuters World news in pictures 5 May 2021 Russian MiG-29 jet fighters of the Strizhi (Swifts) and Su-30SM jet fighters of the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) aerobatic teams fly in formation over the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin in Moscow during a flypast rehearsal for the WWII Victory Parade AFP/Getty World news in pictures 4 May 2021 An elevated metro line collapsed in the Mexican capital on Monday, leaving at least 23 people dead and dozens injured as a train came plunging down, authorities said AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 May 2021 Lightning bolts strike buildings during a thunderstorm in Bangkok AFP/Getty World news in pictures 2 May 2021 Samaritan worshippers arrive to take part in a Passover ceremony on top of Mount Gerizim, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus AFP/Getty World news in pictures 1 May 2021 A Gilet Jaune, or yellow vest, protestor stands in front of a burning barricade holding his hand up with an inscription calling for President Macron to resign as May Day Protest turn violent near Place de la Republique in Paris, France Getty World news in pictures 30 April 2021 A demonstrator from the Rio de Paz human rights activist group digs a symbolic grave in front of rows of bags symbolising bodybags on Copacabana beach, during a protest against the Brazilian governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in Rio de Janeiro AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 April 2021 An aerial picture shows dead carp fish flushed to the shores of al-Qaraoun reservoir in Lebanons Western Beqaa District in the countrys east. Tonnes of fish have washed up dead on the shoreline of the highly polluted artificial reservoir in eastern Lebanon in recent days AFP/Getty World news in pictures 28 April 2021 Health workers wearing PPE attends to coronavirus patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a covid care centre in New Delhi AFP/Getty World news in pictures 27 April 2021 The full moon, known as the Super Pink Moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty in New York City, Reuters World news in pictures 26 April 2021 Balinese people lay wreaths with names of the crew on board the sunk Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala during a prayer at the sea near Labuhan Lalang, Bali, Indonesia EPA World news in pictures 25 April 2021 An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian worshipper walks around the Edicule, the place believed to be where Jesus Christ was buried, during Palm Sunday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem AFP/Getty World news in pictures 24 April 2021 Fans of Wuhan Three Towns FC cheer for their team during the 1st round match Wuhan Three Towns FC and Beijing Institute of Technology FC during Chinese Football League One in Wuhan, China Getty World news in pictures 23 April 2021 A girl prays in front of the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalems Old City, on the second Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions ease around the country, in Jerusalem Reuters World news in pictures 22 April 2021 People walk through the art work 'THE SPIRITS OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS' by Yayoi Kusama, during the press preview of a retrospective exhibition of the Japanese artist at the Martin Gropius Bau museum in Berlin, Germany AP World news in pictures 21 April 2021 Hungary's Sara Peter competes in the Women's floor qualifications during European Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the St Jakobshalle, in Basel AFP/Getty World news in pictures 20 April 2021 South Korea university students gets their heads shaved during a protest against Japan's decision to release contaminated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, in front of the Japanese embassy, in Seoul Reuters World news in pictures 19 April 2021 A spectator wearing a football jersey of Argentina's forward Lionel Messi attends the ATP Barcelona Open tennis tournament singles match between Japan's Kei Nishikori and Argentina's Guido Pella at the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona AFP/Getty World news in pictures 18 April 2021 People raise their fist during a demonstration near the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP/Getty World news in pictures 17 April 2021 Security personnel stand guard outside a polling station during the 5th phase of West Bengal's state legislative assembly elections in Kolkata AFP/Getty World news in pictures 16 April 2021 Palestinians take part in the first Friday prayers of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City AFP/Getty World news in pictures 15 April 2021 A firefighter inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 14 April 2021 This picture shows the 100 days countdown till the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games displayed on the illuminated Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo on April 14, 2021 AFP/Getty World news in pictures 13 April 2021 This photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source shows Buddhist monks gesturing while taking part in a demonstration with protesters against the military coup in Mandalay during the Myanmar New Year festival of Thingyan AFP/Getty World news in pictures 12 April 2021 An Indian holi man during the Kumbh Mela royal bath (Sacred Hindu Pilgrimage) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Thousands of pilgrims are gathering and taking holy dip in Kumbh Mela that is a mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs after every twelve years and rotates among four locations EPA World news in pictures 11 April 2021 Nasa released images of of sand dunes on Mars captured using infrared reflections NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU World news in pictures 10 April 2021 People watch devotees pulling a chariot in Biska Jatra Festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal AP World news in pictures 9 April 2021 Maintenance workers clean the monument of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in Moscow on April 9, 2021. - Sixty years ago Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, marking it a new chapter in the history of space exploration. AFP/Getty World news in pictures 8 April 2021 Protesters hold a banner and burning red flares during a demonstration of called by unions of healthcare and social workers in support of their sector and to demand a bonus in their pay in Paris AFP/Getty World news in pictures 7 April 2021 Protesters laying on the street near the Election Commission office in Kolkata during a demonstration demanding the halt of the ongoing state legislative election and campaign rallies amidst the rising number of Covid-19 cases AFP/Getty World news in pictures 6 April 2021 Voters stand in queue to cast their votes at a polling booth during third phase of West Bengal state elections in Baruipur, South 24 Pargana district, India AP World news in pictures 5 April 2021 The Statue of Christ appears behind clouds from the Sao Jorge Castle in Lisbon as the Portuguese government eased coronavirus restrictions AFP/Getty World news in pictures 4 April 2021 Christian worshippers light candles during an Easter service in Yerevan, the Armenian capital AFP/Getty World news in pictures 3 April 2021 Anti-coup protesters hold improvised weapons during a protest in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmars military Junta continued a brutal crackdown on a nationwide civil disobedience movement in which thousands of people have turned out in continued defiance of live ammunition Getty World news in pictures 2 April 2021 A rescue works at the site after a train derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan Reuters World news in pictures 1 April 2021 Man flashes three-finger salute next to burning tires during a protest against the military c Reuters World news in pictures 31 March 2021 Mannequins wrapped in barrier tape stand in front of Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate as part of German artist Dennis Josef Mesegs Corona Memorial called It is Like it is AFP via Getty Dr Betty Addero Radier, chief executive of the Kenya Tourist Board, says the governments decisive action in closing borders and effectively sealing off the country has so far, thankfully, managed to help protect citizens. Kenya was one of the first countries to close our entire air space, and it remained closed until mid August, says Dr Radier. Kenyas response has been swift and practical. The perception [in the West] might be that Africa has suffered a lot of diseases and knows the repercussions, but really the interventions made by our government have served us in good stead. There is a mindset in the Western world that says whenever anything happens, Africa is going to be the hardest hit. But Africa has been able to prove this wrong. Whats happening in the UK is shocking. It sounds that as if there is a lot of uncertainty as the pandemic evolves and that there is no plan. " Kenya has so far reported just over 100,000 official cases of coronavirus infections, and of those, just 1,744 people died. Given testing is on a more limited per capita basis then in many Western countries, it is near certain that many cases have not been detected. Recent antibody testing suggests the virus has been far more widespread throughout Kenya than official figures have uncovered. Nevertheless, when the overall number of deaths is compared with previous years there remains little significant discrepancy, reinforcing the reality that the country led by president Uhuru Kenyatta appears to have so far done better than its former colonial master in handling the pandemic, Theories abound as to how Kenya - and many other African nations - have escaped the high Covid death counts seen in countries such as not only the UK but US, Brazil and India. As well as the governments swift Covid-stopping public health actions, scientists are continuing to look at factors including the countrys young, fit, primarily rural populations who may have been previously been exposed to pathogens. But its public health experts know the success so far does not rule out subsequent spikes if the government, and people, do not remain vigilant. It is concern shared by others who had adopted the country as their home. One ex pat, who fled to Germany in April before returning to Nairobi before Christmas, said with schools reopening across Kenya, lots of foreign travel and the new Covid variants, it feels like its a matter of time before theres a big increase. "A lot of people fear getting tested. They think the government will force them to stop them working. But, so far this has not happened. A worrying rise in cases in November rapidly diminished in December, not least as a spate of cold weather ended and the sun came out, prompting less mixing indoors. The most recent figures released yesterday showed just four people had died of the virus in the previous 24 hours. That is why, as much of the rest of the world remains stuck in miserable lockdowns, Kenya is open. Officials hope this means that it can now start slowly rebuilding its tourism sector, on which so many local jobs and livelihoods depend. Tourism accounts for an estimated 9% of Kenya's GDP. In 2020 that figure diminished sharply. For months no foreign visitors arrived, resulting in lodges being shuttered and their suppliers facing the leanest of times. In response, the cabinet secretary for tourism, Najib Balala, led a switch to focus on domestic visitors. He demanded swift action from his tourism officials and corralled operators to change their business model. It is a solution that many businesses, previously seeking the high-spending international market, were quick to adopt. Thomas Silvester is chief executive of Loisaba, a 57,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Laikipia, Northern Kenya. He says domestic tourism enabled them to ensure continuity last year but international bookings are now finally returning. Before Christmas we opened up one of our camps, which did ok with families from Nairobi who would otherwise have been travelling abroad, says Mr Silvester. We are now keeping that camp open, and we are seeing an uptick in enquiries from wealthy people seeking longer stays. Thomas Silvester is CEO of Loisaba conservancy in Laikipia, Northern Kenya (Loisaba) Loisaba has also supported local communities by educating them about preventing Covid, and conducting outreach clinics to help test and treat those in need. These are vital safeguards to protect the local people who work at tourism businesses, enabling them to fully operate again one day soon. Tourism has really suffered badly, but we are now feeling hopeful, adds Mr Silvester. I think there will be pent up demand with people desperate to get out. If theyve had their vaccine, theyll be getting out of there and going on holiday. Fear and uncertainty are the enemy of tourism, but we hope the vaccine will mark an end to that worry about getting stuck somewhere. We hope to be fully open by May, following the Governments Covid-secure protocol for tourist facilities. He said: I am so proud of the Kenyan government. The country has known great tragedies before, but Kenyans are brilliant, accepting, and have shown real resilience. Well get through this together. Despite the nationwide night-time curfew having been extended to 12 March as part of the package of precautions the government continues to keep in place to combat fears of a second spike, Dr Radier echoes the message that Kenya is open and ready to receive visitors. The tourism recovery is driven by the measures other countries put in place to protect their citizens. But as soon as travel is possible again, our parks and animals are waiting. Animals have thrived during the lockdown, parks are regenerated. Its an even richer experience to visit Kenya. As the pandemic approaches its first anniversary in March, the East Africa state - and much of sub saharan Africa - has suppressed the first year of a virus that has brought many of the worlds most advanced healthcare systems to their knees. And, in having achieved that, Kenya has also proved the doubters wrong. PLANO, Texas, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Long View Equity (the "Company") announced today the acquisition of 2701 W. Plano Parkway in Plano, Texas a 113,299 square-foot multi-tenant office building. The building is 100% leased with a diverse tenant mix, including companies in the automotive, semiconductor, and construction industries. The building is anchored by long-time tenant Republic Title's headquarters. This acquisition follows the Company's earlier purchase of a multi-tenant office property in Addison. The acquisition is among the first for the Company's newest fund, Long View Equity Partners IV. With this latest fund the Company seeks to build a diversified portfolio of industrial, office, and retail properties located predominately in major metro markets in Texas. Daniel Campbell, managing director, commented, "We are excited to further expand our investment in the Metroplex. This asset represents an exceptional opportunity for us to acquire a fully leased asset in the highly desirable Plano sub-market with credit tenants at below market lease rates." Long View Equity Long View Equity, LLC, founded in 2010, is an Austin, Texas based investment management company that oversees investment decisions and operations of private equity real estate investment funds and other syndicated investment vehicles. Long View Equity's core purpose is to create long-term value for investors by making well-thought-out investment decisions, exercising diligence in management, and continually seeking out opportunities to create value. The company's funds have traditionally pursued strategies involving the direct acquisition of core-plus and value-added properties while also capitalizing on ground-up development opportunities. Long View seeks to build a portfolio of properties diversified by geography, asset type, lease term, and tenant industry. Geographically, Long View's focus has been the major metropolitan markets of Texas, but also makes opportunistic acquisitions in other states. The company benefits from long-term relationships with both debt and equity sources. Of its over 100 investors, many have been with Long View a decade or more. Contact: Long View Equity Daniel Campbell (512) 377-9395 [email protected] SOURCE Long View Equity Related Links http://longviewequity.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. Dunzo. Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum James Marsters and his wife, Patricia Rahman, have split after a decade of marriage, Us Weekly can confirm. Read article According to court records, Rahman, 35, filed for divorce at a Los Angeles courthouse shortly after the pair marked their 10th wedding anniversary. The case is classified as a dissolution of marriage without minor children. The P.S. I Love You actor, 58, proposed to Rahman in May 2010 in Trier, Germany, after meeting at a concert in Amsterdam years prior. They tied the knot in a private civil ceremony in Los Angeles in January 2011. Mediapunch/Shutterstoc Marsters was previously married to Liane Davidson, from whom he split in 1997 after eight years together. The exes share 24-year-old son Sullivan. The California native is best known for his role as vampire Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003. He reprised the character in the shows spinoff, Angel, which aired for five seasons between 1999 and 2004. Since then, Marsters has appeared on Smallville, Hawaii Five-0 and Witches of East End. He has also recorded music both as a solo artist and a member of rock band Ghost of the Robot. Read article While hes maintained a steady career in the years since Joss Whedons beloved supernatural series came to an end, Marsters will always have a soft spot for the vampire character as will Buffy fans. During a March 2017 interview with The A.V. Club, Marsters admitted that the amount of time he spends getting recognized for playing Spike depends on the week. If I get on an airplane: 20 hours a week, Im being recognized, he joked. If Im staying home, just with my friends, maybe 15 minutes. It depends on if I go out or not. In my normal life, I surround myself with people who dont think about Buffy very much. And so I can have a normal life. If Im going out, the world wants to talk about it. And I think thats a good thing. Buffy also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played the titular role, Alyson Hannigan, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon and more. The show was praised for its strong female characters and for showcasing an LGBTQ romance but the cast isnt so sure a reboot will do the original series justice. Theres a time and a place for everything and when something is done really, really well, you dont have to reboot it, because it still holds up, Gellar, 43, told Parade magazine in October 2019. And so I think thats what I struggle with a little bit. People discover Buffy today and love it just the same as if they discovered it 20 years ago. There are movies I watch, like Sixteen Candles, I love it just as much today as I did then. Why would I want to see it redone? So, I am probably in the minority on that. Read article However, the Cruel Intentions star also saw a silver lining to the idea of bringing those fan-favorite characters back to life. That being said, go reboot it if you have a new way to tell the story with new people, and bring other people that maybe havent seen it, she added. In the end, I believe it will only bring more viewers to the original. And how much better the original is. Petrobras exported a record amount of crude oil in January this year, Argus reports, at 19.3 million bpd through the Angra dos Reis terminal. The Brazilian state energy major reported record production of crude oil last year despite the pandemic, thanks to developments in the presalt zone, which holds most of Brazil's untapped oil wealth, and the cost of extraction is low. At 2.3 million bpd, the record output was in line with Petrobras forecasts for the year, which stood at 2.28 million bpd of hydrocarbon liquids. The surge in production, especially in the second half of the year, was helped by a jump in fuel demand domestically. This uptrend is expected to extend into this year as well, and over the long term, too. In exports too, 2020 was a year of records for Petrobras, again thanks to the low-cost presalt fields. The company reported a 33-percent annual increase in daily exports last year, to 713,000 bpd. Plans are to boost this further, to some 891,000 bpd by 2025, as part of a $55-billion spending plan, Argus noted in its report. The presalt oil fields have turned Brazil into one of the world's hotspots in new oil exploration, and this is unlikely to change even with gloomy forecasts for oil demand never returning to pre-pandemic growth rates. Domestic demand for energy would certainly help: BP's 2019 Energy Outlook said energy demand in Brazil is set for annual growth far exceeding the global total: 2.2 percent versus 1.2 percent in global annual growth. Although the supermajor forecast that the share of renewables will grow strongly in the country's energy mix, it also noted that oil production will also continue to expand strongly, with Brazil accounting for close to a quarter of the total global increase in production by 2040. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Wealthy investors intended to make a profit by short selling GameStops stock, but they did not foresee that a syndicate of Reddit users with Robinhood accounts, several of them University of Georgia students, would have something to say about it. A 57-year-old man has been arrested and charged with keeping a Louisiana woman captive for four days in a closet. The suspect was reported of bringing the victim out of the closet to beat and rape her repeatedly. The suspect, identified as Darryl Vinson, has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree rape, and aggravated kidnapping. He was also charged with false imprisonment while armed with a weapon and possession of stolen property for the attack at a home in Gretna, according to the police. The 48-year-old victim was reportedly in a stable condition as of Monday, a Crime Online report noted. Her injuries were a brain bleed, broken ribs, black eyes, and facial swelling. Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson added that the victim also had cuts and bruises over most of her body. "I can only imagine, every time you hear that closet door getting ready to open, the fear she was in, not knowing what was next. It was a very brutal and sadistic event," Lawson said in the report. The suspect was said to have repeatedly beat the Louisiana woman since Jan. 25. And over the next four days, he repeatedly forced her to have sex with him, which inflicted significant injuries. Lawson said that what the victim went through over this period was unbelievable. However, despite being trapped for four days, there were no missing person reports filed on her behalf, according to a Daily Mail report. Lawson added that Darryl Vinson and the victim had previously dated. However, investigators have yet to determine what caused the alleged assault. Related story: Crime and Safety App Gives Real-Time Updates on Fires, Protests and Police Movements Darryl Vinson's Victim Way to Freedom On Friday, the suspect took the victim to the store with him, wherein a witness saw the suspect hit the Louisiana woman. The witness then contacted the authorities, who saved and freed the victim on the same day. According to a New York Daily report, Vinson was arrested on outstanding attachments after the victim told police her traumatic experience with Vinson when she was brought to a hospital for treatment. Lawson credited the passerby who called the police and said the witness had saved the woman's life. He noted that the case might be escalated to homicide as they investigate what happened. Darryl Vinson was being held without bail at Gretna's Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Other Women Held Captive This was one of the many cases where a woman was held captive and sexually assaulted and physically abused. In a West Salem home in 2015, a woman was held captive for 44 days. She recounted details of being abused, which included being burned by a torch lighter, beaten with a closet rod, and sprayed with bleach, during the trial of the man accused of kidnapping and raping her. Police entered the home on Oct. 25, 2015 to rescue her. She begged the police to take her to jail, according to a WTSP report. Related story: Deadlier than COVID-19? Mexican Crime Rate Increases Many people in southern Vietnam have rushed to return railway tickets as they skipped their hometown-returning plans for the Lunar New Year holiday for fear of new coronavirus outbreaks in ten provinces and cities in the past week. The mass ticket return has taken place at Di An Station in Binh Duong Province, Saigon Station in Ho Chi Minh City, and Bien Hoa Station in Dong Nai Province. The passengers started pouring to Di An Station in Binh Duong to return purchased tickets on Monday, right after the southern province announced its second community case of COVID-19 infection. The number of people asking to return paid tickets at the Binh Duong-based station on Monday afternoon was so large that the Saigon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company (SARATRANS) ran out of cash for refunds, as it was unprepared for the sudden situation, according to general director Dao Anh Tuan. The company has stopped accepting ticket returns and said it will issue further notice in the shortest time. At the Saigon Railway Station in Ho Chi Minh City, passengers have flocked to return railway tickets since Tuesday morning. SARATRANS had to deal with the crowd by asking each of the waiting people to choose a number of order to handle each case. Dao Viet Thi, a passenger who had purchased a VND1.9-million (US$82.5) ticket for a round trip between Ho Chi Minh City and Quy Nhon City in south-central Binh Dinh Province on February 2 and February 16, said that SARATRANS claimed to pay him the refund by May 3. The pandemic has been complicated, so I returned the ticket, Thi said. Passengers wait to return purchased tickets at Di An Railway Station in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam, February 1, 2021. Photo: Tuoi Tre Tran Trung Nghia, a man hailing from the northern province of Ha Nam, decided to stay in Ho Chi Minh City, instead of going home for the Lunar New Year holiday, which is an occasion for family reunions and is just over a week away. At this point, safety and pandemic prevention are the top priorities, and health is the most important thing. After the pandemic is put under control, I will visit my hometown, Nghia said. Meanwhile, a few passengers chose to change their tickets for earlier departures. At Bien Hoa Station in Dong Nai, people had queued up to return tickets by early Tuesday afternoon. Most of them hail from northern and central localities. According to the operator of Bien Hoa Station, more than 1,100 people came to give back tickets, with the equivalent value of more than VND1.3 billion ($56,474), on Monday alone. Regarding the demand for ticket returns, the state-owned Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) issued a guidance to passengers. Accordingly, passengers can choose to save purchased tickets for later use within one year from the original departure date. Passengers wait to return purchased tickets at Bien Hoa Railway Station in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, February 2, 2021. Photo: A Loc / Tuoi Tre Passengers can also opt to change the departure date for free of charge, and only pay the fare difference, if any. Those who do not use the train tickets in 2021 will receive a full refund from January 1, 2022. As for passengers wishing to return tickets, a refund will be made 90 days of the return date. Vietnam has documented 1,891 coronavirus cases, including 1,003 domestic infections, as of Wednesday morning, with 1,461 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. The country announced the first two local cases on January 28 after having gone nearly two months without any community-based infection. A total of 310 domestic infections have been documented in ten provinces and cities, including Hanoi, since then, according to the health ministrys data. The majority of the domestically-transmitted cases were linked to Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, both located in northern Vietnam. The country confirmed 84 local transmissions on Thursday, 62 on Friday, 61 on Saturday, 31 on Sunday, 32 on Monday, 31 on Tuesday, and nine on Wednesday morning. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 3) Employees of four government hospitals used as COVID-19 referral hospitals in Metro Manila may receive the first batch of coronavirus vaccines that will arrive in the country this month if the recommendation of vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. is approved. Galvez suggested prioritizing the vaccination of around 56,000 medical frontliners and hospital staff at the Philippine General Hospital, Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium or Tala Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, and the East Avenue Medical Center with the 117,000 Pfizer doses that will be supplied through the COVAX facility, an initiative led by the World Health Organization. "Yun po ang gusto naming mangyari, na by institution kasi mas madali po ang mag-roll out kunyari buong PGH... So lahat doctor, nurses, at personnel, ligtas na 'yung buong institution. Mas madali 'yon kaysa mangyari na kalat-kalat, wala po tayong matapos," he said on Tuesday. [Translation: We want to do the rollout by institution. So all doctors, nurses, and personnel there will be vaccinated, the institution will be protected. That is easier, that is better than spreading out the vaccines and not completing anything.] The WHO has recommended to use vaccines from COVAX to protect healthcare workers in the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic PGH spokesperson Jonas del Rosario said their healthcare workers and personnel will get vaccinated based on the priority list, in particular the doctors, nurses, and technicians dealing with COVID-19 patients. Other COVID-19 referral hospitals next Galvez said other public and private hospitals nationwide treating a number of COVID-19 patients will be next in line to receive the vaccine. "Dahil limited lang po iyong 117,000 doses which can only accommodate more less 58,500 nurses, doctors and medical personnel ay magkakaroon po tayo ng priority kung ano po iyong major public hospitals na COVID hospitals [like] Southern Philippines Medical Center, Vicente Sotto and other government hospitals," he said on Wednesday. [Translation: We will prioritize major public hospitals like the Southern Philippines Medical Center, Vicente Sotto, and other government hospitals since we have limited supplies. The 117,000 doses can only accommodate 58,500 nurses, doctors, and medical personnel.] Dry run for distribution of storage-sensitive vaccines Galvez said it will also help officials conduct a mini rollout to show how they will deploy sensitive vaccines that will require ultra-cold storage, such as the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna. Galvez said the distribution of Pfizer vaccines will be rolled out in major areas first that have ultra-low temperature freezers for vaccines, such as Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Davao City. It could eventually be carried out in Calabarzon, Central Luzon, General Santos City, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga City. He said the recommendations will be presented to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Thursday for discussion. "We will be recommending na i-limit muna sa major areas so that we can handle it perfectly kasi kung idi-dispose natin kaagad sa mga different areas there is no way na mahahandle natin mabuti," he said. [Translation: We will recommend to limits its use in major areas first so we can handle it better. If we immediately send it to different areas, we wouldn't be able to handle that well.] The country is set to receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines n the second or third week of February through the WHO-led COVAX facility. The government will also apply for 900,000 more Pfizer vaccine doses. This is in addition to up to 9.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines by late February or early March if the vaccine gets emergency use listing from WHO. 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. An antique store owner was stunned to find that the contents of a home he had purchased for a few thousand pounds included rare coins, designer clothes and silver bars worth 300,000 ($409318.50). Alex Archbold snapped up late music teacher Bette-Joan Rac's home for 7,331 ($10002.38) after her death last December. The antique dealer, who runs Curiosity Inc with his wife Melissa in Edmonton, Alberta, regularly buys the contents of homes in his hunt for interesting and unique items and shares his discoveries on the store's YouTube channel. Archbold had known Rac for several years but had never been inside her home. He decided to purchase it on a gamble, knowing that she owned a grand piano that could be of some value. Antique store owner Alex Archbold (pictured) was stunned to find that the contents of a home he had purchased for a few thousand pounds included rare coins, designer clothes and silver bars worth 300,000 Archbold snapped up late music teacher Bette-Joan Rac's home for 7,331 ($10002.38) after her death last December and was surprised to find the property 'packed to the rafters' with items Archbold had known Rac for several years but had never been inside her home. He decided to purchase it on a gamble, knowing that she owned a grand piano that could be of some value Archbold's team (pictured) spent several days clearing the property and made a number of unexpected discoveries The home turned out to be a treasure trove, albeit an extremely cluttered one. As Archbold and his team discovered the property was 'packed to the rafters' to the extent that it was difficult to tell exactly what was inside. As they began clearing the property, the team came across antique coins, stacks of cash and designer clothes. One cupboard housed an entire rail of fur coats and the team even uncovered a solid silver bar. The home turned out to be a treasure trove, albeit an extremely cluttered one, with expensive jewellery and designers bags and shoes hidden under mounds of debris Old coins, including some money dating back to the 1920s, were found in the home While clearing the property, the team even discovered a bar of silver inside a magazine One cupboard in the home housed an entire rail of lavish fur coats, at least 11 in total Archbold now estimates that he has found some 293,270 ($400,00) worth of stuff, according to The Sun. 'Little did I know that the eccentric piano teacher I had met was, in fact, a millionaire!,' he told Bored Panda. Money dating from the 1920s and boxes from Chanel and Tiffany were discovered under piles of debris along with boxes full of old records, a room of wigs and innumerable trinkets and ornaments. Archbold snapped up late music teacher Bette-Joan Rac's (pictured) home for 7,331 ($10002.38) after her death last December Archbhold believes Rac had been extremely wealthy judging by the valuable items found inside her home. Pictured: Bette-Joan Rac in her younger years with her grand piano There were also many photos of Rac herself, dressed in her finest throughout the decades. 'Everything in here has potential, which is why we bought the contents,' Archbold, who ended up keeping the grand piano that had initially sparked his interest, told Bored Panda. 'We invested 7,331 ($10,000) in buying the house contents as is, and we will have sold 293,270 ($400,000) after all is said and done after three auctions of the contents and treasures This was the best investment I have made to date!' Is it fair or even patriotic to threaten states that do not conform to the Democratic Socialists' mandate to control the outcome of Free and Fair elections enacted by constitutionally guaranteed states' legislatures? Yes, all elections must be federalized so that the whim of the majority political party can set the standard for all elections. No, Our Founders purposefully decentralized elections by guaranteeing only states' legislatures the independent right to enact Free and Fair elections. Model-actor Salman Zaidi, who shot to fame after winning the second season of Ace of Space, has quit the 13th season of Splitsvilla X3 due to some health issues. In an interview with Times of India, the Ace of Space season 2 winner shared a special message for his fans. Salman Zaidi said, "As much as I was excited to kickstart my journey in Splitsvilla X3, I'm sad to inform my fans and well-wishers that owing to some health issues, I have had to quit the show. Post an overwhelming experience with Ace of Space, I was looking forward to embarking on yet another eventful ride with Splitsvilla X3 and meeting new people but unfortunately, I had to take this step due to some unavoidable circumstances." While speaking about the 13season of the upcoming dating reality show, Salman further added, "The 13th edition is sure to be a fine blend of spice, love and drama and I wish the other contestants and the entire team all the best for the journey ahead." Well, Salman's exit from Splitsvilla has indeed shocked his fans. Meanwhile, the show will be hosted by none other than the famous duo Rannvijay Singha and Sunny Leone. So far, Nikita Bhamidipati, Kevin Alamsifar and Samruddhi Jadhav have been confirmed as the contestants of the show. Splitsvilla X3 is scheduled to go on-air in March 2021. Also Read : Splitsvilla 13: Ace Of Space Fame Nikita Bhamidipati Confirmed As One Of The Contestants Also Read : Man Held For Stalking Ex-Splitsvilla Contestant Harshita Kashyap Journal-Courier Two Morgan County Housing Authority administrators have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Morgan County Housing Authority Board. The board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to place executive director Debra Walter and finance director Mary Jo Mast on paid administrative leave while newly hired attorney Eric Hanson of Mahoney, Silverman and Cross investigates unspecified allegations. The New York Times Dalee Sullivan looked straight ahead into her computers camera and started making her case to the judge. She referred to transcripts, emails and policies she had pulled from the student handbook at Alpine High School. The school, she contended, had made errors in tabulating grade-point averages: Classes and exams that should have been included were left out, and vice versa. Sullivan had won Lincoln-Douglas debate tournaments and, in her freshman year, was a member of the mock trial team. But she is not a lawyer. She is 18, and she graduated from the lone public high school in the small West Texas town of Alpine just a week ago, which was the reason she was in court to begin with. This serves to prove that no matter the outcome of the GPA contest, and no matter how many times we had the school recalculate the GPA, Sullivan told the judge during a hearing on Friday, the Alpine Independent School District was going to make certain I could never be valedictorian, even if I earned it. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times School officials said she ranked third in her class. Sullivan disagreed. She could not find a local lawyer who would agree to take on her case. A firm in Dallas told her it would, she said, but estimated the case could cost her $75,000 far more than she could afford. Instead, she figured out how to write a request for an injunction and represented herself in the 394th District Court of Texas. She believed that her GPA could, in fact, have been higher than one or both of the students ahead of her, making her worthy of the title salutatorian or even valedictorian. She and her parents had protested her rank for the past month, and she claimed that the school intentionally did not invite her to an awards event where top students were honored. The school district has said that it calculated her grades repeatedly, and that each time Sullivan still ranked third. In a statement on Friday, school officials declined to discuss the allegations raised by Sullivan, saying the district was not at liberty to discuss the individual student. Although we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit, the statement said, we take student and parent concerns very seriously and will continue to address the students concerns. It is not entirely unheard-of for disputes over top spots in high school graduating classes to escalate to litigation. The competition over such accolades can be an intense, even ruthless, zero-sum game. And in the fight to be valedictorian, there is more at stake than just bragging rights. In Texas, the highest-ranking high school graduates can receive free tuition for their first year at in-state public institutions. Sullivan and her parents were inspired by a case last year in Pecos, Texas, about 100 miles from Alpine, where two students claimed to be valedictorian amid confusion over a glitch in the schools tabulations. One of the students with professional legal representation filed for a restraining order and sought an injunction to block Pecos High School from naming its valedictorian. After Sullivan could not get a lawyer, her parents were disappointed but willing to drop the matter. But she refused. She got advice and records from the family in the case in Pecos, using the petition in that case as a guide to start writing her own. Her parents her father, a rancher; her mother, a forensic interviewer read it over and helped her tidy up the language. We arent even close to being lawyers, Sullivan said. In Alpine, a town of roughly 6,000 people in Texas Big Bend Country, some who know Sullivan said they were surprised she would take this on. There are other ways to spend ones last summer before college. (She plans to attend the College of Charleston in South Carolina and major in biophysics with the aim of going into medicine.) But she had always been serious about school and a bit steely in her resolve. Shes already going to college, she already has scholarships, said Teresa Todd, a local government lawyer who is a longtime friend of Sullivans mother and whose sons are close in age to Sullivan. She worked really hard for this, and I think all kids deserve to know where they fall in the pecking order. Kids have to show their work, Todd added. Why doesnt the school have to show their work? She said she offered some advice to Sullivan ahead of her hearing: Be herself. Be respectful. Dont let the other side get you off your game. Sullivan conceded some nervousness before the hearing, especially after filings from the school districts lawyers cited a slew of legal precedents and were peppered with terminology she did not know. But overall, she was confident. I have all the evidence, she said. I have all the facts. And no one knows it as well as I know it. All sorts of cases land in the 394th District Court, whose jurisdiction covers five counties roughly equivalent in size to the country's nine smallest states combined. The court hears criminal cases, divorce proceedings, and now a fight over high school grading. Judge Roy B. Ferguson has a reputation for taking the judicial medley in stride. His courtroom had a flash of viral fame in February when a video clip of a lawyer trapped behind a filter that made him appear to be a fuzzy white kitten in a Zoom hearing boomeranged around the internet. (Im not a cat, the lawyer said.) Ferguson found the humor in it. He added a reference to the unlikely episode to the courts website and accepted an invitation to discuss it at a symposium on remote judicial hearings in Poland. In a recent criminal proceeding, when a lawyer apologized for audio complications, Ferguson replied, Youre not a cat, so youre one step ahead! With Sullivan, he was patient and explained procedure in a way he would not have to with a professional. When she asked a question that was too broad, he encouraged her to narrow the scope. (He often presides over high school mock trials, among them, the State of Texas v. Luke Skywalker.) Kelley Kalchthaler, a lawyer representing the school district, argued that Sullivan had not exhausted the districts grievance process. We dont think the court has jurisdiction over this case, she said, and all parties should be dismissed. She also raised objections to much of the evidence Sullivan wanted to include, contending that it was hearsay or questioning the relevance to the case. In several instances, Ferguson agreed. All right, Ms. Sullivan, are you ready to present evidence in support of your request? Ferguson said. You bear the burden here for this temporary injunction. Sullivan laid out her case. Its not an accurate reflection of my high school career, she said of her final transcript, so its already done irreparable damage. She wanted an independent audit of honor graduates grades. She did not get that on Friday. Ferguson ruled that the dispute needed to go through the school districts grievance process. Still, the case was not closed. If she was not pleased with the outcome, the judge told her, she could come back to court. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 2021 The New York Times Company Police forces are pictured in a line of trucks in the downtown area of Yangon on Monday. Myanmar's military announced a state of emergency earlier Monday and later said it seized power and will rule the country for at least one year after having detained the country's top political leaders. Photo: AFP The situation in Myanmar presents the world a hot potato issue. The Biden administration demanded that the Myanmar military release those detained and threatened to re-impose sanctions on Myanmar. But the Biden administration has refrained from immediately using the word "coup" to describe the Myanmar military's actions as Britain has done, it waited until Tuesday to do so. This shows that the situation in Myanmar is a thorny issue for Washington. Myanmar's neighboring countries, such as ASEAN member states and China, hold similar views - they hope all sides in Myanmar could be restrained and solve the crisis within the framework of the constitution and the law in a peaceful way. Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines said this is the "internal affairs" of Myanmar. Even Singapore, the closest with the West in ASEAN, did not follow the US and the UK and held similar views with other ASEAN countries. The situation in Myanmar matters to regional peace and stability and the interests of its neighbors. They do not want to see a chaotic Myanmar, nor do they want to get involved in the internal conflicts of Myanmar. Asian countries recognize the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs, which has been practiced throughout the region, because this principle is the most realistic choice of Asian countries. Western countries have been very aggressive, demanding directly that the Myanmar military take immediate action to reverse the situation, and their interference has become part of the situation in Myanmar. The battle between the Myanmar military and pressure from the West will be the main theme of Myanmar's situation for some time to come. Myanmar's neighbors have not commented on Western involvement as well. Some Western public opinion complained that China and other countries haven't followed the attitude of the US and Europe. Such an accusation has gone too far. It is the equivalent of public opinion in Myanmar's neighboring countries complaining that the US and the Europe have not followed their lead in calling for restraint. For neighboring countries, it is in everyone's interest to ensure that Myanmar is peaceful and stable, and that the country's legal and political framework can best support that vision. When the country is experiencing turbulence, we should not exacerbate the problem, but try to defuse it in a moderate way. This is what neighboring countries hope to see. It is a realistic attitude, full of goodwill and pragmatism. Western countries are far away from Myanmar, and they are forcefully intervening by projecting their political influence. Whether they are doing it right or not needs to be tested by the effect. That is to say, their intervention should be conducive to promoting dialogue among all parties in Myanmar and peacefully resolving the crisis. It should not aggravate tensions or provoke more confrontation and turn the situation in Myanmar into a new deadlock. That outcome is clearly not what the Myanmar people and the region want to see. The purpose of promoting democracy should not be to promote democracy itself or gain political points, but to benefit the people of countries like Myanmar. There must be internal reasons for what is happening in Myanmar, and the outside world needs to be patient and help it through the difficulties in a way that is least costly to Myanmar society. This is the 21st century, not decades ago. Myanmar has gone through more than a decade of democratization. This time and effort cannot be cut off like an appendix. Monday's statement from the Myanmar military was informative, which is probably why the US did not immediately use the word "coup." We hope that the situation is not going to get worse, but that it will finally find a way out. This article is an editorial from globaltimes.cn. The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD) has priced a $3.5 billion 10-year Sustainable Development Bond maturing in February 2031. The transaction, in the World Banks largest funding currency, appealed to investors seeking longer-dated US dollar bonds complemented by a sustainable development purpose that resonates especially with investors integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in their investment process. The deal attracted over 115 orders totalling more than $4.8 billion. Investors were globally diverse, with strong demand from central banks and official institutions as well as, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers seeking high-credit quality assets to match their longer-term liabilities. BofA Securities, Citi, JP Morgan, RBC Capital Markets are the lead managers for the transaction. The bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The bond priced with a final spread to mid-swaps of +13 basis points and an equivalent annual yield of 1.278%. This equates to a spread vs. the reference US treasury of +18.25 basis points. We are grateful for investors support for this 10-year US dollar benchmark which helps to fund the World Banks efforts to help our member countries respond to the immediate crisis and achieve their sustainable development goals, said Jingdong Hua, Vice President and Treasurer, World Bank. Access to long-term consistent funding supports a green, inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery. Another impressive result for the World Bank in executing this $3.5 billion 10-year benchmark. The transaction was met with strong investor demand, attracting over 100 orders. The combination of growing investor interest following the deals announcement and an extremely high quality orderbook allowed them to price at the tightest spread to mid-swaps in this tenor of any Sovereign, Supranational, and Agency (SSA) issuer in the past three years. Congratulations to the World Bank team on this landmark issuance, said Adrien de Naurois, Head of DCM SSA & EMEA IG Syndicate, BofA Securities. TradeArabia News Service We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Late Monday night, during an hour and half livestream on Instagram, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez gave a harrowing account of the January 6 fascist assault on the US Capitol. Describing the view from her office on January 6, Ocasio-Cortez recalled hearing the yells of these people...and it just feels like its a matter of seconds when these doors are going to break through and theyre going to get in, she said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., center, arrives for an event with Rep.-elect Cori Bush, D-Mo., right, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Aware that pipe bombs had been discovered less than a block away from the Capitol moments earlier, she began preparing herself for a mass casualty event, Im preparing for one of the wings of the building to explode, she said. Were sheltering and Im thinking what do we do if the building explodes?... What do we do if they break in? Ocasio-Cortez spoke of running and hiding with her legislative director Gerardo Bonilla Chavez in her office as the mob made its way into the building. As the pair waited in her office, she described hearing huge violent bangs on the door. She recalled Bonilla Chavez telling her to run and hide in response to what they thought was a potential assassin or kidnapper. Her fears are well founded. Last week, federal prosecutors charged 34-year-old Garret Miller with multiple crimes for his role in the Capitol siege, including making threats. Prosecutors referred to a trove of social media postings in which Miller bragged about breaking into the Capitol and threatened to Assassinate AOC. In a January 3 post, Miller wrote that he was bringing, a grappling hook and rope and a level 3 vest, to the Capitol. Days after the siege, Miller bragged on Instagram that he had, a rope in [his] bag on that day. I thought I was going to die, Ocasio-Cortez recalled. I have never been quieter in my entire life. She said it sounded like someone was trying to break the door down, and that whoever was banging was remaining anonymous, There were no voices, no yells, no one identifying themselves. Bonilla Chavez eventually opened the door to find that the person banging was a single Capitol Police officer. Cognizant of the insider fascist threat, Ocasio-Cortez and her staffer were leery of the cop, unsure if he was there to help, or hurt her. It didnt feel right because he was looking at me with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility, Ocasio-Cortez said. Did he not identify himself as Capitol Police on purpose? Did he lose himself in that moment? Ocasio-Cortez wondered. Just the very uncertainty that you dont know if this person is trying to protect you or not is very unsettling. Ocasio-Cortez said the cop told her that she needed to leave her office and to head to a separate building. According to Ocasio-Cortez, the cop didnt tell them where they needed to go in the other building and didnt escort them. After leaving her office, Ocasio-Cortez sought shelter in Democratic Representative Katie Porters office. In an interview with MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell, Porter verified Ocasio-Cortezs account of the events, recalling that when Ocasio-Cortez first came into her office she began searching for somewhere to hide. Porter surmised that the pair spent hours barricaded in her office. They eventually moved to Representative Ayanna Pressleys office, where Ocasio-Cortez stayed until 4 a.m. Ocasio-Cortez said she didnt feel safe going to the designated safe room with other lawmakers because she didnt trust the police tasked with protecting her, nor her Republican colleagues. Ocasio-Cortez also revealed that she had been receiving messages from her colleagues warning her to come up with a security plan because they had heard she would be a target of far-right violence a week before the attack. This once again exposes the lie proffered by high-ranking Pentagon and intelligence officials, who alleged following the events of January 6 that there was no intelligence regarding an assault on the Capitol. If lawmakers were aware of the threats against themselves a week before the assault, it is completely implausible that the Capitol Police, the Department of Defense and the various spy agencies that make up the sprawling intelligence community were unaware of the threat of fascistic violence. Far from demanding an immediate and public investigation into the events of January 6, the Democratic Party has worked to cover-up for those involved in the conspiracy. In particular, the Biden administration has rejected calls for the resignation of Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others. Solidarizing themselves with Trumps coup attempt, Cruz, Hawley, and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 41 other Republican senators in supporting a motion put forward last week by Kentucky libertarian Rand Paul to quash the Senate impeachment trial. While the measure failed, the overwhelming support it received among the Republican senators signals that impeachment stands no chance of success. In response to the Robinhood app preventing users from trading their GameStop stock last week, Ocasio-Cortez called for a hearing, noting that she is a member of the Financial Services Committee. Cruz retweeted Ocasio-Cortez, Fully agree, to which Ocasio-Cortez replied you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out. In response to Ocasio-Cortezs refusal to work with Cruz, Texas Republican representative, Chip Roy, who previously served as Cruzs chief of staff, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring Ocasio-Cortezs comments completely unacceptable and demanding that Pelosi call on her to issue a retraction. Roy added, if Representative Ocasio-Cortez does not apologize immediately, we will be forced to find alternative means to condemn this regrettable statement. Speaker Pelosi, along with the rest of the Democratic leadership in the Congress has yet to respond to Roys menacing threats. This reporter attempted to get a statement from the offices of Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer regarding the ongoing threats to their members, but was unable to get a response. Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil wrote to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, urging him to give orders to authorities in his state to file an FIR against Usmani Mumbai: Former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student Sharjeel Usmani, accused of hurting religious sentiments with his comments at last week's Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, will be arrested from whichever state he is in, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday. He said police have conducted a probe into the video clippings of the conclave, held on 30 January, and a case has been registered against Usmani, an Uttar Pradesh resident, for his "offensive remarks". The Pune police on Tuesday registered a case against Usmani, a former student leader of AMU, under IPC Section 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground religion, etc), a senior official said. The Opposition BJP in Maharashtra had demanded action against Usmani, accusing him of "hurting religious sentiments" with his speech at the event. Deshmukh, in a tweet, said, "Police have investigated the video clippings of the Elgar event held on 30th in Pune and a case has been registered against Sharjeel Usmani for his offensive remarks." "He is not currently in MH (Maharashtra) but we will arrest him from whichever state he is in be it Bihar, UP, Gujarat, or elsewhere," the minister added. Earlier, Pradip Gavade, a local leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP's youth wing, had filed a complaint against Usmani at the Swargate police station in Pune, an official said. Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil on Wednesday wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath seeking his help in arresting Usmani. Patil, who made contents of the letter public, urged Adityanath to give orders to authorities in his state to file an FIR against the former AMU student. Patil, in the letter, also came down heavily on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue. "Sharjeel Usmani, in his 30 January speech at Elgar Parishad in Pune, had allegedly hurt the sentiments of Hindus. We appeal to you (Adityanath) to give orders of filing an FIR and arresting him. He should face the strictest possible action. It should set an example in the country so that no one dares to use such words again in the future," the former state minister said. The state BJP chief said Usmani is an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University and a resident of Sidhari town in Azamgarh district. Patil said Usmanis's speech was seditious in nature. "He made his speech with an intension to spread hatred. The use of such language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other constitutional institutions is not less than an act of sedition," Patil said. "The 12.5 crore people of Maharashtra are convinced that Uddhav Thackeray's government would not take any action against him as the incident took place five days back," he said. Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday demanded action against Usmani, alleging that he "insulted sentiments of the Hindu community". During the 30 January conclave, writer-activist Arundhati Roy, Justice (retd) BG Kolse Patil and former IPS officer SM Mushrif were among those who addressed the gathering. Three years ago, several Left-leaning activists were arrested by police for alleged Naxal links following the 31 December, 2017, Elgar Parishad conclave and the caste violence at Pune's Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the next day. (Newser) A pro-Trump lawyer who vehemently defended the former president's claims of election fraud is under investigation for possible voter fraud in Georgia. The office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says it's investigating Lin Wood, who was based in Atlanta, after he told a reporter he'd been living in South Carolina, per NBC News. "I have been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April," Wood told WSB's Justin Gray, who was reporting on whether Wood's law license would be revoked. (Wood claims the state bar wants him to complete a mental health exam, per the AP.) Raffensperger's office will look into whether Wood broke the law in voting early in the November election as a Georgia resident. The title doesn't apply to a person who "removes to another state with the intention of making it such person's residence." story continues below Wood tells WSB that he only changed his residency to South Carolina on Monday. On social media site Telegram, he claims he only did this because Georgia "falsely accused me and shunned me," per NPR. "I was domiciled in Atlanta in October of 2020 and was a resident of Georgia at that time," he continues, per WSB, adding he did not vote in this month's runoff elections. Wood, who filed numerous dismissed lawsuits challenging Georgia's election results, adds the investigation "is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger." Wood, a QAnon supporter, spread other baseless election fraud claims like this on Twitter before he was banned for encouraging violence at the US Capitol on Jan. 6. (Trump told Raffensperger to "find" the votes he needed to win Georgia.) A test that detects antibodies to the novel coronavirus in 10 minutes and costs only a fifth of the market average has been developed by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's Sao Carlos Chemistry Institute (IQSC-USP) and Brazilian startup Biolinker, with Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP's support. The device works similarly to the rapid tests available now in pharmacies. It analyzes a drop of blood, and two red LEDs light up if it detects the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, which are produced in the acute phase of COVID-19 (ten days after the onset of symptoms on average). The more antibodies there are in the blood, the brighter the red color. We believe this means the test can also be used to monitor the response to vaccination. We know not everyone develops protective immunity after being vaccinated. We also know the level of antibodies declines over time." Frank Crespilho, Professor at IQSC-USP and Principal Investigator The study was conducted by two of Crespilho's students, Karla Castro and Isabela Mattioli. According to Crespilho, the technology can easily be adapted to the novel SARS-CoV-2 variants, if necessary. The test can be sold for 30 Brazilian Reais (now about 5.50 US dollars) once it has been approved by ANVISA, the national health surveillance authority, he said. Similar tests can currently be purchased in Brazil for about 140 BRL. The researchers optimized the quantity of raw materials and reagents to lower its production cost and developed a technology based on nanoparticles to facilitate IgG detection. "We combined a gold nanoparticle [which originates the red color] with a piece of the virus's spike protein recognized by human antibodies. This bioconjugate is about a millionth of the size of a human hair," Crespilho said. The virus's spikes form the corona-like structure that suggested its family name. They enable the virus to enter and infect human cells by binding to the ACE-2 receptor on the cell surface. To develop the molecule used in the test device, Biolinker's researchers worked in the laboratory to synthesize the docking tip of the spike protein, known as the receptor-binding domain (RBD). According to Mona Oliveira, Biolinker's chief science officer and co-founder, they used a recombinant DNA technology involving bacteria genetically modified to express the viral protein in vitro. This part of the process was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundatin - FAPESP's Innovative Research in Small Business Program (PIPE) and FINEP, the Brazilian Innovation Agency. "All reagents and other inputs used by the device are produced in Brazil, which helps reduce the cost. We worked around the clock to develop it in just four months," said Crespilho, who heads the University of Sao Paulo's Bioelectrochemistry and Interface Laboratory. The aim is to expand testing in Brazil by making it affordable for low-income families. "We designed it as a means of enabling mass testing at a competitive cost in line with economic reality," he said. Testing is underway to determine the accuracy of the method developed by the IQSC-USP group. The scientists are also working on a plan to ramp up production and have other groups perform trials to validate the methodology. Around 500 units will be produced and tested using samples from patients treated at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) in Botucatu, the Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar) and the Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). "We're also negotiating with groups in the Northeast region," Crespilho said. "Validation will take about a month. Then we'll apply for approval by ANVISA." SABA:--- Preparations for the COVID-19 vaccination are progressing well on Saba. Registration continues with so far more than 900 persons have signed up to receive the Moderna vaccine when it arrives on the island shortly after February 15. Vaccination of the adult population will take place at the Eugenius Johnson Community Center in Windwardside, stated Head of the Public Health Department Dr. Koen Hulshof. Persons living in the elderly home will be vaccinated at the home. 1,400 vaccines will come to Saba in the first batch, enough for the entire adult population. Persons who have registered will be contacted and informed about the specific date and timeslot for the vaccination. It will take an estimated 6 to 7 days to vaccinate Sabas adult population. The second shipment of the Moderna vaccine for the necessary second vaccination should arrive four weeks after the first. Behind the scenes, the Public Health Department and Saba Health Care Foundation (SHCF) are working hard to prepare everything for the vaccinations. A lot of logistics and training have been and are still taking place to ensure a safe vaccination, said Hulshof. He asked people to be a bit patient because it is a new process and quite a logistic challenge to vaccinate many people in such a short time. We hope that as many people as possible will decide to get vaccinated. We have to be realistic: the coronavirus will not go away, and we will have to accept that it will come to the island from time to time. In order to protect yourself and the people around you, it is important to get vaccinated, said Hulshof. Vaccination is also important to get some normalcy back in the health care referrals abroad. Many medical referrals of patients outside of Saba have been postponed and/or delayed in the past year due to COVID-19. It is essential to restore these medical referrals in the interest of peoples health. Getting vaccinated also means getting some freedom back for the people: being able to travel again to see your loved ones abroad, going off-island to get a breather, said Hulshof. More than 100 million vaccinations have been administered worldwide. In some countries, the COVID-19 numbers already appear to be going down as a result of vaccination. Island Governor Jonathan Johnson encouraged people to get vaccinated. I will surely get a vaccination and Im calling on people to make an informed decision. In the period leading up to the vaccination, the population will continue to be informed. This is being done in different languages for the specific target groups. The Public Health Department has a hotline where people can ask questions and get information: 4165373 The freezer in which the vaccines will be stored has already been installed and will get validated this week. Public health nurses Tedisha Gordon and Jenneke van Bussel will start the process of validation on Thursday, February 4. They will use a check list to test the function ability of the fridge and to make sure that it maintains the conformity standards set by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands. The freezer has to continuously keep a temperature of about minus 20 degrees Celsius, the storage temperature for the Moderna vaccine. The results of the validation will be sent to the RIVM. The delegation of the RIVM and the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) which visited Saba last month was satisfied with the preparations that have taken place. She shot to fame after winning Miss World in 2000, before going on to become a hugely popular movie star in her native India. And Priyanka Chopra, 38, continues to exude captivating glamour as she graces the cover of the March issue of Elle UK, posing in an array of fitness-themed ensembles. In the accompanying interview, the screen star admitted to being 'shocked' when her 28-year-old husband Nick Jonas proposed to her after just two months of dating. Breathtaking beauty: Priyanka Chopra, 38, exudes captivating glamour for the cover of the March issue of Elle UK, posing in an array of fitness-themed ensembles In her shoot for the publication, the star proudly displays her enviably toned frame in a range of ab-bearing crop tops, teamed with shorts and loose-fitting bottoms. Away from her sporty shoot, the beauty queen spoke about her whirlwind romance with American heartthrob Nick, which began in May 2018. On July 19 of that year a day after Priyanka had celebrated her birthday Nick proposed as they enjoyed a romantic break on the Greek island of Crete. Speaking of the proposal, the star said: 'I didnt expect the proposal at that point... It was two months! I thought it would happen, but it was still a complete shock. [But] I relinquished control and I just went with it.' Whirlwind: In the accompanying interview, the screen star admitted to being 'shocked' when her 28-year-old husband Nick Jonas proposed to her after just two months of dating She the opened up about how their romance developed, explaining: 'We were just sporadically meeting for about two years. We were texting and stuff, and there may have been a part of me that wanted something serious. 'But I was taking a hiatus from guys at that point. I didnt want anyone romantically. But theres always been something about Nick, which is why we always ended up staying in touch, no matter where we were. 'One thing to know about my husband is that when he makes up his mind, hell get what he wants! When he knows, he knows. Theres such a sublime confidence to it that you cant help but be like, "OK."' The pair would go on to tie the knot in a lavish ceremony at Jodphur's Umaid Bhawan Palace in December 2018, bringing to an end a life-changing year. Now, says Priyanka, they work through the challenge of ensuring they see each other every three weeks, as their busy careers keep them in different parts of the world. Proposal: On July 19 , 2018 a day after Priyanka had celebrated her birthday Nick proposed as they enjoyed a romantic break on the Greek island of Crete Stunning: In her shoot for the publication, the star proudly displays her enviably toned frame in a range of ab-bearing crop tops, teamed with shorts and loose-fitting bottoms She told Elle: 'We see each other every three weeks. Wherever we are in the world, we fly to each other at least once a month for a couple of days. It was our rule when we first got married. Otherwise wed never see each other.' Marriage hasn't been the only recent major change for Priyanka, who has had to start her career from scratch after leaving superstardom in India for a new life in the US. The process of auditioning was taboo in India at that point, [especially] when you become a big actor,' she said. 'Now, its changed a lot but 10 years ago, auditioning wasnt something you did. 'But [in Hollywood] it was the culture, so I had to learn that. I learned that I cant rest on my laurels and that I had to walk into a room and introduce myself to people and not feel entitled. 'Just because a huge part of the world may know me, that [doesnt mean] everyone should. Its always hard when starting a new career. And I completely treated [moving to America] as a new career. Love and marriage: The pair would go on to tie the knot in a lavish ceremony at Jodphur's Umaid Bhawan Palace in December 2018, bringing to an end a life-changing year 'If you think about it, Ive only been an actor in the US for five years. Ive just about started doing the work that I really want. It takes time in every career. Going for gold in Hollywood has also meant potentially dismantling barriers as one of few South Asian actresses in prominent leading roles outside of the continent. I think that there is such a large space for Indian talent,' she asserted. 'But its going to require a mobilisation of our community to support each other instead of pulling one another down. 'Me and Mindy [Mindy Kaling], thats how this collaboration happened. [She will be starring alongside Kaling in the first-ever female-led comedy with a completely South Asian cast] Issue: Read Priyanka's interview in the March issue of Elle UK, on sale from February 4th 'I was like, I want to create opportunities as a producer for South Asian people in Hollywood, just like I never had. I had to fight for it. 'I had to say, I dont want to do the extra Indian accent. If my character was born and brought up in the UK or in the US, why would she speak like that? Why would you wear a bindi? 'Its a silly, stereotypical thing. I defied a lot of that, and now Im reaching a point in Hollywood where my culture is my asset instead of my definition. However, while she continues to make strides in Hollywood, Priyanka, who recently released her memoir Unfinished, is more retiring when it comes to social media. She said: My relationship with social media has changed in the past four to five years. Im definitely a lot more wary now. I dont interact as much. '[Before], if I didnt sleep or if I was bored in a trailer, I would start a Q&A with fans, or go live on Instagram. Im a lot more careful [now]. It broke my heart a little bit. The succession of it all, how easy it is to take something trivial and make it so large...' Read Priyanka Chopra's full interview in the March issue of Elle UK, on sale from February 4th. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is an important guy in more ways than one. As John notes in this nearby post, DeSantis seeks to impose statutory constraints on Big Tech/social media in support of neutral free speech principles. Below is the full video of DeSantiss press conference announcing the initiative. Looking around online for the details, I see that the Miami Herald reports: The proposed bill, which is still being drafted, asks the Florida Legislature to impose penalties for social media companies whose algorithms are perceived to favor one candidate over another. It builds on SB 520, filed by state Sen. Danny Burgess, that would require the platforms to give a 30-day notice to a user whose account has been disabled or suspended and explain why the user was punished. The Sarasota Herald-Tribue adds this: DeSantis said legislation hed support also would allow $100,000 daily fines to be levied against a company that removes a political candidate from its platform during an election campaign. Any favorable support a candidate receives from a media company in getting a campaign message out also should be reported as a political contribution, the governor said. He also would allow people to sue social media firms if theyre de-platformed or otherwise punished, opt out of some online algorithms and authorize Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to sue companies under the states unfair and deceptive trade practices law for punishing individuals for content they post. The video embedded in the tweet at the bottom extracts the highlight of the press conference. Although John included it in his post, it bears repetition in case you might have missed it. .@GovRonDeSantis Calling Out Journalists Defending Big Tech & The Censorship Of Hunter Biden Story: You're trying to tell me if there was hacked information that could damage me, you wouldn't print it? Give me a break. You can whiz on my leg, but dont tell me its raining." 5/ pic.twitter.com/6psMF0UJ0e The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) February 2, 2021 More to come. 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. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis has declared war on big tech 'cartels', proposing a new law targeting firms who deplatform candidates for office. In a press conference on Tuesday, DeSantis issued a series of recommendations that are expected to be included in legislation as the Transparency in Technology Act, saying 'Big Tech' is becoming more like 'Big Brother' with 'each passing day.' 'Today they may come after someone who looks like me. Tomorrow they may come after someone who looks like you,' DeSantis warned towards the end of his address to reporters at the State Capitol, during which he took aim at big tech companies. DeSantis said that Florida would fine social media firms - like Facebook and Twitter - $100,000 per day if they ban any candidate running for elected office in the state. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis (pictured) declared war on big tech 'cartels', proposing a new law targeting tech firms who deplatform candidates for office on Tuesday The Republican's proposed legislation would also require firms to give notice of changes in their terms of service, allow people to opt out of content algorithms, and create a 'cause of action' pathway for legal action against tech firms. Florida's proposed Transparency in Technology Act aims to 'protect privacy' from the expanding powers of Big Tech firms because the system is rigged, he claimed. Twitter, Facebook, and other similar platforms have 'changed from neutral platforms to enforcers of preferred narratives,' DeSantis said, adding 'I'm committed to addressing what may be one of the most pervasive threats to American self-government in the 21st century.' His comments come weeks after former president Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC by a mob of his supporters, with some claiming Trump incited the riot which led to the deaths of five people. After the ban, many of Trump's supporters moved on to Parler, a right-leaning competitor to Twitter, which was later shut-down by Amazon web services and removed from the smartphone application stores of Google and Apple. It was later found that Parler was used by a number of the rioters involved in the events on January 6, with some even posting to the app from inside the Capitol building in Washington during the riots. DeSantis said when 2.8 million Americans started to use to Parler, it was cancelled by the companies that hosted it or sold the app on their digital stores. 'What about the 88 million Americans who chose to 'follow' Donald Trump [on Twitter]? Sorry! Content moderators on Twitter pulled the plug,' the governor said. In a press conference on Tuesday, DeSantis issued a series of recommendations that are expected to be included in legislation this year as the Transparency in Technology Act, announced on the same day. Pictured: A flyer detailing the act Pictured: This combination of photos shows from left, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg As well as Trump, other Republican figures have also been banned from Twitter, including QAnon-believing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike 'MyPillow Guy' Lindell, the pillow-company executive. Both have been outspoken supporters of Trump and have perpetuated claims that the 2020 election was 'stolen' from the former president. 'What began as a group of upstart technology companies from the west coast, has since transformed into an industry of monopoly communications platforms that monitor, influence, and control the flow of information in our country and among our citizens,' said Mr DeSantis. 'Used to be that consumers were trusted to make their own decisions about what information to consume, about which leaders to 'follow,' about what news to watch. Now those decisions are increasingly made by nameless, faceless boards of censors,' he added. Another part of the Republican lawmaker's proposal is to list free promotion of posts made by candidates as in-kind political contributions. 'In Florida we're gonna take aim at those companies and pull back the veil and make sure those guys don't continue to find loopholes and grey areas to live above the law,' he added. As well as Trump, other Republican figures have also been banned of Twitter, including QAnon-believing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (pictured) Mike 'MyPillow Guy' Lindell, the pillow-company executive, has also been kicked off Twitter 'Under our proposal, if a technology company deplatforms a candidate for elected office in Florida during an election, that company will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidate's access to the platform is restored.' DeSantis also had fiery exchanges with some of the reporters present at the conference, including about the unevidenced conspiracy theory relating to Hunter Biden - the son on President Joe Biden - that outlets allegedly suppressed. 'The Hunter Biden story was true. The typical corporate media outlets chose to ignore it. They wanted to beat Trump,' DeSantis said, saying the New York Post story about the claims 'couldn't get any traction.' DeSantis dismissed replies that the Hunter Biden story was inadmissible because it was based on 'hacked' information. 'You're trying to tell me if there's hacked information that could damage me, you guys wouldn't print it,' DeSantis said. 'Give me a break. You can whiz on my leg but don't tell me it's raining. You guys would print it every single day if you could. And Big Tech would allow it to proliferate 24/7.' Trump on January 6 had told his supporters during a 'Save America' rally that they needed to 'fight' to overturn the election in the hours leading up to the Capitol riots. He was later banned of Twtiter leading the claims that the social media platform is bias against Conservatives Conservatives have long accused social media companies and other tech giants of harboring bias against them. Republicans in other states are considering similar bills that push back against social media giants they deem unfriendly. 'Florida is taking back the virtual public square as a place where information and ideas can flow freely. We're demanding transparency from the big tech giants,' state House Speaker Chris Sprowls said. But State Senate President Wilton Simpson suggested that the federal arena may be the proper venue for regulating tech companies. 'There's not much we can do as a state. But we need Congress to act on a nationwide basis,' he said. 'The big tech companies have the duty to allow differing views on their public platforms. No one should be excluded,' Simpson said. 'But let's be clear: They are targeting conservatives.' He said it amounts to political censorship. WHAT IS QANON? QAnon is the debunked extreme right wing conspiracy theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring. Origins: QAnon started on fringe website 4chan, where a poster calling themselves Q left messages claiming to be a senior federal official and purporting to reveal a 'deep state' cabal intent on bringing down Donald Trump. Q grew out of the discredited Pizzagate conspiracy that top Democrats were involved in pedophilia and cannibalism from the basement of a Washington D.C. restaurant, but quickly picked up steam with 'Q' leaving 'clues' and claims that Trump was going to bring down the deep state. Whenever the conspiracies turn out to not be true, followers rationalize that the inaccuracies are part of Q's larger plan. Who is Q?: There may now be multiple people posing as Q on the anonymous 4chan boards Hoover Dam: In June 2019, 32-year-old Matthew Wright, a QAnon supporter, blocked the bridge near Hoover Dam in Arizona with a homemade armored vehicle in a 90-minute stand-off. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and has written two letters to Trump from jail, which include the sign-off, which has become the QAnon motto: 'For where we go one, we go all.' Michael Flynn: Trump's former national security adviser became a martyr figure for QAnon believers after he took a plea deal from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, admitting he lied about his Russia contacts. QAnon conspiracy have spun Flynn pleading guilty into him being a persecuted victim of the deep state some even claim he is 'Q.' Many believers put three star emojis next to their Twitter handles. But the retired three-star general has denounced any connections to the group and pulled out of participating in an event after finding out it was hosted by a QAnon believer. QAnon Political Candidates: Jo Rae Perkins, 64, won the Republican primary in Oregon in May to run for a Senate seat against incumbent Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. 'I stand with Q and the team,' she said when asked about her interest in the group. She insisted she goes to QAnon message boards as a 'source of information' and claims media focuses too much on the group. Perkins won 49 per cent of the vote against three other Republicans. Marjorie Taylor Greene came in first place in the Republican primary in a deep-red Georgia district, and will enter an August runoff. She has admitted to believing in several QAnon conspiracy theories. Advertisement One proposal in the state Senate would force Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to give users a month's notice before their accounts are disabled or suspended. Another proposal that was to be filed Tuesday would prohibit companies from suspending the account of a political candidate and be subject to a fine of $100,000 for each day the account of a statewide candidate is blocked, or $10,000 a day for other office seekers. The proposal also would allow consumers to the sue if they've been treated unfairly and would authorize the state attorney general to take on the country's largest tech companies for anti-competitive practices. Social media companies would be required to reveal how they became aware of any content they censor. 'We're definitely at a boiling point,' said Darrell West, the vice president of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. 'Most of these issues have come up just in the last year, as social media platforms have become more aggressive about regulating their own space.' While Republicans lawmakers assert bias against conservative thought, a New York University study released Monday concludes that is a baseless claim. 'Conservatives are drawn to the established platforms for the same reason liberals are: That's where you can reach the largest audiences and enjoy the benefits of the network effect,' said the study's authors. 'And as much as they condemn supposed social media favoritism,' the authors continued, 'conservatives appear to relish wielding the bias-claim cudgel, even though it's based on distortions and falsehoods.' The moves by Florida lawmakers may end up being mere political theater because it's uncertain if the state would have the authority to act on companies with such national and global reach. In fact, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 shields internet companies from many legal challenges. Legal experts say states and other local jurisdictions have a high bar in justifying regulations that might infringe on free speech issues - but the matter could be ripe for a national discussion on how to regulate Internet companies, according to Clay Calvert, a first amendment expert at the University of Florida's law school. Besides, he said, 'do we want a crazy quilt of state regulations or do we want uniform rules adopted on the federal level?' About four in every five Americans - some 250 million people - have profiles on social media. Th ose with substantial followings, including elected officials, celebrities and other public figures, have platforms they can readily deploy to amplify their messaging. On a call with analysts last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant was attempting to 'turn down the temperature and discourage divisive conversations and communities.' He added that 'people don't want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services.' Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category San Francisco has become the first city in California to sue its own school district and education board in a bid to force officials to reopen classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic. While several other lawsuits from parents, teachers and teacher unions have been filed across the US, San Francisco is believed to be the only city in the US that is suing its board of education and school district, which has 52,000 students. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the lawsuit alleges that the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District have violated a state law that required districts to adopt a clear plan during the pandemic as it relates to in-person education. The plan was supposed to describe actions they 'will take to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible'. However, the lawsuit, which will be filed by the city's attorney, Dennis Herrera, with the blessing of Mayor London Breed, says the law requires a plan to be in place particularly for students who've experienced 'significant learning loss due to school closures'. According to the suit, district data has shown that learning loss has hit students of color and low-income students extremely hard, especially since they've spent nearly a year relying on virtual learning. San Francisco has become the first city in California to sue its own district and board in a bid to force officials to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. Students in California are seen during in-person learning in September 2020 Herrera called the district's plan to welcome students back to classrooms 'ambiguous', adding that it's also full of 'empty rhetoric'. Herrera said he will file a motion on February 11 asking the San Francisco Superior Court to issue an emergency order compelling the district to begin the reopening process. He said the lawsuit is a way of trying to get 'kids back in school as quickly as possible'. 'It's a shame it has come to this,' Herrera told the Chronicle. 'The Board of Education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get these kids back in school. So far they have earned an F. Having a plan to make a plan doesn't cut it.' Mayor London Breed (pictured) said she supports Herrera's lawsuit because the data shows that Black, Latino, Asian and low-income students have lost significant academic ground while learning virtually According to the district's in-person learning plan, the first phase of public schools reopening was scheduled 'no sooner than January 25'. That phase was supposed to include 12 sites for pre-K and the severely disabled children. The plan continues with reopening deadlines set through March, with each phase gradually bringing more students back to in-person learning. But after the district was unable to reach an agreement with the United Educators of San Francisco, officials canceled the plan without announcing a new one. A group of union educators are urging a strike if reopening begins without all school employees having access to the COVID-19 vaccine, PPE and training. Named in the lawsuit is superintendent Vince Matthews who said it was 'unlikely' that students in middle school and high school will return to their campuses this academic year. Mayor Breed told the Chronicle that she supports Herrera's lawsuit because the data shows that Black, Latino, Asian and low-income students have lost significant academic ground while learning virtually. 'This is not the path we would have chosen, but nothing matters more right now than getting our kids back in school,' Breed said in a statement. 'This is hurting the mental health of our kids and our families. Our teachers have done an incredible job of trying to support our kids through distance learning, but this isn't working for anyone.' Meanwhile, there are more than 15,000 students in the city who are back in their classroom at private schools, and with proper precautions being taken, there have been no outbreaks of the virus. Herrera believes that because his 'lawsuit is based on the law' that he may see some success with getting public schools reopened. The suit alleges that the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District violated a state law that required districts to adopt a clear plan during the pandemic as it relates to in-person learning 'This is really simple, and it's focused. It's in everybody's interest to have kids back in school,' he told the Chronicle. In California, with 6 million public school students, teachers unions say they won't send their members into an unsafe situation. Gov Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has said he will not force schools to reopen but instead wants to give them an incentive and has proposed a $2billion plan that has met with criticism from superintendents, unions and lawmakers. It would give schools extra funding for COVID-19 testing and other safety measures if they resume in-person classes. Schools that reopen sooner would get more money. Newsom told educators that he is willing to negotiate but that certain demands, including the call by unions to have all teachers vaccinated before school starts, are unrealistic given the shortage of shots. 'If everybody has to be vaccinated, we might as well just tell people the truth: There will be no in-person instruction in the state of California,' he said. The biggest districts, including Los Angeles and San Diego, say the plan sets unrealistic rules and timelines. 'The virus is in charge right now and it does not own a calendar,' the 300,000-member California Teachers Association warned in a letter. 'We cannot just pick an artificial calendar date and expect to flip a switch on reopening every school for in-person instruction.' Many teachers have balked at returning without getting vaccinated first against the scourge that has killed over 446,000 Americans While it was believed the Los Angeles Unified District would follow San Francisco with a lawsuit, the district recently said it has no plans to sue. Across the US, teachers are fighting with their school districts about reopening schools the safe way. In Chicago, the rancor is so great that teachers are on the brink of striking. In Cincinnati, some students returned to classrooms Tuesday after a judge threw out a teachers union lawsuit over safety concerns. While some communities maintain that online classes remain the safest option for everyone, some parents, with backing from politicians and administrators, have complained that their children's education is suffering from sitting at home in front of their computers and that the isolation is damaging them emotionally. In Nashua, New Hampshire, the school board voted to stick with remote learning for most students until the city meets certain targets on infections, hospitalizations and tests coming back positive for the coronavirus. Alicia Houston, whose sons are in sixth and 10th grade, said her biggest frustration is 'not being able to help my children effectively,' even though she has quit her job to attempt just that. 'Watching them become a little bit darker,' she said last week. 'Watching them fall apart. The emotional and mental health piece is one of the most important pieces. A trauma like this is not something theyre necessarily going to recover from right away.' Some families and their supporters have argued, too, that reopening schools would enable parents to go back to work instead of staying home to oversee their children's education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a recent study that there is little evidence of the virus spreading at schools when precautions are taken, such as masks, distancing and proper ventilation. But many teachers have balked at returning without getting vaccinated first against the scourge that has killed over 446,000 Americans. Kathryn Person, a high school teacher in Chicago, wants to continue teaching remotely so she doesn't risk the health of her 91-year-old grandmother and an aunt battling lung cancer. In Chicago, the rancor is so great that teachers are on the brink of striking. A teacher is seen wearing a mask at a school in Princeton, Illinois, in September 2020 Person said she trusts the union will fight school officials if they try to punish teachers who won't go back. 'If they try to retaliate, when that happens we will go on strike,' she said. President Joe Bidens administration and Republican senators have dueling proposals for stimulus packages that would distribute billions of dollars to help schools get children back into classrooms. About 10,000 Chicago teachers and staff and 62,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade were supposed to return to school Monday for the first time since last March. But the Chicago school system extended remote learning for two more days and called for a cooling-off period in negotiations with the teachers union. District-wide efforts to vaccinate Chicago's teachers won't begin until the middle of February. In several states, lawmakers are advancing legislation to require more in-person learning. An Iowa law, signed on Friday by Republican Gov Kim Reynolds, requires districts to offer full-time in-class instruction to parents who request it. Despite concerns that teachers still haven't been vaccinated, they are set to return this month. In North Carolina, Democratic Gov Roy Cooper faces pressure from GOP lawmakers to reopen more schools. In South Carolina, a bipartisan push to get students back in class five days a week is underway. 'After this pandemic is over, I hope to never do another Zoom call,' said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a Democrat. 'I hate it. I can't stand them. I can't imagine being in third or fourth grade and having to stare at a screen in order to learn.' In Utah, the Salt Lake City school system announced plans to resume in-person learning for at least two days per week under pressure from lawmakers who threatened to cut funding. The schools chief in Washington state is pushing for teachers to get vaccinated when it's their turn but also insisting they get back to classrooms immediately, shot or not. 'The bottom line is a vaccine is a tremendous safety net, but it is never the thing that is going to create the perfect scenario,' said Chris Reykdal, superintendent of public instruction. Emily VanDerhoff, a first-grade teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, and a union official, was scheduled to be vaccinated last Friday. But she and others saw their appointments canceled when the vaccine supply ran low. The Fairfax County superintendent has unveiled a tentative plan for students to start returning on February 16, but the union says less than 10 per cent of teachers feel it is safe to return. 'Even once we're all vaccinated, it's still going to take having lower community spread for people to feel safe and for it to be safer to have students in the schools,' VanDerhoff said. ALBANY The citys Policing Reform and Reinvention Collaborative released its final draft report this week. The 95-page report contains a slew of recommendations for the Common Council to consider ahead of the April 1 deadline. Many of the recommendations are focused around issues of oversight and transparency. The report calls for more public information and oversight for the citys LEAD program, more insight into the officer disciplinary process and strengthening the citys Community Police Review Board. Another recommendation would be to eliminate school resources officers in city schools. Other recommendations deal with police responses to incidents in the city. It calls for restricting the use of tear gas in residential neighborhoods, developing special units to response to mental health calls and using civil and drug forfeiture money to fund community programs. It also calls for the state Attorney Generals office to take a larger role in police misconduct cases, not just in cases when unarmed civilians are shot by police. And for the city to create a conflict prosecutors office to handle cases where the district attorneys office has a conflict. The report acknowledges that some of the recommendations, including those involving the city school district, are beyond the citys power and may take time to come to fruition. The Common Council must still hold public hearings on the recommendations and approve the plan before it is finalized. The proposals are a result of a six-month process of five working groups that examined the departments general orders and policies as well as other topics like community safety and restorative justice. They also looked at the civilian oversight of the department. Last June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated that all police departments develop a plan to "reinvent and modernize" police strategies and programs based on community input. His order directs that each agency have a plan must address their policies and procedures, including use of force. Local governments have until April 1 to approve those plans, or risk losing state funding. Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko spent the better part of Monday facing investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over his sentiments touching on the 2017 post-election skirmishes in Nairobi. Sonko was, according to sources, also asked to share information on allegations he recently levelled against the first family plus chaos. The outspoken politician who was impeached as governor by both the County Assembly and Senate in December, has made controversial utterances at public rallies since his dramatic fallout with President Uhuru Kenyatta last year. He's claimed members of the first family had called him seeking to influence the appointment of deputy governor when he was at the helm. Sonko has also claimed he worked with government operatives to buy second-hand cars and burn them along Ngong road in Nairobi while accusing the opposition of facilitating the chaos. He was detained overnight and is expected in court on Tuesday. The flamboyant politician's latest brush with the law comes days after a complaint was launched against him by the Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho. Kibicho claims Sonko admitted to committing a criminal offence when he conceded to planning and staging violence during the electioneering period. The ex-governor had earlier suffered a blow when the High Court declined his application to stop his grilling by the DCI. His lawyer John Khaminwa has accused the investigators of frustrating the politiciann. San Francisco Sues Its Own School District in Bid to Speed Return to In-person Classes San Francisco is suing its own school district as it tries to speed a planned return to in-person public school classes. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed the lawsuit, with support from Democrat Mayor London Breed, against the San Francisco Board of Education and the citys school district. In an online news conference on Wednesday, Herrera said education officials have failed to formulate a plan to get the citys 54,000 students back to in-person learning as quickly as possible. The officials have put forth an ambiguous proposal that amounts to a plan to make a plan, he told reporters, giving them an F.' The city is suing for a single cause of action at this point, violation of a ministerial duty, which covers when a government official or in this case, officials fail to perform their official duties. Getting kids back in school needs to be the only priority of school district leadership, he added, appearing to reference officials recent effort to rename schools. The 55-page suit asks the court to order officials to put into place a viable plan to reopen schools safely. Schools in San Francisco have been allowed to reopen since September 2020 and the overwhelming majority of private and parochial schools have welcomed students back since then. With almost 16,000 students attending classes again, fewer than five cases of in-school transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus have been reported. The virus causes COVID-19. The San Francisco Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez said in a statement that we have been working with the City and were going to get farther by continuing to work together rather than playing politics. San Francisco Superintendent Vincent Matthews added: We are working to get our school buildings open as quickly as possible. This is a frivolous lawsuit. It appears that the City Attorney has not read through our plans or joined the hours of open meetings we have had on the topic of safely returning to in-person learning. It is simply untrue that the Board and district have no plan to reopen schools. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera listens to questions during a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Aug. 14, 2017. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo) Breed acknowledged worries from teachers about the safety of teaching again in person but noted that the city has spent $15 million investing in mitigation measures. The legitimate concerns of some of our teachers cant stand in the way of starting to get some of our kids back in the classroom, she told reporters. Data clearly show that students, especially low-income students, have suffered from online learning and health issues are piling up, including eating disorders and depression, the mayor said. A recent school board meeting in which the San Francisco Board of Education approved a proposal to rename 44 schools that are named after allegedly problematic peopleincluding Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)drew criticism from the public, who repeatedly wondered why the focus wasnt on reopening schools. Officials defended themselves, saying a previous meeting was entirely about the reopening issue. In a Jan. 25 presentation, school officials said theyve obtained 100 percent of the personal protective equipment they need to safely reopen and assessed the working condition of 15,000 windows across 1,600-plus classrooms. The sites will be ready for students between March 22 and April 19, officials said. Whitesboro, NY - Jason Buley, chief of the Whitesboro village police department, has died at age 45, village officials have announced. Buley died early Tuesday at his home when he suffered cardiac arrest, Whitesboro Village Mayor Robert Friedlander said in a statement. The community is mourning, the mayor said. The Oneida County Sheriffs Office, and several other police and fire departments have posted messages of sorrow and support on social media for the Whitesboro community. Funeral arrangements are pending at this time. Buley became police chief in June 2019. 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 Mushrooms are good for more than just pizza toppings: A growing number of eco-minded entrepreneurs are looking at the familiar fungi as an environmentally friendly building material. Engineers are already experimenting with mushroom bricks, which could greatly reduce carbon emissions in the construction industry. They also easily biodegrade when it's time to knock a building down. Now scientists want to create buildings out of living fungus, which could grow to a desired design and repair themselves when damaged. Scroll down for video To create a mushroom 'brick,' mycelium, the fibrous roots of a mushroom, is combined with straw or some other agricultural waste and allowed to grow for up to two week. It's then fired in an oven or treated with chemicals to kill the fungus Building materials and construction account for nearly 40 percent of humanity's carbon-dioxide emissions each year, according to the United Nations Environment Program. But mycelium, the fibrous roots of mushrooms, are carbon neutralas well as being lightweight, durable, moldable and naturally fire resistant. To build a mushroom 'brick,' mycelium is combined with some kind of agricultural waste, like straw or corn husks. It's then grown for about two weeks, long enough to fully colonize the straw, and then is heated or chemically treated to kill the fungus, Horizon reports. A mushroom brick stacked on top of a traditional clay brick. As demonstrated by The Verge, mycelium makes a durable building material that's fire resistant, carbon-neutral and lightweight At that point, it's very much like a traditional brick, only made out of organic material instead of clay or concrete. 'We could make architecture by growing the building block materials then make a structure and then at the end of the useful life then return all those materials to the Earth instead of have them sit in the landfill for hundreds of thousands of years.,' David Benjamin, founding principal architect at the firm The Living, told The Verge in a new video demonstrating how to make a mushroom brick. Since launching in 2019, FUNGAR (Fungal Architectures) has been experimenting with making building materials out of mycelium. But Phil Ayres, an architectural researcher at Copenhagen's Center for Information Technology and Architecture and a founding member of FUNGAR, hopes to go well beyond mushroom bricks. 'The way it's currently been explored, within more experimental practices, is to actually kill the mycelium,' Ayres told the CBC. Nearly 40 percent of manmade carbon emissions are from building materials and the construction industry. Fungal architecture could soon be an eco-friendly alternative that quickly biodegrades when its no longer needed 'So you are casting it essentially in blocks and bricks and then assembling it from there. One of the things that we're doing in our research is actually considering the idea of growing things monolithically, which requires us to keep the mycelium alive.' In theory, the fungus could grow into the shape of the building you wanted. Living fungus could be self-repairing: If you accidentally punch a hole in the wall, just re-grow the mycelia to patch it up. And fungus responds to electrical impulses, opening the door to a 'smart' wall that interacts with its environment. But the longer mycelium grows, the more it eats up the supporting material that gives it structureweakening the building's overall integrity. To avoid that Ayres theorizes building walls with two dead layers of mycelia outside and one live layer inside. Deprived of water, the inner layer would remain dormant until needed. FUNGAR plans to build a small, free-standing building made of living mycelium, then observe it for changes over the long term. 'It's very early days to start saying your house will be made entirely of fungus,' Ayres told Horizon. In 2014, The Living built a 40-foot-tall pavilion made of mushroom bricks outside New York City's PS1 art museum. Visitors could walk inside Hy-Fi, as the structure was dubbed. In 2014, The Living built Hy-Fi, a 40-foot-tall pavilion made of mushroom bricks outside New York City's PS1 art museum In a followup, it built a structure in Paris with living mycelium, so that bricks next to each other grew together. 'Our built environment needs these kinds of materials,' Benjamin told The Verge. 'Different countries have really ambitious climate change goals, and this material could really help jump-start some of that progress.' NASA scientists have proposed using mycelia habitats on the Moon and Mars to save from having to bring heavy building materials on board spaceships. 'Right now, traditional habitat designs for Mars are like a turtle carrying our homes with us on our backs a reliable plan, but with huge energy costs,' said Lynn Rothschild, an astrobiologist at NASA's Ames Research Center. 'Instead, we can harness mycelia to grow these habitats ourselves when we get there.' Environmentally minded entrepreneurs are also adapting mushrooms as household insulation, furniture, and even clothing. Companies like Ikea and Dell have already started using mushroom-based packaging material, and a Dutch company has launched The Living Cocoon, a prototype 'mushroom coffin' that speeds the decomposition process, removes toxic materials from the ground and helps grow new trees. Last year, Nebraska native Katy Ayers unveiled a canoe made out of mushrooms. Mycelium are dense, waterproof and buoyantperfectly suited for a watercraft. Her eight-foot, 100-pound boat, which Ayers named 'Myconoe,' can seat two people and took just two weeks to grow. And It sprouts new mushrooms every time she takes it out on the water. Ayers collaborated on the boat with Nebraska Mushroom, a Grand Island company that grows and sells gourmet and medicinal 'shrooms. She and owner Ash Gordon suspended a wooden skeleton and papier-mache mold inside a hammock-like structure, then filled it with mushroom spores. For optimal growing conditions, the shell was hung in a special growing room where temperatures hover between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity stays between 90 and 100 percent. 'Mushrooms are here to help us they're a gift,' Ayers told NBC News. 'There's so much we can do with them beyond just food. They're our biggest ally for helping the environment.' Ayers and Gordon are now experimenting with making chairs, landscaping bricks and other items out of mushrooms. . 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. Cabinet has given the green light to schools to reopen for sub-candidate classes nearly a year after they were closed following the coronavirus outbreak. The latest decision by Cabinet is contrary to the earlier proposal by the Ministry of Education to fully reopen academic institutions. Their counterparts at the Health ministry and National Covid-19 Taskforce opposed the Education ministry's position. However, the Cabinet meeting on Monday put a condition for the reopening, with government saying there will first be an inspection conducted by officials from both ministries of Health and that of Education to ascertain the schools' preparedness to receive the learners in the face of a pandemic. According to a statement by the government's Media Centre, Primary Six pupils, Senior Three and Five students can report back in the short term to ensure progression. But the statement said nursery schools remain closed because the learners are "prone to respiratory infections" and it is not easy to ensure they observe standard operating procedures (SOPs). "Given that Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) will be completed on March 31 and Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) on April 6, there will be more space in schools when candidates leave to enable other classes report back," Mr Dennis Katungi said in a statement he read on behalf of the Media Centre executive director, Mr Ofwono Opondo. This suggests that the sub-candidate classes will report in or after April when PLE and O-Level exams have been completed and the candidates vacated the schools. It is not clear whether then, the learners in the aforementioned sub-candidate classes will report as candidates or in their respective classes of last year. Mr Katungi noted that promotion to the next class will be based on attendance and continuous assessment of class work and assignments. The latest development has been criticised by education stakeholders, especially in the private sector, questioning whether anything has changed. Many children currently are at home without learning at all due to lack of access to the Internet, while some are studying online, but erratically. The government also observed that since technical institutions and primary teachers colleges have space that can allow the recommended two-metre social distancing between the learners, all their students can report back. But for universities, government asked the management to 'stagger' the reopening in order to comply with the anti-Covid-19 SOPs. All learners who have been allowed to report back have been asked to wear facemasks all time, while the Ministry of Health was tasked to create a team of doctors who will support institutions that will be affected with coronavirus. National Private Educational Institutions Association-Uganda secretary for research, Mr Hasadhu Kirabira, yesterday said despite the President's pledges for financial support to bail out private institutions and their employees during the pandemic, they haven't seen any money. In addition, Mr Kirabira said e-learning is only benefiting the rich families who can afford data for Internet. He said Cabinet's position on school reopening reflects President Museveni's communication during their discussions prior to their final conclusion. "They have not reopened to other classes. They are just replacing the candidates because they are talking of April when the current candidates have left. That was always the prayer of the President. Even when we had him on Zoom, that is what he was talking about. They are telling us to prepare for April after the vaccine has arrived," Mr Kirabira said in an interview. He added: "Government should give us a strategic direction on how it is going to manage the situation. Our issues are not answered. Allowing sub-candidates in March after candidates complete exams creates no difference. They have been silent. They are not giving people plans to know what to do. This allows speculation. How can parents prepare without a programme?" Mr Martin Okiria Obore, the chairperson of Association of Head teachers of Secondary Schools Uganda, told Daily Monitor that they are under pressure from their communities to reopen schools. "We support full school reopening. We call upon the Health ministry to adjust so we don't lose a generation," Mr Obore said. Last year, the Health ministry set SOPs for schools to reopen. They required that primary school classrooms at least accommodate 10 pupils each, while secondary and tertiary institutions were recommended to handle 15 students per classroom. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Education By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. In her report, Health minister Ruth Aceng observed that many education institutions were crowded, which limited social distancing and lacked sanitation facilities thus compromising Covid-19 control measures. Dr Aceng feared that day scholars would easily transmit the virus because of free entry and exit at the schools, putting the rest of the learners at risk. "Additional streams and new infrastructure requirements or modification may be required in order to accommodate the other students. Where changes in infrastructure is not feasible, the Ministry of Education should consider a shift system for students-morning and evening shifts of Monday to Wednesday then Thursday to Saturday in order to achieve the required social distancing for prevention," Dr Aceng said last year. While various stakeholders continue to push for full school reopening, there hasn't been any effort to add on the infrastructure that existed at the time of school closure in March. However, it is also important to note that government refused to give financial support, especially to private schools, to expand their classroom space in accordance with the requirements. A warning to government appointees that they will be terminated if they travel "for leisure purposes" outside permitted areas is drawing a mixture of praise and criticism. A warning to government appointees that they will be terminated if they travel "for leisure purposes" outside permitted areas is drawing a mixture of praise and criticism. Premier Brian Pallister issued the warning in a statement late Monday while revealing that the board chairman of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Wayne McWhirter, would be stepping down from his role. WRHA -Former WRHA Board Chair Wayne McWhirter created public furor after his travel to Arizona. McWhirter travelled to Arizona last month, creating a public furor. The government refused to remove him from his position last week, and Pallister suggested that he be cut some slack because his role was largely that of a volunteer. However, the government's tone changed late Monday when the premier announced that any order-in-council (cabinet) appointee will be terminated for flouting public-health advice against unnecessary travel. "I think some people will think that this is a bit late, but at the same time I think it's a prudent move," said Christopher Adams, adjunct professor of political science at the University of Manitoba. The premier's edict extends to political appointees of some 150 boards, agencies and commissions, from directors of Sport Manitoba and the Winnipeg Art Gallery to Manitoba Hydro and the Farm Products Marketing Council. Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders said the Pallister government's reaction to the controversy surrounding McWhirter is emblematic of how it has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. "Their reaction is always to go on the offensive first and to attack, and then they have to walk back from that." Kelly Saunders, Brandon University political science professor "Their reaction is always to go on the offensive first and to attack, and then they have to walk back from that," she said. In early November, then-health minister Cameron Friesen lashed out at hundreds of doctors for issuing a letter demanding that the government institute a provincewide lockdown to get rising virus numbers under control. A few weeks later, the government instituted code-red restrictions throughout the province. Saunders said the latest controversy, surrounding McWhirter, comes after a series of reports of questionable travel involving the government's top bureaucrat, David McLaughlin, at least one political staffer and a Progressive Conservative MLA. WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister's edict extends to political appointees of some 150 boards, agencies and commissions, from directors of Sport Manitoba and the Winnipeg Art Gallery to Manitoba Hydro and the Farm Products Marketing Council. None has faced serious consequences for their actions. While the premier has exhorted Manitobans not to travel, they've seen political appointees and close government advisers play by a different set of rules, Saunders said. "They look at the Pallister government saying one thing and doing another," she added. As for the PC government's latest directive: "I think they're just trying to cover their actions," she said. Pallister did not hold a media availability Tuesday. However, Families Minister Rochelle Squires did. Asked what actions she has taken to monitor appointee travel in agencies under her control and how the new directive will be enforced Squires declined to answer, referring a reporter to the health minister. NDP Families Department critic Malaya Marcelino said she was disappointed by Squires' response. "The minister is in a leadership position. As leaders, we do have to make sure that the folks we appointed are held to the same standards we would expect from all Manitobans," she said. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Malcolm Bird, associate professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg, said the federal government ought to shoulder a lot of the blame for a less-than-clear public message involving travel. Malcolm Bird, associate professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg, said he viewed Pallister's edict as a "positive development" in the government's ongoing effort to manage the pandemic. Bird said the federal government ought to shoulder a lot of the blame for a less-than-clear public message involving travel. While Ottawa regulates air travel, it is only now enforcing strict quarantine rules for incoming passengers, he said. "We know when we look at other countries that have been very successful at managing COVID, the firm and enforced rules regarding quarantine, particularly of international travellers, has been one of the key pieces to their success," Bird said. With files from Carol Sanders larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Comcast customers in a dozen Northeastern states wont have to worry about broadband data overages just yet. In November, the company announced it would implement a 1.2TB data cap at the start of 2021 on broadband users in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. After two months of waived overage fees, those customers would have had to start tracking their data usage in March. A once per year courtesy credit from Comcast would have gotten those people through that month, but after that, they would have been on the hook for any overage fees. Comcast has had a similar data cap in many other parts of its 39 state footprint since 2016. However, thanks to an agreement with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the telecom wont enforce the new limit until July, meaning if youre a Comcast customer in one of the affected markets, you wont see any overage charges on your monthly bill until August. It has also agreed to waive any early termination fees through December 31st, 2021 for customers who signed a contract before November 2020. For customers who went over their data allotment, the telecom had planned to charge them $10 for every additional 50GB they went over their limit, up to a maximum of $100. To avoid any overages, those customers would have had to subscribe to the companys $30 per month unlimited plan or $25 monthly xFi complete package. Throughout the saga, Comcast has maintained that 95 percent of its customers use far less than 1.2TB every month. With so many dependent on the internet at the moment for everything from work to school, the planned timing of the increase struck people the wrong way. As Pennsylvanians continue to navigate this pandemic, we know millions are relying on the internet for school and work more than ever, Shapiro said. This is not the time to change the rules when it comes to Internet data usage and increase costs. The announcement comes one day after Comcast said it was doubling the speed of its Internet Essentials package for low-income families. As of March 1st, the service will support download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. Comcast raised those speeds on the urging of Shapiro, as well. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. High around 75F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. The government has been asked to set up regional self-isolation centres after a Cork-based healthcare worker who had been using temporary HSE accommodation to remain on the Covid-19 frontline was told to relocate to Dublin for self-isolation after testing positive for the virus. The worker, one of several who has been availing of temporary accommodation in the Kingsley Hotel in Cork under agreed protocols with the HSE, has now pleaded directly with the Health Minister to intervene. The worker told Minister Stephen Donnelly they feel too unwell to travel to the HSE's only public self-isolation facility at City West in Dublin. It doesnt make sense to move accommodation at this time and put a transport provider at additional risk, the worker wrote. Workers Party councillor on Cork City Council, Ted Tynan, said he understands why this worker has been asked to leave the hotel to keep other healthcare staff there safe but said it highlights the need for regional self-isolation centres. There are plenty of empty hotels or other properties around the country that would be suitable for such self-isolation facilities so that sick people aren't traipsing from all over the country to City West In an email to the minister, the healthcare worker, who was based in a nursing home, said staff worked relentlessly to ensure residents got the best care possible. All but two of the homes almost 50 residents and almost all staf tested positive for Covid-19. As a healthcare worker on 10.70 per hour, I have gone above and beyond for the residents, sometimes doing 24-hour shifts, the worker wrote. We also have put our deceased residents into body bags and sealed coffins. It is a privilege to be able to be part of this process for our loved ones but it is not everyone who would do this." Pleaded with minister After testing positive for Covid-19, the worker was advised they would be provided with hotel accommodation in Dublin. They pleaded with the minister to establish regional centres to allow isolation and minimise travel and risk. The Kingsley Hotel, which has remained open during Level 5 lockdown to support the provision of essential services, declined to comment. The hotel has had an agreement in place with HSE since last April to provide temporary accommodation to healthcare workers who meet certain criteria. It is one of a number of centres the HSE is using to house qualifying healthcare workers. However, the terms of the deal require that if a healthcare worker tests positive for the virus, they must leave these centres. Single self-isolation facility The HSEs only public self-isolation facility, for people who cant self-isolate at home, is in City West in Dublin. Despite signals last year that similar facilities would be established in Cork, Galway and Limerick, they havent been delivered. To be admitted to the self-isolation facility, a person needs a referral from a hospital, GP, contact tracing team or another appropriate healthcare professional, a spokesperson for the HSE said. Once someones referral is accepted by the admissions team at City West, that person generally arranges their own transportation to the facility. However in circumstances where this is not feasible, support can be provided. The need and demand for self-isolation facilities is kept under constant review. The available facilities for self-isolation currently meets demand. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday he will be stepping down from his position as the companys CEO. The billionaire announced the news in an email to staff Tuesday. In that email, Bezos announced he will be transitioning to the role of executive chair of the Amazon Board and that Andy Jassy, the current CEO of Amazon Web Services Inc., will fill the CEO role. As much as I still tap dance into the office, Im excited about this transition, Bezos wrote in the email to staff. Millions of customers depend on us for our services, and more than a million employees depend on us for their livelihoods. Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and its consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, its hard to put attention on anything else. As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions. Ive never had more energy, and this isnt about retiring. Im super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have. The transition will take place in the third quarter of 2021, Bezos says. Amazon was founded by Bezos in Bellevue, Washington in 1994. The company began as an online marketplace specializing in the sale of books, but expanded offerings to include electronics, apparel, food, toys and other items. The company also offers streaming services through Prime Video, Amazon Music, Twitch and Audible. It is now regarded as the largest online marketplace and one of the most valuable companies in the world. Bezos has led the company through its historic growth and milestones including the acquisition of the Whole Foods market in 2017 for $13.4 billion and the surpassing of one hundred million Amazon Prime, the companys two-day delivery service, subscribers. In January of last year, the company was valued at a little over $1 trillion. Today, its worth $1.7 trillion. This journey began some 27 years ago, Bezos wrote to employees. Amazon was only an idea, and it had no name. The question I was asked most frequently at that time was, Whats the internet? Blessedly, I havent had to explain that in a long while. The company is one of the largest employers in the U.S. with 1.3 million employees, according to Bezos. In Massachusetts, Amazon is expected to expand its Boston Tech Hub in the Seaport district to create more than 3,000 new jobs over the next several years. The thousands of anticipated corporate and technology jobs are expected to support the e-commerce companys teams, including Alexa, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Robotics and Amazon Pharmacy, the retailer announced. Related Content: Despite being a girlfriend of Aliko Dangote, Africas richest man, Autumn Spikes got evicted from her North Miami apartment in Florida, U.S., after piling up unpaid rent for six months in 2020, PREMIUM TIMES has found out. Ms Spikes and Mr Dangote dated secretly for nearly 10 years until recently when the business mogul broke up with her and subsequently sued her in a court in Florida for allegedly trying to extort $5million from him. But while the affair was going on fine most of last year, Ms Spikes was grappling with accumulated rent arrears of $13,230 for the months of March to August 2020, court documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES have shown. The landlord of the property, The Shoreline at SoleMia, 2301 Laguna Circle, North Miami, Florida, issued Ms Spikes with a 30-day Pay or Vacate notice on August 5. Ms Spikes neither paid the debt nor vacated her apartment number 1708. After the expiration of the 30-day notice, the landlord, on September 19, 2020, filed an eviction suit against her at a Miami Dade County court, in Florida, the same court where Mr Dangote would later sue her in January. PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday obtained the complaint, notice of debt, the lease and other documents filed as exhibits by Ms Spikes landlord in the suit that is now closed. The landlords complaint in the eviction suit reads in part, Plaintiff owns or is the lessor of the real property, the premises: The Shoreline at SoleMia, 2301 Laguna Circle Apt 1708, North Miami, FL 33181. Tenant retains possession of the premises under a written lease requiring rent of $2,215.00 per month to be paid the first of each month. A copy of relevant portions of the lease is attached hereto and incorporated herein as plaintiffs Exhibit A. Tenant failed to pay rent for March, April, May, June, July and August. Tenant owes plaintiff rent the months stated in paragraph 6 herein in the total sum of $13,230.00 Plaintiff served tenant notice to pay or vacate the premises on August 5, 2020 as shown by copy or copies of the notice(s) attached here to and incorporated herein as plaintiffs Exhibit (s) B, but tenant refuses to do either. In accordance with Fla. Stat. (Florida Statutes) Section 83.60(2), if tenant fails to deposit the sum of $13,230.00 in the court registry, plus rent which accrued during the pendency of this action, then plaintiff is entitled to a default judgment for removal of tenant and to recover a judgment for rent due and owing costs in accordance with Fla. Stat. Sections 83.59 and 83.625. Failure of tenant to pay rent as due caused plaintiff to retain undersigned counsel and incur reasonable attorneys fees and costs, which tenant should pay pursuant to Flat. Stat. Sec 83.48 and the lease. Wherefore, plaintiff demands judgment for possession of the premises, rent, due, court costs and attorneys fees against the defendant and other available remedies in accordance with Fla. Stat. Section 83.625 and for such other relief this court deems just and proper. ADVERTISEMENT Ms Spikes serially unreachable Ms Spikes consistent absence from the apartment could be gleaned from the affidavits of failed service deposed to by court officers throughout the period the suit lasted. The period of her accumulated rent and the court action coincided with the grim period of COVID-19 and attendant restrictions last year. All attempts to have Ms Spikes personally served with the documents issued at every stage of the suit failed. For instance, the courts process server made two failed attempts to serve Ms Spikes with the Residential Eviction Summons and the landlords complaint on Ms Spikes on September 23and 24. In an affidavit of Return of Service, a process server said after the two attempted service, she had to post by attaching the true copy of the documents to a conspicuous place of the property close to Ms Spikes residence. As there was no response from Ms Spikes, the landlord on October 10, filed a motion for default judgment, a request for the court to deliver its verdict based on the plaintiffs claims alone. On October 21, the court delivered a default judgment in favour of the plaintiff. The court, on October 24, issued a Writ of Possession commanding the Sheriffs of the court to remove all persons from the apartment and restore possession of the apartment to the plaintiff after 24 hours notice conspicuously pasted on the premises. But the Sheriffs said an attempt to serve Ms Spikes with the writ of possession failed. Ms Spikes packs out However, on October 30, 2020, the landlords lawyer wrote the Sheriff Department applying for the cancellation of the writ of possession on the grounds that tenant vacated. Ms Spikes did not file any response in the suit when the suit was declared closed by the court. Between Spikes and Dangote Mr Dangote is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Ms Spikes following a dispute over the monetary terms of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) demanded by Africas wealthiest man after breaking up with her former girlfriend. Mr Dangote filed the libel suit on January 20 about 19 days after Ms Spikes posted a video clip through a January 1 Instagram post showing her seated beside the Nigerian businessman with part of his buttocks revealed to viewers. He alleged in his suit that Ms Spikes threatened to launch an onslaught of exposing his family and private and social media and media talk shows if he failed to pay her $5million. Ms Spikes, in an Instagram post, denied issuing such threats even as she said she had rejected $15,000 and $2,500 insultingly offered her by Mr Dangote in exchange for an NDA over their affair. PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Dangote, through his U.S based lawyers, recently applied to the Miami-Dade County court where he filed his libel suit, to issue a gag order against Ms Spikes. The court has tentatively fixed February 9 for the hearing of Mr Dangotes preliminary petition. Highlights Redmi may soon launch smart TVs in India. The launch of the smart TVs could happen in March. Redmi Smart TV X series could launch in India. Over the last two years, Xiaomi has successfully managed to disrupt the smart TV market in India. The company has launched a number of smart TVs in India to date with its latest being the Mi QLED TV 4K launched towards the end of 2020. Now, in 2021, the company has been tipped to replicate the model by announcing televisions under the Redmi brand name. Redmi already sells smart TVs in China and the company is now said to be looking to do the same in India. This information comes courtesy of tipster Mukul Sharma, who claims the Redmi TVs will launch in India as early as March and bear really aggressive price tags. While there is no clarity yet on the models that may come to India, reports suggest the brand may decide to launch the Redmi Smart TV X series that launched in China in 2020 in 50-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch sizes. However, there's also a belief that Xiaomi may target the lower ends of the smart TV market with the Redmi brand name in India. The Redmi Smart TV X series is currently a China-only offering. As mentioned above, there are three models available right now with Redmi Smart TV X50 which starts from less than CNY 1999 (approx Rs 21,000). The Smart TV X55 which costs CNY 2,299 (approx Rs 24,400) and top-of-the-line Redmi Smart TV X65 which cost you CNY 3,299 (approx Rs 35,000). When it comes to features, the Redmi Smart TV X series models offer bezel-less screens with a screen-to-body ratio of 97 per cent. The TVs also feature a metal frame instead of a plastic frame on the existing Mi TV 4 models. The entire range comes with a 4K panel that also comes baked in with a 60Hz Motion Estimation, and Motion Compensation (MEMC) compensation algorithm. the Redmi Smart TV X Series has far-field voice recognition technology that lets users say commands to the TV without the need of a remote controller. This could be a big convenience for those who frequently rely on voice commands to operate their smart TVs. The TVs use a quad-core chipset with Cortex A73 cores and Cortex A53 cores making up the processor. This is paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The Chinese version runs on PatchWall UI which is based on Android AOSP. In terms of audio, the Redmi Smart TV X series comes with an eight-speaker unit, comprising of four 12.5W speakers. There's support for Dolby Audio as well as DTS-HD support. ALSO READ: | WhatsApp starts rolling out video and voice call feature on web Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Eco Depot, Inc. (OTC Pink: ECDP), a Nevada company, completes Industrial insulation tests of Bronya Climate Shield with energy industry giants, Gazprom and Energir, to earn adoption as selected industrial strength thermal insulator, achieving results of 15% energy savings for industry giants Energir, with a one millimetre coat of liquid thermal insulation, and the chosen thermal insulation to be applied to a 1.5 km water and steam pipeline in the coming months, linking the CCUM to the Place Bonaventure Complex Facility in Quebec, Canada. Bronya Climate Shield has earned its place as trusted thermal insulation in the industrial energy, heating, and air conditioning verticals by providing results from testing its nano-tech liquid thermal insulation paints with Energir and Gazprom, meeting industry specifications of energy efficiency for large industrial energy providers. With Energir, the Bronya Climate Shield product line was applied mid-operation to steam networks, hot water networks and boiler networks, with constant operating temperatures at 275 degrees Celsius, or 527 degrees Fahrenheit, while operating 24/7. The networks are supplied by four boilers with a total capacity of 145 MW for heat, and five chillers with a total capacity of 18.4 MW for Cold, and 2 MW for electricity backup energy. These units are large enough to meet the thermal energy needs of all its clients, regardless of climatic conditions. The networks supply over 1.8 million m in various infrastructures: office towers, shopping centres, hotels, a RTM train station, a university campus, and prestige apartments in the downtown core of Montreal, the equivalent of a city of 30,000 people. Energir provides thermal services to over one third of Montreal's downtown core. It has been operating the Montreal Thermal Plant since its creation in 1947. Energir has the second largest network in Canada owned by Trencap (61%) and by Enbridge (38%). Energir is involved in developing renewable, liquefied and compressed natural gas, solar and wind power, and hydroelectricity. In Quebec, Energir produces electricity from wind and distributes traditional and renewable natural gas. In the United States, Energir produces and distributes electricity from hydraulic, wind and solar sources as well as natural gas. The company has conducted research and development on a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the heating and air conditioning industry to reduce energy cost and carbon emissions with proven results. Bronya Climate Shield has conducted research with Gazprom over several years confirming energy savings in heating and air conditioning, of all its product lines, which is available in its supplemental filing with market regulators, filed in conjunction with this release. Detailed results from applied thermal insulation testing with Gazprom, over several years, has demonstrated the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the liquid ceramic thermal coating of Bronya Classic is in compliance with specifications 2216-006-09560516-2013 available in our supplemental filings. Gazprom is the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe and Turkey. Gazprom is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over US $120 billion, it sits as the largest publicly-listed natural gas company in the world and the largest company in Russia by revenue. Gazprom is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the gas industry, including exploration and, refining, transport, distribution and marketing, and power generation. The company will provide further updates on applications with Energir and Gazprom contracts in the coming weeks. ABOUT ECO DEPOT Eco Depot, Inc., is a Nevada company that acquires, manages, and develops eco-friendly real estate assets and consumer brand products. Their focus is to provide business development, funding, and other support for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and green-companies dedicated to protecting the environment. The Company is currently focused on our wholly owned subsidiary Bronya Canada Group and commercializing our Bronya Climate Shield brand, a versatile thermal insulation paint capable of increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Eco Depot is a development stage distributor of eco-friendly consumer brand products and is publicly traded Over the Counter at (OTC Pink: ECDP). ABOUT BRONYA CANADA GROUP Bronya Coatings Group, Inc. ("the Company") is based in Montreal and intends to commercialize a Multi-Purpose liquid thermal insulation paint Bronya Climate Shield product line in North America. The Company's mission is to establish third-party production facilities globally to reduce the costs associated with the business' supply chain. The Company also has established relationships with major home improvement stores on a worldwide basis. ABOUT BRONYA CLIMATE SHIELD Bronya Climate Shield increases energy efficiency, energy savings, and reduces carbon emissions through energy conservation. Product website: www.bronyaclimateshield.com CONTACT: Eco Depot, Inc. 2300 West Sahara Avenue, Suite 800, Las Vegas, NV, 89102 WEBSITE: ecdp.co +1-(800) 323-7006 info@ecdp.co PRODUCT INQUIRIES: 1-(844) 427-6692 info@bronyaclimateshield.com Safe Harbor Statement This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential" and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition, or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release, including such forward-looking statements. FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes information relating to the new team members expertise and how the Company will benefit from their ability to assist the Company implement its business plan. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: risks associated with the implementation of the Company's business plan and matters relating thereto, risks associated with the industry, competition, regulatory change, the need for additional financing, reliance on key personnel, the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors, and the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the Company's proposed business, such as failure of the business strategy and government regulation; risks related to the Company's operations, such as additional financing requirements and access to capital, reliance on key and qualified personnel, insurance, competition, intellectual property and reliable supply chains; risks related to the Company and its business generally. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed a certain progression, which may not be realized. It has also assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73557 San Francisco school district officials denounced on Wednesday a city lawsuit claiming they violated state law regarding the reopening of schools, calling the allegations frivolous, petty and embarrassing. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed the legal action earlier in the day, said he decided to take the school board and superintendent to court for failing to do their jobs by not having a specific plan to get students back into classrooms. Superintendent Vincent Matthews said Herreras allegations have no merit. We absolutely have a comprehensive plan, he said. We are reassessing different parts of the plan, but the plan is still there. He added the lawsuit was a distraction. This isnt helpful when were all in this together, he said. To turn on those of us trying to solve this is not helpful whatsoever. The unprecedented lawsuit is the latest volley in an ongoing battle over when and how the citys public schools should reopen for its 52,000 students. The district late last year said the first schools would reopen at the end of January, but later canceled that plan because of ongoing labor negotiations. Herrera said that instead of focusing on reopening classrooms, board members voted to rename 44 schools and are looking to alter the admission process to Lowell High School. Private and parochial schools in San Francisco have figured it out, Herrera said in a statement. In-person instruction needs to be the Board of Educations singular focus not renaming schools that are empty, or changing admission policies when teachers arent in classrooms. Its unfortunate we have to take them to court to get it figured out, but enough is enough. Public health officials have offered a path to reopening since September, including providing small cohorts of the most at-risk students access to school sites. More than 100 private schools have reopened in the city, with nearly 16,000 students back in class full or part-time, Herrera said. Yet, not a single SFUSD student has set foot in their schools in 327 days for in-person instruction, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit addresses whether the district created a specific Learning Continuity and Reopening Plan as required by state law. Herrera alleges the districts plan is vague, with plans that include rethinking time and space for classroom instruction. It is a plan for a plan, he said. Matthews said Wednesday the district has a comprehensive dashboard with the steps required to reopen. He said the district is ready to reopen the first schools for the youngest and most at-risk students, but lacks the final step in the plan: an agreement with the teachers union and other labor groups. The districts teachers union also panned the lawsuit. United Educators (of San Francisco) is very disappointed that the City has chosen to attack rather than support the school district, union President Susan Solomon said. The legal challenge was one of many across the country over the reopening of schools, but the only one involving a city suing a school district. In other cases, parents have sued districts or the state or labor unions have sued to prevent the reopening of schools. Were in a once-in-a-century pandemic situation that has created some never-seen-before challenges to our public education system, said John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm. Unfortunately at the moment, a lot of our society and our political leaders are frozen in terms of figuring out how to move forward. Whether the courts will weigh in on reopening city schools is uncertain. Courts do not want to get in the business of being superintendents of education and are often deferential to decisions of public school boards, said Bill Koski, a Stanford law professor specializing in educational law. But this is as much an issue of public health as an educational issue, Koski said. Courts may feel more comfortable wading into public health waters. Steve Sugarman, a UC Berkeley law professor, said the lawsuits limited scope seeking only a more specific plan, rather than a judicial order to reopen the schools is a subject the courts can probably address, but that may not accomplish much. The trial judge could tell the school district to come up with a plan. ... Its a first step, Sugarman said. But its still contingent on the union agreeing to send the teachers back in, he said. Still, San Francisco parents, city officials and others cheered the lawsuit, saying they are angry and frustrated at the lack of clear communication and specifics needed to get school open again. Matthews told families recently that its unlikely middle and high schools will reopen this school year. Im glad that the city is suing them, said parent Joya Pramanik, whose daughter is a sophomore at Lowell High School. Our kids are suffering and this is going to be a scar in their lives. Mayor London Breed has grown increasingly impatient with the districts pace in reopening to students and supported the lawsuit, even though her education adviser, Jenny Lam, is on the school board and now a defendant in the case. This is not the path we would have chosen, but nothing matters more right now than getting our kids back in school, Breed said in a statement. The city has offered resources and staff to get our school facilities ready and to support testing for our educators. To help struggling families and students, the city sponsored in-person learning hubs across the city at community centers to help vulnerable students navigate distance learning, but those were staffed by after-school and community organizations. School board President Gabriela Lopez said Wednesday that the city has not helped the district enough with testing and teacher vaccinations despite requests. Health officials do not require vaccinations for schools to reopen, but Lopez and Matthews suggested that schools wouldnt reopen without them. She said the city is playing politics, which is not helpful in reopening schools. This is an embarrassing day for San Francisco, Lopez said. Yet just a month ago, San Francisco officials announced a partnership with the school district to offer testing to teachers, starting at the district office and then expanding to other sites, with funding provided by the city. While Matthews criticized the citys lack of help in testing and vaccines Wednesday, a month earlier he thanked the city for their expertise and additional resources. The city-funded program started testing teachers and other staff in January, but suspended it after concerns were raised over the accuracy rate from the testing provider, Curative. The district is looking for another company to do the testing, with guidance and support from the city. Meanwhile, San Francisco public schools are seeing significant learning loss, especially among students of color and those from low-income families, although Lopez declined to address that recently, saying instead that students are learning more about their families and their cultures, spending more time with each other. National and state health officials have increasingly called for classrooms to bring back students given the negative impact of distance learning, including academic declines and mental health issues. Many public schools in surrounding counties have been open for months with little to no in-school transmission. Gov. Gavin Newsom has also urged schools to reopen, saying they can safely do so. We have many, many districts that have schools open and have been able to do it safely, he said, adding that teacher vaccinations arent required to get students back to class, which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoed Wednesday. We can safely reopen schools as we process a prioritization of vaccination to our teachers. Jill Tucker and Bob Egelko are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @bobegelko China has, for the first time, asked domestic companies to shoulder the responsibility for controlling the countrys greenhouse gas emissions by buying and selling emission quotas on a unified national carbon market. The sheer scale of the problem could create the worlds largest carbon trading market, but big structural factors stand in the way. Systemic issues in Chinas power generation industry are likely to prevent companies from effectively participating in the national carbon market: the pressure that the added cost of carbon will put on the far-from-market-driven industry and the lack of an absolute cap on the amount of carbon that can be emitted under the program. The national carbon market began, as these things often do, with an official press conference. On Jan. 5, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the first compliance cycle for Chinas national carbon trading market had begun on Jan. 1 and would last until the end of the year. The announcement effectively served as the official opening of Chinas national carbon trading market. Under the cycle, which will at first be limited to domestic thermal power generators, 2,225 companies in the industry have until Dec. 31 to meet the requirements set by the government for carbon emissions. Considering the amount of carbon dioxide produced by this industry alone in China, the market has the potential to make a big impact. In China, power generation emits more carbon dioxide than any other industry. It produced 4.14 billion tons in 2018, accounting for 43.4% of the nationwide total. By itself, the industry produces enough emissions to create the largest carbon trading market in the world. Although construction of the national carbon trading market is still in its initial stages, much is riding on its success. China has set ambitious goals for limiting its carbon emissions. At the 75th session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2020, President Xi Jinping pledged that China would achieve peak carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. The paradox of carbon pricing China has been planning a carbon trading market for years. In December 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency, held a conference that signaled the construction of a national carbon trading market. The vast majority of Chinas thermal power companies, primarily coal-fired and gas-fired power plants, were supposed to register for the market between 2019 and 2020. Carbon trading is considered an effective market-based response to climate change as it requires polluters to pay for any emissions of greenhouse gases in this case carbon dioxide that they produce beyond a set limit. Government departments start by setting caps on total carbon emissions that apply to all market-registered enterprises. Next, they introduce a nationwide system for polluters in this case power generators to trade emissions quotas. This creates a market incentive for companies to conserve energy and reduce their emissions. However, China has yet to realize market-based pricing for electricity, meaning that power generators have no way to raise prices and share the costs of buying carbon emission quotas, saddling them with increased costs of power generation. Experts also worry that a lack of enforcement on carbon quotas will do little to curb emissions in the short term. If the price of carbon reaches 30 yuan ($4.64) per ton, the cost of carbon will account for 5% to 25% of the total cost of power generation, according to the head of the carbon asset management department at one centrally administrated power generation company. For thermal power generators, the national trading market means that carbon prices will be determined by a unified market. Coal prices in China have already been set by the market. However, the prices that power generation companies charge their customers, are still set by regional or provincial governments. As a result, electricity prices vary by province or region. So although coal prices are set by a market, electricity prices remain regulated and set by the government. The new round of institutional reforms in 2015 only brought electricity prices further down. Under such conditions, any increase in the cost of power generation would likely squeeze the profit margins of power plants and could the struggling ones in big trouble. Duan Maosheng, director of the Center for China Carbon Market Research of Tsinghua University, explained that because electricity prices have yet to be fully marketized, emissions control policy takes into consideration both the direct emissions of electricity producers and the indirect emissions from power consumers. This is the difference between the carbon trading market in China and in Europe. The latter has already marketized its system. If China can do the same, then increasing the cost of power generation will increase the price of electricity, naturally leading users to consume less. Unfortunately, as things currently stand, end users in China are not affected by changes in the cost of power generation. Cost pressure The current system shields end users from the impact, increasing the cost of carbon, and thus power generation, while maintaining or lowering the price of electricity amounts to more pressure on the thermal power sector. As a result, companies will be forced to weed out outdated generation units at a faster pace. The thermal power sector will bear the brunt of the impact, said China Huadian Corporation Ltd., one of Chinas five power generation groups. In a response to Caixin, the company said that the reform of carbon pricing and the electricity market will change the point at which thermal power companies can break even. That in turn is expected to influence decisions on everything from investment in new power generation units to energy conservation and emissions reduction itself. In contrast to thermal power, renewable energy will benefit from policies on carbon trading, carbon neutrality and when carbon emissions are supposed to peak. This industry is expected to see significant increases in the scale of installed capacity and electricity production. The national carbon trading market is designed to harness market mechanisms to improve efficiency and promote low-cost emissions reduction, said Wang Zhixuan, vice president of the China Electricity Council. Wang said that survival of the fittest based on the value of carbon was the fundamental principle of the carbon trading market. Basically, the market will put power generation companies under cost pressure, encouraging them to actively reduce carbon emissions. However, the primary concern in the initial stage of carbon trading is just to keep the market running smoothly, without any big fluctuations. This means that the pressure will not be that great at first, he said. No fixed cap Several experts said they remain concerned whether the carbon trading markets method of quota allocation can effectively promote emissions reductions. The European Union Emissions Trading System sets absolute caps on different greenhouse gases total emissions, then allocates quotas within that limit, which companies are allowed to trade. In contrast, Chinas national emissions cap is the sum of all provincial emissions quotas. The competent department pre-allocates 2019-2020 quotas equivalent to 70% of the thermal power supply volume in 2018. After verifying the 2019-2020 carbon emissions, it will refund quotas or ask companies to buy additional quotas according to units actual volume of thermal power they supply. Zou Ji, CEO & president of Energy Foundation China, told Caixin that the carbon trading market should be based on a controlled cap and quota trades. The current model of determining a cap by adding up quotas does not conform to that principle. China has yet to propose establishing an absolute cap on the carbon trade. Several insiders agree that its not an easy goal to achieve. Lin Jiaqiao, co-director of the Rock Environment & Energy Institute, suggests that until China reaches peak carbon dioxide emissions, it will be hard to estimate industry output, making it incredibly challenging to set a cap for the carbon trading market. In addition, thermal power generation units themselves have little power to reduce carbon emissions and limited trading quotas, Zou said. The combination of these factors has the makings of an inactive market, he said. Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99. 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. Even though Indore civic body's act of dumping homeless elderly people out of the city has caused widespread outrage, the incident has also led to the reunion of a woman with her husband who had gone missing. When Pushpa Salvi saw photos and videos on social media of some homeless people who were taken out of the city last Friday, she recognised her husband Anil Salvi (50) among them, sitting on Nipania bypass road on Indore''s outskirts. The man, who is mentally disturbed, left his home here last month. The woman, after being unable to find him, had subsequently lodged a missing person's complaint with police. Last week, she recognised her husband in the visuals of some homeless people who were dumped out of the city. "I had filed a missing person's report at Chandan Nagar police station after I did not find him. On January 29, I got a call from someone that my husband was found in Nipania area following which I took a taxi to go there," the woman told reporters here on Tuesday. The woman, aged around 48, said she did not know the exact way and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) employees guided the cab driver following which she reached the spot. "My husband was lying down there with five-seven other elderly persons," the woman said, alleging that the IMC staff did not help in bringing her husband back home. The woman said she first took her husband to a mental hospital where doctors gave him medicines, following which she brought him back home on January 29 late evening. A civic official said it is a matter of happiness that a family got back its missing member. Chandan Nagar police station in-charge Yogesh Tomar said the missing person''s report was filed on January 15. "Now, he has been found and reunited with his family," he said. On Friday, a video on social media showed municipal workers dumping some homeless elderly persons outside the city, drawing a sharp criticism from various quarters. The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has sought a report from the state''s chief secretary, Indore divisional commissioner, district collector and IMC chief. District Magistrate Manish Singh on Sunday said he has apologised to God for the local administration''s action. The local administration has now been by providing food and shelter to such people, and has asked officials to treat them with "sensitivity and humanity". On Friday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan suspended an IMC official in connection with the incident. The civic body has also removed two temporary employees from the job. Senate Committee Pushes DOJ, FBI for Answers on US Capitol Breach The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday demanded answers from the Justice Department and the FBI over their preparation and response to the U.S. Capitol breach last month. The committees incoming chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to the head of both agencies requesting answers to a series of questions. The panel has asked for additional information about what the agencies knew prior to the incident, the actions they took to address concerns, whether threat assessments were conducted about the risk of violence for Jan. 6, the agencies role in responding to the incident, and the agencies prosecutorial response following the event. The security failures that enabled the January 6 attack span multiple agencies, and emerging reports raise serious concerns about the adequacy of preparations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the senators wrote (pdf). Steven DAntuono, head of the FBI Washington field office, told reporters in January that the agency had received a lot of intelligence leading up to the Jan. 6 protest and had shared the information with law enforcement partners through its shared systems. We immediately shared that information and action was taken as demonstrated by the arrest of Enrique Tarrio by the Metropolitan Police Department the night before the rally, DAntuono said, referring to the arrest of the head of the Proud Boys. Other individuals were identified in other parts of the country and their travel subsequently disrupted. DAntuono said although the bureau receives such information, it has to determine the credibility and viability of the content. We have to separate the aspirational from the intentional and determine which of the individuals saying despicable things on the internet, just practicing keyboard bravado, or they actually have the intent to do harm in the ladder, he said. Both agencies and their law enforcement partners said they have been working tirelessly to crackdown on protesters who participated in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach, which left five people deadone who was shot by a Capitol police officer inside the building, three others due to medical conditions on U.S. Capitol grounds, and a Capitol Police officer was confirmed dead on Jan. 7 due to injuries sustained while on duty responding to riots. More than 400 cases have been opened related to the incident and over 150 people have been charged federally, the DOJ said late January. Prosecutors have also filed conspiracy cases against some individuals, indicating that the storming of the Capitol building was allegedly planned by some protesters. The DOJ said prosecutors have also been directed to build sedition cases. Footage from Jan. 6 shows that a small group of individuals were mainly responsible for acts of violence and property destruction, while a larger group of protesters could be seen protesting in a more non-violent way. Some of the protesters who were arrested were arrested on charges relating to unlawful entry in a restricted area, such as Couy Griffin, the founder of the organization Cowboys for Trump. According to an affidavit by a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department detective, Griffin said he was caught up in that crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and into a restricted area. Griffin said that he and his friend didnt enter the U.S. Capitol building at any time and remained on the steps outside the building during the breach. During that time, he led a group of protesters in prayer using a bullhorn outside the Capitol, but up where the president is inaugurated at. Videos of the incident and other open-source materials corroborated Griffins statements, according to the affidavit. Matt Braynard, former director of Data and Strategy for President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign, told The Epoch Times that he believes charges against the non-violent protesters on Jan. 6 should be dropped. Anybody that engaged in any violence on January 6, who may have assaulted a police officer or committed serious property damage or vandalism should face serious charges, Braynard said. However, the vast majority of those people have not been charged with such crimes. Theyve been charged with simply walking through an open door to a public building, with no knowledge or no reason to expect that it would be illegal or forbidden. Braynard has written to the DOJ and FBI about his concerns of charging non-violent protesters, arguing that many of the protesters who entered the Capitol reasonably believed they had permission to enter. He said that police officers opened the protective fencing around the Capitol and stood aside as crowds entered the building. Footage that was circulating online reviewed by The Epoch Times shows several police officers allowing a crowd of protesters to breach a fence with minimal resistance, while other videos show police did not make a significant effort to prevent the protesters from entering the building. Other videos did show police officers telling protesters that they were not allowed to be there and asking protesters to leave the premises. While some of these men and women should have known better, the majority of them were political neophytes who simply viewed this as an extension of the peaceful protest. They had no intention to destroy property or harm anyone. They may have been naive, but were not acting maliciously, Braynard wrote in his letter (pdf). The FBI confirmed receipt of the Senate panels letter but did not provide further comments. The DOJ did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. With reporting by Jennifer Li. This article has been updated to provide additional clarity on deaths at the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. In a study posted online Jan. 28 in the journal Science, University of Texas at Dallas researchers and their colleagues describe creating powerful, unipolar electrochemical yarn muscles that contract more when driven faster. This scanning electron microscope image shows a coiled unipolar muscle made from carbon nanotubes and coated with poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). The outer coil diameter is approximately 140 microns, about twice that of a human hair. For more than 15 years, researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and their collaborators in the U.S., Australia, South Korea and China have fabricated artificial muscles by twisting and coiling carbon nanotube or polymer yarns. When thermally powered, these muscles actuate by contracting their length when heated and returning to their initial length when cooled. Such thermally driven artificial muscles, however, have limitations. Electrochemically driven carbon nanotube (CNT) muscles provide an alternative approach to meet the growing need for fast, powerful, large-stroke artificial muscles for applications ranging from robotics and heart pumps to morphing clothing. "Electrochemically driven muscles are especially promising, since their energy conversion efficiencies are not restricted by the thermodynamic heat engine limit of thermal muscles, and they can maintain large contractile strokes while supporting heavy loads without consuming significant energy," said Dr. Ray Baughman, the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry and director of the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute at UT Dallas. "In contrast, human muscles and thermally powered muscles need a large amount of input energy to support heavy loads even when not accomplishing mechanical work." In a study posted online Jan. 28 in the journal Science, the researchers describe creating powerful, unipolar electrochemical yarn muscles that contract more when driven faster, thereby solving important problems that have limited the applications for these muscles. Electrochemically powered CNT yarn muscles are actuated by applying a voltage between the muscle and a counter electrode, which drives ions from a surrounding electrolyte into the muscle. But there are limitations to electrochemical CNT muscles. First, the muscle actuation is bipolar, which means that muscle movement - either expansion or contraction - switches direction during a potential scan. The potential at which the stroke switches direction is the potential of zero charge, and the rate at which the potential changes over time is the potential scan rate. Another issue: A given electrolyte is stable only over a particular range of voltages. Outside this range, the electrolyte breaks down. "Previous yarn muscles cannot use the full stability range of the electrolyte," said Baughman, a corresponding author of the study. "Also, the muscle's capacitance - its ability to store the charge needed for actuation - decreases with increasing potential scan rate, causing the muscle's stroke to dramatically decrease with increasing actuation rate." To solve these problems, the researchers discovered that the interior surfaces of coiled carbon nanotube yarns could be coated with a suitable ionically conducting polymer that contains either positively or negatively charged chemical groups. "This polymer coating converts the normal bipolar actuation of carbon nanotube yarns to unipolar actuation, where the muscle actuates in one direction over the entire stability range of the electrolyte," Baughman said. "This long-sought behavior has surprising consequences that make electrochemical carbon nanotube muscles much faster and more powerful." Chemistry doctoral student Zhong Wang, a co-first author of the study, explained the underlying science: "The dipolar field of the polymer shifts the potential of zero charge - which is where the electronic charge on the nanotubes changes sign - to outside the electrolyte's stability range. Hence, ions of only one sign are electrochemically injected to compensate this electronic charge, and the muscle's stroke changes in one direction over this entire useable potential scan range." Dr. Jiuke Mu, associate research professor in the UT Dallas NanoTech Institute and a co-first author, said the polymer coating helps solve the capacitance problem of electrochemical yarn muscles. "The number of solvent molecules pumped into the muscle by each ion increases with increasing potential scan rate for some unipolar muscles, which increases the effective ion size that drives actuation," Mu said. "Thus, muscle stroke can increase by a factor of 3.8 with increasing potential scan rate, while the stroke of carbon nanotube yarn muscles without the polymer coating decreases by a factor of 4.2 for the same changes in potential scan rate." The advances provide electrochemical unipolar muscles that contract to generate a maximum average output mechanical power per muscle weight of 2.9 watts/gram, which is about 10 times the typical capability of human muscle and about 2.2 times the weight-normalized power capability of a turbocharged V-8 diesel engine. The polymer coating used to produce these results was poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate), which is approved for drug use and inexpensive enough for use in water softening. Incorporation of this polymer guest enabled practical operation of a carbon nanotube muscle from high temperatures to below minus 30 degrees Celsius. Wang said the team also discovered that unipolar behavior, without scan-rate enhanced strokes, could be obtained when graphene oxide nanoplatelets were incorporated within the yarn muscle using a biscrolling process that UT Dallas researchers created and patented. "Use of this guest to provide the dipolar fields needed for unipolar behavior increased the maximum average contractile mechanical power output from the muscle to a remarkable 8.2 watts/gram, which is 29 times the maximum capability of the same weight human muscle and about 6.2 times that of a turbocharged V-8 diesel engine," Wang said. "We also discovered that two different types of unipolar yarn muscles, each with scan-rate-enhanced strokes, can be combined to make a dual-electrode, all-solid-state yarn muscle, thereby eliminating the need for a liquid electrolyte bath," Wang said. "A solid-state electrolyte is used to laterally interconnect two coiled carbon nanotube yarns that contain different polymer guests, one having negatively charged substituents and the other having positively charged substituents. Both yarns contract during charging to additively contribute to actuation, because of the injection of positive and negative ions, respectively. These dual electrode unipolar muscles were woven to make actuating textiles that could be used for morphing clothing." 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. Todd Bentley announces return to ministry after hearing from God Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Approximately one year after a team of evangelical leaders declared him not qualified for leadership due to credible allegations of ungodly and immoral behavior, including predatory sexual activity, Fresh Fire USA leader Todd Bentley says hes now back after hearing from God. Bentley, who turned 45 last month, said as the coronavirus pandemic raged in parts of the country in the summer of 2020, he was experiencing a time of healing and restoration with angels and communing with God. It was last summer in July/ August 2020 that I had a series of angelic encounters, visions and personal encounters with the Lord that were absolutely life-changing. At the same time Jess and I used this time to see healing and incredible restoration in our own lives and marriage. During this awesome season of almost daily personal encounters the Lord spoke to me about my 45th birthday, which took place on January 10, 2021, Bentley wrote in a recent post on Facebook. Just months prior to his angelic encounters, evangelical leaders including, host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program Michael Brown, said Bentley was unfit for ministry. Based on our careful review of numerous first-hand reports, some of them dating back to 2004, we state our theological opinion and can say with one voice that, without a doubt, Todd is not qualified to serve in leadership or ministry today, the leaders said in an official statement shared by Brown on Facebook. There are credible accusations of a steady pattern of ungodly and immoral behavior, confirmed by an independent investigators interviews dating from 2008 up through 2019, along with other testimonies dating back to 2004. And while we only took into account first-hand reports, there are many other second and third-hand reports repeating the same accusations, often from people in different parts of the country (or, world) who had no connection between them, other than their interaction with Todd, the statement said. Stephen Powell, an estranged protege of the controversial faith healer, first highlighted sexual misconduct allegations against the Fresh Fire USA leader The Lion of Light Ministries leader said Bentley has a perverse sexual addiction that drove him to prey on interns in 2013 and beyond. He alleged that Bentley has an appetite for a variety of sexual sins, including both homosexual and heterosexual activity and accused the evangelist of indulging in an open marriage with his wife, Jessa. Despite his earthly disqualification from ministry, Bentley said God has given him a fresh 25-year mandate focused on the Harvest and the nations. I thought it was very unusual for the Lord to be speaking to me six months before the day I was born but he spoke to me about picking up the mantle in a new 25-year mandate focused on the Harvest and the nations. Imagine waiting those six months for your actual birthday to see if something supernatural would happen and when my birthday came, I did pray and received what I believe the Lord spoke to me in faith and Im ready to walk it out this year, he said. I am working on a new podcast series which will be available for free and released on many different platforms, and our content will focus on Walking with God. I will also continue to build a new platform for TV and media ministry while taking a few ministry engagements later this spring and summer. Pray as we ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom in navigating our schedule through the current pandemic as we find it quite difficult to travel internationally with so many different restrictions still in place and we believe that these things will open up more and more this year, he added. I am also working on a new series of online training schools, and several revival harvest America, Africa, Europe and Asian mission soul winning crusades. As he remains grounded by the pandemic, Bentley said he has been busy with mentoring his 5-year-old daughter. Hes also encouraging people to give to his ministry. From POANG to BILLY, IKEAs unique product names have long been a talking point for home furnishing fans. Today, IKEA has launched its new series, Learning at Home with IKEA, offering children the chance to learn basic Swedish phrases through the medium of IKEA and its notoriously hard to pronounce products. Parents up and down the country have been working flat out since the beginning of Lockdown 3.0 to find solutions to balancing work with homeschooling. Through these three educational but fun lessons, IKEA hopes that they can go a little way in helping to keep children entertained even if just for a (valuable and much needed) couple of minutes! Having brought the world affordable, stylish furniture for the past 70 years, this is the first time IKEA has entered the linguistic space. The lessons include explanations behind the meaning of the home furnishing experts seemingly unusual range of product names all of which have been carefully curated from a database of Swedish words. Bookcases are named after professional occupations or boys names, outdoor furniture is named after Scandinavian islands, whilst bed sheets, comforters and pillowcases are named after flowers and plants. There are some exceptions, with some products being given names that evoke their function, most recently IKEAs collaboration with Lego, BYGGLEK, which means to build and play. The episodes cover a number of themes including typical introductory language topics: geography, family and nature. The content is simple and interactive to give children their first taste of Swedish, while also incorporating some counting to help towards their daily dose of maths. The lessons are subtitled, with the phonetic pronunciation shown at the bottom of the screen so everyone can easily follow along. Some of the surprising meanings behind IKEA products featured in the lessons include: GNARP (Noun): a small Swedish town in the county of Gavleborg; a 3-piece kitchen utensil set GRILLA (Noun): barbeque; a non-stick IKEA grill pan VESSLA (Noun): a weasel; an IKEA storage crate KOLJA (Noun): a haddock; an IKEA mirror Thomas Parker, Childrens Business Leader at UK & IE at IKEA, says: Juggling work and homeschooling is no easy task, with parents around the country doing an incredible job in a really tough situation. Weve created these fun, educational lessons to keep children entertained for a short while and give parents some much-needed time back in their day, whether thats in-between lessons or when home schooling has finished. "We know that Swedish pronunciations might not come easily to native English speakers, so wed recommend watching the videos a few times to perfect your accent. While their children have fun pronouncing family members in Swedish, parents can grab a well-deserved five-minute Fika break! All three video tutorials are now available on the IKEA Website. Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday virtually laid the foundation stone of Sardar Bahadur Amin Chand Soni Armed Forces Preparatory Institute at village Bajwara, Hoshiarpur, to facilitate more youth from the state to take up defence services as a career. This ambitious project will be executed at a cost of Rs 27 crore over an area of 12.75 acres by the PWD (B&R) department and would be completed by the end of 2021. The upcoming institute would impart training to 270 candidates per year. Capt Amarinder Singh The Chief Minister said this new armed forces preparatory institute would be instrumental in realizing the dreams of Punjabs young sons and daughters to join the armed forces. At a time when women pilot officers are flying the Rafale and helicopters, and are actively involved in every field of the armed forces, the day will soon come when girls in India will be part of the fighting force like their counterparts in other countries, he added. Captain Amarinder thanked Member Parliament Ambika Soni, the President of the Sardar Bahadur Amin Chand Soni Education Trust and Society, for providing land free of cost as a gift to the Employment Generation, Skill Development & Training department to establish the institute. Ambika, on her part, thanked the Captain Amarinder government for its help in setting up the institution that could become a modern training ground for youth from Punjab to join the armed forces. Captain Amarinder Singh On the occasion, the Chief Minister lauded the role played by Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali, in providing defence training to youth, enabling them to secure permanent commission in the Armed Forces through the National Defence Academy or equivalent service academy. The Chief Minister mentioned that out of 144 cadets trained at the academy, 97 joined NDA and 65 were commissioned as officers from April 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020. Since its inception, 156 out of 384 cadets trained at AFPI had joined NDA and 69 were commissioned as officers, he said, adding that from 2% initially, the number of trainees going into the armed forces from this institution had gone up to 45%. The Chief Minister also referred to the stellar performance of Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls, Mohali, which imparts training to young girls after class 12 for a career as Commissioned Officers in the Defence Services. The prestigious institute has so far trained 75 cadets, of whom seven were selected for Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE)/Air Force Central Admission Test (AFCAT) and three were commissioned as officers from April 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020. Captain Amarinder SinghTechnical education and industrial training minister Charanjit Channi also attended the virtual ceremony, where Secretary Employment Generation, Skill Development & Training Rahul Tiwari disclosed that the upcoming Sardar Bahadur Amin Chand Soni Armed Forces Preparatory Institute would impart training to the aspirants for induction into Armed Forces, keeping the entry at graduate level for CDSE/AFCAT. The institute will run three courses in a year of 3 months duration with intake capacity of 40 candidates, thus imparting training to 120 candidates in a year under its Entrance Exam Training Wing (EETW). Under another Service Selection Board Training Wing (SSBTW), the institute will train those candidates who have received the call letters for appearing in Service Selection Board. The institute will run 5 courses in a year, each of 8 weeks duration with course strength of 30 candidates, to impart training to 150 candidates in a year. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-02 21:29:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Minister-President of Germany's southern state of Bavaria Markus Soeder on Sunday called on European authorities to consider using Chinese and Russian vaccines to ease the current delivery shortage. "The European supervision authorities should also test the Russian and Chinese vaccines as soon as possible," said Soeder in an interview with Die Welt. Soeder said that "the entire legitimation of the corona strategy will depend on how quickly we can get the vaccination problems under control." The Bavarian governor, also head of Germany's Christian Social Union, is known for his strict and practical measures to contain the pandemic in the southern state. Soeder's appeal came as Europe is embroiled in an escalating dispute with drugmaker AstraZeneca over shortfalls of vaccine delivery. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is also being supplied less than anticipated. Many countries in Europe have already delayed or even halted their coronavirus immunizations due to the vaccine shortages. In Germany, citizens have to endure a vaccination delay of at least 10 weeks, according to an estimation by the federal health ministry. German Health Minister Jens Spahn also said on Sunday that he is open to the use of vaccines from Russia or China in Germany, as the debate over the availability of vaccines rages on. "If a vaccine is safe and effective, no matter in which country it was produced, then it can of course help in beating the pandemic," Spahn told local media. Produced by Xinhua Global Service NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein Liebhard, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds investors of the deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in a securities class action lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the securities of SolarWinds Corporation ("SolarWinds" or the "Company") (NYSE: SWI) from February 24, 2020 through December 15, 2020 (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you purchased SolarWinds securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit SWI Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Matthew E. Guarnero toll free at (877) 779-1414 or [email protected] According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) since mid-2020, SolarWinds Orion monitoring products had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to compromise the server upon which the products ran; (2) SolarWinds' update server had an easily accessible password of 'solarwinds123; (3) consequently, SolarWinds' customers, including, among others, the Federal Government, Microsoft, Cisco, and Nvidia, would be vulnerable to hacks; (4) as a result, the Company would suffer significant reputational harm; and (5) as a result, Defendants' statements about SolarWinds's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. On December 14, 2020, SolarWinds disclosed on Form 8-K that it had become "aware of a cyberattack that inserted a vulnerability within its Orion monitoring products which, if present and activated, could potentially allow an attacker to compromise the server on which the Orion products run." The Company further stated that it believed the attack was "the result of a highly sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by an outside nation state." On this news, SolarWinds's stock price fell $3.93 per share, or 16.69%, to close at $19.62 per share. Then, on December 15, 2020, Reuters published an article stating that, last year, security researcher Vinoth Kumar "alerted the company that anyone could access SolarWinds' update server by using the password 'solarwinds123.'" On this news, the Company's shares fell $1.56 per share or 8% to close at $18.06. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 5, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member. If you purchased SolarWinds securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit https://www.bernlieb.com/cases/solarwindscorporation-swi-shareholder-class-action-lawsuit-fraud-stock-343/apply/ or contact Matthew E. Guarnero toll free at (877) 779-1414 or [email protected]. Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. 2020 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. The lawyer responsible for this advertisement in the State of Connecticut is Michael S. Bigin. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. Contact Information Matthew E. Guarnero Bernstein Liebhard LLP https://www.bernlieb.com (877) 779-1414 [email protected] SOURCE Bernstein Liebhard LLP Related Links http://www.bernlieb.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. A self-professed 'love-struck psycho' who broke into his ex girlfriend's home to hug her as she slept sent a series of vile texts before he hit her new partner five times with a hammer. Ryan Joseph Wenzlick had a volatile relationship with Portia Ashton, from Cambridge in New Zealand's north, for three or four years until they broke up in March 2020. The pair continued having sex until July, when the mother-of-two said she wanted to pursue other relationships and stopped replying to his messages. In December, the High Court heard that when Ms Ashton started seeing Daniel Buckeridge, Wenzlick said he wanted to be with her again and would 'eliminate anyone who gets in my way'. Ryan Joseph Wenzlick (pictured) had a volatile relationship with Portia Ashton, from Cambridge in New Zealand's north 'I'm going to set an example of what is going to happen to any man that touches the woman I wan,' he wrote, according to the New Zealand Herald. 'If you f*** that dude I'm going to have to get rid of him too,' he continued, referring to Mr Buckeridge. On July 29, Ms Ashton gave the farm worker the finger and closed the curtains when she realised he had arrived at her home unannounced. Wenzlick started lurking outside the house, knocking on windows to draw attention and begging the woman to go outside and talk to him. Pictured: The text messages Wenzlick sent to Ms Ashton. 'I'm going to set an example of what is going to happen to any man that touches the woman I wan,' he wrote When Ms Ashton and Mr Buckeridge went to bed, he doubled down on his efforts and started sending a series of violent messages. 'F*** you aye, I just spent two hours stalking Mark setting up to kill him and you're here cuddled up to this f*** head'. He broke into the home and started hugging Ms Ashton in bed when her boyfriend went to the bathroom. She she realised Wenzlick was next to her between the wall and the bed, she ignored him and started hugging her new boyfriend when he returned. He broke into the home and started hugging Ms Ashton in bed when her boyfriend went to the bathroom. Pictured: A text Wenzlick sent to Ms Ashton At about 5am, Wenzlick sent her a selfie holding a hammer in the kitchen. He wrote: 'Might have been on the floor next to you for half the night but next to you is where I want to be.' 'See you today sometime please. You actually don't know what I've done to be with you. And what I am capable of ... I could have killed him several times over last night while you were sleeping and you wouldn't have even known until you woke up.' Wenzlick left the home, but found the pair still in bed at 9am. Wenzlick bashed Mr Buckeridge in the head five times with a hammer, also hitting Ms Ashton when she tried to stop him Wenzlick pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault in December and will be sentenced on February 16 He bashed Mr Buckeridge in the head five times with a hammer, also hitting Ms Ashton when she tried to stop him. Mr Buckeridge suffered severe brain damage, skull fractures, bruises and cuts. He is being treated at a specialist facility, getting occupational, speech and physical therapy. The man wasn't able to eat textured foods until September, but has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and will likely have seizures and psychiatric abnormalities for the rest of his life. Wenzlick pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault in December and will be sentenced on February 16. [February 03, 2021] Talkwalker Announces Joseph Fuster as New Chief Sales Officer NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Talkwalker, the leading social listening and analytics company, today announced the appointment of Joseph Fuster as its new chief sales officer. In this role, he will oversee the global expansion of Conversational Intelligence enterprise initiatives of Talkwalker in the US, Europe, and Asia. Fuster has a proven track record in developing new markets, partnerships, and transformational solutions in the global SaaS industry. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Customer Experience Cloud at Oracle, driving all aspects of growth and adoption. Fuster's experience also includes global sales leadership roles at SAP, Salesforce, and Siebel. "I am excited to join the Talkwalker team. As our lives become increasingly digital, understanding the 'Voice of Customer' has become more important than ever", states Fuster. "Winning with your customers requires listening and activating the 'Voice of Customer' across the entire customer xperience. Conversational Intelligence is key to this activation." "It gives me great pleasure to welcome Joe to Talkwalker. With his help, we will further accelerate the company's growth in the US, Europe, and Asia, while we expand Talkwalker's unified conversational intelligence platform in social listening, consumer intelligence, and customer experience", said Robert Glaesener, CEO of Talkwalker. "His deep knowledge of CX and consumer intelligence will be a key accelerator in our next phase of development." About Talkwalker Talkwalker is a leading social listening & analytics company, helping build brands that are loved. Through our AI-powered social media analytics platform, we gather data from the conversations that happen around your brand - online, in the media, and within your company - to uncover, understand, and action consumer insights. Over 2,000 companies worldwide already use this conversational intelligence to protect their brands, measure their campaign impact, and identify what drives purchase decisions. Talkwalker has offices in Luxembourg, New York, San Francisco, Frankfurt, Singapore, Paris, and Tokyo, with 400+ employees across the globe. It is also the home of Talkwalker Alerts, a free alerting service used by over 500,000 communications and marketing professionals worldwide. Contact: Milena Schmidt, +1-646-712-9441 ext 158, m.schmidt@talkwalker.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/talkwalker-announces-joseph-fuster-as-new-chief-sales-officer-301221508.html SOURCE Talkwalker [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The European Commissions fiasco over the vaccine rollout is above all else a terrible concern because of the potential cost in human lives. It also risks damaging Brussels reputation for technocratic competence with regard to its own citizens, giving fresh impetus to euroskeptic forces. It may diminish the European Unions brand in the world, especially in those countries that might struggle to get access to life-saving jabs because of any EU export restrictions. And it could do long-lasting harm to Europes economy, which is struggling to recover after a miserable year of uncertainty and lockdowns. The succession of U-turns on vaccine blockades at the end of last week brought some political respite for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her colleagues. Unfortunately, they did little to reestablish the EUs standing. Only a renewed push on vaccine production and distribution can redeem what has been an unquestionable failure so far. There are two reasons why the EU needed to get the vaccine rollout right (and why it descended into panic last week because of production delays). The first is obvious: Its priority, like everywhere else, is to save lives and the economy. The second is that health policy should be a European strength. The EU may not excel in technology or finance, but it prides itself on its welfare state. However, the EU is well behind other advanced economies on vaccinations. At the end of January the Commission sought to blame its suppliers, arguing they were falling short of their promises. In particular, the dispute with AstraZeneca Plc turned nasty, as Brussels hinted that the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker had prioritized other countries the U.K in particular unfairly. The EU then decided to toughen its rules on vaccine exports. It even threatened to invoke a treaty exception that would have undermined the free flow of goods across the Irish border, a cornerstone of the Brexit accord. In fairness, Von der Leyen had good reason to complain about AstraZeneca. The company said it would more than halve the number of doses delivered to the EU in the first quarter. Its possible that it did have conflicting commitments to the EU and the U.K. Britains contract with AstraZeneca remains secret, and its not clear whether Boris Johnsons government put some unfair restrictions on distributing its vaccine more widely. Still, the EU has only itself to blame for not securing more doses early in the procurement race. Moreover, the past week was an unmitigated public relations disaster. EU leaders demanded more doses from AstraZeneca, just as some of them most notably Frances President Emmanuel Macron were questioning its effectiveness in protecting the elderly. The talk of export controls prompted rebukes about gross unfairness, including from the World Health Organization. The shenanigans over Northern Ireland gave the impression that the EU was ready to undermine the Good Friday Agreement for expedience. (That was meant to be Britains role.) Brussels has now secured some slightly more generous short-term deals with both AstraZeneca and Pfizer Inc. That will help a little. But the bloc has yet to persuade its citizens that it can handle the biggest postwar crisis. The comparison with other rich countries is brutal: Brexit Britain is distributing its vaccine at a much faster rate than even the most efficient EU states, while China and Russia are shipping their own jabs to countries in Eastern Europe. Last year, the EU put on an admirable show of unity in approving a 750-billion-euro ($905 billion) joint fund to counter the pandemic recession. The vaccine debacle could make Europeans wonder anew about the advantage of staying within the bloc. The economy is another challenge. So far, the EU has fared better than the U.K. thanks to its export-driven model as the rebound in Asia helped European manufacturers. Still, the longer-term recovery will go hand in hand with the success of a vaccination program. The European Central Bank has warned about the threat of non-performing loans for the balance sheets of euro-zone lenders. The longer the uncertainty persists, the more companies will close or struggle to repay their debts. And what about the threat of a catastrophe in international relations? Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU commissioner for trade, insisted that any vaccine restrictions wouldnt affect poorer countries. However, last weeks sorry spectacle has raised genuine doubts. Similarly, the U.K.s comparative calm on vaccines has made even the most ardent British europhile a little more open to the advantages of being smaller and nimbler. The EUs relative serenity during the Brexit talks has disappeared. The Commission must shift up a gear. The new agreements with vaccine producers are progress, but the EU must do all it can to boost their production via grants, tax breaks and logistical assistance. The offer from the likes of Sanofi and Bayer AG to help their competitors make more doses shows the way. Producing more shots is the only way to rebuild trust. By Ferdinando Giugliano : bloomberg.gr Vancouver, British Columbia and Johannesburg, South Africa--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX: PTM) (NYSE American: PLG) ("Platinum Group" "PTM" or the "Company") reports that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy ("DMRE") of South Africa has notified the Company in writing that the Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Ltd. Mining Right for the Waterberg Project (the "Waterberg Mining Right") has been granted. The Waterberg Project is located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, approximately 85 km north of the town of Mokopane (formerly Potgietersrus). A definitive feasibility study announced in September 2019 (the "Waterberg DFS") models the Waterberg mine as a low cost, large-scale, shallow, decline-accessible, mechanised, palladium, platinum, gold and rhodium ("4E" or "PGM") mine with 19.5 million 4E ounces in proven and probable mineral reserves(1) and projects that the mine will produce 420,000 4E ounces per year at a steady state. The current basket price per 4E ounce of Waterberg PGMs is approximately US $2,100 and the Waterberg DFS estimated the life of mine cash cost per 4E ounce at US $640. For further details, please refer to the Waterberg DFS ("Waterberg Project Definitive Feasibility Study and Mineral Resource Update - Bushveld Complex, South Africa" dated October 4, 2019, with an effective date for resources and reserves of September 4, 2019). The Waterberg Mining Right has been granted in terms of section 23(1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (2002). After notarial execution the Waterberg Mining Right will be registered at the Mining and Petroleum Titles Registration Office in South Africa. The Waterberg Mining Right was issued for an initial period of 30 years and may be renewed for further periods, each of which may not exceed 30 years at a time. Mining will be subject to the Environmental Authorization granted on November 10, 2020, Water Use Licenses and compliance with other legislation on an ongoing basis. R. Michael Jones, President and CEO of Platinum Group Metals Ltd., said, "We are very pleased to be granted a mining right in a positive PGM market, providing the opportunity to move forward to the next steps in mine financing, construction and development. We see a role for PGMs to play in many aspects of the transition to new sustainable and more efficient energy technologies. The Waterberg Mining Right is both an opportunity and a responsibility to develop the mine safely for the maximum benefit of all the stakeholders. By developing this new mine safely and efficiently, we plan to achieve the best return for shareholders, local communities and government." _________________________ (1) 5.1 million 4E ounces in proven mineral reserves (48.3 million tonnes at 3.28 g/t 4E at a 2.5 g/t 4E cut-off) and 14.4 million 4E ounces in probable mineral reserves (139.2 million tonnes at 3.22 g/t 4E at a 2.5 g/t 4E cut-off). Platinum Group is the operator of the Waterberg Project on behalf of Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Ltd. ("Waterberg JV Co."), representing the owners of the project, being Platinum Group, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. ("Implats"), Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC"), Hanwa Co. Ltd. ("Hanwa") and Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd. ("Mnombo"). Mlibo Mgudlwa, Vice President of Platinum Group Metals RSA (Pty) Ltd. ("PTM RSA"), said, "The mining right approval process is very thorough on environmental matters, social and labour plans and mine work programs. All participants, including government, communities and interested parties, were engaged and the process was efficiently administered by the DMRE." The Company's near-term objectives are to establish construction funding and concentrate offtake arrangements. With the Waterberg Mining Right now granted, the Company plans to consult with local communities and then commence with pre-construction work at the project site, including geotechnical drilling, power, water and road engineering works, completion of servitudes, construction camp design and establishment, and final equipment and infrastructure engineering and procurement. The positive results of the Waterberg DFS provide a solid value assessment for the Waterberg Project. The long-term market outlook for the metals to be produced at Waterberg remains strong. The Company will follow government health directives in the months ahead. The health and safety of employees is a priority. Qualified Person R. Michael Jones, P.Eng., the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and a shareholder of the Company, is a non-independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for preparing the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. He has verified the data by reviewing the detailed information of the geological and engineering staff and independent qualified person reports as well as visiting the Waterberg Project site regularly. About Platinum Group Metals Ltd. and Waterberg Project Platinum Group Metals Ltd. is the operator of the Waterberg Project, a bulk underground palladium and platinum deposit located in South Africa. The Waterberg Project was discovered by Platinum Group and is being jointly developed with Implats, Mnombo, JOGMEC and Hanwa. Platinum Group is the majority owner of Lion Battery Technologies Inc., a private company developing innovative and patented technologies adding PGMs to lithium batteries. On behalf of the Board of Platinum Group Metals Ltd. R. Michael Jones President and CEO For further information contact: R. Michael Jones, President or Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver Tel: (604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450 www.platinumgroupmetals.net Disclosure The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE American have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and related measures taken by government create uncertainty and have had, and may continue to have, an adverse impact on many aspects of the Company's business, including employee health, workforce productivity and availability, travel restrictions, contractor availability, supply availability, the Company's ability to maintain its controls and procedures regarding financial and disclosure matters and the availability of capital and insurance and the costs thereof, some of which, individually or when aggregated with other impacts, may be material to the Company. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advancement of and production and cost of production from the Waterberg Project, the registration, term and potential extensions to the Waterberg Mining Right; achieving returns for shareholders; completion of funding and offtake arrangements, the market for PGMs, the results of the Waterberg DFS; and the potential role for PGMs in the transition to new sustainable and more efficient energy technologies. Although the Company believes any forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. 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 possible adverse impacts due the global outbreak of COVID-19 (as described above), the Company's inability to generate sufficient cash flow or raise sufficient additional capital to make payment on its indebtedness, and to comply with the terms of such indebtedness; additional financing requirements; the US $20 million senior secured facility with the Sprott Private Resource Lending II (Collector), LP ("Sprott") entered into August 21, 2019 (the "2019 Sprott Facility") is, and any new indebtedness may be, secured and the Company has pledged its shares of PTM RSA, and PTM RSA has pledged its shares of Waterberg JV Co. to Sprott, under the 2019 Sprott Facility, which potentially could result in the loss of the Company's interest in PTM RSA and the Waterberg Project in the event of a default under the 2019 Sprott Facility or any new secured indebtedness; the Company's history of losses and negative cash flow; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's properties may not be brought into a state of commercial production; uncertainty of estimated production, development plans and cost estimates for the Waterberg Project; discrepancies between actual and estimated mineral reserves and mineral resources, between actual and estimated development and operating costs, between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries and between estimated and actual production; fluctuations in the relative values of the U.S. Dollar, the Rand and the Canadian Dollar; volatility in metals prices; the uncertainty of alternative funding sources for Waterberg JV Co.; the Company may become subject to the U.S. Investment Company Act; the failure of the Company or the other shareholders to fund their pro rata share of funding obligations for the Waterberg Project; any disputes or disagreements with the other shareholders of Waterberg JV Co. or Mnombo; the ability of the Company to retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; conflicts of interest; litigation or other administrative proceedings brought against the Company; actual or alleged breaches of governance processes or instances of fraud, bribery or corruption; exploration, development and mining risks and the inherently dangerous nature of the mining industry, and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks and other risks and uncertainties; property and mineral title risks including defective title to mineral claims or property; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and South Africa; equipment shortages and the ability of the Company to acquire necessary access rights and infrastructure for its mineral properties; environmental regulations and the ability to obtain and maintain necessary permits, including environmental authorizations and water use licences; extreme competition in the mineral exploration industry; delays in obtaining, or a failure to obtain, permits necessary for current or future operations or failures to comply with the terms of such permits; risks of doing business in South Africa, including but not limited to, labour, economic and political instability and potential changes to and failures to comply with legislation; the Company's common shares may be delisted from the NYSE American or the Toronto Stock Exchange if it cannot maintain compliance with the applicable listing requirements; and other risk factors described in the Company's most recent Form 20-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively. Proposed changes in the mineral law in South Africa if implemented as proposed would have a material adverse effect on the Company's business and potential interest in projects. 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, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Estimates of mineralization and other technical information referred to or included herein have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The definitions of proven and probable reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the mineralization can be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the "reserve" determination is made. As a result, the reserves reported by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and historically have not been permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC pursuant to SEC Industry Guide 7. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. In particular, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under NI 43-101; however, SEC Industry Guide 7 normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC Industry Guide 7 standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, descriptions of the Company's mineral deposits in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of SEC Industry Guide 7. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73490 The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Tandi Mahambehlala, says the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from India signifies the success of South Africa's approach to bilateral and multilateral relations. "We congratulate the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, through its missions abroad, for their candid vaccine diplomacy. This has been demonstrated through its successful initiation of negotiations, which secured the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for South Africa," Mahambehlala said on Tuesday. Mahambehlala said the arrival of the vaccines is significant and testament to the success of South Africa's diplomatic relations. "The importance of diplomacy has once again been proved and is apparent for all to see during this era of the pandemic. The country, under the capable stewardship of President Cyril Ramaphosa, should work hard to enhance bilateral and multilateral relations with countries and multinational pharmaceutical companies that have shown capability in manufacturing vaccines." On Monday, President Ramaphosa led a government delegation to welcome the arrival of the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India. The vaccine has undergone successfully trials at Oxford University, with South Africa's scientists making valuable contributions. Mahambehlala extended gratitude to the friendly government of India, calling the country a "true friend in need and a trusted partner in the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] formation". Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa External Relations Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Mahambehlala said South Africa will continue to play a role in making the vaccine available to neighbouring countries. The African Union, which was chaired by South Africa when the pandemic struck, has worked to ensure that the continent gets its fair share of the vaccine, working with the COVAX Facility and led by the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. Mahambehlala expressed her appreciation to President Ramaphosa's successful chairing of the African Union. SA's chairship of the AU comes to an end this week. Cuba commended for immense sacrifice Mahambehlala applauded the Cabinet decision to endorse and nominate the Cuban Medical Brigade, which is deployed throughout the world, for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. "We thank these gallant heroes and heroines of Cuba for their selfless and unwavering sacrifice to assist the world in the fight against Coronavirus," Mahambehlala said. About 200 Cuban doctors are deployed in South Africa to help in the fight against COVID-19. Property worth millions of shillings was destroyed on Sunday night when another dormitory caught fire at Karia Boys High School in Kirinyaga County in a suspected arson attack. The students were on night preps when a huge fire broke out in the dormitory and left a trail of destruction. During the incident, beds, mattresses, uniforms, textbooks and other items belonging to the students were destroyed and nothing was salvaged during the incident. This is the second dormitory to be burnt down in the learning institution in a span of two weeks. According to the Kirinyaga Central deputy county commissioner, Daniel Ndege, more than 90 students were left in the cold. "We suspect that this arson attack has been committed by students who are abusing drugs," he said. He added that investigations had commenced and that those found to be implicated will be arrested and prosecuted. The school principal, Gideon Gikunda said the learning institution's board of management will meet to decide the fate of the students. "We are taking the matter seriously and we shall not spare students who are involved in criminal activities," he said. Area Member of Parliament, Mr Munene Wambugu narrated how he visited the school recently and donated Sh1million Constituency Development Fund to help rebuild the first dormitory which had been torched. "I'm surprised another dormitory has been burnt even before the first is rebuilt. The parents should now pay for the damages caused," he said. At the same time, Mr Wambugu criticised the county government for failing to send fire fighters to the school to put out the fire. "The devolved government did not respond at all when fire was reported in the school yet it has a fire engine," he said. Mr. Prosper Afenyo, Acting Director of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) has noted that Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, the Regional Minister nominee had proved to be the one driving forward its development. He said the Regional Minister, who is a medical doctor and an industrial investor in private life, had exhibited exceptional performance at managing the Region. Mr Afenyo said under his watch, the IGF of all local Assemblies in the Region have been growing at an average rate of 20 percent, from nine before he took office. As a result, Dr Letsa was awarded the best performing regional Minister in 2019. He would summon MMDCEs to raise funds for IGF collection. Such a person winning laurels, he understands every issue about public service. He perfectly supervises and monitors our performance." Its surprising that as a private man he knows so much, the Director said to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in reaction to a recent show of disapproval by some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), of the Regional Minster's reappointment. Mr Afenyo, who until his appointment was the Regional Budget Officer, stated that only a fraction of the people of the Region disapproved of Dr Letsas reappointment, and that major stakeholders endorsed his leadership. Just a small fraction of the people of the Region have shown up against him. Only a part of one Party is doing that. We must collate views of other sections of the public including chiefs, if we really want to access him. MMDCEs have his back 100 per cent. Chiefs from across the Region also support him. All 37 of the highly functional NGOs in the Region are behind him. We workers have his back because he is not selfish." Mr Afenyo said the Minister had worked to market the Region abroad and succeeded in attracting several foreign investors. Members of the Party, who joined the demonstration against the Regional Ministers reappointment, among other things, accused him of refusing to secure contracts for them. The Minister is not in charge of money. He has little influence over contracts, Mr Afenyo stated. He added that the Minister represented the President locally, headed the Regional Security Council, and therefore managed a job so huge that campaign and other political activities must be undertaken by the District Chief Executives. Security alone takes lots of time and effort. Nkonya, Alavanyo, and Adina etc were a lot of work. It involves lots of engagements with chiefs over petty disputes and he is making a lot of peace with chiefs. His works have led to most of the conflicts not escalating, the Director said. They must seek and learn or they will put themselves to shame. They should realise and join him to secure the development of the Region, he said, and mentioned how the Minister had taken upon himself the arduous task of securing land for investors in the Region, which he said was the most imposing barrier to investing in the Region. If anyone says he loves Volta, he must show concern over the issue of land for investors. He must support hosting investors in Volta." He said the politically unstable zones of Nkonya and Alavanyo once claimed the nations top producer of food staples, and that the Regional Ministers commitment to peace would help regrow the areas again. If they really understand these, they will not envy the Regional Minister. Dr Letsa is the best for the Region. He is well versed in public administration and also private sector investment management. Because of him, private public partnership in Volta has been excellent. He is full of ambidextrous skills and intellect. Such people are not common, the Director stated. 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 At a glance: Gov. Tom Wolf has set aside $352.8 million in his $38.4 billion general fund budget proposal to fund the states legislative branch, which is the same amount that was appropriated to operate the General Assembly as this year. That breaks down to nearly $121.9 million to operate the 50-member Senate and $230.9 million to fund the 253-member House. What it means: Pennsylvania has one of the most expensive legislatures in the nation in part because of its size, the second largest among states, and its large staffing complement. Given the financial challenges facing the commonwealth, it is possible that the General Assembly may have to freeze their own salaries as well as many of their staffers for a second consecutive year unless they can squeeze out some money in other areas of their operations, shift dollars from other areas of the state budget, or choose to dip into their legislative reserve funds to pay for increases. Rep. Frank Ryan, R-Lebanon County, is proposing legislation that would freeze salaries of legislators, judges and top executive branch officials through 2022 by eliminating the automatic cost-of-living adjustment that a 1995 law provides. In his memo to his legislative colleagues seeking support for this idea, Ryan states, While our commonwealth is facing a shortfall of revenue, in amounts of epic proportion, there is not one positive reason for public officials to continue to receive a COLA. The salary for rank and file lawmakers is currently $90,335. Some lawmakers are paid more if they hold top leadership posts. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-03 17:39:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A medical worker shows China's COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 3, 2021. Pakistan formally started the drive to administer the China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to its frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said. The drive was launched simultaneously in all four provinces, federating units and the capital in the ceremonies attended by chief ministers, senior ministers and health officials, the NCOC said. (Photo by Umar Qayyum/Xinhua) ISLAMABAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan formally started the drive to administer the China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to its frontline healthcare workers on Wednesday, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said. The drive was launched simultaneously in all four provinces, federating units and the capital in the ceremonies attended by chief ministers, senior ministers and health officials, the NCOC said. The drive, National COVID Immunization Program, was formally launched by administration of the vaccine to frontline healthcare workers representing major hospitals or health offices which actively participated in the country's fight against the coronavirus. Speaking at the ceremony held at the NCOC head office, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar thanked the government of China for supporting Pakistan during the crisis of COVID-19. He added that the frontline healthcare workers made a lot of sacrifices while handling the infected people, and provided meritorious services for serving the nation during the pandemic. He said the Pakistani government will make sure to inoculate the frontline healthcare workers to make their working safe. In the capital, the vaccine was administered to a head nurse of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences isolation unit Rizwana Yasmin, and molecular technologist at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad Fahad Mahmood, the NCOC said. A member of COVID-19 surveillance team at the District Health Office Islamabad, Javed Iqbal, who diagnosed over 10,000 positive cases in Islamabad by contact tracing and sampling with his team, also received the COVID-19 vaccine at the NCOC. In Sindh province, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, speaking at the vaccine administering ceremony, thanked the people and government of China for their support to Pakistan at the moment of need. Chief Ministers of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab also attended the ceremonies in their respective provinces and expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for enabling immunizing the local people. The first batch of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccines reached Pakistan early Monday from Beijing on a special Pakistan Air Force plane. Pakistan has so far confirmed over 549,000 cases, while 11,802 people have lost their lives to the disease since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, according to the latest government data. Enditem (Photo : Youtube/ Ryan Shaw) Tesla Model Y Gigafactory in Berlin Massive car company Tesla has updated and released its Model Y delivery timeline in Europe. The company also hinted that the Gigafactory Berlin will begin production in mid-2021. Tesla Model Y timeline in Europe With Model Y timeline, Tesla has revealed that they have taken a completely different approach to rolling out the vehicle in a new and larger market. In the past, Tesla would start its production of a new vehicle at the Fremont factory, and they start deliveries in North America and then expand to the other markets as soon as production had increased at the factory. However, for Model Y, Tesla then plans to just launch the electric SUV in Europe and Asia when it gets local production. Tesla already started Model Y production at Gigafactory Shanghai, and now the electric SUV is being delivered in China. Also Read: Elon Musk Tweets Tesla Holiday 'Boombox' Update: Here's How to Honk Out Various Sounds! Now that Tesla bagged the China market, the company is targeting Europe next. In order for Model Y to be delivered on the previous continent, Tesla needs to reach production at the new Gigafactory Berlin. Tesla has now updated its Model Y online configurator in Europe in order to show a more precise delivery timeline of mid-2021. In just a few months, the production at Gigafactory Berlin will begin, according to Electrek.Co. Gigafactory Berlin in mid-2021 This is great news for Model Y reservation holders in Europe who have been waiting for years to get a Tesla in the continent. What is also exciting is that the Model Y showed that Gigafactory Berlin will feature several new technologies. The Tesla vehicles will be equipped with the new 4680 battery cell, which features a tabless design enabling a massive form-factor among other vehicle improvements. These new improvements will have new cells and they are going to be used in a new structural battery pack design when the pack is then used as a structural part of the car's chassis. The new Model Y that is produced at Gigafactory Berlin is going to be built with fewer parts than the US-made version due to more giga-casting. The front and the back underbody of the vehicle are going to be made of a single part that is made in a Giga Press and connected together by the structural battery pack. These specific changes are expected to simplify the production of the electric vehicle, to reduce the production cost and to create a more efficient vehicle. What is Model Y? Tesla Model Y is the company's vehicle for 2021 that adds additional cargo space. It has an optional third row of seats and the vehicle styling to the more affordable end of Tesla's offerings, according to Autocar.Co.UK. Powered by dual on-board electric motors is a lot, the base Standard Range model comes with rear-wheel drive but the Long Range and Performance models get all-wheel drive as a standard. The driving range is amazing with a maximum range of up to 326 miles per charge. Tesla is known to make numerous running changes throughout the year rather than group things into a massive batch when flipping the switch from one model year to another. Related Article: Tesla Solar Inverter that Can Connect to Wifi Launching Soon: Specs, Price, Features, and MORE! This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Sieeka Khan 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 Those in Iran who have an iron fist left me no option but to pack my bag for my decisive journey, Mr. Ahmady said in a statement on his website. He did not say whether he had received help, how he had evaded controls or how he had reached Britain. Image Kameel Ahmady Credit... Kurdistan Human Rights Network, via Shutterstock Separately, Mr. Ahmady has also faced accusations of sexual misconduct. The Iranian Sociological Association, where he had been director of a subsection, expelled him last year, citing allegations from female colleagues. In an unusual public statement, the association said that it had investigated the claims and concluded there was evidence of at least some form of abuse of power. In a written response, Mr. Ahmady denied the accusations and called them very upsetting. Mr. Ahmadys lawyer in Iran did not respond to questions on whether the allegations had weighed on the judiciarys sentencing or been discussed during court hearings. Mr. Ahmady said in an email that it was really lovely to be back in Britain. Its been an incredibly difficult time for me and my family and now its an opportunity to get on, settle down and rebuild our lives in peace, he added. The news of Mr. Ahmadys escape brought a twist in the tense relations between Britain and Iran, just a month before another British-Iranian held in Tehran, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is expected to complete her sentence. Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was convicted on spying charges in 2016 and sentenced to five years in prison; she has been under house arrest in Tehran since last year. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Residents in five Northeast Ohio nursing homes will have to be vaccinated because Walgreens has discovered some of the shots may not have been stored at the proper temperatures. But weve only seen two vaccine temperatures mess-ups so far in Ohio. Were talking about their rarity and whether they pose any health issues on This Week in the CLE. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editors Jane Kahoun, Kris Wernowsky and me. Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802. Here are the questions were answering today: Why do a bunch of Northeast Ohio nursing home residents have to get re-vaccinated for the coronavirus? Who screwed up? How can the organizers of the Cleveland Auto Show continue to plan an event this year with all the unknowns of the coronavirus? Why does Ohio have more than 150,000 residents waiting on pandemic unemployment checks? Just how bad did the opioid epidemic get as the pandemic rages across Ohio and the nation last year? Ive asked this question multiple times before, and I guess Ill ask it again. Whats the latest delay and cost overrun in the long-term effort to update the Cuyahoga County computer systems? How many lieutenant governors have become governor in Ohio, like Jon Husted wants to do? Why is the Ohio Senate trying to change the standards for companies that provide software that counties use to maintain voter registration lists? Want more? You can find all our past episodes here. We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify. Find us here. If you use Stitcher, we are here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On Google Podcasts, we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. And on PlayerFM, we are here. The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorisation procedure without additional clinical trials in the country The Russian Direct Investment Fund has announced the registration of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus by the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS). The vaccine was approved under the emergency use authorisation procedure without additional clinical trials in the country. Mexico has become the first country of North America to approve Sputnik V and the 17th country in the world. Sputnik V had been approved earlier in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia and Armenia. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, We welcome the decision of regulatory authorities of Mexico to register Sputnik V vaccine and include it in the national portfolio of vaccines against coronavirus. Partnership between Russia and Mexico will save many lives and protect the population by using one of the best vaccines in the world. High efficacy of Sputnik V was confirmed yesterday by data published in one of the most respected medical journals The Lancet. A US teen charged with the murder of an Italian police officer in 2019 told a court on Wednesday the victim and his partner never showed their badges. Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 19, faces a life sentence along with his friend Finnegan Elder, 20, for the July 2019 death of police officer Mario Cerciello Rega during a botched drug bust in Rome while the then-teens were on holiday. Elder has admitted to stabbing Cerciello with a combat knife during a fight on a dark street while Natale-Hjorth wrestled with the police officer's partner. Natale-Hjorth faces the same charges as Elder, as under Italian law, anyone who participates indirectly in a murder can face homicide charges. Both teens have said they were jumped from behind by their adversaries, whom they believed to be thugs sent by a drug dealer who had swindled them when they earlier tried to buy cocaine. They both have told investigators they did not know the pair were police. 'They approached without saying a word,' Natale-Hjorth told the court in English, according to a translation published by Italian news wire AGI. Americans Gabriel Natale-Hjorth (left) and Finnegan Elder (right) accused of killing Carabinieri military police officer Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome in 2019, are led into court on Wednesday Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 19 (pictured left arriving in court on Wednesady) faces a life sentence along with his friend Finnegan Elder, 20 (pictured right) for the July 2019 death of police officer Mario Cerciello Rega during a botched drug bust in Rome in 2019 Before Cerciello's partner, Andrea Varriale, fell to the ground in the scuffle, he said 'carabinieri', Natale-Hjorth said, referring to Italy's military police. 'But I didn't think it was possible that they were carabinieri, they were dressed normally,' he testified. 'They didn't pull out a badge...' The killing in 2019 triggered an outcry of public sympathy in Italy for the newlywed Cerciello, as well as outrage over leaked photos of Natale-Hjorth blindfolded and his hands cuffed behind his back inside a police station. Natale-Hjorth said he was the first to run away after the scuffle and did not see Elder attack Cerciello with the knife when he turned around to look. Mario Cerciello Rega, who had just returned to work from his honeymoon, suffered 11 stab wounds and later died in hospital from his injuries Pictured: Rosa Maria Esilio, widow of slain Carabinieri military police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, arrives for a hearing in the trial of the two young American nationals who are accused of the killing on February 3, 2021 in Rome Back in the hotel room, Elder took out the knife and 'I didn't know what to think', Natale-Hjorth said, before explaining that he opened up a panel in the ceiling where Elder hid the weapon. Varriale has testified that he and Cerciello identified themselves as police with their badges, although Cerciello's was never found. Defence attorneys have been trying to show that police errors and lies told by Varriale in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing - such as whether or not the policemen were armed, as they should have been while on duty - undermine the prosecution witness' version of events. Elder, 20, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 19, (right) are charged with stabbing Deputy Brigadier Rega to death in Rome. The pair are pictured here in a photo released by Italian Carabinieri Cerciello's death was front-page news in 2019 due to an outpouring of public sympathy for the policeman, who had just returned to work after his honeymoon. But there was also widespread shock over leaked photos of Natale-Hjorth blindfolded and handcuffed inside a police station. Natale-Hjorth fought with Cerciello's partner during the attack. Even though he did not stab Cerciello, under Italian law he faces the same charge of 'voluntary homicide' with a special circumstance of killing a police officer. Elder and Natale-Hjorth, both from San Francisco, were 19 and 18 at the time of the killing. The images in court show Elder with a partially missing middle finger. His mother told CNN in 2019 that her son fell from a ladder in an industrial accident a few years ago. This left his left hand partially paralyzed and his finger amputate. In 2016, he was charged assault of a fellow high school classmate that resulted in severe injury. The murder sparked a national outcry. The funeral was held in the same church where Rega had married just months before A confusing web of events led to the 32-second attack, beginning with the young Americans looking for cocaine earlier in the evening. After an intermediary introduced them to a drug dealer who sold them aspirin instead, the teens stole the bag of the intermediary in retaliation, later demanding money and drugs to return it. The dealer was actually an informant, who reported the bag's theft to police. Cerciello and his partner Andrea Varriale left their designated patrol area and arrive at the designated exchange point near the teenagers' hotel before the attack. Varriale admitted to lying when he said following the attack that both officers had been armed, as they should have been while on duty, and that he conspired with a superior officer to lie about it. In his statement in court, Elder said 'many mistakes were made that night. Mine was the biggest.' 'I would like to go back and change things, but I cannot. All I can say is that I feel remorse. I am in pain for the suffering I have caused. I am sorry and very sad for what happened to Cerciello'. In 2019, Varriale described to the Rome court how he desperately tried to stop up Cerciello's wounds until an ambulance arrived, but 'the blood was spurting out'. 'We approached the pair from the front and we pulled out our badges, saying we were police,' Varriale told the court, according to Italian news agencies. 'They had nothing in their hands. We just wanted to identify them. They immediately attacked us,' Varriale said. 'I was grabbed by Natale and we wrestled on the floor. At the same time I could hear Cerciello shouting "Stop! Police!" His voice was breaking,' he said. 'The whole thing lasted just a few seconds. I let my aggressor go because I was alarmed by Cerciello's shouts. I looked up and I saw him standing, and he said "they stabbed me", before collapsing on the ground.' The court then heard the audio recording of the emergency call Varriale made Natale-Hjorth initially told investigators he had not been involved, but his fingerprints were found on a ceiling panel in the hotel room where the students had hidden the knife. The pair have reportedly been held in solitary confinement at the Regina Coeli holding jail (above) in central Rome while detectives investigate the murder The case has been marked by major blunders - especially the blindfolding of Natale-Hjorth during his police interrogation (pictured) The day after the Americans were arrested, a photograph was leaked to the press showing Natale-Hjorth illegally blindfolded and handcuffed at the Rome barracks where he had been taken for questioning. Varriale admitted he had not only been present, he had taken the photograph and had filmed the scene as well. Varriale stuck by his story that he had been carrying his gun until August 9, when he confessed that not only did he not have his gun on him, but that he had conspired with a superior officer to lie about it. The Americans had earlier that night stolen the bag of a man who had introduced them to a drug dealer. They say the theft was revenge for the dealer having tried to rip them off. What they did not know was that the dealer was a police informant. When they set up a meeting to swap the bag in return for money, the police turned up instead. While Varriale says he and Cerciello showed the Americans their badges, Cerciello's badge was never found, and in the chaotic aftermath of the stabbing, Varriale was not asked to produce his, or his handcuffs. BT Global Access, a Canada-based social enterprise and international student recruitment agency has announced it's new partnerships with Gambjobs, a Gambia job website portal where employers and job seekers meet. The partnership is to recruit international students and provide counseling, advisory and placement services for Gambian students looking to study in Canada. The partnership agreement is also aimed at using new technologies to improve information sharing and to get a more efficient and convenient way of reaching out to prospective students and young people in The Gambia. Gamjobs is the first job website portal in The Gambia, and is designed to make the process of advertising, searching and finding jobs in The Gambia, easier, faster and accessible. Ousman Conteh, Chief Executive Officer at BT Global Access said his company's core values are deeply rooted in collaboration, integrity, innovation and diversity. "We diligently partner with students, parents and clients to create value and exceed their expectations in the collective spirit of innovation and transparency. Therefore, our thinking goes beyond the realm of traditional campus recruitment systems, but we are expanding our outreach to all areas where potential qualified students may be identified and recruited." he added. Ebrima Dem, founder and CEO of Gamjobs affirmed his institution's readiness to partner with the Canada-based recruitment agency, considering the fact that many young people want to study abroad. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Gambia Labour By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He thanked BT Global Access for the trust and confidence they have in Gamjobs, pointing out that the partnership will greatly benefit young people by building their capacity, thereby enhancing their skills sets in their chosen career path. Dem used the opportunity to encourage young people intending to study in Canada to use this unique opportunity available to them. Gamjobs CEO said both companies share the same values, vision and mission, adding that by joining forces, they hope to provide the best services and international opportunities for Gambian youth. According to the partnership agreement, BT Global Access's Africa head office will be based at Gamjobs' offices and they will work collaboratively with the company to provide recruitment & marketing strategy services in The Gambia. "Our mission is to retain Canada as a top destination for international students, and help Canadian businesses and youth-led start-ups to scale up investment opportunities in Africa and vice versa to contribute to Canada's competitiveness." PGVS graduates 54 D21M data collection project begins The Covid-19 Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine will not be used to innoculate Irish people who are aged over 70 but it is approved for people of all ages in Ireland, according to a statement from the Department of Health. The decision is out of line with other countries that have approved the vaccine for use in all age groups such as the UK and limited to those aged over 65 as has happened in some EU countries. It is not in line with safety assessment by EU regulators which say it is safe to use. The move is likely to make the vaccination programme more complicated as the AstraZeneca vaccine presents fewer difficulties to administer than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines which must be stored at extremely low temperatures and have a short shelf life once out of storage. The Department has announced that Ireland's National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has recommended that in line with the approvals granted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), all currently authorised Covid-19 vaccines can be used in adults of all ages, including those aged 70 years and older. However, in a statement issued by the Department of Health, NIAC said it has also recommended that mRNA vaccines (Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna approved in Ireland) should be used for the over 70s where practicable and timely. It said Dr Tony Holohan, the Chief Medical Officer, has reviewed the NIACs recommendations and has advised the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly who has accepted the recommendations provided. This means the AstraZeneca vaccine will be given to those under 70. It is being used in the UK on all ages and Dr Holohan explained the reasoning. The main objective of the vaccination strategy is to prevent morbidity and mortality. International and national data indicate that those aged 70 years and older are at significantly higher risk of hospitalisation and mortality. Due to the demonstrated efficacy of mRNA vaccines in older persons and in recognition of their particular vulnerability in terms of their increased risk of death and serious disease if they contract COVID-19, it has been recommended that mRNA vaccines be administered to all those over 70 years in order to provide the highest level of protection available to this population. A statement added that the High-Level Taskforce on COVID-19 Vaccination and the HSE have been informed of the decisions and are working through the operational implications. The Department of Health statement said that the Minister has asked the HSE and the Taskforce to advise him on the immediate implications for the vaccination programme. It said a number of other EU countries have made similar decisions with regard to the provision of mRNA vaccines to older people. Ireland cannot use the AstraZeneca vaccine without the European Medicines Agency's approval which has been granted. In doing so the EMA said the vaccine can be used for all adults over 18. The Department of Health issued statement said data is limited. Despite this, the belief in Ireland is that evidence is limited. "The expert advice to the Minister recognised that currently there is limited data on the AstraZeneca vaccine in relation to older age groups. Those aged over 70 are a key priority group for protection because of their greater risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death from COVID-19," said the statment. Supplies of AstraZeneca will begin arriving in Ireland from next week and deliveries of Pfizer and Moderna will continue as scheduled. The vaccine is easier to use because it can be stored in a regular fridge. However, Ireland is getting less of the British developed vaccine than expected because of supply problems. Minister Stephen Donnelly said: It has been a remarkable achievement by science to have developed, rigorously tested, gained regulatory approval and distributed three safe and effective vaccines in little over a year since SARS-COV-2 was first identified. The addition of a third COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca will significantly enhance the implementation of our vaccination programme and, together with those from Pfizer and Moderna, will play a very important role in protecting our population from COVID-19 and helping us to overcome the challenges which we have faced over the last year. The roll-out of community vaccinations to our over 70s will begin as planned this month starting with those aged 85 and over. German and French authorities are only giving the vaccine to 18-64 year olds and say there there is not enough data on how well it protects the over-65s. AstraZeneca says its clinical trial data supports its effectiveness in the over-65s age group. Public Health England said the company's data on the vaccine's immune responses was "very reassuring". More info from the Department of Health in Ireland On January 29th the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca for use in people from 18 years of age, based on a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The AstraZeneca vaccine is made up of another virus hat has been modified to contain the gene for making a protein from SARS-CoV-2COVID-19. Vaccine AstraZeneca does not contain the virus itself and cannot cause COVID-19. Combined results from 4 clinical trials in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa showed that COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca was safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 in people from 18 years of age. These studies involved around 24,000 people altogether. Half received the vaccine and half were given a control injection, either a dummy injection or another non-COVID vaccine. People did not know if they had been given the test vaccine or the control injection. The Agency based its calculation of how well the vaccine worked on the results from study COV002 (conducted in the UK) and study COV003 (conducted in Brazil). These showed a 59.5% reduction in the number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in people given the vaccine (64 of 5,258 got COVID-19 with symptoms) compared with people given control injections (154 of 5,210 got COVID-19 with symptoms). This means that the vaccine demonstrated around a 60% efficacy in the clinical trials. Most of the participants in these studies were between 18 and 55 years old. There were not enough results in older participants (over 55 years old) to provide a figure for how well the vaccine will work in this group. However, protection is expected, given that an immune response is seen in this age group and based on experience with other vaccines; as there is reliable information on safety in this population, EMAs scientific experts considered that the vaccine can be used in older adults. More information is expected from ongoing studies, which include a higher proportion of elderly participants. National Immunisation Advisory Committee Advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommends that in line with the conditional marketing authorisation granted by the EMA: all currently authorised COVID- 19 vaccines can be used in adults of all ages, including those aged 70 years and older. NIAC stated that given the high rates of community transmission, the best vaccine to administer to the older population is the one which can be soonest administered. Where practicable and timely, those aged 70 years and older should be given mRNA vaccines, as these vaccines have a higher reported overall efficacy which makes them preferable for use in those at highest risk of adverse outcomes. CMO Advice to Minister The main objective of the vaccination strategy is to prevent morbidity and mortality. International and national data indicate that those aged 70 and older are at significantly higher risk of hospitalisation and mortality. Due to the superior efficacy demonstrated by mRNA vaccines, including in older persons (albeit the data is limited), and in recognition of their particular vulnerability in terms of their increased risk of death and serious disease if they contract SARS-CoV- 2, it is recommended that mRNA vaccines be administered to all those over 70 years in order to provide the highest level of protection available to this population. The policy advice a in relation to vaccination of those older than 70 years with mRNA vaccines will be updated as required, based on any further NIAC advice. What is an mRNA vaccine? mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. However, researchers have been studying and working with them for decades. Once an mRNA vaccine is injected into muscle cells, it gives them instructions for how to make a harmless protein called a spike protein that is unique to the COVID virus. Next, cells display the spike protein on its surface. The body recognises that the spike protein should not be there and builds defensive white cells that will remember how to fight the virus if exposed to it in the future. After the spike protein is made, cells breaks down the mRNA instructions so they do not stay in the body There are currently two mRNA vaccines licensed for use in Ireland -the Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna vaccines. Authorities investigating a triple shooting in Mid-City last month that claimed the life of an in-home health care worker on the job with a patient are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and charges. The amount of money that Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans is offering in the unsolved slaying of Ilia Henderson, 40, is double the organizations standard reward in homicide cases. A donation from Hendersons employer, Loving Hearts of Louisiana, made the increase possible, Crimestoppers President Darlene Cusanza said at a news conference Wednesday. Five killed in recent New Orleans slayings identified by New Orleans coroner's office The Orleans Parish Coroners Office this week released the names of five people killed in recent slayings. Henderson was with a patient in a wheelchair on the porch of a home in the 3000 block of Bienville Street the evening of Jan. 18 when at least two people in an older model Chevrolet Suburban began firing bullets at another person, Santiago Rubio, NOPD Detective Tanisha Smith said. Rubio, 30, who was thought to be the intended target, was killed. Henderson, who was caught in the crossfire, was mortally wounded as well. A third person was shot and survived, police have said. The killers fled. NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said the facts surrounding Hendersons murder are particularly troubling to investigators. She was making an honest living by helping someone, and she became a victim of senseless violence," Ferguson 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 Hendersons mom, Florita Lazard, wept Wednesday as she described the pain of violently losing her best friend. Lazard said she is now raising Hendersons three daughters, and pleaded for the public to help give their family a measure of peace by turning over whoever was responsible for the deadly triple shooting. Please help me to help my daughters find who did this, Lazard said, her voice trembling. I cant do this by myself. Loving Hearts owner Gian Durand said Henderson was both an employee and a friend. Were in a society where we cant even go to work without being afraid, Durand said. Im tired of living in fear. I hope you guys are tired, too. Investigators havent publicly named any suspects or discussed a possible motive for the shooting. On Wednesday, they released photos of the Suburban that were captured by a nearby surveillance camera. The vehicle had dark windows, a roof rack, step rails, damage to its rear passenger door and a missing drivers door handle. Officials asked anyone with information about the triple shooting to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Tipsters do not have to give their names or testify to be eligible for the $10,000 reward, which expires in late January 2023. WASHINGTON - A growing number of Republicans took sides Tuesday in a brewing House battle over the shape of the GOP after the Donald Trump presidency, amplifying pressure on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as he decides this week whether to sideline conspiracy theorists and secure a place for anti-Trump voices in party leadership. Leading the charge was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who made an unusual detour into the other chamber's affairs by denouncing the extremist rhetoric of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene while offering a gesture of support for Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House GOP leader, who voted last month to impeach Trump. He was joined Tuesday by several other Republican lawmakers, as well as pillars of the conservative establishment, who together warned that sidelining Trump critics from the party while tolerating purveyors of social-media-driven paranoia would spell long-term disaster - a "cancer for the Republican Party and our country," as McConnell put it. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., a McConnell confidant who recently ended a stint as a chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called Greene "nutty" and "an embarrassment to our party." "The people of her congressional district, it's their prerogative if they want to abase themselves by voting to elect someone who indulges in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and all manner of other nonsense. But I've got no tolerance for people like that," he told reporters. "In terms of the divisions within our party, she's not even part of the conversation, as far as I'm concerned." Greene, meanwhile, boasted of raising more than $85,000 in the 24 hours following McConnell's statement late Monday and fired back at the Senate GOP leader on Twitter: "The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully." The debate over the future of the GOP comes a day before House Republicans are scheduled to meet privately to debate whether Cheney, R-Wyo. - the daughter of a former vice president who has spent a lifetime in Republican politics - can continue in her role as GOP conference chairwoman. They are also facing pressure to swiftly remove Greene, R-Ga., from two House committees after the unearthing of social media posts in which she endorsed the assassination of prominent Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi; promulgated conspiracy theories involving the same; and claimed mass shootings in Las Vegas and Florida were "false flag" operations staged by supporters of gun control. At the center of the pressure is McCarthy, R-Calif., who has maintained his position as the top House Republican leader by hewing closely to Trump and an evolving GOP electorate that eagerly embraced the former president's hard-edge populism while casting aside much of the party's conservative orthodoxy. After unexpected GOP gains in November's elections, McCarthy is well-positioned to succeed Pelosi as speaker in the upcoming midterm elections, but he is now facing an intraparty crisis following the Capitol riot - one that some Republicans say has been exacerbated by McCarthy's own vacillations in the four weeks since. After publicly holding Trump at least partially responsible for the events of Jan. 6 and endorsing a first-ever presidential censure, McCarthy later tempered his criticism - culminating in a meeting with Trump last week at the former president's Florida estate. The product of the summit was an agreement to work in tandem to win the House back for Republicans in 2022 - an outcome that could vault McCarthy into the speakership and demonstrate the durability of Trump's appeal to GOP voters. But the fracture inside the party of Cheney and Greene could throw that plan into doubt - and it is in McCarthy's hands to navigate a path through the turmoil. On one side are Trump loyalists who make up the bulk of the House GOP - two-thirds of whom voted to reject state electoral votes and endorse Trump's baseless voter fraud claims - while a significant minority are eager to move the party away from Trump and toward a more policy-driven foundation. In the latter camp are many Republicans who see the moment as akin to the mid-1960s reckoning when journalist William F. Buckley Jr. and key GOP politicians banded together to marginalize the anti-Communist extremism and conspiracy-mongering of the John Birch Society. The echoes of that moment could be heard in the statement from McConnell, who dismissed Greene's statements as "loony lies" that have "nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party." Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 GOP leader, said House Republicans faced a simple choice: "Do they want to be the party of limited government . . . or do they want to be the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon?" he asked, referring to the extremist ideology that Greene embraced during her campaign and has been linked to violent incidents culminating in the Capitol riot. Said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, "Our big tent is not large enough to both accommodate conservatives and kooks." Robert Doar, president of the American Enterprise Institute, which has historically enjoyed close ties with Republican policymakers, said it was incumbent on the GOP to accept Trump critics like Cheney into the fold and root out extremists or watch the party's electoral coalition continue to unravel. "The risk is that they'll drive reasonable people who would likely be supportive of right-of-center policies away because they don't want to be a part of a party that has those elements in it," he said. "What will happen is that the substance that you really care about - a certain kind of tax policy, a certain kind of budgetary policy, an approach on issues concerning cancel culture and identity politics - will lose." But the other camp, largely consisting of newer Republicans who came to power with Trump, see establishment figures as attempting to pull the party back to its Reagan-Bush days. "If I was a Republican at risk of losing a primary, I do not know that Mitch McConnell's endorsement would be the first I would seek," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., first elected alongside Trump in 2016, told reporters Monday evening. He flew to Wyoming last week to campaign against Cheney. "I listed Mitch McConnell right along the establishment figures like Joe Biden and Liz Cheney and Nancy Pelosi and Mitt Romney who want to return our government to its default setting of screwing the American people to their benefit," Gaetz said of his trip to Wyoming. Next week, the Senate is set to try Trump on the impeachment charge that he incited the Jan. 6 riot by inviting his supporters to rally in the District of Columbia as Congress tallied the electoral votes after spreading the false claim that he did not lose the November election. But because most Republican senators have signaled that they plan to sidestep the question of Trump's culpability and acquit him on constitutional grounds, the fates of Cheney and Greene have become the most important proxy battles for the party's future. Cheney's fate as a GOP leader will be debated in Wednesday evening's private meeting of Republican lawmakers. While some Trump loyalists have made clear they intend to turn the meeting into a session to air long-simmering grievances, it will be largely up to McCarthy how the challenge will be resolved. Many Republicans say he is likely to bottle up any motion to dismiss Cheney in a committee of party leaders rather than put her service up for a vote. But avoiding accountability for Greene could be much more difficult. House Democrats have announced plans to move forward with a resolution removing Greene from her two committees unless Republicans act first. In recent history, a House majority has never removed a minority member from a committee without the minority's consent. But Democrats say they are on firm political ground given the nature of Greene's comments - and many Republicans acknowledge that the rarity of the move won't shield them from electoral repercussions. "That puts every single member of our conference in a very difficult position - having to take an up-or-down vote" on Greene, said one House Republican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak about internal discussions. "The worst-case scenario is to take this to the floor." A McCarthy aide did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. McCarthy himself was in Houston for an event with fellow House Republicans taking aim at President Joe Biden's recent executive actions that targeted the fossil fuel industry; he did not address Cheney or Greene during a news conference there. Greene on Tuesday circulated a letter of support from Republican leaders in her northwest Georgia congressional district. "She has broken no laws and done nothing illegal," they wrote. "It is the 14th district who gets to decide who represents them. We don't like the fact that the establishment and mainstream media are trying to take that away and silence our voice in Congress." Greene's allies inside the House GOP are also speaking up. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said in a lengthy statement Tuesday that the "tyrannical" Democratic threats to strip Greene of her committees would be reciprocated when Republicans retake the majority. "All self-righteous Republicans beware: if this can happen to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, it can happen to any one of us," he said, noting that her comments were "shared as a private citizen before coming to the U.S. House." Democrats have already signaled they see Greene's presence inside the Republican ranks as a political bonanza heading into the midterms, when the outlook seems otherwise dismal for their five-seat majority, given expected GOP gains due to redistricting and the typical head winds faced by a president's party. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday launched a roughly $500,000 flash ad campaign targeting vulnerable Republicans in swing suburban districts, plus McCarthy himself. The ads, running online and on TV, assert that QAnon "took over the Republican Party, sent followers to Congress, and with Donald Trump, incited a mob that attacked the Capitol and murdered a cop." The targeted lawmakers who voted against impeaching Trump, the ads say, "stood with Q, not you." Pelosi, meanwhile, has taken direct aim at McCarthy over Greene's extreme statements. Her House office on Saturday issued a roundup of the coverage highlighting the GOP leader's inaction, and on Tuesday, her political team sent a tweet referring to him as "Qevin McCarthy, Q-CA," attached to a video clip from President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address: "Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up back inside." Source: AFP Ant Group, the financial-services company founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma will restructure itself as a financial holding company. The fintech giant and Chinese regulators have agreed on a restructuring plan for it, making it subject to capital requirements similar to those for banks, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter. According to the report, the restructuring plan talks about putting all of Ants businesses into the holding company, which includes its technology offerings in areas like blockchain and food delivery. Ant had previously announced plans for only financial operations to become a financial holding company. The move could be officially announced before the start of Chinas Lunar New Year holiday next week, said the report. The restructuring plan of Ant said to be the first big step in whats expected to be a lengthy overhaul process, as it includes drawing up detailed capital requirements and other guidelines for companies that span multiple financial business lines, suggested the report. In September 2020, China issued new rules to regulate financial holding companies, in a move to prevent systematic risks to the nations vast financial sector. The new rules were rolled out as a small number of companies expanded blindly into the financial sector without isolation mechanisms and while accumulating risks, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) had said in a statement. Meanwhile, Ant is still exploring possibilities to revive its initial public offering (IPO), which was suspended by regulators in November 2020, said the report quoting people familiar with the issue. The catalyst for Ma's current woes was an October 24 speech in which he blasted China's regulatory system, leading to the suspension of his Ant Group's $37 billion IPO just days before the fintech giant's listing. Regulators have since launched an anti-trust probe into the tech sector with Alibaba taking much of the heat, while tighter regulations for Ant Group are also being considered. Ma, who is not known for shying away from the limelight, subsequently disappeared from the public eye for about three months, triggering frenzied speculation about his whereabouts. He re-emerged in January with a 50-second video appearance. (With inputs from agencies) Police investigate alleged stolen gifts POTTSVILLE State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating the theft of a Christmas package at Red Horse Road and Gordon Nagle Trail in North Manheim Township between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4. Police said Cheryl Weikel, of Ashland, said her gift containing a candle and lottery ticket was stolen. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Charges to be filed for alleged drugs POTTSVILLE State police at Schuylkill Haven said they will be filing charges against a New Philadelphia man stemming from an incident at North Second and West Market streets around 1:45 a.m. Jan. 13. Police said they conducted a traffic stop and discovered Jimmy Smith, 42, in possession of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Charges against Smith will be filed with Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville, police said. Police investigate alleged harassmentPOTTSVILLE A harassment incident that happened around 2:50 p.m. Jan. 26 is being investigated by state police at Schuylkill Haven. Police said an altercation happened between a 29-year-old Pottsville woman and her boyfriend, a 27-year-old Pottsville man. No other information was provided by police. Man charged with criminal mischief SCHUYLKILL HAVEN A Tamaqua man was charged with criminal mischief by state police at Frackville after an incident at 1544 S. Route 61 in North Manheim Township around 1:30 p.m. Jan. 22. Police said William Dale, 68, will have to answer before Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier, Orwigsburg. Police said the crime involved minor damage to a vehicle with Marsha Schwalm, 51, of Minersville, as the victim. Police investigate food-thrown incidentSCHUYLKILL HAVEN State police are investigating a disorderly conduct incident that happened on Route 61 south in North Manheim Township around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17. Police said a man reported his vehicle was struck by an unknown food item from another vehicle that was exiting the parking lot of a business he was at and fled the scene Police investigate crash in Cressona CRESSONA State police at Schuylkill Haven investigated a crash that happened in the traffic way of Hydro, just off Pottsville Street, around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26. Police said Emran Aliyev, 24, of North Ridgeville, Ohio, was driving a 2009 Volvo truck through the traffic way when he struck a legally parked 2019 Ford F-350. Aliyev, police said, was informed by a witness that he struck the vehicle but the man fled the scene. He was later identified and will be cited for accidents involving damage to unattended vehicles or property, police said. THE Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture says it has made good progress with the marking and processing of the examination data of the 113 361 candidates that registered for last year's grade 11 and 12 examinations. The ministry has therefore confirmed that it will release the National Senior Secondary Certificate (NSSC) results for grade 11 ordinary level (new) and grade 12 higher level and ordinary level (old) for all candidates on Friday, 5 February. "This year 113 361 candidates, comprising of 21 648 NSSC ordinary level (new), 23 118 NSSC higher level and 68 595 NSSC ordinary level (old) candidates, have been registered," the ministry's executive director Sanet Steenkamp in a statement this morning. According to Steenkamp, the results will be made available on the ministry's website and candidates can also access the information via the SMS service. The website and SMS service will become active on Friday. "All candidates who were registered for the 2020 national examinations are reminded to have their candidate numbers nearby in order to be able to access their results. "Regional offices will provide a service during office hours by supplying the results from the broadsheets to candidates and relatives who personally visit the regional offices or phone the offices," Steenkamp added. A hearing date for the proposed 18.7% dwelling insurance rate increase has been set for Jan. 18, 2022 by North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a statement from the North Carolina Department of Insurance said. The proposed rate increase was filed last year by the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which is not part of NCDOI. It represents all companies writing property insurance in the state. We are not in agreement with the Rate Bureaus proposed increase filed in December, Causey said. I want to make sure that the process is transparent and that consumers interests are protected while making sure our insurance companies remain healthy so they can pay claims. The notice of hearing said that some of the data included in NCRBs Dec. 14, 2020, filing contained a lack of documentation, explanation, and justification of both the data used as well as the procedures and methodologies used, NCDOI said. The hearing is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 18, 2022, in the second-floor hearing room in the Albemarle Building, 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh. The hearing will take place unless NCDOI and NCRB are able to negotiate a settlement before that date. State law gives the insurance commissioner 45 days to issue an order once the hearing concludes. Once the order is issued, NCRB has the right to appeal the decision before the North Carolina Court of Appeals. An appeals court order could then be appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court. The NCRB and NCDOI can settle the proposed rate increase at any time during the process. Dwelling insurance policies are not homeowners insurance policies. Dwelling policies are offered to non-owner-occupied residences of no more than four units, including rental properties, investment properties and other properties that are not occupied full time by the property owner. The filing covers insurance for fire and extended coverage at varying rates around the state. Under the NCRB proposal, the increases would be felt statewide with most consumers seeing a double-digit increase. The last NCRB dwelling rate increase filing was in 2019 that resulted in a settlement of 4%, which took effect July 1, 2020. Source: North Carolina Department of Insurance Topics Trends North Carolina Pricing Trends Panaji, Feb 3 : As Goa's stricken iron ore mining sector completes three years in a deathly slump on February 7, a collective of private sector mines workers and other industry-dependents now appear to be banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to resolve the ongoing deadlock. Three BJP chief ministers -- namely late Manohar Parrikar, Laxmikant Parsekar and the latest incumbent Pramod Sawant -- have so far failed to resolve Goa's prolonged mining imbroglio, which began first with a Supreme Court ban on mining in 2012. In 2018, another apex court order had led to complete curtailment of fresh excavation of ore in Goa. "We now urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his immediate intervention for resumption of mining in Goa, before Goa loses its fourth consecutive mining year due to the mining ban imposed by the apex court of India," president of the Goa Mining People's Front Puti Gaonkar has said. While the state's mining sector contributed between 15 to 18 per cent of Goa's Gross Domestic Product at its peak in 2012, in the same year witnessed a series of events, beginning with the revelation of a Rs. 35,000 crore illegal mining scam by a judicial commission, led to the closure of the mining sector. The mining scam became one of the key agendas of the 2012 state assembly elections, which resulted in the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power. Months after taking charge, Parrikar ordered a temporary suspension of all mining activity in the state, pending verification of mining leases. Days after Parrikar's decision, then Union Minister of State (Ind. charge) for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan cancelled all environment clearances granted to the 90-odd mining leases, before the Supreme Court in the same year imposed a ban on mining, while hearing a petition filed by Goa Foundation, one of the state's top green NGOs. The mining sector resumed again in 2014 with a 20 million ton cap on extraction of ore, but came to a standstill once again in 2018, after the apex court found glaring irregularities in the lease renewal processes. This time the top court -- and later the Goa Lokayukta as well -- faulted then Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar for hurriedly renewing a majority of the mining leases without following due processes. The apex court had also urged the state government to start the process for fresh allotment of leases, a step which the Goa government has still not adopted. The 2015 amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act mandates that iron ore leases should be mandatorily auctioned. According to Claude Alvares, director of Goa Foundation, auctioning of the mining leases would be a faster way to resume mining in Goa, instead of scouting for a "legislative cure" to restart the sector, which Chief Minister Pramod Sawant as well as Bharatiya Janata Party's central leaders have insisting on. "Second, since the stoppage of mining on 15 March 2018, over two and a half years have passed, and there has been absolutely no movement. Is a 'legislative cure' actually the quickest way to resume mining? Had the state government adopted either the auction or the state mining route, surely operations could have begun?" Alvares said, adding that going the auctioning route would also earn more revenue to the state exchequer. "The iron ore lease auctions over 2015-2019 across India have resulted in a six-fold increase in the mineral sale proceeds," Alvares said. Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap has blamed the BJP for the current mining impasse. "The present economic chaos is basically because of late Manohar Parrikar's haughtiness and obstinacy in abruptly closing mining in Goa and later not opposing continuation of closure of mines in the Supreme Court and aggravating the misery by illegal renewal of 88 mining leases," said Khalap, a former Union Minister of State for Law. While little has emerged by way of a political or a legislative solution to the crisis, the Supreme Court is currently hearing a review petition filed by the Goa government which has urged the apex court to take a relook at its 2018 order. Sensex, Nifty Highlights on February 3: Market indices closed at record highs on Wednesday's after touching lifetime highs in early session in line with positive global equities. Extending gains for third session after Union Budget 2021, Sensex ended 458 points higher at 50,225 and Nifty gained 142 points to 14,789. Sensex and Nifty hit lifetime highs of 50,526 and 14,868 during today's session. Sensex and Nifty earlier had hit fresh record highs of 50,184 and 14,753, on January 21. IndusInd Bank, followed by Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, M&M, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank were among the top gainers. On the other hand, Maruti, Kotak Bank, SBI and UltraTech Cement were among the losers. Meanwhile, December quarterly earnings announcements by Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green, Jubilant FoodWorks, Ramco Cement, Apollo Tyre, City Union Bank, will also set the tone for the stock market today. Yesterday, Sensex ended 1,197 points higher at 49,797 and Nifty gained 366 points to 14,647. After Budget 2021-2022, macro data, ongoing corporate earnings season and global market performance will impact stock market movement this week. Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today 3. 53 PM: Closing session on Wednesday Market indices closed at record highs on Wednesday's after touching lifetime highs in early session in line with positive global equities. Extending gains for third session after Union Budget 2021, Sensex ended 458 points higher at 50,225 and Nifty gained 142 points to 14,789. Sensex and Nifty hit lifetime highs of 50,526 and 14,868 during today's session. 3. 50 PM: Market closing outlook On markets closing --Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said," We have been successful in getting past 14753.55 which was the previous high recorded by the Nifty. We should now target 15000-15100 and given the strong bullish tone, we could achieve this during the course of the February series. While we have good support at 14200-14300, a buy on dips strategy would be most appropriate." 3. 46 PM: Nifty technical outlook Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited said," The market witnessed to extend the gain further after the decisive breakout of the Nifty 50 Index level of 14750. the market is likely to hold the momentum and reaches the level of 14950-15000. The level of 14730-14750 act as a support zone from the short-term perspective. the momentum indicators like RSI, MACD to stay positive supporting our view that the upside movement is likely to continue. " 3. 33 PM: Sun Pharma share price climbs to new 52-week high Share price of Sun Pharma gained over 3% in Wednesday's opening trade to touch a new 52-week high of Rs 648.30, amid a broader jump in pharma index today. Sun Pharma share price opened at Rs 614.45 and gained 6.38% to the intraday high as well as new 52-week high of Rs 648.3, as against the last closing value of Rs 609.40 on BSE. Sun Pharma share has risen 12% in the last 4 days of gains. Market capitalisation of the firm stood at Rs 1,50,986.42 crore as of today's session. Sun Pharma share is trading higher than its 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200 day moving averages. 3. 30 PM: Rupee ends flat Rupee settles on flat note, up 1 paisa to 72.95 (provisional) against US dollar. 3. 24 PM: Can Fin Homes outlook Geojit Financial Services Ltd. said,"Net Interest Income (NII) reported a growth of 12% on a YoY basis. Net Interest Margin improved by 0.54bps driven by lower cost of funds despite lower yields. Loan book grew to Rs 21,004cr in Q3FY21 registering a growth of 4% YoY and 0.83% QoQ. Disbursement grew 34% on QoQ basis . PAT improved 45% YoY driven by lower provision and operating expenses. GNPA/NNPA improved to 0.68%/0.41% from 0.80%/0.59% in Q3 FY20. Expect loan and disbursement growth to be back to pre-Covid levels from Q4FY21. We reiterate our Buy rating on the stock with a rolled forward target price of Rs.596 based on 2.3x FY23E Adj BVPS." 3. 13 PM: Top gainers and losers IndusInd Bank, followed by Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, M&M, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank were among the top gainers. On the other hand, Maruti, Kotak Bank, SBI and UltraTech Cement were among the losers 3.08 PM: India's January merchandise exports rises 5.3% India's January merchandise exports rose over 5.37 per cent on a YoY basis. The country's merchandise exports during the month under review grew to $27.24 billion from $25.85 billion in January 2020. As per the data, in January 2021, the value of non-petroleum exports rose by 11.37 per cent over January 2020 to $25.24 billion. 2. 56 PM: Gold and silver outlook Anuj Gupta- DVP- Commodities and Currencies Research, Angel Broking said," Yesterday Gold prices corrected sharply by 1.84% and closed at47825 levels, Silver also corrected sharply by 8.31% and closed at 67,541 levels. Strength in Dollar and increased margins by Comex in Silver pressurize the gold and silver prices. However the expectation of Stimulus package for US economy may provide support to Gold and Silver prices. As of today Traders can go for buy in Gold at 47500 levels with the stop loss of 47200 levels for the target of 48300 levels. They can also for buy in Silver at 67800 levels with the stop loss of 66800 levels for the target of 69500 levels. In international market gold may test $1900 levels soon." 2. 42 PM: HDFC Bank outlook- book profit Reliance Research said in its note,"The stock bounced after testing its 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level of prior up-move (Rs1,177.5- Rs1,464.4), which was placed at around Rs1,350 level and recorded new high of Rs1,579. Major technical indicators on the near-term timeframe chart tested their overbought zone and may reverse down. Hence, its advised to book profit at current juncture at Rs1,564.8 and close the long trade." 2. 34 PM: Ajanta Pharma outlook Yash Gupta Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking said," Ajanta Pharma reported numbers better than the expectation, stock up by 5%. Ajanta Pharma limited total revenue from operations for Q3FY21 stood at ?749 crores up by 15% YoY from Rs 651 crores in Q3FY20. EBITDA for Q3FY21 stood at Rs 242 crores up by 30% as compared to Rs 186 crores in Q3FY20. Profit before tax for the quarter at Rs crores in Q3FY21 as compared to loss of Rs 527.4 crores in Q3FY20. Profit after tax for the quarter up by 64% at Rs 177 crores in Q3FY21 as compared to Rs 108 crores in Q3FY20. Indian business has done very well for the company, reported revenue growth of 13%, while USA generic business up by 1% only. Company reported EBITDA margins at 32% which are better than expectations. We have a positive outlook towards Ajanta Pharma limited." 2. 20 PM: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Q3FY21 result preview HDFC Securities said in its note today,"Net interest income is expected to increase by 11.8% YoY to Rs 480 crore. The bank is likely to report a 53% YoY growth in pre-provisioning operating profit to Rs 220cr. However higher provisioning would result in 21.5% decline in PAT to Rs 70 crore." 2.01 PM : Market outlook On markets --Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said,"14750-14760 needs to be crossed for the Nifty to propel further north. Once we get past this, the next level should be 15000. The index has a good support at 14200-14400 range. Keeping a close below this level as a stop, traders can aspire long positions above 14750. 1. 49 PM: YES Bank share trades flat today after 3 days of gain YES Bank share traded in a narrow range on Wednesday's early trade. YES Bank stock opened at its llast closing price of Rs 16.60 on BSE today. The stock also touched a day's high of Rs 16.65 and a low of Rs 16.25 during today's session. The stock has fallen after 3 days of consecutive gain. YES Bank stock has gained 1% higher yesterday. YES Bank stock trades higher than 5 and 100-day moving averages but lower than 20, 50 and 200-day moving averages. 1. 34 PM: Market hits new high Extending gains for third session after Union Budget 2021, Sensex was trading 695 points higher at 50,478 and Nifty gained 215 points to 14,860. Sensex and Nifty hit lifetime highs of 50,526 and 14,868 during today's session. 1. 29 PM: SBI Retirement Benefit Fund NFO closes today The solution-oriented retirement linked MF-SBI Retirement Benefit Fund New Fund Offer (NFO) is closing today on February 3, 2021. The minimum initial investment for the scheme is Rs 5,000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter. Meanwhile, the minimum additional purchase amount is Rs 1,000 & in multiples of Re 1 thereafter. The fund offers four plans- aggressive, aggressive hybrid, conservative hybrid and conservative, where investor's money will be primarily invested in equity and equity-related instruments and also in debt and money market securities. 1. 13PM: Bharti Airtel Q3FY21 result preview HDFC Seurities said in its note," Bharti Airtel could report 16.6% YoY growth in revenue to Rs 25600 crore in Q3FY21. Company could report net profit Rs 250 crore in Q3FY21 vs. a net loss of Rs 496 crore in Q3FY20. EBITDA margin could ramp up by 600bps YoY to 44.4%. The management commentary on financing strategies and fundraising plans via instruments like debentures, bonds, and loans, as the telecom sector gears up for spectrum auctions and roll-out of new-age technologies, 5G demos, and strategies for client addition would be key monitorables." 12. 56 PM : Dr Reddy's share rises after Sputnik V shows 91% efficacy in trial results Dr Reddy's Laboratories share rose over 6% in trade today after Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6% effective against Covid-19 cases in trial results published by The Lancet, a leading medical journal. The pharma stock touched an intraday high of Rs 4,759.1 rising 6.13% against previous close of Rs 4,484.25 on BSE. The share trades higher than 200 day moving averages but lower than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day and 100 day moving averages. The stock has gained 48.49% in one year and fallen 10.33% since the beginning of this year. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 77,601 crore. The stock has risen 5.01% in the last 2 days. Dr Reddy's share rises after Sputnik V shows 91% efficacy in trial results 12. 47 PM: Nifty pharma outlook Yash Gupta Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking said," Nifty Pharma up by 4.05%, trading at 12822. Nifty pharma consolidated for more than 5 months after it doubled from its March low of 6343. We expect nifty pharma can give a run upto previous highs of 13476. We if look at the results reported by the pharma company all are in line with the expectation and even some are better than the expectations, the USA and the domestic market has done well for Indian companies in Q3FY21 while API growth momentum looks weak this quarter. Some stocks like Ajanta Pharma, Sunpharma Lupin have reported better than the expected numbers in Q3FY21 while Dr.Reddy, Granules, Alembic have reported numbers in line with market expectation. We expect a rally in nifty pharma from 12500 to 13500-14000 in the next couple of months. We have a buy call on Cadila Healthcare with a target of 557." 12. 32 PM: Mid day market outlook Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said," The budget exuberance is still going on in the market and the global optimism is too providing impetus to the move. This financials led rally is likely to drive SENSEX towards 51000 and Nifty at 15000." 12. 29 PM: Rupee rises by 2 paise to 72.94 per US dollar in early trade The rupee opened on a flat note and edged higher by 2 paise to 72.94 per dollar on Wednesday's opening trade, amid positive domestic equity market and FII inflows. Traders remained cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy outcome to be announced on Friday. The domestic unit opened flat at 72.96 against the US dollar at the interbank forex market and inched higher to 72.94 against the greenback, rising mere 2 paise over its previous close. Meanwhile, the dollar index, fell 0.16 per cent to 91.05 against a basket of six currencies. Rupee rises by 2 paise to 72.94 per US dollar in early trade 12. 17 PM:India's services sector PMI reaches 52.8 in January Growth in India's dominant services sector picked up in January as demand improved and consumer optimism was buoyed by the start of a huge COVID-19 vaccination drive, although firms continued to shed jobs, a private survey showed on Wednesday. That improved sentiment was in line with findings of a Reuters poll last month that predicted Asia's third-largest economy would recover from the coronavirus crisis more strongly than previously thought, lifted by the government's "wealth and wellness" budget announced on Feb.1. ECILT/IN Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 52.8 in January from 52.3 in December, staying above the 50-level mark separating growth from contraction for the fourth straight month. India's services sector PMI reaches 52.8 in January on consumer optimism 12.09 PM: Home First Finance share lists at 19% premium to issue price Shares of mortgage financier Home First Finance listed at a 19% premium to its issue price on Wednesday. The stock made its market debut at Rs 612.15 against issue price of Rs 518 on BSE amid a Budget-driven bullish market. The stock hit the day's high at Rs 639.50 on BSE and at Rs 640 on NSE. The share later fell on profit-booking and touched day's low at Rs 565 on BSE and NSE. The initial public offer of Home First Finance Company India, with a price band of Rs 517 to Rs 518 per equity share was fully subscribed on the first day itself on January 21. The issue was subscribed 26.57 times during the three-day share sale that ended on January 23. Home First Finance share lists at 19% premium to issue price 11. 44 AM: Glenmark Pharma outlook and view Yash Gupta Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking said," Glenmark Pharmaceuticals up by 3% on announcement of positive news of receiving ANDA approval for Topiramate Extended-Release Capsules. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited has received final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (U.S.FDA) for Topiramate Extended-Release Capsules, the generic version of Qudexy1 XR Capsules, of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC. According to IQVIATM sales data for the 12 month period ending December 2020, the Qudexy XR Capsules, 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, and 200 mg market achieved annual sales of approximately $120.8 million. This is a positive development for Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, we expect the launch of this product in the USA market shortly. We have a positive outlook for the stock." 11. 28 AM: Sensex hits all-time high of 50,321, Nifty crosses 14,800 Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time highs in early trade as investors were enthused by a Budget aimed at economic recovery amid Covid -19 crisis. While Sensex rose 524 points to record high of 50,321, Nifty gained 163 points to a fresh high of 14,810. On Tuesday, Sensex closed 1,197 points higher at 49,797 and Nifty rose 366 points to 14,647. Today's rally was led by gains in heavyweights such as index-heavyweights Reliance, TCS and Infosys. Sensex hits all-time high of 50,321, Nifty crosses 14,800; IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid top gainers 11. 13 AM: Global markets today Asian markets are trading higher taking cues from overnight jump in US markets. Chinese services PMI data to be released later in the day. US markets gained yesterday backed by strong quarterly earnings reported by Amazon and Alphabet. Also expectation is ripe for another round of stimulus in US sooner. European markets closed higher as investors hope for an economic recovery post pandemic and as retail trading frenzy in stocks like GameStop waned. 11.00 AM: Market update Sensex and Nifty hit lifetime highs of 50337 and 14,828 during today's session. Sensex and Nifty earlier had hit fresh record highs of 50,184 and 14,753, on January 21 10. 50 AM: This Tata Group stock delivered 400% returns in 10 months Shares of Tata Motors jumped nearly 19 per cent in intra-day trade to hit record high of Rs 332.40, highest since May 11, 2018, on the Bombay Stock Exchange as investors remained buoyed by scrappage policy announced in Union Budget as well as strong monthly sales. The shares of Tata Group company have soared 422 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 63.60 as on March 24, 2020, while it gained 29 per cent in the last two sessions. This Tata Group stock delivered 400% returns in 10 months; should you subscribe? 10. 41 AM: Oscillating market adds 8 lakh investors in 8 trading sessions Indian equities' back-and-forth movement towards reversing its gains after touching the 50,000 milestone and gaining the momentum back has attracted more investors on Dalal Street. Nearly 8.2 lakh new investors jumped on the bandwagon when the benchmark index Sensex clawed back all the lost ground and reclaimed the 50,000-mark after six sessions. On January 21, Sensex breached 50,000 mark and touched a record high of 50,184. Oscillating market adds 8 lakh investors in 8 trading sessions 10. 35 AM: Nifty Outlook Geojit Financial said in ite note today,"Nifty look poised for 15200, with intermediate objective set at 14890. Meanwhile 14490-14415 looks to be a convenient entry point for such a move, but a fall below 14315, while less expected, should sound warning signs." 10. 20 AM: FII action Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 6,181.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,035.20 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 February, provisional data showed. 10. 10 AM: Global markets trade higher today Overseas, Asian stocks are trading higher on Wednesday following an overnight surge on Wall Street. US stocks finished sharply higher for a second straight day on Tuesday, helped by gains in Amazon.com and Google-parent Alphabet ahead of their results and by optimism over progress on a US pandemic relief package. Meanwhile, investors will be following stimulus negotiations in Washington, after congressional Republicans made a counteroffer to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan on Sunday. 10.00 AM: Morning view on the market Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said,"The risk-on is back in the market with massive FII inflows of Rs 6181 cr yesterday. There is huge delivery based buying in HDFC Twins, Tata Motors, RIL, ICICI Bank and many other bluechips. The growth-oriented bold budget, with emphasis on privatization,has facilitated this return of risk-on in the market with the Nifty spiking by 7% in 2 days. The fundamental support to the market comes from the surprisingly good results from companies. If the present steadily declining Covid incidence trends continue, the economy will bounce back sharply, supporting the rally." 9. 45 AM: Should Retail investors expect any bumper listing of Brookfield India REIT Yash Gupta Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking said," Brookfield India to Open IPO on 3rd February 2021 with net issue size of Rs 3800 Cr. Brookfield India coming with the REIT (Real Estate Trust), Brookfield is India's only institutionally managed public commercial real estate vehicle. REIT owns an initial portfolio of 4 large campus format office parks which are located in Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida and Kolkata. Reit has an initial portfolio size of 14.0 Msf, comprising 10.3 Msf of completed area, 0.1 under development and 3.7 Msf of future development. We expect listing gains to be very limited upto 10%-15%. Given the uncertainties, weak financials and high debt on book we would recommend a "Neutral" rating on the issue. Long term investors who want to add REIT in their portfolio can apply for the IPO." 9. 33 AM: Stocks to watch today on February 3 Tata Consumer, V-Mart, Infosys, Future Retail, JSW Energy, Tata Motors among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Wednesday's trading session Stocks in news: Tata Consumer, V-Mart, Infosys, Future Retail, JSW Energy, Tata Motors 9. 20 AM: Earnings today Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green, Jubilant FoodWorks, Ramco Cement, Apollo Tyre, City Union Bank, Thermax, Procter & Gamble, VGuard, Sheela Foam, SIS and Bajaj Corp among others are scheduled to report their quarterly earnings on Wednesday. 9. 15 AM: Market hits record high Market indices touched new record highs on Wednesday's opening session, amid positive global equities. SGX Nifty on the Singapore Exchange was rising by 90 points, indicating a positive trend in domestic grounds today. Sensex was trading 450 points higher at 50,221 and Nifty gained by 104 points to 14,752. 9. 10 AM: Nifty technical outlook Reliance Research in its note said," NSE-NIFTY extended gain post a strong start for the month and settled at life-time-closing high. Overall market breadth remained in favour of the bulls and major sectors were positive. Due to further rise in the index, its major technical indicators remained in buy mode. The index has potential to explore uncharted territory and will test 15,000-15,250 levels. In case of decline, the index will find support at around 14,200-level initially and 13,950-level subsequently. As for the day, support is placed at around 14,501 and then at 14,354 levels, while resistance is observed at 14,763 and then at 14,879 levels. " 9.05 AM: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust IPO Outlook & Valuation Angel Broking said in its note," Though the REIT has incurred losses in FY20 and has not paid out any dividends, they expect to pay a yield of 7.5% in FY23 which we believe is aggressive and may be difficult to acheive. Post the IPO there will also be a debt reduction of ~ ?3,575 crore for the company which will bring down the overall debt. However due to the current uncertainties around Covid-19 and proliferation of work from home we expect that demand for commercial real estate to be muted. Given the uncertainties, weak financials and high debt on book we would recommend a "Neutral" rating on the issue." 8. 50 AM: Nifty outlook Ashis Biswas, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research said," Strong trends in the market and an attempt to overcome the resistance level around the Nifty 50 Index level of 14750 (high as on 21st Jan 2021). While a breakout above 14750 is the key factor from a short-term perspective, the market is likely to maintain momentum and reaches the level of 14950-15000. The momentum indicators like RSI, MACD to recover from their low made in the last week of January 2021. As such odds of a fresh breakout is significantly high." 8. 45 AM: Closing session on Tuesday Market indices rose another 2.5% each on Tuesday after a 5% budget driven rally in the previous session, with Sensex back at 50K mark and Nifty breaching 14,700. Extending gains for second session after Union Budget 2021, Sensex ended by 1,197 points to end at 49,797 and Nifty gained by 366 points to 14,647, amid positive global equities. Sensex, Nifty close at record highs: Five factors behind the market rally Moderna has delivered about 46 percent of the vaccine stock administered in the US so far, followed by Pfizer-BioNTech. Moderna is asking United States regulators to approve what it says could be a remarkably simple proposal to speed up the immunization of Americans against the coronavirus : Fill empty space in its vials with as many as 50% more doses. The Food and Drug Administration could decide in a few weeks whether to allow Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotech firm that is the developer of one of the two federally authorized COVID vaccines, to increase the number of doses in its vials to up to 15 from 10. Moderna has been ramping up production of its vaccine, but the process of filling, capping and labeling millions of tiny vials has emerged as a roadblock. The company could produce more if regulators allow it to make fuller vials, Ray Jordan, a Moderna spokesman, said late Monday. While it is not clear how quickly Moderna could adjust its production, any increase could be hugely welcome news in the campaign to curb a pandemic that has killed more than 4,43,000 people in the United States alone. This just makes a lot of sense, said Dr. Nicole Lurie, who was the assistant health secretary for preparedness and response under President Barack Obama. If Moderna can use the same size of vial and the same production lines it is already running, she said, its a relatively easy and straightforward fix. Moderna has delivered about 46% of the vaccine that has been administered so far in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The remainder has come from Pfizer-BioNTech, the only other vaccine developer that has received emergency authorization. Both vaccines require two doses, and both companies have promised to deliver 200 million doses by July. That would be enough to cover about three-fourths of the nations adults. If Moderna can deliver doses quicker, that timetable could speed up. The Biden administration is searching for any way to bolster production, like addressing obstacles in the fill and finish phase of manufacturing. Although that nuts-and-bolts stage receives less attention than the process of making the vaccine itself, it has been identified for years as a constraint on production. Moderna has discussed the possible change with the Food and Drug Administration but has not yet submitted manufacturing data to support it, people familiar with the discussions said. Federal regulators might be receptive to the idea of more doses in each vial, but they could balk at a 50% increase and instead approve a more modest number of extra doses. The industry standard has long been 10 doses per vial, and federal regulators may be concerned that too many additional punctures by needles of the rubber covering of the vial and the time required to extract more doses could increase the risk of contaminating the vaccine with bacteria. At some point, too much liquid can cause a vial to break. Moderna has tested what happens when it adds additional doses and determined that the limit is 15, according to people familiar with the companys operations who were not authorized to speak publicly. Modernas proposal for the five-dose increase was reported earlier by CNBC. Packing more vaccine into each vial is one of a number of options that White House and health officials are exploring as they push to expand production before the spring, when officials are expecting a renewed surge of infections from emerging variants of the coronavirus . Some ideas, such as combining fractions of doses left over in vials, have been proposed and dismissed. Pfizer is unable to increase the amount of vaccine in its vials because its manufacturing is geared toward a particular size of vial that can hold only about six doses. Modernas vial is large enough to hold more than the 10 doses that are currently allowed, so it could add more without creating a new production line. When asked about Modernas proposal, a White House spokesman said Monday that all options are on the table. Prashant Yadav, who studies health care supply chains at the Center for Global Development in Washington, said Moderna might be able to relatively quickly make more of its vaccine if it received the green light to add doses to each vial. But he said it would not be an instant change. I dont think Moderna has a surplus sitting around, he said. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, who helped lead the Trump administrations vaccine development program and is a consultant to the Biden administration through next week, said other major pharmaceutical companies like Merck or GlaxoSmithKline might be able to assume some of the burden of the fill-and-finish stage. That is a more generic type of manufacturing activity, he said. French drugmaker Sanofi announced last week that starting this summer, it would help produce more than 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to meet demand in Europe. Company officials said Sanofi would fill and pack vials at a Sanofi plant in Frankfurt near BioNTechs German headquarters. BioNTech, Pfizers German partner, designed the vaccine. Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland. c.2021 The New York Times Company At a briefing on Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that more locations for people to get vaccines in New Jersey will be open soon, some as early as next week. An additional federal retail pharmacy program will launch next week through our continued partnership with Rite Aid and CVS, he said. Since most Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, this program will expand our footprint in areas of high need and is poised to receive direct allocation from the federal government without tapping into the states supply. CVS announced on Tuesday that it would start administering vaccines in some stores on Feb. 11. The vaccines will be available at 27 CVS locations across the state, the company said, but not all locations will be open for vaccines next week. People will be able to book appointments as early as Feb. 9. as stores start to receive shipments of the vaccine, CVS said. Details on the Rite Aid program were not yet available. We are working with them, Murphy said. I know appointments remain hard to come by,, Murphy said of all vaccine locations, but please understand that this is because we just dont have the supply we need to satisfy demand. As our supply, which we receive from the federal government, increases we will be able to open more and more appointments. The federal pharmacy program gives direct allocation (of doses) from the federal government without tapping into the states supply, said Department of Health Spokeswoman Donna Leusner. To get a CVS appointment, you will need to register at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app, or if you dont have online access, you can call CVS customer service line at (800) 746-7287, it said. No walk-in vaccinations will be accepted. The list of specific stores will be available on CVS.com as the stores receive vaccines, the company said. CVS said some of the pharmacy locations in New Jersey will include Brigantine, Edison, Elizabeth, Flemington, Green Brook, Hoboken, North Bergen, North Plainfield, Princeton, Seaside Heights, Stanhope, Union, Voorhees, and West Orange. As weve said here before many times, this is not a matter of capacity. We have purpose-built a program that can meet demand in terms of capacity we just need the vaccines. We ask for your continued patience., Murphy said. Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. China warns the Biden Administration that it should stick to CCP rules or else. This comes as Beijing tests the resolve of the new administration. During the Trump era, they weren't so bold. In the former administration, American foreign policy did what it can to counter the Chinese Communist Party's malign moves. A change in the White House occupant might be a sign for China to step it up. Chinese diplomat airs tough words According to Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat had words for the new administration. He specifically warns that Beijing's "red line" will be crossed. Speaking these words in thirty minutes on the February 1, reported the Epoch Times. He said that the U.S. should stop meddling in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. At one point, he called the three regions as internal affairs of Beijing. The moment he made is that America should leave things alone. He was part of a virtual event hosted by a New York-based nonprofit, a Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He added that these circumstances are the "red line" that cannot be crossed, saying that going over the line would make China-U.S. relations sour and harm U.S. interests as well. One China principle The United States siding and giving resources like arms for Taiwan to defend itself has irked the Chinese Communist Party. Many times, Beijing aired diplomatic protests, even sending flights of jets when high U.S. officials were to visit the island nation. Beijing claims that Taiwan, formerly Formosa is a part of Chinese territory, despite the Taiwanese's refusal to recognize Beijing's authority. Beijing warns the Biden Administration to stay away from Taiwanese affairs. Also read: Taiwan Getting More Accurate Missiles to Arm F-16s and Sink the PLAN Chinese human rights violations on minorities and other groups On the international scene, the Trump administration at loggerheads on the human rights abuses perpetrated on the Falun Gong, Hong Kong, which did not end there. More notorious was the treatment of Muslim minorities, Tibetan, and Uyghurs that got international coverage. For what they did, Chinese officials were sanctioned by the U.S. government. The former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called persecution of Uyghurs and other minorities as genocide and crimes against humanity. Illegal Chinese activities Beijing has denied the criticism hurled against them and often blames other factors instead. A common term is internal affairs that mean the U.S. is a meddler in the Indo-Pacific. Yang even suggests that the new administration get back to where things used to be until Trump opposed them. Many Americans distrust China and have seen everything done to forward its agenda. He cited that the U.S. and China should cooperate in control and cybersecurity. Fentanyl is one of China's drug exports to the United States, cited in a 2018 report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, but China denies it. According to available data, there were 70,630 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2019, most of them caused by Fentanyl. The drug is about 100 times more dangerous than morphine and more so Heroin. Another is the Chinese theft of I.T. and trade secrets sanctioned by the regime. Beijing warns the Biden Administration, which is one of its usual tactics, nothing more. Relative article: Taiwan Reveals 6 Chinese Planes. US Recon Plane Entered Defense Zone @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [February 03, 2021] Diageo North America Establishes Innovative Program With HBCUs to Develop Future Leaders and Help Shape a More Equitable Society The North America business of Diageo, a global beverage leader, is committing $10 million to support 25 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and creating permanent endowed funds to provide financial aid grants anticipated to benefit thousands of talented students in need over the years. Funds will be available for HBCU students across different disciplines and majors, and distributed according to each institution's financial aid process. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005220/en/ Diageo North America establishes program with 25 HBCUs (Graphic: Business Wire) "We are proud to partner with these esteemed institutions and to do our part to help shape a more equitable society by providing opportunities for future leaders," said Debra Crew, President, Diageo North America. "This initiative further deepens Diageo's commitment to making a long term and sustainable impact on underrepresented communities." The program will provide funding to support students at the following institutions: Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Bowie State University, Clark Atlanta University, Delaware State University, Dillard University, Fisk University, Fort Valley State University, Florida A&M University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Harris-Stowe State University, Howard University, Jackson State University, Kentucky State University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T University, North Carolina Central University, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, University of Virgin Islands, Winston-Salem State University, and Xavier University. Higher education leaders representing Winston-Salem State University, Morehouse College and the University of the Virgin Islands recognize the positive impact the endowments will have on the HBCU community and its students, across the country. "Many of our students come from under-resourced communities and the pandemic aggravates the financial hardship to complete their education or could potntially accumulate a great deal of debt when they graduate," said Elwood L. Robinson, Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. "This endowment will help us provide first class education and a life changing opportunity to our students." "Morehouse College develops men who are academically excellent and committed to leadership and service. This gift from Diageo will help more deserving students not only be able to graduate with a Morehouse degree, but also be equipped to lead and effect change in the national fight against systemic racism," said David A. Thomas, President, Morehouse College. "We appreciate this generous donation from Diageo and the opportunities that it will create for our faculty and classes to collaborate with the beverage leader." "This partnership is a message that the private sector, as the public sector, must come together to ensure that HBCUs are supported at the appropriate level so we can fulfill our special and unique mission to society," said David Hall, President, University of the Virgin Islands. "This endowment shows how Diageo is embracing a vision of student support and institutional transformation." With a goal of helping to change the complexion of the beverage alcohol industry, Diageo North America has also committed to taking a step to build a pipeline of talented leaders through an internship platform over the coming years. The company will provide opportunities for HBCU students to gain valuable work experience at a fast pace that could help them with their future career aspirations or jump-start their career in the consumer goods industry. As part of this commitment, Diageo North America is also exploring the creation of Innovation Hubs at select institutions to provide students and faculty with an experiential approach and resources that complement traditional learning. The program will include Diageo providing mentorship, lecturers for faculty and students and curriculum development assistance. This initiative was created by working closely with Diageo North America's African Heritage Business Resource Group (A.H.E.A.D.) to focus on the priorities and actions, along with the right partnerships, to make the most meaningful impact in the Black community. "I am proud to work for a company that shares my commitment to equity and inclusion. Diageo's long history of supporting efforts to contribute to the greater good, are values that we consistently challenge ourselves to embrace," said Malcolm Ellis, Co-Chair of the A.H.E.A.D. Business Resource Group at Diageo North America and Howard University Alum. "For over a century HBCUs have blazed trails in several disciplines for countless Black professionals and still remain a haven, and a refuge for many. This partnership supports pipelining of talent into business and industry." Diageo has long-standing partnerships with the National Urban League, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and 100 Black Men of America. In addition, Diageo and its brands, have a track record of supporting equal representation, social justice and economic advancement initiatives in the Black community. Diageo North America looks forward to continuing to build its relationship with HBCUs and grow its programs with the institutions. In the coming months, more information will be shared on the Innovation Hubs and internship platforms that will be part of this program. About Diageo North America Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE:DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow at Twitter (News - Alert) and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005220/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] First Minister Arlene Foster said she was absolutely astounded at claims the DUP was stoking tensions over her party's plans aimed at undermining the Northern Ireland Protocol. As part of the DUPs five-point plan, the party said it will not participate in any north-south political engagements on issues relating to the protocol. Irelands Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the matter would not be resolved by cutting relationships. Physical inspections on goods entering the region from Great Britain, which are required under the protocol, have been suspended amid threats and intimidation of staff. Read More Graffiti warning off inspectors has appeared close to ports in recent weeks. Police have insisted there is no evidence loyalist paramilitaries are involved in the sinister campaign, instead blaming disgruntled individuals and small groups. Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic will hold a virtual meeting with DUP leader Mrs Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill to discuss the ongoing furore over the protocol on Wednesday. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulsters Good Morning Ulster, Mrs Foster stated that the DUP was representing the interests of the people of Northern Ireland through its plan. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council voted to withdraw staff from the port of Larne, while former Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots made the same decision before he stepped down due to health issues. Do you think the DUP in the council, where they only have 16 members [would go against that decision]? said Mrs Foster. The fact that all of the council group leaders, including Sinn Fein, agreed to suspend the operation of the workers at the port of Larne on the advice of officials. I just find that unbelievable. The next thing is a government department is being accused, again on official advice, to deal with this issue but yet again its the DUPs fault. I have to say, I think that is absolutely incredible this morning. Mrs Foster denied that she was undermining the PSNIs response to the threats made to port workers and said her party is engaging with police on the matter. Its not just about a bit of graffiti on the wall, although I note when the graffiti was mostly on DUP offices it wasn't really a problem it was only when other offices were targeted it seemed to be a problem, she continued. Secondly, just because its not from one of the mainstream loyalist paramilitaries it doesn't make it any less of a threat. Mrs Foster added that politicians such as Mr Coveney were the reason why the protocol was introduced in the first place as she accused them of putting north-south trade ahead of east-west trade. It needs to be fixed so let us in a calm and firm way - to use Simon Coveneys words - bind those relations instead of whipping up that the DUP are trying to cause tensions, she said. That is not the case. Mrs Foster insisted constitutional politics was the only way to deal with the issue. That is what the five-point plan is about and I hope other unionists can join with us in terms of moving things forward but it is so important that people understand that constitutional politics has to work here in Northern Ireland, she said. Meanwhile, deputy First Minister Ms ONeill told the BBC that the EU made a huge mistake after it announced its ill-fated plan to trigger Article 16 but believed the DUP used it as an opportunity to attack the protocol. She said there are a range of issues which must be identified in relation to Brexit but it was wrong to point out that they are a direct result of the protocol. However, Ms ONeill added that some problems were a direct consequence of the hard Brexit policy that was championed by the DUP and called their five-point plan reckless. Expand Close Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill I think the position adopted by the DUP is reckless and its not driven by the best interests of the people in the north and I would urge them to pull back from that position, she stated. I think what the public want in the middle of this public health emergency is political leaders working together. We do not need to go down the track of throwing the baby out of the bath water. There are issues to be resolved, lets work on finding political solutions to those issues. President Biden told Democrats on Wednesday that hes not married to his proposed $1.9 trillion price tag for the next coronavirus relief bill, but stressed that Congress still needs to go big and act fast on the aid package as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. Biden signaled the potential openness to compromise with spending-averse Republicans during a caucus call with House Democrats, according to a source briefed on the private discussion. However, the source said Biden didnt suggest hes open to watering down the broad strokes of the bill, and that key provisions such as $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans, beefed-up unemployment benefits and aid for state and local governments are prerequisites. We have to go big, not small, Biden said on the call. Ive got your back, and youve got mine. The source estimated that the concessions Biden would be willing to make on his $1.9 trillion blueprint would be in the range of $200 million nowhere close to meeting the $600 billion relief proposal that a group of 10 centrist Republicans have floated. After his appearance on the caucus call, Biden met in the Oval Office with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats from the upper chamber. Before reporters were sent out of the room, Biden said he expects to be able to get at least some Republican backing for his stimulus plan, which includes hundreds of billions of dollars for coronavirus vaccination efforts supported by members on both sides of the aisle. I think well get some Republicans, Biden said. Bidens back-to-back stimulus talks with lawmakers come on the heels of Senate Democrats voting Tuesday to start a lengthy budgetary process known as reconciliation that will allow Congress to approve the presidents stimulus proposal without any Republican support. The stated goal of the Democrats is to have the COVID-19 relief package out the door by March, when the federal unemployment assistance supplement and other pandemic relief expire. Speaking outside the Oval Office after the meeting with Biden, Schumer suggested reconciliation, though time consuming, will likely be required, considering Republican reluctance to approve another sweeping stimulus package. We want to do it bipartisan, but we must be strong, Schumer told reporters. We cannot dawdle, we cannot delay, we cannot dilute because the troubles that this nation has, and the opportunities that we can bring them, are so large. ___ Chris Sommerfeldt of the New York Daily News wrote this story. (c)2021 New York Daily News Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Invests In WA Exploration Assets Brisbane, Feb 3, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( FRA:DML ) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) announced today plans to invest in its Western Australian gold and lithium portfolio, with new exploration underway in 2021 on the back of rising prices for both key metals.Highlights- Sayona to invest in Western Australian gold and lithium assets, with new exploration campaign across 100% owned Pilbara portfolio- Geophysical targeting at Mt Dove Gold Project progresses with Hemi-style feature identified- Regional magnetic survey planned to progress drill targets, with follow-up drilling planned amid continued high gold prices- Lithium portfolio covering 929 sq km in world-class Pilgangoora district advances with commencement of drill planning at Mallina project.The Company's initial focus is on intrusion-related gold mineralisation, similar to De Grey Mining's Hemi discovery, while it also plans to advance its lithium assets following the resumption of full ownership of its portfolio (refer ASX release 24 November 2020).Recently acquired detailed airborne magnetics data over the eastern portion of the Mt Dove Project, E47/3950, has been interpreted with one magnetic feature identified for follow-up orientation geochemistry and drill testing. Located 10km to the south-west of Hemi, Mt Dove is masked by surficial cover and remains effectively untested for its gold potential. Additional features identified from government data will require further geophysical surveying prior to testing.A review of geology, geophysics and remote sensing data has also commenced, seeking to identify Hemistyle features for detailed evaluation and drill testing. Sayona's portfolio has been lightly tested by past gold exploration, with much of the tenement areas effectively untested under surficial cover.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch, Managing Director, commented: "The commencement of exploration over our 100% owned Pilbara gold portfolio has identified a number of targets for further exploration and drilling in the 2021 season."It is anticipated the studies and proposed geophysical work will build up targets which will focus exploration and unlock the prospectivity of the large tenement holding that Sayona has close to the Hemi discovery. We also remain excited by the potential of our WA lithium assets, located in the world-class Pilgangoora lithium district, which add to our flagship lithium projects in Canada."Pilbara gold projectsSayona's Pilbara leases comprise gold rights to nine tenements covering 824 sq km. These are considered prospective for intrusion-related gold mineralisation, similar to Hemi, with this style of mineralisation hosted within altered late stage hi-Mg diorites of the Indee Suite.The Company is using its knowledge of late stage intrusions, built up in the search for pegmatite mineralisation, to fast track identification of Hemi-style targets. Within its Pilbara tenement portfolio the Mallina and Tabba Tabba tenements are held for their lithium rights only. Sayona's tenure is displayed in Figure 1 below*.Mt Dove Gold ProjectThe Mt Dove Gold Project is considered well located, being 10km south-west of Hemi. A number of targets have been identified by De Grey in their tenure to the north, north-east and west of Mt Dove (see Figure 2*).High-resolution airborne magnetic data has been recently acquired for the eastern portion of the tenement, with processing and interpretation of the data identifying a range of magnetic features. The majority of these relate to cultural features, localised accumulations of magnetite in sand dune systems and in fossil river terraces. One feature in the southern portion of the tenement has been identified for exploration follow-up.The western tenement area has only been covered by regional-scale government airborne magnetics surveying. Preliminary review of this data has identified five magnetic features of interest, but more detailed data is required before these can accurately assessed.The western 9.4 sq km of the Mt Dove Project lies within the Yandeyarra Aboriginal Reserve. An access agreement is required before exploration can be undertaken over this area, which covers approximately 25% of the total lease area of 38.4 sq km.Rock sample re-assaysResults of the gold analysis of 119 previously collected rock from within the 824 sq km gold project area have identified two samples with detectable gold (+1ppb Au).The highest gold result was 12ppb Au, returned from sample SP556019 (664233E, 7658265N MGAz50), collected from the West Wodgina project area. Although subdued, results indicate the collected rock is not of pegmatitic origin and may relate to a nearby gold prospective late stage intrusions.Next stepsGeophysical interpretation is continuing over the Deep Well, Tabba Tabba East and Wodgina West areas to establish targets and areas which will require dedicated high resolution magnetic surveying. It is anticipated once this study is completed a regional magnetic survey, including the Mt Dove Project area will be commissioned to progress target identification for drill testing.Drilling will commence once heritage and statutory approvals are in place, anticipated to be completed in the second quarter 2021.WA lithium portfolioMeanwhile, Sayona also plans to advance exploration across its 100% owned WA lithium portfolio covering 929 sq km, centred in the world-class Pilgangoora lithium district (see Figure 1*).The Mallina area is the most advanced project, with multiple zones of spodumene pegmatite identified within a 25 sq km zone. Drill planning has commenced with a focus at the Area C prospect, where shallow spodumene mineralisation (4m @ 2.18% Li2O from surface in RC drillhole SMRC040) remains open at depth and to the north and south.Mr Lynch added: "Our Pilbara gold and lithium projects have potential to deliver value for shareholders, adding to our flagship lithium projects in Quebec. Sayona has made a great start to 2021 in advancing towards a mid-tier miner and we are excited by the opportunities in front of us both in Canada and Australia."*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 Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Highlights According to MRFR analysis, Aortic Valve Market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.1% during the forecast period of 2019 to 2025 and held a value of USD 6,454.91 Million in 2018. GET FREE SAMPLE COPY @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/8632 An aortic valve is surgically implanted in the heart to replace a valve that has damaged due to heart valve diseases such as stenosis, regurgitation, and atresia. The replacement of damaged valves with prosthetic heart valves reduces the morbidity and mortality associated with aortic valve disorders. The growth of the global aortic valve market is boosted by various factors such as the rising geriatric population, surge in prevalence of cardiac disorders, in conjunction with the introduction of innovative products in the market. According to the Heart Valve Voice, approximately 1.5 million people over the age of 65 years are currently affected by heart valve disease in the UK, and the number is expected to increase up to 19 million by 2050. Moreover, increasing product approvals are likely to provide favorable conditions for the growth of the market. For instance, in June 2017, the US FDA granted market clearance for aortic and mitral valve-in-valve procedures using the Edwards Lifesciences Sapien 3 transcatheter heart valve (THV). However, product recalls due to safety reasons and changing regulatory landscapes are likely to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast period. Several market players currently dominate the global aortic valve market. The key players are engaged in product launches and strategic collaborations to strengthen their market positions. Regional Analysis The market has been divided, by region, into the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The Americas held the maximum share in the base year 2018, owing to the presence of established key players in countries such as the US and Canada. The aortic valve market in the Americas has further been branched into North America and Latin America, with the North American market is further divided into the US and Canada. The European aortic valve market has been categorized as Western Europe and Eastern Europe. The Western European market has been classified as Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the rest of Western Europe. The aortic valve market in Asia-Pacific has been segmented into Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific. The aortic valve market in this region is anticipated to be the fastest growing during the assessment period due to the booming geriatric population, rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, and favorable government initiatives for disease treatment. The aortic valve market in the Middle East & Africa has been divided into the Middle East and Africa. Aortic Valve Market Segmentation The Global Aortic Valve Market has been segmented based on Type of Valve, Suture, Surgery, and End User. The market, based on valve type, has been divided into mechanical and biological. The mechanical valve segment is likely to be the largest due to the high adoption of mechanical valves in replacement procedures. The biological valves segment is predicted to be the fastest-growing due to the increasing awareness about the advantages of biological valves in replacement procedures. Magna Ease (Edwards Lifesciences Corporation), Hancock II (Medtronic), Trifecta (Abbott) are some of the well-known biological valves brands currently present in the market. The Global Aortic Valve Market has been segmented, based on the surgery type, into minimally invasive surgery and open surgery. The minimally invasive surgery segment is further divided into transfemoral, transaortic implantation, transapical, and trans-subclavian. It is expected to hold majority share of the market owing to shorter hospital stay, less pain, and faster recovery as compared to open-heart surgery. The end users of the market are hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers. The hospital segment is likely to hold the maximum share during the forecast period. Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/aortic-valve-market-8632 Key Players Some of the key players in the Global Aortic Valve Market are Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Medtronic(US), Abbott Laboratories (US), LivaNova PLC (UK), Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (US), CryoLife (US), Biotronik (Germany), Colibri Heart Valve (US), JenaValve (US), and TTK HealthCare (India), among others. Pa. COVID-19 mask mandate will be lifted by June 28 or sooner Pennsylvania announced Thursday that the commonwealth will eliminate its mask mandates by June 28 as COVID-19 cases drop and vaccinations increase. Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan has made a shock apology following his appearance at the Grand Reunion special last week. But, it's not for the reason you might think. On Wednesday, the 53-year-old shared a video to Instagram explaining to his followers that he wanted to apologise for his 'shocking' hair. Speaking out: Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan [pictured] has made a shock apology following his appearance at the Grand Reunion special last week 'I wast to sincerely apologise to everyone in Australia to every human that had to sit through and look at me on TV and my bad hair,' he said. 'My hair was shocking, it was 40 degree heat and nothing would stick to it.' The reality star also apologised for his 'shiny' face, claiming that it was due to the 'lighting'. Surprise: On Wednesday, the 53-year-old shared a video to Instagram explaining to his followers that he wanted to apologise for his 'shocking' hair 'Also my face apparently was too shiny and the reason for that was because all the moisturiser ran off from all the lights and cameras on me,' he added. Nasser signed off, saying: 'Thirdly I want to apologise to all my cast mates who turned up to see my performance on Sunday and Monday.' It comes after Nasser stormed out of the Grand Reunion dinner party, which aired on Sunday night, after the entire cast screamed: 'Just leave, Nasser!' Controversial: It comes after Nasser stormed out of the Grand Reunion dinner party, which aired on Sunday night, after the entire cast screamed: 'Just leave, Nasser!' Angered, he got up from his seat and said: 'I will leave. You know what? I will leave.' 'I don't need to put up with this s**t,' he added, then told producers he would continue to 'attack' the cast online. 'If they don't wanna hear it, they can all p**s off. I don't need this s**t. Some stupid reunion bulls**t. It's not a reunion. It's an "attack Nasser",' he grumbled. 'I'm a rock star. I'm the people's celebrity. I am Mr Reality. They can kiss my Arabic hairy a**e!' Some sinister allegations are going around about Star Wars actor Adam Driver attacking a co-star on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote set. Lidia Franco, a 76-year-old actor, said she had a very bad experience because of Driver. Adam Driver | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images The Man Who Killed Don Quixote took 25 years to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a 2018 film co-written and directed by Monty Pythons Terry Gilliam. According to the Los Angeles Times, the movie took some 25 years to get off the ground. From production starts and stops to rewrites, deaths, cast changes, financing hassles, and bad weather, the films creators experienced many challenges. Still, Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni pressed on. RELATED: Adam Driver Doesnt Get Why People Call Him This Type of Actor In the film, Driver plays Toby Grummett, a director who returns to the village where he shot his student movie. When Quixote (Jonathan Pryce) confuses Toby for his trusted squire, he is pulled into a world of fantasy. Driver and Price star alongside Stellan Skarsgard, Olga Kurylenko, Joana Ribeiro, Oscar Jaenada, Jason Watkins, Sergi Lopez, Rossy de Palma, and Jordi Molla. Adam Driver fans find a troubling interview citing abusive behavior on the set of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote Lidia Franco plays Panicky Woman 1 in the movie. She spoke with Radio Comercials Era o que Faltava podcast about her experience on the set of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. I [had] a very bad experience because of Adam Driver, Franco explains during the podcast (via Reddit). She believes Driver is talented as an actor, but said he is a very bad person. He behaved very badly with me physically, she continued. He attacked me. Allegedly Driver committed a camouflaged assault with a chair on the set of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. According to Franco, Drivers apparent aggression had nothing to do with the scene. Adam Driver allegedly has strenuous demands on set During her interview, Franco also talked about Drivers demands behind the scenes. One of the things he started doing in Spain was [demanding] all the technicians leave the plateau [in rehearsals], she explained. According to Franco, some Portuguese technicians refused to do so. He demanded, I think by contract, that nobody could look at him, Franco added. If they [made eye contact], the extras were immediately fired. And it happened. Some people are refuting the Adam Driver abuse claims Because Francos podcast interview is translated from another language, some fans feel theres a lot of misconstrued information. Many Reddit users believe Driver didnt attack Franco with a chair, but took his aggression out on said chair instead. Other people are frustrated by others willingness to downplay the alleged abuse Franco cited in her interview. Others struggle to believe her story is what happened on set due to the many translations circulating the internet. At this time, its unclear what really happened behind the scenes of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Driver nor his representatives have commented on these allegations. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote production company addresses misinterpretations regarding Adam Driver UPDATE: Portuguese production company Ukbar Filmes sent a statement to NiT regarding The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. He pointed out the potential for misunderstandings. Large international projects with a cast of various nationalities and with different dynamics of star systems can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations by both sides, Filmes defended. Contrary to what Franco claimed, no extras were fired from the set. During the shooting in Portugal, there were no dismissals or insults to the extras, only the request was made for them not to take pictures or interfere with the work of the American actor [Driver], he continued. The only disruption Filmes recalls happening was caused by tourits. The only drawback to disturb the course of the recordings was the presence of some tourists who were at the shooting site [Tomar)], he explained. As we were facing a personality known to the general public, the immediate reaction was to take photographs of the actor, an action obviously intercepted by the production, in order to continue with the smooth running of the filming. How to get help: In the U.S. and Canada, text the Crisis Text Line at 741741 to reach a crisis counselor for support. Marshall Receives Grant for Illegal Dump Cleanup By West Kentucky Star Staff MARSHALL COUNTY - On Tuesday, Governor Andy Beshear and Kentucky Energy and Environment (EEC) Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman announced $587,000 in grants for the cleanup of 72 illegal dumps in 18 counties, including Marshall County.Lisa Evans, Grants Administrator for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet told West Kentucky Star that Marshall County will receive $2,084.58 as a reimbursement for a previously cleaned dumpsite.The grants for the Illegal Open Dump Grant Program originate from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which is generated through a $1.75 environmental remediation fee for each ton of garbage that is dumped at Kentucky municipal solid waste landfills."Kentuckians deserve to live in clean, safe communities. Illegal dump sites can affect families' quality of life and property values through no fault of their own," Gov. Beshear said. "This grant program provides a healthier environment for thousands of our people."State officials say Kentucky has made great progress in addressing illegal dump sites thanks to the funding, along with statewide cleanup and education campaigns hosted by local, state, and federal agencies.To receive the funding, the counties were required to provide a 25 percent match on the grant amount. The Kentucky Energy and Environment may waive the match on any illegal dump where the cleanup cost will exceed $50,000.Other counties that will receive funding from the program include: Adair, Breathitt, Butler, Floyd, Green, Hart, Henderson, Johnson, LaRue, Lawrence, Madison, Magoffin, Metcalfe, Pike, Warren, Whitley and Wolfe. Advertisement A wave crashing against a sea wall during a storm in France appeared to show the face of Poseidon. The stunning images show a face with a crown in the crest the 30ft wave as it smashed into the shore during the destructive Storm Justine. Photographer Mathieu Rivrin captured the incredible moment near his home in Lesconil, Brittany, and said he was shocked to see the face of the Greek god of the sea. The 31-year-old said: 'When I took the images, the most powerful waves of the storm were striking the French coast. 'The waves were 10m high and when they hit the wall, the explosion was sometimes around 50m high. 'I saw the incredible image of Poseidon with his crown, coming out of the ocean with his face in the wave.' 'I seek to show all the beauty, elegance and life that a wave can offer you.' A wave crashing against a sea wall during a storm in France appeared to show the face of Poseidon in a series of stunning images Poseidon was god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses in Greek mythology and was often depicted riding a chariot pulled by sea horses Effective Tuesday, Beaumont ISD began the process of compelling students with a class average of 70 or below or with more than three unexcused absences in a grading period to return to school, according to a staff memo reviewed by The Enterprise. The move is an escalation in the districts efforts to recoup days of lost learning time and make up widespread failing scores that threaten to setback students. Beaumont ISD recognizes that a students learning environment is an important factor in the students success in his or her educational career, a letter sent to teachers Tuesday said. However, students whose academic performance or attendance puts them at risk of severe learning loss in one or more classes will no longer be eligible to attend school virtually. The next step involves letters being sent to failing students and their parents, with an optional transition meeting with parents. The number of letters going out was not immediately available, but letters will be sent throughout the week. If a parent requests a transition meeting, the campus administration will schedule the meeting no sooner than three days after the receipt of the request, a letter sent to staff said. At such a meeting, the parents and administrators could come up with an alternative lesson plan that would allow the students to make up grades and remain in virtual learning. If no agreement is reached, the student will still be required to return to school. Per Texas Education Agency Guidance, parents can appeal on the basis of medical exemption, including if the student has a high-risk medical condition or is living with someone who is at high risk of complications related to the coronavirus. The district made the move after months of low-engagement and failing test scores for students learning virtually, emphasized by a pending budget shortfall connected to historic low attendance. I am making a plea, we need our kids in school, Superintendent Shannon Allen said at the first school board meeting of the year. We have a concern with parents not choosing to send students to school or engage virtually. Word of the decision created buzz on social media, where many agreed the move was necessary to blunt what is a growing crisis of absence and failures throughout the district. But one parent, who also works for the district, told The Enterprise they were not a fan of the development, which was not shared publicly as of Tuesday night. My oldest isnt passing, but I dare someone to make him put our entire family in danger, the parent said. If he doesnt pass, its 100% on him, and he will either pass or fail from home. It is just not worth it to put my whole family at risk. District officials continue to stress that campuses are safe with up-to-date coronavirus guidelines in place, and transparency surrounding the number of cases. According to the districts online coronavirus tracker, there are 36 current cases across the district including 14 students, 13 teachers and 9 staff members. BISD is not the first in the region to take the step of requiring failing students to return to campus after the Texas Education Agency authorized the move last year. Evadale ISD cited low participation when they ended virtual learning, and West Orange-Cove CISD mandated failing students to return to campus months ago. Port Neches-Groves ISD has not offered virtual learning at all this school year. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes 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 The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s wide-ranging economic interests in Myanmar have likely led to a muted response to the military coup in the country from Beijing, according to a Chinese political commentator. While the United States and its allies have strongly condemned the military's dismantling of the country's democratically elected government and the detention of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, China's public response has been to "note" what is occuring and to say it is monitoring the situation closely. As the military imposed a "one-year state of emergency" under military chief Min Aung Hlaing, Chinese spokesman Wang Wenbin announced: "We have taken note of what is happening in Myanmar and are learning more about the situation," Wang said. He added: "China is a friendly neighbor of Myanmar. We hope that all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences ... and maintain political and social stability." The emphasis on "stability" speaks to both wide-ranging economic ties between the two countries, and their shared political authoritarianism, former Tsinghua University politics lecturer Wu Qiang told RFA. Wu said if Myanmar had continued in the direction of greater democracy under the NLD, its foreign policy could have eventually shifted to favor closer ties to Washington. Myanmar Military Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (C) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (3-L) during a meeting at the military headquarters in Naypyidaw, April 6, 2016 . Economic interests But Wu said the fact remains that its economic interests are much more closely allied with China. "There is no conflict with China in terms of economic interests," Wu said. "But if Myanmar were more democratic, there would be an ideological conflict." "This deviation is something China does not want to see, and it is a very important reason why we believe that the CCP supports the military coup in Myanmar." Herve Lemahieu, who directs the Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute in Australia, said China, at the very least, is unlikely to have a problem with the new regime in Naypyidaw. The CCP had been willing to cooperate both with the NLD government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the military junta in the past, and would likely support whichever government was in power, he told RFA. Beijing has also provided diplomatic support for Myanmar when it faced international censure over military atrocities, both in the 1990-2011 junta period and this week, when it held up effort to condemn the Feb. 1 military coup. Other analysts have suggested that Myanmar's military leaders are highly suspicious of China, both for its increasing economic influence on their country and its history of arming separatist-mind ethnic armies fighting the Myanmar central government. But Wu said Beijing is far more likely to approve than disapprove of the military coup. "This mutual recognition of the ruling parties' political models forms a crucial link between their ideologies," Wu said. Infrastructure hurdles lifted? He said a military regime would be less likely to place obstacles in the way of major Chinese infrastructure projects in Myanmar than a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). "The Chinese government benefits greatly from building dams and oil pipelines in Myanmar," Wu said. "Under the NLD, the government would have placed restraints [on such projects]." "The military coup means that that those restraints will now be lifted, and various infrastructure projects in Myanmar will now be able to go ahead smoothly and more rapidly," he said. He said Chinese companies also once needed to compete with Japanese investors for projects in Myanmar; a pressure which would now likely also be lifted with the imposition of international economic sanctions following the coup. China's international infrastructure investment project, the Belt and Road initiative, currently includes the flagship China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC). Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has already indicated that Beijing is willing to speed up the construction of the western, northern, and eastern ends of the CMEC. Chinese state media reported last month that Wang is keen to promote an early implementation of the Kyaukpyu deep-sea port, the China-Myanmar Border Economic Cooperation Zone and New Yangon City. The CMEC bisects the northern part of the country and ends at the $1.3 billion deep-sea port at Kyaukpyu in southern Rakhine state along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It includes plans for an U.S.$8.9 billion high speed rail link from Yunnan, as well as gas and oil pipelines. China is also increasingly dependent on rice imports from Myanmar, with rice imports soaring from 100,000 tons to 500,000 tons in the past decade, accounting for 65 percent of Myanmars total export trade with China. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Chan Chun-ho for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The Bridge of Dalaleh: From Arta to Assyria Dalaleh's bridge, in the village of Zakho, north Iraq. Some months after our wedding, my wife and I were driving in the car listening to Assyrian music. A particularly jaunty tune engaged my attention and I asked: "What is all that about? Is this a song of joy or, as is often the case with the music where I am from, are there deep, profound meanings here that have absolutely nothing to do with the music?" "This is about a bridge in Assyria," my wife responded abstractly. "There is a legend attached to it. Apparently they were building the bridge and it kept tumbling down. They consulted a local fortune teller who said that the first living thing that approached the builder on a given day would have to be sacrificed in order for the bridge to stand. On that particular day, the builder's daughter in law, Dalaleh, began to cross the bridge in order to bring her father in law lunch, her pet dog, running before her. Seeing the dog, the builder breathed a sigh of relief, but sadly, the dog began to sniff around the sides of the bridge and hung back, so Dalaleh, being informed of the requirements of the fortune teller consented to be sacrificed by being built into the bridge. Henceforth, this bridge has been known as Gishra Dalaleh -- Dalaleh's bridge." Abruptly, I braked and pulled over. "Where did you say this bridge was?" I asked. "It's over the Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates," my wife answered. In awe, I began to recite the following verse: " , !/ ./ ' / ." "Is everything alright?" my wife asked, eyebrow raised. "Alas, poor is my fate and my destiny accursed!/ Sisters three we were, and doomed we were all three./ One built over the Danube, one the Euphrates river/ And me, the youngest, I build the bridge at Arta," I translated. "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to drive?" she enquired, visibly concerned. I began to tell her about the famous demotic folksong about the Bridge at Arta, a song, albeit with a few variations, comprising exactly the same plot. Arched bridges can be found all over the lands of the former Ottoman Empire from Bosnia to Iraq, and considering the itinerant nature of the stonemason trade, with Epirote tradesmen in particular travelling as far as Persia to construct bridges, it is quite plausible that the same legends will be shared and local permutations affixed to them. What astounded me about the song of Dalaleh's bridge, however, was that it is directly referenced in the Epirote folksong. The Chief Mason's wife, in lamenting her fate, laments also the fact that she lost two sisters in exactly the same way, one in a bridge on the Danube, and the other on the Euphrates. Dalaleh's song, therefore, via legend and solidarity, is the sister of that of the Bridge of Arta, even though both bridges are separated by 2,500 kilometres. There are a number of candidates for the Danube sister bridge. In variations of the same legend prevalent in Albania, all the way to Romania and presumably carried there by Vlachs during their peregrinations, the Chief Mason's wife, as she is being immured within the bridge, asks that she be permitted to expose one breast, so that she may continue to nourish her infants and the request is granted. In the Euphrates' version of the myth, the local variants are fascinating. At first, when the builder sees Dalaleh crossing the bridge, with her dog now lagging behind, he faints. He has to be cajoled and forced to reveal the cause of his distress. Once she learns of her father in law's predicament, (in a twist to the tale, the prince of Bohtan who commissioned the bridge will chop of his right hand if he is successful so he will never build a better bridge, but will amputate both hands if he fails, whereas in the case of Arta, a grocer of Arta, Giannis Thiakogiannis, known by his nick name Gatofagos, the "Cat eater", is the purported instigator of the construction of the Bridge. According to tradition, a pirate ship from Algiers brought a cargo of oil to sell at the port of Salaora. Gatofagos purchased some of this oil, which the pirates had stolen from a merchant and discovered within the jars, not only oil but an abundance of gold coins with which he funded construction,) Dalaleh willingly agrees to sacrifice herself for the cause of safe infrastructure, whereas the wife of the Chief Mason at Arta is denied such a choice. Instead, the Chief Mason relies on guile to entice his wife into the bridge, by claiming he has lost a ring, lamenting that there is no one who can enter to retrieve it, all the while knowing that his sweet natured wife will volunteer to look for it. As soon as she enters, "the mason slaps on mortar with his trowel; another slaps lime;/The Chief Mason heaves and drops a giant boulder." This heinous violation of trust is most likely the reason why the immured wife utters a terrible curse, transforming the now solid bridge into prototype of Galloping Gertie: "May the bridge shake, like the rifles do,/ May crossing pedestrians fall, like the tree leaves do." It is important to note that unlike Dalaleh, who is named in her song and is thus granted personhood, we only know of the victim of the Arta Bridge in relation to her perfidious husband. Having no name, she is merely the wife of the Chief Mason and even now, she is denied revenge and completely disempowered. For even as she utters her curse, an appeal is made to her better nature: Yes, she has been hard done by, of this there is no doubt, but she has a brother who is currently sojourning in foreign lands. What if he should traverse the bridge and be cast into destruction by her fury? Faced with no other choice, the utterly defeated Spirit of the Bridge relents and is tamed, reversing her curse and restoring the patriarchal order which has been temporarily subverted: "May the bridge shake, like the wild mountains do/ May crossing pedestrians fall, like the wild birds do/ for I have a brother abroad who may cross this bridge." No one mourns for the hapless, completely disenfranchised wife of Arta. She is no longer a person but a supernatural being that must be propitiated and neutralized. In the case of the Euphrates sister Dalaleh, however, she is mourned by a distraught husband. According to the Assyrian version of the epic, when Dalaleh's husband arrived in Zakho, the town where the bridge is situated and learned of his wife's fate, he was devastated. In his grief, he took a pick axe and started digging under the bridge. While engaged in this activity, he heard his buried wife Dalaleh's muffled voice commanding him to refrain from his pursuit, explaining that by his actions, however well meaning, he was physically hurting her. She further declared to him that it was her will to continue holding the bridge together with her arms outstretched and to stay there for all eternity. Dalaleh too has become a supernatural being, but one whose personhood, ability to choose and determine her own fate and her femininity remains intact, which is why her husband eventually ceased his lamentations and accepted both his, and Dalaleh's fate. No one leaves offerings to the wife of the Chief Mason at the Bridge of Arta. Her fate is an ignominious one, consigned to a tenuous habitation within collections of Greek folk songs, even as the original music to her epic is no longer remembered. Even today however, the inhabitants of Zakho, primarily Assyrians and Kurds honour the memory of the redoubtable Dalaleh, by growing two lengthy plants in one of the gaps between the stones on each side of the bridge, calling them Dalaleh's hair braids. Our peoples today may be separated by geography history and politics. Yet they share song-lines that comprise human suffering and ingenuity in equal measure, disseminated far and wide by doughty masons of Epirus who travelled the length and breadth of their known world in search of work and the opportunity to ply their craft . And every time I cross the Bolte, the Westgate or any other engineering marvel that spans the horizon, I utter a prayer for the unnamed Epirote wife of the Chief Mason of Arta, and her awesome sister, the Assyrian Dalaleh, of Zakho. The Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South, Hon Haruna Iddrisu has urged President Nana Akufo Addo to comply with Article 89 ( 2 ) of the Constitution which enjoins the President to appoint some qualified category of persons to the Council of State in consultation with Parliament. These include one person who has served as Chief Justice, one person who has once served as Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, and one person who has once served as Inspector General of Police, according to article 89 ( 2) of the Constitution. Hon Haruna Iddrisu is unhappy that sometimes such appointments are made by the President and published by the media without the knowledge of Parliament and said such practice must stop. Commenting on the issue the MP for Okai Koi Central Hon Patrick Yaw Boamah said the publication in the media about the appointments made by the President to the Council of State is not related to article 89 ( 2) of the Constitution. However, the Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin said, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu is right for raising the concern. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made appointments to the Council of State for his second term. The President named 11 persons including the immediate past Chair of the Council, Nana Otuo Siriboe, to form part of the composition of the Council according to a release from the Jubilee House. The full members are: 1. Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Juabenhene 2. Archbishop Justice Ofei Akrofi 3. Mr. Sam Okudzeto 4. Mr. Stanley Blankson 5. Prof. Ato Essuman 6. Alhaji Aminu Amadu 7. Dr. Margaret Amoakohene 8. Mrs. Georgina Kusi 9. Mrs. Alberta Cudjoe 10. Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI 11. Alhaji Sule Yiremiah The President, subject to consultation with Parliament, has also appointed, in accordance with Article 89(2)(a)(i)(ii) and (iii), Georgina Theodora Wood, a former Chief Justice, Lt. Gen. J.B. Danquah, a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces, and Nana Owusu Nsiah, a former Inspector General of Police, to the Council. Source: Emmanuel Akorli/Parliamentary Correspondent/Peace Fm 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 Propylene Glycol market will register an incremental spend of about USD 1,091.24 million, growing at a CAGR of 3.93% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Propylene Glycol sourcing can unlock several opportunities for buyers. This report also offers market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download free sample pages This press release features multimedia. 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AGC Inc. INEOS Group Holdings SA Lanxess Group This procurement report helps buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their propylene glycol requirements by answering the following questions: Am I engaging with the right suppliers? Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers? Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for? What are the propylene glycol category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx? Get access to regular sourcing and procurement insights to our digital procurement platform- Contact Us Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202005531/en/ Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us Taser International's X2 two-shot Taser for law enforcement is displayed at the National Shooting Sports Foundation's 34th annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 17, 2012. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Police Chief Promises More Tasers for Frontline After Officer Almost Killed in Attack A UK regional police chief has promised Tasers for all his frontline police after one of his officers was attacked on duty and narrowly escaped with his life. Nick Adderley, the chief constable of Northamptonshire police, made the pledge on Monday after the officer was saved from being strangled to death when a colleague deployed a Taser on his assailant. Over the weekend a Northants officer was forced to the ground and strangled to the point that they nearly lost consciousness, Adderley wrote on Twitter. Due to the size of the offender, strikes proved ineffective, PAVA [pepper-like spray] was also ineffective. Thank goodness his colleague had Taser, which saved his life. The argument of necessity to issue [a] Taser to every officer who wants one, ends right here, Adderley wrote in a separate tweet. Today I may well have been speaking to the next of kin of my officer, delivering devastating news. Officers deserve all the protection we can give them. I will do exactly that!! he added. Over the weekend a Northants officer was forced to the ground and strangled to the point that they nearly lost consciousness. Due to the size of the offender, strikes proved ineffective, PAVA was also ineffective. Thank goodness his colleague had Taser, which saved his life. Nick Adderley (@NorthantsChief) February 1, 2021 There has been a growing move to arm the UKs police forces with more tasers in recent years. In 2019, amid increasing attacks on officers, Adderleys Northamptonshire force announced it would spearhead the move, expecting it to take around 18 months for all its frontline officers to have access to a Taser while on duty. The force said in a statement at the time that the around 600 ($800) training bill per officer pales into insignificance when compared with the cost of police officer workdays lost due to sickness and injury. Less Lethal Option The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), which represents around 130,000 rank and file police officers nationwide, said in a statement that it strongly supports the wider roll-out of Taser to all frontline officers should they wish to be equipped with it. Taser is an extremely effective means of dealing with the many dangerous situations that officers often face on the streets and is a less lethal option than more conventional firearms, the PFEW said. In an earlier statement in 2019, the PFEW said that two snapshot polls carried out that year showed widespread officer as well as public support for arming the police with Tasers. At the time, the poll of its members showed 89 percent wanted to carry the weapon routinely, and 97 percent wanted their colleagues to be allowed to carry it. In the other poll conducted simultaneously by LBC Radio, 73 percent of 2,000 members of the public said the police should be able to carry a Taser. Other officer and public polls in 2016 and 2017 showed similar levels of support for taser deployment, the PFEW said. The polls followed a unanimous 2015 vote by the PFEW in favor of a large-scale rollout of Taser use across forces. That stance has remained unchanged, the PFEW said. The Home Office also supports increased Taser rollout, and in 2019 ringfenced 10 million ($13.6 million) to significantly increase the number of officers carrying the devices in England and Wales. The move to deploy Tasers more widely met with opposition in April last year amid claims that the weapon was being used disproportionately against Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, and rights groups saying impacts on minority ethnic groups were being ignored. The National Police Chiefs Council announced an Independent Review into Disproportionate Effects of Use of Taser in December 2020. It is set to initially run for around 12 months. The Shackleton Museum Athy, is one of 11 museums that has received accreditation under the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI) from the Heritage Council, as the sector prepares a fightback against the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The certificates were presented at a special online ceremony today. Accreditation certificates were awarded in 2020 but last years ceremony was delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Selection under MSPI is seen as a major accolade in the sector. The Shackleton Museum Athy achieved a Maintenance of Full Accreditation certificate in 2020 for excellence in caring for its collections; as well as its museum management, visitor services, and education and exhibitions programmes. The programme is now in its 13th year, and since its inception a total of 43 museums have received full accreditation. In total, 118 certificates have been awarded. The Shackleton Museums Maintenance of Full Accreditation followed an extensive assessment process carried out by an international expert. The rigorous assessment required the Museum to confirm it had maintained 34 internationally recognised MSPI standards across seven areas, including management and governance, collections management, and public or visitor services. Frank Taaffe, Chairman, Athy Heritage CLG said: The Museum Standard Awards is a fitting acknowledgment of the dedicated work of the museum staff and community volunteers, which has allowed the Shackleton Museum to become an important part of the cultural life of South Kildare. In the context of a post-COVID Ireland, the museum offers the opportunity to be part of the fundamental building blocks which will shape the cultural interests of the Irish people, especially those interested in polar studies. This will be especially true following the planned development of the museum which, on completion, will give Athy and Ireland a unique place in the international world of polar exploration. Commenting on The Shackleton Museums achievement, Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan said: I am delighted to congratulate The Shackleton Museum Athy on achieving Maintenance of Full Accreditation and appreciate the level of hard work and dedication required to proactively engage with the MSPI process, and to embrace its core values. Taking part in the Museum Standards Programme is a public promise by each museum to take care of its collection and safeguard it for generations to come. The Shackleton Museum has demonstrated this commitment by continuing to maintain the Full Standards since its Full Accreditation in 2016 as the then Athy Heritage Centre-Museum, and progress on its redevelopment plan to reinvent the museum with a focus on polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. The Shackleton Museum Athy, houses the only permanent exhibition in the world dedicated to the explorer Ernest Shackleton. In recommending Maintenance of Full Accreditation for The Shackleton Museum in 2020, MSPI Assessors noted: During the assessment for Full Accreditation, awarded in 2016, the Museum presented an ambitious plan for redevelopment which would encompass the entire building, make a strategic shift to focus on the association of the polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, as a native of Athy, and to reinvent the museum accordingly. Since that date and the award of Full Accreditation, the Museum has progressed well in its objective and a very ambitious Project Plan, with major backing from Kildare County Council and other partners, now means that the Museum is poised on the threshold of the promised redevelopment. The 11 museums receiving accreditation are: The Glebe House and Gallery, OPW, Co Donegal Full accreditation. The IFI Irish Film Archive, Dublin Full accreditation. Kilmainham Gaol Museum, OPW, Dublin Full accreditation. The Little Museum of Dublin - Full accreditation. Fota House, The Irish Heritage Trust, Co Cork Maintenance of full accreditation. The Hunt Museum, Limerick city Maintenance of full accreditation. Shackleton Museum, Co Kildare Maintenance of full accreditation. Waterford Treasures: Bishops Palace and Medieval Museum Maintenance of full accreditation. Carlow County Museum Interim accreditation. Cork Public Museum Interim accreditation. For further details on the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland, visit the Heritage Council website. 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. Is there anyone more desperate for power than wretched Rep. Adam Schiff? The Burbank, California Democrat most famous for his failed impeach-Trump fiasco, is still trying to get himself into a Senate seat, and going to increasingly elaborate means to get it. According to Axios: Rep. Adam Schiff is quietly lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies to appoint him Californias next attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter. Why it matters: ... The attorney general's job also would better position Schiff, a high-profile Democrat who led the Russia investigation into then-President Trump, to run for Sen. Dianne Feinsteins seat, should the 87-year-old decide not to run for reelection in 2024. The AG's job is being vacated by Xavier Becerra, who President Biden has nominated to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services. So he seems to be copying the Xavier Becerra and for that matter, Kamala Harris, model. of using the California attorney general's post as a perch to vault to higher office. Both of those disreputable pols seemed to have parlayed it into things bigger. Now Schiff seems to be signaling plans to do the same thing himself. Which is kind of pathetic. Number one, as the Los Angeles Times notes in a piece written more than two years ago, citing political experts, Schiff's Democrats aren't interested in promoting white guys' rise. Schiff may be feeling boxed in as a white, male politician with limited chances for higher office in an increasingly diverse California, according to Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution think tank. It's tough to play by your party's own rules of skin color first, though, in his case, he's hardly an example of merit unrewarded. He's the incompetent who tried to ram through impeachment on false and spurious grounds, and flunked in his effort. Two, it's been reported for years that he really really wants it bad. According to the Los Angeles Times: Its also a horribly kept secret in Washington that Schiff is interested in a higher position. The question is what role that might be, and whether Schiff will risk his safe House seat to try for something bigger. And he's tried at least three times. First, he made a lunge for the not-missed former Sen. Babs Boxer's Senate seat -- and missed. Second, he made a reach for Feinstein's seat, backing away when she decided to run. According to the Los Angeles Times: When former California Sen. Barbara Boxer announced that she would not run for reelection after 25 years in Washington, Schiff considered a bid to replace her. But when now-Sen. Kamala Harris entered the race, the entire field of serious challengers, including Schiff backed down. When rumors circled last year that Sen. Dianne Feinstein might follow Boxer into retirement, Schiffs was among the first names floated as a possible successor. He began building his war chest. When Feinstein decided to run for a fifth full term, Schiff backed her immediately. Some party strategists say he may be hoping she gives up the seat early, allowing him to be appointed to fill out the term. And let't not forget that shortly after the Nov. 3 election, someone in the Democrat camp, still no idea who, was spreading stories about Feinstein's senility, something that had to have been known among Democrats for a long time. Feinstein's still there. so wonder who. There is one anecdote from Balloon Juice, a far-left blog that follows Democrat politics that might be an indicator: Just after President Trumps defense lawyers ended arguments in their Senate trial Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein suggested she could vote to acquit him, despite serious concerns about his character. Nine months left to go, the people should judge. We are a republic, we are based on the will of the people the people should judge, Feinstein said Tuesday, after the presidents team finished a three-day presentation in his defense. That was my view and it still is my view. [] After those remarks were published, Feinstein issued a statement saying she had been misunderstood. ...and... Misunderstood! After the discipline of Schiff spending hours laying out his case in the most precise language, she makes a stupid off-the-cuff remark like that and has to walk it back. And it is so stupid, because the fundamental reason for impeaching Trump is that hes meddling with the next election with the purpose of thwarting the will of the people. And yeah, then the senility stories started rolling out. Schiff tried again, a third time, when Sen. Kamala Harris ended up in the vice presidency. According to Politico, writing in late 2020: Backers of Rep. Adam Schiff have also been back-channeling their support of the House Intelligence chair [for the Senate], noting his popularity within the party, national media presence, and major profile as a key party surrogate on a wide range of issues. That one fell through, too. That makes Schiff a three-time loser on the Senate front, plus two failed impeachments of President Donald Trump. He doesn't win much, does he? Now he's making effort four, the back door, through the California Attorney General's office. With California's Gov. Gavin Newsom increasingly likely to get thrown out in a recall referendum, it appears that Schiff is on another sinking ship. Which is a fine sight, given that he's a rat, and likely to find himself fleeing. Image: United States Congress, via Wikimedia Commons // public domain, enhanced with Graphite by BeCasso. Burma Sanctions Threat Already Having Chilling Effect on Business Activity in Myanmar Military trucks and armored personnel carriers are seen in Mandalay, the commercial hub of central Myanmar, on Feb. 3. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy YANGONMany firms, especially foreign-owned businesses, in Myanmar have reacted with shock to Mondays military coup and declaration of a yearlong state of emergency, which has put billions of dollars worth of foreign investment at risk due to possible sanctions from Western countries. Some foreign firms have already put investment commitments on hold. One day after the coup, a number of Japanese companies put on hold their operations in the country, including Suzuki Motor Corp, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Denso, due to the effects of the coup, including concerns for the safety of employees and difficulties accessing information due to unstable conditions. Japan is the fourth-largest source of foreign investment in Myanmar. Moreover, a US$1-billion (1.34-trillion-kyat) modern industrial hub project backed by Thailands largest industrial estate developer, Amata Corporation, has suspended work due to possible sanctions by Western countries. The project is envisioned as an industrial complex on 2,000 acres of land near Laydaunkkan Village in East Dagon and South Dagon townships in Yangon. The project was one of a number launched by the National League for Democracy-led government to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Myanmars economy. The NLD government inaugurated the project in late December expecting to create 33,000 jobs, attract foreign investment and boost Yangon Regions industrial output and exports. Amata chief marketing officer Viboon Kromadit told media the corporation will reduce investment, as sanctions, particularly from the US and EU, are very likely to be imposed on Myanmar. If that happens, new investment in Myanmar will be badly affected, Viboon said. Ford Motor Myanmar, the local unit of the US-based multinational automaker, announced it would close its showroom and service center temporarily. It did not give a reason but many interpreted it as resulting from the military coup. Dr. Maung Maung Lay, vice chair of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), told The Irrawaddy that Many investors are in shock over the coup, adding that businesses are waiting to see how the situation unfolds. Many investors are concerned about the possible impacts of the political instability, Dr. Maung Maung Lay said. Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. announced on Tuesday that it will halt production at its two auto plants in Yangon, the commercial capital. Suzuki is one of the best-selling automobile brands in Myanmar, enjoying a more than 60 percent share of the new car market in the country. In a statement, it said the quality inspection process at its automobile factories has been interrupted due to network instability, forcing it to suspend production processes. It also said it is concerned about the safety of employees following the network outages and military coup. Suzuki said it will reopen the factories after it can stabilize its production network and guarantee safety. One of the largest Japanese auto parts makers, Denso, stopped production in Myanmar a day after the coup due to concerns over employee safety. A local IT businessman based in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, said businesses are suffering from uncertainty, adding that some commitments made by Western investors are already being rolled back. He said some investors from Western countries had suspended negotiations on the implementation of new projects until they can get more information on the current situation. US President Joe Biden has threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar in response to the coup and detention of national civilian leaders including Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. Biden said the reversal of democratic progress would necessitate an immediate review of US sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action. Foreign investment is the main driver of the countrys economic development. As of December, Singapore was the largest investor under the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, followed by China and Hong Kong. Prior to the coup, both the World Bank and Asian Development Bank had forecast that Myanmars economic growth would begin to recover from the pandemic this year supported by a stable performance in agriculture, higher government spending and expansion in the telecommunications sector, public investment, a resurgence in manufacturing, and productivity gains associated with the adoption of digital technology. Economist Dr. Aung Ko Ko said the military takeover would impact small and medium-sized enterprises in the country and jeopardize the economic reforms implemented by the civilian government. Since taking office in 2016, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government has implemented numerous economic reforms, including: amending new investment laws and introducing a Myanmar Companies Law to boost confidence among foreign investors; creating the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER); and drawing up the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), a road map to promote equal development in social and economic sectors. Around 200 Korean companies were expected to invest in production facilities at the recently launched Korea-Myanmar Industrial Complex (KMIC) project. It was expected to create 50,000 to 100,000 jobs and support the development of the industrial, export and human resource sectors in the country. KMIC manager Daw Thazin Nwe told The Irrawaddy that South Korea remains committed to the project despite the coup, but said implementation could be delayed. She said technicians from South Korea were supposed to be arriving in the coming weeks, but was not sure whether they would be able to travel to Myanmar under present conditions. The NLD government had arranged special procedures via a diplomatic channel to facilitate travel to Myanmar related to the implementation of government-backed projects amid COVID-19 restrictions. Following the coup, the Myanmar military announced it had formed a new cabinet largely comprising ex-military officials and members of its political proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Two ex-military officers were appointed to head the Planning, Finance and Industry Ministry and the MIFER. Both ministries play a crucial role in economic development and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. Ex-military officer U Win Shein from the USDP was appointed minister for MOPFI. He served as a minister for finance and revenue under U Thein Sein. U Aung Naing Oo, an ex-military officer, was appointed as minister for MIFER. He served as a permanent secretary at MIFER under the NLD government. Dr. Maung Maung Lay said that Different sentiments have arisen among businesspeople but we need to wait and see how these new bodies will handle [economic] policy. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Regime Appoints Governing Body Myanmar Medics Prepare Civil Disobedience Against Military Rule A televised clash over health advice has forced Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reprimand Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly but has sparked doubts about whether the move will stop the MP airing his disputed claims about COVID-19. The government is counting on a public assurance from Mr Kelly to support the mammoth vaccination rollout due to start within weeks, assuming he will curb his contested posts on Facebook about alternative treatments. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his views do not align with those of Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer/Alex Ellinghausen Labor welcomed the moves but criticised Mr Morrison for being too slow to bring any pressure to bear on Mr Kelly, whose posts have been blamed for undermining public support in official health advice. Mr Morrison made a statement to Parliament after question time on Wednesday to praise the official advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and rebuke Mr Kelly, who holds the seat of Hughes in southern Sydney. Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the Chief of Staff-designate, on Tuesday, said the government would continue to work assiduously with the relevant institutions to fight the canker of corruption. The government over the years had consistently made a significant budget allocation to these institutions to help protect the state's resources, she said. The Chief of Staff stated at the launch of the 2020 Financial Year Audits on the theme: "Partnering the Audit Service in Protecting the Public Purse: The Role of Stakeholders". She said the theme was appropriate because the Audit Service reports, over the years, had contributed immensely in protecting national resources. The work of the Service had created awareness and exposed the dangers posed by corruption, which had provided assurance to citizens that public institutions were using public funds prudently. This, she said, had helped to deal with the negative public perception about corruption in public institutions. About 1000 staff of the Service had been empowered through in-service training to enhance their competencies and improve efficiency. Mrs Osei-Opare said the Government would continue to collaborate with state institutions to achieve the constitutional responsibility of eradicating corruption and abuse of power. Dr Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General, Internal Audit Agency (IAA), urged internal auditors to work with the management of their institutions to provide timely reports to the Audit Service for the necessary actions. He said the IAA would continue to work with the Attorney General's Department to prosecute persons or institutions found culpable of financial infractions. "The Agency is poised to partner the Audit Service to reduce corruption and ensure that funds are used for the benefit of the citizenry," he 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 Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Corporate treasurers fed up with rock-bottom returns on their cash are about to get another pitch from the world of crypto.Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the digital-asset firms behind the so-called stablecoin dubbed USDC that is pegged 1-to-1 to the dollar, has cooked up an alternative for the legions too conservative to follow the likes of Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into Bitcoin. Park your extra cash in USDC and earn as much as 7% annually through high-yield accounts, the marketing says -- more than 10 times the return on an ultra-safe 1-year Treasury bill.The idea may be appealing to some treasurers who were initially seduced by the big gains in crypto, especially following Bitcoins roughly 40% decline since mid-April. Stablecoins such as USDC are gaining increased attention because of their ability to maintain their pegs during the wild crypto price swings, suggesting they could actually serve as a store of value. Even so, not all long-term digital market observers are convinced.If companies wish to put their corporate reserves into a stablecoin and that is fully audited, it is like putting their money in a bank account which is what they normally do, John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. However, if the account is paying out a higher yield than bank account yields, then it is not merely invested in some risk-free asset.Heres how Circles program will work: Treasurers would open a digital-dollar account where the companys fiat money is converted into USDC and interest is paid out in USDC. The yield is generated by Circle lending the digital dollars to a network of institutional investors that are willing to pay an interest rate for access to additional capital.The companies would lock in their return when the account is opened, similar to a bank certificate of deposit. Circle plans to offer accounts with maturities ranging from one month to a year, with no early withdrawals allowed. Rates available will be updated on a weekly basis, depending on demand for USDC loans.Thats a bit tamer than the strategy first highlighted last year by MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who advocated pouring company reserves into Bitcoin because he said the dollar is being debased by surging inflation. Musks February announcement that Tesla Inc. had added Bitcoin to its balance sheet helped fuel the rally that took the largest cryptocurrency to a record in April before it lost more than one-third of its value.Corporate reserves are not for investing in stocks, going to Vegas, or something more volatile and more rigged against you like Bitcoin, Griffin said.With few companies outside the crypto realm following MicroStrategy, Tesla and Dorseys Square Inc. into Bitcoin, Circle hopes that stablecoins may be the next logical step. The company is working with Genesis Global Capital, one of the largest crypto lenders.The service will be first made available in the U.S. and Switzerland, and will launch imminently, Jeremy Allaire, Circles CEO, said in an interview. Thousands of businesses are already on the waiting list, according to Circle.We are seeing the opportunity for the treasury use-case grow a lot, Allaire said.Other providers of stablecoins are rolling out similar offerings. On May 26, Gemini exchange -- the brainchild of the Winklevoss brothers -- said investors can earn up to 7.4% annually on Gemini dollars through a program called Gemini Earn. The Gemini token is also pegged to the dollar and its reserves are held with State Street Bank and Trust, the largest financial custodian in the world. Each month, the dollar deposit balance is examined by BPM LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm.USDC reserves are attested to monthly by accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and published online.Various small crypto lenders already offer yield accounts for different coins, including less regulated stablecoins like Tether.For these products, appropriate users would be people who invest in junk bonds or similar risky lending, said Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and writer for Bloomberg Opinion. It might offer a better risk-adjusted return than alternatives. . . or not. But whatever it is, its not a savings account in the way most people understand that term.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Step aside Dr Hilary, there's a new band of camera-friendly doctors in town. If TV doctors were once the kind of medical professionals you'd find in a sedate country practice, the latest graduates in the world of TV doctors are an altogether more glamorous, ambitious bunch, who have energy to pinball between television studios and hospital wards - documenting their very busy days on Instagram as they go. Think Peter Andre's wife Emily, Strictly's Dr Ranj Singh and Love Island's Dr Alex George, whose profile was boosted further today with the announcement that he's become a youth mental health ambassador to the government. Juggling a high-profile media career with a gruelling NHS schedule might sound exhausting...but there are rich financial rewards for those who manage it, with book deals, reality TV gigs and Instagram colloborations galore having the potential to earn as much as four times their doctor's salary. While traditionally those looking to boost their earnings might do private practice work on the side, a media career is certainly a much more glamorous and fun route to take - not to mention lucrative. While a NHS junior doctor currently earns around 28,00 to 32,000, a qualified hospital doctor's basic salary is around 38,000, peaking at 49,000. Meanwhile, a GP usually takes home between 60,000 and 90,000 depending on experience. British talent manager Jonathan Shalit, who has worked with the likes of Elton John, Charlotte Church and Cher, says there's potential for the most high-profile TV doctors to earn big bucks. 'An appearance on daytime television talking about health might earn a doctor between 200 and 500 but if they get an endorsement, they can earn up to around 10,000. If they write books and do public speaking, there's the chance to probably quadruple their NHS income.' Scroll down for video TikTok doc: Junior doctor Dr Emeka Okorocha, pictured, has 218,000 followers on TikTok, thanks to his videos...Celebrity agent Jonathan Shalit says high-profile TV doctors can easily quadruple their NHS salaries from endorsements, book deals and television appearances Love Island Alex Geroge, 29, has garnered 1.5million Instagram followers since he appeared on the reality show three years ago...while he's remained a committed A&E doctor, Alex has enjoyed deals that fame have brought his way Love Island's Dr Alex Geogre saw his profile boosted further today with the announcement that he's become a youth mental health ambassador to the government. 'At this moment, when health is so important, now's a time when TV doctors are very much in demand - younger doctors can often connect more with an audience. TikTok star Dr Emeka, for example, looks good, he's impressive and he talks with authority and has clearly worked hard - that's very marketable.' He notes too that you can't work full-time for the NHS and have a flourishing media career: 'If you're a full-time NHS employee, you're going to be limited in what you can do. I suspect they're all part-time.' Sally Windsor, Publicist for Big Talent Group, agrees: 'With the challenging times we are in, our medical needs are in the forefront of our minds, so seeing someone relatable on the TV who knows their stuff - is both reassuring and educational.' Here, FEMAIL looks at the news docs on the block - and how they're raking in the cash away from the surgery or hospital ward. DR ALEX GEORGE AGE: 29 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 1.6 million DEALS: Reality TV and quiz shows, collaborations with Persil, Pandora, FitBit Meeting Prime Minster Boris Johnson, Dr Alex said it's essential that young people have the 'toolkit' to look after themselves when mental health problems strike A&E doctor Alex George temporarily became known more for his six-pack and his romantic endeavours than his ten years of training to be an emergency doctor. Now 29, George is currently on the front line in the NHS' fight against Covid, regularly documenting the trials of working in a London hospital during the pandemic. He graduated from his medical degree in 2015 and spent a year at Kings College Hospital before joining Lewisham Hospital, where he has remained ever since. In November, he announced he would be leaving his current role at Lewisham hospital to train as a GP next summer. Since his stint on the reality television show, Dr George has regularly updated his huge following with posts on day-to-day life in the NHS on his Instagram and YouTube channels. In terms of television appearances, the celebrity doctor was most recently seen on Michael McIntyre's The Wheel - and the deals keep rolling in. Collabs with Fitbit, Persil and jewellery firm Pandora are among the deals the A&E doctor has featured on his Instagram channel in recent months. Limelight: the celebrity doctor was most recently seen on Michael McIntyre's The Wheel In July 2020, Alex suffered personal tragedy when he lost his younger brother Llyr to suicide, and today it was announced that he's taking on an unpaid but high profile role as a youth mental health ambassador to the government. Lyr, 19, was due to attend medical school, took his own life in July after suffering mental health issues. Dr George told Prime Minister Boris Johnson he wants people to be more aware of their mental health and how to protect it. 'When things go wrong - as they do in life, we can't put cotton wool around people, we can't prevent bad things happening in the world - but if we can give people that toolkit so that when things go wrong they know how to look after themselves, they know who to go to,' he said. Collabs on social media include a deal with Fitbit, Persil and Pandora jewellery DR RANJ SINGH AGE: 41 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 287K DEALS: Lots of Reality TV and quiz show appearances plus daytime television and an ongoing paid partnership with Furniture Village. Gifted items on social media from Procook, Furniture Village and Frank Olsen Furniture The Instagram doctor will see you now! Dr Ranj Singh, 41, manages to juggle his NHS role as a children's doctor with countless reality television appearances including Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Sewing Bee and Crystal Maze Dr Ranj has swelled his NHS earnings with social media collabs - including this one with Amazon UK - and regularly reveals the gifts he's received including expensive coffee machines and swanky furniture The rise and rise of Dr Ranj began when he landed a deal with CBeebies show Get Well Soon in 2012, and the ambitious star, who trained as a paediatric emergency medicine specialist, hasn't looked back since. While Dr Ranj continues to work as a hospital doctor - including currently working in a children's intensive care unit, a large chunk of the 41-year-old's time is now taken up with his media work. A slew of reality television shows have followed since his career-boosting appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 - with commerical deals also pouring in. He regularly shares items that have been gifted to him on social media - including a Sage coffee machine, which retails at around 500, luxury Frank Olsen furniture and crockery from Procook. He has an ongoing paid partnership with Furniture Village. Most recently seen on The Great British Sewing Bee, Crystal Maze, Pointless, The Hit List and Catchpoint, charismatic Dr Ranj continues to be a regular face on television screens. The TV presenter has won a BAFTA for his presenting and is regularly lauded for helping to debunk medical myths. His latest book, A Superhero Like You is out now. A Sikh, Dr Ranj was previously married to a woman before coming out as gay in 2012; he has since fought for better rights for the LBGTQ community. DR EMEKA OKOROCHA AGE: 24 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 53,800 DEALS: Regular TV appearances, star of BBC show Junior doctors, plus deals with Grenada, Gillette, Lynx and Killa Vanilla London hospital doctor Dr Emeka Okorocha, 24, has won 218,000 fans so far on TikTok with his videos from the front line - over on Instagram, he's also partial to a colloboration or three, including with low-carb brand Grenade (pictured above) And at work...the A&E junior doctor has been passionate about persuading people to get the vaccination in his social media posts in recent weeks The A&E junior doctor, who's from a long line of doctors, is just 24 but has already made a name for himself with countless appearances on television news and daytime television plus a slot on BBC Three show Junior doctors: Blood, sweat and tears. It's his TikTok videos that have really caught the eye of fans though - and his videos from the front line have seen him quickly amass 218,000 followers since the social media platform exploded in the first lockdown. The smiley doctor's most recent posts asks people to get vaccinated and discounts the conspiracy therorists. Alongside his flourishing television career, there plenty of collabs too with Gillette, Lynx and Grenade all frequently popping up. Also a regular sight on Dr Emeka's social pages is his six-pack... DR ZOE WILLIAMS AGE: 40 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 73.9K DEALS: This Morning GP, BBC Horizon presenter, partnerships with Oddbox, Superdrug and others London GP Dr Zoe Williams has fronted a host of BBC shows after landing the role as one of This Morning's GPs - and has also partnered with brands including Oddbox and Superdrug on her Instagram page The GP pictured in her London surgery; Williams appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in December and has also fronted health related shows including Trust Me, I'm a Doctor Perhaps always destined for the spotlight, GP Dr Zoe Williams' first brush with fame came in the shape of Sky One's revival of Gladiators in 2008, in which the super-fit medic appeared as Amazon. However, fast forward more than a decade and Dr Zoe is now a familiar face on daytime television thanks to her ability to explain complex medical issues to mainstream audiences on This Morning. The regular gig with hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield has unlocked a world of opportunity with the GP appearing in countless health-related shows including Trust Me, I'm a Doctor and controversial Horizon show The Restaurant that Burns off Calories. Instagram partnerships with Oddbox and Superdrug have also swelled the star's bank balance. Elsewhere, there's been other profile-raising appearances including Celebrity MasterMind and Fully Monty on Ice, designed to encourage women to check their breasts. Expecting her first child with partner Stuart McKay, the 40-year-old revealed that she froze her eggs in 2018 and considered parenthood using a sperm donor ahead of meeting McKay in Portugal in 2019. DR EMILY ANDRE AGE: 31 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 253K DEALS: OK Magazine columnist, regular daytime television appearances, YouTube channel Junior doctor in the house: despite joining Instagram just four months ago, Emily already has 253,000 followers The 31-year-old mother of two is sharing more on the couple's YouTube channel, with Peter recently filming his wife receiving the first of her covid jabs With a health and parenting role for OK magazine and recent appearances on daytime television shows including Lorraine and Loose Women, Emily looks let to land more lucrative media work Junior doctor Emily Andre first rose to fame because of her famous partner - pop star Peter Andre - after the pair met while she was still studying. Now the 31-year-old mother-of-two has begun to carve out a media role that focuses on her health and parenting skills, with a regular column in OK! magazine already underway. Despite joining Instagram just four months ago, Emily's appeal is clear - she has more than quarter of a million followers despite only posting 11 times so far. While husband Peter has collabs galore on his Instagram page, Emily has rarely promoted items under her own name, with a Happy charity sweater her only gifted item. The couple's YouTube channel, The Andres, has more than 53,000 subscribers with recent videos showing Peter filming his wife getting the first Covid vaccination. DR RANGAN CHATTERJEE AGE: 43 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS: 238,000 DEALS: Hosts his own Radio 2 show, has written four best-selling health books, appeared on BBC One show Doctor in the House Dr Rangan Chatterjee has taken a new show on Radio 2, with his media star firmly in the ascendant The star of BBC One show Doctor in the House has written four Sunday Times best-sellers The doctor's Instagram page has 238,000 followers...but collaborations are in short supply, with the doctor of 20 years plugging his own books instead With more than 20 years as a doctor under his belt, Dr Rangan Chatterjee has moved into the media mainstream with his new BBC Radio 2 show. He's also published four best-selling books - and his latest, Feel Great, Lose Weight, looks set to go the same way. The 43-year-old father hosts regular podcasts and has appeared on television frequently during the Covid crisis. Also seen on BBC One show Doctor in the House, Dr Chatterjee's star is firmly in the ascendant. Partnerships on Dr Chatterjee's Instagram are rare, with his focus much more on promoting his own books and recent interviews with stars in the world of well-being including Joe Wicks and Professor Tim Spector. This story originally appeared on Kveller. Ive been watching the disturbing rise of conspiracy theorist and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene with horror. Last week, another baseless theory of hers was unearthed about Jewish space lasers starting the California wildfires. (Did I ever think Id be writing these words? About a Congress member, no less? No, dear reader, I did not. ) Heres the story: On Thursday, a 2018 Facebook post written by Greene was unveiled in which the future lawmaker blames Californias wildfires on the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in conjunction with the Rothschilds the Jewish family thats been prominently featured in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for about two centuries. Apparently, according to Greene, Rothschild Inc started the fires using a space laser, and its goal was to clear the way for a high-speed rail project. ADVERTISEMENT You can read the entire bonkers tirade on Media Matters. (Perhaps not, if you value your brain in its current, unexploded state.) Since the news broke, Jewish Twitter had a field day because, of course! Making jokes out of virulent anti-Semitism has been our shtick for time immemorial. Humor, after all, is a classic Jewish coping mechanism. And this particular theory, well, it seems perfectly tailored for so many Jewish jokes. I mean, its like Mel Brooks Jews in Space segment from History of the World: Part I has just been lying around for four decades, just waiting for this moment! Also, it provided a great opportunity for some Lazar Wolf/Fiddler on the Roof references: is this the space laser u guys have been talking about pic.twitter.com/baqSavugqp shoshana || (@TheTonightSho) January 29, 2021 The story also elicited a slew of Jewish mom jokes that were truly excellent. After all, if we actually had space lasers, would Jewish moms be able to not spill the beans about the amazing project their daughters were working on? Or would Jewish moms paranoia about lasers (and all things potentially lethal) lead them to push their kids away from such intergalactic endeavors? Twitter couldnt decide: This Jewish space laser thing makes no sense to me. Because, as every Jewish mother knows, you could put an eye out with that. Ruth Marcus (@RuthMarcus) January 29, 2021 pretty hilarious that marjorie taylor greene thinks any jewish mother would ever allow her child to go to space Jess (@jesstweetss) January 29, 2021 However imagine the Jewish mother whose son made said moon laser. Mine would be foaming at the mouth trying to tell her friends. https://t.co/7wCv8j7Fjq Fenwick (@Lawdemigod) January 29, 2021 Ok but for real anyone who thinks Jews are keeping a space laser a secret have you met a Jewish mother? No one would ever hear the end of did you know about my daughters space laser? Were very proud! Gabby Tropp (@getropp) January 29, 2021 My Jewish mom was concerned the DVD player would blind us all when she found out it had a laser. So#JewishSpaceLasers Citizens For Progress (@Citizn4Progress) January 29, 2021 I think the most absurd part of this absurd thing is that no Jewish mother would give up the opportunity to tell everyone that her son is working on the space laser pic.twitter.com/CCEHnPXKUm Grace Short Squeeze Kelley (@GraceFacesPlace) January 29, 2021 So yes, the space laser jokes were good. (Also, as a Jew with an irrational fear of lasers seriously, I would cover my eyes every time someone played with one of those laser pointers we all had for a while I find them very relatable.) This is something that I love about the Jewish people: We can own even the most virulent (and frankly, purely unhinged) anti-Semitism and make it into something delightful. But this isnt just about having a cathartic laugh in the face of horror although I do believe thats a worthwhile endeavor. More than anything, these types of jokes are about putting a mirror to anti-Semites faces and demonstrating to them how laughable and hateful we think they are. Yet Greenes words are very, very not funny. They are incredibly upsetting. Its not just because these despicable beliefs are rampant across our nation, but now they have have been elevated to one of the highest offices of the land. As I noted, Ive been upset about Greenes politics for a while now. So when I heard of the latest unveiled conspiracy theory, I felt sad and scared but not for a moment was I surprised. You see, this 100% tracks with Greenes many terrible beliefs that we already knew about: Shes a known supporter of many anti-Semitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theories. A recently resurfaced video shows her verbally abusing Parkland survivor David Hogg and claiming that he is being paid by George Soros yet another popular modern anti-Semitic canard. Greene believes that the Parkland, Newtown and Las Vegas shootings were staged. She also believes that 9/11 was an inside job, and that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton murdered a child during a satanic ritual and drank her blood. She is a supporter of QAnon another trove of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Basically Greene is a callous bigot who hounds mass-shooting survivors, and I havent even made it to the part where she helped incite the deadly riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Is Greene a fluke? Or is she a harbinger of a new reality? Will the the Republican Party rein her in, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged them? Why are there so many tweets about her funny tweets, at that and yet so few of her colleagues are calling her out for her dangerous ideas? The fact is, anti-Semitism is on the rise in this country, and a much of it is fueled by baseless theories like the ones espoused by Greene. Its a jarring dissonance that a state that elected its first Black and first Jewish senators, both Democrats in a typically red state, also gave us this, a reflection of the most dangerous forces in our country. While we revel in mocking Greenes disturbing theories, we also must not forget how heartbreaking and dangerous they are. The ideas that she peddles have been used to persecute Jews and other minorities for centuries. As we laugh, we shouldnt lose sight of whats really at stake here. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media. Lets block ads! (Why?) The epidemic situation allows Ukraine to return to the model of adaptive quarantine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukraine's government, will decide on the return to adaptive quarantine in the coming days. "The epidemic situation allows us to return to the model of adaptive quarantine when different levels of epidemiological danger will be established in the regions, namely green, yellow, orange, or red," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday, an UNIAN correspondent reported. "The government will make a corresponding decision in the coming days, but prior to that, I will ask the Health Ministry to actively communicate possible changes so that no questions arise about the criteria by which the color will be applied to certain regions," Shmyhal added. On January 25, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov announced the country might again introduce an adaptive quarantine. Read also Ukraine reports over 3,200 new COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours Adaptive quarantine in Ukraine The adaptive quarantine was first introduced on August 1. Ukrainian regions were split into the red, green, orange zones depending on hospital bed occupancy rates, the average number of PCR and ELISA tests, the incidence of COVID-19 cases, and daily spread dynamics. Quarantine-related curbs differed in each zone. The mildest ones were in the green zone, while the regions included in the red zone had to introduce the toughest restrictive measures. Reporting by UNIAN Press Release February 3, 2021 SENATOR PIA S. CAYETANO CHAIR OF THE SENATE WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE Sponsorship speech on the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on the CREATE Bill 3 February 2021 Mr. President, as Chairperson of the Senate contingent to the Bicameral Conference Committee tasked to propose reforms on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives system, I am elated, I am giddy with excitement to report to the Senate on the approved version of the CREATE Bill. Here are the major provisions of our measure, which the bicam committee adopted: - Importation of Covid-19 vaccines are exempt from import duties. Note that the Senate version already included exemption of the vaccines from VAT. - Enterprises have the option to choose between the Special Corporate Income Tax of 5% or Enhanced Deductions after enjoying the Income Tax Holiday (ITH) - Higher incentives for enterprises located outside of metropolitan areas - Additional incentives for enterprises that fully relocate outside of NCR - Additional incentives for those who will locate in areas that are recovering from disasters or armed conflict. Meanwhile, here are the key provisions in the Senate version that we retained in the bicam version: Immediate reduction of the corporate income tax to 20% for domestic corporations with total assets not exceeding P100 Million (excluding land) and total net taxable income not exceeding P5 Million 25% for all other corporations 1% Minimum Corporate Income Tax (MCIT) effective July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023 1% tax rate for Proprietary Educational Institutions and Hospitals which are Non-Profit effective July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023 VAT exemption threshold for socialized and low-cost housing to Php 2.5M and Php 4.2M for house and lot. VAT exemption for medicines for cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis, and kidney diseases beginning January 1, 2021 VAT free importation and sale of COVID-19 medicines, PPEs beginning January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023 As to the Joint Explanation on the disagreeing provisions of House Bill No. 4157 and Senate Bill No. 1357, I would like to request that this be inserted into the record. Mr. President, we have been wading through the murky waters of this pandemic for almost 11 months now. Every little bit of good news we savor, we relish - the increased access to PCR machines, the increased capacity of our health system, the development of COVID-19 vaccines, and various relief measures we included in Bayanihan 1 and 2. But today Mr. President, we ratify this unprecedented measure that will serve as our roadmap to a more sustainable future, as well as our fulfillment of the overdue reforms in the country's tax and fiscal incentives system. Some 25 years ago, the first bill was filed on the rationalizing of incentives. A quarter of a century ago. We've come a long way since then. In fact, the CREATE bill is a major overhaul of the CITIRA bill that I started working on a little over a year ago. The pandemic has changed us. It has changed the way we work, the way we live, and the way we do business. Necessarily, such an important fiscal measure would change, too. Instead of just a 1% drop in corporate income tax, we are giving an immediate 5% drop, reduction of our corporate income tax rate, it will now stand at 25%. And for MSMEs, it will be 20% depending on certain conditions as reported earlier. The CREATE bill seeks to provide a lifeline for struggling businesses affected by the ongoing pandemic, through the immediate and substantial reduction in our corporate income tax rate. This will be a game changer for all businesses - both big and small - who need as much support as they can get during this time of global health and economic crisis. Businesses will have more cash at their disposal, which they can use for inventory, for capital equipment, for employee benefits, and more. We are hopeful that the revenues that the government stands to lose will provide the stimulus that our economy needs to rebound from the contraction it sustained last year. Reducing corporate income tax will also enable the Philippines to keep pace with our ASEAN neighbors in attracting foreign direct investments. On the incentives side, the bicam version of CREATE remains consistent with our objective to make our fiscal incentives system more performance-based and time-bound. Our new incentives package aims to attract businesses that will create more jobs for our people and bring in technologies and innovations. It likewise promotes inclusive growth by offering higher incentives for those that will choose to invest in the countryside, as well as in areas recovering from disasters or conflict. CREATE would be a fulfillment of previous attempts by past administrations to rationalize and instill accountability into our tax and fiscal incentives system. This will ensure that the benefits of the incentives we grant to various businesses will ricochet back to the Filipino public. Furthermore, as highlighted earlier, CREATE aims to sustain the government's efforts to protect our people's health, which is very much in line with our sustainable development goal of ensuring good health and wellbeing for all. It shall strengthen our fight against the pandemic through the VAT-free sale and importation of COVID-19 drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and components of personal PPEs until 2023. In fact, we have not limited our interventions to COVID-19. Our measure will also exempt from VAT medicines for cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis, and kidney diseases. Mr. President, now is the perfect opportunity to institutionalize these reforms, at a time when we are moving forward towards building back better for our nation and its people. We can finally end the unpredictability that prompted many investors to adopt a wait-and-see attitude before investing in the country, and at the same time, provide a much-needed respite from the effects of the pandemic, and cultivate an economic environment that ensures a more sustainable and inclusive recovery for the nation, even beyond the New Normal. In conclusion, I would like to thank my colleagues, starting with the Senate President, who trusted me to shepherd this very important committee and this bill, thank you for your steady support, Mr. President... Our Majority Floor Leader, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who we all know made use of his many talents to get this bill moving... And Senator Ralph Recto, Senator Franklin Drilon, and Senator Angara, the former chairman of the Committee, and all our other colleagues who have participated in making this a better bill, making this the best possible version of CREATE. Of course, we also acknowledge the support of our economic team - headed by no less than Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez - to help us push forward this measure. As I mentioned, the finance and economic leaders of decades ago started advocating for such a measure, dating back to the 10th Congress, a quarter of a century ago. And it is now the 18th Congress. And finally, we have done it. Mr. President, this is it. All 199 pages. It is an inch thick, a little bit more, I think. And although I only saw this now because I have been working paperless on this measure, but our current rules require that it is in printed form, so here it is. It is my humble submission that the bicameral report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 1357 and House Bill No. 4157 on the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises, otherwise known as the CREATE bill, be ratified by this Chamber. Thank you, my dear colleagues! Thank you, Mr. President. DUBLIN, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Component; Organization Size; Industries" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Growth of logistics sector propels digitization in logistics supply chain market The market was valued at US$ 11,794.24 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 23607.06 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2020 to 2027. The report highlights the key factors driving the market growth, and prominent players and their developments in the market. The global logistics and transportation sector is soaring at an exponential rate since the past decade. The demand for transportation of raw materials from procurement sites to production units, and finished product from manufacturing facilities to warehouses and distribution centers, and ultimately to customers, requires extensive supply chain and logistics infrastructure. The continuous growth in the logistics sector has allowed several software developers and connected devices manufacturers to design and develop robust software and systems to allow manufacturing facilities as well as the logistic partners to leverage efficient technologies. The rise in e-commerce has further bolstered the logistics sector. The e-commerce industry is continuously expanding due to the regular increase in the number of companies. The e-commerce giants are continuously increasing their investments toward new warehouses and distribution centers. This is propelling the demand for higher volumes of transportation infrastructure. Thus, e-commerce is a key enabler of the global logistics sector growth and is anticipated to influence digitization in logistics supply chain market significantly. The key companies operating in the digitization in logistics supply chain market include Accenture, Advnatech Co. Ltd., Cognizant, Capgemini SE, Hexaware Inc., IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Tata Consulting Services Limited, and Wipro Ltd. COVID-19 Impact on Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market The manufacturing sector has witnessed severe losses due to the temporary shutdown of factories and low production volumes, which has had a negative impact on the logistics sector. Additionally, the social or physical distancing measures imposed by governments have led the logistics service providers to limit their operations. However, the logistics and supply-chain industry players are focusing on digital technologies to curb the negative effect of the pandemic on the logistics operations based on traditional logistics concepts. This is boosting the digitization in logistics supply chain market. Nonetheless, the lower volumes of production are limiting the full-fledged usage of the fleets, which is creating tremors on the logistics service providers' business, thereby leading to slower growth of digitization in logistics supply chain market. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 5. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Key Market Dynamics 5.1 Key Market Driver 5.1.1 Growth of Global Logistics Sector 5.1.2 Increasing Demand from Manufacturing and Automotive Sectors 5.2 Key Market Restraints 5.2.1 Risk of Data Breach 5.3 Key Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Increasing Demand for IoT in Developing Countries 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Smart Logistics Technologies Catalyze Digitalization of Supply Chain Logistics 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Global Analysis 6.1 Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Global Overview 6.2 Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 6.3 Market Positioning - Global Market Players Ranking 7. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Analysis - By Component 7.1 Overview 7.2 Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market, By Component (2019 and 2027) 7.3 Solution 7.3.1 Overview 7.3.2 Solution: Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.3.3 Tracking and Monitoring 7.3.4 EDI 7.3.5 Fleet Management 7.3.6 Order Management 7.3.7 CRM 7.4 Services 7.4.1 Overview 7.4.2 Services: Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.4.3 Consulting 7.4.4 Integration 8. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Analysis - By Organization Size 8.1 Overview 8.2 Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market Breakdown, by Organization Size, 2019 & 2027 8.3 SMEs 8.4 Large Enterprises 9. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - By Industry 9.1 Overview 9.2 Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market, by Industry (2019 and 2027) 9.3 Automotive 9.4 BFSI 9.5 Manufacturing 9.6 IT and Telecom 9.7 Healthcare 9.8 Oil & Gas 10. Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market - Geographic Analysis 11. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic 11.1 Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Digitization in Logistics Supply Chain Market: Regional Analysis 12. Industry Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Market Initiative 12.3 New Developments 13. Company Profiles Accenture Plc Advantech Co. Ltd. Cognizant Capgemini Hexaware Inc. IBM Corporation Oracle Corporation SAP SE Tata Consulting Services Limited Wipro Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2y4ghn 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 MARKING another milestone in her designing career, self-taught fashion designer Selma Shapwa, known as KaSelly, on Monday launched a new collection, 'Welcoming 2021', under her KaSelly Designs brand. The collection features 25 pieces of women's wear with a colourful and stylish touch of couture. With the new line priced competitively for the luxury designer ready-to-wear space, KaSelly this time placed more focus on clothing for all occasions, from cocktail, party, work to formal evening wear. "With this collection, I focused more on stretchy materials. Nonetheless, I wanted to try out the see-through body mess designs for the first time, which came out just right. I also wanted my clients to know that I have grown in terms of designing, and I can come up with different types of clothing," explains KaSelly. She adds that she also used her all-time favourite scuba (chloroprene rubber), a double knit fabric that is normally a poly mixed with Lycra or Spandex, which also came out right. "I was supposed to use more different materials and more different designs, but time did not allow me. More polished designs will be available on my next collection," she says. According to KeSelly, she is more satisfied with Welcoming 2021 than her previous work, as the pieces are stylish, unique, and of good quality. KaSelly's red collection is inspired by the upcoming Valentine's Day. She said she came up with this collection to show that she has established herself as a fashion designer on the next level and for her work to be seen as an improvement in the local fashion industry. Apart from the new collection, KaSelly is also busy promoting her Bold_Like_Gold brand, launched at the end of last year. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Entertainment Namibia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. She says she invented the brand to motivate people to be courageous, confident, strong as well as fearless in their lives, and she plans to release more unique items both men and women. "I have bigger plans for my business this year. Although I cannot share all the plans right now, I can assure you that my clients will not be seeing the 'We are fully booked' notice anymore. I want to accommodate most of the clients this year," says KaSelly. The 24-year-old designer started hand sewing clothes for herself and a few friends at the tender age of 13 until she went to the Namibia University of Science and Technology, where she improved drastically. "I later started doing business, and a few people came through until I bought a machine, and that is how I started getting even more orders making bridesmaid dresses, graduation dresses, and various other clothes," says Kelly. She then realised that she wanted to pursue a career as a fashion designer. She has a certificate for participating in a Matrix Fashion Show at Swakopmund in 2018. Her new collection can be viewed on her Instagram business page: kaselly_designs_cc There will be a domino effect, she said. One of the big, more forward-facing mayoral candidates is going to release their comprehensive police plan, and everyone else is going to have an answer to it. Mr. Stringer, who has won endorsement from several progressive leaders who support the defund movement, said that he was the first elected official to put forth a detailed proposal to reduce the N.Y.P.D.s budget by $1 billion, and that his position on these issues has not changed. But when asked directly whether he supports defunding the police, Mr. Stringer gave a more indirect answer, saying that he wanted to make concrete change when it comes to systemic racism and our criminal justice system. Mr. Stringer will soon release a report that explains his policy ideas to transform policing that he says is more ambitious than his proposal in June. The report, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, does not mention the word defund or cite a dollar figure for budget cuts, but it outlines how he would move certain responsibilities away from the Police Department and identifies specific areas for reinvestment in communities. Most of the other major candidates seemed even less likely to make major cuts to the police budget. Mr. McGuire, who served on the New York City Police Foundation, has called for better policing with greater accountability, not fewer police officers, even as he has said that as a Black man he could easily be the next George Floyd a contrast that he does not view as a contradiction. Mr. Adams, a former police officer, said that he does not support taking resources away from crime fighting especially in communities of color where shootings and other predatory crimes are on the rise. Understand the N.Y.C. Mayoral Race Whos Running for Mayor? There are more than a dozen people still in the race to become New York Citys next mayor, and the primary will be held on June 22. Heres a rundown of the candidates. Get to Know the Candidates: We asked leading candidates for mayor questions about everything from police reform and climate change to their favorite bagel order and workout routine. What is Ranked-Choice Voting? New York City began using ranked-choice voting for primary elections this year, and voters will be able to list up to five candidates in order of preference. Confused? We can help. Ms. Wiley said at a recent mayoral forum that the Police Department budget was bloated, but declined to say how much she would seek to cut police spending. 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. For more than a year now Australias major media outlets have been rumbling with the digital giants Google and Facebook over proposed legislation designed to make the search and social platforms pay for news content. Last month the issue burst out of the media bubble when Google ran what it called an experiment on 1 per cent of Australian users - completely wiping their search results of any Australian news content. The company is threatening to exit the Australian market altogether. In todays episode of Please Explain Daily, media and telco writer Zoe Samios discusses how we got to this point, what could happen if Google stops showing Australian news results and whether Parliament is likely go through with a mandatory code. 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. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2021 / PRNewswire / -- Finance executives at Sanwa Alterna Brokerage have today commented on Uber Technologies Inc acquiring on-demand alcohol app Drizly for around $1.1 billion in stock and cash deal, signalling the firms' intention to accelerate doorstep delivery services which have boomed during the pandemic. "Uber's acquisition of Drizly will enable to company to deliver beer, wine and spirits throughout the U.S. in addition to their recently launched groceries, package and prescription delivery service," commented Michael Sharpe, Head of International Equities at Sanwa Alterna Brokerage. Delivery has become an essential lifeline for Uber as the Covid-19 induced lockdown measures battered its core ride-hailing service. The firm purchased food-delivery rival Postmates Inc. last year in a stock deal worth $2.65 billion. Uber Eats is now the second-largest food-delivery company in the U.S. after DoorDash Inc. In the second quarter of 2020, the company's food delivery revenue surpassed its ride-hailing revenue for the first time. According to Sanwa Alterna Brokerage data, it is estimated that online alcohol sales in the U.S. grew 80% in value last year from the previous year and that the country is now expected to overtake China as the world's largest online alcohol market this year. In the U.S., home delivery of alcohol has been legal in many states for years, but retailers have preferred to not offer it, mainly due to concerns about the legal age of those making the orders. Drizly, which is compliant with local regulations in 1,400 U.S. cities, will become a wholly-owned Uber subsidiary. It will be integrated with the Eats platform, while also operating its existing app. "The Drizly acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of this year. Uber anticipates that over 90% of the consideration being paid to Drizly shareholders will comprise of shares in Uber common stock, with the remaining balance paid in cash," commented Jonathan Ellis, Head of Private Wealth at Sanwa Alterna Brokerage. On Tuesday, Uber shares were up 6.5% at $56.20 About Sanwa Alterna Brokerage was founded in 2011 to provide a streamlined wealth management and investment service for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth private investors and corporate clients. We have partnered with people and businesses for two decades, incorporating a forward-looking approach that has guided our success. SOURCE Sanwa Alterna Brokerage An English company that has long been selling its wax-coated mini barrels of cheese directly to European consumers says it can no longer do so because of Brexit, pushing it to consider new investment in France. Last year The Cheshire Cheese company sold 180,000 pounds ($247,000) worth of artisan truckles -- the traditional name for cheese shaped like a barrel -- to European Union customers, but Managing Director Simon Spurrell says that is no longer possible. "That's completely gone. At the moment we've had to just switch that light out," said Spurrell, surrounded by milking cows at the company's creamery near Matlock, northern England. London and Brussels agreed a last-minute trade deal last December which averted border tariffs, but many companies, particularly smaller ones, have warned that the deal has thrown up new obstacles to trade that are killing business. Spurrell can no longer sell cheese gift boxes worth around 25 pounds to the EU through his online shop because each consignment needs to be accompanied by a health certificate signed off by a vet that costs 180 pounds per consignment, regardless of size. The company has therefore put on hold plans for a 1 million pound new distribution centre in Macclesfield, northern England, and is instead considering setting up its own hub in France, where it can still ship on a wholesale basis. Expand Close Farmer Abby Spurrell moves one of her herd of British Friesian cows after milking at Pikehall Farm near Matlock, Britain, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Farmer Abby Spurrell moves one of her herd of British Friesian cows after milking at Pikehall Farm near Matlock, Britain, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that Britain would be free to trade globally once it had cast off the shackles of the EU and has said the bureaucratic snags are teething problems. But for many companies that built up markets in the world's biggest trading bloc during Britain's 47-year membership, the new relationship is hitting sales and putting pressure on jobs and investment. Smaller firms are bearing the brunt of the fallout, from specialist beef producers to shoe makers and fishing crews. At The Cheshire Cheese Company, which sells a type of crumbly cheese first recorded over 400 years ago, recent investments in multi-lingual websites helped European online sales jump last year and they had been forecasting a 40% rise this year. Spurrell thinks that the lack of an exemption from costly certificates for direct consumer sales was an oversight as negotiators rushed to seal the deal. He's in touch with the government about the difficulties he's facing but time is running out. The speaker said the law was to further prohibit unlawful societies and cultism. The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed the Unlawful Societies and Cultism (Prohibition) Bill 2020, which has 'punishment' for parents of convicted cultists as one of its components. The House passed the bill during the plenary session on Monday through a voice vote conducted by the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa. Mr Obasa said the House had included punishment for parents of cultists found guilty of cultism in the amendment of the Anti-Cultism Law, submitted by the state government. The speaker said the punishment was to further prohibit unlawful societies and cultism, including other connected purposes in the state. "Parents of cultists found guilty of cultism in the state 'might be liable' for punishment. "The bill, if signed into law, will provide for the prohibition of unlawful societies and cultism in Lagos and for connected purposes. "Though, we will also differentiate between the types of cultism in the country, so that we won't solve one problem and create another," he said. The House did not specify the kind of punishment it was advocating. Also contributing, David Setonji, representing Badagry Constituency II, described the issue as a major challenge for the state due to its "commotion-causing devilish ideas". Mr Setonji, therefore, admonished parents to take proper care of their children by ensuring their compliance with societal norms and values. "The issue of cultism has been a major challenge to us in the state. "There is nothing wrong in associations coming together, but when it has to do with devilish ideas, causing a commotion, that is what we are against. "As a result, parents should learn to take care of their children to ensure they conform to societal norms and values," he said. The speaker, therefore, asked the acting Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, to send the clean copy of the bill to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his assent. In a heart-wrenching note to her son, Charlie, on his last birthday in December, his mom, Cheryl, poured her heart out. It was a little more than 10 years ago that l prayed and prayed that I would get 10 minutes with you... I knew every breath you took would be a miracle. I just wanted 10 minutes to hold you and love you and be with you. Charlie was born with a rare brain disorder called holoprosencephaly (HPE0), a life-threatening illness that his doctor described as being not compatible with life, and in medical technology referred to as a condition that occurs when the forebrain of the embryo fails to develop into two hemispheres. Charlie Correll on his birthday. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island Advance Cheryl and her husband, Christopher, were notified there was something seriously wrong with their unborn child when Cheryl was just 22 weeks pregnant. They were advised that babies who go full term were only given a 1% survival rate and those with the condition dont normally live past birth. Doctors who painted a bleak picture, said their baby would live only a few hours at most. But the Corrells precious little love, the Christmas baby who was born in Richmond University Medical Center on Dec. 3, 2010, would miraculously defy all medical odds and expectations and went home with his loving parents 10 days later. Charlie Correll sporting his star sunglasses. (Courtesy/Correll family)Staten Island Advance I wasnt being greedy about it. I understand what not compatible with life meant, Cheryl continued in her birthday note. Ten minutes turned into 10 hours that I prayed. Ten hours turned into 10 days and on that 10th day we took you home. You gave me 10 weeks, then 10 months. It has been 10 years today that you have changed our whole world. Throughout the 10 years that ensued, Charlie would bravely undergo a great number of surgeries most of which were at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Cheryl, Charlie and Christopher Correll. (Courtesy/Correll family)Staten Island Advance But, after fighting for survival for more than a decade, Charles Christopher Correll succumbed to complications from the coronavirus on Jan. 26 in Richmond University Medical Center, the same health care facility where he was given the gift of life. Charlie is the second person in the Correll family to die from Covid-19. A little under a year ago the virus took the life of George Maira, Charlies maternal grandfather. From the left, Cheryl, Caden, Georgia, Christopher and Charlie Correll, clowning around on "Charlie's" birthday. (Courtesy/Correll family)Staten Island Advance CHARLIE WAS FULL OF LIFE A cheerful little boy, Charlie was the happiest when surrounded by those he most loved and like so many other children he wanted to be a part of everything family whether that meant cuddling quietly with his parents in their Livingston home, or interacting with a room full of people where his infectious laugh and bright smile will always be remembered, Cheryl said. The middle child, and a typical little boy, Charlie would laugh heartily when his brother, Caden, 6, got in trouble. And though he fought valiantly each day for every breath, all the while he spread joy, energy and an everlasting light among his family members and friends. From the left, Georgia, Caden and Charlie Correll with SpongeBob. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island Advance A fifth-grade student at PS 37, Oakwood, Charlie looked forward to going for walks, racing in his wheelchair, playing games with his siblings, Georgia, 12, and Caden, 6, and especially enjoyed SpongeBob SquarePants, his very favorite cartoon character. CONDOLENCES AND COMFORTING WORDS Charlie came into this world on a wing and thousands of prayers, said cousin Laura Peterson. Father Jerome baptized Charlie at the hospital minutes after he was born...Charlie came home from the hospital surrounded by love, to take his rightful place in our family, and in all of our hearts. With an unfailing smile and a lifelong love of SpongeBob cartoons, Charlie Correll bested the odds, and fulfilled what I think was his purpose: Charlie made us all better people. His very presence made us braver, made us more compassionate, made us think. After all, Charlie was untouched by any sin, unburdened by any worries, untethered by any constraints of competition or vanity or shame. Charlie was a full vessel of pure goodness. Charlie was love. Christopher, "Charlie" and Cheryl Correll. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island AdvanceStaten Island Advance Laura added: And now Charlie has gone surely to Heaven and his older sister, Georgia, and younger brother, Caden, may come to question why this has happened. I know we adults do. I closed my eyes this evening, and said a prayer for Charlie my usual Our Father when another popped into my mind. I realized it described Charlie perfectly. Charles Christopher Correll, you were OUR instrument of peace. Rest now, sweet Charlie. We love you. The Correll family: dad Christopher, daughter Georgia, now 12, mom Cheryl, Caden, now 6 and Charlie, who was 10. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island Advance Gail Ghigliotti, Charlies great aunt: Sometimes it is hard for us to understand what our purpose in life is. Not so with Charlie. Charlie was sent here to make all who loved him be better people. In some way, we all learned from his struggles and hopefully, we grew thanks to him. Gail Fernadez, a family friend: Charlie taught us all about love, compassion and gratitude. All the kids who were lucky enough to be in Charlies life were kind and considerate of him. It is a lifelong lesson for those kids that they will never forget. Charlie had the best parents who did everything possible to give him a happy life. Last but not least, Charlies smile lit up the room. Charlie Correll with family and friends. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island AdvanceStaten Island Advance Denise Roloph, Charlies aunt. In my opinion the most important thing to know about Charlie was he was a true fighter for life. As soon as someone would walk into the room he would smile in such a contagious way that he would have the whole room smiling back at him. Charlie taught our family that miracles do exist and that love is pure. His very life was a miracle he survived so much. This little boy had so much strength. He lit up a room with his smile and bright blue eyes. Diane Durante, Charlies aunt: What can I say about Charlie? So much. His smile and laugh were contagious, he could light up a room. He will be truly missed. He is and was a miracle. The Correll family during their "Make A Wish" trip in 2018. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island Advance Joy Koratzanis, Charlies aunt: We knew he loved his family just through his smile and eyes. He also taught our children compassion and unconditional love. He had many cousins who loved him and learned much from him. My 9 year-old daughter, Isabella, treated him like he was everyone else. Ill always be struck that when Isabella was with him they always touched in some way. He danced with us at parties, loved SpongeBob and if you interrupted while he was watching, he let you know it. He loved his sister, Georgia, and brother, Caden they doted on him. His mother, Cheryl, is his fiercest advocate completely devoted to him along with my brother, Chris, who would so lovingly care for his needs. My husband, John Koratzanis, and my kids, Matt, Greg and Isabella were very lucky to have him. Alex Correll, Charlies uncle: Charlie really was a very special boy. He had a smile that lit up the entire room! He always made you feel good. Danielle Correll, Charlies aunt: Charlies smile was contagious. When he loved something or someone it showed. He grinned from ear to ear and his beautiful eyes opened wide with joy. Thats how Ill remember Charlie. Jessica Maira, Charlies aunt: My daughter, Addison, and Charlie had a very special bond. When we were together Addison was always hugging Charlie or holding hands. Even though she was younger she eventually started taking care of him and helping with him in anyway possible. Addisons love for Charlie was unconditional and in her words, Charlie was my best friend and the first person I ever loved. From the left, Charlie, Caden and Georgia. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island AdvanceStaten Island Advance The following is mom Cheryls closing words scripted in Charlies 10th birthday note: You have given me experiences I didnt know existed and a life I never expected. You have made me appreciate the little things and realize there is nothing I cant handle. Ten years you have been fighting to live and for 10 years I have thanked God every day for those first 10 minutes. Those first 10 minutes when I knew I would do anything and everything to keep you. You are my hero, my fighter, my miracle. I cant imagine my life without you in it. I am so proud of the little boy you are and the man you will be. I will never stop praying for 10 more minutes with you. Happy 10th birthday Charlie. You are my heart and soul. Ill love you forever. Ill like you for always, as long as Im living, my baby youll be. Charlie, Georgia and Christopher. (Courtesy/Correll family) Staten Island Advance In addition to Charlies parents, Cheryl (Maira) and Christopher, his sister, Georgia, and his brother, Caden, Charlie is survived by many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was predeceased by his grandparents, Diane and George Maira, and Jerome and Rosemary Correll. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Harmon Home for Funerals, West Brighton. Visitation will be on Thursday between 4 and 8 p.m. A Mass will be offered Friday at 10 a.m. in Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church, Tompkinsville. A private cremation will follow. Covid-19 restrictions will be enforced in the funeral chapel and in church. Those who wish to make donations can contribute to a Faceboook GoFundMe campaign, or to Families for HoPE, Inc. People in areas hit by outbreaks of the South African Covid strain have slammed Matt Hancock as 'out of touch' after he said they should eat out of their freezer and store cupboards before considering leaving the house to shop for fresh food. The Health Secretary repeated warnings that the highly transmissible strain was the main problem now facing Britain and required people to take a more strict attitude to staying at home. But shoppers visiting supermarkets today in Bristol, Southport and Walsall three of eight areas in the UK being tested for the new strain said they had made so many sacrifices during lockdown, but depriving themselves of fresh fruit and vegetables was a restriction too many. At a Sainsbury's store in Arnos Vale, Bristol, half a mile from one of the city's Covid testing centres, Frances McGivney, 70, said: 'You can tell Matt Hancock doesn't do his own shopping and is probably well looked after by someone. Neighbours Alex Potter and Jade Clarkson-Shore (both pictured above outside a Sainsburys in Bristol) are in a support bubble and go shopping together. Jade, 27, said: 'We've already given up so much and asking us to not go shopping is a bit too far' At a Sainsbury's store in Arnos Vale, Bristol, half a mile from one of the city's Covid testing centres, Frances McGivney (pictured above), 70, said: 'You can tell Matt Hancock doesn't do his own shopping and is probably well looked after by someone' 'It's all well and good him calling for people to look for what's in the back of their cupboards and use up whatever tins they have but I need fresh food and I have to go to the shops to get it. 'What about when we run out of tins of food and tea bags and sugar? Not everyone has access to click and collect and even if they do they have to schedule in a particular date. 'I go shopping once a week, on my own. The rest of the time I follow the government's advice and stay in. 'It's a slight worry that as I'm about to have the vaccine, there might be a strain of Covid in Bristol which is potentially resistant but at my age I don't go out partying much anymore and don't mix with too many people so I'm hoping I'll be fine.' Neighbours Alex Potter and Jade Clarkson-Shore are in a support bubble and go shopping together. As she unloaded a trolley of items into the boot of her friend's car, Jade, 27, said: 'I think Matt Hancock's comments were a little silly because we've already given up so much and asking us to not go shopping is a bit too far. 'I only go once a week anyway, with Alex because I can't drive. I don't have anything in the back of my cupboards or freezer - because they're not very big - and I don't have a larder on anything like that. I need to go food shopping. 'I think Hancock is a bit out of touch with reality - certainly here in Bristol.' Mother-of-two Alex, 25, has a one-year-old son and a three year old daughter who has a rare condition which requires her to have a gastrostomy button so she can be fed through a tube in her stomach. Alex said: 'She has a special formula to go with her blended food and we can only get it at the big supermarkets so for me there is no option to use whatever I have left in the cupboards. Matt Hancock repeated warnings that the highly transmissible strain was the main problem now facing Britain and required people to take a more strict attitude to staying at home 'I think Matt Hancock's advice in this respect is definitely easier said than done. 'I get that he is trying to stop the spread of this mutant strain of Coronavirus but it's not very practical to expect everyone to stay in and shop online or just raid their larders.' Meanwhile Walsall's Tesco Extra store, which sits in the town centre and within the high risk WS2 area, seemed as busy as ever this afternoon. Hundreds of shoppers went in and out of the store, none of them aware of the Health Secretary's 'live off your larder' message. Valerie Coley, 81, had brought her wheeled shopping basket on the bus, to go shopping. Asked about Matt Hancock's message, she said: 'I have trouble with that because I have a cat and a dog and I need to feed them. 'I've got 16 tins in my trolley now. It's all I can manage but the cat eats one a day and the dog eats more so I will be back. 'If he wants to bring me cat and dog food then I could stay at home but that's not going to happen. The surge testing is now taking place at a variety of locations in England amid concerns about the mutant strains Volunteers from various emergency services and council members go door-to-door to distribute Covid-19 tests in Maidstone, Kent today 'At the start of lockdown the Council gave me a food delivery but I found the food was too close to its sell-by date and my dog didn't like the dried food.' Amarit Kalsi, 47, who had just completed the weekly shop for her family of five, said: 'I live in WS5 but the nearest supermarket to me is here in WS2. 'I had no idea what Matt Hancock had said but if he's not going to deliver peoples' food then I think he is asking too much. 'When you have everyone working and eating at home, you just can't avoid coming to the shops. 'Honestly, I do think it is a shambles. They say something like that but they couldn't close the border for all those months. I had a friend arrive from India last month and there was no checks at Heathrow, not even sanitiser. It's a joke.' And in Southport, Merseyside, Sam Parker, 33, an accountant, said: 'It's all well and good Matt Hancock saying that but what happens if you need fresh fruit and vegetables? 'I only go shopping once a week but to say don't go out again until the cupboards are empty is just does not work in the real world. 'You cannot stock up on every ingredient needed. Does he expect us to live on rice and baked beans before going shopping again?' Meanwhile, Mr Hancock said this morning that new data from Oxford University showing its vaccine cuts transmission 'will help us all to get out of this pandemic', as hopes were raised over the lifting of lockdown. Road signs directing traffic to the Covid test centre at Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire Health authorities have found more than 100 cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, prompting a scramble to deploy new testing initiatives across eight areas in England But he also warned that new variants of coronavirus - which reduce the effectiveness of vaccines - could slow things down. Another 33 cases of the troublesome South African Covid variant have been spotted in Britain, health chiefs revealed last night amid growing fears over mutant strains that experts say could make vaccines less effective. Public Health England claimed 143 people have now been struck down with the variant since it was first discovered on British soil in December including five in Scotland and nine in Wales. None have been found in Northern Ireland. WHERE IS DOOR-TO-DOOR TESTING BEING OFFERED? London W7: Hanwell (South African variant) N17: Tottenham (South African variant) CR4: Mitcham (South African variant) West Midlands WS2: Walsall (South African variant) East of England EN10: Broxbourne (South African variant) South East ME15: Maidstone (South African variant) GU21: Woking (South African variant) North West PR9: Southport (South African variant) Liverpool (Original variant with E484K mutation) South West Bristol (Kent variant with E484K mutation) Advertisement The senior Government minister told BBC Breakfast: 'We're in a national lockdown so there is not a stronger law we can bring in place that says ''Really stay at home'' but the critical point is that everybody should be staying at home unless they have to. 'If you are in one of those postcodes, it is absolutely imperative that you minimise all social contact outside of your house. 'So this means, for instance, whereas the Government guidance to most of us is ''Do go to the shops if you need to'', in those areas, in the immediate term, we are saying ''If you have food in the house, please use that''. 'It is about a more stringent interpretation of the existing rules, trying to make sure that in those areas we do everything we possibly can to end all transmissions so we can get this new variant right under control. 'There are only a handful of cases, so we have the opportunity to really stamp on it now.' It came as 10 million people in the UK were revealed to have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The Health Secretary hailed the milestone as 'hugely significant' while the Prime Minister expressed thanks to those who had helped make it happen. Mr Hancock said 'every jab makes us all a bit safer', as he made the announcement on Twitter. In England, a total of 9,126,930 Covid-19 vaccinations took place between December 8 and February 2, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 301,559 on the previous day's figures. Of this number, 8,663,041 were the first dose of the vaccine, a rise of 300,173 on the previous day, while 463,889 were the second dose, an increase of 1,386. In yet another potential twist to the UK's coronavirus crisis, officials today also announced they have found 11 cases of the Kent coronavirus variant which carries an extra mutation in Bristol. And 32 people in Liverpool have been struck down with the original strain of the virus that has the same mutation scientifically known as E484K. MailOnline understands the cases were spotted three weeks ago. Around one in seven people in England would have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies by mid-January, figures suggest. Data from blood studies from private households suggests a rise in the number who have had coronavirus in England - up from an estimated one in nine people in December and one in 11 in November. The figures come from the Office for National Statistics Covid-19 Infection Survey and do not include people in care homes, hospitals or other institutions. An estimated one in nine people in Wales had been infected by mid-January, up from one in 14 in December. Volunteers are continuing to give out surge tests today to target areas in Woking for the new variant South African strain of Covid-19 A car driver is given instructions at a new drive-in Covid-19 testing centre in Southport, Merseyside this morning 'It comes with the job': How Chris Whitty brushed off TikTok abuse Chris Whitty brushed off being abused by a maskless TikTok user while waiting for his Mexican lunch in Westminster - saying to the market stall owner: 'It comes with the job', MailOnline can reveal today. The young man, who calls himself 'AA Bants', repeatedly accused the Chief Medical Officer yesterday lunchtime of 'lying' to Britain about the pandemic that has already claimed more than 100,000 lives in the UK. But Rory Fischelt, 50, owner of the Santana Grill market stall on Strutton Ground, said today that Mr Whitty was 'really cool' and told him most people are 'really nice' but 'from time to time things like this happen'. Mr Fischelt, who has run the stall for seven years, also revealed Mr Whitty buys lunch there once a week and has an 8 'lunchbox' which includes rice, Mexican beans, salad, guacamole and carnitas pork - but with no extra spice. The clip shows Mr Whitty saying hello to passers-by but refusing to be goaded by the man who films him standing in a queue while saying: 'You're a liar. Mandem is a liar. You lie about the Covid-19 cases, man. Stop lying to the TV'. The young man faced a furious backlash today, including from Downing Street which condemned his actions. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'Chris Whitty is an outstanding public servant who has worked incredibly hard and tirelessly to help steer us through what has been a very, very challenging time over the past year. And it is clearly unacceptable that somebody who has done so much is being subject to this sort of behaviour.' Advertisement For Scotland, the estimate was one in 10, up from one in 13, and for Northern Ireland it was one in 11, up from one in 14. The ONS said it had found 'substantial variation' in the proportion of people estimated to have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies across the regions. The highest figure was 21 per cent in London, followed by the West Midlands (18.8 per cent) and Yorkshire & the Humber (18.7 per cent). South-west England was estimated to have the lowest level (8.3 per cent), followed by south-east England (10.2 per cent) and eastern England (10.8 per cent). Estimates for the other regions were north-west England 18.1 per cent, north-east England 16.2 per cent and the East Midlands 15.7 per cent. Meanwhile Oxford University and AstraZeneca plan to have a new Covid vaccine ready by the autumn to tackle new variants of the coronavirus, they confirmed today. Growing evidence suggests that a mutation first found in the South African variant of the virus, and now cropping up elsewhere, can reduce how well current vaccines work because it changes the shape of the spike protein that the jabs target. And to overcome this, jab manufacturers say they are already working on updating their vaccines because they need to be extremely specific to offer the best form of protection. The Oxford/AstraZeneca team, makers of one of the world's most advanced vaccines so far, say they will have their adapted version ready and manufactured before the end of 2021. Oxford's Professor Andrew Pollard, who is leading studies of the jab, said it would be a 'short process' compared to making the original vaccine from scratch. The update could be used either as a booster for people who have already had a different vaccine or it could be used on its own for those who are still unvaccinated. AstraZeneca's executive vice-president, Sir Mene Pangalos, said today: 'We're very much aiming to have something ready by the autumn this year.' The announcement comes after the team got a huge boost to their jab development from a study published last night that suggested it can cut transmission by up to two thirds and a single dose can prevent 76 per cent of severe illnesses for three months, with that rising to 82 per cent after the second dose. Professor Andrew Pollard told a media briefing: 'I think the actual work on designing a new vaccine is very, very quick because it's essentially just switching out the genetic sequence for the spike protein, so for the updated variants. 'Then there's manufacturing to do and then a small-scale study. 'All of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use rather than for having the clinical trials run.' Mr Johnson is resisting renewed Tory pressure to speed up lockdown easing today after a crucial study found the AstraZeneca vaccine cuts coronavirus transmission. Fresh analysis from Oxford University showed the jab offers 76 per cent protection up to three months after the first dose, and can dramatically reduce the potential for passing on the disease. Matt Hancock hailed the findings as proof the rollout 'will help us all to get out of this pandemic', with hopes that infections and deaths could fall faster as more of the public are covered. The government passed the milestone of 10million doses administered yesterday. Senior Conservatives seized on the news to demand the country gets back up and running faster, with huge damage being wreaked on children's education and the economy. Mark Harper, chair of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group of MPs pointed out that Nicola Sturgeon is bringing back schools from February 22, whereas Mr Johnson has said March 8 is the earliest possible date in England. 'The PM said last week that reopening schools was a ''national priority''. Now that Scotland has indicated that schools are likely to return from February 22, there needs to be a very good reason for keeping English schools shut for so much longer,' the former chief whip said. However, government sources played down the idea that the timetable can be brought forward, with case levels still high and fears over mutant strains. 'It's March 8, no change,' one said. 'It's good reassuring news about the AstraZeneca vaccine, but steady as she goes.' Boris Johnson sends in the army to help Scotland sort out its vaccines rollout chaos after furious Nicola Sturgeon insists she doesn't need 'any favours' British Army medics are to deploy to help speed up Scotland's vaccine rollout for the first time, it was announced today - as Nicola Sturgeon insisted she did not need 'a favour' from Boris Johnson. The Ministry of Defence said 57 medics and management would start work on Thursday to assist health boards across the nation boost the number of jabs in arms. They will make up a 'vaccine quick reaction force' which will see five teams of 10 able to deploy across Scotland at short notice. It came as Ms Sturgeon launched a furious attack on offers of help from Westminster, as she claimed the Covid vaccination programme was 'going well'. She has been under pressure to improve the numbers after they hit a record low on Sunday, before rebounding on Monday and Tuesday. Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Mr Johnson said they offer of assistance remained if the SNP 'were they to decide that was necessary'. However, an agitated Ms Sturgeon lashed out this afternoon at the Scottish Tory leader in Holyrood, Ruth Davidson, when pressed on military help. Taking First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Any help that the Armed Forces give to Scotland, whether it is on vaccines, whether, as in an earlier stage, it was on PPE or the logistics associated with setting up the NHS Louisa Jordan (hospital), it's not a favour from the Secretary of State for Scotland. 'It's our Armed Forces that the people of Scotland pay for through their taxes. So let's forget the suggestion that it is somehow the UK government doing Scotland a favour.' Mr Johnson became the latest UK politician to offer Government help as well as that of the Army - which is already working in Scotland - to speed up the process north of the border. Ms Sturgeon has been under pressure to improve the vaccination programme after it hit a record low on Sunday, before rebounding on Monday. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded Mr Johnson's visit to Glasgow an 'irresponsible PR stunt' amid claims that there was a Covid outbreak at one site before the PM visited. The latest personnel is in addition to the 98 members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards who are already supporting the vaccine effort. NHS Lothian is among the health boards to receive immediate military assistance, with personnel administering vaccinations at the Royal Highland Showground near Edinburgh. Up to 24 logistic support staff, mostly from Edinburgh-based 3rd Battalion The Rifles, will also assist with the running of vaccination centres in Grampian, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. It brings the number of military personnel supporting the rollout in Scotland to more than 200. Mr Johnson visited vaccination sites in Scotland last Thursday amid a campaign to bolster support for the Union in independence-minded Scotland. And his offer of aid came at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons today as the nationalists sought to attack him for the trip to Glasgow. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded it an 'irresponsible PR stunt' amid claims that there was a Covid outbreak at one site before the PM visited. But that prompted a furious response from the Prime Minister, who told him: 'I had a fantastic time and nobody raised that issue with me before or since. 'It is my job to visit every part of this country, nothing and no-one is going to stop me and I am very very proud of the record of the government in rolling out the vaccine.' Ms Sturgeon was also accused of threatening the UK's long-term escape from lockdown today. She told MSPs the number of vaccinations given yesterday was the highest daily total so far, and was 59 per cent higher than the number of jabs given last Tuesday. She went on to say 98 per cent of older people living in care homes had had their first injection as well as 87 per cent of those aged over 80 who are living in the community. But only just over a quarter (28 per cent) of those aged between 75 and 79 and also now had the initial dose. In comparison more than half of those in their 70s have received a jab in England so far. Tory MP Karl McCartney said there was a 'danger' the slow rollout in Scotland could undermine the effectiveness of the wider UK effort. Tory MP Karl McCartney said there was a 'danger' the slow rollout in Scotland could undermine the effectiveness of the wider UK effort. 'It is symptomatic of many mess ups by the SNP and Sturgeon. Education and the NHS in Scotland immediately spring to mind,' he said. 'The Empress, as she sees herself, has long ''had no clothes''.' Scotland has recorded 88 deaths of coronavirus patients and 978 new cases in the past 24 hours, Ms Sturgeon announced today. The death toll under this measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - is now 6,269. Speaking at the Scottish Government coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said the daily test positivity rate is 5.1 per cent, down from 7.4 per cent on Wednesday when 758 new cases were recorded. There are 1,871 people in hospital confirmed to have Covid-19, down 63 in 24 hours. Of these, the number of patients in intensive care was 128, down 12. She said a 649,262 people have been given a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, up 38,484 from the previous day. Michael Gove made a similar pitch to Mr Johnson this morning. He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'We want to make sure that that vaccine is available to citizens across the UK' Michael Gove made a similar pitch to Mr Johnson this morning. He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'We want to make sure that that vaccine is available to citizens across the UK, and Jason Leitch was saying yesterday that the vaccine roll-out in Scotland had perhaps not been as quick as it might have been.' 'I'm not critical of anyone - I'm just stressing that it's important that we all work together.' Scotland's top medic Professor Leitch yesterday said that Scotland's slow vaccine rollout had been hindered by GPs whose surgeries are closed on Sundays. The national clinical director said 'Sundays are a little bit tricky' and that the vaccination team has been asked to 'have a look at that'. On Sunday, just 9,628 vaccinations were completed in Scotland, out of a UK-wide total of 322,000. But that figure rose to more than 35,000 on Monday. Prof Leitch added that the reason for the drop on Sunday was because of where the jabs are being administered, with most being delivered in GP practices which 'didn't all work (on) Sunday'. 'We decided to do the over-80s in their own practices, where they would know their nurses, where they would know their GPs, where they would be close to home,' he said. The situation is believed to be different in England where, under an agreement between the British Medical Association and NHS England 'practices will need to be prepared to offer vaccinations seven days a week so that the vaccine is delivered within its short shelf-life and so patients receive it as soon as possible'. 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: Hours after pop star Rihanna came out in support of the protesting farmers, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg too extended her support to the farmers and their movement saying she stands in support with them. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee said, "We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India." She shared a news article highlighting the central government's crackdown on the farmers by cutting off internet services in many regions. We stand in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. https://t.co/tqvR0oHgo0 Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 2, 2021 Rihanna too, posted a Tweet about the farmers' protest with a news update and captioned the post asking her followers and fans using the trending #FarmersProtest hashtag. She wrote: why arent we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest. Meanwhile, the Haryana government extended the suspension of mobile internet services in several districts of the state till 5 pm on February 3. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 2020 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. Western Australia has recorded zero new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row as Perth and other parts of the state remain in a brutal lockdown. A Perth quarantine hotel security guard contracted the highly-contagious UK strain of the virus, which sparked a five-day lockdown of the city and the state's Peel and south-west regions until at least Friday. The infected hotel security guard, aged in his 20s, worked two 12-hour shifts at the Sheraton Four Points hotel on both January 26 and 27 while there were four cases at the hotel. Two of those were carrying the highly-infectious UK variant, while another had the South African strain. Premier Mark McGowan said that if the streak of zero cases continue until the end of the week the lockdown will be lifted from Friday as planned - but restrictions would stay for up to two weeks. 'I want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. But we need to see at least 14 days of no community transmission before we can return to our unique life here in Perth, and WA, south-western Peel, that we were all enjoying throughout January,' he said on Wednesday. Western Australia has recorded zero new coronavirus cases for the third day in a row as Perth and other parts of the state remain in a brutal lockdown (man and woman walk through Perth's CBD on Tuesday) Health authorities have listed 15 venues, on top of Sheraton Four Points hotel, as potential exposure sites after they were visited by the security guard. Pictured: Map shows venues the positive Covid case visited In total 189 close contacts of the positive case have been identified with 138 returning negative test results. 'In addition, 234 casual contacts have also been identified - 116 of these have returned negative results,' Mr McGowan said. Mr McGowan said the guard's three housemates, who are in hotel quarantine, have been re-tested and their results are pending. Fifty-four guests at the Sheraton who were due to finish their quarantine periods were held back so they could be re-tested as a precaution. They have since returned negative tests and will be released later on Wednesday. The premier also lashed out at those who had suggested medical staff were running low on PPE gear. 'This is completely untrue. Throughout this pandemic, we had prepared and have all necessary PPE in stock. Misinformation and fear mongering being peddled by some people needs to stop,' he said. WA's Acting Chief Health Officer, Dr Paul Armstrong stressed there was no wrongdoing by the hotel security guard who contracted the virus. 'This person, there is no evidence at all that he did anything apart from what was advised in the protocols,' he said. The man, who is aged in his 20s and from Maylands, was working as a security guard at Sheraton Four Points hotel Authorities confirmed the guard had been sitting in a corridor outside an area which was close to the room of an infected returned traveller. Earlier reports that he had delivered medication to the infected person were denied. He was not wearing a mask which was permitted under the public health advice of that time. This has since changed. Dr Armstrong said health officials are yet to understand how the man became infected but one possible reason could have been the guard touching a surface that had been contaminated. The infected person's door was opened seven times during one day while staff in PPE gear dropped off medication but the security guard was never inside the room. WA Premier Mark McGowan said if the state sees zero cases again on Thursday and Friday the hard lockdown will be lifted (pictured testing clinic in Perth) Authorities continue to work how the guard became infected. The man returned negative results as part of routine testing on January 15, 17 and 23 but started to become unwell last Thursday and called in sick for his shift that day. He was most likely infectious from January 26, Western Australia's chief health officer Andy Robertson said, with 15 venues visited by the man now listed as potential exposure sites. The new case of the infected security guard ended Western Australia's 10-month streak of zero community transmissions. The lockdown enforced on Perth, Peel and South West regions affects 80 per cent of the state's population. It's due to end at 6pm on Friday. Residents locked down are only allowed to leave home for the following reasons - essential shopping, medical appointments, exercise and work which cannot be done remotely. An attempt to unionize workers at a medical marijuana facility near Philadelphia was dismissed after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that the employees who were trying to organize there were agricultural workers. AgriKind owns a cannabis growing operation in Chester. Its parent company has an interest in one of the Pennsylvania Clinical Registrant growers, which works with Drexel University to develop medical marijuana studies. It also plans to open a dispensary in Chester in March. Two AgriKind employees, a trimmer and a cultivation associate, attempted to establish a union shop there under the auspices of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. Agricultural and farm workers are usually considered to be federally exempt from federal labor law. The NLRB is an independent agency of the federal government that adjudicates labor issues. In a decision released last week, the NLRB ruled that because the two workers did not significantly transform the natural product from its raw state, they were ineligible for union protection. The trimmer and the cultivator are exempt because they each substantially engage in the primary agricultural functions of harvesting, pruning, and sorting of plant, the NLRB wrote. In previous marijuana cases, the NLRB has ruled in favor of unionizing of cannabis facility employees if their work includes packaging weed or delivering it to dispensaries. Wendell Young, the president of the UFCW 1776, said efforts to organize employees at AgriKind will continue. The NLRB tried to change the law with this decision. An administrative agency was trying to legislate through Trump appointees, Young said. Though the two workers are no longer employed at AgriKind, we still have an active large group of employees there who want to unionize. The precedent established is clearest when you look at mushroom workers, Young continued. So we will follow through with this case to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. Workers who are exempt under the NLRB are usually covered by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. Labor peace agreements (LPAs), which clear the way for collective bargaining, are mandatory for legal cannabis producers in California, said Steven Schain, a lawyer with Hoban Law. which focuses on marijuana and hemp law. Under New Jerseys pending adult-use statute, LPAs are required for all prospective applicants to grow, with the exception of microbusinesses. There are no requirements for LPAs in Pennsylvania. At AgriKind, inexperienced trimmers, who shape the cannabis flower buds, are paid about $11.75 an hour, company CEO Jon Cohn said. New cultivators earn a little more than that. AgriKind employs about 70 workers, most of them full time, Cohn said. The company is working to double the amount of cannabis it has under cultivation by mid-March. Cohn said that he received approval for the expansion from the state Department of Health last week and that hell be hiring 60 more people to fill roles in all aspects of the operation. Cohn said his employees receive health insurance through Independence Blue Cross and this year will get contributions toward a 401(k) . Wed rather take care of our people, he said. We dont want the atmosphere here to be management vs. labor. Granted, weve grown really fast and had a ton of turnover. Thats caused some pains. People think growing cannabis is going to be glamorous, but its really hard work. Lucknow, Feb 3 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted raids on the premises of retired IAS officer Satyendra Singh and nine others in Lucknow and Kaushambi in connection with illegal mining between 2012 and 2014. The raids were conducted on Tuesday. The CBI also filed a case of dishonesty, theft and criminal conspiracy against Satyendra Singh, the then district magistrate of Kaushambi and nine others under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI officials said that Singh was accused of awarding two fresh leases and renewing nine existing leases to the accused to facilitate illegal mining in Kaushambhi. Singh did not follow e-tendering procedure as mentioned in the orders of May 2012. Sources in the CBI said several incriminating documents were recovered during the raids on the premises of the retired IAS officer in Lucknow and Kaushambi. "Documents relating to 44 immovable properties, Rs 10 lakh cash, fixed deposits worth Rs 51 lakh and around 36 bank accounts, in the name of Singh and his family members in Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and New Delhi were found during the raid which ended late on Tuesday," an official said. Keys of six lockers were found in which gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 2.1 crore and old currency notes worth Rs 1 lakh were found. Besides Singh, other persons who have been booked by CBI are Nepali Nishad, Nar Narain Mishra, Ramakant Dwivedi, Khemraj Singh, Ram Pratap Singh, Munni Lal, Shiv Prakash Singh, Ram Abhilash and Yogendra Singh. Earlier, in June 2017, the CBI had lodged an FIR against 10 people, including assistant geologist in Kaushambi, Arvind Kumar, in connection with illegal mining in 2015-16. Action in cases of illegal mining began after the Allahabad High Court took cognizance of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in July 2016 and issued directives for a CBI probe into illegal mining and plunder of natural resources in the state. Acting on court's order, the special crime division (III) of CBI's Delhi unit shortlisted seven districts -- Shamli, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Siddhartha Nagar, Deoria, Kaushambi and Saharanpur -- for investigation. An official also says Kogi State has been declared a high-risk state for refusing to acknowledge the existence of COVID-19. The Nigerian government on Monday declared 22 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 13 states as those recording high cases of COVID-19 infection. Nigeria has a total of 774 local governments in its 36 states. The National Incident Manager (NIM) of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mukhtar Muhammad, while speaking at a PTF briefing, said the 22 LGAs were identified after critical analysis of the pandemic. He said the LGAs, mostly in the state capitals, contributed over 95 per cent of new cases recorded in the last six weeks. Ngeria has recorded an average of over 1,000 daily cases in the last six weeks as the country experiences the second wave of the virus. The 22 LGAs are: Nkanu West (Enugu); Abuja Municipal (FCT); Gwagwalada (FCT); Gombe (Gombe); Chikun (Kaduna); Kaduna North; Kaduna South; Nassarawa (Kano); Katsina (Katsina); Ilorin South (Kwara); Ilorin West (Kwara); Eti-Osa (Lagos); Ikeja (Lagos); Kosofe (Lagos); Lagos Mainland (Lagos); Keffi (Nasarawa); Lafia (Nasarawa); Ibadan North (Oyo); Jos North (Plateau); Jos South (Plateau); Port-Harcourt (Rivers); and Wamako (Sokoto). Low testing Mr Muhammed explained that some states are not producing data of people infected with the virus due to low or zero testing of suspected cases. He said such states are probably at much higher risk than the states that are currently known as high-burdened states. "In addition to these, we have states where data is not coming forth. If we don't test, your data will not be analysed and if your data is not analysed, we won't know the level of the pandemic in your state," Mr Muhammed said. "Notable among the states are Yobe, Jigawa, Zamfara and Kebbi and of course Kogi that has not been reporting at all." Controversial Kogi Mr Muhammed also said Kogi has been declared a high-risk state for refusing to acknowledge the existence of the disease. He noted that the Kogi government had failed to report testing, lacked isolation centres and therefore warned Nigerians to be weary of visiting the state. "A state that is not testing at all is an absolute high risk for Nigerians to visit because, there is no testing facility and even if you fall sick, there is no isolation center and they don't even acknowledge that the disease exists. So for that reason, we put that state at the top of high risk states," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Nigeria Urban Issues By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Testing to detect, trace and isolate has been the technique for managing the pandemic. But Kogi, a state of almost 3.5 million people, had tested only 425 samples as of December 11, the national situational report published December 12 by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed. The state governor, Yahaya Bello, has repeatedly made controversial and false statements about the coronavirus pandemic, a situation that pitted him against federal officials and health professionals. The governor had in one instance described the deadly disease as a hoax. Despite glaring evidence of acute under-testing for coronavirus in Kogi, Mr Bello last December claimed a widespread testing campaign was undertaken in his state and nobody had been infected. "After the earlier misunderstanding we had with the federal health officials and the NCDC, we later allowed them to step in and test people," he said in an interview aired on Channels TV last December. Since the pandemic broke out in February 2020, Nigeria has carried out 1,302,410 tests of which over 131,000 cases have been found and a total of 104,989 patients have recovered across the country. The fatalities in the country rose to 1,607 according to data released by the NCDC on Monday night. Akamai Technologies, the intelligent edge platform for securing and delivering digital experiences, announces it has agreed to acquire Montreal-based Inverse. The acquisition is intended to enhance Akamais enterprise security capabilities and expand its portfolio of zero trust and secure access service edge solutions for IoT. Inverse provides a robust data repository and world class algorithms capable of identifying an expansive universe of IoT, mobile and other device types. These include HVAC, lighting systems, medical equipment, robotics, printers and beyond, along with a deep understanding of their expected network behaviors. Any number of internet-connected devices can be a jumping-off point for malware to discover and exfiltrate sensitive corporate data, said Ludovic Marcotte, president and chief executive officer, Inverse. The Fingerbank data lake provides visibility into the device landscape - what the devices are communicating with and their typical behavior. With an anticipated 41.6 billion internet-connected devices by 2025, according to IDC, this data is essential so that enterprises can apply the correct security controls. Enterprises already have thousands of things connecting to their networks, and that number is only expected to grow, making securing the enterprise ever more difficult. Gaining context and visibility into the device landscape, with what the devices are communicating and their typical behavior is critical, said Dr. Robert Blumofe, executive vice president, platform and general manager, enterprise division, Akamai Technologies. By combining the Inverse device fingerprint data repository with Akamais own security data from the 1.3 billion device interactions that take place daily across the Akamai Intelligent Edge security platform, we believe we can create an industry leading solution to apply zero trust controls and enhanced security to the full landscape of devices and workforce. The all-cash transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Akamais 2021 financial results. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter 2021. Major Kojo Boakye-Djan (Rtd), a key architect of the June 4 uprising of 1979, has described former President Jerry John Rawlings as a radical liberal. Major Kojo Boakye-Djan (Rtd), a key architect of the June 4 uprising of 1979, has described former President Jerry John Rawlings as a radical liberal. He said although Ghana's former leader may have appeared tough and strong headed to many, he had a listening ear, and could be persuaded so far as he considered an argument convincing enough. The retired Major recalled that former President Rawlings was not hard wired towards any particular political ideology, but was basically a person who believed in doing what it took to solve a problem. Major Boakye-Djan, spokesperson for the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) of 1979, which had former President Rawlings as its chairman, told the Ghana News Agency in an exclusive interview, that the Former President was highly drawn to wisdom and intelligence, and would listen if one struck him as worth listening to. "He had respect for great minds," Major Boakye-Djan observed. Major Boakye-Djan described the Former President as a man who believed in doing what needed to be done immediately to save a situation. He said there were many interesting moments he had with former President Rawlings which typically reflected Rawlings' quick problem-solving abilities. "We once found ourselves in an extreme traffic jam somewhere in Accra many years ago, on our way to see a friend who was bed-ridden. No car could move because a taxi had broken down, making any form of vehicular movement impossible," Major Boakye-Djan said. He recalled that former President Rawlings then alighted, started calling drivers and others who were affected by the situation together, and organised them to push the taxi into a nearby drain because that offered an immediate solution, as there was none other at hand. "Immediately the situation got rectified and drivers could drive off with ease, Rawlings had to direct motorists for some time and when the situation was completely rectified, he got back inside my car and we took off," Major Boakye-Djan said. He touched on the June 4 uprising of 1979 which was the main event that sprung Former President Rawlings unto the country's political limelight and said the event, like all other revolutions, was spontaneous and popular at the same time. In Major Boakye-Djan's words, the ill-effects of misrule by successive military governments, starting with the overthrow of President Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's founding President, had created a general feel of disgruntlement amongst the military ranks at that time. He said a general yearn amongst a large number of the populace for some positive change towards a more purposeful national cause, was what basically earned the junta the kind of spontaneous support it enjoyed, which led to the overthrow of General Akuffo's Supreme Military Council (SMC) II. Major Boakye-Djan cited an example where sometime before the June 4 uprising, a soldier once came to him almost in tears because a market woman had poured urine on him for daring to plead that an item's price be reduced. He described the incident as a reflection of the extent to which the image of the army at that time had fallen, and the urgent need for some intervention to redeem that image. Major Boakye-Djan added that this fallen image was in itself, a depiction of the general dissatisfaction a large number of citizens held for the continuous military misrule in the country. Touching on major lessons to be learnt from the June 4 uprising, he said there was the need for political leadership to be well attuned with the socio-economic needs of the citizenry, as well as any other needs expected to be met by the government. Major Boakye Djan said this could best be achieved, if the educational system ensured that right from the very early stages, it was inculcated into children the need to be concerned about the well fare of others, especially the most needy and vulnerable. He said this would help groom leaders who would only yearn to serve and be accountable to the people. Major Boakye Djan said such leadership was not only crucial to socio-economic growth in Ghana, but the African continent as a whole. Former President Rawlings first appeared on the Ghanaian political scene, when he got arrested, following his May 15 attempt to overthrow the then SMC II government of General Frederick Akuffo. During his court martial or trial by a military tribunal, JJ Rawlings, as he was popularly called, showed great courage, when he boldly owned up to his actions and asked that the men accused alongside him be released in the famous phrase, "let my men go." He explained that the men were merely under his power and command, and should not be held accountable for their actions. An uprising on June 4 however by the junior ranks, saw JJ being rescued from his cell to lead the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, which successfully overthrew the SMC II. The AFRC upon overthrowing the SMC II, undertook a number of major actions, in their bid to set the country off towards a successful political path. Key amongst them was an exercise they code named house cleaning", which saw the execution of eight top military officials including three former Heads of State. People who were accused of accruing wealth through corrupt means, especially politically orchestrated corruption, also had their assets, including buildings and businesses confiscated, got imprisoned or suffered both punishments. After a three-month rule by the AFRC, then Chairman Rawlings handed over to the late Former President Hilla Limann, who had emerged victor in that years Presidential election, on the ticket of the Peoples National Party. The AFRC had taken over at a time, when there was a pending election and in accordance with its vow, duly supervised the election and handed over to civilian rule in September, 1979. On December 31, 1981, Former President Rawlings overthrew the Limann Government in a military coup, and replaced it with the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) of which he was chairman, and through which he ruled the country till 1992 when Ghana transitioned into multi-party democracy. Former President Rawlings then resigned from the army, formed the National Democratic Congress, contested as its presidential candidate and won the 1992 presidential election, to become the first President of Ghana's Fourth Republic. After going on to win the next election in 1996 and remaining in office for another four year tenure, he handed over to Former President John Agyekum Kufuor in the year 2000, when Mr. Kufuor won that years election on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party. Former President Rawlings took a number of International appointments such as African Union High Representative for Somalia, after stepping down as President. He also remained active throughout his years as a former president in a number of capacities, and would often have his view on one national issue or another aired and discussed on the airwaves. Former President Rawlings died at the age of 73 in November 2020, after a short illness. He was interred at the Military Cemetery, Burma Camp, after being laid in state for three days, as part of his final funeral rites. 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 73-year-old woman, who lives several blocks north of Ballard Road, told police she had arrived home and was getting out of her car when she was approached by two men, whom she described as being in their 20s. According to police, the woman said one of the suspects pointed a gun at her head and attempted to grab her purse, while the second person pointed a gun at her and demanded the keys to her 2018 Bentley, which was parked in the garage. Thats honestly a massive amount, she said. In about a third of the cases, agents find that the suspect has a weapon, she said, a sobering reminder that it could have been used. When she started working with the unit seven years ago, it received about 180 cybertips a month about possible online child predators. The agents thought they were swamped. Now, they get about 1,000 tips a month, while funding for the unit has remained relatively flat. My agents will say that the worst thing is they have information that may help a child, and they know they may never get to it, she said. Its the overwhelming caseload that is the worst thing to them, and that they feel as though they will never reach all the children that need help. Carly Yoost, the founder and chief executive of the Child Rescue Coalition, a nonprofit group based in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Florida had been proactive about investigating online child abuse, as made clear by the recent arrests. The police said the pastor arrested in Central Florida was found with abusive imagery on his computer; officers located him using the Child Rescue Coalitions technology, which monitors file-sharing services and some chat apps and areas of the internet that are not accessible using a web browser. Ms. Yoost said Florida did not stand out, however, in the number of reports the Child Rescue Coalitions technology locates. Data provided to The New York Times by the organization shows case numbers largely correlating with the population in most states. Experts said it was uncommon to see suspects attack law enforcement during child sexual exploitation arrests; police officers are usually more worried about the suspects killing themselves or destroying evidence. Still, investigators said they often found weapons on the property, meaning the threat of violence was always present. Every time my team approaches the house, I hold my breath, because you just dont know, said Sgt. Jeff Swanson, the commander of an internet crimes against children task force in Kansas. Russia, Iran and Turkey have stressed their commitment to the territorial integrity of Syria, writes SANA. The three guarantor countries of the Astana process, Russia, Iran and Turkey, reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. According to a statement published by Russian Foreign Ministry on its website on Monday, representatives of Russia, Iran and Turkey held a tripartite meeting on the sidelines of the fifth round of the committee. During that meeting, they discussed the constitution, which was held in Geneva from January 25 to 29, as well as consultations with Syrian delegations and the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen. The guarantor states stressed their readiness to continue support for the work of the committee through permanent cooperation with the Syrian parties, and Pedersen as a facilitator, to ensure the work of the committee permanently. They also affirmed their intention to continue discussing the above-mentioned issues in the course of the next round of the Astana talks due on February 16-17 in Sochi. Pedersen announced in a press conference last Friday the conclusion of the committees fifth round of meetings to discuss the constitution without making progress. Pedersen added that he intends to hold a number of meetings in preparation for the next round without setting any date. 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. After the tremendous success of Bigg Boss Telugu 4, the makers of the show are all set to return with a new season. Reportedly, King of Tollywood Nagarjuna Akkineni will be hosting Bigg Boss Telugu 5. Though there were speculations that the senior actor might step down as the anchor for the forthcoming season, reports suggest that Nag is totally in for the popular reality show. If reports are to be believed, the show will go on-air from June 2021. On the other hand, there are rumours that Shanmukh Jaswanth will be a part of Bigg Boss Telugu 5. Let us tell you that the popular YouTuber enjoys a huge fan following on social media. Shanmukh currently has a whopping 2.62 million subscribers on the video streaming platform. His recently released film The Software DevLOVEper received huge appreciation from the netizens. Though there are speculations doing the rounds about his inclusion, only the grand premiere of Bigg Boss Telugu 5 will reveal the truth about the same. Currently, the creative team is busy finalizing the contestants for the new season. Fans and followers of the show are also expecting some awe-inspiring contestants, and are also suggesting the makers to include their favourites this time. On a related note, Life is Beautiful actor Abijeet Duddala emerged as the undisputed winner of Bigg Boss Telugu 4. Akhil Sarthak emerged as the first runner-up of the show, while Sohel (second runner-up) took home a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, which was offered to the top 3 finalists. On the other hand, Ariyana Glory and Dethadi Harika emerged as the third and fourth runners-up respectively. Also Read: Sarkaru Vaari Paata: Is Monal Gajjar A Part Of Mahesh Babu-Keerthy Suresh Starrer? Also Read: Bigg Boss Telugu 4: Abijeet Duddala Bags Massive Film Project After Winning The Show? SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Willow, the company that forever changed the way women pump with the world's most mobile breast pump, is set up for a big year in 2021 with five new products on the way. As such, they are staffing up for success with a new Chief Product Officer Dan Judkins, the promotion of Sarah O'Leary to Chief Marketing Officer, and new Chief Financial Officer, Jim Gibson. "Willow has grown significantly year-over-year, and we're thrilled to push our brand even further in 2021 with the introduction of five new offerings. Our three new executives will be a key catalyst for that acceleration," says CEO Laura Chambers. "We remain deeply committed to our mission of bringing joy to motherhood. The mission is even more important given the challenges moms are facing right now - trying to balance pumping while multitasking at home, or out on the frontlines as healthcare workers." As CPO, Judkins brings his innovation, design and hardware + software development expertise to help expand Willow's portfolio of product offerings. O'Leary's role as CMO is focused on driving growth for Willow, as the company evolves from an ecommerce innovator to an omnichannel brand. As CFO Gibson will bring his 25+ years of experience in breakthrough consumer tech and life sciences to grow Willow after the brand announced a $55M Series C funding round last September. These two major hires and O'Leary's promotion position Willow to continue driving and pushing the industry forward, bringing new, innovative solutions and expanding beyond a single breast pump into a full ecosystem of products for new mothers. About Willow: Founded in 2014, Willow forever changed the way women pump with the world's first all-in-one, in-bra wearable breast pump that enabled moms to be completely mobile while pumping. The Willow Wearable Breast Pump ditches the long tubes, cords, dangling bottles and loud sucking sounds so moms can pump wherever their day takes them. Learn more at https://shop.willowpump.com/ About Sarah O'Leary, Chief Marketing Officer: Sarah is passionate about driving growth for mission-driven organizations making an impact for consumers and, as a mom of two, she cares deeply about Willow's mission. She previously led Marketing and Sales at Tea Collection, the globally-inspired, children's apparel brand. Prior to Tea Collection, Sarah was VP Business Development at StriVectin, a premium global skinceutical brand, and was a Principal at The Parthenon Group, the strategic consultancy (now part of EY). Sarah holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA from Williams College. About Jim Gibson, Willow's Chief Financial Officer: After spending over 25 years working in the Life Science and Technology spaces, he is excited about Willow's mission to bring joy to motherhood. Jim joined Willow from GoDaddy, where he led Finance Transformation as GoDaddy helped over 20 million small businesses stay open in 2020. Prior to GoDaddy, Jim worked at Apple, Tesla, Netflix, and Affymetrix in various leadership roles. He is a CPA and received his bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara. About Dan Judkins, Willow's Chief Product Officer: Dan brings a background in Industrial Design and a career in digital connectivity and technology integration. In his role at Willow, Dan is passionate about applying technology and great design to make an impact and improve lives for moms. Since his early days at Tiger Electronics and then Hasbro, Dan has spent his career leveraging technology in new and insightful ways to bring delightful, engaging, and innovative play experiences to kids and families across the globe. Dan was responsible for iDog (the first iPod connected toy) and the 2011 relaunch of Furby (the world's first mobile app-connected toy). Dan built and led the Connected Play group at Hasbro, a cross-functional development division inventing and developing interactive play products and experiences for many of Hasbro's and Disney's biggest brands. Dan has a bachelor's degree from University of Leeds (UK). Media Contacts: Sunshine Sachs [email protected] SOURCE Willow Jind : , Feb 3 (IANS) Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikat on Wednesday wondered what would happen if the protesting farmers started demanding the resignation of the Modi government instead of the repeal of the three new central agricultural laws. "We are now urging the central government to withdraw the three farm laws. What will happen if we begin to ask the government to leave the throne in Delhi?" the farmer leader said while addressing a huge crowd at a Kisan Mahapanchayat at Kandela village in Jind district. Representatives of nearly 50 'khaps' or caste or community groups from Haryana participated in the event. The BKU leader also warned that now was the time for the Union government to be careful on the demands of the farmers, who have been protesting on the Delhi borders since November 26 last year. "The government has time till October to accept our demands. If it does not, we will take out a farmers' rally with 44 lakh tractors," he warned. The participants passed resolutions on five demands, including withdrawal of new agricultural laws, law on minimum support price, and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. The protesters also demanded tracing of the farmers or agitators who had been reported missing ever since the violence during the tractor rally in Delhi on January 26, and withdrawal of cases registered against farmers. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech. Benjamin Franklin More than a century and a half before George Orwell wrote about protagonist Winston Smiths work at the Ministry of Truth in fictional Oceana, the framers of this countrys Constitution made sure our government never had the kind of power over speech, and therefore over thought, that it did in Orwells dystopian novel, 1984. After four years of drafting and debate, delegates from the 13 states in 1791 adopted the Bill of Rights, inspired by Thomas Jefferson and George Mason and drafted by James Madison. It was a clear statement that Americans recently freed of British oppression wanted strong guarantees the new government would not trample upon their newly won rights including freedoms of speech, press and religion. While the government was expected to protect against foreign and domestic threats, conduct foreign affairs and ensure economic growth, it was not, according to a history of the Bill of Rights by the American Civil Liberties Union, the governments job to tell people how to live their lives, what religion to believe in, or what to write about in a pamphlet or a newspaper. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ What the framers couldnt have predicted was that a new collective Ministry of Truth would emerge in this century in the form of a handful of powerful tech companies Twitter, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon and the modern-day oligarchs who run them in the chaos, invective and violence of the last election cycle and the runup to it. These tech giants with billions of users worldwide equal or exceed the power of government in some ways. Through their control of the largest platforms hosting public discourse, they have the power to censor speakers and edit what you get to read. And they are exercising that control. Former President Donald Trump has been banished from Twitter after his incendiary rhetoric claiming the election was stolen helped inspire the Capitol takeover by a mob. Many voices claiming election fraud or challenging conventional wisdom and sometimes shifting science on the COVID-19 pandemic have been restricted or banned from social media. Parler, the conservative alternative to Twitter with 2.8 million users, was booted off Amazons web servers. Twitter suspended 70,000 accounts linked to QAnon, which touts various nutty conspiracy theories. The list goes on. For example, PragerUs Dennis Prager says YouTube (owned by Google) has restricted 56 of PragerUs 320 video releases, including titles such as Israels Legal Founding by Harvards Alan Dershowitz. Prager says he seldom gets a response as to why restrictions were imposed, although he sort of did after YouTube restricted his video The Ten Commandments: What You Should Know. A Google representative indicated perhaps it was because the video referred to murder. Prager wonders: Would the tech censors be OK with the Nine Commandments, dropping Thou Shalt Not Kill? The companies cite their policies that promote and govern free expression; they prohibit hateful conduct that incites violence or abuse, for example. Some of the content removed is indeed objectionable or even dangerous. And nobody has to be on Twitter or Facebook except they are a major form of communication in todays world. The fact is, the companies make their own rules, and their implementation of them appears to be motivated at least in part by their political preferences. The tech giants point out they are private companies not subject to the restraints the founders placed on government when it comes to free speech. True enough. And given their reach, power and resources, thats a problem and a threat. There are limits to free speech. You cant yell Fire in a crowded theater. But if anyone gets to decide what you see and hear on mass communication platforms it should be the Congress or the courts, operating within the constraints of the First Amendment not Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Jeff Bezos. It is ironic that some of the people who have come forward, like the ACLU, to express concern with Trumps Twitter ban include Mexican President Andres Obrador and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said through her chief spokesman that the right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance and given that, the chancellor considers it problematic that the presidents accounts have been permanently suspended. Merkel often clashed with Trump, but she at least understands free speech and censorship. A lesson perhaps from German history? These monopolistic enterprises have virtually unchecked power and need to be brought to heel under anti-trust law. Previous laws give them immunity from lawsuits that publishers face, under the theory they are simply platforms. That clearly isnt the case given the power they are exercising over content. Congress needs to revisit those laws as part of developing a framework differentiating between truly harmful speech from the obnoxious. This nation since its founding has put a premium on free speech, and the price of that is tolerating speech you dont like or distrust. The unlimited power of censorship the tech giants possess is antithetical to that. Its worth noting the irritating guy who hawks his pillows on TV has been permanently banned from Twitter for violating its civic integrity policy by continuing to insist the election was stolen from Trump. No flagging it as false. No counter argument. A ban. But Venezualan strongman Nicolas Maduro, who is not recognized as a legitimate president by the United States and most Latin American and European counties, continues to hold forth on Twitter. More than 9,000 extrajudicial killings have occurred on his watch and political opponents jailed. Millions have fled the country. He did rig the election. His backers are primarily Russia, China and Iran. But hes OK on Twitter while Trump and MyPillow guy Mike Lindell are not. And thats something worth thinking about before turning out the lights. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Phillipa Mukome Several beerhalls and nightclubs in Chitungwiza are violating Covid -19 regulations and continue to discreetly operate. A survey around Zengeza 3 and 4 in the dormitory town revealed that most bars and nightclubs start their operations after 6pm, when the curfew begins. Despite the heavy fines which were Gazetted by the government, it remains business as usual for the bar owners, most of whom are yet to be caught on the wrong side of the law. From what The Herald gathered over the past few weeks, it seems most bars now have loyal customers who support their business. They have their means of communicating when a customer comes. Upon arrival, loyal customers use a code to signal the bar workers inside who let them in. Once inside, the doors are locked so that the patrons can freely enjoy their beer without being apprehended by the police. As the guzzlers enjoy their drinks they seem oblivious of the risk of getting or transmitting Covid-19 as they will not be wearing any face masks. Social distancing is non- existent as the patrons sit close together conversing. Saliva sometimes finds its way out during the process, yet they seem not to care. One of the Zengeza 4 bar owners Collins Mashapaidze (not real name), said he had no other means of survival so would continue playing cat and mouse games with the police. "My family needs food on the table. l have learnt to venture into other businesses like farming, but as I wait for the harvest my children need food. l will continue to operate my business," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Zimbabwe Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. He added that he sanitises his customers as they enter his bar and ensures a reasonable number is accommodated to permit social distancing. However, just opening his bar and allowing people in is in contravention of lockdown regulations and the 6pm -6am curfew. One of the customers who only identified himself as Sekuru Nyatsanza, said he has been drinking beer ever since he was 19 and cannot to bed without drinking one or two quarts. He said he preferred to be locked from inside while he enjoyed his drink at night. Chitungwiza residents are not happy. They say such illegal activities may result in community transmission of Covid-19. Speaking during a telephone interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyati expressed concern over businesspeople who are failing to abide to lockdown regulations. He said police would continue to monitor such areas so that they end such operations. "People are not even afraid of this deadly disease. It is worrying and disturbing that they risk their lives and those of their families just because of beer. These people are not even scared of paying fines for being imprisoned," he said. Gov. Phil Murphy returns to the Trenton War Memorial on Wednesday to provide updates on the nearly 11-month-old coronavirus pandemic. The press conference will start earlier than normal at 11 a.m. and will be streamed live on the governors YouTube.com channel. Murphy will be joined by Deputy Commissioner for Public Health Services Dr. David Adinaro, coronavirus advisor Dr. Eddy Bresnitz and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan. Adinaro will again sit in for state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, who continues to isolate at home after a member of her staff tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Murphys press conference is early Wednesday so he can travel to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to greet New Jersey National Guard members who were in Washington D.C. following last months attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Five people died when supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to stop Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election. Ten people from New Jersey were charged. South River native Brian Sickick, a U.S. Capitol police officer was killed when the mob stormed the building. Murphy later called the attack, an act of domestic terrorism spurred on by the president and his minions. The governors appearance at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will also be streamed live on his YouTube.com channel at 1 p.m. The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus or a suspected case increased for a second straight day. There are 2,986 COVID-19 patients in the states 71 hospitals, an increase of 94 from a day earlier. Hospitalizations are down 23% from a recent high on Dec. 22 and far below the more than 8,000 patients in the initial months of the outbreak. On Tuesday, Murphy disclosed 75 more deaths and 2,811 additional COVID-19 cases. There have been 824,028 vaccine doses administered in the state, including 137,371 who have received both doses. Vaccinations figure to pick up again Wednesday as the states six mega-sites reopen after closing during the winer storm. Officials say 19,455 have died of the coronavirus or related causes since March. Another 2,129 deaths were probably virus-related. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Despite its amazing vaccine credentials, GlaxoSmithKline has not had a good war against Covid-19. It has been disappointing for chief executive Emma Walmsley that results from its collaboration with Frances Sanofi have fallen way behind, and it has dropped a partnership with Chinas Clover. No one can accuse GSK of despairing. Along with its pre-tax profits of 6.97billion, it revealed a fresh effort to defeat all mutations of the coronavirus by working with Germanys Curavac to develop a next-generation vaccine. Virus fight: GlaxoSmithKline has revealed a fresh effort to defeat all mutations of the coronavirus by working with Germany's Curavac to develop a next-generation vaccine GSK may have been beaten to the post by Pfizer, Oxford Astrazeneca, Moderna et al, but there must be confidence that when it does reach the finish line it will have something valuable in the locker. After all, it has vaccines for hard-to-beat conditions including cervical cancer, some strains of meningitis, shingles and new monthly jabs for HIV sufferers. GSKs latest financial results are lacklustre and it cautions that 2021 may be tricky. Covid increased demand for over-the-counter medicines such as Panadol, but is disrupting sales of prescription drugs as surgeries cut capacity. It doesnt have the best pipeline of new drugs, although research star Hal Barron is seeking to put some zip into its work on immune drugs and genetics with the promise of 57 vaccines and medicines, mainly aimed at infectious diseases, by 2026. Walmsleys plans for extracting more value for shareholders by hiving off its strong consumer healthcare arm from pharma have so far failed to excite investors. But as AZ has demonstrated with immunology, new compounds require patience. In the meantime, it is possible to draw comfort from the fact that the sum-of-the-parts worth of GSK is far higher than the current market value of 64.5billion. An early Covid win, and some stardust from Barron, could quickly turn the stock market tide. Lets draw a breath and be grateful that GSK is part of the UKs world-leading research base which gives hope for the UKs post-Covid, post-Brexit future. Star turn Italy has a history of reaching out to technocrats when the economy hits the buffers. It has hit the jackpot in the shape of Mario Draghi, former chairman of the European Central Bank, who will always be remembered for his 2012 pledge to do whatever it takes to save the euro. It signalled the start of the ECBs large-scale bond-buying and refinancing for Europes failing banks. Having held the eurozone together at its most vulnerable moment, can Draghi do the same in his native country? No one has a better skill-set as a central banker. The EU needs him to succeed if the weakest link among the continents big three nations is to be strengthened. If Draghi could rally the diverse political voices of the eurozone behind his rescue nearly a decade ago, one might imagine that repairing Italys toxic politics might be easy. But the rise of populist sentiment, itself a reaction to years of stagnation and high unemployment, means it will be tough. Output plummeted by 9 per cent in 2020 and public debt stands at 170 per cent of national output. In Italy the debt is less of a problem because of the willingness of savers to hold large amounts of bonds in their portfolios. Draghis immediate task will be to pull the fighting coalition factions together to create a credible plan to draw down some 188billion of the EUs 676billion Covid rescue funds. The idea is to use the funds to make Italy more digitally connected, greener and competitive. It is not an agenda that appeals the radical-Right Five-Star movement. However, a credible fiscal plan together with Draghis presence should shore up confidence on financial markets. But with Italy you can never quite tell. Postal history What a difference a regime change can make. The departure of Swiss-based Rico Back and the arrival of Keith Williams for a spell as executive chairman at Royal Mail (new CEOs are now in place) has seen the 30-year war with the unions hosed down. The posties are among the unsung heroes of the pandemic, delivering to front doors in all weather and in the face of a rampant virus. Now they have agreed faster delivery of new tech, designed to speed up customer service, and a big focus on parcels, in exchange for a decent pay deal. Peace in our time. US President Biden appoints Indian-American Dr Raj Panjabi to lead malaria initiative United States President Joe Biden has appointed Indian-origin Dr Raj Panjabi to lead his Malaria Initiative. Born in Liberia, Panjabi and his family fled the county during its civil war and arrived in the United States as refugees in the 1990s. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@rajpanjabi After being sworn in this morning, Im honoured to share that Ive been appointed by Biden as the presidents Malaria Coordinator to lead the US presidents Malaria Initiative," Panjabi said on twitter. Im grateful for this chance to serve, he added. Born in Liberia, Panjabi and his family fled the county during its civil war and arrived in the United States as refugees in the 1990s. My family and I arrived in America 30 years ago after fleeing civil war in Liberia. A community of Americans rallied around my family to help us build back our lives. Its an honor to serve the country that helped build back my own life as part of the Biden-Harris Administration." In the face of unprecedented crises, I am humbled by the challenges our country and our world face to build back better. But as I have learned in America: we are not defined by the conditions we face, we are defined by how we respond, Panjabi said in a series of tweets. As a doctor and public health professional who has cared for patients alongside the staff of the Presidents Malaria Initiative and its partners USAID and Center for Disease Control, Panjabi said: Ive been inspired by how theyve responded to fight malaria, one of the oldest and deadliest pandemics, and saved lives around the world. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, trained in internal medicine and primary care at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and received a masters degree in public health in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins. He has served as a faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School. TEHAMA COUNTY, Calif. Although the recent release of the Covid-19 vaccines, only a limited amount of the Tehama County community has been vaccinated. Tehama County Public Health officials say the virus is still spreading throughout the county - making testing a vital tool for controlling the virus. Public Health wants residents to get tested for Covid-19 if they have had any exposure or possible symptoms. Results are expected to return within three days. "We need a consistent amount of the community to be tested to obtain an accurate count of the COVID-19 rates within the county and prevent the spread of COVID-19," said county health officials. "With state approval for reopening businesses and our ability to continue offering the no-cost testing service (OptumServe) dependent on stable testing numbers, this is especially important." OptumServe at the Red Bluff Community Center is a no-cost testing site. It is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Click here to schedule your Covid-19 test online. The American University of Bahrain (AUBH) has announced the last call for admissions for spring 2021 which will close on February 11. The University has seen strong enrollment for the Class of 2024, with students representing 13 nationalities beginning degrees across three Colleges of Architecture & Design, Engineering and Business & Management. Benefiting from an American-style education in region, many transfer students who have chosen not to return abroad have been welcomed to the University. AUBHs Founding President, Dr. Susan E. Saxton, commented: We cannot wait to welcome the new spring cohort of the Class of 2024 on campus and are grateful that students who have chosen not to return abroad have put their trust in us. We are committed to everyone's safety and well-being, and our active Student Council, faculty, and staff look forward to welcoming our new students as a part of the AUBH family. The University was the only institution to re-open its purpose-built campus to students in September 2020, in accordance with the Kingdoms Higher Education Council and Ministry of Health guidelines. The strategy involved an advanced dual modality learning model across all programs. This solution allowed AUBH Students to attend small group classes or attend classes in a virtual setting, based on individual needs. The University had a strict safety plan to ensure social distancing and the highest standards of hygiene for those attending on campus. - TradeArabia News Service The fact that senior clinicians have raised concerns that serious incidents are getting covered up or downgraded so that an appropriate investigation cant take place is quite simply appalling, he said. When asked whether Local Health Districts were engaging in a cover-up by deliberately downgrading adverse events, NSW Health did not directly answer. However, a spokesperson said NSW Health promotes a just culture, where staff are encouraged to report problems openly and honestly, and learn from mistakes. Reporting and analysis of clinical incidents and sentinel events is an important part of clinical care that health professionals and managers take very seriously, the spokesperson said. This work focuses on finding system issues that lead to service improvements across NSW Health. The NSW Health spokesperson said it had a new incident management system that provided an objective scoring to all clinical incidents notified by staff. Incident reporting is increasing and is testament to the clinical and managerial staff in NSW Health continuously promoting the reporting of incidents, patient safety and system improvement. There are seven Local Health Districts across regional NSW, each with its own clinical governance unit tasked with investigating serious incidents and complaints, and making recommendations to hospitals to improve their quality of care. Incidents that occur in hospitals are ranked according to a Severity Assessment Code (SAC) hierarchy of one to four. The most serious are SAC1 events, which require a root cause analysis to investigate whether systemic problems contributed and that a brief be submitted to the NSW Ministry of Health. The NSW Medical Staff Executive Council said it had been provided with examples from regional doctors of the clinical governance units inappropriately downgrading SAC1 incidents and failing to investigate preventable deaths. Some of the units had a culture of opacity aimed at keeping the Ministry of Health unaware of the LHDs true performance, the council alleged. The council called for an independent review of all SAC1 critical incidents in rural and remote areas and the response to them by the LHDs. Ongoing external audits of the units were needed, it argued. Inquiries commissioned by either NSW Health or by an LHD are paid for by the public and should have greater public transparency of their findings and recommendations, the council said. The council said that even in instances where NSW Health intervened to conduct its own investigation, the problems identified were rarely reported to doctors or the public and the LHD was still in charge of implementing solutions. Loading The problems have often occurred under the direction of the same managers charged with the remedy. Doctors from the major regional centre of Orange in the Central West told the inquiry sometimes no information was given by the Clinical Governance Unit as to why it was downgrading a serious incident. This can change whether a poor patient outcome is investigated at all, the Orange Health Service Medical Staff Council said. Clinicians would like to be more involved in the review of serious adverse events. The council added that more transparency would help rebuild the trust that was eroding away. There is no formal avenue for clinicians to raise issues with the ministry, in the event that they are unable to address them within the LHD, the council said. The husband of the doctor who blew the whistle on the patients death from an infected toenail said the matter was now the subject of a coronial inquiry thanks to the efforts of my wife and a small group of clinicians. However her efforts to reduce the risk of similar outcomes for other patients had been ignored or resisted by hospital administration executives, he said, and she was ultimately forced to leave the hospital. The broadcasting of TV channels 112, Newsone and ZIK has been discontinued in the digital multiplex and cable networks on the night of February 3 after the publication of President Volodymyr Zelensky's decree to block them. At the same time, the online broadcasting of these TV channels continues on Youtube. As of 1:00 on February 3, some 13,200 people were watching the broadcast of all three channels. MP Nestor Shufrych said that the presidential decree is illegal, since sanctions can only be imposed against foreign legal entities and individuals. As of December 2020, the average share of channels in the 18+ panel (cities with more than 50,000) is the following for the TV channels: ZIK 1,290, Newsone 1,003, and 112 1,005. According to the law "On Sanctions", they can be applied by Ukraine in relation to a foreign state, a foreign legal entity, a legal entity that is under the control of a foreign legal entity or non-resident individual, foreigners, stateless persons, as well as entities that carry out terrorist activities. The grounds for the application of sanctions, inter alia, are the actions of a foreign state, a foreign legal or natural person, other entities that constitute real and/or potential threats to national interests, national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity, promote terrorist activities and/or violate the rights and the freedoms of a man and a citizen, the interests of society and the state, lead to the occupation of the territory, expropriation or restriction of property rights, infliction of property losses, creation of obstacles to sustainable economic development, full use by citizens of Ukraine of their rights and freedoms. It was reported earlier that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the introduction of sanctions against MP of Ukraine from the Opposition Platform - For Life faction Taras Kozak, as well as eight limited liability companies for a period of five years. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) - ION Energy Limited (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) ("ION" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Khashbat Dashteseren as Special Advisor to ION, based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Dr. Dashteseren is a geologist and scholar with an extensive amount of experience exploring various minerals in Mongolia and has served with the Urban Development for the Department of Urban Development and Investment in Mongolia. Dr. Dashteseren was also the Chief Geologist at Geolink LLC before moving on to hold the role of Chief Executive Officer. Following that, Dr. Dashteseren worked as an Exploration Manager for Resource Partners Group. He has also spent a considerable amount of time researching laboratory analysis methods for lithium at the Akita University in Japan. Dr. Dashteseren holds a PhD in Lithium Mineralization from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar, and is a Professional Geologist accredited by the Mongolian Professional Institute of Geology and Mining as well as a Professional Engineer accredited by the Mongolian Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. "We are very pleased to have an individual of Dr. Dashteseren's caliber join our local team in Mongolia. His appointment further illustrates the potential of the Mongolian people and provides the company with an unparalleled lithium exploration technical team in country," stated ION Energy's CEO, Ali Haji, on the addition of Dr. Dashteseren as a Special Advisor. The Company also announces that it has granted to certain consultants and insiders of the Company an aggregate of 685,000 incentive stock options (the "Stock Options") to purchase common shares under the Company's incentive stock option plan (the "Plan"). Each Stock Option is exercisable into a common share of the Company at a price of $0.55 for a period of two years from the date of grant. The Stock Options will vest immediately and be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. About ION Energy Ltd. ION Energy Ltd. (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) is committed to exploring and developing Mongolia's lithium salars. ION's flagship, 81,000+ hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project, represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence award in Mongolia. ION Energy is well-poised to be a key player in the clean energy revolution, positioned well to service the world's increased demand for lithium. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.ionenergy.ca, or under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. For further information: MEDIA CONTACT: Siloni Waraich, siloni@ionenergy.ca, 416-432-4920 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information 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 release. Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, potential mineralization, exploration and development results, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Ion Energy's expectations include, among others, uncertainties relating to availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, delays in the development of projects, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of lithium, and ability to predict or counteract potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Company's business. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73569 The California vs. Texas debate continues, but this time Gabriel Iglesias has chimed in. With a photo of the 'In-N-Out' drive-thru menu posted on Twitter, Iglesias said "Sorry Texas. I love u but this is my soul." Although both burger companies are technically available in Texas, In-N-Out is a California based fast-food chain. The post, as expected, received mixed reviews from Twitter users. One user posted a picture of a burger from Whataburger saying "Whataburger all day woooo!" While another user simply stated "I agree." The chatter of which state is better - California or Texas - has been up for debate on social media for quite awhile. Although the trend did pick up when celebrities like Joe Rogan and James Van Der Beek moved to Texas. But no matter what side of the aisle you're on, there will always be a debate over who has the best burger. Scroll to see how social media reacted to Gabriel Iglesias preference of In-N-Out. Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra took to Twitter on Tuesday to shed light on an innovation that can change the way the Covid-19 vaccination drive is functioning around the globe at the moment. Sharing a snippet, Mahindra also raised a question for the Nobel Academy. He uploaded what looks like a news piece which claimed that a small biotech firm in West Sussex, England is working on putting a Covid-19 vaccine into a simple pill. Mahindra called it one of the most vital innovations needed in the world at the time. "Don't know if there's any validity in this report. But would the Nobel Academy please give them a Nobel if they succeed? Probably one of the most vital innovations the world needs right now," wrote Mahindra. Dont know if theres any validity in this report. But would the Nobel Academy please give them a Nobel if they succeed? Probably one of the most vital innovations the world needs right now... pic.twitter.com/PLDHGE6PsV anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 2, 2021 The text of the snippet reads: "IosBio, which is based in Burgess Hill, has developed a method of putting vaccines into pill form and is working with a US firm that has made an injectable vaccine that is going through human trials." This pill was seen to be effective in tests on monkeys, it claimed. Turns out, the oral vaccine will begin clinical trials on Americans this month and ImmunityBio is applying for regulatory approval to run tests in Britain too, according to an article in The New Zealand Herald. "A pill-based vaccine would be far easier to transport and administer than injections and could drastically speed up the race to immunise the world's population," the article stated. "With our capsule you wouldn't need medical professionals to administer the vaccine, you could send this out on Amazon Prime and have everyone vaccinated by Saturday," iosBio's chief executive Wayne Channing was quoted as saying. If the trial yields successful results, Mahindra's question will become more pertinent Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. "Despite the pandemic we achieved a lot throughout 2020 and the momentum has continued into 2021 with a very busy January. We have opened our new manufacturing facility "Silver One", announced additional non-dilutive funding of approximately $4 million and presented the first data from our large-scale lung cancer study," commented Cameron Reynolds, President and Group Chief Executive Officer. "As we transition from a research and development company to a commercial company, we are delighted to strengthen the leadership team with the appointment of Terig and Gael and the well-deserved promotions of Gaetan and Mark. All four bring strong global expertise and experience to their respective roles and these appointments aim to provide a very strong product focus to our management team. Please take a few minutes to watch the video below for a company update and to meet the new members of our management team." Mr. Reynolds added, "We would also like to thank Mr. David Vanston, our former Chief Financial Officer, for his contributions to Volition during his tenure with us and we wish him well in his future endeavors." Watch a video providing a business update and introducing Volition's new team members here - https://youtu.be/JznLeU0UOtg Mr. Hughes, our new Chief Financial Officer, is a seasoned finance professional with over twenty-five years of accounting, finance and business management experience gained through an international career spanning the United States, Europe and Asia and joins Volition from AUM Biosciences Pte. Ltd., a fast-growing biotechnology company focused on developing novel cancer drugs, where he acted as Chief Financial Officer since 2018. Prior to then, Mr. Hughes held a number of senior leadership positions at Elsevier, a division of RELX Group plc, a FTSE 100 company, including regional Managing Director and regional Finance Director for Elsevier Health Solutions. He has extensive experience in financial reporting, planning & analysis, and profit and loss management, as well as product commercialization, licensing and distributor management. Mr. Hughes holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Law from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Commenting on his appointment Mr. Hughes said, "I am delighted to join Volition at this exciting time, not only will product launches help saves lives through earlier diagnosis they should also help provide long term value for our stockholders." Mr. Gael Forterre, our new Chief Commercial Officer, has over 15 years of experience investing in and scaling fast growing companies. Mr. Forterre started his career as a hedge fund analyst in Paris and worked in a number of investment banking and trading roles over ten plus years, including launching Armori Capital Management LLC in 2014, for which he conducted a large number of investments on behalf of family offices/institutional investors and became active in supporting the growth of its portfolio companies. Most recently, from 2017 until joining Volition, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Ucroo Incorporated, a fast-growing collaboration and communication technology company, which he led to a tripling in revenue growth two years in a row. Mr. Forterre continues to serve as a board member of Ucroo Incorporated and Article22. Mr. Forterre holds a Master's degree in finance from Sorbonne Paris I and a double MBA from Columbia Business School and the London Business School. "After more than 15 years of investing and helping companies scale, I find Volition to have the most compelling potential," commented Mr. Forterre, "and am delighted to join the passionate team to drive commercialization of the product pipeline." Mr. Forterre will focus on building a strong commercialization plan and team to drive the extensive range of products to be developed using the Nu.Q platform. Dr. Gaetan Michel, our new Chief Operating Officer, has been with Volition almost seven years, previously serving as Chief Operating Officer of Belgian Volition and currently as Chief Executive Officer of Belgian Volition. With over 15 years of project management, manufacturing and operational experience, Dr. Michel is ideally placed to oversee and expand Volition's global operations including the newly opened Innovation Hub in San Diego, the manufacturing facility "Silver One" and Research and Development Facility in Belgium, as well as expanding the veterinary subsidiary in Texas, U.S.A. "I am honored to accept the position of Chief Operating Officer of Volition," commented Dr. Michel, " and look forward to executing our expansion plans throughout 2021 and beyond as we roll out our Nu.Q platform worldwide." Dr. Mark Eccleston, one of Volition's founding scientists will now serve as our new Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Eccleston has over 20 years' experience in the biotechnology sector and holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry for biomedical applications. In this new role, he will identify and review new and innovative infrastructures which will aid in the deployment of Volition's proprietary Nu.Q platform. "After ten years with Volition it is still tremendously rewarding working on such a cutting-edge technology," commented Dr. Eccleston, "Nu.Q not only has the potential to help diagnose cancer, but potentially many other serious conditions. I look forward to this new role where I can play a key part in evaluation and sourcing the technology platforms that can assist with a range of Nu.Q product launches." For further details please contact [email protected]. About Volition Volition is a multi-national epigenetics company developing simple, easy to use, cost effective blood tests to help diagnose a range of cancers and other diseases. Early diagnosis has the potential to not only prolong the life of patients, but also to improve their quality of life. The tests are based on the science of NucleosomicsTM, which is the practice of identifying and measuring nucleosomes in the bloodstream or other bodily fluid - an indication that disease is present. Volition is primarily focused on human diagnostics but also has a subsidiary focused on animal diagnostics. Volition's research and development activities are centered in Belgium, with a small laboratory in California and additional offices in Texas, London and Singapore, as the company focuses on bringing its diagnostic products to market. For more information about Volition, visit Volition's website volition.com or connect with us via: Twitter: https://twitter.com/volitionrx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/volitionrx Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VolitionRx/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VolitionRx The contents found at Volition's website address, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are not incorporated by reference into this document and should not be considered part of this document. The addresses for Volition's website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube are included in this document as inactive textual references only. Media / Investor Contacts Safe Harbor Statement Statements in this press release may be "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, that concern matters that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected in the forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "aims," "targets," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "optimizing," "potential," "goal," "suggests," "could," "would," "should," "may," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to the effectiveness of Volition's blood-based diagnostic and prognostic tests, and Volition's ability to develop and successfully commercialize such test platforms for early detection of cancer and other diseases. Volition's actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, results of studies testing the efficacy of its tests. For instance, if Volition fails to develop and commercialize diagnostic or prognostic products, it may be unable to execute its plan of operations. Other risks and uncertainties include Volition's failure to obtain necessary regulatory clearances or approvals to distribute and market future products; a failure by the marketplace to accept the products in Volition's development pipeline or any other diagnostic or prognostic products Volition might develop; Volition's failure to secure adequate intellectual property protection; Volition will face fierce competition and Volition's intended products may become obsolete due to the highly competitive nature of the diagnostics market and its rapid technological change; downturns in domestic and foreign economies; and other risks identified in Volition's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other documents that Volition files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Volition's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and, except as required by law, Volition does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. Pursuant to the disclosure requirements of the NYSE American Company Guide Section 711(a), Volition is reporting that its Board of Directors (including all of its independent directors) has approved the issuance of a warrant to purchase up to 185,000 shares of Volition common stock (the "Warrant") to Mr. Terig Hughes as a material inducement for his entering employment with Singapore Volition Pte. Limited, Volition's wholly-owned subsidiary, as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. The Warrant has an exercise price of $4.90 per share and is exercisable commencing February 1, 2022 (subject to (i) continued employment through such date, and (ii) the shares underlying the Warrant shall have been duly approved for listing by the NYSE American prior to exercise) with an expiration date of February 1, 2027. Nucleosomics and Nu.Q and their respective logos are trademarks and/or service marks of VolitionRx Limited and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this press release are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE VolitionRx Ltd Related Links http://www.volitionrx.com Kayvon Asemani was 9 years old in 2005 when his father attempted to murder the boys mother in the familys Ellicott City, Md., apartment. The attack left Asemanis mother, Samira Salmassi, profoundly brain-damaged and permanently institutionalized, sent her ex-husband back to prison for 30 years, and essentially orphaned their three children. What happened very much drove me to do the things Ive done ever since, said Asemani, who has accomplished more in the last 16 years than most of us could in a lifetime. And he only just turned 25. I learned how to not take things for granted, said the musician, entrepreneur, digital content creator, and social media influencer. Coming from a broken situation, I built an instinct of self-reliance and independence. My work ethic is a big part of who I am; my mother was always working overtime to provide for us because my father was rarely involved. She taught me to look for opportunities even if it seemed there werent any. Asemani began to write and record hip-hop songs while in elementary school in Ellicott City; he used to perform his raps for his mother. He continued working on music after he and his older brother, Arman, and younger sister, Leila, were accepted at Pennsylvanias Milton Hershey School for orphaned or otherwise needy youngsters in 2006. After graduating from high school at Milton Hershey in 2014, he was admitted to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While there, Asemani taught financial literacy to West Philly kids, which deepened his commitment to social justice, while the playful, positive vibe of his music and videos helped make him a campus celebrity. He also landed a featured performance spot during the 2016 International Young Leaders Assembly at the United Nations. I make music to inspire people to come together regardless of their background, said Asemani, an American of Iranian heritage. I always try to do things that bring different people together. A compact young man with a larger-than-life personality and a multimegawatt smile Asemani appeared in Forbes magazine as one of the Most Outstanding Business School Grads of 2018. He became friends with author and Wharton professor Adam Grant, who introduced him to Facebook CEO and author Sheryl Sandberg, who included Asemanis story in Option B, the book she and Grant cowrote. Asemani founded his own company (Kayvonmusic.com) before graduation, has done TEDX talks including one he gave to high school students in Norway and works as a product manager at Facebook. His latest EP is called Stir Crazy Vol. 2 and features songs with titles like Cant be Copied. You knew right away there was something special about Kayvon, said Will Ogle, who along with his wife, Clare, served as Asemanis high school house parents at Hershey. Part of it was his drive, Ogle said. Kayvon did not waste a relationship, or an encounter, with another person. He genuinely listened to you. We felt like he really wanted us to be successful as his house parents. Asemanis childhood tragedy was not something that was underneath every day, but I think he has worked through it even more since high school, said Clare Ogle. He just takes anything in life that comes at him as a stepping stone instead of a stumbling block. The Ogles, who are raising two sons of their own, attended Asemanis graduation from Penn in 2018. He knew pretty much everyone on campus, Clare said. But Asemani initially found it difficult to find his place at Penn. Everyone he met seemed to be bright and high-achieving, like he was. But none seemed to have experienced anything like what he had gone through as a boy; he had seen his father hit his mother in the head with a tape recorder, before the man took her into the bathroom and attempted to suffocate her. Since theeighth grade, Wharton had been my dream school, but I wasnt really aware of all of the things that were going to make me different from my classmates, Asemani said. It was culture shock. It was hard for me to find a group of people there in the beginning that I could identify with. Asemani struggled academically a new and unsettling experience for a straight-A high school student and at one point thought seriously of transferring elsewhere. But I realized I could carve out a niche. he said. What I experienced hasnt been experienced by that many people, and I realized I could show a lot of people that if its possible to come from where I came from and get to Wharton, then, from wherever they came from, they also could get to to this place. After that mind-set shift, a lot of things changed. I found commonalities with people. I found communities I resonated with. I began sharing more of my music. But being an influencer in what Asemani calls a snow globe like Penn is a lot different from being one in the world. I want to grow my influence in the real globe, he said. Thats where friend and design consultant / talent manager Jared T. Ross, whos also a Milton Hershey alum, comes in. A key part of Kayvons personal brand is about empowering other people, he said from California, where hes studying entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of San Francisco. I would say Kayvon is, above all, an investor of his time and energy in other people, said Ross, who also directs The Kayvon Show video series on Asemanis website. Kayvon is truly an investor in human beings. Said Grant, whose books include Originals How Nonconformists Move the World: Kayvons energy is palpable. Its not every day somebody walks up and shakes your hand and you say to yourself, This person is on fire. I dont know where he is going to land, although one version of the answer to that question is Kayvon is very much making his contribution in different chapters [such as] leadership, philanthropy having a Renaissance career of sorts, said Grant. Kayvon is galvanizing, bridge-building, hope-inspiring. Hes tremendously driven to make the world a better place. Asemani also is driven to make a living while making his mark and being successful enough at both to enable him to inspire, and empower, others. If the story ended at, This is what happened to my mom, then all the story is, is a tragedy, he said. But you can try to make something happen despite, or maybe, because of it. If you have a shot, you just have to take it. Asemani is growing his fan base by offering a paid subscription option, available through a phone texting link on his Instagram that offers a video chat with the artist, as well as other perks. He regards subscribers as members of his Superfamily. As for his own family, both his sister and brother are now on their own and doing well. My mother would be proud not only of me but of my siblings, Asemani said. We carried forward. We didnt throw it all away. I think our mother would be really proud of the fact that it wasnt all a waste. I think she would feel like she never left, like she was never gone from the picture. She would feel the positive attitude of the great person she was continuing to manifest in spirit. Shes been here all along. 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. PLAINVIEW Former state Sen. William Sam McCann was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for allegedly misusing campaign funds, tax evasion and money laundering. The indictment alleges McCann, 51, misused campaign money for personal expenses, engaging in a scheme from May 2015 to June 2020 to convert more than $200,000 in contributions and donations made to his campaign committees to pay himself and make personal purchases. The indictment also alleges McCann attempted to conceal his fraud from donors, the public, the Illinois State Board of Elections and law enforcement authorities. The indictment was announced by Central District of Illinois U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser; FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean M. Cox, Springfield Division; and, IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge David Talcott, St. Louis Field Office. McCann is scheduled to appear via telephone conference at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tom Schanzle-Haskins for arraignment. An indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. McCann was a state senator for the 49th District of Illinois from 2011 to 2013, and for the redrawn 50th District from 2013 to January 2019. He also formed the Conservative Party of Illinois and, in 2018, launched an unsuccessful bid for Illinois governor. The indictment states McCann previously lived in Carlinville and owned and operated two construction related businesses. According to the indictment, from April 2011 to November 2018 McCann and his political committees received more than $5 million in campaign donations. The indictment alleges multiple instances when he used campaign funds to buy personal vehicles, pay personal debts, make mortgage payments and pay himself, including using more than $60,000 in campaign funds to partially fund the purchases of a 2017 Ford Expedition in April 2017 and a 2018 Ford F-250 truck in July 2018, which he titled in his own name and used for his personal travel. McCann then used campaign funds for loan payments on the F-250 and for fuel and insurance expenses for both vehicles, while at the same time using campaign funds to reimburse mileage expense claims which he did not incur. The indictment also alleges that on or about Oct. 4, 2016, McCann allegedly used a $20,000 cashiers check funded by a campaign account and issued to himself to pay off a personal loan, including legal fees, originally issued to him as an equipment loan in 2011 and was in collection by the bank due to non-payment. From May 2015 to August 2020, McCann allegedly used campaign funds to pay about $64,750 on two separate personal mortgage loans that were secured by his former residence in Carlinville and an adjoining property used as an office for his construction business, according to the indictment. In November 2018, after his unsuccessful governors campaign, and continuing to June 2020 McCann allegedly caused the Conservative Party of Illinois to issue about $187,000 in payments to him and $52,282 in payments for payroll taxes. The indictment also alleges about $50,000 in campaign funds were used for personal expenses including charges from Apple iTunes, Amazon, a skeet and trap club, Cabelas, Scheels, Best Buy, a gun store and cash withdrawals. If convicted, the statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud (seven counts) and one count of money laundering is up to 20 years in prison. For tax evasion, the statutory penalty is up to five years in prison. The charges are the result of investigation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass is representing the government in the prosecution. Mal-Wen Program in Late 2020 Allows for Development of Exploration Model VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / Victory Resources Corporation (CSE:VR)(FWB:VR61)(OTC PINK:VRCFF) ("Victory" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration update with an in-depth project summary on the Company's Mal-Wen project, located in south-central British Columbia, within the eastern belt of the Nicola Group. "Recent work on the Mal-Wen property has led to the development of an exploration model in which the Mal and Wen Prospects are peripheral expressions of a larger mineralized system. An IP survey over the overburden covered area between the prospects, followed by drilling of the targets produced, will test this model," said Victory Geologist, Mr. Helgi Sigurgeirson. Mal-Wen Update Highlights The Mal-Wen Property consists of 7 mineral claims with a total area of 1205.97 hectares that is located about 30 km southeast of Merritt in south-central British Columbia The Mal-Wen Property is within the eastern belt of the Nicola Group, in south-central BC, which hosts numerous alkalic porphyry deposits, including the presently producing New Afton Mine and past producers Ajax and Copper Mountain Outcomes from the fall 2020 program of mapping, sampling, prospecting and ground magnetometer surveys include: The recognition that the Mal and Wen prospects are essentially similar zones of epidote carbonate alteration with locally high-grade Cu +/- Au mineralization, and may be part of the same system. The magnetometer survey revealed a magnetic lineament that is interpreted to be a significant fault linking the Mal and Wen prospects. The area between the Mal and Wen Prospects is almost entirely covered by till and glaciolacustrine material. Strongly anomalous for Cu till samples (351 and 137.5 ppm) were collected down ice from the covered area between the Prospects. The northernmost part of the area between the prospect features an untested IP anomaly from a 1968 survey. The entire area between the Mal and Wen Prospects should be covered by an IP survey and the resulting targets drilled. Mal-Wen Project update The Company conducted a program of mapping, sampling and prospecting, focusing on the area between the Mal and Wen Prospects, as well as a re-examination of the Mal Zone. The work was done from October 2 to October 6, 2020. A ground magnetometer survey covering the area from the Mal Prospect to the Wen Prospect was carried out at the same time and completed on October 8, 2020. It covered about 60-line kilometers. A re-examination of the Mal Prospect in light of recent work at the Wen Prospect indicates that both are essentially zones of epidote-carbonate alteration with locally high-grade Cu +/- Au mineralization, rather than distinct styles of alteration/mineralization. This suggests these could be related systems. A 1968 IP survey over the Mal Prospect indicates that it is in the same chargeability domain as a significant chargeability anomaly about 500 m to the east, referred to below as the East Mal IP anomaly. The results of the magnetometer survey indicate that the Wen zone occurs along the edge of a magnetic domain that continues to the northwest under till cover. This edge corresponds to a significant mag lineament that continues past the Mal Prospect and the East Mal IP anomaly. The mag lineament linking the Mal and the Wen Prospects is interpreted to be a significant regional fault. The area between the Mal and the Wen Prospects area is covered by till and probable lacustrine silts. Along the interpreted structure between the prospects is the East Mal IP anomaly, as well as a large mag low further south. Five till samples were collected from 2 sites northwest of the Wen Zone. Two of these samples were strongly anomalous for Cu (137.5 and 341 ppm). The regional ice flow direction in this area is generally to the SSE, suggesting that the source of the anomaly is to the NNW. This is the direction of mag lineament discussed above. The Mal and Wen Prospects may be peripheral expressions of a larger mineralized system that is mostly covered by overburden. Only the very northern part of this area has been covered by previous IP surveys (i.e., the area of the east Mal IP anomaly). An IP survey is proposed over the area between the Mal and Wen Prospects. Targets generated by the IP survey would then be drilled. Mal-Wen Project Summary The Mal-Wen Property consists of 7 mineral claims with a total area of 1205.97 hectares that is located about 30 km southeast of Merritt in south-central British Columbia. The Mal-Wen Property is within the eastern belt of the Nicola Group, in south-central BC, which hosts numerous alkalic porphyry deposits, including the presently producing New Afton Mine and past producers Ajax and Copper Mountain. Alkalic porphyry deposits are attractive exploration targets, as they can form large Cu deposits that are often enriched in Au relative to calc-alkalic porphyries. They are often lower in sulphides, which reduces their environmental risk. The BC Geological Survey has done considerable work in recent years evaluating this belt for its alkalic prophyry potential. The Mal-Wen property is prospective for this style of mineralization. There have been 6 drill programs and numerous geochemical and geophysical surveys on the Property targeting various styles of Cu-Au mineralization. The drill programs focused narrowly on high grade mineralization at the Mal and Wen Prospects, with relatively little work done elsewhere. The Wen Prospect vein is a chalcopyrite bearing quartz vein with erratic, locally high gold values up to 16.6 g/t over 6.55 m (true width 4.4 m). It is usually about 1 m thick, and grades between 0.5% and 1% Cu and under 1 g/t Au. A crude stockwork of quartz-carbonate veins occurs to the east of the Wen Vein. These veins locally feature specular hematite and/or chalcopyrite. They are hosted by fine grained, porphyritic gabbro. South of the stockwork zone is an epidote-carbonate matrix hydrothermal breccia featuring spotty Cu mineralization in the form of chalcopyrite with basalt and gabbro clasts. The stockwork zone and the higher-grade part of the breccia body together form a poorly defined zone of alteration and erratic mineralization at least 70 m wide and over 400 m in length. A significant copper in soil anomaly is associated with the Wen Zone and is open to the north. A subtle IP high that is associated with the Wen Zone mineralization may continue to the north as well. Mineralization at the Mal Prospect is a poorly characterized zone of Cu +/- Au mineralization together with strong epidote, carbonate +/- magnetite & pryite alteration. It is associated with a strong magnetic anomaly and a local chargeability high. Drilling in the 1960's was to the north of the main mag-IP anomaly, but it still reported an intersection of 1.62% Cu over 6 m. Drilling in 2003 returned 0.5 g/t Au over 8.8 m. Scientific and technical information contained in this press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Helgi Sigurgeirson, Victory Geologist, and a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. For further information, please contact: David Lane, President Telephone: +1 (236) 317 2822 Toll Free (855) 665- GOLD (4653) E-mail: IR@victoryresourcescorp.com About Victory Resources Corporation VICTORY RESOURCES CORPORATION (CSE:VR) is a publicly traded diversified investment corporation with mineral interests in North America. The Company is also actively seeking other exploration opportunities. 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. Forward Looking Statements Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws. SOURCE: Victory Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627536/Victory-Provides-Exploration-Update-on-Its-Mal-Wen-Property Platform will empower consumers, governments, and business to manage, issue and verify digital identity and personal data. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (OTC:TRWRF) (FRA:4T51) (the "Company", "KABN North America" or "KABN NA") (www.kabnsystemsna.com), a North American Fintech solutions company specializing in empowering individuals to manage, control and generate value from their biometrically-verified Self Sovereign Identity ("SSI") through its Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com) platform, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Delaware based PBC (Public Benefit Corporation), Indicio (https://indicio.tech/), a professional services firm specializing in decentralized identity architecture, engineering, and consultancy. Together, the team will build and launch the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credentials Ecosystem ("LAVCE"), to support and enable online identity assurance which includes a digital credentials wallet and platform for issuers, verifiers, and individuals to support the issuance, verification, and management of verifiable credentials for digital identity. The Company believes that digital identity is addressable to 100% of the online market. This solution is one of the first global platforms to support governments, healthcare, workplaces, hospitality and other businesses and organizations as they begin to issue digital credentials and to empower users, at no cost, to manage and take full control over storage and use of these credentials, their digital identity, and personal data. Using the LAVCE, individuals, or "holders" will be provided with a digital wallet that will be able to, within Liquid Avatar, support a wide range of verifiable identity and other digital credentials based on the Trust over IP (www.trustoverip.org) open-source governance and technology stacks, to which KABN is a steering committee member, and industry standard data models. Together, with the Liquid Avatar app and its high-quality digital image icons that can represent various facets of a user's personality, the system will usher in new tools and services to create verifiable digital identities allowing for new and innovative ways for users to create a holistic profile of themselves that they manage and control, through self-defined personas. KABN North America will pay for the build and operate the LAVCE and the new verifiable identity credentials program creating an open-source solution to drive industry adoption and support standards that everyone can build to. This program is expected to ultimately replace the Company's current KABN ID solution. "With over 5 Billion people online and about 400 million people in the US and Canada the world continues to get smaller through increased digital presence and opportunities. Providing individuals with a no-cost service that allows them to prove who they are and verify, manage, control and generate value from their digital identity has the potential to create significant consumer and commercial opportunities," said David Lucatch, CEO KABN North America. "The creation of the LAVCE and our new digital identity credentials align with our goal to make Liquid Avatar engaging and simple to use as governments and industry continue to move swiftly towards adopting increased levels of security, regulation and compliance, enabling consumers to control their identity and data usage. This program also supports our industry efforts with the Trust over IP Foundation, Lumedic Exchange and other company efforts." Liquid Avatar will be releasing its live, open beta app globally in Google Play and Apple App Store on February 18, 2021, subject to all final approvals. The LAVCE is expected mid-spring as part of Liquid Avatar's ongoing release schedule. Using the LAVCE, issuers, like governments, workplaces, financial services, and others will be able to issue verifiable credentials that are linked to a holder's verifiable identity credential, creating a higher level of security and safety. Verifiers who want to make sure that an individual has the credential and is who they say they are will be able to scan a Liquid Avatar icon and to request a verifiable presentation to determine acceptance. "We are excited to be working with KABN and the Liquid Avatar team to build and deploy the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credential Ecosystem to enable issuers, verifiers and consumers to use verifiable credentials to deploy digital identity solutions that preserve privacy while enhancing security and safety," said Heather Dahl, CEO Indicio "Liquid Avatar and the LAVCE will potentially provide a paradigm shift in the way that individuals manage, control and use their digital identity and will be interoperable with a host of emerging ecosystems and solutions through its open-source protocols," said RJ Reiser, Chief Business Development Officer KABN North America. "We believe that our digital wallet will be a foundational piece that will empower consumers to fight against fraud in all its forms. Working with Indicio and its world-class, industry leading team, we will be creating one of the world's first consumer facing digital wallet programs that will enable issuers, verifiers and consumers to easily and simply adopt and deploy verifiable identity and additional credentials solutions." Liquid Avatar, available at no cost to consumers, makes it easy for individuals to start and maintain the process of managing their SSI/digital identity while giving users the ability to share it with their friends, family, colleagues, and others easily, safely, and cryptographically secure through biometrically enabled Self Sovereign Identity tools and services. The Liquid Avatar platform allows users to create high quality digital icon representations of the various facets of their online personalities and identity, which can be used to easily share what they want, when they want, and with whom they want. Liquid Avatar users will also be able to create digital wallets to manage and store a wide range of verifiable identity and access credentials, and to take their conventional identity online, allowing users to prove themselves as easily and effectively as they do in the "physical world". As a verified platform, an individual user of Liquid Avatar can only have one account (with possibly multiple digital personas) which potentially reduces the ability for bad actors to create bots and fake accounts. Liquid Avatar users know that when they use and interact with other Liquid Avatar users, they are dealing with real, known people. Liquid Avatar users are able to select from 1000's of combinations of facial features to create their perfect digital representations of themselves - all at no cost. Users can also visit the Liquid Avatar Marketplace (www.liquidavatarmarketplace.com) if they are interested in purchasing custom icons from leading pop-culture, anime, and comic book artists. In the future, users will also be able to upload certain personalized images and logos to represent their avatars. While Liquid Avatar is free to consumers and KABN and Liquid Avatar never sells or rents data, the Company believes that verified, known users can create increased value for themselves and select marketers and vendors as they look to reach real people and not fake users or bots. Through the Liquid Avatar platform and approved, permission-based communications, Liquid Avatar will offer up value-based opportunities users can select. At the same time, Liquid Avatar partners who want to reach real, known users will be willing to provide increased value as they won't be spending money to reach fake users and bots. KABN NA also has its KABN KASH rewards and loyalty program, with over 300 major online vendors, that will provide Liquid Avatar users with cash back incentives for purchases they make through KABN KASH. This program, together with the KABN Visa Card (initially available in Canada with the US and other regions under review), provides users with new and innovative ways to create and earn value. KABN NA will earn potential revenues through card transaction fees, comarketing, bounties, commissions, and other fees paid by partners and vendors. The Company believes that other consumer and revenue programs will emerge as Liquid Avatar gains traction in the market. Liquid Avatar will launch in phases, as the Company prepares and tests additional service and program offerings to make it easier for users to become familiar with the Liquid Avatar platform, Self Sovereign Identity and Verifiable Credentials. Interested individuals can sign up for Liquid Avatar and receive information and notices on upcoming releases and services by visiting www.liquidavatar.com If you would like to join our mailing list and receive updates on KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp., please click here About Indicio - www.indicio.tech Indicio.tech is a professional services firm specializing in decentralized identity architecture, engineering, and consultancy. Indicio provides expert guidance to a global community of clients on the use of verifiable credentials to build privacy preserving digital identity solutions. The decentralized networks and tools created by Indicio make verifiable credentials easy to adopt, simple to deploy, and reliable to use. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Indicio is committed to advancing decentralized identity as a public good that enables people to control their identities online and share their data by consent. Indicio believes in security by design, interoperability, and supports the open source goals of the decentralized identity community. About KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp - www.kabnnaholdco.com KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. through its wholly owned subsidiary KABN Systems North America Inc. focuses on the verification, management and monetization of Self Sovereign Identity, empowering users to control and benefit from the use of their online identity. Liquid Avatar is a verified Self Sovereign Identity platform that empowers users to create high quality digital icons representing their online personas. These icons allow users to manage and control their digital identity and Verifiable Access and Identity Credentials, and to use Liquid Avatars to share public and permission based private data when they want and with whom they want. www.liquidavatar.com KABN North America has a suite of revenue generating programs that support the Liquid Avatar program, including KABN KASH a cash back and reward program that has over 300 leading online merchants and coming soon, an integrated offering engine. In Canada, KABN also has the KABN Visa Card, a "challenger banking" platform that allows users to manage and control a range of financial services for traditional and digital currencies. The Company is currently exploring expansion of the KABN Visa program to other geographic regions, including the USA. KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. is publicly listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the symbol "KABN" (CSE:KABN). The Company also trades in the US under the symbol "TRWRF" and in Frankfurt under the symbol "4T51" If you have not already joined our mailing list and would like to receive updates on KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp., please click here to join! For more information, please visit www.kabnnaholdco.com or www.kabnsystemsna.com For further information, please contact: David Lucatch Chief Executive Officer 647-725-7742 Ext. 701 ir@kabnsystemsna.com US and Canadian Media Contact: Nicole Rodrigues NRPR Group nicole@nrprgroup.com The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. All websites referred to are expressly not incorporated by reference into this press release. Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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 the Company'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 is not limited to, information concerning the ability of the Company to generate revenues, roll out new programs and to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: changes in general economic, business, and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation. 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 the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. SOURCE: KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/627418/KABN-North-America-Partners-with-Indicio-to-Build-the-Liquid-Avatar-Verifiable-Credential-Ecosystem-to-Support-Digital-Identity-Credentials-for-Everyday-Use COVID-19 has played havoc with our fitness dreams and a lot of us are still unable to get to the gym or studio to fulfil our new years resolutions. However, there is one thing we can from the comfort of our own home and all we need is a small mat to do it. Yep, you guessed it, we're talking about yoga! Here are the best 10 ways to learn yoga online. Book On A Group Session There are an array of local yoga teachers out there that have made the transition to online teaching in the face of COVID-19 and their studios being closed. Why not have a look on your social media and see if any of your friends is a teacher and doing weekly zoom sessions? This way you can get feedback from your instructor if you are new to this. Get Up A Session With Friends If you are new to yoga and don't want to attend a virtual class on your own, why not group together with some of your friends and book in your own private session? This way you can have a smaller group of people that know one another. YouTube There are an array of Yoga videos available on YouTube for all levels, the only thing with this platform is that if you haven't practiced yoga before, you may not know where to begin. You want to make sure that you are choosing a class that matches your level otherwise you may run the risk of being put off. DoYogaWithMe Do yoga with me is one of the biggest yoga platforms out there and covers all different types of yoga. Before you settle in to your practice, make sure you have chosen a level that suits your ability and make sure you have checked out if you need any equipment. Some classes will require you to have a strap, block or a blanket, sometimes all of the above so it helps to be equipped before you make a start. Beginners Guide To Yoga If you are brand new to yoga and aren't sure where to start, there are plenty of resources that can give you a hand. The beginners guide to yoga covers all the basic information you need, from different yoga types, why they are different as well as different breathing techniques. Having this basic knowledge under your belt will help you understand what your virtual instructor will be saying during the class. Instagram If you are looking for inspiration for what type of yoga you want to do, why not check out Instagram? The platform is awash with yogis that are all doing different types of yoga. Have a look at different flows and positions and see which one you would like to do. From there, read the caption and see what type of yoga it is. Whether it is hatha or yin, you'll find a flow to suit you. Yoga With Adriene Doing yoga every day can seem overwhelming, especially if you have never practiced before. Yoga with Adriene gives you an amazing starting point and small practises every day for 30 days. Most classes are under 25 minutes and some are much shorter, but it gets you thinking about the basic principles of yoga such as breathing, posture and flow. Once you have done the 30 days with Adriene, you then have the option of moving on to more of her videos! Slow Flow If you are wanting a slow gentle flow that isn't too taxing on you, then Aham Yoga is a beautiful and gentle entry into this practice. They release the best online yoga classes daily, so you can feel as though you are taking part even if you are practising from the comfort of your living room. TriYoga Zoom If you don't have any local instructors that are offering zoom classes and want to feel as though you are part of a yogi community, then why not look at TriYoga. They are reasonably priced and offer good bundle packages. Best of all is that you feel like you are back in the studio and in your safe space. Core Collective If you are looking for faster flow and real strength building capability, the core collective CCTV will give you all of the above. This is not for the faint hearted and really you should have a few practices under your belt before you dive head into this, but it is well worth pay off. Wrap Up Even though we can't get to the studio we can still practice yoga on a daily basis. You can either pay or do it free of charge using online resources, but if you are new to this practice, you may want to pay in the beginning! The price of sugar has fallen by up to Sh15 per two-kilogramme packet at leading supermarkets, offering relief to households choking under the Covid-19 stranglehold. A spot-check by the Nation at Quickmart Supermarket shows that a two-kilogramme packet is retailing at Sh220 down from Sh235 last month, while the one-kilo pack is going for Sh115 from Sh125 in the same period. At Naivas supermarket, a two kilogramme-packet of the commodity is retailing at Sh214 from Sh231, while the one-kilogramme packet has dropped to Sh111 from Sh116 last month. Millers have attributed the fall to panic among distributors, who are offering low prices for the 50-kilo bag in anticipation of cheap imports from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) bloc. Muhoroni Sugar receiver manager Francis Ooko said yesterday that the price for a 50-kilo bag has fallen from Sh4,700 to Sh4,400 with the same reflected at supermarket shelves. Relief to households "There's fear over looming imports, and most distributors are cautious in the quantities they buy from us; they're offering us low prices," Mr Ooko said. The jitters, which have forced millers to sell at low prices lest they remain with huge stocks, offer relief to households reeling from depressed earnings arising from job-losses and salary cuts in the wake of the Covid-19 scourge. Kenya relies on imports to bridge an annual deficit and stabilise prices because of the poor performance of local millers. The country imports 350,000 tonnes of sugar from Comesa, a window that has, in the past, been blamed for dumping of the sweetener and distorting prices. Stiffer regulations Last year, the Agriculture ministry banned the imports in July, but reversed the decision under stiffer regulations to guard against dumping of the sweetener in the country. The ministry has since allowed traders to reapply for the permits, but on stiff conditions, namely that they will only be allowed to import what is required as part of the State's efforts to salvage the ailing sugar sector. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Laser Display Technology 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 Laser Display Technology 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Laser Display Technology Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31807 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Laser Display Technology will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Laser Display Technology market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Laser Display Technology market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Laser Display Technology 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 Laser Display Technology market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Sony Panasonic Epson Barco LG Mitsubishi Electric Ushio Inc Hisense Changhong Optoma Delta Displays Konka BenQ Xiaomi Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31807 This study considers the Laser Display Technology value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Laser Phosphor Display (LPD) Technology RGB & RG Lasers Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. 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Focuses on the key global Laser Display Technology 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 Laser Display Technology 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 Laser Display Technology 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/laser-display-technology-market-study-by-observing-top-players-trends-forecast-till-2026/ interview Last year was a difficult year for the tourism sector and particularly Uganda Tourism Board (UTB). Things are starting to look a little better but still there are challenges that continue to pose a threat to an industry that has been battered by Covid-19. Edgar R Batte had a chat with Lilly Ajarova, the UTB chief executive officer to understand how the industry is coping and the plans on which it will seek to achieve better in 2021. Covid-19 and elections. This must have been impacted tourism. What extent are we looking at here? Yes, there has been a serious impact, especially resulting from Covid-19. This has been inevitable but with the elections, there has been an impact, especially on the image of Uganda. But as a standard, we shall continuous do market research to find out what the market is really saying about destination Uganda so that we are able to align our activities, work plan and strategies domestically and internationally. What does your lineup look like for 2021? There are major things. At the moment, we have started on the project of refreshing the brand "Pearl of Africa" and we plan to launch something later this year, both nationally and internationally. We also have another edition of Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo as one of our big calendar projects as well as renewing contracts for market destination representatives in the source markets. There will be some additional ones besides the main ones that we have been having to boost our presence within Africa. Talking about refreshing the Pearl of Africa brand, what effort are you undertaking? Of course the brand has been there and we have been using it but it is about I think we can use it better. We are developing the brand elements such as the logo. Right now if you go and Google 'Uganda, the Pearl of Africa', it is being used differently with no uniformity yet it is supposed to be a destination brand. Have you set the dates for the Pearl of Africa Tourism expo and how different? We are looking at the end of April as the timeline. It is definitely going to be different. We are going to have a hybrid expo in a sense that a bigger component of it is going to be virtual, especially for the international participants. We will also have the local participants participating physically. Last year's expo was focused on improving intra-Africa tourism. What is your focus this time around? Yes, we are still focusing on regional and African market at large. We plan on having representation in our main markets, for example in Kenya, South Africa, just like we have representation in Germany, UK and US. These efforts are meant to push our presence in the markets. It is different being there than occasionally going there and leaving. With permanent presence, we are taking the opportunity to easily be found and contacted. Covid-19 has slowed inflow of tourists. How do you plan to recoup what has been lost? We are building on what we have been doing to improve tourism products. For example, we have set up standards and regulations in the hotels and accommodation facilities. This has been ongoing and we are going to try and give it a bigger push by working with the tourism operators along the value chain. We need everyone to be registered, inspected, licensed, classified and graded so that the standards can be pushed. In all these, there are no new things but advancing and refreshing what has been there before to make them better, expand so that we may be able to establish ourselves better as a destination. In March, you make two years in office, what would you say have been your gains and challenges? You should be able to tell me. The best assessor should be you from outside. Maybe you should tell me what you have seen or observed and I continue from there. Building coffee tourism as a product Last year, UTB undertook efforts to promote coffee tourism in Uganda, have you made strides? We have some establishments in western and eastern Uganda where we have facilities and farms with coffee shops. Tourists are taken into the farm and taken through the whole process from planting to how coffee is taken care of and harvesting, among others. So should we say that it is largely eestern and eastern Uganda that are key points for coffee tourism? For now, yes. There are tour operators like 'Let's Go Travel' pushing this. From my discussion with them toward the end of 2019, they wanted to identify farms across the country from the different regions. For example, if they had their tourists going to northern Uganda, they should also have an establishment around Murchison Falls or wherever they are taking their visitors so that they can have the coffee experience. In the central, they had sent some of the farmers for training in Kenya but when Covid-19 broke out a number of things had to be affected. Are there things we can benchmark from Kenya as probably an established market with these agro-tourism efforts? Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Travel Business Uganda By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Yes, they are big with coffee tourism. They are more established than we are. That is why 'Let's Go Travel' was benchmarking them specifically as a private investor interested in that. Even the whole farm and agro-tourism concept is better established in Kenya. However, last year we found out that there is an association of local farmers who are interested in agro-tourism. They call themselves the 'Agro-Tourism Association'. They are 64 in number and come from all the regions in the country. To be systematic in developing this, we are right now working on developing the guide for the establishment of an agro-tourism establishment so that one is guided. It is not a matter of having a nice farm like the ones we visited in Bushenyi, Isingiro and Mbarara where agricultural tours can take place. Coffee tourism With coffee tourism, we want tourists to expereince and participate in things such as picking the ber-ries, drying, roasting and grinding. We have establishments such as those in Kasese and Sipi, from which we are working and from our stats, we seem to see a gain in interest. However, we need to promote them and the product. That is why one of our efforts last year was to try and create awareness about agro-tourism, giving it the broader understanding beyond only coffee. 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. Trumps lawyers denied that his statements in advance of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 amounted to an incitement of violence. But they also argued that the whole case was moot, saying that the Senate lacked the authority to try a former president. Former President Donald Trumps legal team plans to mount a two-pronged defense when the Senate hears his impeachment trial next week, according to a 14-page filing submitted yesterday . President Trump has demonstrated beyond doubt that he will resort to any method to maintain or reassert his grip on power, wrote the managers, led by Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland. A president who violently attacks the democratic process has no right to participate in it. In their own 80-page pretrial brief filed yesterday, the Houses Democratic impeachment managers, who will prosecute the case in the Senate, rejected that constitutional argument . They also argued that Trump bore direct responsibility for the attack on the Capitol. The filing which was submitted just days after Trump reshuffled his legal team, and appeared to have been hastily assembled also said that the Constitution disallowed the Senate from trying a former president after he has left office. This argument has been disputed by many constitutional scholars, and it runs counter to history: During Ulysses S. Grants administration, the Senate tried a cabinet official on impeachment charges after he had left office. In the filing, the lawyers did not repeat or seek to defend Trumps baseless claims that the November election had been stolen from him and marred by widespread fraud, as the former president had reportedly hoped they would . Instead, it fell back on a First Amendment defense, saying that Trump had been exercising his right to express his belief that the election results were suspect. This is all unfolding amid a broader moment of reckoning for the G.O.P. And it goes well beyond the question of whether to convict Trump. The partys leaders in the House will meet today to discuss the fates of two lawmakers who represent opposing sides in their partys search for a coherent identity in the wake of Trumps presidency. Under the microscope are Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Cheney, the chambers No. 3 Republican, broke with most members of her caucus in two significant votes last month: She voted to certify the results of the November election, rejecting Trumps falsehoods about election fraud, and then she joined only nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach him. Greene, whose first term began last month, is an unswerving Trump ally with a history of endorsing conspiracy theories and bigotry, even going so far as to express support for the killing of Democratic leaders. A number of Republicans have joined Democrats in condemning Greenes past statements, including her former support for the QAnon conspiracy theory (which she recently disavowed). Yesterday the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began a $500,000 ad campaign tying eight House Republicans, including Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, to Greene and QAnon a sign of Democrats intention to use the radical views of representatives like Greene to cudgel the Republican Party as a whole. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, put his thumb on the scales this week when he issued two separate statements: one condemning Greene (without actually naming her) and another praising Cheney for her deep convictions and courage. But even McConnell himself voted last week against hearing Trumps impeachment in the Senate. It was a sign that, despite his fears about the former presidents continued power over the partys future, he recognizes that the G.O.P.s bloodstream remains so thoroughly permeated by Trump that it now may be impossible to purge his influence without doing mortal damage to the party itself. For McCarthy, who will preside over the meeting today, the calculation is even more difficult. He criticized Trump for his role in inciting the Capitol riot but has since tacked back toward a more accommodating position. Last week, McCarthy traveled to Florida to meet with Trump and discuss the partys 2022 electoral strategy, an acknowledgment of the former presidents continued sway, as well as of the fact that most Republican-held House districts voted overwhelmingly to re-elect him in November. Greene has made a point of emphasizing that she still has Trumps support. She announced over the weekend that she had spoken with him and received his blessing, and on Monday she said she planned to meet with him soon in Florida. President Biden yesterday issued three executive orders turning back some of Trumps most aggressively anti-immigration policies. The orders aim to reunite migrant children separated from their families at the border, restore the countrys asylum system and make it easier for foreign workers and students to enter the country. But officials said that the orders were only the first step in a long and complicated process of rebuilding the countrys immigration infrastructure. Tanzania's Health Ministry on Monday has urged citizens to practice hygiene and use traditional medicine to treat Covid-19. "We Tanzanians should be a good model to our neighbouring countries in improving our personal hygiene and the use of our local herbs which are not only for Covid-19 but for other diseases as well such as asthma, flu and other novel diseases," Minister Dorothy Gwajima said in Dodoma. The Government Chemist has been working to certify a number of natural local remedies that have met safety standards, she added. "These traditional remedies have been in use for ages in our societies and many have been helped by them, including myself and my family," Dr Gwajima said. She said some Tanzanian-made herbal remedies already approved by the government chemist include Covidol, NIMRCAF, Planet plazplaz, Bingwa and Covontaxer. Others are Uzima, Bupiji and Lemogracy essential oil. "For now let's improve personal hygiene and the environment by washing our hands with running water and soap, using sanitisers and other traditional remedies." The minister added that the country will not import any foreign coronavirus vaccines. "For now Tanzania has no intention of importing any of the vaccines being reported in other countries until we are satisfied they have been clinically proven to be safe," she said. Recent reports of a new strain of the novel Covid-19 virus in various countries, including some bordering Tanzania, have raised numerous questions from the public. President John Magufuli announced the country to be corona-free six months ago in a public address in the capital city Dodoma. He ordered a full re-opening of borders and economic activities, saying God had answered the country's prayers. The president said there was no longer a need to curtail economic activities while hospitals across Tanzania had empty beds having discharged nearly all Covid-19 positive patients after they tested negative for the virus. The East African country received a shipment of Madagascar's self-proclaimed plant-based coronavirus remedy on May 8 despite warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that its efficacy was unproven. Tanzania last posted coronavirus updates on April 29 when the national caseload stood at 509 with 21 deaths and 183 recoveries. This is an opinion column. The projected costs of new prisons in Alabama have changed somewhat in a relatively short time. Actually, nix that somewhat. Theyve changed a lot. Lets walk back through this process from beginning to end. Originally, the four new prisons were supposed to cost Alabama about $900 million. At the time, way back in 2019, that seemed like a lot of money, especially since the state wouldnt be buying the new prisons, but leasing them from private companies. From there, though, the plan evolved. At some point, a whole prison went missing. The womens prison got excluded from the deal, which was weird since the barbaric conditions at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women were what supposedly spurred the state into action on this plan in the first place. But one thing hadnt changed the price. In the worlds worst BOGO, Alabama would get three prisons for the price of four. Next, the price did change it went up. Instead of the original $900 million estimate, last year the Department of Corrections said the new prisons should cost no more than $88 million a year over 30 years. If state officials had been telling the truth then, that would be a maximum of (Taps on calculator) $2.64 billion. Thats if they had been telling the truth, but they didnt. Instead, the state said this week, the prison leases would be indexed to $88.6 million in 2022. Mathematically speaking, $88.6 million is greater than the promised no more than $88 million, but were just getting started. That whole indexing thing makes this much worse. The state now anticipates its first lease payment in 2025 would be $94 million, and the annual price tag will go up from there. The state wont say what the bottom line is because those numbers wouldnt be final until closing. If you believe that, then you must believe Gov. Kay Ivey is the sort of person who will close on a house without knowing how much it costs. They just dont want to say. But, if you accept what little they have shared this time, and then you extrapolate from those first three years of indexed increases, through the 30-year term of the deal (This part took me a calculator and a sheet of paper.) You get $3.7 billion. Or in other words, four times what the state originally said the project would cost. And out of that, we get three prisons instead of four. And after 30 years of payments, the state doesnt even get to keep the prisons. Let me be clear. My math could be off. I could be missing something big. Something important. Because, from beginning to end still to this day the state has kept this process in the dark. When the media and others have put in public records requests for the different companies project proposals, the Department of Corrections has refused to turn them over. Theyve said those proposals are confidential. When state lawmakers have asked to see the details of the plan, theyve been left in the dark, too. And lets be clear about something else. The state solicited proposals from private contractors, but it didnt put this project up for public bid. Thats a whole different process. In the process they chose, state officials get to decide which proposals they like and which they dont. Its up to their discretion. This is a no-bid contract. Possibly a $3.7 billion no-bid contract. And what do we get for it? Are there gymnasiums? Are there ballfields? How will this lessen Alabamas prison overcrowding when it wont provide enough beds? When Ivey signed the first two of the three leases this week, the photo her staff released with the announcement showed two stacks of paper on her desk, each about two-feet thick. Whats in there? We dont get to know until the ink is dry. Until then, were supposed to trust them. Even though they dont trust us enough to show what every Alabamian is about to pay for. Just trust them. Even though they still wont tell us how much this is really going to cost. 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 What have you done now, Tommy Tuberville? Heres the scariest thing about Mo Brooks 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 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... YANGON, Myanmar Myanmar authorities charged the countrys deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, with possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies, her allies said Wednesday, a move that gives the generals who overthrew her legal grounds to detain her for two weeks. The charge came to light two days after Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest and appeared to be an effort to lend a legal veneer to her detention, though the generals have previously kept her and others locked up for years. The military announced Monday that it would take power for one year accusing Suu Kyis government of not investigating allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. Suu Kyis party swept that vote, and the military-backed party did poorly. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ National League for Democracy spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge against Suu Kyi that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He also said the countrys ousted president, Win Myint, was charged with violating the natural disaster management law. A leaked charge sheet dated Feb. 1 indicates they can be held until Feb. 15. It was clear that the military were going to look for some legal cases against the leaders of the National League for Democracy and especially Aung San Suu Kyi to actually legitimize what theyve tried to do, said Larry Jagan, an independent analyst of Myanmar affairs. And that is really a power grab. Police and court officials in the capital Naypyitaw could not be contacted. While authorities were working to keep Suu Kyi in detention, hundreds of lawmakers who had been forced to stay at government housing after the coup were told Wednesday to leave the capital city within 24 hours and go home, said a member of Parliament from Suu Kyis party who is among the group. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared drawing the militarys attention. Journalists saw lines of cars, with the lawmakers inside, leaving the heavily guarded compound on Wednesday afternoon. The coup was a dramatic backslide for Myanmar, which had been making progress toward democracy, and highlighted the extent to which the generals have ultimately maintained control in the Southeast Asian country. In response to the coup, Suu Kyis party has called for nonviolent resistance, and residents in Yangon, Myanmars largest city, honked car horns and banged on pots and pans in a noisy protest for a second consecutive night Wednesday. Supporters of the military have also staged demonstrations. Medical workers have also declared they wont work for the new military government in protest of the coup at a time when the country is battling a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with a dangerously inadequate health system. Photos were shared on social media showing health workers with red ribbons pinned to their clothes or holding printed photos of red ribbons. Protests against the coup occurred in Japan as well as in neighboring Thailand, where Khin Maung Soo, a Myanmar national, said Wednesday that he was demonstrating to show the world that we are not happy with what happened. He added: We want the whole world to help us too. The takeover marked a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country toward democracy and then became its de facto leader after her party won elections in 2015. Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army while in detention, but as a politician, she worked with the generals and even defended their crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. That shift damaged her international reputation, but Western governments have made clear they consider her the countrys legitimate leader and Mondays takeover a coup. We call on the military to immediately release them all and detained civilian and political leaders, journalists and detained human rights activists and to restore the democratically elected government to power, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington. The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 leading industrial nations issued a statement making similar calls Wednesday, a day after the U.N. Security Council met over the matter. In an interview on Washington Post Live, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations would work with key international players to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails. In Myanmar, the leader of the new government said it planned to investigate alleged fraud in the November elections, a state newspaper reported. While the military has cited the governments failure to properly investigate alleged voting irregularities as its reason for the coup, the state Union Election Commission had found no evidence of fraud. Analysts say the landslide victory of Suu Kyis party may have surprised the generals and made them concerned that the party had too much power, even though the military-drafted 2008 constitution ensured it would retain significant control, including with an allocation of 25% of the seats in Parliament. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper also reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the top leader of the new military government, said coronavirus containment measures taken by Suu Kyis government would be continued. Myanmar has confirmed more than 140,600 cases of COVID-19, including some 3,100 deaths. Its health care infrastructure is one of the weakest in Asia, according to U.N. surveys. A statement issued Wednesday in the name of the executive members of Suu Kyis party said that authorities began raiding the partys offices in Mandalay and other states and regions on Tuesday and seized documents and laptop computers. The statement on the Facebook page of party spokesman Kyi Toe said locks were broken at several offices. It denounced the raids as illegal and demanded that they stop. ___ Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. ___ This story has been updated to correct that the charge against Suu Kyi carries a maximum sentence of three years, not two. Weekend farming is not a new concept in Namibia as many people regularly supplement their monthly income with some kind of part-time agricultural activity. However, a financial planner at a local bank, Aubrey Hardine, has a new inspiration, partly brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, to evolve his small-scale farm into a full-fledged commercial operation. The financial planner, who is gradually swapping the boardroom for the tractor, currently has some 0.3 hectares of land under pumpkin cultivation, which he intends to expand to one hectare by August this year. This, he said, is his bid to contribute in the reduction of the country's over reliance on fruit and vegetable imports. These imports, mostly from South Africa, in 2019 totalled an astronomical US$59.56 million or over N$897 million at today's exchange rates. "Covid-19 showed us the fragility of our food security but I see the pandemic as an opportunity for Namibia to utilise farmland productively to increase our food security. If we as Namibians support our local farmers, then that is how we can grow the agricultural industry to become food secure. If we all buy local fresh produce, imagine what that will do to our GDP," Hardine stated. The pandemic's impact on job security and food import uncertainty ignited Hardine's dream to go full steam into a commercial farming operation. "I want to make farming a profitable venture. This means going commercial and that entails going far beyond just planting seeds and adding water," said Hardine. As a full-time financial planner, Hardine had to rope in expert farming advice, which he admits was not an easy feat. After searching high and low, he eventually secured valuable mentorship and recently harvested and marketed five tons of pumpkins, for which he secured supply to local retailers towards the end of last year. "My wife, Chantelle, and I managed to secure some land in February 2020 just before the start of the pandemic in the Rietoog area. She has really been the backbone of the operation and an excellent business partner. We both realised that this pandemic is not going away and all farmers should really find a way to meet the demand in Namibia. Once we do that then we can start looking at exporting our locally grown products to the region and beyond," Hardine added. To be fair, Hardine already had deep roots in farming that stemmed from early exposure to crop cultivation in the Rietoog area of southern Namibia by his grandfather, Frans Willem McNab. Hardine recalls tagging along with his grandfather to market crops at a nearby town called Nabaseb. Now, in his own pursuit of farming as a full-time activity but with his full-time corporate gig in Windhoek, he needed help on the farm. For this he asked his Windhoek-based domestic worker, Oscar Naunyango, to take up the challenge. Naunyango accepted and is now the farm manager. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Agribusiness Namibia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Said Hardine: "Oscar really blossomed on the farm and came out of his shell. He has great ideas and we have been learning together on how to maximise our yields. One of the great aspects of farming is its scope for empowerment and creating jobs." Meanwhile, to support local farmers, the Namibia Agronomic Board (NAB) has imposed strict regulations, effective since 1 August 2020, to curb the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables. The new measures, meant to encourage local production, involve import levies, trade levies and subjecting all aspiring and existing importers to register with the board and acquire import permits. The new regulations are aimed at protecting local producers from excessive foreign competition and to encourage local production, said NAB. According to the NAB's Horticulture Market Development Manager, Emilie Abraham, the regulations are in line with the Market Share Promotion (MSP) scheme to stimulate local production and the trade of horticultural products in Namibia. She noted the decision to control the imports of fruits and vegetables was taken following an increase in the importation of primary processed fruit and vegetable products that can be easily produced in Namibia using local raw materials. The process of COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine will begin in February and the state will receive Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said. "We are talking about 117,000 doses of the [Pfizer] vaccine under the COVAX program, which will be used primarily to vaccinate doctors who are at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus," he said at a government meeting on Wednesday, February 3. Shmyhal stressed that this batch of the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech was just the beginning, with much larger deliveries expected in February or early March. "Only a tested and safe vaccine that has passed all the necessary clinical trials and is approved in other developed countries will be delivered to our country. I assure you that everyone who wants to get a free and safe vaccine will be given this opportunity in accordance with the national vaccination plan," he said. He noted that the infrastructure for the organization of the vaccination process had already been prepared. "In total, 500 mobile vaccination teams will be working in Ukraine. The first 50 will start working this month in all regions of the country. In addition, at the initial stage, 1,500 vaccination rooms and 50 centers will be deployed in big cities," Shmyhal said. In total, according to the prime minister, more than 4,000 vaccination sites will be operating across the country. op San Jose residents have urged city officials to remove and melt down a statue of Thomas Fallon claiming that it celebrates white supremacy, violence and genocide. Nearly 150 people attended the virtual public forum this week to demand officials remove the statue of the city's 10th mayor, KNTV reported. All but one of the attendees openly agreed to its removal, according to the outlet. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, not pictured, has since called for the removal of the controversial statue The statue of Thomas Fallon, pictured, was previously vandalized during Black Lives Matter protests The statue was commissioned in 1988 to memorialize Fallon planting of the American flag in the city in 1846 'Since when do losers of laws make the rules? You're erasing history,' said the lone dissident. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has since called for the removal of the controversial statue, he announced in a blog post. 'For the third time in three decades, debate over the Thomas Fallon Statue has reopened old wounds and deepened divides. I am calling for the commencement of the City's standard process to remove the Fallon Statue,' Liccardo wrote. 'At the conclusion of that public process barring some startling and dramatic change in the facts I'll support the removal of the statue. It's time to move on.' Thomas Fallon served as the 10th mayor of San Jose Liccardo noted that the decision does not 'vindicate any acts of vandalism against this or any other public property' after the statue was previously defaced by Black Lives Matter protesters. 'Vandals should be arrested and punished according to the law,' he wrote. 'In a representative democracy, we must decide to erect or take down public statues through transparent, inclusive public processes, not on the whim of a few individuals equipped with a truck and a rope.' During the Mexican-American war, before California was a part of the United States, Thomas Fallon raised a group of 22 volunteers and appointed himself captain. Fallon's force crossed captured what is now San Jose on July 11, 1846 and planted an American flag in the city on July 14. The statue was commissioned in 1988 to memorialize the planting of the American flag. However, Fallon was 'known to dislocate residents, abuse, lynch, and slaughter Mexicans,' reads a Change.org petition launched to remove the statue. Masami Hasegawa was just an undergraduate student when he first visited the Izu Islands of Japan in 1977. Every year since, he has taken the eight-hour ferry ride from Tokyo southeast to this cluster of volcanic islands to pursue a passion he has had since childhood: catching lizards. A single lizard species, Okadas five-lined skink, dominates all of Izus nine major islands, while its major predator, the Japanese four-lined rat snake is found on most, but not all, of these islands. This makes the islands a bit like the Galapagos, where Charles Darwin first described how selective pressures in this case those predatory snakes may shape the islands lizards in surprising ways. With a fishing pole baited with mealworms, Dr. Hasegawa caught lizards all over the Izu Islands and then measured their body temperatures with a cloacal probe. At the time, I dont have any specific purpose or objective, he said. But then he noticed there was a great difference in the body temperature among the islands. In other words, on some islands, the lizards were running much hotter than their cousins living on the other volcanic rocks. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Bhubaneswar, Feb 3 : The active coronavirus cases in Odisha have fallen below 1,000 for the first time since June 2 last year, the Health Department said on Wednesday. "After a spirited fight of 8 months, Odisha's active cases have fallen below 1,000 for the first time since June 2, 2020. We salute the efforts of our valiant Corona Warriors," the department tweeted. The active cases now total 946, as 71 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The total case tally has climbed up to 3,35,282. While 18 Odisha districts recorded cases in single digits, Sundargarh district recorded the highest 11 new infections. No death has been reported in the state for the past one week. So far, 1,906 patients have succumbed to Covid-19 in Odisha. The last fatality was reported from Sundargarh district on January 25. Meanwhile, the state will start the second phase of the coronavirus vaccination drive from February 6. As many as 1.92 lakh frontline workers have been enrolled to give vaccine shots to 1,57,388 police and other security personnel, 25,961 sanitation workers and 9,088 revenue staff, apart from others. The frontline workers will be administered the vaccine at their respective offices. A list of 1.92 lakh frontline workers has been prepared, Health and Family Welfare Director Bijay Panigrahi said. The vaccination drive for frontline and healthcare workers will be conducted simultaneously, he said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2021 -- The Military Communications market is expected to grow from USD 30 billion in 2018 to USD 38 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 3.4% during the forecast period. Increasing demand for military communications security, the necessity of advanced communication equipment and the fact that rise in the disputes between countries, leads to rise in demand of military communication solutions and the necessity of advanced communication equipment are some of the driving factors of the market. Governments of all countries are majorly focusing on adopting advanced technologies for enhanced communication efficiency for improved security. Furthermore, the report is furnished with the latest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market. The pandemic has affected every segment of the market, along with bringing disruption in the supply chain, demands & trends, and financial difficulties. The report covers the initial and future assessment of the COVID-19 impact on the market. Get a FREE Report Sample with Table of Contents and Figures @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/sample-enquiry-form/1080 The report covers the market dynamics analysis, company profiles, production and manufacturing capacity, product specifications, product value, and key players. The report also offers an insight into the growth prospects during the forecast period. The Military Communications Market report also offers detailed data on the key market players to impart a deeper understanding of the competitive landscape. The report focuses on the key market elements to ensure the readers gain a competitive advantage and maximum benefit of the market data to assist them in achieving substantial growth and an advantageous position in the global market Based on the regions, the report covers the following regions: North America (U.S.A., Canada) Europe (U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Rest of EU) Asia-Pacific (India, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of APAC) Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America) The Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., South Africa, Rest of MEA) Further key findings from the report suggest The Military Communications market is expected to grow from USD 30 billion in 2018 to USD 38 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 3.4% during the forecast period. The major contributing factor for the growth of the market for Military Communications can be the necessity of advanced communication equipment. For more secured communications, it is necessary to modernize the equipment and replace the aging ones. It is also important to reduce the size, weight and the power of the components. Some other driving factors include increasing demand for military communications security and the fact that rise in the disputes between countries, leads to rise in demand of military communication solutions. Governments of all countries are majorly focusing on adopting advanced technologies for enhanced communication efficiency for improved security. The Military Communications Market is segmented by communication type into Military Satcom Systems, Military Radio Systems, Military Security Systems and Communication Management Systems. The Military Satcom system is expected to witness highest growth, at a CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast period, since satellite communications provide services such as global broadcast service, personal communications service, and bandwidth on demand to meet the future military operations requirements Competitive Terrain: The global Military Communications market has a consolidated presence of a large number of companies that have been performing consistently to achieve optimum market growth. The report comprehensively discusses these companies' current market standing, past performances, demand & supply graphs, sales network, production & consumption patterns, and distribution channels. The report thus points out the effective business approaches undertaken by these market players to build on their market footprint. The leading companies operating across the global Military Communications market are listed below: General Dynamics (US), BAE Systems (UK), Cobham (UK), Aselsan (Turkey), Elbit Systems (Israel), Harris (US), Inmarsat (UK), Iridium Communications (US), Kongsberg (Norway), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (US), L3 Technologies (US), Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel), Leonardo (Italy), Systematic (Denmark), Lockheed Martin (US), Northrop Grumman (US), Raytheon (US), Rockwell Collins (US), Rolta India (India), Rheinmetall (Germany), Saab (Sweden), Thales (France), Viasat (US), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany) and EID (Portugal). Communication type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 20182026) Military Satcom Systems Military Radio Systems Military Security Systems Communication Management Systems Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 20182026) Military Satcom Systems Military Radio Systems Military Security systems Communication systems End user application (Revenue, USD Million; 20182026) Command & control Routine operations Situational Awareness Others End-User Outlook (Revenue, USD; 2018-2026) Land forces Naval forces Air forces To get an exclusive discount on the report, visit @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/discount-enquiry-form/1080 Radical Features of the Military Communications Market Report: Valuable insights into the Military Communications market to impart an in-depth understanding of the business verticle An 8-year forecast estimation along with an analysis of key elements of the market Technological advancements, regulatory framework, and recent developments covered in the report Growth analysis and projections until 2027 Statistical analysis of the key players operating in the Military Communications industry Table Of Contents: Chapter 1. Market Synopsis Chapter 2. Executive Summary Chapter 3. Indicative Metrics Chapter 4. Military Communications Market Segmentation & Impact Analysis Chapter 5. Military Communications Market, By Type Insights & Trends Chapter 6. Military Communications Market, By Application Insights & Trends Chapter 7. Military Communications Market, By End Use Insights & Trends Chapter 8. Military Communications Market Regional Outlook Chapter 9. Competitive Landscape Chapter 10. Company Profiles To Get This Report at a Lucrative Price, Click @ https://www.reportsanddata.com/checkout-form/1080 Thank you for reading our report. To know more about customization options, please get in touch with us. Our team will ensure the report is tailored to suit your requirements. Have a Look at Related Reports: Electronic Grade Phosphoric Acid Market Size Corporate Wellness Market Growth Mulch Films Market Trends About Reports and Data: Reports and Data is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries and help client's make a smarter business decision. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a multiple industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Power and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware about the latest trends existent in the market. San Antonio City Councilman Clayton Perry has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after testing positive for the virus the previous day, his office said Tuesday. Perry, who represents District 10 on the citys Northeast Side, has checked into University Hospital as a precaution but its not clear whether hes showing symptoms, spokeswoman Landry Stafford said. But the councilman was in high spirits Tuesday afternoon and is not on oxygen or hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe, Stafford said. He plans to attend virtual council meetings Wednesday and Thursday, Stafford said. Perry, 65, was tested for the virus Friday and the positive result came back Sunday. The councilman has notified those who have been in close contact with him in recent days of the test result, his office said. So far, its not known where or how Perry contracted the virus. The District 10 councilman has attended some in-person events, but at least six feet of social distance was maintained, Stafford said. On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases Perry attended an in-person meeting Wednesday of the San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund board, which includes District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia and Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez. Rodriguez did not attend the meeting because of a dentist appointment, the commissioner said. About 15 people attended Wednesdays meeting including board members, who sat at round tables some eight or nine feet apart, Garcia said. The meeting had moved to a larger room to allow for members to keep their distance from each other. Some members including Garcia removed their masks temporarily in order to project their voice while speaking, she said. Paul Jimenez, Perrys chief of staff, told Garcia about Perrys positive result Tuesday. Garcia has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but isnt out of the two-week period the CDC says it takes for the vaccine to become effective. Assistant City Manager Colleen Bridger, the citys coronavirus czar, told the councilwoman she likely doesnt have to worry about contracting the virus because she was sitting far away from Perry and had her mask on. Still, Garcia said she wont attend a South Texas Blood & Tissue Center event Wednesday and may isolate out of caution. Seven of her relatives have died of the virus. I cant afford to lose any more people, Garcia said. Jimenez learned of the result when Perry tested positive Sunday, Stafford said. The rest of Perrys staff were notified Monday. Perry had lunch with one of his staff members about 10 days ago, Stafford said, but otherwise has not had in-person contact with any of his staffers. RTHK: Yale cleared of discriminating against Asians The US Department of Justice on Wednesday voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit accusing Yale University of having illegally discriminated against Asian and white applicants in undergraduate admissions. The Justice Department sued Yale in October, as part of a push by Republican former US President Donald Trump's administration against affirmative action in admissions to elite universities. In a court filing, the Justice Department said federal rules governing court procedures allowed it to dismiss the case because Yale had yet to formally respond to or seek dismissal of the complaint. Joe Biden, a Democrat, is now president, and it was not immediately clear whether his administration wished to pursue the case on its merits. The Justice Department and Yale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-02-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Prince Harry faces another clash with Buckingham Palace after friends insisted he would 'fight' to keep his honorary military positions. The sixth in line to the throne still holds three titles with the Armed Forces which the Queen agreed to keep open for him pending a 12-month review of his and Meghan's decision to quit as working royals. It is one of the few remaining issues yet to be resolved after last year's acrimonious 'Megxit'. However, sources close to the Duke of Sussex this week pre-empted those discussions, insisting he is 'determined' to hang on to the positions despite stepping down from royal duties in favour of a lucrative commercial career in the US in late March 2020. Prince Harry faces another clash with Buckingham Palace after friends insisted he would 'fight' to keep his three honorary military positions But last night senior royal aides made clear to the Daily Mail that Buckingham Palace's view that it is impossible for Harry or Meghan to have any kind of 'half-in, half-out' royal role has not changed either. One insider said: 'The view is very clear either you are in or you are out, and any form of 'hybrid' role is incompatible with representing the head of state.' The Duke of Sussex still holds three titles with the Armed Forces which the Queen agreed to keep open for him pending a 12-month review of 'Megxit'. Pictured: The Royal Marines crest, of which he is a Captain General With neither side apparently willing to back down, it appears further friction could be on the cards a year after the Sussexes' deeply acrimonious parting of ways. A royal source admitted: 'It is an issue that is yet to be resolved. Both sides have made their views clear.' When they first announced their decision to step back as working royals in January last year, Harry and Meghan stated their intention of carving out 'progressive' new roles, sealing deals in the US while carrying out occasional duties for the Queen. The 94-year-old monarch, who was deeply hurt not to be given any advance warning of their announcement, swiftly put her grandson right on the issue. She made it clear that both legally and ethically it was impossible for them to engage in commercial activities while undertaking official engagements on her behalf. However, she did agree to put in abeyance for 12 months Harry's three military roles Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington in Bury St Edmunds, and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command. For Harry, a proud Army veteran with ten years service and two tours of Afghanistan under his belt, this was a particular bone of contention. He made clear his commitment to the military was undiminished highlighting his founding of the Invictus Games for injured service personnel and wanted time to prove that he could make his new life work. This week a friend of the prince told the Daily Telegraph he was 'determined' to keep his military titles and would 'fight' for the right to represent the Armed Forces. Pictured: Prince Harry inspects a parade at RAF Honington in Bury St Edmunds, for whom he is Honorary Air Commandant, on behalf of The Queen They said: 'His military work is one of the most important things to him. Of course, he wants to keep them.' They also suggested that Harry wanted to spend 'more time in the UK' in order to meet those commitments. He had initially planned to return to the UK regularly before the pandemic struck. But the prince, 36, is likely to come up against strong opposition from the Palace. It made clear the 12-month review of Harry and Meghan's activities was more of a 'safety net' in case things did not work out for them and not a 'renegotiation' of the Sandringham summit which decided the couple's future. Palace aides feel that by buying a US mansion and securing multi-million-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, Harry and Meghan are clearly not intending to suggest their new lives have not worked out when talks resume. They believe that Harry now needs to relinquish his military titles as part of a 'clean break'. Rep. Adam Schiff, who infuriated President Donald Trump during his first impeachment, is making a play to be named the next attorney general in California. Schiff built a national profile during committee hearings before Trump's impeachment, drawing regular Twitter attacks from Trump online, then serving as a House impeachment manager during the Senate trial. Now, the Democratic lawyer who represents a Los Angeles-based district is making a pitch to be appointed to become the state's top law enforcement officer, after the nomination of Xavier Becerra run the Department of Health and Human Services. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is lobbying to be appointed attorney general in California, a post that could also position him for a future statewide run for Senate Schiff has been taking his lobbying campaign to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Axios reported, in a move that would provide Schiff with statewide office and potentially position him to run for the Senate in 2024. Recent events have put Newsom in the role of kingmaker even as his own political fortunes suffer amid coronavirus measures in his state. He is now facing a potential recall. He is under fire for lifting a stay-home order and for the state's rocky rollout of vaccine distribution. A new Public Policy Institute of California still had his approval at 54 per cent, but down from 65 per cent in May. President Donald Trump regularly attacked Schiff at his own rallies and branded him 'shifty Schiff' Schiff served as a House manager during Trump's first impeachment Senator Alex Padilla of California was appointed to fill Sen. Kamala Harris' seat Joe Biden nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces his own political problems but got to fill a Senate vacancy and now is being lobbied to fill the state's attorney general post Schiff supporters had also been pitching him as a potential appointee to the Senate when Newsom was preparing to fill the vacancy that would eventually be created by former Sen. Kamala Harris being elected vice president. Schiff has been a regular presences on cable television and network talk shows since the Trump presidency elevated his committee post amid the Russia probe and impeachment. It earned him regular attacks and a monicker 'shifty Schiff' from President Trump, whose disdain could be an asset in heavily Democratic California. He earned high marks from Democrats and even some Republicans for some of his slashing lines ripping Trump's conduct in an infamous call to the president of Ukraine. But he also became a lightning rod and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not name him as a manager for the second impeachment. Trump's lawyers repeatedly mentioned Schiff in their own legal arguments during last year's impeachment, blasting him for running an 'unheard of procedure that denied the president any semblance of fair process' during his own hearings that were a prelude to impeachment. The AG post came open with the Becerra nomination. Newsom tapped another top official, former secretary of state Alex Padilla, to fill Harris' seat in the Senate. The position would allow Schiff to expand his profile statewide as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 87, decides whether to seek reelection. She was recently forced to stop back from her role atop the Judiciary Committee after rankling the party's left flank with her handling of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described the court ruling in the case of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny as "cowardice" and called for Navalny's immediate release. "Alexey Navalny's decision to return to Russia after being poisoned was a truly brave and selfless act. In contrast, today's ruling was pure cowardice and fails to meet the most basic standards of justice. Alexey Navalny must be released immediately," Johnson tweeted. The call for Navalny's release was earlier made by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. "The UK calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Navalny and all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last two weeks." Raab said. The court decision "shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community," he said. A court in Moscow replaced Navalny's suspended sentence with 3.5 years in a penitentiary on Tuesday. 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 Australian fashion designer says she is the best employer in Australia - because she spoils her staff with designer clothes, fancy dinners out and first-class plane tickets. Abby Kheir, 42, is the owner and designer of Australian-born brand Abyss by Abby - she is known for her $500k hand bag collection and for dressing Hollywood royalty like Khloe Kardashian. She told Daily Mail Australia she appreciates the women who work with her and likes to shower them with expensive gifts so they feel appreciated. Abby Kheir, 42, is the owner and designer of Australian-born brand Abyss by Abby - she says she is the best boss in the world She shows her appreciation by sending her staff on spa days, taking them out for lavish dinners and by buying them designer bags or shoes 'Its really important to me that my staff are happy at work and feel valued, included and appreciated,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I work very closely with them and I respect and admire each one of them immensely.' She shows her appreciation by sending her staff on spa days, taking them out for lavish dinners and by buying them designer bags or shoes. 'I gave my personal assistant a big birthday dinner in Los Angeles while on a work trip. After she told me no one has ever celebrated her birthday in her family I wanted her to feel special,' she revealed. 'I also gifted her her first designer bag and designer shoes - as well as interstate travel in the US also Cabo, Vegas,' she said. 'As long as she is employed by me, I intend to make up for all the birthdays she missed.' 'Its really important to me that my staff are happy at work and feel valued, included and appreciated,' she told Daily Mail Australia The fashionista said she loves to see her people happy because it makes going to work more fun. 'When people are happy, they are more creative, more focused, more customer oriented, more innovative,' she said. She recently made headlines after revealing she has her eye on a $500,000 two-of-a-kind bag. 'When people are happy, they are more creative, more focused, more customer oriented, more innovative,' she said 'I gave my personal assistant a big birthday dinner in Los Angeles while on a work trip. After she told me no one has ever celebrated her birthday in her family I wanted her to feel special,' she revealed. 'My shopper is on the hunt now, there's a time for everything but I am determined to have it,' Ms Kheir said. And she wouldn't be afraid to 'hold' the bag, or lend it to either of her two sisters. Ms Kheir doesn't have one everyday bag - and like to hold different pieces depending on the occasion. However her most recent 'go-to' is a $15,000 snakeskin bag from Dior. The designer owns 50 bags in total, worth over $500,000 and says the new Hermes which will double the value of her collection is 'worth it' because it will hold its value. She once flew to London for a Hermes Birkin bag worth $30,000 because she couldn't find the right colour in Australia. Ms Kheir turned a small clothing store she opened as a 21-year-old into a multimillion-dollar empire. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The Ministry of Education revealed its draft of the new New Zealand history curriculum today, and they've asked for feedback from the public. The new topics in the proposed curriculum include the arrival of Maori, early colonial history, Treaty of Waitangi, the New Zealand wars and New Zealand's role in the Pacific. The Government initially announced their plan to alter the way our country's history is taught in school back in 2019, with the hope that it is to be taught in all schools and kura by 2022. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says that the previous education model left too much to chance, with schools being allowed to make their own decisions around how our history is taught. The new curriculum was already tested in schools in late 2020, but now they are seeking public feedback on the proposed changes. The public will be able to read the draft content and complete an online survey from today, running until May 31. The content will then be taught in schools and kura in 2022 from entry-level in year 1 to year 10. From year 11, when students elect their subjects, it will be optional. The seven themes the Government agreed to in 2019 were: The Arrival of Maori to Aotearoa New Zealand First encounters and early colonial history of Aotearoa New Zealand Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi and its history Colonisation of, and immigration to, Aotearoa New Zealand, including the New Zealand Wars Evolving national identity of Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries Aotearoa New Zealands role in the Pacific Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 20th century and evolution of a national identity with cultural plurality. Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he expects the curriculum will "help students get a stronger sense of how the past has shaped who we are". "In practice, learners across New Zealand will explore the stories that are unique to us. In Te Tai Tokerau, for example, I know people will be interested in learning about the battle that took place in Ruapekapeka during the Northern Wars in the 1800s," he said. "In Waikato, akonga may learn about the invasion of Waikato led by Governor George Grey and the implications this had for people living in the region... "We want all New Zealanders to have their say on the draft content and we are hoping to hear from as many people as possible. I urge all New Zealanders who are interested in our history and kura to provide feedback." Police apprehended one person and were looking for another who fled a Montgomery County traffic stop near Interstate 45, an encounter that led to a Department of Public Safety trooper and Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputy opening fire, authorities said. Tyler Goodson, 28, and Rebecca Orange, 29, are said to have fled the traffic stop along the Interstate 45 frontage road around 1:45 p.m., according to police. Both have multiple warrants between the two, DPS Sgt. Erik Burse said. A trooper was first to encounter the two, both of whom refused to identify themselves. The trooper requested a deputy's help and the man then jumped back into a white Chevy pickup truck. The woman, however, ran away, Burse continued. The driver, while in reverse, tried running over the deputy during the escape, Burse said. The trooper and deputy opened fire, he said. There were no known injuries from the shooting. Authorities on the ground and in helicopters spent the afternoon searching for the suspects, focusing around a UHAUL Self Storage south of Robinson Road that was roped off. The pickup truck was later found outside of Spring, near the 1700 block of City Plaza. Goodson has been out on bond since December on five felony charges including four counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle and felon in possession of a weapon. The combined bond amount for those charges was $155,000. Court records show Goodson as living in Spring. Orange, whose criminal history includes arrests in Harris and Montgomery counties, has been wanted since Jan. 31 on a theft charge. She was apprehended around 4:30 p.m., police said. Burse urged residents to call 911 if they see Goodson. The Harris County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers were helping with the expanding search and investigation. nicole.hensley@chron.com shelby.webb@chron.com The new owners also announced a big new debt package to pay for growth plans Asdas new owners, billionaire UK brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and TDR Capital are spinning offer the supermarket's petrol forecourts to the Issas EG Group for 750mln. The Issa brothers and TDR completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Asda from ( ) at the end of last year in a 6.8bn deal, with the US retail giant still keeping hold of a minority stake. Plans to take out 840mln of syndicated loan facilities were also announced, plus 2.25bn of senior secured loans notes and 500mln of senior notes, aka bonds. Mohsin and Zuber Issa reiterated their support for Asda chief executive Roger Burnley and his efforts to reposition the business to drive long-term growth. We are putting in place a robust capital structure to support that growth strategy, and we are confident that external investors will share our belief in Asdas strong fundamentals and exciting future prospects. The brothers argued that bringing the ownership back to the UK means that strategic decisions will be more closely aligned with colleagues, customers and communities. The forecourts sell-off will be subject to clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority, as part of the watchdogs review of the wider Asda acquisition. The Cabinet dismissed on Wednesday 3/2/2020 reports purporting privatization of government services related to the health, education, and transport sectors. In a statement issued on Wednesday 3/2/2021, the Cabinet's Media Center said it contacted the Ministry of Finance in this concern and the ministry categorically denied news in this regard. The Ministry further asserted the government's commitment to offering services related to the health, education and transport sector on a regular and normal basis to citizens, the statement read. The Ministry also called on all media outlets and social media users to adhere to accuracy and avoid any fake news that would perplex the public, it added. MENA Self-proclaimed Godman and controversial Bigg Boss 10 contestant Swami Om passed away today (February 3, 2021) at his residence in Ghaziabad's Ankur Vihar. Swami Om's demise indeed shocked the netizens, as they started mourning on Twitter. Like netizens, popular actress and Bigg Boss 10 contestant Antara Biswas aka Monalisa expressed her shock over the demise of the controversial contestant. While mourning his death, Monalisa exclusively told, "Oh my god! This is really shocking. He was full of life person." Notably, the former Bigg Boss contestant was not in touch with him. While speaking about the same, she said, "I was not in touch with him. After whatever happened in Bigg Boss 10, we never met each other. But, after hearing about his demise, I am completely shocked and not feeling nice at all." "He was very confident, and never hesitated to do anything. I don't have words to express my sadness. May his soul rest in peace. We all will miss him," the Nazar actress added. Apart from Monalisa, Manu Punjabi also shared a statement to with the press, in which he states, "Swami Om no doubt created many controversies and some of his act was really hard to forgive. But we can't deny the fact that he made people laugh and was super entertaining. He left us and it is a final time to forgive his idiotism and pray for the departed soul. I wish he rests in peace!" Also Read : Ex-Bigg Boss Contestant Swami Om Passes Away Talking about Swami Om's last days, he had reportedly contracted Corornavirus three months ago. Later, he had a paralysis attack which effected one side of his body and was undergoing treatment at AIIMS. His friend Mukesh Jain's son Arjun Jain informed Zee News about his demise. May Swami Om's soul rest in peace! Monrovia Health Minister Dr. Wilhemina Jallah has justified that awarding the US$140,000 Ambulance service contract to First Responder, which is owned by Montserrado County Senator Saah Joseph does not amount to a conflict of interest, as the decision was taken in the best interest of Liberians during the height of the COVID-19 in 2020. Despite First Responder Ambulances bearing the name and photo of the ruling party Senator who is also a member of the Senate Committee on Health and doubles as the Chairman of the Executive Committee in the Senate, the Health Minister stated that when the Incident Management System (IMS) awarded the contract to First Responder, its management had nothing to do with Senator Joseph. She made these assertions in an interview with the Women Voices Newspaper in an attempt to rebut FrontPageAfrica's publication disclosing the contract which is being viewed as a conflict of interest. The contract worth US$140,000 and was signed by the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhemina Jallah and the Executive Director of First Responder, Mr. Milton Nyanplu. According to Dr. Jallah, it was Information Management System (IMS), and not the Health Ministry that agreed to work with First Responder on the basis of the group's "unmatched experience, coming out of its Ebola response record". She emphasized that the IMS and not just the Ministry of Health, agreed to do business with the First Responder, with its experienced crew and ambulance to transport patients during the height of the COVID-19 onslaught on the country. "In the interest of Liberia, in the interest of emergency, we used First Responder," said Dr. Jallah. She further clarified that at the time of signing the deal with First Responder, Senator Joseph was never in the picture, adding that the IMS did what it did in the interest of Liberia, as it was an emergency situation, and First Responder was the only available group with the competence and experience to execute the job. Dr. Jallah: "So, at the time we needed a group to play the role First Responder played, when Liberia and Liberians were in danger, we should not have signed the contract with them, so that the Liberian people suffer and die? Dr. Jallah asked rhetorically. The one-year agreement's main objective is for First Responders to, behalf of the Ministry of Health, provide a 24/7 ambulance service in Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Grand Bassa and Montserrado Counties for the general public in the areas of operation. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Liberia By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. When contacted for comments, Senator Joseph confirmed that he owns the First Responder Organization and stated that the First Responder is a legally registered company that has been doing business in Liberia. The agreement also required that First Responder, which was often portrayed as a humanitarian gesture of Senator Joseph and his own means of giving back to society, provide foot pedal hand washing station in various strategic locations including market buildings, community public places and health facilities. First responder is also responsible under the agreement to provide training workshops for COVID-19 awareness and prevention, carry out contract tracing in the community for persons suspected to have come in contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case. First Responder will also provide primary healthcare in rural Montserrado County working in conjunction with recognized public/private community healthcare facilities, provide valuable health supplies to primary healthcare facilities such as gloves, sanitation kits, and other essential supplies in those facilities service delivery. The agreement also calls for First Responder to provide logistics support for the operations of responder fleet of ambulances such as fuel and lubricant, provide stipends for responder through the local health teams in the locality assigned and oversee the operations of Responder through the local health teams in the locality assigned. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 3 : Bharatiya Janata Party National President J.P. Nadda has charged the ruling Communist Party Of India (Marxist) of turning the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) into a recruitment agency for inducting its party cadres. Nadda, while addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is filling government jobs by recruiting CPM cadres through the backdoor. He added that several temporary workers are being made permanent in government departments, making the state PSC irrelevant. Nadda, who is on a two-day Kerala visit, said the Congress and CPM are two sides of the same coin, adding that it was the Congress which had backstabbed the worshippers in the Sabarimala Temple issue and accused it of raking up the Sabarimala issue only to garner a few votes. He accused Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy of involvement in criminal cases. The BJP leader said the Congress and CPM are hand- in-glove and have formed a pre-poll alliance in West Bengal but in Kerala they are contesting against each other for practicing the politics of convenience. Nadda lashed out at Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said he is attacking the Constitution, adding that the Assembly resolution against the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report is 'dangerous'. The BJP President said the CPM government has failed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic as the state is recording the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. He said the test positivity rate in the state is five times the national average and a serious introspection is required by the Kerala government over its handling of the pandemic. Nadda said there is no dissent in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala. The issue related to senior BJP leader Sobha Surendran would be settled soon, he added. He said there might have been certain minor issues, adding that this cannot be termed dissent in the state BJP and emphasised that the party is functioning as a single unit. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) STAMFORD A visibly upset Michelle Troconis offered to help detectives look for the remains of Jennifer Dulos in a video released by her attorney Wednesday in the latest attempt to have some charges dismissed in the case. I can spend a month with you guys. I can do whatever you want, but I didnt do it, Troconis told state police as she was being questioned on June 6, 2019, nearly two weeks after Jennifer Dulos went missing. This latest motion came one day after Troconis appeared for a virtual court hearing in which the state confirmed that co-defendant Kent Mawhinney, a longtime friend and lawyer of Jennifer Dulos estranged husband, will likely testify if the case goes to trial. In his most recent effort to have some of the charges dismissed, Troconis attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, contends that state police detectives disregarded facts in the arrest warrants used to charge his client with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. In particular, the defendant alleges that the Sept. 2, 2019 arrest warrant affidavit, prepared and submitted by Detective John Kimball of the Connecticut State Police, contained falsehoods, recklessly disregarded the truth, and omitted material facts, that negated probable cause, Schoenhorn said in the motion filed Wednesday. Schoenhorn asked Judge John F. Blawie to dismiss the charges, arguing the arrest warrant affidavits were filled with inaccuracies and omissions, citing forensic reports and his clients statements in three videotaped interviews with state police detectives. Troconis, 46, a former girlfriend of Fotis Dulos, has been charged with evidence tampering, hindering prosecution and conspiracy to commit murder. Fotis Dulos died from a suicide in January 2020, about two weeks after he was charged with murder in connection with his estranged wifes death and disappearance. Jennifer Dulos has been presumed dead, but her body has never been recovered. She vanished May 24, 2019, after dropping off her five children at school, police said. Fotis Dulos was accused of lying in wait for his estranged wife at her New Canaan home that morning, according to arrest warrants in the case. Mawhinney, 55, was also charged last January with conspiracy to commit murder. He was released in October on reduced bond, a move that has drawn scrutiny from Schoenhorn, who referred to Mawhinney as the states star witness. In excerpts of police interviews Schoenhorn submitted with the motion on Wednesday, Troconis said she would be willing to help detectives search for Jennifer Dulos, but said she didnt know where her remains could be found. If you had to get rid of a body, which was no longer in one piece ... where would you go? Kimball asked Troconis during a June 2, 2019 interview after police said they found videos of Troconis and Fotis Dulos in Hartford the night of the disappearance. The videos also showed Fotis Dulos making several stops and dumping bags that were later determined to contain his estranged wifes blood and clothing, arrest warrants state. Where would Fotis have gone to take either Jennifer or parts of Jennifer? Kimball asked. Oh God, I dont know. I mean youre asking me something like that, Troconis replied. When detectives asked Troconis if Jennifer Dulos or any part of her could be found at Fotis Dulos home at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, she replied, I mean, you guys, I can go with you, I can dig holes, I can do whatever you want, according to documents Schoenhorn filed Wednesday. At one point, Troconis offered again to go with police, but reiterated she had no idea where Jennifer Dulos could be found, the documents said. Ill do whatever, but no, I mean, if shes cut in pieces shes all over, Troconis said, according to the documents. Schoenhorn wrote that his client on at least 18 occasions told investigators that she did not know what happened to Jennifer Dulos. Schoenhorn challenged the statements in the warrant that said his client told police a stained paper towel handed to her by Fotis Dulos didnt smell like coffee and he was using the item to clean up an employees Toyota Tacoma pickup, which was believed to have been used in the crime, arrest warrants stated. Schoenhorn said his client never smelled the paper towel and she told police that she had no idea what Fotis Dulos was doing in the truck. Schoenhorn argues that police misled his client when they showed Troconis a depiction of blood in the vehicle highlighted by the chemical Luminol, which reacts with some materials, including blood. [Kimball] knew full well that no human DNA was detected on the Tacoma doors at all, let alone the blood of Ms. Dulos, Schoenhorn said, pointing to a state crime lab report that showed no DNA profile was found inside the Tacoma. In another transcribed police interview, Troconis said she wasnt protecting Fotis Dulos and I really dont want to see him ever again in my life. Troconis gasped when detectives pulled out a photo of a bloody pillow found in the trash by a vagrant in Hartford and said it was stained with the blood of Jennifer Dulos. No, no I dont know anything about that pillow, she said. Troconis, who is free on more than $2 million bond, is scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on March 16. Judge Blawie is still considering a number of motions that Schoenhorn has filed in recent months, including others that have sought to have charges dismissed for inaccuracies in arresting documents. A separate motion has sought information on any offers made to Mawhinney after the state provided Schoenhorn with a videotaped interview the co-defendant had with state police detectives in August 2019. Schoenhorn, who took over Troconis case last year, has asked to have the trial moved to the Hartford Judicial District, arguing the allegations against his client took place in that area. Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr. has asked Blawie to combine the three cases against Troconis, pointing to cross-admissible evidence, but Schoenhorn has been arguing against the request. Documentary of NYC pastors fight to end violence in Chicago gets Oscar buzz Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An upcoming faith-inspired film, titled Chicago: America's Hidden War, follows a pastor who risks his life to take a stand against violence in the deadliest state in the United States and now the documentary is being considered for an Academy Award. We're thrilled to announce that our movie "Chicago: America's Hidden War" is being considered for an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary Feature category, the film's lead pastor, Dimas Salaberrios, wrote on social media. Salaberrios traveled to Chicago to fast and pray for the violence in Chicago to come to an end. His entire experience was documented along with real-life testimonies of victims, those at great risk such as children, and the staggering statistics of the war on the streets. Our mission is to turn apathy into empathy through education and exposure, so Americans will not see this is as Chicago's war, but as Our War, he wrote. The documentary was produced by Salaberrios and his wife, Tiffany, through Miss Muffet Studios production company, which the couple founded. Miss Muffet Studios is a black-owned production studio in NYC that focuses on shining a light on serious matters that plague society. According to the films synopsis, Chicago Americas Hidden War pulls back the curtain to expose the pervasive genocidal-like behavior, explain what birthed and contributed to this war and why so little is done to stop it, and ultimately inspires a clear path toward change. Its time for us all to unite and take a stand because this is no longer Americas Hidden War. This is Our War. The film features firsthand testimonies from pastors, gangbangers, and children who say they only feel safe in school and in the church as violence continues to increase. Salaberrios, a former drug Lord turned missionary from New York felt called to do something about the gun war in Chicago. Upon his arrival, he decided to go on a hunger strike until there was at least five days of peace in the prominent city. He lost 35 pounds before having to end his fast because that day did not come but what did happen was the pastor was able to rally together with other churches in Chicago, gang leaders and the local community who agreed to take steps toward peace. "When my family received the news that Chicago: America's Hidden War hit the Oscars Best Documentary Feature List, joy entered the room, Salaberrios told The Christian Post of the big news. We yelled for several minutes because my whole family sacrificed so much to tell the truth about the war in Chicago." According to the statistic on the films website, 90.9% of deaths in Chicago during 2020 were the result of gun violence. Reports show that a person is shot every two hours and a person is killed every 10 hours. Just last month, the city recorded 51 homicides, the highest death toll for January in four years. The executive producer of the film, Pastor A.R. Bernard, senior leader of Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, is calling people of faith to action against the violence in Chicago. A team of dedicated individuals worked hard to express, in film, the gun violence that continues to eat away at the Black community, Bernard wrote to CP on Monday. We pray but we must also act! Salaberrios also stressed that its time for Christians to be on the ground practicing what they were called to do. Rwanda is happening on American soil; black people are being murdered, he lamented. The rate of black on black, Latino on Latino crime is alarming, and the film is designed to encourage people to get involved through mentoring programs and after school programs. The pastor, who founded Infinity New York Church, said the mission field is now on our soil. Watch The Christian Post's full interview with Salaberrios below, where the pastor shared the heart behind the documentary and explained how over 100 churches were able to get on the streets of Chicago with the shooters, which caused the crime rate to drop over 20% in 12 months. The film's release date was postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions. Visit the website for additional information. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 New Delhi: Frontline workers, including police personnel and sanitation workers, in the national capital will receive COVID-19 vaccine jabs starting Thursday, officials said on Wednesday. There are around six lakh frontline workers in Delhi, of which nearly 3.5 lakh have registered for inoculation, an official said. Registration of the remaining frontline workers is underway, he said. On Tuesday, the officials had said that coronavirus vaccine jabs would to be given six days a week in Delhi from now on instead of four days. The number of vaccine centres was also increased from 106 to 183. Under the nationwide coronavirus vaccination programme, health workers are being administered the shots first. The priority group which will receive the vaccine include health workers, frontline workers, people above 50 years of age and those with co-morbidities. . Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 3, 2021) -Datametrex AI Limited (TSXV: DM) (FSE: D4G) (OTC Pink: DTMXF) (the "Company" or "Datametrex") is pleased to announce that senior management will be hosting an investor update webinar on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. EST for a corporate update on the latest developments of the Artificial Intelligence technologies and COVID-19 test kits. Webinar Details: Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021 Time: 1:30 p.m. ET Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ge6setHBRAyeBLbKaUIUHQ Datametrex plans to answer questions previously sent to support@datametrex.com and during the webinar, at management's discretion and subject to time constraints. About Datametrex Datametrex AI Limited is a technology-focused with exposure to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexalogy (www.nexalogy.com). Datametrex's mission is to provide tools that support companies in fulfilling their operational goals, including Health and Safety, with predictive and preventive technologies. By working with companies to set a new standard of protocols through Artificial Intelligence and health diagnostics, Company provides progressive solutions to support the supply chain. For additional information on Datametrex and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at www.datametrex.com. For further information, please contact: Marshall Gunter - CEO Phone: (514) 295-2300 Email: mgunter@datametrex.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements: All statements included in this press release that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. In particular, there is no guarantee that the parties will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement on mutually acceptable terms or complete the Transaction in the manner contemplated herein, if at all, that the due diligence of any of the parties will be satisfactory, or that the parties will obtain any required board, shareholder, third-party and/or regulatory or other governmental approvals, if any. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/73488 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it fully supported proposed new laws in Australia that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc to pay domestic media outlets for their content. "While Microsoft is not subject to the legislation currently pending, we'd be willing to live by these rules if the government designates us," the software giant said in a statement. Both Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook have called the laws unworkable and said last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations ... Terry Gilliam has been fed up with California for a long time. The 52-year-old, who has lived in the East Bay suburbs for decades and has worked in real estate for much of that time, told SFGATE that he's been displeased with the state, its liberal politics and its leaders, going all the way back to former Gov. Gray Davis. When he first founded Leaving California in 2018, he envisioned it as a place to commiserate about current affairs in his home state. "I knew I wasn't the only person who felt this way, who wasn't happy with the way things are going, and there's no end in sight," he said and in an aside, he pointed to the California state legislature possessing Democratic supermajorities, in his view for the foreseeable future, as a reason why. It took about six months to reach 200 members. Then the group started to click with other disgruntled, often right-leaning Californians. "I would post articles," he said, "about businesses that were leaving California, and from there, it just started to grow." "Many of us saw what California has become, years ago, because of the policies that go on," he said. (The Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank, reported last year that California businesses are leaving the state because of high taxes and regulations. Other experts have found that despite the exodus of tech empires in the Bay Area, companies will not abandon the groundswell of talent and opportunity available in the state.) At the end of 2019, the group boasted a modest membership of about 2,000. Then 2020 hit. "Of course, my timing was good," he said. Each time Gilliam posted an article or started a conversation that, in no uncertain terms, spelled out the doom and gloom in the Golden State, membership grew. The lockdowns, the Black Lives Matter protests following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, among others, the wildfires and vaccine mandates each one led to a spike in new folks looking to join. "They're like, 'Okay, all right, we got to shut down,' but they can't take the riots," he said. "Or they take the shutdown, but they can't take the fires. It's just, like, everybody seems to hit a breaking point." "We feel like we're being forced out ... Most people don't want to leave this weather, the beauty, everything else." And then he pivoted. Courtesy of Terry Gilliam Gilliam brushed off his real estate bona fides he currently works at a real estate marketing firm reached out to a few realtors, and transformed Leaving California to a community for people looking for a way out, politically motivated or not. He founded a separate group, Life After California, with the explicit purpose of celebrating how much better life was outside the nation's most populous state. Across the two groups, he's looking at more than 80,000 members. The places most people are looking to move to? Besides Texas, especially Austin, which has emerged as a key tech hub, he points to Idaho and Tennessee. Throughout this, he has held steadfast to one belief: California is dying a slow, inevitable death. "I believe in the next three to five years," he told SFGATE, "I think millions of Californians are going to leave because they can't afford to stay here any longer." If you're one of those people who are looking to move, Gilliam and the community he founded would be happy to help you relocate. Inside Leaving California and its sister group is a melange of posts and comments, a micro-feed that fuses together Nextdoor, realty sites and contempt for California politics into a critical mass of content engineered for a disgruntled, probably conservative Californian to finally say farewell. There are some posts that focus only on the affordability of the outside world. "The best part has been the ability to not feel so darn broke every time I get paid," reads one post from a single parent who uprooted her life in California to move to Texas. "I feel so blessed to be able to give my child a chance at actually being able to survive in the world." Another woman in Tennessee giddily shared pictures of dollar eggs at her local grocery store. Meanwhile, there are others commiserating over the cost of one-way moving trucks out of the state one symptom of the purported mass exodus out of California. (One mover said that a moving truck cost nearly $3,000 just to move to Arizona.) But for every correspondence showcasing a gorgeous home on the cheap or a leaver looking for pointers on moving services, there are at least a few jabs at Democrats thrown in, well, liberally. The key targets: Gov. Gavin Newsom, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic mayors of San Francisco or Los Angeles or just "libs" as a nebulous mass. A post about a high-pressure showerhead ended with: "Stupid libs!!" A woman sharing her family's exit to Idaho was captioned with the hashtag "#keepinitred." "Leave your blue politics in California," one commenter said about a proudly blue mover. "Don't California the rest of the nation." Gilliam will be the first to tell you that the group's collective political ideology is staunchly conservative despite what he says were intentions otherwise. "I'm obviously not going to eliminate someone who's liberal or conservative. I'm not going to stop them from being in the group. I want them in the group. But I will say that most of the people in the group seem to be conservative." (That, perhaps, is made obvious by the description of Leaving California, which boasts traditional conservative talking points: "A group dedicated to helping people leave California for a better life, less traffic, lower taxes, less regulation, better education, lower cost of living, etc., etc.") Attached to your membership in these groups is the tacit understanding that, wherever you move, you won't vote blue, akin to the old park ranger tenet of not littering or leaving anything behind at your campground. "They don't want to move somewhere else where they, in 5, 10 years they've got the same problems because of the same policies that got California where it is," Gilliam said. But the group's moderators are aware of the impulse to bad-mouth California. (The number of moderators on the page has grown to about a dozen; still, he estimates about 90% of posts make it through.) "Most people joining the group already know why they want to leave," reads one of the key rules in Leaving California's guidelines. At times, the group's newer members middle-class, politically neutral or left folks moving back home or retiring, the much-ballyhooed techies flocking to other, largely liberal metropolitan areas that have become safe, reduced-tax havens have clashed with the group's beet-red roots. Christine Mettel is one of those people. She loved her pre-pandemic life in San Francisco, where she rented a studio in the Mission. She still loves California, especially the Bay Area. Courtesy of Christine Mettel Mettel first moved to the city more than a decade ago, when she attended art school at the San Francisco Art Institute. She's since established a career in events marketing, working for Bay Area heavyweights like Live Nation, SFMOMA and Google. When the pandemic hit, the studio she moved into two years earlier ended up feeling isolating. "Zoom calls didn't fill the void left by hugs, parties and concerts," she told SFGATE. "I got depressed." Then, her father died. She upended her sweet Bay Area existence, without as much as an outdoor goodbye party, to move back to Arizona and reunite with her grieving family. "I was far away from my family and hadn't been hugged in months," she said. A co-worker had told her about Leaving California after reading about it in the New York Times; Mettel joined with the idea that she could share some wisdom about leaving the state. She says she's learned a bit from the members themselves. "It's fun to live vicariously through them," she said. "Like me, many of them are now remote employees who can choose to live anywhere." But, for her, the fun shifted into malice. "Sometimes the talk there is optimistic and fun," she said. "Then there are the other 90% of posters who are polarized 'Republicans' blaming their frustrations on the fact California is a blue state," Mettel told SFGATE. She's since muted the group. Victoria Howard is another member who plans to leave Leaving California soon. Howard works as a nurse in Castro Valley, where she's lived for nearly 30 years. She joined the group with her sights set on Montana. Her husband, she explained to SFGATE, fell in love with fly-fishing in the area, a love that she's since developed herself. Howard plans on retiring, selling her home and moving to Missoula, Montana, a hip university town not too far away from the state's natural splendors. "We started imagining what our retirement would look like at our condo in Montana," she said. "No more yard to take care of, fishing whenever, without having to drive anywhere, watching ospreys fly by our condo. And while she shares many of the same gripes as the members currently in the group, expressing concerns about the homelessness crisis, the pandemic and natural disasters, she says she's "not crazy" about the community. She recalled telling the group about their plans to relocate to the Treasure State. Someone immediately commented that she "should be careful because it is full of liberals." "I really had to hold my tongue and not respond. I don't consider myself a Democrat or Republican," she said, "but that is not the main reason for leaving California like it seems to be for everyone else." With a newfound, national spotlight on Leaving California and the millions Gilliam hypothesizes will leave the state the group will inevitably face some growing pains as it expands. Already, the group has faced some internal tensions amid its rapid expansion, as people who move to historically red states vow to vote blue. "If you are someone who leans left, and you come in the group, and you say, 'I want to move to Dallas and vote blue,' you are going to get jumped on," he said, laughing. Some posters already acknowledge that inherent tension, with one mover to Maryland amending her post to mention the fact that she knows the historically blue state isn't popular among the group. But in this growth stage, a few questions remain: Do you maintain the white, conservative resentment that Leaving California was built on? Do you both-sides the group, recognizing that the demand to leave California extends beyond those who harbor political grievances? It doesnt seem like Gilliam has any desire to abandon the current politics of the group. Nor does he seem too concerned in finding any sort of compromise between conservative and more liberal members. For a portion of Leaving California's members, they see an irreparable state, so driven by liberal politics that it is inextricable from the identity of California itself. "The problems that I see that are going on with California," he said, "there's no end in sight to them. That's the ... thing, is the hopelessness, that [things are not] going to change for the better and many of us don't think that it's going to change anytime soon." But that sense of hopelessness does not seem to be uniquely partisan. It would not attract as many people as it has otherwise. Rather, the grievances that he, all the members of Leaving California and many other Californians share are the failures of the political system writ large one unequipped to handle simultaneous, multipronged crises that reared their heads as soon as the pandemic struck, regardless of who's in charge. No amount of anti-Newsom posts can change that. Following two weeks of tension in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli, life should return to normal according to the Asayish, reports North Press. The Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) announced on Tuesday the return to normal life in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli following over two weeks of tension in the cities. Asayish spokesman Ali al-Hassan said at a press conference in the oil city of Rimelan that they had allowed all materials to enter areas where Syrian regime forces are present in Hassakeh and Qamishli. The Asayish published a statement on its official website in which it said that the two cities had witnessed security tension created by the Syrian regime to damage stability and brotherhood between the communities of the region. Informed sources told North Press on Tuesday that the Autonomous Administration and Damascus government had reached an agreement regarding the tension between the two parties in Aleppo and Hassakeh, and that there is a deal underway to lift the governments siege of Aleppos northern countryside under Russian auspices. 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. The mob attack on the U.S. Capitol was incited and planned over Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other digital media platforms, with a tragic nudge from the then-president of the United States. The gripping presence of gunshots and cowering Congress members inside the Peoples House is a warning to us all. How did we arrive here? Since the birth of the Big Tech media platforms 15 years ago, democracies around the world have been subjected to a grand experiment: Can a nations news and information infrastructure, which is the lifeblood of any democracy, be dependent on digital technologies that allow a global free speech zone of unlimited audience size, combined with algorithmic (non-human) curation of massive volumes of mis/disinformation, that can be spread with unprecedented ease and reach? The evidence has become frighteningly clear that this experiment has veered off course, like a Frankenstein monster marauding across the landscape. Facebook is no longer simply a social networking website it is the largest media giant in the history of the world, a combination publisher and broadcaster with 2.6 billion regular users, and billions more on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram. A mere 100 pieces of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook were shared 1.7 million times and had 117 million views far more viewers than the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, ABC, Fox News and CNN combined. The FacebookGoogleTwitter media giants have been misused frequently by bad actors for disinformation campaigns in more than 70 countries to undermine elections, even helping elect a quasi-dictator in the Philippines; and to amplify and even livestream child abusers, pornographers and the Christchurch mass murderer. How can we unite to take action on climate change when a majority of YouTube climate change videos denies the science, and 70% of what YouTubes 2 billion users watch comes from its sensation-saturated, conspiracy-driven recommendation algorithms? It is time to push reset in a major way. President Biden should start by revoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Thats the law that grants Big Tech Media blank check immunity for the mass content that is published and broadcast across their platforms. Revoking Section 230 is not a perfect solution, but it would make these companies somewhat more responsible, deliberative and potentially liable for the worst of their toxic content, including illegal content. Just like traditional media is liable. But lets be clear: Some of the worst past outrages would not likely be affected by 230s revocation. While President Trumps inciting speech to the mob about a stolen election was false and provocative, other media outlets publish untrue nonsense all the time. It would be difficult to prove legally that any particular individuals or institutions were harmed or motivated by the presidents many outrageous statements. So revoking Section 230 will likely not be as impactful as its proponents wish or its critics fear. The next step involves recognizing that these Silicon Valley companies are creating the new 21st-century infrastructure of the digital age, requiring a whole new business model. The Biden administration should treat these companies more like investor-owned utilities, as the U.S. previously did with telephone, railroad and power companies. (Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has suggested such an approach.) As utilities, they would be guided by a digital license just like traditional brick-and-mortar companies must apply for various licenses and permits that defines the rules and regulations of the business model according to a duty of care obligation, a kind of Hippocratic oath that says first, do no harm. One abuse that is ripe for stricter rules is data grabs of users personal info. These companies never asked for permission to start sucking up our private data, or to track our physical locations, or mass collect every like, share and follow into psychographic profiles of each user that can be targeted and manipulated by advertisers and bad political actors. The platforms started that sneaky practice secretly, forging their destructive brand of surveillance capitalism. Now that we know, should society continue to allow this? Shouldnt the default regulation require platforms to obtain users permission before collecting any of our personal data, i.e. opt-in rather than opt-out? These companies frequent outrages against our humanity are supposedly the price we must pay for being able to post our summer vacation and new puppy pics to our friends, or for political dissidents and whistleblowers to alert the world to their just causes. Those are all important uses, but the price paid is very high. We can do better. The challenge now is to establish sensible guardrails for this 21st-century digital infrastructure, so that we can harness the good that these technologies provide, and greatly mitigate the dangerous effects. Steven Hill is the former policy director at the Center for Humane Technology and author of seven books, including Raw Deal: How the Uber Economy and Runaway Capitalism Are Screwing American Workers and The Startup Illusion: How the Internet Economy Threatens Our Welfare. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. The row over the Northern Ireland protocol has escalated significantly after Boris Johnson said he would invoke Article 16. The British prime minister said that his government is considering unilaterally stopping Brexit-related checks between Britain and Northern Ireland. "[We will] do everything we need to do, whether legislatively or indeed by invoking Article 16 of the Protocol, to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea, he told the House of Commons today. The prime minister was replying to MP Ian Paisley Jr after the DUP announced it would attempt to unite unionism to campaign against the Northern Ireland Protocol. In a statement, the unionist majority party warned that north-south relationships will not continue as normal. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar joined Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in rejecting any undermining of the protocol. "I don't know what that means or what the DUP means by that, but I guess we'll find out in coming weeks or months," he said. "Our commitment is very clear to work with the British government, the European Commission, and the Northern Ireland Executive, if they're willing, to iron out any of the real difficulties that have arisen from the Northern Ireland protocol, not forgetting that the protocol is there for a reason. "It's there to make sure we don't have a hard border between north and south and checks have to happen somewhere, so they're happening in Northern Irish ports. It seems to me there is not a majority in Northern Ireland to change that. "If the majority of people in the assembly are asked, or in Northern Ireland, where they want checks to happen, on the land border between north and south or at Larne and Belfast, they would say the least worst option is Larne and Belfast. "We need to make that work and try and make it as seamless and frictionless as possible and that's the reality of the situation." Physical inspections on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, which are required under the protocol, have been suspended amid threats and intimidation of staff. Mr Varadkar, who was himself subjected to racist graffiti over the weekend in Belfast over the protocol issue, condemned threats toward port staff. "I think any of us have to condemn utterly anyone who would threaten to do violence to someone in the course of their work, whether it's a customs official working for the government or a member of the security forces, there is no justification for anyone making threats of violence when it comes to this issue." Delaying second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine so that as many Americans as possible can get the first dose is 'not necessarily' what Dr. Anthony Fauci recommends, he said Wednesday. Fauci told ABC's George Stephanopoulos it looks like there will be a much steadier supply of vaccines coming in through February and into March. 'Certainly you don't want vaccines sitting around in the refrigerator or in a freezer if they're ready to go. You want to give them to people,' said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci added he believes there is a way to accelerate vaccine distribution without delaying a second dose. 'If you miss it by a few days to a week or two, I don't think that's a big problem, as the CDC says, but I'd be concerned about delaying it for three months or so,' he said. 'You got to be careful because you're dealing with different vaccine platforms,' he said, adding that the data that is available for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines 'are solid' about getting a second shot 28 days and 21 days later, respectively. About 70% to 85% of the US population should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before the country can begin to return to a sense of normalcy, Fauci told CNN on Tuesday night. So far, less than 2% of Americans have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the US, nearly 34 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered, with more than 27 million people having received at least one dose -- or just over 8% of the population. About 6.4 million people have received both doses, the CDC data shows. Fauci said he's hopeful the country can get to that high level of vaccinations by the end of the summer to the beginning of fall. 'Having said that,' he added, 'there is an absolute 'but' in that. And the 'but' is that we have to address the variants.' Experts have sounded the alarm about the new Covid-19 variants that have been detected in the US, warning the country is now in a race against time to vaccinate as many people as possible before the variants spread too far and possibly trigger another surge of infections. Infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm said earlier this week that a surge fueled by the variant first detected in the UK -- the B.1.1.7 strain -- is likely to occur 'in the next six to 14 weeks.' And there are also concerns around what the variants will mean for vaccine efficacy. Studies have suggested a variant from South Africa could pose a problem for vaccines, while a new report this week said a mutation that could impact vaccines has also been detected in samples of the B.1.1.7 strain. States begin to identify deaths believed linked to UK variant Health officials in three states -- New Jersey, California and Alabama -- have begun to identify deaths believed to be linked to the variant first identified in the UK. While the B.1.1.7 variant may be more transmissible, it is not known to be more deadly or cause more severe disease. Seeing deaths caused by the new variants would be no surprise -- there's no evidence they are more deadly than than older variants of the virus, but there is also no evidence they are any less deadly, and more than 3,000 people are dying from Covid-19 every day in the US. The University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital told CNN on Wednesday that a man identified as Alfonzia Jackson died February 2 from myocarditis and cardiogenic shock after he contracted the B.1.1.7 variant. Jackson's wife, Ashley, told CNN it was 'very scary' when doctors said her husband was infected with a new variant of the virus. 'My first thought was, how, when did he get that? Where? And then also, how many others have that same variant that are unaware?' she told CNN's Brianna Keilar. On January 27, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a news conference that one person who had died had the coronavirus variant. The patient, who was not identified, had underlying health conditions. Health officials in San Diego County announced January 28 a 'probable' variant case in a 71-year-old man who had died. Dr. Eric McDonald, San Diego County's medical director of epidemiology, told reporters 'this is a household contact of a confirmed case, who unfortunately, we didn't have that sample available to prove that it was whole genome sequence B.1.1.7. 'But because there is an intimate member of the household who did have that variant, and that individual was pretty much exposed to that 71-year-old, we are confident in assigning that as a probable case,' McDonald added. The US has been averaging more than 140,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 3,000 reported deaths per day lately, but very few Covid-19 tests are sequenced to find out whether the virus is a variant. The limited amount of sequencing has found more than 500 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in 33 states, according to the CDC. Study: Younger adults are biggest spreaders of virus in US A group of researchers reported Tuesday that the biggest spreaders of Covid-19 in the US are adults aged 20 to 49 -- and efforts to control the spread, including vaccinations, should probably focus on that age group. The team of researchers at Imperial College London used cell phone location data covering more than 10 million people and publicly available information on the spread of the virus to calculate which age groups were most responsible for the spread of the virus across most of the United States. They estimated that people 35 to 49 accounted for 41% of the new transmissions through mid-August, and adults 20 to 34 were responsible for another 35%. Children and teens accounted for just 6% of spread while people 50 to 64 made up 15% of transmission. Experts have previously warned that the surges were largely driven by younger groups, Fauci said, but that doesn't mean those groups should get the vaccine 'at the expense of getting the older people who have the underlying conditions, get vaccinated.' 'You don't want to deprive them to get the younger ones, because they're the ones that are going to wind up in the hospital and have a higher rate of death,' Fauci said. More than 450,000 Americans have already died from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University -- and more than 100,000 have died this year alone. Teachers don't need vaccines for schools to reopen, study says A growing number of studies show that students should be able to go back to school safely, even if all teachers have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, according to CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. 'There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen,' Walensky said at a White House news briefing Wednesday. 'Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.' The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has put teachers in the 1B priority category for vaccination, along with other essential workers, but not all states are vaccinating this group. Walensky said it is important for states to make the decisions on which groups get vaccinated when, depending on supply and local circumstances. Saturday, Walensky said on NBC's 'Today' that in most states, if not all states, teachers should be eligible for vaccination now or in the near future. States will see an increase in vaccine supply Hoping to slow the pandemic as soon as possible, states have been pushing for more supply and ramping up their capabilities to get more shots into arms faster. As of Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had provided more than $1.7 billion to 27 states, localities, tribes and territories to aid the vaccination effort, White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said. FEMA has assigned more than 600 staff to the effort -- with more than half of that staff deployed directly to the vaccination sites across the country. In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday the state has now vaccinated all teachers and school staff older than 50 who wanted the Covid-19 vaccine. West Virginia began inoculating teachers and staff January 5. 'As soon as we get an ample supply of vaccines, we'll double back through and get all the people that are under 50,' Justice said. The Biden administration said Wednesday the federal government will partner with California to launch two new vaccination centers in hard-hit communities. One center will be in East Oakland and another on the east side of Los Angeles. Both are predominantly Latino communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The administration said it has increased vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories by more than 20%, including more than 1.3 million shots per day between January 27 and Tuesday. Despite efforts to administer more vaccine doses to communities, a new national poll from Monmouth University found 24% of respondents said it is likely they will never get the vaccine if they can avoid it. 'Reluctance to get the vaccine is driven more by partisanship than any single demographic factor,' said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. 'It says a lot about the depth of our partisanship divide that it could impact public health like this.' Among Republicans polled, 42% said they will avoid getting the vaccine if they can, while 25% of Independents and 10% of Democrats also plan to avoid the vaccine if possible. The poll also looked at race as a factor for vaccine hesitancy and found no racial difference in vaccine reluctance among Republicans, but it did find one among Democrats. The poll found that 79% of White Democrats versus 62% of Democrats of color have either received the vaccine or want to get it as soon as possible. Local scientists, as part of an international research collaboration, identified chemical compounds with antitubercular and anti-cancer properties that can now help in the fight against malaria. The compounds could halt a malaria parasite in its tracks during different stages of the parasite's life cycle. This discovery is significant given growing concerns about malaria drug resistance and the need for new malaria drugs. The collaborative efforts of chemists, biologists and pharmacologists from South Africa have led to this discovery, signalling new hope for eradicating malaria. "It's an outcome of a massive amount of teamwork and collaboration in South Africa. To be able to work together with other South African scientists of this calibre and on this level was extraordinary," says Professor Lyn-Marie Birkholtz, head of the University of Pretoria's Malaria Parasite Molecular Laboratory. "To tackle complex problems, you need teams, [and] this for me is just a wonderful opportunity to really demonstrate what is possible when multiple disciplines come together. You can achieve significant things," adds Professor Kelly Chibale, a chemist based at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Chibale is the founder and director of the H3D drug discovery centre based at UCT, and has been working on malaria-specific drug discovery research for over ten years. Creating infrastructure and using open source tech Speaking to Spotlight, Birkholtz and Chibale explain that the research was made possible by using an open-source technology called the Pandemic Response Box (sort of like an elaborate chemistry set) containing roughly 400 well-researched chemical compounds (like antifungals and antibacterials) that can combat a variety of diseases. Some compounds have been shown to have clinical application, while others are called 'investigative' compounds. Before Birkholtz, Chibale and their team could start working with the Box in 2019, they spent over five years creating the infrastructure in order to carry out the project. Chibale says that the initial goal of the programme was to build drug discovery platforms, noting that drug discovery was not something that had really been done in South Africa or throughout the continent. "When we began this journey in 2010, it was about how do we create the infrastructure, the technology platforms and a critical mass of scientists to do this, because this is how you're going to do this sustainably," he emphasises. Drug repurposing and repositioning Working with the compounds in the Pandemic Response Box falls into two categories, repurposing or repositioning. "The concept of repurposing is taking a drug or medicine that has been developed in one disease area, it's either been already used in people as an approved medicine or has been in human clinical trials where it has been shown to be safe, and then that is used in a different disease area and the main thing that you have to do is find a safe and efficacious dose for use in a clinical trial in the new disease," says Chibale. In order for repurposing to become a reality, clinicians must help carry the findings forward into the next steps of the drug development process. "On the other hand, repositioning means you take a drug that's been developed for one disease, but instead of going straight to the clinical trial, you optimise it for the new disease," he says, explaining that this optimisation process typically involves making chemical modifications, or changing the chemical structure of the drug to come up with derivatives that are optimised for the new disease. For this project, Chibale says that if the approach is repositioning these compounds for antimalarial properties, then the discovery could be considered a 'hit', scientifically, that is. These are just starting points. But turning these compounds with newfound applications into medicines is a long and tedious process. A 'hit', says Chibale, is when a compound gives a positive result in a primary screen (initial experiment). However, this is only the first step in a long drug development process, culminating in a human clinical trial. How the malaria parasite works Birkholtz and Chibale are two of the many South African scientists that co-authored a paper published in Nature Communications earlier this year detailing the exciting discovery. "If we're going to contribute to eliminating malaria, from a drug discovery perspective, we have to find new medicines that kill the parasite at multiple life cycle stages," says Chibale. Birkholtz explains that the malaria parasite first infects the liver, this is after being bitten by a carrier mosquito. "The [parasites] develop there for about 10 to 14 days, then they go outside of the liver into your red blood cells and that's when you become symptomatic, but that's a different form of the parasite again. Then there's a third form, which is the form we got interested in and developed with [Chibale] and team, the transmissible form," she says. "Part of those forms that infect the red blood cells are the asexual reproductive forms, [which] can then differentiate in their sexual reproductive forms or what we call gametocytes, [which] are the only forms that can be transmitted back from a human to mosquitos." The paper finds that two compounds, one with antitubercular and the other with anti-cancer properties, show promise at disrupting the malaria parasite in two of its three life cycle phases. This in turn could prevent transmission of the malaria parasites from the blood of the human host back to the mosquito, as was shown in the artificial lab test system. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Africa Malaria Science By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Building research infrastructure For Birkholtz and Chibale, the success of discovery and being published in a high-impact medical journal, while accomplishments in themselves, do not outweigh the achievement of establishing long-term infrastructure that will allow for further research and project development in the future. "The fact that we got a great paper out does not guarantee that the compounds will be successful in the field, as many compounds do not make it that far. But we have achieved something bigger and long-lasting, absolutely," says Birkholtz. "When you build infrastructure and capacity," Chibale says, "that's for the long haul, because there is no guarantee that you're going to succeed in something all the way. In drug discovery, we say you have to kiss many frogs before you meet the prince, and that is really true. The message I constantly try to give is to think about the infrastructure that is there that can respond, but also [the] jobs and positions created that are maintained because the research is ongoing," says Chibale. That the project created jobs is even more significant than the paper and the discovery, Chibale says. "We cannot talk about retaining talent or attracting talent if we don't create [that] capacity, and also [make] science attractive. This infrastructure that was created on the back of what [we've] been doing, collectively, has created jobs. My centre H3D is now 80 people, and I started with 5 post-docs in 2011." Drought-stricken farmers have won the latest battle in a 13-year war to stop the expansion of a coal mine in southern Queensland. An activist group made up of dozens of farmers won a High Court appeal on Wednesday against the New Acland coal mine in Queenslands Darling Downs. Farmers Frank and Lynn Ashman at their property near the Acland mine. Frank is a leading objector to the expansion. Credit:Environmental Defenders Office Qld/ Renate Hottmann-Schaefer The High Court set aside previous orders made by the Court of Appeal in Queenslands Supreme Court in November 2019. It also ruled the application by the protest group, Oakey Coal Action Alliance, should be referred back to the Land Court of Queensland to be reconsidered. A council has sued Britain's most controversial landlord after he told staff to kill themselves as part of an nine-year 'campaign of harassment', a court heard. Ashford Borough Council, in Kent, is applying to the High Court for a permanent injunction against multi-millionaire Fergus Wilson, 72, in a bid to bring an end to harassment it claims has been ongoing since 2011. The court heard how legitimate inquiries by Mr Wilson would quickly turn to him repeatedly belittling, insulting and abusing councillors or council workers in an attempt to get his own way. Fergus Wilson, pictured with his wife Judith, outside one of their buy-to-let properties in Ashford, Kent He has found found himself in the public eye numerous times over the last decade, notably in 2018 for butting heads online with comedian Danny Hyde and in 2017 when a court overturned his racist practice of banning 'coloured' tenants. Mr Wilson and wife Judith once owned the largest portfolio of properties in Kent - believed to be around 1,000. In court this week, it was alleged Mr Wilson would send a huge number of letters and emails, and make phone calls and formal complaints against officers, councillors and legal representatives. The council's representative Adam Solomon QC said Mr Wilson's behaviour had made workers feel harassed and intimidated, with some receiving emails from him on a daily basis. The court heard how legitimate inquiries by Mr Wilson would quickly turn to him repeatedly belittling, insulting and abusing councillors or council workers in an attempt to get his own way Mr Solomon said: 'Officers, employees and councillors felt bullied and distressed, being unable to respond properly to allegations, some of them being reduced to tears.' Council leader Gerry Clarkson reportedly received a large number of letters to his home address, one of which - amongst a large amount of profanity - told him to 'do all of the young people in Ashford a favour and commit suicide'. He has found found himself in the public eye numerous times over the last decade, notably in 2018 for butting heads online with comedian Danny Hyde and in 2017 when a court overturned his racist practice of banning 'coloured' tenants A statement from Cllr Clarkson told the court: 'I've served the public for most of my adult life, and consider myself a robust person, and perhaps a certain degree of unpleasantness is to be expected in a public office. 'But this crossed any reasonable threshold, and has caused a significant amount of distress and alarm; it distressed my wife so much that she had to stop opening the post. '[Applying for an injunction] is an unusual step for a local authority to take but we have no other option.' Defending Mr Wilson, his representative Andrew Deakin argued that the communications the landlord sent out 'didn't cross the threshold of what would be considered harassment'. He also said that councillors 'having taken elected office, accepts and takes on the very real potential that individuals will write and express abhorrent expressions' such as Cllr Clarkson experienced at the hands of Mr Wilson. The court also heard that Mr Wilson subjected one of the council's legal representatives to a focused ordeal spanning years, much of which featured emails to her superiors, some of which were copied to as many as 44 people within the council. These would often see him make derogatory references to her weight and general appearance, as well as stating that she was not qualified to practise law. The landlord even went so far as to say that the legal representative was guilty of 'misleading the court' in previous cases, and said that he had laid papers with magistrates for a private prosecution against her for practising law without qualification - although he declined to say which magistrates and when. He made repeated demands to the victim's direct superior, as well as councillors including Cllr Clarkson that she either resign or be fired. He also suggested that she consider taking 'the easy way out' to avoid criminal prosecution - something that the claimants said in context was a suggestion to take her own life, rather than the defendant's assertion that it was suggesting she resign. Mr Deakin argued that writing to a third party - such as a worker's superior - about a person (the worker) cannot be harassment to that person. In court this week, it was alleged Mr Wilson would send a huge number of letters and emails, and make phone calls and formal complaints against officers, councillors and legal representatives In support of an argument that his conduct was appropriate, one piece of evidence that Mr Wilson submitted to the court was a photo of himself taken with the hashtag 'Fat ****' written underneath, presumably taken from social media, although this was not specified. Mr Solomon said: 'The argument goes, insofar as it is coherent, is that if it is OK for people to call the defendant a 'fat ****', it is okay for him to refer to [the victim] in the way that he does'. The council's representative went on to say that they argued this was not an appropriate way to write to the court. Cases from both sides have concluded and a ruling is expected later this week. Covid-19, a disease caused by the SARS coronavirus-2 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020., Ghana recorded its first two cases on March 12, 2020. As at November 1 2020, Ghana had recorded 48, 643 confirmed cases with 320 deaths. The Government of Ghana, under the strong leadership and commitment of the President, His excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, responded quickly by instituting public health and social measures. Key among these public health measures was the strategy of 'Trace, Test and Treat' aimed at controlling the pandemic. Prompt diagnosis of infected persons through testing is crucial in management and policy decisions and forms a key component in Ghana's COVID-19 Strategic Response Plan. The WHO through funding by the government of the United Kingdom (Department for International Development now part of Foreign Commonwealth Development Office) provided essential laboratory equipment, reagents, test and sample collection kits to boost the diagnostic capacity of the country. At a time when most African countries were battling with how to conduct COVID-19 PCR testing Ghana had famously become known for its 'pooling strategy' to COVID-19 testing. Currently, the country can boast of 17 sites with capacity to conduct COVID-19 PCR testing. This support has markedly improved the testing capacity and turnaround time for COVID-19 testing. As at November 12020, 541,153 tests had been conducted, making Ghana one of the countries in the WHO Africa region with the most tests per 100,000 population. Currently, there is no known treatment or cure for COVID-19, management is mostly supportive and hence safe and timely care for patients is critical to reducing fatalities especially in severe and critical cases. Having standard protocols/guidelines and team adequately trained in the management of COVID-19 cases contributes to improved outcomes. With funding from DFID, the WHO provided technical and financial support in the development of Ghana's COVID-19 Case Management Manual. 1000 copies of these manuals have been printed and presented to the Ghana Health Service. 2000 more copies are being printed for presentation to the GHS. This manual has provided the framework of knowledge, competencies and best practices in the effective management of COVID-19 cases and possibly impacting on the low number of mortalities recorded in Ghana. Funding was also provided to the National Case Management team to conduct training of health staff in treatment/isolation centers in six high burden regions on the clinical management of COVID-19 cases and effective follow-up of patients under homecare. In all, 360 health staff have been equipped with capacity to manage COVID-19 cases in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western North and Volta regions. Given that the majority of infected persons are asymptomatic and transmission of the virus is silent, healthcare workers are at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus in their daily routine or whiles caring for COVID-19 cases. It is therefore important to reduce and mitigate their risk through appropriate education on Infection Prevention and Control in the context of COVID-19. Since the outbreak, Greater Accra region has consistently had the highest burden of COVID-19 cases. The WHO through funding from the DFID, provided financial and technical support to the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate to train health staff in health facilities in districts within Greater Accra most affected by COVID-19 on Infection Prevention and Control practices related to COVID-19. As a result of this support, 40 clinical staff have been trained as trainer of trainers to cascade the knowledge acquired within their facilities. A further 1,922 clinical staff and 806 non-clinical staff across the different levels of healthcare facilities have developed capacity and skills to practice and implement effective IPC measures to minimize the risk of transmission of coronavirus. To reduce the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, the government of Ghana has embarked on a phased lifting of the social measures initially instituted. This has led to the re-opening of Ghana's Kotoka International Airport on September 1, 2020. In anticipation of re-opening of the remaining Points of Entry (PoEs), the WHO with funding from DFID is providing technical and financial support to the Ghana Health Service to develop Public Health Emergency Contingency Plans, train staff at the various WHO designated PoEs, engage in education and sensitization on COVID-19 for communities around these PoEs with the aim of reducing the risk of importation of cases and propagation of community transmission. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Health External Relations Coronavirus By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Although a lot has been invested in Ghana's fight against COVID-19, more strategies and funds are needed in the area of risk communication to ensure that the successes gained are sustained. WHO's support in timely confirmation of COVID-19 cases, provision of care and reduction in transmission of coronavirus through IPC trainings were all made possible through the Department for International Development with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom. Being used to wrap Banh Chung (sticky rice cake for Tet), Dong leaves from Trang Cat Village is the pride of the villagers that have been offered to other localities and countries. Visiting Trang Cat Village, Kim An Commune (Thanh Oai District, Hanoi) these days, everywhere is covered with the green color of Dong (Phrynium placentarium) leaves, typical wrapper for Banh Chung (traditional sticky rice cake) to enjoy in Tet (Lunar New Year Festival). Dong leaves is an essential material to make Banh Chung or Vietnamese traditional sticky rice cake for Tet. Photo: Phuong Hai Dong leaves from Trang Cat Village has become a brand as well as the pride of the villagers that have been offered to other localities and countries. Since the beginning of January, the atmosphere at the village has been very lively. While some people pick up Dong leaves, others arrange them in heaps. Business people are also here for the trade. The farming of Dong leaves has been practiced by the people in Trang Cat since the village was founded and passed down from generation to generation. About 90% of the villagers plant the tree. There were ups and downs, but it seems that todays modern wrappers are still unable to replace the simple rustic leaves of the countryside. Thanks to the fertility of the land next to Day River, Trang Cat is ideal for planting a variety of fruit trees such as oranges, grapefruit, vegetables and especially Dong trees. There was a time when many households were solely dedicated to growing oranges, but in recent years they have returned to Dong trees, which they found more suitable for the soil quality, higher productivity and more stable income as they could harvest it all year round. Moreover, if could combine dong growing with rice and vegetable cultivation in the same field. Thanks to the fertility of the land next to Day River, Trang Cat is ideal for planting Dong trees. In fact, Dong is regarded as the "secondary" tree compared to rice and fruit but it is becoming the main one as it yields better income. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuat, a villager and planter of Dong leaves for many years said every year she provided tens of thousands of leaves to the market. For each 100 leaves she earns VND100,000-120,000 (US$4.5-5). I used to cultivate other crops such as rice, corn, potatoes, among others. But I changed my focus only on planting and taking care of Dong leaves for 20 years now. It is very easy to grow and take care of Dong trees and the process also takes less time than other crops, she said. Dong leaves are used to wrap the Banh Chung. Planted once, Dong trees can be harvested forever as when the leaves are cut, the new ones will grow. Her products are offered in Hanoi and other cities and provinces, as well as shipped to far away countries such as Malaysia and Russia. There are nearly 300 households in the village planting some 25 hectares of Dong tree in total, according to Chairman of the People's Committee of Kim An Commune, Mr. Doan Van Huynh. In the last two years, the Dong planting area in the village has increased by nearly ten hectares. The Dong leaves of Trang Cat have been exported to other countries for overseas Vietnamese people to wrap Banh Chung on the occasion of Tet. The first stage of making Banh Chung: Dong leaves preparation. From a family that has many generations planting Dong leaves in Trang Cat, Mr. Nguyen Van Dat said Dong leaves here have bright green color and large size compared to those planted elsewhere usually come with dark green and smaller size. He can easily distinguish the leaves of his village from those of other places. Dong leaves from Trang Cat Village are favored for the being soft as well as having catchy color and odor, thanks to the local soil physical properties, a mix of soil and sand and underground water providing good condition to ensure the ideal leaf quality. In addition to Banh Chung, Trang Cats Dong leaves are also used to wrap Banh Day (round cake made of sticky rice flour), pork sausage, and gifts, not only during Tet but also all year round. Minh Dao (Hanoitimes) Time for Tet means it's time for a bite of banh chung Tet (Lunar New Year) is fast approaching, and people in Boe Dau village in the northern province of Thai Nguyens Co Lung commune are busy preparing banh chung (square glutinous rice cakes). New York: Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has extended her support to the farmers' protest at Delhi borders against the controversial agricultural laws. "We stand in solidarity with #farmersprotest in India", Thunberg tweeted late on Tuesday night. The teen activist's tweet came hours after international pop icon Rihanna shared a news article that highlighted the government's latest crackdown on the agitating farmers by cutting off internet services in many regions. When Dallas County District Attorney John Cruezot took office he changed a number of policies in the county aimed at reducing the jail population including refusing to prosecute certain crimes like minor shoplifting. That decision draws ire to this day among certain groups. Gov. Greg Abbott showed his distaste for the policies in a January forum on law enforcement and calls to defund police that followed the Black Lives Matter movement. RELATED: No drinking beer while standing and nine other strange laws in Texas punishable by a fine or jail time "We have a problem in Dallas where we have a district attorney who refuses to prosecute some people who knowingly commit crimes. ... that sets a standard and sends a message to people of that community," Abbott said at the forum adding that the policy encourages other people to engage in crime. But Creuzot told Ariel Ramchandani of the The Atlantic that there has been no increase in shoplifting as a result of his policy. RELATED: 17 strange San Antonio laws you might not know about Small personal thefts aren't the only laws that some Texas cities are no longer enforcing. A growing number of law enforcement officials are taking progressive measures when it comes to minor possession of marijuana and other drugs. See current crimes that won't get you prosecuted in the list below: [February 03, 2021] Commonwealth Eyes Future Growth with Key Additions to Technology, Information Security Leadership Teams Commonwealth Financial Network, a national firm dedicated to providing advisor-focused business solutions, announced the recent addition of Mukund Ravipaty, chief information security officer, and Garreth Speer, vice president, IT infrastructure. Both positions will be instrumental in broadening Commonwealth's cloud technology strategy and enhancing its security posture as the firm looks to augment its current advisor-facing infrastructure and accelerate its innovation in 2021. "Enhancing our infrastructure as we grow and evolve and reinforcing a comprehensive enterprise information security program are two critical elements of our IT strategy," said Miriam Manning, chief information officer at Commonwealth. "Mukund and Garreth's breadth and depth of experience will allow us to continue to enhance our current advisor-facing technology solutions, as well as enable future innovation." Ravipaty will be responsible for building upon and maintaining a corporate information security management program to ensure that data assets are protected. In his role, he will work directly with Commonwealth business units to facilitate security risk assessments and management processes while developing and enhancing an information security management framework. Before joining Commonwealth, Ravipaty worked at National Grid as the senior director, head of cyber product, and director, global head of security services, design, and architecture. He earned his MBA from the MIT (News - Alert) Sloan School of Management and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Certified Information Security Manager, Certified BS7799 Lead Auditor, and SABSA Chartered Security Architect. Joining Commonwealth during a dynamic phase of our company's growth is energizing," said Ravipaty. "Commonwealth's commitment to an information security program that is comprehensive, enterprise wide, and cross functional, along with a positive, people-centric culture, is exactly where I want to be. I'm excited to be a part of building the future here." In his role, Speer will be tasked with continuing to migrate Commonwealth's applications and infrastructure to cloud technology, as well as overseeing cloud infrastructure and managed service providers. Before joining Commonwealth, Speer was senior director of infrastructure and operations at Parsley Energy and director of infrastructure and operations at TETRA Technologies. He also brings experience working as a vice president in information technology, operations, and infrastructure development. Speer holds certifications as a Project Management Professional, Microsoft (News - Alert) Certified Solutions Expert, MCITP Enterprise Administrator, and a VMware Certified Professional. "Advisors and their clients expect bleeding-edge technology that is nimble and responsive to their needs; I'm thrilled to be a part of honoring that mission," said Speer. "I'm looking forward to hearing from our community of advisors, their staff, and their clients so we can continue to offer technology that makes sense for the way advisors run their business today and in the future." Ravipaty and Speer will report to Manning, who oversees Commonwealth's Technology team. About Commonwealth Financial Network Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser, provides a suite of business solutions that empowers more than 2,000 independent financial advisors nationwide. J.D. Power ranks Commonwealth "#1 in Independent Advisor Satisfaction Among Financial Investment Firms, Seven Times in a Row." Privately held since 1979, the firm has headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California. Learn more about Commonwealth by visiting www.commonwealth.com. Commonwealth received the highest score in the independent advisor segment of the J.D. Power 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2020 Financial Advisor Satisfaction Studies of customers' satisfaction among financial advisors. Visit jdpower.com/awards. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005553/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A worker examines syringes, which will be used for COVID-19 vaccinations, at a Shina Corp. factory in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, Tuesday. The government will start the first COVID-19 vaccinations later this month, beginning with medical personnel at hospitals designated for treating patients infected with the coronavirus. / Yonhap 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 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. Future Group has decided to challenge Delhi High Court order, which yesterday blocked the Rs 24,713 crore Future Group-RIL deal after Amazon raised objections. The appeal against the order is set to be filed later today, Reuters said citing sources, who declined to be identified. Future Group, however, is yet to come up with any statement on the issue. Future Group is caught between a legal battle between the two biggest companies of the world as they fight it out to gain bigger dominance over India's vast retail sector, say experts. Also read: 'Dog in a manger': Kishore Biyani's description of Amazon In a big relief to Amazon, the single bench court of JR Midha on Tuesday directed the Future Group and its official to maintain status quo on the deal with Mukesh Ambani's retail giant. The court was hearing the e-comm giant's plea in the court on an emergency award passed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), which restrained Future from selling retail assets to Reliance Industries. "Respondents (FRL) are directed to maintain status quo as on today at 4:49 PM till pronouncement of the reserved order," the court said. The court said prima facie, it's of the view the SIAC verdict on the Future-RIL deal was enforceable in India. On Monday, the court asked both the parties if they were ready to resolve issues, and that the proceedings in the case would continue as scheduled. The court said the matter can be referred to two retired judges of the Supreme Court if both parties agree to resolve their issues. In its ugly legal spat with Future Group, Amazon in its Delhi HC plea asked the court to detain the group's founder Kishore Biyani in a civil prison, along with other directors for "deliberately" not following the arbitration court's order. In August 2019, Amazon bought a 49 per cent stake in one of Future Group's unlisted companies - Future Coupons Ltd (FCL) - along with the right to acquire the listed flagship FRL after a few years, if the Centre were to revoke its ban on foreign ownership of multi-brand retailers. Amazon says the deal between Future and RIL violates the contract it signed with Kishore Biyani's firm. Future Group is caught between a legal battle between the two biggest companies of the world as they fight it out to gain bigger dominance over India's vast retail sector, say experts. Also read: ED investigating Amazon for FDI violations in Future Retail deal Get complete coverage of the Union Budget here Arts Correspondent The internationally recognised sculpture movement in Zimbabwe has to date lost 90 percent of its founding members. The movement, which was started in the 1960s, still stands strong and shows no signs of dying. To date we have lost crucial members like Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Bernard Matemera, Crispen Chakanyuka, Claud Nyanhongo, Fanizani Akuda, Albert Nathan Mamvura, Henry Munyaradzi, Damian Manuhwa, Thomas Mukarobgwa, Moses Masaya, John and Bernard Takawira, Boira Mteki, Joseph Ndandarika and many more others. A few surviving members are Sylvester Mubayi, Edward Chiwawa (85), Enos Gunja (72), Ephraim Chaurika (81) and Josiah Manzi (88). It will be of much interest to look at the journey these artists have travelled to establish one of the strongest art movements in the world starting with Sylvester Mubayi who turns 79 this year. Mubayi is a prestigious sculptor who pays much attention to detail and outcome. His works from the 1960s show how much he has evolved to become a seasoned artist. Today, he is identified amongst the finest sculptors Zimbabwe has ever produced and his career stands remarkable with traceable amounts of nominations and awards. In 1969, he won the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Award and went on to get different awards and recognitions from The National Gallery of Zimbabwe. From 1967 to 1990, he was a regular participator in all the major Annual Exhibitions by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and won many awards through that. Simply put, he enjoyed local and international recognition at an early stage. In the 1980s, Mubayi participated in most of the group and solo exhibitions hosted by Chapungu Sculpture Park and Matombo Gallery, platforms which were being run by Roy Guthrie and the late Roy Cook respectively. Though Mubayi started his career in Tengenenge, he was quickly lured by Frank McEwen to join his Workshop School in Harare and so in November of 1968 he left Tengenenge. Working together with Frank McEwen, Mubayi and Thomas Mukarobgwa further joined the Vukutu art community in Nyanga, which was being set up by McEwen and his then wife Mary McFadden. Due to varying reasons, the Vukutu plan did not take off as initially anticipated and also that McEwen left Zimbabwe because the Smith regime thought he sided with the natives. After meeting Roy Guthrie in the late 70s, Mubayi found a new ground to continue his career. The war of liberation was at its height, but he continued to work from his home place in Marondera. Guthrie continued to market his works locally and internationally, including in his exhibitions. In 1988, Mubayi attended one of his exhibitions by Guthrie in England and for the first time in more than 10 years, Mubayi met Frank McEwen again. In 2017, he made history by being the first artist in the old guard to attend and participate in the 57th Venice Biennale courtesy of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and will mostly likely go down in history as the only artist in the First Generation to achieve such. Out of interest, Tapfuma Gutsa was the first sculptor to participate in the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 when Zimbabwe made its maiden appearance under the leadership of its current director Raphael Chikukwa. The only difference is that Gutsa is not classified under the group of the first generation. Another difference is at the 54th Biennale, Tapfuma Gutsa, because of his remarkable and unmatched versatility, did not showcase stone sculpture, but took the opportunity to show other art forms and with great success. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Entertainment Zimbabwe By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The fact that Mubayi showcased his best in stone art will always be a remarkable memory to cherish. However, let me hasten to state that the avant-garde group in its entirety, Mubayi included, has had a favourable share in terms of showcasing and exhibiting on the international platform. Mubayi's works are found all over the world in museums, galleries, public places, universities, as well as in private collections. He has travelled the path and he has travelled it so well. Together with a few of his compatriots still alive, they have been privileged to have travelled this long. Together with those we have lost, they remain a symbol of Zimbabwe and a footprint on the international art scene. History will always cherish them. Today, Mubayi operates and runs his workshop in Chitungwiza. Dame Olivia Newton-John gave fans an update on her stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, which is the third time she's battled the disease after 1992 and 2013. 'Feeling great!' the 72-year-old Grammy winner told People on Wednesday. 'I don't think I imagined living this long! I feel very blessed.' 'Feeling great!' Dame Olivia Newton-John gave fans an update on her stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, which is the third time she's battled the disease after 1992 and 2013 On December 8, Olivia and her second husband John Easterling launched the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund to support research into plant medicine for cancer. 'I'm very lucky to be married to a wonderful man who is a plant medicine man, and he has great knowledge,' Newton-John gushed. 'Now he's growing medicinal cannabis for me, and it just has been wonderful. It helps me in every area.' The British-born, Australia-raised blonde is excited to attend her daughter Chloe Lattanzi's 'small wedding' to her fiance of 10 years, James Driskill, later this year. The 72-year-old Grammy winner told People on Wednesday: 'I don't think I imagined living this long! I feel very blessed' 'He has great knowledge': On December 8, Olivia and her second husband John Easterling launched the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund to support research into plant medicine for cancer (pictured in 2019) Newton-John gushed: 'I'm very lucky to be married to a wonderful man who is a plant medicine man...Now he's growing medicinal cannabis for me, and it just has been wonderful. It helps me in every area' 'She picked a good one,' Olivia said. 'I'm so lucky to still be doing all these things.' The LA-born 35-year-old and Driskill run their cannabis Laughing Dog Farm in Canby, Oregon; which they opened in 2016. Chloe is Newton-John's only child from her 11-year marriage to Xanadu castmate Matt Lattanzi, which ended in 1995. Betrothed: The British-born, Australia-raised blonde is excited to attend her daughter Chloe Lattanzi's 'small wedding' to her fiance of 10 years, James Driskill, later this year (pictured Monday) Olivia said: 'She picked a good one...I'm so lucky to still be doing all these things' (pictured Tuesday) Laughing Dog Farm: The LA-born 35-year-old and Driskill run their cannabis farm in Canby, Oregon; which they opened in 2016 (pictured June 26) On January 21, the mother-daughter duo dropped a duet called Window in the Wall, which which will be featured on Olivia's upcoming duets album. 'I was flattered and honored,' Lattanzi said. 'She could have asked anyone, and she asked me. That meant the world to me. It's my dream job - I get to spend time with my favorite person.' The DWTS Australia contestant used to raid her famous mother's closet to wear her old movie costumes like her thigh-high Xanadu boots for Halloween. 'I was flattered and honored!' On January 21, the mother-daughter duo dropped a duet called Window in the Wall, which which will be featured on Olivia's upcoming duets album 'She could have asked anyone, and she asked me': Chloe is Newton-John's only child from her 11-year marriage to Xanadu castmate Matt Lattanzi, which ended in 1995 (pictured last Thursday) 'I know what you had!' Newton-John groaned. 'You [also] wore the Xanadu the tank top, and you didn't realize it was special. She put it in the washing machine.' The white Manuel cowboy boots were reportedly sold in 2019 during her Julien's Auction event in Beverly Hills. 'I know what you had!' Lattanzi used to raid her famous mother's closet to wear her old movie costumes like her thigh-high Xanadu boots for Halloween 'She didn't realize it was special': The white Manuel cowboy boots were reportedly sold in 2019 during her Julien's Auction event in Beverly Hills The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee actress last made headlines on Sunday when she told The Herald Sun that she would not be taking the coronavirus vaccine. Chloe has been very outspoken about 'not being in favor of lockdowns, masks, and vaccines' because they have 'toxins' like 'mercury and pesticides.' However, Lattanzi - who's battled anorexia as well as cocaine/alcohol addictions - has reportedly no problem with plastic surgery and lip fillers. 'Not at this point, no': The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee actress last made headlines on Sunday when she told The Herald Sun that she would not be taking the coronavirus vaccine Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-04 05:38:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel is to hold general elections on March 23, the second one since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the first one was held in March last year, only 13 voters were positive for the virus and a few thousand others in quarantine. But after a year, and if things don't change in the coming weeks, high morbidity levels in the country will lead to a completely different election day. With thousands of new cases a day and currently tens of thousands of people in quarantine, Israel's Central Election Committee is preparing for a challenging day when there will be various options for people to vote. "The preparations are not simple. We are talking about an extremely complex array that actually creates three different elections simultaneously," said Orly Adas, director general of the Central Elections Committee, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. Voters who are not sick with the virus and are not quarantined will vote at regular polling stations. The number of stations has been increased in order to avoid large gatherings and queues. In addition, there will be special polling stations for those who are sick, hospitalized in COVID-19 wards, under quarantine and the elderly who prefer to avoid large crowds. Drive-thru polling stations to create zero contact between the voters and polling officials will also be available. People quarantined in hotels will also be allowed to vote there. The committee is also considering providing dedicated public transport for those sick or quarantined. Adas is not concerned about the impact of the pandemic on voter turnout. "We plan to explain to the public what we have actually done in order to allow every citizen to vote," said Adas. "This is our guiding principle throughout this election ... allowing each voter to vote while maintaining public health." He noted that the budget for this election is significantly higher. With almost twice as many ballot officials needed on the polling day, there is also a need for more money in order to buy supplies needed to ensure a sterile voting environment for both voters and officials. Millions of dollars have been invested in protective gear needed on the day. In a routine election, there are supervisors to ensure no voting irregularities. This time there will also be inspectors making sure people are wearing masks and observing social distancing. "We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people in quarantine, and tens of thousands of people who are sick, which could increase any second ... there is concern about how to prepare for this," said Moti Gaistman, head of the Special Elections Department at the Central Elections Committee. Gaistman is usually in charge of voting in the military, prisons and hospitals. This time his job has become much more complex. He and other members of the committee are busy planning the election day, under the constant concern that there will be infections in the staff that will severely hamper their efforts. Israel, which until now has been under three lockdowns since the beginning of the pandemic in March last year, is also coping with public fatigue. Cooperation with government restrictions is dwindling and people are less inclined to follow strict regulations. This is also a challenge for the election committee. "We really need the discipline of the public. The public needs to follow all directives. Without this cooperation, things won't work," said Adas, who is concerned that people with the virus may arrive at regular polling stations. The massive operation needed in order to conduct a streamlined election process without a hitch under the pandemic may result in a longer vote count and subsequently a longer wait for the official result. Regardless of morbidity levels, all officials including Adas say the elections will be held on schedule. Despite all the challenges, Israel has not considered online voting to lower infection risk. Experience from elections held around the world recently has shown that with preparedness, smooth elections are possible. Enditem Iran is offering discounts to major international airlines amid efforts by the government to boost transit income by increasing the number of flights through the country's airspace, Transportation Minister Mohammad Eslami said. In a statement on Sunday, the Minister said that the government had already approved a plan by Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company (IAC) to cut its overflight fees, reports Press TV. The government has also been working with the Iranian armed forces to set up direct flight corridors to further assure foreign airlines of the safety of flying through the Iranian airspace, Xinhua news agency quoted Eslami as saying. Earlier, Chief of Iran's Air Navigation Company, Siavash Amirmokri, said that the number of transit flights through Iran declined by nearly a half to 400-450 per day in 2020 compared with the number in 2019. Also Watch: On our national front, the DGCA recently extended its ban on international scheduled passenger flights until February 28. However, international passenger flights under air travel bubble arrangements can continue. India had announced a total ban on flights since the first nationwide lockdown in March last year to combat the coronavirus pandemic. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Its interesting that Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actress and latest cover star of British Vogue, seems to think she has to apologise for lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mother. Why would a woman feel she hadnt been a good mother because she had imagined herself living an adventurous life, travelling the world, instead of simply being a homemaker? Its the 21st century, for goodness sake. During my last Womans Hour in October, one of my guests was the Labour MP and Mother of the House, Harriet Harman. We looked back on the years when wed been part of the first generation to refuse to accept we had to be workers or mothers. We could and would do both. We hoped we had set an example for the next generations by showing them, not telling them, how to do it. Angelina Jolie (pictured) spoke about 'lacking in all the skills to be a traditional stay-at-home mother' in British Vogue It was far from easy in the early years of the womens movement. When I became pregnant in 1982, I was a presenter of BBC Souths news programme, South Today. As the pregnancy became obvious, I received numerous letters telling me how disgusting it was to display a burgeoning bump to viewers who didnt want to see it. Others would say it was outrageous that I should be taking a job from a man and ought to go home and become a proper wife and mother. Things were easier four years later when I became pregnant while presenting the Today programme and we moved to London. The great advantage of radio is no one could see me to comment on the second bump. The only time I went through the agony of being separated from my family was when we moved to the Peak District for the boys education and I had to commute to London. It was tough to leave, but no one questioned the case of the working mother who had to travel for her job. After all, its what men had had to do for a long time. Jenni Murray (pictured) argues Angelina has done some very important work and doesn't need to worry about neglecting her kids I stuck with it because my career was what Id worked for and it was what I loved. I was useless at domestic tasks which, on the whole, bored the pants off me. I wasnt knowledgeable about raising children, but employed a trained nanny who was. I set out to become the best mother I could be, creating a loving home, supporting their education and teaching them that a womans contribution to the workplace was every bit as important as that of a man. I feel no guilt, have no regrets and, it seems, nearly 40 years on, that it worked out pretty well. I couldnt be more proud of my splendid grown-up sons. British Vogues interview with Angelina Jolie is in the March issue, available via digital download and newsstands on Friday, February 5 Angelina Jolie has done some very important work, too. The profile she and the former foreign secretary, William Hague, gave to the horror of sexual violence during conflict was revelatory. It was in 2012 that she, a UN Special Envoy, and Mr Hague launched the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative. It has not ended the violence and has been underfunded, but it has made the world aware of what needs to be done. It was at a London summit for the initiative in 2014 that I met her. Not only was she one of the most beautiful women Ive met, she was serious, committed, intelligent and thoughtful. I dont think she needs to worry she may have neglected her kids. It might have been easier if shed just had a couple. Six kids and a bitter divorce from Brad Pitt must have made home life far harder to handle. I suspect an awful lot of us have become so sick of looking at screens that weve gone back to reading real books. No surprise then that sales of books have reached more than 200 million, the highest figure since 2012. Im reading a novel intended for young readers, but equally salutary for parents. In Bloom by Cordelia Feldman is part fiction, part autobiography. A group of nice middle-class, North London girls, all at private school, begin clubbing. They take what they refer to as sweets and the central character, Tanya, becomes bipolar, clearly linked to the drugs. Her description of mental breakdown is graphic and deeply touching. If you have teens, keep an eye out. Jenni admits she hated the TV programme Pooch Perfect, where dogs are treated as commodities and done up like high-end catwalk models These pink dogs make me see red I was not surprised to find that dogs are a womans, rather than a mans, best friend. It was females in the earliest human settlements who domesticated the species. Of course we did. It has, I suspect, never been possible to have such unconditional love from another human being. With dogs its a warm welcome, no arguments and lots of cuddles. But I have hated the TV programme Pooch Perfect, where dogs are treated as commodities and done up like high-end catwalk models. People often say of my three best friends: Oh, so cute. Handbag dogs. No, theyre not! Theyre dogs. They need to walk, just like the rest of us. Am I happy to have the Pfizer jab? You bet! Oh, the relief. A ping on my phone informing me I was invited, as a nearly 71-year-old asthmatic, to attend the designated health centre to receive my first Covid 19 vaccination. No hesitation. I booked for ten past 11 last Sunday. There was a long walk to signs for the tents in the car park where the jabs would be performed. I knew some seven million were said to have been vaccinated already. I wondered if the next million were standing in my queue. Forms to fill in as we approached the tents. You will be receiving the Pfizer vaccine. Are you OK with that? You bet, I replied. Id done my research and dismissed all the myths. It wont enter my DNA and alter my genome. It wont connect me to the internet. It wont cause an autoimmune disease and it wont make me infertile. (It is, of course, a little late for me to worry about that!) A quick injection followed. Roll on my second dose. How I fear for those tunnel protesters Im not unsympathetic to the young people who have joined Swampy and his friends to protest against HS2 and would prefer the billions of pounds due to be spent on the high-speed railway to go instead to the NHS. Theyre worried about HS2s impact as it cuts through the English countryside. But tunnels next to Euston station? As I watched the film The Dig and saw the archaeologist Basil Brown, played by Ralph Fiennes, buried under a mountain of soil while digging the huge burial ground at Sutton Hoo, I couldnt help thinking of the risks those young environmentally passionate people were taking. Protest by all means, but get out of those tunnels now! More cases of the so-called British strain of coronavirus which is 70% more infectious are being diagnosed in the Balearics. It is spreading in Spain, Europe and the Balearic Islands and in a few weeks it will be the dominant variant in the world, warns that the Coordinator of the Microbiology Laboratory at Son Espases Hospital, Dr Antonio Oliver. The Government has implemented a sequencing protocol which enables it to identify the different variants that exist in the country. "Right now there is significant pressure on sequencing because everyone wants to know what type of Covid is circulating and a network has been created throughout Spain to investigate that," said Dr Oliver. Sequencing in the Balearic Islands since the summer has resulted in faster detection of the British variant, but it turns out everyone is the same and it is widespread throughout Spain. There is more of the British variant in Ibiza than in Mallorca," said Dr Oliver, "but transmission of the virus is generally much higher in Ibiza." The South African strain is also being closely monitored and one imported case has already been detected in Vigo, but Dr Oliver says that's not so worrying because "no transmission of this variant has been documented within Spain. Mortality The Ministry of Health confirmed another 7 fatalities in the Balearic Islands on Tuesday, taking the total to 605 and 135 of those were this year. 548 patients are hospitalised, including 73 from Nursing Homes and 138 patients are in critical condition in the ICU. The accumulated incidence in the Balearic Islands is now 549 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. 76 residents and 72 workers at Nursing Homes are coronavirus positive. In Inwood, Ken Ion had spent hours on Monday shoveling heavy snow outside the Church of the Good Shepherd. Mr. Ion, 62, had to start all over again Tuesday. Im not 20 years old anymore, he told Tea Kvetenadze as she reported for The Times. My bones are tired! The city had a thick sheet of snow after one of the heaviest winter storms in recent history. Heres what the aftermath looked like: 17 inches of snow covered New York City The wet and heavy snow was perfect for snowmen and snowball fights, but difficult to clear away, Dominic Ramunni, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told my colleague Daniel Slotnik. The snowstorm was the biggest since the record-setting blizzard of 2016 that dumped 27.5 inches of snow on Central Park. Still, this weeks storm pummeled other parts of the Northeast, like Bloomingdale, N.J., where the snow totaled 26.2 inches. This is just one of several recent findings with more included below that shed light on sex-related differences in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Younger women are at greater risk of death Women have fewer heart attacks than men, but they tend to fare worse during them. To find out why, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, examined hospital data on nearly 7 million heart attack patients. In a study published in January in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, they showed that women who are hospitalized with a heart attack are less likely than men to receive life-saving treatments, such as angioplasty, in which clogged arteries are opened, and mechanical circulatory support, in which devices are used to improve blood flow. Lead researcher Mohamad Alkhouli, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, speculates that doctors may hold back on these treatments because they believe women wont fare as well during such surgeries. The researchers also discovered that women under age 65 were more likely than men to die from a heart attack especially when they suffer from a type in which the coronary artery is significantly but not completely blocked. More menopause symptoms may mean more risk While its long been known that the plummeting estrogen levels of menopause reduce the hormones protection of the heart, new research shows that greater suffering from menopauses hot flashes or sleep disturbances may signal greater cardiovascular risks. When researchers from medical centers across the country followed more than 20,000 women ages 50 to 79 for a median of seven years, they found a link between having two or more moderate or severe menopause symptoms and increased risk of things like heart attack and stroke. The researchers, who published their findings in the medical journal Menopause, offer several possible explanations. For one, severe hot flashes are associated with artery stiffness, inflammation and vascular problems, which are linked to heart disease. In addition, bothersome menopause symptoms may compromise womens ability to get adequate exercise and sleep, in turn harming heart health. Heart risks also increase during perimenopause New research from the American Heart Association, published in Circulation, shows that the hormonal shifts that occur during perimenopause the years preceding menopause set the stage for heart disease. As women transition, they experience many changes that, when taken together, increase their risk of cardiovascular disease, says lead researcher Samar R. El Khoudary, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. During this time, bad LDL cholesterol begins to rise; good HDL cholesterol may stop being protective; body fat accumulates in the abdomen instead of the hips; and insomnia and depression may occur, she says. El Khoudary suggests seeing perimenopause as a critical time to start lowering heart disease risk with practices like regular exercise and prioritized sleep. Breast cancers links to blood clots, heart failure and more Unfortunately, breast cancer survivors over age 65 have another health risk to worry about: heart problems. A study published in January in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that survivors were at greater risk of life-threatening blood clots called deep vein thrombosis, arrhythmia, heart failure, heart valve disease and sudden cardiac arrest compared to women who had not had cancer. In the study, while these conditions were seen most often during the first year after diagnosis, the heightened risk remained for five years. At highest risk were Black women and women with stage 3 and hormone receptor-negative breast cancer. For all, ill effects of the chemotherapy drugs used to battle cancer may partly explain the findings, the researchers say. Lifestyle differences may also play a role, since women who smoke, are obese or have a more sedentary lifestyle are prone to both breast cancer and heart disease. Hector R. Villarraga, M.D., a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recommends that breast cancer survivors get an echocardiogram, which produces images of the heart, five years after their cancer treatment ends. If you were treated with radiation, ask your doctor about having a cardiac stress test 10 years after youve completed treatment, he says. Sussing out hidden heart attacks with better imaging Most heart attacks are caused by blockages in the large arteries of the heart. But in up to 15 percent of cases in which people experience symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath, there are no significant blockages. These little-understood heart attacks, known as myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCAs), can still cause heart damage and are also three times more likely to occur in women. Due to the industrywide economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual $500 fee for restaurants to participate in Chicago Restaurant Week has been waived and prices will be nudged up for diners: Brunches and lunches will cost $25 (up from $24 last year) and dinners will cost $39 or $55 (up from $36 or $48 last year). Prices exclude beverages, tax and gratuity. Screenshots shows the news report published on zaobao.com, Jan. 25, 2021 One million doses of Sinopharm's vaccine arrived in Serbia on Jan. 16, 2021 and were welcomed at the airport by Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar. Two days later, Serbian health authorities approved the use of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine, enabling the country's mass vaccine rollout. Zaobao.com reported on Jan. 25, 2021 that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said with favour during an interview by Serbian local media on Jan. 24 upon taking the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine himself, though not sure when. Earlier before, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar became the fisrt person in Sebia to receive a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine produced by Sinopharm on Jan. 19, 2021. "Chinese vaccine is one of the three vaccines approved for use in Serbia," Loncar said. He confirmed that Serbian health authorities have assessed the necessary documentation and scientific evidence in a highly professional and thorough manner according to all European Union and World Health Organization (WHO) standards, which ensured the quality, efficiency, and above all the safety of the Chinese vaccine. Find the orginal article at https://www.zaobao.com/realtime/china/story20210125-1119055 [ Editor: WXY ] Melissa Caddick sent a potential customer a cheery hello on Facebook and made small talk about her lavish overseas holiday - before trying to lure them into her web of financial misappropriation. Facebook messages reveal how the accused fraudster approached potential investors so she could allegedly rort millions from them in a Ponzi-style scheme. Acquaintances of the missing woman and court filings have spelled out how exactly how Caddick would woo potential clients, even offering to meet up for a meal to win their business. 'Would love to see you,' the vanished Dover Heights woman told one possible client in December 2014, according to leaked texts. 'Let me know when you are free - even dinner after work/weekend. 'Will talk to you about what I do, service offer (sic) and fees,' she said before adding reassuringly: 'It's very transparent.' Melissa Caddick (above with her current husband Anthony Koletti) told a potential investor that her business was 'very transparent'. She is now believed to have been on the run for close to three months following a raid on her home by the corporate regulator ASIC Suspected runaway conwoman Melissa Caddick sent these messages to an acquaintance interested in her business back in 2014. Caddick's reference to 'today's events' is to the Lindt Cafe siege in Martin Place. The customer did not invest with Caddick Caddick's house-husband Anthony Koletti at the family's $6.2 million home in Dover Heights this past week. A detective made some telling remarks about his Caddick is a subject of growing public fascination, with police recently taking the extraordinary step of revealing details of their discussions with her husband, the unemployed DJ and hairdresser Anthony Koletti, about her mysterious disappearance. He's not suggested to have played a role in it. Caddick vanished from her $6.2million Dover Heights home shortly following a raid by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission in early November. She hasn't been seen since, leaving behind her teenage son, husband, elderly parents and a ballooning list of aggrieved alleged victims. Daily Mail Australia can reveal how Caddick's alleged trickery was hiding in plain sight, with associates sharing the initial info-pack she initially emailed to possible customers. The financial services guide outlines how her business allegedly worked and her apparent qualifications and experience. The seven-page document looks legitimate, but doesn't stand up to basic scrutiny. The Australian Financial Services Licence number Caddick repeatedly uses in the document actually belongs to another Sydney advisory firm, the corporate watchdog has alleged in court. A potential client could have found that out if they had punched the number into a register publicly available online. Caddick is accused of using another woman's Financial Services Licence number. The fact the number did not belong to her can be verified with a simple check via a public register Police are treating this footage, captured during the raid on Caddick's home office in mid-November 2020, as her last confirmed sighting In court documents, the corporate regulator ASIC alleges that Caddick was allegedly fraudulently using the licence, having taken it from another adviser she had once apparently worked with an ING more than a decade ago. Likewise, in the financial services guide document, Caddick describes herself as a CFP - industry jargon for a 'Certified Financial Planner'. But her name doesn't come up in in the Financial Planning Association's 'find a planner' search engine, which is freely available online. 'She is ... not a member of the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA),' said the organisation's CEO Dante De Gori in a statement. Nor is she a registered as a financial planner on a separate register kept by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. In the newly unveiled document, Caddick boasted of her alleged 13 years' spent as a financial adviser and her qualifications, including a Masters of Business. She said her company would charge a 0.75 per cent fee each year clients' money was invested with her. A $1million investment would result in a $7,500 annual fee. Her documents boasted about Melissa's alleged 13 years spent working as a financial adviser but included typographical errors, such as the above. She also made claims to be a Certified Financial Planner - but her name doesn't appear on publicly available registries Mr Koletti has kept mum about his wife when approached by media in the months since her disappearance. The lead detective in the investigation has said Mr Koletti is behaving differently than spouses often do when their partner goes missing MELISSA CADDICK'S HUSBAND BEHAVING 'DIFFERENTLY': POLICE A lead detective investigating Melissa Caddick's disappearance has said her husband Anthony Koletti didn't behave in the way a spouse typically would after their partner goes missing. Detective Inspector Gretchen Atkins told 60 Minutes on Sunday that Mr Koletti's behaviour was 'slightly more restrained. 'He isn't always ringing us, which is different to what we would normally see,' she said. 'He's doing what he can to assist us when we ask for help. I think he's struggled to be what you would expect to be proactive.' Mr Koletti told investigators he assumed his wife had gone for a walk in her activewear at 5am on November 12, but left her phone, wallet and keys behind. It was 30 hours before he reported Caddick's disappearance to police. '(Mr Koletti) thought she just might have gone somewhere and would come back. It was unusual,' Inspector Atkins said. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Mr Koletti has any involvement in his wife's disappearance. Advertisement Incredibly, Caddick's info pack even spelled out what customers could do if they weren't happy with the services she provided. They could complain to her in writing, or - in what could be described as a breathtaking act of brazenness - she supplied details of how to contact ASIC or the financial standards ombudsman. The prospective client was invited to come see Caddick. 'She mentioned meeting up, if I was interested in going ahead. 'I said I wasn't so I never heard anything further from her.' Several clients only realised in recent months that little of what Caddick had been telling them for years was allegedly true. Cheryl Kraft Reid, a long-term client of Caddick's, told Daily Mail Australia she and her wife Faye invested with the missing woman. Her family had known Melissa for 25 years. The couple handed over $800,000 in superannuation to Caddick to invest five years ago. Immediately following her sudden disappearance, Ms Kraft Reid said she and her wife Faye were only concerned about what had happened to Melissa. It only sank in that something was wrong when media reports noted Caddick's disappearance followed a raid on her home by the corporate regulator. Ms Kraft Reid called CommSec, the share trading arm of the Commonwealth Bank, and learned the account number Caddick had provided her with allegedly wasn't real. Since Caddick went missing, Ms Kraft Reid has comprehensively reviewed records of their dealings. 'We've been through every email, every report, and there's heaps we didn't see,' she said. 'Some stuff we picked up and went back to Melissa, but she explained it away. But there were other things we just didn't see. 'And in hindsight, we didn't look too closely because it's Melissa.' Anyone with information about Melissa Caddick's disappearance is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000. Three new billboards popped up in San Antonio recently demanding the resignation of Sen. Ted Cruz for his actions preceding the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol. A group of Republicans is paying for the signage in San Antonio and across Texas. The Republican Accountability Project, launched by Defending Democracy Together in response to the Jan. 6 capitol attack, kicked off a $1 million billboard campaign recently calling on Congressional members including Cruz to resign. RELATED: San Antonio man called out for Capitol riot on TikTok to see case play out in Washington D.C. Texas newspapers, political peers and celebrities have also called on Cruz for his role in leading a group of lawmakers objecting the certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. The day ended in a Pro-Trump mob breaching the U.S. Capitol. The riot left five dead and forced congressional members into hiding. The Cruz-focused billboard says: "You lied about the election. The Capitol was attacked. Sen. Cruz: Resign." RAP also put up billboards calling on Cruz to resign in Dallas-Fort Worth, Corpus Christi and Austin. RAP spokeswoman Meaghan Leister said nearly 20 more will go up in the Texas markets next week. The local billboards are off Interstate 10 at Crossroads, which has an ad facing north and south, and another at U.S. Highway 281 and Evans Road. The campaign paid for 100 static and digital billboards to run daily for the next month. There will be similar signage targeting Republican Sen. Josh Hawley in St. Louis, Columbia and Jefferson City in Missouri. RELATED: Seth Rogen tells Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to 'get f**ked' in Twitter feud "The billboard campaign will be followed in the coming weeks with additional condemnations by RAP of such behavior by elected leaders," RAP said in a news release. Another form of criticism will be shown in upcoming ads which will air statewide in Texas and Missouri starting next week. RAP said the commercials will show "the direct impact of the words from these members on the crowd on January 6." "These representatives and senators helped incite the attack on the Capitol by spreading lies about the election," Executive Director of RAP Sarah Longwell said. "They have proved that they are unfit to hold office. They should be nowhere near power." Cruz's press office was not immediately available to comment on the billboard campaign. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye New Delhi: The issue of rising farmers suicide cannot be dealt with overnight, the Supreme Court asserted on Thursday while agreeing with the governments appeal for a year to show effective results of its pro-farmer schemes like Fasal Bima Yojana. We are of the view that the issue of farmers suicide cannot be dealt with overnight. It is justified on behalf of the Attorney General to seek time for effective results, a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said. The bench granted time to the Centre and fixed the PIL filed by NGO Citizens Resource and Action Initiative (CRANTI) for hearing after six months. Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, referred to various pro-farmer measures being taken by the NDA government and said that for showing effective results, the government should be given adequate time. He said that out of 12 crore farmers, 5.34 crore farmers have already been covered under various welfare schemes, including the Fasal Bima Yojana. Also Read: Farmers' suicide: Sachin Pilot blames agricultural policies of BJP govt Venugopal also said that almost 30 per cent farm land has been covered under the crop insurance scheme and the figure will substantially rise by the end of 2018. The court, which initially said that the number of farmer suicides was rising, later agreed to the contention of the government and granted it time. The bench, meanwhile, asked the Centre to consider the suggestions of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the NGO CRANTI, in formulating measures to deal with the issue of farmer suicides. Also Read: Centre should address real issue behind frequent farmers suicide in country, says Supreme Court The bench was hearing the PIL raising the issue of farmer suicides in Gujarat, which was later expanded pan-India by the Supreme Court. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The writer is vice president of W.H. Riley & Son Inc. He can be reached at mrallen@whriley.com . 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 Actor Sanjay Dutt. Actor Sanjay Dutt gifted four flats, worth around Rs 100 crore, in Mumbais upscale Bandra suburb to his wife, Manyata, in December, but within a week, she returned the gift, documents reviewed by Moneycontrol show. According to the gift deed, Rs 26.5 crore is the circle rate, or the value determined by the government, for these four properties, but brokers claim that the market value of the units is more than Rs 100 crore. Upscale address The four apartments are in the Imperial Heights building in Pali Hills, the address of the rich and the famous. Two of the apartments are on the third and the fourth floor and there is a penthouse on the 11th and the 12th floor, the gift registration documents accessed by Zapkey.com show. Zapkey is an online platform that aggregates and organises publicly available property registration data. When contacted, a representative of Dutt did not comment. Moneycontrol has copies of the two gift deedsthe one that Dutt made for his wife and the other through which Manyata, identified as Dilnashin Dutt in the documents, returned the four apartments to the 61-year-old actor. Manyatas real name is Dilnashin, according to media reports. The first gift deed was executed by Dutt, whose parents Sunil and Nargis Dutt were also famous Bollywood stars, on December 23, 2020. Manyata gifted the apartments back to Dutt on December 29, 2020, the documents show. The deeds were registered on payment of Rs 500 each. The units come with two open and 15 stilt car parking spaces on the ground and lower ground floors, documents show. The property was constructed by Siraj Lokhandwala (proprietor of Lokhandwala Constructions, who also developed the famous Lokhandwala Complex where most Bollywood stars live as also the erstwhile Regent Hotel and the famous Joggers Park at Carter Road, Bandra) on the land belonging to Sunil Dutt, who had a bungalow on this land. The Dutt family got these apartments as their share of the development. The building, Imperial Heights was constructed in 2002. Transaction value The size of these units is around 3,000 sq. ft and the transaction value at around Rs 90,000-Rs 95,000 per sq. ft on the carpet, brokers said. These apartments command a monthly rent of between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh a unit. The building is located on a hill and offers an excellent view of the city, brokers said. Legal and tax experts say gifting property to a family member is a common practice, but reversal of gift isnt. It may have been done to rectify an error or for tax purposes. A gift does not attract huge stamp duty for family members and is a common practice when it comes to property, but reversing a gift is not. The reversal may have to do something with tax restructuring, a legal expert said on condition of anonymity. In August 2020, the actor, who has starred in more than 150 films, including hugely successful Naam, Khalnayak, Mission Kashmir, Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, said he had stage 4 lung cancer and would beat the disease soon. In October, he tweeted, The last few weeks were very difficult time for my family and me. But like they say, God gives the hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. And today, on the occasion of my kids birthday, I am happy to come out victorious from this battle and be able to give them the best gift I can--the health and well-being of our family. He has a son and a daughter with Manyata and a daughter from his first marriage. The most severe saline intrusion - the movement of ocean saltwater into riverine freshwater - is said to occur in the Mekong Delta region from February 8 to 16, coinciding with the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, since Chinese hydro-power plants have reduced their water discharge, which affects water flows downstream on the Mekong River, experts have said. Water shortages, climate change linked to saline intrusion in Mekong Delta. (Photo: VNA) The most severe saline intrusion - the movement of ocean saltwater into riverine freshwater - is said to occur in the Mekong Delta region from February 8 to 16, coinciding with the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, since Chinese hydro-power plants have reduced their water discharge, which affects water flows downstream on the Mekong River, experts have said. From January 5 to 24, the Jinhong Hydropower Station in Chinas Yunnan province reduced its water discharge to some 1,000 cu.m per second to ensure safety for its power grid. Discharge has remained low. Ky Quang Vinh, a former official at Can Tho Citys climate change bureau, said climate change will be the main cause of saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta in 2021. Low rainfall last year made it hard for upstream countries to store water let alone lower regions like the Mekong Delta. Meanwhile, a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said water resources during the 2020-2021 dry season will be low and the worst saline intrusion in history has been predicted. Chinese hydropower plants cutting their water discharge in January will make the salinity depth increase to 4g/l in the mouth of the Mekong Deltas Vam Co River and Cai Lon River, the representative said. According to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, water storage in Tonle Sap and water flows to Cambodias Kratie Province are key drivers of saline intrusion in the Delta. Water levels in Tonle Sap and Kratie stations are, however, said to be lower than in previous years. It recommended Mekong Delta localities pay due attention to saline intrusion prevention measures, such as the rational operation of irrigation works and reductions in drainage, saying water storage should be completed before February 7 as this will help reduce damage when salinity levels increase during Tet. In response to saline intrusion, Vinh Long Province plans to spend more than 1.65 trillion VND (71.59 million USD) on supporting local production during the 2020-2021 dry season. It has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide more than 1.57 trillion VND to dredge up canals so as to create water sources for local irrigation. Meanwhile, relevant authorities in Hau Giang Province are working to keep close watch on saline intrusion before, during, and after Tet, identify timely measures to support households who experience water shortages, and provide local people with sufficient information so they can respond appropriately. Tien Giang Province, which was hit hard by saline intrusion in 2020, decided to build eight dams on local canals as a preventive measure. The move aims to ensure water for 120,250 ha of agricultural land and 1.1 million residents in Tien Giang and Long An provinces. Construction of the dams will be completed before Tet. VNA Saline intrusion in Mekong Delta forecast to be severe during Tet A severe period of saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta due to lower water levels upstream is expected to fall from February 8 to 16 as Vietnam celebrates the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. Elizabeth Olsen's new show may have passionate fans, but she deliberately avoids checking out forums and commentary online, she said Tuesday on a talk show. The 31-year-old actress called into Late Night with Seth Meyers from her rental property in London, where she sat in a child's room against a backdrop of map-covered wallpaper. She discussed her starring role as Wanda Maximoff in the Disney+ series WandaVision, which skillfully melds the feeling of classic sitcoms with action and adventure. Superhero role: Elizabeth Olsen's new show may have passionate fans, but she deliberately avoids checking out forums and commentary online, she said Tuesday on a talk show It was a new format for her, and Elizabeth said she worried reading up on what the fans said might affect her performance. 'I'm anti-looking at everything on the Internet generally speaking,' she admitted. 'When it comes to something I'm passionate about, I don't want anyone else's ideas, I don't want spoilers I usually binge Game of Thrones after it's on air, so I'm really good at avoiding stuff. I also never really cared about anything that much as a child to seek out forums or something.' Asked if it had been hard to do press about a show with so much secrecy surrounding it, Elizabeth gave a resounding yes. 'It's really complicated to talk about this show,' she said. 'I want to talk about how it's a sitcom, but not just a sitcom, and how do you tease that and keep people interested who want the action but then get people interested in the sitcom part, and hopefully you don't lose them in the action but it's always fun. It's always fun to see fan reactions. I think that's what I look forward to most.' Disney series: The 31-year-old actress discussed her starring role as Wanda Maximoff in the Disney+ series WandaVision, which skillfully melds the feeling of classic sitcoms with action She'd been loving doing a period piece in every episode, as the show switched eras often and gave the crew a chance to try to replicate the lenses, lighting and mannerisms of another time. She also agreed that there was a warmth inherent in the shooting of old sitcoms like the one her show parroted and it was hard sometimes to switch between joyful moments and serious ones. 'I have Katherine Hahn by my side, who is just the queen of all things comedy,' Elizabeth mused. 'And Paul Bettany did such a great job with all the physical comedy and has been very Dick Van Dyke.' Online stance: 'I'm anti-looking at everything on the Internet generally speaking,' Elizabeth admitted to Seth Director Matt Shakman 'oozes warmth and friendliness and kindness,' she added. 'He had like three different viruses directing all these episodes. I'm convinced he had COVID in December. He got so sick.' WandaVision's first episode had been filmed in front of a live studio audience, and Elizabeth said at first it had made her exceptionally nervous, worrying about whether she would fail. 'I get into a rhythm, because I feel like I know how to do my job,' she told Seth, 47. 'But this I don't know how to do THIS ever, and I have to do breathing exercises before seeing your friendly face.' First episode: WandaVision's first episode had been filmed in front of a live studio audience, and Elizabeth said at first it had made her exceptionally nervous, worrying about whether she would fail Elizabeth missed doing talk shows live but was thrilled not to have to do junkets at present, which she called 'four minute cycles of 12 hours of strangers.' Seth apologized for calling her so late, as London was five hours ahead of his evening show, but the actress said she was 'properly caffeinated.' She said she'd been really excited to get to the UK, as it sounded like it would be more open than either New York or Los Angeles had been for most of 2020. Instead, she arrived right before the city's second lockdown, which would carry on until March. A 22-year-old man became the recipient of the worlds first successful face and double hand transplant, following a car wreck that caused 80 percent of his skin third-degree burns. Surgeons performed the complicated procedure on Joe DiMeo that helped him regain independence, after a 2018 accident caused his body extreme adversities, according to several reports. The New Jersey resident, waited patiently for months until doctors found a viable donor to perform the surgery, which came with the risks of severe illness or vascular complications. In the 23 hours long procedure, surgeons inserted two bones, 21 tendons, five veins, two major arteries, and three major nerves to transplant the donor's hands and face on DiMeo. Post his successful operation, the plastic surgeon Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez told the US broadcasters that he felt elated seeing DiMeos complete new face and two arms. The 22-year-old was administered reconstructive plastic surgery at NYU Langone Hospital in New York City. The procedure was performed amid the surge of the COVID-19, which caused Rodriguez to worry about the health of his patient. In an interview with ABC, the world-renowned plastic surgeon said that his team grew conscious about using in-demand personal protective equipment (PPE) during rehearsal surgeries, and therefore they began to recycle their own PPE in the simulation lab. Read: 20-yr-old Man Gets New Lease Of Life After Heart Transplant At AIIMS Read: Woman Gives Life To Four People; Heart Sent Through Green Corridor For Transplant [Joe DiMeo poses for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 at NYU Langone Health in New York, six months after an extremely rare double hand and face transplant. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan] Operation conducted on Aug. 12, 2020 Further, doctors ensured DiMeos negative COVID-19 test, and of his donor, Cameron Underwood, a California man who underwent a face transplant at NYU Langone. The latter had suffered gunshot wounds in June 2016 and had undergone the procedure. Meanwhile, speaking to ABC, Rose DiMeo, mother of the recipient said that despite the fears, the family "wanted his [DiMeos] life back. In further complications to the surgery, the doctors rejected the previously selected donor and had found a new one from Delaware, 10 months after the search. The operation was conducted on Aug. 12, 2020, in what became the worlds first-ever successful face and double hand transplant, ever. As many as 6 surgical teams performed the surgery in NYU Langones Kimmel Pavilion, transplanting the patients hands, his mid-forearm, entire face. The portion reconstructed Dimeos forehead, eyebrows, ears, nose, eyelids, lips, and underlying skull, cheek, nasal, and chin bone segments. DiMeo will now be on lifelong medications to maintain the functions of his new face. Read: The Surgeon's Cut Features Dr Nancy Ascher, First Woman To Perform A Liver Transplant Read: Life-changer': Icelandic Man Gets World's First Double Arm-and-shoulder Transplant [February 03, 2021] Harris County Switches to Paper-Trail Voting with Hart InterCivic Harris County Commissioners voted unanimously this week to upgrade their election system to paper-trail technology from longtime partner Hart InterCivic. Verity Voting includes enhanced security features, state-of-the-art software and hardware all designed and manufactured in Austin where the company is headquartered. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005889/en/ Voter activating voting session on the secure and easy-to-use touchscreen with a paper ballot voting system, Verity Duo. (Photo: Business Wire) "Moving to the Hart InterCivic Verity Voting System gives voters a more accessible, secure and verifiable ballot to improve the voting experience for all Harris County Voters," said Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria. "My goal is to use the coming weeks to learn and train staff about the Hart voting machines and offer all Harris County voters the opportunity to learn more about the new features." The first wave of 2,300 machines is scheduled to be delivered b March 1. Through a competitive procurement process, the Hart machines were selected by a committee of representatives from Commissioner Court staff, the County Judge and technical experts from the County Clerk and Elections Administrator staff. "Thank you, Harris County for your continued trust and partnership! We are excited and proud to support your transition to easy-to-use, secure paper-based voting technology," said Julie Mathis, CEO of Hart InterCivic which has provided election services and solutions to the County for decades. "Hart and Harris County have a history of innovation and challenges met. We look forward to building on this solid relationship for the benefit of the County's more than 2.3 million voters," she said. The largest voting jurisdiction in Texas, Harris County has selected Verity Duo, a hybrid voting device that combines a touchscreen with a paper vote record available for recounts or audits. The printed ballot can be checked by voters before they feed it into a scanner that reads the voter's choices, which are never hidden in a barcode. Verity will also support Harris' new Vote Centers, which allow any registered voter in the County to cast their Election Day ballot at whichever polling location is most convenient. "There is no stronger example of Hart's core values than our long relationship with Harris County," Mathis said. "Relationships and exceptional customer service drive our success. Our proven, Texas-based products seal the deal. Our partners deserve nothing less." For more information about the Verity Voting system, please visit https://www.hartintercivic.com/better-elections/ About Hart InterCivic, Inc. Working side-by-side with election professionals for more than 100 years, Hart is committed to helping advance democracy one election at a time. Hart's mission fuels our passionate customer focus and a continuous drive for technological innovation. The result is Verity - truly different election technology. Reimagined from the inside out, Verity Voting promises to provide jurisdictions with a future-proof investment in secure, transparent voting. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005889/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] KYIV. Feb 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) Members of parliament (MPs) from the Servant of the People party intend to reintegrate Ukrainians with Russian passports from Donbas and Crimea, as well as Ukrainians working in Russia, in bills on dual citizenship. "The main goal of our bill is to reintegrate our Ukrainians from the east and from Crimea, as well as our citizens who have Russian passports and understand the current situation in relations with the Russian Federation. They received these passports in different ways. Someone, like in Crimea, was forced to get a passport in order to work in Russia. There are estimated from 1 to 2 million of these people. We want to pull them out and give them the opportunity to 'declare' and live peacefully with these passports so that they are not persona non grata," MP Oleh Dunda (Servant of the People faction) said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday. At the same time, he said, the bill will help "shed light on our political class and their foreign passports." "One of those who used informally dual citizenship was our political class, who received passports of other countries and used them as a tool where they hide money. And people did not know about this," he said. He added the bill "will put a barrier to the aggressor country in gaining access to government posts." Dunda also noted that the bill will eliminate many gaps in the legislative field of Ukraine, allowing civil servants to have citizenship of other countries. "For some of our high-ranking officials, a ban has been established to have a passport of another state. But the same laws have not established anywhere that if they acquire foreign citizenship while working in the civil service, they are dismissed," the MP said. As reported, on January 25, MPs from the Servant of the People faction registered three bills that would allow Ukrainians to have dual citizenship. In bill No. 4640, the authors propose to amend the law on citizenship, which provides citizens of Ukraine with the right to obtain citizenship (allegiance) of a foreign state without losing the citizenship of Ukraine. The proposed changes also allow foreigners to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing the citizenship of their country. In addition, it is proposed to introduce a declaration of the presence (absence) of foreign citizenship (allegiance) and keeping records of Ukrainian citizens who have citizenship of other states. The bill also proposes to provide for the submission of a declaration of absence of foreign citizenship by persons who apply for election to elective positions or to the civil service, to serve in local government bodies, to serve in law enforcement agencies. The explanatory note to the draft law says that one of the important innovations is the introduction of the concept of "aggressor state." The enterprises of billionaires Pham Nhat Vuong, Ho Hung Anh, Nguyen Dang Quang and Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao have reported good business results for 2020. Nguyen Dang Quang Masan Group fulfilled its business plan set by the shareholders meeting with consolidated net revenue of VND77.218 trillion, up by 107 percent from 2019 and net profit of VND1.234 trillion to be allocated to shareholders. Nguyen Dang Quang Masans revenue increased sharply thanks to the admission of VinCommerce in early 2020. However, as the supermarket chain still incurred a loss, the groups profit decreased considerably compared with the year before. VinCommerce for the first time had a positive EBITDA in Q4 2020. Masan reported that the revenue per square meter of VinMart+ chain grew by 11 percent in 2020. VinMart+ is considered the major driving force of VinCommerce in the future, when the mini supermarket chain expands. Meanwhile, the VinMart model will be re-positioned. In terms of consumer goods, Masan Consumer Holdings (MCH), a subsidiary of Masan Group, reported 22 percent revenue growth rate in Q4, reaching VND7.612 trillion, or 27 percent of total (VND23.971 trillion). This was the first time MCH had revenue of $1 billion. Masan plans to turn VinCommerce from a pure shopping point of sale into a platform serving essential needs with essential goods and services, accounting for more than 50 percent of spending on consumer goods, including fast moving consumer goods, fresh food, financial services and added value services. This was the aim of Masan when it decided to expand business into the retail sector. Pham Nhat Vuong Vinhomes (VHM) has released the Q4 financial report; many business records were made. The consolidated net revenue reached VND21.512 trillion in this quarter, up by 54 percent over the same period last year, because the company delivered products in four projects, namely Vinhomes Ocean Park, Vinhomes Grand Park, Vinhomes Smart City and Vinhomes Symphony. The financial revenue also soared from VND1.388 trillion in Q4 2019 to VND10.175 trillion in Q4 2020 with VND9.68 trillion from investment transfer deals. Besides Vinhomes, Vincom Retail also reported satisfactory growth rate in Q4 2020 with consolidated net revenue reaching VND3.253 trillion, up by 16.8 percent compared with the same period in 2019, and 84.8 percent compared with the quarter before. The revenue from real estate transferred was VND1.547 trillion, an increase of 1,347.7 percent over the previous quarter, mostly from the delivery of two large commercial townhouse projects of My Tho and Bac Lieu. Ho Hung Anh Techcombank of Anh has reported the pre-tax profit of VND15.8 trillion in 2020, up by 23.1 percent over 2019. The enterprises of billionaires Pham Nhat Vuong, Ho Hung Anh, Nguyen Dang Quang and Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao have reported good business results for 2020. This is an impressive business result if noting that the country is struggling to fight the pandemic and commercial banks have to support enterprises. With the result, Techcombank has listed itself among the top 3 banks with the highest profits, surpassing BIDV and Agribank. The noteworthy feature is that the NPL ratio of Techcombank fell sharply to 0.5 percent from 1.3 percent in early 2020. It has the lowest bad debt ratio of all banks. According to Forbes, as of the end of January 27, Anh had stock assets valued at $1.9 billion, though TCB shares lost 7-8 percent after three sessions. Truong Gia Binh FPT, the largest Vietnamese IT group, has overcome the Covid-19 storm, reporting revenue and profit growth rates of 7.6 percent and 12.8 percent. Digital transformation and IT services in the global market and the stable growth of telecommunications were the brightest business operations of the company. Its revenue and pre-tax profit reached VND29.83 trillion and VND5.261 trillion in 2020, up by 7.6 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Pham Thanh Hung Pham Thanh Hung of Cen Land has released a resolution on approving an investment deal on buying, selling and transferring real estate belonging to Chanh Nghia Quoc Cuong apartment project in Thu Dau Mot City of Binh Duong province, developed by C-Holdings JSC. The total investment capital is VND485 billion. Established in 2018, C-Holdings is now the investor of C-Sky View, a high-end apartment project which aims to create a livable urban area in Thu Dau Mot City. Prior to that, C-Holdings and Cen Land signed a cooperation contract on investment in C-Sky View, under which Cen Land is the official investor of the project instead of the business development unit. Bankers A lot of commercial banks reported huge profits in 2020. SeABank of Nguyen Thi Nga reported pre-tax consolidated profit of VND1.729 trillion, up by 24 percent over 2019, ROE of 11.06 percent. Meanwhile, its bad debt ratio was 1.86 percent only. HDBank of Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao had pre-tax profit of VND5.818 trillion, up by 15.9 percent, and the bad debt ratio was 0.93 percent. Its revenue from services increased by 51.8 percent. ACB of Tran Hung Huy has reported pre-tax profit of VND9.6 trillion for 2020, up by 27.7 percent. ACB reported a bad debt ratio of VND1.84 trillion at the end of 2020, an increase of 27 percent compared with early 2020. The bad debt ratio rose from 0.54 percent to 0.6 percent of total outstanding loans. Hanh Nguyen Earning VND10 trillion within two months, 'boss Thuy' enters top list of billionaires With VND10.7 trillion, Nguyen Duc Thuy, known as boss Thuy, will become the 12th richest stock billionaire. Two months ago, his stock assets were worth less than VND1 trillion. DUBLIN, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Copper Foil Market (Value, Volume) - Analysis by Product (Electrodeposited, Rolled), Industry (PCBs, LiB, EM Shielding), Application, by Region, by Country (2020 Edition): Market Insights and Outlook Post Covid-19 Pandemic (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Copper Foil Market crossed the USD 10 billion value and amounted to 177.25 thousand tonnes in the year 2019. Global Copper Foil industry is facing supply-demand imbalance with low production capacity of copper foil, mainly because of the huge demand from secondary batteries. Further, the growing demand for electric vehicles on account of rising crude oil prices, rapid development in the electrical and electronic industry, and a surge in automotive production are the factors that drive the market growth. Moreover, the increasing adoption of copper foils in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and lithium-ion batteries is expected to offer lucrative opportunities to the manufacturers of copper foils. But in the current year 2020, the market has been impacted by the effect of coronavirus. Copper is a key commodity used primarily in construction and electronics manufacturing and a downturn in Chinese economic activity due to the pandemic has severely dented copper demand as major industry and building projects are put on hold during lockdown measures. Also, the copper foil industry is characterized by the presence of small and mid-sized companies that are not capable enough to compensate for the gap in the demand and supply of copper foil. Electrodeposited Copper Foil segment has been gaining popularity among other segments and is expected to keep major market share in the forecast period on account of the increasing demand for electrodeposited copper foil applications in rigid circuits and batteries. Furthermore, increasing PCB production in consumer electronics has led to strong demand for electrodeposited copper foil, thereby expected to drive the global copper foil market. The demand for consumer gadgets, such as smartphones, PCs, tablets, and other medical electronics products is rapidly increasing across the world, with India and China expected to remain at the top of market growth. As printed circuits boards are deployed in almost all electronics products, PCB is likely to drive the demand for copper foil in the coming years The rapid economic development and globalization, the growth of personal disposable income, and the emergence of the emerging e-sports industry have brought new opportunities to the electronics and electrical industries, which drives the demand in the copper foil market. The Asia Pacific region dominated the global market share and continues the dominance in forecast period also on account of the increasing production activities in countries like china. Asia-Pacific holds the largest market share in the global copper foil market, owing to the presence of many PCB producers in the region along with the EVs market boom in China. In addition, the bolstering growth of the electrical and electronic industry in the region and increasing exports from the region is expected to drive the demand during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered: 1. Report Scope and Methodology 2. Strategic Recommendations 3. Global Copper Foil Market Product Outlook 4. Global Copper Foil Market: An Analysis 4.1 Market Size, By Value, Year 2015-2025 4.2 Market Size, By Volume, Year 2015-2025 4.3 Market Growth Rate, Year 2015-2025 5. Global Copper Foil Market Segmentation By Product (By Value, By Volume) 5.1 Competitive Scenario of Global Copper Foil Market: By Product 5.2 Electrodeposited Copper Foil- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 5.3 Rolled Copper Foil- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6. Global Copper Foil Market Segmentation By Industry (By Value, By Volume) 6.1 Competitive Scenario of Global Copper Foil: By Industry 6.2 Printed Circuit Board- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6.3 Lithium-ion Batteries- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 6.4 Electromagnetic Shielding- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7. Global Copper Foil Market Segmentation By Application (By Value, By Volume) 7.1 Competitive Scenario of Global Copper Foil: By Application 7.2 Automotive- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7.3 Industrial Equipment- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7.4 Building & Construction- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7.5 Electrical & Electronics- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 7.6 Others- Market Size and Forecast (2020-2025) 8. Global Copper Foil Market: Regional Analysis 9. North America Copper Foil Market: An Analysis (By Value, By Volume) 9.1 North America Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Value 9.2 North America Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Volume 9.3 North America Copper Foil Market - Prominent Companies 9.4 Market Segmentation By Product (Electrodeposited Copper Foil and Rolled Copper Foil) 9.5 Market Segmentation By Industry (Printed Circuit Boards, Lithium-ion batteries and Electromagnetic Shielding) 9.6 Market Segmentation By Application (Automotive, Industrial Equipment, Building & Construction, Electrical & Electronics and Others) 9.7 North America Copper Foil Market: Country Analysis 9.8 Market Opportunity Chart of North America Copper Foil Market - By Country, By Value (Year-2025) 9.9 Competitive Scenario of North America- By Country 9.10 United States Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Value 9.11 United States Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Volume 9.12 United States Copper Foil Market Leading Companies 9.13 United States Copper Foil Market Segmentation By Product, Industry, Application 9.14 Canada Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Value 9.15 Canada Copper Foil Market: Size and Forecast (2020-2025), By Volume 9.16 Canada Copper Foil Market Leading Companies 9.17 Canada Copper Foil Market Segmentation By Product, Industry, Application 10. Europe Copper Foil Market: An Analysis (By Value, By Volume) 11. Asia Pacific Copper Foil Market: An Analysis (By Value, By Volume) 12. Global Copper Foil Market Dynamics 12.1 Global Copper Foil Market Drivers 12.2 Global Copper Foil Market Restraints 12.3 Global Copper Foil Market Trends 13. Market Attractiveness and Strategic Analysis 13.1 Market Attractiveness 13.1.1 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Copper Foil Market - By Product, By Value (Year-2025) 13.1.2 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Copper Foil Market - By Industry, By Value (Year-2025) 13.1.3 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Copper Foil Market - By Application, By Value (Year-2025) 13.1.4 Market Attractiveness Chart of Global Copper Foil Market - By Region, By Value, (Year-2025) 13.2 Strategic Analysis 13.2.1 Mergers and Acquisitions 13.2.2 Recent Industry Developments 14. Competitive Landscape 14.1 Market Share Analysis 14.2 Competitive Positioning (Leaders, Challengers, Followers, Niche Players) 15. Company Profiles (Business Description, Financial Analysis, Business Strategy) 15.1 Targray 15.2 Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. 15.3 Doosan 15.4 JX Nippon Mining & Metals 15.5 Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. 15.6 KCFT 15.7 ILJIN MATERIALS Co., Ltd. 15.8 Nuode Investment Co Ltd 15.9 Global Brass & Copper Inc. 15.10 Rogers Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/eybcea 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 PwC partners could face criminal charges over the auditing giants use of a legal shield to withhold information from the Australian Tax Office, in a move that may affect how big four consulting firms approach corporate tax advice. The ATO launched a civil lawsuit against PwC and meat processing company JBS last year after it refused to hand over corporate information during a tax audit, citing legal professional privilege. Now, PwCs lawyers are deciding whether to seek a stay order after the ATO raised the possibility of criminal charges over the same matter. Richard McHugh SC said the ATOs refusal to rule out criminal prosecution against PwC had created a very uncomfortable situation. Credit:Louise Kennerley At the heart of the case is whether PwC inappropriately used legal professional privilege (LPP) to withhold facts and evidence from the ATO in completing work for JBS and its subsidiaries. Comcast said Wednesday that it will suspend its data caps in over a dozen states and the District of Columbia for at least six months, apparently because of a deal the company struck with the state of Pennsylvania. If you live anywhere else in the United States, your reaction was probably the same as mine: Why isnt Comcast doing the rest of us the same favor? Though Comcast services most of the United States, only these 14 states will see a suspension of their data caps for six months: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and parts of North Carolina and Ohio, as well as the District of Columbia. The suspension apparently has come about because of a deal struck between the ISP and the State of Pennsylvania, which delays the data caps until July. Were pausing our data plan in our Northeastern markets because it is new there and we are providing them with additional time to become familiar with the new plan, a Comcast spokesperson told PCWorld via email. Customers in these markets now have six months to understand their data usage and the earliest a customer may see charges is August 21. Comcast, like many ISPs we began tracking in 2020, suspended its data caps for several months around March, when the United States went into lockdown because of the pandemic. Though states like California were always subject to data caps, Comcasts Northeastern customers were not, presumably because Verizons competing FiOS service offered unlimited data. When Comcast reinstated the data caps on July 1, 2020, the Northeastern states also fell victim. Disclosure: Im a Comcast Xfinity customer myself, and I exceeded the companys broadband data cap in December. My kids are still distance-learning via Zoom; Im still working full-time from home, and attempting some form of social life through Twitter, Zoom, Facebook, and whatever video game I can download and play with friends or my kids. All of these activities require data, whose quantity I managed carefully through Comcasts Xfinity app. I still exceeded it by a few gigabytes in December, and I immediately started looking for alternatives in the Bay Area. (If Sonic ever manages to extend its unlimited broadband a few more miles, Im in business.) For now, however, there are millions and millions of customers like me suffering through the same pandemic, but without the same data-cap break those 14 states and D.C. are getting. Slowing data, as carriers like AT&T or T-Mobile do as you exceed a soft data cap, seems like an acceptable compromise. Its a slight slap on the wrist that will still let you conduct a Zoom call, but you'll feel it on your next video game download. At least Comcasts Internet Essentials program wont be subject to the caps. Comcast also said this week that it was increasing the speed of the $9.95/month Internet Essentials program to 50Mbps for downloads, after an ex-employee launched a viral tweet in January that claimed that the previous 25Mbps plan wasnt nearly enough. Data caps arent necessary, but theyre a policy Comcast can enforce because of the lack of competition. Whats really unfair is the dual standard. If Comcast is going to suspend data caps, suspend them for everyone. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd has sourced the world's first consignment of 'carbon-neutral oil' from the US as it looks to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035. Reliance, which operates the world's largest single location oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat with capacity of 68.2 million tonnes a year, got 2 million barrels of consignment Permian basin, the US supplier said in a statement. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental, delivered carbon-neutral oil to Reliance, the firm said. "This transaction, which was arranged in conjunction with Macquarie Group's Commodities and Global Markets group (Macquarie), is the energy industry's first major petroleum shipment for which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the entire crude lifecycle, well head through combustion of end products, have been offset," it said. Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Macquarie will offset carbon dioxide equivalent to that associated with the production, delivery and refining of the crude oil and the use of the resulting product through the retirement of carbon offset credits. This will make the oil 'carbon-neutral'. The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Sea Pearl containing the carbon-neutral oil unloaded the cargo at Jamnagar on January 28. "This transaction is a first step in the creation of a new market for climate-differentiated crude oil," the statement said. It is also a bridge to the development of a further differentiated petroleum product, net-zero oil, which Occidental intends to eventually produce through the capture and sequestration of atmospheric CO2 via industrial-scale direct air capture (DAC) facilities and geological sequestration. Ambani had in July last year unveiled plans to turn Reliance into a net carbon zero company by 2035. This will be done by embracing new technologies to convert its carbon dioxide emissions into useful products and chemicals. OLCV said the oil was produced in the US Permian Basin by Occidental and delivered to Reliance in India. "Macquarie arranged and structured the bundled offset supply and retirement," it said. The offsets were sourced from a variety of projects verified under the Verra Verified Carbon Standard meeting eligibility criteria for the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). "The volume of offsets applied against the cargo are sufficient to cover the expected GHG emissions from the entire crude lifecycle including oil extraction, transport, storage, shipping, refining, subsequent use, and combustion," it said. This type of transaction, which involves the bundling of high-quality carbon offsets with crude oil, is an immediate executable solution that helps promote investments in longer-term, industrial-scale decarbonisation strategies. It is also a step in the furtherance of Occidental's net-zero ambitions and commitment to addressing climate change today. Occidental, the first US-based international energy company to announce an ambition to achieve net-zero GHG emissions associated with the use of its products by 2050, has been using carbon-dioxide in its enhanced oil recovery operations in the Permian for over 40 years. "We are taking important initial steps to work with our customers in hard-to-decarbonize industries to offer carbon-neutral and other low-carbon products that will leverage our expertise in carbon management to lower their total carbon impact and address Scope 3 emissions," said Richard Jackson, president of OLCV. Also Read: Delhi HC orders status quo on Future Group-Reliance deal Credit: CC0 Public Domain Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck last March, psychiatric emergency visits at Rady Children's Hospital near San Diego have crept up as youths and teens struggle with virtual learning, social isolation and unstable home lives. "March through May, we had a spike, about a 5 percent to 7 percent increase in the kids coming to our emergency room," said Sandy Mueller, senior director of behavioral health services for Rady Children's Hospital. "That dipped down in May to June, when school let out. And then we saw a 7 percent increase to the present." In similar findings, a report released by the Centers for Disease Control in November showed that mental health visits comprised a greater percentage of pediatric emergency room visits during the pandemic in 2020, compared to the same months of the previous year. From mid-March 2020 through October, the report stated, "the proportion of mental healthrelated (emergency department) visits increased sharply," rising 24 percent among children ages 5 to 11, and 31 percent among adolescents ages 12 to 17, over the same period in 2019. Moreover, many of the patients at Rady have more severe and complex problems than the hospital typically sees, Mueller said. "Those kids have higher acuity, higher levels of anxiety and depression," she said, including "social isolation, food insecurity, family stressors at home. There's a stronger overlay of child abuse issues. Those kids aren't able to be in school, so they're enduring more abuse at home." The problems facing families may have deeper, more enduring effects on children, who don't have the perspective to see the pandemic as a temporary circumstance. "COVID, job loss, social isolation, that's a global issue for adults and kids," Mueller said. "But the complexity of that for kids with underlying mental health issues is higher.... They don't have free meals. Their social network, after-school programs, those are severed." The increased mental health visits at Rady, however, aren't consistent with the trend in San Diego, where countywide mental health emergency room visits for youth have declined, said Luke Bergmann, director of behavioral health services for the County of San Diego. Data from 12 local hospitals show that psychiatric-related visits for youth declined 27 percent from February 2020 to January 2021, compared to the same period from 2019 to 2020. That's probably not a good sign, as the drop likely represents mental health problems that aren't getting treated. "It's not necessarily telling us that the need for crisis care is down, but it's telling us that people are accessing crisis care at much lower rates," Bergmann said. Parents may be taking children for emergency care at Rady because of its specialty in pediatrics, he said, but could be reluctant to seek care at other hospitals during the pandemic, or unable to navigate mental health systems. Substance abuse treatment for all age groups including young people is also down, while overdose deaths have risen, he said. The deferred treatment for mental health disorders will likely have costs down the line, Bergmann cautioned. Mental wellness is a "lagging indicator," in which the effects of trauma today can show up months or years later, he said. "We know that mental trauma experienced among young people has impacts on their lives that can last many, many years," he said. "We know this through ACEs data (adverse childhood experiences) when young people experience trauma, we can see the impact in both their mental health and their physical health even decades later." From frustration with virtual learning and anxiety about grades, to the loss of normal social life, students now face a variety of stresses that can seem insurmountable, even for those without underlying mental health problems, said Kristine Brady, a psychologist in private practice in Encinitas. "There's just so much hopelessness, and teenagers have a hard time understanding just how temporary this is," she said. "They are 13 years old, so this feels like a lot of their life. Kids are just missing out on these milestones. There's a lot of losses: no prom, no yearbook signing, no graduation. Kids who used to complain about school are now saying, 'I'm missing school.'" Struggles with virtual education affect students across the academic spectrum. High-achieving perfectionists fear not getting good grades or getting into the college of their choice, while those with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other challenges worry they might not graduate at all. "That high-functioning, high-academic kid is cutting, wanting to kill themselves, and has so much anxiety because they feel they're not going to succeed in life, and it's very fatalistic. They feel it's ruined their life," Mueller said. "Then you have kids who are academically struggling who are failing even more, who feel like this is hopeless, and why bother, so they're withdrawing." Virtual learning platforms themselves create stress, as students scramble to master content while learning all the apps and systems used to deliver it, Brady said. "They have a really hard time navigating the system," she said. "The teacher may say turn on the whiteboard, share your screen. They have to shift from three different apps on whiteboard, which may be slow. If they're called on to answer, and they're locked, that brings on huge anxiety. Especially if you have ADHD, those kids are really struggling and they already have trouble with organization. To have to organize something on a screen you can't even see is setting them up for failure." Her own son Ryan Kies, 16, a student at San Dieguito Academy, said online learning can be confusing and frustrating, even for students without academic obstacles. "Not having classmates nearby is a big part," he said. "Usually, if you have just a small question you could ask the person sitting next to you, but now that's not an option. If you miss just a small bit of information that the teacher says, you have to stop the whole class." Students are self-conscious about participating on Zoom, and worried about being called to answer questions online, Brady said. Without friends and classmates for support, they're less able to cope with those stresses. "Teenagers need to be around other teens, their job right now is to get out there and explore with other kids, and that's not possible right now for many," she said. Parents can help by expressing empathy, backing off from strict academic expectations, and taking time for fun, safe family outings, or allowing students to take part in socially distanced activities with friends, she said. For students from troubled families, the setbacks of the pandemic are even greater, and potentially life-threatening, Mueller said. "We've had a lot more kids who have been significantly abused," she said. "Parents are losing jobs, stressed, and drinking more, and they're all home. The environment is intensified, so we're seeing a lot more injuries to kids." For younger children, that often shows up as skull fractures, while adolescents suffer bruising or broken bones from physical abuse. Mental and physical health crises often overlap, she said. "Older kids coming in saying they're suicidal, but when we assess we find out they're abused in home and have acute injuries," Mueller said. Job loss and other financial pressures cause family conflict to escalate, and isolation obscures its consequences. Child sexual abuse is both worsened and hidden under the cloud of the pandemic, she said. "Children being sexually abused in home had hours of reprieve (during the school day) and now they're with their perpetrator 24-7 and have no way to escape," she said. "For our kids that have child abuse issues, there's a higher chance for their parents to reoffend or abuse, because those kids can't get a break from them." School closures also confound efforts to identify those threats. Teachers are mandated reporters, who must notify public safety and health authorities of suspected child abuse. They are often the first line of defense, and sometimes the only trusted adult whom abused children can turn to for help. With schools out of session and students' cameras often turned off during class Zoom sessions, teachers might not see the danger signs, Mueller said. "School is a safety net for kids, and we took that safety net away, and we don't know what's going on in the homes and what their needs are," she said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Military Propellants and Explosives 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 Military Propellants and Explosives 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 2021 to 2026. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Military Propellants and Explosives Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31817 According to this latest study, the 2020 growth of Military Propellants and Explosives will have significant changes from the previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global Military Propellants and Explosives market size (a most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of xx% in 2020, from US$ xx million in 2019. Over the next five years, the Military Propellants and Explosives market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2025. This Military Propellants and Explosives 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 Military Propellants and Explosives market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Explore Pakistan Ordnance Factories Australian Munitions Eurenco General Dynamics MAXAM Corp Rheinmetall Defence BAE Systems Forcit Solar Group Serbian defence industrial facilities NITRO-CHEM Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31817 This study considers the Military Propellants and Explosives value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Military Propellants Military Explosives Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2016 to 2021, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Aerospace Defense 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 Military Propellants and Explosives Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31817 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Military Propellants and Explosives consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2016 to 2021, and forecast to 2026. To understand the structure of the Military Propellants and Explosives market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Military Propellants and Explosives 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 Military Propellants and Explosives 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 Military Propellants and Explosives 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/military-propellants-and-explosives-market-study-by-observing-top-players-trends-forecast-till-2026/ Council await price to fix landslip at Newbridge with possible 500k-1m cost This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2021 Damage caused to Wrexham communities during last months flooding could cost as much as 2m to repair, a senior councillor has revealed. Dozens of homes in the county borough had to be evacuated during Storm Christoph as torrential downpours caused water to enter peoples properties. Residents in Bangor-on-Dee, New Broughton, Pontfadog and Rossett were all impacted by the bad weather, with Welsh Government support payments pending. However, the biggest repair bill is expected to arise as a result of a landslide in Newbridge, which caused a section of footpath to collapse down an embankment. Wrexham Councils deputy leader David A Bithell has called for ministers to keep to their promise to provide money to cover the costs. He said: Officers are going through about 150 cases so far and some properties have been flooded internally. Clearly one of the big issues that weve got is down in Newbridge, where the embankment has slipped. Weve had some initial feedback from the geotechnical engineer to say there is a big problem down there. Were waiting for the consultants report but that could run into half a million, seven hundred thousand or it could be a million pounds, nobody really knows until we get the estimates for that. He added: The best estimate is its going to be well over a 1m and it could be 2m in damages caused by the recent floods. Were hopeful that the Welsh Government are going to honour their commitment to the council when they said that there is money available. A major incident was declared in Bangor-on-Dee in the early hours of January 21 as water levels in the River Dee reached a record high. It led to emergency services and other agencies working through the night to evacuate residents using 44 vehicles. The councils chief executive Ian Bancroft said the amount of rain witnessed had been unprecedented, but work was being carried out to fully understand the cause of the flooding. He added that officials were also looking at measures to prevent future flooding as climate change makes further incidents more likely. He said: I think the really important thing to remember is historically the River Dee was at its highest level ever as a result of the rainfall that we had. That put pressure on places that you wouldnt expect as the river was right at the top of the riverbank in Bangor-on-Dee and wed never seen flooding in New Broughton in the place where we had flooding. Given changes to the climate, we have to have a concern that it may not be as irregular for that type of incident as it has been in the past. We have to make sure that we are planning properly for the future in light of the climate changes that were facing. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter The West Bengal health department on Wednesday rolled out Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, at three vaccination centres in the city -- each set to inoculate 20 frontline COVID-19 warriors during the day -- an official said. The three centres -- state-run SSKM hospital, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and Kolkata Medical College and Hospital - would be administering the vaccines to health and civic workers, after they sign a consent form. "Everyone receiving Covaxin doses are required to sign an informed consent form. Today, a total of 60 beneficiaries at the three sites will be administered this vaccine. We do not want to take any chance. Slowly and slowly, we will speed up the process," the official told. So far, Covishield, manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, has been administered to nearly three lakh people in Bengal. Among those who received Covaxin on the first day are National Health Mission managing director Saumitra Mohan, its programme officer Smita Sanyal Sukla and Directorate of Medical Education head Dr Debasish Bhattacharya. A second consignment of Covaxin vaccines reached the city from Hyderabad earlier in the day, the official 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.) [February 03, 2021] Online Math Learning Platform Cuemath Raises USD 40 Million in Series C Round Cuemath, a leader in online math learning, today announced the closure of its Series C round of financing. The USD 40 million round was led by Lightstone Aspada and Alpha Wave Incubation and saw participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital India, CapitalG (formerly Google (News - Alert) Capital) and Manta Ray. Cuemath is founded by Manan Khurma, who has personally taught Math to over 10,000 students, "Globally, education is undergoing a massive transformation, driven by digital formats allowing students to leverage best practices from anywhere in the world. Today, just the online math tutoring space is a USD 30 billion global market. But brick-and-mortar stores are not able to adapt and scale fast enough as they rely on teaching techniques that are generations old," Manan Khurma, Founder and CEO, Cuemath said. "Cuemath's proprietary methodology challenges the old-school practices. We treat math not just as a subject, but a life skill, with our sessions designed to impact students' logical reasoning abilities. This fundraise gives us the opportunity to further build our technology while expanding our base to deliver the Cuemath advantage to millions of students worldwide," Khurma added. Since its inception, Cuemath has built a highly differentiated learning model on the back of its technology platform and gamified pedagogy. This has helped it drive retention rates as high as 75%+ across India and the US, while maintaining conversion rates as high as 60%+ across its organic channels. Cuemath focuses on Math, as not just as another school subject, but as a life skill. Students are given personal attention by a Cuemath-trained Math expert based in India, with real-time intervention in a one to few (maximum of 6 students in a class) digital classroom. Each student is on a personalized learning path. This model allows delivering 1:1 quality learning outcomes with 1 to many economics. Cuemath's proprietary methodology delivers proven outcomes allowing students to double their speed of solving Math questions within 12 months. Superior learning outcomes have driven the average subscription tenure up by more than 50% across India and the US. Currently, close to 60,000 students from across 10 countries spend an average of five hours on the platform each month. Cuemath also empowers educated and well-qualified women in India by providing them with an alternate and flexible career option to join as teachers with the Cuemath program. At present, more than 96% of the teachers engaged at Cuemath are women. The new funding will be used to drive expansion of the Cuemath platform globally to deliver the Cuemath pedagogy to millions of math students worldwide. The company will build on its successful launch in the US to further scale up in the geography, along with other international markets. Leading investment bank IndigoEdge was the exclusive advisor to Cuemath for this transaction. Quotes: Lightstone Aspada "The future of education (and work) lies in building and strengthening 21st century life-skills among learners. By unbundling math+ using a smart interface, trained & empathetic tutors and a unique pedagogy, Cuemath demonstrates tremendous potential to achieve its global ambition to scale the love for math+, an essential life-skill, among learners. We look forward to partnering with the inspiring leadership at Cuemath on this growth journey," Divya Venkatavaraghavan, Principal, LGT Lightstone Aspada said. Alpha Wave Incubation Anirudh Singh, Managing Director, Alpha Wave Incubation said in a press statement, "Online math tutoring has proven to be a global market opportunity. We were very impressed by Cuemath's ability to successfully deliver top-tier learning outcomes through its technology platform and gamification-driven pedagogy. Its success in India and the US, while maintaining high quality unit economics differentiates the company and proves Cuemath's ability to tap into the massive global market opportunity." Sequoia Capital (News - Alert) India "Cuemath has always focused on building educational products that are laser-focused on improving learning outcomes. A curriculum, that has been developed and refined over several years combined with a digital live learning platform, has resulted in the program's rapid adoption among global audiences. This round is an important milestone in their journey and the Sequoia Capital India team is thrilled to continue their support of Manan and his team as they scale beyond India and into global markets," Abheek Anand, Managing Director, Sequoia India commented. CapitalG Commenting on the funding, David Lawee, Founder and General Partner, CapitalG said, "Cuemath is leveraging leading-edge technology to bring much-needed improvements in the global tutoring market, applying their differentiated, proven and affordable pedagogies to millions of K-12 students across the globe. We are proud to continue supporting Manan Khurma and his team on their journey to bring high-quality math and coding instruction to millions of students worldwide." Manta Ray "We are delighted to be able to continue supporting Cuemath in this next phase of their business growth. We strongly believe that with this round of funding, Cuemath is wellpositioned to be counted among the leaders in math learning globally - a vital part of any person's education journey," Lawrence Barclay from Manta Ray said. *** About Cuemath Cuemath is India's leading online math learning and coding program or KG-10th grade students across all school boards, spread over 10+ countries (UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and more). The Cuemath Program has been designed to build a strong math and coding foundation in children by sharpening their knowledge of concepts, aptitude and reasoning skills. Students in the Cuemath program are taught by world class teachers from India's premier institutions, in tailor-made sessions, created to focus on the individual needs of the students. About Lightstone Aspada Formed in partnership with Aspada and LGT in August 2019, LGT Lightstone Aspada is the Indiafocused impact investment platform of LGT Lightstone. Aspada, backed by the Soros Economic Development Fund, has been a pioneering investor in commercially scalable, high impact businesses across food supply chains, healthcare, education and financial services in India over the last decade. LGT Lightstone is LGT Group's impact investing initiative to build a global multi-billion dollar direct investing platform focused on scalable businesses that provide access to improved livelihoods, information and services for underserved consumers around the world and/or promote sustainable resource utilization. About Alpha Wave Incubation Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) is a USD 300 million venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. AWI has a dedicated team across London, Bangalore and Abu Dhabi. The fund invests in early-stage tech-enabled, disruptive start-ups in India and Southeast Asia. In addition to providing outstanding founders with early-stage capital, AWI offers access to an unrivaled set of support mechanisms for business-building, while also helping companies expand globally and open up new markets in the GCC/MENA region and beyond. About Falcon Edge Capital Falcon Edge Capital is a diversified global alternative asset manager co-founded in 2012 by Rick Gerson, Navroz D. Udwadia and Ryan Khoury. Falcon Edge manages approximately USD 4 billion in assets across public and private markets. Falcon Edge has offices in New York, London and Bangalore. The firm offers a variety of investment products and strategies that cover a number of asset classes, themes and geographies. About Sequoia Capital India Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Sequoia India operates in Southeast Asia and India where they actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, across categories, including BYJU's, Carousell, Druva, Gojek, OYO Rooms, Tokopedia, Truecaller, Zilingo, Zomato and more. Sequoia spurs founders to push the boundaries of what's possible. In partnering with Sequoia, startups benefit from 48 years of tribal knowledge and lessons learned, working with companies like Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn (News - Alert) and Stripe early on. From the beginning, non-profits have been the backbone of their LP base, which means the founders' accomplishments make a meaningful difference. The majority of profits are returned to great causes like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT (News - Alert) . For more information on Sequoia's work in India and SE Asia, visit sequoiacap.com/india About CapitalG CapitalG, Alphabet's independent growth fund, helps remarkable entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their businesses. We partner with transformational companies as they navigate the challenges of scaling by connecting them to the latest technology and brightest minds at Alphabet. CapitalG is proud to have worked with many of the most consequential technology companies across the world, including Aye Finance, Cuemath, Cardekho, Practo, and Commonfloor in India. To learn more, visit www.CapitalG.com. About Manta Ray Manta Ray is an early-stage venture capital fund backing mission-driven founders addressing significant global challenges through applying leading-edge technologies. The fund provides flexible and patient capital, leveraging time, resources and networks as far as possible to support its portfolio companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005926/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Former President Donald Trump responded to the Democrats' unconstitutional impeachment efforts through a 14-page letter submitted on Tuesday through his legal counsels Bruce Castor, Jr. and David Schoen. The letter, addressed to the "honorable" members of the United States Senate, answers the "incitement of insurrection" and breaks the "impeachment allegations lodged against" Trump into "8 Averments" or points. The first averment acknowledges the constitutional provision for the impeachment but denies its applicability to "the 45th President of the United States since he is no longer 'President'," for the said "constitutional provision requires that a person actually hold office to be impeached." Thus, the Senate is "unable to remove from office the 45th President whose term has expired" and "therefore irrelevant to any matter before the senate". For Averment 2, Trump's legal counsels "denied" his engagement in "insurrection or rebellion against the United States" and that "as a private citizen" now, the "Senate has no jurisdiction over his ability to hold office and for the Senate to take action on this averment would constitute a Bill of Attainder", which violates the constitution. On allegations that Trump violated his oath of office, Averment 3 exerted that the former president actually "executed his duties" and "acted to the best of his ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" at all times "while never engaging in any high Crimes or Misdemeanors". Trump's lawyers stressed that "the current proceeding before the Senate is void ab initio as a legal nullity patently contrary to the plain language of the Constitution". As to the 4th Averment that addresses allegations on Trump's repeated issuance of "false statements" on election fraud, Trump admitted saying the election was fraud in exercise of "his First Amendment right under the Constitution" and makes such allegations "irrelevant to any matter properly before the Senate." The lawyers cited the same for the 5th Averment. Trump, for Averment 6, denied inciting "the crowd to engage in destructive behavior" last Jan. 6, clarifying that his statement "if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore" pertained to "the need to fight for election security in general, as evidenced by the recording of the speech." His legal counsels condemned the use of "seditious acts" in the article of impeachments due to it being "a term of art with legal meaning" and its use in the article "denied the context in which it was used." Trump also denied, under Averment 7, allegations that he instructed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "'find' votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results" before threatening him if he failed to do so. He clarified that "find" was used out of context because he meant it to mean "find that you may have many that aren't even signed and you have many that are forgeries." With regards to allegations of "gravely" endangering "the security of the United States and its institutions of Government" under Averment 8, Trump denied doing so and denied "integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch Government." "To the extent there are factual allegations made against the 45th President of the United States contained in Article I that are not specifically addressed above, said allegations are denied and strict proof at time of hearing is demanded," Trump's legal counsel undermined. Castor and Schoen also identified eight legal defenses that the articles of impeachment lodged against Trump is "facially and substantially flawed, and otherwise unconstitutional, and must be dismissed with prejudice". These are on the basis of lack of jurisdiction because Trump "holds no public office from which he can be removed" making the "Article of Impeachment moot and non-justiciable," it violates "Article 1, Sec. 9. Cl. 3" of the constitution, and it "misconstrues protected speech and fails to meet the constitutional standard for any impeachable offense." In addition, the lawyers cited the lack of "due process in rushing to issue the Article of Impeachment," it "violates the 45th President's right to free speech," it is "constitutionally flawed in that it charges multiple instances of allegedly impeachable conduct in a single article," and the "Chief Justice is not set to preside over the proceeding contemplated by the Senate" as he is "constitutionally required to do." According to Townhall, Trump is scheduled for the impeachment trial in the Senate next Monday, Feb. 8. PJ Media, on the other hand, commented that the president's answer presents a "very strong case in his defense" due to the "salient arguments for his innocence" while giving a warning "against the dangerous precedent this impeachment would set for free speech and for due process." TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Datomize announced the completion of its $6 million seed funding round for the commercialization of its synthetic data solution that accelerates time to market for artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) models and new products that drive business growth. This funding round was led by TPY Capital, as part of its thematic focus on groundbreaking data and analytics startups, with participation from its first investor F2 Venture Capital, which backs visionary big data and AI companies. "Datomize's synthetic data revolutionizes the AI/ML and IT lifecycle by removing the major bottleneck that prevents the successful deployment of AI/ML models and continuous delivery of evolving applications," said Avi Weiss, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). "Datomize makes the generation and management of synthetic data simpler, more effective, and efficient, so that highly trained and hard to find data scientists can focus on analysis and strategy." There is a massive data shortage caused by data privacy laws that is limiting the effectiveness of development and training of AI/ML models. According to the Gartner Hype Cycle for Privacy released July 2020, authored by Bernard Woo and Bart Willemsen, "One of the major problems with AI development today is the burden in obtaining real-world data and labeling it so that AI may be trained effectively. Synthetic data addresses the problem of volume and variety for sparse, nonexistent or difficult to get data." Datomize synthesizes new data that preserves the behavioral features of the original data without violating personal privacy regulations. Designed based on real customer data and insights from global banks, Datomize is uniquely able to process highly complex data structures with multiple dependencies and is fully scalable to process thousands of tables with millions of records. Datomize improves the efficiency and speed of developing and training AI/ML models and applications for hundreds of use cases, as companies become more data-driven in the new online economy. "Datomize has the potential to enable enterprises to unlock the value of one of the most prized assets - their data. It eliminates one of the biggest concerns of executives and regulators, jeopardized privacy, by producing synthetic data which can be used for multiple business applications," commented Dekel Persi from TPY. "We are particularly happy to back a founding team which combines a successful entrepreneurship track record with technological depth." Jonathan Saacks from F2 commented, "We are backing Datomize because they have the right solution at the right time. They are supplying exactly what organizations need to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. Designed using real word data from international banks, Datomize has the ability to unlock the value organizations can receive from their data with the scale and speed global organizations need so that their AI/ML models are more powerful, accurate, and can become fully operational faster." The three Datomize co-founders include Avi Weiss, CEO, previously co-founder of ObserveIT, acquired by Proofpoint, Sigal Shaked, CTO and PhD in Software and Systems Engineering with over 15 years of experience in research and implementation of data solutions, and Roy Yogev, who has helped Fortune 500 companies bring new ideas to market for over 25 years. About Datomize Datomize's synthetic data solution accelerates and streamlines the development, training and testing of AI/ML models and applications that drive business growth. Datomize preserves the behavioral features of the original production data without violating personal privacy regulations, to speed up time to market for new products and services and rapidly generate insights that drive digital transformation. Providing the speed and scale required by global financial institutions and highly regulated industries, Datomize processes highly complex data structures with multiple dependencies and is fully scalable to process thousands of tables and millions of records. Datomize enables enterprises to rapidly release new services, move analytics to the cloud, integrate third-party solutions, and glean insights from AI/ML models to become market leaders. For more information, visit the company's website at www.datomize.com. Contacts: Spicetree Communications Wes Rogers t: +1-912-506-0869 e. wes.rogers@spicetreecom.com Sanaa, Feb 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :Married at the age of 12, rejected at 16, and then disfigured in an acid attack, Al-Anoud Hussain Sheryan's fate is a shocking illustration of abuse in a society beset by war and poverty. Now aged 19, the Yemeni woman agreed to relate her ordeal at the hands of her abusive husband -- rare testimony in a country where domestic violence is largely hidden. "He grabbed me by the hair and poured the acid on me while laughing," she told AFP as she sat with her veil framing a face badly scarred by last October's assault that also left deep wounds on her body. "I went through hell," she said, describing her years of marriage which she said she spent chained and often beaten. When her father died, Al-Anoud's mother remarried and then hurried to find a husband for her daughter. "She wanted to protect me," she said. Having lived for four years as a "slave", Al-Anoud was eventually kicked out by her husband, taken in by her sister and began training as a nurse. But her ex-husband decided he wanted her back, and when she refused, he took his revenge. After being hospitalised in a clinic where she had once been employed, Al-Anoud is now waiting to undergo the three plastic surgery operations needed to repair some of the damage. Her doctor Moutawakal Chahari said the procedures will be complex and expensive, and even the bills for the first aid she received had not yet been paid. Apart from this, he stressed the "irreparable psychological effects" of her ordeal. - A grim tally - Al-Anoud filed a complaint against her ex-husband after the attack, but he vanished and remains at large. She is hoping that someone, anyone -- a humanitarian agency, one of the stretched government services, or a grassroots non-government group -- can give her the financial assistance she needs. "I want the police and the courts to punish the criminal who did this, but I also want to reclaim my youth, my studies and my work. I want to regain my life," she said. Child marriage is a feature of Yemeni society but six years of war, which has left the country on the brink of famine, has made it more common and "greatly increased" violence against women, said Tayseer Walid of the Yemeni Women's Union in Sanaa. Families are forced to "rid themselves of the expense of children, especially girls, because of poor financial situations", she told AFP. Many organisations advocating for women and girls had to shut down after war broke out, and those which struggle on do so with scant resources to address the daunting legal, medical and psychological needs. When it comes to the status of women in Yemen, the numbers speak for themselves. A UN survey conducted in 2013 found a third of Yemeni women aged 24-32 were married before the age of 18, and nine percent of those were married before 15. UNICEF has estimated that in 2020 Yemen had some four million married children, 1.4 million of them under 15. - Cry for help - In a 2020 report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which deals with sexual and reproductive issues, estimated that 2.6 million women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence in Yemen. It pointed out that in the era of Covid-19, with lockdowns that cause great strain, "cases of domestic violence are on the rise". The grinding conflict between Iranian-backed Huthi rebels and the government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition has left tens of thousands of people dead and millions displaced. It has plunged the country -- the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula -- into the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, which has expressed fears that some "16 million people will go hungry" in 2021. While violence against women is one of the hidden facets of the humanitarian crisis, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has launched one of the few initiatives to combat this phenomenon. With the support of the Japanese government, it has launched a mobile app to provide counselling to survivors of gender-based violence throughout Yemen, saying that attacks on women and girls have increased 63 percent since 2015. The application, first tested in the country's south which is in government hands, directs victims to protection and support services. Victoria will return to harsher COVID-19 restrictions and up to 600 Australian Open players, officials and support staff have been told to isolate and get tested after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive to coronavirus on Wednesday. Premier Daniel Andrews said in a late-night press conference on Wednesday that the state would return to mandatory masks indoors, would reintroduce caps on gatherings to 15 people in a household and would pause the 75 per cent return to work, scheduled to begin on Monday. Premier Daniel Andrews gives an update on a hotel quarantine worker who has tested positive for COVID-19. Credit:Nine News The case brings an end to the states 28-day run of zero community transmission. We have to assume that this person has infected others, Mr Andrews said. Washington U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has invited the nations new transportation chief to visit Interstate 81 in Syracuse for a first-hand view of plans to tear down the elevated highway and use a new street-level boulevard to spur development. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., disclosed her invitation Tuesday after the Senate confirmed the nomination of Pete Buttigieg to serve as the next U.S. secretary of transportation. Buttigieg, 39, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., was confirmed by a vote of 86-13. He is the nations first openly gay cabinet secretary. He will also serve as President Joe Bidens youngest cabinet member. Gillibrand supported Buttigiegs nomination and said he will be a strong ally for New York state. Working alongside the Biden administration, we have the opportunity to make significant investment in our aging infrastructure and support innovative local projects that reconnect communities, put local residents to work, and address the legacy of systemic racism in our highway system, Gillibrand said. The senator said she mentioned Upstate New Yorks infrastructure projects in a private meeting with Buttigieg before the Senate vote. He understood the importance of federal funding and support for projects like the I-81 community grid, Rochester Inner Loop, Kensington Expressway in Buffalo, and reimagining I-787 in Albany, she said. Separately, Rep. John Katko said he will invite Buttigieg to meet with him in Syracuse to discuss the importance of the I-81 project to Central New York and the need for strong federal support. The federal government generally pays 90% of the cost of interstate highway projects. Katko, R-Camillus, is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He said he also wants Buttigieg to provide an update on the Federal Highway Administrations review of New York states draft plan for I-81. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., met with Buttigieg last month and emphasized the importance of replacing I-81 in Syracuse with a street-level boulevard that would cost $2 billion or more. Schumer told syracuse.com that Buttigieg liked the idea of tearing down the highway and using the new community grid to spur development in historic Black neighborhoods that were bulldozed to build the interstate. Gillibrand has proposed rewriting federal rules for hiring workers on such big infrastructure projects. Her Build Local, Hire Local Act, first introduced in 2019, would require at least half of the workers for big federal infrastructure projects to come from the local community. Hiring priority would be given to people who face barriers to employment, including veterans, ex-offenders and the chronically unemployed. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Penn also directly addressed his anonymous critics, framing their comments as shameful entries, obscene critiques and a betrayal of epic proportions: And to whoever authored these, understand that in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms. I have taken counsel and here will refrain from using the words with which I would otherwise choose to describe the character of your actions. Actor Sean Penn has lashed out at critics of his COVID-19 vaccine site. Credit: Penn described the two comments as highly visible, but amid 150 reader responses, they would probably not have gained much attention if not for Penns email. Penn co-founded CORE - originally called the J/P Haitian Relief Organisation - after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that destroyed much of the island and killed tens of thousands of people. The group continues to work in Haiti and has since provided humanitarian aid after hurricanes in North Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Last year, the non-profit began providing free COVID-19 testing across the United States, starting with the Dodger Stadium site, where they now have 350 staff members and volunteers. The group is helping to run 47 COVID-19 testing sites across the country, including in Chicago, New Orleans, North Carolina, Georgia and the Navajo Nation. CORE relies on a small amount of government funding and on charitable donations, including a $30 million contribution from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, CORE chief executive and co-founder Ann Lee said in an interview last year. Penn takes no salary from the group, according to its federal tax filings. Penn, 60, shared a photo on Twitter on January 26 of him receiving the vaccine, saying he was a lucky man. The New York Times story chronicled what its like to vaccinate more than 7,000 people a day in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, one of the largest vaccination sites in the country, where healthcare workers, retired record-company executives and even Arnold Schwarzenegger lined up for a shot. CORE workers, some of whom are volunteers, perform nonclinical duties, including directing traffic, signing in patients and coordinating with healthcare staff. One of the jobs involves running blue mini-coolers full of loaded syringes from R.V. trailers to the stations where patients are vaccinated in their cars. One of those runners was Garcetti, seen in the articles photos donning a neon vest with the CORE logo on it, directing traffic and checking in patients on an iPad. Penn, in his letter, defended Garcetti as a leader on every level and an encourager-in-chief. One of the online commenters wrote that the site has a shipping container that serves as a designated space for overworked staff to go cry in. If you cant get in, the commenter wrote, its because staff are crying inside. Mara Buxbaum, a representative for CORE and Penn, provided a sheet of statistics about the operation, which said that staff work in eight-hour shifts and are paid hourly. She said as for the other issues raised by the commenters, Penns internal memo to the staff speaks for itself. Labor officials opened an investigation into the Dodger Stadium site on August 27, when it was still a COVID-19 testing site, federal records show. The investigation was prompted by a complaint, and is listed as open, with no confirmed violations, the records show. No other information was immediately available. Representatives for Californias Division of Occupational Safety and Health did not immediately return requests for comment. The department typically does not provide details of complaints or investigations until cases have been closed. CORE has complied with all requests from OSHA and work everyday with our medical and LAFD partners to ensure a safe and productive operation, Buxbaum, the CORE representative, said in a statement. A person familiar with the matter said the complaint questioned whether there was enough shade at the site for workers, and whether tables were spaced far enough apart to allow for physical distancing. The person, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the issues were resolved. In response to questions about Penn and working conditions at Dodger Stadium, Garcetti spokeswoman Andrea Garcia said only that the city has administered more than 195,000 vaccine doses, or 97% of its supply. The mayor, she said, deeply appreciates the groups working at the site, including CORE. In his email, Penn said that Garcetti had not ordered CORE staff to work excessive hours. Instead, he said, Garcetti gave a directive to LAFD leaders, and then fire leaders requested additional CORE manpower - so the responsibility for extra work, he wrote, falls squarely at my feet. He said the organization does everything in its power to comply with workplace safety regulations and the basic laws of common sense, but that COREs mission may require workers to push that envelope. He added that CORE has strong complaint procedures and endless other internal avenues for productive criticism. He called upon OSHA to use common sense understanding about the demands of the job during the pandemic, and said a disaster-response groups work can never ever be compared like the apples to oranges of other workplaces. When there is a quantifiable urgent need and an unquantifiable supply of vaccine, it should be of no surprise that we would have a day of reckoning where surge crowds and slim staffing merge, Penn wrote. He heaped praise on his staff: You rose up. You did. Not me. All of you. And I will admit something. It made me weep. Not with some stupid self-presumed sense of fatherly pride, but simply a human pride in experiencing that people like you exist. 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. Officials inspect the site of a roadside bombing that targeted a police truck and left five officers injured in Sri Sakhon, a district of southern Thailands insurgency-stricken Narathiwat province, Jan. 31, 2021. Thailand held online talks Wednesday with representatives of the main insurgent group in the Deep South, an encounter facilitated by Malaysia that appeared to be the first high-level discussion in nearly a year in efforts to bring peace to the border region. Abdul Rahim Noor, the Malaysian broker of talks between the Thai government and the rebels known as Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Liberation Front, or BRN), confirmed that the online meeting took place and he had facilitated it. Yes, it is true. The Thai side could not come to Kuala Lumpur because of COVID-19, he told BenarNews when contacted for information about the meeting. The BRN team for peace talks came to KL, but the Thai team was in Bangkok. [The meeting] was conducted via online without any problem, Rahim Noor said via text messages. In Bangkok, Thai government officials issued a statement announcing technical-level talks meaning that the full delegations that take part in formal peace talks were not on hand. Thailands technical-level peace talk team had a teleconference with the representatives of the BRN with Tan Sri Abdul Rahim bin Mohammad Noor being a facilitator, said the Secretariat Office for the Peace-Talk Dialogue Panel, which is under the National Security Council. The essences of the meeting were [about] designing an approach on how to handle peace talks during the COVID-19 time and on the topics for the next talks, such as violence reduction and promotion of participation in solving Deep South issues. In early 2020, Rahim Noor brokered two meetings in the Malaysian capital between Thailand and the BRN the largest and most powerful of armed groups waging a decades-old separatist insurgency in the predominantly Muslim and Malay region near the frontier with Malaysia. They were the first direct meetings between Thailand and the BRN in years, but were postponed indefinitely after a second meeting in Kuala Lumpur in March, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This meeting was in line with both sides intent to maintain the continuation of the talks for peace in Deep South. The meeting went smoothly, the Thai secretariat said of Wednesdays meeting. Both sides agreed to keep virtual meetings consistently in order to forge cooperation, which will lead to sustainable solutions to the problems. Wednesdays meeting came three days after a remote-controlled roadside bomb exploded in Si Sakhon, a district of far-southern Narathiwat province, injuring five officers who were riding in a police truck, officials said. The officers were traveling to the scene of a reported arson attack targeting a cellphone communications tower in the area, when the explosion happened. The bombing was the first attack blamed on southern insurgents since Dec. 7, when a police investigator was shot dead in Pattani province. The Deep South encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province. Since the insurgency reignited in January 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed in violence across the region, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank. Nani Yusof contributed to this report from Washington. Russia peacekeepers climb to Armenia Gegharkunik Province village positions Biden strongly condemns manifestations of antisemitism in US Iran intensifies its diplomacy amid Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions Armenia acting PM on forthcoming snap parliamentary elections: We hope to get 60% of votes Lukashenko accuses West of destabilizing situation in Belarus Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief on snap elections: No legal basis for postponing, suspending any function Armenias Pashinyan is met by Yerevan district residents chanting against him We are ready to be fully engaged in negotiation process to resolve Karabakh issue, says Armenia acting PM Armenia ex-President Kocharyan gives interview to Russia TV channel Armenia acting premier: We are ready to start withdrawing troops at any moment Canada MFA expresses concern over 6 Armenian soldiers capture by Azerbaijan troops There are omissions in registration documents of political forces that applied to Armenia Central Electoral Commission Armenia Central Electoral Commission chief: There is activeness in Yerevan for the past day or two Three new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Group of US Congress members threaten Azerbaijans Aliyev regime with sanctions Chicago mayor is sued for allegedly refusing interview with white reporter Iran exports oil to US for first time after long interval "Armenia" bloc top 50 MP candidates are announced 42 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Sri Lanka public beach is covered in charred plastic pellets due to fire in container ship US preparing list of targeted sanctions on Belarus authorities China believes it will own America by 2035, Biden says 15 al-Shabab militants killed in Somalia Newspaper: Armenia political forces that applied for running in election impatiently await CEC decision Newspaper: Changes are expected in Artsakh California prisoner who considers himself Satanist beheads cellmate, dismembers his body Newspaper: Armenia acting PM's "mutually beneficial" proposal to collapse state system? 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 You might look at the first line of Donald Trumps lawyers response to the House of Representatives impeachment articles, see that it has the worlds dumbest typo its addressed to the Members of the Unites States Senate and think: Wow. This cant get any stupider. If so, you clearly havent learned anything from the last four years. In the coming days of Trumps impeachment trial, youre going to hear a lot about definitions particularly of the word incite from both sides. In the 4 pages of the impeachment articles against Trump, variations on the word incite appear three times. For some, Trumps conviction or acquittal hinges on that words definition. You know how all of the worlds worst graduation speeches begin with The dictionary defines [graduation/commencement/leadership/etc.] as ? Currently taking bets that at least one trial speaker will start with an identical invocation of incite. READ MORE: Twitter bans Trump, citing risk of violent incitement If we look to dictionary definitions, we find relative consistency. The word dates to the late 15th century and means to move to action: stir up: spur on: urge on (Merriam-Websters 11th Collegiate); to urge or spur on; to stir up, animate, instigate, stimulate (Oxford English Dictionary); to provoke to action; stir up (American Heritage). All of these definitions sound a lot like what Trump did on Jan. 6. But in most word analysis, while the dictionary is a great place to start, its a terrible place to stop. Impeachment is a legal proceeding, so we have to consider legal definitions and there are a lot of them. Each time incite comes up in a law case, its usage creates a legal precedent and definition that someone can later rely on. These definitions number in the thousands, each with varying shades of specificity. Lawyers even have their own legal dictionaries. In one of them, Bouvier Law Dictionary, the definition of incitement goes on for nearly 900 words, and includes references to the Ku Klux Klan, proletarian dictatorship, and Hustler magazine. It gets complicated. Trumps attorneys will likely argue that context matters and theyre right. Connotations are just as important as denotations to gain a full understanding of a words meaning. Here, the descriptive nature of our language presents dangers. Every word stands on its dictionary definition, but as weve seen with terms like hoax, fake news, collusion use a term differently enough times and even its official definition can begin to morph. Most mainstream English dictionaries nowadays including all of the ones cited above are descriptive, not prescriptive. That means they describe how language is used; they dont prescribe a singular, immutable set of definitions. Just because you dont like a word say, irregardless doesnt mean its not a word. READ MORE: Call the violence Trump created sedition: After his lies inspire mob to attack Capitol, he must step down | Trudy Rubin Thats not to say that, according to a descriptive dictionary, your definition cant be wrong. Rather, for every entry, the dictionarys editors calculate when a word or its usage has become common enough to warrant a new or revised entry. Just because you made up a word you like doesnt mean it gets included in the dictionary. Because Trumps actions will be so difficult to defend, watch as his attorneys will try to bend the definition of incite right before your eyes. This descriptive conundrum, and the difficulties it presents when youre trying to impeach a seditionist who used to live in the White House, is the price we pay for using a language thats constantly changing. English works well, but we have to be willing to give it a tune-up without bad actors attempting to rewire the whole car. Because even as the dictionary changes, it provides essential guideposts. We have to trust that none of those guideposts will ever countenance a typo as embarrassing as Unites States. The Angry Grammarian, otherwise known as Jeffrey Barg, looks at how language, grammar, and punctuation shape our world, and appears biweekly. Send comments, questions, and Noah Webster acolytes to jeff@theangrygrammarian.com. We are in the middle of a pandemic. It has been a difficult time. From learning to what the virus is about to finally vaccine rollouts in various country, the journey has been challenging. With the vaccines, a ray of hope emerged among all of us in a way to get back to normalcy. But not so soon! Healthcare researchers in various countries have reported a type of yeast called Candida Auris, also called C.Auris. It has been causing severe illness among hospitalised patients. The fungus resembles the Black Plague. Healthcare experts referred the fungus as the perfect pathogen for a much serious pandemic. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted theorizing that the yeast-like fungal infection could be the cause of the next pandemic. So, what the fungal infection mean? How dangerous is it? Why are scientists concerned about the Candida Auris infection? In this article, we will know all about this mysterious and deadly fungal infection. What is Candida Auris? Experts describe Candida Auris as a nearly perfect pathogen. It spreads easily between patients. The fungus was first identified in 2009 in Japan. Since it was recognised, emerging numbers of infections have been identified in multiple countries. It was not compared to the Black Plague until a doctor with the CDCs anti-fungal division said that it reflected the substances found in lagoons and other bacteria-ridden areas. It is a creature from the black lagoon. It bubbled up and now it is everywhere, CDCs Dr Tom Chiller was quoted saying in The Sun. Why Are Scientists Concerned About the Infections? As per the CDC, it is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. It is essential to identify the fungus infection because it has already caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. Researchers need to fasten it up in order to take special precautions to stop its spread. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Pfizer Offers 40 Million Vaccines to Poorer Countries Through Covax. What Are the Types of Infections Caused by Candida Auris? In its detailed report, CDC noted that the Candida Auris has caused bloodstream infections, wound infections and ear infections. It has been isolated from respiratory and urine specimens; however, it is unclear if it causes lung or bladder infections. Who Are At Risk? After studies, researchers found out that people who have recently spent time in nursing homes and have lines and tubes that go into their body seem to be at higher risk. Infections were found in patients of all ages, from preterm infants to the elderly, but more studies are required to learn about Candida Auris infections' risk factors. As of now, Candida Auris has been reported from over 30 countries, including the United States of America. What to Do If Someone Suspect They Have C.Auris Infection? Anyone who identified a fungal infection or other healthcare-associated infection, CDC recommends seeing a healthcare provider. As noted by the CDC researchers, more studies are to be done to find out the necessary precautions and measures to stop the further spread. It is not a great time, and people are advised to take good care of their health and be alert about possible infections. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 03, 2021 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). 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. Toronto: Canada declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaeda, ISIS and al-Shabab as part of an effort to crack down on what senior government officials called one of the countrys most serious threats. The announcement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) comes less than a month after members of the Proud Boys joined the violent mob that stormed the US Capitol following a rally by US President Donald Trump in the hope of overturning the presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in that attack. Supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys watch during a rally at Freedom Plaza. Credit:AP It also follows a warning last week by the Department of Homeland Security about the heightened threat of ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition and perceived grievances fuelled by false narratives. Designation as a terrorist group carries financial and legal consequences. Police can seize the property of the group or its members; banks can seize their assets. Its a crime to knowingly provide assistance to a designated group to facilitate or carry out attacks. Group members may be denied entry to Canada. We began our COVID nightmare back in March with politicians and experts telling us that we needed to lockdown the economy for three weeks to flatten the curve. Weeks turned into months as the goal post moved from flattening the curve to no new cases. Then, a couple of months turned into half a year as the goal post moved again from no new cases to once we have a vaccine. Now, six months has become a year as the goal post has moved once more to vaccinate everyone. Although 10 million people remain unemployed, small business owners have taken the brunt of this nightmare. Lockdown policies were so bad for them that its hard to believe they werent specifically targeted. States made all manner of exceptions for essential businesses, but the lions share of the non-essential businesses were small businesses. As a result, nationwide, more than one-quarter of them have closed permanently. This is no small matter as, collectively, small businesses employ roughly half of all American workers. And for those small businesses that have actually managed to stay afloat, they might soon have to deal with the IRS. In a display of remarkable tone-deafness, the IRS announced in November that it intended to increase small business audits by 50 percent next year. Let that sink in for a moment: In a year in which 25% of small businesses have gone bankrupt, the IRS has determined that it needs to make a greater effort to ensure that small businesses are paying enough taxes. Regardless of whether its warranted, this comes off as more bullying in a year full of bullying. Not to be left out, Joe Biden announced that he intended to push for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. While Biden claims this will raise 1.3 million workers out of poverty, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that it will destroy 1.3 million jobs. Given that small businesses have far fewer resources than large corporations, and that large corporations are more likely to be paying workers more anyway, the lions share of those 1.3 million jobs are likely to come from you guessed it small businesses scaling back or closing. And what of the small business owners who manage to survive the lockdown, the IRS audits, and the minimum wage hike? Joe Biden will see to it that their children think twice about becoming small business owners themselves when he takes one last pound of flesh through a ramped up estate tax. Politicians trot out the estate tax every time they want people to think they are taxing the rich. The truth, though, is that the estate tax is particularly hard on family businesses. The idle rich can afford legions of lawyers and accounts to find legal ways around the estate tax. Many family businesses avoid the estate tax by deliberately not growing large enough to trigger it. And those that do typically have buildings, equipment, and machinery that are, on paper, worth enough to trigger the tax, but dont have much cash. When children inherit these businesses, the IRS requires that they come up with the cash to pay the tax. That means selling off the business, in whole or in part, to raise the money. And so the estate tax has the effect of whittling away the number of family businesses, year after year. The big winner? Large corporations who pick up the pieces left behind. None of this is deliberate, but thats cold comfort to the people who have to pay the price of a perfect storm of bad luck and misguided policies. In times of crisis, people assume the government is working to alleviate peoples suffering. But from the perspective of small businesses, it looks more like the governments goal in 2020 was to shoot the country in its collective metaphorical foot. So far, it looks like its plan for 2021 is to shoot the other one. Antony Davies is associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. James R. Harrigan is managing director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University of Arizona. They host the weekly podcast Words & Numbers. They wrote this for InsideSources.com. Dhaka, Feb 3 : Flaying the opposition for running a propaganda against her government, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the country will march forward nevertheless. She also asserted that she will continue to work with commitment for public welfare. "Propaganda by Jamaat-e-Islami, the defeated war criminals of 1971, along with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is being spread against our government at home and abroad. But, Bangladesh will march forward, throwing ashes in the faces of enemies," Hasina told Parliament while speaking on the thanks-giving motion on the President's speech. The 11th session of Parliament begun on January 18 and was prorogued on Tuesday. The Prime Minister asked Parliament members to remember that it was the BNP nature to spread rumours. "Let them speak; we will serve the people through our work. Before the coronavirus vaccines arrived in Bangladesh, there was a lot of criticism. Arrival of the vaccines is the answer to all such criticism." The Bangladesh Awami League leader claimed that the opposition BNP was suffering a "leadership crisis" and that people had no trust and confidence in a party "helmed by convicts and fugitives". "The ruling party has gained the people's trust and confidence. We saw its reflection in the local government elections," she added. Hasina said that coronavirus vaccine doses had already reached all districts of Bangladesh and the immunisation drive will start from February 7 or 8. "We have already given necessary instructions, including for carrying out antibody tests. Those who want vaccine jabs will have to register," the Prime Minister added. Highlighting steps taken by her government to combat coronavirus pandemic, Hasina said that the whole world, including UN Secretary General, had praised Bangladesh though no appreciation was forthcoming within the country. Hasina thanked all officials and employees of Parliament Secretariat and other departments who came to Parliament amid health risks during the ongoing pandemic. The Prime Minister recommended to Speaker Shireen Sharmeen Chowdhury to provide such officials and employees honorarium equal to one month's basic salary. She urged the citizens to wear face masks and follow hygiene rules even after getting vaccinated until the world was freed of the disease. "None will remain homeless in Mujib's Bangladesh. Some 70,000 homeless people have already been given homes. Works on building one lakh more is in progress. These will be handed over to mark the Mujib Year (2020-21)," she concluded. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said in a rejoinder that "the Bangladesh government rejects the desperate smear campaign instigated by the war criminals of 1971, extremists and their BNP allies, working from London and elsewhere, and regrets that Al Jazeera has allowed itself to become an instrument of their malicious political designs aimed at destabilising the secular democratic government of Bangladesh." 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. The Peoples National Movement (PNM) was plunged into mourning yesterday with the death of party stalwart Joycelyn Bodden from Covid-19. Bodden was described as a committed and selfless soldier who was the PNMs longest-serving welfare officer. Bodden, a pillar in the PNM who was in her 70s, passed away at the Couva Hospital at 2 a.m. yesterday. In this Thursday, June 6, 2019, file photo, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the Amazon re:MARS convention, in Las Vegas. Amazon said Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Bezos is stepping down as CEO later in the year, a role he's had since he founded the company nearly 30 years ago. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he's had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company announced Tuesday. Bezos, 57, will be replaced in the summer by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon's cloud-computing business. In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He said he would have more time for side projects, including his space exploration company Blue Origin, his philanthropic initiatives and overseeing The Washington Post, which he owns. Bezos, who is the company's biggest shareholder, will still have broad influence over Amazon. "Jeff is really not going anywhere," Amazon's Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said in a call with reporters. "It's more of a restructuring of who's doing what." Launched in 1995, Amazon was a pioneer of fast, free shipping that won over millions of shoppers who used the site to buy diapers, TVs and just about anything else. Under Bezos, Amazon also launched the first e-reader that gained mass acceptance, and its Echo listening device made voice assistants a common sight in living rooms. As a child, Bezos was intrigued by computers and interested in building things, such as alarms he rigged in his parents' home. He got a degree in electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton University, and then worked at several Wall Street companies. In this Dec. 5, 2019, file photo, AWS CEO Andy Jassy, discusses a new initiative with the NFL during AWS re:Invent 2019 in Las Vegas. Amazon announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Jeff Bezos would step down as CEO later in the year, leaving a role he's had since founding the company nearly 30 years ago. Amazon says Bezos will be replaced in the summer by Jassy, who runs Amazon's cloud business. (Isaac Brekken/AP Images for NFL, File) He quit his job at D.E. Shaw to start an online retail businessthough at first he wasn't sure what to sell. Bezos quickly determined that an online bookstore would resonate with consumers. He and his now ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, whom he met at D.E. Shaw and married in 1993, set out on a road trip to Seattlea city chosen for its abundance of tech talent and proximity to a large book distributor in Roseburg, Oregon. While Scott drove, Bezos wrote up the business plan for what would become Amazon.com. Bezos convinced his parents and some friends to invest in the idea, and Amazon began operating out of the Bezos' Seattle garage on July 16, 1995. Amazon has gone far beyond selling paperbacks. It now produces movies, makes sofas, owns a grocery chain and even has plans to send satellites into space to beam internet service to earth. The company is one of the most valuable in the world, worth nearly $1.7 trillion. In this June 6, 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the the Amazon re:MARS convention in Las Vegas. Amazon said Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Bezos is stepping down as CEO later in the year, a role he's had since he founded the company nearly 30 years ago. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) During the pandemic, Amazon was one of the few retailers to benefit as shoppers stayed clear of malls and shopped from their phones. On the same day Amazon announced Bezos would step down, the company reported making a record profit in the last three months of 2020, and its quarterly revenue shot past $100 billion for the first time. Bezos' riches have also swelled: His stake in Amazon is currently worth about $180 billion. For years he stayed behind the scenes, running the company. More recently, he sometimes stepped into the spotlight, showing up at movie premieres and Hollywood parties. In 2019, he announced he was divorcing Scott in a tweet, just before the National Enquirer published a cover story saying Bezos had an affair with a former TV host. Scott received a stake in Amazon after the divorce worth nearly $40 billion at the time. She has pledged to give away half her fortune to charities. In this April 9, 2020, file photo, employees observe social distancing due to coronavirus, at the entrance of Amazon, in Douai, northern France. Amazon announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Jeff Bezos would step down as CEO later in the year, leaving a role he's had since founding the company nearly 30 years ago. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File) As Amazon has grown, so has scrutiny. Amazon and other tech giants have enjoyed light-touch regulation and star status in Washington for decades, but calls for greater regulation are growing. A report by the House Judiciary Committee in October called for possibly breaking up Amazon and others, making it harder for them to acquire companies and imposing new rules to safeguard competition. Bezos is one of the last founders of a big tech company to still be CEO. The founders of Google, Oracle and Microsoft have all stepped down from the top job of the companies they created. Facebook is still led by co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Jassy, Bezos' replacement, is a longtime Amazon executive, having worked at the company since 1997. The cloud-computing business he runs powers video-streaming site Netflix and many other companies, and it has become Amazon's most profitable business. In this Sept. 19, 2019, file photo, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during his news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. Amazon said Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Bezos is stepping down as CEO later in the year, a role he's had since he founded the company nearly 30 years ago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo, an Amazon Prime logo appears on the side of a delivery van as it departs an Amazon Warehouse location in Dedham, Mass. Amazon announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, that Jeff Bezos would step down as CEO later in the year, leaving a role he's had since founding the company nearly 30 years ago. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) "He's deeply steeped in technology and a very seasoned executive in his own right," Gartner analyst Ed Anderson said. But he will also face many challenges. "Amazon's size makes some industries uncomfortable, some governments uncomfortable, and Andy Jassy will have to deal with the consequences," Anderson said. "That will be some of the new era of his leadership." 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. RTHK: Outcry as Russian court jails Navalny Moscow court on Tuesday jailed the Kremlin's most prominent critic Alexei Navalny for nearly three years, triggering fierce condemnation from the West and calls for his immediate release. The court's decision to turn a 2014 suspended sentence into real jail time will see Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner who accuses the Kremlin of poisoning him last year, serve a lengthy prison term for the first time. Britain, France, Germany, the United States and the European Union denounced the ruling, as Moscow accused the West of interfering in its affairs. Navalny's supporters called for more demonstrations over the ruling, after thousands joined nationwide protests against Navalny's arrest over the last two weekends. The case is presenting one of the most serious challenges to the Kremlin in years, with some in the West calling for new sanctions against Russia. Judge Natalya Repnikova ordered a suspended three-and-a-half-year sentence Navalny received on fraud charges in 2014 to be changed to time in a penal colony, an AFP journalist at the courthouse said. He was accused of violating parole conditions by refusing to check in with prison officials and was arrested when he flew back to Moscow on January 17 from Germany, where he spent months recovering from the poisoning. Navalny said it was impossible to make the appointments while in Germany, but the judge said he had skipped meetings even prior to the poisoning. Navalny had spent time under house arrest after the 2014 conviction -- which was denounced by the European Court of Human Rights -- and Repnikova said that would count as time served. His lawyer Olga Mikhailova told journalists this meant he would now serve around two years and eight months in prison. His legal team planned to appeal, she said, and Navalny was expected to stay in detention in Moscow during the appeal. Navalny's Anti-Corruption Fund immediately called for a protest in central Moscow. Several hundred of his supporters marched through the streets and AFP journalists saw police in riot gear detaining at least 15 people at a central square near the Kremlin. In a fiery courtroom speech ahead of the ruling, Navalny accused Putin of trying to intimidate his critics and mocked the Russian leader over allegations the Novichok nerve agent used to poison him had been placed in his underwear. "They are putting one person behind bars to scare millions," Navalny said. While Putin wanted to be seen as a great statesman, Navalny said, the Russian leader instead "will go down in history as a poisoner of underpants". After the ruling, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Russia to "immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navalny", warning that Washington and its allies would "hold Russia accountable for failing to uphold the rights of its citizens." French President Emmanuel Macron also called for his release, saying "respect for human rights and democratic freedom are non-negotiable." British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the ruling "perverse", while German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the decision was "a bitter blow against fundamental freedoms & the rule of law in Russia." European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is due in Moscow for a visit later this week, said the ruling "runs counter to Russia's international commitments on rule of law and fundamental freedoms". Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the Western reaction as "disconnected from reality", adding: "There is no need to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state." Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities over the last two weekends to call for Navalny's release, prompting a massive police clampdown that saw several thousand people arrested. Police arrested more protesters outside the courtroom and on the streets of Moscow on Tuesday, with OVD-Info, a group that monitors arrests and opposition protests, saying nearly 500 people had been detained. While he has never held elected office, Navalny has made a name for himself with anti-graft investigations exposing the wealthy lifestyles of Russia's elite. Two days after he was placed in pre-trial custody last month, his team released an investigation into an opulent seaside property Navalny claims was given to Putin through a billion-dollar scheme financed by close associates who head state companies. The probe was published alongside a YouTube video report that has garnered more than 100 million views. Putin denied owning the property and last week a billionaire businessman close to the Russian leader, Arkady Rotenberg, said he was the owner and was turning it into a hotel. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Aissa, 50, is one of 36,000 internally displaced Nigeriens now living in the Intikane hosting site having fled violence in the country's western border area with Mali. UNHCR/Boubacar Younoussa Siddo INTIKANE, Niger A year ago, when armed men entered Rissas* remote village in western Nigers volatile border area with Mali, they began by ordering the villagers to hand over money, livestock and jewellery. Then the violence began. When they encouraged Rissa to join their group, the father-of-six knew it was time to go. They killed our leaders to make [people] leave the village, 40-year-old Rissa explained. The armed groups approached me to take part in the looting and crimes against the population. When I refused, they sent me death threats and also threatened to kidnap my wife and my children. I had to flee. Seeking safety and assistance, Rissa and his family made their way to the Intikane refugee hosting area in Nigers Tahoua region, home to some 20,000 Malian refugees. When they arrived in December 2019, they were among the first Nigerien families forced to flee within their own countrys borders to settle in the area. But a sharply deteriorating security situation over the past year has seen the number of displaced Nigeriens seeking safety in Intikane increase to 36,000 almost twice the original population of Malian refugees. It is a trend reflected throughout Nigers Tahoua and neighbouring Tillaberi regions, which border Mali and Burkina Faso, and where continuous attacks and intimidation by jihadist groups have seen the numbers of locals forced from their homes rise from 78,000 at the end of 2019 to over 138,000 by January 2021. The countrys plight is part of wider regional instability that recently pushed the number of internally displaced people in Africas Sahel region which includes Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and Niger above two million for the first time. See also: Sahel internal displacement tops 2 million as violence surges Unfortunately, Rissas hopes that he and his family had found lasting safety in Intikane were shattered on the afternoon of 31 May 2020, when a group of 50 armed men on motorcycles swept into the area, killing two Malian refugee leaders and a host community leader, and destroying food, water pipes and other supplies. They were shooting just outside our door, said Rissa. My wife and I grabbed our children to protect them. They saw people crying, fleeing. Even animals were running around: it was like a scene from a war movie. His seven-year-old daughter, Tounfa, had a seizure during which she lost consciousness. Rissa and his family fled with around 7,000 others to Telemces, some 25 kilometers away. Here, they received assistance from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, until the army was able to secure Intikane, allowing both Nigeriens and refugees to return over the following months. But for Toufna, the horror of that afternoon remains vivid. She spends a lot of time lying down, talking to herself, fearing armed men will soon be coming for us, Rissa explains. She barely eats, often cries and shouts at night. But she sees UNHCRs partner psychologist two or three times a week, and shes slowly getting better. "It was like a scene from a war movie." UNHCR leads the protection response to the displacement crisis in Niger, coordinating the work of 66 local and international organizations. With the volatile security situation often making access difficult for UNHCR staff, the Agency also relies on a network of 47 protection monitors working with two NGO partners in Tillaberi and Tahoua regions. These local workers, some of whom are themselves displaced, make daily visits to families, report incidents, refer people for extra assistance and identify trends to help guide UNHCRs response. Mohammad* is one of the protection monitors covering Intikane. The 30-year-old law graduate makes the 50-kilometre round trip by bus from his home in Telemces four times a week, making home visits, raising awareness on issues such as COVID-19, listening to peoples concerns and following up on specific cases including Toufnas. Protection monitors like Mohamed visit us often, Rissa explained. Last week Mohamed came just after Tounfa had a panic attack because of a man who also has mental issues. He was yelling and brandishing a stick. Mohamed signaled the incident to Tounfas psychologist. Mohamed logs his interactions and observations via an app on his smartphone at the end of each working day, after returning home before dark to avoid the threat of armed groups, who have been known to target protection monitors because of the work they do. I always wanted to help the most vulnerable, Mohamed explained. I feel empowered doing my job. Obviously, there are ups and downs and even fear some days, but what keeps me going is to think of the people we serve. "I know how it feels to be forced to leave your house." Retired teacher Moustapha, 60, is another protection monitor covering Ayerou in the neighbouring Tillaberi region a role he currently carries out remotely relying on his large network of contacts, after he was forced to leave the area earlier this year due to death threats. I spend most of my day on my phone, trying to get information, mostly on population movements, Moustapha explained. Jihadists consider protection monitors as their enemies, since we provide information on their activity. Despite the dangers, Moustapha is determined to continue his work on behalf of people who, like him, have been forcibly uprooted. My main motivation is to know what is happening to displaced people and to help them. Their situation affects me directly. I know how it feels to be forced to leave your house, he said. UNHCRs Representative in Niger, Alessandra Morelli, said there was little prospect of displaced families in Niger being able to return to their homes any time soon. The security situation in the Tillaberi and Tahoua regions remains extremely volatile, Morelli said. The crisis is regional: short of a strong coordinated response from the three countries involved Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger there is little hope for lasting solutions and peace. See also: Climate change and conflict pursue displaced Burkinabes Given the current lack of longer-term solutions, protection monitors will continue to play a key part in UNHCRs efforts to assist families that have fled their homes, Morelli added. The protection monitors collect very important data in order to guide our response, she said. In addition, they play an instrumental role in identifying vulnerable people of concern and refer them to the right services. Their role is pivotal in our activities. Worldwide, an estimated 46 million people had been forced to flee within their own countries borders by conflict and persecution by mid-year 2020, accounting for the majority of the worlds 80 million forcibly displaced people. For Rissa and his family, the future remains uncertain. His immediate hope is that Intikane suffers no further attacks, giving them the safety they sought when they left their village last year. There is more security here in Intikane than in my village, he said. If the security situation on the Mali-Niger border stabilizes [] we will go back to our village. I was born there, and it is better to live on your lands than in a refugee hosting area like we do now. But I cant tell when this will be possible. *Names changed for protection reasons Additional reporting by Selim Meddeb Hamrouni in Niamey. Normally, it requires a large body cut to treat internal organs such as gallbladder, liver, pancreas, and bile duct, through surgery. But now, it is done through minimally invasive surgery, an emerging medical technology that King Faisal Hospital (KFH), Kigali is championing in Rwanda. Minimally invasive surgery, also known as keyhole surgery, is a surgical procedure in which doctors use a variety of techniques to operate with less damage to the body than with open surgery. Laparoscopy - surgery done through one or more small incisions using small tubes and tiny cameras and surgical instruments such as endoscopes - is thought to be one of its first types. Images from the endoscope are projected onto monitors in the operating room so that surgeons can get a clear (and magnified) view of the body part to be operated. The procedure has minimal post-operative discomfort since the incisions are much smaller, quicker recovery times, less pain and bleeding after operation, shorter hospital stays, and much smaller scars compared to standard open surgery. Medical personnel during an endoscopic surgery at King Faisal Hospital, Kigali. Photo: Courtesy. "[For instance], performing colectomy - a surgical procedure to remove part or all of one's large intestine - after our colleague endoscopists have discovered a colon tumor, would take 10 days to two weeks for the patient to be discharged. But, with laparoscopy, the patient will be discharged three days after the operation," said Dr. Augustin Limgba. Limgba has been offering medical services in Belgium and has been periodically coming to Rwanda for training medical personnel in minimally invasive surgery and treat patients with such a technique at KFH and other leading hospitals in Rwanda. But, since January 2021, Limgba, is a permanent employee of King Faisal Hospital, where he is General/Minimally Invasive Surgeon. In the last three years that he has been supporting Rwanda's minimally invasive surgery training program, he said 400 patients were treated using the technology in the country. "My presence in Rwanda - on a long-term basis means that there is sustainability in the service offered to the patient, and training as well as capacity building for medical personnel in a permanent way," he said. A Cameroonian national, Limgba is also Rwanda's first minimally invasive weight-loss surgeon, carrying out the operation for people suffering from excessive obesity so that they become healthy. Minimally invasive surgery works hand in hand with endoscopy, a medical procedure used to examine a person's digestive tract or gastrointestinal disorders and support their right treatment. Dr Innocenti Dadamessi, Interventional Endoscopy Gastroenterologist in France, has been providing healthcare at King Faisal Hospital. He said that colonoscopy - endoscopic examination of the large bowel - helps in diagnostics, and protecting people from future life-threatening diseases such as colon cancer. "When colonoscopy is performed and determines that there are polyps [small clumps of cells that form on the lining of the large intestine], they will be removed or treated. That will protect the person from potential cancer in the future," he said. Dr Edgar Kalimba, Deputy CEO of King Faisal Hospital said that the hospital has plans to set up a specialized digestive medical surgical unit. The unit, he explained, will facilitate collaboration between gastroenterologists (who use endoscopy) and minimally invasive surgeons in the treatment of complicated cases. Local treatment reduces healthcare cost Last year, KFH acquired a new high-tech endoscopic machine used for advanced endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The machine, the hospital said, is the first of its kind in Rwanda and will allow it to treat some patients without the need for them to travel abroad. Dr. Kalimba said that there are many gastrointestinal diseases that do not require that the patients go abroad for treatment as it used to be before, thanks to the availability of this advanced treatment in the country. "In October, 2020, 35 patients were treated [for digestive tract diseases], and the same number of patients were treated in December 2020," he said. Kalimba said that the medical bill paid by the patient for such treatment in Rwanda is cheaper as "it is about 20 percent to 25 percent the cost they would incur when they got it abroad." Plans for regional hub Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Rwanda Health By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. According to Kalimba, KFH's vision is that advanced and needed treatment be offered in Rwanda as it seeks to progressively reduce the number of Rwandans who go to seek the treatment abroad. Also, he said, the hospital seeks to train its medical personnel through use of experts from around the world such that within three or five years, they will have highly advanced skills, with a sustainable training program. "As we have such doctors, and the required equipment, it will be possible that we will be receiving patients from other countries so that they get treated from Rwanda instead of going to seek the treatment abroad such as in European countries," he said. Yves Inayo Nzaba, a Congolese national, said he was suffering from pancreatic disease and he could not get treatment in his native country, which made him come to see the doctor at King Faisal Hospital. "Before the treatment, I had much pain, but my condition has improved," he said one day after he received a minimally invasive operation. "I am delighted that I have received the treatment here in our neighboring country, Rwanda. If King Faisal [Hospital] was not there, I would spend more on treatment far away [in countries outside Africa]. A recent modelling study painted a reassuring picture of a post-pandemic future in which SARS-CoV-2 transitions, over a few years to a few decades, from dangerous pathogen to just another common-cold coronavirus. This predicted loss of virulence, the authors stress, is based on a specific idiosyncrasy of the virus, namely that it rarely causes serious disease in children. Still, many experts agreed that we should not be in the least surprised by the authors conclusion, as all viruses become more transmissible and less pathogenic over time. After all, the seductive logic goes, from an evolutionary perspective it makes no sense for a pathogen to harm the host on which it depends for its survival. According to this reasoning, virulence is little more than a temporary evolutionary imbalance. This comfortable chain of reasoning was rudely broken by the announcement of a realistic possibility that the new highly transmissible B117 variant is associated with an increased risk of death. Although the evidence is still accruing, early estimates from Nervtag, the UKs New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, suggest that B117 may be around 30% more deadly. But perhaps this is a single exception to an otherwise well-observed rule, and we can still be confident that SARS-CoV-2 will slowly fade away to obscurity. So what is the evidence for this view? And how confident can we be in predicting how evolution will shape the relationship between a pathogen and its host? Law of declining virulence It was the bacteriologist and comparative pathologist Theobald Smith (1859-1934) who began the narrative of the law of declining virulence in the late 19th century. Studying tick-borne disease of cattle during the 1880s, Smith realised that the severity of the disease was determined by the degree of prior infection. Cattle that had been repeatedly exposed to the pathogen suffered from much more moderate disease than cattle encountering it for the first time. Smith reasoned that this was because host and pathogen conspired over time towards a mutually benign relationship. The story then takes a distinctly antipodean turn. In 1859, the year Charles Darwin published his Big Idea, European rabbits were introduced to Australia for sport, with devastating consequences for the indigenous flora and fauna. Having turned down Louis Pasteurs offer of mass delapinsation using fowl cholera as a biological control agent, the Department of Agriculture turned to the myxoma virus that causes the lethal, but highly species-specific disease, myxomatosis in rabbits. By the 1950s, the myxoma virus was spreading rapidly among the rabbit population. Recognising the opportunities provided by this unique experiment, the virologist Frank Fenner documented how the virulence of the disease decreased over a few years from 99.5% mortality to about 90%. This was taken as strong empirical evidence in support of Smiths law of declining virulence and occasionally still is. A challenge to the law of declining virulence At around the same time, a talented young Australian mathematician named Robert May came across the work of his compatriot Charles Birch, an eminent ecologist working on the regulation of animal populations. Together with epidemiologist Roy Anderson, May went on to pioneer the application of mathematical modelling to the ecology and evolution of infectious disease. By the late 1970s, May and Anderson had developed the trade-off model for the evolution of virulence the first conceptual framework in 100 years to challenge the Smiths general law of declining virulence. The trade-off model recognises that pathogen virulence will not necessarily limit the ease by which a pathogen can transmit from one host to another. It might even enhance it. Without the assumed evolutionary cost to virulence, there is no reason to believe that disease severity will decrease over time. Instead, May and Anderson proposed that the optimal level of virulence for any given pathogen will be determined by a range of factors, such as the availability of susceptible hosts, and the length of time between infection and symptom onset. This last factor is a key aspect of the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. The long time period between infection and death (if it occurs) means that SARS-CoV-2 has a significant window in which to replicate and spread, long before it kills its current host. The trade-off model is now widely accepted. It emphasises that each host-pathogen combination must be considered individually. There is no general evolutionary law for predicting how these relationships will pan out, and certainly no justification for evoking the inevitability of decreased virulence. There is little or no direct evidence that virulence decreases over time. While newly emerged pathogens, such as HIV and Mers, are often highly virulent, the converse is not true. There are plenty of ancient diseases, such as tuberculosis and gonorrhoea, that are probably just as virulent today as they ever were. A change in conditions can also drive the trend in the other direction. Dengue fever has afflicted humans since at least the 18th century, but an increasingly large and mobile human population is thought to have driven a marked increase in virulence over the last 50 years or so. Even the seminal case of the rabbit-killing myxoma virus is uncertain. There was little subsequent decline in virulence after Fenners early reports, and it may even have risen slightly. Plausible but not inevitable Of course, these counter-examples do not in themselves present evidence that the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 will not decline. Declining virulence is certainly plausible as one of many potential outcomes under the trade-off model. Conversely, mutations might simultaneously heighten both virulence and transmissibility by increasing viral replication rate. Although we will have to wait for more evidence to be certain and the precise mechanisms may be difficult to pin down the emerging evidence around the B117 variant currently points more towards increased mortality. Ed Feil, Professor of Microbial Evolution at The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath and Christian Yates, Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Biology, University of Bath ADVERTISEMENT This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Conversation is PREMIUM TIMES syndication partner. We have permission to republish. 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 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. L.A. District Attorney George Gascon is fighting his own staff in court to defend his sweeping new policies designed to reduce mass incarceration and end racial disparities in the justice system. The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the union that represents Gascon's prosecutors, has sued the DA, arguing that his special order to stop using so-called "sentencing enhancements" violates state law. Enhancements can tack on many years to a prison sentence. A prosecutor can add enhancements for defendants who are members of a gang, use a gun during the commission of a crime, or commit a second or third strike that is a serious or violent felony. Both sides argue that not just public safety is at stake, but justice itself. The conflict is also playing out inside hundreds of courtrooms across L.A. A MOTHER'S DAY DOUBLE MURDER One stark example occurred recently in Department 115 on the 11th floor of the main criminal courts building downtown. Judge Mark Arnold was hearing motions in the 2018 Mother's Day double murder of two 15-year-old boys -- La'marrion Upchurch and Monyae Jackson -- and the wounding of two others. The three defendants are believed to have mistaken Upchurch and Jackson for rival gang members when they opened fire on them as they walked home from a party in South L.A. As the hearing got under way, the defendants -- Christian Macias, Nancy De La Rocha and Edwin Loza -- sat quietly in their jail jumpsuits under the watchful eye of Sheriff's deputies, with defense attorneys by their sides. The hearing was mostly a procedural bore, until the judge turned to the prosecutor: "Now I understand that Mr. Michelena, you have a motion." Deputy District Attorney Michael Michelena stood. "There is a motion that I've been directed to make from the district attorney to dismiss all allegations of any kind." "Allegations" are sentencing enhancements. In this case, Michelena was asking the judge to drop enhancements that accuse the defendants of using a gun, belonging to a gang, and committing multiple murders -- which could mean life without parole. If the judge agreed, the defendants would still face two charges of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted murder, and if convicted would face from 50 years to life in prison. (Because two of the defendants -- Loza and Macias -- were 19-years-old at the time of the murders, under state law they would be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. The third defendant, De La Rocha, was 26-years-old at the time of the murders, and thus under state law would be eligible for parole when she turns 50.) What happened next is extraordinary. Deputy District Attorney Michael Michelena (r) argued his own motion was illegal as Judge Mark Arnold (l) looked on. (Frank Stoltze/LAist) MY MOTION IS ILLEGAL Michelena, a member of the DA's gang unit, told Judge Arnold the motion he just made is illegal, citing Section 1386 of California's penal code: "The district attorney may not just on their own abandon a prosecution for a public offense." He was echoing the arguments in his union's lawsuit against Gascon. One of its key assertions is that a DA cannot move to dismiss enhancements in hundreds of cases all at once. "A dismissal in the furtherance of justice must be based on the individualized considerations." Michelena argued. "It cannot be based on antipathy for the law or a belief that the law is unwise." Gascon believes enhancements are unwise. He cites research that shows longer prison sentences are a big driver of the mass incarceration of mostly Black and Brown men, have a negligible impact on crime, and can make someone more likely to reoffend when they get out. In defending his directive to drop the enhancements, Gascon makes a separation of powers argument that District Attorneys have wide discretion on which charges to file under laws that were passed by the state legislature. But there was nobody in the courtroom to argue Gascon's case, since his own prosecutor refused to do so. (Besides having their own union, prosecutors also enjoy civil service protections.) Defense attorney Angela Berry told Judge Arnold she wanted to submit information in support of dropping the enhancements. He told her she could, but then issued his ruling on the spot. The prosecution's motion was denied. "The position of the district attorney in seeking dismissal of special allegations has no legal authority, it is of no legal precedent," Arnold said. WHAT IS IN THE 'INTEREST OF JUSTICE'? In rejecting the motion, Arnold cited a 1978 California Supreme Court ruling, People v. Orin, which laid out considerations for how to determine what's in the "interest of justice." Arnold noted there is no strict definition of "interest of justice" in the law, and that in the end it's up to judges. "To me it doesn't even come close to rising to the level required for a finding that a dismissal should be in the interest of justice," he said. Outside court, another defense attorney, Robert Schwartz, called the judge's ruling "par for the course. This is the reaction that the judiciary is providing all over the county to these motions -- especially on these serious cases." To be sure, some judges are granting Gascon's motions to dismiss sentencing enhancements. And some prosecutors are backing the DA. But not Michelena, and in this case that made him a hero to the family of one of the victims. 'WICKED HEATHENS ... I HOPE THEY ROT IN HELL' Murder victim La'marrion Upchurch (Courtesy of Rasheen Williams) "We are very thankful for him, " said Rasheen Williams, the mother of murder victim La'marrion Upchurch. "The prosecutor is awesome." Michelena had invited the family to court. He turned to them at one point while arguing against his boss's effort to dismiss the enhancements. Upchurch's godmother, Courtney Williams, was frustrated that Gascon wanted to reduce the charges. "I mean it's crazy because I actually voted for him," she said. Williams still agrees with the DA that some people are overcharged. But not all, she said, and not the alleged killers of her beloved godson. "They're just wicked heathens," she said. "I hope they rot in hell, and I hope they get what's coming to them, which is a long prison term." Not all victims and families feel this way. Still, after less than two months in office, Gascon finds his policies under attack on three fronts: from victims, judges and his own prosecutors. The state DA's association is supporting the lawsuit against him, and The Heritage Foundation, a national conservative think tank, issued a paper blasting him as a "rogue" prosecutor. Gascon is finding out just how hard it is to implement far-reaching changes in how L.A. County administers justice. UPDATES: 12:00 p.m. Feb. 3: This article was updated to include the information on when the defendants would be first eligible for parole if convicted. ANN ARBOR, MI A 120-year-old Ann Arbor home was saved from a fiery end thanks to the quick work of firefighters. Fire crews were called at 4:19 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, to a structure fire in the 100 block of N. First Street where flames were reportedly seen coming from a two-story residence, according to the Ann Arbor Fire Department. Crews arrived to find flames coming from the exterior of a 120-year-old home and quickly went to work extinguishing the blaze, officials said. While crews finished putting out the exterior fire, firefighters saw an additional fire had sparked up and was entering a void space created by multiple roof additions, official said. Crews were able to quickly snuff out the fire in the void space before it could spread further, saving the home which appears to be repairable, officials said. No injuries were reported. More from The Ann Arbor News: LOccitane closes store in Ann Arbors Briarwood Mall Expecting senior population boom, Ann Arbor officials OK new housing for older adults Monroe woman shot multiple times in car stopped at intersection BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wednesday marks "Lichun", the first solar term of the year, considered the beginning of spring. As a Chinese saying goes, "the whole year's work depends on a good start in spring." Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Wednesday visited Qianxi County in southwest China'sGuizhou Province ahead of the Chinese New Year. February 12 signifies the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Various folk activities are held across the country to welcome the New Year. On the public square of Huawu Village in an ethnic Miao Township, Xi talked to villagers who were participating in festive activities, and extended his New Year's greetings to people of all ethnic groups across the country. A model of poverty alleviation Guizhou, which used to be a provincial-level region with the biggest population of poor people, has lifted more than 9 million people out of poverty since 2012 with the gross domestic product (GDP) topping 1.78 trillion yuan (276 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi visited Qianxi County, Bijie City where he inspected the ecological environment of a major tributary of the Wujiang River and visited local residents in Huawu Village. The village is a case in point in the nation's massive poverty relief endeavor. It was lifted out of poverty in 2019. Bijie, tucked deep in the karst mountains of Guizhou, used to be one of China's most impoverished cities. Backed by the central government and other state organs, the city cultivated the land first, turning barren mountains into a luscious green. Then under the guidance of experts, villagers started to develop agriculture, breeding industry and rural tourism. Bijie has turned confrontation with nature into a win-win result and managed to rise above the poverty line. President Xi has called Bijie's success story "a model of China's poverty alleviation drive." A major victory Amid COVID-19, China has accomplished its tasks for winning the battle against poverty and met the UN's poverty alleviation goal 10 years ahead of schedule. Through eight years of sustained work, China has lifted all rural poor population under the current standard out of poverty with nearly 100 million poor people shaking off poverty. China has removed all poor counties from the poverty list, and eradicated absolute poverty and regional poverty. Poverty alleviation has always been a primary concern for President Xi, who reiterated that "no single poor area or individual shall be left behind." Original article: here. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_izD48fET7g Human rights activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad will be the keynote speaker at Fairfield Universitys Annual Student Forum on Feb. 11. This panel discussion, part of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts Open VISIONS Forum (OVF), will be moderated by College of Arts and Sciences professor Philip Eliasoph, founding director of OVF. As detailed in her New York Times best-selling memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, Nadia Murad was born in a farming village in northern Iraq to a family in the Yazidi community, a Kurdish religious minority. In 2014, Islamic State militants attacked her village, killing 600 men including six of her brothers. At the age of 21, Murad was captured and taken to Mosul where she was beaten, raped and forced into the ISIS slave trade with thousands of other Yazidi women and girls. Murad escaped her captors and now as a refugee, a survivor of sexual violence, and a witness to unspeakable brutality she has made it her mission to advocate for victims of human trafficking and to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in Iraq. In 2016, she became the first survivor of human trafficking to be appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Victims of Human Trafficking by the United Nations. I want to be the last girl in the world with a story like mine, Murad said in 2018 when she was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize for her ongoing efforts to bring the perpetrators of war crimes to justice and advocate for her fellow Yazidi refugees. She is the first Iraqi to ever receive a Nobel Prize. Among numerous other awards, she has also received the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights, and the Sakharov Prize for defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. She is currently the president and chairwoman of Nadias Initiative, an organization dedicated to rebuilding communities in crisis and advocating for survivors of sexual violence. She shares her powerful story at speaking engagements around the world because, she has said, My story, told honestly and matter-of-factly, is the best weapon I have against terrorism, and I plan on using it until those terrorists are put on trial. Hear Nadia Murads story via livestream on February 11 at 8 p.m., during the virtual OVF Annual Student Forum. Tickets, at $20 and $10, are available at quickcenter.com . This and several upcoming premiere Quick events are free for Quick Center Members. To become a Quick Member today, visit quickcenter.com/support or call the Box Office at 203-254-4010 or toll-free at 1-877-ARTS-396. In addition, the regulator has imposed a fine of Rs one crore each on Kishore Biyani, Anil Biyani and Future Corporate Resources and ordered them to pay back Rs 17.78 crore with interest New Delhi: SEBI on Wednesday barred Kishore Biyani and certain other promoters of Future Retail Ltd from the securities market for one year for indulging in insider trading in the shares of the company. Apart from Kishore Biyani, who was the CMD and promoter of Future Retail Ltd (FRL), others facing the ban are Future Corporate Resources Pvt Ltd, Anil Biyani and FCRL Employee Welfare Trust. In addition, the regulator has imposed a fine of Rs one crore each on Kishore Biyani, Anil Biyani and Future Corporate Resources and ordered them to pay back Rs 17.78 crore with interest. Further, Future Corporate Resources and FCRL Employee Welfare Trust have been directed to pay back Rs 2.75 crore with interest for the wrongful gains made by it. Anil Biyani and Future Corporate Resources are promoters of FRL. In addition, both Biyanis were directors on the board of Future Corporate Resources. FCRL Employee Welfare Trust is a trust formed by Future Corporate Resources. SEBI had conducted an investigation in the scrip of FRL to ascertain whether certain persons and entities had traded during the period from 10 March, 2017 to 20 April, 2017 period on the basis of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) pertaining to segregation of certain business of the firm. Trading on the basis of UPSI violates provisions of PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) norms. FRL made a corporate announcement to the stock exchanges on 20 April, 2017 regarding outcome of its board meeting, wherein its board approved segregation of certain business of FRL through a composite scheme of arrangement between FRL, Bluerock eServices Pvt Ltd (BSPL) and Praxis Home Retail Pvt Ltd (PHRPL) and their respective shareholders. The scheme of arrangement has, in fact, resulted in the demerger of certain business of FRL. SEBI found that Future Corporate Resources had traded in the shares of FRL during the UPSI period and made notional unlawful gains of Rs 17.78 crore. Both Biyanis took the decision of trading by Future Corporate Resource. In its 77-page order, SEBI said, "noticee no 2 and 3 (Kishore Biyani and Anil Biyani) opened the trading account of noticee no 1 (Future Corporate Resources) just prior to the impugned trades which were in violation of the provisions of PIT Regulations, 2015". Further, the watchdog said that Anil Biyani placed the order on behalf of Future Corporate Resources. Then, Kishore Biyani and Anil Biyani authorised the transfer of funds to Indiabulls for the purchase of FRL shares in the name of Future Corporate Resources. In addition, FCRL Employee Welfare Trust purchased FRL shares during the UPSI period and made notional unlawful gains to the tune of Rs 2.75 crore. In this case, Rajesh Pathak and Rajkumar Pande were the persons who took the decision of trading by the company, as per the order. SEBI imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh each on Pathak and Pande who were employees of Future Corporate Resources. Besides, they have been prohibited from the securities market for one year. Further, two other individuals have also been penalised in the case. The regulator has restrained Biyanis, Future Corporate Resources and the two employees from trading in FRL shares for two years. By indulging in such activities, they violated the provision of insider trading norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) noted. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Modern bursts of color meet ancient weaving techniques in a new line of textiles from Clevelands Dittohouse brand, in collaboration with Trama Textiles, a cooperative in Guatemala. Its the first collection to arrive from Dittohouse in two years. Each piece was designed by Dittohouse founder Molly Fitzpatrick, then created by Guatemalan weavers using backstrap looms. This style of weaving uses the body as a tension point for the loom, with artists pulling yarn between themselves and a post while they weave. The resulting collection features geometric designs with pops of color and character, all made by hand. When you make something yourself, its not like, Oh no, thats a mistake, Fitzpatrick said. Thats the human hand in it, and thats part of what makes the textile beautiful -- seeing that a person made this. Fitzpatrick chose to work with Trama Textiles, a cooperative that employs more than 400 weavers in Guatemala, as a way to give back to a country that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Shutdowns prevented tourism in the country, removing an industry that weavers depended on to sell their work, Fitzpatrick said. She was also motivated to work with the organization after following updates about Guatemalan migrants at the U.S. border and the countrys high poverty rate. I was so devastated by everything that was happening in our country and especially what was happening at the border, thinking of so many people coming here to seek refuge, Fitzpatrick said. Im not able to resolve the situation of whats going on with people having to flee their homelands -- but at least to put my efforts toward an industry or an economy -- it just seemed to make sense. The Trama Textiles x Dittohouse Woven Collaboration Collection features items like blankets, pillow covers, wall tapestries and rugs, all handmade by Guatemalan artisans. Those makers set and control their own pricing, minimum order and lead times for their work. Trama Textiles is a worker-owned cooperative thats been in business since 1988. Each item in the new collection, available for order on Dittohouses website, showcases individual weavers and their backgrounds in the item descriptions. Entire communities came together to make some of the products in the collection. (Photo by Da'Shaunae Marisa) Here in Cleveland, Fitzpatrick also picked up a loom while she waited for her designs to be created. After taking a few years worth of a break from weaving, she took refresher lessons from Praxis Fiber Workshop to get back into the craft. For Fitzpatrick, weaving became a practice in mindfulness and patience. It gave me time to sit and think in quiet, which is such a luxury. It was such a reflective time to appreciate how long it takes to make something, when Im used to sending files and a week later I get my product, Fitzpatrick said. Yarn-by-yarn I want to make sure I understand it. I dont want to be wasteful of anyones time or resources When I design something I want to make sure I know exactly how its going to be produced. Over the course of a year and a half, Fitzpatrick worked remotely with Trama, sending notes and designs to the company and receiving results back in the mail. Parts of the new collection feature patterns that are difficult to create in hand-woven formats, including a detailed striped circle design on a geometric square tapestry. I was initially going to have it be made into pillow covers, Fitzpatrick said. It was such a special textile; the technical skill to make a circle, that they were able to do this on a loom, it just blew my mind It was so exciting to me to see it so elevated, that its something wed put on a wall. (Photo by Da'Shaunae Marisa) Fitzpatrick had long known about Guatemalan weaving techniques. She first visited the country when her partner was stationed there as a member of the Peace Corps. At the time, Fitzpatrick was studying at the Cleveland Institute of Art. She graduated in 2005, then relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for a job at the Swiss company Lantal Textiles, where she worked for five years. Then Fitzpatrick and her partner relocated to Northeast Ohio, where she pursued consulting and licensing work. In 2015, she decided to launch her own brand, Dittohouse. She partnered with a New Jersey knitting mill for small, statement-making textile collections, and quickly made a name for herself in the textile design world. Over the course of six years, Fitzpatrick released seven collections through Dittohouse. Her work has been featured in publications Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Design Milk and more. Following her latest collection, Fitzpatrick aims to collaborate with Trama for future work. She also hopes to bring more attention and interest to the collectives mission. They are a great company that is charitable, but Im working with them as a partner and collaborator, Fitzpatrick said. Im not empowering the women; Trama is empowering the women. Im not doing this great deed; Trama is doing this great deed. They have something thats completely established that theyve worked toward for 30 years, and I just want to collaborate with them and show that I appreciate what theyre doing. Items in the latest Dittohouse x Trama Textiles collection range in price from $180-$400. You can view the collection at dittohouse.com. Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for cleveland.coms weekly In the CLE email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free. The government said Wednesday it will expand support for foreign firms operating in the country to promote investment amid the pandemic, especially in the digital and green sectors in line with the country's mega investment project, the New Deal initiative. "Despite the challenges from COVID-19, foreign investors have been expanding their presence in emerging areas including chips, biotechnology, eco-friendly cars and rechargeable batteries," Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said in a message to the Korea Foreign Company Association (FORCA). Yoo also pointed out that foreign firms accounted for 5.6 percent of local employment, along with 18.6 percent of exports in 2020. Overall foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to Korea dipped 11 percent in 2020 from a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a harsh blow to business activities around the globe. Asia's No. 4 economy received $20.7 billion worth of FDI commitments last year, compared with $23.3 billion logged in 2019. It still marked the sixth consecutive year that FDI pledges to Korea hovered above the $20 billion threshold. Throughout this year, Korea plans to provide more business opportunities to foreign companies in sync with the New Deal initiative. The New Deal drive, announced last year, consists of four pillars the Digital New Deal, the Green New Deal, the strengthening of the job and social safety net and balanced regional development. The country plans to announce the detailed blueprint on promoting FDI in March. (Yonhap) Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Was the US never really a Christian country, or was US Christianity corrupted by politics? Thats the question that Kylie Beach, a writer for the Australian-based Eternity News asked several days after the capitol insurrection and several days before last weeks presidential inauguration. She continued: Did the US only ever appear to be more Christian than other countries, or was its Christianity corrupted by politics? To put it frankly, are the people who declare themselves to be Christians in the US really just cultural Christians people who are ethnically descended from nations where Christianity was the primary religion? Or people who have taken on the outward form of their grandparents faith? Have they ever actually had a moment of conversion where they have decided to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour? Do they read their Bibles to try to learn what God is like? Do they pray and listen for his direction? Beach isnt the only Christian from around the world asking what to make of US evangelicals after Trump. At the UKs Evangelical Alliance CEO Gavin Calver wrote a column for The Times with the headline, Let us redefine evangelism after the Trump presidency. He wrote that the word evangelical has become politicized and toxic even in the UK because of Trump politics. Rene Breuel is the pastor of Hopera, an evangelical church in Rome and has served as a student leader in International Fellowship of Evangelical Students movements in Brazil, Germany, Canada, and Italy. He is also the author of The Paradox of Happiness. Breuel joined global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss how non-US evangelicals saw American evangelicals before Trump, what has changed over the past four years, and what American evangelicals who want to regain this trust must do moving forward. What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Follow our guest on Twitter: Rene Breuel Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Yvonne Su and Bunmi Ishola Quick to Listen Episode #249 What role did American evangelicalism play in your faith journey while you were growing up in Brazil? Rene Breuel: I grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil. My family used to attend a church founded in the 80s. It was in many ways a wonderful Baptist church and Im very grateful for it. It became a large and influential church in Sao Paulo. Then in the 90s we had some influence from American evangelicalism. Some of our pastors in the church had studied in the United States, then the church hosted the Willow Creek Association conferences about leadership, and then the 40 Days of Purpose from The Purpose Driven Life. There were some evangelical connections in books we used to read. I think that my experience probably mirrors the experience of others in Brazil who have received different waves of emphasis in groups like The Purpose Driven Life or seeker sensitive or the recent young, restless, and Reformed Calvinistic wave. So all those movements acquired followers and got repurposed to be precedent to the present church. Does the American church footprint have the same impact as American cultural influence on the broader culture there? Rene Breuel: I think the American evangelical footprint is very significant. And I think it's part of the American cultural influence. People in Latin America, in Brazil specifically, look up a lot to the United States and love the American way of life. They dream of traveling and visiting the country. Article continues below Part of it gets transferred to church environments. Of course, I think when it comes to church groups, the influence is probably a little bit less because they know there is more of an ongoing life of the churches of the denominations in the country, but the influence keeps strong. It's not as strong as politics over the political or personal culture, but it's still very strong. Do you remember any of these celebrity pastors or evangelists coming to visit Brazil? Rene Breuel: Yes, I remember when I was a teenager, my church hosted this Willow Creek conference and Bill Hybels came to speak. It was a big thing and many pastors and leaders from other churches came. At the end of the year, we did a new years fun event at the church, in which they asked me to do a sketch. I played Bill Hybels. Like I say, No, it's good to be here. Wonderful. And then a friend would translate me back to Portuguese just saying things that were nonsense. It was a joke. This was a personal experience in my hometown. And we would get sometimes a Michael W. Smith concert. I was sad to hear about the Hybels allegations that were brought against him in the past years and his lack of repentance. I had to rethink his legacy and even that humorous moment at the end of the year. But it was an example of the influence an American pastor had in Brazil at that time. Was there another country or part of the world whose evangelism had a similar amount of influence as the US? Rene Breuel: Not at all. People looked up to evangelical heritage, for example, in the UK and in Europe. And we're very encouraged by the growth of the church in Africa and in parts of Asia. But I think that the US was the main influence. What were some of the blind spots that you started to realize, things that didn't necessarily translate well from an American context to a Brazilian one? Rene Breuel: I think some of the blind spots were similar in terms of focus on the individual and personal salvation, and not much of a vision for society, for the public square, or for having a vision for the Kingdom. I think our gospel was very good at saving souls but did not challenge some of the problems in society; for example, the notion of social classes, which can be quite prominent in Brazil. In a way, churches adapted a little bit. There were a lot of Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches for the middle class and more charismatic churches for the working class. My local church was in an affluent neighborhood in Sao Paulo, but it was right next to a favela, a poor community. Over the years, the leaders tried to bridge that gap by running a social project and planting a church there, but it was a hard gap to bridge. I remember a mission trip, which came from the United States. I joined them one afternoon. I knocked on doors at the favela, the slum, and an American visitor would share the testimony, the plan of salvation, and invite people to receive Christ. I translated for them. I was surprised at the immense success rate. We had apparently about 90% of the people we visited saying yes to receiving Christ, but then we left. I started asking questions over time. How many of those decisions were genuine and not a result of someone not wanting to say no to a visitor, an American visitor who came to their home? How many of those decisions last and was this the right approach? I think we received some very good things, but some blind spots took some reflection over time to think about. How might evangelist attitudes be different in the US and in either Brazil or Italy? Rene Breuel: I would say our approach is slightly more communal and less individualistic, a lot about trying to establish healthy and close relationships with people who don't share our faith, gaining people's trust, and showing acts of kindness. We try to have events or connection points in which people would come. I think people eventually come to question approaches like distributing tracks, visiting homes, or doing events at the public square. Over time they favor more relational approaches. Article continues below How engaged in politics were evangelicals in Brazil when you were growing up? How has that changed? Rene Breuel: My experience growing up is that politics was very rarely spoken of. We held to a notion of separation of church and state, a concern for personal morality, changing people's hearts, and not much of awareness of society: what was going on, the poverty, and the challenges of Brazilian society. In a sense it was an apolitical approach, which ends up being a political approach when you don't talk about it. Did American evangelical political priorities show up in politics? Was that ever preached about as you grew up? Rene Breuel: Here, it was a glimpse. Among US evangelicals, people of course didn't support abortion. Here, people didnt support abortion, but there werent protests or many debates. I think growing up evangelicals were more willing to try to grow as a community and grow local churches than try to have a vision or reflection about society and try to do things differently. Youve lived in other countries. What did you see in terms of how evangelical communities in Europe, specifically Western Europe, relate to American evangelicals? Rene Breuel: I was doing some studies in Germany and the UK, and I lived for the past 11 years in Italy. My experience is that European evangelicals saw American evangelicals with a lot of gratitude for the witness, the vitality, the faith, the devotion, and the generosity. They didn't look up as much, I would say, like compared to Latin America; more like brothers or fellow believers that didn't have as much influence. When something came from the US it was often appreciated, but we're often trying to be more critical of it, like Would this work in our context? Would this fit? And often the answer was no. We speak to not just acts of mercy but also acts of political justice on behalf of the poor. To what extent is the American view of government affecting the global conversation among evangelicals? Rene Breuel: I think in that sense the US perspective among evangelicals is a little bit more of an outlier. I didn't see caring for the poor as being a very controversial debate among Christians in Brazil or elsewhere I've lived. People had an all hands on deck approach, like Let's try to do out as much as we can. And the government tries to do as much as the government can. Though we believe some of this perspective, it was maybe a little troublesome seen by some US Christians to have the government become too large and giving too many handouts to people. The story I often heard in Brazil, as you mentioned, is that Brazil and Latin American theologians played a big role in the Lausanne conference in 74, in terms of arguing for viewing the Gospel not just in terms of personal salvation, but also its political and social implications. We thought often about how people appreciated the witness of Latin American theologians to try to help the global church and the evangelical church embrace its social Commandments like to love our neighbors as much as we embrace the cross, grace, and personal redemption. In your observation, how responsive were American evangelicals to hearing those from outside of the US context give critiques regarding the war in Iraq, capitalism or materialism, or other integral parts of American culture? Article continues below Rene Breuel: Of course the Iraq war was controversial outside of the United States. In terms of the American economy and prosperity, there was admiration. But at the same time, there was a feeling here is a little bit too much in the materialism and the values that come along with it. What I noticed within church circles were some people pointing out to certain emphases, like the emphasis on technology, technique, numbers, and best practices, like in the commendable pursuit of church growth sometimes became a little bit of a business mindset. Another issue I heard people talking about was the homogeneous principle that arose out of the church growth movement that led to churches that were very homogeneous in terms of race and social class. Also, Western Christians in general and American Christians, in particular, saw the world as a mission field, which was wonderful, but not as much a place to learn and receive from. The unspoken assumption was we come to teach. That was the perspective, but I think over time I have noticed a greater awareness of the multicultural, multiethnic nature of the church, a greater appreciation of the global church, and the gifts this can bring to the body and people. The US being much more willing to learn and visit as much as teaching others -- I think there was some good development in that sense. What was the conversation with all your non-American church friends immediately after the 2016 American election? Rene Breuel: When Trump was elected, I think people tried to understand and put themselves in the shoes. For example, there were issues like pro-life and the desire for conservative justices. It is also a two-party system that gives you eventually two options and you choose one or the other. People try to understand, but in a way, my friends and I were shocked trying to imagine why and how could fellow believers we'd love and respect otherwise support a candidate which had such bombastic and un-Godly conduct. For countless of us outside of the United States was it wasn't worth it. Like, don't vote for someone like that. Let's not align with that. From a foreign policy standpoint, did anyone wonder if these American Christians are aware of the effect this might have on the lives and wellbeing of believers in other countries? Rene Breuel: Yes. I think there is one issue that is dear to people around the world because they feel the influence of the direction the United States takes. But often it becomes a small concern for voters v. the economy or social concerns. Maybe one exception would be the Iraq war, which was a big issue at the time for US politics. But I think people around the world wish people would be more aware of how much foreign policy views voters vote for then become implemented and makes a big impact in the development of nations, how much aid there is, and how business is conducted. If wars are started or not. It has a big impact. What are you observing in terms of evangelicals around the world and their views on whether the Bible should inform the law of the land? Rene Breuel: Yes. I resonate with that research. I think that is the case among people in Brazil and Latin America. What I've seen in developing nations is that as the Christian faith gains more followers, people often haven't really thought through the implications of ten bringing that into power and politics in a way that maybe people in Christianized nations for centuries have already tried to do that. They may not see it as being unproductive or receiving backlash in Brazil. For example, there is a very prominent congressional evangelical group which tries to be vocal and to gain favors and access for the evangelical church. But at least in my opinion, it is not productive. It doesn't help people have a positive view of the faith or become willing to know more about the evangelical faith, because it feels like a very transactional approach to power. Like we're frantically numbers. Now we want to have some political clout, so let's press on these issues. Article continues below I hope that in these nations people eventually gain more experience and try to see the public arena as an arena in which to serve and try to pursue a fair and just society in which all groups or religious groups have the possibility of working and sharing our views. We of course believe that the truth will prevail and that people will mainly decide to follow Christ, but not try to have a favorite position which was from back then in ancient Rome. Have you seen Christians in other countries begin to amass more cultural and political power, like in America? Rene Breuel: Yes, I have. It becomes this place of clout and power. There's an example that came to mind as you were talking, a prosperity gospel church in Brazil. They acquired a TV station which was very prominent and has reached a lot of people and has had their congressmen. They're trying to make their influence felt. They built a large temple in Brazil which mimics Solomon's temple, the first Jerusalem temple. In a sense, these are stakes on the ground and affirmance over the questions of our own power and positions. But the way it often plays out in society, the backlash is it makes people less willing to explore and less willing to hear about what Christian faith is. They become scared of those developments, almost like a sect-like approach instead of among Black Americans pursuing justice for all, serving the community, and seeking the flourishing of our neighborhoods, which I think is a much more winsome approach than trying to impose our positions through symbols. Do you remember any moments from his presidency when leaders outside the US expected white evangelical leaders to say something to rebuke him, and they did not? Rene Breuel: Yes, I did. In all honesty, there are so many moments where you wish they did. Maybe this time, maybe this crisis, maybe this tweet, but often it did not come close to the moment which I think struck me the most, which was before his election in 2016 when the Access Hollywood tape came out. It was heartbreaking to see someone boasting joyfully of adultery, sexual assault, and grabbing women. How can someone justify that? But people found a way, saying it's locker room talk. I was very appreciative of people who spoke out, like Beth Moore. I think John Piper wrote an article about that. I remember, on the other hand, many who kept on, saying Oh, the other side is worse. We cannot support it. I remember specifically, I taught theological seminary for the first semester back then. One of the books I had assigned for people came from Grudem. Then he came out very strongly even after the Access Hollywood tape, suggesting Christians should vote for Trump. There were a number of leaders, some who spoke out against, but I sense that many either didn't or those who did, were lost in the course of those who supported the deceit vert strongly. Do you remember hearing a different tone or a way of relating to things from American evangelical leaders who lived overseas or who were a bigger part of international communities? Rene Breuel: Yes, I have. Certainly, I think it helps a lot when one lives outside the country and especially outside the media ecosystem, in being able to listen to a number of views and receive news in different languages. My experience is seeing people who retained their convictions and maybe aren't as vocal because it's a different society. At the same time, many who come to get a greater sense of perspective are able to see things more critically. Normally it becomes a matter of soul searching and pain. Article continues below There is division within families. For example, a missionary couple of mine here in Rome who do wonderful work was sharing with me how he was interacting with their parents who live in the Midwest and who have supported Trump throughout. It was some delicate conversations right between children and parents of those who live outside the country and those who live within it. I had my own conversations with cousins who have moved to the US and are strong supporters. We have some good conversations, respectful conversations, but one gets the sense that it matters a lot where you live and the kinds of news you receive. Where would you encounter those communities who were supportive of Trump and his policies? Rene Breuel: It was among people where the American influence was in the way ministries are run or the leadership is American led. At least the tested assumption is that those are often not questioned. What I've seen from among other nations is not so much direct support for Trump himself, but more like support for Trump-like politicians, like in Brazil or here in Italy, we have one called Mattel Salvini. Then Viktor Orban in Hungary, people who do politics in a certain way, like a strongman persona, nationalistic policies, and using religious symbols and language. Not because they were believers per se, but to attract support from people of faith. I think Trump emboldened this kind of politicians and the authoritarian kind of personality in other nations. I saw people supporting those politicians in their nations. To what extent would you say that the Brazilian evangelical community has begun to look similar to the US evangelical community with regards to how they engage in politics? Rene Breuel: It has become very similar. As I mentioned, this mirror effect is a big influence from American culture to pursue a thing. It becomes almost the same debates before; in the past 10 years or so, the big debate was about prosperity theology. Some churches were advocating growth and others were very critical of it and thought it wasn't the gospel. When you present faith in that way though, the debate was almost like the lines of division. The debate now follows the current president, which is almost like a mirror of Trump in Brazil. So are you for him? Are you against him? Then people share WhatsApp messages, which so often becomes fake news, and then there'll be some proxy debates. The most recent one was about the virus: how real is the virus, should we use masks or not, should churches press on to stay open -- almost the same debates and same things get transposed in a way, which is not encouraging. Are you seeing more connections between Italian evangelicals and Brazilian evangelicals happening without connections to the US, or are US organizations still largely the groups convening and helping those friendships flourish? Rene Breuel: I think there was a wonderful input from American and Western evangelicals in the 20th century in launching movements like Lausanne, APF, IFES, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, the evangelical alliances which flourished. Those movements were started by the US, but I think nowadays they go ahead with participation in many nations, often without the convening necessity of the American church leading or proposing things. It's still, of course, the main and most influential country within global evangelicalism. But I think it's a positive thing to see people relating across countries, across continents to help look for Christians, for spiritual leadership around the world. Article continues below I think that is a healthy development because we often have a closer reality with one another. If you see some similarities, you also see some of each other's blind spots and call out the best of the other. I was certainly helped as people from outside Brazil helped me see some of my own blind spots in Brazil. It's a positive development when we can have global Christians interacting with each other in an equal manner. Do you think that the last four years has hurt the credibility of the American evangelical church? And if so, in what ways? Rene Breuel: Yes, I'm sorry to say, but I think in part it has, though of course, it's not a blanket statement. We can see nuances and they may be people who did not support Trump or voted for him reluctantly, the tough spot people of faith find themselves in a two-party system. But people being vocal, like Black Christians being vocal, was very helpful. There is a feeling that the American evangelical church, at least in the past four years, lost part of its moral authority and spiritual leadership. Too many leaders, unfortunately, supported Trump noncritically, too many churchgoers supported Trump joyfully, and then too many prophets in the charismatic movement predicted a second term, which did not come to pass. I sense that people are clear on the gospel of Christ, the cross and repentance, and faith in the new birth, but when it comes to the churchs relation to society, I think there's something which will be helpful to think a little bit more about, like to what extent should we get involved in politics? How can we conceive of a public sphere in ways that are not political, trying to seek the common good without falling into partisanship? I think these are some key questions which of course I've been asked in the United States and people around the world as well. As we can see, movements like that can happen and are happening in other countries. How we can be more nuanced and more thoughtful when it comes to supporting parties and candidates? Even with sharing some policy platforms, we can try to be a little bit more thoughtful about that. What steps would you suggest American evangelical leaders take to rebuild trust and regain credibility with global brothers and sisters? Rene Breuel: These kinds of conversations are very helpful in being able to listen to other people's perspectives and having the humility of listening to how developments in my country can impact people in another country. I think it's a key opportunity to model this being quick to listen, being teachable, being humble, demonstrating self-awareness. From there will be a place of authority then to invite others, to be able to become aware of each others cultures, because every culture has its own personal, cultural, and political items. Then lead all of us in awareness of repentance of our own blind spots in idols. I think it's the occasion to model humility and good listening. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled against the heirs of Jewish art dealers in Nazi-era Frankfurt who sought to sue Germany in American courts over artifacts they say the dealers were forced to sell for a third of their value. The case, Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, No. 19-351, concerned the Guelph Treasure, a trove of medieval religious art that is now estimated to be worth $250 million. A consortium of three firms owned by Jews bought the collection in the waning days of the Weimar Republic and went on to sell about half of it to individual buyers and museums, including the Cleveland Museum of Art. As the Nazi government took power, the collection caught the interest of Hermann Goering, Hitlers second in command and the prime minister of Prussia. According to the heirs, he threatened the dealers with political persecution and physical harm to coerce them to sell the remaining artifacts in 1935 for much less than they were worth. The pieces are now in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin. In 2014, a German commission determined that the museum had acquired the collection legitimately. The commission said the 1935 sale to Prussia was voluntary and came after a yearlong negotiation that resulted in a price about halfway between the two sides opening positions. Advertisement Rishi Sunak is growing increasingly concerned that Government scientific advisers are raising the bar for the point at which lockdown should be lifted, allies claimed last night. The Chancellor is eager to ease restrictions as soon as possible to breathe life back into a throttled economy that has been devastated by the pandemic. But he is also said to be anxious that the nation's top scientists are 'moving the goalposts' for the criteria for loosening measures, further delaying the recovery. England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty yesterday announced the country was past the peak of this second wave of Covid-19 - but warned that we're not out of the woods yet as hospitalisations remained high. Sources close to the Chancellor revealed he is worried that talk has strayed from protecting the NHS to instead keeping infections down and becoming 'Covid-free'. A supporter told the Telegraph: 'Rishi is concerned that the scientists have been moving the goalposts in recent weeks. It's no longer just about hospitalisations and protecting the NHS but cases and case numbers.' And they said Mr Sunak was adamant this third national squeeze must be the final lockdown and heralded it a 'fat lady sings moment' - the point at which Britain draws a line under a cycle of lockdowns for good. Rishi Sunak is growing increasingly concerned that Government scientific advisers are raising the bar for the point at which lockdown can be lifted, allies have claimed Chris Whitty (left) said that draconian lockdown curbs will need to remain in place beyond March even if the four most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated. Boris Johnson (right) rowed in behind his top medical expert and warned that the level of infection is still 'forbiddingly high' and that it is too soon to relax current restrictions Data presented in a Downing Street press conference last night showed how patients over the age of 70 are most likely to be hospitalised with coronavirus. But experts have warned the NHS will still be under pressure until all over-50s are vaccinated because thousands of Britons aged between 50 and 69 become severely ill There are still 35,000 patients in hospital with Covid far higher than the 20,000 at the peak last spring As divisions appeared to open up among those steering the Government's pandemic response: Britain's vaccination drive passed the 10million-jab milestone; No10 launched the world's first trial into whether mixing and matching Covid vaccines can enhance protection; Downing Street denied Boris Johnson's claim that Matt Hancock would reveal details of the hotel quarantine scheme today; Sir Keir Starmer was forced to admit he was wrong to deny he had called for the UK to remain part of the European Medicine's Agency; Britons went on to their doorsteps and balconies to clap in honour of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore. Cases and deaths continued to fall as Britain recorded another 19,202 infections and 1,322 fatalities, down 25 per cent week-on-week. At a No10 press briefing Boris Johnson trumpeted the country's vaccination drive for passing the monumental 10million-jab milestone. Thanking the medics behind the rollout, the Prime Minister said: 'It is thanks to their effort the most colossal in the history of our National Health Service that we have today passed the milestone.' Yet Prof Whitty warned that the NHS will stay under strain until the six remaining priority groups, which include everyone over 50, are given their first dose. He told the briefing: 'The number of people in hospital with Covid has now gone down from its peak, quite noticeably. 'But as the Prime Minister said, there are still a very large number of people in hospital, and more people than there were in the first peak in April last year. So this is still a very major problem, but it is one that is heading the right way.' Oxford vaccine's 67% cut in transmission will save tens of THOUSANDS of lives Oxford's Covid vaccine could save tens of thousands of lives because it can cut the likelihood of catching coronavirus and passing it on by around two thirds, scientists say. Modelling produced by SAGE members from Warwick University predicted that more than 150,000 more people could die in 2021 if lockdown rules were lifted in March or April and vaccines did not stop people from spreading the virus. But with a 60 per cent infection-blocking capability slightly lower than the 67 per cent that Oxford claims its vaccine is capable of this could be halved, saving tens of thousands of lives. Oxford researchers, who are making their jab with pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and delivering more than a million of doses per week to the UK, confirmed last night that trials suggested the jab would stop most people from passing on the virus. This is critical because uptake will not be 100 per cent and not everyone who gets the vaccine will be protected by it, meaning the virus will still be a danger to some. Lifting lockdown after vaccinating people with jabs that don't stop the spread, the Warwick experts warned, would lead to 'an uncontrolled wave of infection in which only those successfully immunised will escape.' And even doing so with the Oxford vaccine rolled out to millions of people could still lead to a spike of 1,500 deaths per day if lockdown was lifted in February in exchange for the rule of six, or 2,000 per day if lockdown ends completely in July. Dr Paul Hunter, a scientist at the University of East Anglia who was not involved with the research, said social distancing could have to stay for another year in 2022 before it would be safe to return to normal. Advertisement There are still 35,000 patients in hospital with Covid far higher than the 20,000 at the peak last spring. Mr Johnson rowed in behind his top medical expert and warned that the level of infection is still 'forbiddingly high' and that it is too soon to relax current restrictions. The Prime Minister promised that he will set out a 'route map' out of lockdown on February 22, when he said scientists will have a better idea of how effective the vaccines are. Cabinet 'hawks' such as Mr Sunak have reportedly pushed for looser lockdown curbs at times to reduce the economic fallout of the health crisis. An unprecedented amount of peacetime public spending to mitigate the effects of lockdown - such as furlough and bailouts - have plunged the nation's finances deep into the red, with government borrowing reaching 270.8bn this financial year. At next month's Budget the Chancellor will set out his plan to start patching up the blackhole, which will likely see tax rises, although the Tory manifesto ruled out hikes to VAT, national insurance and income tax. Mr Sunak's Treasury brief, which makes him hyperaware of the havoc being wreaked on the economy, has at times put him at odds with Cabinet 'doves' preoccupied with driving down cases. Government splits publicly surfaced last night when Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer 'liked' a tweet telling the Chancellor to 'get back in his box'. The Chancellor's bullishness to unlock parts of the economy when possible is believed to be backed by the Business and Transport departments, which are also reportedly worried the criteria for relaxing restrictions is being upped. Some Tory MPs have also expressed concern over the scientists' cautious approach and are agitating for looser measures, particularly to reopen schools. Mr Johnson last week said children would not go back to classes by March 8 at the earliest. Chair of the powerful 1922 group of Conservative backbenchers Sir Graham Brady urged the PM to revise this date in light of new vaccine data. The senior Tory MP pointed to a study this week that found just a single shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had a 'substantial' impact on curbing transmission. Oxford researchers, who are making their jab with pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and delivering more than a million of doses per week to the UK, confirmed that trials suggested the jab would stop most people from passing on the virus. But modelling produced by SAGE members from Warwick University predicted that more than 150,000 more people could die in 2021 if lockdown rules were lifted in March or April and vaccines did not stop people from spreading the virus. Lifting lockdown after vaccinating people with jabs that don't stop the spread, the Warwick experts warned, would lead to 'an uncontrolled wave of infection in which only those successfully immunised will escape.' And even doing so with the Oxford vaccine rolled out to millions of people could still lead to a spike of 1,500 deaths per day if lockdown was lifted in February in exchange for the rule of six, or 2,000 per day if lockdown ends completely in July. Dr Paul Hunter, a scientist at the University of East Anglia who was not involved with the research, said social distancing could have to stay for another year in 2022 before it would be safe to return to normal. Boris Johnson praises NHS for 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid - but critics demand No10 gets a grip of 'lackadaisical approach' to Sundays as it emerges some GPs are refusing to open seven days a week Connor Boyd, assistant health editor, and Joe Davies and Stephen Matthews, health editor, for MailOnline Boris Johnson last night praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid amid calls for No10 to get a grip on the 'lackadaisical approach' to dishing out jabs on Sundays. Heralding the achievement in a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister thanked everyone involved in the roll-out, from scientists to delivery drivers to pharmacists. He said: 'And it is thanks to their effort the most colossal in the history of our National Health Service that we have today passed the milestone.' With the country jabbing an average 400,000 people every day, the UK is well on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. But despite the inoculation drive being an undoubted success with Britain administering more jabs per person than any other country except Israel, a trend has emerged in the figures showing a sharp drop-off in uptake on Sundays. For example, last Sunday there were 46 per cent fewer jabs administered compared to the day before dropping from almost 600,000 to 320,000. The fall was even more pronounced two Sundays ago, on January 24, when half as many jabs were done compared to the Saturday. Several GPs, who asked not to be named, told MailOnline that a large number of practices shut on Sundays and do not offer appointments despite No10 insisting the immunisation drive is 24/7 operation. It echoed claims made by Scotland's national clinical director yesterday who said the closure of surgeries on Sundays was hampering the vaccine rollout north of the border. The Royal College of GPs said said family doctors were 'doing everything they can' to get the vaccine to those who need it most, with 'some' but not all practices providing services seven days a week. Economists from the Institute for Economic Affairs told MailOnline that there is 'no incentive' for family doctors, who've been juggling the vaccine rollout and battling Covid on the frontlines of the second wave, to work seven days a week. It suggested GPs be offered commission on every jab done on a weekend. Health Secretary Matt Hancock today blamed 'lumpy supply' for the Sunday blips in Britain's coronavirus vaccine rollout and revealed plans to administer jabs through the night were going to be scrapped. Asked about the fluctuations during a round of interviews this morning, Mr Hancock claimed the issue was being caused by patchy deliveries of supplies. He told LBC Radio: 'The answer is absolutely about supply... The supply is lumpy and as soon as a big shipment comes in we deliver it to the front line and they get it out as fast as we can.' Heralding the achievement in a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister thanked everyone involved in the roll-out, from scientists to delivery drivers to pharmacists Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured today) suggested that vaccine supplies arrive in one large batch at the start of the week and dry up by the time Sunday comes around. It comes after Oxford University's jab was shown to protect people for 12 weeks after a single dose. Pictured right: Dr Andrew Pollard, the lead investigator of Oxford's study Research found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was 84% effective at preventing Covid-19 with doses 12 weeks apart and it appeared to get better the further apart the doses were (shown graph top left, how the protection level changed based on the dose spacing). And it also proved that there was a high level of protection from disease for weeks and even months after even just a single dose (bottom graph, showing how the efficacy of the vaccine remained high for almost 100 days after dose one) The Adam Smith think-tank told MailOnline the blips were a 'worrying sign of lost priorities'. Deputy director Matt Kilcoyne added: 'We need to make sure that we are firing on all cylinders at every single point, every single day. 'This is the most important issue in politics right now and the fact that we are failing to ramp up right across the week is a worrying sign of lost priorities of everybody who is involved in the pandemic.' Mr Hancock also suggested No10 was purposefully masking data on its vaccine supplies, adding: 'We don't publish the supply figures and the reason we don't is that they move around.' Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, slammed Mr Hancock for hiding the figures. 'We need transparency from the Government about vaccine supply and how that is affecting the rate at which people can get their jabs,' she told MailOnline. 'It's vital that we take advantage of every hour of every day to vaccinate as many people as possible, and any issues with vaccinations on Sundays must be explored and fixed by the Government.' Meanwhile, Mr Hancock hinted that 24-hour vaccinations would be scrapped because not enough people were coming forward for nighttime jabs. NHS trusts in Birmingham and Nottingham have been offering 24/7 Covid vaccines for a fortnight as part of a pilot to gauge the demand for the scheme. Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'We have discovered, perhaps to nobody's surprise, that people tend to want to have the jab during the day, and those who are doing the vaccinations prefer to do it during the day, so... getting those three together during the day is more convenient than overnight.' However, there are fears the 24/7 vaccine programme is being scrapped before it has had a chance to properly succeed. At the moment only the elderly and the most frail Brits, as well as NHS and care workers, are being invited for vaccines, including jabs done overnight. Experts have said all along that because many vulnerable Brits find it difficult to leave home, there won't be huge clamour for nighttime vaccines until priority moves down to younger and healthier people, who are more flexible and find it easier to get to a jab centre. Mr Kilcoyne accused the Health Secretary of trying to shift the blame when it came to the Sunday performance dips. 'Matt Hancock has made the order, he is in charge of the operation and the rollout and it seems like he is passing the buck but the buck still stops with him,' he said. 'It is not good enough that there is a drop - it is the most important issue that we end up with high levels of vaccine supply every single day of the week so that we can end up with vaccinations being ramped up so that we can save more lives.' Despite the daily fluctuation in vaccine uptake, Britain is dishing out 400,000 doses on average every day more per capita than anywhere in the world except Israel. Around three million people aged between 65 and 69 will start to be sent letters in the coming days, meaning that some areas may be able to offer vaccines to those below the age of 70 before February 15 when the four most vulnerable groups should have been covered. The news suggests the UK is on track to surpass its goal of offering jabs to all over-70s by mid-February. Some in Whitehall are reportedly hopeful that the whole adult population will be provided with doses by the beginning of May. There are added hopes all of those adults could have received their follow-up jab by the end of August. However, other government sources said that could be too optimistic, telling MailOnline that supply constraints alone are likely to rule it out. It would require an average of around 500,000 doses to be administered every day for the next 12 weeks. No10 has promised to vaccinate 13.9million of the most vulnerable by mid-February, in order to begin easing lockdown restrictions. But Boris Johnson has since said March 8 is the earliest date for easing the national measures. Mr Hancock has claimed those who had received a first dose of the life-saving drug included more than half of the over-70s, plus nine in 10 of the over-80s. It came as the Health Secretary admitted he pushed the Government into the massive order for 100million doses of Oxford University's Covid vaccine instead of the originally planned 30million, saying he refused to 'settle for less'. The staggering order has been a stroke of good fortune for Britain, with the jab successful in clinical trials, quick to get approval and now believed to be getting delivered at the break-neck speed of two million doses per week. Incredible footage shows a huge chunk of the White Cliffs of Dover breaking off and collapsing into The Channel after witnesses heard a 'loud crack,' this afternoon. Tonnes of chalk could be seen plummeting into the waters below Samphire Hoe Country Park as a result of coastal erosion. Footage taken off the Dover coast showed a middle-section of the iconic cliffs in Kent falling into the sea. Seconds later, ground at the top of the chalk-lined cliffs starts to buckle, before an entire section gives way. David Waterfield captured the moment on camera, after hearing a 'loud crack,' from the cliffs. The collapse at the White Cliffs of Dover began when a section in the middle of the cliffs broke away. Seconds later the entire face of one area fell into The Channel He told ITV: 'I've lived down this neck of the woods for nearly all of my life, right next to the most famous cliffs in the world. 'You hear about it, you see the remnants of [cliff falls], but to actually see it in person it was really quite impressive.' Fisherman Dennis McIntyre also filmed the collapse, telling followers he 'wasn't expecting' to see thousands of tonnes of chalk fall into the sea this afternoon. A large part of the White Cliffs of Dover has collapsed this afternoon. This footage was filmed at Samphire Ho. pic.twitter.com/ycKVf93wiw Adam Clark (@adamclarkitv) February 3, 2021 Thousands of tonnes of chalk fell into the sea off the Dover coast this afternoon, as witnesses looked on in awe. Geologists fear the White Cliffs are retreating by up to 12 inches each year Onlookers say they heard a 'loud crack,' next to Samphire Hoe on Wednesday afternoon, before part of the natural landmark collapsed At their tallest, the White Cliffs of Dover, made iconic by Vera Lyn's Second World War anthem, rise 350ft above the waters of the English Channel. Today's incredible footage comes four years after a study revealed Britain's White Cliffs were disappearing at an alarming rate. Research published in 2016 showed the cliffs are retreating by up to 12 inches (32 cm) each year. This is a huge increase from the 0.8 inches (2 cm) a year the cliffs were losing up until a few hundred years ago. Scientists from the University of Glasgow believe that man-made defences such as sea-walls and groynes which first appeared on our beaches in Victorian times may also be causing a more rapid rate of erosion, scientists suggest. These defences stop sediment travelling from west to east leading to beaches under the white cliffs to become thinner, offering less protection from the waves. Another possibility is our seas have become stormier as the path of storms travelling from the Atlantic may have switched to the south, leading to more damage to the cliffs. At their tallest, the White Cliffs of Dover, made iconic by Vera Lyn's Second World War anthem, rise 350ft above the waters of the English Channel Another possible explanation is that weather has become stormier in the last century or so causing the cliffs to crumble more rapidly. Last week the coastguard issued a warning after similar scenes at the Birling Gap in East Sussex. Passers-by in South Tyneside also watched the cliff face give way at Marsden on Sunday. Samantha Lawson, from Jarrow, had been walking along the beach with her partner Lewis and dog Vinnie and caught the rock collapse on camera. The 29-year-old said: 'We were just walking from the Marsden Grotto steps, as we do every weekend, and Lewis always says that it won't be long until the cliff gives way. 'Then, all of a sudden, a few tiny rocks started to fall so I started to video it and the whole cliff just gave way. 'I give out a bit of a nervous laugh in the video as I was a bit concerned for the dog, we always throw rocks on the beach for him as he likes to chase them, so I thought he was going to run over to it. 'Thankfully we weren't any closer to the cliffs and I think it is quite fortunate that no one was really on the beach at the time as it is usually pretty busy. 'It's just crazy that we were able to catch it on camera.' DOJ Drops Lawsuit Alleging Discrimination in Yale Admissions In an unexpected move, the Department of Justice (DOJ) gave notice to a federal court on Feb. 3 that it is dropping a discrimination lawsuit it filed only a few months ago. In a two-sentence notice, DOJ described its decision as a voluntary dismissal of the litigation it filed in October 2020 following a two-year investigation. A DOJ spokesman who asked not to be named told The Epoch Times the decision to withdraw the suit was based on a November 2020 federal court decision that rejected a challenge of Harvards admissions policies. The department has dismissed its lawsuit in light of all available facts, circumstances, and legal developments, including the November 2020 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit rejecting a challenge to Harvard Universitys consideration of race in its admissions practices, the spokesman said. The department has also withdrawn its notice letter finding that Yales practices violate Title VI. The department will further review this matter through its administrative process. The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that neither the United States nor the court has made any final determination in this matter. The departments underlying investigation to ensure Title VI compliance is ongoing. The fact the October 2020 determination of discrimination letter was also withdrawn by DOJ suggests there is little possibility in the near future of further action, either in the court system or through DOJ administrative channels. Yale issued a written statement to NBC saying, Our admissions process has allowed Yale College to assemble an unparalleled student body, which is distinguished by its academic excellence and diversity. But Yale may not be off the hook just yet because Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, issued a statement on Feb. 3 saying, It is disappointing that the Department of Justice withdrew from this important lawsuit which had exposed Yales illegal use of quotas to achieve racial and ethnic proportionality. Blums group has been a leading opponent in the courts and the media of racial and ethnic favoritism in college admissions. He said in his statement that his group plans to file a new lawsuit against Yale in the coming days. Discriminatory admissions policies like Yales must be challenged in federal court. In an August 2020 letter giving Yale notice of the governments intent to file suit, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric Dreiband said investigators found systematic favoritism by the Ivy League school that illegally disadvantaged Asian American and white applicants. Yale grants substantial, and often determinative, preferences based on race to certain racially-favored applicants and relatively and significantly disfavors other applicants because of their race, Dreiband stated in the letter. Yales race discrimination imposes undue and unlawful penalties on racially-disfavored applicants, including in particular Asian American and White applicants. The DOJ filed suit on Oct. 9, 2020, against Yale, claiming its admission policies violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. There is no such thing as a nice form of race discrimination, Dreiband said at the time. Unlawfully dividing Americans into racial and ethnic blocs fosters stereotypes, bitterness and division. It is past time for American institutions to recognize that all people should be treated with decency and respect and without unlawful regard to the color of their skin. Opponents of race-based college admissionsreferred to as affirmative action programshave faced a rough road in seeking to persuade federal courts that such actions violate federal anti-discrimination laws and regulations. The November Harvard decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit stated that the school had legally employed affirmative action tools in its admissions policies to achieve a desirable level of diversity in its student body. Harvards race-conscious admissions program ensures that Harvard can retain the benefits of diversity it has already achieved, the court stated in a unanimous decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1978 in Regents of the University of Southern California v. Bakke that affirmative action in college admissions doesnt violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The case was brought by Allan Bakke, a former U.S. Marine officer who had applied for admission to USCs medical school. Bakke won a partial victory because the high court stated that numerical quotas couldnt be used in admissions. That reservation from the 1978 decision has given opponents of policies such as those currently in force in Ivy League and other top universities hope that the current Supreme Court, with its occasional 63 conservative majority would reverse Bakke. University of Tennessee College of Law Distinguished Professor Glenn Reynolds is a 1985 Yale Law School graduate, a New York Post columnist, and widely published law review author. Asked by The Epoch Times for a comment on the DOJ decision, Reynolds replied that its obvious that not all racial discrimination is created equal. SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualivis, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aya Healthcare, announced a definitive agreement to acquire the Chesapeake Registry Program, a division of the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). The acquisition is expected to close on March 1, 2021. "COVID-19 has made staffing needs increasingly urgent and critical to expand capacity," said Meghan McClelland, chief operating officer of Maryland Hospital Association. "Our most important job is to respond to the needs of our members, so we're pleased to join forces with Qualivis to simplify, enhance and streamline the entire staffing process from end to end." Members will now have access to an array of service enhancements designed to optimize efficiency in the contingent labor process. Through services such as consolidated invoicing, robust candidate vetting and credentialing services, and optional service line expansions, members can save time and money while adding value to their existing programs. The Chesapeake Registry Program was originally established by the Maryland Hospital Association to assist healthcare facilities with supplemental staffing needs through contracts with selected nursing and allied health agencies. "Our number one goal is to provide services that promote positive patient outcomes across the country," said Sherry Kolb, RN, president of Qualivis. "We're thrilled about this partnership and the expanded portfolio of industry-leading workforce solutions MHA members now have access to." To learn more about the enhanced roster of services available through Qualivis, contact Sherry Kolb, president of Qualivis, at [email protected]. About Qualivis Qualivis is a national provider of healthcare workforce solutions that streamlines staffing processes for hospitals and health systems. The company works with state hospital associations, healthcare facilities and a national network of staffing agencies to keep clinical and non-clinical departments staffed. About MHA MHA serves Maryland's hospitals and health systems through collective action to shape policies, practices, financing and performance to advance health care and the health of all Marylanders. MHA's membership is composed of community, teaching and specialty hospitals and health systems. Allied with the American Hospital Association, MHA is an independent organization headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland. About Aya Healthcare Aya Healthcare is the nation's largest travel nurse and allied staffing agency, as well as a leading provider of locums, per diem and non-clinical staffing. Aya's managed marketplace for workforce management streamlines the entire contingent labor staffing process and creates a more valuable experience for healthcare facilities, clinicians and partner agencies. To learn more about Aya Healthcare, visit www.ayahealthcare.com. Media Contact: Lisa Park, [email protected] SOURCE Aya Healthcare Related Links http://www.ayahealthcare.com RADNOR, Pa., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that the law firm filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit against Restaurant Brands International Inc. ("Restaurant Brands") on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Restaurant Brands (NYSE: QSR) common stock between April 29, 2019 and October 28, 2019, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 19, 2021 Website: https://www.ktmc.com/restaurant-brands-international-inc-securities-class-action?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=restaurant_brands#overview Contact: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435 Toll free (844) 887-9500 Restaurant Brands is one of the world's largest restaurant chains with over 27,000 Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories. On April 24, 2018, Restaurant Brands announced a new strategy designed to improve performance within its Tim Hortons brand. Specifically, the "Winning Together Plan" would focus on three key pillars: restaurant experience; product excellence; and brand communications. Then, on March 20, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced "Tims Rewards" a new loyalty program for Tim Hortons customers in Canada. On April 10, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced that it was expanding the Tims Rewards program to include customers in the United States. On October 29, 2019, the truth about Restaurant Brands' execution of its Winning Together Plan and Tims Rewards loyalty program was revealed when the company announced disappointing financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019. Among other things, Restaurant Brands reported a 0.1% system-wide year-over-year sales decline for Tim Hortonsrepresenting a 1.4% same-store sales declineon system-wide sales of $1.774 billion. Following this news, the price of Restaurant Brands common stock declined $2.59 per share, or approximately 4%, from a close of $68.45 per share on October 25, 2019, to close at $64.86 per share on October 28, 2019. Restaurant Brands investors may, no later than February 19, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). T For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, please visit www.ktmc.com. CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP James Maro, Jr., Esq. Adrienne Bell, Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 (844) 887-9500 (toll free) (610) 667-7706 [email protected] SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Related Links http://www.ktmc.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. The World Logistics Passport (WLP), a major policy initiative established to increase trading opportunities between emerging markets, today announced India, Indonesia and South Africa as members. They join Colombia, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Uruguay and the UAE in a club of trading nations sharing expertise to smooth trade flows around the world. The WLP creates opportunities for business across Africa, Asia, Central and South America to improve existing trading routes, and develop new ones, through the world's first logistics loyalty programme for freight forwarders and traders, a statement said. It overcomes non-tariff trade barriers by fast-tracking cargo movement, reducing administrative costs, advancing cargo information and facilitating movement between ports and air. Take, for instance, the cargo journey from Jakarta to Johannesburg. Transporting high-value, low-weight goods through historically established transport routes in Europe takes considerably longer, and is therefore more expensive, than if the goods pass through Dubai. Through the WLP, traders can expect to save 25% on freight costs and 10% on transit time moving goods from Indonesia to South Africa. Mike Bhaskaran, CEO of the World Logistics Passport, said: "The World Logistics Passport increases resilience in global supply chains and removes the barriers that prevent developing economies from trading as freely as they might, which is more important than ever as governments around the world seek to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19." "Today's announcement shows that governments and businesses are thinking differently about how goods and services move round the world, and we are delighted to welcome India, Indonesia and South Africa to the club." India the largest economy to join the WLP to date The WLP now counts Mumbai International Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport), Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (Mumbai), and Emirates SkyCargo in India & Nepal as partners. As a trade enhancing policy initiative, the WLP is closely aligned with the Strategy for [email protected] in its aims to boost national competitiveness, increase the efficiency of India's logistics sector and build tighter economic integration with emerging economies in South and South East Asia. The WLP now looks forward to welcoming the participation of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to represent the government's oversight of local operations, and the CBIC (Customs) as a partner, as well as other regional organisations. South Africa signs up to spur intra-regional trade opportunities The WLP programme is closely aligned with South African National Development Plan 2030, particularly in terms of increasing intra-regional trade and improving trade penetration into fast growing markets in Asia and Latin America. The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce has signed a framework agreement with the WLP and bilateral negotiations with the government continue. Joining the WLP will be a key enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, opening up new market potential among countries in the region. South Africa has joined the WLP at a time where the country, and broader region, seek to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19. The WLP will help to achieve the goals in the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, boosting job creation and supporting export-led growth. Indonesia the first South-East Asian nation to the join Indonesia is a strategically important market for the WLP, as it represents a region key to the WLP concept for its fast economic growth driven by manufacturing exports. The WLP will compliment and reinforce the headline aims of the final stage of the Long-Term National Development Plan (RPJPN), specifically in terms of boosting national competitiveness and higher-wage job creation across all of Indonesia's varied geographies. The WLP now counts the Indonesia National Shippers' Council as a partner, which will provide benefits related to navigating the local market. Last year, the Indonesia National Shippers' Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PCFC in Dubai to realise trade cooperation, thus the registration can be seen as an evolution of an already entrenched and fruitful partnership.TradeArabia News Service 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. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Affinor Growers Inc. (Affinor or the Company) (CSE: AFI) (OTCQB: RSSFF) is pleased to announce that Nick Brusatore has been appointed as a non-independent member of the Companys Audit Committee. Mr. Brusatore will also continue in his roles as Chief Executive Officer and as director of the Company. Nick Brusatore: This is a great first step in building trust with our current shareholder base, we hope to increase our exposure in the market with the completion of the new Abbotsford greenhouse operation. About Affinor Affinor is a publicly traded company listed on the CSE under the symbol "AFI" and on the OTCQB under the symbol RSSFF. Affinor is focused on developing vertical farming technologies and using those technologies to grow fruits and vegetables in a sustainable manner. To learn more about Affinor, visit: https://www.affinorgrowers.com/en On behalf of the Board of Directors, Affinor Growers Inc. Nick Brusatore Director /CEO nick@affinorgrowers.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. , today announced that applications are open for its 2021 Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship . The scholarship celebrates the life of Avonte Oquendo, a 14-year-old boy with autism who tragically drowned in the East River after wandering off from his school in Queens, NY, undetected. The scholarship awards $5,000 to a student on the autism spectrum or a student who has a close family member with autism to pursue higher education, a cause important to the firm and to the family of Avonte. To be eligible for the Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship, applicants must be currently enrolled in or accepted to an accredited higher-level education institution for an undergraduate or postgraduate program; complete an application form; provide academic transcripts, and submit an essay on one of three provided prompts. The deadline for students to submit their scholarship application is Saturday, July 31, 2021, at 11:59 pm EST. The scholarship award recipient will be notified in August 2021. "I am honored that our firm has been able to make a difference in the lives of autistic students and their families who are seeking higher education opportunities for the past five years and we are proud to offer the scholarship for the sixth year, at a time where financial and educational support for this community is more important than ever," said David Perecman, Founder and Lead Trial Lawyer at the Perecman Firm. "As an attorney, I've seen how higher education is not only a tool for personal development, but also a means by which individuals can better their own lives and ultimately shape and improve their communities. We want higher education opportunities to be accessible to all students, especially those who have autism and often face obstacles that other students do not." The attorneys at The Perecman Firm, who represented Avonte Oquendo's mother Vanessa Fontaine in a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Avonte in 2013, have committed to keeping Avonte's story alive and helping students pursue higher education, something many families in the autism community are not able to make possible due to the rising costs of higher education. David Perecman also helped Avonte's family pass Avonte's Law, New York City legislation aimed to increase the safety of autistic students who are more likely to wander from schools. Under the law, which was passed in 2014, the city's Department of Education is required to evaluate the need for alarms on exterior doors at elementary schools and schools serving students with autism and other special needs. A federal initiative, "Kevin and Avonte's Law," was passed in 2018 to provide resources to assist in planning, establishing or operating programs to prevent wandering and to locate missing individuals with forms of dementia or developmental disabilities such as autism. "The outpouring support that followed Avonte's tragic passing has deeply touched me and the other members of our firm," said Perecman. "We are proud to honor Avonte's life by providing support to students and families affected by autism through the annual Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship." For more information about the 2021 Avonte Oquendo Memorial Scholarship, visit www.perecman.com/avonte-oquendo/autism-scholarship . For more information about The Perecman Firm, visit www.perecman.com . About The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. Founded in 1983 by David Perecman, The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. is a full-service personal injury law firm with offices in New York, New York, and Jericho, New York. The firm's attorneys concentrate their legal practices in all aspects of personal injury, including construction accidents, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, and civil rights matters, as well as workers' compensation and Social Security Disability. Recognized by U.S. News for the past eight consecutive years as one of the Best Law Firms in America for Plaintiff's Personal Injury in New York, and distinguished among their peers for their professionalism, knowledge, and results by nationally-recognized organizations, including Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers, the firm and its attorneys have recovered more than $500 million in verdicts and settlements on their clients' behalf. For more information, visit www.perecman.com . SOURCE The Perecman Firm, P.L.L.C. Related Links http://www.perecman.com Almonty Industries Inc. ("Almonty") (TSX:AII OTCQX:ALMTF Frankfurt:1MR) is pleased to announce the expansion of its current Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) program at its Panasqueira mine in Portugal and at its Sangdong project in South Korea. At Panasqueira, a solar project is being implemented over the next 12 months, building a 2.52 MW facility to produce 4.1 million KWH per year which represents 21.5 of our consumption at the mine. At Sangdong, a third-party report will be concluded over the next 3 months, analyzing the carbon footprint and how best to minimize that footprint. Given the energy from the grid supplied to the Sangdong project is 100% renewable, the Company has a unique opportunity to push towards carbon neutrality at our Korean site. Almonty's Chairman, President and CEO Lewis Black commented: "As we transition into the wider financial ETF markets of Asia and Australia, and our visibility continues to increase as a significant producer of the strategic metals of Tungsten and Molybdenum once Sangdong and Almonty Korea Moly opens, it has become increasingly important to ensure that we are continually reviewing and developing our ESG which sits perfectly in line with the equator principles around which the Sangdong project is being built. The equator principles were the backbone of KfW-IPEX Bank support but now we find that ETF's covering the strategic space require a continuing push across the board regarding our ESG. The aim for carbon neutrality at Sangdong is potentially achievable once underground electric fleets can maintain a charge for an entire shift which is estimated to be technically possible within the next 18 months, but we are extremely fortunate that 100% of our energy comes from a renewable source making the target of carbon neutrality achievable. With Panasqueira, we are dealing with a 126-year-old project, but we now start the process of bringing far greater attention to its ESG. The first phase of this is to provide over 20% of our energy needs from solar. Social programs are already underway for some years now and further programs are also now being evaluated to bring the mine further into the 21st century." About Almonty The principal business of Toronto, Canada-based Almonty Industries Inc. is the mining, processing and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its Los Santos mine in western Spain and its Panasqueira mine in Portugal as well as the development of its Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon Province, South Korea and the development of the Valtreixal tin/tungsten project in north western Spain. The Los Santos mine was acquired by Almonty in September 2011 and is located approximately 50 kilometres from Salamanca in western Spain and produces tungsten concentrate. The Panasqueira mine, which has been in production since 1896, located approximately 260 kilometres northeast of Lisbon, Portugal, was acquired in January 2016 and produces tungsten concentrate. The Sangdong mine, which was historically one of the largest tungsten mines in the world and one of the few long-life, high-grade tungsten deposits outside of China, was acquired in September 2015 through the acquisition of a 100% interest in Woulfe Mining Corp. Almonty owns 100% of the Valtreixal tin-tungsten project in north-western Spain. Further information about Almonty's activities may be found at www.almonty.com and under Almonty's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Legal Notice The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements and information are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and reflect Almonty's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Almonty to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: any specific risks relating to fluctuations in the price of ammonium para tungstate from which the sale price of Almonty's tungsten concentrate is derived, actual results of mining and exploration activities, environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdictions in which Almonty's operations are located and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, forecasts and assessments relating to Almonty's business, credit and liquidity risks, hedging risk, competition in the mining industry, risks related to the market price of Almonty's shares, the ability of Almonty to retain key management employees or procure the services of skilled and experienced personnel, risks related to claims and legal proceedings against Almonty and any of its operating mines, risks relating to unknown defects and impairments, risks related to the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, risks related to governmental regulations, including environmental regulations, risks related to international operations of Almonty, risks relating to exploration, development and operations at Almonty's tungsten mines, the ability of Almonty to obtain and maintain necessary permits, the ability of Almonty to comply with applicable laws, regulations and permitting requirements, lack of suitable infrastructure and employees to support Almonty's mining operations, uncertainty in the accuracy of mineral reserves and mineral resources estimates, production estimates from Almonty's mining operations, inability to replace and expand mineral reserves, uncertainties related to title and indigenous rights with respect to mineral properties owned directly or indirectly by Almonty, the ability of Almonty to obtain adequate financing, the ability of Almonty to complete permitting, construction, development and expansion, challenges related to global financial conditions, risks related to future sales or issuance of equity securities, differences in the interpretation or application of tax laws and regulations or accounting policies and rules and acceptance of the TSX of the listing of Almonty shares on the TSX. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to, no material adverse change in the market price of ammonium para tungstate, the continuing ability to fund or obtain funding for outstanding commitments, expectations regarding the resolution of legal and tax matters, no negative change to applicable laws, the ability to secure local contractors, employees and assistance as and when required and on reasonable terms, and such other assumptions and factors as are set out herein. Although Almonty has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Almonty. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. Almonty cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on Almonty's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Almonty has also assumed that material factors will not cause any forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALMONTY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE ALMONTY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005125/en/ Contacts: Almonty Lewis Black Chairman, President and CEO +1 647 438-9766 lewis.black@almonty.com News Washington, DC - The Department of Justice Friday commemorates the 10th annual National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and declares a continued commitment to combatting human trafficking in all its forms. The fight against human trafficking remains one of the departments highest priorities, and the department will remain relentless in its efforts to bring traffickers to justice and seek justice for survivors. Human trafficking is a crime that preys on some of the most vulnerable members of our society. It is a crime of exploitation that deprives victims of their rights, freedom, and dignity. Traffickers exploit the vulnerable through forced labor or commercial sex involving children or involving adults subjected to force, fraud, or coercion. The Department of Justice is unflagging in its resolve to eradicate human trafficking and pursue justice for those affected by these heinous crimes, said Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson. The Department of Justice is committed to continuing its victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to detecting hidden human trafficking crimes, holding perpetrators accountable, and restoring the lives of survivors, while strengthening strategic anti-trafficking partnerships. In fiscal year 2020, the department brought 210 federal human trafficking cases against 337 defendants, and secured 309 convictions. Already in 2021, the department secured a sentence of life imprisonment for an individual in Florida who directed, primarily through online communications and transactions, the sex trafficking of impoverished young children in the Philippines. As a result, Filipino authorities were able to rescue six child victims from the defendants co-conspirator in the Philippines. Also in 2021, the department successfully convicted a labor trafficker who used debts, threats, abuse, and assaults to compel the victims unpaid labor for 10 hours a day, six to seven days a week, in the defendants North Carolina nail salon. The department also secured a life sentence and over $900,000 in restitution against a Texas sex trafficker who compelled women and girls to engage in commercial sex through violence, isolation, intimidation, and threats. The department-wide approach to combating human trafficking extends beyond the prosecutions brought by U.S. Attorneys Offices, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, to include interagency enforcement initiatives and strategic partnerships with global anti-trafficking allies. These efforts increasingly utilize specialized expertise in money laundering, financial crimes, and transnational organized crime to enhance investigations and prosecutions. The FBIs Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit develops innovative strategies on an ongoing basis to enhance detection and investigation of hidden human trafficking crimes. The Justice Departments Office for Victims of Crime, as the largest federal funding source for trafficking victim services, issued over 400 grants totaling over $270 million, enabling its grantees to serve 9,854 clients. In addition, the Office for Victims of Crime launched its Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center to assist local and tribal organizations in starting, sustaining, and expanding their anti-trafficking efforts. The department continues to to elevate the voices of courageous survivors, ensuring that their expertise and insights inform anti-trafficking efforts. During this, the 10th annual National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Department of Justice reaffirms its commitment to combatting the heinous crime of human trafficking, holding perpetrators accountable, and seeking justice for survivors. Alabama lawmakers today will begin debate on a bill to create a wiretapping program for state and local law enforcement to secretly monitor and record people suspected of felony drug crimes, ranging from marijuana possession to dealing heroin. House Bill 17 would create a new program for local police in Alabama to tap someones calls and online communications without involving federal law enforcement. Thats if a local judge finds probable cause to believe the person is committing, has committed, or is about to commit certain felony drug offenses. Rep. Rex Reynolds, a former Huntsville police chief, is sponsoring the legislation along with three other House members. He said a wiretapping program would help law enforcement investigate people suspected of high-level drug crimes. This is for drug traffickers, he said. There are people that are bringing illicit drugs into our counties, drugs that are killing our youth. But attorneys say the bill allows for wiretaps in too wide of a variety of cases, some seemingly low level, such as marijuana possession. Birmingham attorney Michael P. Hanle, the chair of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Associations Legislative Committee said the bill also uses a low standard of proof, requiring only probable cause. It opens the door too wide, Hanle said. Theres got to be some limitation on what you can do. Called the Agent Billy Clardy III Act, the bill is named in memory of the Huntsville police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2019 during an undercover drug buy. Reynolds said the bill could help keep police safe in some instances by letting them investigate drug crimes through wiretaps, rather than working in dangerous undercover situations. Reynolds said the bills civil and criminal penalties for police who abuse the wiretap power will protect the public from invasions of privacy or overreach by law enforcement. Defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates said the bill presents a new set of concerns about Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. HB17 grants more unchecked authority to law enforcement and falls short of protecting the privacy of Alabamians, said Dillon Nettles, director of policy and advocacy at the ACLU of Alabama. This bill eases the safeguards to protect Alabamians from unconstitutional interception of private communications, and it contains poor transparency requirements. In a statement, Nettles said the bill poses threats to the privacy of people who arent suspected of drug crimes but have conversations with people who are. Its clear it opens the door for more infringement on privacy rights and we urge the House to work to balance privacy concerns and public safety before passing the bill, he said. If the bill becomes state law, local police departments could ask the Secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to request that the Alabama Attorney Generals Office apply for an intercept order from a local judge. Mike Lewis, a spokesman for Attorney General Steve Marshalls Office, declined to comment. Lt. Michael McCoy, a narcotics commander for the state law enforcement agency, helped draft the bill and recommended naming it in Clardys memory. He said the bill mirrors wiretapping laws in other states, including Mississippi. Forty four states and Washington D.C. have wiretap laws, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. McCoy said wiretapping is a valuable tool for fighting the opioid crisis that continues to affect Alabama, where overdose deaths have increased substantially during the coronavirus pandemic. Wiretapping allows enforcement agencies to dismantle an entire drug organization, not just one or two individuals, he said in an email to AL.com. McCoy said HB 17 includes protections against abuse of power and provides for oversight by courts. To approve a wiretap application, a judge would have to determine there is probable cause to believe someone is committing, has committed or is about to commit a felony drug crime, according to the bill, and that the wiretap will turn up evidence. The judge would also have to determine that other investigative procedures have been tried and failed, are too dangerous to be tried, or appear reasonably unlikely to succeed if tried. If approved by a judge, the intercept would apply to communications via phone, the internet or a fax machine, according to the bill. The wiretap order would allow police to listen live and record conversations for up to 30 days, unless extended by the judge. The order would be entered ex-parte meaning it would be kept secret from the person being wiretapped. Hanle, the defense attorney, said probable cause is a subjective measure of evidence. It is the lowest burden of proof in the criminal justice system. To find probable cause, a judge only has to determine that it is reasonable to believe the allegations not that they are proven to be true. Hanle said the broad range of alleged crimes for which someone can be surreptitiously monitored by police under the bill is too extensive. Under the bill, someone could be wiretapped if police convinced a judge there is probable cause to believe the person committed crimes ranging from marijuana possession to heroin trafficking. And the bill doesnt specify the time frame during which those alleged crimes would have to occur to qualify for an intercept order. It is very far-reaching, said Hanle. Hanle also raised concerns about the ability of lawyers and their clients to challenge intercept orders in court. While the wiretap is active, the person being surveilled wouldnt know. Once the person was notified, they could ask a judge to throw out the wiretaps by arguing that the communications were intercepted unlawfully, that the judges order was insufficient or that the police didnt follow the order. But Hanle said he is concerned because the bill doesnt allow people to challenge the judges finding of probable cause or law enforcements assertion that other investigative procedures have failed. Hanle also raised concerns about how police will be trained to work wiretap cases. Currently in Alabama, local and state police have to work with a federal law enforcement agency to pursue a wiretap under federal court guidelines. HB 17, which is similar to federal wiretapping laws, would cut out the federal government and make the state law enforcement agency responsible for maintaining wiretapping equipment and processing requests for intercept orders. Why should Alabama law enforcement rely on the federal government to do its job, when they can do it themselves with the right tools? McCoy said. He said local police agencies especially those in rural areas dont have the manpower and resources to go after large drug trafficking organizations. Those departments are asking state police for help, McCoy said, and wiretapping would provide a safer, more effective investigative tool. The wiretap program would be costly. Reynolds estimated that a wiretapping machine could cost about $650,000. The total additional costs for facilities, overtime hours, equipment audits and administrative costs in the state law enforcement agency and the attorney generals office arent known. The average cost of an intercept in 2019 was $75,160, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Georgia had the most expensive state wiretap that year. The 178-day wiretap in a drug investigation resulted in 17 arrests and one conviction, and cost more than $1.9 million, federal data shows. While HB 17 could increase revenues from fines, depending on the number of people charged through wiretap investigations, it could also increase expenses for local prosecutors offices, the prison system, prison diversion programs and the parole board, according to a legislative analysis. Reynolds said police departments could also increase revenue through civil asset forfeiture a controversial practice that allows police to seize someones property, like a vehicle, if there is probable cause to believe it is tied to criminal activity. A similar version of HB 17 was approved by the House Judiciary Committee and passed the full House during last years legislative session. The state Senate did not vote on the bill because the session was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 legislative session began Tuesday. Reynolds said the House Judiciary Committee would begin discussing the bill today. This is a really big deal for law enforcement, Reynolds said. This is very important to them. AL.com reporter Connor Sheets contributed to this story. YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. An anti-government protest led by the Homeland Salvation Movement is taking place outside the parliament building in central Yerevan, where lawmakers are debating in a special session the bills to create new specialized courts. The Homeland Salvation Movement, composed of various political forces and individuals, also blocked the Baghramyan Avenue. Hayk Mamijanyan, a member of the movement and the head of the Republican Partys youth wing, argued that the lawmakers despite the many critical issues facing the country, are in special session debating a government-backed bill to create what he described as courts for arrests. Police officers are trying to open the avenue. The lawmakers are debating proposed amendments to the judicial code, whereby special courts tasked with examining corruption cases and supervising pre-trial proceedings would be established. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Former Louisiana Senate President Michael OKeefe has died. He was 89. O'Keefe was a powerful political figure in the 1970s and 1980s whose career ended when he was convicted of defrauding his business partners. He represented Orleans Parish in the state Senate from 1960 until 1984. The final eight years he was president of the body under former Govs. Edwin Edwards and Dave Treen. But a series of scandals led to his downfall and OKeefe spent nearly 20 years in prison on federal corruption charges. His family says OKeefe died from cancer at his New Orleans home Sunday. 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. 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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If you truly believe in what is written in Scripture, how could you vote for a man like Trump? Now, the tables are turned, and that same question must be asked of those who identify as committed followers of Jesus and who voted for Joe Biden. How could you do it? Did you not see the radical, destructive, anti-Christian policy decisions he would make? As for the justification of our vote for Trump, our argument has been simple: We agreed that Trumps character and personality could be negative and destructive. But we hoped that the good policy decisions he would make, decisions of massive, life and death proportions, would outweigh his character flaws. And so, when it came to fighting against the slaughter of the unborn, numbering more than 60 million to date in America since 1973, Trump was our clear choice over Hillary Clinton or Biden. Jesus cares about the least of these, which most certainly includes the defenseless babies in the womb. When it came to preserving our religious liberties and our freedoms of conscience and speech, Trump was our clear, hands-down choice. When it came to standing up to radical Islam or facing down tyrannical China, Trump was our definite preference. One of my colleagues in the Middle East recently told me how the bloodbath which took more than 650,000 lives during the Obama administration virtually stopped with Donald Trump. My friend recounted to me the horrific torture and abuse of women in his region at the hands of Islamic extremists, including their repeated gang rapes (and worse). In his mind, Trump was a champion who helped put a stop to such horrors. A Chinese emigre to Australia told me early last year that he was terribly afraid of President Xi and saw Trump as a hero, especially as Trump stood with the Hong Kong protesters. These are spiritual, moral, and humanitarian issues of great importance to us as evangelicals, and so we appreciated Trumps courageous stands. Needless to say, the same Israelis who felt betrayed by the Obama administration were profoundly grateful to Trump for canceling the Iranian nuclear accords, knowing the real dangers of that terrible deal. Were all these gains worth the negative effects of the Trump presidency? In the end, did he do more harm than good? Did he help evangelical causes while damaging the evangelical cause? Did he advance the things we stood for while degrading and defiling us in the process? Those are fair questions to ask, and I respect those who answer in the negative. Thats also why I always respected those Christians who could not vote for either candidate in conscience before God. But for those Christians who voted for Biden, were you not aware that he would be the most aggressively pro-abortion president in our history (with an even more radical vice president by his side)? Are you surprised that he not only invalidated the Mexico City Policy but has also revoked the Hyde Amendment, all by executive fiat? If you consider yourself pro-life, can you look me in the eye and say, Im glad I helped empower President Biden make these life-destroying decisions? Can you say, Im glad every American taxpayer will be forced to fund abortion with the help of my vote? Are you surprised that Biden signed into law a radical transgender bill that has even caused consternation among gay, feminist, and transgender leaders and individuals? Do you feel good about the fact that by voting for him, you have negatively impacted women and girls throughout the country, as well as strengthened Big Techs crack down on our freedoms? Are you surprised that there is already great concern within Israel that Biden might derail the amazing peace progress made by the Trump administration? Were you unaware that he might well give back to terroristic Iran a potential path to nuclear armament? And can you really applaud his powerful call to unity in his inauguration speech when his executive actions on his first day in office were so highly divisive and even destructive? We all have to vote our own consciences, and I have no problem at all with those who questioned how a conservative Christian could vote for Trump. As a two-time Trump voter, I too have asked if our relationship with him would prove to be a match made in heaven or a marriage with hell. Did we make the right choice, or did we strike a bargain with devil? But just as I welcomed those who questioned my vote for Trump, I urge every Christian who voted for Biden to welcome my questions now. Did you not hear us when we warned about his radical, leftist agenda, only a portion of which was highlighted here? And if you did know these were his plans, can you really justify your vote? So, heres my totally unsolicited (and perhaps unwanted) advice. If you voted for Biden, how about a little less self-righteous posturing towards those of us who voted for Trump? How about all of us acknowledge that the hope for America will not be found in our elected officials but in the gospel, not just preached but lived out? And how about we all agree to meet at the foot of the cross in humility and repentance, determined to make a fresh start there? 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. Democrats are using the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump as a political weapon to bar the former president from seeking office again and are pursuing a case that is undemocratic and unconstitutional, one of his lawyers says. Trump faces trial next week on accusations that he incited a harrowing and deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when loyalists in town for a rally supporting the president overran the police and violently stormed the building. The House passed a single article of impeachment against Trump one week before he left office, triggering a trial that Democrats say is necessary to hold Trump publicly accountable for the attack. If Trump is convicted, Congress could bar him from holding public office again. Whether the Senate trial is constitutional is a point of contention because of the unique circumstances: never before has a president faced an impeachment trial after leaving office. Democrats say there is precedent, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who resigned his office in a last-ditch attempt to avoid an impeachment trial. The Senate held it anyway. On the eve of expected legal briefs from lawyers for both sides, Trump attorney David Schoens appearance on Fox News Monday night previewed some of the arguments he plans to make at the trial. He called the case needlessly divisive. Its also the most ill-advised legislative action that Ive seen in my lifetime, Schoen said. Trump is the first president in American history to be impeached twice. He was acquitted at a Senate trial last year over his contacts with his Ukrainian counterpart, but was acquitted by the Senate. Impeachment, Schoen said, is the weapon theyve tried to use against him. The new case was an effort to bar Trump from ever running for office again, Schoen said, and thats about as undemocratic as you can get. The Constitution specifies that disqualification from office can be a punishment for an impeachment conviction. Schoen, a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, and Bruce Castor, a former county prosecutor in Pennsylvania, were announced as Trumps legal team on Sunday evening, one day after it was revealed that the former president had parted ways with another set of attorneys in what one person described as a mutual decision. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Schoen said he did not plan to argue that Trump lost the election because of fraud, as Trump has repeatedly insisted, and would instead argue that the trial itself is unconstitutional. He also said hell make the case that his words were protected by the First Amendment and did not incite a riot. House Democrats plan to lay out what happened on Jan. 6 in graphic detail an effort to get through to Senate Republicans who have largely avoided talking about the attack itself and Trumps role in it, instead focusing on the process of the impeachment trial. They are expected to play videos and verbally recount the violence of the day in hopes of stirring the Republicans, most of whom fled the Senate that day as the rioters broke in. The nine House impeachment managers who will argue the case also are expected to lay out how they believe Trumps actions over the previous several months led up to it and eventually incited the insurrectionists to act. Their arguments will include a look at Trumps prolonged effort to persuade his supporters to believe his false claims that the election was stolen and describe how his pleas for them to come to Washington and his words immediately before the attack directly caused it. The mob that broke into the Capitol as the House and the Senate tallied electoral votes not only ransacked the building but repeatedly called out for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and for Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the building to preside over the count. Related Content: Helen Clarke is a member of the UK Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee and a primary school teacher. She has been researching deaths of educators from COVID-19 in the face of official concealment and obstruction. She submitted the article published below to the Committee, which is responded to by its secretary Tania Kent. Pressure has been mounting on the UK government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to release data on COVID-19 cases and deaths of school staff. No wonder Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty snapped at a BBC interviewer two weeks ago, when he was asked why teachers werent being prioritised for vaccinations. Whitty claimed teachers were not at a greater risk of acquiring COVID than other professions, although data had recently been released showing teacher infection rates in some places were more than four times the average. Several people have put in requests for the information to the Department for Education (DfE) and the ONS under the Freedom of Information Act. They wanted to know not just how many people had died of COVID-19 but how it had affected different groups of frontline workers including school staff. The ONS has been using a legal clause saying it does not have to release information if it intends to release it at some point in the future. Some people whose requests were not very specific simply found themselves directed back to the data for deaths between March and May 2020. This continued until last week, when the ONS announced that it intended to release the data for deaths to the end of 2020, on January 25. This data has been suppressed for months. Why? Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty speaking during a Covid-19 press conference last month in Downing Street (Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street-Flickr account) It seems they were not just sitting on the data after all. They were busy trying to find a way to put a misleading spin on it to reinforce the government line that schools, teachers and students are safe. The report says that there were 139 deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) in teaching and educational professionals aged 20 to 64 years registered between 9 March and 28 December 2020 in England and Wales. In this way, they have carefully doctored the figures to remove the deaths of teaching assistants, catering staff, midday supervisors, site supervisors, caretakers and cleaners. Their deaths do feature in these figures but elsewhere, under the figures for caring, leisure and other service occupations--which had the second highest rates of Covid deaths for both women and men. Like reports that have preceded it, the ONS report states that Covid deaths in teaching and educational professionals, such as secondary school teachers, were not statistically significantly raised when compared with the rates seen in the population among those of the same age and sex. In this way the government tacitly admits that not only are teacher death rates higher than for other occupations, but also that it has taken them quite some time and effort to manipulate the figures to remove a lot of the deaths to hide how bad it really is. This shocking death toll of 139 then is just the number of teachers under 64 years of age killed by the virus between March and December last year in England and Wales. It does not include Alan Fitchett, a 65-year-old secondary school teacher from Hertfordshire who died of the virus last March. It does not include Ian Wilson, a school janitor, Gerry McHugh, a maths teacher, or David McIlroy, a secondary school teacher, because they lived in Scotland. It does not include Sandra Martin, Michele Cockrill, Cath Strangwood, or Lynne Morgan, because they were teaching assistants. It may not even include Wendy Jacobs or Nick Hague because they were primary headteachers and not classroom teachers. These are just a few of the names I have been able to find of the people who have lost their lives in this pandemic, going to work each day in workplaces which should have been safe but were not. Tory Fibs on Twitter has gone through the figures and calculated that the real totalsincluding those over 64 years of age and those who work in education but are not teachersis 570. In terms of child and student deaths, it is even more difficult to find information. The BBC reports there have been 1,788 hospital admissions of school age children since March and that 27 children have died of COVID-19 since June. The enormous daily death tolls often report the age of the youngest and oldest victims to lose their lives: twice this month the youngest victim in the UK has been just 8 years old. Just before Christmas, in different parts of London, two 15-year-old students tragically died of the virus, a boy and a girl. Last May, the Department for Educations own scientific advisor told Parliament that a wider reopening of schools could bring together hundreds of potential vectors that could lead to the spread of the virus and there was a low degree of confidence in studies suggesting children transmit COVID-19 any less than adults. He was immediately made to write a letter of clarification. Having silenced their own scientific advisor, the propaganda continued relentlessly throughout the spring and summer regarding the damage to children from not being in school and the minimisation of the threat of the virusdespite the lack of any meaningful safety measures in schools. We were told, probably more accurately, that children were highly unlikely to be badly affected or to die from this virus. What the scientists omitted to point out to us was that a tiny percentage of a huge number of cases would result in a significant number of children and teenagers killed by the virus. A larger percentage of a huge number of cases would result in a large and ever-growing number of education staff killed by the virus. Over the Christmas break alone, the families and friends of Nick Hague, Paul Hilditch, Stuart Hall, Sonia Ellington, Jan Docker and Lynne Morgan lost their loved ones. This terrible death toll was added to this month as Donna Coleman, 42, a teacher at Burnley College, Lancashire, with no known underlying health conditions died from COVID-19 on January 6. On January 20, newly qualified teacher, Claudia Marsh, collapsed and died of the virus in hospital on her 25th birthday. On January 13, Dr Mary Ramsey of Public Health England confirmed that the UK is following a herd immunity policy of deliberately allowing the virus to spread when she told Parliament we need to allow the disease to circulate in younger people. School staff and students are paying for this experiment with their lives. *** Helens report raises many important issues and facts which are not seeing the light of day in the official media, which is complicit in blocking the truth in the service of a reactionary political agenda pursued by the Conservative government, supported by the Labour Party and imposed in the workplace by the trade unions. This agenda is the insistence that schools remain open, whatever the costs, in pursuit of profits for the rich, many of whom have quite literally made a killing out of the pandemic through massive government bailouts and handouts while globally millions have lost their lives and livelihoods. Helen correctly identifies that there has been a concerted effort and propaganda campaign to conceal a fact which is essential to the wellbeing of teachers, educators and children alike: that schools are not safe and a key vector for the transmission of the virus. I would add some additional facts, as well as reiterating the programme and perspective of the Educators Rank-and-File Safety committee which must now urgently be adopted to prevent further deaths. Helen notes that the ONS data has been doctored, so that incredibly the data of deaths from March to December is less than the data that was released on teacher deaths from March to June! The ONS top-line data said 139 staff aged 64 or under have died. The figure was 148 from March to June. This figure allowed the media to claim that education settings carry no higher risk than elsewhere and the plans to reopen the schools in the next few weeks can proceed, despite tens of thousands still being infected, an average of 1,200 daily deaths and the spectre of yet another new variant from South Africa. Helen notes statistics compiled by the Tory Fibs Twitter page of 570 deaths, which the Skwawkbox website breaks down into the following categories: Higher education teaching professionals (39 deaths), Further education teaching professionals (48), secondary education teaching professionals (148), primary and nursery education teaching professionals (85), special needs education teaching professionals (14), Senior professionals of educational establishments (40), education advisers and school inspectors (9), teaching and other educational professionals n.e.c. (35), nursery nurses and assistants (20), childminders and related occupations (36), playworkers (4), teaching assistants (74), educational support assistants (18). It notes that without even counting the over-64s, 217 have died. The ONS data has shown that school-age children as a group had the fastest rate of growth in Covid cases throughout the autumn term. This was a direct result of government negligence on school safety. It was known within three weeks of reopening the schools and universities in September that over 50 percent of new cases were being recorded among school aged children and students. By early December, it was also known that there had been a 75-fold increase in the infection rates of children aged 2-17 and that the majority of those infected with the new UK variant were in this age group. A study that analysed the impact of the second national lockdown found that there was no impact on cases in schools. The REACT-1 round 7 interim report authored by Imperial College London found that school aged children were the only group to see an increase. It carried out population-based surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 and found an increase in weighted prevalence in participants aged 5 to 12 years and those aged 13 to 17 years, i.e., among school-aged children, but a decline in all adult age groups. Most of this increase was a result of the new variant of the virus which is far more transmissible and 30 percent more deadly, which the government had also known about since September. When schools responded to the huge increase in infections within their communities, such as in Greenwich and Lewisham, by calling for the closure of schools just two days early, they were threatened with legal action. Despite the repeated claims by the government that they were not aware of the new variant at that time, it was exposed last week that Health Secretary Matt Hancock lied to the select committee regarding knowledge of the variant when the government threatened legal action. Susan Acland-Hood, the DfEs permanent secretary, giving evidence to the Select Committee on January 14 acknowledged that her department became aware of the existence of the new variant of Covid-19 when the health secretary made his oral statement to the House of Commons, which meant the government knew about the strain when it issued the powers under the Coronavirus Act to block the closure of schools in local authorities. How is it that the government has been able to impose its programme of herd immunity, with its devastating consequences when there is broad based opposition amongst educators and the broader community? It is thanks to the role of the trade unions who have blocked the opposition, repeated the government propaganda that schools must stay open to protect disadvantaged children and the protection of their mental health, without ever identifying who is responsible for this situation. Crucially it was the trade unions that allowed schools to reopen in September without even one of their safety demands being met. They are culpable in the deaths of educators and will continue to be so. They have not challenged the data and instead published their Education Recovery Plan for the reopening of schools! The protection of teachers and the working class can only take place through an independent struggle, mobilising the immense social power and strength of the working class in a political general strike. We must continue to build the influence of the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee among the broadest section of educators, nationally and internationally linking with workers across many sectors. The ONS data does reveal one truth and that is that it is the working class and its poorest sections who have been sacrificed in their tens of thousands for the protection of profits. This must end now! Thank you Helen for your submission and your continued support for the work of the committee. Regards, Tania Kent 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. A group of villagers in southern Chad, who claim a number of accidents by British mining giant Glencore poisoned their drinking water, harming people and destroying farmland, are to confront company representatives in mediation, after the UK government accepted their human rights complaint. At least 15 people suffered burns in September 2018 when an earth bank supporting a wastewater basin the size of 34 Olympic-sized pools collapsed. It was part of Glencore UK's oil concession in Badila, and the waste flowed across the land of the farmers living in the area, ending up in the Nya Pende River, the primary water source. "Everyone who used the water to clean their clothes, to wash themselves, they were all complaining that things are not as they were before that spill," says Delphine Kemneloum Djiraibe, a lawyer with Public Interest Law Center (PILC) based in N'Djamena, Chad who is one of the groups representing the villagers, who are primarily subsistence farmers. A traditional leader and five others a few weeks later reported they saw an oil feeder pipe that was leaking oil, just metres from the Nya Pende River. While some of the 18,000 residents in the area were directly burned by the wastewater, others had skin lesions and pustules just a few weeks after the two incidents when they used the water to bathe in. Those who used or drank the water reported suffering from internal pain, including stomach aches, and vomiting. A number of people were hospitalised, including two children, according to the complaint. "At the beginning of the oil spill, we tried to engage with Glencore and we were ignored," Djiraibe tells the Africa Calling podcast. Fish were found floating in the oil spilled in the river, she says, and the villagers who ate this fish became ill. Many were itching all over and had nausea and diarrhoea. The 49-page complaint was filed by the London-based Rights and Accountability Group (RAID) in conjunction with Chadian groups PILC and Association des Jeunes Tchadiens de la Zone Petroliere (AJTZP). It says that the British company disregarded guidelines set out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These include environmental due diligence, human rights and remediation of impacts. "In addition to general neglect towards its stakeholders and local communities, major events have occurred at the Badila oilfield that demonstrate the acute failure of Glencore UK to respect the OECD Guidelines," according to the complaint. Lawyer Djiraibe says that people keep drinking the water and getting sick. Some of the 18,000 residents who live in the area and rely on the Nya Pende river also reported between September 2018 and March 2019 that there was a sheen of oil on the water. Another wastewater spill While people of Badila were still dealing with these two spills - and the loss of land due to contamination, toxic drinking water, and livestock deaths - a third accident took place on 21 July 2020 at the Badila oilfield, which spilled into Malom village, flooding farmland, houses and contaminating the village well, according to the complaint. Although locals and contractors maintained that 60 cubic metres flooded the area, Glencore UK said that only 3 to 4 cubic metres were spilled, according to the complaint. Complaint heard Djiraibe says they had tried to speak to Glencore UK previously, but were ignored or told that these spills contaminating land and water, and the health hazards surrounding this, were not their concern. "At the beginning of the oil spill, we tried to engage with Glencore and we were ignored. They kept saying that it was nothing, that it was not their responsibility and that they were not at risk," says Djiraibe from her office in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital. She pointed out that livestock died after drinking the water, and that fish were found dead after the oil spill. Djiraibe partnered with RAID, a watchdog group that exposes corporate wrongdoing, environmental harm and human rights abuses. Based in London, RAID is familiar with the court procedures in the British capital and was able to pursue the complaint, she adds. RFI contacted Glencore, who issued this statement: "The complaint primarily relates to a wastewater related incident that took place in September 2018 at the Badila oil field in Chad which is operated by a Glencore subsidiary, PetroChad (Mangara) Limited. Glencore has been fully transparent about this incident." Breaking: British government accepts #humanrights complaint against @Glencore UK for toxic spill at its Badila oilfield in #Chad. UK NCP for the @OECD Guidelines says concerns raised by RAID & Chadian groups "merit further examination." #bizhumanrightshttps://t.co/FAX8y0ZTKj pic.twitter.com/s3QlvXmgCO - RAID (@raidukorg) January 27, 2021 It also says that their 2019 Sustainability and Human Rights Report includes information on their actions and response to this spill. Concerning the 2020 spill, however, the UK National Contact Point (UKNCP) for the OECD guidelines said they have received the complaint there but "investigations in relation to this event are ongoing." Moving forward On their decision published on 22 January, UK NCP acknowledged that the villagers want Glencore UK to commission an independent investigation into the 2018 wastewater spill and alleged oil leak. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Mining Legal Affairs Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. UKNCP is advocating for mediation, which Djiraibe says they are going to go ahead with. Glencore says that "it acknowledges their decision that the issues relating to the 2018 wastewater incident merit further examination". "We also note that UKNCP's decision to further examine aspects of the complaint is not a finding against Glencore UK Ltd or a determination by the UKNCP that Glencore UK Ltd has acted inconsistently with the guidelines." For Djiraibe, it is a big step in the right direction to challenge Glencore in the UK, especially with RAID as a national point of contact to handle the case. She says that Glencore was not transparent and consistently told villagers that the water was safe to drink. But then in two other villages it told people not to drink the water out of their well. Some farmers were paid small compensation by Glencore UK, but a number were left unable to use their land, and given nothing for their loss. "I hope that this mediation is really an opportunity that people who are suffering from Glencore's activities will be heard, because it's so frustrating," she says. "People are getting sick, livestock is dying, so that is a big chance for them just to be considered as human beings, because the behaviour of Glencore is disturbing," she adds. A fire broke out on the sets of Om Raut's upcoming biggie Adipurush, starring Prabhas and Saif Ali Khan, on Tuesday, which was the first day of the film's shoot. The fire reportedly broke out around 4.30pm on the set of the film in a Goregaon studio. Neither Prabhas nor Saif was present on the set at the time of the accident. It is reported that the incident happened due to a short circuit. According to sources in the studio, the fire was brought under control soon enough and nobody was injured. No casualty has been reported. Unconfirmed videos from the burning set of the film have gone viral on social media, with netizens expressing their concern over the unfortunate incident. "Fire caught on the sets of #Adipurush at a Goregaon studio #Mumbai. Everyone is safe no one has come under any physical harm. It happened due to short circuit and the entire chroma set up went into ashes. # Prabhas and Saif were not a part of this shoot," photographer Viral Bhayani wrote on Instagram. Earlier in the day, director Om Raut announced on social media that he has begun with the mahurat shot for the film. Flash Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that Canada's National Research Council-owned Royalmount facility will produce millions of COVID-19 vaccine shots developed by Maryland-based Novavax. The Canadian company in Montreal submitted its vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval last Friday. Its production is expected to start in the fall this year as the global market is contending with delivery delays and protectionist measures. "This is a major step forward to get vaccines made in Canada, for Canadians. We need as much domestic capacity for vaccine production as possible," Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa. "We won't rest until every Canadian who wants a vaccine has received one." Last summer, Trudeau announced more than 125 million Canadian dollars (97.7 million U.S. dollars) to upgrade the National Research Council facility to produce vaccines domestically and avoid the global scramble for shots. Trudeau pointed that more contagious COVID-19 variants now taking hold in Canada mean tough rules must be implemented in the next few weeks. "These new variants out there are of real concern." Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Tuesday at least 148 cases of the variants that first emerged in Britain and South Africa have been confirmed across the country, although overall counts of new COVID-19 cases continue to decline. The four cases of the South African variant that were confirmed in British Columbia province and the one case reported in Ontario province have no known link to international travel, raising fears of community spread. "I think there are definitely signs that the variants are certainly transmitted to a certain extent in communities, and we are not detecting them all," Tam said. "We need to be very vigilant and very cautious about relaxation of those public health measures." Over the past seven days, an average of 4,368 new COVID-19 cases have been reported daily across Canada, a nearly 50 percent drop from three weeks ago, Tam said. Hospitalizations are also on the decline, falling 12 percent over the past week to fewer than 3,900 patients in care. Fatal cases have fallen by 20 percent to 128 deaths per day. As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada reported a cumulative total of 785,494 cases and 20,186 deaths, according to CTV. Whisk Me Away, a new bakery in Jacksonville, has opened its doors. Owners Karen Bergner-McNeece, 32, and her wife, Anastasia, 33, started the bakery at 523 S. Main St. Karen Bergner-McNeece is hospitality manager and Anastasia Bergner-McNeece is the bakery manager. Both have experience and knowledge about baking: Karen Bergner-McNeece went to school for culinary arts at Lincoln Land Community College and Anastasia Bergner-McNeece worked on designing cakes at Walmart in Jacksonville and Springfield for 13 years. The bakery serves all things cake -- from cookies, cake pops, standard and gourmet cupcakes to brownies, muffins and pies in many different flavors. They bake cakes any time and for special occasions like weddings, anniversaries and birthdays. Make the customers happy, thats my main goal, Karen Bergner-McNeece said. Im in the business of making smiles and our promise to the community is that were going to give them wholesome ingredients and affordable prices, but we want to make moments that matter. Cupcakes are popular and Karen Bergner-McNeece said the favorites so far are maple bacon and peanut butter and jelly. She said she originally thought Petersburg would be the perfect place to start a bakery in 2009, but that didnt happen. Over the past 10 years or so, the two were working on savings and saw an opportunity. They said they always had an idea to start a bakery. The couple put out a customer research survey during the summer and based on the responses, decided Jacksonville was a good fit. Starting the bakery happened soon after. The name, Whisk Me Away, comes from their 6-year-old daughter, who is very whimsical and active, Karen Bergner-McNeece said. When she came into this world, she whisked our hearts away, she said. Our mission is to make a future for her and make the community tons of sweet treats. The official opening was Monday. There are plans for a grand opening in the spring. Whisk Me Away is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Delivery is available between 5 and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Advertisement Most people who recover from Covid are immune to the disease for at least six months, a major Government-backed surveillance study suggests. The UK Biobank study found high levels of Covid antibodies virus-fighting proteins made by the body after vaccination or prior infection in the blood of nine in 10 patients half a year or more after testing positive. Almost all of participants (99 per cent) had the same high concentration of antibodies three months following their initial infection. It comes on the back of a growing body of studies, including from Oxford University and Public Health England, which also pointed to months-long immunity after recovering from Covid. Sir Patrick Vallance, England's chief scientific adviser, said the latest project, which recruited over 20,000 volunteers, was 'useful confirmation' that survivors are protected for at least half a year but exactly how long the Covid immunity lasts is still one of the burning questions of the pandemic. The scientists behind the Biobank study said Covid survivors should still continue to follow the lockdown rules because 10 per cent won't enjoy protection and it's not clear if former patients can still carry and spread the virus. Professor Sir Rory Collins, an epidemiologist at Oxford University who led the study, said: 'One aspect of this is whether or not they can still carry the virus and whether they can pass it to other people. 'But we still don't know whether they can still be a transmitter and put others at risk. We still cant be sure that this provides complete protection although studies from Oxford show it provides at least some protection.' Professor Collins and his team also estimate nine per cent of the British population has been infected with Covid, the equivalent of six million people, which is almost double the Government's official tally of 3.8million. Above are the levels of Covid-19 antibodies in the blood over time by age and ethnic group. They reveal the levels remain high for at least six months after infection. Scientists are testing whether this could continue for longer The highest estimated immunity levels were in London and the lowest in Scotland. But no region was near 'hear immunity', when enough people in the community are protected against the virus to stop the virus spreading The study also found only 43 per cent of cases suffered at least one of the three recognised Covid-19 symptoms. But 40 per cent did not have any of them, and 24 per cent of these were asymptomatic - meaning they had no symptoms ONE SHOT OF PFIZER JAB MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO PROTECT OVER-80S FROM COVID-19, STUDY FINDS Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine could leave some elderly patients at risk of catching the South African variant, research suggests. Laboratory tests by Cambridge University found that a single shot of the jab might not stimulate a strong enough immune response to kill the new strain in over-80s. Experts believe the E484K mutation on the South African variant's spike protein, which it uses to bind to human cells, helps the strain 'hide' from the body's natural defences. Scientists reacting to the findings said now was 'a good time to switch' away from Britain's one-dose strategy, which aims to get wider vaccine coverage quicker. Ministers pivoted from their original plan to give people their second dose after 21 days after the country became engulfed in a devastating winter wave of the virus. They pushed back the second dose for 12 weeks in a bid to give partial protection to as many vulnerable people as possible and drive down hospital admissions. Already at least 105 Brits have been infected with the South African variant since December, which is likely to be an underestimate because Public Health England only looks at one in 10 random positive samples. In another worrying development today, health chiefs revealed that mutation has now been found at least 11 times in different cases of people infected with the Kent variant, raising fears it could become a permanent feature of the British strain. Advertisement The UK Biobank study collected blood samples and information on potential symptoms from 20,200 participants for six months to the beginning of December. They found over the study period the proportion of Britain's population thought to have antibodies against the virus rose by two per cent from 6.6 per cent in May to 8.8 per cent by December. It is thought to be even higher now as Department of Health data shows the second wave only peaked at the end of December before declining. The levels were highest in London, at 12.4 per cent, the West Midlands, at 9.7 per cent, and North West, at 9.4 per cent. They were lowest in Scotland, at 5.5 per cent, the South West, at 5.8 per cent, and Wales, at 5.9 per cent. Younger people were more likely to have antibodies against the virus than those in older generations, at 13.5 per cent in the under 30s to 6.7 per cent in those over 70. Those in the Black ethnic group were most likely to have protection against the virus, at 16.3 per cent, while it was lowest among the White group at 8.5 per cent and China at 7.5 per cent. There was no difference in antibody levels between genders. The study also found the three NHS earmarked symptoms of the virus only came up in 43 per cent of cases, while 24 per cent of other infections were asymptomatic - meaning there were no warning signs - and 40 per cent did not have the three main symptoms. UK Biobank Chief Scientist, Professor Naomi Allen, said: 'We are incredibly grateful to all the UK Biobank participants, and their children and grandchildren, who provided us with their blood samples for six months. 'This important study has revealed that the vast majority of people retain detectable antibodies for at least six months after infection with the coronavirus. 'Although we cannot be certain how this relates to immunity, the results suggest that people may be protected against subsequent infection for at least six months following natural infection. More prolonged follow-up will allow us to determine how long such protection is likely to last.' Health Minister Lord Bethell, said: 'This government-backed study provides further valuable insight into antibodies and increases our understanding of the virus, and I want to thank all of the talented researchers and everyone who volunteered to take part. 'While the findings offer some promise, now is not the time for complacency. We still do not fully understand how long protection from antibodies may last, and we know people with antibodies may still be able to pass the virus on to others. 'Right now, it remains vital for everyone to stay at home, even if you have had COVID-19 in the past, so we can stop the spread of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives.' It comes after Public Health England also said that studies suggest immunity could last for six months after an infection It comes after a Public Health England study published in November also said those that survive an infection could be protected against the virus for at least six months. The findings may mean people who have already had the virus are less likely to get reinfected if they come into contact with the virus again. A group of more than 2,000 people working for Public Health England volunteered to take part in the study and donate blood every month, with the first people recruited in early March, before lockdown was announced. A total of 100 people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, but none were hospitalised. More than half (56 per cent) had symptoms. The study focused on a specific type of immune response, called T cells, which are created by the body following infection. They are different to antibodies but are just as pivotal in fighting disease. The scientists behind the research call their findings encouraging and are 'cautiously optimistic' there is long-lasting and robust immunity following coronavirus infection. The UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) worked with PHE on the study and asked colleagues to be tested for the virus and take part in the study. New Orleans hotel operators are expecting a modest increase in guests for the final weekend of the Carnival season, but with parades canceled and officials threatening more pandemic-related restrictions, none are anticipating anything close to a normal Mardi Gras. The city's biggest hotel properties, like the Hotel Monteleone, the Sheraton on Canal Street, the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon, the Roosevelt on Roosevelt Way, and Loews on Poydras Street are forecasting bookings to peak somewhere between 50% and 60% of capacity on the weekend before Mardi Gras, according to hotel managers and owners. The estimates, based on current bookings, would represent a jump from most recent weekends during the pandemic, when hotels were filling about three in ten rooms, though they would be well below typical Mardi Gras levels. Stephen Caputo, general manager at the Monteleone, said the Royal Street landmark had bookings for about 30%-to-35% of its 570 rooms for Saturday, Feb. 13, when visitor numbers are expected to peak ahead of Fat Tuesday on Feb. 16. He said he expected that to rise some over the next week or so. "The weekend is looking pretty strong, relatively, and by the time we get there we should be at around 50%," Caputo said. The bigger hotels were more optimistic on average than respondents to a recent survey by New Orleans & Co., the city's tourism marketing agency. The 23 hotels surveyed said they are expecting occupancy rates to peak at 41% on Feb. 13 and then dip back down to 11% by the following Thursday. According to hospitality consultant STR, hotel occupancy rates in January averaged just above 30%. Room rates were sharply down too, so that the revenue per available room (REVpar) averaged $28, well below breakeven for most hotels. Last year during the extended Mardi Gras weekend, occupancy rates averaged well above 90% for the four most popular Carnival nights and REVPar, which takes into account rates and occupancy, was above $250, according to STR. Still, the expectation that New Orleans' bigger hotels could be half-filled for the final weekend of Carnival is a hopeful sign for the hospitality industry but a potentially worrisome development for public health officials. With the coronavirus still spreading quickly, thousands of additional revelers drinking and gathering for whatever festivities do occur will undoubtedly mean more cases. And while the city has restrictions in place banning large public gatherings, few have heeded them in the French Quarter on recent weekends. On Tuesday, after videos of crowds on Bourbon Street on Saturday sparked outrage, City Hall spokesperson Beau Tidwell warned that the city was still considering more restrictive measures and that large gatherings would not be allowed. 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 "We remain in an unsafe environment and they will not be permitted on Fat Tuesday or the days leading up to it," he said. Still, some small events are being planned. Despite the gloomier outlook this year, Al Groos, general manager at the Royal Sonesta, said the Bourbon Street hotel expects to proceed with a version of its "Greasing of the Poles" event, which for the past 50 years has been held outside the hotel on Bourbon Street. The event will be held in an interior courtyard at the hotel this year and has a "Mardi Gras MASKerade" theme, to incorporate the pandemic protocol in a festive way. It will be livestreamed on Facebook and emceed by burlesque artiste Trixi Minx. The Sheraton and its sister hotel the Marriott on Canal Street also are looking to make the best of the lost Mardi Gras season, offering packages that will allow guests to take advantage of some of the city's improvised Mardi Gras celebrations. Scott Jernstrom, sales and marketing director for the two hotels, said on offer is a chauffeured three-hour tour for up to six people to see the house floats that have sprung up throughout the city. The hotels will throw in $100 credit for food and beverages to bring along for the ride. "Were hopeful to see more people visit to explore how the city is embracing the Carnival season," Jernstrom said. Still, for some of the city's smaller operations, it is a matter of survival this year. Monica Ramsey, owner of the Canal Street Inn, said that for the past five years she has had Kenner electrical firm Ardent Services book up all her 20 rooms and bring in a crowd of several hundred to watch the Endymion parade from her prime vantage point. "This year, I am just looking to survive," she said. "I know things are going to improve but my goal now is just to get through and we've only been getting one, two people a week, that's it." She said Ardent Services has decided to book all of her rooms again this year, even though they plan only to have a maximum of 20 people for "a corporate retreat", that will have some kind of muted food and beverage event on the Saturday. "They decided to do that just to maintain business with me and to support the catering company," Ramsey said. "And every penny counts, let me tell you." Experts writing in the Journal of Parkinson's disease stress the benefits, efficacy and safety profile of the COVID-19 vaccines for this specific patient population Amsterdam, NL, February 3, 2021 - Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthcare professionals caring for them have expressed concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy and safety in the specific context of PD and its symptomatic treatment. In a commentary just published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, a set of experts addresses these concerns from an evidence-based perspective. Their conclusion is that COVID-19 vaccination with approved vaccines should be recommended to persons with PD, unless there is a specific contraindication. "The arrival of these vaccines has created hope for people with PD, as this can help to mitigate their risk of becoming infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which can lead to serious, life-threatening disease, at least among those with more advanced PD," explains lead author Bastiaan R. Bloem, MD, PhD, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior; Department of Neurology, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. Based on the authors' interpretation of the scientific literature, the unfolding experience with widespread vaccination in the population at large, and input from the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Scientific Issues Committee (IPMDS-SIC), the take home messages with respect to COVID-19 vaccination for persons with PD are: Compared to the general population, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection causing serious, life-threatening disease seems higher for people living with PD, at least among those with more advanced disease. The approved mRNA-based vaccines and viral vector vaccines under development are not known or expected to interact with the neurodegenerative process in PD. The types or incidence of side effects of these vaccines in persons with PD seem no different than in the general population. The vaccines also seem safe for older adults, but caution is needed for the specific subgroup of very frail and terminally ill elderly persons with PD living in long-term care facilities. COVID-19 vaccination is not known to interfere with the current therapies of PD. Vaccinated persons with PD must continue to comply with the public health guidelines to reduce exposure and transmission of COVID-19. Insights may change, and we must consciously monitor newly emerging data from both trials and real-life vaccination programs. The authors strongly encourage visiting the website of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society where recommendations will be updated as new data are published based on further experience, clinical trials and real-life clinical practice: https:/ / www. movementdisorders. org/ MDS-Files1/ COVID-19vaccination01042021. pdf (for medical professionals) and https:/ / www. movementdisorders. org/ COVID-19-Pandemic-MDS/ MDS-COVID-19-Vaccine-Statement-for-Patients. htm (for persons with PD). "Taking all current evidence into consideration, perhaps this is the light at the end of the tunnel. We encourage our community of movement disorder specialists to recommend COVID-19 vaccination with approved vaccines to their patients with PD or their responsible caregivers, unless there is a specific contraindication," states Prof. Bloem. "Finally, even after vaccination, it is important that persons with PD continue complying with the public health guidelines to reduce exposure and transmission of COVID-19 as recommended by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." ### Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has entered into an exclusive deal with US biopharmaceutical company Ocugen to commercialise Covaxin, the first indigenous coronavirus vaccine developed in India, in the US market. Under the terms of the agreement, Ocugen will have US rights to the vaccine candidate and will be responsible for clinical development, regulatory approval (including EUA) and commercialisation for the US market. Bharat Biotech will supply initial doses to be used in the US upon Ocugen's receipt of an EUA from the US regulatory authorities. In addition, Bharat Biotech will support the technology transfer for manufacturing in the US. Ocugen will share the profits from the sale of the vaccine in the US market with Bharat Biotech, with Ocugen retaining 45% of the profits. Ocugen is also in active discussions with manufacturers in the US to 'produce a significant number of doses' of Covaxin to support its US immunisation program, said company sources. Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Dr Reddy's aims to roll out Russia's Sputnik V in India in March "With the recent progression of Covaxin use under emergency use authorisation (EUA) in India, I am confident that we will be able to work with Ocugen to develop a plan to bring COVAXIN to the US market," said Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Biotech. Our goal for all vaccines developed at Bharat Biotech is to provide global access, he said. Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). The vaccine is being administered as one of the two COVID-19 shots available under emergency authorisation in India with the first batch of 30 million doses being administered to health professionals and front-line workers. It is also undergoing a fully enrolled Phase 3 clinical trial involving 25,800 patients. "Requiring only a standard vaccine storage temperature of 2-8 degree celsius and with the potential to treat all age-groups, Covaxin may offer an important option to protect lives across America," said Dr. Shankar Musunuri, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Ocugen. Ocugen is focused on discovering, developing, and commercialising gene therapies to cure blindness diseases and is also developing a vaccine to fight Covid-19. Also read: Third coronavirus vaccine in India? Adar Poonawalla hopes to launch COVOVAX by June Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger (pictured in a CBS12 interview) and Special Agent Daniel Alfin were shot dead in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale, this morning while serving the warrant in a case involving 'violent crimes against children'. President Joe Biden has paid tribute to the two FBI agents shot dead by a child pornography suspect in Florida before adding that the 'vast, vast majority' of law enforcement officers were 'decent, honorable people'. Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, and Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, were killed at an apartment complex in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale, on Tuesday morning while trying to serve a warrant in a case involving child porn and 'violent crimes against children'. The suspect, who also died in the ambush, lay in wait for FBI agents who he observed through his doorbell camera before opening fire on them, it has since emerged. Biden paid tribute to the two slain officers on Tuesday evening, saying: 'They put their lives on the line and it's a hell of a price to pay. 'And every single day by and large the vast, vast majority of these men and women are decent, honorable people who put themselves on the line. We owe them.' He said he had not yet spoken to the grieving families of the agents. 'One of the things when you're in a combat zone in the military or you're an FBI agent or a police officer, every family when they put that shield on and go out in the morning dreads the possibility of a call,' he said. 'My heart aches for the families. I have not had an opportunity, nor will I try today to contact them.' FBI director Christopher Wray had earlier praised the two murdered agents for their 'heroism' and vowed to 'honor their ultimate sacrifice'. 'Tragically, the FBI lost two of our own today,' he said. 'Special Agent Daniel Alfin and Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger were shot and killed this morning in the line of duty while executing a federal court-ordered search warrant in a crimes against children investigation. 'Every day, FBI special agents put themselves in harm's way to keep the American people safe. Special Agent Alfin and Special Agent Schwartzenberger exemplified heroism today in defense of their country. Joe Biden paid tribute on Tuesday evening. 'My heart aches for the families,' he said in a press briefing on Tuesday evening The day was in the most lethal incident for the FBI in 35 years, since a shootout between bank robbers and agents in Miami left two agents dead and five wounded in 1986. The suspect, who has not yet been identified publicly, ambushed the agents after observing them through his doorbell camera, the Miami Herald reports. He was found dead after barricading himself inside the apartment and opening fire with an assault-style rifle, law enforcement sources said. 'There are several huge holes in the door going outward,' one law enforcement official said. Law enforcement sources say it appears the suspect killed himself. In the hours after the shooting, the bodies of Schwartzenberger and Alfin were placed on stretchers and draped with American flags as they were escorted into the Broward Medical Examiner's office. Footage from WSVN showed officers forming an honor guard as their bodies were taken inside. Three other agents were injured in the standoff with the suspect. Two of the injured agents are in stable conditions in hospital. The third agent did not need to be hospitalized. Two FBI agents were shot dead in Sunrise, Florida this morning as they served a warrant in a child exploitation case. One of the slain agents is pictured above on a flag-draped stretcher arriving at a medical examiner's officer surrounded by law enforcement Two FBI agents have been shot dead and three others injured while serving an arrest warrant to a child pornography suspect this morning at a home in Florida this morning Another stretcher draped in an American flag is pictured above being placed into an ambulance and escorted to the Broward Medical Examiner's office in the hours after the shooting Broward County Sheriff escort a Coral Springs Parkland Fire Department vehicle as it leaves the Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services after the killing of two FBI agents The two agents who were killed had a history of investigating child porn and sexual exploitation cases. Schwartzenberger had been an agent with the FBI since December 2005 and worked in the Miami field office on a squad of agents handling violent crimes against children, according to court records. Her work primarily focused on tracking offenders who sexually exploit children online and investigating other crimes against children. Schwartzenberger is survived by a husband and two children. Schwartzenberger started with the bureau in 2005 and worked out of the Miami office with the violent crimes against children unit Alfin, who also investigated child exploitation cases, had previously worked at FBI headquarters handling major cases involving violent crimes against children, according to court records. He had a degree in information technology and went through the FBI's specialized training programs for cybercrimes. He was involved in a major child exploitation investigation dubbed Playpen that resulted in arrests around the world. Alfin is survived by a wife and child. The agents had been serving a federal court-ordered search warrant at the time in connection with a case involving child pornography and violent crimes against children, according to FBI Miami Special Agent Michael D. Leverock and FBI Agents Association President Brian O'Hare. The FBI did not release the suspect's name or provide any further details on his suspected crimes. A law enforcement source told the Miami Herald that the FBI had been investigating the suspect alongside Fort Lauderdale federal prosecutors. Agents were trying to serve a routine search warrant in order to seize the suspect's computer as part of the child porn investigation. Authorities say the FBI had found an IP address for the suspect's computer on an internet service provider. When agents arrived at his home, the suspect barricaded himself inside before opening fire. If the agents were to have uncovered anything during the search, the suspect likely would have faced some type of child porn charge, sources said. The confrontation marked one of the bloodiest days in FBI history in South Florida and among the deadliest nationally as well, according to the FBI website. The shooting unfolded at an apartment complex, pictured above, where the man suspected of possessing child pornography lived Law enforcement standing guard outside the apartment complex could be seen embracing each other in the hours after the shooting unfolded A heavy law enforcement presence remained in the vicinity of the apartment complex during the afternoon as authorities continued to investigate The shooting happened around 6am in a middle-class neighborhood of single family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings. The gunfire erupted with about four shots, according to Julius McLymont, whose house borders the Water Terrace apartment complex where the suspect was barricaded. McLymont told the Associated Press that he initially thought the gunfire was a car backfiring but heard about five more shots a few minutes later. He went outside and looked over his fence as police cars and ambulances rushed in. He said he saw officers working on someone lying on the ground before they loaded the person into an ambulance. A SWAT team arrived and officers in riot gear went around the building, yelling, 'Go, go, go!' McLymont said. He said he couldn't see the apartment where the shooting happened from his location. Hours later, Sunrise Police urged residents of Water Terrace to remain inside their homes while law enforcement blocked the entrances to their community. Police swarmed the Sunrise neighborhood just outside Fort Lauderdale after 6am following reports of the shooting involving FBI agents The FBI said agents were serving a federal court-ordered search warrant at the time related to a 'violent crimes against children case' Five agents in total were shot, including the two that died. Law enforcement officers are pictured blocking an area where the shooting unfolded The FBI said the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing. 'In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under investigation by the FBI's Inspection Division,' the FBI said in a statement. 'The review process is thorough and objective and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances. No further information will be released at this time.' Alex Piquero, a University of Miami sociology professor who has specialized in criminology, said serving search warrants at a person's home is incredibly hazardous for law enforcement officers. 'Serving warrants, next to domestic dispute calls and high speed chases, are among the most dangerous for law enforcement - they dont know what awaits them on the inside,' Piquero said. There have been several other shootings throughout the FBI's history in which two agents have died, according to the bureau's Wall of Honor. In South Florida, the infamous 'Miami Shootout' in 1986 claimed the lives of Agents Ben Grogan and Jerry Dove in a gun battle with two heavily armed robbery suspects who were also killed. Five other FBI agents were wounded in that shooting, which led the bureau to upgrade the weapons that agents carry. 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The virus struck several nursing homes last month claiming the lives of 369 elderly residents. One in three of the Covid-19 deaths in January was a nursing home resident. The extent of the death toll in such homes, reaching 1,543 since the start of the pandemic, was revealed at the Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday. It comes after the first wave last year when nursing homes suffered high levels of infection. And they are still continuing to battle outbreaks with 4,300 residents and staff infected. Expand Close Stock image / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stock image Read More However, health officials said yesterday that due to the outbreaks, four homes have yet to be offered the Covid-19 vaccine and another 117 are only partially vaccinated because so many had the virus. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said early in the new year he hoped all residents and staff would be vaccinated by the end of January but that target has not been met. Tadhg Daly, head of Nursing Homes Ireland, said the situation in nursing homes remains very precarious with 193 open outbreaks. He said: Staffing is a predominant emergency that presents across our health service. There are around 1,800 nursing home staff who are out due to infection or being a close contact. HSE and Department of Health officials said the very high levels of community transmission meant it was inevitable nursing homes would not escape in the third wave. The spread was also accelerated by the more infectious UK variant. However, the committee was told that a key recommendation of a top level review of nursing homes following last springs devastation was still not in place. It called for a proper system of clinical oversight of nursing homes pointing out that residents had their own GP but were without an overarching medical lead in many cases. The committee was told that the HSE is still scoping the model on this and working with GPs. Yvonne ONeill, HSE director of community operations, said 100 homes are affected by staff shortages. Mr Daly said a critical window of opportunity was missed in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. He said: With nursing home residents the most susceptible to the virus, just 10pc of the initial 77,000 Covid-19 vaccinations administered by mid-January were within nursing homes. It is appropriate to remind people that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee agreed nursing home residents and staff would be a priority. The first vaccines arrived in Ireland on December 26 yet the first was only administered in a private or voluntary nursing home on January 7, 2021. Every day is vital for our nursing home residents and staff. We are grateful that our representations for vaccine administration to be expedited, entailing utilising every available day, were heeded and implemented. There is also now concern that patients who are discharged to nursing homes need to receive the vaccine. Dr Kathleen McLellan, of the Department of Health, said the level of infection overall was lower than in April following a series of measures implemented in the meantime. Health officials said 66.9m has been given to nursing homes by the HSE in temporary assistance payments. Around 100m had been invested in protective equipment, cleaning and other supports. The committee heard of concerns among relatives who complained of not being able to get information about loved ones and the level of distress this caused. HSE official Sandra Tuohy said complaints had been made about the lack of answers to some families. Concerns were also raised about the impact the outbreaks are having on supports for residents. Professor Sean Kennelly, a consultant geriatrician in Tallaght Hospital, has said that for some nursing homes, this wave has been just as bad as the first wave, in which over 50pc of all deaths were in long-term care homes. At least 1,543 nursing home residents have died from Covid-19 and 369 of those deaths were in January alone, new statistics have revealed. It's terribly sad and reflective of the impact weve seen in our hospital and community services. We always anticipated there would be a lag in deaths and that has been evident in previous phases. For some nursing homes, they are as bad. What we know is that for some nursing homes that see outbreaks, almost half of residents become infected and a quarter of those may unfortunately die. What we are seeing this time around is that while it was largely an east coast phenomenon first time around, this time around it is very much a national spread, he told RTEs Morning Ireland. Prof Kennelly said the nursing homes that have experienced the biggest outbreaks this time around are the ones that kept Covid out for the last 10 months and then saw large outbreaks just weeks before they were due to be vaccinated. He said that nursing homes who have had previous outbreaks are now proving to be more resilient due to familiarity with infection controls and knowing what to expect when an outbreak occurs. The geriatrician said it will be weeks before we know the effect the vaccine will have on the spread of Covid-19 within nursing homes but said now that people across nursing homes are receiving their second jab, it should confer a greater level of protection on them.